Arcanis: Gonnes, Sons, and Treasure Runs (COMPLETED)

[talien]

Red Skies: Part 9 – The Islands of the Damned

Kham plunged into the water. He struggled for breath, trying to think of a way out of his predicament. He always managed to find one.

And yet, he had been tripped up again. Acts of derring-do that came so easily to him had suddenly become more difficult. He felt clumsy and slow. Perhaps Sebastian was right…maybe he had relied on the King in Yellow far more than he realized.

Then Kham remembered the box. It turned itself into a boat! He uttered the command word as he plummeted down, down, down…

And once again he experienced the world from Zoltan’s point of view, plummeting for days.

One moment they had been closing with the Freeport fleet, inflicting punishing losses on them, and the next…well, it was hard to say. A storm struck, and then a wave big enough to drown the entire world crashed into them.

When the four undead pirates regained their senses, they were clinging to the wreckage of their respective ships, floating through a chain of small islands.

Daen pleaded for Leviathan’s intercession. “Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!”

A charming young man with a roguish smile and icy eyes appeared in their minds eyes instead.

“Cadic!” wailed Moab.

“So dogs,” roared the towering apparition, “what capital mischief ye been making! But now, I’m calling an end to yer gamboling. I leave ye here, on these Islands of the Damned, to live out the dogs’ lives ye have chosen for yourselves, forever removed from the company of Freeport’s mortals—and their blood, which ye crave, and their trinkets, for which ye kill them."

Daen renewed his chant for Leviathan, but Cadic’s laughter nearly split their eardrums. “As for the whelp ye worship, he may be crafty, but he ain’t as clever as he claims. And now he’ll pay.”

With that, Cadic revealed Leviathan, hanging thirty feet above the water, surrounded by a whirling globe of chains. He still bore his avatar form, and the artifacts (minus the sextant) that focused his power circled around him.

“It’s come to this,” said Cadic. “One last chance I give ye; renounce yer ways and swear fealty to me.”

“You will die at my hands!” came Leviathan’s response.

Cadic gave out a great sigh. Then he ripped Leviathan to pieces.

There was a bursting as of an exploding bladder, a slushy nastiness as of a cloven sunfish, and a stench as of a thousand opened graves. For an instant an acrid and blinding green cloud befouled the four pirates. Then bloody chunks of their master plummeted into the ocean, sending up great gusts of steam as they struck. But Cadic wasn’t done.

“So much fer yer flesh, whelp,” he spat. “Yer spirit I condemn to the Abyss.”

With that, he hurled the divine energy of Leviathan towards the island of R’lyeh where they had first met the squaminous being; it struck with the force of a meteor, plowing a mile-long furrow into the sod. The force propelled the artifacts from his body sending each flying toward a nearby island.

“And so ye won’t get lonesome,” jeered Cadic, “here’s the trinkets ye craved so greedily.” The god opened his palm, and thousands of pounds of gold and jewels and other valuables rained from the sky, burying what was left of Leviathan. Then Cadic blew across the face of the water, and the island vanished with a whisper of wind.

The pirates cringed, waiting for Cadic’s next attack, but the god had departed, leaving them to their fate.

 

[talien]

Red Skies: Part 10 – Death Fog

Eventually, the Nǎoké entered a patch of thick fog. The water was very still and there was only a slight breeze. Every sound was magnified in the stillness. The ropes rubbed against the mast, the ship’s boards creaked, and the lapping of the water on the ship’s hull combined to become both annoying and creepy.

“We’re at the center of Hell’s Triangle,” said Carthy. “We’re almost there.”

Suddenly, two sailors were yanked out of the fog. Beldin ran over to the edge, axe at the ready, only to be suddenly snatched into the mists by a huge tentacle.

“I can’t see it!” shouted Sebastian. He was afraid to fly too far away from the ship, lest he lose it completely. “Incendiares globus!”

The fog was burned away by a blast of flames in the sky. There, suction-cupped to the side of the Nǎoké, was a horrible green monstrosity. It had four tentacles, a single eyestalk, and a huge, lamprey-like maw.

Sebastian caught a glimpse of Beldin being tossed through the air like a seal at the mercy of a shark’s maw. Then he disappeared into the beast’s mouth.

That was all the motivation he needed. Sebastian unleashed another blast of flames. The thing hissed at him, its mouth moving as it chewed on the undoubtedly tough dwarf.

