Night Below Calendar

Ches (March)

1: Party formed, sets out from Hultail to Thurmaster, they rescue Smylie and Ariessus

2: Traveling

3: Attacked by bandits outside Milborne, party wins, but Dorim is slain. Enter Milborne. Ari is unmasked. She is thrown in jail. Smylie and Beleg accompany her. The rest of the party is enlisted to help find a missing villager, Jelenneth.

4: Ari (and the others) are freed when a spell reveals she is not evil. Party investigates Jelenneth’s disappearance. Smylie attempts to work out a deal with the halfling that killed Dorim to find the bandit treasure. Something goes wrong and the halfling escapes from the jail, almost making it out of town. Sane and Smylie flee and go look for the “treasure”, but find nothing. The rest of the party is questioned by the town authorities (Garyld and Capella). Sane returns and Smylie’s actions are revealed. The party and authorities head out to hunt down Smylie.

5: Around midnight Smylie is captured and brought back to town. Smylie is tried, sentenced and fined. He will work of the fine in Lord Carman’s mines. Party makes preparations to continue on.

6: Party sets out for Thurmaster.

7: Still traveling.

8: Party arrives in Thurmaster and delivers chest to Tauster. They find out that Jelenneth was Tauster’s apprentice. He hires them to continue investigating her disappearance and tells them to speak with two others, Kerianna and Namhar, about kidnappings in the area. The two join the party.

9: Party leaves Thurmaster.

10: Travel is slow due to muddy roads.

11: Party arrives at Kuiper’s farmstead. They discuss the disappearances with the ranger and take baths. Along with Kuiper they head into the Thornwood to search Hog Brook. They meet the feral druid, Oleanne, who tells them of a young werebear loose in the forest. They decide to help the werebear before continuing their search for Jelenneth.

12: Just before dawn the party is attacked by orcs. It is a long, hard battle, but the party prevails. Beleg, Mogo, and Namhar are all seriously wounded. Healing spells are cast. The party searches for, finds, and captures the werebear (a young lad by the name if Maxim). They return to Kuiper’s place via Hog Brook, but find no sign of Jelenneth.

13: Spend the day at Kuiper’s, recovering, and learning about the local area from the ranger.

14: Party heads to Milborne. There they talk to several people and buy supplies. They then head back to Kuiper’s.

15: Another day spent at Kuiper’s, making up plans, etc. They learn about the Gateway area of the Great Rock Dale. They decide to go investigate that area.

16: Party heads up to the Gateway. They fight with the Shieldsplitter orcs and retreat deeper into the Gateway. Tharg chases and is captured by kobolds. The party is drawn into a second battle and looses this one. Mogo, Keri, and Castinar are all captured by the Shieldsplitters. Namhar is captured by another orc tribe, the Back Rippers. Beleg grabs an unconscious Ari and, with Sane’s help, manages to escape. The three flee back to Kuiper’s. All of the other prisoners (except Mogo) are taken by a bugbear tribe in the area.

17: Beleg and Ari stay at Kuiper’s while Sane and the ranger go try to find out what happened to the party. In prison, the other five befriend another prisoner, a young human by the name of Armatage. Tharg manages to escape from his bonds and free the others. They fight their way to freedom. Sane and Kuiper find them and help them escape the Gateway. They all return to Kuiper’s place. There is no sign of Mogo.

18: The party rests up and recovers, then heads back to the Gateway, intent on rescuing Mogo. They wipe out the Shieldsplitter orcs. They find Mogo’s gear, but not the halfling.

19: The party attacks and wipes out the Back Ripper orc clan. Party returns to Kuiper’s where they discuss what to do next.

20: Party returns to the Gateway. They negotiate with the bugbears and recover most of their gear. They then return to Kuiper’s.

21-23: A late spring snowstorm keeps the party at Kuiper’s. On the evening of the 23^rd one of Garyld’s ravens arrives, brining news that Mogo has been found.

24: Party travels to Milborne. Mogo is there, but in bad condition after fleeing from the Great Rock Dale in the snowstorm.

25: Party splits up. Beleg, Ari, and Castinar visit Smylie at the mines. He is doing well. Sane and Tharg help the locals repair damage from the storm. Namhar watches Lafayer amputate Mogo’s foot. That evening they meet back up and decide to head up to Jurgenville for training and better supplies. They are offered the chance to escort a flotilla to Thurmaster. They agree.

26: Traveling via the Churnett to Thurmaster.

27: Party arrives in Thurmaster and is paid. Cast almost starts a riot by handing out gold coins. Tauster agrees to identify several of the items the party recovered from the Gateway.

28: Tauster casts the identify spells. The party leaves town and meets with Count Sanidor Parlfray at Parlfray Keep on the way to Jurgenville. They stay at the keep for dinner and a party. Sane finds out about the Gleaming Glade, site of an ancient battle in the Shire. Beleg befriends Lyntern, the Count’s only child.

29-30 Ches: Traveling up the Thunder Peaks to Jurgenville.

Tarsakh (April)

1: Party arrives in Jurgenville. They split up to take care of various errands. Ari, Beleg, and Tharg visit with Tessalynne Testarossa, Captain of the City Watch, and tell her of Ari’s nature. Namhar looks into making a new holy symbol and selling the party treasure. Sane makes contact with a Thieves’ Guild representative. Keri goes shopping. That evening they meet for dinner, then head over to the Neworion Trading Post, where they cash in much of their treasure. Sane slips away and meets with the Guild. Back at the Glowing Helm Ari is attacked by the local Guildmaster of the Mage’s Guild, Valdaeron Windsong. Tessalynne resolves the situation with the help of Laila, a psionicist.

2-8: Party spends the week in Jurgenville, training for the most part. Keri gets to know several of the important local figures. Matar meets up with Dessalynne, who later becomes his… ah… mentor. Beleg meets up with Alric, a norseman like himself but cleric of Athena. Namhar is taken away by his temple elders. Sane is trained by Qarachaqi, a gnome.

9-12: Party travels back down to Milborne, stopping by Tauster’s and the Count’s on their way.

13: Party arrives in Milborne, witnesses an auction of farm equipment. Questioning the farmer they learn of the New Mire. They find out that Mogo has become the new cleric in town, something he seems content with. Stories are swapped. The party is summoned to see Lord Carman. He wants to hire them to investigate the New Mire. The party agrees.

14: Party travels to Harlaton, starting their investigation into the New Mire.

15-18: Party searches the area, looking for any clues about the New Mire.

19: Party returns and reports to Carman, then return to the area.

20-22: Party keeps searching, this time concentrating in the area of the Mire itself.

23: Party again returns and reports to Carman. He gives them some information he found out that may be a clue.

24: Party tracks down the clue, a shepherd boy who saw something strange. They question him and come up with new leads.

