Our story so far...

A joyous morning of humble beginnings
Our story begins on a joyous fall morning in the festival grounds of the Eastden neighborhood of Ashden in the 508th year since the thaw of the Frostbit Coast. It was the first day of the annual fall harvest festival and the citizens of the Ash Isles not only had the festival to look forward to, but to a rare visit from King Iordanos XV to bless a newly built temple dedicated to the elven goddess of Wisdom and Trade, Diera.

Gathered amongst the merchants, locals, and performers were a few faces that would soon become familiar to our story. One, a well dressed half elf named Merkorios, rested his elbow on a balcony railing overlooking the festival grounds and the newly built temple standing across the street. His gaze dotted around the busy square, taking note of any potential threats that could befall his royal father. A row of children are led through the festival grounds by Sansarya Purebreath, an elven princess disguising herself as a mere school teacher. Despite traveling far from home, to distance herself from her past, she still strides through the busy crowd with an aura of royalty. The local druid Synkronos Gaia, a stout half tree / half goliath, was gently making his way through the crowd trying to find the epicenter of the mysterious tremors he had been sensing. Farmers beamed at him as he passed by their stalls, knowing that his careful tending of the Isle had helped lend them the bounty they brought to market that day. Those with a careful eye might have caught sight of Alexander Silverwald, a human dressed in worn down clothes marking his life tough life on the streets of Ashden. His eyes still bore the the cunning curiosity of his academic youth, an ember his street urchin life had not extinguished. Lastly, we have Maegor Arkos, a soldier in training worn down by the horrors of war but still held together by a sense of duty. He scanned the crowd for an opportunity to beseech the king, or anyone else of importance, to deliver the Marquis of West Gholon's message.

A horn echoed in the distance, somewhere further down the roped off road leading from the royal residence to the temple, noting the beginning of the King's March. After a few minutes, the procession to came into view, giving the crowd enough time to find places along the route to get a better view of their monarch. The honor guard entered the square, followed by King Iordanos XV, his wife and Lady of Ashden - Queen Alonash, and Innate Kirhya - the leader of the Dieraian faith. As the full procession came into view, a rumble shook the square. The honor guard paused and draws their weapons forming a defensive position around the king. A second rumble followed, leaving the once bumbling and boisterous square completely silent. The silence was broken by King Iordanos shouting for his Queen to get to safety. As she followed his warning, a significantly louder third rumble broke the silence further. With it, the ground below the king and his guards shattered, sending them into the depths below.

Can our heroes rise to the occasion
While most of the crowd stands stunned, a royal bastard, a princess in disguise, a street urchin, a local druid, and a worn down initiate spring into action. Reaching the pit, one of them finds a rope and secures it to a nearby post, allowing them to descend into the dark unknown.

A melee ensues but Synkronos' quick thinking turns a skunk thrown at the party into an unlikely ally. Defeating the kobolds, the party scans the room and decides to follow the newly placed cart tracks further into the temple, hoping to find signs of the king and his entourage further inside.

Following the tracks, and dispatching a few enemies along the way, the party found themselves in a circular room baring frescos of a saint's life along the walls and a statue depicting the saint holding up a staff with a glass orb inside of a functional fountain.

South of this chamber, the party found a heavy stone door covered with the residue of numerous explosions. An elven inscription on the door read "Surround yourself with the enlightenment of Saint Aelfthryth and discover the secrets of her journey". After some trial and error, the party discovered that passing light through the orb illuminated numbers on each of the walls. This information allowed them to solve the puzzle to open the secret chamber. Due to their reliance on dark vision, the kobolds were unable to solve this puzzle themselves, instead resorting to brute force via gunpowder.

Opening the secret door, the party discovered a round chamber containing a sarcophagus wrapped with vines. The room also contained a floating deep purple orb, which emanated bird songs and flooded the room with a soft orange light. Hearing the sound of bird songs emanating from the orb, Sansarya and Synkronos approached it. As they did, the party was pulled into a dark endless foreign landscape slightly illuminated by a purple sunset like horizon encircling the entire plane. A lava lamp like bubble emerged from the surface and takes the form of an eight eyed crow. The interior of the bird's wings is made up of spider webs, which appear to be holding back an endless abyss. The crow approached the party and folded the top of its beak back as if casting off a hood, revealing a woman clad in robes made both from only silk and only from foliage at any given moment. Turning to the party, the goddess Deira spoke, "Behold the Eye of Drest, that protected my kin. May it now protect you, for I fear that those who wish to swallow the earth are once again awake. Deal with them my children and you shall be rewarded." Left of kilter and aghast by the divine being before them, the party found themselves drifting back towards the tomb they were formerly in before any could mutter a thought or a question.

Finding themselves on the floor of the chamber, the party regathered their senses and began looking for the king and his entourage once more. Once again following the mining tracks the kobolds installed, the party found a room that once served as the temple's eating chambers but now functioned as the kobold's gunpowder storage chamber. Using his keen senses, Alexander detected a muffled voice coming from the other side of the western wall. Opening the trap door, the party found the wounded king and his remaining guards bound in the pantry. A medium sized bearded demon squatted on the table above her, chewing on her arm. Ignoring the party, he continued to probe the corpse for answers. Enraged by the demon's actions, the party attacked. With the demon weakened, Alexander went for a killing blow. His short sword hit the mark but instead of falling, the demon vanished in a poof of smoke, departing with a blood curdling laugh.

The party stands before the privy council
Upon exiting the subterranean temple, the party was immediately escorted by guards before the privy council led by Merkorios' step mother, Queen Alonosh (due to the king's injuries). In attendance were Admiral Bloes, General Gorok, Ambassador Hadid Al Zi, Lord Braden Birch, and Tome-Master Gregory. While the general was asleep and the ambassador was largely uninterested in the proceedings, Birch talked the Queen's ear off about potential measures and Admiral Bloes paced the floor back and forth. Although the queen commanded the party to relay what they discovered, the party chose to keep their cards close to their chest, only revealing a part of their encounter. Although the young prince wanted to set off in haste, Lord Birch counseled the group to spend the night at his estate while he gathered the necessary provisions for their travel.

The road to the Red Charger Lodge
Upon waking at the Birch Row Manor, the Lord's staff chaperoned the party to the dining chambers for breakfast. At breakfast, Lord Birch revealed to Sansarya that he had traveled with a countrymen of hers, Elmair Sateen, and in doing so also passed on his former companion's silver short sword over to her. He thanked Synkronos for his help with local agrarian matters, told Alexander that he was familiar with his father's work, and acknowledged Maegor's on his chivalry.

An hour and a half into the extraordinary breakfast, the footman entered the hall. He approaches the table and announced to Lord Birch that the carriage has arrived and all arrangements had been made. The footman turned and began to walk out. As he reaches the door, the party heard him release a loud “oof” as he staggered straight into the broad chest of what looks to be a grizzled veteran. The man entering announced “Jottenheim Sol, at your service”.

Lord Birch clasped his hands “Good, our orc slayer is here. You five have been capable thus far, but it never hurts to have an extra man on the job. Jottenheim was instrumental in my past campaigns against orc invasions. You should be able to make it to the Red Chargers Lodge by sundown. Angharad is particular about her patrons and most of her rooms are under reservations for use by one noble family or another. I have sent word to her to have my suite ready and available for Merkorios and company. The Inn will be on the other side of the Valiant Bridge, about six hours out from the crossing.”

The party was escorted outside, where they found an exquisite burgundy carriage fit for royalty led by two white horses. After saying their goodbyes, they set off east towards the Valiant Bridge. Along the way, the party passed a number of mysterious monks, shrouded in simple black robes chanting in dwarven, making their way to Ashden.

Reaching the edges of the River Poyle, the party was awestruck by the stone bridge erected to celebrate the victory won their against the giants by Ash and his elven allies. Statues on the left side of the bridge depicted commanders leading Ash's outriders and the marble statues on the left depicted key commanders leading Rho's forces. A guard booth was set up on the bridge after the prior day's mishaps. However, the soldiers recognized the wagon baring the royal seal and motioned for the party to cut ahead of the traffic bottlenecked in front of them. After an hour of travel on the Northern March, the party encountered an overturned wagon blocking the road accompanied by a group of Kordian monks. Keenly noticing that the wagon's horses were absent and that the pacifist monks had hidden weapons, the party was quick to deduce that this was an ambush. The bandit's leader, a hairy man with baggy eyes, transformed before the party's eyes into a were-raccoon. He, and his band of bandits, were no match for the party, who quickly dispatched the entire ambush. Searching the bodies, they discovered a note from a mysterious "Z", detailing a conspiracy.

The lodge
Despite the thick forest foliage around them, the party noticed a red glow on the horizon. As the tree line opened up, those driving the carriage began to make out parts of the Red Chargers Lodge above on the hilltop.

The building was not exactly the sort of inn they were expecting - it resembled more of an ancient temple rather than a hunters lodge. The main central portion of the building was cylindrical. A large brass dome rested on top of it - roughly 300 feet across and maybe six stories at its highest point. Eight smaller brass domes rested atop tower like sections, evenly spread around the central cylinder. The walls of the lodge were paved with red clay. A wooden palisade surrounded the building with two guard towers at the front gate and four more spread evenly across the walls. Each guard tower was manned by a single guard who had the head of a hippo atop a humanoid body. Each guard was dressed in a similar fashion: a short baby blue cloth coat with golden pads with drapes hanging off their shoulders, a puffy white shirt underneath, a blood red sash across their side, and white pants. Each guard carried an odd wooden and metal club contraption, carried at their side, with what looks to be an opening sticking up and away from them. Red banners, depicting Angharad’s family crest - a hand of three playing cards, each with a spade at the center, hung from the walls of the lodge.

As the party approached the gate, a guard on the ground - who to their surprise did not have a hippo head - approached. The man was a dwarf in his early adult years. His long red hair and beard were woven into thick braids. He wore a bulky fur coat that almost hid the fine chest plate underneath. Leaning on his right hand on the top of an axe, with the stone handle digging into the ground, the man said: “I am Logan Hillflower, fourth son of Angharad Hillflower. How may I and the Red Chargers Lodge…. No, no, that's not quite it… Sorry, How may the Red Chargers Lodge and I be of service to you.”

The party informed Logan of their reservations and he led them through the gate and down the path to the front of the lodge to the two two 10 ft. tall hard maple doors. The dwarf tapped his axe on a tile three times and the party heard the creaking of chains as the doors opened outwards.

The doors opened into a very large cylindrical room at the center of the lodge. The ceiling, which at the peak of the dome was roughly 60 feet high, was adorned with old battered war banners - some which they recognized and some which look completely foreign - hanging at various heights. Four wrought iron staircases - two leading to a set of rafters that housed the second floor’s side rooms and two leading to a set of rafters for the third floor’s side rooms - sat equidistantly from each other on the outer edge of the room. The outer ring also contained a collection of booths and fireplaces. The mantle of each fireplace was adorned with a military portrait. Flanking the fireplaces or resting above doorways in a somewhat militaristic organized fashion were pristine yet aged and worn swords and pikes. The center of the room housed a large circular bar with a column shelf at its center, coupled with several contraptions that lower and raise trays to and from the basement kitchen.

At the center of the arc of the bar facing the doorway was an older dwarven woman wearing a blue shirt with puffy white sleeves which had ties at the elbows. Her mostly white hair, which still showed some traces of a hue similar to her son’s red hair, hung to her side. Her handless left arm, wrapped in a clean white bandage, rested on the mahogany bar as she shuffled a deck of cards single handedly, all the while studying the party up and down with the utmost interest. The party took up seats at the bar, introducing themselves and noting their benefactor to the older dwarven woman. They discovered that, Angharad, was the owner of the establishment after her foremother won the fortress in a card game with Gol and Ash after the war. She was also an old flame of Braden Birch. After grabbing their drinks, the party further surveyed the establishment.

Despite its imposingly large demeanor, the common area only had a few hot spots of activity. A giff - one of the hippo looking guards outside - sat on a stool while playing an odd folding contraption with buttons while drunkenly bellowing out an old war tune. His comrades, also in uniform, were playing cards at a nearby table. Most of the other guests were random nobles from an assortment of notable houses from Ol Gholon to Colharbor.

The Yuan-Ti in the back
The party did catch a familiar face in the far back corner of the bar. In one of the booths, they made out the face of the Nimth Yuan-Ti ambassador from the prior night's council meeting - Hadid Al Zi. He however was too preoccupied in a conversation with a large individual, sitting with his back to you. Maegor instantly recognized the Beaconian cape adorning the man’s back. As Maegor made his way towards the table to greet his fellow comrade, Sansarya, Synkronos, and Merkorios realized that the mysterious "Z" was likely the ambassador from Nimth.

Maegor approached the large man adorned in silver Beacon chainmail coupled with the signature Royal blue cape bearing the lighthouse sigil of the knightly order embroidered on gold. Picking up on the sound of armor approaching him, the gruff man instantly made eye contact with the paladin and his mouth formed into a cruel scowl. He set his cigar down on the table and presses his right hand into the edge of the booth to push himself up and barked: “Puppy!”

Maegor instantly recognize the man as his former sadistic drill master, Cladius Briggs.

By now, Jottenheim and Alexander had noticed the commotion and joined to reinforce their friend. Although Briggs initially held his ground, the ambassador beckoned him to let cooler heads prevail and the party let them pass as they left their booth for their room. After a round of drinks, most of the group chose to do the same, leaving for the second floor accommodations in Lord Birch's name.

A restless night
Deep in slumber, Maegor found himself once again wandering the familiar hallways belonging to his former home, Beacon. He found himself surrounded by classmates who drifted by him like a schools of fish. He reached out to towards them, aching to return to that happy past. Yet, as he drew closer, he suddenly found himself completely alone in the spartan hallway. Frantically, he turned a corner, and with a deep sigh of relief he saw his peers again. That respite was brief however. A moment later, Maegor heard that agonizing noise. As before, it started with a soft distant chipping sound that gradually built to pincers sheering stone. He followed the noise deep into the library. As he drew near the wall, he froze as the bricks began to crumble, revealing a large mantis like crustacean.

The journey to Ríc Hathaoir
The party was awoken the next morning by a booming thunderstorm. They met in the hall for breakfast, at which point Sansarya relayed the the events from the prior night. After some discussion of possible trying to chase down the ambassador and his bodyguard, the party decided to leave with haste. Setting off, they ran into some trouble navigating the road, but quickly got the hang of it after digging a wheel out of the mud.

About a mile out from Ríc Hathaoir, the trees opened up to a field of tents. A few at first, then more, and more. The scale of the tent city, at first, made it look like a military encampment. Did Nimth send reinforcements? Windskeep? The sight of a larger orange striped one suggested maybe foreigners from Coimeád Chósta. A red striped tent, followed by a blue one, then another orange, emerge soon after. Mercenary companies from the east weren't even this disorganized.

As the carriage approached the first set of tents, a clearer view of the multitude of motley tents stretching all the way back to a hamlet, almost small enough to be swallowed by the sea of colors, engulfed the party's view. Patches of structure began to emerge in this chaotic favela. Fancier fur covered yurts crowded into pockets close to the hamlet. Tents bearing merchant colors lined the road leading into Ric Halthaor. The ones closest to the edge of town were in the worst shape. Some were makeshift sheets and broom handles constructions. Others were quickly sewn together tarps made up of a myriad of spare fabrics.

Despite conditions, this district was buzzing with life. A battalion of Gholontian Guards, identified by their polished chain shirts, blue and white checkered kite shields, and well made longswords fastened at the hip, patrolled the edges of the settlement, ensuring that the inhabitants were safe from potential outside threats. A gang of kids had organized themselves into a game of orcs and soldiers. One of the more charismatic and boisterous ones proclaimed himself to be Commander Downta, the savior of Ol Gholon. He and his cohort valiantly "galloped" into a fray of orcs. However, a lucky blow from a bigger kid left the "Commander" playing dead. The party heard one of his "knights" call out “Oh no, Lord Downta has fallen” as two other knights carried the "injured commander" away. The rest of the cohort valiantly held the orcs at bay as their leader was rescued.

As the party traveled deeper into the tent city and closer to the town along whose edge it was stationed, they saw more affluent and colorful tents belonging to merchant shops lining the road. Most sold horses out of makeshift stables, furs, wool, or articles of clothing. Unlike the poorer district the party had just passed through, this area was predominantly guarded by private security.

