# The Crucible of Chauntea



## tariff (May 3, 2004)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tariff/TariffMana.htm


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## tariff (May 4, 2004)

*THE CRUCIBLE OF CHAUNTEA*
Starring..
“The Order of Initiative”
TIM BROOKE TAYLOR: 1st lvl Halfling Cleric
BILL ODDIE: 1st lvl Dwarven Ranger
GRAHAM GARDEN: 1st lvl Human Druid
BREE: 1st lvl Dwarven Monk
SIR BIC: 1st lvl Human Paladin
CELINE: 1st lvl Gnome Bard

*Session 1:* Wherein Tim-Brooke Taylor is having a drink in a Inn of Rethmar, he gets chatting to a dwarf in the pub called Bree.  Bree tells Tim of stories of creatures called Wemics and tells him of his days growing up as a orphan, about his days as a dancer, and his initiation into the monestary of Lathander.  Tim (being big on Family, if not in stature) takes Bree under his wing and exclaims that he is heading east to Channathgate to find the village of Fairhill & meet up with friends Bill Oddie & Graham Garden.  Bree agrees to join and they drink some more.. Whilst in the pub we hear several rumors

·	Rappan Athuk (dungeon in Rathemount Hills)

The duo leave in the morning..  At approx midday Tim and Bree are set upon by foul orcs.  Tim summons a dog to his aid and Bree does his monkly moves, we are victorious and so excited are we that we boldly set off again without looting the fallen orcs.  We come across some villagers who are heading to rathmor, they wish us well and say Fairhill is a good village
In town we meet two guards called Baron & Loriel ("Is she worth it?") who tell us about the Drunken Cockatrice, Cask & Flagon and the Tavern of the Three Kegs. They also tell us of Orc raids recently and to bring them Orc scalps should we acquire any.  We try the Drunken Cockatrice (run by Glarion) but Tim & Bree find the prices exorbitant so we stay at The Cask & Flagon (run by Tarnan the human).  We talk to some villagers and get some more rumors

·	Arialle (the blacksmiths daughter) has gone missing

·	We hear of Shandrel (the temple of chauntia) is more than she seems! And that Arlen (mayor) trusts her

We meet up with Bill & Graham in the pub and they tell us that they found 3 dead orcs not looted!!!.. Bill pays for food and drink.  Tim notices a man in the bar that looks very miserable; he tries to impress him with his juggling skills.  The man exclaims that his son was taken by a manticore, he tells a harrowing story about attempting to shoot the manticore and instead hitting his wife and his son dies from the fall!!… He says he would accompany us if we were to help him find the manticore to the north, we consider the idea but we are not sure we can take a manticore yet, so we tell the man we will come back and talk to him later and then head off to the temple area in Fairhill to see Shandrel.  We talk to Shandrel and she tells us her story (on one of her adventures she found the sword of “Vakira”, saw a vision, and from then on has followed Chauntea.  She abandoned her people and headed north eventually arriving in Fairhill and setting up here).  She tells us more information

·	Arialle (the blacksmiths daughter) is a Bard/ headed north of woods a few weeks ago

·	A halfling called Lannet is staying at Drunken Cockatrice

There is a big human cleric named Kath in the temple, near the shrine of Torm, he picks Tim up and gives him a big hug!!.  We decide to go see the Blacksmith and talk to him about his daughter.  His name is Run Voril and he says his daughter went out with friends to the north and has not come back.. he offers us a reward if we help him.  He says he isn’t sure where the Orcs are coming from, but says that the raids have become more frequent.  He mentions Rappan Athuk but dosent think this is the base of the orcs.  He also mentions:

·	A Wizard called Irralion built a keep in the forest but now a Vampire lives there

·	Spiders in Stoneheart Forest

·	Says to go to Magistrate House as Arlens daughter is there, says shes a rogue

We go to the Tavern of 3 Kegs and have a drink to try a decide what to do next with all this information.  Tim tries to chat up Darlia (the bar-owners wife).  We hear the following rumors in the Inn:

·	Irralion is dead, he used to worship St Cuthbert

·	Shandrel once threw out a Witch, some say she lives near keep

·	Ratmen live near forest

·	Baron is head of guard, lost his hand to swamp trolls and Shandril couldn’t cure him

·	Folks in Crimmor having trouble with stirges
·	Grove of Druids to the north west led by evil shapeshifters that worship the moon

We talk to the dwarves in the Inn, they are in a company called “The Dwarves of the Shattered Axe”, they tell us overblown stories, they say that they battled Undead in Rappan Athuk.  Tim eventually gets kicked out of the Tavern of 3 kegs for being to leery towards Darlia… We go back to our rooms to sleep but are awoken by the sound of a bell.  We rush out to see the Temple ablaze.  Shandrel and Arlen rust toward us and exclaime that “the Crucible” has been stolen.  Shandrel gives Bill “Vakiria” the sword, Bill feels a godly presence looking over him and immediately converts to Chauntea.  We are told that the raiders were Orcs and that they occupy a keep to the northeast.  We agree to go after the orcs and Shandrel sends Jerinor &  Hathol (guards) with us and Loriel.  We saddle up and ride out, and Graham falls off!.  We are attacked by Stirges, Tim gets his blood drained by these bat-like creatures, Bill does magnificently with “Vakiria”  and Bree wields “Chameleon” (his Karma) and soon we slay them.  We travel on and come to the edge of the wood.  Bill begins to track.


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## tariff (May 4, 2004)

