There's a phylactery around somewhere that says no, I think.
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Sagiro's Story Hour: The FINAL Adventures of Abernathy's Company (FINISHED 7/3/14)
- Thread starter Sagiro
- Start date
There's a phylactery around somewhere that says no, I think.
Innocent Bystander
First Post
Oh right, he was a lich. Yet another item on the party's to do list.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Avoiding spoilers - at this point we're pretty sure it is, and we're feeling pretty damn pleased with ourselves. Emperor thwarted! There are still red armored jerks around (Meledien, Tarsos, and Octesian (last seen banished into Dream)), but we've tromped on the Black Circle leadership and all the major players we know about. Clearly we have nothing else to worry about on that front.
*twitch*
Sagiro
Rodent of Uncertain Parentage
Sagiro’s Story Hour, Part 328
Unexpected Guest
The mopping-up stage is extensive.
Following some quick healing and restorations, and while Dranko hastens to find Flicker’s remains (as well as loot the now-quiescent corpse of Ten Old Bones), the others investigate the interior of the tower. They discover that nearly the entire measure of the building is a single wide, winding staircase that goes from ground to rooftop. The only other feature is a chamber about half way up – containing a second obelisk, identical to the one on the roof. That would explain why Old Bones was inside the tower when the Company arrived.
As for the lich himself, Dranko finds that his bones are already brittle and decaying. After retrieving Flicker’s head (the only obviously recognizable piece of his remains), Dranko relieves Ten Old Bones of his magical possessions.
“Flicker would have loved this part,” he says.
“I miss Flicker already,” says Ernie.
Aravis smirks. “I feel like he’s all around us.”
“In fact,” says Dranko, “a little piece of him is with me right now!”
It’s easier to joke about it, knowing that Ernie plans to raise Flicker from the dead.
Dranko ducks as a splinter of bone whistles past his head. Oh, right. There’s still a battle going on, though it’s lost most of its urgency. The large Black Circle arachnid artillery platform has stopped firing; its barrel is pointing downward, and it can’t rotate its ring because too many of its structural bones have snapped. Kibi’s rockslides continue to slow the general melee to a near-standstill.
As Dranko loots the lich, Aravis looks on thoughtfully. “He’ll have a phylactery somewhere,” he says. “We’ll need to find it and destroy it, or Ten Old Bones will be able to come back to life. Well, undeath, anyway.”
The lich’s magical stuff consists of:
- An arcane scroll containing horrid wilting and greater dispel magic
- A second scroll containing only the 9th-level spell effulgent epuration, a powerful abjuration that Bones had been using in the battle. (It was what created those silver globes that absorbed incoming spells.)
- Standard battle gear: cloak of resistance +4, amulet of charisma +6, ring of protection +5
- A ring of wraiths, which can summon eight Dread Wraiths every 24 hours.
- A set of bracers of armor +8, greater fortification
And finally, in a deep interior pocket of his black robe, they find a large ellipsoid of clear crystal, the size of a grapefruit. Etched into its smooth surface are blue runes, identical to the ones found on every skeleton in the Black Circle army. It identifies as a runic lens, and it bolsters the power of linked undead, particularly when fighting other undead. And they’ve seen this object before; sketches of it were among the papers in Zeg’s office, in the warren that housed the Necromantic Forge.
“Why aren’t we smashing that thing right now?” asks Grey Wolf.
“Wait,” says Dranko. “We could march home with our own undead army at our back!”
“If we’re going to do that,” says Aravis, “I’d rather march it to Kai Kin and knock the whole place down. Poetic justice.”
Dranko shrugs. He also gives the runic lens a quick lick. Glassy, but a bit gritty where the runes are etched in.
Rather than co-opt the army, they take the lens, and place it and the ring of wraiths atop the looted body of Ten Old Bones. With everyone standing back, Aravis casts Mordenkainen’s disjunction. The items cease being magical. The large bone artillery spider immediately collapses under its own weight, its no-longer-fortified bones unable to provide sufficient support. Grey Wolf, flying high, sees that the front between the two competing armies has immediately shifted, with the Droshian guardians pushing back the invaders.
