It’s getting late and the party is tired from all of their activities. They decide to head back to the grove to get some rest. When arriving at the grove they see that the Halfling found at the goblin camp is awake. The Halfling introduces himself as Ander and the rest of the party exchange names.

Ander remembers very little of what happened to him, he tells the group he has no idea why he was kidnapped. The party talks for a while longer as Ander picks from some game fowl that is roasting. Finally exhaustion sets in and everyone decides to get some sleep.

Seven Hammer, 1370 Dales Reckoning

A new day has dawned and this day is even colder than the last. The party agrees to help Dolgrin figure out what happened to him. They decide to head back into Thunderstone and after a quick stop to pick up warmer clothes begin a more thorough investigation. Andraste asks the party to pick her up some seeds to start a fruit garden. They debate whether or not there will be any available this time of year and Andraste remains hopeful that the group will find some. Nysillis heads off into the woods.

Back in Thunderstone the party makes a quick stop at “Hot Buns” a small bakery that has poorer than average muffins and overly sugared tarts. The proprietor is dressed in formal attire that is far too extravagant for a baker. Dolgrin buys the entire batch of baked goods and the party heads off to the Dragons Den.

Another round of info gathering at the Dragons Den and the party is questioned about why their weapons have not been peace bonded. They are told they should head to the Crown Office immediately and register themselves before the Purple Dragons realize that they have no papers. The group heads to the Crown Office to get the necessary documentation and learn about the laws of Cormyr. They also learn that with the Goblin War still not 100% settled the Peace Bond requirement for weapons has been temporarily suspended to ensure citizens and visitors can defend themselves.

The party heads to the Shrine of Tempus. At the Shrine they are just in time to witness the Battle Chaplain giving a sermon to a small group of Purple Dragons who are about to start their duties for the day. Ander decides to wait outside with Fairybell while Volodar and Dolgrin go inside. The Battle Chaplain introduces himself as Isaac Black. He has little information to offer the party but he does inform them that the Dwarf in question would frequent the Dragons Den and the Brothel in town. He also reconfirms that the Dwarf has a brother in town that owns the Bears Den Inn.

Most of the party heads to the Bears Den while Ander says he needs to handle something else in town. The party agrees to meet up at the brothel later. At the Bears Den the party finds that the place is closed. There are no lights and the door is locked. Shortly thereafter they all reconvene at the Brothel.

The Mistress of the establishment, a sultry elven woman with long curly blond hair and trendy glasses greets the group as they enter. Before any discussions can be had she demands that the Dwarf takes a bath. Bathing services here are already high and she states given the amount of grime on the dwarf she will need to charge extra. The party pitches in the five gold she is asking to clean Dolgrin and he is ushered back into a room for cleaning.

A round of questions here reveals that Borris the dwarf they are searching for has not been here for over a month, although he was a regular. It seems there was a disagreement about prices during his last visit with one of his regular girls Alex. Soon Dolgrin comes out all cleaned up and the party learns that the Bears Den never closes.

The group heads off to the Bears Den again to see if there is a way inside. They head around the back where Ander uses some tools to get inside. The place is clean and everything seems to be in order save for the fact that no one is here. The group finds what appears to be the Innkeepers room. The room is full of Dwarven bobbles, clothes, and ledgers. The Armoire is full of clothes and there is no  sign that anything violent happened here. The party cracks open a chest in the room and finds a bit of coin which they debate taking. In the end they decide to leave the money. Fairybell sniffs around and stumbles upon some familiar scents. One is the smell of rodents and the other is the smell of the donkey that they acquired at the goblin camp.

The party debates their next course of action and decide to head back to the Brothel to talk with Alex. By this time customers have started to arrive at the Brothel. Many of them seem to be Sembian Merchants. The Group talks with the Mistress about Alex and she agrees to let one of them talk to her so long as they pay for her time.

Alex comes into the common area. Dolgrin and Fairybell attempt to enter the room with her, but Alex states she isn’t into animal stuff and only Dolgrin is permitted to join her. Alex charges Dolgrin a fair fee for her time. She explains that Borris was haggling prices with her claiming that if she didn’t agree he would just start going to this other brothel that has recently opened in town and is charging half the price. Alex was upset by this as she was already giving him a great discount.

This is the only Brothel that is licensed to operate in Thunderstone. They pay their taxes and if another Brothel is opened in town it has done so illegally. Alex is not aware of where the place could be. When their conversation ends she Dolgrin on the neck leaving some lipstick then sprays him with perfume.

Dolgrin asks Ander if he knows any way to find out about underground activities in town. Ander takes offence to this and the party debates whether it’s even something they should be following up on. Reasoning that this could be a ploy by the brothel to eliminate potential business competition monopolizing the pleasure palace industry.

Ander remains “upset” about the stereotype that a Halfling should know about shady organizations, but suggests that the docks might be a good place to start. The group heads to the docks where many of the Fish Mongers have already set up their stands. They meet a Rock Gnome Fishmonger and witness him exchanging japes with a Sun Elf.

The party also come across a far past his prime Dwarf. He struggles to keep his posture and looks to be far too old to be fishing. Dolgrin speaks with him in Dwarven and learns that the old Dwarf’s daughter usually runs the stand, but she has gone missing. The fish currently available is a few days old and after today he won’t be able to keep them out. He mentions that the last time he saw her she was on her way to the Bears Den to have drinks as she did on most nights after work. He tells Dolgrin that most of the Dwarves in Thunderstone go there for relaxation. She never came home afterwards. He’s worried about her and begs for her safe return.

He agrees to let the group come look through her things if they wish, and gives Dolgrin his address. The group decides to spend the rest of the day asking around town about the missing Dwarves.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Four Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (4): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Volodar (Ranger), Ander (Shadowdancer)

The group once again meets outside of the Brothel to discuss what they have discovered about the missing dwarves.

Ander has learned that the new brothel in town has been catering to members of the mining community. His contact does not know the location of it but they are certainly interested on knowing its location.

Fairybell talks with many of the townsfolk around the docks. Most of the citizens aren’t even aware that the Dwarves are missing. With so few in the town to begin with, some people just assumed they left town. Some think that the Dwarves are all working at the mines and are probably just too busy to come into town. One lead states that Fairybell should speak with Wan Mai at the house of Iron, as she relies on the mines for ore that she smelts for the local smiths. Fairybell is also given the name of the Dwarf that runs the Thunderpeaks Mining Company.

As it’s pretty late the group decides to stay in town for the evening, being that they forgot to pick up Andraste’s seeds. They make their way to the Sign of Thunder Inn instead of heading back to the grove. The Inn is packed, partly due to the fact that right now only one Inn is operating in town, but also that this is where all of the Chartered Adventuring companies gather to obtain rumors, drink, higher help, and brag about their exploits in the Vast Swamp and Infested Hills.

Upon entering the establishment, Fairybell produces a divine aura that catches the eye of a Paladin seated near the door. The paladin motions towards the party. Fairybell decides to sleep outside while the group moves towards the Paladins table.

Dolgrin has a brief conversation with the Paladin who seems a slightly interested in the dwarf. He expresses that he is looking for recruits for the Golden Gauntlets. Dolgrin begins enthusiastically explaining his thirst for vengeance and the Paladin decides he’s had enough of the conversation and decides to leave, but not before his traveling companion makes a comment about the lack of class and order in this part of Cormyr.

Dolgrin takes offence to this and attempts to confront the man. Suddenly a feeling of fear burns in Dolgrins stomach. One that brings back memories of his childhood and he collapses to the floor. The Golden Gauntlet members leave the Inn.

Volodar makes his way to the bar to see about a room and some drinks. Finding it difficult to get the bar tenders attention, he is noticed by a snaggle-toothed woman with strawberry blond hair sitting at the bar. She introduces herself as Bulma and hails the bar tender for him. Volodar makes his way back to Dolgrin to keep him company.

