PG Summaries

[Daos]

Chapter One:
Fight for Freedom

It is Rannmont 17, 360 AC in the city of Daltigoth. In the fighting arena, in the party's 'lounge' (more of a fairly nice jail cell), the group hangs out and eats a late breakfast. Ravarie mentions she heard a rumor that some house elves were in the city, which she thought were odd as ogres and elves don't tend to get along. Teakettle also mentions a rumor that the masters are all having a meeting right now. She also makes a stew from what she can find in the pantry, and happily shares it with everyone.

Dorias tells a tale of a time when he encountered some gully dwarves, and then offers to share some wine with the group that he got from one of his admirers. Teakettle, wanting to sneak out and eavesdrop on the master's meeting, randomly reaches into her pouches and pulls out a flask of alchemist's fire. Grognak notices and suggests she use it to blow up the lock on their door, but Dorias points out they won't get very far. Before a decision is made, though, their master, Bolbus, shows up. He looks annoyed and tells them they have a match and should get ready. The party asks him what's up, and he admits that attendance is way down and none of the masters know why or can come up with a way to fix the problem.

The party is ushered to the ring. Once out in the arena, Dorias notices his admirer among the crowd. Likewise, Ravarie notices two slender people in heavy cloaks who might be elves. She points them out to the others. After a bit, the party's opponents arrive--seven sligs, all armed with spears. Dorias comes up with a quick strategy and everyone gets ready. Teakettle taunts the sligs toward them, while the others attempt a shield wall to keep them at bay and bottle neck them. The fight is something of a slog, but eventually the party is victorious with no casualties. However, one of the sligs is killed by accident.

After the battle, Boulbus is impressed and wonders if flashier magic would bring in more customers. He escorts the party back to their cell, and Teakettle tries to pick his pocket but is caught and given a warning. After Boulbus leaves, the party talks about possible escape, worried they might be forced into death matches.

A few days later, after everyone had fully recovered, Bulbous arrived to escort them out to the arena for their next bout. He cryptically claimed there would be some spellcasters involved this time around. Once the party is led out into the arena, they see four enemies. Two are draconian--one baaz, one bozak--and the other two are a tayling/taylang pairing. They prove to be challenging opponents, but ultimately the party is able to defeat them. However, Grognak kills the baaz and so the bozak attempts to kill the ranger by killing himself to explode. The gambit fails, though, as Grognak survives.

After the fight, Boulbus points out that the pathos of the bozak sacrificing himself really got the crowd riled up. And he thinks this might be a way to really boost attendance, by inserting personal stories into the fights. The party are somewhat skeptical of this. After they talk and rest a bit, Boulbus returns with an announcement. The arena is going to have a death match. Anyone who participates and wins, earns their freedom. The party all agrees to this.

Two days later, the big day has arrived. It is now Rannmont 21, and the party prepares for what will be, one way or the other, their final fight in this arena. Boulbus arrives to collect them, and the party asks for more details on what will happen if they win. It is explained that the party will be given a reward, which they can use to purchase new gear, and be given a pass that will let them move about the city without fear of being recaptured.

Upon entering the arena, the party is introduced to their opponent--a juveline white dragon! Amazingly, the party slays it in three rounds, thus earning their freedom and a part of its hoard. Bolbus also gives them passes, so they can come and go in the city and not be re-captured again. Runt believes they should divide up their treasure first, but Dorias insists they shop for near gear, and then divide up the treasure.

After shopping, Runt and Teakettle announce they are going to stay in the city. Runt was offered a job as a bodyguard, and Teakettle wants to explore the city with her new pass. After they leave, the others discuss what they want to do. Ravarie wants to return home, but is worried she'll just be enslaved again. Grognak wants to find his pack, but has no idea where he's from. Dorias wants to return to Zhea Harbor to find his missing cousin and check in with his family. As that is the only actionable path for now, the others agree to go with him.

They decide to take a boat from the harbor directly across the Morgash Bay. After some searching, they learn of three ships heading that way soon. The first is a knarr called the Charka, captained by a gnoll with a twisted sense of humor. He offers to take the party for 50 steel each, and his ship is so fast they should get there by the second day. But the party notices all of his crew are slaves, so refuse.

The second ship they check out is a cog called the Usk-Do's Deal, and it is captained by a goblin with a very traditional pirate aesthetic. He offers to take the party for 100 steel each, but it will take three days. However, his entire crew (mostly goblins, kobolds and other cast-off races like gully dwarves) are free and seemingly well treated. Dorias feels this is way too expensive and tries to barter, but the others out-vote him, so they accept the deal. Grognak pays for the whole thing himself.

Soon the ship is under way, and the party realizes they are not the only passengers. There are two lithe folks and a very tall person, but all three are wearing heavy hoods and cloaks that obsucre their features. Ravarie decides to approach the lithe couple and speak with them. They turned out to be none other than the children of her most recent master before Bolbus, come to bring her home to speak with their dying mother. Ravarie was caught off guard, but ultimately agreed...on the condition that she be allowed to first aid Dorias in his quest, as she promised. The two Silvanesti agreed to guard her until then.

Meanwhile, the captain and Grognak casually speak of their goblin heritage and Dorias is approached by the very tall stranger, who turns out to be his admirer and number one fan, Dhall'a the Stormdancer. She is pleased that at long last, they can be together. Dorias tries to discourage her by saying they are going somewhere dangerous that she cannot follow. She easily thwarts his arguments by pointing out she can protect herself, and besides, Ravarie is going with him (whom she seems to view as some kind of rival for his affection).

Dorias makes it clear that there is no way they can be together, due to his code. Outraged at being rejected, Dhall'a summons a typhoon and curses Dorias to never know happiness and to lose everything he loves. The storm tears the ship apart, but a pod of dolphins appear and saves the party, the Silvanesti and the captain and takes them to the northern shore, not far from the fishing village of Varvil, which is east of Zhea Harbor.

Traveling along the beach for awhile, they come across a wrecked fishing boat and three dead humans. Dorias finds whip marks on their backs. The party concludes the boat was probably destroyed in Dhall'a's storm. Not seeing anything they can do about the situation, they decide to press on for Varvil in hopes of reaching it before nightfall.

[Daos]

Chapter Two:
Something Rotten in Southern Ergoth

The party arrives in the small fishing village of Varvil just as the sun is beginning to set. They are stopped by a pair of guards wearing red and white colors, and a sea dragon emblem. The guards seem put off by the sight of both elves and goblins, and comment that Dorias does not look like a cavalier. But they let them pass, direct them to an inn, and make them promise to not cause trouble.

Once out of earshot, Ravarie expresses distress at the idea that humans might be racist. Sorrith and Lalora assure her, they very much are. Dorias then begins remarking on the Silvanesti, and their isolationist nature. This eventually leads to an argument, with Dorias defending humanity and the siblings defending their own people. Ravarie jumps in, and with both her and Dorias against her, Lalora runs ahead in a huff.

Once inside the simple inn, Dorias asks the innkeeper about lodging. The innkeeper is rather put off by Grognak, who he mistakes for a wild animal, but does agree to rent rooms to the party. Dorias offers to pay for all, but the Starshine siblings insist on paying for their own room. Ravarie offers to share a room with the elves, but this seems to upset Lalora.

After the rooms are settled and paid for, Dorias asks the innkeeper about the bonfire he saw on their way in. He says it was likely for prayer to Habbakuk, because of all the curses the town has been suffering on. The party asks him to elaborate, and he tells them that their fishermen started bringing in 'tainted' fish; they seemed normal, but cut them open and they were black and oozing. At first, only a handful of each catch was like this. But they kept growing in number, until entire catches had to be thrown out. So the town's lord ordered they send their fishing ships out further. However, there was a horrible storm earlier, and none of the ships have returned yet.

The innkeeper also says wolves have been attacking lately, too. At first, they just raided a farm for livestock now and again. They'd steal a chicken or two and be chased off. But a couple of weeks ago, the wolves became very aggressive and violent. They started attacking farms nightly, and killing anyone who tried to stop them. The town's lord sent out hunting parties to make up for the lost meat, but the wolves would attack the hunters. The last group sent out, only one person came back alive, and she was still recovering from her injuries.

