The Vale of Cythraul Campaign DM's Account

This is my attempt to tell what happened each session in a narrative way. Some dramatization has been added, and some details may not be entirely accurate.

## The Pass of Perasma

**Seamus**, an elf from the Eastern Realms and **Caranorn** a young dragonborn, met on the road to Cythraul and quickly became friends. They were traveling with a farmer named Elias when they got to
the Pass of Perasma one evening. There lies a border fort, maintained by Baron Barchelli. The travelers were asked to pay 2 golden royals each
of they wished to spend the night, to help maintain the fort. They reluctantly accepted, then our heroes immediately began scheming about how to rob the place.

 **Seamus** climbed the side of the tower, and seeing only one guard, lazily
 staring towards the horizon, he decided to steal the arrows from a
quiver by the man's feet. Unfortunately, he instead managed to knock the
 quiver over alerting the guard. In the ensuing fight, the guard was
badly wounded, but managed to subdue the burglar.

 The next
morning, one of the guards and the dragonborn **Caranorn** took the chained
up elf in Elias' wagon on the road to Proklisi, so Count Symvasi could
determine what to do with the spy. Caranorn, apparently feeling some
loyalty to his newfound elf friend, helped **Seamus** escape, and sadly
having to kill the guard to do so. The two then continued to Proklisi, when they sold the cart and donkey, and sought out the adventurer Iroas
who, with his friends, had recovered chests full of gold from a goblin fort.

## The Goblin Wood

Four adventurers, newly arrived in the vale, heard rumor of a monster terrorizing the shepherds. These were **Seamus** the ranger of the Eastwood elves, **Matuk** the paladin of the half-orc nobility of Paphos, **Mar** of the Light: a Tiefling, and the bard **Galliard**. They found white fur and huge claw marks, but determined the beast was
too fierce for their meager band to handle, so they instead reported
what they had found to the bailiff.

 They then headed south, into the goblin woods, seeking the bounty that
the country had put on goblin ears, and maybe the goblin fort Iroas had
plundered. The party was ambushed by a group of 4 giant wolf spiders,
but managed to defeat them, with some help from a bard named **None** and his pet elk, who had been exploring the woods on their own.

 After a short rest, they continued south together. They saw a massive
green cat-like beast, but thought it was best left alone. Then they
found what they were looking for: goblin tracks . **Seamus** tracked the
goblins, and the party followed their tail to the northwest, until they
came to a small cave. The 8 goblins surprised them with their speed and
the accuracy of their bows. In seconds **Mar** and None were down.

The party knew it was time to retreat, so **Matuk** carried **Mar** to safety,
while **Seamus** saved his own skin. **Galliard** used his magic to create an
invisible servant, to play his bagpipes and distract the goblins. While
the magic servant and the bagpipes were pierced by arrow after arrow,
**Galliard** carried None to safety, the baby elk following at his heels.

 The party managed to get back to Proklisi safely, and recover from
their wounds. Before night fell, they took one more look into the goblin
 wood, where they ran into 2 swarms of vicious insects. None put one
swarm to sleep, and they managed to swat and burn the other swarm to
death.

## The Banner and the Wolf

That night, in the Winking Queen, the party met two more adventurers: the Larnacan rogue **Colm** and the monk **Khardor**, an Aarakocra from the Plane of Air.
 In the morning the now strengthened party headed back to the goblin
cave they had been driven from the previous night. They had been
discussing how to deal with the goblins (talk, fight, ambush?) but when
they got there the goblins had already been taken care of. Seven
 poles stood outside the cave, each baring a goblin head. Also present
was a banner, a green line with a red circle and a black circle
underneath.
 Our heroes had little time to appraise the situation,
however. When one of them attempted to take a pole down and retrieve the
 goblin's ears (there is a bounty after all), three wolves emerged from
the caves, their teeth red with goblin blood. The party made short work
of the wolves, even the largest, a direwolf, failed to get it's teeth
into Matuk. After it's pack-mates were killed, the direwolf ran.
 The party collected the ears, and investigated the site, finding signs of a struggle between the goblins and some orcs.
 The party, wanting the wolf's head as a prize, tracked the wounded
animal for over a mile to a small stream. They started it and it began
to run again, but Seamus, from a distance of 150 ft, through trees,
managed to hit it with an arrow, which killed the beast.
 The party
noticed the trees around them were just a little too mobile for their
liking, so they headed back to town. There, they sold their prizes to
the bailiff and split up to investigate the banner, going to the old
knight Xania and the wizard Vissarion.
 With what daylight they had
left, the party did some monster hunting. As they were walking an
Ankheg, a massive bug, latched it's jaws around Gilliard's leg. It
didn't get the chance to do any lasting damage though; in mere seconds
the party surrounded the monster and hacked it to a sticky death.

## The Wilderness

**Seamus**, **Matuk**, and **Mar** met a new adventurer the next morning: the barbarian gnome **Hittsin Dikksky**,
 a gladiator fresh from the arenas of Mamlaka. Together the four set
out, once more into the Goblin Woods, to seek the fortress pillaged by
Iroas, and which the goblins and orcs seem to be related to.
Unfortunately there are many dangers in the wilderness of Cythraul, that
 care nothing about the plans of men (or any other humanoid being for that matter).
 As they were walking, the found themselves surrounded by webs, and they
 spotted, crawling down a tree in the distance, an Ettercap. As they
were deliberating on what to do, the beast shot a web, entrapping
Seamus. Matuk cut him free, but then was himself trapped, as the
Ettercap's spider allies emerged from the webs to feast. **Hittsin** cut
away the webs then bolted, the rest of the party following close behind.

 After fleeing an acceptable distance, they found a place to rest
and have **Mar** heal their wounds. As they rested, a beautiful song drifted
 through the air. A duet sung by two beautiful bird-women sitting in
nearby trees. Realizing the harpys were trying to enchant them, the
heroes managed to resist and fight back. With arrows, javelins, and
magic they were able to kill one of the harpys and wound the other
before it flew away.
 **Mar** finished healing their wounds, then the
party decided to hell with the fortress, it was time to murder some of
mother nature's children. They managed to find some massive boar tracks
and follow them to their lair. There they faced down a pair of giant
boars, killing them both. Sadly they had no way to bring all the
delicious pork back to town, but they did snag the five 50 pound
piglets. Four they sold to a farmer, who if he's wise will eat them
before they're full grown, and the last was kept by Dikksky.

## A Captive Orc

 Our heroes, **Seamus**, **Matuk**, and **Mar**, set out once more for the rumored fortress deep in the Goblin Wood.

 First they went south-west to the rocks where the goblins had found
refuge. There they ran into a massive ogre who, angered at their
intrusion, charged the party. But **Matuk** stopped the monster's advance
with his mighty shield and together they slew the massive beast. They
looked in it's lair, and there found goblin bones along with a small purse.

