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<blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 2606668" data-attributes="member: 4722"><p>Once they had gathered enough bones, Gareth dug a pit on the beach, and Cornelius built a fire, which they used to dry the tendons and provide light for the camp that night.</p><p></p><p>Toward evening, some of the party members noticed a dark shape moving in toward the bay, coming off the ocean. Kariann noticed that it looked weird, like most of the ship was lifted out of the water. Krevik turned to the fire and fanned the flames, blowing smoke in Zargo’s face.</p><p></p><p>“That’s not a boat,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s not a boat.”</p><p></p><p>She poked Krevik, and he turned to look. It was big, about six inches across, but judging by the broken towers on either side, it’s about a quarter-mile out, dragging a small whale. It looked for all the world like... </p><p></p><p>“A spider?” Krevik said in disbelief.</p><p></p><p>“Umm, guys... that thing’s dragging a whale,” Kariann said. “Maybe we should put the fire out and go hide.”</p><p></p><p>Krevik, Kariann, and Zargo disappeared into the bushes, and the five NPCs hid behind a log; the cleric sat there drinking his tea and moving slower, somehow.</p><p></p><p>The spider pulled into the harbor like a ship under full sail. It was probably 100 ft. wide across the legs and was dragging a gray whale, off of which it begins to pull the flesh. </p><p></p><p>One of the neophytes leaned forward and said, “That’s a water spider.. but it’s way too big.”</p><p></p><p> Krevik squinted at it. “There are lingering magical auras around it. It looks like a familiar bond after the master dies.”</p><p></p><p> “I thought familiars lost their power when the master died?” Demetrios said.</p><p></p><p> “It must have had some kind of bond,” Zargo offered.</p><p></p><p> Krevik shrugged. </p><p></p><p>“Maybe the master was really big,“ Zargo said. “You know, like storm giant big. Big master, big familiar.”</p><p></p><p>While the spider fed, the group took the opportunity to observe it from hiding. It sucked all the blood from the whale, then proceeded to tear chunks off it and bolt them down. It had metal bands on three legs, and a large yellow topaz stuck in the middle of its eye cluster.</p><p></p><p>Krevik examined the bands while the spider fed; they were not human make, nor were they normal size and enlarged. One is definitely a ring of elemental protection, one grants a bonus to armor class, and one is merely decorative with some sort of runes on it. The gem is not psionic – it’s magical, another protective device, though too small to tell from that distance. </p><p></p><p>Zargo cast <em>comprehend languages</em> and managed to read the decorative band. “’Property of Tanark Lightningrider. If found, you’d better return it,’” she read. “Sounds like a storm giant to me.”</p><p></p><p>It takes an hour and a half for the spider to devour the whale, then it skates off out of the harbor and vanishes in the distance. Sharks and smaller scavengers moved in to finish off the carcass. The PCs stoked the fire back up and returned to drying out the ligaments while the sharks fed.</p><p></p><p>Along the way, Krevik, after a suggestion from Zargo, decided to get a raven monkey as a familiar.* The one he gets has a human necklace tied around its waist, rings on its feet, and answers the summons by climbing out of Zargo’s <em>portable hole</em>. The necklace is Kyberian** make, but nonmagical. The ring on its right foot is an Iron Legion officer’s <em>resist elements</em> ring, dating from around the middle of the Lich King War (which would make it around a thousand years old). The other ring grants bonus to armor class.</p><p></p><p>Over the course of the next week, Demetrios, Cornelius, and Krevik create (rediscover) the spell <em>Zubeck’s bonemeld</em>, which enabled them to shape bones like putty. The spell worked, and they took another week to make the ship using the bones they dredged up from the bay. The neophytes spent the week gathering food and water for the journey to supplement what they could make with <em>create food and water</em> spells.</p><p></p><p>The spider came in and fed every three days or so, during which the group hid in the trees; at one point, it dragged a small boat into the harbor and ate the passengers. Krevik flew out on his carpet to get scraps of canvas from the ill-fated boat, and the monkey snatched up choice shiny objects from the wreckage. Most of it was already on the bottom by the time they got out there, but he managed to end up with a few gold coins and a huge glass fishing buoy. </p><p></p><p> The seventh day dawned bright and clear, as it had for the last six. The finished ship lay at anchor in the bay, bobbing serenely in the bay, a monstrosity of fused bones with a massive dragon’s skull on the prow. </p><p></p><p> “So where do we go?” Zargo asked. “Most ports would blast us out of the water as soon as they saw us.”