• Davlan's quest. A merchant caravan passed through on the way to Mombafra from Starling and the Tower of the Forgotten Master. They provided the local Thieves' guild with some information. The caravan was bearing 3 casks of wine brewed from special berries and was bound for the Temple of Zo. This wine can only be brewed in the Valley of the Red Sun. This caravan was guarded by an evil thief known as Usel. They say that a contingent of Bandits stole a manuscript from the caravan during the Festival of Fressi and these people stole away with some casks of wine during the night. The Criss Antha Thieves Guild wants the wine before it is messed with by these bandits known as “THE LIONS PAW” and before the Temple of Zo can get to it. They call themselves this because it is said that they have a pair of tame lions as guardians. Their leader is also rumored to carry a magic sword capable of draining the life from people it hits. They offer 4,500 gp and Thief training to whomever recovers the wine.

• Davlan - FTR 4 / THF 4, AC 4/6, 21 hp.
• Dalakai - PAL 3
• Faeldar - MAG 1, AC 7/10, MV 12“, Doors 1-2
• Adaeril - FTR 2 / MAG 2
• Thorgard - Dwarf FTR 1, contracted a disease that does -1 STR/-1 CON unless he gets a HEAL. MV 6”, Geos, takes out a 400 gp loan.
• Rhinock - Half-Orc FTR 6

We are in Mombafra.

We locate a cleric to cast a Heal spell on Thorgard for 500 gp.

Davlan gets 6 Porters and 2 Linkboys. We check for Mercenaries:

• 3 Light Horsemen
• 1 Sergeant
• 30 Heavy Footmen with Sergeants (10 gp a day for the Sergeant).

We hire 5 Footmen and 1 Sergeant for 15 gp a day. They are decently upstanding people and are lead by Dalakai.

With these Mercenaries, we would travel with a foot pace through the hills north of Mombafra. Davlan knows the location and we are all packed up and ready. The location is 13 miles to the north.

We can start getting any Henchmen once you can afford it however nobody has done so yet.

We start heading out.

The day has nice weather and is sunny. The group we are finding has a hideout but most of their numbers are outside. We can identify the location of the hill based on the smell of smoke and where a stream goes into the hill and up the sides of the hill.

Eventually we come to the reported locale.

Davlan scouts ahead quietly. We come close to the place where the hills are supposed to be, close to the Lion's Paw lair. We keep a fair distance behind Davlan and he can see the encampment with the Bandits camped outside. There are multiple fires outside, beneath the trees. There is a tent camp and a camp fire outside of each one.

He sees different groups:

• 9 Bandits and a Dog.
• 8 Bandits and a Dog.
• 1 Woman yelling at the Bandits.

He also notices 2 huge trees out front with a couple of fires that are currently roasting some goats. 8 Bandits are bandaging wounds and one is waving around a baton. There are 2 entrances into the cave one of which is rubble strewn and one has a stream. There is a boulder on the other side of the stream.

The Bandits are 140 yards away and are 420' away from the closest party.

Davlan takes a -2 for being at medium range from the plate mail wearing leader. They have AC 4/4 and there is one hit for 4 damage. Then 2 hits for 8 damage. With 12 total damage to the leader in plate, it doubles over from wounds.

We start heading up to join Davlan. Davlan makes another attack and hits with another sling bullet dealing 17 total damage. We are now at 16 outdoor inches.

The Bandit flicks the baton and it transforms into a flail. Rhinock is running in and is now at 7“. The regular Bandits have AC 7/7. Adaeril hits the leader for 5 damage with a longbow which KILLS THE LEADER! The leader's flail transforms back into a baton and Rhinock hits 5 of the Bandits and kills them.

Rhinock has AC -1 (4). The Bandits charge at Dalakai the Paladin who has AC 0. There are 6 Bandits on him but none hit Dalakai. However, one of the Dogs hits Davlan for 3 damage.

Another group of Bandits comes out of the cave accompanied by a Lion. There are now 8 more Bandits.

Dalakai is at AC 2 but still holds off all 6 Bandits. Rhinock has 5 attacks and holds off all of them, including the Dog.

Davlan hits the Dog for 15 damage which kills the Dog. Rhinock kills all the Bandits around him while Dalakai strikes 2 more Bandits leaving both dead.

A Magic Missile spell cast by Adaeril hits the Lion for 3 damage. One of the Mercenaries fire into Bandits / Lion group. The Bandit takes 5 damage and he kills one.

