The Adventures of Sago Spellfinder

[vgn]

Sago here, Master Adventurer and Explorer Extraordinaire. The past few days have been so much fun and filled with excitement I thought I'd jot down some of the highlights in my journal while doing a little fishing.

A few days ago I fell asleep by my campfire and had the most amazing dream. There was a real live Dragon! Well, maybe it wasn't live, maybe it was just a dream. I don't know. I've never seen a dragon before. The next thing I know I woke up in the town of Hlint. I had heard of Hlint, but never had been there before. I quickly made my rounds around the town, meeting the locals and looking in every corner and peeking in every window. It seems quite a few of the locals have problems that need dealing with. Lucky for them I'm here now!

A fine lady asked me if I would try and find something for her down in the sewers. That sounded like a fine adventure and I headed down. The rats down there are enormous! I swear to you now they must be bigger than me head! I slew quite a few but they swarmed a bit and took a few too many bites out of me. I dragged myself out of there only to see some fellow adventurers talking by the road. I of course offered to help them down in the sewers if any of them needed help, seeing as I'm now a master rat slayer. They didn't seem to interested but one kind fellow healed me wounds right up. You'd never guess I'd had so much as a nip from those rats.

I decided to take a bit of a nap and when I woke there was another group of folks. I introduced myself all proper like and found out they were headed out on a hunt. They said they were off to Seilwood Forest filled with creatures and caves. They asked if I wanted to come and I jumped at it! I'd never been to this Seilwood. I heard there was a witch there; we never did see her though. What we did do was find a really great cave filled with all sorts of nasties. We saw this giant quivering cube of jelly and people started chopping at it. I stood back and threw some darts and what do ya know? I popped that jelly! Michaelis found a necklace in the muck and it looked like it might be the one that bard in the inn lost. He said she had asked him to find it and since she asked me as well I suggested we turn it in together seeing as I was most instrumental in finding it. Back in town that bard sure was happy to have it back, she gave me a spot of gold. She gave some to Michaelis too but I think I got a wee more, I think she might be sweet on me. I was starving at this point so I ordered up some food and drink. That hit the gullet just right!

When I came out of the inn there was yet another group of adventurers gathered. I saw a man in a skirt no less! His name was Wedge and looked to be useful with a sword. He and another guy were talking with a fine looking lady named Brisbane. Just then a man clad in a green robe approached. I introduced myself and found his name was Plen. He was looking for a good place to rest. It turns out he just returned from an adventure and was quite drained from, get this, raising people from the dead! Now that is a healer. What a priest. He claimed all it needed was a little faith, but I don't know about that. I've got faith in Lucinda, but ya don't see me raising people up from the dead. I have felt closer to her recently, but I can't even heal up my nicks and bruises.

Wedge thought some hunting would be fun and suggested a trip to Seilwood. All right! I am master of Seilwood! I just had that adventure there earlier and conquered the place. Plen and Brisbane declined to come seeing as how Plen really needed some rest. They both worked some mighty fine magic though! Brisbane turned my skin tough as a tree. Plen made flames leap from my blade and the both of them cast several other enchantments I couldn't discern, but they made me feel great.

So off we ran to Seilwood. While exploring the cave it seemed a bit haunted. Strange things kept disappearing or appearing. When we left the cave we found out it was no ghost! It was a wizard having some fun. He goes by the name of Alexander the Blue. We asked him to join and he thought that sounded like a fine idea. Turns out those woods are bigger than I knew! We went through a Ranger's grove and then deeper into the woods. I saw a cockatrice! I've heard those birds have a nasty bite but that didn't get me, no sir. We chopped them up nice and I pocked a few feathers as a suvineer. Just then we turned the corner only to see a band of ogres! They looked set on pounding us good so we whipped those fire blades around and took them all down.

Once we cleared the area, Alexander asked if we wanted to go even deeper yet so he could get some garlic. Sounded great to me, but as we all turned to go, the earth itself started rumbling. With a fantastic entrance of fire and smoke, a flying demon appeared! He was a tricky one and told us he had hidden 500 gold somewhere near by. 500 gold! Oh what I could buy with that. He said we could have it, if we could find it. We ran all over the woods peering up trees and under rocks. Meanwhile this devil was having some fun with us. He started up a snowstorm and darkened the skies. Creatures appeared and disappeared before our eyes. Some we managed to kill, others just vanished right before landing a killer blow. We finally found a corpse by the lake with a pouched full of 500 gold. I went to snatch it up but the tricky devil claimed it was too easy and it vanished from me very hands.

We began the search again; but this time the snow was really getting to me a bit. It was down right cold in these woods. After a mighty battle with some ogres, the demon taunted us some more, claiming the gold has been very close the whole time! Someone shouted, "Check your packs! He's tricky one and may have already given it to us." Sure enough, Alexander found an extra pouch with 500 gold in his pack. The demon cheered our brilliance and with a grand gesture healed all our wounds!

We headed back to Hlint to split up our bounty. I noticed during the walk back that Lucinda seemed closer to me. I thought I recalled her watching over me in the forest, but I thought I was likely muddled from all the excitement. I took a few moments to pray and give her thanks for watching over me. It was then that I felt I had gained her favor. I felt I could do some miraculous things if only I could some how focus her magics. I ran off to the local temple and bought an amulet just like the ones I'd seen the folks from the old temple wearing.

I grasped the amulet and thought of Lucinda. I tried to focus her magics and soon my blade began to glow! No, it wasn't fire like master Plen had made, but it was glowing nonetheless and I did that! Well, of course I did. I had Lucinda's help, but I am a master adventurer and all adventurers of any worth can work magics. I was so excited I blessed some water in Lucinda's name.

Oh my, I've written much more than I had planned and there is so much to see. I can't waste all day writing in this dumb book. The people need my master adventuring skills.

[vgn]

Today I decided it would be best if I finished that rat problem once and for all. I went down into the sewers and killed every last rat I could find. At the bottom, near the back, I saw the biggest rat I've ever seen! It was twice as big as I am tall and walked around on two legs! It was a mighty battle and I was clinging to life by a thread more than once, but with Lucinda's help I managed to slay the entire rat army. I am now a Master Rat Slayer.

Up on the surface I saw Brisbane speaking with an old elf who seemed to cough up blood non-stop. It wasn't long before I found out this was Ozy! THE Ozy. Ozymandias Llewellyn, Master Bard! We had quite a conversation and he showed me some wondrous skulls. One he said had the power to take my soul. I tried to get a good look at it anyway, but he had a rather firm grip. He told me of his library filled with books on magics and artifacts and other wondrous things. He said the library is over in the East in some place called Dregar. I think I'll head over to Dregar just as soon as I finish up some of my outstanding tasks around here. It seems everyone needs the help of a Master Adventurer like myself.

