Suddenly, Filge looks down. He blinks. He, Farrukh and Robin see the cloth around his belly turning red.
His stomach has been sliced open.
He looks up. "I surrend..."
The necromancer collapses.
"Eh, Robin...I think we're a bit outnumbered. Why don't we just take the stairs down and find our friends, eh?"
Content to see that the party has the skeletons in hand, Carina moves over to the north door and opens it.
She looks back over her shoulder and sees that her owletcub followed her into the observatory.
"Edgar! I thought I told you to stay put!" She says, starting to move back to pick up her baby owlbear.
"Agreed, my fellow rogue. Fantastic work, by the way."
Robin rushes to the next floor down, and eyes the black book and the platinum coin.
The undead mass around Filge as Robin and Farrukh make their way back down to the second floor.
The last skeleton attacks Spiny and fires its crossbow.
As the skeleton raises its arm and fires the crossbow, Spiny grabs that arm and yanks. The fragile old skeleton's shoulder breaks, and this stress proves to be too much for the creature as it collapses.
"Thanks Robin. Surprised that went as well as it did, really. Haven't had something bad happen to me in a while actually..." he says with a growing look of apprehension on his face.
He nevertheless continues down the stairs.
Content to see that the party has the skeletons in hand, Carina moves over to the north door and opens it.
She looks back over her shoulder and sees that her owletcub followed her into the observatory.
"Edgar! I thought I told you to stay put!" She says, starting to move back to pick up her baby owlbear.
Edgar is enjoying his foray, and nips at Carina's hand irritably when she tries to grab him.
"If you could throw that expensive looking rug out the window, I'd be most indebted to you." Robin mindlessly pockets the platinum coin on his way past as he grabs the black book. "Loot what you can!"
"If you could throw that expensive looking rug out the window, I'd be most indebted to you." Robin mindlessly pockets the platinum coin on his way past as he grabs the black book. "Loot what you can!"
When Robin touches the coin, the female human head's tongue lolls out. Her eyes bulge, and she starts to scream. "INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER! INTRUDER!"
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Astraden runs eastward and slightly northward.
Astraden is able to rush forward and open the eastern door.
The revolting stench of rotting flesh roils from the open door. In the room beyond, ten chairs surround an oblong dining table situated parallel to the door. To the north is a staircase leading up.
A wooden door below the stairs presumably leads to a small chamber. Two doors line the south wall. A sagging antique wooden shelf dominates the west wall, looking like it might collapse at any moment.
Three tall candles on the dining table illuminate a sight of terror. With the exception of the place at the western end, each of the chairs surrounding the table holds an awkwardly seated humanoid figure.
The nine bodies are in various stages of decomposition. Some sit with splendid posture, paused as if midway through a sumptous feast. Others slump treacherously close to the floor.
Heaping plates of apparently fresh food sit before each of the diners, but the empty place setting features a clean plate and set of utensils. Several bottles of fine wine rest upon the table, and each of the corpses sits before a half-finished glass. A fly passes nearby, its not-quite-there buzz breaking the eerie silence.
"Ooh, forget the rug!" Robin keeps his sword at hand as he thrusts the book into his pack. He looks up and grins at Farrukh. "Much more exciting now, right?" He laughs and rushes downstairs again. "Keep up, and don't touch anything unless it's valuable and light!"
Robin finds himself in the room mentioned above.
Carina pulls her hand back before Edgar can nip her fingers. She sighs.
"Okay, you don't want to be carried right now. That's fine."
She turns and begins to follow Astraden, but not before she glances back at her owlbear.
"Come, Edgar!" She beckons.
Edgar slowly follows.
Robin looks at Astraden and Carina as they enter. He waves excitedly. "We may have a problem!" He whispers.
Feeling a little worse for wear, Tanith prays to the Brawler for strength before following Carina.
Robin scales the wall like a spider, and peeks through the bottom left window.
Robin finds himself staring into a massive bedchamber that fills an entire floor of the observatory tower. Light filtering in from the tall windows ringing the chamber catches motes of dust in the calm air. A fine bed with plump red linen sheets squats upon a dais along the southeast cradle of the tower's arc.
A nightstand next to the bed holds a wax-choked candlestick and a black book bound with brown and red leather.
At the midpoint of the eastern wall a strange form stands rigid atop a short wooden stool, as tall as a halfling and clothed in a fine black suit and tophat. Clean cloth bandages wrap every inch of the sentry's skin. A pair of ash-tinted spectacles rests upon a long skinny nose. The diminutive dandy holds a silver platter as if presenting a meal, and upon the tray rests the freshly preserved severed head of a middle-aged human woman.
A platinum piece sits upon her outstretched, purple tongue.
A messy desk rests against the opposite wall, piled high with loose papers. An apparatus holding four long tubes filled with colored liquid peeks out from the clutter.
Doors on the north and west walls appear to lead to small closets. Wide stairs lead above and below.
