The Battle Of Mara

The adventurer's have hired a carriage from Waterdeep to take them out on the road towards the town of Amphail. Once outside the walls of the city, the cold early winter air strikes them hard within the open carriage. So Princess Elora, grows a carriage cover made of twisted vines and green leaves. They ride in comfort for sometime until it becomes close to sundown.

Into The Wildlands

The carriage driver, shouts back to them whether or not he should be turning around. He is definitely not comfortable remaining outside the protection of the city walls, in the wilds over night. He stops the carriage and the group discusses their strategy. It is perhaps too far to the nearest town of Amphail, which they deduce that Lady Mara will probably target in her quest for a child sacrifice, to her demon benefactor. Perhaps she has already got there and chosen her victim. Rushing there might not be helpful. Better to cut their losses and lay in ambush, for Lady Mara on her return to Waterdeep, where they are sure she will want to watch her conquest over Messick and Azula.

The carriage driver has already turned his carriage around and is heading back, at speed, for the safety of the walled city. Only fools and protected caravans remain in the wilds for too long. The group decides to lay in ambush.  They find among the rolling hills of the surrounding landscape a nice spot and Messick orders his dog, Justice, to start digging. In no time, the dog has excavated a comfortable cave with a small mouth looking across a small valley in between the rolling hills.

On the other side of the small valley, they have Justice once again, excavate a small alcove, making it appear to be another cave. To complete the illusion, Azula stone shapes a statue of Messick, posed, as if in prayer and contemplation before a fire, which they set. They retire back to the other side of the valley and keep watch from their darkened cave.

A Decoy Messick

The night passes until eventually, the Messick and Azula are aware of several shapes crawling through the tall grass towards the decoy cave. It is too dark and the creatures too obscured by the grass to determine exactly what they are but they are definitely closing in from multiple angles towards the statue of Messick. From the safety of their cave, Azula summons several small gnaw demons to attack the creatures. The demons glow a bright blue, illuminating the grassy area, making them extremely noticeable.

The fight is quick, with spears thrown and the demons, dying with small crackling sounds and flash of blue light. During the fight a lone stalker approaches the decoy and throws a spear. It hits the statue with a metallic clang, and the spear drops to the ground. Now that the illusion is found out, the lead creature makes a noise and calls to the others and they quickly retreat away, stalking through the grass the way they had come. Done with the ruse, Azula dismisses her demons, telling them that they are free to do as they wish. The demons skitter off in an excited ecstasy. That is until the spell wears off and they are drawn back into the abyss. Azula, smirks at her cleverness.

The next morning, the group decides that whatever they do, Lady Mara will definitely be sending her envoys of demons to enact her revenge. After some debate, they decide they much rather face Lady Mara and her patron demon, on their own terms.

Demanding A Duel

They find a large hill with very little surrounding it, affording it a good long line of sight. They stand upon it's peak and, through the sending stones, call out to Lady Mara. They tell her that they will no longer run. They will no longer hide. They will stand here until they are met by her and her demons. Here they will take their stand and whatever happens they will accept their fate.

They stand there, each taking a portion of the horizon to scan. They wait until it seems perhaps that Lady Mara will not take their challenge.

That is until, there begins the lightest of rumblings below the hill upon which they stand. Gunter is the first to feel it. The rumbling grows into a shaking. Gunter decides perhaps being on top of the hill is a bad idea. He runs down the hill just as two massive creatures come up out of the ground at the top of the hill. The elemental demons are part earth and stone and part elemental energy. They immediately grab for the group, capturing Azula.

Azula is smashed repeatedly into the ground, as the drow falls unconscious.

Gunter, who had run off of the hill, smiles slightly at his own wisdom of not staying on a rumbling hilltop. But his moment is short lived as several small demons rush along the ground towards him. They spark with electricity as they begin to surround him. Gunter is able to hit them and eventually kill them, but with each hit they spark electricity back to him and soon he is felled by the demons.

Princess Elora is able to summon faeries and the faeries are then able to polymorph the group into a herd of tyrannosaur rexes. Now, as massive creatures they begin holding their own in the battle while Princess Elora also plants a totem and begins her healing power for the group and at the same time summons her giant wolves to aid in battle.

Death Comes For The Group....Several Times

Each of the group has a moment where they are close to death, some several times.

Finally, when the group seems to be running low on their collective health, the tide of battle seems to turn as one of the massive earth demons is felled. Seeing this though, Messick sees in the distance, Lady Mara demanding something of her demon patron. She points to the group in anger. The demon takes flight and with one swoop into the battle decimates the giant wolves.

It would seem the battle is not won yet.

Seeing Lady Mara in the distance, the group decides that their dying acts should be the death of Lady Mara. Each begin to make their way to the, now undefended, Lady Mara. But none of them get their before Princess Elora's massive parliament of giant owls.

The owls approach a clearly panicked Lady Mara. She holds an amulet around her neck towards the fast approaching owls. The ground opens up underneath them and tendrils of dark energy flow up and grab 6 of the owls out of the air and they are pulled down into the dark earth below. The ground closes back up, sealing the dead owls inside...but they are summoned creatures, so don't feel too bad for them.

The Death Of Lady Mara

The remaining giant owls descend upon the screaming Lady Mara. The group pauses as they can only see a flurry of feathers, claws and blood. The screaming abruptly stops and the owls separate and fly back into the sky, leaving only scraps of material which used to be Lady Mara.

With that they turn their attention to the late Lady Mara's pact demon. Gunter throws a hex at the demon but the demon easily avoids the spell.

They are in trouble.

But the demon simply stops, smiles at the group and slow claps. "Thank you. This has been very entertaining. This has worked out much better than I could have hoped for." The demon vanishes.

With all the demons vanquished and Lady Mara killed, the Messick calls for the giant owl with Lady Mara's head. The badly mauled head is given to Messick and he casts speak with the dead. He chastises Lady Mara.

Messick stuffs her head in a sack. He will have more to say to her yet.

Tracking Down Lady Mara

The group stands among the toppled chairs and tables of the Yawning Portal Tavern. They have finished off the last of the stirges and pushed the troll back down the hole that plummets down into the depths of Undermountain. They are quick to grab the promised reward of 25 dragons each for protecting the Yawning Portal from further damage from the escaping troll.

A Good Deed Rewarded

The young man who was hurriedly climbing the rope up out of the deep hole, pursued by the troll, thanks the group profusely. He is Floom. He had only meant to "ride the rope" to the bottom and back up again. The ride is famous and he didn't think there was much danger to it. How wrong he was.

A short stout gentleman in fine clothes approaches them. His voice is loud and bombastic and he thanks the group for saving his companion, Floon. He is Volothamp Geddarm. The one and only. He offers the group a drink and they all settle in at a large table. He is in debt to the group and his "pappy always said" never be in debt to someone.

Volo offers them a deed to a property in Waterdeep. It is a old tavern, the Trollskull Manor. It has not been lived in for some time but it has good bones. It just needs a bit of care and attention and it will provide not only a home but a possible business. No more moving from city to city, inn to inn. They can set down roots and have a place to call home.

The group is wary. It is rare to be given such a gift, without strings or complications attached. But Volo seems honestly to feel indebted to the group for saving Floom. He offers a carriage ride to estate. They drive through the cool early winter air passing from the more affluent parts of the city to the more middle-class area. The houses are smaller and less impressive. The people no longer dressed in finery but in more practical clothes.

Trollskull Manor

They finally arrive at a corner house which stands out among the shorter smaller houses. It stands three stories tall and is a prominent feature of the street. The windows are broken and the doors boarded up but the roof seems intact and the foundation sturdy and even. Messick asks about the history of the building. Who was the previous owner? Why is it for sale? Why is it still unoccupied?

Volo tells them that the previous owner, Lif, a half-elf, loved the tavern. He prided himself own running the most welcoming tavern in the ward. It was a safe and warm place. People felt a part of the family. He had not been the best business man and his profits dwindled until could barely make ends meet. Many times people had offered to buy the tavern from him and many times he had rebuked the offer. This was his place and he would run it until the day he died.

