• Maervahr - Magic-User 6
• Randimir - Cleric 4 / Magic-User 4, has a Ring of Sustenance.
• Galarius - Has a +2 Hornblade Scimitar (id 48).
• Sarkas
• Kek - Fighter 5

We discuss a new Class Quest for Randimir for his Clerical training. The Class training quest for Randimir comes for the Wistari Wood Elves and is to to go to a Reliquary further in the forests. We plan to take the book and the rope that we need.

The party is currently in the Wistari village located in the center of the West Reach of Hollow. We have been there for a few weeks and in that time, have learned the Wood Elves customs. They are normally not open to outsiders and do not receive a lot of visitors but we have aided them in ridding their sacred site of TAUGHANNOCK FALLS from the Xvarts and returned their valuable supplies.

Our Horses are not brought along.

The party is headed back to Taughannock Falls. Once we are ready, we head out.

The weather today is cold and rainy, a bit humid for the Summer. The rain gets all over but our visibility is ok.

As we follow the river up, the waterfall of Taughannock Falls comes into earshot and then eventually, we can see the falls once again. It looks like all of the platforms have been severed and are nowhere to be seen. Even the docks are all gone with only the remnants of a fire having burned everything away.

In some areas it looks like the grass has been pressed down as if something had passed through in the past week. We discuss what could have caused that and it is mentioned that, during some downtime investigation, Randimir spoke with the Wistari Elves and did not think that they would come here and burn the place.

As we make our way up the switchback, everything is clear and uneventful. We find a place of some tracks, as if a great burden was being dragged along the ground but there are no footprints that stick out. We only find the streaks from something large passing through.

Maervahr pulls out his lantern as we listen at the door. The group does not hear anything on the other side of the door. We unseal the secret door and enter, finding that inside, not much has changed. The air is quiet and there is no dirt inside, no sign of anything having passed through. We do find some gore remnants on the ground from our past battles in this location.

It takes us 10 minutes along the mapped route to get to the door we are looking for. On the other side, we can hear only silence beyond. We open the door and find inside, there are pots and foot lockers and a fire pit that is 4' in diameter. All that remains is a pile of ash in the pit with no logs. To the right are some stairs that go up. Randimir notices that the fire pit has been unused for a very long time and there is no sign of any use recently, except for the cots and foot lockers which appear to have seen some recent use.

We progress up the stairs which climb up for a while, then turn to the left. They eventually come to an end, a dead end. We start looking for a secret door with Sarkas checking with his mace by tapping. There is a portion of the wall that sounds hollow so we search. Maervahr cannot find a way to open it, if it is a secret door.

We return to the room with the foot lockers and Randimir finds some weird baubles inside one along with some pieces of wood with a weird language written on them. It is unreadable. There is nothing else of value in any of the foot lockers just some personal effects and a few random baubles. We check to see if there is anything hidden beneath the ash. Sarkas, using his mace to clear away the ash, finds a burlap sack buried in the ash. Inside the sack is a great tome!

Examining the tome, it does look arcane in nature and could be read with a spell.

• Spellbook

We find a hallway and continue down where it turns into a stairway that goes down. Past the stairs is another hallway that goes beyond. We head down and find that the bottom of the stairs is a room that opens into a great chamber. In the back of the chamber are cells. Before the jail cells are some racks, like the kind used for torture. Thumbscrews, branding irons and a now cold brazier that is full of coals.

There are 2 cells and inside them are 4 corpses including 3 women and a man. They appear to have died in the last few days and look to be in their late teens. The body of one woman is wearing clothes of good quality but has been torn and is dirty from filth. The other women are wearing commoners clothes but they don't look like physically damaged. These bodies all appear to have died from malnourishment. The man looks like he was a fighting man and a bit older, probably middle aged, but is missing every single finger and a toe. The man is stripped down to a loincloth while all of the women were wearing their normal clothes.

Kek goes to the brazier to check the coals. While some of us get closer to further inspect the bodies. All of the women were in her mid teens, or about that age, and probably not over the age of 20. Maervahr takes note of their features so that they can be reported. Both of the cell doors are locked, with the man being alone in a separate cell.