 They then continued to the goblin cave, and followed the tracks from
there into the woods until they finally saw what they had been looking
for. **Mar** put an illusion around them and they approached. The fortress
was not particularly impressive in it's dimensions, but big enough to be
 of concern. It was in disrepair, but it was clear some shoddy work had
recently been done. There were tracks of orcs, goblins, wolves, horses,
and perhaps more around and about the fortress.

 Rather than rush
 in screaming a battle cry, they decided to double back and follow an
orc trail they had crossed. It turned out to be a small loop with animal
 traps placed along it. They stole a bear trap (never know when that
might come in handy) and then set a trap of their own: **Mar** created an
illusion of a rabbit stuck in one of the snares and they hid and wait.
Nearly an hour later, their patience paid off and two orcs came down the
 path, checking the traps. As the orcs went excitedly to collect the
fake rabbit, the heroes sprang from their hiding places. They killed one
 of the orcs and knocked the other unconscious before either had a
chance to react. Then they dragged him off for some polite discussion.

 While they were having a rest, waiting for their prisoner to come to,
**Seamus** let his guard down for just a moment. That is when a 400 pound
cat decided to eat him. Fortunately, he managed to focus very quickly,
managed to stay on his feat, and with some help from his allies he
stabbed and killed the creature. **Mar** patched him up and they turned
their attention to their waking captive.

 The captured orc was
momentarily angry and uncooperative, but quickly changed his tone when
faced with an even angrier and much scarier Matuk. The orc revealed that
 he and his clan had for a couple months been working for the Red Man,
an apparently powerful being that looks like Mar, a Tiefling. The orc
had been gotten gold from goblins and taken it on "diplomatic missions"
to groups beyond the "black door". He had heard of a "red door" but knew
 nothing of it. He also said that their were five orc clans of 20-30
working for the Red Man.

 Satisfied, they decided to knock the orc
 back out and bring him to Proklisi in case he is of value to the count.
 They threw the orc in the jail and told what they had heard to the
wizard Visarion, who was quite excited to hear of an open portal so
nearby, and rushed off to talk to Count Symvasi.

## Scouting Party

 Once our heroes finally awoke, having been kept up into the wee
hours of the night fighting for their lives, they went to the keep and
once more met with Symvasi. The count told **Matuk** that he wanted more information about this mysterious fortress, and they reluctantly agreed to check it out. With **Seamus** leading the way, they quickly found themselves looking once more at the dilapidated house of evil.

 They decided to clime a tower opposite to the one tower that was still standing. **Mar**,
 however, turned out to be better at smiting the forces of darkness than
 at climbing mossy stone walls, so he fell alerting one of the goblins
within. He is also, however, a master of illusion so the goblin thought
he was nothing but rubble and left him alone. Once the goblin left they
pulled him up by a rope and scoped out the fortress. From their tower
they could see two other collapsed towers and one still standing, all
connected by battlements In the center was a stone roof patched in
several places with shoddy wood beams. Seamus, **Caranorn**, and **Galliard**
 decided to attempt to sneak over to the intact tower while their less
stealthy comrades waited. They had almost made it, when **Galliard** bumped a
 loose stone, alerting the goblin guard in the tower who promptly fired
an arrow down on the bard. **Caranorn** and **Seamus**, who were in the tower at
 this point, then ran up the stairway and silenced the guards before
they could cause too much trouble. A goblin shouted from below to ask if
 everything was alright and **Seamus** used his best goblin voice to tell
the goblin to come up, so they killed him too.

 With the watch
dead, the party spread out to explore the top of the fortress a bit,
finding a couple holes in the roof, including one with smoke coming out.
 Going down the stairway in the tower, they saw that six goblins were
resting around a fire in a large hall in the center of the fortress.
Just then, **Caranorn** discovered another way in, tumbling down the broken
stone within one of the fallen towers, and landing in a room full of
crates. Awoken by the crates, the goblins saw their intruders and
attacked. **Caranorn** snuck through a trapped doorway to attack the goblins
 that were fighting **Matuk** from behind. Realizing they were losing, one
of the goblins shouted to go get the boss. One goblin scrambled past
them but was trapped by fake fires created by **Mar** and was killed. One
goblin managed to open a locked door and made for a trap-door in the
floor of the room, while his last living comrade ran out the front door.
 Having to make a choice, **Seamus** shot and killed the goblin heading for
the trap-door, letting the other escape.

 Our heroes had little
time to celebrate and/or worry however, since in addition to being home
to a trap-door, the newly opened room housed three massive crocodiles.
They proceeded to clamp onto the closest flesh they could find, namely
Mar's leg. One did latch onto **Matuk** as well, but had a harder time
munching through the armored half-orc than his brother was having with
the tasty tiefling. Fortunately they managed to bash the prehistoric
beasts into submission before too much of **Mar** was digested.

## Rescue Party?

Upon hearing about the fortress and it's hordes of orcs, Count
Symvasi became concerned for the safety his knight Dame Xenia's ward,
Squire Artemios, cousin to the king, who had been sent to with a group
of guards and adventurers to stop the orcs who had been harassing
travelers on the road to Proklisi. He summoned our heroes and asked
**Matuk** and **Mar** to leave immediately with a guard and wagon to retrieve the young royal and bring him back. **Seamus** he kept in Proklisi, to help draw up a map to the fortress.

 Meanwhile, Artemios' orc-hunting party was having a bad time. **Caranorn** and **Galliard**
 were both barely standing, and they'd had to leave the dying guard Alex
 behind as they fled. Now 8 furious orcs surrounded them, with their
backs to a steep cliff side. The remaining guards threw their spears
then fled in terror into a small cave. **Caranorn** threw his knives with
skill and accuracy slowing the charging orcs. Artemios matched their
recklessness and savagery, as he ran headlong towards the orcs swinging
his great-axe. **Galliard** used his skill and magic to terrify two of the
attackers, sending them running senseless. Between the three of them
they turned almost certain defeat into victory, killing or scaring off
all the orcs.

 As **Matuk** and **Mar** were racing along through the
Green Hills, an orc sprinted across their path in a panic. **Mar** ended the
 creatures misery with his splendiferous power. They dismounted, left
the guard with their horses, and wandered into the woods in the
direction the orc had come from. Before they had walked 50 yards,
another two orcs almost ran into them. The orcs snapped out of their
irrational terror in time to give the heroes a little exercise.
Continuing into the woods, **Mar** and **Matuk** finally united with the
bloodied orc-hunting party. Not knowing what dangers, orc or otherwise,
might be lurking in the Green Hills in the middle of the night, the
party decided to head back to Proklisi as quickly as they could manage.
**Mar** patched up those he could, then they loaded into the wagon and
headed back to town.

 As they were passing the farms a few miles
from the town, something flew out from behind the trees that lined the
road. Then another. Before anyone could react a horse collapsed and the
wagon hit the horse, lost a wheel and was smashed beneath it's many
passengers, splinters and nails littering the rocky path. More arrows
landed around them and goblins smiled their wicked gleeful smiles from
behind the trees as they examined their latest catch. **Mar** quickly threw
up the illusion of a huge box, to obscure the goblins aim and give them a
 chance to get their bearings. The heroes then charged, got around the
trees, and made short work of the unlucky goblins.