Morningstar laments that, ironically, they haven’t attempted to Turn undead even a single time. They correct that problem, and generally unload all of their remaining firepower into the Black Circle army. Their assistance turns the battle into a rout, and while the Droshian undead keep an eye on these strange living interlopers, they make no hostile moves against the Company.
Before they leave, Dranko catches a glimpse of something glinting in the bone wreckage below. He realizes that they haven’t looted the little flying skulls, each of which has its eye sockets filled with one ruby and one jet, respectively. The party spends some time popping out gemstones, and in the end Dranko is holding a pile of extremely valuable jewels. He’s not as good an appraiser as Flicker, but he guesses he’s got between 100k and 200k worth of gold piece value.
“I could make a loincloth out of these!” he exclaims.
The others wince, wishing they could unthink the inevitable imagery.
Morningstar groans. “That what modify memory is for.”
/*/
With nothing left to do here in the mist-capped ravines of Il-Drosh, the Company flies straight upward. As with their descent, the escape takes longer than it should given the distance traveled. Some forty-five minutes later the mist thins, and then abruptly they are above it, flying in open air. It’s nighttime, but the moon is nearly full, low in the sky. Once free of the thick foggy ceiling, Morningstar fires off a sending to Rosetta.
Bad news: we saw the Emperor. Good news: Thwarted him. Army leader Ten Old Bones; lich but killed. Drosh undead now clearly winning. Flicker dead.
There is no response, and Morningstar thinks that, for whatever reason, the spell didn’t make it to its intended target. She casts again, this time uttering her message to Yale.
The response: Excellent news, though we’re sorry to hear about Flicker. We were starting to wonder what happened to you.
“Strange,” says Morningstar. “We’ve only been gone a couple of days.”
“Maybe not,” says Aravis. “Maybe while we were in the mist, time was passing more quickly out here.”
Either way, the Company wants nothing more than to teleport back to the Greenhouse for some rest. They do so. Eddings greets them at the door.
“Nice to see you back!” he exclaims.
“When did you last see us?” asks Ernie.
Eddings is quite used to this kind of odd question. “Just under two weeks,” he says.
“Could have been worse,” says Grey Wolf. They talk for a bit about the timing. Corilayna, Goddess of Luck, is still AWOL, and the laws of chance are still in occasional flux. It’s possible that a particularly fortuitous surge of fortune caused them to arrive in the nick of time to stop Ten Old Bones. Or maybe the mist really does extend time? They’re not eager to go back and experiment.
After a quick freshening up, Ernie has a message delivered to the Chuch of Yondalla, asking that they prepare for Flicker’s resurrection the following day. Then they contact Ozilinsh on the crystal ball, and soon they are sitting with him in the living room giving him a full info dump.
Ozilinsh is raptly attentive. When he asks for more detail about what Emperor Naradawk looked like, Dranko uses his robe of blending to assume his features, albeit on a smaller scale.
“Some of us might have made rude gestures at him,” says Ernie, glancing at Dranko.
Dranko clarifies: “I totally flipped him off.”
“Was that wise?” asks Ozilinsh.
Ernie laughs. “Dranko’s hoping to get Tapheon and Naradawk to start fighting each other over Dranko’s soul.”
“Right,” says Ozilinsh. “Because the demon wasn’t powerful enough to be the most powerful creature who specifically wants you dead.”
Ozilinsh comments that he doesn’t recognize what kind of creature the Emperor is, but that’s not surprising. His grandfather was a human, who became corrupted by Black Goo. Who knows what effect that would off on his progeny?
On the subject of phylacteries and how to find them, Ozilinsh answers: “With great difficulty. Liches aren’t typically careless. If I were him, knowing what I do about the Black Circle, I’d expect Ten Old Bones’ phylactery is inside a divination sink. In which case you’ll have to use good old-fashioned detective work to find it.”
“How long before he reassumes his old form?” Aravis asks.
“A couple of weeks,” Ozilinsh guesses. “Maybe a month, if you’re lucky?” Abernathy’s apprentice laughs and shakes his head. “Once again – and you may be growing tired of hearing this – the kingdom is in your debt.”
Kibi smiles broadly. “No, we don’t grow tired of hearing that. Say it all you want.”
Ozilinsh smiles back. “Abernathy knew something when he picked you, that’s for sure.”
