The Fourth Day of Aft-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Crooked Rock Tower

The party rose the next day, and after having a meal and checking on the prisoners in the cells, made their way down the stairs they found behind the secret door. It became obvious as they were descending that this area was even older than the dungeon level they were leaving. Andy scouted a bit ahead, and entered a large open area at the base of the passageway.

28. Mayhem:

A glowing orb in the ceiling illuminates a room some thirty feet high. This room is a scene of destruction and mayhem. What seems to be the badly damaged statue of a great two-legged lizard with a massive head full of teeth is standing amid the ruins of two large piles of bent and twisted machinery – gears, chassis, cutting heads, and other parts not so easily identified. Scattered across the floor are many stone fragments of various sizes, the largest the size of a melon; they appear to be the same sort of stone as the statue.
In the west wall is an ornately decorated, brass faced door covered in cobwebs and dust, about four feet wide and eight feet high. The walls of this room are built of yellow sandstone blocks.
In the north wall is a door made of heavy oaken planks reinforced by iron banding. Along the east wall hang a half dozen or so ragged strips of paper perhaps two feet wide and five feet long.

As the party gazed at the destruction in the room, as soon as they passed the threshold from the passageway into the room, the stone creature came to life! It turned at them and charged, roaring as it bit into Domino, picking him up and throwing him to the side.The roar seemed to slow Kain and Bark, making them take twice as long to get into position to attack. Luckily Needles was too far back to be affected and took a shot at the stone dinosaur, his arrow hitting it and causing the dinosaur to explode, showering the party with stone and dust..

The party rushed to the aid of a very dazed and beat up Domino. After checking his wounds Bark decided that Domino was in serious need of some healing and used his druid magic on him before helping the cleric to his feet. An inspection of the room found that the parts on the floor were the remains of two mechanical men similar to Argent and they must have died in battle with the creature Needles just slew. The strips of paper on closer inspection were found to be banners of some sort but in a language nobody could read.

The door immediately to the west was locked and Andy inspected the door before earnestly working at picking the lock. It took her longer than normal to pick it but soon she heard the satisfying click of the tumbler and the door popped open. But nobody was prepared for what happened next as beetles by the thousands began to pour out of the door crack and into the room, Andy couldn’t leap back in time and was covered in beetles in minutes, the party grabbed her and pulled her away from the door. Luckily it didn’t seem like the beetles were dangerous to them, except to continue to pour out of the door and scatter either beneath the north door or back up the stairs they just came down. The party backed against the east wall, afraid to move until finally in what seemed like an eternity, they stopped coming from the door, although the room was still covered in beetles. They slowly approached the door again, the beetles making a crunching noise under their feet as they moved.

29. Mummy’s Chamber:

The room is painted on all four walls with scenes from what seems to be the life of an evil woman. Many evil deeds are depicted, of which the west wall is the worst. The woman is depicted as a general, leading a victorious army; the defeated are being sold as slaves, and the buyers are horrible anthropomorphized bats from deep underground. These creatures are like men with furred bodies and the heads of bats, and they are depicted as blind, with scars where their eyes were, as if each had had its eyes plucked out. Once taken below ground, the slaves are devoured alive by the bat-creatures. The whole scene is sickening and disturbing.

A sarcophagus against the west wall opened, revealing a mummy which pointed at the party screaming ‘Free me from the curse dogs!!!’ in an unsettling woman’s voice. The party backed out of the small room as the creature rushed at them. Domino warned the party to be careful of her touch as they spread out. As the mummy lurched into the room Needles fired at it with his bow. The fire from his arrow causing the mummy to cry out in pain. Kain struck out with his katana, the mummy’s wrap seeming to resist the blade. Clarabelle seeing how Needle’s fire caused the mummy some distress, kept her sword sheathed and cast her Fire Bolt at the approaching creature. Once again it cried out in pain and focused its rage on Clarabelle, lurching forward and attacking her, giving her a glancing blow. Andy and Domino circled around her both striking out with their magical weapons and bringing the mummy low. There was a strong pulse of magic as she died and then all the beetles, alive and dead disappeared from the room. A loud voice rang out in rage, the party not sure they were hearing it in the room, or their own head..

“You have freed Zul-Rukha from her eternal torment! Her debt to those she killed far from being repaid!! I would have you mortals pay me for taking that away, but I will take that payment from those you have caged above, a slave is but a slow death for most anyways..”

Shaking their head to clear the ringing, they went back into the mummy’s room, but found nothing but the sarcophagus, which they found had holes just large enough for a beetle to escape from, or enter into.

They made their way back to the large room and the door heading north. Andy inspected it and couldn’t find anything, although the door seemed to be unlocked. The party opened the door and entered into the large room beyond.

30. Corridor:

This L-shaped corridor provides central access to the other main rooms. The ceiling is about
twenty feet high. Ahead of you is a dais set in the corner, and upon the dais is a glinting crystalline statue of a lizardman. The statue wears a feathered headdress and is armed with a spear and a stone-headed club; its arms are raised as if calling upon powers from above, toothy maw wide open as if screaming. To your right down the corridor you can just see another such dais with an identical statue; the corridor turns left at that point.

Andy inspected the statue ahead of them but could find nothing interesting about it. The party moved inside the room and had to decide what to do, go through the doors to the north our south, or follow the corridor as it turned north ahead. Looking at the door to the north..

The doors to this room are carved with stylistic representations of dragons writhing around the blade of a sword wrapped in flames.

The party knew that Slurra was looking for a sword in the Lizardman temple and the statues of Lizardmen made them think that the sword might be behind this door. After giving the door the once over, Andy retreated and let her more heavily armored friends enter first.

31. Basilisk:

The center of this room is dominated by a lifelike statue of a great lizard, surrounded by similarly lifelike statues of lizardmen in defensive poses.

About the same time that Needles noticed that the Lizard was actually breathing, Clarabelle yelled out "’Ware the creature!, Thats not ordinary lizard, its a basilisk, do not meet its gaze!’

Andy moved to the corner of the room while Kain charged the creatures, eyes averted. Even looking away he was able to land a mighty blow with his Katana while channeling his Ki. Andy’s shot went wide, Domino moved forward to assist Kain while Needles also distanced himself from the party to get an open shot, his arrow whizzing by Kain and striking the Basilisk. The basilisk struck out at Kain in pain but was unable to land a blow. Bark moved into the center of the room, looking for an opportunity to help out while Clarabelle let loose a magic missile at the creature. Both her missiles struck true and the creature roared out in pain before dying. At this point it became obvious that the lifelike statues of lizardmen were actually lizardmen struck down by the basilisk’s gaze.

The walls of this room were painted with murals,but the humid environment has caused the paint to decay; little can be seen of the original subject matter.
The doors that open into the hallway are carved on both sides with stylistic representations of
dragons writhing around the blade of a sword wrapped in flames.
The huge bronze doors set in the diagonal wall are decorated with bas reliefs of lizardmen and
other lizard-creatures glaring at interlopers. Ancient dead roots have grown under the frame, working their way in from the outside.

The party tried the door to the northwest but it was stuck solid and they speculated that this may have been the original entrance to the temple thousands of years ago when it was first built. The door going to the east appeared to go back into the L shaped corridor that they came from to the south. To be sure they decided to go through that door and back to the corridor. Doing so caused all 3 of the crystal statues to come to life, and soon they were beset on from all sides. One of the creatures attacked Andy while the other fell upon Domino. Luckily the surprise was not enough to leave the party open and none of their attacks got through.

The battle commenced in earnest and soon Andy was struck by a Crystal fist, knocking her backwards. She replied in kind by taking a chuck of crystal off its left side. The third Crystal Statue entered the battle and went after Bark striking him twice with its fists. Clarabelle went after the newest statue to enter the fray and struck it with her longsword. Needles struck his opponent furiously with his axes, shattering the statue into thousands of shards. Andy and Kain made short work of the statue attacking Domino, only leaving one statue remaining. Needles grabbed his bow and took a shot at the statue, trusting his skill to shoot into where his friends were fighting, and his skill proved true, striking the statue and leaving it wobbling. Andy stuck her shortsword through it, finishing it off.

Once the battle was done, Andy’s sharp eye noticed something in the remains of one of the statues and pulled out a nicely sized diamond. A quick check and another 2 were found. They figured each of the diamonds was worth about 500 gp. Andy tucked them away while Domino returned an earlier favor and healed Bark from the wounds he suffered at the hands of the crystal statues.

The Corridor had 3 sets of doors they had yet to check, a double-door heading south, another double-door heading east and another smaller door further north also heading east.

A decision was made to go with the closest door to them, the double-door heading east.

These wooden doors to this room are carved with a flower-bordered depiction of lizardmen in a swamp, fighting each other.

The door was checked and Andy said she was lucky not to get a splinter from how dry and cracked this door was. But not hearing anything the party opened the door and entered.

33. Bone Golem:

You see a the skeleton of a extremely large lizardman hunched in the middle of a dais on the far side of the room. It sits facing the doorway, hands on its knees; its empty eye sockets seem to be glaring at you. Claws from bears and similar creatures are hung on a thong across its chest. The skull of a giant lion rests atop its bony pate like a helmet. The smell of swamp plants and mud wafts to your noses, and this causes you to notice that the floor, walls, and ceiling seem to be damp.

