Finally – The Master
From Aput's journal
Year of the Eagle
 
Ophiuchus, 6 Scorpius: As we paused to consider where to next explore, the strange magical stone I’d claimed earlier slowly knitted my flesh. I’m curious about the limits of its magic yet am unwilling to cleave away significant parts or my body to test its limits.
Fortunately, the skeletal miners in the next three chambers paid no heed to either our discussion or to our brief snack. Nor did they stray from their excavations until, one after another, our fighters smashed them into flinders while they cowered before Zotis & Yullock & their respective holy icons. Sixteen in all & only one was able to turn his pick our way
Zotis returned from scouting a tunnel to the south, telling of finding a Thracian pair held captive in cages in a small side chamber. On returning we picked the locks & discovered that the captives were fluent solely in the Thracian dialect. We wouldn’t have been able to converse had Hallr not also spoken that dialect as well. Over a small meal, they introduced themselves as Conn mac Tarin & Naria mac Tarrin & told their tale of becoming lost in caves near their home, following an underground river, & being captured by a white scaled serpent folk sorcerer. Thus, they’d remained until we came to their rescue. They said it lurked in the last section of the unexplored caverns, so we moved east to beard the Master in its lair.
We consulted our maps & decided that since there were two ways into the lair, we should stage a 2-pronged assault. All that stood in our way was a pair of doors. Which turned out to be locked. And trapped. After hurried whispers between the teams, we finally accessed the final room…
Only to discover a skeletal centurion blocking one entryway & several worm men in the way of our other access. The centurion fought well (years of experience unburdened by mortal flesh, I suppose) and allowed its master a chance to prepare for our final assault.   It clasped an amulet marked with the spiral of Azathoth in one hand & wore a large tome on its belt. I moved seeking a clear shot with my bow & found it near the trio of lizard folk allies. Unfortunately, we made a tempting target of one of the Master’s eldritch spells – the trio minds were paralyzed but I managed to slip past the paralytic bonds & managed to fight through another of the Master’s strong abjurations - one that wanted me to turn my attention anywhere but on his serpentine form. My arrow flew true & drew blood while others in the party were turned away to focus on the remaining wyrmling minions. Hasted, Conn & Hallr charged into the room to engage our foe in melee. While Conn was turned aside by the defensive aura, Hallr was not & three solid blows from his broadsword nearly spelled the Master’s demise, but it wasn’t quite enough.
It may have been fear that we saw in its lidless eyes, but the Master had an escape plan ready. With a wave of its hands, its form faded into a misty cloud which floated toward the exit, seeming to taunt us as it bobbed & weaved toward the cracks in the walls.
Unfortunately for the Master, it was not to be. Ythaqqa’a vicious winds leapt from my fingers as I recalled my days spent hunting on the tundra near the center of the world. The icy gusts slammed into the gaseous form - more than the Master’s ephemeral form could take – the wisps fell before the boreal winds & were dispersed. The Master was no more.
We spent time after the combat examining what remained. Some coins, the centurion’s armor (lorica segmentata), shield, & a golden ornament lodged in the centurion’s ribcage, a kris bearing a tigers-eye gem in its hilt, an unholy book of Azathoth (complete with prayers), & an eerie dodecahedral stone bearing strange glyphs & sigils – I plan to contemplate the meaning of the stone later.
We followed a tunnel off toward the east for a goodly distance & eventually exited a cave with a view of the jungles covering the northwestern part of the island. The emancipated pair took their leave here, claiming that their home lay off toward the ruins we espied before. The rest of us turned back & returned through the caverns to our ship beyond the waterfall. Perhaps it was a good time to return to Fort Thunder.