Mandras listened to Rarder and Koko extolling the pros and cons of the mercenaries and retainers they were hiring – he was bored. He wanted to sink his new toy into the neck of some monster. His enchanted sword was a real step up, especially versus undead. Hats and Konrad were playing dice somewhere in the background.
Eventually they headed out to meet some petty bureaucrat in the city of Vyonne and grease his palm for information about the Viper Circled Mirror that they needed to recover from the pirate Gaspard. The visit led to some minor nobleman Aterre, from whom it had been stolen in the first place. Offering to recover the object, the party found out as much as they could about the item and its appearance. Naturally, the owner would not own up to it having magical properties. But they did learn that it was a focus enhancer for learning new spells.
Working their way down the coast again, they climbed down to an unexplored opening in the cliff. It gave onto a large body of water within a cavern, too large to see the back of, or even the size. What was visible in the cavern was a hole 20 feet up on the north side, with seal carcasses dangling. As the party’s thieves made ready to work their way along the minuscule ledge leading under the dead seals, the water started to ripple. There was an enormous splash and a dark shape rising from the water: the dragon turtle! Everyone backed away double time and headed north along the beach hoping to find a more propitious opening to explore.
Eventually, they found another opening in the cliff from which a waterfall spewed forth. The thieves clambered up with rope and pitons and the party followed. Tramping through the shallow water, they came to a bronze door, verdegrised with age. Mandras forced the door and opening it, saw three byres on his right side, each sporting a bloated body of some age and dampness. Konrad tossed in a vial of burning oil, to no effect other than to inspire the lich to arise, followed by its two fellows. As Mandras hewed the first in twain, he noticed another four coming up behind the two survivors… There was one wearing a spiky crown, it managed to reach out and touch Konrad as he killed it. Konrad felt a sudden chill and a draining of his abilities. Luckily the seven monstrosities were killed without further ado. Mandras could but feel sorry for Konrad, having suffered a similar reversal a few months earlier.
- At the back of the seemingly dead-end room, Mandras discovered two concealed buttons in the rock face. These would have to await their return as the party took itself back to Vyonnes for a rest. The crown turned out to be an item of significant magical importance and had a value of 3500 GP. The party added it to its stash for future use as a bribe, a bargaining chip or similar.