Episode 28, "Stemming The Tide"

In the campaign finale, the heroes--accompanied by a small regiment of Iron Gate troops bolstered by the Red Hand (and Slabtown), the mages guild, the Lehren militia and a couple treants courtesy of Elmsea--fortify the canyon entrance to Quanlo. With the mages up high along the cliff face and the troops down below, the lot steels themselves against the onslaught crossbows readied.

As the wave of undead rolls in, the troops manage to cut down quite a few zombies and skeletons before the helmed horrors and blighted ogres arrive. Vyreth and Doc combine forces to hold court with their respective Gods, and they come to the conclusion that meddling in mortal affairs in this case is indeed warranted. The treants arrive and begin hucking boulders down upon the invading army, but the Gods have a better idea. Guided by the hand of fate, the boulders take on an almost comet-like golden sheen and magically redirect straight towards the oncoming dragon.

Despite the terrible odds, the defenders hold their ground; mages raining lightning and fire down upon the legions of undead. The battle rages all night long amidst a violent thunderstorm until Dralek closes in to strafe the entire ground force with his necrotic breath. Seeing the opportunity, the Quanlo mages ready cone of cold and await his arrival while the remaining troops stand ready with their crossbows.

In one attack, Dralek manages to decimate the ground troops by nearly a third and strips the life from Doc who got caught in the blast. The mages get ready to cast their spells when Talos banishes the foul beast to another plane... temporarily.

The defenders use the momentary opportunity to clean up the remaining undead forces before collectively setting their sights on the re-entry point. Sure enough, a portal pops open right where Dralek had been and the monster comes barreling through right into the oncoming fire of an army. The cold blast seizes up one of Dralek's wings and a volley of crossbow bolts embed themselves into his stomach like a pincushion, sending him careening down into the canyon cliff face.

Dralek struggles to get back on his feet but Doc, freshly revived and inspired by Apollo, charges the beast and cleaves its skull with his new Dragonslayer glaive. The dragon collapses to the ground as the remaining troops give a loud cheer. As the sun begins to rise, it illuminates the vast number of corpses littering the canyon entrance clear out past the trade road. The heroes breathe a sigh of relief and begin thinking about their new homes in Quanlo when Talos suffers a debilitating and horrific vision courtesy of Quar-Jezz't--the aboleth who has come to take payment for Talos' failure to follow through on a promise. The heroes gather around Talos trying to determine his state of well-being when he mutters a phrase in some ancient dialect: "...into the depths."

Left to sort out Talos' words and condition, the heroes begin the long, muddy walk back to Quanlo. Dralek is no more, and the realm has been saved from almost certain disaster.

- The End -

Episode 27, "Severing Ties"

The heroes resume their battle with Yzztlach and the vrocks...

With another series of blows, the demon smacks Fhasys down and knocks her unconscious. Doc attempts to plead with Yzztlach to call off the assault but he's having none of that... Things are looking pretty dire when a strange lone cloud of black smoke comes barreling in from the distance. The mages, upon noticing this aberration, know exactly what's coming their way and erect a pair of force walls to shield the party. As the cloud closes in, the heroes make out the black silhouette of a dragon! Behind the shelter of the force walls, the heroes watch as the black smoke cloud washes over Yzztlach causing rot and decay wherever it lands. Dralek's shade slams into Yzztlach, digging its claws into his shoulders and sending them both barreling into the petrified grove like a rogue pinball. The vrocks head back to the safety of their treetop nests while the dragon and demon fight to the death. In the wake of Dralek's entrance, the party stands around discussing options... Do they run for the portal? Use this opportunity to finish off Yzztlach and hope for Dralek's support? Or just wait and see how it all plays out?

Two of the Order mages sneak up to the melee to weigh the situation, and they urge the heroes to lay low for the time being. Doc, meanwhile, wanders off into the grove to the South in search of a shiny object that was sent flying when the two giants collided. He ends up finding Wishram's bauble, an amber glowing glass sphere, and stuffs it in his pack. Unfortunately, Jorun was keeping an eye on him and wanders over. The mage asks for the bauble so he may begin the ritual of releasing Wishram before Dralek returns his focus on them and Doc acquiesces. Jorun places the sphere atop a tree stump and begins the ritual while Faerun uses mage hand to pluck another bauble from the treetops to use as a decoy. A vrock, obviously not happy losing its bauble, follows the hand down the tree to the group below and attacks.

Doc manages to hold off the vrock while the ritual is performed, and Vyreth notices that his new scimitar is creating a magical stream of water slowly winding its way to the bauble. A strange urge to take the bauble begins to overtake his senses and he closes in, but by sheer will alone common sense prevails and he resists the almost overwhelming temptation.

Dralek polishes off Yzztlach, tearing his head from his body and holding it up to warn the heroes of what's to come. Faerun chucks the faux-bauble his way, but Dralek scoffs at the ruse and charges. Cracks begin forming in the glass bauble, rays of amber light beaming through the openings, as Jorun finishes the ritual. As Dralek plows his way through the grove toward the heroes, the bauble finally shatters releasing a swirling mist of amber that slowly coalesces around a gaunt, menacing figure wearing a fancy robe.

Wishram is free. He immediately takes Jorun's life as sacrifice for the ritual, then walks straight up to Dralek stopping him in his tracks. The dragon seems to know Wishram. The sorcerer welcomes Dralek as "his pet", infuriating the shadow dragon. Dralek sits up on his haunches and readies himself for a breath attack. Wishram casually extends his rotting arm, places his hand on the dragon's chest and utters one word... "Die." The dragon screeches out in pain as a wave of disintegration radiates out from where Wishram had touched leaving nothing but a pile of dark ash in its wake. Wishram, having upheld his end of the bargain, turns to face the heroes.

Wishram greets Talos and congratulates him in having grown into such an adept mage, and asks the heroes what business they have releasing him. The heroes explain the situation with Dralek, Wishram thanks them for releasing him (not a good thing) and urges their hasty departure. Having just been released from a century's slumber, Wishram is very very hungry...

The heroes gladly depart the Abyss and head back through the portal to the Underdark for a bit of R&R and conversation with the remaining Order mages. The heroes agree to protect the Order's secret of creating Dralek in exchange for not getting framed for his release and the mages make their way back to the tomb for further research, leaving the heroes to fend for themselves on their way back out of the mine.

The return trip is uneventful and eerily quiet; even the upper levels of the mine are completely silent save for the sounds of heavy rain and thunder from outside. Emerging from the mine, the heroes take in a frightening scene... It is night with a huge storm breaking overhead, and the intermittent flashes of lightning illuminate a large army of undead making their way across the desert toward Quanlo. Dralek is making his final attack.

Trace comes racing up the trade route and skids to a halt outside the mine. He implores the heroes to return to Quanlo as Dralek's army is at the gates. The heroes feel deja-vu, swearing they'd just killed Dralek, but shake it off and agree to return. When asked about Dralek, Trace says he'd been tracking the dragon for weeks when something happened causing it to suddenly fall from the sky as if injured. The heroes mention the battle in the Abyss but Trace doesn't understand the connection. He suggests meeting with Reeser at the guild to learn more.

Back in Quanlo, in the safety of the mages guild, the heroes press Reeser for payment and identification services in return for killing Dralek's shade. They discuss recent happenings in the Abyss managing to dodge most questions about what they found, and Reeser somberly advises the heroes to steel themselves for the final assault. Without his shade, Dralek is vulnerable and must be taken down. War is afoot.

Episode 26, "Along The Path Of Temptation"

Having defeated the invisible servant guarding the throne room door in the Tomb of Urzaan, the heroes inch up the stairway to listen-in. Their ears are keen this time, and they pick up a whole lot of useful information from three Order mages conversing on the other side. The Order has been closely guarding the secret of Dralek, the dracolich terrorizing the countryside, for over two centuries now and are scrambling to try and figure out how to handle him now that he's reclaimed his soul (thanks, Doc). They discuss the potential of framing the heroes for Dralek's rampage, and then toy with the idea of retrieving the soul of an old and powerful sorcerer from a demon on the Abyssal plane to begin the process of destroying the dragon itself when Fhasys decides to try and open the door. A trap triggers, zapping the rogue with a dose of lightning, and Vyreth dispels whatever magic might be lingering around the door itself.

The door-fiddling alerts the Order mages on the other side who steel themselves for a fight. Some words are exchanged through the door and finally, cautiously, the heroes file into the throne room to talk to the mages. Talos takes up the lead as ambassador for his party and speaks with the mages in Elven. In a strange turn of events, it turns out that the mages and Talos share a common goal--to find and destroy the sorcerer, Wishram's soul, for good. (Wishram is Talos' ex-master, now enslaved by the demon Yzztlach due to an unfortunate turn of events quite some time ago). Fhasys, once again, finds the general high-and-mighty attitude of the Elven mages to be abnoxious as best and she tries to stir the pot a bit... But, cooler heads prevail. They discuss the varied dangers of the Abyssal plane for a bit and then make their way back to the portal room.

The new group teleport to the Abyssal plane, a dark and foreboding landscape, and immediately spot their destination--a softly illuminated grove of twisted, petrified trees perched on the ledge of the humongous floating chunk of rock on which they stand. Along the way, each hero stumbles upon a rare magical item placed conspicuously in plain-view, clean and sparkling as if fresh out of the shop. Sendil, the head of the mage trio, points out that Yzztlach is a galbrezu--a demon who feeds off of tempting mortals into their own destruction. Despite cautions aired by the Order mages, the heroes snatch-up their new trinkets and store them for future identification.

As the heroes near the grove, a cacophony of screeching and squawking fills their ears. Dozens of strange, black silhouettes dangle and perch among the branches of the grove; some seeming hybrid of monkeys and giant vultures. The soft glow spotted from the portal door also comes into focus, revealing large glowing baubles hanging from the tree limbs here and there. While the heroes contemplate a surprise attack, the mages caution to keep a cooler head as they have a history in dealing with Yzztlach that they do not want to tarnish. The heroes acquiesce and the lot moves into the grove.

The vrocks in the trees above seemingly pay no notice to the passers-by as they travel through an archway made of petrified branches toward the sounds of a woman pleading for help on the other side. Once they clear the grove, the party arrives at a rocky ledge overlooking an abyss and another floating hunk of rock some 20' out on which stands a solitary, bedraggled woman. Vyreth immediately recognizes the woman as Varishna, his lost love, and teleports over to the rock for a teary and happy reunion. With their final prize accepted, the demon Yzztlach makes an appearance.

