Feres moves up the stairs and into the room, brandishing the holy symbol of his goddess.
"By the grace of Sarenrae, be at peace!" he shouts, channeling the power of the Everlight. A wave of holy radiance bursts from the symbol in stout priest's outstretched hand, washing over three of the necromancer's zombies, but narrowly missing the necromancer and his guardian skeleton.
"Way to go Friar, show him who's boss!"
Urg attacks the ghostly hand.
1d20 + 8
1d12 + 6
Urg attacks the ghostly hand.
1d20 + 8
1d12 + 6
Vug Vang hits the zombie with a bomb. Urg advances and strikes the reptilian zombie a serious blow as Feres blasts the monsters with the holy light of Sarenrae. The hairy zombie (Z1) collapses in a heap, as a puppet with its strings cut.
The zombies advance but only Z2 finds an opportunity to strike at Urg, who easily dodges its clumsy blow. Filge sends the ghostly hand out to strike Valgrim but misses. He spits out some vile curses as he produces a huge strange-looking syringe filled with some kind of yellow fluid. The skeleton draws its scimitar but does nothing.
You're up. Updated map.
Valgrim will wait to go after Bubba to see if he inspires. Afterwards, he will take a 5' step to I4 and goes full attack on the zombie, telling the party, "Help Urg, I've got this one!"
Chisora
She will use a swift action to pronounce a wrathful judgment of destruction on Filge and she will take a 5' step to I5, unsling her bow off her shoulder and shoot Filge with an arrow.
Vug will delay to go after Urg, telling him "Attack your beastie and then move away!"
"Nighty Night, go to sleep Mr. Filge."
Bubba throws a pinch of sand at the necromancer,
Urg attacks the same zombie.
If so, Vug pulls another vial out, gives it her little "magic shake", and off it goes through the air on top of the zombie Urg just hit.
Valgrims twin axes bite into the zombie from opposite directions. Urg's axe fells his opponent, releasing a stench of rot. While Bubba starts chanting, Chisora lets fly an arrow and hits Filge in the shoulder. Vug follows with a bomb, searing the necromancer and blasting the skeleton, which crumbles.
Filge cries out in dismay: "NOOO! You're ruining everything!"
Feres is up, then the zombies and Filge.
Feres once again raises the symbol of his goddess, and channels Her holy radiance in a burst that washes over the remaining zombies.
The zombies are seared by Feres's positive energy but they fight on. Valgrim manages to parry the blow but Urg is hit for 7 points of damage. Filge rams the syringe into his side and injects himself with the yellow liquid, with a gasp of pleasure. He drops the syringe, sending it clattering to the floor, and draws his dagger.
Valgrim attacks the zombie again.
Valgrim chops the zombie to pieces. Filge resists Bubba's magic though.
The rest of you are up.
Bubba whips at Filge, trying to trip him.
Feres channels the holy radiance of Sarenrae for a third time, the brilliant burst of light washing over the lone zombie battling Urg.
So enraged is Urg in the heat of battle, all else seems to disappear from his senses.
Feres releases some more of Sarenrae's holy light and Urg smites the zombie with a telling blow, as Bubba advances and manages to pull Filge off his feet.
Filge screams: "Enough!". With a gesture he calls off the last zombie. In a calmer voice he proceeds. Let's make a deal. You can have those silly bones and anything else of value here, and I'll throw in Balabar Smenk on a silver platter. He's the one you want, not me. All I ask for is my life."
Valgrim looks at Bubba, eager to put an axe in Filge, but also realizing that prime information is to be had. "Fine, spill yer guts freak and we will consider sparing ye head. But that remaining zombie will be destroyed, on that there is no argument. So...who is this Balabar fella?"
"First I'll have your word that you will get me go unharmed. Never mind the zombie; I can always make a new one. You know, I quite like you. You are vicious and devious. I can't understand why Smenk didn't hire you instead of those half-wits."
"The way I see it, Filge, you have no leverage here. This Smenk fella seems to be pretty high and mighty in these parts, so any information you may have of his wrongdoings ain't really gonna help us much, know what I mean? Because likely no court or authority will convict him of said wrongdoing, so the information you gonna give us, while interesting and all, probably won't help us much. And seein' I'm really aching to put me axes in yer belly for your unnatural experiments, you'd better do something really impressive for me to let you go unharmed. So no agreement to let you go unharmed till after we hear what you have to say. The floor's all yours and I'd better be impressed!" Valgrim smiles and grips his two axes tightly in front of Filge, so he can see what he's facing.
