Episode 72

Collective Action ascend from the library’s trapdoor into the open air once more, their breath frosting in the frigid cavern light. The whispers on the wind still coil through the ruined streets, thin as spider-silk. Before anyone can comment, a faint rumble trembles through the broken stones.   They look up. Something stirs on the floating remnants of the tower above.   The first corpse falls before anyone can react. Then another. And another.   It begins raining zombies — frozen bodies slamming into the snow-packed ground, rising with snapping jaws and grasping claws. The party is engulfed in the onslaught, fending off the dead as they drop from the sky like macabre hailstones. Steel flashes, spells crackle, and icy limbs fly.   But the true threat has yet to reveal itself.   A shadow unfolds across the cavern. A terrible shape shifts in the drifting blizzard. Then an undead white dragon heaves itself over the lip of a floating platform, bones jutting through rotten hide, eyes glowing with pale, hateful light. It rears back, its roar rattling the entire chamber — a sound of ancient fury twisted by undeath.   The beast descends in a storm of wings and frost. Its breath erupts in a devastating cone of freezing death, engulfing the battlefield. Celine is caught full-force, the blast overwhelming her — she collapses, ice crusting across her Warforged frame.   The fight becomes desperate. But the fury of Collective Action… is something to behold.   Blair steps forward, surrounded by a swirl of empowering Magic from their allies — Lyra’s melodies, Groban’s arcane fortification, Celine’s earlier discipline, Aveline’s protective stance, Chance’s deadly precision sharpening their focus. The warlock surges with power, gripping the Dragonslayer Longsword they claimed in the library.   They leap, Magic trailing like comet fire. Strike after strike crashes into the undead wyrm — each blow precisely placed, impossibly strong. With a final, roaring slash, Blair cleaves through the creature’s spine, sending the dracolich crashing to the ground in a shower of ice and bone.   Silence follows. Then, slowly… the group breathes again.   Victory is theirs.   From the wreckage of the floating tower, they uncover the dragon’s hoard — piles of gold, ancient treasures preserved in ice, and several powerful magical items. Among them, a silver circlet, elegant and regal. Its style suggests it once belonged to a ruler or high priestess of Vorstoven. The party offer it to Sigrun, who accepts with reverence — and no small measure of awe at what they’ve accomplished.   At the tower’s peak, Groban discovers a journal amidst the rubble — this one penned by Master Tharos Galudrin himself. The entries fill in much of the remaining gaps: the theory behind the elemental conduits, the unstable fusion of planes, and the catastrophic miscalculation that froze an entire city. But one entry is more recent, written after the mage thawed from his frozen stasis.   Galudrin expresses regret — profound, weary regret — for the destruction he caused. The experiment succeeded, granting him a form of immortality, but at a price he can no longer bear. He has chosen to leave Vorstoven behind and wander the new age he finds himself in, searching for… something. Peace, perhaps. Redemption.   Sigrun clasps the journal with a trembling hand. The dragon defeated, the city’s secrets uncovered, she beams with pride and relief. Surely — surely — nothing more dangerous remains here. She urges everyone back to civilisation, promising to return with scholars and guards to fully excavate the ruins.   Groban gathers the party and activates the Teleportation Circle, returning them to the warmth of Kitaun. Sigrun and her scout bid their farewells, grateful — and perhaps slightly traumatised — by their time with Collective Action.   The group return to The Wilted Lotus, where warmth, food, and a crackling fire finally welcome them home.   But not all journeys end at the tavern. Blair slips away to Takari Peak to report back to The MacGuffin Gatherers. Tanfan listens eagerly, though the Gnome is quick to remind Blair that any further patron requests must be approved — no freelancing — and that particularly valuable magic items should be submitted to the vault. Blair, somehow, manages to sidestep both points and returns to Kitaun with their rewards intact.   The party reunites, share a brief, weary conversation, and retire for a well-earned rest.   The next day promises to be one of civilisation: shopping trips, blacksmith commissions, and all the mundane joys that follow victory.   And then a trip to Archmage Zephryus — the man once known as Master Tharos Galudrin — to seek answers about The Frozen City… and, perhaps, seeking to use his legendary forge.