It was at this point the party noticed that Brack was missing.
Poor Brack, while under the influence of the frenzy spell, ran into the swamp only to find himself alone and stuck in the mud.
Despite his great strength, or perhaps due to his great strength, he was unable to freehimself. When the frenzy wore off, he realized that the trashing about only caused him to sink lower. The only smart thing to do was to remain still and shout for help.
The party was finding that the headless Dwarves were repelling their spells and weapons. Nothing, from Thorn's fire to Drac's arrows, were curving away. Winston panicked and ran from them. Drac slipped in the mud and shot the fleeing Winston. This drew him out of his panic and he came back and cracked one of the dwarves.
The fight raged on, neither side really gaining on the other. They realized that they were just tiring themselves out while their dead enemies never fatigued. Van Guyer got the idea to trap each body in a magic circle. This worked and each body dropped to the floor. They lite the bodies on fire, which seemed to finish them off, once they were magically separated from the still talking, taunting heads.
Wintson, after being throne away from the heads by an unseen force, put his rope around one and pulled it from the ground. The spear was cemented into an iron pot with a copper ring around the rim of the pot. The ring had gyphs around it. Van Guyer said that the rings were superior magic circles protecting the heads, which in turn protected the bodies.
They pulled the heads off the spears with the rope, and burned them. Winston collected the spears. Thorn took the gems from the beards of the Dwarves. Such is the way of Thorn.
They examined the two bodies that were not burnt. Both had incisions on their chests that were sown closed with wire. They cut them open and found their hearts were removed, and small, glyph covered skulls were put in the cavity where their hearts should be.
Drac was outraged, for these were baby elf skulls! He took one to bury back in his home woods, while unknown to Drac, Van Guyer took the other.
They rested a days march away from the noisy dwarf heads.
While resting Luna communed with her goddess. She saw the White Witch praying before a dark temple of Iron and Rust. The stars were wrong. They also went down below the horizon.
Van Guyer went off to hunt. He found an opossum. He managed to stab it with his short sword. He used his knife to remove its heart and he sewed the baby elf skull into the opossum's chest with his leather pouch bag strap. He sat for a minute when the opossum sat up and spoke to him.
"Does thou which to be immortal? Does thou crave power over death? Take my hand. Carry the Mule. First the Mule will carry you, then you will carry the Mule."
While tempted, Van Guyer said no and left.
He confessed to Luna, who, while horrified, made him swear a Holy Oath to never do that again. He accepted.
The small confession service was interrupted by a patrol of Undead Orcs who came from a hole in space that the opossum created. It followed Van Guyer to the party.
They awoke to battle. The group dispatched the squad of undead rather easily. Drac asked where they came from and Van Guyer confessed.
Drac's response was five arrows into the wizard's chest.
Luna saved Van Guyer from death. They rested the rest of the night with unease.
In the morning they took off to confront the White Witch.
They made it to her hut, which was surrounded by the headstones of her numerous suitors. Luna and Van Guyer went in, and were greeted by the smell of a delicious stew cooking in a pot with no fire. Luna ate the stew, which she confirmed as, indeed, delicious.
They then saw an equestrian skull, covered in glyphs on a makeshift altar. Luna pulled back, while Van Guyer read the glyphs. They were magical writtings that said, "Death" in every known language. He, of course, touched the skull. He collapsed in a pool of gurgling blood from his mouth. Luna dragged him away from the skull.
Drac, Winston, and Thorn saw the dead arise from their graves. And if that wasn't bad enough, from behind them, a hold in the sky opened, and it sucked the air into it. Had they been any closer, they would have been pulled into the dark, cold place where the Temple of Iron and Rust was .
The White Witch came out of hole and stabbed Thorn with a spear of bone. Winston blocked the Witch and smashed her with the very dwarven hammer he took from one of the dead dwarves. She screamed curse at him. Thorn set up a wall of fire which burned away much of the dead suitors.
Luna cursed the Witch in the name of Selenae. The Which then breathed a jet of flame at Drac, who was firing arrows while backing up.
The Witch then called forth an elemental from the mud which attacked Luna. Luna ran to the hut, and the elemental didn't follow.
While in the hut Luna healed Van Guyer.
Drac fired at the elemental, who merged with the mud and moved to hit Winston.
The elemental need not cross any land to move, it just whisked from place to place. And nothing seemed to hurt it.
The White Witch, screaming, taunting and laughing, was wounded in the hand, which cost her a finger and her hold on the unicorn horn. She screamed and ran to the hole in space. Drac fired arrows at her back. The hold closed. She was gone.
Thorn of course, being Thorn, grabbed the unicorn horn.
Van Guyer put a magic circle around the elemental and it held.
They rested a bit, took stock, recovered arrows, and ate some of the Witch's stew.
Drac recognized the skull as that of a mule. The skull offered them all riches and power if they would carry it. They all declined.
Winston found a locked chest under a blanket. The blanket was a beautiful silver white Elven blanket, created by the High Elves. Luna claimed that.
Winston took his chisel and tried to open the chest. It exploded sending everyone flying in different directions.
The only things left from the hut were the Mule and the chest. Neither of which were ever touched again.
Winston found the small cooking kettle. It turns out that it is enchanted. It cooks and purifies food placed in it. And everything tastes delicious. A Kettle of Cooking! Finally magic a person can actually use.
The group headed off to Winston's village, burnt, bruised and a bit wiser.
After three days of being trapped, Brack, under the light of the moon, was visited by an odd looking opossum. It had an incision on its chest held closed by leather straps.
It whispered. "Do you need help? The Mule will help you. First the Mule will carry you, then you will carry the Mule."
With no other real option, Brack accepted this strange offer.
He was pulled out of the mud by a strong white arm. The woman at the end of the arm was strong and oddly attractive in her simian like way. She pulled him to a cold, dark room made of Iron and Rust. She was missing a finger...
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