Two shops caught the parties eye. The first was a large cream tent decorated with swirled pink and orange stripes. The sign on it read: Ziqasain The Bountiful's Shop of Extra-Worldly Wonders!. Sansarya, Jottenheim, and Synkronos decided to investigate this shop. Inside, they found a Djinn with a jovial demeaner selling a number of magical items. Jottenheim procured a horn of alarm while Synkronos was drawn to a candle that was immune to the effects of water.

Meanwhile, Maegor and Alexander investigated a large complex of tents forming a beer garden. There they met the proprietor, Cedrik Umpos, who sold the pair two pints of cider each. Merkorios meanwhile set off on his own to procure warmer clothes for the trip north. Regrouping after their shopping spree, the party relayed what they had learned to each other as they continued onwards to Ric Hathaoir.

On the way to the city, they passed a number of fur yurts belonging to the wealthier inhabitants of Ol Gholon. Inhabitants here were preoccupied with preparing for battle, with most of them likely serving in a retired reserve role. Children residing in this district were preoccupied with military drills, while those too old to serve in a combat role were working on producing tents for the poorer residents along with other home front functions.

Ric Hathaoir
Arriving at Ric Hathaoir proper, the party was thrown back at how small the hamlet was compared to the tent city, with the actual town center only having two or so dozen buildings. A crowd was gathered at the village square, around a large fountain. The inner part of the fountain depicted a halfling knight standing over a swooning beauty while the outer circle depicted menacing bandits. Somewhat amused by the ostentatiousness, Merkerios relayed the tale of how Sir Bandobras Bandawax was given the title to the dilapidated Ric Hathaoir after he, as the sole surviving member of his party, rescued a princess.

In front of the fountain was a middle aged halfling dressed in fine silk, standing on a barrel. Initially out of earshot to catch what he was saying, the party saw the man whip himself into a passionate frenzy. His face occasionally shifted from a pink shade to a deep purple, at which point his arms seemed to wave in a much more animated fashion.

As they approached, the party began to pick up on his tantrum directed at what looked to be members of the tent city:

“Yes, Yes, I understand that you have YOUR concerns. However, I am the governor of Ric Hathaoir and therefore MY responsibility is to my subjects ONLY. We Bandawax’s have worked tirelessly to restore this land to a state that honors our beloved king. And as a FAVORED subject of our grand King King Iordanos XV, I must beseech you to leave MY lands at once and not besmirch them with your rabble. If you do not, I will contact the crown at ONCE and demand for your removal. It is bad enough that you brought that smut cider into my village but now I must also deal with thieves. No, this ends tonight!”

As the halfling finished, a servant awkwardly approached him to help him off the barrel. The halfling, still red in his face, shoved him off… pondered the height of the barrel, only to motions the servant back to help him down. The crowd began to disperse while discussing the event that had just transpired. Making his way quickly through the crowd, Merkorios caught up to the pompous ass and dressed him down in public on matters of the crown. The sniveling halfling quickly bent the knee to the royal emissary and offered his estate. The party grabbed a few drinks at the near by Bandawax Brewery, finding the mead there to be significantly worse than the drinks Maegor and Alexander enjoyed at the beer hall in the tent city. Before settling in, the party grabbed a seat to catch the opening night of “The Bastard and the Ambassador, A Most Royal Fiasco and a Comedy of Errors” at a traveling theater that was set up within the town square only to realize that the events were a political parody of their encounter at the Red Chargers Lodge. Before the play reached its conclusion, a couple of goblin bandits stole a baby from an attendant and a sandbag from the stage, causing the screen to collapse onto the actors.

The party retreated to the luxurious accommodations in the guest wing of the Bandawax estate. While everyone was deep in slumber, Synkronos went to the window to get a temporary respite from the urban environment he was unaccustomed to. His day dream was however interrupted by a mysterious knock at the window.

The next morning, the party discovered that Synkronos was missing. Sansarya found the orb and knew that the druid had urgent matters to attend to, for that would be the only reason for him to leave the orb in her care and take off without notice. Before the party had a chance to process Sansarya's absence, they heard a knock at the door. Upon opening the guest entrance, they found a dwarven smith from the east, named Sylfir Rumnaheim, requesting an audience with the party. He offered his services as a fighter to the party in exchange for passage north.

The party gathered additional supplies, with Merkorios retrieving the clothes he ordered, Sansarya and Alexander searching for potions, and the rest of the party procuring a tent to use for lodging in exchange for a generous donation to the poor of Ol Gholon.

The road north
On the way north, the party discovered a battlefield being pillaged by goblins. Examining the field, Alexander observed that the battle encompassed a regiment from Ol Gholon facing off against an orc raiding party. A mysterious shield lying amongst the dead also caught his attention. The party moved to engage with the goblins, a mantis like crustacean, one which Maegor immediately recognized as a creature that the orcs used to dig into Beacon, emerged and engaged both the party and the goblins. Before succumbing to the crustacean, the last goblin fired off a flair. The party tried to gather up as much loot as possible, including a chest containing one thousand gold pieces and the mysterious shield. However, as they began to prepare to set off again, they heard the trees around them shake accompanied by the sound of massive thundering footprints. In the nick of time, the party managed to hide the wagon while Merkorios distracted the Ogre Chain Brute with dazzling lights leading it away from their location. Considering the coast to be clear, they set off once again on the road north.

Samuel Sycamore, the squirrel king of Walnut Hill
Synkronos made quick pace in his horse form while also drawing little attention to himself. After a few hours, he reach the dense walnut forest to the north east of Ric Hathaoir. Looking around, he sense that all life in this forest gravitated towards a central point. Squirrels raced to and from a central hub, moving collected nuts in and coming back empty handed. The trees themselves bent inwards towards it as well. Looking up at the sky, or the lack of one due to the thick canopy, he noticed that an intricate basket like weave had been woven into the top of the trees. It stretched endlessly throughout the forest. He saw a squirrel here and there repairing it.

Approaching the center, life appeared to get busier and busier. Moving inwards, Synkronos began to notice more and more squirrels. Some red, some grey, some albino. They raced alongside him eagerly, as if to lead the way. After walking another thirty or so feet, he stood before a mound of walnut maybe 10 feet high. A portly dwarf with red untamed hair, dressed in a soft grey bathrobe, sat atop the mound as a lord would sit on a throne. He gave you a jovial smile and slapped his plump belly, scattering a few walnuts down the mound. A few squirrels quickly attend to them, mildly annoyed with his carelessness.

The dwarf bellowed: "Synkronos, my good dear friend, I'm so glad that you made it to my humble abode." He gave off a loud warm chuckle after speaking, yet after a brief moment his expression turned stern and concerning. Synkronos agreed to help the squirrel king, promising to set off north west to Unova as soon as possible. In return, the old dwarven druid offered Synkronos the service of a loyal albino squirrel named Cracker. He then transformed into a tiger and set off to catch up to the rest of his party.

A shadow from the past
As evening set, the party found themselves suddenly enveloped in absolute darkness. At first, the party attempted to light a torch and utilize Maegor's light generating ability, however, the torch failed to produce light and Maegor's magic was snuffed out. Unable to safely steer the carriage, Jottenheim reined the horses to a stop. Stumbling out of their carriage, the party found themselves surrounded by snarling wolf-like creatures with furless and skinless faces. Furthermore, their luck began to run out further as yellow and brown feathered arrows rained down on their exposed position. Between the worgs and the colors of the arrows, Sansarya recognized that they were under attack by none other than Narcipious, a dreaded noble elf from her Marinnian homeland.

The party fended off the worgs while avoiding the occasional barrage of arrows. One of the worgs did manage to sink his teeth into Sansarya, knocking her unconscious. Jottenheim, remembering that his companion had eagerly sought out potions in Ric Hathaor, rummaged through her bag to find one and poured its contents down her throat, springing the spellcaster back to life. Once again in the land of the living, Sansarya trudged into the forest to track down the enemies from her past, believing it to be her responsibility to deal with it. She let loose a dragon's breath spell, carving a scorched earth trail that left no room for enemies to hide.

Eventually, she discovered a frail elven figure, wearing a white ivory mask carved to resemble tree bark, standing atop what appeared to be the ruins of a former druidic mound. Through the mask, she could only make out dull, almost dead-like, yellow eyes peering through it. Draped in a silver cloak that looked both metallic and resembles foliage - clearly a work of elven craftsmanship, his right hand rested upon a mahogany quarter staff stabbed into the earth next to him while his right held a small crossbow. An amulet, containing a glowing eye, hung from his frail neck. Trees flanked the mound on all sides. Among the trees, Sansarya made out the familiar growls and snorts of additional worgs. As she approached, the elf chanted “Lady of Reclamation, lend me your strength”. With those words, he slammed his hand upon the staff, digging it a bit further into the soft dirt mound. The trees around Sansarya began to move.

The party did not heed the princess's warning and followed closely behind her. As the worgs moved in to attack Sansarya and the rest of the party, Merkorios - with some quick thinking - conjured an illusionary ball and threw it away from the party, drawing the beasts away from the encounter. Meanwhile the trees lashed out at the party, striking them in the back and leaving large gashes. As they did, the orb - the Eye of Drest - began to hum in Sansarya's pocket. She pulled the orb out, reached for the magic inside, and released a burst of energy that revealed the trees to be an illusion disguising a drab, featureless, hairless humanoid shadowfell revenant, with long sharp nails, under elf's control. With the orb's and a now returned Synkronos' help, the party was able to defeat the revenant. In the thick of combat, Alexander managed to fire an arrow that splintered the mask worn by the elven illusionist, piercing his skull. The now mask-less elf was revealed to be none other than Lord Collingsley, the head of an exiled family from Marinnia. He directed his last words at Sansarya. The party looted the elf's body for his amulet and his cape and set back down the hill to the road where they abandoned their wagon. They were surprised to find the wagon's exquisite cushioning torn apart, their chest of a thousand gold pieces emptied on the ground, and their horses turned to worg food. As they attempted to refill the chest with the coins, the noticed that the coins now wreaked of a foul odor. Synkronos, volunteering his services, turned into a horse in order to help get the wagon to safety.

The doomed farm
Looking for shelter to rest and recover from their day of combat, the party found a farm not too far from where they encountered Lord Colingsley. The farm looked to be abandoned aside several starving horses and oxen locked in the stables. Alexander hopped out of the carriage and began investigating the surroundings. He found a trail of blood leading into the farmhouse and beckoned Maegor to follow him. The two entered the farmhouse and found that the blood trail lead down to the seller. There, they found the body of a farmer, killed by a pitchfork and then dragged down below. They also found two note on his table which read: The mention of scarecrows perked their attention, as the farm had a number of them stationed outside in the fields. The two quickly rushed out to warn the others, however they were to late. Three of the scarecrows in the fields began to attack and a number of blights emerged from the surrounding shrubbery to join in. Maegor proved to be a menace to both animated and non-animated scarecrows (to be honest, it was mostly the later) while the rest of the party used magic and torches to light their enemies on fire. Having cleared the farm of any threats, the party decided to rest inside the murder scene farmhouse. The next morning, Synkronos had a conversation with the malnutrious horses, gaining their trust and service for the remaining trip to Ol Gholon.

Ol Gholon
At about three miles out, the 450 ft tall stone spire known as Ghol's Throne began emerging on the horizon. Merkorios excitedly pointed out that this was where they were going, that the original settlers who found the ruins first settled upon the perch and as the city grew, moved down to the area now known as the City Core, and that the city core had some of the best clothing shops in all of Ior. As the walls came into view, he told them of how scholars from Ior and even Rho were baffled by their seamless construction - how the entire wall and all of its guard towers appeared to formed or grown, for there were no carver markings, from a single stone feature. The bard however went silent as he and the rest of the party noticed the battle mounds of corpses coming into view. Alexander- keenly observing his surroundings - noticed a slight shuffle in a mound or two. As he began to relay the information to the rest of the party, he noticed a few of their eyes drawn away from the mounds and the road but instead towards multiple flares rising from Ghol's Throne. When the flares reached their apex, they burst into an explosion of falling lights. Drawn to that point in the sky, the party began to see the clouds immediately there begin to shift and form into letters. They read:

Now far more alert to the mounds around them, which now began to shift as orcs dug themselves out from the hiding spots, the group urged the weary horses they found at the farm to full haste towards the gates of Ol Gholon. Passing through the gates, they breathed a short sigh of relief, followed by an immediate panic as the portcullis shut behind them. Their carriage going at full speed, brought them out of the gate house and into the city before any of them could react. They were greeted by war drums accompanied by a soft chant building to a loud crescendo, accompanied by stomps, of "Utred, Utred, Utred!".

Sylfir looked towards those in the wagon with him and said, "Fuck!". And it was "Fuck" indeed as orcs began leaping of the rooftops onto the top of the carriage. Sansarya acted quickly, pulling herself out of the carriage and flying into the air with her tempestuous magic, hurling a chaos bolt at an orc before he could shore up his footing. Seeing his brethren topple off the carriage, one of the orcs dug his spear into the top of the wagon for grip. Another engaged Jottenheim in a wrestling match for the reins. Alexander, sitting next to Jottenheim, lashed out at the orc with his dagger doing his best not to stab their driver. Meanwhile, Maegor and Sylfir used the spear driven into the carriage to triangulate the position of the orc on top to best direct their blind attacks at him, forcing him off the carriage. Jottenheim managed to free himself of the orc attacking him just in time to see a barricade made of furniture and debris blocking their path. Alexander spotted the weak point in the makeshift wall ahead and called for Jottenheim to aim the carriage at that spot while Synkronos and Sansarya fired a barrage of flame blasts at it. The carriage punched through what was left of the wreckage, still somehow holding it together.

As the horses rounded the corner, the bridge from the City Core to Ghol's Throne came into view along with the two or so dozen Gholian soldiers holding the line against orcs trying to push their way through. A number of Gholian archers, perched along the hillside road leading up to Old Town, were positioned to provide cover fire. A single commander, dressed in shining silver chainmail, oversaw the entire defensive effort. She waved to the party to get their attention and then shouted, “We can't hold them much longer, hurry your asses over here”.

Drawing closer to the gate house, the party noticed why she was so concerned, for a mass or charging orcs from a road that forked left came into view. Unlike the prior orcs, and those attacking the gatehouse, this band was covered in massive boils that caused some, but not all, of their appendages to inflame to twice their normal size. The first few were picked off by the wooden steaks fired from scorpions perched on the walls of Ghol's Throne, causing the boils to explode into a putrid green mist. One however broke through and charged at the wagon. Not wanting to see what the effects of the mist were, the party resorted to every ranged exploit in their pocket to pick the charging orc off before he could reach their wagon. The orc burst like his other brethren, but the party by now was able to reach the bridge, where the Gholian soldiers managed to force the orcs back long enough to form a point of entry. With the carriage safely in the gate house, the guards closed off the gates. The commander took off her blue plumed Lykovo styled helm, revealing a dark haired blue eyed woman who Merkorios instantly recognized. She introduced herself as “Lady Isabella Bride, commander of the Last Battalion of Ol Gholon". Having jumped onto her horse, she requested that she ride along as an escort.

Ghol's Throne
Reaching the flat top of the spire, the party was met with cheers from a crowd of guards and other Gholian citizens who had gathered to celebrate their heroic race through the city. Sansarya and Merkorios instantly recognized one of the members in the crowd - an elven wizard dressed in silver and green - as Elmair Sateen, the Head Abjurer of Ol Gholon. He instantly recognized Sansarya as the party emerged from the carriage and took to one knee, expending a deep bow as befit Marrinnian custom. “Your excellence, I was not expecting you here. I am glad that you and your party headed my message though!” The soldiers gathered around stood in an awkward silence for a moment and then extend the same courtesy of bowing, with much uncertainty of whether it was required or not. Sansarya, noticing the awkwardness in the air, motioned for them to rise so that she could engage with Elmair one on one. Catching up, she learned that her compatriot had taken up the position of Head Mage in Gholon after settling down in the city to study the strange properties the ancient ruins, noting that his studio is always open if she was interested in learning more about his work.

Merkorios, in the meantime, pulled Lady Bride aside to inquire where he could find Commander Downta. The commander informed him that the Marquis was at the Duke's Perch. Downtas father's estate had recently been converted from a ducal residency into a sick ward managed by the Soul Forger Order and the Marquis was there as a patient. After Merkorios raced off, the commander turned to the rest of the party, “Gents, you have made a hero’s entrance. Come, you must join us for our Hour of Power.”

