• Sapphira - PAL1, AC 3/3, large shield, MV 9“, 1-2 Doors, 1-2 Listen, 15,13,13,12,16,17 hp 12, LG Rook.
• Adaeril - FTR5/MAG4 - Magical Sword.
• Fothas - Dwarf FTR2
• Greta Ironhand - Dwarf FTR1, AC 4/4, MV 9”, 1-2 Doors, 1-2 Listen, 15,10,10,9,15,12 hp 11, LG Rook.

• THE PALADIN'S QUEST. Sapphira arrived in Mombafra and learned from an Acolyte of Aneara that Ghouls have attacked nearby vagabonds. A recent discovery in old Mombafra has created an enticing feast for these creatures. There must be a Ghoul lair in the area. If we can find and purge the lair, they will pay for Saphira's training. They warn her that evils may lie within and if we can find evil altars that can be purged, they will provide additional reward. Ghoul Lairs are a big deal and a challenge so Sapphira requests additional options.

• The Acolyte has also heard about a particular inn along the north road to Starling from Mombafra. We have traveled that way before, which is east of the ford by the location of the Crimson Galleon. This little known inn is nestled in the hills and is not visible until you crest the hills. It is known as the INN OF THE BLUE GOAT and it is meant for merchant caravans. It is off the road a ways and not advertised. It typically serves the silk caravan when they pass through the region and when they leave this area or return. The inn was attacked some months ago by an unknown force and the Merchant Caravans changed routes and plans away from the inn since. There are reports from some of the merchants that the inn is now haunted. The Temple of Rook is interested in someone going there to investigate since the inn hampers trade routes. The Inn was previously well defended and yet it was still attacked. Since the attack, it was completely abandoned. There are some people that have traveled nearby that had not heard about the attack on the inn but upon their approach, they heard a disembodied voices and saw a piles of corpses. There was also an entire tree that had fallen through the stable. The Merchants decided that it was haunted and no longer want to be there since the attack.

• Fothas needs to find the Dwarven rods for his quest by today.

• Adaeril donates 160 gp to Saphira and Greta so they can purchase Banded Mail, the People's Armor.

We are going back under Mombafra.

Fothas is looking for some Men-at-arms.

• 9 Longbow Archers.
• 6 Shortbow Archers. Under the employ of Sapphira. They cost 24 gp/day. They are hired.
• 7 Light Crossbowmen.

Sapphira's Order is dedicated to Rook and she is the only character in the group that knows the details of the Icon of Sleal. This was the Icon that had become stolen or missing and it is considered dangerous. If she finds any sort of powerful monuments to Sleal, Sapphira will destroy them and purge them of evil. If she does this, her Order will reward her.

The Temple is also keenly interested in destroying the Icon itself. It has immense power and the local Thieves' guild has a big interest in it as well.

There have been a number of expeditions to the well and several days since Galeria's girdle was stolen! It was a girdle of many pockets.

We descend into the well.

Adaeril casts Strength on himself and it goes up to 17. He now has an Open Doors 1-3.

Adaeril, Fothas and Greta are on door duty.

We make it through five doors without any trouble. No traps have been reset but the barrels that were previously set up are now toppled to the ground. They have not otherwise been moved much.

We go through the blown out wall, which was made of a gray stone and had been obliterated. It left a wide opening of about 4' x 4'. The bigger blocks had fallen to the ground and some were still hanging there where the wall was blown away. Some of them were of a different stone, a tannish brown stone. A wall was constructed over the old wall at some point in the past. Embossed on the more ancient wall is a smirking face with black holes for eyes. There is also dried blood on it. The eyes appear to be angled down as if with mischief. The teeth bite a stone coin and there is an indication of seared black soot on the statue's face, mostly around the circumference of the faces mouth.

There are some words written in Dwarvish.

Adaeril concentrates on the Rod of Alertness and finds that there is magic emanating from the face. We write down the writing on the statue. The writing was engraved carefully and made around the time the face itself was carved. We look for anything shifting or sliding on the face but there is nothing where the face would shift or move.

Thanks to Adaeril's invisible black cat, we are NOT surprised.

We hear skittering on the ground and notice another source of dim red light as something is approaching. There are more Fire Beetles and they are charging. They have AC 6 (5).

One of the Fire Beetles take 1 damage from the first round of archers then we all pepper the beetles with arrows. All the Fire Beetles are dead!

We collect the Fire Beetles glands.

• 6 Fire Beetle glands.

Greta tries to put in a coin into the face but this does nothing. We do the stone coin has a salamander on one side. He then puts a torch to the face and it does not respond.

We decide to go find Jek in an attempt to get this open.

On the way back from the well as we get into New Mombafra. we find 6 Clerics of Foresi. They wish us well on our adventure and ask if we would care to make a donation to the temple. When we decline, we see them turn back around toward the city.

