"I hate to say it, but, does anyone know who the necromancer is or where we can find him?"

If they had learned this information, Stan didn't recall.

For a moment, Garret, Chubbs, and Stan search their memory banks for some mention of the moniker.  Chubbs recalls a ballad or two that mention a necromancer, but the references are too obscure for him to be certain.  He doesn’t bring it up.

For the first time, Criss shows fear—real fear—when Ilsa mentions the Necromancer to him.  The druid quickly turns to face Rabbit, his face frozen in terror.
“You cannot kill an evil such as The Necromancer,” Rabbit says bitterly.  “He was ancient even in our time, and I do not know how much time has passed.
“This place will remain as long as Criss is alive.  I imagine if you were able to find someway out and remove the barrier, he and Hyglak could pass between the realms willingly.  However, any evil on the outside may also be able to enter in greater power and force then the Backson.  And I do not know how you would be able to do something like that.”

Again, Criss babbles a string of gibberish before saying, “Pig.”

How would we break through this barrier? Porto asks. Wishing that they could just give them clear directions on how to get the hell out of here.

"You heard the shaman. We must kill the pig." Ilsa stated plainly. She took the stick from Neya. "We'll feast on roasted boar," she told the wolf. "When will map be ready, Shirok?"

"If it isn't ready, Pig's place shouldn't be far." Roth comments as he watches Criss with a frown on his face.  "But let's hope he's stayed dead."

"Necromancy is a dark path to tread. I employ the dark arts occasionally, but I would hate to give my life over to such corruption."

Stan flexed his muscles, feeling the arcane power milling about in the back of his skull. He was loaded for bear or, as the case may be, pig.

Shirok nodded. "I do not know if we will need to kill him again, but Pig's home seems to be our next destination. But know this," he added, looking seriously at Rabbit. "The patience of myself and my companions is wearing thin; if you still retain any influence over Criss, then find out what must be done to end our time here."

With that he turned away, reaching for the map.

OOC: The last bit assumes it's been 24 hours.

Shirok turns away as he retrieves the enchanted map and touches the drawing depicting Pig’s house.  Suddenly they appear outside the old tree.  It is a massive maple tree, its trunk towering nearly 100-feet-high.  A sweet scent wafts about the area, but it also carries with it a faint trace of rot.  A medium sized door is situated in the tree trunk, and a window of smoked glass.  There is a nearby sign post that appears to be broken.  The remaining section of the sign reads “Trespassers will,” in an old version of Common.
A forceful gust of wind pushes the door open slightly, its old and rusted hinges creaking ominously.

"Won't we just." Stan pushes over the remains of the sign as he walks towards the doorway. He steps to the side and gestures for Roth to take point.

Maybe it used to says trespassers will be given lemon cakes. Porto says to the others, trying to keep their spirits high with his unflappable humor.

"Then you go first," Ilsa laughed. She waited for Roth to follow Stan's order.

"Fine, but I get dibs on the biggest slice." Roth jokes as he snakes between the others to the point and walks quietly towards the doorway to have a peak inside.

As with Rabbit’s residence, Pig’s house is also a small, single room dwelling.  The furnishings are modest enough and include a single bed, chest of drawers, trunk, table, and three chairs.  From the look of things, there has been a struggle here; however it is nearly impossible to tell how long ago it might have taken place.  The bed seems to have escaped the worst of it, but the table and chairs have been knocked over.  The chest of drawers appears to have been cast aside and the front of the trunk is stained with many splotches of dark maroon.  The most notable feature of this domicile is the blackened and decaying body of a man.
He is wearing an intricate breast place of scale mail and stylized helmet depicting a wild boar.  A beautifully crafted short sword lies about a foot from his outstretched hand, which has been reduced to a thin mass of finger bones and tight skin, blackened by death.  A horrible stench has saturated the area.

Roth squeezes into the room without opening the door more than he has to, and gets to work sifting through everything in sight for some sign of a 'key,' even if it happens to literally be a key.


14:51, Today: Roth Daos rolled 16 using 1d20+12. Search.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

Porto walks in and has a look around. The scene at one point would have shocked and scared him. But he was beyond that point. Ever since he fell through the portal.

19:51, Today: Porto 'Chubbs' Brandybuck rolled 12 using 1d20+2. search.

Shirok approached the body as Neya began sniffing around the room. He first picked up the shortsword, examining it carefully before setting it aside and looking at the body, looking for anything that may indicate how it died, how long ago, anything that shouldn't be.