Sendil and the Order mages fire an opening volley of respect and reverence to the demon, but things quickly start coming off the rails when he suggests that they must sacrifice both Wishram's soul AND Varishna to Dralek's shade in order to defeat him. The mages had assumed only the soul was necessary, but begrudgingly accept the new marching orders. The heroes, on the other hand, start to question this entire scenario from the ground-up. As they debate, Doc asks what they need to do for the bauble around Yzztlach's neck and the demon asks for a "sacrifice" from each group. When asked to clarify, the demon dances around the subject--clearly believing himself to be in the position of power. Faerun decides to volunteer herself for the exchange and steps toward the abyss willingly, but amidst the debate within the hero circle Talos looses a lightning bolt squarely at Yzztlach. Combat ensues.

Faerun, realizing the gravity of the situation at-hand, pleads with the heroes to stop their attack while Sendil and Jorun (the other two mages) argue about making a move vs. surrendering on the spot. The demon sprouts wings and flies into the middle of the group, then proceeds to casually grapple and pummel Talos into unconsciousness. Not a good sign. The others take notice and begin to worry that perhaps they're in over their heads. Still, the attacks from the party continue. Fhasys decides to make a persuasive attempt to convince the mages to side with them, and does so successfully. With their new-found confidence, the mages loose a fireball and volley of magic missiles at Yzztlach with little effect. A small flock of vrocks begins to form above the petrified grove and several swoop in using their terrifying screeches to stun... everyone. Vyreth rushes over to Talos' aid as the vrocks begin lashing out with their beaks and claws. A heavy feeling of dread descends upon the party as Sendil prepares for his next attack.

Episode 25, "Out On A Limb"

After a harrowing affair with a mind flayer and its intellect devouring associate, the heroes decide what to do next... Doc and Talos study the scimitar dropped by the flayer and, after identifying it, reveal it to be the Scimitar of the Primordial--a perpetually condensing magical scimitar that expands one's extra-sensory receptivity, making the wielder both more in-tune and vulnerable to his or her surroundings on an intuitive level. It also deals 1d6 psychic damage and has pretty underwater flora designs etched into the sides of the notched blade. Score!

Fhasys, mostly ignored up until this point, gets some ad-hoc treatment by the party's very own druid. He gives her a firm slapping (to no avail), tries yelling at her and shaking her, and finally lays down the law with Dispel Magic... but nothing seems to snap the rouge out of her vegetative state. Worry sets in. Finally, the heroes decide to barricade themselves in the feeding chamber and see what a long rest does for her brain. It helps. A bit.

Fhasys awakens suddenly capable of abstract thought and communication, but still nowhere near as sharp as she used to be. Frustrating. The mob gathers their stuff and makes their way south through a tunnel that seems to be carrying a bit of a draft. The heroes soon emerge from the tunnel on to a ledge jutting out from the side of a canyon wall deeper in the Underdark and find themselves feeling alarmingly exposed. The darkness of the canyon extends above and below and outward in all directions save (again) for the scattered bio-luminescent fungi cluster dotting the canyon walls. While the ledge on which they sand had long since crumbled into the abyss below to their right, it continues some distance to their left toward a descending stairway. Fhasys and Talos toss ball bearings about hoping to learn more about their surroundings but only discover another ledge below. Steeling their resolve and readying their weapons, the heroes slowly and stealthily make their way across.

Halfway to the stairway, Fhasys gets a weird feeling and catches some strange activity overhead. It would appear some thing or things are hovering just outside the visible boundary cast by the lit braziers along the walkway. She throws another ball bearing up toward the movement and receives only a strange, disembodied moan in response. Shrugging it off, the party continues on.

They begin descending the staircase and make it roughly halfway down the 300-odd step switchback when the "things" from the darkness above begin their slow descent. Two large manta ray looking creatures with grotesque fleshless skulls for faces swoop down upon the exposed party: The first of which emits a deep, bone-chilling moan that sends all but Vyreth running for their lives and then mirror images itself into 3 copies. The second cloaker slams into Vyreth, grabbing on to his shoulder with its teeth and wrapping around his body like a thick leathery blanket. Four darkmantles piggyback on to the opportunity and come crashing down from the ceiling above; one manages to lodge itself firmly on Vyreth's head, beginning the process of suffocation, while the rest slam harmlessly onto the staircase. Blind and choking, Vyreth struggles to stay on his feet and decides to shape shift into a bear with hopes of breaking free.

Vyreth, now in his bear form, thrashes about wildly dislodging both of his passengers for a moment of freedom but is once again overwhelmed by the cloakers and darkmantles. His compatriots, once Fear has worn off, suddenly come to at the bottom of the staircase wondering where the hell Vyreth is. They look back and see a pile of cloakers and assume the worst. A bolt from Fhasys kills one of the cloakers, sending it sloughing off the stairway and into the abyss. Talos blasts the second cloaker with a lightning bolt, immediately disintegrating it and revealing Vyreth's now unconscious form: A slimy, ooze-covered and matted bear with two darkmantles still attached and constricting him. Doc takes a valiant swing with his glaive but loses his grip mid-swing sending the weapon spinning away into the darkness. Ultimately, they free Vyreth from his hosts and manage to bring him back from the brink.

At the bottom of the staircase, the heroes discover another ledge leading to a doorway with a solid black stone door. Not wanting to risk anything more, Vyreth casts Dispel Magic to pop the lock and disarm the trap, and the lot shoves their way inside... anxious to get out of the Underdark. Inside, they find a portal room, complete with hand-drawn pentagram and various scattered objects. The lot shuts the stone door behind them and prepares to do a lot of thinking...

Talos does some poking around using his arcane knowledge and comes to the conclusion that some combination of trinkets and/or other gestures/sounds will open the portal. Vyreth and Doc search around but find little else other than what was already mentioned. Fhasys ponders for a moment and decides to just start trying combinations while the others think some more. Her first couple attempts temporarily open the portal but aren't lasting enough for travel. Her third attempt creates a magical concussive feedback blast blowing everyone against the walls. Ouch. She regroups and tries again. A second feedblack blast knocks out everyone but Fhasys, so she decides to use the opportunity to take a nap. The rest of the party awakens an hour or so later and resumes their investigation.

Fate eventually blesses the group with insight and breaks them free of the bondage of collective amnesia. Fhasys reminds Talos of the rubbing taken back in the abandoned room at the mages guild; the prose that read, "Ruby soul of heartless glass, callous, cruel, and treacherous past." Using this clue, they decide on some objects and place them in the center of the pentagram. However, the portal activates and flickers out once more. Vyreth, out of the corner of his eye, catches a piece of paper fall from Talos' bag (fate, again); on it, a note simply reading "Dralek". Using the same objects as before, plus uttering the dragon's  name, blows open the portal and the lot make their way through.

Fhasys, being the first to make it through, scans the new area and recognizes it as being the portal room in the tomb of Urzaan! Small town. The heroes wind their way back through the tunnel, across the underground stream, and are met with the blunt-force trauma of another invisible stalker's fists. Combat ensues. The heroes take turns running up to the front of the line and unleashing their attacks in the general direction of the stairway ahead and, after a pretty significant beating, manage to destroy the servant. Exhausted and bruised, they take a moment to heal and drink some water before continuing up the stairway toward the (now) closed wooden door to the throne room.

Episode 24, "Hunting the Order"

Just as the heroes dust themselves off from the long fall into the Underdark, the ground beneath their feet erupts into an explosion of dirt, mycelium, bones and detritus. Some nasty creature (otyugh), awakened by the visitors' arrival, lashes out with huge brown spiked tentacles and a gaping maw of dagger-like teeth. The heroes manage to slay the creature handily, only to be attacked again by a small horde of phase spiders. Wave upon wave of the blue metallic insects wink in and out of existence as they advance on the newcomers atop fungi hill. A sense of impending doom engulfs the party as they ready their swords for the onslaught.

The spiders have no problem phasing their way through the deadly mix of giant mushrooms littering the dirt mound but the heroes find it a tad more difficult to navigate. A spell and an errant bolt from Fhasys' crossbow detonate a couple gas spores sending a cloud of toxic gas in all directions. During the melee, Vyreth gets poisoned by spiders so badly that he collapses to the ground and gets dragged-off causing much concern. Fhasys manages to track Vyreth as he gets dragged down the hill and luckily keeps him from being cocooned. The battle rages for what seems like hours until finally the last of the spiders crumples. The heroes, at this point barely clinging on to life, manage to orchestrate a heal-fest using their remaining potions and spells and take inventory of their surroundings once again.

The area surrounding the mound on which they stand lay shrouded in darkness; a seemingly endless expanse of unknown. Fhasys looses a fiery bolt in each of the four cardinal directions in an attempt to feel out the dimensions of their cavern. Sure enough, with a thud and a steamy hiss, each bolt lodges into a far wall covered in lichen and spider silk. The cavern, however, is too damp to foster a cleansing wildfire and the bolts quickly extinguish. The light from the bolts suggests a large cavern some 500' in diameter, crudely carved from the dirt and lined with spider webbing. At the junction of the floor and walls on all sides of the cave sit clusters of shiny spider eggs. They've fallen right into a spider nest! A couple tunnels are spotted as well, but the heroes decide to risk a much-needed long rest before making their way down the hill.

Their rest, of course, is interrupted by several more phase spiders and combat ensues. On their second attempt at extending a short rest, they manage to get some R&R in the dark quiet of the cavern. The heroes turn their attention to the tunnels and set to exploring. A handful of resting spiders guarding cocooned prey are discovered at the end of several winding tunnels, and Fhasys cuts open the cocoons only to find decayed miner bits. Talos has a bright idea and animates the corpses to be used as probes, but they're quickly torn to shreds upon discovering the next cluster of spiders. After a short while of exploring, a cry for help comes echoing through the labyrinth. The party pensively decides to investigate.

With Fhasys in the lead, the heroes attempt to stealth to the best of their ability but Doc's squeaky metal armor gives away their location. They soon arrive at a crossroads of sorts with a dead robed Order mage lying on the tunnel floor just beyond a large opening into some sort of room. Assuming she's stealthed, Fhasys pokes her head around the corner and is spotted by the room's occupants--one humanoid figure clad in a dark leather trench coat with a purple octopus-like head and one raised miner corpse standing idle, swaying slowly by the entrance. The mind flayer, sensing Fhasys' arrival, cassts mind blast and then planeshifts out of existence. Fhasys, partially stunned by the blast, slumps against the dirt cavern wall as the raised miner slowly shuffles toward her. The mind blast, having reduced Fhasys to zero intelligence, creates an opening for the intellect devourer using the miner as a host. The miner grabs on to Fhasys' shoulders, opens its mouth and issues forth a blackened fog from its mouth engulfing her head.

