July 25th Session 30

July 25th Session 30
Sodden Hold and The Free City
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-6
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-6
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-6
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-6

Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-5 Master of Many Forms-1 (Missing)
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-5 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rogue-4/Monk-1 (Retired)
Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Not Dead, Indentured)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

After an exhausting and near fatal encounter with the invisible stalkers the four survivors decided that maybe Miles was still alive, but held prisoner somewhere. The group went out and purchased some potion of See Invisible and with better spells the group headed back in Sodden Hold. Just before entering the last room they all drank their potion and headed in. This time they saw some floating semi-humanoid forms floating in the room. Rollo immediately began firing eldritch blasts at the invisible stalkers. Appius cast some help spell to help everyone to hit the invisible stalkers and by the time they got close enough to Crag and Septimius the battle was well in hand. Crag and Septimius, now that they could see their targets, swung hard and hit often. Within three rounds after the battle started it was over. Searching the room both the bodies of Sandreus and the fake Miles were gone. The door at the far end of the room was unlocked. On the other side of the door was a huge empty chamber with two holes in the floor. One was a jagged hole the was a square opening with a shaft leading down about 35 feet to water with a wooden barrel floating in the water. A crude rope ladder descended down to the level of the water. The group thoroughly searched the room and found no secret doors and hidden alcoves of any kind. Rollo spider climbed his way down to the barrel and inspected the area of any thing he could find. Appius was the next one down he jumped into the hole and floated down into the barrel. The barrel was waterproof and supported him without a problem. Next Rollo spider climbed down into the water and look to see if he could find any opening. At the bottom of the shaft was an opening that led into a tunnel. Rollo returned and informed the party to hat he had found. Appius turned to barrel over and let some water into the barrel. He then climbed under the barrel and let his weight pull him to the bottom of the shaft. He inspected the area and didn’t find any traps or secret areas. He then climbed his way back up to the surface of the water. The group decided that going under water was the only way for them to go. So the group of them jumped in and floated down to the bottom of the shaft and walked down the corridor. The corridor was about 20 feet long and open into a large underground chamber with a central pillar. Before they could get close enough to inspect the pillar a giant octopus attacked them. Unfortunately they were not using piercing weapon and their swing were slowed because of the water. Even with the disadvantage the group sliced the octopus into little pieces with just a few attacks. A quick check of the pillar revealed a ladder going up to the surface of the water. The climbed out of the water and found a platform with a lever in the middle. There was also a bridge of sorts that about 12 feet long the lead to a door. Appius decided to push the level and see what would happen, immediately the level of the water began to drop. Before it got to far Appius decided to move the level back to where is was before he pushed it. They headed down the bridge and inspected the door. The door was locked and with no one with the experience to open doors they proceeded to bash the door down. After a lot of attacks the lock finally gave way. Beyond the door was a ten foot passage that end in a “T”. As Septimius, Appius, Crag and Rollo headed down the hall they ran into a large group of doppelgangers waiting for them. Septimius immediately ran into the center of the doppelganger on the left side, Appius and Appius engaged the doppelganger on the right side and Rollo fired eldritch blast where it would help most. Septimius was dropping one and cleaving right into the next doppelganger. Crag and Appius were disposing of their doppelganger almost as quickly. With only one doppelganger left the decided to capture and intimidate him for as much information as they could get. With Crag breathing down his neck the doppelganger explained that his boss was named Telakin and that their friend was head hostage in the room behind the secret door in the room at the end of the hall on the left. So they tied up their new friend and set of to free their comrade.

July 18th Session 29

July 18th Session 29
Sodden Hold and The Free City
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-6
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-6
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-5 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-6
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-5 Master of Many Forms-1
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-6

Slyver (Mark) Human Rogue-4/Monk-1 (Re-Retired)
Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Not Dead, Indentured)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

The door on the catwalk was unlocked so the group opened the door and found what looked like an empty room above the catwalk so decided to go and investigate if anything was under the catwalk. No soon had the group got ready to climb down the ladder than the platform above the ladder collapsed and fell to the ground 10 feet below. Other than Appius who floated down the rest of the group all took a little bit of damage from the fall. After the fall they inspected the room and found nothing of interest. The group climbed back up on the remaining catwalk and left the room out the catwalk. The group’s next choice was the last door on the right side of the warehouse. Crag and Septimius pounded on the door until they broke the lock and inspected the room. The room was packed to overflowing capacity with desks bookcases and boxes mostly of ledgers of the former Sodden Trading Company. Not finding any door the group began and exhaustive search all of the walls in the room, they even had Rollo spider climb down into the pit and look for a secret door in the pit. Finally someone came up with the idea to search the other end of the catwalk. Miles being the search expert immediately found the secret door.
Beyond the secret door the catwalk lead to a set of stairs that descend into an oblong chamber with an exit on the far side of the room. Besides the staircase was a chest containing some clothing and some gold. After a quick check of the room they found that it had five holding cells. The cells held an elven female, a body of a human male and a cell that contained two human males. The female was very leery of the adventurers not trusting them. Sandreus spoke to her and convinced her they were here to save her. Appius in the mean time decided that the body was not dead, but in need of medical attention. So Crag and Septimius first broke the elf’s door down. Sandreus discovered her name was Ilya Starshine and she abducted while returning home one night by a group of bandits. The second metal lock Crag and Septimius broke down was the one with the body in it. Appius was the first into the room and gave the man a cure light wounds spell to help revive the prisoner. Unfortunately they quickly discovered that the man was deeply disturbed he would have moment of childish laughter followed by intense weeping. The last cell held two men named Martel and Regim who were returning to town when they were attacked by a group of bandits captured and knocked unconscious when they woke the were in the cell. They guessed they had been they for a couple of days. Unlike Ilya who wanted to go home and the old man who had no idea who he was these two wanted to extract a little revenge on the bandits that captured them. The group supplied them with a couple of weapons and sets of leather armor. The decision to help Ilya to escape and the old man they were going to talk back to the church of Ixion. They took the former prisoners to the city gates where they were able to convince some of the guards to take Ilya home and the old man to the church. The group then returned to the warehouse and back to the holding cells. The door to the next room was unlocked. The room was an “L-shaped” room. Thirty feet wide in the front of the room and fifty feet wide in the back of the room, which was sixty feet away. About twelve feet into the room the floor of the room had rotted away leaving just slimy boards behind. Looking below all they could see was murky water with sharp weapons poking out of the water. Carefully choosing a path along the board Sandreus used Prestidigitation to clean the narrow board to make them easier to walk on. The path Sandreus chose had two island of solid wood that was safe to stand on. Behind Sandreus was Appius who stopped at the first island until Sandreus made it to the next island. Miles was next in line followed by Crag then Septimius would bring up the rear with Regim and Martel. Rollo activated his spider climb and scampered along the right side wall around the corner to the final landing that contained the door out the room.
As Sandreus was leaving the second island, Appius was leaving the first island, Miles was on the first island, Crag was heading for the first island and Septimius, Martel and Regim were waiting their turns Sandreus and Crag were each attacked by something invisible. Crag didn’t take much damage but Sandreus took a major hit. Before Sandreus could make a safe get away the invisible attacked Sandreus killing him instantly before he fell the final ten feet into the water impaling himself upon several weapons. Appius quickly backed up to the second island along with Miles. Crag remained on the board and tried fighting the invisible creature somewhere in front of him. As the same time Regim and Martel attacked Septimius. The first invisible creature rushed forward and engage Miles and Appius in combat. Miles fought the creature as a dinosaur and Appius keep healing him to keep him alive. Rollo spider climbed back around the corner and fired some Eldrich Blasts at the invisible creature engaged with Crag. Septimius taking a sever beating was able to drop Martel. It was at this time thing went from bad to worst, Miles was dropped by the invisible creature and his dead body changed into the a doppelganger as Septimius was felled by Regim. Rollo fired a death shot at Regim and dropped him, Appius did his best to fight the other invisible creature alone. Crag got lucky and somehow his invisible creature fell into the water. Crag severely wounded back out off the board back by where Septimius was laying. Rollo spider climbed over to Septimius and was successfully able active the wand of cure light wound and awaken him. Appius drank down a potion of gaseous form and began a slow float out of the room. The invisible creature reengaged Crag and dropped him. The other invisible creature continued to try and attack the floating form of Appius. Rollo evaluating the situation and with an invisible creature trying to attack him chose to make run for it. As Rollo kept the invisible creature busy Septimius pour a potion of cure light wound down Crag throat and prepared to drink his own potion of gaseous form. As Crag lay as though he was dead Appius and Septimius in gaseous form pulled the invisible stalkers away form Crag. Once the invisible stalkers were out of the way Crag ran out room. Appius was the first gaseous cloud out of the room followed by Septimius. Luckily the invisible creatures would not leave the room. The beaten and batter adventures headed back to their inn to recuperate and evaluate what had just happened.

