The Southern Campaigns

The Writings of Chalyb Sequitor - Part II

Various words from the pen of Chalyb, written by Joshua Caulfield, his player. Hopefully these are quasi-chronological.

Chalyb stretched after his morning exercises, and as he walked over to the others, he took up his coffee and took a long pull. As he tased the coffee he thought to himself, "Either Raphael is getting better at making coffee, or my tastebuds have just given up. Regardless, I won't mind getting a few good meals when we get back to Lope."

Turning to the group he smiled, "OK folks, so what's it to be today? Back through the roof, or in through the iron side door?" After some hemming and Hawing, the group voted on the roof, but Chalyb decided to force the issue and chose the side door. He really didn't want to get caught inside the monastery with no easy route of retreat.

They arrived at the side door, and Raphael examined it for traps. He declared that it was free of traps. So I came forward and checked to see if it was locked. It wasn't, but it was stuck. Sheathing my blade, I wrenched it open. I don't mind saying here that door was damned heavy.

The door opened to a passageway, and we entered cautiously, checking for traps along the way. There were none, and we moved down the corridor. At the end we had two doors, one north and one east. We chose to always go left, and went north.

The next few rooms turned out to be a kitchen and series of pantries/drygoods storage. The was nothing in these areas that we could find.

Moving on into the monastery, we checked the eastern door in the entry hall. Within was a large room, probably an eating/meeting space, and there were piles of bones throughout the room. One large pile in the center. We paced the edge of the room, and about halfway around, a great gelatinous blob rose from the center of the pile of refuse. I moved to engage, but after Donna's magical missiles and Raphaels flame arrows exploded around me, there was little for me to do but use the flaming sword of Sequitor to burn up the still moving parts.

We found nothing else in the rubble after searching it, and chose to move on into the ruins. We came upon another hallway which opened up into a larger room. Feeling paranoid again, I chose to open the doors on either side before advancing into the room. Naturally Ana and Raphael wanted to rush ahead, but I was pleased that they showed restraint and remained with the party. The southern door opened to another hallway, and the northern door opened upon a square chamber with a pile of varying sized skeletons.

We searched the northern room, but there was nothing within. The southern hallway proved to have four doorways leading off into furnished rooms, obviously for the upper clergy which were once in residence here. By this point I saw that Raphaels heart was no longer into searching, so I stopped proceeding with total caution. He was leading the group anyways, so I decided to let him find traps the old fashioned way.

We returned to the smaller hallway and went through the opening into a grand entry chamber. The bronze doors, which were the main doors, were to the south, and the bones were jumbled again. Further examination would prove that there must have been some sort of struggle between some human sized residents and some larger goblinoid type humanoids with canine styled jaws. Though neither the cause nor the outcome was evident to us at the time. The most striking and concerning thing for us was the presence of two standing skeletons at the end of the hall in front of a main doorway. However, they did not immediately attack us, and so we let them be.

We backtracked at this point, much to Balla's consternation. To finish searching the side of the temple we had come from. I wanted to ensure we had cleared the temple at our backs in it's entirety.

We returned to the room where the blob monster had attacked us, and took the door in the west wall. This door opened onton a hallway with a grouping of small chambers. Kentaro pointed out that these were undoubtedly cells for the monks. We began to search them. The first room turned up a pair of giant centipedes, which attacked Balla and Raphael. Both were wounded, and Balla suffered from the poison of the sting. Raphael turned and stomped on his squishing it into the stone of the floor. Balla eventually killed his.

After Van healed them, we moved onto the next room. (I threw the centipede carcasses into a sack for later poison sack extraction, but that proved to be a mistake and they quickly turned into a gooey mess.) The next room turned up a giant spider which leapt onto Balla's back. He cleverly bashed his back up against the wall, causing the spider to fall off. Then he severed its spinal column.

At this point Balla was not so excited to be the target for whatever nasty lurcked in the rooms. I volunteered to go in. Knowing that I lack even the most rudimentary powers of observation, I would go in, stomp around, and then let Raphael search the room. We found Rats in the next chamber and dispatched them.

We found an odd looking halberd in another room, and then we were attacked by a pair of ghouls. I was fortunate to avoid their rancid talons this time, and the fight ended reasonably quickly.

Continuing on, we came upon a few more scorpions, and then a foursome of Ghouls. The first one fell to my blade, but the second got his claws into me and I felt my body betray me and seize up. Though I could still see and hear and smell the foul reek of the beasts, I was not able to act by any conscious means. It was a horrible feeling as the undead thing lifted me and I was dragged off to it's filthy lair.

I saw Balla fall soon after me, and I feared this would be the end. As I was hauled through a doorway, I assumed that my meager life was about to end. I would later learn that Raphael raced around the hallways to get a shot from the other end of the corridor, and Donna's magical bolts brought down the other beast in the hall. However this was all little comfort to me as I watched the ghoul first lap at and then take a healthy bite from my leg. The pain was immense, and not lessened in any way by my inability to act or even cry out in horror and agony. I was grateful that it had suspended most of my functions when it continued to rip off chunks of my body, as this was the only thing which prevented me from soiling myself. I was nearly mad with pain when Donna appeared in the doorway, a kind of halo of light around her, and cast her magical bolts to slay the beast upon me.

When this was complete, they burned the bodies of the ghouls, and Balla and I were piled like so much cordwood for Van to ministrate to and heal. Meanwhile Raphael and Kentaro searched the rest of the cells and found a group of giant rats. Though the battle was difficult they triumphed.

We were removed back to the campsite, Van and Kentaro having expended all their spells for the day. At sawn the next day, Van gathered the group together and performed a mass heal upon us all. We had no food left with us, and had to make the trek back to the mules at this time. Van and I returned to the mules, and came back with food. We also calmed the mules and made sure they would be ok for a few more days. Then it was back into the monastery.

Now having searched the entire west wing of the ruin, we ventured into the east wing. We searched the east wing, finding another set of the priests quarters, and a grand chapel. There was nothing of value other than some statuary. We finaly came to the wyvern lair and the black glass door. After some experimentation, we found that not only was the electric field continuous, it was not actually a door, but a glass covering which etended within the stone of the wall. We believe this covering to extend around the room entirely. Eventually we grew frustrated and went back to the door with the standing skeletons.

After seeing the party was ready for the anticipated fight, I approached the doorway. The skeletons moved to block my path. I tried a few feeble attempts at passwords, and then struck out at one. Thus the battle was joined.

With Balla at my side and the others performing their traditional fighting roles, I felt confident this battle would be over quickly. What I had not anticipated, but should have, was that all the other skeletons would rise up and fight us as well. Thus mass chaos ensued. I must admire Van in this combat, he was clearly in his element. Donna's magical bolts rang out, and a group of mirror images sprang up around her. Unfortunately we were not all so lucky. Balla was knocked to the ground and stunned by a mighty thunderstomp from Kentaro. He would get up from this, but it took him out of the fight for a brief but important time.

Kentaro himself would suffer an unluck strike which severed a tendon in his arm. Van would later treat this, but Kentaro would have to wait the better part of a week before he could be healed enough to use the arm again. With Raphaels help I was able to take down one of the larger guardian skeletons, and then fought for a few minutes before being able to take down the other.

Ana was cornered, and knocked down by Kentaro's blast as well. She suffered many wounds in this battle, but lived to tell the tale. And Raphael was effective with his bow, until a skeletons claw accidentally knocked his bow straight down when he released an exploding bolt. It took out a few skeletons, and hurt a few of the party as well.

More skeletons came from the surrounding rooms, but eventually we were able to take them all down. Then we piled the remains and burned them. Van and Kentaro set about healing the group.

Eventually we entered the door and found another door in front of us. It was trapped with a fire glyph. Raphael was most impressive as he removed small amounts of the working imagery within the fire glyph and the red glow dimmed and went out. Unfortunately, the door itself was wizard locked. Ana let us in, and we all resolved to make sure she remained alive to get us out.

We wandered downwards into the mountain for a short time, then emerged into a large black stone tiled chamber. Apparently, according to Van and Kentaro, a likely place for the preparation of boside before burial. We began to search the chambers off of this room, and found MANY small burial niches, which Raphael and Balla promptly searched. No treasure was found.

Then we noticed Ana was gone. We began to search for her through the tombs. After searchin and tracking, we heard a scream. We followed it and eventually came upon the main entry chamber and saw a great dark figure hunched over Ana. She was shivering and appeared completely drained and exhausted. Donna and I rushed over to her, while the others fanned out along the room. The creature itself disappeared.

Van began a detecting of Evil and started scanning the area. The others all were alert and watching, but to no avaial. Suddenly from the darkness, a flurry of Magic missiles leapt out and struck Van, and the creature became visible in the northern entryway.

We rushed it. And Kentaro used his mighty thunderstomp again. Unfortunately it only managed to knock me down and stun me. However, Donna's magic missiles and Raphael's lighting arrows caused it some severe pain. The beast sturck out, but failed to connect. And the others attacked again. Their wepons though seemed to have no effect. Kentaro, one armed as he was charged his lightning fist and blasted the Shadowcloak twice. The thing was about to turn on him when I regained my feet and struck it with the sword of Sequitor, ending it's existence with finality.

With Ana all but comatose, we retreated again. Pausing at the Wyverns lair to finally decide we would need to learn more about this ruin before we would be able to unlock the mystery of the black glass.

Thus decided, we made our way back to the mules, camped and prepared to return to Lope.

We journeyed down out of the mountain, and made our way back slowly. Donna marked our trip with magical mouths set as Blazes for us to follow in order to come back. We also found that our mule was suffering for lack of grazing, but we were fortunate and found a small valley to camp in which had a ppersimmons tree withing. Van was able to make goodberries from the fruit.

The next day was a waste, and I was afraid for our food supply as we only had 2 days left. But the following day we found a goat and some more wild yams and I was less concerned.

As we headed south, out of the mountains, we suddenly heard a great commotion ahead. A tribe of goblins raced past us. We struck 2 down, but then prepared for whatever they were obviously running from. It turned out to be a giant and two trolls. The following battle was hard fought, and very nearly lost several times. Made worse in that as we were finishing off the trolls, the goblins returned and attempted to ambush us. By the end, Raphael had put an arrow through his brothers knee and all but removed the leg. Van was able to heal the wound somewhat, and splint the leg, but Balla would make the rest of the trip strapped to a travois on the back of a mule.

Ana managed to take a crossbow bolt directly in the chest, which laid her low, and only shortly after her recovery from the Shadowcloak. Van removed the arrow and sealed the wound, but her heart is damaged and needs greater magic for ture healing.

Kentaro, who's arm was restored just prior to the combat, took a mighty slash across his abdomen, which almost ended his life, but again Van was on hand to prevent death. And Chalyb went down in the combat, but was brought back by Van's quick ministrations.

In the end we slew the giant, the trolls and a number of goblins. The giant and trolls had gold and a scroll, and the goblins had some silver, but the best treasure of this encounter in my mind were the goat and wild game that the goblins had been carrying back to their camp from hunting.

With a few more days travel, we found the road. From there we returned quickly to Lope. Releived we had made it home, we all returned to our various homes, planning on meeting back at Donna's that evening in order to distribute the treasure, and determine what steps to take next so we might return and claim the magic items behind the glass door.

Unfortunatly that evening when Van didn't arrive, we went looking for him. We found him at the remains of his farm, which had been burnt to the ground. Quickly splitting up we searched the are, but all we found was a Noose. The Tollkeeper Bandits, it appeared had taken their revenge.

Chalyb brooded over his journal as Raphael started the evening meal. The fire was small and offered little in the way of heat or cheer, and both were sorely needed by this party in these dark woods. Looking around him, Chalyb was sickened by the foul rot, which had seemed to saturate the very land around them. He had a hard time believing that this had once been a fertile and populous valley, but then many things changed, and most for the worst. At least it wasn't raining.

