• Fothas - Fighter 5
• Voltendo - Paladin 2
• Elithra - Paladin 1
• Risten - Magic-User 6
• Eomiaje - Ranger 2 / Thief 3
• Ragnar - Ranger 4
• Yohan - Ranger 3
• Phineas - Cleric

Last time we ended in Heshib. There is a Cleric of 4th level there and Ragnar was on bedrest. Voltendo was also on bedrest.

The group is returning to Reir'al. Phineas has rejoined the party during the time we were in Heshib.

Nishjo is a hostile hamlet close to the Kam's Castle. They have a patriarch Cleric of Grack (8th level).

Inside of the ruins of Reir'al, we find the ruins of an Inn where we found a secret entrance to some tunnels underneath, which may have been used by the Red Wode.

The weather is cloudy.

Voltendo is flying his Hippogriff, Archie, at half speed. Phineas can prepare a couple of Resist Cold spells.

We check travel and continue to the northwest and then to the south west, going through the Sea of Grass. We get to the overlook looking down into the town. Nothing visibly changed.

It took us 6 movement points to get there and half the day left.

We talk about going toward Tower A to see what may be in that area. We dont see anything unusual about it. We continue to the Grove and find the entrance to go underground. Eomiaje is grasping the Rod of Alertness while Voltendo lends a magic morningstar to Elithra.

We do not detect any evil or invisible creatures, nor magic. There is some faint phosphorescent fungus growing on the walls.

Voltendo will also detect again at the entrance. Nothing is detected, nor with the rod.

By the entrance to the secret door, we hear a noise behind us, some scraping sound of metal against stone echoing down the stairs.

• Phineas
• Yohan tells Whirlrender to open the door and forms a front line.
• Fothas draws his sword and moves to engage.
• Eomiaje draws his sword and moves to engage.
• Voltendo uses a spear from the second rank.
• Elithra readies her bow.
• Ragnar draws his sword.
• Risten moves to the far left to see whats coming.

Risten gets to the edge and something jumps out. A bird coming out of the corner, a small owl that does not seem to see him. It is an arms length on the rock. Whirlrender says the word and opens the door.

The rest of the group advances forward with Yohan slightly behind. We are standing about 6“ forward. Risten is 2” ahead of us and can see the glow of light quite far away from the edge of a torch glow.

Elithra does not shoot yet but moves up to the rest of the party.

• Ragnar observes the owl.
• Risten hugs the wall.
• Phineas stays with the party and holds position.
• Yohan moves around the corner.
• Fothas charges.
• Eomiaje forms up with Yohan as we progress around the corner.
• Voltendo forms up with Yohan too.

We continue forward but Fothas charges around the corner while shouting “Make yourselves known!” He is moving 24“ and has a light. The Owl becomes flustered and disturbed. Elithra shoots at it and misses. It flies toward the stairs.

Once he comes up to the ice cellar he gets to the basement of the tavern. There is a group, an Elf, a Dwarf and 7 Humans are all clustered around the stairs. As he charges forward, he sees the Owl flying in their direction.

Fothas halts his charge and waits for their response. The Owl lands on one of the Human shoulders in robes. The rest of the group can hear the commotion ahead but we are at the base of the stairs.

• Fothas is parley
• Eomiaje will join Fothas with his weapon drawn.
• Voltendo joins Fothas and uses Detect Evil.
• Elithra tries to close the secret door.
• Ragnar activates his Ring of Invisibility.
• Risten waits.
• Phineas rounds the corner.
• Yohan follows Eomiaje and joins Fothas.

Elithra is able to say the word Whirlrender used and the door seals. Ragnar is invisible. There is a Dwarf in the party and he is considered their leader so he gets a bonus for both being Dwarves. Fothas is Lawful Good.

All of the characters, a Man in Robes, an Elf in Leather Armor, a Dwarf a couple Humans in plate and a man in Robes with mistletoe, a Cleric of Nefer and a couple of Fighters with swords.

The enemy party holds their weapons aloft but make no advance. They shout out. The Dwarf gives his name, Xel-kir. How long have you been in these ruins. Eomiaje uses the Rod of Alertness to Detect Lies discreetly. Xel-Kir asks what claim do you have to these ruins. We have a far older claim than you, says Fothas.