“Algor conus!”

Ice crusted over the beast. It shook the rime off with a shrug of its rubbery hide.

Crossbow bolts dotted its hide. To Sebastian’s amazement, they popped out after a moment.

“It’s healing itself!” shouted Carthy.

Sebastian shook his head in disbelief. He had to stop this.

“Multimodis oris!”

Shimmering blue jaws appeared in the air. Sebastian pointed and they sailed after the thing on the ship, gnawing on its blubbery hide. Finally, the beast reacted, flailing helplessly as it struggled to dislodge the jaws.

It released its hold on the ship and fell into the water with a mighty splash. Red stained the water and the thing’s floating carcass drifted in the water.

Beldin burst out of it, sputtering. He concentrated and rose out of the water, landing effortlessly on the deck.

“Took you long enough,” said the dwarf. “I had to keep drinking healing potions in there just to keep myself alive.”

Sebastian slapped his forehead.

 

[talien]

Red Skies: Part 11 – The Malestrom

The skies began to look dark and ominous and the winds picked up tremendously. Thunder rattled the decks and lightning lit up the skies. Then the seas turned rough and the rains came, bringing the storm in earnest. And still there was no sign of Kham.

Sebastian lifted the Moonsilver Orb over his head and the storm parted. The stars and the moon hung brightly in the sky. A swirling wind drove the Nǎoké toward the Triangle’s center. A massive, swirling patch of water opened up.

Lightning rose from its depths toward the cloudless sky. An ear-shattering thunder boomed occasionally, causing the hull to vibrate.

“Is it supposed to do that?” Beldin asked, staring dubiously at the huge whirlpool in the center.

“I have no idea!” shouted Sebastian over the thunder.

“It’ll tear us apart!” shouted Baldric.

As the ship closed in on the whirlpool, Carthy stood on the forecastle and raised the sextant above his head. He spoke a word in a strange tongue.

In an instant, a golden sphere of force surrounded the ship in a protective bubble. The lightning and water raged around them, but the sphere kept all within safe.

“Will that help any other ships nearby?” asked Beldin. “Just in case Kham’s still out there, I mean.”

Carthy blinked. “Perhaps. If he’s close enough…”

Suddenly, a dreadful presence overcame them. It was barely humanoid, with insectoid like legs and a skull for a head. Covered in bone and with a long, whipping tail behind it, the devil advanced on Carthy.

“An Osyluth!” shouted Sebastian. He handed the Orb to Baldric. “Beldin, get back!”

But it was too late. The osyluth’s mere presence paralyzed Beldin in terror. He was unable to move.

Sebastian swooped over to touch his dwarf ally. “Tergus lapideu!”

The beast latched onto Beldin and tried to tear him apart, but it found the dwarf to be as hard as stone.

“Algor conus!” Sebastian flew up into the air and unleashed a blast of cold at the devil. The thing slowly turned to look up at him.

Sebastian swallowed hard.

Then it was somehow in the air next to him. It landed on Sebastian with both claws, its hindlegs digging into his torso. They slammed into the deck.

“Freeport is for Losknek’s to own and no other!” it hissed.

Sebastian felt something prick his flesh just above his thigh. He struggled to move, but it seemed as if his very strength was leaking out of him through the window.

The devil howled as Beldin’s axe bit deeply into the back of its skull. It whirled to face him.

Peg-Leg was chanting, pointing at Beldin, bestowing the blessings of Cadic upon him. The dwarf stood between the devil and Carthy.

The devil hissed and stepped over Sebastian to renew its attacks upon the dwarf. Sebastian struggled to his feet. Even with his protective magic, Beldin was no match for the devil one on one.

He summoned what little remained of his strength. “Multimodis oris!”

Jaws flew out to latch onto the devil’s arms. Its tail was caught in mid-strike, keeping the poison stinger at bay.

The devil struggled in vain, helpless.

Beldin struck a killing blow. The Osyluth burst into flames and disappeared.

Sebastian collapsed to the ground.

 

[talien]

Red Skies: Conclusion

The ship sank beneath the waves within the sextant’s protection. As it sank, Carthy began to change. His flesh took on a deathly pallor.