The party decides to interview this surviving hunter, a young woman named Amalia. They head up to her house and she is surprised to see a cavalier and a kagonesti, but welcomes them into her home. She tells them about the wolf attack, how one of them pretended to be injured so they would lower their guard and walk into an ambush. The party comments on how unusual this behavior is for wolves.

After some more discussion (Amalia mentions a woman in town named Marieta has been looking after her while her mother is away on the Kingfisher, and that Marieta believes the town has been cursed by Zeboim for neglecting her over Habbakuk), Dorias shows her the pendant he found and asks her if it looks familiar. She comments it looks just like her mother's pendant--it had been a gift from Amalia's father, who died during the occupation. Dorias breaks the bad news and remains to console her as she cries, while Grognak and Ravarie awkwardly slip outside to wait.

Once Dorias rejoins them, an older woman approaches and wants to know who they are and why they just came out of Amalia's house. They learn this is Marieta, and she tells them that Zeboim is the source of the town's curses because the people pay tribute to Habbakuk instead of her.

The party returns to the inn, and Dorias says they should seek the lord's permission before doing any investigating into these curses the following day. Lalora questions whether this is any of their business and points out that nobody has even asked for the party's help; but she is outvoted, so they all agree to meet the following morning to discuss their next move.

The night passes without incident, and the next day is Rannmont 22nd. The party sets out, but Sorrith persuades the elves and goblins to put up their hoods, as neither race is welcomed in human lands. On their way to the lord's manor, they pass by the bonfire where numerous villagers are praying to Habbakuk for salvation. They discuss rumors that an agent of the Blue Phoenix had arrived in their village and healed Amala. This makes Ravarie uncomfortable.

When the party arrives at the manor door, they are relieved of their weapons and then brought before the lord, Tassos Glarou, at a large dining hall. Glarou, an older man, was stuffing his face with every delicacy imaginable, with a beautiful younger woman at his side. Ravarie was put off by this, especially as the villagers were struggling just to eat.

Glarou is a bit hostile toward Dorias, as he seems to think he was sent here by the Emperor for some nefarious reason. Dorias assures him that his presence was completely by accident, which Glarou finds dubious. He is also suspicious of the others, as they all have their hoods up. Ravarie lowers hers, and the noble is immediately smitten. He proposes to her on the spot, much to the chagrin of his actual wife at his side. Ravarie practically sneers at the request, turning him down. In the end, Glarou agrees to let them investigate the curses, but he seems to think they'll all just be killed in the process, which he has no objection to. The party leaves and has their weapons returned to them.

They then head for the harbor. A number of fishers are loading up the last ship for an outing, but Marieta is there, trying to warn them away. They do not listen. Ravarie reveals her face, and the fishers recognize her from Amalia's story, and start calling her a savior of Habbakuk, sent to save them. The party offers to go with the fishing boat, not understanding that the corrupt fish are only found in local waters. Once this is explained to them, they opt to let Reeker fish off the dock while they go check out the wolf problem.

The rest of the party head for the ambush site and find a gruesome sight. There is plenty of blood and visceral in the area, but no actual bodies. They seem to have been dragged off, which makes it easier for Grognak to track them. The trail leads them to a small cave, about three feet wide. Ravarie tries calling out to any wolves inside, but is met only with silence. So she crawls in to investigate. She finds the remains of the hunters. But while she is searching, the six wolves sneak up behind the others. Ravarie hurries out to speak with them. They tell her, with an almost religious fervor, they are ruled by a 'wolf queen' who has united all the packs.

Ravarie convinces the wolves to take the party to this wolf queen. They do so, and she turns out to be a massive black wolf with red eyes, and the ability to speak. The Wolf Queen tells the party that if they agree to kill Glarou for her, she will spare their and the rest of the villagers' lives. The party wants to know why, but all she'll tell them is that Glarou entered into an agreement with her and then welshed on it. She also reveals that she is a minor aspect of Takhisis, the Dragon Queen.T he party refuses her offer. So she and the six wolves (now all dominated) attack.

Ravarie uses a holding spell to stop most of the wolves in their place, and Sorrith and Lalora kill the remaining ones so the whole party can focus on the Wolf Queen. It takes some time and Dorias goes down at the very end, but working together, they are able to wear her down. Before her body explodes in darkness, the Wolf Queen tells them this is just the weakest of her many avatars and it is easily replaced; but she will grant Glarou a small reprieve anyway. She also mentions something about Morgion helping her. Finally, she warns them that Dorias needs to watch his mouth.

With the battle ended, Ravarie heals Dorias and then releases the wolves from her holding spell, as they are no longer dominated. The wolves quickly flee afterward. The party heals up and argues about whether they should have become involved in the first place, now that they are facing off against minor aspects of actual gods (although Dorias insists the Wolf Queen was lying). The party returns to town and meets up with Reeker, who has caught several fish and shows them that they are black and oozing inside when you cut them open.

The party heads for the manor and confronts Glarou right out the gate. He clears the room and admits that he made a deal with Takhisis; she offered him power and might, a title and wealth. But in return, she asked him to assassinate the emperor. He lost his nerve and fled to the south, hoping she'd forget about him. The party demands he 'do the right thing' for the sake of the villagers, but he isn't interested. He instead tells the party to handle the problem, since they care so much about the village and all. He then dismisses them.

The party heads back to the inn. Dorias feels the only real solution is to remove Glarou from power. But he also asks Ravarie to have Habbakuk intervene, as well. Once back at the inn, they encounter Amalia who asks how it went (and assumes badly, as they are all beat up). However, the party doesn't mention they were successful, and move on to other topics. Ravarie wonders about spending coin to build a church to Habbakuk, but doesn't trust Glarou with it. Dorias questions the innkeeper about Glarou, how he arrived, what life was like before and during his rule, and so forth. Dorias eventually reveals that they did defeat the Wolf Queen, and Amalia runs out excited to tell everyone. Meanwhile, Ravarie and Sorrith sneak away to have a private discussion upstairs.

The following morning, Rannmont 23rd, the party gets up and decides to have Ravarie cast Water Breathing on the party, so they can walk along the bottom of the ocean looking for the source of the fish corruption (Dorias and maybe Reeker are the only ones who actually know how to swim). First, however, they decide to speak with the fishers to learn where the corruption first started. The only fisher left in the village at the moment, though, is Marieta (as all of the others went off in the last boat the day before). They find her at the docks. She tells them the corruption started right there, at the shoreline. Ravarie and Dorias tried to convince her that Morgion, under Takhisis, was responsible for this, not Zeboim, but she didn't believe them. They also tried to convince her that Zeboim might not have Varvil's best interests at heart, but that also fell on deaf ears.

The party heads for the beach and Ravarie casts her spell. She also casts a spell that will let her communicate with animals. They then descend into the cold waters. After walking a spell, they encounter a school of fish. Ravarie speaks to them, and they tell her about a cave where strange beings that look like the party have been hanging out. When the party arrives there, they find it guarded by four koalinth. Dorias attempts to communicate with them via body language, but they make it clear that the party is not allowed to enter. Not wanting a fight in the water, the party backs off and heads for shore.

After some conversation on what to do next, Sorrith suggests they head for Silvamori to get help from the priests and mages there. When it is brought up that Silvamori is too far, Reeker mentions Zhea Harbor, which is quite close. The party decides that they will head there next then, and hopefully find help. They report to Glarou, who believes he will never see them again. Then they return to the inn and speak with the innkeeper a bit more about Varvil, and what they hope to do for it.

[Daos]

Chapter Three:
Can't Go Home Again

On the morning of Rannmont 25th, the party arrived at Zhea Harbor's eastern gate. Although the guards are wary of allowing goblins into their city, the party convinces them to let them pass. However, they seem suspicious of Dorias when he introduces himself as a cavalier. Dorias leads the group straight to his family manor, but they find it seemingly abandoned and locked up. Asking a passerby, they are told the manor was repossessed by the city a year ago, and are told to try asking around the Blue Bird Inn for more information.

