Atop the Tower of Vandomar

After resting in the lower reaches of the wizard's tower, the group climbed the stairs and located the door to the upper levels.  Covered over with a thin sheet of ice and magically warded, Dora deactivated the alarm ward with an arcane focus power.  Confident they could enter without danger, the pulled open the door and were met with a gust of cold air.  The room was unnaturally cold and filled with various blocks of ice that seemed to contain humanoid forms.  One even appeared to be a demon of some kind.  Sarcophagi and tables spread throughout the room drew them in to inspect further.

What they first believed was a statue, turned out to be a blue-faced creature, caked in icicles and frost.  It turned towards them, welcomed them and said, "Please stay, let us remember this moment for ever."  Unwilling to simply strike first, the party asked if he was Vandomar, to which it confirmed that "He once was but was now eternal" The ice contained various invaders that entered the tower as well as several paladins that fell during the siege of the tower.  They decided to leave but Vandomar simply explained they could never leave but would become permanent parts of his display.  Immediately afterwards, four blocks of ice smashed open and coldspawned mummies lurched towards the party while Vandomar began blasting the party with cold spells from afar.  Thorm charged at the tower's guardian while Edhas dropped a psychic zone over the area.  Meanwhile, Sir Loin, Dora and Wyndham tried to hold off the mummies.  In the midst of the battle, the presence of another card in the deck appeared as a glowing gem stone.  After Wyndham's Dazzling Ray destroyed the wizard, the group believed it was in the clear.  It quickly became obvious that the greater threat was the four mummies that pushed the party to its limit.

After clearing the room of danger, the group located a set of scrolls that contained notes about the rift in the planes caused by an item of chaos that linked the Feywild to the Material Plane.  It seemed to be the proof Berrian was searching for.  Additionally, Vandomar was looking at a large white tome that could only be the Winterbole Codex.  Unable to read the entire book, a quick look inside seemed to focus around planar contact and more specifically the Plane of Carceri.  It mentioned the fall of the Nerathi Empire and the betrayal of the Nerathi emperor, Magroth the Mad.  Betrayed by his own deathguard, he was trapped in the Carceri Plane, held by the Chained God, Tharizdun.

Obtaining an Alliance with the Fey

The Band decided that helping Berrian prove his people's ownership of the Feygrove was more important to their overall goal of securing the Abbey village for Lord Pegraig.  They searched the area for the Groundskeeper's cottage and after locating it, they discovered it occupied by a pair of rather territorial Owlbears.  Believing themselves overmatched, they decided to draw them out and use the trees and surrounding natural features as cover.  Their fears were rather quick to be confirmed when one of the creatures dropped Edhas with a pair of well-timed claw strikes.  Inspired by the desire to save their friend, Monk, Dora and Wyndham struck quickly and effectively destroyed the Fey creatures.  After reviving Edhas and tending to her wounds, they searched the cottage.  In addition to locating a set of very old ledgers with figures about flora and fauna, they were surprised to find a baby Owlbear.  Rather than leave it behind, Monk brought the small creature with them but when they returned to the Font of Ioun, Berrian insisted that the creature was dangerous and could not be raised by sentient creatures.  Monk agreed of course and decided it was more fitting to slaughter the small creature and use it for a glorious feast celebrating the discovery of the records Berrian needed to prove their ownership of the Feygrove. 

The next morning, they settled on scouting the Abbey orc camp as they were originally entrusted.  They headed back to the Keep and met again with the Ettin, this time, they listened to the riddle and were quick to geuss the correct response, "skull" and were admitted to the outer keep.  They listened at the inner door and could hear the movement of creatures.  A quick discussion led them to abandon the efforts to take the keep.  The Ettin told them that the orc lord Bagrosh controlled the keep, but they figured they didn't need to remove him to properly scout the village. 

They decided the best way to properly scout would be to obtain the pieces of armor in the gatehouse that now seemed re-occupied by Orcs and Ogres since their last visit.  Rather than confront them again, Wyndham shapeshifted in to an Orc and Edhas used her natural Drow form to walk into the gatehouse and insist that they were there to retrieve some armor for a scouting party.  Without contest, the disinterested Orcs showed them the pile, and they retrieved the needed disguises for Thorm, Sir Loin and Dora.

Cleverly bluffing their way through the lower tier of the village, they noted approximately 100-150 orcs, set up in camps of 8-10 each.  Along the way, they also noted Ogre, Hill Giant and Dire Wolf allies.  Of note, the group passed by a large tower with dragonoid statues flanking the door that was covered up with wood and a large garrison building that was nested into the outer wall.  The road continued up the tiers to the Abbey proper grounds, but they decided since the Orc camp seemed to lighten on the way up, that they had obtained the needed information. 

They returned to Winterhaven to find most of the place quiet at night.  They visited Lord Pegraig, awakening him, but found him overjoyed to see them.  He laid out a rich dinner for them and talked to them over dinner.  He learned of the Orc numbers, the presence of the Fey creatures and the noted buildings in the village.  Upon hearing of the Fey, he suggested that perhaps they could rely on the Fey as allies.  If they could make an alliance with the Fey, they could jointly take the Watchtower on the Southern end of the Feygrove and use it as a launching point for pushing the orcs out of the village.  He also paid for their rooms that night at Wrafton's Inn. 

When they arrived at the Inn, they found it packed with festive villagers enjoying their night with drinking and music.  Taking their seats at a table, they quickly overheard a group of people bragging about their success, scouting the Abbey.  A Dwarf seemed to be the leader of a pair of humans a drow and a half-orc.  They decided that confronting this group would be wisest.  Saddling up to them at their table, they amiably greeted them and asked them more about their visit to the Abbey.  The Dwarf identified himself as Kurik, but failed to mention the names of the rest of his group.  He did ID himself as a Cleric of Tiamat and bragged that they had destroyed several monstrous spiders in the Feygrove, treated with the Orc Champion and briefly explored the Abbey proper.  When asked about how they reached the plateau with the Abbey buildings they identified that a hidden stairwell was built into the West side of the hill. When asked about working together, the group seemed to have no interest.  Ending their evening, the group cautiously watched their door all night expecting some confrontation but had nothing. 

The next morning they found the common room occupied by only the dotting old man, Valthrun.  He was excited to see them and told them he had heard about their discovery of the Wizard's Tower in the Village.  He begged them to go into the Tower, once held by Vandomar the Wise.  He told them that Vandomar was once in love with one of the Paladins, a woman named Elaida, but she refused to sacrifice her vows to return that love.  In lieu of that, Vandomar dedicated himself to protecting her with wards and protective magic.  During the storming of the Abbey, the wards were not enough and when Elaida fell, he retrieved her body in the midst of the struggle and returned her to his tower where rumor has it he transformed her into something and never emerged again.  He said that Vandomar held a tome called the Winterbore Codex that he would very much like to see.  It is bound in white dragon scales and if they could retrieve it for him, he would be most grateful.  To prepare them, he was willing to get them some help in the form of healing potions. 

They returned to the Abbey, reentered the Feygrove and located a jubilant Berrian.  He told them that his group had located information on his father's last known whereabouts.  Zandrian was last in the Watchtower, holding the Tower during the siege with three other Paladin guardians.  Recognizing the opportunity, they pointed out Lord Pedraig's hope of an alliance, Berrian told them that if they wanted the help visiting the Tower, Analastra would join them and if they could determine the final fate of Zandrian, they would have their alliance against the Orcs.

They cautiously headed to the Tower and noted a strong aura of chaotic magic surrounding it.  There also didn't seem to be a door on the tower, and Edhas noted that the Tower wasn't actually there but merely an echo of itself on another plane.  Realizing they were dealing with powerful magic, Wynham decided to use the one piece of powerful magic they had to their advantage.  He used the Balance card and touched it to the side of the Tower and an opening appeared that the group rushed through.  On the otherside of the "door" the room was stranger than they could have imagined.  The floor was membranous, the ceiling a reflection of the night sky, and a large chasm in the center of the room.  The walls seemed throbbing with life and a pair of glowing "cards" provided a bridge across the chasm leading to a door on the other side, also shaped like a glowing "card"  Dora crossed the chasm and immediately the cards turned out to be object mimics.  The group faced off against them while a black pudding ooze climbed out of the chasm and joined the fray.  After defeating the enemies. they used various black pudding spawns that were floating up out of the chasm to make their way to the upper level of the tower. 