July 11th Session 28

July 11th Session 28
The Free City and Forest to the Northwest
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-6
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-6
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-5 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-6
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-5 Master of Many Forms-1
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-6
Slyver (Mark) Human Rogue-4/Monk-1

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Not Dead, Indentured)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

The question: “How do we take all six griffons back to town since we have no horses, no cages, no wagons and the only thing securing the griffons was hemp rope.” After a major discussion the decision was to cut two trees into 20 or so long pole. They then were going to tie two griffons to each pole. The group would space themselves with one person in front of the first griffon with the front of the pole, one person between the two griffons carried the center of the pole, and one person behind the second griffon with the end of the pole. The group broke themselves down into two teams with Rollo left over. Rollo was given Appius’s magical club and instructed that if any of the griffons start to regain consciousness his job was to “Club them like a baby seal”. The two remaining griffons were summarily executed and the group began their long hike back to town. The hike was long and tiring except for Rollo who thumped any griffon who even looked like it might wake up. In the evening of the first day the group was stopped by a pair of ettins and a weasel. The shorter of the two ettins spoke in broken common “Give me griffons”. Naturally the group ended the conversation and engaged the ettins and weasel in combat. Septimius and Rollo engaged the little ettin and Miles as a dinosaur and Crag raging engaged the tall ettin. Sandreus squared off with the weasel. The ettin swung hard and hit often keeping Appius busy trying to keep everyone healed up. The little ettin proved to be the more difficult of the two as larger ettin was the first opponent to fall. The weasel seemed surprisingly tough, Sandreus landed several hits that should have felled a normal weasel, but this weasel continued to fight back. It was quickly decided by the group that the weasel must be the ettin familiar or animal companion because it could take so much damage. A few well timed hits and overwhelming numbers the group finished the ettin and his familiar. A quick search and a Rollo’s detect magic found a set of bracers (+3) and a potion (cure light wounds). The group gather up the griffons and set off for the Free City once again.
The next two day were uneventful except for the farmers and merchants who quickly scurried past the strange sight. The group arrived at the city gates and was immediately asked to step aside and explain what they were doing. Sandreus stepped forward and explained that these were some beasts they had captured for the Champion Games. The guard asked if they were expected. After explaining that no they weren’t expected. They were told unless someone from the games accepted responsibility for the griffons he was not going to let the group inside the city walls. Sandreus and Septimius were allowed to enter the city gate, minus the griffons, to hopefully find someone who might be interested in some griffons for the games. After a short run around they were introduced to a Captain Okoral. Captain Okoral and some of guards agreed to at least take a look at the griffons. So the group headed back outside the gates to see if an agreement could be met. Captain Okoral took one look at the beaten and battered griffons and offered to take them off the adventures hand for 1000 gold pieces. Happy to be rid of the griffons the group agreed to the offer and decided to head back to the Crooked House Inn and relax after a long, cumbersome trip back to town.
Two days later the group decided to go and look for the warehouse, once owned by a merchant named Sodden, that their key might work on. Down by the banks of the river outside the city walls they found a warehouse marked “Sodden Hold”. The warehouse was obviously abandon and in need of much repair, so they decided to take a look inside. They opened up the door and found a large open warehouse with dozens of crates and some flickering torches. Walking around in the warehouse the group was surprised by a pair of crates that were alive. The crates sprang up and attacked the party. Although the living crates were not tough to kill they “bit” hard and Crag showed the teeth marks to prove it. On the left hand side of the warehouse was a door and on the right hand side of warehouse there were three doors, two on ground level and one up on the catwalk.. Appius volunteer to inspect the door on the left and accidentally set of a pit trap. Luckily for Appius he was still wearing his ring of feather fall and landed somewhat softly on a couple of spikes. The door above the pit happened to just be a fake door. The ground level doors were both locked and nobody had the skill to unlock them. So the group used Miles’s rope of climbing to climbed up onto the catwalk. The door on the catwalk was unlocked so the group open the door and …

June 26th Session 27

June 26th Session 27
The Free City and Forest to the Northwest
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-6
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-6
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-5 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-6
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-5 Master of Many Forms-1
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-6
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-4/Monk-1 (Cameo)

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Not Dead, Indentured)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

On the trip back to the Crooked House Inn the group ran across their old friend and comrade Slyver. Slyver had moved back to the Free City and was up to his usual trouble. They talked a while and though how could they make some quick money. Their first though was to join the Free City Gladiatorial Games. So the group headed back to talk to Eligos and see if he had any contacts that could get them in. Eligos explained that most group sign up months in advance and that the games were already booked. He offered to ask around and see if he could find out any information. Appius decided to approach his church and ask for assistance from the church to get an entry into the games. The church hierarchy told Appius they would look into it as well. The group asked around town to see what jobs were available. They found that there were lots of offers to watch warehouse and security duty for merchants, but nothing that would turn a profit. One of the security jobs was to watch and care for some exotic animals that were to be fought during the games. They found out that exotic animals that could fight could be sold to the games for decent money. So again the group asked around town and at the Church of Ixion about any exotic animals sightings. The church explained that a creature had been attacking farmer’s livestock and fields and that the church would reward any information or disposal of said problem. They also discovered that the woods two days northwest of town was filled with lots of wild animals. The group decided that the best bet was to rest up and leave first thing in the morning for the forest to the northwest.
Sitting in the barroom of the inn, listening to Sandreus singing up on stage, catching up on what had transpired and the death of Slyver’s friend Drake at the hands of some Vecna worshiping cultists. The members of the party began to head back to their room to get some sleep and be ready for the trek to the northwestern forest. Rollo was the first to head off to his room. A few minutes after he left Rollo returned back to the room approached the innkeeper Tarquin and stabbed him in the chest with a dagger. Then he tried to make a run for the door. Surprisingly most of the group noticed Rollo’s strange behavior when he came downstairs and stabbed the innkeeper. So when he made his way for the door the group rushed towards the door and blocked his exit. After asking Rollo what he was doing and not getting a response they deemed acceptable Miles, Slyver, Septimius and Crag figured he was mind-controlled and preceded to subdue Rollo quickly. Sandreus quickly went to crowd control to draw their attention away from the Rollo mugging. Rollo dropped under the attacks and when he hit the floor he changed into a gray space alien looking creature. Checking his body they found a strange octopus looking key. Appius quickly attended the innkeeper and saved his life. Appius then decided to go upstairs and see if the real Rollo was still up there and alive. Knocking on his down a sleepy Rollo answered and was surprised to hear the story of his impersonator. The city watch came and asked a few questions and took the body away. Tarquin so happy to be saved he gave the adventures free stay at his inn for as long as they needed. Sandreus returned to singing and everyone settled back down as though nothing had happened.
The next morning on the way out of town the group asked a couple of question to the right people and found out the key design might have belong to a merchant named Sodden who owned some warehouses down by the docks. With this information stored in their heads they headed for the forest two days to the northwest. The first day out they ran into lots of farmers and merchants bring good and services to the Free City. By the second day they passes less and less people until they decided to leave the westbound trail and start heading north. The evening of the second day they hadn’t found any exotic creatures or even any tracks remotely interesting. During the night all their luck changed when they were beset upon by a group of six griffons. The griffons surrounded the group as the rose up from where they slept. Crag, Septimius, Miles, Slyver, and Sandreus each engaged a griffon in combat while Appius and Rollo fought the sixth one together. Crag and Septimius were able to drop theirs quickly and head over and help out Slyver and Appius. The last few griffons the adventures decided to try and subdue so they could take them back to the city. The group made quick work of the griffon, but not without a few injuries. The three they subdued the warriors tied up with the rope they had in their backpacks. The remaining three Appius went around and was able to save from dying and let the warriors know these griffons needed to be tied up as well. In the end all six griffons were tied up and subdued. But now came the problem, “How do we take all six griffons back to town since we have no horses, no cages, no wagons and the only thing securing the griffons was hemp rope.”