</p><p> </p><p> “Novak Eck,” Krevik replied. “They wouldn’t blink at us. They’ll think we’re answering the summons to the Iron Legion. I mean, look at that iron ship that rose from the bottom, crewed by skeletons.”</p><p> </p><p> “He’s right,” Cornelius agreed. “But we need to go to Vak Cinter first. There are only a couple ports large enough to give us any trouble, and we won’t be landing at them.”</p><p></p><p> “Vak Cinter it is,” Krevik said. They got the horses aboard with some trouble, walking them into the surf and up the gangplank into the ship, then boarded themselves, set the sail, and moved out of the bay.</p><p></p><p> Three days passed without event. On the third night, Krevik, who was on watch, spotted sails in the distance, approaching quickly. The other vessel dwarfs their ship – its beam is the length of their ship. The crew of the larger vesel apparently didn’t see the group’s ship, because it passed by a quarter mile away and didn’t stop, flying the flag of the Karghast Imperium Navy***. Two days later, they came across a patch of water with burned wood, bodies, and other flotsam from a destroyed ship; any survivors, if there were any, are long gone, and there was nothing worth salvaging, so they kept on.</p><p></p><p>Two days later, during the day, Zargo spotted another ship, flying the flag of one of the Lich Kings. It was heading right toward them, which meant they had been spotted. The other ship was made of painted wood, and was being rowed (there were no sails). </p><p></p><p>Zargo immediately roused the rest of the party and informed them of the situation. They gathered on the deck and attempted to change course, but the other ship changed also and kept heading right toward them. The rest of the group stood by the rail and watched as the ship slowly drew closer. </p><p></p><p>A couple hours later, the ship finally reached spell range. It was a true Lich King ship, but it didn’t fly the personal sigil of any Lich Kings, thankfully. Cornelius, the person with the most knowledge of the Lich Kings, didn’t recognize the sigil that was flying, which meant that whichever one the ship belonged to, it was not an Elder Lich King. Krevik, Zargo, Demetrios, and Gareth could all sense the presence of undead on the other ship, including one powerful undead. </p><p></p><p>Armed with this knowledge, they made their plan. Demetrios cast water walking on Kariann, Zargo, Cornelius, and Gareth; he hopped on the carpet with Krevik and the monkey. The others leaped over the side and ran over to the other ship. Partway there, a <em>fireball</em> flies out from the other ship, catching Gareth and Cornelius in its blast radius. Both men dodge aside, Gareth coming closer to Kariann; whoever it is on the ship appears not to like him, as the second <em>fireball</em> is aimed at him again, and catches her as well. </p><p></p><p>Kariann was the first to reach the ship; she scaled the side, leaping over the railing onto the deck. There were four humans in half plate (gladiator armor – the type that covers one arm and part of the chest, along with a kilt and leg greaves), some ghouls, a horde of zombie rowers, a tattered and withered old man with a staff (the head of which glows with a sinister purple light), and, next to him, a floating skull with a grayish cloud surrounding it, bone fragments floating in the cloud. </p><p></p><p>Zargo was the next to reach the ship, but she slip on the side and landed back on the water. Gareth hauled himself up despite his plate mail; Cornelius easily scaled the side (natural 20!) just in time to catch a <em>lightning bolt</em> from the skull as he ran toward it and the old man. Then the zombies moved forward. </p><p></p><p>One of the men in half armor pointed at Gareth and yelled, “Kill the paladin!” A small group of zombies moved to engage Gareth, and he obliterated the leader with his morningstar. Two of the men joined the zombies, pushing their way to the front, but Gareth managed to deflect their strikes. The other two charged at Kariann, who easily evaded their clumsy swings.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Krevik, on his magic carpet, attempted to cast <em>magic missile</em> at the old man, but the man's spell resistance caused the spell’s energy to backlash, clawing at Krevik’s mind. He cried out in pain as he lost control of the arcane energies and they grounded out through him, burning out the spell slot.**** Demetrios, behind him, pulled out a small statue and threw it down toward the deck, muttering what sounded like the words to a spell.</p><p></p><p>Zargo gave up trying to scale the side of the ship and instead attempted a discordant chant to disrupt the old man’s casting, but he shook off her feeble efforts (natural 20). </p><p></p><p>One of the men fighting Gareth hit him with a large sword that appears to be made of sharpened bone; when he hit, maggots and green ichor sprayed forth from the grievous wound, and the paladin went down. The other man got in a strike as he falls, nearly killing him. </p><p></p><p>The old man raised a hand, and suddenly all the blood on the deck vanishes. </p><p></p><p>"That can't be good," Krevik muttered. "He's a blood mage." He also identified the floating skull-thing. He had read of such things before, but had never seen one – by all accounts, they were extremely rare. It was a kazik'nok, an undead spirit formed from the minds of several spellcasters forced into one form and bound to a skull, and was typically used as a spell battery. He guessed that this was where the initial barrage of fireballs had come from. From what he could tell, this one was under the control of the old man; he would need to get it away from him before he used it to inflict even more damage on the party.