The top level of the Tower housed not only four abberant wretch creatures, dressed in armor but Bob the Beholder!  The wretches briefly appeared as Paladins before warping into horrifying creatures that attacked the group.  Battling the Beholder was made more difficult by the presence of chaotic, warped magic zones that constantly shifted and attacked the group.  After nearly battling to a stalemate, the Beholder spoke to them in a broken form of Common and told them that it had been trapped here in this Tower since the fall of the Abbey and wanted to escape.  It seemed to him that only the group had the power to get him out of the Tower.  In return for letting them live, they could free Bob from the confines of the Tower.  He was also give them all his possessions.  Although the Band agreed, they wanted to know more.  They asked about the Wizard's Tower and learned from the Beholder that Vandomar was a powerful wizard, one he had even heard of his native plane.  Vandomar was still in his tower in the village and had transformed himself into an undead creature to live forever with his love for Elaida.  Satisfied, they freed the Beholder and quickly the Tower returned to its original form, the Beholder's treasure hoarde appeared and the four wretched guardians of the Beholder transformed to their original forms and Analastra recognized one immediately as her father Zandrian.  Surprisingly the guardians were still alive! Additionally, the Beholder possessed three more "cards" from the Deck. 

They returned to Berrian, who was equally delighted to see his father.  Agreeing to the alliance with the humans of Winterhaven, he was deeply troubled by the news of the rift in the planes that caused the Tower to be in both Planes at once.  He told them that if further information existed anywhere it would be in the wizards tower.  So the group decided that before returning to Winterhaven, they would investigate Vandomar's tower, since Valthrun had already given them another reason to visit.

They headed back through the (If you have read through this LONG summary, text me the word "Codex" and add a +3 Cloak of Resistance or another 12th level neck slot item to your character) the Orc village relying on disguise to the tower.  Prying off the boards to the door, they observed an inner room lit by chaotic flashes of fire, lightening and acid.  The room was dominated by a large obelisk that had falled.  On top of it lay a large white blood-soaked sheet.  Clearly a body lay beneath the sheet, but on top of the sheet was a rolled up scroll.  Wyndham grabbed the scroll and found a ritual to remove a glyph of warding but immediately after the sheet moved and a large female flesh golem ripped into the group.  The door to the tower slammed shut behind them and trapped them in the room of books, tables and ritual items.  They gradually wore down the golem until they could defeat it.  Inspecting the room for the Winterbore Codex, they discovered a set of Magical Hide Armor +3.  They assumed it once belonged to the Flesh Golem, Elaida, but no trace of the Winterbore Codex.  A large stairwell dominated the fringes of the tower room.  At the top of the stairs, there was a large wooden door.

Orcs and Fey - what to do?

Uncertain of the best way into the abbey grounds, the group followed the wall south along its perimeter.  Several hundred yards to the South, a breach in the wall allowed them the opportunity to pass through.  Almost immediately the dense overgrowth of forest was giving off an audible song.  Dora and other Fey creatures immediately identified the forest as a Fey Growth.  From inside the forest, they were unable to see further up the mountain because of the thick trees.  However, they followed what appeared to be a path towards a clearing that included not only a glowing fountain of water but several dozen fey creatures immediately identified as Eladrin.  Their leader, quick to identify himself as Berrian Velferren, demanded to know of their presence in the Fey Wild.  After identifying themselves as the Band of Jenkins they informed Berrian of their quest from Lord Pedraig and asked for any advice.  Berrian simply said that the Orcs are camped on the northern side of the mountain beyond the reach of the Fey Grove.  He was more interested in locating his missing sister.  When asked for more information about their purpose in the wild, Berrian told them that his father, Zandrian, was once a guardian of the Abbey when it fell and he is here to lay claim to the Grove and locate evidence of his father's fate.  Meanwhile, his sister, Analastra, went missing, likely unhappy with the pace of action taken by the Eladrin.  When you have read this post... When pushed, Berrian advised the group to scout along the inside of the outer walls and make their way up to the gatehouse.  He allowed them the chance to rest here and drink from the Font of Ioun but advised them not to drink greedily.  Wyndham, ignoring these warnings, bottled up a small amount of the sacred water.  After drinking the party was blessed with hallucinogenic images from the construction and defense of the Abbey from hundreds of years ago.  They were also each blessed with a hidden power source.

The next morning, following Berrian's advice, the party climbed the wall and stealthily made their way to the edge of the gatehouse.  A pair of Orc guards were scouting the top of each watch tower and with Dora's distracting magic, the group was able to get the drop on the pair and slowly climb atop the towers while more Orcs poured onto the top level.  A snarling Ogre also threatened to overwhelm the party but the persistence of the group felled the creatures and the rest of the camp (text the word...) seemed unalerted to their presence.  In the lower level of the gatehouse, they uncovered some small treasures as well as an assortment of armor and Orc clothing.  While they quickly figured they could be used to fashion a disguise, they wanted to deduce as much as possible from the camp layout and return to Winterhaven with the news.

They quickly crossed the courtyard right inside the Abbey to the keep doors only to have their way "blocked" by a large grey skinned Ettin.  Although one head (Bruse) was asleep when they approached, the awakened head Spike  asked for the password but was willing to barter for admission as long as they kept it to themselves so Bruse didn't find out.  Intimidated by the memory of the Hill Giant, the group closed the door and quickly backtracked to the gatehouse.

Unwilling to enter the Orc camp, even though that was their task, they circled around the back of the keep to look for another entrance but they found themselves in an overgrown garden, the outer grove long abandoned.  Evidence of a recent battle, dead spiders, burnt spider webs and destroyed terrain met them in the field.  Inspection of hte corpses revealed the wounds were (reboot to me and receive...) likely caused by an assortment of weapons, perhaps too blunt for Eladrin blades but the tracks were not Orc tracks.  Undisturbed they moved deeper into the Feygrove to a path that snaked back and forth up the mountain to an open grove, where they encountered the scene of a silver-haired woman running from two Displacer Beasts.  As they emerged from the wood, the beasts lashed at her with their tentacles and she dropped, only to be quickly set upon by a series of stirges that attached themselves to her throat and began eating away at whatever life was left.

Upon seeing the heros, the Displacer Beasts charged down on them.  Splitting up their resources to try and save the woman, Wyndham and Thorm tried to deal with the Beasts while Dora and Edhas attacked the stirges.  While dealing with the constant threat of death, they were able to take down the beasts and the stirges.  Unfortunately, they had done their work and the woman appeared lost.  Only through the efforts of Thorm's Raise Dead ritual and several hours of rest were they able to revive the Eladrin.  She quickly identified herself as Analastra and thanked the party, begging them to escort her back to Berrian who would be grateful for their rescue.  (...two potions of vitality) Berrian greeted them more openly than before and thanked them for retrieving his sister.  He then insisted they acquire the proof that Lord Padraig needs for them to properly lay claim to these woods.  He believes the Monks that tended the garden, the groundskeepers, would have such proof and if they would return with it, it would take him a step closer to being able to move forward with his plans.  Also, he advised that Analastra could accompany them if they felt the need for reinforcements.

To Winterhaven and Gardmore Abbey

After briefly inspecting the "balance" card but unable to discern its purpose, the group decided to follow Kor's advice and seek out Valthrun the Prescient in Winterhaven.  The journey required a few days travel to the small village.  Along the way on the first evening the group was beset upon by a Hill Giant that Edhas was fortunate enough to have heard following them along a creek.  Rather than flee, they decided to attack the Giant while they had the tactical height advantage.  Unfortunately, the overwhelming strength of the Giant caught them off guard and they were quickly looking for a way out.  The fled down the creek and further along the path until they felt it was safe to rest again.

On the second day, they arrived in Winterhaven and were greeted at the gate by two guards who asked for their business in town.  Not wanting to alert anyone to their purpose, they said it was just casual.  The town was small with the necessary shops and taverns.  The tower of Valthrun was clear - the knocked and were greeted by a pleasant old man that claimed to have known Kor Yeznia from many years ago, Although he confessed to being unaware of his current whereabouts.  They showed him the card and were informed that it was likely a part of the Deck of Many Things - an artifact last known to have been assembled in the depths of Guardmore Abbey.  The Abbey fell many generations ago when a young Paladin of Bahamut drew from the deck to save the Abbey from seige but his drawing was unfortunate and the Deck was scattered throughout the Abbey and beyond.  The group did not share how they acquired the card and Valthrun did not ask.  They also asked about the Staff of Chaos and Valthrun seemed even eager to hear about their adventures.  The final piece of the staff is buried with Lord Evard, entombed beneath the outpost of Triton Keep in the Southwest corner of the Nentir Valley.  Valthrun suggested the group seek out the advice of the local ruler, Lord Paedrag. 

Although Valthrun kept asking for more information that he could help them with, the group was unwilling to share any further information they had acquired.

They visited the smithy briefly before moving onto Lord Paedrag's manor.  They were greeted here equally as openly.  After recounting the information about the Card and the Abbey, he informed them that perhaps their interests could overlap - the Abbey was long ago taken over by tribes of Orcs that represent a threat to the existence of Winterhaven.  Although he is interested in seeking alliances with other towns to get rid of them, he needs someone to scout the area and let him know any useful information about the layout of their camp or their numbers.  This would also get the group closer to the Abbey they are askign so much about. 

