(G625 16/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL15

 

(G625 16/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL15

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now making their way up the Klonis Tower, fighting undead as they go. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]

DAY 732 3rd Ches (March)

In the morning they looked out the big Klonis tower doors and saw that there was easily two hundred undead gathering in the square in front of the tower, with more shambling or drifting in all the time.
'Shut that door!' hissed Egnol. 'And keep it shut!'

'Oh right then,' replied Salty. 'So what's the plan? I mean, what's the end goal?'
'I'm not going to tell you, because I don't trust you,' said Egnol.
'Like that is it? So who does know the plan?'
'Never mind that.'

Salty then went around some of the others, trying to find out what this assault on the tower was all about. To be honest, I could largely guess what was going on from who Egnol was and from what they had done so far to get there.

Salty asked Wrunas, who said he had indeed been told the plan. He couldn't remember any details though. 

After breakfast, the assault team headed back up. Before they went up to the next level the two tame shadows were sent up. After ten minutes though, they had to go look for them. At first Korinth thought they were being attacked by a giant undead librarian, but in actual fact they were just talking to him.

Salty barged past and addressed the librarian, who answered in elven.
After a bit of discussion a chain of communication was set up. Korinth talked to Nukillas, who talked to the shadows, who talked to the librarian.

'We mean no disrespect to your library, we just want to keep going up,' said Korinth.
'Very well,' rasped the librarian from under the hood of his cloak.
'Who cursed you?'
The librarian drew in a gasp of breath, then delivered a speech that lasted a long five minutes. But by the time it got translated to Korinth, it has been abbreviated to, 'oh, a baddie cleric did it.'

A bit more chat revealed that the "curse" had been an attempt to make the people of Tyfellia immortal, after the tragic death of the king's family, but - as is so often the way, the magic backfired. I'm not so sure, there are lots of legends like that around this neck of the woods, but maybe it was true.

Salty asked about the Orb known as the Jundarstone that was so vital to Egnol's Plans.
The answer was returned to them that it had been part of the magical process all those years ago that had cursed the city.

Korinth noticed that as the talk went back and forth Nukillas had a big grin on her face, like the cat that had got the cream.

Before they went on, the librarian gave them a book each.
Salty got a book called "The Fatal Kiss".
Korinth got a book called "Death of a Friend".
Nukillas got one called "My Brother's House".

Salty detected that all the tomes had Enchantments on them.

So for the next floor the shadows were sent to scout ahead again. They quickly came back down stairs saying 'nope!'

Korinth had no choice but to slowly edge up the stairs himself. He entered a room that contained the usual array of broken windows and encroaching vines, but also four mirrors, positioned north, east, south and west. Into one of them the ghost of Prince Ferlane gazed as he brushed his long elven hair.

Korinth shrugged and continued up the stairs, but he just ended up at the bottom of them again, teleported by magic or the curse of the tower.

Salty came up and talked to the prince who said, 'you dare address me in that ghastly human common tongue?'

Salty did dare, and asked what was going on. Without taking his gaze from the mirror the wraith said, 'I tell myself the old tales. Alas! We all mourned for our mother, and the madness of our father. But was it so bad back then? The old tales and legends give me some comfort...'

Next Salty went and looked in a mirror, but undead as he was, even he was given a case of the willies. He then tried the stairs, but the curse was even greater on the undead and he landed back where he had started, badly shaken.

Korinth thought the ghost was enthralled by the mirrors, which was indeed correct. Salty then had a good idea (for a change!) and talked to the ghost about one of the books they had been given "My Brothers House".

For the first time the ghost broke its eyes away from the mirror and looked intently at Salty. 'Come close so I may look you in the eye.'

Salty was having none of that and went and hid behind Nukillas. Korinth stepped forward. He had an inkling of what was required. The book he had been given had been "Death of a Friend".