</p><p></p><p>One of the men fighting Kariann yelled, “Take the woman alive! Her psychic energy will help power the ritual!” He swungs and hit, a serious wound, but she held her ground, defending herself against the other man's attacks. Kariann hit him again with both her attacks, scoring serious damage, but her opponent weathered the damage too.</p><p></p><p>Krevik blew a <em>lightning bolt</em> at one of the wheels, blasting off a chunk of wood a couple feet long. The ship started turning slightly, its ability to maneuver slightly impaired. Right afterward, the state (now grown to 8 feet tall) landed on the deck, cracking planks. The wood held, however, and the creature turned to face the two men fighting Kariann.</p><p></p><p>Down below, Zargo changed the tune of her countersong, attempting to throw the old man, but again he resisted her music. The old man finishe his spell, and 3-foot spikes erupt from the deck. The two men lifted Gareth and set him on the spikes vertically; one lifts his faceplate, and the other pours a potion down his throat. He gasps, chokes, and revives, then screams as he realizes he’s been impaled. The men grab his arms and hold them behind his back, effectively pinning him in place. He starts to struggle, then freezes as he realizes that the men are holding him up – even if he could get free of them, he'd do even more damage to himself.</p><p></p><p>The old man held up his other hand and clenched it into a fist, and all the zombies and ghouls crumbled to dust. </p><p></p><p>“I think we’re in trouble,” Demetrios said.</p><p></p><p>"You think?" Krevik replied. "Why don't you do something useful besides offering witty commentary!"</p><p></p><p>The statue attacked the two men facing Kariann, scoring hits with claws and bite on the unharmed one and grappling it. He tried to break free, but the demon held tight. The other man continued to attack her, but misse.</p><p></p><p>Krevik cast <em>spiritbind</em> (a hold monster designed for incorporeal beings) on the ghost, but the multiple minds screamed at him and resisted the power of his spell. He cursed.</p><p></p><p>Demetrios began speaking the words to another spell, which Krevik recognized as a summoning spell. “Which do you like better, fire or ice?”</p><p></p><p>"You'd better not be summoning that thng onto my carpet!" Krevik yelled. They were still 100 feet above the deck. </p><p></p><p>“Ice sounds good,” Demetrios said, as if he hadn't spoken.</p><p></p><p>Zargo changed the tune once more and finally disrupted the old man's concentration; the spell cooked off with a flash of light, leaving the kazik'nok's skull blackened and battered. </p><p></p><p>Kariann’s sword bit deep into her opponent’s side; she pulled it out and thrust it straight into his chest, twisted, and withdrew. The blows should have killed him, but he stood there grinning and rolling his shoulders. Then, to her horror, he underwent a transformation. His jaw lengthened; there were hideous popping noises as muscles and bones grew and realigned themselves; spurs burst from his elbows; and his skin turned gray with black veins. He opened his mouth and let out a deep growl. The demon rent and bit the other man, killing him, and he underwent the same transformation. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhlie, up on the poop deck, the old man spoke a spell, and the water in a 100-ft. radius around the ship turned to blood. Cornelius, who has been battering at the mage's <em>stoneskin</em> all this time, hits him for damage, but doesn’t drop him.</p><p></p><p>Demetrios' voice rose to a crescendo and then ceased. Something large and heavy suddenly appeared on the carpet behind Krevik, and it began to sink under the added weight. </p><p></p><p>“What do you wish of me, master?” the thing said in a voice like cracking ice. </p><p></p><p>“Everyone under the age of 50 on the ship, leave alone," Demetrios ordered. "Kill everything else.” </p><p></p><p>The carpet continued to sink toward the ship, and Krevik seized the opportunity to wrest control of the ghost away from its master. He instantly learned all of the kazik'nok's capabilities – it has over three dozen spells stored in it, all usable at his order. He swiftly sorted through them, but could find little of immediate use.