A bony welcome

By the time you've reached the dead frost wyrm's lair you feel somewhat safer, the roars having grown gradually fainter before ceasing altogether. Only one more roar shakes the cavern as you walk back upstream along the underground river, now back to the sound of what were presumably Niriossa's snores.

"Remind me never to do another social call for a daemon lord. What on earth was that thing? I thought the adventurers we met on the first world bounty were dangerous, but I have a feeling she would eat them for breakfast without even breaking a sweat."

"Do you think he somehow knew that would happen?" Mariel chews her lip as she ponders. "He told us to bring the adventurers, probably gave them the quest too, and they stepped in just as she woke."

"You know, I know I said I wanted to get out and see the world more, but right now I just want to head back home, hop in the bath, and stay there for the next decade or two." Ari looks shaken at recent events, and shivers from the cloying cold. Is the wyrm's body the cause for the eternal winter on this mountain? Somehow you think you're better off not knowing the answer.

"Glad to know the dungeon is growing on you," you give the warlock a playful slap on her ass. She spins around and hugs you, shivering and evidently not so easily cheered up. You embrace her in turn, although you let your hands wander a bit.

Suddenly, a low groan cuts through the air. The familiar glow of the crypt lies ahead, and several zombies shamble outside of it. Given their lack of burns, they're either new or have somehow totally regenerated from the incineration you gave them on your way in. Seramiel channels dark power through her sword before Ari pushes her way free of you and grabs her by the shoulder.

"Wait! My turn." To her credit, Sera stops and sheathes her blade, and Ari charges the zombies, evil green and pale blue playing across her blade's metallic surface. Her enchanted weapon easily cleaves one, two, three of the zombies, and the next thing you know they're nothing but heaps of dismembered limbs. The warlock leans against the wall, panting, with a grin on her face. "Much better. Hey gods, any of you, if you're listening: maybe more of these and less world-freezing giant dragon snake things?" She sheathes her sword and you continue your journey out of the dungeon.

The clash of metal on metal rings out as you approach the tunnel's mouth, and a familiar, melodic voice reaches your ears.

"David? What's wrong with you? I know you're a little creepy prick, but this is weird even for you. What are you doing to us?"

"Put me down, freak. I don't know what you're thinking, but I have no intention of blowing you or whatever else you want this time." The paladin's annoyed voice joins that of Celestina.

"Oi, laddie, ye seem like a decent sort. How'd you fall in with this lot? Put me down and let's sort this out like civilized dwarves, aye?"

"MM! MMMM!" The feminine voice sounds somewhat familiar, but it's hard to place through the gag.

Your party carefully steps around the corner to see the other four members of Amara's party, bound and in the invoker's case gagged. Grungil is hoisted over Jared the warrior's shoulder, Tashila over Shadowdaggers, Selena dragged behind the Orin the druid's wolf by a rope, and Celestina led by the elf mage via a lead. The rogue's group has a grim determination to their actions that looks wholly unfamiliar, and suddenly a dripping arrow is fired by the archer and grazes your cheek before you can react.

Your poison immunity has been suppressed!

Necrotic Poison
This poison rots flesh and bone alike, dealing continuous damage until you are healed.

The mage drops the lead and raises her hands and bony hands burst from the ground, pulling their skeletal bodies up one by one. Since when was she a necromancer? Zalreanne had said that the art was lost to adventurers, and you don't know of any other daemons cutting deals with adventurers in the region. The warrior lets out a roar, his bare chest covering with bony armour, and the druid starts channeling his familiar entangling spell. Your group jumps to the side as the ground bursts open, but instead of thick vines there are a mixture of rotten hands and skeletal claws grasping around where you stood moments ago. One grabs Mariel's leg and several begin slashing and cutting at her before Sera can hack them away with her sword.

The rogue simply turns to you and stares straight into your eyes. His eyes are mesmerizing, green orbs burning in front of his pupils. When he opens his mouth a wholly unfamiliar voice echoes through the chasm, sounding as if it's coming from all around you.

"You should not have come to this place." The voice sounds ancient, far older than anyone you've ever met. The green orbs suddenly extinguish themselves, and the rogue vanishes into a puff of black smoke. "No, really, he's right." This time his voice sounds normal, and Sera barely swings her sword in time to block the dagger plunging towards your back. How did he get there?

You charge forward, tossing a fireball into the archer before leaping on her necromancer companion, clawing, slashing with your wings, and stabbing with your tail. Mariel follows up your attack with a volley of arrows, and the two archers seem satisfied to sink into a duel. Ari engages Jared, her sword emitting bursts of ice every time it clashes against his massive cleaver. Tlax sinks her fangs into the wolf and wraps around him, and the druid summons more grasping hands which try to pry her off. Seramiel trades blows with the rogues, spinning from side to side as he constantly vanishes and reappears behind her.

The wolf falls with a whimper, unable to deal with Tlax's much more nimble form. Mariel dodges gracefully side to side, piercing the archer with arrow after arrow, until a perfect shot from her opponent sinks into her stomach, a sickly green hue spreading from the wound. She grasps at her belt but finds only a mana potion, and winces in pain as she begins the duel again. The elf mage's face and arms are a mess of cuts from your **** attack, but just as you swing your tail around to finish her off you feel yourself ripped backwards by bony hands as you're surrounded by her skeletons. She scrambles backwards and gets to her feet, but vanishes into a golden inferno as you call a flame strike down on her, downing your last mana potion as the skeletons crumble around you. You wince: an entire arm has now turned green from the poison.