She escorted them to her villa and into a large drinking hall occupied by a number of men and women from her regiment. The Lady took the seat of honor and the party found a table next to a muscular dwarf who introduced himself as Flint Softbottom. The party made themselves comfortable and took the opportunity to get acquainted with the local smith as other soldiers filtered into the room and servers passed out steins of beer. The drinking began shortly thereafter. To everyone's surprise, a number of local and visiting (Sylfir and Jottenheim) favorites fell within the earlier rounds. The contest went significantly longer than anyone expected with Alexander, Flint, and a surprising dark horse contender, Sansarya refusing to quit. With only the three of them standing, the contestants cheersed their glasses, downed the excellent dwarven brown in unison, and collapsed onto the table and into a deep slumber, only to wake up the next morning with a large pile of gold sitting between the three of them and a massive headache to contend with. In the meantime, Merkorios tracked down Downta's room and had a heartfelt reunion. Downta pleaded the King's soon to look after the people of Gholon, and Merkorios promised his love that he would as if they were his own charge. He begged for his love to stay strong and promised him that he would find a way to cure him and everyone else. As Downta grew weak, exhausting his energy for the day, the Mistress of the Order requested that he be given time to rest. Merkorios cast cure wounds on his friend and saw the spell give Downta some temporary relief. With that, he left the makeshift hospital to rejoin the rest of the party at the rooms Lady Bride set aside for them (though whether the rest of the party made it back to said rooms remained a mystery).

Rumors and Planning
Having woken up in the later part of the morning, the group set off in different directions. Maegor and Jottenheim set off in search of Lady Bride's office to get a better sense of the lay of the land. With a bit of trouble, the two found the city guard garrison and were able to locate the commander's office inside after checking in with the guards. They found the office neatly arranged, papers stacked in even piles and a hanging shelf to the side contains seven Northern Brand Whiskey bottles. Although empty of their original content, the bottles instead each contained a note. A date had been written on each bottle, with the bottles then having been arranged in chronological order on the shelf. The earliest date was 10 days ago and the latest was from this past morning. Isabella greeted the two and asked for them to sit in the chairs facing her desk. Having gotten a better understanding of the situation, the two went over to the Pewter Estate to meet up Sylfir, who was then using Flint's makeshift forge to upgrade his warhammer. Seeing the additional spikes on the warhammer, Jottenheim was inspired to make modifications of his own and inquired if Sylfir could add spikes to his armor. Flint had the servants bring out beer while the fellow smith worked and the four of them enjoyed a few pints under the heat of the forge.

Meanwhile, Sansarya and Synkronos headed off the the Petrov-Pewter Academy. They found the academy on a man made island located in the Old Town Aquifer in the eastern part of the perch. The building was a stout 3 story yellow lime stone structure with two rectangular wings sitting attached to a narrow central structure with gable end roof. The wings had neogothic pavilion roofs with arched windows. The first floor windows mirrored the design of these windows but ran the full length of the floor. Vines covered the building. A large red double door marked the entrance to the academy and was flanked by statues of sphinxes on either side.

Upon entering, They found a grey haired female gnome in pink and blue robes, named Alymis Alamea, sitting at a round wooden reception desk. Two staircases flanked her, ascending from either side of her desk, leading up to a central point behind her. Sansarya asked where she could find Elmair, and the gnome quietly points to a door behind the left staircase. Synkronos meanwhile inquired about magic item identification. Alymis was more than happy to fulfill the request (for 50 gold per item - a stipend used to support the academy) and pulled out a giant tuning fork. She touched each item with the fork, listened to the vibrations, and then relayed the properties of each to the druid and sorceress.

Afterwards, the two headed to Elmair's office on the first floor of the northern wing. The office was arranged eclectically, with bookshelves randomly spaced around the walls and work stations arranged throughout the large space. Some tables had scrolls scattered across the surface, others had chemical apparatuses burning away liquids or dripping one solution into another. A few tables had what appears to be makeshift inventions in various stages of design. Elmair greeted the pair, and after a brief chat, Sansarya mentioned that she was here to take him up on his offer of lessons. The mage motioned to a large standing mirror in the corner of the room, requesting his guests to step through it. Sansarya obliged and Synkronos followed.

They found themselves atop a large flat white and red polka dotted mushroom top, standing about 240 feet off the ground over a lake surrounded by blue and purple mountains. Walking on the 100 foot diameter space, the pair found that the surface had a soft spring bounce to it. Sansarya asked why Elmair brought them there and the mage told them it was a test space he created in a pocket plane in the Feywild. He demonstrated the mushrooms absorption properties by having Synkronos fire a firebolt into it, which appeared to have been absorbed when it made contact. Elmair took a stance and asked Sansarya to fire spells at him. The first attack was stopped with Mage Armor, the next was blocked with a magically created shield, and the last one Elmair merely counter spelled. He gave Sansarya a copy, in the form of a scroll, of the first two and in an familiar and protective way nudged her to study it if she was going to put herself into danger further. Exiting the portal, Sansarya asked what else Elmair was working on.

Having wrapped up her lessons, Sansarya and Synkronos left for the Bride Estate to meet up with the rest of the party.

Research
Having gathered back at the Bride Estate, the party discussed their next course of action. Finding a cure for the disease seemed like the top priority, but how would they know what they were up against. Realizing that the small personal libraries held by the various lords would likely not come close to what they needed, they decided that a trip to the city's major library, the Dryad's Grove - a temple of knowledge dedicated to the goddess Deira - was the place to go. However, the library was on the east side of the road they took into town, a road that was swarming a day ago with orcs. The trip was too important to avoid, so the party decided to use the cover of darkness to try to avoid confrontation with the orcs (who TOTALLY don't have darkvision or something). Having decided their course of action, they took the rest of the day to rest and recuperate from their respective hangovers, requesting that the staff wake them at two hours after midnight.

To the docks
Having descended down the Perch, the party made their way out onto the street after the guards granted them passage through the gate house. The quietly made their way down the bath house district streets. They were so focused on being sneaky that they completely forgot to focus on being perceptive, resulting in the party walking right into a patrol consisting of two orcs riding giant hyenas. Utilizing some mild vandalism (just breaking a window or two to get behind the patrol), they managed to pincer their enemy and eventually defeat them. Resuming the stealth approach, this time with more focus on being perceptive, the party found their way to the east docks used for travel to and from the grove. Noticing a campfire light bounce of a building, Alexander offered to sneak ahead to scout things out. He made his way down an alley to try to get a view of what was happening at the courtyard near the docks. As he approached he heard voices in a foreign language arguing. Trying to focus on what was being said, he edged closer. Keeping his eyes ahead of him, he missed a littered bottle on the ground. Crunch! That was all it took. The voices grew quiet for a second. Then the silence was broken by one of the more authoritative ones barking orders. Alexander looked around the corner and saw the orcs advancing on him. Panicking, he motioned for the rest of the party for backup. Synkronos, Sansarya, Maegor, and Merkorios followed him while Sylfir and Jottenheim went down the main road to the docks to try to cut the enemy off. As Sylfir and Jottenheim rounded the corner, they saw a number of orcs wearing soul forger uniforms readying a boat. The group looked unarmed, so the two kept their focus those engaging with the rest of the group. As they made their way around the corner, they saw a large orc barbarian carrying a vicious dwarven steel maul unleash a blood curling yell as his comrades moved in on Alexander. Synkronos, realizing the danger, knew it was now or never to test out a new spell he had been working on. The druid opened both palms and focused on the areas life force. As he did, a field of sharp vined plants began to sprout all around the orc camp. Refusing to besmirch their honor over a bunch of thorns, the orc grunts charged at the party hoping to prove their mettle before their commander. Their decision quickly proved disastrous as the vines lapped at their ankles and the thorns pierced into their flesh, stopping them in their tracks. They hurled curses and javelins at their foe. Maegor returned fire (javelins, not curses obviously). Sylfir and Jottenheim continued their run to get into position, however an orc dressed in black materialized before them and lunged his rapier at Jottenheim's rib cage. The strike was true, but the orc did not account for Sylfir's quick reflexes. The dwarf shoved his shield in between the two just in the nick of time. Seeing two of his enemies go down, the orc barbarian felt that things were safe in his comrades hands. As he marched through the magical vines, his blood hissed as it closed some of the wounds the thorns made. He rushed over to his comrade in black and tried to bring his maul down on his foes but his aim was poor.

Synkronos healed Sansarya, who returned fire with a chaos bolt of her own. The groups continued fighting, until the party finally managed to scrape together a victory - in large part due to Synkronos's quick thinking. After taking a collective breath of relief, the party noticed that the orcs in soul forger robes had begun untying the boat from the docks. The group rushed to stop them and managed to capture the boat and the captives. Not wanting to row the boat themselves and not trusting their captives to do the job they were initially eager to do for themselves, Sansarya and Synkronos decided to use their control water cantrips to propel the boat across the aquifer. The party spend the half an hour long trip to the island discussing how to handle their hostage situation and whether it called for the murder of defenseless orcs. Ultimately, Sansarya was outvoted, with the party deciding to tie up their hostages on the boat once they reached the island.

Dryad's Groove
The island came into view and Merkorios was immediately surprised to find that it had changed shape from when he last visited the library. Normally, the trees on the island formed neat rows, giving each other enough space for nutrients. Now, the island looked like a fortress with the sequoia trees from the outer two rings instead standing in a single outer ring, forming an impenetrable palisade. The staircase leading up from the docks now lead to a dead end and a secondary, cave like, entrance formed near a lower layer from an opening created by the roots of the trees. A second longboat, empty of occupants, was tied to the docks.

Entering the cave, the party noticed that the walls and ceiling were held together by tree roots. The narrow passage allowed them to march two at a time. About thirty feet into the tunnel, the torchlight illuminated a larger chamber ten feet ahead. The party also found an orc corpse. Alexander examined the body and discovered that the orc had blackened fingers and toes and likely died of frostbite and hyperthermia.

Proceeding cautiously into the large chamber ahead, the party found themselves standing before a large lion shaped creature with a woman’s face, one that was surprisingly similar in resemblance to the goddess they met in the underground temple in Ashden, perched atop an earthen platform. The room's half like dome ceiling, like the hallway leading to it, was held up by trees roots woven together to hold back the earth above. A number of orc corpses were scattered around the room. Some appear to have been mauled while others bore strange wounds that range from deep cuts, burns, or frostbite. The Sphinx took a minute to take their presence in. Bringing her paw to her chin while resting her elbow on the knotted platform, she spoke in a a somewhat intrigued tone “Yes?”

Merkorios approached the sphinx to tell her of their mission to save Ol Gholon and she replied, “To enter into the library, you must answer my riddles three.” The bard agreed to the challenge and the sphinx proceeded.

The first riddle was "In spring I am gay in handsome array; in summer more clothing I wear; when colder it grows, I fling off my clothes; and in winter quite naked appear."

Without skipping a beat, Synkronos answered "A tree".

The second riddle was "What can run, but never walks; has a mouth, but never talks; has a head, but never weeps; has a bed, but never sleeps?"

Again, Synkronos answered "A river"

The final riddle was "This thing all things devour: birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to meal; slays kings, ruins towns; and beats high mountains down."

The druid believed the answer was "Time" but was not as sure about the answer as the past two. He consulted with the rest of the party, who had full confidence in the answer.

Having answered all three riddles, the sphinx smiled and tapped her paw on the platform and spoke in a language completely foreign to them. As she did, the earthen wall behind her vanishes and the party saw a tunnel with a staircase leading up. Before leaving, Synkronos inquired why the sphinx looked so much like his goddess and the woman told him that her name was Alexandria and that she was a daughter of the Goddess of Song Birds and Spiders who has pledged herself to guarding one of the goddesses holiest sites.

Taking the staircase up, the party emerged to find themselves in a two mile long enclosure. At the center, sat an abnormally large Banyan tree with a trunk as thick as a tower and a canopy covering most of the enclosure. A number of large ring structures were built into it, roughly 10 feet apart in height, holding an innumerable amount of books. Elm trees grew around it, with spiraling ladders leading up their trunks. Each extended a number of branches towards the great Banyan tree, with walkways built into the branch grouping. Kith, dressed in silver robes with monk trim haircuts, made their way up the staircases and across the pathways, which occasionally shift from one ring layer to another. A few Redwood trees sat outside the circle of elms, with trunks also covered with concentric rings holding additional bookshelves. The entire area was lit up with large five foot diameter floating blue spheres.

To the north, they saw a grove of pine trees accompanied by a collection of monks working on harvesting trees and converting them into planks and pulp in an open air woodworking workshop. An area to the east seemed set up as a workstation. The party saw a number of monks working on writing and transcribing books, others focused on making ink from a variety of plants, and others turned pulp into paper. In the western quadrant, the one the party found themselves in, was covered with even rows of fruit and nut bearing trees: apples, plums, figs, lemons, pecans, walnuts, and avocados. The southern quarter had a number of redwoods with covered concentric circles along with areas roped off for gardens and a few green houses. The bustling atmosphere suggests that the grove had not been touched or is by the struggle happening outside its enclave.

A librarian quickly approached the group to notify them that the library was in fact closed for the night. She offered them lodgings for the night and when the party agreed, she escorted them to the southern portion of the grove and assigned them a ring in one of the redwood trees.

The Annals of Alkowin V1 (checked out Nov 5th 498)

The Annals of Alkowin V5 (checked out Nov 5th 498)

The Runeology Codex by Ester Longfellow (checked out Nov 6th 498)

Emmanuel's Study on Deep Speech (checked out Nov 6th 498)

Dunefellow’s Guide to Encryption (checked out Nov 6th 498)

The Reclamation Queen volumes 1-3 by Esta Pembroke (checked out Nov 8th 498)

Secret Societies in the Frostbit Coast (checked out Nov 9th 498)

The Life and Paranoia of Esta Pembroke (checked out Nov 9th 498)

A Brewers Guide to the North by Elk Effelwaffle (checked out Nov 10th 498, returned Nov 12th 498)

Chapter 4
With their research concluded, the party decided that it would be prudent to relay their findings to the Head Stitcher before setting off for the Abbey at Tula. Before setting off, Merkorios told the rest of the party he was staying behind to take care of a mysterious errand and would meet the party at the abbey. Leaving him behind, the party returned to the docks to find only one of the boats still there and no orc prisoners. Sansarya and Synkronos once again used their control water to propel the boat forward. They traveled by the docks on the other side, where they saw a large orc ambush waiting for them. Instead of fighting their way through it, they navigated their boat towards the gatehouse leading to Ghol's Throne.

Leaving the boat tied to the bridge, the party ascended the pillar and made their way to the Duke's Perch. There they found Irene Pavlov, an older red haired dwarven woman in white robes with gold trim. They relayed their findings to her. Irene, knowing the urgency of the situation, summoned a servant to take the party to the ducal stables. Alexander selected a black horse and named him Furious D. Jottenheim found a Clydesdale horse that was big enough to carry him and named him Jeff. Synkronos also claimed a Clydesdale, which he named Chomp. Maegor found a red horse that spoke to him, naming him Ed. Sansarya claimed that a white horse she found, and named Marybeth, was actually a unicorn. Finally, Sylfir settled on a brown horse which he named Fred.

They set off immediately and raced at full speed through the City Core, avoiding orc ambushes. Upon leaving the city, they took the road south to put some distance from the orc army before turning north west. Cutting through the open plains, the party's plan to avoid enemies fell apart when they were spotted by an orc a riding giant bat, accompanied by 3 more giant bats. The party pushed their horses to a gallop and broke off into two separate groups. A single bat broke off to tail half the party, with the rest following the other half. Unable to shake their tale, Jottenheim jumped off Jeff, and took up a defensive position behind him. A skirmish broke out, resulting in the party capturing the orc messenger.

Intercepting the shipment
After murdering their captive, the party pulled out a map to determine how long it would take them to reach the shipment. They decided that if they travelled north and stopped at the abbey they would not be able to intercept the shipment before the orcs got to it. Furthermore, their chances of encountering hostile orcs along the route was fairly high. The party instead opted to take a path directly east that led to the Bargoliar Pass, leaving the herb gathering to Merkorios (who they assumed would figure all of this out on his own).

Galloping across the open terrain, the party was able to reach the edge of the Bargoliar Pass before sunset. A few miles from the mountains, they passed an empty farming hamlet with damaged houses showing signs of odd charring. Deciding that this was unimportant, they proceeded without stopping.

