Session 22 - Scene 2 (of 7)

Challa and Keymaster then go back and briefly explain the situation to the others that she needs to assist Keymaster on a personal quest.  Larrak seems a bit skeptical until Challa explains about her mother and that she was guarding a powerful object.

Challa takes a moment to introduce Keymaster to everyone.  When asked about his religious symbol, he explains he worships the god Dol Dorn, who no one else has ever heard of.  They begin to understand that gods may be different across dimensions.

Keymaster goes on to explain his oath to serve Challa, which gets a crude remark from Larrak.  Keymaster questions Challa why she would associate with such a person.  She tries to explain about her loyalty to the church of Bahamut but everyone gets the impression that she somewhat wonders herself.

Larrak wants to focus on finishing the work they've already began before helping Keymaster.  Keymaster responds that his quest involves the survival of a species.  Since no one else has a clue what he's talking about, Keymaster proceeds to fully explain his and Challa's backgrounds.

Once the explanation is complete, everyone is agreeable to helping Challa and Keymaster recover the cask.  However, after Larrak asks where it is, Leigh points out that Hunter's Ridge is in the mountains north of Hammerfast and would require several days of travel.

Keymaster then explains that he has already made preparations with his keys that can open a doorway to teleport everyone back to Hammerfast immediately.  In fact, he can prepare a location in Fallcrest as well so he can teleport the group back as well.  In theory, they could recover the cask today and still have time to meet back up with Vargas the same evening.

Larrak wonders what kind of threats they will be up against, but Challa's letter is no help.  Durmindin notes that Hunter's Ridge was an old dwarven outpost used by hunters until as recently as 10 years ago, when the wild creatures in the area made it too dangerous.

Before they leave, Keymaster inquires if they have all of the provisions they will need, such as healing potions.  Leigh remembers they never got around to buying any from the temple of Erathis.  Since Scrag got along with Father Goffman at the party yesterday, it is decided he will go to buy the potions for the group.  Leigh will go as well, as no one trusts Scrag to handle the business on his own, though Tiberius questions the logic of her going since she was one of the ones at odds with the temple.

Session 22 - Scene 3 (of 7)

Leigh and Scrag arrive at the temple of Erathis and are greeted by the high priestess.  Thankfully, Father Goffman does not appear to be in attendance today.

Dirina, while polite enough, wastes no time in asking what it is they want.  Leigh starts to talk about their paladin friend and the priestess immediately suspects they need yet another resurrection.  Leigh, however, corrects her – stating simply that they have an important mission to go on and require some healing potions.

The temple has six healing potions for sale, at 50 gold each.  Leigh notes to herself that Dirina is no longer offering any kind of discount.  She wants a good deal, but doesn't want to haggle too hard as tensions with the temple are already high.  She settles on making an offer for all the potions for 250 gold.

Dirina remarks back that normally she wouldn't agree to any deals, given the current state of relations between the temple and the group.  However, since it is a fair offer and Father Goffman was pleased by his conversation with Scrag, she agrees to the deal.

When Leigh and Scrag get back, everyone is given a healing potion except for Keymaster, who explains he can't drink liquids anyway (nor does he breathe, sleep, or eat).

After allowing Keymaster to make preparations to allow the teleportation back to Fallcrest (inside the Temple of the Sun, near the Bahamut shrine), the group steps into the circle he has made and are teleported to a remote location inside Hammerfast.  Everyone is pleased that the journey did not give them any kind of teleportation sickness, as they had feared.

Session 22 - Scene 4 (of 7)

The group does not stay in Hammerfast long, immediately heading out for Hunter's Ridge.  Larrak, taking charge, comes up with a system of two ropes to assist in the difficult climb.  The ridge is very narrow, requiring them to climb in single file.  Larrak takes the precarious position in the lead.

Larrak starts by finding the best path up the ridge then begins climbing.  He has a little trouble near some loose gravel and slips, but manages to catch himself and pull himself up.  He has a little trouble spotting the best way around the loose gravel, but eventually manages to make it.  Once he gets to a new secure position, he ties the first rope and the others are able to easily follow.

As they near the summit, Larrak spots something above him – the form of some kind of humanoid bird.  As it begins screeching at him, he realizes it is a harpy.  Hey has the chance to warn the others and tell them to tighten up before the harpy and her avian allies swoop in to attack; with the harpy, a griffin, and a couple of stirges coming in from one side, and a couple of hippogriffs coming from the other.

Challa, Tiberius, and Keymaster hold themselves in readiness for the attack.  The griffin charges at Larrak but misses, his claws cutting the air just over Larrak's head.  

The two stirges begin moving in for an attack as well – one towards Larrak, the other towards Leigh.  Leigh responds by blasting the stirge with her burning hands spell, engulfing it in flames.

Scrag, with no opponent close enough to him, is forced to wait as Larrak chops into the griffon with his axe.

The harpy begins flying to the side, heading towards the rear of the group.  Durmindin, acting quickly, calls forth his spirit companion and has it blast the harpy with a wrath of winter spell, but the harpy shrugs it off.

