Amabel Villa's Skeletal Shark

Five Freelancers sat in the orderly chairs in Damakaios' office:  two nekomata, a Mikumwes halfling in studded deerskin leathers, a well-dressed Maker gnome with a full-sized-person-sized tome, and a tall Wind sagani.  A Wild elf stood behind them, leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of her.

Tahu, the Wind sagani, was sporting a lot of scratches, and was assiduously applying ointment to them.  One of the nekomata, Fine Branch, was sitting abnormally still, tails lashing, as if he was concentrating on ignoring an itch.  The others were looking at Damakaios expectantly.

The Pungarehu hanyou's forehead creased a little, as Damakaios looked at Fine Branch and Tahu, then he unlocked a drawer on his left and pulled out three pieces of paper.  Well actually, the top was multiple, clipped together, which he flipped through as he began listing available work.

First – Amabel villa – the last group ‒ some of you ‒ woke?  aroused?  revived? a large shark skeleton, which did not go past the villa boundary.  Don't destroy the villa, but kill everything in it; House Amabel does not care what's in the villa as long as the villa is intact.  250gp/person.

Second ‒ investigate the lower end of the Tunnels.  Something is attacking travellers; not the caravans, but travellers who step away from the well-travelled path.  Also 250gp/person.

Third mission ‒ House Teontra, the best animal trainers on Commerce, have a disused stable to be cleared out.  The mounts want nothing to do with it.

At "the best animal trainers on Commerce," Damakaios gave each of Quelenna (the Wild elf), Fine Branch, and Tahu a stern look.  They ignored it.

Tuala:  we're not stablehands to muck out their stables?
Damakaios:  they aren't reacting to filth; they are kind of spooked and won't go near it.  This one is also 250gp/person.
<Silence.>
Damakaios:  Freelancers have been entering the villa top-down, but
Quelenna:  last time, we saw the doors, and considered it
Ana:  slight preference for the stable mission, because encroachment of Nature
Quelenna:  would like to continue the Amabel mission, because curious, and would like to see it through
Cathance:  how does House Teontra feel about their stable building remaining intact?
Damakaios <rubbing base of horns>:  reasonably sure …ask when you get there… they don't want it destroyed.
Ana:  no barn, no problem
Tahu:  not traditional Freelancers barn-razing
Tuala:  we'll have to go barnstorming
Ana:  was the barn made of wood?
Damakaios:  it still exists.  Not sure what it's made of
Fine Branch:  do you think it's a witch?!
Damakaios:  so that reminds me <looking at paper> faint sound of laughter
Cathance:  is it possible that displaced harpies could have relocated to this barn?
Damakaios:  it's a possibility, but <looking at clipped papers> you all said there were none to fly off <looking at third paper> House Teontra hasn't seen any harpies.
Cathance:  either villa or barn, I'm not into tunnels.
Tahu <still applying ointment>:  same thing, but making friends with the best animal trainers seems like a good idea
Tuala:  I'm leaning towards the villa, we have a good group to take care of that villa.
Fine Branch:  same reasoning
Cathance:  that's three for Amabel, one for barn, two ambivalent
Ana:  sounds like Amabel

There was a brief, uncomfortable pause, then Cathance said… "Okay, that crocodile," and a heated debate ensued.  Basically Cathance thought that the giant crocodile of Quelenna's should be flown into the atrium of the Amabel villa, and it would smash all the shark skeletons with ease while the Freelancers provided heal and ranged attack support from afar.  Quelenna was entirely not okay with this plan.  Fine Branch suggested polymorphing Quelenna instead; others suggested that gold could be made by selling tickets to the spectacle; Ana suggested that the enlarge/reduce spell could be applied.  As the debate went on, Damakaios put his elbows on his desk, thumbs on his jaw, and rubbed the base of his horns.

