Game is still on

So, we're still playing, I've just been very lazy about blogging.

I've split the game into two groups of five PCs. All of the players under 18, including my son and daughter, play early on Saturday. All of the players over 18 play in the evening on Saturday.

Both PC groups are level 3 now. In the children's game (I need to find a better name for my groups), the characters have gone back up to Dalton's Camp. It seems that goblins of the Black Blade tribe have been more persistent in their raids on the mining operations and Kharas Fireaxe has asked for their help in dealing with the little bastards. While wandering in the area looking for goblins, they came on a green dragon that was digging up something near one of the mine sites. They tried to negotiate with the dragon to no avail. A long and grueling combat ensued. The heroes won the day relatively easily. They discovered the dragon's lair nearby where they recovered some well-earned treasure. They also dug about where they encountered the dragon and found what it was looking for . . . or so they think. An onyx statue of a dragon that is magical in nature, although they have not been able to determine its power. They plan to move forward against the goblins before investigating the dragon statue.

In the meantime the adult game (again, we need a better name) the PCs have made their way to Thunderspire Labyrinth where they delivered the Kharas's package to the drow merchant. They have asked about and founds some information on the Bloodreaver clan of hobgoblins and are likely to investigate their doings.

More later when I have time.

Session Discussion: Skill Challenges

So, we did a couple of more extended skill challenges. Here's my notes on these challenges:

Approach the Bloodreaver Lair

This skill challenge is necessary to find the Bloodreaver Lair quickly and quietly. It is assumed that the heroes are trying to reach the lair unmolested and undetected.

Difficulty: Moderate (DC 10)

6 Successes (150 xp)

At this level of success you manage to reach the Bloodreaver lair without alerting any patrols to your presence. All guards will be considered ready (but not alert) until such time as your activities dictate otherwise.

9 Successes (275 xp)

In addition to reaching the Bloodreaver lair undetected you also manage to find a good location near the lair to set up a defensible “base camp” to which you can retreat and avoid contact with goblins if you are careful about returning to the place without leading enemies to it.

12 Successes (400 xp)

You reach the Bloodreaver lair undetected, find a good base camp and capture a lone goblin who gives up information about the guard routines and patrols. This information grants a +2 bonus to any three skill checks during the next skill challenge. The skill check bonus must be declared before the roll.

3 Failures (0 xp)

If you get three failures before achieving at least six successes then each character loses one healing surge and the party has a combat encounter with a Bloodreaver patrol. The Bloodreaver guards will flee as soon as a single of their number falls. If any of the patrollers make it back to the lair alive then the entire lair will be considered alert for the next several hours. Apply a -2 penalty to all skill checks in the next skill challenge (Stalking the Bloodreaver lair) should you choose to attempt that challenge before the next sunrise. Additionally, all Bloodreaver guards are alert and ready for combat during this time.

Key Skills (DC 10)

• Athletics: you use your physical skills to help your party navigate the mountainous terrain.
• Dungeoneering: using knowledge of general dungeon construction and guard patterns, you help avoid patrols and get into best position near the lair.
• Endurance: stealthy movement through mountainous terrain is hard work. Your endurance helps ensures that you and your comrades do not flag during the trek.
• Nature: using knowledge of the natural world you help to avoid any dangerous flora or fauna. You help track previous patrols and see tell tale signs of recent goblin passage.
• Perception: you powers of perception help you to find the way to the goblin lair while avoiding patrolling enemies.
• Stealth: you and your friends sneak through the mountainous terrain drawing closer and closer to the enemy stronghold.

Secondary Skills (DC 15)

• Acrobatics: the difficult terrain presents no challenge to you as you leap over ravines and tumble through underbrush and move closer to the Bloodreaver lair.
• Heal: climbing through these rough mountains results in numerous cuts, scrapes and bruises. Your use of first aid helps keep the heroes on their feet.

Stalking the Bloodreaver Lair

After finding the Bloodreaver lair you have the option of observing and planning your assault which may make it your attack easier.

Difficulty: Hard (DC 15)

6 Successes (350 xp)

Each character gets a +1 bonus usable on any single d20 roll while inside the lair.

9 Successes (525 xp)

As above and gain one action point.

12 Successes (700 xp)

As above and find hidden treasure near the lair: buried chest with 250 gold and Gloves of Piercing.

3 Failures (0 xp)

While casing the Bloodreaver lair you alert guards to your presence. Each PC loses two healing surges immediately and the guards on duty outside attack. Additionally, the goblins inside the lair prepare for an attack. All goblins are alert and prepared for combat. Traps, cover and other preparations are fully in place.

Allow the PCs to use any reasonable skill that they can justify with role-play/explanation of use.

Session Report: Against the Bloodreavers

Far north of Dalton's Camp on the western face of the White Mist Mountains, the heroes have journeyed into the area where Jadonkos believes they will find the Bloodreaver tribe lair. The heroes spend time following trails, staying hidden from patrols and working their way towards the lair.

They eventually find a clearing in the woods near a shear cliff face. There is a large pit dug away from the cliff face and a few tents scattered around the area. A long hobgoblin stands guard near a crack in the cliff face that looks as if it might enter into a deeper cave.

The heroes stalk the place for a few hours. They watch patrol patterns and find a good place to hunker down in from which they will launch their attack. Mizuni and Dorrin scout forward to attack the lone guard. The heroes quickly cut down the guard before he can raise an alarm and kill the resting guards in the tents before they can enter the fray.

After a quick rest they charge into the cave. A pair of soldiers and several archers stand guard. The archers hold the high ground and pelt Bracken without mercy. After the dwarf falls unconscious they switch targets to Dorrin who has climbed up onto the ledge with him. Dorrin survives their attacks with a bit of luck and his friends, having cleared out the soldiers move in and finsih off the archers.

Pressing deeper into the lair the heroes follow worked stone hallways to another large natural cavern. Here they meet another band of hobgoblins. The hobgoblins fall quickly to the focused attacks of the heroes, but not before one races out of the place an into a crevasse heading deeper into the lair.

Dorrin creeps forward after the archer and finds a room packed with many goblins. He attacks one and the goblins move quickly to bottleneck the heroes in the entrance to their ground. It is a long and hard struggle, but eventually the dwarf protectors manage to get through to the front lines and control the flow of the battle while Dorrin and Muzuni strike down the enemies. Algea makes short work of many of the goblins with his blasts of fire. Eventually the battle is down to only an axe wielding goblin leader and a goblin hexer who has covered the battlefield with an obscuring fog. The heroes bring these two down and make ready to press onward to find the leader of the Bloodreavers.

Session Report: Rewards

The heroes received the following rewards in the foray into the Bloodreaver hideout:

XP: 588 (current total 1996)
Gold: 30 gold each
Magic Items: Battleforged Armor +1: Fargrim
Flaming Battleaxe +1: Drast
Battleaxe of Terror +1: Brackent

Session Discussion: Skill Challenge - Success?

So, I'm going to lay out all of my notes from the negotiation skill challenge with the dragon Jadonkos. I hope this will show you where I'm coming from and how I hope to see skill challenges work in the future.

Skill challenge vs. Jadonkos (Difficulty: Hard – DC 15)

Before resorting to fighting, the dragon Jadonkos offers to parley with the PCs. Should they accept the offer and succeed in a difficult skill challenge they may achieve victory without combat. They may also acquire a gift from Jadonkos and a quest.

Success (minimal): 6 successes – 525 xp
Jadonkos agrees to leave the heroes alone either because they managed to convince him that the Black Tablet is not of use to him or that they are more than he can handle.

Success (medium): 9 successes – 700 xp
As above and Jadonkos asks the heroes to help him with his problem with the Bloodreaver clan of hobgoblins. He offers a quest to them to track the Bloodreaver Clan of hobgoblins who recently attacked his lair and took many hostages.

Success (maximum): 12 successes – 875 xp
As above and Jadonkos gives a Holy Symbol of Bahamut +1 to the party if they accept the quest to root out the Bloodreavers.

Failure: 3 failures before 6 (or more) successes
Jadonkos attacks the party and calls his kobold allies to aid him in the fight.

Key skills (DC: 15)

Examples of usage of key skills in this encounter:

• Arcana: convince Jadonkos of your arcane knowledge and power and then explain that the Black Tablet is of no use to the dragon.
• Bluff: convince Jadonkos that you do not have the Black Tablet
• Diplomacy: sway Jadonkos to not fight and instead discuss the matter for mutual benefit
• Insight: realize Jadonkos’s true desire: to protect his kobold followers and himself from the Bloodreaver hobgoblins; required to achieve 9+ successes
• Intimidate: convince Jadonkos that he does not have the power to face down the party

Secondary Skills (DC: 20)

• History: weave a tale about the Black Tablet and how it cannot be used to protect the dragon or his allies
• Nature: this item is wholly unnatural, evil and dangerous. Its use will endanger the dragon and his minions.
• Religion: the nature of the Black Tablet is wholly evil and your knowledge of religion is such that you can prove it is of no use to the dragon.
• Any other skill the PCs can convingly employ.

If the PCs can convince the dragon not to fight (6 successes) then they may further convince him to offer a quest and possibly prepayment for the quest.

Session Report: Quests

So, you have three new quests:

Kill the leader of the Bloodreaver tribe
Major Quest: 125 xp per PC
Jadonkos, the white dragon, has offered to pay you 500 gold to kill the leader of the Bloodreaver tribe of goblins. He has also partially prepaid for this quest in the form of a Holy Symbol of Life +1 for this quest.

Rescue kobolds from the Bloodreavers
Major Quest: 125 xp per PC
Jadonkos, the white dragon, has offered to pay you 500 gold to resuce seventeen kobolds who were taken prisoner by goblins and hobgoblins of the Bloodreaver tribe.

Exchange the sealed cask for the drow fortune stones
Minor Quest: 25 xp per PC
Kharas Fireaxe has offered 500 gold for you to take a sealed cask to his contact named Gendar in the Seven Pillared Hall in Thunderspire Labyrinth and return with a set of drow fortune stones that Gendar has.