We go back and check the Wererat corpses while Kek opens the jail cell with the 3 corpses of women. He notes that the youngest woman has fair skin and light hair. He does not find any sigils or jewelry or anything that could identify them easily. The quality of the fabric reminds us of someone in a higher position, like a ranking member of a castle or keep or perhaps a Merchant or a member of a temple.

Hidden amongst the dress with a woman that has dark features is a concealed knife. It looks like something internal killed them, like thirst or hunger.

The group leaves and progresses further. Coming from down the passage, we hear a sound of squeaking and rustling. until eventually we see that there are hundreds of Rats swarming straight at us!

Maervahr throws a flask while Galarius and Kek charge at the huge wave of ordinary Rats. Some of them cease moving from a Sleep spell. Kek's sword is ID 49 (a +1 sword).

The Fighter was able to sweep attack 4 of them. Kek kills 4 while Galarius kills 3. Maervahr's oil flask does not break but eventually catches on a pile of waste and begins burning feces. 8 of the Rats have been slain while the others approach us.

16 of the Rats are surrounding the Fighters and there are a total of 26 left. There are 5 Rats on Maervahr but all of the Rats have scattered, creating chaos.

Randimir casts Sleep and Maervahr casts Burning Hands. Galarius is hit for 6 damage total but one of the Rats hits Maervahr which spoils the Burning Hands spell.

Randimir's spell goes off which puts down 7 of the Rats. So far, we have killed or slept 25 of the 50. The rest of the Rats have crowded around us and everyone that can gets sweep attacks. Kek kills 5, Galarius kills 1 and Randimir kills 1.

Maervahr goes Psionically Invisible to all the Rats and so far, 31 are killed or otherwise dropped. The Rats begin to flee from us and one of the Rats is killed by Maervahr. Only 5 of the Rats escape from our melee and disappear into the darkness.

We enter the chamber with the pit leading down, where we had initially encountered all these Rats and Giant Rats. We spend 10 minutes to secure the rope. The Rats that fled have not popped back out from their holes and cracks.

Kek decides to go first down the rope, into the pit, his magic sword lighting the way. Evenutally, we all descend down the pit even though we occasionally see flashes of movement from inside of the rat holes.

It is 200' down to the bottom of the pit where we find dust and cobwebs and a slight breeze coming from the south. A cavern continues to the south and a dusty tunnel comes to a big boulder that blocks the way. Galarius easily moves the boulder out of the way, revealing a cave.

Inside, we can see some crude tables. Among them are dismembered bodies that have been partially eaten. They look like Humans and Xvarts and we find 2 barrels, one of which is filled with spears and the other with 6 short swords. Another group of barrels is opened by Maervahr and appears to be filled with oil, about 20 flasks worth. The scent of the oil smells of wine as it is sharp and vinegary and smells sour.

All of the spears look normal and these are Xvart style short swords.

We head south at the intersection and our light is cast into a cave, which is illuminated by torches.

Inside we can see several bipedal Frog Creatures. armed with spears. They all have looks of anger and aggression and immediately, Maervahr goes invisible to all of them. 6 of these creatures are at a distance of 4“.

Galarius charges forth and the Frog Creatures leap toward Galarius, even though they wield spears. However, Galarius's sword is longer and they have AC 7 no type. they are medium creatures and Galarius inflicts 14 damage.

The Bullywugs are now charging Galarius so they have +2 to hit. There are 4 hits. He takes a total of 34 damage from the Bullywugs' spears! Galarius is instantly pierced nearly to death by their spears! The other ones leap into our party. Galarius barely still alive but severely damaged.

None of their spears connect with Kek and Randimir is missed. Kek attempts to parley this time. The Bullywugs are Chaotic Evil and are uninterested in calls for peace. They begin jostling into position with their spears.

Just up ahead the room opens up into another cave beyond where there are 11 more Bullywugs. Galarius is engaged with 5 of them currently and they have a 30' leaping movement for each of the Bullywugs. One of them hits Randimir and one hits Kek. Randimir takes 5 damage and Kek takes 4 damage. Meanwhile, the rest of the Bullywugs land their blows against Galarius and he has been Slain! Galarius FALL!

