• Time Frame:    Unknown Time
• Genre:    Fantasy (d20)
• Progress Level: D&D = Dungeons and Dragons 
• Life:    Elves, townsfolk, Wights and more
• Setting:    unknown fantasy world 
• Plot:    An adventure company on a mission for a lord Gelbin 
• Goals:    
  • Explore some town near Glitterhaim
  • Find a party who ventured hear before
  • Save the town from the elves?
• Characters:    1 Magic User, 1 Rogue, 1 Cleric, and 1 Fighter

  Ulfgar the bowmen played by Jean Claude	Lydia is a beautiful human Cleric played by Mandy
  Ashrem is a human Rogue played by Manny	Meldor of Kuhl is a half-elf Sorcerer/Wizard  played by Mike
  Lysander of Blackmoor is a human Fighter played by Bill	Horken - Meldor's cohort

Standing Stones

Adventure #1

The group heads out to find a lost party.

The winter was harsh, but the party avoided most of it by staying indoors near Lord Gelban’s large fires. They were toasted, and attended several winter feasts. Their names were beginning to spread, not only as people of power, but as heroes.

  As spring thaws began Gelban approached the party.

  “Far to the south lies a small town named Ossington. Recently another adventuring party that I fund went missing while traveling through that area. I would like you to go there and see if you can discover their fate. I fear the worst but, if possible, I would like them returned whole.

  The four individuals that comprised the group were: Zarn, a young priest of Hieroneous; Vesloy, an elven mage; Yellis, Vesloy’s apprentice and likewise elven mage; and Carroway, a skilled warrior.”

  Lord Gelban offered the party a choice of his finest horses, and with one last day of preparation, set off to hopefully rescue their fellow adventurers.

  The party passed by Brindinford, on their way south. The city looked prosperous and their were cheers from the people as they rode by.

  It was a few weeks later that the party entered into the forest. Travel slowed considerably as the party rode down the winding path. Often a low-hanging branch or extended root  would make a party member trip or fall, slowing their travel even more.

  A week went by, then two. It seemed the forest would likely never end as the adventurers continued to resolutely march down the small path.

  Suddenly a piercing scream was heard from ahead! Ulfgar immediately spurred his horse forward, just as another scream sounded, this time obviously from a woman.

  Rounding a corner Ulfgar watched as a man ran, stumbling, away from a black clad knight atop a charging mount. The knight leaned low as he passed by the man and the long sword in his hand cleanly sliced through the fleeing peasant. Stopping his horse, the knight looked at Ulfgar, then turned and charged directly through a solid tree. Shaken, the rest of the party rides forward to examine what is left of the scene.

  Three peasants lay slain in the rode in front of them. A cart stands in the middle of the road, the first dead body lying there. The cart is filled with empty bags and barrels. A mule stands chewing by the side of the road, unharmed.

  The party sets about burying the dead bodies and cleaning off the cart. They affix the mule to it and begin to head down the trail again, cautious for the return of the horseman.

  As night approaches the party comes upon a farm set within the forest. Little light filters through the trees, yet the party can barely make out the fields next to the farm lying unplowed. The farm seems run down in general, but a faint wisp of smoke can barely be seen rising from the farm’s chimney.

  The party lets the mule eat contentedly on the grass while they approach the door and knock.

  A few moments later a gruff “Whos out thar?” issues from behind the door.

  The party quickly begins explaining they are simply travelers and after a moment, the sound of a deadbolt drawing back comes from within.

  The door inches open and the suspicious face of an old man peers out into the darkness.

  “Wel get yer fool heads in ‘fore the hursemun or them dam’ elfs come and get yer!”

  Opening the door wider the party glimpses a young attractive woman holding a rusty crossbow pointed towards the door. As the new guests are admitted, however, she quickly puts it away and begins setting more plates around the table. The party enters, after putting the mule into the barn.

  Dinner consists of thin porridge, barely enough for a meal. The old man talks throughout the meal, about how the party is full of fools who are “pokin’ thar noses whar they don’ belong” as are the villagers further down south. He reveals the village is should be visible within a days ride, but seems to become agitated when mention of the troubles currently visiting the region come up.  

