Vincent's Laboratory Notes and Footnotes (Updated December 30, 2007)

[Altalazar]

Well, don't everyone respond at once... LOL. I guess no comments...


And so it continues...


Book IV

Notes – Chapter Fifty – Night Falls

I began to hear rumors when we got back in town. Whispers, really. Words on the wind. There was a town nearby, a town known as Night Falls. Undead have arrived there and are roaming the streets! The towns people are being scared as they are killing them and piling the bodies in the middle of town. Some are being captured. Those are being mistreated, and tortured. Those poor undead!
I immediately informed my lab assistants and my friends. I’m sure they were as incensed as I was! So we immediately departed and headed for Night Falls.
Once we arrived in town, we found there were no undead in the streets. There were no undead at all that we could see. The Marshall asked around but could not find anything out. It turned out the town was one with a huge graveyard that serviced many, many surrounding towns. They had a guild dedicated to the bodies. So at least it seemed like a pleasant place to live.
I just had to see the graveyard, so we headed out to it. It was very beautiful. There were many mausoleums. And there was a hill that had a huge mausoleum at its crest. We inspected it from the outside, but we could not get inside. Balor tried to break in, but its sturdy stone held its secrets. So we returned to town.

Notes – Chapter Fifty-One – Felix runs into town with good news!

As we returned to town, a young man came running, a young man we learned was named Felix. He started breathlessly yelling, “The Grim, the Stone Tomb is open, the ghost is free!”
He began to tell his tale after he regained his breath. “I know I had no business going there alone. I was trying to prove my mettle by going up to the tomb and chalking my sign on the doors. But when I got there, the doors were burst open. Something had made it past all the wards!”
I looked over at Belor and wondered how he must have did it without us noticing it.
After Felix was done, the town elder, Genni, came forward and asked us if we would help. Apparently the tomb was the tomb of a great necromancer! He was a hero of the town and he was buried with a heroes funeral. His name was Arathex, and I listened to the tale of his exploits with great interest.
This must be a truly great town to recognize one of such a noble calling as necromancy as a true hero. Genni offered us 1,000 pieces of gold each to return to the tomb and seal in the restless spirit of Arathex’s ghost. Apparently if the new dawn breaks while the tomb is open, he will escape.
I did not mention that I did not think this a terribly bad thing. I’m sure he must have been terribly bored stuck in there all those years. Of course, we agreed to help.

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Two – We return to the graves to weeping

We returned to the grave hill at nightfall. This time when we entered we were not unmolested. Four statutes shaped like large women attacked us. They wailed in sorrow as they did so, apparently deafening everyone but the mute bard, who apparently can talk when he can’t hear. Or something like that. I was unclear on this. The wailing was loud, but my ears were as solid as the dead and did not waver.
I soon determined it was not speech, but the mute bard’s voice in my head. He had cast an enchantment to connect us all. Willow asked him, “why don’t you talk?”
He responded, “I talk all the time”
Willow said, “yes, but it all comes out in growls.”
The mute bard said, “I talk all the time.”
Willow asked, “ok, what is your name?”
“Brodgy,” he said.
In the meanwhile, combat raged on. After dispatching those four in an epic fight, we ventured further, and encountered four more. They seemed to have something against Trosty as they kept on beating him, to the exclusion of all others. Thankfully, he survived and I healed him before we reached the tomb. These weepers seem to be everywhere on the grounds. What a wonderful way to leave the graves unmolested so I can dig up as many bodies as I need!

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Three – We enter the tomb – four statues call four skeletal worgs

There was a short tunnel, and then we were in an entrance chamber inside the tomb. There were four statues, two on each side, and there was a large stone door. And then, before each statue, rising from the ground, came skeletal worgs, four in all. I immediately held aloft my skull and cowed three of them, claiming the fourth as my own. As we smashed their beautiful bones to dust, more would rise, never more than four. What wonderful statues!
We began to smash the statues, but were making little progress. Then the mute bard translated the inscriptions and came up with an insight. The guardians would not attack those who were already dead, nor would they attack those who carried the dead, ensuring a steady supply of bodies into the tomb. Now we just needed some bodies. I looked around at my friends. I wonder if Rolo would do the trick for me. I headed over to him and prepared to lift his beautiful bones aloft.

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Four – Bodies piled high – how wondrous!

It took us a bit of time, but we each managed to hold aloft a body of some sort to prevent the summoning of more skeletal worgs. Balor managed to get the lock open for us to the door and we entered the main entry for the mausoleum. Inside, we found a large pile of very dead bodies. Apparently one only needs a body on the way in, or there is another way out, because otherwise, why would bodies stack up? They would have to be carried out as well.
We searched the room and found an altar to the west and rubbled rooms to the east. We also found a large black pudding, that threatened to melt us all away. Balor struck it with his magical morningstar, only to see it dissolve before his eyes. His scream of despair echoed throughout the cold, dead halls. I sent in Blackberry to face it. I knew she would not have any fears from acid. She pummeled it, along with the others, until it was reduced to a puddle of ooze.
The Mute Bard looked at a loss. He wanted to take a trophy, as he always does from his kills, but all there was left was runny ooze. He asked me if I had means of taking a sample.
“Wait, you can still talk?” I asked him.
“Yes, I can. I talked before. I was just mumbling, but you said you could not understand.”
“Oh, ok then,” I told him and I handed him one of my empty-skull potion bottles. He gathered some ooze in it and put in the stopper. I wonder where he keeps all the parts. Maybe he’ll let me try and combine them all together someday.
Most of the rooms we went through were empty, though we did find a pedestal with a black cloth filled with bells (to alert intruders?) and a longsword.
We also found a bedroll and supplies, as if someone very much alive were living here. We found markers indicating that it was someone from the funerary guild. Perhaps Harkin himself. This was later confirmed when we found his handwriting on a scroll that rambled on about how at least two heroes needed to die on the broken wards to allow the spirit to escape. It turned out dawn was not the deadline for us, but for the necromancer’s spirit.

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Five – We have seconds of Pudding and meet Arathex

In the furthest chamber, save one, we found another large oozing black pudding. We again pummeled it, but this time, I also sent forth rays to weaken it, just in time to free Balor from its oozy embrace, and Willow called forth lightning from the roof, her fingers sizzling with electricity. It was quite a show. I wondered why she hadn’t shown it to me before. I showed her all of my experiments.
We were looking around the room for further clues when we noticed a spirit come right through the wall and attempt to touch Balor. It just barely missed him. I took a good long look and realized, it was Arathex! And he was no ghost, he was a wraith! What must have gone wrong for this to happen to him!
I held aloft my skull and attempted to reason with him, but he ignored me, and kept on trying to drain away the life from my lab assistants. Steeling my resolve, I channeled every last bit of strength through my bones and then out into the skull and held it aloft again, and this time, it burst forth with an energy stronger than I’ve ever felt before. Arathex was awed, and stood helpless against it.
It was then only a matter of time before he was slowly worn down by our onslaught. When at last he faded away to nothing, I ran to his side and reached out to him, his fingers passing through mine before he was gone forever. A tear rolled off of my cheek and bounced in the dust that once held his incorporeal form.
In the next and final room, we found his remains, still laid out with honor on an altar. I silently gave him a eulogy, and placed my hand on his, feeling it crumble to dust. As his hand dissolved away, I found myself grasping what he had been grasping all these decades since his death – a rod of meta-magic power, for extending lessor magics. Willow should find great use from it.
The longsword we identified as a weapon of bane to undead and rangers. No one would wield it, and so we sold it later, keeping the rest of our finds for ourselves.

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Six – We depart – something else departs first

The complex thus secure, we rested until dawn, restoring our energies and enjoying the good feelings this place of the dead, a place for a necromancer of honor, gave to me. I’m sure my friends and lab assistants felt it too. It was like home. The looks of disgust on their face hid their true feelings, I’m sure.
As we left in the morning, we saw a figure running ahead of us in the distance. We could not catch him, not even Willow after she turned into a great wolf (another thing she failed to mention to me she could do, but then Willow has always been more about showing than explaining), but Blackberry took to the skies and followed him, eventually returning to tell us he had run all the way to Harkin’s house. So we knew where to go next.
Harkin at first feigned surprise. The Marshall feigned believing him, and then told him the truth. We knew what he did. And even if he didn’t do it, we have evidence he did it.
“Either you pay us to keep quiet, or we will tell the whole town and let them deal with you,” The Marshall told him.
“Ok, you win. I will go get my money from my back shed.”
So of course, we followed him back there, where he then let loose a golem of flesh (flesh sewed together – alive yet not, this bears further research! Could I make such a beast?)
We surrounded and pounded it into the ground. We also rendered Harkin unconscious. It turned out he had little money to offer us anyway. It was thus time to see what coin we could wrest from the town for his head.