25: Heading to the area the boy saw the strange creatures in, Sane finds a goblin lair. Beleg tries to approach the goblins in a friendly manner, but the goblins flee. The party traps the goblins in their lair. Negotiations are conducted, but they break down and a fight ensues. However, the party does learn that the goblins do have something to do with the Mire, apparently linked to the tribal shaman’s control over a “water demon”. The party enters the lair and, after a fight, capture the goblin leader. They retreat and discuss what to do. Keri proposes moving the goblins to the Eelhold. The goblin leader agrees to this. However, confusion and discord in the party blows the plan apart.

26: The party returns to Milborne. They speak with Garyld about the plan to move the goblins. Over dinner the party comes up with some principles they hope will prevent more problems of the type they had at the goblin lair. Keri is elected as party leader, replacing Beleg, who resigned at the lair.

27: Castinar, who was badly injured at the goblin lair, continues to heal. Ari goes through a moral crisis.

28: Shiraz, the ranger who oversees the Eelhold, comes to town. The party learns she has problems of her own up at the Eelhold, and eventually the party convinces her to let them move the goblins up there. The party heads back to the goblin lair. Most of the goblins have moved, but the leader and a few warriors remain. The party somehow convinces the goblins to trust them again. The tribe is reunited and a feast is held. The next morning they set out for the Eelhold.

29-30: Traveling up to the Eelhold.

GREENGRASS: Still traveling

Mirtul (May)

1: Still traveling.

2: Party and goblin tribe arrive at the Eelhold. Turns out the shaman can help with the problem at the Eelhold.

3: Party returns to Milborne. Lord Carman pays them and gives them an official Adventuring Charter, good for a year. They decide to head back to Kuiper’s to see what the ranger has learned. Tharg stays behind in Milborne. At Kuiper’s they learn of the appearance of a strange “temple” in the Thornwood. They decide to go investigate this temple, after visiting a place Shiraz told them about, the Featherfall.

4: Party sets out for the Featherfall and the temple.

5: Still traveling. Castinar finds signs that orcs are active in this area of the woods.

6: Party keeps traveling, gets close to the Featherfall just before dark.

7: Scouts are sent forward to the Featherfall. They stumble across a band of gnolls. A chaotic battle is fought. Sane tries to pursue the fleeing gnolls, but is attacked by a flock of blood hawks and has to retreat. Party returns to camp as a heavy snowstorm starts. After the snow stops Sane makes contact with the aarakocra up in the Featherfall. One of them flies off with Sane to show him where the “House of Storm” (the temple) is. Once Sane returns the party heads for the temple, camping in the woods near it.

8: Party approaches the temple. A black robed figure which Beleg sees is very evil tries to drive them way. The party pulls back and Sane goes to Kuiper’s for help. He finds that Kuiper is gone, so he sends messages out to all the rangers, informing them of what the party has found. He spends the night there and then returns to the party.

9: Party attacks the temple. The black robed figure summons a score of undead to defend the temple. Another hard battle is fought. Beleg eventually kills the undead dwarf (the black robed figure) and the rest of the zombies and skeletons are destroyed. Sane walks into the small temple and finds many glyphs on the walls. Beleg starts trying to destroy the temple, which causes a storm to develop right over the clearing the temple is in. Ari finds a strange set of keys on the dwarf. Matar discovers that the light stone in the temple is actually a Moonstone. He places it in the hilt of his katana, and the sword “eats” it, causing a new rune of magic to appear on the blade. Matar then starts scraping glyphs off the interior walls. The temple grows and the storm above the clearing starts throwing lightning bolts around. Matar is hit several times. The party pulls back. Sane returns and re-paints the glyphs, which causes the storm to abate and the temple shrinks back down to its original size.

10-13: Party travels back to Kuiper’s. They find that Kuiper is still at the Dale, observing a series of humanoid wars that the party apparently sparked when they destroyed the two orc tribes. The party decides to split up.

14: Sane flies to Thurmaster to discuss the glyphs with Tauster. He finds they are glyphs of bonding, somehow related to the various elements. Most everybody else returns to Milborne. They hear rumors of troubles in the Blessed Wood. Sane learns from Tauster that there are giants in the Blessed Wood and that the Count is very concerned about them.

15: Sane meets up with the party in Milborne. They discuss their options.

16-18: Party heads back to the temple, which Tauster believes is more a prison than a temple.

19: The party reaches the temple in the afternoon. Sane goes in and scrapes off a glyph. The temple enlarges, the storm gathers, and Sane is struck by lightning. The party tries various ways to remove the glyphs and all are badly injured in the process. The storm grows in strength and the party pulls back to rest and recover.

20: During the night the storm starts a fire in the forest. Lead by Castinar, the party rushes to combat it, except for Tharg (who flees) and Sane (who goes to enlist the aid of the aarakocra). It takes a while, but the party manages to contain and then extinguish the flames. After the aarakocra depart the party returns to the temple. They try several more things, including everybody rushing in at once. They finally manage to scrape the target glyphs off and they pull back. The temple shakes apart and a fearsome figure forms above it. Tauster later identifies the figure as that of a Composite or Storm Elemental. The elemental destroys the temple and then flies off. The party later learns that the builder of the temple was destroyed in a great storm the very next day. Oleanne shows up to investigate the fire. Sane manages to scare her to death with an illusionary prison and the druid flees.

21-23: Party heads back to Kuiper’s. At the ranger’s the party learns more about the war in the Dale. Tharg decides to stay with Kuiper rather than continue along with the party. The party decides to head up to Jurgenville again.

24-25: Party travels to Parlfray Keep. They learn that giants have been attacking people in the Blessed Wood, but that nothing has happened in a week or so. The Count also tells them that the Queen of the Mire, a huge green dragon, has been spotted again. The party leaves.

26-27: Party travels on to Jurgenville.

28-30: Party in Jurgenville (see 1-17 Kythorn).

Kythorn (June)

1-17: The party spends the bulk of this month up in Jurgenville. They resolve finances and do a lot of training. Ari goes up to 3^rd level, Beleg to 3^rd, Cast to 2^nd as a druid, Keri to 2^nd as a thief, Matar to 2^nd, Sane as a 2^nd level illusionist, 3^rd level thief. Keri gets to know the guildmaster, Valdaeron Windsong. She also gets one of Val’s apprentices to start investigating the strange key fob Ari found on the undead dwarf.

18-19: Party heads back down to the shire. At Parlfray’s they learn the giants are active again. The Count hires them to investigate, and offers a bounty on heads. They are joined by one of Parlfray’s men, Hobar. Sane flies to Kuiper’s to retrieve Tharg.

20: The party reunites in Thurmaster and heads south, towards the Blessed Woods and the Shrieken Mire. They search the site of one of the giant attacks and question a shepherd who was attacked.

21-22: The party spends these two day searching the area, questioning people about the giants. They figure out their opponents are formorian giants and that they live somewhere in the swamp. As the party discusses what to do Tharg leaves, deciding he had more fun with Kuiper than with the party. The party then splits up, most of them going to prepare a trap for the giants, the others to scout around some more. Sane spots the giants and sees lizardmen following them.