Unfortunately (or, perhaps fortunately), the rest of the party--having filed neatly behind Fhasys--doesn't really know what's happening at this point. They call out her name but she doesn't respond, standing slumped against the entrance to the room motionless. The heroes rush in to investigate and immediately cut-down the miner locked in some sort of "moment" with Fhasys. The rogue, released from the intellect devourer's attempt at brain theft, collapses on to the tunnel floor and stares blankly out into space seemingly unresponsive. The corpse of the now slain miner lies still for a moment, then its head splits open gushing ichor all over the ground. Its brain, apparently having sprouted legs, claws its way free of the confines of the skull and dies. Meanwhile, the mind flayer planeshifts back into existence and snares Vyreth into a strangle-hold. The heroes attempt to wrap their minds around all that's transpired while the flayer goes to work on Vyreth's skull with some ancient, serrated blade. As the cold metal cuts through his skin, Vyreth stands paralyzed and helpless. As the party gets ready to assault the mindflayer, it suddenly drops its weapon and vanishes. Talos finds himself once again overcome by a familiar voice and imagery as the aboleth Quar-Jezz't reaches out through the Underdark using telepathy. The aboleth kindly reminds Talos to follow-through with their original bargain made in the Embershale mine, or next time they won't be so lucky.

Talos comes to to a grisly scene... Vyreth lay on the ground, scalp bleeding profusely from an attempted brain extraction. Fhasys sits slumped against the tunnel wall apparently incapable of rational thought. And the dead, four-legged brain of an ex-miner lay in a puddle of ooze at the entrance to what appears to be the food storage room of the phase spider den. Those heroes still capable of evaluating the situation at hand all agree... Shit just went from bad to worse. And, they haven't even found the Order mages yet.

Episode 23, "A Long Way Down"

With the dragon's departure under the cover of night, Trace hastily hopped on his horse and gave chase leaving the heroes with Malik and Reeser in the mages guild courtyard amongst the rubble. Talos and Vyreth went to work searching for victims in the debris, Fhasys wandered down to the Lonesome Lodestone to lighten the pockets of an unsuspecting drunk, and Doc turned in for the night.

In a surprising stroke of luck, Talos and Vyreth managed to find an older mage barely clinging on to life, buried under the debris. The man, in a delusional state, mumbled something about the Thanon mine--the next destination for the party--and Vyreth popped a health potion to bring him back to life. Turns out the man had been with the Order for some time as an apprentice and he divulged some juicy secrets in exchange for saving his life. Unfortunately, the depth of his secrets were limited to only what he knew of the Order during his brief stay: that they were a very old cult of sorts who came about during Quanlo's founding as architects of the stability of the realm. Back in the day, the realm was a crazy, chaotic, magical place and someone had to pull strings so everyone got along. According to this ex-member, the Order was no stranger to resorting to unscrupulous tactics when the situation warranted. After saving the mage, Talos rented the finest room in the shittiest inn in town while Vyreth made his way to the fanciest for a bit of music and R&R.

Upon arriving at the Lonesome Lodestone, Fhasys discovered a few late-night stragglers at the bar and decided to prey upon a dashing, albeit completely hammered man who clearly was down on his luck. In the lady department anyway. Turns out he'd just won a small fortune at an archery contest and was in the process of blowing it all at the bar. Fhasys turned on her charm which, while fiery, didn't seem straightforward enough to get through the man's inebriated conscious. They had a glass of wine, the man bought Fhasys a room at the inn, and she suggested maybe they go back to his place instead. What ensued was an awkward attempt at seducing a terribly drunk man who was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. Frustrated, she decided to try and sneak up behind him to brain him with her crowbar... but the floor squeaked. Her next plan involved taking him to bed and suggesting she tie him up for fun. This spooked the man nearly sober, and realizing that her new-found loot might be in jeopardy she went ahead and clobbered him right where he lay. Fhasys left a sweet note behind and made off with his gems... Poor sod. On her way out, she also realized that the bartender had seen them together and would likely hear the story of his night fairly soon thereafter.

Vyreth arrived to the Lodestone shortly after Fhasys and the drunkard left. He pulled up a front-row seat to the bard, ordered a phat meal and passed out.

The next morning, the heroes and Malik headed out of Quanlo to the Thanon mine to see what this "strange discovery" was all about. They arrived to a puzzling scene--a group of guards huddled around a slave wagon to the east side of the quarry and a sole horse tied up outside the admin building to the west. Fearing the guards were awaiting their arrival, perhaps an Order ambush, they discussed options. But in the end, Doc managed to convince everyone just to be straightforward and approach them like nothing was wrong. One of the veteran guards got off his ass to greet the party, Vyreth and he traded barbs about the slave trade, and seeing no threat to his slave caravan the guard returned to his crew.

The heroes then turned their attention toward the admin house where they found Bruenor and a slave merchant named Clifford engaged in a rather testy exchange. Cliff was trying to (again) off-load women slaves and Bruenor was having none of it. Vyreth cut-in and asked about Varishna, his lost love, but Cliff had no recollection of any blonde slaves in his possession. Cliff also stressed that he only dealt in "volume" trades, but he'd ask his employer about it next time they met. They also managed to score a map of the mine from Bruenor, just before a whole lot of screaming happened outside.

Emerging from the ad-house, the heroes discovered a lone hill giant had descended upon the slavers and was trying to pop the lid of the cage like a Pez dispenser. For a moment, the party thought maybe they'd just let the giant and the guards sort things out... but then the true form of "good" alignment won them over and they engaged the brute. Combat ensued and the heroes quickly dispatched the oaf leaving the slaver caravan a couple guards shy of their original number.

Turning toward the mine, the heroes made quick work of the upper-levels (thanks to the map) and soon arrived at the "discovery"--a collapsed section of tunnel floor that dropped down into an abyss of a cavern shrouded in darkness. A faint greenish glow could be seen far below, likely some sort of ground cover, and they went to work trying to figure out how to get down there. Malik, perhaps being the only sane person in the group, decided he'd let the adventurers do their thing and head back to the guild for lunch.

Fhasys grabbed a crampon and began pounding it into the rocky tunnel floor while Vyreth worked on tying three 50' ropes together. Neither of them did a stellar job, but it seemed to have worked out. Talos, meanwhile, handed Doc his fine shirt of feather-falling and cast flight on himself. Vyreth took the lead climbing down the rope with Fhasys above him (good thing she wears pants) while the mage and paladin floated daintily down beside them. Once through the hole in the floor, it became obvious rather quickly that the heroes had once again found access to the Underdark. Gritting their teeth and trying to stave off memories of adventures past, they continued their descent.

About 40' down, Vyreth's hands slipped sending him plummeting to the cavern floor below. The druid fell a good 80' before plowing into a thick layer of gigantic, bio-luminescent fungi. What sounded like multiple air raid sirens began sounding all around him (shriekers), filling the cavern with a raucous noise so loud he couldn't hear Fhasys shouting down at him from above. He'd also apparently crushed several poisonous 'shrooms as a thick, greenish spore cloud began to settle all around him making him feel rather sick. Stunned and disoriented, Vyreth watched another similarly amusing scene unfold above him on the rope.

Several darkmantles bombed the trio from the cavern ceiling, two attaching themselves to Talos and engulfing his head in slimy darkness and a third which barreled down straight for Vyreth. Talos managed to keep his elven cool and stayed suspended despite his new-found friends, and used repeated chill-touch attempts to freeze-dry the squid. Doc, being in perpetual motion, quickly fell out of range toward the mushroom patch below. As talos struggled with the darkmantles, Fhasys was similarly accosted by one of her own. She tried to keep climbing down but, in a fit of rage, lashed out with her rapier and accidentally severed her own rope sending her plummeting down toward Vyreth.

Talos finally managed to shatter the squid on his head, just in time to see Fhasys falling to the cavern floor and Doc landing gingerly atop one of the gigantic spore caps like a ballerina. Vyreth, finally coming to, realized there was a squid heading for his own face and reflexively cast mirror-image, splitting his visage into 4. The darkmantle plowed through one of his illusions, smashing into the dirt and injuring it. Doc took the opportunity to cleave it with his glaive. Talos finally descended to ground-floor amidst the incessant shrieking, Fhasys got up and dusted herself off, and the heroes looked around apprehensively wondering what in the hell they'd just gotten themselves into. The hole through which they'd entered seemed now like a distant star in a dark night sky.

Welcome back to the Underdark.

Episode 22, "Uncovering the Past"

The heroes filed into the grand dining hall of the Quanlo mages guild and sat around a huge, ornately carved wooden table. On one end sat Reeser Cloudlake, headmaster of the guild; at the other, one Malik Everborne, guild historian and archivist. Trace joined the party for the feast as did a couple other apprentice mages who were there overseeing the entire dinner affair.

Upon Reeser's request, the heroes recounted whatever stories they could summon from their recent travels involving anything odd or supernatural in order to bring Malik up to speed. Beginning back in Lehren, they described the Embershale mine and the breach to the Underdark, the encounter with the aboleth, Quar Jezz't, the blighted ogre who--after rampaging through town--died and gave rise to ghasts amidst a pool of black ichor, various sightings involving the massive undead black dragon, the tomb of Urzaan and its strange illusory bubble, and the recent undead onslaught thought to have originated from a nearby lumber camp.

Malik listened to the historical recounts with intense fascination, and finally he and Reeser offered their own findings as the food finally arrived to the table: a handful of missing mages, a potential connection between the "eye" amulet found in the tomb and a rough sketch of some mages made during the early days of Quanlo, and another sketch of a dragon flying high above the countryside--again, created during the founding days of the city. Neither Malik nor Reeser found any direct mention of any sort of organization or cult revolving around the amulet's sigil, but Malik suggested a possible connection between the portal found in the tomb and another bizarre discovery in the Thanon mines.

While Malik and Reeser contemplated all of the disparate stories and goings-on, Vyreth and Malik suddenly and intensely took ill. Someone(s) had poisoned the food! Vyreth struggled to hold it together at the table but soon collapsed at the table. Malik, turning ghostly pale and weak, began to hemorrhage blood from his eyes and nose. Fhasys was first to notice the signs and alerted Reeser, who immediately called for a guild-wide lock down until they could sort out what was going on. The dwarven cooking crew was filed out of the kitchen and questioned by the guards while Doc set to work healing Malik and Vyreth. Once the chaos of the poisoning subsided, Reeser suggested the heroes search the vacant rooms for clues and then head to the Thanon mine with Malik to investigate whatever was discovered.

While searching the mage quarters, Talos discovered recently used ink and paper, took a coal rubbing, and a strange rhyme--written in Abyssal--emerged: "Ruby soul of heartless glass, callous, cruel, and treacherous past." Based on the language alone, the party assumed it had something to do with the tomb and the dragon as well... Collecting their things (and helping Malik to his feet, exhausted from the poisoning), the heroes left the guild for the Thanon mine.