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Seven – We gain property, but no coin for the mystery solved

The town elders were suitably impressed with our tale of defeating the necromancer’s spirit. They offered us the deed to the mausoleum and free funerary services for life. Talk about a wonderful reward.
The Marshall asked the elder, “so what do you offer us if we can tell you the solution to the mystery of who smashed the wards and freed the spirit in the first place?”
The elder replied, “Oh, we have nothing more we can offer you, but of course we would love to know!”
“Ok then, as soon as we figure it out, we will tell you.”
We then returned to Harkin, where my friends had him held. The Mute Bard saw no point to turning him over to the authorities. “We can just kill him now,” he said. The Marshall had other ideas.
“You work for us now,” he told him. “You can learn far more from our own necromancer than that old, dead one,” he said. “And you will not learn anything at all if you are dead, killed either by us or the good townsfolk.”
“I’m a better necromancer than he was,” I assured him, referring to the vanquished hero Arathex.
With such a wonderful offer – being able to work necromancy with me! – he could not refuse, and so we set him the task of cleaning up the mausoleum for our use.
While he began his work, I took up three of the bodies from the entrance and put them in Arathex’s chambers. I put an onyx gem in each mouth and then began the dark rituals I learned from reading the remains of Arathex’s works. Rituals I found wrapped around the rod. Rituals I had told no one I had found. Won’t they be surprised!
At sunset, I finished the ritual, which took me three days, one hour each night per corpse. One after the other, then, they rose back to life. At first each tried to strike me, but I held aloft my skull, and they each took their proper place at my side.
When the last one was risen, I then asked them to help me with my first important task for them. “Ok my friends, what are some good names for ghouls?”

 

[Altalazar]

Book V

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Eight – Reg looks for some heroes and finds us!

We were back at our keep for a week or so when Reg approached the Marshall in town and told him about someone in town who was seeking the assistance of some heroes. Reg said he did not know any, but referred him to us, a subtle compliment, I’m sure.
We found this person, Riikan Dack, in the weather district. He told us he was a collector of rare items, and that one of his precious items was stolen, a weapon named Whelm, a warhammer of some power. He offered to pay us ten thousand gold coins for its safe return, a sum he assured us was far more than we would get on the open market, which was a wise move, because my lab assistants would not have returned it to him otherwise.
Dack told us that he received a note when the item was gone, a note with a long poem on it giving some sort of clue about where to find it. The most interesting part of it was that it was signed “K.” The mute bard told us that this could only be Keraptis, an ancient arcane wizard of some power, long thought to be dead. As if that would stop any good wizard from writing notes.
Dack also told us there were two other weapons stolen, a sword named Blackrazor, and a trident named Wave. Those he promised us nothing for and we promised him nothing in return, a fair exchange.
From the poem, we discerned that we had to travel two weeks to White Plume Mountain, a name that was vaguely familiar to me.
I left my alabaster beauties and Trosty at the keep and had them continue the cleanup work there. My trusty lieutenant Blackberry and Brunt’s Revenge came along with us, with BR pulling the cart. And my three new friends Gorem, Wilson, and Eames rode with me in the carriage while Blackberry covered us from the air.
After two weeks travel, we reached Yellowreach, a small city at the base of the mountain.

Notes – Chapter Fifty-Nine – We see the plumes

The Town had nothing much worth mentioning, though they did have some nice, hot baths from natural springs. I wanted to go and sit in those hot springs and relax with my friends, but the Marshall seemed to think that my friends would not be welcomed there. It seems the specter of bigotry (including against spectres, no doubt) again rears its ugly head.
After our brief dally in town, we headed for Wizard’s Mouth, the cavern that was the only known entrance to the mountain. From a distance, we could see huge plumes of white steam gushing forth from the top of the mountain and leaving a trailing plume to the east. Whomever named the mountain lacked imagination. Blackberry could do better.
We entered the cave and found ourselves standing ankle deep in water. At least most of us. I climbed on BR’s back and rode him, keeping my boots dry. BR is a good friend.
Balor scouted ahead and then came back, so we all went forward. We reached the end of the tunnel and found a Sphinx there, riddles ready, answers needed to continue on. BR took me right up to him, past all of my lab assistants, who were standing stunned in the hallway, probably something from the sphinx. Perhaps a riddle is required to enter as well.
He told us that he was bound to guard the halls and that we had to give the solution to a riddle each time we wished to pass a hall. Three halls branched behind him. He said the riddle will change with each new journey through the hall.
Balor, stunned behind me, seethed, ready to kill the sphinx. But I wanted to hear the riddles. They ought to be fun. It gave me so many wonderful ideas for my next friends. By the time Balor was moving again, I had already answered the first riddle, something about a river, or a coffin, or a moon. Or something like that. We took the north passage first, finding more water.

Notes – Chapter Sixty – Sea Creatures must DIE

The passage went past an alcove that seemed empty, then opened into a large room full of water. At the far end were stairs and a door. Balor walked along the ceiling to the door, but before he could open it, a hag appeared from the water and gazed upon him, sapping his strength and almost sending him into the water. I had to save him!
I sent my three new friends forward, into the water, after the hag. Blackberry flew right behind them. The hag, weakened by missiles of magic from Selena, cowardly ran into the water before Eames could reach her. Even worse, some large sea creature came up from the water and wrapped its tentacles around Wilson, grabbing him, and then crushing the unlife out of him.
“Wiiiiiilsoooooooon!” I screamed over and over as I let loose words of magical power, forming them into a spectral hand that I then sent out to repeatedly touch and harm the tentacled monster. I told Gorem and Eames to get away from the beast before it killed them as well. Blackberry jumped into the water and began assaulting it with his great sword. Willow, bless her heart, surrounded the beast with three crocodiles she summoned from the depths. From our combined might, the beast’s tentacles were no more. We, the great heroes, had vanquished it!
Blackberry retrieved Wilson’s body. Poor Wilson. Only four weeks old and now dead and gone. I saved his body for later. The hag’s body was also taken, after the Marshall finished her off.
I sent Blackberry to swim under the water to search for the hag’s lair, and he found it, retrieving for us her pathetic horde. She would pay dearly for her deeds later. I have great plans for her body. Or rather, what was left of it after the Marshall killed her and the Mute Bard cut off a souvenir.

Notes – Chapter Sixty-One – Spinning hall of fire

The door led to a hall that ended in a spinning cylinder of oil, ripe for fire. Balor caught the brunt of it when he ran to the end and saw a flaming arrow spew forth from an arrow slit at the hall’s end. We quickly doused the flames and then made our way to the end of the hall.
It opened into a room that led to another door. This door led to a small room with a large book on a table and a man and a wolf, standing in the corner.
“Vampires!” shouted the Marshall, and I readied my skull.
“Vampires?” responded the Mute Bard.
“Vampires?” I asked, with a slightly different inflection.
“Yes,” said the Marshall, “Look at the wolf! He can call to him wolves, he must be a vampire!”
I glanced to my left at Willow, standing next to me, a large wolf at her side. “Are you a vampire?” I asked her? She knew the question was earnest, and she knew I already knew the answer, and so she said nothing.
My own training told me nothing so far. But I did know that I would love to meet a vampire and have him join the ranks of my friends. Vampires can be such charming friends, I’ve heard.
I held aloft my skull, and waited to see what the man had to say, particularly to the Marshall.