”I die now, but not with regret,” said Carthy. “You have given me a chance to pay for my past crimes, and I thank you for it. I was one of the Full-Fathom Five! I sailed with those vile brutes nearly two centuries ago. We were once the finest captains who ever sailed the seas, and we served proudly in Freeport’s navy. But Drac betrayed us and left us for dead; and to save our lives we traded our souls to Leviathan. The crimes we committed upon the oceans, I dare not speak. They grew too great for me to bear, and I knew the Five must be stopped.”

Beldin stood with Baldric in the pitching storm. “So that’s what’s been excised from Freeport’s history all this time?”

Carthy nodded. “Leviathan had five artifacts on his person. I stole the artifact that gave him command of the seas, the sextant. The captains of Freeport drove the Five into Hell’s Triangle, where the vortex swallowed them. But I fear they live still, those bloodthirsty brutes. And I fear they have collected the rest of Leviathan’s artifacts, which would make them unspeakably powerful.”

“Th’ same sextant that ended up in Drak Scarbelly’s gut,” said Baldric sadly. “And look where it has brought ye.”

“Beware the Full-Fathom Five, my courageous friends! They are cunning and vicious beyond my power to describe! But you must battle them all if you hope to return. For the artifacts unlock R’lyeh’s treasures. You need them all to find what you seek. But they hold secrets you can’t imagine…the dark powers of Leviathan…and his Son…”

“Son?” asked Beldin. “What son?”

But Carthy was fading fast. He slumped to his knees. “Farewell, and may Cadic put wind at your backs. I ask one favor before I depart. If you still see Jenny Ramsey, tell her Ezekiel Carthy still…still…”

Carthy gasped for breath and his broken body fell to the deck.

Suddenly, the ship slipped through the whirlpool and fell from a great height. With a tremendous splash that threw everyone to the deck, the ship landed upon a wide ocean. Above them, the whirlpool disappeared.

Sebastian got to his feet, the weakness passed. All around them was a green ocean and a sky filled with unknown stars.

“We made it,” he said breathlessly.

“But we be where, exactly?” asked Baldric.

“And who else is with us?” asked Beldin. “I saw something. Two ships, one large, one small, drawn in as well.”

Sebastian flew up to survey their surroundings and then landed again. “Well, I don’t see anything now, but it gets hazy at a distance.”

“Then we’re stranded here,” said Beldin.

“There’s something else,” said Sebastian. “Four islands.”

Baldric clapped Sebastian and Beldin on the back. “We made it through! There are the islands, but we seem t’be missin’ one…R’lyeh itself, I assume. Well, that means we have time to gather th’ artifacts that Carthy went on before th’ sextant killed ‘im. Poor lad.”

Of Carthy’s body, there was no sign.

 

[talien]

Chapter 62: Islands of the Damned - Introduction

This scenario is from the Black Sails Over Freeport adventure “Red Skies at Morning” by Green Ronin, adapted to the Arcanis setting. You can read more about Arcanis at Onara Online. Please note: This adventure contains spoilers!

Our cast of characters includes:

• Dungeon Master: Michael Tresca (http://michael.tresca.net)
• Beldin Soulforge (dwarf fighter/dwarven defender) played by Joe Lalumia
• Kham Val’Abebi (val rogue/psychic warrior) played by Jeremy Ortiz (jeremyrobertortiz.blogspot.com)
• Sebastian Arnyal (dark-kin sorcerer) played by George Webster
• Vlad Martell (human fighter) played by Matt Hammer

With the pending birth of my son, I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to game in the near future. So I had to wrap up a bunch of Black Sails Over Freeport adventures quickly. Five islands in just twelve hours...it seems impossible. What the time pressure did for me as a DM was really condense all the cool parts of Black Sails Over Freeport, allowing me to discard the stupid parts.

The adventure actually inserts a vampire mcguffin, whom I transplanted from the Arcanis game (the only friendly vampire who could possibly be interested in working with the PCs, I might add). Haron von Grebel wasn’t thrilled to be working with Kham, but it’s better than slaving away for all eternity under Daen Danud. I was particularly proud of the makeover I gave Daenud, whose Blood Magus powers came in…uh, handy. It also was the absolute longest battle in my twenty years of gaming; long enough that spell durations finally just ran out. The fact that I role-played Daen as a foul-mouthed Skeletor from the He-Man cartoons probably didn’t help his image.

