• Thorgard - Light Warhorse, Stoneskin
• Tatrin - Light Warhorse, Stoneskin
• Jacob - Hippogriff, Stoneskin
• Josalyn - Heavy Warhorse, Stoneskin
• Briiz - Heavy Warhorse, Stoneskin
• Oriyan - Stoneskin
• Montesi - Packhandler, Mule, Draft Horses, Riding Horses
• X Toptesto - Training until the 28th.
• Maervahr - Hippogriff, Stoneskin
• X Qipsil - Training until the 28th.

Maervahr paid his upkeep of 1,150 gp.

The party is going to return to the old well entrance and head beneath Old Mombafra to speak to Ras'sakeel, a Bronze Dragon. He has been down in these depths for a couple of decades and he has mainly been surviving on Giant Ants to survive, which is no suitable living for a majestic Bronze Dragon.

We make it down the well when…

Both of us are surprised.

We run right into a massive Floating Eye sphere with stalks and a great central eye.

• Maervahr flees.
• Tatrin stays his weapon.
• The others also wait.

The Gas Spore floats there like a massive mote of dust.

As we progress through the dungeons we have previously cleared, we find that the door is closed now. We push open the door to the room and make it past this area. We open the second door where the Gas Spore follows us, albeit very slowly.

We are now all inside the room before we would reach the Dragon's cave.

We go down and are met with two of the spherical Centurions. They deploy their upper bodies to form an automoton creature. We ask to inform Ras'sakeel that we wish to speak and he is summoned by one of the Centurions.

Ras'sakeel arrives in the form of a man. He informs us that he has smelled us before we entered. We notice that he has distinguished bronze features along with his long black hair. It appears as though he has been working on something.

We inform Ras'sakeel of a place we have discovered that could be a better, more suitable place for him to reside. It is called TAUGHANOCK FALLS.

Ras'sakeel has heard of this place. He tells us, “If it has been purged of evil, then indeed that would please me. I would be interested in relocating to this place.”

We agree that we can cleanse the place prior to his arrival and Maervahr asks him an additional question, regarding the teaching of the Dragons' Language.

Ras'sakeel says that he would be interested in an exchange of knowledge, perhaps for a potion or a scroll, to teach Maervahr his language. In the meantime, he will arrange for his own guard and transportation to Taughanock Falls…unless he has changed his mind.

He does inform us of the following: a power vacuum would not have been a concern until recently. His preying on the denizens of this dungeon was opportunistic. A secret entrance was tunneled around leaving the dungeon exposed. Now, tunneling and evasion has exposed this level to those who reside above. The Temple of the Flame has been seen and he is concerned about it. The Icon of Flame, now long gone, however something else may come to pass that he would not be able to stop. In effect, The Dragon serves as a deterrent toward trespassers.

The Temple of the Flame has patriarchs that are out of his control. All of the other Temples of Mombafra try to not let the other temples get too strong, maintaining a balance through negotiation and truce. These cities are a neutral zone for alignments, ideally, otherwise they may fall to chaos and destruction.

Understanding what may be at stake, we will leave to go to Taughanock Falls regardless.

Back in Mombafra, we are kooking for Mercenaries.

• 3 Medium Horsemen. Hired by Jacob for 12 gp per day and he has paid for 5 days, a total of 60 gp.
• 19 Light Horsemen plus a Captain.

We set out the next day from Mombafra.

Oriyan and Jacob each get a Stoneskin spell from Maervahr on our first day out. The party travels to the Sanctum of the Yew after one full day.

This is a Monastery, the home of Iona Arduinha, a Monk in our guild. The Monks here are not as enthusiastic to see us as they were last time. They ask Oriyan if he can provide a Cure Disease and Cure Wounds type spells. If so, they will give us a room to stay for the night and stable our mounts.

Jacob donates 40 gp to the Sanctum of the Yew. It is a few times bigger than the Monastery of the Red Sun, a now ruined Monastery that lies due west of Starling. The courtyard here is green with big Yew trees, contributing to its name. The Sanctum of the Yew has towers and walls and all have protection against the sky. They have constructed really high walls to help defend against flying creatures.