The road to Bargoliar Pass Abbey
Approaching the mountains, they saw a sign depicting a hanging anvil pointing north up the mountain trail, that read “Bargoliar Pass Abbey, may Kord bless your diligent steps”. The pass began at a joining point between the two mountains, with a stone archway built across the two. Its frieze depicted scenes of dwarves building a large pagoda-like temple accompanied by a surrounding village atop the mountain. The path up was carved into series of short steps from the mountain slope.

Passing through the arch, they saw a series of smaller half pagodas, one ahead and two above. The first one was about a mile away, at a point where the two mountains begin to separate enough to open a view of the coast at a bend. The road then wrapped up above and headed up along the cliffside.

Unlike the arch earlier, the first pagoda was carved out of the mountain itself. A domed stone roof sat atop a number of slender stone columns. A stout two foot wall provided a barrier along the edges of the cliff. The side facing away from the road up showed some wear in the form of cracks and chips. The pagoda also included a bench, which was carved into the mountain façade. Most of the white polished stone was covered in crude graffiti, sprawled hectically across the interior and exterior.

Upon reaching the first pagoda, the party could make out a second one, which was significantly bigger, about a mile away. Sansarya made out a a flicker of light coming from it. The party took a minute to investigate the graphite. It depicted a creature being led up the mountain by two bigger creatures. The following drawing showed the same short creature encountering a large bird man like creature. The smaller creature gained a jester hat and the large bird man was on his back. The smaller creature then returned to his village with a large gem as a hero. The party didn't know what to make of this, so they continued onwards. When they got closed to the second pagoda, two boulders rolled towards them. Quick on his feet, Synkronos used his shape earth cantrip to transform them into barricades before they could wreak havoc on their horses. The boulders were followed by chants of "Nilbog" and a swarm of goblins, two hobgoblins, a bugbear, and a strange goblin wearing a jester hat. Sylfir and Jottenheim attempted to engage the jester hat goblin. However, a strange force compelled them to worship the creature whenever they made contact. Alexander then attempted to fire an arrow at the goblin, however the arrow disappeared before it made contact. Eventually, Sylfir and Jottenheim broke the goblins hold on them and managed to slay the create. The creatures hat and jester rod turned to smoke, which was absorbed by one of the other goblins. To their horror, this one suddenly sprouted that same hat and jester rod. He cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on the dwarf, leaving Sylfir rocking on the ground in uncontrollable laughter.

Sansarya was not amused. Without pondering the consequences, she cast thunderwave which forced both friends and foe back. The blast threw Alexander off the edge of the pass. However, he was luckily able to grab a hold of the ledge, preventing him from plummeting to his death. The party dispatched the Nilbog and his companions. They found that the brigands had amassed a treasure hoard which included a halberd that Maegor grabbed, an intro to spellcasting book that Alexander claimed, gold coins, a few potions, and a diamond dangling from the ceiling.

The mountain top
The party continued up the mountain, reaching the peak by nightfall. At the top, they found a ruined settlement, reduced to sections of walls, outlines of foundations, and large black pools. As they rode through the the abandoned abbey, they heard a dip in the water followed by a brief silence. As they looked around for the source of a potential ambush, a large black dragon dragged himself out of the pool to their right. Crushing the stone with his massive talons, he hoisted himself on a raised foundation resting above the party and let out a blood curdling roar. Synkronos attempted to reason with the creature, however the dragon Rædwald was only interested in satisfying his hunger and saw no reason to break bread with lifeforms he saw beneath him. Puffing his chest and bending his neck back, he let out a vicious stream of acid breath targeting Sylfir and Jottenheim, knocking both of them out. Their horses bucked, throwing both riders off, as they miraculously dodged the attack their riders could not. Synkronos transformed into a tiger, after sending Cracker to heal his allies. He heroically charged the dragon and with a mighty pounce, managed to knock it prone. Maegor and Alexander joined the fray, lunging at the creature. Their attacks struck true, but could not slay the beast.

Then... a mysterious elf emerged from the shadows. Sansarya was the first to spot him, muttering "Jesus fucking christ, not Kisworth. Anyone but Kilsworth". But to her dismay, it was indeed Kilsworth. The renowned elven hunter notched his bow, and struck the might dragon in his anus. The fearsome beast let out a last roar, and sunk to a final slumber. As the party gathered their breath, none except Sansarya managed to notice that this stranger was somehow new. Kilsworth simply gave off an aura of friendliness that eased everyone into a lull. To the rest of the party, it felt like he had always been there. Kilsworth himself was however overjoyed to see his princess. His uncle had called him up from Marinnia, knowing the danger Sansarya would potentially be in. The elf traveled for days, tracking the party. Having slayed the dragon, he could now reassure his uncle that the princess was safe and that his quest was complete. While Sansarya and Synkronos collected blood from the dragon, Kilsworth picked up a stone from the temple. He took a bite from a strange berry, and then suddenly vanished.

Meanwhile, Merkorios...
Merkorios found himself alone for the first time in a long time. It had been a while since he last visited the academy and with the orc hordes occupying chunks of the city, he wasn't sure when he would get another opportunity. The timing wasn't perfect, but when had it ever been.

He retraced the steps Saltat taught him when he first visited Ol’ Gholon, repeating the elven rhythm as he did. First, heading east, he found the fountain bearing the elven maid reading in a tree, with water trickling down each leaf above her and down the spine of her book. He traced the waterfall up, until it passed by a sparrow. Remembering what his mother had taught him, he looked not where its beak was pointing but where the beak's shadow pointed. Gathering his bearings, Merkorios lined his feet up with the base of the waterfall. Putting each foot in front of the other, he counted his steps to 100. Surprisingly, the 100 paces still put him within arms reach of the only leafless tree in the whole forest, one that you swear, as you have many times before, was not there on your way to the fountain. Touching the tree, he murmured in elven “Queen of the city of old, priestess of the Mother of Spiders and Songbirds, your humble servant begs passage into your realm.” As he did, his hand began to draw into the tree, pulling him in.

Stepping through, he found himself in a dark forest covered in webs. A soft song pulsates through the air as strings of the web vibrate. A Satyr, sitting on a stump nearby, was chanting a song in old elven to the rhythm of the web. As Merkorios stepped out, the old faun greeted him. “Merkorios of Ior, what brings you back home?” The Prince told the old faun that he was here to consult with Araknid, the Queen of Spiders. That he had knowledge of the world above that his headmistress was likely to find valuable. The faun whistled a final cord, hopped off the stump, and motioned the Prince to follow.

An audience with Araknid
The pair traveled deep into the forest below. As they did, the webs grew denser and denser until they culminated into a throne chamber made up of webbed walls. At the center of the webbed pavilion, upon a white wood throne, sat a majestic drow queen garbed in robes of the finest silk.

Merkorios kneeled before his mistress and once she motioned for him to stand and tell her of the world above. The prince told her of the orc attacks, of the strange plague that had befallen Ol' Gholon, and of the information they discovered at the library. When she finished speaking, she twisted her hands in an orchestral conduction. Each flourish was accompanied by a band of spiders moving in harmony, forming a circular web behind Merkorios. Having seen this before, the Prince stood in place. When her hands stopped moving he turned around to find a portal, encapsulated in the newly spun web, emanating an image of an abbey behind him. He stepped through the portal and found himself no longer in the Underdark but at the edge of a forest bordering on the outskirts of the Abbey's farm lands.

The Abbey at Tula
Small thatched roof houses are huddled together, surrounded by farms. At the center of the village, on top of a hill, sits the abbey, with white stone buildings capped with domed blue roofs behind the monasteries tall white stone walls. A plethora of farmers were harvesting crops. Merkorios carefully maid his way to the small town surrounding the Abbey. As he did, he began to notice that the farm workers he saw from a distance appeared significantly disheveled, missing limbs or flesh. As he approached one such farmer, the pungent smell of death hit his nose. The man smelled as if he had been dead for several days now and yet he did not seem to notice. The Prince tried to question him, but the zombie paid him no mind and so the Prince continued onwards into town.

The town had much of the same scene, maybe a bit more quiet than normal. There were no children playing in the streets and an unusual number of establishments were closed. He did find a one armed blacksmith repairing farming equipment. Merkorios eloquently inquired whether the man knew where to find healing herbs. The walking corpse returned his request with a grunt and a point towards a building with a sign reading "Agatha Apothecary".

The Prince was surprised to find the shop locked down. A meek response of "Who is it?", in a sad creaking voice responded to his knock. Merkorios announced himself, but was met with complete silence. Listening closer, he heard mutterings and sporadic shuffling that one would associate with someone in a state of panic. He proceeded to knock again but was met with a hasty panicked "One minute my lord. One minute".

Finding a way to force the door open, Merkorios forced his way into the shop. There he found a skeleton of a woman sitting at what looked to be a make shift make up station. She was wearing a wig made of straw that covered her naked skull and was in the process of applying blush and lipstick. Jumping at the sight of the Price, she startled "Oooh... Oh no... I can't be seen like this... My lord, my deepest apologies. I do not yet have my face. I am not presentable for a royal visit."

Empathizing with the poor soul, Merkorios did his best to calm Agatha down. With her nerves set, the old woman beckoned the Prince to sit in the only other chair in the room. The two talked. The Prince told her of his quest to get supplies, asked her whether she had seen any of his compatriots, and inquired about what had transpired at Tula. She told Merkorios that she had not seen his comrades or any other travelers since she her reanimation. As for his request for herbs, she was able to provide him with a crate full of White Echinacea, noting that more could be found within the Abbey walls. The Prince promised to help her find the children and then set off to either find his comrades or the long road back to Ol' Gholon.

The walk through the farm fields - while carrying a crate full of herbs - left Merkorios void of any optimism. The rest of the party was no where to be found and he only had his legs as a means of transportation. No horses or beasts of burden were to be found at the Abbey, likely due to plundering orcs. With his mood completely soured, he continued to trudge on.

His deep state of sulking was thrown completely off by a cheerful singsong voice coming from a figure he completely failed to notice "Need a lift?". With a pipe in his hands, sitting on a tree root, was the recognizable form of Elmair Sateen. The mage motioned for the Prince to approach and take a seat and once the Prince was seated, Elmair passed him his pipe. Taking a deep drag from the pipe, Merkorios felt his lungs fill with the potent smoke of a Sateen Kush - a rare strand often discussed but very rarely acquired in Ior. The puff put him flat on his ass, leaving him relaxed and completely absent minded of the passage of time. Several hours had to have passed, or maybe only a few minutes, before Merkorios remembered the offer of a lift. A reminder to the wizard of what he had said was met with a "Patience!" and a freshly loaded pipe.

Night began to set and the Prince was caught tracking the cosmos in the night sky. That however was suddenly interrupted by a loud pop and blast of smoke. Shorty, in its place, stood a second elf - dressed in survival garb of similar color to Elmair's. "Nephew, about time! Did you find them like I asked?" The new elf tossed his uncle the brick he had picked up from the remains of the Bargoliar Pass Abbey. Elmair handed the brick to Merkorios, along with a berry. He told the Prince to focus on the brick as he ate the berry. As the Prince began to follow the wizard's orders, the wizard and his nephew were no where to be seen. Instead, he found himself near the corpse of a large dragon and a number of his party members in deep slumber.

He found Sansarya keeping watch. She tried her best to catch the Prince up on current affairs, however Merkorios was still deep in the smoke or maybe a bit thrown off by the teleportation spell. He asked the Princess for water, who willingly obliged - completely forgetting that she had emptied her water-skin of water, which she then refilled with dragon's blood. It took Merkorios a few seconds to notice the difference in consistency. However those seconds were more then enough for the blood to take hold. He tried to hold it down, but smoking with Elmair had undermined his constitution. His stomach curled into a ball, burning with the heat of a forge. Seeking relief, Merkorios lifted his head up to belch. As he did, a fire ball erupted from his mouth, launching high above the plateau. When it reached its apex, it burst into a massive flaming sphere, lighting up the entire camp accompanied by a loud bang that startled most of his party members.

The Shipwreck
The party woke up the next morning in a groggy state induced either the stench from the sulfurous pools the dragon inhabited or from being startled awake in the middle of the night by the explosion. After a short breakfast, they immediately mounted up, with Merkorios taking Synkronos's horse, and with the druid transforming into a horse himself. They made the decent down the opposite slope of the mountain.

When they reached the bottom fourth, they spotted the wrecked hull of a trading vessel overturned on the beach below. A makeshift fence was set up around the wreckage, creating a perimeter. The ship's mast was planted in the middle of the fort, functioning as a watch tower. Worse yet, one of the ship's cannons was set on a mound and aimed directly in their direction. Jottenheim cursed "Shit, I thought the fort was further out." Sylfir muttered "How are they already here."

The smugglers' fort
Before the discussion could go any further, a boom from the cannon followed by the wiz of a cannonball over their heads broke their concentration. Panic broke out, which led to Jottenheim and Sylfir charged their horses to gain cover from the cannon behind the wrecked haul. As they did, they both gulped down some of the dragon blood they collected the day before.

A band of sailors, led by a bosun carrying a hook on a chain, moved towards the opening between the crashed hull and the makeshift fence. A mage stationed in the crows nest obscured their position with fog.

While the rest of the party dismounted and followed their two brawlers, Jottenheim and Sylfir began to feel the effects of the blood. Sylfir felt a burning energy churn inside of him. He turned towards the hull and let loose a blast of dragon's fire. Jottenheim meanwhile felt a charge course through him. He directed the energy upwards at the mage in the crows nest, hurling a bolt of lightning. He missed his mark but the bolt managed to strike the mast, cracking it in two. The crows nest crashed onto the ground, severely inuring the mage and breaking his concentration on the fog spell covering his allies. The fire cast on the hull began to weaken the wood, which allowed Sylfir to carve his way through the hull and onto the other side. There he was met by the crew's captain who unsheathed his cutlass, challenging the smith. Meanwhile, with their fog cover gone, Sansarya, Alexander, Synkronos, and Merkorios managed to make quick work of the bosun and his crew. Seeing the fight lost and being significantly outnumbered, the captain surrendered to the party.

The downfall of Hadid Al Zi and Cladius Briggs
The party questioned the captain and learned that the rest of his crew was resting in the cave along with the two individuals who hired them, Hadid Al Zi and Cladius Briggs. Alexander, having had some time to practice the spells in the spell book he found in the Nilbog treasure trove, cast disguise self to transform himself into the captain. Coopting Maegor and Jottenheim into his plan, he used a false knot to bound their hands behind their back and led them into the cave as "prisoners". Meanwhile, the rest of the party moved the cannon closer, hoping to use it to bury the gear brought here for the orcs in the cave.

In the cave, Alexander, Maegor, and Jottenheim found the two conspirators they first ran into at the Red Charger Lodge, along with two members of the crew - a wizard and the first mate. Alexander's disguise proved to be convincing, and Briggs asked that he hand over the prisoners to the first mate while the three of them deal with the threat outside. Having put Briggs and Hadid between them and their allies, Alexander ditched the disguise and sprung the trap. Breaking the knots, the paladin and the solider were held back by the first mate, who proved to be shiftier than either of them had expected. Alexander engaged Cladius Briggs while Synkronos, in the form of a tiger, charged the Yuan-Ti and 2 put himself in between his two allies and his two enemies.

Hadid cast fear on Synkronos, who in tiger form began to imagine himself surrounded by poachers. The druid was forced to disengage and flee outside the cave where he was able to transform into his goliath tree form, breaking the spell. Briggs drew a strange hollowed out flail from his belt that he began to spin up for an attack. When the flail head reached full speed, it began to glow red hot like metal in a forge. He whipped it at Alexander leaving a painful hissing burn mark on the rogue's shoulder.

Sansarya, meanwhile, obliterated the spell casting ship mate with a chaos bolt. Seeing their numbers dwindle, Hadid threw his snake headed staff on the ground towards Sansarya. Upon impact, the staff transformed into a cobra. Hadid then lunged at Sylfir, in an attempt to constrict the smith, he however missed his mark and instead flopped on the ground. Taking advantage of his enemy being prone, Sylfir drove the killing blow upon Hadid Al Zi. Working together, Maegor and Jottenheim, were able to overcome the fencers shiftiness. With the first mate dispatched, they ganged up on Briggs. After trading a few blows, Maegor managed to knock his former drill instructor unconscious.

With their enemies dispatched, the party collected the magic staff and the flaming flail and moved outside the cave. They aimed the cannon at the entrance and lit the fuse. The cannon kicked back and its munition crashed loudly into the cave entrance, crumbling the ceiling onto the bodies of Hadid Al Zi and Caldius Briggs.

