Dawn finds the adventurers licking their wounds and resting after the strenuous events of the day before. Kristov, in particular, is feeling his age and opts to spend the entire day relaxing in an alcove of the ruined tower.
As Mick E. Faus begins his arcane preparations to raise the slain harpy from the dead, Jabari begins his morning meditations, unnerved at the strange sight of the misshapen elf messing with the monster’s corpse.
Faus plucks a feather from the harpy’s wings and cries aloud, “Ooooh undead. Return from the beyond the grave. Raise up! Raise up and serve the Faus!”
No sooner did the words spill from his lips than did the harpy rise to its feet. In a gross display of sorcery, its neck snapped back into position as its dead eyes looked at the camp. The travelers could see that no life, no soul, no intelligence — even savage intelligence — hid behind its glassy eyes.
“Follow Jabari until I say otherwise”, Faus growls to the undead. After it sauntered on its bird- like legs over to the wolfkin Jabari poked it with his longsword. The ghoulish creature showed no care as the blade pierced its skin and merely stood waiting for commands. Externally, Jabari showed no emotion, but internally he was unnerved by the unnatural beast.
Leaving the creature behind, Jabari continues his meditations, honing his muscled body to new heights to prepare for the thrill of combat.
Sensing his companion’s unease, Faus saunters over to Jabari, saying, “I’ve seen a lot of death in my time. Yesterday I saw some of myself in you when you dispatched the harpy. You gave it a quick, clean death. Did that disturb you?”
Jabari growls a retort, “It was just a dumb animal. I felt nothing.”
Faus nodded his head in approval and responds, “You should never feel remorse for an appropriate kill.”
Finishing one of his forms, Jabari motions to the sorcerer and asks, “How did you get into necromancy Faus?”
The mutated half-elf shrugs saying, “Death is just a beginning. What is dead can be made anew and bent to serve the will of Faus.”
Growing interested, Jabari presses Faus on where he learned such magic, making the half-elf uncomfortable. He mutters something about a magic order lead by a “Walt Crisby” before mumbling off.
“That sounds like a cult,” Jabari exclaims. Faus grows even more uncomfortable and is noticeably happier when the pair hears a noise coming from the tower.
Jabbles and Jango join them as they climb the steps of the old tower. Near the door, a burst of cold wind and the light moans of a woman comes from inside.
Jabari forces the broken doors aside and strides into the chamber. At the other end of the hall is a raised stone platform with a faded banner above it. The banner features a beautiful warrior princess on it. A voice drifts out from that side of the room, saying, “Who disturbs our slumber?”
“Did you say that little man,” Jabbles asks Faus. He gets no response as Faus is nearly petrified in terror, steeling every fiber in his body to maintain a blank face.
“The big man should enter first,” the goblin says after getting no reaction from Faus.
Jabari enters the ruined tower and moves to the center of the hall. He says, “”We aren’t here to disturb, just want the monster’s treasure.”
Cackling fills the tower as an ethereal figure floats out from the banner. Before them in the air stood the ghostly figure of the princess of legend.
“Treasure hunters. I should have known,” laughs the ghost. “More and more of you have been coming recently. I wonder how the Raven Lands have changed all these centuries while we slumbered and stood guard.”
The trio perks up at the mention of treasure and other adventurers. They press the ghost for the truth of the legend and whether the wealth remains.
“There is some truth in that ridiculous story,” the princess says. “I was once Princess Leigha the Bold of Moldena. A monster stalked my people and killed my entire family. My guardsmen and tracked it to this island. We sought to destroy it, but the demon proved too much for us. Many died in capturing the beast, myself included. Our clan buried us in honor and charged us to guard the creature until worthy champions could send it back to Churmog. Long have we waited. Undoubtedly the passage of time has affected the demon as well, and it could be weaker.
Jabari flexes his muscles at the princess and says, “If it is the worthy that you want, look no further, princess.”
Leigha laughs and says, “Yes, you are quite the powerful warrior, but are you also strong of mind. The demon can manipulate the simple-minded. As a test, I have three riddles for you all. Pass my test, and I’ll reveal the demon’s weakness, and my guards will let you pass in the tomb below.”
Raising her voice and floating higher into the tower, Leigha says to the trio, “Answer my riddles three and prove your worth. Many have tried to steal the riches from my chamber and meet grisly ends either from facing the demon we guard or through tempting my wrath. So choose your path adventurers, show you’re witty enough to gain my favor, or face the tomb below and get no help from me and mine.”
The travelers talk her offer over, and Faus is clearly unnerved at the deal. “The dead cannot be trusted,” he admonishes the others. In the end, they decided to try to answer the riddles and move forward regardless if they fail.
Riddle 1:
I touch your face, I’m in your words, I’m lack of space, and beloved by birds.
Answer: Air
Riddle 2:
What breaks but never falls?