*Crucible of Chauntea Session 2*

*Session 2: * Wherein Graham and Bill find tracks leading up a secret pathway in the wood.  Loriel tells us that we should use the main track as we can utilize the horses, being not very proficient riders we decide to use the secret path!.  Suddenly we are approached by a young human Paladin called Sir Bic, it seems he too has come to seek out the raiders who stole the crucible, he offers his services to us and we gladly accept him into the fold.  Bill leads us and soon we hear Orc voices, they are not aware of us so Bree & Graham sneak ahead in the woods so we can attack from both sides.  Graham starts the action by casting Ensnare on the Orcs, stating, “Stop the forest has ensnared you, surrender the crucible or the forest will eat you all!!”  Graham unfortunately only manages to Ensnare Bree!!  The leader Orc attacks Graham who has run behind a tree, he misses initially but fells Graham with his second attack.  Sir Bic gets first blood and kills a orc with a single blow.  Bree, fighting defensivly against 3 orcs eventually goes down (he stabilizes on –6 hp !!!).  Sir Bic wades into the lead Orc and scores a mighty critical hit, but the orc still stands and repays him by twatting Bic unconscious (Bic uses his hero point to not die!). Bill is entangled in the forest and has a hard time moving,  Tim who is slowly moving to heal Graham (cos hes entangled!), manages to heal Sir Bic on the way.  Out of the bushes a halfling rogue appears and starts attacking the orcs (is this Lannet who we had heard about earlier?).  Graham manages to stabalize (hero point).  Loriel manages to slay the lead orc and we are eventually victorious.  The halfling rogue disappears back into the woods without saying a word..  We scalp the orcs and loot them (find a key) and return to Fairhill with the recovered Crucible.  Shandril says Bill can keep “Vakiria” a while longer, we sell loot and buy Sir Bic a chain shirt.  We return to the forest and find the ruined keep, we use the key we found and open a door in the southwest tower. (after Graham detects for magic but finds none) There is a pool in the center of the floor in the bottom of the tower, Bill believes this to be dubious so we avoid it.  There are rickety wooden stairs leading up, Tim goes up first, the stairs are indeed unsafe, Tim manages to jump to safety as part of them collapse.  Up on the battlements Tim spies A LOT of orcs in the courtyard of the keep, there are also several buildings and a tower that has a ballista atop it manned by a orc.  Bill attempts to climb the rickety stairs to get upto Tims vantage point but falls as another section of the stairs collapse.  We formulate a plan… The Monk Bree with a handful of firebombs goes to the otherside of the keep and causes a distraction; Bill (who eventually gets up the stairs) will assist with ranged fire from the battlements.  Tim, Graham, Sir Bic, Loriel & Hathol sneak into the courtyard and head for closest building that we think contains orcs, the idea being to kill whatever is in the building then hold off the rest in doorway of the defended room.  We head for the building under the cover of Bree’s distraction and are indeed confronted by a room full of orcs, there is a hard orc in here called Tavik that wields a weapon that really hurts Sir Bic and knocks him unconscious.  Hathol as he tries to make his way across the courtyard to the building we are in is hit by the ballista and splatted against the keeps walls.  Tavik the lead orc bashes Loriel down.  Tim uses his two healing potions on Loriel and Bic so they return to the fray.  Loriel gets a critical hit on Tavik downing him, but him and his strange weapon disappear before our very eyes!.. With the room cleared we notice it is a old temple to St Cuthbert, there is a black candle burning here..we can almost feel its evil..so we snuff it out… we also see a lot of orcs and something else (is that a ogre!) running towards the temple.  Hurt bad and with no healing available we shut and barricade the door and wait for the inevitable.  Four Orcs attempt to get to Bill on the battlemements, three of them dying from falling off the stairs (and into the green slime pool below).  Bill screams with delight seeing his hated enemy, a ogre, below in the courtyard attempting to bash into the temple where his friends are holed up, he launches a volley of arrowfire.  Bree also uses his firebombs from the battlements, raining burning oil down on the orcs (and Ogre) trying to smash into the room.  The door eventually gives way and Grosh the Ogre kills Loriel who is first in line behind the door, the ogre is finally felled by one of Bills arrows.  Seeing this, the five-remaining orcs and their remaining leader (Nagrod) flee the keep into the woods.  We breathe a sigh of relief and pray for Loriel and Hathol


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## tariff (May 4, 2004)

*Crucible of Chauntea Session 3*

Session 3:  Wherein Graham leads the search of the keep.  Bill finds a trap door in the floor of one of the towers, and in another we find spiders that attack us.  We scalp all the dead orcs (Bill cuts off Grosh’s head and carves “bill” in the dead orc’s chest!).  We decide to go back to Fairhill.  We sell the orc scalps and get 75gp.  We talk to Shandril and tell her of our experiences.  Shandrel says that we should have removed and destroyed the evil black candle we found in the desecrated temple to St Cuthert as she thinks it’s a candle of defiling.  Shandrel takes back the magic sword “Vakiria” and using her only raise dead scroll raises Loriel (well, she’s worth it).  We are informed that because we have helped Fairhill greatly we can now all stay at The Noble House in town (cool, no more exorbitant prices!), lots of the villagers approach us and hail us as heroes (we go red with embaressment) We all train (4 weeks).  Sir Bic departs the party vowing to catch up with us later, and we frequent the alehouse and hear rumours..

·	Trouble with Stirges in Crimmor
·	Rangers hunting evil Ratmen where killed by strange Tree
·	Ruined Waystation occupied by Gnolls

We go back to the ruined Keep and clean up the defiled temple to St Cuthbert and destroy the foul candle, as the candle is destroyed Tim feels a prescence and feels he is imbued by Chauntea, he feels he can ask for minor help/magic once in the coming week!.  We decide to check out the trapdoor Bill had found in the tower.  Bree opens it and we see a room below full of filth.  Tim summons a celestial dog into the room below.  It is not attacked so we proceed down into the room.  We search this room and find another trapdoor in the floor, however this trapdoor has been warded with silver, Tim detects magic and finds that there is magic on the trap door but he can’t determine what it is.  Graham tries but finds out nothing more.  We discuus the trapdoor and decide that this may hold a powerful undead creature; we have heard rumors of vampires etc and feel we are not powerful enuff to take such a foe.  We leave the Keep and head to Crimmor to check out the Stirge stories and then proceed on to one of the waystations to see if they are infested with Gnolls.  On our way we are attacked by Gnolls who run at us from a distance, Bill kills one with arrows before it gets to melee range.  Tim calls upon his Family domain Powers to protect some of the party and we engage the Gnolls, Bree uses his flurry of blows but gets pretty bashed up by the gnolls, however we kill them with no fatalities.  We loot their doggy corpses and hide their stuff (armor and weapons) in the woods (Bill or Graham will locate later) because we can’t carry it around with us at moment.  Graham assists healing by giving us “goodberries”.  We travel to Crimmor with no further attacks.  Crimmor is a small village that gets little visitors.  We find local boozer and have a drink and hear rumors..

