A thread for story summaries:

The original cast:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Paran, a tiefling warlock who Lucien helped escape from some of the strictures of his pact.
• Toppor Ironfist, a dwarf druid and ex-soldier.
• Aliandra Zee, a human(?) bard looking for a story to sing about.
• Cathasach Drust, an exiled human barbarian (he wrestled the wear-bear).
• Vimak Thuliaga, a goliath fighter looking for a challenge.
• Nadia Winter, a human wizard who probably had personality traits, but she replaced the first guy who dropped before we started and missed the initial round of character building.
• Technically there was also a Dragonborn Sorcerer but she didn't even make it past the first IC scene. The rest here were mostly present through what's described above.
• Anita, a tiefling cleric who tried her best to keep Paran and Lucien on the path of righteousness. She replaced the Sorcerer and got her back story a little more tied into the group.

Recap Part 1, the first half of The Evils of Haranshire:

Lucien first arrived in the region of Harranshire with the typically disparate group of adventurers. They had been contracted by a fellow named Gordrenn to bring a chest to the wizard Tauster in the village of Thurmaster. Some of them knew each other, most of them didn't. They were brought together by a stormy night and the promise of good pay. On the way to deliver the chest, they were attacked by a local group of villagers without warning. After defeating and unfortunately killing some of the villagers, they convinced a survivor to explain. Unfortunately, the poor man could only say that their leader Carlanis had told them the party was bringing death magic to the lands. Carlanis did not survive the battle and thus could not be interrogated. The mystery of how this notion got into the farmer's heads remains unsolved and since only Lucien was there for the incident, there has not been cause to investigate further given other events.

On their way to Thurmaster, the party first passed through the town of Millborne and The Baron of Mutton Inn (this is where the party is currently, by the way). It was here that they first learned that Jelenneth, a young local woman had apparently disappeared. Anders, one of the owners of the inn, fancied her and had realized that she was missing. Jelenneth, as it turned out, was Tauster's apprentice. This was the first clue they group received about missing mages and it has been Lucien's primary mission ever since confirming the girl is missing to rescue her.

They party continued on to Thurmaster, which is not as nice a town as Milborne and is a bit run down. Tauster, as it turned out, is a largely harmless old wizard. In fact, he paid the party to deliver news of Jelenneth's disappearance to Kuiper, a local farmer and de-facto warden of the area. There is also a standing reward from the wizard for the girl's return (which I'd totally forgotten about). After being paid by the local Squire, Marlen, the group stayed at the local inn, The Hound and Tails, which was not quite as nice as The Baron of Mutton Inn.

The following day the party traveled to Kuiper's farm where he agreed to help them look for Jelenneth. After crossing the Churnett river on Kuiper's ferry, they traveled through the Thornwood towards Hog Brook to look for signs of the girl. ON the way we met Oleanne, a local druid with a passion for hunting orcs with her two wolf companions Belshar and Arlin. Oleanne sought the group's help in helping a local boy who had turned into a wear-bear. Kuiper insisted on helping the boy, given that there was still no sign of Jelenneth and the party agreed. Kuiper tracked the wear-bear until the light faded and the group agreed to make camp.

During the night, the part was set upon by orcs, but they managed to defeat them despite being outnumbered. Oleanne decided to try to hunt the orcs since Kuiper and the party agreed to help the wear-bear. It wasn't long before Kuiper managed to track down the wear-bear and, after a fierce wrestling match and a liberal use of nets, the party managed to restrain the wear-bear, heal its wounds, and calm it enough that it understood they didn't mean it harm. The bear followed the party back to Kuiper's farm and on the way it transformed back into the boy Maxim. Kuiper wished to take Maxim back to his family and help explain the situation so he asked the party to take news of the orcs back to a man named Garyld in Milborne and to confirm Jelenneth's disappearance. Garyld, a carpenter, gave a letter to a crow and instructed it to take the letter to 'Shiraz'. The party has not, to this point, learned who Shiraz is.

End Part 1.

The cast of Part 2:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Cathasach Drust, an exiled human barbarian; he left during this part of the game.
• Anita, a tiefling cleric who wanted to escape her heritage.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Albrecht Mosskettle, a different dwarven druid who had some trouble fitting in in civilized society.
• Khaerus, a human wizard looking for knowledge; he left around the encounter with the goblins.
• Alessandra de Tylmarande, not to be confused with our lovely bard this half-elf paladin was a noblewoman looking for adventure; she left shortly before we found the goblins.
• Kol Zad, a half-orc fighter; he did not stay long.
• Seirye Lathilar, an elven wizard who taught Lucien his first lessons in magic. She joined when Lathan and Anita returned to Milborne.

Recap Part 2, the middle of The Evils of Haranshire:

A merchant paid the group to escort a barge down the river to Thurmaster and the trip, for once, was uneventful. Upon their return to Milborne, the party learned of the New Mire: a rapid changing of the terrain of the land west of the Patchwork Hills which has been growing steadily worse. The party is summoned by one Master Darius Carman. He paid the group to scout out the area in and around the New Mire in search of answers to what might be causing the transformation. He seemed fairly convinced that it was magical based some divination that he'd paid for. He warned the party to watch out for goblins, provided a rough map, and recommended that they talk to the local farmers.