Ol Gholon, revisited
Arriving at Ol Gholon, the party was surprised to find the heavy gate doors restored and shut. As they approached, the sound of horns emerged from the walls followed by the gate doors creaking open. Given their prior experience entering the city, the party was weary of the situation. However, when the gate was halfway open, they could make out several Gholonian guards standing at attention which immediately alleviated their worries.

Entering the city proper, they noticed a small number of civilians restoring parts of the city damaged by the orc attack. Some were scrubbing graffiti left on the sides of buildings, while others were mending windows or removing debris. As they rode forward, they noticed that the walls of Ghol’s Throne were draped with black banners.

Entering Old Town on horseback, they were met with a slightly larger crowd than before, accompanied by horn fanfare. During their first arrival, they were met mostly by guards and soldiers. This time, there were civilians greeting their arrival from balconies and sidewalks.

The reception stunned them long enough to be caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a woman blocking their procession with a low bow. She waited for a minute before raising up, flicking her bright weaved amber hair back behind her and over her blue leather military coat and long pointy ears. Now fully standing upright, they noticed that the fearless greeter, beaming from ear to ear, was about 3ft tall. Standing at attention and now noticing that she had the party's attention, she announced herself in a singsong voice:

“Hiya, MerryWeather Sprocket reporting! Lady Izza sent me. Imma to fetch ya at first notice. Now that the young Wardin is up and at it, the council is due to meet tis evenin’. She tol me to make sure yall were nice and decent for it.”

She took a second to look over the party with a laser eyed focus: “It will take some work but will get yall fixed. Come, follow.”

To the party's surprise, MerryWeather led them towards Ghol’s Perch and not the Bride Estate. Upon reaching the gatehouse, MerryWeather called over a pair of stable hands and motioned for the party members to dismount and to pass their reins over to the attendants.

“Come, come, the ambassador pavilion has been restored. Lady Izza had me ready rooms for you there to get ready for court! A scribe will come find you when it is time. Ring the bell in your room if you need anything brought to your room.”

Each member of the party was given a room fit for a noble or an ambassador within the pavilion. MerryWeather's husband, the court tailor Edward Sprocket, assisted several members of the party with the procurement of outfits using a magical tape measure. Merkorios, for whom the city was a second residence, had the staff fetch the trunks of clothes he left there. Sansarya inquired whether the services of a barber were available. Bethany, her attendant, fetched the royal barber, a dwarf named Nathan who also helped groom Sylfir. Having had time to rinse off, acquire clothes, and get groomed the group casually made their way to the foyer attendants knocked on their doors to fetch them for the meeting.

The council meeting
The foyer was a large elegant sitting room furnished in beige and brown hues. The room contained several couches and chairs. Various animal heads lined the walls and a stuffed yeti was mounted in the corner. A gray wooden bar table contained a bucket with ice and a silver and glass water dispenser. They noticed a number of other figures already in the room: a wooden and metal construct curiously examining a vase, an imposing goliath knight wearing a blue cloak and silver half plate, and a familiar smith - Flint Softbottom, who upon seeing Sansarya stand for a glass of water, went and poured on for his former drinking buddy and himself.

A scribe opened the door on the opposite end from where they entered, giving the party a view of a large chamber with a stained glass dome ceiling depicting hunting scenes through green and brown glass pieces. A large chandelier like orb decorated with a multitude of planetary rings hang from the center of the dome and adds a soft yellow light to the room.

The center of the room had a circle of thin wooden columns shaped like trees that supported the heavy glass ceiling. The floor in the middle was sunk in and was dominated by a large round wooden table surrounded by 16 chairs. A map of Powys was laid out on the table. The room contains a number of doors and several small side alcoves for staff. The scribe took up a position in one such nook and unrolled a scroll and began to announce members of the council:


 * Alexander Silverwald, son of the great Maxwell Silverwald
 * Maegor Arkos, Beaconite Apprentice
 * Twig, smith of the Soul Forgers
 * A living construct made of wood and steel entered the room. He looked cheerfully around the room, waved and said “Hi guys, I am Twig.”
 * Flint Softbottom, Master of the Forge
 * The dwarven smith that the party had met a few times before entered the room. Although he was wearing an outfit that looked finer than the ones he wore the past two times you had met him, it was still covered with soot.
 * Sylfir Rumnaheim, fighting smith of Windskeep
 * Synkronos Gaia, Keeper of the Moon Isle Grove
 * Saint Ann Braken, Knight banneret of Beacon
 * A middle aged goliath entered the room wearing silver half plate armor accompanied by the blue cloak that marked her order. A larger than usual greatsword sat on her back. Before sitting, she took the sword and sheath off and placed it next to her seat gently. She looked sternly at the scribe and quietly said: “For the record, please adjust the Beaconites title. There are so few of us left that it's silly to call someone that has lasted this long an apprentice.” She unfastened her cloak, walked over to Maegor and handed it to him before returning to her chair without saying anything else.
 * Jottenheim Sol, Axe of the Harper Brigade and representative of the honorable Lord Birch
 * Lord Elmair Sateen, Head Abjurer
 * Elmair Sateen entered the room dressed in a formal deep green robe carrying a wooden staff with a large knot at the top.
 * The revered Lady Irene Pavlov, Mistress Stitcher
 * A red haired dwarven woman dressed in an elegant white robe, embroidered with gold entered the room.
 * Viscount Plato Pewter, Counter of Coin
 * An older halfling, sporting a van dyke mustache and curly black hair entered the room carrying a book nearly half his size. He was dressed in a fine black suit.
 * Count Pytor Pavlov, Grand Marshal of Ghol’s Legions
 * A dwarf the size of a large cask of ale entered the room. His bright red hair was trimmed into a braided mohawk. A large blue and crimson cloak covered his right arm. He flicked it back when he reached for his chair, revealing a large metallic arm. After sitting, he made a point of slamming the metallic arm on the table giving everyone a clear indication of its immense weight.
 * Count Graysin Rootlander, Master of Pages
 * As the doors opened, the party saw a tree like throne march its way into the room using its 4 large stump-like legs. Upon it sat an elder thin goliath with long white strand-like hair who was dressed in a simple beige robe. He parked his chair next to an empty spot at the table. Once settled, he looked to the scribe and said “Please strike the title of Count from the record. It is no longer necessary
 * Contessa Isabella Bride, Captain of the Guard
 * The Countessa entered the room with a brisk pace, pulled a chair back and sat immediately. She was dressed in the navy blue guard uniform of Ol Gholon's Last Regiment.
 * Commander Bloes, Warden of Ghol
 * Merkorios was surprised to hear the title of warden used and from it had expected to see the admiral. Instead of his father, Downta entered the room solemnly, dressed in all black except for the royal blue sash reserved for the Duke of the northern kingdom.
 * Merkorios Iordanos, The Royal Prince of Ior
 * Sansarya Purebreath, Grand Princess of Marinnia

Matters of grave importance
After the scribe finished, Downta took his seat. Two guards took position behind him, stomping their halberds to attention. A scribe brought a scroll to the Duke. "We are dealing with an unprecedent number of threats to our kingdom, ladies and gentlemen. I have requested each of you to join me in attending this council so that we may decide how to best guard our Kingdom from these threats and I am blessed to be able to call on each of your wisdoms."

The soldier's revelation left the council startled and silent, until Duke Downta finally cut in to inquire who the "they" were. The council and the party learned, from the injured soldier, that Lord Merrick accompanied by Count Stormcrow were leading a united army from Nim't, accompanied by mercenary forces including war elephants.

Rootlander next examined the maul in Sylfir's possession, letting the smith know that he was in possession of a weapon forged by a student of Kord who created the maul for breaching fortifications in the fight against the giants.

The party chose to set out the next day. Upon their departure, Duke Downta gifted Merkorios his prized horse, Placeholder. As they set out, Sansarya noticed that Kilsworth was once again with them, now riding a horse named Astaroth. A fact, largely to her annoyance, which appeared to have gone unnoticed by the rest of the party.

Abbey investigation
The party stopped at Tula before setting off for Unnova. Merkorios took the group to Agatha's Apothecary to clue them in on what he had been told. The undead woman was again cautious to open the door to visitors before getting ready. Once she did, seeing the number of guests and the embarrassingly low number of chairs in her possession, she requested Maegor's noble help in moving crates for the party members to sit on. After repeating the information she told Merkorios to the rest of the group, the party decided to investigate the strange rocks outside. Wanting to resolve the Unova matter as quickly as possible and not wanting to get caught by an orc ambush, the party decided that the pathway south and the road to Unova were not ideal. Instead, they choose to cut through the woods that sat between the Abbey and Unova.

The Hart North Woods
Kilsworth, feeling right at home, volunteered his scouting services. Taking to the tree line with absolute grace and fineness, the tracker was making his way through the tree line. As he did, he noticed a rag moving through the tree line off in the distance. He moved in to investigate and was surprised to find a make shift watch tower, full of goblins, riding on the back of an ogre. As he turned to retreat and notify the party, he underestimated the give in a tree branch. The sound of the branch vibrating from his jump alerted a goblin who howled at the ogre to give chase. Nearing the party, Kilsworth leapt from a tree branch onto the ground and knocked a barbed arrow into his bow. As he readied his shot, the ogre's approaching pace made him hesitate. In that hesitation, his grip on the arrow slipped and he released it straight into his foot, pinning him on the spot. Sansarya, seeing her countryman in danger, ran head of the party and cast suggestion on the ogre while yelling "Stop!" at the top of her lungs. Hearing the sorcerer's command, the ogre clumsily stopped on a dime. With its own immense weight, coupled by the awkward backpack house, the sudden deceleration forced the ogre to faceplant immediately in front of Kilsworth. Goblins that were thrown from the ogre's backpack were no match for the party, who were also able to make quick work of the now prone ogre.

In the spider nest
As the party continued traveling east, Sylfir and Sansarya began to notice silver strands running between the trees and the ground. As they marched onward, the strands grew more and more common, until it became evident that they were standing in a massive spider web. As this realization dawned on them, they began to make out the sound of numerous clicking pincers all around them. They had just enough time to circle up into a defensive formation before spiders began to emerge from the treetops and nests within the undergrowth.

Sansarya and Synkronos lit up the forest with fire magic with Sylfir and Jottenheim contributing to the bonfire festivities by throwing a torch here and there. Managing to subdue the first wave, they were surprised to see more and more spiders pour into their location despite the fire, which now began to spread throughout the forest.

Caught with the fire to his side, Kilsworth found himself unable to dodge out of the way of one of the spiders. The spider managed to sink his pincers into the bounty hunter's leg, injecting it with its poisonous venom. As the venom coursed through Kilsworth, he suddenly found himself unable to move. With the fire now fully out of control, and threatening to consume one of his allies and nature itself, Synkronos called upon his trusty Create Water spell to douse the forest with rain. Sylfir, having defeated the nearest spiders to him, hopped back on his horse and scooped up the paralyzed Kilsworth. With the fire dying out from the rainstorm and the swarm of spiders significantly reduced, the party began to make out a deeper more menacing clicking noise coming from their left and right flank. As the noise closed in on them, they began seeing the trees shift and shuffle eventually revealing two giant spiders the side of a carriages, one to either side of them. Alexander scooped up Jottenheim and the two rode for the spider to their left. Maegor, who in the chaos assumed that the party was routing east, turned and charged at the spider on the right.

Before Synkronos, Sansarya, and Merkorios could pick a direction, the fabric of reality in front of them began to tear. The rip in space was nudged open by a series of blue fluffy spider legs. The blue and white spider pushed itself out of the rift, feeling pleased that its tactic had split up its prey. Merkorios invoked Deira's name, demanding that the world rending spider let them pass. When that proved fruitless, the three spellcasters let loose a barrage of magic at the spider. Severally injured before it had a chance to taste its prey, the spider disappeared the same way it came - tearing another hole in reality and crawling through it, maybe to return another day when the party least expected it. The moral of the two giant spiders, seeing their queen flee, dampened. Despite their best attempts to trap Jottenheim in a web, the barbarian's rage proved too much for their webs as Jottenheim simply flexed to snap the binding holding him in place.

The haunted hunters' cabin
With combat wrapped up, Sylfir returned with Kilsworth, knowing that his ally would not be in any danger. The party regrouped and then headed further into the forest. After a short walk, they reached a crossroad. The path south took them away from the direction they needed to go. The cliff to the north was unsuitable for the horses and the party did not wish to backtrack through the spider nest to make their way down to the creek below. A pathway did lead east, however it looked like it dead ended on top of a hill housing what Sansarya identified to be an old Elven hunting lodge. From the bottom of the hill, they could make out the ruins of a deck, behind which stood the stone structure. Through the windows, Sansarya thought she saw light dancing every now and then. She volunteered to scout out the location and Jottenheim to help. When the two reached the top of the hill, the noticed that the cabin was in significant disarray and had long been abandoned - likely due to the damage incurred by a giant footprint smashing a side of a wall. They knocked on the old wooden door, but received no answer. Testing the door, they realized it wasn't locked and after pushing it open, they stepped into the main chamber.

At the far end of the room, grew a tree that was amalgamated into the wall. To their left stood seven statues. The wooden roof was held up by stone columns, which divided the chamber lengthwise into thirds. The pair scanned the room but stopped when Jottenheim caught sight of a blur of light behind him. After darting around once or twice, he finally caught it - only for the wispy ball to release a stinging burst of electric shock. As it did, two more will-o-wisps emerged from the columns, one near Sansarya and a second one next to Jottenheim. Sansarya channeled a ray of frost at one of them, but the ball of light bounced away from the blast. The noise alerted Alexander, who directed the rest of the party to rush to his comrade's aid. Before they could get there however, the three will-o-wisps managed to catch the barbarian and sorceress off guard with their agility, delivering fatal shocks that left them worse for ware.

Thinking on his feet, Merkorios cast detect thought. Projecting his thoughts into the orbs and pushing through the barrier between this world and the shadowfell, he managed to reach the spirits souls. The voices were those of tormented elves, ones who died tragically when giants stormed their bunker. Their last desire to hold the line kept their souls tethered to the cabin. Merkorios told them that the age of giants had passed and that the threat was gone. With those words, the wisps faded away.

Before the party could catch their breath, the tree in the back of the room produced a face and began to recite a poem:

Eight different queries we hunted to claim

Seven stand as a testament to our fame

But their letters also hide a secret name

Speak it for the prize to our last game

Realizing that there were indeed seven statues in the room, Merkorios and Sansarya began to examine the figures to their left. The statues, in order from left to right, depicted: a trio of gn o lls fighting over a spear, a gruesome w erewolf next to a tree, five kobo l ds around a bonfire, A grinning b eholder, two g e latinous cubes patrolling a dungeon corridor, three dr a gons in flight, two t r olls sitting under a tree.

While the pair stumbled over the riddle, Synkronos quickly figured out that the number of objects corresponded to a letter in each of the creatures' names. Putting that together, he deduced that the answer was 'owlbear'. When he said the answer to the rest of the party, the tree's mouth opened up into a doorway. Alexander, looking below, saw a metal staircase leading down into a bunker. He and Jottenheim led the way down and upon reaching the bottom of the spiraling staircase, saw the torches in the bunker automatically light up one by own. Before them stood a room full of arrows, javelins, and swords. At its center, hung up on a cross bar, rested a suit of hide armor made out of white fur and feathers.

Instantly intrigued by the armor, Jottenheim rushed towards it. As he drew close, an initially beautiful but instantly hideous visage emerged from the armor clawing at Jottenheim with its ghostly nails. Assuming that the armor was attacking him, the barbarian charge tacked the stand upon which it rested, going through the banshee in the process. The ghastly elven ghost let out a bone chilling wail. The sound was too much for Alexander and Merkorios who were instantly knocked out and left on deaths door. While Synkronos and Cracker worked together to revive their downed comrades, Sansarya fired a barrage at the banshee. Sylfir moved in to lend a hand, but was suddenly attacked by his own shadow. The creatures slam left him feeling his strength leave his body. Maegor, seeing how dire the situation was, channeled the light of Beacon into his sword. He drove the weapon, now crackling with holy energy, into the ghost. Unlike prior efforts to strike her, which tore through the the ghost leaving only a minor impact, the swords drove through the banshee as if she had a form corporeal - one which the sword cut through like butter. She floated before Maegor for a second, reaching towards him with one of her grizzly hands, before fading away like ash. Sylfir moved to strike the shadow that slammed him, but it too began to fade away now that the ghost holding it in place had been vanquished. Feeling significantly worse for wear, the group decided that the bunker was likely now the safest place for them to get some rest. As they rolled out their bedrolls, Synkronos collected healing herbs from the shelves, Sansarya grabbed a few silver arrows, and Maegor located a few silvered javelins.