2 new characters join us:

• Urist - Dwarf FTR/THF, AL CN
• Reichgard - MAG2, AL CN

Adaeril pays for another day for the 7 Archers that have proven valuable to our group.

With our new party members, we return back down the well and arrive successfully at the door.

Urist, the Dwarf, can read the inscription on the door. It says the following:

In shadows we danced, with whispers we roamed. Through centuries secrets find their homes, silent steps stone to stone, in ancient whispers speak with words of yore, the wise foretold.

This appears to be a riddle of some kind, like a “speak friend” type of riddle.

Adaeril casts Strength on himself.

In shadows we danced, with whispers, we roamed. Through centuries, secrets find their homes. With silent steps, 
from stone to stone, In ancient whispers, truths are known. Speak words of yore, the wise foretold, And the 
stone guard's secrets too are shown.

All three of the Dwarves agree that the carving on the mouth was manufactured in the same age as the face. BOTH of them are very, very old, though not as old as the original Dwarven settlement. It was made about half a millennia ago. They believe that the carving of the mouth was created around the same time. Urist notices that there is a nearly imperceptible crack that is about 2' to either side of the face. The crease is in the wall but it is hard to see because it is in between the new wall and the old wall. The explosion that occurred some time ago only revealed the face and not the crease, though there is some space between the walls.

We all confirm that there does seem to be a crease in the wall, though maybe it is part of an etching.

Urist looks for traps, specifically checking the fire blast source. He has a 35% to find traps. Meanwhile, Adaeril agrees that there is a Secret Door here but does not see any obvious means to open it. He believes this to be the most secret of doors that he has seen yet.

Urist does not see any trap or mechanism on the door or around here but thinks that the explosion came from the outside, a blast which damaged the face.

We are breaking apart the newer wall when we hear a Swarm of Giant Rats approaching. They are about 20' away and there are 12 Giant Rats.

Adaeril casts Mirror Image, which goes off successfully. He has 4 images.

There are 3 hits from the first volley of arrows with 5 total hits. Our handy Archers have killed 4 of the Giant Rats. They have AC 7 (8 for their charge). Urist hits and does 3 damage, which kills one!

Reichgard attempts to flee.

Giant Rats are evil so we get a +2 AC due to the Paladin's (Sapphira) Protection From Evil!

Adaeril charges into battle and the Rats flee in panic! 3 characters can get parting attacks.

Fothas does 11 damage and kills one while the others miss. The Rats scurry off into the darkness and escape.

We reveal more of the wall and have determined that this was a well crafted secret door. The secret door is extremely thick. Fothas starts braying like a goat at the face but this only results in goat noises.

Adaeril departs and opens the door to the “hideout” area. This was once a complex of squatters and nothing has changed in here since we last visited. The floor is still covered with old bedrolls, it was an underground encampment.

We search thoroughly but none of the Dwarves notice any sliding or shifting panels or walls, nor do they find any traps.

Adaeril opens the other door to the south. This was where Befin was staying but they killed him already. All that we find in here are some old furs and a mess kit.

We search this room as well but the Dwarves do not find any traps or sliding parts on any of the walls.

We hear a door close coming from beyond the door to this room.

We push open the northern door. The bedrolls that were in here were removed from this room. There is still some nice furniture that has been arranged for a small sized person. Thee is a bed made with rope and string and a mattress of foliage falling out of an abandoned sack. We also find a brass candle holder with no candle.

This is the same furniture used by the Rat thing, the crying Rat humanoid we found previously. We are standing in the hallway and decide to listen for anything that may be around but we do not hear anything.

After searching this area, we find nothing of value and nothing on the brass candleholder but some bits of fur.

There is a well in the next area but the water in the well looks brackish and opaque. There are feces around the well. Fothas and Greta feel that it slopes upward. Urist sees no elevation change.

The party leaves to go purchase some supplies, some pickaxes, in an attempt to break through the old wall.

We make it out without any encounters.

At the local general goods and supplies shop, we are able to purchase pickaxes for 10 gp each. We can purchase a total of 5.

Adaeril purchases 4 of the pick axes for 20 gp. We talk them down to 5 gp each.

We head back, travel is uneventful.

Back down the well and to the wall. We intend to dig downward from the room opposite of the secret door. The party begins digging in shifts after securing the doors shut. The first shift digs down 4' deep.

Everyone gets some water. Adaeril drinks a Potion of Treasure Finding but he detects nothing within 24“, there is no treasure detection. What a waste…

At the end of the second shift, we break through into an open area. It looks like we broke into some kind of ceiling that is about 10' below our current level. We find a staircase going down but think that we could clear out a hole after another hour.

Reichgard, Adaeril, and the Sapphira, the Paladin, are going for more water.

When we step outside into a hallway, there is another party that is illuminated by lanterns. 3 of these Men have light crossbows and decide to open fire!

We have +2 AC due to Protection From Evil. ALL OF THE SHOTS ARE ON ADAERIL! They must roll 20's to hit Adaeril. All of the shots ricochet off the wall.