Turning back to his journal he began to pen his wanderings from where he had left off before. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

After returning from the Lonely Monastery I had hoped we could spend only a short period of time researching some clues to get beyond the black magical shroud, which seemed to seal off one section of the monastery from the rest. Also, we had left abruptly and not performed a thorough search of the crypts where we encountered the foul Wight, which had played with Ana's mind like the strings of an instrument. Beings such as that tended to hoard the wealth they had so often coveted in life, and it would be a waste to leave it lying about.

I was quickly turned from that path upon our return to find that Vanlenlo's home had been burned to the ground. Van thanked his "Goddess" Eria that his family had not been harmed. Naturally, we immediately set off in search of the perpetrators, but the incident had occurred some time before our arrival, and the trail was long since cold.

We dispersed, each to his tasks, gathering again routinely to keep each other informed and with the goal of learning more about the current happenings in and about Lope. Van apparently received many berating hours from his wife, who had taken their family to her brothers home. Both she and the members of his order we less than appreciative of his time away. And our haul from the temple was not enough to pay for the rebuilding of his home.

During our initial time home, Van took Ana and Balla to his order for treatment of their more severe wounds. Ana's chest had already begun healing, and apparently her heart was damaged somewhat more permanently than we had at first suspected. What this would mean on the road, only time would tell. Balla on the other hand had received his wound at the hands of his brother. His leg was mending, and the bone was broken and reset to allow him to be able to walk on it. Unfortunately the process had left his leg somewhat sensitive and occasionally it would give out.

The time we spent in Lope would quickly prove longer than any had immediately anticipated. Upon our return and division of the profits of our Journey, Ana and I engaged in a heated argument about leadership and commitment to the group. I allowed my temper to rule me and said some things, which were perhaps less than appropriate. After tempers cooled, she and I came together and resolved our differences. I have to admit, that even in the face of my fury, the little girl did not back down. You have to give her marks for courage. Especially since Kentaro was expecting to have to stop me from throttling her at the time.

We spent three weeks in Lope searching about and preparing for whatever might come next. During that time each member of the group took measures to secure their own estates. For my part I retained Juro, one of the young guards we had hired to watch our camp during the expedition to The Bronze Tower of Tranto. He proved a welcome companion, and we took meals together, and I began training with him in the mornings as part of my exercise routine. He remains at my house to oversee things and keep it intact for my return.

During our time to ourselves I had gone and acquired a fine Buckskin Winter coat, lined with fleece, and comfortable enough to fight in without being too lose to impede my movement. As I had learned it ALWAYS rains in Lope I also obtained a fine weatherproof cloak to wear over my armor and traveling gear. The proprietor reminded me of the holiday, and although I am not a religious man myself I know the customs were to provide friends with gifts to celebrate the New Year. My companions were as close to friends as I had in the area, so I acquired weatherproofed cloaks for them as well. Each fitted to their size.

I also retained the services of a lovely old woman named Lei. A mondarian housewife, whom I paid a few, coppers a week for fresh bread, milk and laundry services. She is a wonderful source of gossip as well.

Lope had not been quiet during our absence. There were many rumors and stories floating about. An old farmer had gotten into a drunken brawl and then claimed no memory of events; a sea serpent had been seen on the river. (Later we would see its carcass down at the docks caught by a riverboat captain.) Wolves had chased people in the woods, and brigands near the Denshi ferry had attacked caravans.

Our own searches turned up a number of interesting experiences:

One evening as we finished dinner and prepared to leave, Raphael and Balla's most recent "companions" came to the inn seeking their protection, obviously having been roughed up. We followed the road to where the attack had occurred and found markings where their attackers must have headed off to a local campsite known as the Vale. After the Giacomo brothers saw to the safety of their charges, we headed up to the vale and found three men fitting the general descriptions the girls had given, but we lacked any evidence as to their guilt. My training prevented me from whipping them simply because we could have, and through a series of deceptions we got enough information from them that at least she was convinced of their innocence. She did notice that at least one had a strange gray marking upon him, as if some sort of rash. It would not occur to any of us until much later that the farmer who had gotten into trouble had been unable to remember anything afterwards of the inc! ident. Perhaps if we had put these things together sooner much tragedy could have been averted.

Raphael also had an incident with a group of mercenaries. Fortunately I was not there or my own attitudes would likely have left me in jail with the deaths of a few of them on my hands, or of course there is the remote possibility that my death would have been on theirs.

We went in search of this farmer, Kalia Aomori, to question him, but found the house deserted. Upon searching the barn, Kentaro, Van and Balla found a body which erupted into strange wormlike things, which attacked them. During the fight, Raphael and I came back from the manor house at the outcry from our companions, but the farmer and another man, who seemed possessed and covered in gray spots, joined the enemy. Ana would later deduce that this was some form of fungal infestation, but discussions with the Brother of the Order of the Keepers of Eria would reveal nothing.

My timeline grows disjointed, thinking of things so far in the past, so you will forgive me if things that seem so obvious now slipped past unheeded at the time of their discovery.

We continued to investigate the area. Some of Balla's patron's dogs had gone missing, and upon searching them out we found them with the sign of having been attacked by some wild animals. Additionally, we ran into a large pack of what appeared to be wild dogs that bore the fungal gray spotting we had previously seen evidenced only on humans. Combined with the rumors of animals disappearing and acting strangely, it was clear something was afoot.

Kentaro's research with Van of the Archives, and their subsequent restoration of the Order's library revealed some facts about the monastery.

From Kentaro: "Our time going through the Miner's Guild archives was not entirely a waste of time. We discovered a number of records dating from the end of the Mondarian Invasions, roughly 880-890 YOE. Two items caught my eye. The first was a claim made for a granite mine to the southwest. I believe this would place the mining site near the site of the monastery. There are three signatures on the claim. One was obscured by time and decay, but the other two were Captain Kalir Chufar, and the other is Varak Kashai (archivist)."

"The name Kalir rings a faint bell, but the details escape me. Chalyb, does it seem familiar to you? Some kind of Legion rank, perhaps?"

Kentaro's mention of Kalir did, in fact, strike a chord with me. In The late phases of the Mondarian Invasions Kalir was a fairly well respected Legion Captain. He was wounded in battle and after recovering, resigned his commission and pursued a scholarly career. Apparently he began to pursue knowledge of the healing arts, eventually forming a sort of scholarly commune in Gajing (a lost city north of the Lisban Mountains). Some of his healing techniques are still in common use in Legion field hospitals.

We also learned that Tori, a town to the northeast of Lope was building a palisade.

It was during this time that I approached the Keepers of Eria and offered to swear an oath that I would kill no sentient being, nor take violent action upon any living thing for the space of a month. They did not require it, but I took it nonetheless in recognition of the Keeper's beliefs and the amount of magical healing that Van had applied on my own behalf.

We spent some time looking after our own affairs as well. For my part I began looking into the smithy operations in the area, and ran into an old friend:

After returning from the trip to the tower, Chalyb went looking about in Lope for the local armorer. After being laughed at by the militia, he was more or less directed to (one of? or THE) local blacksmith. Coming in expecting some Farmboy who learned how to swing a hammer, he was stunned when he recognized his old friend and mentor (read father figure) Faus Learson.

Faus was a sergeant in the Legion when Chalyb first entered. Recognizing Chalyb's natural abilities in the areas of combat, Faus drilled him harder than the other recruits. As Chalyb mastered the basic training, Faus approached him and suggested that he apply for the legion's Special Tasks Unit, The Spiders! Until then, Chalyb had always assumed that Sergeant Faus hated him, but after that day the two became close. Chalyb frequently went to Faus for advice and support. Faus, while not as strong as Chalyb was certainly smarter, and tried to sharpen the boy's intellect as well as his combat skills. It was Faus who first realized that Chalyb was actually hard of hearing and had poor vision. They went to the keepers to see if it could be remedied, but the Keepers explained that this was natural in some people, and there was no HEALING that could be used to remedy the situation.

Faus retired from the Legion under some mysterious and not spoken of circumstances at a time when Chalyb was away on a mission, and the two never formally were able to say goodbye. Their reunion was a joyous one.

Faus took his pension and came to lope. Tired of the politics of the Legion, he settled into Lope as the Blacksmith, though he frequently will spend some time working with Santo in the Militia training new cadets. (Who fearfully refer to him a MISTER Learson, usually long after their training periods have come to an end.) Faus has made many friends in the area, both via his time with the militia, and his routine interaction with farmers, shipwrights, teamsters, and other people in need of his services. He is an excellent blacksmith, though he is getting on in years and someday in the reasonable future he will likely sell his shop and truly retire. He is seeking a scribe to write his memoirs for him, as he feels he has a lot to say to the world based on his time in it.

Though not a gentle man by any stretch of the imagination, his time in Lope has mellowed him some, and his natural inclination to help people has come out. He never married, though he had any number of dalliances, and now openly courts the Widow Rentin, a feisty older woman who's husband died in a framing accident a year before Faus even got to town. She runs the farm on her own with spirit and determination that has drawn admiration and affection from Faus.

I also spent many days working with Jenna the curate at the chapel of Phenosh where we turned over the two statues from the Bronze Tower of Tranto. She is clearly getting on, and I was pleased to do some honest work for her in and about the chapel. She was helpful with some information about the Source of the Onsho River, where I had been considering taking the party next. She told me of the legends of it being a fertile and well-populated land, ruled by a good king and people. Some great tragedy had struck and the population that could, fled from the cursed lands. Since that time none had ventured there and returned. I smiled at that. They used to say that about the Bronze Tower as well.

During our time, we came upon some things, which made us fear for the safety of the miners in the camp north of Tranto. Our current suppositions led us to believe that the people who had attacked Van's home were doing so in retaliation for the death of the brigand leader. Thus we feared that they might act against the camp as well. When we arrived, the miners were all dead, their heads formed a pile in the center of the camp. The carnage was old, but telling. And we found a symbol of a hand with the ring finger cut off marked into the tree where we had hung the bandit leader.

I am including here for sake of posterity a letter Vanlenlo wrote to me during the weeks in Lope:

Dear Friend Chalyb,

I am at temple at the moment and heavy into rituals missed and researching but I wanted to send you word of what I have discovered based on your notes:

Chalyb as you know of some of the history of my scares relating to my previous wife, the fire could be some revenge from my previous wife family. I do not know enough at the moment to give you a better answer at this time. My current wife is from this area so she has family and friends here and the black mark you speak of I can not see has any barring.

Furthermore I am both cleaning and researching many things in the archives and the moment I find out information I will make that available to you as well to provide to the group. The goals for me at this time are to do all in my power to catch up with the order and make sure I do not neglect my duties. Chalyb being one who understands duty you can appreciate all that is expected. The order will take some time in order to feel all is well. My friend be patience and enjoy life more.

With regard to Kalir who knows but I will ask and I have no real personal information about this person, but with time a light might be sparked.

Please relate theses notes to the fine group of people you have assembled.

Ps Master Fenris asked how were you doing and does it hurt when the storms are approaching and he did something I never seen before he laughed out loud. I am confused?

Vanlenlo

Traveling to the Denshi ferry we explored a strange hole in the ground, which faintly radiated magic. We made friends with several of the lumber camps throughout the region, and had a run in with a pack of were-beasts along the road. We also found a trail of bandits leading into the woods, but lost them along the way.

All these weeks we had spent looking for some clue as to what was going on. Other than finding a jug with the remains of some Balefire at the scene of the burned barn, we had no clues about the location of the perpetrators. In the meantime various factions of the powers surrounding Lope had been making their presence known in town. Speaking with citizens, the council, etc. Meanwhile we could find nothing to work with, and the fear of this bizarre fungal contagion seemed to be growing.

The anxiety and frustration of waiting and having nothing to go on weighed heavily upon me. As leader of our group I took it upon myself to organize another journey. The rumors pointed towards the source of the Onsho as a possible location of the source of the fungal growths. I suggested to the group that we make our way there and see if there was anything to be learned. Although Van was hesitant to leave his family, eventually we all agreed and began our second trek to Denshi ferry.