June 19th Session 26

June 19th Session 26
The Free City
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-6
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-6
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-5 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-5
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-5

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-1/Monk-1 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Not Dead, Indentured)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

The next morning the adventures decided to go and visit the man responsible for the group going to the Free City in the first place, Eligos. The asked around and found he lived in the Garden District, one of the nicer areas of town. The group headed out for Eligos’s when they happened upon a parade coming down the middle of the street. They stepped aside and watched as the parade passed by. Unbeknownst to Rollo and Crag two thieves were picking their pockets. Appius and Miles just happened to notice the two would-be thieves and alerted the party to the theft. Running through the crowd Rollo shot eldritch blasts at his thief and Miles and Crag chased after Crag’s pickpocket. Septimius assisted Rollo and they were able to take down their target alive. Unfortunately Miles and Crag were a lot rougher and their target and he didn’t survive the beating. As they were bring the bodies back to were they started a Chimera in the parade broke out of its cage and began attacking the pedestrians. Crag and Septimius stepped up and began beating the creature into submission, sort of. The chimera breathed it lightning breath and rammed it other to heads at Septimius and Crag. Septimius had laid a great deal of pain upon the chimera when Crag gave a mighty hack with his great axe and the creature slumped to the ground. Appius believed the Chimera could be saved, but before he could act Septimius made two more vicious attacks to make sure the creature never harmed another person again. After a couple of minutes the pedestrians had cleared out and local militia showed up. Sandreus stepped forward and with his best smile explained the situation about the chimera and thieves. The militia not only let them go and thanked them for the service they provided the community. So militia took the last criminal into custody and helped disperse the rest of the crowd. Crag approached the circus owner and offered to by the blue dragon head of the chimera. They accepted his offer and Crag was the proud owner of a dragon head. Crag asked around and found that there was a taxidermist who would cure and stuff the dragon head for Crag for only a small fee.
After the excitement the group headed off to Eligos’s house. They found his house, a white stone wall surrounding a manicured yard of trimmed hedges and exotic fauna. A cobbled path, flanked by a pair of pools and rearing dragons statues, lead to a white marble manor house with gilded double doors and flickering golden lanterns. The group knocked on the door and were met by an aged elven servant named Pollard. He asked what business they had and who they were. Satisfied with their answer he invited them in and ushered them into the parlor where he got drinks for the party. A few minutes later a middle-aged man wearing an open red robe with a breastplate underneath entered the room. He said in a calm voice “My name is Eligos. How can I be of service?” The party explained that their adventures that had lead them to his doorstep, upon hearing the name Allustan he raised an eyebrow and said “Hmm, I never thought I would hear that name again. But nonetheless, please continue.” In the end of the stories of their adventures the group left behind several items they wanted more information about. This included Zosiel’s silver diadem, the two demon horns, the inactive talisman of the spheres, the ancient spearhead, the yellow-tined dagger, some shaving of the strange red metal, and the cylinder contain the green worm. Eligos told them also of an inn they could stay at if they mentioned his name they would get a discount, the inn was called The Crooked House. After the stay the previous night in the Religious Quarters of the Free City they decided it might be more exciting to change inns. The group headed back to the old inn gathered their belongings and headed over to the new inn.
The new inn was located in the Midnight Middle a section of the Foreign Quarters that specializes in merchants, traders, and adventurers. The building itself explained where the inn got its name. Its walls were at odd angles and none of the windows or doors were square. Despite all this the inn looked to be in good repair. Upon entering they were greeted by the proprietor, a gnome, Tarquin Shortstone XXIV. He offered them some seat and took their orders upon hearing Eligos’s name the first round of drinks were free and rooms were discounted. The group decided to enjoy the day off and relax for a change. This gave Sandreus a chance to identify some of the magic items they had found in the lizardmen lair.

June 12th Session 25

June 12th Session 25
Blackstone Keep and the Free City
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-6
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-6
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-5 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-5
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-5

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-1/Monk-1 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased?)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

With the undead threat in the basement destroyed and the basement thoroughly searched the party finally had time to relax. The group finally had a chance to talk with Marzena. They found out that there has been an increasing number of worm related undead attacks in the Blackstone area. This was one of the reasons Marzena was assigned to Blackstone Keep. She further confirms that the creatures in the basement were called Spawns of Kyuss and that Kyuss was an ancient being that spent his mortal life creating a variety of different kinds of undead.
The next day Allustan returned with forty solider from the garrison in Diamond Lake. The adventures told him what had transpired while he was gone. Appius went to the haversack and to retrieved the dragon egg and show Allustan hoping maybe he could identify what type of egg it was. Reaching into the sack and pulled out the egg. Instead of pulling out an egg his hands and arms were covered little green worms in a panic Appius yelled for someone to burn the worms and himself he didn’t care. Allustan released a burning hands spell frying the worms and Appius as well. Appius healed himself and spent the next hour carefully emptying the haversack of all the worms. Allustan listened to the adventures tales and thought that there was something going on with the increase in the number of undead, the Ebon Triad, and the Dragon Ilthane. Allustan and Marzena decided it was time to ask someone who might know or be able to discover more information concerning the growing threat. That person was Eligos and he lived in the Free City. The group decided to leave the next morning and head to the Free City.
On the travels to the Free City the group encounter a group of halfling farmers. They were returning from the city where they were selling some of the “product”. The asked if anyone was interested in some homegrown pipe weed. Miles purchased a small supply and the group bid the halflings a good day. As they got closer to the Free City they encounter more and more local. Some were farmers bring supplies into town other were traders loaded with goods heading to other towns.
The bad news was that there was a huge line of people waiting to get into the city. After an hour the group the adventures made it to the front of the line. The guards looked at the group with some suspicion. They were warned that it is highly unadvised to walk around the city fully armored and carrying their weapons. They also gave a quick search of some of the items and equipment the group had with them. It was at this time they found Miles newly acquired bag of pipe weed. They explained there was a tariff on anyone bringing medical herbs including pipe weed. Miles begrudgingly handed the pipe weed over to the guards who seemed very happy and sent the adventures on their way.
Once in town each of the adventures had things they wanted to do. First Appius convince the group to go to the Church of Ixion and maybe he could get them free lodging. The group went along. Appius met with several of the clerics of Ixion and he could get himself free lodging, but for the group they could get a reduced rate at a inn in the religious part of town. They accepted the offer and got a couple of room. Sandreus asked to sing that night, but the inn explained they didn’t do music at night. Miles and Crag went longing for some companionship for the night. After asking a few question and getting directions they found an upscale place. Miles picked four ladies for forty gold for the night and Crag the dwarf picked two ladies for forty gold for the night. During the early hours of the morning Crag and Miles returned back to the inn with a satisfying smile on their faces.

June 5th Session 24

June 5th Session 24
Swamps near Blackstone Keep
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-5
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-5
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-5
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-5

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-1/Monk-1 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased?)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

After a refreshing night of sleep the adventures awoke ready to take on the kobolds. Unfortunately, the shaman didn’t mention the path to the kobolds was completely submerged. The party checked with themselves and found Miles, Septimius, and Crag were good swimmers, Rollo was just ok and Appius and Sandreus were poor swimmers. For Septimius and Crag the weight of the armor and gear made it difficult to swim. Rollo chose to spider climb the wall underwater (faster movement), Septimius with his slower movement rate chose to bring up the rear and just walk. Crag with his swimming ability and toughness lead the way. The passage went about 50 feet then disappeared underwater. So underwater the group went. Miles was about twenty feet in when he got caught in a snare. Crag cut the ropes and they continued on now knowing to look out for the snares. Unfortunately another 10 feet later Crag got caught in another snare. Again he chose to hack his way out of the entanglement. Now fully aware of the snares Crag continued on another 10 feet and found another unseen snare. Now use to the effects he just hacked his way out of the snare and continued on. Just before surfacing he found the final snare. Coming out of the water the adventures saw a thirty-foot tunnel and turned to the right. Slightly dried off the adventures pressed on. Rounding the turn the group spotted six kobolds sitting and leaning on a pile of rocks. Crag, Miles and Septimius rushed ahead and met the kobolds in the tunnel. Rollo launched his eldritch blast while Sandreus (w/ his song) and Appius (w/spells) enhanced the warriors. The kobolds dropped before they even had a chance to get going in combat. In front of the group were hundreds of foot long lizardmen eggs and in the middle of the right side of the room was a huge 3-foot tall black scaly egg. Using his spider climbing ability Rollo climbed the walls and moved over by the egg looking for any kind of traps on or around the egg. Upon finding nothing the group decided to move the lizardmen eggs out of the way so they could get to the giant egg. Once a path was wide enough Miles and the rest of the group moved in to get a better look at the scaly egg. Not knowing what else to do the group chose to place the egg in the Hevard’s Handy Haversack. Examining the rest of the room they spotted three chests on the opposite shore. Again gentle moving the eggs out of the way they mode their way to the opposite side of the egg room. It was there that they saw that the tunnel continued on and disappeared under some more water. Inspecting the chest they found four potions (later found out to be Cure Light Wounds). Knowing that the tunnel must be the way the dragon was able to get into and out of the room the adventures after much discussion decide they should find out what was at the other end of the underwater passage. Again Rollo used his spider climb ability while Crag walk/swam along Miles was next and Sandeus and Appius would try to swim to the best of their ability and Septimius would trudge along the mud. So again they were off. Rollo and Crag got quite a ways ahead followed by Miles, who was slowly falling behind Rollo and Crag. Septimius set a steady pace marching through the mud. Sandreus had a slow start and Appius got quite a ways in and decided to turn back and try and get a better run after catching his breath. After about 100 feet Rollo and Crag came to an opening the lead into the bottom of a stagnant pool of water. Crag and Rollo chose to surface and get their breath back. Once they finished survey that landscape they dove back down. At the bottom of the pond they passed Miles. Miles continued up to surface while Rollo and Crag began their trek back to the egg chamber. Miles surfaced took a breath and dove back down. Along the way Rollo and Crag turned Appius, Sandreus and Septimius around and got them all heading back to egg chamber. Once Miles surfaced they explained that the passage open into a stagnant pools of water in the middle of the swamp. With this knowledge the party returned the eggs back into the mud and six inches of water and retuned back to the shaman.
The shaman told the party that the black scaly egg was theirs to do with as they please. The tribe would be moving since the contract with the dragon was ended and he had access to the lizardmen eggs they needed to move to a new location. Further the shaman had one more request of the party. Upon returning to the land of the humans could they try and set up a peace treaty of sorts. He was hoping the group could explain that it was the act of the old lizardman king to war upon the human and that the shaman and his remaining lizardmen didn’t want a war. The group bid farewell to the shaman gathered Marzena and the remaining soldiers and returned back to Blackwall Keep.After an uneventful trek through the swamps the adventures were surprised to find the remaining soldier not in the keep but staying the stables. It was explained that a while back the keeps wizard went into the swamps to talk with the lizardmen. Everything was fine after he returned, but a few days later he changed into some kind of under creature. They were able to trap the creature in the cellar of the keep and nailed and locked the door. Unable to bring themselves to kill their friend they chose to ignore him and forever leave him behind the door. Unfortunately they discovered after the party left that the lizardmen had broken the door open and the creature had killed and taken two of the remaining soldier. It was at this time the remaining soldier moved into the stables for security. The adventures grabbed their weapons and rushed into the keep. They investigated the main floor and the basement discovering that the creature must have returned into the tunnel where it had been kept prisoner. The tunnel went forward 40 feet and open into small 20 by 2o foot room. There in the room were the three undead creatures (later identified as Spawn of Kyuss). Appius quickly raised his holy symbol and called upon the light of Ixion and the three undead, poof, turned to dust.