The two hippogriffs charge in, flying at Larrak and Leigh.  Both luckily miss.

Challa moves up and attacks the griffin, hitting it with her bow string strike.  Keymaster asks Challa's permission to move away from her to assist Leigh.  Challa quickly gives it, and Keymaster moves in and uses his halberd to cut into the hippogriff with a holy strike.

Tiberius attempts to call forth a bastion of defense to assist against the hippogriffs, but fails.

Scrag, stuck as rear guard, tries to move up to get to an enemy.  He manages to squeeze past Durmindin, Tiberius, and even Leigh, but his luck runs out once he attempts to move past Keymaster.  He slips and falls, barely holding on to one of the ropes.

Up ahead, the griffin tears into Larrak with its claws while the stirges miss Scrag and Challa with their piercing beaks.  Larrak fires back with a covering attack that hits the griffin, then follows it up with a crushing blow.

Leigh, trying to get out of danger, squeezes back behind Tiberius.  She then fires off a scorching burst, blasting the nearby stirge.

The harpy finally gets into position near the rear of the group.  She lets out a piercing screech, blasting Leigh, Durmindin, and Tiberius.  Durmindin tries to attack back with a protecting strike, but fails.

The hippogriffs charge in again.   One misses Larrak but the other slams full force into Keymaster, nearly knocking him off the mountain.  He holds on tightly to the cliff side, trying to reach the rope.

Tiberius, worried that he can't hold the combined weight of Keymaster and Scrag, drop the rope.  He then tries to hit the hippogriff in front of him with a guarding attack, but misses.  

Despite no help from Tiberius, Scrag manages to pull himself up.  Keymaster, however, is unable to pull himself up and is still holding on to the ledge as one of the stirges pierces into him.  It isn't a problem for very long, however, as Leigh quickly blasts the stirge into pieces with a magic missile.

Meanwhile, Challa focuses on the griffin.  She begins with a virtuous strike, then finishes the griffin off with a valorous smite.  Free from the griffin, Larrak focuses on the hippogriff, but misses with his brute strike.

The harpy decides Leigh is the bigger threat, and moves in and tears into Leigh with her claws.  Durmindin tries to assist with a spirit renewal spell on the harpy, but fails yet again.

Back up at the front, one of the hippogriffs bites hard into Challa while the other misses Tiberius.  Challa decides to focus on trying to take out the smaller stirge before taking on the hippogriff, and hits it with a righteous smite.  The stirge attempts to strike back, but can't penetrate her armor.  Nearby, Keymaster finally is able to pull himself up to the ridge and moves over to Challa.

Tiberius strikes again at the hippogriff, hitting it with a guarding attack.  Scrag attempts to assist with a earthgrasp strike, but misses.

Larrak strikes out at the other hippogriff, slashing it with a brute strike.

In the back, Leigh does a close blast on the harpy next to her with a magic missile as it continues to slash her with its claws.  Durmindin once again fails to assist as his spirit of the healing flood spell fizzles out.

The hippogriffs attempt to bite at Tiberius and Challa again, but both miss.

Challa, still attacking the stirge, hits it with a virtuous strike.  Keymaster activates the lightning in his magic halberd then stabs into the stirge, causing it to explode in a small shower of lightning.

Tiberius, sensing Leigh is in grave danger, calls out an inspiring word to keep her spirits up.  Using a knight's move maneuver, he switches places with her, then attempts to attack the creature with an inspiring war cry, but misses.

Scrag attempts to hit the hippogriff near him with his earth shield strike, but misses.  Larrak, however, is able to hit the one near him with a reaping strike.

Leigh, pissed off, fires an acid arrow straight into the harpy.  The harpy screams as she begins to burn.  Unable to get to Leigh, the harpy tears into Durmindin then backs up.  Durmindin attacks back with a thunder bear's warning spell, which finally hits the harpy, but appears to fail to do any damage to her.

The hippogriffs attempt to bite again, missing Challa but hitting Scrag.  Challa attempts to attack back by making an ardent vow then following up with a virtuous strike.  She misses, then drops her axe, holds her head, and begins screaming in a language no one can understand.

Keymaster assists her by laying on hands, then moves over slightly to help Scrag with the hippogriff.

Tiberius and Scrag both attempt new attacks on the hippogriff, but both fail.  Larrak, however, strikes home with a bloody axe chop into the one he is fighting.

Leigh, still pissed at the harpy, fires off a fireball, blasting her.  The harpy responds back with another deadly screech, injuring Tiberius, Durmindin, and Leigh.  Badly wounded, Durmindin calls forth a healing spirit to heal himself.

Another set of hippogriff attacks misses Challa but again hits Scrag.  Challa uses her divine mettle prayer to help Tiberius recover from the harpy attack, then makes an ardent vow against the hippogriff, grabs her axe off the ground, then chops into it with a virtuous strike.  The blood sprays everywhere as the hippogriff is finally killed.