23: With Beleg and Ari still out questioning locals (and falling in love) the others keep preparing the trap. Sane flies back and watches the giants. He sees them attack a lizardman village, but the lizardmen drive them off. Sane ends up landing and talking to the lizardmen. He finds they have been fighting the giants for a while and are asking their Queen for help (a wicker idol that looks like a green dragon). Sane proposes that the party work with the lizardmen. They agree. Sane returns and tells the party.

24: The party enters the swamp, escorted by a lizardman. Both Keri and Ari have a very hard time in the hot swamp under the bright sunlight. At the village the party starts negotiating with the lizardman about working together. They win the king over, but the shaman is still suspicious. That’s when the green dragon shows up. The dragon, Inzeldrin, questions the party about what they are doing. Beleg, Keri, and Sane all speak with her. Eventually a deal is worked out where Inzeldrin will help get rid of the giants in exchange for livestock and the possibility of opening trade negotiations between the lizardmen and the humans. The dragon flies off and the party leaves the swamp. Sane flies north to inform Count Parlfray of the developments.

25: The party travels to Thurmaster. Sane meets up with them and tells them Parlfray is excited about the prospect of trade. Sane has also learned a contingent of Purple Dragons is going to be stationed in the shire due to all the strange occurrences and the humanoid war. The party has dinner with Tauster.

26: The party heads up to Parlfray’s Keep. The count welcomes and congratulates them. The Purple Dragons arrive and are greeted by the Count. Some of the party stick around for the ceremony, while most leave. Those at the ceremony meet Nikki, an elven wild mage sent by the War Wizards to investigate what is going on in the Shire. Sane and Keri both talk with Nikki.

27-28: The party waits for two days as preparations are made for the meeting with the Queen of the Mire.

29: The party accompanies Parlfray’s entourage down to Thurmaster.

30: The group, which now includes Tauster as well, heads into the swamp. They move slowly, guided by lizardmen. They spend the night near the Queen’s Mound.

Flamerule (July)

1: Parlfray, Tauster, and the party meet with Inzeldrin. Negotiations take place, which for the most part the party isn’t part of. The Count asks the party to guarantee that the giants are slain. They agree. They also discover that there are young giants holed up in some ancient ruins where Inzeldrin can’t get to them. While payment is being discussed there are some heated words exchanged between the Count and the Party.

2: The party cuts straight across the swamp for the Narrows, where Inzeldrin will kill the giants. Nikki decides to come with them. Both Ari and Keri are incapacitated during the trip by the heat and sun.

3: The party finally makes it out of the swamp. Beleg and Matar stay with Keri and Ari (both of whom are still out of it) while Nikki, Cast, and Sane go on to meet with the dragon. Just before sundown Inzeldrin deposits the bodies of the three dead formorians near the party. The three head back to where the others are waiting.

4: The party rests up while Keri and Ari continue to recover.

5: Lead by their lizardman guide, the party re-enters the swamp and finds the giant’s lair. They enter the lair and attack the giants. They find several human captives during the fight. They defeat the giants, but a female hostage is killed in the process. They explore the area and find a bunch of interesting things, including several dwarven bodies, one of which wears a crown. Worried about the condition of the humans, Sane flies off to find Lafayer. The rest of the party slowly makes its way out of the swamp.

6: The party takes the badly wounded survivors to Thurmaster, where they find Alric, Beleg’s mentor. Alric stabilizes the wounded. Sane and Lafayer show up later in the day. Tauster identifies several of the items recovered in exchange for a string of pearls.

7: The party travels up to Parlfray Keep and report to the Count. They receive their pay and depart for Milborne.

8: The party travels, arriving at Kuiper’s shortly after dark. Kuiper tells them that Tharg and Maxim (the werebear) are still fighting in the Gateway, and that Oleanne is investigating strange occurrences in the Thornwood.

9: The party travels to Milborne, where they relax and take care of errands. Sane starts getting on Carman’s good side by reporting on what happened in the Mire.

10: The party heads into Thornwood to follow up on the Bloodskull orcs and see if they can find Oleanne.

11: Early in the morning the party is attacked by a large and well organized force of bandits. The party is scattered. Keri, Ari, and Nikki are all captured. Beleg is killed by a Heat Metal spell and several rounds of combat. Total disaster is avoided only by the arrival of Oleanne and her wolves, who drive the bandits off, then set out in pursuit of the bandits. She manages to recover all three of the kidnapped party members before the bandits make it to the safety of their lair deep in the woods. The party grieves for Beleg. Sane and Oleanne then depart, heading for the bandit lair. The rest start back towards Milborne, carrying Beleg’s body. They meet up with Alric and Kuiper late in the day. Alric tells them he was told by his goddess to come search for them. The cleric opens up a portal. He, Beleg, Ari, and Matar all enter the portal and end up in Jurgenville. Kuiper leads the rest of the party back to his place.

12: Sane finds the party at Kuiper’s. He tells them of the bandit’s lair, an ancient keep in the heart of the Thornwood. The party rests, still not sure what to do.

Up in Jurgenville Beleg is raised by the High Priestess of Athena. While dead he has an audience with his god, and is called to be a Holy Warrior, a special class of paladin with clerical abilities. He is told to seek out and destroy the evil causing the events in Haranshire.

13: Beleg recovers from his near-death experience. The party rests and makes up plans. They want to mislead the bandits and make them think the party has disbanded. Castinar heads to Milborne to start the rumors going. Sane heads to Thurmaster to consult with Tauster and the Count.

14: Alric casts the spell allowing those in Jurgenville to return to Haranshire. They show up in Milborne and speak with Mogo. There they meet up with Keri and Castinar. Everybody then reunites at Kuiper’s that evening.

15-18: The party sets out for the keep, which Sane learns is called Broken Spire Keep. They take the long way to get there, heading for Featherfall first.

19: The party is at the Featherfall, where they find the aaroacka are having a hard time. They also stop by the location of the elemental prison, but find nothing of interest there.

20-22: The party is in the region of the keep, watching it and trying to figure out how many bandits are in it.

23: In the early morning hours the party launches the first foray against Broken Spire Keep. Due to several miscues (and a few good STs by the bandits) the plan doesn’t come off well and the party ends up in a pitched battle. The party fights well, with the stronger party members helping out the weaker ones when needed and a trip spell by K’harn holding up the bandit leadership for a while. Seven bandits and three warhounds are slain. However, the bandits are much more powerful than expected (including having a fire mephit). Castinar and Sane are both badly injured and just about everybody takes a few wounds. In the end Beleg ends up holding off the leaders of the bandit group while the rest of the party makes good their escape. Beleg is captured but everybody else gets away by running through a fire. Their escape is further covered by Oleanne’s wolves.

When they return to base camp they find a tiny (a few feet long) blue dragon that keeps teleporting around them. Oleanne shows up and tells them the creature is a fire lizard and that its master is held captive in the keep.

24: This day is spent resting up and healing. Sane and Castinar especially take a while to recover.

