• Time Frame:    Unknown Time
• Genre:    Fantasy (d20)
• Progress Level: D&D = Dungeons and Dragons 
• Life:    Demons, Psionisists, Grimlocks, Were-rats and more
• Setting:    unknown fantasy world 
• Plot:    An adventure company on a mission for a lord Gelbin 
• Goals:    
  • Explore some town Brindinford
  • Heal Lydia
• Characters:    1 Magic User, 1 Rogue, 1 Cleric, and 1 Fighter
  • Lysander of Blackmoor is a human Fighter played by Jean Claude
  • Lydia is a beautiful human Cleric played by Mandy
  • Meldor of Kuhl is a half-elf Sorcerer/Wizard  played by Mike
  • Ashrem is a human Rogue played by Manny 
  • Ulfgar the bowmen
• NPC
  • Horken

Speaker In Dreams

Adventure #1

Lysander buys a suit of Spiked Platemail +2 while Lydia purchases a Wand of Cure Light Wounds as well as a protective ring and necklace. Meldor likewise buys a protective ring and necklace as well as many other items. Ashrem receives a mysterious letter in the night.

Lord Gelban says he knows someone who can restore Lydia’s Wisdom so off the party goes to the town of Brindinford.

Brindinford is having their annual fair and the town is packed full of merchants as well as customers. The party makes it into town without incident but it isn’ t long before a group of Ratmen and rats of unusual size burst out from behind one stall and begins to attack bystanders. The crowd runs fleeing as the party rushes forward and attacks. Lysander cleaves through several Ratmen as Lydia fights off one with her mace. Meldor guns down Squim, the retreating Ratman leader, with a Magic Missile. As the Ratmen die they turn into Humans, proving they were actually Were-Rats. Ashrem and Lysander were both stuck with the Were-Rat’s rapiers and fear they may contract Lycanthropy.

Ashrem and Lysander go with the Town Guard to interrogate the one remaining Were-Rat. They cannot learn much so they let him go in order to follow him back to the Were-Rat lair in town.

Meanwhile, Meldor and Lydia visit the cleric Lord Gelban directed them to. He says he is not strong enough to cast the spell they want him to, but he claims they there is a scroll in the Library of the church that he knows has the spell on it. If the party would return tomorrow he would happily restore Lydia’s Wisdom. The party meets up after following the Were-Rat to the Bell Tower in the middle of the town. The party begins going from tavern to tavern, looking for some information around town. Ashrem continuously asks about a smith named Shooma and the party begins to become suspicious. The party manages to learn two rumors, aside from several people claiming to see rats about in the Bell Tower. One rumor is about grisly murders happening in the South Spur area of town. No body is ever found but the blood found the next day leaves little doubt as to what had happened. The other rumor is about an insane ghost in town.

During their information gathering the party finds an innkeeper who saw them fighting with the Were-Rats earlier that day. In a show of thanks for protecting the town he gives them each a very nice room in his inn for a low cost, considering the fair going on.

At dinner Meldor charms Ashrem and asks him why he is seeking Shooma the smith. Ashrem seems to struggle for a moment before admitting he seeks to kill her. Meldor is somewhat shocked and asks why. Ashrem struggles again and this time overcomes Meldor’s spell, simply shrugging and making a joke. Luckily Lydia apparently was completely absorbed in her food and heard none of this discourse.

The next morning the party wakes up and sets out for the temple in order to get Lydia healed. Ashrem splits off and tells them he has a few errands and will meet them at the temple at noon.

Ashrem goes into the merchant part of town and quickly finds Shooma’s place of business. Ashrem inspects the house, taking note of any possible openings that could earn him access. Finally he enters within and begins to speak with Shooma, an aging Dwarven smith who claims she has been working in this smithy for over a hundred years. Noticing her fine examples of work on the walls, Ashrem commissions a Masterpiece Short and Long Sword. Shooma tells him she will likely be able to finish them in a week, but will require at least 600 gold to even start work. Ashrem easily has enough in platinum and walks out the shop, heading for the temple.

Meanwhile, on their way to the temple, Lysander notices two men following the rest of the group. Turning around he draws his sword and rushes in to attack! The two men reveal themselves as Were-Rats as they shift into Ratman form and attack the party. Lysander quickly cleaves through one, leaving Meldor to finish the remaining one. Lydia and Meldor take some of the Were-Rat’s treasure, including a pair of bracers and a cloak.

Finally arriving at the temple Ashrem meets up with the rest of the party as they enter in. The elderly cleric of the temple wanders out with the a scroll in hand and begins the casting of the spell. A burst of golden sunlight shines down from the clouds as Lydia feels the whispers of the mad ghost fade away and her Wisdom is restored. Lysander asks the elderly priest if he knows anything of Lycanthropes and the old man professes ignorance. As before however, there very likely is a book in the Library, if the party would only give him a day to find it. Lysander agrees and the party leaves.

Adventure #2

The party then begins to debate about what they should actually do. Meldor and Lydia are at first for exploring and ridding the Bell Tower of Were-Rats, as not only do they know they are there but also because the guard has been trying to make them do so.

Ashrem seems strangely hesitant to do so, and Lysander takes his side. Finally Ashrem convinces Meldor and Lydia to let the Were-Rats sit for one day as they go to South Spur to check up on the murders.

As the party wanders through South Spur the fair thins out and soon the fact that a fair is going on is hard to tell. One small acting company was apparently brave enough to come into the South Spur region, however, and is in the middle of a performance when the party stops to watch.

Suddenly a Grimlock bursts out from the back of the wagon on which the actors are standing. The party all draws weapons, except for Lysander who assumes it was all part of the show. The Grimlock behind the actors is joined by several others and they merrily begin cutting down nearby peasants. Meldor tries to put a pair of Grimlocks to sleep but only manages to put two peasants asleep. Lydia succeeds where Meldor failed and puts one Grimlock asleep. One Grimlock, seeing the that they are outclassed, retreats away. Lysander kills one but then drops his weapon. Lydia likewise kills another Grimlock. Ashrem kills the one remaining, sleeping Grimlock despite Meldor’s disapproval. The Town Guard arrives and Ashrem tells them to use the Grimlock’s treasure to pay for the all of the peasants funerals.

Moving to the actor’s wagon the party finds a trail of blood where it seems the Grimlock who retreated forgot to wipe his axe off. Following the trail of blood the party comes to an abandoned warehouse. Most of the windows and doors are boarded up but one remains open. Meldor peers in but the warehouse is too dark for him to make out much.

Moving around to the front door Lysander begins to try to bust the door in. Ashrem moves around to the open window and climbs up, waiting for the party to come through. After the third try at the door Lysander’s shoulder begins to hurt. Lydia walks over to take his place and knocks the door down on the first try.

Inside the room the party sees three Grimlocks standing in a row. The middle one begins making motions to cast a spell and the party suddenly finds themselves enveloped in darkness. Ashrem sees a bubble of darkness suddenly appear, blocking out sight of the other party members. Lysander and Lydia both take quite a beating, being completely blind within the darkness. Lysander feels poison begin to sear through his veins at the cut of one of the Grimlocks axes, and begins to become much more clumsy. Lydia begins trying to heal herself and Lysander using her new Wand of Cure Light Wounds, but she cannot manage to touch Lysander and fails. Meldor tries to counter the darkness with Light but unfortunately his spell is not strong enough to dispel the darkness. Ashrem begins to shoot wildly into the bubble of darkness with his crossbow. Luckily Lysander’s magical platemail protects him from the crossbow bolts.