The party makes their way to the Blue Bird and asks around about Dorias' brother. A young lad who works in the stables recognizes the name and says he can take the party to the house where they live now. Ravarie also asks about the temple of Habbakuk. She learns there are three temples in the city--one to Habbakuk, one to Shinare and one to Zeboim. She also learns that the big storm that sank Reeker's ship was seen from the city, but it didn't get close enough to do any damage.

Meanwhile, a young wizard of the white named Gerrard Windward is teleported directly into the Square of Justice, sent there from the Tower of Wayreth by his master. He heads for his old home and encounters his adoptive uncle Old Bill, who does not recognize Gerrard at first. Gerrard explains that his scar was from his Test, to teach him humility. He asks to go see Layla at the Blue Bird, even though she's working. Old Bill agrees.

At the same time, a Qualinesti skyrider named Rathis rode into the city on his griffon, Kava. Landing is difficult, but he manages in the town square. From there, he leads Kava to the temple of Shinare where a special stable is kept just for griffons, to keep them away from the horses. After that, he entered the temple and spoke with Administrator Bulin Galrald, a Hylar dwarf cleric. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any new jobs for Rathis at the moment, so he suggests the elf take some R&R. Reluctantly, Rathis heads for the Blue Bird for some food and drink.

Meanwhile, a half-elven monk of Majere named Maessalathasa was leaving the Avanthis Manor after working there to tutor their children. Lady Galla Avanthis walks her to the door. After saying goodbye, the lady gives Maessalathasa one of her rings as a final payment and thanks. She then heads for the docks where she witnesses a kender being chased by an angry merchant. The kender slips into an alley, and when the merchant questions her on which way the kender went, but she takes issue with his tone. The merchant runs off in the wrong direction, and the kender comes out of hiding, explaining it was all a misunderstanding all while a fish tail pokes noticably out of her pouches. Maessalathasa asks the kender if she could recommend a good inn, and is told of the Blue Bird.

Once Gerrard, Rathis and Maessalathasa reach the Blue Bird, they can't help but notice each other and the party of elf-bloods and goblin-bloods by the bar. Ravarie immediately notices Rathis' tattoo and questions him about it, pointing out it means he is part of a Kagonesti tribe. They sit down together and Ravarie tells him all about Dorias and his family. He asks to accompany them to the Mar-Quon's new place, which baffles Sorrith and Lalora. As they all head out, Sir Hunner is entering. He accuses Dorias of bumping into him, and the two almost go to blows before Dorias can talk him down.

Back at the inn, Jorrun, a half-ogre, enters the inn and while friendly enough, seems to have no concept of personal boundaries. He begins a conversation with Gerrard and Old Bill, telling them he is the grandson of a Knight of Solamnia and looking to squire himself to someone. Hunner enters, shortly before a minotaur named Krixus barges in. The two speak a bit, with Hunner revealing he recently came from Icereach.

The young lad from the inn escorts Ravarie, Sorrith, Lalora, Dorias and Rathis to the new Mar-Quon place, which Dorias is aghast to see is barely little more than a shack. He meets his uncle there, who fills them in on the family's recent problems.

At this point, half a score of ruffians enter the Blue Bird. They are unarmed, and spread themselves out all over the common area. One of them starts making a scene, talking about how he and his buddies were in the war, and now the place is welcoming 'Dragonarmy' races like goblins, ogres and minotaur. However, several of the party members begin outright threatening the man with murder. He backs off and leads his group out. Shortly after, Ravarie, Rathis, Sorrith and Lalora return to get rooms.

Rathis offers to pay for the rooms, but Sorrith and Lalora insist on paying their own way. Meanwhile, the others, except for Maessalathasa, sit together to eat and drink and discuss possible business ventures. Rathis starts speaking with Maessalathasa and invites her along with him, and Ravarie, to the Temple of Habbakuk. He also suggests inviting the rest of the people in the tavern. Sorrith and Lalora pull her aside and question the logic and wisdom of inviting all of these strangers just to go make a donation at a temple, but Ravarie thinks it's a good idea. Ironically, Gerrard had just managed to convince Hunner, Krixus and Jorrun to form a contract with him to investigate some nearby ruins. When Rathis asks them to accompany Ravarie to the temple, they all chase after her, except for Jorrun and Gerrard.

Once at the Temple of Habbakuk, Ravarie speaks with the high priestess there, an older human woman who seems wary of such a strange group, but welcomes them nonetheless. Ravarie explains about Varvil and their fish rot problem and also offers to donate 50 steel to help build a temple there. The group then heads for the Temple of Shinare, so Rathis can introduce his griffon mount, Kava.

Meanwhile, Gerrard and Jorrun head up to the records' office to see if they can find any information on previous expeditions to the wastelands; namely to Khimel. Jorrun is also interested in a man named Treski, a smith that used to live in the city. The building he used to live in is on the market for 300 steel pieces. As for Khimel, it was once a large city to the north. It was run by a wizard who built some magical pylons to protect the city, but one day everyone in the city vanished without a trace. When the Cataclysm struck, it was forgotten and fell into ruin.

The others head for the docks to find a ship heading for the southern part of the island. They find a ship that is clearly Silvanesti in design called the Sevenstar, but are surprised to find that the crew are a mishmash of races, including human, dwarf and half-elf, and even a kender! The captain is one Serinda Elderwood. The Elderwoods were wiped out in the war, save for Serinda who was out at sea at the time. Her family was notorious for believing that the Silvanesti should not withdraw into their land, but build partnerships with their neighbors instead. She offers to take the party to Silvamori for 12 steel pieces each.

After agreeing to Serinda's terms, the group heads back for the inn and meets up with the others. They discuss their plans for the future. Gerrald suggests that when Ravarie and the others return from Silvamori, they could team up to work together and free slaves on the island.

That evening, the party wakes up to the smell of smoke and the sound of glass breaking. Hurrying downstairs, they find the common room on fire. Someone is throwing burning oil through the front windows. Working together, the party manages to put out the fires before they consume the whole room. Looking outside, they saw that the vandals were gone, but they had defaced the front of the inn with things like "Go home, Dragonarmies!" and "Remember Brightblade's Sacrifice!"

The following morning, the party helped more in cleaning up the mess. They then part ways. Hunner finds a messenger to deliever a letter to his family, then joins Ravarie, Rathis, Sorrith, Lalora and Reeker on the Sevenstar.

The others remain behind to continue helping with the inn and to prepare for their northward expedition into the wastelands.

[Daos]

Chapter Four:
Voyage of the Sevenstar

Group A
Grognak, Gerrard, Jorrun and Krixus meet up in the common room of the recently reopened Blue Bird Inn to discuss their next move. They then learn that Jorrun checked out early that morning, saying a sudden emergency had come up and he had to leave. Disappointed, the party decides to have Krixus go out and look for a wagon and some supplies, while Gerrard sought out a cleric they could hire for their adventure into the wastes.

First, Gerrard went back home to speak with Old Bill. He asked him to put the word out on finding a woman named Passara Zonara. He then returned to the inn to interview two clerics who had been summoned by Nonna. The first one was a Qualinesti cleric of Paladine named Nalaea. She's well rounded, but a bit arrogant and suspicious of others. The second one was an Ergothinan human woman named Unathi, who was a cleric of Kiri-Jolith. She was more down to earth and less formal, and had more of a focus on combat. Nonna then informed Gerrard that there was a third candidate, but he never showed. So to make his decision, he asks the two clerics together how they felt about 'monstrous' races.

Group B
Ravarie, Sorrith, Lalora, Reeker, Hunner, Rathis and Kava, board the Sevenstar just before the ship takes off for Silvamori. Ravarie expresses surprise that Hunner and Reeker would come with them. Hunner explains he made a promise, and he always keeps them. Reeker says he was a ship's captain, so would do better on a boat than in the wastes. Hunner mentions the Golden General, which starts Lalora on a rant about her. But Hunner, Ravarie and Rathis team up on her, and she storms off. Sorrith goes after her. Ravarie then fills in the others on her history with the siblings, and why she was returning to Silvamori in the first place, as well as her history as a slave. They spot a dolphin pod following the ship, a sign of good luck. Ravarie talks about how the last ship she was on sunk, and then Hunner admits he cannot return home until he regains his honor after running away during the war.