Maervahr casts his spell around their heads and creates a thick acidic fog using Phantasmal Force. 6 Bullywugs are put to Sleep by Randimir. 5 of them are still stabbing Galarius. Maervahr's spell goes off and causes them to cough and giving us a +4 to hit them.

Kek knocks one out while Randimir cancels his spell to avoid getting Kek too. Kek's swinging sword illuminates the area and he sees that 4 Bullywugs are on the ground choking.

Randimir charges in while another shape leaps out toward Kek with another spear. This Bullywug leaps out of the black wielding a luxurious spear. The spear moves with a great flash and angles toward Kek as though it is hungering to murder him. Kek dodges the leap while Randimir strikes the Bullywug with his blade.

Sarkas has traveled to the entrance to the cave and hears the sounds of battle. He draws his +1 longsword and his Holy Symbol upon which is cast a Continual Light spell. Another attacker appears and this time IT IS SARKAS who emerges. He joins the fray and leaps in the direction of the corpses.

Eventually, we kill or disable most of the Bullywugs.

The leader of the Bullywugs croaks a word of pleading and begs for us to parley. Looking around, we can see that there is a refuse filled hole in the back of the cave and we are dealing with a single man sized Bullywug. We ask the Bullywug if he has treasure and where it can be found. He says he knows where the treasure is hidden in the cave.

The Bullywug gestures toward the rear of the room. Maervahr had cast Charm Person on the creature and we get the feeling that the Charm Person made him decide to not say anything.

Maervahr tells him to “show us the treasure.” The Bullywug leader takes us through the cave, into an area that is filled with silks and furs of awful quality. He leads us into the back of the room and goes to lean against a boulder and rolls it over to one side, opening the way. The Bullywugs inside do not move to attack. At the end of the tunnel we can see some dry land that drops off. It is about 10' to the surface of water and the charmed Bullywug indicates that the hiding location is up ahead.

Meanwhile, back in the other part of the cave, Kek has a reaction adjustment so he cannot be attacked. Only Sarkas and Randimir can. They receive 3 attacks at +3 and Randimir is hit.

Maervahr, back in the treasure cave, disappears below the water. 3 Bullywugs leap of out the darkness in the cave where the other party stands. They are wearing crude gowns or dresses. Sarkas dodges them all while Randimir takes 3 damage. They are in melee with Sarkas, Randimir and Kek.

Randimir casts Cause Fear and Kek attacks. None of them hit Kek but Hold Person goes off from Sarkas. Randimir starts murdering all of them, angered by their surprise attack.

All of the Bullywugs are killed.

Maervahr emerges from the water as the Chief Bullywug takes him to a nondescript pile of silt. He unburies a box with a lid on it but is otherwise featureless. It is made of wood but has not rotted. Maervahr and the Chief Bullywug take the box back.

We return to the cave with the rest of the party, carrying the treasure. As we emerge, the Chief Bullywug gazes upon the scene with horror and a look of anger washes over his face. The Bullywug seems uncertain on how to react with a big box in his arms.

Dropping the box, he attacks…

One claw hits Maervahr and does 1 hp of damage. The Bullywug then leaps for a new target and leaps at Randimir. Randimir was casting Cure Light Wounds and is healed for 6 damage. Actually, NVM…it was lost. The Cure spell fails as Randimir takes 3 from the Chief Wug.

The Bullywug has AC 6 and Kek hits, does 10 damage. Sarkas and Kek are in melee with it but manage to disable the leader quickly.

The dropped wooden box is ruined but opening it reveals the following in the hallway.

• 355 pp.
• A pouch that has stones inside.
• A folded up black cloth of a cloak or robe.
• A wooden stick in the shape of a wand with metal ends. There are words inscribed on it. 3 words and a symbol. ALITO + DESIRED CONJURATION.

There is strong magic on the Bullywug's Spear which is 6.5' long. There is also strong magic on the cloth, which is a cloak with a word embroidered on the collar that says VESPERIO. There is strong magic on the wand but the pouch with stones is NOT magical. There are 10 gems inside!

• 4 tourmaline.
• 4 zircons.
• 2 turquoise.

The gems are worth 620 gp in total.