'Ahh,' he stumbled. 'Well, a friend of mine, a mercenary, was decapitated in battle recently.'
'Indeed?' asked the Prince in great delight. 'The flank exposed? A fatal error? Or perhaps it was betrayal?'

Salty was enjoying watching Korinth squirm and elbowed Nukillas.

As the Prince stared into Korinth's soul, his will broke down and Korinth began to cry. 'He was a friend, but he was not a good man! He killed children and made me help him do it!'

'Good! Good!' cackled the Prince. 'The truth revealed at last. You may now pass up the stairs.'

Salty smirked at Korinth. 'Need a tissue for those tears, you big baby?'

Nukillas went next, and told of when she burned down her brother's house and killed his family, when she was first getting into "the demon stuff".

She too broke down into tears, but as she stepped over to join Korinth she gave him a wink. They had been crocodile tears, she had not cared about the tragedy in the slightest.

It was now clear to them all the ghost of Prince Ferlane feasted on tales of regret, the more horrible the actions the teller had taken - the better!

Salty, who's soul was probably darker then anyone in the entire tower just could not play along. He made up stories about kissing his love farewell before the sinking of his ship, and various other stories he had of regret, but where he had not been at fault.

The Prince was growing tired of Salty's evasions so eventually the salty old villain blurted out 'I once woke up with a dead prostitute in my bed! Wasn't my fault though!'
Whether truth or fiction, the Prince was interested.
'Ah yes, you may have no memory of it,' prompted the Prince. 'But she had marks on her neck didn't she? Don't deny it!'
'Err...,' muttered a confused Salty.
'And she wasn't the first was she? Quite a coincidence don't you think? So many of them dying in their sleep next to you?'
Salty made a brave face of it, but even if the accusations were true or not, and undead or not, the sinister ghostly magic of the Prince had an effect on him.
'Very well,' said the Prince to a dewy-eyed Salty. 'You too may pass.'

And so our brave adventurers ascended to the last room but one. And here an ancient and undead lich - King Nooras resided, flanked by Tree Blights that acted as his guards.

The first thing that happened when they got there was Salty being dominated by the undead king and attacking Korinth. It didn't last long though as he shook it off in just a few seconds. Salty tried Turning the king again and again, but the lich just shrugged it off.

To make matters worse, corrupted tree ents emerged from the bushes and vines in this room and attacked. Korinth was badly battered and had to retreat to take a healing potion. Nukillas also came over to heal him as vines lashed around everywhere seeking out victims to cut and strangle.

Salty turned himself into a huge bone devil and fought off the ents, the floors of the tower room creaking with their combined weights. While all that was going on the King managed to hit Nukillas with a lightning bolt that sent her flying to the wall in a bloodied heap. Korinth rushed him and as pushed him again and again until they were teetering on the edge of a broken window. With one last heave, and as vines and blights lashed all around him, he threw the lich over the edge and down into the square below where he landed in the crowds of undead.

Korinth dusted off his hands and nodded. The foliage all slithered away and they had time to heal up Nukillas before she bled to death.

Resting seemed like a good idea after all their exertions, but twenty minutes later there were sounds of fighting below. 
'For gods' sake!' sighed Korinth as he picked up his sword.
A few minutes later Egnol and everyone else from downstairs came running up to join them.
'What's going on?' demanded Korinth.
'Some fool threw a lich out the window and all the undead went berserk!' puffed Egnol.

They all then rushed up the to the top room of Klonis tower and barricaded the stairs with whatever they could find. It wasn't a big room, about 40 feet in diameter. There was an altar on the north side and Egnol went over to it. Everyone else crowded in, even Wrunas who was a real danger to the buildings stability.

Egnol took the Jundarstone, performed some magical rituals that he read from his notes and then placed the stone on the altar. Magic hummed into life and the altar crackled with eldritch flame.

Wrunas had carried up two dead porters with him, and one was placed on the altar. After a minute he came back to life. He hoped off and another was put in his place, with the same result. Next the shadows lay on the altar and became two young elven acolytes.