25: In the very early morning hours Sane flies back to the keep. He finds the whole place (including the clearing around it) lit up with continual light stones. Bandits are patrolling the rooftops with zombies in the courtyard. Using several illusions, Sane tricks one of the bandits (a young man named Heydrus) to leave the keep and walk straight to where the party is, where he is captured. The group interrogates him, finding out some details about the bandit operation, including that Ranchefus, the boss, gets his orders from “below” and that there are orcs below. He also draws some rough maps of the keep for the group. The party almost comes to blows over what to do with the prisoner, but in the end he gets away when Nikki webs the whole clearing. Oleanne leaves.

The group rests up then launches another attack against the keep the next morning. An illusion from Sane provides a distraction while the rest of the group rushes the keep. This battle takes place mostly on the tower and rooftops of the keep. Sane is hit by a poisoned bolt, but Ari manages to save him. Also this time the Boss himself shows up and his spells give the party fits. However, the party is able to drive the bandits back into the keep.

As the party regroups and recover the bandits do the same. They attack again, this time both from the courtyard and up through the staircase to the tower. Remarkably, the attack takes the party by surprise. The counterattack is so vicious only Nikki and the wounded Sane are able to escape. Everybody else is captured. Castinar is almost killed when he takes a crossbow bolt through the neck. Those captured are put in prison. Castinar is held separate from the rest. Beleg is not there but they do talk with a young man who calls himself Sigurd the Blue, apparently Tag’s (the fire lizard) owner.

26-27: Over the next few days those in prison are tortured in the keep’s shrine to Cyric. The women have it especially bad, and Ari worst of all. It is a very dark period for all of them. Sane rests up until he has enough energy to fly, and then he leaves to go get help. Nikki isn’t thrilled about being left in the woods all alone, but she doesn’t have much choice. Sane flies to Milborne where Mogo heals him up. Mogo and Garyld also agree to go help Sane try and rescue the rest of the party.

The three then go to Kuiper’s, where they recruit Tharg and his little gang to help out. Maxim is coming, along with a very strange insect warrior called Zith. Tharg introduces him as a “great warrior”. The rescue party sets out for the keep, moving quickly.

28: Those in prison get a chance to talk for a while when their crazy prison guard leaves for a while. Also Ari and Sigurd use their companion animals to scout around the keep. People begin to slowly start healing. Keri uses Tag to get a note out to Sane, but Ranchefus somehow intercepts it an tortures her again. (Tag tried to give the note to an illusion of Sane that Sane had created.) The evil cleric then tortures Ari in front of Sigurd as punishment for Tag’s role in the attempt. Back outside, the rescue party plans its attack.

29: Early in the morning the rescue party attacks. Garyld takes out the sentries as the rest of the group splits into two groups and attacks the keep from both sides (tower and over the wall). Zith and Tharg rip through the bandit fodder like tissue paper. Sane has several illusions running, but the bandits use zombies to tell which opponents are real and while are memorex. Also smoke pots are lit off, interfering with Sane’s ability to see his illusions.

It turns out to be another hard fought battle, but this time the rescue party is victorious. It is Mogo (with some help from Garyld) that ends up killing Ranchefus. The fiery imp then disappears, apparently taking the evil cleric’s soul with him. Nikki is almost killed trying to prevent Matar from being killed, and Keri is almost killed as well by the mad jailer as she makes good her escape. Zith is almost killed by a cold trap. But in the end everybody is safe and the keep is secure. Two bandits (the jailer and an elf) got away.

The party recovers its gear (which K’harn had found earlier) and Castinar befriends a strange looking bat that Ranchefus had been keeping as a pet (an azmyth bat). A quick search of the keep is carried out. Beleg is not found anywhere, although is armor and sword are.

30: The party pulls back into the woods to rest up. Mogo and Garyld leave, since Mogo has to be present at the festivities in Milborne tomorrow.

Midsummer’s Day: The party spends this holiday still resting and recovering in the woods. Everybody is depressed since this was to be the day Beleg held his party in Milborne.

Eleasias (August)

1-3: The party returns to the keep and does a thorough search, finding lots of loot. They also find a door leading down into the Underdark. They barricade and Wizard Lock it closed. Ari cleanses the temple area and rededicates it to the deities of good. At the dedication ceremony a spirit shows up. He claims to be Lord Lothar Parlfray, the paladin which originally settled this area of Cormyr. In gratitude to the party for defeating the evil bandits he gives them several gifts. OOC, at this point just about everybody goes up in level.

4-9: Realizing they need to identify things, cash in some of their loot, and get some additional training, the party decides to head up to Jurgenville. The next five days are spent getting there. Once there they split up and take care of business.

10-30: The party spends the next four weeks up in Jurgenville, mostly training. Nikki has the chance to learn a whole load of new spells, and Matar takes the time to brew potions of infravision. The party also spends time getting to know the “movers and shakers” in Jurgenville better. In particular Ari gets to know the psionicist/healer Laila while Keri spends a lot of time talking with the Mage Guildmaster, Valdaeron, and Sane becomes friends with Qarachaqi, his gnome instructor. Keri also has Val’s assistant research into the strange key fob they found way back when in the giant’s den. Ari convinces Laila to use her powers to contact Beleg. They find out (through a “dreamwalk”) that Beleg is alive but held captive somewhere far underground. She also finds out that he is involved with Mind Flayers somehow. Later on she has a picnic with Sigurd.

There are a few side adventures. Sane and Ari head down into Haranshire. Sane starts up a “business relationship” with Lord Carman, providing him with information on events in the shire. The two find out Smylie has fled the country after receiving (and misinterpreting) a letter from Ari. Sane sets out after him, tracking him as far as Tilverton to the north. There he hires a bounty hunter to keep pursuing the fleeing mage and he returns to Milborne.

Sane also spends time in Thurmaster interrogating an orc that the Purple Dragons captured. He learns a bit about the Bloodskull orcs, the tribe working with the bandits.

At about the same time that Ari and Sane depart, the rest of the group takes a little side adventure. Using clues provided by Val’s assistant they manage to find Vashiti’s hideout. (Vashiti was apparently a mage from another world who had several bolt-holes throughout the Realms.) In the hideout they are attacked by two golem-like creatures. They defeat them, but Matar’s katana (his inheritance from his father) is shattered in the battle. After searching the room they find most of the spell books Vashiti had here have been destroyed by water, but they do recover a few low-level traveling books. They contain strange spells none of the magi in the party have heard of before. They also find treasure under a strange stone block that floats when heated. Keri and Nikki take the spell books to the Guild. Val offers them and Sane each a one year membership in the guild for the books, and access to the books later on. They agree. Shortly thereafter the party trades Beleg’s gem-powered sword for a new katana for Matar.

Eleint (September)

1-8: Most of the party is still up in Jurgenville.

9-11: The party departs Jurgenville and heads down to Haranshire, bypassing Parlfray’s Keep and Thurmaster. They meet up with Ari at Kuiper’s. Sane shows up later that night.