After a little fishing, some fantastic things started happening around town! Several people caught on fire and had to be extinguished and many people were bickering and getting into fights. When all the commotion settled down, I noticed a gnome with a kettle tring to make some soup. It seemed an odd thing to be doing and I wondered if she had anything to do with what just went on. It didn't seem so; she was merely making some soup, but needed some Frost Tomatoes from Shoufal in the Berhagen Mountains. I've never been there! I had no idea where it was, but a friendly dwarf named Harg told me the mountains were outside of Fort Velensk. Well where is that? He said it was not too far from Port Hampshire. Well where is that? I have a feeling I'm going to have to find it all on my own. He said to head towards Krandor and ask around.

Off I raced to Krandor where I found a kind woman who told me the way to Port Hampshire. Once there I found a man who told me I could make it Fort Velensk by boat, or a quick hop through the Battle Fens. He warned of lizard folk, but never mind them, I can handle it. I slipped through the Fens and didn't even see a soul. Outside of Fort Valensk I could see the mountains towering in the horizon. I headed up the foot hills and soon found myself deep in the mountain passes. It was cold and snowy and I spied a group of giants around a turn! I slipped through the shadows of the passes and worked my way through the mountain range and finally found the small town of Shoufal. I ran through town looking for a market, but instead found a woman tending her garden. She had overfilled her basket and offered me 3 frost tomatoes and 3 frost onions. I gladly thanked her and off I was back toward Hlint. It was a long journey, but I finally ran, panting, back into town.

The gnome was gone! That tricky gnome just up and left. I went into the Inn to rest a bit after my enormous journey. Just as I was about to settle in at the table I smelled something grand from the kitchen. I slipped back there and found a nice woman tending a pot of soup. It smelled better than the brew the gnome was making and I thought it might be even better if she had my tomatoes and onions. She was so happy to have them for her soup she even gave me a small bag of gold! It was nothing really, nothing for a Master Adventurer like myself that is!

[vgn]

Today after some fishing I listened to a grand tale told by my trusty sidekick and faithful companion, Ozy. He does spin a good tale.

I ran a few errands and then while passing the graveyard I noticed a group of adventurers about to enter the crypt. I thought they could surely benefit from my skills as a Master Adventurer so I offered my services. They jumped at the chance so into the crypts we dove.

The place was crawling with skeletons! I felt Lucinda's presence and I focused her mystical energies. The skeletons shook and fell apart all around me. Lucinda looks well on me and has made me a Master Undead Slayer. My faith in Lucinda seems to grow stronger every day.

Down below we found swarms of zombies and ghouls. With my skills and those of Herman and the others of the party, we made short work of them. At the very bottom of the crypt we found a most foul beast. A Darksoul! It was quite a battle but we managed to slay them all. The other day Erag had noticed that I seemed to be an adventurer of quite some ability and asked me as a personal favor to collect some essence from a darksoul, should I find one. I managed to bottle some of it up and he was quite happy that I hadn't let him down. I guess he isn't used to dealing with a Master Adventurer.

[vgn]

Wedge and some other folks got a brilliant idea to storm the Iron Mine in Haven. As it turns out, it is infested with a tribe of ogres! While Wedge and the others kept the ogres distracted I took them down with my well-aimed darts. I am a Master Ogre Slayer. We made it down to the second level of the mines and some people started worrying it was too tough. I didn't see any real problem. The ogres were grumpy and hit kind of hard, but I was too quick for them. I wanted to push further in but I was out voted, so we returned to the surface.

Someone suggested checking in on a tribe of bugbears that was rumored to be causing trouble near by. Sure enough we found a large band of them. Much like with my ogre slaying tactics, I wisely let my companions distract the bugbears and I proceeded to slay them from out of reach with my darts.

Around this time, my good friend Plen and his sweetie Brisbane approached. He suggested joining our little group and taking a trek across the Blood Desert. I hadn't been to the Blood Desert yet and it sounded like a grand adventure!

We fought all manner of snakes and scorpions. They were no match for my advanced tactics and I became a Master Exterminator! Plen was rather useful here. He distracted the scorpions quite well. That is one of the many reasons I let Plen adventure with me. He is a great sidekick.

Deeper in the desert we came across another tribe of ogres. Everyone was relieved to have a Master Ogre Slayer like myself in the group. I took aim with my darts and took several of them down. My well-thrown darts also had the most excellent effect of distracting the ogres so Wedge and some of the others could have at them with their swords.

Even deeper in the desert I saw the most incredible beasts. They were manticore and rained spikes down on our group. With a hop, skip, and a jump I dodged the barrage and nailed one them in the eye with my dart. He slumped over dead.

When we finally emerged from the desert, I found myself near Port Hampshire. That was a much more adventuresome route than the forest.

Two amazing things happened on my adventures that are worth noting. In the Mines of Haven I found a glorious ring on one of the ogres. It glowed a bright cyan and lit up the darkness around me. This is my first true magical artifact I have found since arriving in Hlint.

The other, even more glorious thing occurred in the desert as we camped after defeating the ogres. I prayed to Lucinda to thank her for her help and to heal my nicks and bruises. When I was finished I found I could vanish into thin air! I slipped around the desert, and spied on ogres and other creatures. This new ability will help me greatly in my travels and explorations.


Deeper in the desert

[vgn]

I popped into the inn today to have myself a nice drink and found a nice group of folks gathered. I gladly joined them to swap tales over a nice bottle of wine. Our gathering was interrupted though by a rude stranger in a red robe. He claimed to be a pyromancer and his pet mephit had escaped and was rampaging the land burning things.

Evidently this mephit wants to be a dragon and idolizes them. He has taken a penchant to burning craft halls and other establishments dedicated to Dorand. We all agreed this creature must be stopped. Ronus mentioned we should watch out for the craft halls as well as shrines and temples to Dorand.

After seeing the Hlint craft house was in good shape, I suggested we check on the Master Craft House in Port Hampshire. It seemed a likely spot for the next attempt. Wedge and Celgar overrode me though and said we should head to Lar. There is evidently a temple to Dorand in Lar.

We left as quickly as we could towards Lar. Along the way we ran into marauding bands of ogre. We made short work of them. I nailed several of them right between the eyes with my slingshot. Halfway to Lar, Celgar changed his mind and had a revelation that Port Hampshire may actually be the better course. We backtracked out of the mountains and headed straight for Port Hampshire.