On our journey up to Denshi we were attacked along the road. Ambushed to be more precise. Bowmen with the aid of magic attacking from cover. When Ken and I charged them we fell into a trap of magically fortified shrubs and undergrowth. Meanwhile a hail of arrows pelted the others.

Eventually I fought my way through. Meanwhile the other stabilized the situation, and Ana and Balla flew over to assist me. The bandits had already fled by then, and we were unable to catch them. Licking our wounds we turned back and headed on towards Denshi. When we eventually arrived at Denshi, we split up. The ladies and Van stayed on the more upscale part of town, while the rest of us headed out to see what we could find at the bars. Ana, Donna and Van would eventually acquire for us an excellent map of the area we were looking to visit. Expensive, but we would find well worth the price.

Meanwhile the rest of us found and questioned the only person known to have ever returned from the Lands Beyond the Falls. He was quite mad, and a drunk to boot. We bribed him with food and wine, and learned little except that he and his party had gone up there and found "The singing birds" and "The trees that moved." Clearly this trek was not going to be a simple as we had originally anticipated.

We gathered our belongings and stabled the horses for an extended stay. Brining only our supplies and the mules we headed northwest along the river and into the mountains.

We came easily to the falls and found that there were areas where the slope was gentle enough for us to climb with difficulty. Arriving at the top of the falls, we found the water dark and foul. Though the Onsho was known as a foul river, here its name took on a new meaning.

We began to make our way in along the river, and soon found ourselves wading through hip deep mud. As if that were not bad enough, Raphael and Balla began to sink, as though the mud were like quicksand. Although Balla retained his calm, Raphael, who I would later learn had been traumatized in quicksand as a child, completely lost his mind. Ana flew out to try and keep him above the surface as I launched a rope out to the others and used the mules to pull them out. Raphael almost drug Ana beneath the surface before she got him somewhat calm and was able to extract him fully.

The rest of the day was lost to finding a dry place to camp and dumping Balla's magically created jug of Ale down Raphael's throat to calm him again. We were covered with mud, and I spent the rest of the day attempting to clean as much of it off as possible. The water appeared so unsafe that we boiled it before using it to clean things, and even then no one dared to drink it.

That evening we were to come upon another deadly surprise. As I finished the second watch with Ana, and we went to Rouse Donna and Balla, we found them unable to be awoken, and some strange roots had grown up from the ground and into their skin. I wrenched Balla up, ripping them from the growths, and shaking him into a groggy state of consciousness. Then proceeded to do the same for the rest. Their skin was perforated with tiny bloodless holes where the growths had been, though as soon as they were freed from the ground, the roots shriveled up and fell off. Once the group was able to move we did so, looking for large rocks we could camp upon and losing another large portion of the day.

Once we had recovered from that trauma, and Van had looked over the group to ensure that there were no lingering effects from the roots, we continued on. We had come to a great lake in the middle of the river, and saw that in the center of the lake there rose a series of odd monoliths, which appeared to rise from the misty black surface of the lack like watchtowers. Circling about these pillars of the damned were a dozen or more giant black ravens a silent watch set by the foul waters themselves if I knew anything about it.

We passed along the southern side of the lake and searched for a place to cross. Finding a place where the waters were more shallow, I began to wade across. Planning on putting a rope on the trees along the other side and then moving the group across, I was quickly overtaken by Balla, who, having his Phenoshian waterstriding boots was dancing along and gently mocking me for having gotten myself wet. I was just about to reach out and swat him when my left foot stepped into a bear trap. Needless to say I screamed.

I had taken the precaution of tying a rope around myself, and the others began hauling me in upon hearing my howl. Meanwhile I set the sword of Sequitor ablaze and hacked at whatever had bitten me. My leg burning and preparing to give way I cleave whatever it was in two before I was wrenched off my feet and onto the land. Meanwhile Balla was walking back when a wake formed behind him and a large mouth appeared to be opening. His brother's arrows deterred the snacker from appeasing its hunger on Balla, and whatever it was turned beneath the water and was lost to our view.

My leg burned as a poison ran through my blood, and I applied a magical healing salve I had obtained in the legions. The pain went away and my leg began to feel better, though I remained on the ground for a short while. (Until someone reminded me of the roots that sought out human flesh.)

We decided to remain on the southern side of the river and skirt around the source of this tributary and head north again.

We sought out a rocky terrain and slept that eve upon large boulders and a stone outcropping. This place was beginning to wear upon my soul.

Traveling on in the morning we came to another lake, though this one was not so grand as the first. Skirting along the side we came to a narrow point. With none of us wishing to enter the water we went single file and cautiously along the bank. It was then that the Crows, which had been circling another set of the dark stone monoliths, drew closer and descended upon us, their intentions clear.

Raphael was impressive. Now fully over his incident with the mud, and likely looking to redeem himself in the eyes of the ladies, he drew down upon the crows and as each of his arrows leapt from his bow, a corbie fell from the sky. Ana released her magical missiles, and Donna let loose with an exploding ball of flame. Myself and Van led the mules to the more secure side of the bank where the land grew firm and wide again.

The crows were quickly dealt with, and it was decided that we should go out and examine the monoliths and the nests upon them. Donna and I were enspelled by Ana with the ability to fly and then leapt up into the sky. Another set of crows came upon us, but I quickly dispatched them. After that Donna and I were untroubled as we examined the nests. Looking through, we found various small animal parts and some humanoid remains. There were a few coins, a ring, and a bejeweled scarab, which we took. Then I set fire to the nests.

Returning, we searched for a rocky outcropping and made camp. Once settled, we examined our findings. The scarab and the ring proved to be magical, and Raphael choose to hold the scarab while Donna retained the ring for the journey.

During the evening we were distracted by motion outside the light of the camp. Several something's were skittering about in the shadows. I went into the darkness to determine what they were, once again leaping over the fine line between courage and foolishness. They leapt up from the forest floor, strange dead white jellyfish-like creatures. As a group we slew them, and saw no more of them that evening..

Later that same night, I awoke to the sound of Raphael screaming. Apparently the scarab had crawled out and attached itself to the back of his hand. It's legs and pincers clamped on him, though the wounds did not bleed. I prepared to hack the thing off, and Raphael's hand if necessary, but Van stepped forward and calling out a prayer to Eria he touched the scarab, and it released Raphael's hand. I went to smash it, but Ana stepped up and convinced me to let her bear it.

The next morning I saw that it had chosen to attach itself to her, but she seemed comfortable with it as it was, and I decided to allow it for the time being. Van having whispered to me that his attempt to dispel it's magic from Ana had failed twice. I fear Ana in getting herself into something far more dangerous than she realizes, but am not currently in a position to enforce my will upon her. Thus I picked up my quill to set these thoughts down. And I 'll be damned if it hasn't started to rain again.

Chalyb stood and rubbed his sore rump. This circumstance of sleeping on hard stone was getting old quickly. Of course the alternative of lying down and never rising again was certainly not much better. After a few exercises and Sword Katas he felt strong enough to endure some of Raphael's coffee and some heated trail bread.

Looking over their rations as he did every morning, Chalyb was concerned that they had spent several days up here now and not even been able to safely cross the river. He would have to keep a sharp eye on their food supply to ensure we had enough to make it safely back, for it was clear there would not be any foraging going on while they were in these accursed lands.

With camp broken they continued on in the direction Balla assured them was west. Raphael commented that there were no normal animals anywhere around. Van also found the lack of traditional plant life to be disturbing. Chalyb just keep looking at the Black water of the Onsho. The same deep black water that concealed the thing that had bitten him and a larger one that had chased Balla. He didn't trust the water, even though both Ana and Donna assured him it was simply darkened by the dead leaves and trees which had accumulated within it over time. They had even begun boiling it in order to use it for cleaning and drinking, though Chalyb had made sure to test it on himself with Van watching over before he let anyone else drink it. After an hour he was still feeling fine, so they had all started consuming it.

Continuing on up the branch of the river, they came upon another lake area. This one contained spires, and apparently nests, but there were no crows about. As it was a good time to break for lunch, Chalyb called a halt. Ana graciously conceded to casting Fly on Chalyb, Balla and Donna, and those three set out to examine the spires. They found a number of coins, but little else, and Chalyb set the nests alight with his sword.

Returning and finishing lunch they continued on. The ground was getting softer and more swamp-like, and the going was slow. Balla noticed that his brother Raphael was getting edgy with the soft ground, and offered to take point for a while. Chalyb suggested that for the time being, Raphael might ride on one of the mules. Raphael put up a brave front, but eventually conceded to riding on Spooky, the lead mule.

Continuing on like this for a time, we eventually came to a point where the branch split further into smaller tributaries. At this point, Chalyb deemed the water reasonably safe to cross. With Balla, Ana and Raphael covering him with bows, and his own sword drawn, Chalyb crossed first. Arriving safely on the other side, Kentaro led spooky across, and the others followed in turn.

Recognizing that they were headed simply into more of a watershed type area, the group decided to head back down the branch and back up the other side. Their map suggested the main branch of the Onsho emerged from other mountains more to the north and there were indications that there were a number of interesting map notations which suggested places for us to look into.

Moving down the length of the river, the terrain remained soft and difficult to travel through. Raphael would periodically switch mules and then give walking a chance. During one point her noticed and pointed out to the group a set of bizarre tracks. As Chalyb and Balla examined the tracks, they saw that a very large creature or group of creatures made this. They noted a trail of them moving up towards the dark shadow that was the tree line.

Donna examined these tracks and had Chalyb stand next to them and take a few steps. Based on that she suggested that they were likely made by something about 2-3 feet taller than Chalyb and roughly bipedal. Although clearly with one leg longer than another or having some form of injury.

Traveling further on we found ourselves in mud yet again as we passed beyond the lake where we had found the abandoned nests. As we continued to slog through it, Chalyb felt Spooky resisting more than usual and turned to find his faithful mule had begun sinking into what could only be a similar type of sinkhole as they had encountered before. Swearing, he attempted to move the mule backwards and lift him out, but almost fell into the sinkhole himself. He called out for help and began fumbling with the rope to try and form a harness to keep the mule above the mudline.

As Van moved in carefully to aid with the mule without getting into the mud himself, Donna raised her hands and gestured at Spooky. Before Chalyb's astonished eyes, Spooky and his pack began to shrink and grow smaller. As spooky let out an astonished bleat, Van and Chalyb found that the now much reduced Spooky was light enough for the two of them to manhandle up and out of the mud. Moving carefully around that spot and through the rest of the mud to higher ground, the party made camp and everyone congratulated Donna on her quick thinking.

Taking this time to break for dinner and cleaning, the party sought out a rocky spot on a hill. As we passed by the lake where the crows had attacked us, Raphael heard a low buzzing sound, and was startled by coming face to face with a giant dragonfly. It hovered in front of him for a moment and then shot off at incredible speed over the water.

Moving into the threes we made our way north up a hill to a rocky area, and set up camp for the evening. After a passable dinner, we set watches and began to pass the night. Chalyb woke the second watch and he and Ana had just fallen asleep when he was awoken to Balla shaking his shoulder.

"This better be good." He muttered.

"Something's coming." Balla said in a hushed voice. "Something... BIG."

"Damn." Chalyb cursed. "Wake the others." He sat up and rubbing his eyes he grabbed his armor and began shrugging it on.

As Balla and Donna moved to ready the camp, Raphael sat up and said, "What's going on." Balla explained and Donna woke Van.

By this time everyone could hear the crashing thud, and none of the group was surprised when something broke through the tree line into the camp. However, none of them were prepared for what they saw. A giant, roughly humanoid figure loomed up out of the shadows. Balla moved forward to meet it with weapons drawn. It appeared that this being was made out of wood.

Balla's dagger flew at the tree-thing, and stuck into the bark. Then it disappeared and was back in his hand, having appeared not to have harmed the creature. Ana and Donna both gestured and bolts of blue and green light arced out form their hands striking the creature. Raphael followed up with Fire arrows as Chalyb struggled with his armor, apparently having put an arm through the hole his head was supposed to go through.

