Episode 9, "Consequences"

After the brutal squabble with the slaver caravan yesterday afternoon, the party had relocated the wagons, horses, slaves, and corpses south of the road in the foothills in order to stay out of the public eye and to get some R&R. Most enjoyed a quiet night of slumber in the wilderness, except for Fhasys who opted to take one of the horses behind a rock and mutilate it in her sleep (see curse). The heroes awoke early in the morning feeling rested, then set to the task of dealing with the dead guards' bodies.

Deciding against burning them due to concerns about smoke, Vyreth and Doc wheeled the cart of corpses out of sight, behind a huge boulder. While the duo dealt with the bodies, a heavily armored dwarf flanked by the two slaver guards who had fled the scene shortly before the battle sauntered into the camp and engaged Talos in conversation.

The dwarf had ridden from Quanlo representing the Iron Gate, Quanlo's local law enforcers, sent to investigate claims made by the two slaver guards that the caravan was under attack. The two guards set out to investigate the camp for signs of struggle and to locate the missing guards and Talon while the dwarf explained the situation to Talos. Unfortunately, Talos wasn't feeling so friendly this morning and decided to cut the conversation short by sending an arc of flames in the dwarf's general direction. Combat ensued.

Talos was readily cut down by the dwarf and the two guards rode into the melee to help subdue the rest. However, after a few blows were exchanged, Doc decided to try and talk some sense into the visitors and offer peaceful resolution. Explaining that Talos had been cursed and is under the influence of witch craft, he pleaded that the guards allow the party to continue their journey unimpeded. The dwarf offered his own suggestion, one which involved the heroes surrendering their weapons and waiting until the investigation was complete. Fhasys decided she'd had enough talk and combat resumed... for a short while anyhow, until the rest of the visitors made an appearance. An archer loosed a couple arrows from behind a rock, and a mage cast Hold Person on Vyreth thoroughly irritating him. In a sudden change of heart, Fhasys decided to be the first to put her weapons down and the remainder of the party followed suit. Doc was allowed to stabilize Talos, and the guards began securing the party's weapons, binding their hands, collecting the slaves, and resuming the investigation. It wasn't long before one of the scouts discovered the wagon of corpses and the investigation came to a close. Talos meanwhile, as a guard was attempting to bind his wrists, cast invisibility on himself and climbed atop the slave wagon. The guards scouted the area but couldn't locate him.

The heroes were stuffed into a single wagon alongside the slaves, and the entire crew rode back to Quanlo in formation, Talos still invisible and riding on top. During the short 15min ride back to Quanlo, Vyreth managed to loosen Fhasys' bindings and vice-versa. The caravan arrived to the city gates, was met by a regiment of Iron Gate guards and the mayor, and the heroes were ordered into the holding cells beneath the barracks until questioning. The wagon containing the slaves was turned around and sent to its original destination... something or some place referred to as "Thanon". All of the party's belongings remained in a pile in the courtyard while they were escorted through the city. Talos, still invisible, followed closely behind.

The group was lead through the various districts of Quanlo and eventually through the Iron Gate training grounds, through the barracks, and into the holding cells. Talos kept an eye on the system of gates that were unlocked and locked as they were lead to their cells, and lingered in the guard room deciding what course of action to take next. Using the power of Suggestion, he convinced the lead guard that better times were to be had at the local inn where a fresh shipment of whores and booze had just arrived. Thoroughly convinced, the lead guard convinced one of his lackeys to follow suit, and they headed out... much to the disapproval of the remaining guard. Talos then made quick work of the last guard by bludgeoning his head in with an iron poker, very unbecoming of him but... desperate times... As Talos set to removing the guard's armor, he suddenly was hit with an urge to search for keys! He found one.