They accepted the offer and hit the road for the two day journey to the Gardmore Downs.  Under the cover of darkness, they approached the Abbey's large outerwalls but several hundred yards awy from the perimeter they were attacked by a large Blue Dragon.  Although they tried to reason with the creature, its carnal instincts took over and it attacked the party, nearly killing the whole group.  Only through the last ditch effort by Sir Loin did they destroy the Dragon. 

In the midst of both battles (Giant and Dragon) the "balance" card glowed a dark amber and allowed the group to use an ability they had not had before.  The power of this attack revealed just how potent the Deck is when fully assembled.  It is clear now that control over the Deck may play an important part in the growing plot around them.  If you have read through this whole summary - text me the word "balance" for a wondrous item of your choosing level 8 and below

The Curse is Lifted and a Card

Racing out the back of the Harwick house, the group hurried to the tree line and decided rather than follow the directions to the farmhouse of Darien, Wyndham wanted to look for the town hall/militia to see if his mentor, Kor Yeznia, was hiding there.  As they snuck towards the center of the village, the bone dust in the air grew thicker and the constant shuffling of the undead filled the mist beyond their vision.  The town hall building had two leveled buildings connected by a ten foot high breezeway.  The large barn doors on the closest part of the building seemed sealed from the inside although Edhas could hear noises from inside.

They slinked around the side of the building and noted no other ways into the barn part of the building.  A bulkhead behind the building was also locked.  Dora's Ghost Sound power led to a ghoul howling for backup in the other direction, but they quickly realized that hungry undead were now approaching their location.  Some quick thinking by Wyndham had the group clikmbing the side of the barn with his grappling hook and rope.  Once above, they observed an unfortunate woman who suddenly fled across the town center only to be ravaged and disembowled by a horde of hungry zombies.  Not wasting anytime, they crossed the roof of the breezeway to a blocked window in the main part of the building.

Unable to push the wood blocking the window, Thorm began hacking at it with his axe until he could reach through and begin moving things away from the window.  Suddenly a dagger flashed across the space cutting his arm open.  The inhabitants kept insisted they leave, that they lacked food and didn't have any more space for others, but clever bargaining by Thorm convinced them to relent.  Once inside, they learned that 15 "militia" men were holed up here with some older weapons.  One identified himself as Kira's sister and, after discovering they had left her in the Chapel, was determined to go rescue her.  Secret word is Retarded - text me the word and 5 potions of vitality to your cahracter sheet. They also learned that this group of men had killed and eaten the mayor, whose body was salted and hanged in one of the rooms.  They also had no knowledge of Kor Yeznia but confirmed that Darien's farmhouse was further south - where the bone dust was even thicker.

After a brief rest, they decided to all fan out simultaneously and the party would head towards Darien's.  Hopefully they could put a stop to whatever was causing this undead horde to linger here.

The large farm estate appeared deserted until Edhas entered the front foyer to find a female ghoul (likely Darien's sister) hunched over a wide assortment of papers while she mumbled to herself frantically shuffling through them.  Staring in disbelief at a talking ghoul, she was surrounded by other undead that stormed into the room. She stood her ground, going toe to toe with the female ghoul, while receiving back up from the rest of hte group.  After defeating them, they looked through the papers and noticed the writings on the papers were actually frantic scribbling of the words "Asmodeous Walks".

Determined to find Darien and hopefully Kor, they made their way through the farmhouse estate, taking what was valuable and finally approaching the back gardens.  In the back, a freshly rotting ghoul was frantically building some sort of topiary out of twigs and yard debris, mumbling all the while.  Recognizing him as Kor, Wyndham approached to try and reason with him but his undead nature took control and he attacked his former charge.  While Wyndham and Dora dealt with Kor, Thorm, Sir Loin and Edhas found themselves nearly overmatched by a large ghoul that could only be Darien himself and a series of ravenous undead minions.  Pushed to the brink of defeat, the party mourned the loss of Wyndham's mentor.

He carried a note sealed with wax addressed to Wyndham.  The note said that they should not return to their hometown of Stonehallow.  In fact, Wyndham fled after taking something of importance from an unnamed person.  That prize, he claimed, was now hidden in the temple of St. Lucius.  It instructed them to take the item to Winterhaven and seek out Valthrun the Prescient.  The group quickly cracked a code embedded in his writing: Danitus.  Wyndham's knowledge of Stonehallow allowed him to recall the name Danitus. Kaius Danitus a prominent political figure on the ruling council of Stonehallow. Kor also carried a hand-drawn map that appeared to be several locations :Stonehallow, Sarthel and Banethal and a large Capital M.  All of the locations had a drawn circle that connected them.  The word "iron" was written on the outside of the circle.

They returned to the temple, noting that affter Darien's destruction, the curse seemed lifted, the ghouls scattered and the bone dust gone from the air.  Inside the temple some hard digging uncovered an item wrapped in fabric and tied with rope.  Although the item emitted strong levels of arcane chaos magic, they opened it to discover a simple card with the word "balance" on it.

The Tomb of St. Lucian

After surveying the land around the Temple grounds, they decided a frontal assault would be the most effective.  Charging into the front gates the group was confronted with more ravenous ghouls that continually rained down on them.  After realizing the fight would last forever, they began backpedaling towards the front doors of the chapel.  While Wyndham unlocked the large wooden doors, the backed in.

After they adjusted their eyes to the dark interior of the chapel, the scene of carnage was horrifying.  Dozens of dead, some laying in the aisles, others seated in the pews.  Most looked as though they didn't put up a fight.  Papers littered the floor around the altar.  Thorm to the time to look through the papers to reveal the writings of Brother Brellac Monson.  It spoke ominously of a young farmer named, Darien, brought before him because he was suffering from prophetic nightmares.  The name Darien matched the name in the wizard's tower.  Apparantly, this young man is the source of this outbreak and directions to his house were available in Monson's journal.  The writings indicate that Monson dispatched an acolyte to the home of the farmer to help his sister Elisa care for him.  Another torn letter indicates that the group could hear the ghouls tear apart Monson perhaps.  Either way, no one remaining here was living.  Thorm and the others consecrated the temple by interring the bodies in the catacombs below.  After securing the area, they rested for the night.

The next morning, they decided to investigate the crypts below to find another way out.  Thorm located a tear away wall behind one of the catacomb cutouts.  Peeling away the earth, he shifted the wall out of the way to reveal a narrow crawl space.  Wyndham led the way down the tunnel followed by Sir Loin and Thorm, who first removed his armor to better fit.  He decided to drag the armor behind him. Kyra remained behind in the catacombs rather than crawl through the passage.  At the end of the crawlspace, Wyndham located an apparant dead end, until he reached into the dirt wall to feel a level.  After pulling the lever, the sliding wall behind them shut to seal off the passage and water began to fill the space from holes above them.  With moments to spare, they relifted the lever, opened the same wall and let the water out.  Shouting to Kyra to brace the door behind them, Wyndham pulled the lever again and realized there was no way to lift another lever he found.  Reasoning that the only way to lift the second lever may have been to let the chamber fill with water, they asked Kyra to remove the wedge.  With that the door slid shut again and water filled the crawlspace.  Once filled, Wyndham pulled the second lever, and the floor collapsed beneath them, plunging them down ten feet into a room filled with more water. 

Struggling to swim up, Wyndham grabbed Thorm who had clutched a large lever on the wall. After pulling this lever, a large drainhole opened in the floor and Sir Loin used the edges of the hole to avoid being pulled down!  The wall opened to reveal a dark burial chamber.  Four sarcophagi sat in the room, the focal point of which was a larger sarcophagus with a bas relief of a throne at the top of the room.  The entrance to the room contained an ancient script that told the story of St. Lucian.  It ended with an ominous warning to "beware the interred evil"  Four crates sat in each corner of the room.  They contained water, food, a cache of healing potions and gold.  Although they decided not to take the gold, they did take the healing, saying a silent prayer to St. Lucian.  They room also contained an ages old corpse.  After manipulating St. Lucian's sarcophagus, an arcane portal revealed itself in the floor but Wyndham suspected it led to the Abyssal Plane of Carceri, the prison plane.  Rather than head there, they located a sealed way out of the room and made their way back to the surface via a secret entrance by the river.

They used the current of the river to take them to the next bridge and recognized Nik Harwick's house and recalled his plea to check on his wife.  After pulling themselves up to land, they quickly made their way into the house.  Ransacked and apparantly empty, they almost left until Wyndham discovered a door that held a ladder to a basement.  Looking inside, Thorm was pulled down and thrown against the wall by a large brutish ghoul.  While Sir Loin and Thorm battled Nik's wife now turned ghoul, Wyndham held off waves of ghouls trying to make their way into the home.  After dropping the ghoul, Thorm grabbed the ghoul's wedding ring to offer to Nik if they should run into one another again.  They then slipped as quickly out the back window as possible. 