Lydia retreats from the darkness, followed shortly by Lysander. Lydia quickly heals Lysander by a good amount, and he then charges back into the darkness as Meldor retreats out of the darkness and into the street. One Grimlock hits another inside the darkness and the other falls asleep due to Meldor’s spells. Lysander runs into a Grimlock and begins to hack at it as the darkness begins to move out into the street. The retreating darkness reveals a sleeping Grimlock and Ashrem finishes it off.

Out of the warehouse and in the street Lysander charges out of the darkness sphere. Meldor tosses in a tanglefoot bag and hears it splash against something. The party all begins to fire into the darkness sphere with ranged attacks. Lydia barely dodges an arrow from Lysander. Meldor manages to cast Deafness at the creature inside but cannot manage to understand his scroll of Stinking Cloud.

Suddenly a Grimlock comes staggering out of the darkness sphere. She is sticking to the ground and is severely wounded. Lysander engages the Grimlock in combat as Ashrem launches a crossbow bolt into her back. The Grimlock falls and Ashrem realizes he recognizes the Grimlock from Greyhawk.

Ashrem finds a small chest inside the warehouse and drags it back into the street where he begins trying to pick the lock. As he opens it the darkness sphere disperses. Inside the chest is a small amount of money, as well as a gem and several scrolls. In addition Meldor notices a spell book tucked within the chest which he gladly takes.

The party awakes on the 3rd day, the Eve of the Full Moon.

Adventure #3

The Full Moon becomes more significant with the potential were-rats in the bell tower.  The party awakes on the 3^rd day, the Eve of the Full Moon.   Lysander is happy to discover that his Dexterity has gone up.  The party heads off into town where a guard tells them a story of the rats attacking the night before.  Many men were killed.  The party agrees to handle the rats and Meldor asks the guard if they could have a map of the bell tower.  The guard quickly complies and they are on their way.

             Upon arriving at the tower the dilemma of how to enter surfaces.  Meldor has the idea that the party should all buy levitating potions and go through the windows at the tower’s top.  The party agrees and they buy and down their potions … except for Ashrem.  Before drinking his potion he unlocks the door at to the bell tower and swings it open.  Then he downs his potion and starts his ascent with the rest of the party. 

             When the party reaches the top they notice four stone gargoyles perched above the four windows.  Two of them seem all too alive.  When Lysander attempts to climb through his window, the Gargoyle above his window tries to take a swipe at him and the one above Ashrem also begins to move, diving down towards the rising Rogue.  Lydia fearing her Gargoyle will become animate, bashes it with her mace.  A big chunk of stone breaks off but nothing else occurs.  Meldor floats into the Tower’s top level and casts Burning Hands on the Gargoyle attacking Lysander, making it turn on him.  Lydia attempts to knock the Gargoyle off of him by bashing it with her mace but her mace didn’t seem to phase it.   Ashrem ducked just in time to avoid an attack while Lysander, wielding Shatterspike, destroyed the Gargoyle now attacking Meldor.  Lydia utters a Command at the Gargoyle, ordering it to sleep, thus falling to the floor below.  Upon hitting the ground the Gargoyle wakes up and heads straight up at Lydia. Meldor manages to use his Wand of Magic Missiles to destroy the second Gargoyle, but not before it strikes Lydia several times.

             The party floats down to the floor and starts making their way through the tower.  The first room they come to is a high room with three Were-Rats swinging from the ceiling, wielding rapiers.  The Rats never had a chance, however, as Ashrem and Lysander float up and skewer two of the rats and Meldor Magic Missiles the other before they can even move.

             The next floor is full of Dire Rats. In total Meldor estimates close to ten. The first thing Lydia and Ashrem do is float up to the ceiling but the rats manage to bite Meldor and Lysander.  The party starts hacking into them and the rats become so confused they begin to kill themselves.  The party manages to walk away not much worse for wear.

             As the party makes their way down the tower, Lysander steps on a trap that causes a black beam to shoot out of the wall.  Luckily Lysander manages to avoid being hit by the beam.  On the next floor the party finds by three Were-Rats that appear to be looking for something in the debris that is scattered about the room.  They do not even notice as the door party sneaks up behind them and kills them. 

             The party finally makes it to the bottom floor.  The door that Ashrem opened is still open and the party enters the room opposite the open door. When they open the door to the final room they see an old man (presumably the old man who lives in the tower) sleeping in his bed.  Fearing that he may be a Were-Rat, Lysander puts his sword to the man’s throat and carefully wakes him up. The party escorts him to the guards outside and they say that they will get help for him. Before the party can get back inside though, they heard the sounds of a fight outside as the old man transformed and ripped the guard’s throat out.  Lysander and Ashrem rush outside and fire crossbow bolts at the fleeing Were-Rat, but he does not even break stride as the bolts strike him. However, Meldor manages to take him out with a Magic Missile from his wand before the Were-Rat gets far.

             The party goes back and explores the tower, looking for treasure. Ashrem finds over a thousand silver and a piece of amber littered among the large amount of debris on the second floor. Ashrem decides that he wants to go for a walk outside of the city and will meet the party in the morning. The rest of the party heads to the temple to find out what the priest has found on Were-Rats. He presents the party with a large volume and provides answers to some of their questions. The party is given permission to borrow the book and find out that Lycanthropy can be transmitted through a tainted sword in some cases. Lysander and Meldor, fearing that they have been exposed, ask to receive a cure.  The priest performs the ritual detailed within the book but claims that the results cannot be known until tonight, the night of the full moon.

              They buy manacles for Lysander and Meldor incase they transform into Were-Rats that night.  They go back to their room and Lydia locks them up and ties a rope around Lysander for good measure.  She puts their weapons in a chest but keeps Meldor’s wand with her incase Lysander changes but Meldor does not.  As the moon begins to rise…nothing happens to Meldor.  But just when Lydia is relived to see that Meldor isn’t changing she sees that Lysander is.  Lysander. Now much smaller, wriggles out of the bindings and bites Lydia on the leg.  She manages to Command Lysander to sleep.  She and Meldor decide to try to put him in the chest while he is sleeping.  Unfortunately the jostling wakes him up.  Lydia makes a desperate attempt to throw Lysander in the chest and succeeds.  Unfortunately the lid was not shut and he climbed right out.  Lydia rushes over to Meldor, takes off his manacles, and gives him back his wand.  He tries to cast a scroll of Web on him but it misses.  While trying to bite Lydia, he manages to bite himself twice.  Lydia uses her Morning Star to attempt to subdue him but it hits him hard, sticking into his side.  Meldor casts Spider Climb on Lydia and they converge on the ceiling, while Lysander destroys the room.  They manage to keep hitting him until he falls unconscious.  Upon doing so Lydia rushes to him and stops his bleeding..  They manage to get what little sleep is left to them.

            The next day Ashrem returns to see that Lydia and Meldor kicked Lysander’s butt. (Ashrem had spent the night scampering around the forest as a rat and had woken up naked on the side of the road.)  Lydia and Meldor and Lysander go back to the temple and ask once again to be healed.  They make a large donation and are once again “healed”.  The party decides to buy nets to wrap Lydia and Lysander up in to hold them so they can’t escape.

