The Isle of Nidhogg (Ninth Session: December 20th, 2009)

The party (Garrick, Garrett, Whosis, Ilmak & Brock) wake up near where they made camp in the Mushroom Caves and find that Veszafein the Drow has again departed. Examining the surrounding area they find the corpses of a dozen Sniveblin Deep Gnomes who were apparently fighting the Kruthik who had taken over their Mushroom farm.

They continue down a long dry lava tube sloping downward on their way towards the abandoned city. They arrive at the abandoned city and it appears to have been created by Kobolds, though there's no sign they are still here. Whosis walks into the chamber and shouts "Is anybody here?"

Darkmantles drop from the ceiling. They are squidlike creatures that disguise themselves as stalagmites then drop down onto the heads of their foes, covering their faces and choking them while casting a blinding magical darkness that surrounds them. Brock, Ilmak, and Whosis struggle with the creatures, while Garrett and Garrick stand agap, unable to help them.

After a brief battle the five creatures are slain, but five more abberant creatures resembling large snakes with beaks and tentacles called Grick slither up from cracks in the floor. A longer battle draws the attention of a larger creature, and as the last Grick is destroyed, a rumbling heavy step is felt from beyond the gates of the abandoned city and a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex emerges.

Garrick casts a wall of flame in the way of the T-Rex, which boldly steps into the fire charging towards them. As the T-Rex moves into the fire Garrett casts a magical hold on it to trap it in the flames, burning it further. The rest of the party attacks the creature at range until it expires, but with its dying breath it breaths a gush of fire on some of the party members. This creature was an early ancestor of the kobolds, dragonkind, and lizardfolk.

After the T-Rex is destroyed, Coriatris Wyvernjack, apprentice to the Chairman of the Archmage council appears atop one of the guard towers and offers to reward the party if they give her the Hand of Vecna. She saw Garrett use the hand on the surface and wants to use it to save Ironview. They refuse and she orders her guards drakes and a small column of Infernal Armor magical constructs to attack them.

Garrick casts a web spell on the stairway down from the gate, making it impassable. The guard drakes move around to one side and engage Whosis Kid, while Ilmak takes on the column of armor on the other side of the stairs. Coriatris uses a powerful icestorm to immobilized Whosis, Ilmak, and Garrett and covers a wide area, including the corpse of the T-Rex and the webs in a thick layer of glare ice.

Brock uses a lasso to yank Coriatris off the guard tower, but she has a ring of feather fall and glides swiftly to the floor behind him. She is quickly beaten down and knocked out. The drakes and armor are ground down until only one suit of infernal armor remains battling Ilmak.

A small recon construct from Ironview rushes up behind the Infernal armor and it tries to defend itself but the scout leaps up and knocks off its head. The party greets the construct who spearheads the entrance of a unit of Goliaths and Constructs lead by Gradus Glimmergaunt (a distant relative of Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt, and a well liked though not particularly powerful mage in Ironview). He explains that Coriatris was banished by Walgeon Magesblood the chairman of the archmage council for treason and that she was seeking the Eye of Vecna in the Underdark to try and wield its power to declare herself the leader of Ironview.

Gradus and his forces lead the party to a wall overlooking a great lake at the bottom of the Great Chasm and shows them a hivelike mass of undead crawling up the walls towards Ironview. This is Orcus' army and the great bulk of them will reach the city and break it's defenses in a little more than a week's time. The party gives Coriatris over to Gradus as a prisoner. He thanks them and wishes them well on their quest to liberate Mistmeadow from the red mist that curses the town.

They spend another half a day passing through a wildly twisting set of narrow passages. Eventually the passageway opens up to the shores of the great sunless sea. An inky black body of water extends outwards inside a massive cavern with stalagmites and stalagtites protruding that have diameters bigger than many walled cities and towns. The cavern is faintly illuminated in places by the starlike lights of unknown creatures eyes that hang from the ceiling.

They see a trio of Kua Toa on the shore loading two small rafts. They approach and try to speak to them but none speak the language of the underdark, so they try to pantomime. After an confusing exchange where the Kua Toa think they are bargaining and give them some goods in exchange for those they offered, they finally convey that they wish to arrange transportation on the rafts they are pushing. As the rafts have no oars of sails, the Kua Toa hold them and push them through the water by swimming.

After travelling some distance, they see orbs of light in the distance. The Kua Toa board the raft and sit very still and stoic, watching the lights. One of the orbs begins to approach the rafts and stops just ahead of the party's raft. Whosis Kid speaks a loud greeting to the light. When he does this an invisible field drops and reveals that the glowing orb is suspended on the tendril of a giant angler fish monster with razor fangs and a mouth big enough to swallow the entire raft and party whole in one bite.

Whosis leaps of the raft to one side, either in terror or to lure the beast away, none know. But his action did save the party as the creature immediately dove down after him. Ilmak tried to retrieve Whosis using his magical bracelet of friends, but to no avail, the halfling was lost to them. The Kua Toa waited for the lights to pass and about an hour later began paddling towards the Isle of Nidhogg, a great Slatagmite that protrudes out of the water and has a great city carved into its side.

On the beach the party is surrounded by a large crowd of various reptilian races who all dwell together in the city peacefully. They find a troglodyte who speaks draconic and offers to translate for them. He advises they should bring a suitable gift to pay tribute to the Baron in his court. They enter the court and approach the throne of the Sahauguin Baron with a platinum greataxe they took from the Bear Khan. The Baron is very pleased with his gift and offers them his hospitality.

They learn that thought many of the Sahaguin are rulers of the deep, this particular noble is unaligned with his mostly evil followers and operates this backwater trading outpost to serve his own needs. The ancient temple of Nidhogg for which the Island is named has recently become occupied by surface dwellers, the followers of Nortumal the Black Snake. The Baron asks if the party would be willing to remove them for a reward. The party asks for nothing, but offers to investigate for him. All the baron's parties thus far have not returned or had most of their men slaughtered.

In court they also meet a Dragonborn Warlord named Vicmorn Shieldheart who is living with and studying their civilization. He was sent to observe the followers of Nortumal by Baron Redspawn of SummerSpring, who he serves under in the Imperial Garrison there. Vicmorn is an academic and a warrior and offers to assist the party in their investigation, as he's been meaning to make the trip to the temple, but as of yet has found none willing to join him.

They load a small boat and paddle around the island to the opposite shore where the Temple of Nidhogg lies on the side of a narrow beach. Brock creeps up into the temple where ritual is taking place. Nortumal's medusa queen leads a ceremony around a smoking pit with three snake cultists. All four are chanting and do not see the gnoll enter.

Brock casts a lasso around the medusa's neck and draws her into the smoking pit. She falls in and the snake cultist nearest Brock with a large snake-shaped staff attacks him with a wave of force, knocking him into the smoking pit as well, which turns out to be fairly shallow, but is full of giant snakes along with the medusa. She tries to petrify the gnoll with her gaze but gets one of her serpents instead. Brock becomes insubstantial, turns into a bat, and flies out of the pit.

Garrett is attacked by a green guardian naga that shoots lighting bolts at him and uses waves of force to knock him into another large pit filled with snakes that spit flaming poison. Ilmak engages a black guardian naga that bites him several times, disabling him with venom that induces a dreamlike state.

Garrick and Vicmorn fight the snakes and cultist. The medusa is slain by a crushing blow to the skull by Vicmorn's maul. Just before Brock can kill the snake cultist with the serpent staff she casts a beam of energy at the portal in the far wall and its panels open revealing a darkness with swirling smoke. From the darkness leaps a giant Red Slaad, a being of pure chaos struggling to hold corporeal form. It attacks Brock.

The two cultist fall, then the remaining snakes, and then the nagas until only the slaad remains. They surround the beast and take it down, though Vicmorn and Brock are infected by it's razor talons and become ill after the battle, though they can still fight.

As they catch their breath, Lord Nortumal, the Dark Naga emerges from a side passage. Garrick casts a wall of fire on the stairs which the Naga enters fearlessly, slowly plodding towars them. Garrett uses the hand of Vecna to push the Naga back into the fire each time he tries to emerge from it. The naga appears unphased by the flames, continuing to lure Garrett closer to him with his charming gaze then striking him with his poisoned tail.

Finally their efforts destroy the creature and in its deathknell it releases a powerful wave of psychic energy before crumbling to dust that glows and takes flight, escaping into the misty portal along the far wall that the Slaad entered from. The portal closes and the battle is won.

They find a book bound in Drow skin called the Chronicle of Nidhogg and learn the following:

"When Asmodeus created the bridge to the Abyss he summoned a powerful beast called an Ouroboros. Ouroboros are powerful giant time consuming serpents that roam the outer planes feasting on the remains of dead places and things. In summoning the Ouroboros named Nidhogg, Asmodeus created a portal through space and time that linked the first layer of Baator to Gladomain and Gladomain to the Abyss.

The ritual trapped Nidhogg in place because in order to consume a living world, the Ouroboros must first swallow the world, then recursively consume it's own tail to digest. Asmodeus summoned the beast first in the Seventh World to make a sacrificial offering and bound the beast to serve him. Once it had consumed the Seventh World and was lethargic, he summoned it again to the first level of Baator, where he opened a gate through to Gladomain and offered it the second morsel for dessert, the tiny world of Gladomain.

The bound Ouroboros, was tethered to Baator and stretched it's extradimensional maw around Gladomain. Asmodeus tempted the creature yet again by offering it a gate through Gladomain to the Abyss, to the Demonweb of Lloth to be precise. The creature was unable to resist his offer, but it found that once it consumed the Demonweb, it could not recursively swallow it's own tail to digest Gladomain and the Demonweb because the connected layers of the Abyss were infinite and it could not loop back around.

So the mindless beast was permanently trapped voraciously consuming and linking the worlds together. The plan for the Abyss was to destroy the world tree to make the world of Gladomain unappetizing so that Nidhogg would regurgitate the Abyss (though Gladomain would likely be destroyed in the process). If this happened Asmodeus would perhaps sever his binding ritual to the Ouroboros and banish the creature before it could recursively swallow its tail and digest all of the Baator in one swift motion.