May 29th Session 23

May 29th Session 23
Swamps near Blackstone Keep
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-5
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-5
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-4
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-4

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-1/Monk-1 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased?)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

With the worm ridden lizardman still smoldering the heroes chose to go back down the hall, turn left, go back down the stairs, and continue around the perimeter of the complex. Sure enough the next room was barracks for a group of five more lizardmen. They dropped two in the first six seconds of battle, but this time they chose to try and capture one of the lizardmen and ask him a few questions. When they got down to the last lizardman they chose to subdue him rather than kill him. After he fell, Appius awakened him, Crag intimidated him, and Sandreus diplomatically explained to him that they would like to ask him a few questions. Not surprisingly the lizardman seemed very willing to help. First question was about the worm-ridden lizardman. The prisoner Salac had no idea about a worm-ridden lizardman, but seemed very concerned about the mention of worms. Crag and Sandreus pressed him for more information and he explained that the last two clutches of eggs were destroyed by an infestation of green worms. Next they asked about the prisoners taken from the Blackstone Keep. Salac explained that they were in the custody of tribes shaman Hishka, but they were the property of the tribes leader Shukak. Salac fearing for his life recommended they talk to Hishka about the prisoners. The group having Salac, firmly in hand, had him lead them to the shaman. They continued down the hall into a room of lizardmen. Salac explained about the worms and explained how the party had “sort of” offered to help. The lizardmen followed the group into the next room. The next room was different from all the previous living quarters. This room was decorated wood and clay beads hanging from the walls with a small fire pit in the center of the room and several pots of dried herbs near the fire. Also in the room was the oldest looking lizardmen anyone had ever seen and two unconscious prisoners. The shaman seemed more than willing to listen to the adventures and their proposal. The adventures explained they wanted the prisoners and that one of lizardmen had been infested with green worms. The shaman thought for a moment and explained that the prisoners were not his property, but that they were property of the tribes leader Shukak. Hishka said that if Shukak was not around that the prisoners would become his and that he would be willing to give them back to he group. Hishka pointed the bloodthirsty group towards the leaders quarters and wished them luck. They continued down a hallway through a four-way intersection and continued straight ahead into a large room with a makeshift throne. Seated upon the throne was the biggest lizardmen anyone had ever heard of. Besides the throne were two regular lizardmen prepared to defend their leader at all costs. Immediately the battle insured. Crag frothing and foaming at the mouth along with Septimius rushed the leader. Rollo let loose blast after blast upon the leader. Miles rushed one of the guards and Sandreus rushed the other guard. The leader was exceptionally strong and inflicted serious damage one both Crag and Septimius keeping Appius busy healing as fast as he could. Sandreus dropped his lizardman and moved around behind the “King”. Miles finished his lizardman next and began moving forward. Crag and Septimius landed blow after blow, but the lizard king wouldn’t go down. Sandreus having snuck behind the king rushed him from behind and attacked him. The King swung his attacks around and dropped Sandreus in a flurry of attacks with his trident. Although not dead Sandreus was slowly dying. Crag and Septimius took advantage of the king attacks on Sandreus and both landing powerful shots and ended the reign of the lizard king. Crag claimed the lizardman horns as souvenirs for his collection of tough fallen enemies. Rollo told the party that the trident was magical along with a potion and several items behind the throne, a wand, ring, dagger, and cloak. Gathering up their treasure they returned to Hishka. Hishka explained to the party that the prisoners were theirs, but that he needed a favor. The clutch of lizardmen eggs were currently guard by some kobolds who were given to the king to guard the eggs by a dragon ally named Ilthane. Hishka wanted the group to dispose of the kobolds and remove the dragon egg that was a sign of trust between the king and the dragon. The party agreed, but they needed a safe place to camp so they could be at full strength when they encounter the kobolds. Hishka offered his room and explained that none of the lizardmen would harm the party as long as they were in his room under his protection.

May 22nd Session 22

May 22nd Session 22
Swamps near Blackstone Keep
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-5
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-5
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-4
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-4

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-1/Monk-1 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased?)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

After surprising and decimating the group of five lizardmen the group decided to go down the stairs that they were right next to. They enter another living quarters of five more lizardmen. Acting like a well-oiled construct the adventures rapidly dispatched the lizardmen without taking any damage. The new room they entered had two exit, one up some stair to the right and one hard to the left, but on the same level as they were already on. They chose to explore up the stairs, they quick realized this must be the garbage room as the smell met them before they saw the room. The room was filled with dozens of hand-sized beetle and two of the biggest Otyugh they had ever seen. These otyughs were twice the size of the ones they encountered under Dourstone Mine. The battle was fierce as the otyugh grappled Septimius and Crag. The party in their usual manner against tough monster laid the hurting down. In the end the party was once again victorious, although they had a few wounds and a couple of diseases. Searching the room they found no treasure per se, but they found some mushrooms that have restorative properties to anyone who suffers from Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma damage.

The party decided that they would go back to the harpy room and search for treasure because their had to be something there. In the harpy room they again searched the perches, but this time Rollo cast detect magic and found a hidden area on the ground. They found a pair of boots and a circlet. Now that they were back on the other side of the complex they chose to go down the stairs and see what was down there. The room again was a living quarters of the lizardmen. The difference this time was that there was a large snake in the room in addition to the five lizardmen. The adventurers knowing that the lizardmen were not much of a threat chose to take out the snake as fast as they could. Septimius rushed up to the snake and inflicted some heavy damage. The remaining lizardmen waylaid Crag and the rest of the party. It was at this time they realized that the snake was an animal companion to a lizardman druid. Luckily Crag had damaged the druid enough that he couldn’t cast a spell. Once they figured out who the druid was they quickly eliminated both the druid and his pet before polishing off the rest of the lizardmen. The druid only had a handful of magic berries for treasure in addition to the normal mundane lizardmen items. The room itself had only one exit so the group continued on into the next room. Just like most of the pervious room this was the living quarters of five lizardmen. The battle began just like the previous ones except for one of the lizardmen was actually hitting and took enough damage to drop a normal lizardman, but this warrior kept fighting. The group concentrated the majority of the attacks upon the warrior and dropped him quickly. The rest of the lizardmen dropped like all the previous chumps. After Rollo cast detect magic they discovered that the warrior was wielding a magic club. The room had two exits one looked like it might link up with the staircase they bypassed by the main entrance. The other exit continued ahead looking like it headed further into the complex. Logically thinking the group chose to make sure the exit linked with the front and to be sure nothing got in behind them. The exit quickly went up a set of stair and branched one to the left and one up another set of stair towards what they thought might be the front entrance. The staircase looked like a dumping ground for trash from the denizens who lived on the floor. Investigating the trash a vine lashed out from under the pile and attacked the front line fighters. Even catching the group by surprise the vine couldn’t latch onto any of the adventures. Once again the lead fighters quickly dispatched the plant and continued checking out the trash. Finding nothing of value they continued the rest of the way up the stair and down the hall finding the staircase below the main entrance. Turning back they went back past the dead vine and took the passage. The passage spilt into a Y, one going slightly left and one going slightly right. They chose to go right. The passage again opened up into another living quarters of five lizardmen. Battle quickly insured. Lizardmen were dropping left and right. When the third lizardmen went down green worms burst out from his wounds. The last two lizardmen seeing their comrade filled with green worms ran full speed from the room out the exit across from where the adventures entered. The adventures decided it might be smarter to kill the worms than chase the lizardmen out the room. The group poured oil and set the worms ablaze. Rather than following the lizardmen out the room the chose to go back out the way they came into the room.