There are also 6 Men in plate mail and they bear holy symbols of Sleal! The two Clerics in this other group begin to cast spells. We must make a saving throw and Adaeril saves versus spells! One of the men fires a crossbow and does 3 damage to Reichgard from a crossbow bolt.

The plate wearers all charge us. They must also roll a 20 for their attacks against Adaeril. They have AC 3/2. Reichgard hits and causes 1 damage to one of them.

In the next round, Reichgard casts Charm Person and Adaeril casts Mirror Image. The two Clerics cast spells on themselves.

There are two Men on Reichgard and two Men on Adaeril. They MISS Adaeril but Reichgard takes 3 damage and goes DOWN! Reichgard is at 0 hp.

Adaeril still has 3 mirror images. There is one skilled Fighter among them who has AC 0/2. Adaeril attacks the skilled Fighter as one of the Clerics of Sleal grins and then disappears! They tell us to surrender or die.

There is one hit on Sapphira for 2 damage followed by another hit for 5 points of damage. Adaeril misses but Sapphira does 6 damage. One of the Clerics is charging at us while invisible. He appears out of nowhere with a footman's mace but MISSES Adaeril! The other one does not hit Sapphira.

There are two attacks on mirror images and another attack on Sapphira. ONE HITS! There is 4 damage to Sapphira who now has only 1 hp! We deal 6 damage in retaliation against one of the Fighters, ADAERIL KILLS ONE!

GRETA HEARS THE ELF SCREAMING and she joins us in the combat.

• Adaeril is attacking.
• Sapphira lays on hands on herself.

One of the Clerics goes invisible and one Fighter attacks Adaeril, but MISSES! There are 2 attacks on Sapphira and she DEFENDS against both!

Sapphira heals herself for 2 hp as Adaeril misses his attack. Reichgard is now at -4 hp as he continues to bleed out. Adaeril is trying to attack the Leader.

There is one attack on Sapphira but it misses.

• Fothas opens the door.
• Greta moves to engage.
• Adaeril and Sapphira attack.

Both of our front line miss their attacks and then Adaeril attacks a Cleric who has AC 2/2. The Fighter has AC 2/2 and the other has AC 0/2. Adaeril does 6 damage to a Cleric though the Cleric is not dead. Fothas does 8 damage to a Fighter, the Fighter is brought down!

One of the Clerics goes invisible again as Urist takes 4 damage from an attack. The invisible Cleric MISSES Adaeril and he retaliates, attacking the Cleric. He hits for 6 damage but the Cleric is STILL NOT SLAIN!

A CLERIC DESTROYS ONE OF ADAERIL'S MIRROR IMAGES. There are two images left.

Adaeril attacks the Cleric while Fothas did 9 damage and KILLS one of the Clerics! The other Cleric attacks Fothas but misses. Urist is attacked and struck. He takes 8 damage! URIST IS KILLED OUTRIGHT!

Adaeril falls back from attacking and tends to Reichgard who has also dropped. Reichgard stops bleeding out at -9 hp. Fothas hits for 7 damage against the classed Fighter!

The other Cleric is falling back but he attacks Greta and MISSES! One of their Men-at-arms misses Fothas. Adaeril attacks the Cleric again and this time does 10 damage. The Cleric DIES!

At this point, some of their entourage flee. We pursue the Crossbowmen. We successfully catch them and Adaeril hits once for 3 damage. The others surrender.

All of the surviving attackers under the command of the Clerics of Sleal Surrender. We loot their stuff and take them in for questioning as we head up to New Mombafra.

We get back to Mombafra in the late afternoon with all of the stuff.

• 6 platemail 400 gp/200 gp each = 1200 gp
• 4 longswords 15 gp/7.5 gp each = 30 gp
• 3 daggers
• 3 short swords 8 gp/4 gp each = 12 gp
• 3 chain mail 75 gp = 112.5 gp
• A Gold Ring that detects with a strong magic. It is a RING OF INVISIBILITY!
• Jeweled Brooch on the other Cleric detects as magic, sold for 10,000 gp.
• 650 gp

• 12004.5 total.
• 2400 gp each.
• 2404.1 gp for Reichgard.

Reichgard takes the Ring of Invisibility.

2500 xp for Everyone.

Reichgard gets 4,004 xp.

These guys were hired by the FORCES OF SLEAL.

• Adaeril reaches LEVEL 5 Magic-User!
• URIST WAS SLAIN and is not being Raised.
• Reichgard is going up to level 3.
• Sapphira pays her tithes to Rook.

Adaeril takes a loan for 1,000 gp which is owed on the 26th. His last day of training is Reed Moon the 5th.

He will take the Haste spell though one of the drawbacks is that when it is used, it ages the recipient by 1 year.

We briefly discuss what to do with Gruhl Oakbarrel's corpse.