Keymaster takes a moment to recover.  Tiberius attempts to attack the hippogriff again, but misses.  Scrag, however, strikes home.

Not near any enemies, Larrak tries yelling out to the Harpy to leave or die, hoping to intimidate her.  It doesn't work.  But it matters little, as Leigh blows the harpy apart with a shock sphere spell soon after.

Durmindin focuses over on the hippogriff, attempting to attack with his wrath of winter again.  He misses.  As Scrag wonders what good Durmindin is, the hippogriff bites into him.

Challa moves over to Keymaster, and they both wait to see if the others can finish off the hippogriff.  Tiberius yells out some inspiring words to Scrag, then strikes into the hippogriff with his viper's strike.  Scrag follows up with another earthshield strike, killing it.

Session 22 - Scene 5 (of 7)

Everyone gets back into position and prepares to continue the assent.  A short distance ahead, Larrak spots the harpy's nest off to one side.

Larrak quickly examines the nest, and spots a small amount of gold coins and a fancy pearl necklace.  He carefully pockets the loot and continues on.  Not much further along, the group comes to the mouth of the cave.

After illuminating a small rock to give them some sight inside, Larrak begins moving everyone in.  The cave is wide enough for a thicker formation, and Larrak organizes the group into two columns.

As they head inside, Larrak spots a very large collection of bats overhead.  The bats themselves are clearly normal cave bats, posing no danger.  However, spooking the bats will create plenty of noise to alert anyone inside.

The group makes a strong effort to stay quiet as they move inside the cave, but only Leigh, Durmindin, and Scrag manage to be quiet enough.  With the others thumping around in the cave, the bats are spooked and fly off in a mad rush.

Larrak is annoyed but knows a group this large will always have difficulty moving quietly.  He continues moving everyone along inside the cave.

A short time later, Keymaster grabs him to stop him.  As Larrak prompts for an explanation, Keymaster points out the tripwire running across the cave floor.

Larrak would like to disable the tripwire, but there is no rogue in the group nor anyone skilled in the art of disabling traps.  Rather than risk messing with it, he simply has everyone step over it.

A bit further down, the cave widens out much further.  There appears to be a large cavern, the remains of the old dwarven outpost, even an underground stream with a bridge built over it.  But what really concerns Larrak is the signs that someone has been in this area recently.

He has the group slowly advance into the cave, having himself, Tiberius, Leigh, and Challa look in some of the dark recesses as they pass by.  However, the cave has many different passageways, and it becomes difficult to check them all thoroughly.

Scrag is then sent to look around one of the corners.  He spots a large creature trying to hide back in the darkness.  Just as he yells out to the others that there is an ambush, he can make out the shape of the troll coming towards him.

Session 22 - Scene 6 (of 7)

Scrag sees the troll in front of him is wearing fake claws made out of forged metal – a bladerager troll.  He charges towards it, slamming into it with an earthgrasp strike.  The troll crashes to the ground.

From behind the group, a huge troll rounds the corner – the troll chieftain.  It advances on Leigh, Tiberius, and Durmindin while carrying its enormous axe.

Across the bridge, a cave troll and savage ogre appear.  They begin moving ahead towards the group.

Keymaster decides to charge ahead at the ogre, blasting him and the cave troll with a shock of lightning from his halberd.

Tiberius moves in the other direction, towards the troll chieftain.  He attempts a guarding attack, but misses.

Out of the shadows to the sides of the troll chieftain emerge two grimlocks.  The group is horrified to see them coming from spots they had previously checked, apparently missing the well-hidden creatures.  One moves on Durmindin, who quickly retreats.  The other strikes into Tiberius with its stone axe.

Larrak scores a crushing blow on the ogre as Durmindin blasts it with his wrath of winter.  Challa then blesses her weapon and uses her on pain of death prayer to attack, hitting the ogre hard.

Back over at the side, the bladerager troll stands up and slices into Scrag.  Behind him appears another bladerager troll which moves behind the first.  

Scrag decides to help focus on the chieftain instead of taking on the bladerager trolls.  He quickly transforms into his panther form and runs at the chief.  He scores a solid hit with his battle axe, but misses when he tries to follow up with a thunder ram assault.

The troll chieftain responds by letting loose a blast of fire from his large, red eyes – engulfing Leigh, Tiberius, and Scrag.

Leigh takes a fey step to escape from the deadly proximity of the troll chief.  She then blasts the cave troll and the ogre with her burning hands spell.  The ogre responds by slamming his giant club into Challa while the cave troll grabs Leigh and begins to crush her.

Keymaster, hoping to save Leigh, rushes past the ogre, narrowly avoiding its club.  He calls on his divine challenge then hits it with a holy strike.

Tiberius, still on fire from the troll chief's blast, falls over, unconscious.  The burning stops, but he's dying.  Durmindin responds by calling a healing spirit to aid him.  But as he is recovering, Tiberius is hit by one of the grimlock's axes.  The other grimlock attempts to attack Scrag, but misses.

