Surprisingly the Party's ambush goes terribly well and they manage to capture a small blue
goblin spell-caster who it transpire's has been manufacturing the drug in another world which
exists through the portal. He has a blue gem which acts as the gate-key (the party later find
another one buried on the other-side) and a wand which appears to detect such stones. His
associates are a group of bandits who have taken over a ruined fort.
The party naturally go through the portal to explore and find a very ancient arch sunk into
the ground on the other side. It is in the middle of a large wood. As the party march towards
the fort they come across a battle between a group of gnolls and some adventurers.
Penva
intervenes to stop the fight (much to the annoyance of the gnoll's leader) and the party
acquire some new companions (including three of the gnolls).
The party acquire intelligence on the fort which commands a pass into a small valley.
They are helped by the fact that their freed hobbit-slaves appear to have come from the valley
(but before the bandits arrived). The fort overlooks the surrounding lands but has a
well which is fed by an underground stream. After much debate the party decide that this is
the way in they will take and they will then open the gates to their new companions who
will approach overland.
The assault on the fort is extremely successful thanks to the ingenuity of the party who
enter through the well, dispose of the sentries and then lock the bandits in their barracks.
A combination a real and illusionary magical force and threats panic the bandits into
killing their own leader and surrendering. Penva then has the job of helping the bandits
atone for their sins and a reasonable proportion of them stay on to help repair the
fort which the party (and their companions) take for a new base. They are welcomed by
the hobbit villagers whose cleric is most impressed by Penva.
It transpires that until recently the
fort was manned by troops of the local Warlord (whose
city is 100 miles north) but a dragon has captured a town to the north cutting
of communications and the troops withdrew. The party's new companions, who are an exotic mix
of races, are all fugitives from the Warlord. The party decide to settle here for a while
as they can see potential trade links with the City (where fresh fruit and veg which the
hobbits grow in abundance fetch top prices). Penva makes peace with the local gnolls and
the party return to the City with the intention of buying the house opposite the portal
to help disguise their activities.
Back in the City
Magar, the mage shopkeeper, seems to be aware of what the party have been
up to. He proposes a three way deal between himself, the party and a friend of his the
wealthy merchant,
Irina Tracos. The merchant will redevelop the area round the portal on
both the City side and on the world known as Oerth. She will discretely develop trade with
Oerth. The party are free to trade on their own account through the portal and will also get
10% of the merchant's profits (max 60,00gp). As a goodwill gesture the merchant is willing
to make an advance on this. Magar himself is interested in any unusual spells or magic
items from Oerth and wants first refusal on buying any the party obtain.
The party agree to help 'pacify' the area round the portal. Irina has brought a party of
rangers and druids through the portal who help identify potential threats. The party
ambush and kill a pack of dire wolves then stalk some very large ogres into the hills
south of the forest where the portal is situated. Despite a charge from the ogres they are
outmatched by the party.
In these combats the party discover that
Hanna (who seems to want to follow Wighty around for
some unknown reason) throws a mean dagger. The ogre's lair produces some excellent treasure
and Hanna is rewarded with a share.
The party next investigate an area of the forest that is traditionally avoided by the gnolls
(because explorers never come back). It turns out that the trees are twisted and alive.
Slaying them doesn't lift the aura of evil which seems to emanate from some overgrown ruins.
Finding a secret passage into a hidden temple the party have to slay a rather large
spider who seems to have taken up residence. The party discover two seemingly bottomless
pits in alcoves behind the altar and rather bravely the vampire and wight agree to climb
down them. At the bottom lie the bones of two enormous and strange beasts. The sense of evil
is so strong there that the adventurers feel distinctly uneasy. After a quick sweep for loot
they resolve to leave the problem to Penva who no doubt has the power to purge the place of
evil.
Having amassed a reasonable amount of wealth the party head back to the City to spend it
at Magar's shop. Then they notice Hanna is missing. 'Is it safe to leave an immature hobbit
simpleton who knows all the parties shocking secrets unsupervised', think the party when
they notice Wighty is also missing.
Keva who has come through the portal and is doing
Wighty and Hanna's shopping for them explains the two of them wanted to go off and explore.