12: The party sets out for Greenleaf Keep, but before they go too far Kuiper catches them and tells them Mogo has been kidnapped. The party quickly travels to Milborne where they question people and examine the temple. Castinar finds tracks and the group heads out after them. They end up near Carman’s mines, so the group stops by there. The situation almost gets ugly between Zith and some guards, but Sane and Ari diffuse the tensions. They learn of an abandoned mine in the area called the Garlstone Mine. The party travels on and finds the mine.

After disarming one trap on the main door to the but triggering another the party heads in. Matar’s Potions of Infravision are used for the first time. Castinar, in the lead, is paralyzed by a Wyvern Watch. Once the elf recovers the party moves on and is ambushed near the back of the mine. Bandits attack from three directions, so everybody ends up fighting. It is a chaotic and confused combat, but the party beats back the bandits. Sigurd, Castinar, and Keri were all grievously wounded and had to be carried out. Matar ended up dueling with the leader and both fighters went down. Sane gets involved in a rather comical fight (nobody could hit anybody) with a halfling. Ari barely saves both Sigurd and Castinar during the actual combat. Zith ended up chasing the retreating bandits. He finds a sinkhole leading to another level.

Zith hears sounds down in the hole so he sets up an ambush. Zombies start coming up the ladder and the thri-kreen starts dispatching them. Then a human female drifts up from below and starts casting spells at Zith. Fortunately he makes his saving throws (if he hadn’t the party might have totally lost this battle). But then he fails a ST vs fear and ends up running out of the mine at full speed.

The party (what is left of it) regroups, leaving Nikki, Sane, and Ari to fight off a rather large group of bandit reinforcements - including at least one spellcaster. Then Tymora smiles on the party. Nikki uses her Wand of Wonder and gets a lucky surge. The spell forms into Bigby’s Crushing Hand, which starts popping zombies. The bandit leader, recognizing the spell, decides to retreat rather than risk facing a possible archmage.

Once the bandits depart the party pulls the wounded out, with Zith standing guard. Strangely, Zith has two stalactites fall quite near him. The party makes it outside, where they decided to head back to Carman’s mine. They are given a shack there to rest in.

13-14: The party stays at the mine, recovering from the battle. Nikki identifies several of the magical items. Matar is given what Nikki calls a Gauntlet of Thor, which can deliver a shock through a sword in melee combat.

15: The Truth Seekers head back to Garlstone Mine, ready for round two. They are accompanied by half a dozen guards from Carman’s mines who wait outside while the party heads in. Using light this time the group sweeps through the upper area, finding nothing, and then moves to the sinkhole, which is guarded by a Wyvern Watch. The group gets by this and heads into the lower level. They head straight in, towards a faint light. In the middle of the tunnel the party is attacked from ahead and from behind - trapped. The opponets

It is a very difficult battle. Keri, Cast, and Nikki are all seriously wounded before the party even begins to react. Matar is charmed by the main bandit spellcaster. He defends her for a while and then, when the party gains the upper hand, covers her retreat and then follows her. In the end the party drives off the bandits. Keri almost dies yet again during the chaotic battle and Zith ends up badly wounded as well. The two main bandits - the female cleric and a bald male throwing evocations around - get away.

One interesting side point - Nikki tried to cast a spell on Matar but the spell surged, causing Matar’s katana to become invisible to everybody but himself. This lead to Sigurd getting hurt very badly when the cavalier didn’t think Matar was armed.

The party regroups and returns to the cave mouth to rest and recuperate. They find that the mine guards have captured one of the bandits, who they question. The bandit draws them a map before he is taken away by the guards. The party heals.

Meanwhile, Matar stays with the bandits. He is still charmed by Shilek, the female. The male he learns is Imrin, a cleric of Ares. (BTW, for those of you who are familiar with the module and are confused we are using Spells and Powers rules, including the one that allows clerics to cast mage spells - like evocations.) The argue for a while about the situation. Matar guards Shilek after being given one of the fish potions, which causes nightmares every night the following week.

16: The day is spend resting at the cave mouth. Unknown to the party they are spied upon by Imrin, who wants to attack them where they rest, but Shilek forbids it, preferring to let the party come to her latest trap. Imrin also overhear Sane telling the party everything he knows about the happenings in the Shire. The kenku is close enough to the truth that the cleric of Ares is very worried.

17: The Seekers return to the dungeon. Hunter warns Castinar of an ambush waiting for them just beyond the sinkhole, saving the party from yet another disastrous battle. Also Sane, playing rearguard, hears movement behind the party. Thus the party is ready when attacked from behind and also by more zombies coming up through the sinkhole. Shilek and Matar attack from behind, while Imrin leads the zombies from below. It is another chaotic fight, even more so when several of Nikki’s spells surge, creating some strange results. Shilek dies when she chokes on her own vomit caused by a stinking cloud while laying down and held. However, Matar is convinced Sane killed her due to an illusion the kenku cast. Castinar saves Sane’s life when he casts his own charm spell on Matar and is able to calm him down - a little.

Imrin escapes the battle, but Keri, Cast, and Sigurd, lead by Matar, go running down into the lower level to find him. They do find him in the final room and Matar slays him in mortal combat. The party then regroups in the Grand Cascade room, with the invisible Sane keeping plenty of distance between himself and Matar.

After healing spells are cast the party splits up, half exploring the upper level and half the lower. The upper search turns up nothing, but those in the lower level are attacked by cave fishers. The small group manages to get away and chooses not to kill the fishers.

The party then regroups and investigates several other rooms. Castinar fights off two giant catfish to help retrieve the body of a wizard. Then, in another room, Keri is attacked by a giant eel, which the group kills just in time.

Mogo is not found, but they do find a passage way leading deeper underground. Matar knows from his time with Shilek that this leads down to the orcs, which is where Mogo was taken. The party decides they need to regroup before heading down. They return to the surface and then to their shack at Carman’s mine.

18: The party heads back to Milborne. They meet with Lord Carman, who wants the entrance to the underdark sealed but agrees to give the party a key to any door placed there.

19-25 : The party stays in Milborne several days. Nikki spends most of her time identifying some of the items retrieved from the Garlstone. Castinar and Matar run up to Jurgenville. Sane keeps himself busy flying around doing his “networking” thing. On the 25^th the party meets back up in Thurmaster, where magic items are distributed. Nikki, however, stays in Milborne to study spells.

26-28: Party heads over to Kuiper’s, and then up to the northern end of the Great Rock Dale to search for the mysterious Gleaming Glade. They find the glade and defeat the wraith guarding it. They dig around for a while and find some low-grade treasure.

29: Party reunited back in Milborne. Nikki and Keri ID the items found in the Glade.

30: Party stops briefly at Kuiper’s before heading into the Thornwood Forest towards Greenleaf Keep.

Highharvestide: The Seekers spend yet another holiday out in the woods. Due to good weather the traveling is quick and they approach Greenleaf by the end of the day.

Marpenoth (October)

1: Party spends the day in Greenleaf, speaking with the Purple Dragon detachment there and with the shade of Lord Parlfray.