 Finally
limping back through the gate of Proklisi a little past 3am, the heroes
were met by Symvasi and Dame Xenia. Symvasi thanked the adventurers and
paid them each a platinum preatori for their heroism, but he asked that
they report to his keep as early as they were able, there was more work
to be done.

## Pay yer Rent

When we left off, our heroes were standing in a ruined fortress,
surrounded by dead goblins and crocodiles, with hordes of orcs and
who-knows-what-else beneath them.

 Two closed doors remained on
the first floor; behind one they heard stamping and behind the other
snarling. They opted for the snarling. As they began to approach the
door however, **Seamus** noticed a pit trap in front. The door was made out
off wood, so they decided to stay back and let
 **Mar** break it down with blasts of magic. When the door shattered inward,
 it revealed four angry dire wolves. Trapped and being shot at with
arrows and magic, the dire wolves charged. The first fell down into the
pit trap, but the others leaped over and into the semicircle the heroes
had formed. Seeing the teeth marks in Mar's leg, a wolf decided he must
be the tastiest and tore off what it could. Another tried to take down
**Matuk**, while the third attacked Seamus, who had shot it. **Caranorn** looked
 for an opportunity to burn them without barbecuing any of his friends
while **Gilliard** healed Mar, who decided to take a break from being on the
 front line against animals with 3-inch-long teeth. **Seamus** tore into the
 wolves with his blades, while **Matuk** forced the remaining wolves into a
corner. As things turned against them the beasts tried to flee but were
cut down by the adventurers.

 After healing some of their wounds, **Mar** disabled the trap door leading
to the room full of crates. They cracked open the boxes, finding in them
 a significant amount of money, some gems, a ring with a red gemstone,
and a whole ton of mushrooms. They decided to block the trap door and
entrances with some crates and bodies and sleep off some of their wounds
 and weariness. As his comrades were resting, **Mar** studied the ring and
discovered that it gave it's owner the ability to know where it was. He
decided to attune to it, making it his own. A few hours into their rest,
 they heard banging on the trap door. An orc shouted through, telling
them to open the door, it's time to pay their rent. They stalled the orc
 for a couple minutes, but decided they didn't want to deal with armies
of orcs in their current state, and instead high-tailed it back to
Proklisi.

 Back in town they told Symvasi what they had found,
**Seamus** sold the animal heads and goblin ears to the bailiff, **Matuk** sold
the gems to the jeweler, and **Mar** went to see the wizard Visarion. He
gave Visarion a few of the mushrooms and the wizard, wanting more from
the Underdark, gave him a healing potion to help them along. Symvasi
managed to talk them into joining the Great Hunt, which he was
organizing for the next day, and they went to a farmer to rent a few
horses.

## The Great Hunt

With the day of the Great Hunt finally arrived, our heroes rode out
in search of monsters to slay. Preferably heavy ones. That morning the
barbarian gnome **Hittsin Didsky** asked to join in, so **Caranorn** agreed to
let him ride along in an oversized saddle-sack.

 First they went
up Mount Kyro in order to kill the beast that had been terrorizing the
herdsmen. They saw two shapes under a small ledge, but decided they
weren't big enough to bother with. They found tracks and followed them
to an icy cave entrance but before they could look inside, they noticed
 above them a massive ape-like creature covered in white fur. **Matuk**
moved between the creature and his friends, dealing a mighty blow to
the creature with his axe before getting frozen by it's icy glare. It
didn't have long to take advantage of his condition though, since it
only lived for another 4.3 seconds as the rest of the party attacked in
 their various ways with remarkable strength and accuracy.

 After
 dragging their first prize down the mountain the party headed into the
 dreaded Scale Forest. They happened upon some pig tracks and followed
them to a small clearing where a giant boar was resting. Resting in
peace that is, as ten bat-like reptiles devoured it's innards. Eager to
 try something fresher, they descended in a cloud of pointed beaks on
the party. **Hittsin** climbed a tree to kill the pests while **Mar**, **Seamus**, and **Matuk** picked them off from the ground. **Caranorn** roasted a tree with three inside, and **Galliard**
 blasted a group right out of a tree with a sonic wave. After shooting
the last one out of the sky **Seamus** collected the bodies; he never left a
 fight without a trophy.

 A short while later, deep in the Scale
 Forest, they ran into another hunting party. Their leader, Sir
Karolos (nicknamed 'the ogre killer' for his accomplishments during the
 war) shushed the party and showed pointed them to a distant clearing
where two giants were talking. One was a grey-skinned stone giant with a
 serious expression, the other a pale blue-haired cloud giant with a
beautiful blue and gold cloak and a booming voice. Karolos knew his
party couldn't take them on alone, but he suggested that if they joined
 forces, together they could fell them both, undoubtedly winning first
and second place in the hunt, and split the prizes. After much
deliberation, the party decided they preferred their lives to a chance
at gold and glory, and what have the giants done anyhow to deserve to
die? So they split up again to seek other prey.

 They began to
see scratches and club marks in the trunks of trees, and trampled
underbrush. Before they had time to prepare a massive armored lizard
came charging out of some bushes, swinging at them with it's clubbed
tail. As usual, **Matuk** step forward to defend his comrades. **Seamus**
backed away and shot his bow, **Galliard** went for the eyes with his
rapier, **Caranorn** and **Hittsin** snuck around behind it, **Mar** magically
attacked it's feeble brain. Just as the beast began to falter, another
charged out of the thick foliage and struck **Matuk** with it's tail; only
his half-orc toughness kept his battered body standing. He finished off
 the first dinosaur then they swarmed and killed the second.

Sufficiently loaded up with oversized reptiles, the party headed back
to Proklisi to tend to their wounds before the evening feast.

## The Enemy Marches

Count Symvasi first mourned those who died in the hunt, and
mentioned Iroas party had not yet returned, then moved on to the
awards. The party won second place (200gp), with their ankylosaurus
losing to Sir Karolos's triceratops. Their Yeti contended for scariest
(100gp) with Baron Melitos's yutyrannus, but his had bigger teeth and
won.

 Because they won second, the party sat with Symvasi and the other winners at the feast.
 There they overheard Baron Melitos discussing with the count the
possibility of bringing a couple hundred gnomish slaves from his
holdings in Agroktima to the Red Hills in Cythraul to set up some
investigatory mining operations. **Hittsin** and **Galliard** were quite
distraught and set immediately to discussing how they could free the
gnomes. As the bards played a song about the hero Symvas defeating the
ancient dragon Flaegomenos, a man appeared behind **Mar** and commented that
 it may be foolish to sing about a foe who isn't dead; Flaegomenosis
still alive and very angry, even now he's made his way to the Plane of
Fire. The man also mentioned that the next night would be dark, but to
hold steady, the dawn would come and with it the Light. Then he
disappeared.