As soon as the party passed the threshold of the room, the skeleton creature rose up from the dais. Needles launched an unsuccessful arrow attack but Clarabelle’s last magic missile spell struck the creature twice. Andy’s arrow struck it but the arrow did no damage, just fell useless to the floor. Bark sensing this creature was trouble, pulled forth flame from his hands and hurled it at the creature but the toss went wide. The creature moved fast and soon closed with Clarabelle, its flint hand axes a blur of movement but only striking Clarabelle a glancing blow. Kain channeled his Ki into his first strike and his Katana rang as it sliced into the bone creature. Another arrow by Needles followed striking the creature in the head with a burst of flame. Andy struck the creature with her short sword this time and had much better luck as the creature fell to the ground and didn’t get back up.

There was a door to the south but the party wanted to go back to the corridor and check the smaller door to the north also going east.

The closed doors to this room are decorated withcarvings of drums set amid a motif of bamboo and swamp plants. They are crafted from lustrous teak hinged by black-lacquered iron hinges with a heavy iron handle set in each.

Andy inspected the door and even though it was unlocked noticed the intricate way the door opened. Each latch pulled a rod from the floor, releasing the door to open.

35. Metal Lizard Room:

You see a room decorated like a swamp island, with a dark earthen mound festooned with wetland plants and bushes. A bright light shines. from a yellow globe suspended from the ceiling, which is about thirty feet high. A group of thatch huts with rawhide door flaps is centered on the mound. Sitting on stools carved from solid sections from tree-trunks are three statues of lizardmen with hide drums held between their splayed legs. The slight burbling of water can be heard.
Behind the huts you see a statue of a huge lizard-like creature with an elephantine body and a long neck and tail. It appears to be made of black iron.

As soon as the party entered the room, the lizardman statues began pounding on their drums and the large lizard-like creature behind them came to life! The sound of the thudding of the door behind them told them they were in trouble. They party knew that defeating this creature might be beyond them so they told Andy to get to work trying to get the door back open while the rest of them did their best to distract it. Needles got of the first strike, hitting the creature in the head. Domino decided to use his bless spell on the party, increasing their odds of hitting the creature. The creature lumbered forward and spewed poisonous gas cloud at the two front members, Domino and Kain. Kain was immune but unfortunately Domino wasn’t, and even though he didn’t die immediately, the poison did begin affecting him. Kain stepped forward and using the last of his ki energy, struck the iron creature another fearsome blow. Andy was having trouble opening the door so Clarabelle cast her last spell of the day, the knock spell she still had prepared. The door clicked audibly as it was released. Needles immediately backed out of the room. Domino sensing that he may not have alot of time left, called upon Chordax to further bless his mace and moved forward towards the lizard, hoping to keep it occupied while the others escaped from the room. He was unable to press the attack and missed the creature. The creature struck back and dealt Domino a deadly blow, striking down and killing the cleric. The rest of the party escaped the room while Kain fought a fighting retreat, knowing he would allow the creature one more attack before he could get out of the room. Lucky for him the creature did not hit him and he was able to move past the doorway, where immediately the drumming ceased and the iron creature retreated. The party was devastated by the loss of their cleric and friend Domino. they knew they weren’t going to leave him in that room. That is when Clarabelle had an idea. She noticed that the creature seemed to be keyed to the drumming. The door was still being propped open so Needles slipped in to where he could take a shot at one of the statues but still slip out before the iron lizard to close to his location. Once.. Twice.. Three times Needles snuck in and all 3 times is aim was true, destroying a statue and true to Clarabelle’s word, as soon as the third creature was struck down, the iron lizard no longer attacked. Warily the party re-entered the room but found that their friend Domino was beyond all healing.

They decided now would be a good time to backtrack up the cells where they left Slurra. So with Clarabelle and Kain carrying Domino, they moved through the rooms and back up the stairs. They were shocked to find that Slurra and the two other lizardman were dead, not just dead but eaten down to the bone. It was then that they remembered the words in their head after killing the mummy. Slurra had paid the ultimate price for dealing with slavers.

They covered their friend reverently before Bark used his last heal on Kain and they rested for the night.

The third Day of Aft-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Crooked Rock Tower

The party left the tower early on the second day of the lumia festival, escorting the captives they rescued back to the lumber camp. In exchange for their help, the captives helped carry the armor and weapons taken from the dead lizardmen. The party was relieved when they made it back to camp that afternoon without encountering anything but mosquitoes. They reported in to Risran, saying they had rescued some captives, employees of the camp and their families. They also gave Risran the armor and swords they had recovered from the lizardmen, with the strong suggestion that he come up with some sort of nightly armed patrol with his employees. They brought the shields back to the warehouse where Domino and Bark used their healing to bring Needles and Clarabelle back to almost full health before settling in for the night.

The next day the party rested throughout the day to try and get the entire party back to full strength. Needles did venture out to gather the herbs he needed for his salve but that was about the extent of it. They wanted to be good and ready when they left the next morning back to the tower.

On the Second Day of Aft-Lumia the party once again left for the Crooked Rock Tower. Their travels through the wood that day were uneventful and they arrived at the tower during the late afternoon. They decided to set up camp a bit further away from the tower in case their were more guards watching for them from the roof of the tower.

Early the next morning they sent Andy back in, using another 1/3 of the potion of gaseous form. She returned back to them shortly letting them know that the tower had not yet been refortified. The party followed her back to the entrance where they took the maintenance ladder down to the tower basement to keep their presence quiet as long as they could.

They followed the long stairs down into the lower level under the tower until they came to a intersection with a large open area with two doors and hallways heading off east and west.

1. The Entry Room:

This area is filled with thick, dusty cobwebs, filling the room except for the lowest four feet or so of the room. Lying shriveled on the floor is the corpse of a giant spider, a black widow it appears; lying beside it is the corpse of a giant bee. Several more insect corpses hang from the webs, bundled in more webbing. You can see two huge, translucent spiders in the webbing nearby, and possibly another one further in.

The husks they saw turned out to be just the empty husk of a spider. But as they moved away they could hear the sound of of skittering and 3 giant spiders attacked them from the webs. Luckily the party was able to handle them quickly.

The decision was made to follow the hallway going east where they came to another door on the south wall and another large area just east of it with a door going north and further down the hallway what appeared to be a double-door going south right before the hallway stopped. Andy headed back to the first door going south and did her thief checks for traps while listening for anything on the other side. After nothing was heard the party entered the room.

9. Bone Room

The walls of this room are lined with bags and bundles; you see bones sticking out of some of them, and a few piles of bones and skulls lie unwrapped here and there.

The party was already leary so it came as no surprise as they were investigating the room, that some of the bones began to join together to form 7 full skeletons. Domino rebuked them and 4 of them clattered to the floor, bones spilling everywhere. The party quickly dispatched the rest and finished up checking the room, where they found nothing but the bags of bones.

the party wanted to follow the other hallway before they checked the doors on this side so they headed back towards the west where they came back to the large alcove with a door on the west and south wall. Checking the south door and finding nothing, they opened it up and entered.

6. The Warriors Den

In this room you see a desk, a chair, an empty weapons rack and a large chest.

While Needles kept an eye on the other door in this room the rest of the party investigated the chest and desk. The chest was empty except for an old pair of broken sandals. On the desk they found a a dried up ink well laying on top of some blank parchment. There was also a note laying on top of the desk.

Walgren,
I never signed on for the killing of women and children. You can keep whatever you owe me
for your protection. I couldn’t keep it in good conscience anyways..
—Achron

They decided to continue on through the door in the room going east and after a quick inspection opened it.

7. The Warriors Bedroom
The found nothing in this room except for a rotting bed covered in rotting bedsheets. There was another door going east that was slightly open but as they approached it they heard noises from under the bed before 6 flying creatures flew out from it and attacked them. Kain cut one down and needles connected solidly with another but one of the creatures was able to bite Bark. Bark felt a little woozy but was able to fight back against the creatures poison but he yelled out a warning to the others to beware their bite. Domino killed another and Needles finished off the one he had hit earlier. Domino hit another and Andy snuck behind the last one, sticking it with her shirt sword, it survived that attack and another by Bark and lashed out at Kain, biting the soulforged but doing no other damage. Finally Needles cut it out of the air. Kain bent down to examine the creatures.. "Vorts… or as others called them, “Winged Serpents”. A nuisance to us since their poison did us no harm, but for others not immune, it knocked them out, allowing the creatures to eat while the victim still breathed’. With the creature dead, they examined the half open door to the east.

8. Warriors Armoire

This room appears to be empty. You see tendrils of gray, oozing slime come dripping down from overhead, and looking up, you can see a sickly gray fungus covering the ceiling.

Andy who was inspecting the doorway quickly jumped back thinking the dripping fungus was grey ooze but her fears were unfounded as it turned out to just be disgusting fungus of the normal variety.

With these set of rooms explored they headed back to the first alcove where they checked the door going west before opening it.

5. Storage

This room appears to be used for storage; a stack of wooden boxes is piled in the middle of the room. You notice the ceiling of this room is higher than in the hallway, probably about thirty feet.

Since the boxes in here looked precarious it was decided that Needles and Andy would inspect them since they had the best chance of dodging out of the way should one fall. This seemed to be going great until both of them came running out of the room screaming ‘GET IT OUT!’. It would seem that two giant centipedes had crawled out of the boxes and into the armor of both Andy and Needles. The rest of the party surrounded the two unlucky characters and began slapping them with their hands. Bark heard a resounding ‘splat’ as he smashed the one on Andy before it could bite her, but hit had to hit it hard enough to bruise her as well. Needles did get bit once before Domino could kill the centipede inside his shirt, but his tough orc hide was able to resist its poison. Andy and Needles reported that all they were finding was old and rusty equipment anyways so unless somebody else wanted to go back in and finish looking, her and Needles were done.