Episode 21, "Homecoming"

The heroes turn back toward the forest path to the South leaving Lake Sera, Peter, Elmsea, and Zizzle in their rearviews... Despite having discovered the "true" nature of Peter and Elmsea's love, most of the adventurers feel a twinge of regret for not staying behind and allowing themselves to become swept up in the magic of the dryad's glade. Ignorance, in this case, could certainly have spelled bliss. Doc is, perhaps, the most troubled as he is voluntarily leaving his childhood friend behind to a lifetime of being charmed by a fey. But, having tried on several occasions to snap Peter out of it, his friend simply saw nothing wrong with his situation in the glade and opted to stay put.

Returning to the riverside campsite from the night prior, the party discusses what to do next. Some express concern about treking it all the way back through the dense, hostile jungle and suggest a lengthy detour through the grasslands and up past Lehren to the West. Vyreth expresses his concern over his village and the state of the women who were stolen some time ago. He'd like to either go to Veir to find this "Gandrin" person (see previous journal notes) or to the Thanon mines to give Bruenor a talking-to. The crew eventually agrees to trudge forward along the forest path as it's the quickest way back to town.

Upon their return to the abandoned lumber camp, under the cover of darkness, the heroes encounter a small group of Iron Gate guards camping in the clearing. Relieved that they're no longer alone in the woods, the two groups come together for a fine night of drinking, banter, and story-telling. As the guards start to nod off, a strange visitor appears out of nowhere asking if anyone had bothered clearing the barracks (nope). It was a rhetorical question. The stranger's name is Trace, an elven ranger of some repute whose face everyone recognizes from the Ruins of Enra (see doppleganger). Once disbelief wears off, Fhasys finds her heart a'twittering once more for the shady character and they wander off for a late night chat. Fhasys, being the sharp cookie she is, discovers that Trace is in fact her long-lost father... The so-called "psycho" that her mother, Sybil, had driven away before giving birth.

While Fhasys and Trace caught up on history, the forest edge nearest the Gate campsite begins to warp and twist violently, eventually spewing forth two humanoid tangled masses of vine and leaf who charge the camp. Combat ensues.

The strange creatures turn out to be quite tough, and one manages to grapple and squish two of the Gate guards! Vyreth tries his hand at lightning, but to everyone's surprise what's expected to damage the creatures only ends up healing them. Doc valiantly puts himself between one of the shambling mounds and Fhasys/Trace, and he takes a solid beating for it. Finally, with no more of the guards remaining, the heroes triumph. Clearly sick and tired of the forest at this point, the group high-tails it out of the forest and back to Quanlo.

Returning to the Mages guild, Talos seeks out Reeser to discuss the situation in Lehren (sealing the mine) and whatever Reeser has managed to discover about the dragon, the tomb, and the strange "eye" medallions he'd found. Reeser presents a mixed-bag of results, but says there's much to discuss and offers to gather everyone over dinner at the guild hall.

For the next two hours or so, Fhasys finds a guild enchanter who charges way more than she can afford (always frustrating), Vyreth finds a potion store and stocks up, Talos spends some time in the guild library and Doc takes a nap.

Dinner time finally arrives and the heroes are greeted by Reeser once more, to be lead to the great dining hall where much will be divulged.

Episode 20, "Love Entwined"

Feeling rested, the heroes trudge their way up-river to investigate the golden shimmering lake Serah. With absolutely idyllic ambient air temperatures, humidity, lighting, flora, fauna, and water quality, the lake and its surroundings immediately lulls the party into heavenly daze. Doc finds himself strangely alone in the group being the only one even remotely curious about the middle-aged man tending some flowers near a shack at the far side of the lake and goes to investigate. Meanwhile, Doc's comrades excitedly strip down to their skivvies and take a dip in the magical lake.

In a stunning turn of events, Doc discovers that the gardener is none other than Peter! His long-lost friend since believed to have been executed at the hands of Draven and Slabtown some time ago. Peter seems happy as can be, surrounded by nature and kept company by a wide assortment of bunnies, deer, birds, and other assorted forest animals. Peter is equally shocked at Doc's sudden arrival and invites the lot over for an early dinner.

While swimming in the lake, Vyreth gets hit by the desire to swim all the way out to the center where a large, ancient knotted tree sits idly bye atop a small, lush island. Once at the island, realizing there's nothing special to see here, Vyreth joins the rest of the non-Doc crew in a nice afternoon nap and wakes up after an hour or so lying on his back with a beautiful dryad standing over him smiling. The dryad introduces herself as Elmsea but gives Vyreth fairly little in the way of useful information. He begins swimming back to shore as Peter beckons everyone inside for linner and, to his surprise, the dryad walks the entire way beside him, on top of the water.

The lot sit down for some tasty home-cooked food inside Peter's cabin and the conversation turns serious... For Doc, anyhow. Doc starts digging into the nature of Peter's liberation from Slabtown (which Peter seems to have forgotten all about) as well as his "love" for Elmsea and Peter acts blissfully ignorant. According to Peter, he was out for a stroll in the forest and that's where he met Elmsea, the love of his life. Plain and simple. Fhasys seems more than happy for Peter and Elmsea and comes down somewhat harshly on Doc for questioning the whole thing. The others sit by quietly and focus on their food.

Finally, Doc hits his tolerance for delusion, brandishes his golden Apollo medallion and uses his powers to try and dispell the fey's influence over his friend. Elmsea quickly backs away from the table and leaves cursing Peter's friends under her breath. As they continue their debate as to the true nature of love everlasting, the ground begins to tremble. Heading outside to see about the commotion, Doc finds himself standing alone with Peter facing a gigantic treant slowly pushing its way across the lake toward the cabin. Elmsea chews out Doc for disturbing their love and questioning things, and suggests they return to the safety of the cabin before things get "out of hand". Doc acquiesces. Oddly, the trio return to the cabin to find the table empty and Doc's friends nowhere in sight.

The rest of the party (actually) wakes up at the river campsite in the middle of the afternoon sun wondering where the hell Doc got off to. Assuming that he already made is way to the lake, the stragglers begin the 3 hour walk. Upon arriving at the lake, they once again witness the magical scene before them. This time, however, Vyreth has his wits about him enough to reflexively cast dispel magic--cutting a 120' sphere out of the illusion surrounding them and pissing off the forest spirits deeply. In the wake of his spell, all of his mates also vanish from sight! Vyreth stands dumbfounded for a moment until Doc comes running out of the cabin to meet him.

Comparing notes, Doc and Vyreth sense that something's not right here despite Peter and Elmsea's continual gushing about love everlasting. Doc gives Peter more than enough chances to free himself of Elmsea's spell, including brandishing the pan pipes they'd shared as children, but Peter is too heavily influenced to leave voluntarily. Elmsea, furious at this point, urges the lot to leave them be in peace. Doc and Vyreth seriously consider the offer...

Fhasys, Talos and Bigzid wake up once more staring at the late-afternoon sun some ways up river, but not quite at the lake, wondering what the hell is going on. They'd just been heading North to find Doc when they blacked out and now Vyreth is gone as well! Continuing their walk, the entire party reunites just South of lake Serah to compare notes and share minds-blown. Apparently, the magic of an adept dryad proved too much for the wits of the party. Quite a day. Doc leaves the lake with mixed feelings, on one hand wishing Peter was more reality-focused and sober, but on the other simply happy to know that Peter is alive and well.

The heroes turn their attention back to Quanlo.

Episode 19, "A Willing Sacrifice"

The ruins of Enra proved a colossal disappointment for the heroes, especially for Talos who for once felt like he'd found his higher purpose. As the hideous, black, winged vulture-like creature summoned by the acolytes of Enra made its way through the newly formed rift, Fhasys looked around nervously for support and decided picking off the chanting acolytes one by one would be the best plan of action. The acolytes at first proved to be quite squishy targets, but once a couple had fallen the rest turned their attention toward the crossbow wielding rogue. Meanwhile, back at the stone platform, Vyreth had a stroke of genius and dispelled the curse holding Talos' mind hostage. As the curse's effects fell away, Talos took in the "true" scene around him. The creature eventually found its way through the rift, unfurled its huge black wings and took to the sky with a loud shriek... clearly upset about losing its prey to reality. The creature kicked up a vile cloud of toxic spores as its opening move, rendering Talos and Doc violently ill. Staving off waves of nausea and struggling to stay on his feet, Talos focused on the task at hand and started slinging spells. Unfortunately, after a few rounds Talos was overcome by sickness and collapsed into the demon's arms. The remaining heroes managed to dispatch the doppleganger, acolytes, and demon after an intense fight and regrouped to lick their wounds. Fhasys, getting a boost from Doc, took a moment to peer into the now closing portal and saw a bleak wasteland littered with twisted dead trees home to many more creatures like the one who tried to eat Talos. She (wisely) decided against jumping through.

Deciding to attempt a long rest in the heart of the forest, the party dug in for the night. During the last half of their slumber, a marauding troll exploded through the surrounding thicket and attacked. The heroes had had enough with the ruins and decided to head back toward the shimmering lake they'd passed by earlier. They stood around for a moment trying to get their bearings, found the path they'd arrived on, and began their return trip.

Soon, they arrived at the river leading north to the lake and again decided to pitch camp, hoping to recoup that final 4 hours the troll had so rudely stolen the night before. Once again, they were ambushed in the night... this time by another pair of displacer beasts. One beast tried to get the jump on Fhasys but couldn't manage to beat her keen senses. The other came from the forest to the north and handily pounced on Vyreth, digging its claws into his back. Combat ensued.

Once the fight had ended, the heroes came to the realization that the Ragneron forest wasn't a cozy place to camp. They gathered their gear and prepared for the trek upstream.

Episode 18, "Connecting the Dots"

After the massive undead onslaught was beaten back outside the Quanlo city walls, the heroes spent a few minutes poking around the bodies for anything interesting. Quite a number of the slain undead were wearing forest worker outfits, and the party immediately made the connection between this and the rumors of a missing lumber shipment they'd overheard during their first night in Quanlo. They then slipped back inside the city gates for a little R&R and shopping as the Iron Gate cleaned up the aftermath while Reeser set to the task of assembling a crew to ward the Embershale mine and investigate the dragon-tomb-scepter connection.

The heroes stood around for a bit fussing over a strange ceramic jug that Doc had picked up in the Tomb of Urzaan that had yet to be identified. Despite feeling like it was empty, shaking the jug produced sloshing noises as if full of liquid. Popping the cork released a very strong stench of vinegar, and Fhasys once again volunteered to be a guinea pig by taking a sip; sure enough, vinegar, Still somewhat confused by this jug, Doc decided he'd wander around the Quanlo bazaar in search of a shopkeeper who might know more about the object. Talos followed suit and set out to see if he could find any unusual items in the bazaar for procurement while Fhasys scouted for crossbows and armor.

