We picked up an elfin wizard named Jerro the next morning from the port city of Pugglenstone (some of the crew derisively called the town Poopenscoopen.  I decided I didn’t want to know why).    Malador greeted the wizard with his usual finesse and I showed him to the sleeping quarters.  Grizzlegar was taking a nap after breakfast and as I lingered at the top of the stairs, I saw Jerro plunk his gear down on his bunk, waking the now very grumpy gnome.

“You look like a girl.”  I heard Grizzlegar say and I returned to my duties, as I had no wish to play referee between these two.

At midday I found Pax chatting with the cook in the galley.  It seems she had shared quite an eventful night with Grizzlegar and she and the gnome were now something of an item.  I was becoming quite engrossed in their banter when I felt Malador bring his open hand heavily down on my shoulder.

“Why haven’t you set the sails yet Tarmikos?  The Captain wants us to be well on our way back to Thunder Rift by nightfall.  Once again I ignored his use of my father’s name and went out on the deck, where I saw Jerro stumbling around and looking quite green.  I still had some of the potion I had given to Pax the night before, in a flask so I offered it to Jerro but he pushed it aside.

Just then we saw Grizzlegar jump back down to the deck from the figurehead where he had been doing push-ups.  Naked.  He strode over to us and said to Jerro:

“Go ahead bub, take it.  It did wonders for Pax last night.  Come to think of it, so did I.  Oh, and you still look like a girl.”  He continued across the deck and disappeared into the sleeping quarters.  The rest of the crew acted as if they saw this sort of thing every day.

“Well, with a recommendation like that how can I refuse?”  Jerro took a swig from the flask and within a few minutes he was feeling much better.  “Say, is that the symbol of Kord you and the dwarf girl have there on your tunics?”

“Why, yes it is.  I spent the last eight years at the Great Temple of Kord on Thunder Rift.

“What were you doing there?”

“Training to become a Paladin.”

“So, what happened?”

For some reason, Jerro’s question had made me realize that not once in the past year had I even thought about going back south to either find or confront Sempronius.  I suppose I was afraid of what I might find:  Just like I was afraid of what Revlis might say to me, the uncle he never even knew he had.  I also realized in that moment that Mennoly must have known before she left me in the Cinnamon Star, that I wasn’t finished running from my friend’s betrayal.

“Let’s just say, it didn’t take.”  I heard myself saying to Jerro who was willing to let the subject pass.  It seemed he was much more interested in hearing about Mage Isle, the tiny islet in the center of Lake Ganif.  The lake itself lay directly to the southeast of Melinir and spanned the entire distance between Melinir and the ruined city of Kraal.  Jerro wanted to know if it was a good or bad place.

“Very little is known about the mage who lives there.”  I told him.  “I have heard stories that sometimes he’s made the entire isle disappear.” 

“People say you can grow to be a great wizard if you can become The Mage’s student.” The elf said starry eyed.  Jerro went on to tell me he had lived most of his life in a city far back in the mountains with a mostly unpronounceable name.  He continued to follow me around the deck, telling me more and more things about himself.  I politely listened as I went about my duties.  Before I knew it, night had fallen and we were well out to sea.

A finger of lightning split the sky in two.  As the thunder was rolling in, Malador came trampling across the deck shouting:

“Get the passengers below decks NOW!”  I locked eyes with the first mate and could see actual fear almost dripping off of him, which appeared to drown his usual bluster.

The wizard had caught the first mate’s mood and was in somewhat of a panic, so I escorted him quickly to the sleeping quarters where Grizzlegar (thankfully now clothed) met us at the top of the stairs.  I was relieved to see that Pax was lying in her bunk even if she did look queasy again.  Jerro wasted no time getting back to his bunk.

“Listen bub, I’m going to be very ill, very soon.  You need to let me pass!”

“I get the point.”  I said blocking his exit.  “But it’s too dangerous to be up on deck right now.  Maybe I can get you to the cargo hold.”

Before I knew it, I was standing watching Grizzlegar doubled over the rat’s nest, wretching, when I realized the boat was about to capsize.  The last thing I remember before blacking out was seeing a huge ham and several barrels of whiskey (that I didn’t recall being in inventory) come rolling toward us.

I woke to the taste of sand in my mouth.

I sat up and looked around me.  Grizzlegar was slowly getting to his feet to my left.  We were on a beach.  The ship was gone (or at least most of it).  Thankfully I was able to stand.  I had no apparent broken bones and neither did the gnome.  We had only walked a short distance when we found Jerro and Pax stumbling and looking as disoriented as we were.

