Amarion and Crom step over the crushed, limp corpse of the infected sailor, worms crawling away into sheltered crevices. They stand on the threshold of the damaged ship hull, the icy cave to their back with its spread of shanty structures. The glow of Amarion's Dawn Shard illuminates the interior of the wrecked ship, debris litters the floor, but aside from that it appears to be empty. It must be the lowest deck of the ship based on size and shape, at the rear they see that two wooden staircases would have lead up to the deck above, but one has been destroyed along with the back corner of the ship.
Edward brings forth his Familiar Artax from the safety of his pocket dimension, sending him gliding into a neighbouring chamber. There he discovers a huge hole in the floor that opens up to a much larger chamber roughly 120ft below. Lapping water can be heard echoing in this chamber, and to not let Artax stray beyond the reach of his telepathy, Edward calls him back.
Mornington also joins the scouting efforts, sending his Familiar Spook to the final neighbouring chamber, one as large as the one they currently occupy. Icicles hang in great number from its ceiling and after a short flight, something else is seen flying in the cave. Circling round and trying to get a better look, Spook finds that a half skeletal crow is drawing a perimeter, an undead familiar. Then, seen striding across the chamber towards the party's location, is a figure dressed in dark flowing robes.
Amarion and Crom push further into the shipwreck, assuring it is empty, the boards groan and creak as they head towards the stern of the ship. The one remaining staircase clearly leads to the upper deck, however the destroyed one leaves in its wake a dark descent into an icy cavern below. This ship must have crashed some time ago, as it is securely entombed in ice. The faint sounds of lapping waves can be heard, they must be close to the icebergs edge.
Mornington scrambles to inform the others of the approaching figure. He whispers to Edward to get back, he then quickly casts a message spell to tell Amarion and Crom the same thing. They all hide just within the walls of the ships splintered hull and all snuff their light sources. Mornington gets Spook to hang from the ceiling as a lookout, and the soft crunch of footsteps on ice get louder.
The figure enters the pitch black chamber, but pauses after noticing the bodies of the worm-infested sailors. An undead crow flies into the chamber, circles once, and lands upon the humanoid's shoulder. The four adventurers are certain this is Teo Ramu, he looks around suspiciously, looking for movement, looking for who may have caused the slaughter before them. He calls out, a droning voice laced with self importance, asking for the culprits to come out, he wishes only to talk. They do no reply. He then announces that both him and his familiar see the bat watching them, he knows they are close by. Amarion's Dawn Shard is shedding a candlelight glow, but it's enough to see the hateful expression on Crom's face as his knuckles whiten around the haft of his axe. He can't be held back any longer and he swerves around the wall to charge down this defiler of the dead! The party react in turn, and throw themselves into a conflict with the villain before them.
Edward reacts at incredible speed, steps out to the side, and as Amarion and Crom charge forth a spark of fire leaves his finger tip. It darts forward, dodging between his companions, and collides with Teo Ramu. The outlaw of Guradam is engulfed in flames as the chamber lights up in a fierce orange glow. The evil spellcaster's undead familiar is reduced to ashes, but as the fire clears, he remains, robes glowing with embers. Mornington strides forth, and with a booming voice inspires his allies and condemns his enemy in one fell swoop. He demonstrates that the evils that Teo has committed will not be tolerated by the good folk of the world and these fine adventurers are here to bring him to his knees.
Amarion and Crom complete their charge, surrounding the Necromancer, and bring their weapons to bare. Deep cuts slice into their enemy from axe and sword, and blood spills into the ash laden fabric of Teo's robes. In return, the Necromancer raises his arms, an arcane babble spills from his mouth, and in an instant, he vanishes from sight. Crom and Amarion are left facing each other, and quickly look around trying to sense where Teo has gone, Crom looks over in a nearby shanty and Amarion swings his glowing longsword wildly, trying to land a blow on his invisible opponent.
Edward, now in the centre of the chamber along with Amarion, reaches into his pocket for a handful of silver coins and launches them in an arc hoping to witness a collision with the invisible wizard. The throw is poor however, and he sees no such impact. Instead, he hears a voice mutter more incantations from one of the adjoining tunnels, within moments a dark cloud fills the ceiling of the chamber and giant shards of ice rain down upon them. Edward dives to the side, avoiding the worst of it, but certainly not unscathed, brutal scratches and bruises mark his legs. He looks back from his prone position, Amarion is nowhere to be seen, buried within the now broken ground of ice. Crom rushes into the difficult terrain and uncovers Amarions unconscious body, fishing out a potion of healing to help his wounded companion. Mornington too summons forth his bardic powers to use healing word on the downed paladin, further strengthening him to return to his feet.
Edward stands up and fires a pair of eldritch blasts into the tunnel where he last heard the voice, but alas, hits nothing. Mornington follows Edward's lead and unearths his last potent melody from the weave as a high pitched note soars through the chamber. It stops, a split second of silence hangs, then an almighty boom shakes the ice around them. A pained cry emits from Teo, letting Mornington know he struck his target with the shattering explosion.
Edward, Artax, Mornington, Spook, all follow in pursuit down the tunnel that leads to the large open pit. The two familiars communicate telepathically the findings of their heightened senses, helping the warlock and bard pinpoint where Teo might be. Crom makes his way down an adjacent passage knowing that it loops back round to the very same chamber, trying to cut off the Necromancers options.
Amarion stands, follows his fellow adventurers. His ears ringing, head pounding, by the light of Eloranos, this dark mage will feel his wrath.
Next Session. 100
Previous Session 98