2: The Truth Seekers enter the shallow Underdark for the first time. The day passes uneventfully except for two fire beetles wandering into camp that night. Ari kills and eats them.

3-4: The group ends up taking a wrong turn and ends up at the Garlstone Mine rather than the orc caverns. They retrace their steps.

5: The great double doors to the orc cavern are found. The party pulls back and observes the comings and goings of orcs for a day.

6: Sane, invisible, enters the orc cavern and finds Mogo. When he returns and informs the party of this he and Keri decide to try on a stealthy rescue mission. The two enter the caverns invisible. They have a fairly good plan, but due to a little bad luck and a few minor oversights the situation gets out of control and the orcs are alerted to their presence. Mogo is freed, turned invisible, and given Keri’s Boots of Levitation. The three (none of which knows where the other two are) then try to make their way back to the cavern doors.

The orcs formed a defensive line in front of the doors, blocking the three’s escape route. Sane gets by them, casting a Knock spell on the doors to open them. This tips the Seekers outside that something is going on and they move forward.

The end result is a very lengthy and bloody melee is fought, with wave after wave of orcs breaking against the party’s scrimmage line anchored by Matar, Zith, and Sigurd. Dozens of orcs are slain. Although Mogo is almost slain by a wild crossbow bolt, the group manages to get him out alive. They also manage to capture the orc leader. However, they do leave without actually entering the orc lair. The women and children, along with several of the males, are spared.

7-11: Party returns to Milborne by way of Greenleaf. On the way Sane questions the orc leader, learning more about the mind flayers involved in all this. Mogo is in pretty bad condition, so Lafayer is sent for. Garyld doesn’t want anything to do with the orc leader and advises the party to kill him. The party has a long and intense conversation about the party’s morals and leadership.

12-14: The party stays in Milborne until Lafayer arrives and cares for Mogo. Keri and Nikki scribe some spells. Zith learns from his spirit mentor that a spear the party got off the orc shaman is of underdark workmanship, but not drow, derro, or druegar.

15-16: Party travels back to Greenleaf.

17: The group tries to get the Purple Dragons at Greenleaf to guard the orc leader while they return to the Underdark. The PDs refuse, and a huge argument (both with the PDs and amongst the party members themselves) breaks out. Castinar casts a Charm spell on the PD sergeant. Lord Parlfray’s ghost shows up and demands that the party kills the orc. Although confused by this behavior from the former paladin, the orc is eventually killed by Sane. The group spends the rest of the day off in their corners, sorting through the events of the day.

18-19: The Seekers enter the Underdark again and travel to the orc caverns. They find them deserted. Castinar backtracks and eventually learns that the surviving orcs journeyed to the Great Rock Dale. Everything of value in the cavern was either taken or destroyed. They find a passage leading deeper into the Underdark.

20: The party enters the Underdark. (NOTE: This is the end of the first book in the three-book module!) They are “ambushed” by a group of deep gnomes. The gnomes take them to a cave and question them about their motives for entering the Underdark - particularly through their (the gnomes’) territory. The gnome leader, a powerful female cleric named Carmeneren, convinces the group they are not ready for the Underdark yet and that they should return to the surface world and prepare further. After some conversation the party agrees to do so. When they return Carmeneren tells they she will have a “test” for them to see if they are truly ready.

21-25: Party returns to Milborne.

26-30: Party heads up to Jurgenville, not stopping anywhere on the way.

Uktar (November)

1- 21: The party spends all this time up in Jurgenville, mostly training. (Several of the single-classed members of the party have made it to 5^th level.) Sane, Keri, and Nikki, as members of the Mage’s Guild, are taken to the Library of Neworion. Sane learns that Neworion is a city built on an asteroid (one of Selune’s Tears) high in space above Toril. He also does some research on Underdark dwellers, particularly kenku, illithid, and kuo-toa.

Nikki eventually figures out the command word for the cottage the party took of Shilek. (Imagine one of those ceramic Christmas cottages that can grow to a full sized house.) More treasure is found inside the cottage.

Castinar spends a lot of money equipping the party for more time in the Underdark. One of his more expensive purchases was for a pair of “Night Masks”, which will give Sigurd and Zith the ability to see in the dark. (Everybody else has either infravision or some other way of seeing.)

Ari spends her time at Laila’s retreat, where she learns several advanced healing techniques. Laila also allows her to once again Dreamwalk and meet with Beleg. She finds Beleg still in captivity, but this time some presence becomes aware of the Dreamwalk. Ari has several long talks with Laila about Beleg, the party, and life in general.

Keri meets with just about everybody in town and learns lots of interesting and possibly useful information.

22-26: The party travels back down to the Shire. Sane, who flies ahead, learns of trouble. Apparently the Purple Dragons figured out what Castinar did and wanted to charge him. However, with Kuiper and Lord Carman pleading their case Count Parlfray decided not to press charges. The party stops at Parlfray Keep on the way down, but Keri ends up insulting the Count and the party quickly departs. They then head down to Kuiper’s and from there up to the Garlstone Mine, where they enter the Underdark.

27-28: The party travels from the Mine down to the orc caverns, and there enters the true Underdark. Again the gnomes surprise them. She tells them the “test” she has is for the party to clean out a nest of trolls. If the party can do this she will be convinced they can handle the Underdark and won’t be too much of a threat to her people. After much discussion the party decides to accept the challenge.

29-30: The party is lead by a small group of gnomes deeper into the Underdark, towards the troll caves.

Feast of the Moon: Yet another holiday is spent on the road - this one a dark one.

Nightal (December)

1-2: Still traveling.

3-4: The gnomes point out the tunnel leading to the troll caves and set the party down it. The party spends two days traveling down the tunnel before Hunter finds the troll caves. The group finds a good hiding place about a mile from the troll caves, sets up camp, and makes plans. Sane (invisible) and Castinar scout out the troll lair. They underestimate the trolls’ sense of smell and almost get killed, but with Sane’s illusionary help Castinar makes it. With the information Sane and Castinar gained they change plans, deciding on an ambush strategy. They rest up and recover SP.

5: The party moves to within ¼ mile of the troll lair and sets up an ambush. Sane lures three trolls into the ambush, and they are quickly killed and burned. The group holds position there while Sane rests and recovers spell juice. As they rest a second group of trolls comes up and they party attacks. One gets away and several take up the chase. They run right into the entire first tribe coming at them. A fierce battle is fought. Keri and Castinar go negative and almost everybody ends up under 1/3^rd hps. Over a dozen trolls are killed. Three (including the two-headed leader) get away. Badly beaten, the party pulls back and rests up.

6-7: The party rests in a side tunnel about five miles from the troll lair. They use the cottage for the first time. Near the end of the stay several ogres stumble upon the camp and quickly flee. Cast and a few others track them down and capture them. Apparently they are ogre traders who were attacked by two trolls.

