To the Necromancer! [session 23]

Adventurers Present
Bilbo - hobbit
Mossmullet - dwarfley tempest cleric
Orsek - dwarfley barbarian wizard
Red - elfish rogue
SMASH - dwarfley life cleric

 
So last session Red got into a bit of trouble while "feasting" and the kindly church of Termas bailed him out.  Well, there was one tiny condition: that he destroy the dread Orb that the local necromancer was using to terrify the populace. Apparently, some of the locals had noticed disturbances in the graveyard AND a bunch of livestock had suddenly come up ill (this last had nothing to do with Orsek's magical research, honest).


So, off to the Necromancer's tower we headed. The trip was pretty uneventful. Jackalopes were encountered; but we didn't mess with them, and they didn't mess with us. Did we fight some orcs? Maybe. Honestly, I can't remember. Upon reaching the tower, we did battle some zombies, who were promptly sent back to their graves.


The front door was unlocked, and we managed to sneak past the guards into the entry room of the tower. Where we were promptly set upon by those same guards. Skeleton guards. We fought those off, and the second wave that came as well.


Ignoring the stairs up, we searched for, and found the secret door to the basement. On the first basement level we found a pool of black slime, some store rooms and a magic lab. Orsek took a book from the lab, but there was little else of note here. We continued down.


Looking for trouble, we pushed past the first door we saw. It was old and broken; not even closed all the way. Inside was another store room, but this one held a nasty surprise: a nest of stirges. Having faced these little scourges before, we knew just what to do and dispatched the blood-bats forthwith. The storeroom had one other door in it. And it was barred on this side, as if keeping something locked behind it.


It is said that discretion is the better part of valor. It has never been said that we are valorous. We unbarred the door and entered to find a pile of rubbish. Two tentacles sprang forth and attacked us. The battle was joined!


It should be noted here that in his magical studies, Orsek has unlocked the mysteries of several high-level spells. Mysteries and spells that he has no business knowing or trying to cast. And now back to the battle...


It wasn't going particularly well. Our attacks seemed to be only momentary setbacks to the hungry beast (of which we still had only seen two tentacles). So Orsek decided to cast Finger of Death on the thing. Unleashing this kind of power could have unexpected (and disastrous) results for our lowly wizard. But in this case, the result was ... nothing. No Finger of Death, no catastrophic failure, no warp in the space-time continuum, nothing. So, naturally, he tried again the first chance he got.


This time it worked! The beast was slain. Alas, the backlash from the powerful magicks reduced Orsek to death also.


Alas, poor Orsek! We knew him - a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.


Or something like that. As it turns out, upon further inspection by the clerics, Orsek was only "mostly dead." Which, as you no doubt know, means he was also slightly alive. Our two miracle-workers brought him fully back to the land of the living (and delving).


(Our session was a bit shorter than usual; we ended right there, without any of the usual settling in for the night.)


Party Experience Gained
Combat: 135 each
Exploration: 148 each