The Daarkening of Goblins

James as: Rookwood - Male Dwarven Totemist (Magic of Inarcnum)

Matthew as: Zhray – Human Wizard

Ron as: Durgall - Male Dwarven Cleric

Joe as: Daarken – Male Shifter Swiftwing Ninja

John as: Lorash - Male Human Druid

and: Mort - Wolf Animal Companion


The party has a new member join it, Daarken the Ninja, hired to find and remove obstacles.

They are sent a note by the captain of the town guard

“I would like to meet with you at the Town hall to discuss a very important matter. Please come at your earliest convenience or send notice that you are unable to attend. - Terson Skellerans”

He explains that goblins have been vandalizing, steeling, and robing and he’s offering a bounty of 5gp per ear brought back.

After determining that the goblins had hit a couple of warehouses, the party investigates finding that at one warehouse only cushions were stolen, and a single box broken. They find however that the box had goblin scribble in chalk on it. Taking it to a Scribe they get it translated to “Drakthar owns this.” Investigating the other warehouse they find that the goblins had rearranged all the crates into a pyramid. Daarken climbing the outside wall, finds that there were scribbles similar to what he had seen on the bottom of the previous box around a skylight.

Rookwood checks back at the other warehouse’s roof, and find a game of tick-tac-toe on the roof in chalk. Mort is unable to pick up a scent at either warehouse. They decide to stake out the 3rd largest warehouse that night. No signs of goblins that night. The next eve they decide that asking the guard where any goblin attacks have been that night would be more fruitful. Lorash takes Mort to the last attack site, a stable near the north wall, with graffiti on it. Mort is able to pick up a scent there, and they follow it back to Orak’s bathhouse.

Not finding a good vantage point on the back door, he decided to get the others together, they go back, but as they are about to break in, they realize there are some shady people watching them. Lorash points at one, who whistles an alarm, as they charge the party changing form to wererats. Rookwood downs an enlarge person potion, and provides the obvious target for them. They try to gang up on him, but to little effect, as the rest of the party pounds them with spells silver. However Rookwood and Lorash were bit during the fight. No one knows if wererats are even contagious, so they shrug it off, and enter the bathouse.

The water in the bathhouse is unusually fresh and clean for the city., and the party finds a magic pot in a strongbox in the office after much difficulty opening it. They open another door which leads to a stairwell descending into some Dwarven tunnels. Rookwood leads the party into an ambush and gets pincushined in his armor’s chinks by a group of sneaky goblins, but Zhray using his wand of sleep eventually has them all snoring and easy pickings after a short running firefight.

Rookwood finds a hidden cache of alchemy supplies and valuables, in a further room, and again gets pincushioned by a pair of goblins. Capturing one, Zhray attempts to charm it, but it fails. They manage to get it to agree to lead them to it’s leader by threatening it’s life, and an offer of gold. They are taken into a large natural passage which slopes further into the darkness.

The party hears the breathing of a large animal ahead, and asks the goblin what’s ahead. On the spot he replies “Ambush”. Prepared for it, once again Rookwood using a potion of enlarge person, they make quick work of a large number of goblins, and one worg and it’s rider, 3 flee down a raised passage, and Zhray convinces one to surrender, while a spellcaster lies curled up laughing on the floor due to his magic.

The Children Rescued

James as: Rookwood - Male Dwarven Totemist (Magic of Inarcnum)

Matthew as: Zhray – Human Wizard

Jeff as (filling in for Ron as): Durgall - Male Dwarven Cleric

Jeff as: Mothoopal – Male Gnome Sorcerer

John as: Lorash - Male Human Druid

and: Mort - Wolf Animal Companion

One of the Halflings rescued from slavery, a rogue named Mary, draws the party a map of what she knows of the Malachite Fortress. Armed with this information they descend to the Malachite Fortress again.

Surprised by a guard of 8 Hobgoblins behind a makeshift barrier in the wide hall where they had lost Jax, they fight the group, Zhray starting off with an arcane burning hands, setting the barrier aflame, and some of the Hobgoblins as well. However this attracts all the fire of their javelins and Zhray goes down. Shortly after several of the Hobgoblins fall from the flames as well, ones head falling into the burning barrier with a sickly smoke coming from his cooking flesh. In their damaged state, the rest of the party makes quick work of them and heals Zhray, and continues on.

They decide to go after the barracks first. They pass through the forge they had discovered earlier, and out into a hall complex with an intersecting hall and many doors all around.

As they reach the door supposed to house the barracks a pair of Hobgoblins at the end of the crossing hall spots them and shouts a warning “Intruders” and banging on the doors behind them.

Zhray casts a mirror image several of himself appearing around him

Lorash reminds Rookwood that there is supposed to be a pit between them and that area, but Rookwood doesn’t pay attention, and runs over the pit attacking the Hobgoblins, somehow the pit doesn’t open.