As much commotion was being made outside in the barracks over the jailkeeper's sudden decision to abandon his post, Talos unlocked the holding cell gates and descended into the room where his friends were being held. The sound of voices and footsteps began to draw near and Talos readied his bow. A sound of astonishment erupted from the guard room above as the body was discovered, and Talos once again went invisible. The new guards came barreling down into the jail cell room only to find... nothing. Once their bewilderment wore off, they went back upstairs to sort out the situation. Talos followed the guards back out, through the barracks and into the training courtyard in search of a major distraction. He doused a nearby wooden awning with oil and lit it on fire, drawing the attention of most of the guards in the barracks. As the guards went to work dousing the fire, Talos resumed his rescue operation.

Zapping the locks of his friends' cells with a few strategically placed Magic Missiles, the party was once again united! Vyreth cloaked the entire crew with his own version of an invisibility blanket, and the heroes hastily made their retreat. Doc, recalling a shady hideout that he and his friends used to frequent--the Troublesome Troll--decided it'd be best to head there in search of shelter. The heroes wound their way back to the lower wards and toward the Troublesome Troll spotting several "wanted" posters for Doc along the way, but just as they came close were beckoned into a side alley by a stranger shrouded in shadow. Fhasys, putting two-and-two together, was struck by the fact that they were invisible yet this person could see them? Indeed.

The half-elf man, dressed to the nines in assassin-like garb, armor adorned with symbols of red painted hands, introduced himself as Laethin, member of the Red Hand--a group that Doc recognized as being the local thieves guild. Doc reassured the party of Lethin's qualifications and, given the current risk to themselves, they all decided to follow Laethin's advice. The group was lead through some more dingy back alleyways, into an old abandoned church, through a secret wall, and down into the nest of the Quanlo thieves guild to discuss "a proposal" with the guild's leader.

Despite their temporary shelter in the Red Hand den, the Iron Gate has intensified their search for the entire party. In addition to Doc's mug being posted all around town, the Gate now has reason to suspect them in the murders of the slaver guards (on Quanlo's payroll), the murder of one of the jail keepers, and now a mysterious fire that was set just outside the barracks. Things are not looking good for our friends this day, but they still have important business to attend to with Reeser in the mages guild... If they can manage to get there in one piece.

Episode 8, "Journey to Quanlo"

Having had successfully liberated three frightened horses from their sure demise at a nearby ranch, the party continued the remaining 60mi leg of their trek to Quanlo.

As the sun set upon the foothills, the heroes stumbled upon a campsite recently wiped out by some sort of green acidic slime. Talos attempted to identify the source of the slime, as did Doc, but came up empty handed. The only survivor was a man whose lower half had been disintegrated by the slime. Talos managed to eek some semblance of a conversation out of him before putting him out of his misery. According to the dying man, he'd heard some sort of terrifying roar from the sky just before the attack, leading the party to assume it was the dragon they'd seen the night before during the funeral pyre. Rummaging through the merchant's pack, Talos found an invoice of a handful of gems to be sold to one Orpheus Loraine of Cannesh. He also found a hand-drawn sketch of... something; what appears to be a desert landscape with strange "tears" superimposed.

That night, during Vyreth's (second) watch, the camp was assaulted by a small gnoll raiding party. The gnolls attacked from the darkness of night, as the party decided against lighting a campfire, and Vyreth was impaled by a spear from mob. Combat ensued.

The following day's ride was, for the most part, uneventful. Temperatures climbed hotter than the previous two days and the sun was out at full-blast. The terrain slowly started shifting away from grassland to more of a rocky, arid desert. Somewhere around noon, the party spotted a medium sized caravan far ahead on the trail kicking up dust. Scrambling to come up with the best course of action, Fhasys rode on ahead to meet the caravan with Talos "invisibubbled" and sitting behind her. Two of the caravan guards broke formation to speak with her and offered little in the way of useful information. They urged her to continue riding around the caravan and to pay no notice. Relaying this information back to the party, Vyreth and Doc decided that they should all approach the caravan and attempt to speak with the leader, a red-headed woman riding in front, dawning a fine set of splint mail armor and riding a well armored horse. As they were discussing how to proceed, two of the caravan guards broke formation and raced past the heroes, riding at full-clip toward Quanlo.