It is also possible that the world of Gladomain could be partially dead and cause the Ouroboros to become ill enough to regurgitate it, then the world ash could be replanted in time to save it, though that would cost many their lives. The chaotic ocean is a result of the time and space rift created by the world's immersion in Nidhogg's belly.

Asmodeus could, if he chose to, turn the creature lose and call the whole thing off, saving Gladomain and the Abyss (and killing the Oroborous in the process), but he hates to waste his resources and so refuses to do so unless Baator is imminently threatened with destruction.

The Dark Lord Nortumal is working to destroy the world tree so he can save his deit, Nidhogg, from his imprisonment. He is allied with other extradimensional chaotic beings, the Slaadi, who are dedicated followers of Nidhogg from another plane called Limbo."

The party returns to the Barons palace with the heads of the nagas. He is overjoyed at their success and offers them magical items as presents. Vicmorn and Brock are healed of their condition and the party rests for another day enjoying the hospitality of the Baron's court. Vicmorn says he will depart soon to tell Baron Redspawn and the Imperial forces in SummerSpring of Nortumal's defeat.

Garrett asks the Baron if they hunt the great sea anglers and they said they do in the right season. They ask for them to keep their eyes open for any sign or remains of their fallen comrad Whosis and the lizardfolk agree. The night before they leave the Isle of Nidhogg, the lizardfolk fill hundreds of blue glass spheres with candles and set them afloat in the sunless sea to bless the soul of the lost soul of Whosis Kid, Hero of Mistmeadow, Pit Fighting Champion of Ironview, Loyal Servant of Ottian the Archmage, He Who Beheld the True Form of Pale Night the Obyrith and Lived, Liberator of Blackshore, and good friend of Gurmorel Glimmerguant and Drandis the Silver in Kodrus Vale.

Descent into the Depths of the Earth (Eighth Session: November 22nd, 2009)

Lady Glimmergaunt and Drandis grow weary of Whosis Kid's gambling, drinking, and sparring with the ogres in Kodrus Vale (formerly Glimmergaunt Vale). They pronounce him recovered from any debilitation he experienced from being frozen and magically transport him to join the party, who is camped atop a hill near the Eastern Ruins.

Whosis meets up with Ilmak, who is first to rise that morning, and they are told by Yllallae Serpenthelm the ranger that Veszafein has decide to leave early and scout ahead into the underdark. They rouse the rest of the group and head off towards the cave they fought the troglodytes, bulette, and drakes in the previous day. Yllallae consults with the party, then heads off to Barovia to find the dwelling of Orcus. She agrees to meet the rest of them there later.

Heading into the passage the landshark emerged from Whosis scouts ahead and finds an area where the earth looks burrowed and a long wide passage has collapsed. He steps into the large side passage to investigate then motions for the rest of the party to move along carefully. While passing through they create enough motion to awaken two large landsharks which they retreat from back outside the cavern. The bulette's do not pursue them, choosing instead to return to sleep. Whosis lets them know when the coast is clear and they sneak past the corridor again.

Up ahead they find the roof of deeprift chasm, a large gap that passes many days journey all the way to the abandoned city at the floor of the chasm. They encounter some Dark Dwarves on the other side of the chasm who inform them that the ledge they are on travels to the left to the Kingdom of Skalamad the troll and to the right it heads to the ruins of gladomain where the bear clan khan rules. The duergar offer them safe passage to the other side of the chasm if they pay them handsomely but the party declines and heads towards the bear clan.

Whosis Kid sneaks into the bear khans trhone room, which used to be the underground throne room and tomb of the undead king gladomain from session two. He disguises himself as Lady Xyrlynn with the Cloak of Storath and tells the bear khan, who is a werebear, that the drow have betrayed them and that they must send troops with her to get revenge. The khan appears skeptical and so determines to speak with the goblin king in the western ruins before proceeding. He sends a half dozen bugbears off with Whosis to speak with the goblin king.

Whosis leads the goblins away while the rest of the party strikes the throne room. They devastate the bear clan with blasts of magical fire and ice from various spells and powers and quickly slay all who dwell there. Brock Mez'gar the undead gnoll assassin appears during the fight. He was following the party in the form of a bat with a magical cloak he has and drops in to help them at the beginning of the battle.

The duergar appear at the last minute and finish off the last bugbear with their crossbows, asking that they receive a share of the loot. The party grants them the dungeon as a dwelling and drafts a treaty on behalf of mistmeadow that they may work for the city in its defense and clear out the tunnels that are presently blocking passage of most creatures to the surface from the underdark through the ruins of gladomain keep. The duergar agree and send word to bring their kin from below Ironview, which is expected to fall soon to Orcus' undead army which arrives in 12 days.

They spend a day heading south to the Mithril Mines. There they encounter five hook horrors who stalk them in the passages. Garrick the mad lures the horrors down a side passage intent on sneaking around them, but several party members decide to engage the creatures in melee. a battle ensues and veszafein emerges from a side passage where he was studying some maps in a mining office chamber.

The party learns that the creatures are very strong and decide that withdrawing may be the best option. During their withdrawl they knock out one of the creatures, kill one, and severely injure another. Two of the horrors catch Veszafein and disembowl him, feasting on his entrails. Garret tries to save the drow but is forced to run away before he too is consumed by the ravenous creatures.

Whosis stays behind and waits several hours for the creatures to stop feasting. When they do he retrieves some remains and returns them to Garrett so he can resurrect the warlock. The party finds a trapped corridor and heads down it. The hook horrors see them enter, but decide not to follow.

Along the passage they find a trap that drops Brock and a few others into a pit that fills with acid, injuring several of them severely. Whosis has the hair burned off his body and feet. They proceed further and find some double golden doors that when opened spill necrotic energy all over the passageway draining the life from them until they press them closed again. More traps are found and disabled along the passage and they safely emerge after many hours journey in the mushroom caverns.

They see up ahead that the mushroom caverns are full of undead creatures covered in some sort of slime mold along with two kruthik hive lords and a dozen smaller kruthik. Garrick the mad casts wide blasts of fire and ice throughout the cavern knocking out the weakest of the creatures while Ilmak and Whosis charge under the cover of the other party members. They destroy the kruthik quickly but are exhausted from the battle and take a long rest. With just 10 more days to save Ironview they press on to the abandoned city, which according to the map given them by their duergar allies, lies somewhere ahead about a days travel down a large dry lava tunnel.

Icewarp Tower (Seventh Session: November 8th, 2009)

Garrett and Kordus awaken in Drandis' cave to find that Whosis Kid has wandered off. They set off toward the tower to find him.

The rest of the party is back in the garden of the Duke's Palace in Blackshore. Corus Copperscale helps them hide the Duke and Duchess in the stables near the garden, then he shows them the way into the palace. The sphere of Aseroth sits where it was left on the table in the dining hall. The minotaurs, ogres, and the Norselord himself slumber in the adjacent throne room.

They touch the sphere and are transported to the frosted vale. There they meet an ice elf who offers them the warmth of the fire in their lodge nearby. The party (Veszafein, Ilmak, Garrick, and Ottian) declines the elf's hospitality and continue on their way. Along the road they sense movement in the snow but continue along the path.

The two groups of adventurers cross paths near the tower and are reunited. Their joy is short-lived though as a great ice worm monster called a Rhemorhaz rears up from a snow drift and attacks. The party engages the beast who radiates heat so strong it burns those who come too close to it. The creature grabs Kodrus and swallows him whole, though the rest of the party manage to dispatch the beast and it regurgitates Kodrus in its death throws and he escapes death.

They enter the tower cautiously and find the basement is presently abandoned. They continue into the tower complex and find:

"A network of tunnels have been dug out of the ice and snow leading up to the main tower in Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt's magic school. You come to a large chamber up ahead where long ice bridges extend out over a gaping hole in the earth. Standing all around you are ice sculpters of various beings, some large and some small, some human and some monsterous. Their cold expressions greet you like an icy wind filling your lungs.

As you are passing over the chasm on the ice bridge, a handful of figures around you in the room regain their color and form, shifting from ice statues into solid breathing creatures. They advance quickly towards you to engage you in combat. You hear the slow rythmic beating of huge wings and feel a rush of cold air and the inescapable scent of rot and death from the pit below.

Turning to look down into the darkness you see the bloody reanimated form of Frostbite, the white dragon, daughter of aseroth rise up beside you. Her zombie-like form lurches upward stiffly and spasmodically, and a bluish diseased ichor drips from her maw as she gnashes her fangs with silent rage. Some of you remember the wounds well, as you inflicted them just days ago, but her undead form has already ripened significantly despite the cold, and a foul odor overpowers you all momentarily as you regain your bearings and prepare for battle."

The party fights off the servants of Aseroth, casting all but one of them into the pit below. They continue up a spiraling staircase into the tower where they find Gurmorel Glimmergaunt at the top of the tower:

"A woman with fair pale features sits on an elegant couch in the center of the circular room. To the left, a balcony with double closed doors is iced over, blocking the view outside of the snowstorm you hear battering against them faintly. Behind her is the mouth of aseroth, a great magical mirror with a reflective liquid-like surface that seems to breath or beat steadily, with slight ripples passing along it's surface from the center with each pulsation.

Sitting beside the woman on the couch is the frozen ice-form of Whosis Kid, his face staring off expressionless. Her arms are wrapped around his ice statue in an embrace and she is lapping hungrily at his cheek as you enter. The woman wears a heavy fur cloak with a hood hanging down over her eyes. As you enter she draws it back to view you."

Kodrus is unaffected upon entering the throne room (Drandis later notes this is because the curse Aseroth laid upon Gurmorel exempted servants of the dark six, including Minotaurs who are regarded as children of Baphomet). Thinking it is safe, Ilmak enters and is frozen into an ice statue by Gurmorel's ice medusa gaze.