“The Captain, First Mate and the cook are down this way.”  Pax was saying.  “They’re all badly hurt.”

Malador and the cook were unconscious but Captain Trovebane had been able to get himself to a sitting position.  His back supported against a palm tree.  He beckoned for me to come closer.  With wheezing breath he related how the entire crew had been flung overboard as the deck splintered to pieces.  He had been able to lash himself to the wheel while Malador did the same at the mast.  But as the ship was tossed the wheel had crushed his chest.

“I’m dying son, there’s nothing to be done for it.”

“No!” I gasped, tears welling in my eyes.  “We have a healer here.  She can…You promised me an adventure!”

“Listen to me!”  He grabbed my arm with the last ounce of his strength.  “You must build your own boat and get these people off this island.  This is a very dangerous place.  The undead walk here.  There still maybe hope for your friend yet.  He…”  He was gone.  This was someone I had known my whole life, my uncle Algenon’s oldest friend, and he was gone, they were both gone.

“What was that he said about the undead?”  Asked Pax.

“He said they walk here.”  Answered Grizzlegar.

“Can you build us a boat sailor?”  Pax wanted to know.

“Yes I think I can.  There seems to be enough planks washed ashore from the Crimson Hawk to make a small raft.”

“What about these palm trees?  We could cut them down.”  Said Grizzlegar helpfully.

“No, the wood is too light, but I may be able to use the sap as pitch.  You can collect that.

I was making preparations to build the raft and Pax was trying to heal the cook, when Jerro let out a yelp.  He had found a crate and when he opened it, a huge rat had jumped out at him.  Grizzle walked up and knocked the rat over the head with his mace.  In the crate we found rations that we split evenly.

Now Pax was calling out.  A giant sand leech was attacking the cook and five others were coming at us from the water.  Pax saved the cook and pulled him to safety while the rest of us beat back the writhing beasts.  Jerro cast sleep on the two remaining leeches and we cut of their heads.

I decided I would pay my last respects to Captain Trovebane before anything else could happen.  I honored him with the final death ritual, then burned his body and covered the ash and bone with sand.

It took me about three hours to build the raft.  Try as I might, I only had enough planks for four people to safely sail.  Maybe just maybe we could take the cook with us but Malador was out of luck.  He still lay unconscious where we had found him hours ago.  Grizzlegar and Pax had rolled him for his money and anything else of value he had.  In the hopes that he might know something about the island and help us fight off anything dangerous, Pax had decided to try to heal the first mate.

I was coming back from Captain Trovebane’s ritual, when I heard Grizzle yelling:.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

The raft was gone.

After being healed, Malador had taken one look at his surroundings, recognized he was on the Island of the Undead, realized we had taken all his valuables, so he had absconded with the cook and our shiny new raft.

“Why would you heal him?”  Grizzle was asking.

“I thought he might be an extra sword against whatever dangerous stuff is here and he could tell us something about the island”

“And did he?”

“No, he jumped up, talked to the cook and the next thing I knew they had taken the raft and were half way out of the lagoon.”

“So, let me get this straight.  Instead of having six hands to fight, with a possibility of getting four maybe five off the island.  We now have four hands, with no way off the island!”

“And I used up all the good planks making that raft.  Unless more of the wreckage washes ashore here….”

To top that off, this stretch of beach was cut off from the rest of the shoreline by huge jagged cliffs that extended well into the sea.

Jerro came running back; he was carrying a now unneeded pot of sap from the palm trees.  “Hey guys, I just found a path that leads into the interior of the island!”

“That’s probably the last place we want to go.”  Said Grizzlegar.

“It may be the only place we can go.”  I pointed out.

“We could try to climb.”  Insisted Pax.

We had two coils of rope between us and a grappling hook.  Grizzle tied the rope together and gave it a valiant effort but it became clear that it was also futile.  The jagged rock would cut us to pieces by the time we reached the top.  We were able to retrieve the hook but the rope had become hopelessly frayed.

“Then I suppose our only option is the path.”  We all reluctantly agreed and set off into the jungle.

We had walked about a quarter of a mile when we came upon a village.

It was now midday and there seemed to be quite a bit of activity; people going about their normal routine.  We watched stealthily from the jungle.

“They don’t look undead.”  Said Pax.

“What do undead look like?”

“Beats me.”

“There’s an inn over there; The Butchered Calf.” Pointed out Jerro.