Ander makes his way up the Loft that overlooks the bars common area. He witnesses a Gnome arguing with what appears to be a Sembian merchant. He tries to listen in, learning that the leader of this group known as the Emerald Swords apparently owes money to this Merchant for supplies bestowed prior to full payment being obtained. The Gnome explains that their leader has gone missing so any deals that he made with the Merchant are void in their eyes as the charter is not responsible for the transactions of individual members. They argue a bit longer and the Merchant leaves.

Ander attempts to trail the fat merchant but finds it hard to move through the crowed. He causes an altercation between two patrons by having one of them smack the other in the junk. This opens up a bit of room when the two men begin fighting on the stairs. Ander “bumps” into the merchant just outside of the Inn and attempts to lift his purse. He is almost successful but the man steps back at the last second. He then berates Ander thinking he is just a young boy. After a short conversation the Merchant heads down the street.

Ander stalks him from the shadows and as soon as he is sure no one is around dashes by slashing into the back of the man’s calf with his Sax. He cuts much deeper than intended, opening a huge gash in the calf. The merchant passes out from the pain and Ander quickly relieves him of his purse and heads off to the Inn. The Merchant lies unconscious bleeding out in the cold muddy road of Thunderstone.

Ander removes the gold pieces from the purse then stashes the remainder under the table that the Emerald Swords are sitting at. He then goes to the bar in an attempt to find out where the rest of the group went. He runs into Bulma who mistakes him for Volodars son. She escorts him up to the room. Volodar thanks her for returning his son the slams the door in her face.

Eight Hammer, 1370 Dales Reckoning

Ander heads out to get some sticky buns, while the rest of the group makes their way to Wan Mai’s House of Iron. Wan Mai an elderly Shou woman that has burn scars all over one side of her body to include her face. Much of the hair on that side of her hair is gone and one of her eyes is milky white.

Dolgrin explains that he is here to join the Mining Company. Wan Mai confused as to why he would come to her shop for this, she is simply a customer of the Mining Company. They supply her with ore that she smelts down for the local smiths. She has not seen any supplies from the mining company for at least a ten day. She thinks the Sembian merchants in town are buying up all of their supplies before she can get any.

Meanwhile back at the Delicatessen Ander arrives just in time to see an attractive girl on her way out of the establishment with a tray full of hot pastries. He goes in and sees what must be the girl’s sister judging by the resemblance is behind the counter and an older woman running the shop. He buys a dozen sticky buns then makes his way back to Wan Mai’s.

After arriving at Wan Mai’s, Ander is brought up to speed on what the party has learned. At an impasse they discuss their next move. Dolgrin wants to go up to the Mines which is about a day’s journey up the Thunderflow River via boat. Fairybell on the other hand thinks they should go talk to the old fisher dwarf as he said they could search his house for clues about his missing daughter.

The group decides to head to the fishermans house, maybe they can use his boat to head up the river. When they get to the house, Dolgrin knocks on the door and it opens on its own. Realizing something is probably not right everyone draws weapons and Dolgrin pushes the door open. The smell of feces and urine permeates the air and the room is dark. A figure is seated on the opposite side of the room. Dolgrin approaches and lays a hand it the man’s shoulder.

The old dwarf from the docks slumps over in his chair and the party sees he has a single stab wound right in the center of his chest. The group proceeds to look about the place. Aside from a messy bedroom the place is largely un-molested. Ander finds a dwarven locket and the group also finds a pile of documents on a table.

Dolgrin looks at the rune on the locket, he explains that it will only open by reciting the words on the locket. Unable to read very well he admits he doesn’t know what it says. Volodar being the only one able to read common looks over the documents on the table. The only non-dwarven paperwork in the pile is what appears to be a Deed for a boat and some past due loan paperwork from the crown office of Cormyr in the amount of 55 gold pieces.

The group heads down to the docks to find the man’s boat. Being that only one of the boats has dwarven runes on the side of it, they come to the conclusion this must be his. The boat is a rather large fishing barge, at least it is for this area. It would require at the very least a four man crew to operate. The group then decides to just buy a canoe from the shipwright. They also buy a couple more ores.

With their new sea fairing vessel they head up the river. Towards the end of the day Volodar and Dolgrin struggle to keep rowing while Ander it seems has no trouble at all. Despite his slender frame his technique is solid and he seems to use very little energy while producing the most efficiency. As the group starts to make it into the foothills the water’s current becomes much stronger and the exhausted group decides to camp here before it gets too late.

Volodar attempts to make camp for everyone but is unable to find dry wood suitable for starting a fire without tools and it turns out no one brought blankets, bed rolls, a tinder box, or even any flint & steel. Fairybell curls up in a ball while the rest of the group flips the canoe and sleeps under it.

Nine Hammer, 1370 Dales Reckoning

After a not so great rest the group wakes to find that Fairybell caught a Muskrat for breakfast. A quick meal of Muskrat and beef jerky and the party continues their trip back up the river.

A few hours later the party comes across a clearing on the shore that seems to have a well-used trail going up into the Thunderpeaks. The party drags their canoe to shore and hide it with some foliage. They make their way up the mountain trail

Thunderpeaks

A couple more hours into the trip the party hears an angry beast roaring and what sounds like yipping and squealing pigs. Dolgrin recognizes the sounds of a bear and they continue cautiously. Coming around a bend in the trail the party sees that a band of goblins has a mother Black Bear cornered as she desperately defends two cubs. Two of the goblins have spears pinning the mother bear in place while several others fire arrows into her.

The party quickly moves in on the goblins. Fairybell casts entangle ensnaring all of the goblins making for easy pickings as Volodar hurls arrows and Ander slings stones into them. Dolgrin begins to rage and smashes to goblins heads open before becoming entangled in the magical vines.

The party makes short work of the goblins and the bear stands its ground protecting its cubs but does not move closer to the party. The party steps away from her to ensure she does not feel threatened by them.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Four Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (4): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Volodar (Ranger), Ander (Shadowdancer)

After defeating the goblins the party has a disagreement on what to do about the mother black bear. Dolgrin wants to fight the bear and use its pelt and meat. Volodar and the others are heavily opposed to the idea and the group eventually is able to talk Dolgrin down. Volodar attempts to approach the bear to remove the arrows from her but she is too on edge. The party leaves some Goodberries for her and continue on their way.

A few more hours up the mountain trail the party approaches a mining camp. The place is completely abandoned. Three buildings that look as though they were once living quarters. All of the bunk beds in the buildings have been smashed and there is excrement everywhere. The largest structure has had significant floor damage and looks as though it once had lots of shelves that have all been smashed.

A building closest to the cave has been carefully disassembled. There are large holes in many support beams indicating large equipment was once in this building. The final building is a kitchen/dining area.

In the kitchen the party sees a group of goblins scavenging through the wrecked room. Dolgrin quickly attacks. Soon more goblins come pouring out of some of the other buildings that were left unchecked. The party makes short work of the majority of them while the remaining goblins escape down the mountain path.

After sustaining some minor wounds the party decides to head into the cave. They evidence that there use to be a rail system but all of the ties and rails have been removed. Further in there is a large wooden platform that looks as though it had some large device attached to it that has also been removed. Many of the planks on the platform have been torn away.

In another wing of the mine the party comes across two female goblins diligently working a line of boxes. The wood and materials used to construct the boxes is not in good shape and the craftsmanship is pretty bad. Before the goblins notice the party Dolgrin springs into action killing both of them.

Further into the mine the party enters into a huge open cavern that has ore and stone littered on the ground haphazardly. At the far end of the cave is a large pool. The party debates for a while on how to best approach this situation figuring that they need to go in the water. Fairybell dives in and swims around before submerging himself.

Under the water he finds a tunnel that goes on farther than he is able to hold his breath. He decides to head back and notices a large pile of humanoid bodies at the bottom of the pool. All of their ankles have been bound to large stones with short ropes.

The party spends the next hour bringing up all of the bodies and attempting to explore the underwater tunnel. Dolgrin suggests that they use their rope to leap frog up the underwater tunnel. Ander explains that’s not how it works and the party laughs at Dolgrins expense.