We arrived only to see both craft houses in flames. An adventuring elf was helping the local militia combat the blazes. We quickly joined in but the water couldn't go fast enough. We created a bucket brigade and handed buckets full of water down the line. We must have emptied 50 buckets on the blazes but the fires burned deep. Both craft houses collapsed in on themselves.

Nothing but rubble and skeletal supports are left. The houses need a complete rebuild. I have decided to help in the fund raising efforts. I have little coin to my name, but being a Master Adventurer, coin should be easy to attain. I will be gathering groups of adventurers to collect gold and resources.

[vgn]

I saw Wedge roasting some boar over a fire and stopped by to say hello. Being the great guy that he is, he offered me a nice hunk. I've been eating a lot of fish lately so it was a nice change. I gave him my thanks and mentioned I may be able to return the favor. I had thought I heard not too long ago that Wedge was beginning to work metal in the smithy and may be interested in gathering copper. I let him in on a secret that I had picked up in the tavern. The best copper around is found at the very bottom of the goblin mine, guarded by the chief himself. As thanks for the pork, I offered to go with him to gather this fine ore. Wedge jumped at the chance! Ronus had asked me as a personal favor to deliver the head of the goblin chief to him. This would be a fine opportunity to get that head since we would be there anyway.

We headed out to the mines and as we delved deeper I employed excellent tactics and planning. Wedge distracted the goblins and I pelted them with bullets from my sling. I took out several with a single throw! At the bottom, it was a fierce fight. The goblin chief did not seem to want to give up his head lightly. We prevailed though and pulled out my sword and cut off his head myself while Wedge started picked at the veins of copper. I called on Lucinda to heal both Wedge and myself. She showed her favor and our wounds healed nicely. Wedge chipped off one too many nuggets of copper so I stuffed it into my pack.

Back in town I brought Ronus the head and he was quite appreciative. He gave me a very nice pair of boots that fit quite nicely. I seem a bit lighter on my feet with them on.

While Wedge worked the copper I thought I would give it a try as well since I had my very own nugget. I grabbed a pair of tongs next to the forge and smelt a beautiful ingot of copper. That wasn't too tough. It turns out I'm a Master Smelter.

[vgn]

In the Wildsurge Inn today I saw a stranger I hadn't seen around town before. He didn't seem from around here as he was looking to order some odd berry juice. Why he couldn't take an ale like anyone else, I don't know. Disgusted he left the inn and I approached him to introduce myself and find out his business in town.

Turns out he is a bit of an adventurer himself and spends most of his time acquiring items for his employer. He could tell a Master Adventurer when he saw one and asked if I would help him in acquiring his latest item. His master had arranged for the purchase of a special swan in an auction. He needed one of the swan's feathers for some odd reason.

That sounded like an easy enough task and I gathered up some of my friends to go pick up the swan. It was being held in Leilon. When we arrived in Leilon, we found an underground auction. It looked a little shady, but that really isn't my concern. When I asked for the swan I found they had lost it! A band of gypsies had taken it claiming it was some sort of god. They were last seen headed into the High Forest.

Not wanting to loose them, we headed out quickly. We found them guarding a crate that looked like it could easily house the swan. I approached cautiously so as not to raise alarm. Without being overly friendly, they were tolerant of us. We asked for them to return the swan as our employer's employer rightfully purchased it. The gypsy leader said they could not do that, as the swan was actually the Spirit of the Lakes. He offered to let me speak to her myself.

When he opened the crate a beautiful white swan flew out and spoke with me. This was obviously no normal swan, so I was quick to believe it could be the Spirit of the Lakes. I asked if I could have just one feather. She explained that every feather taken dries up some of the lakes. After a short discussion, she agreed to trust my judgment to not give the feather away lightly and granted me one of her feathers.

On the way back to see the man, we were ambushed by bands of mercenaries, obviously intent on getting the feather. During one altercation, someone unleashed a fireball to engulf the mercenaries. Poor Torn was charging them at that moment and was caught in the blast. His charred body fell. After taking out the remaining mercenaries, I rushed to his side. I applied some bandages and with Lucinda's grace cast a healing prayer on him. It was to no avail, his leg twitched lightly, but he looked too far-gone. I got down on my knees and prayed to Lucinda for her good help. She must have been listening because Torn's wounds began to seal. He was soon much closer to life than death and we healed his wounds the rest of the way.

We gathered everyone up and continued towards Hlint. When we got there, we found the man waiting where we had left him. He had some explaining to do. Why exactly did his master want this feather? In order to explain the matter, he called on a friend who was in league with his master. His friend was none other than the only child of the Spirit of the Lake! In talking with him, I learned he needed the feather to help a project in the desert to the south. There was a major project underway to help the inhabitants of the region by building an oasis. The power of the feather was needed to transfer some of the bounty of the Northern lakes to the desert. After some discourse, we decided it would be best for both lands to avoid potential future war and conflict to give the feather now to facilitate peaceful co-existence. With the feather in hand, the man thanked us and was on his way.

[vgn]

Hlint seems to attract the most interesting sorts of people. Today I met a man who was traveling to Spellgard to deliver a package. He had had quite a trip already and was looking to rest some in the inn. He saw right away I was the adventuring type and asked if I would take his package to Spellgard. He offered 500 gold coins to do this for him and promised the recipient would pay another 500 on delivery. Well, being a Master Adventurer and having been to Spellgard just recently, I thought that was an easy enough way to make some extra coin. I had just been in the process of recruiting some adventurers for an adventure and while this looked to be simple enough it still might be fun. We gathered everyone up and headed out of town.

We reached Haven without incident, only meeting a single traveler along the way. Just out side of Haven we saw a swarming mass of black snakes. When they saw us, they came at us as if possessed. We put them down, but were surprised at their ferocity. Continuing on we saw more snakes, only this time they appeared to be led by a mercenary. As we approached, he unleashed the snakes on us. We took them out and searched his body. We didn't find anything on it.

Further down the road, near a known gnoll encampment, we were ambushed again, this time by several mercenaries and a large swarm of black snakes. We fought a large battle and when the last of them were slain, I looked around and saw over half of our team was on the ground dying. The snake's poison ran thick through their veins. They were all on the verge of death.

While we tended to their wounds as best we could and tried to decide how we could help them, a man approached who looked to be dressed similar to the mercenaries. He didn't attack, but instead demanded we turn over the package. When we refused, he resorted to bartering. He claimed he could heal our friends and stop the venom's course if we gave him the box. Not trusting fully, I gave him the box while several of our group held swords at the ready. As he began to approach one of our fallen members, a dart flew down from the hills and slew the man.

