Far Isles Session #23 - That Was Easy!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 2), with familiar Hermes, and henchman Xavier (Swashbuckler 1)
Chaff (Vivimancer 3), with familiar Dirty Bird, riding hound Stinky Dog, and hench-monster Cephenere the Medusa
Torak (Cleric 2)
Beuford Bumbletoes (Halfling 2)

As the sounds of battle died, Chaff cast a spell and got down to business taking off all his clothes; just so he would be invisible when  his transparency spell kicked in of course. Everyone else avoided him. Xavier and Torak hammered doors shut with iron spikes to keep in the third  attacker, as well as anyone who may lurk in the fourth room. Before much else could be done, the mystery woman disappeared again. And another figure appeared at the top of the stars, accompanied by an overwhelming smell of rot and spice. The figure was old and bent, dressed in pale blues robes and wearing an odd set of goggles on his head. Presumably the Blue Mage. Chaff, by now invisible and feeling a draft, sent Cephenere into action. See turned her gaze onto the Blue Mage and transformed him to stone. Moments later, however, the source of the rotten smell became apparent. A ghoulish/mummy creature appeared on the stairs and ran at Cephenere, biting and clawing until the medusa fell into paralysis. Xavier sprang onto the stair rail and slide down to skewer the beast with his sword, in which he was successful, but likewise took the brunt of the beasts attacks and fell, bleeding and near death. Both he and Cephenere also started to give off a powerful smell of rot.

The Blue Mage

The mystery woman now reappeared, and the party finally got a chance to question their new companion. Her name was Azral, and she was an adventurer like them, part of an exploration ship that sank nearby. She and some of her colleagues made it to this island, where they met Nysul the Blue Mage. He proceeded to charm one of her companions (the one now barred in his room by the party), while she was able to resist the magic and escape. She discovered it was impossible to leave, as all the doors and windows had been arcane locked by Nysul. Azral also found out what Nysul was looking for; company. Her companion, Varso,  and two others already in the tower (the hoplite and Amazon) were his 'guests', there to provide cultured companionship to the lonely old mage. Azral made it clear she wanted to get off the island with the party (and was unconcerned about the fate of Varso). The party didn't argue the point right now, and she joined them in the attempt to find a way out of the tower.

Chaff sent Dirty Bird up the stairs to scout, finding nothing to report. Laying Cephenere, Xavier and the expired Abdul el Abdul aside, everybody else headed up the stairs. There they found a large dining room with a stage. They swiped the silver candlesticks from the table and then went to check out the next room. This was another bedroom, larger but otherwise similar to those on the lower level. A quick search revealed some clothes but little else.Two other doors led out of the room; one opened into a workshop filled with gears and fine mechanical bit and bobs. The other contained a large, cast iron box that looked like a coffin. To it was connected a series of iron pipes which disappeared into the wall of the tower, and at the bottom of the iron box was a small glass bulb. On the wall was a lever, and piled in the corner was a mess of books on necromancy.

While interesting, none of this looked like it was going to get them out of the tower. The party then turned their thoughts to the square boxy peak of the tower. How to get up there? They started searching for secret doors, and Kwinsea found done in the centre 'shaft' of the tower. Opening it, they found the shaft was hollow, extending 30' up and 30' down from where they stood. Inside swarmed a large number of the gold and blue fireflies, and along the walls were about 30 small shelves. On each was a doll or manikin of some sort, a huge variety that moved and clattered about. At the top of the shaft was a trap door, but there was no obvious way to get there. Chaff pulled out  potion of levitation, and after some heated discussion between Troak and Beuford, the halfling agreed to drink it and float up to the ceiling. First, however, Chaff wanted Dirty Bird to have a closer look. The ragged parrot flew into the shaft, and immediately the fireflies swarmed him. The poor familiar was stung to death, and fell to the bottom of the shaft with a thud. Chaff, incensed, pulled out his wand of paralyzation, and shot up and down the shaft to clear out the bugs.

The Chair

The coast now clear, Beuford floated up to the trap door and opened it up. It did indeed lead into the square room. Inside was a comfortable captain's type chair, a panel with three buttons (blue, yellow and red), and a wooden chest. In the ceiling was a square pane of glass looking out at the sky. Beuford lowered a rope and everyone climbed up and proceeded to look around. Kwinsea carefully opened the chest and found a mound of gold coins. Meanwhile, Beuford floated up to the window and smashed it.  The halfling then rose up through the opening; it was not arcane locked, and it seemed the party had found a way to get out. Beuford dropped a couple of lengths of rope down the side of the tower for everyone to climb, but he himself decided to ride in style and summoned the ebony fly.  Azral was quick to head out of the tower, followed by Torak. Kwinsea and Chaff decided to head back and get Cephenere, Xavier and Abdul el Abdul, and go out the front door once Beuford opened it for them. When they got back to where the three had been laid, however, they found the medusa  was missing. Xavier repeated she had shaken off the ghoul-things' paralysis and wandered away. Chaff, broken-hearted, called out for her, but the monster-henchman did not reappear. So he and Kwinsea carried Xavier, while Stinky Dog carried Abdul el Abdul, down to the entry level. There, they came face to face with Cephenere, who now turned on them and tried to turn them to stone. Chaff once more whipped out his wand, and the medusa was paralyzed. Beuford now sauntered in and chopped off her head, then headed down to the kitchens to get some salt and wine with which to preserve it. Coming back, he reported Cephenere had turned the kitchen staff to stone so they'd have to make their own dinner. Chaff meanwhile, carried the rest of Cephenere up to the room with the iron coffin and placed her inside. He pulled on the lever, which started up a great chugging vaccum pump. After a few minutes it stopped, and the glass bulb at the bottom of the coffin was now filled with an oily yellow-green liquid. Chaff decided not to open the coffin to see what was left of Cephenere, but he did take the glass globe of liquid.

Everyone now headed outside, where they all confronted  Azral. Torak had caught her trying to make a run for their boat; it appeared she was willing to abandon them on the island and get away alone. They tied her up and Chaff took to lead in interrogating her, demanding the ring of invisibility she had (he'd spied it earlier when she'd turned invisible) in return for her freedom. Azral was not willing to give it up, so they stripped her of all her belongings (including a vivimantic spellbook), and tossed her into the tower. Kwinsea meanwhile used the crystal heart to animate the statue Nysul, and between he and the ebony fly, the party carried all their loot, invalids, and a week's supply of salt pork back to the boat. 

TOTAL XP
4579

GAINS
Ring of Invisibility
Spellbook  (1/Read Magic, 1/Blood Rapture, 1/Echo Location, 1/Elasticity, 2/Instinct, 2/Leeching Touch)
Nysul, the [Stone] Blue Mage
4 Silver Candelabra (4x30gp)
2000gp 

KILLS
Nysul, the Blue Mage
Cephenere, the rogue medusa
A whole swarm of magical glowing fireflies
1 Ghoul/Mummy Hybrid

LOSSES
Cephenere