Session Report: Rewards

The heroes received the following rewards for last session:

XP: 409 (current total 1409)
Gold: hm, some amount of gold. Everyone should have about 150 gold less any spent.
Magic Items: Holy Symbol of Life +1: Varrin

Session Report: (Never?) Deal with a Dragon

Having returned with the Black Tablet to Dalton's Camp and managed to avoid its capture by goblins, kobolds and a white dragon, the heroes set out for Berador. They intend to speak there to Vardigas Asmos and determine next steps.

The intial trek back to Berador is mostly uneventful. They stay off the road and slip through the Greywood. An overnight encounter with some ettercaps and spiders is mostly uneventful and followed by a conversation with a patrol of elves from Greywatch Hold.

On the third day out from Dalton's Camp the white dragon, Jadonkos, tracks the heroes down in the woods. He lands some distance away and offers to parley. The dragon demands the Black Tablet from them in exchange for sparing their lives. He wants it to protect his kobold minions from the hobgoblin raiders of the Bloodreaver clan. The heroes refuse to give up the tablet, and in their discussions manage to convince Jadonkos that the Black Tablet will not protect his people as he believes.

More conversation leads to the revelation that the dragon sincerely cares for his people and he offers to pay the heroes to rid him of the hobgoblin menace. They manage to convince him to make partial payment in advance and he hands over a Holy Symbol of Life +1 in the image of the dragon god Bahamut.

The heroes accept the quest and the payment and set out to Berador with promises to seek the dragon in his lair within ten days.

In Berador they reveal the Black Tablet to Vardigas and explain that it cannot be used of the desired protective ritual. Vardigas endeavors to investigate the tablet and then help the heroes decide what to do.

In the meantime the dwarf warrior, Bracken, has become rather attached to the Black Tablet. He gains power from its presence, including the ability to speak Abyssal and other skills have increased. He is reluctant to give up the tablet. The other heroes manage to convince him to allow Vardigas to study it, but Bracken refuses to leave while the studies go on.

Vardigas reveals that the heroes are correct; the Black Tablet will not provide any protection to the village. It will reveal the location to one of the five shards of the key called Imkinrisraka which opens the so-called prison of Ashembelaldu. The information the heroes have is that the demon called Certiakinryn is imprisoned there. Vardigas says no such demon exists, but that Ashembelaldu actually guards a treasure of some sort. He cannot identify the treasure.

The heroes resolve to leave the Black Tablet with the eladrin elder, Chadadarya Lidastar in the Greywood. They convince Bracken to leave it behind and he can "get it back later" when they return.

They head out for the Jadonkos's lair north of Dalton's Camp. In Dalton's Camp they speak to Kharas Fireaxe. On hearing of their plans he asks them to take a cask for him to a contact of his in the Seven Pillared Hall in Thunderspire Labyrinth. In exchange he will pay them 500 gold when they return with a set of drow fortune stones.

They make an uneventful journey to Jadonkos's lair. While their they learn that the hogoblins have again attacked the kobolds and this time they have taken many of them prisoner. Jadonkos offers to increase the reward to the heroes if they will also rescue his people. He offers 500 gold for the head of the hobgoblin leader and another 500 gold for the return of his people.

The heroes make their way to the hobgoblin lair over a period of about a week. They encounter no trouble until they near the hobgolin lair. They find their several outbuildings near a cave. Now they must find a way in and rescue the kobold prisoners.

Session Report: Rewards

The heroes received the following rewards for last session:

XP: 365 (everyone is 2nd level now)
Gold: 75 gold each
Magic Items:

• Rod of Reaving +1: Katerin
• Staff of Winter +1: Algea
• Duelist's Dagger +1: Mizuni
• Frost Bastard Sword +1: Dorrin

Session Report: The Black Tablet Recovered

The heroes decide to take their chances with the Black Tablet and take it with them back to Berador. They discover that the Black Tablet cannot be handled by any "safe" means as any non-living material other than earth or stone passes through the tablet. They cannot lift it with a rope or drop it in a sack. Fargrim offers the clever idea of coating the tablet in mud and then dropping it into a backpack. This works out quite well.

In the coffin with the tablet the heroes find several magical items which they divvy up among themselves for later use.

Anyone handling the Black Tablet has a sense of forboding and dread. After a few moments dozens chittering voices mumble unintelligibly and maddeningly in the mind of anyone carrying the tablet. A single voice speaks once in Common, "Find the key," and the other voices continue.

After some experimentation they discover that the voices seem harmless enough, but unnerving. Later Algea uses Comprehend Languages and listens to the voices. They mumble a great deal about death, destruction and hatred in Abyssal. He hears a few words that he knows are proper nouns, but he has no way to place them: Ashembelaldu, Certiakinryn and Imkinrisraka.

Later study and investigation reveals that a forgotten demon lord by the name of Certiakinryn is locked in the Abyssal prison of Ashembelaldu. Imkinrisraka is the key to the prison. It is broken into five pieces and they were purposely scattered and obscured so as to ensure that the demon lord would never be released. The Black Tablet provides the material and the instruction to perform a ritual which will reveal the location of one of the five shards of Imkinrisraka.

The heroes leave the dwarf temple to Moradin and find kobolds and goblins fighting on the doorstep. They watch as a massive battle unfolds with some two dozen combatants on each side. As the kobolds give ground and appear on the verge of losing the battle another horde of goblins charges in. Several are mounted on worgs. They rush in and wantonly slaughter everything in their path, goblin and kobold alike. As the battle draws to a close the heroes rush in and ambush the ambushers. The goblins put up a great fight, but they are no match for the heroes of Berador. One goblin, the warchief of the party, manages to escape on his wolf after all of his comrades fall.

The party makes its way to Dalton's Camp en route to Berador. On the way they notice that a great band of hundreds of goblins is gathering in the hills and appears to be pursuing them. They reach Dalton's Camp safely, but not long before the goblin war party. The heroes collect their reward from Kharas Fireaxe for the dwarf statuettes and set to helping to defend the town from the goblins.

The goblins surround the town and send a marshal to parley. They demand that the Black Tablet be turned over to them or they will raze the town and kill all within. They give the townfolk two days to decide. The heroes are intent on keeping the Black Tablet out of the hands of any evil creatures and work on defenses for the town.

On the next day a white dragon appears. It circles the town for many minutes and finally lands among the goblins. For several minutes the dragon appears to speak with the goblin leaders and then suddenly it attacks them. The dragon disperses the goblin horde by flying well out of range of their attacks and diving in to breathe its icy breath on them every minute or so.

After the goblins disperse the dragon makes its way to the town. The dragon seeks out any who will parley with him. He demands the Black Tablet for himself. The heroes refuse and pepper the dragon with fire and oil. The dragon flees back towards the mountains.

With the threat of the goblins gone, the heroes make preparations to set out for Berador carrying their evil burden. What will they do with the Black Tablet now?

Session Report Running Late

The session report from this past week's game is coming, but I'm working my butt off right now and probably won't get to it until this weekend. Sorry.

New Monster: Stone Dwarf Statue

This monster is my first 4th edition monster creation. I made it in about 10 minutes following the guidelines in the DMG and lifting heavily from the Stone Golem in the MM.

Stone Dwarf Statue Large Natural Animate			Level 3 Solo Soldier 750 xp
Initiative: +3 HP:196; Bloodied: 98 AC: 20; Fortitude: 20; Reflex: 14; Will: 16 Immune: disease, sleep, poison Saving Throws: +5 Action Points: 2 Speed: 6; can’t shift; see also Rampage			Senses: Perception -2; darkvision
Axe Slam (basic melee; standard; at-will)
	+10 vs. AC; 1d12+5 damage.
Double Axe Slam (standard; at-will)
	Makes two Axe Slam attacks.
Rampage (standard; recharge 5,6)
	The stone dwarf statue moves up to its speed plus 2 and can move through enemies’ spaces, provoking opportunity attacks as normal. When it enters a creature’s space (ally or enemy) the statue makes an axe slam attack against the creature. On a successful hit the statue pushes the target one square. The statue must end its rampage in an unoccupied square.
Death Burst (when bloodied and again when reduced to zero hit points)
	The stone dwarf statue explodes in a burst of jagged stone. Close burst 1; +10 vs. AC; 1d8+3 damage and the space it occupied is difficult terrain until cleared.
Alignment: unaligned		Languages: none
Str 17 (+5) Con 17 (+5)		Dex 6 (-1) Int 3 (-4)	Wis 8 (-1) Cha 3 (-4)

Session Report: Rewards and Quests

The heroes received the following treasure and xp rewards for the last session.

XP: 381 each; new total 635; new characters have the same XP
Gold: 20 each

Quests

Find the Black Tablet
You found it. What are you going to do with it? XP is already rewarded for this.

Find statuettes of Moradin
You got 'em. Now get them back to Kharas for your cash. XP is already rewarded for this.

Skill Challenges - Again!

Yeah, I'm still trying to figure the best way to do the skill challenges. I thought they went better, but the "negotiation" with the dwarf ghost didn't go off very well. What needs to happen differently is that you all need to (and I need to encourage) roleplay in these encounters and then shoot the dice.

Think of a skill challenge as a combat where you use your skills instead of your powers. How's that work? You roleplay. You describe your actions and/or what you're saying (or just say what your character says) and then we throw some dice. A good roll gets you a success. A bad roll gets a failure. The theory behind skill challenges is to offer a framework for the roleplay encounters that involve skill use and involve everyone. What we don't want to see is the options that usually came up in 3.x D&D: 1) the bard (or other high diplomacy skill guy) is the only one that does any talking with major NPCs. 2) one skill roll determines success or failure.

So, it's a team effort. Everyone should participate and everyone should try to offer something to what's going on. I'll do my best to better roleplay the NPCs; you all work on doing a bit of RP yourselves. I know you don't know all there is about the game world and such, but as I'm sure you can tell from what I've been doing, I'm ad libbing a great deal in the skill challenges anyway. So, if you make a history check and decide to describe that as reminding the ghost of the time the eladrin heroes saved some dwarves from an attack by giants . . . cool! Let's go with that!

So, I'll keep working on making the RP skill challenges better. Everyone needs to get involved. I think the non-RP ones went off very well.