Gurmorel can only see magical items and creatures she has turned into ice statues, so she addresses the party as the items they carry. Veszafein moves toward the balcony doors and causes a small blast of cold air to enter the passage. Gurmorel casts a powerful attack spell on Veszafein, but his cloak of cold resistance protects him.

Kodrus and Garrett plead with Gurmorel to understand that she has been tricked and that the world outside has been corrupted due to the trickery of Aseroth. She allows them to open the balcony doors to the outside, letting in a blast of cold air. She has a magical eye spell cast on Kodrus so she can see the outside world and regains some of her senses when she realizes that her kingdom has been corrupted. The delusional veil she lives in is briefly lifted.

She whispers in Kodrus' ear and he lifts her from her couch. She cannot move because her legs are permanently frozen by her curse:

"Kodrus carries Gurmorel Glimmergaunt's weak frame over towards the mouth of aseroth. The mirror pulsates with a cold dull hollow voice and speaks, "I am ready to receive your sacrifice. Who's soul do you offer me?" Kodrus speaks, "I offer myself to you." The mirror replies, "Kodrus, Barbarian from the pirate clans of the northern ice flows, Guardian of the house of Ottian the honorable of Ironview, Explorer of Gladomain, Liberator of Mistmeadow, Champion of Baphoment, Servant of Pale Night, Savior of the Eladrin, and Dragonslayer of Blackshore. It will be my pleasure to consume your soul!"

Kodrus steps forward carrying Gurmorel Glimmergaunt who also speaks, "Foul Aseroth, you have betrayed me, and now I seek passage to your realm in Soulfreeze where I undo our pact. Kadrus' soul will grant me passage to your world. May the legend of your treachery and failure outlive the memory of my own."

The mirror emits a hollow scream as Kodrus and Gurmorel pass through it, and a moment later the silver reflective surface freezes over into a solid hard plane. Outside you see the blizzard clear and the clouds retreating at an unnatural speed, revealing the sun in the heavens which rotates dizzyingly backwards in the sky orbiting in full in a matter of seconds, becoming night for a few breaths and then becoming day again. It seems as though many days has passed in this manner as if time is reversing itself, and you see the ice melting on the tower walls and the entire valley and tower seems to spin around mercilessly throwing you all to the floor, where you cling to the nearest objects holding on for dear life.

A great boom followed by a falling and crashing sensation lands you heavily back in the world of Gladomain, where you can see from the tower balcony you have been returned to the Silent Vale. Slowly, the residents of the once frozen valley begin to stir and gather in wonder around the thawed ruins of their once pleasant valley.

The bears bound playfully across the meadow. The ogres on the hillside leave their hall with great steins full of ice wine and their songs bellow across the once silent valley. The halflings roll out of the basement of the tower, holding each others hands and dancing in circles in the main courtyard, where they are joined by the pixes who have been restored to their true form and who flit around their heads.

You see the frost elves emerge from their lodge with cautious faces, and they begin gathering up the handful of Aseroth's servants who remain. They drag them kicking and screaming towards their hearth to be cooked and eaten. In the distance, you see many Rhemorhaz writhing on the ground, their boiling blood melting through their now too-warm skin.

The mouth of Aseroth crashes to the floor as Gurmorel Glimmergaunts body flies through it and the magic portal is shattered, destroyed forever. She moves slightly, then lays still, barely breathing and unconscious. Drandis the silver dragon lands on the balcony and squeezes his thick trunk and wings through the double doors where he crouches protectively over the lady of the tower. He nods his head towards you in a silent thankful acknowledgement. In the distance you hear a sound unheard in the silent vale for almost 1000 years birds singing…or rather cawing.

The Raven Queen appears as a flock of ravens who encircle the tower, blotting out the sun then form into her on the balcony (darkness envelopes the tower and blocks out the sun and sky) – she speaks:

Long ago, when Lady Glimmergaunt was a young and very powerful warlock, she made a pact with the Lord of Stygia, the icy realm in Baator, to keep the winters touch away from her valley and the surrounding area (which in those days included Lighthedge Point, SummerSpring, and Mistmeadow). The terms of the infernal pact where that upon her death her soul would be surrendered to the Lord of Stygia, but in return the lands would forever be free of Winter.

Lady Glimmergaunt grew very powerful with age and as she grew older she sought to thwart her earlier pact with the devil in Baator. She drafted a pact with me, the Raven Queen, so that I would grant her agelessness, under the condition that if at some point in time she was killed or wished to end her life, I would claim her soul. She did not however inform me of her earlier pact with the Lord of Stygia, and so there was a conflict of interest, as both I and Baator now had equal claim to Glimmergaunt's soul.

Aseroth, the Winter Warlock, learned of Glimmergaunt's treachery, and since he desired her for some time, he threatened to expose her fraud to the Lord of Stygia and me. Aseroth told her that if she came away with him he would save her life. Desperate to escape death, Gurmorel succumbed to Aseroth's charms and he dragged her and her realm into imprisonment somewhere between the elemental plane of ice and his home called Soulfreeze, a desolate layer of the Abyss.

When my servants investigated and I learned of her deception, I could not locate or rescue the Lady to exact my justice on her and her people. Now she has returned and I may do so, if I choose. But I have more pressing business to attend to. I like that you have offended Aseroth, as we are both rival immortal gods of winter, and I despise him. Also, I believe that we could be of some use to one another.

Orcus, my other rival immortal god of death, has an avatar on this world. He keeps all the souls he takes in his army's campaigns, when they should lawfully come to me in the Shadowfell. If you will pledge your service to me, I will grant you the power to wield Hellsong, the godslayer until such a time as you have destroyed his avatar on this world. At that point, our pact will end. Also, I will remit my claim to the soul of Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt in exchange for you rendering this service. Do you accept?"

Ilmak takes an oath to banish Orcus with the blade. The Raven queen quickly withdraws outside of striking range after granting Ilmak the full power of the godslayer. She addresses Garrett:

"I see that you are also plagued by the pestilent influence of Vecna. I know of this worm who haunts the Shadowfell, and seeks the power over death that is rightfully mine. His soul will suffer eternally for his defiance of me, and I will be rid of him one day before he can realize his dream of power over all gods. If you wish I can remove this burden for you."

Garret declines, claiming that he believes it is Ioun's wish that he bears the burden. She presents a dead gnoll's body before the party. The same one they saw in the throne room in Blackshore.

"This is Brock Mez'gar. Once he was a skilled assassin in the service of the dark six, but he was betrayed after he killed Emperor Goldspawn for them.

Putrid gnoll, I am resurrecting you so you can exact your vengeance on the dark six and your mortal enemy Lady Xyrlynn, the one who betrayed you, and sent your soul to me in the Shadowfell. You will be a loyal ally to these noble adventurers in their quest to thwart the dark six's plans for this world. Brock Mez'gar stirs and rises to his knees, bowing deeply before the Raven Queen. She hands him a black feather plucked from the collar of her cloak and hands it to him. When you have defeated Orcus, hold this feather and call to me. Then I will come to claim what is mine."

Brock rises. The party asks him how they know they can trust him and he assures them he will prove himself when they need him, then he takes his leave of the party. They decide to journey on to Mistmeadow, leaving Whosis Kid in the care of Drandis and Gurmorel until he recovers from being unfrozen and weakened by his ordeal. He spends his recovery time over the next few days sparing with the Ogres in the valley and drinking large quantities of ice wine and ogre mead.

On the road to Mistmeadow they meet Yllallae Serpenthelm from Lighthedge Point, who they met in the first session with the rest of her party. She reveals that Baron Redspawn in SummerSpring has conscripted all citizens to guard the city and declared martial law. She and the former mayor of SummerSpring lead a small group of deserters who came to the aid of Lighthedge Point and helped them drive back the goblins and some of the Norselord's raiders. The magical creatures of the Sybarite Isle including the Treant and the Leprechauns came to the aid of the city as well and helped them push back the invaders.

Yllallae's friends, the heroic trio of Blackshore, have helped restore the city and driven out the Norselord and the undead. Marfalcon Moonshadow has become a regent of the magic school there. Fahana Silverkin has taken over as master of the thieve's guild and Graward Shortcloak is now the Duke's Champion and personal bodyguard.

When they arrive in Mistmeadow they find the local elves and tell them they must help the elves in Glimmergaunt vale who have fallen into the practice of cannibalism. They agree to send a delegation to speak to the feral elves and help ease them into their new environment.

They go to the mayors house and find he has been badly injured in one leg and is mostly immobile now. Juliana and Orlando say that a red mist appears nightly from the ruins of Gladomain Keep and envelopes the city. Out of the mist appear terrible creatures who cover homes in black viscous webs, kill city watchmen, and consume residents in their homes. The slow siege, presumed to be an attack by the drow, has sapped the city of it's morale.

The watch sent a team to the ruins but they found there was no way into the underdark through the keep. All paths are sealed save some very narrow vents that carry the mist up through the statue of Tiamat in the ruin's courtyard.

The party offers to help and sets off for the ruins between SummerSpring and Ironview, directly east of Gladomain Keep. These ruins are the closest alternate route into the underdark. When they approach the ruins, two guard drakes rush out of a cave to attack them. Ilmak charges in through another entrance and surprises a half dozen troglodytes who rally and surround him.

A sorceress appears out of a passage nearby and begins casting spells on Ilmak. Garrick and Veszafein fight of a bullette/land shark that rises from the earth and attacks them. Garret and Yllallae take on the drakes, then help Ilmak finish off the Troglodytes, though Yllallae is badly injured. Vesafein and Garrick kill the bulette. Before they can press their attack to the mage in the cave she casts a spell that freezes their feet to the floor and she retreats into a tunnel leading down into the earth.

The party sets up camp to rest the night. Yllallae decides to stay behind to keep watch on the entrance while the rest of the party heads in. She will notify them if any follow and then will go attend to some other business in the area.

