What Transpired Before The Spellplague (Pre-4e D&D)

The Spellplague

Written by RealmsDM

The following are adventure logs before Legacy of the Realms had a web page.
The adventures occur in chronological order and happened before the Spellplague struck the Forgotten Realms in 1385 DR (the Year of Blue Fire).
In game terms, these adventures were played prior to our campaign switching over to D&D 4E, and so were played using the 3rd Edition system. Sadly, there are no existing campaign notes prior to 3e. 
The most recent adventure is at the top (1375 DR). The oldest (1372 DR), and the beginning of the campaign with our core group of players can be found at the bottom of the page.

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“In Gods We Trust” 11 & 12 Marpenoth, 1375 DR, The Year of Risen Elfkin
Undermountain…
It’s only been less than a few marks of the candle since I’d joined these adventurers, and yet I’ve learned much about each one of them. I’ve also learned that trust is a delicate word for those who are unsure of its significance. It’s a word that has no sense of meaning when individuals cannot look beyond what their eyes reveal. Do I not place my faith— my trust in my fellow watchmen when we walk the streets of Waterdeep? Do I not trust my armar with the lives of others under my command? Yet, how much do I really know about the men and women under my command? What do I need to know before I can trust them with my own life? The Mulhorrandis have this to say about trust—In Gods We Trust. Those words are minted on each of their gold coins as a constant reminder to all who live in that land of religious fervor.
Perhaps they above all others on Faerûn have come to realize that maybe, only the gods can truly be trusted.
After leaving the large dead-magic chamber, the group suddenly stopped and began to argue in the hallway. Fierson, the group’s dwarf, along with the half-elf Nostariel wanted Zai to remove his mask and show the others what he looked like. Up to this point, I thought these adventurers had known one another for some time. Apparently, I was mistaken. After asking, I was told that all but Zai had been adventuring with them for nearly a winter. Zai had joined the others just within the past few rides.
I tried to bring some order to the discussion, despite my own curiosity about the darkly garbed fighter—or whatever profession he followed, but was met with failure. Zai himself, who stood closest to the dead-magic chamber from which we just emerged, seemed unsure of where this heated argument was headed. Would they actually brandish swords or wands against a fellow adventurer just to satisfy everyone’s curiosity? Fortunately, it never came to that. Zai himself refused to give in to their demands claiming that he had done nothing but risk his life alongside his fellow adventurers. He added that his appearance meant little when compared to how he had proven himself as a fellow traveler in Undermountain.
I wondered if the dwarf’s suspicions came from his race’s natural tendency to be obstinate in all things mysterious. It’s a well-known fact that dwarves are very untrusting of many things—particularly arcane magic. I suppose the same can be said about the half-elf. Nostariel, born of a mix-breed of human and elven stock, would know from experience just how fragile trust can be. As a rule, half-elves have suffered for centuries—just slightly less than half-orcs—under the cruel barbs of intolerance. Labeled by elves, A’Tel’Quessir, meaning, “Almost People” in the elven language, they are shunned both by elven and by human communities. Instead, half-elves have, for centuries, wandered the length and breadth of the Realms; a race without a land to call home.
In the end, nothing came of the heated dispute. Others in the group persuaded Fierson and Nostariel to simply let Zai be and judge him for his actions—not his appearance. Thank the gods, I thought. It seemed the argument would have never ended until all of Undermountain came to investigate the loud commotion. For now, the group seemed resigned on focusing on the task of getting out of Undermountain alive.
After getting back into our marching order, we noticed that the hallway, littered with loose trash left by previous dungeon delvers, had split into a T-intersection a short distance away. We also noticed a stone door on the opposite wall. A keyhole was visible under the door’s handle as we approached the intersection. Looking to the right, we saw that the hallway branched into a wide side passageway and also continued into the darkness beyond. Fierson—with his dwarven darkvision—noted that the hallway to the right also ended in a small room filled with a thick fog that obscured the floor up to a height of about three feet. While we went to examine the door, I asked Fierson to look down the wide passageway to the right to see where it led. Just as Fierson reached the passageway, he was suddenly struck down by a large club the size of a tree trunk. Although severely injured, he still managed to remain on his feet. He yelled, “Ogres!”
The group, weapons and spells readied, rushed to his aid. Fierson, found himself surrounded by two large brutish ogres intent on smashing him into the wall. Before the others could join in on the melee, I heard an ogre yell in pain—possibly in response to Fierson’s angry counterattack. Elric also advanced into the fight with Nostariel right behind him. Ang stopped short of the passageway to peek around the corner.Nostariel pointed her staff of fire down into the passageway and launched a fireball into the fray with devastating effects. I later discovered that she had misjudged the point of impact for the spell causing the arcane sphere of searing flames to prematurely explode. Instead of exploding behind the ogres where Nostariel had aimed the spell, the fireball struck the lead ogre on one knee. A wave of intense heat engulfed both ogres, Elric, Fierson, and Nostariel. Fortunately, Ang who was standing around the corner closer to us, managed to avoid most of the conflagration.