 The next day,
 the party decided to head back to the Goblin Fort. They were most of
the way there, when they found a trail left by a huge group of
creatures passing through. **Seamus** used his ranger instincts and knew the
 fort was almost emptied, just a couple dozen orcs and an elf remained,
 but an army of orcs, goblins, and kobolds was on it's way to Proklisi.
 The party debated whether to take on the fort while it was weak, but
decided to scout out the army instead.

 As they got near, they
moved quietly along the periphery looking for wanderers to cull. The
happened on a group of orcs and kobolds who were trowing some ropes on a
 felled tree, and left none alive. As they got nearer to Proklisi they
found a large group of goblin scouts and silenced them as well. Then
they headed back to warn the town and a brown bear decided to test
them. It didn't live long enough to regret it's mistake.

## The Battle of Proklisi

While most of the party was off scouting the enemy army, **Caranorn**
 stayed back and met with a man about a job. The man spoke the thieves
 cant and said his name was Dolo Fonos. He proposed that **Caranorn** knock
Count Symvasi out with a poisoned needle, steal his key, and together
the two of them would rob the vault under Town Hall. **Caranorn** agreed,
took the needle, snuck into Symvasi's quarters and knocked him out with
 the needle. He then proceeded to look for the key, which was nowhere
to be found. Giving up, he headed to town hall to meet Dolo, but he
didn't show.

 Meanwhile, the rest of the party got back from the
woods to report news of the encroaching army. A gaurd went to get
Symvasi, only to discovere that he had been killed, his head cut clean
off! Between hearing about the count's death and the incoming army, the
 town was thrown into chaos. Many wanted to flee, down the road, into
the woods, anywhere bu there. **Matuk**
 went to the town's people and convinced them not to flee, but to move
those who could not fight into the keep and arm those who could with
anything from the blacksmith's shop. **Hittsin**
 went to the Winking Queen, to convince as many of the adventurers
staying there as he could to help defend the town. **Galliard** advised the guard, having them set up sentries around the perimeter and in the wizard's high tower. **Mar** went to the wizard Visarion to ask use of his tower and send him to look into Symvasi's death. **Seamus**
 gathered and the yeomen, and met the herdsmen who came to lend their
aid to the heroes that slew the beast of Mt. Kyro. **Caranorn** just tried
not to draw attention to himself.

 Then they waited.

 It
was almost 3am when **Seamus**, perched in the wizard's tower, saw the evil
 army approaching the city's gate. The yeomen and adventurers fired from
 the walls at the charging orcs, but were shot at in return by goblin
archers and kobald-manned trebuchets.

 Then, a massive terrifying
beast came charging down the road toward the gate. This thing was
massive, the defenders panicked, knowing they could not possibly
contend with such a creature. it rammed through the walls and through
the illusion disappeared. In it's place was three orcs riding on
rhinoceroses. One held aloft an ivory staff, one twirled and threw
torches madly, and the last wielded two massive battleaxes. They tore
through the defender's lines and ran into the town, which they proceeded
 to set ablaze as they made their way to the lightly-defended keep.

 The captain of the guard knew the heroes were the only ones who could
stop them in time. He told them to go, he would hold the gate as long
as he could. So they ran to the burning town, bringing the herdsmen
behind them. **Seamus** and **Mar** took down the wand waver before he got a
chance to say anything dangerous **Galliard** used his magic to taunt the
axe wielder's rhino, causing it to run in panic. **Matuk** held off the
other two rhinos, even as the pyromaniac breather fire down on him. As
the axe wielder came back around **Caranorn** emerged from the alleyways to
 strike him, disappearing before the orc could hit back. As the
frustrated orc swung wildly above him, **Hittsin**, the three-foot tall
barbarian, took his rhino out from under him. The orc didn't last much
longer.

## The Light

The party moved quickly to search the rhino-riders for anything of
use. The staff had an orb which could be used to cast Minor Illusion
for free, the pyro had two more bottles of fire-breathing on him, and
the axe wielder was wearing gauntlets of ogre-strength. Then, while
Galiard and the herdsmen dealth with the fire, the rest of the party
ran back to join the battle. In their absence the town's defenders had
been pushed back, the walls had been breached and the archers scattered.

 Seamus joined the adventurers huddled on a small wooden platform
surrounded by orcs. Mar sent illusions of ghosts to terrify the
attackers. Hittsin and Matuk charged in with the guards in the front,
while Caranorn encouraged the less disciplined fighters in the rear.
Some of the enemy began to flee, and the tide of battle was turned. As
the captains tried to reorganize their fleeing units, a bright light
appeared on the road from the East. At first it seemed only to be the
rising sun, but soon four silhouettes were visible, warriors wielding
gleaming swords and magic, members of Mar's order: the Light in the
Darkness. Between the town, the party, and the Light, the attackers
were crushed, with a lucky few fleeing into the woods.

 After
the battle, everyone returned to the keep. The mark of the assassins
guild was found on Symvasi. A member of the light used his magic to talk
 to the count but Symvasi remembered nothing, he just said something
about the king wanting him dead. Symvasi's body to the University in
Nicosia, where he had a revival policy.

 Meanwhile, it was
decided that with the guard weakened, the group from the Light should
stay and defend the town (as well as do a little more investigation)
while the party went to the fortress, to stop anything worse from
happening. They found the fortress lightly defended, easily breaking in
 and descending to the lower level. There they found the empty quarters
 of some of the orc army, and finer quarters complete with Rhino
droppings, a fire-breathing statue, and a life-force sucking doorknob
which Mar decided to wrap up and take with them.

 When returning
to the center of the floor, they were fired at by an orc with a heavy
crossbow. As they ran forward to dispatch the orc, another orc yelled
"release the badgers!" and 10 giant badgers attempted to fit themselves
 into the tunnel to attack the party.

## The Black Door

The badgers, though giant, did not turn out to be too big of a
challenge for the party when forced into a one-giant-badger-wide
tunnel. Realizing things were not going their way, a couple of the orcs
 ran down to a lower level, came back up with bags of loot, and ran up
and out just as the party broke through. The party did a quick search
through the rest of the floor, triggering a couple traps but spotting
others. There was a dead end with a
couple of suspicious holes in the wall, a room smelling of giant
badger, and a closet packed full of manure. There was also an armory
with some crossbow bolts and a great axe, and buried in the dust a note
 written in Preatari. They then continued down the stairs, and found a
hall with great pillars, some doors, two passageways, and a wall with
an engraving of a goddess.

Carefully checking for traps, they looked in the rooms. In one of the
rooms they found scattered coins, adding up to a tidy sum. In another
they found mushrooms. In the third the found bunks, which they burned
(just in case I guess?). The last door refused to open. The stone face
protruding from it told them it only opened to members of the Legion.
Casting a spell to charm the door, Mar convinced it that they were new
recruits, so it agreed to open for them. Inside they found another
small armory, this time with five magic (+1) short-swords and five
magic (+1) shields.

