Day 36, Adamantine Mine (north of Candor’s Eve)

Moments later, the earth opened up in a blaze of molten rock and fire, swallowing us. I landed on a ledge above the rushing river, which continued to flow beneath the mining camp. I was able to maneuver my way around to Xan, who was unconscious on another ledge. Denithor, who managed to escape falling into the cracked ground, jumped down and joined us.

A short distance away we heard a booming voice shouting what sounded like orders. A tunnel, which appeared to be bored out by some unnatural creature, led toward this voice. We followed the sound to an underground mine. Human slaves carried ore into a huge cart, while a giant flaming blob-like thing oversaw the scene. More creatures – living forms of magma in the shapes of dogs – guarded the slaves. The giant overseer threw a wet blob of ore toward us, which sent the dogs after us. We ran back up the tunnel, and the dogs gave chase. My companions ran ahead, and one of the dogs charged me – its heat was unbearable.

We escaped back up to the surface, and more magma creatures exploded up from below. These flew, like giant molten herons. We made short work of them, and they died in fiery explosions, and we decided it was time to leave this mine camp. We fled out onto the plain, and had a cheerless camp.

Day 37, plains

Khan found Streak, who had escaped the mine camp the day before. We agreed to meet the following day at a cave. As we made our way toward the meeting place, Khan made us aware of six giant stone forms that were approaching us, surrounding us in a wide circle. These were shaped like giants, but made of stone. They dragged enormous swords behind them, plowing the ground as they went.

We rushed for their perimeter, so as not to be surrounded, attacked and destroyed one. Soon, we realized that my blunt arrows were the best weapon against them. As we continued to create distance from them, they joined together into a huge stone creature. Denithor fought bravely, engaging in direct melee. He luckily dodged several mighty blows of its fists. Xan summoned elementals to fight it, but it turned them against us. I rained arrows on it as quickly as I could, but it was finally Denithor’s skill that brought it to rubble.

We reached the cave, met our companions, and decided to camp for a week to resupply ourselves.

Day 38-44, Cave

Making arrows and hunting.

Days 28-35

Mestrik and Streak continued aiding a merchant caravan from raider attacks. In their battles they connect with a mighty paladin by the name of Marcus Caine. Little is known about him so far, but he has a thirst for adventure and has agreed to travel with our party for an indefinite time.

Xan and Denithor spend more time getting to know one another at Candor’s Eve. Den accompanies Xan on a trip back to the place where they first met to recover some buried items left behind before the party’s fall to the Order’s ambush.

Kahn relays messages between the two groups and a middle ground at a river’s fork is selected as a meeting point. Den, given leave from serving his order for a time, agrees to go with Xan to meet up with the rest of the group. He is cautious about acts of retaliation from the party but takes Xan at his word of protection and goes along in his effort to better understand the true nature of this group that he had attacked earlier. Xan continues to hope that Den can be won over to help them free Brother Gravel.

Xan and Den arrive first at the river fork and make camp a ways away from the unassuming camp there to avoid drawing attention.

Day 36

The two groups come together, but on opposite sides of the river. The party looks to use a crossing port by the fork camp. There they meet an ambassador of sorts in a man named Ivan. He is clearly a foreigner and seemingly the only one there that speaks common. The group gets a sense that the camp is more than what it seems, but it is without guards and provisions. Ivan agrees to let the party use the crossing in exchange for food. A LOT of food. These people are nearly starving, their supply shipment and additional guards have gone missing for weeks.

The party agrees to help. Everyone gives up some rations, forages around for food and helps to improve their fishing nets to help with there food shortage.

Everyone finally gets a chance to meet one another. As to be expected, Mestrik takes issue with the presence of Denithor. Xan tries to explain the utility in having his help but Mestrik is unconvinced. Den and Mestrik banter a bit regarding religion, the Apostasy, and Brother Gravel but before anything is resolved there is an attack upon the camp!

Three giant fish men attack the camp apparently looking to eat the inhabitants. The party fights them off and earns the appreciation of the camp. The group in talking to Ivan some more notice that they he and the rest of the inhabitants have been stricken with some sort of skin disease. We are left with the impression that they are slaves to the adamantine mining operation going on below. It is possible that they are from a far away land under the control of an ancient evil group of Aboleths.