Kentaro held the mules steady and watched, as The tree swung a mighty fist down knocking Balla to the ground. Immediately, Vanlenlo was moving to heal Balla. More magic bolts followed, and Chalyb, finally getting his armor on drew his sword and advanced to do battle. Fire crept up the blade as he moved to engage the creature.

That's when Kentaro noticed the second creature emerging from the trees. Recognizing it would easily get past the group fighting the first creature, he moved to meet it. It was ready for him, and swatting aside his spear it reached in and wrapping its thick branchlike arms around the monk it began to squeeze the life out of him.

Balla fought on bravely, and Raphael's arrows continued to punch holes in the bark like armor of the tree-things. Chalyb was just about to strike it when another flurry of magical missiles slammed into the monster and with a strange cracking sound it broke apart and fell into a pile of sticks and rotten wood. Continuing his swing as if performing a stylized kata with his blade, Chalyb turned his blow and struck the creature holding Kentaro. At the same time the muffled sounds of Kentaro shouting something came from within and a blue flash and crackle of electricity followed. More magical bolts and some blows from Chalyb's sword turned the second creature to a pile of sticks. Leaving Kentaro's unconscious body beneath. Van moved in and set to work, and shortly the party was back in fighting condition. After taking some time to shovel the remains into the woods and let the air clear from the foul stank, Raphael made some coffee which most of the group declined in favor of sleep.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. And in the morning the group followed the river around the bend and north into the mountains. Passing north we came to what appeared to be another branch of the river. We followed this one up, planning on circling around the end of it as we had just done with the previous branch. As we passed along a large lake, something got into spooky, and he bolted for the woods, taking Chalyb along for the ride. After a few yards, Chalyb got his feet up under himself again, and putting a stranglehold on the mule's neck he dug in and tried to ground the mule. The wrestled like that for roughly 200 yards, and then Van caught up and lending his own strength to the cause and saying some soothing words, Spooky came around and calmed himself. Van walked him back, and Chalyb took a little time to get his temper under control again and not kill the stupid mule.

As the party continued, they came to find the ground turning into a swamp. At first they tried to skirt it, but after a quarter mile or so of travel they realized that following the river further would require entering the marshy terrain. Returning to the river the headed into the swamp with Raphael resuming his mounted position.

Traveling in this manner for a time they eventually came upon another small lake, this one having a broken tower extending up from the edge. Roughly 50' off the shore of the lake what was obviously a watchtower at one point still rose from the water. The arch of the doorway poking up just above the waters surface. Donna and Ana conferred, and suggested that clearly the rivers path had not always been thus. The watchtower and perhaps other structures had likely been built on dry land before the change in the course of the river.

It was agreed to investigate. Chalyb and Donna would receive fly spells from Ana, and Balla would use his boots to cross the water over to the tower. Chalyb flew low over the water next to Balla ready to grab him if the large predators they had seen earlier were to arise. They approached closely, and saw no signs of danger. Before going in, Chalyb flew up to the ruined roof of the tower. The insides were a mess, and no ceiling or roof-like structure was present. There was however an odd gray slimy muck clinging to the stone all around the top of the structure. Flying in closely, Chalyb took out a dagger and poked it into the ooze, intending to scrape away a sample for Ana to review. Instead he found his dagger was being dissolved slowly by the slime. "Whoa!" he cried out.

It was at this time took that clear gelatinous tendrils began oozing out of the ruined tower door and window reaching for Balla and Donna. Balla turned and began to run for the shore. Chalyb flew straight up and yelled out to Donna "Fire it!" but she was way ahead of him as always! With a gesture and some mystic words, a small spark flew out from her hand and through the window, exploding into a tremendous ball of flame, which roasted everything inside the tower and flared out through the remains of the door, the windows, and up singeing Chalyb's boots. The strange gelatinous things squealed and collapse, desiccated and reduced to dust.

Meanwhile, Balla's rapid movement had attracted the attention of something from beneath the water, and he suddenly found his leg in the maw of the same type of thing that had chomped on Chalyb previously. Raphael had been watching it all on the shore, and between his arrows and Ana's magical bolts, the thing was shredded, but not before it had ripped a chunk from Balla's leg.

Van dragged Balla ashore, and removed his boot to tend to the wound. Balla, virtually ignoring his own wound called out to wash off the boot and save it from the strange acidic saliva of whatever had bitten him. The he reached into his bag and pulled out a pot of boiling hot coffee and dumped it over the boot, using the liquid to get rid of the acid. Raphael then took the boot and washed it, while Van treated the wound.

Meanwhile Donna preformed a detect magic and found that something below the water was indeed magical. Chalyb volunteered to go and retrieve it, and Donna bestowed a magical water breathing upon him. He dove into the water, searched around, and then came back up for air, having found a skull. Diving back down he came back with a rusted blade. The third time, Donna reminded him that he could breath in the water and that he had a continual light coin on a strap around his neck. Chalyb was gone for a while after that. Eventually bringing back a pile of ancient coins and a rusted metal box.

The day was dragging on, and Donna had done a little scouting ahead, but saw only that the swamp continued beyond her line of sight. Chalyb gave the order to turn back around and head for the high ground they had passed in the morning.

Returning to camp, everyone cleaned up and ate, and then they examined the box. Raphael snapped the lock and opened the box to see a huge pile of mud. Sifting through it they pulled out a red, a green and a black vial. After some internal debate the party decided to sample the potions and attempt to determine what they were. Chalyb sighed and lifted up the green bottle. As the others watched he uncorked the top and began to take a sip.

He never had the chance. The green liquid inside began to bubble and froth and appeared to flow up out of the vial and over Chalyb's arm. He cried out and dropped the glass, which broke on the rocky ground. Pulling at his shirt, he had it off in a moment and they all watched, as the green liquid seemed to seep into his skin. It flowed up his arm, and as he sat watching Van moved forward to examine it carefully.

After a moment, Chalyb calmed enough for Van to look over the arm. The green stuff had seeped into the skin and now appeared to be actually under the skin itself and a part of Chalyb's arm. Van sighed and shook his head. Chalyb began to tear at his arm, but Van stopped him. "Wait, Chalyb. There is little I can do now, but this may not be as bad as it initially appears."

"Wait, he says..." mutter Chalyb. "I'll se e him wait while something crawls up his arm. "The things still moving..." With the others decided it was probably best not to open the other vials at this point. With the chill, Van made Chalyb put his shirt back on and the party settled in for the evening. Chalyb got no sleep that night and was a wreck the next morning.

The party decided to cross the river here, rather than work their way up and around again. Donna reduced the mules and Van flew them and the Party over one by one. On the third trip the group noticed that there was a dark shadow trailing them in the water, even though the fog prevented the sun from shining. Chalyb and Raphael attempted to shoot it with arrows, but to no avail. Having crossed the river the party headed up the other side, but ran into the swamp again and turned back.

Now the group was headed up the main branch of the Onsho. After moving along for some time the group made camp and rested for the night. Ana had created some continual light arrows and Kentaro had placed an animal friendship spell on the mules to try and prevent them from running off. The first trick he had been teaching them was "stay".

The party crossed to the east side of the Onsho using their flying technique again, then traveled north for the better part of the morning. Just prior to noon, they came over a rise and saw below them the ruined shells of what must have been a town on the edge of another lake. More structures rose from within the waters of the lake itself giving further credence to Ana's speculation that the water had changed.

The group broke for lunch and rested here, before moving in and investigating the ruins. The first building they came to was an ancient barn, still in good shape despite 200 years of abandonment. Kentaro pointed out a number of interesting features on the outside, which is probably why Balla was not running inside when the floor beneath him began to groan and fall away. Further review showed the entire floor to be unsafe, and the group passed on to the next house.

When Balla and Raphael opened the door to the house, the leaping forms of four of the pale jellyfish creatures surprised them. Two were immediately on Raphael and two grabbed for Balla but didn't latch on. A brief battle ensued, with the group attacking the creatures and attempting not to kill Balla and Raphael in the process. Donna and Ana's magical bolts did for two and Balla for another. The final one Chalyb grabbed off Raphael's chest and ripped in half.

Meanwhile, Kentaro, again watching for other surprises saw another wooden giant crashing towards them. Moving forward he assumed Venus Flytrap Stance and struck out as the thing neared. A short battle later and the group had a another pile of stinking wood lying n the ground.

Searching the rest of the houses the group found little of interest in the town, other than a keep and a submerged temple. Apparently the stinky trees, as the wood creatures were now commonly being referred to, had actually been living within one of the houses. This baffled the group.

The party decided to enter the Keep first, so as not to be forced to contend with the water right away. Chalyb entered the outer bailey with the other watching over him. Inside was an old silo, a stable, which was more or less collapsed, and the main entrance to the keep. Taking a few moments to check the other structures, and finding nothing, Chalyb moved to the main keep, and called the party up.

Pushing open the main door, the group looked in on what must have been a feasting hall. Entering careful, they found two doors leading to the rear and stairs leading up and down. The party began to search the room, while Chalyb kept watch inside and Kentaro kept watch outside.

Ana found the remains of a tapestry with some odd heraldry still intact. She deduced from the remains that whatever family had once been in residence here had been nobility established from the royal family of the Vichese Empire. Donna found a broken dinner plate fragment, which appeared to have a symbol similar to that of the necklace she had received from her mentor, which had apparently come originally from her mother. Raphael found a spoon with an image engraved on the handle, which bore the same symbol. Everyone except Chalyb immediately began to suspect that perhaps Donna's family line had been associated with this land in the past.

Finding nothing further, the group opened the left hand door to the rear and found a storage area. Searching the room provided little in the way of information or items of interest. The other doorway led to a kitchen, also bearing little to note.

The party advanced up the stairs and Raphael noted that there were tracks here. Balla and Chalyb investigated and began bickering about whether the thing which had passed by was small, like a little boy, or large like a tree thing. When one would come around, the other would change his mind. The party quickly got bored of this and pressed on.

The second level opened to the remains of a sitting room with three doors and stairs leading further up. Opening the first door we came upon a room which obviously belonged to nobility. Searching we found a few coins littering the floor, but little else of interest. Donna scanned the area for magic and informed the group that there was magic in the next room.

So the party skipped that door and opened the third door. This opened to the remains of a child's bedroom. Obviously, once the residence of a young male from the furnishings. Nothing of value was found here.

Opening the middle door carefully, the group found a large room with a huge pile of collected garbage at the end. Chalyb suggested they fireball the whole thing, but was quickly voted down. So entering the room, he and Balla moved to investigate, while the rest of the party except Van and Kentaro took up positions just inside covering the pair.

As they approach the "rat's nest" of garbage, they saw it was once a bed of some sort with stuff piled upon it. As they were about to investigate, a hand reached out, followed by another hand, then a head. A small boy emerged from the mess. But a human boy this was no longer. It's skin a blue/gray miasma of flowing moldy gunk; it began to move forward towards the party.

Chalyb backed up and called out, "Hold we will not harm you if you stand still." But Balla was already moving and lashed out with sword and dagger. Slicing through the skin of the beast, Balla scored a hit, but then the things claws raked out across Balla's chest, exposing his lungs more directly to the air then they were used to. Balla fell. The other lashed out with magic and arrows, Raphael screaming out his brother's name as he fired off three of his flaming arrows.

Chalyb joined in the attack and the creature was knocked down and back. Van was moving in to aid Balla. Meanwhile Chalyb was jumping into the Debris to put out one of Raphael's flaming arrows which had missed its mark.

As the other moved in, Balla was helped to his feet, and he called out, "Take off its collar or it will regenerate." Prophetically, as he said it, the small boy-thing's hand twitched and it rose to its feet.

With Chalyb trying to put out the fire, the others attacked it, and it seemed to be dragging itself towards Donna. It seemed to shrug off the blows, and Donna cast forward her webbing to slow it down, but the netting just slipped off of it and the boy-thing came on.

