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From: Fraser MacKenzie <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: STORY: Fate's Fellowship - Ch 5:Spirits Not Spells
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Date: 10 Jul 1995 15:01:08 -0400
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Enjoy!

Fraser MacKenzie
http://www.achilles.net:80/~fraserm

                                                          \|/
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__________________|       Fraser MacKenzie      |_____oo0_(_)_0oo____
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The characters contained in these writings and the writings themselves
   are copyright 1995 by Fraser MacKenzie.  Any resemblance to any persons
   or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental.  Copying
   and/or distribution of these tales is permissible only under the sole
   condition that no part of them will be used or sold for profit and that
   they will not be altered in any way.

   I wish to thank Eric Lindsey, Seng Ann Mah, Ron Trimmer, Max
   Bullock, Charlotte Ashley, Tom DeSanctus, Bob Grob, Michael Clair
   Haflidi Jonsson, and Drew Lahaise for their immense input without
   which, there would be no story at all. ;)

   Enjoy!

                                  Fraser MacKenzie
                                  [e-mail]


   Note: You can FTP the chapters of Fate's Fellowship as they come
   out from ftp.achilles.net in the directory pub/users/fraserm or
   access them from my home page at http://www.achilles.net:80/~fraserm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Introducing the characters:

  Name      Race     Type       Experience
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~     ~~~~~~~~~~
Tenbar   Human      Warrior     1
E'tharn  Elven      Warrior     1
Kelemvor Human      Spellcaster 1
Ssylth   Human      Spellcaster 1
Ginafae  Elven      Spellcaster 1
Crowe    Half-Elven Thief       1




                             Fate's Fellowship
                                 Chapter 5
                             Spirits Not Spells



Shortly thereafter, everyone comes to a consensus to explore the mansion as a
group. Tenbar mentions hearing something about a library, while Ginafae
suggests, "The book mentions a laboratory... perhaps we should attempt to find
it?  I've not yet been in the hall to do much looking, there must be other more
useful rooms than this one."  E'tharn and Kelemvor also express an interest in
finding the laboratory mentioned in the book.

Moving into the entry hall, E'tharn points everyone's attention to faint traces
of blood on the floor.  Though difficult to see, E'tharn seems to have no
trouble and shows the rest of the party how they form a trail leading from the
doorway into the mansion through the entry hall, into the 5ft wide corridor to
the east.  E'tharn tells them that he followed this trail of blood here from the
site of the Alchemist's murder and suspects that the man whose blood they see is
a member of the Cult.

The trail leads about 30ft down the hallway to a door on the right.  Moving to
the door, they enter a room which appears to have once been a library.  The room
contains a broken desk along the west wall and a chest between the two west
windows.  The walls are lined with bookshelves, but most are empty with the few
books that remain looking in sad condition, rotted away or chewed to pieces by
rodents.  The bookcases in the northwest corner, to the right of the doorway,
show signs of extensive burning.  There are piles of trash scattered about the
floor of the room.

Following the trail of blood into the room, E'tharn says that it ends in front
of a section of bookcase in the center of the east wall.  After a search, he
says there is some sort of secret door behind it.  With further investigation
the party finds that turning a decorative knob on the bookcase causes it to
open, revealing a narrow set of stone steps leading down.

Everyone decides to look around the ground floor before moving on.  Most of the
rooms are empty, containing only dust, dirt and usless debris.  They do however,
find a bathroom containing several toilets, wash basins, and a large water-tank.
The tank is nearly dry, holding only a few inches of stagnant water with
greenish slime floating on it.

There are also a couple of small rooms that seem to have been the servants
quarters.  They contain battered beds, dressers with three drawers, a small
table and two chairs each.  In one hangs a painting of a country fair with a
large grey castle in the background.

The party comes across a living room where they find a ruined sofa, a small
table, and several chairs.  Other furniture has been broken up and lies in
piles on the floor.  There are a few small chipped and broken decorative items,
including a figurine of a maiden riding a unicorn, a cracked vase, and a broken
brass hourglass with no sand.

Ginafae decides that the small maiden with unicorn figurine appeals to her taste
and gently picks it up.  She wraps it in cloth and carefully places it in her
backpack where it won't get damaged and announces that she is ready to continue
searching the old mansion.

At the east end of the house the party finds a set of stairs leading up but
nobody wants to venture up at this point.

