Episode 23:12/5/09

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/4-3
Nineve, human knight/7
Xicar, human cleric/7
Haroldur, human wizard 3/cleric 4
Sarek, human wizard 7

With Balabar and his henchmen taken care of, we attempt to formulate a plan. Diamond Lake is a desperate town of refugees, and we just their leader and most of his cronies. Tyrant though he was, Balabar Smenk was maintaining some kind of order, and his death will create a power vacuum that could throw the remaining survivors into anarchy and chaos. And of course, we can't have that.

There is also the minor problem of the dragon. And the fact that we haven't found Lazare (or 31E) yet. However, while we were being poisoned by Balabar, he told us that the cart of offerings to the dragon is always delivered near the Whispering Cairn, and the dragon seems to be hanging out there for some reason. Lazare was also rumored to be at the Whispering Cairn, so it looks like we can kill two birds with one stone here. Yay, us.

After some debate, we decide to leave Tamklar in charge of Diamond Lake while we take the Harkness across the lake to the Whispering Cairn in search of Lazare (and probably the dragon). We also encourage Tamklar to evacuate Diamond Lake as soon as possible. The dragon hasn't been back since the initial attack, and we suspect that it may have been after Lazare, anyway. Even if the dragon does attack them as they evacuate, their only other option at this point is starvation. It's worth the risk to make a break for civilization.

We spend several days getting the survivors in order, fixing the Harkness, and making preparations. A day or so after our showdown with Balabar, we are shocked to see Kullen, wounded but healing, limping into town. Things are tense at first, but he makes it clear that he had no personal grudge against us, nor any special loyalty to Balabar Smenk. Now that Smenk is dead, he has no further beef with us. We accept his apology, and he offers his assistance with the current predicament. We send him to Tamklar, who has taken charge of Diamond Lake and is preparing for the evacuation.

At last our preparations are complete and we are ready to leave for the Whispering Cairn. Tamklar is particularly somber and it's obvious he thinks we're going to die. As we're saying our goodbyes, he suddenly remembers Mossad gave him a package for us before we left the Cabal. It turns out to be a bag of holding (type 1)! On the Harkness, we dump it out and get:

3 scrolls of sending (Keep in touch!)
1 potion of Lesser Restoration (You never know...)
1 scroll of Raise Dead (Just in case.)
1 scroll of Restoration (Hope you won't need this.)
5 potions of Cure Serious Wounds (One for each of you.)

We sail across the lake. In transit, we find Balabar's stash:

zircon ring
800 gp
bronze statuette of a knight
2800 sp
copper horn
adamantine armband w/filigree
2 gold bars worth 200 gp total
copper & silver anklet
onyx sphere w/trees

The trip across goes uneventfully and we disembark into the early December countryside. As we enter the valley containing the Cairn, the air is warmer and misty. We round a bend and see it: a vast red-gold dragon, fast asleep in front of the entrance to the Cairn. A low thrumming comes from its jaws and nostrils, along with wisps of smoke, but its fires are low in slumber. Beneath it, under its limbs and huge coiled tail and all around lay a strange assortment of things; some precious, some little more than trash. This part of the valley is thick with the dragon's scent, and the air is filled with smoke, like fog from the blasted and smoldering hillsides.

We exchange some meaningful glances and silently decide to try to sneak past it without waking it. Unfortunately, as we approach, a thin and piercing ray of red shines from under the dragon's eye. We dive behind a nearby rock. Unhurried, it lifts its massive head and turns its piercing gaze in our direction.

It bids us emerge from our hiding place behind the rock, and since it knows we're there, there's no reason not to. We have a completely unnerving but surprisingly civil conversation with the massive, murderous dragon. The dragon recognizes our scent and claims we meddled in it's affairs in the mountains (Oops.) It seems that Lazare stole something from the dragon while it was out razing Blackwall Keep. The dragon knows Lazare is hiding in the Cairn, and demands in a nonchalant but unquestionable way that we "chase the little worm out of his hole", presumably in exchange for not eating us on the spot. Haroldur brilliantly talks us through, and we enter the Cairn.

It looks like our friend the GRW spent some time blasting and clawing at the entrance. The walls are black with soot and crumbling in places where the rock has been completely baked and shattered. A little inside the destroyed entrance to the Cairn, we find several deceased deranged Imperium cultist bodies, like we've encountered before with 31E in this area. The front end of the tomb is largely like we left it. We advance to the back, the true antechamber to the tomb, and the door that required 31E's key plate to open it. The door is near the end of its closing sequence. We quickly deduce that Lazare and 31E must be in Icosiel's proper tomb, so we go on through, lest we get get sealed out forever!

Inside, things look unchanged, but the previously-docile Wind Warriors impede our progress. We are forced to fight them. This is a very tough fight that nearly claims our lives, but we make it through.

Strangely, the black portal we noticed last time appears to be active. Lazare and 31E must've gone through it. It is labeled "Amsophar". We're badly hurt and we don't know what's on the other side of the portal, so we take a moment to heal up. As we're preparing, Zolara appears.

The Choosing:

Nineve - The Rakshasaa
Haroldur - The Inquisitor
Sarek - The Foreign Trader
Ashe - The Hidden Truth
Xicar - The Wanderer

The Spread:

The Inquisitor The Locksmith The Idiot
The Snakebite The Juggler The Courtesan
The Tyrant The Beating The Eclipse

"Again, the Inquisitor appears, representing you 5 and your unswerving dedication to your purpose. To stand against the Inquisitor is to court disaster. The Snakebite represents recent deception or trickery, perhaps betrayal. The Tyrant, although still a grave threat, is now behind you, although his part may not be fully played out yet.

The Locksmith represents the keys needed to unlock one's destiny or long-hidden secrets. The Juggler here does not represent anything in particular, although I suspect you are soon to meet him in person. The Beating warns of unexpected and overwhelming attack, though not necessarily ambush.

The Idiot represents one who feigns ignorance to disguise one's true gifts. Here, the Courtesan represents two women of power - it would be wisest to be as polite as possible when dealing with them. Aligned as she is, the Courtesan represents a grave danger if the situation is mishandled. The Eclipse is darkness. Beware the dark and those who dwell within it."

Healed up and armed with new knowledge, we step through the portal to Amsophar, or hopefully, his tomb. The blackness is so deep, it is almost viscous. Stepping through it, one gets the dizzying impression of of traversing vast gulfs, a staggering distance, in just a single step. Aside from being a little unnerving, however, we all emerge from the portal unchanged and unharmed.

We step from the inky blackness of the gate into a long, wide stone hallway. Ahead, a pair of brightly lit alcoves illuminates the corridor. A faint breeze brings with it sibilant whispers that sound almost like sighing breath. It is odd, but the effect is almost lifelike. If I didn’t know better, I would think we’d been transported back to the entrance of the Whispering Cairn. Although the effects of vast gulfs of time are evident in the uneven flooring and cracks along the walls, these halls are in far better repair than ruins outside of Diamond Lake. The walls are covered with strange runes and intricate reliefs. Translation of the runes indicates that the reliefs are scenes from Amsophar's life. Farther down the corridor, we encounter an alcove.

A statue of an armored Storm King, left hand resting on a sword, right held up to shield his eyes, stands at the far end of the alcove. The marble statue has sparkling blue gems for eyes and various details made of gold. A beam of bright light shines onto the statue from above, causing the gems to glitter and the stone to glow softly. The walls are carved with delicate reliefs of servants and warriors bowing and saluting. Incorporated into the statue is a removable metal plate, marked with runes that translate as "Wind".

Further down the corridor, we find three more alcoves, almost identical to the first, except for the metal plate. They read "Thunder", "Lightning", and "Ice". We take the plates and move on.

The runes in the next hallway spell out various accolades for Amsophar. However, here and there are phrases that are missing a key word. Immediately after this, the 10 foot wide corridor we've been walking through is crossed by what appears to be another 10 foot wide hallway. My rogue-sense is tingling - this smells like a trap! I insists my companions hang back while I check it out.

As soon as I cross the threshold into the other "hallway" (it's actually just a small room placed perpendicular to the main corridor), a forceful wind blows me clear across the "trap room" and plasters me onto the far wall. There, vents in this side of the room leak a noxious dex-damaging gas! While I'm taking dex damage, I notice our friend Lazare, lying in a heap in the noxious gas. He's obviously been paralyzed by it. After a few seconds, the gust of wind of wind abates and I can move again. I grab Lazare's immobile form, get out my trusty troll-gut rope (with hand grappling hook!), and run back towards my companions, who are still in the safety of the main hallway. I toss the troll hand to my companions and it grabs Nineve. Literally seconds after it stopped, the wind kicks back in. There's no way I would have had time to run back to safety on my own. I can see how Lazare became trapped!

Eventually, my companions manage to pull me and my paralyzed baggage through the gale-force winds and back to safety.

We use a potion of Lesser Restoration on Lazare, who is conscious but very weak. He revives a little and we ask him to explain himself. Why did he abduct 31E? What's he doing in this tomb? What did he steal from the dragon?

Lazare explains that the thing he took from the dragon was a crystal disc. It was the first artifact he found as an adventurer (back in his younger days). He and his companions were set upon by the GRW, and he traded it to the dragon in exchange for their lives. Not surprisingly, the dragon betrayed them and only Lazare escaped. He's been trying to retrieve the artifact ever since. When the dragon finally left his lair (to raze Blackwall Keep), Lazare took advantage of the distraction to reclaim his property.

After years of research, Lazare has deduced that the crystal disc is some sort of key to Amsophar's tomb. He also discovered, partly with our help, that Icosiel's tomb in the Whispering Cairn was linked to Amsophar's tomb. Once he retrieved the artifact, he knew he had to go to the Cairn to see if he is correct.

Lazare also insists that he didn't abduct 31E. He simply went to the Cabal and asked the robot if he'd like to accompany him on his explorations of the Whispering Cairn (and beyond!). As this is part of 31E's programmed directives, he readily agreed. They left the Cabal perhaps without consulting all the proper authorities, as they both deduced that Marten wouldn't be willing to let 31E go.

They made it this far, but Lazare's explorations were cut short by his encounter with the trap. 31E managed to escape somehow, and Lazare doesn't know where he is.

In turn, we tell him about the dragon attack, the fall of Blackwall Keep, and the destruction of Diamond Lake. He seemed genuinely unaware of these activities, and looks more crestfallen with each new bit of terrible news. Nevertheless, it's good to be united with an old friend, and we all agree that it's very lucky for Lazare that we came along when we did!

Lazare must have been stuck in that trap for quite a while - he looks emaciated and very much worse for the wear. We offer him food and drink while we try to figure out the puzzle before us.

After several hours of study, we deduce the missing words in the text and discover these words can be arranged to make the sentence, "Amsophar made war that we might live in peace". Cautiously, I approach the "windy passage", which is still gusting intermittently, and speak what I hope are the key words. Immediately, the wind abates, and we advance unmolested.