'What could possibly go wrong?' think the party as they tool up for the likely rescue mission.
Hanna and Wighty had actually scouted along the Old South Road towards
Onhir with
Grat and
Carillion
and rescued a party of dwarves from bandits. The dwarves are from
Kolda in the south and
are duly grateful. They are trying to find a market for two cartloads of weapons so Wighty
introduces them to Irina in
Maven Ford who makes a deal. While in Maven Ford Wighty mugs up on
Zothay for the party.
The party set out for Zothay. They are escorting
Thatis and
Olo Heathertoes,
sages employed by Magar. In addition Wighty has invited
Arlo Burrows and
Tom Sandheaver with
a view to setting up trading links with Zothay. All of a sudden they are surrounded by 50
lizardmen. The lizardmen invite the party to drop their weapons. The party invite the lizardmen
to drop their weapons. Since neither group seems to accept either suggestion carnage ensues.
40 dead lizardmen later the survivors drop back into the swamp. A sole captive tells the party
they were short of sacrifices for the full moon ritual. The party put 'rescue existing captive'
on their to-do list, load up their wagons with lizardman equipment and proceed to Zothay.
In Zothay the party check in at
Saddak's Inn and take a stroll round Zothay.
Two mysterious
beggars thrust messages into their hands and a good-looking woman invites them back to
the
Three Plates for free drinks. In the Three Plates offers of other free services only
seem to work on one of the disguised undead (the vampire spawn) but it turns out to be
no more than a lure for a private chat with the owner of the Three Plates, Sanjis Tharsa.
Sanjis offers 10gp per head for a party to rescue the lizardmen's captive plus hints of
the long term gratitude of the Zothay goverment.
Following a tip from one of the mysterious beggars the party head for the 'Dead God's
Temple'. Supposedly this belonged to Pelor who was killed by a demon a thousand years ago.
The temple is still hallowed, however, and each of the party (except Wighty who gave
it a miss) has a religious experience in which the the prospect of a career as a divine
champion is dangled in front of them (where's your memory when you need it?). Thatis, a
follower, of Athena also has the same experience.
The other beggar's tip involved the Tower of the Prophets at midnight. First Dil, then Gura
and finally
Narin and Wighty the following night all have similar experiences: fascinated by the tower they
go to the top and jump off! When they wake up they are in a small room with three
silent robed figures. These beings induce strange visions in their guests concerning
their past and future. They wake up at the foot of the Tower where the 'Prophets of the
Wastes', followers of a strange ascetic sect, are sleeping. A hasty exit is called for as
these white-robed prophets resent intrusion on their holy ground.
The following morning the party set off upriver with a guide to find the lizardmen's temple.
Avoiding the lizardmen's watch they find the entrance to the underground lair.
Most of the lizardmen are taking part in a ritual, and the ones who are supposed to
be acting as guards are quickly slain or captured. Two captives are freed from the cells,
one an elf fighter
who is keen to aid his rescuers. The party have met the goal of the mission but decide
they are in a position to end the threat from this tribe of lizardmen. They burst into
the temple, target the high priest (who is luckily facing away from them), and slaughter
60 of his followers. More free drinks in Zothay follow not to mention some serious loot.
Hanna who was left behind in Zothay is a trifle huffy with Wighty.
The next day Sanjis has a delicate mission for the party which involves stealing some papers
from the Governor's heavily guarded mansion while framing the Thieves' Guild for the
theft. Wighty and Dil carry out the mission with some aplomb, stealing some valuables as
well and leaving some of
the loot in a prominent thief's house in the Beggar's Quarter. The following day they are
contacted by the Skandik's who want them to solve the crime. Impressively they
are able to deduce quite a lot about the crime and point the Skandiks in the direction
of the loot for a large reward. After gaining a little more intelligence about the factions
operating in Zothay the party head back to the City. Hanna, who is still sulking about being
left out of the raid on the lizardmen's temple, stays behind with the other hobbits
who have founded the Stomper Trading Company. Hanna asks Wighty to do her shopping and hands
him a suspiciously large amount of money although she is tight-lipped on how she acquired it.