When they reached the New Mire, they saw many farmhouses despite the clearly unsuitable land. After a conversation with some of the farmers still trying to eek out a living in the mire, they decided to venture further in. None of the farmers had any useful information and the party spends the night in an abandoned farmhouse. In the morning they found four boys going on about fighting 'blue skinned' demons near the headwaters of the local brook. After following that lead, they found a trail of humanoid footprints which lead to a cave in the hills where they encountered some goblins.

Surprisingly, the goblins were willing to talk and the situation did not devolve into violence. The party had a conversation with Grundlegek, the goblin leader, and the goblins' shaman. After some intense negotiation, the goblin shaman revealed to Anita privately that the he possessed a ring which he feared might be the cause of the New Mire. He claimed the ring had been given to him by their god: Maglubiyet. Though the shaman wasn't willing to part with the ring, he agreed to let the group's magically inclined folk study it. Unfortunately, they couldn't discern much. The decision was made to split the group. Lucien and Albrecht would stay to watch the goblins which Lathan and Anita returned to Milborne to try and find someone to help them identify the ring.

The Return to Milborne (Lathan and Anita)

Upon their return to Milborne, Lathan and Anita reported to both Garyld and Master Carman. Garyld mentioned that Shiraz wanted to meet the party to ask for their help. He also told them that Tauster was likely the only person who could identify the ring, but that they'd have to travel to Thurmaster to try to convince him to help. After having Garyld send a message to Lucien and Albrecht, Lathan and Anita got a ride aboard a barge to speed the journey to Thurmaster. Unfortunately, Tauster was unwilling to make the journey into the mire. He did point them to a young mage staying at the local inn who might be willing to help. This is how they met Seirye who, intrigued by the prospect of the ring, agreed to travel to the New More to inspect it.

After a barge trip back up river to Milborne, then group encountered Shiraz. She requested their help with a water elemental at The Eelhold dam and agreed to accompany them into the New Mire so that they could complete their previous task first. She explained the the elemental was magically tied to the lake and that a nixie named Shenjurath had a limited ability to control the elemental. She also mentions that annual eel hunting on the lake is quite the local event, but doesn't seem particularly keen on how much eel the locals eat. This strange collection of people make the journey back to the goblin cave in the Patchwork Hills.

The Patchwork Hills (Lucien and Albrecht)

Lucien and Albrecht do not have nearly as exciting a time on guard outside the goblin cave. Aside from trailing a goblin foraging party, the only excitement occurs when Lucien decides to sneak into the cave alone to take a look around. He quite cleverly (if I do say so myself) sneaks past the guards and explores more or less all of the cave system though he finds little of interest. After several days, the rest of the group returns.

Back to the Evils of Haranshire

When everyone was reunited, the group re-entered the cave and had another look at the ring. Seirye was able to identify the ring's abilities and confirm that it was causing the New Mire. Serendipitously, the ring granted the power to control water elementals. Thus an arrangement was worked out that would have the goblin's move to the Blanryde Hills near Eelhold where the ring's affects would not be so devastating and also deal with the water elemental. After the details of the arrangement were worked out, the party returned to Milborne to collect their reward and discuss what to do next.

End Part 2.

The cast of Part 3:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Anita, a tiefling cleric who wanted to escape her heritage.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Albrecht Mosskettle, a different dwarven druid who had some trouble fitting in in civilized society.
• Seirye Lathilar, an elven wizard who taught Lucien his first lessons in magic.
• Gallus Minx, a human bard who followed rumors of adventure to find us, but left after the barge escort was finished.
• Karon, a half-orc warrior who was looking to redeem himself. He knew 'Seliar' from before Haranshire.

Recap Part 3, almost to the end of The Evils of Haranshire:

After a restful night at The Baron of Mutton Inn (on the house from the gratitude of Dirkaster), the party was offered another job to guard a barge on its way down the river to Thurmaster where they would hand the cargo over to Count Palfrey's men-at-arms. Unlike on previous journeys, during this trip the barge was set upon by bandits. The bandit's leader, a hooded mage managed to flee despite Lucien's best efforts. Two fishy smelling bandit survivors refused to answer any questions that the party asked them.

The party stayed the night in The Hounds and Tails before heading on to Count Palfrey's keep. After being confronted by Karon, Lucien told everyone about his alias and then the group added Karon to their number. In the morning, their traveled with Count Palfrey's men to his keep 10 miles outside of Thurmaster. After delivering the cargo to Palfrey, the group had a conversation with his adult son, Lyntern, who was very eager to go off on adventures of his own, but was prevented from doing so by his protective father. Lyntern speculated that the bandits were coming from a place in the Thornwood that he could show the party, but before they could make a plan, the Count asked them to help deal with some 'giants' in the Shrieken Mire and possibly a dragon.

As the group left the keep, Lyntern chased after them in full armor and asked to come with them. The group decided to spend the night in the inn and when they woke in the morning, the Count's men had taken Lyntern back to the keep. They inquired with the locals about the giant and the dragon, but they had little information. One of them took the party to the site of a supposed giant attack where they find large footprints leading into the marsh. On their way back to Thurmaster, they spotted a couple of lizardman on their trail, but the lizardmen retreated into the swamp when the party tried to approach and talk to them.

