Talitha Leightover
The Limean House
Midgarden Street
Arenal

Sypheros 8, Solovar

Dear Mother,

We’ve made it through the mountains and discovered civilization on the other side, so I finally have another chance to write to you. It’s been a long day, and it feels wonderful to be sleeping in a real bed again. We’re eating real food again, too. Bob woke us up this morning eating the giant spiders we killed last night (Bob is the dragon we met in the mountains, you’d like him) and Avaril was in a bad mood so he acted all misogynistic, but it was all in good fun. I don’t think he knows how to act travelling with so many girls. We spent the morning walking and talking, and Bob scared away some harpies that wanted to eat us. It’s hard to believe it’s only been a week and a half since I left Arenal. Sometimes, it feels like it’s been months.

Solovar is nestled in the high grasslands between the mountains and the desert, and is surprisingly large and prosperous for its location. Towns and dragons don’t mix, so Bob wanted to leave before we got there. It was a sad parting, but maybe we’ll meet him again in the desert. I hope so. Bob is an amazing dragon. Anyway, before we got to town, some kind of creepy fey kind of manifested next to us, which I wasn’t terribly surprised at because it’d been stalking me for DAYS (that is a long story and it’s in my other letters so don’t worry about it), and we got into a fight with it. At first, we could barely manage to hit it, and when we did, the thing just healed itself immediately. Xenia managed to damage it with a magical weapon she summoned, and I finally put it to sleep with a spell.

When we got to town, Eilir, Xenia and I went on a selling spree to get rid of all the equipment we’ve picked up over the past couple of weeks. I had to leave all the gems I’d collected since I left, and it was a LOT of gems, like three and a half thousand gold pieces! I got a FABULOUS headband in the trade, though. Once we found a decent inn at which to stay, Eilir took Avaril shopping for some feminine entertainment, and we spent the evening experimenting with some of the magic items we’d picked up. I magically tapdanced, but we didn’t really figure anything out. I tried to console Eilir about Avaril, but I don’t think it helped any.

The food at dinner was great and nobody talked to us and nothing happened.

Much Love,
Æthelmyr

Session 20 Chat Log

The party leaves the glacier and finds themselves in scrubby, highland forest. Æthelmyr still claims she is being followed by… whatever it is. They come upon Bob in a clearing. The reunited party continues onward until sunset, when they decide to make camp. Bob uses his acid breath to clear a patch in the undergrowth, and Eilir takes first watch. About an hour later, she spots a half-dozen large, white shapes coming down the mountains toward the campsite. They near the valley floor rapidly.

Moving quickly and quietly, Eilir wakes Bob, who helps her wake the others. Everyone is at least partially awake by the time six giant white spiders and a Drow approach their campsite. The Drow woman approaches and speaks with Eilir in Elvish for a moment before switching to Common so everyone can understand. When the Drow woman states her intention to kill them, Eilir fires at her, though her haste makes the shot go wide. The Drow woman sics her spiders on the party and rushes in to attack Eilir with martial arts. Xenia keeps the spiders busy by casting Entangle, and Bob proceeds to munch on them as he did the centipedes before. Eilir trades her bow for her sickle and retaliates. The party works together to take down the Drow woman, while Bob deals with the spiders. The giant arachnids flee when their handler falls. The party dispatches the rest of the spiders as they flee, just to be sure they will not attack again later.

Eilir carefully loots the Drow woman’s body, making sure not to touch anything that may be poisonous. She removes several magic items from the corpse and tries to identify their auras before resuming her watch. The party goes back to sleep.

Session 19 Chat Log

After spending the night in a cave, the party heads onward, always westward toward the desert. By midday, they come across a stream that flows into a glacier lake. Bob balks, informing the party that the glacier ahead is reportedly inhabited by winter fey. After discussing whether or not to follow the glacier or backtrack to find a different way, the party decides to take the most direct route and brave the ice. Bob chooses to fly ahead, as he does no like the cold and would rather not get involved with any fey.

