The Dead of Winter RPG Campaign Journal

Session I - Slavery Awaits (2001-05-01)

It had not been a good day for Radagast.

The opportunity to be on his own, to rely on his own wits and skills had finally led him to apply for the job of a caravan guard. It had seemed easy enough, since there were other, more seasoned guards going along. And it was an opportunity to get away from his nagging parents, and especially away from the eyes of the wizard school teachers. The only person he missed was the old man that had thought him how to fight (every moment Radagast could sneak out from the wizard school or his parent's house).

Everything was going more or less planned on their way from the Republic of Capernaum to Durenheim, until about three days until the destination. Huge, muscular men had attacked the caravan without warning. Garm, the guard captain, had ordered defense, but the guard was defeated. Much to his chargin, Radagast was knocked unconscious in the first moments of the fight.

When Radagast came about, everything was finished. Garm, who had taken quite a beating, explained what had happened. The Iron Claw orcs had looted the caravan, and were taking Garm and Radagast to sell them into slavery.

The orcs met with another band of orcs, who were also trailing captives in chains. After a brief discussion and exchange of barter the captives were all chained together. Grishnak, the owner of five human prisoners, continued marching towards his destination. The new prisoners were captured in a village raid. There was Drik the priest, a shepherd named Cole and a young maiden named Aravis.

Drik, who knew the orc language, tried to ask some questions from the guards, and found out they were headed towards the Broken Fang Hill meeting place. He also got a punch from the guard, and an order to shut up.

Finally the orcs made camp. The captives were chained into a tree, and a guard was placed near them. The rest of the orcs ate, and threw the remains to their 'guests'. Radagast cursed his cold fingers when he couldn't catch the snack. It is surpising what one will do for food, even though there is no telling what the food actually is...

Before going to sleep, Drik tried to talk the shepherd into breaking the chains so they could escape. Unfortunately the orc guard heard them, and spoke in North Speak showing that he could understand what they were saying.

Drik was first to wake up, being used to praying for his spells in the morning. It looked like all of the orcs might be asleed, so he woke up his companions. Some desperate escape plans were discussed, but it looked bleak: Radagast was able to cast only magic missile since the orcs had taken his spellbook, and Drik had only Magic Stone spell available for offensive. They were going to take their changes, but realized it would be a good thing to break out from the chain first. Radagast tried, but the chain didn't give even a little. That was enough to wake the orc guard, so their attempts were foiled.

After brief breakfast (this time Radagast actually managed to catch a piece of bone and gnaw it for nourishment, even though someone pointed out that it could be part of someone he had known - it was simply impossible to tell what the stuff was).

The second day was much colder. It was tiresome to walk in the snow, and the wind did not make it any easier. Finally the wind was so strong that the humans simply could not walk anymore. Visibility was reduced to close to zero, and the prisoners were starting to suffer from frostbites.

Even the orcs seemed to have some disputes, since after the stop there was some yelling and screaming which ended up in a heavy thump. Drik quickly tried to take advantage of the situation and talk the nearest guard into challenging Grishnak. Seemed like the guard did respect, or at least fear, his leader since he simply grunted that he did not have a death wish. Drik then tried to convince him to team up with another guard, but they didn't buy that either. (Drik did had good ideas that might have turned into a possible escape, but the orcs seemed to be old foxes at the mind game.)

Grishnak came over, swiping his bloody sword. He didn't admit to any problems, but stated that Spitznaz was dead. Drik pointed out that the humans were freezing and they would be no good to the orcs dead. Grishnak muttered about weaklings but he was not stupid, and dug out some great looking furs from the caravan loot. That helped.

After a while the wind died down, and the band got moving again.

Early afternoon they were challenged by another band of orcs. They seemed to be of different tribe, and from the looks of it both tribe members hated each other. The orcs were fighting like madmen, with foam coming from their mouths. Drik yelled to the leader of the new orcs that if they released the humans Drik would help them. That got a brief response (what can one expect from a madman, after all), but it was too good an opportunity to pass, so Radagast tried to trip the guard who was holding all of the prisoners in a chain. The orc was stronger, however, and it was Radagast who ended up on his back in the snow. The orc swung his morning star, but missed.

The newcomers were slowly gaining the upper hand in the fight. There were weapons lying around, released by the dead or the dying orcs, and Cole grabbed a hand axe and started chopping at the chain. Drik found a bastard sword he handed to Garm. Radagast managed to get on his feet just in time to dodge the guard falling to the ground, dead. Radagast grabbed the guards dagger and cut away the belt that held the iron chain. While Cole and Garm were busy hacking the chain, Radagast cast Mage Armor at himself in preparation for combat. However, Drik convinced him that even though it seemed like there would only be three orcs left standing after the fight, they looked like they would be able to kill all of the humans without trouble. Garm had finally cut the first loop of chain freeing Radagast, the humans started running away.

Krag, the Black Sword orc warband leader asked where the humans thought they were going, but did not pursue. In fact, the orcs treated their wounded. This was enough to convince Radagast, Drik and the other humans that these orcs might be their best change to get back to civilization.

Drik offered to heal the wounded orcs in exchange of guidance to the nearest human settlement. The orcs accepted, and Drik did his magic. Surpisingly the orc leader wanted his men to be treated first! Because Drik did not have enough spells to heal all the bad wounds, the motley crew spent the night together (first moving further away from Iron Claw tribe's area). In the morning Drik healed the rest of the orcs, which then accompanied the humans close to the village of Cador.

The town guards let the robbed people in without tax (explaining that the town sheriff would pay the tax for them). Everyone walked right away to the sheriff and explained what had happened. Aelric the sheriff agreed that the Black Sword orcs had kept their end of the bargain very well. In exchange for not robbing the human caravans they got to trade. Garm decided to join the town guard because he did not want to go back and explain how he had lost the caravan and all the goods. The sheriff arranged for a horse patrol to take the girl and everyone who wanted to the girl's own village. Drik and Radagast also intended to go, but while shopping for new gear (the general store owner had paid 70 gold for each fur outfit) Radagast had made an interesting found. After seeing some books in the shop he started searching in earnest for a spellbook. Call it luck or something, but after casting Read Magic he finally noticed something interesting about one book. It turned out to be an apprentice level spellbook. Radagast was so happy he had completely forgotten the shopkeeper was there with him, until the man pointed out that Rada was not looking just for any kind of book, but a spellbook. Sheepishly Radagast had to admit the fact (he usually tried to hide the fact that he was a wizard, he much more preferred people thinking him as a fighter).

© Glyn Dewey 1995

Luckily for Radagast, Cordwellyn had something he wanted more than money so they made a deal: Radagast could get the book for 10 gold if he could identify the properties of a certain sword. After talking to Aravis he and Drik decided to stay to work for the book, since Aravis made it obvious she did not regard them as great heros - hence it would have been unlikely to get a reward from Aravis' father. The spellbook, on the other hand, could fetch a small profit once it could be sold (i.e. once Radagast got a better one).

So Radagast set to work. The new spellbook seemed to have been made for an idiot, which was a good thing since Radagast had skipped quite a few classes of Spellcraft in wizard school. But as luck has it, he managed to understand everything in the apprentice book which also included the Identify spell. Casting the spell gave Radagast quite a chill: he learned that the sword was quite powerful, but it also seemed to suck Radagast's life force. He even forgot a spell he had memorized! Luckily the effect did not seem to cause any permanent damage to him. Cordwellyn seemed to be unaffected. Radagast told everything to him.

© Glyn Dewey 1992

Session II - Betrayed (2001-05-8)

Radagast and Drik were practically out of money after shopping for equipment and supplies. It was time to find something to do, soon, to get back on their feet financially. They headed for the sheriff's office.

Aelric was somewhat surprised to see them since he thought they had traveled with Aravis to her home village. But he was quickly musing over jobs that he would like to have done but did not have the men to do them. His first suggestion was to hunt down a manticore that was haunting Bjoric's land. Radagast and Drik hadheard rumors about such a beast, and decided it was too much for them.

Luckily Aelric had something else in store as well. He explained that Father Boris, the town priest, has had a vision of something bad happening to lord Khulven's nephew Allayn. Alain had just headed for an expedition to the Grove of Broken Swords to confer with the Black Sword orcs about trading. Aelric explained that it was probably nothing, they had only been gone for four days.

That seemed like a task Radagast and Drik could handle, so they queried more. They got the traveling instructions to the Grove of Broken Swords and a suggestion for guide. The Grove was in the Cursed Lands, after all, an area Radagast and Drik were unfamiliar with. Apparently the previous day an orc had arrived to the town and could be found in the Snortling Manticore Inn. Aelric also mentioned that Cordwellyn could give more detiled instructions on how to get to the Grove since he was trading with the orcs regularly.

At first Aelric was offering the regular pay of his deputies, five silver per day per man, which would have required the party to be sworn in as deputies and wearing the official guard cloak. Radagast and Drik were not happy about that, and wanted a regular mercenary contract. The contract effectively made the party a company, they would still get five silver a day but could wear whatever they wanted. In addition, the contract included rations for five days and winter cloathing. Aelric told his accountant Humphrey to draw up the contract. Radagast and Drik signed the contract for themselves and the orc, Hrun.

Radagast and Drik headed for the Snortling Manticore to meet the orc. As they entered, they saw a hugely musceled orc sleeping over a table (it was still morning). Radagast bought a pint of beer and placed it quietly on the table.

The orc woke up, but didn't seem to be in too bad a mood. In fact, after hearing him speak a little Radagast wondered if the orc could even think for himself. Hrun's sentences were sometimes hard to follow since he seemed to be leaving out all non-essential words. "Me Hrun, Broken Fist tribe," and slammed his right fist onto his heart, "Who you?"

After a little talk everyone ordered breakfast. Hrun did not like beer in the morning, so Radagast's money was wasted. Instead, Hrun ordered a steak. He also tried to flirt with the barmaid with expected results (what do you recon a human girl will say to an ugly, nearly imbesil, smelly piece of non-human?). He was strong allright (stronger than any human could ever hope to be with arms almost as thick as Radagast's waist), but that did not sway the head of that girl. It might have helped if Hrun was rich, but it was apparent he was also desperately in need of cash after fishing out three pieces of gold from his boot (his tribe had strict orders of which boot to use).

After explaining the situation to Hrun the party headed towards Cordwellyn's shop. Cordwellyn said he had just the right guide for the party, Venya. He instructed Venya out of the hearing of the party (even though Radagast tried to listen in), which was lightly curious. The next task was negotiating pay for Venya. It was agreed (Hrun turned out to be a sharp businessman!) that they would pay Venya two gold for the trip, or nine gold if there was fighting. Hrun added some conditions, like that Venya would not get a part of any loot and that he had to carry "stuff" or get nothing. Venya agreed. It was decided that they would leave the following morning.

Drik found a sleeping spot in the stables, Radagast rent a room at the Snortling Manticore for two gold a night, and Hrun spent the night in the bar. Again his attempts to seduce the barmaid did not proceed to anything, unless you count being slapped on the face progress.

In the morning they started walking along the river towards the Grove. They had made good progress until the wind started picking up, and it became apparent that they needed shelter, and soon. Hrun turned out to be invaluable: he built an "orcglu" from the snow, which provided good cover from the raging storm.

Hrun seemed to be at home in the wilderness, trying to find food as the party travelled onwards. He actually found some kind of nest with big black beetles that he claimed were delicious. Perhaps there is some subtle difference between the delicacies of human and orcish food since nobody wanted to try the beetles after seeing how green goo burst from a beetle as Hrun bit into it, the goo dripping down his chin and clothes. After stopping for the night Venya told that the destination was only one and a half days march away.

During the night, while it was Hrun's turn to keep watch, he heard some rustling in the bushes. He immediately yelled to wake everyone up, and run towards the sound. He found there was a group of Iron Claw orcs trying to sneak into the camp. Hrun challenged the leader into a duel. After a brief banter of insults and recital of origins the Iron Claw warband leader and Hrun went head to head. The leader was armed with a halberd, while Hrun had a huge greatword. The leader managed to hit first, missing Hrun. Hrun was first going to hit with the sword but changed his mind and tried a fist punch instead. He also missed. The leader got an attack of opportunity, and got a nasty hit at Hrun who seemed really surpised that somebody could hurt him so bad. That also stopped Hrun from playing around, and he swung his greatsword in a mighty arc nearly cutting the other orc in half. He was dead before he hit the ground. That must have surpised the rest of the Iron Claw orcs who quicly retreated.

Hrun did the ceremonial orc looting and stuck the halbed through the chest of the orc to point upwards towards his gods. That is an orcish way to show respect. The leader had died in an honorable duel. While Drik wanted to share the money Hrun had none of it. He just said it was a fair duel, and honorable orchish looting and that was it, even though Drik healed some of Hrun's wounds and explained that this is how they all participated, instead of just Hrun. There are just some things you do not argue with a mountain of muscle armed with a sword as long as yourself!

Now Venya was claiming that the incident counted as a fight and that he was now entitled to the raised pay. Hrun did not like that at all, and tried his best to make Venya break the contract. He said Venya must carry stuff, and he wanted Venya to carry the body of the dead orc. Venya explained that a dead orc is not "stuff", which lead him and Hrun into a long debate of what is "stuff" and what is not. Eventually they settled onto Venya carrying at least anything that had not once lived, and making decisions on a situational basis.

The next day Drik promised to heal Hrun some more if he would take a bath (Hrun was basically covered in blood and intestines). So Hrun stripped of his clothing and plunged into the ice cold river. Luckily for him it was quite shallow so he got away easily. It was unclear whether he could swim or not... "One of these days the impulsive nature and stupidity will get him into big trouble," were Radagast's thoughts.

During the day Hrun spotted a boar by the river bench. Everybody else wanted fresh meat except Drik. He wanted the boar to be left alone. Before he could argue his points Hrun had tried to explain that it would be a fair fight, the boar would have its change since Hrun was not using a bow. Since that did not seem to convince Drik, Hrun said he's was going to give the boar even a better change and charged the boar bare handed, dropping his sword at the feet of Drik. Everybody was somewhat stupefied by his actions, probably including the boar.

It became quite obvious that Hrun had met his match, since the boar was goring Hrun before he could get a good grip or punch. Even though Drik did not want to have the boar killed in the first place, he was the first to go and help Hrun. Drik attacked the boar with his battle axe, leaving his bow to Radagast, and yelling to Venya to grab Hrun's sword.

Radagast was trying to find an opening for a good shot, since Hrun might have objected to an arrow to the back of his head. Drik was slowly chopping the boar to pieces, and even Hrun had drawn an axe and a dagger after seeing Drik attack with a weapon (Venya was standing aside, holding the greatsword). Finally Radagast gave up and joined the melee with his longsword, but only managed to tangle it in the trees. Drik finished the boar with his axe. At that point Hrun, who seemed to be in some kind of rage during the fight, dropped to the ground exhausted. As soon as he was able to he dragged himself to a spot suitable for camping and fell asleep.

Venya and Radagast cooked the meat over the fire, and Radagast used a cantrip to spice up the meal.

The previous night Hrun had asked what was the preferable way to wake up a human to his guard duty. Much to his disappointment it was not the usual kick or a punch he was used to, but shaking up was preferred. So he had woken Radagast by holding him in the air and shaking him so hard Radagast's teeth were making loud noises. Now that it was Radagast's turn to wake up Hrun he felt it would be good to wake Hrun in the manner he wanted. So Radagast gave him a kick in the ribs and left Hrun wondering to himself how the boars in this area tasted so funny... He thanked his gods for good health, unaware that Drik had healed him while he slept.

The next day, when the Grove was already seen far away, they were attacked by a group of six bandits. Everbody was hit by crossbow bolts before the bandits charged. Radagast cast Mage Armor, but was immediately hit by a bandit sword and he fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding. Drik made a heroic move and cast a healing spell at Radagast, immediately brining him about. Drik was really lucky that he was not hit, there were five bandits who had a chance. After the initial shock Radagast dropped one bandit dead by a swing of his sword, while Hrun and Drik finished another three. The remaining two started running away. Being pissed off Radagast tried to stop one by casting Magic Missile at the feeling man, but it was not enough. Drik tried to throw the other feeling bandit with Magic Stones, but missed. Then the bandits disappeared into the woods.

After the fight Radagast was the first to notice that Venya had disappeared. It all became clear now: Cordwellyn was behind everything, and him being evil the evil magical sword in his possession did him no harm. The party looted the bandits and retreated into the woods to gather strength during the night.

During the night they heard the sounds of wolves. They also heard some large flying creature attacking the wolves that were eating the corpses of the bandits. This they found out in the morning when they returned to the place of the ambush and continued their journey towards the Grove.

The scene that awaited them at the Grove was not at all something they had expected, much less hoped for. There were bodies, half buried in the snow. They counted three dead orcs and five humans. It seemed like nobody had bothered to collect the gear of the deceased since they found a bunch of swords, coins and other personal items. One of the swords was strange, with black blade. Radagast cast Detect Magic at the scene but did not discover anything magical. Drik found a letter from one human, which he hoped would help identify the people. All of the humans wore the crest of lord Khulven. One crest had a slash accross it, which might mean the carrier could be lord Khulven's nephew.

Before they were able to investigate further, a band of orcs rode up to the clearing on some unidentifiable scaly beasts (the Cursed Lands produces all kinds of weird creatures). The newcomers did not attack, but started asking questions; who were they, what were they doing there, why were they stealing their comrade's belongings, and most of all, what did they know about the attack. Radagast et. al. did not know much, but explained what they knew. The orc leader, who turned out be Krag, explained that it was their ambassador who was killed. He also stated that the black sword, "bone of a dragon", could only be wielded by a Black Sword orc and that all orc belongings must be returned at once.

Krag wanted everybody to follow him to his camp to straighten things out.

The camp turned out to be pretty well fortified, with wooden stockades, gates and all. As they entered the camp, horns were blown and everyone gathered at the center of the camp.

An old orc was carried on a litter to address the humans and Hrun. He asked what Hrun was doing with humans, and where he was from. Hrun explained things in his customary terse vocabulary, adding that he had come to challenge the mightiest Black Sword orc to battle for honor, but he would wait since the Black Orcs had suffered a loss with the death of their ambassador. Hrun also told about the ambush and betrayal of Venya, and that Hrun and his companions had nothing to do with the killing at the Grove.

The old orc seemed satisfied, and said Hrun's words had a ring of truth to them. They would need to wait a little while their fate was decided. The party was ushered to a cabin with two orc guards, one at least ten feet tall! Nevertheless Hrun boasted he could best the guard, even if Hrun was killed (sometimes his orc logic did not make sense). They did not have to wait too long to be summoned back.

The old orc explained that they would have to pass a test, and if they were successful their word would be trusted. Krag lead the party half a day from the camp to an entrace to a cave. He called it the Path of the Dead. The entrace was a hole in a cliff wall, and the wind made howling noises as it rushed in through the opening, spilling snow inside.

While Radagast, Drik and Hrun were pondering their fate (or who knows about Hrun, he might have been thinking about his delicious black beetles), Krag motioned for Radagast to have a private talk with him.

Krag gave Radagast a hard stare, and said that Radagast had not been totally honest in their last meeting. He dug up a book from his pack. Radagast's hopes, and feares, soared up - it was his old spellbook. "You are a wizard, are you not?" Krag asked. Radagast admitted. Radagast asked if Krag would be willingt to sell the book back to Radagast. Krag asked if it was true that there were schools in human cities where the gifted could study to control their extraordinary abilities and learn more about them. Radagast told him this was true. "very well, I have a younger bother who has the gift," Krag told, "and I want you to teach him to control his gift." Radagast was taken by surpise. He felt desperate - it would take years to teach someone to become a wizard. He tried to explain this to Krag, that Radagast could perhaps visit the camp every now and then to teach Krag's brother but he could not stay for the complete duration. Krag again surpised Radagast. "I want my bother to travel with you, to learn from you," he said. To this Radagast had no objectsions, if his companions would accept the deal. As it happened, he also had the perfect apprentice spellbook at hand, bought from Cordwellyn.

Later Radagast couldn't help but think: "What irony! I was the worst student in my wizard school, yet here I am becoming a wizard teacher myself!"

Session III - The Paths of the Dead (2000-05-15)

As the afternoon was slowly darkening into dusk, Drik suggested to postpone climbing to the cave until the morning. He also offered to heal Krag's warriors in the evening in case they got injured hunting for food. Krag would have preferred the healing spells in the morning but finally agreed.

The next morning Hrun eagerly tried to climb to the cave entrace using some vines growing here and there on the slope. Perhaps Hrun had had too much to eat for breakfast because one vine broke free, and Hrun landed on his considerable behind much to the amusement of everybody else.

Radagast took the rope and hook from Drik, and threw it in perfect throw inside the cave mouth. He then promptly climbed the rope up to the cave without any problems. After checking that the hook was really secured he motioned for the others to climb up. Ulf (the new orc apprentice to Radagast) and Hrun seemed to have some problems, both falling once until they finally seemed to get the hang of it.

The cave was formed from sandstone, the surfaces covered with snow and ice glittering in the dim light. Drik lighted a torch, which illuminated some orc bones scattered about. There were stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and stalagmites and broken pieces of stone on the floor.

The first cave contained a shrine with a statue. The statue seemed to have been altered quite recently. The original statue was probably depicting Aries, but the new look was that of the Celestial Archer. Two unlit candles were on both sides of the shrine.

Ulf told the group that only the village elder had walked the complete Paths of the Dead after the Battle of the Broken Hills. Ulf and Hrun did their worship at the shrine, even though it was a bit unclear why Hrun worshipped the wrong god. Radagast pointed out that he did not worship any gods, which got a remark from Ulf. "Foolishness." Before continuing to the second cave, Radagast blew out the candles so they would be available for the next visitor. The first cave had also entrace to another tunnel which they decided to investigate later.

The second cave entrace had some strange glyphs in the ceiling before the actual cave. Radagast tried to make sense of them but could not read them no matter how hard he tried. Hrun touched the glyphs when passing into the second cave.

Before having a chance to explore further, four dead orcs on the floor slowly stood upright and attacked! Radagast cast Mage Armor. Ulf hit one zombie orc, and Drik finished the wounded undead. Ulf and Hrun were hit, but not too seriously. Radagast managed to land a blow on one zombie, but it was not enough to kill it. Ulf hit his opponents twice, before gathering all his strength for a massive strike which cut his opponent neatly in two pieces. Meanwhile everyone else was just dodging blows and hitting thin air. Finally Hrun got his act together and finished the remaining zombie.

Search of the bodies and cave produced one black dagger and nine silver pieces. Ulf took the dagger as it was sacred to his clan. In the farthest end of the cave there was a hole about three feet wide, with slipperly looking slope. Drik tied his rope to a stalagmite and the party carefully climbed down, Hrun first as usual. He was starting to catch up to the comments from Ulf, who usually mentioned some about Hrun being a coward and not having the courage to do this or that...

The slope lead about 45 feet into a smallish circular chamber which was very high. Before having a change to do anything else, two spiders attacked Hrun and Ulf! Hrun did an amazing move to shurg off the spider, but Ulf was not as lucky - the spider grabbed onto him. Before the ugly arachnid could sink its teeth into Ulf, Ulf grabbed the create into his powerful hands and threw the spider accross the room right into a sharp stalactice, thereby killing the vermin.

The spider that Hrun dropped to the ground got lucky and bit Drik. Drik could feel it injected some kind of poison into him. Drik quikcly smashed his axe into the spider splitting spider intestines all over.

They got a brief look at the cave, which seemed to have several bodies that were sucked dry of blood, presumably by the spiders. There were also webs everywhere. Radagast was the first to notice some movement in the webs above their heads, and shouted a warning while backing up into the narrow tunnel they had come from.

Three more spiders attacked. Drik was obsuring Radagast's view into the spider cave so Radagast cast a Magic Missile into the nearest spider, which didn't seem to slow down the spider at all. Both Ulf and Hrun killed spiders in one hit, but again Drik was the victim of a nasty spider bite. Perhaps raged by the second bite Drik also took a clean shot at the remaining spider, joining its spider heart with the others in spider heaven.

Drik started to feel the effects of the poison, losing some of his strength. He stuffed one spider carcass into his backpack in the hopes that the orc camp might have a shaman who could cure the poison.

Search of the cave floor produced a scroll case. Radagast decided to climb up to see if there might be something interesting obscured by the webs. The party decided against burning the webs. After a first failed attempt Radagast managed to climb 20 feet, after which he saw a ledge some 10 feets away. He managed to climb onto the ledge succesfully, after yelling to Hrun to be ready to catch him in case he fell.

On the ledge there seemed to be two cocoon-like objects, covered in webs. Radagast carefully sliced open the smaller one with the tip of his longsword. Small spiders burst out and scattered into the webs above. This got Radagast feeling a little scared, so he lighted up a torch as an additional precaution. Torch in left hand he cut open the bigger cocoon. A dead orc rolled out. Radagast peered carefully to see if the body moved. After being satisfied it was dead he decided to climb down. Unfortunately his grip slipped, and he fell all the 30 feet to the cave floor. But Radagast knew how to fall, so he was able to roll to absorb some of the damage. Nevertheless, it hurt!

After Drik healed Radagast's bruises, Radagast cast Detect Magic to investigate the scroll. It was indeed magical. Radagast tried to read the scroll, but could not understand anything, except that it was magical. So he gave the scroll to Drik to give it a try. Drik was able to understand it without problems. The scroll contained three spells: Delayed Poison, Divine Favor and Command. Drik quickly cast Delayed Poison at himself.

Although Drik wanted to return back to the waiting orcs, Hrun pointed out that they had to walk the Paths of the Dead or else their word would not be believed, and they would be even in a worse situation than they now were. Drik was not too happy to realize this, he apparently thought he was already dead from the spider poison. As there didn't seem to be anything else to do, they decided to try and pass the caves as quickly as possible.

They couldn't find anything else in the spider cavern, and climbed back into the second cave, and continued all the way back to the entrance cave and took the tunnel they had not yet explored. The tunnel opened shortly into a huge cavern. Near the far wall there seemed to be a skeleton of a huge serpentine creature, only icy bones left half buried into the cave floor.

They heard the a swooshing sound, and a swarm of 12 bat-like creates with mosquito-like heads attacked the party! While the stirges were closing in, the party dropped four of the foul creatures into eternal slumber. As the creates stucked their horrible blood sucking proboscis into the veins of the party members everyone fought furiously for their lives. Radagast, Hrun and Ulf instantly killed the creatures attached to them, but Drik's hit was too feeble to knock the stirge off and it sucked long and hard. Drik felt weak, but continued to to fight. Hrun also felt his orc blood being sucked out of his body by another stirge. One more creature managed to latch onto Radagast, while Ulf and Hrun each killed one sucker. Drik was also hit again. Ulf then dispatched of the stirge attached to Drik. Hrun also killed one more, but Radagast almost lost consciusness and could barely stay on his feet as the stirge attached to him sucked his blood! Finally the last of the stirges was on the ground, and Ulf made sure they all stay dead.

At the end of the cave they found some holes leading down. After tying a rope to the large skeleton they climbed down. When it was Ulf's turn the rope untied itself and Ulf fell to the floor. He was not badly hurt, which he proved by making the near impossible feat of throwing the rope back up to Radagast who was the last to climb down. Radagast tied the rope again and climbed down without an incident.

Next they walked into a deep cavern that had a bridge crossing over it. They did not trust the bridge to carry them all, so they tied two ropes together. Hrun would pass first, and Ulf would keep the second end of the rope so there would be something for Radagast and Drik to hold on in case the bridge fell. As Hrun was a few feet into the bridge, Radagast saw something dark plunging down from above. He quickly shouted to Hrun to come back!

Some dark flying thing barely missed Hrun, and the next thing they realized was it was pitch black! Even the orcs could not see a thing. Drik cast Light onto his axe, but still eveything was surrounded by darkness. The others then heard Hrun yell, and start grunting. Ulf asked if that was normal of Hrun, but Drik said that was most unusual. Next thing Drik did was yell and start grunting as some flying leathery thing smashed into him and wrapped its wings around him and started squeezing. Ulf tried to help Drik, but grabbed dirt. Radagast homed in on the sound, and grabbed what felt like a giant bat off of Drik. Drik stabbed the creature with his dagger, and it stopped moving. Radagast dropped it into the ground and stomped on it a few times just to make sure.

Another "Swoosh!" and a new bat slammed into Drik, hard. This time Ulf managed to grab the creature away from Drik. Ulf tried first to rip the creature apart, but it seemed it was a strong critter. Next Ulf surpised everyone by sinking his big orc teeth into the bat, biting off a big chunk of skin, fur and bad tasting blood! Radagast tried to hit the creature Ulf was holding, but missed twice in the dark. In frustration he yelled to Ulf to hold still, which seemed to help for he finally sunk his dagger into something living. The create went still in Ulfs hands.

Finally the darkness lifted, and they could see the giant bats that had attacked them. They put their bridge crossing plan into action and were soon on the other side. Again there was a three foot hole in the ground, and again they climbed down, one after the other, this time without an incident.

As Hrun was crossing the next chamber, the floor suddenly gave away under him! Only the rope tied to the rest of the party held him from plunging down to the bottom. Radagast was next on the rope, but Hrun's weight made him also loose balance, and Drik also fell behind of him. Ulf, the last bastion of hope also fell down and started sliding towards the whole where everybody else has disappeared. Finally he managed to grab onto something at the edge of the whole. Drik managed to grab a protrusion while hanging from the rope. Following his advice Radagast did the same. Next Hrun climbed up to Radagast. Radagast's first try to also climb failed, but he managed to grab a wall to stop his fall. Finally, one after the other, everyone was on solid ground.

The floor in the chamber appeared to be only a couple of inches thick. Radagast, who was the lightest, left his gear to the others, and with rope around him tried to crawl by the wall on the left past the cave. Just when the floor was about to give in the others yanked him back. Next he tried on the right, and passed. Others quickly followed.

Once again there was a hole in the ground, and they descended again. This time they found themselves in a musty tunnel only about five feet wide. Hrun lead the way. Soon they came to an intersection, and took the left turn that spiraled downwards. The tunnel opened into a smallish cave with a pool of water near the entrace, and an orc skeleton in the middle.

Ulf felt brave and decided to investigate. Keeping his eyes open he approached the skeleton. He thoroughly searched it. He found a sack with some gold pieces and rotten food and rope. The skeleton had a ring in a finger, which he picked up, and a black sword, which he took as well. Next he circled the room looking for anything else, but did not find anything. Radagast was feeling really nervous and asked if Ulf was feeling lucky. Apparently he was, because next thing Ulf was approach the water. Standing five feet back, he threw a rock into the pool. Nothing happened. Ulf came closer and peered into the water. Still nothing happened. Ulf wanted Hrun to jump into the pool, but Hrun declined. Instead Hrun put his finger into the pool. "Warm," he said. That seemed to satisy everybody's interest, and the party returned back to the intersection.

Walking a short while they found out that the way was blocked. There was a stone door covered with runes at the end of the corridor. Hrun tried first kicking the door down, with no luck. Radagast tried to listen, but did not hear anything unusual.

Radagast suggested Ulf try reading the runes, but the boy did not feel convinced about his abilities. Dreading the moment Radagast peered at the runes. He was able to make sense of them, and he read aloud for the other's benefit:

Ulf said, in Orcish, "The answer is wisdom." The door becomame transparent, showing a view into a cozy little hut. "Damn, that boy is smarter than I though," mused Radagast. Ulf passed, and the door turned back into stone. One after the other they repeated the words and passed, until only Radagast was left. He did not speak Orcish, so he just tried mimicing what the others had said. The door turned transparent, and he passed.

Radagast arrived into a small hut with the others. There was a fire burning in a fireplace, a composite longbow hanging on a wall, along with the usual things one would find in a cozy little hut. Suddenly a man materialized before their eyes, and greeted them. He said he would answer one question for each of them.

Drik introduced himself, and asked: "What is my destiny?"

The man replied: "The doom of all men is to die and then to face judgement." He smiled. "But that is not what you asked. You have been chosen to protect those who come seeking the light. You have also been chosen to prevent the corrupter of bodies from manifesting in Waymarch. More I shall not say for in so doing, I would increase the standard by which you shall be weighed. Chosen of Guthorm, you have been equipped for your tasks. Your destiny lies before you and it is yours to accomplish your calling or fall in the attempt." After a pause he continued: "Should you wish to learn more, you must seek your answers beneath the Shaman's crown, for it is not my place to reveal them to you at this time."

Then Drik vanished. Hrun introduced himself, and asked: "How Hrun impress Humie women?"

"To be loved, one must first be lovable. It is your blessing and your curse to be simple. The sophisticated lies and veneers which smooth faced men employ to deceive women are beyond you. So, yours must be true honor, real wisdom, and genuine righteousness. Purify your mind, but do not neglect to cleanse your body if you seek to attract a woman who will be a blessing to you and not a curse." was the reply he got.

Hrun also vanished. Ulf: "How might the tensions between my people and the Highlanders best be resolved?"

-"This is a hard task which you have chosen - indeed it is difficult beyond the measure of any man. But it is not your destiny to accomplish this task alone."

-"Know that there can be no forgiveness without repentance. Know that your dreams will not be realized until the light that was lost is once again restored. Know that this light will come first to your people for though they never had the light, they responded at the first rays of dawn. Know also that it is not the way of heaven to destroy the will of men. Therefore, the Highlanders as your people, are free to choose between death and life. Nevertheless peace will come to your peoples, if only to a remnant."

-"Your part in this will be to stand at the crossroads and point the way to life. The path before you will demand patience and involve much suffering - perhaps even death - but if you stand fast until the end, you will see the fruit of your labors."

When Ulf vanished, Radagast was feeling like a complete idiot. Hoewever, he introduced himself in North Speak and asked "How could I best combine my fighter and wizard skills to become a better and respect person?"

The man replied: "By hard work and continuous practice. And with these." The man made a gesture and Radagast's spellbook was suddenly floating beside him. The pages flipped fast to the first empty page, and Radagast saw the runes of magic appear for two new spells. Next thing he noticed he was back in the first cave of the Paths of the Dead with his companions.

The group climbed down without an incident to meet the waiting Krag. He examined them gravely, and then asked what they had seen at the end of the Paths of the Dead. Drik and Radagast answered they had seen a man. Hrun and Ulf insisted it was an orc. They also described what had happened. Krag agreed that they had passed the Paths of the Dead.