Heroes of Blackshore (Sixth Session: October 25th, 2009)

The party discusses their options with Corus Copperscale and he recommends that they move to the sewers and head toward the Duke's Castle. The alternative routes are blocked. The rooftops are guarded by goblin archers, and the streets are blocked by overwhelming number of undead.

Veszafein, Garrick the Mad, and Ottian stay behind to help put out some fires and preserve the wizard school. Kodrus, Corus, Whosis Kid, and Garrett head down into a secret passage Veszafein uncovered behind a bookshelf that leads to a basement. There they find a portal above a ladder that drops down into the sewer.

In the sewer they find three kobolds trying to capture a crocodile. They have a lever and pulley system and are trying to hoist it out of the water. Whosis kid cuts the rope holding up the croc and it drops back into the water, angrily grabbing one of the kobolds and devouring it.

The other two kobolds bring a pack of wild dogs with them and attack the party. Corus hides in the sewage, as he detests fighting kobolds. The rest of the party finishes the beasts off easily and the crocodile retreats away down the sewer.

Travelling further along the sewer for an hour or so, they reach a large junction between several passages. They detect movement near a large drain pipe and go to investigate. A large carrion crawler emerges from the pipe and attacks. While they engage, an enormous carrion crawler rises out of the sewage behind them. They kill the large carrion crawler then engage the enormous one, but find they have trouble injuring the great beast and they have even more trouble evading it as it lashes out with it's crippling venomous tentacles.

Corus finds a ladder up out of the passage and calls to the rest of the party. They devise a plan to strike at the ceiling to try and bring it down on the creature, immobilizing it. Their efforts are eventually successful and they manage to pin the monster beneath some rubble long enough to run away. They find the ladder leads to a smugglers den with some hidden treasure and they hide there until the carrion crawler has freed itself and moved on.

Moving along they decide to move away from the sound of Kobolds since they are likely going to have more carrion crawler like pets and head the other direction. There they meet a group of ghouls who do not attack but do not shy away either. They parlay with the ghouls and learn that they have been running low on food lately and they are not pleased with the turn of events. They offer to lead the party to the duke's palace if they will enter the tomb of the first Pirate King of Blackshore and retrieve his bones. The ghouls cannot enter because it is hallowed ground.

The party agrees, though Kodrus is a bit perturbed that they are desecrating the tomb of a Minotaur. Upon entering the tomb they find it is inhabited by a magical ballista that attacks them along with a small swarm of diseased dire rats that have made a nest there. They clean out the rats and destroy the ballista, but Corus becomes infected with a dripskin disease in the process. The early symptoms set in within hours after they loot the tomb and give the bones of the pirate king to the ghouls.

The ghouls show them an entrance through a drain tunnel into the dungeons of the Duke's Castle where the torturers used to dump bodies they were discarding. The party sneaks up through the pipe and ambushes the hobgoblin and human guards that are gambling in the adjacent room with a pile of valuables. They hurl one of the humans down the drain pipe, and Garret is also pushed down the tunnel and must crawl back up.

Two bugbears arrive from an adjacent prison chamber and the melee continues with the party victorious. Whosis and Kodrus torture one of the humans who they defeated in the second session back in Gladomain keep. He tells them that the castle is lightly defended and that the daughters of darkness and Lady Xyrlynn are upstairs. They torture him further and learn that Lady Xyrlynn is actually Lady Frostbite impersonating her. Lady Frostbite is the daughter of one of the dark six, Aseroth, the Winter Warlock.

The party moves up the passage and witnesses the following:

"Peering through the wall vent you hear great merriment on the other side. Beyond the metal bars of the vent is the great feast hall of Blackshore. A long table stands along the length of the room. At the head of the table to the north sits Lady Xyrlynn, majestically silent and sprawled across the throne of the once Duke of Blackshore, she traces a clawlike fingernail in circles around the top of her chalice, which bubbles with some smokey beverage.

On the east side of the table sits Xyrlynn’s chief advisor, Lady Ilsa Von Zarovich, one of the daughters of darkness, along with her two bodyguards. The three of them are pale with harsh glowing red eyes, gaunt features, and wicked grins baring razor sharp fangs.

On the west side of the table with their backs to you are the other two daughters of darkness, the Winter Witch and Lady Gladomain. The Winter Witch cackles menacingly every time Lady Von Zarovich speaks. Lady Gladomain scratches her decaying flesh compulsively, sending dry flakes of flesh and bone to the vermin covered floor.

Gathered before the table are a line of petitioners to Lady Xyrlynn. Ilso von Zarovich handles all of their inquiries and does all of the speaking for the group.

The first petitioner is a mob of a dozen or so servants of the Goblin King, who lives in the ruins to the south of Blackshore. The strongest among the goblins push a runt out from the crowd who cowers before Isla and the rest in fear. Isla and her two bodyguards approach and the rest of the mob kneels before them.

The smallest of the group sends his regards from the Goblin King and says that the King has said he has sent all the troops he can send at the current price negotiated with Lady Xyrlynn and that he needs a higher price in order to spare more forces to garrison the gates. Ilsa grabs the messenger by the throat and bites deeply into his green torso with her fangs, then spits out a jet of green blood into the faces of the goblin mob before throwing the still twitching, screaming body of the runt to her bodyguards, who eat him alive.

She grabs one of the smaller more pathetic looking goblins and hoists him up to her bloodied face, declaring that he will carry the message to the Goblin King that he will send more troops immediately, and that until he can send anything that tastes better than his sickening goblin soliders, he will only be paid half the normal rate. She orders the rest of the goblins to set off to raid Lighthedge Point to find some more tasty creatures to bring next time. She lets them know that failure will mean they themselves will feed the evilest creatures in Blackshore.

As the goblins depart a Gnoll in dark armor wearing a heavy black cloak and carrying an executioner’s axe approaches Isla. He stands eye to eye with her unwavering in her fearsome presence. She addresses him:

“Brock Mez’Gar, hero of Marshgate, who led the forces of Shadowmarsh Cliff to victory over the followers of Kord and the armies of Ironview, you who liberated our father Orcus from his prison so that he may now stalk the night once again, and teach his enemies what it is to fear death and the night, we honor you.”

All at the table nod to the gnoll and with a gesture from Lady Xyrlynn’s taloned fingers Ilsa removes her own black cape and draws it around the neck of the dogman tenderly. She continues.

“You have already received all of the worldly wealth you could desire for your service, so now we offer you immortality. Carry out one final task for the dark six, and eternal life will be yours. Take this cape, which will give you the form of a bat, and travel to your home city, the Imperial capitol of Draconis. Sometime after the Death’s day festival, but before the feast of Kord, you will find your mark, and assassinate Emperor Goldspawn.”

The gnoll nods confidently and with a deep sweeping bow he turns on his heal and leaps into the air, magically transforming into a bat and flying out a tall open window on the east wall. The Winter Witch cackles loudly and menacingly for many minutes and Ilsa and her servants join her with a cacophony of wicked mocking cries of dark mirth.

Two servants bring in the struggling form of ambassador Tul, who has been stripped naked and bound to a large golden serving platter. Her body is covered in food and blood, and the goblin servants lower the struggling meal to the table, moving aside the heaps of jewels, treasure, and maps there, before they quickly scurry off under Isla’s harsh cruel stare.

Ilsa speaks, “Ambassador Tul, we are so pleased to have you for dinner tonight. Muahhaahaaaaaa!”"

When the party enters, Whosis fails miserably at sneaking into the room and...

"Lady Xyrlynn turns in her throne sitting upright for a moment and looking intently at her new visitors. She does not appear to recognize you. Lady Gladomain grins menacingly and chomps her dry mandible hungrily as she rises to face you. The Winter Witch screams so loudly that the deafening sound reaches through your bones to your very soul. Ilsa and her two bodyguards dart along one wall, looking to outflank you.

Lady Xyrlynn sets aside a crystal ball filled with swirling snowy lights and places her smoking chalice on the table. She stands atop the edge of the huge table gracefully and unties a brown, plain looking cape from around her neck. As the cape drifts to the floor, her face elongates and her piercing eyes become black and solid. Her flesh turns pale white and her taloned fingernails become actual claws. Huge wings unfold from behind her back as she transforms into a large white dragon. The table buckles beneath her weight but does not break. She lets out a loud roar and charges toward you."

A desperate battle ensues. Whosis valiantly frees Ambassador Tul who joins in the melee using a sharp knife from the dinner table. Lady Gladomain falls first, followed by the howling hag and the Ilsa von Zarovich and her vampire followers. Lady Frostbite, the large white dragon is the last to go down.

The party uses the cloak of Storath, a magical artifact that Lady Frostbite used to assume human form, and take the form of Lady Xyrlynn. They go to the goblins in the palace and tell them all they are dismissed and are to return to their king, which they enthusiastically do without hesitation.

Kodrus touches the sphere of Aseroth as they gather the treasure together and disappears instantly. Garrett also touches the sphere and disappers. Whosis Kid gathers up the remaining treasure, bids farewell to Ambassador Tul and then touches the sphere and disappears into the giant snow globe.

They appear in the swirling cold of a snow storm. The village around them in the snow covered valley appears to have been burned down with every available piece of wood harvested to make fires. They see the dead forms of people covered in snow huddled around small long burned out fires. Some of them seem to move as if undead toward the warmth of the party, but they move so slowly that they are harmless at present.

They meet a group of small beings called the snow pixies who in riddles tell the story of the Lady in the distant tower who is crazy and rules over the land. They also mention some elves, bears, giants, and dragons who live in the valley. The party sets off for the tower.

They arrive an hour or so later and travel down into the basement of the tower where they meet many halflings brewing ice wine. The halflings explain that they make the ice wine for Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt in the tower and that it is the only form of currency used in the valley. The party asks if they can rest there and the halflings welcome them. They awaken the next day undisturbed, though all the halflings have left the tower.