Lorash opens the door door to the barracks and rushes in with Mort and Durgall to take care of the Hobgoblin guards there before they can ready themselves.

Zhray unable to get a clear shot anywhere and worried what might be behind the other doors in the hall opens the door opposite the barracks trying to get a look in. He sees a bedroom and two fleshy mounds, which form vaguely humanoid shape and lumber toward him. He closes the door before they get to him.

The Hobgoblins in the barracks and the hall are taken care of while the fleshy mounds pound on the door, too stupid to use the latch. While Zhray covers the door they pound on ready to burn them should they break through.

Two more hobgoblins enter from the way the Heroes came, attacking the two undefended arcanists. Rookwood waits for the door to open on which the two hall guards were pounding, but it doesn’t

Mothoopal takes a bad sword slice from one of the hobgoblins, but Zhray just laughs as the other hobgoblin slices an illusionary duplicate. Durgal comes out and interposes himself with the two hobgoblins and downs the first, as Mort harries the second.

After finishing off the two last hobgoblins Rookwood sets the leavers to disable the pits and runs back to the rest of the party.

They open the door to the room with the fleshy mounds, and a long slow battle ensues as the mounds don’t burn, and are so tough and rubbery that their weapons have little effect. Eventually the mounds are worn down and the party wins. Durgal and Lorash heal the party from what wounds the nasty claws of the mounds inflicted on them.

The head over to the doors beyond the pits that were guarded, and attempt to break in. It takes a good minute of pounding. They come on to the scene of a dwarf with warty green skin with a pet dog the size of a horse with quills finishing the sale of three manacled children to a grey-skinned dwarf with horns.

The warty dwarf demands what the party’s purpose is. Lorash responds with “We’re here to buy the children”. The dwarf says they are already sold. Lorash offers to double whatever their price was. At 150 gp The grey dwarf agrees to take this offer, but the warty one says he hasn’t been paid yet. They get into an argument, and the warty dwarf attacks the grey one.

Mothoopal magic missiles the dog, which attacks him. The party helps the warty dwarf win against the grey dwarf, but turns on him as soon as the other dwarf is down. As his wounds close quickly, they realize he’s part Troll, and very difficult to kill. Eventually they win, but it was a close thing, sure they couldn’t have taken both part dwarves together.

They find a key on the body of the warty dwarf to the children’s manacles, and take them back to the orphanage, when dropping them off, they find that the fourth child was taken by a floating ball of eyes just before they entered the slaver’s chambers, but was dropped off at the orphanage by a veiled woman. They checked the children for any magical signs and find that the one returned by the veiled woman has an invisible sigil on his cheek which looks like an eye with an arrow through it. They are rewarded for the return of the children by the church.

The spellcasters take 2 days to prepare magics to go back down and find the rest of the missing people. During this time they investigate the symbol found on the child’s cheek. Zhray once again meets a half-elf who knows something about it. He won’t tell him much except it’s a symbol of a group he too is investigating called the cagewrights, and that they may be behind the Last Laugh, and the kidnappings. He would have to talk to his employer before revealing more.

When they return to the locksmith’s house/shop they find it in ruin, a hole where it had been. Asking around they find that another group of adventurers, ‘The Stormblades’ had collapsed the tunnels to prevent any more incursions from the underdark.

The party decides to investigate who the Stormblades are, and find that the Stormblades are investigating them as well. Finding them at a local bar, they confront the Stormblades.

The leader of the Stormblades insults the party calling them ‘Smelly’ and deriding them for leaving the other kidnap victims so long. Rookwood retorts, indicating that the stormblades just showed up at the last minute to take credit for all their hard work.

Rookwood and the leader of the Stormblades take it outside, despite the protestations of other party members of both parties. The Stormblade’s leader can’t lay a finger on Rookwood who just dodges him, and doesn’t even attempt to hit him back. Rookwood insults his fighting ability, repeatedly. The Stormblade’s leader runs off humiliated, as the rest of the Stormblades spit up.

Jax's Sacrifice

Joe as: Jax - Male Human SpellThief (Complete Adventurer)

James as: Rookwood - Male Dwarven Totemist (Magic of Inarcnum)

Matthew as: Zhray – Human Wizard

Ron as: Durgall - Male Dwarven Cleric

Jeff as: Mothoopal – Male Gnome Sorcerer

John as: Lorash - Male Human Druid

and: Mort - Wolf Animal Companion

The heroes ascend once again to Cauldron, and rest and heal. Hendall leaves them on an important mission for the Church.

Once again they descend. They decide to wait no longer having destroyed all known threats in Jzadirune. Choosing between searching for a key to the elevator, or going through a hall that is known to be trapped they decide to go the quicker way.