'Me next!' said Salty as he lay on the altar. And with that old Salt's Wake became the handsome young man he had once been. As he stood up the barnacles fell from his skin and the seaweed fell from his hair. He was happy to be alive again, but I wonder what Umberlee will think of it? After all, it was her that had selected him as one of her
chosen.

There was no one left undead in the altar room now, but there was a horde of them banging on the barriers below. No one knew what to do, and Egnol bid them wait while he thought what to do next.

After half an hour of Egnol reading through his books and notes a cleric of the Children of the Final Dawn teleported in. She stumbled and gasped, 'it worked!'

She stepped back to take in the scene and then appealed to everyone, 'Stop this madness! The dead should stay dead!'

Salty, Korinth and Nukaliss all exchanged glances. No one moved. 

'Your Cult should just stay out of this!' demanded Egnol. Seeing mostly blank  looks he said to everyone else, 'this is what we came here to do! This is what you have all been paid for! I've worked towards this goal for thirty years, to bring back Tyfellia. The Children of the Final Dawn won't stop me!'

'The undead should be put to rest,' countered the cultist. 'Not brought back again. No good will come of this! The undead must be destroyed!'

The freshly minted Salty stood watching this power-play with his hand on his chin. Nukillas had sidled up to him and whispered in his ear, 'there is a third way you know, ignore both these fools and become rules of our own city of the undead! Think of the power we would have! Trust me, I've looked into it, there is a third way where we get all the treasure and power we desire. You and me
Salty, what do you say?'

The fate of Tyfellia, the Jundarwood, and the whole of the Shining Sea, hung  in the balance!

Amazon Kindle book - "Miss Take" free from 8th of June to 12th of June

 

 

Amazon Kindle book - "Miss Take" free from 8th of June to 12th of June

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Miss-Take-J-H-Foss-ebook/dp/B08RD1VM51

 

Miss Take - School Teacher by day, Cat burglar by night! 

 
A thief discovers a dead body in the house they are robbing. This sets off a chain of events that 
leads to a bloody gang war on the dark winter streets of Edinburgh.
With crime lords and the police dogging her every step, Miss Take must user her skill and wits
to find the killer and prove her innocence.

(G624 09/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL14

 (G624 09/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL14

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now in the ruins of Tyfellia at their final destination - Klonis Tower. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]


DAY 731 2nd Ches (March) continued...

Salty, Korinth and Nukillas having cleared the first half-dozen floors went up the stairs to the next one. On the next floor they met the wraith of Captain Thaelir, the Last Commander of the Klonis Guard. In a harsh whispery voice he demanded, 'declare your banner!'

Korinth stepped forward and said, 'uh, I'm currently under the banner of Egnol. I follow Tempis, God of War.'

'We are the Guards of Klonis. I am Captain Thaelir, we follow the banner of the Guards of Tyfellia.'

The Captain made it clear to them that he would not let them pass. Salty suggested looking for some old uniforms or badges, which was not a bad idea, but they didn't really find anything so went back down to talk to Egnol.
He handed them an insignia of the Council of High Tyfellia. 'Try this,' he said.
They asked if there was a useful phrase or greeting they could use.
'Try saying "Hail, Brother of the Forest", suggested Egnol.

They left Nukaliss and took Wrunas up with them as he had the ring in his nose that allowed him to speak elven. The minotaur had to watch his step as he was very heavy in his full-plate armour and the floors were old and weak.
"Tell them you were adopted!" joked Salty and Korinth as they went back up the stairs.

It wasn't a bad plan at all, but Salty, being Salty, argued with Wrunas as to what to say. 'Tell them your watch is over', he said to Wrunas.

The wraith guards were not buying it, but they had certainly not run out of things to try when Salty said flippantly, 'oh well, choppy choppy then!'