We scanned the hills but only caught a glimpse of someone running away. Having no other choice, I grabbed up the box again and we decided to head to Spellgard to ask for help.

In Spellgard we found our contact and explained several of our friends had fallen to poison. We asked instead of gold, if he would help our friends in exchange for delivery of the box. He agreed and from the box he took a vial of red liquid. He returned the box to me saying there were two vials remaining and each contained three doses of antidote. We had the antidote with us the whole time!

We raced back to our friends only to run into more mercenaries and snakes. They were determined to get this box. Now that we knew the contents, there was no way they would be getting it before we helped our friends. We slew them all and continued on.

Our friends looked like they were still clinging to life and I quickly administered the antidote. They started improving, but all were weak and needed tending. We used bandages and spells and patched them up as best we could. The box, now empty, was useless and I thought it could only be a further danger so I threw it to the side of the road and we all headed towards Hlint. We made it back without incident and everyone enjoyed some much-earned rest.

[vgn]

Today I speak of an adventure that almost put an end to my adventuring days. Having just arrived in Hlint, I saw several people speaking with Ronus. Evidently he was expecting a shipment of bows and arrows from Lar, but it was late and he had heard nothing to explain it.

I gathered a group of nearby friends and acquaintances and we headed to Lar to investigate. As you may recall, I had been near Lar previously, though I never actually went there. I knew it's general location in the Grey Peak Mountains and led our group there. I warned of the dangerous ogres and told everyone to keep on the lookout.

We encountered several groups of ogres. Some we were able to hide from and slip past in the shadows of the hills. Others we had to battle and though tough, we slew them well. Chrio is a strong fighter, even if he lacks social grace. He was quite an ally to have at hand.

As we climbed the hill toward Lar we found two drow. I overheard them talking. One was commenting they should have burned the whole town. Before I could hear much more, they spotted our group and launched an attack. We dispatched them quickly and headed to Lar, expecting the worst.

We ran into the local inn and found out Willman, the man in charge of the delivery, lived just up the hill. We headed to his house and found it burning. Inside we found signs of struggle and blood in various spots.

We found his neighbor home and after Chrio scared the poor man half to death, I calmly questioned what he knew about what happened next door. He said he didn't see anything, but heard a big struggle and thought he heard strange elven voices. He recommended we find Baron Blacklung as he would want to know about this. Last he had heard, the Baron had gone to Hlint.

We left for Hlint to track down the Baron and inform Ronus of what we found. It was on the trip back that things took a tragic turn for your hero, Sago. We tried to slip by a large group of ogres, but they must of saw some sun glinting off the warrior's armor. They flew into a rage and attacked. I ran to higher ground and began pelting them with my sling while the warriors attacked close range. It was then that an ogre mage appeared and I saw him casting a spell. I tried to scramble even higher, but before I could get away, the mage unleashed a cone of freezing cold and I passed out from the icy blast.

I woke up at the temple in Hlint, shivering, weak, and very cold. Starlight, the bard had carried me from the ogre-infested hills all the way to Hlint. She and my friends pleaded with the temple healer to help me. It was this healer who brought be back to life and I thanked her greatly.

When I found what Starlight had done, I thanked her profusely and gave her the bulk of the gold I had collected on our journeyas the others in the team did not seem very interested in it.

We went to Ronus and explained what he found. He was disgusted to hear what the drow had done and put the town on alert, fearing more attacks. If the Drow are brazen enough to attack Lar, they may very well attack Hlint.

[vgn]

After I helped beat back a raiding Drow party I got to talk with Plen and a friend of his named Rhizome. It was then that a huge bear came barreling into Hlint. He was half dead and his fur was matted with blood. Rhizome immediately healed the poor bear and interestingly enough began having a conversation with him. I've can see how these druids might start talking to themselves after a while all alone out in the woods, but he was actually talking to the bear and it seemed the bear was talking back and according to Rhizome the dead were walking in the High Forest.

It was then that a druid, also with bad wounds came through the gates. It was his bear Rhizome had been speaking with and he filled us in on more details. Evidently a large band of undead had surfaced from the Broken Halls. He suggested we go there quickly to investigate.

I assured the man I would handle it and just for good measure I brought along Plen and Rhizome as it seemed they might like a bit of adventure. It never hurts to have Plen on an adventure and this Rhizome seemed like a good potential sidekick.

As we approached the Broken Halls we saw not just a small band of undead, but instead quite a large one. There were cursed men of all types and vampires appeared to be leading them. I tried to call on Lucinda to stop these creatures but my call went unheard. I quickly decided to pull out my trusty sling and began pelting them with my bullets. Plen and Rhizome did a good job distracting them and Brisbane joined me in hitting them from a ways back.

After dispatching these vile abominations, we descended into the Halls. As we traveled deeper into the twisting maze we met resistance from all manner of undead. Much as above we made short work of them. Rhizome had evidently been here before and took the lead in our search for what was stirring these beings.

Down some stairs and around a corner I found myself staring down a Dragon! Plen began hacking at the beast while I pelted him with my sling. I nailed him in the eye and he fell. Plen claimed it was his final blow with his pick that did the dragon in. It happened so quickly it's hard to say for sure. Poor Plen is always trying to take credit. I decided to let him have this one.

At one point we entered a grand hall and Rhizome stopped in his tracks. He claimed there used to be some artifact down here and it was now gone. We searched the area and could only tell it had been dragged off somewhere. We decided to leave the Halls and perhaps look for clues above.

As we exited the Halls the ground began to shake violently and a huge spirit screamed and raced out into the sky. It looked a bad sign for us all. We said prayers to those that would listen and stood on guard. Nothing else stirred, but I'm sure that spirit will cause great havoc. You can't really blame them, but I think it was either Plen or Rhizome that let it out. The more I think about it, it was probably Rhizome. He was the last out of the door and probably didn't shut it well enough. I only hope he has the decency to end what he started by releasing that spirit and join me on another adventure.

[vgn]

I arrived back in Hlint today and found Plen and Brisbane sitting by the pond with Rhizome. One of the local children, Tom, was also hanging about. Boys love playing with worms so I dug him up a grub worm and another for myself. I used mine to pull a carp from the pond. Tom dropped his down the back of Plen's robe! Plen started dancing around, it was a hoot! Joining in the fun, I pulled a good one on Rhizome and stuck my carp under the bench he was sitting on.