As we're celebrating our victory over the trap, 31E emerges from around the next crossing. Apparently he made it past the first trap, only to be claimed by the second. Of course, we're thrilled to see him. We repair him and he attaches the new leg (he was very surprised we managed to find one!).

While 31E is putting himself back together, we mention that we think we know what his mechanical scarab is for. We tell him about the ones we saw in Jakardos's lab back in Blackwall Keep. 31E is skeptical, but we convince him to try it. Fortunately, I was thinking ahead, so I just happen to have an accurate atlas of like, the entire known world! We roll it out and set the scarab on the map. It whirs and clicks and skitters in a straight line for the Whispering Cairn, where it sits, fluttering its mechanical wings intermittently. This seems to ring some bells for 31E, because he makes a strange face (as much as a construct CAN make a face), and says "Of course. The scarab is currently programmed to display my original mission objective." He picks it up and fiddles with it a little, explaining that he can alter the scarab's function to display our current location. He sets it back down and we all gasp as it skitters completely across the map, coming to rest in an unknown mountain range thousands of miles from Caledon.

That's... a bit of a shock. But, there's no sense in worrying about it now; we have a Storm King tomb to explore! At this point, Lazare, who looks really exhausted, apologizes for not being much use to us. He hands the hard-won crystal disc to Xicar, and then quite unexpectedly polymorphs into a ferret and crawls into my backpack. Will wonders never cease? We take the opportunity to rest and regroup a bit before venturing forth.

We descend an elegant staircase and enter a large central room. The octagonal chamber is lit by six floating lanterns that hover around a central statue of some strange metal. The statue depicts Amsophar clad in armor and lounging in a throne. One hand rests lazily on the pommel of a sword, while the other is stretched out languidly along the back of the throne, casually pointing across the chamber, seemingly at nothing in particular. A thick, swirling fog obscures the ceiling far above. A series of 4 intricate reliefs decorate the walls of this magnificent chamber. Numerous small items: coins, jewelry, statuettes, and other small objects litter the statue’s rune-carved pedestal.

As we approach, thick mist swirls upon the reliefs, animating them strangely. I take rubbings of everything:

Relief #1: This relief shows Amsophar at a great battle fighting twisted creatures of chaos against impossible odds.

Relief #2: This relief shows Amsophar avenging the death of Icosiel, striking down a terrible robed figure wielding an orb that seems to destroy anything it touches.

Relief #3: This relief shows Amsophar wielding a long rod or staff against a tremendous form of writhing darkness and horror. Amsophar triumphs, but his staff shatters into 7 pieces, and he collapses to his knees.

Relief #4: This panel shows Amsophar being struck down by a hideous creature with the body of a great spider and the head of a wolf. The creature appears to sneak up behind him and strike while Amsophar is recovering from an earlier battle.

We eventually discover that with a bit of elbow grease, the statue rotates counter-clockwise. Each rotation seems to point the sword at a doorway. We rotate it one click, and the stone panel of the relevant door slides into the ceiling revealing a small chamber beyond. Simultaneously, a booming voice erupts from the statue and Order's Wrath washes harmlessly over the party. Then, the mist on the ceiling coalesces into 4 Belkars that descend on us menacingly...

We brace for impact and Sarek kicks things off with a fireball. With 31E's help, we destroy the Belkars. Xicar the Wanderer checks the rubble and finds:

an emerald worth 1000 gp!

At the back of the small chamber we discovered, we see a serious of identical runes. One is missing. It matches the "Wind" plate we have, so we place it in the empty slot. Nothing happens.

We rotate the statue another click. This the floor of this small chamber is 20 feet below the level of the main room. It has what looks like a small passageway at the bottom, on the far wall. I volunteer to check it for traps. I borrow Nineve's ring of Featherfall and jump down... only to fall UP! Apparently, I've triggered a Reverse Gravity trap! I fall up 80 feet (luckily taking no damage, thanks to Nineve)! Eventually my companions drop a rope up to me and pull me down out of the trap.

We rotate the state again and find another small chamber with a missing rune. We slot in the "Thunder" plate and nothing nasty happens to us.

We rotate the statue another click and reveal a tubular elevator down. We're not quite ready to leave the main chamber yet, so we decide to come back to this one.

The next rotation reveals just an empty room. I step inside to look for a secret door or something, and the panel slams shut! Yelling through the wall, Nineve tells me that as the door closed, the statue rotated forward two clicks! They can't move it back - they'll have to go all the way around again. About this time I realize the ceiling in my little death chamber is getting lower and lower...

Everybody struggles to turn the statue back around in time. A fair bit of fumbling occurs. When the door opens again, I have to roll out into the central chamber - I was flat on my belly with about 5 inches from floor to ceiling! Casting a sardonic gaze over the three puny men, I advise my companions against the "Ceiling Trap of Doom" weight-loss plan.

The next two chambers are more rune puzzles. We slot in the appropriate runes and move on.

The last chamber is a hole. Just a hole straight down. There is a little bit of debate, but Nineve's unnatural fear of elevators wins out and we descend down the pit instead. At the bottom, the pit opens up into a beautiful arrow-shaped room. Elegant marble columns and statuary grace the chamber, along with a bunch of Wind Warriors who promptly try to kill us. We fight our way tooth and nail through the whole mess of them, covering the previously-pristine chamber with blood (ours) and bits of ceramic armor (theirs). Xicar the Wanderer pokes through the debris and finds some Oil of Greater Magic Weapon +5! Then, we use my trusty troll gut grappling hook rope to get the hell outta Dodge.

~Ashe

Episode 22: 11/14/09

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/4-3
Nineve, human knight/7
Xicar, human cleric/7
Haroldur, human wizard 3/cleric 4
Sarek, human wizard 7

We burn Akasha on the cart she rode in on. Mossad takes one last look at her garlic-stuffed, disembodied head before tossing it on the pyre. That evening, Mossad mostly keeps to himself as Arrad pals around with the Legionnaires. We camp for the night in the relative safety of our fortifications.

In the morning, Mossad pokes through the ashes and fishes out a ring, which he tosses to Sarek. He puts the ashes in some urns, and then gives us each one. We scatter Akasha's remains to the four winds while Mossad says a prayer for the departed foe. Afterwards we break camp and head back to the Cabal; a journey of about a week. Along the way, we gain from our experiences and receive some special training from Arrad! As we travel, we finally get around to giving Mossad and Arrad our full report on the Blackwall Keep mission.

We settle in to life at the Cabal, but rumors of trouble in Diamond Lake pique our interest. We soon decide that the time is right for us to go after 31E. We remember that we'll need a Repair spell to attach the new leg to 31E, but those are hard to come by. After a bit of research we learn of a shop, called Stonebones, which might sell such a thing.

We make our way to the Cogs, a bustling foreigner's marketplace that is out of the way and off the radar for most of Istivin's inhabitants. We locate the curio shop and are somewhat surprised to find it is run by Stonebones, a Xorn. He is hesitant to deal with us at first, and things get off to a rocky start when Sarek spots a suspicious-looking amalgam of body parts in the Xorn's workshop. Officially, this is something we should definitely investigate, but it's clear that Stonebones won't deal with us if we give him any trouble. Things get a little heated, but we decide to turn a blind eye here for the sake of rescuing 31E. Stonebones is still uncertain about us, but the "irresistible aroma" of our gems gets the better of him and he agrees to sell us some Repair scrolls. While Stonebones is rummaging around for the scrolls, I spot a disembodied troll hand in a small cage among the jumbled piles of trinkets and treasures. I've been casually looking for just such a thing, in the hopes of combining it with my troll gut rope to make a troll hand grappling hook! I must have it. It costs me a few "delicious" rubies from my personal stash, but I eventually convince Stonebones to let me have it. Thrilled, I attach the hand to the rope and it flips me off immediately. I love it!

That evening, back at the Cabal, we are stunned to be summoned to meet with the Canoness. None of us has met with her since we were inducted as Greycloaks. No one meets with her!

Canoness Embiril Ilustani receives us in her large and richly appointed office. A cheery blaze in the hearth casts dancing shadows about the chamber. Draped in luxuriously embroidered silks and velvets, the elderly Canoness is still more graceful and charming than most women half her age (whatever that may be). Her eyes seem to shift color constantly. She chats with us in a relaxed manner that speaks of her absolute supremacy.

She informs us that since Ironbriar's imprisonment, Marten has been appointed as an Interim Justice for the district. This doesn't surprise me at all, since I've always thought Marten was a power-hungry snake. However, his appointment has elevated the Cabal's status and influence somewhat. Canoness Ilustani goes on to say that due to Marten's new post, the Ruby Temple has a more direct influence over Ironbriar's fate. She asks us to submit a recommendation on this matter. This type of thing is quite a bit above our pay grade, and we're all rather stunned, but of course we agree. After a few more minutes of small talk, she replaces our Greycloaks with Traveling Greycloaks, in recognition of our service to the Cabal. We are deeply honored to be rewarded by the Canoness herself, but we leave her chambers uneasy with the weight of our task to provide a recommendation.

Legally, Ironbriar has earned death as a punishment for his crimes ten times over. However, it seems evident that he was under Akasha's direct control for many months, and was merely carrying out her wishes when he committed his crimes. On the other hand, as Sarek repeatedly points out, it was Ironbriar who actually, physically performed these acts. But if a person is not in control of their own mind, if their will is not their own, can they be held completely and solely responsible for their actions? We weighed the arguments and it was obvious that we were getting nowhere. We decided to seek out help.

We approach Hezzrak and ask him to cast Commune. In the end, though, we decide we can't trust Hezzrak's Commune because we don't know who he's communing with! It doesn't help that when asked, the imp becomes evasive on that point... We ask him to cast Augury for us as well, but both courses of action (leniency and death) return a divination of "Weal and Woe". Those damned Divination spells never clear anything up! Desperate, we consult with Advocat and find there are some precedents for leniency in these types of cases. At length, we turn in our well-written missive to Mossad recommending leniency for Ironbriar based on evidence, the circumstances surrounding this case, and the historical precedents.

As we prepare to leave for Diamond Lake, we find Tamklar ready to depart with us. No caravans have come from the Diamond Lake area in weeks, and he is anxious to see for himself what has happened in his home region. We're happy to have him along.

A day or two into our journey by carriage, Zolara appears and offers us a reading:

The Choosing:

Nineve - The Avalanche
Sarek - The Juggler
Ashe - The Crows
Xicar - The Cricket

The Spread:

The Paladin The Keep The Dance
The Beating The Avalanche The Joke
The Juggler The Tyrant The Tangled Brier

"Regarding the past, The Paladin is strength through adversity - he does not back down under any circumstances, much like you all. The Beating shows an attack from all sides. You may have survived, but something was lost, perhaps trust. Misaligned, The Juggler has faltered in the past, and a great disaster followed.