Whether it was in jest or not, Wrunas bellowed. 'Yeah! Choppy Choppy!!' and charged the wraiths. And so the fighting began. Salty tried a Turn Undead, but the Captain seemed to possess some sort of resistance that he passed on to his men.

The other two wraiths had magic items, one a Lantern, and the other a magical "Mini Ballista" that they fired like a crossbow, but that did much more damage.

It was a reasonably demanding combat and it took a while before the three wraiths were defeated. Battered and bruised they went back downstairs to cadge some healing potions from Egnol.

The swapped out Wrunas for Nukaliss and went back up. The next chamber had been a shrine and contained another wraith and some shadows. Nukaliss rebuked the Wraith and took  control of the undead shadows.

The next floor would have been an arboretum at some point, but now it was very overgrown and home to some leafy zombies and two shambling mounds.

Nukaliss sent up the shadows, but they were not much help. Salty lurked on the lower floor while Korinth fought the mounds on the stairs. The undead cleric then summoned a troll skeleton and let it take Korinth's place for a while.

After the battle Salty told of the shadows for being useless (!) and they apologised.
The shadows were more chatty than your usual undead. They had been former acolytes of the shrine, one male and one female elf.

Once more, everyone was a bit the worse for wear, so they went back to the ground  floor to rest. Egnol said, 'of course, but keep your voice down, there are about a hundred undead milling around outside.'

Salty peaked out the door and to him it was like seeing a well-stocked buffet. In the end though he decided it would be better to leave them alone and Korinth heartily agreed.

Ownkabey and the porters were put on watch and everyone else got some sleep.

(G623 02/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED17

 (G623 02/05/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED17

[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They are currently beyond the portal they entered in the manor house of the Viers family and exploring the tombs and chambers they have discovered here. Recently they have explored a bank-teller area and fought a clay golem.]

DAY 20 cont ...

After all the excitement they'd been having the men decided it was time for a rest. They went back to the teller area and set up camp. A watch was set and they rested for the remainder of the day, sharpening blades, fixing armour and eating rations. There was no sense of night and day here, but eventually they felt it was time to bed down and sleep, so they did so.


DAY 21

They arose early in the morning. Gravedigger and Uthmar had not rested well and Rogier reported that he had woken with a strong sense of dread.

Back they went to where they had left off and Gravedigger approached a door in the west wall of the side room they had passed through the previous day. He wondered if it might be a door to outside, then he noticed a window high up in the northern wall. He stood on a crate to look out it. He saw nothing but an ink-black void. Uthmar, who was a man of unlimited talent and knowledge, was also of course an expert in windows, and so he pushed Gravedigger aside so he could take a look.

The window was sealed in to the wall though, like a ship's portal and could not be  opened. Gravedigger went to the door again and opened it. The next room was a study. In its centre was a finely carved table, and at the opposite wall a middle-aged man sat at a desk. He had a long beard and appeared engrossed in whatever it was he was doing.

Gravedigger went and sat at the table.
'Oh make yourself at home why don't you!' muttered the man.
Rogier went into his whole 'Wot!?' intimidation routine, but the man ignored him.
'Why are you here?' asked the man.
'We don't know how we got here, but we are just here,' answered Gravedigger, the only one of our three heroes that could interact with people like a grown-up.
'We came through a portal. What is this place?'
The man didn't answer. Instead he asked, 'Eh? A portal? How?'
'Pentagrams.'
'Yes! Pentagrams on the floor!' said Rogier, joining the conversation. 'In a house in the town of Everaska.'
'That's unusual,' said the man. 'Well, if you've not worked it out already, this is a pocket dimension.'
'Like inside a Bag of Holding?' asked Gravedigger.
'Yes, precisely.'
'Why are you here?' went on Gravedigger. 'Are you aware the place is full of mad cultists?'
Meanwhile, Uthmar was eying up the desk, probably wondering how much it was worth.
'My name is Gravedigger, who are you?'
'My name is Mal'keyth,' replied the man.

