The Troupe have made their way through the inhabitants of the Ulcaster School Ruins to rescue Sir Mark. They find the necromancer holding him hostage, facing up against Ruby, a member of Recorder’s expedition. Now the Troupe is ready to kill yet another necromancer infesting the Sword Coast.
2 Eleasias 1368
It’s time to kill another necromancer.
Khalid tries to get close to Rick but is accosted by his undead wolves. They howl and snarl as their teeth slam into shield and blade.
Ruby rushes the necromancer and stabs him in the gut, disrupting his spellcasting gestures.
White aims his crossbow and fires, sending a bolt flying past Ruby, embedding itself in the necromancer’s shoulder. A sickening crunch accompanied the impact, and the necromancer’s guttural cry echoes through the chamber.
Recorder taunts the necromancer as she brightens the room with a couple of Magic Missiles. They strike the necromancer who is too busy taking blows to be able to let off a single spell.
The larger of the wolves lets out a chilling howl, one that sinks into our bones. Fear almost consumes us, but thanks to Corellon’s blessing we are able to resist.
I fill the room with Webs, and the silky strands wrap around the skeleton, Sir Mark, and Khalid. Not what I had hoped for – I just made it harder for Khalid to fight the wolves. My chest tightens with rage, anger at myself for not thinking this through.
The necromancer speaks mystic words and a blue glow surrounds himself his allies. The wolves and the skeleton start to move at an unnatural speed, Hasted by the Weave.
Before the necromancer can start to utter his next incantation White sends an arrow through his neck. Recorder sends two more Magic Missiles his way, but he is dead before they reach him. Jaheira lets out a cry and surges toward her husband. She uses the power of nature to grant her husband rapid Regeneration.
Ruby stands in a daze now the necromancer is dead. She ignores the rest of his minions, staring into the wall with distraught eyes. Verr’Sza smells two dread wolves approaching behind us. He calls out for us to watch our backs as he draws his swords.
The wolves bite and claw at Khalid’s flesh, but the wounds close as quickly as they are opened. He tears into them with his Varscona, leaving them bleeding. Verr’Sza holds off the dread wolves behind us. He manages to avoid their teeth, but is unable to land a blow of his own.
The flickering torchlight casts strange shadows, which suddenly shift and solidify into snarling, human-like forms. Ghouls. Their yellowed eyes glint with hunger as they close in, cutting off our escape. Though the necromancer is dead, his dark magic lingers, animating these fiends.
I clutch my holy symbol tightly as I continue my prayer to turn the undead, hoping to force the ghouls away. Recorder again fires two Magic Missiles at the blood-red wolf biting at Khalid. The bolts strike true, but the beast barely flinches.
While she is distracted, a ghoul lunges at her, its claws raking her side. She stiffens as the ghoul’s poison courses through her veins, her face frozen in a silent scream.
Unable to move, Recorder’s eyes widen at the horror she faces. The ghouls grip Recorder and their claws dig into her shoulders. My heart sinks as the ghouls drag her down, their teeth tearing into her throat.
White calmly turns to face the ghouls, reaching for his flails. Damn it. I’m supposed to be leading this troupe. Have I just led them all to their deaths? I shout out to Khalid and Verr’Sza that she’s gone. We need their help. Now!
I have to remain calm. She’s dead, but she can still be resurrected if we survive this. I need to turn the ghouls away from here. I clutch my holy symbol as I continue my prayer to Corellon. He must hear me!
Recorder’s missiles strike the wolf, but they barely make a mark. The wolf bites Khalid and his joints start to stiffen. This wolf carries the same poison as the ghouls.
Corellon answers my prayer and the undead fiends are compelled to flee from us. Jaheira destroys one of the dread wolves with a bullet from her sling.
Only one of the ghouls and a dread wolf attacking Verr’Sza retreats from the fight. Unable to move, Khalid’s Regeneration is unable heal him fast enough. I try to kill the wolf attacking him with my Wand of Lightning.
One of the ghouls joins the wolf in tearing away Khalid’s flesh. Jaheira attempts to destroy the wolf with the power of the sun. The room is lit up by the pillar of fire, and the wolf’s eyes melt from their sockets.
Verr’Sza slays the dread wolf and turns to help us fight the ghouls. Jaheira starts hurling bullets the ghoul attacking her husband. I manage to turn two of the ghouls with another prayer to Corellon.