 Armed and ready, the party headed down one
of the passageways. The rough stone tunnel wound downwards, and
gradually the party began to feel they were very far from home.
Eventually the cave opened up to a domed cavern, with a late on one
side and a number of wooden shelves set up at the far end, with kobalts
 darting about them. Out from behind a shelf stepped an elf in a dark
robe; in his hand he held a golden wand with intricately designed
fortresses on the ends. He told them they were too late, the foolish
Larnacans would be slaughtered by the horrors he would unleash from the
 Underdark, and soon enough the red door would open and they would all
be destroyed. A couple party members tried to explain that they weren't
 really Larnacan, it was more just happenstance that brought them
together there (except the paladin **Matuk** of course, who knew evil when
he saw it and would not let it persist) but it was clear the elf was not
 about to negotiate.

## The Red Door

"The world of men will fall, all will belong to the elves!"

**Seamus**, the party's obligatory elf-ranger, drew an arrow and shot the elf-mage in the chest.

 **Caranorn**
 the dragonknight rogue followed this up with a shot from his short bow,
 which the mage blocked with a magic shield he created in the air. The
mage then limped behind one of the shelves and created magic armor
around himself, which combined with the shield he could create, would
make him nearly impossible to hit. **Hittsin**
 the gnome barbarian charged the mage as quickly as his tiny legs could
manage, holding his Praetari shield ahead of him. The Kobolds used their
 slings to fire rocks at **Caranorn** and **Hittsin** but they were ineffective.
 **Matuk**
 the half-orc paladin charged forward and used his strength to knock
over one of the big wooden shelves, causing a domino effect that crushed
 two kobalds. The bottles and flasks were spilled everywhere, causing
blue dust to fill the air and the broken shelves to catch fire. **Mar** the tiefling warlock of Light used his magic to crush the feeble mind of an advancing kobald.

 Dodging the heroes arrows the mage unleashed a devastating blast of
cold on the party, causing **Hittsin** and **Mar** to lose consciousness. **Matuk**
used his healing on **Hittsin**, then charged the elf with his axe. He got a
 blow past the mages shield, but the mage used his magic to get away the
 hit **Hittsin** and **Matuk** with a fireball, which would have taken them both
 out of the fight but **Matuk's** half-orc resilience kept him standing.
Meanwhile **Seamus** ran around the far side of lake, taking any shot he
could on the mage with his expert marksmanship. The last Kobald tried to
 take out **Caranorn**, hiding in the frozen rubble, but the rogue bested
him then ran to heal **Mar** with a potion of healing **Mar** had on him.

 The mage shot a hail of darts from his wand, with one taking out the
limping **Matuk**, and another 5 burying themselves in **Seamus**. **Mar** trapped
the mage with a magic fire while simultaneously healing the fallen
**Matuk**. **Matuk** used this opportunity to charge the trapped elf and dealt
him a terrible blow cutting through his conjured shield and armor to
slay the wicked mage.

 Among the wreckage of the lab the party
found a few potions of possible usefulness and a teleportation spell
scroll. **Mar** also claimed the mages wand, which turned out to be a rod of
 absorption, able to block incoming spells and store their energy for
use by the rod's holder. After resting and regaining some strength, the
party examined two huge metal doors beyond the lab, held closed by three
 thick wooden beams holding it closed. Curious, the removed the beams
and opened the door just a crack, seeing through it a long dark tunnel.
This they decided to leave for another time, resealing the gate and
heading back to the hall.

 When they got back, **Hittsin** took
another look at the faded engraving of the goddess. Having spent his
life as a slave and gladiator in the fighting pits of Malmlaka, he
didn't know much about Preatori religion. He was, however, an expert on
one goddess: Bellona, goddess of light and war. He had memorized every
verse of the epic of Potensolem, and so recognizing the goddess he cried
 out "Bellona I am surrounded by darkness, send me your light so that I
may slay it!" Immediately a door opened at the bottom at the bottom of
the wall. Inside was a small pedestal; **Hittsin** walked in, reached on top
 and took the golden hilt of a long-sword.

 The party then
continued down the other passageway. They heard voices speaking in
infernal, which **Mar** could understand. One voice was asking the other to
put a stop to his plans and join the 8th. The other replied that he had
no need of them. **Mar** entered a large chamber; to his left in an indent
in the cave wall was an unconscious man chained up, in the center there
stood too lines of columns with orcs standing at attention in front of
them, in the back was a wall of fire, with a faint blue glow in front of
 it. In front of the fire was a throne seating a man with red skin,
horns, and massive wings, a cambion. He was speaking to a short, skinny
man in a suit. The man in the suit reiterated his offer to the cambion ,
 then when **Mar** asked told him that the 8th was an organization of
concerned people seeking to bring order to the chaotic world. Sensing
the cambion's anger, the man snapped his fingers and disappeared in a
ball of fire. **Mar** then spoke with the cambion who said he wanted to
bathe the world in flame and make name for himself, then acquire
followers and become a demon prince. **Mar** talked to him about the value
of building and organization in creating an empire and the cambion was
convinced and decided to name **Mar** his ambassador to the tieflings. He
was not, however, convinced that he shouldn't release the ancient red
dragon Flaegomenos to unleash fire and destruction on the world. **Mar**
then used a spell on the cambion while suggesting he go check with
Flaegomenos to see if he is ready, so the walked back to the flaming
gate and began to speak Draconic.

## A Hero Falls

Seeing negotiations, and with the Cambion sufficiently distracted, **Mar**turned back to his comrades and nodded. Out from the shadows leapt **Matuk**, who had no patience for negotiation with evil, trowing his javelin into the nearest guard. As his allies followed, and a battle commenced, **Mar** used his magic to distract the Cambion for as long as possible, hiding the sight and sounds of the fight with illusions.

**Hittsin**broke the chains off Iroas the Goblin Slayer, who had been captured during the hunt. Mar healed him, bringing him to back consciousness, and **Hittsin**equipped the hero with a gladius and he charged into the fray. Meanwhile **Matuk**and **Galliard**held off the attacking orcs while **Seamus**and **Caranorn**fired their bows over them.

While the illusions delayed the cambion for a time, eventually he did notice his guards getting butchered and he was not happy. he flew up to the top of a pillar and shot a deadly barrage of fire down on the intruders with his staff. With their weapons having little effect, the battle was desperate. **Mar**'s radiant magic and **Galliard**'s physic attacks were effective, but limited the party's ability to heal. **Matuk**, as ever, was his friends' shield against axe, arrow, and fireball... until one too many of the cambion's fire rays cut him down. The mighty half-orc had already taken many brutal attacks from the elf-mage and orc guards, so this last attack was more than he could endure. As **Matuk**'s spirit left his body, he saw his friends take the opportunity he had won them, to finish off the evil cambion, as he knew they would. He saw the imp, sent to collect the creature's black soul, before the demons could drag it back to the Abyss. And he saw the sphinx approaching pulling a chariot, bearing the red evening star of the goddess Astarte. "It is time" the creature told him. The paladin nodded and climbed in, but he swore he would return bringing wrath and vengeance for the doers of evil.

