Over the last two days a blizzard has blanketed Red Larch with another two feet of snow, so the Coopers have remained at the Swinging Sword Inn and have spent most of their time in the common room, listening to the local men and women share their tales. Aside from the fact that no one in living memory has ever seen so much snow in this area, they hear that more attacks on isolated homesteads have taken place, and that both Uthgardt barbarians and the Iceshield orcs may be responsible. In the last month, some farmers quietly whisper, shredded corpses have been found in the vicinity of Rundreth Manor, possibly the victims of the Dark Lady who lives in the ruins. There are also reports from a pair of traveling merchants that the womford bat has been snatching people at night. Finally, several workers at Thelorn's Safe Journey wagonmaker report suspicious activities near their workshop.
When they wake up this morning, the Coopers immediately notice that the wind is not howling outside the Inn, and the sky is a bright blue. The temperature is still bitterly cold, but after a hearty breakfast Daryle suggests investigating Lance Rock and Feathergale Spire, since they are located near each other. She spends her morning manufacturing snow shoes for the party, and soon the party is out trekking in the cold Dessarin Valley. In the late afternoon, they spot the gleaming tower of Feathergale Spire about ten miles northeast. Continuing on, they come upon Lance Rock about an hour later.
Looking around the site, Darelle notices that this giant stone lance clearly came from the sky and landed with an incredible impact. as only the shaft of the stone lance sticks out of the ground. As they search the area, Ruddy comes across a snow covered rock with what appears to be crude letters carved into it. He clears the boulder, and comes upon a message written in Common:
Come no closer
lest you catch
the disfiguring plague
that afflicts me!
The Lord of Lance Rock
Daryle locates a tunnel entering at the base of the lance. Following a short tunnel is a small cave, with a dead body laying in a prostating position, with his pants pulled down to his knees. The body shows clear evidence that it suffered from the plague before death. Carefully the party explores the room, but the body does not react until Dhukhean attempts to cast a spell on it. It suddenly springs up and attacks the party. The undead proves to be more dangerous than expected, and it takes the Coopers some effort to finally defeat it, but each strike it inflicted made the victim feel slightly sick before recovering.
As they explore other rooms, they keep finding bodies in similar positions, all facing towards the lance. Although some of the bodies appear to be fresher and wear local fashion, most are foreigners. Dhukhean and the sisters light several of the bodies on fire, and quickly dispatch them. Coming into a large room, they find the tip of the lance, which features a large hole with a what looks like a strange sun symbol, or, as the Lord of Lance Rock interpreted it, a fully dilated anus on it. A disembodied voice taunts the Coopers, but they taunt it right back, threatening to defile the symbol.
Soon they hear running steps, and the Lord of Lance Rock enters the room, tripping on the trap set by the rangers. All four of them land blows on the Lord of Lance Rock, but his fearsome appearance scares all but the dwarf away. Noticing him for the first time, he seems pleased to see him and claims that there are some who would love to get their hands on a dwarf. Dhukhean lands powerful blows, but the Lord of Lance Rock returns the favor. Things are not going well for the dwarf fighting alone against the necromancer.
Ruddy, Darelle and Daryle manage to snap out of their fear, and rejoin the fight. Their combined efforts weaken the Lord of Lance Rock, and Dhukhean finally lands a mighty blow and the self-styled Lord of Lance Rock is cleaved in half, meeting his demise.
Searching his belongings, the Coopers find his favorite weapon, a +3 staff of dessication. With the Lord of Lance Rock dead, one of the threats to the Sumber Hills has been dealt with.
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