It is suggested that the camp should try to trade some of their ore for food from the city but that does not appear to be an option for them. A ship is expected soon that will take the ore and hopefully bring them more supplies.

Denithor expresses concern that Candor’s Eve should be notified of this potential threat to the city and Streak would prefer to get message back to Wibalk at Fort Ash.

The group continues to debate what to do next…

Oh, mighty Migram grant the human Jacob Kingstar entrance into your Holy Cloister for reforging. I am told he was killed by a coward in cold blood because of me I will not let his death be in vein. He was a tormented man with a heavy burden grant him some peace from his haunted existance by reforging him into an honorable badger or an industrious mole.

Grant me the wisdom to teach these humans how to commune and reconnect with the Gods as you showed the dwarves in ages past they have lost their faith. I will not loose mine.

Day 26 cont.

After the tragedy of Ravek’s passing the party took their leave of the druid’s deadly garden.

A pyre was set, noble words were spoken, and the warrior’s ashes were sent high up into the heavens next to the garden wall. The place was marked to warn all others of the dangers lurking on the other side.

Shortly thereafter a message was received from Streak that Mestrik’s help was requested in combating some raiders. The archer left and the rest of our group headed back to the slaver camp to hopefully aid the captive that was left behind.

At the site we find someone the others knew from their time in the slaver camp named Abraham. He was in bad shape but we treated his wounds and brought him back to consciousness. He ended up being a cleric with some impressive healing skills of his own. We didn’t have much time to get acquainted before we were attacked!

Out of the calm came a blinding flash of light. We were assailed by three unknown brigands intent on subduing us and taking us captive. There was a close fight that we ultimately lost that cost Jacob his life. There was a moment where I wondered about the intentions of the warriors. It was curious that were trying to subdue us with non-lethal force. Were these good but confused people attacking us as part of some mistake. Or were they bounty hunters looking to claim a prize by bringing as many of us back alive as possible, sent from the Chief of the Slavers for killing his son. While I was hidden in the darkness I was ordered to surrender or they would kill Jacob. I believed surrendering wasn’t going to aid my plans to help Jacob and Gravel escape later, so I stayed silent and fled hoping either that Jacob was too valuable to them alive than to kill him out of spite or that perhaps they were good people after all that didn’t believe in killing innocent hostages.

Once again I was tragically wrong in understanding and predicting the actions of humans. The last sound I heard as I retreated was the terrible impact of a crossbow bolt killing my friend.

Later they made camp and I plotted to rescue Brother Gravel. As they rested I planned to cast sleep on the one awake guard but he heard me casting and alerted the others before he fell asleep. At this point their leader threatened to kill Brother Gravel if I didn’t surrender and I did with the agreement that I’d be allowed to speak on behalf of Brother Gravel’s trial, as I learned the reason for their attack. They believed Brother Gravel had done something illegal for believing in Torag. I tried to convince him that he should be judged by his actions as they had seen us put down the evil orc slavers and come to rescue Abraham but he wasn’t interested in anything I had to say.

Day 27

At the city there was a farce of a trial. I was never given a chance to speak on Brother Gravel’s behalf. He was deemed guilty and whipped over and over again as he made a brilliant display of dedication to his god. Many marveled at his strength to endure such a beating, and with the help of his healing powers it was a miraculous stand. Ultimately though, he was beaten into unconsciousness and sentenced to hundreds of years of hard labor in a prison mine

After the trial the rogue looked upset at what happened. I told him a great force for good was put down this day and he looked moved by the ordeal. Instead of accusing me of being a witch, he gave me back my spell book that he suspected of being something unlawful. I’m not sure what to make of the gesture. He seemed interested in finding out more about what we were really all about and not just what he was told about us. I have no love for this man, but if talking to him will give us information that we can use to help free Brother Gravel then he is a welcome tool.