The party left the room and alcove and headed east down the hall they were at earlier where they followed it to the end and the set of double doors heading south. When Andy was listening at the door she could hear the sounds of what sounded like metal hitting stone, almost as if there were mining going on behind the door. Cautiously the party opened the door and headed inside.

11. Cell Block

The double doors open onto a ten foot wide corridor that runs south for fifty feet. The first ten feet of the corridor is featureless; then, off the east wall are four cells, each ten feet square, with grillework doors facing onto the corridor. Inthe west wall there is a door ten feet south of the entrance. At the end of the fifty feet the corridor turns west.

The sound of stonemasonry stops abruptly, and you can see ten animated skeletons round the corner at the far end of the corridor. They are holding large picks of the kind used for stonework.

Needles was in front of the party so he pulled out his axes and charged into the fray. connecting with the skeleton in front of him and shattering it into pieces. Andy fired an arrow into the crowd but failed to connect with anything, but Kain following Needles lead, waded into the fray and destroyed another skeleton. Bark also grabbed his staff and cracked a skeleton with it but was unable to bring it down. Domino attempted to turn some of these undead but they almost seemed immune to his commands and came on even stronger. the fight bogged down in the narrow room as the skeletons bunched up on one side and the party on the other. Needles slid back to extricate himself from the front lines but took a swipe from a skeletons axe in the process. Andy lobbed a burning flask of oil to the back of the skeletons but didn’t seem to do much damage to the creature she hit. Kain slid over to take Needles spot and cut his opponent in half. Bark also slid back and let Domino slide in front of him, where the cleric crushed the skeleton in front of him with his mace. Bark took a side swipe at the Skeleton attacking Kain, hitting it but not enough to stop it while Domino destroyed another with his mace. Kain then finished off his opponent. Finally Clarabelle was able to get into the fight, taking out another skeleton while Domino continued to wade into the thick of things, striking down another skeleton. But the skeletons finally were able to give some damage of their own, as a pickaxe struck Clarabelle. That was to be the final blow as Domino and Clarabelle finished off the remaining two skeletons.

With the fight done, the party pushed the skeleton bones to the side and inestigated the corridor where the skeletons came from. There they found an unfinished hallway which is what the skeletons must have been working on before they attacked the party. The investigation of the cell blocks found the remains of a dryad, a centaur and an owlbear, a very odd combination of creatures indeed. However that’s not all the party found, as they came across a very old secret door in the back of the first cell block in the room. A quick investigation showed stairs leading down that appeared to be even older than the level they were on now. The party figured those could wait until they had searched this level completely because it looked as if this door hadn’t been opened in centuries.

There was another in the cellroom going east and the party checked it over before opening it.

10. Torture Room:

You see a table to which a mechanical thing made to resemble a man is strapped. Its arms and legs have been disassembled at the knees and elbows, and you see what are apparently the missing parts piled on the floor beside the table.

The first thing the party noticed was the uncanny resemblance between this mechanical man and Kain, as though this thing on the table was some sort of descendant of the soulforged race. Kain looked troubled by this discovery. They were surprised when what they thought was a non funtional being spoke them.. ‘Hello my name is Argent, or as my master tended to call me ’Number 1’, are you here to help me?’. The party was stunned by his speech, which was very metallic sounding. much different then what they heard when Kain spoke. He then instructed the party on how to put his missing arms and legs back on and since Andy seemed to have the touch for these types of things, she volunteered to do the job. However when she first touched Argent, she went still for minutes causing the rest of the party to become concerned and pull her away from the mechanical man. She told them she was fine and that somehow the thoughts of Argent flooded through her when she first touched him. She then paraphrased to them what she had seen.

Thousands of years ago a mysterious technomancer came to the rock and caused a great tower to be raised upon it. Beneath the tower his workers carved a tunnel down through the rock, and then built a dungeon beneath the adjacent soil. Within the dungeon the technomancer created a manufacturing facility for his mechanical men, until disappearing suddenly and without any reason a few year later. A few centuries after the technomancer’s disappearance, the wizard Garand Walgren learned of the tower, and, believing that a mechanical army lay hidden beneath the ground there, he came to the tower to loot it. He never discovered the secret way into the facility, though he did capture Argent. He tried everything he knew to coerce Argent to reveal the secret way, even attempting to torture it; but Argent was still loyal to his master, and refused to tell Walgren what he wanted to know. Walgren did learn that Argent was compelled to act to save humans whenever possible, so he traveled to a nearby village and kidnapped a woman with her young son and daughter. He told Argent that he would spare the lives of his captives in return for the secret of the dungeon; when the mechanical man refused, Walgren killed the mother. Again he demanded an answer, and again Argent regretfully refused. Walgren slew the girl, and threatened the boy, but when the Argent refused yet again, he realized it was no use. So he spared the boy’s life and made him a servant in the tower. This proved his downfall ten years later, as the boy, grown to be a man, killed Walgren with his bare hands in a last final act of revenge. But Argent was left there, partially dismantled and restrained, for the boy still blamed him in part for the death of his mother and sister. The young man then left the tower.

Afterwards she had no more visions and with Argent’s help was able to put him back together. He thanked them and then before they could ask him anymore mentioned needed to check the tower and took off. The party followed the mechanical man until he took the hallway back towards the stairs going up. They backtracked to the east hall and the only door they hadn’t checked, the one in the small alcove going north.

2. Corridor Room:

The ceiling of this room is lined with the honeycomb of giant bees. An alcove in the north wall leads to ornate double doors of brass-bound oak trimmed with copper.
As you enter the area, six giant bees fly at you from the darkness.

the party wasn’t expecting the bees as they swooped in from above and the bees got a free attack on them. Luckily nobody was stung. The party quickly took down the bees afterwards before checking the door to the north. After not hearing anything, they entered the room.

3. Chapel Anteroom:

Tapestries of deep red line the walls to the left and right; each is embroidered with a white sickle moon, dripping with blood.

Domino recognized the symbol of the Goddess Esra, The Goddess of Darkness and Magic. It would make sense that from what Andy saw from Argent’s thoughts, that the wizard Walgren would be interested in the dark side of magic. Domino wanted to tear down the curtains, but when he struck them with his mace, it was as if the fabric resisted the damage. There was another door to north so the party checked it before opening it. Andy could hear the roar of something on the other side of the door, possibly a large fire. They opened up the door and entered.

4. Chapel of Esra:

A huge roaring fire burns on the dais, though there is no fuel for it to burn.

The fire burning on the dais was so loud that the party had to yell to hear each other. Also the heat radiating from the fire, made the entire room uncomfortable. Andy and Needles inspected the room but couldn’t find anything of value, and the party quickly stepped out.

It looked as if the east side of this level had been explored so the party backtracked to the west hallway where they came to another open area with a hallway heading south.

12. Corridor Room:

Scuff marks on the floor indicate that shelves about 2 to 3 feet in depth may have once lined the west wall of this now empty nook.

There was also the remains of a campsite here as well, in fact it looked as if whoever left the camp here had plans on returning to it. They rummaged through the stuff left here and didn’t find anything of any importance except for a curious note.

My good friend Slurra..
The last shipment of captives you sent to us were
exactly what we needed. I hope the armor and
weapons you received in return will meet your
expectations. I would love to continue our
relationship and would gladly provide you more
weapons in exchange for more captives. Please
bring whatever you can gather to our usual spot.
-Morgath

So the assumptions that this was the campsite of the Lizardman Chief and his guards proved correct and now they had the name of the slaver the lizardmen were selling the captives to and that the lizardman chief was named Slurra.

Following the hallway south they came to a door on the west side while the hallway continued down before stopping at a Tee. deciding they wanted to explore the hallway first they passed the door and went down to the tee. The hallway going west ended at a door and the hallway east held a door going south, and a door at the end before it turned south.

The party headed towards the door going west and had Andy inspect it. She said she could hear sounds from the other side but was unsure what it was. With weapons readied the party opened the door and surprised a group of skeletons sitting around a table playing cards.

15. Skeleton Room:

A round table is centered in this room, with a gaudy white chandelier overhead, shining down
brightly. Sitting at the table are five skeletons, apparently playing cards.

As the party rushed into the room one of the skeletons turned to them and asked ‘Care to play some 12 Hand Slap?’ before Clarabelle’s mace came crashing down on its head, destroying it. It was the parties turn to be surprised as what they they thought was the chandelier came crashing down to the table and appeared to be another skeleton. Once again Domino was unable to turn any of the skeletons and Bark and Kain were both unable to connect. Needles fired at one of the skeletons in the back, the arrow not doing much damage, but the fire that came with it was able to do a bit more damage. Clarabelle scrabbled over the table and hit another Skeleton and destroyed it as well. A Skeleton climbed onto the table to get a better shot at Bark and connected with its skeletal hand. Andy fired at another skeleton in the back with her bow, hitting it but not doing much damage. Another Skeleton climbed over the table and attacked Clarabelle, able to scratch with his bony claws. Domino, frustrated by his inability to turn the undead lately blasted the skeleton in front of him with mace, shattering pieces of it all over the wall. Another Skeleton over the table and now Kain took a hit. Needles switched to his axes and jumped into the battle but wasn’t able to connect. Bark took another good shot from the skeleton in front him. Kain popped his opponent with the butt of his katana, taking it out. bark swung his staff and knocked the one in front of him off the table where it clattered into a pile of bones. Needles jumped up on the table to finish off the last one but was unable to do enough damage to bring it down but Domino did right afterwards.

There was a door to the south in this room and after investigating it and not finding or hearing anything they opened it up.