Zalton Zaska’s creepy machinations remained, but the endless warring by his clones was glossed over. I also skipped the majority of the stupid Skull Dugger Drawler/Mauler/Trawler/Bawlers. Speaking of Zaska, Kham’s player wanted to remake his character, and Zaska allowed me to basically inject Antonio Banderas directly into his skull.

Upon defeating Zaska, the PCs are effectively in control of a floating fortress. Von Grebel helps them plot their attack on Sycorax (aka Black Jenny Ramsey), but things don’t go as planned. Thus we have a nail-biting race against time before the skull fortress smashes into Sycorax’s pyramid. There wasn’t too much monkeying around either, if you know what I mean.

That leaves one last bad guy, Moab Cys’varion. He’s no dummy. The PCs have three of the four artifacts, and the artifact Cys’varion controls allows him to gate anyone to anywhere. For once, the bad guy goes on the offensive!

Overall, the biggest challenge wasn’t escaping the islands. It was Kham and Sebastian’s frustration with getting lots of gold but no resolution. While Beldin and Vlad were rolling in riches, the two tortured souls wondered what the hell they were fighting for. In the next chapter, they’re about to find out.

 

[talien]

Islands of the Damned: Prologue

Someone yanked the blindfold off of Vald’s face.

“Remove his gag,” said a familiar feminine voice.

Vlad blinked his eyes. They had caught him at a weak moment. He had stayed the night at the Marquis Moon in Patricia’s company, only to wake up in the darkness, stripped of his armor and weapons.

Rough hands undid the gag.

Vlad focused on the woman in front of him. She wore black studded leather and knee-high boots. Her waist-length flame-red hair was tightly woven into dreadlocks, and a wicked scar crossed from the top of her forehead to the middle of her right cheek.

“Baumann,” he croaked.

“That’s right,” said Captain Morgan Baumann with a smirk. “Looks like the rumors are true. She wasn’t exactly a serving maid, but yer tastes run a little callow, don’t ye think?”

Vlad swallowed a few times, trying to generate saliva again in his mouth.

“I’m goin’ to ask ye some questions,” said Baumann. “I want answers.”

Vlad tried to shrug nonchalantly, but his head just lolled in her direction. “Go ahead.”

“Where were yer friends going?”

“Going?” Vlad blinked. “Hell’s Triangle. After R’lyeh. Leviathan.”

Baumann nodded. “Right. I know all about that.”

“How?”

“Because we’re trapped in Hell’s Triangle along with ‘em, idiot!” snapped Baumann. “I want t’ know how we get out!”

Vlad tried to peer around him. He was in a small cabin. Another pirate stood with a cutlass out. They feared Vlad even when he was tied up.

“I don’t know,” he said after a moment. “I was along for the ride.”

“Bah,” said Baumann. “They must have told you something.”

“I can find them for you.” Vlad licked his lips. “Give me my sword and my armor and I’ll lead you to them.”

Baumann barked a vicious laugh. “I’m no fool. I know what that sword o’ yers can do. I’ve seen it in action. Ye’ll not be seein’ yer sword again until you get us out o’ here. But in the mean time,” she nodded at the pirate, who leaned forward to put the blindfold over Vlad’s eyes again, “I’ll let ye think on it. Call if ye change yer mind.”

Everything went dark again. The door opened and closed. Vlad could hear footsteps, above and below, and men talking in whispers. They were afraid, Baumann’s bravado not withstanding.

They had taken his sword and shield, true. But Vlad had another trick up his sleeve, literally. He wiggled his ring finger on his left hand.

“Ye keep th’ sword away from ‘im,” said Baumann on the other side of the door. “But in the mean time, figure out how t’ use it.”

Yep, it was still there. The Carcosan Ring. Sebastian had infused it with his spells once more.

With a roar, Vlad strained and snapped his cloth bonds. He tore the blindfold from his face.

Footsteps stumbled towards the door. Vlad kicked it open with one booted heel and was rewarded by the sickening crunch of wood on flesh. The door splintered open and Vlad kept going.

There was another door across the cramped quarters. Vlad bashed right through it. Flimsy wooden doors on ships were hardly a match for the huge Milandisian.

Within, another startled pirate held Grungronazharr in his hands. Cries of distress echoed all over the ship.

Vlad shoved forward, grabbing the pirate by the throat. He spun so that his back was to the hull of the ship, one hand on the hilt of Grungronazharr.

“There’s no escape,” snarled the pirate, who still held onto the blade by its scabbard.