Filge looks at Valgrim's axes, then at his face and licks his mouth nervously. He sighs. "Well, this is the story: Me and Balabar were mates some 20 years ago in the City State, before he wound up here in this hell-hole. He called me up from the City State for a bit of study about some weirdness in town. He got himself brought down to a hidden part of the Dourstone Mines a month ago, to set up some provisioning deal with the dwarf what runs the place. But the mine was crawling with awful beasts in hooded robes. He said their wild cries made his stomach heave. The cultists—they called themselves the Ebon Triad—said something about the Age of Worms, about strange undead in the southern hills and the swamp. Smenk knew he had to prepare a defense, so he called in his undead expert. Me."
"Must say, Filge, impressive start. So, what did you learn about the undead? So, all of these zombies, were for Balabar's defense, in case the cult turned on him?"
"Something like that, yeah." Filge gestures towards the operating theater. On one of the shelves flanking the operating table rests a glass tube about a foot long and half as wide. A slim green worm bobs in the murky chemical solution within the jar.
"Balabar nicked that jar from a laboratory in the Dourstone Mine. It’s very rare. Dead now, of course, but once it and hundreds of worms like it must have wriggled within the abscesses and orifices of a powerful undead creature called a spawn of Kyuss." Filge smiles horribly at the thought. "These are probably the ‘unkillable’ zombies the cultists mentioned to Smenk. If true, it could be a real problem. Those worms can get inside you and turn you undead in about a day." He rubs his hands gleefully, clearly in awe of the disgusting creatures.
"Filge, Bubba, anyone? What is this Age of Worms you mentioned? Spawn of Kyuss taking over the world?"
Valgrim:
Filge snorts. "Your understanding is as crude as could be expected. The Age of Worms is the Waiting Age, an era of catastrophe that lurks in the shadows of every tomorrow. Scholars obsessed with apocalyptic visions claim that its advent signals an interminable period of suffering in which the cosmic scales shift disastrously toward evil and light fades from the land." He doesn't cackle but it's a close call.
"What exactly did the cultists say about the Age of Worms? That it is coming soon?"
"I don't know what they said. It was Balabar that spoke to them. You'll have to ask him."
Valgrim looks at Filge's glass tube with the worm. "Did you know that thing burrows into your skin to get to your brain and kills you? I'm sure you do, you love all that sick stuff, don't you? Ok, I have a few questions: What's the Ebon Triad? Some dancing group? And Kyuss, why is he spawning sick stuff with worms? Is he some lich or necromancer, like you? And what do you know of the Dourstone Mine and its owner? Do you know exactly what hills and swamp were referred to as the undead sighting places? Sounds like some good hunting grounds, when I have some time."
"As far as I understand, the Ebon Triad follows Zon-Kuthon, Rovagug, and Norgorber, the master of secrets. If that is true, the place must be crawling with delicious secrets. I’d love to accompany you if you intend to go."
"As for Kyuss, no one knows much. He appeared more than a thousand years ago in the Rift Canyon to the west. In a short time, he created dozens of new undead breeds and amassed a legion of creatures bound to his will. They say an undead dragon stood at his side as the general of this force. Now alas, only the green worms remain of his legacy. That and his title: Harbinger of the Age of Worms."
"The Dourstone mine? I think it lies somewhere along the road east of here, but this hell-hole is your town, not mine. You tell me where it is." Filge shrugs, then looks thoughtful. "If you’re going, best be careful. Smenk said the place scared him, which I wouldn’t have thought possible before I heard him say it myself."
About the Ebon Triad Knowledge (religion) 10:
Knowledge (religion) 15:
Knowledge (religion) 20:
"How about the hills and swamp? Do you know which southern ones?"
Feres has been listening carefully to the exchange between Valgrim and the necromancer, Filge. His brow furrows in thought as he considers Filge's words.
"The Ebon Triad, you say? Father Beamus, the head of my order, told me a bit about them once. The Ebon Triad does indeed exist. It's an evil cult dedicated to merging the essence of Zon-Kuthon, Rovagug and Norgorber into a mighty Overgod."
"Master Filge, I'm curious. Why do you study the dark art of necromancy? What is it that you hope to learn or gain?" Feres asks with honest curiosity.
"And you say that Master Smenk called on you to help prepare a defense against these Spawns of Kyuss. So, does he want you to find a way to destroy them, or are the two of you trying to find a way to control them yourselves?" the stout priest asks, his expression turning stern as he carefully studies the necromancer, weighing his response.