Session Report: The Black Tablet - Recovery?

The heroes descend into the darkness. Light from a pair of sunrods shows the way. The stairs lead downward some 20 feet or so and about 80 feet into the hillside where they terminate in a monstrous temple room. The room is sixty feet wide, over 100 feet long and lined with massive dwarf statues that act as pillars holding the ceiling some twenty feet overhead. A great dwarf statue approximately 14feet tall stands at the end of the room on a pedestal. A stone door stands on either wall about three forths of the way down.

The heroes make their way cautiously down the right hand side of the room. As Mizuni gets within about twenty feet of the statue its head turns to stare at him with a baleful look. The party halts and discusses the situation.

Dorin tries to sneak forward. He seems to be doing well, but when he reaches the door on the righthand wall the statue moves toward him menacingly. Battle is joined! At first the dwarves hope they can hold off the statue by calling on the name of Moradin. This seems unlikely to work as the statue lands massive blows with its axe on Dorrin and nearly kills him. Things turn desperate as the statue rampages into a group of the heroes knocking them about and both of the fighter and the paladin end up unconscious in the onslaught. Some well-timed healing and a bit of teamwork turn the tide. Eventually they bring the statue down.

Shaken a bit from the fight the heroes discuss their next moves. They consider resting for the day in this room, but decide to press onward. The doors to the left and right lead into passages that join again on the backside of the room and continue on a passage deeper into the mountain. The hallway ends at a stone door engraved with a dwarf's head. Two massive iron rings allow entry into the place.

Pulling on the rings they open the doors and find a smaller room beyond:

This room appears to be an inner temple of some sort. While smaller than the outer temple room before, the furnishings bear signs of great import. Similar statues act as great pillars holding up the ceiling about 15 feet above. The walls have frescoes carved on them; following the length of the walls you see the story of the dwarf people. One carving depicts a dwarf rising from a mountain and taking his place on a stone throne. Another fresco shows many dwarfs in chains as giants stand over them with whips. The next image is of a great battle: the dwarfs fight the giants and a single massive dwarf leads them against their foes. An image portrays a handful of dwarfs at work in a smithy and a faint image of the great dwarf from the battle looks over with a grim smile. In the final image, at the far end of the room, the dwarf god Moradin looks down on a group of dwarfs gathered in worship. A small altar of stone stands in front of each image on the left and right walls. A larger altar fronts the back wall under the image of Moradin.

As the heroes make their way across the room a gruff and ghostly voice calls out, "Who disturbs this holy temple?" A transluscent figure of a dwarf rises from the greater altar on the far side of the room. "Speak quickly or you will suffer the righteous fury of Moradin!"

The heroes negotiate with the ghostly spirit, but to no avail. They cannot find the words or the means to convince it to help them on their quests. They decide to retire for the time being and make their way back to the entry chamber of the temple. There they close the outer doors to the temple and trust the magical doors to keep them safe from outsiders. They hope that they have the strength to handle any danger that the dwarf ghost sends their way.

Algea takes the watch as he meditates. The temperature grows noticeably colder, and fearful, he wakens Dorin to watch with him. They hear sounds of someone or something trying to break through the outer door into the temple, but they fear no attack from that way. The balance of the rest period passes uneventfully.

They head back to where they met the dwarf ghost the day before and check things out. The ghost makes an appearance, but does no attack or otherwise interfere with them. They find two secret doors in the far wall in the corners. They are only five feet wide and about seven feet tall.

They choose the door on the left. A narrow, cramped passage descends at an easy grade and passes some 100 feet deeper into the darkness. It opens onto a massive tomb some 200 feet long and 60 feet wide. Scores of coffins and sarcophagi cover much of the floor spaced evenly about every five feet.

The heroes spend a couple of hours searching the place. They do not disturb the tombs, but look only. Eventually they find one that is unusual. The runes on the coffin do not speak of the one iterred here, but instead speak of an unholy relic:

Here rests the unholy Black Tablet; may it lie here under guard for all eternity. May the many lives lost in its capture not be in vain. A curse upon any who would disturb this tomb or trouble with this most evil of relics.

Taken aback by this inscription, the party decides to leave it be for the time and search for the statuettes sought by Kharas Fireaxe. They return to the inner temple and take the righthand door. This door leads down into another tomb where they again find many coffins. Among the items and treasures here they find the two statuettes which they take with them.

Returning to the other tomb they further investigate. They discover magical runes on the coffin guarding the Black Tablet. Mizuni manages to disable them and then pries open the coffin. A blast of cold, dusty air sprays on his hands as he moves aside the coffin lid. Inside they see a swirling cold mist and a block of utter blackness, like the void of space, floating in the center of the coffin.

A great debate ensues, but no final decision is made. Should they take the tablet? Should they leave it? Should they collapse the temple to prevent others from getting to it? Should they try to disguise or hide where it is?

The debates rage on for quite some time. There is concern that taking the tablet away will bring some evil into the World. There is also concern that having penetrated to this point the heroes have stripped the tablet of its guardians.

No decision has yet been made. What should the heroes do?

Session Report: The Black Tablet - To The Dwarven Temple of Moradin

Having reached Dalton's Camp, the heroes rest for a day and make preparations to journey into the mountains. They are joined by three of their friends from Berador: Fargrim a dwarf paladin of Moradin, Algea an eladrin wizard, and Drast a dragonborn warlord. Ekemon, upset that the party will not retrieve the Black Tablet for Lady Caer leaves the party.

They make the trek into the foothills of the White Mist Mountains. It is unseasonably cold, and steady rain falls as they head to the temple. They arrive near the temple around noon the next day. A small stream flows nearby and they use it as a trail towards the temple. A large band of kobolds ambushes them at the foot of a great hill.

The fight is fast and furious. Several well-armed and trained kobolds warriors leap forward and lay into Dorin. Blasts of magical fire from Algea clears the field of some of the kobolds. A great tussle forms along the front ranks as the heroes make their line of defense and face off with the kobold soldiers. A few of the kobolds hold back and pelt the party with sling shots and javelins.

Rather quickly the day is won. A lone kobolds makes an escape into the wooded hills, but the rest of the kobolds are destroyed.

The heroes make their way up the side of the hill to a ledge about fifteen or twenty feet wide and some thrity feet long. The flat face of the hillside here stands out as it seems to be a sold, flat peiece of stone, unmarked and uncovered by the vines and creepers that cover the rest of the hill. According to their map, this is the place.

Some searching and delving into their knowledge of the area and of dwarven temples leads them to a discovery: there is indeed a door here, but how to open it? Some arcane knowledge, a bit of thievery and history reveals a way in and they manage to trigger the opening mechanism. Two great slabs of stone about 15 ft wide and 20 ft tall pivot open silently as a puff of dusty air issues forth from the hole in the side of the hill. A wide staircase descends into darkness below.

Rumors and Such: The Black Tablet

The current storyline focuses on an item of reputed power known as the Black Tablet. The heroes have gathered the following information about it:

• Vardigas Asmos reports that the Black Tablet is relic of great power that will aid in the casting of a warding ritual which can be used to protect the town of Berador from gobling and kobolds.
• Lady Caer Branloth concurs with this information, but she seems to be hiding additional information.
• Vardigas Asmos has in his possession a book he calls the Tome of Evronkeep which reportedly gives the location of the Black Tablet as hidden in a lost dwarf temple in the White Mist Mountains northeast of Dalton.
• Lady Caer Branloth agrees on these facts. She also has mentioned that the Tome of Evronkeep is of great interest to her because it is an ancient work from the early days of the fallen tiefling empire, Bael Turath.
• The heroes recall conflicting stories about the power of the Black Tablet:
  • It has the power to invoke a powerful warding spell.
  • It has some power of influence of goblinoids and could be used to unite goblins.
  • It was used in the orignal rites and rituals that created the tiefling race.
  • It is part of a key to an extradimensional prison of some unknown sort and use.

Session Report: Rewards and Quests

Rewards

The heroes received the following treasure and xp rewards for the last session.

• XP: 254 each
• Gold: 20 each
• Magic Items: Cloak of Resistance +1 (Mizumi)

Quests

The heroes have been offered the following quests during the last session.

• Find the Black Tablet
  Major Quest: 500 xp
  Vardigas Asmos will pay 120 gp for finding and returning to him the Black Tablet artifact rumored to be hidden in the abandoned dwarf temple in the mountains northeast of Dalton's Camp.
• Find statuettes of Moradin
  Minor Quest: 100 xp
  Kharas Fireaxe has offered you an amethyst worth 100 gp and 20 gp for bringing him a pair of statuettes he believes are in the same dwarf temple.
• Lady Caer's Offer
  Major Quest: 500 xp
  Lady Caer Branloth has offered to pay 120 gp and give a potion of healing for bringing to her the same Black Tablet that Vardigas Asmos wants.

Dalton's Camp

Population: 400 year round; another 200 - 400 people will be in the area during seasons when the area is hospitable and work is available.

Government: Dalton's Camp has no government. It is a "gold rush" type town with little law and order. The Mining Consortium holds a great deal of power and manages many of the day-to-day activities of the place. Most people defer to Kharas Fireaxe and his fellows when disputes arise.

Defenses: There are not defenses to speak of. Most of the mining companies and merchants have mercenary warriors and guards to protect their interests, but there is no organized defense for the area. The town proper rests on an easily defendable hill behind a solid wooden palisade.

Inns/Taverns: For such a small town Dalton's Camp has more than its fair share of inns and taverns. Since few people live here year round, there is a lot of demand for temporary living space. There are three inns of moderate size and four different taverns. Some of the places cater to the people that work with specific mining companies. Rivalries among different companies and mercenaries makes for an unsteady peace when the wrong paths cross. As such, most people keep to "their" place in town.

• The Silver Anvil: an inn with reasonable prices and mostly free of vermin (both humanoid and otherwise)
• Dalton's Campsite: a large inn that caters mostly to people working with the Mining Consortium. It is somewhat more expensive than the other places in town, but offers reasonable security and privacy.
• The Blue Bard: a moderately priced inn; the innkeepr at the Blue Bard requires application for residency at his place and turns away undesireables.