            That night Lysander once again changes into a Dire Rat and Lydia remains unchanged.  Meldor Sleeps him and they sleep out the rest of the night.  Ashrem returns the next day and finds Lysander the same as he left him.

Adventure #4

            Now that the group’s major lycanthrope problems are hopefully over for the month, the party sets out to investigate the rumors of the ghost of Watch Hill. A few quick questions reveal that the ghost they are seeking worked at a small bookstore called the Reality Wrinkle in life. Deciding that checking out the Reality Wrinkle is the next logical step, the party slowly begins making its way down the fair choked streets. Suddenly the sound of glass breaking is heard as time and space distort. Suddenly a large, pulsating worm-like creature looms before the party. Meldor summons up a Flaming Sphere while Lysander and Lydia beat at it. Ashrem uses his magical rapier to devastating effect, slashing at the worm’s internal organs, visible beneath the skin.

             But as the party fights the first worm the sound of breaking glass comes again and another worm appears behind! Meldor draws his wand of Magic Missiles and begins to attack the new worm as he continues to mentally maneuver his Flaming Sphere. As the first worm falls to the group and begins to seemingly evaporate, Lysander, Lydia, and Ashrem turn on the second worm, quickly cutting it down as well.

            As the second worm begins dissolving Ashrem looks around for any more worms. Instead he sees a cloaked figure running down a wall far down the street. He points the person out to the party but seeing as the figure already has a head start the party chooses to not pursue. Meldor, meanwhile, overhears a shop keep mumbling to himself.

“I wonder where Aelin is? She normally handles problems like that … “

 Meldor quickly moves closer to the shop keep and inquires as to the identity of Aelin. He discovers that she is a paladin of Heironious who normally takes care of the Watch Hill area. Seeing this coincidence as too much the party rushes to the Shrine of Heironious to see if something is happening there. As they approach the Shrine, however, the party can see it is being affected by some foul magic because the entire structure is shrouded in fog. Suddenly a woman’s scream pierces through the thick fog, and the party rushes in. Ashrem is the first to see anything, and he sees two men bending over a fallen woman in plate, trying to lift her up. With a flick of his wrist Ashrem slides his rapier into the eye of the first man. The first of the woman’s assailants dies before he even realizes he is in danger. Lysander reaches the scene next and begins trying to subdue the second man. The man lets go of the woman and seems to begin concentrating on Lysander. Whatever he planned on doing was for naught, however, as Lydia runs up and knocks him cold with her mace.

The woman is roused and introduces herself as Torea, the apprentice to Aelin. She explains that Aelin heard a noise outside and went to investigate. When she failed to return Torea went outside to investigate and was herself attacked by the two men.

Ashrem does a search of the two men and finds strange items secreted about their person. Strangest of all though, are their tattoos. The men’s tattoos apparently have a life of their own as they begin to slither around on the men’s skin. As Ashrem searches their bodies they begin slithering on to him! Luckily Meldor has seen these before and knows what they are. He shows Ashrem how to activate them and Ashrem is soon toting an impressive collection of tattoos. Ashrem and Lysander begin tying up the subdued man and soon after wake him up. Meldor begins questioning him but it is soon obvious the man isn’t very sane. In fact, its pretty obvious that he is completely nuts.

The man begins to rant about bells tolling and gates swinging wide. He rambles on and on about various apocalyptic nonsense and the party soon tires. Ashrem takes him out back in order to let him go while Torea is distracted. Returning, she is furious but Ashrem explains it was all in order to follow him back to his hideout. Torea is still dubious but acknowledges the use. Torea says she will wait at the Shrine in case her mistress breaks free. The party agrees to continue on. Walking outside Meldor begins to question Ashrem when he notices the body lying behind the Shrine. Ashrem let him go in, but only in a metaphorical sense. Meldor grimaces but continues on.

The party reaches the Reality Wrinkle and finds it a small, unassuming shop. Entering within the party finds the inside oddly disturbing, angles not meeting like they should, straight lines bending where they shouldn’t. All in all the room makes the party somewhat nauseous. The proprietor doesn’t enhance the effect any. The shopkeeper sits with a vacant look in his eyes, a small amount of drool sliding from his lips. He seems to be unkempt and unwashed, all in all a rather disgusting person. Meldor asks about a few books, and finds two containing several scrolls. When he asks about the back room however, the man’s face hardens and he refuses entry. Lydia pushes past Meldor and asks in a pleasant tone if she was banned from the back too. The proprietor looks her up and down, licking his lips, before admitting that she can indeed come in.

 In the back Lydia observes even more books, as well as several doors. One leads out back into some kind of garden. Two others lead to a set of stairs, one ascending, one descending. The last is a closet explains the foul man. During all of this Lydia slowly becomes aware of a low noise that seems to be coming from somewhere by the stairs.

 In the front room Ashrem distracts Lysander and Meldor before he grabs the two magic books Meldor was looking at. Distracting Meldor again he quickly slips them into Meldor’s backpack. No one is the wiser. The proprietor returns with Lydia and the party leaves the shop. Lydia passes on what she has seen and the party decides to try to find a way into the garden that lay at the back of the shop. Searching about the party locates a nearby alley and follows it down to about where the Reality Wrinkle’s back should be. Scaling up Ashrem sees the other side, and indeed it is the Reality Wrinkle. Unfortunately the wall is too high for anyone else to climb so the party backtracks to the shop’s front.

 Entering in Meldor quickly Sleeps the shopkeeper as he looks up from his accounts. Lysander ties the shop keep up as the party enters into the back. Listing closely the party pinpoints the source of the sound as coming from the closet and rips it open. Regret comes quick as the open closet door reveals an amorphous mass of blinking eyes and gnashing teeth. A sound indescribable pours out from its many lips and Meldor screams as all rational thought flees the daemonic cacophony. Ashrem begins to slice at it with his rapier and Lysander stands next to do the same. Suddenly though, the creatures mouths begin to reach out on look tendrils and bite at the two warriors. Lysander armor protects him from the attacks but Ashrem is bitten hard. Most hideous of all though is that the mouth stays attaches, and begins to drain Ashrem of blood! Meldor begins to swing wildly at Lydia as the creature’s screaming continues to torment him. Ashrem and Lysander strike the creature down and it dissolves into a viscous mass of fluid filled with eyeballs and mouths. The party has little time to be disgusted, however, as the room suddenly fills with motes of flame. The door leading up stairs opens revealing another of the mad men, the same kind that had attacked Torea. Lysander and Ashrem manage to quickly kill the new assailant as Meldor continues to swing wildly at Lydia. Finally calming down the party assesses their situation. No one is outside; a quick check reveals that. Seeing as their attacker came from upstairs the party decides to head that way as well.

The second floor proves to be empty. All the party finds are a few empty beds. As the party begins climbing up to the top floor, however, they soon find themselves walking in thick fog again. Cautiously the party moves forward. It isn’t long before they find themselves confronted with another worm. The fight begins!

As Lysander and Ashrem battle the worm, their cramped confines continuously prove problematic. Burning rays shoot out from somewhere and burn into Lysander while bursts of fire explode around the party. A smell of burned tin and the sound of glass breaking precede every explosion and the worm continues to batter at the party’s fighters. Meldor begins to use his sling since he cannot see any opponents and Lydia manages to move up and engage the worm as well.