Fearing that the tide of battle may be turning against our group, I charged into the melee. Turning the corner, I saw one ogre lying on the floor inside of a large room—his body a charred husk. The other brute, though badly burned, had survived. Risking an attack from the creature’s long-reaching club, I swung my blade in a deadly arc at the ogre’s leg just as he swung his club at my head narrowly missing it by inches. My blade barely managed to cut into the creature’s solid blubber aggravating it further. Luckily Elric and Ang had recovered from the fiery blast that had moments ago engulfed them. Stepping into the room, the ranger and the fighter both attacked the remaining ogre. Their swords cut deeply into the ogre’s thick hide felling the creature before it can attack again. After, they both made sure the ogres were dead and then searched them. The only thing that seemed valuable on the ogres was a large set of leather gauntlets that survived the fiery blast. Ang put the gauntlets away in his bag of holding.
“That was close,” I said to the group. “Is everyone alright? How badly hurt are you Fierson? I saw that ogre’s club struck you hard—a mortal blow to anyone else but you. ”Fierson tried to smile but barely managed an achy whisper as he clutched at his head and right side.
“Felt like a tree landed on me side,” he said with a pained expression. “That’s the last time I be listenin’ to yer orders and lookin’ around dungeon corners. Why can’t ya send the blasted ranger instead? Shouldn’t he be the one scoutin’ ahead o’ the group?” Turning to Elric, Fierson noticed that the ranger had somehow managed to ignore most of the fireball’s deadly blast, despite his being practically next to the area of impact.
“And you Nostariel?”
“I’m alright. I’m really sorry about what happened with the spell. I didn’t mean for it to explode that close to everyone—honestly!”
“It’s a mistake made by many wizards I’m sure,” I said trying to comfort her. “In the midst of battle, I’ve seen many wizards and sorcerers make similar mistakes.”
“Yes, well that will certainly not happen again.”
After searching the dead ogres, Zai worked on examining the door we found where the three hallways met. When he was sure the door was safe to open, Ang opened the door—illuminating the chamber beyond with his everburning torch. Looking in, I noticed a 20-foot high, vaulted ceiling with four ornately-carved pillars suspended in midair. Fragments of the pillars extended to the floor and ceiling, as if these were hewn free and ensorcelled in place. Zai later noticed a dark stain on the floor—possibly dried blood—directly beneath one of the closest pillars. He also noticed a closed stone door to the left in the chamber and two other passages leading out. On the floor near the right passage, he spotted a metal rod with a knobby end—perhaps two feet long—lying on floor nearly forty feet away from the door.
Later, Gilraen detected magic in the room from the safety of the doorway. She noted that each pillar depicted something different upon its surface and radiated faint transmutation magic. One pillar depicted dragons, one depicted demons, the third showed strangely carved birds, while a fourth showed semi amorphous creatures.
Just as we were trying to decide what to do next, I heard unfamiliar voices come from the room where the ogres lay dead. Soon, two people walked out of that room and into the hallway. One was a shield dwarf armored in half-plate; a war axe slung over his shoulder. The other was a rather tall and thin half-elf who held a longbow in his hands and was wearing studded leather armor. The other adventurers with me followed the two into the hallway and began to ask them questions about this dungeon.
“We’re just adventurers trying to find our way through this dungeon,” the dwarf said. “Don’t mind us at all.”
“Where’d ya come from?” Fierson asked.
“Beyond the room where those ogres are is a passage that will take you to large chamber,” the half-elf added. “In that chamber, you’ll find merchants selling their wares to adventurers. We just came from there—and now we’re going to continue exploring the rest of this place.”
Everyone asked the two strangers what they could tell us about the rest of this dungeon. Everyone was especially curious about the strange mist in the room at the end of the hallway.
“Oh, those thickmists are annoying!” the dwarf intoned. “They do nothing but slow ya down. Like wading through blasted mud.”
“Thickmists? Anything else you could tell us?” Elric asked.
“Watch out for curtains of darkness,” the half-elf added. “They cover the width of the hallway and hide everything beyond. They may hide a trap right on the other side, or worse—a monster waiting in ambush!”
“Oh—and watch out for death pits!” The dwarf warned.
“Death pits?” everyone responded in unison.
“Do you really, really, need to tell them everyting?” the half-elf asked, scolding the dwarf. “I think they can find out these things as they wander around. Beside, you may be scaring them!”
The dwarf ignored him. “Aye, death pits. Nasty traps—worser than any traps I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen my share I may add! These pits vary in depth, but that’s not the worse of it. These pits don’t wait for ya to step on ‘em. These pits pull ya in before ya even get the chance to step on one! Ya could be paces away from it—and suddenly—ya’re being dragged into it! Can’t even imagine how ya gets out if the pit can drag ya in!”