The most interesting room they come to appears to be some sort of trophy room.
It's contents, though covered with dust, are in good condition compared to those
of the other room's you've visited.  They see a pair of large bat-like wings
mounted on a stand, a giant's club, the skull of a huge bear, the skeletons of a
kobold, a goblin, an orc, a hobgoblin and a gnoll lined up side-by-side and in
the far corner, a black sphere on a pedestal with writing on it.  Mounted on the
walls are an assortment of weapons and armor, including a staff carved with
intricate designs, a battle axe, chainmail, a pair of silver daggers, and a
shield with a black dragon set on a field of red.  Not long after entering the
room, the party discovers at least one reason why the contents have not been
disturbed, as the two daggers come flying off the wall toward them.

The daggers appear to be moving of their own volition.  E'tharn quickly shouts
that there are no heat sources in the room other than those of the group.  He
then draws his sword and dagger as the two animated weapons swoop down upon the
group.

Though he tries to parry, one of the daggers gets past E'tharn's defense and
grazes his arm.  His return swing catches the dagger and everyone hears the ring
of metal on metal.  That dagger then falls to the floor and the second dagger
arcs toward Kelemvor, but he manages to dodge the blade.  The dagger then
circles back through the air for a second attack.

Ssylth's face is contorted into a mask of fear and the rest of the party
realizes that this is probably the first real danger that he has seen.  He
definitely looks scared and confused as he quickly heads for the door and enters
the hallway.

As the second dagger circles around for another attack, Ginafae follows Ssylth
out the door.  Kelemvor suggests, "Ssylth and Ginafae, go down to the kitchen
and try to find the biggest iron pots you can.  I think that we should try to
catch these daggers.  I mean, you really can't kill a weapon.  Its sort of a
longshot, but it might work.  Anyway, we might as well be prepared." and then
closes the door behind them.

Meanwhile, Crowe draws his own dagger and throws it at the animated blade,
missing.  The flying dagger swoops toward E'tharn, who swings at it while
dodging at the same time.  He misses, but Tenbar steps up and knocks the dagger
to the floor with a blow from his sword.  The dagger falls near it's mate and
they both lie still.

After that, Tenbar staggers back to the doorway and looks about wildly, his
sword gripped tightly in his hand. "'Ware friends," he hisses to the others.
"Seems like this place is curs'd."  After several seconds pass with the daggers
remaining on the floor, the group decides to leave them where they are and
investigate the room.  E'tharn begins searching for secret doors while Crowe
moves to the other weapons hanging on the wall and Kelemvor goes over to the
skeletons.  Tenbar stays near the door, keeping a wary watch on the room.

Barely two minutes pass when Tenbar gives a yell, "Ware friends.  'Em curs'd
daggers is attackn'" as the daggers suddenly rise from the floor and swoop to
attack again.  This time they aim for Crowe and Kelemvor, who both managed to
duck out of the way, but fail to hit the daggers as they pass.  The dagger
attacking Kelemvor circles right back at him and this time slashes into his
chest.  With a cry of pain, he knocks the dagger out the air with his scythe.
The other dagger moves away from Crowe toward E'tharn, who dodges as it whistles
past his head and just misses it with his sword.  It then arcs across the room
toward Tenbar and slices him on the arm as he swings and misses.  With another
wide circle it moves again to E'tharn, striking him, causing another minor cut,
before he in turn, hits it with his long sword.  Again, both daggers lie on the
floor motionless.

About this time, the door opens as Ginafae and Ssylth enter carrying a wooden
box and a kettle.  They quickly pass these to Tenbar and Kelemvor who move to
pounce on the two blades.  They manage to trap the daggers beneath the
containers, whereupon the weapons become active once again, setting up a loud
commotion.  They are easily contained, but the two men are forced to stay on the
containers to keep them from escaping.  Ssylth suggests, "Maybe the giants club
could be used to keep the two containers on the daggers."  Following Ssylth's
suggestion, the rest of the group moves to carry the giant's culb over to the
containers and set it across both of them.  After making sure it will stay in
place to keep the daggers trapped, they move to investigate the rest of the
room.

Ginafae says she thinks the wings are from a gargoyle, though she is not
positive.  The weapons on the wall are all usable and in decent condition.  The
staff is interesting, made of oak with beautiful but apparently meaningless
designs carved into it.  The skeletons are just what they appear to be.  E'tharn
asks, "Does anyone know how to find out if anything is magical?  We could use it
to see if anything is extraordinarily valuable."  Unfortunately, no one in the
group has a detect magic spell available.  E'tharn reports that there are no
secret doors in the room that he could find.