Cathance:  so, are we bringing the crocodile?
Quelenna:  I'm nervous
Tuala:  so, no
Ana:  other door?  I prefer shark
Cathance:  shark, because clearing the atrium makes the rest safer.
Everyone:  okay
Cathance:  so, we need a plan
Fine Branch:  why melee it?
Tahu:  I can use a light crossbow
Quelenna:  I can't use monk-stuff.
Tuala:  the shark flies
Cathance:  there are other undeads, so maybe shark engages aware from them
Fine Branch:  I can turn/destroy undeads, but they are little
Cathance:  they were little <thought a moment>  why don't we provoke it and observe, then plan?
Tuala:  we know it will chase
Cathance:  we could also have it chase someone; others clear out the atrium
Damakaios:  perhaps you would be better served by investigating the layout in person.

At this, the Freelancers left his office heading to the stables, at which time they remembered that Tahu, Quelenna, and Tuala did not yet have trained flying mounts.

The Freelancers headed towards the Amabel villa, with Cathance on Jigsaw the pony hippogryph, Ana on Pelorus the pony courser pegasus, and Fine Branch on Nighthawk the normal-sized hippogryph.  Once there the six of them positioned themselves on the eastern roof, all dismounted, and gazed down into the atrium.  There was no giant undead shark to be seen.

Either end of the atrium looked like there was some sort of awning.  Quelenna thought back to the last time she was there and said they were made of wood on stone pillars.  But there really was nothing moving that could be attributed to anything but the light breeze.

Cathance:  guys, there's no sign of bones
Fine Branch:  yes, there is
Quelenna:  see that white spots?
Cathance:  no?
Quelenna:  those are the bones

Ana pulled out her tome and began a ritual cast of detect magic.  Her ritual involved a bunch of mumbling, and for all the world she looked like she was using her wand as a toy for a house-cat.  Once that completed, she mounted Pelorus and swooped around the atrium, trying to capture any magic on the ground or along the walls.  She found a faint hint of necromantic magic scattered throughout the courtyard, and random magic emanating from the rooms behind the walls.  Then she landed back next to the waiting others.

Cathance:  Ana, what you find?
Ana:  the floor of the atrium has a faint hint of necromantic magic scattered throughout, and the rooms behind the walls had varying levels of abjuration, evocation, and transmutation.  <to Fine Branch>  so, resident cleric, what can be done to get rid of necromancy?
Fine Branch:  I don't know… <voice trailed off as the others stared at him in surprise>  actually, with thaumaturgy + turn undead … fuck it.
<Fine Branch remounted Nighthawk.>
Cathance:  but there's no undead
Fine Branch:  they don't have to be
Tahu:  what are we arguing about?
Fine Branch:  "Fine Branch, the boner killer"
<Ana considered how to square the necromantic magic she detected with what could be done about it.>
Ana:  I think the problem is these are not yet undead.  The bones are imbued with fragments of a spell that had been cast on them.  Maybe… dispel magic.
Cathance:  what is the range of dispel magic?
Tuala:  120' single target.
Cathance:  what if I land in the atrium, if that makes the bones knit together, then Jigsaw dashes,  someone dispel.
Fine Branch:  I'm fine with that, but isn't that warding bond?
Ana:  there's only necromantic in the atrium.
<Tuala considered the magic signatures Ana reported from the house.>
Tuala:  the trigger could be in the house.  We see the atrium isn't leveled, nor has any bench.
Cathance:  what if I do it, while Ana does detect magic?
Ana:  I like this.
Fine Branch:  I can
Ana:  Pelorus is very fast!
Cathance:  Fine Branch dispel.
Tahu <unhappily>:  if I'm in the atrium, I have to exit through the villa
Cathance:  let's set up a rope to climb out!
Fine Branch:  why?
Tahu:  want to know my options if I jump down.
Cathance:  then rope makes you not fall.
Fine Branch:  rope in two corners.
Cathance:  agree.
Tahu:  o wait!  I have slippers of spider-climbing!