Jax carefully explores every foot going forward expecting a trap. At the end of an apparently dead end hallway he finds the pit, but is unable to find a way to disable it from above. And cannot find the hidden door that the charmed skulk marked on their map. He ties a rope around his waist with the two dwarves holding it and letting out slack as he inches forward.

The pit opens below him, and drops him to just above a wooded room with spiked walls. The room swings on an arm toward him, he manages to pull himself up enough not to get hit by the walls swinging by. The pit lid closes above him leaving him hanging and stuck just where he can’t get to anything. Trying to get the pit open again Lorash and Rookwood lean on the pit lid doing push-ups at its edge.

The pit suddenly opens again just as the moving room at the bottom returns to the upright position surprising both Lorash and Rookwood. The sudden weight is too much for Durgall and the rope slips through his hands. The rope gets stuck on Lorash and drags him down, with it and Jax, while Rookwood being a short top heavy dwarf topples into the pit as well.

Once again the pit lid closes on the half the party that fell into it. The pit swings down so that it’s spiked wall becomes the floor. All still barely conscious but badly battered. The pit rises up again so it’s bottom is now facing down. With Jax’s last ounce of conciousness he calls on his draconic blood’s power and teleports to the gear chamber below the pit, but falls unconscious as he does so. Rookwood & Lorash brace themselves against the side they assume is going to fall down, which it does. It comes up once again as they brace on the opposite side again, and it falls down again. It comes up one last time, and stops, they shout up “Don’t open the pit!” as the remainder of the party discusses what to do.

Zhray decides to cast a spell that makes him climb like a spider, and walks on the wall around the pit looking for the still concealed hidden door.

Lorash and Rookwood start to work on the wooden floor of the pit breaking it open. Durgall pulls out his spare rope and has it ready, while Mothoopal ties one end of it to a wall sconce hopping that will prevent it from being lost should something happen again.

After getting down to where Jax was Lorax heals him, and Jax disables the gears of the pit and open the pit The climb back up to the pit and yell to be let out.

Zhray jumps on the lid and opens it while Durgall throws the end of the rope down. Zhray stuck to the lid walks vertically up the side. Zhray starts looking for the secret door again. Finding it he opens it. As the door pivots out, four Hobgoblins waiting and ready to attack toss javelins at him, and he slumps, his sticky hands still holding him onto the door.

Jax tries to climb out first but the pit door has closed once again, and the way his weight is distributed on the rope it isn’t enough to open it, Rookwood climbs up on the rope as well, the pit door opens again, but the weight is too much for Durgall. He slips to the pit edge. But somehow manages to hold on this time, and brace the heels of his feet against the door edge.

Mothoopal creates a fog around the party, obscuring them from the ranged attacks of the Hobgoblins. Still able to make out Durgall, and seeing him as an easy target they spear him, but he shrugs it off.

Rookwood climbs out with a swing at him from one of the Hobgoblins, while Lorash takes up the bottom of the rope to keep it taut.

Rookwood barrels into the nearest Hobgoblin pushing him back into the elevator room, and giving him room to take them on.

Lorash and Jax take the edge of the pit at the same time to ensure it stays open long enough for them to get out.

Finally free of holding the other Hero’s rope, Durgall enters the fray with Rookwood and the hobgoblins. Lorash heals Zhray, still hanging to the door, while the dwarves make short work of the Hobgoblins.

Durgal and Lorash finish healing up the injured heroes and then descend the 200 feet the elevator takes them to the Malachite Fortress.

Opening the door ready for anything they find a long wide hallway with several pillars, and a strange rock formation with long crystals jutting from it. Rookwood suspecting something goes up to it and licks it. It tastes just like rock should so they leave it be, searching the room. They head for a door at the south end of the hall, but when everyone has past the sculpture it comes to life and attacks Durgall. Rookwood goes at it with his claws and tears large chunks off of it until it no longer moves.

Just then the door in the south end or the hall opens and an Ogre peers out. The party fans out and hits it with ranged weapons as Rookwood tells them not to approach it. Jax damages it badly, and it takes off after him, hitting his head like a ball, his whole body bounces off the wall in a mess of gore, as it slides down. Rookwood carefully approaches the Ogre not giving it an opening, and cuts it to pieces while his totems protects him from taking much damage from it, while the Arcanists peper it with spells, and the rest of the party attacks with ranged weapons.

Durgall checks Jax, but finds him quite horribly dead.

The party quickly checks for any treasure, but finds none, and retreats back to Cauldron with Jax’s body. They find that for whatever reason the lifegiving magics don’t work on him, weather his soul has moved on or the gods don’t wish to grant him life again they do not know.

They rest up from their deadly day, and return again to the Malachite fortress without their Spellthief.