“Sounds very dangerous indeed,” Elric said looking at the others nearby.
“Well, let’s go Lars,” the half-elf told the dwarf. “Unless you feel the need to tell them everything else, let them have some fun wandering the place already.”
The half-elf pushed the dwarf forward towards the fog-shrouded room down the hall. Soon, the two strangers’ voices receded into the distance and the silent, mysterious, dungeon beyond.
“Well, the information we gained will help,” Gilraen said.
“What about the merchants those two mentioned?” Nostariel inquired. “Should we find those merchants? We can sell some of our treasure, and maybe I can purchase some crushed pearls and some wine for my identify spell. The only component I have for it is an owl’s feather.”
“Exactly where did you get that feather?” Elric asked rather curious.
Nostariel just shrugged her shoulders back at the ranger. Elric didn’t feel the need to press the question any further. He often wondered why his former animal companion—an owl that he had released long ago—avoided the sorcerer.
“Or maybe it’s just a lie to throw us off our path,” Zai warned. “There may be no merchants down here—just a clever trap used to lure adventurers like us into a trap.”
“Zai’s right,” Elric added. “We should be careful.”
“I need to rest,” Nostariel said. “I’m beginning to run out of spells to use.”
“Me too,” Gilraen said.
“Before we rest, I suggest we go see what lies beyond the misty room where the two others just went,” Navarro offered. “It seems that if my guess is correct, another passageway may connect back with one of the passages leading out of the four-pillared room we just found. The rod on the floor lies closest to the right passage. That’s also on the same side of the dungeon that the misty room is in relations to the pillared room.”
“I’ll go ahead on my own and see what lies ahead,” Zai offered.
“I’ll go with ye!” Fierson added. He threw his war axe over his shoulder.
“No offense dwarf, but I think it would be safer for me—and for us all if I went alone,” Zai countered.
“He’s right Fierson,” Elric said. “Let him scout ahead. “Meanwhile, let’s decide on what our next course of action is going to be as a group.”
While we gathered back in the room where the ogres were killed, Zai scouted the dungeon ahead. We decided that the room could be used as resting place. Two passageways afforded a way out. Some suggested that we use the ogres’ bodies to block the way out of the room to prevent or slow anyone down from coming in.
After some time, Zai returned. He said that that another passageway lead beyond the room filled with thickmist. He added that the mist did hamper movement and completely obscured the floor. He noted that the room’s walls were completely adorned with pieces of tiles that depicted dwarves at work. He added that some of the tiles seemed to be missing. He said that the other passageway also lead into a side corridor that may lead back to the pillared room. Although the main passage continued beyond the side corridor, it eventually ended in a collapsed dead-end. After hearing this report, everyone agreed to investigate the dungeon beyond before resting.
As we traveled down the corridors, we noticed that it was getting harder to hear sounds beyond a certain distance. It seemed that a subtle magical effect prevented sound from being heard beyond forty feet. Farther than that, even a battle couldn’t be heard. I’ve heard that Halaster was powerful, but I never really realized just how powerful until now.
The passageway beyond the misty room led to a large L-shaped room. Nearby we also noticed two passages leading out of the room. The floor of the room was smooth except for an area of rough stone around three central pillars. When we entered the room, we immediately spotted four shield dwarves busily working in the room. Two dwarves could be seen chiseling away at a short wall partially dividing the room. Because of our distance, we couldn’t hear the dwarves’ chisels striking the wall. Nearby, two other dwarves were equally busy mortaring stone fragments into place, seemingly intent on closing off what may have once been another corridor leading out of the room. A few bedrolls were scattered around the area. No light source illuminated the room.
“I think that one around the corner leads to the pillared room,” I said.
“I think you’re right,” Elric agreed.
As we made our way towards the other passageway, Zai, Nostariel and Fierson walked closer to the working dwarves, who although seemed to have noticed us enter their area were too intent on finishing their menial task to bother with our trespassing. Zai stayed close to one wall moving closer to the two dwarves working on closing off a tunnel, while Nostariel and Fierson walked right up to the two other dwarves chiseling away at the walls. Being closer to the dwarves, we could hear the work in progress.
Ang, meanwhile, stayed and kept guard near the exit we emerged from. I led Elric and Gilraen near the passage and saw that it had indeed doubled back into the pillared room. Elric’s enchanted blade illuminated the area beyond. We could see the rod on the floor just inside the pillared room.
From where I stood, I saw—but couldn’t hear—Nostariel and Fierson talking to the dwarves. From their expressions, it seemed that the dwarves were annoyed by the unwelcome intrusion. I also noticed Nostariel make her way slowly towards one of the dwarf’s bedroll. One of the dwarf reacted by yelling at her which stopped Nostariel at her tracks. After a few more verbal exchanges which I couldn’t hear, the three—along with Ang—left the busy dwarves and rejoined our group near the passageway.
