Stinger, bereaved by the loss of her close friend Bean, broke her long silence to telepathically speak with Urs, asking that the group bury Bean with dignity. They spent the morning digging a grave and holding a solemn ceremony in his honor. When it ended, as quickly as she had appeared those weeks ago at Lake Valonara, Stinger was gone.
The group now needed to decide what to do. They had recovered Zax and Zex, as well as the mortar and pestle, but parts of that terrible building still remained unsearched for evidence, and that horrible creature remained guarding it. Remembering the notebook she found on the second floor, Jani shared it with the group. It contained six illustrated pages tied to the artifacts they learned about the day before:
- Elixir of the Lake: The words “Beyond the Veil” were accompanied by a crossed-out icon of the Raven Queen. Clearly this was related to Urna’s scheme to usurp the Raven Queen.
- Boney hand: The warning “Remember what happened to Luferin” was inscribed on the page. Zax and Zex explained the legend that Luferin was a mad, powerful magic user who banded together with three others to ascend to godhood, but the ritual was ruined when he tried to seize the most power for himself. It seemed that Luferin was transformed into the Boneclaw creature that stalked them at night. Perhaps the other three were Urna, Drothmara, and Shagol?
- Pages depicting the Lamp of Malaki, the Lute of Syrinx, and the Ruined contained text they could not immediately decipher.
- Highgate Crown: The phrases “He remains until disturbed”, “He lies in wait”, and “Useful for now” were transcribed next to the name of the encampment they had just fled from. Did these refer to the creature they fought, or to something it guarded? What did this have to do with the crown?
They decided that these last clues could not remain uninvestigated, so they backtracked again to the encampment. The alien creature waited for them, but this time the Wild Rovers and company were rested and ready, and they slew it on the ground floor.
One second-floor room remained to be searched. Wary of traps, Jani hopped on her broom and peered in from the outside window. She saw the space was filled with an unnatural darkness, and an unmoving body floated in the center of the room in an inclined position. On a hunch, Aengus cast Locate Creature and tried to sense the presence of King Murgrim — and sure enough he pinpointed him to that room. Vara broke down the door, and Aengus, Magma, and Granite rushed inside the room, with Vara and Jani following behind.
Meanwhile, Urs, Sven, Gen, Zax, and Zex, who were waiting outside the building, discussed how wise and careful Aengus was, and they established the “Friends of Aengus” group. It seemed that Sven’s contempt for his great nephew had finally subsided in light of all his heroic deeds.
The hovering, unconscious king looked to be frozen in time and deathly ill. Jani detected that the dark, magical aura that filled the room and that held the king in suspended animation was necromantic in nature. Aengus suggested that he cast Identify to determine how to remove the spell. However, the instant he laid his hands on the body, a blast of necrotic energy erupted from it, knocking everyone to their feet. The king’s cold corpse thudded on the floor, and it seemed to wither into a husk in mere moments.
Seeing what had happened to their sovereign, Magma and Granite rushed their old friend Aengus and pinned him to the wall, their eyes filled with rage. “What have you done?”, they demanded as they drew their weapons. Jani and Vara interposed themselves and tried to talk the dwarves down from their anger. Aengus begged for a chance to cast Revivify on the king before it was too late; when he tried this, the last of his diamonds was uselessly consumed by the spell with no effect. It was too late, and the king was dead.
In a desperate effort to salvage the situation, Aengus laid his hands on the body again to cast Gentle Repose, but again a powerful blast of negative energy burst from the corpse, and Jani, Magma, and Granite all fell unconscious. Vara swiftly healed Jani before she hit the floor. The dwarves stood up on their own; this time, however, they did so with blackened eyes and vacant stares. These animated corpses lunged for Aengus, who held up his shield and reflexively spoke the words of protection he learned long ago. Radiant light shone through the attackers’ paper white skin before they erupted into an ashen aerosol of smoldering embers that was instantly swept away as though by a strong wind.
Thunderstruck and numbed by these events, Aengus sat dumbly on the floor staring at the space where his longtime friends once were. Vara and Jani pulled him to his feet, and the three made their way out to the courtyard, leaving the king’s corpse behind. They convinced Aengus to reach out to Ammun with a message notifying him of these events and asking for help; he responded with these wise words: “Don’t touch the body. Things are not what they seem. There is more evil afoot than you know. Leave the king. We must talk.”
The Friends of Aengus joined the ravaged trio and struggled at first to understand what had transpired. Sven in particular could not believe that Magma and Granite were not just hiding in the house as part of a game; when he went upstairs to look for them, he found nothing, not even the king. Only when Aengus’s guilt drove him to shouting “It’s my fault!” did Sven begin to grow serious.
They decided they should heed Ammun’s summons and return to Clefthome. As they traversed the familiar path through the forest, they heard these ominous whispers:
Drothmara: The king was quite loyal to me for some time, but now he has served his purpose.
Urna: It appears you are both powerful and foolish… Since others have outlived their usefulness, perhaps you are worthy to join us now. You know where to find us.
When they reached the road, they bid Zax and Zex farewell, as they would return to their home in Gammenora. The Rovers and their MacGyver merries traveled north for days, with only two horses and no carts recovered, until they arrived at the dwarven stronghold. Ammun was eager to speak with them. The coldness he displayed in their prior encounters was replaced by sincerity as he revealed a powerful secret that shook Aengus to his core: The true thief of the Highgate Crown was not Aengus, but King Murgrim himself. The King stole the Capfield heirloom for his secret love, Drothmara, who then betrayed him. Ammun always knew Aengus was innocent of the crime but acted as his strongest opponent to maintain trust with the king. Now that the king was dead, it was up to them to keep the kingdom together.