After one particularly large explosion, the worm falls to the ground, badly burned. Lysander and Ashrem charge forward to the source of the burning rays. They find the rays coming from behind a curtain and quickly move through. Inside is another of the mad men. He quickly stretches out his hand and sticky white strands encircle Ashrem. Lysander charges in swinging at the madman as Lydia rushes forward and begins cutting Ashrem free. Meldor looks up as several Magic Missiles slam into his shoulder.

“On the ceiling! Someone is on the ceiling!”

Out of the mist the party can barely make out a faint pulsating of light as an ear splitting scream causes several party members to begin bleeding from the ears. Arrows and slings begin firing into the mist-shrouded ceiling. Meldor releases several Magic Missiles as concussive force batters the already wounded party about. Finally, a lucky shot from Lysander strikes the figure up top. Suddenly the form falls from the ceiling and is revealed to be a woman! She bears the same tattoos as the mad men, and in fact wears the same kind of cloak Ashrem observed earlier, in the street. Burned and bleeding, the party quickly begins receiving healing from Lydia. As the mist dissipates the party starts rifling through the bodies of the two fallen magi, looking for anything important. Several strange looking items later the party begins moving downstairs. Upon reaching the main floor the party checks in on the tied up shopkeeper. He isn’t there. All that is left is the ropes. Grimacing the party moves downstairs.

The vague feeling of wrongness that this building has possessed since they entered seems somehow magnified within the basement. Distances seem to stretch on to infinity, or shrink down to nearly nothing. Corners seem to connect at impossible angles and walls seem to bend in impossible places. If that wasn’t bad enough, another amorphous blob of eyes and teeth sits within the center of the room gibbering and screaming. Everyone grimaces at the excruciating effect but are more interested in what lays at the far end of room, or perhaps, the far end of infinity. Three men stand in the back, the center one the shopkeeper. Lying in the far corner is the figure of a woman in a red robe, curled into a fetal position sobbing uncontrollably.

Ashrem quickly draws his crossbow and plants a bolt between the eyes of the shopkeeper, dropping him in one swift motion. Lysander and Lydia begin to attack the horrible beast in the center of the room while Meldor begins to Magic Missile the men that stand in the back. Suddenly the beast seems to glow incandescent and Ashrem was caught wide-eyed.

“I’m blind!” he screams as the battle continues.

The strange creature begins to bite at Ashrem with its many mouths, quickly attaching three to the blinded rogue. Ashrem starts to blindly hack at the attached tendrils, but he begins to feel the effect of rapid blood loss before he manages to slice through one.

One man in the back begins to shoot out red rays of fire as another simply points at Lysander. Suddenly Lysander falls asleep! Meldor lobs a Flaming Sphere at the gibbering creature as Lydia begins to swing into it and it finally dissolves away. Unfortunately, the mouths attached to Ashrem remain attached and his blood begins to fall in a pool about his body. Lydia wakes Lysander as Meldor Magic Missiles one of the men in the back to death. Lysander manages to rush to the other one and finishes him quickly before he can attack again. Ashrem, meanwhile, has regained his sight and has removed the mouths. He is weakened but should live.

Meldor approaches the figure in the far corner as Ashrem begins to check the two men for equipment. The woman cannot seem to stop sobbing, even though her tormentors are gone. Shaking her, Meldor manages to only elicit a weak “Get … me out … “ from the woman before she begins to shake again.

Carrying the woman out, she seems to regain more strength with every step. When they reach outside, the party can almost see the woman’s strength return. She slowly gains her feet and introduces herself as Aelin. She quickly begins walking towards her Shrine as she explains what happened. Hearing a noise outside she investigated and was knocked unconscious. It did not take long for the combination of that room and that … beast … to strip away any sanity she cherished.

At the Shrine, Torea and Aelin are reunited and quickly thank the party for their help. They promise to spread the word throughout the town of the heroes’ valiant actions on Aelin’s behalf. Meldor asks after some of the books within the store and Aelin promises them to him.

The party slowly returns to their inn. Battered and burned, they take pleasure in a relatively quiet meal. They pay in advance for another week of room and board before slinking up to their rooms for some much needed rest.

The next day the party finds a letter addressed to all of them. It is from Shooma the Smith, inviting them to a feast in their honor for their many heroic actions throughout the town. The feast is to be held on the morrow and she hopes the party will attend.

The party happily spends the next two days healing, while Meldor begins identifying some of the treasure they had found. Finally as the party members attend the feast they meet with several merchants throughout the town. Shooma congratulates them as well as the Baron’s sister. She explains the Baron can unfortunately not come but sends his most humble thanks. In thanks, she presents the party with a matched set of silver broaches.

Horken, nephew of Shooma the Smith, introduces himself to Meldor. A former dwarven soldier, he had retired to take up his aunt’s craft. The party’s heroic actions have changed his mind, however, and he would like to adventure with them if possible. Meldor agrees to the company and Horken joins the party.

The entire group celebrates throughout the night and leaves safe and sound, the sound of continued revelry at their backs.

Adventure #5

As the party walks back towards the inn late at night, a deep voice calls out from the shadows.

“Hey, heroes! Come over here!”

The party’s suspicious nature quickly came into play, and Meldor called out asking the darkness for its identity.

“I don’t have time. I need your help. Quick!”

Lysander and Horken began walking forward slowly, peering down the alley the voice was emerging from. Horken began to cry out as his sharper dwarven eyes detected the menace that lay before him and Lysander, but his cry was barely uttered as a cone of blistering cold ripped through him and Lysander. Chilled and shivering Lysander glimpsed the figure in the alley as it began to flee.

It was roughly 10 feet tall, with green skin. Two ivory horns stuck up from its head and it has a close cropped black beard. A huge sword was strung on its back and as it ran it began to lift up into the air.

The party gave chase but as it became obvious the creature was going to escape, they quickly withdrew into the street, suspecting a trap. The rest of the way to the inn was walked with unscabbarded swords and with spells upon lips. Reaching the inn safely, the party bedded down in their inns warily and sank into a fitful sleep.

Ashrem, Lysander, and Meldor all share a somewhat similar dream. At first it resembles a regular dream, but quickly turns away. A faint hissing is heard and slowly it forms into words, albeit none anyone understood. Each of their dreams ended the same way, with an unseen voice screaming out the same words.

“The bells toll! The gate swings wide!”

The words had little meaning to Horken, however, the rest of the party was uncomfortably familiar with them. The words sounded eerily like those shouted by the mad cabal of Psions they had broken up at the Reality Wrinkle. Things did not seem good. Lydia’s dream was worse.

Lydia’s dream began much as theirs, but just as the hissing began forming into alien words she felt something within change. She found herself back at the Gulthias tree, that abomination the party had burned down almost a year ago. It was burned and charred, but not all dead. For as she watched a hand clawed up from the earth and slowly dug its way free. After the hand followed an arm, and then a man. The man stood in the darkness, the only visible feature a faint red glow to his eyes. Lydia was barely able to suppress her fear at the palpable sense of evil this man extruded. Then her surroundings changed again and she was in a bleak wasteland, heading towards a black tower. As she approached closer and closer it became apparent that she would crash into the towers walls. At the last second, however, she passed through and found herself within the tower itself. Before her stood the man from before. His back was to her and he approached something in the far corner, something far more evil than he. Lydia suddenly withdrew from the scene and knew both for images of the past and present. As she woke the next morning she realized that Pelor had imbued her with extra power to aid her in the destruction of the evil that she would face ahead.

