Category Archives: Journal Entries

Journal entries for the Jade Regent campaign

June 17th, 2017

Character: Olmas

Annals of the Order of the Dragon

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Starday, Abadius 31

The guard towers were not empty.

I’m not sure why a necropolis needs guards anyway – aren’t dead and undead people enough of a reason to steer clear? – but these headless wonders seemed to be everywhere.  The biggest problem in dispatching them is that they look so … startling, that it causes people to freeze up sometimes.  This has happened to myself, and Sparna, and others.  While you’re struggling to refocus, they get free attacks on you.  And their attacks are not just physical damage – they do something deeper.  At some level, they just make you feel weaker, like they’re also draining life force yomehow.  And every one of them can do this startle thing from a distance.  They are most easily handled  one at a time; with a group it’s far too likely that at least one of them will startle you.

And so we’ve developed the strategy of separating them with walls of fire. The wall not only visibly blocks them and their startle ability, but also does them damage. Ivan is also great at picking them off with arrows.

So as they started to come out of the guard towers, up went the usual wall of fire.  I got a swing at him as one walked past me, but then without even turning, he startled myself and Kali.  While we stood stock still and gathered our wits, Kali, Sparna, and I watched Radella and Qatana destroy those that walked through the fire.  When I finally recovered, most of the headless were dead, and Radella got the last one before I could move closer to take a swing. Disappointing.

Qatana ran into a guard tower without backup, per usual, to check it out.  I quickly followed her, and we found that inside the tower was a room that looked to have alcoves suitable for bodies.  A door at the far end led to a more ornate room with room for a few more bodies.  All looked like they’d been disturbed, but whether by grave robbers or these headless creatures themselves I couldn’t tell.  There were pictures of the dead attacking the living which, given the history of this place, I have to believe were a late renovation.

Exiting the guard towers, Qatana next went to the bridge. There were runes on the supports of the bridge, that seemed to translate to “Here the dead walk. Trouble them not and do not bar their path.”  And there was a whole pile of magic surrounding the bridge, according to our staff who could see magic.  Qatana tried crossing the bridge and was stopped – we surmise the abjuration magic we detected is an anti-life field.  We were not able to dispel it, so for now we decided to go around it.

Suishen gave me air walk, and others used either air walk or fly to cross the bridge. Radella received darkvision since she was the most adept at finding traps and would be near the front.  We judged that the caravans would be safe since there could be nothing behind us, and everything in front of us had just been killed.

Ahead lay a purple glow, and as we approached we found that it came from a pool of water surrounding a tree like pillar.  The ceiling looked like a night sky, with tiny lights resembling stars.  The pool seemed deeper than we could see, and at the end farthest from us, on the ground there was a corpse.

“Undead” warned Ivan briefly.

Qatana reached down to take its sword, and it came to life. Or at least, it attacked.  It had glowing red eyes, which is always a good clue to identifying enemies.

We surrounded it easily, but at the same moment, a creature entered the room to the north – looked to be a yeti, according to Sparna.  Now there were issues on two fronts.  Kali summoned (ironically) a dire ape, and the ape and Sparna battled the yeti while the rest of us battled the revenant.  I managed to put a final blow onto the revenant and was going to turn my attention to the yeti, except Qatana again reached for the sword.  And it sprang to life again and we had two enemies again.  The revenant actually got ahold of Qatana at one point and started to squeeze her, but it was Radella this time who brought it down and saved Qatana.  Meanwhile Ivan managed to nail the yeti with some well shot arrows and it too fell.

There was healing all around and then we noticed something flitting about on the tree/pillar.  Qatana stepped to the water’s edge, and it came over and touched her. She visibly withered, and I rushed over to attack it and with a particular adept hit, Suishen momentarily created an even bigger burst of flame – perfect timing!  But our blows didn’t seem to damage it as much as I might have thought they would.

We quickly realized that weapons of force – magic missiles, spiritual allies, that sort of thing – was our best bet.  But at about the same moment it got through my defenses and touched me as well … and, just like Qatana, I suddenly felt weaker, like I’d lost a step.  I backed off, and the group slowly attacked them (there were 3 altogether) by force and distance weapons.