Comrades! Weep not for our fallen ally shed not one tear. For Migrim shall claim his soul for reforging, smelting him down to pull out his impurities. Ravek will truly be transformed. The Taskmaster shall roast Ravek burning off his base natures the savage beasts that lives in us all, Wrath. Then Magrim will apply heat unknown on this mortal plane to his soul, this will reduce Ravek further separating the impurities that weakens the soul, separating out Gluttony Lust and Avarice. In the finally stage of smelting, flux will be applied to Revek’s molten soul this will combine with any weakness in his intellect, Vainglory, Pride, and Sloth, letting them float to the top and be released. This final stage will allow Magrim to reforge his soul without impurities and return it to our mortal plane. Weep not Comrades today is a great day for Ravek he will enter Magrim’s Cloister to be remade stronger faster and better than before.

We stand beneath the heavens and above the earth

to pay respect to our fallen warrior, Ravek

whose passing was so quick and tragic

Eventhough he was physically imposing

and intimidating there was a reserve of compassion

beneath his gruff orcish exterior

when his humanity shone

The sun has finally set for you

my friend

I hope wherever your spirit goes

may it find eternal peace

within the light of the guiding star

Day 26 — Ash Woods

Khan flew in to tell us that the slavers were very close, a matter of minutes. Brother Gravel and I quickly formulated a plan: We would pick off their scouts, then use our horses to keep distant and draw them out into the open. Besides orcs and their goblin lackeys, they also had a beastmaster with a terrible creature. I believe it was Ravek who identified it as an Oorg, a terrible cross-breeding of an orc and ogre. Or some such. We didn’t take the time to ask about its parentage, but that’s in a moment. We planned to take down Li-kra and the beastmaster first, hoping this would add chaos into their ranks.

Scanning the tree lines, we didn’t notice the goblin scouts until they were practically on top of us. I shot one, and two more jumped up from their hiding places and fled, screaming. This alerted the entire camp. We rode down the scouts, then went ahead to meet the raiders.

Li-kra was indeed among them, shouting orders to an insolent gang of orcs. Ravek told us that the slaver seemed to have lost face after his first failure with us. I fired the first shot, which knocked him from his horse (and probably did nothing for his pride). According to our plan, I then retreated a short distance.

The beastmaster released his enraged Oorg, which ran forward blindly. Cob cast his color spray on it, knocking it cold. This was fortunate, because the beast would have torn him to pieces.

We continued to rain arrows on them, and they didn’t have a chance. Li-kra watched his hunting band fall, one by one, and then tried to flee. He was much too late. A few well-placed arrows and the battle was over.

The orcs had the strongest shortbows we’d ever seen. Not one of us could even pull back the bowstring. At any rate, we took the bows, hoping to sell them in Fort Ash — if only as oddities.

As Brother Gravel and I tidied up after the battle, a commotion arose between Ravek and Xan. Ravek wanted to leave Li-kra alive and send him back to the Slaver’s Ranch as a message. Xan wanted him dead. This seemed like an incidental argument, until Xan cut off the slaver’s head. This angered Ravek, who attacked Xan. We broke up the scuffle, and went to see the Druids.

We wanted to visit the druids because we believed they might have maps or information on the Monastery, the Angels, or Xan’s people. The druids’ garden was above Fort Ash, at the edge of a rift in the ground, where an earthquake had apparently separated the garden from the town itself. This left the town some 30 feet below the garden.

The wall around the druids’ garden was thick and well maintained, while the wall around Fort Ash had been in terrible disrepair. We threw a rope onto the wall, and Ravek climbed up. As I was waiting my turn to climb onto the wall, we heard a shout. Ravek and Xan had gone down into the garden and were being attacked by a carnivorous vine. I climbed onto the wall as quickly as I could. The vine was winding around their legs and torsos, then constricting like a snake. Xan just barely escaped back onto the wall. Ravek was not so lucky. We shot at the vine, Xan summoned a fire creature, Cob attacked and cast spells, Brother Gravel sent wave after wave of Torag’s healing power. But it was no use. We watched Ravek slowly suffocate, his eyes bulging.

It was a strange end for the warrior. He had only moments ago broken free of his bonds from the Slaver’s Ranch. Breaths later, he was bound to another. It is said that we have our destinies. Perhaps it was his life’s purpose. Perhaps his freedom from the slave ranch was his life’s purpose. I am not one to ponder such things. Cob was his friend. I’m sure he would have insight on our companion’s life and death.