As the party spoke of these ill-boding dreams, trumpets began to sound throughout town. The Baron, who the party viewed with much suspicion due to his constant absence, was to give a speech before the entire town!

The party quickly begins moving in order to get a view of the Baron’s manor, and they manage to get there just in time.

The Baron is nothing if not an impressive man. Standing an impressive six feet, he is muscular and powerfully built. His speech begins with a small compliment to the party, whose members quickly begin grinning at the praise. As the speech goes on, however, the depravity within it begins to grow. All weapons are outlawed in the city. The fair is cancelled ahead of time. The city is in a state of martial law. The gates are closed. And most horrible of all: the Temple of Pelor is closed, and its Clerics declared heretics. The evil god Hextor is now to be the temple’s focus. Lydia barely holds back her tears as the final edict is read. The Baron finishes and strides back into his manor without much else. The crowd around the party seems to be in shock, but as a large white daemonic creature appears on top of the Baron’s manor they quickly begin realizing how real everything is.

The party tries to gain entry into the manor through the gate but are stopped by the guard on the other side. The Baron is not to be disturbed he insists. He seems to grow more agitated as the party tries to gain entry until the source of his fear becomes apparent. Striding towards the gates are three town heralds, set to cry out the Baron’s new proclamations. It is mostly the herald’s guards, however, which upset the guard so. For each herald is flanked by a pair of six foot tall creatures that strongly resemble goblins, except in height and skin color. Because each creature also possesses a violet skin color in a hue no earthly creature has ever possessed.

The party begins to disperse at the creatures approach and they split up, Ashrem and Lysander heading off on an unnamed errand while Meldor, Horken, and Lydia head to the Temple of Pelor. As they arrive they witness a horrendous sight. Many of the Temple’s beautiful paintings and holy symbols have been defaced or ruined, and in many places Hextor’s evil sign has been inscribed instead. A roaring pillar of fire jets up from the central golden dome, as if a gateway to Hell itself had been opened.

Knowing there is nothing they can currently do they all return back to the inn. The innkeeper informs them that because of some of the new laws in town, she no longer feels that her inn is safe while the party stays there. She refunds their money and allows them to collect their possessions and eat one last meal. While they eat, the party discusses what should be done about all of the new edicts. Several ideas are tossed about but most are discarded quickly. The general consensus is that the Baron must be possessed or controlled somehow. As plans are made one of the heralds, along with the herald’s two guards, approaches the inn and begins reciting the new edicts. Obviously the edicts sit poorly with him as he stumbles several times and is quite visibly sweating.

As the herald finishes and moves on the party decides to head back to the manor and get in this time, no matter how they have to.

The party stalks slowly through the streets, moving in an ever tightening circle about the manor. When they are roughly three streets away, however, they see that strange white creature moving down the street surrounded by militia men. The creature is nine feet tall, and its pale, white skin is stretched over it so tight it appears skeletal. Most horrible of all is the lashing tail which rises up behind it, however, every now and then releasing a small drop of no doubt some virulent poison. The party briefly begins talking of attacking it.

Lysander insists that this area is too open and that reinforcements would arrive any time. Meldor cannot bear letting a beast like that live. Both arguments are halted when it begins killing those it accosts. The militia men look on horrified but do nothing to stop it. Lysander grits his teeth at what is a clearly bad idea and steps into an alley to wait for the beast to approach. As it nears Meldor releases a Sleep causing most of the militia men to fall into a deep slumber, while Lysander and Horken rush out and begin combating the daemon. The creature proves terrifying tough and as its stinger sinks into Lysander, he feels his rat like nature take hold as he is forced into his rat form. This time, however, he has complete control of his senses and continues to try to harm the large demon, although now he is little more than a nuisance. Lydia and Meldor begin loosing spells at the beast but both have trouble with the creatures unnatural resistance to all things magical. Suddenly Ashrem shoots one of the bone crossbow bolts he recovered from one of the Psions. The bolt sinks home into the creature and it lets out a roar of pain. Horken crushes its shoulder with his enchanted flail as another magic bolt rips through the creature’s torso. The beast falls to the ground in a puddle of thick black blood.

Lysander tries to force his body back into that of a human, but his willpower is not great enough and he appears stuck for now. The party realizes that without Lysander, their combat abilities are greatly diminished so they begin to retreat to the Bell Tower in the center of town, hoping that it remains clear of any life. On the way back, Lysander in tow, a crossbow bolt flies from the shadows, barely missing Ashrem. Quickly the party rushes into the shadows, only to find a human there waiting for them. He thrusts out with his rapier, slipping but still managing to score a strike against Horken. Horken feels the burning of poison running through his system as he suddenly becomes clumsy and less nimble than he was before. The assassain does not last long after as both Lysander (in rat form) and Ashrem attack and finish him off. 

Reaching the Bell Tower, the party finally receives their first bit of good news today as they find the Tower empty. Taking a room on the second floor, the party locks the door and sets down to rest as Lysander happily rummages about. Meldor Identifies another of the party’s collected magical items and then beds down for the night.

The next day, Lysander’s form slowly shifts back into that of a human and he hastily dons his armor and clothes. The party watches from an upper story window for most of the day and witnesses several more of the white skinned creatures, as well as many other monsters of unbelievable shape. Commoners are rare on the streets, and those who are out move drawn up into themselves, as if expecting an attack at any minute. All the corpses from last night’s resisters seem to be gone; obviously something has been done to them. The party decides to again assault the manor, perhaps through the sewers this time.

As the party nears the manor for a second time, however, a voice calls to them from the alleys, also for a second time.

Cautiously the party approaches but instead of a green skinned giant, they instead find a dirty, grubby Dwarf. The Dwarf introduces himself as the Roach and instructs the party to follow behind. It isn’t long before the party is hopelessly lost by the many twisting alleys that Roach takes as he leads them to where they are going. Finally, the party finds themselves at a door through which the Roach asks them to enter through. Reluctantly they enter within only to find yet another Dwarf sitting at a table waiting for them.

“Greetings heroes” he says almost with a sneer.

The new Dwarf is Gorbald, and coincidently, he is also a liaison for this city’s Thief’s Guild. The Guild doesn’t like the new edicts any more than the party. What good is stealing if everyone is too scared to actually leave their homes. The Guild has floor plans of the manor, as well as knowledge of a sewer entrance that will the party close by. The party has the firepower that could possibly overthrow the Baron and his suddenly insane policies. Gorbald seems to think it a perfect union. After a little argument the party does too. Gorbald agrees to give the party all of the plans as the torches lining his cramped little room seem to flicker as if blown by an evil wind.

Adventure #6

The party slinks through the sewers, escorted by three hard faced rogues. They take several twists and turns; Lydia grimaces the entire way. After what seems a lifetime, however, they reach an area the rogues say will lead them into the manor. Just up the ladder the rogues have brought and the party will be inside. Lysander begins climbing up when suddenly the rogues strike! Two of them stabbed at Lysander, missing him completely, while the third attacked Lydia.