They also find a massive boulder near the wooden platform that seems ab it out of place. After several attempts the party is able to move the boulder and find a humanoid body underneath. Although smashed and more or less unrecognizable, it is obvious he is no miner. He is still clutching a dagger and has a coin purse.

None of the dead miners are dwarves. Dolgrin comments that it would take months for this mine to be disassembled as it has, at least by normal means. The party toss around ideas about what they think happened. Realizing pretty quickly the goblins are probably not responsible for this. It’s mentioned that maybe the Dwarves themselves killed all the miners. The group decides to sleep in the mining camp for the night before heading back to thunderstone.

Ten Hammer, 1370 Dales Reckoning

On the way back Volodar notices that some of the wagon tracks have deeper ruts than the others. They follow these tracks which lead down to the shore where they hid their canoe. The tracks go up river a little further where they stop at another shore line. Here there are deep groves in the ground as if something massive pulled up to shore.

The party gets in their canoe and heads back to Thunderstone. They decide to push on through the night and finally make it to the docks very early in the morning.

Eleven Hammer, 1370 Dales Reckoning

Fisherman are starting their day, loading their boats, and about to head out. The Party heads back to the Sign of Thunder Inn and gets the last available room for some much needed rest.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Four Hours (Thirty Minutes of Character Advancment and Rules Q&A)
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (4): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Volodar (Ranger), Ander (Shadowdancer)

Rangers in the wood

It’s been five weeks since the group has had any real leads. Nysillis takes Volodar into Hullack Forest to continue the training that was interrupted so many months ago. After a few weeks in the dark forest the two see something large moving through the tree line. The two rangers trail the creature and see a line of hobgoblins leading dwarven prisoners through the dense wood. Nysillis tells Volodar to go inform the others and he will return once he knows where they are headed. Volodar heads back to the grove.

The Grove

In the Grove Fairybell does what he can to make things more stable. Andraste explains to him that the grove is missing key features that are crucial for maintaining the balance required of a true Druids Grove. She inquires how the grove was actually made and comes to the conclusion that this is not actually a grove bur more of a sanctuary. Never the less Fairybell is determined to protect it.

He sets out in search of the wounded bear in the Thunderpeaks. After finding her he manages to convince her to come back to the sanctuary with him where she will be safe with her cubs. He spends the remaining few weeks working on a berry garden and bottling up good berry wine.

The Contract

Dolgrin runs into Marumak, the wizard responsible for creating his metallic limbs. Dolgrin attempts to rush him filled with rage. Dolgrin’s magic limbs seize up with little more than a word and he finds himself unable to move. Marumak explains there is still a debt owed for services rendered. He offers Dolgrin the opportunity to fight as one of his prize fighters until the debt is payed. Dolgrin refuses at first but later comes to his senses and seeks out Marumak to finalize his contract with the mage.

Ander has things to do

Ander has gone missing, the party has not seen or heard from him in at least five weeks. Nysillis has also not returned for about two weeks since Volodar returned to inform the party of what was witnessed in Hullack Forest.

Fight Night

It’s the first fight for Dolgrin, he has been training for weeks in preparation for his first fight. He is very ambitious exclaiming to the others that he will be the champion of the Thunderstone Fighters Circuit. The rules of the circuit prohibit killing and thus all weapons are blunted and only arena equipment is allowed. As his arm is a literal weapon, a pad is tied to the fist rendering it less lethal. The first fight is quick as Dolgrin is matched with a very novice fighter that he makes quick work of.

The group watches many of the other fights then decide to get back to a more thorough investigation of what they all learned in the past few weeks.

Back to the Mines

The party share what each of them learned and then decide to head back to Wan Mai’s House of Iron to inform her that the miners are all dead and that she is not likely to receive shipments of ore any time soon. Wan Mai asks the party how they came about this information. When they tell her she asks if they are part of a charter or if they are working directly for Cormyr.

When the party explains that they are not affiliated with any organization she warns that there are strict penalties for groups operating in Cormyr without a charter or contract with a mercenary company. She gives them some contact information to the Red Shield Mercenaries and ensures that they will be taken care of there. She thanks them for the information and asks that they leave her to her business as she now has to figure out what she will do about supplies.

She is worried that she will have to deal with the Sembian Merchants now, and is not very sure that she will be able to pay their steep prices and still make enough to live. Dolgrin exclaims that he might have a solution and takes the group to see Marumak.

Marumak and Dolgrin have a bit of back and forth over the idea of helping the old woman. Marumak says he may be able to help but there will need to be a new contract which will take him some time to draw up and he will need to find a contact. Dolgrin agrees and Marumak sends for a merchant.

A merchant arrives and Marumak produces the contract for Dolgrin. Dolgrin unable to read places his thumb on the scroll finalizing the pact. The merchant reads the contract and is over joyed taking it with him. To his credit he delivers the Ore to Wan Mai without issue and goes about his merry way. The rest of the party feels a little uneasy about what has just happened but Dolgrin is indifferent.

With Wan Mai’s shop now operational again, at least for a little while, the party heads off to the Red Shield Mercenaries. Here they explain what they already know and that Wan Mai sent them. The Mercenary office here is small and only tended by one man. He has the group sign some enlistment paperwork then asks them to bring back evidence of the murders in the mines while he opens an official investigation into the matter with the office of Cormyr.

The party heads back to the mines and collects up the heads of the dead miners, including the head of the “non-miner”. After returning the group is payed for their work and given their first real assignment. A farmer by the name of Dro has been having some issues with his eggs going missing. Normally this wouldn’t be a matter for the company but he is a rather large supplier for Thunderstone and many of the shops are suffering.

The Chicken Farm

The party heads to Dro’s farm. The meet with the farming gathering the details and looking about the area. Both Fairybell and Volodar notice that there are goblin tracks. They follow the tracks to the outhouse where they seem to be the most abundant. Fairbell investigates inside the hole and notices that there is a tunnel under the muck.

The group dismantles the seat, grab some shovels, and prepare to head inside.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Four Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (3): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Volodar (Ranger)

The Goblins

The party finds themselves in a series of small cavernous rooms. The first of which is full of ropes and sacks. None of the supplies in the room are of goblin make and the sound of creatures snoring is heard in the distance.

The party quietly goes through the rooms finding more and more human made equipment before finally coming upon the sleeping chamber of several goblins. These goblins have made blankets out of canvas and pillows from some of the burlap sacks. Each of them have their clothes neatly folded and stacked near their sleeping areas.

Dolgrin and Volidar waste no time in dispatching the sleeping goblins. Killing or at least mortally wounding all of them before completing a thorough investigation of the place. The only other things of note are a series of small holes at the end of a tunnel and a room that has several chickens in well-made cages.

The group climbs from the muck and explain to Dro that goblins were responsible for this. He thanks the party and explains that his son use to be an adventurer like them. He vanished some years ago in the Vast Swamp but left behind some potions before he left. He has no use for these and so gives them to the party.

A new companion

When the party reports back at the Red Shield Mercenary office they see a Halfling in the office. He introduces himself as Golby and states that he knows Ander. He mentions that Ander sent him to meet up with the party in his absence. Golby also informs the party that Ander had went off with some men who appeared to be of some religious significance. He doesn’t know where exactly Ander went or if/when he will return. In the meantime he offers up his assistance. The party agrees and also report their findings to the Red Shield.

Cleaning up

As the group is particularly filthy now they decide to head to the Brothel for a bath and some relaxation. They also discuss the fact that the goblins must have had a way to get all of that equipment into those tunnels. Dolgrin is convinced that they were mining, the rest of the party is not so sure due to the lack of actual mining equipment.

The party decides to head back to the Farm for a more thorough investigation. Dolgrin senses a good spot to dig down where he things the tunnel might continue and they proceed to dig down. After a good amount of time they break through into the tunnels but don’t find any evidence that it goes deeper. Walking back into the tunnels they see that one of the Goblins is still alive, but barely.

