Following on from their fight with the strange trees (see ST04. The Zombies of Coral Reef), the party continued as night began to fall. They emerged into a clearing, to find a small campsite with two people there. The strangers introduced themselves as Ying and Tregin, and explained that they were survivors of a shipwreck. They hadn't been on the island long enough to encounter the zombies, and so were wary of the newcomers. But the two groups agreed to share a camp for the night, and spent the evening swapping stories about their adventures so far.
They took shifts overnight for guard duty. Most were uneventful, but the last shift, taken by El Graeve, was interrupted by the sight of a goblin walking up the road. The creature immediately cast Charm Person on El Graeve, who was so taken by the new arrival that he wasn't perturbed when the goblin shifted into its true form, that of a monstrous, snarling barghest. A battle ensued over El Graeve loudly protesting. Kuven struck quickly and decisively, while Sacha Cresswell nobly assisted despite the lack of his usual armour. Ying and Tregin demonstrated their worth, with a number of unarmed strikes and some magical support from afar respectfully. The barghest was unprepared for such a quick onslaught, and even a Dimension Door across the makeshift battlefield could not save it for long, and Kuven decapitated the creature.
They finished their rest, and carried on down the path indicated by Courier, who was still acting as their guide. Eventually, they reached the manor where Mizago lived. It was a large building, clearly several centuries old, that had withstood the passage of time well. The gates in the surrounding wall were unlocked, but the party noted that whenever they stepped over the threshold of the wall, two gargoyles took off from a plinth at the end of the main path and flew towards them. While they we deliberating what to do, El Graeve decided to step forward and cast Spiritual Weapon; however, the others mistook his intent for charging into battle, and beat him to the punch. Kuven decided to scale the wall, and jump down onto the curiously well-kept grass to one side of the path. He battle roar became a confused cry as he fell straight through the grass, which was clearly illusionary, and into the stone ground below. The others charged down the path, only to find that their weight caused it to pivot, leaving them grappling to hold on. A battle ensued, with the two gargoyles flying overhead to avoid the mounting peril of the tipping path. Ying ran to one end, and proceeded far enough up the curved steps to avoid the problem, but he found his fists unable to do much damage to the nearest gargoyle. El Graeve, Sacha Cresswell and Tregin all struggled to maintain their footing, and each of them eventually fell off the path and into the pit below. While El Graeve and Tregin headed back to a ladder that they had spotted next to the entrance, Sacha Cresswell nimbly made his way up the stone face of the wall in front of him, resuming his previous position.
The battle was lengthy, but eventually one of the gargoyles fell. Unfortunately, the second was able to knock Tregin unconscious, but this at least gave Kuven and opening. He slammed his shield into the gargoyle knocking it to the ground before pushing it over the edge and down below. Ying immediately went after it, jumping through the illusion and landing on the gargoyle's shoulders, pounding it as he went. El Graeve put his head through the grass and seeing his target, finished it off with a well-aimed arrow. Ying fell to the floor again, while Tregin was healed by Sacha Cresswell. The quintet decided that this was a good place to rest, and sort out their wounds before carrying on.
They found the manor door locked, but there was no key-hole. Instead, a four-by-four grid of crystals by the side if the door seemed to act as a way of granting entrance. Kuven reached forward, and noted that as he touched one, it lit up, as did its immediate neighbours. He started to touch them randomly, mostly to amuse himself, until he paused realising he wasn't achieving anything. However, luck was on his side, as he had inadvertently nearly completed the process if lighting them all up. Ying leaned in and touched the last two needed, unlocking the front door.
They proceeded into the manor, and in the entrance-hall Tregin found himself taken by the strong arcane weight to the air. As they discussed what this might mean, they saw that the shadows on a stairway in front of them were shifting; moving form from one to another, as fast as the eye could see. Yet they all believed that the shadows lingered just momentarily on the thing that they feared the most. A similar shadow blade emerged from behind one column, and started hovering towards them. Ying ran in and grabbed the blade, and despite it fighting against him dragged it up the stairs to try and attack the shadow form, but to no effect. Meanwhile, Sacha Cresswell was struck with overwhelming fear, as the shadows formed into an old rival from his training in Breland. Attacking the shadows, the party were able to overcome their fear, and destroy both mysterious magical creatures.
Continuing in, they found Mizago in a dining room, trying to feed his zombie wife. The wizard appeared to not realise that his wife was undead, and the conversation quickly turned to confusion as it became apparent that Mizago did not realise that six months had passed since he had attempted his spell. Noting his eyes darting towards an arcane orb, Ying grabbed it, before an argument as to what to do next ensued. El Graeve tried to shoot Mizago, but Kuven knocked him prone. However, succumbing to the argument that the orb was needed, Ying through the orb to El Graeve, who ran out of the room. Meanwhile, Tregin, Ying and Kuven all tried to calm the situation down. They managed to succeed, and eventually the truth of what had occured came to light.
Mizago had attempted to bring his wife back from the dead, after her untimely death from Mindrot. The orb he had used as part of the ritual, which had been sent to him by his old friend & rival Roland Whitelock, had been secretly corrupted. The spell backfired; it brought Mizago's wife back, but also killed and brought back every other living person on the island. Only Mizago himself was spared, but the act drove him mad, and he lost all sense of the passage of time. It was also established that the zombies were only docile as long as the orb remained intact, and they stayed on the island; if they were removed, or the orb destroyed, then the illusion within their minds that was deceiving them that they were still alive would end, and they would revert to being typical zombies. Understanding this, the party returned the orb to Mizago, so that he could attempt to save his wife.
They returned to Coral Reef, safe in the knowledge that the zombies wouldn't do anything until they left the port. They captured twenty, and secured them away in the cages that they had procured in Second Chance. As suspected, about a mile out of port the zombies reverted to type. The journey back to the pirate town was uneventful, and the party handed over their cargo to Lucius, before sitting down to consider where they might go next.