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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 720792" data-attributes="member: 6294">Kull's First Report, Part 6I inspected the door of the store room to see if we could repair it, but it was clearly too badly damaged by the flames and by the creature for it to be serviceable.  We were also all but out of material to burn.  There were still stocks of canvas left, but if we hoped to escape the island, we would need those for our vessel.I warned the others that I was sure the creature would return, and that this time, we would have no choice but to face it at the doors of the furnace room itself.  There could be no retreat for us, and with its goal in sight, I doubted the creature would withdraw again.  This would be a fight to the end.With that in mind, I fashioned my plans for the defence.  We would need a guard in the store room, to watch the tunnel.  As soon as they saw the creature - which we had dubbed 'the Ice haunt' - the guard was to attack it with a missile weapon, then fall back to join the rest of us.  We would meet it with a massed volley of our remaining oil flasks, then meet it in hand to hand combat.  There, by Hextor's Will, either it or we would fall.Again the day was spent in preparation.  I - with some assistance from the Druid - healed what remained of the others' injuries, holding only enough magic in reserve to stabilise anyone who fell.Eventually, the creature returned.Brodnak was on watch at the time.  As instructed, he cast a javelin as soon as he saw the foe.  But then, rather than fall back, he drew his sword, as if to face the creature in single combat.  Foolish bravado, of course: and the Ice Haunt treated it as such.  Sweeping past the Barbarian as he slashed wide of the mark, it casually struck him with a backhanded blow, knocking him back against the wall.The creature lunged toward us, and though Brodnak would be trapped, I knew that we could not afford to hold our hands.  At my command, our remaining oil was hurled against the creature, creating a flaming barrier through which it plunged with a howl of pain and fury.Zalich met it with another wave of fire.  Arcane words tumbled from his lips as the flames burst from his fingers, washing over the creature and enraging it still further.  With patches of its skin still smouldering, the Ice Haunt charged directly toward him.  Zalich never flinched: even as its claws raked his skin, he was already rushing through the words of another spell.  Small of stature but stout of heart, the halfling is not the helpless chef he seems to be.For once, Troilan did not rush in and disrupt the plan.  As Zalich's second wave of fire burned the creature still further, she sent an arrow deep into its side, staggering it slightly.  It was a fine shot: if only the girl had the sense to follow instructions more often, she might actually prove useful.With many blows raining down upon it, and Zalich's spells still charring its flesh, I could see the Haunt was all but finished.  Calling upon Hextor to guide my blow, I stepped forward and smote it with my flail, smashing the creature to the ground.At last, the Ice Haunt was destroyed.  Praise be to Hextor.</blockquote>

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