·	Lindriarog has a tent that sells trinkets of local witchcraft
·	The “Blessed Net” is the tavern for local fishermen
·	The real power in the village is the rogue guild
·	Fishing has been bad of late, the special large mouth bass that ehere in the area seem to have disappeared.
·	There have been many attacks by Stirges from “Stoneheart Forest” or “Stirge Forest” as they call it, they never used to attack.. why now?
·	Fishermen have gone missing
·	Fishermen have seen ghosts out on the water at night

It gets to evening time and the party are enjoying a few drinks (well Bill & Tim are), Bree decides to head to his room to mediate and Graham decides to take his dog Doogle for a walk in the fresh night air.  Whilst Doogle is releaving himself up against a lamppost 11 stirges dive out of the sky and attack.  Graham fires off a Dazzle spell at one of the Stirges and starts to leg it back to the Inn, he commands Doogle to get the help of his comrades.  Doogle manages to get to the Inn well ahead of Graham and begins barking loudly outside to gain the attention of the revelers inside.  Meanwhile inside the Inn Tim is hammered and is singing a loud rendition of “show me the way to go home”, he dosent hear Doogle barking.  Upstairs Bree is deep in contemplation.  Bill suddenly thinks he hears something outside the Inn.. yes, that’s it, barking.. could it be Doogle??. He opens the door and sees Doogle barking loudly and a little way down the road he makes out the figure of his pal Graham stumbling toward the Inn covered in six Stirges.  Bill shouts at Tim to stop singing and come help, Tim rushes outside just in time to see  Graham fall, he has been sucked of much blood.  Bill and Tim attack the Stirges (Bill killing a bloated Stirge as it flys off and getting covered in Grahams blood!).  Tim is attacked by two Stirges and drained of blood but not fatally.  Bree eventually makes it downstairs in time to see Doogle wimpering and licking a dead Graham Garden.  Tim is unconsolable about his comrades death until he finds his wallet is missing!..


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## tariff (May 7, 2004)

*Crucible of Chauntea Session 4*

*Session 4: *  Wherein Tim stands on the Bar (after being given a help up) and announces to the packed room “WHO STOLE MY WALLET!!, IF NONE OF YOU OWN UP MY BUDDY BREE HERE IS GONNA SLAP YOU ABOUT INDAVIDUALLY” his rant is met with silence (particularly from Bree).  Across the room watching from the corner sits Sir Bic.  He shakes his head.  Looks like these newcomers need my help again.  He rises and goes over to join them.  Putting down her whistle pipe the gnome bard Celene decides to take a well-deserved rest from playing to the Inns packed crowd.  It had all been going well when, right in the middle of a particularly demanding chromatic scale (that normally wows the crowds) a dog started barking outside the pub.  Now a man lies dead outside the Inn, another victim of the Stirge attacks.  She decides to approach the the strange group who are at the bar (2 dwarfs & a halfling..and now a Human) and offer her bardic services.  
Tim talks to the barman about Grahams death, and where can the body be kept before burial.  The Bar owner agrees to let Tim keep graham in his room until tommorow, whereupon Tim will cast the spell Burial Blessing befor Graham is committed to rest in Crimmors graveyard, with stories of vampires Tim is hopeing that the spell will ensure that the party do not meet Graham again!.
We rest till the next day and Bury Graham.  We get to know Gnome newcomer Celine a bit more (we learn that she goes by many different names, including: Celine, Britteny, Kylo, Lylo).  We decide to head for Stirge wood and exact revenge for grahams cruel demise.  We travel a while and by evening get to the outskirts of the wood.  Celene (Britteny, Kylo, Lylo ) somehow communicates with a passing Mole and learns there is webs in the wood!, these strange Gnomes!).  Bill does his tracking thang and finds footprints.  We decide to camp down for the night.  On Sir Bic’s watch the camp is attacked by a large humanoid.  Quickly rousing his companions they wake to see the Troll enter the camp and attack.  Bill is clawed hard by the Troll, he hits back but misses the beast.  Tim not having time to don his armor ,  grabs his shield and runs in to heal Bill.  Bree rushes in to attack the Troll but it rakes the monk with its claws and renders him unconscious (AOO) (-7hp)
The Troll screams with glee as it swipes at Sir Bic and fells the paladin.  Tim heals Bic immediately who gets back up and engages his attacker again.  Bill launches at the Troll with hatred, as it is one of his favoured enemies. Duel wielding, he hits hard twice, but still the Troll stands.  We notice his wounds seem to be healing!.  The Troll swipes at Bill and knocks him out.  Bree, unconscious, stops bleeding from his claw wounds.  Celene manages to drag Bree away from the Troll who is now attacking Bic.  Bic scores a critical hit on the slimy creature but it still does not fall.  Indeed it responds by clawing Tim into unconsciousness.  Celene fires arrows then moves and bandages Tim so he dosen’t bleed to death, then drags him out of the way.  Bic eventually gets the killing blow and declares “Chop him up and Burn him, Burn him, Burn him”…  We do.
Tim and Bree are still unconscious from the battle and Bic, Bill and Celene pretty hurt.  Celene dances around impressed with her performance and that she is still standing, she certainly seems to have earnt her stripes.
We bed down for the night again…. And are awoken by four Stirges attacking us.  Celene & Bic get blood drained from them, but nothing to bad before the Stirges are destroyed.  We decide we are too hurt to carry on, and staying in the wilderness is proving difficult.  We decide to head back to Crimmor to rest up.  
Once we get into Crimmor Bill notices that his purse is missing.  Upset about this Bill makes it known to local townsfolk that if he finds who did this, there will be retribution.  Celene (Britteny, Kylo, Lylo), and Bic tend to Bree and Tim in the Inn.  Once they are all a little healed the party make for Fairhill to go and train their abilities.  We travel all day, then rest up at night.  A Owlbear strikes on Bill’s watch.  Bill wades in with a mighty strike initially.  Tim invokes his Family Domain power and they feel the warming presence (+4 ac).  This is not enough to save poor Bill, who is struck down dead by the Owlbear.  Sir Bic critical hits with his falchion but the beast dosent die.  It replies by clawing Bic unconscious.  Tim heals Bic back up.  Bree and Celine are rendered unconscious, then the Owlbear snatches up Bill’s corpse and begins to run off with it (presumably to its lair to consume the dead dwarf).  Sir Bic follows and slays the Owlbear and retrieves dead Bill.  
Tim heals Celine, and him and her and Sir Bic try once more to rest for the night.  A unconscious Bree and a dead Bill lie next to them.  They awake in the morning and continue on to Fairhill.  We come to the woods where we buried some gnoll loot and retrieve this to sell.  We discuss the burial of Bill and decide it fitting if he was buried in the woods here.  We find and read his will and testament.  He bequeaths to the party his +1 Dagger.  Ahh Bless Him.  Tim insists that he cast Burial Blessing on Bill for safety and they wait till 4pm so that Tim can pray for his daily spells.  After the ceremony is completed and the party has said their final farewells to Bill, they continue on to Fairhill, dragging a unconscious Bree.  They are jumped by three gnolls.  Celene blows furiously on her whistle pipe inspiring us into battle.  Tim aids Sir Bic with a guidance spell, this dosen’t seem to help however, as Bic is bashed into slumber by the gnolls.  Celene exchanges blows with a gnoll and Tim heals Bic.
Out of the bushes springs a halfling Rogue, Tim acknowledges his arrival with a smile.. Lannet.  The rogue fells a gnoll quickly.  Tim, bolstered by his kinmans arrival, wields his trusty morningstar and strikes and slays a gnoll.   Tim heals Bree to consciousness with his last healing spell and they drag the unconscious Bic to Fairhill.
At Fairhill the party meet with Shandril and tell her of recent events.  She aids with healing and the party train (2 weeks).  Money is extreamly tight and some of the party are unable to pay for traing in feats/skills at this time.  Tim talks to Lannet of his rogue profession, expressing a interest in taking up this profession soon.  Lannet agrees to be his trainer should he require.  The party takes the hard descision to look for a replacement for Bill.  But who will they find in this ramshackle town….