The woman in charge, who soon introduced herself as Talon, was equally as useless as the guards behind her. Giving up, the party rode on ahead and then slowed a bit to keep the caravan in their rear-sights while coming up with a new plan of action. During Vyreth and Talon's brief conversation, Vyreth noticed one or two slaves as being from his village, and he felt his blood start to boil. On what seemed like a whim, the entire party about-faced and charged the caravan, determined to lay waste to the guards and free the slaves.

The battle between the heroes and the slavers was likely the toughest the party had encountered to-date, and Talon was not a woman to be trifled with! She easily tore through Doc, then Vyreth, and then Fhasys before finally succumbing to her wounds. Vyreth, hanging on to a shred of his consciousness, managed to drag himself over to Doc in order to lay on hands. Doc, returning the favor, got back to his feet and helped finish off the last remaining guard who was chasing Talos down. Aside from a handful of well-maintained gear, the heroes discovered a scroll of revivify (3rd level), a handful of coin, and a slave invoice on which was both written the name of Vyreth's lost love, Varishna, as well as one Bruenor, headmaster of the Thanon mines. While Varishna wasn't amongst the slaves rescued today, Vyreth finally had a lead into his agonizing past.

Once combat had subsided, the reality of the situation hung heavy over the party's shoulders... They were standing right in the middle of a main thoroughfare surrounded by the bodies of 6 slain guards, Talon herself, and her badly injured horse, and now responsible for the lives of 8 slaves who had no idea where they've been, who they've been bought and sold by, or where they were going. Since it was still mid-day, the crew decided they'd better gather the bodies, horses, and wagons, and drive them South toward the foothills in order to hide the evidence and decide what to do with the slaves. Tomorrow, they would complete the journey to Quanlo.

Episode 7, "Pawns"

Having completed most of the menial tasks that Dugan set the heroes out to do, there was one final ceremony to complete... the funeral pyre for the dead. Night was rapidly closing in and they decided to begin preparations. Vyreth and Doc headed out to grab some fuel, but soon realized they didn't know where it was being stored so turned back to ask Dugan for directions. On the way to the militia house, Doc realized he'd be more valuable out with Talos chopping wood for the fire and split from Vyreth. Fhasys, meanwhile, headed over to the Golden Coin to assemble the remaining townsfolk. The people huddled in the tavern were tired and traumatized and not entirely receptive to direction, so the barkeep tried his hand at garnering their attention. Finally, Talos conjured his mage hand to snap its fingers loudly and this combination was enough to shake the villagers into action.

The townsfolk slowly gathered around the old wagon, piled high with the bodies of departed friends and loved ones, as the heroes piled chopped wood beneath, poured fuel on the wood, and lit the fire (courtesy of a dazzling light display from Talos). Doc, relatively new to the whole "funeral rights" thing, stepped up to the plate and spoke for the dead. At the end of his speech, an old woman made her way through the crowd and gave the heroes a parting gift--a magical sword passed on throughout the generations. Apollo then made an appearance, soothing the crowd with his warm aura, and offered advice to the heroes on their coming role in a larger drama. His speech, however, was quickly interrupted by a foul visitor.

A huge, ancient undead dragon descended upon the scene, putting out the pyre and kicking up a major dust storm. The dragon had come to see what the huge bonfire was all about, but upon discovering the heroes in his midst he realized what role they were to play in his plans. Instead of disintegrating the entire lot right then and there, he took flight and left the heroes a going-away present. The pile of corpses wriggled and writhed forming a giant flesh golem. Combat ensued. The fight with the golem was brutal and slow, and it took a while for the heroes to realize that their normal attacks weren't having any effect. Finally, the golem went down and the party turned in for the night.