Moving to the pedestal, Ginafae reads aloud the words written on it.

"WISDOM, POWER, TRUTH THERE BE
CHOOSE YE NOW AMONG THE THREE,
TOUCH THE SPHERE AND YOU WILL SEE."

The sphere is made of a glassy, mica-like substance and does not seem to
be part of the pedestal or connected to it in any way.  It looks like it
should roll off, but it somehow seems to remain in place.

After Ginafae reads the inscription on the pedestal with the orb, Crowe begins
to offer to touch the black ball when E'tharn steps forward and places his hand
on the black ball speaking the word truth.  Upon saying the word, the sphere
begins to glow with a blue light that travels up E'tharn's arm to suffuse his
body.  E'tharn hears a voice in his head say "ASK WHAT YOU WOULD KNOW, THOUGH
THE ANSWER BE YES OR NO."

After a few minutes the glow fades and he steps back slightly dazed and reports
no ill effects.  As E'tharn stands aside, Ssylth steps forward and also touches
the ball, saying the word truth.  He too is engulfed in a blue light and hears
the voice in his head.  After a few seconds it leaves him and he stands dazed by
all that has happened.  Neither E'tharn nor Ssylth feel any need to tell the
rest of the party what happened as it is of no real concern to them.

Ginafae and Tenbar both back away from the sphere.  "I don't trust it," Ginafae
states, a little afraid. "Maybe I'm being silly, but this place is full of
weirdness. Can't we check things over before playing with them?"  Tenbar mutters
half to himself and half to Ginafae, "Yer won't catch me doin' summat fool'ardy
as that."  He keeps an eye on E'Tharn and Ssylth, wary of anything odd which
might 'suddenly' happen to them during this venture.  Kelemvor and Crowe on the
other hand, watch curiously as if trying to take in every detail of what happens
when the black ball is touched.

Kelemvor examines the shield on the wall and tells the rest of the party a
little bit about the meaning of the emblem of the Black Dragon on a field of
red.  It seems this crest was used by the house of Norrvik Kendas, an evil
fighter lord who held a fortress in the Darkover Mountains some years ago.  He
and his forces controlled travel through the Darkover pass, demanding heafty
tribute for safe passage or simply murdering travelers to take their
belongings.  Eventually, a group of adventurers defeated Norrvik and his men,
even to the extent of throwing down his fortress, the ruins of which lie
somewhere in the mountains.  Some say remnants of Norrvik's family live
somewhere in the far north and still use this as their emblem.

Ginafae takes down the staff from the wall and gives it a careful examination.
It has strange and intricate patterns carved over it's surface, but they have
no apparent meaning.  She finds it is surprisingly light though it is made of
sturdy oak.  Next, she moves to examine the bear skull on the wall.  It is
quite large and Tenbar surmises it came from what he calls a cave bear.

Crowe moves to the silver daggers and takes them from the wall.  Kelemvor
suggests, "Maybe each of the two daggers should go to a different person.  There
are some undead that can be harmed only by silver or magic.  Once we leave this
place, if you want Crowe, you can keep both the daggers providing that nobody
else minds."  E'tharn suggests that Tenbar get the other dagger, as he looks
like he could beat up just about anything.  Following Kelemvor and E'tharn's
suggestion, he hands one of the blades to Tenbar, while placing the other in one
of his own sheaths.

E'tharn meanwhile, moves to the wings mounted on a stand in the corner, takes
them down, and attempts to wear them.  He looks somewhat ludicrous flapping
about the room holding the large leathery wings, but otherwise there is no
apparent effect.

After looking over the staff Ginafae desides to take it with her as well as the
cave bear skull.  Seeing Ginafae taking the cave bear skull, Kelemvor objects
saying, "After we explore the house, we should bury these skeletons, returning
them to the earth."  Ginafae frowns at Kelemvor's objections to the taking of
the scull.  "It's dead, and separated from it's body!" she states.  "It isn't
going to hurt anyone, nor do I think it will object terribly to being carried
around with care.  The rest of it has been returned to te earth somewhere I'm
sure, can I not keep it, just for a little while, for study?"