Rhinock does 7 damage against another Dog while Davlan kills one Bandit. Dalakai misses all the Bandits.

It is at this point that the Bandits break all form and flee, losing their Morale! They are taking off toward the hills.

Thorgard kills 1 and Dalakai kills 2 Bandits. Rhinock kills one of the remaining Dogs while the other Dogs flee into the cave. The Lion is now defending its den.

The Lion charges at Rhinock. As it leaps at Rhinock, he blocks the charge with his shield. Adaeril charges into the Lion but is not yet in melee. The Lion's bite hits Rhinock, dealing 5 damage. The Lion has AC 5. Davlan does 6 damage while Rhinock hits for 10 damage. The Lion hits Davlan for 5 damage.

Davlan does 14 damage. Rhinock does 7 damage and there is an extra 4 damage from Davlan.

We soon kill or run-off the remaining Bandits.

Adaeril goes to check out the Rod that the Bandit Leader had. We wonder if it is a Rod of Flails? The baton looks like a Rod made of steel with a ball on either end. The device transforms into a footman's flail. When Adaeril holds the rod there are flickers of light around his allies.

There are some fishing poles with lines going out into the stream near the entrance. We see these as we head through a passage and into the cavern.

We come to a 40' stone staircase that goes up in elevation. At the end of the torchlight is a smooth wall with a door. The Dwarf looks for traps along with Davlan, who is a Thief.

The door are made of thick hardwood and there are 4 decorative panels. We find a handle to the right but no sliding or shifting walls.

Adaeril will help open the door. Suddenly, several small chutes with spring loaded daggers open up. Adaeril's armor saves him as the dagger that would have struck was coated in a black fluid. Davlan is also missed by the daggers.

Inside the room we find several crates filled with tarps and supplies. There are also 3 casks in the room. Davlan looks inside the casks and finds that it smells like beer or ale. Rhinock takes a drink from the casks while we look for traps. There are no traps on the door but Davlan spots a keyhole. We find that this opens up the door that we went through.

We see a group of Bandits and a Bandit Leader coming up from the passage, Faeldar sees them first and warns us.

There are 2 Guard Dogs with the Leader and they are carrying short swords and daggers.

We attempt to parley, telling them that they will get killed if they try to fight.

After some back and forth, the short man says that “We make a fine point” as he looks over his men and says something to them. He then motions to the Bandits who begin to move out of the way.

We ask them about the Leader and the casks of wine he says that “He is not in charge of the casks.”

In regard to them helping us he says that “If the muscle says he is betraying them, he will kill them.” The man then follows them out of the cave past the area where the water spilt from stream area, which is where they came out of.

We cross back over the stream and the Bandits disperse toward the south.

All of us see out of the corner of our eye a dark horse riding along the ground without touching. A Halfling with two glowing swords strapped across his back is 15” away and he rides upon the Horse that rides on the air.

We fire our bows. Dalakai does 2 damage to the Halfling with 2 glowing swords. We spot a large sack strapped onto the floating horse that jangles loudly. It continues riding off into the hills.

The Halfling and his mount has now disappeared over the hills to the south.

We can go along the stream which rises up to Davlans' chest. Eventually we come to an area with a wooden bridge and a dry area or landing. The area opens into a chamber where we can see a pair of dice and bed rolls on the ground. Davlan does not find any traps on the door. The area is supported by two pillars and there are some stairs that go up to an elevated area.

We check through the bedrolls and look up the stairs. The upper level has a double door and another door. There is a collection of 4 metal dog bowls that had food and water in them. The room has a couple desks in it including a small desk with a chair and a large writing desk in another corner. The thick desk has a top table with 220 arrows, 2 short bows, a dagger and a knife.

There is also a steel lockbox with some symbols that he cannot recognize…but Rhinock takes a look with his Helm of Comprehending Languages and Reading Magic. The symbols translate to “sun elf”. Davlan pockets the box but not before checking the contents:

• Loose tobacco and scraps of food.

We open the double door.

The door opens into a workshop chamber punctuated by a magic circle in a circular annex. Inside the chamber is a Giant Toad, a Lion and a Man. Sparkles dance across the Toad's skin. The Toad and the Lion are in melee with us right now.

Magic Missile is cast and hits for 5 damage but the brooch around the Man's neck absorbs the Magic Missile. Our arrows miss.