Fairybell tends to the wounded goblin while the party questions her. The group is surprised to find the goblin is well spoken and knows common. The goblin explains that they were brought here against their will and that their tribal princess has been taken prisoner by humans. Fearing for her safety they agreed to steal the eggs from Dro’s Farm. The eggs are delivered each night to the small holes at the end of the tunnel. She fears that since they are no longer going to be able to do this that her princess will be killed.

The goblin introduces herself as Texee and offers to show them the way to her village if they agree to help save her princess. The party agrees and after grabbing their boat they head off for the flooded forest known as the Vast Swamp.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Three Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (4): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Volodar (Ranger), Golby (Rogue)

Goblin Prisoners

The Vast Swamp, a massive flooded forest just west of the infested hills. The group paddles their canoe for a few hours before they start to smell smoke. The smoke becomes thick as the group presses on and they find the source of it on an island where a row boat is currently beached.

Raucous laughter is heard from somewhere within the trees so the party decides to investigate. After bringing their canoe to shore Volodar suggests that they push the other boat out into the water, but the party decides against it and they move up a trail.

At the end of the trail is a large clearing with several huts. A needlessly large bon fire is roaring with several humans sitting around it on barrels and other make shift stools. In the center of the clearing several cages surround a large tree. Inside each cage is a goblin.

Dolgrin steps out into the open followed shortly after by Golby. Volodar, Texee, and Fairybell remain hidden. Golby attempts to convince the humans that they are here to pick up the prisoners for their ransom. The humans not fooled by this immediately advance on the dwarf and Halfling.

Fairybell ensnares many of them with an entangle spell and thus cutting off a large portion of the attack route allowing Volodar to pick off many of the humans as they attempt to advance. The group is able to dispatch all of the slavers with little to no effort thanks to superior positioning and strategic use of spells. The rescue nearly goes poorly when Dolgrin fails to snap out of his rage seeing the goblins as his enemy. Dolgrin attempts to smash one of the cages to kill the goblin inside but gets himself tangled up in it in the process. The party uses this to free the rest of the goblins, and moments later Dolgrin’s rage finally subsides.

Texee explains that this is the majority of her tribe but that the princess is not here. They are still a few days away from the village. Volodar finds a book that says the goblins were to be shipped to various locations in Thunderstone. Unnamed business are also noted that are simply mentioned as a Baker, Butcher, Alchemist, and Jewler.

When the group tries to leave they find that a large hole was smashed in their canoe and that the other boat is gone. Volodar kicks himself for not trusting his gut, and the goblins offer their help by constructing rafts for the group. The party decides to sleep here for the night.

The Swamp

The party wakes up the next day to find several rafts have been completed. Though small there are enough for the party. Volodar nearly breaks his ankle falling in a hole. He finds a broken wooden shield with some sort of gold painted symbol on the face of it. He decides to hold on to the shield and the party heads into the swamp.

The next day is uneventful and the group finds another island to set up camp for the night. During Volodar’s watch growling and the screams of some animal being murdered not far away from the camp site wakes everyone. Though on edge the party makes it through the night unmolested.

The next day as the group heads off they see a boar carcass on the shore very close to where their camp was. It has been mostly eaten though strips of flesh remain. Fairbyell nibbles on the boar before they continue on.

As the day concludes the group finds another island to camp on. As Volodar is setting up camp Dolgrin notices something glint near a large rock. He walks over to and finds a gold piece on the ground. The earth around the rock has been disturbed recently and Dolgrin immediately starts digging. As soon as he does this the party hears something crashing through the trees behind them.

The party turns to find a huge creature over 7 feet tall lumbering at them. Its features are comingled mess comprising of Man, pig, and some large beast. Voloadar fires an arrow into the beast and it bites into his shoulder before ripping him open with its massive claws.

Volodar goes down in an instant and Dolgrin rushes the Beast while Golby tries to sneak around it. Fairybell rushes to Volodar and examines his wounds quickly before turning into Halfling form and dragging the elf towards the rafts.

Dolgrin and the Beast exchange blows and the group watches in horror as the wounds inflicted become to close over rapidly. Golby frantically tries to stab the beast but his weapon does nothing. Finally succumbing to his bloodlust Dolgrin lands a devastating hook to the creature’s jaw causing it to flee into the trees. Dolgrin then manages to control himself and snaps out of his rage preventing a dangerous chase into the forest.

His rage subsided Dolgrin nearly passes out from the pain. His chest has been ripped open and a couple of his ribs are exposed and broken. The group makes their way to the rafts and push them self away from the shore. There they sit as darkness falls.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Four Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (4): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Volodar (Ranger), Golby (Rogue)

Night time in the swamp

The group sits staring at the shore for a while from their goblin rafts. The two warriors of the group on the brink of death. Fairybell quickly heads back to the shore in order to collect up the majority of Volodar’s things. He is able to get everything save for the tent as it’s too large to fit on the raft with so many bodies currently on it. Fairybell works as best he can to patch up the injured dwarf and elf. He successfully resets Dolgrins Ribs which causes the dwarf to pass out.

They then decide to continue on towards the village. Its normally about a 6 hour trip but with the lack of visibility and weighted down raft it takes the rest of the night. As morning approaches the group comes into an area where the trees around them have various wooden children’s toys hanging from them. Texee explains that these toys were put here by the goblins to keep the spirit children of the swamp happy. The intent is that the mischievous spirits will play with the toys rather than venture into the village.

The village itself is quiet and empty. The huts of this village rise up from the swamp on stilts suspended wooden walkways connecting each of the huts. The huts are well designed especially by goblin standards. In the center of the village a 15 foot rock stands the top of which has been flattened out upon which a large bell is perched on a pole.

A platform surrounds the giant rock where the party docks their raft. They venture into one of the huts as Dolgrin comes into consciousness. The party heads into one of the huts to rest after the long restless night. Texee finds some rotten eggs and powers them down before falling asleep herself. When the party wakes they leave Texee with Volodar and head up to the cave which is accessed via suspension bridge from the top of the giant rock.

The Cave

Inside the cave are several tunnels and large rooms. One of the rooms has a large pool of clear water that has a sweet taste to it. In another room a cage is suspended over a hole. Inside the cage a battered female goblin is resting. The group quietly moves through the tunnel and come across a group of humans sitting around a camp fire cooking up some stew and arguing about the process.

Dolgrin approaches the group stating that he needs help for his friend. The group of humans taken a bit off guard by the boldness of this odd looking group begin to harass the Dwarf and after a very short exchange of words Dolgrin Charges forward knocking the first man unconscious.

A fight ensues wherein Golby is stabbed near fately in the stomach with a short sword. He instantly drops and Fairbell rushes to his aid. Dolgrin finishes off the last of the humans then murders the first one that he knocked out by bringing his iron fist down on the man’s head smashing it like a watermelon.

The party frees the princess from her cage and she in turn helps heal Golby and she has the party take Volodar to the Pool. She explains that it is a sacred pool of Eldath and that given time it will heal Volodar.

In talking with the princess the party learns several key pieces of information. Most notably is that the humans that took her people had help from a nearby hobgoblin tribe. The hobgoblins had unsuccessfully made many attempts at taking control of the goblins, but with the help of the humans recently took her people prisoner, using her as leverage to keep them in line. She also explains that some of her people were taken by the humans for use in Thunderstone while the rest were taken in by the Hobgoblins.

The party rests up again and Volodar finally comes to. They decide it’s time to head back to Thunderstone. The princess asks the party if they would be willing to take Texee with them. She was an adventurer herself and would like someone in her tribe to experience what she did so that there is an understanding of why she has molded the tribe in such a manner. As a reward she offers the party all of the gear that the humans had left.

The group begins putting all of the weapons and coin into a crate, they then attempt to make a better raft from several of the barrels. Not the best work but it will have to do, and the group prepares to make the long trip back to thunderstone.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Three Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (3): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Golby (Rogue)

Back into the Swamp

Volodar is awake and more or less healthy and so the party decides it’s time to see how sea worthy their new vessel is. Though a little lopsided the raft floats and they start the 3 day trip north through the swamp.

