To Kill a Necromancer

Third Session - April 28, 2013

Solara agrees that what needs to be done is to eliminate the necromancer. We decide to scout the temple to see what the necromancer is up to. Solara, Tunnelly, and Swifty (the sneaky ones) take off their armor and travel to the temple. The idea is to take a small group so as to be able to stay quiet.

After an hour-long trek, we reach the temple. There are two rows of columns leading up to the temple. The gargoyle that Solara had stuck with an arrow previously is sitting on one of the pillars.

Hundreds of skeletons standing around outside the temple. Standing in groups as if arrayed for battle. Groups of 40 each with a commander. The skeletons are not moving a lot, but they are active. Every now and then, one of them goes to and from the temple. At the bottom of the stairs, between two skeleton squads, are a pyramidal stack of human skulls. After an hour of observation, Solara is satisfied with the reconnaissance; we sneak back to Rhud.

Swifty cooks up a flask of holy water. Plans are made to assault/sneak up on the temple. Solara has sent for reinforcements, but they won’t arrive for three days.

The party, along with Tunnelly, Solara, and 20 of Solara’s men head back to the temple with the plan to assault the necromancer. Solara will take care of the gargoyle out in front of the temple. Leaf entangles two groups of 40 skeletons, rooting them in place. The rest of us rush the temple.

Swifty turns a few of the skeletons. Solara kills the gargoyle. The necromancer creates magical spikes on the stairs of the temple. Scar knocked over most of the pile of skulls (doing so had no obvious effect).

Theodoric: balding on top, white hair, kinda pudgy, 6’1”, 200 lbs., blue eyes

The necromancer: wispy hair all over, 6’1”, 180 lbs., purple eyes

We are running on the assumption that the necromancer may be Theodoric, the ex-priest to whom we have to feed the potion given to us by Ulian.

The party wrestles the necromancer to the ground; Swifty pours the elixir of life down his throat. His eyes turn purple to blue, his cheeks fill out, and the hair on the top of his head falls out (creating a bald crown). It turns out that our suspicions were correct: the necromancer is Theodoric. He then looks around, bewildered, wondering what has been going on.

Baldemar crushes the skull on the necromancer’s staff and all animated skeletons instantly drop.

We question Theodoric: a man came to visit him named Thyjak. (expert on ancient history); came to ask questions concerning Thessarian army that had fought in Rhud. They had a discussion over a mug of ale, and that’s the last thing Theodoric remembers.

Theodoric is very distraught over his actions during the last three weeks. He wants Swifty to stay at the temple and get things in order to have it reconsecrated. Theodoric will be traveling to Sard and see about being forgiven for his actions. Theodoric tells Swifty that he is being left in charge of the temple until he or another high priest returns to reconsecrate the temple.

Theodoric pulls Swifty aside and, in private, tells him that he will have to be the keeper of Koric’s tomb while he is away (the sarcophagus that we ran past earlier in the upper level of the temple is Koric’s tomb). Theodoric then gives a set of keys to Swifty, telling him that they are open the crypt on the first level of the temple. There are several items of significance to the Priesthood of Kromm stored there, the most significant of which is a stone tablet with a map to Koric’s fortress: Cloudyhead. This map, Theodoric continues, must be kept hidden and secret at all costs.

Scar stays with Swifty at the temple. Solara leaves a contingent of eight of her men with Swifty at the temple for protection.

The rest of the party escorts Theodoric back to Sard. They question him regarding Thyjak. Theodoric says that Thyjak was wearing a black and white pendant with a crescent moon on one side and a star in a dark field on the other side. He also wore many rings. One ring, he recalls, was carved in the image of a gargoyle. Thyjak was particularly interested in any written, first-hand accounts of the generals who had died in the downfall.

Swifty enters the tomb to make sure that Koric’s remains are still in the tomb. Scar wants to go with Swifty who tells him ‘no’. Scar is persistent. Jax takes a swing at Scar to persuade him to leave the temple as Swifty had asked, and knocks him out.

In the tomb, Swifty inspects the seal on the sarcophagus in down in the tomb; it is intact. Further inspection of the tomb shows that a lecturn (which holds a very large metal-bound wooden book as well as a map) has four elongated cylinders around it, but one is missing. Long story made short: the missing cylinder is the staff to which Theodoric (as the necromancer) was affixing skulls. Swifty keeps the staff/cylinder hidden until a higher ranking member of the priesthood arrives to put it back in the tomb.