On the way to the Temple

After dealing with the wave of ghouls in the wizard's tower, the group decided to listen to the full message contained on the magical sphere.  Following a series of seemingly mundane ritual steps, a diary type message:

"Father Monsen brought a case to me today. It
seems a young man named Dorien, Darien, or something
like that, has been suffering from terrible nightmares that
Monsen believes might be prophetic. This is the same boy mentioned
by Kor Yeznia.  I don’t know why he
reached that conclusion, but the boy will be stopping by
tomorrow, so I suppose I’ll have a cha . . .
. . . clearly these nightmares are growing in
both their intensity and horror . . . screaming
meat . . . and of blood . . . don’t blame the boy for
falling apart. . . .My auguries detected some form of extraplanar emanations.
By the colors, I’d have to say it’s from the Chaos, most
likely the Abyss with that oily edging. Gods I hope Monsen
is wrong about these nightma . . ."

Not sure what connection Kor Yeznia, Wyndham's mentor, has to this boy or the problems breaking out in Hampsted, but the group decided they should make their next stop the Temple of St. Lucian on this side of the river.  In order to get closer to the building but stay out of sight, they climbed through a high small window into a building that turned out to be a bathhouse.  Hiding in the privy, a woman named Kyra revealed that she had shut herself in the bathroom when the horrors broke out.  As they were peering through the broken shutters in the front of the building to decide the best way to approach the temple, they could hear moaning and shuffling from inside one of the adjacent larger bath rooms. 

Deciding to investigate rather than be blindsided, the room contained two ravenous ghouls, which the group tried to quickly destroy as quietly as possible.  In the midst of the carnage, a large gelatinous cube surrounded the group forcing them further into the room.  Although pushed to their limits, the group was able to dispatch the threat and began to decide how to best approach the front courtyard of the temple.

The Wizard's Tower

After resting in the woods, the group headed back towards Hampstead, intending to locate the Wizard, Tiren's, tower. As soon as they reached the hilltop and looked down on the small town, it was obvious that whatever struck the town had made it nearly impossible to navigate without attracting the attention of ravenous undead.  They used a series of distractions and clever navigation through the streets and rooftops to avoid the everpresent ghouls.

After ziplining across a road to avoid detection, they rushed into the wizard's tower.  It was clear right away that the ghouls had attacked the tower early on and most of the lower level of the tower was in shambles.  Blood and ichor covered the walls along with burnt paper, debris and broken furniture.  They headed up the stairs to find more of the same but also a formerly active summoning or protection circle.  After trying to locate any sign of Tiren or Yeznia, the group found a unique magic recording device.  Fumbling with it, they activated a booming voice reciting steps to a mundane ritual.  Although they were able to shut the stone up, the damage had been done, and the howling of ghouls immediately followed.

Trying to get ready for the attack, the party began blasting at ghouls as they made their way to the tower and up the outer walls.  As the undead pushed their way up the stairwell and through the windows, the group (aside from Windham, who fled out the window and onto the rooftop) stood their ground and defended the tower.  Eventually, the destroyed the last ghoul and took a moment to search the tower for anything left.  With no sign of Yeznia and Tiren's death almost certain, they needed to move on to another location.  They next had to decide whether to go to the Temple of St. Lucian, locate the mayor or  Nik Harwick's place.

Children of the Corn

As the group stitched up their wounds and tended to the family's wounds, they began to ask them some questions.  They learned that the town of Hampstead was up the road but a week ago, the screaming started, followed by the fires and then the ghoul attacks.  Nik Harwick was on his way out of town to sell his ironwares at the nearest trading town when he was set upon by a neighbor, Wil Tracem.  He warded him off and the family brought him into the house and commenced boarding up the windows and doors.  They had been staying there living off the food stores for about a week but now the position was surely given away. Wyndham explained that the Band of Jenkins was on the way to Hampstead to look for Kor Yeznia, his mentor.  When asked, Byron suggested that perhaps he was visiting or staying with Tiren the wizard, whose tower is easy to find in town.  Alternatively, he may have gone to St. Lucian's Chapel or the mayor.  The Chapel is easy to locate but the Mayor may be more difficult to find, considering the events.

Looking out the windows, they could see movement in the corn fields but couldn't identify how many or what was out there.  Although anxious to make the crossing, Byron insisted they would need help in crossing the fields. 

Nik asked the group if they would be willing to locate his wife Beth, whom he was certain would be holed up in their attic.  The Harwick home is located next to the bridge over the River Lebe that cuts the town in two. 

They threw caution into the wind and used a bundle of bloody clothes to distract any ghouls as they raced into the cornfields towards the woods.  Although the distraction was effective, it didn't prevent the ghouls from swarming entirely.  After cutting their way through several ghouls, the party took some wounds and lost one of the family.  Nik, Byron and his wife and children survived.  Only the eldest, Ollan, fell to the undead.  The group reached the woods and outside the reach of the ghouls.  A well timed nature ritual protected the party and the family through the night and allowed them the chance to rest unmolested.

Bone Dust and a Farmhouse

Backing away from the Ghouls, the group used clever tactics to prevent the ravenous ghouls from feasting on any single hero.  After destroying the last of the ghouls, the group piled them together while searching through the remains.  Dora, while looking inside the tent, discovered a handful of gems, most of which she secretly pocketed, and a potion of healing.  After deciding to move forward, the group headed back onto the road and reached the edge of the forest by dusk. The

When the tree line opened up, the walking path became lined with chest high crops on either side instead of trees.  Further up the hill, the horizon was dominated by a two story farmhouse, boarded up from the inside.  After coming out of the trees, the whole area was covered with a dense white fog, which Wyndham and Dora identified as not actually fog but pulverized bone dust!  The entire air polluted with bone dust! To Thorm's surprise, he recalled training in the Temple of Moradin about Doresain, the Exarch of Orcus and King of the Ghouls whose White Kingdom was similarly filled with this bone dust.  Informing the rest of the group of the connection, they realized all may not be fine in the small town of Hampstead. Rather than strike ahead to the town, they decided to cut through the crops directly for the farmhouse to check it out.  Unwilling to try the front door, they entered a nearby crop storage building.  Although it appeared empty but for a small number of harvested crops, there was a chute about twenty feet up that appeared to connect to the main building.  Although the ladder was broken, Dora performed a Make Whole ritual and repaired the ladder, which the group used to climb to the chute and crawl through.  Hailing the whispering voices on the other side and identifying themselves as allies, they were ushered into the building.  While a middle aged man identified himself as Byron Westfield, his father Ollin and wife, Alissa and two daughters, Gwen and Salla, shouts from downstairs that the group was followed interrupted their conversation!  Byron explained that a younger man, Nik Harwick, was downstairs keeping watch. Password for a

The group rushed downstairs to see a twenty-something man holding back the door as forces rushed against it.  Although the windows were also boarded up in the furniture cluttered farmhouse, they could hear creatures scurrying all around the house.  While Leucis went to help force the door closed, the group spread out to watch the other entrances.  Ghouls crashed through the front door, but Dora dropped a illusory zone over the area outside of the door.  This area constantly knocked the ghouls prone, while she pelted them with Phantom Bolts and Riswynn supported her with blasts of Sacred Flame from his Holy Symbol. Seventh level item is Although they were successfully holding off ghouls from the front entrance, they were surprised to see them breaking through windows and screams from upstairs indicated some had climbed the farmhouse and broken through the upstairs windows.  Wyndham ran up the stairs and began striking the ghouls with lightening until he effectively destroyed this second wave of undead creatures.  Meanwhile, Leucis and Thorm held off the advances of more ghouls downstairs.  As it seemed the battle was ended, the group tended to their wounds and began to question the family about their situation and the fate of Hampstead. Metallica

Dealing with Stonefang and Beyond

While atop the Citadel, Dora took a few minutes to glance through the writings of Rogvir.  She decided it would take some time to fully translate and determine the meaning of the writings.  Rather than investigate the opening in the mountain, the group told Duggin they had the last piece of Stonefang and agreed to move down to the lower levels and deal with the Titan threat.  When they returned to the pit room, the Dwarves were busy binding Stonefang with the two pieces of the Titan already, but without the final two pieces, Stonefang was emerging from the pit.  Jumping into the battle, the group pounded away at Stonefang but quickly realized the most effective strategy was to conduct the ritual of binding with the other two pieces of the Titan.  After some harrying moments, the group was able to fully bind it.  After resting momentarily, they took the time to inspect the writings more fully.  It wrote that the final piece of the Staff was buried with Lord Evard the Black.  Unaware of who this person was, the group decided to return to Fellstar where they had left the other two pieces of the Staff with Uthor, High Priest of Pelor.

On the road to Fellstar, they came upon a slaver caravan and confronted the slavers, doing battle and killing them.  The slaves told them that they were taken from a nearby town called Kirin and being taken to the Borderkeep.  Unwilling to travel to either location, the group simply set the slaves free and continued on their journey.