• The Well: a lower class water hole. Fights are common in this place. Often rivals will purposely meet each other here to settle differences.
• The Gray Goose: one of the better taverns in Dalton's Camp, owned by the Mining Consortium. All comers are welcome, but violence is quickly put down by the bruising bouncer.
• Mallister's Place: this tavern caters to members of a few different trading companies. However, most are friendly enough with one another and "those other guys" generally stay out.
• The Alehouse: another of the Mining Consortium's places in town. Trading companies that come here generally avoid Mallister's and the rivalry between the groups is quite unfriendly.

Trade: When the mines are operational Dalton's Camp produces a great deal of silver and iron from the hills. Some of the braver miners venture deeper into the mountains where veins of gold and gems can be found.

Supplies: There are three "general stores" in the town. Two are owned by the Mining Consortium and one is an independent outfit. Most of the goods are suitable for miners and merchant caravan guards. Adventurers will find most of their needs met here as well.

Temples: There are no temples in Dalton's Camp. In fact, there are no priests or religious folk of any sort to speak of.

Session Report: The Black Tablet - To Dalton's Camp

Over the next few days the heroes meet again with Vardigas and tell him of their meeting with Lady Caer. Vardigas refuses to meet with her; he doesn't like her and doesn't trust her. They tell him that they believe she will use violence to achieve her ends and that if they bring the Black Tablet to him she will likely kill him to get it for herself.

Vardigas determines to meet with some of the other village elders to make arrangements for his own protection. Matters seem to be well in hand and the party decides to set out to find the Tablet. Vardigas advises them to meet Kharas Fireaxe, one of the leaders of the Mining Consortium of Dalton, to see if they can get information about the location of the temple.

In the meantime, Ighttor Branloth seeks out Ekemon in an effort to win him over to Lady Caer's cause. Ekemon doesn't want to betray his friends, but he feels somehow compelled to help his fellow tieflings. Ighttor tells him that Lady Caer will pay him half of the reward for the Black Tablet up front and that if he returns it to her she will see to it that he is well taken care of. Ekemon resists the temptation and Ighttor leaves with a final admonishment, "Don't forget your true blood, Brother."

The heroes prepare for their journey to Dalton's Camp. On the morning of their departure Ekemon finds on a table in the front room of his home a cloth sack with 60 gold coins in it and a note: "Remember your true loyalties - Brother." Ekemon hides most of the gold in his home, but takes five for himself and gives ten gold to Gerry Woodcote at the Temple of the Sun. He asks Gerry to keep the donation secret.

Trek to Dalton's Camp

The party sets out on the Road to Dalton. The journey takes about seven days on foot and is mostly uneventful . . . mostly. On the third day out from Berador a band of goblins of the Blackblade tribe attacks the heroes on the road. The goblins take the upper hand for a bit, but the strength and power of the heroes wins the day. The last few standing goblins attempt to flee after their leaders fall, but the heroes chase them down and destroy them. The heroes identify the goblins as members of the Blackblade tribe by the badges worn by the two leaders of the goblin band. This tribe has long been a threat in the area, but it has been some years since they openly attacked anyone this close to Berador. They find that one of the goblin leaders wears a magical cloak (cloak of resistance +1) which Mizuni takes for his own.

Kharas Fireaxe

On reaching Dalton's Camp the heroes immediately make for the Mining Consortium offices where they meet Kharas Fireaxe, a cousin of Bracken Fireaxe. He listens impatiently to their tale and their plan to liberate the Black Tablet from the dwarf temple. He offers them a map to the location of the temple, advises them to watch out for more goblins and asks them to return to him two dwarf statuettes of Moradin that he believes are in the temple. He offers them a reward of 20 gold and a amethyst worth 100 gold for bringing him the statuettes.

The heroes stay a day or so in Dalton and then get ready to set out to the temple.

Session Discussion: Skill Challenges

So, it didn't quite go as planned. While I thought I had clever plans for use of skill challenges in the negotiations with Vardigas and Lady Caer, it didn't work out as well as I would have liked.

The missing piece, I think, was that I didn't make it clear that this is a skill challenge and here are your goals. I actually had laid out specific skills, DCs and results for success or failure. What I didn't have was a good way to convey that information to the players without just flatly stating, "You should make a diplomacy check to try to win the Lady Caer's favor and trust and she will tell you more." I'll work on that in the future.

Overall, I'm pleased with the progress we made. We played for a bit under four hours and we got through one combat encounter and three skill challenges and a farily good amount of role-play, introduction and information gathering.

The combat dragged a bit longer that I would have preferred, and for some reason seemed like it was just "tacked on" to the adventure, while it was in fact planned and has a purpose greater than just letting everyone roll dice and do damage. The combat was 900 xp, which is 150% of the xp for a normal encounter of six 1st level characters, but since I knew it was the only combat of the day, I wasn't worried about that.

Anyhow, so far, so good, or at least ok. Stay tuned for more recap of the first session.

Session Report: The Black Tablet - Introduction

Spring: a time of renewal, a time of celebration and a time of festival. It is a chilly, wet morning as the sun peeks over the mountains to the east. Thin streamers of fog fade away, but low-hanging clouds threaten rain throughout the morning. It is Spring Morning in Berador, a time of reverence and celebration. Villagers make a great work about the village green erecting tents, cooking up spring meals, and preparing for the Spring Morning festival. Gerry Woodcote makes his way among the people offering blessings and words of encouragement as they go about their muddy work. By noontime most of the clouds have cleared and the rain has let up. A stiff breeze blows in from the west setting children's kites to flight. Wholesome aromas drift from the cook pots and the villagers gather to a fine meal. Tam Rivers makes a spectacle of himself, just like every year, telling tales in his blustery way. Some of the village elders gather in small knots to discuss business or pleasure as is their wont. By mid afternoon the festival is well and truly underway. Games of chance and skill, drinking and eating, dancing and singing occupy the people's time. As if on cue a Traveling Carnival, the first since before the winter rolls into town. The combination of the Spring Morning festival and a Traveling Carnival brings more excitement to the tiny berg of Berador that the place has seen in years.

The Heroes

The heroes of the story are all long time residents of Berador and have been friends for many years. As the entire town has gathered for celebration, they each have a break from their normal labors and join the everyone else at the festival.

• Varrin: male elf cleric of Bahamut (Jon)
• Mizuni Umareru Feetskuttle: male halfling rogue (Michael)
• Ekemon: male tielfling warlord (Zach)
• Dorin Greyski: male human ranger (Matt)
• Bracken Fireaxe: male dwarf fighter (Josh)
• Katerin Liossa: female half-elf warlock (Rozanne)

The Job

A wizened, bent-backed figure makes his way toward you. Long, pointed ears poke out from behind a mass of stringy tangles of gray and white hair. He peers at you with cloudy gray over a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles perched on his long, bulbous nose. He wears a recently patched, but still rather ragged old cloak and leans heavily on a gnarled wooden staff. "Come, come, children, we must have words. It's very important," he waves to you with age-spotted hands, bent and twisted with age. He speaks in a high, melodious voice that shakes a bit with age "I may have a spot of work for you."

Everyone knows the ancient half-elf; he is Vardigas Asmos, a local seer and healer. The heroes agree to meet with him and head off to his home to speak privately.

You make your way into Vardigas's home. You've been here before, but it still amazes you to see the mass of books and trinkets and knickknacks littered about the place. A gold pocket watch rests on a workbench, forgotten among papers and candle drippings. A set of tiny carved stone men and beasts lie strewn among vials and inkpots and quills. Vardigas leads you to a sitting room with several deep comfortable chairs arrayed around a central coffee table. On the table are scrolls, books, a leather boot with a hole in the toe and an ancient tabby cat that's missing one ear. "Please, have a seat and I'll bring it to you." Vardigas makes his way up an iron spiral staircase situated in the corner of the room. In his absence you hear a rummaging in his "tower" above. A few minutes later he totters down the steps holding a book made of heavy dark leather. He flings aside the mess on the table, and the cat yowls in protest as it rushes out of the room. He lays the book on the table and opens it to some pages near the middle. "This is the Tome of Evronkeep. I bought it from Aldaleem Applecart some months ago. He was in with the last Traveling Carnival before winter. I have only recently managed to decipher part of it. You would be amazed at the work I had to – well, never mind that; you don't care." "My point is that I have found information that speaks of a relic of great power hidden in an abandoned dwarf temple in the White Mist Mountains. If my reading is correct the temple lies not far from Dalton's Camp. The relic, according to this Tome, holds the secret to a ritual of protection that will guard the whole village against any enemy. I want this relic. I can use this ritual to protect the people of Berador from the goblins and kobolds that raid here in the hard times. What do you say?" Looking over the book you can make no sense of the writing in it.

The heroes look over the book and question Vardigas about it at length. They discuss the matter among themselves and struggle to recall any information about the abandoned dwarf temple, the Tome of Evronkeep or this mysterious Black Tablet. They make little progress, but agree to set out as soon as possible to find and return with this relic that Vardigas might use to set a ward over the village.

They make their way back to the village green to rejoin the festival which will continue throughout the night.

The Counter Offer

A well-dressed, dark-skinned man approaches you. The great ram-like horns on his head and the long tail trailing behind him mark him instantly as a tiefling. His deep red eyes and dark hair mark him as one of the Branloth clan. You know him; he is Ighttor Branloth, one of Lady Caer's many grandsons. "If it please you, my friends, the Lady Caer would ask a word with you at your convenience. She has made arrangements for tomorrow evening and would very much wish to have you to dinner.”

They agree to meet with Lady Caer for dinner the next evening. They spend the rest of the evening and much of the early morning (or very late night) in the Spring Morning festival. A few hangovers, a fine breakfast and a rest during the day see them through to the early evening.