Well, he got his wish. One morning, the found him dead, his table rag still clutched in his hand. He didn't have family so his place went up for auction by the city. Volo was the successful bidder.

The group looks at it in the fading light of the setting sun and decide, perhaps returning to Trollskull Manor during the day.

Back at the Yawning Portal, as the group files in, a barrel-chested gentleman wearing a breastplate approaches them. Clearly he has been partaking in the revelry of Durnan's birthday as his speech is slurred and his manner is exaggerated. But never the less, the group hears him out. He has seen them in action and he believes they are just group he has been waiting for.

A Criminal Offer

The city's criminal factions, as well as some reputable ones, have been tearing up Waterdeep searching for some sort of treasure buried underneath Waterdeep. There has been violence and blood shed but no one has found anything. Nothing worth a guild war over anyway. But Meloon Wardragon has a plan. Search smarter. He believes that the treasure everyone is seeking is Neverember's treasure. Rumored to be buried under Waterdeep and only able to be found with a special map. He know where the map is. He just needs fresh faces to Waterdeep to be able to get it.

It resides in the Palace Of Waterdeep and the perfect night to get it comes in three nights. On Liar's Night, the palace will be holding an invitation only ball. If the group is up to the task he is willing to let them in on the caper.

But as the group discusses the matter, a couple of City Guard approach the group. Admonishing the newcomers to the city for hanging out with such a person of ill-repute is quite unwise. He advises them to steer clear of such filth. The group decides to let this lie for a while, since Liar's Night does not occur for another 3 nights.

A Visitor To The Room

Eventually, they each find rooms for the night, Messick being offered a free room by the now fairly inebriated waitress, Bonnie. Bonnie soon finds her way to Messick's room and is greeted by the sight of the half-orc in the rooms brass bath basin. She intends to join him but is soon pulled out by Mattrim, the local bard and finally Durnin, the proprietor himself. Messick decides a bit of privacy might be safer and pushes a dresser in front of the room's door.

Finally alone, Messick relaxes in his hot bath. The steam filling the room. His relaxation is cut short when something hidden hits him hard. Messick bolts from the tub grabbing for his sword as he makes his way to the door. Putting his back against the wall, he looks through the steam filled room using his magical lantern of revealing. He finds his attacker.

The creature is made up tendrils of condensed air, to make a crude humanoid form. It slashes and crushes with the tendrils of solidified air. It utters an odd language as it attacks. Using his sending stone, Messick calls to the others for help. Eda and Princess Elora bolt from their shared room to Messick's room on the other side of the tavern. Shirley and Azula are out exploring the docks looking for Azula's drow contact, Jarlaxle Baenre.

Jarlaxle's Ship

Shirley and Azula move through the dark and dreary dock ward. Most of it's street lights are broken leaving only pockets of light revealing broken down warehouses and shops. One shop that is noticeable is a shop with, what looks to be a stuffed beholder in its window, lit by purple light. They enter and find a gnome with silver hair. He welcomes them to Xoblob's Curiosity Shop. He welcomes them to find any curiosity and he will tell them it's story.

Eventually, they move on to the docks where they find a rowboat waiting for them. They are taken to a large sailing vessel. Aboard they meet a flamboyant drow, dressed in dark robes and large hat with a large feather sticking out of the side of the hat. Azula tells him he is to return to the drow house and help in transporting the army and supplies to Daggerford. He is hesitant. It has been many years of which he is not under the thumb of the drow matriarchy. He enjoys his life of travel and entertainment. Azula, though reminds him of his place and the consequences. Jarlaxle reluctantly agrees to disembark as soon as possible.

An Envoy Of Lady Mara

Meanwhile, back at the Yawning Portal, Messick is trying to fend of the attacks of the creature while Eda and Princess Elora are trying to get through the blockaded door. Messick is pummeled again and again until only his orcish half saves him from unconsciousness. Princess Elora is able to rip a hole in the door large enough to allow her to fly through and she quickly summons a pack of wolves to begin shredding the air-like creature. Eda meanwhile blasts at the door until it shatters and shortly the creature is vanquished but not before Princess Elora hears its unearthly cries and understands it as "You shall pay for your betrayal".

They know the creature is from Lady Mara.

The next morning they head out to the Trade Ward in search of magic items and weapons. They take in the sights and smells of the city. It is a bustling and vast sprawling city. In several wards they can see towering over the buildings, off in the distance, colossal statues of humanoids wielding weapons. Frozen in various fighting poses, they stand in among the buildings of Waterdeep. Finding many of the stores affordable they finally decide to revisit the Mage's order back in the Castle Ward. There they may be able to use Eda's new membership into the guild to their advantage.

They find the short elderly man, again at his desk. They ask if they can purchase the scrying spell. They are asked to fill out various forms and finally ushered into a small room. Soon a young wizard enters the room. He asks, looking very bored, if they have the proper forms. The group produces the forms. The wizard glances through the paperwork making sure of its completeness. Finally he produces a crystal globe and begins the spell ritual.

They begin their scrying on Lady Mara.

Looking For Lady Mara

The image shows a young woman in the woods tending to a fire in a small camp site. She is talking to someone the crystal ball does not show. The group tries to get a sense of where Lady Mara is. It is difficult but they do narrow down that is must be a bit east of Waterdeep. They begin addressing Lady Mara through her sending stone. At first she is reluctant to respond, lest she let out too much information but soon she is goaded into talking.

They use the fact that she doesn't realize they can see her and try to trick her into thinking that Messick's patron, Lady Sirius, is more powerful and omniscient. Finally, Lady Mara begins to get frustrated with her demon patron. She starts demanding that it do something to the group. They must be punished. The demon tells her that she will need to perform another sacrifice. An infant might suffice. Lady Mara asks angrily where she might find in infant in the middle of the woods. The demon tells her a town is but a days travel south.

That narrows down the search for the group.

They plan to have Princess Elora summon her giant owls and they can find Lady Mara and put a stop to this dangerous girl.

Into Waterdeep

It is the next morning after the battle with the alkilith infestation in Delfen's Tower. The group awakens in the relative comfort of the Ducal Castle. The servants bustling about making preparations for the morning meal, making sure to set aside ample water. The shortage of water in Daggerford due to the damaged cisterns has not impacted yet upon the Ducal family.

The Drow Proposal

As the adventurers gather in the main hall in the castle, Azula presents the Duke with her proposal. The drow would provide a battalion to provide protection to the city, as well as food and water to sustain the city in the coming winter. In return, the city would provide trade to and from the Underdark, and thus profiting the drow house. The Duke's councilors argue and debate but the Duke realizes the position his city is in; Agree to the agreement and the city survives;  Decline and it might not. He shakes hands with Azula and promises that if the drow betray and injure anyone in the city he will make them pay.

(Trade Agreement)

Meanwhile, the others move about the city, checking in on various people. Junia, at the Happy Cow Tavern, is dealing with refugees that have moved in to her establishment. Many have made makeshift partitions from their meager belongings, providing a little sense of personal space. Junia is busy making more stew from the potatoes that Princess Elora has grown for them. Princess Elora agrees to find a small plot of land nearby and plant some carrots for the hafling.

An Uneasy Feeling At The Tower

Finally, the group finds themselves reassembled back in the Delfen's tower. Messick wakes the young man responsible for the tours of the tower; it's owner, the wizard Delfen still missing. The group moves up the stairs into the library where they see a bleary eyed Eda, still desperately trying to transcribe as many spells as she can before the group moves on. Eda is hesitant to leave such a treasure trove of arcanic knowledge but she agrees with the group that they must move on.

Princess Elora feels a shudder of revulsion, similar to the one the day before, when they had encountered the vine-like demon creature. It's twisting of nature abhorrent to her. It is faint and passes but she tells the group that something is still here. She uses Messick's lantern of revealing, moving it's light steadily around the room, but can find no invisible source of her disturbance. It is then that Princess Elora turns the lantern and finds an old woman staring up at her. Princess Elora gives the lantern back to Messick, the old woman clearly not the source of the disturbance, but she is odd in her own right.