Two more dread wolves rush up from the corridor behind us. I launch some Magic Missiles at the wolf as it lets out another deafening howl. The howl gives us a sense of dread, as if our luck was running out.
The Missiles hit the wolf and it lets out a pathetic whimper as it collapses to the ground. Jaheira strikes the ghoul and cracks open its skull. Khalid is safe, for now.
The dread wolves bit Verr’Sza before I can turn them again. They retreat back down the corridor from whence they came, leaving us fighting the ghouls and the skeleton.
We kill one of the ghouls, but the last one runs through our weapons and bites Khalid. It must be desperate for its last meal.
Verr’Sza pulls out his crossbow and with a quick aim downs the ghoul. The skeleton draws a mace and makes a move toward Khalid.
White swings his flail at the skeleton before it can reach him, and smashes it into a pile of broken bones.
Ruby surveys the scene. Skeletons and corpses litter the floor, most of them dead for the second time. She looks like she is about to break down in tears, but manages to compose herself before commenting on the scene.
Ruby: He’s dead. It won’t bring back my love or the others, but it’s good enough.
Aegon: I’m sorry for your loss.
I really am. I remember the first time I saw a scene like this. Father was mutilated beyond recognition. His murderer making sure he couldn’t be resurrected.
Ruby: Ye-, Sir Mark? Sir Mark!
The knight is free from my Web and is stumbling toward me.
Sir Mark Harmon: My injuries are… too great. It seems my ballad will end in tragedy.
Ruby: Do not be stubborn! I have a potion…
Sir Mark Harmon: But not… the time. Please, stranger take this blade… find and give it to the maiden bard. Milil bless you for having the strength… to do what I could not…
He holds out his sword for me to take, and opens his mouth to talk again. Before he can say what he needs to, he collapses. The sword clatters to the ground, sending echoes through the dark halls. The knight is no more.
Ruby stares at the knight with wide open eyes. The torchlight betrays the tears that stream down her face.
Ruby: He’s… he’s passed on. I… I need to stay here for a time and mourn. I won’t forget what happened here, or your help today. Thank you.
We wait for Khalid to be able to move again. As we wait he continues to Regenerate and his wounds slowly close up. One of the dread wolves returns and attacks Verr’Sza.
The rakshasa cuts down the lone wolf with ease. He checks in on Ruby, but she is still in mourning.
Ruby: I will linger here a time and mourn… be safe on your travels.
I reach down to Sir Mark’s sword. Ruby watches as I do so. It is a magical blade granting the bearer good fortune. Ruby reminds us to give it to the “Maiden Bard”, to Recorder. Then she can write the end of Mark’s Ballad.
We glance around the room at the many corpses hiding in the shadows. They don’t put us at ease – corpses are the tool of the necromancer, and death isn’t always the end for them. We check our wounds. Apart from Recorder, Khalid is the most hurt. But Jaheira’s spell is still slowly regenerating him.
We search the bodies and the room. Perhaps we could find the book the Ghost of Ulcaster needs to move on to the next life.
In one corner of the room we find a wand. Without Recorder’s help I cannot figure out how to activate this one.
In another corner of the room is a corpse. We find a Potion of Healing and a Potion of Absorption in its near-rotten potion belt.
Rick Harris was wearing a Knave’s Robe. He must have been fearful of assassination attempts, and rightly so given the way he betrayed everyone who knew him.
The book he carried was a journal. In it we find details of his plan, as well as an indication he turned down a bounty on my head. So he was an assassin himself, and my nemesis knew how to contact him. I wonder if he knows I am hunting him just as much as he is hunting me.
After we finish searching the bodies, Khalid is able to move again. This is fortunate, as two more of the dread wolves return to attack us once more.
Without support from the necromancer they are quickly destroyed. We have to get out of here now, return to a temple so we can resurrect Recorder. Wind howls through the shadows as we retreat toward the surface. A ghoul emerges from the shadows, no longer under the influence of my Turning.
It lets off a raspy snarl as a Bolt of Lightning flies through it. Verr’Sza purrs, proud of his kill. The sound surprises me – I didn’t know rakshasa made such a sound. He notices me glancing at him, and I could swear he is smiling.
We see Hawk and his companion on the way out of the dungeon. He is happy to hear the necromancer is dead, and encourages us to give Sir Mark’s sword to Recorder.