Rather than heading further into the tower, they decide to journey off and meet with the dragon. They find a massive cave covered in ice and snow and stumble upon the form of the sleeping dragon when they enter. Though it is covered in white ice and snow, Garrett correctly identifies it as a huge silver dragon. The perturbed dragon breaths a cone of frost on the party until it pries its ice covered eyes open and apologetically invites them in to his den.

The dragon explains that Lady Glimmergaunt was drawn into the Abyss by Aseroth, who decieved her, and that all of them have been trapped there for a long time. Aseroth gave the children at the magic school away to Pale Night (who the party rescued in Session 5), and kept the rest trapped in the Frosted Vale where most perished.

The only way to leave the Frosted Vale is through a magical portal called the Mouth of Aseroth which requires a human sacrifice to provide transportation. The dragon Drandis says that only Gurmorel has the power to reverse the curse of Aseroth, but that she has grown too mad in her unnaturally long existence to act coherently. She lives in a delusional world where everything is untouched by the blight of winter and all her people are happy.

Drandis also gives the party a sword called Hellsong with was once weilded by Asmodeus and later his sone Graz'zt. It is a godslayer, and if an oath of loyalty is granted by a god the sword can be used to permanently slay a god (though few gods would grant such an oath fearing that the sword could be used against them). Drandis offers them the blade hoping they may find a way to use it to save the valley.

The party rests the night in the warmth of Drandis' cave.

In the Service of Pale Night (Fifth Session: September 27th, 2009)

Kodrus and Ghostouch collapse after a short distance of travel further down the passage. Garret and Whosis rest in the passage guarding them while Ilmak paces. Suddenly a light traces down the passageway and illuminates Ilmak the swordmage, drawing him into it and dissolving him. He disappears leaving only a circle of arcane scrawlings written in burnt dust. The party stands in shock as they realize that he has their food provisions and the amulet that offered their only hope of escape should they find their way out of Shubgottia to another plane.

Travel for a day and a half has made them thirsty and their prisoner drinks from a nearby fountain only to slowly fall to the ground and die from it's poisoned waters. Up ahead in the corridor they see some small turtle-like demons crawling along the passageway. As they contemplate eating one of them, a giant horned creature with batlike wings swoops down and impales one of them with it's claws and begins eating it.

They slowly approach and kill the second creature offering it peacefully to the large monstrous creature. He addresses them and they tell him that they are servants of Baphomet. He tells them he has no interest in helping them. Garret the cleric convinces him that he is not a servant of Baphomet and learns in discussion that his name is Thrax and he is a devil from baator that has been trapped in Shubgottia for some time. He wanders the passageways of this part of the maze eating the creatures it traps there. The devil declines the party's overatures to come with them and takes the corpse of the poisoned prisoner before flying off to consume it.

As they head further along the passage, they find a well with smoky mist pouring out of it. The mist is so thick they cannot pass by the well in the hallway without moving through it. Whosis sends his ferret familiar stinky pete into the mist and it retreats claiming to have seen ghosts. Ghostouch is freed and volunteers to pass through and Kodrus follows close behind.

Ghostouch stares into the bottomless well and appears transfixed before throwing himself into it. Kodrus falls into a bloodlust and attacks Whosis Kid. Whosis Kid draws Kodrus out of the mist where he collapses dizzy to the ground.

Whosis and Garrret tether themselves to Kodrus as a dead anchor and move through the mist carefully then they pull Kodrus' limp form through after them. When they get him to the other side a bloody black goo pours from this eyes and mouth and he awakens dazed after a short rest.

A little ways further down the way they find some Xorn and abyssal maws feeding on the remains of another party. The only surviving member is an Eladrin who says he is in the abyss searching for a generation of Eladrin children that were trapped by Aseroth when he took the tower in the silent vale away and hid it in the abyss. He says that an evil creature called Pale Night lives in Shubgottia and hunts the children for pleasure. He has failed in his quest, but asks the party to fulfill it if they are able and gives them a magical waterskin that had endless water and gives the favor of the Elven god Correllon to any who pour it's waters on an altar in his temple.

When they arrive back at the intersection with only one remaining path to try to escape from the magical trap, the four remaining party members encounter two ogres who serve Baphoment. Kodrus again claims to serve Baphomet and so they ask to lead him to the Lyktion. The party follows and after many hours of travel they reach a T-intersection where the left hand path leads to Baphomet and the passage to the right leads to the fortress of Pale Night.

The party backstabs the ogres, as they wish to travel back toward Pale Night's lair. A battle ensues and they fight furiously with the two ogres. During the battle, Garrick the Mad appears heroically through a magical portal he opened with the idol of Tanar'ri and comes to their aid. Once the ogres are defeated, Veszafein also appears dramatically out of a wall of shadows that appears out of nowhere.

Before they can advance further towards Pale Night''s lair they are attacked by three powerful Tanar'ri: A brass golem in the form of Baphomet himself, and immolith made from the cursed undead soul of the Babau they slayed in the second session, and the cerebrilith they encountered at the crossroads in the first session.

Kodrus flees at first then returns to his friends' aid when he realizes that they cannot outrun their foes. The cerebrilith and golem are taken out easily but the immolith grasps the cleric and holds him closely to him, burning him in his flames. All that come to Garret's assistance are also burned by the fires smoldering around the undead demonic elemental. Garret sees the magical waterskin glow in the fire's light and he take it out and pours it on the creatures, banishing it.

They continue battered and weakend along the passageway toward Pale Night's lair for many hours. Finally they find a dead end with two giant obsidian doors and some small altars and alcoves cut into the walls. Exploring the alcoves they find a secret passageway leading dow a stair to a small room. Hidden in the room is a treasure cache including the Sword of Kas the Bloody-Handed, a magical vorpal weapon crafted by Vecna the lich long ago. The sword was weilded by his liutenant, a vampire named Kas, who eventually betrayed him and gave the sword to Kord and Dol Dorn, who used it to destroy the evil lich.

They approached the doorway and used a knock ritual. The doors slid open and from the mist emerged a small gorilla like carnage demon followed by a huge minotaur demon called a Gorristro. The gorristo stomped on Whosis kid, who was knocked to a bloody pulp and swept up by Kodrus and Garret who carried him to safety.

Veszafein and Garrick cast darkness and web spells to slow the Gorristro while they attacked with spells and the vorpal weapon to little effect. Whosis was revived by the cleric and charged again into battle against the demon, retreating again once it had freed itself from the magical trap of the web spell.

They retreated into the alcove hitting the gorristro with everything they had as he clawed at them through the narrow passeway and tore at the opening to enlarge it enought for him to squeeze through. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting, just before he tore open a great hole in the wall Kodrus took the vorpal Sword of Kas and beheaded the terrifying creature valiantly.

Clearing the gore and dust away they hacked their way through the corpse of the demon collapse along the entrance to the alcove. Moving through the giant obsidian doors they saw that ahead the mist was clear on the ceiling above them and that a moutain of petrified skulls and bones formed a ramp that lead all the way up to the top of the 1000 foot walls of the labyrinth.

They scaled the mountain of remains, taking a long rest on the way. When they reached the top they could see a the giant labyrinth of Shubgottia extending in every direction as far as the eye could see. Above them strange lights strobbed in the sky. They were standing on a plateau of petrified remains and in the middle of the plateau about a mile away was a great palace in the shape of a skeletal hand.

In the distance they could see the bronze Lyktion, the tower of science, where Baphoment crafts new species of demons. Docked at the top of the tower was a huge metallic floating spider the size of a great sailing ship. Off in other directions other strange masses and things that looked like floating enormous jellyfish drifted in the sky.

When they approached the skeletal palace they saw that on the plateau strange skeletal crab-like creatures, some large and some small scurried about. When they reached the main gate the found to Mezzoloth guards who welcomed them as servants of Pale Night. Thinking they mistakenly had been received as her servants they entered the palace.

Inside they found Pale Night, a ghostly figure, and an Obyrith, one of the most powerful and ancient creatures of the abyss, the mother of all demons. Pale Night was imprisoned Shubgottia by the rebellious Tanar'ri after they rebelled against the Obryrith, though they couldn't find it in them to destroy her. She retains cordial relations with Baphomet and is the mother of one of the dark six, Graz'zt.

In her court she commands each of the party to serve her. Kodrus resists and is choked out by a magical force then dragged off to guard the well of the Obyrith, a powerful wishing site. He wishes to escape from the abyss, but his prayers are ignored.

Whosis Kid tries resisting as well and is knocked unconscious after bearing witness to her true form, which is said to be horrifying enough to cause death in some. Afterwards he is dragged to the dungeons where he serves her as a torturer and he becomes evil and twisted in his ways.

Veszafein claims to be a servant of Lloth alone and for his heresy he is struck dumb so he can cast no spells and he is made the personal valet of Pale Night. Garret refuses to yield to her, so she uses the vorpal blade to cut off his left hand and she replaces it with the Hand of Vecna, a powerful artifact which turns him evil and makes him a willing servant to her. Garrick gladly offers his services after seeing what has happened to the rest of the pary and he is given guard duty and the front gate.

Several weeks later, Pale Night asks for a volunteer to go to Lyktion, the Tower of Science. Whosis, now the most twisted and evil of all the party, willingly volunteers and is sent there to be experimented on. He comes back hairless after they test a new demonic disease on him and he become a terrible pathetic sight that creaps along the halls of Shubgottia, reviled like a rat by the Tanar'ri and other creatures that dwell there.

After a month in Pale Night's service the party is taken by her to the 471st layer of the abyss called Androlyne; her personal hunting grounds. In the vast grayish fields of tall grass and rubble there is a ruined temple of Correllon and within dwell the survivors of the generation of Eladrin children that Aseroth captured and gave to her. She asks the party to enter the temple to flush them out so she can hunt them with her bow.