You arrive at the Branloth manor in the early evening. It is a cool and cloudy evening, a bit chilly for spring with a bit of fog rolling in from the Greywood to the north. At the outer gates two tieflings stand guard and nod you through without a word. A cobblestone path lined with precisely manicured hedges leads from the Road through a well-trimmed acre of yard dotted with pecan trees to the front porch of the manor house. Oil lamps light the path every twenty feet or so. The Branloth manor is a dash of old world luxury in the rustic fabric of Berador. The front of the house sports a wrap-around porch decorated with a handful of marble and stone statuettes, several potted plants of various sorts and a finely appointed set of outdoor chairs from which one could sit peacefully and bask in the serenity of the gorgeous landscape. As you move up the steps the front door opens and a tiefling dressed in the same livery as the front gate guards bids you welcome. He shows you in to a sitting room, where you find finger foods and fine wine laid out for you. "Please, make yourselves comfortable and feel free to have a bit of the refreshments. Dinner will be served within the hour, and your host will arrive shortly."

The adventurers take to the refreshments and await their host.

The door opens and a tall, elegant tiefling woman enters. Her blue-black hair is swept back and knotted tightly in a ponytail behind her head accentuating her long, angular facial features. Her near black eyes blaze with a bit of deep red or orange when they catch the light just right as if smoldering embers hide behind them. She wears a stylish purple robe and soft velvet slippers that whisper as they brush the floor. "Thank you ever so much for coming, my friends. I trust the food and drink pleases you?"

Dinner is served. A whole roasted pig with a full arrangement of vegetables, fruits, drinks of all sorts, salads and bread pours from the kitchens. It is an exceptionally fine meal and Lady Caer makes for a fine hostess. She spends the meal in small talk, discussing minor items of interest and carefully splitting her time evenly among her guests. She knows all of them and seems to know a little about their doings.

When eveyone has had their fill the servants take the remains of dinner and serve fine after dinner cordials, a delicate pie with a hint of lemon and coffee.

"Well, that was most pleasant, but now to business." Lady Caer looks over each of you in turn, measuring and weighing your worth. "I have it on good information that the sage Vardigas has sought you out to aid him in a quest." She pauses expectantly, "I trust that he told you there may be other interested parties?"

Somewhat taken aback by the tiefling's directness, the heroes are momentarily stunned. They then "get to business" as she says.

Lady Caer hints that the Black Tablet may serve a greater purpose than that which Vardigas understands. She wants it for herself and will indeed use it to lay a ward of protection on the village. Her manner, while polite and kindly, somehow puts the heroes off. They do not trust her and feel that she has some ulterior motive. They discuss the matter at some length, and she further reveals that she wants also Vardigas's book, the Tome of Evronkeep. She claims it is an ancient work from the early days of the tiefling empire.

Even though Lady Caer sweetens the pot the heroes have no interest in working for her. The offer of gold and a potion of healing is not enough to overcome their suspicion that she is up to something. They point out that if she and Vardigas both have the same goal of protecting the village, would it not be better if they worked together. Lady Caer is dismissive of the idea and of Vardigas. She has no confidence that the tottering old fool can handle the magic in the Tablet.

The heroes take their leave, agreeing to meet with Lady Caer and Vardigas together to discuss the matter and only then will they take action.

To be continued . . .

Ford: Town Guide and Recent History

The current year is 292 of the New Age. This date tracks from the Purge and the fall of the Oshland Empire. The events of the preview adventure, the Keep on the Shadowfell, happened seventy-five years ago. In that time a powerful evil force rose in the lands around the old keep and the town of Ford. King Mark Winland II sent a force to deal with the undead forces of Orcus, but he was unable to establish his hold on the lands. The people of Ford, grateful for deliverance from their enemies, had no desire to submit to a new king. Rather than force a fight among civilized people the king in Roth withdrew his troops from the region.

Over the years Ford has withdrawn from the world. What little trade that followed the old road through the town has turned to a minor trickle. Once each season or so an intrepid halfling band may make its way up the river from Berador to Ford, but as there is little to gain in trade with the backward town, these trips have become more scouting expiditions that actual merchanting.

Rumors claim that a cult of Orcus maintains a presence in the area, and that this cult works to isolate Ford from the rest of the world. While there is no hard evidence to support this belief, it persists among many people. It is a fact that some travelers venturing to Ford never return, and that inquiries yield little or no information about the missing people.

Ford

Population: 1,200; mostly human farmers around the outskirts of the town.

Government: Lord Paedrig II, an ancient human who has ruled the town and its environs for over fifty years since his father's death. Lord Paedrig keeps to himself and has little actual control over the events around town. As the place has sunk into a tiny farming community with little contact with other towns and villages his "rule" is not strictly necessary.

Defense: Ford sits atop a hill rising out of the forest and farmland in the area and has a tall stone wall circling the town proper. A tiny contingent of twenty men-at-arms serve as wall guards, police and patrol. They report directly to Lord Paedrig.

Inns/Taverns: Wrafton's Inn is the only public ale house and rooms for rent in the town. The place has been handed down for generations in the Wrafton family. It is a decrepit hole in the wall tavern with a dozen cramped rooms for rent to the rare traveler in town.

Trade: The people of Ford are mostly self-sufficient. What little surplus food they produce is stored in community grainaries. On rare occassions Lord Paedrig will draw some of the surplus for trade with the few merchants that make their way to Ford. He will purchase needed items and occassionally some luxury items for distribution to the people.

Supplies: Supplies are hard to come by in Ford. The handful of craftsmen are kept busy supplying the farmers and Lord Paedrig's guards. Some minor items can be found for trade, but weapons, armor and such are absolutely unavailable. Horses might be purchased from a farmer, but the cost would be extreme.

Temples: A single temple dedicated to Bahamut stands in the center of town. The townsfolk will whisper prayers to other gods in the temple on occassion, but the only organized services are led by an acolyte of Bahamut.

Session Report: Keep on the Shadowfell - Chapter Four

WARNING: spoilers for Keep on the Shadowfell abound in this post. Stop reading now if you plan to play this module.

Having cleared the second level of the dungeons under the ruins of Shadowfell Keep the heroes pressed onward. Delving deeper into the passages below they found a room with curious statues: a massive stone man wearing plate armor and wielding a greatsword, two dragons and four cherubs decorated an otherwise empty room. Venturing in they quickly triggered the traps! The great swordsman statue swung its weapon in a massive arc and knocked Berro to the ground. The rest of the party more cautiously charted a path around the statue and pelted it from range. A final shot from Moob dashed the statue into rubble on the floor.

In the deep south of the room Kahlashtar triggered the next trap in wide alcove cornered by the four cherub statues. A wall of force sprung up blocking him into the alcove as the cherubs began to pour water into the place. Once it reached about five feet deep it began to swirl in a great counterclockwise motion slamming the paladin into the statues. As this happened Moob used mage hand and great deal of direction from Rik to disable two of the statues. Kahlashtar managed to get a grip on one of the statues and topple it to the floor. The wall of force vanished and the water rushed out into the larger room, pushing the heroes across the way. Berro, again the target of a trap, fell too close to one of the dragon statues which blasted him with a wave for force and knocked him across the room.

The heroes licked their wounds and moved onward. In the next chamber they encounterd a horde of undead. Moob's blasts of fire, massive strikes from Kahlashtar, cleaving strikes from Berro and a well timed prayer on the part of Stadir felled the evil creatures, but not before the small clay construct that lurked in the place made a mad dash for a still deeper level.

Thinking it unwise to wander into the lower level with an enemy sentry ahead of them, the heroes checked one last passage on the second level that they had thus far avoided. It was nearly their undoing. A large gelatinous cube swept up more than half of the party and nearly destroyed them, but Kahlashtar's sword, Rik's dagger and a mighty blast of fire from Moob destroyed the thing. In the meantime, two creeping zombies ambushed Stadir. He managed to turn them and the heroes pursued and laid them low. Collecting their breath the heroes decided to call it a day and return on the morrow. They made the trek back to Ford uneventfully.

In Ford they learned from Lord Paedrig that the dead were walking in the nearby graveyard. A quick sweep of the place cleared it of the weak zombies and netted a bonus: they killed the elf ranger, Ninaran, who appears to have been a spy for a leader of the cult worshiping Orcus. The leader, Kalarel, was at work on some ritual beneath the ruins of Shadowfell Keep. The heroes determined to put a stop to his evil once and for all.

Setting out the next day they quickly entered the keep and made their way to the lower levels. Beneath the rotting room of undead they had dispatched the day before they found a temple with great streams of blood and a mass of enemies. The adventurers laid into the priest and his underlings with abandon. There was a mighty struggle for a bit as the evil priest landed wicked blows of necrotic energy and his minions fought with an unimagined bloodlust, but the heroes won the day . . . or did they? As the evil priest fell the sole remaining enemy, a creature of shadow, vanished from their midst with a cry, "I must warn the master!."

Having mistaken the underpriest for the true leader, the heroes bravely pressed onward. In the center of the temple was a pit into which streams of blood flowed. Chains slick with gore descended into the depths below. The heroes plunged downwards, some literally, who slipped on the chains and fell into a deep pool of blood.

The priest of Orcus, Kalarel, and his underlings launched an immediate attack. Two skeletal warriors and the priest laid Khalashtar low while a dark wight immobilized Mizz. The heroes moved to Khalashtar's aid, got him on his feet and began the counter attack. Things seemed to be going quite well. The evil priest, bloodied and fleeing, made his way towards the dark portal in the north of the room. Stadir called on the power of his diety to turn the skeletons away while the warriors knocked Karlarel to the ground a surrounded him. That was when things turned.

The dark wight, no longer content with pelting the heroes from a distance raced across the room with unholy speed and revealed its horrid visage. Terrified of this evil being the heroes dropped their guard and fled away from it. That was the chance that Kalarel needed. Leaping to his feet he raced to the unholy circle in front of the portal to the Shadowfell where his defenses were stronger and the unholy energy infused him and his followers with power. The skeletal warriors, recovered from the power unleashed by Stadir pressed foward. The heroes made their way to the unholy circle of power.

Again the dark wight faced the heroes and its twisted, demonic heritage struck them with terror. They raced away . . . towards the dark portal. A great groping hand lashed out and seized Kahlashtar, pulling him into the void. The skeletons, the wight and the priest then concentrated their efforts on single enemies until each fell or was forced through the portal to feed the hungry beast that waited beyond.