Tanasha, the farmer's daughter, motions behind her father's back that the party should let the matter drop. The party follows her advice and the night passes relatively peacefully. 

As night approaches the farmer retires to his bed and Tanasha begins to explain some of the troubles that have been plaguing the town and the general region. 

Recently the local elven tribe has become hostile for no reason Tanasha knows. Even more distressing, a ghostly rider terrorizes the road, killing all those who would flee. The elves have prevented this years crops from being planted and, if not done soon, the town may starve come winter. When pressed for details Tanasha says that is all she knows. Elder Murdows in town would likely know more however.

Ulfgar goes out into the field and examines the skeletal remains of a horse that had been slain by the elves. He hopes to find an elven arrowhead, suspecting magic. His search unfortunately finds nothing. 

Lysander attempts to court Tanasha, and she does not seem opposed to his interest. Many thinly veiled comments are exchanged before everyone decides to go to bed.

The next day Ashrem gives the man some of his rations as the party sets off down the road, even more cautious than before. It isn't long before the party comes to a small chapel that is obviously composed partly of a previous structure of ancient age. From inside the party can barely make out a voice and they decide to move closer to investigate.

Inside the chapel are nine shrines, each to a deity of neutrality. A woman with a small monkey like creature on her shoulder moves from shrine to shrine offering a prayer at each. When she completes a circle around all the shrines she starts again from the beginning. Obviously she has been at this all morning as her voice is already hoarse. The strange creature on her should mimics her actions occasionally and speaks a few words as she moves from shrine to shrine.

The party attempts to converse with the woman but she seems slightly mad.

"Are you prepared for death?" she asks. Ignoring the party's answer she continues her praying to the nine deities. The party spends a little time talking to her, but once they determine her focus is almost entirely on her prayers, they decide to leave.

Riding on the party finally comes within sight of Ossington, the small town sitting in the middle of two rows of standing stones. As they enter villagers mob around them, asking if they bring food or supplies. Obviously, things are already becoming serious in the town. The party is nearly pulled from their horses when a hoarse voice rises over the mob's voices in song. 

The crowd quickly calms down and opens to show a man strumming a lute, singing a soft song. He walks forward and introduces himself as the Cuckoo. He apologizes for the townspeople's reactions, but times are tough he explains.

The party expresses their interest in meeting with Elder Murdows and the Cuckoo quickly leads them to a hut one side of town.

Elder Murdows emerges, a portly man where everyone else has the look of forced rationing. As Mayor of Ossington, he greets the visitors to his town and begins to explain some about the recent events. 

The elves had attacked for no reason not some time ago. When peaceful negotiations were attempted, the elves massacred the people sent from the village. The bodies were so badly filled with arrows some were unidentifiable. The previous mayor had been so full or arrows, the townspeople were unable to remove him from the tree he was stuck to. 

As to the ghostly rider, Elder Murdows knows little. Unfortunately he also knows nothing of any visitors matching the descriptions the party supplies.

"Perhaps you should ask your fellow adventurers, eh?" he questions.

After a few moments, Murdows explains that Ossington is home to a retired adventuring company. The adventuring company's wizard has apparently become something of a sage and would answer the party's questions about this area happily.   

Tully chastises the party on not helping the mayor. Dyson explains about the door warden at the Great Barrow. Lydia heals Tully.

The party heads with Tully to the Great Barrow and Ashrem discovers two secret doors. Ashrem triggers a wall trap. Lysander and Horken can't life the wall. Meldor successfully reduces the wall and slides it into the corner. 

A wight attacks Ashrem. Horken kills the wight. Another trap is triggered. 

Meldor doesn't hear any chuckling, but is hit by an earth elemental. Meldor hits it with a magic missile. Ashrem burns the elemental with acid. Lysander misses once he realizes he is in combat. Meldor gets hit and falls down. Lysander smashes it and after much acid and magic missile damage the elemental falls. 

The group hears fighting down the hall and heads toward it. Tully is creating the noise while she battles two earth elementals. The group runs single file down the hall, along the known 'safe' path. 

