Slime Salad

Posted: **Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:17 am**

"How long was I... dead?" Voulton asks, morbidly curious. "I'm going to stay here, but I'll be okay."

Posted: **Fri Aug 14, 2015 7:43 am**

Unfortunately, Kalar is too far away to hear Voulton's question.

Once back inside the fortress, he'll examine the other prisoners who were strung up alongside the lady they freed. He'll look for any medical signs as to their demise, or perhaps any divine ones. Should they seem quite dead and unlikely to spontaneously animate, he'll attempt to take them down and move them to the other room where there were even more bodies. There, he will animate every single corpse that he can, except for Ardan, whom he'll attempt to raise as a ghost.

Of course, as is usual, his skeletons will keep ahead of him as a screen for any traps or unexpected hostilities.

Posted: **Fri Aug 14, 2015 2:14 pm**

"You were dead for less than a day, my friend."

"Do you remember anything about the fight with the mummy in the treasure room? None of us saw the blow that felled you, but from what I gather, when Kalar and I fled the room, you and Rachelle stayed to fight, and while it was attacking you, Rachelle managed to finish it off."

"As for this longhouse, I apologise for the workmanship. I made it with the enchantment of this Lyre of Building" Rob displays the currently inert Lyre in his hands "but I don't know if the workmanship was limited by the magic, or limited by my own ability to imagine how a longhouse is supposed to be constructed. I think it did a rather better job on the fortifications outside."

"So... um... about your... manhood... Does it seem to have given you any... magical powers? Not to pry! I am just curious!"

Posted: **Fri Aug 14, 2015 6:14 pm**

Voulton didn't feel magical. He felt dirty. He hoped he would be able to wash all of this stuff off with some water later.
Kalar left as Rob and Voulton spoke to each other. Kalar began collecting bodies with the help of his skeletal minions. The other prisoners had their throats torn open. They had many other injuries but that was clearly what had killed them, if the one wasn't already dead. Rob caught up just as Kalar began raising the dead bodies.

Posted: **Fri Aug 14, 2015 6:17 pm**

"Um... should I come back? You look... busy."

Rob considers poking around the ruins some more, but that doesn't sound safe to do alone, and he is not even sure if any places remain that they have not explored.

Posted: **Fri Aug 14, 2015 7:06 pm**

"No need to leave, unless this sort of thing makes you squeamish that is. In fact, what comes next may be interesting

"I am going to attempt bringing back one of our companions. He's been dead too long for me to raise properly, but I can attempt to bring him back as a ghost. I gave my word that I would do all I can to bring everyone home. Unfortunately, this fellow died before we could do so. I keep my word, so I intend to provide him some semblance of life until I can find a more permanent way to unite him with a living body."

He leaves out that he feels Arden will be easy to bend to his will, even without using his divine powers. Either way, having a being here variable of intelligence will be useful.

With that, Kalar begins raising Arden as a ghost.

How many skellies did Kalar raise?

Also, the throats being torn out, was that a new thing? Or were they like that on previous days when the group walked past them?

Posted: **Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:18 am**

Voulton idly wonders where he'd find the nearest body of water he could clean off in.. but isn't about to wander off on his own. Already died once..

"Not even 24 hours? And they already built a house?" he shakes his head in disbelief to himself... and given enough time, he starts going over the house and reinforcing it so that it might last. However, Voulton is going to be careful to use the wood as efficiently as possible: He's in no hurry to make another big hole in the woods.

Posted: **Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:17 pm**

Voulton feels silly as he forgets about the large river on the edge of camp for a moment. The water does him little good though as the silver seems completely water resistant. He tries to forget about it and goes about making minor improvements to the house.
Rachelle was looking over the new armor the party had just pulled out of the mummy tomb and wondering if she would be able to put her new weapon skills to use any time soon. She wasn't too sure she wanted to give up her magical quarter staff though. Galse had trusted her with it. That alone was enough to keep her using it. However, beyond that, she felt that it might still have secrets that she had not yet discovered. She had felt this power weeks ago, but had not felt it in any of her fights while using it since.

Lynda had been training for days. Dan had put her on a study regiment of meditating and focus exercises. They required round the clock focus and as such, neither he nor her had been pay much attention to the surrounds at all. They had in fact traveled miles away tot he top of a mountain, while in the ethereal plane. Lynda had never experienced such a lack of sound before. Many times, she felt that she might have gone deft. Thankfully, Dan would speak every couple of hours, dismissing those notions.
It was today that Dan said he could do nothing else for her. "I learned these exercises in an ancient tome I read years ago. However they can only do so much. You should have the focus to better control your inner power now and as such, should have no problem returning to the physical realm at will. As a side effect, I believe your latent ability to cast spells should surface now as well. There's not much else I can do for you, as far as training. You shouldn't drift off into nothingness if you keep your focus. Anyways, I'll be taking the sword, mirror and potion back with me. Here's your flying boots and replacement sword," Dan said as he exchanged the items he had days ago come for. Then he was gone. He appeared near the rest of the party's camp and took the mirror and potion right out of the wagon without a even entering the physical realm. He vanished again without anyone even seeing that he was there.
Lynda materialized on top of the mountain to the south of camp. Lynda put on the flying boots and tried out the new sword. Then she looked around and took in the many sounds of nature. She had never felt so close to it as she did right now. She felt like she could reach right out and feel the very core of nature itself if she tried hard enough. Then she flew off in the direction of the camp.