Gravedigger went on to tell more of his story of the events that lead up to them arriving in this place, the cultists, the missing townsfolk and their quest to find them. In return, Mal'keyth told them some more of his own circumstances.

'I'm not the first resident of this study. This was something that was set up before  I came to be here. But wait... with regards to townsfolk passing through this place I might be able to offer some insight...'

He then reached for a book and flicked the pages to a passage.
'Yes, here is an account of some travellers. It says that they went through a green portal... ah, here it is. There is a concealed door in the tombs, back where you arrived. Go back there, find the secret door and follow the corridor to the green portal.'

'YEAH, WHATEVER!' butted in Uthmar. 'Listen, do you have any MAGIC ITEMS FOR SALE?'

Gravedigger rolled his eyes. 'Who wrote that?'
'I don't know,' replied Mal'keyth. 'The author does not reveal his name.'

Gravedigger and Mal'keyth went off to talk away from the annoying goliath and the uninterested bard. Mal'keyth revealed he had been in this place for some time, and (whether any of it was true or not) he said he was "just interested" in the place. He spoke Common and was from Tamar, on the Golden Way back in Faerune. 

The children were getting restless though, Uthmar was banging his head against the door in the southern wall and Rogier was playing the opening bars of a sea-shanty on his lute over and over again.

Gravedigger opened the door and it revealed some stairs leading down, but they did not explore them and instead went back to the bank-teller area. They carried on through that to the garden and pushed through the dead bushes to the back of it and discovered a well. Uthmar unwisely dropped a coin into it and was immediately rewarded with a bunch of purple tentacles that shot out and started lashing about.

Uthmar was alone when that happened, but Gravedigger came over to help with the tentacle whacking. Rogier had wandered off. Despite not having instigated all this Gravedigger suffered the worst. He was grappled and crushed against the wall of the well, and pretty much stayed there until Uthmar and a late to the party Rogier killed off the tentacles.

Their scattershot exploration of the dungeon continued. They returned back through the teller area yet again then to the stairs and the corridor beyond.

They discovered an area of jail cells. In one of the cells was "one of them", one of the mysterious sort-of-humans they had been encountering. Rogier set him free. Another room was discovered that was full of smelly beds. No one had a huge desire to search through all the crusty sheets.

And so finally they went all the way back to the tomb that they had arrived in and searched for the concealed entrance that Mal'keyth had told them about. When it was opened they followed a long corridor to a big chamber.

Gravedigger had a good look about and he could see that there were signs of the passage of feet. A good many people had travelled this area.

The passage then turned north to a cavern that had a lake of poisonous looking green liquid in it. A rope and chain bridge lead across to a ledge on the other side. Wagon wheels were chained above the lake in many paces, all with human remains tied to them. 

Once over the bridge they entered a passage way that led to a really big room where some golems were standing and the "Cultist Hyrophant"

'Come, follow me!' called out the Hyrophant, who then cackled and stepped through a portal right at the back of the chamber.

But then the golems all came stamping towards them. 
'Talk about mixed messages,' muttered Gravedigger.

Behind the two golems was a zombie ogre. Maybe they were not aggressive thought Gravedigger who called 'Coo-ee!' and waved.

Gravedigger was very wrong of course, and so they fled back over the bridge. Rogier cast a Glyph of Warding at the north end, which may have helped make one of them fall into the lake. It could be seen in the faintly glowing fluid though, as it stopped up and started walking towards the southern shore.

Gravedigger had a plan. 'Shoot and move - and follow me!'

So they did just that, moving, then shooting off spells and missiles, then running off again as the golems and ogre lumbered after them. They went all the way back to the narrow window at the base of the garden and all squeezed through it. The dull-witted golems were too big to fit through and to dumb to do anything other than stick an arm through the window and lash it about. One by one our heroes finished off their enemies from a safe distance.

After that, they went all the way back to the big room with the sinister looking portal
in it, and without any other options presenting themselves, they stepped through it.