They arrived in Fellstar, met with Uthor and he informed them he would need some time to work with the scrolls and determine who Lord Evard the Black was as well as his connection to the Staff.  A rider approached the group with a message from Wyndham's benefactor, Kor Yeznia, from Stonehallow.  The message indicates that he is in danger and has fled to Hampstead and needs them to come and find him.

Deciding to give Uthor the time to look into the scrolls, they headed out towards Uthor and encountered a tribe of Lizardfolk along the way. After defeating them, they noticed they were watched by a large black dragon, which flew off after the battle.  Three days later, the dragon was spotted again.  Outside the area of Hampstead, thay caught sight of a camp, followed a trail of blood into the camp clearing and found a disemboweled body inside the tent.  Coming out of the tent to alert the rest of the group, Edhas the bard was surprised by a ravenous undead ghoul.

The Final Pieces of Stonefang

After defeating the Orcs, they searched the area and located 4 dwarves held captive beneath a trap door.  These tired and hungry dwarves were eager to escape and had retained a set of magic boots that they gladly rewarded the party with.  While the group inspected the rest of the treasure including Stonefang's Seeping Heart, Dora asked Duggin about the location of Rogvir's writings.  He was surprised to learn about this apparent new motivation for the party, but said it was likely in the upper levels where some of the older writings were kept. 

Passionate about completing both quests, Dora led the way cautiously up the spiral staircase to the next level.  An Orc captain was waiting for them with the two archers that had been blocked out by Thorm, as well as two Orc Shamans.  While Ezhelyn charged into the battle with Thorm and Riswynn, Dora, Wyndham and Luecis (the code for this blog is blumpkin - text it to me by Tuesday at 8 pm and you earn either a 6th level item or can bank the points for a weapon upgrade)skirted the edges while blasting away at the conjured spirits of the shamans and the archers.  Dora continually blasted the captain with illusory ambush, confusing the captain's attacks.  Unfortunately, the divine sanction of the Thorm the Paladin was too much for his defenses to overcome and the frequent attacks of the enemies dropped him in combat, followed quickly by Ezhelyn whose Great Hunger Broadsword had bloodied the captain.  Luckily the healing and inspiring words of their comrades were enough to bring them back to the battle but not before Riswynn dropped the captain with a devastating attack.  The archers and shamans quickly fell afterwards.  Thorm climbed to the upper level/roof of the citadel while Dora located a series of scrolls written by Rogvir and pocketed the final piece of Stonefang without Duggin noticing.  Since they had been told not to trust the tattooed dwarves, she thought it might be smart to keep that information from him for now.  On the rooftop, Thorm noted a gaping hole in the mountainside adjacent to the citadel.  Duggin claimed to know nothing about the hole.

The Citadel

After talking with the Dwarves, it became clear that they would use Duggin's knowledge and escort him to the Citadel and resecure the remaining pieces of Stonefang.   Without considering the writings of Rogvir or any part of their overall quest, they set out towards the Stonefang Pass and hours later saw the light at the end.  Inching forward to look outside, they could see a stone bridge traversing what sounded like a flowing river.  Across the bridge, the Citadel itself stood, carved out of the face of the mountains.  Duggin told them there were six outbuildings, two on this side of the river, that housed Dwarven guards.  Wyndham crept forward to get a better look and noticed two Orc archers on the buildings across the river.  He returned to the group, still hidden in the Stonefang Pass.  After talking over strategy, Wyndham shapeshifted into an Orc and crossed the river while the rest of the group remained behind.  After crossing the bridge, he counted four total archers atop the buildings and several Orc guards on foot including a well armored Orc tending to a Dire Boar.  Wyndham approached the Orcs and explained to them that he was coming from the Pass and located several Dwarves with a cache of gems.  Eager to make a profit, the Boar riding Orc ordered the other foot soldiers to escort him with Wyndham back to the cache.  Wyndham lured them over the bridge and, once they crossed the bridge, blasted them with a thundering roar! While the Orcs lashed back, Thorn emerged from the pass to engage the Orcs, but was quickly pelted with arrows from the archers.  Using the cover of the Pass and the buildings the group dealt with the Orcs on this side of the river then crossed the bridge and, under the cover of Wyndham's lightening bursts, eliminated the remaining Orc archers. 

Talking over the strategy with Duggin, he explained that the Citadel had no way in but the main entrance, where they would find a corridor with murder holes and a lower level of guard rooms.  Upstairs there would be a warded door, behind which the offduty guards could rest without fear of interruption.

Taking Duggin's advice, they opened the main doors and crossed the killing zone corridor.  The secret code is Javalin.  If you text it to me by Wednesday, you will get a magic item in the next session. It appeared the lower level was empty so the group headed up the stairwell to the second level and found the door.  Wyndham tapped into the arcane power that was in his blood as a sorcerer and bypassed the ward long enough to open the door and enter the room beyond.  Luecis could hear the voices of Orcs beyond the door and the group prepared for the worst.  Thorm charged into the room and opened the door directly down the hallway.  Behind the door several Orcs stood ready and hurled javalins at him.  However, he slammed the door shut and jammed it closed with a dagger.  Meanwhile, a room connecting to the hallway had several more Orcs, who charged into the hallway to repel the group.  Through the efforts of Thorm and his returning shield, the Orcs fell one at a time.  After the battle, the group was shocked to hear the cries of Dwarves beneath a trap door in the room.

Stonefang and the Binding Ritual

After resting in the gatehouse, the group lifted the stone and headed down the pass.  Perhaps two or three hundred yards further in, they noticed a side passage wedged open with what appeared to be a body.  Getting closer they noticed the door was in fact propped open with a dwarf body.  Cautiously entering the first area, the room was littlred with the bodies of eight orcs and six dwarfs, all tattooed with a set of chains coming down from their eyes and down the face.  Although the bodies appeared picked clean, one dwarf was wearing dwarven greaves.  At the end of the entry room, Dora noticed a flickering light from the next room and could hear three orcs in that area quietly arguing.  Catching them by surprise, they burst into the room and killed the orcs before they could run down the spiral staircase to a lower level. 

As the group began to go down the wide spiral stairs covered in blood spatters, they inspected a bas-relief on the wall that depicted a great battle between dwarves and a Stonetitan.  They gradually defeated the beast after cutting out its eye, rib, hand and heart.  At the bottom of the stairs, two piles of dead bodies (8 dwarfs and 10 orcs) flank the exit.  Heading down the corridor, they turned into more of a cavern-type room with a large pit in the center and several orcs in the room.  Two altars flanked the pit in the center.  while battling with the orcs, including a Shaman and an Ogre, the group experienced two earthquakes, making the battle more difficult.  They quickly learned that the four dimly glowing circles around the pit each granted a benefit to their combat prowess.  Using the circles to help them defeat the enemies, they inspected the pit and the altars.  While the pit appeared empty and about 40 feet deep, the altars were to Moradin and Torog - the God of Jailers. 

Confident they had defeated the largest force of the enemy, they searched the area and located another passageway deeper into the level.  While making their way, a magically-amplified voice called out a warning to them about orcs in hiding.  Suddenly from down the end of the hallway, from behind a pair of braziers, two orc archers began to fire towards them. Thom charged into the fray and was beset upon by more archers on his flanks and orc savages charging from the sides.  Trapped in the center, Dora and Wyndham provided him with whatever cover they could.  Riswynn and Ezhelyn charged into the fray to kick over the braziers.  Meanwhile Leucis decided to outflank the enemy by using a southern door, only to uncover more orc savages.  Dora's grasping shadows pinned down the orcs behind the braziers while Riswynn and Ezhelyn dealt with them.  Although Thom fell to the orcs, Leucis's inspiring words brought him back in time to help defeat the orc rampagers and the remainder of the archers.  All the while, Wyndham's lightening strikes richocheted off the walls dropping savage minions by the handful. 

After recovering, they located a group of orcs trapped into a room.  Talking it over with their leader, Gwendar, they learned that the glove and rib were both parts of the Titan, Stonefang.  The parts were needed to reseal his prison in the previous room.  The orcs have taken those parts and Gwendar appealed to them to recover the remaining pieces to reseal the pit.  The youngest of the dwarves, Duggin, agreed to escort them to the citadel where the remaining orcs must be located, along with the two remaining fragments.  He explained to them that two of them had to remain behind and continue to chant the temporary binding circle they created.  Although the group convinced the dwarves to relocate their circle to the Pit room, only Duggin could escort them

"Drop the Stone!!"