Doc had all but decided his search to be fruitless when an old lady at an herbalist stand called out to him. The shop keeper seemed very curious about his jug but was unable to glean any specifics from Doc in terms of where exactly he'd found it or the circumstances revolving around its procurement. She did volunteer some basic information about it, saying that the liquid contents changed every day, but did not know exactly which liquids this particular jug could contain. Mostly satisfied, Doc left the shop and noticed a cloud of billowing smoke filling the sky at the far end of the bazaar.

Talos had discovered a high-end clothing shop sporting oodles of finely crafted shirts and pants, one of which seemed to radiate magical energy. After snubbing his Elven nose at the shop keep on his way in, he immediately found himself on the short end of the stick when it came to bargaining. This particular shirt was far too expensive for his liking, so he decided to pay Fhasys to steal it for him.

Fhasys cased the shop and decided a distraction was necessary to sneak inside. Slipping into the shadows between the shop and one adjacent to it, she dribbled a trail of oil on the grass and lit it on fire. As the townsfolk began to panic and call the guards to help with the fire, she managed to slip inside the shop and steal the shirt. On the way out, however, a guard spotted her and gave chase. Doc arrived on the scene just as the two took off running. Fhasys ducked inside another clothing shop and ran into the owner, who asked what she was running from. Claiming some form of physical abuse by the pursuant guard, the shop owner felt overcome with compassion and hid Fhasys in her basement shelter. The guard got a talking-to by the owner for his inappropriate behavior and Fhasys was let out once he left.

Thanking Fhasys for her hard work, the trio decided to call it a night and turned-in. During the night, Talos was again plagued with dreams about the Ruins of Enra and woke up seriously compelled to begin the journey. Comparing notes, the heroes decided to head down into the Ragneron forest to scope out the lumber camp situation, see if they can locate Doc's friend Peter, and to hit up the ruins once and for all so Doc and Talos can get over their compulsions.

After an uneventful half-day walk, the crew found the lumber camp completely deserted. Doc and Fhasys poked around two smaller administrative buildings discovering a business log (last entry from several days prior) and some human footprints heading out and into the nearby forest. Talos, spotting a large barracks type structure at the far end of the camp, suggested they investigate. Several lumber worker corpses lay strewn about the entrance to the barracks, covered in green acidic slime. The entire front of the building had also been coated in a layer of this slime, suggesting that their favorite dragon had likely paid a visit. Poking her head inside, Fhasys heard multiple sources of guttural breathing, saw a figure standing in the corner of the main room repeatedly bumping into the wall, and decided it'd be best to leave the place as-is. Clearly, the barracks had been infested with undead.

Turning their attention back to the human tracks, the heroes followed them into the woods. After 10 min of walking, they encountered a corpse hunched against a tree that had clearly been munched upon. Continuing to follow the tracks, the dense forest opened up into a roughly carved path through the woods heading North/South. Wagon tracks were spotted, meaning that the path was likely used for some sort of travel or commerce. The party followed the path to the South and, just as darkness began to fall, stumbled upon the wreckage of a cart and the remains of the final two workers. Strangely, their bodies didn't show signs of struggle or wounds. Doc searched the cart and found, to his bewilderment, insignias from his old Slabtown crew emblazoned upon several small crates. As they investigated the scene, Talos heard the low rumble of a cat-type creature coming from the nearby forest. The sound seemed to travel every few minutes to different sides of the path, and the heroes quickly grew worried that they were being stalked. Sure enough, something lashed out from the forest striking Talos on the back with a rasping, sharp pain, yanking him toward the treeline and knocking him to his knees. As he collected himself, Talos found a pair of glowing yellow cat eyes staring at him through the thicket. A large, sleek-black feline creature with six legs and hovering tentacle-like appendages emerged from the forest and combat ensued.

The displacer beast made quick work of Talos (but not before he managed to hurl a lightning bolt igniting the forest). Doc and Fhasys found it incredibly difficult to hit the animal due to some strange "blurring" effect. The creature seemed to periodically phase-shift, making it hard to know where to aim. After a few rounds, another cat came bounding up the path to join the fray. Ultimately, the heroes were victorious albeit badly wounded. They limped their way further South, out of range of the now raging forest fire, and set up camp for a short rest.

Talos, still consumed by a compulsion to visit the ruins, took the party off-path toward the East. He seemed to intuitively know how to get to the ruins. As they traveled, they crossed a large stream leading from a lake far to the North. Talos noticed a warm, golden shimmer coming through the trees by the lake and they decided to visit on the way back. Further still, the forest opened up into another crude path on which the heroes encountered a lone, wandering half-elf ranger named Trace who seemed to know exactly where Talos was headed. Trace offered his assistance to get them through the last stretch of forest and to the ruins themselves, but once they got there things got weird.

Trace vanished and then re-appeared at the far end of the ruins dressed as a robed acolyte. Talos and Doc became overcome with a desire to move to the center of the ruins and stand on a large stone pedestal while the robed person began chanting in a strange language. The sky began to grow dark, the winds picked up swirling around the pedestal, and Fhasys got the heebie-jeebies. She launched a bolt at the acolyte but missed. Her second bolt hit the robed figure, momentarily staggering him and halting the chant. His form shape shifted into a strange, tall, hairless blue humanoid and the wound only increased his resolve to finish the ritual. With his final words, the veil of illusion around the ruins fell revealing a circle of acolytes surrounding the party and a far more dark and twisted forest. A rift appeared in the air above Doc and Talos and, as Fhasys stared skyward horrified of what was to come, a pair of large insectoid claws pushed their way through into their dimension. Doc and Talos lit up with excitement in anticipation of what was to come. They'd finally made it home.

The Story Of Bigzid

Clan Phiff was one of the largest and oldest Dragonborn tribes that had settled in the mountains north of Erenon after the Loosening that had freed them of their full-size dragon overseers. Known for their acid breath, Bigzid's line had held their territory for ten generations. Through guile and providence, they held a pinch point in the mountains where they would raid passersby and, as they became more civilized, traded with them. A settlement with three or four larger buildings with defensible gates slowly began to take foothold. The Dragonborn clans evolved into a strict patriarchy and the Phiff family was no exception.

Leadership in the family meant chieftainship of the town, and Bigzid was the second son to Tyee Ickfam, the current chief of Phifferary. Bigzid's elder brother had been born mentally handicapped, subject to fits, and was rarely to be seen in daylight. This might have been an easy succession for
Bigzid, but Ickfam had siblings and thus cousins arrived.

Molzahn was thought initially to suffer from the same mania as Gix, Bigzid's elder brother; he'd killed and eaten most of his litter mates when the opportunity arose. The difference, however, was that Gix didn't have the mind to wait until he was unwatched. Molzahn, ambitious from the beginning, was eldest of Ickfam's sister and possibly illegitimate as there were questions as to how her elderly husband could manage to sire children in his ill health. Molzahn, after coming of age, sought after the "prize of the mountain passes" -- a cold-breather from House Ouroborus named Llyra and a prize coveted by Bigzid as well.

Naturally, Molzahn and Bigzid both feuded over the hand of Llyra. These clashes grew increasingly bitter as they grew older and their enmity divided the tiny colony. There were those who cheered Molzahn's victory at all costs and envisioned his combining Phiff and Ouroboros for the good of both houses. Bigzid, the far superior physical specimen, appealed to those who adhered to the Dragonborn faith in the hunt. Hunting was among the first things necessary when the Dragonborn needed to fend for themselves and their affinity for the spear and halberd was a point of pride and religion for them. Bigzid had been training since boyhood to embark on his Provenance, which would take place at 25 (in human years) to the south in the Sands of Olais. The Provenance hunt was the most certain method to ascend to Tyee. Bagging the legendary giant purple worm would seal Bigzid's rulership and secure Llyra's hand, despite her taste for Molzahn's words and ambition.

Ickfam, for his part, simply wanted the best for the Clan. No challenges would a soft leader make. His son's success in his Provenance, in spite of Molzahn's politics and scheming, would be proof of his readiness and fortitude. He wasted no time in calling the ceremony after Bigzid's
25th birthday. It was a must that the drake in question ride out alone and encounter what he would on the way to the Sands. It had been three generations since a truly successful Provenance hunt. The giant worm was the symbol of freedom from the yoke of the Dragon and there was no better trophy for the future Tyee.

On the day of the departure, all of the Ouroboros clan arrived in Phifferary to join the festivities and revel in their shared peace. At sundown, a mounted Bigzid rode toward the gate. Molzahn, standing next to Llyra, wouldn't look in his direction as he rode by. Many ancestors didn't return from Provenances, eventually swallowed by the sands. Still, it was tough not to feel certain as the vibrating hisses of assent followed the son of Ickfam out the gate to the swirling Sands.

After several days of scouting and reading the land for signs of the giant worm, the creature finally made its presence known. Bigzid mounted his horse and gave chase. The worm was far more enormous and menacing than he could have ever dreamed, and somewhere in his gut he knew it would be too much for he alone to tackle, yet the Dragon blood drove him forward. Bigzid chased the worm for two days straight, driving his mount to near exhaustion, when he nearly trampled over a quartet of stranded adventurers in the desert.

Episode 17, "Not Like We Left It"

After checking their stocks of food and water, the heroes discussed options as to how to most safely travel back to Quanlo - a 30 mile walk South through the unforgiving desert. Deciding to accept the heightened risk of encounters, the party opted to travel under the cool blanket of night and set out on their trek.

The first night passed by fairly uneventful, and as day broke they set out to find shelter. Doc, scouring the mostly featureless and flat horizon, spotted a darkened spot in the shadow of a giant boulder nearby... likely some sort of burrow or hole. Fhasys headed over to investigate, and cautiously made her way down a long, rough-carved dirt tunnel sloping beneath the boulder overhead. After a brief walk, the tunnel leveled out and opened into a wider area, walls covered in a multitude of openings that were too dark to see into. As she investigated the holes in the dirt room, Fhasys was nearly struck by some type of blue metallic appendage, sharp and lethal, that jabbed out from one of the wall holes nearest her. Once she'd caught her breath, she took another careful look and saw the silhouette of a large spider.

Heading back out topside, Fhasys explained the predicament to the group-there was shelter enough for all, but they'd have to clear out some spiders first. The party agreed that a few spiders would be better than dying of heat exhaustion and headed down into the tunnel. Combat ensued.