As the party nears the glacier, they come across three beautiful women bathing in the lake. After Æthelmyr informs them of the party’s mission, the women instead invite the group to stay with them for a while. Eilir refuses, but Avaril tries to change her mind. The women decide that they would be happy with just Avaril staying. Eilir counters by offering to pay for a whore at the next town, and he happily comes along. Incensed, the rusalki attack. First they sing to attempt to enchant Avaril, but the song has no effect. Combat ensues. Eilir downs one with an arrow, while Xenia casts a spell and Æthelmyr slashes with her claws at a second. The wounded Rusalka grabs her dying comrade and disappears beneath the water. The remaining woman tries to stab at Æthelmyr before retreating as well.

The party continues onward and finally reach the glacier itself. Eilir produces a grappling hook and rope from her bag, which the group uses to scale the side of the ice sheet so they can proceed atop it. The glacier is peppered with lumps of grey fluff. On approaching one, Eilir feels a biting cold and is forced to withdraw. Æthelmyr becomes increasingly paranoid, claiming to see something humanoid following them. Suddenly, they are attacked by what appear to be spirit animals. Eilir’s magic sickle is the only weapon that does not simply go through them, but the others have spells at their disposal that seem to work just fine. After quite a while of attempting to fend off the animals, Xenia finally sends the badger running in fear, while Æthelmyr and Eilir manage to subdue the wolf and raven by putting them to sleep then attacking them with the magic sickle.

Relieved to be rid of their assailants, the party continues onward toward an ice fall up ahead. As they approach, they see the entrance to a cave carved out of the ice fall. They decide to check out the cave before tackling the ice fall. Inside, they find a beautiful, dark-haired woman and a portly, green-skinned man. When Eilir calls out to them, the man disappears into a pool of water, and the Yuki-onna attacks. Eilir fires an arrow at her but misses. The woman retaliates by paralysing her attacker. During the battle, the badger returns to assist its master. Avaril summons his own servant, a bugbear zombie, to great effect. After some struggle with the incorporeal badger, the group manages to subdue the Yuki-onna and her pet. They loot the cave and return to the ice fall outside.

After several failed attempts at climing up just part of the ice fall, Xenia finally reaches a ledge and spies an easier route nearby. The group proceeds onward in search of Bob. Æthelmyr contines to worry about whatever is following her, complaining that it is now talking to her, though anything it says is unintelligible.

Session 18 Chat Log

Once more they made their way westward,
but soon the wizard could be heard
to whisper about a hidden watcher,
a dragon following with skin of copper.
It stood upon some higher ground
then quickly did it leap and bound
toward them as they made their way,
and Æthelmyr began to say
good greetings to the dragon
in their own common tongue.

Yet for the sake of her companions
the dragon did then speak in Common
and told of kobolds who’d taken flight
from Duvik’s Pass the previous night
and warned him of a tribe of orcs
who hunted dragons all for sport.
The copper dragon was afraid
that he would caught and flayed,
but with the help of these brave four
he might yet survive his flight.

The dragon proved one small and young,
but power and cleverness were his own.
He had a plan to fight these orcs,
but he needed their help of course.
When asked a name, he quick refused
because his name was rarely used
in Common, so Bob he was then called
by Æthelmyr and then by all,
for Bob is a good Common name
and easy to remember.

So all proceeded onward to
a small ravine where Bob knew
the orcish tribe would come and fight
but would not at first realise their plight,
for hidden ’tween some rocks nearby
our four adventurers would lie
in wait, and then to aid the dragon
they would mount fierce attack on
the orcs, who would be quite surprised
that Bob had found new aid.

Eleven orcs Bob brought then,
lured them to the small ravine
and fought full fierce against the tribe
who hunted him for his shining hide.
Behind the hunters lurked our troupe.
Æthelmyr first broke the group.
With rapier and claws she ripped and tore
and beat one of these orcs full sore.
Next Avaril did summon up
a skeleton from who knows where.