“So, who wants to go in there and pick up the rod?” I asked.
“Gilraen, can you use your wand of levitation to bring it to us?” Elric asked.
“I could but it would just levitate the rod not move it. Someone still has to pluck it from the air and—”
Restless, I walked over to the rod and slid it towards me using the tip of the longbow Fierson lent me earlier. I picked up the rod and handed it to Elric who inspected it and put it away. Everyone noticed that the long task of retrieving the rod had been completed.
Satisfied that we had what we came for, we left the busy dwarves and returned to the room with the dead ogres. When we arrived there, we decided to rest for a while to regain spells. Fierson covered his glowing shield, while Ang put away his everburning torch. It was safer to extinguish all light so as not to attract wandering monsters.
Several hours into our rest, I was awakened to the sound of voices nearby. Getting up, I found myself standing in complete darkness. I could hear the others nearby and called out to them. I heard Zai call to me from a few feet away. I also found it hard to move my legs. I felt as if I was wading through water.
“Take my hand,” Zai said. “I’ll lead you to the others. The others are busy killing a strange beast down the passageway. I managed to put it to sleep after hitting it with a bolt from my hand-held crossbow. The room has also filled up with thickmist. You’ll find moving very difficult. Fortunately it only reaches up to our waists.”
Reaching for his hand, he then picked me up and slowly carried me a few feet to the others. In the dark, I could hear Elric, Gilraen, Nostariel and Zai talking about how the others were engaged in fighting some creature that had wandered in from the passageway that led an unknown part of the dungeon.
“Can you cast darkvision on me Gilraen?” I asked hurriedly.
“Sorry, Navarro, I’m out of that spell for the moment,” Gilraen answered.
“Nostariel, can you cast the same spell?” I asked in the darkness.
“I don’t have that spell either,” she said.
“Elric, do you still have those sunrods we found on the bird-men?” I asked frantically.
“I’ll see what I can do, but it’s probably better if you stayed out of the battle. You may just get in the way.”
“Are you seriously suggesting I stand here defenseless—in the dark—when I can fight?” I asked incredulously. “I thought better of you ranger!”
While the ranger considered helping me or not, I could feel anger swelling inside me. I was truly beginning to wonder how dependable they were and if any of them were truly “good” at heart—perhaps the human female, Gilraen. A wise cleric of Tyr once told me that people are willing to help others but are often really governed by their own needs instead. He often remarked that even zealot Paladins, devoted to the cause of Law and Good are far from perfect.
I made up my mind to leave the group at the earliest opportunity. I felt my chances of survival were better on my own that with this crazy band of adventurers.
Moments later, after Elric reluctantly handed me a sunrod I activated, I made my way towards where Ang and Fierson were busy fighting off whatever monster had disturbed our rest. What I saw was amazing.
“What in the Hells is that?” I asked, staring at the creature that was engaged with the elven fighter in melee. Fierson stood to my right, a wooden club in his hand. Zai made his way next to me and saw the same thing.
“By the ancestors, this dungeon is filled with strange beasts,” Zai whispered loudly.
In front of us, we saw a strange creature slightly smaller that Elric’s pet wolf Vicious. It looked like a large armadillo which was horrifically bred with some roach-like insect. A large tail extended from its rear. Two antennas felt and prodded the air nearby, groping for whatever was within reach.
I noticed that the creature had already been wounded in battle—perhaps by the dwarf and the elf’s deadly onslaught. Zai quickly ran up to the creature and plunged his strange weapon into the beast’s back.
“Zai, stop—”Ang yelled in warning, but it was too late. Zai stabbed into the beast with all of his strength. Although the attack killed the creature instantly, it also somehow destroyed Zai’s exotic weapon. Before our eyes, I saw his sharp-bladed sword turn to rust and fall apart. Within a breath, all that remained in Zai’s hands was the intricately wound knotted cord that once covered his weapon’s hilt.
No words could describe the shock Zai felt at that moment.
“I tried to warn you Zai,” Ang said. “My own greatsword, despite its enchantment, was destroyed when I felled the creature you made unconscious earlier. I don’t know what these things are, but they are far more dangerous than any beasts I’ve ever fought before. Thank the gods I was able to harm them with my explosive arrows.”
After everyone was gathered together again, we decided to finish resting in the passageway where the strange creatures came from. We were also unsure about any possible ill-effects from the mist that now fully covered the room where the ogres’ bodies were.
After resting the remaining number of hours necessary for everyone to recover their spells, we proceeded to explore the rest of the dungeon. Farther up the dungeon, we came upon another side passage which led into a room that was partially collapsed. Elric scouted up ahead—one of the rare moments I ever saw him do so—but found nothing but an empty room. He said that the room may have served as the strange armadillo-insects’ lair. Fierson also inspected the room and deemed it unstable and likely to collapse at any moment, so we avoided the room. Instead, we continued down the corridor following its twists and turns.