Rookwood takes the lead, carefully searching every inch of the way, and finds a secret door in the wide hall. Going down it they come to a dead end, Rookwood refuses to believe that it is just a dead-end hall, and searches for 5 minutes finally finding a secret door. It leads into a forge, where a chained dwarf works on making weapons, and two Halflings chained to the floor link chains together under the watchful eyes of Goblins & Hobgoblins.

The goblins rush forward and start fighting the party, as they bunch together in a line, Zhray lets loose a fire spell which badly hurts the lot of them, as well as injuring the dwarven smith. The party has little work to finish off the goblins at that point. They heal up the dwarf, free her, and the Halflings, take the goblins’ equipment, and return to the surface with the former slaves after finding that the dwarf’s husband has already been sold off to some denizen of the underdark.

Zhray Lives Again!

The Cast

Joe as: Jax - Male Human SpellThief (Complete Adventurer)

James as: Rookwood - Male Dwarven Totemist (Magic of Inarcnum)

Matthew as: Zhray – Human Wizard

Ron as: Durgall - Male Dwarven Cleric

Jessie as: Hendor – Male Half-Orc Paladin

Jeff as: Mothoopal – Male Gnome Sorcerer

John as: Lorash - Male Human Druid

and: Mort - Wolf Animal Companion

The Heroes make short work of the Dark Ones that ended Zhray’s life. Rookwood finds a secret door, but in their beaten state Rookwood and Lorash decide to head back to rest with Zhray’s lifeless body. Meanwhile an uninjured Durgall & Jax investigate what is beyond the secret door. A room with green marble and a mushroom forest painted on the walls and a small hoard of treasure including a an armor stand which they are wary of animating and attacking them. They brave it, and discover no traps laid, and recover the hoard, which is just barely within their limits to carry to the surface.

The heroes meet Mothoopal & Hendor at the Temple of Dol Arrah, who wish to join their troupe. The heroes having been beaten so badly gladly accept the offer. Lorash contacts his coven of druids and is able to procure a scroll of reincarnate with the majority of the treasure they recovered. He fails to grasp the complexities of the spell first time he tries to use it’s advanced magic on the body of his companion, as it fails. Fortunately the magic did not dissipate, and trying again he succeeds. Zhray appears as a human once again in a brand new 18 year old body, gaining a new lease on life, however, she is quite surprised and confused to be a he.

They return to the hidden treasure room and find two more hidden doors, to yet more treasure rooms. The first they investigate holds another stand of mail, which this time does animate and attack Jax. Hendor & Rookwood beat it down quickly. Investigating the chest, Jax finds that it holds invisible treasure, which appears when he takes it out. They tried to take the chest but were unable to lift it from the floor. Investigating the other hidden room they find 2 empty chests, one with a hidden compartment which Jax finds, and another with yet more treasure. Rookwood sure there must be more treasure hidden in the chests, breaks them all up, but finds nothing more.

The group trek through the dungeon, making their way to a room marked as having some big nasty monster by their skulk turncoat. When they get there they discover a mass of webs hanging from the ceiling with a humanoid cocooned in it dangling over a pool of crystal clear water. Two man sized spiders are spotted in the webs. Rookwood & Hendor both enter the pool, trying to find a way to cut down the cocoon. As soon as Hendor enters, he feels a painful fiery bite on both his legs. Mothoopal reacts by creating a mist that conceals him, unfortunately it also conceals everyone in the room, making it difficult to for the heroes to determine where their enemy is, or even what is happening. The spiders drop from the webs above and attack the hapless heroes in hopes of an easy meal. Hendor and Rookwood escape the pool, and a find that the pool is actually an illusion concealing a spider the size of a horse, which follows them out. The heroes manage to put an end to the threat after a short fight, an no further injuries to themselves.

Hendor is healed, and the heroes continue making their way to the other room marked as having a large monster in it. They find a number of interconnected hidden doors and tunnels, finding their way to a workroom with a half-finished gnomish golem, and broken parts scattered around the room. Hendor beats the golem to pieces to make sure it doesn’t attack them at an inopportune moment. While he does so, a body covered in rags rises up from the floor and attacks. The heroes make short work of it, unable to even touch the armored heroes.

Following the rough tunnels they make their way to an alchemy lab not even shown on the map. It’s smashed up with a number of liquids mingling on the floor. As Rookwood approaches the debris flies into the air and tries to attack him. He makes very short work of it. And examines the room finding a number of potions and alchemical supplies still intact. The heroes make a thorough search finding nothing else, but expecting to find a path further on they double check finding 3 more hidden doors. Checking them, one leads to a repository of potions, none are magic however as Jax’s detect magic shows. Zhray examines them further and determines they have found a small fortune in potions ready to be magiced. They gather them up.