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Two – The Marshall is right

The Marshall asked the man his name. He mumbled to himself and said nothing.
Willow talked to his wolf. The wolf also said nothing. Willow whispered to me that we should focus on the man and try and get the wolf on our side. The man can’t be trusted. The wolf is, at worst, misguided.
I still wondered why the Marshall thought the man was undead. He did not have the sweet smell of death about him, but I did not get very close to him. (I could not get close with all of us crammed into the small hallway outside the room.)
Finally, he spoke. “You cannot be here. This place is not open for you.”
The Marshall replied, “Why don’t you join us? Do you really want to be here? Are you really stuck in this place of your own free will?”
He said, ”you aren’t welcome here. I’ll give you another chance to leave.”
This was enough for me. I started intoning the words to my new favorite enchantment, one I’d never had the opportunity to use until this moment. I felt the power surge through me and then I saw it surge through BR’s and Blackberry’s bodies. The Marshall then barked forth orders and Blackberry and BR ran through the door before the man or his wolf could react. We soon had him surrounded, with Blackberry in the corner behind him and BR standing in front of him, Willow and Breeze at his feet.
He tore into Blackberry, ripping off large chunks of Blackberry’s decaying flesh. Blackberry and BR returned the favor, and soon he was laying prostrate at Breeze’s feet. His companion the wolf, meanwhile, had grown arms from her legs and was standing up and savaging Willow. She was a lycanthrope! What a fascinating creature! I hear that the bite can transform you! They are unnatural creatures – I can tell that they are by the fact that as soon as she transformed, Willow immediately turned and started attacking her ahead of the man. Willow is a reliable guide in that respect. She’ll also be able to answer my questions concerning the bite, since the werewolf bit her at least once, maybe twice, in the encounter.
In the end, the werewolf did not last long. The Marshall and Belor expressed concerns that it might heal its wounds and kill us in the night. I laid those concerns to rest by laying my hands on the now human corpse and snuffing out whatever lifeforce might remain there.
I’ve never heard of what happens when one animates a lycanthrope. This will be fascinating research material! I carefully preserved the body and gave it to BR to carry out of here.
Since we were well spent by this fight and the hag, we rested in this room. During the night, the Mute Bard and I identified some of the magic we found on their corpses. One piece of interest was a ring that protects, which the Marshall donned.
I spread out my desecration magic to make the room more cozy for our slumber. The last thing I did before drifting off was to place a black onyx in the mouth of the unnamed man’s corpse and weave my magic over him. An hour later, he stirred to unlife, and thus my new friend Eagon was born.
I turned to the Marshall, “You were right. He’s undead.”

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Three – Soft room of stone

In the morning, the Marshall informed me that the book in the room was a treatise on local history written in Aquin, the language of the deep. It included references to Wave, the trident we were after down this particular branch of the complex.
Once again, I offered to cook for everyone, and once again Balor and the Marshall refused to partake of our feast. The unnamed man was a bit chewy, but there was a certain tangy taste from the sampling of lycanthrope. I will have to save that for special recipes, assuming the flesh stays fresh after reanimation.
I offered some of that to the Marshall as well.
“It has the exact balance of nutrients your body needs,” I implored him.
“I never would have thought to cook the flesh,” Willow commented to me as I cooked up some fresh stew. She grew up on raw meat with her wolf friends in the woods. I reminded her why cooking was better.
“It makes it easier to chew.”
We opened up the door to the next room after breakfast, revealing a room full of luxuries. There was a soft feather bed. There were treats lined up on tables next to wonderfully comfortable furniture. It seemed too good to be true, especially after spending the night on a cold stone floor.
We searched the room thoroughly. I asked BR to move the bed. BR looked at me like he did not understand. I again regretted that I had not yet the funds to grant him his brain. I needed another trip to the wizard for that. I’ll just have to while away the hours, consulting with the rain, until then.
I asked Blakberry to do it next, and he was also unable to do so, but he explained why. The bed was really not there. It turns out the entire room was only made to look nice. Which was a shame, because Blackberry would have really liked the lemon squares. Blackberry likes anything acidic.
Balor found something real there. A chest. With money and a note. Apparently the unnamed man’s complaints about his meager surroundings did not entirely fall on deaf ears. The room thus looted, we returned to the hallway leading from the hag’s lair. Eagon led the way, just learning how to walk again. I was so proud of him. It was too bad he died so young.

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Four – Long Hall, Three Doors, Big Bubble

The long hallway led to not one, but three doors. All designed to hold back water, we later determined. That made sense, given that the room beyond was a tunnel leading to a bubble, the walls a thin membrane holding back a lake of boiling water. We had to be careful not to pierce it. We’d save that for later.
At the center of the bubble was a pile of refuse and bones. It was beautiful. I expected to find a kindred spirit. Someone who would really appreciate me and my friends. Instead, we found a giant crab.
Eagon and Eames rushed forward to greet it, as did Blackberry and BR. The crab grabbed Eagon and crushed the unlife out of him within seconds. Eames died soon after. I wanted to rip its claws out with my bare hands. I wanted to tear out its eye sockets and pour acid into them, burning through to its brain. It must DIE.
I turned to Willow. “Crush its spirit.”
She obliged and summoned forth three snarling dire wolves, Cuddles, Fluffy, and Snuggums, who immediately surrounded it and tore its carapace apart. Soon, we had an overabundance of crab meat. I was so angry at it, I almost ate some of its flesh before proper decorum took over and I threw up all over my boots. The Marshall and Balor ate plenty of it, and took more of the flesh for later. I tried not to throw up again when they did so.
“And you won’t eat my stew??” I scolded them. Truly disgusting.
We had a long discussion about whether or not to pierce the bubble deliberately. I thought it was a terrible idea, and so quickly left the bubble. I managed to convince my lab assistants that it would be best, if we did it at all, to do it when we were ready to leave this complex. It looked like there was an awful lot of water in there.

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Five – A Sphinx says what?

We returned to the Sphinx, who seemed somewhat surprised to see us alive again, repeating our answer to the riddle as we did so, to avoid the symbol trap. He then asked us another riddle:

I surround the tower’s base
A hollow sun to bring joy to my master’s face
Because of me they ignore opportunities they’ve missed
By design, I remind them of their promise.

It made us all think for a moment. The notion of a ring came to mind. A ring of gold, from the picture of the sun. But then what rings were gold. It suddenly brought me back to a dim, dim memory. I was sitting at home, sitting at the main table. My parents were there, as was Willow, in her crib. I saw mother’s hand holding a bowl of something that smelled strange. I noticed her finger had a gold ring. She saw me looking and smiled. And then she spoke as I stared up at her red, glowing eyes.
“A gold ring,” said the Marshall.
“A wedding ring,” I said, though I don’t remember the words.
The Sphinx said it was correct, though he said the complete answer was a gold wedding ring, but he was generous because of all the crab meat we brought him.
We all repeated it and headed down the hallway to the northeast, eventually coming to yet another door to yet another room.
Along the way, a large patch of green slime fell from the ceiling onto Balor, Willow, Breeze, and Blackberry. We quickly scraped and froze it off, but not before they were all severely weakened. We needed to rest, and the room seemed the best option. Riddles could wait for later.

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Six – Nine Globes of Glass – Two new friends

The room we found had muddy floors, but that did not stop us from resting. I slept in BR’s arms, while the Marshall slept on Blackberry’s outstretched wings. Willow seemed to enjoy the mud.
The room closed itself on us when we entered, leaving us with a puzzle. Nine large glass globes hung from adamantine wires from the ceiling. We could not see into them. We could not open the door. Starting at the end, we decided we needed to open the globes, but carefully. After we rested long enough to cure what ails us, we cut down the ninth and carefully lowered it to the ground on BR’s back. Balor then used his glass cutter to open a small hole in the globe.
From the hole, we poured out several gems and pearls and a key. The key fit the door perfectly. The door did not open.
We repeated this with the rest of the globes, finding such useful items as lead coins, glass gems, and more keys, one per globe, none of which would open the door. One globe spewed forth an air elemental, which gave us fine sport before we returned to our key quest.
One globe revealed two shadows. I was so excited I almost dropped my skull before I made some new friends. They quickly settled onto either side of me. I was so happy I did not care about the globes anymore, though it was nice when the very last globe we tried, number eight, held the key to the door. My two new friends, Shaemus and Seeka, met us on the other side. Oh how I wish I could glide through walls like they do.

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Seven – Sick as a Dog

Willow came to me distressed. Breeze, her wolf, was as sick as a dog. She was feeling weak and tired and so we just had to stop and rest and get Breeze feeling better. I took the time to make many long observations of my two new friends Shaemus and Seeka. Both tried to talk to me, but their words were unintelligible. They reminded me of when Willow first started talking. I copied down what they tried to say, filling one of my notebooks. Perhaps great secrets can be unlocked if only the strange language of shadows can be deciphered.
While they lacked words, they did not lack intelligence. They did communicate to me in simple ways. I taught them to show me what was true and what was not to a simple question. Their ability to go through walls would be useful. I wondered what it was like. Oh, if only I could drift through the world like they did. I wish they could tell me about it.
Once Breeze was well again, with my tending, we returned to the hall. We found a door to a room containing five bodies. I tried to contain my excitement!