Vlad hooked one foot onto the bundle of armor and shield, folded neatly on the floor. Vlad tugged and Grungronazharr came free in his right hand just as he lifted his left palm, leaving the pirate with just a scabbard.

“You’re right,” said Vlad. “You should have run while you had the chance.”

The Carcosan Ring unleashed a blast of flames. The pirate disintegrated in the conflagration, but Grungronazharr protected Vlad. The explosion launched Vlad outwards through the weakened hull and into the ocean.

With the Kraken’s Claw on fire, Baumann’s crew was too preoccupied to give chase.

After a desperate moment when Vlad struggled to keep his armor and shield from sinking to the bottom of the ocean, he began swimming to the nearest island.

 

[talien]

Islands of the Damned: Part 1a – The Isle of Undeath

As they navigated along the northern side of the island, Sebastian spied an inlet in the distance. When the Naoke sailed close enough for a better look, they saw a cove that extended inward for almost a quarter mile.

After a blessing from Father Peg-Leg, Beldin steered a rowboat past the rocky reef and landed on the island. The slope leading to the island proper became steeper as Beldin climbed, and the rocks and dirt were moist from sea spray. By the time the dwarf reached the top lip, he was wet and covered in a lot of mud.

Sebastian landed next to him. Beldin tried not to glare at the dark-kin with envy.

“From what I can see, there’s a forest over there.” Sebastian pointed to the right. “It appears to have been left undisturbed for hundreds of years. To our left,” he pointed to the left, “is an expanse of grasslands that follows the gradual slope of the eastern half of the island. The highest point that I can see is a large tower on the far eastern end of the island that rises about fifty feet.”

“So the tower it is.” Beldin was struggling to get some of the water and mud out of his armor. It was working its way into some uncomfortable areas.

“There’s also, closer to the middle of the island, some sort of stone table.”

Beldin stopped wringing out one of his boots and remembered Cho Sun’s ring. He concentrated and the mud sloughed off of him. “Sounds like an altar. Which means trouble.”

“Which means that’s our next stop.” Sebastian flapped into the air again.

Beldin stumped along when he suddenly paused. His footsteps sounded different.

The dwarf looked down at his feet.

The dark-kin flapped overhead. “Guess who I found wandering the beach?” he asked cheerily.

Vlad came into view. “Hi—”

The dwarf disappeared without a word as the trapdoor beneath him gave way.

“That’s not the reception I expected,” said Vlad.

 

[talien]

Isles of the Damned: Part 1b – The Isle of Undeath

“Go, go, go!” shouted Sebastian. He flapped overhead, barely navigating the ten-foot wide corridor with his huge wings.

“More ghouls?” asked Vlad fearfully. They had encountered a room full of armed and armored ghouls, unlike the ones who skulked the drug dens of Freeport.

“Worse,” shouted Sebastian over his shoulder. “Skeletons.”

“Bah!” Beldin turned, Windcutter at the ready. “I’m not going to run from a bag of bones.”

Vlad bounced on his heels, torn between running after Sebastian or staying to help his friend. “How many?”

“More than I can count!” shouted Sebastian as he turned the corner out of sight.

A bleached mass of roiling bones came into view around the corner. They skeletons crawled and scrabbled over each other like ants, filling the entire hallway up with their mass.

“On second thought…” the dwarf took a few steps backwards.

“Beldin!” Vlad tugged on the dwarf’s shield, which was strapped across his back. “Let’s go!”

They both ran down the winding corner, back the way they had come. Wherever the first artifact was, its owner most assuredly knew that intruders had arrived.

They ran past Sebastian, who hovered overhead in a four-way intersection.

“What are you doing?” asked Beldin, opening a door on the other side of the room.

“Slowing them down: Atrum pampinea!”

Wriggling black tentacles sprung up behind them. The skeletons didn’t hesitate, surging right into the boiling mass of tentacles, their advance merely slowed but the grasping tendrils.

“Glad to see your tentacles are no longer yellow,” said Vlad. He followed Beldin into the room.

 

[talien]

Isles of the Damned: Part 1c – The Isle of Undeath

A very peculiar tableau unfolded before them: in the southwestern corner of the room, the lower half of a pallid corpse was sticking out of a hole in the floor. A zombie was slowly jumping up and down on the corpse, assisted by two brethren, who were attempting to force down the lifeless form by prodding it with their swords. Three more zombies stood before them, patiently waiting for their turn with a body of their own.