Suddenly, you hear a ragged howl as the dead wolf climbs back to its feet, pieces of skin and flesh hanging off in a horrifying sight of undeath. The naga hisses and charges at the druid, but his undead familiar grabs her by her tail and chomps. You toss firebolt after firebolt at it, and although its flesh chars from the impacts it pays you no mind, biting again and again until your first champion falls still and then vanishes. The wolf thankfully collapses again shortly thereafter and is consumed by golden flame, only a pile of ash remaining.

Clang after clang rings out to your left as Ari slowly backs away, expertly blocking every swing from the massive, bone-clad warrior looming over her. You slip behind her and grab the potions from her belt, downing one and sighing as you feel the poison slowly flush from your system, then run to the bound paladin. A line of grasping arms bursts from the ground behind you, courtesy of the necromantic druid, and although a few of them barely grab you the worst you do is stumble.

"Listen, if I let you go can you heal Mary? There's something wrong with these adventurers: they shouldn't be this strong." Behind you, Mariel cries out again as another arrow strikes her, her opponent seemingly content to receive arrow after arrow without reaction. Seramiel swings at the rogue endlessly, able to block his strikes but her blade simply cutting through black smoke as he displaces again and again.

"I, ugh, no mana," you grab the last jar of clear blue liquid from your belt and she opens her mouth. You unstopper it and pour it down her throat. "Ugh, better..." You slit her bonds with your tail, and she lays her hands across her chest. A warm yellow glow envelops her before fading to reveal most of her wounds have healed. "Take care of Orin. I'll see to your angel." You nod and spin around, hurling a fireball at the druid.

"You bitch! You'll pay for that!" You turn to see the rogue holding an arm over a deep gash in his side, one of Sera's strikes finally having found purchase. "Everyone, let's go! We can deal with these daemon lovers another time." The druid, warrior, and archer run to follow him. Ari and Mariel each shoot a few shots at the archer, who collapses wordlessly before vanishing into a small sack of loot, but their companions seem content to retreat and not avenge their comrade. Mari collapses against the wall, groaning and tinted a nasty shade of green, before sighing as warm light from the paladin's embrace surrounds her. You walk up to the Selena and remove her gag before slitting her bounds.

"Ugh," she rubs her red wrists, "thanks. You know, you aren't all bad. Just mostly." She smirks. "I don't much care to figure out whatever they were planning. That group is a pain in the neck, but this was something new. Something bizarre. Anyways, thanks for the quest and the rescue. Despite this mess we've found some pretty neat stuff." You nod and make your way to the dwarf.

"Ach, what a mess. I told the lass to hold up, but the stupid hothead got 'erself fried, and now she's the only one who'll be getting out o' 'ere without any loot. Serves 'er right." The dwarf nods to you mid-rant as you cut his bonds.

Finally, you free the gorgeous elven ranger. "Thanks," she gives you a hug and then blushes a bit. "Say, would you mind if I joined you for a bit? I'd like to get to know Ari a bit better, and... stuff."

"What sort of stuff?" She turns beet-red but doesn't respond.

"Ach, lassie, you sure? The imp's not half bad after all, but 'e's still a monster."

"Oh, don't worry, Grungil. I'll meet up with you guys in Broadbridge in a bit and we'll kick down his door together for old time's sake, but I'd like to get to know Arialle a bit more. She's... me, sort of, in a way. I didn't really think about her much at the time, but having spoken to her, I feel... responsible, somehow." Selena nods and the others shrug, and deciding not to tempt fate too much, your parties start to make your way up the endless, winding stair you came in on.

"So what happened? How did they even get in here?"

"Laddie musta followed us in tha door. They ambushed us just when we crossed tha huge ice bridge, but they were still normal back then. We drove them off and we lost 'em after that, then they found us again when we was running from tha monster, and they were... different. Speaking of which, that was a hell of a thing. Some quest you picked for us."

"Yeah, I wish I knew about it as well. I want to yell at my source, but something tells me he'll just laugh at me and tell me I ought to be grateful."

"Don' get me wrong, imp, I'm not complainin'. We still got a 'ell of a haul. Even snagged something for Amara, tho' she dinnae deserve tha generosity after tha stunt she pulled. An' the folks back at the guild'll be green wit envy when we tell 'em we met a legendary wyrm and made it out with our loot nonethaless."

"I'll say. One handful should have me stocked for ages," the invoker pats a stuffed sack that hangs from her waist.

Finally, you reach the entrance and set out. At the bottom of the mountain, your groups split up, Grungil, Selena and Tashila heading to the main road while the rest of you stick to the dense woods just in case someone finds you in your weakened state. You didn't come this far just to lose the necklace on the way home.

Suddenly, a rush of golden light surrounds Celestina and a popup appears in front of her.

Quest completed: Overhill and Underhill
Reward gained: 5000xp
Reward gained: Aethane's Recurve

She dismisses the popup and a bow seemingly made out of silvery metal materializes in her hands.

Aethane's Recurve
This longbow is carved out of pure manasteel, string included. Legends say that it was shaped by Aethane herself using powerful techniques to soften the metal and give it the necessary flexibility while retaining its magic and strength, She used it as her personal bow before being defeated, after which it was thought lost forever.
Effects
Mana arrows: If this bow is drawn without an arrow nocked it creates an arrow of pure mana. These arrows deal magic damage rather than physical damage, and can otherwise be enhanced as if they were normal arrows.
Defender: This bow is incredibly durable despite its flexibility, and can be used to block melee weapons as if it were a melee weapon itself.

"Not bad!" She gives it a test fire, launching a silvery arrow into an unfortunate rabbit. It pierces the small critter before vanishing into a puff of pale blue smoke. "Anyone hungry?" After a few more rabbits and a quick meal, you set out back towards Mt. Imporne, finally feeling at ease when its massive silhouette looms ahead.