Drik got the dead spider from his backpack, and showed it to Krag. Drik asked if there was a healer who could heal him because the spider bit him and he was poisoned. Krag pointed out that they did not seem to be hurt. It was only at that point everybody realized they were healed of their wounds. To calm Drik down Krag also told that the spider was not too dangerous, and the venom probably had done its deed already. In fact, he said his son was bit by such a spider but he still lived.

While Drik was asking Krag questions about the situations at the Grove of the Broken Swords, Radagast was daydreaming about inventing a spell just like the one they had just experienced. It would have to be a combined teleport and heal spell. Or maybe it was just a hoax, and he had hypnotized them all. That would explain why the orcs and the humans saw different things, and it would have been easy to have them walk back to the first cave and be healed by someone else without them remembering. The spell to inscribe new spells to a spellbook was also neat. Radagast did not believe the man to be St. Maximus which was what Ulf thought he was.

Krag had only learned that the dead at the Grove were killed with crossbows, and the bolt were of human manufacture.

Krag lead the party back to the orc camp, where Ulf found the families of the orcs whose black dagger and sword he had brought back from the cave. Ulf gave the ring to Radagast.

Next day Radagast cast Detect Magic and learned that the ring was magical. That would be interesting to identify, and maybe dangerous, if Cordwellyn's sword was any indication of danger. He also learned that the new spells in his spellbook where Magic Weapon and Bull's Strength.

Session IV - To Shaman's Crown (2001-05-22)

The whole orc camp had gathered around the area of the chieftain's hut in anticipation for the fight between Hrun and their own champion, Broc. Hrun entered the ad hoc arena and started picking his teeth with his greatsword, obviously trying to impress the Black Sword orcs.

After a few minutes Broc walked through the crowds. He was an ogre! He banged his massive battleaxe on his shield, showing he was not afraid of a tiny little orc like Hrun.

Hrun seemed to have some sense to him, because he did not charge Broc outright. Instead, he slowly closed in, staying out of Broc's long reach. Broc commented Hrun for his cautious tactics, then took a quick step forward and landed two vicious blows in rapid succession before Hrun could react. Hrun was still standing, but obviously shocked of the fury of Broc's attack. Two ordinary men would have been killed by such an assault.

Hrun, seeing that he would win nothing by being cautious, gathered all his strength for a blow that would really hurt. His muscles on muscles rippled as he swung his greatsword in long arc. It contacted with Broc shield with a loud enough bang to carry several miles, and left a large dent on the shield. Broc's response was a bash with the shield, which left Hrun standing there for a few seconds with glazed eyes. Broc said Hrun was strong but foolish, and walked away. Hrun tried to still do something, but fell like a tree, unconscious.

The villagers murmured in disappointment. The whole fight had lasted about ten seconds from the first blow to the last. Obviously everybody thought the loud mouthed Broken Fist orc would have given more of a challenge to Broc. Now Black Sword orcs knew what "Broken" Fist meant.

Drik was pondering whether it would be ok to go and heal Hrun or if it would be considered inappropriate. Finally he decided to go and help. Some Black Sworc orcs come and took the still unconcious Hrun to rest in one of their huts.

Drik and Radagast noticed there were other humans in the crowd as well. Two men approached them. They introduced themselves as Bardia and Aeric. They said they were bringing message of a new vision from Father Boris. The vision they described had Alayn strapped into an altar, and while they described the place, Ulf recognized it. It was called Shaman's Crown, a hill with standing stones in the Iron Claw orc territory. It was west from the Black Sword camp.

Drik decided to go and see how Hrun was doing, and everybody else followed him. Drik woke Hrun up. "I'll promise to heal you if you promise not to do anything stupid," he said. It took some time trying to come up with an explanation of what is stupid and what is not. Ulf was obviously getting enough of Hrun's stupidity - or maybe he was just enjoying taunting Hrun when the poor sod couldn't even understand all the hidden insults Ulf was letting out. But the hint of Hrun's mother sleeping around seemed to light Hrun's fury, and he and Ulf got into a fist fight. While Drik was throwing his hands up in the air in disgust and preparing Hold Person spell, almost everyone else was couraging Hrun and Ulf to really have a whack at each other.

It would have been a clear case for Hrun if he would have been well, but as he was just starting to recover from some nasty hits it only took a few moments before Ulf had beaten him back into uncosciousness. Ulf had had a few hits his way as well, and could probably show a black eye after a few hours. After the fight Ulf asked if Drik's god could grant him a spell that he could use to boost Hruns intelligence. Drik replied : "My God is a great guy but not a miracle worker."

The party learned that there was one Black Sword orc who had actually been to Shaman's Crown about five years ago. They seemed to regard him as madman. Nevertheless, the party was introduced to a very small orc named Shamp, who said he could guide them to Shaman's Crown. It would be five to six days journey.

Radagast and Drik bartered some of the extra weapons they were carrying for some rope, rations and a longbow for Drik. Drik also sold a dagger to Krag, who bought it for his son who was getting to be the age where he would need to learn how to use it. Krag also asked Drik to bless him, which Drik did.

The first day of the journey was uneventful, Aeric shooting fowl to get some food and practice his aim with the bow, while Hrun and Bardia were foraging.

On the second day they came to a large stone cairn, which marked the edge of the Iron Claw territory. They decided to camp on Back Sword ground and carry on the next day.

Radagast was taking the first watch. Based on previous experiences with Radagast's ability to see or hear anything it was perhaps not a good idea to have him on watch alone, although since it was the first watch not everybody were as sound asleed as otherwise. When Radagast finally heard something it was almost too late. "Who goes there," he yelled, making Ulf jump up in an instant. They saw ten creatures just a stone throw away from their camp. Iron Claw orcs with three ogres in lead!

Ulf took a shot with his bow, wounding one of the ogres. Radagast also took a shot with his crossbow, but missed. As the orcs closed in, Aeric managed to hit one of the orcs with his bow. Drik cast Spiritual Hammer to fight one of the orcs. Hrun decapitated one of the Iron Claw orcs with one hit. As usual, one might add. Aeric had selected a pretty well-defendable camp site so they had some cover from a couple of large boulders and a fallen tree.

Ulf was hit badly, but still continued to fight. Bardia got a shot at one of the ogres with his bow, and Ulf actually finished one of the orcs. Radagast cast Mage Armor in preparation for melee. Aeric, who had finally managed to climb on top of one of the boulders, rapidly shot two arrows towards one of the ogres, getting one good hit but missing the other. Ulf got hit again, and fell.

Drik had an opening and healed Ulf, who got back to his feet. Radagast came to Drik's side to protect him from the other orcs while Drik needed to cast his healing magic. Radagast managed to get a good hit against his opponent, but it did not even slow the orc down. Aeric again loosed two arrows at the ogre, but inflicted only small flesh wounds. Ulf was really unlucky, got hit and collapsed again. Radagast managed to hit once, keeping the orcs away from Drik who healed Ulf. Ulf was not looking like he would be of much use to anyone at that point.

Hrun again send one orc to meet his maker. Aeric kept on raining arrows on the ogre, and finally Hrun finished him off. Aeric had had some tricky moments on the boulder when the ogre tried to take a swing at him.

Drik tried to cast Hold Person at one of the orcs, but it did not seem to have any effect. After a few more frantic hits and misses the Iron Claws had had enough, and fleed. Hrun thought nothing of it, and charged after his opponent. Clean kill... as usual. Shamp also charged after his opponent, and plunged his nasty rapier right through the fleeing orcs heart. It stopped dead cold. Radagast cast Magic Missile at one of the feeling orcs, but it was not enough. Radagast was starting to feel like he should try something else since Magic Missile seemed to do no good anywhere.

While Bardia lighted fires on the ogres' heads (some people have weird habits) Hrun kept on chasing the remaining orc in his sight. The result was pretty much expected: one less Iron Claw orc.

Drik healed Ulf some more while the others collected the booty from the dead enemies. Drik also packed up his tent (Drik was the only one with a tent). They moved a bit further away from the border and the dead, and spent the rest of the night peacefully.

Around noon the next day, well into Iron Claw territory, they heard some strange howling. Hrun said it was a nasty wolf that breathed fire. Everybody agreed that they should try and avoid those critters. Nobody paid any attention to Ulf's suggestion to sacrifice the humies to avoid trouble. Radagast thought he should keep a closer look on his apprentice. Luckily they did not encounter anything else unusual during the day. Even the night was peacefull, only problem being heavy snowfall which left of some unexperienced campers like Radagast feeling miserable. "Next time I'll get a tent even if it means I am going to get trapped inside," he thought miserable.

The next day got them upon a place with several cairns made of skulls. They identified both human and orc skulls. There were spears with some kind flags on top of each cairn. Hrun chopped down one of the "flagpoles".

Finally the hill that was named Shaman's Crown was in sight. A couple of miles away all they could see were the standing stones and maybe another block of stone at the top. Shamp and Bardia went to take a closer look. They saw a path leading to the entrance of the cave.

The party divided, Shamp, Bardia and Aeric taking a longer route trying to stay hidden. They would arrive at the scene undetected and give some support with their bows. The rest approached via the path.

When Radagast, Drik, Hrun and Ulf were still a few hundred yards away from the entrace, they spotted some movement. There was somebody on guard, and they might have seen them. Drik suggested that Ulf and Hrun go closer, get the defenders charge and follow them. Drik and Radagast would then surprise the pursuing enemy.

When Hrun and Ulf got to within 100 feet of the cave they were greeted with a hale of arrows. Ten, to be exact. Luckily Hrun and Ulf were taking good use of the terrain, so the volley of arrows was mostly harmless. They tried to take a few shots at the defenders but it was useless; everybody had too much cover. Hrun took a fast dash forward to within 60 feet of the entrance, and Ulf started circling, trying to get out from the defenders' line of sight.

Hrun tried to get the Iron Claw orcs to come out of the cave and fight in the open. Hrun: "Come down here and fight like orcs!" The defenders responded: "Why don't you come up here and we'll show you how orcs fight?" Unfortunately Hrun did just that!

Hrun charged with spear in hand. The ten orcs at the cave entrace all had a clean shot at him. Five arrows hit Hrun, but he still kept on coming, and stabbed his spear through one of the orcs. That did not kill the orc, though. Now the defenders smirked that they would show how orcs would fight, dropping their bows and trying to gang up on Hrun. Hrun killed one of the approching orcs with his spear, then retreated. The orcs followed.

Ulf's comment on the new pincushion outfit of Hrun was simply: "Orcs fight dirty."

Ulf had gotten close enough to shoot, and hit one of the orcs. The one that Hrun originally had wounded with the spear charge was left at the cave entrance, and tried to shoot Ulf. He missed, and Ulf's charge ended the defenders life. Ulf spotted two additional figures at the cave entrace, at least one of them in full armor. A cleric and a wizard perhaps?

Hrun was in a pretty bad shape as he was fleeing from the eight orcs hot on his tail. He was faster than them, and Drik kept on shouting to outrun them and then come to Drik so he could heal Hrun. Either Hrun did not hear, or he thought retreat was not honorable. He stopped briefly, set his spear and the next thing he noticed there was a dead orc impaled in it. Now he was in a really bad predicament, though, surrounded by seven orcs, and Hrun almost one feet in the grave. He did a final desperate retreat, getting hit once but still barely conscious, running towards Drik and Radagast who tried to hit the pursuing orcs with their bows.

The situation looked grim. Hrun was still almost 200 feet from Drik and Radagast, just about to collapse, the orcs just a few steps behind him. Ulf was at the cave entrace wondering what to do next. Shamp, Aeric and Bardia were about 800 feet away, hopelessly late, but running as fast as they could to try and save the day.

Session V - Sacrifice (2001-05-29)

Hrun managed to reach Drik well ahead of the pursuing orcs, and Drik immediately cast his best healing spell on him. Hrun was feeling much better. Radagast hit one of the orcs with his crossbow, but there mere scratch did not slow the orc down. Hrun, now again back to himself, set his spear for the charging orcs. One of them obliged him and skewered himself to the spear. Before the orcs could close in for their attack, Hrun showed the spear through another orcs heart.

Ulf tried to shoot one of the figures at the cave entrace, but missed. Next thing he noticed was he could not move a muscle - someone had cast a spell on him!

Radagast moved next to Hrun, and dropped one of the orcs. Drik also cast Spiritual hammer to attack the orcs next to Hrun, dealing a small blow to one of them. That did not help Hrun, however, as the orcs got their hits in an he fell to the ground. Radagast managed to would another orc. Drik closed in and healed Hrun again. Hrun was quikcly on his feet again, and just to proof his worth killed one more orc in one blow. "Hrun never die, you suck!" he shouted.

The orc cleric at the cave entrace shouted for the orcs to retreat. There were three standing orcs, one dragging an unconscious companion. Radagast shot the retreating orcs, wounding one. Drik tried to cast his Hold Person on one of the orcs, but the orc seemed to shrug off the effects of the spell. Hrun charged after the feeling orcs, and killed one.

The orc cleric had clearly noticed that Hrun was the most capable warrior of all that were attacking the Shaman's Crown temple, and tried to cast Blindness on the barbarian warrior. Hrun felt his vision dimming for a second, but it passed without harm.

Radagast followed Hrun's charge, killing one orc with a slash of his longsword. The orcs were still pulling back, so Hrun again charged after them. He hit, but did not kill his opponent. Two more orcs had come out of the cave and joined the battle. They hit Hrun, downing him. Hrun was hurt bad, his barbarian rage was just ending and Drik was too far away to help (he protecting helpless Ulf, and trying to figure out how to get the holding spell broken). Just a little bit of more restraint with the charging might have saved Hrun. But, that was not in his character. Still, Hrun got a true warrior death.

The orc cleric finally joined the melee. He cast a healing spell on one of his unconscious warriors. The spell holding Ulf immobile finally ended. He immediately charged the orc cleric, dealing a good blow on him. Radagast got lucky with his crossbow, and shot his arrow right through the eye of one orc, who dropped immediately.

The cleric, seeing that his situation was getting hopeless, shouted for the one remaining figure in the cave to run for reinforcements. And orc sprinted out from the cave. He was wearing no armor. Seeing that it could be the success of the mission at stake, everyone who could take a shot at the fleeing figure tried their best. The bunch of three scouts had finally arrived at the scene. Bardia was first to score a hit, but it was just a scratch. Aeric shot his customary two arrow shot-or-death at the orc, but only one of his arrow hit and the orc was still running. Bardia and Aeric both got one more hit on the orc before he was out of range, but he still got on running. There was no time to waste here!

Radagast had joined the melee, and immediately got hit but not too seriously. Ulf also got hit. At this point there were three orc warriors fighting with their cleric leader. Drik, with his long bow, tried to shoot at the far away messenger but failed miserably (one reason was probably that he did not really know how to use a long bow, which he only realized in the heat of the battle). One of the orcs tried to hit Drik's bow to break it, but the bow held.

Ulf and Radagast were both getting getting a serious beating from their opponents. Radagast was starting to panic and called for help! Shamp came to rescue with his bow, and Drik also charged to help. Aeric and Bardia helped Ulf. A few more frantic seconds of desperate fight saw last of the orcs falling dead to the ground. The last one was already running away when Shamp's arrow got him and ended his run.

Bardia and Aeric entered the cave for a quick search, while the rest stayed to guard in case the reinforcements arrived. What they could do was unclear, for Radagast and Drik were almost out of spells, and Ulf, Drik and Radagast were badly wounded and tired of the fighting. They also looted the dead orcs, and got Hrun's greatsword.

Bardia and Aeric found a small network of caves under the Shaman's Crown. They rescued Alayn and two orc prisoners. Bardia found a chest, which he searched. There were only ceremonial instruments, but he took one anyway as a souvenir. Alayn was the weakest of the prisoners, so Drik cast his last healing spell on him. Then they took off. They already heard orc hunting horns in the distance, but closing.

The party decided to head for human territory first, since it was about equal distance away compared to the Black Sword camp. Trying to stay hidden, the party followed a gully away from the temple, but after a couple of hours it was clear the gully was veering away from their destination. The party climbed out of the gully to head back towards Gloom.

Bardia was scouting foward when he noticed orcs following their trail into the gully they had just gotten out of. They were maybe two hours behind of them. The rangers decided to start covering the party's track to confuse the orcs.

In preparation for the night the party split up, Bardia going alone one way leaving false tracks while Aeric was covering the tracks of the others.

The main party had a peaceful night, although they could hear the orc hunting horns. There were several bands searching for them, and they were scattered all around them. Bardia had a few close calls with orcs, one band even having a brief visual contact with him. Eventually he managed to find a secluded spot where he slept for a couple of hours before trying to find his friends. Even though he backtracked to the place where he was pretty sure the party had moved through he spent a long time trying to find the tracks. Aeric was doing a good job. Eventually he located the rest just before they were getting up.

Drik had a strange stream, more like a vision, during the night. There was a carriage, inside of which there was a golden egg laying on a cushion. The carriage was entering a city. There was danger! He told about his dream to the others in the morning, and everybody decided it would be worth trying to locate the city and the egg. But first things first.

This time Bardia figured it would be best if he scouted in the lead, and Aeric cover their tracks, while they all stayed together. Soon after starting up Bardia stumbled into a scene of a boar feeding her piglets. But this was no ordinary boar. It was the size of a horse, and even the piglets were man-sized. Bardia figured it would be best to try and get around the beast without troubling it too much, even though someone from the party wanted fresh meat. Bardia seemed to have a knack with animals for as he slowly moved away and mumbled something soothing the boars were content to let the humans and orcs move away. More than one in the party sighed in relief.

Next thing Bardia noticed were dark clouds gathering above them. He figured there would be snow. Drik pointed out that the previous snowstorms had been really severe, so it might be best to make camp. Radagast was allready missing Hrun, because he asked Bardia if he could do an orcglu. Well, he couldn't, but he had something almost as good - his tent. Bardia spread his tent level, about three feet from the ground, so there was room for several people under it. Drik also set up his tent. The weather was turning blisteringly cold. Radagast, one of the rescued orcs and surprisingly enough, Bardia were getting frostbitten. After two hours of heavy snowing the sky cleared and they could see there were three feet of fresh snow on the ground. They decided it would be best to stay at the location for the night. They were well camouflaged by the snow already, and if they moved their tracks would be easy to follow.

During the night they still heard the orc horns around. In the morning Bardia took a tour around the campsite and saw orc tracks. Lots of them. He estimated 100 orcs had passed their camp about 100 feet away. Sometimes luck was on their side.

Around noon they saw a big flying creature heading northward, towards lord Bjoric's land. The rangers thought it was a manticore, which matched what Cador's sheriff had told Drik and Radagast. Bardia also spotted orcs following their tracks. He could count eight figures, but they were still over five miles away so he could not be sure.

After traveling a few more hours it was clear the orcs were gaining on them. The party decided to look for a place to ambush their followers. They placed Ulf and the rescued orc prisoners hidden behind some rocks in a small valley, while the rest of the party was hiding higher up ready with their bows. Drik placed his caltrops in the middle of the valley in the hopes some orc would step on them and would have to slow down. The plan was for Radagast and Drik to be ready with their spells to get the persons with horns or other signaling deviced while the rest would rain arrows on them.

The orcs were finally coming into view. There were two dogs in the lead, which were obviously following the party's scent trail. Even though the plan was originally to wait until the whole orc band was withing the small valley and attack then with spells and bows and surpise attacks from the rear by Ulf and his tribe mates, Alayn pointed out that they would be loosing the benefit of the bows' range if they waited for that long.

Before thinking much further, Drik took aim with the bow he did not really know how to use and let loose an arrow towards one of the dogs. Amazingly he hit, and killed the dog! Since there was nothing to loose for the rest to stay hidden, Bardia and Shamp also let their arrows fly towards the other dog. Both hit, and the dog died. At least that raiding party would have trouble following them now.

Ulf, who was supposed to wait until the orcs had passed and attack from behind, stepped out from the cover and shot at the orc leader with his bow. The orcs dug behind cover, yelling "Ambush!". One of the orcs disappeared in a circle of darkness. The situation was in a stalemate. Everybody was too well covered, which made it impossible to hit anything with a bow. And there was too much open ground for anyone to try and charge in fear of bows. The orcs had the upper hand though, and they were signaling for backup!

Bardia got an idea, though. He waved the unholy symbol he had stolen at Shaman's Crown, taunting the orcs to attack, and finally threw the piece towards the nearest Iron Claw orcs. That really seemed to enrage the three nearest orcs, who immediately charged Bardia. Bardia got hit once. More orcs were moving forward, and Radagast cast Sleep at one group moving from cover to cover. Two orcs fell asleep in the middle of attack.

The orc leader was engaged with Ulf. Ulf got a nasty hit, but immediately gave back an equally massive hit. Radagast cast mage Armor and moved to help Bardia. Drik managed to cast Hold person at one of the orcs attacking Bardia. Shamp was also at Bardia's side ready to help, as well as the two rescued orcs.

Meanwhile Ulf wasted the orc leader, and managed to shrug off a Hold Person spell. Apparently the orc that disappeared in the darkness was a cleric. Alayn had abandoned his position behind cover, and tried to help Ulf in melee without much success. Drik also closed in and healed Ulf.

Radagast finally moved in to melee, and immediately killed one orc. Bardia perfomed coup de grace against the held orc. The orcs saw they were no match to the party and retreated, grabbing one of their sleeping fellows with them. Radagast offed the remaining sleeper, and then he also joined his group making a hasty retreat. It was time to split before more orcs would arrive. With luck there might be no more dogs and they might loose the Iron Claw orcs again.

Session VI - Back to Civilization (2001-06-05)

It was also time to split the party. Shamp took it as his job to guide the two rescued Black Sword orcs back to Black Sword camp. Before they took off it was decided that Alayn would lead a new trading delegation in two months time. The rest of the party continued north towards human lands.

The day passed peacefully. They heard the orc hunting horns only occasionally, and always faw awar. Ulf was keeping watch with Radagast since it had become rather obvious that Radagast was not very good at keeping watch. he simply did not seem to hear or see anything until it was too late. The night also passed quietly.

Bardia found the remains of an old road, so they could move a little faster. Close to evening they spotted another storm approaching. Bardia realized that it was one of the specialities of the Cursed Lands. He called the storm a "Spirit of the Necromancer". From the distance it looked like a tornado, although it had not yet touched the ground. Drik and Radagast suggested trying to evade the storm by moving perpendicular to it. It did not help, and eventually they had to stop. They found a cliff with a small overhang that would provide some cover from the elements.

Suddenly it became very dark. Everybody felt the hair in their neck rise up. Something frightening was going to happen! They felt as if the life force in their bodies was being sucked out. Figures started crawling out of the earth - creatures that had died long ago. The creatures started fighting against each other, killing each other once again.

Three creatures did not fight just another of their kind. Two skeletons and a bear with skill rotting flesh turned towards the living. Everybody was scared almost witless, so the creatures were able to attack before anyone could really react. Only Radagast was hit, though. A skeleton scratched his side with its bony fingers.

Drik did something amazing, and the two skeletons pulverized without him even touching them! The bear did not seem to care, and tried to maul Ulf with its massive paws. Ulf managed to avoid the blows, and sunk his greataxe into the shoulder of the bear. Bardia and Aeric both closed in, barely avoiding the bears paws and maw, and they both scored hits. The bear raked Drik badly with its claws, and sent Drik tumbling backwards. Drik immediately casted healing magic on himself. That gave an opening to Ulf, who again sunk his axe into the bear for good effect, and Bardia who cut a large chunk of rotting meat from the bears flank. That seemed to be enough, for the undead bear collapsed to the ground.

The storm continued for about half an hour, but no more creatures attacked the party. It was already dark, and Drik suggested they move just a safe distance from the corpses (in case of the manticore appearing for a meal) and make camp. Everybody agreed.

The night, and the following day they were able to travel without seeing or hearing any sign of the orc pursuit. The next morning they could see a fire in the horizon, on top of a hill. They were wondering about the meaning of that, but could not be sure. It could be signal fires of some sort, or somebody might be burning corpses so that they would not rot and spread diseases.

The day again passed without incident. In the evening they heard wolves howling, and Aeric saw a deer trying to outrun a pack of wolves. It was too far away to make any details.

In the morning Drik was again looking tired and very disturbed. He had been seeing visions during three nights now.

That day they finally made it to Fairhill, a town in Bjoric's land. The noticed castle ruins on the road leading to the town gates. Bardia questioned Alayin about Bjoric's opinion about Lord Khulven and his policies. Alayn explained that Bjoric had different views about trading with orcs, for example, but they were not hostile towards each other by any means. He might be jealous of Khulven's current position, though. Radagast also suggested they keep Alayn's identity a secret.

Bardia explained to the town guard that they were weary travelers, looking for a place to rest for the night. He explained Ulf was a beast of burden, hired to carry their gear. This raised Ulf's blood pressure, but before he punched Bardia's nose in Bardia winked his eye on him. It was better to not seem too friendly with orcs if Bjoric didn't regard them too highly. Ulf let it pass, but thought that Bardia would deserve a lesson on how to treat orcs. They guards stated the price to enter the town was one copper per head, and three for the beast (which again was almost too much for Ulf...) Bardia paid one silver piece.

The guards also explained weapons had to be peacebound. The guards placed wax on the sword scabbards and marked them with Bjoric's symbol. The other weapons were treated similarly. The idea of peacebonding was to mark weapons so that if one used them in the town it would be noticed when one would be leaving the town. It would be a simple matter to track down persons who resorted to violence, and make them face justice.

Drik asked if there was a church in town. The guards explained how he could find it. Drik wanted to talk to a fellow clergyman about his visions. The rest of the party members were content with just instructions for a place to sleep. After buying a night at an inn for everyone, a meal and three days rations Radagast gave everyone 2 gold pieces and 4 silver pieces. That was what was left of their loot money.

Bardia was apparently fed up with carrying his gear for he went and bought a donkey. Radagast sold his longbow (he had decided he'd continue using the light crossbow instead), an extra longsword and a dagger.

In the evening Drik also described what he had seen in his visions. He did not yet explain what he had learned from the visit to the church, except that he had received a healing potion. That could certainly come in handy.

The next day started with fair weather, and they made good progress towards Cador which was some three days away. They slept peacefully through the night, until Drik and Aeric heard something moving through the underbrush, closing in on the camp. Aeric yelled and shot two arrows towards the beast that suddenly charged - one arrow hit and one missed the bearlike creature that was covered in feathers. Drik was trying to wake up Ulf, Alayn and Radagast who were sleeping in his tent.

The creature attacked Bardia who had been sleeping under a tree, hitting him with one huge paw and grappling him in a bear crush. While Drik was kicking Ulf awake he also summoned a spiritual weapon to attack the creature. Bardia got lucky and was able to break free from the grapple, the spiritual weapon might have confused the beast somewhat. The thing did not want to let Bardia go, and pawed him again and once again Bardia found himself in not-so-friendly hug.

Drik must have heard Bardia's bones crunching when came to heal him. Radagast told Alayn to stay in the tent (Alayn was frantically loading his bow) while Radagast run outside to help his friends. Ulf had waken up enough to grab his huge axe, which he swung at the monster. Feathers and blood spattered everywhere from the mighty blow. Bardia used the opportunity and sunk his sword deep into the feathery bear. The thing gave a pained yelp and bolted for safety.

Drik was in vicious mood, and wanted to follow the beast and kill it. Radagast tried to reason that the creature had certainly learned that they were too hard to kill and it would not bother them anymore. Drik was adamant, though, so Bardia tried to follow the tracks. He lost them after a few minutes, blaming the bad lighting conditions.

By mid-day the following day they met a group of armed men, three on horseback. They asked if the party had traveled safely. The group proceeded to tell about the owlbear (for that was the feathery bear they had encountered), where they fought it and gave directions to the men. They said they were going to hunt it down.

Next night Bardia and Aeric scouted the camp grounds a bit further away to see if they could avoid some nasty surpises. They discovered some animal tracks and the like. They had a good nights rest, except for Drik who had once again had a vision and seemed downright ill in the morning. When Bardia queried Drik about the vision, Drik promised to tell about that more in the evening after he had had some time to think about it.

The next day they arrived safely at Cador. The town was surrounded by fields and farmer houses. The town guards recognized Alayn, saluted and welcomed him. Alayn lead the way to the sheriff's office.

Drik wanted to go and surpise Cordwellyn and drag him to the sheriff so he could throw the bastard into jail. Radagast persuaded him to drop the idea, because it would be the sheriff's job to do the arresting, if he so decided. Rioting in the town might just get themselves into jail!

While they waited for Alayn to finish his business with Aelric, Drik told of his latest vision. Soon Aelric's servant came to summon them in.

There was discussion about the next trading expedition, and this time the security would be tight. It looked like the party's services would not be needed. Then it was time to discuss payment. Aelric mistook Ulf for Hrun, which almost sent Ulf over the edge. "Is there no limit to the human stupidness or what," Ulf was thinking. Bardia also rubbed the fact in some more. Aelric counted each one had earned 14 gold, and Ulf would get Hrun's share since under the circumstances he was the closest to a next of kin Hrun had had outside of his homeland.

Drik and Radagast then told of the betrayal of Venya, and Drik particularly voiced his suspicions about Cordwellyn. Radagast was starting to realize that it might not be such a good idea to overtly accuse the man who practically owned hald of the town. Aelric did not believe Cordwellyn to be behing anything sinister, since it seemed that Cordwellyn would stand the most to gain from continued trading with the Black Sword orcs. Aelric also mentioned that there was a rumor Cordwellyn had once been a captain of the Waymarch.

Aelric also explained that there had been more and more strange beast attacks lately, which was the reason there were raised bounties and even completely new bounties for bringing proof of certain dead monsters. The prize for the manticore was now land and title and 500 gold! There were reports of manticore "puppies" as well. Owlbear beak would be 50 gold (at that point Radagast groaned, he should have run after the owlbear), firebreathing hounds 10 gold a head and the prize for Venya (preferably alive) was set to 100 gold. Alayn promized a personal prize of 5 gold per Iron Claw orc scalp.

Alayn also offered his personal thanks to the party. He said that everyone could choose one item for free from the town armory. They could also train with the town guards.

Session VII - Meeting Lord Khulven (2001-06-12)

Drik chose a good armor. Radagast and Ulf went for fine quality weapons: Radagast got a longsword and Ulf a greataxe. Bardia chose tools which could make him into a recognized bowmaker.

Drik asked Aelric if he knew of a place where he could buy healing potions. Aelric was not sure, but he suggested Hillsdale, the capital of the earldom. Drik also seemed to be possessed by manticores, since he kept on asking Aelric about them, anything at all, including how to kill them. Aelric didn't know much, but said it would probably take five knights and ten crossbowmen to hunt and kill one manticore. Drik was not taken aback, and wanted to know if it would be ok to hire 15 crossbowmen and go after the manticores. Aelric explained that that could be considered an army, and would be against the law.

Radagast, with his new wealth, went to Cordwellyn in the hopes of buying the ingredients for his familiar summoning spell. He almost danced with joy as he was thinking the magical creature that would rid himself of his accursed health problems. He already had a name for his toad-to-be: Wampum.

Unfortunately Cordwellyn was not too happy too see Radagast. He had heard of the accusations against him. Even though Radagast tried to explain that it was Drik who had accused him, and even though Radagast tried to explain that he had brought another customer - namely Ulf - who would be interested in ingredients for magic, Cordwellyn still doubled the price for what Radagast wanted. Radagast decided it was not worth it. "Damn double-crossing, suck-you-dry vermin traders!" he thought to himself.

Radagast also tried to talk to Garm, his former caravan captain, to keep an eye on Cordwelly just in case he was up to something. Radagast's explanations did not seem t convince Garm, though.

Ulf and Radagast spent the next couple of weeks training with the guards. Radagast learned how to hit harder, and Ulf learned that when somebody went down, the person next to him was briefly vulnerable for a sneaky hit. Bardia tried to make a bow, but ended up ruining even his materials. Drik spent the time studying and training with Father Boris.

Since nothing urgent seemed to materialize during the time in Cador, the party decided to pay a visit to Lord Khulven. After all, they had a standing invitation after rescuing his nephew.

On the second day of travel they saw a caravan headed towards Cador. The caravan bore the symbols of Cordwellyn. There were six guards, which was unusually heavy guard for a caravan. They learned the caravan was delivering weapons. Bardia tried to remember the face of the guard captain, in case he would ever see the man again.

To Radagast the whole weapon shipment smelled wrong. If there was a war against the orcs, someone could make a good profit. It looked like Cordwellyn was in a position to benefit either way, but certainly more if there was a war.

They counted nine small villages and thorps on their way to Hillsborough, where Lord Khulven lived. Just before the city they passed a caravan with three large wagons, but they could not identify the owner.

At the gate to the city Drik explained the party had an invitation to meet Lord Khulven. They learned from the guards that they had held a memorial to Hrun for his bravery. Their weapons were also peacebonded before they were guided to the castle inside the city. Alayn greeted them, thanked them once more and explained that there would be a ceremony to honor them the next day. They were guests of Lord Khulven and could live in the castle.

That night Drik once again got a vision.

The ceremony was to be held at noon. Ulf tried to go looking for the castle mage, but nobody wanted to talk to him. In fact, people stayed out of his sight. Now that he had learned to control his magic it seemed like he was desperately looking for more. Or maybe it was just that he had realized how bad a teacher Radagast was and wanted a second opinion on things...

They were provided with fine clothes for the ceremony. The whole city was celebrating, the hour after noon was even declared a holiday (or holihour?). Everybody must have felt somewhat out of place marching the line of trumpeteers to the castle steps. Lord Khulven, who was so weak he had to have assistants, gave a brief introduction to Alayn. Alayn was not brief, and told of the heroic deeds that were done to rescue him and exaggerated just about every detail. In the end he gave Drik, Radagast, Ulf and Bardia a bronze medallion as a sign of courage.

After the ceremony the royalty had dinner in castle. The chit chat revealed that people were concerned about Alayn's abilities as a ruler. It seemed the people still considered the duchy a kingdom - mere two generations were not enough to bury the memories of former glory.

Talking to Alayn, the party learned that Alayn had given Cordwellyn a permission to raise a small army. It appeared that the weapons shipment was not for sale, but for Cordwellyn's own army. They also learned that Alayn disliked Bjoric's politics.

Bardia and Alayn discussed the recent increase with monsters from the Cursed Lands pushing ever further into human territory. It was clear that something even more sinister was pushing those monsters out from their normal territory in the Cursed Lands. If it was bad in human areas, it must be really bad in the southern parts of the orcish lands.