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Eight – Five Bodies, one unlike the other

Each of the five bodies wore a tunic with a symbol on its surface. The symbols ranged from ‘5’ to ‘7’ to ‘9’ to ‘11’ to ’13.’ Before I could inspect the bodies more closely to see if they were ripe for my use, the ‘11’ body spoke. “One of us is not like the other’s. You have one minute to tell me which or I shall destroy you.”
We looked at them carefully. I consulted with Willow and my friends. Blackberry suggested that they all looked equally tasty. But Willow and I quickly decided that ‘9’ was unlike the others because it was not prime. Willow explained that prime numbers are unnatural numbers because they are never found in nature, only created by the destructive forces of humankind. We said ‘9’ and passed the test, leaving the bodies in the room before moving on. My discerning eye told me that they would be worth something to someone who has an interest in bodies. Or rather, they interested me. We’ll have to gather them later.
The corridor beyond the room was blocked by a portcullis. Balor vanished from sight, then was quickly stuck by it. It was alive! It was an aberration known as a mimic! And it was slowly bashing Balor’s invisible brains into raw materials for my experiments.
I quickly sent Seamus and Seeka through its body to the other side of it and they started slowly draining away its strength while Balor struggled to escape. The Mute Bard kept hitting it with his spiked chain, his drumming echoing down the hallway. I was disappointed to see the creature die before my two new friends could drain away his strength. I was very curious to see what would have happened. I’ll have to set up a more controlled experiment in the future.

Notes – Chapter Sixty-Nine – Huge, complicated room of mud and fire

The next corridor led to a large room filled with boiling mud fifty feet below us. The only way across the large room was to jump from platforms suspended on chains attached to the ceiling. It looked like a long, treacherous journey to get to the other side of the room without falling and without being incinerated by boiling hot mud. So Blackberry ferried all of us across, flying back and forth until we reached the other side.

Notes – Chapter Seventy – Ctenmiir is not formally introduced

In the next room I sent my new friends ahead to scout with Balor and Willow. They excitedly tried to tell me they saw something, but I did not understand. I heard Willow say something about “smoke” and then the Marshall gave his special commands and we all quickly entered the chamber and surrounded what appeared to be a dwarf dressed in full plate armor and holding an impressive warhammer.
With my friends surrounding him, I quickly weaved my new magic and made my two zombie friends move much faster, allowing them to pummel the dwarf with great efficiency.
There was something about that dwarf. At first, I could not place it, but then he turned and looked into my eyes, and then I knew! Unlike our earlier friend, he really was a vampire! My first! I had heard so much about them! He will be my friend, I know he will. We will have so much to talk about! I was so happy. I quickly ordered my friends to move away from him. I held aloft my skull and made him my friend.
“No, stop!” I shouted. “I made him my friend!”
Suddenly the dwarf stopped fighting, and introduced himself. “I am Ctenmiir.”
The Marshall asked him, “How did you become a vampire?”
“Whelm was my birthright. My weapon that I’ve always had. I fell in battle, but my friends escaped, taking Whelm with them. It was then eventually sold. After the battle, I rose as a vampire, and served my vampire master for many decades until the great Karaptis came and rescued me, killed my master, and then restored my birthright to its rightful place in my hand.”
“What is it like to be a vampire?” I asked him.
“It is very lonely,” he replied. Ctenmiir looked at me after noticing that Balor was searching the stones in this room. “Stop that Balor, that is very rude,” I said, but Balor ignored me.
The Marshall asked him, “What of Karaptis, can we meet him?”
“Karaptis would never trifle with the likes of you,” Ctenmiir replied.
“Wonderful,” said the Marshall, “so then would you like to join us? Get out of this place?”
Ctenmiir paused and thought long and hard. He seemed torn, like he wanted to join us, a group who could truly accept him for who he was, value his contribution, and not balk at his special dietary needs. But then his shoulders sagged, and he said, “No, I’m afraid I cannot abandon Karaptis. I owe him everything. I owe him my existence. I owe him blood!” He then emphasized his words by slamming his warhammer into Balor, then slamming his fist into Balor, sucking the life right out of him. Balor staggered and stepped back. Ctenmiir then grabbed the Marshall and sank his fangs into his neck, draining the blood from his body. My other lab assistants then began to assault Ctenmiir once more.
“No wait!” I shouted, “he’s our friend, don’t hurt him!”
But they did not listen. I could only sit and watch as the slowly wore him down. I sent my spectral hand to heal him, keeping him alive as long as I could. Finally, he evaporated into mist, releasing the Marshall, retreating to the ceiling, turning his gaze to Balor. But before he could do more, Selena greased the ceiling beneath his feet and he fell directly onto the Marshall’s blade. Soon he was overwhelmed, worn down by blades, blasts of lightning from Willow, and missiles of magic from Selena, until his gaseous form seeped into the rocks beneath us.
Below our feet, we found his coffin, his journal, and the sum total of his existence in treasure. Of most interest was a huge, double-bladed sword that was literally dripping in magic. And, of course, we had Whelm, which brought us to this place. Now that we had it, we had only one more weapon to retrieve before we were finished with this awful place. This place where I made a new friend, only to see him cut down in his prime. I will have to create a new, special friend in his honor. I began to gather the components.

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Seventy-One – Logan joins us, Sphinx joins us in fact

Overnight, I prepared my ritual desecration, making the ground fertile for my new friend. My research had reached a new pinnacle, and I used my new insight in the creation process. The werewolf’s body stirred and twitched, the gem in its mouth slowly melting into her brain cavity. Her muscles, formerly soft and withered, sprang back to life, and then filled out even larger than they were before. I made a new friend! And she was better and stronger than she was before. I named her Logan. She was a lovely ghoul.
We returned to the sphinx. He was quite impressed to see us still alive. We showed him that we had two of the three weapons.
“I see you made it back. You are the first to make it this far. You are the first to make it back with even one weapon.”
The Marshall spoke first, “Yes, we are. And we’ll get Blackrazor next. Why don’t you come with us. We have a keep, we have a mausoleum, you can take your pick of where to stay.”
The sphinx thought for a moment wistfully, “ah, to see open sky, to see the stars. I miss the stars. But I cannot go. If you get Blackrazor, I am freed from my task, but I am still not free to leave, if you know what I mean.”
“Your task complete, there is no reason to stay. And Keraptis will have no reason to keep you, if you know what I mean.”
The sphinx closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again. “I accept your proposal. The way is clear, no more riddles need be answered. When you return with Blackrazor, I will return with you.”
Willow was disappointed. “I wanted another riddle!”
“Yes, a riddle for Willow,” I added.
“Very well,” the sphinx said, with some amusement in his eye. “One last riddle.”

What does man love more than life,
Hate more than death, or mortal strife?
That which contented men desire,
The poor have, the rich require?
The miser spends, the spendthrift saves,
And all men carry to their graves?

Before the words were complete, I already had the answer. “Nothing.” Willow smiled, and we moved on down the corridor.

Notes – Chapter Seventy-Two – Hot dagger, new friends

The hall led to a corridor, still knee-deep with water, that had large copper plates on either wall, all the way down its length. Balor quickly discovered that standing between the plates caused all of his metal to heat up and burn him. He removed his dagger and sword and then methodically disarmed the plates all the way down the hall while I taught Logan how to play ‘Dead Man’s Cards,’ a card game popular with my other friends since they first gained awareness.
Once the hallway was safe, we traversed it to a room with stairs at the opposite end, and a hidden door on our end (found courtesy of Balor).
Balor opened the door and saw more creatures like Logan, and an apparition he had never seen before.
“Vincent!” he shouted, and the Marshall responded by ordering us all forward. We quickly filled the room with our presence, my ghouls out front. I stood by the door, ready to turn the corner, my skull in hand.
The apparition was something I had never seen before, but in the dim recesses of my mind, I recalled reading about it. It was known as a Quell, and it was known only for its ability to cut off a divine being from the divine. This quell seemed taken aback by the appearance in our party of ghouls similar to the ghouls it led.
Before it could react to me, I turned the corner and held aloft my skull, and made it, and two of its three ghouls, my friend. Pure peer pressure induced the final ghoul to join us, aided by expert diplomacy from the Marshall. The Marshall called that one ‘Blue,’ while I named the other two Stabler and Benson. The Quell was Irishdan, a name that floated down from on high.
Our party thus enhanced, we moved forward into the next room.

Notes – Chapter Seventy-Three – Sliding pits, Slashing Blades, Singing birds

The next room was a very long and wide corridor, split by two large pits. We heard a siren’s song from ahead, and Balor and Selena heard its call and walked carelessly forward, into the pit ahead of us. At the bottom, they were met by whirling blades which slashed their flesh. I sent BR ahead to grab Selena out of the Pit, but could not stop Balor, who began walking up the opposite wall and along the corridor ahead, his slippers clinging to the wall of the pit as easily as the floor.
I sent Blackberry to ferry Stabler to the other side of the pit while Willow changed into a bird and flew ahead. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then Stabler started slowly sliding forward to the second pit. The Marshall threw him a rope and he grabbed it, stopping his slide. Balor kept on walking.
Balor walked right through the opposite wall and vanished. The wall was not a wall at all. I sent Blackberry ahead with Selena and my three disembodied friends flew ahead, sapping the strength of the foe beyond.
It turned out that beyond the wall not a wall was a bird not a bird. It was a harpy. Soon it was a dead harpy. More treasure. Slightly gamey.

