Locked away in cramped quarters above the inn at Winterhaven, the thin frame of the reclusive warlock is hunched over a pile of star charts, bony hands plotting arcane intercepts with a pair of jade callipers. Although physically present, his meditations took him far, far away.

“Believe nothing, think nothing, feel nothing.”

Aran is again taking point guard as the party come across the area of their search – the Dragon Tomb.

It's somewhat of a disappointment – merely a large pit in the ground surrounded by rough rocks and some more trees. In the pit four human workers are sifting through bones, watched over by a Gnome and two guard drakes. Aran, after a little scouting, also spots another halfling lurking in the boulders around the pit's edge.

As the Gnome sees them, he introduces himself as Agrid and invites them to come down and see what he's uncovered. The party are suspicious, particularly Elwanen, but Des attempts a diplomatch exchange. However, as he makes his way around the pit to get a better view and Elwanen heads down into it, the trap is sprung and Agrid fires a crossbow bolt at the Tiefling Cleric, causing him to hit the deck in a hurry!

Aran and the other halfling begin a duel of weapons – Aran's bow against the Halflings lightning quick slingshot. Fortunately, Aran prevails.

In the pit, the sheer strength and power of Cass, Rangrim and Elwanen is too much for the human mob, with Elwanen slamming one into the walls of the pit with a [i]Thunderwave[/i]. Despite some Gnomish trickery with a moment of invisibility, Cass beats Agrid unconscious and captures him.

Des, meanwhile, has made his way across the pit to find a figure concealed under a blanket. Casting back the blanket he finds Douven Staul, alive, but tied and gagged. Des heals him of his injuries and unties him.

Grateful to the party for rescuing him, Douven explains that he had started to work on the remains of the Tomb when he was approached by Agrid and the Halfing (his name is never discovered, sadly). The two quickly coerced him into continuing, saying that if he didn't do what they said they'd simply cut off a hand or so to keep him quiet. Scared and afraid, Douven managed to help until a few days ago when the mirror was uncovered.

This was greeted with great joy by Agrid – apprently his superior had expected something of this nature to be found here. Agrid had decided to spend just a few days more to see if any other treasures could be located, but none were forthcoming. Today was to be the last day of digging – the group were then to return to the Keep with the mirror and Douven.

Douven begs to be taken back to Winterhaven and safety before the party make any approaches to the kobold lair, and as thanks for his rescue he gives them the Amulet that Agrid had been wearing. Explaining that he just needed it for a moment, he withdrew a small picture of a woman, saying "This is my wife." He then handed over the Amulet to the group, confirming that this was a magical amulet that would provide protection against poison.

The group agree to return to Winterhaven with their captive in tow.

END OF SESSION

Note: At the end of this session, I was happy to be able to say that all characters now have 1095 XP and as such, are SECOND LEVEL! Congratulations!

The group heads off into the woods to see if they can locate Douven Staul, the missing explorer, last seen following a map from Eilian in search of a lost Dragon Tomb.

The party have been travelling for about an hour or so when Aran pauses, eyes scanning the undergrowth ahead. His fears are realised as several kobolds emerge from hiding and charge towards him – they are carrying the same dragonscale shields as the other group and look like competent warriors. Aran is wounded a couple of times by their fierce attacks. In addition, a spear wielding kobold begins to circle around the edge of the woods as a fifth kobold comes into view, wearing a bone mask shaped like a dragon's skull.

The party leaps to their friend's defence, with Elwanen [i]fey stepping[/i] forwards to engage. He is quickly surrounded by a dragonshield and the spear fighter, finding it hard to concentrate on both at the same time. Cass and Rangrim are engaged in a tough battle against the other two dragonshields, as Aran breaks free and makes for the Wyrmpriest. The priest invigorates his colleagues, driving them to greater heights of fury, before directing a ball of flame into his enemies. He also engages Aran in close combat, breathing fire over him which the halfling is fortunate to dodge.

Although Elwanen is briefly brought to his knees, the company prevails and the kobolds are slain. Aran guts the priest and dumps his body to the ground, before finding an obsidian necklace on the body. Scratched into the base of a smal statuette is the symbol of Orcus – Demon Prince of the Undead. This lends credence to the rumours of cult activity.

Taking a moment to refresh themselves, the party loot the other bodies before piling the corpses at one side of the road.

Lord Parrag greeted the group in his study – a well-furnished if functional room. The Lord himself is a strong-boned man in his early 40's, with a hint of grey in his hair. The room contains a couple of shelves of books, an open fireplace, and a large desk with papers scattered over the top.