Answer: Dawn
Riddle 3:
When young, I am sweet in the sun. When middle-aged, I make you joyous. When old, I am valued more than ever.
Answer: wine
Jabari answers the first correctly, Faus impulsively misses on the second, and Jabbles convicts the team on the third to the astonishment of all. The princess gives a wicked smile saying, “You have some wits about you. Not many but enough to ward off the demon’s power. Know that the beast abhors music. Sound can drive it into a corner and weaken it, allowing you to strike.” And with that, she vanishes.
Jabbles remembers that he heard Faus singing when they first met, and the mouse-elf explains that he’s more of a whistler but is willing to try against the demon. Jabari yells out to Kristov to see if he has any instruments. The old man grumbles and tosses them a pipe before falling back to sleep.
“How do we even kill a demon,” asks Jabbles.
The wolfkin growls and says, “Stabbing things has seemed to work pretty well so far.”
Finding a hatch to the lower level, the adventurers climb down a ladder and find themselves in a near-dark room. Jabbles keen eyes can find some old torches but uses up the rest of his in trying to light the ancient brands.
Putting their ears to a door, the men hear a low rumble coming from the other side. Opening the door, they find themselves in a hallway, narrow on either side, and with a low ceiling. Moving forward slowly, they find a short hallway to the left and another door. The wood door is inlaid with runes and a script of ancient origin. Against the wishes of the other two, Jabari breaks down the door and enters the other side.
He finds two sarcophagi on either side. The stone tombs have swords etched into their tops. A single torch stood ready to be lit on the opposite wall.
“The ghost lady said not to touch anything,” exclaims Jabbles. The goblin kneels before the tombs and takes off his helmet, uttering a prayer to his gods.
Jabari scoffs at such notions. “She said the treasure was ours for the taking. What does it matter if we take it now or after we kill the demon?”
The mighty wolfkin walks over to a tomb and slides the stone slab off its base with many grunts of effort. No sooner had he done so than a skeleton warrior leaps to life and engages him in battle.
“I told you not to touch it!!!” Jabbles squeals as he and Faus run away.
As the wolfkin and skeleton cross steel, the other tomb opens too, and another ancient warrior climbs out of it. Faus sends in his undead harpy to lend Jabari aid. Thankfully the weight of time wreaked havoc on the armor of the skeletons, and the pair are easily dispatched. Faus quickly claims an intact skull after the melee and announces that the harpy will be known as “Tinkerbell.”
Marching further down the hall, the group finds two more doorways. One is similar to the room before, the other is much more daunting. Its double stone doors feature many magical wards and markings. Faus studies them for a moment and deems them wards of protection. “No doubt these are trying to keep something INSIDE. They shouldn’t be an issue to open.” Hearing the rumbling coming from inside those doors, the men opt to search the other room.
The men find a third door at the end of the hallway, forcing them to debate what to open next. Faus is indifferent to the question but is intrigued by the stone door. Jabbles says they could look, but mustn’t touch anything inside the rooms with an old idiom, “Wise goblin once say, ‘When halfway down shit creek, keep digging.'”
Jabari finds much the same setup as the first room. Egging his fellows on, “Why don’t we just finish these skeletons off right now? Better to fight them here rather than when we’re fighting the monster.”
Jabbles and Faus plead with him to stop, but Jabari continues on with his grave robbing. With a big shove, he opens one tomb and immediately slashes at the skeleton inside. The attack rends some of the armor but the warrior still springs to life. It is quickly joined by its brother in the other tomb. This time the group makes short work of the warriors. Faus quickly claims another skull as a prize and chases a despondent Jabbles with the skulls on each hand.
“They just want to talk,” Faus says.
Terrified at the sight, the young goblin races to the third room and tries to shut himself inside. However, he quickly lets out an astonished yelp due to what he finds. Inside the room is a pile of dusty silver and jewelry, a locked chest, and what is clearly the tomb of the princess.
Once all the men are assembled, but before they touch the loot, the ghost rises up out of the tomb and gives them a tongue lashing.
“How dare you desecrate the sleeping places of my clansmen!” She exclaims. “The treasure would have been yours if you proved your mettle and honor. Now it will be nothing but cursed for you. Press any further before dispatching the demon, and my wrath will fall upon you.”
Jabari is nonplussed by the ghost’s ravings and responds, “Really hard to back up all that talk when you don’t have a body. Maybe we’ll just take your treasure and leave.”
Meanwhile, Jabbles kneels in prayer yet again, and pleads with the princess, “We promise to put an end to the demon. You and your men can still find peace.”
The ghost nods in his direction, “I see the goblin is the only being with honor. Finish your quest or face my wrath. Those are your options, and it’s better than grave robbers deserve.”
Chastened, the team falls back and decides to consult with Kristov before venturing beyond the magically sealed doors…
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