16. Wine Room:

This room is apparently a wine cellar. Wine racks cover all the available wall space. However, there are only a few bottles of wine here. There is some broken glass on the floor just to the left of the door.

Domino knew his wines and found that 7 of the 15 bottles in the room were fairly rare and would fetch a good price if they were hauled out of here. There was an empty crate in the room and they used it to pack up the wine. The party thought that this would be a good time to take a look at their wounds and heal up. Clarabelle and Bark had a few heavy wounds from the last few encounters so Bark healed Clarabelle and Domino healed Bark.

They decided to follow the hallway east where they came to a door going north and a door going east where the hallway turned south. They decided to check the north door first.

17. Bone Room:

Wooden shelves about two to three feet in depth line the walls of this room. They are stocked with bones sorted by type and length. A wooden bin in the center holds a jumble of bones waiting to be sorted.

The party had already been down this road so when 7 skeletons formed from the bones, they were prepared. Domino turned 5 of the 7 skeletons and the other 2 were quickly dispatched. The room contained nothing of consequence, other than than the bags so the party moved on. They exited out of the room and decided to check the door going east.

18. Zombie Room:

Andy could hear something coming from the room, but it almost seemed to be right next to the door. Kain reared back and kicked the door in, hopefully to take whoever was on the other side by surprise. He was surprised when the door splintered into pieces and went flying into the room.

This room is empty except for tables lining the walls. Lying on eight of them are what appear
to be human forms covered by dusty sheets.

It didn’t take long for 4 of the human forms to rise off the tables and lurch forward to attack the party. Domino couldn’t turn any of the zombies heading for them and a fight commenced. A zombie crashed into Domino as he drove his mace into its skull, staggering the creature but not killing it. Needles hit one of the zombies in the back with an arrow but was unable to fell it with one shot. Kain also laid into his opponent with his katana but also left it standing. the zombie paid him back in full, striking Kain in the chest with its claw. Domino finished his opponent off but another zombie filled its spot. Needles fired another arrow into the last zombie in back, pinning hits head to the wall and killing it. Kain’s attacker was the next to fall, sliced in half at the waist and Domino finished off the last one with a crushing mace to the face. There was nothing else in the room so the party continued south. At the dead end of the hallway they were confronted by either going through the door to the west or the door to the east. They chose the west door and after checking and listening, they entered the room.

20. Crypt Anteroom:

This room appears to be empty, save for a huge pair of double doors centered in the south wall. They are plain but well-made, and secured with a large gold seal.

the party was struck by the ornate doors and almost didn’t see the zombies standing still against the east wall. Luckily the movement caught their eye and the were able to prepare. Needles and Andy ran to the back of the room and released arrows into the horde, hitting two of them. Kain stepped in to keep the zombies off the archers. A zombie lurched forward from the crowd and went after Bark in the back. He wasn’t counting on Clarabelle coming into the room late and she gutted the zombie with her sword. A zombie was able to get another swipe at Kain, and was becoming obvious that his wounds were getting bad. A zombie skirted Kain’s defense, going after Needles with his claws. Needles dropped his bow and switched to his axes, striking his opponent. Kain, angered at being a zombie punching bag, sliced his opponent in half with a two-handed katana stroke. Andy continued to pepper the zombie in the back with arrows while Bark used his last healing to prop up Kain. Domino crushed his opponent and Clarabelle took a huge chunk out of a particularly large sized zombie. Kain and Needles finished off another and the rest went down uneventfully.

The massive circular gold seal is engraved with strange and unfamiliar symbols. It radiates a
sensation of coldness that can be felt several feet away.

The party got a distinct feeling that nothing good was going to be behind those doors so they chose to explore the door across the hallway first before attempting to open the double doors.

19. Zombie Room
As the party approached the opposite door, it swung open slowly as if somebody was leaving the room, but nobody came out. This put the party on their guard as entered the room.

This room is furnished as an office, with a desk, a chair behind it, and large easy chair in front. A solitary figure stands behind the desk.

It was no surprise when the lone figure rose up and showed itself to be another zombie. Domino immediately rebuked it and the zombie fell to the ground, dead again.

With that room explored the party decided to get whatever was behind the large doors out of the way. Domino used his last healing on Bark and Needles used the two healing salves he made on Kain. Domino cast bless on his friends and bark readied a spell. After struggling to remove the seal and open the large door, Kain was finally able to do both and get the door opened.

21. Crypt of Walgren:

Four monstrously large undead humanoids stand guard around a sarcophagus here. The ceiling
and corners of the room are thickly hung with spiderwebs.

The party was surprised by the monstrous creatures in this room which allowed the Ogre Zombies to rush from their guard at the party, two of them swinging mighty fists and Domino and Kain, luckily neither of them were able to land one. Bark produced a flame in his hand and lobbed it at the Ogre in the back, catching it on fire. Needles seeing an attack of opportunity and a chance to thin the ranks, fired at the same zombie staggering it back with an arrow, yet it still remained standing. Kain sunk his katana deep into the zombie in front of him, but it too remained standing. The Ogre Zombie in front of Domino punched out at Domino, luckily only getting in a glancing blow. Andy also decided to make a target of the same zombie hit by Needles and Bark, and her arrow was able to finish it off. Clarabelle fired off a magic missile at the last remaining Ogre in the back, hitting it but not even fazing it while Domino also returned a glancing blow on the Zombie who attacked him. The remaining Zombie in the back closed at the door and struck Kain a wallop with his fist. Bark risked throwing another ball of flame at the zombies in close melee combat with Kain and Domino but was successful in hitting the one facing Kain, the flames engulfing it, until it fell to the ground dead. Needles followed Bark’s lead and shot the zombie in front of Domino, hitting it with an arrow. Kain decided to step into the room and face the zombie that hit him earlier, hitting it with his blade. Andy thought it would be best if she didn’t fire into combat so she put her bow away and made her way towards the fight. Clarabelle stepped into the spot recently vacated by Kain and helped him out by slicing the head off the zombie he just faced. With only one Zombie left, the party quickly finished him off.

After all that work they found nothing of any value in Walgren’s crypt but felt pretty good that they got through that encounter, relatively unscathed. Looking at their map, there was only one door they hadn’t checked so they backtracked to that hallway and checked the door. Andy could hear a faint noise but it was too hard to discern what it was. With their hands strapped to their weapons they opened the door…

13. Stirges:

A haphazard collection of wooden beams lean against the wall and lie in piles in the outhwest
corner, along with some mining tools, wooden barrels and other items.

What they also found in this room was 13 stirges and 1 Lizardman warrior dead on the floor as well as 4 emaciated lizards stuck behind a steel barred doorway to the north. The sound Andy heard was the loud ticking of some device coming from this room. A larger Lizardman approached the doorway and begged them to help him and his companions escape from this room. He explained that they had entered the room, the doors came down and the clock against the wall would begin ticking down. Not sure what would happen if the thing counted down to zero, they could push the button to reset it, but it would immediately begin counting down again. They tried everything but could not escape the room and it had been days since they were trapped in there. When the party asked him if his name was Slurra he acknowledged that he was. They said before they could help him, they would need to know as much as about the slavers, where they took the captives etc. He said he would help. While Clarabelle and Kain tried unsuccessfully to budge the bars using strength and magic, Andy found a strange set of numbers behind a barrel in the room, the number 836. Afterwards peering through the bars she asked if the dial could actually be turned and the lizardman reported that it could. She had them turn the dial so that the number 8 was on top, then 3, then 6.. A loud clank surprised them as the bar retracted back into the ceiling and an overjoyed group of Lizardmen exited the room. They were both dehydrated and starved and didn’t put up much of a fight as the party tied them up. What the lizardman failed to notice was that when the bars went up, so did a small door beneath the dial. Andy went back into the room and found a locked chest.She drug the chest out of that room and back into the room they first entered. She was able to unlock the chest and they found that it contained 2554 gold pieces.

The party led the captured Lizardman back to the cells they found earlier. There they locked them up the best they could then gave them some food and water. Slurra also provided the party with some information about the slavers they dealt with, a hand drawn map showing where they were located, a small island called Manacle Island on the outskirts of the Mire Wood. With the lizardman locked up, the party ate, set up a watch and got some rest before exploring the secret hallway heading down they had found earier that day.

The First Day of the Lumia Festival, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Crooked Rock Tower

The next morning the party came up with a plan of attack. Giving Andy a third of their potion of gaseous form, Andy was to enter into the tower while the rest of the party remained outside.

Entering through the space under the door she entered the first level of the tower.

T1. Grand Hall

The entrance hall occupies the whole ground floor of the tower. Directly ahead of you is a mechanism of some kind formed around a square shaft that appears to rise to the top of the tower and descend into the earth. To the east, which is your right as you stand in the entrance, you can see the corpses of four bugbears. They appear to have been killed within the last few hours.

She couldn’t figure out what the mechanism was but she did see that it allowed her to float up to the second level in her incorporeal form.

T2. The Workshop

A table is cluttered with spring-powered wind-up metal toys. They include: a horse and carriage, where the horse has a single wheel instead of feet, a whistle on three wheels, a boat with a mechanical figure holding oars, and a metal rat with a single wheel. A variety of other parts (gears, wheels, and scraps of metal) are scattered on the bench, along with a few simple hand tools such as screwdrivers. Above the workbench are several shelves, loaded with bottles, bags, and jars. Odd scents assault your noses as you enter the room, a mixture of musky, sweet, and acrid odors.A continuous mechanical ticking fills this otherwise silent room. On the south wall a fanciful brass clock about three feet in diameter ticks away patiently.