(G622 18/04/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED16

(G622 18/04/2026 via Roll20 - JF, KT, AP(GM), AD) 5ED16

[This continues the story of Rogier the bard, a warforged called Gravedigger and a goliath paladin known as Uthmar Shatterstone. They are currently beyond the portal they entered in the manor house of the Viers family and exploring the tombs and chambers they have discovered here.]

DAY 20 cont ...

Our heroes, having finished off the fearsome flesh golem and its keepers moved on  to the next chamber. 

The next room was a cellar, empty except for some piles of decaying refuse, bits of bodies and old bones. Rogier and Uthmar began to feel as if the walls were warping, most likely they were hallucinating as Gravedigger felt nothing.

There was a door in the east wall that the vanguard warforged tried to open. On the other side of it was a set of stairs going up to the north and a window to the east. Gravedigger hoisted himself out of the window and found himself in an overgrown and decaying garden. He then climbed back in again and joined the others going up the steps.

Near the top of the stairs Rogier found a spiky pit trap covered by an illusion by nearly falling into it. He took a step back and nimbly leapt over it.

Gravedigger then jumped over, being not so agile he needed Rogier to help him up as he crashed into the side of the pit. Uthmar then leapt across, like an elegant gazelle.

At the top of the stairs was a door in the west wall. Gravedigger opened it to reveal a sort of bank teller area that had a counter with bars on it in the southern wall. Whatever it was doing here, this chamber looked like the foyer of a well appointed bank. 

In the middle of the room was a being that looked sort of human, but with something off about it. When it saw our heroes enter it attacked. It wore armour and carried a shield and some spears. Gravedigger cast Spiritual Weapon, Rogier shrunk it with his magic and... Uthmar took a very long time deciding what he should do in this fight - should be first strengthen himself with magic, should he attack with a  paladin ability? What weapon should he use, should he attack head on or attempt a flanking manoeuvre? He was overcome with all the possibilities at his disposal.

Eventually he simply went up to it and hit it. As he then started to receive blows back from the humanoid being Gravedigger healed him. Rogier hung back and cast Firebolts. In the end Uthmar finished it off and they looted its corpse of all valuables.

Not long after that another one appeared on the other side of the bars.
"Are you a human?" asked Gravedigger.
It glared back in silence.
Gravedigger then went to the counter and said, 'shop!'
The being threw a spear at him which left a gouge in Gravedigger's side.
He fired off a Sacred Flame in return and ducked under the counter.

Everyone then exited the chamber through a door in the west wall and worked their way south through a smaller room to find themselves facing another door.

Gravedigger, who was now opening all the doors they came to because if he didn't no one else would, opened this one and saw a big clay golem and the  spear-throwing fellow he had just previously met.

Uthmar held the door shut while they prepared themselves. He then stepped back and the spear thrower came at them, followed by the clay entity.

Uthmar biffed away at them while Rogier fired off Poison Spray magic and Gravedigger used Sacred Flame. The spear-thrower went down as Rogier and Gravedigger healed Uthmar. Then slowly the clay golem was whittled away until it too was destroyed.

Tombs, gardens and banks? wondered Gravedigger. Where had they found themselves? The others seems unconcerned, as long as there were people to fight and treasure to be looted, they didn't seemed to care.

(G621 11/04/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL13

(G621 11/04/2026 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) EVL13

[The undead cleric of Umberlee known as Salt's Wake has signed up with an expedition to Jundarwood along with his new chum Korinth, a sellsword. They are now in the ruins of Tyfellia at their final destination - the foot of Klonis Tower. Rollo keeps an eye on them.]

DAY 730 1st Ches (March) continued...

Egnol was now ready to enter the tower. Korinth looked up at it. He estimated it to be at least sixteen floors tall, about 150 ft. It was impressive and he marvelled at how it must have looked before it fell into ruins. He had never seen a structure as tall as this in the cities of man. On the upper stories could be seen tall windows, some of them smashed or missing entirely.