Neither other door leads them to where they were headed, so they go back around to where a dark stalker was marked. They do not see him as they begin to filter into a woodshop, as Jax enters, he spots the dark one hiding behind a chest and lets loose a bolt from his crossbow that skewers the surprised creature through the heart. They find another secret door there leading to an antechamber with JZADIRUNE spelled out in a semicircle on the floor before large temple doors. Jax finds a normal lock on the door instead of the (un)usual triangular depression on the other doors, and sets to picking it with tools he found in one of the earlier hoards. After 20 minutes of desperately trying, he finally rolls the tumblers over as the picks strain with the effort. Opening the doors he spots a large temple with a giant glowing gear suspended from the ceiling, and a number of desks scattered haphazardly, as well as something looking to be a giant brain behind a desk on a balcony. He points this out to the party and Hendor charges in.

The brain floats up from behind the desk, a dripping mass of tentacles dangling a full 10 feet below it, and a murderous eagle like beak jutting from it’s front, no other organs or features showing. It zooms over Hendor, and lashes him across the face, then returned to its perch. Rookwood, Durgall, Lorash and Mort charge in making for the balcanies. Mort closes with the monster, but it just grabs the wolf lashing it a number of times, Lorash quickly shares a healing spell with Mort, before the monster tosses him to the ground. Jax, Hendor, and Zhray start peppering it with bolts and arrows, while Mothoopal hides his magic expended. The monster lashes at Lorash, grabbing him and pulling him up, and Lorash goes rigid with the noxious substance in the stings of the monster’s tentacles, while Durgall heals Mort yet again. Rookwood runs up the opposite balcony and tosses a grappling hook up at the monster, landing on it’s brain. The monster wraps a tentacle around the rope and pulls Rookwood off the balcony, but manages to hold on dangling a few inches above the floor. Hendor leaps up and grabs the rope, but the monster just tosses it down along with Lorash. Durgall quickly reacts healing Lorash, and Mort drags Lorash out, back to the antechamber. The bolts from Jax angering it, it heads toward him and the antechamber, as it gets to the wall above the door Rookwood gathers his hook and once again tosses it at the monster. It casually catches it and starts pulling him up toward it. It lashes at him, but his totems protect him. Jax fires a bolt up at it but Rookwood is in the way, fortunately his totems protect him from it as well, as it bounces off his thigh harmlessly. Rookwood held by the monster’s tentacles, uses both his totemic claws to strike at the monster, and destroys it, but falls to the ground from a height of 30 feet.

The Death of Zhray

The Cast

Joe as:	Jax - Male Human SpellThief (Complete Adventurer)
James as:	Rookwood - Male Dwarven Totemist (Magic of Inarcnum
Matthew as:	Zhray - Female Human Wizard
Ron as:	Durgall - Male Dwarven Cleric
John as:	Lorash - Male Human Druid
and:	Mort - Wolf Animal Companion

The heroes escape Jzadirune, going back through the Keygan, the locksmith’s shop. They leave behind the Skulk they tied up. The locksmith is very unhappy about not getting his familiar back, while having possibly alerted the Skulks about someone attacking them. He’s worried that the Skulks will kill his familiar in retaliation. The heroes plan to go back to the temple of Dol Arrah to get healed and regain spells.

Keygan “You can’t just leave him down there, all alone in the dark, and hungry!”

Lorash (the Druid) “Do you have any way to heal us?”

Kaygan “… no.”

Lorash “We’re not going to certain death for your rat.”

The heroes leave behind the manacled Skulk for Keygan to watch over.

The heroes return to the temple, are healed by Jenya the acting high priest, and rest. Jenya seeing their poor condition grant them 3 more potions of cure moderate wounds, and gets an update on their progress, and introduces them to Durgall another cleric interested in joining the investigation. Glad to have more healing they return to Jzadirune, finding nothing changed with Keygan or the captured Skulk.

They explore the hall to the west of the entrance, examining the various runes on the doors there. Exploring the south of the hall Durgall & Rookwood leading the party fall 20 feet into a pit, which promptly closes before any of the rest of the party can react. Before they can get up, the pit itself falls over on its’ side impailing them on wooden spikes on what is now the floor. Being hardy dwarves both still survive, and brace themselves between the spikes ready for anything else that might happen. Zhray starts pounding at the lid of the pit with her staff, to no effect. Lorash decides to try putting some weight on it moving one foot out, putting increasing pressure on it. The lid gives, and both tumble into the pit, 30 feet down into the workings of the tilting pit. Zhray tries to soften her landing with the training she’s had as an acrobat, but it isn’t enough and she falls unconscious. The gears of the pit grind and bring the tilting pit back to an upright position, above Zhray and Lorash. Mort whines at the top of the pit, and Jax tries to find some way to open or stop the trap from above. Durgall & Rookwood seeing the spikes on the other side of the trap go and brace themselves against it, thinking it might toss them that way next. Lorash heals Zhray, brining her back to conciousness, The pit does tilt the other way, but Durgall & Rookwood were prepared, and weathered the fall easily. Jax unable to find any way to stop or open the pit, jumps on top of the lid, opening it. He manages to catch the edge and hangs there a moment before jumping to the workings at the bottom. Even with the few feet the lid gave him, and his nimble landing, Jax is hurt. The lid closes once again, leaving only Lorash’s wolf mort out of the pit. Lorash heals himself. The pit tilts back upright once again. Zhray and Lorash start beating on the workings of the pit with their staves ineffectually, while Jax picks himself up, takes a look over the gears, finds a lynchpin necessary to it’s function and removes it, bringing the pit to a stop above them.