Just as Plen was shaking the worm out and Rhizome jumped up at the smell of the fish, we heard a commotion from the other side of the bank. We rushed over and say Chanda and Scherzo standing over a fallen man. Chanda claimed Scherzo had cast some foul magic as the man came running into town. I've always thought Scherzo was a nice enough fellow and he tried to deny it, but I'll have to keep my eye on him. He made a rather guilty attempt to help and cast several healing spells on the man.

When the man came to he said he had just come from Krandor and there was a red fog pouring from the crypts killing everything in site. Celgar was near and both he and Plen immediately wanted to rush back to Krandor, as they both live there. This was exactly the kind of adventure I was hoping to take these folks on. In the back of my head I wondered if perhaps that foul spirit Rhizome released could be behind this.

We arrived in Krandor to find a rolling red fog surrounding the crypts. As we were examining it, a small army of undead literally rose from the ground from within the fog. We made quick work of dispatching them and while I was searching one of the bodies, a small wisp of the fog touched my ankle. A searing pain shot through me and I felt my strength drained from me. I stumbled back from the fog and called on Lucinda to restore my strength. I warned the rest of what happened and Plen began to prepare warding prayers.

Chanda seemed to delight in the fog and was praising Corath much to the disgust of most people there. I very much doubt she was telling the truth about Scherzo earlier. Ignoring Chanda's mad ravings about Corath we descended into the crypt to find the source of this fog.

We scoured the entire first level. There was literally an army of undead crawling the halls of the crypt. Using my new bow I filled several of them with a multitude of arrows. They began dropping like flies. At one point we came to a bridge with two gates. As I approached I noticed a small trigger just in time. Someone had trapped the gates. I worked at it a bit and managed to disarm them. Seconds after doing so, several vampires open the gates and stormed through. I made a swift jump backwards behind Plen so as to better hit them with my bow while Plen distracted them with the wild waving of his pick.

Further in we entered a large chamber teaming with undead. Rhizome showed his useful versatility and transformed into some type of large elemental. The undead seemed drawn to him and while they tried in vain to beat on him, I plucked them off with my handy bow. Brisbane was using her crossbow and trying to take some down as well. When the dust cleared though, I saw Brisbane lying dead on the ground! Somehow she had fallen in the fight. Plen slumped to the ground and after some contemplation pulled himself together and called on Katia's help. Bris rose from the dead yet again. You see, Brisbane has this awful habit of spending about half of our adventures dead. I feel sorry for good Plen. I know he loves her, but if he doesn't strike a deal with Katia soon, he may lose his soul with all this constant raising of Brisbane. I can't blame him though; she is very nice to look at.

After regrouping we looked around and realized that the source of the fog was not here. Plen thought it might be deeper in the crypt, but suggested we return to the surface for rest. I didn't really see much point in resting, but he looked tired so we all returned to the surface.

Once Plen was sufficiently rested, I led us back into the crypt, this time heading towards the stairs to the lower level. We followed a long winding hall and came to a chamber that radiated evil. Rhizome in the form of a large fire elemental barreled into the room to find himself face to face with a lich. Soon after a large swarm of undead joined the fray and I was shooting arrows, with fine precision I might add, into the mix. Soon we were surrounded by the slumped and defeated shells of the undead but we still felt an even greater evil in deeper.

We made our way to a small side chamber where we found a skull floating in mid air. Plen gasped. He said it was a demilich. Whatever that is, it sounded bad. Plen warned not to do anything, as we would likely just enrage it. It began mocking us and I'm not sure who attacked first, but someone enraged the creature. The room began to fill with undead and this demilich was filling the room with evil magic and attacking those closest. I wisely stood well out of the way in the doorway and strategically pelted the creatures with arrows. I soon felt the tide of battle shifting in our favor, when out of nowhere bolts of electricity lashed out and struck everyone in the room. I tried dodging to one side but the lightning was quick and struck me square in the chest. Just as I was blacking out I saw Brisbane and Scherzo struck as well.

....

I came to and I was still in the crypt and felt very weak. Everyone was standing around me and the demilich was gone. Plen looked on the verge of collapse and I knew he must have had a hand in my survival. As we were leaving the crypt I was filled in that while I was down, Rhizome had also come close to death, but skirted it only by drawing on the very nature of the Seilwood itself. Plen had prayed fervently to Katia and with powerful words of faith had driven out the demilich and also brought those that fell back to the living.

When we exited the crypt we found the red fog gone, but as we all collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, we heard a wail and saw a spirit fly from the open crypt door. Whatever evil this is, was only weakened, not destroyed.

[vgn]

Well friends, I am alive, though I hope I don’t regret it. Corath is on the rise and I recently witnessed something both tragically horrid and amazing at the same time. It started in Hlint when I was talking with some good friends. The ground started rumbling and the sky darkened. We soon saw what looked like a beam of light strike down just outside of Haven.

I gathered some of my friends together and told them if they were ever looking for adventure, now is the time and they should follow me. Good Plen and his lady Bris, along with Celgar, Scherzo, and Hotohori joined me. We took off towards Haven and along the way met some nasty zombies. There were only a few and we dispatched them quickly, but I began to think this might be related to the recent disturbances I have witnessed. Of course it figures, Rhizome was nowhere to be found. First he stirs up some angry spirits and gets them all riled up, then when it’s time to clean up, he’s no where to be found and it’s up to me. Oh well, such is the life of a Master Adventurer.

Outside of Haven we found a hole in the earth with a rough staircase carved into the side. A red fog was billowing from it and the area was teaming with undead. Powerful skeletons, zombies, and vampires attacked us on sight. We took them out and Plen suggested some wards would be useful if we wanted to go through the fog into the hole. That’s what I love about Plen, always thinking of great ways to protect me.

Down below we didn’t see more undead, but instead saw a horrible creature some of the folks were calling a Xorn. I saw a small alcove and darted into it, wisely thinking it would be a good place of attack should this Xorn prove hostile. I was quite well hidden and was readying my bow, when the ground shook, I lost my footing, and I blacked out. I found out later I didn’t just black out, but instead had come very close to dying. Plen took it upon himself to pull me back to the land of the living.

I put aside my brush with death and with only a few temporary wards from Plen I took off deeper into the cavern through a patch of red fog. As we traveled deeper, we found Umber Hulks and another Xorn or two. We finally reached the bottom of the cavern system and found a door with a staircase leading down. Inside we found what looked like an ancient crypt. Just as we were about to descend, who should show up? That’s right, Rhizome. He finally decided maybe he should finish what he started.