We have captured the leader of the Bullywugs and we yell at him, telling him that this treasure was “not good enough!”. We begin interrogating the Bullywug to find the rest but Kek knocks him out.

At that moment, more Bullywugs leap out of the blackness. This time there are 9 of them!

WE ARE SURPRISED!

The Bullywugs attack Maervahr, dealing 7, 4 and 4 damage. 15 total, but he is not dropped. Some other Bullywugs deal 10 damage to Randimir.

We do not lost initiative this time but the Bullywugs are leaping at us once again. Maervahr casts Lightning Bolt at the bulk of the group and the only sound that is heard is silence.

We decide to get out of here quickly.

It takes us 20 minutes to get up the rope and we get out of the cave.

With Galarius's body in tow, someone prays to their God to bring him back but he does not receive Divine Intervention this time.

We head back to the Wistari village.

On the way back, we are waylaid by some Xvarts.

Maervahr goes Psionically Invisible while Kek charge into battle and does 10 damage, which kills one. Randimir's Hold Person spell goes off and 3 are held. The Xvarts all failed their morale, so some start to flee but we cut down all of them. The held ones are dispatched.

Back at the Wistari village, Kek equips the cloak and says VESPERIO. The black cloak transforms into a great pair of bat wings. The command word can be spoken to fly with the bat wings. It has a Class C maneuverability and takes a bit to turn while flying. Flying can be found on DMG 52.

The party holds a funeral for Galarius. We discuss what to do for him and learn from the Wood Elves that there are some Druids nearby that could reincarnate him potentially. In exchange for this help, our party had accepted the quest of freeing Taughannok Falls from the forces that were controlling it. They had intended to give us a magic item but could instead summon the most powerful Druid they know that dwells in these woods to perform the Reincarnation or we could have our choice of 1 Elven crafted magic item.

The Wistari are all descended from Wood Elves that have dwelled in this forest for thousands of years, specifically in this area of THE HOLLOW. They have come into possession of many heirloom magic items during this time. They can offer us a single one of these magic items:

• Magic bow
• Quiver of magic arrows
• Cloak of Elvenkind
• Boots of Elvenkind
• Elven Chainmail

We gather up all of our treasure and decide to take them up on the offer of Reincarnations. They use some magical wind words of the Elves to call forth the Druid and eventually, a singular Druid in the form of a bear enters the village. The bear transforms into a Druid man before our eyes. The Druid already knew the favor they were asking…and with a final time, he looks at us, and begins performing the rites of Reincarnation.

GALARIUS IS BROUGHT BACK AS A HUMAN!

Out of the woods comes a Human Woman. She is not wearing armor or a sword but some fine white silks that have Elven leaf clasps. She has been birthed by the gods as GALARIA THE WHITE!

Galarius is now a DRUID called Galaria!

The Spellbook was for a Magic-User and contains the following spells: affect normal fires, alarm, burning hands, dancing lights, grease, read magic, sleep, taunt.

Kek claims the Cloak of the Bat. Sarkas gets the magic spear. Randimir keeps the Spellbook. Maervahr takes the Wand of Conjuration.

Sarkas spars with someone at the camp and finds that it is a spear +2. It is worth 6,500 gp.

We each get 71 platinum, 99 gold.

The Current Date is Blood Moon the 24th, 495.

Maervahr tests out the Wand by trying to summon a cat. However, he does not conjure a cat. This time we believe to have conjured Manes Demon.

There is a swirling energy that pours forth from the wand and 4 Manes Demons appear. The Manes Demons appear and are under the complete control of Maervahr, where he orders them to go off into the woods. They bound off toward the caves, following his command.

• 1458 xp for Kek.
• Randimir gets 1608 xp.
• Sarkas gets 1708.
• Maervahr gets 7708 xp.

WE ARE ENDING THE SESSION ON 7-1-498.

Maervahr has 63,638 total xp and can scribe scrolls and brew potions at 7th LEVEL! To brew potions, Maervahr must employ an Alchemist.

Maervahr pays 9000 gp for TRAINING (from platinum and a 3000 gold medallion with gems). For his new spell, he has learned Stoneskin and trades spells with Randimir. He has thus learned Alarm but has failed to learn Massmorph and Grease.