In the present, The Keep represents all of you, your quiet strength that cannot by shaken by any force. The Avalanche shows me the chaos and suffering that arises from an unthinking crowd, though it may be averted. The Tyrant is a blight on those ruled. In this case, I see a true dragon, though his rule is felt through the actions of another - one you are familiar with, I think.

The Dance represents the rich and delicate framework in which we all exist. Knowing your place and seeing the patterns will allow you to remain in perfect step. The Joke shows us a terror overcome through trickery or wit - not force. The Tangled Brier is a card of past deeds - it tells of a lost object or person who may still influence the present day."

In a few days we arrive at the outskirts of town. We are "greeted" by a gang of thugs in tattered red cloaks who try to extort us for a "toll". Nineve convinces them that they should look elsewhere if it's easy money they're after.

We round a corner and gasp as we catch sight of what used to be Diamond Lake. It's been largely leveled. We interrupt a town gathering of sorts that appears to be some kind of lottery. Officiating it all is Balabar Smenk. Dressed in faded, tatty finery with a tin crown on his head, he is a far cry from the smooth and powerful crime boss he once was. The town is crawling with his lackeys - the thugs in the tattered red cloaks. After some quick inquiries, we find out what happened.

A huge red dragon attacked Diamond Lake. (We deduce that it was probably the same dragon that leveled Blackwall Keep). The dragon still holds the town. In the wake of the destruction, Balabar stepped in to fill the power vacuum, acting as the dragon's envoy. He and his lackeys hang out on the Harkness, and collect what valuables can be had from the scavenging survivors. About once a week Balabar sends an "offering" of goods and people to the dragon, as payment/incentive for not continuing to raze the town. The people who are to be fed to the dragon are selected through a lottery, which is currently in progress.

Some of the citizens of Diamond Lake recognize us, and beg us to save them once again from their cruel fate. However, our presence is enough to distract Balabar for the moment. He focuses on us and leaves the lottery unsettled for the time being. An excited and desperate-sounding Balabar invites us to dine with him that evening. We wearily accept. Balabar rushes off to make preparations, and in the meantime, we make some inquiries. We are looking for Lazare. We determine that he left town a few days before the dragon attack, and may have been heading to the Whispering Cairn...

A few hours later, we meet Balabar for dinner on board the Harkness. Smenk goes on and on about the fine spread he has assembled for this repast, and from the state of the town, it must have been hard to come by indeed. We enjoy the relative delicacies he has prepared and discuss the Diamond Lake situation. Balabar approached the dragon immediately after the attack and proposed their current arrangement. The dragon's demands were that no one may leave Diamond Lake, and offerings of beautiful maidens and precious objects must be made to it at regular intervals to appease its hunger and increase its hoard. Balabar was able to keep the definitions for "beautiful maidens" and "precious objects" vague enough to satisfy these requirements with what is actually left in Diamond Lake - scraggy peasants and twisted scrap metal. Balabar is aware that he can't keep up this arrangement forever - eventually he'll run out of townsfolk - and the strain of this knowledge has taken a toll on his sanity. From atop a makeshift throne surrounded by piles of junk, he chats glibly about living like a king surrounded by finery, all without a hint of sarcasm.

Balabar talks and talks and we realize he is stalling. It soon becomes evident that he has poisoned us. He really must be crazy! We start to feel foggy and drowsy, but we manage to shake off the effects. By this time Balabar has become increasingly nervous. He realizes the poison has failed and jumps up suddenly. Before we can react, he fires a loaded crossbow at Sarek, pinning him to his chair!
Nineve fires back with a blast from her pew-pew gauntlets and the battle is on!

My old friend Kullen, the albino half-orc with a grudge against elves appears from the shadows. He calls me "Pinky" and cuts into me with his axe! Fortunately, I immediately answer with a cut of Searing Light from Captain Lorring's sword. Xicar throws down Order's Wrath, which dazes Balabar (who turns out to be BalaBARD!) Enemies pour in as the dinner party suddenly becomes a pitched battle. Balabard recovers, turns invisible, and flees.

We take a few seconds to heal up and collect ourselves and then give chase. We run around on the lashed-together decks of various boats that serve as a makeshift village on the water, fighting our way through thugs and pirates. Balabar hits me with a spell and I become confused. The rest of the battle is a blur as I alternate between staring off into space singing the Hamster Dance song and accidentally attacking my dog. My companions finish off the thugs and we continue on our chase, which has now progressed to the docks. Xicar gets shoved off the dock and narrowly avoids falling into the gar-infested waters.

We have a very tough slog through Balabar's minions - thugs, pirates and the like, before we finally manage to catch up with him at the end of the dock. He is standing next to a large, violently shaking container, looking smug. As we approach, he says "Oh, now you've made him angry. You won't like him when he's angry!" and unleashes his trained dire ape, ManBearPig, on us!

Nineve and I are on that monkey like a rat on a Cheeto. The men keep Balabard occupied while we hack ManBearPig to pieces before it can become a problem. Without his meat-shield, the mighty Balabar Smenk is easy pickings. Killing him is so easy it almost feels like an accident. Looks like we solved his dragon problem after all...

~Ashe

Episode 9: 8/2/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/2-2
Haroldur, human cleric/4
Nineve Floret, human knight/4
Sarek, human wizard/4

While we're standing there, sharing a sombre moment over the incredibly foul-smelling ghoul corpse of Ulavant, we suddenly realize we haven't contacted the Cabal since we captured Tares! We elect to inform them of our progress. Also... we're standing in a room filled with dead Seekers-turned-Ghouls, whose remains, such that they are, need to be returned to the Ruby Temple for proper interment. None of us fancies the idea of riding overland for a week on a cart with the rotting corpses of a Seeker squad. We're going to need a collection team. Sarek sends:

"Found Alastor and Ulavant. Ulavant killed, he was a ghoul.
Alastor gravely wounded, need instructions.
Need your blessing to raise dead to help finish orders."

He is answered:

"Good news about Alastor! I expect to hear your full report regarding Ulavant upon your return. What of Ulavant's Seekers? Did you find their remains?"

Sarek replies:

"Seekers were with Ulavant and were corrupted by dark magic.
All were ghouls and were destroyed. We have bodies.
What are your instructions for bodies?"

The reply:

"Will send legionaires to Diamond Lake for the remains of the Seekers. You know the rules regarding the remains of the deceased. We'll talk later."

Meanwhile, we divide the loot we've accumulated so far.
Afterwards, I investigate the large door at the far end of the chamber, and find it to be impassably locked. There is a plate bearing an ornate rune on the center of the door that looks like it must be key to opening it. I take a rubbing of the plate, as well as the available text on the walls of the chamber. In particular, there is a repeating rune which appears to be a name of some sort. Sarek and I can't quite translate it. I am sure to get a few very good examples of that.

I also find Ulavant's belongings hidden near the door. Of interest is his journal. It is obvious he couldn't translate the runes, either, but glancing through it, his story becomes clear. His team came here, convinced they would find a portal linking to another, more important, and completely undisturbed tomb. However, without a way to open this door, and with no one manning the entrance to this closed chamber, they were trapped. Hunger got to them, and they eventually degenerated into picking off unwary team members in the night and cannibalizing them. However, after a time even this plan gave out, and they gradually starved to death, only to rise as hungry undead as a result of their cannibalism. Through his madness, moments of lucid thought are evident - these pages depict a pious man in anguish over the horror of his situation. I shudder inwardly at his long, grim fate.

Anxious to turn my thoughts elsewhere, I head back to the entrance and, after several minutes of yelling, 31E finally hears me and opens the door. I show him the various rubbings, but he can't read them, either. However, when I show him the rubbing of the plate on the locked door, he says it looks a lot like a metal plate he was sent here with. He produces it, and I compare the plate to the rubbing and determine they're a match. It must be the key!

Back with the party, we decide to rest and formulate a plan. We stack the corpses of the Seekers on the pressure plate, keeping the door to the chamber open. Then, Sarek somehow convinces me to gather bombardier beetle corpses so he can raise them as zombies. This done, we return to the goo room and rest.

In the morning, Sarek and Nineve have clearly contracted ghoul fever. However, with their help, the much-improved Alastor and I finally decipher the name-rune: "Icosiel". Then, we head back to the door. When 31E puts his metal plate on the depression in the door, the portal splits in half and opens into a large, spheroid chamber.

Floating warriors clad in ceramic armor approach us, and after some confusion, they lead us on a tour of the chamber, pausing in front of a series of animated reliefs which show us the story of Icosiel and the history of their race.

The first panel depicts the Storm King race living a peaceful, idyllic existence, until monstrous creatures of darkness and terror begin to encroach upon their perfect world.

In the second panel, Storm Kings clad for war (including Zosiel) are saluting Icosiel, who has become a respected warrior and a hero to his people.

The 3rd panel depicts a major battle, where a great Storm King warrior wields the Rod of Law against the leader of the Army of Chaos. However, this use of the Rod destroys both the Storm King warrior and his opponent, and shatters the Rod into seven pieces.

In the last panel, seven Storm King leaders are each receiving a fragment of the Rod of Law amidst much ceremony. Icosiel and others look on.

Above the inactive portal is another name-rune. I can't read it, but I recognize the symbol from the story - this is the name of one of the Storm Kings who received a part of the Rod. If Ulavant's theory was correct, perhaps this portal, when active, would lead to his tomb! However, it certainly isn't doing anything (or leading anywhere) at the moment. I take a rubbing of the rune in hopes that we can somehow translate it later.

At length, we join the waiting wind-warriors at the center of the spherical room, on a platform. Stepping into the center, we are borne gently upward on a column of wind and light to a smaller chamber above. This is clearly Icosiel's burial chamber. Reliefs depicting the high points of his illustrious life adorn the walls.

As I climb the short flight of stairs to his sarcophagus, Icosiel's statue, depicting him lying in state on the lid, turns to me and instructs in Elven, "Say my name". Baffled, I blurt out, "Icosiel", and a pale blue light washes over the room. When it subsides, a seam has become clearly visible in the sarcophagus. After some discussion, we reverently lift the lid. Inside, we discover:

Icosiel's silver diadem (Circlet of Wisdom +2)
2 curved black horns with red tips (demon horns)
a pewter box inscribed with writhing alien letter forms
Lightning Sword of Icosiel (broken, but repaired somewhat)
a matching +1 shortsword

The pewter box appears to be welded shut, and it's scurrying scrawl makes us somehow uneasy. I ask Hezzrack if he can read it... he takes one look and flies backwards, refusing to look at it anymore. When pressed, the imp says that he can't quite read the writing because "it's so old", but he just knows it's very, very bad. It occurs to me that something that is too much for Hezzrack is probably extremely dangerous. Haroldur wants to leave the box here, but I convince him that since we've breached the tomb, this place is no longer secure. We can't have this thing falling into the wrong hands. We agree to take it back with us to the Ruby Temple. With a pensive glance around at my companions - the impulsive Nineve, headstrong Haroldur, sinister Sarek... I tuck the box in among my belongings for safe-keeping.