The red fog was prevalent and we found all manner of spirits, skeletons, and vampires. We slew undead left and right, leaving the lifeless husks in our wakes. That twit Scherzo kept running around looting all the corpses. Plen told him to stop and his only defense was that I, Sago, was also looting the corpses.

Poor Scherzo, he has no common sense. In the heat of battle he should be focused, like me on eliminating the threat. With my trusty bow I took down a number of the foul creatures while he ran around getting in my way. After the battle dies down, well then of course I’ll look over the bodies a bit. I mean we are deep in an ancient crypt. It would practically be a crime to accidentally miss a magical artifact.

Lucky for me he is kind of slow and I managed to look over a few bodies myself. I found a few magical items that I look forward to experimenting with, but I know that if I found these, then he must have of found twice this! How can I learn more about the magic if he’s hoarding it from me?

Oh my, I got a bit side tracked there didn’t I? Back to the adventure at hand. See Scherzo even gets in the way of my story! Ok, enough about Scherzo, he plays such a minor role anyway; it’s hardly worth mentioning him.

So deeper we went into the crypt, the creatures getting more and more nasty. Eventually we entered a huge chamber. A foul creature stood atop a raised dais, flanked on either side by skeleton guardians. A black knight, that practically radiated evil, approached the creature that he called Arindor. He told him he was under the service of Corath and under his command Arindor was relieved from service. Arindor wasn’t too pleased with this, but the knight merely motioned and commanded so much power Arindor and his guards crumpled to the ground.

This black knight then turned to us. Evidently he had noticed us there, but hadn’t cared or thought us a threat. He told us to behold the rising of the Black Sun and opened a sarcophagus. A spirit came rushing out with a wail and the black knight was thrown down from the force. We went to him to investigate and found his body had disintegrated and only the shell of his armor remained. The armor bore the symbol of Corath and on his boney finger we found a ring with a skull stamped in it. Rhiz said a skull with a dagger through it is a symbol of Corath, but there was no dagger in the skull on the ring. It did look like something had been there though, perhaps a dagger. We couldn’t fathom what it meant for it to be missing. Rhizome lopped off the finger and carefully put it and the ring in his pouch for later study.

Whatever evil spirit had been released looked like it was gone now. Unfortunately we don’t know where. We made great haste in leaving and quickly returned to the surface. Something out there is evil and it must be found and stopped. Do not worry dear friends. I, Sago, Master Adventurer, will find it and stop it.

[vgn]

I just got back from the best adventure ever! Wait until you hear about how I helped save the world. I’m sure Ozy will be telling people all about it since he was there. He may get some of the details wrong though, he tends to get a bit muddled now and then.

To begin with I took my first trip to Pranzis. Turns out it’s not that hard to get there, but it is a long walk and you have to know the bad areas. Having only some rough maps Ozy gave me a long time ago, I headed in the general direction. I hit a few wrong turns here and there, but seeing as I was invisible, I escaped most trouble. Once I got to Pranzis I spent the night in the inn and got a good night’s sleep.

The next day I decided that since I was in the capitol, I should check out the castle. I went over to that side of town and found quite a few people gathered. They were all waiting to talk to the King and seemed to have some news. I thought if I blended in with the crowd I might see the King too. Sure enough it worked. We were granted an audience and between Ozy and a woman they called Rev, they gave the King an update on a lost artifact. I listened closely and found out there were actually 3 artifacts and there were some vague clues on where to find them.

This all sounded really important so I offered to lead the group in a search for them. Quint, who I’ve met previously, seemed to want to lead, so I let him think that’s what he was doing. We both deferred to Ozy a lot though on where we might want to look. He had a good idea that the missing ring might be in a volcano. Of course there are a lot of them so that really didn’t narrow it down much. Plen came along which was nice as he is a handy fellow to have around as I’ve mentioned before.

Rufus Coldfinger suggested he try and contact the long dead spirit of the ring’s previous owner. We must have like minds as I was actually about to suggest that very same course of action. I let him run off to perform this errand and not wanting to waste time, we began searching some mountain ranges for likely caves.

Rufus eventually caught up to us and said he had more information on the location. The names were ancient, but Ozy managed to decipher them and find them on an old map. As it so happens I was on the right track as we were already in a mountain range just south of where the cave was supposed to be. For some reason Plen decided he had something much more important to do and left our group. He’s always been handy on an adventure, so I’m not sure what happened, but I guess he decided something of this importance was out of his league.

We headed north and soon found a small troupe of Blood’s undead soldiers. We must be close. It was a tough battle but we took them out. We searched the area but couldn’t find any obvious cave. The only thing we did find was a very deep pool of water. There might be an underwater cavern so I sent one of the folks down to check it out.

Sure enough that was a good hunch. Turns out, there was a cave down there and it wasn’t even that far. I stripped down and dove in. I made it to the cave with little difficulty, though Ozy had some trouble. It’s his lungs, poor guy. Buppi was with us and I must admit I was a little disappointed she didn’t take off her armor for the swim. It must have been difficult, but she seemed a little shy.

Down in the caves we found all sorts of atrocities. There were enormous spiders, walking mushrooms of death, and even various earth elementals. It’s a good thing I picked a good crew. They did well and I should commend them all. At the bottom of the cave, we found an enormous earth elemental. In a fantastic battle we destroyed it and began searching the area for the ring.

The good dwarf Kobal found it! I of course asked him to hand it over, but he refused. He held on tight and only after some cajoling did he let anyone see it. He showed it to Ozy and Rufus and it was all I could do to get a look. Here was this fine magical artifact and he was hoarding it.

The whole way back to Pranzis I kept after Kobal to just let me hold it for a bit. The darn dwarf wouldn’t budge though. He eventually gave it to the King for safekeeping. I don’t know how that could be safer than my hand. I barely even got to look at it before it was gone.

[vgn]

Oh have I been busy! You would not believe the adventures I've been on. There are so many I don't know where to start. Instead of talking about some of those, perhaps I should just give some highlights of what I've been up to.

First I won myself a brand new magical artifact! Plen was holding a lottery for a house, which I should have won but, due to some malfunction of the machine, it was given to someone else. Instead I got a wondrous ring, which has beefed up my muscles, since I put it on my finger. Quite incredible I must say.

I have also been doing a lot of crafting and I've had several small adventures to support my habits. I'm becoming quite a tailor, though it is hard work. I've made several suits of armor as well as numerous useful items. I also made myself a brand new cape that helps me blend into the shadows.