8: The party heads back down to the troll lair. Sane scouts ahead and discovers the first lair completely empty. He has Castinar come up and check out a pit in one of the rooms. Sane also locates another watch point in a narrow tunnel, which apparently leads to a second troll lair. They party attacks the trolls at the watch point (first time Fireball for Nikki). They kill one and drive the others off. A very large number of trolls (around 20) come running out of tunnels in the second lair, however, they mysteriously pull back within a few rounds. The two-headed leader of the first tribe is heard barking out orders. While scouting around Castinar finds a side tunnel with troglodytes. The party seals that tunnel off.

The trolls try to pull the party to them, but the party is having none of that. After several rounds of missile and spell exchange the trolls break ranks and rush. The battle goes poorly for the party and things are looking grim. Then Nikki has a spell surge wildly and it ends up completely healing over half of the party.

With their second wind the party tries to retreat, but the trolls press the attack. Using fire the Seekers form a barrier between them and the trolls. As they pull back the trolls totally break down and start killing each other. (OOC: the troll force was actually made up of trolls from two separate tribes. They started fighting and it was all over.) When the fires die down the party discovers that most of the trolls have been slain, either by each other or by the fire.

The Party moves in on the survivors, who are cornered in a side cavern. The final fight is short, but during it Castinar is almost killed and Nikki runs off after being attacked twice. The party pulls back, even though there are indications that there are a few trolls still alive somewhere within the complex.

9: The party rests and recuperates from their wounds. Once the party is in decent shape Keri takes half of them and scouts out the rest of the cavern complex. She and Zith are out alone when they enter the troglodyte cave and are ambushed. Zith is able to retreat, but Keri levitates above the troglodytes. The smelly beasts proceed to make a pincushion out of her and Kerianna Winwater is killed. When reinforcements arrive they push the trogs back, but it is too late. Nikki fireballs the remaining trogs as the party pulls Keri down.

After a brief argument the party splits up. Ari is adamant about taking Keri's body to the gnomes to see if they can raise her. Nikki and Sigurd end up going with her. They leave while the rest of the party remains behind to rest up.

As the first group (Ari, Nikki, and Sigurd) head back they are attacked by a pair of cave lizards in one of the hazardous footing areas. Keri's body is lost. Only one arm is left. (OOC: Keri was from another dimension. The party later discovers that one of the rings Keri wore kept her anchored in this one. When her arm was severed her body returned to its home dimension.) Nikki uses a Wand of Cold on the lizards to stun them, and Sigurd finishes them off.

Two hours behind the second group starts out and are almost immediately attacked by a roper. Zith, still weak from the fight with the troglodytes, is captured and pulled in by the roper. Matar tries to save the thri-kreen but is weakened by the roper's poison. In the end Matar and the others drive the roper off, but Zith is killed by a combination of the roper's bites and a long fall from the ceiling.

Hunter flies ahead to find Ari and the others. The party is eventually reunited. With heavy hearts they make their way back towards where the gnomes await them.

10-11: The gnomes escort the party back to gnomish territory. Carmeneren cannot help Zith or Keri, so the party decides to return to Jurgenville. Before they leave the gnomes tell them several things. First, the party is given free passage through gnome-controlled territory. Second, Carmeneren tells them of a tunnel which leads directly to the City of the Glass Pool, but that it is sealed by magic. She brings out a cat which was found near the sealed tunnel.

The cat takes a liking to Matar, who discovers that he can understand the feline. Several things happen that make the party believe there is more to the cat than meets the eye. Matar removes the collar from the cat and it changes into a human female. The woman acts very strangely, almost insane. Sane theorizes that she has been blasted by Mind Flayers. She does say some things that make the party suspect she knows Beleg. They decide to take her back to Jurgenville to see if Laila can do anything for her.

12-20: Following a map given to them by Carmeneren, the party tires to find a tunnel directly back to Jurgenville. They get close, but end up stumbling into the Jurgenville Mine instead. They are challenged by JMC guards and when they don't respond immediately they are attacked. Nikki looses her Brooch of Shielding when she his hit repeatedly by Magic Missile spells. Most everybody else is captured by Hold Persons and Webs. Castinar manages to straighten things out and the party is escorted to the surface.

20-30: In Jurgenville the party goes to Laila first. Laila does some psionic surgery on the cat-woman, curing her. Her name is Katrina Hunter, and she is a hengenkoi. She was held captive in the City of the Glass Pool and knew Beleg. She tells the party that Beleg was killed when he lead an escape attempt. Ari takes this news very hard and leaves. She considers leaving the party, but receives a dream encouraging her to stay. Kat wants to join the party and the Seekers decide to let her in.

Laila explains the difficulties of Raise Dead and Resurrection spells to the party. She encourages them to first talk with the spirits of the dead before she does anything else. Kerianna's spirit cannot be located (this is when they come up with the alternate dimension theory). And as it turns out Zith is happy being reunited with is tribe and does not want to be raised.

The next day Ari, Sane, and Sigurd are at the Temple of Athena, trying to figure out what to do with Keri's arm. While there Lindara pulls Sigurd aside to talk to him. Sigurd leaves the party and disappears for several days. When he returns he tells the group that he has been called as a Holy Warrior (OOC: Kind of a "super-charged" paladin, with 1/2 cleric powers on top of the paladin abilities.)

There is one more change to the party while they are in town. Valdaeron introduce the party to an elven mage-cleric named Diana. He tells them that she is one of the new chosen (specialty) priestesses of Isis and suggests that she would make a fine addition to the party. The party accepts her.

With the press to rescue Beleg off, the party decides to stay in Jurgenville for a week. Most of the characters train during their off time. They return to the Underdark on the first day of the new year.

Hammer (January)

1-8: Party travels back to the gnomes. Carmeneren gives them a map to the City of the Glass Pool. After examining the map the party decides they would rather face the grells than the hazardous trail on the other branch. When they ask about the great lizards one of the gnomes hints that there is something very interesting beyond that location, but he is quickly silenced.

9-13: The party travels towards the grell nest. On the 13^th the gnomes show them the place where Katrina was found.

14: The party enters the grell nest and is attacked. They kill several of the floating monsters. As they advance Sigurd is attacked by a giant eel, but it misses. The Seekers are lured by another grell into an ambush. About a dozen grell along with a huge "brain" (patriarch) attack the party. A Slow spell significantly hampers the party's defenses. That along with the paralyzing attacks of the grell puts the party in dire straits fairly quickly. However, they fight back and begin to slowly wear the grells down. Nikk blasts away with her Cone of Cold at the brain and it fades from view. When it is gone the party picks off the rest of the grell. It is a tough fight that could have gone either way at one point, but after the party survived the initial onslaught and the grell's spells wore off the outcome was sealed. Castinar and Nikki were badly wounded, and Diana was almost killed.

The party sets up their house and rests up. While this is going on the spellcasters investigate a strange magical aura on the mesa that the grell patriarch was resting on. They determine it has some kind of alteration magic and something related to gates or teleportation.