Bob’s breath blew through the orcish ranks
and covered all from front to flanks.
The orcs were Slowed by this attack,
and Eilir moved to beat them back
to whence they came with newfound weapon
she acquired from Jakka in the cave before.
“Bilyeklo!” the orcs did cry,
and one did flee to by and by
take message to their chief, it seems
to tell of Jakka’s death.

The fight raged on, and all the orcs
did fall to wing, claw, spell and sword
and quarterstaff, for Xenia, too,
did fall upon those foul orcs who
she found within her reach when she
was not healing the other three.
Avaril did find himself
beset upon and quickly fell,
but Xenia dragged him away,
and so he yet did live.

When finally all orcs were dead,
and those who weren’t had quickly fled,
the spoils were piled and sorted high,
and Eilir learned the sickle’s story.
Bilyeklo, White Fang, Aussirjesk,
all names were of the genesis
of this orcish hunting clan
who hunted dragons in their lands.
And Bob, while sickened, was relieved
to see Bilyeklo in friendly hands.

The bodies plundered and left to rot,
they wakened Avaril and off did walk
to find a place to camp that night
away from the orcs’ wand’ring sight,
for surely our group would be sought
for Bilyeklo and for ought
they did to wound the orc tribe’s pride
by robbing them of Bob’s copper hide.
So Bob did search for a cave
and found one close at hand.

Out from the entrance there did run
three centipedes, full four feet long!
These quickly dispatched, the party found
Bob in the cave safe and sound,
settled and eating happily
of the bugs who’d failed to flee.
And so the party spent the night
within this cave and out of sight.
Next morning they would continue
westward toward the desert.

Session 16 Chat Log
Session 17 Chat Log

Being the Chronicle of the fourth Day of Sypheros in the Year post Sundering 5101

Composed under the Auspices of MORADIN Soul Forger by Brother Falik Stonehand for the Records of the High Temple in Rochlau

… thus did the Liberators, with Mercy tempering their womanish Hearts, ascend from the polluted Depths to converse with the Vermin in the Mines a second Time.

Spake the Wyrmling Half-Breed, “Thou knowest now our true Power drawn from the Forge of Great MORADIN, and on thine own Heads must the Hammer fall if thou shalst spurn us now,” for being of Blood with the Creatures her Heart did feel for them.

But unmoved were the Pests and the Liberators they did spurn.

And so leaving the Unworthy in the dark Places, the Chosen of MORADIN did thus return to the Shrine at Duvik’s Pass to receive HIS Blessing, bringing Word of the Cleansing of the unholy Filth whence sprang the Plague.

And Brother Oskar did in Gratitude grant the Heroes Entry into the Library at the Shrine, whereby they might study the Lore and Knowledge therein to steel their Souls for the Work ahead.

And in the scholarly Tomes they did find much aid…

Session 14 Chat Log

Being the Chronicle of the fifth Day of Sypheros in the Year post Sundering 5101

Composed under the Auspices of Moradin Soul Forger by Brother Falik Stonehand for the Records of the High Temple in Rochlau

… awaking spoke of Gods High and Low, and thus did know the divine Mission before them.

And travel again into the Deep they did, full of righteous Fury.

Spake the Wyrmling a third Time to the Chieftain, and was thrice spurned, and finally did she say, “Know ye now the Doom that befalls your Kind, for MORADIN shalt purge the Dross from these Caverns, yea, and thee and thine with it.”

And there was much holy Slaughter.

And returning to the Shrine they did give Thanks to the Soul Forger for His Favor, and verily, posessed by His Spirit, they did craft new Arms in that Shrine, and went themselves armed with such holy Weaponry, for such is the Power of MORADIN the Creator.

And whilst His Blade and the Favored of the Elf-Goddess and the Two-Faced Man did discourse on Matters theological did the Wyrmling see the Town of Duvik’s Pass and witness the Salvation of its People.