In the morning, after an extended discussion regarding the sword and Doc's fears of visiting Quanlo, the crew headed out for the long journey on foot. After 6hrs of walking in the hot, arid foothills, they crossed paths with a badly injured rancher and his horse. Talos and Doc managed to bring him back from the brink and the man began babbling about an attack by "strange creatures", his horses being slaughtered, and his wife and daughter having gone missing during the chaos. The group, being kind of heart (and seeing an opportunity to finally get mounts), headed South into the foothills toward the ranch to investigate. What they found was a grisly scene involving three giant centipedes happily munching away at horse corpses in the corral. Using a sphere of invisibility, Vyreth stealthed the entire party and they made quick work of the bugs. They managed to save three horses from the attached barn, but it was too late for the mother and daughter who had been dragged behind an outcropping and eaten alive. The bad news was relayed to the rancher back at the crossroads, and the party continued their journey to Quanlo.

Episode 6, "A Fresh Start"

The troublesome trio made their way downstairs for some breakfast after a harrowing day's worth of slaughter and ichor-vomiting ogres, and ended up meeting a fellow traveler with a turbulent past. After sharing their tales of adventure in and around Lehren, Doc felt a pang of compassion for the stranger's tales of loss as he introduced himself as Vyreth. Shoveling down the last of breakfast, the crew was joined by Dugan once more. He explained the current state of things in town and pleaded for help in some rather non-heroic rebuilding tasks, and was delighted to hear their acceptance. Dugan presented a laundry list of options: dousing smoldering embers, recovering bodies from the ruined homes and shops, restoring an old lumber mill just outside of town, locating a missing flock of sheep, orchestrating a funeral pyre and last rights for the departed, and building temporary shelters for displaced townsfolk. There was quite a bit to be done, but the heroes--connecting with their more humble roots--stepped up to the plate. As a gesture of gratitude, Dugan promised the original trio (Talos, Fhasys, and Doc) each a cottage in town once the rebuilding was complete, and Vyreth was offered free room & board at the Golden Coin.

The crew set to work, first tackling the chore of putting out smoldering embers amongst the wreckage. Dugan had suggested they grab some buckets and use well water for the task, but Doc had a better idea... shovels. The barkeep at the Golden Coin hooked them up with some worn gloves and shovels, and they set out scouring the town for hot spots. Finding them proved a bit tricky, but they managed to put most of them out over the course of two hours.

Next came the bodies... Taking a moment to huddle, the party discussed options as to how to carry a load of dead bodies around as they searched. Someone had the bright idea to find a cart, and Dugan just so happened to have an old one laying around. Unfortunately, he had no beast of burden to pull it. Vyreth offered his services in bear-form, and Talos helped Doc tether him to the cart as best they could. With bear-Vyreth holding up the center of the cart and one hero holding up either side, they awkwardly made their way through town searching for corpses. In all, they found 9 bodies, most of which were pinned beneath fallen beams and rubble. Since the strongest of the group was preoccupied with the cart, it fell on the rest of the party to free the bodies from the debris. Doc and Talos struggled with the effort, trying to apply brute force to shove and lift the debris off of the corpses to no avail. Fhasys, taking a moment to stand back and analyze how all of the pieces had fallen together, discovered several leverage points and was able to free the bodies from the mess. After another hour or so of gathering corpses, they hauled the cart to the outskirts of town, Vyreth's bear-timer ran out, and they set out for the next task... Fixing up the old mill.

After another short debriefing with Dugan regarding the mill, it was made clear that the structure has lay idle since the founding of Lehren some 90-100 years prior. Dugan assumed, at minimum the generator would need some fuel, but there might also be need for cleaning and light repairs. The heroes set off toward the boundary of the forest just SE of lake Saun and Doc played a merry tune on his flutes to lift their spirits. Soon, the mill was spotted jutting out of the timber line and the party agreed to let Fhasys scout it out. Sneaking up upon the side of the mill, Fhasys discovered that the windows were too dirty and clouded to see through so she hopped up on the entrance ramp to peek through the door. As she stood on her tippy-toes to peek through a small window in the door, her weight unlatched it, swinging open into the mill and banging against the metal wall. So much for stealth. Several bandits had been using the mill for shelter, and having already been alerted to her presence had their crossbows at the ready. Fhasys became a momentary pincushion before finally ducking back outside and taking cover. Combat ensued. The impact of the initial volley caused Fhasys to scream a chain of obscenities, which the rest of the heroes heard and came running to her aid. After a major battle involving 6 bandits, 1 leader, an epic thunder clap, several streams of magic missiles, and a perfectly thrown axe, the mill was finally cleared. Talos, in an attempt to see if the mill equipment was still functional, walked around banging various pipes and hoses with his sword. Fhasys instead turned to the generator itself and made quick work of repairs. She flipped the "on" switch, the generator began to rumble, and then died... out of gas. Weary and tired of menial labor, the crew decided to return to town and bargain their way out of the remaining chores for the sake of a hot meal and ale.