And just as we were getting the upper hand, two more yetis appeared near the corpse of the other yeti.  Ivan threw up a wall of fire, and it looked like the battle would never end when Kali paused with a distant look on her face and yelled, “The caravan! The caravan is under attack!” She cast haste on us all and we all hurried back as fast as we could. For Ivan and me, with airwalk still in effect, that was as fast as I could run. Others required another application of a fly spell.

The sounds of battle led us to the rear of the caravan, where we found Ameiko, Sandru, and Shalelu grimly holding back more of the headless wonders.  Ivan immediately threw up the ever-ready wall of fire to put some space between the undead and the caravan.  I immediately moved to protect Ameiko, who threw me a quick look like, “took your time”.  I asked Suishen for protection from cold, on a hunch, while we waited for the undead to try to come through the wall of fire.  Others began to arrive, and Sparna used his flight to stay above the undead while still being beyond the range of their startle ability.  Radella was able to engage them and start slashing at them.  I think she laid the killing blow on all three.

I had thought we were lucky to have gotten back to help before any of our party was seriously injured.  Ameiko, of course, was my first concern, but Sandru seemed stricken by grief.  I asked if he were seriously injured, and he gaped at me momentarily before gesturing to the ground beside one of the wagons.

There lay Bevelek.  Dead.

We’ve been very occupied with how this quest has affected us and our lives. We are scions now, and heir to the throne after Ameiko.  We have been learning new skills and spells, and acquiring new magic items, and to some extent enriching ourselves, in the name of increasing our chances of success, but because he’s a driver and not a swordsman or a woodsman or a cleric or a wizard, we have not done the same with all of our companions.  The idea was that they would never face danger, but when danger came anyway, he grabbed a sword and did the best he could.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was startled by the headless undead and made easy prey by his hesitation.

A quick discussion with Qatana, Kali, and others revealed they felt similarly.  I think we have a consensus that if we can, we will resurrect him.  A gentle repose applied now will allow us to acquire the components necessary for that spell … which may take some time.  But he is important to our journey and our goals too.

It’s the right thing to do.

Character: Ivan

Ivan’s Journal

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The necropolis has lived up to its name thus far.  Lots of dead or should I say undead. We have only just arrive here a few hours ago but we have already taken a heavy toll in our group today.

It all started out fine with two walls of fire blocking the tower doors and giving us some leverage.  It was a good thing that we did this as Olmas, Sparna, and Kali were all shaken by the weird fear effect that these creatures have. I positioned myself in a way to try to keep out of range of their effect while providing support for the others. The effect of freezing people with fear was the most dangerous thing about these creatures. Once the fighters were not frozen the fight ended quickly.

Investigation of the towers uncovered a number of alcoves that looked to at one point house the dead, presumably these are now the undead. Our count showed that there are actually a lot of these undead still unaccounted for and likely wandering somewhere in the necropolis.

Qatana in her normal forge ahead attitude could not cross the bridge.  After some investigation by Kali she proclaimed that it was a anti life shield,  no not shield. She proclaimed that it was an anti-life thingy? Anyway living things cannot pass.

I made an effort to dispel the magic but the magic is just too strong for me at this time. There was a discussion about the difficulty of getting the wagons across but to me the problem seems to be more about getting horses across to the other side. It seems like we could push and pull the wagons across one at a time if needed. But I will leave the planning to the others.

With the really cool spell air walk from Qatana I was able to get across the span. I know that in the wind this spell may not be as good in combat as fly but I really like it anyway. Maybe it goes back to the days on the high ice with getting blown through the air while levitating. I am sure Kali would have had something to say about it but with the darkness “what happens on the high ice stays on the high ice”.

We moved forward to a pool of water with a body on the other side. With deathwatch running it was clear that this was the body of an undead creature. Kali later told us it was a revenant. Nasty creature from what Kali told us can’t be killed until the creature killed it dies. I was ready to light it up with fire, even with Qatana stating not to use fire. It was almost like Gorum was encouraging me to light him up.