Radagast asked from Alayn if he knew of any fencing schools. Alayn said there was a man named Wolfgar who had a really good school, but that he did not take many students, and what he took were usually nobility. But Alayn concluded that Radagast would probably have no problems getting into the school, being famous and all. Radagast was looking forward to some lessons in swords play.

Bardia, who was visibly feeling out of place with his fine costume and court habits, left the dinner first. He was getting out of the "disgusting finery" as he walked back to his chambers. There he found a letter waiting for him on the pillow:

Honored Heroes,

It is in desperation that I turn to you, knowing full well the tales of your past exploits and your trustworthiness. I am Gustav Wechseler, son of Gunther Wechseler of the House Wechseler. For generations, my family has plied the trade routes of the kingdom, yet recently a series of disasters has left us on the brink of ruin. The information I am about to impart to you in this letter, and the mission for which I would like to employ you, are both of a highly sensitive nature. Should you have any misgivings about holding secrets - secrets which may put you in grave peril - I bid you read no further.

Recently, information has fallen into my hands that points to a corrupting presence within the local government which conspires to bring down the power of House Wechseler. I fear that this is but a first step in a long-ranging plan to bring chaos and ruin to the city and regions beyond. I dare not contact any of the Earl's men - or even the Duke's magistrates - for fear of alerting my family's enemies, yet I cannot stand by and ignore this threat. I beg you to meet me tonight for dinner at my residence within the keep. Tyvis will be more than happy to provide you with directions. I urge you to proceed with utmost caution, as my enemies may be on the alert for an attempt to elicit aid such as this.

G.W.

Bardia was a bit puzzled since he did not recall meeting anyone named Tyvis during the dinner. His puzzlement was shortlived, for someone touched his shoulder from behind. It was a man. He introduced himself as Tyvis. Tyvis explained that they were to come to the Sword & Cloak tavern's side entrace, where Tyvis would be waiting to lead them to Gustav.

After the rest of the companions retired from the dinner, and found the letters in their rooms, it was decided that they would pay a visit to this Wechseler family. They changed to normal clothes, and slipped out of the castle alone and in pairs, asking directions to places that had nothing to do with Sword & Cloak. Bardia got directions to an interesting place called the Lusty Lass...

Once outside, the party regrouped and asked the directions to the Sword & Cloak. They met Tyvis at a side alley. Tyvis showed them a secret door, and guided them through the building, eventually to a big dining hall where Gustav Wechseler greeted them heartily.

After some small talk they had dinner. Gustav mentioned that Cordwellyn's niece had been at the castle, a beautiful woman, but of course the party had not known her. Radagast wanted to know the secrets of the "turning spell" Drik had casted during the necro storm while they were explaining their adventures once again. Drik tried to explain it was not a spell, but a gift, a power, from his god. Radagast obviously did not buy such nonsense, and blaimed Drik for being jealous and guarding his secrets.

Finally Tyvis brought dessert, and the servants left. Gustav went on to describe the problems his house had faced: problems with customs when everything was in order, delays, confiscated goods, even robberies. He voiced his suspicions about spies inside his own house, as well as in the castle. He trusted Alayn, though. Gustav was also wondering if the illness of Lord Khulven was unnatural.

Bardia and Ulf wanted to know how the party could help, since the situation seemed to be highly political as well. Gustav explained that they would only need to act as bodyguards for Tyvis when he went to meet an informant next night. He would pay 20 gold for everyone. Radagast thought he had heard wrong, but no. He was thinking that if all traders paid that well for services they should seek employment in a trader house! The party agreed. Ulf also asked if Gustav knew which trader houses or factions were the cause of the problem but Gustav did not know.

Next night the group again sneaked out to meet Tyvis. Tyvis suggested the group keep behind and help only if needed. Tyvis lead the group to a poorer section of the town, to the Hanged Man pub. There they met Terret, who had brought four thugs with him. Terret said the deal was not good enough. The thugs started moving forward. Radagast prepared to cast a sleep spell, while the other party members took their positions. They did not need to do anything, though, since Ulf stepped close to Terret with his most intimidating posture. Terret nearly wet his pants, and quickly changed tones!

Back at the gates to the section of the city were the party stayed, Tyvis showed some papers to the guards and slipped some money at them, and the group was safely through. Gustav paid them 20 gold each, and thanked them for their help.

Gustav explained there was a gang called Ring of Iron that bought slaves from orcs. This group of thugs was also involved in smuggling, waylaying Gustav's caravans and other crimes. Some people looked the other way, which was why it was able to operate. Gustav had learned that there was a hiding place in the sewers, perhaps the headquarters, and asked if the heroic party would like to help him ambush the criminals in the sewers. He only expected to meet maybe five persons there, so he would come alone with the party.

The party agreed. Radagast wanted to know if Gustav could provide them some weapons, since their gear was peacebonded. Gustav said that was no problem, he would provide the guards with something else to do so the party could go unnoticed. True to his words, when the party had picked up their gear and passed the guards there was a haywagon with some serious "wrestling" going on... Nice way to be distracted.

The party met Gustav who was armed with a double crossbow and sword, and was clad in chainmail. Gustav lead the way to the storm sewers. They were greeted with the stench of waste and garbage. There seemed to be a slow breeze in the tunnels, as if breathing. The air was getting warmer, as they followed the tunnels town, finally to a tunnel that was so narrow they had to continue in single line.

Suddenly the narrow tunnel started contracting from the end they had come from! Bardia shot an arrow behind when the others started running, just to see if it was an illusion, but it seemed very real and he barely escaped the crush of the grey walls (which no longer seemed like real sewer walls).

The party and Gustav stumbled into a chamber with 10 people and six orcs. Gustav seemed to be really surprised, and he tried to think of something to talk them out of the situation. It seemed like the humans and orcs (of the Blood Hatchet tribe) were arguing about their deal, having already been trapped down there for two days. Bardia came up with a plan, and stumbled out a story of the party being the reinforcements the humans had sent earlier. When his story did not sound convicing he blamed the inconsistencies to him forgetting some details due to the awful stench in the sewers. The human leader seemed to play along with Bardia.

The chamber was rather big, with exits to two smaller caves and dead end tunnels. There was also a pile of rubble on one wall, and something seemed to be coming through it! 10 undeads burts through the barricade into the chamber!

Bardia, Ulf and Gustav fired their bows into the midst of the unholy creatures, killing one of them. A frantic melee followed, after which three thugs were lying on the ground dying, and at least three monsters dead. The undeads dragged the fallen back with them, and the thugs and the orcs quickly rebuilt the barricade.

Drik had tried turning the undeads, but he felt something opposing him. There was something terribly wrong in the place.

Session VIII - Trapped in Sewers (2001-06-19)

After the fight Drik tried to explore the other caves, which seemed to be the sleeping guarters for the orcs and humans. This exploration was stopped by the orcs. The tension run pretty high.

The party learned that the orcs and the thugs had been there doing their usual trade negotiations, when there had been flash of light and the walls in the chamber and tunnels had changed. Behind the barricades skeletons stepped out from the walls, and attacked. If somebody died, they just reanimated after a while and joined the skeletons.

Drik suggested dismembering the corpses to stop them from waking up later. The orc leader, a female orc by the name of Vagdral, agreed, but said the human wimps were against hacking their former companions' bodies.

While everyone was pondering how to get out of the situation, a man named Ofek introduced himself and boasted he could get them all out. Ofek claimed to be a mighty wizard, who was exploring the ruins beneath the current city (he explained there were old city ruins beneath the current one) when he had felt a powerful magical disturbance in the area and came to investigate. He said he had blasted his way through the undeads with his apprentice, a half orc, and joined the people trapped in the large chamber. He said he only needed to rest a little, after which he could guide everyone to some portal which would be a way to safety.

When Ofek was talking, there came a voice from behind the barricade calling for Ofek. Ofek got really upset, and wanted to take down the barrier and fight whatever was behind there immediately. He took the barricade down himself, and was prepared to enter.

Drik told the orc leader how they would proceed next. The orcs were not liking a mere human giving them orders, and liking even less their leader for even considering orders from humans. One orc challenged Vadgral. The fight was short lived: Vadgral sunk his axe into the head of the contestant, which ended the argument.

Drik then burned down the spider webs that filled the tunnel behind the barricade. They had not been there before, and Radagast was wondering if Ofek had cast them there. After the flames died down, Bardia carefully scouted forward to the intersection they could dimly see. He took a peek in both directions, and saw just empty corridors, unmoving skeletons and a lot of rubble on the floor (more rubble to the right). He was carefully edging back, until Vadgral shouted: "What do you see?" At that point Bardia run, and none too soon for zombies and skeletons were hot on his heels.

Ofek cast something, and two magical projectiles hit one undead which dropped dead. The orcs and humans had prepared a little for this fight, and were waiting in a semicircle for the undead assault. Drik was finally succesfull with his turn attempt, and two skeletons were whimpering in fear from him. Drik was also able to cast Bless, but he did feel a force trying to block him. Soon eight undeads were dead (again). This time they were hacked to pieces. The orc leader was really efficient, having killed three just by herself! Ulf, Drik and Vadgral were wounded.

Bardia again scouted forward, to the left in the t-intersection, followed by Drik and Vadgral. They found a room with two sarcofagi, but it was a dead end and Bardia did not enter it. Just before the room the tunnel again branched, and passed through a room whose floor had caved in. Bardia did not try to pass the room, since he thought the floor would be tricky. Vadgral did not care, and passed through the room to the tunnel behind, but came soon back: it was also a dead end. Ulf and Radagast checked the tunnel to the right, but it seemed to be filled with rubble. Just to make sure, Ulf and Radagast started piling the rocks to make it fully impassable. The tunnels from the t-intersection were only about five feet wide. The walls were simply filled with dead skeletons.

Suddenly some of the skeletons in the walls animated, and attacked! Both Radagast and Drik were surprised and got nasty hits. Radagast did not even have mage armor on. Ofek also got hit, and fell to the ground. He was soon followed by Gustav, who succumbed under the skeleton attack. Drik had almost lost it, but was finally able to heal himself. Radagast was also beginning to panic: the skeleton he was fighting seemed to evade all his hits, while scoring small wounds no matter how hard Radagast tried to dodge. And Ulf was behind Radagast, and could not help. The leader of the thugs had hacked down a couple of skeletons, and Radagast called for him to help. Vadgral was also doing good at his end, having killed at least one skeleton. Bardia finished the last skeleton at their end while Tarmalac finally killed the one threatening Radagast. "Damn, now I owe my life to a villain," was Radagast thinking.

Drik had failed some of his cure spells, and was in a pretty bad shape. The thugs had bandaged Gustav, and he was stable, but Ofek had bled to death. When they were retreating from the tunnels, Ofek stumbled back to his dead feet. Ulf and Bardia hacked him quicly to pieces. While Bardia searched his body, Radagast cast detect magic. He learned that Ofek had a magical scroll, and while Radagast checked the surroundings a bit more he also noticed Gustav had some magical gear. He did not search Gustav's body, though. The half orc, apprentice to Ofek, had a magical book. Radagast checked out the scroll, and found that it was Protection from Good. That seemed to confirm the suspicions of Bardia and Radagast: Ofek was a necromancer. He might have even caused all the problems in the first place.

Everyone was getting hungry. When the party checked their supplies, they found all of it was either rotting or filled with maggots. Drik suggested they eat their dead, which prompted curious looks from everyone. Drik was getting just weirder and weirder. Radagast and Bardia were wondering what kind of a cleric he even was.

Since there was nothing else to do, everyone decided to rest.

Soon their rest was disturbed. Radagast noticed the floor itself trying to suck Drik in. He called a warning to Drik. With some help from others they managed to drag Drik to safety.

Tarmalac pulled Bardia to the side, and said he had guessed Bardia and the others were not really the reinforcements. Bardia admitted that. Bardia also had an idea how to try and break free after the rest. They should make a ram/wall from a table, and have a strong orc push the table forward while somebody would be smashing the skeletons in the walls to dust so they would not be able to reanimate later. Tarmalac thought that might be a workable idea, but he wanted Bardia to keep quiet and let Tarmalac explain the idea as his own. He explained that his men were almost collapsing from fear, and it would help if he could still show up to be a strong and competent leader for them. Bardia agreed. Afterwards he explained his chat to Drik, Radagast and Ulf.

After the incident with the floor, everyone that was able to slept on a table, and people were keeping watch. Radagast had a strangely realistic dream where they were fighting skeletons and Lidya (the only human woman) stabbed Tarmalac in the back. He did not mention this dream to others, but it seemed like some others might have had a strange dreams as well.

In the morning - or time they assumed to be morning - they prepared for the fight. Drik, Radagast and Ulf studied for spells, and Tarmalac presented "his" idea. When Ulf started to take down the barrier they heard noises from behind. They decided to tie ropes to the barricade and then pull the barricade down with the ropes so they would have a little time to react to whatever was behind.

When the skeletons climbed over the rubble, Radagast shot a bolt at one. He hit, but learned that arrows aren't really that effective against skeletons. Drik called upon his god, and turned all eight skeletons who fleed back into the tunnel.

Ulf took the table shield, and advanced slowly. Bardia was busy smashing the bones behind the cover. The air was filled with bone dust.

Finally the pressure behind the shield became too much as the skeletons piled on it. Ulf was hit once, but before he could respond the ground shook as if in an earthquake. The skeletons fell, totally lifeless now. Green ichor started running through the cracks that had appeared in the walls. Everyone run back to the big cavern. It looked like the route the party had taken was now open, and several bandits bolted for it. Some passed, but then the walls contracted again and several seemed to be crushed in the walls.

Another quake, and the floor behind the barricade caved in. Some huge, black frog-like creature was rising from it. It had sharp teeth, and long tentacles. Everyone was nearly paralyzed with fear as the unholy apparition emerged. Was this the end?

Session IX - Tentacles and Green Ichor (2001-06-26)

There were two orcs left with their leading "lady", three thugs and the apprentice of Ofek in addition to the party and Gustav.

The passage opened again, but the floor itself seemed to rise and form into a tentacle that attacked the orcs and humans at the entrance. The frog-monster itself slashed with its tentacles and sliced a thug in two. Vadgral was near the entrance to escape, but was torn between attacking the tentacle blocking the way and the big ugly himself. She finally mad a decision and charged the monster. The creature was able to slash Vadgral with its long tentacles before Vadgral was able to reach it, which in turn threw off her aim and she missed.

Ulf was also in melee with the demon, but missed. Radagast cast magic missile at the monster, which splashed green ichor from the small wound. Radagast could feel that something was trying to block his casting, but he was succesful regardless.

Lidya, the only female thug, was attacking the tentacle at the entranc. She was fighting with a weapon in each hand. She got a stab in, but the tentacle didn't seem to care. Drik cast Bless, which brought a little help to the motley crew fighting for their lives.

Bardia heroicly charged the demon frog, but both he and the monster missed. Gustav fired his double crossbow at the demon, but he was so scared both bolts went wide off the target. The creature then lashed Bardia with its tentacle. Vadgral was also trying to find an opening, but missed. Radagast again unleashed a bolt of magical energy at the beast, but the wounds did not seem to slow it down one bit.

Lidya took a massive hit from the tentacle at the entrace. She was slammed against the wall, which nearly knocked her out. Still she did not quit.

Bardia was finally able to sink his greatsword into the demon, but his strength was not enough to cause much of a wound. Gustav was so scared he seemed to run away into one of the sleeping chambers; Radagast heard he was loading his crossbow again.

Fighting will only make it worse. You can serve me. The strange creature was telepathically talking to the people and orcs fighting against it. If the suggestion made anyone falter, it went unnoticed in the heat of the battle. Bardia sneered at the demon, commenting something about Ofek. The demon did not take that lightly, and hit Bardia so hard he nearly passed out from the force. Ulf also got a hit in at the demon, while Radagast's crossbow bolt just barely missed the demon.

Lidya finally finished the lone tentacle. Drik took the opportunity and went past her to see if the tunnel was really open. It was dark so he had to cast light to see. To his relief, the tunnel was still open.

Bardia got a good hit at the demon, and even Gustav managed to hit it with his crossbow.

Everybody had totally forgotten that the dead did not remain dead in this place. The oversight was quickly changed, when one dead thug rose next to Ulf and attacked him from behind. The big and ugly finished the job, and Ulf fell to the ground. One dead orc also rose from the dead at the tunnel entrance.

Vadgral decided to attack the undead that had sneaked on Ulf. She got a hit in, but the creature was still standing. Radagast's crossbow bolt again barely missed the demon, but the demon was not doing any better when it tried to hit Bardia. Bardia also missed.

At the entrance Drik finally joined melee, and flanked the undead orc. His first hit went wide off the mark, though. The undead quickly tried to slash Drik, but missed.

The thug-zombie fighting Vadgral got lucky, and poor Vadgral slumbed to the ground with nasty slashing wounds. The demon's slight tentacle flip was enough finally drop Bardia to the ground, bleeding. Radagast was getting desperate, cursed and again missed with his crossbow. Gustav did not do any better.

Lidya, although seemingly in pain from her previes wounds, bravely attacked the undead orc, but missed with both weapons, as did Drik. Radagast had retreated next to Lidya, trying to fend off the demon that was following him. He barely managed to dodge the tentacles. Radagast was panicing and tried to tumble through the fight in the tunnel. He stumbled on Lidya's feet, and fell right next to the orc-that-once-was. That may have helped Lidya, though for her next hit reached the creature but it was still fighting.

The only remaining orc had gathered some shreds of courage, and tried to attack the frog-demon. His bravery was short lived. The demon wrapped its tentacles around his body and ripped him into two pieces spewing blood and intestines over everyone.

Since Gustav was forgotten by all the monsters (the one who had felled Vadgral was madly slashing her torn body), he sprinted to Bardia and poured a healing potion down his throat.

Drik and the undead orc both missed, but the demon's tentacle whup slammed Lidya to the wall. She did not falter, though, her bearance spoke of desperation. Radagast nimbly hopped to his feet drawing his sword, and made a feeble attempt at the undead orc. Understandably a miss. Lidya also missed, but Drik sunk his axe into the creature which stopped its unholy reanimation.

At that point Ofek's former apprentice said in Orcish that he was going to serve the demon!

Bardia had regained enough senses, and charged the undead that was still shredding the body of Vadgral. Bardia finished the creature in one strike. That was the last of the undeads.

The demon slapped Lidya with a tentacle, and finally Lidya succumbed. Another tentacle nearly decapitated Radagast but for his quick reflexes. That was enough for Radagast, and he retreated into the relative safety of the tunnel as fast as he could.

Bardia checked that Vadgral was beyond help, and fired an arrow towards the demon. It went straight through, spilling green ichor as it went! Bardia also yelled to Gustav to shoot at the monster, but Gustav missed.

You will pay for this. With those departing words the creature shimmered and transformed into a gemstone. Ofek's former apprentice grabbed the stone, and sprinted as fast as he could towards the hole through which the creature had appeared. He was too fast for anyone to reach him in time, and nobody was foolish enough to follow him to the catacombs.

Bardia cut the head off from Vadgral's corpse just as it was starting to rise. Near the tunnel entrance an orc rose from the dead, and got a surpise hit at Gustav. Drik quickly turned the creature, which was cowering in fear from him. Gustav moved behind Drik and started loading his crossbow. Radagast botched his attack. Bardia charged, and sliced off an arm from the creature. Radagast got also lucky and actually hit the thing. Gustav was yelling encouragement from behind Drik. Finally Bardia finished the thing.

Radagast noticed that Lidya was still breathing, although unconscious. Bardia checked Ulf, and saw that he too was only unconscious. With the unconscious comrades in tow they fled the sewers as fast as they could.

They made it safely back to the city. The next problem was getting unquestioned to the castle. Gustav had a plan. He lead the party to a poorer section of the town (Bardia was complaining that Ulf should watch his diet since he was so heavy), and knocked on a door. A woman answered, clearly surpised at seeing Gustav and a little scared. From their discussion it appeared that she owed something to Gustav. Eventually the woman lead them into her humble home, which she shared with her two little boys.

Bardia apologized for the woman for the disturbance and gave her a gold coin. She was clearly surprised, but took the gold nevertheless. The children were fascinated by Ulf. "Is that a real orc?" they squeeled in delight. In an attempt to keep their secret safe, Bardia offered the boys a silver coin each if they would not tell anyone about their visitors. Wild eyed the boys took the money, most likely more than less frightened by the thought of what Bardia would do to them if they were caught spilling the news... Lastly Bardia checked Lidya for weapons, found two daggers and manacles. He put the manacles on Lidya, after which everyone went to sleep.

In the morning most woke up to praying calls (Drik seemed to take a liking to the religious nature of the poor folk). Drik also healed everyone, including Lidya. Ulf woke up from his slumber very hungry, and somehow managed to find a few live beetles in his pouch. He ate them while the children watched with amazement. The kids later explained that they liked to eat bugs too, although their mother did not want them to do that. Radagast explained that was for the best, and that only orcs could eat beetles safely.

Lidya asked what the deal was with the manacles. When it was explained she was a prisoner, she took a key from her belt and nimbly opened the locks. Drik, finally realizing that Lidya indeed was a prisoner and a slave trader and whoever knows what, wanted to kill her then and there, brandishing his axe. Bardia and Radagast looked each other in the eye with total amazement. Drik sure was getting weirder and weirder. Lidya did not wait for the outcome, and bolted for the door. Radagast's attampt at casting sleep failed, and Drik's swing with the axe only caused people to dug out of the way.

After the incident, Gustav said he was going to go fetch Tyvis to take care of the matter with the peacebonded weapons. The woman had already left for work (she was selling fish), and just as Gustav was leaving he told the kids to go after their mother to help her. The kids were leaving, when Drik and Radagast noticed they had lost their daggers. Drik accused the boys from stealing, which they promptly denied (keeping their hands behind their back). First Radagast thought he'd just let it go, but Drik again seemed to be furious. Radagast caused a minor illusion, drawing a dagger from one of the boy's ears. The boys got scared and surrendered the daggers, and run off.

After Gustav left, Radagast sheepishly apologized for panicing near the end of the fight against the demon. Bardia waved his apologies off, saying it was ok.

Tyvis finally arrived with a plan. He explained that everyone would need to be blindfolded and that they would use illegal means to get outside the city (after which they could legally enter it again). He asked if anyone had any objections, but everyone seemed to be ok with the plan. He lead them nonchalantly through the streets towards the waterfront. There everyone was blindfolded. They could still guess that they were being lead onto a river barge, and put into barrels. After about an hour they were unloaded outside the city gate. The rough looking men handling the barge pointed them to the road and told them to start walking.

They got back to the castle without an incident. Dinner had already started, so they just quikcly changed clothes to join the other guests. It seemed a good portion of the dinner consisted of wine, for the other patrons were already talking big. Radagast got the idea of having a drinking contest with Drik. Drik quickly downed some five glasses of wine. Radagast managed one, and nearly passed out. He quickly returned to his quarters to rest... Ulf also retired early, he got a fascinating idea to literally lick his wounds. Orcs!

While Radagast and Ulf were totally oblivious to the real world, Bardia and Ulf went to meet Gustav. They got sacks of gold for each (some special bonuses since the mission was far more than anticipated), and Bardia paid off the debt of the woman in whose house they had stayed. Bardia, being the good fellow, paid it all off from his own share.

The next morning Drik had a mighty hangover. He also dimly remembered telling all about his magnificent adventures to the avid listeners at the dinner party. Radagast was not much better, his frail health giving him trouble as usual. They both also found the sacks Bardia had brough them contained 80 gold pieces.

Bardia went to buy new materials for a bow. Ulf and Radagast went to see the castle mage. They learned that it wasn't that easy getting teaching in wizardry in this place: once a year wizards chose apprentices which they would teach, and it was several months till the occasion. Ulf managed to get a deal from a wizard chamberlain (they had not met the castle mage) so that Ulf could borrow a book, for a cost, to copy a spell. Radagast left in disgust, saying to Ulf that they should visit Radagast's home country were they had wizard schools even.

Radagast then proceeded to find Wolfgar. He learned that Wolfgar charged 200 gold pieces per week to teach the trick Radagast was interested in. Dismayed, Radagast left in search for a cheaper swordsmaster. He found Hema, but it turned out Hema did not teach the trick Radagast was interested in. "Damn the uncivilized world," he cursed.

Session X - Into the Demon's Den, Again (2001-08-07)

Drik used his spare time chatting with his fellow priests, and learned that there was a noticeable increase in undead creatures roaming near the city. People also got sick, it was almost looking like the beginning of an epidemic. Drik spoke with a fellow named Wiglaf, who spoke of ghouls roaming the countryside. They set up a meeting for a few days forward to discuss if there might be something to do together about the undead problem. In fact, Wiglaf wanted to go to the sewers and wanted Drik and Radagast as guides.

Drik also loaned Radagast 100 gold pieces to hunt down some ingredients for the Summon Familiar spell. Radagast was determined to find a trustworthy animal companion if the swordmasters he searched for where either in short supply or demanded outrageous fees.

Radagast also investigated the ring he realized he was now wearing, found from the Paths of the Dead. He could only discern that it carried Abjuration or protective magic. Feeling paranoid, he checked if he could remove the ring from his finger: he could so he put it back on. It probably wasn't doing any harm if not that much good either, but any way to avoid being hit (if that was its function) would be a good thing, he figured.

Once again the friends joined Alayn for dinner, although since Drik and Radagast were no longer the topic of the day they ended up sitting at different table from Alayn. Ulf had apparently left town, and Bardia was nowhere to be seen. Drik and Radagast figured he must have found a beauty contest for donkeys somewhere.

The entertainment for the dinner was a bard who sang a ballad of an orc and a wizard who had saved the town of Fairhill from orcs. The rumor had it Ulf was trying to catch up with them.

One of the dinner guests was Garwolf, captain of Cordwellyn's mercenary army. Drik and Radagast did not discuss with him, though.

Drik and Radagast were approached during the party by people who speculated about Alayn's right to rule. He was not from a direct bloodline after all, and if lord Khulven happened to have a son nobody knew of perhaps he would be a better ruler. When Radagast pointed out he was a foreigner and did not know about the politics of the country, and that there almost certainly would be nothing for Radagast to benefit if he and Drik somehow managed to find someone who could claim to be the son of Khulven, the men quickly pointed out that anyone who helped would not go without reward: there was plenty of land and other riches which could be given out of generosity for those who deserved.

Drik was also trying to find out if the people knew of such a heir, pointing out that if you asked any woman on the street they would say their child was the direct offspring of the ruling lord (provided their husbands were out of hearing distance). They did not know for sure, but thought it was still a possibility. Drik and Radagast were cautiously agreeing with the people to put a direct heir to "throne" if such could be found.

Alayn finally seemed to have a little time to discuss with Drik and Radagast. Drik offered his and Radagast's services to get rid of the undead problem for Alayn, for a reward of course. Alayn, and the court enchanter Eomric wanted to know if the companions had any leads, they were certainly suspicous about two adventurers claiming to be able to do things the whole army of Alayn could not accomplish. They wanted to know what Drik had discovered so they could send the army to deal with it. Neither Drik nor Radagast were willing to reveal their plans of possibly re-entering the city sewers with Wiglaf. However, Radagast and Drik did admit that they planned to search the foundations on which the current city was built, since there were many older cities beneath. Alayn was not convinced that could be the source of threat, since the undead were not in the city, but far out, closing in.

The party continued discussion in Eomric's study. Alayn wanted Drik and Radagast to only scout, and leave the final resolution in the hands of the army. Drik and Radagast agreed. The most difficult part would be to locate the threat. The army had been unable to even follow the undeads in the wilderness. Either the army was filled with incompetents, or there was a conspiracy, or perhaps strong magic involved in hiding the undeads' wereabouts.

The talk then turned into peacebonding. Drik and Radagast wanted to somehow become exempt, or get some suitable weapons from Alayn to fight against the undeads. Alayn said the armory did not contain any enchanted weapons, so Drik offered his axe for Eomric to cast an enchantment on. Eomric flipped the axe around and concluded it could hold apprentice magic, and he would not need to be involved. Radagast then threw his masterwork longsword, which Eomric eyed with more interest, declaring it could be made into an enchanted one. But he would not do it. At that point Radagast realized he had broken the peacebonding of his sword, but before he got really upset Eomric used a cantrip to repair the peacebonding. Radagast felt both relieved and stupid - after all, even he could manage such a feat! But that solved the peacebonding problem, Radagast would simply magic them up again.

When it was time to meet Wiglaf, Radagast had finally hunted down the last ingredient needed for the Summon Familiar spell, so he was understandably upset that he would not be able to cast the spell before going back to the sewers. He swore he would haunt Drik if he got killed because of that.

Wiglaf had brought a companion with him, a young man named Gabriel. After a long discussion of trust, and trying to determine if Wiglaf and Gabriel had what it took, the party ventured back into the sewers. Drik thought Wiglaf could be some kind of a holy warrior, he vouched for his lontime friend Gabriel. It was a little difficult trying to figure out Gabriel, but he did not seem to be a religous type nor did he carry himself as a fighter either.

The way to the place where the fight with the frog-demon had taken place was uneventful. They were greeted with the stench of rotting flesh. Wiglaf promptly ordered the bodies to be cremated. There was plenty of wood, but carrying corpses filled with maggots was not a pleasant task!

Before following the demon's tracks, the party decided to search the sarcofagi room first. Radagast cast mage armor before they lifted the covers from the stone coffins. To their relief they only contained a long dead couple. Without further ado, everyone descended to the hole in the ground through which the demon had emerged and where Ofek's apprentice had disappeared with the demon-gem. And with Ofek's spellbook, Radagast remembered dreamily... it would make a fine addition to his spellbooks!

They found themselves in an octagon-shaped room. In the middle there was a raised altar, and there were candelabras in each corner of the room. Some of the candelabras were melted. Gabriel cast detect magic to see if there was anything magical, but there wasn't. However, Gabriel noticed fine ring of dust around the altar, and guessed someone had summoned a demon in the room. Apparently the demon had not liked that, hence the melted candelabras. Additionally, the roof had collapsed on two locations. There were a few scraps of torn clothing, broken vial and a fingernail as well.

Wiglaf could sense the evil of the place, and with the help of Drik he performed a ritual of consecration to cleanse the room.

Gabriel also spotted a secret door on the east wall of the room. Wiglaf noticed some strange symbols on the wall, which Gabriel copied on paper. He searched for traps, and finding none, picked the lock, and opened the door. Too late he realized he should perhaps have listened first.

Putrid smell of rotting flesh assaulted their noses as the door slid open. Two undead creatures were standing guard in the room behind, one holding a flaming longsword. The creatures were already attacking before the party could comprehend what they were seeing; Wiglaf got a badly burning wound from the flaming weapon, but the other creature missed. Radagast cast Bull's Strength on himself in preparation of battle, and Wiglaf grabbed his holy symbol and summoned spiritual strength. Drik called upon his god to turn the unholy creatures before him, but they were unaffected.

The way to the frontline was blocked for Radagast, but he managed to slip through so he could fight, and prompty managed to hit the creature holding the flaming weapon. Drik called upon his god another time, and the lesser being was trying to flee, giving Wiglaf the opening he was looking for. The creature fell. But the one holding the flaming sword surprised Radagast, and Radagast could feel the hot blade sink into his flesh. Angered, he also gored the creature. Radagast, Drik and Wiglaf were all landing blows on the creature, when it hit Radagast a second time. Radagast felt darkness closing around him, and he fell to the ground.

Drik healed Radagast bringing him back to consciousness, and the three of them were again pounding on the remaining undead. It managed to hit Radagast once more, nearly knocking him out the second time, before finally succumbing under the onslaught. After the battle Drik healed Radagast once more, and Wiglaf healed himself. Since Radagast seemed to be the only one who could use a longsword, Wiglaf offered the flaming weapon to Radagast. It was no longer flaming though. Drik took the other, normal longsword the second undead had been carrying.

Session XI - Evil Priests, and Forbidden Temples of Vecna (2001-08-14)

There was no furniture in the small room. The opposite wall seemed to be newly constructed from wood, and there was a locked door as well. The opposite wall, and the wall behind the party, had silvery runes scribed on them. After studying them for a few moments the party discerned that they were meant as protection from undead. Apparently someone had spent a lot of effort in making sure the two undeads in the room would stay there. It looked like they were placed there as guards.

Gabriel searched for traps, and finding none, picked the lock on the door. KA-BOOM! The runes on the wall exploded, sending shrapnel flying around. Miraculously Gabriel was the only one not hurt. Once again Drik had to heal Radagast.

The door opened into a weirdly shaped corridor or room. There were shelves of skeletons by the walls, but no animated creatures. At the end of the hall there was a door, which opened into a 5 feet wide corridor. It eventually came to a bend, at which there was one door, barred from the outside. The corridor continued a little while after the bend to another door, and the corridor ended in a pile of rubble, where the ceiling had collapsed.

The door opened into a small room. On the opposite wall there were large double doors, made of some metal. The party decided to go back to the small door that was bolted from the outside.

Wiglaf said he could sense evil behind the door. Gabriel cast Cat's Grace on himself. The door was opened, but the room appeared to be empty. Wiglaf wondered how that could be, and walked into the center of the room. Immediately we was surrounded by skeletons attacking him, some even dropping from the ceiling! There was a door on the opposite wall as well, with small window in it. There was somebody behind the door, controlling the undeads!

Wiglaf, and Gabriel who was at the doorway, immediately took some cuts. Recovering from the surpise, Wiglaf quickly dispatched of two skeletons, and Radagast finished the one that had managed to find its way into the corridor. To Radagast's disappointment, the magical flame had not appeared on the sword. Drik tried to turn the undead, but somebody was bolstering them and Drik could not affect a single one. When Radagast moved into the doorway, he could hear a spell being cast. He felt a wave of lethargy, but it quickly passed. He recognized somebody had just tried to cast Hold Person on himself. Gabriel had to tumble into the room to get a piece of action, which he did very skillfully, and smashed a skeleton from behind. Radagast and Wiglaf both hit the same creature, and it fell into a pile of bones. This time Radagast was trying to think about hot flames bursting from the sword, and he could feel a faint response, but still no flames. Wiglaf went into overdrive skilling the skeletons, and Radagast and Gabriel finished the last one. But the man behind the door summoned a foul creature, which immediately attacked Gabriel with its claws. Drik pointed at the creature, and a searing light burst from his hands, striking the creature. It boiled and cracked, but did not die. Radagast took a wild swing at the creature, shouting aloud "Flame!" in the hopes of invoking the magic in the sword. The flame did not appear, but the creature vanished in a puff of smoke.