Tahu started changing his shoes, while Cathance mounted Jigsaw.  They finally had a plan:

1. Ana swoops in on Pelorus with detect magic up
2. Cathance lands
3. Fine Branch hovers with dispel magic ready
4. Tuala waits on the eastern roof
5. Quelenna waits on the ledge where the harpies were
6. Tahu has his light crossbow out on the northeast corner, making use of slippers of spider-climbing.

They got into position, and Fine Branch cast enhance ability on himself.

Cathance and Jigsaw landed in the atrium, near the base of the big tree.  There were a lot of bones there, and really big teeth.  Cathance leaned over and picked one of them up.  It was really big; as big as her face.

Nothing happened.  Even Ana did not see anything change with the detect magic.

Twenty seconds passed, while an increasingly nervous Cathance sat on Jigsaw and contemplated the giant tooth she was holding.  Then all the bones started to shake, even the tooth in Cathance's hand.  They started to roll together and assemble in 4 separate places, the tooth flying from her hand.

Ana:  I can't see where this is coming from!
Cathance:  guys, this is getting really scary!
Tuala:  get out!

Ana and Pelorus shot as straight up as Pelorus could manage, at top speed, so about 80' above the atrium floor.  Cathance looked at the bones assembling, and sent a ray of frost at one pile, in the southeast corner of the atrium, just to slow it down, and Jigsaw took off at top speed, ending up 60' off the atrium floor.

And then the bones had assembled into undead sharks, "swimming" in the air, 3 normal-sized and one giant one.

Jigsaw flew downward just enough for Cathance to send a ray of frost at the shark in the northeast corner, slowing that one down as well.  Then he returned to where he was circling.

• Quelenna made use of her Winged Boots to go to the shark in the northeast corner and attack it with her fans.  Her first attack missed but the second one slashed at the bones, and she followed with a flurry of blows, missing then hitting the skeleton.  Little bits of the shark flew off in all directions.
• Tuala peered down into the atrium, noting where the 4 creatures were:  two in the eastern corners, one in the northwest corner, and the giant undead shark in the center.  He made use of his triangulation studies and dropped a fireball to the east of the giant undead shark, the roar ringing in Quelenna's ears.
  • The shark Quelenna had attacked disintegrated into charred bones.
  • The shark in the southeast corner was intact, but very charred.
  • The eastern awning caught fire.
  • The giant undead shark seemed to weather the fireball, but still had scorch marks…
• …so Ana dropped a flaming sphere on its head from above.  The sphere burned its head then fell off, to the ground next to it.
• Tahu wasn't sure what to target, so he waited to see if any sharks moved to attack the others.
• Fine Branch cast his dispel magic on the shark in the northwest corner, but to his frustration and dismay, nothing happened.  So the nekomata cleric cast a spiritual weapon in the form of a large trout in front of the large giant shark, which crit as it bonked the creature on the nose with force.
  • Nighthawk flew up near Cathance, ready to dodge.
• The undead shark that escaped the fireball "swam" through the air to Quelenna.
  • Tahu crit the unsuspecting creature with a crossbow bolt.
  • It bit the Wild elf.
• The charred undead shark "swam" up to an unhappy Tuala.
• The big undead shark dashed up to Nighthawk and Jigsaw.

The fire on the awning was starting to spread as Cathance cast hypnotic pattern on the big undead shark, trying to make it fall, to no avail.  She instinctively twisted the luck to make the shark more vulnerable to it, still to no avail.  The Tortoise was probably so displeased with her.  So Jigsaw disengaged from the creature and fled east.