End Part 3.

The cast of Part 4:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Seirye Lathilar, an elven wizard who taught Lucien his first lessons in magic. She leaves us while exploring the marsh.
• Karon, a half-orc warrior who was looking to redeem himself. He knew 'Seliar' from before Haranshire.
• Arixos Darmaaren, a dragonborn fighter who proved very useful in dealing with the actual dragon.
• Viola Knight, a half-elf bard with no stomach for violence. Another casualty of the marsh.
• Theron Ashmore, a human cleric with a noble pedigree. He also leaves while exploring the marsh.

Recap Part 4, the end of The Evils of Haranshire and the beginning of Lured into Darkness:

Back in Thurmaster, some party members took their leave, but new ones joined. After gathering supplies, the group ventured back out to the Shrieken Mire where they encountered more lizardmen. This time, Arixos was able to speak with them and convinced them to allow the group passage through their lands. The lizardmen claimed not to know anything about giants so the party began trying to search and map the area on their own.

After camping in the marsh, the party was approached by four lizardmen in the morning who informed Arixos that their camp had been attacked by giants in the night and that they now wished to help the group track the giants down. After some negotiation, the lixardmen revealed that they had an 'arrangement' with a green dragon named Inzeldrin and gave the party her location. While the lizardmen went to scout the location of the giants, the party went to see if they could convince the dragon to help.

Eventually, the group was able to work out a deal (on Lathan's suggestion) where the dragon would deal with the giants and the townsfolk would leave tethered livestock for the dragon to eat. The dragon had little issue with the giants and the group returned to Count Palfrey who had another offer for them to help search the Howler's Moor for missing pilgrims.

End Part 4.

The cast of Part 5:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Karon, a half-orc warrior who was looking to redeem himself. He knew 'Seliar' from before Haranshire.
• Arixos Darmaaren, a dragonborn fighter who proved very useful in dealing with the actual dragon.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Terminax, a terse dragonborn fighter with quite the violent side.
• Gerbo, a gnomish knowledge cleric.
• Volani O'Tamu, a human bard sent by his uncle to pay a debt to Count Palfrey.

Recap Part 5, the first half of Lured into Darkness:

At Palfrey's keep, a new collection of adventurers joined the group as others departed and the group left to search for the missing pilgrims on the moor. When they stopped for the night, the party was attacked by a group of gnolls. Rissa eldritch accuracy issues began. After dealing with the gnolls, the party moved camp and then completed their rest for the night. In the morning they followed the gnolls tracks until they found a pack of two-headed dogs who had just killed two soldiers wearing symbols of Ilmater. The group surmised that they had been escorting the pilgrims before running afoul of the dogs. They decided to take the bodies of the soldiers back to Palfrey who accepted that as completion of the task.

After the meeting with Count Palfrey, Lyntern approached the group again and this time they convinced him to tell them what he knew about recent events without the added price of agreeing to let him accompany the group. He told them about a place called “The Gleaming Glade”. Apparently, the Palfrey's ancestor Lothar had led a group of heroes to defeat a priest of Myrkul and his followers at this place in the middle of the Hardlow Woods, but that the priest's death had left a curse on the area. Lyntern pointed the group to a dwarf named Old Grizzler in Milborne who knew the tale. The party took a barge back up river to Milborne to look for the dwarf.

They checked The Silver Crown tavern, but were told that Old Grizzler was likely out fishing which is indeed where they found him. The dwarf agreed to tell the tale of the glade in exchange for drinks; a trade the party was to become quite familiar with. Grizzler eventually told the tale, through not before regaling the party with the story of his days as a miner in the Blanryde Hills. He mentioned the dried up Garlstone Mine and other mines that kept the Carman family of Milborne wealthy. When he finally got onto the story of the glade, he told them about how in the course of the battle against the death cultists, several of Lothar Palfrey's companions were swallowed by a pit of inky tar. He also told them the rough location of the glade about about how most locals avoided the woods due to fear of lingering effects of the Myrkul priest's curse. He told the group that he believed Lothar Palfrey had been a paladin and that his descendant Sandior Palfrey, though no hero, was well liked enough in the area.

End Part 5.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:58, Sun 20 Mar 2022.

The cast of Part 6:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Karon, a half-orc warrior who was looking to redeem himself. He knew 'Seliar' from before Haranshire.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Terminax, a terse dragonborn fighter with quite the violent side.
• Volani O'Tamu, a human bard sent by his uncle to pay a debt to Count Palfrey.
• Atherian Moonshadow, a elvish bard.

Recap Part 6, almost to the end of Lured into Darkness:

The party took a barge downriver to Kuiper's farm, but when they arrived the farmer wasn't there. They decided to wait until the next day to see if he would return. In the morning, with no sign a of Kuiper, the party decided to make their way to the Hardlow Woods and begin their search. After spending half the day traveling through the woods, the party was set upon and defeated a party of worg riding goblins. They also managed to trap one of the goblins. They were unable to extract much more information than the knowledge that the goblins came from a tribe. Nothing else eventful occurred before the party decided to rest for the night.