A very small man in a black suit appeared in a ball of fire. He reached out his hand and a black cloud floated out of the cambion's body and formed into a small black marble in the man's hand. The man then spit fire on the quickly withering body and turned for the first time to look at the party. Grinning a wicked smile he introduced himself. "My name is Tublok  Ikkaib Mukmub but you can call me Tim. I represent the 8th, a group of concerned citizens determine to bring order to the world." He then gave the party a black coin, which could be spent for fiendish boons from the Market of Mephistar, and a card which they could bleed on to receive missions from him, to earn more coins.

## Phidysa

Going back a bit, while the rest of the party rushed off to defend the gates of Proklisi, **Galliard**and the herdsmen put out the fire in the town. Then when the party set off for the fortress to finish the job, **Galliard**stayed to defend the town and help them rebuild. He also helped them to draft a constitution, the Proklisi Charter, setting up a democratic government. Not too much excitement took place in the next couple days, a dragonknight and a boy who said they had gotten lost in the mountains arrived in town, and the members of the Light set off north, to combat a dark terror which had been preying on the peasants of Chytroi.

Then a group of soldiers appeared, led by a Captain Kai, and they have come to take control of the city in the name of Baron Meliton, newly made Lord of Cythraul by queen regent Kacia Vasillisa, since Count Symvasi is considered by the crown to be a traitor. The council decided not to open the gate and Kai departed, swearing that they would regret their disobedience. **Galliard**then set off to the fortress, to get the rest of the party.

Fast-forwarding to where we left off last time, the Red Man is defeated, but the paladin **Matuk**was killed in the effort. the imp T.I.M. has given the party a black coin, and offers various boons, such as 1000 gold, a servant imp, a scroll to summon a chain demon, and a bone bow, but the party decide to keep the coin for now. Iroas the Goblin Slayer blathers something incoherent about the son of the dragon coming to free his father, but they decide protecting Proklisi from Baron Meliton should be their first order of business.

After briefly regrouping in Proklisi (and getting rid of Iroas) the party set off to investigate Meliton's camp. They killed a couple of guards along the way, then managed, while hidden in the woods, to see Meliton's operation. At the bottom of a large hill hundreds of gnomish slaves were quarrying stone, while others carried stones up the hill. Around them stood Meliton's guards, human and elvish mercenaries. Something had to be done. **Galliard** created an invisible servant to play music and draw guards away to investigate, where he, **Seamus**and **Caranorn**picked them off. Meanwhile, **Mar**(invisible) and **Hittsin**(a gnome) snuck into the quarry. **Hittsin**was recognized by some of his fellow countrymen, and one ran off to find Phidysa, **Hittsin**'s love, who he had to leave so long ago.

As the guards began to realize something was amiss, **Mar**created the illusion of a massive demon in the center of the quarry, causing confusion and panic. **Galliard**used his magic to give the demon voice and to knock back the soldiers brave enough to approach. **Seamus**and **Caranorn**picked off guards too foolish to run, or foolish enough to run into them. **Hittsin**ran through the panicked gnomes, assuring them it was alright, and gathering them to himself, but mostly looking for his dear Phidysa. The split up party got in a couple dangerous situations when stuck alone and surrounded by guards, but they made it through and the guards eventually led and began regrouping up the hill. Some tried to grab up gnomes as they went, by **Hittsin**was at the base of the hill defending his kinsmen. He drew forth the hilt he had found behind the engraving of the goddess Bellona; sensing his will a bright glowing long-sword blade emerged from the hilt, which **Hittsin**used to great effect terrifying the already shaken guards and as a beacon to lead his people.

The guards had regrouped, and were beginning to rain arrows down on the heroes and gnomes, so they fled into the woods to the south. All together about 100 gnomish slaves were rescued, including **Hittsin**'s long lost love Phidysa.

## The Ambush

The party made camp in the southern Red Hills. one end of the camp was guarded by **Hittsin**and some of the more capable gnomes, while the other end was guarded by **Mar**, **Seamus**, **Caranorn**, **Galliard**, and a **Dwarvish Cleric**, who had left Meliton to join them. Just before first light, two huge owl bears charged into the party's end of camp and began attacking the gnomes. The party managed to slay one of them, but the other got away, a helpless gnome in it's beak.

Not long later, a gnomish girl, no more than a child, approached the camp. She told the heroes that she and her sister had escaped Meliton's camp, but had gotten lost. Something big and terrible had grabbed her sister, and she needed help fast. The heroes agreed to help, and followed the girl into the woods. As they were approaching a clearing, Seamus noticed, outlined against the light shining through the leaves, two archers in the trees above them. **Galliard**used his magic to charm the would-be ambushers, but **Seamus**went ahead and shot one out of the tree with his bow. Over a dozen hidden mercenaries, wearing the colors of Baron Meliton then appeared from the trees and shrubbery. The gnomish girl backed away from the party, crying and saying she had no choice.

With arrows raining down on them from trees on the far side of the clearing, **Mar**created an illusionary wall to obscure their vision. A couple infantrymen charged through and had to be dispatched, but still determined to negotiate **Galliard**wove another magic song putting the nearest mercenaries in a dazed, non-aggressive state. The party was able to use the brief respite to negotiate with the mercenaries and convince them it is not worthwhile to work with Meliton, and that they should join Proklisi instead. The mercenaries, in exchange for an up-front payment, agreed and went back to Meliton's camp to actually rescue the girls sister.

The little girl and the other rescued gnomes went, led by **Hittsin**, to establish a new home in the ruined keep that had been ruled by the Red Man and his orcs. The party meanwhile returned to Proklisi to regroup. Since discovering the door to the Underdark, **Mar**had felt a pull to go down there, find his fellow Tieflings, and try to show them the surface and establish peaceful and prosperous relations between above and below. Not wanting to leave the Heroes of Proklisi down another man right after losing **Matuk**and now **Hittsin**, he recruited his old friend **Smith**, a war-forged archeologist, to join the party, promising he'd have the opportunity to make many exciting discoveries in their company. **Mar**then left for the keep, and the world below.

## The Lake

The people of Proklisi, having at Galliard's suggestion adopted a democratic constitution, offered to make the party their own commune within the city, making them citizens and giving them financial and logistical support in return for the kind of protection simple guards just can't provide. The party agreed and, deciding it was worthwhile to wait until their new allies made their way to Proklisi before they took action against Baron Meliton, **Caranorn**, **Galliard**, **Smith**, and **Seamus**went to investigate a nearby lake that could be seen from Mount Proklisi.