Notes – Chapter Seventy-Four – Floating river, and then a floating feast

There was an amazing sight in the next room. A river suspended above the floor, flowing through the walls. Balor scouted ahead, walking along the ceiling, and reported that the river flowed to another, similar room, where six men made camp. I quickly sent ahead Seamus, Seeka, and Irishdan to deal with them. A minute later, they returned, a new shade in tow, one of the former men. Then three of the men came on rafts from the opposite direction on the river, apparently attempting to flee the three shades that killed their friends. The sight that greeted them as they entered the room on their rafts, ostensibly to escape: The Marshall, his Sorcerer cohort, Willow and her large wolf Breeze, the mute bard, six ghouls, a zombie troll, a zombie black dragon, three shadows, one quell, and myself. I doubt they had time for it to all fully register before they joined their comrades. We ate well that day.

Notes – Chapter Seventy-Five – Tiers of water and beasts

Though a hidden door and hall in the dead men’s room, we found another spectacle. This was an inverted ziggurat, each level filled with water, beasts, and peril. It looked like it would be one hellacious struggle to make it down through each level, fighting beasts even as we fought for breath underneath the water. It would be a struggle we would be lucky to survive, a struggle we would tell our grandchildren about. So I sent in the shadows to drain all of their strength and kill them, then we moved on.

Notes – Chapter Seventy-Six – Blackrazor and Friend, the Sphinx joins us in spirit

Beyond the ziggurat was a room with a halfling. The room looked luxurious. The halfling looked forelorn. He quickly agreed to join us out. He had Blackrazor under a divan, and he was very reluctant to touch it. The Marshall had no problems with it, and picked it up. It was a fabulous looking greatsword. I also noticed there was another greatsword in the room, of large size, hanging over the door. BR might want that, so I had him take it. It was not magical, which made it strange that it was there as decoration.
We made our way out of the complex, only to be stopped where the sphinx was, greeted by a huge being of fire and by Keraptis himself. The fur and remains of the sphinx filled the corridor.
“Very good. You’ll make excellent additions to my stable,” Keraptis said. “Now if you’ll just throw down your weapons and prepare for processing.”
“Where’s the sphinx?” We asked.
“Oh, I was watching it all. I can’t have my minions acting on their own. His purpose was fulfilled.”
I silently vowed that I would bring him back and he would see his clear skies.
The battle was joined.
It turned out that Keraptis was but an image, and the only real foe was the being of fire before us. And fire there was. A wall of fire filled the hallway ahead, and then filled the hallway we stood in as well, cutting us into four segments of creatures. My ghouls all were burned badly, and then BR was burned almost to death. I healed him, only to see him burned again. The creature kept turning to smoke and hiding in the flames before appearing again elsewhere. It quickly became apparent that we were at a great disadvantage in this cramped space, filled with overlapping fire. Willow dispelled one of the walls, and then I ordered my friends to leave. If the fire creature wished to follow us and fight in the open, we could kill him then, and if not, well, we had what we came for.
We exited the complex, and it did not follow.
We healed ourselves, then quickly returned, gathering up the bodies we had left behind, particularly the valuable ones. Then we headed for town, laden with bodies and loot, and three special weapons. I had the feeling we had not heard the last from Keraptis. Now where did that halfling go?

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Seventy-Seven – I make some new friends

We headed back to the small town near the mountain. After dispensing with the fungible goods we had liberated, we had nearly seventeen thousand gold coins for each of us. We also had a fair number of items that were magic. I had no use for any of them, save a small necklace of beads that allowed me to bless and heal. I ended up with two suits of full plate armor that were enchanted to better protect the wearer. They were too restrictive for me to do my magic, but one suit fit on Blackberry quite nicely. The other suit I will get to in a moment.
My biggest portion of the booty was the five bodies of the men, the harpy’s body, and the sphinx’s body. I made two new zombie friends out of the harpy and sphinx, and then I made my very first personal bodyguard out four of the other bodies. It was a fascinating ritual. First, I had to cut holes into one of the bodies. Then I had to drain all of the blood out of three of the others, and magically channel all of it into the first body until it was bursting at the seams with blood. It was a veritable blood hulk. I named him Rankin. He is my first bodyguard. And so I gave him the other suit of full plate armor. He looks quite handsome in his armor. He does me proud. But there is something missing.
I returned to our keep, and gathered together all of my friends. I introduced my new friends, including four new human alabaster beauties that I created for the occasion. About half of them could only stand there, their faces blank. I could almost hear them screaming to be released. I knew what was missing and what I had to do.
It took some time, but I marched all of my friends to the Great Old One. I again offered him one hundred ninety one platinum to do his great ritual. And thus the eyes of more friends were opened, including my new alabaster beauties, my new bodyguard, BR, my new harpy friend, and my new sphinx friend, whom I named Tessa.
When I was on the road back to the keep, Willow came running up with Breeze.
“I was looking everywhere for you,” she said. “Where is the sphinx’s body?” I pointed to the wagon, where Tessa was busily pulling it forward. Willow stepped forward and touched the sphinx, weaving her magic.
Suddenly, another body appeared next to the sphinx, to meet the sphinx’s essence. It was a large spidery form. The form held there a moment, then resolved itself into a humanoid.
“Welcome back,” said Willow. She then introduced the new-body sphinx to her old body. “This is Tessa – is that okay with you, that name?”
“That is not me,” said the spider-turned-humanoid sphinx. “I have nothing more to say on that.”


Notes – Chapter Seventy-Eight – Balor misses his mark, we redeem our hammer

When my friends returned to the keep, I heard a sad tale from Balor. Apparently his new friends had asked him to provide a service for someone that turned out to be the halfling we had met. Only he did not realize the halflling (who apparently was an ogre magi) was the one he was supposed to provide the service for (or was it on?) Balor tried to track him, but could not determine his path through the woods.
“Don’t worry,” I told him, “you can make more friends.”
We prepared ourselves for another expedition. I finally was able to obtain my skull-rod of friend mastery, and so greatly increased the number of friends I could have at one time within my circle. I also obtained another rod to extend how long my enchantments would last, and so I can now make Blackberry my lieutenant for two days at a time. Blackberry is proud to serve.
Our affairs in order, we returned to the town near the keep. There, we gave the hammer, Whelm, to its former owner and told him the tale of how we got it. He was very sad to hear that the former owner was a vampire.
“I know, it is a tragedy,” I told him, “we had to destroy a vampire.”
“Well, at least he’s not roaming the land as undead,” he replied. Before I knew what I was doing, I was about to touch him and drain the life out of him, but Rankin stopped me. Good bodyguard. Willow was standing behind him.
We returned to the street, Rankin following behind me, his features hidden well by his full plate armor. We ran into Reg, out on the street patrolling for the festival. I had not realized there was a festival. Everyone was dressed as if they were one of my friends. They called it the Midsummer parade. The one day of the year when all of my friends could walk the streets without worry of the horrible bigotry of the cattle.
“What wonderful costumes,” Reg said, referring to my friends. He looked carefully at them a moment, before returning his eyes to crowd control. Reg seemed more concerned about order than the fun of the festival. He needed a vacation, I think. Or the freedom of being one of my friends.
“Did you manage to take care of Riikan Dack’s needs?” Reg asked.
“Yes, we did. Unfortunately, we were forced to kill a vampire,” I said, echoed by the Marshall.
Reg managed to roll his eyes at us without looking at us, a feat I found particularly impressive, as he said, “you guys are becoming a really good group of heroes.”
“Thank you,” we said. “If there are any other needs, be sure to let us know.”
“Have you noticed how the woodland creatures have returned to the land?” asked Willow.
“I did not notice the critters were missing,” Reg replied.
“How could you not know??” Willow retorted, and this time it was I who restrained her from pummeling the Paladin. I had to remind her that the land would return regardless of Reg’s notice. Reg must not have noticed the sign we posted, which read:

Hunting for food only.
No Hunting Animals.

As we were about to depart, Reg voiced a need. “We have a training program for youths who are to join the city guard. I was hoping to give them a test run of their skills. Might they find some good training at the keep?”
“Why of course,” the Marshall said, “there is a lot of training they can get done there.”
I hoped that they would not hurt my friends. But then maybe they can be good practice! If anything happens to the youths, they can always join my ranks.
We returned to the road to the keep after enjoying the festival.