Durgall & Rookwood tear a hole through the wooden floor of the pit and haul up Lorash and Jax. Zhray stays below and starts reading through her spells, telling the rest if they give her some time, she can prepare spider climb and climb out. The rest not wanting to wait that long work on finding a way out of the pit. Hollow gears hold the lid in place. Rookwood takes his rope and flings it through one of the gears, and climbs up, while Lorash chops the tips of the spikes off the sides of the pit so that they won’t hurt anyone. Eventually Rookwood figures that grabbing the edge of the gear will pull it down the lid partially above him. After doing so, Jax takes off all his gear, tries to scramble over him, but falls back to the floor of the wooden pit, unable to get a hold on the lid. . Durgall heals him, and Jax tries again, getting the top edge of the pit this time. He dashes off to a room they’d explored earlier getting cots and trunks to use as counterweights. He doesn’t have a rope to get down to them, and goes back to the Skulk they’d left tied up before, unties him, and takes the rope. Jax doesn’t come back after awhile….

Durgall attached the other end of the rope to himself, and carefully climbed over Rookwood, finally giving the rest of the party a way up. Lorash has difficulty tearing Zhray away from her studies, but does so, and they climb up without further mishap.

Lorash asks Mort to track down Jax. They track him back to the room where the Skulk had been tied up, and find a small pool of blood on the floor. Tracking beyond that they find a chamber with Jax lying face down on a cot, with a bloody rag on his back.

They carefully enter the room, and approach Jax, whereupon the chameleon skinned Skulks there spring from their spots and attack the party, who quickly dispactches them.

Durgall heals up Jax. And Jax opens a chest there, where they find 2 robes and some silver. Rookwood and Lorash don the robes, there is a brief argument between Rookwood and Zhray between who should have the robe, but Zhray gives in, and lets Rookwood have it.

They decide to see if they can find the rat before leaving, traveling the new rough tunnels to a huge chamber with lights floating about it, and a large fountain. Jax leads now carefully scanning the way ahead for traps. They go to investigate the fountain. As they near it, two more skulks leap out from the shadows, one badly injuring Durgall with a precise thrust of his rapier. Zhray casts a charm at the better of the two Skulks, and it’s eyes glaze over.

Zhray yells “Stop attacking my friends! We’re with you!” Meanwhile the rest of the party converges on the other Skulk ending its’ pitiful life. With some further quick talk Zhray convinces the charmed skulk to lower its guard, and that they need to feed the rat that is hostage, so they still have it to control the locksmith. The Skulk takes them through more rough honed tunnels into a small room in which the tunnel comes out in the floor. There is another Skulk there, but with the other skulk, Zhray manages to convince it to let them by.

They enter a room with a chest with a rat in a cage on it. They start to approach the chest, and it starts talking to them, in a language only Rookwood & the Skulk recognizes as Undercommon.

Chest: “Hey if you’re going to feed the rat, feed me first!”

Rookwood agrees tossing it some jerky.

Chest: “I’m still hungry”

Rookwood translates, and the Zhray tosses it a chunk of cheese.

Chest: “I’m still hungry”.

Rookwood attacks the Skulk suddenly, but misses. Then says “Oops, sorry my weapon slipped” Zhray’s magic is strong and the charm doesn’t break. Zhray tries to grab the cage off the chest, but finds it stuck fast. Jax attacks the chest and gets his rapier stuck in it, and can’t free it. The Chest retaliates whipping out two giant tounges which smack Zhray and Jax hard enough to knock them out, and proceeds dragging them to it’s ravenous maw. The rest of the party kill the skulk in the other room and offer it to retrieve the two snacks from the chest. It agrees, and lets them have the rat as well, spitting out it’s two other victims.

They get the charmed Skulk to fill in what blanks it knows about on the map they got from Keygan, including finding that the missing children were sold off to someone down an elevator. They go find the next to last skulk it knows about, finding him transparent, and wearing a wolf suit, they finish him off, and take his treasure, then go to the Skulks treasure room and retrieve their treasure from a moldy rotting carrion crawler, after thoroughly searching the room for anywhere else it might be.