“Say,” says Dranko. “Where’s Rosetta? She didn’t answer our sending.
“Oh, right!” says Ozilinsh. “Rosetta is gone again. And we’re specifically not to know where, just like last time. She left about three days after you did, on some ‘vital mission against Black Circle interests.’ She took Etria with her. Given that her mission against Cor Kek was such a success, we’re inclined to trust that she knows what she’s doing. No, we’re more concerned with Cencerra’s whereabouts than Rosetta’s.”
As the Company knows, Cencerra and her adventuring company have been missing for over a year, ever since they headed through a gartine arch on the Dwarven island of Karth. Others have been sent to follow up, but none have even been able to find the arch. Grey Wolf mentions that perhaps they should look for her themselves, and this leads to a review of the many loose ends to which the Company might still attend. At the top of the list is raising Flicker and finding the phylactery of Ten Old Bones, but below that are such tasks as:
- Vanquishing Thewana/Davarian and the Delfirians, while rescuing Tor in the process.
- Putting a stop to the predations of the Guild of Chains.
- Morningstar “slaying again when the time comes for the Throggun’s ascension.” The blood mark still itches on the back of her hand.
- Defeating Parthol Runecarver in Kynder Hold.
- Kibi removing a splinter from Abernia, as per the planet’s specific dream-delivered intructions.
- Destroying the other two Cauldrons (brothers to the Cauldron of Null Shadows), mentioned in the Black Circle library.
- Wiping out Darkeye and the Sharshun in their fortress hidden in the Greatwood.
Dranko idly lights a Blacktallow cigar while they chat, and blows out a stream of greasy smoke. It forms into the words “not lying.” Well, not every prophetic exhalation is going to be immediately obvious.
By the time Ozilinsh has departed, it’s early evening. The party heads out reluctantly to perform the necessary task of informing Flicker’s parents that their son is dead. Ernie invites Crick and Mora for a private chat in a back room, where he gently explains how Flicker died bravely, and in the act of saving the world.
“But I plan to bring him back to life tomorrow, if you don’t object.”
Crick and Mora most vociferously do not object. But Morningstar explains that it’s possible that Flicker is happy and content in the afterlife, and may not want to come back.
“Well, he did die a hero,” says Crick. “To think I have a son who died fighting a dragon!”
Ernie smiles. “And if things go well tomorrow, you still will!”
Crick laughs. “Oh, he’ll be insufferable about that, won’t he!”
Ernie buys a round for the house, and Crick drinks with the Company as they regale the Smoke House with tales of Flicker’s adventures. Dranko delights in retelling about the time Flicker was trapped in a sapphire while his friends pursued him through Slices of the Abyss. Ernie recounts the time that Flicker surprised them by starring for a Farangi team in Djaw. Mora is absent for most of this, but eventually the laughter of the room draws her out, and she sits quietly, listening to stories about her son. They spend several hours there, drinking and recounting and laughing, all the while wondering if Flicker will choose to come back from the dead, or if his part of the story is truly over.
/*/
It’s late in the evening when the Company heads home for bed. Eddings greets them at the door. He looks nervous.
“You have a visitor,” he says stiffly. “He awaits your pleasure in the living room.”
They seldom see the unflappable butler looking so distraught, so they enter cautiously, and there is indeed someone sitting on the sofa, his head bowed so they cannot see his face. But when all are assembled, he raises his head so that can get a good look at him.
Parthol Runecarver smiles thinly. “I let myself in,” he says.
...to be continued...
Unexpected Guest
The mopping-up stage is extensive.
Following some quick healing and restorations, and while Dranko hastens to find Flicker’s remains (as well as loot the now-quiescent corpse of Ten Old Bones), the others investigate the interior of the tower. They discover that nearly the entire measure of the building is a single wide, winding staircase that goes from ground to rooftop. The only other feature is a chamber about half way up – containing a second obelisk, identical to the one on the roof. That would explain why Old Bones was inside the tower when the Company arrived.
As for the lich himself, Dranko finds that his bones are already brittle and decaying. After retrieving Flicker’s head (the only obviously recognizable piece of his remains), Dranko relieves Ten Old Bones of his magical possessions.