May 15th Session 21

May 15th Session 21
Blackstone Keep
Blackstone Keep and nearby marshes
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-5
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-5
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-4
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-4

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-1/Monk-1 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased?)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

The adventures kept careful watch throughout the night ready for another lizardman assault. During the night the group found that three people were captured during the first assault. Most importantly was that Marzena the mage was one of the three prisoners taken back into the swamp. When first light broke the group ventured outside and found that the remaining lizardmen retreated back into the swamp during the night. It was decided the adventures would go into the swamps and try and rescue the prisoners as the remaining eight {now fully healed} soldiers would hold the fort until reinforcements arrived in a couple days.
The group gathered their items and headed out into the swamps. The trial to follow the lizardmen was not difficult to follow. They followed the trail for close to 6 hours when they came to large tightly packed grove of Mangaroo trees. Searching they found the entrance hidden behind weaved roots and dirt. The tunnels were nothing more the paths between the giant trees and everything was wet and musty. Between the constant dripping of water and buzzing of hundreds of insects the group had a hard time hearing each other from more than 10 feet away.
The group ventured in and after a 20 foot tunnel they came to a four-way intersection. Left and right continued on while the passage straight ahead ended in a alcove. Investigating the alcove they found a supply of clubs, cheap wooden javelins and a covered bucket of water. Following the alcove the party choose to travel down the left passage. The left passage spilt into two directions one going right and down some stairs and the other went even further left. Rather than go down the stairs the group chose to stay on the same level. Twenty feet further they entered a room covered in bird crap and bird perches everywhere. The room was occupied by three harpies, who immediately began singing. Luckily for the group one of the few people who were not charmed by the harpy songs was Sandreus. Sandreus began a counter song and negated the effects of the harpies. Once the harpies singing ability was removed from the equation the warriors took over and laid pain upon the ugly birds quickly dispatching them. The group searched the room and where displeased to find no treasure of any sorts. Rollo spider climbed to search the peaches but he also came up empty handed. The exit from the bird room also lead down some stairs, again rather than head down to a lower level the group choose to head back to the four-way intersection by the entrance and try their luck heading right. The passage wound its way about forty feet before it broke hard left and hard to the right. The passage left lead down some stair so the group chose the right passage and entered a living chamber of five lizardmen who were dropped before they even had a chance to make a single attack.

May 8th Session 20

May 8th Session 20
Diamond Lake
Diamond Lake and the road to Blackstone Keep
Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-5
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-5
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-4
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-4

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-1/Monk-1 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased?)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

After a week of resting and recouperating after an exhausting, costly and rewarding adventure under the Dourstone mines. The group of adventures were ready when Allustan declaired he was ready to head to Blackstone Keep to meet with a friend of his. Allustan figured Manzena might be able to discover some information about the cult of the Ebon Triad and sort out some of the odds notes and tid bits the group found.

While Allustan road a horse the rest of the party walked along. The trip would take about two days all told and should be an easy trip, not to many muraders roaming the roads and hills. Around noon of the second day the group came upon a group of religious pilgrams. Followers of Petra and definitely part of the self-flaggationists. They were friendly and looking for new recruits. Luckily Appius had most of the group either following the teachings of Ixion or at least favoring Ixion over all other religions. The pilgrims once realizing they had no chance of gaining any new recuits moved on. It was early the second day they encountered a group of gnomes. These gnomes were traders returning from the free city with rare nd exotic goods for their fellows gnomes back home. The gnomes seemed friendly and were interesrted in any gems the adventures would be willing to part with. Again, once they found nothing to trade or bargin over the gnomes went on their merry way.

The adventurers where approaching the hills just before Blackstone Keep when they began to smell smoke and death in the air. As they cleared the last hill they saw that Blackstone keep was under assault by a large group of Lizardmen. Fortunately, the lizardmen were so involved with the assault that they never noticed the adventures arrival. Allustan having a scroll of teleport decided it would be a good idea if he went back to Diamond Lake and gather the soldiers from the garrison to return as quickly as possible to either help defend the keep or to retake the keep if nessicary. The group choose to hide themselves and observe the attack before rushing to any quick decisions. From their side they could see four groups of five to six lizardmen evenly spaced around the keep. Miles decided to investigate around the keep and see how the other side of the keep looked. About an hour later he returned with the information that the lizardmen had about 10 groups evenly spaced all around the keep and that the leaders of the lizardmen were probably on the side nearest the swamps. The group decided it might be best if they wait until dark and try and kill a group of the lizardmen or two and return to hiding.

The group made ready to attack the lizardmen when the lizardmen began their assault upon the keep again. This time every other group of lizardmen charged up the hill and attacked the keep. The remaining groups of lizardmen waited at the bottom of the hill to see how the kin did. The adventures see their opportunity charged the groups that waited at the bottom of the hill. Septimius, Crag, Sandrius and Miles attacked in force while Appius casts spells and Rollo used his eldritch blast and darknessto damage and distract the enemies. With surprise on their side they quickly dispatched the lizardmen in the first group they attacked. The two adjacent groups of lizardmen quickly charged the would-be heroes. The battle was on, the group formed a circle and attacked the incoming lizardmen they lizardmen that had to run out of the darkness were disorganized and slower to attack. The group used this time to finish the second group of lizardmen and began their assault on the third group. The last two survivors of the second group of lizardmen made a run for reinforcements as the heroes defeated the disorganized third group. It was at this time they decided maybe they should retreat when they noticed the lizardmen had breached the keep. Instead of retreating they choose to charge up the hill and help their comrades in arms. First thing they did was launch a fireball into the keep main entrance where they spotted some lizardmen. They severally damaged the lizardmen in the first room and were able to quickly finish them off. Hearing battle down below they changed down the stair to see eight humans fighting off an equal number of lizardmen. With the group arriving the battle shifted against the lizardmen and soon all lizardmen lay dead or dying. Gathering the remaining soldier they went back upstair and did the best to reinforce the front door and set up a watch in case the lizardmen made another attack.

May 1st Session 19

May 1st Session 19
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines and in Diamond Lake

Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-5
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-5
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4 Fighter-1
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric of Ixion-5
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-4
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-4 (Resurrected)

Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-2 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

With a restless night of sleep and knowing that something terrible was out there possibly waiting for them, the characters gather themselves up and set out for the unknown. Their first sign of the disturbance was the elevator room. The elevator itself was left shattered on the ground. The pool no longer contained the black oily substance they had noticed their previous passes. Rollo spider climbed to the top and tied a rope off for the rest of the party to climb. The next level up was the mines. Whatever it was that had destroyed the elevator room continued its destruction as it moved down the mine corridors. The group made its way to the staircase up to the level of the living quarters. This is where they witnessed the mass destruction of the creature. Most of the living quarters they could see where either destroyed or on fire. Miners were running around trying to put out fires or just trying to get away from the dangers. That was when the party glimpsed the cause of all the destruction, a ten-foot tall, powerfully built monster with six arms. It had a dull grey skin with bulging muscles that pulsed with arcane power. Luckily for the adventurers three of its arms, two on the left side and one on the right were missing hands. It still had its massive fangs and a gaunt skeletal face. Fortune was further with the party as they were able to attack it from behind. Septimius and Miles rushed forward, Sandreus and Appius sang and blessed to help out the party. Rollo fired his eldrich blast to try and weaken the beast. Their first round didn’t inflict as much damage as they had hoped. The beast roared and released a spiritual weapon upon Miles. The second round went better for the party but at the end of the round the beast roared and shimmered with arcane magic. The third round did little to no damage and the beast began to look stronger. Septimius had been taking the brunt of the damage with Appius doing his best to keep him healed. Over the next several rounds the beast began to show the wear of the constant assault the adventurers inflicted upon it. Finally the beast fell and none of the good guys fell. The group gather their items together and figured it might be best to make like the miners and head for the exits. They exited into the morning light for the first time in a week and for Allustans residence and explain all that had transpired over the last week. He took a great interest in all the information and told the group he would be in contact with them. The group choose to relax and enjoy themselves in town, each in their own way. Furthermore the red metal full palte they had special ordered was ready to be used. They spent the better part of a week identifing magic items and with Allustan’s help identifing most of the potions they had found. At the end of the week Allustan came to the party and asked them for a favor. He was going to Blackwall Keep to meet with a fellow wizard and discuss some of the information the group had discovered and see if she might be able to answer some of the questions he needed.