The party and Parrag discussed the matter of the kobold attacks on the path, and the noble confirmed it was an increasingly worry for him. "We receive fewer trade caravans now than we used to," he said. "I've been attempting to get the villagers to help root this problem out, but they're not trained warriors and I simply don't have the resources to deal with it. If you could manage to drive these little pests off, I would be able to offer a reward from the village's coffers."

Happy to receive payment, and to take a commission from the local authority figure, the group agrees. The fee will be paid upon proof of the kobold's defeat.

Other matters are touched upon – Lord Parrag refers them back to Valthrun for further information on the Keep, says he met Douven Staul once and has never heard of Cass' brother. Without further ado, the company leave, planning to head out into the wilderness tomorrow.

Rangrim wishes to speak to Thair Coalstriker the Dwarven Blacksmith, and as his forge is just by the gates to the Manor House it's easily done. Thair is a rugged dwarf of more advanced years, wearing the traditional smith's leather apron and with a triple-platted beard hanging down to his waist. He greets Rangrim warmly, with a wrist-to-wrist Dwarven handshake, and asks after his clan. When Cass asks him about her missing brother, he can't help, but makes mention of having some experience in that area. Cass presses the point, and he gently deflects her, saying "The hairs of that beard have already been pulled." He promises to buy Rangrim a beer in the tavern that night and talk more.

In the evening, everyone is gathered in the Tavern. New arrivals in the village ensure it's even more packed than normal, and the group are able to meet Delphina and Ninaran, two local Elves, Ninaran is sullen and quiet, not wanting to speak much, but Delphina is much happier and fills in a map to the location of the Kobold lair. This map also helps to confirm that Eilian's map to the last location of Douven Staul isn't perhaps as bad as they thought, and it's decided that rescuing him might be a good move before taking on the kobolds. After Aran has entertained the crowd with tales of their exploits thus far, the party head for bed (with Aran in special rooms on the ground floor), ready for the morrow.

Winterhaven is a small village at the far end of the King's Road from Fallcrest. A sturdy wall protects the outside of the settlement, and visible over the top of it is Wraftons Inn, the Winterhaven Manor House and Valthruns Tower.

Two guards stood at the gate, impassively watching at the donkey pulled the trade cart up the hill. Des stepped forwards to talk to them, and after a short discussion the gates were opened and the party allowed in.

Wraftons Inn was revealed right in front of them, and Salvana Wrafton emerged from the front door, beaming. "Welcome to Winterhaven!" she called. "Is that the trade caravan you've brought? Fantastic! I'll have it brought in, please, come in and get a drink. I'm sure you're tired after a long journey."

Aran tried a local speciality ("It's made with cherries, well, mostly cherries!") and a mixture of ale and wine was poured, and Salvana got the news of the kobold attack. She seemed to know something about it, and recommended the group speak to Lord Parrag, the town's leader. Cass also asked after her brother, but Salvana didn't recognise the description.

Over the course of the afternoon, the party discussed all that brought them to Winterhaven, including the Keep ("Rumoured to be haunted! Vampires and ghosts and all sorts!"), the kobolds ("They're a real problem, but we don't have the manpower here to deal with it"), Douven Staul ("Oh, I remember him. He followed Eilian's map and hasn't been seen since") and the possibility of a cult ("There are no cults in Winterhaven, I'm sure of that").

A few minutes walk brought Des to Valthruns Tower and Valthrun downstairs to add his knowledge. He also denied any suggestion of cult activity, spoke a little about The Winterhaven Keep and it's history, and agreed that Douven Staul seemed a nice fellow.

Eilian turned out to be an old farmer sitting in the corner, and once Douven's name was mentioned he lit up a little, saying he could draw everyone a map of where he'd gone. There was some suggestion that this map may have been less than accurate, but any map is better than none and the party agreed to head out and look for Douven soon.

Finally, the party headed through another short interlude with some more guards before being shown in to see Lord Parrag in the Manor House, with weapons peacebonded.

As the company rounded a bend in the road, Aran had a strange inkling that something was up. An inkling that turned into a certainty as a group of small, reptilian creatures burst from the trees around them and attacked.

As Des hollered "Everyone back in the caravan!" and ducked for cover, the rest of the party responded with weapons drawn and spells readied, taking down several of the kobolds in a few seconds. Theron suffered a nasty hit though – one particular kobold was able to sling a firepot at him, setting his arm on fire.

The battle raged across the area, with most of the group holding a good defensive line against the tougher kobolds who could stand up to them. Three, in particular, caused the most problems as their dragonscale shields helped them deflect several attacks that were aimed their way.