A New Addition To The Group

The old woman introduces herself as Shirley Bane. She has watched the group now for the past few days and is intrigued. She proposes that she can help the group with their quest, whatever that might be. She might be old but she still can prove worthwhile. The group looks at her unsure but Messick is quickly won over when the old woman provides a handful of lint covered candies from her pockets and gives them to the half-orc.

They decide that they should move on to Waterdeep. It is the most likely place to start looking for Delfen and where the demons seem to be searching for the orbs of dragonkind, to what end is not quite clear to them yet. But first they must try and speak to Lady Mara. Their last words were not pleasant ones, and this has to be remedied.

The return to the Ducal Castle, now a familiar sight to the young guards. As they enter the castle proper, they ask one of the senior guards the whereabouts of Lady Mara. The guard reassures them that Lady Mara is safe and secure within her quarters. He will not allow them access. Messick, though, convinces him that he believes that she is in grave danger. There are demons about and he is worried that Lady Mara will do something rash.

Lady Mara In Peril

Convinced of the threat, the guard moves quickly up the stairs, the group following close behind, and down the open hallway until they find themselves in front of an ornate set of double doors. The guard knocks loudly and calls through the door that if Lady Mara does not answer the door by the time he counts to ten, he will let himself in. He begins counting loudly, but by the time he is halfway through, his fears get the better of him and he flings the doors open.

Inside the room, are the furnishings of a young noble woman. A large four poster bed sits in the middle of the room, unslept in, it's curtains still tied back to the posts. Fine dressers and tables line the room and a dressing/makeup table catches the eye of the old woman, Shirley. The guard and the others find on the far side the bed, an area of the floor cleared and a large circle of poured salt lying upon the cleared floor. Shirley, uses this distraction to pilfer much of the valuables off of the dressing table quickly, hoping no one witnesses the theft.

The guard exclaims that Lady Mara was clearly taken by a demon and calls for the guards to ring the alarm bells and begin searching for Lady Mara and her attackers. Messick is not so easily convinced. When the Duke arrives, running in a near panic hearing his daughter is missing, Messick turns on the Duke. He chastises the Duke for not keeping a close eye on his daughter, like he warned him. This is his fault. She was clearly disturbed and looking for an easy path to power.

Lady Mara and a Dark Pact

Princess Elora searches the room and finds small bits of what look to be vines near the window. As she scours the rest of the room she comes across a large potted plant. She then begins her ritual to speak to the plant. Asking the plants aura to tell her of what happened in this room recently she gets flashes of images and emotions.

She sees Lady Mara, weeping inconsolably, not allowing anyone in her room, refusing meals and company. Finally, one night as she holds her puppy that Messick had gifted her, she calls out to someone...or something. She begins praying and begging. She then takes the dagger that she had in her hand and draws it slowly, deliberately and deeply across they puppy's neck, killing it almost instantly.

It is not long after that dark green vines begin creeping their way in through the window. It continues faster and faster as the vines bunch up and pile upon each other rising higher and higher until if forms a rough humanoid shape. It speaks with Lady Mara and Lady Mara nods her assent. The creature touches her forehead and begins to creep back out through the window, pulling with it the body of the dead pup. When the room is empty and dark, Lady Mara pulls her hand across her head, passing over her face. As she does so her visage and clothes change into that of one of the servants and she turns and calmly leaves the room and presumably the castle.

When Princess Elora finishes telling the group of what she had seen through the plant, Messick becomes enraged and turns on Gunter. He yells at Gunter that he is responsible for putting those thoughts of demon pacts into her head. If not for him, she would still be here and they might have still been able to show her the way into the adventuring life, she so desired.

Then, with his rage spent, Messick turns his judgment onto himself, taking part of the blame for the fall of poor Lady Mara. He tried to do the right thing. If only...

They decide to leave Daggerford.

Still Infested Tower

Returning to Delfen's castle, they go straight to the 3rd floor, where the teleportation circles were. Once there, Princess Elora feels the shiver of revulsion once again. But the vines are dead; desiccated and brown. But still the feeling persists. Shirley hobbles, staff in hand tapping away on the floor stones, over to the workbench where the mass of dead vines is most accumulated. Moving some of the vines, she sees new growth underneath. She tells the others who move closer to see. Moving the vines has exposed the new growth and the odd pattern it has made on the wall and ceiling where it apparently is coming in from. The growth seems to be entering the tower through small gaps in the stones, which form the shape of a door.

Messick and Azula push hard on each side of the door trying to open it, but it does not budge. Their strength equally matched but not able to move the stone door. The old woman then walks up to it and pushes it gently on one side, and the stone rotates exposing a stairwell on the far side.

A Pod Demon

They move slowly and quietly up the spiraling stone staircase until they come to the top. At the top the stairwell reveals the top of the wizard's tower. A cold grey sky above with drifting occasional small soft snow. Standing in the middle of the tower's roof is a large green creature. Vines grow and emanate from the creatures body and snake across the tower's roof searching for ways into the tower itself. Luckily for the group the creature seems to be standing with it's back to them, staring up into the empty sky.

Each of the group prepares, and with a nod, begin to unleash their combined powers. Within seconds, the creature is being ripped apart by giants owls, clouds of daggers, toll the dead and being hexed until it cannot even move. But the demon  is not to be defeated so easily.

Pieces of the demon drop off of its body. The pieces shudder and vibrate and then explode in a green acidic spray covering Azula and Shirley. Their bodies drop and their skin hisses and melts with the massive amount of acidic ooze covering them. Princess Elora is ready though and begins her healing totems and soon everyone is back up on their feet attacking the vile demon.

Under the powerful adventurer's combined might the demon quickly is defeated. But the last bit of green bile, the creature drops, forms a mouth and, in its last dying gasps, it laughs at the group and tells them, "she is still ours. You have not saved her." The vines connected to it begin to wither and die; the death spreading rapidly down the vines.

Moving back down the stairs the adventurers gather around the teleportation circle, which Gunter has determined goes to Waterdeep. They stand and look at each other, but growing impatient, Shirley steps in first.

One by one, they all step through.

Into Waterdeep

They all find themselves in a large circular stone room. Large discs of stone stand on edge arranged around the walls of the room. Each has different arcanic markings, teleporations circles to other locations. The one they stepped through still glows with the magic that transported them here.

Leaving that room they find themselves at a large semicircular desk with an elderly gentleman seated on the other side. He greets them formally and welcomes them to Waterdeep. He then tells them that they owe dragons for both the use of the teleportation circle, the entrance tax and the monthly Waterdeep tax. He asks that each of them write their names upon the large leather bound ledger that lays between them on the desk. If they are illiterate then they can thumb press a bit of blood instead. One by one they do, Princess Elora's name and title, Princess Elora Moonlily, bloom of the twilight
flower, heir of the the fairy kingdom, daughter of king Saffron the Just, takes up several lines of the ledge.

When it comes time for Shirley to sign the ledger, she bends down, talking to some creature only she sees, and quickly rises back up, presses her bloody thumb to the ledger, leaving a massive thumb print. Much bigger than her thumb would seem reasonable should leave.

Then Eda is told that she is required to register with the Mage's Guild, in case the city needs to conscript her into action, in times of need. There is no choice in the matter, but she may choose if she wishes to join the Mage's Guild, at a cost, but it would then provide her with all of the resources the guild can offer.

Delfen Was Here

The group asks if a young woman, by the name of Mara, has come through the teleportation circles lately. The man, for a fee, will let them look through the ledger. The find no entry of the name Mara but do notice that about two tenday ago, the entry of Delfen of Daggerford, is entered in the ledger.

Yes, Delfen, a regular, has come into Waterdeep but has not made his way back to the Mage's Guild that he is aware of.

Messick's mind though is excited at the prospect of a massive city. He whispers to the clerk asking where he might find female "entertainment". He is directed to the Dock Ward. They

Finally, bidding them a "Happy Durnan's Birthday" he sends them out of the Mage's Guild building and into the bustling streets of Waterdeep.