Larrak decides to stay focused on the ogre, finishing it off with a crushing blow.

Meanwhile, the bladerager trolls advance on Durmindin.  The one in the lead cuts him deeply with its metal claws.

Challa is trying to help Leigh get free by hitting the cave troll with a righteous smite.  Leigh tries to force her way free, but fails.  She decides instead to shock the troll with a magic missile touch.  The troll then uses Leigh's body as a club, slamming her into Keymaster and Challa, then tossing her away in a corner.

On the other side of the group, Scrag slices into the troll chief with his earthshield strike, then quickly drinks his healing potion.  The troll chief hits back with a toppling blow, slamming Scrag to the ground and hitting the still-prone Tiberius.  One of the grimlocks hits the prone Scrag with its axe while Tiberius begins to slip closer to death.

Durmindin calls upon the spirits, letting out a spirit strike against the troll in front of him.  The troll tries to attack back, but misses.  Durmindin makes sure to keep in position to keep the second troll trapped behind the first one.

Larrak rushes over to assist the dying Tiberius.  Thinking quickly, Larrak pours his healing potion down Tiberius' throat.

Challa attacks the cave troll again, striking it down with her valorous smite.  Trying to draw away some danger from Scrag, she uses her divine challenege to lure a grimlock.  Over in the corner, Leigh stands up and fires a magic missile at the troll chief.

The troll chief lashes out with another mighty swing, knocking Larrack to the ground but missing Scrag and Tiberius.

Keymaster switches his focus, heading over to Tiberius and laying on hands.  He then attempts to attack a grimlock, but misses.

Tiberius stands up, now partially recovered.  He tries to attack the chief with a guarding attack, but misses.  He hits home with a second attack using his viper's strike.

Durmindin is still attempting to hold off the other trolls.  He attempts to blast them with his thunder bear's warning spell, but fails.  The troll responds by rending Durmindin's flesh with his claws.

While a grimlock attacks Scrag, Larrak gets up and moves around to flank the troll chief.  Scrag pauses for a moment to catch his breath.  The troll chief tries to attack Tiberius, but misses.  Scrag strikes back, hitting the chief.

Sensing Durmindin is outgunned, Challa activates her armor ability to slip by the troll chief and over to the bladerager troll.  She strikes into it with her virtuous strike.

Leigh fires off a magic missile, blasting one of the grimlocks.  Keymaster tries to help with defense, establishing a sacred circle for the group.

Durmindin, still trying to fight the bladerager trolls, casts his protecting strike spell, but it fails.  The troll fights back, clawing into Durmindin, sending him unconscious to the ground.  Challa strikes back, hitting the troll with her virtuous strike.  Leigh follows it up with a magic missile blast.

The other bladerager troll begins to move around the cavern, putting him on a straight path towards Larrak. Then, the grimlocks attack – one misses Scrag and the other hits Challa.

Larrak, flanking the chieftain, scores a powerful hit.  He hopes they will soon cause enough injuries to overcome the troll chief's considerable regeneration powers.  Scrag continues to attack the troll chieftain as well, hitting it again.  It attacks back, but misses both Scrag and Tiberius.

Keymaster issues a divine challenge on one of the grimlocks.  He tries to follow it up with an attack, but misses.

Tiberius strikes into the chief with his viper's strike as Durmindin lies nearby, slipping closer to death.  Larrak tries to hit the chief with his viper's strike, but misses.

The grimlocks attack again, this time hitting Scrag and missing Keymaster.  The bladerager trolls then move in for the attack, cutting into Larrak and Challa.  Challa responds by hitting the troll with her bolstering strike.

Scrag tries to hit the troll chieftain again, but misses.  It responds with another powerful blow, knocking both Scrag and Tiberius to the ground.

Leigh fires off a scorching burst that blasts the chieftain and a grimlock.  The screams of the chief suggest the flames are effective and his regeneration appears to have halted.  

Keymaster strikes into one of the grimlocks with his halberd as Tiberius calls out to Durmindin with an inspiring word, allowing him to recover.  Tiberius then attacks at the troll chief with his viper strike, but misses.

Durmindin stands himself up and takes a moment to recover and drinks his healing potion.

The grimlocks press the attack, hitting Scrag but missing Keymaster.

Larrak strikes a powerful cleaving blow into the troll chief, sending him to the ground, dead.  The trolls and grimlocks appear shocked, and quickly retreat.  The group lets them go, knowing they are still quite dangerous if cornered.

Session 22 - Scene 7 (of 7)

Everyone spreads out and begins checking the outpost.  They discover a small pile of treasure held by the trolls – some gold, a fine ivory statue, a longsword, a suit of plate armor, and some sort of shroud.  They also spot the hidden location of the Cask of Secrets, and Keymaster takes possession of it.

Leigh examines the items carefully – the ivory statue is not magic but the sword, armor, and shroud are.  She is able to deduce they have found a defensive longsword, a suit of stoneborn plate armor, and a shroud of revival.