As we stood dumbfounded at our misfortune, a druid appeared from the trees. He was angry that we’d killed his plant, though he seemed completely unconcerned about our friend. This was Ebolan. He was quite unwilling to help us, and seemed ready to attack, until Cob smoothed the situation.

Ebolan gave us some information: clearer directions to the Monastery, the location of another druid grove where we might learn more, and a request that we return to him with seeds of a certain plant. I barely listened, still in shock over Ravek’s death. We parted with Ebolan. It was a high price for such small knowledge. I hope that our reception at the Crooked Bow Monastery will be warmer.

Day 24 — Fort Ash, Full Moon

It is written: shortly after the Beginning of Time, after Torag had forged the world, us Dwarves, and Ale, his creations brought the first evil into the world. Two foolish and evil-hearted dwarves (for they were thieves and murderers) found their way to Torag’s forge. Drunk, they threw coals from Torag’s forge into his cooling stream, then stood urinating on the edge of the stream. The steam rose until the defilers couldn’t see, and they fell in. The tainted water killed these two drunkards instantly, and they rose up as vile undead, twisted images of their former selves, destined to torment the living. This, the Runemakers tell us, serves as a constant reminder for us to be vigilant and fair, and to respect the Way of the Maker’s forge.

We decided to help Wibalk with his odd plan to root out the undead infiltrators, though I found his plan as ridden with holes as a swamp-dredging bucket. The halfling wanted us to kill a couple of the “lead” ghouls, who were most likely infecting others in town. The town’s doctor, Medico Tylmond Sindio (here on the surface, they are titled Medico apparently) was our main target. Also, the gravedigger, Ganton Yidler, whose son Anton, it was rumored, had also been turned into a ghoul. It was also rumored that Ganton was keeping his son chained in his house.

Brother Gravel and I formulated our own plan (as Torag rewards such behavior), and we worked backward. Since the gravedigger’s house was near an exit, and the gravedigger himself held a key to this exit, we decided to visit him last. Our plan looked something like this:

1. Steal our weapons from the armory
2. Have our horses readied
3. Kill the Medico, Tylmond Syndio (now a ghoul)
4. Visit the Gravedigger, Ganton Yidler and kill his son (now a ghoul).
5. Steal Yidler’s key
6. Get our horses
7. Use Yidler’s key to exit Fort Ash via Yidler’s Gate.

Once we’d escaped, we were told we should wait a moon (an ingenious way of telling time on the surface — must ask Cob more about the meaning of these lights in the sky), and return to Fort Ash as heroes. This part of the story seemed suspect, but we were at least ridding the world of defilers.

That evening we strolled casually through the evening. The moon was full, making stealth difficult, but it was not an overly silent town. No heavily enforced curfews, but a respectable number of guards on the walls and streets (most of them looking outward for signs of danger). We reached the armory, little more than a shed, and I stole my way inside. (Wybalk had given me a key.) Suddenly a pair of guards spotted us. Xan and Cob tried to explain why they were walking around so close to the wall, but they were shooed away. The guards then locked me inside (unaware of my presence). Once they had passed, Xan returned and I slipped him the key.

Step one complete, we readied our weapons and armor, and headed toward the Medico’s house. Streak and I had to knock unconscious another guard. (Wybalk specifically requested that we not kill any living townfolk who stood in our way — and this was a quite agreeable part of the plan.)

To reach the doctor, Cob pretended to have a limp. We went inside, the house mother felt Cob’s armor under his robes, and opened her mouth to scream. I punched her, and several patients, to preserve our stealth. I’m not proud of this action, but I believe I can answer for these deeds in that necessity was great.

The “doctor” came down, a terrible creature to be sure. His stench alone left some of the humans retching on the floor (B.G. and I were fine, as our stomachs had turned to iron with the soups we’ve eaten since reaching the surface). He clawed and bit at Ravek, Streak, and Cob, paralyzing them where they stood. Xan summoned some Earthly creatures to fight for us. I fired arrow after arrow, and we took the creature down. Upstairs, two of the doctor’s “assistants” also attacked us, and we made quick work of them.

Step three complete, Streak went downstairs, having heard a guard. He missed, and the guard ran outside screaming. I followed close behind, but wasn’t fast enough. We chased the guard down, and eventually silenced him. After dragging the guard inside and making sure he was ok, we had a brief discussion on whether we should clean up the place. The commotion outside made our decision, and we ran as fast as we could toward the gravedigger’s house.