Meldor quickly unleashed a Sleep and managed to knock the first rogue unconscious. Lysander jumped down and began to fight the second rogue as Horken ran up and joined Lysander. Meldor put the second rogue to sleep just as the last fell dead from a particularly nasty blow from Horken’s flail.

The party tied the two living rogues up with some rope and Ashrem stole all of their possession, including two more tattoos like those the madmen wore.

Climbing up the ladder the party found themselves within the privy of what they hoped was the manor. The rogues had betrayed them, but they were not sure whether that also meant the maps Gorbald had given them were bad. Deciding to trust in Gorbald they slowly exited the bathroom and found themselves in a hallway. Lysander and Ashrem scouted out both ends. The western end of the hallway turned south, but contained a small group of guards. The eastern end turned south as well, but it only held a few servants busy cleaning. Deciding the servants were likely safer, the party walked casually down the corridor. The servants began making jokes about their smell as the party walked by, but generally they were accepted as guests.

Following the corridor, the party came to a large room. In one corner a spiral set of stairs began climbing up. The party strolled onto the stairs, avoiding guards at all costs. The party climbed up the stairs the entire way and found themselves on the balcony that the Baron had given his speech from just a few days ago. Realizing they had gone too far, the party began making their way back down. At the third floor, the party opened up the door and realized they had entered into something of a grand hall. This was obviously where the Baron held many important meetings as a large chair sat at the far end. Suddenly, the handle on one of the double doors began to turn. Ashrem rushed towards the door, as they slowly swung open revealing a small group of creatures standing outside. The Baron was the most recognizable of the four people standing in the doorway. Next to him was a young girl, perhaps in her teens. Behind the girl stood a man in his mid-20s. His hair was pulled back and he had a headband wrapped around his head. Directly behind the Baron stood a tall gaunt man in a deep black robe. His cowl was pulled up and his face was completely hidden from ordinary sight. However, Horken’s dwarven eyes pierced the darkness covering his face and he shouted out, alerting his teammates.

“That’s no man! It’s a demon!”

Ashrem jumped forward and made two savage attacks with his rapier, both striking at the black-cloaked man’s vitals. The black-cloaked man pulled its hood away, revealing a gruesome face that resembled nothing more than an octopus. The un-hooded illithid seemed to gesture toward the wall and the Baron blindly walked over and began to stare at the stones. Lysander was caught completely off guard as Horken charged forward at the illithid.

Suddenly, the young man steps forward and begins to change. His size increases as his skin takes on a green color and he begins to develop horns. Lysander and Horken quickly recognize him as the man that attacked them from the alley after the celebration. The ogre magi swings at Ashrem and hits him, hard. Ashrem feels his instincts begin to take over, and suddenly he finds himself a rat on the floor.

Horken begins to attack the illithid as Lysander finally comes to his sense and rushes in, sword drawn. The illithid releases a piercing mental scream, and Horken is caught dead on, stunned by the intense pain shooting throughout him. Rat Ashrem snaps at the illithid and knocks him unconscious before running away, his cowardly instincts having taken over fully. Meldor and Lydia begin to launch spells at the ogre magi but to their dismay, they find him strongly spell resistant.

Lydia runs forward to help as Lysander begins fighting the evil creatures still caught in the doorway. The ogre magi strikes Lysander a solid blow. Lydia heals Lysander of his wounds, trying to keep his new Were-Rat instincts away.

The young girl slowly begins to change as the ogre magi before her did, her features growing much more gruesome. Just as the party recognizes her writhing hair, Lysander turns to stone! Lydia is aghast as her party member’s stony features but has little time to mourn as the ogre magi begins to press his attack on her.

Rat Ashrem begins to retreat for the doors as Lydia attacks the evil medusa. Meldor fires a shot from his crossbow and then begins to pelt the creature with Magic Missiles. The medusa falls, leaving Lydia and Meldor alone against the towering ogre magi. Meldor attempts to batter through the ogre’s formidable spell resistance, and manages to get a Magic Missile through its defenses. Lydia fights with the blessing of Pelor as she lands several blows with her morningstar while dodging all strikes from the monster. Finally Horken begins to wake up from the illithid’s attack and successfully knocks the ogre magi unconscious. That is when the party suddenly realized the ogre is healing itself! Quickly they all begin striking the ogre magi’s unconscious form. Even rat Ashrem wanders back over taking a few more bites at the fallen illithid and medusa before attacks the ogre. Realizing what must be done Meldor grabs some acid and some alchemist’s fire and begins to thoroughly coat the ogre in each. The body produces a horrible smell as it burns, black smoke billowing up from the corpse.

“Who are you and what are you doing?!?” booms a powerful voice behind the party.

Turning they find themselves facing the Baron, apparently in control of his body again. Meldor quickly begins to explain the events of the past few days, but the Baron seems skeptical. He calls for his guards, and his chamberlain. The guards drag the bodies off while the chamberlain confirms much of the party’s story. The Baron slowly begins rounding up his guards and sends those he can out to reclaim what he can of the town. The party asks for a few rooms and is given one across the hall from the Baron’s sister, who the party had met earlier. The Baron promises to look after the new Lysander statue until the party can do something about Lysander’s new condition.

The next day the party is advised by the Baron’s sister about the events of the night before. The guards fought against the demons all night and much of today. They had managed to reclaim everything within his manorial gates, as well as a small strip around the gates themselves. The rest of the town still lay under the heel of the demons, however, and the Baron was not sure how much longer his guards could hold what they had gained.

Meldor asked to see the possessions of the three monsters the party had defeated the day before. Using a simple Detect Magic cantrip he found that the hat worn by the medusa was magical, everything else was mundane. Taking several of the illithid’s items anyway, the party began discussing plans. Obviously, the temple of Pelor was the next step in breaking the curse on this town. Even if removing Hextor’s presence from the temple didn’t rid the town of demons, it would likely help it doing so.

Ashrem, now in human form, snuck out of the gates, heading toward the temple of Pelor. He could just see it ahead when he realized he had been spotted! A towering, 20-foot tall bipedal lizard with coal black skin and searing red eyes guarded the temple’s entrance. More importantly, it could smell him! Quickly he backed away and reported his findings to the party.

Meldor was deeply troubled by the beast. He doubted the party had sufficient strength to defeat such a monster and began to make plans on how to kill it. He first borrowed some tanglefoot bags from the armory and then went to the small library the Baron owned. Searching throughout the many bookcases, he managed to find three scrolls with several spells between them. Then he sat down with Ashrem and they both began to plan.

Lydia grew tired of all the planning. Surely, with Pelor on their sides, they could not fail! Continuously she urged them to simply go. Finally, as a plan was settled the party gathered together their equipment and solemnly began moving towards what they hoped wouldn’t be their last battle!  

 Adventure #7

As the party began to leave the Baron’s manor, they noticed a cloaked figure running across the grounds. When the party stopped the figure he revealed himself as Ulfgar, an archer who had come to end the Baron’s tyrannical rule. The party began explaining who they were and of the Baron’s current condition. As they talked the party noticed that the statue of Lysander had been moved out into the garden and that several birds were now perching from his sword.

