The Eldathian Ritual Report

General Summary

Previously: Corpse and Soul
Inside the room behind the mirror, Anathema investigated and spotted an ivory rod. It was a carefully carved and silver-capped unicorn horn displayed on a stand in a glass-fronted cabinet. In the are nearest the door, there were everyday belongings, a bed, a wardrobe with both ceremonial and ordinary wizard robes and outfits. On a nearby desk there were sheets of parchment and cardstock rectangles, some of them proof of membership for wizard groups and dark cults. One box contained a seamless glass globe filled with quicksliver. His pillow on the bed was embroidered with the symbols of Selune, goddess of the moon and associated with good dreams. Anathema quicky found a space in her bag for the parchments, which look potentially quite useful.
There was also a spellbook containing 'misty step', 'modify memory' and 'suggestion'. Tharg meditated upon our surroundings and slowly became aware of the sounds of the astral plane beyond the walls of this room.
The unicorn horn caught Anathema's attention. Horn from a unicorn is similar to elephant horn, in that the unicorn is likely to have been killed in the harvesting of it. Anathema got an odd feeling from it, of guilt and suspicion. Not wanting to touch it directly, she picked it up using a cloak. It was clear from a brief glance that this could item be easily harnessed for beneficial or harmful magic. It could easily be used as a rod of healing, for instance.
We scoured Albrek's notes on the Eldathian Ritual he was attempting to create. His version of the ritual requires four objects, each tied to aspects of Eldath, the goddess of peace and calm waters. He chose to use a nymph cloak - related to her past as a water nymph or spirit, a unicorn horn, representing her ability to purify water, a scrying bowl already dedicated to Eldath's power, and he was looking for an object of blessed silver, representing her divine goodness. There were also notes looking for suitable alternatives, such as a particular coin of a fey monarch. Albrek was empowering the ritual with a series of wizard spells: Calm emotions, water breathing, watery sphere. If we wished to do the ritual ourselves, we would need the help of a wizard.
We took his books for a more thorough study, and realise that even with precautions, the bad aura Anathema sensed from the horn has already taken hold on us, once we claimed ownership of the cursed rod of the unicorn. As we left the mirror we could hear the sounds of fighting outside, so we stowed the horn back inside the mirror, then went to the courtyard where we saw a full scale assault underway by Glasstaff and a small horde of zombies.
Either through luck or careful strategy, we managed to whittle down Albrek's zombies without allowing him to raise more, and were able to concentrate our attacks on him.
Next: Albrek Strikes Back