Asking about they find a group of youngsters that are willing to show them the way to The Yawning Portal, where they might get a free drink on "Durnan's Birthday". The kids scamper ahead, always within sight showing them the way. Shirley finds that some of the jewelry she had stolen has in turn been stolen by some of these street urchins. Kids will be kids.

The Yawning Portal

Finally arriving at the Yawning Portal, the crowd ever thickening as they draw closer, they enter the tavern. Inside is a massive three building, with all floors open and overlooking the middle of the tavern, where resides a massive hole. The hole is lined with a short wall of stones and a winch system has been erected over top of the hole allowing a people to be lowered down into the Yawning Portal. Currently a rope descends into darkness as the group peeks down the deep dark hole. Even with some of their superior dark vision, they cannot see the bottom.

The group moves about seeing the sights of the odd tavern. A collection of odd paraphernalia line the walls; A lute with it's strings missing;  a large clawed hand that seems to still move; a glue glowing crystal shard; a bloodstained map; a sword, pitted and cracked.

Azula moves up to the top floor and in a shadowy corner finds three drow, dressed in sailors garb. She asks them, using drow hand signals, if they know the whereabouts of a certain drow, Jarlaxle Baenre. They laugh. That is their captain. His ship is currently docked here in the city.

Meanwhile, on the main floor, a barrel-chested man sits at a table near the yawning portal, his feet up on the table and a time piece in his hand. He pronounces that it has been ten minutes. The poor lad is certainly done for.

Something Emerges

It is then that they see the rope trash and move. Shouts of excitement go up and several men start to haul on the winch bringing up the rope from below. People move closer and several, along with the adventurers, approach the edge of the hole and look down. At first they see nothing but rope being hauled up and then they begin to make out a figure on the platform that rises up towards them. After that, they notice above the platform, a small figure climbing frantically up the rope. The scale of the image thus changed, they realize that upon the rising platform is a massive creature with the young man scrambling up the rope trying to escape it.

The young man, bloodied and scratched climbs up and out of the hole, and seconds later, as the men on the winch let go the rope, a large hand reaches out and grabs the wall on the edge of the hole. The massive hand of the troll pulls the rest of the body up and over the edge and into the tavern. Followed closely behind it is a swarm of small red bird-like creatures with long needle-like beaks. Some of them are already attached to the back of the troll.

Durnan, from behind the bar, yells, "10 dragons to anyone who helps remove this troll from my tavern!". A shout of drunken cheers rises up throughout the tavern as people begin to attack the troll. Most are flung quickly and roughly through the air by the troll.

The group looks at each other and decide to join in. Besides the bird-like stirges begin attacking them. But all it takes is an attack with Princess Elora's thornwhip which pulls the troll back over the edge and plummeting back down the yawning portal, a summoned demon still attacking it all the way down.

The young man who climbed out of the hole, holds on to Eda's cloak and thanks her profusely.

Eda shrugs and tells him to make himself useful and kill these stirges, as she hands him an hand axe.

Delfen's Castle

The adventurers return to the surface from deep within the cisterns of Daggerford. They are fairly certain that they have removed the source of the problem, in killing the purple wormling and the bulette, which were being controlled by the alhoon.

Once again in the daylight, on the grounds of the Ducal castle, they find a guard and make him call for the Duke. Once the Duke arrives they tell him that the cistern issue is now solved. The Duke seems wary but thankful. Princess Elora tells him they might need a mason, or two or ten. There is a lot to repair below. The Duke begins to realize the extent of the danger the city was in. He shares his frustration in that the city wizard, Delfen, was of no use when the city needed him. In fact, he hasn't been seen in at least a couple of tenday.

The Ducal Offer 

The Duke then offers the group the same position that had been Delfen's for several years, that of city protectors. It would come with some pay, resources the city could provide, meals and supplies, as well as full use of the Delfen's tower. The group seems not to be too interested in the position, Messick tosses handfuls of copper coins on the ground, as a display of his wealth. Several of the castle staff pause and watch eagerly waiting for their chance to "clean up" the mess. The Duke implores the group to not dismiss the offer to quickly. To see the city and take in its simple pleasures and treasures.

Gunter, tells the others that he is excited to just go see Delfen's castle and Eda, who was previously distracted perks up when she hears that she might have access to a wizard's castle. Who knows what new spells she can acquire. The group leaves the Ducal castle.

Messick grins, when he hears behind him, the Duke sigh and tell his staff to go ahead and "clean up" the coins. Then a rush of staff descend upon the mess of coins.

Azula remains behind the group, and approaches the Duke. She has seen the plight the city suffers from. Demon attacks upon its people both within and without its protective walls. The city lacks in  resources: food; water; and now guards, since the last attack. She is willing to provide a solution.

A Trade Agreement Offer

A trade agreement between the city and her drow house. The drow can provide protection and resources from outside the city, while the drow would have access to new trade partners, through Daggerford. The Duke is dubious. Drow are merciless and untrustworthy. Why would he entertain such an offer? Why would he allow an army of drow inside his walls? He is thankful for the assistance Azula has provided but he is wary. Azula reminds the Duke of the hardships the city will soon face as winter approaches. The Duke concedes and agrees to hear Azula's offer, which he tells her he will review formally the next day.

Meanwhile, the others approach Delfen's castle. It is easily the tallest structure besides the castle in the city. It is build joined with the western wall, near the farmer's gate. It towers above the city wall. The group approaches to find the large double doors standing ajar. Inside is only darkness and quiet. They each draw their weapons and carefully open the door and move inside.

Delfen's Castle

Once inside, they see an open main room. A large wooden table occupies most of the space. A dim torch flickers dimly in the far wall. From the faint light they can see the form of a body sitting in the far chair, its chest and head draped face down upon the table. Wordlessly, Messick and Gunter gesture and they move in unison, each around the table in opposite directions. Messick approaches the figure from behind, while Gunter approaches from the front, the loud groan of floorboards betraying his movements. Their blades drawn. Gunter clears his throat. There is no response. Gunter then smacks his sword, flatly upon the table.

The loud metallic clang, awakes the young man from his deep sleep and startles him awake. With a jolt he sits upright and bleary eyed, takes in the armed group standing in front of him. Calmly, he begins...

The Tour

"Welcome to the Castle of Delfen, the city protector, the mage of endless age. Feel free to move about the main floor as you wish. Please refrain from entering the locked room", he gestures to the door behind him. "And please obey all the rules clearly posted.  Oh and tips are accepted.", the young man removes his hat and places it upside down in the middle of the table.

The group stows their weapons and curiously move about the main floor.

The castle is a simple affair. The large table taking up most of the main room. In the corner below the stairs leading up is a large stone statue of a knight. Messick closely inspects it, looking for movable joints. The others move room by room, discovering the young assistant's quarters, a kitchen, a pantry and service steps. Beside the locked room is a room barricaded with vertical metal bars. Inside this prison might be blood stains, but it is hard to tell due to the amount of filth within.

Finally, Gunter approaches the locked room. Noting there is no key hole, he pulls out a scroll and reads from it. The scroll lights up and gently disintegrates in glowing fragments as the spell is released. The door clicks open.

Inside is a nicely furnished room. A comfortable bed and side tables. A bureau of drawers and a work desk.The group immediately begins to rummage through the desk finding several magic items which they quickly stow away in backpacks.

Please Keep Library Books in the Library

Moving upstairs they discover the castle's library. It is a vast library with bookshelves taking up almost the entire floor of the castle, save for a large table with an ever glowing bright candle upon it. At the top of the stairs at the entrance to the library stands a small metal sign post. It reads: "Please keep library books in the library." Books are strewn everywhere as the shelves are no longer sufficient to house them all. They are stacked in ragged towers on the floor, on the top of shelves, and in chests. The group immediately begins perusing the shelves.

Azula grabs book after book, tossing some upon the floor while keeping others.