A shrine to the hunt
The party emerged from the bunker the next morning well rested. Itching to try out a new spell that she had been working on, Sansarya asked her comrades to make room. Chanting a few words in Elven, and drawing sigils in the air with a feather plucked from the suit of owlbear armor, Sansarya sprouted a magnificent set of wings. Launching herself up into the air, past the tree line, she began to scan the forest they were in for a pathway out. The path southward, that the party yesterday assumed would take them away from Unova, actually curved back east after a while. Landing safely on the ground, she drew a crude map for them to follow.

Following the map, the party headed south and then east. On their way, they came across a detour that lead them to a strange alter in the middle of a grove. Synkronos trail blazed ahead, searching for any possible traps. After giving the okay, Sansarya and Kilsworth joined him in the middle of the thick grove of trees. The alter depicted a number of predatory beasts - lions, wolves, and tigers - each carrying a part of their prey as an offering to a strange figure that dwarfed over them in size. The humanoid figure had curled horns of a ram where a normal kith would have ears. His owned maw contained saber-toothed fangs and sharp tiger like teeth. His hands, outstretched to accept the offering, were a mix between the paws of a human and those of a bear - complete with sharp talons. Sansarya and Kilsworth sensed an elven religious motif within the sculpture but could not pinpoint the religious significance of the statue. Unsure of what to make of the situation, Synkronos chose to play it safe - leaving one of his rations of nuts and dried fruit as an offering.

The Realm of the Eternal Hunt
The party continued on their way until the path started to curve north. Sansarya and Jottenheim led the way on horseback, taking little note of the fact that the foliage ahead did not match up to their current season. Jottenheim suddenly stopped, realizing that they no longer heard the sound of their companions horses behind them. Taking in the landscape around them in fully for the first time, the pair realized that they were no longer in the same forest they were in before. The trees around them were budding as if it was spring, despite it being fall only a minute ago. Some of the trees around them were completely foreign to the two of them and the continent they were on. Flowers along the trail bloomed in colors so vibrant that they would have made even the most traveled tulip bulb trader faint. The sky was of a purplish hew with a large low orange sun serving as a backdrop for a large mountain located right where Unova should sit. Thick vines, hanging from the trees, shuffled over the paved road that was moments earlier a dirt trail.

Alexander saw the pair a second ago. He rubbed his eyes when he only saw everything after the necks of their horses. Then he saw his two companions slowly vanish into a water like surface that rippled as they passed. Finally the asses of their horses were gone. By then, he had halted his horse and motioned for the rest of his companions to stop as well. The remaining party consulted amongst themselves and decided that with two of their own gone, all they could do was boldly follow and hope for the best. They charged through the portal and reemerged on the other side to find Sansarya and Jottenheim in this most strange and bizarre place. As the party road forward together towards the mountain off in the east - hoping to find answers - they noticed that trees in their path would nudge away from them.

Finding all of this fairly bizarre, Synkronos decided to stop and ask the unicorns for directions. Casting speak with animals, he cautiously approached the blessing. One of the unicorns turned from the water and pranced over to him, baying a "hello". The Druid inquired about where they were and learned that they had passed into the realm of Ohotian, the god of the hunt. The unicorn found it odd that they were there since he had never seen visitors here in ages. Knowing of Sansarya's fondness for unicorns, Synkronos inquired if any of them would like to join him and his friends on their adventure to which the unicorn politely declined, noting that it would be unfair to their master - who takes good care of them. Hopping back onto Clomp, Synkronos rejoined the party and they marched eastward.

Not long after, Sylfir spotted a bird like creature - somewhat obscured by the sun behind it - flying in their direction. As they rode, he kept his eye on it and noticed it grow larger and larger. As it drew closer, what initially looked like the shape of a bird looked more and more clearly like a dragon. The smith, panicking at the sight of the approaching dragon, called the party's attention to it. His message cut off halfway through, as he saw four additional large golden dragons emerge from the cover of the first to form a flying V formation heading directly towards them. The fleet began to descend as it approached overhead. Jottenheim suggested making a run for cover but Merkorios reminded him that the trees had been moving out of their path and likely would not be cooperative if they were used for cover. After dismounting, the party stood stunned watching the fleet approach over their heads.

Despite being focused on the 5 large dragons shimmering over their head, they managed to catch a shadow of an object drop from the first dragon. It came crashing down with the full force of gravity from a hundred feet up, cratering in front of the party with the impact of an earthquake. The group managed to keep their feet and now focused their attention to the elven man standing before them. While looking young in his years, the golden skinned shirtless elf carried an expression that suggested experience well beyond any of their years. A black bear belt wrapped around his waist, hanging over his broad white pants. He gave the party a once over glance with a mile long stare, after which he finally spoke. "I am Kranicius, the High Lord of the Hunt. Why do you trespass in my master's woods?" Before the party could reply, they suddenly realized that the monk's entrance was entirely intended to mask the arrival of his comrades - who along with the elf, now had the party surrounded. The elf, fully aware that they were keen on this fact, paused on the question to instead introduce his comrades. Pointing to a male dragonborn, carrying a large wooden oar, draped in furs from a large saber-tooth tiger with the head serving as a hood - "That is Trusk, the ever explorer". She is "Dytricia, the ancient viper" - moving his hand in the direction of an old blind dwarven woman, with long braided white hair, wearing a green and black patterned robe. A hawk perched on her shoulder appeared to constantly whisper into her ear. "You wont see Tax, but she saw you. She doesn't like strangers but she is ready should you choose to make any sudden movements." "The one with the bo staff is Isophisia, warden of the grove" pointing to a female tiefling wearing a white dress and carrying a large black bo staff that appeared to shift in size each time one looked at it. "Lastly, that is Lionidus Ironmane, champion of the hunt. Try not to piss him off." pointing to a male leonin warrior dressed in chainmail armor, carrying a shield bearing the sigil of a panther chasing his tail and a golden spear in his other arm. The lionfaced Lionidus snarled, "can we feed them to the pets yet?" Kranicius took a second to let the words hover over the intruders before replying "That is not up to us but largely up to their answer to my question."

The party nervously told the monk monk that it was never their intention to crash their masters demi plane. That they were riding towards Unova to look into a matter for the crown one minute and the next they had found themselves in this strange place and that were looking for a way to get back. Kranicius turned and motioned for the party to follow, with his comrades flanking them at the side. The group moved in silence and it was hard to tell whether the journey took eternity or if the tension made the hour long walk feel that way.

As they drew closer to the mountain, they found that a fortress had been carved out of it. Kranicius led them up a winding path towards the peak. In the lower levels, they saw kith training in martial combat and archery and others sparring. As they drew higher, the path was dotted with giant panthers, tigers, wolves, and bears who paid the party no attention. At the top, they found a black stoned mausoleum with large 10 foot marble doors. Kranicius approached the doors and swung them back with ease, revealing a dark lite room. He motioned the party inwards with a courteous bow and flourish.

Ohotian
The first thing that caught their eye was the dragon. It had to be almost thirty feet tall and at least sixty long. There was no way this thing could fit into the building they saw outside. For that matter, neither could the presence before them, which rested its hand on the dragon's head like it was a faithful golden retriever. The figure towered over the dragon despite sitting in a large stone throne. He had ram like horns, the maw of a saber-tooth, and bear like hands. His skin was crimson, which made his bright yellow cat like eyes significantly more terrifying. Long deep purple hair hung over his shoulders in a wild disheveled way. He was dressed in robes made up of patches of every hide known and unknown. While his left hand was busy stroking under the ear of his pet dragon Hector, his right was firmly gripped onto an enormous silver javelin. A vine pinned his right foot in its place. Sansarya's, Synkronos', Merkorios', Alexander's, and Maegor's thoughts all hovered to a single shared memory that they had experienced before - the room in the underground temple in Ashden. They were once again in the presense of a divine being.

His voice cut the tension in the room like a knife. For a being so clearly at the apex of the food chain, his voice was surprisingly jovial - with a definite unintentional cockiness. He chuckled as he spoke, taking joy in having company before him. "I am Ohotian, Lord of the Perpetual Hunt. You stand in my dominion. What brings you here?"

Merkorios stepped forward and told the god to tell him of the rebellion they were tasked with investigating. and that they were looking for a druid named Omnidorf who apparently had a part to play in the Count's decision. Finally, Jottenheim asked how they were to make it to Unova. Ohotian chuckled again, tossed his javelin up - catching it side ways before throwing it directly over the party's heads. As it passed over them, the javelin began to rip through the space behind them. When they turned, they saw the city of Unova shimmering on the other side of the portal.

Before leaving, the barbarian inquired if Kranicius was interested in the coat he found in the bunker. The unusually stern faced monk chucked and replied, "I see someone finally found that old stash house." A drop of sweat percolated on Jottenheim's forehead. Noticing his nervousness, the monk continued "Life is an endless hunt. What is lost to some is found by others. That is the way." As the party entered the portal, Synkronos heard the unmistakable crunch of an Ashden walnut, similar to the ones he left at the alter, coming from the Ohotian.

Unova
The party exited the portal to a view of Unova basked in moonlight. It was around 10pm and the group was unsure of what the decorum was for entering a city in open rebellion at night. Eventually, after investigating the simple planked bridge and determining its passible sturdiness, Sansarya volunteered to serve as the scouting party.

She and Marybeth ventured across the planks. The bridge clicked and shifted as the princess rode across it but it proved sturdy enough. Upon entering the city, Sansarya found a system of silos and a barn - likely serving as storage space for the barley fields the party saw outside the city - to her right. To her left stood a guard house. A single guard, chewing tobacco and paying the visitor no mind, leaned against the building. On the left, across the street perpendicular to the one in line with the bridge, stood a large silent wooden building with a wheel shaped sign reading Speedwagon Stagecoach company. To the right, stood a stone and wood tavern. A sign over the door read "The Hornless Unicorn" with a wooden horse head hanging below it. Unlike the stagecoach building, the windows in this one flickered from the light inside.

The Hornless Unicorn
Venturing inside, Sansarya found a cozy three story bar, with the second floor consisting of a balcony overlooking the first. A few guards and commoners occupied the tables on the first floor. A bard played bagpipes on the stage. A wizard and a druid sat at the booth on the balcony and the princess couldn't help but feel like the pair was watching her. She approached the pair and tried to start a conversation. The mage - dressed in a ostentatious red and black coat - gave off a criminal vibe. Sansarya was not able to get much out of the pair and left them, with the mage offering his hope that she would enjoy the stew on her way out.

Afterwards, she made her way to the back of the room - where the bar was situated - and sat down next to a rat tailed halfling dressed in black leather. Despite her best efforts to get the attention of the burley mutton chopped bartender it appeared that the barkeep was doing his best to ignore her. Noticing her frustration, the rat tailed man beckoned the barkeep - named Two Dogs - to pour his "new friend" a pint. The bartender plopped an overfilled stein in front of Sansarya, spilling some of the content on the counter. Having his attention, the princess inquired about available rooms and was able to secure the last three. The waitress, Anya, a beautiful black haired woman in her 30s wearing a red skirt with a white top inquired whether Sansarya and company would like her to ready bowls of stew for Sansarya and company. Having paid for room and board, Sansarya returned to the party to inform them that she had secured shelter for the night.

The group rode into town together and pulled their horses up to the inn. Not knowing what to do with their horses, they asked the guard about where they could leave them for the night. The guard asked for a bribe and upon being paid, unlocked the stagecoach company garage and beckoned them to lead their horses into the empty stalls there. With the matter resolved, the group proceeded to make their way inside the bar.

Kilsworth and Alexander grabbed seats at the bar next to the rat tailed man. The rest of the group pushed two tables together and grabbed seats there. Food and drink was brought out to everyone - accompanied with unreciprocated flirtatious gestures towards the male members of the group - however Merkorios abstained from both. Alexander and Kilsworth indulged in the beer - finding it rather off flavored and watered down - but avoided the stew, instead choosing to chat up the halfling about current events. The man, named Wyn, rambled about how much life was better under Omnidorf who had managed to usurp the Akurkam - known more commonly as the Iron Count - with some form of "third miracle" that involved smiting the unbelievers. The halfling noted that he and Two Dogs were early followers of Omnidorf, back when they were loggers.

Upon re-entering the establishment, Sansarya again noticed that the couple upstairs were keeping a keen eye on them. Taking Sylfir and Jottenheim with her, she decided to confront the pair. When she approached the mage, he demanded to know if she was after his bounty - noting that the party had just eaten the first group of bounty hunters after him. Sansarya attempted to cast Suggestion upon the mage, but was thwarted by his Counterspell. Thinking that the druidess could be a potential victim, Jottenheim inquired whether she was being inconvenienced by the mage. She replied that while Maxim Maximovich was not inconveniencing her, the barbarian who was now in her face was.

Noticing that the mage was preparing an attack, Sansarya tried to strike first. She began to weave together an empowered chaos bolt only to again have the magic drained from her via Maxim's counterspell. Upon hearing combat, Kilsworth drew his bow and bolted upstairs as fast as he could. Figuring that all pretense had now dropped, the bartender with mutton chops assumed his true Were-Boar form and attacked Alexander with his maul. Wyn, having transformed into a Were-Rat, tried to follow suit but ended up tripping over his feet and dropping his short sword.

Before Jottenheim could react, Maxim took a step back and unleashed a psychic tendril at the barbarian, temporarily slowing his reactions down. Sylfir retaliated, striking the mage with his maul but the druidess, Tulip, came to the mages rescue - casting Cure Wounds on him. Meanwhile downstairs, Alexander, holding his longsword with both hands, took a swing at Two Dogs. The barkeep did little to protect himself, instead intentionally exposing his chest to the longsword. The blade struck its mark easily. However, the Were-Boar simply smiled at Alexander as his blade grazed along his chest, failing to pierce the Were-Boar's tough skin. Seeing the futility of striking their transformed enemies with regular iron, Maegor enchanted his longsword. His first blow struck true and pierced the enemies flesh. Knowing that the burly were-boar was not immune, he struck again, this time channeling the power of Beacon into a vicious smite.

Seeing her allies in trouble, Anya assumed her werewolf form and charged relentlessly into the fray. Not taking account of the spilled cups from the bar top, the werewolf slid on the slick surface and fell prone. Synkronos saw the opportunity and transformed into his trusty tiger form. The beast pounced on the werewolf, further pinning Anya to the wet floor. Synkronos sank his jaws into her neck but his fangs could not pierce her hide.

Taking Sylfir's advice to engage the healer before finishing the mage, Jottenheim fired two javelins pinning the druid to the back of the bar. This gave Kilsworth, who had by then rounded the corner upstairs, a prime shot at the couple upstairs - finishing both off with an arrow to the eye. Merkorios meanwhile exchanged fire with the guards downstairs. The first guard missed him with his greatsword. The second managed to land a crossbow bolt into the prince's thigh. The third ran out the door to seek help. Knowing that reinforcements could swarm them at any point, the prince backed away and cast a magic trap on the doorway.

With the enemies upstairs eliminated, Sylfir rushed back down the staircase to join the fray below. Jottenheim on the other hand decided to take a shortcut - jumping the railing and landing next to Alexander and the were-rat and were-boar. He swung his greataxe down on the barkeep. The impact shattered the tiles the two were standing on but failed to leave a mark on the bartender. Seeing that his sword was ineffective, Alexander backed away and fired a magic missile at each of the lycanthropes. Maegor followed that barrage up with another swing of his magical longsword, this time cleaving the wereboar's head cleanly off. The paladin whirled through the impact and followed up his attack with a deadly strike onto the were-rat standing near by.

Seeing the situation get more dire, one of the three guards ran for the exit to look for reinforcements. Merkorios' trap caught him off guard. The prince followed up his attack by viciously mocking the rat tailed halfling to death. Sansarya and Kilsworth, both trained in Marinnian tactics, took the high ground on the balcony and rained down death on the last guard and the werewolf - who Sansarya finished off with a thunderous chaos bolt. The room reverberated from the spell for a few seconds. When the noise died down, the room was quiet enough for everyone to clearly hear the sound of a warning bell ringing from a watch tower.