Drik quickly healed Wiglaf while Gabriel picked the locked door. Everyone managed to notice the caltrops that were scattered behind the door; the priest had used them to slow the party down when he retreated. There was a short corrdidor, which again was barred by door. Gabriel could not figure out a way to open it, so Radagast tried to kick it in. The door held fast. Radagast realized that Wiglaf was probably the strongest man in the group and would stand a best change in breaking the door. Radagast also helped the odds a little by casting Bull's Strength on Wiglaf. Wiglaf's nostrils flared, and his foot twiched as he borrowed an axe from Drik and hacked through the wooden door in world record time!

As Wiglaf stepped into the wide corridor behind the door, he was greeted with crossbow bolts. He quickly stepped back, and the party made a quick battle plan. Wiglaf gulped two healing potions while Radagast cast Shield on himself.

Wiglaf and Radagast looked each other; it was now or never. They yelled and charged towards the other end of the corridor where the evil priest was instrucing two soldiers with crossbows. Radagast lead the charge, and the crossbowmen aimed for him. The magical barrier around him deflected the arrows easily, and he was just about to take the final leap to let his sword taste the blood of the 'bowmen when he noticed the floor strewn with caltrops! He changed his headlong rush into tiptoed dance, and sunk his sword into the belly of the man standing on the left. The man grunted, but even though he was in pain did not withdraw; he was well aware that he had the priest behind him, ready to heal. Wiglaf reached Radagast, but was unable to do anything because the doorway was so narrow. After his next swing at the sword, Radagast stepped back and gave Wiglaf the change to close in, which he did, killing the wounded man. The priest was trying to cast some kind of a spell, but lost his thoughts when Radagast's two magical bolts hit him. Following the missiles, Radagast tumbled his way through the doorway and tried to hit the priest, but missed. That was enough for the priest though, and he bolted for safety.

The remaining 'bowman was giving Wiglaf a hard time. Drik's heal came just in time. That gave Wiglaf enough of courage to really put his strength into a blow: the head sailed off. It was a gruesome sight, but effective end for the fight!

While Drik started to search the bodies, Wiglaf sprinted after the fleeing priest. Radagast had also planned on some looting, figuring that the priest was too fast and with familiar terrain; it might even be dangerous just running after him. Like they had already learned. But Radagast did not want to leave Wiglaf face the dangers alone, and jogged after him, thinking dark thoughts about a certain unnamed orc who also had had the tendency of charging first and thinking later...

Radagast's fears were confirmed, when Wiglaf run headfirst into a horde of skeletons. Luckily the 5-foot wide corridor only gave one skeleton at a time a change to fight, but there were a lot of them and Wiglaf was still pretty badly bruised. Radagast tried to carefully suggest that Wiglaf could rest, while Radagast took care of the weak but numerous undead. Wiglaf had none of that, almost singing with joy as his weapons crushed brittle bone.

Finally Drik and Gabriel caught up, and Drik went to turn the undead. His first attempt made four skeletons cower, which made Wiglaf's job easy. Next Drik turned three skeletons, which Wiglaf also promptly smashed into pieces. Finally Drik had really good connection with his deity, and his next two turns practically obliterated the skeletons then and there, leaving just a cloud of bone powder lingering in the air!

The corridor came into a T-intersection. On the left there was an open door, through which the party went after some arguing. The place turned out to be like a prison full of skeletons stacked on the walls. Quick search did not find anything interesting, but the door was barred shut just in case.

The remaining stretch of corridor also ended up at a door after a couple of bends along the way. This door was closed, though. Grabriel, after some investigation, went to open the door and just barely managed to avoid a lightning arc from the door! He nearly wet his pants, though, and he had to go and take a leak (there were plenty of skeleton eye sockets to aim for). After that sacrilegious act, Gabriel finally opened the door.

Behind the door was a corridor, the way on the left climbing upwards. To the right was a structure like the prison, this time without a door. Drik found a loose stone at the end of the hall, but when Gabriel came to investigate it turned out to be just that - a loose stone.

After that false start, Wiglaf finally noticed some bloody spots on the corridor going upwards. The corrdior soon opened to a large temple. There was an altar with a pool connected to it at the center, and a statue of Vecna. While Wiglaf was demolishing the altar, Radagast kept an eye on the statue with his crossbow. It turned out to be just a statue, and when Wiglaf was finished with the altar he cut the arms off from the statue.

Wiglaf also found the bloodied tracks leading through the temple to a wall. Gabriel quickly found a way to open the secret door. There was a small closet behind, with stairs leading upwards. Gabriel proceeded first, while Radagast was providing cover with the crossbow. Gabriel made it to the top without an incident. When he listened, he could hear muffled voices. Carefully he opened the trapdoor, and found himself in a wine cellar. The rest of the party followed.

The cellar seemed to belong to a pub of some sort, judging by the sounds that were coming from the door. There was a bloodied armor scattered before the door, on the staircase. Obviously the cleric had decided to blend in with the crowd.

Gabriel made himself invisible, and went to check out the bar. He bumbed into a barmaid, but managed to stay invisible nevertheless. He could not see the cleric, but after some thinking and observing he realized there were a couple of fellows who had a good view of the cellar door, so with any luck they might have seen the cleric come out.

While Gabriel was observing the men, he realized they were actually pickpockets! While they were trying to rob one man, he tried to use ventriloguism to spoil the attempt. The victim got his money back, and even though the thugs tried to cover their act, the barkeep grabbed a double arbalest and told the men to come forward and empty their pockets. It appeared the scam had been going on for quite some time, since many patrons got their possessions back. The barkeep motioned for his orc bouncers to teatch the thiefs some manners. The orcs escorted the thugs out, and some bone crunching sounds could soon be heard from outside, with some cries for help.

After the bouncers returned from outside carrying bloodied wooden bats, Gabriel slipped outside. One of the thugs was painfully crawling away, but it seemed the other one was actually bleeding to death. Gabriel treated him as well as he could, stopping the bleeding, and headed back for the wine cellar.

Wiglaf told Gabriel to go and check the bar name so that the rest of the party could meet outside (the rest would take a different route out). Gabriel found out the place was called the Body Widow tavern. While Gabriel was waithing for the rest of the party to arrive, he amused himself by playing ghost on the people that tried to approach the beaten and unconscious thug - he was still invisible.

While Wiglaf, Radagast and Drik were backtracking their steps, the heard crying from behind the double doors in the corridor where they were ambushed by the crossbowmen and the cleric. Radagast nor Wiglaf were afraid of crying, so they opened the door.

Behind was an octagon shaped room. It was obviously the headquarters of the priest. There was a bed, a table, a chair and two girls chained to a wall. It looked like the priest had taken advantage of them as well. While the girls were afraid at first, they realized the cavalry had arrived when Wiglaf broke the chains. They said their names were Anya and Lucritia. They quickly told their story of becoming slaves. Wiglaf grabbed some sheets from the bed for the girls to cover themselves with.

Radagast found a small iron chest from under the bed. He detected magic on it, possibly a trap, so he did not open it. Drik went through the desk, and found some unfinished letters and other papers. One letter was addressed to "P.". The letter talked about plans not progressing as planned, monsters in the catacombs, Alayn's new ranger and so on. Other papers listed money changers in town, people who could met valuables without asking too many questions, merchants like Gustav and Cordwellyn and so on. There were also books, forbidden tomes of necromany and Vecna. Wiglaf and Drik piled the books on the bed and set it on fire.

Once on the streets, Wiglaf took the girls to the temple. Drik and Radagast went straight to the tavern. They drew a lot of attention, although people did give them way: a man in shining armor and another man carrying an iron chest must have been a rare sight even in a city such as this.

The companins decided to rent a room from a nearby tavern. Drik then went to fetch Wiglaf. While waiting, Gabriel and Radagast were investigating the supposedly flaming sword of Radagast. Finally they spotted some writing on the blade. It was a part of an old poem written in Old Hanseatic. When Radagast read it aloud, the sword burst into flames! The flames died when he thought about it, but they reappeared only by reading the poem aloud.

When everyone was preparing for the night, there was a knock at the door. There was a huge man, at least 6 and a half foot tall in full armor! Drik nearly panicked, until Eomric stepped into the room. Somehow he had found where the party was staying.

Drik bragged about how he, and the party, had killed the undeads down in the crypts. Eomric was not very surprised, but seemed to be interested in the chest. He dispelled the magical protection on it (taunting it to be apprentice magic) and knocked it open with another spell. That sent small darts flying from the chest, which luckily missed everyone (Gabriel thought he could see poison on the darts). Inside were 50 onyx gems, black as night, each worth 50 gold pieces or so. Eomric seemed to be pleased, and he explained that such gems could be used as the focus to animate undeads. So not only had the party destroyed a lot of undeads, they had also forced the evil cleric to flee and had even stolen his means of creating more undeads.

The party told everything to Eomric on the condition that they could go and finish the job. Eomric seemed to agree. He also adviced the party to get rid of the chest, since it would be easy to locate. He casted a spell to hide the chest from scrying, but told the party to loose the chest as soon as possible, and go to another tavern in case the priest was already aware of their location.

Session XII - Demonic Alayn (2001-08-21)

After Eomric left - via a teleportation spell - the party made quick plans.

Radagast suggested that since the chest was probably the homing device, the party should dump only the chest and keep the stones - after all, they were quite valuable. Everyone agreed. It was decided that Wiglaf would leave through the window, and hide the chest in a sewer. The rest left through the normal entrance. Going out, Drik bought some foul smelling liquor from the bar (he especially wanted the strongest, smelliest stuff they had).

Out in the alley, Drik sprinkled some of the liquor on the still unconscious pickpocket to make it appear as he had merely passed out from drinking. The smell was quite bad!

The party decided to go to Gustav's bar, the Sword and Cloak, and they made their trip through the city without an incident. Drik bought them a good room, drinks and dinner. He turned out to be quite a haggler.

During the night, some commotion could be heard from the streets: men in armor, going to the old city. Drik went to investigate. Bjorn, the captain of the guard, and Eomric's bodyguard where there with some two dozen guards. They had a man in chains, held by four guards. The man was pretty badly beaten. There were also two large and one weedy looking commoner. Drik found out that the prisoner was a priest of Vecna. The guards had received a tip and had cought him in a bar. There would be a trial the following day.

When Drik was coming back to the Sword and Cloak, he felt someone pulling from his backpack. When he turned, he saw a street urchin with a knife in his hand. The urchin had cut the material of Drik's backpack, and some contents, including a few onyx gems, had already spilled out. Drik drew his battleaxe, and the boy disappeared quickly. Drik gathered his belongings and made it back to the inn without further incident.

Later in the night the party awoke into more noise. Some building was on fire! Drik, Gabriel and Wiglaf went to help, while Radagast stayed guard. The burning building was the Body Widow. After the flames were down, the party went to investigate the ruins. They found three bodies nailed to the floor; the barkeep and his two orc bouncers. They were quite obviously dead. Gabriel noticed that the barkeep had a symbol of Vecna on his neck. The guards cursed when they recognized the victims. The barkeep was the one who had reported the priest of Vecna, and his testimony would have been needed in the trial. Drik also found some material components for a fireball spell. He spoke with the commander of the night watch, and said Eomric would be very interested in the fire. The commander of the night watch turned out the be a good chap. He even warned Drik, after Drik had revealed his identity, to be more careful in the future, since not everyone could be trusted and friends of Alayn might face the wrath of Alayn's enemies. He then mentioned some people who most likely could be trusted, like the new scouts.

After there was nothing else to do, Drik, Wiglaf and Gabriel returned to Sword and Cloak and the rest of the night passed peacefully. In the morning, after some quiet meditation and studies, Gabriel fixed Drik's backpack.

Trumpets could be heard, signaling the beginning of the trial. Drik healed the pickpocket, and Gabriel cast a Charm Person on him. Drik and Radagast, after grabbing some breakfast from the bar, headed for the trial while Gabriel stayed, fishing some information from Edmund, the pickpocket, first. Edmund was surpised to find he was still alive, and was thankful to Gabriel for saving his life. Gabriel, and Wiglaf who had remained behind, tried to convince Edmund to give up his illegal activities and do something good with his life. They suggested he should enlist for Alayn's scouts, where his skills could be put to better use. He remained doubtful, but did not outright resist the idea. They also learned that he had seen the wounded man come from the cellar of Body Widow and said he would be able to describe and identify him. After that, Gabriel and Wiglaf took him to the trial.

The trial was proceeding fast. Alayn, Eomric, the city bishop and others were the jurors, Alayn acting as the head of the tribunal. Charges were read aloud. Gabriel and the others arrived just in time to see how the man on trial pleaded quilty to the charges. Gabriel could sense that something or someone was manipulating him, and he was not willingly admitting his quilt. Edmund said the accused was the man he saw. Alayn passed the sentence, which was death by hanging. The executioner pulled the switch, and the priest of Vecna went to meet his god.

After the hanging people quikcly dispersed, and the party went to have some lunch and kill some time. Again their peaceful time was disrupted by unexpected events. Apparently some guards had went to the temple of Vecna in order to completely destroy it, and were beaten back by no-one else but Alayn and a bunch of undeads! Alayn had even casted spells! The messenger also said that Garwolf, the captain of Cordwellyn's mercenary army, was badly wounded and unlikely to live. The party, finding all this hard to believe, proceeded towards the remains of the Body Widow.

They saw guards with chinched armor, wounded, some without weapons, and some desperately trying to hold back a horde of skeletons trying to break out from the cellar. The bishop was there as well, but he had already used almost all his strength trying to hold back the undead. Garwolf was laying on his back, close to the death's door.

After a brief discussion if it was ok to help a minion of Cordwellyn, Drik healed Garwolf. Radagast cast Bull's Strength on himself and Wiglaf, in addition to casting the customary Mage Armor on himself. Wiglaf, Radagast and Gabriel went to help the guards beat up the skeletons while Drik talked with the bishop, Garwolf and Bjorn. All of them said they had seen Alayn and Eomric in the temple. Drik tried to convince them that it could not be true, but the others did not believe. They were going to take care of Alayn and the rest at the temple, if Drik and his companions would take care of the business in the temple of Vecna.

Soon there were no more skeletons spilling out, and the party made their way into the underground temple. There were skeletons and bodies lying around, but otherwise the place looked like they remembered it. The bishop and others had described the temple had not been damaged at all.

Fourteen of the skeletons stood up as the party started moving forward. Gabriel casted as spell which projected a half circle of flame in front of him. The spell caught five skeletons, but they were not destroyed. One skeleton managed to hit Radagast. At the end of the temple there was a large humanoid-looking demon holding a huge greatsword. It telepathically spoke in the minds of the party, letting them know that their time had come.

Drik did not care of the demon's threats, but raised his holy symbol and called for the holy power of El Elyon. All the skeletons were smashed as if hit by an invisible force, and they all fell to the floor. Radagast cast a magical, shimmering shield in front of him, and Gabriel charged the demon. He hit, but the wound healed immediately and there was no blood. The demon seemed to go berserk, and hit Wiglaf with the demonic fullblade. Radagast also charged the demon with the flaming sword. He hit, and his cut spilled black demon-blood. The flame did not seem to affect the demon, though.

Drik blessed the companions to fight better. Wiglaf had changed weapons to a magical sword, and this time his cut left a bloody wound in the hide of the demon. Gabriel fetched a silver dagger from a hidden sheath at his ankle, sinking the dagger deap but again the wound healed itself. Next Drik had to taste the mighty fullblade. He quickly healed himself.

While Wiglaf and Radagast were steadily circling the demon, cutting it here and there, Gabriel was also desperately trying to attack it with his rapier. Unfortunately the demon was better at the game than Gabriel, and the demon-blade sent Gabriel flying into the land of dreams. The cuts from the demon-blade were also bleading heavily. Drik had to step into the demon's reach, but luckily he ducked the deadly swing and was able to heal Gabriel.

Suddenly there was a puf of sulphurous smoke, and the demon disappeared! Radagast tried listening, if that was just some kind of a trick. Wiglaf tried to hit the space where the demon had been. Neither Radagast nor Wiglaf could detect anything. A few moments of uneasiness passed, until Wiglaf noticed the demon reappear in a puff of smoke at the other end of the temple. He charged, but his swing missed. The demon did not miss, and Wiglaf got a profusely bleeding cut. Radagast charged to rescue, and his aim was better. The demon was not finished with Wiglaf, though, and its next hit literally cut Wiglaf in half! As soon as Wiglaf fell, the demon spun around and continued with the swing, just barely missing Radagast.

Drik was just standing there surpised; he had been prepared to heal anyone who fell unconscious but had not counted on anyone been cut to pieces. Radagast yelled to Gabriel to grab Wiglaf's magical sword and fight with that, since it was obvious only magic could harm the creature. Gabriel nervously grabbed Wiglaf's sword, but doing so presented a great opportunity for the demon. It used it ruthlessly and Gabriel fell, still holding the magical weapon. This time Drik was ready, and he quickly brought Gabriel back to the land of the living. No sooner had he done that when Radagast fell, having tasted the demon-blade. Drik was starting to run out of healing spells as he saved Radagast from the death's door. Gabriel finally had his change with the magical sword, and this time he was rewarded with splatters of black blood. Radagast also joined in, carving a chunk from the demon's hide. Drik cast Searing Light at the demon, but the light that started as brilliantly bright beam shattered into harmless smaller beams that faded to nothing before hitting the foul creature. Drik's display of light might have confused the demon a little, since Radagast was able to land a solid blow on the demon, killing it.

The companions were silent for a moment. Wiglaf was dead. No magic that Drik possessed could bring him back.

As they watched, the demon's body begun to dissolve. Time became of essence; they needed something to prove there really had been a demon and that Alayn was not behind all of this. Radagast cast Detect Magic and saw that the body of the demon, as well as Wiglaf's short sword and sheath where magical. Gabriel took these magical items. There were also two potions on Wiglaf that seemed to radiate magic. Gabriel filled in a vial with the goo from the demon. He also found a small two by two feet compartment in the temple, from behind the statue.

Drik grabbed Wiglaf's legs, and Radagast carried his torso while they hurried back to the surface. There they explained what they had seen and done to guards posted there. Some guards went back and testified it was so. Gabriel then went back to the temple with some guards to try and preserve the remainders of the corpse long enough so that the bishop and others could see there really was a demon. Drik and Radagast hurried after the bishop who had gone to arrest Alayn, dropping the body of Wiglaf at the temple on the way, leaving instructions to put him in a coffin to wait for proper burial.

Drik and Radagast found Alayn and the others in the hall of justice. Things were not going well. Everyone had a weapon out, there were five paralyzed guards next to Garwolf although he still had plenty of men left. On Alayn's side there was Eomric and Bjorn, although it seemed the latter had been forced against his will. The messenger who had seen the demon, as well as Drik and Radagast finally managed to end the situation. The fact that Drik was dragging the demon's sword along might have helped, because the bishop recognized immediately it was a weapon for a demon. The bishop was not too happy to hear about Drik's plan to sell the infamous fullblade, and convinced Drik it would be better to destroy it.

Eomric released Bjorn from the Dominate spell. Bjorn cast a murderous glance at Eomric and marched out. Eomric felt bad that he could no longer trust the man. Everyone then went to take a look at the demon. Drik even promised to Garwolf that if there was no demon he would help Garwolf capture Alayn. Drik also asked if Alayn could provide a proper burial for Wiglaf, which he promised and said he would declare a day to remember him as well.

Luckily there was still something remaining of the demon, and Garwolf and the bishop saw a completely different temple from what they had seen. Garwolf turned out to be a better man than Drik and Radagast had thought possible, Drik had even told him about the problems they had had with dealing with Cordwllyn, and warned Garwolf to keep his eyes open and consider twice what he was doing.

On the way back to the surface the bishop suggested seeing what was behind the double iron doors. There were no visible opening mechanisms, but there were ancient scriptures on the door, using a writing style over 2000 years old the bishop recognized. Drik was still able to read some meaning in them, something about a gateway, and some protection against evil.

Drik channeled some of the energy from his deity, and the doors started to glow white, transparent light. They could dimly see a room behind. Gabriel boldly stepped through. Radagast got some feelings of deja vu as he followed him. Others came after him.

The room was a small shrine. There were statues of the angels Tyrael and Lemuel standing guard over a small altar. On the altar there was a battle axe, with symbols of El Elyon and St. Cuthbert on it. Drik mentioned that the weapon must have been there for him, and the bishop said indeed that might be true. Radagast eagerly examined the scroll, but to his disappointment the first scroll was just some junk spell he could not understand. The next scroll was not even magical, but was written in Hanseatic so old even Radagast could not read it.

Drik investigated the divine scroll, and learned it held a Resurrection spell. He ordered the body of Wiglaf to be fetched from the temple and brought into the shrine. He wanted Wiglaf have the best changes of brought back to life; reading a spell of such high level was going to be dangerous.

While waiting for the body to arrive, Gabriel cast Comprehend Languages and investigated both his notes he had copied while first entering the catacombs, and the old scroll. His notes read: "Enter wielders of the holy power, servants of the holy power". The old scroll read:

Servants of the most High.

If you are reading this, then my prayers have been answered. I have forseen that the evil contained by the XXV Legion will be released. I have fulfilled my part in preparing to destroy it once more. As the Guardian directed, I have crafted this axe and though the meaning of the wolf symbol has not been made clear to me, I know that I have been succesfull. Wield it well and remain true to the light of Heaven and it's blade will cleave the evil you oppose assunder.

The mantle has passed to you; May the Lord of Heaven guide you to victory.

Haggorath Carolus VI

Radagast and Gabriel also went to investigate the final stretch of corridor they had not seen. It climbed upwards, and finally emerged outside the city walls. At the entrance there were two chains, as if to hold some beats who could guard the entrance. The chains were empty, though.

Finally poor Wiglaf's parts were brough into the holy place, and Drik read the scroll of Resurrection. Radagast forgot to take cover, but it turned out it was not needed. The scroll worked! The pieces of Wiglaf merged again, the color of life returned to his cheeks. He finally took a breath, and opened his eyes.

Wiglaf was humbled by his experience. He said he had changed his views of the world, and that he must leave. He would finally go and study. He had thought that he would be the only thing standing in the way of evil, and as such could not take time to seek the proper spiritual guidance. He explained that he had met someone beyond, and he had seen the error of his ways. He also invited Gabriel to join him. Gabriel agreed, but said he would spend a couple of weeks in the city first. Drik was sad to hear of Wiglaf's decision, and tried to convince him not to go. But Wiglaf kept his head.

Session XIII - Sir Radagast (2001-08-28)

Gabriel stayed for a couple of weeks, teaching Radadagast some of his tricks. Both of them also spent long days carefully copying arcane writings from each othesrs spellbooks. Finally there was no more to teach nor copy, and so he left to join Wiglaf.

Radagast exchanged some of the black onyx gems for two pearls. One he used right away to cast a spell to discover the properties of the three magical items he and Drik possessed: ring, sword and axe. The ring turned out to be a ring of protection of the weakest sort. The sword carried the weakest permanent enchantment in addition to having the capability of bursting into flames. Drik's axe, however, was truly a magnificient item: it too carried the lowest permanent enchantment, but it had other, more subtle properties as well. It had been enchanted to aim for the vital parts of a body for maximum effect, and against demons and other evildoers it would strike through their unholy defenses like through butter. Radagast also got the impression that any such creature trying to grab the axe would be sorry trying to do so, the effect being even more powerful than what he had experienced with the sword he had identified for Cordwellyn.

Drik was desperate for some silver powder, and first exchanged some of his gold for silver and tried to get a blacksmith to powder them for him. It turned out it was illegal to destroy the currency, but the blacksmith forwarded Drik to people who sold silver in bulk. Buying a five pound chunk of silver Drik proceeded back to the blacksmith who was happy to do the task.

Drik also took the demon's fullblade to the bishop for it to be destroyed. The blade was placed on an altar, and priests first spent a full night praying around it. The next morning the bishop used Drik's sacred axe to slice the sword in two, after which the altar was heated so that the demon blade melted. That was the end of that evil creation!

During the time, dozens of executions and twice as many banishments were carried out in an effort to root out the evil from the city of Dhunraven. Alayn had declared a full holiday in honor of Drik and his companions, and for getting rid of the temple of Vecna below the city.

Drik and Radagast dressed in their finest court clothes, and carried the weapons to the ceremony. Lord Khulven himself gave a speech, looking much longer than the last time Drik and Radagast had seen him. He talked about how Dhunraven had suffered while he was sick, and described how the brave men had fought the undeads beneath the city getting rid of the evil. He presented the same kind of medallion for courage as Drik and Radagast had for Garwolf and the bishop of Dhunraven, and said similar medallions had been sent for Wiglaf and Gabriel. Next he called for Drik to step forward. Khulven said that sinc Drik was a man of the cloth, he could not bestow knighthood on him but he gave Drik a seal ring saying that whenever Drik needed help, showing that ring to one of Khulven's allies would get him assistance. Then it was Radagast's turn, who was nervously twiddling with his sword scabbard. Lord Khulven asked for Radagast's sword, asked him to kneel, and touching his shoulders with the sword, pronouncing him a knight, Sir Radagast of Dhunraven.

As Radagast was returning to his place, a crossbow bolt came seemingly out of nowhere and hit Lord Khulven in the shoulder. The guards surrounded the fallen lord in an instant, but they let Drik through. Drik immedately healed the wound, but to his amazement Lord Khulven remained unconscious and was still fading away. The crowd dispersed in panic. There was nothing anyone could do but watch Lord Khulven finally drift away. Radagast could not detect anything magical in the bolt, so the logical conclusion was that the bolt must have been poisoned. The guards were already combing the nearby houses, so there was nothing for Drik or Radagast to do, so there was nothing else for them to do except go for the palace.

Near the entrance they saw Cordwellyn's colors. There was a messenger, and Drik went to have a chat with him. He said he had a message for Lord Khulven - or now Alayn - and Garwolf.

Eomric seemed like the best source of information, so Drik and Radagast headed towards his tower. They were greeted by guards outside, saying that Alayn was conferring with Eomric and that they had orders to not let anyone in. Drik and Radagast waited.

After an hour, Alayn finally came out. He said he he now knew what had to be done. He send a guard to summon Bardia for a conference. When he heard Cordwellyn's messenger was waiting for him he seemed disgusted and muttered something about Cordwellyn probably asking for more money. He then left taking the guards with him.

Drik knowcked on the door, and Timothy, Eomric's apprentice came to asnwer the door. He looked bored, and asked what Drik and Radagast wanted. Radagast showed him the apprentice spellbook he had fetched from his guarters, saying Eomric might be interested in it. Timothy said he might, considering that they did not had had any decent apprentice level spellbooks available lately. When he asked for the price, Radagast asked for 50 gold, which Timothy agreed to. He then ushered the companions in, and asked them to wait while he checked if Eomric would have time to meet them. He did, so Drik and Radagast joined Eomric in his study.

Eomric said he had some clues to the high priest of the church of Vecna, who was still at large. Eomric's scrying efforts had given only vague hints: sunlight filtering down through boards, as if in a cellar; next to road; window and Hogshead ale. Eomric also mentioned that the high priest had managed to hide pockets of undeads outside of the city, and Bardia and his scouts had located and destroyed several already.

After the gravest matters the discussion turned to other things. Radagast mentioned the book he sold to Timothy, mentioning Radagast in turn had bought it from Cordwellyn in Cador. Eomric was not too surprised, saying that Cordwellyn did end up with the weirdest of merchandise. Radagast also mentioned hearing some rumors about spellcasters guild that had combined the arcane with the sword. Eomric had not heard of such, but said the arcane order of spellcasters operated from the Monastery of the Sword. Radagast also expressed his interest in celeastial creatures. Eomric said he was a bit surpised that El Elyon sometimes let the wielders of arcane magic to summon the celeastials, but his musing was cut short. There was a knock on the door.

Eomric's apprentice Timothy was at the door, and Drik let him in. Suddenly Eomric started casting a spell, which Radagast recognized to be a protective sort to create a barrier of magical energy around Eomric. Before neither Drik or Radagast were able to understand what was going on, Timothy charged Eomric with a sword, but missed. Eomric in turn pointed a finger at Timothy, shooting a black ray, but missing Timothy and luckily also missing Radagast who was frantically casting a shielding spell of his own. Timothy smashed a small vial to the ground, and magical fire spred throughout the study. Drik charged Timothy with his axe, while Radagast was trying to figure out how to subdue the apprentice without killing him. Eomric did not seem have any qualms about killing him as he again pointed his finger and an arrow shot into Timothy, splashing acid over him as well. Timothy again fished a small vial from his back, uncorked it, and the room filled with sulphurous smoke almost instantly. A fiery demon popped out next (Radagast had a brief moment trying to figure out how something as big as a demon could fit into a small bottle). The appearance of the demon made Radagast forget about charging Timothy, and concentrate on some more protective magic instead. Eomric bolted for the stairs with the demon literally hot on his heels. Timothy once again had a fresh vial in his hand, which he drunk and disappeared. Radagast thought he could see the smoke moving as if someone was passing by him towards the door, and tried to hit it. Unfortunately he only hit thin air.

Soon flasks of oil were thrown into the still burning carpet, making it obvious that the place would burn down unless someone would put it down. The smoke created a lot of smoke, so it was difficult to see and breath. Radagast tried to contain the flames with a table. Drik tried calling for some guards and then helped Radagast with the fire. The smoke was getting to Radagast, and after hearing some noise upstairs he scrambled after Eomric and the demon.

Drik cast a spell which let him withstand the flames (although not the smoke), to make it easier and safer to work on putting the flames out. Was yelled for help, even used his signal whistle to draw some attention. Unfortunately Eomric's tower was quite far from the normal routes of the people living in the palace. Finally, the fire still burning but not as near the precious books as before, he too went running for the stairs.

Radagast had done his best trying to follow the bloodstains and the smoky room after smoky room, climbing the stairs, but finally he had to stop for a breather at one of the open windows. The smoke was really making him ill, and he was in danger of passing out!

Drik soon passed by Radagast. Radagast, having recovered a little, followed his friend. Soon they came upon a scene they did not expect: the flaming demon was standing next to the charred body of Eomric lying on the floor. Drik charged the demon madly, and his sacred axe hummed with holy power, cutting through the demon splashing droplets of fire everywhere. Before Radagast could charge, the demon stepped back, stared Drik angrily and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Drik investigated the body, which was so badly scarred it was hard to make sure it really was Eomric. He was dead, beyond the means of Drik's powers. What a sad day!

Radagast and Drik descended back to the study in stunned silence. It was too much! Who could now guide them against the evil? They met guards in the study who had finally put out the fire, and Alayn. Drik broke the bad news to Alayn, saying that Alayn would probably not want to see the body of his friend for it was so badly burned.

Alayn gathered some of his guards and with Drik and Radagast they proceeded to have a word with Theoden, the bishop.

Chaos awaited them at the temple as well. Guards, priests and worshippers were impaled to rails, burned spots marked the floors, and blood had made the floor sticky. Alayn summoned for Bardia and more guards, while Drik and Radagast prepared for battle. The bishop and some of his priests were making a last stand against a bunch of ravagers, four in total. The villains had nasty tattoos covering their bodies with hideous bony pieces of armor. The priests had only managed to hold out so long because they were fighting in a doorway where they could block the attackers from ganging up on them.

Drik was the first to charge in, and he showed that his axe could be a mighty weapon when he took a swing at the leader. The leader snarled, but took a respectful step back before swinging his sword and then shocking with his hand, both attacks hitting Drik. Alayn's guards quickly hacked down one of the thugs, even though he managed to down one of the guars in turn. Alayn showed that he had also improved with his fighting skills, and expertly sunk his sword into the guts of another villain, who still managed to keep standing. Radagast was just hitting air, and one ravager managed to took flight.

The leader was clearly an opponent of some skill, for he stuck his sword through Drik and again used some unholy powers to hurt Drik at the same time. Drik fell, unconscious. That did not slow the leader down one bit, as he made a surprising lounge with his sword and managed to hit Radagast as well. Radagast wanted to go and help his friend, but he realized he coult provide the best protection for someone else to help Drik, so he yelled for others to look after Drik while he launched a flurry of attacks at the leader, all of them missing unfortunately. Radagast was really getting scared of the fighting prowess and seemingly unnatural skill and withering tough of the leader. He stepped back, and leashed a bolt of magical energy - finally something that shed a little blood!

While Radagast was keeping the leader at bay, Alayn came and bound Drik's bleeding wounds. Next Alayn bravely charged the leader, skewering the monster on his sword. The man looked surpised, then fell to his death. Radagast used one of the healing potions he had bought from Drik to bring Drik back to consciousness. Drik started healing himself and the other badly injured people.

Radagast concratulated Alayn for good fighting and for saving Drik's life. Alayn said most of his skills came from the enchanted sword Eomric had made for him. Drik also thanked Alayn, saying how strange it was that not long ago it was Drik saving Alayn's life.

After Drik had done all he could to help the injured, he wanted to talk to Bjorn, the captain of the guard. While on the way there, Drik and Radagast were passing by a tavern called the Dancing Cockatrice when people were running out from the building screaming: "Demons! Demons!" Radagast readied his crossbow and carefully peeked into the tavern: there were four small demon-like creatures attacking two customers, the barkeep and a barmaid. Drik shot a blast of white energy at one of the apparations which disappeared in a puff of smoke, but not after it had gored the barmaid who had fallen to the floor. Radagast put a bolt at the back of one of the other demons. Drik then charged the demon facing the barkeep, while Radagast went the other direction to save the patrons. The two men were fighting pretty well with their makeshift weapons of beer mugs and pieces of furniture, but it looked like the otherwordly creatures were not affected by the hits as much as one would expect. Radagast and Drik did not have time to finish all of the creatures before they simply vanished! Radagast realized they were summoned creatures, and the spell holding them on this plane had just ended. It also meant that whoever had unleashed the monsters was not far away. Radagast asked if the barkeep had heard any strange language being spoken just before the demons appeared, but the man did not remember hearing anything unusual.

Drik quickly healed the barmaid, then went to the back to see if there was a wine cellar. It turned out the place matched Eomric's description with Hogshead ale and all. Drik then gave a hard time to the barkeep; Drik learned that the man knew nothing and that there was some kind of an underground organization that the barkeep had to pay for protection and other services, and that he was very afraid of.

Since there was nothing more to be done, and the town guards were taking over the investigation, Drik and Radagast headed back to the palace. They told Alayn what they had experienced. Drik then suggested searching the temple of vecna again for some more clues, but Alayn had already sealed the access. However, Alayn granted the companions permission to use Eomric's tower to find any possible clues. When Radagast asked for more guards to be placed at Eomric's tower Alayn sighed but agreed, saying he had to be relying more and more on Cordwellyn's mercenaries. Once again Cordwellyn's name clicked on Radagast's head. Everything was playing quite nicely if Cordwellyn was looking for more power!