Despite being wary of the trolls coming back, Larrak decides the group should rest inside the outpost rather than risk trying to descend back into Hammerfast as they are too weakened from battle.  Clearly they will also be unable to deal with Schlomo this evening either.

After much rest, the group descends the mountain at dawn the next morning and make it back to Hammerfast.  With very little time left, Keymaster sends them all back to Fallcrest then opens the door back to his dimension.

Before he leaves, he asks Challa if she'd like to come back with him.  Briefly considering it, she eventually decides to stay with the world and friends she knows (particularly since Keymaster explains she has no surviving family there).  Keymaster steps through the portal and leaves, saying perhaps they will all meet again some day.

Session 22 - Session Notes

Clearly, this session was a gigantic detour from last session.  The reason boiled down to - the Al player wanted one last session before he moved to Tennessee.  And an investigative session wasn't what he had in mind.  He also really wanted to play a warforged paladin for some reason (even though I made it clear before I didn't want Eberron characters).

So, since I already had Challa as a Kalashtar with a sketchy background (she didn't know she wasn't human but knew she was different, etc), and the Challa player wanted to discover her background more - I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone.  The result was this session.

Some misc notes about the session:

* It was really long.  We started early because everyone was off for the Thanksgiving holiday, and ended late.  I still had to cut the second fight short to get everything done in one session.  The main reason was the harpy fight took forever - not necessarily because of the rules, but because everyone kept missing or taking forever trying to decide what to do next.

* I'm not sure how accurate my Eberron backstory was.  I don't own the books and never played it, so I had to use wikipedia to give me some buzz words and general concepts.

* Keymaster and the note about the "Gatekeeper" are obviously homages to Ghostbusters.  Humorously enough, before Keymaster was even named, the Challa player started quoting Ghostbusters as soon as I described his necklace of keys.  It was humorously ironic.

* I made up the Cask of Secrets myself.  I used the name "Cask" because an old Thor comic had something called the Cask of Ancient Winters and I always thought it sounded cool.

* Hunter's Ridge is named after a local suburban housing development.  One where the Leigh player (and the Zena player, for that matter) lives.  Oddly, she never seemed to notice.

* The idea of a very narrow ridge in the mountians was inspired by the novel Thunderhead, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  I thought it would be a great change for combat - give them a situation where they can't really move (which counted as a hazard for extra XP).

* The harpy attack was a chance to use some different, larger minis.  Sadly, I left my hippogriff minis at home by accident, so the group was forced to re-imagine a Balugra demon and a Kruthik hive lord as hippogriffs, lol.

* The interior cave was originally larger, with an encounter with a large Kruthik pit between the bat area and the troll area.  It got cut for time.

* The troll encounter was because I wanted a chance to use a lot of big minis for once.  The battle itself used the Dwarven Outpost map from the D&D minis game.

Well, I think that's everything.  The next session isn't until 12/18, so it may be a while.

Also, the Al player isn't the only one leaving.  The Zena player may or may not show up again for one last session on the 18th.  Her pregnancy is nearing its end, which means she'll be too busy soon to play any more.

I do, however, have another session report coming up soon for another interlude starring Berend's group (a seperate group of players that I occasionally run in the same universe).  Look for that sometime soon.

Interlude - Cast of Characters

Berend - Dwarf Cleric
Vector - Human Wizard
Saxton - Dwarf Fighter
Ragdar - Human Warlock
Brandis - Human Paladin
Goldar the Mighty - Goliath Barbarian
Medrash - Dragonborn Warlord

Interlude - Scene 1 (of 10)

With the festivities of the grand re-opening of the Tombwoods cemetery completed, Berend and Vector are focused on landing their next job; preferably for one that makes them more money this time.

Berend's hopes of quick wealth are dashed when Dante explains to the others that he has to leave to head north, to the kingdom of Kanadia, as part of a personal quest.  Sax and Tor, who both feel an affinity for Dante, decide to leave to help him.

Berend and Vector then go into recruiting mode again, trying to raise a group of adventurers interested in fame and fortune.  

Berend isn't having much luck – even Scrag seems to be busy this time (something about that Rufus the Red guy he heard about before).  He does manage to locate an old dwarf friend he worked with in the past, named Saxton.  Saxton agrees to join up if there is a job worth doing.

Vector has much better luck, and happens across a couple of adventurers in the area who recently travelled north from the Harkenwold area.  One of the adventurers is a human paladin named Brandis.  The other is a human warlock named Ragdar.  

Apparently, a group of a dozen villagers from Riverdown, one of the villages in Harkenwold, have been kidnapped and a local nobelman, Baron Stockmer, is offering a rich reward to anyone who rescues them.  Brandis and Ragdar have come to Fallcrest to see if they can find anyone looking to group together to save the hostages and split the reward.  

Vector and Berend are interested.  They find out little other information except that it was hobgoblins who kidnapped the villagers and apparently they were headed to the Thunderspire area.