It was moving slowly, and when Chalyb finished putting out the flame, he turned and saw it moving towards Donna. He drew his sword again and ran to interpose himself between her and it. Actually, that was more difficult than it would first appear, as there were actually seven Donna's standing in the room due to a mirror image spell she had cast.

Chalyb and the thing tussled, and Ana blasted it with some magic missiles. Balla also struck it, and Raphael, and the thing went down again. Chalyb had tried to strike the band around its neck, but the Sword of Sequitor simply bounced off with a clang. Thus when it fell the second time, Chalyb attempted to remove the head to allow for the removal of the collar.

Donna reached in and attempted to dispel the magic on the collar, but to no avail. Ana did likewise with similar results. Van attempted to cast out the evil animating the body, but was repulsed; yet in so doing he saw there were bands on the arm and legs as well.

As Chalyb hacked away he watched in horror as the wounds healed faster than he could make them, and the burn marks simply disappeared. The child rose again and began moving toward Donna. It struck out periodically at the others, but what was the most telling was the foul poisonous stench which laid a number of people low. Van pointed out the other bands to Chalyb, who took the child down again. Now concentrating on removing a leg, Chalyb hacked away as a woodcutter to an old growth tree.

Meanwhile Kentaro, who had remained faithfully on duty outside, entered and went to the bed and pile of garbage and began tossing it about looking for anything that might be keeping the child-creature alive. He would find nothing.

Again Chalyb and the other lashed out at the bands and the body, but the wounds closed and the thing rose again. Chalyb, Raphael and Balla were overcome by the stench and fell to the floor retching. Donna ran from the thing, holding out her amulet to try and draw it off to the side. She summoned spiders, both small and giant sized to protect her, but they fell aside as the thing moved on, ever on to find her. As the party fell about and the murmuring sounds of a fearful retreat built up, the child-thing reached Donna and embraced her with tearful sounds coming from it. Donna, not knowing what else to do gave it a caring embrace and then pulled it from her. As she embraced it in return, it crumbled to dust, leaving the three bands and an exhausted party in its wake.

Chalyb rolled over into conciousness. He had been dreaming of being home, safe in his warm comfy bed. But as his eyes opened and slowly focused on Balla's boots which were in front of him, he knew that place was far from here.

"Chalyb, there's a problem."

"MMmm?"

"It's Donna"

Chalyb snapped up, wide awake, and reaching for his sword. Looking around he saw the others were already up, and mostly circling about her.

Balla's hands fell on Chalyb's shoulders, "She's fine. It's just that she was sleepwalking."

Chalyb calmed down and disengaged himself from his bedroll. Walking to the group, he accepted the cup of coffee that Raphael offered him. "well?"

Kentaro stood forward and explained that Donna had stirred in her sleep and eventually risen and rummaged through the packs until she found the Bands which had previously been on the undead child thing they had destroyed in the tower. She had then clutched them to herself until Balla and Kentaro had awakened her. She apparently felt no need to retain them now, and had handed them over to Kentaro.

Chalyb looked at Van. "Is she... OK?"

Van muttered a little and gestured at Donna, then approaching her he poked and prodded her a little. "She seems fine to me."

"OK then, resume watch." Chalybe headed back to his bedroll to try and take advantage of the last four hours before dawn. In moments he was out like a light.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, the party gathered itself together and headed back down to the keep. After fumbling through the woods they came to the clearing where the ancient village had once stood. Now it was a pile of ruins. The last memories of the people who had lived here.

They approached the keep and tethered the mules outside. Entering the keep, Raphael and Balla performed a cursory look ito the two rooms off the mainhall on the first floor. Then following Chalyb, they all moved up the stairs to the second floor. Again a brief inspection of the previously explored rooms showed nothing. So moving on they ascended to the third floor.

Another ancient sitting room greeted them. Spanning roughly half of the length of the keep, it appeared to be a place to host dignitaries. Although the remining furniture crumbled as it was examined. There was a door in the east wall.

Both Chalyb and Raphael checked it for traps. Raphael said there were none, but fortunately Chalyb found one and managed to disarm it, all the while, Raphael myuttered and shook his head. Chalyb told Raph not to get upset about it, it was easy to miss those things sometimes.

Passing through, the party discovered what was apparently a planning room. Relatively clean and without large amounts of rotting furniture, Balla suggested we plan to sleep here this evening. Chalyb opened the windows to air the place out, and the others searched around. While Balla was climbing up some shelves to see what might be hidden on top, the whole thing pulled away from the wall and Balla came crashing down. But in his hands was a metal tube.

Raphael looked over the tube for traps, and Chalyb reviewed his work, then Balla opened it. Inside was a bundled roll of paper. Ana and Donna wanted to read it right there, but Chalyb took it and said that the group would review it AFTER finishing the search of the keep.

There proved to be little else on this floor, and the group moved back to the stairs. They continued up and led to a trap door, which was quite well rusted and stuck. Chalyb got under the door and putting his back into it heaved up and almost toor the frame right out of the wall. Just before thet happened though, the rusted hinges gave way, and the door pushed open, causing a huge pile of leaves and debris to fall all over Chalyb.

Shaking himself like a wet dog, Chalyb retrieved his weapon and shield and moved up and onto the roof. There was nothing up there, but the rusted remains of what must have been crossbow emplacements, and a strange raised stone dias.

The party followed the stairs all the way down into the basement, which was flooded. Apparently the well had, and still was overflowing with the same dark black water found in the river. Kentaro suggested that the river must have changed its course over time. He wondered how quickly that change had occurred and whether it was natural or not.

Searching what were clearly ancient storerooms, the party found nothing. Heading back up to the room they had found the scrollcase, they took it out and laid it upon a remaining table which had withstood the test of time relatively well.

The scrolls turned out to be a record of the Katalia family's time here in the vale. Written several hundred years ago, it contained a written account from at least three generations. Of note were references to the tribes of giants in the area, peace being made with the northmen, the building of a shrine to somai, some form of evil coming from the north, a reference to a hidden caravan.. err.. cavern, and finally some sort of ritual involving three bands, a headpiece, and a rod/staff. The ceremony was to remove the grain of darkness from Pheonsh's grasp. The band reference appeared to be related to the bands we found on the undead child, and the Staff was held by Donatelli Katallia and then taken by her son Davos. Perhaps we would find it in the temple.

There was a great deal of discussion over lunch, and then the group decided to move on to the submerged shrine.

The shrive itself appeared to be overflown with water to roughly waist height. Around the shrine was a low stone wall jutting out of the water. Confined within the wall, like so many tiny islands of worked stone, were headstones of various types.

With the others watching for signs of the large mouthed creatures who had attacked before, Chalyb moved slowly towards the front gate. Kentaro leapt lightly onto the stone wall. Unfortunately, it was no longer sound, and slipping he fell into the water with a loud splash. Picking himself up he smiled sheepishly at Chalyb and shrugged. Chalyb simply groaned and entered the courtyard.

Balla followed Kentaro's example, but with much greater success, and managed to keep his footing on the wall, though it was too weak to move along. Chalyb was wading forward towards the front door of the shrine, which was ajar. Kentaro, meanwhile had noticed that the headstones had writing on them, and moved to investigate, when WHOOOSH! His cry of surprise was quickly cut short as he disappeared below the water.

"Kentaro!" Called out Balla.

"Damn!" Cursed Chalyb, who turned and ran over to where Kentaro had been standing, and then FOOMP. Disappeared into the water himself.

Balla called out for a rope, which Van began to unroll one and moved forward. Donna and Raphael moved closer to see what was going on, and Ana cast fly on herself.

Kentaro calmed his mind and began to draw into himself. His monastic ability overcoming the innate fear of suddenly being under water. He knew he should naturally float to the surface, but he was not. This suggested he was cought on something. Then he felt the searing pain of claws rending down his back.

Chalyb on the other hand was in chaos. His mind fought through the fear and told him he would not be able to do anything with his sword in his hand. With practiced gesture, he swung the sword down, with the flat along his thumb he set it into his scabbard. At least he hoped that was what he did. The he felt the buffeting grasp of clawed hands, and knew he was not alone.

The others saw the swirling masses in the water. At first only where Chalyb and Kentaro had fallen in, but shortly there were more... many more.

Raphael charged up his magical quiver and sought the water for some sign of targets. Balla simply fired where the swirl was. There was a gurgling scream as something rose from the water with an arrow sticking out of its eye.

Raphael took the que and fired his own bow, drawing up another soggy monstrosity from the flooded graveyard.

Meanwhile Van had tossed the rope into the water and was trying to get it closer to Kentaro. Donna cast mirror image on herself and waited for a target to approach.. Ana, flying up also sought out trgets of opportunity, blasting the one that Balla had shot with Magic missile.

The water was fould, and Kentaro knew that without his monk's training he would be lost. He scrabbled for purchase as he felt more claws slash around him, but the earthen sides of what could only be the open grave he had fallen into were long underwater, and simply pulled away.

Chalyb meanwhile had found the headstone near where he had fallen, and began to draw himself up upon it. The water was freezing him, even as he tried to get out, and he flet one set of clawed hands grabbing his ankles and what might have been a bite at his side. He thanked whatever gods might exist that he had found that magical chainmail. He pulled his head up out of the water and gasped for air, then was pulled under the surface again.

A number of the things from the grayard had risen and were coming for the others in the party now. Raphael found his bow of little use in close quarters and quick-stowed it. Ana and Donna were picking off the ghoulish humanoid bodies as best they could with magic missiles, and Balla was backing up from one and drawing his blades as well.

Then van stood forth and drew his silver image of the Earth Mothers Sigil from around his neck. Calling upon her in some ancient prayer he held it forth, and the holy light of the earth mother shone forth. The putrid swollen bodies of the dead raised their arms as though to ward off the sacred light, but it was to no avail. They shrieked out what sounds their long drowned voices could call upon, and were burned away into dust.

But there were more, and they were moving now.

With a mighty heave, Chalyb shook off his attackers and dragged himself upon the gravestone. Throwing up the vile water he had swalloed while beneath the surface.

Kentaro fought off his attackers, and feeling the rope slip past him, he grabbed for it, but realized quickly no one was there.

Balla and Ana were busy with one which had avoided Van's holy power, and van turned to grab the rope again, seeing it move.

Donna and Raphael held the other side, and called out in warning that there were at least a dozen more on the way. Raphael in particular was beset by one monster which was about to sink its fangs into him, when Chalyb reached up and grabbed the rotten corpse with both hands. Raising it high in the air, he brought it down on one knee, shattering it into two pieces.

Then Ana let loose with a bolt of lightning. When it struck the water it spread out, conducted by the liquid into a huge area. Chalyb felt the surge and was lucky enough to stand upon the large headstone and out of the water.

The undead were not so lucky, and the majority of them shuddered, and sunk beneath the surface, their bodies having long ago lost and natural buoyancy. Raphael too was unlucky and received a shocking surprise. His body sizzled and fell into the water face down. Chalyb ran to him and applied one of his precious doses of Keoghtom's ointment to try and heal his friend before his life force fled the body. Donna gestured at Raphael, and levitated he and Chalyb up, and Ana flew them out of harms way.

Van grabbed the rope and drug Kentaro to safety, as Donna and the others finished off the ones which had made it to shore.

After administering some signifigant healing , the party pulled back to the Keep's map room, and rested for the evening.

During the evening, at roughly midnight, the fire in the fireplace surged up and leapt out in a blaze that targeted Ana. She survived, but was singed. There were no readu explanations for it, except that Chalyb blamed it on the Jeweled Scarab that was still attached to her hand.

The next day, the party went back to the Sunken Shrine, and found that there were two of the corpse critters left. Disposing of them quickly, the group then search the gravestones and found the markers of many of the people they had read about in the journal which Balla had found in the keep. Ana and Donna performed some detection of magic on the area, but found nothing.