Three phase spiders blinked into existence, immediately surrounding the party and attacking in a blur of razor-like teeth and claws. The heroes had never encountered these particular spiders before and were quite taken by surprise, but they ultimately prevailed. Vyreth searched the corpses for useful chitin or venom, but didn't possess the skill needed to properly extract either. They cleaned up a bit and set up shop for a day of sleep.

In the night, on Talos' watch, one final spider phased-in and ambushed the meditating elf. The last spider having been slain, the heroes tucked themselves in one more time in hopes of a solid night's sleep...

They woke up well rested and climbed out of their spider hole back into the blue moonlit desert for the final leg of their journey. As they stood around bickering and discussing the prior night's events, the ground beneath them began to vibrate and then shake. A huge dust cloud appeared on the distant horizon, and despite the continual shaking underfoot, the heroes stood their ground in curious anticipation. The shaking grew in intensity as they watched the cloud draw slowly closer and a few heroes struggled to stay on their feet. Then, just in front of the approaching dirt cloud, a giant purple worm breached the surface of the desert and-after a momentary arc up through the air-plowed back underground once more. The shaking intensified.

Bigzid, a dragonborn of a local mountain clan, was on the chase of his life! But, after pursuing this humongous worm for nearly two days straight, he and his horse were beginning to tire. He'd chucked a spear or two at the immense creature to no effect, and no matter how fast he rode the worm casually ambled onward just out of reach. Still, he was intent on bringing back this trophy to his peers to prove his value as a hunter.

In the flurry of dust being kicked up by the worm, not to mention the nearly deafening sound created by all the rocks breaking-up all around them, Bigzid barely heard someone yelling through the chaos. Then, in the blink of an eye, his horse instinctively veered off course to avoid four humanoid figures standing dumbfounded right in his path. The image stuck in his mind for a few moments, eliciting enough curiosity to derail him from the chase, and his horse skidded to a halt some hundred feet out. Knowing there really was no way in hell that he could actually bag this monster, Bigzid decided instead to discover these rare desert travelers.

Offering his skills as a desert guide, Bigzid lead the heroes the rest of the way to Quanlo safely. However, once the foothills appeared in the distance, it was clear that something was amiss. A huge swath of campsites dotted the area surrounding the canyon entrance to Quanlo-a strange sight to behold. Perhaps there was some sort of massive event going on in town? The heroes drew closer and Talos approached some random campers to inquire.

As it turned out, a small horde of undead had descended upon Quanlo, forcing the barring of the city gates and displacing hundreds of travelers heading that way. Doc, Vyreth, Fhasys and Bigzid headed into the canyons to investigate the situation while Talos looked for anyone who might be in charge of the ramshackle settlement. He found one old man, quite snarky and cynical, who rebuffed his initial attempts at persuasion to conscript a peasant army to fight the legions of undead. But, as Talos was full aware, this was a perfect situation for Suggestion. Eventually, the rest of the party reconvened in the encampment and the old man had set off (under Talos' advice) to find the best fighters among the civilians for an assault.

Bigzid gave a rabble-rousing speech to the conscripts and the crew headed into the canyons toward Quanlo. As they grew nearer to the city walls, the sound of screaming and clashing of metal echoed off the canyon walls. A black morass of undead globbed around the walls like some disease infesting the city, a handful of well armored Iron Gate guards hacked their way through the mob valiantly, and archers rained down arrows from the parapets. Even closer and the stench of rotting flesh became so overpowering that some heroes couldn't help but stagger and retch. By their estimates, there were around 60 undead-a mix of skeletons, zombies, and ghasts-and 12 soldiers defending the walls on the ground. Bigzid tried his best to "pull" onesie-twosies from the mob into his civilian defense force as Talos levitated himself (and a rope) up the side of the wall.

The archers atop the wall, upon seeing a robed elven mage casually levitating at their level, were a bit surprised to say the least. They trained their bows on Talos and summoned the sergeant, who ended up being highly skeptical of his honest approach. Eventually, the sergeant acquiesced, escorting Talos into the mages guild to meet with Reeser about the tomb. As they walked away, Talos anchored a long rope beneath the wall ledge using Mage Hand and all but Bigzid climbed to safety.

The black dragon circled overhead as a massive battle ensued. Fhasys joined the archers launching arrows down into the fray while Vyreth and Doc exhausted their spell supply. Huge lightning storms erupted above the mass of undead, frying dozens to a crisp, and Bigzid worked deliberately to pull small groups of undead into his conscript force.

Talos, meanwhile, me with Reeser to discuss the details of their findings in the Tomb of Urzaan. Reeser was confused and concerned by the mention of the scepter they'd handed over to the ancient black dragon, but admitted that he knew nothing of either. During this discussion, Talos spotted a mage standing near a doorway across the room suddenly grab his things and shuffle off down the hall muttering, "It can't be... It simply can't be!" Reeser committed to sending a group of mages to Lehren to seal the Embershale mine, as promised, and Talos headed back out to the walls.

Many of the Gate soldiers perished during the battle, but ultimately the wall was freed of the putrid invasion. The dragon, spotting the heroes below, dive-bombed and blasted a wide swath of acid across the path into the city immediately melting the conscripts and causing some damage to Bigzid. Talos, seeing the dragon come barreling down through the canyon, rushed down to the inner walls and persuaded the guards to crack the gate so he could come inside.

As the Quanlo guard gathered around the heroes cheering their victory, a knot formed in their stomachs... Was this invasion somehow related to the scepter they handed over to the dragon a couple nights prior, outside the tomb?

Episode 16, "A Soul Reunion"

The heroes. somewhat bruised from their recent battle with a handful of specters and wights in the throne room, decide to try and squeeze in another long rest before tackling the last stretch of the tomb. Unfortunately, Urzaan's tomb is a fairly active place... During the second half of their rest, Talos is alerted (during his meditation) to the presence of two specters and combat ensues. The party goes back to sleep again hoping for 4 hours of R&R, this time with Talos and Fhasys on watch. A lone skeleton makes an appearance in the yet-to-be-explored tunnel past the demolished wooden doorway. Talos and Fhasys decide to handle it themselves without waking the rest, and Fhasys handily destroys the pile of animated bones with a couple crossbow bolts.

As Fhasys searches the remains of the skeleton, the rest of the party wakes up feeling refreshed. Doc takes to investigating the wrought iron bramble throne and spots three onyx crossbow bolts woven into the metal framework. Talos, curiosity piqued, provides assistance via Mage Hand, which manages to dislodge one of the bolts but can't thread it all the way out of the tangled iron structure. Doc flexes his muscles and bends some of the ironwork out of the way--just enough for the Mage Hand to lift the bolts out... and into Fhasys' open and eager hand.

Upon contact, the shiny black bolts radiate a searing cold through her hand and the veins on her palm begin to turn purple, radiating some sort of poison or disease. Fhasys immediately chucks the bolts into her quiver, and the cold can even be felt through the leather bindings into her shoulder! Doc attends to her now pale and spidery hand by asking Apollo for a blessing. In a stunning turn of fortune, Apollo listens and her hand returns to normal. Fhasys' curiosity remains piqued.

The group presses onward, through the ruined doorway and into another rough carved tunnel that soon opens into a small, shallow muddy creek bisecting the tunnel floor, roughly 20' across. As they stood at the shore of the creek pondering how to cross, Vyreth spots some purpleish fabric flowing in the water in a small alcove upstream and decides to investigate. He discovers two old, robed corpses smashed into the far side of the alcove and reports his findings to the others.

Talos, deciding that he needs a more dedicated and trustworthy friend, animates one of the corpses. The figure manages to crawl out of the alcove, shuffles over to Talos, and stands upright awaiting command. Around its neck hangs another of the "eye" medallions, similar to one found earlier on in the tomb. Talos decides to use his new friend to hold his belongings like some undead pack mule, and--not having a will or conscious of its own--the corpse obeys. Watching this interaction, the rest of the party grows somewhat uneasy with Talos' new found fetish for the undead. First an imp, now a zombie... What next?

Talos sends his zombie back into the alcove to drag out his long-since-deceased companion. The other corpse is significantly disfigured, limbs twisted and contorted as if having been slammed by an immense blunt force. While Talos investigates the second corpse, Doc crawls into the alcove to make sure nothing's been left behind. Scraping some rocks and mud away, he discovers a deep red crystal ball affixed to some sort of ancient bird-like claw, the orb itself slowly pulsing with a red glow. Showing the new trinket to the group, Talos immediately recognizes it as some sort of phylactery--a container for some ancient dragon's soul. After a few minutes of brainstorming the significance of the find, some unseen force slams Doc 10' forward into the tunnel ahead and staggers him. The party, suddenly terrified and not being able to identify the source of the impact, ready their weapons. Combat ensues.

The heroes lash out in the space between Doc and the rest using both weapons and magic in an attempt to hit their invisible enemy. Some hits land, most do not, and the only clue to this being's existence is an intermittent shimmer when it moves into a new space. Doc gets slammed once more before Talos takes aim with Scorching Ray, illuminating the entirety of this strange, hulking enemy for a brief moment. The creature turns to Fhasys and plows her into the nearby tunnel wall, knocking her immediately unconscious. Every time the creature connects with an attack, a deep, windy voice seems to groan, "Urzaan". Apparently this thing and Urzaan are friends?

Talos, in a deft display of tactical maneuvering and spell casting talent, whips just out of LoS with the party and unleashes a nasty lightning bolt which completely incinerates their assailant on the spot. Stunned in disbelief, the heroes pause to catch their breath and figure out what just happened. Vyreth manages to bring Fhasys back to consciousness using healing magic, and Talos casually offers up one of his unidentified purple potions to top her off. Fhasys throws caution to the wind and quaffs the brew, immediately puffing out of corporeal form and into a cloud of fog. Delighted with the turn of events, Fhasys floats away down the tunnel to scout and reports back using a series of jiggles and bounces (she can't speak in this form). The group continues onward, but forgets that Fhasys was their key trap finder... Doc steps on another pressure plate and is hit with several poison darts. Luckily, his stout constitution prevents any significant damage. Talos sends his zombie to the front of the party to absorb the next round of poison darts, and the crew finally emerges into a large open chamber.

A jagged, blackened rock formation seems to sprout from the floor on the opposite side of the room, in which has been carved an ornate stone gateway of sorts. Through the gateway is nothing but a dirt wall, confounding the party for a moment until Talos realizes it's some sort of deactivated portal. The heroes light two large braziers hoping that it will somehow awaken the portal, but nothing happens. Having had reached the end of the final tunnel in Urzaan's tomb, the party turns back and makes the long trek back to the surface.