Two days later (Rannmont 28th), the ship passed by a Shinarite vessel docked with a fishing boat. The party decides to ignore it. Instead, Ravarie decides to try and check on Kava and see why she's been so ornery lately. She tries to calm the creature, but fails. She then tries to speak with it, but technically a griffon is not an animal, but a magical beast. The party considers their options, and then start to discuss Ravarie's plans to free her people. She considers asking the Solamnics for aid, which Rathis thinks is a bad idea; but he tells her she should try visiting Eastwatch if she is sure.

Suddenly, Kava starts going wild. Rathis tries to mount her, and the griffon breaks free. Ravarie opens the top hatch at Rathis' request, and they fly off together. The paladin promises to return if he can, and is soon to gone.

Two days later (Rannmont 30th), a strange mist springs up out of nowhere, engulfing the ship and making sailing impossible. The ship is forced to drop anchor, lest it smash into a reef or even run aground. The source of the mist is soon revealed--a ghost ship. The ship is trapped. It cannot flee in the mist, but the undead can wait far longer than the living can without supplies. With no other choice, the captain and first mate decide to board the ghost ship and slay the undead on board, so the mist will clear away. The party agrees to come with them, and so do Sorrith, Lalora and Reeker.

After readying their gear (the captain dons the White Robes of Solinari, to Ravarie's surprise), they board a row boat and paddle over to the ghost ship. Once on board, they find the upper deck seemingly deserted. However, a bunch of zombies burst out of the aftcastle, forcing a fight. Just as it seems like the party is winning, more zombies come out of the forecastle and from below decks. The party is able to defeat them all with some difficulty, and Ravarie was able to help by changing into a panther to maul them.

Still in panther form, Ravarie headed downstairs alone and spotted four corpses sitting at a table. She hurried back up and changed back into her elven form to warn the others. They follow her back down, but find no sign of any corpses. Ravarie moves north to explore, and encounters more zombies that were hidden. Another fight breaks out, and more zombies come out the other side of the room. Finally, a wight emerges from above, as well. Hunner realizes his weapon cannot harm it, but Kronn's can, and Ravarie can in beast form.

After the party wins, they decide on their next move. Hunner is hopeful that was it, but Serinda points out that wasn't the captain, else the fog would have lifted by now. They decide to head to the captain's quarters, but aren't sure where that is. They decide to try the bow first. They find two doors in the forecastle, one of which is heavily reinforced. After Kronn unlocks it, they find it is a small brig, with a single prisoner. She is some kind of sea elf, but her coloration is wrong and there are no sea elves in this area. She doesn't speak Common or Elven, but seems frantic to be free. The party decides to leave her there for now.

The other door leads to an old galley and beyond that a storeroom. There doesn't appear to be anything of value or interest, but Hunner spots a ghostly figure that whispers his name before vanishing, and becomes understandably anxious about it.

The party heads for the aftcastle now. They find a dining room with six more zombies. Serinda takes out most with a lightning bolt, and the others are easily dispatched. Moving on, they find two doors again. One leads to some kind of ready room for the captain, which includes a desk with a log on it. Reading the last entry, they learn that this was once a Dragonarmy ship. When the war turned, they decided to flee south, but were caught by a Whitestone ship. Rather than be captured or die, the captain swore fealty to Chemosh for survival, and thus was the ghost ship created, doomed to sail the seas forever. In the other room was the captain's personal quarters--but no captain. There was, however, a chest full of coin, treasure and even some leather armor and a long sword.

The party lugs the chest out onto the upper deck, and this gets the captain's attention. He, a wight, shows up with two more wights and a zombie. The battle proves difficult, as many of the party don't have a way to hurt the wights. However, in the end, the party is victorious and slays the captain. Unfortunately, as soon as they do, the fog lifts and the ship starts to sink. The party rushes to the rowboat, but then Ravarie remembers they left that strange elven woman locked in the brig. She tries to climb back out of the boat, but Sorrith prevents her, citing that there is no time. Hunner, however, who had not boarded yet, spins around and runs to free her.

Risking his life, he manages to get the strange woman free, but as soon as he does, the cabin fills with water as the ship sinks. Surprisingly, the woman shapechanges into a shark. Hunner grabs onto her dorsal fin and holds on for dear life, as the shark quickly swims to the surface, saving the knight and returning him to the others. The shark turns back into a woman, and the party invites her up onto the ship. But none of them can understand what she's saying--it's a strange dialect none of them have heard before. They do learn that her name is Zalura and she is something called a Mahkwahb. The language barrier prevents them from getting much more out of her.

The rest of the journey is uneventful. Fifteen days later, they reach the port of Silvamori. The Starshine siblings were eager to be back home. Ravarie was mostly nervous about returning. Once the ship docked, Serinda told them they would be around for a few days, if the party needed a ride out. Reeker decided to stay on board. Hunner insisted on accompanying Ravarie, against Sorrith's and Lalora's objections. And he brought Zalura along with him. The guards stop him almost at once, and he manages to convince them he is with Ravarie. But they still insist on sending an honor guard to escort him to Starshine manor.

At the doorstep of the manor, the party runs into Gardor, the siblings' uncle (and Iona's brother). He demands to know where the siblings have been. When they explain that their mother, Iona, sent them to fetch Ravarie, he seemed confused at the point of it, and then derides such a foolish action. He then walks away.

Once inside, the siblings take Ravarie upstairs to see Iona, while leaving Hunner and Zalura in the foyer, insisting they wait there and not touch anything. Iona explains to Ravarie that her dying wish is for Ravarie to marry Sorrith, joining their people and their houses as one, and helping bring equality to the Kagonesti. Ravarie is surprised by this, especially as she thought Sorrith was betrothed. Iona explains that Sorrith's betrothed died in the war, and seems surprised Sorrith never mentioned it to her. Ravarie agrees to Iona's proposal. Iona tells her they will hammer out the details in the morning. Meanwhile, Lalora and Sorrith catch Hunner snooping around the manor, and escort him and Zalura to the guest room. Ravarie later meets them there. She tells the knight what is going on. Hunner asks her if there are any Silvanesti here who might 'fall to the Dark Queen' which confuses Ravarie.

A young Kagonesti servant arrives with some food. Hunner checks it for poison, but Ravarie points out that no one will try to kill her until after she becomes lady of the house. The servant is surprised by this news, and Ravarie quickly offers him some coin to quiet him. After a bit more conversation, they get some sleep.

In the middle of the night, Hunner wakes up Ravarie, warning her that danger is approaching. The door bursts open, and armed guards step in. Gardor, the elf they encountered at the front door before, announces that they are under arrest for espionage and trespassing. Ravarie points out that the lady of the house invited them, but Gardor states that Iona has died in the night, and he is the new lord of the house. Ravarie agrees to go peacefully, so the party are relieved of their weapons and taken to the cellar, where they find Lalora and Sorrith have been imprisoned. The siblings explain that this is a coup; most of the house guard are loyal to Gardor, despite it being well known that Iona chose Sorrith as her successor. Their only hope is to escape and try to return some day to reclaim the house.

They try to come up with a plan, but none can agree on the right course of action. Zalura takes matters into her own hands, making herself invisible and then banging on the door to get the guards' attention. Some force throws the guard back, and Zalura becomes visible again. A fight breaks out. Ravarie changes into a panther and kills one guard, which upsets Sorrith and Lalora. The guards, who are using non-lethal force, knock out Lalora. Two more guards are killed in the fighting before the battle is won. Grabbing the unconscious Lalora, the party then flees upstairs to Sorrith's room. They quickly grab some supplies, heal up Lalora, and then use a rope to climb down from the window.

From there, they flee to the docks, guards in hot pursuit. Luckily, Serinda is up from the commotion and stops the guards with a webbing spell. Ravarie asks her to set sail, but Serinda demands an explanation first; she does business here, after all. Ravarie explains, and Serinda relents, casting off. Ravarie promises to make it up to the captain somehow. Once the ship is under way, Lalora breaks down in heart-wrenching sobs. Sorrith explains that because Ravarie killed a guard, he and Lalora will be considered murderers and cast out as dark elves. They can never return home, never reclaim their birthright, because of Ravarie's rash actions.