Horken drinks a healing potion. Lydia unsuccessfully tries to command one of the elementals. Meldor shoots one with a ray of enfeeblement. Ulfgar fires an arrow and hits. The earth elemental is unaffected by the ray. Lysander runs down the hall and hits the elemental. The elemental smashes Lysander. Horken continues to heal himself. Ashrem hits with a magical crossbow bolt. One elemental crumbles. Meldor shoots the other elemental with a magic missile. Lysander is hit as he pushes Tully aside. Meldor hits with another magic missile. Ashrem misses with a bolt. Ulfgar drops his bow. Ashrem misses again. Lysander and Tully hit the elemental. The elemental smashes Lysander back. Lydia heals Lysander.

Ashrem finds a wight. Lysander and Ulfgar kill it. Ashrem is later smashed in a trap and nearly killed. Lydia heals him. 

The party finally finds a coffin with a huge figure on it. Lydia tries to turn undead. She then detects undead. An undead man steps through  portal near Lydia. 

Saithnar the Warlord attacks Lysander. Meldor strikes a wight with lightning. The wight drains Meldor's level. Tully hits the warlord. Horken kills the wight. Lysander slashes Saithnar before he gets hit. Lysander swings around and cleaves the wight right before Lydia turns the wight to dust. 

Lydia accepts Saithnar's brooch.

Adventure #2

The group leaves the maze and heads towards the "Red Horse Hill."  Along the way, they hear  a horse coming from a distance.  The group disperses and hides.  Ashrem, Ulfgar, and Tully are frightened and run in different directions.  Lysander stands fast, but soils himself as he sees an apparition ride through a tree.

The ghost hits Lysander before Lysander gets a chance to run away.

Horken attacks the ghost with his flail.  Meldor blasts the rider with some extreme lightning bolts.  Lydia fails to turn the undead rider.  After a few more bolts,  the rider dissipates into the air.  Meldor did fire a bolt that went right through the ghost, and burned a tree down.  Horken finally kills the ghost horse.  

Ashrem and the rest turn and walk back to the battle scene after a few seconds of panic.

The group spends the night in the woods after burying a body they found hanging in a nearby tree.  The watch do note some strange squirrel like critters.  Tully tells the group that the critters are Hobyah and that they are harmless.

After a bit of a hike, the group reaches the "Red Horse Hill."  After a few hours of searching around the hill, the group finds nothing.  The group then returns to the village.

The next morning, the group decides to go back to the shrine on the way to the Silence Keepers.  This time Cuckoo joins them.  After an uneventful night at the shrine with Henwen, the group heads out to the Silence Keepers.   

Before reaching the Silence Keepers the group finds a girdled tree.  After investigating for a few minutes, Lysander is severely wounded by a living tree, a Treant.  Ulfgar unloads a slew of arrows and Horken bashes in the tree.  Lysander hits the tree as well.  Ashrem shoots the tree too.  Ulfgar catches the Treant on fire with his flaming arrow.  As the treant stops reacting, another attacks from behind the group.  Ashrem dodges, and the group beats this Treant until it stops attacking.  

Cuckoo blames the elves for the tree attacks.

The group hears weeping, but can't find anything.  Lydia realizes that the girdled tree was the home of a Dryad.

Adventure #3

The next day, the group find the Silence Keepers and search around and find nothing.    The Cuckoo returns to the town, and moments after he leaves, Ashrem spots a giant birdlike creature flying above the treetops.

Meldor convinces the group to wait at the Silence Keepers and camp for the night.  Most of the group camps away from the stones, but Ashrem lies right on the sacrificial stone for the night.

During the night, on Lysander's watch, 6 evil looking Hobyah's surround Lysander.  Before Lysander can panic and run, the Hobyah attack him.  Lysander manages to run through the sleeping group and make some noise to wake everyone.

Lydia casts calm on 1 Hobyah.  Ashrem uses spider climb to climb up one of the stones to get a better shot.  Ulfgar fires 3 arrows at the Hobyah group.  Lysander runs towards the stones for cover.  Meldor immediately electrocutes a Hobyah.  Ulfgar and Horken panic, and Ulfgar drops his bow and runs to where Lysander is hiding.  