A short while later, as we were walking down a long passageway, we spotted bright light coming towards us from around the corner up ahead. We quickly prepared ourselves for a possible encounter.
Moments later, we saw a bald-headed half-elf holding a carved wooden staff turn the corner. His head was adorned with black thorn-like tattoos. The tip of his staff was lit, brightly illuminating the passageway to a distance of nearly sixty feet. The half-elf stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw us.
He raised one hand to hand to us in greeting. “Well met friends. I simply seek safe passage through this corridor,” the wizard intoned.
“What lies beyond that passage?” Elric asked easing his grip on his pommel a bit.
“A merchants’ camp.”
“So it be true,” Fierson remarked. “There be merchants down here in this here blasted dungeon.”
“How far down the passage is the camp?” Ang asked.
“Not far. You can’t miss it,” the wizard responded. He took a step towards one wall apparently giving our group enough space to walk pass him. “Follow the passageway until you see where it collapsed. Just twenty paces before it ends is a set of stone stairs that descends into another corridor to your left. It’s a short walk to the camp from there.”
“Who owns the merchants’ camp?” Nostariel asked the wizard.
“It’s managed by three humans and a halfling.”
“What do they sell there?” Gilraen inquired.
“Some magic items, but mostly adventuring gear.”
“Is there anything you could trade with us?” Fierson asked.
“What are you looking for and what do you have to trade?” the wizard responded.
After some lengthy bartering back and forth, it was decided that the wizard had nothing to trade with our group. Anyway, he was unwilling to trade with anything we may have to offer in kind. The wizard also informed us of a room just beyond the camp. He said that the entrance to the room was blocked by a wall of force. Beyond the transparent magical wall, he saw a room illuminated by a bastard sword, its entire blade bathed in bright flames. The sword lay next to a skeleton still dressed in exquisite plate armor. Nearby, he could also see the skeleton of what may be a wizard—a finely carved ivory staff still clutched in his hands. A backpack lay on the floor between them. He noted gold coins and a platinum bar spilling out of it. The wizard admitted that he tried casting dispel magic on the wall to no avail. Perhaps it will take a wizard of considerable skills in the arts—one more skilled than he—to dispel that wall of force, he added.
“Where do ya hail from,” Fierson inquired.
“I’m from Waterdeep. I am from noble stock and have trained in Arunsun Blackcloak’s Academy for Wizards.” The half-elf said proudly.
“What are you doing down here all by yourself,” Elric asked. “It’s not often a wizard travels alone.”
“I wasn’t alone this whole time. My companion—a fighter of some considerable skill—died some two days past.”
“Where is he?”
“I’ve buried him in this dungeon. We are what everyone else refers to as The Called, just as I suspect all of you are. These are dangerous times in Undermountain. Only those who have been summoned by Halaster himself would dare explore Undermountain’s depths these days.
“Well, thank you for your time,” Elric offered. He motioned for the others to proceed forward.
“Let’s go and get to the camp as quickly as we can.”
The wizard watched until we had walked some distance down another long corridor. I looked behind me and saw him turn the corner and walk down the passageway where we came from.
A short time later, we found the camp just as the wizard’s directions indicated. We saw a large L-shaped room which equally matched the size of the many pillared room we saw when we first entered this area of the Undermountain. The large vaulted chamber was crowded with four tents, barrels, and wooden tables. It reminded me a little of the market square in Waterdeep. There were several beings milling about the room.
I spotted a half-elf seemingly haggling with a merchant over some daggers, arrows, bolts, and sling bullets. Nearby, I saw a half-orc carefully inspecting a potion while seemingly asking the merchant questions about its magical properties. In front of another stall, I saw a lizardfolk clad in half-plate, his scaly hide adorned in war paints. A large spear leaned against the table next to him, filled with all sorts of adventuring gear from chalk to trail rations. Above the cacophony of barter, I could also make out the scent of fresh onion soup cooking nearby, its sweet smell causing my stomach to growl. I excused myself from the group and wandered over to where the soup was slowly cooking.
“Well met, good lady,” I heard a man’s voice say from nearby. “Care for a bowl? It’s not much but you’re welcome to some. It’s not often that we cook down here since fuel source is hard to come by. But we recently managed to acquire some fresh onion and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to prepare a pot of it.”
“Yes, thank you. I would like some,” I asked. “I’d be happy to pay for some.”
“Please, you’ll only insult me. No need to pay.”
The man, who introduced himself as Malvar, the leader of the merchants, offered me a serving of soup in a wooden bowl.
