"Onmund," he says, resolutely not looking at Gav.

"And the two of you are from beyond the Void, you say? That's fascinating," says the old man.

("That's Tolfdir, Master Wizard of Alteration," Ruby whispers to Herod and Gav.)

Smile.

Herod nods minutely at Ruby. "Yes, Sir. Or at least that sounds like the case, Gav and I got hit by a teleportation accident, which landed us here."

"Truly fascinating..."

Ruby clears his throat. "Any particular reason you guys are all here, now?"

"—ah, yes, indeed. Brelyna detected a powerful seal deep in the ruins and we have been following its signature. It should be beyond that hallway."

"I hope it's okay if we come along and take a look as well?"

"Of course, of course, having more eyes on whatever phenomenon we are about to witness can only help."

Safety conscious, Tolfdir is not.

Ruby's explanation that the silly puzzle was probably to keep draugr out from wherever they're going is borne out by how there are no more draugr from that point on.

Until, that is, they reach the obvious destination.

The platform they find themselves on overlooks a truly enormous chamber, standing a good four stories tall. In the center, a sphere that almost screams "magic" at them floats above a glowing platform, standing twice as tall as a man, both of them covered in blue runes. A faint blue light barrier surrounds them, and in front of it is a throne made of stone.

Sitting on the throne is a draugr, one who also looks painfully magical to anyone with the tiniest amount of sensitivity. And once the group's walked in, his eyes start glowing blue and he looks up at them, rictus grin all the more macabre under those eyes.

Tolfdir is Gav's kind of guy! The chamber is not exactly pretty, but he can appreciate the aesthetics.

He can also wave at the creepy zombie dude, macabre or not. No point in letting your enemies get in the way of your good spirits.

Herod puts Gav's hand down. He is looking at the entire thing with a fraction of his halo up, but doesn't expect to understand the extremely foreign magic at a glance. Hopefully, killing the draugr won't somehow destroy the thing. Since, he is obviously some kind of guardian? Maybe even the owner? And Herod thinks they will likely have to kill him a second time.

"Oh, dear," says Tolfdir as the draugr pulls himself up and starts slowly making his way towards the stairs up to them.

"I don't suppose we could resolve our differences with conversation and diplomacy?" Ruby suggests.

The draugr looks up at him...

...takes a deep breath...

"Fuus... ro DAH!" he yells, and from his mouth comes a wall of unrelenting force in their direction, knocking the five mages clear off their feet.

The angels manage to leap before the wave hits. "Quick-Dispel!" Herod shouts back. It doesn't stop the wave, but it dulls the impact.

They get knocked to the wall, and would almost fall, but Gav holds Herod and exclaims. "Strong Grip!" His hands bulge and vein, to hold tight to the stone.

The mages are quickly jumping back to their feet and almost in unison summoning semi-visible Wards to try to prevent this unreasonably powerful draugr from advancing too much.

It... slows him down, kind of.

But, well, he's a zombie, and if there's one thing Onmund can do to zombies it is burn them.

Which... does jack shit, actually. He's not even shrugging it off, he's just not being at all damaged by the fire, or by Brelyna and Ruby's anti-undead magic, or by J'zargo's Conjured arrows.

    "He is connected to the sphere!" Tolfdir realises, out loud. "We must sever the connection."

"Does it mean it's safe to hit?" Gav says already leaping towards the thing.

Herod's halo flares into existence. Noticeably stronger than before, and for a moment it's hard to believe he is in battle rather than in the middle of a study trying to work out a complicated theoretical problem.

Well, he is trying to work out the flows of magic between the Boss Zombie and the magical sphere, and if there is a weak point to directly aim his anti-magic.

The magic doesn't seem to have any weak points; it's solid throughout.

Tolfdir dodges the draugr and rushes past him, down the stairs and towards the huge sphere. "Keep him occupied! I'll sever his connection!"

Ruby looks at Herod and says, "Help him, your magic can probably speed that up!"

"On it." He joins the older wizard. "Can you give me a general sense of what you are doing so we don't stay in each other's way?" Herod asks the wizard. "I should be able to help out either way."