Finally, only Moob and Stadir standing, they turned to flee. The skeletal warriors flanked Stadir and cut him down in the pool of blood. Moob managed to make it to the chains and begin his ascent, but a final bolt of dark energy from the evil priest struck him down and he fell to his doom.

The heroes failed to stop the dark priest of Orcus in his unholy rite. What evil will he unleash on the world? What will become of Ford and the surrounding area? The Oshland Empire has long since crumbled, and no army awaits the undead that will surely flow from the Shadowfell this time. Who will avenge the fallen heroes and right these wrongs? Who will defend the people?

Who indeed . . .

Session Report: Keep on the Shadowfell - Chapter Three

WARNING: spoilers for Keep on the Shadowfell abound in this post. Stop reading now if you plan to play this module.

Having defeated the goblins in the upper level under the ruins of Shadowfell Keep the heroes set off to find what's going on farther underground. They freed a goblin prisoner who told them to watch out for undead and a human who was running things as well as hobgoblin soldiers.

Heading for the lower levels the party met with a pack of zombies. Initially things went very well, but when another group of zombies showed up from behind the wizard things looked grim. Stadir's ability to turn undead saved the day.

They then ventured further south into a crypt. The crypt held numerous sarcophogi with symbols of Bahamut on them. As they made their way down the hall the coffins opened up and skeletons sprang forth. The skeletons fell quickly to the heroes, but more continued to pour out of the sarcophogi. After two such waves of skeletons, Kahlashtar moved to an altar of Bahamut and offered a prayer. No more skeletons attacked after that.

Venturing deeper into the tomb they found a single coffin resting on a raised dais. Inspecting the place Moob discovered that it was the resting place of Sir Keegan, the last commander of the keep. As the heroes turned to leave the place the coffin burst open and Sir Keegan demanded to know their business here! After some tense moments, the heroes managed to convince the skeletal warrior that their mission here matched Sir Keegan's goals. They will work to stop the cult of Orcus who has invaded the keep. Sir Keegan gives to Khalashtar his magical sword to aid him in his battles against evil.

North of where they met the zombies, the heroes find a maze with numerous fear ward traps. After triggering several of them, they manage to find a way through the place. Rik finds a secret door in one corner of the maze behind which they find an armory guarded by zombies. A fierce battle ends with the zombies lying in a heap and the heroes looking over the contents of the armory. A magical voice speaks to them and asks a riddle. Without a moment's hesitation Stadir answers the riddle correctly and the heroes receive a magical suit of scale armor as reward.

A long flight of steps downward takes the heroes into the hobgoblin domains. They fight a long and fierce battle against a large band of hobgoblins and their spider pet. It was a tough battle, but the heroes prevail. They decide to take a rest from battles and return to the hidden armory room where they rest overnight.

Venturing back into the hobgoblin domain they find the entry room where they fought the first hobgoblins fortified. A mass of hobgoblins hides behind tables and other gear and pelts them with arrows as they make their way down. The heroes win another hard fought victory.

Continuing onward they make their way to the hobgoblin warchief's chambers. Their they fight the warchief and his minions. The fight goes poorly for Mizz who the warchief seems to take a particular disliking to, but otherwise things work out well. Afterwards the heroes loot the place and recover a mass of gold and a magical short sword.

Well ready for more adventuring the heroes prepare to make their way past the hobgoblin domain and to whatever horrors wait below near the Shadowrift . . .

XP Earned: eh, I don't remember; you're all 3rd level
Loot: a goodly amount of gold and Sir Keegan's +1 longsword called Aecris, a +1 vicious short sword and a suit of +1 blackiron scale armor.

Wonders of the World

The civilized peoples of Greyshad have founded great empires and kingdoms over the centuries. Some of these empires rose to magnificent heights of power that few today can imagine. In those times of wonder and greatness people constructed marvels that stand today long after the empires that gave them birth have fallen to ruin.

The Black Temple of Bael Turath

In ancient times the humans of the continent-spanning empire called Bael Turath sought alliances with dark powers to further their own conquest of the World. They made dark pacts with rebellious devils who would use them to bring down their lord, Asmodeus. From the dark rituals and unholy unions was born the tiefling race.

The tieflings constructed The Black Temple, a twisted and horrifying edifice, on the site where they performed their original rites. The fall of Bael Turath after the war with the dragonborn nation of Arkhosia wrought destruction throughout the tiefling empire. Rumors persist that the Black Temple still stands in the desolation of the fallen capital, and that within its walls great secrets and powerful magic await those hardy enough to brave the dangers of the temple.

Draconis

The dragonborn once held a great empire called Arkhosia. Arkhosia fell to ruin after its long war with the tiefling empire, Bael Turath. While most of the works of the dragonborn are long lost, ancient myths speak of the great momument called Draconis.

Draconis is a massive, lifelike statue of a dragon standing over 300 feet tall in the heart of the devastated capital of Arkhosia. Some claim that the statue is no statue at all, but is actually a colossal dragon of untold age who has slept for centuries. Further stories, whispered by some of the more wistful of dragonborn, claim that this great dragon will awaken some day and that at that time it will lead the dragonborn to their rightful place of dominion over the World.

The Great Pyramid of Thunas Shulael in Thalrabia

The desert nomads of Thalrabia once revered god-kings who walked among them. The first and greatest of the god-kings was Thunas Shulael who commanded his people to construct a great pryamid to hold his earthly remains when he ascended to the heavens. The slaves and people of Thalrabia labored for decades to complete the 500 foot tall structure and buried Thunas Shulael's deep within its most secret chambers after his death.

For over a century the god-kings continued to rule the people of Thalrabia and as each ascended to the heavens the people interred them with past god-kings. While the Thalrabian Empire has long collapsed, and the god-kings have left the people, this monument to their greatness stands to this day as the largest single construction in the World. Untold treasures and secrets are buried deep within its chambers. Untold numbers of would-be grave robbers have entered it and not lived to tell of the wonders or horrors they saw.

Rhakorarl

In ancient days, after Moradin freed the dwarfs from the giants who enslaved them, the dwarfs gathered in a great kingdom somewhere in the White Mist Mountains. For several hundred years they lived, worshipped and traded from their orignal city of Rhakorarl.

Over the centuries the city grew to enormous size. Its massive gates, built into the side of the mountain, are said to stand over 30 feet tall and are enchanted to prevent enemies from entering. The streets and highways of Rhakorarl burrow miles deep into the mountain where once over 30,000 dwarfs and their fellows lived.

The city is lost now. Giants, seeking vengeance on the dwarfs of old, attacked with aid from some force of the Underdark. The dwarfs fled the city when the battle was lost. They have since spent their lives, for generations, wandering the world. The dwarfs establish cities and kingdoms from time to time, and some of those kingdoms may stand for a few hundred years, but they are all pale imitations of Rhakorarl which the dwarfs hope to find and restore one day.

The Silver Tower of High Sorcery in Kray City

At the height of the Oshland Empire the greatest wizards of the world called the capital of the empire, Kray City, home. Here they built a tower which served as their college and fortress. For over two centuries The Silver Tower of High Sorcery stood as a beacon of learning and high magic in the world.

The Great Slaughter of Kray City and the Purge ended the Tower's dominance of magic. While the Tower still stands as a shining finger pointing at the sky amidst the wreckage of Kray City, none who seek it can reach it. The crater and black pit at the heart of the city spews forth horrors from unknown realms that destroy any who approach.

The Water Gardens of Greymont

The savage barabarians of the Ice Forests of Grelmire have built a single, peculiar work of magnificent art that stands in stark juxtaposition to their warlike ways. Greymont is the closest thing to a city in the Ice Forests. It is a sacred and holy place of peace among the barbarians. Situated in its center are the Water Gardens of Greymont.

Ice sculptures, fountains and ever-blooming winter roses cover over an acre of land in an awe-inspiring arrangement. Paths crisscross the garden where the people of Grelmire may wander in the beauty of their Gardens. Most holy among these savage people are the druids called Keepers of the Garden who tend to the site and ensure its perpetual peace and beauty never fades.

The World Tree of the Silverine

In the early years, before the elves, eladrin and drow were sundered into distinct races, they reached through the veil the divides the Feywild from the World and planted the World Tree. They tended the sapling as it grew for over 2,000 years into the wonder that it is today. The World Tree stands some 1,500 feet tall and spreads its boughs over several square miles of land.

After the races split away, the elves of the Silverine Forest continued to tend to and revere the World Tree. Then the Terror came which drove all elves from the city of Elderon where the Tree stands. The elves claim the Tree must still live else all elves over the World would have died of sorrow. The Terror that haunts the Silverine also guards the Tree and none have seen it for over a thousand years.

The Greywood Wardens

The Greywood Wardens have protected the civilized people around Berador and the surrounding villages for generations. Their origin, forgotten by most in the mists of history, lies in the dark days shortly before the Purge.

The Oshland Empire, near the height of its power, had recently ended one of its endless wars with Palacia. During the war the king of Oshland had sent troops and a governor to Berador to establish his hold there and to enlist more soldiers for the war. The people of the area refused to serve in the army and fought against conscription. Having settled his business with Palacia, the king turned a vengeful eyes towards Berador and the villages in the area.

Soldiers of the Oshland Empire arrived en masse and slaughtered any who did not flee before them. A human woodsman and hunter, Tonrad Heniz, who knew the forests of the Greywood well, led many survivors and refugees into the forests. There he rounded up the few men willing and able to fight and spent many months fighting a guerrilla war against the Oshlander soldiers.

The Great Slaughter of Kray City and the Purge ended the Oshlander's conquest in the region. The Oshland Empire collapsed into ruin, and the soldiers, with no orders from the capital, turned to brigandage and rapine. Leaderless and orderless the soldiers fell before the combined wrath of the newly formed Greywood Wardens and the villagers who wanted their lands back.

Later the Greywood Wardens provided protection to travelers and farmers in the area and over the years they have become the de facto police force in the area. They patrol the roads from far south and west near North Roth up to Dalton's Camp in the north east. They follow the narrow tracks along the Blue Wash from Ford in the north and down to Treefall in the south. The vast majority of people in the area recognize a debt that can never be paid, and it's a rare household that cannot find a bed and warm meal for a Warden who stops by for the night.