"I'm sorry that you object.  I do not think its going to hurt anybody either.
I just believe that these skeletons should be buried.  When the body passes
from this life and the soul is freed, the body needs to be returned.  This
whole display" Kelemvor waves his scythe towards the display as he talks, "is a
mockery! How would you like it if after you died, somebody strung your bones up
in some 'piece of art'!" he says in a frenzied voice.  He then pauses and calms
himself down.  "I sometimes use the remains of the dead.  However, I only do so
when I am performing some ritual or casting a spell, or when I have a good
reason."  Kelemvor gestures to the skull and continues, "If you have a good
reason for taking the skull, then I would like to hear it.  But I do not want
you to take it just because its 'neat.'  I know that you do not mean to offend
me, Ginafae.  I just am asking you to respect my beliefs."  Ginafae frowns
slightly, then sighs.  " All right." she says reluctantly. " I apologize,
Kelevmor, I'll try to leave being's parts intact from here on out."  She mutters
to herself, smiling slightly. "I wouldn't mind having my body parts strung
around as art.."  Ginafae then goes on to explain that, as a mage, it is her job
to explore the unknown and to ask questions.  "This skull is something new, and
I would like to examine it for a time", she states.  Accepting this as a valid
response Kelemvor states that he has no objections to her keeping the skull for
a time as long as she will allow him to bury it later.  Ginafae assures him that
she will and proceeds to strap the skull to her pack using a piece of rope that
E'tharn gives her.

"We should take the axe as well.  I do not know how to use an axe, but I will
carry it if no one else can use it",  offers Kelemvor.

After throughly going over all the items in the room, Tenbar decides to take
the axe and one of the silver daggers, Ginafae the staff and cavebear skull, and
Crowe one of the daggers.  The party then decides to continue exploring the
house.

"Rumors of the Death Cult suggest that we will probably encounter undead in this
mansion", mentions Kelemvor "Here, everyone take one of these.  If we do fight
undead, this will do alot of damage to them", says Kelemvor as he distributes
one small ceramic container, containing a clear liquid, to everyone.  Kelemvor
finishes, "Oh, by the way, don't drink it.  Throw it at undead as you would a
missile weapon.  Be sure to use it only in emergencies, for I do not have very
much.  I also have knowledge of undead if you wish to know of or about them.  I
can tell you which ones are particularly dangerous."

Tenbar takes a look at the vial of clear fluid which Kelemvor hands him with
some scepticism on his face. "Yer tellin' me that this here spittle o' water can
hurt the undead?" he asks Kelemvor. Regardless, he puts the vial away on his
person but within easy access.

The party then exits the room, shutting the door on the sound of the animated
daggers rattling away in the containers where they trapped them and move to
the staircase leading to the second floor and proceed up.

Upstairs they investigate several rooms finding what appears to be a guest
bedroom.  A torn mattress lies crumpled in the southeast corner, its contents
spilled all over.  The chamber also contains a small desk which turns out to be
empty, a broken mirror, and a broken chair.  As everyone enters to look around
the floor creaks loudly and not far into the room, Tenbar's leg crashes through
the floor boards.  Tenbar gives a loud yell, then curses "By the shrunken
cullions of Scrumnus and the whiskers of Kurvi-Tash."  He is unharmed, but after
pulling him free the party proceeds with caution.  After Tenbar has somewhat
recovered, he proceeds thanking those who helped him.

In the bedroom with the torn up mattress, Kelemvor suggests that the pattern of
disorder looks like the room was searched for something.  Thinking about it, the
rest of the party agree that this indeed looks to be the case so, E'tharn and
Tenbar search the floor for tracks, but find no evidence that anyone has been in
here recently.

They pass several similar bedrooms before coming to what appears to be the
previous owner's sleeping chamber.  It was very well furnished, but now all the
furniture and decorations in the room are broken and rotten.  Identifiable items
include a bed, a desk, a stuffed chair, and a chest.  There is also a faded, but
interesting tapestry hanging from the east wall depicting an aerial fight
between a black and a silver dragon over some mountains.  However, just standing
in the doorway they can see that the floor sags treacherously and Crowe warns
against entering the room.  The party decides to possibly return to this room
to explore it, but not to do so at the present time.

Next the party comes to a room which Ginafae calls an observatory.  They see
faded sky and constellation charts covering most of the walls.  There is a table
on the west side of the room covered with broken glass and a few intact lenses.
One of the most interesting features of the room is a large transparent dome set
in the center of the ceiling.  Beneath the dome, in the circular patch of
sunlight shining down, is a chair with an empty tripod standing beside it.
There is also a large window, partially broken out, in the east wall looking out
over the grounds toward the sea.  The floor of this room proves safe, so the
party explores it completely.