The zombies whipped their heads around with looks of what could almost be mistaken for shame passing over their twisted miens. But the look faded to their customary grimace, and the grunts of effort changed to low moans of menace.

“I don’t have time for this,” said Sebastian. “Incendiaries globus!”

The room was ablaze with flames.

“I’m not sure,” said Beldin, “but I think one of the zombies fell down the hole.”

A door on the other side of the room burst open as a patrol of ghouls came charging in.

“More ghouls,” sighed Vlad. He held Grungronazharr before him as if to ward off the ghouls by its mere sight alone.

The lead ghoul, wearing chain mail, smiled a wicked, toothsome grin…

That was promptly blasted off its skull by another of Sebastian’s fireballs.

Beldin was busy with his back to the door, heels dug in. “I can’t keep this up all day you know!”

The door shuddered from the skeletons on the other side.

“Nor can I,” said Sebastian. “It appears we are trapped.”

“If you keep that up, you’ll certainly die here.” A humanoid form coalesced out of the hole where the zombie disappeared. “This has to be the most poorly planned attack I’ve ever witnessed.”

The dark-kin squinted. “Von Grebel? I thought we left you back in Canceri.”

Haron von Grebel was unmistakable. “I could say the same about you. I was on a mission for Akali Vervain, hidden in the cargo of a ship bound for Freeport, when it was swept off course. The Leviathan Bell called me to Daen and I’ve been stuck here ever since.”

“So you’re not here to fight?” asked Vlad. He hadn’t lowered his sword.

“No. I’m here to help. The only way I can be free of Danud is if you kill him. I’ve been plotting my escape for months.”

The door shuddered. Bony fingers protruded from beneath the door and around the hinges. Beldin grunted, straining to keep it closed.

“And what do you get out of it?” asked Sebastian.

“I cannot cross running water or travel in the daylight. You can. You will transport me out of this accursed dimension. Do we have a deal?”

Vlad and Sebastian exchanged glances.

“We don’t have a lot of time here!” shouted Beldin.

“I swear by Sarish,” said Sebastian. He cut his palm and offered it to von Grebel.

The vampire licked his lips, staring at the scarlet dripping from the dark-kin’s hand. He cut his own hand. No blood flowed from the wound. They shook on it.

“Jump down the hole and it will lead you directly to Daen. I will block the other entrances with cave-ins. That will keep his minions from reaching Daen before you can finish him off.”

Sebastian didn’t ask questions. He folded his wings and dove into the hole.

“That’s it?” asked Vlad. “That’s the plan? Jump down a hole?”

Von Grebel disappeared in a puff of smoke. A second later, Beldin rushed past him and dove after Sebastian.

It took Vlad only a second to realize what the running dwarf signified. Closing his eyes, he jumped into the hole just as bleached claws reached for him.

 

[talien]

Isles of the Damned: Part 1d – The Isle of Undeath

Beldin kicked open the door with a giant-sized foot, thanks to the growth effects of several potions. He almost seemed like a titan of old.

The room was filled with barrels, dripping with a blackish-red substance that could only be blood. In the northeastern corner of the room was a small copse of tree-like stone formations. Four hairless, rotting apes swung from the branches to block their path.

On the other side of the room stood Daen. He wore a cowl that concealed his features, leaving a bleached skull to glare at them with tiny red fires for eyes. His jaw clacked as he spoke, connected only by magic.

Beldin engaged two of the apes, who wielded spears. Vlad took on the other two, trying to keep them at bay. Sebastian hovered behind them.

Daen strode confidently toward the fray. Blood, crackling with vile energy, covered him from head to toe.

“You are powerful to have come this far.” His voice was a nasal, high-pitched rasp. “You will make a formidable addition to my legions. Answer me true, and your death will be quick and almost painless. Who sent you?”

“You should worry less about who sent us,” said Sebastian, crackling with magical defenses. “And more about saving yourself. Incendiares—“

Daen laughed and pointed at Sebastian. “Oh, that’ll be enough of that: resolvo veneficus!”

Sebastian blinked as the fireball poofed out of existence in front of him. He slowly flapped to the ground, his defenses fading.

Vlad smashed one of the gorillas across the face with his shield and stabbed it through the heart. The thing roared in his face, the stench of death washing over him. Vlad’s opponent was no mere gorilla; it was an undead gorilla.