Yohan has Whirlrender start speaking and Yohan says we are here to investigate the Emberwatch. What proof do you have that it has any ties to this ruin. Whirlrender talks about the former master. “We are here to provide proof of the Emberwatch”. Eomiaje says, “The Sword did lead us here”. Once our business is done, we shall leave says Yohan.

Xel-kir says we do not have a reason to believe your story. As we dont have a magic sword of our own, they will concede the ownership to us. They say that the towers are the claim of their own party. Fothas does not like making a deal and then Phineas says from the stairs, “Is there anything of great evil in the towers?” Nothing we cannot handle.

Eomiaje detects their Alignment:

• Dwarf - NN - Magic Footmans Mace, Pouch Magic
• Robed - NE - Owl Magic, Gold Ring Magic
• Elf - LE - Shield, Belt and Javelin
• Fighter - NN - Broadsword
• Druid - NN
• Fighter - LN - Javelin
• Cleric of Nefer - NE
• Thief - NE
• Thief - LE

Xel-kir leans into the Dwarf and talks to the Elf. We will defeat this Dragon together. Voltendo will refuse to associate with anyone that is Evil.

The Rod of Alertness determines that lie detection triggerred when they said they would defeat it with you.

The two Thieves grin as we tell them we are the Thighs of Adventure. We later reconvene and Eomiaje tells them about what we have learned. We are supposed to meet them in an hour in the Grove. Eomiaje can detect the following.

We take a vote to see what we want to do at this point.

• Yohan adventure
• Fothas Fight
• Eomiaje Fight
• Ragnar adventure
• Risten Fight
• Phineas adventure
• Voltendo Fight

We see a small owl flying over the area. We discuss baiting them by taking out the Owl and head to the plaza which is made of stones. We want to fight in an area of no plants. Ragnar finds a group of tracks that look like horses that went straight north.

We head to the Plaza and the Owl descends and goes toward the Grove hex. We made it to the plaza. Voltendo may go fly over them to see what the other party is doing. Phineas will go physically behind something. Elithra switches to leather armor and Voltendo flies off.

Through the ruins, Voltendo can see the party is moving toward the south west. They continue on their way but a couple of them have looked up. Voltendo watches for a half turn. They form a little counsel and shift their horses, looking up at Voltendo. They start heading toward Tower D.

We will continue on and go back to the place south of the Grove and re-enter the dungeon.

We take all of our saddlebags and such and will hide them in the ice cellar. Tonight, we plan to camp at the Obelisk and can get there in 1 turn from this location. We hide our stuff inside the fungi of the cellar, some of which break off harmlessly.

Someone had the idea and there is a terrible smell coming from it. Eomiaje cuts open the sack near the stairs. Before he does that, he does not detect magic. Some platinum coins fall out of the bag, faintly glowing like the fungi.

When the bag is dumped out, there is a big puff as the spores get on Eomiaje. The spores make him cough heavily and he takes 3 damage.

• 200 pp

We take our bags out and hide them behind the secret door. We enter the door with our Continual Light and the corridor bends before continuing north. The wall is hewn stone and the wall has been evened out. The ceiling is the same and we can see an intersection up ahead.

As we go, Eomiaje has his Rod of Alertness out and Voltendo tries to detect evil.

As we move to the edge and Fothas begins inspecting the floor for moving stone. He doesnt see any but as Voltendo scans, he detects evil up to 3” away around the corner.

• Voltendo signals that there is evil.
• Elithra readies her bow and moves up.
• Ragnar is invisible and approaches the intersection.
• Risten waits.
• Phineas is also invisible. Goes up with Ragnar
• Fothas moves to engage.
• Yohan braces
• Eomiaje moves to engage.

The intersection is illuminated and we see 7 Zombie Elf creatures wearing rusted armor of ancient make. They are in a passage chamber. They are 2“ away from the intersection. Yohan, Voltendo, Eomiaje and Fothas move to engage.

The chamber is empty except for some shelves. Phineas looks down the other side of the hall.

• Yohan attacks
• Fothas attacks
• Eomiaje attacks
• Voltendo attacks
• Elithra pulls out a mace and charges.
• Ragnar enters melee
• Risten stays.