We return one last time to the goo chamber, and I take extra samples of it for analysis. We decide to head back to Diamond Lake. It takes some time, but we finally haul everything (including the bodies of Ulavant's team) up to the Cairn entrance. Fortunately, I thought ahead and purchased a cart and 2 mules to help us transport the bodies back to Diamond Lake! On the way to the cart, Hezzrack warns us that people are coming...

A haggard group of wild-eyed humans bursts out of the underbrush! As soon as the "leader" opens his mouth, it's clear they are completely insane. However, they seem to be fixated on 31E...

The battle is joined, but suddenly, some of the attackers morph into aberrations called "faceless stalkers". Spells and swords fly, and during the vicious fight, Haroldur and I fall. Just as things are looking grim, Kullen the half-orc erupts from the bushes and attacks the leader of the lunatic band! He bisects the madman, and a hail of crossbow bolts from the bushes rain down upon the aberrations. With their assistance, the battle is won.

As they are looting the corpses (which happens immediately), Kullen explains that "the boss" wants us watched, but he didn't say anything about watching us die. We thank him and his boys for their assistance. Surveying the mercenary crew, I decide I don't want them to feel I owe them anything. I pay the thugs a platinum piece each - except for one bright soul who proudly insists he won't work for less than 10 gold. I pay him in his preferred coinage. Kullen refuses my offer of payment, nodding to the loot he scavenged off the leader's corpse. As he leaves, he tosses us the madman's necklace, the:

Sihedron amulet

Haroldur and Nineve do the rites and bury the corpses, while I examine the remains of the faceless stalkers - no bodies, just a smoking, greasy black spot on the earth! I kick some dirt and debris over the residue, repulsed by the unnaturalness of it.

Our return trip to Diamond Lake is uneventful. Along the way Hezzrack fashions a crown out of leaves and twigs and proclaims himself "King of the Cart", a title no one contests.

Back in Diamond Lake, the poor quarter has developed into "Little Kolbenberg", and people gossip about us and treat us like celebrities - apparently, we've become local heroes. We make our way to the Grey Convent and lodge there. Also, we advise 31E to lay low, as the townsfolk would certainly find him very conspicuous.

In the morning, Sarek and Nineve visit the church of St. Cuthbert for healing, as they are still suffering badly from their disease. They are pressed into hard labor, and return at sundown. Meanwhile, I visit with Lazare and pick up some new chess skills. Alastor and Brolan are reunited, and set immediately to their notes. At dusk, Haroldur gives a mediocre sermon at the convent, to a small crowd.

The next morning, Sarek and Nineve are late to work at St. Cuthbert's, and no doubt pay for it with their hides. I decide to spend the day working at the Convent, and Haroldur leaves to drum up more people for his evening sermon. In town, a guard captain is erecting a makeshift gallows to execute four hobos he claims were "plotting to kill the mayor"! Haroldur investigates and concludes that the hobos are innocent and the guard captain is under some kind of magical compulsion. He starts bombastically preaching in their favor, sparking a public debate, and word of the commotion spreads through town like wildfire.

The rest of us converge on the source of the disturbance, and suddenly realize we haven't seen Hezzrack in a while... It's not a huge leap of logic to conclude that he must be behind this. Sarek starts provoking the invisible imp by calling him his "familiar", which of course elicits the usual tirade. Before things get too out of hand, I announce to Hezzrack (who is still invisible) that i spent all day yesterday learning new chess moves from Lazare, and I'll meet him back at the convent for a game, if he's interested. After a brief moment of consideration, he says "Deal!", and I lure him back to the convent while Haroldur, Sarek, and Nineve sort out the mess.

Hezzrack plays chess with me and 31E all day. In the evening, the party and I decide we need to have tighter control of Hezzrack's antics. After a heated debate over what to do, we decide to draw up a contract with him. He agrees to all the terms, though I suspect he's just vowing to be more subtle with his mischief. Devils will be devils.

The next day, Sarek and Nineve have recovered and are released from service to the church of St. Cuthbert. We visit Lazare, Alastor and Brolan, who have had time to compare notes. They tell us that they're sure the Rod depicted in the story is in fact none other than the Rod of Law, also known as the Rod of Seven Parts. This artifact is reputed to be so powerful, that throughout history, wars have been fought and kingdoms sacrificed for just a fragment of it. They also confirm my suspicion that the portal we found likely leads to the tomb of a Storm King leader who received a fragment of the Rod... and it's almost certainly completely undisturbed and may even contain the fragment! All this discussion seems to have jogged 31E's memory, and he recalls that he was sent to the Cairn initially to find this fragment or clues leading to it. Of course, the scholars are very excited by all of this.

They also tell us that to repair 31E, we'll probably need to find an artificer, but no one is sure of how we can replace his lost limbs, as he is quite advanced.

Through all of this, I get the impression that Lazare knows more than he's letting on, but I don't press him on it. After all, he's in the business of being in the know, and I imagine he won't share whatever that knowledge is on anyone else's terms.

Later that day, the Legionnaires arrive to collect the bodies of the Seekers and escort us back to Istivin, the capitol. Alastor and Brolan accompany us, along with Tamclar and his family. As we're packing to leave, Zolara appears to us and offers us a reading:

The Choosing:
Ashe - The Twin
Sarek - The Betrayal
Haroldur - The Empty Throne
Nineve - The Tyrant

The Spread:

The Winged Serpent -------The Survivor ---------- The Publican
The Empty Throne -------The Rabbit Prince -------The Crows
The Desert -----------------The Courtesan --------The Sickness

~Ashe

Episode 7: 5/24/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/1-2
Haroldur, human cleric/3
Nineve Floret, human knight/3
Sarek, human wizard/3

Zolara interprets our Harrow reading:

"Ancient secrets influence events that have brought you to this point, but hidden danger threatens as well. Strange runes guide your path. Unshakable loyalty binds inseparable companions. Someone you seek still lives, but is pinned beneath an 8-pointed star, and is held by another will entirely. Fire first and darkness after. A group, once coherent, is now lost in madness and forever waiting in the dark to share their curse."

In Diamond Lake, Brolan and Lazare become research buddies, as both are interested in the Whispering Cairn stuff. Lazare hands over his findings, along with Brolan and Sarek's interpretation of Alastor's notes:

The cairns are reputed to be the final resting places of ancient warriors known as the Storm Kings who ruled a great empire long before the Imperium. The Whispering Cairn itself is and intricate grave that is thousands of years old.

All of the known Cairns share a similar architecture: wide, tall corridors constructed from strange white stone blocks of massive size leading to a central tomb chamber. These cairns have long ago been throughly looted, and whatever defenses were once in place have been defeated. However, local legends persist, insisting that unexplored chambers with undiscovered treasures from a bygone era remain hidden within the cairns, awaiting someone clever or brave enough to claim them.

The Whispering Cairn itself is one of the larger tombs, known locally for the eerie sounds that whisper within the entrance and corridor of the cairn. It has gained a sinister reputation around Diamond Lake, with many claiming that it is haunted or filled with still active, deadly traps. The last recorded expedition to the Whispering Cairn was some 60 years ago, lead by Ulavant.

Alastor had been studying Ulavant's notes for several years during his retirement in Kolbenburg, and learned several things of great interest. Through his research, Ulavant had come to believe that the Storm Kings had gone to great lengths to hide the tombs of their fallen warriors. Most warriors were interred in tombs with several false burial chambers and dead ends to mislead would-be tomb robbers. The truly important tombs of their greatest warriors were concealed so well that none have ever been found. Ulavant believed that some of the more prominent Storm King tombs were linked to these important tombs, providing the only means of access. Ulavant theorized that the true burial chamber within the lesser tomb also contained whatever method the Storm Kings used to link the tombs together, most likely some variety of portal.

Moreover, Ulavant had come to be convinced that the tomb known locally as the Whispering Cairn was one of these lesser tombs linked to a greater burial site. The prospect of locating one of these greater tombs, un-plundered for countless years became an obsession for both Ulavant and Alastor.

Lazare asks us to please pass along any additional information we find on our expedition to the Cairn. I agree to take judicious notes.

Haroldur shops around and acquires a butler's outfit for his new thrall, whom he fusses over and calls "Jeeves". I purchase 3 horses for the party, and food. We make preparations to head out, but Nineve seems to have contracted ghoul fever. Haroldur does what he can for her.

On the way out of town, Hezzrak tells us not to trust Lazare, and that he threatened to eat him! I ask dryly if that was a telepathic threat. Hezzrak says he's surprised I didn't hear Lazare, because he sure did... I tell Hezzrak that I bet he hears a lot of things that I don't.

We hit bad weather on the way, but eventually make it to the Whispering Cairn without incident, even though we are now deep in ogre country. Nineve is clearly ill with ghoul fever, but insists we press on. It's been drizzling all day and we arrive at the Cairn just before nightfall. I find a secluded copse to tether our horses, and we move into the cave-like entrance of the Cairn. Once inside, I realize this is a mistake, as we are clearly in the ogre's lair. With nowhere else to go, we continue into the Cairn, scaling the makeshift barrier of logs and detritus that blocks the passage.

From farther down the corridor we can hear angry, inarticulate roaring. It sounds as if the creature is chained in some way. Since it isn't an immediate threat, I spend a few minutes to look around while the rest of my companions struggle to surmount the pile of logs. I find a green leather quiver and 4 usable arrows among the refuse littering the floor, clearly the work of my people. Just as Nineve makes it over the logs, the wailing creature breaks free and comes barreling around the corner.

A degenerate ogre stands before us, it's milky blind eyes rolling in their sockets as python-thick arms shake with rage. Nineve and I rush in to meet the new threat. The rest of the party joins in as they scramble over the obstacle. At the beginning of combats, the Hidden Truth appears to me, and I am granted extra insight about our foe. The only insight I need, however, is the fact that this particular degenerate ogre is suddenly, inexplicably seized with a fit of allergies, and we beat it down quickly. At the end of combats, Haroldur receives the vision of the Wanderer, and finds value others may have overlooked. This time, he finds a magic buckler.

Soon, a pair of ogres enter the Cairn and lumber into view. Hezzrak suggests the larger ogre is the star of the metropolitan ballet. Thus distracted, we defeat his companion easily. However, the would-be ballerina proves more challenging. Just before he knocks me out, he impales Nineve on his massive bailing hook! Fortunately, we pull through. Just as we're healing up, Haroldur gets shot in the back - it's Zasalamel!

He again begins listing off crimes we don't recognize, except "consorting with devils", which Hezzrak takes exception to. In response, Hezzrak blasts a Scorching Ray into Zasalamel's chest. Jeeves the butler ghoul is utterly destroyed, much to Haroldur's dismay. At length, Sarek exploits a loophole in the fabric of the multiverse and banishes the Justice Archon with a darkbolt, blasting him into the past (or is it the future?). Haroldur carefully retrieves the butler outfit.