“And this nonsense!” Daen pointed at Beldin. “Dwarves becoming giants? Don’t be ridiculous: resolvo veneficus!”

Beldin shrunk back to his normal size. Even at his normal size he was still a formidable opponent. One of the gorillas lunged at where his head would have been and paid for it when Windcutter separated the ape’s leg at the kneecap.

“We’ll see if your defenses can stop this,” a glowing orb of bluish white appeared in the dark-kin’s upraised palm, “algor globus!” He threw the globe at Daen.

The lich caught it in his palm. He examined it as if he were examining a piece of glass. “Interesting. They’ve been teaching you pups some new spells, I’ve never seen this one.” Daen crushed the globe in one bony fist.

Vlad blocked one of the gorillas spear attacks by chopping it aside with Grungronazharr. Before the ape could react, he stabbed it through the skull. The blow was powerful enough to put it down.

Beldin wasn’t faring as well. The change in size had thrown him off balance. One of the apes advanced on him.

“Vinculum fulmen!” chanted Sebastian. Electricity surged between the undead gorillas and Daen. Two of the gorillas collapsed in smoking piles of roasted flesh. The third advanced on Beldin. Daen was completely unaffected.

“Bah! I didn’t need those ridiculous minions anyway.” Daen laughed. "Gorillas? Only Ramsey would use gorillas!” He pointed at Sebastian. “Now feel the wrath of my tentacles!”

Black tentacles sprung up around Vlad, Beldin, and Sebastian. A twisting tentacle wrenched the remaining gorilla’s head off.

Beldin and Vlad struggled to escape. Sebastian took to the air, but one of the tentacles snapped around his ankle. It was all he could do to stay aloft.

“And now that I have you where I want you,” sneered Daen, “feel the fatigue of centuries!”

The lich put out one hand and a wave of shimmering air swept over them with a WOOM-WOOM-WOOM sound.

Sebastian struggled to move. The spell was sapping their energy. Vlad and Beldin shifted from trying to remove the tentacles to avoiding being squeezed to death. Fortunately, they were protected by Sebsatian’s magics.

“Bow before Daen Danud!” sneered the lich. “For I am the Lord of Despair!” He pointed one palm at them and another WOOM-WOOM-WOOM wave hit them. The urge to bow before Daen became nearly overpowering.

“When I am finished with you, you will beg to serve me in undeath! Pitiful fools, you can’t even move, can you?”

Vlad and Beldin struggled in slow motion as Daen warped even time itself.

Sebastian finally broke free of the tentacle. “My turn,” he said with a snarl. “Resolvo veneficus!”

The tentacles disappeared.

Beldin and Vlad, clearing their heads, staggered forward. Daen put his arm at his sides and a sickening green mist surrounded him.

“Yes, come to me, fools! Come to your death!”

“Poison!” shouted Beldin. “You’ll have to do better than that!”

Vlad charged into the greenish fog with a roar, but the mists overcame him. He fell to his knees in front of Daen, overcome.

“Who said anything about poison?” cackled Daen. He tapped Vlad on the forehead. “You’ll find your own blood betrays you!”

Vlad’s eyes bulged. He hopped to his feet, choking. The Milandisian stumbled back out of the mists.

“Vlad?” asked Beldin uncertainly.

Vlad clawed as his throat. He gasped out a warning, but a bloody gurgle was all he could manage. His eyes bulged red with blood. Blood leaked from his ears and nose.

Then a torrent of blood and gore erupted from Vlad’s mouth and shot across the room. It ran from his nostrils and ears, and then his eyes burst from the pressure, and the gushing continued from his empty sockets.

With a horrible shriek, Vlad exploded, his blood firing outwards as if it were stretching of its own volition. Then, just as quickly as it had exited his body, the blood sucked back in like a snail hiding in its shell.

Vlad’s drained corpse clattered to the ground.

“Illiir have mercy!” shouted Beldin, kneeling over what was left of Vlad’s corpse. “I’ll kill you for that!”

“No,” shouted Sebastian. “Retreat! I’ll keep him busy. You can’t take him in your weakened condition.”

Beldin took a few steps backwards. Sebastian was right, the poison was sapping his strength.

“Yes, run little dwarf,” sneered Daen. “Your Milandisian friend has it all under control. Don’t you, Vlad?”

And then Vlad got back up.