Theron managed to put out his fire and blast one dragonshield back into the trees with a [i]Thunderwave[/i]. Snarling, the kobold bared it's teeth and charged back into the fray, only for Rangrim to use the power of the Thunderhammer to blast the kobold back again, clutching it's ears.

Sabbat Fau showed his hand for the first time, causing one kobold to burst into flames from the inside and catch fire. Thankfully for the kobold, Cass dispatched it shortly afterwards.

Whilst all this was going on, Aran and the kobold slinger had been playing hide'n'seek just up the road. Seeing it's friends defeated, the slinger made a break for freedom but a flying tackle from Aran stopped it in it's tracks. Up close, it wasn't so dangerous and a couple of quick scimitar and dagger thrusts meant it lay dead on the ground.

Des healed those that needed it, a couple of shields were taken as trophies, and the party moved on.

Leaving the Shadowhaunt Mausoleum, the group escorted the two young boys back to Linden Field and the waiting arms of their parents. Quinn Stasi was overjoyed to have his children back, and paid the adventurers the money he had promised.

He was also fascinated to learn of their possible ancestry, and vowed to help train his children in the ways of the Kaius. To that end, he asked that should the group ever pass by Linden Field again, that they stop in and see how everyone is doing.

That evening, a happy village celebrated the return of the children in the Inn. Aran told the tale of what had happened, embellishing it only slightly, and despite slightly sore heads they set off in the morning with glad hearts.

The countryside was largely dull – low hills breaking away in each direction, with small woods and distant, larger forests. Winterhaven was still several days away, and the journey quickly became routine as they continued at the slow walking pace that the donkey pulling the trade caravan forced upon them. Aran tended to range ahead a little, scouting for the group.

It was this scouting that saved them from what might have been a very nasty ambush.

A drink and a story shared in Arans Tavern Tales

Possibly the most important item amongst the possessions found in Helvec's chest was a short note on poor quality paper. It read:

"Helvec, once you have finished with your task you must meet me at the Keep. You know the passcode. In His name, K".

The party quickly figure out that "K" may refer to "Kalarel", the alleged leader of the Death Cultists in Winterhaven.

The party gathered around the circle in the statue room, joined now by Sabbat Fau. Elwanen went to guard the entrance against possible reinforcements.

Sabbat Fau and Theron between them concluded that with the death of Helvec, the Elf, the circle was losing it's potency. Aran Thule also chimed in, saying he knew a thing or two about magical traps and that he reckoned with a bit of help he could disarm it. Working together, and with the use of some handy sand, the trap was disarmed and the circle faded away into nothingness.

Aran stepped into the circle and used his lockpicks to unchain the two boys. His small stature and nimble fingers made quick work of what had looked like quite a secure chain.

As the boys stepped out the circle, the company tensed for a moment – but the ceiling stayed put, and no rumble of falling rock came to their ears. However, the shadowy figure that they had met before formed silently out of the shadows on one side of the room. A great wind seemed to be affecting it, and the dark shadows were ripped away leaving it's face much more human looking and it's robes grey, rather than black.

"Thank you," he said. "That accursed elf had me under a compulsion – I aided you as best I could but I wish I could have struck the deathblow on him myself. I am glad these two innocent children have been freed."

Staring at his newly revealed face, both Des and Aran had the same thought – the figures pictured on the tombs upstairs, this face, and the face of the children bore an uncanny resemblance. A…familial resemblence.

Aran asked "Do you boys know anything your grandfather? Or possibly grandmother?" Seeing their baffled looks, he explained that a resemblence was clear, and the spirit immediately guided everyone through to the room that Helvec had been conducting the ritual in. At his prompting, the two boys placed their hands on the risen platform, and as they did so it began to slide into the ground, leaving behind a lump of misshapen rock.

This rock then began to melt down into the shape of a warhammer, and the Kaius Thunderhammer was revealed.

The spirit spoke again, saying "Long has this hammer been waiting to be held again. The scions of the Kaius Dynasty are here to take their place in defence of their ideals."

However, the two boys looked a little unsure, and Richard spoke up, replying "But we're far too young!" He glanced around, spotting Rangrim comparing his own Dwarf-wrought hammer with the one lying in front of him. "You take it!" cried Richard. "You take it, and wield it, and when we're ready we'll send for it and you can return it to us!"

Rangrim was, understandly, happy with this arrangement.

The spirit, it's job done, faded back into the stonework of the underground tomb, and the party gathered up the assorted treasure from their fallen foes, including the ritual book. Sabbat was all for keeping it for study, realising it concerned rituals of power for those willing to make bargains, but upon further discussion it was decided that a ritual book that contained a single ritual that spoke of days of blood sacrifice was not something he wanted to have in his possession – the book's pages were burnt.