Ravarie attempts to comfort them, but fails rather miserably. She claims the Silvanesti have fallen off the path of righteousness, and need to be changed--by forcefrom outside powers, if necessary. Lalora snaps at her, blaming Ravarie for the whole mess. Ravarie feels she is blameless, however, and that the Silvanesti are to blame, for enslaving her people in the first place. Sorrith drags Lalora below decks to get some rest, while Ravarie fumes and Hunner tries to draw a map of the area.

Ravarie decides to seek out Sorrith to offer comfort, but mostly she just judges the Silvanesti and talks of her grand plans to force them to change. This does not comfort Sorrith much at all. So instead, Ravarie offers her home, pointing out that her people consider her special, so she can insist they accept the siblings. Sorrith tells her that he and Lalora will discuss it.

[Daos]

Chapter Five:
Castle Eastwatch

A week has passed, and the Sevenstar is currently sailing up the coast of the Plains of Tothen. Hunner is down below, still being haunted by a Solamnic Knight ghost. The ghost seems to know Hunner, and claims he must warn Broadblade of some unspecified threat. Unnerved, Hunner goes above deck to speak with Serinda and Kronn. He discusses the idea of the knights hiring her to deliver letters and packages to Solamnia.

Ravarie, meanwhile, eavesdrops on Sorrith and Lalora discussing their future. Jumping in, she brings up that they could continue traveling with her, but Lalora does not trust Ravarie's motives. Ravarie confronts her, and the two get into an argument, as Ravarie forgets she is supposed to offering help, and instead just wants to prove she is right. Lalora points out she never even apologized for ruining their lives, and Ravarie finally remembers that she did not come here to argue and does apologize. Then she heads back upstairs.

Once both Hunner and Ravarie are on deck, Serinda invites them into the captain's quarters. She gives them their shares of the treasure from the ghost ship, which neither ever claimed. Among the many valuables, there was also a suit of studded leather armor +4 which Ravarie claimed and a long sword +1 that Hunner took. They are interrupted, though, by the appearance of a pirate ship on an intercept course. The Sevenstar tries to shake them, but they are much faster and soon reach arrow range. Hunner spots a ginger-haired youth get struck by an arrow and fall overboard. Serinda throws a lightning bolt at the pirates.

Meanwhile, over on the pirate ship, Kori sits in the brig. One of the ship's mates comes to retrieve her, to make her help in the fight. She tricks him into returning her spellbook, components and magic ring first. She is then escorted to see the captain and first mate, a half-ogre and human, respectively, up on the aftcastle. The captain tells Kori to counter the spells the elven ship is shooting at them. Kori claims she can only do so at a range of 30 feet--meaning the ship would have to get into boarding range. The captain tells her to shoot her own spells instead. Kori creates an illusionary manticore and sends it over, then uses Suggestion on the captain to suggest moving in closer while the illusion distracts the elven ship. The captain agrees.

While the illusion distracts the party, the pirate ship rams into them. Pirates then begin boarding, and a massive battle begins. Kori is surrounded by crewmen, who believe she is one of the pirates. But the pirates then kill them, thinking they rescued one of their own. Kori runs away, screaming for help, but is saved from being cut down by Ravarie, who in panther form, takes down the pirates.

The remaining pirates withdraw, and once they are gone, the party interrogates Kori. After proving she really is a member of the Order of Solinari, the captain makes her Hunner's and Ravarie's responsibility. The trio speak for a bit, with Kori revealing that her cat's name is Habbakuk and she doesn't respect the gods much.

Ravarie goes to heal Lalora, and learns that the elven chain that Sorrith wears is a family heirloom, but he feels he no longer deserves it as he is no longer a Starshine.

Zalura approaches Kori out of curiosity. The two attempt to communicate, but Kori cannot figure out what language the sea elf speaks. Kori tries casting a mind reading spell on Zalura, but it has an unexpected effect. Kori nearly loses her sanity after making contact with...some kind of alien force. She concludes that Zalura must be possessed by something, but Zalura herself seems fine.

Hunner went down to the cargo hold to check on his horse. While he was doing so, the same ginger-haired sailor he saw die approaches, and seems to know his true identity. The man, Katzsrutt, is actually a sivak who killed the ginger-haired sailor and took his place. He recognizes Hunner as Srill, and believes he's setting up some kind of scheme and wants in. But Hunner insists he's deep undercover for some secret mission of Takhisis. He desperately tries to pay off Katzrutt to leave.

Ravarie takes Kori down to Rathis' old cabin, so she has a place to rest. The two discuss magic, and its destructive power. Ravarie asks Kori what she thinks of slavery, and the Qualinesti seems fairly ambivalent about it. Ravarie probes her, hoping to find allies among the Qualinesti, but Kori claims to have not been home in years, since before she began her formal training with the Wizards of High Sorcery, and she has no intention of returning any time soon. The two decide to seek out Hunner. They head to his cabin, but find it empty. Reeker is nearby, and tells them he saw the knight heading into the cargo hold.

By the time the women find Hunner, Katzrutt has left. They ask him about his horse, and about his home--their destination--Eastwatch. Hunner tells them a bit about his past; that his older brother is the ruler of his family's land, but the two do not get along; that Hunner squired under Sir Kanthor Broadblade, the current ruler of Eastwatch; that Hunner's wife, Parpillia ('butterfly' in Solamnic) is Kanthor's sister and she chose him above all other suitors out of love, even after Hunner lost a tournament; that he has three children named Derek, Sturm and Laurana; that he became a Knight of the Crown during the war; and that during an operation in Icereach, he gave in to his fear and ran away, and hasn't returned home since out of shame. The two women try to convince him that fear is nothing to be ashamed of, but not being knights, they don't really understand the culture.

Six days later, the Sevenstar docks at Castle Eastwatch. As the party disembarks and says farewell to Captain Elderwood and Kronn, Kori casts Comprehend Languages on Zalura. This allows her to finally understand the woman's strange language...but it only works one way. Zalura has no idea what Kori is saying, so communication is still quite difficult. They learn Zalura really does not like being touched, though.

Eager to stall, Hunner suggests writing. However, this doesn't work out too well as not only can Zalura not read, but she has no idea what writing even is, coming from an underwater culture where there is no paper or books. She doesn't even seem to understand what Kori's spellbook is. Instead, Kori tries drawing a bit, but Zalura is still unable to grasp what she is trying to say.

The party heads to a local inn called Huma's Rest. It's fairly small and simple, and filled with adventurers and travelers who are coming and going. The party discusses getting rooms, when Hunner changes his mind and offers to host them at the castle instead. So the party leaves and goes to the castle, and are stopped by guards at the front gate. When Hunner announces who he is, there is some skepticism. One of the guards fetches a Sword Knight, a woman who seems to recognize Hunner and even hugs him, but he has no idea who she is. Ravarie asks who she is, and she explains she is Dame Reynold, a Knight of the Sword, and an old friend to Hunner. Hunner's best friend, Sir Cameron Reynold, is her husband. Hunner confirms that he did not survive, though, to the lady's disappointment. She agrees to take the party to speak with Lord Broadblade, the knight in charge of the town.

Upon meeting with Broadblade, Hunner apologizes and explains how he ran away and could not return until he regained his honor. Broadblade questions whether Hunner had regained his honor then, and wonders if the two elves with him were supposed to speak on his behalf. But Kori admitted she just met him. Ravarie mentioned that Hunner agreed to help her with her own quest, and saved a woman from drowning...sort of (she left out the woman could breathe underwater). Broadblade isn't too impressed. He criticizes Hunner not just for running away in battle, but for cowardice in not returning to his family sooner. However, he offers him a chance at redemption. In the nearby town of Finn, some kind of spectre is harassing the lumberjacks who try to go into the nearby forest. The knights have little understanding of magic, so are at a loss to deal with it. If Hunner can take care of it, Broadblade will allow him to see his family again. Hunner agrees, and Ravarie and Kori agree to help him.

The party returns to the inn and Kori acts like she doesn't know how inns work to get out of paying for a room. Ravarie offers to let her share her room, and Hunner pays for both rooms.

Ravarie asks Kori's help in recruiting Zalura to come with them on their next quest. However, communicating isn't easy, especially as Zalura doesn't understand writing, drawing or calendars. Hunner attempts pantomime, and Zalura offers him her hand. When he accepts it, he finds he can 'hear' her voice in his head. She asks if he is calling in her life-debt to him, and agrees to follow him for now in return for saving her life.