Tenbar steals towards the table and examines the lenses. He lifts a few up and
peers through them. Clearly, his curiousity is much piqued by these odd devices.
He then wanders towards the eastern window and peers out into the grounds and
then outwards towards the sea.  It is about noon, with the sun directly
overhead and in the distance, out on the water, he sees a few boats sailing9
along.  Once he is assured that there is nothing amiss in the mansion grounds,
he goes to the tripod and examines it.  It stands about 4ft high and is solidly
made, looking like it was built to support a heavy object.  It is too unwieldy
to permit easy transportation.

Ginafae moves to take a chart off the wall explaining, "it might come in handy
some day."  With that, she puts the chart carefully in her pack.  Kelemvor
smiles at Ginafae and says in a friendly voice, "A curious thing, aren't you?"
Ginafae looks slightly embarrassed, but insists that curiosity never hurts
unless someone is a cat, in which case satisfaction can always bring them back.
Tenbar joins E'tharn at the table with the lenses.  There are seven unbroken
lenses in all, ranging in size from an inch to five inches in diameter.  All are
somewhat clouded but clear enough to provide a close-up view of objects when
looked through.  Tenbar gets a fright seeing E'tharn's greatly enlarged eye
peering at him through the largest lens.  They divide up the lenses between them
and store them away on their persons as the group gets ready to continue the
search for the laboratory.

Finally, they come to the room they have been looking for, the Laboratory.  The
door stands open and a breeze blows from within.  Inside the party sees the room
is a mess.  Trash, broken glass, melted lumps of wax, bits of wood and scraps of
paper lie scattered across the floor.  The room contains two overturned tables,
one with a large green stain on it, several chairs, a writing desk, racks of
glassware, a small oven-like contraption, two cabinates, and a large empty cage.
There is a large heap of trash in the center of the room beneath a hole in the
ceiling.  Black scorch marks radiate out across the floor from beneath this pile
of trash.  The floor appears sturdy, and in fact, the entire room seems to be
structurally reinforced.

Kelemvor says, "Be careful.  I sensed undead here, but I think the creature or
creatures has left."  To which Ssylth replies, "Kelemvor, how do you know that
there are or were undead in the house?  I did not see anything that would lead
me to that conclusion.  Also, do you know what type of undead you detected?"
After hearing such sound advice from Kelemvor, Tenbar becomes even more
cautious. "Undead, ye say?" he whispers to Kel.  "Yer sure they left?"  He grips
his sword tightly and his expression grows grim.

Tenbar grunts and indicates the pile of trash, "Looks like a fireplace o' some
sort or odder."  He steps into the room and begins to look about.  E'tharn and
Crowe move to search the walls for secret doors while Tenbar looks on the floor
for tracks.  Before entering the room, Kelemvor pulls out a human skull from a
sack and hangs it on the belt at his side.  The rest of the party notice that it
has large rubies inset as eyes.  Ginafae moves to one of the cabinets and
discovers that it is locked.  Ssylth examines the green stain on one of the
tables but has no clue as to what caused it.

Finding no evidence of secret door, E'tharn moves to the second cabinet with
Ginafae while Crowe goes to examine the large pile of trash in the center of
the room.  Tenbar announces that wind and rain coming in through the hole in
the ceiling has made it almost impossible to discern any tracks that might have
been made in the room.  He then moves to one of the desks with Ssylth while
Kelemvor stays near the door looking about suspiciously.

As Crowe approaches the pile of trash a broken vial flies up off the floor and
hits him in chest, shattering completely.  He gives out a yell and turns to
flee from the room.  The vial is immediately followed by three more objects
which dart from the floor with great velocity toward various party members.
Ssylth is struck by a piece of wood and yells in fright, but manages to keep
himself from running.  A small glob of wax barely misses Ginafae, and a bit of
masonry flies past Tenbar's head.

Kelemvor shouts, "Poltergeists!  Back up everyone."

Upon hearing Kelemvor shout, "POLTERGEISTS", Tenbar ducks to one side and rolls
towards the door, coming up with sword and hunting knife drawn, one in each
hand.  A confused look on his face, he yells, "Poultry what???"  Then, seeing
the objects seemingly animate by themselves, the burly warrior growls, "By the
whiskers of Kurvi-Tash! 'Tis like a mad house here."

As a second volley of debris is launched from the center of the room, Kelemvor
takes the skull from his belt and holds it before him while advancing toward the
pile of trash.  He says "By the power of Valeska, I command you to succumb to my
will."