Leucis (5th lvl Warlord)         Monk (5th lvl Monk)               Edhas (5th lvl Bard)
Dora  (5th lvl Wizard)             Wyndham (5th lvl Sorcerer) 

Exploring into the Pass, the party headed in only about 200' before they could head the sound of wings flapping.  With all the group caught off guard with the exception of Edhas, many stirges swooped down from the ceiling and latched on to various party members as they were looking at the bodies of what appeared to be dead dwarves.  With finesse and skill of Wyndham the group was able to shrug off most of the damage caused by the stirges until a massive earthquake shook the Pass opening a 20' chasm in the floor and a crack in the ceiling.  After the quake settled several deathjump spiders scurried out of the ceiling and headed right for them!

Although the poison was difficult to fight off, the group held their ground against the spiders, with Monk's area attacks and Dora's illusions.  As the earthquake persisted with aftershocks, they were able to destroy the remaining spiders and decided resting was in their best interest as their bodies were pushed to the limit of healing.  Returning to the surface they rested in one of the abandoned buildings by the river they crossed until morning. 

They headed back into the pass until they could see the enormous slab of stone that Rangrim had told them about.  Beneath the many-ton slab they could see at least one orc arm pinned and large pools of blood coming from under it.  Clearly Rangrim had lowered the slab onto several unfortunate orcs.  Just as he indicated the stairs leading up to the gatehouse were on their right.  Before climbing the stairs, they inspected a channel that ran up the wall down to an indented spot with an iron nub that was clearly used as an anchor for something to latch on.  Unable to do anything with it, they climbed the stairs and noticed a hallway with several pressure plates that set off arrow traps from behind the right wall.  Using arcane power, Dora illuminated the runes on the pressure plates providing the rest of the group with the ability to cross the fifty feet without setting off the trap.  Monk carried Dora across but before the others could follow his steps, several iron cobras lurched from the end of the hallway and forced the group to deal with them while evading the dangerous arrow turrets.  After destroying their enemies, triggering and deactivating a portcullis trap and following the hallway to a door, they entered the actual gatehouse control room with a large lever on the ground.  The room was guarded by two hammering contructs.  After Dora destroyed both hammering constructs, they learned they were unable to move the lever alone.  An inspection of the room revealed an ogre sized rusted iron construct with a ritual to animate and control it.  Dora read the ritual and decided to use the construct to pull the lever.  In preparation for something happening, Leucis went back to the iron nub outside the gatehouse to be ready to do what was needed to keep the slab aloft.  The construct pulled the lever, the slab lifted but before Leucis could latch the chain that ran down the channel, many orcs rushed from behind the slab. 

Leucis ran up the stairs shouting for Dora to drop the slab.  Although the construct turned the lever, the orcs had already crossed under the slab.  Leucis delayed their advance up the steps and down the hallway by lighting three fires with oil.  Meanwhile, Leucis, Monk and eventually Wyndham held their ground in the hallway pelting the orcs as they made their way down the narrow hall.  Dora was able to drop an illusionary ambush and killed several orcs, winnowing their numbers.  Dora and Edhas, however, were caught off guard when the largest of the orcs seemed to reach out and control the construct with a magic glove he was wearing.  Although Monk was overwhelmed by the mass and numbers of orcs, the group was able to pound the orcs until the last one fell.  Edhas, who was troubled most of the day with bad luck, came through at the last moment and blasted the leader orc with a critically aimed spell, toppling him and his companions. 

Weaving their way through orc corpses, the group stabilized the dying Monk and decided the could go no further and needed to use the security of the gatehouse to rest.  Beyond the stone slab, it would be unlikely to locate a place of safety better than this.

Timbervale and Stonefang Pass

Monk (5th lvl Monk)      Ezhelyn (5th lvl Avenger)  Ryswynn (5th lvl Cleric)
Wyndham (5th lvl Sorcerer)      Dora (5th lvl Wizard)

The group decided to stay in Fellstar for a few days while both Ryswynn and Ezhelyn recovered from the lingering effects of Filth Fever.  In the meantime, while the rest of the party tended to the ailing adventurers, Dora went out to acquire several ritual components for their next journey.  After everyone was feeling up to traveling, the group acquired horses from Uthor and began the two day journey to Timbervale. 

Although the first day passed without incident, during their first night on the road, they were ambushed by a trio of Wights and their zombie minions.  Although the battle wasn't lethal for anyone, they were pushed to their limits several times but were able to do away with the wandering undead.

They arrived in Timbervale at midmorning and noticed how the once thriving town was a relic of its former self with essentially just one road cuttting through the middle of the town.  The imposing view of the Ironwall Mountains loomed in the background, while the group headed for the small inn known as the Knot Hole.  Surprised as they entered the room, the group couldn't help but notice a small group of frightened looking dwarves huddled in the corner of the Inn's Common Room.  A black-bearded dwarf wearing a silver crown cautiously approached them and introduced himself as Rangrim, son of Thorvil, son of Thane Harvak of Clam Glintshield.  He told the group about the Clan's reemergence and their effort to reclaim the citadel but they were attacked by the Severed Eyes Orcs.  He begged them to go back into the pass and save the remaining members of his tribe and kill as many orcs as they can.  He did tell them that he was asked to escort the elderly and weak members of his tribe out of the Pass and he was forced to lower a large stone slab to block the Pass off but believes it can be raised by some means in the guard house in the Pass. 

After receiving confirmation that Rogvir's writings have survived and are inside the citadel, they agreed to head out immediately.  Before they could leave though, they were approached by a female dwarf named Hadarra.  She told them she witnessed her cousin Flinka killed by the orcs as she was being pulled away byt he Shadowed Chain guards who initially escorted the dwarfs through the Pass.  She tells the the "weird cult" of dwarfs are responsible for letting her cousin die and the group should beware their intentions and asks them to recover a matching "sending stone"  She offers them the matching sending stone to help them locate its match. 

Journeying into the foot of the mountains the road heads up at a casual slope as the remnants of the once-thriving town are evident with abandoned buildings and other vestiges of the past.  Arriving at the first river crossing, they were attacked by two hippogriffs and several deadly archerfish that harried the party until they could successfully cross the river and avoid the fish.  On the other side of the river, the sight of the huge tunnel that bores into the Stonefang Mountain stood before them.  Impressive huge stone carvings of giants flank the opening as if holding up the mountain itself.  Weary of heading into the mountain, the group began their first steps into the darkness hoping to survive.

Back to Fellstar and the next step

Dora (5th lvl Wizard)            Wyndham (5th lvl Sorcerer)         Ezhelyn  (5th lvl Avenger)
Leucis (5th lvl Warlord)
The group made their way back through the Goblin Hole and back onto the surface - it appeared most of the goblins had fled after the fall of their chief.  Concerned with traveling off the main road while carrying the Staff, they headed out to the King's Road and headed back towards Fellstar.  Early in the first day they ran into two travelers on the road - Rickon and Tumal who told them they had left Fellstar when the economy collapsed and headed out for a mining job opportunity along the Kings Wall.  Days earlier a horrible earthquake collapsed the mines but they were able to escape.  They asked to travel back alongside the group.
Still afflicted with Filth Fever, the group looked to rest on the three day journey.  After the first night, Leucis was able to shake off the illness but the avenger was unable to fully kick the disease after getting worse.  They traveled back to Fellstar with only one late night encounter against some wandering undead.  After spending the night safely in the walls of the city, they sought Uthor at the Temple of Pelor.

Briefly describing the clues they had uncovered including the letter that mentioned Vestapalk, Uthor agreed to keep the Staff along with the Skull they had recovered earlier.  After completing research, he told the group that the only lead on the remaining part of the Staff would hopefully be found in the writings of Rogvir Glimmersham, a Cleric of Moradin, in the Glintshield Clan.  The only problem was the Glintshield Clan had disappeared about 40 years earlier after a Civil War but had recently reappeared.  Uthor hoped that Rogvir survived the war or at least her writings had.  He suggested they head towards the town of Timbervale at the foot of the Ironwall Mountains.  The former thriving town is at the entrance of Stonefang Pass, the only way through the Ironwalls.  Leucis recalled hearing about the Glintshield Clan and something about a secret cult known as the Shadowed Chain and they all remembered the orcs they fought on the mountain carried shields with the Glintshield heraldry on them. 

Not So Fast!

Sariel (4th level Assassin)                     Leucis (4th level Warlord)
Edhas (4th level Bard)                           Thom (4th level Paladin)
Wyndham (4th level Sorceror)

After destroying Urgog, the group began rummaging through the loot and dividing up the contents of the tomb.  Suddenly, they were jarred out of their activities by the sound of their charmed friend, Splug, being killed.  They turned around in time to see a horde of goblins charging into the tomb alongside the Bugbear chief!