Thinking the group is still a little too small, Berend has Vector and the others go on ahead to Thunderspire while he stays behind and sees if he can find anyone else to assist.

Interlude - Scene 2 (of 10)

The trip up to Thunderspire is relatively uneventful until Vector's group reaches the crossroads between the Trade Road and the Vale Road (the road leading through the valley into Thunderspire).

When they reach the crossroads, they spot a large goliath warrior under attack by a bonechill chimera and its two hippogriff allies.

Brandis immediately begins moving forward to assist the goliath.  

The goliath tries to charge forward and attack the chimera with his greatsword, but misses.  It strikes back with all three heads, tearing into the goliath with the teeth of a lion, the teeth of a white dragon, and the horns of a ram.  The goliath is knocked down by the force of the ram head strike.

Saxton, a lover of battle, yells out a battle cry and charges in at the nearest hippogriff, but misses.  The hippogriff attack back, biting through his relatively weak chain mail armor.  The other hippogriff flies off towards Vector's position.

Ragdar immediately places his warlock's curse on the hippogriff in front of him and Vector, then attempts a curse bite but misses.  Vector steps back and summons a storm pillar to offer himself some light protection.

Brandis, meanwhile, moves over to the hippogriff on Saxton.  Summoning his divine strength, he strikes into it with a valorous strike.  Saxton follows it up with a brute strike of his own.  The hippogriff bites him in return.

The goliath picks himself off the ground and takes a moment to recover.  He then summons his stone endurance and goes into a rage, attacking the chimera with the rage of thunder hooves.  The chimera attacks back, blasting the goliath in a spray of freezing ice from its dragon head.

Down the road, the other hippogriff rushes towards Vector.  After being injured by the storm pillar, the hippogriff finds its bite blocked by Vector's quick shield spell.

Ragdar slowly moves away from Vector and the hippogriff, not wanting to be attacked.  He fires off an eldritch blast, but misses.  Vector steps back as well, blasting the hippogriff with ice and covering the ground.

Back at the other hippogriff, Brandis finds his target with his invigorating smite.  Nearby, the goliath lets out a savage growl and moves around the chimera, cutting into it with his sword.  The ram head of the chimera attacks back, slamming the goliath to the ground.

Saxton then scores a powerful shot with his axe on the hippogriff.  He then moves over to try and assist the goliath, getting bit by the chimera's lion head along the way.  Getting between the goliath and the chimera, Saxton cuts into the chimera with a crushing blow.

Meanwhile, the hippogriffs attack, missing both Vector and Brandis with their bites.  Ragdar tries another eldritch blast, but misses again.  Vector steps back from the hippogriff again, then hits it with a shock sphere.  Brandis slowly moves position against his hippogriff as well, sbut misses with his attack.

The goliath, not fully understanding Saxton's attempts to shield him, does a massive leap over the top of the chimera, putting himself in flanking position.  He then scores a powerful hit with his sword.  The chimera attacks back, missing Saxton with its ram's head but biting into the goliath with its lion head.  Saxton, annoyed that the goliath put himself in danger again, attacks as well, hitting the beast with a brash attack.

The hippogriffs attempt to bite again, once again missing Saxton and Brandis.  Ragdar fires off another eldritch blast, hitting this time.  Vector continues to shift his position around the hippogriff, blasting it with a magic missile.

Brandis attempts to strike back at the hippogriff in front of him with a valiant strike, but misses.  A short distance away, the goliath slices into the chimera again with his massive sword.  The chimera strikes back again, biting into the goliath with its dragon head.  The goliath falls to the ground, unconscious.  The ram head also attacks Saxton, who is hit but manages to avoid getting knocked down.

Saxton takes a moment to recover his senses, then scores a brash hit on the chimera.  He follows it up with a second brash hit, killing it.

The hippogriffs then bite again, chomping into Vector and Brandis.  Ragdar misses with his shared agony curse, but Vector hits it with a flaming sphere then places out another storm pillar.  Meanwhile, Brandis finishes off his hippogriff with his mace, then moves over and lays hands on the goliath.

The goliath then picks himself up and starts heading towards the remaining hippogriff.  Saxton follows.  But before they can get there, the hippogriff is killed by Vector's storm pillar as it moves into the pillar while trying to attack him.

Interlude - Scene 3 (of 10)

With the battle over, the goliath introduces himself to the others as Goldar the Mighty, a barbarian who has come to this area to prove his battle skills and rid the area of evil.  Since he seems like a helpful addition to the group, Brandis invites him to join them.

During this time, Berend manages to catch up to the rest of the group.  He has had no luck finding any other recruits in Fallcrest, but with Goldar along, they should be in good shape.

After a brief discussion, they follow the Vale Road along into the brief valley beyond the crossroads.  It is filled with a few cottages, all with reinforced doors.  It appears that only a few shepherds, foresters, or miners live here.