Ulfgar proved very skilled with his bow, and as the party was now one member less both sides quickly agreed to return to the desecrated temple and deal with the beast that guarded it together.

Approaching the temple again, the beast was not hard to miss. Towering 20 feet into the air, everyone could tell it had a bit of fiend in it, mostly because of the coal black skin, but also because of the fiery burning eyes.

Meldor began casting spells, preparing for the battle to come. Lydia begins to sing a lifting hymn, uplifting all of the party’s spirits. Finally he cast Fly and flew up out of the Fiendish Megaraptor’s reach. Ashrem and Ulfgar both take up hidden positions as the party slowly advances, attracting the creature’s attention. The dinosaur charges towards the party and right before it reaches them, Meldor uses a scroll of Stinking Cloud. Ulfgar tosses a Tanglefoot bag at the charging dinosaur but it only splatters its chest. Ashrem fires a crossbow bolt laced with the few drops of Osyluth poison he could obtain. The dinosaur at first seems unaffected by the party’s tactics and charges through the cloud towards Horken and Ashrem. However, right as it reaches them the Stinking Cloud finally takes effect and the beast finds itself too sick to attacks. Horken is confused by the dinosaur’s reluctance to attack and likewise just appraises it. The dinosaur flees back through the cloud emerging from the other side where a flying Meldor begins to launch Lighting Bolts towards the fleeing lizard. It takes several hits, both from the Lighting Bolts and from the arrows and bolts Ashrem and Ulfgar are launching through the cloud. Finally, the cloud falls and the party again sees the dinosaur clearly, as it sees them. It charges forward slashing at Ulfgar, wounding him just as he launches the final arrow the kills the beast.

            Ulfgar’s skill with the bow impresses the party, as does the Flaming Longbow he wields. Unfortunately, many of the creatures ahead do not seem to be the kind to mind much fire.

            Entering the temple, Lydia’s song falters slightly as she seems the destruction and defilement that has taken place in this Holy place of worship. Many of the holy symbols scattered throughout the room appear to be burned, or scratched, or simply blurred. Lydia quickly realizes that the church has been Desecrated. Her sorrow cannot last long, however, because standing in front of the huge pillar of fire that is rushing out of the floor is an Osyluth, lounging by the fire. Ashrem takes quick aim and plants a crossbow bolt directly where the thing’s heart should be. Ulfgar similarly launches three arrows in rapid succession striking the beast repeatedly. Horken rushes behind the hail of arrows to attack the creature. Staggering back from the unexpected assault, the Osyluth calls out and another one appears from within the large pillar of fire. Meldor summons an eagle from the Seven Heavens and directs it to attack the Osyluth that has just appeared. Ashrem tumbles after and plants his rapier deep into the Osyluth’s eyes. The first Osyluth howls as it falls to Horken’s flail. The second one quickly begins striking back at Ashrem, reducing him down to a rat quickly.

            The remaining Osyluth looks directly at Horken and suddenly Horken finds himself gazing back at his best friend!

“Protect me from the archer!” the Osyluth screams as several arrows sink into its bony body.

Horken nods dumbly and begins to savagely attack Ulfgar. Ulfgar grimaces and tries to ignore Horken’s swings, realizing that he is under the devil’s control. Meldor tries to dispel the evil magic effecting Horken but fails as Lydia continues to sing. Ulfgar manages to fell the Devil, allowing Horken to regain his wits. Apologizing extensively the party slowly begins looking about the room.

Lydia says she could Consecrate the temple, but she does not have such magic memorized today. Further, she realizes that the pillar of flame is actually a Gate to the Nine Hells. Focusing the positive energy of her god at the unholy portal she begins to try and shut the gate, but finds herself too distracted by the desecration of her temple.

The party begins trying to decide what to do, whether they should continue on with Ashrem in rat form, and if so where to? Should they leave this Gateway behind them or should they stay here to stop anything entering? Finally Ashrem decides the argument as he begins scratching at the right hand door.

Horken slowly opens it and finds a cramped hallway leading to another door. Opening that door reveals another hallway, this one perpendicular to the one the party is currently in. Entering within the new hallway the party sees a number of doors and enters the northernmost one on the left side of the hall. Within is a small study room for the cleric’s who once worshipped here. Several of Pelor’s holy texts line the walls of the room, but not for long as a man stands in one corner ripping the pages from all of the books. Lydia furiously rushes forward as does Horken and the rat Ashrem. The evil cleric quickly falls to their combined assault, as well as that of Meldor’s Magic Missiles, but not before he manages to call out.

“Imp! Co-“ gurgles the cleric as several weapons strike him at once.

The party wonders what he was calling when Ulfgar and Lydia spot a small winged devil flying toward them. Right before reaching them he knocks an additional door open revealing two Hellhounds crouched with. Ulfgar fills one Hellhound with arrows, felling it quickly. The other bursts out of the room covering the party with its fire breath before falling to more arrows from Ulfgar.

Lydia attacks the Imp but she quickly realizes it regenerates just like the Ogre Magi had. However, its smaller stature cannot take as much damage as the Ogre Magi and it quickly falls unconscious when Meldor launches a Magic Missile at it. Lydia pulls forth a flash of Holy Water and douses the tiny devil, causing its skin to hiss and bubble as if it had been doused in acid. Confident that the creature was dead the party did a quick search of the doors the Imp and Hellhounds came from before going to the single unopened door. Within this room the party finds much of the same destruction and defilement that they have found in other rooms. In addition though, there is a set of stairs leading up an upper floor.

Climbing up the party finds a pair of the violet goblins that had been patrolling the town. However, while the faces and coloration is the same, the creatures appear to be some sort of wolf now. The entire party (including the rat) spring into action and the Barghests have little time at all to react before the party overwhelms them.

Looking around the party realizes they are in the High Champion of the Sun’s champers. Setting watch they decide to rest so that Lydia can Consecrate the defiled temple, perhaps weakening the devils that now possess it.

Adventure #8

The party awakens and Lydia casts Bless and Protection from Evil upon her companions.

Fortified by Divine Magic, the party heads downstairs and finds a group of warriors awaiting them in the large room with the pit of fire. A large demonic looking warrior leads the enemy party. Standing close to 7 feet, he walks upon cloven hooves, and has large horns growing from his head. He is dressed in large black platemail, with a large red fist of Hextor emblazoned on the front. The heavy flail he holds in his hand is inscribed with blazing red runes that run up and down the length of it.

Ashrem quickly decides to surprise the enemy from behind by sneaking out of the window and attacking from the main doors of the temple. Horken charges headlong into the room, a battle cry on his lips, as he engages a fiery hell hound in combat. A nearby warrior attacks Horken, showing skill with his dire flail. The hell hound likewise bits Horken, and soon the dwarf begins to feel the force of their combined assault.  Meldor reads a scroll of Spider Climb and casts the spell on Lydia. Utilizing his newly acquired Slippers of Spider Climb, Meldor then climbs up onto the ceiling. Ulfgar begins to fire his bow into the room, striking several of the profane clerics facing the party. The tiefling, Darius, advances on Horken as he is alone in front of the party. Horken tries his best but quickly finds himself overpowered by the brunt of the enemy force.

