The lich is pleasant and chatty. It asks the party’s intentions and mentions that it doesn’t get a lot of visitors out in the middle of the ocean. The group nods in stunned silence, but there is a bit of sotto voce conversations going on in the back row of the party. “Are we doing this”? “Should we attack”? “What is it saying”?
Eventually the group decides on violence and Ivan charges while the wizards prepare spells. Ivan’s charge is stopped when he runs into what turns out to be a wall of force. The lich disappears in a puff of colorful smoke and when the wall is brought down, the undead is nowhere to be seen, though a four-armed flesh golem is ready to deliver the beats. The lumbering horror is dealt with swiftly, and the group decides to pursue the lich into the tower by ascending the stairs.
They encounter the lich sitting in a library, and it carries on the conversation as though nothing had just happened. It asks them to do a service for it that will help them eliminate a major source of evil in the world. Win-win, right? More details are offered by the fleshless being. He needs a group of intrepid folk to journey to the location of the Throne of Lum the Mad. They can use the throne to exterminate a threat to Cormyr and the surrounding lands and they will be richly rewarded for it.
The group is so stunned that there are actually a few minutes of internal discussion about the merits of partnering with evil to get rid of other evil. Then the conversation shifts to the odds they can slay the creature here in its lair. It seems completely unperturbed by the party’s attempts to kill it, and it seems totally unconcerned about potential violence on the party’s part. This unnerves the group and they apologize for the intrusion and indicate they will show themselves out.
They flee out the front door and rapidly climb into the airship. Using all available means, they put as much distance between them and the sea tower as possible. After about a day, they realize that nothing is following them and although they might be under observation at least they aren’t under attack. With that, they turn their attention to fragments of lore related to the Oathbreaker that lead them to believe there are another couple of towers linked to the fallen paladin. They plot a course to the closer one and drift northwards for a couple of months.
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