The Lion takes 12 damage from Rhinock and Dalakai also does 2 damage to the Lion. Someone casts Burning Hands for 1 damage to each. The Man, an Illusionist, throws something on the ground and there is a flash of light and the sound is enormous like an explosion.

The Lion misses Dalakai and the Toad also attacks Dalakai and opens its scourge.

We kill the Lion and did 2 damage to the Toad with a sword. We slew the lion and the Toad both.

Suddenly a Great Bear manifests in the center of the room. We also hear many footsteps and yelling coming from the south.

Davlan does 7 damage on the Bear which is struck but does not die.

Running in from the south is short Human, a Halfling with 2 Dogs along with some more Bandits. It is the same Halfling we saw upon the floating Horse. The Halfling is pushing them forward.

We are now in combat with the Halfling, the short Human, 4 Bandits and 2 Dogs in total.

Adaeril takes 2 damage from the Bear and Thorgard also takes 6 damage from the Bear.

The Magic-User is primed and standing in the magic circle. Dalakai is holding up the rear as the group charges into Dalakai. The short Man runs in with a short sword. Dalakai uses his spear to brace for a charge. He deals 10 damage to the Thief. Now the 2 Dogs are set free on any target. Both Dogs attack Thorgard but since they move past him, Dalakai can have a +4 attack on both of the Dogs. He misses.

The Dogs hit Thorgard for 5 damage and he is now at -1. Thorgard is Dropped!

5 of the Bandits will attack Dalakai but he gets one attack on a Bandit running past and kills it. There are two hits on Dalakai for 8 damage and then another 8 damage. Dalakai is cut down by the Bandits!

The Halfling hops off his Horse and charges into battle. He attacks Rhinock with a magic longsword and it has a special life stealing ability. However, Rhinock avoids the life stealer check.

The Halfling has AC 3 type 4. Adaeril hits the Bear for 7 damage. It takes a terrible wound but for some reason it is not reacting properly to the wound. The Bear is an illusion!

Davlan targets the Bandits and Adaeril rushes through the Bear illusion.

Davlan is good aligned for now. He hits with a poisoned dagger and a Bandit is killed by the poison. The Dogs miss Davlan and Rhinock. The magic sword wielding Halfling is on Rhinock but misses.

Adaeril hits the Illusionist for 4 damage. Davlan did 9 damage against the Dog but does not kill it.

The Illusionist pulls out a dagger to hit but misses Adaeril. Both dogs are attacking Davlan and one hits. He takes 5 damage. The Halfling is still attacking Rhinock and does 5 damage.

Thorgard hits the illusionist for 1 damage and one of the Dogs bites Davlan for 3 points of damage while the Halfling misses Rhinock again.

Adaeril hits the Illusionist for 7 damage.

Davlan hits both Dogs but they are still up. The Illusionist goes to pull a scroll but Adaeril slays him!

Adaeril moves into melee with the Halfling and the Halfling does not fall. Davlan hits the Dog but it still does not fall even after taking 4 more damage.

The Halfling and the Dogs flee to the south but we pursue, The Dogs and the Humans are still running on foot. On the right, is the magic longsword wielding Halfling who jumps on his mount to flee.

Adaeril does 8 damage to the horse while Rhinock and Thorgard cuts the Halfling down off the Horse! The Horse whinies in pain and bolts for the south.

We mutilate the floating Horse as we finally bring it down. We can see that it has glowing horseshoes that light up, even from under the water of the stream. The other Humans and the Dogs are long gone.

We go back and check out the Illusionist's stuff. He had dropped a scroll and we find some coins.

• 130 gp
• 80 pp

We find a key inside his robe, a brooch, some bracers and a dagger. We actually find two keys. The small one fits a lockbox that contains another scroll.

There are two swords on the Halfling who is wearing Elven Chainmail and also has a potion and a bunch of coins. He has a sack with

• 100 gp
• 200 pp

There is also a key around his neck.

• Glowing horseshoes.
• Shortsword on the Thief.
• A dagger.
• Leather armor.
• 30 sp
• 150 ep
• 50 gp
• 20 pp
• Flail Rod.
• 150 ep
• 100 gp
• 30 pp
• Platemail sized for a Human.
• Bandits purses: 168 gp.

We take the loot including some Laboratory equipment, a clear glass phial, a Finely crafted cask and the potion on the Halfling also.

The party heads back to Mombafra.