We have a map of this area and decide which route to take through the vast forest of the West Reach of Hollow. We will pass through medium forests which cost 2 points.

The next day we make camp at the Falls and during this time, some more spells are cast. Thorgard and Josalyn now also have Stoneskin.

We make it to the Wistari Village and tell them about the Bronze Dragon that wishes to move into the Falls. The Wood Elves tell us that they do have concerns about the capriciousness of a Dragon in the area. They wonder, what positions will the Dragon take? It is a risk…but potentially an incredible boon.

The Elves tell us that no new activity has been spotted at the Falls or in the area since we were last here. They have spotted no Xvarts in the woods.

Maervahr casts Stoneskin on Briiz and Tatrin.

We rest in the village, partying with the Wood Elves.

The next day, we head out for Taughanock Falls and go toward the secret front entrance.

When we arrive, we look inside and see that the chamber inside looks clear. A stone wall gives way as we open the secret door and we are now in the chamber. All is now quiet and it seems deserted.

The smell in here is extraordinarily foul, a putrid stench that is worse than anything. Jacob throws a coin down the hall and it rolls into a trench after a short drop. We can see the light coming out, the holy light of Mote coming from the trench. We also notice that there are some long wooden benches on either side.

Thorgard goes up 2“ and gets to the edge of the latrine. He must save versus poison. As he enters the area, the smell gets worse and is sinfully bad. Thorgard almost throws up. Down the latrine is a pool from about a 5' drop into the “stuff”.

We continue on…

The room with the Xvart children now has a lot of bones and there are still traces of campsites in the other rooms. The far east room had a bunch of open lockers.

The Green Dragon's lair still contains the decaying body of the Dragon we slew. We gather up a bunch of scales, about 200 coin worth, including a bunch of Dragon bones and whats left of the Dragon's Eyes.

We head just outside of the torture chamber that was used by the Green Dragon…

We spot a shimmer in the air and a sliding to the right. Something wiggles back and forth a bit.

• Maervahr casts Lightning Bolt at it.

Jacob charges and immediately hits. He does 2 damage to the creature which appears to be another Gelatinous Cube. Thorgard hits as well, doing 3 and 5 damage. It then sinks into the form of a rectangular prism and lurches. The Lightning Bolt peels off the cube as it appears completely unharmed by the magic!

Thorgard takes 6 damage as he is struck by a pseudopod from the Cube and engulfed. Thorgard has become paralyzed!

• Maervahr goes Psionically Invisible and disengages.

Jacob hits and does 11 damage, dissipating a part of the Cube. There is a draining sound as Thorgard returns but he is still paralyzed.

A Cure Light Wounds spell is cast on the Dwarf. healing him for 8 hitpoints. We collect the following items from the gelatinous remains and also what we find in the room:

• 11 cp
• 11 sp
• 8 gp
• 3 pp
• 4 Gems
• 300 gp
• 10 gp
• 500 gp
• 10 gp

We go up the stairs from the room with the fireplace and find a flat stone wall. Thorgard finds a hidden latch on the stone concealed below a craggy piece.

Tatrin casts Find Traps but there are no traps in the area. Then, Thorgard pulls the latch and we open the secret door. Inside is a room that we have been to previously.

It is currently dead in here, with furs and carpets that were in good condition but have been torn up by crude blades. There is also a chair that has been toppled and some bits of animal scraps.

We go through the door, past the carpet and rugs that were torn up. It looks like the place was thoroughly looted.

Moving on through the other door, we find a room that was once a kitchen and there is a 2' diameter chimney in here. There is also a bed of soil from which is sprouting a thick garden of fungi. Most of the bodies in the upper rooms were dissolved by one or many Gelatinous Cubes, the dungeon cleaners. There were also some Hobgoblin camps in the lower left rooms.

In the unoccupied lower room, we find some pottery bowls with water amidst some bones. This room was filled with heavy bedrolls from the Hobgoblins but there were no valuables.