Finally Drik and Alayn discussed means of communications. Drik suggested the guards should have whistles or something so they could be called from further away. Alayn said the guard now carried horns so that was no longer a problem.

Session XIV - Venya the Assassin (2001-09-04)

During the night both Drik and Radagast dreamed. Drik's dream was about money changers, perhaps, who were being transformed into demons. Radagast's dream seemed to take place on a featureless plain, meeting a man wearing black gloves. The figure gave Radagast a message: "Seek the sign of the Blue Trush. Though the fox seems to be dead, his knowledge lives on." Upon waking, Drik and Radagast discussed their dreams. They figured Eomric might be the old fox, although they were not sure if it meant Eomric had somehow fooled death or if there was some cache of knowledge from him that could be very helpful.

Next in the schedule was a trip to Eomric's tower; Radagast did not want to go alone, even though he was convinced he would be pretty safe by scanning for magical traps. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, Radagast thought. The guards let them in, and said there had not been disturbance during the night. Radagast was heading towards the room with the crystal ball, on the fifth floor if he recalled properly. However, as soon as he was heading for the stairs magical runes exploded in the ceiling, sending shrapnels flying around. Shaken, Radagast asked Drik to heal him, after which they withdrew. It seemed like Eomric's protective magic had been activated again somehow.

When the companions were headed downtown, they noticed a man waiting for an audience at the palace. The man introduced himself as Galen, an entertainer looking for work at the palace. Drik mentioned that he could have chosen a better time for that. When Galen recognized who Radagast and Drik were, he offered to write songs about their adventures. The companions decided to let him tag along. On their way to the temple they learned Galen was a minor healer himself, and whished to help the injured and sick people located at the temple. Radagast noticed he was carrying a rapier, and if his stories were to be believed, quite an adventurer himself.

At the temple Drik and Galen healed the people they could. There was a new batch of injured and diseased soldiers just brought in, one Waymarch Knight even. When Drik healed some of the knights wounds he became a little more coherent, and was able to describe where the attack took place (about a mile south of the city). He said there had been some 10-20 skeletal creatures with some kind of demonic leader. They did not seem to be ordinary skeletons, though, because his unit of ten men were almost immediately paralyzed by the creatures and did not have a change after that. Drik promised he would come back the next day to try and cure the knights disease. It seemed like the man whose disease Drik had cured earlier was doing quite well.

Drik then wanted to hire a fighter for the group. It was decided that they would meet at Sword and Cloak to look for suitable men. Drik spent some time looking for ingredients to make healing potions, while Radagast went to buy ink and other supplies needed to scribe magical scrolls. When Radagast was coming out of one shop, some lady bumbed into him and left a letter in his hand. Radagast quickly checked if he still had his money; it seemed he had, but somehow his silver pieces were in the place where his gold pieces should have been, and vice versa! "That was one good pickpocket," Radagast thought. "Good thing she was not looking for my money." He read the letter:

Hello, you don't know me, but your life is in danger. You and your friends have angered some very powerful people and they've put a bounty on your head. Thank God your handsome friends already left the city on their pilgrimage; if you have any sense you'll leave too. I can't say any more than this for fear of discovery.

PS. If you see your handsome friends again, tell them they can both leave me letters with the owner of the Sword and Cloak (but don't tell them both at once).

Radagast was amused: "Ha! Our holy men were courting the same woman, um?"

At the Sword and Cloak Galeon performed for the audience, playing some old, well known songs taking away the fear and uncertainty of the present day. People seemed to like that, and he ended up with a hat of silver and copper. "That certainly seems give a better living than Bardia trying to make bows," Radagast commented to Drik. As he and Drik scanned the crowd, they spotted Garwolf alone at a table, downing a drink. It seemed like he had had a few already. Garwolf didn't seem to be in too good a mood either, but Drik eventually convinced him that it would be a blast joining him in the fight against the undeads. Drik ended up buying drinks for the whole bar (even Radagast had one, without making a complete fool of himself), and also bought a room for Garwolf. Radagast wrote him a note so that when he woke he would know he should wait for Radagast and others at the inn, for they would head out in the morning. Galen said he had rented a room at an inn called the Green Dragon, where he went to spend the night. Drik and Radagast marched to the palace, as usual. In the evening before going to bed Radagast made his first scroll, protection against evil.

Morning came, but Garwolf was not in a condition to go anywhere. And he was in a really foul mood, would have cut Drik with his sword if he had had the strength. Eventually it was agreed that the trip would be delayed until the afteroon. After that, Garwolf broke into a room adjascent to his (accidentally) and fell asleep on the floor. Galen was concerned that they were trying to hire a drunk to be their champion.

Radagast showed the letter he had received, but neither he nor Drik were too concerned - after all they had been in life threatening situations for longer than they cared to remember. Galen seemed to take the message more seriously, and wanted to leave the city as soon as possible. They learned there apparently was a thief loose in the city looking more for excitement than money. He or she seemed to break into houses and rearrange furniture, leaving just a symbol of a blue bird behind.

Since they had a little time to kill, they decided to see if any of the men Garwolf had mentioned would be available for hire. Tomalac, or something like that, was probably out - according to Garwolf he was a mercenary up for hire but probably was leading Cordwellyn's army now. Tempes, on the other hand, might be available. He was the son of an influential merchant. The party headed to the river to the house, Galen leading his horse that was packed ready for the adventure.

A butler answered the door. He explained that Tempes was not home, his his cousin was available if the party wished to see her. Since there wasn't anything else to be done, everyone agreed. The butler showed them into a room, and a young woman soon entered. She was named Mathilda. She offered some wine, and sent a message to the kitchen to deliver some food for the guests. Galen explained their situation, and why they were looking for Tempes. Mathilda told them that her cousin was not available, since he was along with one of their caravans as a guard.

Galen then asked if she would like for him to perform for the group, and she was delighted. Galen gave a suberb show of his talent, leaving even Drik and Radagast looking at him with their jaws open.

As Mathilda left to leave the party to eat, Radagast's sixth sense was telling him that something was wrong. He had already sipped the wine carefully, and ate only a little bit of the food. He suspected something foul was at play, but could not have any real evidence to point this way or that, and he certainly did not want to rouse suspicions nor insult their host.

Soon the door to the room, and the window shutters were closed from outside. Everyone was feeling waves of nausea and weakness - the food was drugged! Drik became so weak he could not even stand up. Radagast's worst fears were turning to be true. A page entered the room, quickly followed by a man who stabbed him to death. It was Venya!

Venya aimed his crossbow at Radagast, and wounded him. Radagast was frantically trying to figure a way out, realizing that almost anything he did would give Venya time enough to shoot again, which would almost certainly kill Radagast. So he ended up casting Invisibility on himself, and laying low in the hopes Venya would try to shoot the place where he had been standing. Venya decided against that, since Galen bravely charged him, although missing. Venya drew two swords and engaged Galen, but he too missed. Meanwhile Radagast had crawled to Drik, and cast Bull's Strength on his friend. Drik now was able to stand up and move a little although he was still too weak to even lift his battleaxe he had laid on the floor.

Galen managed to scratch Venya a little, be Venya only laughed as he sunk his swords into Galen, showing what a real sword cut could do. Drik healed Radagast. Radagast activated his flaming sword. Galen was trying some fancy maneuvers against Venya, but he was not fooled. Radagast's surprise attack didn't hurt Venya too much, and neither did Galen's second scratch. Venya decided he did not want to be flanked with Galen and Radagast, and instead sprang to Drik. Galen had a change to heal his wounds, and Radagast sent bolts of magical energy into Venya. Everybody seemed to be leasing magic, as Drik shot a searing beam of light at Venya, just barely missing him and obliterating a window in the way. Venya decided that things were getting a little too tough, and gulped a potion that seemed to enable him to move twice as fast as normally. He then promptly whacked Drik again. Radagast also decided that some extra protection was in order and cast Shield. Venya then showed that he had truly developed some new skills as he feinted, leaving Drik totally open to his murderous next attack. Drik was looking pretty bad, but luckily Radagast was able to provide some cover for him so he could heal himself. Venya finally decided things weren't working as well as they should, and run for the door. Both Galen and Radagast charged after him, both missing. Venya gulped another potion and escaped invisible.

When Mathilda came back, things turned strange. Galen tried to grab Mathilda, and accused him for setting up the assasination attempt. Mathilda was furious, and threw Galen out. She was not mad at Radagast and Drik, however, so the companions used the opportunity to try and learn if she knew anything about Venya. She only knew that Venya had been hired as a cook recently. Radagast then asked her to investigate the matter, and send any information, including any of Venya's personal belongings to the palace, which she agreed to.

Outside, Galen and Radagast had to help Drik onto the saddle. They first went to see Garwolf to inform him of the change of plans.

For two days there was nothing to do but recover from the poison. Drik healed everyone a little every day. Radagast scribed three more scrolls.

Finally having fully recovered from the ordeal Radagast was returning to his room. He got a nasty surprise as Venya was there waiting for him, and nearly did Radagast in with his swords. Radagast backed out, and slammed the door shut, trying desperately to hold it closed while yelling for help. Again he could feel poison coursing through his veins. The warning about assassins turned out to be very real. Luckily Drik was walking near by, and came to help Radagast. Radagast stepped back and made himself invisible. Drik could not hold the door closed, probably due to the fact that Venya had gulped a potion of Bull's Strength. Venya burst out, and had to taste Drik's axe. Radagast did not have much time to think about his actions as the poison finally made him collapse on the floor, still invisible. As guards came running to the rescue Venya decided to split; he went back to Radagast's room, entered the fireplace and escaped by climbing up the chimney! Drik found the invisble Radagast and brought him back to consciousness. They got new quarters for the night, in case Venya or some other assassin were to try again, and decided to leave the next morning.

In the morning Drik and Radagast met the two other brave adventurers, Galen and Garwolf. Garwolf was in full armor, and looked capable of taking on an army just by himself. They passed by a trial, and saw that some people were not confessing to being Vecna worshippers. It looked like there were torturers ready to extract the confessions anyway. Nobody was too happy to see such a sign, especially after Alayn had declared that all Vecna worshippers would be sentenced to death. Drik said he was going to have a word with Alayn soon.

They discovered the place of the undead attack easily, because Bardia was there with his scouts. Drik was quick to notice that he had a new greatsword. Bardia explained it was called "Spiritshard", and was made for him by Eomric. They also discussed Venya, and Radagast showed the letter he had received. Bardia was also surpised to see Garwolf in the group.

Bardia could not find any tracks to follow at the site, although he said it looked like one of the attackers had been carried by a horse.

Bardia explained that previous week someone had probably been ambushed on the northern road, and that they had managed to follow the tracks a little bit. That time it had not been undeads, at least it did not look like it. Based on the description Drik was convinced it must have been Wiglaf who had been ambushed, and wanted to go and see if he could help somehow. So it was decided Bardia would take his troops east, while Drik and the others would circle the city by going west.

Not long after separation, Drik's arch-enemy the owlbear came charging from the bushes. Galen's eyes bulged; he had never seen anything like that. He had just been talking about how he would write songs about the heroic deeds they would do, so when he started signing Radagast yelled in exasperation to wait after the fight with the songs. But it turned out Galen knew what he was doing, as the song lifted the spirits of everyone. As Radagast prepared for melee by casting protective magic, everyone else was banging on the owlbear. Garwolfs hits proved to be too much for the beast, and it tried to run away, only to be killed by Drik's arrow and Radagast's magical bolts. "Finally this Magic Missile thing cought something that was running away." Radagast muttered to himself. It was also a small miracle Drik got a hit with the bow, considering he hardly knew how to hold it...

Session XV - Prisoners (2001-09-18)

After the fight Radagast cut the beak off, and the party continued their search. They did not find anything special, and set camp for the night.

Drik saw a dream again that night. In the morning he explained his dream, and Radagast thought the head of House Wechseler was in danger, and one of his sons was corrupted by evil. The dream gave four days of time before the assassination attempt of the head of the house, so the party decided to continue their search for the day and aim for the city gates at nightfall.

The early spring weather provided the grounds for a nice outing, even by Radagast's standards.

Around midday the party spotted three wolves feasting on the remains of a man and a horse. Radagast scared the beasts off. Galen and Radagast determined that the man and a horse were probably killed by the wolves. Drik found the man had been a messenger, carrying a letter from Bishop Theoden of Dhunraven. Drik broke the seal and read the long letter, which was addressed to Archbishop Basil Theomund. Theoden was concerned about Alayn, who in the bishop's opinion was using too forceful methods in his quest of ridding Dhunraven of the followers of Vecna. Theoden even suggested the church should support Lord Bjoric or a bastard of the late Lord Khulven if such a person could be found.

Drik and Radagast had a fight of what would be the appropriate action. Drik wanted to return the letter to the bishop, and support the bishop in his actions. Radagast wanted to keep the letter, and be loyal to Alayn. Galen didn't really know Alayn, but based on what he had heard he preferred to support Alayn.

Before moving on, Drik also found five gold on the messenger and a dagger, which he picked up.

The day was turning into afternoon, when the party run into trouble. All around them skeletons appeared from the bushes. And not only skeletons - there was a mummy among the dozen skeletons, and a woman riding a horse as well! They had found, or rather they had been found, the undead patrol...

Radagast figured it would be best to go invisible and cast a few protective spells before engaging in melee. Galen also moved away from Drik and Garwolf. The mummy and skeletons surrounded Drik and Garwolf, and a couple skeletons closed in on Galen as well. The woman was staying back, guiding her minions.

Radagast was casting Mage Armor and Shield, and preparing a charge against the woman. Drik called for the powers of his god, but the evil cleric had bolstered her minions - only two skeletons fleeded from Drik. Garwolf dispatched of one skeleton, but his horse was getting attacked as well. The mummy did not stand still, and an aura of palpable fear emanated from it: Drik and Garwolf were paralyzed by the fear! As they were helpless, the unholy creatures leashed their full fury on them. It did not look good.

Galen started to sing, hoping he could lift the spirits of his companions. The woman responded by sending a blast of loud sound at Galen, nearly knocking him out.

Radagast had finally his protective spells up, and decided to charge the woman. His surpise attack worked well, and he gored a good hit. The woman did not take that lightly, and cast an unholy spell that would almost certainly kill Radagast if she managed to touch him. Radagast tried his best to dodge her attempts, but it was proving difficult, especially since her warhorse was also trying to kick him dead.

Aftrer Galen managed to kill one of his opponents, radagast yelled for him to come and help fight the evil cleric. Galen charged, and stuck his rapier into the woman. She did not like the attention, obviously.

Drik and Garwolf finally shrugged off the fear, and Drik had to concentrate on keeping himself alive. He managed to cast the Spiritual Weapon at one instance, finally letting him give some hits back.

Galen and Radagast tried to flank the woman, but Galen got unlucku: first the horse kicked him and then the woman's hit sent him unconscious. The woman had also pulled some of the skeletons away from Drik and Garwolf, and Radagast realized he faced an enemy too powerful all by himself. He tumbled nimbly past the skeletons closest to him, next to Drik, where they could fight back to back. Garwolf had finally finished the mummy, but eventually succumbed to the onslaught of the skeletons: both he and his horse were buried under bony corpses. The evil cleric was trying to cast Hold Person spells, but every time they were shrugged off. Finally Drik also went unconscious, at which point Radagast decided to try for a run. He was completely surrounded by skeletons, so he tried to tumble past them. Unfortunately one of the skeletons got lucky, and Radagast, being already badly wounded, felt the world turn into darkness...

Darkness.

"Is this death?" Radagast wondered. "Ouch! It hurts. Can't be. At least I hope this isn't." He could feel that he was badly hurt, and lying on hard ground. There was no light. He could hear groans around him - Drik and Galen were there as well. Everyone was in so bad shape they felt if they tried moving they would pass out. Galen said he had some healing magic left, and healed himself. Then he healed Drik, who in turn healed Radagast. Galen also provided a little light, and they could see they were probably in an underground cellar, behind a bolted door. Galen wanted to try and attemp to break free right away, but Drik and Radagast convinced him it would be best to sleep a good nights sleep first, and try to escape after that: it would provide best changes because Drik and Radagast would be able to recoved some spells that way.

After waking up, Drik healed everyone best he could. Radagast cast Mage Armor on himself, and beefed up his strength. He also cast a Light spell. With Galen helping him he crashed the door open. There was a slighty larger room behind, with a trapdoor in the ceiling. The ceiling was about 10 feet high.

Galen was lifted up to the room above, but he came quickly down as the skeletons that occupied the room tried to separate his head from his body. As the group had no weapons besides Radagast's Magic Missile they had to figure out a plan to deal with the skeletons. All their useful equipment had been taken.

Galen got an idea to make a temporary holy symbol for Drik from the wood splinters from the crashed door. Of course they did not have any physical means to carve the symbol, but a little cantrip can sometimes save the day. Armed with the ad hoc holy symbol Drik was lifted upstairs. He raised his symbol boldly, and a flash of light from the symbol destroyed all the skeletons. Galen and Radagast could only hear tumps and clinks as pieces of armor and weapon dropped to the floor above, and a cloud of bone dust drifted from the trapdoor.

Radagast lifted Galen up, then jumped up himself, pointing out how small a jump it really was if you knew what to do...

Armed, and at least little protected, their spirits were already a little higher, although the situation was still pretty much the same as when Drik and Radagast met. Galen carefully scouted first, and seeing nothing suspicious motioned for Drik and Radagast to come up as well.

They found they were in the middle of a forest. Their prison had been the cellar of a ruined house. Radagast, being painfully aware how pitiful he would be without a spellbook, started searching for their gear in the ruins. Galen tried to hide in case they would be surprised during the search.

The search turned out to be a bad idea. After about an hour, they saw the woman returning with her horse and a few skeletons. This time the fight was going more evenly, though. She was still bolstering her minions, so Drik only managed to turn a couple of them. However, there wasn't nearly as many of them and there was no mummy anymore. Radagast killed a couple of them. One skeleton had grabbed Drik, and raked him with the skeletal claws until Drik got rid of it with the turning attempt. Galen was being brave, and attacked the woman. He was quickly outnumbered as the woman called two of her skeletons to protedct her. Galen had a bit of luck his way though, as he shrugged off a Holdf Person spell. But too much is too much, and Galen finally fell unconscious. Radagast also attacked the woman, but she casted Darkness which made it nearly impossible for him to find her. He retreated back to the ruins, now badly wounded, and found that Drik had gone into the darkness to try and save Galen. Drik had to play hide and seek with the one remaining skeleton and the woman, while trying to find Galen. Finally he succeeded, and brought Galen back to consciousness. Radagast yelled for them to come towards him at the ruins.

Session XVI - One for All... (2001-09-25)

Galen sprinted to Radagast, but Drik yelled them to get away while he held the cleric back. Galen and Radagast didn't really have many options, as they could not see anything that was happening in the darkness, so they run away into the forest.

Galen and Radagast did not hear or see the woman, or Drik, again. They soon found a small stream, and Galen figured if they followed it downstream they might eventually hit the river that flowed through Dhunraven. Soon they were greeted with the sight of the river, but they did not know which way the city was. They started going downriver.

In the evening they started getting hungry. Galen managed to forage some supper, and even some leftovers for breakfast. They had to sleep on hard ground for that night.

The second day they heard some wild animal moving near them. They hid. Soon they could see an owlbear, sniffing the ground, obviously following their tracks. Radagast realized he was leaving guite a bloody trail behind him, which had probably attracted the beast. Galen tried to sneak further away, but the owlbear heard him. Radagast was almost certain they would be killed, but cast Mage Armor in preparation for his last fight. After a few frenzied slashes they realized somebody was shooting arrows at the beast, and the arrows actually killed it, after both Galen and Radagast had let it feel cold steel.

They could see four men dressed in green. The men wanted to know who they were and what were they doing. Galen introduced himself and explained their situation, which made Radagast cringe; it was never a good idea to tell too much to a stranger. The woodsmen did not recognize Galen, though, so Radagast said: "Do you recognize the name Sir Radagast, then?" At that the woodsmen relaxed, and came closer. They were Bardia's scouts. After explaining how they had explained from the cleric, and the heroic battle of Garwolf, Radagast told them the route they had taken from the ruins in case the scouts would be able to locate it again, and possibly save Drik. The scouts in turn told them that Drik's axe had been found on the road, apparently since the axe jolted anyone not pure of heart, with Garwolf's body and crumbled skeletons as well as the body of the mummy. They also mentioned that the head of house Wechseler had been murdered in his own home.

The scouts guided the weary travelers safely back to the city.

The gate guards were trying to explain to a big half-orc why he could not take his wolves into the city. Zig Zag, as the half-man was called, was having a hard time understanding why, and even harder time trying to convince the guards his wolves would behave. To make matters worse, there was a bounty of wolves, so the guards were obviously eager to get some extra cash. Radagast took a pity on Zig Zag and asked if he had a leash for his animals, and if the guards would let them in like that. Eventually, after the wolves were chained and muzzled to the guards' satisfaction they let Zig Zag enter. By that time he had pretty much annoyed the heck out of everyone.

Radagast and Galen met another unexpected person at the gates as well. She was a true beauty, with strangely familiar features. It turned out she was Cassandra, Drik's sister. She had heard that her brother had disappeared, possibly killed, and had come to investigate and possibly rescue him. She seemed to radiate the same kind of peacefulness and holiness as Wiglaf.

It was decided that next day anyone who would want to go out and look for Drik would meet next to the Blue Trush inn, which Radagast wanted to check before heading out. There was also the matter of equipment: Radagast only had a gold piece to his name that he had swindled from Zig Zag, and Galen was out of money (although as he had showed earlier, quite capable of living by his performances). Cassandra borrowed some equipment from the temple for Galen, and Radagast saw Bardia who got him a chain shirt and some necessary equipment for surviving in the outdoors.

Zig Zag, as expected, had some trouble finding quarters for his wolves, but eventually he came to an agreement that the wolves would stay in the palace kennel. Cassandra and Galen convinced Radagast it would be best to sleep in an inn and not spend the night in the palace. After Galen performed at the Green Dragon inn he and Radagast got a room there.

In the morning everyone gathered at the Blue Trush, close to the Green Dragon. So early in the morning the place had mostly customers sleeping off previous night's intake of alcohol. Zig Zag seemed to like making enemies, as he entered the tavern and yelled as loud as he could: "WAKE UP!" The barkeep sent his bouncers to escort Zig Zag out.

Zig Zag wanted to have a drink, so Radagast used the situation to his advante and offered to by him a drink: "Ziggy" gave him two silver pieces which Radagast used to buy a drink for his name and drank it himself. He chatted with the barkeep, as Cassandra and Galen kept him company (the barkeep was especially taken by Cancide, suggesting some further private meetings). Radagast tried to pry some information from the man without raising any suspicions, but the barkeep was adamant Eomric nor anyone famous had ever visited his establishment. While Radagast and Cassandra were keeping the man busy, Galen slipped into the single private room. It was decorated with hunt memorablia like the main tarvern. Galen quikcly found that the head of the fox was loose, and discovered three parchments in the small space behind. Before leaving, Radagast and Cassandra also took a brief look at the private room, and Radagast told the barkeep they might show up for some private dinner some time.

Outside, Galen showed the letters. One was a list of suspected followers of Vecna, some names alreday crossed out. It appeared thye crossed out names were already executed in the trials. There were also two letters addressed to Lord Khulven, at least one of them from Eomric.

According to the testimony of the proprietor of the Bawdy widow, the following men and women visited the temple of Vecna under his establishment:

Basil the Baker

Thomas the Furrier

Ingolf the Marvelous, minstrel

Madame Nicasia (perhaps also a worshipper of Ungit)

Thurmond Olafson of Clydeswillow

Aldabert the cobbler's apprentice

Throckmund the baker's apprentice

Wiglaf the Ironmonger

Eomund the physician, priest of Vecna

A tall, man (apparently slightly more than 6' by the measures of Stormkeep) High priest of Vecna--always wore a horned mask during ceremonies; neither entered nor left through the tavern

A short, fat man (possibly 5' 6" or so and 250lb by the measures of the Kingdom). Wearing rich, crimson cloak.

A medium height woman who entered and left wearing a heavy hooded mantle. Her collar was laced and she wore a signet ring of the Schwertkaufer house. (Possibly Mathilda Schwertkaufer)

A tall man with a scar through his right eye and a fine rapier at his side.

A tall, broad shoulde

red man with a tattooed face and a greatsword in his baldric. Never entered through the tavern. (Interesting--the description of the tattoos would fit a worshipper of Erynthul)

A large, imposing man always entered wearing a floor length winter guard-cloak which obscured his face.

Thomas Throckmundson, knight of the Watch, 5th company.

A short, thin woman--wore a drab cloak over a revealing gown and a ballroom mask.

A tall, broadshouldered man--always entered wearing a heavy, floor length winter mantle and a hood. Brought a similarly attired young woman with him once.

Thag, bouncer at the Troubled Troubador

Thom the signpainter

A medium height, blonde woman of average build. Apparently also an underpriest. Neither entered nor left through the tavern.

A beautiful, dark haired woman of about twenty years. Oil burns on her left breast and an birthmark which looks like the symbol of Vecna on her left thigh.

Three street urchins from the docks--one had brown hair with freckles; unable to remember others.

An older, heavyset man with a bald head and drooping moustache. Once the proprietor caught a glimpse of a magistrate's robes beneath his mantle. (Magistrate Theodore of North Fork?)

An old man with snow white hair and a long beard.

A middle aged man who walked with a cane.The proprietor once saw him outside the establishment in the robes of a mendicant priest. (Possibly Father Dior Wiglafson)

A fat, middle aged woman with a heavy purse. Always wore a hooded green mantle and a scarf.

My Lord Khulvan,

I would recommend that you exercise caution in authorizing Cordwellyn to recruit and operate a mercenary company. I am unsure of his loyalty to Dhunraven and to our King. The assistance of his soldiers could prove useful but be sure to require that we choose the captain and chief lieutenants of the company. Garwulf Theomundson would be a fine choice--he was an excellent and upstanding member of the Waymarch knights for ten years before his appointment as magistrate of Frozen Creek. Tempus Schwertkaufer would be another good choice. Though young and relatively inexperienced, he also seems to possess the qualities we find desirable in a chartered mercenary captain.

Your loyal servant,

[illegible

Who is behind the recent assassination attempts? Although my magics have not yielded clear answers to this question, it is clear that it must be someone who stands to gain from the vanishing of your heir my Lord Khulvan. So, who would that be?

It is certainly true that those who would cast off the shackles of Stormkeep and see Glome once more under her own king would gain if Allayn did not succeed you in this fief. Though none of the Lords speak openly in favor of this, you and I both know that many in the Council of Lords are of this party. Our neighbors would also stand to gain from a disputed succession. Since Lord Bjoric's speech in the Council five years ago, all have known that his wife is your Lordship's second cousin and, as he said at that time, he would press her claim if you did not choose an heir. Were Allayne to die or dissappear, that door would once more be open to him. He is not alone. By my estimate, at least a half dozen men in the duchy have claims as strong or stronger (although none have his clout with the Council). I am told that there has also been discussion regarding bastard lineages. It is well known that your brother had a penchant for less than pure women - indeed, it is also rumored that he aquired the disease that killed him from those women. Though the laws of Stormkeep do not permit a bastard to inherit, some point out that Glome had different laws in the days before Queen Orual and that there is precedent for such a succession. Though I will not accuse him of harboring such ambitions, we both know that, whatever Tomaloc's patronym may claim, he is widely rumored to be your brother's by-blow.

One other thing to consider is that spiritual forces may be at work here. Although it is quite possible that this has nothing to do with the human traitors in our midst, Allayne was taken by the orcs as a sacrifice to the Ravager of Peoples. It may be that the old gods (neither you nor I are so foolish as to deny their existence this close to the cursed lands) or their accursed followers have some hand in these doings.

Your loyal servant,

Eomric

Since the suspect letters indicated Mathilda as a follower of Vecna, Radagast wanted to pay a visit to her with Cassandra, to see if Cassandra would be able to pick up some clues from her. Galen was obviously no longer welcome there, so he stayed back with Ziggy (who would probably get thrown out of the house in a matter of seconds anyway).

It turned out both Mathilda and her brother Tempus were home. They met Mathilda first. Radagast decided to decline any food or drink, claiming they had just had had breakfast. They did not chat too long with Mathilda until they met Tempus. He was practicing, and asked Radagast if to a friendly duel. Radagast agreed, the fight would be to first blood. When Cassandra gave the mark, Radagast got Tempus by surpise, charged, and slashed Tempus with his greatsword. Tempus took that with good spirits, but suggested another duel. He was obviously a little embarrased on how easily Radagast had beaten him. Radagast agreed, and this time Tempus showed him he was at least as good a fighter as Garwolf had been (although Tempus said Garwolf had once beaten him in a joust). Tempus easily disarmed Radagast of all his weapons: greatsword, flail, and finally dagger. Radagast yielded.

By that time Ziggy had grown restless, and decided to come and see what was holding Radagast and Cassandra. He soon found himself in duel, a friendly one though, with Tempus. Tempus again showed his skill.

After some more talk with Tempus, Cassandra trying more or less recruit him, the party took off in the woods with the scout Bardia had lent them for tracking. When Galen had joined the group, Cassandra explained that she could sense evil with Mathilda and her bodyguards, but Tempus was "clean".

The party backtracked the route Radagast and Galen had taken in their flight. Soon they could feel something, or someone, was following them. Galen tried to hide and wait for their followers to show themselves, but he was unsuccesful. So, for the night they chose double guards, with Zig Zag being alone with his wolves.

On Ziggy's watch he was surpised by arrows. He charged, yelling to wake his comrades, but ended up being hit with more arrows without seeing anyone. He run back to camp, looking like a pincushion.

Radagast yelled to him to let the wolves loose, and tell them to attack. Zig Zag did that, after some debate (he did not want to get his wolves killed), but his wolves had no luck either locating the attacker as he sent them in the direction where he did not find anything. He was forced to call his wolves back. Galen tried to sneak closer to the direction from where the arrows were coming from, but stepped on a huge dry branch waking the whole forest, and getting a hail of arrows his way. As nobody could think of a good way to smoke out the attacker, they decided to hide for the rest of the night.

The next day they continued moving fowards, Galen trying his best to try and catch a glimpse of their follower. Finally he was succesful - it was Venya! He managed to leap on Venya first, but that was not enough to even slow down Venya, who was again using magic to make himself even more powerful. By the time the rest of the party got into fighting distance, Radagast could make out that he had Haste, Expeditious Retreat and Shield spell going on at the same time. It was nearly impossible to hit him. Venya was having a blast, using all his tricks to taunt the party and launching murdeously accurate strikes, and dancing away from danger. Galen and Zig Zag especially were getting badly hurt, while Radagast was just trying to hit him with his crowssbow and stay out of sword range.

Venya was becoming a bit overconfident, though. Spells eventually run out... Cassandra struck him with all her considerable might, launching a searing blast of light from her sword at the same time, which left Venya visibly shocked. The badly wounded Zig Zag called upon his barbarian rage and his axe spoke vengeance. Venya took off as fast as he could, clutching his burned arm, still unnaturally fast. The party was hot on pursuit. They swore that this time they would get him: Venya was bleeding, leaving rather an easy trail to follow for Ailmund the scout and the wolves.

Session XVII - Deadly Mistakes (2001-10-02)

Before following Venya, Ziggy drank a healing potion or two. Then off they went, the wolves and the scout following Venya's bloody trail. Venya did not like the fact being followed, and soon set up an ambush. His first volley of arrows downed one wolf, and soon the other wolf was barely staggering on its feet. Radagast urged Zig Zag to attack while Radagast tried to see if he could help the wolves. It was eventually the scout who stopped the beeling of the first wolf. Venya disappeared again.

Now the obvious bloody trail had disappeared, meaning Venya had either used magical means of healing or bandaged his wounds really well. It was no good, however, since the remaining wolf was able to follow his scent easily. Zig Zag carried the other wolf.

The tracking continued for a while, until Galen and Radagast spotted an ambush laid out by Venya: he was hiding behind a fallen tree in a narrow ravine. Galen shot an arrow at Venya, missing, but Radagast's Magic Missile hit home. Radagast cast another magical projectile at Venya before Zig Zag prepared a charge at Venya; he stopped his charge short of target, however, as the earth gave away under him. He just barely avoided a trap obviously prepared well in advance. Once more Radagast cast Magic Missile at Venya while the rest of the party was trying to decide what to do, while trying to dodge Venya's arrows. Finally Zig Zag gathered his courage and jumped: unfortunately the hole turned out to be huge, some 30 feet accross, and he landed in the middle of the 20 foot trap full of spikes and skeletons!

Finally Cassandra had some way to channel her frustration not being able to charge Venya, and she blasted eight of the skeletons into smithereens with her holy powers. Zig Zag succumbed to the skeleton onslaught, falling unconscious. The scout threw alchemist fire at Venya, but missed a little.

Galen and Radagast decided to try and climb the walls and surpise Venya from above, but the walls proved too treacherous for them - Radagast fell back to where he started from, but Galen ended up in the hole with the skeletons.

Radagast decided to teach Venya a lesson in marksmanship, and hit him with two arrows. Venya fell behind the fallen tree, but one of his arrows also found mark and Radagast found an arrow sticking from his shoulder.

Cassandra and Galen had taken care of the skeletons, and Cassandra had also brought Ziggy back to consciousness. While they were trying to figure out how to get up from the hole and check if Venya was really down, Radagast kept guard with his crowssbow, trained at the spot where Venya fell. Much to his amazement Venya stood up! Radagast was ready and fired a bolt, but missed. Venya however, did not miss as the too arrows hit Radagast, and he fell. The scout immediately came to rescue, but he paid a high price as Venya's deadly arrows found their mark in him.

In the hole, Cassandra and Galen lifted Zig Zag up, right in front of Venya. Just as Cassandra got Galen up, Zig Zag was again facing the darkness after getting a couple of whacks at Venya. Galen, however, was furious and his attack brutal: Venya's head flew in an arc into the hole.

Galen healed Zig Zag again, who quickly climbed the wall to the scout, but he was not too good at first aid and the scout died in his hands.