He made a nervous joke about how it would be easier just to fly to up to the top on the back of giant eagles rather than clearing their way up floor by floor.

As he shaded his eyes against the sun, he did indeed see an eagle wheeling around the tower. (That was me of course).

Egnol told him to leave it alone. It would have been out of range anyway. Korinth then went and glanced in through a small gap in the two main doors and saw some skeletons standing about and some thorny looking vines. There were doorways just visible to the east and west and a set of stairs to the north.

While Korinth was doing something useful, Salty was doing something annoying. He was teasing the porters about turning them into undead. They did not see the funny side and ran off, forcing Egnol and Bozor to go after them.

Korinth rolled his eyes and entered the tower, and slinking behind a vine covered pillar. Salty still had plenty of nonsense in him and ordered Wrunas the minotaur to charge the doors. Wrunas never needs to be told to charge anything twice and so went right at them. Forcing them shut of course! They could still hear Korinth's loud groan as he realised all this stupidity had basically imprisoned him in the tower! It only got worse as the vines (which were Assassin Vines) had scented him and slithered in to try and grab at his limbs.

Wrunas is a very strong chap though, so it was the work of a moment for him to grab one of the doors and haul it open. When there was enough of a gap Nukillas slipped into the tower and cast a Turn Undead. Salty just waited outside, being precious with his undead kua-toa.

Once the undead had been turned and slain, and the vines all chopped up, Korinth then went on to clear out the east and west room entirely by himself. Salty made an appearance when the loot was being collected and finally Egnol came in once he had rounded up everyone else.

Pushing some harmless vines aside they discovered a room with some treasure chests in it. Some greedy looting ensued, but the most interesting item was a ring that allowed the wearer to speak and understand elvish. It was Wrunas that found it and he put it through his nose.

Salty wanted everyone to hurry up now and so said, 'come on! I've been doing all the heavy lifting here!'

Egnol glowered at the undead cleric, but refrain from comment. Salty then went on to tease the porters again. 'So who is going to be the advance party to go up the tower? I say it should be, porter one, porter two, porter three ...'

Nukillas liked to joke about as well, and always at Salty's expense, so joined in saying, 'come on porters! You can't expect old Salty Trousers to go up there!
He's got to find where his crusty old undead balls have rolled off to!'

Things were getting out of hand so Egnol shouted at all of them.
'Enough! You blithering band of idiots! We've serious business to attend to!'

Korinth was affronted. 'What are you shouting at me for? I've not done anything!'

Egnol apologised to Korinth and then selected the advance party. For now it would be Korinth, Salty and Nukillas. The others would stay at the base of the tower and guard the doors and the baggage.
'If you need backup, just shout down for us,' he told them as they headed for the stairs.

The first five floors were not much more than dusty ruins and undead that were so stumbling and withered to be of no threat.

On the sixth floor though they started encountering allips - the incorporeal remnants of people driven to insanity and suicide. They were more annoying than anything else as they could hypnotise the living and drain them of their wisdom.

Nukillas could Turn them though, and did so, even bringing several of them under her control. As they went up another floor they were attacked by more of them and Korinth was drained. Salty then remembered he had recently looted a magic longsword and handed to Korinth so he could fight them effectively. 
'On you go,' he said encouragingly before stepping back into the safety of the stairwell.

Up another level the went and they were beset by more allips and a wraith. More Turns from Nukaliss and sword play from Korinth soon dealt with them.

On they went, up another floor, where the rooms had been overtake by roots and vines. There was a wight here and twig blights, but again they prevailed against them. Through it all Salty hung back, as the other did the hard work. He was maybe keeping his powder dry for when something worthy of his attention showed up!

Angels of Scada Free on Kindle 24th to 28th of May

 

 

Free on Amazon Kindle: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Angels-Scada-J-H-G-Foss-ebook/dp/B01HR1KX92