Escaping Unova
The party regrouped downstairs after the fight. Their attempt to hatch an escape plan however was cut short by a flaming arrow, which smashed through the window, catching a table on fire. Quickly evaluating their options, Sylfir suggested two modes of escape. He could either use his trusted Gate Crasher to demolish a wall or they could try to escape from a second floor window. The party chose option B and headed upstairs. There, they found a window facing west towards the stables. The view, although fairly limited, suggested that they had a safe path towards the stables. Synkronos offered to transform into a vine for the rest of the party to use to descend down but that proved unnecessary since one of the members of the group had a climbing rope and a grappling hook. Alexander, Sansarya, Sylfir, and Merkorios lead the way down the rope and over to the stables. Sylfir made quick work of the locked doors with his hammer which spooked the horses.

While the four of them worked on calming the horses and gathering them up for the rest of the group, Synkronos and Maegor made their way down to the street while Kilsworth kept watch from above. Upon landing on the ground, Synkronos and Maegor noticed an odd trifecta approaching them from the northern end of the road. The group consisted of a pale individual garbed in black robes surrounded by crows, a "member" of the city guard, and what appeared to be a tree like creature baring the form of a humanoid. The first two individuals continued approaching the group. The tree like creature however walked over to one of the odd thorn trees standing in the road and upon touching it, melded into it. A second later, the the three of them saw that same creature emerge from a similar tree in the alley next to the stables. Synkronos, taking tiger form, and Maegor made their way north to intercept the first two individuals. Seeing a clean shot, Kilsworth let lose two arrows at the wooden creature. The wood woad deflected the first with its left arm, which was shaped like a buckler. The block however opened up space for the second arrow, which struck the creature in the abdomen. To Kilsworth horror, the creature simply snapped the arrow off and its bark regrew around the arrowhead, closing off the wound.

Having gathered the horses and taking their places in their respective saddles, the four in the barn rode out onto the road and immediately spotted the strange wooden creature. Before any of them could react, the enraged woad charged at Alexander and walloped him with its right hand, which was shaped like a club. The rogue saw stars spin around his head for a second before the world grew dark. His companions saw him slump onto the neck of his horse before he rolled off unconscious. Seeing the enemy conveniently clump up together, the Crow Master followed up the assault by materializing a crow and charging it at Merkorios. Upon impact, the bird exploded releasing magical energy hitting the prince and splash damaging some of the allies around him.

Meanwhile, the city guard recklessly charged at Maegor, unleashing a ferocious slash at him with his greatsword. The young paladin's underestimation of his opponent proved critical. The sword struck true, finding a weak point in Maegor's chainmail and bathing the guard and his sword in the paladin's blood. The paladin felt his arm grow numb as he tried to stem the bleeding, but the blood loss proved too much for him him. Synkronos, seeing his comrade keel over, pounced at the guard in revenge. Cracker followed in tow. Finding space near Maegor, freed up by the druid's attack, the albino squirrel began applying a paste to the wound and forced a magical berry into the paladin's mouth. Maegor regained consciousness in time to see his comrade snap the guard's ankle with his maw.

At the southern end of the battle, Sylfir contended with another volley of crows from the mysterious pale man. This time, the explosion caused vines to grow from the ground, which reached out to ensnare him. The smith muscled his way out of their grasp and put his shield between Alexander and the woad. His hammer followed after, striking the foe in the chest. The tree like creature however was able to regrow some of the damage before it attempted to lash out at Fred, Sylfir's trusted mount. It however missed its mark. While Merkorios healed up Alexander, Sansarya let loose a might chaos bolt, scorching the woadout of existence. Seeing his two allies fall, the mysterious man retreated out of the party's range, who decided it was better to heal their wounds than to pursue the man further into Unova.

Peetrus Mend's Mob
The two healers, Synkronos and Merkorios, gathered their comrades and dished out a barrage of healing spells. Their diligent work however did not distract the group from noticing the growing clamor building southwest and southeast of them. Jottenheim, sensing the urgency of the situation, leaned on his former military experience to beratingly demand that the poor saps with crossbows guarding the gatehouse surrender. Although they did not drop their crossbows, Jottenheim knew his attempt to dress them down worked: their gaze no longer met his, their hands quivered, and their missed shots looked intentional. Alexander, sensing that the guards were distracted, made his way behind the guardhouse. Standing in his saddle, he leapt for the wall. His feet slipped the landing but the skillful rogue managed to catch the top of the ladder, stopping his fall. Remounted, Sylfir charged towards the city gate with his trusty Gate Smasher. Using the momentum, the smith drove the hammer into the gates sundering them into splinters.

Before Sansarya, Maegor, and Kilsworth had a chance to drive their horses forward, the mob that gathered to their left and right swarmed around them. A portly bald friar in grey robes wearing a strange golden sigil made up of an Ouroboros with an eye at its center made up of many eyes called to the mob to force the "duke's tax collectors" out of the city. The mob, made up of peasant men, women, and children moved towards the trio with pitchforks, rocks, and scythes. Maegor broke free and charged towards the gate house. Sansarya meanwhile diverted her horse closer to Jottenheim's steed and launched a chaos bolt at the portly friar, hoping to hit her mark despite the coward using the crowd for cover.

Luck was not with her however. The bolt failed to hit its mark, instead striking someone in the crowd. The princess' heart sank a second later when a older women lifted the charred remains of her child and let out a bone curling scream of "they killed my poor Timmy". The murder of an innocent child enraged the crowd further. They charged at Kilsworth, who stayed back to cover the rear, from all sides and attempted to pull him down from his horse. The friar began to chant in druidic and summoned a shadow clone of himself between Sansarya and Jottenheim. The shadow let loose a dreadful scream that left all but Sansarya, Kilsworth, and Alexander (who was out of its range) terrified of the being.

Jottenheim dismounted and, fighting his fear, recklessly slashed at the creature. Alexander, after pulling himself up onto the wall, charged at the two guards. His short sword finished off the first one with ease but before he had a chance to strike the second, the poor sap threw his crossbow at the rogue and bolted away along the wall's walkway. Terrified of the shadow spawn, Maegor and Sylfir attempted to get out of dodge via the bridge outside the guardhouse. However, before the pair managed to get far, the noticed the water below them churn and bubble. A blast of water shot up immediately below them, launching the pair of riders and their respective horses off of the now collapsed part of the bridge below them. Maegor's horse Ed and Sylfir managed to avoid the guizer closing back in on them. Sylfir's horse Fred and Maegor weren't as lucky. The elemental reformed around them, swallowing them inside as it took on the form of an aboleth.

Sansarya, mistakenly believing that both the shadow spawn and the elemental were derived from the friar, choose to focus on the portly man. She cast suggestion on her target, demanding that he call of the mob and drop his spells. The friar was unable to overcome Sansarya's spell and did as he was commanded. He told the mob to disperse and leave these guests of Unova be. To Jottenheim surprise and relief, the shadow spawn dispersed. The water elemental however remained in place. The princess, while digging into the friar's mind with her magic, sensed that an outside force, inside the man's head, was competing for control over his mind. The once commanding friar was now hunched over, drooling on himself, and mumbling nonsensically about the will of Rhiga, a druid named Yelcan, and the day Omnidorf returned. Judging the friar to no longer be a threat, and seeing their knight in training in danger of drowning, Sansarya, Jottenheim, and Kilsworth rushed over to the gatehouse to focus on the elemental. Meanwhile, Sylfir, who had fortunately landed near the southern end of the walkway, pulled himself out of the water. Seeing his friend and more importantly his trusty steed in danger, the smith rushed towards the elemental with his magic hammer and began walloping it with all of his might. Maegor's Beaconite training kicked in right in the nick of time. The knight correctly identified the creature enveloping him to be a water elemental. With his last breath, he cast protection from good and evil, creating a magical barrier around him that forced the elemental to eject him out onto the landing next to Sylfir. He got up in time to see Fred kick for the last time before getting crushed by the water pressure inside the elemental. Maegor knew all to well that he could have shared that fate as well. Sansarya began hurling ice powered chaos bolts at the elemental. The spell froze parts of the creature long enough for Kilsworth, Alexander, and company to find weak spots to target. Their collective effort allowed them to bring the creature down, which collapsed and froze over the two ends of the bridge it destroyed earlier.

Fei Fei and the Eye of Drist
Sensing that the peace Sansarya bought them was merely temporary, the party decided to leg it out of Unova. As the group regathered themselves, they noticed a mysterious tall hooded stranger approach them. Although first instinct suggested that they put their guard up, seeing a pig pulling a cart while accompanying the stranger somehow dispelled that notion quickly. "Hey friends. It looks like y'all are getting out of dodge and this cart is stolen, so I am as well. Mind if I join you? I am Fei Fei by the way, what are your names?" Sansarya, Jottenheim, Alexander, Synkronos, and Maegor made their introductions and beckoned the stranger to follow suit. Feeling a bit more at ease, Fei Fei lowered her hood, revealing her half orc features. She explained that she is a cleric of Lathander, the god of light and truth. That she is in search of friends and knowledge, is a fan of astrology (double check with Laurel) and can shoot magic out of her belly button with the help of her magic crystal.

Despite being absolutely fascinated with their new acquaintance, the group knew the peril of staying put right at the precept of a town overrun by insane cultists. Crossing the bridge, including the bit frozen over by the destroyed water elemental, they made their way to the woods to the south. Scouting out the terrain, Jottenheim was able to locate an excellent cave, empty of any inhabitants, along the sunken river bank. Fei Fei began making preparations for a karaoke "get to know each other" sleep over party, but was thrown off by how quickly her new friends called it quits. Little did she know that they were all being drawn into a most nefarious dream. Fearing the presence of a nefarious force at play, the cleric immediately called upon Lathander's favor to reveal all near by sources of magic. Although the god's blessing did show her energy emanating from equipment carried by her new companions, she did not pick up any outside magical pings. The energy from the Eye of Drist, which emanated in a duality between unknown cosmic energy and the power of Diera, did catch the cleric's attention. Panicked by the dream, Synkronos suddenly remembered that orb, in a past fight with Lord Collingsley, had revealed invisible foes. The druid organized the party in a circle and placed the orb in the middle. They drew on the orb's power once and the orb began to glow with purple light on the ground. At Synkronos' command, the group focused more energy into the orb. And yet.. nothing happened. Initially at least.. Then, as thoughts of the the endeavor being a failure began to build, the orb suddenly levitated off the ground and followers of Diera began to hear the soft tranquil song of song birds fill the cave. As the group approached, a small spider climbed out of the orb. Synkronos was ready to name the spider, however they were taken aback by the spider revealing herself to be none other than Diera herself. Before the spider disappeared, Jottenheim kneeled before the goddess and told her that despite not believing in her existence in the past, that he could no longer deny it. The goddess replied that "seeking and accepting knowledge was always the first step to finding truth." With that, the spider crawled back into the orb, which immediately dropped back to the ground. Synkronos, having retrieved their prized possession, immediately looked for Cracker, their trusty squirrel comrade, to share a morning meal and gossip about the sight that they had just witnessed. Cracker was however nowhere to be found. The party franticly searched for a trace of the squirrel that had saved their lives a number of times over, but were only able to find tracks leading out to the edge of the river. Although worried, most of the party was comforted that Cracker was likely safe. This was not good enough for Synkronos, who despite their code to defend nature, promised to burn down the whole forest if that was what it took to find their friend. Sensing the urgency, the party quickly packed up camp and set out north, hoping to find their trusted companion along the way.

The search for the source
Leaving the forest, the party rode north along the western bank of the river. Passing through the grain fields and farmsteads outside the city, the group received many disapproving and suspicious glances from the folks they passed. As they curved around the island city of Unova, Jottenheim and Alexander noticed that parts of the city wall had been removed. Looking for more clues as to why the walls appeared to have been removed rather than destroyed, Jottenheim noticed a construction site for a tower in the middle of the city. His military training suggested that such a construction, in place of city walls, was likely not prudent when it came to defense.

As the party made their way past the city, the fields broke off into swamp lands. Their travel grew slow as the wagon and horse shoes sunk into the mud along the river. Pushing further, they began noticing elven ruins dotting the landscape. Investigating the ruins, Synkronos was surprised to find one depicting three elves - one taking on various aspects of beasts while wielding a mighty bow, another channeling spells from a spell book held up by a flock of birds, and a third flying in the air similar to Sansarya - fighting creatures that closely resembled the one they had seen in their dream. They concluded that the three elves likely were Ohotian, Diera, and Kalanthye. The druid, out of the corner of his eye, saw a figure - that they initially assumed was a mossy rock - skulking about. Synkronos alerted the party, and Fei Fei called her friends to her as she called upon Lathander for protection. The slimy hideous figure, which turned out to be a troll, charged at the group. However, Fei Fei's spell went up in time, leaving the troll pressed into the barrier it was not expecting. The group attacked the troll from the safety of the barrier but were surprised to find that the creature's venomous blood, spilt by their attacks, burnt them with acid. While Maegor and Jottenheim attacked the creature from the safety of the magical circle, Alexander dared to sneak out to try to backstab the foe. The creature was fully distracted with the barrier to could not burst through, giving the rogue a perfect opportunity to slip his blade between the creature's ribs. Alexander took his shot... only to be surprised by how tough the troll's hide was. The creature turned towards the rogue, and plunged both of its claws into Alexander. The orphan's vision went black from the pain as he saw the creature's jaw move in for the coup de grace.

Trolls however, are clumsy creatures. This one in particular. The troll missed Alexander with its bite, instead taking a bite out of its own arm. Seeing their companion hand lifelessly in the arms of their foes, the party sprang into action. Fei Fei called upon the powers of Lathander to heal her new friend back to life. Alexander gained consciousness long enough to see one of his allies strike the troll with a javelin, spilling acid on the poor rogue again, causing him to slip into unconsciousness all over again. Jottenheim meanwhile took a hard step forward, and cleaved the troll in half from the back, showering himself in the creatures poisonous blood. The troll fell to the ground, releasing the dying rogue. Maegor, feeling responsible for reinjuring his ally, ran over to Alexander. Channeling the energy of Beacon into his friend, Maegor closed up Alexander's wounds, bringing the orphan back from death's door.

The party ventured further into the swamp, where they encountered corrupted fey and plant matter. The second fight proved equally difficult and the group decided to move away from the river to find some dry safe land to rest, patch up their wounds, and regain their lost spell slots. They took turns keeping watch, with all but Sansarya not noticing the active forest and peering eyes all around them. Having rested, the princess warned the rest of the group about potential threats before they headed further up the river.

Omnidorf
Before them, the river opened up into a large circular pond with a small island sitting dead center containing an elf in druidic robes. Despite displaying signs of youth, black wrinkles emanated from his pupilless dark eyes. Seeing the party, his face curved into a cruel grin. "About time you showed your faces." He clapped his hands twice, gracefully, and the swamp around the party came alive. Wood Woads began to emerge from the deformed knotted trees around them, soon followed by all sorts of lycanthropic creatures slinking in from all corners of the swamp. Finding themselves surrounded and heavily outnumbered, the party's hopes were dashed.

Before the group could position themselves to make a last stand, a silver javelin pierced the air, knocking back the closest werewolf. The projectile was followed by others - more javelins and flaming and silvered arrows. The bewildered lycanthropes began wildly sniffing for those responsible for cutting down their numbers. Eventually their ears and noses pointed towards the south. Down river from them, a single white squirrel - riding a blonde corgi - emerged from the morning mist. Soon, more squirrels, corgis dragging wheeled wooden artillery machines, and a host of beavers armed with silvered spears followed. Cracker's army charged into the fray, throwing the enemy into disarray. A beaver dressed in a regal cape made of leaves, wooden armor, and a crown made from branches led the charge. As he did, he announced himself as King Castor, Lord of the Three Dams. As Castor and Cracker's host crashed into the Woads and were-creatures, Cracker called out to Synkronos. He told the Druid that they would handle Omnidorf's minions but that their success hinged on taking out their leader. Synkronos relaid the message and she and Sansarya began casting ray of frost to create an ice bridge to allow them to safely cross the pond. Omnidorf meanwhile summoned two Water Weirds to engage the party, while also throwing up a force barrier in front of him. Two were-tigers joined him on either side, firing arrows at the party from a safe distance while Omnidorf fired off blasts of ice. The group engage the Water Weirds as Alexander pelleted one of the tigers with arrows. A familiar reality ripple began to form next to the other were-tiger, from which emerged the Phase Spider the group had fought a couple days ago. To their surprise, it attacked the were-tiger instead of them.