Session Report: Keep on the Shadowfell - Chapter Two

WARNING: spoilers for Keep on the Shadowfell abound in this post. Stop reading now if you plan to play this module.

Having rescued Douven Staul from ruffians, the heroes return to Ford for a night of rest. The next morning they set out for the keep. They head east down the old dwarf trade highway. The road, little used in the last many years, is overgrown in places and the trees tower over it menacingly. Some miles and a couple of hours east of Ford they come to a narrow track the branches off of the main road to the south. According to their information this is where they will find the keep.

As they head down the track the woodland sounds fade and the area becomes deathly silent. They come to a clearing where lies the ruins of the old keep. In the clearing bare earth lies exposed to the sun. Not a single blade of grass grows in the area, and the fallen walls and towers of the keep look like the playthings of giants tossed aside. Someone or something has cleared a narrow trail through the wreckage to a hole in the ground in the center of the rubble. A set of stairs heads into the darkness below.

History

Moob recalls stories of old about the keep. Centuries ago a temple of great evil stood at this very spot. The temple guarded a rift to the Shadowfell. A cult dedicated to the Demon prince Orcus performed dark rituals to open the rift into a part of the Shadowfell controlled by Orcus. Hordes of fell undead poured forth from the rift and ravaged the land. For months the foul creatures slaughtered without mercy.

Eventually the king of the Oshland Empire sent a legion east to deal with the undead menace and to destroy the cult. After hard fought battles and many lives lost the men of Oshland prevailed. They drove the cultists underground and sealed the Rift. They built a mighty fortress, the Keep on the Shadowfell, over the site to guard it and prevent others from ever opening the Rift.

Some time later, still over two hundred years ago, the Oshland Empire collapsed during the Purge. No one knows exactly what happened, but the Keep on the Shadowfell was abandoned. Over time the place fell into ruin.

Into Darkness

From signs of footprints in the area the heroes discover that some creatures have entered the chambers underneath the old keep. What foul creatures wait beneath the earth, and what evil plans do these creatures have?

The party makes its way down into the ground. Rik sneaks ahead and scouts out the entry chamber. He comes on a large room with great pillars holding up the ceiling. On the far side of the room a lone goblin stands alert. Rik stealthily makes his way over to the goblin and plunges his dagger into the creature's back. The fight is on!

Other goblins approach from the south and east as the heroes charge in to Rik's side. Berro falls into a hidden pit in the center of the guard room and is set upon by a swarm of rats. Stadir quickly pulls Berro out of the pit and the heroes fight a running battle down the southern and eastern hallways. They make quick work of the goblins except one who escapes down a passage to the east.

The Excavation Site

After a quick rest the heroes follow after the fleeing goblin. Down some stairs and farther east they find him and some more of his comrades with guard drakes in a huge chamber that has been dug up.

A dramatic fight occurs as the heroes plough into the enemies. Things look grim as the pair of guard drakes corner Berro and bring him down. A bit of healing and luck gets him back on his feet. Mizz, Rik, and Kahlashtar leap off of the platform at the entry to the room and engage the goblins on the ground. Moob blasts a lot of them with fire. Within a minute or so the goblins and their pets are down.

A quick search of the place uncovers a bit of gold and silver coins, some mining tools and a dirt-encrusted +1 Symbol of Battle that is holy to Bahamut. Stadir takes the holy symbol to aid him in his battle prayers.

Maze of Caves

Heading back towards the entrance, the adventurers make a quick detour to the south, down some stairs and into some roughly hewn caverns. There they encounter a large pack of giant rats and a ghastly ochre jelly. The heroes down the rats with relative ease, but the oozing jelly nearly undoes them. It breaks off into two separate pieces and things look pretty bad. Some well-timed attacks and a masterful Lead the Attack by Mizz saves the day.

The heroes poke around for a bit, but abandon the area, and the keep entirely, after recovering from their wounds. They return to Ford to rest for the night and consider their plans.

The Goblin Chieftain

The next day they return to the keep. As they move into the entrance a goblin guard spies them and runs off to the west. Several of the heroes attack, but only Mizz can land a telling blow. The goblin escapes . . . but to where and to what end?

The heroes pursue can come to a long chamber with three doors going north, east and west. The quickly search what appears to be a trash heap to the west and then head east.

Rik attempts to sneak down the passage east, but he stumbles and alerts the goblin guards ahead. One of them calls out for aid and a fierce fight begins as nearly a dozen goblins, including their chief, Balgron the Fat, spill into the room.

Coordinated action and working together the heroes win the day, but not before Balgron and one of his lackeys runs off farther to the east and disappear. A search of the area turns up a locked chest which Rik manages to open. They recover several hundred gold coins and a +1 Magic Wand which Moob claims.

The Torture Chamber

A search of the chieftain's lair reveals a secret door that leads into a passage south. It makes a great loop back to the guard room. The heroes return to the room with three doors and make their way into a chamber of horrors. Evil torture devices, a massive fire pit and goblins fill the room.

Balgron, the goblin chief, several of his followers, and a big hobgoblin brute await them. Khalashtar and Berro guard the door as the rest of the heroes take shots at the goblins from behind them. Things begin to look pretty bad for the adventurers when Khalashtar falls to wounds from Balgron and the hobgoblin. A bit of healing and some mighty blows win the day. The goblins, including the great chief are slain.

The heroes search the place and discover a bit of gold and magical +1 Bloodcut Hide Armor on the hobgoblin. Mizz takes the armor and they split the gold.

Heading west the heroes find three cells. In one of the cells they find a goblin named Splug. He thanks them for saving him and shows them all about the goblin lair, which the heroes have already seen. He is most impressed with their skills and is gratious for them rescuing him. He tells them of the rats and the ooze in the maze and is further impressed when they tell him they killed the ooze.

Splug also tells the heroes of a man with dark hair, pale skin and pale eyes who came to Balgron and brought him here. The adventurers surmise that this man is a servant of some evil power, most probably Orcus. Splug says the goblins never go deeper into the caverns, but he warns them of undead and hobgoblins who protect and serve the human.

Session ends. We'll resume here next week as the heroes venture deeper into the caverns beneath the Keep on the Shadowfell.

XP Earned: 650 (level up!)
Loot: 175 gold each; +1 Symbol of Battle, +1 Magic Wand, +2 Bloodcut Hide Armor, Potion of Healing.

Berador

Berador, a small farming and fishing village, lies at the intersection of the Blue Wash River running north to south and the Old Trade Road running east-west. Inside the wooden palisade surrounding the village proper adventurers can find several shops and craftsmen. Farmsteads and ranches dot the countryside around Berador for several miles in all directions.

Lake Callie, a small, but deep lake, forms in a valley just outside of town to the south, and the Blue Wash tumbles out of it over falls heading south to the River Elba and the town of Port Eben. Berador acts as a center of trade for the many small towns and villages within about one hundred miles as it sits at a convenient crossroads.

Berador produces mainly farm goods including roots, vegetables and some rare fruits as well as cattle and swine. Some locals also work in timber trade from the Greywood nearby.

Berador

Population: 300; another 1200 or so live in the surrounding farmlands and forests. The majority of the inhabitants are human and halfling, with a substantial number of dwarfs in town. Three elf enclaves have forest holds around the village and an eladrin village nestles deep in the Greywood. A smattering of tielfing and dragonborn call the area home.

Government: Berador has no government, per se. Several of the more respected locals make decisions for their own people, and often they will meet en masse to work out any problems that the village must face as one.

Some of the village elders/leaders include: Amil Greyski, Bull Emmett, Caer Branloth, Fenesin Lumiya, Reginald Dampero, Rodrik Vesash, Tamil Rivers, Ulfgar Fireaxe.

Defense: A dragonborn warrior by the name of Jadestar Kaldoran acts as an unoffical sheriff. The Greywood Wardens, who number around five dozen, patrol the Road in both directions for about 100 miles. The elf band called the Foresters keeps watch around the elf holds.

Inns/Taverns: The Maple House, owned and operated by Tamil Rivers, is the only public house in the village. It has a handful of rooms for rent and a large common are for local gatherings.

Trade: This farming community produces an excess of roots, vegetables and some fruits. Fish and timber are also significant exports from Berador. Numerous Traveling Carnivals pass through town each year providing exotic and luxury goods in exchange for farm goods and the crafted goods of the locals

Supplies: The Fireaxe clan of dwarfs provide many locally crafted goods for trade and often have exotic fair on hand as well. The halfling river traders bring in all types of things from far and wide. The local craftsmen have goods for trade as well.

Temples: Temple of the Sun (Pelor); the only temple in town is dedicated to Pelor and the local priest serves the same. The Temple of the Sun is open to all goodly people to worship and celebrate as they see fit.

Hit Points, Healing Surges and Second Wind

So, one of the players expressed some concern/frustration with the second wind ability last night. I think part of the confusion comes from what exactly hit points, healing surges and the second wind ability represent.

Hit points indicate a character's hardiness, health and moxie. When a character loses hit points the character has not necessarily taken any wounds. Look at lost hit points as fatigue, minor wounds, missed footing, and other impediments to combat performance.

When a character loses half of his/her hit points s/he becomes bloodied and has taken some significant wound or suffered a major injury. At this point losing more hit points indicates loss of blood from previous wounds, more fatigue and a general deterioration of abilities.

At zero hit points a character is unconscious and dying. The final attack that put the character below one hit point indicates some serious injury like a major concussion, a bloody wound or other damage that will result in death if no one tends to the character.

Healing surges replenish hit points. Typically a healing surge will replenish 1/4 of the character's total hit points. This number may be modified by various powers. A healing surge delivered by a cleric's or paladin's healing powers indicates divine intervention to sew up wounds, restore confidence and/or provide a burst of energy. A warlord's Inspiring Word power replenishes hit points as the warlord's commands and encouragement restores the target's confidence or grants him new found reserves of strength or stamina.

