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AABN:  48345
Title: the Quest for the Silver Halberd, part 15

The Quest for the Silver Halberd, part 15

by Sparity Ket, Captain of the Order of the White Knights

While Kenwick healed everyone, Jamarkas and Silliriun informed the others
that from their vantage aside the throne they could see Keshute beating on
it with his fists and saying something.  Zorat magically examined it and
stated that the throne and pedestal had a strong transmutation aura, while
the halberd had a minor transmutation aura.  Not knowing exactly what that
meant, Justice decided to make his move.  He strode up to the icy throne,
grabbed the halberd and pulled with all his might.

The halberd would not budge.  It actually pulled free from his grip as the
throne and pedestal transformed and changed shape.  Within seconds, it took
a humanoid shape, wielding the halberd in its crudely-sculpted hands.  This
was the creature that Justice had seen in his vision, and another battle
ensued.

A blast of cold washed over the party as the creature began to stir.  The
hideous ice golem cried out with anger and lumbered toward Justice. 
Justice found himself uncontrollably shivering and trembling from the
intense cold that the golem radiated as it bore down on him.

The others took action.  Like the armor golem before, the ice golem
resisted magical attacks, and so Silliriun's and Zorat's offensive spells
did little against it.  Kenwick summoned a fire elemental to fight it, and
Jamarkas, being a dragontouched being, had the capacity to breath fire once
per day.  If there was any occasion that called for it, this was it.  He
vomited a plume of red fire and ash, melting a huge chunk of the monstrous
golem to harmless liquid.

Undeterred, the half-melted golem fearlessly pressed on, striking down
Jamarkas and Silliriun and infecting them with its paralyzing chills before
being finally melted to ruin by the flames of Kenwick's fire elemental,
leaving only its silvery halberd behind.

Zorat went to pick up the weapon, but it slipped out of his grip.  It
seemed as if only Justice could claim the halberd, and claimed it he did. 
Justice held the weapon aloft and heard the voice of his goddess say, "Well
done".

After that, they stripped Keshute and his minions of any useful equipment,
including his crown and scepter, and proceeded to backtrack through the
keep to ensure that they had left no enemies behind.  They then looted the
keep, taking everything of value that they could find and shoving a great
deal of it into the bag of holding they had found in Barrik's strongbox. 
Before exiting for good, however, Jamarkas couldn't resist the urge to
touch the skull in the sitting room, and vanished as soon as he did so.
The others had no choice but leave without him.

---

Justice, Kenwick and Zorat returned to Ritterholm.  Justice donated most of
his share of the treasure to the Society of Succor, keeping only enough for
his modest living expenses.  He took the leftover pieces of magic armor
from the defeated armor golem and had them forged into a brilliant suit of
magical armor for himself.

Zorat and Kenwick contributed their shares of the treasure to the
rebuilding of the Noble Academy of Magic.  Zorat was recognized by the
Marchioness and promised a job to teach magic as a professor there once it
was rebuilt.  He and Justice then traveled to Mount Blitzstadt, where Zorat
learned magic from the storm giants and Justice spread the word of his
goddess with great success.

Kenwick skipped off to the greener pastures of the Outer Planes, never to
be heard from again.

Silliriun returned to Sitee Boggart to give Lux his share of the treasure,
thus sparing the Bloodscale tribe from her wrath.  He kept Dullblade, and
Keshute's crown and scepter.  He went on to have many adventures, the first
of which was to determine the fate of his friend, Jamarkas.

But that is a story for another time.

THE END