Tides of Death: Episode 47

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==Recap==
=== First day of the fog - 26th March, 1515 ===
Some time after the events of Alba island the party find themselves in the middle of a fog bank, lost. While John and Nilrem argue, Saol notices that his sandstone pendant begins to vibrate. Holding it out, it begins to point into the water, off the side of the boat. John notices, and together they look into the water. Seeing nothing, Saol casts Light on a gold coin, and drops it in. Suddenly, purple eyes and a leathery forehead are illuminated. Rho-ei lurks below.
Saol calls out to his god, but when no answer is received, he dives into the water. Rho-ei speaks to him:
In response a tendril wraps around his amulet, and the octopus-like being shrinks, fusing with the pendant. A small little sandstone octopus now clings to the block of sandstone around his neck. Amazed, perhaps a little perplexed, he heads towards the surface.
As Archie helps him up, Saol explains what happened to the rest of the crew. Captain Winters introduces himself to the pendant, and ponders how this change in power dynamics will affect the chores of everyone on board. Before they reach a conclusion, a ghostly ship appears from the mist. Rotted and far from seaworthy, the name Tower of Rust is barely visible along the side of the vessel. Seemingly abandoned, Captain Winters decides to climb aboard.
Now on the deck of the decrepit ship, John takes in his surroundings. In the bow of the ship, he spots what looks like the captain’s quarters, with porthole windows that peer inside. Looking in, he sees an undead, armorclad knight sitting by a table. As it spots John, it walks towards him, and begins pounding on the window, however no sound is audible. John, somewhat freaked out, begins helping his fellow pirates up to the ship. The dead knight has now moved on to the door, but seems unable to open it. 
Realizing that it is stuck inside it’s cabin, the party leaves the knight, and go to explore the other side of the ship. The stern of the ship has a similar cabin, this one with a pristine oaken door. A pair of wooden lips and a lead imprint of a palm adorn it, and when the party approaches, the lips speak:“Level is open to apprentices of all orders: white, red and black. Please show your access pass”Winters tries to argue with the door, to no avail. Nilrem understands that “white, red and black” references the wizarding orders of a bygone age, the Age of Might, an era that ended roughly 1500 years ago. He successfully deduces that the “Tower of Rust” must have been a tower of sorcery, a neutral zone where wizards of all orders could study, without fear of reprisal.
With this knowledge in mind, Nilrem presses his hand into the palm-shaped imprint, casting Knock upon the door. His spell is absorbed by the door, which then unlocks. It opens up to a staircase, and down said staircase the party finds an impossibly large room, much wider than it appears on the outside.
The room contains all the essential items a wizard could need: Tables with ink, paper, spell components and foodscraps, all rotted and dried out. Before having the time to fully explore the room, the party is alerted by 3 giant spiders appearing out of thin air.
Saol tries casting a spell, and realizes that the presence of Rho-ei reduces the casting time significantly. He is interrupted however, as one of the Spiders jumps on him, and he suffers damage from a fast-acting poison. Before the party can bring them down, the spiders disappear just as quickly as they appeared. 
John believes this to be some sort of illusion, and assumes the spiders are gone. Saol isn’t so sure, and frantically stabs the air, looking for invisible creatures. The spiders do not re-appear, and so the party moves on. At the end of the impossibly large room the party finds another door, similar to the first. As John and Nilrem approach, it too speaks:“The following deck is restricted to Journeymen of all orders white red and black please be reminded that all entryways are warded and the removal of materials from the following floors will result in permanent dismissal”Nilrem tries to cast Deep Pockets at the door, to no avail. However just as he does so the dastardly spiders re-emerge, this time behind the party, striking them in the back. Nilrem is bitten and gravely wounded as the party regains their bearings to retaliate.
Saol goes to strike with his sandstone dagger only to realize Rho-ei has empowered his most devout follower yet again. In his hands, the normally +2 dagger has instead become a +4 dagger, humming with the power of the Drowned One. 
This time the combined effort of the crew brings down two of the three phase-spiders, before they disappear yet again. With their backs against the wall, they wait. Minutes tick by, and the party makes the assumption that the spider, now wounded, has fled.  Returning to the second door, Nilrem once again pressing his palm against it, this time casting Lightning Bolt. The door unlocks. 
Beyond is a room, this one impossibly small, much smaller in size than the ship itself. On the opposite side a third door awaits, and in the middle an eight-sided dial representing the schools of magic. Before they can interact with it however, two robed wraiths fade into existence.
As the party get ready to attack, John senses something unusual. As if he had a sixth sense, he can “see” the cord that binds these wraiths to the mortal plane. Instinctively he reaches out trying to interact with them and realizes he can choose to either cut the cord, freeing the wraiths from this plane or exert his force onto them, subjugating the suffering spirits. More concerned with the survival of his crew rather than any moral dilemmas, he tries to dominate it. The wraith freezes, falling only to promptly rise and turn to face it’s former ally, shielding John.
Nilrem and Archie finish off the last ghost, and seeing John physically reaching into the other wraith, they slowly lower their guard. John, himself unsure what he is doing, tells them to stand down. After a spooky monologue about the strength of Nilrem's soul, the party leaves John and his new ghost friend, turning back to the dial and the door.
