Sairina's Fireside Chat

*The evening Sairina and her party return to town, Sairina gathers a group of any adventurers who will listen near the fire to tell the tales of their return to Borin's Folly.*

The first day started out easy enough. We had a few new faces, **Furious** the elf monk, and **Sonnet** the kenku bard. This day was a bit clearer than the last time, and we were actually able to see the mountains to the north, and a large forest to the South. I believe I've heard it called the Hagwood. We were also able to see that large bowl of earth with a graveyard in the swamp that many of you have mentioned too. I can't believe we missed it last time, but like I said, it was really misty.

That night **Furious** made the most delicious meal of frog I've ever had in my life. Seriously, I've done my fair bit of adventuring and this is the best camp meal I've ever had. So if you're looking for a good cook on your next trip, be sure to ask him to come along.

While the day was fairly uneventful, that night was another matter. As I was meditating in my tent, I heard the sound of screams and shouts coming from outside. I burst out to find two frightening creatures attacking my companions. Clad in nothing but my meditation garb, I began pinging arrows at them. However, one managed to teleport INSIDE **Artemis'** tent! I immediately ran inside the tent, standing over **Artemis** who was still in his bedroll. I battled the creature inside the tent, and the nasty thing nearly destroyed it in the process trying to get away from me since I was blocking the entrance. Thankfully **Sonnet** was able to repair it.

Unfortunately we weren't able to repair **Artemis'** face... I'm sure you've seen the scar already. *Sairina nods her head towards **Artemis** eating dinner on the other side of the room*

The next morning these nightmarish creatures, I believe **Seonbi** said they're called "Meanlocks", melted into a pile of goop that smelled like burnt hair. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it in my life.

But, of course we continued on. The next day we passed right by that graveyard swamp bowl when we spotted a lizard folk in the road with its bow drawn! However, the closer we looked the more we realized it was not moving, and his coloring was grey, which was a bit strange. We then realized he was a STONE STATUE right in the middle of the road!!

Now, we all know what this means. There's a basilisk about! Later when we checked for tracks, we realized that there was a group of lizard men and a basilisk both heading along the road towards Borin's Folly. We were unsure which tracks came first and who was following who. Was it a basilisk chasing lizard folk or lizard folk getting revenge?

Now, as much as we felt we could challenge them both if need be, we had bigger fish to fry and a desire to go to Borin's Folly quickly, so we decided to bypass them and head off the road to reach Borin's Folly a different way.

The next day we reached Borin's Folly with a desire to head straight toward the forge. However, as we rounded a corner we were attacked by zombies! Yes, last time it was skeletons and fire skeletons and this time it was zombies and fire zombies! Honestly, I can't believe there were any more bodies to fight after the last time, but here we were, completely surrounded.

The zombies went straight for **Furious**, quickly bringing him down, as many of us pelted them from afar. I for one was using my bow, because I knew from last time that if you get up close to a fire undead you will get burned... literally. Remember, if you attack a fire zombie or fire skeleton, it will burn you, especially when it dies.

While we had the whole thing pretty much in hand, **Artemis** did have a very handy trick. I'm not quite sure what he did, but he was able to make most of the zombies afraid of us! So, the zombies started running, and we picked them off one by one. The magic is very interesting... it's like nothing I've ever seen before. The undead become frightened of the entire group, but if you hit them, somehow the magic wears off so they come back at you again. So we had to be very careful to only hit them one at a time.

While we were doing this, somehow **Fergal** wandered off and ended up by himself surrounded by zombies. Thankfully the minotaur is pretty strong, but we were able to rush down there and help him out so he didn't get swarmed and die. This, my friends, is why you've got to stick with the party!

Finally, we took a quick rest in one of the abandoned buildings. Honestly, I didn't really need a rest since I was still perfectly fine after fighting with my bow, but some of my companions like the monk, the bard, and the spell casters needed a bit of rest before we could head into the forge.

Now, this is where things get really interesting.

So we head down into the forge and spot a giant pool of lava!! There's a thin path along the edge that can only really fit one person at a time. Immediately we're attacked by two wolves made of fire and a fire newt that spat fire at us. Now, thankfully these creatures don't burn when you hit them so you can get up nice and close. I thought we had the whole thing pretty much in hand, when this flying creature burst out of the cave and started breathing fire on us from the sky!

At this point, many of the members of my party were urging us to retreat, but I still thought we had a fair chance... that was until this little evil fire fey cast magic on my armor that made it unbearably hot! Even so, I managed to push through so that we could form a defensive strategic retreat. **Fergal** and I stayed behind until everyone was out, and then as I went outside away from the creature, I realized my armor was still on fire! Thankfully the others were able to douse me in water enough to cool it down to take it off me. My skin is still pretty tender where it burned me. *Sairina pulls up her tunic sleeves to show them slightly red arms.*

Overall, that forge is nasty. I have no idea what dark fire magic is afoot down there, but I think it's best if we only go back with very strong warriors and magic users who've been tested in a few adventures first. This is not the place for novices.

I think it's also important to leave your metal armor and weapons in your bags and at your side. When I eventually go back down there I know I'll be wearing leather armor and shooting that evil thing with my bow. Then I can break out the sword for the wolves and the newt. Honestly, don't even worry too much about those things, and focus on bring down the flying creature.

While I'll admit it wasn't the success I'd hoped, I think we got some pretty great intel. But now that I've shared all of this with you, I urge you to not go back there without me. You'll need at least one experienced person to lead you back down there if you're to make it out alive.