</p><p></p><p> Zargo continued to use her countersong against the old man; reelling from the loss of his spell ghost, his concentration wavered and he lost the spell, but it didn't backlash on him. </p><p></p><p>The demon lifted the struggling man, whom he still had hold of, over his head and threw him over the side into the bloody water (which was quickly drawing sharks). The carpet flexed as the creature Demetrios summoned hopped down to the deck. Now that it is out from behind him, Krevik saw that it was a large, four-armed, gorilla-like beast with icy white fur and blue eyes. </p><p></p><p> Krevik, thinking quickly, ordered the kazik'nok to cast <em>magic missile</em> at the old man; they strike true, punching through his resistance and delivering grievous wounds. Krevik notices something, however - the old man is not bleeding blood, but dust. After a moment, Krevik identified the effect as <em>bloodguard</em>, a basic blood magic spell that turns liquid blood that leaves the caster's body into dust, preventing it from being used in blood magic spells. </p><p></p><p> Cornelius twirled his snaplace in both hands then struck at the mage, punching it through his chest, and the old man went down with the lance through him. No sooner did the mage drop than both the men holding Gareth began transforming.</p><p></p><p>Without the mage to hold the spell's energy together, the blood surrounding the ship began to dissipate.</p><p>Zargo, who was still over the side, yelled, “Throw the other one over before the blood goes away!”</p><p></p><p> The girallon, on Demetrios' order, moved to attack one of the men (are they really men at this point?) holding the paladin. Two claws and a bite tear into him, but he remains standing.</p><p></p><p> Kariann scored another hit her opponent; he was looking quite battered by that point, but was still in the battle. This ended when the demon returned and punched him in the back of the head, dropping him with the crack of broken bone.</p><p></p><p> Cornelius leaped down the ladder from the poop and attacked the other guy, easily blocking his swing. His lance struck across the head, then punched through his chest, dropping him. The girallon grabbed the last man with all four arms and tore it apart. The ship abruptly fell silent but for the churning of water around the ship. </p><p></p><p> Zargo, seeing the feeding frenzy erupt below her, ran across the to the ship. A few sharks, drawn by the movement, snapped at her, but she skipped away from. Krevik, seeing that there was no further need for him, flew the carpet down to pick her up. </p><p></p><p>Krevik deposited Zargo on the deck, and she went below to find... nearly two dozen peasant slaves, none of whom know anything; 2 undead ogres, nicely preserved, their hands bolted to the cranks that drive the wheels; bone braziers, unlit; and 3-4 dozen small jars of blood, neatly stored on rows of shelves, each in a special holder. </p><p></p><p>She returned abovedecks to tell the others of her find, to see Demetrios, Cornelius, and Krevik striking deals with the summoned demon and fiendish girallon for their services. The demon made out with 3/4 of the blood around the ship along with the mage's head, whlie the girallon took the rest of the blood. </p><p></p><p>Krevik also offered the demon the blood from below. It thought for a moment, then rumbled, "You drive a hard bargain, wizard." With that, he hands the spiritbinder a translucent crystal statuette of a woman with long flowing red hair, arms and head thrown back, screaming (though he couldn't tell if it was in pain, fear, or something else). It then took the blood and vanished back to the Abyss. </p><p></p><p>Zargo and Cornelius set about freeing the slaves while the others discussed what to do with them.</p><p></p><p>"We can't take them with us," Krevik pointed out. "Our ship is not nearly big enough."</p><p></p><p>"So why don't we just take this ship?" Gareth asked. He was still moving gingerly, despite the application of healing spells.</p><p></p><p>"It's a Lich King ship," Krevik replied. "Whoever it belongs to is only a Younger Lich King, but he'll eventually find out what happened and try to track this ship down. I, for one, don't want to be there when that happens. Personally, I'd give the slaves the ship and leave them to their own devices. They'll find land eventually."</p><p></p><p>Gareth glared at him. "We're out in the middle of the ocean, Krevik. They're peasants – they don't know where to go."</p><p></p><p>"So we give them directions to the Seven Jewelled Isles," Kariann said. "It's the closest landmass, and they'll scuttle the ship when they get there." </p><p></p><p>The others agreed to that plan, as did Zargo and Cornelius when they returned. The former slaves were less than enthusiastic about the plan, but seeing that this was all the help they would get from their liberators, they accepted the offer. Since the [/i]water walk[/i] was still in effect, the heroes bid the peasants farewell and climbed down the side of the ship then headed back to their own ship, resuming their journey.</p><p></p><p></p><p>*We use the old version of <em>find familiar</em>, the one where you cast the spell and a creature appears.</p><p>**Kyberia, as we learned, is a nation that rose from one of the shattered Lich King Lands, SW of the Poison Desert.