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## tariff (May 14, 2004)

*The Crucible of Chautea: Session 5*

Session 5:  Wherein Bree: the 3rd lvl Dwarven Monk, Tim Brooke Taylor: the 3rd lvl Halfling Cleric, Celene: (Britteny, Lylo, Kylo, Whistlepipe) 3rd lvl Gnome Bard, Sir Bic: 3rd lvl Human Paladin meet a another knight of good, although his oriental features and strange weapon (Katana) indicate he does not emanate from this area.  He introduces himself with a bow as Wai Dinn.  (Wai Dinn 1st lvl Human Paladin) We tell him of our current situation and he agrees to join us.  We decide to go and see the Blacksmith to ask if he has heard of anymore news regarding his missing daughter.  He informs us that a local hunter had said he had heard a female singing voice to the north, but it had been accompanied by a gruff voice speaking in common.  We get the location of the singing (base of hills) and go and buy Mules for the journey.  Wade In insists on buying Sir Bic a light horse as Sir Bic has not much coin, insisting.  “It is a matter of pride that a paladin should ride a horse”  
	We ride to our location and get to the base of the hills.  We come across a ruined tower, the mules get skittish and we hear gruff singing…  Bree suggests putting cheese in our ears!.  Celene searches for burrowing animals but is unsuccessful!.  Tim approaches the doors of the ruined tower.  They hang off at the hinges.  Inside a woman is tied up and a Ettin is singing with both its heads.  Never one to be outdone in the musical stakes, Celene starts singing.  Tim prepares with a Bless spell.  The Ettin shouts out “who’s there, who’s singing?”  Wai Dinn replies, “Come out here and see us, Come die like a good monster”.  “Ha, you think im stupid, im not comin out” replies one of the heads of the Ettin (the other looks dumbfounded).  “We want the girl, nothing more” shouts Wai.  Tim, who is standing readied by the door gets to attack first as the ettin comes out of the tower.  Sir Bic also hits the creature.  The Ettin stikes Tim back, hurting the little guy.  Celene begins to cast a spell but fumbles it mid cast..  Sir Bic swings his falchion at one of the heads of the giant humanoid but misses by a fraction.  Bree throws a javelin but it ricochets off the tower walls..  Tim heals himself and uses the powers of his family domain to shield some of the party (+4 Ac).  This initially helps Celene as the Ettins first strike misses the gnome, however, the Ettin’s second strike is true and he knocks her unconscious.  Sir Bic “lays Hands” on Celene and she rises up back into battle.  Bree throws his second javelin and hits, but it seems to do little damage.  Tim swings with his morning star but misses.  Wai Dinn slashes at the Ettin with his katana, the Ettin attempts to hit Bic but misses, but it strikes Celene hard with its other hand, what looks like a fatal hit for the little gnome bard miraculously misses (hero point).  Celene withdraws from combat, the ettin missing as she retreats.   Bic misses with his swipe, Bree throws another javelin into the wall, Tim swings his morning star into thin air.  Wai Dinn manages to hit, the Ettin roars with pain and swipes back at Wai hurting him bad (0hp).  Bic gets clouted but still stands and returns the compliment by hitting the Ettin hard with his trusty falchion.  Bree, from a distance, misses with another javelin.  Tim heals Sir Bic and Wai stumbles out of the fray.  The ettin strikes at Tim twice but misses the small guy.  Celene fails to hit, Bic misses, and Brother Bree’s last javelin clanks hopelessly on the ground.  Things are looking grim.  Tim heals Wai and Wai wades in and hits the two-headed terror.  The ettin decides he hates clerics and strikes at Tim twice, downing the halfling on its second hit.  Celene comes to Tim’s aid and staunches his wounds.  Sir Bic slashes at the beast hard with his fachion but still it stands.  Bree, getting desperate, throws his Sai and manages to hit.  Wai wielding his katana also hits the monster.  The ettin snarls at Wai and attempts to hit him twice, the blessing of Cyrrollee (Tims god) ensures that Wai avoids these blows.  Celene arrows from a distance but misses.  Bic, tired from battle, misses the creature again.  Bree begins to move in.  Wade shouts at the creature “Bow down or Die!”, then misses with his attack.  The ettin pays no heed to Wai’s instruction and hits Bic and then misses Bree with his other attack.  Celene misses with her crossbow but it matters not as Sir Bic finally gathers his strength and slays the Ettin. 
	We free the lady, who indeed turns out to be Arialle, the blacksmiths daughter.  She had been imprisoned by the split-personality ettin.  The party sets up camp in the tower for the night.  We lend Arialle our only magic item, the +1 dagger bequeathed by Bill.  In the morning we begin our travel back to Fairhill.  We camp at night again, and on our first watch we are stormed by six gnolls.  Bree shouts “EVERYBODY WAKE UP!!!” and moves forwards, his hands ready for action.  Wai takes up a defensive stance by the campfire and the rest of the party rouse themselves from sleep.  One of the gnolls attempts to fire a arrow at us, but his crude weapon breaks as he draws back the string!.  Sir Bic, not having time to don his armor confronts the gnolls in only his PJ’s.  Bree attempts to use his “stunning fist” discipline but misses his target wildly.  It seems to be catching as both Wai and Bic strike mid air.  Arialle decides its time to sing, her voice bolsters us and Celene claps on her Class Mate, then casts Flare and dazzles a gnoll.  Another gnoll snaps his bows string then barks and moves into combat with his claws.  Sir Bic is hit and knocked down.  Bree again misses with stunning fist, as does Wai and Arialle.  Celene is successful with another Flare spell however.  A gnoll manages to scrape Bree slightly, and a Gnoll, moving into attack is hacked to death by Wai (aoo).  Bree manages to hit with his last “stunning fist”, unfortunately it dosent stun the dog creature.  Wai Dinn hits and Arialle misses.  Celene steps back from combat and fires off her final flare.  The gnoll resists it.  Celene then gets hit hard by a gnoll (0hp).  Bree also gets hit, but Wai avoids two blows.  Bree in anger uses flurry of blows and hits a gnoll.  Wai hacks down another with his blade.  Celene badly hurt moves away from battle slowly and lies down to play dead.  A gnoll follows her and swipes at her on the ground knocking her into unconsciousness. (-3hp).  Bree is hit by a gnoll and Arialle is lucky as the gnoll that swipes at her is still dazzled by Celenes Flare and misses by a mile.  Bree misses with another flurry, Bic & Celene bleed, Arialle hits a gnoll but is then smacked down by one of the gnolls.  With four gnolls left and only Wai & Bree standing it looks grim, and indeed it is.  A Gnoll howls in Bree’s face as he hits the dwarf hard knocking him down (-6hp).  Wai Dinn, the last of our intrepid heroes standing, rolls his katana in his hand and states “Ok, if that’s the odds you want”, “Give up now and I will spare you”.  They cackle and advance.  Wai steps forward and kills one.  However, two of the golls manage to get either side of Wai.  Flanked, he is hit, and hurt (1hp).  The oriental paladin Wai In stands his ground and swipes at one of his attackers.  He misses. 
	Out of the bushes springs a familiar figure.  Lannet the halfling Rogue backstabs one of the gnolls assaulting Wai and kills it.  Celene spasms on the floor.  One of the remaining gnolls swings at Wai, it looks as though this will surely fell the paladin, but the blade passes whiskers away (hero point).  One of the dazzled gnolls begins to run away (bumping into things as he goes).  Wai and Lannet both miss the last fighting gnoll.  Celene stops spasming and stabilizes (-6).  The gnoll fighting Wai and Lannet hits Lannet.  Bree’s wounds stop bleeding and he stabilizes (hero point).  Wai In finally gets the killing blow on the last gnoll.  Lannet rushes over to stabilize Sir Bic who is lying in a pool of blood on the ground.  Lannet, however, fails to staunch the paladin’s wounds.  It seems that Bic had had one shave to many, and had indeed proved disposable.  
Wai Dinn binds Arialle.  Lannet looks on at the other fallen adventurers. 
Tim (-3hp), Bree (-9hp), Celene (-6hp), Arialle (-4hp), Wai (1hp) Bic (dead)