The second wind ability allows any character to restore 1/4 of his/her own hit points. Think of the second wind ability as the character taking a deep breath and reassessing the situation. You can also imagine your character as a hero in a movie: when the hero takes a punishing kick to the face he topples to the ground and the action pauses. Suddenly the hero rises to fight again, his stamina and grit renewed as he remembers what he is fighting for or against. A hero can only reach into this inner reserve of strength once during a single encounter.

The hit point number on a character sheet represents the static amount of abuse that a character can take in a short period of time before being in mortal danger. You can also think of hit points as a measure of plot immunity. That is, your character has a certain level of ability to avoid injury and death because s/he is the star of the movie. So until hit points are depleted s/he is immune to real danger from the bad guys. It takes a series of attacks from multiple enemies to put the hero in a really bad situation.

Healing surges represent the ability of a character to ignore minor wounds, recover from fatigue and otherwise restore his/her reserves of strength and stamina to fight on against all odds. Even this power has limits, which is represented by the total number of healing surges available to the character per day.

In a given encounter a character's hit points will be depleted and replenished as s/he suffers from the attacks of his/her enemies and recovers with the aid of his/her comrades or the use of his/her own second wind ability. Over a full day of adventuring the number of times a character can withstand assaults by enemies is regulated by the total number of healing surges s/he has available.

Hit points are an encounter resource. Healing surges are a daily resource. The second wind ability is the character's personal reserve of stamina that can be used once per encounter to persevere against danger.

Session Report: Keep on the Shadowfell - Chapter One

WARNING: spoilers for Keep on the Shadowfell abound in this post. Stop reading now if you plan to play this module.

King Mark Winland II, interested in expanding the influence of his kingdom, hired a hardy band of adventurers to seek out information in and around the village of Ford many leagues to the north. He had previously sent an envoy, Douven Staul, to see what he could learn. Douven should have returned long ago. Now brave heroes make their way to Ford to learn of Douven's fate and to continue his mission.

The Heroes

The heroes include:

• Stadir: half-elf cleric of Bahamut (Jon)
• Rik: halfling rogue (Jeff)
• Mizz: tiefling warlord (Zach)
• Moob: human wizard (Michael)
• Kahlashtar: dragonborn paladin (Matt)
• Berro: dwarf fighter (Rozanne)

On the Road: Kobold Brigands

The party has been on the road for weeks traveling to the village of Ford. They have a general idea of its location and expect to reach it late in the afternoon. About mid-afternoon Rik calls a halt to the band as he spots some rusty-skinned lizard-like creatures skulking about in the rocks and trees near the road. Seeing that their ambush has been foiled the kobolds leap into action.

The dragonmen march forward toward their foes. Two slingers hang back a bit as the warriors charge forward. Moob fires off a spell and fells one of the weaker warriors and Kahlashtar charges forward. A bloody mess ensues. The kobolds hammer at the dragonborn as his comrades pick their way forward to his aid. Berro and Mizz crash into the kobolds as Rik manuevers into an advantageous position.

The mass of kobolds surrounding the paladin bring him down, but a prayer to Bahumut from Stadir and an encouraging word from Mizz get him back on his feet. A bloody minute later and kobold corpses litter the roadside.

The heroes take a brief break to tend to wounds, loot the bodies of their fallen enemies and then continue their journey.

Ford: Questions Answered

The heroes arrive at the tiny walled village near dusk. Dozens of farmhouses dot the country side near Ford. The town proper sits on a prominent hill overlooking the road running east and west and a river that flows north to south. A spur off the road at the bridge leads up the hill to the open gates of the village where two guards greet the travelers amiably and advise them to seek Wrafton's Inn where they can find food, shelter and information.

At Wrafton's Inn the heroes quickly arrange a meal and bed for the night and set to finding what they can about Douven. The innkeeper, Salvana Wrafton, a heavyset middle-aged woman, tells them that Douven stayed in her inn, but just up and disappeared a few weeks ago. She hasn't seen or heard from him since. She's unsure of his interests, but seems to remember he spent a lot of time talking to Eilian. She also tells them that Valthrun might be able to help them out as well.

A handful of locals lounge about in the common room of the inn, taking in a bit of conversation, games of chance and a lot of ale. The heroes notice an elf woman watching them while trying to hide the fact. Rik and Stadir wander over to talk to her. She has no interest in speaking to them, and leaves abruptly when Rik tries to buy her a drink.

Later in the evening as more locals trickle in to the place, Salvana points out Eilian to the party. Eilian is a strange bird indeed. He speaks in sharp, staccato phrases and seems lost in his thoughts and those of others. His mind quickly wanders from topic to topic and his mouth quickly follows. He is most excited when he learns that the heroes seek Douven. "You knew Douven?" he exclaims. "Knew?" responds Stadir. "Well, know . . . I guess. You know Douven?"

After a great deal of wandering about in the strange world that is Eilian's thought process the heroes make an appointment to meet with him in the morning; but not too early! He is fascinated by Kahlashtar's prayer book and begs to take it with him to read, agreeing to return it on the morrow.

The heroes call it a night.

In the morning Moob, Berro and Rik make a run of the town and check things out. They discover there is not much to see. A stable, smithy, general store, some modest houses, a large tenement and a church take up about three fourths of the walled part of the village. An inner wall separates the rest of the village from Lord Paidrig's manor house, the guard barracks and warehouse.

The heroes speak briefly with Valthrun. Valthrun calls himself a political advisor to Lord Paidrig, the local ruler. Valthrun suggests that he can arrange a meeting with the lord, and the party agrees. Valthrun knows of Douven as well and tells much the same story as the innkeep.

After first waking Eilian around 11:00 AM the heroes finally meet with him around noon. He invites them to his modest home. They learn that he has a bit of a library of some thirty books and that he spends most of his time reading and advising Lord Paidrig on history, astrology, astronomy and other subjects. He stayed up the entire evening before reading Kahlashtar's prayer book and bores the party to tears recounting a parable from the book.

The adventurers finally manage to get some information of use out of Eilian. He tells them of a dragon burial ground nearby that Douven went to investigate several weeks ago. He draws them a map detailing the location of both the burial ground and the ruined keep which he claims is a pile of rubble and likely haunted.

Later in the evening the party makes a meeting with Lord Paidrig. This stately middle-aged fellow invites them to his manor where they are treated to fine drink and after dinner snacks. He seems interested in their exact relationship with Douven Staul and King Mark Winland II. When it becomes apparent that they do not have the power to negotiate on behalf of the king he seems to lose interest and redirects the conversation to helping them to find Douven.

He also offers to pay them to rid the village of the kobold menace. It seems the kobold activity in the region has picked up in recent months, and the ambushers have started to impact the well-being of the village. Merchants have gone missing and one of the scheduled Traveling Carnivals has not arrived as expected. If the heroes will track the kobolds to their lair and dispatch them he will pay them 50 gold crowns from the old Oshland Empire.

Kobold Ambush

The party agrees to take the job and will seek out Douven. It seems likely that he had a run in with the kobolds since both the burial ground and most of the kobold activity mostly are to the west. Using the map given by Eilian they set out west. On the road another band of kobolds attacks them. A fierce battle ensues, but the heroes manage the day with little trouble. Two of the kobolds flee the battle.

In looting the bodies they find an obsidian dragon necklace. Moob looks it over and discovers a crude ram-headed skull etched on the bottom of it. He recognizes this as the symbol of Orcus, the demon prince of the undead. The thought of kobolds worshiping Orcus unsettles them and they are even more determined now to wipe out the potential threat.

Scoping out the Lair

Moob manages to track the fleeing kobolds into the woods. An hour or so later they find themselves at a small clearing where a stream tumbles over a steep cliff face in the forest. Over a dozen kobolds mill about near the waterfall, obviously alert for trouble. After looking over the situation for a bit they decide to look for the dragon burial ground instead of facing this large band of kobolds. They will come back when better rested.

Burial Site

Using Eilian's map the party makes its way to the burial site. Once there Rik sneaks ahead for a look. He sees several men digging about in the place, a halfling skulking about nearby and another creature that he doesn't immediately recognize. The slender, gray-skinned creature is a gnome, as Stadir tells everyone once he sees it.

The heroes make their way down into the pit that is the burial site and the gnome calls out to them to come look at what he's found. As they gather around him he hefts a large curved bone and tries to slam it into Stadir's gut. Quickly his human diggers move to attack and two dog-like dragon creatures join the fray. The halfling, having vanished from sight repears and lets loose a hail of stones from his sling. Kahlashtar breathes lightning on the assembled enemies. The gnome disappears in a flash of electricity, but reappears a moment later waving a great pick at Khalashtar's back.

Rik and Mizz make short work of the halfling while Berro, Stadir, Moob and Khalashtar take care of the others. The fight is over relatively quickly and the heroes are none the worse for wear.

On checking out the burial site they find not only the gold and silver that the people carried, but a magical +1 Amulet of Health, a wooden crate with a mirror in it, and Douven Staul who is bound, gagged and covered with a blanket nearby.

They release Douven and question him about the goings on here. He tells them that he has had no trouble with kobolds, but that these miscreants attacked him before he ever reached the burial site. He had come out here to see what he could aobut the place. He will return soon to report to King Mark about his findings and asks the heroes to check out the keep in his stead.

Mizz recognizes the scroll work on the mirror and advises everyone that it is an item of value to worhipers of Orcus. It is not magical and is certainly of great value. They decide to take it with them along with the amulet, which Douven identifies as his own, but he gives to them as reward for rescuing him, but not before he takes the picture of his wife from it.

The party makes its way back to town escorting Douven. They now have an idea of where to proceed and maybe a bit of news for Lord Paidrig. Certainly they have uncovered some wealth. Douven agrees to wait in town to travel back to Roth with them unless a merchant caravan comes through that he can ride with.

The heroes decide to rest again for the night at the inn and will get an early start on the morrow.

Rewards

XP Earned: 600 each
Loot: 40 gold each; +1 Amulet of Health which Kahlashtar has.
Items of Interest: mirror with gold trim of undetermined value that Mizz claims has some connection to Orcus; obsidian dragon figure with symbol of Orcus etched on the bottom