22:01, Today: Neya rolled 7 using 1d20+5. Scent.
22:00, Today: Shirok Rezkala rolled 31 using 1d20+11. Heal. (Nat 20)

Ilsa followed Shirok and Neya. She had her sword drawn and watched as they poked around the body. "Chop it into pieces. Burn the pieces. Then bury the ashes."

Roth moves into the one room living space and looks around.  Satisfied that the area isn’t inherently dangerous, the rogue begins a more invasive search of Pig’s house.  He hasn’t gotten too far when Chubbs enters and assists in the searching.  As the two set about the place, intent on leaving no proverbial stone unturned, Garret also joins in the search.
Ilsa, Shirok, and Ilsa also enter the hollowed out tree.  Given the limited space of the inside of the tree’s trunk, it holds them all very well.  Fearing to be left alone in this place, Stan follows.
Inside, they all set about various tasks as they strive to understand what happened here and how long ago.  Neya picks up on a few different scents, but is otherwise not too alarmed by their presence.  Shirok appears more concerned with the body, looking at it in hopes of determining a number of things.  How long has it been there and how did Xanhast die.
He isn’t too surprised to find that the sword is of masterwork quality and appears to be very old.  It has a few symbols etched into the ivory handle, but the druid isn’t too impressed with the weapon, it being made predominately of metal.  He carefully returns it to the floor as he found it.
The body of Pig is lying on its belly, and what little skin that is exposed from his ancient scale mail suit is blacked by time and pulled back over the stiff muscle and bone.  His left arm is tucked under his belly, as if clutching a wound.  Shirok was about to turn the body over to examine it more closely, but something nagged at him.  Something about the way Pig was lying didn’t sit right with Shirok.
And judging form the others searching, they were beginning to pick up on that too.  From the remaining furniture there appears to have been a fight in here, and Pig was struck down and mortally wounded.  Aside from Shirok’s hunch that Pig bears a wound to his abdomen, he also spies another wound to his upper back, between his shoulder blades.
“He was cut, fell to the ground, and stabbed,” Shirok says aloud but to nobody in particular.  “But he lived.  He lived a little longer.”
“And the dresser was moved by someone looking for something,” Roth chimes in, “and I doubt they did that while the owner of the house was alive.”
“Agreed,” Shirok says, bringing his eyes to meet the elf’s.  “He bled out while his home was ransacked.”  As he says this, both he and Roth quickly focus on the body of Pig.  Shirok reaches down and pulls the body away as Roth inspects the floorboards below.  It only takes Roth a moment to find the loose board and remove it.  He squints as if staring into a bright light as he peers down into the hole.  He reaches down and retrieves a large bear claw from the hidden compartment.

Think this is what were looking for? Porto asks. Bear did seem to be the strongest of the guardians, hell, he and Hyglak are the only ones to live long enough for their party to meet. And Bear came back.

Roth continues to squint at the claw as he rolls it around in his hands and examines it.  "This could definitely be the key ... but now I'm a little worried about meeting the door."

"Sorry to be a one trick dragon."

Stan took the key and scanned it for magic.

Stan reaches for his wand, intent on using it to bestow upon himself the ability to see magical auras.  However, he finds that it is gone.  It only takes him a moment to remember that he had lent it to Roth last night.
Roth returns the wand and Stan activates it upon himself.  He looks at the large claw and purrs softly to himself.  It is obvious by his mannerisms that he as indeed found an aura.

"A bear claw is a powerful totem," Ilsa said as she grabbed the long-dead body and dragged it outside. She was intent on following her original plan, whether or not it was necessary. She drew her smaller axe, better for hacking through the joints of the body than her mighty sword. At least the blood splatter would be minimal, unlike live targets.

"Ilsa, no!"

Stan made no physical move to stop Ilsa, but walked over to her and explained himself.

"Think! Bear's body was consumed by fire and then he came back. For all we know, this corpse is the only thing preventing pig's ghost from haunting us. It's a crazy theory, but it's all we've got."

He left her to do as she would, making it clear that this decision was hers to make. He returned to studying the bear totem.

OOC: 17:08, Today: Stan Fetchin rolled 19 using 1d20+13. Spellcraft.

"Whatever it is, Pig died to make sure his attacker would not find it. It seems most likely that this is the key, and now that it has been found we should move quickly, before the enemies in this place discover that we have it."