Ravarie then asks Sorrith and Lalora to join the group on a more permanent basis. They have concerns, especially about Ravarie trying to invade Silvamori. But she promises she will not, so they agree to join the party, as well.

Ravarie then decides they should hire a cleric to help with the spectre. Searching the inn, she finds a cleric of Mishakal, a man named Kudak. He seems a far cry from a typical Mishakalite, being rough around the edges, unshaven and disheveled, drinking hard liquor and more interested in pay than anything else. Ravarie offers him a share of any treasure found, or 350 STP if none is found, and he agrees.

[Daos]

Chapter Six:
Ghosts of the Past

The party wakes up and sits down to breakfast at the Huma's Rest. At the same time, a ship called the Red Moon docks and Grubnick, a goblin cleric of Sirrion, departs and heads to the same inn. While the party has breakfast, Grubnick learns from the innkeep the rumor of the ghost to the north, as well as the rumor of the recently returned knight and his elven 'harem.' Grubnick realizes that fits the description of a group in the inn right now, so he goes to introduce himself and asks if he can accompany them. The party holds no objections.

The party sets out after eating. Kori says strange, random things leading some of the party to believe she might not all be there. Grubnick notices Kudak watching him closely. The goblin tries to engage him in conversation, but Kudak is fairly...monosyllabic. Kudak reveals he was a medic during the war, and implied he saw a lot of awful things.

A few hours later, the party spots a flock of wild sheep grazing to the east. Further beyond is a large figure with two heads approaching. Kori recognizes it as an ettin. Hunner immediately moves off the path to greet the ettin, and the others follow after him. However, the ettin does not appear to speak anything other than Ogre and Giant, which none of the party speaks. At first, the ettin just seems puzzled by the party's presence. But then it suspects that they are trying to take the sheep for themselves, and he had 'dibs.' Kori is able to determine this with her language spell, but there's no way to communicate with the ettin. The party thinks the sheep belong to someone else, and the ettin killed the shepherd or drove them away.

Ravarie decides she wants to save the sheep, so she tries to entangle the ettin. The others all act completely independently, and not thinking anything through or even waiting for the ettin to get close enough. After Ravarie entangles him, Kori summons a bunch of kender and sends them forth. Hunner calls the kender back to him, and gives them a rope to tie up the ettin, despite the fact it is already entangled. It takes several rounds for the kender to reach him, and then they are, of course, also entangled when they step into the spell's area of effect. A few of the others try to take pot shots at the ettin, but he is still so far away that their missiles all miss.

Eventually, the party decides to just walk away, leading the sheep somewhere else. However, the entangle spell ends and the ettin starts to chase after them. Ravarie encourages the others to run, but they refuse. So they start shooting at the oncoming ettin while Ravarie summons an insect swarm. The ettin perseveres, ignoring the attacks until it reaches the front-line, where Sorrith alone tries to hold it. The elf takes a few wounds in the process, but eventually the ettin goes down. When it begins to regenerate, Ravarie recommends just leaving, but the others insist on finishing it off. Hunner and Sorrith cut off the ettin's heads, and then Grubnick uses a spell to cauterize the wounds. The party then moves on.

They arrive in Finn that night. Grubnick mesmerizes one of the guards with his magic ring, to get the location of the mayor's office. Ravarie is impressed by the dark magic, but Kori is creeped out by it. At the mayor's they find an older woman having a chat with a dwarf dressed as a priest of Reorx. She tells the party that only one knight came back alive from the last expedition, and is at the inn. She also informs them that the dwarf was Regar Coalfist, and had also just arrived in town to investigate the undead matter. The party immediately invited him to join them, then headed for the local inn.

At the inn, they spot several patrons--a woman that is all bandaged up sitting by the fire, a man sitting at the bar who is heavily cloaked, a chatty kender woman with green hair, and a heavily cloaked dwarven man sitting in the darkest corner, occasional glaring at the fireplace. The party ignores the cloaked man. Regar speaks with the dwarf, Kori with the kender, and the others speak with the wounded knight.

The dwarf seems very paranoid and not terribly friendly, but Regar does his best to make conversation with him. He buys him a drink, which the dwarf suspects might be poisoned. He gave the name 'Kelye Dtha' which is dwarven for 'Wanderer,' suggesting it was just an alias. He remarked he was curious about the rumors of undead in the forest, and why any necromancer or dark priest would set up shop in a forest, instead of a graveyard or something.

The kender is named Chatty and this is not a misnomer. She and Kori talk about all manner of subjects at length. Chatty claims to be a druid in training, and that is why she is here. She heard about the 'ghost' in the woods and wanted to check it out. She probed Kori about her role in the war, but the mage didn't seem interested in that topic.

The wounded knight explains that her entire unit was wiped out by the undead when they entered the Southwoods. She was the only survivor, and she may never walk again without a cane. She tells them what little she knows of the 'ghost' that attacked her. That it didn't seem to speak or understand Common, that only its hands and eyes were visible, and it could poison and paralyze with a touch. Grubnick actually recognized that description, and identified the creature as a wichtlin--an undead elf spirit created by Chemosh.

The party rented rooms for the night, and headed up to get some rest.

The following morning, they set out to the forest, which felt cursed and foreboding. There was a thick mist that blanketed the whole forest, and no sound from animals. Suddenly, an elven voice started shouting at them to leave, but they couldn't see where it was coming from. Eight skinless ghouls emerged from the fog, hissing and threatening the party. Kori tried to converse with the elven voice, but it just reiterated they must leave. When they did not, the ghouls attacked. The party fought against them, but Kudak managed to turn all of them away in one attempt. Hunner's horse, Strike, was paralyzed but otherwise the party was mostly fine. They heard fighting in the distance and rushed off to check, leaving their animals behind.

They encountered a man fighting off numerous ghouls--the same cloaked man they saw in the tavern the previous day, but that nobody spoke to. Kudak and Grubnick, together, turned all of the ghouls away, saving the man's life. He didn't seem terribly grateful, though. He suggested they all leave, as the forest was cursed. The party invited him to join them, but he had no interest in staying any further. He claimed he had come to investigate the forest, but now realized there was nothing that could be done for it. He then returned to Finn alone.

The party then heard a shrill voice calling for help, and rushed to investigate. They saw a green-haired kender in a tree, as a gaggle of ghouls clawed at the base, trying to reach her. Kori recognized her as the kender she spoke to the previous day, Chatty. Kudak and Grubnick turned some of the ghouls, but the rest turned and attacked the party. After a brief battle, the party defeated the remaining ghouls. Chatty climbed down from the tree and explained she had come to investigate the forest, but wound up over her head. She thanked the party for the help and decided to return to Finn for now, leaving this to the experts.

The party went to retrieve their pack animals, who were growing increasingly frightened, but at least Strike was no longer paralyzed by that point. They heard the sound of fighting nearby, and rushed off to help again. They came across an old cabin, long since abandoned. That dwarf, Kelye Dtha, that Regar had spoken to the day before was in the doorway. Four ghouls were protecting him, fighting off a score of other ghouls. The party rushed in to help. However, things went awry. Hunner rode Strike right into the mob, and the horse was quickly paralyzed, knocked out and then killed. Likewise, Kelye Dtha lost all of his protectors, then became paralyzed and later killed, as well.

Eventually, the party was successful in defeating the ghouls. Suddenly, Kelye Dtha and Strike both rose again as ghouls. But the former seemed to keep his conscious mind. He revealed he was a Theiwar necromancer who was investigating the source of the undead in the forest. He blamed the party for letting him get killed, and decided to ride off on the undead horse.

Continuing on, the party finally confronted the wicthlin. It turned out to be the spirit of a Kagonesti named Treesong of the Wild Boar Tribe. Her people lived in this forest, and when the war came, the Solamnics started cutting down more and more trees for the war effort. The Wild Boar Tribe decided to allow this, as all of Ansalon was at stake, and the Solamnics promised to protect them from the Dragonarmies. However, when the Dragonarmies swept through this land, the Solamnics never came. The draconians cut down all of Treesong's tribe, including herself. And to add insult to injury, once the war was over, the Solamnics just resumed cutting down trees again.

