Episode 113 - Welcome to the House of Death

Necromancy is the most metal of all magics or mancies in all the realm. Why did it take so long for us to hang out with a most choice Necromancer is a question for the ages… But we corrected our mistake by going and meeting an old pal of Zird's. I have to assume that everything is as it appears, right? No reason to not trust a strange woods Necromancer. Things are finally going our way!

## **Story**

The party finalizes their plans to set off and find the necromancer Riekert Svenson in order to gather information about the Hammer of Sundering, after asking Avery T'léas if she has any special magical stuff for the party. When the party remembers that these survivors are just barely hanging on, they get Blood Drinker out of the elongated raccoon cage and for real this time set off!

The party flies for a long while, past several destroyed towns, packs of demons, and into a dense and green forest, where they see the necromancer's compound. Three uneven dark spires jut from the ground in blackened hewn stone. Dead trees litter the vicinity of the castle. The stairway leading to the front door is adorned with skulls and bones. The front door itself is a massive black wooden door with a crow carved on the door above a macabre knocker made of an giant Ogre's skull with its mouth hanging open, a bull's skull hangs within the mouth - which is used to knock against a mummified turtle shell.

Zird tells the party that they can just go knock on the door - insinuating they should be careful, but *should* be safe. Riekert Svenson, Zird remembers, also loves honey! Yet, Zird refuses to venture into the castle, since the ancient necromancer openly and actively hates Zird for stealing his girlfriend ,Caelus Aurelean, back in Wizard School.

Thom decides it will be best for him to pretend to be dead in order to garner the favor of Riekert, but only after Harper ties him up and beats him for a while... things got a little weird, I won't lie to you... just let it happen...

ANYWAY

When the door swings open, an extremely old man welcomes the group into a surprisingly welcoming foyer. Though he immediately points out that Thom is not dead, he welcomes the group inside to drink tea, graciously accepting their gift of honey! He even asks the party to call him by his first name.

The party decides to keep Zird's identity a secret, when Richart extends his hospitality to the unknown fellow by the griffons, but decide to try and convince Zird to come into the castle with them. Jaela and Harper ask Zird to come inside, but Zird promptly and emphatically declines. When Jaela attempts to carry Zird inside, he proves almost completely immovable. Even Harper's attempt to lead Zird by shoving the Wizard's fingers into his mouth fails. Eventually, they give up and head inside to join their companions.

When Harper and Jaela tell Riekert that "Turd" (their cleaver alias for Zird) refuses to come inside, the necromancer melts into a an enormous puddle of blood as the front door slams shut behind the party...

## **Trivia**

* Steve admits that he has severe anxiety.
* Leaving Blood Drinker in the racoon cage for so long made its bond with Thom weaken (to 2d8 damage)
* Zird is 45 wizard years old.
* Wizard years equate to 7 human years (Zird is 315 human years old)
* To prove the everlasting hate between Zird and Riekert Svenson, Riekert sends him a maggot infested dead crow every year.

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Lord Titus Harper
* Jennifer Cheek - Aludra Wyrmsbane
* Mike Bachmann - Thom Vidalis / Steve Meloncamp
* Nika Howard - Jaela

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Avery T'léas
* Riekert Svenson
* Zird the Arcane

### **Locations**

* Fairmire
	+ The White Dome
* Riekert Svenson's Mansion

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - End the Demon Apocalypse / Kill Fennekin
	+ [Active] - Destroy the Demon Portal device with the Hammer of Sundering
		- [Active][?] - Visit the necromancer, Riekert Svenson, for more information on the Hammer
* [On-hold] - Find Adira Harper
	+ [On-hold] - Investigate the "Devil" situation northwest of Mastwick
* [On-hold] - Rescue Bucky and Ros
	+ [On-hold] - Investigate the "Gnoll" situation southwest of the burning hole where Caer used to be
* [Optional] - Clean up Drunkeros
	+ [Optional] - Investigate the Mind Flayers in the Swamps of Ichtaka
	+ [Optional] - Investigate Yeenoghu's Army
	+ [Optional] - Investigate Pyre ruling Mastwick
	+ [Optional] - Investigate the Church of Bahamut's army
	+ [Optional] - Recruit the assistance of the Dwarves in Deephome
	+ [Optional] - Recruit the assistance of the Elves in Galanthis
* [Backburner] - Find a way to get Steve Meloncamp out of Thom's head

### **Quotes**

**"Like gnarly teeth from a thing that has... pointy teeth!"** ~ *Michael DiMauro*