</p><p>***The Karghast Imperium is an orcish empire; the ship we saw was an Orcish Wavecrusher, one of the largest vessels in the fleet.</p><p>****One of the house rules we use is arcane burn (which also appears in <em>Arcane Strife</em>) – if your spell is disrupted, you must make a Fort save to avoid taking 1d6 energy damage per spell level, and a Will save to avoid having the slot burned out. In Krevik's case, I rolled a 1 on my caster level check, another 1 on the Will save, and a 2 on the Fort save. So not only did he lose the slot, he (permanently) lost the use of the <em>magic missile</em> spell.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kerrick, post: 2606668, member: 4722"] Once they had gathered enough bones, Gareth dug a pit on the beach, and Cornelius built a fire, which they used to dry the tendons and provide light for the camp that night. Toward evening, some of the party members noticed a dark shape moving in toward the bay, coming off the ocean. Kariann noticed that it looked weird, like most of the ship was lifted out of the water. Krevik turned to the fire and fanned the flames, blowing smoke in Zargo’s face. “That’s not a boat,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s not a boat.” She poked Krevik, and he turned to look. It was big, about six inches across, but judging by the broken towers on either side, it’s about a quarter-mile out, dragging a small whale. It looked for all the world like... “A spider?” Krevik said in disbelief. “Umm, guys... that thing’s dragging a whale,” Kariann said. “Maybe we should put the fire out and go hide.” Krevik, Kariann, and Zargo disappeared into the bushes, and the five NPCs hid behind a log; the cleric sat there drinking his tea and moving slower, somehow. The spider pulled into the harbor like a ship under full sail. It was probably 100 ft. wide across the legs and was dragging a gray whale, off of which it begins to pull the flesh. One of the neophytes leaned forward and said, “That’s a water spider.. but it’s way too big.” Krevik squinted at it. “There are lingering magical auras around it. It looks like a familiar bond after the master dies.” “I thought familiars lost their power when the master died?” Demetrios said. “It must have had some kind of bond,” Zargo offered. Krevik shrugged. “Maybe the master was really big,“ Zargo said. “You know, like storm giant big. Big master, big familiar.” While the spider fed, the group took the opportunity to observe it from hiding. It sucked all the blood from the whale, then proceeded to tear chunks off it and bolt them down. It had metal bands on three legs, and a large yellow topaz stuck in the middle of its eye cluster. Krevik examined the bands while the spider fed; they were not human make, nor were they normal size and enlarged. One is definitely a ring of elemental protection, one grants a bonus to armor class, and one is merely decorative with some sort of runes on it. The gem is not psionic – it’s magical, another protective device, though too small to tell from that distance. Zargo cast [I]comprehend languages[/I] and managed to read the decorative band. “’Property of Tanark Lightningrider. If found, you’d better return it,’” she read. “Sounds like a storm giant to me.” It takes an hour and a half for the spider to devour the whale, then it skates off out of the harbor and vanishes in the distance. Sharks and smaller scavengers moved in to finish off the carcass. The PCs stoked the fire back up and returned to drying out the ligaments while the sharks fed. Along the way, Krevik, after a suggestion from Zargo, decided to get a raven monkey as a familiar.* The one he gets has a human necklace tied around its waist, rings on its feet, and answers the summons by climbing out of Zargo’s [I]portable hole[/I]. The necklace is Kyberian** make, but nonmagical. The ring on its right foot is an Iron Legion officer’s [I]resist elements[/I] ring, dating from around the middle of the Lich King War (which would make it around a thousand years old). The other ring grants bonus to armor class. Over the course of the next week, Demetrios, Cornelius, and Krevik create (rediscover) the spell [I]Zubeck’s bonemeld[/I], which enabled them to shape bones like putty. The spell worked, and they took another week to make the ship using the bones they dredged up from the bay. The neophytes spent the week gathering food and water for the journey to supplement what they could make with [I]create food and water[/I] spells. The spider came in and fed every three days or so, during which the group hid in the trees; at one point, it dragged a small boat into the harbor and ate the passengers. Krevik flew out on his carpet to get scraps of canvas from the ill-fated boat, and the monkey snatched up choice shiny objects from the wreckage. Most of it was already on the bottom by the time they got out there, but he managed to end up with a few gold coins and a huge glass fishing buoy. The seventh day dawned bright and clear, as it had for the last six. The finished ship lay at anchor in the bay, bobbing serenely in the bay, a monstrosity of fused bones with a massive