We turn our attentions back to the degenerate ogre. We find he was chained to a mysterious stone object. Upon closer inspection, we determine it was part of a transportation apparatus, and is covered with mysterious ancient runes. I take rubbings of the runes to show Lazare, Brolan, and the Cabal later. Sarek is fairly certain the base of the sculpture bears the name "Zosiel".

Moving on, we find ogre-vandalized mosaics and bas-reliefs surrounding a marble dais. Haroldur cleans them off with a Create Water. While Haroldur is washing the walls, I search the disgusting ogre bedchamber opposite the marble dais area. I find:

a marble index finger from a statue
an elven armband
a lantern with violet glass panes
9gp
15sp
assorted ancient clockwork pieces

Once the mosaic is clean, I make a detailed sketch of it for posterity.

Continuing down the stairs, we enter a large central chamber with several passageways branching off from it radially. The passageways are distinguished by different colored lanterns. In the blue lantern hallway, we find a skeleton. I determine he died from falling damage.

The center of the room contains a sarcophagus. The marble finger i found earlier clearly was at one time attached to the sculpture. It is wearing an ornamented disc around its neck, and I take a rubbing of it. Then, we carefully open the lid of the sarcophagus. A blast of wind knocks us back and coalesces into a whirlwind humanoid shape, which of course attacks us. Nineve lands the killing blow, to Hezzrak's infinite frustration, and the creature dissipates.

Closer inspection of the sarcophagus reveals that it appears to rotate. We rotate it one position (to the yellow passageway), and an elevator appears! We enter it after some ridiculous "safety" debate with Head-Injury Nineve, and take a ride down to a new chamber. More carvings cover the walls. At the end of the hallway, a faint light flickers. As we advance towards the light, we smell the odor of burning flesh. Soon, we notice the source of light - a burning corpse which rises from its resting place and advances on us menacingly.

Nineve receives the vision of the Rakshasa, and feels more resilient and willful. With the distance closed, we notice the foe is actually a smoldering body bearing the 8-pointed star of the Seekers of Wee Jas. The body appears to be being controlled by a flaming effigy. Haroldur separates the effigy from its victim, and Hezzrak finally lands the killing blow, after several misses.

We heal up the charred (but living) body and find that he's Alastor Land! After a brief explanation, we take him with us.

The next room contains a brown mold, which Sarek dispatches. Hezzrak is perched atop one of several clockwork horrors, which appear to be inactive. In the center of the room is a large gray fixture with fountains on either side - one flowing with water and the other an orange sludge, which I determine to be nutritive. I take a vial of it for further analysis. Suddenly, the clockwork horrors spring to life, startling Hezzrak.

They start making high-pitched whirring noises, and then unleash a barrage of electrical attacks! The horrific beetle-like robots attack with deadly accuracy, slinging darts, arcs of electricity, and buzzing circular saws. Ash falls under the weight of a particularly well-placed dart. Hezzrak rains corrosive acid on them from above as the rest of the party hacks away at their tough metal exteriors.

At length, they fall to our might. With the aid of the Wanderer, Haroldur finds a golden amulet and some magical oil. We are all feeling stronger from our experiences and decide to rest in this chamber before continuing on.

~Ashe

Episode 6: 5/10/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger-rogue/1-2
Haroldur, human cleric/3
Nineve Floret, human knight/3
Sarek, human wizard/3

Zolara interprets our Harrow reading:

"Expect to find a hidden place of despair in a location you have previously cleansed. A great many have suffered and been lost there. In the near future, there will be a journey, which will go smoothly. At the end of the journey, betrayal and a great test await you."

Tamklar and his family accompany us to Diamond Lake, along with Brolan, of course, and the trip passes uneventfully. The crew isn't happy about Hezzrak's presence, but they don't put up too much of a fuss. We arrive in Diamond Lake in the early morning, and the soldiers crewing for us return to the barracks. We make our way to the Grey Convent, and find it much improved. Yril, Aodra and Tares, the new acolytes, greet us, and we compliment them on their diligent work. Yril tells us that the townsfolk are afraid of body-snatching rumors circulating in the poor quarter (which in Diamond Lake is more like the poor three-quarters). Fearing the worst, they went to the observatory and found it infested with more zombies, but it was much more than they could handle by themselves. I swear that we will stop the zombie apocalypse, and we head off to visit our friend Lazare. Brolan agrees to stay at the Grey Convent for the time being.

On the way to Lazare's, Kullen and some of his thugs approach us and ask our business. We explain we've finished our investigation in Kolbenberg and are merely passing back through Diamond Lake. We promise to mind our own business and be out of Smenk's hair as soon as possible. Thus assured, Kullen and his boys saunter off, but keep a wary eye on us.

We visit Lazare, who greets us warmly, as usual. We tell him of our adventures in Kolbenberg, which takes the better part of midday, and eventually get around to asking him about the Whispering Cairn. He agrees to consult his extensive library and do a bit of research, for the usual fee. We can return tomorrow to find out what he's turned up.

The rest of the day is spent buying and selling. Haroldur barters with the church of Heironeus (the turncoat!) to turn his admittedly cool-looking ancient armor into +1 full plate. I get a cleric (NOT a Heironeus pig-cleric!) to cast Make Whole on Zasolomel's mantle, and it looks much better now (and functions as +1 mithral chain! FTW!).

I have the opportunity to ask Tamklar what he's doing with us. Scratching at his slowly regrowing stubble, he tells me that for weeks he prayed to Moradin for deliverance and his wife's recovery, but his pleas fell upon deaf ears. In his opinion, it was Wee Jas who heard his prayers and answered them, and he's willing to follow her (and subsequently us) from now on. Dwarves can be so single-minded! Why is everything always a life-debt with them?!? I play devil's advocate and present the idea that perhaps Moradin works in mysterious ways (which neither of us is really buying). Ultimately I tell him that neither we nor Wee Jas demand or expect his allegiance - the Lady is never jealous for converts, as all come to know her eventually. That's one of the advantages of being a death Goddess, I suppose. However, if he's made up his mind (and he assures me he has), I offer to make accommodations for him and his family while they travel with us. He seems relieved. I remember that Tamklar is a professional miner, so I introduce him to Lazare. In no time, the two of them are eagerly discussing the progress on Lazare's mine... they seem to be getting along swimmingly. It occurs to me that pairing Tamklar's expertise and dwarven sensibility with Lazare's business sense might create some SERIOUS problems for Balabar Smenk, and I smile inwardly. At any rate, Lazare insists that Tamklar and his family lodge with him and enjoy his hospitality, so I eventually make my exit...

The next day, we head off to the observatory to deal with the undead menace. On the road near the observatory, we find 3 ghouls stuffing a body down a well! Hezzrak shrieks loudly, waring them of our approach (gee, thanks). We exterminate them with extreme prejudice and collapse the well where they came from, since it appears the residents of the nearby farmhouse will no longer be needing it... During the battle, Haroldur acquires a zombie aid to replace One-Eye, who bravely (and mindlessly) sacrificed himself for the greater good in the battle with Snapper, the skeletal dragon. We figure collapsing the well counts as "burial", so we say some rites and move on.

We proceed to the observatory and find it is indeed infested with zombies. As the battle is joined, Nineve receives a vision of the Brass Dwarf, and is immune to paralysis for this encounter! Overconfident, Nineve charges past the zombies and into a ghast ambush! Inexplicably, Sarek runs after her, begging her not to kill it! Soon, the rest of us are surrounded by zombies. Just as we're getting stuck in, a wrackspawn emerges from the top of the observatory, joining the fray. The undead remains of a person who died from torture, their sole aim is to inflict their dying agony upon the living! Fortunately, Sarek manages to gain mental control of the tormented creature. The battle is pitched and Nineve's horse is slain, but we eventually prevail, and an eerie silence falls on the area like a thick fog as we inter the bodies. Nineve insists on burying what's left of her horse... it's not much.

We rally and enter the observatory, where we are suddenly assaulted by a horrible, eldrich stench. Hezzrak scouts ahead for us and returns to inform us that the smell is caused by a bunch of maggots. He then begins extolling the epicurean virtues of maggots... Before we have time to retch at his description, the maggots surge down the hall, swarming over us and eating our sweet, tender flesh! Haroldur reacts quickly, unleashing waves of negative energy and vanquishing the swarm.

We press on and discover another maggot swarm emerging from a trap door. Haroldur again detonates the swarm with waves of negative energy.

The trapdoor leads down to a stone basement. Shelves of recently used, grimy, rusty surgical equipment line the walls. Groans and shrieks emanate from behind barred wooden doors to the wretched cells that line the chamber. Suddenly, a Necrosis Carnax, a hideous amalgam of flesh and iron bands lurches towards us from an operating table as we approach. A vision of the Survivor appears to me at the beginning of the fight, and I feel my fortitude enhanced! The Necrosis Carnax emits a wail of despair, and is joined by zombies from the cells deeper in the basement as we dive into combat. I leap onto a table and lay about with my new +1 shortsword, Anir, Hand of Dusk. Soon, I am surrounded by the zombie horde. Sarek wrests mental control of a zombie just as another wrackspawn erupts from a cell and into the fight. We narrowly prevail, and afterwards, we make the rather uncharacteristic decision to retreat back to town for a wand of healing, as we're all quite worse for the wear.

While we're shopping, Tares runs into us and inquires about our expedition. He chats nervously with us and I glare at him for making small talk while I'm picking up dropped pieces of my liver. At last we acquire the wand, heal up, and head back out to the observatory.

In one of the basement's cells, we find a badly mutilated but still living captive. We heal it a little, but despite our efforts it is still unable to communicate. I ask Hezzrak to telepathically communicate with it to determine who committed such atrocities. However, the captive's mind is completely shattered from the torments. Hezzrak begs us to let him keep it as a pet, and that's enough to convince me - I promptly coup de grace the captive, putting it out of its misery.

Further investigation of the cells reveals a hidden door, thanks to my superior elf senses. We go inside and discover an entirely new horrible, disgusting odor. This day has been an olfactory tour-de-force, it seems. The room is filled with an acidic-smelling, slightly volatile, probably flammable vapor. 3 acid zombies, like the ones Filge the narcissistic necromancer kept as "pets", guard the chamber. As we're taking in the scene, the vaporous form of a hundred shifiting faces coalesces and addresses us - a quell. It seems to have mistaken us for its apprentice. When he realizes that we're not the Wee Jasians he's looking for, insults are exchanged and the battle is swiftly joined.

The quell takes a shine to Sarek, and assaults his mind with dark whisperings, dazing him. Simultaneously, Sarek receives a vision of the Sickness, and feels suddenly stronger and more healthy...