April 24th Session 18

April 24th Session 18
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines

Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-4
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-4
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric-4
Tiberius (Jeff) Human Scout-2 Fighter-1
Miles O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3

Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-4 (Deceased)
Shamus O’Flannagan (Steve) Human Ranger-3 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-2 (Retired)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased)
Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)

The group after survival a near total party kill retreated to the safe room they established after clearing out the Vecna cultists. With two dead comrades in Crag and Shamus they knew they would be hard press to finish the Cult to Demogorgon. They contemplated the decision and decided that since they were already in the dungeon and rested up they should continue.
To their surprise they met an adventure wandering the dungeon alone. Strangely he looked like Shamus. They cautiously approached the man and question him. They discovered he was Miles, Shamus’ twin brother, who had a strange sensation that something bad was or had happened to his brother. He had used all his money to bribe the guards to let him into the dungeon and knew his brother was investigating the possible underground cult. He had been wandering for most of the day finding the destruction left behind by the adventures. Hearing them make their preparation to go back to the Demogorgon lair, he decide to check in on his brother. They explained what had happened to Shamus and Miles decided to extract some family retribution upon the cultists.
The headed back into the maze. They explored for along time linking areas and find the living quarters of the bird-men in the maze. They found a few small hidden treasures but for the most part the rooms had already been cleaned out. While exploring one ten by ten area Miles spotted one of the secret doors they had not seen before. Opening the secret door they found a hallway and a normal door 5 feet further up the hallway heading away from the maze. Excitedly the group rushed into a room. The room was an “L” shaped passage with columns running down the center of the room. They saw a door down a 5-foot corridor and open it to see what is one the other side. They saw two priest who were standing in from of an alter to Demogorgon. Along with the priest, there was a shadowy creature that approached the group. Upon sight of this creature the whole party except Appius felt compelled to leave the area. Appius on the other hand raised his holy symbol and showed the creature that a follower of Ixion are not swayed by a mere undead shadow. An so the standoff began. The creature’s babbling couldn’t sway Appius and the creature knew it could leave the safety of the alter and attack Appius. So they waited, after a couple of minutes the rest of the party returned realizing that they were under the effects of some kind. Upon reentering the room they quickly disposed of the creature and started looking for the cleric. There was an exit by the alter and they started that way when a huge monstrous centipede appeared. The opening was only wide enough for one attacker, so Septimius stepped up and the rest of the party lined up so they could all fire the best missile weapon the could to take down the centipede. The battle raged for several rounds when a group of two bird-men, two wizards and a man in a steel mask came from behind and attacked with several spells. The first and most devastating spell was a lightning bolt the struck everyone that had lined up to fire upon the centipede. Only Sandreus was outside the line attack. The other wizards fired Scorching Ray at Rollo and Tiberius, the two best ranged attackers in the group. In the chaos that followed the party did the best to heal and get out of line incase of another lightning bolt. Several members rushed the wizards to try and stop their next attack. Unfortunately the masked man was not attacked and released a fireball among the staggered group. This severely damaged Appius, Sandreus, Rollo and killed Tiberius outright.
Septimius and Miles killed the centipede and killed several remaining bird-men and a couple of wizards in the next room. Unfortunately as Septimius and Miles were dropping the enemy, the enemy ended up dropping Rollo, Sandreus and Appius at about the same time. Miles and Septimius saw that they were alone and the enemy was trying to flank them and finish them off. Miles and Septimius took up strong defensive positions and waited for the enemy to come and attack. When the attack came Miles and Septimius were ready and they dropped a couple more enemies, before Miles was overwhelmed. Septimius evaluated the situation and being grievously wounded retreated down the hallway and prepared for the final battle with the masked man and two wizards. The attacker pursued their prey, but Septimus was again prepared. He quickly displaced the two wizards and went one-on-one with the masked-man. The battle waged for several round until a hit from either combatant would end the battle. Final Septimius struck the final blow prevailing over the masked-man. He gathered his wits and his fallen comrades, of which all had stabilized and would recover eventually. The only casually was Tiberius who fell early to a lightning bolt, scorching ray and a fireball. While aiding his fallen comrade the whole complex began to shake as if a huge earthquake was happening. Then the worst sound they had ever heard, a deep guttural, feral cry that could be heard everywhere. The earthquake stopped, but the creature’s scream could be still be heard. Luckily the creature headed away from the crippled adventures.

April 11th Session 17

April 11th Session 17
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines

Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-4
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-4
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-4
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-4
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric-4
Tiberius (Jeff) Scout-2 Fighter-1
Shamus (Steve) Ranger-3

Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-2 (Retired)

Enjoying another restful evening the group encouraged by the easy defeat of the Demogrogon followers decided it was high time to beat down the last group behind the Vecna door. Traveling back to the elevator room the group tried the metal key they had found with the grimlock spellcaster. The key opened the door and the group moved down the dark hallway before them. The group lined up single file and headed in. Septimius, Crag, Sandreus, Appius, Rollo, Tiberius followed up by Shamus came to a four-way intersection and choose to go right. They continued on and came to another four-way intersection again the choose to go right. From out of nowhere two bird-like humanoids attacked Shamus from behind. They apparently were rouges because they inflicted a lot of damage. The rest of the group reacted quickly Shamus moved past Tiberius and began looking for the cleric. Crag moved and helped block the hallway so that the bird creatures would have to go through him to get to the rest of the party. From the open corridor north of Septimius a secret door opened and out flew a an orb down the hallway towards the rest of the party followed shortly by a explosion. When the fire and smoke cleared most of the party was severely wound and poor Shamus lay dead in the center of the explosion along with one of the bird-men. To prevent another such incident the group scattered in all directions. Septimius moved to the center of the hallway, Rollo and Tiberius launched all they could at the fireball launching bird-men. Crag ran to engage the fireball launching bird-men. Appius began healing the party and Sandreus began singing to boost the group’s morale. The fire-singed bird-men ran through a secret door and the door shut behind him. Coming from the north end of the first intersection were to dire weasels. Septimius chose to charge the weasels before they could charge the rest of the party. Appius while healing up everyone spotted a light coming from the west where they had not been to before. While Crag was engaged on the right the fire-singed bird-men appeared south of Crag and began firing on him with a crossbow. At the same time two weasels appear to the north of Crag and charged him. Septimius attacked the weasel that had attached itself to him with the help of Rollo and Tiberius. When suddenly two bird-men appear behind Septimius from out of a secret door. Also behind the two weasels that were on Crag appear two more bird-men with crossbows and began to shot at Crag slowly wearing him down. Appius and Sandreus were busy healing everyone they could get to, except for Septimius who was cut off from the party. Septimius killed his first weasel and was working on his second weasel, but was struggling after having taken hits from both the bird-men and bleeding wound from the first weasel. Knowing that he couldn’t take very much more damage before he would drop made the decision to take one for the team and kill as much as he could before they finished him. Rollo and Tiberius continued to fire on any and every target they figured they could kill. Up to this point they had killed one of the two bird-men who had launched the fireball. One of the bird-men who was attacking Septimius and damaging several more. Unfortunately two more bird-men appear to the south of Crag. This now left Crag holding off single-handedly two bird-men from the north with crossbows, the now dead weasels from the north, although not without taking some damage. Crag further held off two bird-men from the east and now two bird-men from the south. The second bird-man from the east of Crag was not like the other bird-men he cast several spells mostly targeted on Rollo. Rollo had taken sever damage twice and fell dying only to be revived by his good friend Appius. The two bird-man archers from the far west continued to harass Appius, Rollo and Tiberius. The battle took a turn for the better as Septimius was able to out last the weasels and finish off the last of the bird-men on him. Appius charged the two bird-men in the west corridor and Tiberius and Rollo gave help whenever they could. And they it happened, two of the archers charged Crag with clubs as the other two archers shot at Crag and they all hit the same round. Crag dropped dead instantly and the group was over run by bird-men. The group made a decision to try and make a run for the elevator room to get away. The only problem was there was still one bird-men between the adventures and freedom. Septimius still severly wound charged and dropped the bird-man as the rest of the party ran past him heading for the exits. Only Sandreus stayed right behind Septimius to continue to healing him as Septimius tanked for the freedom of the party. Rollo and Tiberius continued to assault the bird-men from the elevator room, but the bird-men continued to fire on the missile users and again dropped Rollo. Appius being close by again revived Rollo. Septimius engaged the main bird-man warrior, the two combatants fought well, but neither could land the finishing blow. Every time the bird-man landed a blow Sandreus used the wand to heal Septimius. The bird-man continued to attack and pull back so that Septimius had to move further into the hallway. Septimus eventually came to the intersection and saw the bird-man spellcaster and chose to charge and try to kill him before he could inflict any more damage. Sandreus, Tiberius and Rollo were able to finish off the lead warrior that Septimus left behind. Finally with their leader down the last bird-man warrior and bird-man spellcaster made a run for it. The group came back in gather up all treasure that radiated magic and grabbed the bodies for their to fallen comrades and made for their secure room for the night.