They decide to retreat and rest before going further. Returning the rat to Keygan he’s happy, and sets off to start changing the locks around town so that the keys he made the Skulks no longer work. While Keygan is gone, Larash and Rookwood take the manacled skulk back down to Jzadirune without informing the rest of the party, and dump it down the pit they’d had so much trouble with.

They sell off what treasure they’ve found, and buy some additional healing potions and scrolls from the Temple, and return again to Jzadirune.

The Heroes come to the invisible room with the construct. They stop outside. Figuring they just want to get by, and not finding another way they decide to run across the room one at a time, so as not to be bunched up and provide a nice target for the construct’s scream. A couple get through with no incident, but when Larash and his wolf go, the construct comes to life and screams at them. They manage to get through, and aren’t persued, so next Zhray goes through, but gets screamed at as well. It’s so loud she passes out. Larash drags Zhray around the corner and heals her, while Jax at the front of the line looks for traps and the dark ones they expect in the room they’ve come to. Rookwood goes through, but again the machine screams, he survives the onslaught and gets around the corner though. Durgall goes last but bumps into the invisible machine. He tries to push his way past, but the machine throws him back to the ground. Rookwood comes back and pinpoints where it is and gives it a solid strike, but it just moves off to where it can scream at both him and Durgall. Durgall finally gets through and the party starts fanning out into the room where they are sure the dark ones are hiding, just to get away from the machine.

They are surprised when it follows them to the room, where Zhray gives it the last blow. They start searching around for the dark ones, when they spring on Zhray and pierce her through the heart ending her life prematurely.

Will the heroes survive? Is Zhray really dead? Will the missing children ever be found.

The Adventure Begins

The Cast:

Joe as:	Jax - Male Human SpellThief (Complete Adventurer)
James as:	Rookwood - Male Dwarf Totemist (Magic of Inarcnum
Matthew as:	Thrys - Female Human Wizard
John as:	Lorash - Male Human Druid
and:	Mort - Wolf Animal Companion

A group of intrepid adventurers some traveling from afar, some from near, gathered in Cauldron at the Drowned Morkoth Inn. One night after discussing how to make a name for themselves, get the attention of the Lord Mayor who is known to be hiring adventurers, they decide that walking the streets at night is sure to lead them into trouble. This is just what they are looking for.

After walking through drizzling rain just after nightfall they hear a cry for help down an alley they just passed.

While the main party goes directly toward the noise Jax goes around the back.

Investigating they find a group of 3 men with faces painted black on one side and white on the other. One holding up a beaten young man by his cassock growls "Stay away from the orphanage." Jax and Rookwood also spot a girl hanging off the roof of the alley buildings like a spider, all in black, with a painted face similar to the other 3 figures.

Rookwood takes the lead, demanding to know what’s going on here. The painted men drop the beaten one, backing off drawing weapons, while their leader growls “Bugger off.” Rookwood presses toward them, while the rest follow. Lorash sets his wolf to guard the beaten man. Rookwood demands of the beaten one “What did you do to the orphans?!” Lorash repeats Rookwood’s orginal demands “What is happening here?” The painted ones repeat their demand “Bugger off! Now!” but outnumbered 4 to 3 (including Mort) don’t press the issue. The beaten man says “I didn’t do anything, these criminals just dragged me out of the street, bring them to justice!” Rookwood doesn’t believe him, pulling him up off the ground, and tells him “Stay away from the children”.

The painted men don’t seem to want to fight, and take into the night. Jax says to the girl hanging off the building “What about you?” She replies “Well done, the point has been made.” And skitters across the roof away into the night.

The heroes straiten out the situation from the beaten man, as he heals himself with a spell, finding that the man is actually a holy man from the Temple of Dol Arrah, goddess of light and self sacrifice. That he was investigating the disappearance of 4 orphans, and had just come from the orphanage. He thanks them for rescuing him, although he wishes they’d been a bit more vigilant against the criminals. He does not know who they are. He invites them back to the temple.

In the temple they meet Jenya acting high priest of the temple, who offers them a job to find the orphans which they agree to. Jenya explains she has used a relic to cast divination to try to find what happened to the orphans and got a cryptic riddle.

The locks are key to finding them.

Look beyond the curtain, below the cauldron,

But beware the doors with teeth.

Descend into the malachite ‘hold,

Where precious life is bought with gold.

Half a dwarf binds them, but not for long.

The heroes first start again at the orphanage interviewing all the people who work there. None have any useful information. Jax thinks the Half-Orc Janitor Patch is hiding something, but can’t figure out what it is. Rookwood questions the children, and finds that the only one who has anything is a young child who had a dream of a nasty smelly gnome with crooked teeth trying to give him a kiss.