Phineas can see that the corridor opens to a room and a corridor that goes north. Eomiaje kills one for 12, Elithra hit for 8, Fothas hit for 13, Yohan hit for 11, Ragnar hit for 5. Elithra kills one.

They will attack us. 5 attacks. 1 on Yohan hits for 5 damage actually missed (due to Protection from Evil), 2 on Voltendo both miss. Elithra is hit for 8 damage. She is at -2 hp and goes DOWN!

• All melee attacks.

Fothas autohits for 15 damage, killing one. Ragnar hit for 3, Voltendo hit for 7, Yohan hit for 11 killing another one.

The remaining 2 attack and miss.

• We all attack.

The remaining Zombies are destroyed.

Eomiaje inspects the armor. It looks like it is from a past age. They do not have any valuables and they look like they have been dead for a while.

Yohan uses Whirlrender to locate a map or parchment and does not detect anything. Elithra will need to be carried with us. Once she comes out of her coma she can walk at 1” speed. Risten can carry Elithra.

We continue down the corridor and continue south. It opens to a chamber full of rotting crates and barrels lining the walls. To the right, we can see a hallway and another chamber against the wall.

We go north toward the chamber with a table. In a western passage, we can see a chamber with bunks.

As we enter the northern room, it appears to be a kitchen. Two tables, 4 chairs, countertops, cabinets and a fireplace. We see a door on the north wall made of wood and a hallway on the far side. The fireplace is in the corner and the stone countertop is in the south.

Eomiaje does not detect magic or objects. We rest for 1 turn.

We find some mold covered bunks and there are 3 chests of drawers and a lute propped up against the wall. Eomiaje inspects the lute, it looks like

Locate object does not find anything but Yohan opens the drawers and finds a Key.

• Key id 25.

Nothing is found in the rotting beds.

We got south…

We see a bunch of crates and barrels on all of the walls. There is a smell of rotting moisture, like a sunken ship from beneath a sea. Something big moves under the crates in the southern alcove, a large thing low to the gound.

• Eomiaje pulls out his sword and braces for a charge.
• Voltendo braces
• Risten lies Elithra up against the wall.
• Phineas waits
• Yohan braces.
• Fothas braces.
• Ragnar braces.

Risten doesnt get to put down Elithra as something tears out from crates. It gets into melee with us.

Yohan is attacked by the Carrion Crawler. He takes 3 hits and must save 3 times. Eomiaje hits it for 14 damage, we lop off its head and it falls to the ground dead as Yohan kills it!

Risten collects parts from the Carrion Crawler. Eomiaje uses detect magic on the Rod and finds something We start looking through the barrels. Eomiaje finds a glimmering pink crystal vial.

• Pink crystal vial
• 68 gp

Inside one barrel has a box made of mahogany, 1' deep, 1' wide, 1/2' long. It has some weight to it.

Ragnar is watching the door…

As Ragnar is watching the north corridor, 5 Zombies emerge from the corridor.

• Ragnar draws his sword.
• Risten pulls Elithra back
• Phineas gets behind the battle line.
• Yohan braces.
• Fothas moves to engage.
• Eomiaje engages.
• Voltendo engages.

Elithra is conscious but Risten still takes cover.

We move to engage them.

• Yohan charges
• Ragnar charges
• The rest of us attack.

Fothas and Eomiaje each kill one, Yohan killed one, Ragnar and Voltendo each kill another one, leaving only one remaining.

Voltendo is attacked and is hit for 6 damage. Voltendo goes down at 0 hp.

• Melee attacks continue.

The last Zombie is slain.

Fothas takes the box. Phineas and Ragnar go forward as we head out.

Ragnar and Phineas get out and look around. They do not see anything around but Ragnar catches a glimpse near the top of Tower E. He spotted a large white reptillian head from behind the tower. But not it is gone.

It looked like a Small White Dragon. They had returned into the basement to inform us. Risten is looking for Owls or Dragons and nothing is flying around.

We leave and head for the Obelisk.

Nothing has taken up residency inside so we move to the lower level with our horses. Eomiaje is healed for 4 by Voltendo's Lay on Hands.

We camp inside the Obelisk. We hear some distant Goats in the distance. The sun comes up…

We will receive an Endure Cold on each of the Fighters for 27 turns. Yohan, Fothas, Eomiaje and Ragnar.