Ravarie suggests compromise, but Treesong accused her of being a human pawn. Kori thought it quite reasonable to give in to Treesong's demands, and just forbid anyone from ever stepping into the forest again. Ravarie called her dumb for even suggesting it.

The wichtlin attacked, and the party defended themselves. Ravarie uses Faerie Fire to outline the wichtlin, making it easier to hit. Grubnick relied on his Flame Blade, Regar on his Spiritual Hammer and Hunner on his new magic sword, which he dubbed Forest Purifier. Kori...watched. The party managed to defeat the wichtlin without taking a single point of damage.

With the wichtlin gone, the fog lifted and the forest seemed to return to normal. The party journeyed back to Finn easily enough, and then split up. Ravarie and Grubnick went to the mayor's to report to her, while the others went to the inn.

Ravarie and Grubnick told the mayor, Aveline, of their success. She was greatly excited, but this was dampened when Ravarie claimed that the wichtlin had good cause, and as a druid, Ravarie might take action against them, as well. She implied she would convince the knights to withhold support, which confused the mayor, as the knights are the ones who are asking for so much lumber to begin with. Ravarie and Grubnick left, and Ravarie told the goblin she agreed with Treesong's anger, but she hopes to free her people without bloodshed. Grubnick was skeptical, but complemented her on the sentiment. The two returned to the inn.

The others found Chatty, Keyle and the wounded knight back at the inn. They spoke with Chatty, telling her of their success. Chatty asked what they will do next, and Kori admitted she just sort of drifts around, not unlike a kender. Ravarie and Grubnick showed up, and the latter informed the wounded knight of their success. She was pleased her comrades had been avenged, but still lamented her destroyed leg. She told the party to go ahead and report back to Broadblade, as she was in no hurry to return to Eastwatch and accept forced retirement.

[Daos]

Chapter Seven: 
Family Reunion

The following morning the party wakes up and meets in the common room to discuss their next move. They invite Regar and Chatty to join them as they return to Eastwatch to report to Lord Broadblade on their success against the wichtlin. It takes most of the day to return, and it's evening by the time they reach the gates of Eastwatch again.

Ravarie pays Kudak and he heads back to the inn. The party then goes to see Broadblade and report. He is not pleased to see a goblin in his chamber, but decides to overlook it. Ravarie reports that the forest is clear and that the wichtlin has been defeated. Broadblade seems pleased, but then Regar interrupts to claim there are still undead 'out there.' This upsets Broadblade, who assumes one of them is lying. He demands an answer from Hunner, on his honor as a knight, and Hunner confirms that the forest is safe again. Broadblade decides to accept that answer, at least for now, and arranges rooms for the party for the night, agreeing to reintroduce Hunner to his family the next day. He has Dame Reynolds escort them to their new rooms.

Before departing, Reynolds asks Hunner to come see her in her room, as she has something important about Broadblade to tell him. Concerned, he goes to see what she wants. Meanwhile, Ravarie asks Grubnick to join her in her room for a private conversation, mostly about slavery and how to free the Kagonesti people. And Kori and Chatty decide to search the library for secret passages.

After Ravarie finishes, she goes to speak with Lalora. Lalora feels that intermarrying the Silvanesti and Kagonesti is a bad idea. Ravarie then seeks out Sorrith, who agrees that is the case. But he also thinks it doesn't matter anymore. As he is no longer a Silvanesti, but a dark elf, he can never return there. Ravarie feels she can somehow change that, but Sorrith is doubtful. They are interrupted when Hunner shows up, looking distressed and asking to speak with Ravarie alone. He asks her a hypothetical question, on what to do if you were part of an organization that asked you to break your personal honor. Ravarie asked if this was about Broadblade, but all Hunner would say is that Reynolds is acting strangely, then he left.

Meanwhile, Kori and Chatty don't find any secret passages, even after Kori remembers she is an elf and can detect them. They then discuss using magic to prank Broadblade, but she forgets how magic works, too. She admits to Chatty that she only learned magic to get out of work, but it takes a lot of work to be a mage, and now she has to wander the world, doing more work. They also discuss Zalura, and Kori says a demon lives inside her, which intrigues Chatty. They go and find Zalura, since Kori has recently learned to speak Dargonesti. Kori asks about the demon inside Zalura's head, and Zalura tells her she is mistaken. She does not appear to want to talk about it further, and asks Kori to leave.

Grubnick goes into Regar's room, and the two share an ale and have a discussion about fitting in. They also discuss Kelye, the dark dwarf necromancer turned ghoul they met in the forest.

The next morning, the party regroups for breakfast in the mess hall and begin to discuss their next move. Ravarie explains to the party her plan to unite the Knights of Solamnia with the Ergothians to take down the ogre slavetrade. She believes they can find help in doing this in Varvil, the small fishing village they visited after leaving Daltigoth. There are two ways to get there from Eastwatch--either take a boat around half the island, which is a long and slow trip, but probably safer. Or try and cut through the Last Gaard Mountains on foot, which is shorter but likely more dangerous.

Grubnick and Regar, however, felt it was important they try and track down and slay Kelye, the Theiwar/Ghoul necromancer they met in the Southern Woods. But Ravarie feels heading to Varvil is more important. Sorrith wants to take the mountains, in hopes that he might find a griffon to tame.

The party goes to meet with Broadblade, but on the way they run into Gerrard Windward, who is also looking to meet with Broadblade. He explains that his expedition into the wastes went quite poorly, and he was the only survivor. He was captured alive by draconians and managed to escape with the help of his new familiar, a jackal. He hopes Broadblade will offer some men to clear out the draconians from the area.

The party goes to see Broadblade. Hunner is escorted out to the courtyard by Reynolds to see his family. Ravarie petitions Broadblade to put a stop to the ogres' slavery. Broadblade points out that the knights are only in Southern Ergoth to protect the resting place of Huma, and even if he wanted to get involved, he only has 150 warriors at this outpost. Hardly enough to take on Daltigoth, never mind the entire ogrelands. Ravarie suggests he teams up with the Ergothians, recruiting them as knights. However, they are the Solamnic Knights, and can only recruit Solamnics into their ranks. But Broadblade does agree to try and help, if the party agrees to swear service to him as 'agents' of the knights, since they cannot become knights themselves. Ravarie declines, and decides to try asking the Ergothians instead. The party seems largely on board with this. With that decided, they head into town to do some shopping.

Meanwhile, Hunner is escorted to the courtyard and meets with Parpillia and his kids. The reunion is a bit awkward. But Parpillia is willing to accept Hunner back, if he retires his sword and dedicates his time to his family first. Hunner is appaled at this request--what is a knight without honor? But Parpillia points out that he's missing his children growing up. What good is honor without his family? She tells him that he needs to make a choice, and then gathers up the children and leaves.

Morose, Hunner makes his way back to the castle where he runs into the others who have returned from their shopping trip. He explains what happened, and they likewise inform him they plan to head to Zhea Harbor again. So he hands over his magical sword, Forest Purifier, feeling they will need it more than he will, as he plans to stay behind.

Kori goes to see Zalura, to ask her if she would come with them. She tells her that she has a life debt to repay to Hunner, and will stay with him. Kori then awkwardly stands around until Zalura asks her to leave.

[Daos]

Chapter Eight:
Seeking Allies

The party wakes up and rejoins in the mess hall for breakfast, only to learn that Gerrard won't be joining them, either. He left a note explaining an emergency came up with his master and he had to be teleported away. The party was more concerned about Hunner and Zalura staying behind, however.

They head off toward the mountains to the east. After hours of travel, the sun begins to go down and they spot a large plume of smoke nearby. Following it, they come across what appears to be a small village of mountain folk having some kind of celebration. Ravarie speaks to them, learning they are having a Spring Dawning festival. She convinces the guard they are just travelers passing through, so they allow the party to stay.

Meanwhile, Hunner goes to speak with Katzsrutt, who is in the guise of Reynolds. He claims he wants to help in the assassination plot. Katzsrutt tells him to convince Broadblade to meet him in the old north tower, and they'll ambush him there. Hunner agrees.

