Not in a Tavern

## Present Party Members

* Sam Adamson
* Elamros the White
* Gavin
* Rhone Ilendottir
* "Id"
* Kelu Nalakiago
* Eris Discordia
* Bartholomew Blackheart

## Summary

As the sun set on the small, mountaintop town of Steephall, a figure stumbled down a rocky path. The halfling, Cerist, was beaten and bloodied, nearly dead. A small group of villagers happened to look out of their windows and rushed to aid him. He was brought to Steephall's healer, but to no avail.

As he died, his body rose from the table and began to glow with a strange, blue light. The healer was the only one in the room who didn't seem to notice this. The villagers, however, did. Whatever was going on was completely outside of their realm of experience. They tried to make sense of things, but ultimately were left without answers. What they did understand, however, was that whatever happened with the halfling was something that could result  in danger for the town. They buried his body, but not before obtaining a ledger that he had been carrying.

That night, the villagers who had been in the healer's hut had strange dreams. They were met with visions of war and unfamiliar lands and people. Well, all except for Sam.

The next morning, Steephall was met with a surprise. Even though it was far out of season, a group of Collectors came to town. They were searching for Cerist . The body was exhumed and shown to the Collectors , who seemed somewhat disappointed even though they had found their prize. They then declared that Collection had come early for this quarter.

Steephall  was on track for the regularly scheduled Collection, but certainly didn't have enough to fulfill the requirement so early. The Collectors  decided to take some of the children from the village to make up for the deficit. For Kelu , that was the tipping point. She attacked the Collectors , and soon the rest of the villagers who had been present the previous night quickly joined in. Overnight, something had changed in them. Many of them had gained the use of magic, while others were suddenly able to use martial abilities that would  have been impossible the day before.

All was not well, however. Though the Collectors  had been dispatched, they would not be the last, and the crime that they had committed would not be responded to with mercy. It was ultimately decided that it would be best if they destroyed the bodies and then left, hopefully earning some leniency for the town.

And so the party ventured forth. They were met with a choice of two destination: the Emerald Outpost or the elven city of Syngorn. Realizing that the former led to almost certain death, the party decided to go to the latter at the base of the Daggerbay Mountains. They weren't sure as to what they were going to find there, but were sure that it was better than what they were leaving behind.

As they were descending towards where they believed Syngorn  to be, they were beset by harpies. Sam  was enchanted by them and very nearly walked off of a cliff to his death, but was caught by the back of his shirt on a lucky branch. The harpies were defeated, but not without the entire party learning to have a healthy fear of the world around them.

Progressing onward, they came to a cave where they once again came up against the hostile denizens of the mountains, this time in the form of two meenlocks and clumps of purple mushrooms. They emerged from the other side of the cave system to see a great plain spreading out before them and many rivers and crags behind them, only just having begun their journey.