Galen lowered a rope to Cassandra and got her up. They searched Venya's possessions and location, finding eight used potions and 3 usable magical potions. Venya's bow was of really good make. The party gathered all usable items, money, and weapons to carry home. They also took Venya's head, as Alayn had put a price on it. They also brought Radagast back to consciousness and Cassandra held a ceremony for the fallen scout.

The party slept nearby, listening to the howling of wolves both near and far.

In the morning the party faced an important decision: how to find back to the city. It was decided that they would try to backtrack, using the wolves to guide the way. That worked well, and the party got to the city without an incident.

They went right away to see Alayn. he was in a meeting with Bardia and the new magistrate Adrian, who the guards described as "hang-happy". They had to wait for the meeting to end, after which Adrian departed. Radagast gave the "gift" to Alayn, who was extremely happy to finally see Venya dead. The price on his head had risen to 1,000 gold, for which he wrote a note so that the party could fetch it from the treasury. He also mentioned that Mathilda had offered a reward for Venya's head as well. Alayn asked if it was ok to put Venya's head on display and everyone agreed.

Before going to meet Mathilda, Radagast went to Eomric's tower and found his old apprentice spellbook still usable on the table in the first room. Zig Zag said he was tired of carrying stuff, and bought a donkey, regardess of the remarks of him needing a zoo for his pets.

The party met Tempus first, who was preparing for a tournament. Tempus explained that Lord Bjoric was going to challenge Alayn's right to rule, and Alayn was seeking a champion. The champion would be chosen at the tournament, and Tempus was intend on winning the honor. He asked for Cassandra for a friendly joust, which she agreed to. On their first ride by both were unhorsed. Tempus quickly showed his superiority with the whalebone sword after that, knocking Cassandra down. Zig Zag also wanted to try, and faced utter defeat as well. Since Mathilda was not around, Tempus paid them the reward for Venya, which was 50 gold.

Next the party headed for downtown, looking for any clues of magical items or spellbooks. They learned that Tempus' house sometimes had magical weapons to sell, and that House Wechseler might have a spellbook on sale. The most promising lead they chose to follow, though, was that an old woman had a spellbook for sale in the shantytown outside Dhunraven. Everyone but Zig Zag went to see the woman.

The old crone was running a small magic shoppe in a poor, filthy district. After some discussion they learned that Venya had been her regular customer, buying a lot of potions. His favorite had been Haste, only 750 gold the woman said. The woman also recognized Radagast, saying that there was a 5,000 gold reward issued on his head! That made Radagast realize why Venya was willing to spend so much on magical potions. Cassandra grew disgusted of the woman and marched out of the shoppe. Galen bought a healing potion for 60 gold, while Radagast was eagerly eyeing a spellbook wrapped in rags on the counter. He cast Read Magic and took just a glimpse of the book when *WHOOSH!* flames erupted from the book and burned him! The brief glimpse told him it was his own spellbook but somebody had placed a magical trap on it. The old crone did not wait for response, but stood to her full height, reveiling her true monstrous identity and slashed Radagast with her claws. Radagast fleed, quikcly explaining to Cassandra what had happened.

Galen had bravely stayed and fought the creature, but it was too much to him and he fell unconscious. Cassandra and Radagast prepared for fight, Cassandra charging the creature. Radagast dragged Galen out of the reach of the claws, and poured the contents of the new healing potion down Galen's throught. To Radagast's horror Galen twiched violently and stopped breathing - the vial was full of poison! There was no time to worry for his friend or curse his stupidity, as the creature forced Cassandra to retreat. Radagast decided to risk everything for his book, and tumbled under the huge claws, grabbing the book and only getting a scratch on his way out to the street. Cassandra had already climbed on her horse, and half dragged, half carried Radagast while she galloped for safety, the monster sending curses after them on the street.

Session XVIII - Drik the Wight (2001-10-09)

Cassandra and Radagast met Bardia, who said he now had some time to go look for Drik personally, and participate more directly anyway. In the temple they also found a monk who had been sent to protect Cassandra (although Cassandra was having a hard time believing it as the man was not wearing any armor nor did he seem to have any weapons). Thalonius was his name, and he was from the Republic of Capernaum. At the temple they also met a priest who gladly healed the wounds of Cassandra and Radagast. He introduced himself as Jobric. Jobric seemed to be in love with the bottle, but he seemed like a good man, and his healer's skills were certainly not under question. After a bit of a talk the whole bunch was prepared to go and find Drik in the woods, and find any evil in the way.

That night Radagast once again saw a vivid dream he could recall every detail of. In the dream a man told him to go back to the Blue Trush, saying the the foxes head was hiding something that Alayn would find of use. Also the dream messenger told Radagast to go the trial of Thomas Seidenschneider.

The party ate at the Blue Trush, and Radagast found a ring from behind the fox head. He could sense that it was magical, having some kind of protective spell on it.

Since they did not want to be away from the city more than what was necessary, anyone who did not have a horse either bought one or borrowed one.

Bardia guided them fast through the woods towards the old ruins. During the first day Bardia realized that the rose bushes he was looking at were not the ordinary kind of roses. They were a breed from the Cursed Lands, known to feed on the blood of living creaturers. After some debate it was decided they should destroy the bushes so that they would not harm any innocent beings. They prepared to throw flasks of flaming oil at the bushes. After the first flames, the bushes realized they had been spotted and viciously attacked with their vines of surprising reach. Radagast and several others were grabbed in their bristly embrace. The plants were sucking blood through their hollow thorns, and Radagast was getting really weak until he was rescued with his comrades. The bushes did not turn out to be a big threat for the others, and were quickly hacked to pieces and burned.

The night passed without an incident, although they had double watches just in case.

Next day the party found a place where Bardia's dog, and Ziggy's wolves, simply refused to go forward. The reason became quickly apparent: there was a creature tied to a tree, and the stench of death permeated the air. It was Drik! Cassandra yelled to him, and he seemed to move. There was something wrong though, and the party made some precations while closing in: Bardia cast a spell which made the roots and grass and vines behind and around Drik to become alive, ready to snag anything and anybody that tried to pass through, also tying Drik more tightly to the tree. Jobric attempted to turn undeads, and Drik reacted: he was cowering! A bad sign indeed. Cassandra wanted to try anything she could think of, and tried healing Drik, as if death was some kind of a disease. Obviously Drik did not become any better. Thalonius grabbed her from behind and dragged her away from the undead, and Bardia killed the creature with Spiritshard, the enchanted weapon made by Eomric. Immediately a voice spoke, as if coming from the tree, giving a warning that this would be the destiny of anyone who opposed the old gods.

Jobric consecrated the site, and Drik's body was packed to go, so that it could be buried properly. The old ruins were found nearby, but they could find nothing interesting, save for the ad hoc holy symbol Galen had made for Drik, which Bardia took.

The trip back to the town proceeded quickly while Radagast, Cassandra and Bardia talked about how Drik. They turned Drik's remains to the bishop. The bishop also invited Cassandra and Jobric to the trial of Thomas Seidensneider, which was to be held in two days. Radagast went to see Alayn. That turned out to be easy, Alayn was more or less looking for Radagast, as if guided by someone or something. Cassandra could sense some evil from Alayn. When Radagast gave the ring to Alayn, he promptly put it into his finger and did not even seem to be surprised. Radagast told Cassandra to check Alayn again, and this time there was no evil presence! It looked like Alayn might have been possessed by evil beings, and the ring gave protection against that. Alayn informed the party that Cador was under siege by some orc tribe Radagast did not recognize. Bardia asked about the trial of Thomas Seidensneider, and Alayn said he was accused of the murder of the old Wechseler.

After meeting with Alayn, Bardia and Radagast gathered some of the facts about the known or suspected villains and victims:

Cordwellyn

  Tomaloc, captain of Cordwellyn's mercenary army, rumored to be Alayn's
  half brother

  Adrian the Magistrate, appointed by Cordwellyn

    Alayn, possessed by evil
      Khulven, dead
      Eomric, dead


  House Schwertkauf, Mathilda a follower of Vecna

  House Wecsheler, old Wecsheler murdered, supposedly by his corrupted son Gustaf

  House Sneidenseider, Thomas accused of murder

It was unclear how Lord Bjoric fit into the picture. There seemed to be a lot of connections to Cordwellyn, and the troubles of the major trading houses only increased his influence. The tidbit about orcs laying siege on Cador did not seem to fit the picture, though, since Cordwellyn seemed to be living there.

Cassandra, Bardia and Jobric went to the dungeon to see Thomas. Jobric tricked the guard to giving them his instruments of torture, and letting him believe they were there to "question" Thomas. Cassandra was furious at first, but brightened up when Jobric told her to destroy the things.

When they first saw Thomas there was a rat with him, which quickly disappeared. Was it perhaps Eomric's familiar? Thomas appeared calm, and explained that the trial would uncover the evil. He did not provide details, just said that they should be there and see it for themselves. The party figured that there would be a zone of truth at the trial, and Thomas speaking truth would not hurt him. However, the forces of evil would be surprised by the zone (perhaps they thought they had means of avoiding it or they had faked it earlier) and would be exposed. Thomas explained that Tomaloc had found items stolen from House Wecsheler in Thomas' possession, and havind a knife that could have been the murder weapon.

It all seemed too good to be true. Bardia and the others did not want to leave matters to change, however, and prepared for the trial in their own way. They scouted the place where the trial would be held, planning their positions and potential jobs in case something went wrong. Bardia additionally schemed with his three most trusted scouts. Radagast spent the entire day scribing scrolls. Zig Zag and Jobric had provided him with the funds.

Session XIX - The Seidensneider Trial (2001-10-15)

Jobric had found one more trusted friend during the day of preparation, a woodsman called Roland.

The party had placed their members strategically around the stage where the trial was to be held. Jobric in fact acted as the defense counselor, and Cassandra as one of the guards. Just before the trial started, Jobric cast a Consecrate spell to make sure that no undead surpises would happen.

The bishop was the last to arrive to the stage, quite obviously wearing armor under his robes. He started the trial, and cast Zone of Truth. The accusations against Thomas were heard first, nothing different from what the party had heard earlier, except in more legalese of course.

Then it was Thomas' turn. he denied the charges against him. He said he was not the killer, but the killer was present. He went on to say: "Adrian, let El Elyon see if I or Adrian speak the truth." At that, something strange happened. Someone, or something, cast a Dispel Magic which cleared Jobric's concentration, but also revealed Adrian's true form: a small flying bat-like creature with long tail. He was an imp!

Bardia run to the imp as fast as he could, as well as Thalonius, doing some acrobatic jumps from stage to stage. Radagast prepared to cast spells, while Ziggy was there ready to protect him. Roland pushed his way through the panicking onlookers to the executioners stand where he had a good view of the main stage. Adrian the Imp flew straight up, getting a slash from Bardia, and then disappeared. The bishop pulled a magical axe from under his robes, and cast Divine Favor. Alayn backed out, protected by his guards. Jobric cast Santuary on Thomas, and then flew to Roland (Jobric had cast the fly spell on himself before the trial - Radagast had also cast a couple of strength spells on the fighters beforehand).

Smell of brimstone and sulphur wafted around the stage, and a wall of ice blocked the main stage from the view of Radadagast, Zig Zag, Jobric and Roland. A bony devil appeared on the stage, its scorpion tail shooting this way and that as it tried to attack the people there. A frenzy of both divine and arcane spells were cast, trying to attack the elusive devil (whose aura blocked Radagast's magical bolts) and Adrian, trying to fight the flying creatures and walls of ice appearing here and there. Adrian was the first to go down, and the devil went next in the utter darkess it had created, killed by the lucky hit of holy water from Jobric.

The darkness was dispelled by... a rat! It was Eomric's famiar, and it meant Eomric was alive, it seemed! But the imp that was thought to be dead was far from it. Due to its unholy regenerative powers it was able to recover behind the protective icy walls, and escape to its master. A master who lived below the Blue Moon tavern, as Radagast and Bardia heard the wind whisper in their ears.

It was time to move on to the final kill, even though they were wounded and almost out of spells. The evil was on the run.

Session XX - The Necromancer (2002-03-12)

There was some discussion whether or not it would make sense to attack the necromancer right away, or if it could wait till the morning. It was agreed that delaying would only help the necromancer escape, so Radagast and his friends headed for the Blue Moon tavern.

Bardia, being practically the leader of the town's militia, walked right in made it clear he was looking for some answers and did not expect to be stopped. His thorough search found some loose planks on the floor, which he pried loose, finding a wine cellar underneath. At that point the proprietor pointed out that there was a door to the wine cellar as well and that they would not need to break the whole floor to get there. Somewhat embarrassed the party took the stairs.

A search through the place found a wooden trapdoor in the floor, with a brass ring. Try as they might, they could not lift the door up nor could they find any opening mechanisms. It was good thing they had Zig Zag with them, because it took only a few whacks with his huge axe to go though the trapdoor.

There was ladder going down. Cassandra dropped a torch through the whole, but the light disappeared almost as soon as it went into the whole. They heard a thump, so the whole was not very deep. The disappearing light was a mystery, but Bardia wanted to go in first anyway. He disappeared into the unpenetrable darkness, and a short while later the party heard a thump.

Getting a little worried Radagast tied a rope around Cassandra, and lowered her with the rope, torch in hand, into the hole, telling her to avoid breathing. While Cassandra was descending, she noticed that the light cut off completely, even though her torch was still burning. She landed on something soft, and could feel unmoving Bardia under her. She tied the rope around Bardia, and the party pulled him up.

Bardia appeared to be coverd with green oily substance, and he did not seem to be breathing. Radagast's cantrip to remove the substance did not succeed. They could not figure out what to do about it, but since Cassandra was able to go through Radagast climbed down as well, without any problems. As the other members tried to climb down they faced the same destiny as Bardia. Zig Zag was the last up in the wine cellar, and Radagast and Cassandra told him not to climb down, but to instead haul the other members back up and take them to the temple.

Cassandra and Radagast felt their way around. They discovered they were in a room 20 or so feet accross. One end was blocked by a cave in, so it might have been larger room originally. On the opposite wall there was a narrow corridor. Cassandra went in first and Radagast followed a few steps behind.

Suddenly the darkness lifted, and they could see the light of their torch again. The corridor appeared to open into another small room, from which they could hear the sound of metal chains. Cassandra could see that on right and left there appeared to be metal chains attached to the wall, leading towards the wall from which the small corridor was but she could not see what was at the end of the chains. She stepped into the room, and was immediately attacked by creatures obviously drawing their force from the negative energy plane. In other words, they were wights and their life-draining touches made Cassandra suddenly wish she had been able to avoid them somehow.

Radagast saw no other option but to try and tumble between the monsters in order to be able to help his friend. Luckily for him he dodged them skillfully, and let his greatsword taste wight flesh. Radagast quickly realized that the chains were so short that they could take care of the wights one at a time because they did not reach from wall to wall. After the first wight was down they took down the other with some well placed arrows. Cassandra was feeling pretty bad from the wights' treatment, but there was nothing they could do about it right away.

On the opposite wall there was a door, which appeared to be garded by some kinds of glyphs. Radagast did not want to take risks, and carefully tied a rope to the door handle and pulled the door open with that. Since nothing happened, he run and tumbled through the door. This set off some kind of explosion from the runes but some strange magical aura seemed to protect Radagast. He realized Emric's familiar rat, which was riding in his pocket now, had perhaps something to do with that, as well as the feeling of health he had never felt before. Cassandra was able to go through the door without any trouble.

Beyond was another small room. On the opposite wall there were two strong doors barred from the outside, and on the left there were double doors made of iron. The friends pondered for the longest time what to do. The barred doors quite obviously were keeping something horrible inside, which they had no desire to meet. And the iron door looked impenetrable. After they had reasoned that they would never be able to go through an iron door, and were prepared to open the first barred door, they could hear a wind whisper in their ears: "Did you actually try if the door was locked?" Feeling embarrassed again, they pushed the doors and they opened!

A corridor leading to another double door at the end, and side door to the right in the middle of it was waiting for them, but that was not all that was waiting... A huge demon shrouded in darkness greeted them! It's insidious voice spoke to them in their heads, while the demon's infernal fires cast dancing shadows along the corridor. The demon was obviously trying to trick Radagast and Cassandra into serving its dark lords, but the heros were really interested. They did think it strange that the demon seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out what they had planned for the necromancer. It seemed to be disappointed that he would be executed, facing only minimal torture before that.

While discussing, Radagast and Cassandra were trying to figure out if they would have any change against the demon. Cassandra concentrated on detecting the level of evil from the create, and was struck down by the overwhelmingly foul and poweful aura. That was enough to inform them that the flaming creature in front of them could probably kill them just by wishing it to be so...

The demon wished them no harm, however, although it did put a circle of fire around them. Apparently the necromancer had made the demon, or its masters, very unhappy and for that the necromancer would have to pay dearly. Mere death was out of the question. The demon informed them that they could do whatever they wanted, but should leave the necromancer to suffer for his actions. Then it disappeared.

After the circle of fire died down, Radagast and Cassandra opened the door to the side room. It was quite obviously the necromancer's living quarters, but he was not there. There was just a lovely woman lying nearly naked on the bed, apparently under some spell or drug, trying to seduce Radagast (and Cassandra to that matter). Radagast was a gentleman and did not take advantage of the woman, even though Cassandra was obviously urging him on (there seemed to be something common between Drik and his sister after all). Cassandra gave the lady a dagger and Radagast gave her a little money, but she did not want to go to the city alone. She was from Capernaum and did not speak North Speak, so she would have been pretty helpless by herself. When Radagast asked is she knew how to use the dagger she said: "I know how to protect my honor."

After a thorough search of the room Radagast bagged some vials and research notes from the tables. Apparently the necromancer was trying some foul experiments to perhaps prolong his life, or something else along those lines. In any case it seemed to be rather painful. There were some old notes perhaps from some other person as well, perhaps a previous experimenter? Radagast was also happily going through the necromancers library. He was certain we would hit a jackpot and find wonderful new spells in his opponents spellbook. He finally came to a nondescript book that looked like might be a spellbook. Feeling apprehensive Radagast opened it fully expecting to get a blast of fire hit him. It was not fire, but his readiness made his already superior reflexes kick into overtime and he jumped clear as a green snake-like creature tried to bite him! It was obviously a spell left to guard the book. Now Radagast realized that the same spell had disabled their friends earlier in the darkness. Radagast bagged the book, and torched the rest of the books that mostly contained unholy texts and worse.

Next Radagast and Cassandra went to the double doors at the end of the corridor, while the woman backed up into the previous room. Behind the door was a circular room with altar, and a magical circle engraved to the floor. In the middle of it and old man was standing, covered with flames, desperately trying to kill himself with a dagger. It wasn't doing any good though, since there was no blood coming out of the wound, which closed immediately after the dagger was withdrawn. Cassandra took pity on him and swung her greatsword in big arc, slicing the old man in half. The flames disappeared, but the fiery demon appeared again. It held a dark gem next to the old man's body, and for the briefest instant the stone flickered, after which the demon also disappared. Radagast recognized the demon had used some kind of soul stone to capture the necromancer's soul. No doubt he would find the relief from pain a brief moment indeed. Luckily the demon did not stay to reprimand Cassandra of her behavior.

There did not appear to be anything of interest in the circular room, so Radagast asked Cassandra to consecrate the place. During the ceremony the altar stone broke in half.

Radagast reasoned that since they had not found any money, it had to be hidden somewhere in the living quarters. They went back, and this time Radagast found a loose tile under the bed. In the small hole he found a bag of gold pieces, 2 vials and a shief of papers, including a still usable letters of credit to House Schwertkauf worth 50 gold. It appeared it had been written to the name of Cloren, which was apparently the name of the dead necromancer.

As they went to meet with the woman they found she had taken her own life. Radagast noticed that she seemed to be carrying a soul stone, which he took in order to send it to his parents who could take it to Keepers of the Dead. The body they would took to the temple for burning.

Weary but satisfied that the necromancer threat was no more, the friends went to report to Alayn. He only asked that they not mention there was still a demon loose. Alayn promised to take care of the creatures still under the tavern in the locked rooms.

Alayn also mentioned he was giving Eomric's tower to Wolfrig, a man who had apparently served his uncle before as an enchanter.

No specific reward was given, but it was obvious Alayn owed a big favor...

Session XXI - The Tournament Begins (2002-03-19)

Radagast spent the next week studying the necromancer's spellbook, copying almost every spell into his own spellbook. While Cassandra spent her time praying for a celestial mount (uselessly, so it seemed), Jobrick was working on encanting a guard officer's armor. Jobrick also got Radagast with him to the torchbearer's guild to do a little gambling and betting.

When Jobrick and Radagast were on their way back, they intercepted a bunch of thugs beating a giant man. It was a man they guessed was going to be participating in the archery contest, and rumor was he was pretty good. It was quite obvious the thugs were just trying to maim the man so Radagast cautioned Jobrik that they could heal the man afterwards so there was no to get killed needlessly. Jobrik's sonic blast quickly got guards to the scene, and the thugs retreated.

The adventurers explained what thyey had seen to the guards, and followed them as they dragged the unconscious ogre away. Later, they met his partner, a beautiful woman. Maya, as was her name, was very unwelcoming and wouldn't even ask Jobrik to heal the injured Thalgar even though Jobrik offered that. Jobrik left the offer standing in case they changed their mind.

Cassandra had also been busy, rounding up potential stable boys, or squires as she liked to call them. She finally picked one.

On the morning of the first day of tournament Jobrik got early visitors. It was Maya and Thalgar. Jobrik healed Thalgar's injured hand, and they paid for his services.

Jobrik also got another visitor, a man wearing a kilt. He explained that Maya and Thalgar had stolen something from him, an amulet called the Eye of Ares. Jobrik said he'd get the amulet to the righfull owner.

Radagast prepard for the achery contest by casting Mage Armor and Cat's Grace. Still, he did not do well. Maya and Thalgar dropped as well. The contest winner turned out to be Thorgal. Altragen Werebane won the crossbow contest.

In the ceremony to reward the winners Alayn had a surprise when the prize money (100 gold for winners) was not there. Maya was seen on the top of building, where she yelled about unfair competition and other ridiculous claims. Radagast aimed his bow at her and yelled her to surrender, but Maya just laughed saying she saw how bad a shot Radagast was. As he turned to leave, Radagast shot an arrow at her hitting her square on the back. Her armor must have reduced the hit somewhat, since she just run away and jumped onto a horse as soon as she came tumbling down from the roof. Thalgar had been waiting for her.

Jobrik cas fly spell on himself and flew after her, while Cassandra and Radagast run after her as fast as they could. Radagast borrowed a horse, mounting it neatly without even slowing down and galloped after her. Cassandra, the guards and a group of kilted men were trying to catch up on foot.

Jobrik and Radagast harassed the feeling thiefs, and by the time they squeezed through the closing city gates Thalgar was carrying Maya under her sholder, both riding on one horse. While Radagast was raining curses at the gate guards Jobrik finally stopped the feeling duo with a spell that grew a tangle of spiky growth all around them.

The thiefs were trapped well and good for long enough for everyone to position themselves around the fugitives. Once the spell ended, Maya gave up but Thalgar tried to make a move - which ended up being his last.

Cassandra grabbed the amulet, and although she could not detect evil in it refused to give it to the kilted barbarians, mumbling about old, evil, gods. It took all of Radagast's and Jobrik's cunning to finally have her give up the amulet (thus almost certainly avoiding a fight with the kilted men). Radagast and Jobrik ended up lying that the amulet was not magical. Radagast figured it held some kind of protective magic.

Once the money was returned to the winner of the archery contest, he gave 25 gold to both Jobrik and Radagast as thanks. Additionally Alayn gave 20 gold each to Alayn, Jobrik and Radagast.

Finally before heading for bed Jobrik cast the fly spell on Cassandra, who was extatic and flew in and around the castle, spooking fair folk who tried not to look under the skirt of the flying beauty. As she first took off in the corridors of Alayn's castle Radagast and Jobrik made a bet on how soon she would crash into a wall. Both of them were wrong, as Cassandra managed some tight turns without a problem. In the end she did meet with the stone wall though, but survived.

Session XXII - Worthy of a Ruby? (2002-04-02)

The next day the main event was on its way. Cassandra had hurt herself practising, and could not participate in the jousting competition, so Jobric and Radagast had to contend themselves watching Landins, the Waymarch Knight who was wearing Jobric's enchanted armor, advance from the initial fights. The black knight, whose horse Radagast had borrowed to catch Maya and Thalgar, won against Tomaloc, and Tempus and well as Lord Bjoric won as well against their opponents.

In the next round Landis faced the black knight. The first ride by produced only splintered lances. On the second try Landis seemed to forget how to ride a horse and fell from the easy blow of the black knight. Tempus in turn lost to Bjoric. Bjorn (the captain of the guard) and one more knight advanced to the semifinals

Finally it was just the black knight and Bjoric in the finals. Eventually it was Bjoric who won the whole contest.

Jobric went on one of his drinking, or information gathering rounds as he liked to call them, and found some interesting information. It appeared that when Cordwellyn's mercenary army made their way to the sieged Cador, the orcs surrendered immediately. Bad tongues told it was not a surrender but the orcs were in league with Cordwellyn. Jobric also found that there had been an iceworm attack at St. Haven, and that a King's Justicar was supposed to have arrived in Dhunraven several weeks ago.

The coronation ceremony did not go as Alayn had planned. Theoden came with a box that did not contain the crown, but a red gem. The ruby was called the Heart of Courage, and Theoden explained that in centuries past it was used as a test to see if the ruler to be was suitable. He placed the gem on Alayn's chest, but the stone did not light as it should have. Theoden declared that he would not crown Alayn as the test had shown he was not suitable. Alayn was understandably mad, but Theoden made a hasty retreat before Alayn's anger got out of hand.

The party followed Theoden into the temple, and asked why he did what he did. Theoden explained that he did not approve of Alayn's recent actions, like torturing people to get confessions. He also said the party could help his cause by looking for another heir of the late Lord Khulven. He also said Tomaloc's father was Alayn's uncle. Theoden seemed to consider any one of Bjorn, Tomaloc or Bjoric to be a better ruler than Alayn. He was also suspicuous of the new magistrate, who had appeared so conveniently and nobody had seen him before. "Wolfrig the Burned," he called him which made Radagast more and more convinced that Eomric and Wolfrig were in fact the same man.

While discussing this, four black clothed men stormed into the temple in a rather obvious assasination attempt. Jobric, Landis and Radagast eventually got the upper hand, but a fifth man managed to steal the Heart of Courage. The men were wearing chain shirts under their clothing and armed with longswords and daggers, but they carried nothing else.

They had captured one man alive, and they took him to the town guards. That did not really turn out the way they expected: they ended up ad hoc trial as the guard leader on duty had been granted with power for swift trials in cases like this. It was rather obvious the prisoner was a dead man, and would face a lot of torture while the guards would try to question him.

Next day Jobric cast a divination to locate the stolen ruby, and went flying around the city. He located the ruby in the docks area, between the Fish Court and Crook Street. The party went to investigate. After deciding that it would either be one of the abandoned looking warehouses or one of the guarded ones, Radagast made himself invisible and went souting closer. To his disappointment the doors seemed to be locked and windows shuttered with iron bars. He did notice that one warehouse seemed to have some activity. It was inhabited by a rival thief guild, it appeared.

Jobric paid a street urchin to take a message to the torchbearers guild about a crtain rat infestation in the dock area, and suggested the party just walk to the door and demand to be let in. He reasoned they should just tell the truth that they had reason to believe the stolen ruby was in the warehouse. Landis argued strongly against it, but finally gave in. It turned out that was rather a stupid idea, as the thugs would not open the door and it looked like the place was well defended.

While Landis and Ragadast went to see Bardia, Jobric went to see the torchbearer's guildmaster. He learned the new guild had less than 100 members, and also that if the torchbearers were to help, it would require a hefty fee as the ruby just by itself was so valuable.

Bardia did not want to sacrifice his scouts on a mission like that either, but he suggested the party go and meet with Wolfrig, or ask Bjorn to send town guards to arrest the crooks. Bardia also confirmed that he'd rather see Alayn on the throne. According to him Alayn was still wearing the ring that seemed to protect him against possessions, or so Radagast hoped.

Since they did not have proof for a formal arrest, they decided to go and see Wolfrig. Wolfrig was living in Eomric's old tower, so they headed that way. The door to the tower opened for them and the voice of Wolfrig talked to them. He himself was not visible. Radagast explained the situation and asked if he could do something out it. Wolfrig wanted to see the area where thet tough the stone was located from a map. After that he said he would be back after a while and asked his quests to enjoy some wine and meal. Nobody dared eat, but luckly he was away for only half an hour.

Wolfrig said he had seen the stone, but it was not in a warehouse, although probably still near the docks. He described a room, with torches on the wall, with wet and muddy footprints leading in. He had also seen the woman who was responsible for Drik's death. He also said he had seen the flaming sword Radagast had lost. The final thing he had seen was a letter with a twisted serpent at the bottom, which was the symbol of the necromancer guild bodyguards. Then the woman had noticed he had been spied upon and Wolfrig was unable to learn more.

The party also got word from the town guards that their prisoner had died, mysteriously just when he was about to confess and tell about his masters.

Session XXIII - My Precious... er, Sword (2002-04-09)

In the evening Landis was spending time with Radagast in the castle (Radagast was changing rooms every night, but it never hurt to have some good company around). There was a knock on the door. There was a boy with a letter to Landis.

The letter was from the "docksiders", signed by G., claiming they did not know about the ruby and that Landis and his companions were allying with the wrong bunch of people (namely, the torchbearers).

In the morning Radagast and Landis were waiting for Jobric, but it appeared Jobric had spent the previous night having deep conversations with some gods of alcohol, so the two companions went to the docksides by themselves. Landis said he wanted to talk to the people alone, and Radagast let him try (he was sure Landis wouldn't even get through the front door). To his amazement it took only a little while and Landis was in. Radagast was too far away to hear what was being said, but Landis seemed to show the letter to the door after which he was let in. Radagast waited quite a while, during which time Jobric finally caught up with him.

Finally Landis came out. He was still in one piece although Radagast guessed the noble knight had had some disagreement with the thugs in the house. But what can one expect, sending an unbending upbringer of the law to a nest of thieves? In any case, Landis had met Giselle, the leader of the dockside gang and she had offered their help for a position in the nobility. Landis had made clear that was out of the question, and the woman did not in fact know about the gem anyway.

Again wondering how to solve the puzzle, the adventurers walked around, noticing an apothecary. Landis bought some garlic, and asked prices for some herbs best used in the bedroom. Radagast thought that Giselle must have been one heck of a woman... Jobric bought some wolvesbane and questioned the shopkeeper, but did not learn much. Jobric however suggested a little sewer romp to see if there was something interesting below Crooked Street.

Radagast bought a bunch of torches and rope, and the party descended into the smelly sewers from a somewhat hidden entrance as to not avoid suspicions. After a short while they came to a grate and door which was locked. They argued some time what to do, but Jobric's pessimism was catching and they decided it might be too dangerous to break the lock because that might bring the people who had set up the lock. So back to sunlight they went.

Radagast asked Jobric to try his location spell once more, and a little bit of walking did produce a slight surprise. The gem was no longer in the dock area. Jobric's sense pointed to the river, where the were some anchored boats.

They rented a boat, and "disguised" as fishermen. Jobric guided them to a largish river boat. A brief discussion of tactics lead to Landis knocking on the railing of the boat and yelling for boat crew. A woman came to see what was going on. To make a long story short, Landis made some ridiculous attempts to convince the woman, who seemed to be alone on the boat, that it would be a good idea to let the experienced seafearers Radagast and Jobric help with preparing the ship for leaving in the evening.

Radagast's sixth sense was warning him of danger, but he could not recognize the woman or see anything dangerous, so he followed the woman to the cabin. Jobric was following some 10 feet behind. As soon as Radagast entered he realized it was a trap as a skeletal hands barred the door and everything plunged into unnatural darkness. He took a quick step away from the door, and tried to cast protective magic, failing miserably in his concentration. He could hear the familiar words being spoken, the words that ignited a certain magical sword into flames! His sword!

He could hear Jobric and Landis try and break the door, and although there were promising sounds the door did not give in. Jobric yelled for Radagast to try and break the door from the inside. Since Radagast was pretty sure a certain death would await him if he did not get the door open he charged for it and broke through, but he also got to taste burning steel and he fainted from the loss of blood and shock right into Jobric's feet.

Jobric and Landis dragged Radagast away from the door, and Jobric healed Radagast. They were fighting the evil cleric woman, and at least one zombie. The woman seemed to know how to fight in the darkness, but it proved very hard for the heroes: they were not sure where she was (or where the comrades where) and usually missed her completely. Also they could not target spells at her. The fight could have turned ugly really fast, but then Landis finally got some lucky hits that really hurt, and the woman retreated into the cabin, having also lost her undead companion. Now being able to see again the companions healed their wounds best they could, and checked in to see if her darkness spell was giving out. While waiting, Landis noticed the boat had started to sink.

They did not have to wonder long what to do, as a section of the cabin wall shattered, and a cone of darkness spread out. Soon a splash followed, and the world again plunged into brief darkness. After a while they could see a gigantic blob of darkness moving slowly towards the opposite shore. They jumped back to the boat and followed the darkness. On the opposite shore it moved a little further away, but they followed it easily. Finally it stopped, and they waited, and listened. The woman emerged from one side, and Radagast tried to cast a blindness spell on her, but she was able to shrug away the effects. Landis run after her, and Jobric made after Landis. Landis was able to avoid her two hold spells, while she in turn avoided Radagast's daze. But she could not avoid arrows, nor swords. Finally she was out of spells, and out of potions, and took a final stance. She was quickly overcome, and Jobric ground her head to pulp with his shield. Vicious man, that!

Radagast was happy to regain his flaming sword, as well as his magical ring of protection. She also had two potions of some alteration magic, that Landis took. Her amulet seemed to contain necromatic magic, and the ruby had a strong aura of some strange abjuration.

The party quickly rowed back to the city and went to see Theoden. He investigated the amulet and declared it evil, and promptly destroyed it with his holy axe. As for the gem, he asked Radagast and his companions to accompany him to the catacombs under the city, where he placed the gem into the holy room where the axe was from.

After a brief rest Jobric suggested they would go and have a look at the river boat in the bottom of the river. That turned out to be rather easy after he made everyone able to breath water. Even the zombies they found in the boat we quickly sent to the world of beyond, again. They brought back eight gold coins and 20 jugs of olive oil which Jobric intendend to sell.

Session XXIV - Manticore Hunt (2002-04-16)

As Radagast and Landis were again spending the evening in Radagast's quarters, there was a knock on the door. Radagast considered casting mage armor, shield and activating his flaming sword, but sent Landis to answer the door instead.