“Flicker would have loved this part,” he says.
“I miss Flicker already,” says Ernie.
Aravis smirks. “I feel like he’s all around us.”
“In fact,” says Dranko, “a little piece of him is with me right now!”
It’s easier to joke about it, knowing that Ernie plans to raise Flicker from the dead.
Dranko ducks as a splinter of bone whistles past his head. Oh, right. There’s still a battle going on, though it’s lost most of its urgency. The large Black Circle arachnid artillery platform has stopped firing; its barrel is pointing downward, and it can’t rotate its ring because too many of its structural bones have snapped. Kibi’s rockslides continue to slow the general melee to a near-standstill.
As Dranko loots the lich, Aravis looks on thoughtfully. “He’ll have a phylactery somewhere,” he says. “We’ll need to find it and destroy it, or Ten Old Bones will be able to come back to life. Well, undeath, anyway.”
The lich’s magical stuff consists of:
- An arcane scroll containing horrid wilting and greater dispel magic
- A second scroll containing only the 9th-level spell effulgent epuration, a powerful abjuration that Bones had been using in the battle. (It was what created those silver globes that absorbed incoming spells.)
- Standard battle gear: cloak of resistance +4, amulet of charisma +6, ring of protection +5
- A ring of wraiths, which can summon eight Dread Wraiths every 24 hours.
- A set of bracers of armor +8, greater fortification
And finally, in a deep interior pocket of his black robe, they find a large ellipsoid of clear crystal, the size of a grapefruit. Etched into its smooth surface are blue runes, identical to the ones found on every skeleton in the Black Circle army. It identifies as a runic lens, and it bolsters the power of linked undead, particularly when fighting other undead. And they’ve seen this object before; sketches of it were among the papers in Zeg’s office, in the warren that housed the Necromantic Forge.
“Why aren’t we smashing that thing right now?” asks Grey Wolf.
“Wait,” says Dranko. “We could march home with our own undead army at our back!”
“If we’re going to do that,” says Aravis, “I’d rather march it to Kai Kin and knock the whole place down. Poetic justice.”
Dranko shrugs. He also gives the runic lens a quick lick. Glassy, but a bit gritty where the runes are etched in.
Rather than co-opt the army, they take the lens, and place it and the ring of wraiths atop the looted body of Ten Old Bones. With everyone standing back, Aravis casts Mordenkainen’s disjunction. The items cease being magical. The large bone artillery spider immediately collapses under its own weight, its no-longer-fortified bones unable to provide sufficient support. Grey Wolf, flying high, sees that the front between the two competing armies has immediately shifted, with the Droshian guardians pushing back the invaders.
Morningstar laments that, ironically, they haven’t attempted to Turn undead even a single time. They correct that problem, and generally unload all of their remaining firepower into the Black Circle army. Their assistance turns the battle into a rout, and while the Droshian undead keep an eye on these strange living interlopers, they make no hostile moves against the Company.
Before they leave, Dranko catches a glimpse of something glinting in the bone wreckage below. He realizes that they haven’t looted the little flying skulls, each of which has its eye sockets filled with one ruby and one jet, respectively. The party spends some time popping out gemstones, and in the end Dranko is holding a pile of extremely valuable jewels. He’s not as good an appraiser as Flicker, but he guesses he’s got between 100k and 200k worth of gold piece value.
“I could make a loincloth out of these!” he exclaims.
The others wince, wishing they could unthink the inevitable imagery.
Morningstar groans. “That what modify memory is for.”
/*/
With nothing left to do here in the mist-capped ravines of Il-Drosh, the Company flies straight upward. As with their descent, the escape takes longer than it should given the distance traveled. Some forty-five minutes later the mist thins, and then abruptly they are above it, flying in open air. It’s nighttime, but the moon is nearly full, low in the sky. Once free of the thick foggy ceiling, Morningstar fires off a sending to Rosetta.
Bad news: we saw the Emperor. Good news: Thwarted him. Army leader Ten Old Bones; lich but killed. Drosh undead now clearly winning. Flicker dead.
There is no response, and Morningstar thinks that, for whatever reason, the spell didn’t make it to its intended target. She casts again, this time uttering her message to Yale.