DM Note: Character Names.  It must be noted that some of the characters who appear in this adventure have slightly dubious names.  This is due to the fact a new player was going to join the group and we wanted to show him we don't take things to seriously...oh yeah, and annoy the DM....  Sir Bic's demise sees him joining Sir Braun as the second of our famous "razor" paladins to die. (Sir Wilkinson, Sir Gillette, Sir Remington, Sir Philips and Lady Shave still survive!)


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## tariff (May 21, 2004)

*The Crucible of Chauntea: Session 6*

*Session 6: *  Wherein Wai Dinn and Lannet drag the unconscious and dead back to Fairhill.  A service is held for Sir Bic.  Wai Dinn recites some of his poetry at Sir Bic’s funeral.

*A Ode to Sir Bic*
_By Wai Dinn_

A soul who saw the beauty and light
Who relished each day, which stole past the night

Missioned to slay all that taints the land
It had a high price, his death by their hand

Yesterday evening fates path was laid
Whilst saving his friends, Bic’s debt was paid

Your body will rest in hallowed ground
Your friends cry they miss you but don’t make a sound

He also recites a few more of his verses..

*Bree*
_By Wai Dinn_

A funny little man
With iron in his hand
His beard true and straight
Goodly heart on stoutish gait

*Celene*
_By Wai Dinn_

Celene whistles
Christine dances
And Brittney steals the show
Who she gonna be tommorow
I just don’t frickin know

He finished with a impressive verse regarding himself..

*…and the ball starts rolling…*
_by Wai Dinn_

Wai Dinn… waiting
Patience wearing thin
Holy need
Vanquish greed
Destroy the evil seed

Wai Dinn stand fast
This evil will never last
Holy light
Righteous might
Quested to bravely fight

Wai Dinn so afraid
The blood pours off your blade
Don’t run
Evils done
Bury your friend in the sun

Wai Dinn… waiting
Patience wearing thin
Holy need
Vanquish greed
Destroy the evil seed​
The blacksmith is pleased with the return of his daughter and rewards us by giving Tim a breastplate, it has been engraved with the following : Remember always… Bill Oddie & Graham Garden.  Bree announces to the party that he wishes to take a break for a while.  Tim also feels the need for a few days of prayer… and drink.  Besides Darlia would be missing him..  Wai Dinn and Celene bid farewll to Tim and Bree, promising to meet up later.  They proceed to the local hero hire… the pub.  They meet a likely candidate, the interestingly named dwarf Xog.  (Xog dwarf fighter 2, cleric 1).  He is a incredibly thick set fellow, he looks immovable.  Another person expresses interest in joining the party.  The man is a frail human who looks a lot older than he probably is.  The mans conversation is interrupted by his coughing a wheezing, and his muttering to his self.  He is a practitioner of magic, specifically illusions. _ "I came from Crimmor" _ he states.  _“Crimmor, that’s a horrible place” _ says Celine.  _“oh, not to your liking?”_ replies Havelock.  _“I quite liked it”. _   Celene sings and welcomes both the new adventurers

Current party
Wai Dinn 1st lvl Human Paladin
Celene 3rd lvl Gnome Bard
Havelock 2nd lvl human Illusionist
Xog 2nd Dwarf 2nd lvl fighter/1st lvl cleric​
We inquire as to recent rumors.. we hear the following

·	Winter wolves to the north
·	Hired merchants attacked by gnolls in stirge wood
·	Ratmen in woods