Regrouping to fend off the new threat, Thom charged through the crowd of goblins heading right for the chief, while the rest of the group used the angles of the room to stay out of the way of the goblin hexers while still attacking effectively.  Despite being blinded and hexed constantly, Sariel was able to take down the goblin chief with her Nightmare Shades attack.  While the goblin minions overwhelmed Thom, the hexers' blasts incapacitated much of the party.  With seconds left to live, Thom was brought back by the inspiring words of Leucis.  With Thom back in the battle, and Edhas and Wyndham consistently plaguing the efforts of the hexers to finish the heroes off, enough of the goblins fell leading to the remaining two hexers escaping back into the cavern complex.  In the end the worst damage taken was Leucis being striken with Filth Fever.

Session Recaps up to date! "To Urgog"

Session Recap February 3rd:

Edhas (4 Bard)        Sariel (4 Assassin)       Wyndham (4 Sorcerer)       Riswynn (4 Cleric)

{several sessions recap - After resting in the mountain the group encountered a less than sane Dwarf [Tamiflu] who agreed to lead the group to the Goblin Hole and out of the mountain if they would help him free his brothers from the Drow.  After being led around and around, Tamiflu took them out of the mountain towards the Goblin Hole.  A dead Druid of Melora led the group to a sacred grove contaminated by evil forces.  After some effort to fight off the evil force, they purged the sacred grove and realized it could be used as a safe rest point.  The cultists at the grove had a letter that referenced "the Demon Prince confirmed that Urgog has the Staff of Akmon Sur.  Acquire and bring the Staff to Vestapalk" They located a back entrance to the Goblin Hole and made their way into a large cave with goblins guarding a water source.  Using a charm effect and some shape changing, they charmed splug and learned that Urgog was long dead and buried in a tomb deep in the goblin hole.  The goblins fear the undead Urgog and have sealed off the area.}

After bluffing their way to the Goblin Chief keeping up the ruse that they were sellswords bringing news of a black dragon on its way to exact revenge from the goblins.  Gathering up the goblin warriors, the group sent them to defend the entrances while they headed towards the tomb of Urgog.  Outside the antechamber, the group dealt with two deadly Utyoghs which inflicted Edhas and Sariel with Filth Fever.  Finishing off the Otyughs, they forced their way through the divine seals closing the tomb.  Facing off against three shadow creatures and Urgog himself, the party defeated the enemy and acquired the Staff of Akmon Sur from the sarcophagus.  Unable to easily carry the Staff without harm, they wrapped the Staff in a cloak and began to search through the room for anything further.

Continuing Adventures of the Band of Jenkins

Third Session Recap (September 18^th, 2010):

Tarak (1^st Level Warden)                               Brandis (1^st Level Fighter)

Sariel (1^st Level Assassin)                              Ezhelyn (1^st Level Avenger)

After recovering from the previous encounter with the Pale Reaver and rescuing Kyla and the infant, Lysa, the group decided it would be wise to ask her any further questions before setting her free.  They asked how she was taken and how she got here in the crypt.  Her response was that she was taken in the night with her baby and husband by a human (not a monster) and brought into the graveyard blindfolded.  She was separated from her husband and brought to this chamber where she was placed into the ditch running on the western side of the crypt.  She had been here for a two days.  The group decided to escort her out of the graveyard to safety and promised they would look for her father and husband.  Ezhelyn, however, was shattered after returning the infant to her mother. 

Jumping down into the ditch to investigate, Tarak discovered a 4’x4’ stone block about five feet off the ground that seemed movable.  After searching for a mechanism, he decided brute strength would be the only means of moving the stone.  With help from Brandis, they pushed the stone into the wall, with Tarak following into the makeshift crawlspace following after it.  Near the end of the line, a series of spears began poking out of the walls and floor pinning Tarak in the shoulder and legs.  Quick thinking resulted in Tarak breaking one of the spears, but only Sariel was able to deactivate the trap through some clever tinkering.  Tarak finished pushing the stone until it fell what seemed to be 40-50 feet straight down.  Looking down into the room carefully revealed a fairly large chamber with milling undead, an altar on a raised dais, and a statue of Orcus.  There appeared to be a doorway direcly beneath the hole in the wall 40’ down.   A quick examination of the room revealed a series of small ledges that could be used to get to the bottom.

Tarak and the others decided to follow the rules and clear out one level before investigating another.  They returned to the graveyard and went to the middle crypt.  Inspecting the exterior, it seemed largely intact although old with no windows and roughly of the same size as the northern crypt.  Pulling open the door, they entered to find a room with two immobile bodies laying near the center and a trickle of blood leading to the back wall.  The wall, covered in runes, also contained a stone slab door with further runes, written in Abyssal, that was cracked near the top and slightly ajar.  Unable to read the runes, they guessed they were some sort of sealing magic that was clearly broken.  The bodies appeared to be an older man in his 60s-70s and a younger man perhaps around 30.  They had both been dead for no more than a day and were bitten by what appeared to be ghoul bites.  Pulling open the slab door, the party could distinctly hear chanting in another language from the room beyond.  It opened to a steeply slanted slope with a rope attached allowing access.  After some discussion about whether the slope was 75 degrees or 50 degrees, Ezhelyn grabbed the rope and descended.

The room was spacious with four pillars holding up the stone ceiling, a sarcophagus in the back of the room with a human shirtless tied to it.  A human dressed in robes, chanting with a dagger in his hand, stood behind the victim.  Three zombies roamed around the room with two ghouls flanking the sarcophagus.  All the undead seemed transfixed on the ceremony.  One by one the party descended into the room engaging the mindless undead and the priest.   In a series of bad breaks, the entire party fell to the ghoul bites.  While the only remaining enemy, a ghoul, began eating the lifeless body of Ezhelyn, something pulled Brandis back from the afterlife, allowing him one final second wind.  He stood up toe to toe with the last ghoul until it fell.  Exhausted, Brandis administered first aid to those allies whom he could save.  Only Sariel was able to recover enough to move on. 

They untied the victim and discovered he was Veran Tal (the contact they were sent to find initially and Lysa’s father).  Tired and terrified, he revealed that he was in the midst of his normal routine of digging up bodies for various contacts around the Valley when three bodies  became reanimated at his home about 4 days ago.  Shocked and unaware of what to do, he chained them into his subbasement and began observing their behavior.  Meanwhile, he returned to the graveyard and began marking graves he discovered were empty.  While there he was captured by what turned out to be the cultist.  Under torture he revealed the names and locations of his daughter, son-in-law and father.  Apparently, Veran believes the cultist needed more living victims to complete whatever it was he intended.  Brandis and Sariel revealed that there were two dead men in the room above them.  Veran confirmed they were Holt Nas, his son in law and his father.  Searching the battlefield, the party uncovered a ki focus and a weapon of great power.  Additionally, minor trinkets of value and a glowing onyx skull on the person of the cultist.  When touched, the skull gave off an uncomfortable magic.  They recognized the skull from the drawing discovered in the cave days earlier but it was missing the staff attachment.  They tucked the skull into a saddle bag and returned to the graveyard.

Once outside, they were greeted by Monk and Ella the Avenger. A quick examination of the final crypt revealed nothing.  They returned to the Northern Crypt crawlspace and through a series of acrobatics, rope lines and sheer luck, the group made it to the bottom undetected by the zombies.  Sneaking through the opening into a grand corridor that turned to the south, Brandis’ armor became too loud, alerting a horde of undead zombies, who began lurching towards them.  Scrambling forward, the party turned the corner and discovered a pyramid shaped stone door that wouldn’t open on first try.  Realizing they may be trapped, they turned as the approaching mob of undead shuffled around the corner!

 

Fourth Session Recap-

October 2^nd, 2010:

Sariel (2^nd lvl assassin)                                    Brandis (2^nd level Fighter)

Edhas (2^nd lvl bard)                                          Wyndham (2^nd level sorcerer)

Monk (2^nd level monk)

Suddenly faced with a zombie horde the party backed up into the area with the pyramid door.  Brandis began fighting towards the zombies, many of them minions but some brutes.  While many zombies got some good hits in on Brandis, he ultimately fought off several of them with the backup of the rest of the party.  Meanwhile, the rest of the group figured out how to unseal the magic on the door.  While Edhas and Sariel and Wyndham all blasted away at the zombie horde, Brandis disengaged from the battle and pushed the slab through. The rest of the group followed behind him and he shut the slab behind them. 

The room they entered was a large antechamber, with frescoes covering the side walls and catwalks running along the sides.  Three doors  all on the same wall (two on the catwalks and one on the main floor).  After illuminating the room with a sunrod, Sariel recognized the story in the frescoe as a legendary war between the primordials and the elementals.  The end of the story depicted Orcus carrying a glowing staff lording over humanity.  Realizing how tired they were, the group healed up and got ready to rest in for the night.  The first inspected the main door, ornately carved and made of wood.  Although the door didn’t appear locked or trapped, they could hear intermittent slamming noises.  They tied a rope around the center doors and slept in.