The party met up with Dugan once again, and after short debate agreed to give him the chipped ruby they'd found in the mill as a token of their dedication and support... And, hopefully to make Dugan forget all the other stuff he'd asked them to do. Of course, Dugan was in no place to refuse or press the issue... He acquiesced and handed Talos a sealed letter as a final request, a plea to the mage's guild of Quanlo to seal the Embershard mine for good. The mention of Quanlo alone spooked Doc, and for good reason. The dwarf suddenly found himself much more amenable to sticking around for more menial labor, and the others had a difficult time sorting out his change of heart as Doc kept a stiff upper lip about the whole thing. During their back-and-forth about Quanlo and Doc's sudden enthusiasm for manual labor, the old lady who had snapped Fhasys out of her sleepwalking session the night prior came to check up on her. She suggested that Fhasys talk to an "occultist" named Terin who might be able to both provide sleep aids as well as recall the contents of her dreams.

As dusk fast-approached, the crew headed back to the Golden Coin for some grub and drink. Feeling refreshed, Doc and Vyreth hopped back into the action and decided to use the last remaining daylight to find the missing sheep. Talos and Fhasys, enjoying the warmth of the tavern and the ale in their bellies, wanted none of that and instead opted to stay at the bar.

On Dugan's recommendation, the duo set out toward the South end of town to hunt for sheep tracks. A cursory search revealed nothing, and the two started discussing options for tracking. Doc had the bright idea for Vyreth to transform into a bird to scout from the sky, but they didn't see any birds in the immediate vicinity. Thinking on it for a moment, Vyreth chucked a stick into a cluster of nearby bushes and his dog, Vulkan, dove in after it letting loose a flock of sparrows. But, no matter how hard Vyreth concentrated, he couldn't muster the power to transform into a flying animal. Clearly bummed by Vyreth's lack of ability, they decided to simply start walking South. Sure enough, after 15min or so Doc noticed some tracks and was able to discern that they were, in fact, sheep tracks. They followed the tracks for another 20min or so and, just as the sun was starting to set, stumbled upon the missing flock. Something, however, was amiss. Most of the sheep stood in a tight cluster, bleeting nervously and eyeing a strange, hulking brown mound a few feet from them. Doc, channeling his sheep-talking abilities, managed to convince several of the dim-witted animals to run for their lives but most simply stood in place, paralyzed by fear. Slowly inching closer, Vyreth noticed that the brown mound was, in fact, slowly moving in place. It was at this moment that his dog panicked and bolted back to town. Vyreth decided to try and entagle the thing so they could get a closer look, but this only pissed it off. Rising up on its hind-quarters and dropping a half-eaten sheep, it quickly became clear that this "mound" was really a carrion crawler! Combat ensued. Doc was immediately struck by one of the crawler's tentacles and paralyzed from the poison, which cast a shadow of heavy doubt on Vyreth's confidence in the outcome of this fight. Vyreth cast poison immunity on himself and Doc eventually shook-off the paralysis. The trio had exchanged blows for a few rounds when Talos and Fhasys came hurtling toward the scene on their pony, lead by Vulkan. When in range, Fhasys loosed a bolt from her new crossbow, impaling the crawler and sending it into the dirt.

The heroes managed to corrale the remaining sheep back to town and began preparations for the funeral pyre, agreed upon by Dugan to take place shortly after dusk.