In the late afternoon the group sees the remains of Volodar’s tent on one of the islands. It has been shredded and the large rock where Dolgrin found the gold piece has been pushed over and the ground has been dug up. Dolgrin is rather upset believing that there was treasure there but does not want to go back to the island for fear of the creature that lurks there.

The first night the group decides to keep traveling, working in shifts to make it through the night. The night goes on pretty uneventful save for a swarm of bats overhead feeding on a cloud of insects. The Dawn arrives and with bats now gone the party is ravaged by mosquitos and other biting insects.

After a few more hours of travel a small house is spotted on one of the islands. The group decides to pull their raft ashore to have a quick look around. Fairybell takes this opportunity to seek out some fresh berries while the rest of the group heads to the house. The house has been all but consumed by nature. Branches from nearby trees have broken through the walls and vines creep up the side of the building. The inside is more of a mess. Broken furniture and an old stonework stove are all that remain along with some sort of small animal droppings in one of the corners which Golby decides to investigate. Dolgrin performs a thorough search and after finding nothing the group decides to get moving.

Can I have seconds?

After about four hours the party hears someone’s stomach growling and Golby begins to complain that he is hungry. The group takes a quick dinner break as they continue on. After another hour Golby once again complains of hunger. He consumes yet another full day’s meal. Volodar examines him but is not sure what to do as he sees no obvious signs of illness.

A few more hours go by and much of the same. It is getting late and Golby has consumed most of his weeks’ worth of rations. Running low on food and aware that this is going to continue until they are out of food, Dolgrin decides to knock Golby unconscious. The group is against it initially but when Golby gives consent Dolgrin attempts to lay him out with his normal hand.

The first two strikes fail to incapacitate the Halfling so Dolgrin in frustration lays into him a third time with all of his strength, this time he is successful. Volodar quickly tends to the Halfling and notices a clear liquid draining from Golby’s ear. The Halfling is breathing but quite unconscious.

A couple hours go by and the group watches in horror as Golby’s body is wracked with violent convulsions and begins to quite literally feed upon itself. He is rapidly losing weight and color. His cheeks suck in, his bones become visible as muscle tone and fat fade, and his stomach sinks towards his spine. The Halfling now looking incredibly malnourished, the party scrambles to wake him in order to get some food into him.

While the party does this Fairybell works on a series of spells that will feed him. The party finally manages to get him awake enough with the use of a healing potion and Fairybell feeds him a magical stew. While these stews usually provide enough nourishment for an entire day, they only last about an hour for Golby.

Party Crashers

Another few hours go by as Golby finishes off the last of the stew and the remaining rations. The party catch a break as the sun rises when they smell meat cooking nearby. Without hesitation they pull up to an island and Dolgrin scouts ahead. He comes across a camp of Orcs that have 3 large Boars roasting. Seeing that there are roughly a dozen orcs and about 20 tents Dolgrin heads back to the party to inform them.

The group debates attacking the camp but ultimately come up with a diversion strategy. Fairybell circles around the back of the camp to create a distraction while the rest of the party prepares to snatch one of the hogs. Gobly is far too weak to assist and so stays back at the raft.

Fairy bell charges into the camp firing off an entangle spell on a group of the orcs before charging back into the trees. Three of the orcs manage to fire off arrows, one grazing the fox, while the third shot bites deep into his rear thigh. He makes it into the trees with a large group of orcs chasing him firing arrows into the woods.

The rest of the party makes their move. Dolgrin lifts one of the hogs by himself and they run back towards the raft. Golby waits with nervously hearing all of the commotion but unable to help. Finally Fairybell comes charging onto the raft just as the rest of the group arrives with the boar. They quickly shove off and the raft nearly sinks from the extra weight. Fortunately it holds and the group makes their way to Thunderstone.

There is something on his back

The Boar provides enough food for Golby, and they make their way to the Temple of Tempus in hopes of finding out what is wrong with Golby. Battle Chaplain Isaac Black takes the Halfing into a rear chamber of the church. The room is bare save for a massive statue of a man riding a gorgon wielding a massive axe in one hand. Issac has the Halfling strip to examine him but when he asks the Halfling to turn around Golby grabs his short sword and refuses.

Isaac leaves the room and informs the party that something is amiss. When Golby comes out he is still armed and Dolgrin rushes him. Dolgrin pins him down while Volodar strips him. Before they can roll him over the Halfling makes a break for the window, he jukes the dwarf and leaps passed the elf before jumping out of the window, only to be tackled by Texee who was waiting outside.

The group drags him back inside and they find that there is some sort of green substance that has attached itself to Golby’s back. Dolgrin tries to cut it free causing Golby to pass out, but realizes quickly that it might not be a good idea. Fairybell suggests that they head back to the grove to see if Andraste will be of use. The Battle Chaplain refunds their donation and begins cleaning up the blood.

Back at the grove they find Andraste talking with a large brown haired woman who sits with the two bear cubs. While Andraste is unsure as to what the parasite is the woman explains it is likely a parasitic slime of some kind, and while she doesn’t know what kind she does know that many of them are harmed by flame or extreme cold, though sometimes these too have no effect and are still potentially dangerous to the host.

Fire is the best medicine

The party weighs their options and begin making a large fire. Dolgrin and Fairybell go to retrieve water from the river just in case. On the way out of the grove Fairybell notices strange mushrooms that have begun to grow, he grabs a few before heading off. When they get back Fairybell shows the mushrooms to the new woman, who sniffs them and reals back exclaiming that they are not natural. The mushroom is thrown into the fire and the smell of rancid meat fills the grove.

Dolgrin and Volodar then hoist Golby over the fire. Dolgrin holds his hands and Volodar the feet, they slowly lower him down onto the flame attempting to only burn the slime. Finally the parasite falls from the Halfing landing in the fire. Three large holes are centered in Golbies back, the center one being the largest and deepest reaching his spine. The flesh on his back where the slime was attached appears as a large red chemical burn. Golby seems stable and the party lays him down and they all decide to rest up for the night.

In the morning Golby wakes sometime after the others. Though he is still hungry and looks completely malnourished, the hour after eating does not produce the desire to eat again. With that out of the way the group heads into town to speak with the jeweler since one was mentioned in the book they found, and also to sell some of the gems that they found.

Jewels and a Symbol

The Jeweler’s shop is a small narrow two story building which is ran by a Rock Gnome. The inside is little more than a narrow hall way the end of which the gnome sits so he has a perfect view of his entire shop at all times. The party ends up selling all of their jewels for 600 gold and even gain some insight about the book. While the book does not give names the gnome does manage to reveal a hidden symbol on one of the pages. With the use of some sort of black powder and a flame the image appears. A small flame with two eyes sitting atop a claw with four talons. While the Gnome has no idea what the symbol is it is the first real clue the group has found and they conclude their business at the shop.

The party leaves the shop ready to investigate the symbol.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Four Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (4): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Golby (Rogue), Volodar (Ranger)

As the party leaves the jewelers shop Golby suddenly staggers and passes out. The group carries his unconscious body to the Red Shield Mercenaries to report about the goings on in the Vast Swamp. After reporting their findings they hand over the book found at the Goblin Slave camp so that the Red Shields can begin the process of opening a proper investigation into the matter.

The group informs the mercenary company of several key events to include the enslavement of Goblins, Possible involvement of various merchants in Thunderstone, a murdered dwarf by the docks and his missing daughter, Dwarves seen being escorted through Hullack forest by some giant creature, and the existence of some strange deformed creature in the swamp that nearly killed Dolgrin.

The young elven woman takes the book to the office of the crown as evidence to open an investigation into the various shops of Thunderstone that were mentioned in the book. The group meanwhile takes Golby to the Sign of Thunder Inn so he can rest.