They enter and Kodrus immediately begins to try and gather the children in a friendly manner, but they are frightened by the towering statue of the minotaur. The other party members begin coralling the children to flush them out into the open where they can be hunted when Garret sees an altar of Correllon along the far end of the ruins. Using what good remains in his being he grasps the magical waterskin and sneaks over to pour it on the altar.

The temple shakes and after several long moments of violent quakes and a loud chorus of angelic singing sounds, light spills in through the entrace. The party emerges to find they are in a wooded city. They are surrounded by Eladrin soldiers, then greated as heroes when it's discovered they have rescued the lost generation of children from the Abyss. They are greeted with the full hospitality of the Far North's peoples and are given magical gifts as tokens of thanks.

The Eladrin magically cure all corruption of evil from the Tanar'ri items. The also cure Whosis Kid's hairless condition, restoring his prized foothair back to normal. They remove the evil taint of Vecna's influence over Garret's soul, but they do not have the power of knowledge at their disposal to remove the hand itself.

The party learns that Marshgate has fallen to the Dark Lord Nortumal. Garrick discovered in Shadowmarsh Cliffs that Lady Xyrlynn has impersonated Lord Shadowmarsh after killing him and she changed the mercenary armies orders. Once the army served Blackshore, but now they marched under Nortumal's flag. They surrounded and defeated Ironview's army guarding Marshgate.

Blackshore has fallen under a veil of ice and no one has heard from the city in a month. The party is offered griffon and pegasi to travel across the great ocean to Blackshore so they can investigate. When they arrive they find that the city and it's people are frozen by a cloud of snow and ice that hovers over the city.

All within the city are frozen in place except for the invaders. Minotaurs and ogres guard the city's port. The gates are manned by goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, kobolds, and gulvoorgs (huge blue wolf-like creatures bred to be seige engines in war). The merchant district is full of undead. Temple street is crawling with priests of the dark six. Drow traders have moved into noble row and plundered the mansions. The wizard's school is on fire due to experiments left unattended that have gone awry. The poorest neighborhood called thieve's town is abandoned and uninhabited.

Catching some arrows and bolts on the way in, they land in thieve's town and start looking around. They are eventually lead by a mischevious spiretop drake to a small normal looking builing that leads down into the theive's guild of Blackshore. There they are greated by Ezak No-Hack the assassin the captured in the first session and Corus Copperscale, the head of the theive's guild of Blackshore.

Veszafein the drow warlock heads off to Noble Row to check on the drow traders there and see what he can learn from them. Garrick and Ottian leave the rest of the party to explore the magic school and see what is amiss there.

Ezak explains that he was framed for the assassination attempt on the Duke of Blackshore's life a year ago by Lady Xyrlynn, who assumed his form. Also, someone who looks like Lady Xyrlynn now rules the palace of Blackshore, but she never speaks, so they suspect she may be an imposter. The castle is also run by the Daughters of Darkness, powerful witches who command the dark sixes disparate forces.

Veszafein passes through a gate manned by goblins and a gulvoorg, talking his way past them. He learns from the drow that the daughters of darksness and Xyrlynn rule the city for a month now and that Aseroth's winter magic captured it totally unaware.

Corus Copperscale, who happens to be a small young copper dragon offers to join the party and leaves Ezak to guard the guild chambers. The two paths to the magic school lead either through the open streets of the market and a horde of undead, or through the sewers which are full of Kobolds. Copperscale discourages the latter.

They travel on the surface, outrunning the undead mob which is too numerous to fight. They barricade themselves inside a dormitory build and then slip across the rooftops to the adjacent main building of magic school. Inside they find a Thunderblast Cyclone, an evil thunder elemental, is trapped in place but destroying the contents of building, sucking everything into it's vortex.

The party saves what items they can from the vortex while Garret scales the wall outside to check out the upper levels of the building that are inaccessible due to the vortex. He finds that everyone here like elsewhere is frozen in time, many seemingly amused or amazed at the snowfall with hands outstetched in windows and smiling faces.

When he returns below to report, Ottian and Garrick arrive. Ottian finds a way to dispatch the cyclone back to it's home plane so it will cause no further damage. The undead outside begin to gather around the magic school and beat upon the bolted heavy doors.

Shubgottia, the Endless Maze (Fourth Session: September 7th, 2009)

Garrick the Mad and Ottian leave early to go to Shadowmarsh Cliffs, investigating rumors that Lord Shadowmarsh is assembling a large mercenary army. They wish to discern his intentions and see if he is planning to attack any of his neighbors. Veszafein the Drow left quietly the night before, heading toward Summerspring for reasons unknown.

Ilmak, Garret, and Whosis depart early the next morning. Kodrus is still sleeping off a night of drinking so they throw him into a cart and take him along with them. On the road to lighthedge point, they encounter the same clan of bugbears they fought with in session I. Their clan is called the Bloodmanes and they're bent on revenge for the party slaughtering their kin. They ambush them as they approach the silent vale.

Ilmak is the first to fall, followed by Whosis. The first wave is subdued and a second wave attacks. The clan leader has two bears that charge Garret and Kodrus. All of the bugbears are slain, but in the final battle between the savage bears, Garret goes down bloody and Kodrus and the last bear take each other out simultaneously, collapsing on the dirt road by their wagon and horses. As Kodrus loses consciousness he sees Lady Xyrlynn approaching on the road.

When they awaken, their wounds have been tended and they are all beaten but otherwise in good health. Ilmak awakens first and finds a letter pinned to his cloak. The letter contains a black amulet and is from Xyrlynn addressed to the party. It explains that per their discussion last year, she is taking the Hand of Storath from them since they failed to meet her at the designated time and place a year ago. It also says that in return she is giving them the valuable amulet of the plans as payment. Unfortunately, it also notes that they will not be able to use the amulet on the plane they are presently trapped on (text below)

"Noble Adventurers,

I regret that you were unable to attend the meeting we had scheduled last year at the crossroads. I employed this fine troop of bugbears to find you for the modest sum of 50,000 gold. Unfortunately, I was low on currency to pay them their fee, so I hope you'll forgive me for paying them with your residuum and what few coins you had on your person.

As I agreed I would pay you 50,000 gold for the hand, which I now have in my possession, that means I now owe you a total of around 100,000 gold. I have left you this amulet of the planes, worth about 120,000 gold as payment. It will take the wearer and anyone joining hands with them to anywhere on any plane they wish to go. You may pay me back the 20,000 gold you owe me at your convenience.

Darkest Regards,
Lady Xyrlynn

P.S. Unfortunately the amulet of the planes does not work on the 600th layer of the abyss. Welcome to Shubgottia the Endless Maze; birthplace of the Tanar'ri. My sincerest apologies for any trouble this may cause you."

Xyrlynn deposited the party on Shubgottia, the 600th plane of the abyss, also known as the endless maze. The walls of the labyrinth were 1000 feet high sheer obsidian and greyish mist snakes along the ceiling of the passageways. Red and orange light poured from magical lanterns 50 feet up and spaced evenly along the corridors. The maze intersection was populated by Xorn who were in the process of consuming the party's metallic objects when they awoke and chased them off.

Gaining their bearings, they decided to head off in one of the four possible directions. After 6 hours of travel they came upon a party of dark dwarves lead by a powerful warlord named Ghostouch. He is known to the party because he is the notorious captain of the secret police in the town of Ironview where they used to work. He demands that they follow him and when they refuse he and his goons attack.

The party subdues Ghostouch and they question him and a prisoner he has with him in chains. The prisoner advises that he and others like him were brought along on this expedition and over the past several weeks his comrades were traded away or eaten by the dark dwarves when they ran low on provisions. They had been wandering in circles for some time.

Ghostouch is resistant to provide information until Kodrus the Minotaur bites off part of his arm to intimidate him. He reveals under duress that he was trying to infiltrate the priesthood of the dark six as part of an assignment from the Archmage Council in Ironview. He hired Alusys Goldweaver and Thoven Diamondeath, two members of the rival good party to find an artifact known as the Astralgate, which was a portal to other worlds.

Lady Xyrlynn arranged a meeting with the dark six priests and Ghostouch, so he arrived with miners to excavate the site in the ruins that Alusys and Thoven found, then arrrested them and had them locked in chains while he presented the Astralgate as a trophy for the dark six. The priests seemed impressed by the demonstration when he cast Alyusys and Thoven into the other worlds, but he didn't expect them to turn on him. Xyrlynn had mercenary bugbears and gnolls with her. They drove Ghostouch and his dwarves through the gate, trapping them in the abyss.

The party's path eventually led them back after 12 hours of travel to the same crossroads they started from (arriving maddeningly from the same passage they left from). This time they encountered two Mezzoloth demons and a small pack of abyssal skulkers. They were mercenaries come to Shubgottia seeking employment with Baphomet. The party is mistaken for servants of Baphomet because they have a minotaur in their party and the Mezzoloth's assume they are evil. The party does nothing to dissuade them of this inclination.

They tell the Mezzoloth that they know the way to Baphomet's lair and lead them down one of the other three passages out of the cursed intersection. After another long stretch of travel in the maze they encounter a pack of gnolls camped out with a bunch of hyenas. They are eating something cooking over the fire. They begin cursing at the party when they approach calling them servants of Baphomet. The Mezzoloth offer to take out the gnolls if the party will pay them. At the suggestion of Ghostouch they offer payment of 10,000 gold to the Mezzoloth.

The Mezzoloth emit a poisonous cloud of gas that kills most of the gnolls and they impale the remaining humanoids and their beasts on their tridents and pincers. The gnolls die cursing the party, Baphomet (who is the enemy of their own demon god), and Lady Xyrlynn for casting them into the abyss. It is later revealed by Ghostouch that he and his dwarves had encountered and traded with the gnolls before and that they were once servants of Xyrlynn, but she betrayed them as well and cast them into the abyss when they refused to follow one of her commands.