Stray cobwebs waft in the air, glowing in the daylight streaming in through the windows.

Something was blocking her from ascending to the next level so she descended to the first level and waited for the potion to wear off. Once it did she opened up the door and let the party into the first floor. Together they investigated the mechanism and now that she was back to normal, it took only a few moments before Andy figured out how to work it. With a loud screeching, the platform that was blocking the third floor, came down and rested at their feet. The party got on the platform and Andy touched a button and the platform ascended to the next level but made an awful racket as it went up.

The party was fascinated by the small toys they found in the workshop, and spent some time winding them up to see what they would do. They realized that they would be fairly valuable if the right person could be found, but none of them had the heart to remove them from the workshop. They got back on the platform and ascended to the next level.

T3. Guest Room
bq. Near the center of this room, there is a round table with four stools. A card game of some kind has been abandoned, and hands of cards lie face down on the table with a further pile of cards in the center. There is also a painting on each wall.

Kain was fascinated by the deck of cards, and gathered them up and put them into his backpack before they inspected the paintings on each wall.

West Wall: The Temptation of Sathrena

The scene is a royal court. A peasant woman in a plain brown dress and an apron stands at the left of the picture. Her arm is outstretched with palm outwards in a gesture of refusal, and her head is turned away, refusing to look. In the center, a king sits on a throne. He wears a jeweled crown and carries a scepter and an orb, and a sword is girt at his side. He faces the woman and beckons. To the right, a hooded figure whispers in the King’s ear.

North Wall: The Doppleganger

This painting depicts an interior scene of a house on fire. A well-muscled barbarian, naked but for a loincloth, stands in the background. His face is puzzled, his brow furrowed. In the foreground, two women clad in tigerskins face each other. They are identical, mirror opposites, but in different poses. One has her mouth open to speak, and the other has a hand on her dagger.

South Wall: Lixi’s Library

Beside a window in a library, a blonde damsel in a damask gown sits reading. Her legs are
withered and she seems to be a cripple. Outside is a verdant meadow in spring

East Wall: the Crane and the Buzzard

A buzzard pecks at a crane. The crane has a very human-like expression, wide-eyed with amazement

The only painting that was familiar was the Crane and the Buzzard since Andy and Clarabelle both remembered hearing the story when they were a child. Other than the paintings and the cards, there was nothing else to see so the party got back on the lift, and ascended one more level.

T4. Wizard’s Room

A lush bed with a red satin canopy is positioned against the south wall; it is covered in dust and cobwebs. A washstand and a dresser stand to either side of the bed. The dresser holds grooming items such as a man would use (a comb, a pair of scissors, a jar of now-hardened mustache wax, a shaving mug and brush, and a rusty razor). A tall double-door wardrobe stands open against the west wall with various clothing items lying on the floor around it. A wooden case along the east wall contains many books and scrolls.

The party was immediately intrigued by the case of books and scrolls against the east wall and immediately began searching it for anything good. It was during that time that they heard a loud crash as 8 Lizardmen entered the room through the windows. The Lizardmen were hoping for surprise but were mostly unable to achieve it. However Needles was wrestled to the ground and punched as he tried to move to the center of the room. He was then able to escape the grasp of the lizardman and stand back up. Bark threw entangle at the group coming in through the northeast window and Domino cast Bless on his friends. Once again another lizardman brought Needles to the ground pummeling him again. Andy drew first blood as her sword found its mark on the last Lizardman entering the room from the southeast, but another Lizardman grabbed her and dragged her to the ground. Clarabelle released a Fire bolt at a lizardman trapped in the vines, killing him, while Domino Struck down the Lizardman wrestling with Andy. But she was barely on her feet before another Lizardman brought her back down. Meanwhile three other lizardman pummeled the grappled Needles. Clarabelle cast magic missile at one of the Lizardmen attacking Needles and a downward stroke from Kain’s Katana finished him off. This allowed Needles to escape the hold he was in and stand back up. At this point the Lizardmen were no longer thinking of taking the party captive and decided to attack them in strength. Andy was not faring well, even though she managed to escape her attacker a sword from another lizardman tore into her body. As Andy staggered back the enraged party now took the fight to the lizardman. Kain’s Katana blazing with flame killed two of the Lizardmen back to back as Andy got back into the fight and took another down, thanks to the healing energies of Domino and Bark. Clarabelle took her long-sword to the last remaining lizardman and the fight was over. Taking a deep breath, Bark and Domino both used their last remaining healing to get Needles back to strength.

Once again they noticed the quality of the weapons and arms that the Lizardmen possessed, especially the shields. They piled them into a corner and then took the lift up to the roof of the tower. It was here that they saw the remnants of a campsite and the tied off ropes hanging down where the Lizardmen had rappelled down them before attacking them in the room below.

Andy showed them the last button marked B which the party assumed meant the tower basement. She pressed it and the lift descended past the rest of the floors to the basement where the party was again set up upon by Lizardmen.

The party wasn’t expecting this attack and was soon driven back against the wall by it’s ferocity with Needles, Kain, Clarabelle and Bark all took damage. Kain got the party back into the fight by killing the lizardman in front of him with one savage blow. An enraged Bark then transformed into his bear form pressing the lizardman in front of him but unable to draw blood through the lizardman’s tough armor. Clarabelle did find a soft spot and her sword drew blood from her opponent but he struck back quickly, wounding her back. It was to be his last attack as he was struck down by Kain. Striking with his claws, Bark finally rended his opponent to death. With 3 of the 4 lizardman dead, Clarabelle then flanked the last remaining one ran him through with her sword.

After the fight was done, the party noticed that there were 10 captives down here with them, tied together by their hands and legs. After the party freed them they found that most of them were from the lumber camp but a few others were from a small farm not far from the camp. They also told the party that the leader of Lizardmen and 4 of his guards had went down the stairs leading underground. He mentioned something about a sword but that’s all they knew.

The party knew they were pretty banged up from the all the fighting today and were in no condition to press on. They also knew they needed to get these captives back home and away from the tower. So a withdrawal seemed the wisest choice. They would bunker up on the second floor, get some rest and food, and then head out back to the lumber camp tomorrow morning. Kain volunteered to pull guard duty all night so the rest of the party and the exhausted captives could get some sleep.

The Twenty ninth day of Ere-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Mosquito Marsh Lumber Camp

The Company traveled south overland in what was becoming an increasingly warmer month. With the Lumia festival fast approaching it was looking like the adventurers would spend it chasing down lizardmen in a swamp. None of the them were looking forward to venturing into the Mire Wood in one of the warmest months of the year.

They arrived at Mosquito Marsh Lumber Camp about 8 days later to what appeared to be a veritable ghost town. The only way they knew people were there were from the cautious peeks they were getting from mostly closed doors and barred windows of the worker bungalows. They decided to head for the largest building in town, assuming it to be the lumber mill and they were correct.

They were greeted at the door by an exhausted looking man in his mid forties. When they told him who they were and who sent them, they were greeted by a string of expletives cursing the the lumber company for taking so long to send them. The man’s name was Risran Shickis and he was the foreman of the mill and he invited him into his office. When the party noticed that there was no work being done at all in the mill, Risran said that since the attacks started, he had lost many workers and the ones he had, wouldn’t leave their homes. When he was asked how many people were killed during the attacks, they got an odd look from the foreman, he them told them that the people weren’t being killed, they were being taken alive. Many of the workers and their families were being kidnapped during the night, and from what he had heard it wasn’t just from here, some of the smaller farms around the area were being attacked as well. The only thing he knew up to a few days ago was that it was lizardmen that were doing the kidnapping. However during the last raid, one of the workers managed to follow a raiding party back into the woods where he tracked them to a tower about a days march from here. It was at this point he was spotted by them and it took everything he had to get back to the camp and not be caught himself. The foreman told them the workers name, Clinton Pickett and at where they could find him.

It took awhile before Clinton would answer the door and it took the offer of more than a few gold pieces to finally convince him to help the party find this tower. They promised him they were more than capable of protecting him and told him they just needed to be led to the tower. He was free to go as soon as they found it.

The party spent the rest of the day picking up some rations from the company store and procuring some herbs that Needles needed for his healing poultices. That night, with the foreman’s permission they set up camp inside the lumber warehouse, with the watches set they settled down for the evening.

The party was awoke later that night by Andy nudging them awake. There was some movement to the southwest of the warehouse. The party quickly got dressed and moved out to intercept whoever was trying to sneak into the camp. They surprised 4 Lizardmen making their way towards the bungalows. The Lizardmen were quick to react and the battle began. Needles was able to kill one of the Lizardmen before the rest of the party was able to close with them. A long melee fight ensued and Kain was grievously injured before the rest of the Lizardmen were killed. Kain was quickly brought back to fighting shape with Needles salve and some healing from Bark and Domino. When the party inspected their foe they realized that the armor and swords they were using were of better quality than expected, especially their shields. The party stripped the dead Lizardmen of their armor and swords and brought them back to the warehouse, where they piled them in a corner and covered them with a small tarp before trying to rest for the rest of the night.