Inside the temple, there was little as well, except for a gold and beheweled chalice found on the Altar. There was some concern about taking it, But Chalyb decided it should be returned to the temple, hopefully garnering Somai's goodwill.

A thorough search of the shrine and altar revealed nothing else of value.

The party gathered up and headed north until the small lake became a river again. The using their shrinking and flying tactic, they crossed the river, following the western branch.

Traveling west, they came to another lake with pillars and crows. Ana was remarkably compliant when Chalyb requested fly spells for he and Donna to go out and search/burn the nests. Perhaps the Scarab was having more of an effect upon her than the party had originally thought.

Flying out, Donna toasted the majority of the crows with a fireball, and Chalyb smote the remaining. They searched and found a number of coins, and a bronze dagger, which was not magical.

Returning to the group, they continued to head on. Pushing through a swamp and onto firmer ground. (Raphael rode the mule through the swamp as was now becoming standard.)

On the other side Fausto, Balla's trained hunting dog caught scent of something, and the group followed. They found a tree, cut off, as though it had been logged. Clearly not natural in that there was no remaining trunk. Kentaro examined it, and pointed out that it had been cut relatively recently.

Reviewing the map, the party considered that they appeared to be near on of the markings, which appeared to be directly north. The party headed up and eventually came upon a trail leading through the woods.

Moving carefully along the trail the group eventually rose along the side of the hill and through a break in the trees they saw what appeared to be a small semi-permanent village. Made up of a dozen or so huts and some tents. The river lay to the east of the village and they had erected some sort of a bridge. So that they could cross over to the tower on the other side. The tower itself was barely visible within the trees.

The group made their way up to the top of the mountain, covering their tracks behind them. From that vantage point they watched the camp for the rest of the day. They saw a bunch of people there moving about their business, and a group of them moving over to the tower at one point for what might have been a religious service.

Ana voluntered to use wraithform and fly and to cruise over the encampment that evening, as there were no stars. She did so, and returned to tell the group that there could be up to 40 or 50 people up there, there were horses, and there were people who were either dead or dying hanging from the trees throughout the encampment. This pretty much galvanized the party into attacking. However they decided not to attack from this side of the river.

So they retreated down the mountain, crossed the river, and then found a hill where they might leave the ponies. Then moving carefully back up towards the encampment and a trail Ana had seen which lead westward.

Eventually coming upon the trail, the party heard a group of riders heading out. The party felled a tree across the path and then waited 8 hours until darkness was about to fall. Finally Chalyb gathered the group up and they made their way in towards the encampment.

The party approached from the west side, downwind. When they got close enough to warrant additional caution, Van cast a silence spell, and they approached. The horses were gone, and there were sentries out.

Pulling back, the more lawfully aligned people in the party had difficulties simply attacking this encampment en masse. So they decided to get close, and then Raphael would move in to see what was up with the hanging bodies.

Approaching this time from the south side, Raphael was like a ghost. He virtually disappeared and closed in on the camp. He was encloaked in magical silence which van had placed on a coin. And when he got close to one of the bodies and examined it, it opened it's eyes and in the silence could only mouth the words "Help Me".

Raphael debated killing the hanging body, but his heart would not let him, and he turned to come back and report.

But then he was seen.

The alarm went up, and the party prepared. Kentaro moved off to the side for fear of a fireball spell, Chalyb laid out arrows and a dagger and readied his bow. Balla also spread out some and readied his own bow. The spellcasters prepared, and Van Cast Bless upon the group.

The came from the camp like a mob, with torches and clubs and various weapons they began combing the grass.

Chalyb and Balla loosed off arrows, and Donna a fireball.

That took care of some. Kentaro used hold spells as Raphael turned and began to fire arrows. Shortly Raphael was engaged in melee and had to resort to daggers.

Balla moved to assist his brother and drew swords.

Chalyb dropped his bow and picked up his dagger as he charged into the main group. His primary goal was to prevent spellcasters from getting the entire group with a fireball type attack. Unfortunately, choosing to present a target worked only too well, and he was hammered by four magic missiles.

After a few more arrows and fireballs, the mooks were all but dead, and Chalyb, calling Van and Kentaro to him charged into the village. The rest of the group mopped up the last remaining warriors. Raphael and Balla were faced with strange remnants of men who seemed to be covered in the strage fungus. Similar to the farmer who we found back in lope. They were powerful and one managed to swat out Balla's leg, almost severing it from him. Van managed to reattach it, but Balla remains weak in that leg. (Yes it was the same leg which his brother had shot out before, and the thing in the lake had chomped on as well.) Van had already used his powers of curing critical, and the party would need to wait a week before Balla's leg could be fully restored.)

Even down though, Balla was not out, and pinned the fungul ghould with his sword as his brother finished it off with daggers.

Once inside, Chalybv killed a held man, and they began to search hut by hut.

Kentaro, always the lucky one, found their quarry, and as Chalyb moved to join him, they both saw a blue doorway of light open up, and they were attacked by a pair of the fungus worms.

Killing the worms took some time, and by then Van told them to regroup with the others. Upon regrouping, Chalyb wanted to organize a house to house search, but suddenly a dark streak appeared in the sky, and some strange small wiggling things fell upon the party and the leaves surrounding.

They burned and they bit! They were tiny worms, clearly the larvae of the worms Chalyb and Kentaro had just killed. But had they been released by magic or what, the party knew not.

But they hurt, and wounded the party a great deal until they were cast off frantically.

At that time a great swirling vortex of doom had begun to appear nearby. Chalyb lit his sword on flame and prepared to attack, when Kentaro laid a hand upon him. "We must retreat for now."

And frankly, Chalyb was relieved.

Thus the party retreated from the fires which were starting near the encampment, and the swirling black lightning cloud.

Chalyb scratched idly at the poison ivy tattoo that covered his left hand and went beneath his armor up to his shoulder. Here they were, literally miles beneath the earth and on the wrong side of an underground lake. A lake he remembered which held at least on giant Gar-like fish that had almost taken off his leg.

As Raphael and Balla struggled to push one of the huge stalagmite crabs over the side of the rock span into the dark abyss below, Chalyb thought back on how they had gotten here, and whether he should just have turned them back towards Lope when he had the chance.

They were running. Well, maybe not running so much as limping and panting and moving hurriedly back towards the mules. The recent battle with the Four Finger Cannibals had left the party pretty beat up. Chalyb and Kentaro were fine, having been healed by Kentaro and Van before entering the encampment. But Van had been low on healing prayers by the end of the battle, and one of the Fungal Ghouls had re-broken Balla's leg. Van had set it enough for traveling, and Chalyb had hoisted the Giacomo brother onto his shoulder, for carrying. That only lasted for a short while, however, as the full day of activity had worn Chalyb out. Now they hobbled together, with Chalyb supporting most of Balla's weight.

Frankly Chalyb was worried about pursuit. His mind told him that nothing would be able to track them through the fires that had been set, but this place had planted a seed of paranoia in Chalyb, which was flowering just now. With all of his wizards and healer drained of magic, Chalyb was worried they might be pursued by something beyond his own capabilities to deal with.

When they reached the bottom of the hill they had left the mules at, Chalyb called a halt, and asked Balla to point out where they had camped. Leaning on Chalyb, Balla looked about and took stock of their location, and pointed. "There." The group picked up and headed up the hill.

Moments later they caught sight of the campsite and the mules. The sight was not a good one though. For the mules were lying, unconscious on their sides, and in the middle of the camp stood a huge Stinky Tree. Shambling piles of rotten wood, moss, and other garbage, it stood, manlike, over the mules and was clearly preparing to begin devouring the beasts. "No!" Kentaro called out. His usually stoic demeanor broken by the threat to these animals he had befriended.

The tree heard the party as they came into the clearing. Not a difficult task with Van and Chalyb's metal armor shlinking around as they walked. The other spread out, as Chalyb dropped Balla and moved to engage the creature. With a great, "Karroooooooooooo...." It moved to meet his charge. Chalyb was again caught off guard by how quickly these things moved. Part of the oddity being that it didn't turn, it simply folded it's "face" into itself and out the other side, changing directions in moments, One of it's great branchlike fists swung down, and Chalyb's sword instinctively rose to block the attack.

Wham, Chalyb was knocked back, his sword almost wrenched from his grasp, and his nose bleeding from the blow. "Damn, I have to remember not to do try and block these things."

As Chalyb rose to his feet, a flash of robes passed off to his right as Kentaro leapt forward calling out, "Woodpecker knocks hole in trunk!" His fists, struck out again and again, thumping into the wood. No single blow particularly hard, but the repeated force in a small area created the sound of thumping a hollow log. A crack developed, and Kentaro's Bracers sparked Blue as lighting swelled into his fists and then into the creature.

The Stinky Tree twisted its arm and crashed down towards Kentaro. The monk also reflexively tried to block the attack, and almost broke his arm for the trouble. Chalyb was up and charging again with fire erupting on his blade. Before he arrived a pair of deep thunks indicated that Raphael was working with his bow again.

Chalyb and Kentaro continued to hammer the creature, While Raphael's arrows appeared in open spaces. Finally one of Kentaro's Blows created a small crack, and Raphael, who's eye were incredible picked it out and send a shaft into the same spot. With a loud crack, the creature stopped attacking. It appeared to wobble for a moment, and then the cracking continued as it split apart and collapsed into a heap.

Van and Kentaro ran for the mules, and found they were not dead, but had been hurt badly. Raphael kept lookout, and Ana and Donna cleared a spot for the campsite on a rocky outcropping. After depositing his pack and items, Chalyb and Kentaro go the mules up and over to the outcropping while Van tended their wounds.

The spell casters were exhausted and everyone began to settle in. Raphael began to build a fire, but Ana reminded him that our enemies would see the smoke for miles. With a sigh, Raphael took some coffee grounds and wadded them up between his gum and lip.

Meanwhile Van was back looking at Balla's leg and shaking his head. "I have set the bone and you should be able to walk on it soon, but if I cannot get you to a greater source of healing than I, it will be a permanent limp. Chalyb, who had been watching, came over of looked at the leg.

"Permanent, Van?"

The healer nodded. With a sigh, Chalyb went over to his pack and rummaged around for a moment. Finally coming up with something he returned to Balla and Van who had been watching him curiously. "My Grandmother gave me this when I first entered the legion. She said I should use it if I was ever poisoned or faced with a critical injury. I didn't need it then, but I used it to stop the poison when that thing in the water bit my leg. Do you think it'll work on Balla's leg?"

Van smiled and took the jar of ointment. He looked it over and read some of the sigils on the lid. His eyes rounded, and he dipped a finger into the stuff and smelled it. Finally licking his finger he nodded. "Chalyb, this is amazing. I believe you have here a jar of Keoghtom's ointment. A magical cure-all, who's making is only known to the greatest healers. I think it will restore his leg, at least as far as it was this morning.

With that, Van set to work, and applied the ointment along the wound and against the bone itself where he was able. This caused Balla some significant discomfort, but in the end, all three of them watched as the wound began to heal it. Nodding, Vanlenlo handed the jar back to Chalyb. I think you have enough left for a single application. Thank you. Chalyb shrugged and took the jar, turning back to his pack.

Van then went to his own supplies and came back with three small bags. First attending Balla, he created a strange poultice from the contents of one bag, and applied it to Balla's most grievous remaining wound. Then he did the same for Raphael and Ana, cautioning them to let it sit until morning.

With that, watches were set, and the party passed the night.

The next morning, Raphael reported that there had been activity in the encampment. Pointing to where you could see the encampment through the trees, he explained he had seen lights moving from the tower, across the bridge, in and through the encampment, and back.

Ana quickly deduced that they must have left traps in the encampment in case we came back. Which of course, was exactly what we were planning on doing.

Van gathered everyone together and calling on the power of Eria, waves of healing energy leapt out from his raised tree of life to each of the party members. Chalyb felt his wounds closing, and his strength returning as the golden light flowed across his body. As he looked at the others, he saw it was having the same effect on them, and even on the mules.

Van did this several more times, and the group felt ready to move on.

