Death to the Goat-Eaters

Panic leads us to where she killed the first goat-eater.

We decide to try to track them to where their lair might be. Dhell lays down alarm spells on the game trails, and Ravosh acquires a goat named Black Fredrick to use as bait. Dhell's familiar goes with Ravosh and Panic, and Panic's familiar comes with Dhell and I, so we can keep in contact in the forest.

It rains hard that night, and a fog rolls in from the beach. Sounds of goat-eaters scream comes from the forest around us as they hunt their prey.

It's nearing morning when one of the Dhell's alarm spells goes off, and Dhell and I are soon on the often bloody trail of the goat-eater, protected from detection by Dhell's invisibility spell.

Before long, we reach the edge of an enormous pit, which is obscured by fog.

Meanwhile, Panic sees a goat-eater go for the goat, and the goat is slain almost instantly with a rack of claws.

The goat-eater gets its fill, and Ravosh and Panic follow.

We meet back up, and Dhell determines a way down the cliff side. Birdmeat and Edgar, Dhell and Panic's familiars, fly down to find a massive castle.

Panic spots a candle burning in what looks to the kitchen. It looks like someone might live in the castle, so Panic goes in first to scout around.

After disabling a magic trap in the window, Panic makes her way into the music room, which is filed with what looks to be valuable instruments. After prowling around a little, she spots a silver haired human who walks deeper into the castle.

Panic lets us in, and we try to avoid making too much noise. At Dhell's insistence, we go to the library first, and Dhell finds a book covered with magical runes. Panic tries to disable the runes, but fire bursts from the book, singing Panic's hair.

Blueberry Gin and Tonic?

I'm watching the hallway, and I see someone coming back towards us, so I duck back in the library to let everyone know.

The silver haired human is back, and Panic walks out to him, using some charming spell or another, and convinces him that we are weary travelers. Of course, Master Gardener knows. Oh yes, old mage buddies.

We are offered tea, and Dhell and Panic manage to fish some more information, and find out Master Gardener is coming down to read in the library. Panic manages to convince the butler to retire, and then she disguises herself to look like the butler.

Master Gardener expects his tea, and Panic, pretending to the butler, delivers it.

Dhell conceals himself from sight behind Panic, and tries to use Detect Thoughts on Master Gardener, but finds his mind is shielded somehow. Master Gardener does not notice, but after several minutes of reading, goes to unlock the case.

Panic uses mage hand to knock Master Gardener's team on him, and Master Gardener curses in infernal. Panic offers to help, while surreptitiously slight of handing one of Master Gardener's rings off.

Irritated, Master Gardener brushes Panic off, and waves his hand, and the spilled tea cleans up magically. He sits back down and goes back to reading.

Dhell tries to read Master Gardener's thoughts again, and is able to find out that the book is about necromancy.

Panic tries to make small talk, and brings up Barron Croft. Dhell gets a mental image of Father from this, although at a much younger age, as well as a mental image of a woman wearing robes.

Panic sneaks us the key which she had manage to steal as well, and Dhell3 and Ravosh go to explore the castle.

Dhell finds some stairs down, which lead down into caverns beneath the castle. There is an enormous subterranean city down here, with roughly hewn gothic buildings that hum with an eerie sense of magic.

At the edges of the cavern, Dhell can see the outlines of the bodies of sleeping goat-eaters. Dhell gets to the center of the city, and finds a putrid altar surrounded with mangled entrails, and a magic circle with a demon standing within it.

The demon is willing to make a deal with Dhell, and Dhell feigns interest, and the demon reveals that he is granting the master of the castle the power to raise creatures, as well as the magical specter which sits on the altar. Dhell uses an identify spell, and determines the specter is allowing Master Gardener to reveal more of the ancient buried city.

Dhell breaks the power of the demon. The goat-eaters die, and the demon hisses in anger, vanishing. Dhell takes the scepter, and returns.

The mage is still reading, and upon Dhell and Ravosh's return, we decide to attack him, before he can get a chance to fight back.

The mage dies so swiftly, my blade strikes a corpse, not a living mage.

We hear a shout down the hall, and then the slamming of the door as the butler abandons the castle. Perhaps he didn't desire to be employed as the mage's butler.

A search of the castle yields some magical items. In addition to the ring of mind shielding Panic had already pocketed, many magic books filled with necromancy are found (with the higher level spells written in a different hand), as well as a ring of spell storing, which Dhell is very interested in.

Dhell also determines the mage has a necromanctic spell on him, which would allow the mage to rise again, so Dhell summons an axe beak from his bag of tricks, and orders the creature to consume the mage.

That ought to make it difficult to come back, necromantic spell or not.

We come out of the pit, and we spot a much larger than normal traveler.

It's a shambling flesh golem. This means we will be able to fulfill the last of the listed jobs!

The golem dies quickly, and as none of the magic items on its person interest us, we decide to heroically return it.

Lady Stone gives us our reward for dealing with the goat-eaters, and a mage on the docks also rewards us, for returning the items from the flesh golem.

We make our preparations to return to Silverfish Isle.