We informed Jack of our course of action, and he showed some interest in the necromancer. He would accompany us to the small island upon which the necromancy branch of the arcane university resided. We set off without further ado, and arrived on the morrow. Deciding it would be best to infiltrate at night, we bought a room and slept until sundown.
We set off when the university's doors closed. There were two searchlights that guarded the arcane tower, that would presumably raise an alarm if an unauthorized individual was spotted. We managed to snag some identification crystals, and pass through the doors undetected.
Once inside, we began our search. Terracotta soldiers were the decoration of choice for these people, it seemed. We didn't get far before Lynn's fox, Shepard, bolted. She ran after him, and after we gave chase, a barrier was raised, separating us from Lynn and the fox.
We had no choice but to continue. Jack split from the group, and, following a staircase that led around the outside of the tower, we found the library, and set to work. After some digging, I finally found a volume that contained an illustration of the necromancer's tattoo. The only catch was that it was written in Samsaran. My musings were cut short, however, when an ancient looking longsword embedded itself in the table in front of me. The terracotta soldiers had come to life — and were looking none too pleased about our presence. A fight ensued, and, to make a long story short, we were victorious. The tower had given a terrible shudder, and the security systems had seemed to reactivate. We rushed downstairs, and the magical barrier that separated us from Lynn had vanished. We followed the hallway to another chamber.
This one contained a statue, a couple pillars sheathed in blue arcane fire, and a large glowing teleportation rune etched in the floor. But what caught my eye was my sister. She was toying with a cauldron on the far side of the room. We exchanged some sass, which ultimately turned heated. She launched a lethal bolt of lightning at my uncle, who didn't catch the worst of it. He conjured up a wall of fire, and I conjured a cloud of smoke. We stepped into the teleportation rune, and I disabled it from the other side.
We were now on the very top of the tower, and I could see Lynn and Weston locked in battle. Lynn looked quite worse for wear, and Weston had taken his share of the beating as well. Now was the time — we would kill the son of a bitch.
Before I could act, he had cast a noxious cloud. It filled my lungs, made me unable to breathe, unable to think, unable to help the poor Samsaran girl who was doing her best to fight off the necromancer. Actually — she was holding her own quite well. Her eyes were that unsettling shade of red once again.
Iroh snapped me out of it with his ludicrous affinity for restoration magic. I looked up just in time to see Weston fleeing, as he jumped off the roof of the tower. I signaled my companions to follow, and we jumped after him. Again, Iroh saved us. With one divine commanding word, he ordered the necromancer to come back to us. Eli grabbed the man, and I cast feather fall on the lot of us. We arrived in the shantytown below, but the necromancer had not given up. He attempted to flee, but our two monks were on him like wildfire. The ordeal was done when they worked together to pin him down, and allowed me to slip an enchanted noose over his neck. With our quarry paralyzed from the neck down, it was time to make our escape, and discern any information we could from him.
Only one question remained — what had happened to Jack?
-Matau Ing'um