The Story Of Vyreth

Vyreth Qithuen--that's the name given to me by my new family.  According to tales told to me by my new father (and captain of a fishing vessel), Vjoro, he'd discovered me floating in a makeshift raft some miles off the coast of Hanover's Run--an island along the SW shores of Erenon--during a routine fishing trip. There was no form of identification, nor any hint as to my past whatsoever, on my person me aside from strange tattoos covering my torso and a jeweled ring dangling from a chain around my neck. Out of kindness and admiration of the strange alignment of paths that had occurred on that fated day, Vjoro took me back to the village and adopted me as his own child. His wife, Vera, tended to my cold and malnourished form and their biological son, Voltek, kindly accepted me as his new younger brother. My new family was good to me and taught me how to hunt and fish, and my skills in these areas grew to a point where I won several local competitive events. Vera was the mother you read about in story books--kind and gentle, empathetic and sympathetic yet firm and disciplined.

Since coming of age, I continue to have dreams about my original parents... my beautiful mother and her long, blonde, curly hair standing next to my stalwart father. In my dreams, my father always wears the ring that I now carry around my neck, a symbol and reminder of my own inner-strength in the face of being shunned by most of the others in my village. I was an outcast regardless of how much I tried to fit in. The only person who was willing to see me for who I was was a girl named Varishna, the daughter of the town steward who soon forbade her to see me. But his rule didn't stop us. Our affections grew into love, and when I turned 16 she confessed that she wanted us to marry and run away together. I finally felt alive and my soul came alive.

Then, one day a strange man paid a visit to our village cloaked in black and riding a massive black steed. He was clearly searching for something or someone, come to find out that someone was  me. The man came to my father's home in the night, and I spied on their conversation from a back room. I couldn't make out their conversation, but my father shot me a glance that told me to run. I hid in a closet until the strange man left, and when I emerged he told me that Voltek and I would be heading out to sea the following morning to fish. I was growing sick and tired of fish... The smell, the taste, it was everywhere.

We headed out to sea the following morning, as planned, but I knew something was amiss. As we made the return voyage home, we saw our village being razed in the twilight. After docking at the harbor, I ran back home only to find my mother laying murdered on the floor and the village in ruin. I frantically searched the burning homes for Varishna to no avail. One badly injured villager told me, in his dying breath, that the women had all been rounded up and taken away in a menacing and dilapidated ship. Our family dog, Vulkan, luckily made it through unscathed, tied to a post out back and barking out of sheer panic. Vulkan and I returned to my father's fishing boat, and with Voltek at the helm set sail for the Erenon coast to begin our search for the wicked hands behind the slaughter and for Varishna, my one true love.
Once we came ashore on the edge of the Fairn Forest, Voltek and I agreed to split up--he travelling East toward Trey La and myself North, to the town of Lehren. Hopefully, one of us would discover clues or at least bring us closure. We made a pact to return to the fishing boat in 3 months time to share our findings and decide what to do next.

Episode 5, "Ruin of Lehren"

Fhasys and Talos (wisely) decided to high-tail it out of the swath of blighted forest surrounding the cavern entrance. In the frantic dash, leaping over rotted logs and plowing through the underbrush, Talos lost his footing and got tangled in the spider webs. Fhasys, deciding that this would be an opportune time to lecture Talos on the finer points of honesty and character, found herself staring into the face of a giant spider. Combat ensued, Talos broke free of his trappings, and the two managed to make the 1/4 mile dash mostly unscathed. The duo stumbled upon the entrance to the Embershard mine, found their ponies waiting anxiously, and rode out of the godforsaken forest. They made camp a couple hours into the countryside and Fhasys had some very disturbing nightmares, courtesy of the curse of Quar Jezz't.