"I am a wizard. We manipulate energies. Myself I am especially skilled in working in the field of death, where common prejudice has done so much harm. As the saying goes: 'Death is only the beginning'. I profited by my open mind and have managed to learn much about the entities you call undead."
"It is too early to say if those undead can be controlled or need to be destroyed. For me knowledge is paramount. I would love to have the opportunity to study them, and since they are a threat to my old friend Balabar they need to be neutralized one way or another."
"So what do you say? Should we join forces? You will need my expertise and I might profit from your brute force, now that you've destroyed my guardians. Remember, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Bubba looks to Valgrym "What do you think?"
"Join forces for what purpose? Going into da mine? We are on another mission currently, restoring the bones yer men stole! Waz ya be planning on joining us on that too?"
Filge makes an impatient gesture. "I can't believe you're still going on about those old bones. They weren't even of good quality, what with the plague-marks and all. Anyway, it shouldn't take you long to bury them and then we could go on to more important business."
"As tempting as your offer is, because you seem to be a competent mage, our philosophies/ideals do not mesh, Filge. I seek the ultimate destruction of everything undead, while you seek its preservation and reanimation. Now, you have provided much valuable information about the cult, the spawn, and Balabar Smenk. But I've also seen your true character, Filge. This Balabar, about whom you spoke that you were mates from 20 years ago, you were willing to betray him without hesitation to save your own hide within seconds. That is your character, Filge, and you would do the same to us in a heartbeat, and we're not friends, so imagine. I do not travel with people like that. I will spare ye because ye did impress me, but ye are banished from Wolfstone. Should I see you again, me axe will gut ya! Now, Bubba, detect magic and remove any magical valuables he may have on his person and we will escort you out of this observatory and remember, ye are banished! Do not make me regret not killin' ya, Filge."
"Oh and before ye go, ye have any proof, anything in writing, that connects Balabar to the mine or the cult? Ye wouldn't have happened to save the letter he sent ye, eh Filge?"
While this has been going on, Chisora or Friar packaged the other Land skeleton's bones in a sack.
Filge slowly takes off a pendant he is wearing, a bird's skull on a leather thong. He also puts down a syringe filled with a purple syrupy liquid and a small vial. "May I keep my spellbooks?" he asks, knowing when not to push his luck. "You will find Balabar's letter downstairs. And I doubt that he has anything to fear from you. More likely the other way around, as I am sure you will find."
"No, Filge, no spellbook. I'm sure your buddy Balabar can buy you a new one!"
Filge smiles a thin-lipped smile. "Not very likely after he finds that I sold him out." Then he shrugs. "If you are ever in the City State, be sure to drop by."
Filge meekly lets you escort him out of town and even leaves you the keys to the observatory.
I guess I'll just summarize your findings and assume that you destroy the unresisting zombies.
In one of the small cells: a pouch with 6 pp and 5 gp.
In the feasting hall: A set of silver utensils worth 200 gp
In the kitchen: an enormous wheel of cheese, a moldy loaf of bread and several strips of stringy cured meat, the only thing of value being a set of shoddy cutlery, worth perhaps 10 gp.
In the storage closet: eight copper candle stands worth 5 gp each
In the bedroom: Filge's spellbook, a silver tray worth 50 gp, a pair of spectacles of blackened glass, potentially worth 75 gp, and a large rug of golden fur worth 200 gp but needing care in the transport.
Knowledge (arcana) 15:
Most of the papers on Filge’s desk concern surgical procedures meant to enhance the potency of undead, while others contain only the meandering scribbles of a mind descending into madness. Buried in with the junk, however, is an arcane scroll of Animate dead.
There is also a beaker holder containing four 6-inch-long tubes filled with different-colored liquids. Two of the six slots are empty. The glass tubes are sealed at the top with a rubber sheath, and look like they are meant to be slotted into some other device. Each contains a soupy liquid substance, all of which are magical (different kinds of magic). Every so often, something within the beakers seems to move slightly, but it might just be a trick of the eye. A handwritten label on the beaker holder says “Necroturgons.”
There is also an interesting letter:
I need you in Diamond Lake, my boy. The cult situation has grown worse. Deep within Dourstone Mine they are studying things brought in from the southern hills. Green worms and unkillable zombies. I nicked one of the worms for you to study.
I'll put you up in the old observatory. Show this letter to the big white half-orc at the Feral Dog. He'll help you get settled. I trust you'll find these coins sufficient to cover your trip from the City State.
S.
In the closet: 13 gp's worth in various coins.
In the operating theater: only the stuff that Filge dropped.