Picking up where we left off, Stab was dangling on a limp piece of rope from the railing of the airship, and any negotiations with Simon the Necromancer seemed like they were breaking down. In exasperation, Chris decided to curse the rope holding Stab safely in mid air, causing the poor stubby spellthief to fall onto the demonic summoning circle in the center of the tent.
This turned out to be A VERY BAD THING, because Stab's falling into the circle disrupted the magic holding the demon in place, and caused it to break free. It also affected the protections surrounding Zan Zar's tent, and allowed the zombies, all 300 of them, to start breaking through.
The demon was an insectile creature with a scorpion like tail and cockroach features called a Gelugon, and it made short work of Stab. Stab was pierced by the tail and poisoned, turned instantly into a weak, helpless lump of dwarf flesh. Chris and Picadilly jumped down to help, while Vicks, Jalros and Jacquesaurs supported the group from the railing of the ship with arrows and spells. Frustrated, Simon attacked the demon with magic as well, hitting it with a prismatic spray. Unfortunately, Stab was in the vicinity of the demon, and was also hit. Needless to say, he was instantly vaporized. The demon survived though.
Zan Zar panicked and ran towards the tent entrance as the hooded figures in the tent, revealed to be death knights under the control of Simon the Necromancer, moved to engage the zombies. Jacquesaurs polymorphed himself into a bird using his cloak, and flew after Zan Zar, casting a Hold Person spell after to try to stop the fat merchant from fleeing. But Zan Zar shrugged off the spell, and darted away. As he fled through the zombie hordes, Jacquesaurs spied a very sinister look on Zan Zar's face.
But the group didn't have enough time to think about it. The demon was still active, and the zombies were pressing in. With Simon's help, they made quick work of the demon, but the necromancer refused to have anything further to do with the zombies. Zan Zar had hired him to solve the problem, but the party had messed it up. He was not interested in cleaning up after them, so he picked up his payment - a powerful magic staff and a bag of coins from the till, and teleported away with his servants.
This left the party in A VERY BAD PLACE. Vicks turned into a giant eagle, and flew Picadilly back up to the ship and safety, while the others began to gather what treasure they could, before making their way back to the ship. Chris held back the zombies with his fire staff, but to little avail. There were too many, and he was soon overwhelmed. However, he managed to grab hold of another one of Zan Zar's treasures, a staff with a dragon's claw on it, and used it to summon a dragon to help him. He quickly flew away on dragonback, scoffing at the party.
And then, of course, the tent blew up. The explosion rocked the airship, but thankfully, only Jalros's bird was killed. Returning to the keep, the group dropped off the survivors they had rescued, turned in the supplies they had found, and helped with the fortifications.
The following day, a knight in shiny armor rode up to the keep gate, seeking sanctuary. As it turned out, this knight was a paladin of Aureon, the god of knowledge and magic. His name was Sir Colin, and he was quickly integrated into the party after he volunteered to help.
Discovering that there was an apothecary's shop on the third tier that could have valuable supplies, the group set off again. Dispatching the zombies in the shop easily, the group soon found a magical glow coming from underneath an intact cupboard of ironwood. They flipped it over, and discovered that they had freed a trapped air elemental. The air elemental parleyed with the party, and informed them that there was magic beneath the shop that could aid them.
Searching around, the party uncovered a sealed hatch inscribed with symbols that had 30 buttons on its surface. It took the group several attempts to puzzle through the mechanism, since they no longer had a rogue who could disable devices with them. The party also triggered several traps in the process, and Jacquesaurs was turned into a chicken.
Fortunately, the magic was not beyond dispelling, and after entering the water filled tunnel beneath the shop, Vicks was able to magic Jacquesaurs back to normal. Of course, there was another door in the basement. With another magical mechanism looking strangely like the first.
What lies beneath (and by association beyond)? Will Jacquesaurs be turned into another fluffy animal? Will somebody cry FOWL? All this and more in next week's installment of Eberron Mystery Theatre.
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Treasure and Experience
1. Jacquesaurs finally reaches Level 11.
2. Magic Map - found in a scroll case in Zan Zar's shop. This map allows you to detect the layout (but not features) of a dungeon or compound up to 1-mile wide. It is usable 1/day.
3. Beastbane Axe - +1 Battleaxe, Beastbane. Counts as a +3 weapon that also inflicts an additional 2d6 bonus damage against Beast type monsters.
4. Enchanted Spear - A +1 Cold Iron Spear.
5. Everfull Quiver - This quiver looks like it can contain 20 arrows. However, so long as there is at least 1 mundane arrow remaining in this quiver, it will never run out of arrows, since it magically produces mundane arrows to replace any that are drawn.
6. Wand of Restoration - 10 charges.
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