(Sunday – October 7th, 2007)

Five mysterious figures stood on one of the larger hills: a cloaked archer in green, a masked warrior in red armor, a blue-skinned sorceress, a black clad assassin, and a painted-white golem. The city lay in ruins and corpses littered the streets. The remaining citizens tried to flee. Some heroes stood up to the menace, while others fled immediately. The Zerk brothers, enraged at their father’s death, charged the invaders. Grob bravely through himself in front of a disintegration ray to try to save his brother, who in turn was hit with a swarm of arrows. The golem cut a swath of destruction through heroes and townspeople alike. The fleeing adventurers found themselves caught in a fiery explosion. Richard Chelton, the last one standing, thought he had escaped into the shadows… only to be caught unaware as a blade plunged into his back from the darkness.

The party thought this would be their last adventure into the unknown… when a voice called to them from the darkness, becoming them back to the material realm. It spoke to them from the ether:

“All you know has died. You have tangled with dark and powerful forces who do not take to being trifled with. They have destroyed your home, your friends, and your family.

But I will bring you back. Your purpose now is vengeance against those who have wronged you so dearly. Free me, and live again to destroy those who have destroyed your lives. Fail, and return to nothingness.

Return now, and seek the Crown of the Kobold King.”

With that, the party awoke in the house of Howe, who explained that they had been out for several weeks. After resting, they returned to town to visit the wreckage. The dust that once was Grob Zerk had blown to the winds, and the twin mules Bob and Sasparilla had been picked clean by buzzards. There were no apparent survivors, and the town had been picked clean of items of value.

After burying the dead, the party set out west, to follow the trail of the kobolds from earlier. A few days of travel earlier, the party camps for the night in a flat, featureless land, and is attacked by overgrown serpents. After having enough of these motherf-ing serpents on this motherf-ing flat featureless land, they arrive at the town of Muta.

The Mutans are strange people, seemingly mixed with animals, elements, and other oddities. Through some clever performing, the town’s elder Malakai opens up and explains the plight of the Mutans.

(more added later)