The quell's undying hatred for all things divine severs Haroldur's connection to Wee Jas! The fight is dire, and the quell seems to focus on the cleric. It takes him down and starts eating his brain, but Sarek's wand of magic missiles and Nineve's might finally take it down. Just then, we notice Hezzrak has an evil gleam in his eye, and his finger glowing with a pent-up Scorching Ray.... We leap from the chamber just in time to avoid obliteration as fire is introduced to the volatile vapor with explosive results. The chamber blows up behind us. In the settling dust, we hear the tower creaking unstably, so we beat a hasty retreat outside as the observatory collapses around us.

Just outside the observatory, on what I'd previously dubbed the "Zombie Lawn", Tares the acolyte confronts us, accompanied by 3 warriors. He explains that he can't let us live now that we have destroyed the fountain of knowledge from which he so greedily drank. Steel is drawn, and the battle is joined.

Hezzrak makes a Suggestion to one of the guards that he dance until he can't dance anymore... the deadly cha-cha begins. The bard-guard provides his own accompaniment, singing the greatest dance hits of all time - a strange yet amusing aural backdrop for the present circumstances.

Haroldur receives a vision of the Teamster and feels charged up and ready to go. Just as we're getting our groove on, a rogue emerges from the trees and attacks Nineve! I declare a rogue fight, and run over to show her how it's really done.

This fight is a rollicking good time, and we eventually beat Tares into submission. We capture him and will take him to be prosecuted at the Ruby Temple in the capitol for his illegal, unsanctioned practice of necromancy. (Also: insubordination, assaulting a superior officer of the church, and general sniveling.) The singing, dancing warrior surrenders to us, swearing off fighting forever as he explains that he suddenly feels a calling to be a bard. We let him go - after all, he was pretty good...

We clean up, interring the bodies and saying the rites. Even though we treat the collapsed observatory as a mass grave, the ground is still littered with fresh burial sites when we are finally finished.

Sarek sends an update to the Cabal:

Tares was under control of a quell, practicing unsanctioned necromancy.
We have him captured, a little worse for wear.
Please advise.

They reply:

Will send Legionnaires with your supplies to escort him to the Cabal for trial.
Good Work.

We return to town victorious, and stop in to see what Lazare has turned up. He says it was a bit hard to find, but the Whispering Cairn is the site of a very old burial tomb from before the Age of the Imperium, and it has been thoroughly looted. Always prepared, he provides us with a map before we can even ask. Uncharacteristically, Lazare is unfriendly towards Hezzrak and refuses to play chess with him. Hezzrak gets really irritated, but they seem to have some sort of wizard stare-off, and the imp backs down and leaves in a huff. I'm intrigued and want to ask Lazare what that little scene was all about, but I decide against bringing it up.

We return to the Convent to explain to Yril and Aodra about Tares - they're understandably shocked. Upon examining Tares's things, we dicover the rest of Filge's missing notes, along with Tares's progress in that vein. Apparently, both were "learning" from the quell, with Tares picking up where Filge left off.

3 days later, Diamond Lake is abuzz as the Legionnaires arrive to deliver our goods and take Tares into custody. We also hand over the notes and other evidence we found among Tares's things. We receive:

4 grey and red Cloaks of Protection +1
a Heward's Handy Haversack
2 scrolls of sending
8 potions of CMW
2 new changes of clothes (each)
20 MW crossbow bolts
20 MW arrows

After the Legionnaires depart and things settle down, we prepare to head off to the Whispering Cairn. Zolara again appears and offers us another reading:

The Choosing:
Ashe - The Hidden Truth
Sarek - The Snakebite
Haroldur - The Wanderer
Nineve - The Rakshasa

The Spread:

The Betrayal ------------The Mute Hag ---- -The Queen Mother
The Hidden Truth -------The Bear -----------The Uprising
The Inquisitor-----------The Rakshasa ------The Lost

~Ashe

Episode 2: 2/2/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger/1
Haroldur, human cleric/1
Sigmund Gorn, dwarf fighter/1
Nineve Floret, human knight/1
Sarek, human wizard/1

After the fight at the docks, we headed back to the inn for some much-needed rest and refreshment. During the evening, I spent some time in the bar gathering some information on our destination, Kolbenberg. News wasn't hard to come by. Apparently, it had recently been sacked by goblins, and Diamond Lake has been choked with its refugees. Of course, I'd noticed a lot of destitute-looking people around the city, but I just assumed they were displaced fishermen or miners who'd fallen on hard times. At any rate, it seems the reports of goblin and orc activity we'd heard about back in Hookhill were accurate.

The next day, we received another sending from the Ruby Temple:
Retake Harkness.
Acolytes should reach Diamond Lake in 3 days.
Remain in Diamond Lake until then.
Locate the missing bodies from the graveyard.

Seems simple enough. As we were eating breakfast, a messenger arrived, bidding us meet with Lazare at our earliest convenience, so we finished our simple but tasty fare and headed over to his place. As always, he greeted us cordially and invited us to his private meeting room in the back. Earlier, we had offered to help him in his struggle against Balabar Smenk, but we made it clear that any assistance we could provide would have to be on the up-and-up. After some consideration, he'd thought of a way we could help him.

Lazare came to Diamond Lake and bought the mine from Balabar Smenk. Lazare made a down payment, and agreed to pay the remainder of the sum in monthly installments out of the mine's profits. However, Lazare's miners keep getting bought off or chased off the job - by Smenk's men! Lazare suspects Smenk plans to thusly bankrupt him, which would force Lazare to turn the mine back over to Smenk, who would also get to keep all of the money Lazare has given him so far. It was a pretty clever scheme, actually, but of course Lazare was very frustrated by the whole situation.

He asked us to recruit miners for him. We could find them in the town or outlying areas, or we could buy them out from Smenk, whichever we preferred. He also wanted us to find a way to keep the miners actually working in the mine, and prevent them from being bought off or chased off. In return, we asked him to look into Smenk's possession of the Harkness's title. We're sure he obtained it illegally, but without proof, there's nothing we can do to get it back. Thus agreed, we left Lazare's and set about the tasks at hand.

Sarek, Nineve and Haroldur paid a visit to the Church of St. Cuthbert (of all places!) as it seemed to be the congregating place for a majority of the itinerants. Like any sane Greycloak, I refuse to deal with Cuthbertites as a matter of course, unless strictly necessary. The animosity that church shows towards our organization is not easily forgotten. Instead, Sigmund and I went to speak to the local garrison commander.

At St. Cuthbert's, Sarek and the others indeed found a great deal of refugees and poor folk, which were being herded between menial tasks by low-level acolytes. In the center of the commotion was the priest, a stocky, barrel-chested man stripped to the waist and flogging himself (and others) with a lash while bellowing Cuthbertine dogma. While representatives of the churches of St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas don't normally cooperate, this priest seemed rather fixated on the "labor" aspect of Cuthbert, and was pleased to have a new task at which to set some of his flock. He agreed to recruit some healthy workers and have them report for duty tomorrow, provided they understand they are to return to his church in the evenings.

Meanwhile, at the garrison, Sigmund and I met with Toliver Trask, the garrison commander. He seemed very busy and generally frustrated about his garrison being undermanned. He agreed to ask if any of the guards would be interested in freelance guard work for Lazare's miners - in their off-time, of course. I asked him why he hadn't sent any men to Kolbenberg, and he launched into a rant about being spread too thin and how his hands were being tied by bureaucrats in the capitol who kept denying his requests for more recruits... I decided I might not have caught him at the best time...

We all met back up in town, and decided to spread out and tackle some more tasks. While we had secured unskilled labor and guards for Lazare, we had yet to find him some actual miners. I nosed around a bit and found a hangout popular with Smenk's miners. Sigmund accompanied me to do a little recruiting.

The bar was dark and noisy, and a large group of about 40 miners were raucously drinking away their earnings. I strode up to the largest table and had their attention in no time. Deep in their cups, many of the miners took my offer of employment as an offer of a different sort, but a flash of gold coin and a stern look from Sigmund kept them mostly under control. At length, I made the details of the wage and signing bonus clear to them, and informed them that, unfortunately, there were only 12 managerial positions available, so interested parties should arrive at Lazare's mine tomorrow morning early for interviews. Mission accomplished, Sigmund and I headed back to the Able Carter Inn.

In the meantime, Sarek, Nineve, and Haroldur were looking for information about where the stolen corpses were ending up. They went to the jail, and fortunately, the 2 grave robbers we'd apprehended earlier were still there. Sarek bails them out and charms one of them, who tells them everything they need to know. Unfortunately, the other grave robber escaped, but Sarek's new best friend tells him where the escapee lives. According to the charmed grave robber, Morovin, one of Cullen's lieutenants, is the one who gets the bodies from the grave robbing crews. Morovin is noted for being extremely rude, wearing a flashy red cape, and hanging out at the Emporium. Having gleaned all the useful information from the knave, Nineve moved to restrain him. She missed and he took off running, but Sarek eventually caught up with him thanks to his superior stamina. They beat him unconscious and eventually managed to tie a noose and hang him in the Greymere Convent's graveyard for his crimes.

The next morning, we met Lazare outside his mine, and found our efforts have paid off. Guards, experienced miners, and laborers were all there, ready to begin work. Lazare couldn't have been happier. After ensuring that everything was satisfactory, we headed over to the Emporium to have a word with Morovin.

The Emporium is a combination freak show, tavern, gambling house, and brothel. Nearly any sort of illicit entertainment can be found within its walls, but despite its reputation, the Emporium's proprietress is known not to tolerate any brawls or violence in her establishment. Sarek charmed the bartender and learned that Morovin was upstairs sleeping off a hangover in room 5. We bluffed our way past the half-orc guard and climbed the steps to the rooms. Nineve and I knocked on Morovin's door and tried to bluff our way in by claiming to be a present from his friend (the late grave robber). Unfortunately, he called our bluff, and when he flung the door open, we had a fight on our hands. Luckily, we subdued him quickly and managed to sneak him out the kitchen in the back.

We took him to the Greymere Convent and I tied him up. Once he regained consciousness, the others interrogated him. I find interrogations rather unpleasant, so while that was happening, I went out to bury the grave robber that was hanged earlier. Unfortunately, I find his body has been removed - and probably consumed, judging by the tracks of about 5 ghouls in the vicinity of the gnawed-off noose.

The interrogation reveals that the bodies are ultimately going to Filge, a necromancer who recently moved into the Observatory outside of town. Morovin is then hung for his crimes. We decided to inter him immediately, as leaving him hanging there would likely violate my strict "no ghoul-feeding" policy. We were just finishing the process when we were set upon by ghouls once again!

They managed to sneak up fairly close to us while we were performing the funerary rites, and they were almost on top of us before we noticed them. The ghouls rushed in and paralyzed Nineve immediately. Haroldur managed to rebuke one ghoul, but we're forced to fight the other four. Fortunately, between Sarek, Sigmund and I, we manage to dispatch them all without much trouble. After the scuffle, we return to the inn for the evening. I tried to dig up some information on Filge the neighborhood necromancer, but it seems he's quite the shut-in as no one knows anything about him except that he lives in the observatory. We decide to pay Filge a visit in the morning.