The next day, the party decided to send the familiars up to see what they could spot from the air and that was how they found the clearing filled with skeletal, decaying trees. They found the trees covered in a strange moss and the ground black and gelatinous with a stench of death. A feeling of being watched which persisted throughout their journey in the woods continued once they reached the clearing. When they tried to enter the clearing they were warned to leave by an unseen speaker to leave. When they persisted, they were set upon by zombies and the apparently undead speaker.

After defeating the undead, the party wasn't able to find much else in or around the clearing at first. They managed to determine that the moss glowed, but could not tell any significance to it until darkness fell. In the meantime, they began to dig in the clearing. The digging proved surprisingly fruitful as the group turned up a fair amount of treasure, some magical scrolls, and a letter. The letter spoke of reinforcements coming to help 'Lord Lothar' and also of a place called 'Spire Keep'. It mentioned Lothar's squire, Lady Arlis, a spellcaster named Brother Seamrian, the garrison commander Sir Leomar, and was written by someone named Kanthus.

Seeing nothing else to be done, despite a lingering evil, the party decided to rest for the night away from the glade and then returned to Kuiper's farm in the morning. When they first arrived, they did not see Kuiper, but as they were settling in to rest, he appeared and invited them in. They showed Kuiper what they had found, but he could only tell them that Palfrey Keep did not have a spire. He advised them to try either Old Grizzler or Count Palfrey for more information. Deciding to start with Palfrey, the group headed off to Thurmaster.

End Part 6.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Tue 22 Mar 2022.

The cast of Part 7:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Terminax, a terse dragonborn fighter with quite the violent side, he got a new player towards the end of this section who played him as decidedly more chipper.
• Gazira Oakbarrel, a half-orc cleric of the dwarven god of ale. She left shortly before the assault on the keep.
• Three-Elks, a half-elf bardbarian, now deceased.

Recap Part 7, the end of Lured into Darkness and the very beginning of Ruins in the Thornwood:

Once arrived in Thurmaster, the group once again stayed at The Hound and Tails before proceeding on the Palfrey's keep. When they arrived, the party tried to question Lyntern, but were interrupted by his father before anything of substance could be learned. In the subsquent conversation with the Count, it became clear that he had no interest in the Gleaming Glade or the legends surrounding his ancestor. Whatever he knew about Spire Keep, he pretended not to know. The group decided to decline his offer to pay them to hunt down a pack of rabid dogs and instead decided to try and talk to Lyntern.

Lucien's familiar searched the outside of the keep as he taught Terminax the ritual to summon a familiar of his own. Once the owl had located Lyntern, Rissa wrote him a letter asking to meet to discuss the group's findings. Lyntern wrote back asking to meet them in the keep's stables the next morning at dawn. The next morning in the stables, Lyntern told the group about a ruined keep in the Thornwood that had belonged to his family. He promised to show the group if they let him come with them. Terminax and Rissa managed to dissuade the boy from joining the group. Lucien suggested that Lyntern convince his father to let him deal with the dogs instead. Lyntern also compared the scroll the group had found with other writings from the archive to ensure that the scrolls was in fact written by Kanthus. He also described the location of Spire Keep to them and told them how the place had been abandoned after the company of men stationed to guard it had all turned up dead with expressions of terror on their faces.

At Lucien's suggestion, the group headed back to Thurmaster where they bought a raft from Barranas, the general store owner, so that they could sail down the river as far as possible before entering the Thornwood. As they prepared to depart, Three-Elks came down the river on his own raft and was shortly convinced to join the party. They departed down the Woldcote river shortly thereafter and traveled along it until they estimated they had reached the approximate place they wanted to disembark. After tying up the raft, they started to head west into the dark and foreboding woods, but they'd gone no great distance when they were set upon by a group of bugbears. The party managed to defeat the bugbears with surprising skill considering two of them were new additions. After the battle was over, Lucien made a poor showing of giving Rissa advice which prompted her to reveal some of her struggles to the group.

Lathan led the way through the woods and, with help from Lucien's familiar scouting from the air, they eventually located a clearing with an old keep inside. When they approached they spotted a human guard atop a watchtower with a crossbow, but even with the familiars flying around, they did not immediately spot anyone else. Lucien used an illusion to draw the attention of the guard, who immediately triggered an alarm and started firing crossbow bolts at the image. Attempts to communicate with the guard only prompted more bolts to be fired.

The group, still not having revealed themselves, fell back to discuss their options. Terminax revealed that five more people had come out and stood around the gate when the alarm had sounded. The party decided to try and sneak into the keep under the cover of night to take these strangers by surprise. The night assault began with the party split in two: Three-Elks tripped a pit trap while Lucien, Lathan, and Terminax took out the guard on top of the watchtower. As they communicated via familiar and the Message cantrip, they scaled the battlements and silently eliminated another guard near the gate. The group successfully ambushed three more bandits when they exited the main hall and Lucien recognized their leader as the man who had fled after the barge attack. The battle quickly escalated as other bandits joined the fray. The leader and a teenage boy fled (after dueling Lucien) while the rest of the bandits fell to the party's onslaught.