And thus was Duvik’s Pass liberated from the Yoke of Evils mundane and supernatural by Tools of MORADIN’S choosing.

And thus did Duvik’s Pass again become the Well of the World’s Riches, and therefore did the Heroes gain the thanks of its People, and did the Two-Faced Man speak in Tongues.

And thus did the Travelers pass into Legend…

Session 15 Chat Log

The kobolds lowered their weapons all,
and our heroes retreated to the hall
which led back to the surface world
where once outside they surely could
see to their many wounds and all,
except the wizard Avaril,
who watching was content to stay
back from the battle, far away.
And so they all continued on,
back out into the sunlight.

But lo! No more than an hour had passed
since they went through that portal last.
And so each sat to spend the day
in leisure, and thus they whiled away
the hours ’til full night came on,
and then they slept soundly ’til dawn.
But dawning sun brought something new,
a fever, yea, and nausea too
For poor Eilir and Æthelmyr
had caught the curséd plague.

Eilir cast her qualms aside,
and Æthelmyr back in did guide
the party, back to that front room
which was first within the gloom
of the mine, wherein the kobolds sat
and waited to further form the pact
which Æthelmyr had offered forth
whilst the last day’s battle’d run its course.
And off she went alone to speak
to Meedok and his kobold clan.

The kobolds did allow them then
to carry on through to the den
of the demon which caused the curse,
and off they went to reimburse
whatever lurked within the darkness
for causing the plague and, thusly, this mess.
Yet demon they did not believe
to have caused the town to grieve,
but what else would create a sickness
which afflicted all within the mines?

Through dark stone tunnles down they went,
until they came to a pit rent
into the floor of one small chamber,
and within held some dismembered
corpses, which, in fungi’s light
did scramble up and start to fight
with our great heroes, well surprised,
but wary that the dead may rise,
so while they fought with sword and claw,
Cleric Xenia did turn them all.

The corpses sent back to their rest,
those afflicted did their best
to push on forth, despite the plague,
though their fevers still did rage.
And then within the dark and murk,
they found that “demon” which did lurk
beside the spring in the farthest part
of the mines, according to their chart.
But of any demon there was no sign,
just an Orc woman wating there.

She first sent forth a spider which
swiftly Eilir did dispatch
with sword and spell quite handily,
but that was all the luck she’d see,
for she then was Baned, and then was Held,
and the orc woman would not be felled.
But Xenia, Æthelmyr and Avaril
did quickly move in for the kill.
But wounded, the orc did run away
around the spring, for to escape.

But Eilir broke the magic hold
and traded sword and shield for bow,
which sent an arrow straight and true
and nearly the orc woman slew,
but yet she breathed, though bled and bled,
and Avaril, wanting her dead,
did kick her, until he was stopped
by Eilir, who sincerely hoped
the orc would tell them all she knew
of stopping the plague and its ravaging.

So rope was brought and tied around
the orc woman as she lay on the ground.
Xenia brought her full awake,
and loudly in orcish she spake.
Awed and startled when she heard,
Eilir found she knew every word.
The ring from the sarcophagus
for the wearer translated orcish.
And so Eilir demanded from the orc
the cure for the awful plague.

Later Eilir told them all
the orcish lady was appalled
by their weakness in the eyes of Gruumsh,
and so refused to grant their wish.
So Eilir knocked her out again,
and Avaril set upon her then.
And that was the end of the “demon” there
who had caused the kobolds much grief and fear.
But still one problem yet remained:
the kobolds still called the mines their home.

Session 13 Chat Log

Late one evening in Verethod tavern, where the ale tastes like fetid water and the wenches have quicker reflexes to slap wayward hands than a viper’s piercing strike, a group of local peasants regale each other with tales of deeds and misdeeds while drinking away the memories of their simple lives. After a particularly lewd tale of an elven druid and her traveling bard-turned-slave-turned-lover-turned-loverslave, one man wagers he has a story to best it after one last gulp of his brew.