The door speaks, and says that the Tower is property of the Archmage Ferris, whom the party knows as the settler of the Dardens and the founder of the Ferrin Empire. Turning the dial to Alteration, the school closest to his dimensionalism, Nilrem casts Dimension Door. The third door opens, and the party descends
Inside the alteration room are broken tables, cracked mirrors and reagents scattered about. Nilrem finds a few books of interest, and pockets them. Theorizing that the doors lead to different rooms depending on the dial, Nilrem decides to head back up and try a different school of magic.
Switching the dial to evocation, he casts Lightning Bolt on the door. As soon as he opens the door he feels strong winds pushing him out, the air teeming with static and bolts of electricity scattering on the stairs. Feeling the way down could pose a hazard to his health, Nilrem closes the door.
It’s slowly getting late, and before the party goes to rest, Nilrem tries the Abjuration door, but that one seems to be held. Saol tries his hand at the door, but only arcane magic seems to work, his spell fizzling. The crew settles down for the night, all except John, who doesn’t need to sleep. He heads to the dial, and switches it to necromancy, trying to open the door, but to no avail. Finally, he experiments with his wraith, seeing what it is capable of, before sitting down, watching his party members as they sleep.
=== Second day of the fog - 27th March, 1515 ===
The crew wakes up. Refreshed, and with new spells at the ready, Nilrem opens the divination door. Inside they see a crystal ball sitting on a table, casting images and flashing lights on the walls all around it, every image depicting a scene from the past or future. The party’s past or future.
Finding only blank books and nothing else of interest, Nilrem looks at the crystal ball. The flashing images, the juxtaposition of past and future become to much for him, and he collapses into a fit of insanity, quietly babbling to himself. The party tries to help him snap out of it, but nothing seems to work. Eventually he regains his bearings and the party decide to leave, but not before grabbing a few spellbooks.
Nilrem, unyielding, decides to try the room of conjuration. He casts Unseen Servant, and as soon as the door opens he can feel himself getting pulled in. It is as if a vortex has been placed in the room below, sucking anything loosely held towards it. Nilrem, sensing he wouldn’t be strong enough to resist, ties a rope between him and Archie. The wizard slowly creeps down the stairs, and taking a turn he can now see what is creating the pulling force. The decaying magic of the ship has caused a tear in the fabric of reality. Everything in the room is gone, probably swallowed nu the rift. Nilrem backpedals, but looses his sandstone dagger as it is pulled from it’s sheath, taken by the vortex. 
The last door our wizard can open is to the enchantment room, and casting Cantrip he and the crew head in. Much like the alteration room, this seems to be an ordinary study, save for a magical buffet. Nilrem also finds instructions for a potion of love, which he greedily pockets.
Once again in the dial room the party is about to leave when Nilrem, taking the opportunity, opens the door, sneaking in and closing it behind him. The party, unable to stop him, look to the dial which has been turned to divination. Now alone in the divination room, Nilrem turns his attention to the crystal ball. Steeling himself, he looks into it, and successfully peers into his own future (and gets a +4 to a single saving throw sometime in the future). Satisfied, he puts the crystal ball in his backpack, taking it with him.
Once out, the party confronts Nilrem, and he defends his actions by showing off the crystal ball, only to find it cracked. Weeping silent tears, he follows the party out to the main deck. Once again they see the suspiciously death knight-looking skeleton in the captain’s quarters, watching them. It once again bangs on the window, yet no sound can be heard. 
The party studies the being for a while, before coming to their conclusion. Either believing it to be an illusion, or thinking themselves mighty enough to take it down, the Crimson Fist open the door that keeps the knight trapped. The party gets ready, and Nilrem Knocks the door open. Cold air blows out of the room. A Death Knight stands before Archie. Combat ensues.
As the Death Knight starts chanting in a foreign tongue, Archie desperately tries to land a hit on it but for the first time in years, his fists fail him. John, hiding behind a wall waiting to strike, orders his wraith to attack. It phases through Archie, lashing out with transparent claws, finding purchase on the rotting flesh of the undead warrior.
It has it’s Power Word: Kill interrupted by the wraiths clawing, but before anyone has the chance to react the Death Knight unleashes a Fireball, incinerating Archie, John and Saol, leaving only Nilrem alive. The wizard goes to close the door to the captain’s quarters, but the Death Knight gets out before him, striking him in the chest, wounding him gravely. 
As a last ditch effort to escape Nilrem begins casting Dimension Door, but he is too slow. The Death Knight towering before him raises it’s blade, and brings it down on the unfortunate wizard, severing his head from his body.
The air grows still. Bodies decorate the now charred and rotting deck of the Tower of Rust. The bodies of what once was the Crimson Fist.
With the pirates slain, our harrowing tale comes to an end. Will the Death Knight hear the call of Rho-ei from the amulet? What will happen to Telemaki and the outer rim? What will Whillie and Little Bobby think when the crew never returns to the laboratory? Perhaps time will tell.
Category:Tides of Death Episodes