Chasing the one-eyed bandit leader below the tower, the party discovered him guarded by zombies behind a hidden door. As they fought the zombie guards, more zombies as well as a couple of orcs appeared. The party beat back this latest group of enemies, but the one-eyed man had fled once more. They decided that the best course of action was to pursue the one-eyed man while he was injured and unprepared. In the very next room, they found him guarded by two skeletons. After yet another battle, they finally managed to kill the one-eyed man and then determined that they needed to find somewhere secure to rest for the night. After taking their loot off the bodies, a quick scouting of the keep reveals the front gate open and no sign of more bandits. The party holed up in a guardhouse to rest for the night.

End Part 7.

The cast of Part 8:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Terminax, a terse dragonborn fighter with quite the violent side, he got a new player towards the end of this section who played him as decidedly more chipper.
• Three-Elks, a half-elf bardbarian, now deceased.

Recap Part 8, the first half of Ruins in the Thornwood:

The orcs appeared to be from the same group that Lucien and Lathan had fought all those weeks ago. As the group explored the upper levels of the keep, they discovered a storeroom, had breakfast, and found several dogs who had not been treated well. They fed the dogs, but did not release them yet. Instead, they continued to explore the keep finding a bloody, empty cage and a trapdoor. When it became clear that the underground portion of the keep was so large, the group decided to finish exploring the above ground levels before going down. They found nothing else above ground however and soon re-entered the lower levels.

In the room where they killed the one-eyed man, they found a chest that unleashed a magical trap on them, but also contained a large amount of coin, some jewelry, 2 silvered flasks bearing the same symbol as the goblin ring, and a gilded key with an ivory handle.  The final thing of interest in the room was the entrance to the crypt of the Palfreys where they found a number of skeletons strewn about, but the sarcophagi themselves intact. Back in the hallway, they found a desecrated chapel of Torm where it was clear blood sacrifices had been performed. After passing through a locked door, they found a study and another bedroom with a skeleton on the bed, it's neck crushed. After passing through a narrow passage, the group found yet another locked door and this one had two dogs behind it which immediately attacked the group. No sooner had they defeated the dogs then they were attacked by a mad-woman. The walls of the room were covered with, presumably, the woman's ravings. She had a key ring on her and a small coffer stashed under her bed. The room appeared to be a jail or some kind. After avoid a trap by using mage hand, the group found more coin and jewelry in the coffer. In another room full of junk, the party defeated a giant rat.

Now having fully explored everything fully apparent below ground, the group split up to search for anything hidden. Lucien and Lathan found another hidden door. This door was also trapped, but another use of mage hand prevented any harm. Behind the door, the group found the keep's treasury though there was only one intact chest. The lock and traps of that chest were also dealt with using mage hand. The party found yet more treasure inside including several spell scrolls. Having fully explored the keep, the party departed to return to their raft.

While walking through the woods, they came upon Oleanne, who of course only knew Lucien and was in the company of a suspiciously intelligent bear. After trading information with her (she was hunting bloodskull orcs) they went their separate ways. Returning to the place where they'd left the raft, the party found it smashed to pieces. The party followed some tracks and were soon set upon by a group of bugbears. The fight with the bugbears prooved surprisingly difficult and the party decided to return to the keep to rest before trying to travel through the Thornwood on foot. At the keep, they found Oleanne again who agreed to guard them for the night. In the morning, she offered to escort them to Kuiper. The bear turned out to indeed be the boy Maxim.

Oleanne left the group at the edge of the Thornwood in sight of Kuiper's farm. Kuiper ferried the group across and offered them a hot meal in exchange for their tale. Kuper advised the group to travel to Milborne to see what they could learn from Garyld and Old Grizzler. On the way back however, they came upon a farm under attack by gnolls. After defeating them, they checked on the woman and child taking shelter inside the farm house while Three-Elks desecrated the gnolls' bodies as a warning to any other gnolls in the area. Lucien confirmed that the father and son of the family were safe with his familiar and the group departed for Milborne once more.

End Part 8.

The cast of Part 9:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Three-Elks, a half-elf bardbarian, now deceased.
• Alisandra, the rough edged human bard and former soldier recently arrived from the far north.

Recap Part 9, the second half of Ruins in the Thornwood and the beginning of Evil Below the Mines:

Back in Milborne, the party returned to The Baron of Mutton to have a few drinks and relax. There they met Alisandra and filled Old Grizzler with a few drinks though he had very little information to share once they had filled him in on their adventures. Intrigued by the prospect of fighting more necromancers, Alisandra volunteered her services to the group. After a debate about what to do next, the group decided to rest at the inn for the night before venturing out.

In the morning, Garyld found the group and told them that Semheis had disappeared during the night and that there were signs of a struggle in the temple of Torm. At Garyld's behest, the group agreed to try to find the priest. Lathan found tracks heading north towards the mines and the group followed him. Shortly after the tracks ended apparently in the middle of open country, the group found a young shepherdess who told them that she saw dark figures carrying something along the edge of the hills headed north. After a few miles, they came upon the entrance to an abandoned mine and determined to investigate it.

As they searched through the tunnels, they found an apparent dead end in a magnificent natural cavern partially flooded with water too deep to wade through. Down another tunnel, Rissa was briefly paralyzed by some kind of magical trap in the form of a wyvern before Alisandra cured her of the affliction. Scouting ahead with his familiar, Lucien spotted a group of brigands charging towards the group. The party managed to achieve complete surprise despite their enemies' preparedness thanks to a well timed illusion from Lucien and then, thanks to a timely faerie fire spell from Alisandra, quickly dispatched the brigands after a hard fought battle. In the wake of the fight, the party decided to retreat from the cave and rest outside before continuing.