Meanwhile, Ssylth runs for the door, followed by Tenbar who stations himself in
front of the opening, sword drawn.  The burly man manges to deflect two objects
hurled in his direction.  Ginafae hunkers down beside the cabinet just as a vial
breaks against the wall behind her.  She scrunches up in to a ball, cursing
herself for not remembering any offensive spells and starts digging through her
pack in hopes of finding something useful in this situation, though she expects
to find nothing of use.  Not seeing anything nearby to use as cover, E'tharn
draws his weapons to advance on the pile of trash.  A chunk of wood flies up to
hit him in the chest, but he shrugs it off.

At Kelemvor's words the activity around the pile of trash stops.  He advances
with E'tharn, still holding the skull before him.  As they approach a couple of
objects fly over to hit the far wall, but nothing is directed at them.  Upon
reaching the pile of trash, Kelemvor speaks again "I command you to open the
cabinet."  Seconds later, Ginafae quickly scampers from her hiding place as the
cabinet begins to shake and rattle from some invisible force.  You hear the
sound of glass tinkling inside, however, the doors remain closed.

After realizing that they cannot open the cabinet, Kelemvor begins moving
towards a corner in the room very slowly.  Once positioned by the corner he
speaks, "My goddess, the mighty Valeska, grants me many powers to fight and
destroy undead, creatures whose souls have been forced to stay here on this
plane. For that reason, I am able to sense undead a few times a day.  That is
how I knew that their might be undead here.  Poltergeists are really quite
harmless.  They can only frighten and throw objects.  However, they are
difficult to destroy.  You need magic or silver to hit them.  Right now, I am
pretty sure they are over in that corner.  Just like you, I cannot see them.  We
must destroy them.  Then their souls will be freed and allowed to travel to
their ultimate destination.  The bad thing is that once we attack, I will
probably lose control over them."  He pauses and thinks a bit.

In the meantime, after listening to Kelemvor's discourse on his mission in life,
Tenbar shakes his head. "I'm a simple man, friend, and much o' this has me
bewildered, but if ye say there are ghosts in yon corner and that they be
suff'rin' in their... undeadness, then I'll help where I can."

Kelemvor continues, "Tenbar, you can throw daggers, right? ... well get ready.
Unless you want to attack hand to hand.  I will try to get them to line up.  I
think there are four of them.  Ssylth and Ginafae, if you have offensive spells,
that will work.  You will have a very hard time trying to hit them, but just do
your best.  We will each take one and I will attack with my scythe."

"I am confident that I can hold them here while you search.  When you are done
searching, then I think we should attack them.  Remember, these things can only
throw stuff and invoke fear", Kelemvor finishes.

Following Kelemvor's assurance that what he calls the poltergeists will not
bother they party again, they begin to resume their search of the room when
Crowe returns from downstairs where he ran in his fright.

Once everyone is together, Tenbar announces, "I got sumthin' t' say, folks. I
don' know 'bout yers, but mebbe what I got to say may be helpful to some o'
yers. I got a friend I met no more than two, three days ago, who turns out t'
be one o' the head mages in the Wizard's Guild here. Goes by th' name o'
Thornwalden. Now, he may be able to answer a few o' yer questions 'bout yer
missing mage friend, and it so happens that he has asked me to come over t'
the Guild at noon today. I'd like to go see 'im again, 'cos I got me own
questions to ask. If ye like, ye c'n come with me. I reckons we've spent long
enow here; we c'n come back later, don't seem that there goin' t' be odder
people comin' here, eh? What ye say, eh?"

Ssylth agrees with Tenbar and adds, "As well I need to send a message back to
Mordrake's Isle to my mentors to inform them of my progress.  I will do this
after we talk to Tenbar's friend, the wizard."

Everybody seems to think that going to the wizards guild is a good idea, but
only after a thorough search of the laboratory.

Returning to the search, Ssylth and Tenbar move to the desk, where they find
some old blank sheets of parchment, a couple of quills and a dried up ink well.
Next they move to the oven like contraption which Ssylth identifies as a kiln,
used for baking pottery.  Finally, they move to the cage with is approximately
3x3 square.  Inside are old animal droppings and Tenbar finds some hairs, but
cannot identify what they came from.