The key place is in the upper left, north west side where there is a great shrine to the god Grack. We find a huge banner of the Rat King aspect of Grack that hangs across the entire wall. There are also some braziers that look like they were lit within the last month. The place still gives a sense of claustrophobia.

Maervahr tears down the tapestry, rolls it up and pushes it to the side. There are some rooms behind the altar, like some back chambers. They are filled with wooden cots and rough bedding material and we find walls that are hung with blue silk tapestries. A thick smell of incense fills the air in here.

Overall, the place is richly furnished for its occupants and we find, lying next to a pile of bedding, a grubby looking chest with a heavy lock.

• Blue Silk tapestries.

Tatrin had Find Traps going but we can see that the lid is opened a bit. There is no trap so Jacob opens it.

• 6400 sp
• 2350 ep
• 200 pp in a sack

Maervahr carries 400 coins worth.

We find a secret door that leads north. The door appears to be unused and the north east corner leads upward to some stairs that wind upward for a while.

We go toward a dead end and find a secret door without difficulty. Inside, beyond the secret door, the walls are carved and painted with river life. There are some written inscriptions in ancient script that we cannot read. The pillars have carvings on them as well.

The last time we were here, we restored this place and there are still a few markings left from that. The stone altar remains on the north wall where it was previously damaged and now an ornate bowl sits on top of the altar. The altar is sitting inside of a pool of water. Once we cleansed this place, we received the blessing of Cine.

Thorgard says a prayer to Cine. He feels a sense of well being and the rush of a whirlpool. The room is only dimly illuminated by the light but the place feels as if it glows somehow.

One hour later, we have filled up the saddlebags on our mounts and head back into the falls for more…

We re-enter the big room…

At the end of the curve, we find a vast chamber with a 40' ceiling. There is still a thick layer of bat guano covering everything and the blinding holy light from a Continual Light coin lights our way. Suddenly, there are screeches from above as creatures pour down from the ceiling. The whole room is now covered in decades of Bats.

• Maervahr immediately casts Phantasmal Force to create a bunch of flames.

The Bats come down like a great wave moving in the darkness. Thorgard and Tatrin fire their arrows and must hit AC 4 or AC 5 when they are charging. They kill 2 of the Bats instantly. Jacob shoots down 2 of them but there are still 50 of the Bats left.

Maervahr finishes his spell as a torrent of flames erupt in the air, rising from the ground to the ceiling. The Bats chaotically shift and swerve, going in all directions. The flames turn away the Bats!

Tatrin lights a torch. The whole ceiling and room has largely dispersed but a few Bats are still in here.

Tatrin slings a stone further into the room as Jacob and Josalyn move up 6”. Thorgard also moves up. They can see Bats flutter off into the distance.

Tatrin fires from his sling a Continual Light coin about 20“ down, into the dark cave. His coin flies out and lands 20” away. It illuminates the ceiling in the area and we can see, on the ceiling are hanging two great Man-Sized Bats!

We can see their eyes reflecting from the light of the coin.

• Tatrin moves up 6“,
• Oriyan pulls out his holy symbol, preparing to Turn Undead.
• Maervahr maintains concentration on his Phantasmal Force illusion.

The two Great Bats detach from the ceiling and dive bomb some of the other characters. Josalyn can roll to turn and Oriyan can roll to turn undead. Jacob fires his bow and must hit AC 3.

Josalyn turns up to wraiths, also Oriyan…However, this has no effect on the Great Bats. Thorgard managed to hit one for 3 points of damage and Jacob hit for 1 damage.

The 6 Bats are charging into the light and into our party. The forward group contains most of our party.

Jacob has AC -4 and is missed but there is one hit on Josalyn that does 7 damage. HER STONESKIN IS GONE! There are 3 attacks on Thorgard and one hit, THORGARD'S STONESKIN IS GONE!

The Bats screech with a piercing intensity causing us to save versus paralysis for all the screeches. Jacob and Josalyn failed and are covering their ears instead of fighting. The Great Bats have completely disabled our forward fighting force!