Meanwhile, Meldor manages to loose a Lightning Bolt that catches one of the clerics in the center of his breastplate. Horken manages to slay the hell hound and starts to withdraw another hell hound. Ulfgar finds himself Held after Darius incants a spell directed towards him. Meldor, thinking quick, uses a scroll of Dispel Magic Ulfgar, ridding him of Darius’s spell. Ulfgar, freed from the spell, fires multiple arrows at Darius wounding him severely. Ashrem arrives at the outer doors but finds that they have been locked. Taking his out his lockpicks he begins trying to pick the lock, knowing every second counts. Meldor casts a Flaming Sphere at one of the clerics and badly burns him. Ulfgar follows Meldor up by shooting several flaming arrows into the burned cleric, felling him.

The remaining cleric completes the spell he had been casting and a somewhat humanoid blob of what looked like melting flesh appeared from within the flames. The creature instantly began shambling towards Horken, who was being pressed hard by the Darius and by the former hell hound’s master Fajis.

Ashrem outside mutters a curse under his breath as he finds this lock more challenging than any he had attempted to pick before. Darius steps towards Horken and merely lays his hand upon Horken’s arm, but horrible gaping wounds appear covering Horken’s body. Horken desperately tries to retreat but finds his way blocked again and again by the warriors penning him in. Meldor commands his Flaming Sphere at Darius, then follows that with a Lightning Bolt to Darius’s chest.

Ulfgar continues to pepper Darius with arrows. Ashrem finally manages to unlock the door and prepares to run in. The lemure the cleric had summoned from out of the fire attacks Horken, but misses. Lydia runs forward to lay hands on Horken, closing several of the wounds he had received.

Meldor casts Blindness on Darius but it the tiefling’s fortitude manages to shake off the spell. Darius turns and casts Dispel Magic on Meldor who still stands on the ceiling. His spell of Spider Climb temporarily suspended he plummets from the wall. Ulfgar peppers the room with arrows and manages to fell the other cleric. One of Ulfgar’s arrows likewise finds the lemure summoned from the fire. Pierced through the breast, the disgusting abomination fades away.

Finally able to assist, Ashrem runs into the room and assumes cover behind an overturned table. Withdrawing his crossbow, he sights Darius, and then fires a bolt at the tiefling’s back. Lydia continues to heal Horken, erasing yet more of his serious wounds. Darius strides to Meldor touches him, his hand surrounded in nauseating purple light. Ulfgar creates a pincushion of Fajis, and she falls. Ashrem misses with his shot, the bolt turned askew by the twisting Entropic Shield that suddenly springs up around Darius. Meldor begins backing away, fearing for life while confronted by Darius and the remaining cleric. Ulfgar fires several arrows into the last cleric, killing the man. Lydia runs forward and strikes at the tiefling with her mace. Meldor steps back and lets fly a Lightning Bolt at point blank range. Darius begins to move as if to escape, but several arrows in the back from Ulfgar prove an effective deterrent.

Ashrem beheads the fallen tiefling’s head for his collection.

As Darius falls the party pauses a brief moment to gather about their wits. Then Lydia begins the ritual of Consecration, re-dedicating the temple to her god. Again Lydia summons positive energy to close the large pillar of fire, but finds it too difficult for her. Telling the party they will have to return tomorrow, the group decides to make sure all of the cleric’s of Hextor have left.

Moving throughout the rest of the temple, the party finds themselves in the High Cleric’s chambers, when suddenly a man begins climbing in through the window!

The party isn’t sure who is more surprised, the man, or them, yet quickly the man points a finger at the party, detonating an explosion in their midst. Horken and Ashrem run forward to attack while Ulfgar sticks back, firing arrows into the intruder. The man falls with Ashrem’s blade in his back and the party quickly completes their search.

Deciding that without the infernal clerics profaning the temple, they could rest at the Baron’s the party returns through the blood soaked streets. The city seems quieter than usual, as if the demonic forces already know they have been defeated and are just waiting for the deathblow.

Meldor, Lydia, and Horken decide to lend the Baron what aid they can against the remaining demons in the city. Ashrem and Ulfgar decide to scout out the city, hoping to find some way to bring Lysander back to life.

Quickly they find themselves forced to leave the area around the manor that the Baron has managed to reclaim and begin venturing through demon controlled streets.

Suddenly, up ahead they spot a large magic shop, as well as a large osyluth coming straight towards them. Ulfgar begins to fire at the beast but his arrows simply break against the creature’s magical hide. Ulfgar begins to run back to the manor as the demon advances on Ashrem and they both enter into mortal combat.

Ulfgar reaches the manor panting, several wounds from the fight with the demon. He tells Lydia he was forced to flee from the creature, leaving Ashrem out there alone in rat form. Lydia quickly heals his wounds before gathering Meldor and Horken, and setting out as a team.

The party comes upon rat Ashrem among a pile of his equipment, plus a few new additions. The osyluth’s staring head adorns one end of the pile, while three scrolls are clustered at the other end. Bending down to gather up the things, Meldor realizes one of the scrolls is of Stone to Flesh!

The next day Ashrem turns back to normal, and the party congratulates him on his find. Venturing back into the city the party quickly makes their way to the temple where they find another osyluth stepping out of the flames.

Used to dealing with these creatures by now the party dispatches it fairly easily and sets about the room, at the ready for further attack.

Lydia grasps the golden sun of Pelor in her hands and focuses her positive energies at the roaring pillar of hellfire. There is no visible affect at first, but then suddenly the fire begins shrinking back, retreating further and further away from the sides of the large hole in the ground that it filled.

Finally the fire gives a last burst of energy and goes out. Throughout the town, the demons suddenly find their source of power severed.

Over the next few days, the party and patrols of the Baron’s remaining men manage to eradicate the few creatures that are left.

Meldor begins to examine the scroll of Stone to Flesh but fears casting the spell, as it is not totally within his understanding.

Hope comes a few days later when the party meets up with Aliaster Chualen, a magic shop proprietor. She agrees to utilize the scroll to help revive Lysander, in trade for one of the scrolls they possess. Someone, it seems, broke into her shop and stole three scrolls. The scroll she asks for, as well as a scroll of Stone to Flesh just happened to be among the scrolls stolen. How odd.

As Aliaster recites the words, Lysander’s skin begins to lighten and slowly motion returns to him. Then suddenly with a lurch he completes the swing that he had been captured in, then blinks and looks around. Several questions and answers later, Aliaster thanks the party again before returning to her shop with her payment.

Shortly after the town gates are once again declared open a messenger arrives from Lord Gelban.

Apparently the poor man had been sent a week age, and had been waiting outside as the gates had been barred to incomers. The message from Gelban hoped that Lydia had been cured by the High Cleric in the temple, and informed the party to take some time off. He would not need them soon and they deserved some rest after their adventures.

The cleric’s of Pelor returned to the temple, and gladly agreed to cure Ashrem and Lysander of their Lycanthropy, having found a cache of scrolls with powerful magic written upon them in the Library. Meldor is cured of Cackle Fever, which he strangely contracted the day after the battle with Darius, even though Cackle Fever is normally found only far to the south.

Meldor enters negotiations with the Baron in an attempt to purchase the Bell Tower in the center of town. Unsatisfied with the Baron’s terms, however, he instead settles for ownership of the Reality Wrinkle, renaming it Meldor’s Reality Wrinkle.

The adventurers decide to return to Greyhawk to rest during their vacation.