The next morning, with Clinton in tow and guiding them, they headed out to the tower. From his description they were expecting about a days march before getting there. Around mid-morning the party was surprised by what appeared to be a unicorn charging through the brush. It put its horn down and charged at Clara, striking her with its horn and staggering her back, as it ran back into the wood it just disappeared. A few seconds they could hear the sounds of hooves just before Bark was blasted by the creatures horns and hooves, this time it remained visible as it rode off. Bark remained bloody and barely moving on the ground. Needles was able to get an arrow off and it struck the creature as it ran off. The party quickly surrounded the critically injured druid and waited for the creatures return. Soon the creature came thundering back, its red eyes glaring as it bore down on Bark again, trying to get between Andy and Clarabelle. Domino quickly laid a healing on Bark As the creature charged. Andy’s swing went wild but Needles arrow sailed true, striking the creature just as it colliding with Bark, luckily only giving the severely wounded druid a glancing blow before it crashed down to the ground dead. An inspection of the dead creature found that it wasn’t a unicorn, but its evil twin, the Alicorn. Domino used his last healing on Bark to get him at least back to where he could walk. The rest of the march was uneventful and they found themselves arriving at the outskirts of the tower’s location late that afternoon. They decided a smart thing to do would be to rest, heal up and head into the tower in the morning, sending Clinton on his way. Bark was able to heal up to almost full strength and Needles gave Kain his last Salve before heading into the woods to make more.

The Twenty First day of Ere-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Town of Newton

It took the company about a week to travel from the small village of Stull to the Town of Newton. They took the small cart road south from Stull til it joined with the Freestead Road which they then followed east for the rest of the journey.

Upon arriving in Newton, they first decided to get a few rooms at the Paladin’s Horse Inn. There they were able to wash a few weeks worth of dirt off of them and get in a good meal in the common area. It was already late afternoon by this time so they voted to rest that night, then head out in the morning to take care of some business. They spent the evening talking with their fellow travelers and the locals to pick up any interesting gossip about Newton or the Barony in general. Things had settled down in Freestead since the curse was removed from Keep and the Duke there was already beginning the clean up efforts. They also heard some rumblings about Lizard Men attacking small villages outside the Mire Wood. After picking up as much information that they could, they headed off to their rooms.

The next morning, the first order of business was to sell the items they had acquired since their arrival outside the gates of the Iron Keep a few weeks ago. It took most of morning, visiting a few different shops but they were able to sell of their unneeded items, some at a tidy profit. After getting a mid-day meal, they headed over to the Laquin Lumber Company in hopes of convincing them to sell the lumber mill and the other assets in Stull.

They arrived at the Laquin Lumber Company building and after several hours of waiting, were finally able to get in to talk with the owner, Bailey Laquin. They presented him with an offer to buy out the Lumber Mill in Stull under the pretense that they were more interested in the property it was sitting on for a future stronghold. At first Bailey showed no interest in selling the mill, but the parties intimate knowledge of how bad it was struggling began to convince him. but he also came to realize how interested the party was in buying it so he presented them with his final offer.

1. 12000 gold for the Mill, paid up front or
2. 6000 gold for the mill, paid up front and their assistance in another matter.

The party knew they didn’t have enough to pay him for the full price he was asking so they went with option #2. But they counter-offered by stating they had men ready to begin work on the stronghold, so they would pay him the 6000 GP and take him up on his offer, but he had to sign over the deed to them now. If for some reason they could not take care of his problem, they would pay him an additional 10000 gold when they returned. He was hesitant but when Clarabelle explained her relationship to the Duke of Talon and that her father would guarantee the money if something would happen to them, he acquiesced.

So while Bailey had one of his employees draw up the paperwork, they discussed the ‘services’ he required of them. One of his lumber mills right outside the Mire Wood recently began being attacked by Lizard Men. It was now to the point where work at the mill was completely halted since his workers were afraid to get anywhere near the forest. He wanted them to find the source of the problem and eliminate it.

The party agreed to this job and once they had the deed to the Mill in Stull in their hands, they left Laquin Lumber and headed back to the Paladin’s Horse Inn for the night.

The Twelth day of Ere-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

The Village of Stull

The next morning the party brought the captives to the town building where they met a very somber Chriztopp Barclay. They explained to him that the threat to the town had been eliminated with the destruction of the Necromancer and the Orbs. They handed the captives over to him, letting him know that Garrett had been extremely cooperative in assisting them in destroying the Orbs. As some of the townspeople led the captives off, The party discussed what they knew about about Thaen and his goals. The mayor said he remembered Thaen as a young child, and that he had things pretty rough with an abusive father before he finally fled from his father and the town. But he also remembered the kid was always a bit strange, bringing dead creatures to school etc.

It was then that the party mentioned to the mayor that there seemed to be something going on in the town besides the recent invasion of the undead. The mayor, already tired from the loss of his family explained that the lumber mill has been struggling for many years and he was doing all he could to keep the Laquin Lumber Company from shutting the plant down and affecting bankrupting the small village. The people were also tired of owing their soul to the plant and the company store and morale around the town couldn’t be worse. The Company of Odd Fellows seemed to understand that after everything this town had gone through it needed some sort of good news for a change. They sat down with the mayor and came up with a bold plan.

1. The ‘Company’ would approach Laquin in their headquarters in Newton with a proposal to buy the lumber mill in Stull from them.
2. The ‘Company’ would give control and ownership of the Mill to the employees for a flat 25% of all sold lumber being paid to the ‘Company’ via their agent, Alaktyrr Rilyund.
3. Once the Mill was sold, the ‘Company’ would send a missive to Baron Vadarin, suggesting that he make good use of the Stull Lumber Mill to help rebuild after the destruction to the countryside.
4. They would also suggest to the Baron to set up a small outpost just outside the town, employing some of the villagers to man it.

Even with all that happened the last few days, the Mayor managed a smile as he shook the party’s hand.

The mayor immediately found a courier that could take the Company’s missive to the Baron. He invited them to his home for breakfast so they could discuss the minor details over a hot meal.

The party stuck around for a few days to heal their injuries and took the time to get to know the villagers. Even with all that had happened, the overall mood of the village was improved and may people came by to shake their hands or slap them on the back.

Soon with their wounds mostly healed the party headed out for Newton. They let the mayor know they would send word back to him with word that the deal was done and the proper documents needed for the transfer of ownership to the town.

The Eleventh day of Ere-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Lair of the Necromancer

The next day the party opened the doors Thaen’s chamber and backtracked to thw Wizard Locked door they were unable to open the previous day. Clarabelle had prepared the knock spell which would allow them to get past the wizard locked door. They didn’t run into any trouble on the way back and soon found themseelves in front of the door. Clarabelle told the party they would need to find a way to keep the door open because her spell would only bypass the spell temporarily not dispel it. There was an almost visible shimmering in the air when the spell was cast and the door was now open. There were no noises detected inside so the party decided to enter it.

(7. The Treasury)

Inside this strangely shaped room are four statues of skeletons made from a black crystal and a large chest against the south wall.

The party didn’t have much time to gawk at the crystal skeletons because as soon as they opened the door, all 4 of them came to life and advanced on the party. Needles launched an arrow into the room, hitting the front right statute, breaking a large chunk of crystal off of it. Bark did the same with the front left statue, but doing less damage than his brother. Kain also went after the front right statue, his Katana taking off a huge chunk of crystal from this statue as well. He wasn’t planning on the one in back getting to him so quickly and it connected with s solid hit from its crystal fists. To make matters worse the one he just attacked also struck out with its fist and hit him. Domino knew he needed to get in there and get Kain some relief so he jumped into the fray making a solid hit on the third statue, shattering it into pieces. The statue struck by Needles rushed at him but found Clarabelle in its way so he struck out at her instead, However she was able to dodge its dangerous fists from hitting her. Andy then rushed forward and jabbed her sword under the arm of the statue, the causing it to crack into pieces before falling apart. The last statue in the back came charging forward, aiming its blows at Domino, but he was able to block both of them with his shield. Clarabelle stepped over the statue Andy just destroyed and went after the statue engaging Domino, striking it with her longsword. As it reeled back from her attack another arrow streaked in and destroyed it. The battle was soon over as Kain finished off the last opponent. The party stopped where they were at and have Andy go ahead and check the area around the chest for traps. She didn’t find any but when checking the chest, she heard the heart stopping click just as a needle poked her. She was wracked with pain and pitched forward. Luckily Domino was able to give her some healing. She still looked pretty pale but wasn’t going to be dying anytime soon.

They checked the now open chest and found 1180 gold pieces which were divided evenly among the party before leaving the room.

It was decided that the party would backtrack to the very first chamber they came too which had a few hallways that they had not explored. There they followed the hallway heading south until it turned west and ended at a door. Andy was unable to hear anything on the other side of the door but also found the door unlocked. So without anything else to do, they opened the door and entered.

(6. The Students of Necromancy)

This room contains three beds with three small chests at the foot of each bed. The area appears to be lit with a lantern that is hanging from the ceiling. There are three men and three large insects in the room. The men are standing in the middle of the room near another insect. One of the men appears to be casting a spell on it.

As Kain charged into the room, the apprentice he was attacking saw him at the same time and moved away from casting a spell at Kain, but whatever it was it had no affect on him (fear and Kain beat the save). Andy came in and shot another apprentice with her bow, causing him to cry out in pain, his magic missile leaving his hands and striking her at the same time. The third apprentice looked around and saw the party flooding into the room and immediately through his hands up in surrender. The guy next to him wasn’t so lucky as Clarabelle’s magic missile attack dropped him on the spot. Last to enter was Needles and seeing one man with his hands in the air pointed his bow at the other, giving him one last chance to join his partner. He dropped his mace and raised his hands as well. The cleric proved arrogant and uncooperative but the younger magic user named Garrett filled the party in on the background of why the Necromancer was here.