Eda finds a spell book sitting upon the reading desk in the middle of the room. She begins flipping through it. Some spells she recognizes, some are new to her, while others seem incomprehensible, the script and designs completely foreign to her. She pulls out her scholarly equipment and begins to find which spells she wants to copy over to her own spellbook.

Princess Elora, meanwhile, flutters above the floor looking around and suddenly feels a gust of wind blow by her wings. She quickly glances around and notices nothing to explain the source of air movement. Thinking quickly she produces a dandelion seed. Holding it in her hand she encourages the magical growth, as it spouts, grows, blooms and then goes to seed, all within seconds. She holds the dandelion, a grey ball of seeds up and the trail of the puff of wind pulls the seeds. They flow towards the stairs and then slowly fall to the ground. Odd she thinks.

Gunter, wanting to test the rules of the library, grabs one of the books and walks towards the stairs. As he approaches the sign post, a blinding bright white light glows from the signpost, it then shoots out, arcing electricity towards Gunter, striking him in the chest. The thunderous sound leaves the group suddenly and temporarily deaf as they all turn to see Gunter, with a large smoking hole in chest fall towards the ground. Just as his body would have hit the floor, Gunter disappears.

Acting on a hunch, Messick rushes back downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs he sees inside the small prison, the body of Gunter lying lifeless upon the floor. The young tour guide, sighs heavily as he gets up from the table, "I told you to obey the signs." He moves towards a hidden compartment behind the statue and retrieves a vial of red liquid. Messick recognizes the potion of healing and grabs it from the young man. Messick also looks into the compartment and takes the remaining other 3 potions.

He then approaches the cell in which Gunter lies and is able to touch the bard's forehead. He heals him bringing him back to life...at least somewhat. Gunter stands and nods. He tries his strength against the bars and finds them unmovable. In fact, he discovers they are in fact immovable rods, all except two. He sets his pet ooze, George to them. Very soon George has dissolved the metal and the two bars fall with a clang upon the floor.

They return back upstairs.

Together the group decides to move further up the tower's stairs. Eda though doesn't wish to abandon her new trove of magic and decides to try and take the spell book. After performing dispel magic upon the signpost, she slides the book along the floor past the signpost. Just as the book would have past the signpost it is halted and the same arc of lightning burst forth from the signpost and strikes her in the chest. It would seem her dispel magic wasn't quite powerful enough.

The group rushes back downstairs to the prison cell. There they find Eda, with a still smoking massive hole in her chest. She is near death. Almost beyond the point of healing. But they are able to revive her and they continue own. Eda though decides to use her time to remain in the library and continue her transcription of at least some of the spells.

Delfen's Favorite Memories

The floor above the library is a richly furnished banquet hall. The light here is dim, provided by small torches along the wall. The torches illuminate 4 beautiful and detailed tapestries hanging upon the stone walls. In the middle of the room are two large banquet tables and several ornate chairs. The servers entrance on the far side shows where the small circular stair well goes back down to the kitchen.

Gunter moves from tapestry to tapestry looking at the intricate weaving of details scenes. One depicts a small simple farmhouse beside a large wheat field. Another shows a picnic scene upon rolling hills with a small stream beside which dozens of people of all ages enjoy a warm summer day. Another shows a desolate dark night scene of a destroyed and burned forest surrounding a castle upon a summit, its walls crumbling. And the last tapestry shows a desert with endless sand dunes below a huge red sun.

Home Sweet Home

Gunter approaches the farmhouse tapestry and finds he can enter it. Inside the tapestry he steps into a warm summer day. The wheat in the fields gently sway in the warm breeze. He steps into the old farmhouse. Inside he finds himself in a delicious smelling kitchen, food still stewing in the pot over the stone oven. A small human woman enters the kitchen and her face lights up with joy.

"Delfen! You're home! Oh it's been so long. You look like you need to eat.", the short stout woman says lovingly. Dusting her hands on her apron she pulls down from the shelves a large wooden bowl.

She ladles heaping amounts of thick stew into the bowl, placing it in front of Gunter. She then cuts thick slices of fresh bread for dipping into the stew for him. She peppers him with questions of his well being and his adventures. She shouts for "Father" to come in and see their boy.

Outside the tapestry, Messick watches as a woven version of Gunter moves slowly into the farmhouse. The tapestry weaving and re-weaving to move the figure slowly, as if in a slow flip-book animation.

Finally, Gunter re-emerges from the tapestry and greets the others with a huge grin. Reaching into his backpack to show them the amazing amount of awesome home cooked food he has brought with him. His smile slowly fades as he realizes that his backpack no longer contains the trove of bread and meats it did, when he was in the tapestry. With that he also realizes he is really hungry now. The food eaten within the tapestry not really being of any substance.

Hearing this Messick is eager to enter another tapestry.

Delfen The Saviour

Together, Messick and Gunter enter the dark castle tapestry. Once entered they are soon greeted by an armored horseman, who beckons for Delfen to follow. The troll army is almost through the line. Gunter jumps on the back of the horse, the knight not seeming to notice. As the horse begins to run, Messick finds himself racing through the air, as if he had cast fly upon himself.

Soon they arrive at the front of a battle. Mounds of dead soldiers are used a defensive barriers to the dozens of trolls who attack with impunity. Everyone they pass implores Delfen to save them. Messick orders the men to use fire as their weapons! Soldiers begin to douse their swords in flaming tar and arrows are lit. Soon the troll attack line is hit with fireball after fireball and finally a meteor storm slams into the trolls from above.

As the trolls fall beneath the firestorm, people begin chanting, "Delfen! Delfen! Delfen!" As Messick is hoisted upon shoulders as he is celebrated for saving the kingdom.

Moving back out of the tapestry they decide to try one more tapestry.'

A Love Remembered

Inside this one is a beautiful spring day. The grass is green and soft beneath their feet as they walk slowly down the slope of the hill towards the picnic beside the river. Families and lovers abound. Games are played and food is passed around. As they descend the hill people begin to part in front of them, waving joyously at the adventurers, calling them "Delfen." As the crowd moves before them, a lone woman is revealed. A young plain woman in a simple plain dress stands waiting for Delfen. The sun seeming to shine on her just a bit more than the rest of the scene. She smiles and it is plain to see upon her face, the love she holds for the wizard.

The day is passed with food and friends begging for Delfen to come join in a game of rounders, but the Gunter and Messick, spend it beside the young woman who has eyes only for Delfen.

Leaving the tapestry, the darkness of the tower's banquet room seems all the more sad.

They decide to steal the tapestries.

A Glimpse of the Invisible

Princess Elora meanwhile has felt the gust of strange wind again upon her sensitive wings. This time she is ready. She holds Messick's Lantern of Revelaing. Moving its light, directed by its shutters, she scans the room. She gets a brief glimpse of what might be and arm, but an arm made up of air itself. It immediately, escapes out of the light and Princess Elora is unable to find it again, even after giving chase.

A Corruption Of Nature

Moving on up the stairs they come to a large open area. Upon the floor are several arcanic circles which glow slightly. On the far side of the room, vines have begun to encroach into the castle. Oddly they grow and spread but avoid the arcanic circles upon the floor.

Princess Elora, feels a shudder of revulsion as she enters the room. Something here is not right. Nature itself is being corrupted and defiled.

Gunter notices, underneath a viney growth, a worktable. A worktable in a wizards tower has to have something powerful. He rushes across and pulls at the vines covering the table.

The vines pull back.

They move and twist together. In second they have twisted and pulled together to form a creature which then attacks Gunter. Without enough time to react, Gunter is hit and some sort of maddness or delusion afflicts him and he stands, unmoving, unable to attack.

The others push into the room and begin attacking the creature. Princess Elora summons giant rats which swarm the creature. Azula and Messick hurl spell after spell but little seems to affect the creature. Meanwhile, Gunter mumbles to himself about the voices.

Eda, still downstairs in the library, calls back to the group, via their sending stones, as to why Gunter is talking gibberish. They explain they are being attacked and she runs to join them.