We decide to head to the woods to search for the Ratmen.  They are apparently located fairly near to the Orc Keep we cleared earlier.  We ride.  On the journey Wai Dinn talks of Sir Bic with affection.  Havelock mutters _“Paladins, bah!”.._  A heated discussion follows, Wai Dinn points his finger aggressively at the mage _“When do you ever hear Bards singing about wizards, never!.  But they sing the praises of the paladin that cuts down the dragon”. _  Havelock hisses back _“no, because we use guile and strategy, we would get and take its horde before it knew we were there”._ _“That” _ states Wai _“is just petty thievery”._
	We make camp in the woods that night.  We are attacked by pesky stirges.  Havelock attempts _color spray _ on a stirge but it resists.  Swooping out of the sky, a stirge attatches itself to Celene.  Wai has trouble striking the fast bat-like creatures and one attaches itself to him, draining him of some of his oriental blood.  We manage to kill them fairly easily, Xog striking down the last one.  Wai Dinn picks up one of the dead stirges, pulls off a wing, and takes a bite out of it… it tastes like chicken!!. 
	We manage to get to the keep by nightfall.  Nothing seems to have changed, so Wai opens the door in the tower with the key and we camp down in the courtyard.  Over supper, Wai and Celene tell Havelock and Xog about what was here in the keep first time they came here.  Havelock seems to have interest in the black candle the party found.  Wai Dinn, suspicious of Havelock now, and his motives, casts _detect evil_ on the wizard.. It indicates he is indeed of evil persuasion.  Wai draws his katana and steps toward the mage.  _“I will tolerate no evil” _  Havelock stumbles back clutching his chest in a coughing fit.  Between coughs he exclaims _“calm down, its just a difference of opinion, a matter of perspective”.  _ Xog speaks up _“leave him be, we will show him the error of his ways”.  _ Wai sheathes his weapon.  Havelock sits down wheezing.
	Celene sings a little ditty and casts _presdigitation_, cleaning up the camp area for us.  In the morning we wake to the sound of Celene singing “Morning has Broken”, Havelock mutters under his breath.
	We travel east in our attempt to locate these ratmen.  That night whilst we camp we hear wolves howling.  Expecting a attack we don our armor and get ready.  We are rushed by 7 wolves, and 3 larger wolves (worgs!).  Celene starts blowing her pipe.  Havelock summons a celestial scorpion.  Celene successfully _Flares_ a worg, and Wai slices at and kills one of the wolves.  Havelock casts _mage armor_ on himself.  The wolves all miss with there attacks and we respond by Celene hitting a wolf with her sword, Xog slays a wolf, Wai hits and the summoned scorpion stings one of the wolves poisoning it.  Celene gets hit hard and is knocked down.  Xog casts _cure _ on the fallen gnome and stabilizes her on –3hp.  Wai Dinn kills another wolf, and the scorpion manages to sting the wolf again.  Havelock is bitten, the frail human falls to the floor unconscious.  Wai Dinn is also bitten, the worg tears his flesh and he is reduced to –5hp.
	As if by magic, Lannet appears.  Xog calls upon the power of his god and _cures _ Wai, who gets up and retuns to the fray..  The summoned scorpion manages another sting on the wolf and Lannet strikes at a worg.  The scorpion is bitten to death by wolves, and the bleeding Havelock is killed by a bite from one of the wolves as he lies on the floor.  Wai also is downed again by a wolf (-3).  Lannet slays one of the worgs.  Xog attempts to _cure _ but fizzles his spell!  Lannet and Xog are the only heroes left standing.  Lannet fighting 2 worgs, Xog fighting 3 wolves.  Another of the wolves nibbles on a fallen Wai and kills him!.  Lannet kills a worg, but the other worg bites him back hard.  Xog’s dwarven waraxe misses with his next attack.  Lannet again strikes with his dagger and Xog gets his eye in and slays one of the wolves.  Lannet and Xog fight valiantly, taking a lot of hits.  Lannet criticals a worg and sneak attacks and Xog hits hard.  Soon the wolves are slain.  
	Lannet pours the blue potion down Celenes neck.  Her eyes flutter open.  Wai and Havelock lie dead, and Lannet and Xog are badly wounded.  Celene plays a mournful tune and they retreat back to Fairhill, Celene suggesting they leave Havelock in a ditch cos she _“didn’t like him that much”._  Xog says Wai and Havelock should be returned to Fairhill for a proper burial.
	The journey back to Fairhill is uneventful (thank god), and back in town the party seek out Tim-Brooke-Taylor (who’s in the pub) and ask him to rejoin the party.  He agrees.  Lannet also states he will join the party for a while.  Celene feels that she has learnt much recently and decides to train in her skills.  We decide to break for a while to facilitate this.  We also read Wai’s will and testament.  We honor this by contacting his tribe (the lion clan), who, in time, send a delegation to retrieve the paladins body and take it back to his homeland.  Havelocks funeral is a quiet affair, Celene refusing to attend.

After the ceremony the mourners depart.  As the first dirt from the shovel hits the lid of the (cheap) coffin a Raven flys down out of the sky.  It perches on a gravestone and begins to speak.. The gravedigger drops his shovel, he cant understand the language but the bird is defiantly talking!..  He runs to get one of the town clerics, they maybe will understand the strange language.  
The cleric approaches the Raven as it begins to speak.  “Yes, yes this animal is a wizards familiar”, “it speaks in the old tongue of Chandathan” the cleric says to the gravedigger.  “It appears that its saying that his master is in the coffin still alive!” “Quick, help me open this up” .  Inside, unconscious, bearly breathing is a skinny haggered looking human.  Adorned in foul black robes.  “Lets get him inside” says the cleric.

	After our restbite we return to the woods to find the elusive ratmen colony.  We find a strange tree that has a hole in its base leading underground we believe.  Celene showes us some new dance moves and some new crazy melodies she has learnt, her performance bolsters us.  Lannet bravely approaches the tree first.  Before he is to near he attempts to fire a arrow at the tree, before he does however, the tree bashes him with a branch.  Tim, from a distance away uses his sling to good effect and hits the tree creature.  Celene tries to cast the _Tasha’s laughter _ spell on the tree, but it doesn’t work.  Xog uses his bow from a distance, as does Lanett.  Out of the hole at the base of the tree emerge two ratmen.  Celene is unlucky again as one of the ratmen save against her _Daze _ spell.  Tim misses a ratman with his sling but Xog crits with his bow and kills one of the vermin.  His friend returns fire at Xog.  Lannet continues to arrow the tree and we watch as the single ratman retreats out of sight into the hole, we hear him shouting for reinforcements.  Two ratmen then emerge from the hole, they look _blurred_, and indeed it does seem to be a_ blur _ spell in effect as Lannet misses with his arrow. (do these creatures utilize magic we wonder).  Tim summons a celestial bee, Celene summons a celestial badger and Xog summons a celestial dog.  We send our pets in to attack.  Celene fires of a _daze_ on one of the ratmen, it works.   Suddenly out of the hole shoots _magic missiles_, they slay the celestial bee.  Lannet again fails to strike a ratman with his arrows due to the _blur_.  But Tim manages to hit with his sling stone.  Celenes celestial badger bites at one of the ratmen as she shoots at the tree.  The celestial dog misses a ratman, and the badger gets hit, it squeals and goes into a rage, but is struck down quickly by the tree.  Xog’s dog is also killed by a ratman.  Lannet hits the tree, but Tim gets the killing blow with his sling.