One of my companions noticed something by the tree in the middle of the water. Specters appeared and the others moved in to engage them. The others discovered that regular weapons were not as effective on the Specters and there touch was disastrous. Both Olmas and Qatana were touched and as a result were weaken. It was like they were drain of life. These things drain you and now we have to wait a see how many castings of restoration will be required for the two of them. This is the kind of unluckily thing that normally happens to sparna. I guess taking on the Yeti saved him from the drain.

More yeti began to show up but a wall of fire discourage them, I guess those with fir should not play with fire. Between the spiritual weapon from Qatana and the spiritual ally from Sparna they were able to take care of the Specters.  For just a moment when Sparna cast the spell I thought the weapon was a greatsword.

We were feeling good about the situation when Qatana announced that the caravan was under attack. With the power of air walk from the wind spirit through Qatana the gap was not an issue for me.  I took off in a dead run back to the caravan. It turns out that the undead had come up from behind and attacked the caravan. I got there two late as one of the brothers had been killed. I was able to protect the others by putting up a wall of fire. We the advantage we were able to dispatch these undead.

Although we have lost one of our own after some discussion we have decided that once we get back to a town we need to bring him back. I suggested that we use speak with dead to ask him if he wants to come back. His brother insists that he would want to come back. I look forward to a day soon when we can once again enjoy a drink with him as he propositions the barmaid.  I have come to understand that these barmaids are pretty used to drunk men hitting on them.

Kali used magic to scout ahead and it was a good thing as there are a lot of Yeti ahead and from what she said there king is huge. I have to wonder if the Yeti are going to be friendly, although since we killed one of their own that might be highly unlikely.

My plan is to stay awake until the last watch so that I can keep the wall of fire up pretty much all night.

Character: Kali

Kali’s Journal, Abadius 31, 4713

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Abadius 31, 4713 (evening, Uqtaal necropolis)

The Hidden Truth symbolizes the ability to see past the obvious and the banal to a greater truth within. Sometimes this discovery is an esoteric one, sometimes it is a literal find, such as an item revealed within a room. Regardless, it is a card with the power to reveal secrets.

Misaligned, it can mean a secret being revealed to the subject’s detriment.

Seven months. Seven months, we’ve been traveling together. We’ve watched over one each other, cared for one other, broken bread together, and when it was called for, fought together to protect ourselves and our charges. For seven months, across some sixty-nine hundred miles, we’ve done all of that, sometimes in the face of seemingly unbeatable odds, and not one of us had fallen. And then, today.

Not Olmas (in spite of his best efforts to do otherwise) or Qatana (who we can’t seem to keep from wandering off) or even Ameiko, but Bevelek. Bevelek.

This is not his fight. He and his brother have no quarrel with anyone. They are just here to do a job: to help get us from where we were to where we’re going. They’re not involved. Nothing was supposed to happen to them. It’s not right.

And it’s pretty much our fault. We thought the passage behind us was safe. We had every reason to think it was safe. Obviously we were wrong. Did we miss a side passage? A secret entrance somewhere? Were we being followed without realizing it? I guess it doesn’t matter. Those are just excuses, and they don’t change the fact I am staring at a funeral shroud. We’re supposed to keep these things from happening.

I feel sick.

I’ve known him (and his brother) since I was, what, seventeen? They’ve worked as drivers for Sandru’s caravan since the beginning, and I met them in mom and dad’s warehouse that spring when Sandru finally returned to Sandpoint. I’ve always liked them, the little I saw of them. They were friendly, kind of talkative—Bevelek more so than his younger brother—and always made a point to say hello when I was around. Bevelek was especially good at working with the horses, and he’d invite me to come pet them or even help groom them as we were waiting for the wagons to load. This is how I repay that?

I didn’t get to know him or Vankor very well back then, but in the past several months a lot has come out. Their dad used to run a small courier service of some sort back in Magnimar, but he ran in to hard times and that was that. I’ve actually met their sister—I didn’t know who she was at the time—at the Old Fang. They’re still in Magnimar, all of them. Every now and then I see Bevelek writing to them.

What else is there to say? Bevelek in particular just seemed to like people, much like Sandru does. He loved being around them, talking to them, hearing their stories. He was so quintessentially Varisian that way. And he loved to travel. This trip was exciting! Dangerous, sure, but that’s why we’re here, right? And now we’re talking about him in the past tense.