Not finding any leads at the orphanage, they hit the streets, asking around about the men with painted faces. Zhray meets a half-elf named Farlo in the Drowned Morkoth who says he’s actually investigating them himself for a private party. All he knows so far is they are some sort of Rogues’ Guild that calls themselves “The Last Laugh” that is known to mint their own money with a jester’s head on it.

After the day was over, convinced the headmistress at the orphanage to let them stay the night, for fear more children would be kidnapped. The party broke up the next morning to try to investigate different leads.

Zhray checking the mines, to see if anyone knows of anything that might be a ‘malachite hold’.

Rookwood & Lorash checking out the lake in the middle of town, thinking the locks had something to do with that.

Jax had found that all the locks were made by a gnomish locksmith, and went to his shope. Keygan’s Locks. Jax started asking about the locks in the orphanage, Keygan became nervous, Jax knew something was up. Jax asked him to inspect the locks in the orphanage. After arriving at the orphanage, Keygan took just a glance at each and said there was nothing wrong. Jax confronted Keygan, “That’s all you are going to do? There are 4 missing children here! What do you have to do with all this?”

Keygan broke down “I didn’t know they were going to take children.” “They blackmailed me with my familiar to make master keys for all the locks I’d made in the city.”

Jax “Who?”

Keygan “I… I don’t know, they… There were two kinds I know of, humans who’s skin changes color to match the surroundings, and ones that look like gnomes with hooves for feet. They came from Jzadirune.”

Keygan explained that Jzadirune was the secret enclave of gnomish magicians, which was abandoned when their magic caused them to start vanishing about 75 years ago. The only entrance through his shop, which was his father’s before him.

Keygan explained there is one of the chameleon skinned humans watching him from the back of his shop.

Jax gathered the rest of the party back together, and they went back to his shop pretending to buy something expensive in the back.

The Skulk felt something was amiss, and ran through the secret door before anyone could see it. The party quickly followed descending into the magician’s hold.

They came to a large chamber where laughing, birdsong and music seemed to come out of the walls. They carefully examined the chamber, Jax finding a trap on the odd gear shaped door to the south, which appears to have a triangular depression instead of a keyhole. Jax was unwilling to try to disarm the trap, it appearing to be magical, and beyond his abilities. Lorash spotted the skulk and a couple buddies hiding just on the other side of a partially open door, ready to strike. He quietly informed Zhray, who cast a sleep glamour on them, knocking two out. Rookwood charged into the room trying to get the last, but not in time, it bolted for a rough tunnel in the wall. Mort blocked it off, and it went for the other tunnel. Rookwood chased it down and ended it’s life.

They tied one and manacled the other sleeping Skulk. Awaking both they tried to interrogate them, but they were indomitable. Sneering at and insulting the heroes.

They dragged the manacled skulk upstairs and left him for Keygan to watch. Before leaving Keygan gave them a map his father had, and told them his father told him the place was full of holes, doors concealed in practically every room and hall, which aren’t marked on the map. Jax asked Keygan to re-key the locks in the city he had made, starting with the orphanage. Keygan refused, saying he wouldn’t put his familiar at risk, but would if they retrieved his familiar who he knew was alone, afraid, cold, hungry somewhere within a mile. Jax grudgingly accepted the mission.

After descending again they set off through the rough tunnels that the Skulk had tried to flee through.

They found a strange underground forest room with trees and birds. Lorash investigated, and determined that it was an elaborate illusion.

Then they continued on to a kitchen where two human sized dead spiders lay. Investigating, they were surprised by two Dark Creepers (the hoved gnomes), one of whom tried to grab the sunrod Jax was holding. The creepers clothes came alive providing them some measure of protection, but it wasn’t enough, and the party quickly eliminated them.

Not finding another way out of this room besides through another gear shaped door Jax assumed was trapped they then went back the other way to a room where when Jax stepped in he disappeared. After he stepped in the party heard a gnomish voice say in gnome “Destroy all intruders” which Rookwood was able to understand. A loud grinding sound started, and something attacked Jax, which no one could see. The party fought the invisible thing ineffectually, bumping into it, trying to get past, and throwing flour which disappeared just as they did. The thing screamed so loud their bones shook and brought stars to their eyes. They finally got a glimpse of it as it passed across the room and became visible for a second. A golem with 3’ long rock drills for arms, attached to what looked like a cement mixer for a body. It felled both Rookwood and Jax with a scream, then a crunching gear sound came and it quieted.

Lorash had mort smell out where Jax was when he didn’t respond, and healed him enough to keep him from bleeding to death with his last bit of magic, then searched out Rookwood, and dragged him off through the hall. Zhray went over to Jax, not strong enough to drag him, she found the healing potion given by Jenya, and poured it down Jax’s throat. That brought him round, and they both escaped down the hall before the machine moved again.