Shortly after the valley, the road begins to get very rocky as it heads into the mountain peaks.  The group comes to a fifty-foot high arch over the road, with a giant minotaur statue on either side; this once served as the entrance to the ancient minotaur city of Saruun Khel, located in the giant labyrinth inside Thunderspire peak.  Despite its ominous appearance, the group decides to continue on.

The road beyond the archway is paved with cobblestone.  Rock walls line the roads, with magic lanterns built into the sides.  Several members of the group briefly consider trying to take one of the lanterns, but decide it is probably more trouble than it would be worth.

As they travel along the road, Saxton spots a man up ahead on the road.  As soon as the man appears to see the group, he quickly moves off to the side, apparently trying to hide.  Saxton alerts the others, and they decide to continue on, pretending they did not see the man.

As the group gets closer to where the man left the road, everyone is keeping an eye out.  Saxton can't locate the man's hiding spot, but Goldar sees him cowering behind a nearby rock about twenty yards from the road's wall.  He nods over to the others.

Saxton immediately yells for the man to come out, and Goldar performs a giant leap, landing right next to the man.  Goldar grabs him, and the man immediately begins blathering.  The man appears to be under the impression the group was sent by a man named "Brugg", who he apparently owes money to.  He then begins rambling about how he almost had the money he owes, but someone named "Rufus" wouldn't pay him.  When Vector prompts him how he plans to get the money now, the man explains he is working on a three-card trick that should get him some cash.

Saxton and Berend begin interrogating the man.  They are able to determine he is speaking about Rufus the Red, an assassin Berend has heard of.  Further questioning reveals the man was hired by Rufus to hold onto a prisoner, but didn't get paid because a different group forced him to free the man early.

Berend eventually realizes the man is Dancor Rossi, the petty criminal who Rufus hired to hold onto Stevenson and the group he is referring to was Merend's group.  Berend explains to the others about the kidnapping and assassination plots.

Saxton is not amused.  Feeling the man is involved with evil and in need of punishment, he announces his intentions to cut off either Rossi's hand or his foot.  He asks Rossi which he chooses, and the man begins to collapse into a blubbering heap.

Brandis, however, won't hear of it.  He begins arguing that he cannot allow Saxton to mutilate the man.  Vector, too, is in opposition – the punishment is excessive and has nothing to do with their mission.  He'd rather turn the man over to authorities and let them deal with him.  Berend agrees the man should be punished, but believes a single finger would be sufficient; or perhaps a brand.  Radgar voices no real opinion, but believes the discussion is a waste of time.  Goldar does not care at all.

After many minutes of arguments, the group almost comes to a consensus to vote on the matter as a jury of the man's peers.  However, another impasse is quickly reached as Saxton's honor will not allow him to let the thief go without punishing him, and Brandis' honor will not allow the thief to be hurt.

In an attempt to draw the discussion to a close, Saxton uses the flat of his axe to crush the thief's hand.  Rossi cries out in pain.  Brandis lays hands on him to heal the hand then tells the man to leave quickly.  He immediately begins running away.

With the daylight running out, Berend and Vector decide the group should form a camp soon and spend the night in a secure location in the mountains, then head into Thunderspire the next morning.  Vector uses a ritual to construct a fully-formed camp with cooked food ready to eat, while Berend uses a ritual to obscure the camp with a wizard's curtain.

Interlude - Scene 4 (of 10)

The night passes uneventfully, and the next morning the group heads out.  It doesn't take more than another hour to reach the entrance of the labyrinth.

As they pass inside, the group is surprised to discover the cavern is lit up with various lights.  The entrance appears to lead into an underground city.  Various creatures such as humans, dwarves, goblins, orcs, and others can be seen moving around the city.

A half-orc guard greets the group at the entrance to the city, welcoming them to the Seven-Pillar Hall.  He explains that the city is under the control of the Mages of Saruun.  The mages welcome all races, and the city is set up to be a large merchant trade city.  The only laws in the area appear to be related to allowing free trade, and restricting violence (as it interferes with trade).

As they enter the city, Saxton warns them all that the mission will require the right group; this city is not an honorable place.  Everyone understands.

The group decides the place to start will be a bar.  The city appears to have one inn, the Halfmoon Inn.  They decide to start there.

As they walk inside, they spot a large ogre in the bar having a drink and who appears to collect some money from the bartender.  Next to him is a dark creeper, who appears to handle the money.  Berend wonders if it is the same dark creeper that Merend captured.  

As the two of them start to leave, the ogre makes a point to bump into Goldar.  Goldar responds by trying to trip the ogre.  The two begin to square off.

Berend immediately moves in between the two men, hoping to avoid a disaster.  He tries to goad the ogre into an arm-wrestling contest with Goldar, but the ogre responds they aren't worth his time.  He snarls at the two of them, telling them to watch their step in the city.  The ogre then turns and leaves, with Goldar never taking his eyes off of the creature.  After he's gone, they notice the dark creeper has disappeared into the shadows as well.

Vector notices a figure who seems out of place in the bar, a dragonborn warrior wearing a symbol of Bahamut.  Vector goes over to talk to him.  The dragonborn gives his name as Medrash, a warlord who has wandered into the area recently and hoping to clean the place up.