dragon’s skull on the prow. “So where do we go?” Zargo asked. “Most ports would blast us out of the water as soon as they saw us.” “Novak Eck,” Krevik replied. “They wouldn’t blink at us. They’ll think we’re answering the summons to the Iron Legion. I mean, look at that iron ship that rose from the bottom, crewed by skeletons.” “He’s right,” Cornelius agreed. “But we need to go to Vak Cinter first. There are only a couple ports large enough to give us any trouble, and we won’t be landing at them.” “Vak Cinter it is,” Krevik said. They got the horses aboard with some trouble, walking them into the surf and up the gangplank into the ship, then boarded themselves, set the sail, and moved out of the bay. Three days passed without event. On the third night, Krevik, who was on watch, spotted sails in the distance, approaching quickly. The other vessel dwarfs their ship – its beam is the length of their ship. The crew of the larger vesel apparently didn’t see the group’s ship, because it passed by a quarter mile away and didn’t stop, flying the flag of the Karghast Imperium Navy***. Two days later, they came across a patch of water with burned wood, bodies, and other flotsam from a destroyed ship; any survivors, if there were any, are long gone, and there was nothing worth salvaging, so they kept on. Two days later, during the day, Zargo spotted another ship, flying the flag of one of the Lich Kings. It was heading right toward them, which meant they had been spotted. The other ship was made of painted wood, and was being rowed (there were no sails). Zargo immediately roused the rest of the party and informed them of the situation. They gathered on the deck and attempted to change course, but the other ship changed also and kept heading right toward them. The rest of the group stood by the rail and watched as the ship slowly drew closer. A couple hours later, the ship finally reached spell range. It was a true Lich King ship, but it didn’t fly the personal sigil of any Lich Kings, thankfully. Cornelius, the person with the most knowledge of the Lich Kings, didn’t recognize the sigil that was flying, which meant that whichever one the ship belonged to, it was not an Elder Lich King. Krevik, Zargo, Demetrios, and Gareth could all sense the presence of undead on the other ship, including one powerful undead. Armed with this knowledge, they made their plan. Demetrios cast water walking on Kariann, Zargo, Cornelius, and Gareth; he hopped on the carpet with Krevik and the monkey. The others leaped over the side and ran over to the other ship. Partway there, a [I]fireball[/I] flies out from the other ship, catching Gareth and Cornelius in its blast radius. Both men dodge aside, Gareth coming closer to Kariann; whoever it is on the ship appears not to like him, as the second [I]fireball[/I] is aimed at him again, and catches her as well. Kariann was the first to reach the ship; she scaled the side, leaping over the railing onto the deck. There were four humans in half plate (gladiator armor – the type that covers one arm and part of the chest, along with a kilt and leg greaves), some ghouls, a horde of zombie rowers, a tattered and withered old man with a staff (the head of which glows with a sinister purple light), and, next to him, a floating skull with a grayish cloud surrounding it, bone fragments floating in the cloud. Zargo was the next to reach the ship, but she slip on the side and landed back on the water. Gareth hauled himself up despite his plate mail; Cornelius easily scaled the side (natural 20!) just in time to catch a [I]lightning bolt[/I] from the skull as he ran toward it and the old man. Then the zombies moved forward. One of the men in half armor pointed at Gareth and yelled, “Kill the paladin!” A small group of zombies moved to engage Gareth, and he obliterated the leader with his morningstar. Two of the men joined the zombies, pushing their way to the front, but Gareth managed to deflect their strikes. The other two charged at Kariann, who easily evaded their clumsy swings. Meanwhile, Krevik, on his magic carpet, attempted to cast [i]magic missile[/i] at the old man, but the man's spell resistance caused the spell’s energy to backlash, clawing at Krevik’s mind. He cried out in pain as he lost control of the arcane energies and they grounded out through him, burning out the spell slot.