15: After everybody is fully recovered the party sets off to explore the rest of the grell nest. They approach a room from which both Ari and Sigurd feel great evil radiating. Sane, invisible, goes in to investigate. He is attacked by something in a large pool of water. Before the party can get to him he is dragged into the water by tentacles. The rest of the party rushes in and a desperate battle is joined. Numerous tentacles and what look like long eels strike at the party. Several party members are paralyzed. Ari and Matar are both dragged into the water. Castinar saves Sane's life when he dives into the water and manages to free the kenku. Things go so poorly for the party that they begin to retreat, leaving Ari and Matar to their fates. Fortunately for those two the beast (the party later figures out it was a deepspawn) lurches out of the water to pursue the others. With a new target to hit (the main body) Diana and Nikki launch barrage after barrage of magic missiles. That, along with attacks by Castinar, K'harn, and Tag finally kill the thing. However, it was a very close one for Ariessus, who literally drowned but was saved on the threshold of death by Diana's healing magic. She ends up with a bad case of pneumonia.

One other strange event occurs near the end of the battle. Castinar is badly injured. As he is blacking out he tries to cast a healing spell on himself. He looses control of the spell and it surges. To the dismay of everybody Castinar disappears and cannot be found.

16: The party pulls back to rest and recover from the deepspawn attack. They try to decide what to do about Castinar's disappearance. Hunter stays in the deepspawn lair. Just as they are beginning their rest a wraith appears and watches them. Kat attacks it and it rushes at the cat-woman. She and Matar manage to put it down before it can injure anybody.

After everybody is healed up the party starts to head out. On the way they stop off and battle the eel. The eel is killed, but lots of spell juice is used up. So the party sets up the house again and rests.

As the party is preparing to leave Castinar returns. The party learns that when his spell surged Castinar was gated to one of Meilikki's holy glades somewhere on Faerun. He stayed there for a day, meeting up with a brownie and a unicorn. When he returned he brought with him a strange wild-elf who cannot speak. Her name is Shadow. When Shadow sees Ariessus she freaks out and runs away. It takes quite a while for Castinar and Sane to calm her down.

17-23: Journey back to Jurgenville. The party comes across an unusually large number of monsters moving along the trail. Most of them seek to avoid the party. When they reach the trail leading to Jurgenville they find the gnomes on watch there are heavily armed and on guard. The gnomes don't know what exactly is going on, but they suspect something major is happening.

24: The party arrives in Jurgenville. There they find out that the drow have started a major war in the Underdark. Many of the notables in Jurgenville have left to go fight. They also find out that all of the entrances to the UD are being sealed, so they will be stuck in Jurgenville for the duration of the war.

Tessalynne approaches the party and asks for their help in defending the city in case of an attack. After some discussion the party agrees.

Alturiak , Ches, Tarsakh (February, March, April)

The party spends the next three months in Jurgenville. Briefly, here is what each character does:

Ariessus: spends her time over at Laila's place recovering and then studying healing techniques.

Castinar: starts training Shadow. They patrol the hills and valleys around town.

Diana: spell research

Katrina: goes to work for Midnight's organization as a cook and then call girl

Matar: works with the City Watch

Nikki: spell research, gets a familiar

Sane: nothing (David away on real-world business)

Sigurd: works with the Defender forces at Athena's Temple

All: Construction of a new party compound outside of town

24 Tarsakh: This is the date of the Battle of Red Vale. There is an entire section on the web page devoted to this event and the party's participation in it.

Mirtul (May)

3-18: The party finally returns to the Underdark. Both Castinar and Sigurd take henchmen with them (Shadow and Pyreen respectively). Their first stop is with the deep gnomes. They find that the gnomes have done well, staying low during the war. They then proceed further down the tunnel, deciding to bypass the side tunnel where quaggoths and ropers dwell. Instead they press on to where the suspected temple of Jubilex is located. On the way down Katrina is almost killed by a lurker.

19: The party comes to a cave with many piercers and a lurker. They manage to kill the lurker. The path branches. The north branch is filled with water, so they leave it alone, going west. Castinar and Shadow are scouting ahead when they are attacked by strange tentacles from the ceiling. Shadow is captured. The party fights the ceiling (not knowing what their opponent is) and win. As they are recovering Castinar is attacked and grievously injured by a black pudding. He slips into a coma. The party kills the pudding.

20-30: Party travels back to Jurgenville. Castinar remains in a coma.

Kythorn (June)

1-7: The party stays in Jurgenville while Castinar recovers. The passes to the valley are now open, so the party sends for Mogo, hoping that he will become seneschal for the party's compound, which is almost complete. Before the party returns to the underdark three things happen. First, Sane announces that he is staying in town to go live with a band of kenku who are establishing a trading post at the Jurgenville Nexus. With Sane on sabbatical Castinar is elected party leader. Second, a dwarf named Thengal joins the party. He lost his family in the Battle of Red Vale. Finally a dog tags along with the party when they return to the underdark.

8-18: Travel back down to the caverns with the puddings. On the 16^th the party encounters a band of quaggoth fishing. After a show of strength they convince the beast-men that they only wish to pass.

19: Back in the caverns where Castinar was injured. This time the party decides to try the southern passage. Castinar, Matar, and Katrina travel down the flooded passage. They are attacked by what Castinar suspects are some kind of water-puddings, which are almost invisible in the water. They pull back and assess their options.

They party decides to try the other passage to the right. Upon entering the cavern they find the floor and ceiling literally covered by small insects and scavengers. Diana casts a Nap spell on Ari, who memorizes a Repel Vermin spell. That creates a tunnel through the insects and the party passes through.

They move into another cavern, where Ari is attacked by an invisible foe. The party becomes involved in a strange fight with several invisible opponents, two giant wasps, and a desperate mage. The Seekers kill the wasps but can't seem to find a handle on the invisible foes. The mage takes Castinar hostage and demands the party back away. He wants to negotiate for Castinar's life. But Katrina and Diana don't obey him, Diana going so far as to try and cast a spell on him. The mage slits Castinar's throat and then flies off.

Matar, Katrina and Nikki try but fail to stop the mage from fleeing. On his way out he abducts Shadow, who has been magically confused during the fight. Back in the cavern Diana and Ari just barely manage to save Castinar's life.

The party searches the cavern but finds nothing of value. When Castinar learns of Shadow's abduction he demands that the party try to chase the mage down.

20-21: Party pursuing the mage, but slowly since Castinar is on a litter. Half way through the second day they call a stop and reassess their plan. They decide that the first thing they need to do is let Castinar heal up.

22: They spend the day camped out in the tunnel, letting Castinar recover. Diana casts several spells on the dog that has been following the party. She believes it is a polymorphed halfling. A Dispel Magic proves her right, although the halfling still has some dog characteristics.

Ari casts a Divination and finds that Shadow is still alive, still captive, and heading for Jurgenville. The party decides to pursue again.

23-26: Diana uses a combination of spells to enable the party to march 20 hours a day. They cover most of the week-long journey back to Jurgenville in only three days.

During th