• Quelenna slashed at her new undead shark assailant with her fans, and it fell apart in a pile of bone fragments.
  • The monk cast about, then saw the charred shark on the nekomata above, and used step of the wind to move up there.  Her slashing fans missed it, though.
• Tuala, hissing, cast magic missile on the charred shark.  It fell apart after the first two darts, fragments raining down on the burning awning below.  The sorcerer redirected the third dart at the large shark menacing Fine Branch above, striking it with force.
• Ana looked down to see that 20' below her and Pelorus was the skeleton of a shark that was wayyyy too big!  She sent a chromatic orb at the creature, which settled on acid before it crit.  Dissatisfied with its proximity, she had Pelorus fly west, opening up a lot of space between herself and Cathance.
• Tahu shot a crossbow bolt at the giant undead shark and critfailed, hitting Nighthawk again, who screamed in unhappy surprise.
  • Tahu then dropped down onto the awning, but even the Wind sagani's agility did not save him from crashing through the flimsy, ancient wood and landing prone on the ground.  Despite his hurt, he stood up, brushing off splinters and char.
• Ears flat, Fine Branch hissed at the giant shark in his and Nighthawk's faces.  He channeled the divinity of The Cat to turn undead.
  • Nighthawk screamed again and attacked the skeleton with beak and claw.  The claws missed, but Nighthawk ripped off some of the gill plates with his beak.  The plates tumbled down into the atrium.
• The giant shark, having been turned, dove towards the atrium.  Nighthawk slashed again with his claws, and it disintegrated, the jawbone tumbling back down into the atrium.

Cathance flew down to the north end of the burning awning, and tried to put out the fire with ray of frost, with indifferent results.  Fine Branch also flew down, and used create or destroy water to put out the fire for real, incidentally soaking Tahu.

The others flew down and regarded the damaged awning.

Ana <unconvincingly>:  it was like this when we got here
Tahu:  I just stepped on it!
Tuala:  not up to code.

Quelenna moved to the remains of the big shark, trying to make sense of it, but she failed; it was scorched and acid-burned.  Cathance did too, specifically, to find that big tooth again; but also distracted by the scorch and acid marks.

Tuala cast detect magic, and the little skyliths that whirled around his head as he cast, expanded their radius until they danced at the limit of his scan.  At first he didn't detect anything, but then he realized the bones still had necromantic magic.  He considered what he was seeing, then realized the animating spell remained, but needed repair to work again.  He related this to the others, and Fine Branch's ears went flat again.

Cathance looked around, counting doors.  Each wall had a door in the center; each awning had a door at either end.  Very orderly.

Ana used mage hand to sort through the bones and recover the teeth.  But once she did that, Fine Branch started re-scattering the bones, for he had not believed Tuala and felt that scattering them would disrupt the spell further, or something.

Tahu climbed the wall, peering in the various windows.  Most were shuttered, and the ones which were not were utterly filthy.  But from what he could see, a lot of the rooms' contents appeared to be well-preserved.  He caught a couple glints, and saw something move, but that was it.

Tuala circuited the atrium under Tahu, detect magic still on.  He was especially checking the doors; he noticed abjuration, evocation, and transmutation, as Ana had reported, and also some enchantment.

While they were tempted to try the doors and explore the villa, the Freelancers opted to return to the Tavern and discuss with Damakaios.

When the group showed back up at Freelancers Tavern maybe an hour and a half after they'd left, Damakaios asked what happened.  When they told him they'd slain the shark and recovered the teeth, curiosity overcame his normal reserve.

Damakaios:  show me the teeth!
<Damakaios marvelled at how big they were.>
Fine Branch:  we set the building on fire!
Ana:  really!
Damakaios <startled>:  how much of it…? How long…?
Tuala <dismissively>:  all of 20 seconds
Tahu:  it was really weak, and gave 'way when I stepped on it
Damakaios:  so, non-structural
Fine Branch <deliberately unconvincingly>:  really, we did the owners a favour
<Damakaios was not fooled by Fine Branch being a troll.>
Damakaios:  well, try not to burn it too much in future, but good job taking care of that shark!

Damakaios looked again at the large teeth.  Some were bigger than Cathance's face!

• Ana → lvl6!