Moving down off the hill, with the mules in tow, the party headed up toward the roadway, which the riders had ridden out of the encampment on the day before. Eventually they found it, and moved cautiously in towards the town.

Halting the party in the woods, Chalyb told Raphael to go in and look around carefully and signal the group if all was clear.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, Ana began sliding forward on her belly. Apparently trying to be sneaky. Chalyb would have stopped her, but she was too far away for him to reach without giving away his own position.

Another ten minutes passed, and Ana was now out of the trees and sneaking toward the village. Van sighed, stood, and began moving quickly towards one of the hanging bodies that still dotted the encampment.

Chalyb just chuckled as everyone took that as their cue to move on in, Kentaro telling the mules to "Stay." Surprisingly they did.

Rising himself and moving into the village, Chalyb saw Raphael at the edge of one house peeping into the windows. Raphael heard the noise and seeing the whole group, shouted, "It's clear." And then disappeared around the building evidently searching for things.

Balla also began searching, and disappeared around the other side. Ana stood up and began following Balla. Kentaro remained alert for trouble, and Donna moved forward to keep an eye on the tower.

Meanwhile Chalyb and Van were examining the hanging people. It quickly became apparent that they had all been killed, and that was likely what the lights had been all about. Hung with chains, Chalyb began picking the locks and dropping the bodies down to Van.

Balla found about 8 bags of good quality horse feed, and pulling off part of the tarp, he began trying to get one over and on the mule. Not realizing at first that these were 100 lb bags of grain, he was stymied, and eventually resorted to dragging it along the ground. Fausto thought this was a fine idea and decided to help him by grabbing the sack in his teeth and pulling in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Ana kept yelling at Balla. "Don't feed it to the mules, it's probably poisoned!"

Meanwhile, Donna was watching the tower from behind the corner of the furthest forward shack, when suddenly she heard a "Poof!" and a huge cloud of sickly green gas billowed out of the shack and engulfed her. Coughing and sneezing, she made her way out of the cloud, and began heading back towards the party. Then she began to feel wracking pain in her stomach and her abdominal muscles began spasming. She fell to the ground holding her stomach, as Raphael burst out of the door to the shack, carrying a huge chest, which had streams of the green gas coming off of it. He was running back toward the mules.

Van came upon Donna, and after calming her for a moment, he began to examine her. Quickly deducing it was a virulilent poison, he reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a small box. Opening the box, he removed a vial from the cotton padding surrounding it. Opening the vial he poured it down Donna's throat. She began to convulse and vomit it back up, but Van clamped one hand over her mouth and the other to hold her still, and she swallowed it again. After a few moments, her body relaxed, and her breathing calmed as well. Van began to cast healing prayers upon her. As the poison was still at work in her system, though at a reduced capacity.

Meanwhile Raphael was moving towards the mules with the chest, which was still producing poisonous gas. Kentaro appeared at his side and asked, "And Where are you headed with that my young friend?"

"Gonna load it onto the mules. Listen." He shook it and they both heard the shlink of coins.

"I think that would be unwise little brother."

"Why? I certainly can't carry it." Raphael was apparently unaware that his eyes had started to leak blood from his own exposure to the poison.

"Well, I will not allow you to put the mules into danger. Perhaps you were unaware that the chest is still exuding the poison from the trap you apparently set off."

"The Mules will be fine."

"Yes, I know they will. Because you will not be approaching them with that chest until it stops fuming. Are you aware that you also appear to be shaking?"

"Fine." With that Raphael set the chest down, and began to look through it. Kentaro grabbed him and pulled him out of the cloud that was forming around the chest, but Raphael just waited until the monk let go and went back in. Kentaro just cocked his head to one side and watched.

Van and Donna came to the rear of the encampment at this time, and Van's eyes grew round. "Kentaro, what are you doing? save Raph from the poison."

Kentaro shrugged, "I did, twice already."

Van's countenance grew stony. "I should let him die for taking my own powers for granted and treating his life as a toy."

Then Chalyb appeared with a sack of grain on his shoulders. Balla and Ana were behind him with random things from the tents and such.

"Kentaro, bring up the mules, I have a treat for them." Then he saw the little green cloud and raised an eyebrow.

Kentaro nodded, "Apparently our young archer finds gold to be more important to him than his own life. Disappointing."

Chalyb muttered that Raphael was not very good at finding traps, and should have waited for Chalyb to look it over.

Ana piped up. The rest of the village is clear.

"Good," replied Chalyb. Ana, keep look out. Van, do what you can for Donna and Raphael. Kentaro bring up the mules. Balla, you're with me. Lets search this place.

After a time, Chalyb and Balla returned with some monies and rope, the Four Finger Banner, and another bag of grain which Chalyb ripped open for the mules. Van had done as much healing as he could for the day. And the mules were standing there looking around until the grain was opened for them. Then they dove into the grain with a vengeance.

Then, with Donna and Ana on lookout, Van and Chalyb finished collecting the bodies and prepared for the Ritual of Violence Shed. Balla collected firewood, even managing to knock down one of the shacks. Raphael meanwhile began counting the coins in the chest (which was no longer smoking) under Kentaro's watchful eye.

With the pyre built and lit, and the chest cleaned up and loaded onto the mules, the group retreated back to camp and spent a quiet evening.

There was no activity other than the fire in the encampment that night, and the next morning, the group went back into the encampment.

After Van performed the ritual, Ana and Donna went through the tents and buildings for anything that Chalyb and Balla might have missed. They returned with a bunch of gold and stated that there were no sources of magic in the encampment.

Balla, meanwhile found a pair of carts. At first Chalyb had thought to hook one up to the mules, but the leather harness has been desiccated and crumbled to dust.

Leaving the mules eating from the grain bags, the party checked the bridge for traps and crossed over to the other side.

Spreading out into the trees, the group approached the building, which proved not to be a tower at all, but instead, an ancient Church to Somai, which had been converted to cult use by the Cannibals.

Chalyb motioned for Raphael to scout the area around the church. Raphael snuck right up to the church wall and peered in. Chalyb sighed.

After another 15 minutes, Raphael came back to the edge and made an all-clear sign. So the party moved in.

"ATTACK!" came a gurgled scream from the trees as something leapt down upon Kentaro. The Monk turned and slipped to the side, narrowly missing being hacked by the shortsword wielded by his filth-encrusted assailant.

Meanwhile two more men and a fungal ghoul cast off the covers of these ambush pits they had built and rose up to charge Balla. Chalyb was swarmed by five more of the cultists, and Donna had three of the Fungal Ghouls on here. Ana was beset by two who had gotten past Chalyb. And as Raphael was testing the back door for traps, he heard three more sneaking up upon him.

As the cultists fell upon Chalyb, he began to perform the steps of a fighting Kata. Parry, Dodge, Dodge, Feint, Back, Crouch, up and STRIKE. With a mighty sweep of his blade he drove it through his first opponent, and continued the slash onto the second and then a third opponent. The first dropped, and the other two were left bleeding and a little disoriented. Then Chalyb felt a club strike his back and another shortsword clang off his shield.

Donna got off a fireball, which roasted two of the ghouls on her, but was then nailed in the arm by the ghoul's filthy claws. Shrieking she ran for Vanlenlo. Meanwhile Van was dealing with a swirling vortex of doom, which had arisen behind the party. Calling upon the might of Eria, he pushed his own magic against that of the vortex and with a yell from the healer, the miasma of dark magic snuffed out.

On the other side of the building, Raphael dodged like a one legged zookeeper in the monkey house and attempted to strike back with his daggers. Slowly he added new wounds to the festering and scabby wounds the cultists seemed to have inflicted upon themselves.

Balla was having a tough time of it. His style of fencing required a certain amount of room to operate, and the three upon him were not allowing for that room. He used the distraction of the Vortex to relieve one of his opponents of his weapon, and strike another.

Kentaro meanwhile was making short work of his own pair of opponents. Throwing one into a tree calling out. "Flying Bird strikes pane of glass!" His other opponent struck down with his club, but it caught a branch and bounced back into the cultist's face.

Ana was about to release a bolt of lightning, but the cultist got here first and the pain of the wound ruined her concentration. Ducking low she turned and ran.

Donna found Van, with another ghoul hot on her heels. Van raised his tree of life and called out Erias name. A wave of energy rocked forth, and the ghoul blew away like a pile of sand in a storm. Donna nodded a quick thanks to Van, and gestured at Ana's chaser. A trio of magical bolts flew from her hand and bit into the cultist taking him down.

Chalyb had reduced the number of his opponents to three, and although he had taken some wounds, he was holding his own, when a beam of gray light leaped out from the hill behind the church and struck Chalyb. For a moment his entire form turned gray, and he cried out in pain. Then it was gone, and so was Chalyb's strength. Weak, and struggling, Chalyb faced his opponents once more. They sneered and charged him.

Raphael had his own problems. Fearful of the Ghoul, he took some hits from the cultists, but lopped off first the ghouls thumb, with a ducking twist he shoved his dagger into the ghouls knee. Twisting, he rippedup through the cartalidge and tendons shattering the things knee. As it fell to the ground, it continued to claw out at Raphael in a mindless rage. With a stop and a pair of slashes, Raphael ended the threat. Then, stepping back he reassessed his human opponents.

Balla, was holding his own against his three opponents, whom he had just reduced to two.

Ana was moving around the church, looking for the wizard who had cast the spell at Chalyb. Kentaro, who had finished off his own opponents saw her appear around the building and motion up the hill.

As the fight continued, another vortex of evil appeared. Van was busy healing people, and so Donna attempted to dispel it as it began to careen around the area.

Then as abruptly as it had begun, the fight ended. Chalyb finished off his opponents, as did Balla and Raphael. The Vortex winked out and Ana and Kentaro blasted the wizard.

After the customary healing and searching of bodies. The group searched the chuch while Chalyb cut down the two corpsicles that were hanging out in front. Building a pyre with Van, Raphael was sent to the top of the hill to look around. While the others searched for secret trap doors in the church.

The Pyre was started, and Raphael reported a thin line of smoke from the northeast. Ana had found a white jade bowl used for sacrifices. The party agreed to bring it back although Van would have preferred to destroy it on the spot. Balla felt that the ceremonies were a waste of time, but Chalyb simply replied, "He's my healer. Without him I would have died many times. Though I don't share his beliefs I entertain them in thanks for what he has done for me."

Retreating to the campsite the party looked to tend their wounds and regain their spells.

That evening, for the first in several, Chalyb allowed for a campfire. Raphael made coffee and heated up a meal. The morale of the party was way up, as the question was put to the group by Chalyb, "Do we follow the trail into the mountains and towards the smoke, or out of the mountains towards the mining camp?"

The vote was unanimous that the party would continue.

The next day, the ceremony for the dead was held scattering the ashes into the river. The mules were left in the encampment, and the party moved on. They were following the path, but just off of it until the got close to where Raphael thought he saw smoke.

Then the party headed due north toward the smoke. Passing several deep gashed in the mountain, they eventually came upon a church set up against the side of the mountain. Moving cautiously they climbed down along the side of the church and found bodies hanging all along the outside walls, in a fashion similar to the others they had found before.

There were a pair of large double doors with rings set into them, a small spring of terrible black water bubbling up from the ground and running off down the mountain, and the end of a path that appeared to be the one the party had followed from the encampment.

Van of course wanted to begin pulling down the bodies, but the Group stopped him. Chalyb asked for one of the mages to detect magic in the structure and on the door. There was none on the door, but there were several sources inside. On the door was a petrified hand with the ring finger cut off.

Raphael check the door for traps and then so did Chalyb. Then Ana stepped forward and invoked a sphere of magical protection in the doorway to protect Chalyb from magic as he opened the door. The group got into a defensive stand and Chalyb pulled open the doors, which opened with a loud crash.

Inside were more than a dozen cultists who apparently had been waiting for the party. Standing on a raised dais towards the back was a huge man. Wearing black plate mail armor he strode forward, a huge two-handed mace/club with sharpened flanges held casually. He looked up from the altar, and Chalyb saw pure madness in his eyes. This was their leader.

