Title: Reegel's Tomb, Part Two

Characters: Corrin, Graven, Aeron, Arkhan

Date: Late Dalan, 1333 Avard

Synopsis: The company investigates the tomb of Reegel in Kaerling, and finds a necromatic arsenal of traps and the undead.

Noon of the 27th of Dalan, 1332 Avard.

The tomb was sealed, and after several long moments of fearful hesitation, it became apparent that nothing was attempting to escape the tomb.

The company withdrew to the warehouse just an hour away, to rest and rethink their options. The wraiths within the tomb were different than any wraiths they had ever heard of; their powerful vortexes were strong enough to suck souls from bodies. Going back into the tomb would take some thought – but at least, they were sure, the vortex wraiths had been dealt with. The next step would be dealing with the fast-moving skeletons and the mass of zombies within the tomb.

The orcs had managed to wind up in some sort of trouble with the law, and Ryviik let the company know what was going on. Greff opted to go to the Swaddled Blade and find out just what was going on, and see if he could get his orc friends out of jail.

In the meantime, Graven had returned from Fasra. Hershel's experiments upon the warforged golem had driven the normally pliant machine to simply walk out on the Ducal Mage, mount up on his warforged mount, and return to Meridian Explorations. Even though Greff was temporarily out of dealing with the tomb, Graven could certainly help.

The company then went and found William at the Stamp of Peace, and informed him of the situation. Captain Aeron of the Guard and Defender Arkhan of Xynosalionisis were allowed back into the sealed library, along with Corrin as their escort. William was able to help the company out somewhat, by prescribing them something from the inventory of the Swaddled Blade – a vial of holy water from the Spring of Whalin. The vial had apparently been lost in the church's inventory for some time, and William, as a scribe, knew the inventory better than the care-takers.

Aeron, taking a cue from William's prescription, made several vials of holy water with Yatindar's blessings.

When the company was ready, they returned to the tomb. Carefully opening the tomb up in the red light of Maroth and the bright light of Aeron's holy symbol, they found things much as they had left them – only cleaner. There was no sign of their battle. The silver lightning bolt of Brigain was even partially restored – silver coins had been lain in the spot where the lightning bolt had been, and the coins seemingly beaten into a plate.

Too soon, the company realized that the traps had all been reset, as vortex wraiths attacked them. The battle was fierce, and the company too stubborn to be run out of the tomb a second time. The wraiths had apparently regenerated, just like the silver in the lightning symbol. Or, they realized, the vortex wraiths were the caretakers of the tomb.

One of the wraiths was destroyed, but its energies siphoned by the second wraith, who then used those energies on the company at will. A ragged stand was made, Arkhan holding the line against skeletons, the wraith, and oncoming zombies – while Corrin slipped out behind everyone and delved deeper into the tomb.

In a back room with a vaulted ceiling, there were two candles with green flames, and a sarcophagus with a stone lid. Corrin found herself trapped in the room as soon as she entered, and a nasty, poisonous green gas began to fill the room. Black walls of pure arcane powers sealed her in.

She used one of Hershel's Meridian masks to partially cancel out the poisonous gases, and set to work, destroying the candles as quickly as she could. The candles were enchanted, and very hard to destroy, but she finally managed to destroy one of them – even with a confused voretex wraith looking on. Corrin's abilities to blend into the shadows were as supernatural as the wraith itself, and so they played a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Corrin managed to destroy the one candle, but not the other. Despite that, her Meridian mask kept her safe enough, though she was trapped. She had managed to loot the sarcophagus of one item – a book that had been held in the hands of a human. The eye sockets of the skull had been filled with massive sapphires, and Corrin, hoping the gems were the source of the necromatic energies in the place, smashed the skull, gems and all. Unfortunately, the book was the true source of the necromatic powers.

Arkhan, Aeron, and Graven finally managed to finish up the skeletons and the hoard of zombies, and managed to find the other side of the black arcane portal. Corrin and Aeron were able to find a way through the black portal, and then all of them fled the tomb, leaving behind the one wraith and everything else.

Outside the tomb, though it was midafternoon, darkness and red light greeted them on the first day of the Freeze. Temperatures were plummeting, even for spring.

Aeron, hoping that the book held the answer to shutting down the tomb, attempted to read the book. When Aeron began to drool, the others suspected something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Graven and Arkhan helped carry Aeron back to the warehouse, where they regathered their thoughts and considered their next moves. As near as they could tell, the 'reset' ability of the wraiths and their ability to regenerate was gone, since the book had been removed from the tomb. That any of them had escaped with their lives was a miracle of sorts.

The shield side of Arkhan's body was a welter of scarred scales, and the others (save Corrin) were in similar shape. Even the warforged Graven's skin-armor was scarred in several places. Worse than the physical scars, though, were the mental scars that Aeron would bear.

Afternoon of the 27th of Dalan, 1332 Avard.

Date: THU04NOV2010

We missed a few session nights for various reasons, but it's good to be back on track. Bill couldn't make it that night, so Caileb sat in for him. Dave brought wings, bleu cheese, and celery – and the peasants rejoiced. I don't think anyone likes those wraiths, though. Not one bit.

All characters have 21,800 experience points and are 10th-level. Level Up!

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