Sensing he could be of help, Vector tries to recruit Medrash into their group, explaining how they are looking to stop a group of slave traders.  Medrash agrees, though cautions that Vector better keep the trouble maker in their group (Goldar) under control.  Brandis decides to celebrate by buying a round of food – an appetizer place mixture of fried cave rat and cavern moss.

Away from the others, Saxton expresses his concerns to Berend about Vector and Brandis being too soft-hearted for the mission, while Goldar and Medrash are too unpredictable.  If and when the time comes that Saxton feels he has to take command of the group, he wants Berend to back his play.  Berend doesn't exactly commit, but does seem to sympathize with Saxton.

Interlude - Scene 5 (of 10)

The group of seven then decides to head over to the other bar in town to see if they have any better luck there.  The bar, Rothar's Taphouse, appears to be a very rough place.  Goldar heads in before they can finish discussing what to do.  Vector decides he and Saxton will go in as Vector feels they will be the least conspicuous.  The others aren't quite sure they agree.

While Saxton and Vector enter the bar, the others surround the area, keeping a close eye out.  Inside the bar, Saxton and Vector find the bar has a very rough crowd – including lots of orcs.  Goldar decides to sit over by the orcs.

While Saxton gets a drink, Vector spots a small kobold sitting by himself.  He goes over and sits down at the table with him.

The kobold greets Vector, referring to him as "most honored one".  Vector tells the kobold he is flattered, and explains he is looking for information on the slave trade in the city.  The kobold responds that he has the information Vector needs, and explains he is a dealer in information.  He can provide Vector the information for a "modest fee" of 150 gold.

Vector explains he will have to go gather the gold, but will be back later.  The kobold says he will be there all day, and gives his name as Charrak.

Interlude - Scene 6 (of 10)

Everyone meets back up a little ways away from the bar.  Vector tells everyone about the price that Charrak wants, and feels it is the quickest way to get the information they need.  Saxton is less than pleased about having to deal with a kobold, while everyone else is worried about the cost cutting into their profit.

Eventually, everyone chips in to get the 150 gold, though Vector plans to try and negotiate the fee down a bit.  He waits an hour, then goes back to Charrak.

Charrak is surprised to see Vector again so soon.  Vector starts to explain about only having 100 gold and how he needs the information to sell some non-human slaves before he can get the rest.  Charrak isn't interested in the story, and eventually agrees to sell the information for the 100 gold.

Charrak explains that the biggest slave traders active in the area are the Bloodreaver orcs.  Apparently, they are making good money selling slaves to a clan of duergar somewhere in the Thunderspire labyrinth.

The kobold goes on to explain that the Bloodreavers are based out of an old temple to Torog, the god of the underdark, known as the Chamber of Eyes.  They will need to find a door in the city with a symbol of a dragon over it – the cavern beyond will lead to the temple.

Interlude - Scene 7 (of 10)

The group splits up into teams of two, scouring the city to look for the door.  The team of Berend and Goldar find it almost immediately, with Saxton coming upon them soon after.  The three head back over to the Halfmoon Inn for drinks for another hour before the others come back.

As they approach the door, Vector knocks slightly.  When no one answers, Berend suggests they just head in.

The door opens to a long, dark cavern beyond.  With several humans in the group, Vector uses his magic to light the end of his staff to show them the way.

In the lead, Saxton spots some dwarven carvings in the cavern walls but can't make out the dialect.  Goldar, however, is familiar with it – the runes point them in the direction of the chamber of eyes.

A short time later, they come to a door with seven eyes carved into it.  Saxton, not waiting for any discussion, immediately moves in and begins to open the door slightly.  The passage beyond has a large set of stairs leading to a larger hallway.

Everyone heads in slowly to the hallway.  Inside is the temple, with a large set of double doors with an eye carved on it.  At the end of the hallway is a twenty foot high balcony overlooking the hall, ending in a single door leading back into the temple.

Before anyone has a chance to decide what to do, Goldar goes over and pulls himself up on to the balcony.  He then lowers his rope.

Vector and the others motion for Goldar to stop.  Vector quietly approaches the double doors and listens.  He hears a couple of voices speaking in goblin behind the door, talking about someone named Krand and the money from selling the slaves.

After Vector whispers to the others, Goldar goes over and listens at the door on the balcony; he doesn't hear anything.  Checking the door, Goldar finds it unlocked.  He cracks it open a bit, and can see a hallway and a stairway leading down.

Vector lays out the options to the group – they can try to sneak in, assault the temple quickly, or try to trick them.  Berend immediately opposes trying to sneak in – he knows trying to sneak with seven people is too difficult.  Saxton and Berend like the idea of trying to trick the hobgoblins, but the others prefer a stand-up fight.

Vector has Berend, Radgar, and Medrash go up on the balcony with Goldar while he, Saxton, and Brandis assault the front door.  He is hoping the areas beyond the doors eventually meet up.