Slamming the mug down on the table he begins to recite his tale as best he can under the influences of such large quantities of alcohol-laced water.

“Well ya see gents, it all started when this group o’ three women adventurers and their surly wizard friend went to go look into some troubles at a local mine. They went in hearin’ it was kobolds causin’ all this trouble and plague on the town an’ they went to go investigate. So theys go in and theys find this kobold who dun want to hurt ‘em. And they says, ’What can we do for ya?’ to which the kobold says they need to find ’im ’is weasel.”

After a minute or two of roaring laughter and dirty jokes at the man’s expense he manages to regain his composure and continue on.

“Right, right, ‘is weasel not ’is pud. So theys goin’ in further to look for the little thing and they find it in this here kitchen o’ some sort. Well after some coaxin’ they gets the little bastard out from under a table and ‘e latches on to one o’ the ladies’ arms! Well they don’t take kindly to that and bludgeon the livin’ shite out of the poor thing. Wizard just stands there lookin’ pensive and angry. Don’t know what’s up with ‘im but he doesn’t help one bit but to step on the thing’s head when they finally knock it out. One o’ the ladies stop ‘im, guess it’s that lady-thing they have goin’ fer ‘em, don’t know, make’s ‘em good mums though, I sure wouldn’t want my son bein’ raised by anyone other than me wife but anyway, they stop ‘im and take the weasel back to the kobold in a sack and he’s grateful and such. Then they go settin’ on further into the mine lookin’ for the kobold leader.

“Well they stumble into a large black cavern and suddenly start gettin’ shot at from kobolds they can’t see from across the way. Couple of ‘em take some bolts in ’em and start hollarin’ and bleedin’ making the kobolds even more angry and mean. So one of ‘em starts settin’ some magical lights out for ‘em to see what’s attacking them while the other moves in to punch the little bastards. She gives ‘em right hell and takes a couple o’ them down. Oh yeah, the wizard. You can guess what he’s up to. Exactly, just watchin’ ‘em go at it and get hurt. Well they keep fightin’ and start getting really hurt and then one of them, the dragonlady one she— What do you mean? Yeah I told you she was a dragonlady, it’s how I started. No I didn’t forget it, I told you right away that she was a dragonlady and she talks to kobolds it’s the most important part of this story. Shut up an’ let me finish. Anyway, she talks to the kobolds, see cuz she’s a dragon lady, and she tells them that they’ll all leave and she’ll come back later alone and try to talk things over in more peaceful terms. So the kobolds stop shootin’ at ‘em with their bows and let them leave in a cloud of some foggy mist or somethin’. I don’t remember the rest after that though, I’ll have to think about it over another drink.”

And so, with a swift slap to a passing server’s hind quarters he leans back in his chair to ponder the rest of his story while listening to the others trade bawdy anecdotes back and forth, each one featuring a wench with larger and larger impossibly shaped breasts. Of all the stories of the evening only one is true, and it is probably the worst one of them all. In reality, it’s always our most boring and awful stories that find the most absolute truth in us all. A party of female adventurers and their angry wizard incapable of dealing with a weasel and kobolds is infinitely far more likely than the story of a wench with breasts so large she could crush melons. Though there were this one lass…

Session 12 Chat Log

After their tussle in the chapel came to an abrupt end, Eilir sat against the wall feeling woozy, while Avaril retreated to a corner to ponder his newly purchased bottles of whiskey. Aethelmyr searched for the priests, but had no luck locating them, so everyone retreated back to their rooms, where Xenia did her best to help Aethelmyr and Eilir heal cleanly. When Edward arrived after dinner to find out what items the adventurer’s wanted in payment, they requested sun rods and a grappling hook for their mission, and a healing wand and potion to cure Eilir’s vargouille-induced poisoned wound as payment, with the difference in gold.

