Ghosts of the Past

After destroying the tavern, we moved on to the church after resting for a while back in Kahla's tavern. Inside, Noelani could hear a creature speaking in a strange language, talking about protecting a sigil. As we slowly crept in, Kahla and Cordelia went around the backside of the church in order to see if they could find a way in. Aerilyn began to investigate the tower as the rest of snuck between the pews, trying to stay low. The church was decimated, with rubble all over the floor. As Urthan rounded a corner, he stumbled across the abomination. It was a large undead being, floating, a great big eye in the middle of a skull. Urthan barely had a chance before almost turning into dust from the creature's first attack. I barely saved him with some healing magic, and the battle became a blur. I took cover in a corner and every time I re-entered the fray it felt like someone else was dying. It was almost like watching the fight in quick pictures: Kahla and Cordelia jumping through a window, K and Urthan almost fading into dust, Borris looking worse and worse... Finally, Kahla launched himself into the air and began to pull on the massive eye, eventually tearing it out through brute strength! This ended the battle, but the eye continued to struggle and cause damage. Kahla, Borris, and Urthan all jumped onto the eye, trying to keep it down while we investigated the sigil. It was made of cursed blood, we found out after some investigation. The center was made of innocent blood, making me believe that a child was sacrificed. We eventually realized that the sigil was a portal, but we couldn't figure out where it led to. Deciding it was too dangerous, I was allowed to pour holy water onto the glyphs, erasing the cursed blood. I was surprised when a burst of energy was released when the holy water was poured on the blood of the innocent. I will for sure make note of that in the future.
After the battle, the group decided to keep the eye to pay off Borris's debt to the enchanter, who gladly cleared him of the labor once we turned in the dangerous orb. We decided to rest before moving on to the rest of the village. There wasn't much left, but we did discover an enchanters building that was destroyed, where Kahla walked in and almost got gassed to death. Borris rescued him, but it was a close call. We also found an alchemist's table and book. Next, we entered a general store where we found frozen bodies next to a copper ball. We think it was used to freeze them, which is chilling... Also, some clothes were found near a house in the snow, as well as a fresh flower. At this point, Borris dropped some news on us that none of us were expecting: He was once a true garden gnome. After being brought to life by a wizard after serving his family for some time, he lived with the wizard to learn about the world and to get used to his new life. The wizard's name was Eras Phophior. Eventually, Borris came back to the town to find it burned to the ground and decided to wander the world for his purpose. After explaining this to us, Borris explained that the wizard was gifted in using magic on flowers or even transmutating things into flowers. The flower could even be the wizard himself! After trying all sorts of spells on it, we eventually gave up and put it into the furnace, only for it to suddenly grow two flowers!
 
I'm not sure what to think now that I've found out my best friend is really a gnome. I don't know whether it's sad or awesome; maybe both? I hope we find the wizard later so I can ask him why he did this.