Soon the swarm of giant rats is destroyed by the vine creature so Princess Elora summons wolves to attack.

Gunter eventually regains movement, but uses it only to flee across the room, still under the effect of the madness.

Finally, with Messick's spiritual weapon the creature is destroyed.

Gunter, having his emotions calmed by Messick, during the battle, rushes back to the table to pocket whatever magic items he can find. Eda returns to her transcription work.

All in a days work.

The Cisterns Of Daggerford

Daggerford is overrun with refugees.

The areas surrounding Daggerford has been plagued with attacks from all sort of beast and demon in the past couple of tenday. Travelers knew it was bad outside the walls of a protected city but the violence and destruction has increased as of late.

Inside Daggerford, inns are full and The Commons, the grassy area surrounding the ducal castle is now filled with tents filled with families seeking shelter from the violence in the surrounding areas.

Princess Elora flies through the Commons planting apple seeds and magically maturing them until the whole area is now an orchard and the people cheer her as she flies through.

Messick's Secret Mission

Messick, leaves the group and seeks out Lacene, the woman who had lent him her farm's workhorse for his mission to protect the caravan a few tenday ago. He finds her and thanks her with coin. Then with the aid of a few locals he learns that the best place to look for dogs, would be at the guard barracks and adjacent stables. There he finds a squire packing up the belongings of several of the newly deceased guard. The attack on the walls by the demons has left the city with a fraction of its guards. There is indeed a dog, Sir Peter's dog, a greyhound is now homeless since Sir Peter didn't have any family. Messick thinks on this but he is sure a puppy would suit his purposes better. Making his way to the stables he finds a mother collie and two of her pups. Messick picks one and places it in his backpack.

Eventually everyone gathers again to return Junia to her tavern. Run by her sister-in-law during Junia's absence. Junia finds that under the ducal order, all taverns must take in as many refugees as they can, regardless of their ability to pay for lodging. The Happy Cow Tavern's common room is now filled with families trying to make a living space in such crowded circumstances, their meager belongings stacked into makeshift dividers for a sense of privacy.

The Cistern Mystery

As the group moves through the city streets, they hear of rumors of the cisterns, the city's water supply, having run dry. There is a growing shock and worry as each cistern is found drained. Lady Mara, a newly minted and self described adventurer is eager to get to the bottom of the problem and help the people. With the aid of Gunter's disguise kit, she runs to the nearest cistern opening and asks what the group plans to do. She is ready to climb down.

Her obvious inexperience and over-eagerness worries the others. They do their best to explain that one doesn't just jump into the unknown without a plan. "Splitting The Party" is never a wise thing to do. Messick tells Lady Mara that they must seek out the Duke, her father. A good adventuring group lives on the proceeds earned from such endeavors. He asks if she thinks she can pull off seeing her father. Lady Mara is confident in her new disguise and decides it would be alright, especially if she hangs back behind the others.

Where is Delfen

As they move through the city, they hear decries of "Where is Delfen?!?" "Why do we have a wizard if he's not here to help?", "Delfen help us!". Passing bits of conversation also hint at the fact that he in fact hasn't been seen for at least one or two tenday. The group heeds it little mind, they are the solution the city needs.

Gaining An Audience

Together they move through the city approaching the gates to the Ducal Castle. Two very young guards attend the gates. Their armor and uniforms fitting loosely on their smaller than average frames. They aggressively halt the group. The adventurers ask for an audience with the Duke and say they can help with the cistern problem. The young guards, unsure of themselves, aren't convinced. Eda, the wizard, approaches them and tries to intimidate them but the sight of her hairless cat familiar horrifies them. One of the young guards screams, "Demon!" and stabs the cat through with his halberd. "Demons are in the city!", he yells.

Eda screams at them but before she can cast fireball the others intervene and de-escalate the situation. Eventually, they gain an audience with the Duke. Inside the walls of the Ducal Castle all is quiet and empty, compared to the crowded constant noise of the rest of the city. The Duke, followed by a trio of regular guards, approaches. Messick steps forward and explains that the group can help with the city's recent water problem....for a fee. Pausing only briefly, the Duke agrees. Messick then turns to Lady Mara who is a little surprised that Messick would draw attention to her. He kneels down in front of her, reaching into his backpack he retrieves the stray pup and places it Lady Mara's arms, then places his massive hands upon her shoulders.

The Curse Of Lady Mara

"I'm sorry.", Messick says truly seeming to regret something. He keeps repeating the apology to Lady Mara who can only look on with confusion. He continues his "I'm sorry" and stands bring Lady Mara up and off her feet. He turns and presents Lady Mara to the Duke. The Duke looks on in shock as he realizes it is his daughter.

Messick explains Lady Mara's bravery during the caravan's attack and her subsequent desire to be and adventurer. They could not keep her in Triel. Her enthusiasm combined with her inexperience will be her death, Messick explains. He tells Lady Mara that with training and devotion to Lady Sirius her day will come when she can truly call herself and adventurer but until that day he will not let her come to a bad end. Hopefully she will come to realize the wisdom in this and hopefully find the group again. Until that day at least she can be safe.

The Duke has her taken away by two of the guards. Lady Mara curses Messick over and over, vowing to get revenge for this betrayal. Messick implores the Duke to provide here with proper training, lest she decide to escape her enforced life once again. The Duke thanks the group and decides to provide them with a larger compensation, if they are successful in solving their cistern problem. He seems to put little thought or stock in the idea of training his noble daughter in the ways of murder hobos.

Azula, rushes up to Lady Mara who looks excited at the prospect of being rescued from this horrible mundane life by the dark elf. Instead Azula roughly begins removing the chainmail shirt that she had lent Lady Mara. Lady Mara resumes her cursing of Messick and now adding Azula to her list of those who will taste her revenge!

The Cistern System

The group, a little unnerved by the whole ordeal, take solace in the fact that it had to be done. She wasn't ready. They all confirm this to each other with small stories of her inexperience, her recent attempt at jumping down into a dark unknown cistern. They make 'tisk'-ing sounds and shake their heads sadly. Then gather at the nearest cistern and descend.

Beneath the city, the cistern system is a collection of connected stone lined chambers, intended to catch rain water and store it for the city's consumption. The cistern's walls and tunnels are still wet, the dripping sounds echoing through the vast complex. The water here was emptied very recently. But how?

As they cautiously move through the tunnels, they quickly come across sections of newly tunneled earth. After some quick investigation they conclude that some massive creature has tunneled this out, making a way for the cisterns water to drain away. They feel the ground beneath their feet rumble ever so softly. They pause but when the rumbling stops they continue on, moving through the new and roughly excavated tunnels.

A Wyrmling, A Bulette and an Ilithid Walk Into A Tunnel

As they hear more rumbling, this time more loudly and violently, the ground in front of them breaks open and a large worm like creature rises up and out of the ground. It attacks.

The group retaliates, Princess Elora conjuring up an army of giant rats. Soon the wymling retreats back down the hole it emerged from. The group pursues, following the trail of disturbed ground. They emerge into another constructed tunnel system connecting more cisterns. This tunnel too is broken with even larger roughly excavated tunnels breaking the cistern's seal.

An even larger hole breaks ground, and a massive, bulette climbs out of the hole and attacks. Princess Elora sends her giant rat army to attack while Eda summons a storm sphere around the creature. Azula, seeing the horrifying vision, flees down the corridor only to be stopped by the wyrmling emerging up out of the ground in front of her.

From somewhere down the cisterns tunnel, someone or something casts spell after spell upon the group. Messick moves further down the tunnel towards where the spells are being hurled. He encounters an odd looking ilithid. It wears dingy black robes fringed with odd bobbles which might be small skulls.

Azula, closes in on the magical ilithid, and proposes a bargain, in which the ilithid can remain alive and have power only a drow can offer. The creature turns to Azula and tells her that nothing can match the knowledge promised to it.

Negotiations failed, the group finishes off the creatures.