“Are you with the others who just arrived?” He asked looking over his shoulder at the others. I noticed that they were busy taking out items from bags, no doubt trying to figure out what to sell to these merchants. I also noticed that Zai was not among them. No doubt he was busy skulking around the corridors looking for secret doors.
I turned back to Malvar who offered me a wooden spoon. “I am…but not for long,” I said.
“Oh?”
“I’ve considered leaving their group. I’m actually a civilar in the City Watch. I happened upon them when I accidentally found myself in this dungeon. I’ve been with them for several hours at most.”
“I thought I recognized your tabard, although I was uncertain why a member of the Watch would be found this far beneath the streets of Waterdeep.”
After explaining how I got in the Undermountain, I asked Malvar how he and the others received their wares. He explained that he or the others would occasionally make a trip to the surface to restock their supplies. I immediately offered to remain with them and offer what help I could until the next time they went back up to the surface. I offered the possibility of a reward from the city coffers for the safe return of a civilar who had gone missing while in the line of duty. Malvar agreed to let me stay and travel with him to the surface within a few days.
When I finished eating the bowl of onion soup—one of the finest I’ve had in a long time—I walked back to the others to tell them of my plans.
“Well, if it be any consolation, it’s been a pleasure fightin’ with ye.” Fierson commented.
“Thank you.” was all I could muster as a response. “But before I go, I’d like my share of the treasure we’ve found since my arrival.”
We then proceeded to divvy up the potions and coins—despite not having identified any of the vials. I also gave back the bow Fierson lent me after he asked for it.
Moments later, I saw Zai and the half-elf wizard we encountered in the corridor walk into the camp.
“I thought you were leaving to explore the rest of the dungeon?” Nostariel asked the wizard.
“I was, but your companion here asked a favor of me.” he pointed to Zai.
The wizard then walked over to nearby wall, sat down against it and made himself comfortable. “Now, please, don’t disturb me for an hour. I will be busy identifying a magic item.”
Having said my goodbyes, I bid the group good luck in Tymora’s name and walked back to Malvar who was busy sorting out several bottles of potions he had on a table. Looking back at the ragtag group I had spent several precarious hours with, I started to wonder about their chances of survival in these dungeons. It’s well known that the Undermountain can be very unforgiving, but such matters are no longer any of my concern.
What matters is rejoining my fellow watchmen above and keeping the streets and alleyways safe for everyone in Waterdeep, the City of Splendors.

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“Enter Navarro” 11 Marpenoth, 1375 DR, The Year of Risen Elfkin
Hours before dusk, deep beneath the streets of Waterdeeep…
Navarro, civilar (captain) of Waterdeep’s City Watch ran as fast as she could down the dungeon corridor.
Looking behind her, she saw a creature made from the very stuff of nightmares. A creature resembling a giant earth slug slithered towards her. Its pink, slimy body was covered almost entirely with broken pieces of rusty blades, bits of dented armor parts, and jagged bits of metal from old shields.
How she got here she didn’t know. Just moments before, she and her fellow city watch patrol were chasing down an elven pick-pocket who had pilfered a handful of fruit from a vendor’s stall. After cornering the elf in an alley, the rogue managed to slip down into a sewer grate. While Navarro ordered Petros, the youngest watchman, to stand guard by the alley’s entrance, Navarro and her armar (sergeant) along with the remaining watchman followed the rogue into the sewer.
As they climbed down the rusty ladder leading down to the sewer, Armar Torgid brandished his everburning torch to help light the way in the dark passage. Taking out her own everburning torch to help light her own way, Navarro and her patrol searched nearby sewage-filled passages for the elf. At one junction, Navarro had Torgid and the other watchman investigate a side passage while she entered a small tunnel. Seconds after entering the tunnel, Navarro thought she heard someone approaching from behind her.
Stepping into a nearby alcove, Navarro cloaked her everburning torch with her shield and tunic. But as soon as she entered the alcove she felt something pull her violently from behind. She held tight to her shield, but managed to drop her everburning torch.
Seconds later, Civilar Navarro found herself standing near one end of an L-shaped dungeon passageway. Facing one wall, she immediately heard the sharp hiss of a creature to her right. Looking over, she saw the slug covered in metallic pieces slither towards her. Its body glistened with slime under the magical torch placed in a corroded sconce on the wall behind her. Turning to her left, she ran down the corridor away from the slug. She saw the body of large humanoid lying face down against one wall along the stone passage.
The body lay atop a large dried pool of blood.
Cursing her luck, she also spotted two people—a dwarf and an elf—standing at the other end of the hallway. Adventurers, she thought. Immediately, she realized that she must be somewhere in Undermountain the infamous dungeon built beneath Waterdeep’s streets. She also realized that she must have stepped into some kind of portal when she entered the sewer’s alcove.
