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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1205011" data-attributes="member: 6294">Kull's 8th Report - Part 3The key was of blue crystal, and had been concealed within a strongbox, disguised as a book.  The box was locked, but Dargrim has some mechanical aptitude, and was able to work the tumblers open.  Given the fragile appearance of the key, I ordered the box re-sealed, so that the crystal would be protected against damage.Further exploration revealed a room, fashioned like a tomb, containing four stone coffins.  This lay not ten feet from the ancient dining hall.  Any general who placed the morgue next to the mess hall would likely be lynched by his men: what kind of fool builds his own home in such fashion?As seems inevitable when wizards and corpses combine, the room contained several undead, which were destroyed after a short battle.  Gnorric's absurd enthusiasm for the study of such creatures actually proved of use in this encounter, though he is finally beginning to recognise the need for more effective battle magics.  No doubt the fate of the halfling wizard Zalich, which I have described in some detail, has had an positive effect on his thinking.Although the undead had arisen from the coffins themselves to battle us, the lid of each proved trapped.  I must assume that, lurking within their sarcophagi, the creatures had had plenty of time to study the workings of the traps, allowing them to enter and leave without triggering the effects.  In the event, Dargrim was able to disable some of the mechanisms, and we survived the dangers of the others with relatively little harm.Shortly after defeating the undead, we encountered two of the 'ratmen' of whom the Burgomaster had spoken.  A pair of the creatures were working in the keep's kitchen, apparently so absorbed in their activities that they had not noticed our movements in the nearby rooms.  Perhaps they mistook us for others of their group.  Whatever the case, they did not live long to regret their lack of alertness.The next several rooms we explored contained nothing more dangerous than a few rats, but in time we reached a chamber where bones littered most of the floor.  On the far side of the room stood a rotted bed and chair, beneath which we found a locked box.  The key from the library proved to fit the lock.  Within the box were some items with minor enchantments upon them, the most notable of which was a wand of curative spells.By now, almost the entire keep had been explored, with no sign of what might be causing the continuous winter in Torlynn, nor much evidence of the ratmen: the single pair we had met so far could hardly have driven off the trappers from the town, let alone a party of adventurers.  However, I did not even have to enter the final chamber of the keep to know that this was the source of the 'curse': the temperature dropped sharply as we drew close to the room, and the door that blocked entry was rimed with a heavy frost.Beyond the door lay an alchemist's laboratory.  Every inch of the floor and walls, as well as the furniture, was covered in a layer of ice.  At the centre of the room was a large frozen block, in which was suspended a slender sword of silvered metal, while in the far corner stood an entire throne made of ice, on which sat a black-furred ratman, larger and more heavily scarred than the two we had earlier slain.  Several more of the creatures - closer in size to those we had encountered before - were spread around the room.I called on Hextor to guide my blows, and the battle was joined.</blockquote>

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