A massive white stone statue of a thin human man with outstretched angelic wings and a beatific look upon his idealized face looms large in the northwest arc of the tower wall. The angel holds a sword in one hand and cradles a harp with the other.
The presentation conjures thoughts of mausoleum peaks or the graves or important men. Tall letters etched upon the statue's base spell out a single word:
"Filge."
Cuetzpalli and Spiny follow the cleric into the hallway.
Tanith stops when he spots his companions. "You two look healthy. What was the commotion upstairs about?"
Astraden holds her mask aloft, saying, "I request aid for my allies," and the groups' wounds are closed a bit more. She then goes to Spiny's side and calls more healing for the wounded dinosaur.
As she sets foot on the first step, she whispers an invocation, and shivers as a crackling violet disturbance encases her body. "And, sir, please guide our weapons once again," she asks, holding the frowning and smiling mask up so all allies can see it.
Astraden holds her mask aloft, saying, "I request aid for my allies," and the groups' wounds are closed a bit more. She then goes to Spiny's side and calls more healing for the wounded dinosaur.
As she sets foot on the first step, she whispers an invocation, and shivers as a crackling violet disturbance encases her body. "And, sir, please guide our weapons once again," she asks, holding the frowning and smiling mask up so all allies can see it.
Cuetzpalli grins as Astraden heals them and Spiny. "I sure am glad you came along," he says. "Thanks again. Did you two find Filge upstairs?"
Carina shudders at the sight of the corpses around the table.
Come on. Feed me. Feed me. No. You never let me have any fun...
Robin nods. "Filge himself is no longer a problem." He looks around. "Were you given much hassle?"
"A handful of skeletons. Should we go upstairs?"
Carina pauses. "Hold on a minute; I noticed that one of the skeletons we fought back there was rather fresh... do you suppose that one is one of the bodies we need to get back for Alastor?"
"There may be a problem on the top floor." Robin admits. "May be trouble. Perhaps we should pause a moment?"
"Carina, it was more likely one of Kullen's gang. Didn't the Lands kick it several years back?"
Astraden goes over and pushes the mummy off its stool with the tip of her rapier, sending the screaming head rolling. "I kind of want to burn those."
Astraden shakes her head at Robin. "What's wrong? My spells are going to burn out soon, so we shouldn't pause for long."
"Could be. I hope Filge isn't dead yet; we kinda need him to tell us which of these bodies are Alastor's family." Carina says, taking out an explosive vial and twirling it between her fingers.
She glances down at Edgar, making sure he hasn't wandered too far.
"We could just bury them all at the farm. But I guess Kullen might want them for something. We'll have to see." Astraden moves towards the stairs.
At the mention of Astraden's spell duration, Tanith heads for the stairs as well. "Let's deal with those undead and see if Filge still has some life in him. I'd rather he not bleed out."
"We're in a necromancer's lair, right?" Robin mumbles. "I don't think death is too much of a problem. Keep your weapons ready, though. There's...something up there."
"Carina, it was more likely one of Kullen's gang. Didn't the Lands kick it several years back?"
"We have a winner."
Alastor grows serious. "Thirty years ago, I ran away from home. It was a...a stupid idea. My family needed my help. As punishment for my self-interest, I wasn't allowed to move on. And I never will move on until I'm able to go home."
A single chamber dominates the observatory's entire third floor. Light filters through the wide slit in the roof, bathing the center of the room in illumination. Four large mirrors set along the outside wall reflect bright beams into the direct center of the room, a recessed operating theater accessible via two short sets of stairs.
The beams specifically target a blue-feathered and -skinned owlbear splayed out upon an operating table, its chest completely opened and pinned back against the table with long metal needles.
Two long shelves cluttered with piles of papers, rotting organs, and instruments comprise the east and west extent of the operating theater, and are only a few inches lower than the chamber's outer floor.
The remains of four metal-and-glass tanks flank the short stairs leading to the operating theater.
Filge lies on the ground nearby, surrounded by six undead.
Two of the undead are lizard-like humanoids, around whom a faint stench beyond that of the grave lingers. Another is a looming, hairy goblinoid with sharp teeth and mean glowing eyes.
Two little goblin skeletons wreathed in fire stand side by side. One of the lizardmen zombies is currently being burned by its proximity to the skeletons, but it hasn't made any effort to save itself.
Astraden immediately unleashes the power of her god, moving forward to catch the burning zombie.
One of the lizardmen, one of the goblins, and the hulking goblinoid let out shrill hisses and recoil. The other lizardman, on the other hand, gives a gurgling growl and readies to charge. The burning goblin skeleton fixes Astraden with a fierce glare. The decayed human skeleton remains still.
Tanith rushes up the stairs and takes up a position adjacent Astraden. The big man sets his feet and braces his poleaxe.
”There’s a lot of them. Let them come to us!”
Robin pats his bow, thinking calmly. "I feel that my skills are less than useful here." He states. "I'll look for something of note." He trots downstairs and takes a look at the book he took earlier.