**** Demetrios, behind him, pulled out a small statue and threw it down toward the deck, muttering what sounded like the words to a spell. Zargo gave up trying to scale the side of the ship and instead attempted a discordant chant to disrupt the old man’s casting, but he shook off her feeble efforts (natural 20). One of the men fighting Gareth hit him with a large sword that appears to be made of sharpened bone; when he hit, maggots and green ichor sprayed forth from the grievous wound, and the paladin went down. The other man got in a strike as he falls, nearly killing him. The old man raised a hand, and suddenly all the blood on the deck vanishes. "That can't be good," Krevik muttered. "He's a blood mage." He also identified the floating skull-thing. He had read of such things before, but had never seen one – by all accounts, they were extremely rare. It was a kazik'nok, an undead spirit formed from the minds of several spellcasters forced into one form and bound to a skull, and was typically used as a spell battery. He guessed that this was where the initial barrage of fireballs had come from. From what he could tell, this one was under the control of the old man; he would need to get it away from him before he used it to inflict even more damage on the party. One of the men fighting Kariann yelled, “Take the woman alive! Her psychic energy will help power the ritual!” He swungs and hit, a serious wound, but she held her ground, defending herself against the other man's attacks. Kariann hit him again with both her attacks, scoring serious damage, but her opponent weathered the damage too. Krevik blew a [i]lightning bolt[/i] at one of the wheels, blasting off a chunk of wood a couple feet long. The ship started turning slightly, its ability to maneuver slightly impaired. Right afterward, the state (now grown to 8 feet tall) landed on the deck, cracking planks. The wood held, however, and the creature turned to face the two men fighting Kariann. Down below, Zargo changed the tune of her countersong, attempting to throw the old man, but again he resisted her music. The old man finishe his spell, and 3-foot spikes erupt from the deck. The two men lifted Gareth and set him on the spikes vertically; one lifts his faceplate, and the other pours a potion down his throat. He gasps, chokes, and revives, then screams as he realizes he’s been impaled. The men grab his arms and hold them behind his back, effectively pinning him in place. He starts to struggle, then freezes as he realizes that the men are holding him up – even if he could get free of them, he'd do even more damage to himself. The old man held up his other hand and clenched it into a fist, and all the zombies and ghouls crumbled to dust. “I think we’re in trouble,” Demetrios said. "You think?" Krevik replied. "Why don't you do something useful besides offering witty commentary!" The statue attacked the two men facing Kariann, scoring hits with claws and bite on the unharmed one and grappling it. He tried to break free, but the demon held tight. The other man continued to attack her, but misse. Krevik cast [I]spiritbind[/I] (a hold monster designed for incorporeal beings) on the ghost, but the multiple minds screamed at him and resisted the power of his spell. He cursed. Demetrios began speaking the words to another spell, which Krevik recognized as a summoning spell. “Which do you like better, fire or ice?” "You'd better not be summoning that thng onto my carpet!" Krevik yelled. They were still 100 feet above the deck. “Ice sounds good,” Demetrios said, as if he hadn't spoken. Zargo changed the tune once more and finally disrupted the old man's concentration; the spell cooked off with a flash of light, leaving the kazik'nok's skull blackened and battered. Kariann’s sword bit deep into her opponent’s side; she pulled it out and thrust it straight into his chest, twisted, and withdrew. The blows should have killed him, but he stood there grinning and rolling his shoulders. Then, to her horror, he underwent a transformation. His jaw lengthened; there were hideous popping noises as muscles and bones grew and realigned themselves; spurs burst from his elbows; and his skin turned gray with black veins. He opened his mouth and let out a deep growl. The demon rent and bit the other man, killing him, and he underwent the same transformation. Meanwhlie, up on the poop deck, the old man spoke a spell, and the water in a 100-ft. radius around the ship turned to blood. Cornelius, who has been battering at the mage's [i]stoneskin[/i] all this time, hits him for damage, but doesn’t drop him. Demetrios' voice rose to a crescendo and then ceased. Something large and heavy suddenly appeared on the carpet behind Krevik, and it began to sink under the added weight. “What do you wish of me, master?” the thing said in a voice like cracking ice. “Everyone under the age of 50 on the ship, leave alone," Demetrios ordered. "Kill everything else.” The carpet continued to sink toward the ship, and Krevik seized the opportunity to wrest control of the ghost away from its master. He instantly learned all of the kazik'nok's capabilities – it has over three dozen spells stored in it, all usable at his order. He swiftly sorted through them, but could find little of immediate use. Zargo continued to use her countersong against the old man; reelling from the loss of his spell ghost, his concentration wavered and he lost the spell, but it didn't backlash on him. The demon lifted the struggling man, whom he still had hold of, over his head and threw him over the side into the bloody water (which was quickly drawing sharks). The carpet flexed as the creature Demetrios summoned hopped down to the deck. Now that it is out from behind him, Krevik saw that it was a large, four-armed, gorilla-like beast with icy white fur and blue eyes. Krevik, thinking quickly, ordered