Book VI

Notes – Chapter Seventy-Nine – Puppy runs, Pixie plums

When we were almost back to the keep, one of Willow’s puppies suddenly ran away from us and headed off the road and into the woods. We quickly ran after him, finally catching up to him in a small clearing, where the puppy had trapped underneath his paws a small creature.
The creature was less than three feet tall, wore bright clothes, had curly-toed boots, and had small wings that were pressed into the dirt underneath him as the puppy held him down.
“Fluffy, what do you have there?” Willow asked.
“Help me, get him off me,” the small creature said in Sylvan.
“That’s not much of a meal,” I replied helpfully to Fluffy.
“Get off him,” Willow said to Fluffy, and Fluffy let him go.
“Are you the one that made the animals reappear and the forest bright?” the little being asked.
“Yes,” said Willow, “I am. What brings you here?”
“Something has been hunting my kind,” the little pixie said.
“Are they hunting animals too?” I asked.
“Other creatures that speak my language,” he said. “We keep finding them dead. We find tracks leading back to the village nearby. I’m afraid that it is trying to convince us to go after the village.”
“Humans do a lot of damage,” Willow said helpfully.
“I don’t think it is the village,” said the Marshall. “I think this creature, whatever it is, is just trying to trick you.”
“We will help you,” Willow said. “Lead us to your friends.”
“They won’t talk to outsiders,” said the pixie, “But I will lead you to our wood. I have been watching you for a while. That was why I let your puppy catch me.”
Though it was only two days through the woods, we took the long way around on the roads so I could bring my two carts. Midsummer festival was over and I needed to have my friends with me, free of bigotry. After a week’s travel, we made our way to the pixie’s wood.

Notes – Chapter Eighty – Woods outside Pearl Glenn

Dusty the pixie took us all the way to the scene of the latest body, a dead dryad. He said that they had tried to raise her and failed and tried to reincarnate her and failed.
“I bet I can raise her,” I said, but Willow suggested I wait on that.
The next body he showed us was of a nymph. Like the dryad, there was little left of her. The tracks from the scene headed back toward the nearby village of Pearl Glenn.
Willow thought that the damage to the bodies could have been done by one or more very large bears. I think she was right, but only because of what happened later.
Dusty asked me how I could raise them. I explained about zombies.
“Zombies live in harmony with nature. Humans aren’t so good with nature (though they are good sources of food). But zombies are good and in perfect harmony with nature. They don’t consume anything. They don’t have any need to venture beyond their basic duties. The world would be a much better place if there were more zombies in it.”
Dusty listened with eyes wide. I think I got through to him. The Marshall also tried to convince him, but he told the Marshall, “your words dripped in sugar won’t change who I am.”
We turned toward town. Dusty said he would not come with us, but, “come to this tree here and leave something of yourselves. I will find you.”
Willow suggested leaving some of her blood, but I told her we could just leave a ghoul.

Notes – Chapter Eighty-One – Pearl Glenn – Home of the Shrine of the Feathered Serpent

The village was surrounded with a wooden stockade. It looked rustic, but quant, nestled in the middle of the vast woods. It was just the sort of village that Willow would happily burn to the ground. But I would not let her do that. Fire tends to ruin the bodies.
“Halt travelers!” yelled a guard at the gate as we approached. “You must pay one silver per person and animal and three silver per cart.”
“How much per un-dea…” I started to ask before Willow elbowed me. Such bigotry is everywhere.
We told him we were here because something was killing things out in the forest. He still asked for a toll.
“Why pay a toll? Why is there a toll?” the Marshall asked.
“To support the civic project,” he replied in that nice vague manner town guards everywhere have perfected.
“What project?”
“I don’t know what it is,” the guard replied. “But people also come here to see the great feathered serpent statue. Don’t you know the story of it?”
“No, we do not,” said the Marshall. “Please tell us.”
“Well, I don’t have time, there are others waiting in line!” said the guard, gesturing to the long line that had formed behind us.
“Here, take this,” said the Marshall, handing him a handful of four gold coins. “That ought to cover us.”
“Well, if you put it that way, then I don’t think I’ll be needing to look in the carts, either,” said the guard. My dozen special friends huddling in the two carts breathed a sigh of relief. Or was it disappointment? “And as for the shrine, some say it has miraculous powers. You might find out more at the inn, the Village Tapp.”
We then bid our good bye and headed into town. A few moments later, Balor joined us, and then handed each of us a gold coin. “Here’s your money back, Marshall, and then some,” he said. “Now I just have to get rid of the guard’s pouch, lest he notice it on us when he comes looking for his gold.”
“Here, give that to me,” I said.
Balor handed me the small pouch. I handed it to Rankin, who then opened his full plate visor and put it in his mouth.
“Rankin will eat it,” I told Balor. And he did. The belt pouch vanished down into his massive girth.

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Two – Village Tapp

Just outside the inn was a centaur, begging for coins. Willow stopped to talk to him. He looked pretty mangled and downtrodden. “Would you like a new life,” she asked him, “you can join us.” I wondered if she was referring to giving him a whole new body.
“Leave me alone,” he replied. Everyone but Willow went inside the inn.
We found lots of travelers inside. We started to talk to them. The Marshall heard that the main village priest, a priest of Pelor named Kalina, left about a week ago.
“Did she destroy undead,” I interrupted, but the tale continued.
The statue of the feathered serpent tale then followed.
“The statue is watched by the wardens,” we were told. “The statue was built to honor a feathered serpent, a Coutl, who came to our village in its darkest hour. There was a plague across the land, and our small village had no clerics to protect it. Then the serpent came, and he cured us and sequestered us, and helped us bury our infected dead, who lie still in the huge cemetery on the other side of town. His name was Tlanextic. After saving our town, we built a magnificent wooden statue in his honor. The plague gone, he left, but he promised to look in on us from time to time.”
Another patron interrupted his companion’s tale, “And now he has! Tlanextic has returned!”
“When?” we asked.
“A week ago! That was also when the warden was killed.”
“Hmm,” the Marshall said quietly, “that seems rather convenient. When can we go see the shrine?”
“Well, the wardens put the kibosh on seeing the shrine a week ago. Ever seen the undead in the graveyard rose up and killed the head warden.”
“What? What undead?” I asked.
“Plague victims, rising from their graves, I hear!” whispered one patron.
“Who is the new warden,” asked the Marshall.
“That would be Larius, he’s at the blockhouse, where the wardens are housed.”
Time to visit the shrine.

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Three – Shrine and Blockhouse

The shrine turned out to be a large wooden building. Once we were inside, we immediately noticed a discrepancy.
“Where’s the statue?”
“Oh, we had to move it,” answered a voice behind us, a voice attached to Hetagg of Pelor, the acting head of the shrine. I noticed his prominent holy symbol of Pelor around his neck. I wondered how many poor, innocent undead were slaughtered by that infernal thing. I wondered how many potential friends had that cursed symbol be the last thing they ever saw. I leaned over to Belor and whispered in his ear.
“Since you are here to help, there is no harm telling you this. Tlanextic came back to help prevent something, some great evil, much like he did before. He needs to create a great ward for us, and so we have been gathering all of the gold that we can to give him for this task. He is holed up in the ancient temple near town. If you want to help us, the first thing you can do is take care of the undead in the graveyard.”
“Oh, we can do that,” said the Marshall, “and what do you want us to do for the second minute?”
“What is this ward stone supposed to do?” I asked.
“Protect us from the great evil, of course!” Hetagg replied. “We appreciate your donations at the gate, by the way!”
“Oh, we’d be happy to give again,” replied Balor. Balor then repeated, under his breath, “and again and again and again. The same gold, even.”
“What about the wardens,” I asked.
“Oh, the blockhouse is off limits to the public. But perhaps he can make an exception for you.”
We then left the shrine and headed for the blockhouse. On the way out, Belor came up to me and handed me something. I looked down and saw I was holding Hetagg’s holy symbol of Pelor. “He won’t be needed this anymore,” I said. “Here Rankin,” I said as I opened his visor and Rankin took it into his mouth and chewed it into tiny bits before swallowing it.
At the blockhouse, we met Larius, the new warden leader, a gnome. Along with him was a wolf. Breeze made an introduction. The wolf’s name was Atraeus. Larius seemed particularly interested in Rankin, trying to look beyond his visor. Rankin was unrattled and did not let him see his face.
We told Larius we would help, starting with the graveyard.
“I believe there were skeletons there that took down the warden,” he said. “Do you need an escort to get there?”
“Oh no, we don’t need an escort,” the Marshall replied, not wanting our whole party to be seen by the gnome. With that, we left.