In the morning, the group went to find Mr. Tungsten, who told them that their supplies were waiting for them outside. On their way there, they swung by the kitchens and acquired some bread and jam, which they munched happily as they sorted through their stuff. After some mild rearrangement, everyone was equipped with sunrod and ore sack, Xenia had a crude map of the mine, and Eilir had a grappling hook. They then decided to swing by the temple and see if the priests were there. And indeed, Father Oskar was in the chapel, and he greeted Aethelmyr warmly before presenting the group with a pile of stuff. Water, rope, mining helmets, and picks were again divided amongst the group. Before they left, Father Oskar had some words of wisdom with regards to both the kobolds and the plague. He mentioned the unique qualities of the disease, and referenced rumors that it was actually a curse. The group then set out for the mine.

After donning their crude mining helmets, Aethelmyr led the way down the tunnel. In the main shaft they found evidence of a skirmish, and upon entering the first room, the gruesome scent of rotting flesh alerted them to a pair of rat-bitten legs, sticking out from under an overturned cart. A bag of ore, and the remnants of a few more, lie scattered around the room.
After ascertaining that there was nothing immeadiately useful in the main room ,the group consulted the map, and decided to head left. After an uneventful walk down the hall, Aethelmyr opened the door to reveal a few kobold, eating some dinner. She quickly yelled out that the group wasn’t there to fight, and asked about the plague. In response, two kobolds ran up, and tried to stab her, while another flung open the door, revealing a veritable horde of kobolds. In their rush to attack, both swings missed, and Aethelmyr was successful in knocking them out with a blast of colored light. Between Avaril’s spells, Xenia’s quarterstaff, and Eilir’s longsword, the group made short work of the kobolds. When there was only one conscious kobold left, Aethelmyr tackled it and began to interrogate it. After a loud, screechy, and mostly unintelligible conversation, Aethelmyr announced that the kobold boss was deep in the cave, on a ledge, that the kobolds were also dying, and that Kretch the kobold was content to sit and eat soup, and would not impede their way forward, towards the source of the plague…

Session 11 Chat Log

Talitha Leightover
The Limean House
Midgarden Street
Arenal

Sypheros 2, Duvik’s Pass

Dear Mother,

I hope all is well back in Arenal, and that nothing too exciting has happened while I have been away. This is the first chance I’ve had to write since leaving, due to a very unfortunate incident in a ruined tower three days ago. I don’t want to worry you too much, so I will have to leave out the details, but it should suffice to say that we, meaning the other Arenalan travelers that I met on the road, were caught in a horrendous storm with no decent shelter. Yesterday morning, we set out from the ruined tower and regained the main road easily enough. Dinner consisted of a brace of rabbits and some roots and berries, but we wanted to make Duvik’s Pass before stopping for the night, and we continued. A mountain lion attacked us, evidently taking us for easy prey due to our injuries (not mine, I am just peachy, no need to worry), and Xenia (she’s a half-elf priestess of Ehlonna) couldn’t entangle it before it mauled Eilir (her father is a sergeant of the Arenal guard, perhaps you know of him?), but we drove it off with a fair bit of magic and a mind trick that Avaril (you’ve probably never heard of him…) knows.

Anyway, we reached Duvik’s Pass a couple of hours later, but the it was oddly quiet for a mining town. We found an inn, but it had evidently been closed down. The innkeeper was reluctant to explain the situation, but mentioned that there was a plague infection. After the long journey through Corden and our recent troubles, we were all quite frustrated, so we convinced the innkeeper to at least put us up in his stables for the night, free of charge. The stables were empty, what with the inn being closed, so we at least got a decent night’s sleep out of the deal. In the morning, we tried to find a place to resupply. The rest of the party went straight to the liquor store, and I decided to strike out on my own. I went to the local temple, dedicated to Moradin, where one of the priests told me about the plague. Apparently, the disease broke out in the town’s silver mines, and the priests have been struggling to contain its spread. The priest, who was a dwarf, said that kobolds had since moved into the mine, but nobody seems to have tried talking to them about the situation. There might be something we could do about it, which brings me back to the others.