Meanwhile, a lone dwarf clad in chain mail and playing uplifting music on his pan-flute, discovered an old abandoned farmstead and decided to turn in for the night. After a chilling and inspiring dream involving Peter and Apollo, the paladin awoke to the sounds of muffled speech and cabinets banging shut. An encounter with some bandits lead to Doc attempting to push his case for a sane, blood-free end. After grappling the first bandit who discovered him, Doc explained that he'd be happy to leave and let them get back to looting... The bandit leader agreed and Doc made a hasty retreat through the bedroom window. Taking in the early morning scenery of the countryside, Doc noticed some billowing smoke in the distance--not unlike what he saw in his dreams. Realizing this was too great of a coincidence to pass-up, he once again took to his pan-flute and started walking.

After a couple hours of travel, the rogue and the wizard crossed paths with the paladin. Pleasantries were exchanged, Doc got a taste of the duo's icy dynamic, and they agreed to help each other out further down the road. As they compared notes, Dugan came running toward them in werewolf form bringing dire news from Lehren. The town was under siege by a maddened ogre and a mob of bandits; buildings lay in ruin, and the townsfolk cower wherever they can find shelter from the chaos.

Upon arriving to Lehren, Dugan left the adventurers to route the ogre while he dispatched the bandits. Doc summoned his magical prowess to "taunt" the ogre while Talos (through the power of suggestion) convinced it that bandits taste simply fabulous. The ogre immediately set off for the gravy-filled looters and the heroes enjoyed the show while it lasted. Cornered in a small home, several bandits quaked in fear as they watched their compatriots get eaten, and Talos used this distraction as an opportunity to attack. Jumping through a side window, he squared off with the bandit leader in a brutal fight.

Outside of the home, the ogre finished off the last visible bandit and turned his attention toward the heroes. Fhasys had already got in some solid shots with her bow and Doc moved in for the kill. Then, something strange happened... The ogre fell to its knees, revealing large patches of blackened, diseased skin, and began to vomit ichor. A foul stench began to permeate the air and, soon after the ogre collapsed, ghasts arose out of the foul black pool.

Talos polished off the bandit leader with a scorching ray and joined his friends outside for an epic struggle against the undead. The fight was vicious, resulting in momentary paralysis for both Doc and Fhasys, and a nasty bite sent Doc over the edge... unconscious. Stiff as a board from the paralysis, he fell onto the ground motionless. Fhasys, in a surprisingly heroic surge of constitution, managed to free herself from the paralysis in the nick of time and landed a critical blow on the last remaining ghast--once again, saving the day.

Dugan arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, asked for the run-down on all the black ooze, helped Talos carry the stiffened body of Doc into the house, and walked with Fhasys down to the remains of the curio shoppe in search of healing potions. To their surprise, Matilda was still alive and cowering behind what was left of her counter! She hugged Dugan and thanked Fhasys profusely for the party's help in dispatching the ogre, and gave her a healing salve and poisoner's kit as thanks.

After a bit of healing, Doc awoke in a bed surrounded by friends and was filled-in as to what all he missed during his unconsciousness. Dugan informed the heroes that the townsfolk had all been gathered in what's left of the Golden Coin for food and drink, and he'd appreciate any effort they could muster in lifting their spirits. The heroes huddled and discussed their various talents.

Standing around a crude bonfire with a mob of disheveled, shell-shocked adults and children, the heroes put on a show... Doc set the stage with his pan-flute, but unfortunately he was still too weak to muster a steady breath. Talos stood up before the crowd, waved his blonde ponytail in the wind and assured them that everything will be okay. As the onlookers looked at each other with increasing confusion and wariness, Fhasys stepped it up with some acrobatics. All in all, the combination of hilariously bad entertainment and ale calmed their nerves and provided a welcome night's rest... for all but Fhasys.

In the middle of the night, Fhasys snapped out of a dream to find herself standing--weapons drawn--in front of one of the townsfolk who looked quite concerned. Apparently she'd been sleep walking with no recollection of what she was doing or why. Sheathing her rapier, the kind lady escorted Fhasys back to bed.

The town of Lehren smoldered throughout the night with nary a sound from beast or man, but for now things appear safe.