April 4th Session 16

April 4th Session 16
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines

Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-3
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-3
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-3
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-3
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric-3
Tiberius (Jeff) Scout-2 Fighter-1
Shamus (Steve) Ranger-3

Agustus (Michael) Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-2 (Retired)

Sleeping safely for another night the group decided to push on into the cave system of Demogorgon. They hiked all the way back to the ledge and climbed down the spike staircase. At the bottom of the cavern they climbed back up to the cave where they encountered the female barbarian. They searched her lair and found a preserved head of a shadow elf, 200 gold, and a wand. Continuing through the winding tunnel they came out the other side at the bottom of a rope bridge that spanned about 20 feet over a dark chasm and climbed upward at a angle to a ledge about 10 feet above their current position. Rollo chose to use his spider-like ability and travel across via the side walls. Appius chose to go across first, second across was Septimius. Just as Appius reached the other side three warriors leaped to attack, two with javelins and one with a morningstar. Appius held his own as Septimius moved as quickly across the bridge as Rollo fired from his position on the walls. Crag was next to cross as Septimius dropped two of the sightless warriors with his mighty attacks. The third warrior ran up the tunnel as fast as he could. Tiberius crossed the bridge and along with Rollo began take pop shots at the retreating warrior. Luckily the tunnel was long and steep and the screaming warrior didn’t get very far before he was shot down. The adventures gathered up the valuables and Septimius, Crag, Sandreus, Appius, Rollo, Tiberius, and Shamus headed up the steep tunnel. About halfway up two more warriors appeared at the top of the tunnel and began hurling javelins at the single file line of adventures. Septimius arrived first and with one attack dropped both sightless grimlock warriors. The rest of the group came out of the tunnel and got their first view of the large chamber about 60 feet across and about 20 feet deep. The other strange fact about the room was the 10 foot ledges. There was one right in front of the group and one in front of the tunnel going to the left and two separate ten foot ledges in front of the tunnel in the back of the room going right. The tunnel on their right and behind the group didn’t have a ledge, but it sloped downward very steeply into the darkness. Rollo spider-climbed up the first ledge with a rope and tied it off so other members of the party could pull themselves up the ledge. Septimius and Appius were the first up when the party heard some noises coming from the tunnel off to their left. Septimius and Appius took up defensive positions, as Crag and Sandreus were the next up the rope. Emerging from out of the tunnel were six grimlock warriors. They engaged Septimius and Appius, but not before Septimius dispatched the closest one. Sandreus began singing and Rollo, Shamus and Tiberius began raining down damage upon the grimlocks from the lower portion of the room. Septimius whacked a couple more grimlocks and Crag drop one of his own when a huge grimlock emerged from the elevated tunnel of to the right. The grimlock charged Sandreus as he was the closest target. Sandreus tried unsuccessfully to avoid the attacks and attention of the huge warrior. Septimius disengaged the small grimlocks to engage the huge warrior. Crag and Appius finished the last of the regular grimlocks, but this new warrior was a lot tougher. Septimius took a few hits and the ranged warriors inflicted enough damage to finally drop the warrior. The group explored the two rooms the grimlocks exited and gather all valuables found. This left the one remaining option, the tunnel that sloped steeply downward. The tunnel curved downward for about 100 feet and opened into a huge natural cavern about 80 feet narrowing down to only 20 feet across about 80 feet from the room entrance. Halfway across the room was a 10-foot drop and the last ten feet of the room was raised and covered with a fire and lots of smoke. Around the smoke there was something chanting and throwing something into the fire making even more smoke. Septimius, Crag charged forward. Rollo climbed the wall up to the roof and approached from the ceiling. Sandreus and Appius cautiously moved forward and Tiberius and Shamus followed closely behind. As Septimius and Crag jumped down six grimlocks emerged from the shadows. Tiberius began firing on the enemies and Septimius and Crag began frantically attacking the new enemies. As Rollo looked from the roof he spotted the creature next to the fire and fired his eldritch blast as the target. The target responded by cast a Spiritual Weapon at Rollo. Tiberius was also able to spot the mysterious spellcaster and also began firing at the new target. The groups two front-line warriors dropped about one grimlock around each. They quickly dispatched the grimlock guards and ran forward to fight the grimlock spellcaster. In the meantime, Rollo was beginning to show the wear of a spiritual weapon constantly pounding him. Appius was just able to get to Rollo before the spiritual weapon could finish the job. At the base of the cliff the group found a rope to climb up. First to act was Crag. He climbed up the rope to engage the spellcaster. Before he could reach the spellcaster he had to make a saving throw. Luckily he had no problems and was able to make his attack. Septimius was second up the rope, but before he could reach the top of the cliff the spellcaster blocked his progress by standing at the top of the rope. Crag was alone in combat with the spellcaster and found that it was difficult to hit to grimlock regularly. Finally he was able to get in a couple of solid hit and the grimlock had to pull back from the edge and allow Septimius up the rope. Once Septimius and Crag engaged the spellcaster together the battle end very quickly. Finding lots of treasure the group once again decided it might be best to go back to their sleeping room now that they had finished off the followers of Demogorgon.

March 28th Session 15

March 28th Session 15
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines

Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-3
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-3
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-3
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-3
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric-2
Tiberius (Jeff) Scout-2
Shamus (Steve) Ranger-2

Agustus (Michael)Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-2 (Retired)

Rollo held his position on the wall and used his eldritch blast on the two eyeless archers. Sandreus climbed back up the stairs to the top of the cliff. Tiberius and Shamus fired at the archers, but found it difficult to hit the shooters because of the rocks they were hiding behind. Since Crag and Septimius couldn’t pass anyone on the stairs they chose to try and fire their weapons from the stairs at the archers. The archers switched tactics. This time one threw a tanglefoot bag at Rollo hoping to stick Rollo in place so he couldn’t keep shooting the archers and the second archer took shots at Tiberius. The battle continued for one more round when Septimius trying to fire his crossbow slipped and fell 35 feet to the hard rocks below. Rollo continued firing on the archers was hitting fairly consistently Shamus and Tiberius had a harder time hitting the archers. Sandreus was inspirationally singing motivating the adventurers. Septimius stood up, but couldn’t see anything without a light source, but could hear something large slither towards him. The attack was just as much of a surprise as the tentacled arm that smashed Septimius. Crag began to climb down the makeshift stairs as quickly and safely as possible. Rollo, Tiberius and Shamus continued to fire on the archers. Appius put his weapon away and tried to throw his continual flame torch up to the three archers. Unfortunately, he came up a little short as the torch clipped the edge of the cliff and fell down to the happy Septimius, who now saw a bloated ovoid covered creature with rocklike skin with two stalks about 3 feet long rising from the top of its disgusting body that contained two large eyes. Its mouth little more than a wide gaping hole was filled with razor-sharp teeth. The battle was on, Septimius vs. the Otyugh. Meanwhile, Rollo, Tiberius, Sandreus and Shamus finally finished off one of the archers as the other continued firing mostly at Tiberius. Appius cracked a sunrod and this time successfully tossed the sunrod up to his comrades, jumped off the stairs and floated down with his ring of feather fall behind Crag and Septimius, who were now in combat with the Otyugh and two more Otyughs that were rapidly approaching. The adventures continued to pelt the remaining archer who was force to gulp down a couple of potions to try and stay alive. Crag and Septimius with healing support from Appius were able to annihilate the three Otyughs without sustaining any major injuries. As for the poor archer seeing that his situation appear hopeless tried to make a “run” for as he climbed out from his cover and tried to climb down an unseen spike staircase. No sooner than he stuck his head out Tiberius nailed him with a nasty shot and the poor dying archer fell to a permanent dead just missing Appius as he landed hard.
Rollo continued to spider-walk over to the ledge and inventory everything that was worth a damn. He followed a set of stairs down to a cave opening and invited his fellow adventures to come on up and check it out. The three adventures at the top of the cliff climbed down to meet with the slayers of the Otyughs. Luckily, one of the things Rollo found was a coil of rope, which he tired off and lowered down to his comrades. Crag was up first, followed by Septimius, and Appius. Unfortunately Rollo never heard the massive female warrior who slashed Rollo several with her two daggers nearly killing him. Rollo did his best to fight the wild woman off as his allies climbed the 30 foot of rope as quick as the could. Rollo dropped, not dead, but dying rapidly, as the raging woman proceeded to cut the rope holding the rescuers. With the rope cut, Crag through sheer will caught hold of the cliff edge while for the second time Septimius fell hard on the rocks below and Appius gently floated safely back to the ground. Crag pulled himself up the cliff and the sightless female barbarian slashed viciously and successfully at Crag. Crag landed in a few good shots of his own, but was unable to defeat the female and fell to her quick and deadly attacks. Meanwhile for a brief moment the stranded companions got a couple of shots off at the female barbarian while she battle Crag, she eventually move away from the edge so they couldn’t see her. Thinking quickly Appius started climbing the staircase once again trying to get as high up the spikes as he could. Appius, seeing Crag fall, and not being as high as would have preferred leaped from the staircase and cast an area healing spell that healed and stabilized Crag and raised Rollo back to consciousness, but only barely (1 hp). Appius once again gently floated safely back down to the cavern floor. Rollo bravely waited as the female barbarian reached over to search and chuck Crags limp body over the edge and blasted her with his eldritch blast hoping it would kill her. She took the hit and turned to Rollo and with her last action of her life stabbed Rollo again leaving him to die as she collapsed and began dying herself. With no way to reach Rollo and Crag and with Rollo breeding out it looked like Rollo gave up his life to save Crag and possibly others. It was at this time a miracle occurred Rollo actually stabilized on his own and didn’t die. Appius was finally able to climb to the top of the cliff and leap across the span and gently land nest to Rollo and Crag, whom he healed and helped down to the cavern floor. Spent and wounded the party decided maybe they should go back to the room in the temple of Orcus they spent the previous night and heal up as best they can and rest. And so they did.