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## tariff (May 23, 2004)

*Characters*

I have started to post up the Characters that appear in this adventure.  I haven't finnished yet, but will update as soon as i can

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tariff/Rogues Gallery.htm


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## tariff (Jun 1, 2004)

*Session 7:*

Session 7:  Wherein with the strange tree dead, the party can approach the hole at its base leading down into the ground.  Before we do, however, we hear a noise in the woods behind us.  Out steps a human, he carries two weapons and his oriental features strike the party as familiar.  “Are you Wai Dinns comrades in arms?, I am his brother.  Fai Dinn.  I offer you my services”.   We accept Fai into the fold and approach the tree… We descend into the hole.  We come out into a corridor with a T-junction.  We spy a lot of Ratmen.  Fai launches himself at them and strikes one down with his first blow.  Xog casts divine favor on Fai, Tim moves forward and looks to his god cyrrollalee and casts his Family Domain spell, and Celene Dazes one of the Ratmen.  It looks like a promising start until one of the Ratman casts a spell on Fai.  That spell was a charm person..it worked!..  Celene is hit by magic missiles.  Fai aggressively turns on Tim, hitting the halfling. “Attacking us already?” quips Tim.  Lannet tries to arrow a Ratman but misses.  Tim attempts to hold person Fai but he shakes off the magic.  Celene hits a ratman with arrow fire.  The Ratmen fire a volley of arrows at us but they mostly miss.  One of the Ratmen mages attempts to charm Tim, Tim shrugs off the spell.  Fai turns his attentions on Xog but misses him with his Katana & Wakizashi.  Xog hits Fai choosing to try to subdue the fighter.  Tim swings his trusty morningstar at a Ratman and crits.  Killing the vermin.  Celene continues arrowing successfully, but fire is returned by the Ratmen and she is arrowed down (-3hp).  Fai again strikes Tim.  Lannet slays one of our foes and Tim heals Celene, who, a bit shaken, misses her target with her next arrows.  Poor Xog stands with his back to the wall and gets swarmed by Ratmen. One of the mages successfully touches Xog and he is suddenly paralyzed.  He also STINKS! (ghoul touch).  Fai launches a attacked at the bard Celene, she is hurt bad, but still on her feet (0hp!).  Tim attempts to cast cause fear, but in a panic fumbles the spell.  Celene retreats behind us, and the Ratmen advance.   Fai attempts to strike Lannet but Lannet dodges his blows.  Lannet attempts to hit a Ratman but misses.  Tim gets to Celene and heals her again.  Feeling a lot better she arrows a Ratman mage.  Fai hits Lannet once but it does little damage to the rogue.  Xog suddenly feels movement in his limbs, he is free!, he strikes at a Ratman next to him, but misses.  Tim also fails to hit a Ratman.  Xog is again “touched” by one of the mages but saves against another ghoul touch.  He is however, hit by another of the Ratmen.  Fai continues his assault on Lannet.  Tim casts shield other on Lannet.  Fai smacks Lannet down (-1hp).  Xog strikes and kills a Ratman.  Tim and Celene both assault a Ratman and kill it.  Fai moves to attack Xog and hits the dwarf.  Tim and Celene attempt to hit Fai but miss.  Fai returns the compliment by missing them both back!.  Xog heals up Lannet.  Who starts throwing daggers at our adversaries.  Fai hits Tim and knocks him down.  Xog slays another ratman.  Celene arrows Fai but misses the warrior, who steps forward and swings at Xog and Celene, luckily he misses.  Celene drops her crossbow and pulls out her longsword.  Fai once again knocks down Lannet before Xog strikes down Wai’s brother.  Celene gets to Tim and staunches his wounds.   Xog manages to stabalize Lannet with a small cure. 
	More Ratmen come from the T-junction, with only Celene and Xog conscious they decide to retreat.  Xog and Celene drag Tim, Fai & Lannet outside and quickly put them on the mules.  Xog manages to quickly cast another heal on Fai, bringing him to consciousness and not under the influence of the Ratmen.  We ride off, the Ratmen scramble out of the hole and fire a volley of arrows as we ride into the distance, one hits the unconscious Celene. 
	The party find a safe place to camp and rest the night.  Xog cures Tim, who, when he awakes, marches over to Fai and slaps him round the face… “I’ll accept that” says Fai.  Celene breaks up the tension in the camp by doing her “Washing Machine trick”.  We place stuff in a bag and it comes out clean! (presdigitation).  Fai cleans his weapon of (the partys) blood.  Tim cooks dinner and Lannet remarks “I wanna go back anyway and get my magic dagger which I threw”, “and I left my crossbow” replies Celene. 
	We decide to have a couple of days rest and then we return to the “Ratmen Tree”.  We approach cautiously spying two Ratmen on guard outside the tree.  Tim and Celene cast buffs and Lannet sneaks forward first, followed by Xog and Fai.  From their vantage point and making the most of surprise.. Fai, Lannet and Xog launch missiles at the two unaware guards.  All the missiles miss!..  The ratmen scream for their comrades below Fai strikes a pose and charges at the ratmen destroying one instantly.  Xog arrows the other to death.   We descend into the hole and are again attacked.  Celene sends in a summoned fire beetle and manages to daze a caster.  Seeing how successful it was last time, the casters again try to charm Fai.  This time they fail.  Tim fires off a sound burst spell, he kills Celene’s beetle but also stuns four ratmen.  We all move in.  One of the Ratmen casters manages to charm Fai, but he couldn’t command him to attack us.  Instead Fai just walks off round the corner saying to his new friend “ill get dinner”.   Xog fires with arrows and Tim summons a celestial dog onto one of the casters.  The dog dosen’t last long as it is magic missiled, as is Lannet. 
	Fai Dinn has pressing matters to attend to, his friend, the guy with whiskers, has asked him to get him his dinner.  Now, where is the kitchen.  Gotta be around here somewhere.  Ahh, heres a room, ah theres more whiskered guys.. there casting a spell on me>?, (in the room is two other casters, they attempt to also charm Fai into attacking his comrades, but he resists this suggestion so they get him to stay here).  Ok they want me to stay here, ill do that then.  Thinks Fai.  
The ratmen leave the room to assist their comrades in attacking these human/dwarf/halfling scum who have invaded their home.
	Tim seeing the ratmen onslaught and expecting a lot of arrows fired at him, casts entropy shield on himself.  Lannet misses one and so does Celene and Xog with their arrows.  “Help” shouts Lannet as he is struck by the Leader Ratman. 
Tim uses his family domain and Celene breaks into song.  One of the Ratmen gets a good strike in on Xog, but the sturdy dwarf hardly registers the blow. 
	Back in the other room, Fai is waiting.  Suddenly a Ratman enters the room and fires magic missiles at him.  Wounded, but not now charmed, Fai strikes at his foe. 
	Xog fells a ratman, but Tim, Lannet and Celene miss their targets.  Sensing confidence is low, Celene sings louder.  Tim is touched by one of the mages and is paralyzed.  He begins to exude a horrid stench.  So bad that some of the Ratmen are affected by it.  Celene arrows one down.
	Fai and the mage exchange blows, Fai is hurt bad (1hp) but replies by critical hitting the mage.  The mage however, downs Fai on his next hit.  Leaving him to bleed, the mage goes out to join the battle in the corridor. 
	Lannet’s hits the Leader Ratman but barely scrapes it.  Celene causes great damage with an arrow.  Lannet is drained of some of his lifeforce (vampiric touch), Xog steps in quick and heals him.  Lannet and Xog are also sickened at Tim’s stench but they manage to hit the Leader Ratman.  Lannet getting the killing blow.  Celene is fighting a ratman, when Xog charges over and kills it, the party breathe a sigh of relief at being victorious.  We go find Fai.  We find him bleeding in a room.  Xog, calling on the healing powers of his lord and master Berronar Truesilver, heals up Fai and Lannet and we find loot!: Swimming potion, potion of cure moderate wounds, golden yellow topaz (we recon worth about 500gp), wand, a staff with a inset eye and a scroll we cant read.  
	We decide to head out, as we are going we meet somebody.  A man, who is a ranger named Herl.  He asks us if we found a staff (with inset eye), we tell him we did.  He asks for it, stating it is his friend Grethrame’s who is a goodly witch who lives north of the ruined keep.  Irallion had gave her the staff and she was in love with him.  She had been cast out of fairhill by Shandil for casting magic.  We agree to give him the staff. 
	mmm.. the plot deepens… The party travel back to Fairhill and train in their abilities.  Tim being trained in the ways of the Rogue by Lannet.