On the morning of the next day, the acolytes finally arrive from Hookhill, and they brought with them a care package from the Cabal! We received:

4 scrolls of CLW
5 potions of CLW
2 MW longswords
1 MW Dwarven Waraxe
1 MW crossbow
20 MW bolts
20 MW arrows
2 vials of antitoxin
2 vials of acid
2 vials of alchemist's fire
2 scrolls of Sending
1 scroll of Ray of Enfeeblement
1 scroll of Shield of Faith
1 scroll of Divine Favor
3 vials of holy water
and new clothes for everyone

It's always nice to know the Cabal is looking out for us. We get kitted up and head out to raid the observatory.

About five minutes' walk outside Diamond Lake, on a bluff overlooking an abandoned mine, we found a crumbling old observatory. We entered through a side door and heard scratchings and cries for help from emanating from a tool shed attached to the main building. We opened the door expecting starving prisoners... and were met with a 2 ghoul ambush instead! We make short work of them and continue into the main building. The next room was in total disarray, making it very hard to navigate. At the far end, skeleton archers were set up to fire on intruders from behind a makeshift barricade - it seems Filge doesn't want company. After dealing with that little unpleasantness, we move through a few empty rooms before reaching
something interesting.

We smelled it before we saw it, really. The stench of rotting flesh wafted through the open door. In the room beyond, ten chairs surrounded an oblong dining table. Plates of fresh food and bottles of wine were laid out at all the places except the head of the table, which was unoccupied and had clean plates and utensils set. The other nine chairs were occupied by awkwardly seated humanoid figures in various states of decay. They looked as if they were in the middle of a feast. Out of curiosity, I went up to a corpse and touched it, hoping to gain some insight into how the person died, but was startled by a grotesque pantomime. Apparently, I had somehow "activated" the zombies, and they started acting out a formal dinner party! One zombie turned directly to me and said, "Once again, milord has provided a delicious meal. It is an honor to dine in your august presence." Then, the other diners chimed in with similar sycophantic comments. "The Guild of Wizardry was wrong to turn you out", a male elf corpse remarked. "You ought to show them like you showed me!" The tattered remains of what must have been a young woman spoke up next. "I shouldn't have ever doubted you, Filge", it said earnestly. "I always loved you when we were together - now I'll love you forever!"...Oh my.

At this point, I decided it was safe to assume that we were dealing with someone who was even more unhinged than the average power-hungry, corpse-reanimating necromancer. Having had our fill of this "dinner theater", we left and made our way upstairs.

The second floor is just a single massive bedchamber. We found it to be finely appointed, with some rather interesting touches. Dominating the room was a statue of a thin human man with outstretched angelic wings and a beatific expression on his idealized face. Large letters on the base of the statue read "FILGE". Near the center of the room stood what I thought was a statue of a halfling, but on closer examination, we realized it was actually a mummified goblin! The goblin was dressed in an expensive-looking suit and tophat, and he held out a silver platter. On the platter was the freshly-preserved, severed head of a middle-aged woman. Also, two hideously deformed severed heads (practice makes perfect?) were sitting on a nearby desk. When we approached the desk, the hideous severed heads opened their eyes and started shrieking... they were varghouilles! Luckily, Sigmund and Nineve put them down before they became a problem. When we approached the head on the platter, she yelled loudly "Filge! Someone's come to visit!". We figured our cover was pretty much blown, so we moved on to the top floor of the observatory.

The top floor is obviously the lab. There is a sunken operating theater and stairs leading up to a catwalk that wraps around the room. Four huge glass vats were standing near the corners of the operating theater, and each contained a large, murky shape. Filge, flanked by a skeletal body guard, sneers at our arrival and shouts "Arise, my beautiful monstrosities!". Then he high-tails it to the top of the catwalk. Sarek and I concentrate our fire on Filge while Haroldur, Sigmund, and Nineve focus on the newest threat - a zombie has burst from one of the tanks, and it seems to be able to spray acid or something. Filge calls forth his acid-zombies from the tanks one by one, and then starts slinging some spells. Nineve, Haroldur and Sigmund eventually defeat the acid zombies, but Sigmund and Haroldur seem worse for the wear. Nineve tries to charge Filge, but is blocked by the skeletal bodyguard and has to fight her way through. Before Nineve can reach Filge, our peppering-him-at-range pays off, and Sarek finally takes him down with a crossbow bolt to the chest.

Feeling pretty confident, we tie up his unconscious form and are getting ready to toss the place for damning evidence when out of nowhere, a very torn-up looking Justice Archon planeshifts in and starts attacking us! We are naturally quite surprised, but he seems to think we've met many times before, and isn't really in the mood for chitchat. He calls us all out by name and not-so-patiently explains that he must punish us for releasing the Titan of Chaos. We're all pretty sure we'd remember doing something like that, but he won't have any of our excuses. Nineve calls him out and he responds by sundering her sword and beating her down! At this point, we realize we have no choice but to fight, so we beat him into unconsciousness, and he fades away, leaving his staff and some tattered white vestments behind.

With that threat removed, we turned our attention back to Filge, only to find that he has escaped! It looked like he used a crossbow bolt to cut the ropes... wizards can be so clever sometimes! I remembered when I was tying him up that Filge had a black circle tattooed on the back of his left hand. I make a note of it, since it might help us find him later. We rummage through the observatory for clues and find some notes on necromancy and alchemy (Necralchemy!), and some letters to Filge from someone in Hookhill that include the message "Thanks for the recent shipment of bodies. Signed, W". We also find a scroll of animate dead, 4 vials of liquid (blue, red, yellow and zebra!) and various surgical notes and records. Full looting of the observatory yields an additional:
1110 gp
60 pp
100 sp
various goods: tourmaline, jet amulet, zircon bracelet, silver ewer, marble platter, ornate wooden box
various magical items: scroll of Create Food/Water, scroll of Prot. from Energy, scroll of Speak with Dead, scroll of Detect Magic, wand of CLW, wand of Ray of Enfeeblement, wand of Read Magic, wand of Mage Armor, a potion
1 sleep arrow
MW heavy steel shield

We take the stuff back to town, and swing by Lazare's. We're shocked to see Kullen, Smenk's right-hand-man there. He just sits there glaring at us until Balabar himself comes in, amidst a press of people and much ado. He lets us know he wants to talk. However, Nineve is feeling feisty and is in no mood to negotiate with the evil, dishonorable Balabar and his number 1 thug. We tried to calm her down, but she'd really whipped herself up into a frenzy. She's actually being quite rude, so I was a little relieved when Balabar gave a slight nod, and Kullen knocked her out with one punch. I find it much easier to engage in civil negotiations when there's not a madwoman screeching insults during the proceedings.

With that out of the way, we sit down to business. Basically, Smenk finds our presence in Diamond Lake inconvenient and wants us gone. We negotiate that we'll leave if he gives us back the Harkness and keeps the Greymere Convent under his protection. He even offers to make a sizable donation to the church. Of course, I don't really trust him, but he did hand over the deed to the Harkness, and truthfully, the goings-on in Diamond Lake are not our concern. With the Harkness in our possession, we can finally proceed to Kolbenberg and look for Alastair Land! We shake on the deal with Smenk and he leaves with his entourage.

A few minutes later, Lazare comes in, livid over reports that Balabar was in his establishment. We tell him about the deal we struck, and say our goodbyes. Lazare says he's in our debt - the mine is running smoothly and they just found a large vein of silver! We congratulate him and part ways.

We still had quite a mess to clean up, so we recruited the newly-arrived acolytes to help us transport all the bodies from the observatory back to the Greymere Convent and put them to rest. While everyone is working on that, I swing by the garrison commander's office one more time in the hopes that I can catch him in a better mood. I'm in luck, and I manage to convince him to send 6 of his men with us to Kolbenberg! We spend all night interring the bodies with the acolytes. In the morning, we all seem to have learned from our experiences, and it has made us stronger. I spent some extra time during my nightly trance pouring over those anatomical notes from Filge's observatory, and I seem to have gained a new perspective on combat from them.

After congratulating each other for our spiritual growth, Sarek sent this message to the Temple:

Harkness retaken.
Acolytes arrived.
Cleared graveyard of ghouls.
Punished grave robbers.
Observatory contained missing bodies, who were zombies.
Rogue necromancer Filge escaped.
Properly interred bodies.

To which they replied:

Good work.
Please proceed to Kolbenberg.
Alistair's report is now 2 weeks overdue.
Pity about the necromancer...

A pity indeed! At any rate, we clean up, pack up, and head out. Fortunately, one of the soldiers from the garrison was a sailor before he joined, so he's confident he can get us safely across the lake. We set out.

~Ashe

Episode 1: 1/12/08

The Party:
Ashelia Raminas, elf ranger/1
Haroldur, human cleric/1
Sigmund Gorn, dwarf fighter/1
Nineve Floret, human knight/1
Sarek, human wizard/1

First, some background. My associates and I are Keepers of the Grey Covenant, or Greycloaks, for the church of Wee Jas. Essentially, we are one of the tools the church uses to fight unlawful necromancy. We are custodians of the deceased, and also an investigative team that can be sent in to handle any threats to the church or its tenets. We are based in the Ruby Temple, the grand church of Wee Jas in Hookhill, the capitol city of Caledon.

We were assigned to oversee the funeral of Lord Ondore, a minor noble and slumlord, quietly infamous for his oppressive dealings with the local poor. A knife found its way into his back, and now his family wants to have him raised. For that, they have to come to Wee Jas, so here we are.
The open-casket ceremony was... interesting. Nineve and Haroldur totally botched the service in front of a large crowd of nobility and the well-to-do. In their defense, there really wasn't much flattering to say about the late Lord Ondore, and I doubt many of the mourners present were terribly interested in anything except whether he would be raised and how much they stood to inherit if he wasn't.

In the middle of a particularly uncomfortable speech by Nineve, interlopers led by a man calling himself "The Hawk" crashed the ceremony. Some form of violent outburst was not entirely unexpected, but this group seemed to be reasonably well organized and prepared. Shouting things like "An end to Lord Ondore's injustice!" and "Vile Lord Ondore will pay for his crimes, even in death!" (humans can be so excitable), a group of miscreants deployed smoke sticks as they moved through the now panicking crowd towards the casket. Meanwhile, the leader of the band bravely hurled haughty insults at us from the relative safety of a nearby rooftop, peppering us with arrows all the while. As we all rushed to meet the coming threat, The Hawk deployed - get this - actual hawks to dive-bomb the casket with alchemist's fire. This stately funeral was swiftly turning into a cheesy roadside circus. Unfortunately, one of the hawks managed to catch Lord Ondore's body on fire, so I broke off my attack and rushed to put it out. Just as the flames were extinguished, one of the ground-attack crew produced another vial of alchemist's fire and with a lucky shot managed to ignite the corpse again. Out of water and patience, I slammed the casket closed and hoped the flames would extinguish themselves. Nineve, Sigmund, Haroldur and Sarek managed to turn the battle in our favor while I was putting out fires, and the remaining brigands beat a hasty retreat. The funeral (such that it was) was over, but the corpse of Lord Ondore was badly burned.