The response: Excellent news, though we’re sorry to hear about Flicker. We were starting to wonder what happened to you.
“Strange,” says Morningstar. “We’ve only been gone a couple of days.”
“Maybe not,” says Aravis. “Maybe while we were in the mist, time was passing more quickly out here.”
Either way, the Company wants nothing more than to teleport back to the Greenhouse for some rest. They do so. Eddings greets them at the door.
“Nice to see you back!” he exclaims.
“When did you last see us?” asks Ernie.
Eddings is quite used to this kind of odd question. “Just under two weeks,” he says.
“Could have been worse,” says Grey Wolf. They talk for a bit about the timing. Corilayna, Goddess of Luck, is still AWOL, and the laws of chance are still in occasional flux. It’s possible that a particularly fortuitous surge of fortune caused them to arrive in the nick of time to stop Ten Old Bones. Or maybe the mist really does extend time? They’re not eager to go back and experiment.
After a quick freshening up, Ernie has a message delivered to the Chuch of Yondalla, asking that they prepare for Flicker’s resurrection the following day. Then they contact Ozilinsh on the crystal ball, and soon they are sitting with him in the living room giving him a full info dump.
Ozilinsh is raptly attentive. When he asks for more detail about what Emperor Naradawk looked like, Dranko uses his robe of blending to assume his features, albeit on a smaller scale.
“Some of us might have made rude gestures at him,” says Ernie, glancing at Dranko.
Dranko clarifies: “I totally flipped him off.”
“Was that wise?” asks Ozilinsh.
Ernie laughs. “Dranko’s hoping to get Tapheon and Naradawk to start fighting each other over Dranko’s soul.”
“Right,” says Ozilinsh. “Because the demon wasn’t powerful enough to be the most powerful creature who specifically wants you dead.”
Ozilinsh comments that he doesn’t recognize what kind of creature the Emperor is, but that’s not surprising. His grandfather was a human, who became corrupted by Black Goo. Who knows what effect that would off on his progeny?
On the subject of phylacteries and how to find them, Ozilinsh answers: “With great difficulty. Liches aren’t typically careless. If I were him, knowing what I do about the Black Circle, I’d expect Ten Old Bones’ phylactery is inside a divination sink. In which case you’ll have to use good old-fashioned detective work to find it.”
“How long before he reassumes his old form?” Aravis asks.
“A couple of weeks,” Ozilinsh guesses. “Maybe a month, if you’re lucky?” Abernathy’s apprentice laughs and shakes his head. “Once again – and you may be growing tired of hearing this – the kingdom is in your debt.”
Kibi smiles broadly. “No, we don’t grow tired of hearing that. Say it all you want.”
Ozilinsh smiles back. “Abernathy knew something when he picked you, that’s for sure.”
“Say,” says Dranko. “Where’s Rosetta? She didn’t answer our sending.
“Oh, right!” says Ozilinsh. “Rosetta is gone again. And we’re specifically not to know where, just like last time. She left about three days after you did, on some ‘vital mission against Black Circle interests.’ She took Etria with her. Given that her mission against Cor Kek was such a success, we’re inclined to trust that she knows what she’s doing. No, we’re more concerned with Cencerra’s whereabouts than Rosetta’s.”
As the Company knows, Cencerra and her adventuring company have been missing for over a year, ever since they headed through a gartine arch on the Dwarven island of Karth. Others have been sent to follow up, but none have even been able to find the arch. Grey Wolf mentions that perhaps they should look for her themselves, and this leads to a review of the many loose ends to which the Company might still attend. At the top of the list is raising Flicker and finding the phylactery of Ten Old Bones, but below that are such tasks as:
- Vanquishing Thewana/Davarian and the Delfirians, while rescuing Tor in the process.
- Putting a stop to the predations of the Guild of Chains.
- Morningstar “slaying again when the time comes for the Throggun’s ascension.” The blood mark still itches on the back of her hand.
- Defeating Parthol Runecarver in Kynder Hold.
- Kibi removing a splinter from Abernia, as per the planet’s specific dream-delivered intructions.
- Destroying the other two Cauldrons (brothers to the Cauldron of Null Shadows), mentioned in the Black Circle library.
