A9-Who was That Wraith?!
We finished the watch order aboard ship before rowing the dinghies back to the island in the morning.
We returned to the break in the southern wall to climb the rubble to access the ziggurat atop Zarmuda island. Dargo was the first up and encountered several lizardmen skeletons and a lizardman wraith. Ranulf was up next and tried to speak Saurian (but failed). Attempts to lead or seek prayerful guidance did not sway their advance. With some failing their cool check, and the wraith warning us to leave as we brought disease (which is why they killed the Port Reaver shipwreck survivors), we retreated to the north side of the wall.
There Lemmy cast to create a bridge to span the wall and
reach the base of the ziggurat where we earlier spied a door. As we crossed the
bridge, we found the Port Reaver shipwreck survivors dead below
with vines already growing out of them... unnatural! No wonder the wraith spoke
of disease.
Inside the ziggurat we found an ancient lizardmen barracks that had already been looted. At the next interior door, Dargo was hit by a crossbow bolt fired from a skeleton inside the room, guarding a stairway. Removing the guard, we climbed the stairs and found a mechanical room filled with gears and ropes we disabled per suspicion of them associated with a trap somewhere within the temple. Which we found around the next corner: a disabled pendulum blade trap.
Down the hallway we paused at giant doors that opened unto a throne room.
Skeletal guards stood at the ready while a large lizardman skeleton (king)
sat on the throne, intertwined with vines. [Were the vines supposed to hold him
or were they part of his own makeup?] Once combat began, the skeletal king
broke free of the vines and advanced, which activated the other skeletons.
It was a long fight as Dargo suffered minor torn muscles and
bleeding injuries at the hands of the skeletal king. Even Tulkir was
temporarily knocked out of the fight. The undead king's ability to regenerate
prolonged the fight. Nor did it help that Ranulf took himself out of the fight,
fumbling twice slinging fire starter bullets in his attempts to stop the
regeneration.
Once the king and skeletal guards were vanquished, and
Krueger did his best to heal his allies, we all stuffed gemstones in our
backpack and pockets before stepping out onto a balcony. From there Lemmy cast
another bridge for us to exit the ziggurat, but it wasn’t long enough to reach
the ground. Adding insult to injury, Ranulf failed to jump the remaining 10-foot
height and thus twisted his ankle (minor torn ligament injury needing a month
to heal).
At least we made it back to Skeggi and richer. And found a
new job offer per the wanted posters regarding another priest of the High
Temple of Sigmar found stabbed in Victory Park. Besides time to heal torn
muscles and ligaments, perhaps we should research more about this recent rash
of missing priests. And maybe research just who was that wraith back on Zarmuda island?!
NEXT SESSION: A10-All the World’s a Stage
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