When they eventually returned to the site of the battle, the bodies of their enemies were gone. Following the trail, they descended down a shaft to a place where they found lit lanterns and the continuing blood trail. Following the trail down more twisting and splitting tunnels and past an old mining cabin, the group eventually came upon a necromancer flanked by the re-animated bodies of the brigands who had attacked them and some additional undead minions. The fight against the necromancer and her servants was made even more dangerous shortly after it began by the arrival of a second necromancer with yet more minions from behind the group. Only the timely arrival of Kuiper to aid the party managed to save them. After the battle, the party explained to Kuiper why they were in the mine as they searched the bodies. They found quite a bit of interesting loot including a small model of a cottage that could expand to a full size cottage to allow them to store things inside and another key identical to the one they had found on the necromancer at Spire Keep.

As the rest of the party catches their breath with Kuiper watching, Lucien uses the magical ability of his cloak to turn into a bat and explore all the other passages that the group had passed. He found little other than another cabin and a body floating face down in a pool of water before returning to the group. Deciding they needed to rest fully before pressing on, the group returned to one of the cabins and took a long rest inside. After several hours rest, the party investigated the floating body thanks to Alisandra's willingness to go swimming, but found nothing of interest before heading back to the only tunnel that has not been a dead end. This tunnel also split, but the party followed a blood trail down one branch to a chamber filled with old weapons with a pool of blood in it.

Continuing ever deeper into the tunnels, the party passed through tunnels stretching for miles with few branches. Kuiper pointed out, when asked about the mine, that the tunnels they were exploring were naturally occurring, not mine shafts and that they had been walking for south for long enough that they would soon be passing underneath the Churnett River. After continuing through the tunnels until they were tired of walking, the party decided to rest before continuing down the next tunnel. Lucien sent his familiar down the unexplored passage to scout. A few scant hours into their rest, Lucien's familiar returned to report a party of orcs was approaching. The party prepared an ambush which allowed them to quickly handle the orcs with little difficulty before returning to their rest. The next day the exploration continued taking them through yet more tunnels which Kuiper estimated would soon take the group under the Thornwood. At long last the party came to a large stone door.

End Part 9.

The cast of Part 10:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Three-Elks, a half-elf bardbarian, now deceased.
• Alisandra, the rough edged human bard and former soldier recently arrived from the far north.

Recap Part 10, the middle of Evil Below the Mines:

After very cautiously opening the door and discovering the tapestry on the other side, the party discovered that the door led to the bedchamber in the basement of Spire Keep where they had killed the necromancer so many days before. They decided to rest for the night in Spire Keep and as they were setting up camp, Oleanne appeared again. She agreed to keep watch while they rested, but they parted ways the next day when the party returned to the tunnels to continue exploring.

After walking down the unexplored passage for several miles, the party came across a massive set of bronze double doors in the passage. They quickly determined that the keys they had found on the necromancers would unlock the doors and, using mage hands to do it from a distance, Lucien and Rissa unlocked the doors. On the other side of the doors was a group of orcs with several large lizards. A pitched battle ensued with more orcs reinforcing the first group. The party made a good account of itself against more than a score of orcs and their beasts, but was forced to fall back to avoid being overwhelmed.

After falling back down the tunnel, the party set a watch and rested. When they woke, they made their way back to the doors ready to face the orcs again. This time, they found the doors barricaded with rocks and debris on the far side that prevented the group from pushing the doors open very far. When Lucien sent his familiar through the small opening they had managed to make, it was immediately shot by a large group of orcs with crossbows. The party re-engaged the orcs through the partially open door. Another hard fought battle ended with the group bloodied, but unbroken.

The party discovered that several of the orcs smelled strangely of fish, like some of the bandits they had fought and all the orcs bore the same skull tattoo that had marked those the party had fought before. They also found a good deal of treasure on the orcs. While the others rested, Lucien pushed ahead on his own to scout. He found orc women and children in a large dead-end cavern. Down a side tunnel, he found a clean, well-appointed cavern with a passage out that sloped down and another cavern that appeared to be a sort of barracks where there were two prisoners: a man and a dwarf. Lucien freed them and brought them back to the group.

The party gave the recently freed prisoners food. The dwarf introduced himself as Snagger, but the man didn't speak. Kuiper was pretty sure he recognized the man and offered to take him back to the surface while the party continued to explore. Snagger volunteered to stay and help the party out. They decided to give the orc woman and children a wide berth as they continued their explorations.

When the group found a huge chest of coins in the well-appointed cavern (along with Snagger's equipment), Rissa finally made the cottage full sized. Inside she found a magical rod as well as more treasure. They put the chest inside the cottage before shrinking it back down. They then descended the tunnel at the back of the cavern and had not gone far before a group of gnomes appeared seemingly straight out of the stone and asked the group what they were planning to do.