- Wiping out Darkeye and the Sharshun in their fortress hidden in the Greatwood.
Dranko idly lights a Blacktallow cigar while they chat, and blows out a stream of greasy smoke. It forms into the words “not lying.” Well, not every prophetic exhalation is going to be immediately obvious.
By the time Ozilinsh has departed, it’s early evening. The party heads out reluctantly to perform the necessary task of informing Flicker’s parents that their son is dead. Ernie invites Crick and Mora for a private chat in a back room, where he gently explains how Flicker died bravely, and in the act of saving the world.
“But I plan to bring him back to life tomorrow, if you don’t object.”
Crick and Mora most vociferously do not object. But Morningstar explains that it’s possible that Flicker is happy and content in the afterlife, and may not want to come back.
“Well, he did die a hero,” says Crick. “To think I have a son who died fighting a dragon!”
Ernie smiles. “And if things go well tomorrow, you still will!”
Crick laughs. “Oh, he’ll be insufferable about that, won’t he!”
Ernie buys a round for the house, and Crick drinks with the Company as they regale the Smoke House with tales of Flicker’s adventures. Dranko delights in retelling about the time Flicker was trapped in a sapphire while his friends pursued him through Slices of the Abyss. Ernie recounts the time that Flicker surprised them by starring for a Farangi team in Djaw. Mora is absent for most of this, but eventually the laughter of the room draws her out, and she sits quietly, listening to stories about her son. They spend several hours there, drinking and recounting and laughing, all the while wondering if Flicker will choose to come back from the dead, or if his part of the story is truly over.
/*/
It’s late in the evening when the Company heads home for bed. Eddings greets them at the door. He looks nervous.
“You have a visitor,” he says stiffly. “He awaits your pleasure in the living room.”
They seldom see the unflappable butler looking so distraught, so they enter cautiously, and there is indeed someone sitting on the sofa, his head bowed so they cannot see his face. But when all are assembled, he raises his head so that can get a good look at him.
Parthol Runecarver smiles thinly. “I let myself in,” he says.
...to be continued...
jmucchiello
Hero
There doesn't seem to be any reference to Mr. Runecarver since 2008 (real time -- aside from one in 2010 where he is referenced as part of mistaken identity). So I ask, "Why do they need to 'defeat' him?"
Joshua Randall
Legend
Because he's a bad moth--
Shut yo mouth!
I'm just talkin' 'bout [-]Shaft[/-] Parthol Runecarver.
Ehem. Sorry.
He's major bad news. I'll let Sagiro or one of the players fill in the details.
= = =
Other thoughts:
Shut yo mouth!
I'm just talkin' 'bout [-]Shaft[/-] Parthol Runecarver.
Ehem. Sorry.
He's major bad news. I'll let Sagiro or one of the players fill in the details.
= = =
Other thoughts:
Heh, I don't remember Ozilinsh being that sarcastic. I blame Dranko.
ZOMG, I've been waiting for this for like nine years.
Kaodi
Hero
I do not recall if anyone suggested this before, PirateCat, but I think there is a rule somewhere that there can be two supporting characters with the same name in a story. And, if by chance, the second guy with that name becomes famous and part of the main cast, well, at least the first guy could have the same name as a real hero, 
. Even if the second guy was an enchanted horse, a mystical whip, or an underling who was renamed as part of his payment for being returned to life...
. Even if the second guy was an enchanted horse, a mystical whip, or an underling who was renamed as part of his payment for being returned to life...Innocent Bystander
First Post
I might have to go through the pdfs again, Morningstar “slaying again when the time comes for the Throggun’s ascension.” doesn't ring any bells.
I believe it has something to do with the demonish ogre thing that had been turned to (stone?); which the company brought back to life at one point.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Waaaay back, on our way to find the Crosser's Maze within the city in a bottle. It's been a while.
For folks who forget Parthol Runecarver, he was an archmage who faked his own death centuries ago and stayed hidden until we revealed him. It was he who paid for that early expedition in the desert that released the blood gargoyle. He's as self-interested as they come, evil to a fault if it gets him more power. Last we heard he was still trying to bring over the Emperor, although not allied with the sharshun or the Black Circle.
Frankly, he's kind of a dick who keeps trying to kill us.