The man at the door was a friend of Radagast's, from his days in the wizard school in Capernaum. Gaius Julius was another half-renegade student, although he claimed he had done his experimenting with other arts and decided magic was the way of his future. Gaius also brought message from Radagast's parents, which explained that he could still return to the school of wizardry, and the usual parental worrying. That reminded Radagast that he intended to send the soulstone to his parents to take care of it, and write that he was doing fine in Durenheim.

As the trio was bringing each other up to speed, Radagast noticed a letter on the table that had apparently materialized out of thin air for nobody saw anyone bring it in. After a few dreadul moments he opened it. It was a letter from Eomric, in which he asked Radagast and his companions to retrieve Eomric's crystal ball, spellbooks and a copy of the Lineages of Glom, Burns and Stromgald and Respected Heraldries. There was a password to disable Eomric's magical traps for the following day, and instructions for bringing the items to the proprietor of the Chortling Manticore.

The party pondered about what to do for quite some time, until finally deciding that they could give it a try. Their decision was made easier when they noticed the lackeys were preparing Wolfrig's carriage for next day.

In the morning the nonchalant party went to the tower door. There was one guard posted there, who soon started complaining how his replacement should have been in by now. He asked if Radagast would mind keeping an eye on the door, and of course Radagast had nothing against that idea, although he mentioned that a guard duty was probably not even needed because of all the magical traps in the tower. As the guard left Radagast told him to take his time, Radagast was in no hurry...

The guard problem solved they quickly realized the door was locked. And nobody had any experience with locks, so Radagast had to use magic to unlock it. They quickly went inside, and closed the door. Radagast remembered from his earlier visit that Eomric's traps started from the staircase so they searched the ground room first. The Lineages were there, and they decided to pick them up on their way out.

With some protective spells activated, Radagast said aloud the password. Emoric's glyphs shimmered gold, then turned back. After just few steps they set off Wolfrig's trap, which was a fiery creature appearing out of nowhere and attacking them! It burned Gaius pretty badly, and he had to retreat to gulp some healing, while Landis finished the creature off, receiving e few scorch marks from splashing fire.

While their magic was still strong, they run to the next floor. In the center of the room appeared to be a crystal ball, and the walls were covered with bookcases. Radagast and Gaius made themselves invisible, and went looking for the spellbooks. They were not there. They decided to pick up the crystal ball on their way down.

The third floor was a lab. After a quick search which did not produce the spellbooks Radagast read some pages of the open notebooks lying around to determine if Wolfrig was doing what he should be doing. The most interesting found was that Wolfrig was experimenting with truth serum. Radagast chuckled as Wolfrig had noted down that Alayn's heroic feats were far less regarding the orc kidnap when he had had a little taste of truth. More worrying were his founds that Alayn was more resistant to his experiments as one would have guessed, and Cordwellyn seemed to be totally immune. Radagast pondred if Alayn's ring of protection had anything to do with it, or if it was something else. Wolfrig noted that he should try testing with bigger portions next time.

Ascending the next stairs they were suddenly faced with a fiery gate. A salamander emerged from it, and attacked them. It was quickly dispatched with.

The next level opened into a small room with two doors. The most important feature was a corner table with books. Radagast studied the books visually and noticed they were almost certainly spellbooks, and had the initial E engraved on them. Radagast quickly packed them into his backpack, feeling funny for a moment. "I should be prepared for these kinds of spells by now," Radagast cursed himself for his lack of preparation. Luckily he was able to resist the spell.

The party discussed if they should peek behind the doors. On one hand Eomric had requested only the three specific things which really were his, and they had now located all of them. On the other hand, now was probably the only change to explore Wolfrig's chambers since he would improve his defenses. And they were not intend on stealing anything, just having a look. So before opening the doors, Radagast cast Detect Magic. It was enough to convince him and the rest that it would be foolish trying to open the doors: they were laced with magic, strong auras of abjuration and necromancy. Necromancy was slightly surprising, but nevertheless, it appeared the doors were too well protected.

They made haste to the crystal ball, and Gaius tried to put it in his backack. As soon as he touched it, though, he got an irresistible urge to leave. Apparently another magical protection. Radagast fished a small sack from his backpack and showed how Landis could use it to handle the crystal ball without touching it.

Landis and Radagast met Gaius Julius on the ground floor, and told him to get the Lineages.

They listened at the door, and heard footsteps approaching far away. Radagast, who was still invisible, opened the door and took a peek. Nobody was in sight, so he quickly ushered the others out as well, closed the door and made himself visible.

There were just in time, as the replacement guard came behind the corner. The guard was unhappy about his assignenment, swearing it shouldn't have been his shift. When he noticed the burned heros he asked how they got burned. Radagast was quick to explain that he and Gaius were just testing their magic as they hadn't seen each other for a long time. It appeared the man bought their bluff, and Radagast sighed in relief as they left the scene.

To be on the safe side Radagast decided they'd better rent a room from the Green Dragon, and go see Eomric's middle man in the morning. They wanted to be prepared in case it was not Eomric, but some other agency. Although they could not figure out who could it be.

In the morning they wandered to the Chortling Manticore to have a chat with the proprietor. He seemed to be under some kind of spell. Radagast did not want to display the items in the open so he asked for a private room. They questioned the man but he was obviously unable to tell them anything. Figuring it would be safe they handed the items to the proprietor, who thanked them and disappeared through a trapdoor in the floor. After a few seconds Radagast suggested they should follow: if it really was Eomric they were dealing with he would have nothing to fear from them, but if it was not Eomric this was their best change to catch him.

They were too late. There was a small room, and the proprietor was alone, without the items. He did not seem to remember where they went, but he handed one small sack to each Radagast, Landis and Gaius Julius. Landis' sack contained 200 gold coins, Radagast had a scroll of suggestion, and Gaius a scroll with Cat's Grace and Melf's Acid Arrow scribed onto it.

Feeling better because of the gifts, the party wondered into town trying to figure out what to do next. They heard Wolfrig was furious about the theft, and made it clear that if Alayn could not protect his tower he sure wished the next ruler would be able to do so.

Radagast bought a small wooden box, and wrote a letter to his parents and placed the letter and soulstone in there. He then suggested they should go meet Tempus. They learned Tempus was about to leave with a caravan to Capernaum, so Radagast asked him to deliver his letter, which Tempus was happy to do for free. They had dinner with Tempus without any bad side effects (although Radagast pointed that out on several occasions to his companions). They heard Tempus mention a rumour that Alayn was considering marrying some lord's daughter so he could be in a better position for the throne when the council of lords would have their session to decide on the next ruler of Durenheim.

After a good an hearty dinner Radagast and the others decided they'd do a little manticore hunting since sitting idle was getting to them all. Landis was expert on manticores, having hunted them several times before, and Gaius had a knack for the wilderness so in a few days they were able to spot traces of manticore activity.

Before spotting a manticore they stumbled upon another kind of find. They almost fell with their horses into a hole that was well camouflaged with brances and leaves. The hole was filled with a dozen or so skeletons with burning red eyes, although they appeared to be unmoving. Radagast even threw a rock at one, but it still did not react. Radagast told the others to gather rocks so they could safely crush them without going into the hole. While they were doing this, Gaius spotted a manticore flying overhead, and promptly shot an arrow at it.

The manticore was not pleased, and shot a hail of needle sharp spikes fromk its tail at Gaius. Radagast and Gaius were casting protective spells and shooting arrows at the beast while Landis was trying to figure if he should shoot or mount his horse for a chance at lance charge. The manticore made the decision moot as it plummeted on top of Landis, trying to push him into the hole with the skeletons. Landis seemed to gain inhuman strength as he held his ground against the huge creature. Radagast switched to his flaming sword and flanked the beast, while Gaius sent a couple of volleys of arrows and magic at the beast. In the end they killed the creature quite easily, although things could have turned nasty if it had managed to drop Landis into the skeleton pit. Radagast collected the manticore spikes in hopes someone could make fine arrows out of them, and Landis hacked the head loose; they were going to bring that to town to show they had killed one and collect the handsome 500 gold coin bounty. Before leaving they crushed the skeletons with stones.

On their way back they came across a strange, foreboding part in the woods. The horses refused to go through the area of about 100 feet, and the air seemed chilly, and voices seemed to die quickly without echo. Radagast guessed it might be a place where someone had summoned a demon. Being wounded from their skirmish with the manticore, and lacking a man of the cloth, they decided to come and investigate it again with better preparations.

In the city they reported the destroyed undead cache, and collected the bounty for the manticore. They also learned that Landis' troops had arrived and he would have to report back to duty.

Session XXV - Time to Depart the Hot Scene (2002-04-23)

It was still about three weeks to the council of the lords.

Alayn summoned Radagast and Gaius Julius to a meeting with him. He made it clear that he suspected Radagast was behind the disappearing items from Eomric's tower. Although Gaius let slip something about returning them to their rightful owner. Nevertheless, Alayn offered a mission to another city as a way to leave the city behind and get away from Wolfrig's watchful eye. Alayn said he'd assigned the guards who knew about Radagast's presence by the tower to remote patrolling duty, but that Wolfrig had probably heard anyway. Radagast and Gaius accepted the mission, which was to deliver a scrollcase to the city of Hightower.

They set good pace with their horses, expecting some 4-5 days of travel. On their last evening, as they were still some hours away from Hightower, they were ambushed by four orcs. The orcs were dangeorous opponents, but the friends defeated them eventually. Gaius' bow had been nearly sundered, and they were both badly beaten, but they collected the javelins, morning stars, shields, teeth and few piecs of gold and silver.

The companions rode into the city and went directly to the temple to get healed. Radagast donated the gold and silver they had looted from the orcs. They got directions to an inn called the Blind Owlbear.

As they rode towards the inn, they noticed there was a fight going on behind a window. Suddenly one of the men fell through the second story window and laid motionless on the ground. The other man almost climbed out of the window, but noticing Radagast and Gaius decided to flee instead. Radagast wounded him with an arrow, and went in pursuit. The man proved to be too fast, however, jumping from roof to roof as Radagast tried to climb a drain pipe in futile.

Once he got back, he noticed that Gaius had stabilized the man on the street. Soon the town guard came and took over the situation. They did not Radagast's and Gaius' word, but the captain of the guard poured a healing potion down the unconscious man's throat. The man who introduced himself as Kjadbrek confirmed Radagast's story, and said his attacked was Girland who he had hired to do a mission for him. Apparently the mission had gone bad, and Girland's friends were dead. That had ticked Girland off to seek justice by getting rough with Kjadbrek.

Kjadbrek had extra rooms for the companions so they decided to stay there for the night. They learned that Kjadbrek was the city's treasurer, and that he had hired Girland to shadow a Capernium man named Quintus Tantenius who claimed to be a merchant interested in buying a talisman that was kept safe in the city treasury. The object was a brass disc with the image of a six armed demon engraved on it. It had been pried from the hands of a dead wizard who had had a demon companion looking like the picture. The wizrds name was Yrsiltrald, and he had been dead for some 200 years. The disc was obviously magical, and probably evil. Kjadbrek also showed a letter that was written by the man who killed the wizard and banished the demon. Kjadberk also told of the icident with Quintus. Quintus seemed to be a wizard himself, but had still failed to get the disc. Girland was hired to track him down, but he and his friends had disappeared in Tarwood, though which Radagast and Gaius had ridden earlier and been ambushed by the orcs.

Radagast mentioned about their message to the ruler of Hightower, and Kajdbrek was able to get them through the formalities quickly. They receiced 10 gold each for their services. Freed from their obligations, they decided they'd investigate Tarwood. Before that they tried to locate Girland, to no avail. They did learn that Girland had mentioned something about a girl kidnapped by a wizard in the Tarwood. There was a 50 gold reward for capture of Girland, dead or alive.

They also sold the orc gear, and even managed to sell one drake teeth. They learned Wolfrig was in need of that for some special arrow. Radagast nor Gaius couldn't figure out what kind of magical arrow would need a drake tooth tip. They weapon shop held some magical items: a sword, a dagger and a shield. They were the first magical items on sale Radagast had ever seen, but well beyond his purchase power. Before leaving Radagast managed to buy two healing potions from the temple.

While on their way to the small village called Shopik on the edge of Tarwood Radagast was thinking about the sorcerer Kjadbrek said had lived earlier in Hightower. His name was Fjeodoric, and he had been raised by the church as he was an orphan. Last he heard Fjeodoric was seen with orcs, south west of Cador. It could have been the wizard traveling with an orc companion Radagast had heard earlier.

As they neared Shopik, Gaius spotted a trap on the road. Although Gaius wanted to spring the trap and ride along, Radagast wanted to investigate. He reasoned someone was watching the trap and would come to investigate if it set off. If they did not set it off then innocent people might get hurt. Radagast cast some protective spells on himself as he and Gaius entered the forest on the right side of the road, leaving the horses behind. Gaius sent his familiar owl ahead to scout. It was soon hit by arrows, and Gaius had to call it back.

Radagast and Gaius closed in on the lone orc sniper. He was shooting from a platform in a tree, and he blew a message horn before Radagast was able to climb there and kill him. Radagast got a usable longbow from the orc, and six poisoned arrows. They did not seem to be too deadly, since the owl had taken two hits and both Radagast and Gaius one hit. But he decided to deal them back to the other orcs anyway, pointed end first.

Session XXVI - Tower in the Woods (2002-04-30)

As the friends walked back to the horses they noticed a lone rider approaching from Hightower. It was Jobric who had finally caught up with them. Gaius decided to go treat his bird and wounds rather than continue, so Radagast continued along with Jobric instead.

The companions trotted away as fast as they could, but soon Jobric's horse got tired and they had to slow down. They started hearing horns, the sounds were closing on the rode. Soon they spotted a group of orcs trying to cut to the road ahead of them. Radagast fired arrows at them, wounding a couple, while Jobric's spells had a couple feeling pretty bad as well. This bought Radagast and Jobric enough time to ride safely to Shopik.

Shopik turned out to be a tiny village of few buildings surrounded by a palisade. The orcs had not tried to attack the village, but hunters, farmers and travelers outside had had encounters with the orcs. They learned from the man on watch, Frulaf, that they could sleep in one of the buildings and there would be meals as well.

The village had a small trading post, and a shrine, and that was about it. The shrine had small herb garden surrounding it. An old man called Gjuldor, that the others had called Teacher of the Law, was tending the garden. Radagast gave him two poison arrows as the man seemed to be rather interested in herbs and poisons and what have you. The trading post was manned by Alvi, a big man with long beard. He seemed to be good at woodcarving, Radagast noticed as they walked in. Alvi also remembered Quintus, who had bought some food from his store. Radagast traded in the orcish longbow for 40 gold of barter from his store. Jobric used up 8gp immediately buying some really potent liqueur Radagast thought better to leave alone.

They learned from Alvi that Karuknar was selling a quiver of endless arrows. Apparently he needed money for a wedding. Radagast and Jobric ate the meal they offered (after Jobric cast a spell to purify the food, just in case) and played some cards. Karuknar was not willing to play for the quiver, so they played with copper pieces instead. Radagast and Jobric learned that most of the orc activity was in the mountains, and that 40 years ago the orcs had actually attacked Shopik village itself, but Waymarch knights had driven the orcs away.

Next morning Radagast and Jobric went to the woods on their scouting mission. They were on foot, since they figured they would fly back quickly, and they did not intend to spend the night in the woods anyway.

After a few hours of tense nerves Jobric spotted tower in the woods. It was about 40 feet high, with square layout. Jobric cast his fly spell on himself and Radagast, and the companions went scouting. There were two clearings around the rower, with some ruins and a well. Seeing no movement they boldly went to the door of the tower and knocked!

Radagast had to knock again, until a man appeared at the door. He was rude, and said he was not allowed to let anyone in as the master forbade that and he would be very angry. He did not give the name of himself or his master, even though Radagast tried to get him a little confused (he did not seem very bright). After a while he just shut the door and wouldn't answer it anymore.

The fly spells still active (it was faster going around the tower area that way) they did not want to give up, and scouted the area close to the tower. They found some drainholes, and heard a voice from there. There was a girl named Gleir trapped in a dungeon. The companions learned what they could, and dropped a torch, some food and water to the girl and went back to the tower, intent on getting in.

They searched the door for traps, Jobric doing a magic check, but they did not notice anything unusual about the black door and the sculpted wolf head above it. But as Radagast banged his shoulder on the door, the wolf head breathed icy frost on Radagast who was totally unpreared for it. Luckily Jobric was there to save him.

Radagast did not want to try the door again, so they flew to the roof, and hacked their way through it. While doing that they spotted some humanoid movement at the edge of the farthest clearing, but they chose to ignore that for the moment.

The top door had some wood, tiles and tools in it, as well as black and white pictures of torture covering the walls. While Radagast was descending the stairs to the next floor, the man jumped from under the stairs, opened his jaws impossibly wide, and tried to bite and slash at Radagast who nimbly dodged aside. Radagast, seeing his foe was not wearing armor, swung his sword as hard as he could, and was rewarded with a pained grunt and a deep slash on the creature. Just to be on the safe side Radagast backed into a corner and cast shield on himself. The beast seemed to figure it would never be able to hit Radagast, and concentrated its attacks on Jobric, who was really feeling the sharp teeth and nails. The monster was fading in and out of existence which made it hard hit it it. Luckily Radagast finished it off with a few powerful strikes. Just in case it might regenerate Radagast cut its head off. During the fight Radagast learned that his flaming sword was capable of bursting out a spectacular flare on an extremely good hit.

A search through the room did not find anything interesting. The only magical things were the creature itself, and a spot on the wall which they recognized was the other side of the wolf head (which was why it did not register as magic on the outside).

Session XXVII - Cassandra Catches Up (2002-05-07)

Meanwhile in Dhunraven, Cassandra had recovered from her injuries, and met a young man who had had a vision. Gronthor, as the man was called, belonged to the Torchbearers guild but had gathered some strong doubts about his future. As he saw a vision of a tower in the Tarwoods he finally got enough self resolve to do something about his situation.

The pair traveled quickly to Hightower, following Radagast's fame.

Near Hightower they met with Gaius Julius, who brought them up to date with what had happened, and where Radagast was likely to be found.

Cassandra, Gronthor and Gaius Julius made their way from Shopik through the Tarwoods, trailed and ambushed by evil creatures. Cassandra was shocked to learn that just about everything in the forest was evil - including the blood thirsty squirrels that trailed them!

Near the edge of the Tower clearing, they met a huge bear, except it was no ordinary bear. It was huge, and evil, and magical, and possessed abilities no animal should have had. Nevertheless the party triumphed after a hard battle.

Session XXVIII - To Buy A Slave (2002-05-14)

In the tower, Jobric found a book on the first floor. As he opened it, he froze completely. Radagast couldn't figure out how to get him out of it. Radagast quickly scanned the room: there was a blue ceramic stove in one corner and a wooden box. While he was checking out the room, he heard the faint sound of skirmish from outside. He carefully opened the door, and saw Cassandra at the edge of the clearing.

Radagast quickly flew to his old friend, where he found a scene of rapidly rotting bear-like creture and battle weary Cassandra with a man she introduced as Gronthor. Cassandra and Gronthor seemed puzzled because they could not find Gaius Julius anywhere. It seemed like he'd left them as hastily as he'd left Radagast earlier. Strange man.

Radagast filled in his part of the story and then listened to Cassandra tell of her travels. Gronthor explained that they had gotten ointment against orc poison from a man in Shopik. He gave one portion to Cassandra and one portion to Radagast while keeping the third one himself. The man had also explained how to make the antidote. It required some pretty hard to find plants and Radagast was pretty sure that he'd never be able to find them on his own. It would require someone like Bardia, he figured.

Radagast guided Gronthor and Cassandra to the tower. Searching the ground floor again they found a trapdoor in the floor. It opened into a small cellar, which was mostly empty. On one wall there were three large glass jars; other wall was covered by shelves filled with old and rusty tools. On one wall there was what appeared to be an entrance that was sealed with stones and mortar. After inspection three flasks on the shelves turned out to be magical, and Gronthor took them. The sealed entrance turned out to be too tough after Cassandra tried to hack through it: she estimated it would take at least a day to get through. Radagast pointed out that they did not have a day since he'd seen movement around the other clearing. The opening mecnanism Radagast thought he'd found in the ground floor turned out to be the way to operate the wolf's head: pour water into the snout in the wooden box, and pull a lever, and anyone standing outside the door would feel a cooling sensation. Good to know, but not immediately useful.

Having exhausted their options at the tower they decided to search the second clearing. As Cassandra moved up front she saw some orcs hiding in the edge of the forest. As she spotted them, the orcs shot arrows at her and charged. Radagast flew up and rained poison arrows at the leader, but he just kept on going. After more than half of the orcs' numbers were down Gronthor finally succumbed to his wounds and Cassandra was forced to heal herself. The orcish leader grabbed the unconscious Gronthor and using him as shield withdraw and ordered his troops the withdraw as well. This came too late for a couple of them, but the rest disappeared into the bushes. Radagast discusses the situation briefly with Cassandra, trying to avoid the greasy spots on the ground where Gronthor had cast the interesting spell that made it almost impossible to stay on ones feet as the orcs had discovered.

The only hope Gronthor was was that Radagast and Cassandra would be able to locate him and rescue him. So Radagast mad himself invisble and flew into the forest searching for orcs. He did not find an orc traveling singly, and he feared he might not be able to take down two orcs before their companions showed up, so he just followed a par of orcs. They soon joined with some more, and they finally came to a clearing and disappeared inside some well camouflaged cave openings. Radagast had his information and flew back to Cassandra.

Cassandra, Radagast, and Gronthor's familiar, a pseudodragon named Bobo pondered on the situation. Bobo could sense that his master was alive, but unconscious. He was also sure he could be able to find his master. So the party decided to find a safe spot for the night and try to rescue Gronthor in the morning.

The night was not very restful, with all the evil creatures stalking them. Bobo had to wake Radagast several times just to shoo away a squirrel that seemed to be interested in sinking its teeth into Radagast. Not knowing what kind of unholy creature it was Radagast did not want to take risks. They even killed on squirrel, but did not learn much.

In the morning Bobo lead them to the cave. Radagast's plan was fo him to sneak invisible to the two guards at the cave entrace, and prevent them from enetring to alarm the rest of the orcs. He'd also try to kill one of them while Bobo would simultaneously try to put the other one to sleep with his poisonous sting; he was really good at hiding so it worked almost as good as being invisible.

The plan worked reasonably well: Radagast sneaked past the guards and killed one of them with a single strike. Bobo hit with his sting too, but the orc resisted the poison and yelled alarm. To Radagast's dismay the cave didn't appear very deep, since he heard stirring inside.

Radagast figured they might have had a change even then, but alas, the orchis chueftain was too smart. He threatened to kill Gronthor if they did not back down. The orc was willing to trade Gronthor for gold, though. So Radagast and Cassandra bought Gronthor the slave for 100 gold. "So much for initiation rituals," Radagast though, "exactly like me and Drik at one point."

The party grabbed still frozen Jobric from the tower, dropped five days worth of food to the girl in the dungeon, and watched from a distance as the orcs took over the tower. The orc leader had said they'd been keeping eye on the tower and they wanted it. Figuring Radagast and Jobric had killed the owner they moved in, even though Radagast tried explaining it was just a servant to the real owner. The orcs did not believe, and now they had the tower to themselves.

Session XXIX - I Smell Cat (2002-05-21)

While watching the orcs Radagast and Gronthor got somehow lost from Cassandra, who was dragging Jobric along. Cursing disappearing people they just headed for Shopik as fast as they could.

The heroes returning back all beaten up without gear did not go unnoticed from the inhabitants, but since Radagast and Gronthor could not help the situation they just went to buy some supplies and get some healing. Radagast sold his greatsword, and with that and the money from the previously sold longbow Gronthor was able to come up with decent gear.

Next morning the duo set out again. Near the tower they stumbled into an orcish hunting party. The four orcs had just killed a deer. As soon as they saw Radagast one of them recognized Radagast and the orcs promptly attacked. Radagast and Gronthor were overconfident of the situation, which nearly cost them their lives. Just barely managing to stay conscious Radagast felled the second to the last of the orcs, at which point the last orc grabbed one of his unconscious fellows and sprinted into the woods. Radagast and Gronthor soon heard noise from that direction so they run off into the opposite direction.

They run until Gronthor could run no longer, and then walked through the night. They reached Shopik the following morning. The guards must have shaken their heads in disbelief: how could anyone get some much punishment and go beg for more?

The duo again heads for Gjuldor, who heals them. They explain their mission and Gjuldor provides them with some healing ointment.

In the common hall they meet a man dressed up in yellow robes. He is Theodoris, and his companion is a dog, Devilbane. He said he was looking for his friend Krag. It turned out he was the hero of the poor Radagast had heard earlier in Dhunraven, and Krag really was the orc chief that had saved Radagast from slavery back in Cursed Lands. Theodoris was trying to catch up with Krag.

Theodoris decided he could help Gronthor and Radagast get into the tower. Next morning they set off, Devilsbane leading. After a while Devilsbane spotted something, and blinked! right next to Theodoris. Radagast and Gronthor could barely believe their eyes. They could not dwell on that too long, as the creatures Devilsbane had spotted came into view. They were huge, twisted animals resembling badgers. Theodoris blasted a strange combination of lighting and fire at the creatures, and Devilsbane blinked next them and attacked. Radagast and Gronthor helped a little with their arrows, but in the end it was Theodoris with his powerful spells that ended the encounter.

They got to the clearing and the tower without further incident. After some negotiation Radagast made Devilsbane invisible and he went scouting. Soon he reported that he'd smelled big cat, and did not want to investige alone any further. Radagast got him to drop some more food for the girl just in case...

Radagast made himself also visible, and went with Devilsbane to the second clearing trying to find a way into the prison. All he found was a net trap the orcs, assumably, had put near the well.

Realising the only clue left is the sealed passageway under the orc tower, Radagast and Gronthor lead the way to the secret entrace to the cellar. There they quickly overpowered the two orc guards, and Theodoris cast an arcane lock on the trapdoor, sealing it so that the orcs in the tower would have a hard time getting into the cellar.

Theodoris cast another spell and Radagast found himself on the other side of the seal. Theodoris joined him a few seconds later. What had Radagast glued to his footsteps was a centaur-lion. Dumbstruck, and slightly confused by some spell effect he had just barely resisted, Radagast said he and Theodoris were there to rescue her. The centaur laughed, and made it clear it did not need to be rescued. Theodoris blasted fire at the creature, and Radagast sent his tiny missiles of magic in their trail. The centaur replied by making mirror images of itself. Theodoris made Radagast attack really fast, and Radagast's sword dispatched several mirrors. The centaur took a step back, gulped a potion and breathed fire on Radagast. That turned out to be its last act as Radagast killed it on the spot. Radagast was relived to be alive, although badly burned.

While Theodoris brought Gronthor through the wall Radagast rubbed the healing salve on his wounds, but it did not help much. The centaur had one more potion in her belt, a dagger and a golden armband.

Theodoris then left, wishing Radagast and Gronthor good luck.

Session XXX - A Deal with Quintus (2002-05-28)

Cassandra and Jobric met with Theodoris just as he was leaving the tower area, and magicked them in with Radagast and Gronthor.

The party examined the area. The big room where they fough the centaur had old summoning circles on the floor, stone pillars and two doors leading to small rooms that had at some time been dungeons.

There were drainpipes leading downwards a corridor, and at the end they found a pool. As Cassandra went to touch the water (before anyone had time to tell her not to do it). To her surpise the water animated in a humanoid shape, slamming her and dragging her under the surface. The water creature then stepped out of the pool and attacked Gronthor. Gronthor and Radagast managed to cast Magic missiles at it first, then Radagast attacked with his flaming sword while Gronthor sent another volley of magical missiles at it. To Radagast horror his sword snuffed out like a candle when he hit the creature, but it did seem to cause some damage. The third volley of magical energy reduced the elemental to a puddle of water. During the fight Jobric had edged his way near the pool and was trying to get a rope to Cassandra who was unable to swim in her heavy armor and had sunk to the bottom of the 20 foot cistern. She managed to hold her breath long enough to climb to safety with Jobric rope.

The search through the rest of the complex produced a locked iron door that they were unable to force open, a room with marble statue of some unholy god or creature, and a strange room with six levers. At the center there was a pewter pedestal. The room appeared to be made for some kind of magic other than summoning. Other things they had recovered were 2 silver statues of angels, a platinum cup, silver punching dagger, golden hilt of a sword, a puch of 75 gold and a parchment that had five arcane spells to Radagast's delight. They were: color spray, obscure object, protection from good, Tasha's hideous laughter and Tenser's floating disc.

One tunnel they had not investigated ended up with a curtain that hid a room. In the room were the remains of four warriors and an undead creature that they had to kill. It was not too difficult, even though it smelled ghastly. The dead had 4 usable longswords.

The final uninvestigated tunnel lead outside to the woods, the door smashed open (apparently by the centaur). Radagast found a log usable as a battering ram and they used it to break through the iron door. That proved to be a disappointment, for it only lead to the abandoned orc cave where Gronthor was briefly held. The cave was empty.

Figuring they would have a change to recover Gronthor's stolen equipment from the orcs they spent a night in the complex, and after preparing their spells set for an orc beating mission.

Radagast and Gronthor placed them selves outside the tower, ready to shoot magic missiles at any orc they saw. Jobric and Cassandra flew to the roof, and hacked a hole in there. The orcs were waiting, and since no orc had showed their head for magic missiles Jobric fetched the remaining companions for an all out assault. After Jobric cast a soun burst in the smaal room it was safe to fly in an dispatch with the orcs in a relatively safe manner. To their surprise, the tower was not teeming with orcs: there were less than ten total, so it was far easier than they had expected. Cassandra was happy to recover her wand of healing and Gronthor his gear. They also found loot worth some 500 gold pieces they estimated.

Feeling better they went back to the undergriound complex. Cassandra really wanted to try the levers in the strange room despite Radagast's warnings. It turned out she could not move them at all. While they were trying to figure things out, Gronthor heard a whisper in his ear: "It won't open without the amulet." After some more talk it became apparent it was Quintus. He proposed an alliance. According to him, the amulet was a key to operate the teleportation device to the ancient wizard's lair. Quintus said he was mostly interested in a ring taken from his grandfather. The party agreed to try and get the amulet, although they pretty much figured they'd need to watch out for betrayal on Quintus' part.

Back in Hightower they sold the loot, Radagast identified the four potions they had (they turned out to be levitate, darkvision, cure light wounds and hiding?), and Jobric and Cassandra spent a fair amount of time getting Kjadbrek to release the symbol. In the end, they convinced him it was the right and safe thing to do, especially since Cassandra was such a holy person. Afterwards Cassandra felt the need to pray hard and do some sacrifices to cleanse her spirit from the half-thruths.

Session XXXI - Teleport Away (2002-06-18)

Cassandra decided to spend the night at the temple. The rest of the party rented a room accross the street from Kjadbrek at an inn. Before getting into bed Gronthor noticed a shadow climbing the wall of Kjadbrek's house, and disappear through the wall. He quickly alerted Radagast and Jobrik, and after a quick spell of preotection they sprinted at Kjadbrek's house.

As the party charged in, they found a figure dressed in black, holding an ominously glowing sword, poised above the crumbled form of the Hightower official.

A long and hard battle ensued. the dreadnight of the twisted serpent (or so the symbol on the clothes seemed to indicate) had a repertoire of some nasty arcane spells, and his sword was very nasty indeed. Luckily Gronthor's grease on the sword had the intruder drop it in the beginning, which he only managed to snap while he retrieted. He jumped out of the second story window and whistled for his warhorse, and though the party followed suit he was too fast for them.

Kjadbrek was still alive, and after a quick heal was able to tell that the man was after the disc.

The party decided to keep it a secret that Kjadbrek had survived the attack, and camped in the house, exhausted. To their worry, Kjadbrek did not wake up in the morning. They took him to the temple, pretending that he was dead to the onlookers. In the temple Cassandra was able to heal him, as Kjadbrek's condition turned out to be an unnatural disease, which still could not refuse Cassandra's holy command to leave Kjadbrek's body.

The party left Kjadbrek at the safety of the temple, and hurried to the woods to meet Quintus at the teleportation room. The two day trip went without trouble.

At the teleportation room Quintus placed the disc on the pewter pedestal, at which it started spinning. The levers lifted up, and the ceiling lighted up, and there was an electric charge around the pedestal. Quintus pulled the levers down, and there was change. The pedestal vanished, or rather, the new room they found themselves in did not have a pedestal and the corridor leaving out was different. Otherwise the rooms could have been the same.

The corridor lead to large underground cavern, some 50 high. The corridor emerged in the middle of the wall, and continued on a bridge some 30 feet above the cavern floor, and the river running in the middle. The bridge was broken in the middle, and the gap was 40 feet - too much to jump over.

Cassandra had been looking strange since the teleportation. She seemed to have made a decision, and she handed the disc to Gronthor. She said the place was her destiny, and their paths would now differ. She carefully climbed down to the cavern floor, where a portal seemed to open for her and she walked through, after it was as if it had never appeared.

Quintus got the party past the broken bridge by casting levitation on everybody, and then showing each member accross.

The next obstacle was a slab of marble, obviously a door of some sort, blocking their way on the opposite side of the cavern. There was a carving of the demon, but no obvious methods of opening the "door". It didn't move at all when they tried pushing and there did not appear to be any traps. At their wits end Gronthor finally touched the marble with the disc. The marble transformed into shimmering curtains of light that shifted from red to violet through orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo. It was pretty obvious it was some kind of prismatic wall spell, and Radagast remembered that the different colors could be dispelled with the right spell. The only one he could remember though was violet, which could be dispelled simply by dispel magic spell. The party decided to dispel that color, and see what would happen. When Quintus cast the spell, the whole shimmering light wall vanished, and they were able to continue. It was becoming obvious that the wizard who had made these protections would be able to pass himself without any difficulty.

The next challenge was a room with nothing but a large cylinder reachning from the floor to the ceiling, standing in the middle, sprouting countless nasty-looking spikes. It looked really dangerous. Pondeing on the problem a little Radagast finally deciced to make a dash for it, and stepping only on the black tiles (the floor was covered with red and black tiles) crossed the room safely, and the rest of the party followed.