Near Yidler’s gate, we encountered four guards. I tried to bluff them, but was unsuccessful. Once again, we had to fight, but gently. We put them down without too much trouble, and continued on our way.

Yidler was home, and had just finished donning armor. Cob cast a spell through his window which, thanks to a random spark from Torag’s mighty anvil, knocked him out cold. We entered the house, did our deed. I almost felt sorry for the poor creature, and had to remind myself it was no longer human.

Steps four and five complete, Streak took Yidler’s key, and we went for our horses. It was then that we realized we’d not completed Step two. The stableboy was frozen in terror, brandishing a pitchfork. He had probably gotten word, but then became scared when he heard all the commotion. We managed to bring him around, got our horses together without wasting too much time, and went for the gate.

There was one more pair of guards at Yidler’s gate, but they laid down their weapons at Streak’s command. Outside the gates, Streak threw them the keys, and we raced out into the cover of the Ash Woods.

Day 25 – Ash Woods

We set up camp in the woods, and met Tannis, who gave us the town’s banner, which we could wield when approaching Fort Ash in a month’s time. At that time, he told us, we would be heralded as cleansers.

Upon returning to our bear cave, we noticed signs of disturbance. Someone had been here. This was confirmed when we found a note left for Ravek. It was from the Slaver’s Ranch, and they were looking for their traitor. We spent the rest of the day discussing our next move.

Party Treasure

We each gained some information (see the Quests page), and 3,000 gp worth of favor to have new gear made for us.

Day 17 – Fort Ash

Xan continued to try to convince Luma that her best path would be as our prisoner. At length he frightened her so much that she summoned her wolf creature again. It attacked, nearly killing us all before Xan (once again) knocked her out cold.

When she woke, Cob took a different angle in talking to her, and she seemed to respond well. Being a family man, he must have ample skills in taming the female of his race. Perhaps anything seems like a welcome relief after the wizard’s social blunders with his ropes and gags and choking straps. In any event, she finally decided to join us — by her own will — to Fort Ash.

According to Khan, Fort Ash was a semi-underground walled town. The ground had been split by a blow from Torag’s hammer. This left the druids’ garden high above, surrounded by a high wall, and perfuming the residents of the town below. The town, in turn, extended deep into a cave, which Khan did not explore.

Khan did, however, learn that Fort Ash was dealing with a vile problem. The townfolk were fighting off their own dead, rising from their graves! These dead were burned in massive, stinking pyres (or thrown over the wall to the druids), only to rise again with the coming of each night. This, needless to say, made our entry into Fort Ash difficult.

Streak, I believe it was, knew something of the town. Founded by one [[:William Ash]], not long ago by our standards, it quickly became a haven from the dangers of these woods. William’s sons, Tannis and Zav, did not consider themselves very kingly. So Tannis, the first-born, gave up his right to rule to a halfling named Fantal Wybalk.

We would meet this halfling in short order, but the second son, Lieutenant Zav, was head of our welcoming committee. After seeing Streak’s Storm Riders banner, and learning our business, he would only allow us into the city if we surrendered our weapons. This didn’t suit any of us comfortably, but Streak reassured us that it was common to disarm when entering a human city. At any rate, when we learned about the undead problem (I believe Cob called them Ghouls), I volunteered my skills with Lieutenant Zav. We agreed to meet later in the evening, and we were all given leave to explore Fort Ash.

Upon finding the town’s only inn, we were greeted by a fastidious half-orc named Locke. After some bargaining, we agreed to clean up his inn, in exchange for lodging, at which point he left us to our own devices.

Before long there was a knock at the door. Fearing the worst, we called out “who is it?” The knock came again. At last, a voice called out “I am the owner of this establishment.” I said, “then why do you knock?” To which the voice replied, “because it’s rude to enter without knocking.” At this point a short-statured, ruddy fellow entered, and I immediately knew him to be the halfling Fantal Wybalk.

The wisest of our People, in the raspiest of runesongs, claim that halflings are actually our long-lost cousins, though this cheerful beardless sot seemed far removed from Torag’s spark. Wybalk’s wit lacked the complexity of our People, though he did seem wise enough.