Chalyb pointed at the priest. "You! The horror you have created ends here. Let you and I show the world, which is stronger, the power of your Chaos or the strength of Law. Come forth coward, and let your minions watch you die upon my blade." With that Chalyb drew the Sword of Sequitor and stepped into the Church.

"Hold!" The priest called out. His head was bald and dark with tattoos or bloodstains, Chalyb could not tell which. But he had a thick beard also dark and seemingly holding pieces of something in it. "He is mine!" Then switching to a language Chalyb had never heard before, "Bar N'guir shall kinest teren'tat!" The gathered cultists spread away from the center of the room creating a place for the two to fight.

"Hold" Called out Chalyb to his group. "Let the fight be honorable on our end." Then switching to dwarf tongue he finished, "This could really suck!"

They came together in the center of the church. Chalyb raised his sword in salute, but the Priest just spat and swung his mace down. In the legion it was common for enemies to ignore the salute, thinking this was an opportune time to attack. What never occurred to many of them was that the Imperial Salute was actually a defensive opening posture. Chalyb's sword swung fluidly around and caught the head of the mace under one of the sharpened flanges. Twisting and then pushing down, Chalyb used the inertia of the blow itself to aid in his parry as he drove the mace down harmlessly past his waist. As the swing came back up, Chalyb's wrist flipped his blade up and forward in a lunge, piercing the Priest's side.

Though traditionally, "First Blood" would lead to a pause in the fighting and a trade of insults, this was no honor duel. It was a fight to the death, and both participants knew it."

Chalyb pulled his blade out and set himself into a defensive pose. He was not prepared when he realize that the Priest was already closing on a second strike. The Mace caught him hard in the ribs and he felt several crack as the bladed edge of the mace's head bit through his mail and into his side. Chalyb spun and stepped back giving himself a moment by putting some space between them.

The priest chuckled and his mace swung through a pair of great arcs. Chlyb's eyes narrowed and they engaged again.

Several blows rang out as Mace and sword found each other. Then the priest feinted low, following up with a heavy blow aimed for Chalyb's flashing red beard. Again the Sword of Sequitor interposed itself and prevented the blow from landing, and again Chalyb used the moment to riposte. This time slashing the Priests left leg a deep and bloody gash.

Chalyb was not caught off guard this time as the mace whirled towards his midsection. Dodging back, he took the opening of the swing to pierce the priest's shoulder.

The priest was flagging now, and when he drew an overhead strike meant to squash Chalyb, the old seargent knew that there was not the full strength behind it, and parried it directly, with a great clang the two weapons met. At the same moment the two opponents eyes met, and within the madness, Chalyb saw something else, FEAR.

"Ignitus Infernum" Said Chalyb softly, and the Sword of Sequitor erupted into blazing glory. Then with practiced grace he stepped to the side and drew his sword back and then stabbed forward straight through the priests black heart.

For a moment, there was silence. Then the clang of the mace dropping to the floor, followed by the louder crash of the priest's body falling to the floor.

Chalyb looked at the body, then up at the group of enemies surrounding him, and slowly backed towards the door. With a series of snarls and cries they leapt upon him, one yelling, "Now!".

Suddenly all was Chaos. Raphael's bow sang out, as he found holes to fire through between the mages. As Chalyb turned to fight his way back to the door he smelled the Ozones of one of Ana's lightning bolts surging behind him. Donna's magic missiles flew about the enemy as well.

Vanlenlo was waiting to get the opportunity to heal his friends, and Balla was pressed against the side of the wall to leap into the church as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

Chalyb, Surrounded as he was, fell smoothly into the Kata of a Thousand Foes. Moving and parrying, using shield and sword to push back his enemies enough to give him a little room. Then, as though the stars had aligned in the heavens, he saw that his foes were nearly perfectly aligned for him to perform the final move of the Kata. He fell into it and became a blur of motion, his sword arm striking out in a grand sweep, first high, then low, then high. He struck his first enemy a deep slash across the face, then a gut wound, which left his second opponent lying on the ground. The third wound castrated one who was already blackened from the lightning bolt, and finally a strong slash to the arm of the fourth. He had heard other speak of such moments, but this was the first time he had ever experienced one himself. Then a blade pierce his back, narrowly missing his kidney, but causing excruciating pain.

Meanwhile outside, Ana and Raphael were dealing with four new attackers who had snuck around through a concealed door. Back and forth they went, neither side immediately gaining the upper hand. Donna was preparing more spells, when a fungal ghoul ripped open her belly, causing her to fall back bleeding. Balla was there instantly, fighting over her and pushing the ghoul back to allow Van the opportunity to begin healing her.

Kentaro rolled through the door and straight up into a punch taking out another cultist, calling out, "Tumbleweed knocks down Goat!" His blows flashed out around him, his lightning strikes raining Havoc among the cultists. Then he noticed the worms.

Acid spat out of the worm towards Kentaro, but calling out, "Willow survives the storm." He bent at a seemingly impossible angle and it missed.

Meanwhile Chalyb found himself face to face with a man in armor who was clearly a lieutenant of some sort. The tow went at it, but Chalyb simply overpowered him and the lieutenant fell.

Chalyb was hurt though, and there was another worm making it's way towards him. He was getting worried when he saw that Kentaro was in the room helping him. And just then with a crazy yell, Balla, a whirling storm of steel, pushed his way into the room and took down one of the cultists in front of Chalyb. "I've got your back, Chalyb!" He called out.

Chalyb nodded and turned back into the room. Another Lieutenant was moving to engage. Chalyb got there first.

Balla was moving at blinding speed. His blades everywhere as he disarmed and then dispatched his opponents. Kentaro called out, "Banana peels a re slippery." As he twisted and punched another cultists causing the man to fall flat on his nose. The cultists did not rise.

Meanwhile Ana and Raphael had dispatched their own foes. Raphael realizing that his daggers held much promise if he could master them. Ana kept watch and Raph moved in.

But it was all over inside, and as the group stood panting and congratulating themselves, Van gathered all together for several of his mass healing spells.

A long detailed search of the Church turned up some monies, a box with more money and a scroll, which was trapped with the same poison gas from the chest in town. Also Ana and Donna's detect magics revealed things hidden in the desks in each of the priests room. One was a normal desk and room. Raphael searched for traps, but fortunately Chalyb followed up and found the trace outlines of a magical glyph. Donna dispelled the glyph, and the group was able to open the secret compartment. Within was a great book. Almost as large across as Chalyb's chest. It bore five separate seals for it's contents, and it's thick countenance suggested a very ancient and powerful magic within.

The other room was a cesspool. Chalyb could not even enter due to the strength of death and rot coming from within. Raphael went in and found the magic was actually a staff headpiece carved with the symbol of Donna's family. He also found a concealed door outside which he went through and gulped in clean air.

Fausto, waiting patiently above as Balla had instructed him, saw Raphael and came bounding and barking down the side of the hill. Falling into a tumble, he ended up at Raphael's feet. When Raphael lifted him up to make sure he was ok, Fausto gave him a number of slobbery dog kisses before the younger Giacomo brother could put him back down.

Finally, The group found a great slab of white granite set into the floor with iron rings set into it and a winch and pulley system set up. The group decided enough was enough for one day and pulled out into the fresh air and sunlight.

Gathering the bodies together as Raphael and Ana counted the money and organized things. The group set a pyre alight for the chained corpses and headed on down the trail, which did indeed loop back to the encampment. Picking up the mules and more grain, the party went back to their campsite to rest.

The following day, the group discussed going the other way or down into the chamber below the church. It was again unanimous that they should continue on.

Leaving the mules at the encampment, the party went to the large church with the slab of granite. With Van, Kentaro, Raphael and Chalyb on the winches they managed to raise the slab up until it locked into place. Using iron spikes they locked the wheels into position and Balla and Raphael charged down into the darkness.

Pulling out their magical light-giving coins, the party moved down into the steep passageway beneath the slab. Down and down they went. The passageway looped back upon itself and back again before finally coming out to the beach of a great underground lake.

The water of the lake was clear and cold. It appeared to be fresh and clean. Unlike all the other water we had seen in these lands.

After some initial discussion, Ana cast Fly on Chalyb, Donna and Raphael, who flew out and began to search through the cavern and the lake.

About halfway across the lake, Raphael saw a great dark shape moving quickly in the water towards the surface. Both he and Donna flew in opposite directions away, but Chalyb just ignited his sword and waited. The giant fish had a long sharp snout filled with bony ridges, and it caught Chalyb on the leg. Chalyb's sword flashed, and the fish let go and landed back in the water. Turning it swam towards the bottom and was shortly out of sight.

After checking his wounds, Chalyb and the others finished the search and found another beach on the far side with two passages leading off. They returned to the group and flew everyone over. Choosing the left passage, they descended into the bowels of the mountain.

The continued on for two miles. Finally the passage opened up into a great chamber. The passage continued, but was now a great stone arching bridge, which leapt out across a bottomless cavern.

Passing along the bridge, the group passed several stalagmites and came eventually to a fork. Choosing the left hand side again, the group made its was until it entered another passage on what appeared to be the other side. Balla was just leaning on a stalagmite to expound his position, when the stalagmite fell away onto its side and sprouted legs with dark pincers.

It attacked, and Balla and Chalyb took it on. Another appeared in the front, and Raphael was able to deal with it. Finally one appeared in the rear with Kentaro, who had little luck at first, but managed to defeat his.

Thus did the group come to be where they are now. May the gods have mercy on their souls.

Raph looks around at the dead Cave Creepers, Bugs, whatever these things are and shakes his head while cleaning off all the green goo from his daggers and clothing...I am either getting better with these daggers, or getting very lucky...

Raph looks over at Chalyb--"Hey Boss, I think we are pushing our luck down here. I think we should head back to the surface and take care of a few things first before we really start getting in too deep. I don't like the fact that we still have those riders out there, it puts our mules and gear at risk, ourselves if they close the only exit we know of..." he hesitates a moment, then stares directly at Chalyb--"...and knowing what these scum are doing to the innocent people out there, makes me cringe..especially when we know that some of these victims are from our own town!"

Raph closes his eyes for a bit...thinking of Tara...his own family...and takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly. "We should head back, secure the door to this place and start back along that road out of the fanatic's village. We should see if we can find any signs of the riders, see if we can determine which way they may have traveled. I don't want to get stuck down here knowing those animals are out their hunting our people. We should also start researching this book, and see what ritual needs to be performed to resolve our current issue. We have the head piece and some information here and there--but we really need to do some more research. Maybe the ladies and Van can do some research back in town while the rest of us hunt down and find those riders--maybe work something out with Santo to help us track them down--though we would probably have better luck without a militia running around with us. I bet those fanatics still have a mage or 2 with them--especially if they were the riders we ran into before...."

"What do you think Chalyb?"

Balla looks at his sword and dagger--neither of which were of any use against the stalagmite things--and thinks to himself, "Either I'm really no good with these things . . . or I've been damn unlucky!" He then overhears Raph talking to Chalyb.

"Yeah, boss. Let's get out of this hole. It gives me the creeps. You know how I hate having to fight bugs and monsters and critter that aren't civilized enough to fight with a weapon. Goes against my idiom."

Ana chimed in, "I am in agreement. Haven't had a bath in a long time and that book is starting to call to me."

Kentaro looks briefly at Ana, arching an eyebrow, and wonders if that call is metaphoric or literal...

"Returning does seem like the most prudent course of action at this point. There is no way of knowing how far these caverns extend and I do not believe we are properly outfitted for such an expedition."

Chalyb smiles at his team. Now they were really starting to come together. Nodding he says, "Folks, you have all read my mind. There are many reasons to return, and only two to continue. Let's return to the surface and follow the trail where the riders went. We will return to Lope, check on things and make plans to close up a few of these loose ends we have hanging behind us."

FINI