<someone finds something magical inside the wyrmling>

Azula rifles through the robes of the ilithid and finds a small vial, green liquid sloshes inside revealing a small tentacle inside.

Messick casts speak with the dead and questions the ilithid. It tells them that it was promised secret forbidden magical knowledge from Kenavu The Undying, as long as it delivered the city of Daggerford to her. Oh and yes, the potion isn't magical, it's a snack.

With that the group decides to return to the surface and claim its gold for a job well done.

Returning To Daggerford

The group returns back to Triel, bringing with them Lorick, the gnome, whom they were asked to recover. Riding on the backs of the giants owls, summoned by Princess Elora, the group alights back down in the city's main square.

By now, the sight of the adventurers and their parliament giant owls is a common sight, and one which brings a throng of excited people. The crowd cheers as they see their beloved gnome returned to them. Lorick is quickly whisked away by the guards who have been waiting for the gnome's return. He is needed to repair the magical augers which are used to load the harvested grain into the storehouses.

The group returns back to the Singing Wind Inn, to find their companions from Daggerford. The others are excited to see them back. They ask when they might be on their way back to their homes in Daggerford. The group begins its preparations to begin the long journey back. But first they decided to check in on Lady Mara.

Arriving at Lord Elvar's mansion, they find servants busily preparing for the wedding. Elvar's son, tightly holding Lady Mara's hand, barks out orders and is excitedly pointing out decoration features and plans to Lady Mara. Lady Mara doesn't even attempt to feign interest.

Lady Mara shrugs and pulls at her confining corsett and dress as if they were shackles. She is excited when she sees the group. She is eager to hear of their adventures. They fill her in but this seems only to fuel her excitement while increasing her frustration at her predicament. They tell her that they will leave in the morning.

Love and Coin Lost

In the morning, after securing horses and wagons, and a fine riding carriage for Gunter they begin to load up their belongings. Gunter is smitten with a fine young women, Gwen Primrose, whom he met in the Singing Wind Inn and, now under her charms has told the group that he is off to travel with his lady love. He bids the others good travels.

Messick is not convinced of the veracity of this newly pronounced love and he is able to pull Gunter aside and speak with him. Once Messick is able to overcome the charm spell he and Gunter return to find Gwen Primrose gone, along with all of Gunter's money.

The group then decides to say their farewells to Lady Mara, and they approach the mansion of Evlar The Grainlord.  Once at the Lord's grounds, they seek out Lady Mara. The bustling staff pause only briefly to tell them that she is indisposed at the moment. When it becomes apparent that the group will not leave without seeing Lady Mara, a elderly matron whispers to the group that the young Lady Mara, has "the trots" and is in the indoor outhouse, the newest thing. It is probably just wedding nerves.

The Great Escape

The group pushes past her and is finally able to find the door to the privy, guarded by two ladies-in-waiting. They call out to her but there is no answer. Suspecting a ruse, Messick calls the others to leave, while he casts a sending to Lady Mara, telling her to meet them at the city gate as they are leaving in a few minutes. This is her chance.

Messick immediately receives a message back in a flurry of excited words, "You'd be so proud of me Messick. I've tied together large wedding napkins which I was to be folding, and I've created a rope and...", the message trails off as she has used up the limit of the spell. But Messick gets the gist.

When the group arrives back at the gate, they find Junia and the others in the caravan, awaiting them, ready to leave. The group looks around for signs of Lady Mara but can find none. Deciding to leave and hope that Lady Mara will eventually catch up with them, they leave the city gates. Once out on the road, the group talks about what they think might have happened to Lady Mara. Princess Elora, hears giggling from atop the carriage among the luggage and Princess Elora's tree friend, Heim.

Lady Mara, bursts forth in dramatic fashion which results in a round of cheers and smiles. She wastes no time in telling the others of her adventures in the escape as they travel down the road heading back to her home of Daggerford.

On the road, Messick decides to do another sending, this time to Elvar The Grainlord. He tells the Lord to seek out the dragon's lair in the nearby mountains in the Forest Of Wyrms. There they will find a dragon corpse. It must be destroyed. The Grainlord is dubious but agrees.

The days pass as the group travels the wild lands, the dangerous lands that lie between settlements.

A Boon From A Stranger

On one day, Princess Elora flies through a nearby wood, collecting berries for the stew, when she hears the sound of a rough tin bell, clanging in the distance. Carefully she flies up into the canopy of the woods in the direction of the sound. She soon finds the source, a sloped back donkey with a bell around its neck. Slowly leading the donkey is a stooped elderly man. He is thin and his clothes are threadbare. As he walks close by underneath the tree in which Princess Elora hides, she uses her sending stone to tell the others what she sees. They ask if she is in danger and she replies that she is unsure.

Just as the man is about to pass by the faerie, he pauses and looks straight up at her. He looks at her and smiles and asks if she might have something to eat. It has been a while since he has eaten. Princess Elora carefully flies down and produces her trove of berries which she has just collected. The man's face lights up with joy as he scoops mouthfuls of the berries and is soon satisfied.

He smiles gently at Princess Elora and says that "one good turn, deserves another". He nods and Princess Elora feels a rush of energy from within. The old man then turns and, makes a quick sound to his donkey and they continue their slow walk through the woods.

Princess Elora has just been granted a boon by an old and almost forgotten god.

Webs In The Night

The day pass once again as they continue their journey.

One evening, as they setup camp, a cold rain mists down upon the caravan and during the watch Azula and Messick seem to notice movement in the surrounding woods. As they awaken the rest of the party, several giant spider-like creatures descend from the treetops and attack.

The group is harassed by the spiders first capturing them in their webs and being pulled in towards the creature's pincers and stingers. Eda is pierced right through and held by a sharp leg and unable to move she is stabbed and bitten repeatedly.

On the other side of the wood a different spider-like creature attacks from behind. This one with more human like arms and a face. It wields a staff and the group finds that it can use magic to protect itself as well as sling damaging spells at them.

As they are finally able to destroy the creatures, the spider-like creature with the human face, as it lies dying pronounces that it will be them that will suffer once "He Who Smiles" arrives.

Arriving Just In Time

After just a few more days, they are excited with the fact that they should arrive back in Daggerford that day. The road has been long and tiring. As they move through the thinning woods a few of them smell a faint odor of smoke upon the breeze. Azula, climbs the nearest tree and sees smoke rising into the air from the direction of Daggerford.

The group speeds along towards Daggerford and once the walls are visible, they see a hoard of demons attacking the city. Two Tanarukks force dozens of small demons with long arms to climb the walls and attack the guards. The group rushes in to aid the city. As they fly upon the backs of Princess Elora's giant owls they drop down on the wall and stand to defend along with the rest of the guards.

As the vile demons scrabble to the top, they release, in unison, a lightning burst which decimates the guards numbers. This happens again and again until there are no more guards left, just the adventurers. The group spreads out to attack the demons while the tanarukks finally make their way to the top of the walls and try to make their way deeper into the city.

Thankfully, the group is able to stop them. When the sound of battle ceases, the hiding citizens emerge and approach the group and begin to thank them. It is then that the group sees that the city is densely packed. It would seem, people from all of the surrounding areas have taken refuge behind the city walls in the days since they have been gone.

Things definitely seem to have gotten worse. As they do.

Kill The Dragons and Leave Their Corpses

Waking the next day, the group talks about their fallen companion, Sylvannas and then turns its attention to the newly added member, the drow Azula. Having a drow with them may present problems as some might not take kindly to a drow, having the reputation for being cruel and untrustworthy.

Knowing that Lorick, the gnome tinkerer, is still missing and they haven't been able to get through the caves back in the Forest Of Wyrms, the group prepares to leave early. Gathering their supplies as Princess Elora, again, summons her giant owls.

A Few Remaining Gnolls

Flying upon the backs of the giant owls, the group finds their way back through the Forest Of Wyrms back to the small mountains. Returning to the cave where they had lost Sylvannas and nearly lost Eda, the group finds a few remaining gnolls that are prepared and waiting. But they are little match for the combined power of the group.