“Might as well give it a try.” I said.

As we entered the gate, we noticed we had become the center of attention.  Everyone seemed to be interested in the newcomers.  Everyone seemed to be happy to see us.  We entered the inn and the innkeeper almost stumbled over himself getting out from behind his desk and grabbing our hands obsequiously.

“Come in, come in.  Can I get you a drink?  Can I get you a room?  Can I get you anything?  Anything at all?

“I don’t think we should drink anything in here.”  I whispered to Grizzlegar.

“I think you’re right bub.”

Pax was looking at the innkeeper with keen interest as if she was appraising his face.

“You must be very tired from you journey.  Let me get you a room.”

“How do you know how long our journey was?  I  asked the innkeeper.

“Well I just assumed…”

“Yeah, yeah.  All we really want to know is where we can find a boat off the island.”  Said Grizzlegar forcefully.

“For that you would have to go to the North Harbor.  If you go out the back gate of the village, you will see a sign pointing the way there.  But surely you need some rest.  Let me get you a room.”

People were pouring in from the tavern attached to the inn and offering us all sorts of libations.  In particular, a Bard named Min had caught Grizzle’s attention.  Pax had had enough and pulled the gnome away from her.  I pushed Jerro in the same direction and we quickly left the inn through a side door.

We were turning to walk away, when the innkeeper ran up to us and in a low voice said.

“You were right; you must get off this island.  If you stay the villagers will try to keep you here.  They do the creature’s bidding.”

“What creature?”

“I’ve already said too much.  Only..”

“Only what?”

“The creature took my boy last night; to the mountains with the rest.”  He turned and went back into the inn.

“What should we do?”

“Did you notice the innkeeper’s face?  Asked Pax.  “It had a weird ageless quality; as if you couldn’t tell how old he was.”

“Do you think he was undead?”

“Like I said before how can you tell?”

Outside the back gate of the village we found a signpost with directions to the North Harbor, the lighthouse and the mountains.  We took the road to the mountains.  As expected the road got steeper as we went along.  Grizzlegar’s eyes grew wide and as I looked in that direction I saw why.

“That’s a dragon’s cave!”  Exclaimed the gnome.

“No wonder the innkeeper was so freaked out.”

“I think we should just go back and take the road to the harbor.”  Said Jerro.

“No.  We have to see this thing through.”  Grizzlegar sighed.

“I agree.”  Said Pax.

I agreed too, although it took a little more to convince Jerro but he soon relented.

Inside the cave there was a rickety drawbridge over a moat and on the other side of the moat we could see a small juvenile dragon sleeping on a heap of treasure.  On either side of the dragon were what appeared to be statues.  Pax Grizzle and Jerro crossed the bridge with no problem but as I reached the middle of the bridge it collapsed and I fell into the moat.  This awoke the dragon AND the two statues that turned out to be golems.

The dragon breathed acid on my companions and then retreated into another room.  Jerro took the biggest hit and was slammed unconscious against the front wall of the treasure room.   I climbed out of the moat and shot at one of the golems with my crossbow, while Pax and Grizzle took on the other.

Jerro came to and picked up one of the scrolls from the treasure pile (which turned out to be a spell usually cast by a 9^th level wizard).  I followed his lead and grabbed a long sword with two garnets in the hilt.  I charged at one of the golems, but fell.  Luckily I was able to hold the sword so it didn’t break or do damage to me.

When the golems were finally down, Pax charged into the back room and tried to take the dragon by surprise but the creature was ready for her, parried her blow and breathed acid on her point blank.  She went down mortally wounded.  Grizzle ran in and dragged Pax back into the treasure room while Jerro let loose with the 9^th level fireball spell, knocking the dragon unconscious.  I employed what healing techniques I remembered from the Temple and with Jerro’s help, Pax slowly came out of the woods. She would live.  Grizzlegar took another long sword from the pile and cut off the dragon’s head.

We began to here cries coming from a grate in the back room.  We pulled back the grate and found what we believed to be the dragon’s next victims.  After sorting out the treasure (Grizzle talked me into taking the magic dagger he had found in the rats nest while I gave him my new long sword), we and the dragon’s captor’s went back to the village.  We were so proud of ourselves:  One of the captor’s had told us he was the innkeeper’s son.

At the inn, the innkeeper was flabbergasted to see us and once again offered us a room.  This time we took it (but we still refrained from drinking).