Their path eventually leads them back to the curse insection. This time, waiting for them is a Ghour (a hairless demonic minotaur) and a band off powerful ogres. They are true servants of Baphomet and doubt the party's assertion that they are servants of Baphomet as well. The Mezzoloth appear confused and they surround the party with their abyssal skulkers and ask to follow the newfound followers of Baphoment back to the Tower of Science called Lyktion where Baphoment dwells at the heart of the maze.

Baphomet's followers lead the motley band down the passageways. Along they way they encounter an army of shadow knights that refuses to allow them passage. The ogres, mezzoloths, and skulkers attack the shadow army while the ghour orders the party into battle. They refuse and attack the ghour. He deals several stunning blows to Whosis, Ilmak, and Kodrus, but eventually they fell him. The ogres and skulkers fall to the shadow army and the mercenary Mezzoloth retreat.

The shadow army's leader addresses them. It is Quotomal Gladomain. He explains that he was wearing the crown of commanding in his tomb below the ruined keep to guard it from the drow. The crown's power allowed him to control the Kruthik, which he used to keep the drow from surfacing. He fought to protect the crown from the party when they sought it in the second session because he did not want its curse to reach the surface and cause a second civil war in Mistmeadow.

They also encounter Lord Shadowmarsh. He explains that he was betrayed by Xyrlynn in his bed. She cast his dying body through the Astralgate into the abyss. All beings with souls who die in Shubgottia are doomed to march eternally with the shadow army. Though they are lost in this corner of the endless maze, they seek vengeance on all evil creatures who they encounter. Lord Shadowmarsh tossed his signate ring to Garret and advises that it will open his treasure vault in Shadowmarsh. He says that all his wealth is theirs if they will avenge his death by killing Lady Xyrlynn.

The loremaster also explains that the dark six seek to destroy the world tree, hidden somewhere in the world, so they can destory Gladomain and use a powerful magical ritual to start a new second Blood War between the abyss and baator, the nine hells. If someone does not prevent the abyss from cutting down the world tree, the world as they know it will be destoyed unless it can be replanted. If the tree is cut down, the only world tree source that can be used to replant it is on the plane of Ysgard. The magical tree Yggdrasil there has world ash cones that can be planted to renew the earth before it dies completely. Thus far the abyss has not found the tree yet.

Beyond the Crystal Cave (Third Session: August 9th, 2009)

The party begins their journey to the Sybarite Isle to find Juliana and Orlando. They intend to return in one week's time to meet up with Lady Xyrlynn so they can defeat her and steal the money she offered them for Hand of Glory.

Having examined the hand, they have discerned that it has a magical ring on the finger called the Ring of Acererak. The hand once belonged to a powerful master thief named Storath and many mistakenly believed that the powers came from the hand when in fact they originated from the invisible ring on the finger of the hand. Depending on who wields it, the hand has varying powers. For a cleric it can raise the dead, for a spellcaster it can let them use their most powerful magic more frequently, for a fighter they will never miss, and a thief with the hand will always succeed at any skillful endeavor.

They travel on the road from Mistmeadow north to Lighthedge Point. Along the way the encounter two ogres followed by a party of goblins and halflings. The ogres and Orog and Ogresh, and they are merchants selling their famed Ogre mead. The party samples the mead, Kodrus passes out from it, and they purchase several kegs then continue on their way.

Up ahead some farmers warn them that the silent vale is not safe as the priesthood of the dark six have been seen conducting dark rituals there at night. The silent vale is so named because once it was the realm of the enchantress Gurmorel Glimmergaunt, who made an infernal pact to create beautiful weather year round. One day she was punished for her pact and her tower and lands were torn from the earth and disappeared forever. To this day nothing grows in the valley and there is no breeze, birds, or other creatures there.

They pass through the silent vale uneventfully and see nothing. When they arrive in Lighthedge point several hours later the Sheriff confiscates their Ogre Mead as it has been recently outlawed. He also offers to guard their valuables while they are away. Some of the party take him up on this after verifying that he is a generally trustworthy character from the local population. They enjoy the finest food in the land at Lighthedge's local tavern and hire a lizardfolk boatman to ferry them across the way to the island.

The price is steep but they get the boatman to agree to take them to the island and return for them each day at a set time until they wish to depart. The island has a large clear dome atop a cliff where the garden of Propherio, a powerful mage from ancient times, is protected from the outside world. The only known way into the magical garden is through the cave of echoes on the sandy beach below the cliffs.

The party explores the entrance, finds the chamber of echoes and make a wish as local folk have told them to do. These wishes yield nothing. They explore further and slay two poltergeists, an ochre jelly, and a half dozen mudmen as they move deeper into the cave. Finally they reach a beautiful crystal cave with a stunning waterfall and slowly moving, almost frozen ripples. They pass through the enchanted waterful into a small alcove behind it. There they find a portal that magically transports them into the garden above.

They appear in the garden in a toadstool ring. They encounter a band of leprechauns, who taunt and tease them. They distract them by giving them some magical items and escape. Further down the path they encounter two beautiful dryads, who try to trap the Whosis kid with their seductive charms. The rest of the party comes to his aid and prevents him from staying with them.

A series of peaceful encounters ensue where they meet Satyrs, Centaurs, a giant skunk, a giant badger, some giant otters near a lake, a Treat, and several other enchanted creatures. They pass peacefully through the garden until they eventually find the Green Man, who is the caretaker of the garden. They explain they wish to meet with Juliana and Orlando to ask them if they'd like to leave.

The Green Man agrees to let them speak with them under the condition that they allow the lovers to stay in the garden peacefully if that is what they choose. He helps them find the portal to the palace of spire beyond a magical hedge maze. The party arrives at the palace with only minor confusion, as they destroy the two living statues guarding the front gate. When the palace's guards arrive the party helps them clean up the mess and apologizes profusely. They then proceed to speak with Juliana and Orlando, who due to a time distortion have only been missing from Mistmeadow and their feuding families for a few days, thought two years have passed in the outside world.

Eventually they manage to persuade Juliana to return with them to Mistmeadow so she can be crowned and marry Orlando. They all leave the garden peacefully and the next morning they find a boat carrying pilgrims to the beach that they take back to Lighthedge. Due to the time distortion in the garden one year has passed in the outside world during the 12 hours they spent in the garden.

In Lighthedge, the find that the Mayor returned Ezak for the 10,000 platinum reward, though he only paid them 10,000 gold. The remaining money was spent on Lighthedge's port expansion project. Shortly after his capture, Ezak escaped from Blackshore's dungeon and tried assassinating the Duke. Also, Ogre Mead was recently legalized again and much of what was impounded by the Sheriff was drank over the past year.

The party quickly returns to Mistmeadow the next day with Juliana and Orlando. They are well received and there's much celebration. They find that in their absence that Lady Xyrlynn tried impersonating Juliana and returned with the party of rival good adventurers to be crowned ruler of Mistmeadow. One of the good adventurers, Alusys Goldweaver uncovered the plot and determined her true identify before the coronation ceremony. Though the reward was already paid, the good adventurers returned the money, so the reward was still available.

After they left town, the Kruthik Hive Lord that they left wounded in the pit rose to plague the town. First it attacked travellers, then it attacked villages, and finally entire armies of the creatures swarmed the city. With the help of a stranger named Veszafein the Drow, the Kruthik were defeated permanently.

It was also discovered in their absence that the Crown of Commanding was cursed. The Drow warlock helped to disenchant the crown. It's curse would make men attack elves when worn by a town's ruler. It was this powerful force that caused the civil war a hundred years ago and ruined the fabled kingdom of Gladomain. For discovering this Veszafein was rewarded handsomely and the Drow were generally tolerated as traders in Mistmeadow. Drow trading caravans regularly pass through the ruins from the underdark to the city now.

Garret finds that he has returned just in time to replenish his museum and sanctuaries coffers, which have been running low. The facility has grown successfully over the past year and there are a half dozen priests and employees doing research and living there now.

The party took a well deserved rest, heroes again in Mistmeadow. After several nights in town they are approached by a Gypsie who brings them a letter from his master in Barovia. The letter says that the people there are plagued by a terrible evil and promises all the wealth they have to any who will come to their aid.

The party decides to consider this, though they are more inclined to journey to Blackshore to collect the guaranteed reward they already earned from rescuing Ambassador Tul a year ago, and they still have not taken the court up on it's hospitality there. That night they all have strange nightmares.

King Gladomains Tomb (Second Session: July 26th, 2009)

The party has breakfast with the Governor the next day and heads off to explore Gladomain Keep. They find that many of the passages they previously explored have been magically sealed off and collapsed, and one of Mistmeadow's guards accompanies them into the dungeon, advising that they haven't heard from the rest of the watch that explored the lower levels the night before.

When they explore the lower keep they find signs that a great battle took place between unknown forces, presumably the Drow, and Mistmeadow's guards. The corpses of city guards lie all around the corridors.

Several levels below the ruins they find a portcullis and Whosis Kid, the thief, sneaks through to find a lever to open the gate. On the other side he sees the Barghest they encountered the other day along with a carrion crawler, a centipede, and a ghoul feasting on the corpses lying about in a large adjacent cavern. Whosis open the portcullis, but the loud sound of it opening attracts the carrion crawler who advances towards the rest of the part. Whosis kid slams the portcullis shut on the carrion crawler, pinning it to floor where the rest of the party can focus on slaying it. The barghest retreats to an adjacent passageway.

The centipede is destroyed by a Drow named Doomspider, who says he was trapped in this part of the dungeon when a passage collapsed and he has no quarrel with the party. Against the protest of the city guard accompanying them, the party chooses to leave the Drow be. They slay the ghoul who is still eating corpses and move on to pursue the barghest.

They find the barghest trapped in a small antechamber where rubble has sealed the only route of escape. The barghest warns them not to approach, and when they party moves forward he draws a magical golden dagger and draws his own blood, summoning the slimy black, acid drenched demon called a babau, that they saw with the barghest the other day. The barghest orders the demon to defend him.