Moving their way through the caves, they reach the vast cavern with the silver dragon corpse still there. Making sure that no one can activate the releases on the winches, dropping the stone blocks once again, they find a passage way that leads out of the main cavern. They enter the smaller cave. The first thing they notice is the large arcane symbol drawn upon the floor. Small candles placed around the symbol glow faintly. A small shrine with an open book upon it sits in a far corner of the cave. Underneath a small ledge on the other side is a steel cage door. On the other side, trapped, is a gnome. He calls out for help.

Rescuing Lorick

It is Lorick. He is almost more happy about his clockwork mouse invention having worked than the hope of possible rescue. Princess Elora shows it to him but it has long since wound down. He tells them to hurry and get him out. She will return soon. She has just left but he could see where she went.

Gunter sets his pet ooze to work on the steel bars while the others look around.

An Evil Acolyte

The group goes about trying to destroy or at least disturb the arcane symbol upon the ground, while extinguishing the candles around it. They keep watch for anyone entering the cave, which should be easy since there is only one entrance. But as they move about the small cave, a woman dressed in mages robes appears, as she releases herself from the invisibility spell, at the top of the ledge and she casts cloud kill smothering most of the group.

As the group retaliates and begins to move out of the poisonous cloud the mage then casts evard's black tentacles and the ground turns black and several of the group are attacked. Both Messick and Gunter are able to get to the top of the ledge and soon the evil wizard is killed.

A Dark Purpose

In among the wizards belongings are a book and several scrolls. The scrolls are messages from someone, written in abyssal, giving instructions to kill as many dragons as they can, leaving their corpses behind untouched. Preferably leaving the corpses in hidden or secluded places. Other scrolls speak of working with the arriving demons to help break the planar barriers to the Abyss. And one scroll emphasizes the priority of finding the Orbs of Dragonkind. The best evidence supports them still existing somewhere below Waterdeep.

Waterdeep makes sense due to the existsance of the dragon mythal, an ancient magic which keeps all dragons from the city.

Lair Of The Dead Dragon

After the devastation that occurred in Lorick, the gnomes hut, the group returns to Triel to have the priests revivify the gravely injured. They return to the Singing Wind Inn to rest and regroup.

The next morning, the group gathers in the common area of the inn and decide what to do. Princess Elora places the mouse on the table and it continues to move and gesture, over and over, in a specific direction.  They decide to follow it's directions.

Princess Elora summons her parliment of giant owls. The group mounts the owls and take flight. Soon they are back at Lorick's home and the mouse continues to gesture in a direction that takes them towards the Forest of Wyrms. Finally, approaching the Forest, the clockwork mouses movements become slower and slower until fails to move at all. Briefly looking at the mechanism, the group cannot seem to figure out its workings, so decide to just to their best to continue on in the same direction.

The Forest Of Wyrms

Moving deeper and deeper into the forest, they begin to encounter odd mineral spikes of metal jutting from the ground, rocks and even trees. The odd spike seems have a small animal impaled upon it. Blood dripping down the spike. Strange markings are on various surfaces. Drawn in blood on rocks. Carved into tree trunks.

The group moves cautiously through the ever thickening woods. The group hears the snuffling sounds of a large animal. Before they can really make out what the creature is a bear comes charging out of the trees ahead and charges at them. It's eyes are red and it froths at the mouth and attacks with a wildness and ferociousness that is disturbing. The adventurers are able to make short work of animal but now dead, nothing seems odd about the creature.

Madness Seeps In

Princess Elora casts speak with plants and the forest around her gives her images and impressions. She sees a short time ago, the bear that attacked them, in a small clearing with her cub. She is dozing in the warmth of a sunray while her cub playfully climbs on her and jumps off over and over. The mother bears eyes then go red and she rises up, grabbing the cub and biting it's head off. It then hears the group moving through the woods close by and it charges. Princess Elora cuts the vision, as she knows what happened next.

Messick and Eda both seem still in battle mode as they look fiercely around for more creatures to fight. Eda bites into a hacked piece of raw bear meat while Messick says they should push on. They need to fight whatever is ahead. Their behavior is odd but the others try to give them the benefit of the doubt. It soon is obvious that they suffer from a similar madness that had inflicted the bear and Gunter has to intervene with magic.

Still determined the group continues through the woods. They soon come to the foot of a series of small mountains. A trail is easily picked out among the rocks and the group climbs up into the mountains, still following the direction the clockwork mouse had given them.

A Dangerous Gorge

Further up into the mountains they come across a deep gorge. A fast flowing river rushes a hundred feet below them. A small rope bridge connects the two sides further up ahead. As they approach the bridge, several gnolls come out of hiding on the far side and begin hailing down arrows upon them. Princess Elora sends her giant owls to descend upon the creatures. Soon the gnolls are no more than ripped shreds of gnoll meat from the talons of the giant owls.

Across the rope bridge and around the bend they come to a cave opening. Carefully peering into the cave they see several more gnolls in waiting. They decide that they need to rest, at least for a bit. Princess Elora's giant owls can handle this. The group retreats inside the sanctuary of Eda's rope trick. Unfortunately, inside the cave, the giant owls no longer have the advantage of swooping in and the gnolls act together in a pack and quickly the giant owls are destroyed.

Feeling rested the group descends out of the rope trick and are able to kill the remaining gnolls, even the one lying in wait to ambush them, as they find a small crevice to pass through, surprising the gnoll from behind.

Cavern Of The Dead Dragon

Further on, they find a massive cavern with a river running through it. The vaulted ceiling ascends into darkness. The sound of the fast rushing river entering and then exiting the cavern echoes off its far walls. A silver dragon corpse lies have immersed in water. Bodies of gnolls and other humanoids are scattered throughout the cavern. Most are burned to piles of ash or cinders. Messick climbs atop the dragon's corpse with Princess Elora fluttering above him. Messick casts speak with the dead and the dragon tells him of a great battle with many gnolls and demons. He killed many but finally succumbed to their numbers.

Eda wanders off exploring the cavern. Sylvannas rushes to follow and protect the wizard.
Eda finds a gnoll standing on a ledge above her. He knocks a level near a large winch. The winch spins releasing several feet of thick chain. The sound of rumbling sliding rock can be heard echoing throughout the cavern. Huge stone blocks fall and block the exits including the river's egress.

The Flooded Cavern

The river's flow begins to fill the cavern. Water rises up to the group's calves within seconds. Soon Messick is surrounded by water standing at the highest point on the silver dragon's corpse. Eda and Sylvannas are soon in deep water and can feel something swim near them. They are immediately caught in something's grip and pulled beneath the surface of the water.

Princess Elora summons her owls to grab Messick and fly him over to the ledge where the gnoll was spotted. The half-orc tries to turn the winch to raise the stone blocks and drain the cavern but soon calls for help to Princess Elora who flies down to help. Several crushing tentacle attacks later and both Eda and Sylvannas die underneath the churning water. Messick and Princess Elora are able to slowly turn the winch and eventually the water and the mystery creatures leave the cavern. They find Eda unconscious and are able to save her. The body of Sylvannas is found upon a pile of flotsam left by the receding waters.

Among the flotsam they find several piles of gold coins. Realizing that this was once a dragon's lair, the group quickly moves about looking for more treasure hoard. They are pleased when thy find a massive pile of coins, gems and magical items. In among the magical items they find several stones that while looking very mundane are in fact sending stones.

Deciding that they are injured and can do Lorick little good if they are dead, the group leaves the cavern. Heading back through the forest to the relative safety of Lorick's home (or remnants of his home), carrying the body of Sylvannas with them.

As they move back down through the mountain trail, they meet a drow, Azula Tlabbar. She tells them that she has been tracking the movements of numerous demons from the Underdark up to the surface. The group allows her sanctuary within their party and they continue back to Lorick's home.

Arriving back at the gnome's home they present the body to Sylvannas' squire. The squire thanks them and leaves taking the body back to their home.

The group returns to Triel to rest in relative saftey. But they plan on returning to the cavern of the dead dragon.