Everyone was exhausted and went straight to bed, but I decided to keep watch and around 3:00am I heard a noise.  I quietly stepped into the hallway and at the other end of the passage I saw a shadowy figure.  He had his back to me so I quickly went back in our room.  Something about the man was familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on why. 

I woke up my companions, but none of them wanted to be bothered.  Finally Pax got up and stuck her head out into the hallway.  Then she went all the way out and shut the door.  After a few seconds I followed her.  She was at the end of the passage with the man.  She had a rapt expression on her face, and he was beckoning her to the window.  He climbed out the window and she willingly let him pull her through.

“Uh, guys.  I think Pax has been abducted.”

This time Grizzle was out of bed like a shot.  We all ran to the window and looked out.  The man was hovering with Pax over the courtyard.

“That’s one of the ‘victims’ from the dragon’s cave.  He’s a vampire!  Shouted the gnome.  “Give me one of those flying potions you got from the cave.” He demanded of Jerro.  The wizard was loath to part with it but finally gave in.  Grizzle took a swig.

While they were arguing, I took a shot at the vampire with my crossbow but it only nicked his foot.  He changed direction.  My next shot was better.  The vampire fell to the courtyard, Pax still in his clutches.  Grizzle and I ran out to where the vampire had fallen (it was just dawning on the gnome that he had wasted the potion).  Grizzle got there first and jabbed his long sword into the vampires face.  I came up right behind and plunged the magic dagger into his heart.  He let go of Pax just before he melted into a sticky puddle.

“Hey do you guys mind if I take his cloak?”  Asked Jerro.

“Knock yourself out bub.”

We all went back in the inn to confront the innkeeper.

We showed him the vampire’s cloak and he knew the jig was up.  He explained that the dragon and the vampire had struck a deal.  They had agreed to share their victims back and forth.  Most of the village was under the creatures’ thrall. That’s why they were always happy to see new victims come to town.

“One last thing.”  Said Pax.  “Why does everyone here look so young?”

“Well, I guess it’s because we drink the potion the vampires give us.  Here, let me show you a sample.”  He pulled a bottle filled with gray liquid out of his desk.

“I’ll take that.”  Said Jerro.

“You’re not going to drink that!”  Snapped Grizzle.

“No I just want to study it.”

“Wait a minute.”  I said.  “Did you say vampires?”

“Oh did I leave that out?”  Said the innkeeper coyly.  “Well, you see, the vampire you killed tonight has three wives and they’re still somewhere in the village.  You might want to check out the village library, if you want to find out more about them.  Have a nice evening folks.  He quickly slammed his office door shut and we heard him turn the key.

It didn’t take us long to find the library.  It looked as if it hadn’t been used in years.  Pax went over and started rummaging through the books.

“Ah, here’s the book we need.” 

As soon as she had pulled the tome down, the shelf slid back to reveal a secret room.  We all went into the chamber and looked around.  On either side of the room there were statues honoring the dead with warnings on placards underneath cautioning against disturbing the dead.  Beyond this was another room this time with skulls (one of which had rubies in the eye sockets) and an urn filled with ashes.  Along the back wall was draped a banner with yet another prophesy about the dead.

Jerro reached into the urn, pulled out some of the ash, and sprinkled it on the skull with the ruby eyes.  He immediately felt stronger and Pax was weakened.

“You idiot!” Pax yelled at the wizard.  “You stole my constitution!”

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t know.”

“It must have been because Pax was closest to the skull when Jerro performed the ritual.”  I reasoned.

Jerro picked up the skull and looked into the ruby eyes.

“Give me that!”  Grizzlegar grabbed the skull from Jerro but it slipped out of his hand and fell on the floor without breaking.  The gnome became hysterical and started running around the room shouting “We’re all going to die!”

It took several attempts but Pax and I were finally able to wrestle the gnome to the ground and then Pax forced him to drink a vial of holy water.  He came back to his senses.

In his rampage Grizzle had managed to tear down the banner on the back wall and we saw that there was a panel that opened yet another secret room.  We held our breath and pushed the panel.  The wall slid open.

Two women lay on two slabs.

“These must be the vampire’s wives.”  I said.  I walked over and was about to plunge my dagger into the first wife’s heart when I realized she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.  All at once I had a vision of Mennoly  and I was able to fight off the vampire’s charm.  My dagger found the vampire’s heart and she was gone.  Meanwhile Pax had been able to fight off the other vampire using shear will and dispatch her to nothingness.

“There, we’ve cleansed the village.”  Said Pax.

“Not quite.”  I said sitting down on the slab.  “There’s still a third.”