The Story Of Demetrius

Demetrius Ramses "Doc" Livingstone was born... somewhere. Nobody knows where, exactly, or if they do they aren't saying. Doc appeared in a basket on the doorstep of a seedy Quanlo orphanage some 50-odd years ago, and as he grew older his dwarven lineage became quickly apparent. Sadly, nobody wanted to adopt a dwarf and Doc spent his entire childhood at the mercy of the orphanage's cruel proprietor, Draven. The man was negligent at best, and downright abusive at worst. He barely fed the children and what little food they did get often consisted of cold gruel or week-old bread, hard as a rock. Consequently, Doc spent most of his formative years roaming the streets and alleys of Quanlo scrapping with other youths, picking pockets, and begging for coin & food to make life less miserable for his fellow orphans and himself.

By virtue of his dwarven strength, Doc quickly ascended the ranks of the street scrappers and established himself as a defacto leader amongst the street kids and orphans. Even though Doc wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he soon realized that his position as alpha dog was tenuous, especially as he grew older and started catching the attention of the local criminal underground. He realized he needed someone to watch his back, so he decided to ally himself with a fellow orphan who was also a long-time resident in his orphanage. This person, Peter, was a handsome young (human) boy who had suffered a rather pronounced facial disfigurement at the hands of some unknown fiend as an infant. The entire left side of his face was scarred and his left eye was a dead, unseeing, milky-white orb. Despite the circumstances of his upbringing and gruesome countenance, Peter was easily the happiest, most positive person Doc had in his life. Nothing could wipe the smile off his face, and he was always ready with a jest and a hearty laugh. Peter and Doc were around the same age, had been at the orphanage approximately the same amount of time, and thought of each other as brothers.

Peter was a devout follower of Apollo, and his unflappably positive attitude was infectious. He soon convinced Doc to abandon his scrapping, begging, and petty thievery in favor of earning his coppers through busking. Peter had managed to whittle himself a crude set of Pan pipes, which he would play while Doc told stories and sang poems for passers by. Several years went by and and the brothers did pretty well for themselves. They became fairly well-known and even talked of becoming bards and taking their show on the road. Draven, however, had other plans. Unbeknownst to Doc, Draven maintained several connections to Quanlo's criminal underworld and had been keeping a watchful eye on the young dwarf's development. One day, Peter was suddenly nowhere to be found. Doc looked everywhere in Quanlo that he knew his brother liked to go, but to no avail. Upon his return to the orphanage, Draven pulled Doc aside and informed him that he would now work for him, and that Peter would be held captive in some secret oubliette to ensure Doc's cooperation. Doc was furious, but had little choice in the matter as Draven made it abundantly clear that any insubordination would result in severe punishment... for Peter.

And so, Doc became Draven's unwilling thug, performing collections and torturing people as directed. Several times he balked at Draven's orders, but he kept his brother's crude Pan pipes as a constant reminder of his motivation and always did as he was told. One night on his way back from a particularly gruesome "collection", he overheard Draven speaking to someone through an open window. Doc stopped to listen and quickly realized they were talking about him, marveling at how effective he was as Draven's enforcer. The strange voice asked how Draven had managed to command such unquestioning loyalty from the dwarf, especially in light of the unsavory acts he was made to perform. Draven replied, "Simple. I took his brother 'hostage' and told him to comply or else his brother would pay the price. Luckily, he has no idea that I just killed the little bastard and dumped his body in the woods for the wolves!" Both voices laughed heartily as Doc's blood boiled. He thought of everything he done in the name of Peter's safety and flew into a rage. He kicked in the door to Draven's office and before anybody could react, he grabbed a letter opener from Draven's desk and flung it into the stranger's left eye before grabbing Draven and choking him so violently that he felt his neck snap under his grip.

Doc packed his meager possessions and fled Quanlo that very night, having recognized the stranger as the son of the local magistrate. He decided to spend his life as a living tribute to Peter and so became a paladin for his brother's god, Apollo. He vowed to live his life in opposition to those who would do evil and bring darkness, and to spread the goodness and light that was so abundant in Peter. Doc would live out his days honoring his fallen brother in all things.