The leader of the gnomes introduced herself as Carmeneren, Priestess of Callarduran Smoothhands. After introductions, the gnome leader explained that some prisoners were taken from the orcs down to deeper darker things below including illithids. She told them that the gnomes would share information with the group only with they proved themselves worthy lest the party bring retribution on the gnomes. She advised the group to return to the surface and prepare, then to return in no more than a week to avoid a potential ambush set by the illithids. She advised bringing flammable oil when they returned.

On the gnomes advice, the party returned to the surface by way of the mines. On the walk back, after catching up with Kuiper and the shepherd, Rissa gave the group some insight into her history. They all agreed to rest at The Silver Crown before beginning their preparations.

End Part 10.

The cast of Part 11:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Three-Elks, a half-elf bardbarian, now deceased, replaced by a new player halfway through this part.
• Alisandra, the rough edged human bard and former soldier recently arrived from the far north.
• Jinx, a gnome inventor willing to engage in adventure to fund her researches. Already on player number two.

Recap Part 11, the end of Evil Below the Mines and the beginning of Into the Deep Dark:

The group spent some time in Milborne buying new armor and supplies. Lucien also took the opportunity to confirm with Andren that the blue cloak they had found did indeed belong to Jelenneth. Meanwhile Rissa engaged a gnomish inventor and convinced her to join the group for their return to the tunnels. When the group was reunited, they agreed to pay a visit to Tauster in Thurmaster first to see if the old wizard could impart any knowledge. After gaining passage on a barge in exchange for serving as guards, the party visited Tauster's tower. The wizard was unable to share much information of use and promptly slammed the door in their faces when Alisandra called him a coward.

Since they were now closer to Spire Keep, the party decided to travel through the Thornwood and to reenter the tunnels that way. When they arrived at the keep they found tracks from a group of humanoids (including child-sized footprints) leading away from the keep which they speculated belonged to the bloodskull women and children. After making their way back through the tunnels, they eventually came back to the great bronze double doors which had been shut, but not locked. Beyond them, the cavern was deserted and the bodies of the orcs were nowhere to be seen. What they did find however, was a magical fire trap which caught half the party in its blast. After scouting ahead with his familiar, Lucien found the bodies of the orcs piled in the chamber where the women and children had been sheltering previously.

Not far past this point, the group encountered the deep gnomes again. Carmeneren explained that the gnomes had been watching goings on in the tunnels for some time to gather information and that they could offer refuge to a group of adventurers seeking to deal with the threat, but that they had to be certain they could trust those adventurers not to put the gnomes in danger. In order to prove that they were both trustworthy and competent, she asked the group to clear out a pack of trolls that inhabited some nearby tunnels. After resting, the party set off to deal with the trolls.

On the way to the troll tunnels, the party encountered a spectral humanoid which attacked them on sight, but was quickly dispatched. After many more hours of marching, they reached the area Carmeneren had described and decided to rest again before proceeding. During their rest, they were attacked by strange bestial creatures. Lucien sent his familiar to scout ahead and discovered that they were still some distance from the trolls. After the group had rested, they proceeded on and made good time thanks to Lathan leading them. Eventually they came upon their first troll and engaged it, but it fled when it couldn't get close to them and joined up with a group of half a dozen more. Rather than rush in, the party decided to set a trap. They began their preparations and decided to rest once more before engaging.

After resting, they set their traps and then re-approached the caves where the trolls were. Seeing only one at first they engaged it and managed to kill it just as another joined the fight. They managed to take down the second troll as well, but six more soon joined the fray. The party retreated back to their traps, but they prooved less effective than hoped. Rissa trapped the trolls with a wall of ice and the party continued to try to whittle them down. The battle quickly turned against the group however and, in desperation, Rissa cast wall of ice again to seal the trolls off from the party. Unfortunately, Three-Elks was also caught in the magic and killed though two more of the trolls were killed.

Dejected and beaten, the party retreated as far as they could manage before resting. The next day they had a brief conversations with the gnomes where they promised to return, before heading back to the surface. During the trip back, Lucien revealed his true name to Jinx. Eventually, they managed to make their way back to Milborne to rest and resupply.

End Part 11.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:18, Fri 01 Apr 2022.

The cast of Part 11:

• Lucien, the paranoid ex-spy elvish rogue you know and love.
• Lathan, our fearless pathfinder elvish ranger.
• Rissa Twiceborn, everyone's favorite tiefling warlock with a warring inner nature.
• Alisandra, the rough edged human bard and former soldier recently arrived from the far north.
• Jinx, a gnome inventor willing to engage in adventure to fund her researches.
• Lorrain Greenleaf, an elvish wizard looking for puzzles and adventure. Three Elk's player's new character.
• Heldig One-Thumb, a dwarven forge-priest with almost as much jewelry as Rissa.

Recap Part 11, the bulk of Into the Deep Dark and the beginning of Perils of the Underdark:

Back in Milborne, the party mourned the loss of Three-Elks as best they could, but also set about making their preparations for a return below. Old Grizzler introduced the group to his newest acquaintance: a dwarven forge-priest named Heldig who was interested in joining their next expedition. When reliving the tale of what had happened became too much for her, Alisandra stepped outside where she encountered the elven wizard Lorrain Greenleaf. Both adventurers were quickly convinced to join the party. Before turning in for the evening, Lucien made a report of matters to Garyld and asked him to inform Kuiper as well. Lucien also passed along one of the mysterious silvered flasks to be given to Tauster for identification. With various matters handled in town, the party turned in to get at least one night's rest in comfortable beds before returning to their adventure.