The next room was high, and there appeared to be at least four passageways leading out, but they were not on the floor level. Two of the passageways started 20 feet above the floor, the others even higher. The first 10 feet of the wall were covered with a mosaic tiling, and four demon motifs, Vrocks according to Quintus. When Gronthor went to the middle of the room he could smell some unpleasant incense getting stronger, and a swirling vortex of wind also getting stronger. The eyes of the demons started glowing red.

Gronthor retreated back to the corridor, and just in time as a bunch of winged demon-creatures attacked. Luckily it turned out to be just one demon with mirror images of itself. Had there been more, they would have all died. As it was, it was a close call. The demon's resistance to magic and its vicious clawing attacks made it a dangerous opponent. It even managed to infect Jobric with some kind of spores, which only seemed to go away after Jobric poured holy water on them.

Spent, the party camped for the night in the demon-room.

Session XXXII - Radagast Faces His Maker (2002-06-25)

Next morning, the party healed up and cast enchantments for the day.

They started checking out the tunnels leading out with the one that was easiest to reach. The tunnel came to a door with a brass star in the center. The rest of the party well back, Radagast tried opening the door. Even though they had checked for traps they failed to notice the somewhat loose stones in the ceiling, and Radagast was buried under them as soon as he tried the door mechanism. Luckily Jobric was there to heal him.

For the next entrance Quintus cast levitate on Radagast who went to the tunnel entrance and then lowered the rope so that the rest would be able to climb up. That tunnel also ended with with a statue of a dinosaur like creature (probably a demon of some sort). They did not investigate that tunnel further, and went for the next.

The third tunnel ended in what looked like a cave in, and when they approached the end the stones rose from the floor. They thought that was not a good sign and went for the last.

The last tunnel divided up. The left went to a door with a brass star that they did not try to open. The other tunnel went up a few stairs, and ended up with a door with mace and a mother of pearl embedded into it. The rest of the party again backed up while Radagast went to open it. As he touched the door, the stairs dropped down, and Radagast slid down a cute to the bottom of a pit decorated by spikes! Only one spike hit him as he desperately tumbled around the rest. Still alive, he was worried to see the ceiling have some kind of strange studs, one of which started to glow an eerie light. He yelled for help, and started climbing the chute back up. The glowing stud became some kind of creature that shrieked horribly. Radagast shook off the effect of that easily, and killed the creature with two well placed magical bolts from his finger. Then the party lowered him a rope and he easily climbed out the rest of the way.

That left the last door they had not touched. Suspicious, watching for loose tiles in the ceiling and door, Radagast approached the door, once again leaving his party a safe distance back. To his surpise, onc he twisted the opening mechanism there was just a faint click, and the door pressed in a little bit. Looking up and down, still not quite believing what he was seeing, he pushed the door open.

The room had six pillars supporting the room. At the far end was some kind of portal, and in front of it an altar. To the right was a door. When Radagast stepped into the room followed by the rest of the party, the chains at the altar moved. They had vicious looking hooks in them, and could easily reach everywhere in the room. They heard mental voice in their heards asking who came, questing if it was the wizard, and complaining that his service was long since done and he wanted to be released. The party realized it was some kind of demon imprisoned by the wizard to do his bidding. The creature named himself as Ramsash.

Gronthor came forward and bargained with the demon. Gronthor explained that if the party let the demon go, it should not attack the party and it should explain how the portal worked. He also explained that the party could easily leave, maybe even kill the demon, so it was in its best interests to operate unless it wanted to wait a few more hundred years for the next party that happened to figure out the ancient clues. The creature gave its word, and explained the rituals needed to operate the portal (which were horrible enough so that nobody was tempted - including virgin sacrifice with knife made without natural flame) and Gronthor lifted the lid of the sarcophagus with Radagast. The creature vanished with a puff of smoke. Feeling slightly bad about releasing a demon, although glad that they did not need to fight it, they turned to the door.

Radagast opened the door and stepped in, immediately becoming confused and wandering into the room. Quintus also become confused, first standing still and the wandering away into the corridor where they came from. Jobric and Gronthor seemed to unaffected. Jobric realised it was a spell, and tried dispelling it but failed. He then cast a spell on Quintus which paralyzed him. He told Gronthor to keep whacking him with a sock full of coins until he went unconscious. When Gronthor went to stop Radagast from wandering away from the room, he touched a coach and turned into a smelly demon. Luckily Jobric realized what happened, and did not kill him on sight. Jobric then paralyzed Radagast, and Gronthor smacked him on the head until Radagast lost consciousness.

Jobric detected magic in the room, and found several objects which he tucked into his backpack, including a wand and several vials.

In the morning, after several tries, Jobric managed to turn Gronthor back into human. Radagast and Quintus were still confused, which seemed to indicate the condition was permanent until Jobric could do something about it. Gronthor checked Quintus' gear while he had the change. It took several days and several spells until Radagast and Quintus were back to normal, and they were almost out of food (although Jobric could make more food from thin air if he had to).

In the room was also a door. It lead to a short corridor, and opened into a beautiful chamber with tree like pillars carrying marble statues of animals, a pool, mirror, cushions and so forth. As the party entered, two monkey statues fell from the tree and expanded into huge beasts with too many arms!

The ensuing battle was fierce, and for Radagast, short. He managed a few good strikes, went down under the blows, got healed by Jobric, and then got ripped in half by one of the monsters. The party, shocked, retreated into the tunnel, blasting everything they got at the creatures. Lighting bolts, searing beams of light, grease and other bolts of magical energy flew at them, some fizzling to nothing before reaching their target, and occasionally reaching the wrong target as Jobric learned, trying to stand up from the greasy floor just to get on the way of a powerful zap of lightning. In the end they triumphed, although they were greatly saddened by the loss of their friend. They decided to deliver Radagast's possessions to his parents. There was an unbelievable amount of treasure in the chambers. The mirror showed strange views of the distant past, perhaps, with no dust nor damage from the fight in the room.

Session XXXIII - Hadnir the Demon Hunter (2002-07-02)

The loot was divided. Quintus went his way while Jobrik and Gronthor went to Shopik. There they met a man who had heard of their reputation and had been looking for a group to join with in his guest to rid the world of demons. He introduced himself as Hadnir, from Glome.

Hadnir was saddened to hear of the death of Radagast, and agreed to help take his remains to Capernaum with Gronthor and Jobrik. The first stop on the way was Hightower, where they shopped for rations and equipment.

As the first travel day was nearing evening, they saw smoke coming from Hightower. Fearing the first, they hurried back, only to find that someone had burned down Kjadbrek's house, and nearly killed him. Kjadbrek had been taken to the temple, where he was still unconscious. Jobrik was able to heal him though. Kjadbrek told that he had awoken to the fire, but was unable to move from his bed. The party searched the ruins but could not find the demonic disc, as they had suspected. They spent the night in Hightower, and set foot to Durenheim the following morning since there were no leads for them to follow.

On the third day Hadnir spotted movement close to the road, in the bushes. He called out to whoever was hiding there, at which two orcs run into the forest. Hadnir didn't want the robbers get away, and urged his horse into the woods, cutting ahead of the orcs. Unfortunately the two orcs regrouped with another pair of orcs that were no longer running from Hadnir (Jobrik and Gronthor had not followed). Hadnir was not scared though, and shot an arrow at one of the advancing orcs. The orcs charged, spooking Hadnir's horse, so he had to resort to his two trusted blades. Although Hadnir was cutting deap almost every strike, the orcs were able to gang up on him and things were starting to look grim. He had downed one when Jobrik and Gronthor joined the scene, having heard the sounds of fighting. Jobrik's burst of sound stunned the orcs, which gave Hadnir the edge he had been looking for and quickly dropped two orcs. The last one was able to escape. They found 19 gold and 53 silver from the orcs.

On the sixth day, just a day's journey from Dhunraven, they came to a small village that seemed unoccupied. The graveyard was circled by heavy fence, apparently to protect against the recnt incidents. While they were riding through the village, Hadnir spotted a tentacle in a doorway to one of the more damaged buildings.

Hadnir would have preferred quick approach, but Gronthor convinced him it would be better to check out the area first for they did not want to lose their horses to demons or their worshippers. The house opposite the burned building Hadnir saw movement in had a family that was too afraid to leave, and they said the house next door also had a family. Gronthor had them trusting him in no time (they were really suspicious of Hadnir because according to them it was a sign of something bad if one could see a demon). It was agreed next day the party would take the rest of the villagers to Dhunraven.

Their backs covered, the party proceeded in tracking the demon. The house where Hadnir saw the tentacle was empty, but he was able to follow some kind of drag marks to the next house, where they found a trapdoor in the floor. Inside they discovered a zombie of a man, which Gronthor and Jobrix blasted to smithereens before Hadnir could even react. Checking out the room Hadnir realized the door looked partly like flesh. Taking his magical sword in both hands he drove the blade as deep into it as he could. The flesh/ground rippled like the surface of water when something was thrown into it. It turned back to regular earth again.

The party could not figure out anything else, and decided to camp for the night. There was a three story tower in the middle of the village which they decided to camp in. First Hadnir had to get the bear out, which had decided to camp in before them. It proved to be no trouble. They put the horses downstairs, took Radagast's coffin to the second floor and tied ropes around it (they had gotten the impression from the townfolk that dead tended to rise again during the night) and set watch.

Session XXXIV - Goodbye Vogmor (2002-07-09)

As the sun set the ground texture and color seemed to change to that of flesh as soon as the sun's rays's gave hold to the night. Low moans and shuffling movement could be heard from the easst, the direction of the graveyard. An oppressive presence settled over the townsfolk minds.

Gronthor was keeping watch. He cast light on a crossbow bolt, and fired it in a long arc towards the east. In the light he could see shuffling humanoids, zombies perhaps, walking slowly towards the center of the town. He wakened the others.

Gronthor and Jobric cast what spells they figured they'd need, then Gronthor started firing bolts from the tower window at the undeads. Hadnir also shot a couple of arrows, killing one of the creatures banging on the neighboring houses' door. When the tower's door burst open, he charged downstairs with Jobric, and quickly dispatched of the zombies there, then advancing to block the gate at the small courtyard.

Only Gronthor saw the black winged creature fly down the street, and perch himself over the entrance to the nearest house. Then he winged man pointed his finger at Hadnir and Jobric, and a crackling bolt of electricity shot at the two companions. Hadnir jumped clear with near inhuman reflexes, but Jobric was not so lucky taking the full brunt of the magical attack.

Gronthor engaged the stange man in taunts, learning that he served Vogmor. While Hadnir easily killed the zombies and worst that wondered his way, Jobric and Gronthor exchanged spells with the flying man. Finally Jobric gave Hadnir the ability to fly, but before Hadnir had a chance to go after the winged man he faced the biggest, meanest looking fiery wolf he'd ever seen, which immediately knocked him over with his attack. Hadnir, being very badly wounded, made a desperate stunt and flew on top of the tower to gulp down some healing potions. Jobric had not stood still, and simply made the summoned wolf disappear.

Next time the mysterious man flew near, Jobric cast a spell on him which seemed to freeze him in mid air and he plunged to the ground. Hadnir took advantage of the situation, and run his sword through the man's throat, killing him instantly. There were no more zombies or other undeads moving around either. Hadnir beheaded him just in case, and he was quickly stripped of values, including a spell book (apparently), a wand that shot acid arrows, and several other items. As they were doing this, the body suddenly jerked up, did a blind swing at Jobric, and was then mowed down by Gronthor's magical missiles.

In the morning they had a meeting with the townsfolk. Hadnir persuaded Gronthor that they should go after Vogmor, who was now weakened. Also Hadnir was almost certain that Vogmor might be the demon Radagast had fought earlier in the sewers of Dhunraven. They agreed to pay the townsfolk 50 gold if they would leave alone, and take Radagast's body to the temple. That settled, Hadnir lead Gronthor and Jobric to the graveyard.

There were several mausoleums, and a shire at the graveyard, amidst a great number of ordinary graves. A lot of the graves appeared to be empty now. They deciced to investigate the shrine first. It was a sorry sight, desecrated with vile symbols and blood blood. They spent nearly an hour looking for a trapdoor of some sort, and finally found something leading to a small crypt under the shrine.

As they descended the short stairs, they heard Vogmor greet them. He said he had been waiting them, saying he was quite unpleased with them slaying Ofek. That finally confirmed it in Hadnir's mind - it was the demon that had escaped from Radagast. Hadnir, in his own element now facing the demon, advanced after getting an enchantment from Gronthor that enabled him to move twice as fast as normal. His short swords worked faster than the eye could see, slashing, puncturing, feinting and striking at the tentacle'd demon and the two undead minions it had summoned to its help. Jobric and Gronthor flung their magic at the demon as well, both moving unnaturally fast. The demon got lucky with its tentacle, and managed to grab Hadnir in his embrace. After a few tries to get free, Hadnir managed to do that. Just before the killing blow from Hadnir the demon cast his unholy ritual that nearly did Gronthor and Hadnir in. But in the end they prevailed.

Vogmor diminished into a gem, which Hadnir picked up. The chamber, which had been covered in flesh started melting. Hadnir wanted to investigate the two coffins in the room before leaving broke into the first one, which was empty. A big splash of the vile goo landed on him, making him worried and he sprinted out of the chamber before investigating the last coffin. As he got out, the flesh turned into some kind of black dust covering the whole crypt. Hadnir closed and bolted the door.

They had an uneventful trip back to Dhunraven, except that Hadnir started feeling ill on the way. In the temple they tried to destroy the gem by placing it on the altar, sprinkling holy water on it and smashing it with a hammer. There wasn't a scratch. They asked for Theoden's help in storing the gem. Theoden went to his quarters, spent a surprisingly long time there, and finally came back with an iron chest. Hadnir put the gem in, Theoden locked the chest, and Hadnir put the chest into his backpack.

They learned from Theoden that the council of lords had apparently approved Alayn as the next ruler if he would marry the daughter of Lord Bjoric from the neighboring fiefdom. Theoden was not too happy about that.

They stayed the night in the temple. In the morning Hadnir was very sick, and needed Theoden's prayer to make him feel better.

The party went looking for a place to sell their loot, identify the cloak and various potions, and looking for a place to buy healing and other kinds of magic. They learned of an old hag outside the town, and a lady in the docks area, but eventually settled for Wolfrig. They got in mentioning that Wolfrig would like to hear about Radagast's death.

They were showed to Wolfrig's tower, where they waited for him. Wolfrig had obviously been mad at Radagast, and Hadnir feared he might carry the feeling towards his former companions as well. In the end Wolfrig seemed to be more interested in making a deal with the party about several items. First, they would trade Ofek's book if Wolfrig would identify the cleak and three potions, and for Hadnir a free access to Wolfrig's mundane library. He agreed. Jobric also sold him Yrsiltrad's spellbook, which got Jobric the best magical armor Wolfrig could make or acquire. Hadnir did not like that part one bit, but since he had not been there while Gronthor and Jobric retrieved the book he really did not have a say. Wolfrig said they needed to leave the items to be identifed with him and pick them up the next day - the party agreed but only by keeping the books until the identification was done.

To kill some time, the party went with Gronthor who was looking for some nice magic to buy. They ended up at Cordwellyn's shop, who had the reputation of carrying the best magical selection. Hadnir figured they would just anonymously buy some things and leave. It did not turn out that way. The storekeepers summoned a lady to do conduct the business on the magic items, who immediately either guessed or new who Gronthor was. She showed some of the selection, but in the end Hadnir had to drag Gronthor out explaining that they might stay in better health if they did not buy anything from the man who Radagast suspected of being the mastermind of several sinister plots. Also, Hadnir pointed out, Jobric was a skilled maker of magical items so perhaps Gronthor and Jobric could come to a deal.

The next day they paid a brief visit at Wolfrig. The three potions were all potions of healing, rather good ones in fact. The cloak offered a small resistance against various kinds of magical and mundane effects. Gronthor and Hadnir divided the potions, while Hadnir kept the cloak.

Session XXXV - War Zone (2002-07-23)

Back in the temple, Radagast's coffin had disappered. The overseer explained that Lord Alayn had heard of Sir Radagast's fate, and decided that he needed to be buried in Durenheim, and with proper ceremonies. Hadnir had nothing against this, but Gronthor objected quite a bit. In the end they decided to go with the burial, but still take Radagast's possessions and the message regarging his death to his parents.

At the end of the week, Radagast was buried with all the finesse that Alayn could muster, and Radagast's body was lowered into the crypt of Durenheim's past heros (it was an open coffin, and Hadnir paid a lot of attention to make sure that it was Radagast's body). The overseer also put Hadnir and Gronthor at ease explaining that all the ceremonies and other preparations would make sure that Radagast's body would rest in peace.

After the funeral Alayn summoned Gronthor and Hadnir for a meeting. He was with a man in red cloak. Alayn gave a ceremonial shield to take to Radagast's parents as well as a letter. The companions promised to deliver them both.

In the morning Gronthor, Hadnir and Jobric left for Cador, the last stop before the Cursed Lands. They had four horses, the extra one carrying all the supplies and extra gear. On the third day they met with Landis and his detachment. He had news of Broken Fist orcs who wanted to pledge allegiance to Alayn, and of various beasts like manticores moving away from the Cursed Lands.

On the fourth day they came to a scene of dead orcs. Some wild beast had killed them, and started eating them. Based on the tracks it was huge. As Hadnir was trying to figure out the tracks, a large dire bear charged from the woods and got Jobric in a deadly bear-hug. Hadnir closed in with his short swords slashing a flurry of blows, but the bear was strong and crushed Jobric into a bloody heap before turning to face Hadnir. That was the change Hadnir was hoping for, and quickly bandaged Jobric's worst wounds, ignoring the bear's menacing pose. As the bear tried to hug Hadnir, he slashed a deep wound in its belly which was enough to have the bear think twice. Gronthor, who had been busy casting Haste and other protective spells finally joined in with magical bolts of energy, and before long Hadnir's sword finished the vile creature. Concerned for their friend, they had Jobric drink two potions of healing before he finally regained consciousness and was able to heal himself and Hadnir as well. It turned out Jobric had a wand of healing as well, which he borrowed to Hadnir for future urgent needs.

One of the last villages before Cador got the party suspicious, and Hadnir scouted the scene ahead of the rest. All was good. They stayed with Volgar, who told of them of some of the dangers they would meet in the Cursed Lands. The Spirit of the Necromancer was an unnatural storm that seemed to wake the dead. He also warned of the river that flowed south of the Cursed Lands, saying it was best not to drink of that water. He referred to the orcs in those parts of the Cursed Lands who grew very big but were also extremely dumb. Finally he talked about his grandson Frederick who he had not heard in some time. Gronthor offered to deliver a message to the boy if he ever met him. Just before leaving Gronthor asked if he could recommend a place for the next night; Volgar suggested Furlaf about a day's journey south.

On the way to Furlaf, they saw a large company of men marching north. Jobric recognized the banners they had: more of Cordwelly's mercenaries.

Furlaf turned out to be an old man who was almost deaf. He seemed to be a real expert in dog handling, though, and the party got an impression that the old man was perfectly safe in the wilderness, protected by his loyal companions.

On their last day they noticed the forest on the east side of the road was cleared, and they soon learned why: there was a large orc camp with palisades just north of Cador.

When they entered Cador, Hadnir told everyone to keep their true mission and identities a secret, just in case. The guards let them in, and they spent a peacful night at the last bastion of civilization. In the morning they bought supplies for a month, and started off.

As the day wore on, they noticed the plants started looking different, with more thorns than before, and less leaves. It was like the nature itself was becoming more aggressive the further they traveled.

They stumbled to a group of orcs and ogres, about half a dozen in total. Hadnir tried to talk to them, but the orcs just attacked. They were wearing the blood red symbols of Erythnul. It was not too much of a trouble for the party, but before nightfall they spotted another group of orcs in the distance who immediately blew a horn. Figuring that fighting a whole orc tribe would be foolish, the party fled east. After a while the orcs seemed to give up when it was apparent the party was moving faster on horseback.

Before long the party saw smoke in the distance. They traveled towards it, and Hadnir and Gronthor went to scout ahead. They saw a small village surrounded by palisades being attacked by an army of orcs! Figuring it would be best to not show themselves they returned to Jobric, and slowly moved about a mile north in the darkness to set up a camp for the night.

In the morning Hadnir lead the party to the direction he assumed Cador was in. It seemd pointless trying to cross the Cursed Lands here, with a full blown war going on. By mid-day, as they were traveling in a gully to stay hidden, Hadnir and Gronthor spotted gleaming metal ahead. Hadnir climbed out of the gully and sneaked ahead to investigate. It was a group of four orcs and ogres, and they had prepared an ambush. They had also seen Hadnir sneaking towards them. As Hadnir started retreating, two of the orcs followed him while the other two moved towards Jobric and Gronthor on the other side of the gully. Using Bobo as a means to communicate the party was able to work out a plan. Hadnir chose the best spot he could to make a stand, while Gronthor and Jobric rode back the gully to find a place where they could climb out with the horses. The plan worked, although it was a close call for Hadnir as he was fighting off the two trained soldiers. He was saved by Jobric flying in and healing him just in time. They were also able to fight off the orcs and ogres one or two at a time which helped a lot. The orc patrol had good, masterwork quality weapons, although only a greatsword and bastard sword were of the size usable by humans. They also had 38 gold coins, and a good breastplate. With that loot loaded on the extra horse the party set off towards Cador again.

Session XXXVI - Long Time No See (2002-07-30)

Hadnir was happy to note that his skills had brought them back to Cador without further incidents.

After finding a place for the night, Hadnir and Gronthor started looking for people that could guide them through the Cursed Lands. As luck had it, they found Burd who had just missed a caravan. Burd had made his living as part time caravan guide, and knew the Cursed Lands fairly well. Also, Jobric showed up later with a half-orc mountain of muscle that was called Zig Zag, and old companion of Jobric's and Radagast's.

In the morning Hadnir and Gronthor went to sell the loot, only to discover that it had been stolen from some caravan earlier. The shopkeeper gave a small reward for the items anyway, and Gronthor bought a quality short bow (he needed to trade in his short sword as well). After stocking up the next morning the party set off again, this time following Burd's lead.

Burd lead the party first towards Lord Bjoric's lands, before cutting south through the Iron Claw orc areas. The idea was to avoid most of the orcs, especially the war bands. The strangest thing they saw on the first day was a hilltop with mirage like effect at the top. The arir was notably different in the area, more humid and it smelled of honey. One slope of the hill had a mile long swath of tall tongue several feet high slowly undulating on their own. The party gave wide berth to the field of tongues.

Before long they came to another field of tongues, which they decided to pass. The way was blocked by 3 plants that looked like they could move. That assessment turned out to be true, and the party had a short but fierce fight against the assassin vines. Gronthor collected their berries as he had heard it would make a good drink.

On the second day (Burd said they would spend some 15 days in the Cursed Lands) they came to a formation of stones that looked like an altar. It was surrounded on one side by elephant grass. The altar clearly felt evil, but even Hadnir was unable to detect any demons nearby. The party tried to cut through the elephant grass first, but the grass attacked humans! They had to go round it, hoping they would not meet the orcs that used the altar.

On the third day Burd announced that they would most likely take at least 16 days in the Cursed Lands because of delays they had had to make.

They rode through a field of white srawberries without even tasting them. Once again their progress was slowed down by a phenomena of the Cursed Lands: a dark cloud-like formation descending a hillside they were supposed to ride up. The formation resembled a crowned head with huge cloak flowing to the sides. The ground churned as the cloud passed, and once dead creatures rose from the ground and attacked all living things. The party made an about face, and rode as fast as they could, barely avoiding the strange storm.

Fourth day went without an incident. On the fifth day the party crossed the line of skullpiles again, which marked the territory of the Iron Claws. Burd figured they had veered too much south, and corrected the direction a bit. After about an hour of riding, they saw spears stuck to the ground with Iron Claw orc heads stuck on them. A hand was also nailed to the spear: the hand being a symbol of Vecna and probably the symbol of another orc tribe in this case.

That theory was proved correct a couple of hours later, as they met with a party of Severed Hand orcs. The orcs wanted the party to leave their lands, but Zig Zag talked with them and they agreed on a duel between Zig Zag and their leader to determine whether or not Zig Zag and his friends could cross their lands.

Zig Zag charged the leader, and both started exhanching killing blows while the rest of the orcs as well as the party made a circle and yelled for their champion. After the orc chief sundered Zig Zag's axe things started to look a bit bleak, but Zig Zag, hearing Gronthor's yelled advice, grappled the chief and used his armor spikes in a deadly bear hug. Zig Zag took the chief's axe, and the shocked orcs grudgingly acknowledged Zig Zag had won his free passage.

On the sitxth day they saw a huge bird flying overhead. As it started to circle down the party dismounted, and prepared for a desperate battle against the giant avian. The roc, however, was not interested in the party as it dove and snatched Gronthor's horse and flew away with its meal. Gronthor started riding with the spare horse, and loaded all the gear on Zig Zag's mule.

They were riding as fast as they could to get away from the roc's area. Briefly they saw a flock of flightless birds with scales instead of feathers, apparently feeding on a field of tongues. They were picking something from the tips of the tongues. "Honey," was Hadnir's guess.

The ground had become wetter, and there were certainly areas of genuine swamp around. Burd guided the party to a patch of drier land to set up camp. On the first watch they heard the sound of mosquitos. The stinging creatures were no ordinary nuisance though: these were huge! Once stung, they sucked the victim's blood at an alarming rate as Zig Zag, one of his wolves, and Burd experienced. Jobric said he could try to do something about it in the morning.

Session XXXVII - First Taste of Capernaum (2002-08-06)

Seventh morning came about, and Jobric healed some Burd from the weakness the nightly visitors had caused, and helped Zig Zag as well.

Scouting around the camp, Gronthor spotted one of the mosquitos sucking on some tree-like creature, and shot the mosquito. The tree-like creature turned out to be a dinosaur of some sort, and it simply walked away.

After a day of peaceful walk, the party arrived at a ruins half buried by the swamp. Radagast and Gronthor went to investigate, but were attacked by crocodiles. After killing them they scouted some more, and found bodies of creatures that were a mix between a lizard and an orc. There was a dark temple in the middle of the ruined city, and some signs that some kind of humanoids had claimed ownership of the old city. The party left in a hurry to find a safer spot for the night.

Eight day passed quietly, but on the morning of the ninth the party woke to lod screeches. They saw a flock of the flightless birds being attacked by some predator lizards. The birds stampeded towards the camp. The catastrophe was mostly avoided by Burd who cast a spell in front of the birds: the grass and bushes became an animated mass of tentacles that snatched two of the birds, which was enough to steer the rest of the flock another direction. That day the party reached the river.

Several monotonious days later (16th to be exact), having avoided more lizard-orcs, the party discovered a nest of eggs on the banks of the river. They watched some turtle-like creatures hatch and disappear into the river. They were no ordinary turtles though, which was proved by their crab like claws. Burd spotted the mother or father in the middle of the river, and the party decided to leave the eggs in peace.

On the 18th day it appeared they were finally getting out of the Cursed Lands. They saw a small fort on the other side of the river that housed perhaps a dozen men. Zig Zag also realized Burd had drunk all of his wine while he was asleep!

After some more riding they saw a dust cloud in the distance. After a while they saw a rider galloping full speed towards them, and past them, followed a bit later by soldiers in pursuit. Hadnir deducted the fugitive must be one of the Shardmakers. The soldiers divided, half of them continuing the pursuit and the other half facing the party.

Immediately there was the problem of languages, but luckily one of the soldiers knew North Speak and was able to act as an interpreter. Things were far from merry, however. The leader of the soldiers wanted the party to give up their weapons and follow the soldiers to their fort for questioning. After some careful negotiations where Zig Zag lost his weapon to the soldiers, and Burd paid 50 gold for their troubles, it was agreed the party would place the remaining weapons on their mule, and ride with the soldiers to their fort.

The party spent the night in a locked room. In the morning they were dragged to meet the prefect. He had a strange man besdies him, who cast some spells and the prefect was able to talk to the party, and question them. Somehow Hadnir blurted out the opposite of what he intended to say, but it was worse with Zig Zag: the prefect was very glad of the wolves, and offered money as payment (it was obvious he was not going to take no for an answer). Zig Zag got really upset, which in turn got the prefect upset. Zig Zag ended up promising to deliver some other beast instead of the wolves in two days. Some spell was placed on Zig Zag which made sure at least he would obey, or he would die.

The rest of the party was not at all pleased, but there was nothing they could do. They were showed out of the fort with minimal gear. After fighting among themselves for a good half hour, the party decided to go try and find a wild beast suitable for circus enjoyment.

Burd talked to a small rabbit, with the help of a spell, which told him there was a cave nearby where a big, brown, hungry beast lived. Burd and Hadnir easily located a cave of what appeared to belong to a large bear. They attracted the bear easily with food, but their plan did not work very well when people scattered abound, even though Hadnir was yelling everyone to circle the beast and attack it at the same time with blunt weapons (in order to not kill it). Finally he and Zig Zag got the bear in between them, and they started raining blows on it. The bear was very strong, and hugged Zig Zag in a deadly embrace. Only Burd's desperate charge with a stick of wood saved Zig Zag from near certain death.

With some difficulty they half carried, half dragged the huge bear to the fort. The prefect was pleased, and let Zig Zag keep his wolves.

The party traveled for two day to the bridge that lead them into the Capernaum proper. They had to pay/bribe to get papers to enter. They also hired a translator, Scippio, and started towards the City of Capernaum.

Session XXXVIII - True Name (2002-08-13)

On the sixth day of leading Bridgefort, the party came to Viodora which apparently housed a school of wizardry. That was the only school of wizardry they had heard of, which was why they headed there first. And besides, it was only one day away from the big city.

The party spent the first day gathering information. Burd was able to locate someone he had met earlier in one of his Cursed Lands crossings, and learned that the name of the school headmaster was Dionysious. They were able to locate the school as well.

Next day as they were walking down the Spice Street towards the school of wizardry, they heard some kind skirmish starting in an alley. Hadnir rushed in despite Gronthar's objections, just in time to see four ruffians beating down a rich looking man and his companion. The party followed, and was able to kill two of the attackers and forcing the remaining two to withdraw; they were able to espace by jumping from a high window, evading Hadnir and Zig Zag. Burd stopped the bleeding wounds which gave Jobric enough time to come and heal them by magic.

Legionaries came a few minutes later to investigate, but the two men they had saved were able to talk for them and the legionaries posed no obstacles this time, except as usual: Zig Zag got dragged by the legionaries to their headquarters for "questioning".

The rich man intruduced himself as Tartolian Talius, and named his companion Frodegard. Tartolian believed the thigs were after his trading contracts, which he now found missing. The party agreed to meet with him later in hopes of helping him after finishing their business with the school of wizardry.

At the school they had to wait for several hours for Dionysious. He was busy with his summoning spells. Hadnir had a strong suscipion he was summoning demons, but it was not the time, nor place, to go charging in and accusing a powerful order of meddling with demonology. Finally they were ushered to the headmaster's chambers. They learned that there had been a weak student at the school who was always getting into trouble with his friend Gaius Julius, and that his name was Primus Talius, whose father was a spice merchant! They had already found Radagast's father without knowing it! Before leaving, Hadnir was able to spot that several books in the headmasters chamber were written in Abyssal and Infernal. There was also something strange about the headmaster: he did not appear to be an evil man, yet he was involved with something evil, possibly even without realizing it himself. The party thanked for the information and left to meet Radagast's father.

Tartolian took the news rather well. He explained he had always believed his son would face such an end if he went on adventuring against his parents' wishes. He was gladdened to to retrieve such a great sum of money and treasure from his son, and he was also impressed by the party for doing such a deed.

That settled, the party probed Tartolian regarding the thievery of the trading contracts. Tartolian explained that Gerard, one of his employees, was sent to meet some people but he never returned. Gerard was trying to meet Silus of Great Calagan (?) to find caravan guards. Gerard had had part of the trading contract with him. Having some clues now, the party decided to go meet Dionysius again in the hopes that he would be able to locate Gerard or give them some further clues.

It turned out Dionysius was not gifted in divination, but he referred them to his apprentice (?) Mantalus. Before relying on him the party did some old fashioned detective work first: they were able to pick Gerard's trail, and learned that he had left the Silent Siren tavern with a prostitute. The party was able to find a friend of the woman with whom Gerard had left. They learned the woman had also gone missing at the same time Gerard did. Her name was Zinni Dip, and she had dark colored skin (which was why it was easy for the party to track down where she lived). Hadnir asked for some cover from the party while he kneeled down and produced some strange looking tools which he used to pick the lock on the door.

In the room, the interesting items they found were a platinum brooch that could be used as a pen, and a diary. From the diary they learned that "Gill" had hired Zinni to meet Gerard, and that she had met this Gill several times during the last month, and that Gill had given her the brooch.

The party went to meet Mantalus next. He appeared to be rich, living in a large house with gates and everything. The windows had stained glass, and there was lots of vegetation around. Burd was pretty sure he could even smell something from the Cursed Lands but he could not place what it was. Looking at the vegetation assassin vines wouldn't surpise anyone, though. Zig Zag, being the dimwit, tried climbing the wall just to find there was poisoned shards of glass at the top. Zig Zag did not seem to be too bad after the incident, and so the party knocked on the door. Everyone else went in except Zig Zag.

Mantalus was a short man with scraggy looks. The party showed Gerard's favorite mug, and the platinum brooch, in the hopes that Mantalus could scry the location of the persons who used to own them. He seemed to be taken by surpise by the brooch, but he quickly composed himself. Mantalus said it was a difficult and expensive task, and that he could not guarantee success. The party paid the two hundred gold they got from Radagast's father for expenses. he also mentioned the brooch looked somewhat similar to the symbol of the scribes guild.

The party then went on to the scribes guild on Smith Street, and agreed to come back to Mantalus the following day. Burd fabricated a story about gambling debt at the scribes, but they were still unable to learn anything about Gerard or Gill, or the brooch.

Next day at Mantalus they faced another defeat. The scrying did not appear to be succesfull. Mantalus said he was able to see vast expanse of blackness, but could not explain what it was. Perhaps Gerard was on another plane, dead, in a dark room, or something...

Investigating the brooch some more, they learned the manufacturer: Maximilian Thrace. They went to his place and he remembered the man who had ordered it: tall for a Capernian, funny accent, and had ordered the brooch three weeks ago.

Trying to gather information about that man did not produce the expected results. However, they did meet a fortune teller who said things that seemed to click in place: "a wizard in the shadow of another wizard", living in a place that could be Spice Street at Smith Street, and that "things grow in shadow". It matched Mantalus. The party decided to pay a visit to Mantalus in the morning.