The sign of Thunder

Upon entering the Inn the party sees a group of adventurers finishing up their lunch, other than this the place is quiet. Dolgrin struts over to the biggest one to inquire where he got his armor. One of the group tells Dolgrin he should be on his way but the dwarf continues to ask the same questions over and over. Finally sick of the Dwarf, the large man dumps his breakfast out on Dolgrins Head.

The Two end up outside and engage in a fist fight in the street. A robed man with the other party makes a bet with Volodar that his man will beat the Dwarf. Volodar agrees to a 5 gp wager. Dolgrin comes out the victor in the fight and Fairbell asks him if it all this was necessary before offering what healing he can to the other fighter. The fighter finally explains that he got his armor while in the Vast Swamp and the party leaves.

The people watching the brawl begin to disperse and a familiar fat Sembian claps as he approaches the group. The man is the same merchant that Marumak handed a contract for Dolgrin to. The Merchant explains that he has been looking for Dolgrin since the Dwarf owes him a large debt now which will be paid by all of his earnings in the fighting circuit minus what is owed to Marumak. He explains that there is to be a fight on this evening and the dwarf had better be there.

The Grove

The group heads back to the grove and see that the bear woman has changed back into bear form. Dolgrin attempts to speak with her but is unsuccessful. Andraste tends to Golby while the rest of the group heads back into town for Dolgrins fights. Before the fights however they decide to stop by the Alchemist shop not wanting to wait for the mercenary company’s documentation.

A cult and the Harpers

The Broken Potato an alchemist shop in the central portion of thunderstone is ran by a gnome. After a bit of questioning the party learns that the symbol on the book is that of some unnamed cult that is prevalent in Sembia. The shop keeper expresses his concern that the party might be working with the Harpers. They explain that they don’t even know who the Harpers are, but the shop keeper assumes they are feigning ignorance.

In the end he tells them what little info he knows, stating that if they investigate the many merchants that have been flooding town lately they will probably find the information they seek. He cautions against it though as they will surely be confronted by either the Harpers, the Cult, or Possibly both. He also agrees to look over the mushroom that was found in the grove. He asks the party to stop by the next day when he has had a chance to examine it.

Finally there is a small matter of some of the shop keeper’s supplies that have gone missing. He feels he might have misplaced them and will be doing an inventory before coming to a final conclusion, but he has promised to inform the party if his supplies are in fact missing.

A double booking

Back at the Assembly building Dolgrin heads down to get ready for his fights. His first fight is with a young inexperienced fighter from Hultail. He makes short work of the young man causing him to collapse to the ground and quit after being disarmed.

After the Fight Dolgrin meets another fighter named Brooks. Brooks explains that he should be more cautious about humiliating his opponents in his matches. Destroying a fighters pride brings bad karma on the fighters.

For Dolgrins next fight he is matched against a large man wielding a battle axe. The first few seconds of the match seem as though Dolgrin will once again have the upper hand. Things quickly go south for the Dwarf as it seems the large man was simply gaging how the Dwarf fights. He quickly adjusts his tactics and punishes Dolgrin with a solid counter shot to the ribs with his blunted battle axe. Dolgrin reels from the pain and passes out losing his first match.

Hot Buns

After resting up at the grove the party heads out to talk with the baker in the morning. There is some back and forth between dolgrin and the elven proprietor and some miscommunication as to what is actually being sold. The Elf states there is no one in the group he is interested in, but he does admit that he knows of a place where they might be able to find a good time. He hands Volodar a piece of parchment and asks that he doesn’t open it till they leave the shop.

As the party leaves they see the youngest daughter from the other bakery in town entering with a large tray of freshly baked tarts, muffins, and buns. The elf ashamed that they saw this quickly ushers them out of the shop and slams the door behind them.

Volodar opens the note to find an address. The party makes their way up the street towards the location.

~*~End Session~*~
Length: Four Hours
Platform: Fantasy Grounds
Player Characters (3): Dolgrin (Dwarven Battlerager), Fairybell (Totemic Druid), Volodar (Ranger)

A Hot Topic
The group heads to the address on the letter. Arriving creates a little confusion as the party had hoped they finally received the lead they were hoping for in locating the towns illegal Brothel. Instead they find a small home. A large man opens the door who Dolgrin recognizes one of the trainers from the towns fighting circuit.
The party goes inside and learns that the owner of the Hot Buns bakery had made some advances towards the trainer in a bar some time ago and it nearly resulted in him killing the Elf. The Elf has since been trying to slander the trainer’s good name in the town. The party learns little other than that there seems to be bad blood between the two, so they decide to head back to the bakery.
By the time the party returns, they find the bakery is closed and locked up. They walk around the place and Volodar notices that there is a Cellar door on the back side of the establishment. They decide to go find the girl and question her.

When they make it to the other bakery they find Ms. Dotsk sitting in a chair staring at the door. The party knocks on the door and exclaims that they are looking for her daughter. She informs the party that her daughter has not returned from a delivery that morning. When the party mentions that they saw her at the Hot Buns Bakery, she gets extremely scared and asks them to go find her daughter. Voladar recalls the cellar doors and the party returns to the hot buns bakery.

The party breaks into the cellar and finds a door. The door leads to a dark tunnel. A dim light nearby catches the parties attention and they find a woman who’s chest has been flayed shackled to a wall. Recognizing her as the girl from that morning Fairybell uses some cheese cloth from the cellar room and does what he can to dress the wound.

The party quickly unshackles her and takes her to the Shrine of Tempus. When they arrive Isaac Black quickly assembles a group to take the girl to Wheloon where she can get proper attention for her injuries. The group mentions that there are tunnels under the bakery and Isaac Black sends two Purple Dragons with them to investigate.

I smell a Rat
The party returns to the tunnels and find that it is very long, they also notice that walls seem to have been burrowed out rather than the use of actual tools. Soon they come into a room of sleeping rat like humanoids. The party gets the jump on the sleeping creatures but find that their weapons are mostly ineffectual save for a spell used by Fairybell and Dolgrins enchanted arm.

One of the Purple Dragons is gravely hurt and the other a young girl named Mammy nearly has a mental break down. After slaying three of the rat men, the rest retreat into other tunnels. The party collects their wounded make their way out of the tunnel.

The party takes the injured purple dragon to the shrine of tempus, but finds that Isaac Black has already began his trip to Wheloon with the girl. They are told that the priests at the Kelemvore Gardens may be of use but Fairybell convinces the party to take him to the grove.

The Harpers
Back at the Grove Andaste and Fairybell tend to the soldier and the party finally gets some rest. The next day the group decides to head into town and see what they can find. Volodar heads to the Alchemist shop while Golby heads off to talk to some of his contacts in the town. Volodar learns that the proprietor of the Broken Potato is actually a Harper. He asks Volodar to bring Fairybell to him he wants to talk to them about what they know and that he has an offer for them.

The Alchemist explains that The Harpers do what they can secretly to snuff out evil before it has a chance to take root. He has been investigating the goings on in Thunderstone for a while and has noticed that Isaac Black has not been acting normal for the last 6 months or so. He asks if the party would assist him in searching the priest’s quarters while he is away. To hopefully find some evidence that would explain the sudden change in behavior.

Volodar is willing but Fairybell is reluctant. Fairybell does not trust the Harpers secrecy. Ultimately the group decides not to help. The party gathers together and decide to head back into the Tunnels to hopefully get one of the creature’s bodies that they had left behind. Fairybell hopes that Cefrey will know something about it. Mammy decides to join them.

In the tunnel the party lucks out. The bodies are still here and the room is largely untouched. They grab one of the larger bodies and hurry out of the tunnels back towards the grove. Upon arriving at the grove the party notices that there is a ring of mushrooms around the area and several strange looking trees are in the center. The rest of their friends are nowhere in sight so Dolgrin rushes in. The rest of the party follows and they all notice these trees look eerily familiar. All of the trees resemble various humanoid shapes and 3 of them look like bears.

Shortly after realizing what they are looking at the group becomes very tired even Voladar has the urge to sleep. Everyone closes their eyes.