The party carved their way through the weirds. Synkronos transformed into an octopus and snuck her way under Omnidorf's barrier and positioned herself for a sneak attack. Meanwhile, Jottenheim charged the were-tiger, tackling him in the process while Fei Fei dropped a flaming sphere next to Omnidorf. Despite Synkronos best efforts to sneak up, the corrupted druid spotted her instantly and went in for a melee attack. Frayed by the corrupting magic, the druid slipped and fell into the ball of fire. Alexander, Synkronos, and Sansarya took advantage of his stumble and rained down the final blows as the druid burnt to a crisp.

Witnessing their leader's death broke the morale of Omnidorf's army. A call for a retreat sounded and the Wood Woads and lycantropes began scattering in all directions trying to escape the onslaught of beavers and squirrels. However, just before Omnidorf's forces broke off, the werebear dueling King Castor managed to deal a fatal blow to the otter king. Jottenheim continued wrestling the were-tiger who began flailing and slashing wildly to escape. Growing desperate, the tiger bit the barbarian forcing Jottenheim to release him. Before slinking away like the rest of the army, he shouted at Jottenheim that soon he would join them.

Aftermath
Having slayed Omnidorf and routed his army, the party regathered themselves around King Castor's body which was being held up by the King's berieved son, Duke Beaverton. Cracker updated the party on his travels. The corrupting forces in the city of Unova worried him and he felt it important to find reinforcements. It turned out that the pollution of the river forced the beavers of Three Dams to abandon their homestead. This united the squirrels and beavers in a common cause.

Having morned the death of their king, the beavers formed a raft to place Castor upon and set him afloat onto the river. Alexander lit a flaming arrow and launched it at the raft as it began to take to the current. The two groups then split up. The party headed north to find the source of the corruption while the beavers marched south restore their home.

A fork in the river
After riding north for several hours, the party discovered a curious intersection in the river. The river's original source, a mountain stream, had been carefully blocked off. Instead, a dug up canal leading west was feeding the river. The party magically shaped earth to block the foul smelling canal and then released the spring water back into the river. They then followed the canal west to try to assertain its origin. The canal's path lead them to the coast of the Marinnian sea, a long expanse of water sitting between the Frozen Wastes, The Kingdom of Ior, The Kingdom of Rho, and the Kingdom of Marinnia.

West Gholon
Having found and stopped the source of corruption in Unova, resolved the Squirrel King's request, and fufilled Ohotian's hunt, the party decided to travel south to West Gholon to stock up on gear and get some much needed rest. The journey there was uneventful, despite it taking four long days on horseback with stops at friendly farms and inns along the way.

They arrived at the city's Isle of Names northern gate in the morning. Witnessing the chaotic hubub in Ric Hathoair, the besieiged city of Ol' Gholon, and the absolute shitshow that was the City of Unova, the group was surprised at the vast baurocratic system in place before them. They joined the queue at the gate and were soon required to state their name and occupation before an older individual who required the aid of a listening horn. Fei Fei declared herself a merchant and was taxed as such. Not having the neccessary coin to pay, the old man stamped "debter" on her entry documents. Alexander, unable to pay the entry fee for an adventurer, ran into the same problem. Maegor and Synkronos meanwhile were let in for free due to the reputation of their established guilds. Jottenheim declared himself a hero and paid the tax to enter. Sansarya meanwhile declared herself a princess, taking the opportunity to cast charm person on the old beaurocrat. She then convinced the old man that the fellow party members were a part of her "diplomatic" entourage and should not have to pay money for entry.

Having passed through the gates, the group was stopped by a stablehand who offered to take their horses for a silver a day plus an additional one for an extra apple or carrot a day. The group obliged and received a numbered token in exchange for their respective horses. Fei Fei also chose to board Pig as well. They then made their way through the Victor's Gate into the City Proper.

Upon entering, they were surprised to find a large hippodrome directly infront of them. The arena was closed that day, however Jottenheim found a young lad selling newspapers near by and upon paying the chap a bronze piece, discovered that a race was scheduled two days from now. The group also inquired where they might find room, board, and drinks.

The Garrison
One of the recommendations, the Garrison, happened to be the one story stone tower like structure with stained glass windows sitting across the street. The wood lined, lightly lit interior proved to be slightly clausterphobic, particularly enhanced by the plethora of uniformed indivuals - some in similar garb to individuals the party encoutnered on the Isle of Lists, some in black uniforms, and Giffs in blue coats and white pants - crowding the establishment. A heavy thud accompanied by the crunching of bones rung through the air, followed by a number of cheers. The thud drew the party's attention to a roped off ring tucked in the back of the establishment. A two individuals in Gholian military uniforms were lifting a bleeding third off the ground - likely the producer of the loud shudder. Another individual, in a black uniform, stepped out of the ring and pulled a knife out of the wall. He moved over to a carving on the section reading "the Fist of Ghol", accompanied by a large number of tallies and carved another tally at the bottom. With the deed done, the bar exploded into a cheer of "another one for Blackraven, another for the black cloaks".

Fei Fei befriended an elf in a black uniform who joined her in a chant to Lathander. Maegor and Alexander posted up at the bar in order to get the lay of the land. Sansarya placed a bet on the Fist of Ghol for the next fight while Synkronos began ordering shots. Jottenheim meanwhile went over to talk to a goliath getting ready for the next bout. Fei Fei's elven friend volunteered to represent the Fist of Ghol in the next fight but did not prove to be much of a match against his much larger opponent. The Cleric of Lathander provided the concussed elf with healing and ordered him a drink.

Sansarya, having lost her money in the fight, decided to raise her spirits by contributing to Synkronos' inebriation. While the druid threw back shots, Sansarya threw hers over her shoulder - eventually pissing off a now somewhat wet Giff solider. An inebriated Synkronos, trying to back up her party memeber, made a crass remark about the Giff's significant other. The Giff, now completely infuriated by the pair, challenged the druid to fight in the ring. Synkronos obliged and joined the large hippo-like humanoid in the ring. When the fight bell struck, the druid transformed into a tiger. The bar went silent for a second before being filled up by rancorous "boo" chant followed by calls to kick the cheater out. Synkronos tucked her tail back and slunk out of the bar. She found a spot next to the door to nap off the alcohol while waiting for the rest of her friends. The rest of the group regathered and decided that they were going to catch the marauder. They consulted Yeslick, the establishment owner and bartender, and learned that most reported incidents were in the Marketplace and Forge Districts and that they could book a room at the Yonder Viel in the Marketplace or at the Leaky Bottom in the Forge District. Opting for the cheaper option, the group exited the Garrison, collected Synkronos, and made their way west down the main street. On the way to the inn, they passed Dierra's Nook and stopped in at Hadrick and Sons where Fei Fei sold the owner a magical perfumed bottle for his daughter. They passed by the Temple of Ghol and the Temple of Kord before finding the Leaky Bottom. Sansarya booked rooms - making a point of getting ones facing the pantheon shaped temple across the street - and posted up in one of the rooms, scouting out of the window. Fei Fei set up shop outside the inn, while Maegor, Alexander, and Jottenheim lingered about. Synkronos, still in tiger form, attempted to climb up the building but only managed to claw the side of the building. It did not take long before guards, dressed in the black uniforms of Ghol's Fist, showed up and chastised the group for panhandeling and hocking wares without a license.

The keepers of the lighthouse
Having been shooed away and ridiculed for thinking a criminal would strike in broad daylight, the party eschewed from the main thoroughfair and made their way into the Forge District. Although late, the district was still buzzing with workers making bricks, sawing logs, and hammering away at metal plates. After passing the Glenbour Embassy, a strange lighthouse at the edge of town caught the groups attention. From a distance, the glass structure appeared to be a normal tower. However, upon drawing closer to the buiilding, they realize that the glass encased a statue of three elves: a scholar, a merchant, and a beaurocrat who together lifted a torch which functioned as the lighthouse light. Jottenheim, with the help of Sansarya's elven background, tried to find a way to open the lighthouse door. Before they could find a way however, Synkronos's pocket was picked by a strange cat. The creature, having taken the Eye of Drist, began to scurry away. Sansarya hurled a bolt of fire at the creature before it could escape. The cat, having been incinirated by the blast, lost the orb which began to roll. Synkronos dove for the orb, catching it right before it had a chance to roll over the dock and into the bay below. As she did, she heard a loud pop above her as incinirated dust began to reform into the cat creature. Jottenheim rushed over to join the fray and noticed a purple light eminimating from the back side of the warehouse near Synkronos. Investigating the light, he found a swarm of rats eminating an odd purple glow from their brains, through their skull and skin. Focusing on the glow, the warrior began to lose his sense of being. He found his gaze drawn to the cosmos above, completely oblivious to the rats now crawling all over him - slowly prying his magical flail off of his hip.

Alexander dispatched the cat like creature and managed to take out a second one now trying to pick pocket him. Maegor meanwhile chased down the rats and destroyed them with a vicious smite. He recovered the flail of the ages and returned it to Jottenheim who upon the rats' demise snapped out of his confused state. Having his senses once again about him, Jottenheim noticed the swarm's nest. There the party found a diamond, a magic wand, and a bag that appeared to be bottomless.

Having split their treasure, Jottenheim made his way back to the lighthouse and began banging loudly on the door. After a few minutes, a very old elven woman unlocked the door in a panic, thinking the city was under attack while she was asleep on her watch. Jottenheim's exagerations of the presense of the darkest danger did little to help alleviate the woman's state but her condition did allow the group to push their way into the lighthouse. Abagail - the lighthouse attended - and the group made their way to the top of the lighthouse. There, the keeper began frantically scanning the ground around them for danger. Not finding any, and discovering that the barbarian lied to her, she now began to panic over the sudden invasion of strangers. Sansarya, sensing the situation devolving into a mess, cast suggestion of Abagail to try to calm her down and get her to go back to sleep. Feeling tired, the group decided to make camp around the lighthouse fire, taking turns serving as the lighthouse attendants. Maegor and Alexander took the first shift. Although thigns were quiet at first, the pair noticed a large blaze errupt on an island near by in the middle of the shift. With some quick thinking, the pair managed to jam the turning mechanism of the lighthouse, freezing the light over the island with the hope of drawing attention to the blaze. Feeling satisfied with their work, the pair woke Jottenheim and Synkronos for the second shift. Their relief with the fire being contained did not last long. While keeping watch, Synkronos noticed a group of guards making their way directly towards the lighthouse. The pair frantically searched for lighthouse worker garb and managed to find some just as a stern knock rung from the glass and metal door. Jottenheim made his way down and was immediately verbally accosted by a large orc in an extravegant officer uniform who demanded that the "attendant" open the door at once in order to explain why the lighthouse had stopped and where the hell Abagail went. Jottenheim went to open the door, only to realize that he did not have the keys neccesary to do so. He rushed upstairs as more verbal abuses were hurled his way and found Abagail sleeping in her quarters. Having nimbely picked her pockets for the keys, he made his way back down. The orc, now having introduced himself as Captain Bernart, began to grow very impatient while Jottenheim made his way through trying five of the six keys on Abagail's key ring. With the door finally unlocked, Captain Bernart forced his way in and demanded to know who the hell Jottenheim and the odd druid behind him were, where the hell Abagail was, and if she was sleeping again on the job that this would be her last day at the lighthouse. Synkronos, now fearful that her actions would cause the poor elderly elf to lose her job, began to explain that Jottenheim and she were interns Abagail hired. Finding this explination suspicious, particularly due to the fact that Abagail only had the budget to hire one intern, the captain continued to press to see Abagail. Synkronos rushed upstairs, woke the old woman up from her magical slumber, and demanded that she collaborate their entire story. Once again finding herself in a state of panic, the shaking attendant made her way down the stairs in her nightgown.

Despite her nervous state, she collaborated the druid's story. However, Synkronos mentioning that she was an unpaid intern turned out to be the last straw for the Captain. Unbeknownst to the druid, unpaid work was highly illegal in the city. The Captain immediately dismissed Abagail, telling her to pack her things, and promoted Jottenheim to the new lighthouse keeper and Synkronos to his assistant. Feeling terrible for the "grave injustice" the druid had "suffered", Captain Bernart emptied out his pockets of gold coins, handing them to Synkronos to make up for the lack of pay she had recieved "on the job". Having "successfully" resolved the situation, the pair went to wake up Sansarya for her watch.

Sansarya did not at all believe that the "situation" was remotely successfully resolved. Having huffed and puffed at the pair for letting an elderly woman lose her job, the princess went to down stairs to calm Abagail and reassure her that she would personally see to her being reinstated after she explained everything to the Captain. Upon doing so, Sansarya stormed out of the lighthouse alone into the night.

The Marauder appears!
To her surpise, the captain she wanted to speak to was long out of view. Not knowing which way he went, the sorceress decided to make her way down Main Street over to the guard house they saw the day before. Remembering the warning from the Garrison owner about traveling alone at night, Sansarya was relieved to see Fei Fei traveling towards her in the opposite direction. The cleric frantically waved at Sansarya to hopefully alert her of the danger she sensed coming from the aley flanking Sansarya. However it was too late. A long tongue lashed out from the darkness, wrapped itself around the sorceress, and began to drag her into the darkness. Sansarya now saw the danger her friend tried to warn her of - an ugly demonic looking toad standing on its hind legs. Fei Fei charged into the fray and swatted and the large sneaky creature, forcing it to release Sansarya, giving the princess a chance to fire off a spell at the interloper. The toad changed tactics and attacked Fei Fei, but the cleric had no trouble deflecting the toads assault. Finding the cleric much more formitable and the sorceress, the toad returned to his earlier tactic and swallowed Sansarya whole and began to try to make a run for it. Sansarya, held within his mouth and now covered in slime, attempted to use her dagger to stab the creature. However, the slime proved too much, and the dagger slipped out of her hand before she managed to get a good swipe at the toad's mouth. The toad readied to leap to the rooftops. This gave Fei Fei an opening to swat his back with as much force as possible. The blow caught the toad off guard forcing him to release Sansarya before he jumped and teleported away.

The pair made their way back to the lighthouse, where Sansarya went for a shower immediately. Fei Fei meanwhile began drawing mustaches on her compatriots. She awoke Maegor in the process, who assisted her with the prank. They duo however succeed in getting mustaches drawn on the three sleeping party members. Upon waking up, the Alexander, Synkronos, and Jottenheim took the prank well but demanded that the duo mustache themselves as well if they were all to keep their mustaches for the day. Once Sansarya returned, Fei Fei and Sansarya recounted their encouter with the toad. The group made their way back to the alley. Having found a trail of blood, Synkronos transformed himself into a bloodhound and tracked the toad's scent back to an area of warehouses west of the two temples in the Forge District.

The party stopped by the Fog House Brewery for a pint, breakfast, and some information.

The party made their way over to the warehouses near by to see if anyone there had witnessed anything strange. Fei Fei approached the forman to see if he could be of help but was brushed off immediately. Sensing that something was a miss with how uncooperative the forman was, and the looks they were getting from the rest of the staff, the group decided to feign walking away while leaving Alexander near by to scout things out. Using the senses he honed as a street urchin, Alexander immediately spotted that a number of the workers bore a small silkworm tattoo on their necks. While the workers moved crates to various warehouses, occassionally a crate was marked with a similar silkworm symbol. Crates bearing the symbol were always taken to warehouse #8.

Alexander snuck back to the group to let them know that something suspicious was going on. They made their way back to the court yard between the docks and the warehouse. Before the foreman could brush them off, Sansarya cast suggestion on him.

He than chanted a phrase at Jottenheim, who suddenly turned towards the party with bloodshot empty eyes. Reacting quickly, Synkronos cast spike growth over the terrain around the two enforcers. The gruff one jumped into the air, and floated over towards the party - completely avoiding the thorns. Despite being out of reach from Maegor, the man swung his club. The weapon appeared to have widely missed but yet a metalic scrape echoed off of Maegor's chain mail. A melee broke out between the two groups. The yonger looking enforcer hurled balls of fire at the party until a spell broke his concentration. His human appearance fell away, leaving a face Maegor immediately recognized as one belonging to a fiend. The gruff fellow proved odd as well. Attacks against him seemed to connect much earlier than they should have and his reached caught the party off guard a few times. The group did manage to break Jottenheim out the fiend's grasp. The barbarian, now fully enraged, charged at the gruff looking fellow, forcing him and his compatriot - now heavily barraged by arrows and spells - to mount a retreat.