Ashrem kills a Hobyah with his crossbow.  Meldor fries the remaining 4 with a fantastic lighting display. 

The Cuckoo rejoins the group the next morning.  Ashrem doesn't trust him.

Heading back to town, the group discovers a trio of townspeople strung up and hung above dead unicorn remains.  Ashrem takes the Unicorn's horn.  The group cuts the group down and buries them.

The group decides to head back to town, and along the way, they hear another horse.  Meldor ceases the opportunity to electrocute the horse.  Lysander runs towards the horseman, but gets thrown through the air and into the woods.  Horken hits the ghost with his flail.  

The group keeps fighting and the ghost fades away once again.  He comes back right in front of the Cuckoo.  Lydia strikes him down after Ashrem and Ulfgar waste many bolts and arrows shooting at the apparition.  The ghost disappears once again.

We go back to town.  After exploring the town, the group finds it peculiar that most of the townspeople share first names.  The group questions Dyson, but finds out very little.

The group also asks the Cuckoo about his magic, but he demonstrates a simple forest trick.

The group debates heading to the Elven town, and Ashrem decides to try to catch an elf in the southern forest.

Adventure #4

The next day, Ashrem spends most of the day searching the forest only to find a snare trap.  Ashrem gets an idea, and ties himself into the trap and he waits.

After a while, a pixie approaches the trap.  Ashrem bargains with the pixie to find out what the problem is in the forest.  The pixie tells Ashrem that the townspeople are killing the forest and the elves have been slaughtered.

Ashrem makes a deal with the Pixie to meet the next day by bringing an emissary from the town if the Pixie will get his Elven friends to meet as well.

Ashrem returns to the group with the news, and tells of the meeting.  The group selects Tully to be the emissary.  

The next day, the group convinces Tully to join them in a scouting party, and along the way, Meldor informs her of the plan to meet with the elves.

The group finally meets with the elves.  One female elf and the pixie appear and talk. After a short exchange, some hidden elves attack Tully with arrows.  Tully turns out to be just an illusion.  Ashrem prevents Meldor from casting against the elves, but the elves and pixie quickly disappear.  After a few brawls, the group settles down and returns to the town.

The group finds a town that appears to be vacant.  After approaching the town Standing Stones, the group is greeted quite angrily by the towns people.  The group realizes that the townspeople intend to kill them.

Lysander slashes and cleaves multiple townspeople.  Horken cuts some townspeople down too.  Ulfgar kills 3 townspeople each round.  Lydia heals Ulfgar after he takes direct hit from a fireball.  Lysander and Lydia are hit as well.  Meldor gets struck by some beam from Dyson who stands at the top of his tower with Henwen.  Tully attacks Horken from within the crowd.  The Cuckoo flies down to dance among the group, specifically attacking Lysander.

After a long battle with many of the townspeople, the group has to concentrate on Tully, Cuckoo, Henwen, and Dyson.    Meldor fries Henwen and Dyson.  

Tully almost kills Horken, but Ulfgar finally puts a few arrows into her.

The Cuckoo turns into a vulture man or Vrock.  The group can barely damage him.  Lysander takes a beating from the Cuckoo.  Ashrem sneaks up behind him and stabs him with the Unicorn horn.  Ashrem is hit, and flees to the tower.  Lysander and Ashrem are infected with some sort of spores released from the Vrock.

Meldor fires multiple magic spells, but the Vrock seems resistant.  Lydia bashes the Vrock and Ulfgar starts to make his arrows count.

Ashrem runs and climbs up the tower to finish off Dyson.  Three townspeople pursue Ashrem.  Ashrem makes it to the top of the tower and beheads the stabilized Dyson.  He then tosses Henwen and Dyson from the tower and climbs down before the townspeople reach the top via the stairs.

Ashrem searches through Dyson's stuff to find a wand, a scroll, and a ring.  Ashrem runs towards Meldor to give him the wand and Lysander meets the towns folk and cuts them down.

Just when things were not looking good, and the Vrock seemed impervious, Ulfgar landed an arrow critically wounding the Vrock and killing the Cuckoo.

The group was exhausted, so found the nearest hut and went to sleep.

Adventure #5

In Conclusion....