Some of my work has been made easier as of late. I met this little gobbo in Hlint. He's a scrappy little fellow and goes by the name of Hagel or some such thing. He claims to have a large family and was looking for some work.

I took him on and since then he has been fetching me things and often comes with me when I need to gather supplies. He can carry quite a bit for such a little goblin.

Lucinda recently graced me and she has begun to give me the power to light my sword aflame with magical fire. The combination of fire and ice appears quite deadly to many of my foes.

Since I know you all are dying to hear about at least one of my adventures, I'll tell you of my latest escapade. I happened to be in Port Hampshire to purchase supplies when I noticed a crowd of people around a small boy. Evidently his drunken father was off in Fort Hope and his mother sent him to find him. We all decided to go with him to make sure he got there safely. Unfortunately when we arrived we found his father in an alley with his throat slit.

After some investigation, we found he had large gambling debts and it was these debtors that had him killed. We left the boy with the guards and had one of our own stay with him. We traveled back to Port Hampshire where we found the boy's mother had been hung in her own house. Through some detective work, we found out about an underground casino operated by a Red Fur.

We infiltrated the establishment and ended up having to kill a few guards. Well, actually quite a few people were hostile and not many lived. We never spoke with Red Fur and don't know if he or she is still alive. Someone set off some acid traps though and the whole building began to give way. We barely got out. Shortly there after, an assassin attacked us.

We thought it best to head back to Fort Hope and check on the boy. When we arrived we found he and Remi had left for Fort Llast. The boy had found out about his parents and took the shock hard. Remi took him to the Temple to Toran in Fort Llast. Such a pity, the poor boy being looked after by Toranites. We quickly made our way to Fort Llast and found the boy unconscious. The quack healers there seemed to think the only cure was some Belladonna. Some of our party stayed with the boy, but the rest of us took off for Haven, where the herb is known to grow.

On the way a multitude of assassins tried to stop us. I had some close calls and was poisoned badly once, but I stayed alive and slew many myself. We had a strong cleric with us who spent some time raising some of our fallen comrades. While he was busy with this and the others were standing around nursing their wounds. I cast a cloak of invisibility about me and took off for Haven on my own.

I found one lone piece of Belladonna being guarded by a small troupe of assassins. I'm not sure how they knew we needed it, but nevertheless, I snuck in and snatched it from under their noses.

I ran back and met up with the others. I told them I found it and took off for Fort Llast. They were slow to follow, but I knew they would catch up. I ran most of the way under the protection of my invisibility, but as I approached Fort Llast, an assassin mage saw me. I don't know how she did, perhaps she had strong magic herself.

I ran past her into Fort Llast, but she followed. My invisibility rendered useless, I ran down an alley and leapt into the shadows. It was late in the evening and she lost sight of me. I crept the rest of the way to the temple and gave someone standing outside the herb. I whispered to him to be wary of assassins, but to make haste to the boy with the herb.

The others soon arrived and told of even more attempts on their life. The boy recovered though which was the most important thing. The poor boy though. Several of the team decided it would be best to donate some money to the temple and have them raise the child. Just what we need, another Toranite running around. I can tell you quite honestly, the temple got none of my gold.

[vgn]

I was conducting some business in Hlint and saw red fog billowing from one of the crypts. I sighed to myself. Not again….This fog is deadly and every time I’ve encountered it, there has been great evil involved. It all seems to trace back to Corath as well. I immediately sent a small bird in search of Plen as he has been an instrumental force in battling these evil forces. While waiting for his response, I took up guard in front of the cemetery gates to keep others out. The bird finally came back with my note still attached. It had been unable to find Plen. I don’t know if it was the bird, or some good chance, but Rhizome soon entered town. As you’ll recall he has often been helpful in dealing with these issues as well, though sometimes I think he tends to cause more trouble than he helps.

Like moths to a flame, Nethro and Chanda came skulking out of the shadows. They seemed to even grow in power when near the fog and looked gleeful. Nethro of course was his normal taunting and annoying self. I had news for them though. Recently I made a trip to Arabel. I had heard many tales of this far Eastern city and it’s great evil and nasty residents. The city was dreadful, I kept to the shadows and much of the time I explored under a prayer of invisibility granted by Lucinda herself. In one of the bars it was quite amazing, the owner and the bartender didn’t look human in the least. I quickly left, as it didn’t feel safe at all. I had heard the city held a temple to Corath and sure enough I found it. Now was my chance to play a prank against those nasty Corath following fools. I threw a worm in their holy pool, polluting it, and spit in it as well for good measure. I cursed it and then quickly left the city before I was noticed.

But I digress. Back to the matter at hand. While Rhizome and I were trying to decide what to do about the fog, Enzo came. Soon after a large storm started brewing to the Southeast. Our initial thought was the dungeon near Haven but when we arrived we realized the storm was much further away, perhaps even Rilara or further. It was then that we received word from the Master Bard, Ozy. He said we had better hurry as turns out an ancient box containing a fragment of soul, or even part of Corath himself, was being transferred in Roldem near an ancient lich named Emerald. The Corath followers were rushing to get their hands on that box and we had to get there first. Ozy was trying to distract them, but we didn’t have much time.

We raced for Port Hampshire to sail to Rilara. Once there we traveled as swiftly as we could to Karthy, which was the nearest port with a boat sailing to Roldem. When I stepped off the boat in Tibum, on one of the Roldem islands, I saw Ozy, Chanda, Nethro, and a few other figures. I don’t know if they noticed me or not, but they were in the process of heading out. We were running out of time and I started yelling for everyone to get off the boat. Rhiz got off the boat next and I told him what I saw.

We gathered everyone together and ran as quickly as we could towards the watchtower. We had to take another quick boat ride, but this was just a small dingy, not like the large ships we took between continents. We actually had made up good time and arrived just when the other group did. We did have to battle some nasty undead along the way and I wonder if perhaps it was their doing, trying to distract us so they could get there first. I probably won’t ever know, but now we just have to get that box first.

[vgn]

The life of a Master Adventurer is always busy. I was in Hlint enjoying a nice discussion and one of the Mistone Guards came in and told me that I was needed at Lucinda’s Temple in the castle. I thought it must be quite important for them to contact me directly. I’m sure the reserve only the most important tasks for Adventurers of my magnitude. I hurried there as fast as I could and was told of some unsanctioned magic on Rilara. It seems someone was making repeated attempts to create magic items of great power.