Vankor was distraught, practically in shock. Honestly, I could barely face him. Sandru was unreadable. It’s just as well. I don’t know what to say to him.

At least we can do something about this. I am determined to, anyway. This journey has been a trial for everyone, in all senses of the word, but there’s also no denying that we have enriched ourselves in the process. We have taken the lion’s share of the spoils since this began. Yes, we have also taken most of the risks, too, but we are not the only ones here. We need everyone, and we can’t just turn our backs on those who are supporting us and making this trip possible. We can’t just put Bevelek to the earth like he doesn’t matter.

It would be wrong to assume, though, so I broached the subject with Vankor.

“I am sorry about what happened to your brother. We…we may be able to bring him back. But, we don’t want to do this against his wishes or yours. I need to know. Is that something you want us to try?”

This took him aback. He looked up at me hopefully.

“If you can bring him back…Yes. Yes! Please! This was…it’s too soon.”

I nodded, solemnly. “We can’t do it right away, but—we can do it. We do have to know, though…people get a choice when you try to call them back. It’s a difficult and costly spell. Before we commit to it, do you know…would he want to come back?”

He didn’t even hesitate. “Yes! I am sure he would. He loved life.”

We don’t have the money. Or rather, we do, just not in the right form. According to Qatana, the spell consumes a single, valuable diamond and ours our too meager fill that role. There are no gem exchanges or diamond deposits here, obviously, which means we will have to wait until we reach Tian Xia. Koya has agreed to preserve his body using a spell. This will give us the time that we need.

The more pressing issue is, however, is preventing today’s disaster from playing out again. We can’t be in two places at once, nor can we fight a battle on three fronts. We need to be able to explore ahead and secure our passage through here without worrying about the safety of our camp.

The necropolis seems to be guarded by undead. The headless mummies we’ve encountered both along the Path of Spirits and here in the burial chambers seem to be the resident hall monitors, attacking any living thing that enters. What makes them especially dangerous is the aura of paralyzing fear that surrounds them. Get caught off guard, or worn down by the relentless assault on your psyche, and you are overwhelmed by terror and magically rooted to the spot. This is what happened to Olmas two nights ago, to me and several of the others today, and probably to Bevelek before he fell.

Our first priority is keeping more of them from coming up from behind us like they did today. Qatana and I have some ideas, but the best ones can’t be acted on until tomorrow so we’re in for another tense night.

Next on the list are the yeti. Obviously, they did not build this place, but they’re here now. The truth of it is that they are squatters as much as we are trespassers, but from their viewpoint we are invading their home and they’ve been rather aggressive about delivering that message. Not that they’ve actually said anything to us, but nothing communicates intent quite like an ambush.

Kali’s Necropolis sketch

The necropolis and the Path of Spirits were carved out of the mountain, and the latter occasionally intersected with naturally formed caverns to form those side passages I spoke of. A rather extensive network of caverns and fissures adjoins the catacombs, proper, and the former is where they’ve made their home. They seem to move back and forth between the two. The Uqtaal excavators apparently didn’t care if their necropolis simply opened up to the caverns in places—they may have used the voids in the rock to save time and labor, for all I know—probably because there weren’t yeti living there at the time, and the residents were not alive to complain about the decor.

I used one of my newest spells to project my sight and was able to explore much of it, albeit sloppily, until the magic expired. That is how I know all of this. Yes, it was an invasion of their privacy, and yet another trespass to add to our list of sins (one that is much worse than the first, if we are keeping track, since it was intentional). I am sure it won’t be the last, either.

This actually bothers me. There are wizards who specialize in these sorts of divinations and I am not comfortable around any of them. There is more to the school than what I am doing here, of course, but my problem with it is that there isn’t much more. It is a field that is ripe for abuse. All it takes is something you owned—even just a piece, really—and someone can spy on you from a distance with a reasonable expectation of success. Possess even the smallest piece of their person, such a bit of hair or even a nail clipping, and you can nearly do so with impunity. It’s distasteful.