As they were trekking through the West Goblin Wood, the heroes felt as though they kept seeing movement around them, but when they looked all that was there were the usual trees and bushes. Then the trees and bushes began attacking them.The heroes put up a good fight, but ultimately the awoken plants managed to knock out or choke out all of them.

The awoke in a small cottage. A kindly old woman was stirring a pot.The illusion didn't do much to reassure anyone though, since they were tied up and she was entirely open about her intention to cook them. As the she picked up **Seamus**and dropped him into the pot, **Caranorn**snuck free of his bonds and attacked her. The illusion disappeared and they found themselves in a damp cave confronted by a hideous green hag. The boiling pot that Seamus was dropped into was real enough though, so **Smith**knocked it over, freeing **Seamus**while he was still just barely alive. Once they were all free, they managed to slay the hag though she did some damage with her claws.

They decided to rest in the cave before heading back, but as they were mending their wounds a Chuul, smelling blood and magic, burst from the lake to attack them. Even **Smith**'s built-in armor struggled to hold up against it's mighty claws and poisonous tentacles. Eventually they managed to break the creature (if I remember correctly it was an insult **Galliard**managed to translate via music into the Deep Speech that did it in) and the party made a hasty retreat back to Proklisi.

## The Dark Woods

The people of Proklisi provided the party with food, lodging, and a variety of tools and ammo when they got back to town. Not having heard from the mercenaries, the heroes decided it was time to scout out Meliton's camp. As they got near, the woods were not as they remembered them. A mist filled the air and the sky was dark; trees were barren and wolves howled in the distance. Eventually they found the body of one of the soldiers they had befriended. His face was pure terror and his chest was chewed through. From beneath him, a swarm of vicious rats emerged and attacked the party. The struggle drew more feral creatures from the woods and soon the ground was covered in rats and the air full of blood-thirsty bats. As the party was dealing with the vermin, a pack of hungry wolves came out of the mist to join the fray. Someone created a wall of fire to delay the wolves, but even just the swarms proved difficult to contend with. Eventually though, the last of the beasts were killed or fled and the party continued. They came to a castle with no gate, working their way around they saw that it was spiral with one wall still being build by gnomish slaves.

## The Dungeon Castle

As the party watched from the woods, they were spotted by a gnome, who dropped his trowel and ran towards the heroes. Stop that gnome, kill him if necessary!" shouted Captain Kai. A mercenary loosed an arrow, but missed, and **Galliard**grabbed the gnome without being noticed by the guards. They retreated a ways, then asked the gnome what was going on. The gnome explained that while Baron Meliton had always been a cruel master, recently things had gotten exceptionally bad: most of the gnomes were chained to the walls and anyone, even hired mercenaries that disobeyed Meliton were killed on the spot. When asked how this started, the gnome said he wasn't sure, they had been building a temporary base for Meliton's attack on Proklisi, but then a man visited. No one was sure how he got there, but he spoke very old fashionedly and was exceptionally proper, asking to be led to the "door" rather than step over the one foot tall foundation of a wall they had laid down. He spoke in private with Meliton, then left. And then the next day everything changed.

**Galliard**decided he would try to speak with Meliton. He approached the guards claiming to be a blind messenger, who needed to speak to Meliton privately. Figuring a blind man couldn't cause too much trouble, a soldier agreed to take him to Meliton, though it was clear none of the soldiers wanted to get anywhere near the Baron. As he walked through the spiraling castle, **Galliard**could just barely see through the bandage on his eyes gnomes passed out and hanging chained on the walls.

Meanwhile, **Caranorn**and **Seamus**decided they would sneak into the castle (leaving the rather-conspicuous **Smith**with the escaped gnome). The nimble thief **Caranorn**easily scaled the stone wall, but **Seamus**slipped and fell, alerting the nearby guards. **Caranorn**turned around to help his friend, but it was a very uneven fight. Soon Seamus was unconscious and the vicious Captain Kai was scaling the wall to finish off **Caranorn**. Much to his surprise however, the group of gnomish slaves he had been ignoring pulled the mercenary to the ground and tore him limb from limb.

**Galliard**was led to Baron Meliton's chamber, but the guards pointedly stayed outside. This Meliton was thinner and paler than the arrogant noble they had met at the feast on a few weeks prior. **Galliard**strode up the grand stairway leading up into Meliton's room, decrying Meliton for the monster he was. Meliton, angered but unafraid told the pesky adventurer that he had made his last mistake. Then just as Meliton approached and showed is sharp vampiric fangs, **Galliard**used his magic to cause the baron's shirt to be soaked with holy water, causing him to writhe in pain.

**Caranorn**, with the castle now firmly barricaded and his friend grievously wounded, decided to use the black coin to call on the imp T.I.M. He asked T.I.M. to heal the party and bring them together to Meliton. T.I.M. agreed that was a fair price for the coin. He briefly left for the Eighth, then returned and snapped his fingers and the heroes found themselves engulfed in flame but not burned, then standing in Meliton's chamber watching the vampire fight with **Galliard**. A couple seconds later **Smith** was there as well, emerging from another ball of fire.

Meliton shouted for his guards, but the door was firmly shut. So instead he called for his other allies, and dozens of bats broke through the windows to swarm **Caranorn**and **Seamus**. The vampire used his magic stare to tell Smith not to attack him, so he could focus on killing the first infuriating intruder. **Galliard**knocked the vampire away with thunder, but still got pretty viciously clawed apart. Fortunately **Smith**, though unable to attack Meliton, was still happy to help heal his friend.

## From the Dungeon to the Dragon

Though there were some close calls, the heroes, now united and at full strength, slowly gained the upper hand against their undead foe. About a minute into the fight another fiery portal opened and Iroas, fell through, landing on his butt, holding a mug of ale. A short while later **Hittsin Didsky** was there too, entirely naked. The heroes had no time to think about this though as they pursued Meliton into hall, where he fled to find easy flesh to drain of blood and regain his strength. An arrow from Seamus ended the baron before he could get to his helpless prey, and the baron dissolved into a dark mist, which slipped away under a doorway. Just then, **Mar**appeared, disoriented by being pulled from another dimension, but happy to be healed of his wounds and to see his old friends. After someone found **Hittsin**a cloak, Mar and him got to talking about the goings on in the underdark.

Meanwhile the rest of the party headed out into the hall, where there was shouting from one of the rooms. In it they could see the remaining human and elvish mercenaries squaring off against the dwarven architects over a pile of gold and other treasures. Before it could come to blows the party managed to broker a deal where the dwarves got to keep Castle Meliton, the mercenaries got the gold, and the heroes got the other treasures: the Eagle Bow, a Pick of Digging, a Golden Needle Compass, and the Harp of Thunder, a piece of the lost Quylun Quartet. Before they could get too distracted the party went to investigate the door dark mist of Meliton. The door, it turned out, was trapped and caused the roof above them to collapse, wounding multiple people and burying part of the castle in rubble. Fortunately (and completely unintentionally on the part of the DM) **Smith** had his new Pick of Digging and was able to quickly move through the rubble, until hitting an iron coffin the pick couldn't break through. He instead heated the metal lid to melting so they could break it open. **Galliard**then stabbed the reformed body of Meliton with a wooden stake he had made by breaking a staff in half. At that moment the dense fog surrounding the castle cleared and the animals returned to normal.