Jacob and Josalyn attempt to fall back to the party. Maervahr maintains concentration on the Phantasmal Force flames in the room, hoping it acts as a deterrent.

Thorgard is missed and Tatrin, who has AC 4, is hit! TATRIN'S STONESKIN IS GONE! Maervahr is able to maintain his concentration, to no effect on the enemy so far.

The Great Bats, which are MOBATS, have an AC -1 through the Phantasmal Flames however, The Mobats save versus the Phantasmal Force so 3 of them are able to disbelieve the illusion! They now have an AC 2 without the concealment.

Jacob hits for 1 and 5 damage.

Josalyn, Thorgard and Tatrin are being attacked but Thorgard missed and Josalyn missed their retaliatory strikes.

Maervahr now fails his saving throw against the Mobat screech and the Phantasmal Force spell fails. Maervahr falls back.

Thorgard does 4 damage with a kick and they take another 8 damage from Jacob. When they land, they have an AC 10 while on the ground.

Oriyan hits with a lasso but it somehow is able to dodge the lasso! Then, Oriyan is attacked by 3 of them, taking one hit. ORIYAN'S STONESKIN IS GONE!

Maervahr is out of range and Briiz and Tatrin are out of melee. However, they also have to save. Meanwhile, Thorgard hits one for 8 damage.

Maervahr casts Confusion, which lasts for 10 rounds. It goes off on the Mobats! Next, Thorgard hits for 7 and Jacob hits for 5 damage.

In melee, the Mobats will start doing flying combat. Thorgard hits back for 10 damage and Jacob did 7 this time, KILLING ONE!

None of them save versus the Confusion spell and they stand confused for one round!

• Maervahr casts Mirror Image.

He gets only one Mirror Image so there are two Maervahrs. The Mobats will have an AC 7 in their cramped condition. Jacob hits for 14 damage, which KILLS ANOTHER! Thorgard hits for 7 damage.

This time, one passes its save and two fail to save against the Confusion effect.

The Mobat strikes Josalyn, who is hit for 7 damage and there are two attacks on Tatrin. Both hit for 7 and 3 damage!

Maervahr casts Polymorph Other on one. The Polymorph Other spell goes off and hits one of the Confused Mobats. The creature instantly transforms into a FISH! Being out of water, it immediately begins flapping and writhing.

The two other Mobats stand confused. Briiz hits for 1 damage and there is still an AC 7 for all of them. Thorgard hit for 6 damage and this time, Jacob misses.

Maervahr goes Psionically Invisible to the remaining Mobats. Now the Mobats have an AC 2 as they take to the air. The two fly off with a failed Morale Check as one stands confused.

We kill the last one.

Maervahr collects the Mobat parts.

We find a big chimney rising up from the ceiling in the back and a niche in the wall, also about 30' up. There appears to be something there, like a nest. Briiz uses his grapnel which hooks in on the ledge and Jacob climbs up. His boots slips and slide on the bat guano on the walls but he is almost to the ceiling.

Once he gets up, he finds that there is a huge collective of Mobat nests. There are several small trinkets within and lots of rodent bones. It appears to mostly be buttons and other random things, generally amongst a collection of useless stuff. However, sifting through the objects we do find:

• A gold medalion with moonstones - 5,000 gp
• A platinum bracelet with four garnets - 8,000 gp
• A platinum ring with a large fire opal - 5,000 gp

None of these jewelry items are magical.

With the treasure we have found, we decide it is time to head back to the city.

We head for Qarn and make it there without incident.

We are selling these jewelry items to the cheese makers of Qarn but they will sell for 80% of their normal value.

• 14,400 gp from jewelry

We get 844 xp from the Gelatinous Cube and 656 from selling the gems.

• 152 gp
• 20 xp

In total, we get 3069.2 xp for PCs.

For the henchmen, they get:

• 18 pp
• 1309 gp
• 213 ep
• 582 sp

We get double the amount of coins for PCs.

3,329 xp for all PCS.