Several weeks ago, Thaen and a cleric of the Lord of Chaos, Behiric Sholic, returned to Stull
with several zombies and the Orbs of Necromantic Power and entered the dungeon below the Mausoleum. The two necromancers have been exhuming the bodies from the cemetery and animating them with the orbs. Although Thaen had released a few zombies and skeletons on the outlying farms, they were just an attempt to put fear in the hearts of the local farmers. But a few days was when they began the attack on the village of Stull itself. It seems that Thaen once lived in this village and has hated the lumber company for destroying the woods where he wandered and played.

When asked why they were there he replied they were students of Thaen and Behiric and were told they were going to be able to learn more here then they could at the school.

When asked about the purpose of the Necromantic Orbs he told them that is an orb of negative energy that is used to create many types of undead depending on how long the orb is used on a corpse and if the orbs were destroyed, the necromancer would lose control of the undead under his power created by the orbs.

The two remaining apprentices were marched back up the hall to the chamber where they were tied up. Garrett pointed out that the other door going south would lead them to the orb and that they would need to be destroyed in order to stop the undead from spawning.

(5. Orbs Of Necromantic Power)

Using a key that Garrett handed them, they opened the door.

Upon opening the door to this room you see a strange flickering green glow in the chamber beyond. On the floor is a pile of bodies along the wall. As you watch, the bodies seem to twitch and tremble. There are two shadows of humanoid creatures moving in the room.

At the end of a large diagonal chamner they could see the two orbs flickering. As the creatures came into the light Bark yelled out ‘Ghasts!’ before summoning a globe of fire and tossing it at a ghast catching it on fire. Andy and Domino entered the room but neither were successful, Andy in her bow shot and Domino in turning them. But Needles was successful with his bow, severely staggering one ghast while Clarabelle hit the other with her magic missile. The two ghasts went at the nearest targets, those being Needles and Clarabelle. Needles was bitten and dropped to the ground paralyzed (10 rounds) but Clarabelle was able to fight off her attacker. Bark seeing his brother go down rushed into the fray stabbing a ghast with his spear, impaling it, where it died clutching the shaft. The other ghast didn’t last much longer as Andy’s arrow took it in the throat, killing it.

Bark pulled Needles into the other room while Clarabelle and Domino destroyed the two orbs with their maces. As the shattered a pulse of negative energy was felt in the room before a more positive energy rushed in to fill the void.

After talking with Garrett and showing him their map, the party concluded that this was the last of the dungeon to explore and that with Thaen and Beheric killed and the orbs detroyed, they had removed the threat to the village of Stull.

With Needles slung over the back of Kain, they exited out of the Mausoleum and headed back into town. It was getting late so they headed back to the Hotel, figuring to get some sleep before turning the captives over to the town and letting the mayor know the threat was eliminated.

The Tenth day of Ere-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Lair of the Necromancer

The party woke up early the next morning to a gray overcast sky and a light fog rolling from the forest. They ate a quick breakfast and set out to investigate the cemetery. The cemetery sat on a small hill overlooking the town and the party immediately noticed the large mausoleum at the very top. They figured this was most likely where the trouble was coming from and headed towards it.

Upon approaching the mausoleum, you can easily see that the door has been torn from it’s hinges and is laying on the ground in front of the building. Inside is only darkness and silence.

A quick decision was made to send in Andy to investigate.

Inside the mausoleum it is quiet as the grave. The two vaults to the left and right of a bronze statue. The vaults are of Bruk and his wife Amandi and they appear to be undisturbed. The statue is of a large man sitting in a chair looking out the mausoleum door toward the village. There is a plaque informing the reader that the statue is the likeness of Bruk Stull.

A quick inspection of the mausoleum made it look to be a dead end but Needles was easily able to spot the tracks of the undead and they all seemed to be coming from here. So the party entered the mausoleum and began searching for an entrance to someplace else. The hallow sounds of the floor let them know they were on the right track they just couldn’t find the entrance. However Andy finally noticed some slight grooves in the floor next to the statute as if the statute would slide. So the party put their backs into it and pushed the statute in the direction of the scuff marks. As it finally began to slide they knew they had found a secret entrance as a set of stairs going down revealed itself.

(1. Stairs)

These stairs are made of stone and are covered in cobwebs along the walls. The center of the steps appears to be dust free.

Andy took point as they descended down the stairs. As she came down the stairs she saw movement down the hallway and signaled to the party there was trouble ahead. Soon the unmistakable clattering of bones revealed 4 skeletons protecting the hallway beyond. the party closed ranks in the hallway and moved forward, allowing the skeletons to close with them. Neither of the two front skeletons were able to get through Kain and Clarabelle’s defenses. Kain was unable to hit his target but Clarabelle crushed her opponent with her mace destroying it. Domino was unable to turn any of the remaining skeletons and the rest pressed the attack. However they were still unable to get through the two front fighters. Once again Clarabelle’s mace crashed down on another skeleton, crushing it to dust. The skeleton facing Kain was finally able to get past his defenses scoring a deep gash on his arm. Clarabelle once again struck out with her mace, bringing another skeleton down, leaving the one facing Kain remaining. Kain finally made contact with his attacker but the edged weapon didn’t have enough to bring it down but it didn’t matter as Clarabelle finished it off for him. Kain sheepishly thanked Clara for the assistance.

(2. Pit Trap)

Now that the threat was dispatched, Andy went out ahead to scout the hallway. The party heard the sound of something opening followed by a short scream ahead of them. Clarabelle’s torch showed a pit opened ahead of them and no Andy. They rushed to the edge and saw Andy at the bottom of the pit, obviously wounded (missed the trap/missed the save). A quick glance showed she wasn’t alone as something shambling was attacking her. Due to the fall and the injuries the monster was able to get a free attack on Andy but she was able to roll out of the way and avoid the creature. Not sure if was the pain from her injuries or the fear of being attacked by the undead but Andy’s swing at the zombie took its head clean off, the head landing a few feet away from her. The party used their rope to assist Andy back up and Domino healed her most grievous injuries. They crossed the pit and due to Andy’s injuries, Needles took point. Following the hallway he came to a large open area.

(3. Zombie Gathering)

This cold 20′ × 40′ area is covered in a beautiful green marble across the floor and up to the ceiling. There are four other exits in the room. However, your greatest concern seems to be the zombies that are shuffling toward you.

Needles signaled the other party members before pulling is bow off his back and firing an arrow at one of the lead zombies, setting it on fire but not killing it. Andy rushed to his side, shooting an arrow of her own but missed her target. The zombie that Needles set fire to closed on him to attack but Needles was able to dodge him right before his brother Bark ran him through with his spear. Domino came into the room but once again was unable to turn any of the undead creatures. Kain followed him and was able to strike on of the zombies but wasn’t able to dispatch it. Clara entered into the fray as well but was unable to hit her target. Unfortunately for her, the zombie didn’t have the same problem, ripping a large gash in her chest. Needles let another arrow fly, destroying a zombie in the back of the pack. Andy dropped her bow and pulled her short sword out, attacking the nearest zombie. Clarabelle dispatched one of the zombies with her long sword and Needles, risking a shot into combat, took out the zombie facing Andy. Bark then finished off another with his spear leaving one left which the party quickly took out. Domino had one healing potion left which he gave to Clarabelle to help heal her wounds.

There were 4 hallways leading from this room so the party decided to try the hallway heading north on the west end of the chamber. The hallway quickly turned west and opened up into another even larger chamber.

(4. Bruk Stull’s Rest)

This large chamber is a crypt. Along the north wall of this chamber is an altar to the Lord of Law, Eliador. The center of the room contains two sarcophagi. The sarcophagi have been opened and bones lay on the floor nearby.

As Needles entered into the room with the party a few feet behind them, dark shapes rose from the two sarcophagi in the room..Wraiths! Clarabelle acted instinctively, casting firebolt at the wraith nearest to Needles, dealing damage to the creature as the bolts struck its target. Kain went in after the same creature, swinging at it two handed with his Katana, releasing his energy into the strike. His swing struck true and the wraith screamed out in agony before dissipating into the air. Needles changed his target from the nearest wraith to the one that remained further in the room and let loose an arrow, hitting the creature in the chest (CRIT!) Andy was hoping to finish it off with a throw from her dagger but the throw went wide, Bark had better luck with his spear, striking the incorporeal creature with his magic spear, the wraith howled in anger before disappearing back into the sarcophagi.

DM Note: My group seems to have it out for wraiths. This is the second time they have encountered them and have wiped the floor with what is usually a scary creature to fight. Good rolls and high initiative were the bane of these two wraiths as well.

An investigation of the room found nothing of note or value so the party followed the hallway back to the room where they encountered the zombies where they decided to take the hall heading east. This hallway ended up in another larger chamber with another 3 hallways branching from it. The chose the hallway heading north, where it turned east again before opening into another chamber.

(9. Temple of Chaos)

In the alcove on the eastern wall of this room is an altar with a small golden statue of a many armed, faced and legged unnamed god of chaos. It appears that the eyes of the statue are small rubies. The chamber is lit with candles from the altar with give the statue a frightening aura. A man is kneeling in prayer in front of the altar.