Naturally, the Temple is not pleased with the condition of the Lord Ondore's body, but it can be salvaged, and at least it wasn't stolen or completely destroyed. However, if he is raised, his "dashing good looks" certainly won't be coming back with him!

A few days passes and we are summoned for another mission. Alastor Land, a Seeker, has been missing for 4 days. (Seekers, like Greycloaks, are another of Wee Jas's tools. They are tasked with research and investigation for the church, however, their role is primarily academic.) We will travel by coach to Diamond Lake, a large mining town in the vicinity. From there, the Greymere Convent will provide us with their ship, The Harkness, to ferry us across the lake to the hamlet of Kolbenburg, where Alastor was conducting his research. There have been rumors of orc and goblin activity in the mountains near Kolbenburg, so we should be on our guard.

We did some research on Alastor Land and his mission before setting out: Alastor moved to Kolbenburg to follow up on another Seeker's research. Several years ago, a seeker named Ulavant led a band of Seekers into an ancient site he believed to be from the Age of the Imperium in search of relics. They too vanished suddenly. The Imperium was a great empire that spanned the multiverse ages ago. Ruled by enigmatic beings called Spell Weavers, they linked their vast empire together through a strange amalgam of magic and science. The empire stood for millennia, holding whole worlds under its sway until centuries ago, when the Spell Weavers suddenly vanished. Their immeasurable empire collapsed in an instant of terrible destruction and chaos. However, relics from this time are occasionally found, and such relics have served to greatly advance our understanding of magic... Sounds like Alastor Land may have gotten in over his head.

The 3 day journey to Diamond Lake was pleasant. When we arrived in town, however, we found the Greymere Convent abandoned and in disarray. To make matters worse, the Harkness, which is moored at the pier, has been commandeered by a band of ruffians in the employ of Balabar Smenk, a local mine manager.

Further inspection of the Greymere Convent revealed obvious signs of violence. We discovered 3 discarded holy symbols of the church, some dubious-looking dark stains (blood, perhaps?), and someone had taken a greataxe to most of the furniture. This convent hadn't just fallen by the wayside and slowly dissipated - it had been raided.

Armed with this knowledge, we set about discovering who had done such a thing. In short order we found the man in town to talk to was Lazare, a sage, mine owner, and renowned chessmaster. He claims to be able to answer any question - for a price. We visited Lazare in the afternoon at his nicely appointed chess parlor and found him to be well-mannered and courteous. We chatted for a bit and learned that he too has a beef with Balabar Smenk. We explained about the Harkness and our mission to get to Kolbenburg. At length, we paid his (rather steep) 20 gp fee and asked our question: Who was behind the attack on the Greymere Convent? He told us to come back in a day for our answer.

We spent the next day cleaning the Convent and putting things back in order. At the appointed time, we returned to Lazare's for our answer. He told us that it was Cullen, Balabar Smenk's right-hand man, who had led the attack on Greymere. We thanked him for his time and trouble, and immediately set out to report our findings to the local authorities.

We arrived at the Sheriff's office, and, to our horror, found it to be in a terrible state. Papers were in disarray, and two lazy guards were drinking wine and playing cards (!) at the desk. The sheriff himself was sleeping off a hangover in his office. Nineve, who became rather impatient at this point, may not have made the best impression as she slammed her shield down on the card game and demanded attention. Fortunately, Haroldur managed to smooth things over before too many hackles were raised, and we reported that there had been an attack on the Greymere Convent (which was old news) and that we suspected Cullen (and therefore Balabar) was behind it. They seemed completely indifferent to these allegations of desecration and slaughter! I'm not even sure they filed a report. Realizing these people were useless and we were getting nowhere, we returned in a huff to the Greymere Convent.

As we were tidying things up, I noticed that some of the graves in the graveyard looked to have been recently disturbed. Quickly and carefully, we exhumed one of the disturbed graves to find our fears confirmed - the interred corpse was gone! We decided then that we needed to guard the graveyard at night and attempt to apprehend the culprits. I put the "grave" back in order and, in the gathering dusk, we settled down to wait.

We didn't have to wait long. Between dusk and dark, we noticed a light bobbing into the graveyard in the distance. Soon, it split into two lights which moved off in opposite directions. Sarek and I headed for one light and Nineve, Haroldur and Sigmund took the other one. We were able to get fairly close before we were spotted by our quarry. Sarek cast a sleep spell and 2 of our 4 graverobbers instantly fell into a deep slumber. The other two sprang to attack, but I handled them easily. I glanced over at the other scuffle and saw that Haroldur and the fighters had their situation well in hand, so I tied up the sleeping survivors.

The last graverobber in Haroldur's group escaped, sprinting off into the night. In all that armor, catching him was out of the question. As Nineve shook her fist at the fleeing ne'er-do-well in frustration, he darted behind a crypt, let out a blood-curdling scream, and fell silent.

We figured he'd gotten his just desserts. After all, he was just a superstitious commoner, cavorting around in a graveyard at night. He probably got frightened by his own shadow and passed out cold! We tended to the fallen (all dead) and I was just re-checking my knots on the sleeping survivors when the real source of the fleeing brigand's terror became known. Ghouls had sneaked up on us!

Our group was separated, Haroldur, Nineve, and Sigmund being quite a distance still from myself and Sarek. I could hear Haroldur rebuking the foul aberrations and the sounds of clean-up - I mean, battle, as I sprang to slay our undead attackers. I cut one down in short order, but meanwhile the other ghoul decided to take his chances with a softer target. I turned my back on him for one second, and the next thing I knew, Sarek was paralyzed! I always forget about that! Cursing my carelessness, I called for backup as I finished off my opponent and rushed to save the helpless mage. The others showed up just in time. Haroldur rebuked the ghast, who stopped gnawing on Sarek and stood there, awestruck, while the rest of us cut it down.

With the battle in the graveyard finally over, we took the still-sleeping prisoners and their incriminating gear (shovels, lanterns, bodybags) inside and I ran to town to fetch the sheriff. I had a tough time convincing the lazy sots in the sheriff's office to get up and actually do their jobs. In the end, I had to drag them out of the office by their collars and threaten to wake the sheriff at home to get them to come along!

I arrived at Greymere with the useless deputies in tow. The prisoners had awoken, and were putting up a fuss and whining to be let go. We reported the events of the evening to the disinterested law enforcement officials, and handed over the graverobbers. We were assured that for such a serious crime, they would definitely spend "at least one night" in the lock-up. Talk about justice...

We finished putting things in the graveyard in order and went back to our rooms at the Able Carter Inn for the night. Sarek sent a message to the Ruby Temple relating the events so far:

"Diamond Lake church was found abandoned and in disarray.
Harkness taken by thugs.
Balabar Smenk believed to be responsible for razing.
Bodies stolen from graveyard.
Advise."

The next morning, we received a reply:

"Please determine more hard information.
Four replacements to be sent in three days.
Your target is in Kolbenberg.
Diamond Lake is a secondary concern."

Accordingly, we decided to see about securing passage across Diamond Lake. With the Harkness seemingly inaccessible, we needed to find another vessel to take us to Kolbenburg. At the docks, just down the pier from where the Harkness was moored, we found a shabby but suitable-looking vessel being tended by an ancient, spindly-looking man. Ignoring the heckling calls of the thugs on the Harkness, we entered into negotiations. The old man would take us across, but was afraid to cross the lake on his own, for some reason. Because of the ambiguity of our mission, we had originally intended to book one-way passage to Kolbenburg, take care of our business, and arrange the return trip later with a ship on the other side of the lake. However, the skinny little man flatly refused to return to Diamond Lake alone. We offered to arrange for his lodging once we reached Kolbenburg, but he was hesitant to commit to being away from Diamond Lake for an unspecified period of time, and was very concerned about becoming "stuck" on the wrong side of the lake. We told him to think about our offer, and we would give him a day or so to make up his mind.

As we walked back up the pier past the Harkness, the heckling grew more intense, and at last, Haroldur could stand it no longer. He wheeled around and informed the brigands that it was exactly this sort of attitude that had cost them our business, and we'd be paying that other ship to take us across the lake... for a whole gold piece! (One gold! Can you imagine? These country bumpkins had probably never seen so much money in their whole lives! Doubtless they'd sell their own mothers for such a paltry sum!)

At seeing the color of our coin, the thugs' attitudes changed immediately. They were falling over themselves to allow them to take us across the lake, claiming to be a much better, stronger crew (which was almost certainly true) and asserting that the Harkness was a better, faster and more seaworthy (or maybe "lake-worthy"?) vessel.

However, the damage had been done, and Haroldur rudely informed them that they had missed their opportunity for fame and fortune. Our noses in the air, we began to leave, when one of the brigands shouted, "Let's get 'em and just take their bloody gold!". Burly thugs rushed down the docks at us, and the battle was joined. Sailors on the deck of the Harkness fired crossbows and threw marlin pikes at us as the ones on the dock attacked us with belaying pins. At first, I tried to merely subdue my opponents, hitting with the flat of my blade, but when one thug lunged past me to strike at Haroldur with murderous intent, I sliced him open from stem to stern. The first casualty seemed to enrage the thugs even more, and they attacked with renewed viciousness.

Nineve and Sigmund boldly cut a path of blood through the surging mob, as Haroldur and Sarek traded fire with the brigands on the deck. For my part, I reproached myself for being so rash as to kill that first ignorant thug - death by my longsword, Aernin, Rite of Law, was too good for him - and I resolved to take a different approach. I shoved the body off the dock into the water, in disgust. To my surprise, within seconds, huge, man-eating gar surfaced from the depths and devoured the corpse! This gave me an idea. The thugs that managed to rush past Nineve and Sigmund's deadly gauntlet were met by me, as I slammed into them and threw them off the docks and into the water. Those who couldn't swim fast enough learned a final lesson about survival of the fittest.

However, a few did manage to swim to safety, and began to climb up onto the pier. Also, a few of the thugs on the ship leaped off the prow onto the docks (some missed and ended up in the water with the gars). The push of sailors running up the docks through Nineve and Sigmund had thinned, and it seemed the remaining thugs were bypassing the fighters and closing in on our unprotected flank - Sarek and Haroldur. Sigmund and I moved to defend the casters, and we left the indomitable Nineve to deal with the remaining threats running up the dock from the ship. In my haste, I sustained a grievous wound, but Haroldur healed me, and I returned the favor by neatly dispatching his attacker. Meanwhile, Sigmund was bravely battling two thugs, but one managed to slip past him and struck Sarek down! Sigmund and Haroldur finished off the remaining brigands and stabilized Sarek, and the melee at the quayside was finally over.

~Ashe