I set sail from Leilon to Port Hampshire and then transferred on to Point Harbor. At first I saw nothing unusual in the city, so left to investigate the outskirts. I saw a strange Elf and decided to watch him from the shadows. I even tossed up an invisibility spell for good measure. I must have rustled some dry leaves or something because he actually noticed me. It turned out he was an agent of the Mistone Alliance and needed my help. Word sure spreads quickly about heroes such as myself. But I digress. The Elf asked me to please investigate an army being built in the name of Milara. They suspected it wasn’t really Milara, but it was disconcerting non-the-less. I agreed to do what I could and headed back into the city for clues.

I heard several men talking about signing up and then I had the unfortunate chance to be accosted by a common street thug looking for gold. After I gave him a bit of a beating he calmed down and told me he heard the signups were happening over in the Belgaer Hills. I spared his life and even healed the worst of his wounds. I then took off for the Hills.

When I arrived I saw a line of would-be mercenaries and decided the best way to investigate would be to enlist myself. Unfortunately the stupid half-orc taking sign-ups was going so slow I gave up this line of attack. Instead I made an excuse of relieving myself and once far enough away I slipped into the shadows. I made my way over to what looked like the main wagon camp. Three extremely dumb looking brutes that looked more orc than man guarded the area. There was also an Elf casting all manner of spells. I thought to myself I had the most fortuitous luck for it seemed both of my investigations were one in the same.

When the Orcs were distracted, I grabbed the wizard and pulled him into the shadows behind one of the wagons. After some questioning I found he was being held captive and forced to attempt to make shielding devices for the new army. The brutes had done something to his robes that caused him to remain. If he tried to leave he grew scared quickly and had to return. Evidently the lead brute had come into some extra gold and thought he should have an army. I told him to continue what he was doing while I formulated a plan.

I said a few quick prayers to Lucinda well out of sight and sound. I then snuck back close and unleashed my plan. I cast a prayer of blindness and deafness on two of the Orcs and followed it quickly with a dispel magic on the mage’s robes. I then cloaked both the mage and myself in invisibility and told him to run.

As we gathered our breath and wits up in the hills, the lead brute, recovered enough from the confusion of my strike and found us. I tried reasoning with him, but he would have none of it. In the end I had to end his life, which I regret, but I saw little choice. The Elf and I showed caution and decided to flee the area. We made our way to a well-known safe camping area and I found the agent I spoke with earlier there. I told him of what had occurred and he agreed to see the wizard safely someplace where he could practice his craft in a safe and sanctioned area.

I, on the other hand, had to get back to Mistone to report to the temple. I made haste and once I made my way to the temple, I told them of everything I found. They were quite pleased, but evidently felt this was expected service to the church and gave me no reward. I don’t mind at all, as I do want to further the growth of the weave and I will help the church as much as I can, with or without a reward.

Not so much as an hour later was I summoned to the temple in Spellgard itself! They didn’t even have any patience and I was transported through some very high-level magics almost instantaneously. When I appeared in the briefing room, I found they had also called on Rhizome, Alexander, and Willow.

It appeared the task at hand was to retrieve samples of dragon feces for study. I shuddered visibly at the thought, but this time, the temple promised to reward us well. They provided us with shovels and bags and we headed out to the closest dragon lair we knew. After battling lizards and trolls along the way, we made it to the black dragon’s cave in the heart of the Fens.

We breathed a sigh of relief when we found the dragon wasn’t home, but quickly cut our breath short when the aroma of the project at hand reached our noses. Holding our breath, we began shoveling the dung into bags. Before we had gathered more than a small sample, the dragon returned!

With a little luck and a silver tongue, we managed to stay alive and the dragon gave us 20 minutes to dig as much as we needed. We were to gather 200 pounds but didn’t bother counting; we dug quickly until we had at least what we needed. We barely got far from the lair when one of the Lucindites from the temple appeared. He transported us back to the temple with the samples and the church spared no expense. I was rewarded very well and again it was an honor to server Lucinda and her projects.

I took some time in the temple to pray and found myself growing even closer to Lucinda. I can feel more of her power building in me waiting to be unleashed in order to achieve her goals.

[vgn]

*It looks like a large number of pages are missing and this is obviously an incompletely work*

[vgn]

I was in Pranzis not long ago. I had stopped in to resupply and ran into a group of old friends as well as some new faces I didn't recognize. While talking with them, I saw something fly over the Temple of Toran. I ran back to check it out and saw a blue wyrmling. It soon transformed into a kobold and must be some sort of shaman or some such magic user. He claimed his master The Long Storm was under attack. He said some foolish adventurers had led an agent of Blood right to her. As he was telling my friends and I this, I remembered overhearing a couple of adventurers talking at the inn in Saudiria a few months before about doing this very thing. Obviously this blunder had to be fixed as I understand there are some critical plans involving the dragons and we may need them, evil as they are, as temporary allies against Blood.

I rallied my friends together and we set off for North Fort, which we understood was also under attack. We got there to find several demons storming the gates. After helping the guards dispatch them, we continued on to the Storm's cave. In the desert outside the cave as well as in the cave itself we came across several patrolling bands of demons and other mininons of Blood's army. I of course slayed several myself and led the decent deep into the cave. Once near the dragon we found her fighting off a giant balor of incredible power. We dispatched it and managed to heal the dragon as well. We offered to help and though not at all greatful, the dragon accepted and called for more of her kobold minions.

Wave after wave of demons, goloms, and evil men of all sorts came in attacking. It was a trying time and many lives were lost, though the gods of the men and women I traveled with were with us that day and we fought back the entire envasion. Giant balor lords and princes lead huge armies of demons. I can't really remember whether it was me or someone else that took down one of the balors, but it was likely me. One dead though I noticed it had a fine cloak and I snatched it up and stuffed it in the bottom of one of my bags.

Reports came in the attackers were receding, but there were still four or five camps. The big blue headed for one camp alone and myself and the others headed to North Fort as we heard rumors it had been conquered. When we arrived in North Fort it was in shambles and over-run with demons and Blood's minions. We fought hard and slew them all. I noticed a ritual summoning circle on the ground and poured a vial of holy water blessed in Lucinda's name on it and it disolved into the sand.

Shortly after the demons were disposed of, the ancient blue came flying down. She agreed to find a new lair as hers had been compromised. She also demanded everything we found during the battles to help build her hoarde. I found a dagger that looked nice, but I didn't really need it. I handed it and a few darts I had picked up, but didn't mention the cloak. Sure enough she seemed satisfied with everything that was handed over by the group and I managed to make off with a fine prize of a new cloak. It seems quite resistant and I've seen a number of arrows fail to pierce it.