The trees are alive
When the group wakes up they find themselves in a dark forest and are assaulted by wolf men. Just before the creatures leap in they are torn apart by the forest. Tree limbs rip through the creatures and the party watches as the final wolfman has his head torn clean off by a woman with Long Branch like fingers and bark for skin.
The party asks if she has seen their friends, and she laughs saying they better hurry if they want to see them alive. She points in a direction and the group hurries off through the forest. Not far from where they arrived they find a body of a young bear peppered with arrows. Volodar finds strange horse tracks and tracks them out of the forest.

The group emerges into a vast plain. The see a huge snail with all manner of shelving attached to its shell. Leading the elephant sized snail is a Gnome with a basket of fruits and vegetables attached to his back. Dolgrin suddenly stumbles and falls and realizes his iron limbs have turned to wood.

The party panics thinking Dolgrin is turning to wood and ask the gnome for help. The Gnome removes the arm and leg and offers to sell the party a waist harness with a large wheel attached to it. After attaching the devise to Dolgrin they begin questioning the Gnome.
They learn that their friends were taken by horseman, the gnome is unable to reconcile the question of “where are we”, there is a city in the woods opposite the plains, and the horseman can often be heard partying in the evening. The group decides to wait till evening to hopefully ascertain the location of the horseman.

The night sky here is not normal, there is no moon to speak of and the stars seem to move and dance. The grass seems to change color and no music is heard on this night. The Gnome has retreated into a tent like structure atop the snail. Everyone decides to get some sleep.

The next morning another short round of questioning with the snail until the party hears strange music. They walk around trying to locate it and a pair of very small sprites intercept them. The party is showered with pixie dust and shrink down.

Fairy fun?
Now standing in an ominous forest of grass they find a village that resides under a leaf. It seems a festival is going on. A small fairy woman sits on a throne that appears to be made of living wood. Small fairy children bombard the group with questions and cheers while Golby is snatched up by a large fairy woman. The group questions the woman on the throne, but all of this comes to a halt when dolgrin enters into the village.

The village panics and prepare to assault Dolgrin. Dolgrins wheel is broken in the chaos and then the ground begins to shake. Something massive crushes the leaf ceiling and kills most of the village population. The party is immediately returned to their normal size and find themselves amidst a stampeding group of Centaurs.
One of the Centaurs slowly strafes around the party keeping his eye on them spear at the ready. No one in the party makes any sudden movements and the Centaurs run off. The group makes their way back into the forest to confront the forest woman.

A new contract
In the forest they come up to a tree that seems to open for them. The trunk splits like a gaping maw and reveals a set of root stairs that descend into the earth. The group heads down and finds the same bark skinned woman that they had met earlier. They question her but she is not very willing or able to give much information.
She does offer to assist Dolgrin however. She agrees to restore his limbs if he is promises to return 3 favors for her. He agrees and is bestowed with a new Mithral arm and leg. Before they leave she offers them some stew. Volodar asks what’s in it to which she replies mostly hare and some man. Everyone passes…. Except for Dolgrin who tries it.

Thethemyr
The group decides to proceed to the Town. After a pretty uneventful trip across the plains which seems to take about 5 days if the day night cycle is to be trusted, the makes it to a beautiful forest. The forest is lively and full of wondrous creatures that pass by the party from time to time without the slightest bit of fear. Finally the party reaches a clearing with all manner of statue encircling its perimeter. The statues are very lifelike and the group worries some creature might have actually turned living beings to stone.

Dolgrin breaks one of the statues knocking it over, and the group carefully makes their way to the other side of the clearing. They do so unharmed. After another day of travel in the woods the party arrives at a large gate guarded by two statues that watch them as they pass through.

The city is a network of vine bridges stretching as high as the party can see. The buildings seem to be made from the very branches themselves, as if the trees have naturally grown this way. The party ascends one of the spiral walkways up the side of a tree trunk and the first building they come to is a tavern.

The party enters and sees all manner of fey creature in here. Elves, Centaurs, and fairies celebrate, sing, and drink. The group talks with a Centaur bar keeper and Dolgrin gets one of their strongest drinks. After drinking the thick syrup he passes out. A Firbolg comes over to see what is going on and escorts the party to a room.

The Firbolg a little confused at first as to the nature of Dolgrin’s condition casts some divination magic on the party with their permission and explains to them that Dolgrin has the taint of winter about him. He explains that they are in a city of Summer and that they need to be careful with him. The party finds out that while Dolgrin looks the same to them to everyone here he looks like a Firbolg.

Balance is the key
The Firbolg escorts the party to someone he thinks might be able to help them. After being escorted through a strange tailor’s shop that is “manned” by an earth elemental they are lead down to a room. An ancient elf looking man with antlers growing out of his head greats the party. He explains that before he can fully help the party he must first test them to see if they are to be trusted.

Dolgrin offers himself up for the test first and quickly finds himself in over his head. The test is a room that emulates maintaining balance and the inevitable consequences of failing to do so. The Old Druid explains he cannot help Dolgrin as Dolgrin does not have the necessary affinity to nature and thus must find his own path to maintain the balance. In the end Dolgrin fails and Fairtybell offers himself up to the task.

Fairybell at first thinks the balance is fine but as he spends time in the room starts to notice the degeneration that is transpiring. He offers himself up to the Druid to receive training and complete the blessing that was started but not finished by Yondalla.
Fairybell’s mind is flooded with knowledge of the fey and his spiritual connection with Sheela is heightened. This event ages the Halfling by 10 years. After exiting the room the Druid informs the party he will help them find their friends. He tells them to get some rest he will send a guide to them in the morning.

Most of the party heads back to the Inn while others decide to get some shopping done. The groups learn that here gems are worth more than gold. After a fair bit of exploring and shopping the rest of the party returns to the inn.

The next day the party meets their guide. A beautiful elven looking woman albeit much taller. The woman escorts the party to the plains and on the way informs them it won’t be easy. There are many Centaur tribes. The group takes her to the forest where they saw the hoof prints and the cub’s body. After a bit of protesting and her unease of entering the forest she agrees.

Finding friends
When they reach the body she explains that the arrows used to kill the cub are Gnoat Arrows and she knows of a village of theirs towards the Crystal Mountains. She also explains that they are a dangerous tribe and its likely too late.

After another 5 days the party makes it to the foot of the mountains. The ground is littered with tiny crystals. Fairybell realizes they resemble scales more so than crystal or rock and so collects a few of them. The party finds a goat trail and follows it instead of the main trail.

They come upon a village with many cave like dwellings. In the center courtyard are large cages that their friends are imprisoned in. A pair of half goat half humanoid creatures are poking the mother bear with sticks. When the party comes into the village the two of them run off into the mountains.

A Gnoat steps out of one of the dwellings and engages the party. The group dispatches the creature and sets to the task of freeing up all of the prisoners. After gathering up everyone they find out that Texee was killed, presumably raped to death by one of the creatures. The party raids what they can and gets ready to make their escape.

Soon they are surrounded by Gnoat tribe’s man. The Gnoats rush down at the party and stop before engaging. The creatures speak in a strange tongue that only the Eladrin woman can understand. After some not so smooth negotiation the Gnoats attack. The party kills a few of them including the biggest and scare off the rest. Fairybell takes the spear while the party makes their way quickly down the path.

Heavy sleepers
After escaping the mountain they rest up in the plains. Their guide offers to take first watch. The party wakes the next day, Volodar and Fairybell awaken startled as they missed their watches. It seems the parties guide is gone. Volodar finds signs of a struggle and tracks leading in the direction of the dark forest.

The party argues over whether or not they should go look for the girl. In the end they decide to split the group. Fairybell decides to head back to the city with the injured while Volodar, Dolgrin, and Golby make their way to the forest.

Upon entering the forest the group does not find any tracks and Dolgrin goes missing. Volodar and Golby decide it best to head back to the city and quickly leave the forest. Dolgrin ends up in the tree with the strange forest woman that gave him his new arm and leg. She explains that she can help him find the missing girl but he will first need to kill Hullack.