She had heard of such things from her fellow watchmen. Undermountain, built by the mad mage Halaster was known to be full of dangerous surprises like these. Looking at the two people in the direction she was running, she considered taking her chances with the adventurers rather than fight the large slug behind her. She knew that adventurers came in all shapes, sizes, and principles. If they were good, she would have allies against the creature. If they were evil, then years of training with her short sword and shield would be put to the test.
By Tymora, goddess of luck, Navarro knew she wouldn’t go down without taking at least one of the adventurers with her if it came down to that. But before she could take another step, she felt a powerful force tug at her from behind. She felt like someone had lassoed her shield, short sword, and the armor she wore. She realized that the slug was using a powerful magnetic force and was trying to pull her back towards it. Fighting with all her strength, she managed to pull herself free from the creature’s magnetic hold.
Just as she did, another person—a half-elven woman—stepped into view from down the passage. Pointing a finger at her direction, the woman uttered a single arcane phrase. Short bursts of magic missiles shot out of the woman’s finger, hurtled pass Navarro and struck the creature. The creature screeched in pain. Taking advantage of the woman’s aid, Navarro ran forward towards the other adventurers. A dwarf holding a glowing shield, yelled for her to fall prone upon the ground. Immediately, another woman—a human—cast another volley of magic missiles at the slug. Although severely wounded by the magic missiles, the slug kept on coming.
Stopping a few feet from Navarro, the slug suddenly let loose all of the sharp metal pieces from its body. The metal pieces flew into the air creating a deadly swirling storm of razors. The shards of metals ripped through clothes and flesh of all those within twenty feet of the creature. Focusing her magic despite the pain inflicted by the swirling razors, the half-elf spellcaster hurtled more magic missiles at the creature, killing it. With the thing dead, the razor storm stopped.
Hundreds of shards of metal fell as one to the floor.
Although relieved that the slug had been defeated, Navarro realized that she was far from safe. Behind the adventurers, she saw that the corridor was quickly filling up with smoke. It seemed that the adventurers were running away from a fire burning down the passageway. A dark robed figure in the rear of the group, his features masked by folds of black clothing, ushered for the group to hurry along away from the building smoke. Turning around, Navarro hurried down the passageway in the opposite direction. Turning back around at the party, she noticed that they were slow in making their way down the passage. Each adventurer was floating off the ground. Slowly, each person pushed him of herself along the walls down the corridor. Making their way as far from the smoke as possible, the group stopped to rest for moment.
As the group got together, everyone soon realized that the smoke—although thick—wasn’t advancing farther down the corridor.
Safe for the moment, Navarro introduced herself to the adventurers. After, Navarro asked if the dungeon was in the Undermountain.
“Aye, that it is lass,” Fierson said. “And we be not far from the Yawning Portal Inn.”
Realizing that she had been severely wounded by the slug creature, the half-elven woman, a spellcaster named Nostariel offered to heal her wounds. A warm feeling flowed through her where Nostariel touched her skin. Most of her wounds were instantly healed.
“There you go,” Nostariel offered. “You may thank the elven god Correlon Larethian for healing your wounds.”
Nostariel then went on to explain that because of the fire behind them, the group could not return to the safety of the famous inn’s taproom. For the moment at least, it seemed that Navarro was trapped in Undermountain with the others.
Navarro asked Nostariel why she and the others were all floating. Nostariel explained how Gilraen had used her wand to levitate the group so they can safely cross a rope bridge. It had also proven handy when they came upon the oil-filled corridor behind them.
“We should wait here until the spell wears off,” Elric offered.
“Sounds good to me ears,” Fierson replied doing a summersault in the air.
The group waited for some time to allow for the effects of the levitation spell to wear off. After a while, the group was ready.
“What do you see down this passageway?” Elric the ranger asked Fierson looking down the passageway where they assumed the slug had come from.
Elric’s vision, although enhanced by Nostariel’s darkvision spell, had a range of only sixty feet. He knew the dwarf’s vision was far more superior to that of the spell.
“By Moradin’s beard,” Fierson said for everyone to hear. “I see nothin’ but a wall of inky darkness. It be just pass yer vision ranger. I be doubtin’ that be a safe way for us all unless yer all up for feelin’ and stumblin’ yer way through the dark.”
A voice suddenly echoed down the hall just passed where the smoke filled it. “Then perhaps we should go through the secret door.”
Looking back down the hall, Navarro spotted a darkly robed figure emerged from the smoke. Tendrils of smoke clung to Zai as he told everyone about a secret door he had found along one wall.
“Now how did you know there would be a secret door there?” Gilraen, the human sorceress asked Zai with a curious look.
Zai simply shrugged his shoulders before disappearing back into the smoke. “Just a hunch,” he said. The group went back down the hallway passing up the dead slug and the remains of the humanoid Navarro spotted earlier. She noticed that it looked as though the humanoid—apparently a bugbear—had been moved since she first saw it. Navarro made a mental note to herself to keep an eye on the robed figure. She had worked as a member of the city watch long enough to know a possible rogue when she saw one. Until she was sure about everyone in the group, she knew she had to be constantly on the alert for anything.