Travel back is uneventful and we are now back in the city.

Mombafra has a Temple to every god so we go find the Temple of MOTE to Raise Dalakai Deathbane, our Paladin that was killed. Dalakai will need to tithe directly to the temple. After succeeding at a System Shock roll, Dalakai is brought back! He loses 1 CON.

Adaeril cannot decipher the scroll because it is an Illusionist scroll. We decide to sell it for 8,700 gp.

The other scroll is not a Cleric or Druid scroll so the next day Adaeril memorizes Read Magic. It is a MAGIC MAP leading to a cave about 8 miles from The Lion's Paw hideout to the east. It is lateral to the location of the Bandits.

Detect Magic is cast and we see that both of the longswords are glowing.

Thorgard gets one of the glowing longswords.

The Bracers are AC 2.

We sell the Halfling sized Elven Chain for 7,500 gp.

With a command, the Rod becomes flail that does +1 to attack.

Faeldar can cast Detect Magic after 1 week. Thorgard's Sword is a Nine Lives Stealer and it is a +2 sword. A struck opponent that is hit on a roll of 20 must save versus magic or be drained a level of xp.

The potion tastes like the finest liquid he has ever drank but no effect happens.

The other is a Potion of Ventriloquism which is claimed by Rhinock.

Adaeril takes the Rod.

Faeldar gets the tasty potion.

Dalakai gets the glowing horseshoes which allow his mount to ride upon the wind. They are Horseshoes of Zephyr. With these on his mount, he can travel without touching the ground and leave behind no tracks. His mount also does not tire for 12 hours of continual movement.

Dalakai took the non-Life Stealer sword (id 34). His other sword is Flame Snuffer (id 31). The shortsword seems to not do anything and the Illusionist's dagger is made of bone.

The lab equipment is worth 620 gp.

The other glowing sword is a +2 sword, claimed by Dalakai.

Brooch went to the Magic-User.

The +1 longsword, Flame Snuffer (id 31) is available.

The Bracers of Armor (id 36) are available.

Faeldar wears the brooch.

When Adaeril firmly grasps the rod, he can detect a strong aura of Lawful Good coming from the Paladin and the aura of his magic items. The Rod becomes a footman's flail. We determine that this is a Rod of Alertness! It also has additional powers. (id 37)

Adaeril will pay a Sage to try and identify it. He asks: “What are the powers of a rod of alertness?” He learns that besides the fact that it can transform to a flail, detect alignment, detect magic, detect evil, sense any creature in a 12“ radius, cast a light spell in a cardinal direction, create an effect of a prayer spell, and send forth a mental alert to the friendly creatures. There is another ability of Animation that requires 1 charge. Animate Objects as if cast by a Cleric of 16th level or higher.

We are selling the normal longsword now, selling the sling and 8 bullets.

• 6 sp
• 7 gp
• 10 sp

• Scroll of treasure map, wrapped (Adaeril)
• Halfling-sized elfin chain mail - SOLD (7500 gold)
• +2 glowing longsword, nine lives stealer (Thorgard)
• +2 glowing longsword (Dalakai)
• Clear potion, finest liquid / fantastic (Faeldar)
• Potion of casting voice (Rhinok)
• Bracers of armor, 2 AC (Davlan)
• Brooch (Faeldar)
• Rod of Alertness, collapsing footman's mace (Adaeril)
• Glowing horse shoes (Dalakai)
• 30 silver
• 548 gold
• 330 platinun
• 300 electrum
• Illusionist scroll - SOLD (8700 gold)
• Lab equipment - SOLD (620 gold)
• Plate Mail - SOLD (200 gold)
• Shortsword - SOLD (4 gold)
• Dagger - SOLD (1 gold)

Total XP from coin: 3229 xp.

TREASURE SHARES: 626 platinum, 2 gold, 4 silver, 2 copper

Adaeril gets 10624 xp.

Previous XP FTR 3707 / MAG 3708, New XP total FTR 9019 / MAG 9020

PAID THE SAGE FOR IDENTIFICATION OF ROD OF ALERTNESS (100 gp)

We discuss two-handed weapons from Gary:

I just noted the list of two-handed weapons.

All real pikes, not merely awl pikes, are two-handed weapons.

A sling is used one-handed after loading the pouch with a stone or lead bullet. Only a staff sling is a two-handed weapon.

Most spears and a trident can be used effectively one-handed, although they can be used with both hands.