Crowe, E'tharn and Kelemvor begin shifting through the pile of trash at the
center of the room.  At the bottom they find four charred skeletons.  Beside
one of these they find two blackened stumps of wood and a couple of lumps of
gold and silver melted together while a second skeleton wears a ring.  E'tharn
picks up the ring and asks, "Would anyone like to try on the ring?  As well, I
think this lump of gold should be sold later and the proceeds split between the
party members."  Tenbar agrees with E'tharn that the melted gold-silver lump
should be kept and perhaps sold later, the proceeds divided between them. Tenbar
takes a look at the ring studying it for a moment, then hands it back to
E'tharn.  "Yer won't get me tryin' on owt from this place," he says.  Upon
Tenbar's examination of the ring, he finds the word 'zinfandel' written on the
inside of the band.  Ssylth requests the ring for the time being and everybody
agrees that Ssylth should keep the ring until it can be identified.  Upon
agreement from the party, he places the ring in his pouch.

Having briefly searched the lab, Tenbar, and E'tharn join Kelemvor in the
corner where he says he has herded the spirits.  Crowe also joins them,
suggesting his previous hit may have made him immune, and they all draw their
silver daggers while Kelemvor readies his scythe.  Ginafae and Ssylth,
meanwhile, exit to the hallway until the action is over.

Kelemvor leads the attack, swinging his blade through the air where he says the
spirits are located.  Crowe, E'tharn and Tenbar follow, searching for
disturbances in the air to lash out at.  As soon as the attack begins, the
poltergeists resume their activity and objects whip up from the floor to strike
at the four men.  The room becomes a chaotic whirl of flying objects and
swinging blades.

This goes on for some time.  Crowe's prediction proves incorrect as another
object strikes him and he runs screaming from the room.  After several minutes
the tumult seems to lessen, suggesting their attacks are having some success
destroying the creatures.  E'tharn and Tenbar receive several blows from
whirling objects, but manage to stand their ground.  Unfortunately, several
minutes into the fray, Kelemvor is struck by a flying vial and flees from the
room.  Emboldened by their seeming immunity to the spirits, E'tharn and Tenbar
carry the fight to its finish until finally the room is quiet except for their
labored breathing.

Once Kelemvor returns, he says, "As for the undead, I believe that we must
destroy them.  Many evil wizards use undead as tools to accomplish their evil
deeds.  If we are dealing with an evil mage who has captured Lycira, I offer my
aid in defeating him.  However, I must insist on destroying any undead we come
across."  As the two fighters rest, Ginafae and Ssylth reenter the room and move
to the unlocked cabinet where they begin going through it's contents.  After a
complete search, they find the following labelled containers: ogre's blood,
powdered minotaur bone, treant bark, iron golem shavings, giant slug essence,
needleman needles, stone giant sweat, firetoad eyes, giant wasp ichor, and
doombat guano.  There are numerous unlabelled containters whose contents you
cannot identify, including: fifteen powders, twelve bloods, seven with hair or
blood, three with teeth - both humanoid and animal, one with preserved tongues,
one large container with a brain, and one metal flask with some luminescent
green goo.

When Tenbar sees the jars of tongues and brains, he grimaces and turns away,
quite repulsed. "'Taint natural," he growls. "If I was you, I'd leave 'em be.
No good will come o' takin' them."

Ssylth suggests, "We should take what we want and then destroy all the remaining
components in the cabinet. I do not want that evil wizard, Haldane Zelgman,
using any of these things."  E'tharn replies, "I don't think this is Haldanes
doing.  It looks too old for him to have done it and as well, suppossedly this
explosion happen quite a few years back.  I think that we should leave all of
this stuff here and come back to it later."  Tenbar asks Ssylth why he would
like to destroy something valuable like the remaining vials.  Ssylth repies,
"Tenbar, as for me wanting to break all the vials, I now believe that there is
evil in this house.  As Kelemvor said, there were or still are undead in the
house.  Before when you were all looting the place, I was still unsure if this
mansion was used for evil deads.  Since this is an evil dwelling, I have no
problem with taking stuff, and destroying everything that may be used to benefit
evil.  This is why I want to destroy all the vials."  After hearing the two
arguments, the party decides to leave the bottled components in the cabinet and
come back to them later.

E'tharn says to Ginafae, "Let me help you with those M'lady."  Ginafae laughs
a little and remarks that she'd better leave soon, before she's taken everything
in the house! She then hefts her backpack onto her back and carries on. At
E'tharn's help, she blushes slightly and thanks him quietly.

Meanwhile, Crowe returns to the room and Crowe immediately goes to the locked
cabinet to see if he can get it open.  Kelemvor thanks the party by saying,
"It seems those Poltergeists got the best of me.  Thank you for destroying them.
I am certain there are more undead creatures in this house.  It might be a good
idea to go meet with this mage.  It would give us some time to rest and tend to
our wounds.  Perhaps we should come back to this house tomorrow so that we may
investigate the secret passage downstairs."  Kelemvor then moves over to stand
by the hole in the ceiling with E'tharn and Tenbar.

