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Welcome to the island; we got death and gore We got everything you fear, honey. We know the war

Session 76
2022-08-11

Pearl summons Sirona to Nicodemus's laboratory, hoping her divine healing can buy Ertherin some more time. However, as Sirona steps inside the underground laboratory and sees the unconscious drow, she has another panic attack. For an antagonising long moment, she finds herself back at the mansion watching Ilgron torture Ertherin and is only snapped out of it by Nicodemus pocking her at arm's length with a stick. He tells her to stop being emotional and heal the patient. Sirona is a little dishevelled by the vision, but once the professor repeats his directive, she collects herself and manages to heal him. Ertherin is not out of danger yet, but the magic has given him approximately 30 hours before he can no longer be saved.
Sirona hurries to get some things from her room before they all should meet up at the Grand master's office. As she rushes over the courtyard, she spots a child sitting on a wall, wearing a black dress. The child is pale and has small black feather fowl for hair. As Sirona approaches the child, it smiles and reaches up towards her to be held. Sirona picks her up, asking what she's doing here. Morena tells her that she thinks Sirona is very brave going to Ghiz but warns her that she won't be able to reach her there. She kisses Sirona's cheek before disbanding into a murder of ravens that flies off. The kiss lingers, and Sirona can feel it giving her powers a boost.
Once the team meets up at the Chambers of the Grandmaster, they are surprised that only Pearl is there. She holds a vial that she tells them will help with her memory. Just as she downs it, the Grandmaster enters the room and screams for her to stop. Peral does not heed his words. Her usually fair features get flooded by black bulging veins, and she appears to be in a lot of pain but urges the group to ask what they need to know to aid in their mission.
She tells them that she used to be the Arc mage of the 2nd age and that she partook in defeating the lich king, Her lover. What happened to Ghiz is unknown, but something drove the white dragon mad, and afterwards, Bogdan Sokół defeated him; he, too, turned different. He turned to necromancy. Before that, he had been a devoted monk to Morena during the first age. There are several temple ruins of hers on the island. Pearl describes him as profoundly compassionate and kind. All the icons soon opposed this new Bogdan, Pearl included. They thought they had defeated him as they buried him on Ghiz, but something had happened to the very ground of the island. A gigantic spiral of ice sprouted from the ground, reaching tall up into the sky. Every corps buried rose and started killing the living.
The group then asks about the Gernichora. Pearl tells them it's a powerful vampire. They need to either sample some of its blood or kill it to save Ertherin. She cautions them against wasting time and tells them that holy symbols, fire and swords are good to bring.
L asks if the Holy Symbol that Siona gave her would be helpful. It's not magical as a simple farmer caved it, but Pearl channels some magic into it, saying it will be now.
There will be a dwarven outpost at the shore that can answer the groups' questions about the current situation. In addition, mages already present on Ghiz will be able to send them back to the academy once the mission is over.
Pearl suddenly grones as another wave of pain hits her. She grabs onto Labrat to support herself and suddenly screams. "Find the research of Crithon Mathar." As she says this, her eyeballs explode and splash L with blood. Sirona and the Grandmaster both dive to Pearl's side. Sirona heals her eyes, but the sorceress is unconscious. Irdien sits down, feeling a little faint by the display, while The Grandmaster moves Pearl to his bed to rest and tells the group to prepare. Pearl will send them as soon as she wakes. He says that to his knowledge Crithon Mathar was a scholar during the 12th age and sees little relevance to that here.
With 28h hours remaining on their quest's timeline, Pearl meets them in the school courtyard. Her eyes are bandaged, but she still thanks Sirona for her help. Sirona responds that she wishes to talk to Pearl once she returns about what she did to her memories. Pearl nods and completes the teleportation spell that turns the group into a small stone that gets hurled like a catapulted bolder over the water and lands at the campsite of Fort Prava. As the group turns back, the momentum of the throw makes Sirona fall over on the muddy grown. She looks up at a purple gradient sky, feeling dizzy. Adrian helps her up.
The dwarven-controlled area they find themselves in has several enormous statues of Svarog made from precious metals. That and iron reinforcements every four by four meter in the surrounding barricade turns out to be what separates the dead from the living on this island. Just outside stands battle-ready skeletons in uneasy silents, just waiting in motionless silence with the backdrop of a purplish sky and a gigantic towering ice spire.
The commander, a dwarven woman called Siv Mark'kiln, tells Sirona to calm down as the cleric instinctively summons a javelin of divine faith at the unsettling sight. Sirona drops it but comments that the undead hoard outside is suffering. Commander Mark'kiln agrees but says that once they start things, the other side will retaliate, and since the group seems to be on a tight schedule, it's better not to.
L asks if she can have some candy, but when Irdien reaches into her trusty magic pocket, the hand comes up empty. She stares in disbelief. Her pocket has always provided Irdien with a sweet treat, but for some reason, the blessing of Veles seems not to reach her here. She quickly finds a handful of other leftover candy and gives L a couple of pieces.
Meanwhile, Siv Mark'kiln takes them to her tent for a briefing. The group shall be escorted by a ma man named Morbrant. The journey to the lair of the Gernichora should take 16 hours. The group quickly realises that this means they won't be able to make it on the way back to camp and Tarkett monster school within the time limit for Ertherin. The only option is to kill the Vampire or see if there is any possibility for Rose to manage to cast as powerful a teleportation spell as Pearl did. The Ibex Allies are informed that the lair lies at the back of a swamp and that ghouls there are infused with the vampier's blood.
Halfway to the lair, there is an old ruin of a monster to Morena. Commander Mark'kiln says it is the safest place for an extended rest should the group need one, but she also discourages them from leaving the camp at midnight as that is when the undead is the strongest. Irdien points out that a long rest plus 16h travel only gives them two hours to find and kill the Vampire if they only wait to leave until one instead of midnight. Siv Mark'kiln tells the group it is their choice. Morbrant, once he shows up, will take them to the Quartermaster to be outfitted with potential gear; then, once they're ready, a patrol will create a diversion for the party to sneak out.