July 9^th –

The group woke up after sleeping safely for the night.  Brandis peeked through the door on the catwalk to reveal a room similarly built on the other side.  Meanwhile Wyndham and Edhas began working at a small hole in the frescoe to see if they could figure out what was behind the wall.  Deciding to go through the door on the catwalk, they entered the room and noticed immediately the slamming noises got louder and Brandis began to feel weaker.  The room extended the catwalks ten feet then lowered into the room below with a large pool dominating the room.  On the eastern wall, several wall crypts were the source of the banging noise.  Now that they were in the room, they also could hear a shuffling noise.  Going down the stairs to investigate, the group was surprised by a small group of zombies and a wight.  After defeating the monsters, Wyndham discovered a Robe of Contingency on the Wight’s body. 

The group entered the next room to find it dominated by a large meteorite with only one remaining exit.  The other door was sealed with a magical protection and was inscribed in a script only the Sorcerer could read.  It said, “Unforgiven. Do not open…” On either side of the door were two large jars that the party didn’t inspect.  After some experimenting, the as the skull got closer to the meteor, the magic weakened Brandis to the point of being unable to stand.  When it made contact with the meteor, they could hear a crashing sound from the previous room.  Realizing the only route of escape was through the path cleared by the meteor, the group scrambled up the crevasse and found themselves outside after about an 80 foot climb. 

Returning to the Wisdom’s house, Alustra thanked them for their efforts on behalf of the village and the missing villagers and invited them in for tea.  After talking with her, they visitied the Councilman Chairperson, Trask.  They discovered the skull fits on top of a legendary artifact known as the Staff of Chaos and it was wielded by Orcus in the great battle of the Primordials and Elementals that broke the world thousands of years ago.  Councilman Trask directed them to the city of Fellstar to the Temple of Pelor.  Uthor was the high priest of Pelor there and would be interested to hear about any news regarding the staff. 

July 12^th-

The group arrived at the Temple of Pelor in Fellstar and located Uthor.  He was disappointed to hear about the fate of his two Paladins which he dispatched in response to a series of divination prayers.  Without consistent access to their gods, the various temples in  Fellstar had set out to divine the fate of their gods.  A series of different visions, led the priests to send crusaders to different locales.  Uthor told them that the meteor they discovered is a harbinger of the end of days – if the staff of chaos arrives at the same location as the meteor enough negative energy could be used to open a portal to Orcus.  Without access to Pelor, it would be impossible to defeat Orcus or his followers.  They left the skull with Uthor for safe keeping and the only lead on the other parts of the staff was Urgog the Goblin King was supposedly the last to have knowledge of it before disappearing.  He gave them the general location of the Goblin Hole and they assured him that they had sealed off the entrance to the undercrypt.

Fifth Session Recap  (November 11^th, 2010):

Wyndham (2^nd level Sorceror)    Leucis (2^nd level Warlord)              Edhas (2^nd Level Bard)

Brandis (2^nd level Fighter)             Sariel (2^nd Level Assassin)

After a brief spending spree in Fellcrest the group decided it would be best to seal the exit to the undercrypt which they had told Uthor was already sealed.  Reacquiring their wagon and Oxen, they set out back across the road to the mountain.  Along the way they met several itinerant travelers – they gathered that a handful of them were traveling east to the Kingswall where rumors were abounding about work being offered.

A brief inspection of the area indicated to Edhas that several four-legged and two legged creatures had been in and out of the hole.  Without much mention to the rest of the team, they pushed a large boulder down in front of the hole.  Soon afterwards a pack of gravehounds swarmed out of the trees to attack.  Pushing the group to the brink of their limits, they survived a bloody fight, after which Edhas told the group that it was likely the footprints but there were more.  They discovered the body of a human holy warrior with his throat ripped out in the bushes – they looted some gold, a longsword and left behind a suit of chainmail. 

Pushing on to the site of the goblin hole to locate Urgog the Mangler or whoever had taken his place, the emerged from the forest cover to the edge of a cliff.  A forty foot rope bridge spanned the ravine fifty feet below.  Looking across to the other side, there was a 10-15’ clearing of trees then the forest began anew without a path like they were on.  Aware of the dangers, they decided to send Edhas and Sariel across the bridge to scout the area.  Halfway across the bridge, goblins jumped out carrying crossbows and two carrying spears and knives to cut the ropes.  A battle that included a goblin brute calling himself Boontah began.  Making their way across the bridge as quickly as possible, they took heavy fire from the crossbows and eventually killed both spear carrying sentries.  

 

Sixth Session Recap  (November 20^th, 2010):

Wyndham (2^nd level Sorceror)    Leucis (2^nd level Warlord)              Edhas (2^nd Level Bard)

Brandis (2^nd level Fighter)             Sariel (2^nd Level Assassin)             Ryswinn (2^nd Level Cleric)

Monk (2^nd Level Monk)

Faced with nearly insurmountable odds on the other side of the rope bridge, the party hacked their way through a dozen goblin sharpshooters and soldiers.  The maneuverability of Monk backed Boontah over the edge of the cliff, dropping him out of the battle and to his death (?).   Going through the pile of bodies and trying to locate their nearby camp, the Brandis located a magic battle axe and Edhas a magic weapon.   Looking around the party decided to rest up and the evening went without a problem.

July 15^th –

Traveling along the route towards the Goblin Hole, the party heard guttural voices from higher up into the mountains.  Wyndham used his magic to translate the voices into Orc and they seemed to be arguing about something.  Sariel stealthily made her way up mountainside to investigate.  About 40 feet up she discovered a ledge with seven orcs – one with a headdress – arguing around an extinguished campfire about a map.  A cave mouth was in the background but they didn’t seem interested in it.  She returned to the group and they decided to use Wyndham’s changling ability to morph into an orc and take Edhas up as a prisoner to try and determine their goals.  After some discussion about the map as from a treasure hoard for a dragon, the orcs couldn’t agree on the direction of the Dragon cave.  They claimed to be looking for a magic shield.  One of the orcs was carrying a shield embroidered with the sigil of Clan Glintsheild. 

In the midst of the conversation, the rest of the party charged up the hill and a difficult battle ensued.  While several members of the party teetered on the edge of death, the timely healing and inspiration of Leucis and Ryswinn kept them in it long enough to destroy the Orcs but left one alive for questioning.  Near the conclusion of the battle, Leucis caught sight of a large Dragon circling overhead.  Without waiting for the Dragon to make its way down, the party quickly gathered up the dead bodies and their prisoner and ran into the cave mouth. 

In the cave, they questioned the Orc and discovered that the map was taken from the Stonefang Orc clan from many years ago when orcs raided a black Dragon’s horde.  Since it had been many years,  the tribe was unclear on where exactly the Dragon’s cave was located.  He admitted that the shield he was carrying was from the Glintshield clan despite the fact that they were rumored to have disappeared many years ago. 

Since the large dragon was now blocking their escape, they headed deeper into the cave to discover a set of wormholes laced with a sticky fluid.  They entered the tube and followed it down several feet for roughly 6 hours.  It emerged into a large cavern where they saw the corpse of a purple worm 35 feet below them being eaten by a young black dragon.  Trying to find a way out, Monk began to climb along the wall with the intention of creating a zipline for the other characters to use.  Halfway there, he noticed the size of the dragon’s horde beneath the worm’s corpse as well as another small doorway leading deeper into the mountain.  Deciding to head back towards that door rather than continue towards the way out, Monk moved quietly until he overturned enough rocks to alert the dragon.  Although Monk fey stepped into the open doorway and out of the dragon’s sight, Brandis took advantage of the situation to zipline down the anchored rope.  The dragon swung around at the sound of the noise ready to do battle with the intruders.  

aSeventh Session Recap  (December 4th, 2010):

Wyndham (2^nd level Sorceror)    Edhas (2^nd Level Bard)

Brandis (2^nd level Fighter)             Sariel (2^nd Level Assassin)             Ryswinn (2^nd Level Cleric)

Monk (2^nd Level Monk)

July 16^th –

 After a climactic battle against the Dragon, the party held on to defeat the creature and quickly began grabbing whatever they could from the horde.  Shortly after obtaining magic items from the piles, the party ran into the opening deeper into the mountain.   They could hear the larger dragon return to the nest and begin roaring in anger at the sight of the dead young dragon.

The group headed deeper into the cave passageways and stumbled on a group of a dozen drow talking about waiting for “what she will send”  Coming from the passageway, the party engaged the drow implying that that “she” was sending the group of soldiers as slaves.   After Wyndham tied up the rest of the party, the drow led them several yards deeper into the mountain and into an opening to the Underdark.  Escorted into a large drow city of spiderwebs, the group was placed into a series of cells with other creatures.  After a brief exchange of gold, the group discovered the dragon had been sending various items to the Drow.  It was unclear what they were exchanging them for. 

The group escaped from the cells and fled the Drow city without any problems only to return to the mountain and tried to find their way out.  Taking an alternative passageway, they were able to locate a small chamber useful as a resting point.