The crew emerges into the darkness of night, and immediately notices that the illusory bubble that had been swirling around the tomb entrance is no more. Looking around for their ride back to Quanlo, they find only the silhouette of a humongous ancient undead dragon lying in wait. The dragon awakens and casually welcomes the heroes, thanking them for their "help". Recognizing the dragon as the same who visited them back in Lehren during the funeral pyre, the heroes humbly ask for a ride back to town as the remains of their cart and driver now lay smashed beneath one of the dragon's claws. Unfortunately, the dragon is here for one thing... the phylactery.

Stretching its gigantic, decaying neck and head toward the heroes, the dragon takes a massive sniff and locates the object in Doc's pack. Realizing he has little recourse, Doc hands the dragon the phylactery... The dragon pops the crystal ball like candy between two huge teeth and the heroes watch, helpless, as its soul reunites with its body. Once again, Vyreth asks for a ride back to town but the dragon clearly has better things to do. It takes flight kicking up a huge sandstorm and disappears into the night, leaving the party with only a few remaining hours of cool night before the scorching heat of the desert will return in an attempt to claim their lives.

Episode 15, "Ph4t L3wt and Onward!"

The heroes awoke from a quiet, long rest deep within Urzaan's tomb feeling refreshed and ready to press forward. Talos and Doc shared a strange dream of traveling to the Ruins of Enra together and awakened with an odd compulsion to head to the forest, ASAP. After making their desires known, the lot fiddled around in their packs, suddenly realizing that they had amassed quite a pile of ph4t l3wt that hadn't yet been identified. The crew spent roughly an hour sorting, identifying, and bickering over ownership rights before finally heading back out into the tunnels toward the last junction.

Fhasys turned her attention to her new found rust colored fabric pouch. She found nothing but darkness inside the bag, and when she shook it out a small pink fuzz ball floated out and down to the ground. Using his keen knowledge of arcana, Talos was able to provide some "insight" as to the nature of the pouch and suggested he take it for safe keeping without really explaining why.

Next up was the creepy silver/onyx dagger that Fhasys had picked up, and Talos was able to discern some sort of poisonous, disease-type effect. Finally, Talos placed the "eye" medallion they'd found as being a very old symbol of a fledgling cult or guild.

Doc, having slept with his creepy set of pan flutes, woke up feeling like he knew how to activate them but not quite sure as to what they actually do. Blowing a little ditty, his friends were suddenly overcome with feelings of fear and mistrust which passed as soon as the music abated. The other heroes glared suspiciously at the paladin and advised him not to do that again.

Redistributing and stashing their loot back in their packs, the heroes made their way back to the last junction they could recall, dead-ending at another magically sealed door. Vyreth cast dispel magic and shoved the slab to the side, causing a back draft of foul, putrid and heavy air to wash over them. Save for the few who are immune to disease and poison, the remaining heroes collapsed to the ground retching. As they collected their senses and peered down the dark stairway, they heard the distant sounds of bones scraping against the floor. Feeling significantly more cautious than usual, Talos illuminated a rock with Light and tossed it down the stairs. The rock bounced down for quite a ways until coming to rest at the base, facing a wall where the tunnel veered left. Steeling themselves for yet another encounter, the lot headed downstairs.

The tunnel at the bottom of the stairs opened into a large, dark cavern. Those with darkvision were able to make out a bookshelf and an alchemy table at the far end of the room. Fhasys, in a stunning display of hand-eye coordination, hurled a handful of ball bearings through the entrance and toward the other side, shattering several ceramic dishes sitting on the bookshelf. Nothing stirred.

They tip-toed slowly into the cavern and discovered, laying off to one side, the skeletal remains of a humongous snake! Wasting no time, Fhasys used the element of surprise to blast a crossbow bolt through its neck and combat ensued.

The giant skeletal snake animated and attacked the party with a dark ferocity, casting Sleep and Lightning Bolt to decimate the intruders. Two specters joined the fray, lashing through their flesh with cold icy claws and draining their strength. Fortunately, the heroes prevailed and scored some interesting trinkets from the laboratory.

At this point, there was a heated discussion about whether or not they ought to continue sticking their noses in places of such evil... Talos and Doc, once again, urged the group to abandon the dungeon in light of their dreams the night prior. Fhasys mentioned that "the DM" would want them to continue exploring the rest of the dungeon, a reference mostly lost on the party at-large but likely merely a projection of her own inner desires, and they all seemed in agreement. Onward. But, maybe after another long rest...

Episode 14, "Master of the House"

The heroes manage to scrape together a long rest while barricaded in the guard room. Upon waking, they set to trying to open the magically locked door on the other side of the room. Doc and Vyreth give it the 'ol heave-ho! with Fhasys' crow bar to no avail. Talos, watching the brutes with great amusement, notices a fine blue glow emanating from the seams of the doorway and realizes that it's magically locked. He fumbles around his sack and procures his only scroll of Dispel Magic... but has a hard time letting go. The group discuss options and even entertain the idea of exploring the rest of the dungeon instead, but eventually sober up and dispel the lock.

The door swings open revealing a long, dark stonework tunnel with another--this time deeper--chasm splitting the ground. Fhasys impulsively takes a running leap, nearly loses her finger hold on the far ledge, but manages to scramble up. Doc, impressed with Fhasys' performance, follows suit... only to lose his grip and tumble down the cliff to the powdery ground below. He lands with a muffled "thud". The remaining heroes scrounge around for a rope and places to tie it up, but only find one such thing on the side from whence they came. Using his Mage Hand, Talos lifts the far end of the rope up to the ground level on the opposite side while Doc summons the last of his energy to scale up the cliff. Doc holds the rope securely for the other two as they high-tail it across the chasm.

The tunnel bends to the left, opening up into a wider tunnel adorned with stone pillars and an ornately carved stone doorway. Fhasys takes lead and absorbs a nasty poison dart trap for the group. They press onward toward the doorway. The door itself is a massive stone slab, polished with more infernal inscriptions, and Vyreth and Doc get to shoving the thing out of the way... but they push the wrong way. Nothing. The other two heroes decide to try the other direction and meet success! The door slides out of the way equalizing the air pressure between the two chambers with a back draft of stagnant air. The room is small, dark, and very cold, containing a decorated chest sitting next to a sacrophagus. Black wisps of smoke-like trails dance around the floor of the room, climbing up the walls and the sarcophagus. The heroes begin to feel the weight of dark emotions--hate and envy and despair begin to settle in. Talos discovers more infernal inscriptions along the lid of the sarcophagus reading simply, "Here lies Urzaan".

Doc jumps the gun and slides the cover off the sarcophagus, the room goes dark, and a tower of black smoke erupts from within forming the visage of a crowned, emaciated, undead king with hollow red orbs for eyes. Urzaan asks why he was summoned, but gets a glib response from the heroes prompting him to attack. The party engages in a brutal encounter with two shadows and the wraith, all of which drain max HP and STR upon contact. The heroes slowly wither away with every hit and begin to worry for their safety. The battle finally ends with the heroes (barely) victorious, struggling to stand and winded from the loss of constitution, and they search the chest. Clearly needing a rest, the heroes once again brave the dungeon depths and turn in. Their first long rest is broken by a couple wights banging at the door. They try and wait it out, hoping for the unwelcome guests to go away, but no dice... The heroes open the door and face the threat. Their second attempt at a long rest is broken by a couple more shadows and combat ensues once again. The party decides they've had enough healing to get by and huddle to figure out the next course of action.

Episode 13, "Unearthing the Past" p1

Squinting to make out any detail in the pitch black hall, Vyreth realizes he's going to need a light source to be able to see a damned thing. Talos magically lights Vyreth's sword, and the scene opens up to all... The huge hall is adorned with tall, stone pillars on each side and a sarcophagus sits at the far end of the room guarded by some form of dog-like statue. Four sets of full-plate armor stand watch in the middle of the hall, arms resting on huge swords. Doc, after recognizing two of the sets as being roughly dwarf size, skirts around the side of the hall for a closer look and the rest follow suit. Doc inspects the armor and, once satisfied as to its quality and condition, decides to grab it on the way back out. The heroes, stressed from the desert journey and the encounter with the skeletons outside the tomb, decide to once again take a rest in the great hall.

While the rest of the party sleeps, Talos' curiosity overtakes him and he wanders toward the sarcophagus to inspect. Stepping on a hidden pressure plate just in front of the canine statue, a torrent of flame erupts badly singing his robe. The party is startled awake by the wave of heat and noise, and the suits of armor awaken--climbing off their pedestals advancing on the heroes in a slow, steady march. The swords they were once resting on also take flight and combat ensues.

The animated armors pack a wallop, and a couple of the heroes end up quite battered from their steel fists. Vyreth summons a pack of giant spiders to help the cause, and Talos blasts a bolt of lightning through two suits and a flying sword. Since the heroes decided (rightly so) to steer clear of the main floor and instead stick to the walls while crossing, they didn't run into the spiked pit trap lying in wait... but a spider did. With a loud metallic slam, the center of the hall opens up into a large pit, swallowing one of the spiders and locking it inside. The party watches with a mix of apprehension and relief knowing that it could well have been one of them.

Once the battle ends, Talos apologizes for waking the lot and gets to investigating the sarcophagus. Doc, in a moment of keen awareness, spots century-old foot prints in the dusty ground leading toward the sarcophagus implying prior visitors to the tomb. He goes to work sliding the heavy stone lid off and reveals an empty space inside. Fhasys pokes around inside for latches or levers and discovers that the entire base panel lifts out revealing a ladder down into a small, uninteresting room with a closed door.

Pressing onward, the heroes listen for activity beyond the door and upon hearing nothing, open the door into a long set of descending steps. The stairs eventually level into a slightly larger room split in two likely by geological movement. A 10' wide chasm stands between the party and the other side, and they set out to find a way across. While Fhasys, Vyreth, and Doc examine the drop itself, Talos spots some rock outcroppings on each side of the chasm along the northern wall and manages to lasso the far side with his rope creating a way across. Fhasys eagerly jumps down and attempts to swing her way across, hand-over-hand. Halfway across, she loses her grip and falls, her tether keeping her from hitting the ground but slamming her into the close wall instead. While dangling upside down waiting for her friends to pull her back up, she spots an old scroll laying in the dust and dirt. She asks to be let down instead and fetches the scroll. After a series of attempts, the entire party manages to make it across the chasm hand-over-hand while Talos opts to tight rope walk.

The crew comes to a tunnel junction and Doc once more spots the old footprints, now leading into a tunnel to the north. Instead of investigating the footprints further, they decide to take the path less traveled and head into the southern tunnel. The door is locked.

Fhasys fails an attempt at picking the lock, but Vyreth and Doc manage to force it open with a crowbar. They enter an old storage room complete with a small shelf, aged wooden barrels, and a chest. Fhasys immediately bolts over to the chest to see whats inside. She begins to open the lid, but the lid opens the rest of the way by itself revealing a huge maw of razor sharp teeth. The chest sprouts legs and tentacle-like arms, and lashes out at Fhasys. Combat ensues.