After buying some drink, they’d tried the general store just up the road, but it was quarantined. An employee of the mine’s owner, whose name is Tungstan (the owner, not the employee) expressed an interest in hiring them (meaning me as well) to clean out the mines. The pay will be very generous, owing to Mr. Tungstan’s expectation that the sellswords he hires will have to fight their way through all the kobolds in the mine, and he’s willing to provide equipment. The priests also offered equipment, to aid us in getting to the bottom of the plague situation, so we decided to check back with them as well, but by the time we had backtracked to the temple, none of the priests were there. Eilir and Avaril got into a highly immature wrestling match right in the middle of the chapel, which Avaril won by virtue of his mind trick. They have issues to work out. Anyway, the rest will have to wait until I can scrounge up some more paper, as I am running out. Tell Cousin Korbin that the price of silver might drop in a few days.

Hugs and Kisses,
Æthelmyr

P.s. You were right about the nickname, nobody uses it, so I’m dropping it. Eilir calls me ‘Myr’, but I think she just has trouble pronouncing an ash.

Session 10 Chat Log

After handling the rats, they continued down the hall behind the door they just opened. The hall and the chamber it led to were just as stripped clean as the entry chamber, save for a collapsing sarcophagus standing upright by the far wall. A twisted reddish head was visible within. When the party approached, it unfurled its wings and attacked.

The vile creature, known as a vargouille, began with an unnatural shriek that paralyzed Xenia and Avaril with terror. Eilir and Æthelmyr quickly flanked the flying head, subduing it just as the others were recovering. Unfortunately, it first bit Eilir, causing a poisoned wound that will not heal until the venom can be removed. With that danger past, a quick search uncovered an old gold ring, inscribed with Dwarven letters, in a pile of dust at the bottom of the sarcophagus.

Despite the dangerous encounter, the adventurers decided to continue exploring the tomb. They flipped a coin to pick which door to explore next, choosing the center stone door. After walking down a very long hallway, they finally reached another room. This one had a few pieces of beat up furniture and a worn-through rug. It also had a mud puddle beneath a hole in the ceiling, from which a rope hung down. Another group was in these halls, however, and heard them coming. Two Orcs were soon charging down the next hall, toward the group. Their javelins and falchions seriously injured all but Avaril before the party put them down. After Xenia distributed some healing, Eilir decided to scale the rope in the room. It led all the way up to the collapsed tower they saw before, where it was still storming violently.

Somewhat battered, the party pressed on. The next hall led to another small chamber, where a big humanoid corpse lay on a stone table. There was also a narrow hall branching off to one side. Investigating the corpse-chamber further, the decaying body suddenly raised its arms and cast a spell, shrouding the whole room in thick fog. Eilir pressed on, followed by Æthelmyr and Xenia, then Avaril. The first three closed in on the spellcasting zombie through the fog. It replied with blasts of flame. The adventurers’ attacks had trouble getting through the zombie’s magically enhanced flesh, and several spells unfortunately failed. As the zombie’s magic ran out, it resorted to more direct means – beating people about the head with a morningstar. This tactic proved effective, as Eilir was struck twice and fell unconscious…

Session 9 Chat Log

October 4, 19:00

Xenia slid past the zombie to stabilize Eilir, but the party continued to have trouble damaging the zombie. Xenia finally managed to turn the undead creature, but as it fled she followed, stumbling to close in the fog and breaking her power over it. The zombie proceeded to club Æthelmyr unconscious. Xenia pulled the dragon-girl back to where Eilir lay, and tried to make a stand with her quarterstaff. The fog cleared, and Avaril was able to bring his own spells into play with some success. He lacked the firepower, however, to fell the monster on his own. He did what he could to bolster Xenia’s defenses while she stabilized Æthelmyr, but the zombie soon took her out as well. Thus Avaril began a tentative dance around the zombie, sniping and stabilizing Xenia. Eventually, he led the zombie on a slow chase, dragging his companions away to recover.

Session 9.5 Chat Log