The party focuses their attacks on the barghest, and when he's slain, the babau picks up the dagger and holds it out to them as an offering. Kodrus, the Minotaur accepts the blade and become the new master of the item, which is called the dagger of Tanar'ri, and will allow the user to summon a Tanar'ri to do their bidding. They also find a golden idol of Tanar'ri which will allow them to open a gate to the Tanar'ri's homeworld if they so wish.

The party moves on down the corridor. Doomspider is too afraid to enter the lower level of the dungeon because of a beast in a pit that he won't speak further about. They leave him behind and move on into the lower level where they find a room with a giant well. The passageway leading to it and the columned room beyond the well area all have heavy metallic webs everywhere.

As they move past the well they see some humanlike figures trapped in the webbing. When they cut them free the awaken the Kruthik Hive Lord, a great metallic insectoid beast that rises from the well and belches acid all over half of the adventurers. They drive the Kruthik back into the pit badly injuring it after a furious battle.

When all of the webbed prisoners have been freed they find among them two more missing guards and Ambassador Tul, a diplomat from Blackshore who was on her way to a regional defense conference at Blackshore. She says that the party will be handsomely rewarded and enjoy the Duke of Blackshore's hospitality for as long as they wish to stay the next time they are in the area. The party has the city guards watch the ambassador and they all proceed into a larger area ahead of their current location.

They move past the columned area and webbing to find a large subterranean throne room with a stairs, huge burning urns along each side, and a giant dragon skeleton lies on the floor. Sitting on the throne is the skeletal King Quotumal Gladomain and his also dead Queen. Two skeletal guards stand motionless on either side of them.

The party approaches and Ilmak the swordmage offers a greeting and says they peacefully wish to remove the crown for Mistmeadow and depart. The court remains silent until he grasps the crown, at which point the King comes to life and attacks him.

Kodrus the Minotaur uses the blade of Tanar'ri to draw his own blood and summons the Babau. He orders the Babau to attack one of King Gladomain's wight champions. King Gladomain takes on a shadowy form and shadows dance around his form causing damage to any who stand near him during the fight. Garret the cleric defeats Queen Gladomain, a zombie, then turns to help his friends. Garrick the mad uses his spells to take out one of the wight guards. Ilmak, Kadrus, and Whosis battle King Gladomain until he is banished and his armor and weapons clatter to the floor - his shadowy form retreating along the walls and then disappearing forever.

The wight champion and the babau fight a long drawn out battle until the Tanar'ri is finally victorious. Kodrus tells the Tanar'ri he is free to leave at which point the babau says that for his service he must be granted something and he requests they allow him to eat ambassador Tul. Kodrus refuses, breaking the pact forged by his blade. The babau attacks him and the entire party surrounds and eventually defeats the foul creature after a long exhausting fight.

When the babu is defeated, a figure emerges from the shadows and introduces herself as Lady Xyrlynn, a mercenary and adventurer. She says she wishes to purchase the Hand of Glory, an artifact worn around the neck of King Gladomain, now possessed by the party. She offers a significant reward. They say that they will think about her proposal and set a meeting time and place with her one week from the day. She departs and they return to Mistmeadow to collect their reward.

Now that they have the crown, the Governor asks them to journey to the Sybarite Isle of the coast of Lighthedge Point to the north, on a quest to find his Daughter Juliana who disappeared with her lover Orlando two years ago. The Governor has sworn an oath never to accept a crown, but his daughter is next in the line to receive the crown now that they party has recovered it.
The party accepts the offer and celebrates their good fortune. Whosis kid picks up the Teifling barmaid from their favorite drinking establishment The Singing Maid.

Garret the Cleric of Ioun sets up a museum to study the mysteries of death and undeath and recruits an Aasimar to guard it. He invites acolytes from the nearby temple in SummerSpring to come and study at his new sanctuary.

Gladomain Keep (First Session: July 5th, 2009)

The party of adventurers travels from their home in Ironview to deposit their late master Ottian ashes at his birthplace, the ruins of Gladomain Keep, a ruined castle outside the small village of Mistmeadow. The party is composed of four adventurers: Ottian's wizard apprentice Garrick the Mad, Kadrus the Minotaur Barbarian, Ilmak the Goliath Swordmage, and Whosis Kid the Halfling Rogue.

They enter the city of Mistmeadow and travel first to the Elven tavern called the Kindly Knight, where they are asked to leave by the locals who do not wish to mix with non-elven kind. They then head across the street to the much livelier and more welcoming Singing Maid Inn.

While in the Tavern the party hears the story of King Quotomal Gladomain who ruled a hundred years ago. He once ruled the surrounding cities, but his kingdom collapsed mysteriously when after an expedition he made to the underdark to expand his kingdom's influence. When he returned to the surface to crown himself lord of the world above and below, the elves and men in his kingdom started fighting and he retreated to the dungeons beneath his castle, never to be seen again.

The party hears that there's a regional security conference going on between Blackshore and Ironview. Also, there's a festival celebrating 100 years of friendship between the neighboring towns Lighthedge Point and SummerSpring. Last, the known assassin and bandit, Ezak No-Hack has been seen skulking around the area and there's a 10,000 platinum reward on his head.

The party departs for the ruins by the crossroads at dawn. On the way, they encounter a party of good adventurers from Lighthedge Point who recognize Garrick the Mad from his youth. These adventurers greet the party: Yllallae Serpenthelm the half elf ranger, Grayward Shortcloak the halfling fighter, Thoven Diamondeath the dwarf warlord, and Fhahana Silverkin the human rogue. Fahahana tries to steal a magic item from one of the party members, but fails as she brushes past. They continue on their way.

The party approaches the ruins of Gladomain keep through a dead orchard, finding a tunnel dug into the hillside. Whosis Kid advances boldly into the darkness, exploring the passageway. He finds a small opening adjacent to the passage and is attacked by a monitor lizard. The monitor lizard retreats into it's lair and Whosis Kid rushes back into the passage. He advances back into the animals lair with Ilmak and Kadrus, who assist him in dispatching it.

As the rest of the party deals with the monitor lizard, Garrick the mad hears voices outside the passageway in the dead orchard. He sees a patrol of three bugbears move up towards the passage entrance sniffing and examining it. Garrick retreats back down the passage and lets out a powerful magical blast that singes the three bugbears. Enraged and surprised, the charge down the passage towards the party.

In the ensuing battle, two of the bugbears are killed, but Ilmak, Kadras, and Whosis Kid are knocked unconscious. Garrick the Mad battles the last bugbear to the death and survives to revive his injured friends.

The party rests in the monitor lizard's lair after disposing of the bugbear patrols bodies. Then they move further into the complex. They find a small guard outpost where an Orc and Goblin are playing cards while their Troglodyte friend is sleeping in the corner. Whosis Kid creeps into the room and bloodies the Troglodyte who awakens and attacks. The rest of the party advances into the room and dispatches the guards before they can raise the alarm.

Beyond the guardpost they find a spiral staircase to the keep ruins above. They ascend the stairs to find a ruined tower adjacent to a wishing well and a giant statue of a five headed dragon with smoke coming from some of the mouths on the statue. In the moonlight the party is greeted by Garret, cleric of Ioun, and friend of Ilmak the Goliath Swordmage. Ilmak invited Garret to preside over the spreading of their masters ashes, but they missed him at Mistmeadow. Garret joins the party.

When they dump the ashes from the jeweled golden skull they are contained in, they swirl around in the air with a magical brilliance and then take the form of their master Ottian who thanks them for bringing him back to his birthplace one last time so he can take in the view before setting out to explore the astral plane. He explains that if they need his assistance to call on him, but not to trouble him with mundane affairs or he will be displeased with them.

The party returns to explore the dungeon below the keep. Beyond the spiral staircase, they find some relics in a columned passageway and learn more about the history of the Kingdom of Quotomal Gladomain and the magical Hand of Storath that he wore around his neck. The hand once belonged to a powerful master theif who was later captured and hanged. A necromancer severed the hand and enchanted it, and it has magical powers in the possession of any who wear it, but the powers appear to vary widely depending on the individual who has it.

Beyond a curved tunnel with arrow slits along one wall that spill light into the passage, the party sneaks up to a door and eavesdrop on a conversation among several bandits inside. The bandits are addressed by someone with a drow accent who refers to throwing captured ambassadors to "The beast in the pit" and talks about their leader Lady Xyrlynn. The party makes some noise in the passageway and the bandits are alerted to their presence.

The bandits take up positions behind the murder holes to the passageway and begin attacking the party members in the hallway. Garret grabs one of the glaives the bandits are using to attack them in the hallway and heroically turns it on his attacker. Meanwhile, the rest of the party members force their way through the down, battering it down, and attack the bandits inside.

Though the drow has fled to scene, the party does defeat the remaining bandits and they capture Ezak No-Hack, who begs for them to spare his life and return him for ransom. The party obliges and ties him up to return to Mistmeadow and collect their reward.

On their way back to the city, the party passes the crossroads and notices that the local guard of Mistmeadow has hanged some bandits from posts. A goblin is climbing up the post and feasting on the flesh of one of the corpses. When one of the party members objects and confronts the goblin, it transforms into a fearsome barghest. Two demonic creatures appear next the barghest out of thin air, a Cerebrilith, and a Babau, and they cast a circle of darkness in all directions around the area. The party retreats from the scene and the creatures, and runs off towards Mistmeadow in the morning light.

When they arrive in Mistmeadow, the party give Ezak No-Hack to the Mayor of Lighthedge Point (who is visiting the Governor of Mistmeadow) for a 10,000 gold reward. The Mayor pays them and takes Ezak prisoner. The Governor of Mistmeadow sends the city guard into the ruins of Gladomain Keep to set up a perimeter and explore the area. He offers the party a reward if they agree to explore the rest of the keep and if they find King Quotomal Gladomain's legendary Crown of Commanding, he would like them to return it. The party agrees and spends the night at the Governor's mansion, intent on exploring the rest of the dungeon the next day.