Over a bottle of wine, we sat and discussed the town’s undead situation. These horrid creatures are driven by a constant hunger for living flesh, which drew them into the town. As fast as the townfolk were killing them, they were multiplying! Even worse, some of the living were actually already cursed by the disease, and once dead would rise as ghouls. Some of the slain ghouls were tossed over the wall into the druids’ garden, where they were eaten by some mysterious and unseen creature.

We offered our skills to help rout out the undead. I met with Lieutenant Zav, and demonstrated my skill with the Crooked Bow. Though I don’t think I impressed the town’s archers greatly (they were already quite skilled with the bow), they were interested in my arrowmaking techniques.

Days 18-24

Over the next several days, Brother Gravel divined which townsfolk were infected by evil, and we decided on our plans. Wybalk wanted us to break into the armory, steal our weapons, kill all the ghouls we could, allow ourselves to be exiled from the town, then return a few months later as heroes (after Wybalk explained why we’d done what we’d done). While this plan carried obvious faulty logic, we decided to rest a few more days and weigh our choices.

Day 13 (con’t) — Ash Woods

After defeating the vampire child, we were heavily wounded, our resources spent. Not sure if the horrible creature was truly dead, we decided to turn our camp into a pyre. We bound the vampire, and began chopping our lean-to into kindling and firewood. Streak rode off suddenly on his own to find his Storm Riders and warn them about the vampire. (I suspect the human may know more than he lets on about the rider with the broken cross on his shield.)

As we built the pyre, we heard shouting from the forest. Ravek and Xan stayed behind to burn the vampire, while Cob, Gravel and I went to investigate the shouting. The rider with the broken cross on his shield, whom we had felled in the snow, was gone. Gravel suddenly doubled over in pain, and claimed to hear a voice shouting “Carlyle”, as if calling someone’s name.

We followed the direction of the voice, and found the broken cross rider staggering through the forest, clutching a mortal wound in his chest. We called to him, told him we’d killed the child, but he didn’t answer us, only turned and stared. We then heard a band of riders approaching — orcs, according to Khan (Xan’s pet raven) — and the broken cross rider snapped to attention. We hid in the trees, bows readied, while Ravek and Xan rushed to join us.

The orcs approached at a leisurely pace, five on horseback — bearing a banner which Ravek recognized as that of the Slaver’s Ranch. The orcs halted a mere 30 yards from us and conferred with the wounded rider. They spoke to him with great deference, calling him a Knight of the Broken Altar. He told the orcs that “they” were coming, and warned the orcs to get as far from here as possible before “they” arrived. (By “they”, could he have been referring to the Dusk Raiders, or perhaps the notorious Priests?)

We took this time to assess our new potential enemy. The orcs’ leader wore drab-but-ornate robes, and called himself Li-kra, son of Morteg. Ravek told us quietly that Li-Kra, like his father, was a wielder of magic. Behind the leader was an adviser of sorts, with feathers and bones ornamenting its hair and clothing (probably a healer). The other three wore splint mail and javelins, crossbows hanging at their sides.

Likra told Ravek they wanted us to hand over Xan, to send him back to the Dusk Raiders. He offered Ravek land, wealth, weapons, slaves, and more. Ravek told them Xan wasn’t for sale. When the orcs persisted, we consulted privately and devised a plan: Knowing it would be suicide to attack them in our currently drained and wounded state, we would go along with them. After a day’s rest to regain our strength, we would ambush the orcs en route back to Byron’s Peak. After some back-and-forth negotiations, Likra declined our offer, hinting that he wanted to eat Xan’s heart to gain his magical power. Negotiations quickly crumbled, and we all attacked at once.

Before I could even fire a warning shot at Li-kra, he immediately shot a searing bolt of magical energy into my chest. The javelins closed on us and attacked, while their adviser stood back. With our resources low, having been heavily wounded in our fight with the vampire, we feared the worst. Cob and Ravek fought viciously, probably fueled by their resistance to the idea of returning to the Slaver’s Ranch.