Scar, while he’s knocked out, has a dream. In it, a man in chainmail asks for Scar to be a follower of Kromm. In return, he gives Scar a fancy magic dagger. When Scar wakes up, he has the dagger in his hand. Later that day, the entourage leaves the temple to head back to Sard. As Scar leaves the temple, the dagger starts getting heavy. By the time he’s 100 yards away from the temple, the dagger is so heavy that he cannot move. He drops the dagger (Swifty picks it up and holds onto it), and the group leaves, arriving in Comb that evening.

All of a sudden, the dagger disappears. Swifty thinks he lost it. It appears in Scar’s left hand. It is, again, so heavy that he cannot move. Scar yells out, “I need to get back to the temple!” He is then instantly transported back to the Temple of Kromm, and a disappointed Swifty.

The party gets back to Sard the next day and meets with Ulian, who is very happy to see the safe return of Theodoric. He then pays the party’s reward.

An order of wizards called the Silvershadow. Grey eyes. Were based in Onyx. The staff used to belong to a lieutenant. It’s a very dangerous artifact that can only be held by a cleric.

The party enters the town of Sard and bring the priest, Theodoric, to the temple of Krom. The High Priest, Ulian, thanks us profusely for our services. Jax asks the high priest if he recognizes the symbol of the crescent moon on a dark background, which was the pendant worn by Thyjack. The High Priest is surprised, and says that it is a very old symbol, used by a race of wizards from before the fall. They called themselves the Silver Shadow, and were based out of the city of Onyx (which is in Orrostar.) They served Mordhame as his lesser servants, and many of the members reputedly had gray eyes. The skills and knowledge of the Silver Shadow was thought to have died with the order itself after the fall of Mordhame.

We describe the skull-topped staff, wielded by the necromancer Theodoric. Ulian is greatly disturbed. The staff, he tells us, was once owned by Lieutenant Ocsychirax, a follower of Mordhame. It is a very dangerous artifact that may only be used by a priest or a cleric. Ulian visits the temple of Rudd, Krom's wife, to do more research (is this right? wasn't it the temple in Sard that he visited to do some more research, and then later he traveled to the temple outside of Rhud in order to reconsecrate it?). His findings indicate that the Silver Shadow worked under Lt. Ocsychirax, and thought to have been destroyed. To date, there have been no known practitioners. As for the Lieutenant, when he was killed, his staff was set with him on a burial pyre which was then sunk into the ground by Krom himself.

Ulian speculates that it is possible Thyjack is a survivor, although more likely that he found information on the Silver Shadow and is using that to some end. Why wouldn't Thyjack have taken the staff for himself? Maybe he wasn't a priest, as the Silver Shadow were all wizards.

Ulian agrees to give us a list of the 12 generals of Mordhame, and their known lieutenants. He will also see that the staff is secured, or if possible, destroyed.

Leef notices a dwarf sweeping up in the temple of Kromm in Sard, and that he has a dagger hanging from his belt that looks just like the magic dagger that Scar received in his dream. Leaf asks him about it; he says to ask Ulian. Ulian tells Lief that the dagger is a symbol of the Order of the Silver Dagger. The daggers are given to those who have disgraced their God or their family, and are given a second chance. The people given these daggers are either mercenaries who work for the highest bidder or for the person who gave them the dagger. Ulian then tells Leif that the recipients of these daggers are unable to be rid of it, and that they are usually men of their word.

Ocsychirax was a lieutenant of Mordain.

Ulian himself is going to travel to the temple outside of Rhud in order to reconsecrate the temple.

A few days past; the party arrives back at the temple outside of Rhud. Swifty helps Ulian reconsecrate the temple. Solara’s reinforcements show up a few days later. They debate what to do with the town since it is now deserted. Ulian takes Rhud under the jurisdiction of the Temple of Kromm. He will send another priest to take over Swifty’s duties at the temple.

Swifty turns the keys over to Ulian. Ulian questions him on what Theodoric had told him concerning the significance of the keys. Swifty tells Ulian that Theodoric only mentioned that one of the keys opens the top level of the tomb, and that the tomb guards very coveted secrets, the biggest of which is the map to Cloudyhead. Ulian says that Cloudyhead is a very strong fortress and it would be very bad if the Temple’s enemies were to gain access to it.

The party heads back to Sard where we learn that Theodoric has committed suicide (no signs of a struggle).