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Four – Graveyard Shift

The graveyard was easy to find. We set up watches that lasted all night and then proceeded to search the whole place. We did find many graves recently dug up and then recovered, including the warden’s grave. I had my ghoulish friends dig into the loose dirt to see what they could find. All of the graves were empty.
Waiting all night was a disappointment. No one was there. No friends. No enemies. No visitors. By the break of dawn, we were all tired, so we slept, then we returned to town.
Balor had a separate tale to tell from the night. He went to the shrine to search it for all these donations. While he was inside, searching, the priest came and asked “who is in there? Are you a ghost?” The priest then apparently began to prepare to turn, “by the power of Pelor, I… where’s my??“ and then Balor heard his rapidly retreating footsteps.
After we were gathered up together, we set out for the ancient temple outside of town.

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Five – Narrow Path to the Temple

The path through the woods was narrow and difficult. We had to leave the carts behind. It was uneventful, until the temple was almost in sight. Then we saw three large dire bears blocking the path. They were eating a large pile of berries. They did not look like they would share.
Willow ran forward, her instincts telling her that they were about to attack us. Unfortunately, her instincts did not warn her that three dire bears could pretty quickly rip her to shreds, which they proceeded to start to do. I sent Blackberry ahead to cover her retreat while Balor sent a few arrows into the side of the largest one. Willow and Breeze pulled back into the thicket off the trail, barely alive.
The bears then proceeded to shred Blackberry’s poor flesh, and so I had Blackberry retreat soon after, and sent up three of my ghouls to engage the bears. I had already cast zombie haste on my zombies, and so then I proceeded to weave one of my newer enchantments, granting a blazing fire to my undead friends that they could use as they struck. Blue and Benson ripped into a bear, tearing out its flesh and burning it, though it still did not go down. The Marshall tried to flank it, but could not get around the thick brush. Then an arrow came from our left and struck Blackberry. There was someone else here!
I sent Tessa up into the sky to deal with our sniper. She found a wooden platform, enclosed, in a tree nearby, and proceeded to begin to rip the roof off of the structure. Whomever was inside could not see her, so he or she kept shooting arrows at us.
The bear on Blue and Benson quickly ripped both of them to shreds, and the other bears rushed forward. We finally took one of them out as Selena sent lightning through several of them. Then, when there was only one left, he rushed forward and managed someone to sniff my scent out of all of the others on the path, and attacked me. I nearly died from the wounds it quickly made. Fortunately for us, where it moved left us to surround him, and he quickly died. Then the huge ball of fire erupted from the berries, killing ghoul Stabler, and nearly killing several of my laboratory assistants.
Tessa finally ripped open the bunker, but found no one inside. Whomever it was had fled.
I surveyed our group after the fight was over. We had expended half our magic. We had nearly lost four of our primary numbers, and we had lost three of my dear ghoul friends. By the time we were fully healed, we had almost nothing left in reserve. It looked like the temple would have to wait. I mourned the passing of my friends. It is sad when you lose a friend. Especially three all at once. I looked at the three large bear corpses and began to think.

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Six – Burial and Cookout

It took me quite some time and most of my magic to heal poor Blackberry back to his normal robust condition. And poor Stabler, Blue, and Benson lay upon the ground, smouldering husks. Stabler in particular had been burned while standing near a mesquite tree. The tangy mesquite-roasted flavor of her flesh wafted through my nostrils. It was time to honor the dead.
We went down the path a ways, and then off of it, setting up a place to rest and a place to honor the fallen. We honored them with a cookout. Stabler was the centerpiece. I made stew and appetizers for, from the others. Yet again, only Willow accepted my cooking. Grunt still claims he is a vegetarian, yet I could have sworn I saw him eat some of the bear meat. How revolting. I threw up all over my boots.
After we rested, we again headed for the temple. At the entrance, we saw two wardens awaiting our arrival.

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Seven – Welcome to the Shrine

The two wardens welcomed us and asked us our names, so as to announce our arrival.
“Halt – do not approach any further! We require the names of those who would see our beneficent savior!”
I took a few minutes to write up a list for him of my friends. Balor slipped in behind us invisible. Willow and the Marshall led the way, announcing himself as “Overlord of Bundelsnorf.”
Inside was a lovely, ancient temple. Sunlight poured in from above, so I sent my shadow friends through the floor to look for somewhere less inhospitable for their sensitive dispositions. The scent of flowers permeated the air. Upon a raised platform was what I presumed was a coutl. I apparently presumed wrong. But I’ll get to that in a moment.
The coutl spoke, its words filling the air with beautiful sounds. “There is an evil, a great menace, that we all must fight.”
“What do you know of this evil,” our own lord of Bundelsnorf asked. “What can we do to fight it?”
“Why, you can donate gold for us to finish these stones that will fight it!”
“Why can’t we do something more useful, like some task,” the Marshall replied. “We can be of great help!”
“No,” the coutl replied back, “you know how magic is created. It requires great quantities of gold.”
“No, I do not know how magic is created,” the Marshall said back, “I don’t swing that way.”
“Well, then how about a donation, then?” said the coutl. Then it asked, “come forward so I can see and hear you better and we shall see how much you can afford to give.”
Willow and the Marshall and Breeze went up the platform to the Coutl, followed by the mute bard. I stood along the back wall with my friends, waiting for the inevitable conflict. I noticed eight rooms, four to each side, and saw a statue in each one that looked strangely lifelike. Then they looked even more lifelike as they surged forward, engaging us all, eight of them in all.
I saw a flash of magic, and then Blackberry, BR, Rankin, Logan, and I were surrounded by tentacles that seemed to have sprung from the ground. The fight was on.

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Eight – Stuck and Done

For pretty much the entire fight, I was held by the tentacles. Br managed to break free, as did Blackberry. Then BR tried to help me get out, reaching over the edge of the tentacles. Rankin also eventually made his way out. Logan was fried by two balls of fire sent out by the coutl after the coutl revealed itself to be a spirit naga.
The fire hurt me greatly, as did the tentacles themselves. I felt my life slipping away, when finally I managed to break free and crawl out of their reach, just in time to see the naga float up toward the ceiling, where it had escaped the maw of four Willow-summoned dire wolves. The eight gargoyles had been reduced to one, who was flying up to meet its master.
My shadows, meanwhile, had found the only shaded portion of the temple, and there they saw a huge creature, a behir, come out and swallow Balor whole. The shadows beat upon the behir repeatedly, until it finally collapsed to the floor. Balor then strolled out of its mouth, pulled out his bow, and with one quick shot brought down the naga from its levitated perch. Blackberry and Tessa swooped up and finished the remaining gargoyle, and then we had a few moments to catch our breath before noticing the gnome warden above disappear from a window. He then jumped into a tree and vanished from sight. Willow said he must have gone miles within seconds. I wonder if he is going to meet the dwarf and the ogre mage/halfling? We found a note in gnomish script, “Things are set, our plan moves forth, signed L.”
We found some armor and weapons in the temple, apparently property of the former warden and priest. We kept those for ourselves. We found the head priest’s silver holy symbol. Rankin found it delicious.
A few minutes after that, the two wardens from outside strolled in, looking confused. “What happened? We don’t know what happened. We’ve not been ourselves!”
We quickly determined that they had been charmed, as had many others. The acolyte from town returned to the temple. I noticed he had a new holy symbol of Pelor around his neck, held by a sturdy iron chain. I also noticed he had two more holy symbols tucked into his boots and his belt. I looked toward Balor, and his eyes told me everything I needed to know. Rankin will be quite full later.
“Thank you so much for saving us,” he told us. “Our church will be most grateful.” And they were. Several days later, when their high officials arrived in town, they took the body of the head priest (which we found in the woods, along with the body of the former head warden) and raised him from the dead. They paid us twelve thousand gold for his body, proving Willow right when she told me I should not eat the body because it was worth something, despite these wicked Pelorian’s tendency to destroy my friends. At least we destroyed his holy symbol.
The high priest told us, “How wonderful to find such do-gooders! We will keep you in mind the next time we have some problem, we will keep you in mind!”
The Marshall replied, “We are especially helpful if you have an undead problem!”
“Yes, we are,” I echoed. “Just leave them to us. When you return, whatever undead that plague you will be gone. Have you any such need?” The Marshall dragged me away before I could get more specific.