Just as we thought all hope was lost, Xan conjured up a ghostly form, which terrified the orcs, causing them to falter. Following the Way of the Crooked Bow, I fired two arrows quickly Li-kra, knocking him off his horse. Felling their leader seemed to demoralize the raiders, but not before one of them knocked the light from my eyes. One of the javelins ran to Li-kra’s aid. We exchanged a few more blows, killed another of their numbers, and the remaining orcs rode away westbound.

Several of us had been knocked unconscious in the battle, including myself. Back at the camp, there was no sign of the vampire child, and no sign of the Broken Altar Knight. Fearing attacks from orcs, the vampire, and the Knight, we recovered our allies as quickly as possible, and fled. to the north, our aching bodies throbbing with each bump of our horses’ hooves.

After several hours’ ride, we found a Bear cave in the forest. Unwilling to challenge the bear to its home, we foraged for meager provisions, and camped in the open.

Day 14 — Ash Woods

The next morning brought us new blessings from Torag. Rested and healed, we returned to the Bear cave. We killed and butchered the sleeping giant, drying its meat to carry as rations. The cave had some rubble, which led to a long underground tunnel. Drawn into the tunnel’s sweet-smelling earth, Brother Gravel and I found that the walls were covered with ancient paintings. From what we could discern, the cave drawings appeared to be ancient goblin artwork, but we did not spend the time to study them carefully.

Though the tunnel’s floor was worn, there were no signs of recent passage. The tunnel descended into the depths, but we did not linger there. We dwarves wanted to explore deeper into the tunnels, but we eventually agreed with the others on our best course of action: We would return to the Storm Riders and warn Streak’s people of the Knight of the Broken Altar and the vampire child.

It seems that the art of cartography has been lost among the surface races, and our astrologer spends most of his days muttering to his poltergeists. (According to their history, the elves taught humans to navigate by gazing at the stars.) I thus began making a rudimentary map of the surface lands today. Perhaps I can sell it if Torag’s will permits us to one day reach another dwarven city.

Day 15 — Ash Woods

We rested in the bear cave and continued to dry our bear meat, while Xan skinned the bear to make armor. I presume he planned to sell it, for I don’t see how the elf’s frail frame could support an entire bear’s hide.

As Khan scouted the forest, he found a girl caged in a cave on a cliff wall. Khan told us a fantastic story that she had lived for as long as she could remember in this cage, hunted by a winged wolf. The girl, Luma, had trapped herself in this cage to protect herself from the winged wolf, while the forest animals brought her food. Others had tried to rescue her, but the wolf had easily killed any would-be heroes. We resolved to visit the girl the next day.

In the afternoon we feasted on fresh bear meat, and foraged feed for our horses. The meat was tasty and fresh, and I longed for a good cave-aged cheese and a stout keg. Even a pinch of salt would have remedied the sun-soaked meat, but still we feasted. Though we were well fed, our four-legged friends were beginning to show signs of the scarcity of grazing lands.

Day 16 — Ash Woods

We headed northeast to rescue Luma. On the way to Luma’s cage, we thankfully found a field with tufts of grass fighting their way out of the snow. We took our time to allow the horses to graze, which revived them greatly.

Luma’s cage was in a cliff face surrounded by a copse of trees. When Khan flew to her, she tried to convince us to leave her alone, afraid for our safety. We positioned ourselves, and Xan failed his initial attempt to melt the cage with acid. Ravek approached the cage, trying to break it with his flail, and the wolf flew from out of knowhere, nearly tearing out the half-orc’s neck. It attacked us viciously, and we fought back bravely.

As the battle wore on, and the wolf’s wounds grew, the girl began to scream in pain. It seemed that the wolf shared its wounds with the girl; Ravek told me both pairs of eyes shared strange symbols, the likes of which he’d never seen.

We finally killed the wolf, and opened the girl’s cage. The girl was covered in bloody wounds — in exactly the places where the wolf had been struck! — and she was not moving. Having had bad experiences with previous rescue attempts, we bound the girl before we revived her, then returned to the bear cave.

According to Xan, the girl had summoned this wolf, but it had become an abomination to her, turning on her. She had barred herself in the cage to save herself, but the wolf had tormented her. With the strange events of the day behind us, our bear jerkey dried and cooked, we rested another night in the bear cave.