Restoring balance
Fairybell drops the wounded off with the High Druid and explains the situation. He learns that the High Druid is the Eladrin girl’s father. The Druid offers to transport Fairybell to his friends so that they can find his missing daughter. Fairybell steps through a portal created by the druid and ends up in the clearing of statues.
Meanwhile a portal opens for Volodar and Golby, they too find themselves in the clearing. After telling Fairybell that they lost Dolgrin a tree opens in the clearing and Dolgrin falls out of its trunk. Reunited Dolgrin explains what he needs to do and convinces the party they must go kill Hullack. After more disagreements the party finally agrees to help.

They head back across the plains and the trees open a path deep into the heart of the forest. After traversing a maze of deadwood they come upon a set of iron doors. After getting the doors open the party finds several small clearings in a dense forest grove. The inner most portion of the Grove is blocked by a wall of impassable fog (Cliché I know but it’s whatever). The rest of the room like clearings are unique to each other. Two contain trees that give off bright illumination, one a foreboding purple miasma and the other a bright warming light. Four other rooms exist each with a n environment related to the elements, one has a dry cracked dirt floor, another has flaming hot magma, a deep pond in another, and the final room has gale force winds. The element rooms also have stands on the far side upon which sits a small box.

At the Earth room Dolgrin attempts to walk in and grab the box. As he approaches the earth rises up all around him and engulfs him in a small sand storm. He is slashed and beaten by solid pillars of earth inside the storm quickly knocking him out. Golby rushes in to save him while Volodar fires arrows at the anomaly. Golby is sent across the room and knocked out in one hit, Volodar manages to stick an arrow into it.

With Dolgrin and Golby down the earth subsides and the party manages to get their bodies out of the room. Dolgrin is badly injured and near death, his armor is destroyed and he is unable to speak. They take him to the tree where he rests up for a time and is healed of his injuries by the life giving sapling.

After another battle in the water room where Dolgrin is nearly drowned by a serpant made of water the party manages to acquire the earth and water boxes by methods of distraction and agility. The Fire room is inhabited by a strange dwarf with fire for hair who simply allows them to take the box after they use the water box to clear a path.

After getting into the wind room the party sees a beautiful woman with translucent dragonfly wings cupping a broken egg in her hand. The party cautiously takes the box from her room and exits without disturbing her. Finally with the boxes they are able to use them to access the inner chamber.

Inside they see two tall grey skinned elven woman looking down at the eladrin woman who is writhing and screaming in pain in a small pool in the center of the room. Also in the room is a man sized disfigured creature with oxygen deficient purple skin. Its face a mask of agony with oversized razor sharp teeth and a tongue that dangles to the knees. Its arms are oversized and long finger nails that are more akin to claws drag across the ground maybe 10 inches from the tips of the fingers themselves.

The party manages to best the creature and after doing so the two grey skinned women are released from their hold. Shortly thereafter the Creature who gave Dolgrin his new limbs arrives, this time in an Elven form and thanks the group for freeing her followers.

Going Home
The party activates a portal through the pond in the middle of the room which Dolgrin immediately jumps into. Dolgrin finds himself in a dark crypt with Elven Statues and Sarcophagi.

The Mistress of the dark wood offers the party one last bit of help and explains the creature formally known as Hullack had control over her two followers. She opens a portal for Fairybell to retrieve their friends from the city then takes her leave.

After returning the Eladrin woman to her father, she asks to join the party in order to repay a debt. The High Druid states this something the adventurers must decide it is not his choice. Fairybell declines the offer and returns back to the grove via treeportation provided by the high druid.

The group now reunited heads into the portal and link up with Dulgrin who has already attempted to break into a couple of the coffins. They find a sarcophagus that does not resemble the craftsmanship of the others in one of the rooms and break into it finding it empty save for a club, a bag, a journal, and small bow that looks to be made of twisted together branches with a slim vine for the bowstring.

The journal turns out to be the last writings of Hullack. It describes his last days before entering into the Fey and his hatred for what his race has done in the area since being given the opportunity to settle here by the elves of Cormanthor.

Crypt Thieves
Golby finally manages to unlock a set of double doors in this room and the party comes face to face with humans that are rummaging around the crypt room for valuables. The men seem more confused than startled and demand to know why Dolgrin is not up top with the other dwarves. This sends Dolgrin into a furry and he decks one of the men with his spiked fist killing him instantly.

A fight ensues and two of the men rush off through spate doors. After the fight the party slowly makes their way down the halls and rooms. They enter into a large room with a defaced druidic circle on the floor. The center of which is shackled an elf who’s arms and legs have been shattered. Also occupying the room is a gruff looking human standing next to a massive black wolf standing 6 feet tall at the shoulders. Several other humans are in the room with bows drawn.

The man demands the party lay down their weapons and get on the floor and he will not sick their wolf on them. Fairybell is first to defy this notion and the man orders his men to attack. The fight breaks out and a door opens behind the party as archers begin raining arrows at them from another room. Cefrey in bear form charges the giant wolf and the two massive animals lock in combat.

Dolgrin rushes the Leader. His opponent brandishes dual swords and cuts Dolgrin up pretty bad nearly killing him. Fairybell manages to stick the man with his spear and Volodar Finishes him with a well-placed arrow. Cefrey Takes down the wolf and finishes off the last of the stragglers before they can make it top side to warn anyone, Mammy and Volodar lay suppressing fire on the south room before Cefrey charges in there and screams are heard in the room. She soon emerges covered in gore.

The Elf turns out to be Nysillis. The party takes him and Dolgrin back into the Fey Portal to the life tree. Dolgrin rests under the tree first healing his wounds. After which they place Nysillis there, one of his arms recovers but then the light of the tree dims and no further healing occurs. The party heads back into the portal and through the crypt after resting.

The party Heads up a long set of stairs before coming into a set of rooms that have been ransacked. Voices are heard and the party investigates. They come across a Dwarven Female and some humans. The Dwarf realizes quickly that Dolgrin is not one of the Dwarven slaves that are top side and orders her men to attack.
Dolgrin quickly rushes forward and grapples her while the party kills the others with little difficulty. Dolgrin Overpowers the Dwarven woman and chokes her out. The party Hog ties her and interrogate her. She is reluctant to give any information, she only voices her distain for her own race and even boasts about killing her father in Thunderstone.

This sends Dolgin into a frenzy and he repeatedly punches her in the side of the head with his metal fist until her head is nothing more than a shattered wet mess on the flagstone. After removing her armor and putting it on himself the party finally heads top side.
The walk up a long tunnel that has been cleared of a combination of rock and some ancient cave in. After emerging from the tunnel they find themselves in a forest. Fairybell recognizes the trees as those of Hullack Forest and speaks with one of them about what has happened here. The Tree speaks of pain and defilers in the wood.
The party takes note of their surroundings. It is night and many torches are lit. There are mining tracks that have been laid out. Fairybell and Andraste Take Nysillis behind some trees to watch over him while the others scout the area.

The group runs into a patrol of humans which they quickly dispatch and push forward. Shortly thereafter they find a group of dwarves roasting meat on sticks over a bon fire. Dolgrin attempts to talk with them but he is mostly ignored. The dwarves seem as if they are in a trance. Volodar finds another group around a fire. An orc, a Half-Orc, and a Human in robes. He attempts to hide and spy on them when the half orc fires an arrow nearly hitting him in the head.
Dolgrin rushes forward to engage and after some words are spoken by the woman in robes he collapses full stride and falls asleep. Cefrey charges in while Volodar and Mammy provide Fire support. Golby attempts to sneak up on them. Volodar strikes the half orc dead with an excellent shot while Cefrey ravages the Orc.

The woman vanishes and the party collects themselves after Dolgrin finally wakes up.

~*~End Sessions~*~
Play Time: 28 Hours
Number of Players: 4
Characters: Volodar (Elven Ranger), Fairybell (Halfling Druid), Dolgrin (Dwarven Fighter), Golby (Halfling Rogue)