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Eighty-Nine – Long Trip Home

We returned to our lovely mausoleum and its caretaker, Harkin. He was quite happy to see me. I showed him my three new friends, ghasts I just made, named Wend, Smenl, and Snift. They were still not popular with my other laboratory assistants, apparently because of their alleged bad smell. I tried to show them that this was pure prejudice, that the smell was not so bad if you got used to it in the morning, but they would have none of that. Even Willow, who was totally unaffected by it, did not wish them near. “They are unnatural,” she said, even after I pointed out that “skunks are natural.”
“So how did you handle it, my master,” Harkin asked.
“Simple, with these,” I said as I showed him the crystal masks covering each of their faces. “Each of these keeps the smell at bay, until the wearer wishes it let free. I call them Necklaces of Aroma-Prejudice.” I also showed him my new belt that heals undead. What I did not show him was Blackberry’s new crown, fresh from the Naga’s corpse. A circlet of blasting. I hope he likes it.
Harkin told us that our former Sphinx had left the mausoleum and headed toward the keep. Willow wished to parlay, so we left the tomb in Harkin’s hand, along with a thousand gold in upkeep and repair funding so he could continue his work. We then headed back toward the keep.

Notes – Chapter Ninety – Up to the keep, down the shaft

At the keep, everything was in order, except the sphinx had gone down into the tunnels of the mines. After a short rest, we headed down after her, down to the lower levels we had yet to explore.
We found on the second level down a long track for mining carts. We did not see any carts, not at first. Then we saw one when we did not wish to. Balor was leading the way while BR took up the rear. Then suddenly Balor tripped something and then BR heard something coming up behind us. BR turned and saw a cart speeding down the track toward us. Selflessly, BR rushed forward to stop it, smashing the cart with his huge blade, sending splinters flying. Unfortunately, it also let loose the contents of the cart, which included many flasks of alchemist’s fire that, ironically, sailed through the air right past BR and engulfed everyone but him in burning fire.
Once the smoke settled and we were all healed, burning many a charge on my various wands, we continued on down the shaft, only to meet yet another burning foe from our rear. This time it was a huge creature that filled the shaft, enlarging it, even, with its corrosive saliva, eating the rock itself. The creature nearly killed all of my ghasts and did horrid damage to BR before the Marshall finally convinced it to stop fighting us.
He told us his name was Crushstone and that he was very hungry for metal, particularly silver and gold. Apparently he was fed only copper by some being named Bshana. We convinced him we could give him a better deal. We offered coins for gems and sent him off to find gems in the rock. The Marshall gave him 100 gold coins and he returned with over a dozen blue star sapphires, easily worth over a thousand gold each. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. If we survive the next five minutes.

Notes – Chapter Ninety-One – Bshana is not nice at all

Crushtone left us, looking for other gems, when we heard someone approaching from the tunnel ahead. We hid off the side of the main shaft in two groups, myself with my friends in one tunnel, Balor, Willow, Breeze, the Marshall, and the Mute Bard in the tunnel further ahead. We then saw the sphinx-spider come running past us, not even slowing down when we said hello. Following her was a group of almost a dozen gnomes come running into the tunnel, seemingly the chasers, not the chased. And so Selina greeted them with a fireball, leaving all of them dead save one, who looked remarkably unharmed.
This last gnome was willing to talk. I was immediately suspicious. She asked us, “Who among you is the strongest?”
“I am,” said the Marshall, “but really he is,” he said, pointing at me, “because he controls all of them,” the Marshall said, pointing at my special friends. To punctuate the Marshall’s words, I waved my hand and all of the other gnomes rose up as my friends. Then the flames really hit.
Immediately, the whole corridor was filled with fire again, killing all but two of my new friends. Soon after, a web covered everyone but the gnome and the Marshall on that side of the corridor. And the gnome was no longer a gnome, but was a tiger-looking humanoid creature. Bshara, I presume.
Another fireball soon joined her first, and all three of my ghasts and all of my new gnome friends were but dust on the earth. That’s just evil. BR charged in and began hitting her, his sword blazing, but he seemed to do little damage to her. Even worse, the Marshall was of no help, obviously beguiled by this beast. I readied my magic to deal with that just as my other assistants managed to claw free of the web. But we were badly hurt, and the beast was barely scratched. I wondered if now would be a good time to withdraw. I readied my magic.

 

[Altalazar]

Notes – Chapter Ninety-Two – Willow flips Marshall

Before I had to send my magic, Willow sent hers. She dispelled the charm on the Marshall. The Marshall immediately stopped aiding the tiger beast and started aiding us again. I sent Blackberry in to bolster BR. Selena sent a flaming sphere to free the Mute Bard from the web and we all then surrounded the tiger. BR’s troll-sword, burning with undead fire, slashed into her back. Blackberry’s dragon-sword, burning with undead fire slashed her shoulder. Even my bodyguard Rankin managed to rake a chunk of tiger-flesh to the cold stone floor with his own sword. The Marshall’s shouted commands made each slash run deeper. The tiger finally could take no more and shouted out an offer.
“Let me live! Let me live and I can get you far more wealth than you will find on my corpse and in my room!”
It was clear she was sincere, but only in her desire to live. BR gave our first answer, slashing another long gash into her body. She then fell to the stones. Her act was unconvincing. We continued to slash her until her body no longer yelped in pain. Balor bounced her corpse a few more times after that with his mace.
We were joined in our slashing by Crushstone (I shouted, “That will teach you to feed him copper pieces!”), who made a tunnel that ended right where the tiger was standing. He was about to consume her corpse when the Marshall talked him out of it.
“Leave us her corpse. She’s not that palatable anyway. We can get you more metal.” Willow and myself then gave him one hundred more gold coins to sate his appetite.
“Yes, I need the corpse. I will animate her as one of my minions.”
“She will serve him for years,” said the Marshall, “and then you can have her.”
“Poetic justice,” said the Mute Bard poetically.
“Ah, karma,” said Crushstone and he relented from consuming her corpse.
Her corpse was not all that wealthy. She had a ring and a few trinkets. Her room had a few more items of value. Apparently she had also ordered some very expensive furniture, to be delivered to another entrance to the mine that we were unaware of.
The Marshall took his gemstone booty from Crushstone and used it to purchase a lyre of building, which he then gave to the Mute Bard. The keep and mausoleum are looking much more finished now. We even built a gatehouse to block off the new entrance to the mine. We will be taking delivery of that furniture now. We also found a very nice set of utensils that will also be useful to have at the keep when we have guests.
Willow disagreed. “What use is that? We can sell them and use the proceeds to help the forest! I don’t use utensils or eat inside anyway.”
“But we have an image to maintain,” said the Marshall.
“The only image that matters is the image of a land restored, animals returned, and civilization burned to the ground,” she replied. Or so I imagined, since I was not really paying that much attention to the parlay. I had new friends to groom.
For I mourned the loss of all of my new ghast friends. I gathered up their masks and was about to create more when I realized that now I could attempt to create something a little more interesting. I returned to my corpse storage, had BR place the tiger woman there for future use, then gathered up four goblin corpses. Now was the time to make some friends that truly appreciate alabaster. I returned to my altar, which was desecrated now merely by my presence, and began my new rituals. I could now create two friends at a time, and I savored the joy of creation.

Notes – Chapter Ninety-Three – Deals and Dragons

Crushstone agreed to search for more gems for us. The last batch he found were pretty, but worthless. He also agreed to help tunnel. We had to caution him not to create too many tunnels or else all would collapse. I think he must instinctively know this, however.
We asked him to tunnel a way all the way from the keep to town for us. Then his next project will be to tunnel his way from the keep to the mausoleum. Perhaps we could put other rooms down there along the way as well. Quarters for my friends to stay in, out of sight. Particularly nice for those friends of mine who don’t particularly like the daylight.
He moves slowly, but he still tunnels faster than any possible means of digging we could ever do. He could make 120 feet of tunnel in a minute, well over a mile of tunnel in an hour. I don’t think it will be long before we have our tunnels in place.
The former sphinx returned to us as well. She said that she has learned to love the dark, which scares her after her longing for the sky. But I guess her new form has its own comforts. She particularly liked the spidery-silk robes of the drow now worn by Willow (courtesy of Crushstone from one of his deeper jaunts).
We returned to town and made some purchases of needed supplies. There, we heard of troubles in a small village nearby, called Gross Fell. Apparently they have dragon trouble. We ourselves spotted the dragon in the distance before it disappeared behind a mountain. Blackberry may have a new friend soon!
We walked to the village and began our search for its lair. Along the way, I introduced my four new friends. They were small, and no longer resembled goblins.
“Meet Hauver, Spence, Sunctum, and Vact.”
They had lovely tentacles at their waists that stretched out impossibly long distances. And they were very friendly, always wanting to offer a hug. “But you only get to eat our enemies” I reminded them after one too-long hug. “And we always have plenty of those.” “But the dragon is off-limits. That corpse is its own treasure.”
Outside the area of the dragon’s lair, we found a single scale. A blue scale. “OOo,” I said. “I don’t have one of those!”