Risten and Ragnar is invisible. Eomiaje replaces the giant block of the Obelisk with Voltendo and Elithra inside.

We arrive at TOWER E and see criss crosses of boots everywhere and some markings of small Dragon feet. The party will try to subdue it.

Eomiaje listens at the door but does not hear anything. Fothas also does not hear anything. Fothas uses the Locate Object while Eomiaje uses the Rod to detect invisibility and evil. Whirlrender senses the ring on the 3rd level of the tower. He also locates object on the broadsword and shield that the other group was wearing. Everything listed is detected on the third level.

The broadsword is detected 3“ through the door.

The Owl emerges from the arrow slit and perches looking at us.

We find their horses concealed amongst the ruins. There are 10 Horses. We steal the Horses and head back we make it to the Obelisk and get Voltendo and Elithra.

We proceed to the eastern side of the town. All the horses suddenly Stop on the same drop of a coin. The Horses is normally aligned but there is some kind of magic radiation affecting these horses.

We take their saddlebags off and realize that the Horses are effected by magic of the Druid. The horses are released and go back toward the city. The weather is clear.

We make camp 2 hexes northeast of Heshib.

DAY 1

Weather remains clear and uneventful travel the first day. We make it to the ruined tower.

Uneventful camping in the evening.

DAY 2

Weather becomes cloudy.

We are surprised.

Up ahead there is a sudden violent rustling in the grass that is moving away from us. We dont see anything in the grasses.

We turn around and avoid the encounter.

The Horses were 5 Riding Horses, 2 Light and 2 Medium Warhorses.

We make it back to Maelc.

We check the saddlebags and satchels that were on the Horses.

• 900 sp
• 10 gp

Light magic on the pink crystal vial, no traps found on the mahogany box. Yohan opens the box. Inside is a fully arranged cutlery set of mahogany and silver. It is a piece of parchment folded in half. It is a note. The box is a gift from Lawney of Fotmol to one Val’athis.

Whirlrender knows that Futmol was a small town that is far to the east, just inside the mountain range. It is in the foothills of one of the Dwarven Holds. The name Val'athis sounds familiar to the sword.

Eomiaje sips the pink crystal vial. He has a clear head for a brief moment and feels witty.

The lute is worth 60 gp.

The cutlery is worth 250 gp.

Ragnar pays upkeep.

Eomiaje pays 300 gp Upkeep.

Fothas owes 1200 gp and pays it.

pc shares: 26 pp, 54 gp, henchmen get half.

190 xp for players.

Setting out the same day.

We set out to explore to the south east of Maelc and then south and east of the Nethergrotto.

There is a meadow hex in the south east. We travel into the area and see a small shell keep up ahead.

We approach the keep carefully. The place is totally ruined and no life or valuables remain. There are no tracks going in or out, based on what Eomiaje finds. These ruins look like Human construction from about 1000 years ago.

The rest of the hexes are Sea of Grass and find nothing else in the area.

We set out for some more exploration south of Maelc and find more Sea of Grass. As we move into the south hex, we see streams of smoke from a camp or settlement.

Ragnar goes ahead after Risten casts Invisibility on his horse and he will be quiet. Ragnar finds a Hamlet with a fortified watchtower and pallisade. It is a quiet hamlet. There are about 300 people that live there.

Ragnar will go in visibily to see what is going on. The people at the gate ask him to announce himself at the gate, it is called Eliope. They allow him inside and say that there is an Inn up the way.

He talks to people and listens to see if he can find out why they are on edge. This is a normal procedure inside a dangerous place. They hunt for several generations but a band of Ogres has moved into the small forest in the south. They have warriors and want to rout the Ogres to leave. The Ogres are dressed in strange garb and have an unusual visage. They have yet to attack the town.

They fly into a berserk rage and have killed several people. The Sea of Grass game is more dangerous for them.

Ragnar heads back.

We explore the last hexes and head back.

Elithra 64 xp Everyone else gets 339 xp

Pink Crystal Vial is id 255 (philter of persuasiveness or glibness)

Voltendo wants to sell the Naginata +2 (3,750 gp)

Voltendo is training to level 4 Paladin.

Fulmok can be retired and give a magic item and 10% of total wealth to a new character.