And of course I am doing something much like it now. I can argue it, justify it, point out that we were attacked first, but I am still crossing that line. It’s a struggle at first, but each time it gets just a little easier. Mom, and probably dad, would say that the world isn’t so absolute; that it’s a messy place, and circumstances matter. That the stakes matter. Sometimes doing the right thing is not the same as doing the right thing. This…is probably true. But, sometimes I wonder. What if there really is an absolute right and wrong, and all this talk of nuance is just something people use to excuse their own moral failings? Or worse, to justify them. Maybe the world isn’t messy; maybe just people are.

But, we need more information about the yeti here, and we need to get it without risking our lives. I’d also like to not risk theirs. Where this falls on the axis of right and wrong, I don’t know, but it’s the best idea I have on a very short list of ideas. So, excuse or justification, I’ll probably be doing this again.

Before that, however, we need to stop them from raiding us as we explore the pool room. Much like the mummies we need to block them off, only whatever we put up we need to be able to pass through in the future. That limits our options. I have some ideas here, too, but none of them are particularly good.

The pool room is the real mystery here, and we need time to uncover it. The revenant…whoever it was in life was almost certainly slain here. A revenant is born out of hatred and a single-minded purpose: avenge their own death. It’s said they can’t be destroyed until their killer is slain, and we can thank Qatana for validating at least the first half of that theory. (I have to wonder what would happen if you were killed by a revenant and became one yourself. Would the two of you be trapped in an eternal battle, neither of you able to destroy the other?)

We don’t know how it (he? she?) died originally. We only know it wasn’t the spectres: the body is too far from the water, and the spectres don’t seem to be able to cross beyond the edge of the pool. So, whatever did this is obviously still alive (or given where we are, still undead), and able to move around. Which leaves three things we have to worry about tonight: mummies, yeti, and something else that we haven’t seen yet.

Because what we need after today is another challenge.

Character: Qatana

Qatana’s Journal for Abadius 31, 4713

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Sunday, Abadius 31, 4713 evening
Caravan, Necropolis, Path of Spirits

Much has happened since we first arrived in the necropolis several hours ago, some good, but mostly bad. It says much about our circumstances when the most positive thing anyone has said about the day thus far was, “It could have been worse.”

Easily said. Things can always be worse, and might yet be.

It had started out well enough. The caravan had traveled about fifteen miles before halting in front of a chasm, over which spanned a stone bridge. Towers on either side of the path seemed to guard the way, but we kept the wagons well shy of them until the my companions and I investigated the area.

Sparna, Olmas and I approached the bridge, and using Detect Undead I scanned the area. But there was no need for such precautions. The doors to the towers on either side of us sprang open and half a dozen headless mummies came forward.

Ivan reacted quickly, erecting a wall of fire before the western door. Sparna set himself before the eastern door and greeted a mummy with his urgosh. Kali then put a wall of fire in front of this door. At the western door a mummy passed through the flame and lumbered towards Olmas.

We then began a slow battle of attrition: we would slay the mummies on our side of the flames only to have another one or two run through to replace their fallen brethren.

As with our previous encounter the mummies had an unwholesome affect, and Sparna, Olmas and Kali at some point in time succumbed to the fear and froze in place momentarily. This extended what would have been a relatively short skirmish into a prolonged engagement. I helped by frying two of the undead with a pair of Searing Light rays — an action enthusiastically endorsed by Star and Beorn.

Presently the walls of fire died down and we entered the eastern tower. Rubble filled the northern quarter of the hexagonal chamber, but did not completely block an opening in the wall. We could see arrow slits facing out, and a steep stone stair leading up and around the outer wall to a balcony, which provided access to more arrow slits higher up.

The room to the north housed a number of alcoves, each with a funerary bier that had been ransacked. A door in the far wall led to a semi-circular room with three additional funerary biers, but of more elaborate design. Like the others, these too had been disturbed. The walls here had been painted with pictographs of bucolic scenes which had been defaced to show the dead rising from their graves and attacking the living. Prints in the dust on the floor indicated relatively recent passing of feet.

The western tower was much the same as its eastern cousin, but without the rubble.

Obviously this place had been used to bury the wealthy devout of Desna who perhaps wished to start their journey northward a little further along the Path of the Spirits. But followers of Fumioshi had discovered this place and made it their own. We estimated that there were probably two dozen humans that had been buried here and turned into undead. We had only accounted for ten at that point.