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## tariff (Jun 7, 2004)

*Session 8*

*Session 8: *  Wherein the party is in the Inn of the Drunken Cocatrice in Fairhill.  Whilst the party are having a final drink before heading off on the next step of their adventure, their conversation is interrupted by the sound of coughing and spluttering coming from the bar.  _“Ahh Celene, I was deeply upset you couldn’t attend my funeral” _ says Havelock, as he approaches the partys table. _“what..no..is this some kind of illusion?.. how are you here?” _ replies a startled Celene.  _“The ways of a Illusionist are indeed strange my dear” _ hisses Havelock.  He turns to Fai.  _“Ahh, by your appearance I presume you are a relation to the mighty Wai Dinn, a brother perhaps?, I was extremely fond of Wai and deeply sadden at his loss”_ _“He lies”_ says Celene. _“Him and Wai didn’t get on”._  Fai eyes Havelock.  _“so, would you have need of a practitioner of Illusions in your group?” _  says Havelock to the party.  _“I will not group with you… I like Tim!” _ Says Celene. _ “I too do not desire you in the group” _ says Xog.  _“You liked Crimmor, we got robbed twice there!”  “well, I bet you looked like tourists..ya gotta know the places..” _  replies Havelock.  The table are silent.. _“bah”_ says Havelock walking off, muttering under his breath.  
	The party are approached by a male halfling and a female half elf.  His name is Flet and hers Vorgya.  They tell the party that they are friends of Lannet and have been looking for him.  _“Well he trained me, but then I haven’t seen him for a few days” _ says Tim _“so you were the last to see him ?”_ asks Fai.. _“um, looks like it”_ says a cautious Tim.
Celene, Tim, Xog and Fai set off for the gnoll-infested waystation in “Stirge Wood” (Stoneheart Forest).  We decide to drop in on the other waystations on the way.  There full of guards etc.  We stay the first night in one for safety.  We set off next morning and come to the second waystation.  Again it is manned by guards.  They tell us that the waystaion in Stirge Wood is now occupied by gnolls.  They say they are to weak and there resources spead to thin to do anything about it.  They offer us the assistance of 6 guards who will come with us to reclaim the 3rd waystation.  We agree and set off.

	We soon arrive at the 3rd waystation.  Forgetting all about stealth we ride straight up to the waystaion.  Perched on its parapets we see gnoll archers.  Suddenly out of the deep undergrowth Orcs charge at us.  We engage.
	In the battle that follows.. Fai charges in and kills a foul orc with his first hit.. Tim and Celene successfully use _sound burst _ on the orcs and gnolls.. The guards fight valiantly.  Arrow fire rains down on us from the gnoll archers.  Tim casts _entropic shield_ on himself.  The fight looks to be going our way when two other figures emerge from the undergrowth and start attacking us.  Vorgya and Flet…(Lannets friends??).  _“Lies!” _ states Fai , Celene manages to use _Tasha’s laughter_ on Flet and _daze_ on Vorgya.  Xog melee’s away at the oncoming orcs but initially misses everything!..  Xog, seeing a hysterically laughing Flet, prone, aims with his trusy waraxe Wrath and strikes true killing the halfling foe.  Fai wades in! and downs a good few of the orcs including the half-elf Vorgya.  Tim advances on the Waystation whos doors are barred, his entropic shield helping as arrows rain down on him.  _"I can not let Tim stand out there alone!" _ shouts Xog as he runs to assist his buddy.  With the orcs and rogues slaughtered Fai runs up to the door and starts bashing it down.  The rest of the party and the 2 remaining guards use arrow fire at the gnolls on the parapet above.  Tim’s accumulated hits from the arrows begins to tell on the halfling.  Xog steps in and heals Tim.  Fai smashed the door down and runs up the stairs to confront the Leader Gnoll on the parapet.  Tim, Celene and Xog fire from below.  Tim getting the killing shot on the leader Gnoll with his sling.  With the Waystation liberated the party rejoice.  It had been a easier victory than the party had gambled for.  The party finds spoils!  We go back to Fairhill and some train.  We decide we have to have a rest, we have dealt with most of the pressing problems in the area.  .  A few rumours exist for us to investigate further (the manticore to the north, and what of the trap door warded by silver in the ruined keep).  And a few questions unanswered (what is going on with Shandrel, where is Lannet and the what of the Crone in the woods the Ranger Herl spoke of?)..  But for the moment we decide to rest and mourn those who have fallen.
*END OF ADVENTURE….*


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