the kazik'nok to cast [I]magic missile[/I] at the old man; they strike true, punching through his resistance and delivering grievous wounds. Krevik notices something, however - the old man is not bleeding blood, but dust. After a moment, Krevik identified the effect as [i]bloodguard[/i], a basic blood magic spell that turns liquid blood that leaves the caster's body into dust, preventing it from being used in blood magic spells. Cornelius twirled his snaplace in both hands then struck at the mage, punching it through his chest, and the old man went down with the lance through him. No sooner did the mage drop than both the men holding Gareth began transforming. Without the mage to hold the spell's energy together, the blood surrounding the ship began to dissipate. Zargo, who was still over the side, yelled, “Throw the other one over before the blood goes away!” The girallon, on Demetrios' order, moved to attack one of the men (are they really men at this point?) holding the paladin. Two claws and a bite tear into him, but he remains standing. Kariann scored another hit her opponent; he was looking quite battered by that point, but was still in the battle. This ended when the demon returned and punched him in the back of the head, dropping him with the crack of broken bone. Cornelius leaped down the ladder from the poop and attacked the other guy, easily blocking his swing. His lance struck across the head, then punched through his chest, dropping him. The girallon grabbed the last man with all four arms and tore it apart. The ship abruptly fell silent but for the churning of water around the ship. Zargo, seeing the feeding frenzy erupt below her, ran across the to the ship. A few sharks, drawn by the movement, snapped at her, but she skipped away from. Krevik, seeing that there was no further need for him, flew the carpet down to pick her up. Krevik deposited Zargo on the deck, and she went below to find... nearly two dozen peasant slaves, none of whom know anything; 2 undead ogres, nicely preserved, their hands bolted to the cranks that drive the wheels; bone braziers, unlit; and 3-4 dozen small jars of blood, neatly stored on rows of shelves, each in a special holder. She returned abovedecks to tell the others of her find, to see Demetrios, Cornelius, and Krevik striking deals with the summoned demon and fiendish girallon for their services. The demon made out with 3/4 of the blood around the ship along with the mage's head, whlie the girallon took the rest of the blood. Krevik also offered the demon the blood from below. It thought for a moment, then rumbled, "You drive a hard bargain, wizard." With that, he hands the spiritbinder a translucent crystal statuette of a woman with long flowing red hair, arms and head thrown back, screaming (though he couldn't tell if it was in pain, fear, or something else). It then took the blood and vanished back to the Abyss. Zargo and Cornelius set about freeing the slaves while the others discussed what to do with them. "We can't take them with us," Krevik pointed out. "Our ship is not nearly big enough." "So why don't we just take this ship?" Gareth asked. He was still moving gingerly, despite the application of healing spells. "It's a Lich King ship," Krevik replied. "Whoever it belongs to is only a Younger Lich King, but he'll eventually find out what happened and try to track this ship down. I, for one, don't want to be there when that happens. Personally, I'd give the slaves the ship and leave them to their own devices. They'll find land eventually." Gareth glared at him. "We're out in the middle of the ocean, Krevik. They're peasants – they don't know where to go." "So we give them directions to the Seven Jewelled Isles," Kariann said. "It's the closest landmass, and they'll scuttle the ship when they get there." The others agreed to that plan, as did Zargo and Cornelius when they returned. The former slaves were less than enthusiastic about the plan, but seeing that this was all the help they would get from their liberators, they accepted the offer. Since the [/i]water walk[/i] was still in effect, the heroes bid the peasants farewell and climbed down the side of the ship then headed back to their own ship, resuming their journey. *We use the old version of [I]find familiar[/I], the one where you cast the spell and a creature appears. **Kyberia, as we learned, is a nation that rose from one of the shattered Lich King Lands, SW of the Poison Desert. ***The Karghast Imperium is an orcish empire; the ship we saw was an Orcish Wavecrusher, one of the largest vessels in the fleet. ****One of the house rules we use is arcane burn (which also appears in [i]Arcane Strife[/i]) – if your spell is disrupted, you must make a Fort save to avoid taking 1d6 energy damage per spell level, and a Will save to avoid having the slot burned out. In Krevik's case, I rolled a 1 on my caster level check, another 1 on the Will save, and a 2 on the Fort save. So not only did he lose the slot, he (permanently) lost the use of the [i]magic missile[/i] spell. [/QUOTE]
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