Hawk: Thank you… it seems my story will end only in in tragic ballad for maidens to weep. Please, take this blade, and give it to the maiden bard. Milil bless you for having the strength… to do what I could not.
We make our way out of the tunnels. The weight of the battle lingered as we emerged into the sunlight. The fresh air brought little solace, our thoughts heavy with loss. White broke the silence.
White: This father of yours…
Aegon: Gorion.
White: Gorion. Yes.
You said that he was killed by someone – I would like you to tell me something more about this. I want to know what I’m getting into and who we are hunting.
I hesitate. I have never gone over the memory of that night before. I don’t know if the barbarian is the right person for this. But perhaps I am ready to start talking about it.
Aegon: We had to leave our home. We left in the evening to make it difficult for possible stalkers to find us, but it didn’t help. There were two ogres… a woman with a strange accent, I think, and the leader. He had a heavy armour with some spikes.
I’m surprised how hard it is to recall the details. Has it really been two months now?
White: And? What happened next? How come they didn’t get you?
Aegon: Gorion tried to stop them. He told me to run away. This woman – she tried to stop me; she hurt me with some incantation. But I ran away.
White: And how do you know that they didn’t take him somewhere? Maybe he’s still alive, tortured by those who captured him. They might have wanted some information only he had.
The thought of this disturbs me. Thankfully I know he is wrong. I saw his… body. And I know what they really wanted. Even the necromancer knew that.
Aegon: No. I got back there and I find corpses: is and the ogres’. The man and the girl who hurt me got away. And I think they wanted me, not him.
The sound of the armoured figure’s voice demanding my father’s ward still haunts me. That’s a detail I’ll never forget.
White: So you got back. Smart.
Hmm, I suppose I know everything I wanted to know – it’s surprising that this talk was rather nice. I thought you would be more… boring.
I laugh at this. If he had met me when I was still living in the Keep he may have been right. My life was anything but interesting before I left home.
Aegon: I’m glad that you changed your mind.
White: And who said that I changed my mind?
The barbarian grins. It’s odd to see on his normally inexpressive face.
White: I just said that this talk was nice. Want me to change my mind? Then surprise me.
The ruins here are calm and quiet. A stark contrast to the demons that wander the dungeon below. The ethereal form of Ulcaster’s ghost still wanders the school. He is repeating the same phrase over and over, still haunted by the loss of the school.
Ulcaster: …we all shall live again… someday…
We start on our journey back to the Song of the Morning, to raise the Maiden Bard and fulfill Sir Mark’s last request.
I wonder if we should have brought Sir Mark with us. But Jaheira agrees that he was too far gone. Even a powerful temple cleric could not save him. The final death comes for us all, and when it does it is better that we are allowed to rest.
Kelddath asks us for a 600 gold donation to bring Recorder’s soul back to the Material Plane. When she comes around she is disoriented, almost in a panic.
Recorder: …W-what happened? Did we find Mark?
Aegon: I am sorry. He is dead, Recorder.
She pauses for a moment. Perhaps wondering why we didn’t bring his body to the temple as well.
Recorder: N-no… are you certain? Did… you see him?
Aegon: Here is his blade as proof. He wished you to have it.
She clutches her head, her voice trembling.
Recorder: No. No no no no…
She falters, the truth crashing over her like a wave.
Recorder: Everything we did here… it was not worth his life.
She sniffs as she holds back a tear.
Recorder: Oh Mark…
Thank you for bringing this news to me. Please, allow me to join you. Sir Harmon wished my services to record his exploits in verse and music in return for the gathering of knowledge here.
I think he would want me to be with those like yourself, to ensure their own history was being properly recorded.
Aegon: I would gladly have you.
Recorder: Let us join together.
I correct her understanding of what I said. I would gladly have her, as long as she takes some time to recover from her resurrection first. She knows I’m right, and she realises it will be a good opportunity to finish writing Sir Mark’s story.
Recorder: I will head to the Temple of Garl in the Friendly Arm Inn then. The priestess there is so kind. Farewell, and be careful.
She leaves with renewed determination to honour her lost friend. I tell her to be wary of bandits, but she jokes that we have already killed most of them.
Our time with Recorder is over for now, but I feel I have learned something from her. We die, but our stories live on. Stories give us immortality, living forever in libraries like the Keep. Like home. Perhaps one day I can return to the Keep with Gorion’s story.