It seemed wise to move out from here as quickly as possible, and so we went toward the bridge to continue scouting the way ahead.

Only I could not walk onto the bridge. It was like a giant invisible balloon was blocking the way, and no matter how hard I tried to push through, I remained on the near side.

We then saw the pictographs on the abutment that proclaimed, “Here the dead walk. Trouble them not nor bar their path.”

Detect magic revealed a strong aura of Abjuration, and when Ivan threw a rock and it passed over the bridge without any resistance, Kali suggested it was protected by an Anti Life field.

Ivan and I tried to dispel the effect, but with no luck.

This would make moving the wagons across a challenge, but we quickly came up with ways we could use to (at least temporarily) create our own span to get them over safely.

In the meantime it was easy enough to use Airwalk (Olmas and Ivan) and Fly (the rest of us) to get to the other side and continue scouting.

There was a glow of dim indigo light from the south, toward which the path rose gently. Following it we entered a vast chamber that opened up to nearly a hundred feet wide as it bent westward, and more than twice that high. In the center of the cavern was a lake, and it was out from here that the deep blue light radiated. Far above we could barley make out a deep blue ceiling with glittering points of reflected light, making it look like a clear night sky.

A closer look at the water and we saw that the indigo light came from something deep down below and not the water itself. A large pillar, shaped like a large twisted dead tree, poked up above the surface from the center of the pool.

The main road continued through an opening to the west, but a smaller passage led up and to the northwest. Across the lake to the south a closed door beckoned.

We cautiously moved around the water, with Radella and Sparna leading the way, where we found an ancient desicated corpse lying on the floor at the western tip of the pond. It had a a magical sword, cloak and goggles, and the flesh on its fingers had pulled back such that the bones stuck out like claws.

Ivan called out, “Undead,” as we gathered around.

Undead? It seemed inert. I reached down to take the sword, and the thing stood up and glared at us with glowing red eyes.

At that moment a large white harry creature stepped into the cavern from the northwest. Fortunately Sparna and Kali had stopped there to watch for anything surprising us from that direction, and we heard Sparna call out, “Yeti!” as we sprang into battle.

I cast Blessing of Fervor to help my companions.

The revenant (for that is what we guessed the undead creature to be) struck out at Avia. Ivan shot it with a pair of arrows, and Avia struck back. Olmas then moved in and cut it down.

Meanwhile over at the Yeti Sparna had hacked at it and Kali had summoned a dire ape. Avia had moved over to help, and Ivan began to pepper it with arrows.

The yeti seemed well taken care of (I almost felt sorry for it), and Olmas and I stood looking down at the corpse.

“We could really use those magical items,” Star stated as a matter of fact. “I don’t know…” Pookie began, but her little voice was soon drowned out by Beorn screeching, “Yes, yes. We must have it! Take it! Take it!”

Hmm, sure. We had just defeated it. I reached down for the sword again, and again the thing stood up. This time it struck at me and then grabbed me, squeezing tightly. “I said that this was a bad idea,” Pookie snorted.

Fortunately the yeti was quickly slain, and the others joined in to make short work of the revenant (again).

Kali frowned, as she sometimes does when trying to remember something, and finally said, “I think you can only stop a revenant by finding whatever was troubling the spirit and resolving it.”

“Well, it seems obvious that it was killed here,” Ivan offered, “and so maybe we just need to find whatever killed him and kill that.”

While he was talking I saw something translucent shifting about about the tree shaped pillar in the center of the pond. “Hey, did you see that? There’s something over on that tree thing!”

Moving with surprising swiftness it flew over next to me and sliced at me with its incorporeal claws. A wave of weakness washed over me, and my friends joined together in a chorus of, “No! Stand strong!” With that to fortify me I managed to fight off the attack, but still felt less capable, and realized I could no longer cast my more advanced spells. I still knew them, but simply lacked the energy required to invoke them.

This was bad. But it could be worse. It soon was.

I yelled out, “It’s a spectre — beware its touch!” and the others bravely moved in to engage it. We quickly discovered that weapons — even magical ones, and spells only had a limited affect on the undead creature.

It reached out and struck at Olmas, who shivered and nearly collapsed from the drain of energy. “Oh, no.” Takoda cried out.