Once the mimic is killed, a search of the room reveals some trinkets: x7 refined crossbow bolts, a suit of chainmail, x3 potions of greater healing, a long green crystal of some sort, a pouch w/some gold, and an old black leather bound tome which instills knowledge of the Infernal language to Talos when read. Not a bad find!

The heroes continue through the closed door in the store room, out into another tunnel, and through a demolished doorway into what appears to be some type of guard room. At a table on one side of the room sits two long-since deceased humanoids face-down in their plates, and on the other lies an ornate tapestry flanked by two more suits of armor. Fhasys takes the lead into the room and triggers a tripwire, launching a poison dart into her side. Vyreth, captivated by the rug's craftsmanship, decides to investigate closer while Talos attempts to animate the corpses at the table.

As Vyreth strokes the soft fabric of the rug, it suddenly leaps into the air, wrapping itself tightly around Vyreth and suffocating him. The corpses stubbornly refuse to animate, to Talos' dismay, and his imp poofs into existence atop the table for a closer view. With a terrified shriek, the imp vanishes again and the corpses begin to breath long, guttural sighs. Combat ensues.

Two ghasts, two flying swords, and a rug of smothering later... The crew loots a pouch of gold and gems from the table and moves onward toward a locked door on the opposite side of the room. Doc attempts to kick the door in, but his foot is rebuffed by some sort of magical field. Talos, realizing that his spell book may be in dire need of retooling for this dungeon, suggests they use this room for a long rest. Doc bars the doorway they came in through as best he can and the party hunkers down for the night.

Episode 12, "Plunging into Darkness"

Armed with a bag-full of artisan cakes, the heroes make their way back to the Bumblebrook Sanctuary to placate the fairy dragon (clearly frustrated by the party's lack of curiosity as to its name). The dragon pounces on the cakes, eating them all up like there's no tomorrow and then rolling around in the leftover icing. The cakes clearly made an impression! In exchange for the treats, the dragon shows Doc the path to find Peter (from the foothills by Quanlo, down through the Ragneron Forest, and near a lake). Doc struggles to recognize the terrain, but thinks he gets the gist and flings his recently purchased platinum coin at the dragon as a token of his gratitude. The dragon reflexively flies safely out of range of the flying coin, hisses, and vanishes out of sight, leaving the coin to fall haplessly back to the ground unattended. Curious reaction. With the disappearance of the dragon, the illusory terrain fades from existence all around the sanctuary revealing a plain old, grassy, overgrown marsh.

Since it's late evening and the party has a long ride ahead of them (to the desert tomb), they decide to park it at the Troublesome Troll for food and rest. During their dinner, the heroes overhear talk between two miners of some strange discovery deep within the Thanon mine... some sort of huge, ancient stone doorway blocking a newly dug tunnel. They get some much needed rest that night, and Talos awakens before dawn to the sound of a spinning coin falling close to his ear. Opening his eyes, it would seem a plain platinum coin has mysteriously found its way into his room. Talos inspects the premises for signs of intrusion but finds none, pockets the coin, and drifts off to sleep. His dreams are filled with wonderous imagery from a lush, overgrown ruin somewhere deep within a forest, and he's overcome with the desire to visit.

Over breakfast, Talos brings up the topic of the odd coin he found and Doc notices the similarity between this and his own coin. Rifling around in his pockets, Doc discovers that his own coin has gone missing and the two discuss just how it came to land in Talos' possession. Talos claims innocence and hands the coin back to Doc for safe keeping. The lot then begin discussing plans for the day. Most decide that catching the wagon out to the desert tomb sounds like the best thing to do first, and Talos mentions that he'd rather visit these ruins he'd dreamed about... overruled. The heroes head out of the town gates, meet the driver, and get to travelling.

The journey, according to the old man at the reigns, should take about 4 hours given smooth riding (ha). The driver is clearly wary of the journey and not looking forward to what may come of it, but the pay is good. An hour passes by uneventfully as the wagon heads NE away from the foothills and into the sandy desert, and with a few lurches and an exclamation or two from the driver, the whole thing comes to a stop. A wheel had gotten stuck in the hard, sandy, stone-ridden earth. The heroes pile out of the wagon to bitch and try and help push the wagon free of its bondage. Ultimately, after the driver sticks a wedge beneath the problem wheel, the crew manages to heave it free. This delay had cost them 2 more hours, and just as they started to ride again the lot is ambushed by a pack of giant hyenas! Combat ensues.

The driver manages to fend off a couple of the beasts with an old machete until they finally grow a pair and pounce, pinning him to the floor and nearly eviscerating him. Talos' imp dive-bombs the hyena nearest to its master, latching on to its side and stinging it with a nasty poison until it collapses. Showing a bit of its devious personality, the imp then decides to join the driver and three hyenas to "stir the pot" a bit. Eventually, the hyenas are slain, the driver is healed, and the crew gets back on the road.

The remaining couple hours pass by uneventfully, and the wagon rolls up to the site of a strange visual anomaly (the tomb). Large, neon-blue rimmed "bubbles" of space seem to swirl and rotate around the axis of some invisible hemisphere sitting atop the desert sand. When inspected closer, the bubbles appear more to be tears in the fabric of space-time, providing windows into a dark, moonlit landscape dotted with ruined ivory pillars and a sporting a great gaping maw of a hole protruding from the earth.

At first, some folks in the party are taken aback with the power and mystery of this place and consider heading back to Quanlo having had "investigated" the area thoroughly. Fhasys, feeling brave and restless, first wanders into the center of the bubble swarm for a looksee and then back out to attempt to jump through one of the bigger holes. Her first attempt ends up unsuccessful, but her second try vaults her through to the other side. Meanwhile, Doc discovers what appears to be a large humanoid lying face-down in the distance. Doc, Talos, and Vyreth head out to investigate and find what appears to be the scene of a small battle between a handful of red robed mages (identified as being from the mages guild of Quanlo) and a couple blighted ogres.

The rest of the crew ends up following Fhasys into the alternate dimension (through the bubble holes), and they all decide to set up camp for a short rest. Doc stands watch for the duration and the group is ambushed by 10 skeletons that burst from the hallowed grounds and attack. Despite a few knicks, the party makes it through unscathed. As the last skeleton falls, a great, foul mass of air belches forth from the opening in the ground filling the heroes with sadness and bitterness. Steeling themselves, they gather their gear and head down the tunnel leading into the earth.

After a long descent, the tunnel finally flattens out and dead-ends at a large onyx inscribed slab blocking the way. Talos, using his knowledge of lore and arcana, deciphers the inscriptions as being ancient dwarven and reads the text to his group; it's a poem dedicated to the nasty inhabitant of this tomb for which it was constructed, Urzaan. Whipping out a scroll of Dispel Magic, Talos releases the magical lock on the slab and Doc and Vyreth manage to slide it out of the way. Standing before a dimly lit great hallway lined with pillars and torches, the heroes spot a lone sarcophagus at the far-end and decide how to best approach.

Episode 11, "On the Road Again"

Having cleared their names with the local authorities--courtesy of Raven and the thieves guild--the heroes spent one last night in the den eating, drinking, and being merry. Talos' strange disappearance was noticed by the party momentarily, but sleep seemed more of a pressing matter than finding their pretty-boy mage, so they turned in for the night.

Talos, meanwhile, had a run-in with the local prankster being talked about all over town. A fountain became a towering pillar of water drawing the attention of some Iron Gate guards, and Talos decided he'd be better off hidden in a nearby alleyway. It was in this alley that he came face to face with the prankster, a metallic purple, cat-sized faerie dragon who took quite an interest in his abilities. After a mostly useless conversation with the dragon, Talos was polymorphed into a dog and then compelled to chase an illusory cat straight into the Gate barracks, rudely awakening them. While pleading his case (as a dog) to the irritated guards, two of them got into a heated brawl. Talos used this opportunity to get out of Dodge. Once the polymorph wore off, he headed to the trail leading up to the mages guild and was met with yet another prankster trick. This time, the entire hillside transformed into a lush forest, making it difficult for him to find his way out. Using his keen sense of direction, however, Talos managed to get to the guild in just under an hour.

Talos engaged two acolytes standing in the guild courtyard in idle conversation, showing them his mysterious glass sphere and asking to speak with Reeser about it. They brought him to Reeser's quarters, had a little chit-chat, and then Talos spent the rest of the night with a summoner who bound the sphere's inhabitant--an imp--to his soul (at the cost of some Constitution).

In the morning, Talos and his new pet met up with Reeser and a few other guild mages in the dining hall for breakfast. They discussed Quar Jezz't and his request to consume Talos' ex-mentor's soul (Weshryn), where to find Weshryn, and a task that the guild asks in exchange for said information.

Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes awoke in the thieves guild fairly rested--except for Fhasys who woke up face-down in a food dish. During the night, Vyreth overheard some folks discussing recent happenings with a missing lumber shipment from a local camp and his curiosity was piqued. Noticing that Talos was still missing, the lot decided it was likely that he'd be at the mages guild... so they headed out to meet up with him.

Once at the mages guild, they inquired about their elven friend and were lead up into the dining hall where Reeser & co. were finishing up breakfast. Introductions were made, information was shared, items identified (werewolf tooth for Fhasys, Cannesh slave ring for Vyreth, and amulet of regeneration for Doc), and at a hefty expense, Fhasys finally had the aboleth's curse lifted from her shoulders. The heroes agreed to the exchange of services--investigate a strange exposed tomb deep in the desert of Olais in exchange for magically sealing the Embershale mine--and a covered wagon was dispatched to meet them outside of town for the journey.

Leaving the mages guild, the lot decided to take a small shopping detour whereupon Doc became enthralled by the faerie dragon. A magical glade suddenly sprung up in the seedier area of Quanlo, drawing Doc's attention and compelling him to wander inside, where he met a talking bunny who mentioned Peter. As the rest of the party caught up, Doc explained that they needed dessert and shiny trinkets for the dragon in exchange for more information on Peter. They decided to hit the bazaar.

Quite a few cakes were purchased from a baker, Vyreth found some spoiled pastries and a large fishing net--presumably to catch the dragon--and Doc stumbled into a mysterious tattooed vendor selling odd bits 'n pieces from a local ruin. Despite being given any real information on the various artifacts being sold, Doc purchased a platinum coin and a glass ring which radiated warmth when held. Shortly thereafter, Doc began to catch his mind wondering to the Ruins of Enra, imagining just how awesome it'd be to go exploring there.

The heroes reconvened outside of the bazaar with their newfound treats and trinkets, and paused for a moment to decide what to do next.