The heroes returned to Meliton's chamber to find **Hittsin**telling **Mar**that with their settlement still not secure, he could not risk sending gnomes into the Underdark to help **Mar's** people, the Tieflings, who from what **Mar** had heard were suffering from some terrible plague. The two of them went back to the Goblin Fort, while the party returned to Proklisi to rest and recover. Upon speaking with Iroas, however, they discovered that the Red Man had sent his agents into the Underdark to find a dragon who had the power to release Flaegomenos, the ancient red dragon who had sworn to destroy Larnaca. Having nothing better to do, the party decided to journey to the Underdark and slay a dragon.

The party arrived at the Goblin Fort and saw the outside totally transformed, with vegetable gardens planted, homes built, and repairs to the fortress underway. The door to the Underdark, on the other hand, was exactly as they'd left it, the gnomes having re-barred the door after **Mar** passed through.

After traveling down a dark tunnel for about an hour, the party came to a fork. There were signs in orcish (which **Seamus**could read) describing their three options: "The Voices of Madness", "The Endless Tunnel", or "The Lake". They opted for the lake. As promised, before too long the tunnel descended into shallow murky water, and widened into a large, domed room. The water was about knee-high, but with sudden drop-offs on each side of their path, invisible through the opaque water. The party made their way slowly and carefully. They were about halfway across the lake when they heard a splash to their left. Then another to their right. Then a barrage of teeth and claws erupted from the water on all sides, as four scrags attacked the party. It was a brutal fight, with the party fairly trapped on their thin spit of land, and the scrags continually healed by the water. The heroes had to pull the scrags out of the water to kill them properly. At least once a hero lost consciousness and fell below the black water's surface. But eventually they managed to kill or scare of the scrags, and limped across the lake to a crack in the far rock wall where they could tend to their wounds.

The fissure continued, going slightly upward, so the party decided to follow it. In some places it was a tight squeeze but in general it stayed about 5 feet wide, winding back and forth. **Smith**, who was leading the way, abruptly stopped when he noticed the nearly invisible wall of greenish jelly in front of him. Unable to retreat, with his allies blocking the path behind him, **Smith**was engulfed by the gelatinous cube which immediately began digesting the wood and metal of **Smith**'s body. The rest of the party backed away to avoid being eaten as well, but **Caranorn**noticed the pink tendrils of another cube sliding down the fissure from above them. Fortunately Galliard was able to send the pink cube up the fissure with a blast of thunder, delaying it for long enough the party could beat the green cube into a slimy puddle and free **Smith**. With the none of the party being actively dissolved in acid, they were able to make quick work of the pink cube.

The party continued on through the fissure, and not much further on noticed writing carved into the rock in Preatari "Whom do you serve?" **Smith**, a student of antiquities, immediately called out "The Emperor" in Preatari and the door opened revealing a small safe-house, and in it **Mar**. There they were able to rest and recover and **Mar**explained the situation. He had found his way to a Drow (Underdark Elf) city not far from where they were. He had met a few Tiefling refugees who had come from the Great Flat, and somehow survived and found their way across the Maze and the Zurkhwood Forest to the city of the the Drow. There they were treated terribly but they were alive, and away from the plague that was wiping out the Tieflings of the Great Flat. None were willing to show **Mar**the way back. **Mar** found his way to the Maze, but had not found his way across, and was near death when T.I.M.'s spell transported him to Castle Meliton and healed him.

**Mar**led them out of the fissure and into the Zurkhwood Forest, a forest of extremely tall mushrooms used as food and building material by the Drow. As they were making their way to the Maze, they heard a trumpet in the distance. In a panic, Mar told them that this was a warning that Lolth's followers were coming through. **Mar**and **Galliard**ran until they were a safe distance away. **Smith**buried himself in the ground with his Pick of Digging. **Caranorn**and **Seamus**hid in the trunks of the massive mushrooms. For minutes that felt like hours a swarm of spiders ranging from tarantella size to wolf size ran past. Driving them from the rear where half-spider Drow, the servants of Lolth. Once enough time had past, the party regrouped and continued toward the Maze.

The Maze is a wide region of sharp rocks emerging from every side. It's extremely difficult to get anywhere and even more difficult to keep track of where you're going and where you've been. As the party was traversing a high edge, they heard the echo of large creatures moving. Soon they saw three trolls, masterfully navigating the rocks, and prepared for combat. Mar had met these trolls before however, and knew they could be reasoned with. They were Bok, Nok, and Glod of the Magota clan. They offered to show the party the way across the Maze for 500 shinies, and protect them from the cruel Verdona clan. Mar had been given this offer before, but didn't have the gold, the party did though and were willing to put it together to cross quickly and safely. Their guides took them to the edge of the Great Flat, then disappeared back into the Maze.

The Great Flat was relatively flat, compared to the Maze, but was actually made up of sloped flat faces of rock, both on the ground and roof, so that the height of the cave varied from thirty feet to zero where floor and ceiling collided to form a wide column. You could only see as far as the next dip or ridgeline, but it quickly became apparent that the cavern was massive. The ground was covered in tiny white mushrooms, giving the appearance of snow. After some walking, the party spotted what appeared to be a village. They approached cautiously, but there was nobody there, other than a few spooked cattle-like creatures called rothe. The party moved on, and eventually found a village with inhabitants. After overcoming the Tieflings' initial fear, they were told that entire villages kept vanishing, and hordes of silent shadows had been seen. Mar stayed, to lead his kinsmen to safety, and the rest of the party journeyed on towards the source of the plague.

After a long stretch of nothing but grey and white, Seamus saw something on the horizon. He drew back the Eagle Bow, and in a single shot slew the shadow. Suddenly a horde poured over the ridge, but the dozens of shadows posed little challenge for the seasoned heroes and their magic weapons. Then, from over the ridge passed a serpentine shadow, at one moment huge, at the next invisible against the rocky columns. **Seamus** stayed back, firing at the dragon when it showed itself moving between columns. **Caranorn** moved up and took on the still advancing shadows, and endured the necrotic breadth of the evil worm. **Smith** and **Galliard**ran up the hill, and used their respective magic agents of sword and flame to surround and trap the creature, facing down its breath and claws and shadow servants. I do not recall how the final blow was struck, whether by sword, arrow, or spell, but eventually the great shadow could not endure and dissolved into black dust that burst out in all directions. Across the Great Plane it's shadow thralls faded, their tortured souls released to the god of death. And Flaegomenos, that evil creature of hatred and destruction, was thwarted in his desire to bring death and carnage the prime material plane. At least for now.