I then saw two more specters appear around the tree and make their way towards us. Oh shit.

I then noticed that these creatures had only moved over the water. “Get away from the water!” I called out, “I don’t think they can leave it. Use ranged attacks.”

I stepped back and reviewed my list of prepared spells. Spiritual Weapon was a relatively low level spell, but it would be effective against incorporeal creatures and I could still cast it. Moments later a glimmering heavy flail appeared next to the first spectre and bashed it.

The others stepped away from the water, and it looked like we had the situation under control when a pair of yetis entered from the western portal. Ivan grinned and placed a wall of fire between us and then. That seemed to do the trick, and we did not see them again.

Then Sparna said, “Well crap, I forgot I still had this.” and he held up a terracotta statuette of a warrior as a Spiritual Ally formed next to one of the spectres.

With two force weapons beating upon them, plus the rain of normal ranged attacks, the spectres were doomed, and slowly but surely they fell one by one.

We had turned our attention to the wall of fire and were deciding what to do next when the Status spell I cast each morning on Shalelu and Ameiko indicated that they were being injured. Things got even worse.

“The caravan is under attack!” I shouted. Kali used her wand of Haste and we raced back to the chasm. Airwalk was still active for Olmas and Ivan and so they continued on toward the caravan, while the rest of us crowded next to the edge.

I pulled out the wand of Fly and soon Sparna, Radella, Kali and I were able to cross and fly to across.

Four more headless mummies had come up from behind and attacked the caravan. Ameiko and Shalelu led the defense, but it was not going well. Ivan quickly got things under control by creating a wall of flame between the mummies and the caravan crew, and as the others arrived they attacked the mummies remotely, slowly wearing them down.

It looked like they had the situation well in hand, and so I flew back to the chasm and stood watch. We did not need any more surprises.

A short time later Olmas joined me. We didn’t say anything. We didn’t need to. We had both been crippled by the spectres, but while I was already beginning to feel a little better, Olmas still looked weak and shaken.

I had my friends to thank. Their effort to protect me had drained them, and they were a sombre and unusually quiet lot, although I could hear Pookie, McLovin and Takoda discussing what needed to be done next.

Sandru showed up and began to move the wagons forward as far as possible, and some time after the rest of my companions, except for Ivan (he insisted on staying at the back of the caravan and concentrating on keeping the wall of fire up until he fell asleep), joined Olmas and I.

“One of the drivers was killed,” Kali began, and my mice became quiet. “I asked Sandru if we should preserve his body so he can be raised, and he thought it a good idea.”

“So, add Gentle Repose to that list,” Takoda said softly.

“Okay,” I replied to Kali. “I’ll be able to cast that tomorrow morning. I think that by tomorrow afternoon I’ll be able to cast higher level spells again, like Restoration.”

Here we all looked at Olmas, who nodded grimly. If we were lucky the Restoration would bring him back to his full capabilities. If not… then we were looking at another week before he could receive another Restoration, and then another week after that, and so on.

“It looks like a lot of tomorrow’s energies will be spent recovering from today. But if we knew more of what was beyond the lake chamber we could perhaps prepare to do some additional exploration as well.”

Kali smiled. “I have just the thing.”

A few minutes later and Kali had drawn up a simple chart of what her Arcane Eye had found. The northwest passage, from where the first yeti had come, led into a twisty tangle of natural caverns in which more yetis lived. This warren connected to a worked stone complex of catacombs, which led back to the main path.

The main path continued west into another large chamber. An exit to the left continued up, while in the center a wooden platform had been erected on which a throne sat. Sitting on the throne was the largest yeti Kali had yet seen, and he was surrounded by a dozen more.

We’ll need to be as close to full strength as possible before taking on the entire yeti population of the caverns, not to mention the oversized yeti-king.

We briefly discussed tactics and strategy, and agreed that sealing off the main force of yetis from the “throne room” was a good strategy. Stone Shape could probably be used to our advantage, but really this called out for Wall of Stone, which none of us can cast just yet.

Perhaps tomorrow we can return to the lake chamber and explore what was behind the southern door. To this thought Takoda added, “But first we should restore Olmas.”