Looking up toward the ceiling, the three party members see that the hole
appears to have been punched from the inside and bears burn marks around its
jagged edges.  It opens up into another smaller room before continuing through
to the roof of the mansion and the outside sky.  Nothing of the contents of
that room can be seen and the ceiling of the laboratory is about 20ft high,
making it a good distance to the hole.

Kelemvor moves to help Tenbar and E'tharn stack the tables to reach the hole
in the ceiling.  Once the tables seem sturdy enough, Tenbar climbs up followed
by E'tharn.  After a couple shaky starts, E'tharn manages to stand on Tenbar's
shoulders to peer into the room above.  He reports it is a small area 15x15x7
high and the contents have been charred by an intense flame.  It appears to
have been some kind of library, though the books on the shelves are now
nothing but ash.  The remains of a burned tapestry hangs on one of the walls.
There is a small unharmed metal chest in one of the corners.

Carefully, E'tharn maneuvers himself up into the room.  The party members below
hear the ceiling creak under his tread as he searches the room.  After a few
minutes he calls down that he has found nothing else and there appears to be no
other way into the room other than through the hole.  He suggests that there may
have been some sort of stairway here.  E'tharn then lowers the chest to Tenbar
and follows soon after.

As they descend from the tables, Crowe reports that he was unable to open the
locked cabinet.  E'tharn presents him with the chest which is also locked, and
suggests he give it a try.  After a careful search for traps, Crowe takes out a
set of small tools and goes to work.  A few minutes later, you hear an audible
click and he lifts the lid open.  Inside the party finds a scroll case, a yellow
gem, and a pouch with 50gp.  Ssylth examines the contents of the scroll case.
You see him remove four sheets of parchment and pass them Ginafae after he has
looked over them.  He then asks E'tharn if he may examine the gem.  After a
careful scrutiny, he passes the gem back to the elf saying it has considerable
value.

When everyone has finished searching the laboratory with the others, Tenbar,
thinking on something that was said in the past, turns to Ssylth and remarks,
"How d'ye know the name of the wizard as calls this cursed place his home?  D'ye
know owt else 'bout this place? Like, why 'tis cursed?"  Ssylth then explains,
"I think that I was misunderstood, I believe that the evil wizard that I
mentioned earlier may be in some way related to this mansion, but I do not
believe that he ever owned it.  This wizard, Haldane Zelgman, is who I believe
may be responsible for the disappearance of Lycira.  The disappearance is why I
am here.  So although the wizard may be connected to this house, I doubt that
this is his mansion."

Tenbar nods. "Way I hears it, this place is used by yon Death Cult. P'raps yer
wizard is workin' with 'em. That would bode ill fer this Lyceria lass... All I
knows is that this here place was once the home o' one a them wizards o this
town. That would 'splain all them contraptions and oddsorts we seen since
comin' here, eh?"

Going back to the cabinet, they notice that it is about 6ft tall and 2ft wide,
and has double doors. There is indeed a locking mechanism, but Crowe tells you
it is a fairly simple one and he should have been able to open it.  Ssylth
examines the cabinet and says it may be magically locked, in which case they
should try to go through the back.  E'tharn suggests using the axe from the
trophy room and leaves to get it.  While he is gone the rest of the group turns
the cabinet around.  They hear the rattle of glass as you move it.

E'tharn returns and goes to work with the axe.  It takes some time, but
eventually he makes a large enough hole for everyone to see the contents of
the cabinet.  There are dozens of empty glass containers, several of them
broken, and a rack holding four vials filled with colored liquid: clear, pale
blue, bright red, pale green.

Gathering up all the item's they have found, the party moves downstairs to the
trophy room.  There they collect the items that they didn't get before; the
chain mail, shield and wings.  Next they move to the library with the secret
door and, for lack of finding anything better, Ssylth gives up one of his
daggers to be used to wedge the secret door shut.  Tenbar takes the dagger,
hammers it in, and tests the door to see that it is effectively kept closed.
They then move to the entryway, where Kelemvor hides the skull with flames in
a corner under some debris, and exit the mansion.  Leaving the mansion grounds
the group pauses momentarily at the gate where the undone chain and lock hangs
from the bars.  Deciding that locking the gate would be the safest bet, Crowe
steps up and clicks the heavy lock shut around the chain.