Before setting out on the return trip, the group discussed how to be more strategic in their approach to dealing with the trolls. Many tactics were suggested and the group also agreed that Alisandra should lead during the battle, directing their attacks and calling the retreat if necessary. Lorrain also mentioned that, with some time to prepare, he could fashion some scrolls to help in the coming battles. While the wizard worked, Lucien paid a visit to Master Carman to see what he could learn about the history of the mines. He learned that the mine became unprofitable and has been closed and unused for 60 years. He also learned that the mines were made by linking a series of natural caverns, but that no one had been aware the caverns went so deep or so far. The two other mines in the area had reported no strange activity or disappearances. As Lorrain continued to work, some of the party traveled to Eelhold to check on Shiraz and the goblins. The warning about the threat to spellcasters was passed to her during the visit, but she reported nothing strange, only that things seemed to be going well with the goblins.

Once everyone is gathered together again, the party departed back to the tunnels through the Garlstone Mines. Though the passage through the upper parts of the mines and then the orc tunnels was uneventful, the party was attacked by Quaggoths before they reached the troll tunnels. The beasts proved no match for the group and after they were defeated, the party reached the entrance to the troll tunnels without further incident where they decided to rest and plan. Rissa produced her magical shrinking cottage. The party collected equipment they had stored within and Lorrain set to work on another scroll. Alisandra revealed her plan for fighting the trolls and everyone made various suggestions to enhance it. Once the plan was set, the group rested while Lucien's familiar scouted the path ahead.

Two trolls were waiting for them at a junction in the tunnels so the party prepared their trap at a narrow point. However, when Alisandra blew her horn to try and summon the trolls into the trap, they did not take the bait. After some discussion and expressed concern about the apparent intelligence of the trolls, it was decided to reset the trap closer to the tunnel junction. Closer to the trolls, Lucien used his cloak to fly in and bait them, but this was barely more effective than the horn. At the junction there were now nine trolls waiting for the party. Rissa used her staff to cut two of them off from the rest and the battle was joined. In the fight that followed, the group managed to defeat four trolls before deciding to retreat under cover of an ice wall from Rissa's staff.

During the retreat to a place where they could camp and recuperate, further discussion was had about how intelligent the trolls seemed to be and Heldig revealed more of what he knew about the Illithids. Once back at camp, Lorrain summoned his familiar as a spider and he and Lucien coordinated to have their two familiars scout the area behind the junction the trolls were guarding. When the familiars returned, they brought devastating news. The party faced not just the five remaining trolls they had failed to defeat in the previous battle, but an entire tribe of trolls; nearly seventy of the beasts including small ones and a two headed leader. This revelation was an understandable shock to the group so they decided to head back and confer with the deep gnomes before continuing the assault.

When they found Carmeneren, Priestess of Callarduran Smoothhands, and her fellow gnomes again, the gnome priestess confirmed that she intended for the party to defeat the entire tribe since forty trolls were nothing compared to the Illithids. There was some debate with the gnomes, but ultimately, the party decided to continue the fight and headed back towards the troll caves before resting. During the march, Rissa, Lucien, and Alisandra had a brief heart to heart regarding Rissa's increasing attachment to the staff and her feelings of inadequacy. When they stopped to rest, the familiars were sent to scout again and reported the trolls did not appear to have changed their disposition.

The next attack against two trolls guarding the junction ended quickly when they fled despite an attempt to block them Rissa's ice wall. Pausing in the junction, familiars were sent out to scout, but before they returned the party was set upon by two more trolls who they managed to defeat. After a brief rest, the party decided to try and engage the remaining trolls in the main tunnel, including the two-headed leader. Lucien went forward and laid a trap just beyond where the trolls waited, the used his familiar to tell the rest of the group to advance. After a fierce battle, they managed to defeat all six trolls. This victory prompted the group to fall back and rest before continuing the attack. The next 'day' they scouted the tunnels again before resuming their attack. They took on the first of two groups of two trolls guarding a router to the rest first. Next they went down a side passage and took care of 40 troglodytes that appeared to be some kind of prisoners or servants to the trolls. With a combination of a cone of cold, flaming spheres, and another of Lucien's traps, they managed it. They found a great pile of treasure in the cavern, but also discovered their way out was blocked by two trolls. They left the treasure, defeated the two trolls, and decided to fall back and rest.

After a rest, the party went about finishing off the remaining trolls. Two more troll guards were handled easily and they detoured briefly to collect the treasure from the troglodytes cavern. Though they managed to take out the next group of four trolls, it took a heavy toll on the group so they took a short respite before proceeding. The next group they fought contained six trolls, but half retreated to stay near a pool of water allowing them to be fought in two groups of three. Another pile of treasure was loaded into Rissa's cottage before the group agree to retreat to safety and rest one final time before fighting the final group of trolls. The fight against the final group of seven trolls was finally won with a prodigious application of magic. The party spent some time collecting treasure including recovering Three-Elks effects, before leaving to try and find the deep gnomes.

End Part 12.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Sat 30 Sept 2023.