THE AFTERLIFE

Arden had taken a weeks to come to terms with the fact that he was dead. He had always been taught that once he died, he would go to a place where his soul would live on forever. That was not the cause it would seem. He had been through a lot. Demons the size of a house had been hunting him. They weren't even the worst ones. What he came to know as dretches seemed to feed on his misery. He was tormented day after day, or at least what he thought of as days. It was constantly night here. After what seemed like an eternity, Arden felt himself being tugged away. He considered whether this might be a trick or not before accepting.

Posted: **Mon Aug 17, 2015 3:42 am**

Lynda feels as though she had woken up from a long, surreal dream. It felt like ages ago since she had slipped out of the real world, and in to the ethereal plane with Dan. However, her training had done her much well. She can now control her vanishing act much more effectively, as well as cast spells. Sadly, she forfeited her coveted sword, but in exchange received flying boots.

With a new found sense of vigor, Lynda flies towards her party's camp.

THE AFTERLIFE

"A calling?" Ardan thinks "For me?"

He could feel his very self be dragged by some unknown force.

"Whatever..." He thinks, somewhat despairingly "If it means I get out of this wretched limbo, I'll gladly take it."

Ardan lets go, and will accept whatever force is trying to drag him away.

Posted: **Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:11 am**

Rachelle is the first to spot Lynda. It takes her only a moment to recognize Lynda, thanks to her flamboyant fashion. Lynda arrives in camp and it's clear that she has a new found wisdom about her.

Meanwhile, Kalar and Rob watch as Arden slowly appears in front of them in ghost form. He says nothing at first and appears much more jaded then the Arden Kalar remembers. Death will do that to a man, assumes Kalar.

Posted: **Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:44 am**

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Arden."

Kalar takes off his wooden mask before continuing.

"Or the unliving as the case may be. I've managed to bring you back after your unfortunate demise in the castle. Things must be disorienting for you, but I will sum up events as best as I am able."

Kalar recounts must off the events in the castle, including Arden's death, meeting Tammytharn, Rachelle, and Lynda, how he was forced to kill Silas, their collecting of the keys, and escape to Averoigne.

He also recounts the events concerning the gathering of the items, and the new companions they had acquired.

"Unfortunately as you can see, I am the last of your original companions still with the group. With us right now is Rob, he's a keen fighter when the need arises, but his skills lie mostly with music and magic. Outside of this place are Voulton and Rachelle, both of which are competent warriors in their own right, though they take different approaches to it. Don't be too alarmed by Rachelle's appearance though, as she had an... unfortunate incident recently. There's also Lynda, but she is not with us at the moment. She's conversing with Rob's father at the moment, attempting to come to grips with her new abilities. In fact, considering what she's able to do, the two of you should get along quite well."

He then concludes summary of the events concludes with how they got to the fortress and how they're currently in the process of clearing it out for use as their own base of operations.

"I promised to do my best to get you all home, and I stand by that. It is up to you what you will do now, but you have my word I will do what I can to return to you a living body. Silas would have received the same, but his actions nullified any protection my word would have given him. He betrayed us, so my promise to him is no longer valid.

"For now, I suggest getting to grips with your new existence. I am unsure if you are tied to this place, or if you can move about at will. I would be much obliged though, if you could remain here to oversee the fortress. With the forces arrayed against us, having a safe location to regroup is essential, and I was hoping you could act as the steward of this fortress and the surrounding lands. It would put my mind at ease to know it's being watched over by more than just my skeletal minions. Of course, the choice is yours."

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 2:36 am**

Rob listens to Kalar's speech, and then stares for a long while at the spectral image of the young dead man known as Arden.

After the silence stretches on, Rob whispers to Kalar; "Can it speak?"

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 3:12 am**

Lynda approaches the rest of the party, having arrived in to camp.

"Well, I've returned. I've been with Dan, training. I'm glad to say that I can now control my ethereal abilities much more than I could before. I can also use magic now, through my newfound deity, Wee Jas. Dan took back the sword, mirror and potion, but gave me a replacement sword and flying boots. My time in the ethereal plane has left me feeling out of the loop. I see we've constructed a fortress. Have I missed anything else of importance?"

---------------------------

Ardan looks hollowly at the other party members.

"Wherever I went after I passed, it was...terrible. Demon's haunted me day in and day out...if I could consider them days. It felt like an eternity. Was that my punishment for my actions in the castle? Or is it merely the nature of this place? I don't know, but I'll gladly take undeath here over death and torment. The whole experience has left me...rather soured. Dying is not something I would recommend."

"I still cannot believe it was a safe that killed me. A damn safe, rigged with toxic fumes. So early in to your adventure, it seems. I'm surprised you bothered to remember me, as flighty as I was. You killed Silas, as well? He was the quietest person in the party, so I'm not overly surprised. What does surprise me is the fact you've recruited more people. As well, the fact you managed to escape the castle. I thought for sure we'd remain trapped in there...in a way, I still am, I guess."

"Whatever you want me for, I'll oblige. Returning me to life would be nice, though it'll be difficult to erase the time I spent dead."

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 3:26 am**

"You are welcome to stay here. Later on, I will have tasks for you, but for now, you might want to 'rest' and get yourself acquainted with your new existence. Rob and I will continue searching this place for anything that we might have missed. You are welcome to follow if you wish."

With that, Kalar leaves the room with his newly created skeletal minions along with the old ones and Bill. He heads for the room with the lightning that was shooting everywhere. Hopefully, it will have subsided.

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 4:33 am**

Kalar finds the lightning room. The spears near the chest seem to have retracted.

Meanwhile, the talking mouse had wandered off. These people were not nearly as adventurous as he had hoped. He headed south-east. Unknown to him at the time, this was the direction the beholder from earlier was.

Slime Salad

Castle Amber: A D&D Adventure