Needles immediately saw the man kneeling at the altar and halted the party. It was quickly decided that the best course would be to take this guy out quickly. Needles notched an arrow and Andy was sent to get in behind him. Unfortunately he heard her just as just she arrived behind him. He was able to turn around but do little else. Andy was still able to connect with her short sword and Needles fired his bow hitting the unknown enemy while the rest of the party closed into combat. Domino finishing it off by casting bless on his party members. Instead of cowering in fear the man sneered at the party saying ‘Are you prepared to meet my GOD!!’ As he stepped back to cast a spell. Needles knew this guy meant business so he risked a shot into combat to try and take him out before he could release what he was casting. Unfortunately the arrow went wide and struck Andy, luckily only being a glancing blow. Just as the evil cleric was releasing his spell, Kain connected with his Katana, causing it to fizzle and the cleric to cry out in anger and pain. His smirk left him as he realized he may just be outmatched in this fight. Clarabelle sensing that the fight was going their way, pressed the attack by joining in the engagement but was unable to strike the cleric. Andy was able to get in a blow with her shortsword, dealing him an almost mortal wound. He turned towards her and struck out furiously with his War Hammer hitting her, driving her down to one knee. It was the last thing he would do as Kain’s Katana finished him off.

The party caught their breath after this fight with Domino casting his last cure spell on Andy and Clarabelle handing her her last potion after seeing she was still injured. A quick inspection of the boy combined with some detect magic from Clarabelle showed that the cleric’s weapon and staff were both magical and were stashed away for further study. (+2 War Hammer and a Snake Staff). As much as the statute repulsed them, it looked to be worth something so they packed it up as well (Worth 250gp)

There was a door heading south so the party decided to check it. Andy listened at it but didn’t hear anything but also realized the door was locked and she was unable to pick it. However even with being a stone door, Clarabelle was able to knock it open with one hard kick.

(8. Behiric’s Chamber)

This chamber is a complete mess! Inside is a bed, chest, rug and wardrobe. Clothes are spread across the room.

The room was empty except for a note lying on the wardrobe. It reads:

Beheric,
The creatures we create are not playthings for your amusement,
please desist from making them do things that do not further our goals..

—Thaen

the party backtracked to the large open chamber and decided to keep heading south. The hallway eventually turned east before dead ending at a door on the south wall. An inspection of the door found it Wizard Locked and the party was unable to breach it. Clarabelle told the party she had knock but it would not be ready until she could study it. With that the party headed back up the hallway to the chamber where they went down the remaining hallway in the northwest corner. This hallway went north then east then south before ending in a door on the south wall. Andy could definitely hear the sounds of talking and shouting coming from behind the door. The door was locked but Andy was able to unlock it quietly. Andy snuck into the room a few seconds before the other members busted in and announced their presence.

(10. Thaen’s Chamber)

Beyond the door into this room is a well appointed chamber. It contains a bed, desk, chair, rug, and wardrobe. Of greater interest to the party is the angry man who was sitting in the chair until you opened the door. Standing in the center of the room is a vile creature that can only be undead. There is a lever in the west wall.

The party was hoping for surprise but it wasn’t on their side as the man jumped up and shouted at them “Tree killers! You must die for your deeds against the forest! The dead will walk freely!” before releasing blast of lightning at the party coming through the doorway. With the exception of Andy who snuck in beforehand and was away from the door, the rest of the party caught the lightning as streaked through their ranks, lucky all were able to resist some of the damage (every character made their spell save). The only upside was that the wight was also standing between the party and the caster and it also took full damage from the spell, dying right where it stood when the party came in through the door. Needles took advantage of the chaos to release an arrow at the necromancer, striking him with an arrow. With electricity still arcing off of him, Kain charged into the room with his Katana, dealing the necromancer a deadly wound staggering him back. a few seconds later the magic missile released by Clarabelle brought the evil wizard to the ground. In the room they found the Necromancer’s Spellbook with the name Thaen inscribed in it. Clarabelle filed the book into her backpack for further study. They also found a +1 Dagger and a curious piece of jewelry that had an aura of magic about it (Scarab of Protection) on the body of the now dead necromancer. After the punishment they took from the lightning bolt it was decided they would stay here for the night. The party felt like the necromancer they just killed was the cause of the town’s problems but decided to stay one more day to make sure the trouble had been completely eradicated. Plus the wizard locked door had them all more than curious as to what was behind that door.

The Ninth day of Ere-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

The Village of Stull

The party arrived at the village the next afternoon. When they asked a few villagers about what they had heard, they were directed to talk to the Mayor of Stull, Chriztopp Barclay. They found him in the Town Building and told him what they had heard from the refugees on the road. The mayor confirmed the rumors and told them that the undead had been plaguing the town for about a week and the production of the lumber mill is way down because of it. If they can’t get rid of the undead problem, the owners, The Laquins, will shut the mill down, effectively bankrupting the town. He says he can’t offer them much, 500 gold, but they would be saving the town if they assisted.

The party decided to take the mayor up on his offer, and were inquiring about where they could rest for the night when a breathless villager ran into the office screaming that the undead were attacking the school! The party quickly told the villager to lead them to the school. When they arrived it looked like they were too late. They saw a group of skeletons tearing apart the body of someone on the ground while a group of children shrieked in terror in the corner while other skeletons attacked them. Needles attacked the nearest one with his axes but was unable to take it down. Meanwhile 4 of the skeletons moved towards the children and attacked, killing one of the children and injuring another. As Domino rushed forward to try and turn them, Kain and Clarabelle dispatched two of nearby skeletons. Domino called upon the power of Chordax and 5 of the remaining skeletons stopped their attacks and ran cowering from the clerics power. This left two skeletons left. Andy sprinted towards the children trying her best to close the distance while Bark did the only thing he could think of, he cast entangle right on top of one of the remaining skeletons, trapping it and some of the children in the vines. It was risky but he knew it would keep the skeleton from being able to attack. Needles threw down his axes and drew his bow. He knew he would have to risk a shot near the children but he had to take out the last unfettered skeleton. His aim was true and the arrow struck the skeleton, engulfing it in flames, where it fell to the ground, destroyed. The last skeleton struggled against the vines, even more so when Domino once again called upon Chordax to turn the undead. As it tried to get free to flee, Andy struck it down with her short sword, killing it.

Once the threat was clear, the villagers ran in to the school yard to grab their children, a mournful wail coming from the mother of the one child the party couldn’t save. Domino pushed his way through the crowd to heal the other child injured by the skeleton. It was during this time that they found out the other other dead body was that of the school teacher Bertrude, an acolyte of Eliador, who died trying to protect the children.

The clamor and screaming from north of them drew their attention to the lumber mill. The party took off at a sprint towards the mill. When they arrived they could see the body of 5 villagers on the ground, as well as the dead remains of two zombies. A pounding at the door above them told them where the rest of the zombies were. When the party ran up the stairs they found the zombie horde pounding on the doors to the saw room. Shouts from the other side meant that some of the workers were still alive behind that door. The zombies single mindedness gave the party the surprise on the first round.

All the fighters quickly rushed the Zombies, hitting them, but only Clarabelle’s blow was enough to kill her target. Bark summoned fire into his hand and threw it at one of the zombies, catching it on fire and destroying it, another globe of fire taking its place. Domino once again called out to Chordax and a ray of light flew from his holy symbol, shaking 7 of the zombies and causing them to run into a dark corner of the room. The 3 remaining turned on the party and attacked them. All but Domino were able to dodge the first attacks. The party returned the favor killing another 3 zombies, allowing Domino to turn the rest. But with the zombies trapped in the corner the party knew they could leave none standing. They chased the zombies and mopped the rest of them up with only Needles taking some additional damage. They knocked on the barricaded door and let the workers know the zombies were dead and they free to go.

But their troubles didn’t stop there. They were told another group of zombies were seen heading towards the mayors house on the other side of town. It took them what seemed like forever to cover the distance and when they got to the house they could that it had already been attacked. The front door was knocked off its hinges and when they entered they found the body of a woman and two children laying dead in the front room. They could hear yelling and screaming coming from another room and followed the sound to mayor fighting off 3 zombies with a broken broom stick, the body of two other zombies lay on the ground in front of him. The party reacted quickly. moving in and destroying the zombies surrounding him. A very distraught mayor ran into the other room and found his dead wife and two sons laying on the floor. He then began to look around frantically before running up the stairs yelling ‘Maya’. The party thought it better to follow him in case there were more zombies around. They didn’t find any but they did find the Mayor’s daughter Maya hiding in a closet. A very relieved Chriztopp took his daughter into his arms.

Thinking there may be more of these attacks the party moved to the center of town, that way they could react to another attack as quickly as possible, no matter where it happened. But no more attacks came. A very thankful and relieved town put the party up at the Hotel Scholding free of charge. Before heading to bed, they questioned the innkeeper about these undead attacks and where they seemed to come from. All accounts said they originated from the graveyard south of town. It was quickly decided that is where they would head tomorrow morning.

The Sixth day of Ere-Lumia, in the year 400 BY

The Company of Odd Fellows

Once Duke Halvdann’s men had assisted in mopping up the remnants of creatures drawn to the area because of the emerald, they were ready to head back to Newton. Since they had offered the escort the Company of Odd Fellows as far as Newton, the party joined them as they set out.

It was an uneventful trip for the first few days until on the third day they began to come across refugees on the road. At first they thought they were just villagers misplaced by the upheaval in Freestead but some inquiries found that most of them were from the village Stull, a logging village nestled along the edges of the Bramblewood forest. When asked why they were fleeing the village, many spoke of the recent rising of the undead in and around the village. The party tried to explain to them that they had contained the artifact that might have been causing the problem, but were told in no uncertain terms that the issue was still occurring, long after the jewel had been sealed.

The party had a decision to make. Continue on the road with the troops or head north and investigate the disturbance. It didn’t look like there was going to be much money made in this venture but the knew they couldn’t let this go with investigating at the least. They let the Captain know of their intentions. He said he didn’t have much he could do to help but he gave each of the party a weeks worth of rations to help them out.

With that the party headed north towards the village of Stull.