March 21st Session 14

March 21st Session 14
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines

Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-3
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-3
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-3
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-3
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric-2
Tiberius (Jeff) Scout-2
Shamus (Steve) Ranger-2

Agustus (Michael)Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-2 (Retired)

Having survived the night with no attacks and having healed their wounds as best they could the adventures decided it was time to finish exploring the rest of the temple of Orcus. Their first stop was the scene of the battle this time they took more time to explore the room. The second stop was beyond the door into the Chapel of Orcus. The night before all they had time to do was quickly explore the room and destroy the alter to Orcus. This time they found a door behind the tapestry they hadn’t seen the night before. The room they found was the bedchamber of the leader of the cleric of Orcus. Gathering all items of value they continued on through the door to a new area. The new area was the upstairs balcony looking down upon the room with the statue and sandy floor. They realized that this room was designed as a trap for anyone who entered into the room through the double doors on the ground level; the one they chose to bypass. The far end of the room also linked up with the staircase they had passed the day before. Feeling certain they had secured and eliminated the threat of the followers of Orcus they chose to head back to the elevator room.
Arriving at the elevator room they decided to explore the door with the symbol of Demogorgon. The door was locked and seemed to be made of stone. Remembering that they found a stone key, they opened the door and peered though. The winding natural tunnel before them led down onto the darkness. They pulled out their everburning torch and popped a sunrod and headed into the unknown. After traveling about 80 feet, they entered into a chamber filled with numerous stalactites and stalagmites. The ground was rough and difficult to cross. About half way across the room three muscular humanoids about as tall as a human with thick, gray, scaly skin and blank eyeless eye sockets leaped from their hiding positions and began throwing javelins. Crag and Septimius moved quickly and dispatched their enemies. After examining the bodies they also found a tunnel heading out the other side of the room. Continuing to drop further into the unknown they found another larger room. Again the room was filled with stalactites and stalagmites and lots of rubble on the ground making the ability to walk across the room difficult. This time several members heard the creatures before they saw them. Two creatures sprang to action and quickly moved into combat. These creatures seemed to combine the worst features of a wolf and a hyena; it had a shaggy coat, a bristling mane along its spine, and a long, bushy tail. Behind the two dog-like creatures was their master, another eyeless warrior. The battle was fierce, but the adventures prevailed over the two beast and engaged the beast’s master. He proved to be a better warrior and the first humanoids they met, but the adventures overwhelmed him with their pure numbers. Unlike the last chamber this room didn’t have a tunnel leading out of the room, it end at a cliff that dropped away into the darkness below. Upon further inspection the group found spikes hammered into the cliff face in the form of a makeshift staircase. Septimius, Crag, Appius and Sandreus started heading down and Rollo chose to use his spider climb ability and explore a small ledge across the chasm by scuttling around the side of the chasm. At the top of the cliff Shamus and Tiberius continued to look for anything out of the ordinary. What none of the adventures saw was two more or the eyeless humanoids pop-up from the ledge, one fired a bow at Tiberius and the other threw a bag a Sandreus just missing him at the top of the spike staircase. The adventure prepared themselves for combat and readied their attacks …

March 14th Session 13

March 14th Session 13
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines

Septimius Flavius Perfectus (Mike) Human Fighter-2
Crag Skullbugger (Greg) Dwarf Barbarian-2
Rollo Mojo (Josh) Human Warlock-2
Sandreus III (Ben) Human Bard-2
Appius Umbrius Laurentius (Michael) Human Cleric-2
Tiberius (Jeff) Scout-2
Shamus (Steve) Ranger-2

Agustus (Michael)Human Cleric-1 (Deceased)
Drake (Jeff) Human Rogue-2 (Deceased)
Primus Ironius Perfectus (Steve) Human Cleric-2 (Deceased)
Kioska (Lewis) Human Druid-2 (Retired)
Slyver (Mark) Human Rouge-2 (Retired)

After peering through the door, the group decided it might be best to secure the area behind them by checking some of the room and passageway that they had passed by. The first room they investigated was the lair of the dire boar they killed it was nothing more than a smelly, dirty animal den. The other area they choose to investigate was the corridor across from the den. They went through the first door and walked down the corridor and found another door. This door upon further investigation appeared to be barred from the inside. Crag looking to swing his great axe at something grew impatient and began attacking the barred door. Not to be left out several other members joined in and soon the door was showing large amounts of damage. Much to the surprise of everyone several arrows flew through the hole in the door and hit the wall behind the party immediately followed by sudden darkness in the hallway. Septimius reached through the door and removed the bar. Counting to three the group choose to rush their attackers and were met by two men armed with bows. One was on the stairs and the other was in small room ten feet further up the hallway. The group quickly dispatched the two warriors and passed the staircase in favor of the room and corridor beyond. The group preceded up the hallway into a bed chamber occupied by two zombies, a half orc in light plate using a light shield, a female human wear half plate using a heavy steel shield and a human male in full plate using a heavy steel shield. Appius immediately turned all the undead and the rest of the party moved into a defensive line with the undead between the living enemies and the group. The group quickly realized the armored clad warrior were actually cleric who proceeded to cast a series of spells. The undead retreated to the back of the room and the clerics kept stepping back to continue to cast spells. Finally the clerics and adventures engaged in combat. Crag and the half-orc squared off, Septimius pressed the female and Rollo and Tiberius harassed the human man. Appius helped heal and make periphery attacks on the female with Shamus and Sandreus sang songs that inspired the whole group. The three clerics were difficult to hit but the group slowly damaged the cleric and finally dropped the female first. The human male attacked was attacking the party and inflict heavy damage to several party members. He finally succumbed to both Rollo eldritch blast and the continued harassment by Septimius, Shamus and Appius. The last battle between Crag and the half-orc was close, but Crag outlasted his opponent and dropped the half-orc one round after the human male. The group having taken some heavy damage decided it might be a good time to hold up somewhere and camp for the night. They quick gathered all the valuable and magic items they could see and headed back to the barracks room they had explored earlier. They pushed the remaining furniture in front of the door and set a watch for the night.

Illustration of Sandreus III and some new friends

February 28th Session 12

February 28th Session 12
Diamond Lake
Under the Dourstone Mines

The two guards at the bottom of the elevator took notice of the group coming down. One walked over and realized he didn’t recognize any one. Asking, “Who are you guys?” the group didn’t answer to the satisfaction of the guard, “Stay here while I get me boss”. Septimius decided it was time to react with a slash from his mighty blade the guard was severely wounded. The rest of the party was quick finishing the first guard and blocking the second guard from running down the hallway he was guarding. The frightened guard made one last feeble attempt to inflict some damage before he was hacked to bloody chunks and left for dead. Even though there were three doors to choose from the group decided to go through the one the guards were guarding. Finding no traps they opened the door to see a room with dozens of suits of armor with bells attacked. Assuming this was a practice ground for thieves to learn how to pick pockets they enter the room. To their surprise eight suits of armor and their undead occupants moved forward to attack with their bells ring the whole time. Two of the skeletons smashed Septimus with their maces before Appius called upon the Light of Ixion to send the undead back to the land of the permanently dead. Evaluating the armor as junk several members of the group heard some noises coming from behind the door on the left of where they entered the room. They prepared for combat and opened the door to see eight humans with long spears preparing to enter the room the group had just vacated. It was a quick battle as the group acted quickly and decisively dropping cultist to the right and left. Everything was going swimmingly until one cultist caught Crag with the end of his spear inflicting a major wound upon the barbarian. At the conclusion of the battle Rollo, Sandreus and Tiberius who had remained in the armored skeletons room found themselves in complete darkness. The three rushed to the room with their friends and luckily found the door. Seamus the ranger shut the door and the group readied themselves for an attack. For several minutes all was quiet then they heard some feral snuffing getting closer with every second. Soon they knew the creature was on the other side of the door, so they continued to wait. The door open and Rollo and Tiberius shot the doorman as the rest of the party saw the biggest boar they had ever seen come rushing down the hallway. Luckily for the party the hallway was almost to small for the boar and it had to struggle to get into the room. The group took advantage of the situation Crag raged, Sandreus sang, Rollo and Tiberius fired their ranged attacks Septimius, Crag, Seamus and Appius beat the boar down with well placed and devastating attacks. The battle was short and successful Septimius was the first to exit the room and was fired upon by two more guards standing in the hallway the group hadn’t explored as of yet. Rollo and Tiberius fired shots and dropped the previously wounded doorman as the other was hit by a couple of swords. The second guard made a run for it straight down the hall towards the double doors. He was able to open the first when Rollo and Tiberius successfully inflicted massive ranged damage to end his evil life. The group moved down to the door and pulled the body back into the hall, rifled through his pockets and peeked into the room. They could see the bottom of a huge statue and they noticed that the floor was completely covered with sand.