Ravarie strikes up a conversation with one of the tribals about the ceremony. She learns from him that the White Dragonarmy took the village and killed many of their people during the war. Many more were sent to work camps, and never heard from again. This includes his family. Ravarie in turn tells him about their hunt for a griffon to tame, a feat that the tribal finds amazing. Ravarie introduces Bear Fang to Regar, hoping that since he fought in the war, he would know something about the White Dragonarmy. But he insists he doesn't, because he fought against the ogres. Bear Fang points out the ogres fought in the White Dragonarmy, and Regar agrees but apparently still thinks they are two different things.

So instead, Ravarie and Bear Fang make a deal. If the party agrees to help him find his missing family, he'll help them track down a griffon.

The next morning the party meets up with Bear Fang. He tells them he knows of a solitary griffon nest he spotted once on a hunting trip, but it's a bit of a hike and out of their way. As they walk, the party discusses ways to disable the griffons using magic. This talk confuses Bear Fang, who knows nothing about divine magic or the return of the old gods.

Eventually the party reaches an old rope bridge over a canyon. The party decides to cross it one at a time. At first, this goes well, if a bit precarious. But because Grubnick and Regar decided to bring their very heavy and weighed down pack animals with them, things start to get dicey. Grubnick's mule causes some damage to the bridge, weakening it. As a result, Regar and his goat nearly manage to break it, and the dwarf actually falls through a snapped plank and nearly falls to his death.

After clearing the bridge, they reach the nest and Sorrith is excited to see eggs in it. He reasons raising a hatchling would be even easier than trying to tame a wild griffon. However, Regar objects to this, beliving taking an egg would be wrong. This confuses the others, was finding a griffon to tame was the whole reason they were there. Regar claims he wasn't paying attention when the deal was made, and had no idea they were looking for griffons and would have stayed behind if he had known.

The argument is interrupted when two griffons show up, flying in from the north. Acting quickly, Kori throws up an illusion to conceal Sorrith and the nest, but this redirects the griffon's ire to the rest of the party instead. Chatty manages to catch one of the griffons in an entangle prayer, and Ravarie grabs the other. But Bear Fang goes into a rage, and Ravarie has to talk him down. Once he's out of it, they decide to flee before the griffons manage to get free.

They cross the bridge and find a cave to hide out in when the griffons begin to catch up. While they hide, Bear Fang explains that he was possessed by an evil spirit during the war, and ever since then, it takes over his body when he gets mad. Once the griffons move on from their search, the party slips out of the cave and books it back to the village, arriving by nightfall.

Regar again raises his concern that they stole a baby from loving parents, but Sorrith clarifies that griffons are not sapient. They are mindless beasts, and taking the egg was no different than separating a litter of kittens from its mother. The party discusses this for a bit, before heading for bed.

The following morning, they meet back up with Bear Fang, who agrees to show them the way out of the mountains. But he clarifies once they leave the mountains, he will no longer have any use as a guide, as he has never gone that far before. The party sets out, eastward, toward the Wasted Lands. Bear Fang takes the lead. After a long day of travel, he suggests they find a spot to rest. Ravarie chooses to send Bear Fang to scout a location. He winds up running into a troll, and getting into a fight. The party rushes to his aid.

They find Bear Fang in battle with a troll. What's more, it seems the troll is calling out for help. The party manages to drop it within two rounds, before more can arrive. However, it gets back up thanks to its regenerative abilities, and they have to take it down again. In the meantime, two more arrive. They kill the first one, and entangle one of the remaining two, but then two more show up. Things start getting really dicey when Bear Fang falls, although the party is able to revive him. They aren't able to help Chatty, though, who gets torn to shreds and dies. The remaining battle is long and grueling (17 rounds), but eventually the party is victorious and manages to burn away the trolls to stop them from regenerating.

With the fight won, the party seeks out the trolls' lair to use as shelter and hopefully find treasure. The cave is empty and safe, but only contains two thousand (useless) gold pieces. They leave Chatty where she fell, and get some rest for the night. The following day, they set out again and a few days later, while making camp in a cave, they spot a bobbing light in the distance. Ravarie shapechanges into an owl and chases after it, but it darts away, toward a goat trail. Deciding not to press her luck, Ravarie returns to the others and reports. Ultimately, the party decides to ignore it.

The next day they set out again, and reach the wastelands. A day after that, they spot a cactus plant with some fruit on it. As Kori never brought any rations with her, she is tempted to eat some. Ravarie approaches the cactus to inspect it, when a sandling suddenly emerges from the ground and swallows her up. The party attacks the creature while Ravarie is crushed and suffocated, until she shapechanges into a gopher and burrows her way out of it. Working together, the party is able to whittle it down and the creature collapses into a pile of orange colored sand. Kori claims her cactus fruit and the party tries to explain the difference in arcane and divine magic to Bear Fang. But to him, magic is magic, and he has trouble telling the difference. Likewise, the party seems downright baffled that anyone could confuse the two and struggle to explain it; despite the fact that divine magic was more or less completely non-existent until about 10 years ago. Kori insists her power is not tied to a 'fickle' source like a god, which gets her roundly mocked by the rest of the group as her power comes from the god of white magic, Solinari.

A couple of days later, the party is making camp for the evening, when a wemic with a rainbow colored mane and beard approaches and begins to sing in his own language. The party all stare at him, baffled, but can't think of anything to do, as they all reason that since he is singing in Wemic, therefore he cannot speak Common. But Bear Fang calls out to him in Common, asking if he speaks Common, and the wemic answers 'yes.' The party asks him why he is singing, and he explains he is 'the distraction.' It's at this point the party realizes that while they were staring at the singing wemic, fourteen more wemics have sneaked up on their camp and are now in position to attack. The singer tells them they are to hand over their supplies, including food and water. The party objects to his, saying they will die without them, but the singer claims his own people will die without them, as well. Regar offers to 'create food and water' which the wemic doesn't understand--again, the party seems baffled that someone doesn't know about divine magic or can't list off specific spells, despite these things only coming into being ten years ago. The wemic explains his people were from Nordmaar, but they were exiled here and have trouble surviving in the wasteland.

Eventually, the party asks what race they are, and the speaker's name--which is Kathar. They tell Kathar of their quest, and Kathar recognizes Ravarie as the clear leader of the group, which makes her uncomfortable. The party makes camp for the night, and the wemics watch over them as they sleep. The following day, the party eagerly takes off again after saying a brief goodbye, and leaving the wemics to their fate.

A few days later, they come across an abandoned caravan with several puddles of blood and no sign of life. They find large tracks leading away, so follow to investigate. This brings them to a large cave. They enter it and find it is a lair to some kind of creature or creatures, filled with the remains of humanoids. They hear something roar outside. Ravarie shapechanges into a mouse and discovers a white tylor sniffing around outside. She reports back and the party is unsure of what to do. They come up with a plan for Regar to summon a dust devil to distract the creature while they escape. However, the tylor kills the dust devil immediately, buying them very little time. The party rushes out of the cave and attacks the tylor, but all of their pack animals run away in terror thanks to its aura of fear. The party dispatches the tylor easily enough, but its five rookery siblings show up and things get a lot tougher. Grubnick has an idea for the party to retreat to the cavern to try and bottleneck the creatures.

However, Grubnick and Bear Fang wind up falling. Ravarie shapechanges into an ostrich and leads three of the creatures away on a chase. This allows the others to take out the other two tylors, and revive Grubnick and Bear Fang, as well as regroup back into the cavern. However, the tylors realize what Ravarie is doing and all break away and start back toward the cave.

The party makes a final stand at the cave's mouth, or try to. However, Sorrith goes down, leaving Regar and Lalora to carry the fight alone. Grubnick spots a cranny in the cave that is small enough that the tylors can't reach, but large enough for them to hide in. They retreat there. Ravarie goes down, but Lalora manages to finish off the final tylor with her bow.

Neither Regar or Kori seem capable of leading, and with Ravarie down, Lalora takes charge. She assigns Kori and Regar some duties then takes the entire watch herself, not trusting either of them with such a responsibility. The next day, they healed up and headed for Zhea Harbor, but were forced to leave their pack animals lost in the wasteland.