Following the others into the smoke filled hallway, Navarro barely saw the opening along the wall. When she stepped through the secret entrance, Ang, the group’s elven fighter closed the door behind him. Inside the secret passageway, Navarro moved up to the front and saw Fierson and the others staring at a life-size granite statue of a dwarf in full plate armor. The statue was carved with one arm raised holding an axe as if to bar passage. A wide flight of stairs descended into the darkness just beyond the stone statue.
“What do you make it of it Fierson?” Elric asked.
“I’m not sure.”
Navarro could see Fierson doing a cursory inspection of the statue from a safe distance. After a few seconds, he told the others that it seemed to be a normal statue albeit finely carved, quite possibly dwarven craftsmanship. Nostariel then stepped up to the front and extended her right hand, palm up, to the statue. After uttering a short arcane phrase, she turned back to the others.
“It’s enchanted with faint illusion magic,” she said.
“Maybe it’s a golem protecting the stairs,” Ang said.
“Or maybe it’s really not there, but an illusion placed by Halaster to deceive us,” Navarro offered as she stepped up next to Fierson. “Let’s go down the stairs.”
As the group moved toward the stairs, the statue’s mouth suddenly animated. A deep dwarven voice emerged from the statue. “Disturb not the rest of those who served Bereg Whitehelm, or the axes of the dwarves will seek you out and fall upon you!”
“Ye see,” Fierson intoned with a casual wave of his hand. “Nothin’ to be getting yer hair in a tangle over. Just a fair dwarven warnin’ against certain death is all.”
“Do you suppose dwarves might be buried here?” Elric asked the dwarf.
“I don’t know fer sure,” Fierson offered. “As far as me know, Halaster built this cursed place heself, not dwarves.”
Navarro noted a bit of uncertainty in Fierson’s voice. She knew next to nothing about the famed dungeon, except that it was built for some mad purpose by the wizard Halaster.
Soon the group entered a large crypt. The chamber was littered with bones—many bearing teeth marks—and rusty weapons. The room also contained fourteen stone coffins, all about five feet long and half that wide. Navarro saw runes inscribed on each of the coffin’s lid which had apparently been moved.
As the group stepped into the large crypt, nearly a dozen skeletal arms—each holding a different rusty weapon—rose from the bone-cluttered floor and attacked.
“Moradin’s hammer!” Fierson intoned. The dwarf charged into the room cutting deeply into one skeletal arm with a wicked slice of his axe.
Elric followed the dwarf’s charge. Immediately, he found himself surrounded by floating skeletal arms and rusty blades. He swung his blade against one of the arms feeling his magical sword’s enchantment against evil creatures doing more damage than normal with each strike.
“They’re evil creatures!” Elric yelled above the din of clanging blades.
“Ye think?” Fierson asked sarcastically. The dwarf narrowly dodged a rusty axe aimed at his head.
“Bony floatin’ hands ready to chop yer block off can never be good by me reckoning!”
Navarro jumped on top of a nearby stone coffin. She nearly lost her balance as one floating long sword held by bony hands swung at her midriff. She thrust her enchanted short sword at the hands, but was deflected aside by the rusty sword.
Ang the elven fighter, turned barbarian, stepped into the room. Issuing a battle cry, he then charged into the middle of battle. Driven by pure rage, Ang demolished skeletal arms after skeletal arms and shattered rusty weapons.
Navarro was struggling with the floating weapon before her. “I could use some help here!” Navarro yelled.
Nostariel, wanting to offer arcane help to her friends, leaped atop one coffin. She then jumped onto another coffin to get to a better position for battle. Just as she leaped towards another coffin, Navarro saw a skeletal arm swing its deadly blade at Nostariel. For a second, the civilar couldn’t believe her eyes. It looked as though the skeletal arm had indeed struck the spellcaster with its sword, but Nostariel suddenly shifted her position as if magically pushed aside by an unknown force. The blade struck nothing but air.
Within seconds, Fierson had destroyed the arms that had moments ago attacked the half-elven spellcaster.
Ang, still in rage, destroyed two more arms. After, he made his way to help Navarro, swinging his greatsword in a wide deadly arc that tore the rusty blade from the skeletal arms’ grasp. He quickly followed the attack with a swing to the arms, shattering them into pieces. Navarro noted how different Ang looked. His eyes were bloodshot. Thick veins were visible against the muscles on his neck and arms. His breathing was labored.
“Thanks,” Navarro said. She sheathed her sword and jumped down from the coffin. She looked around the crypt, and saw that the mêlée was over.
Ang was exhausted from being raged. He sat on top of a coffin to catch his breath. Navarro looked back at Gilraen, Zai, and Vicious, Elric’s pet wolf. All three had remained at the passageway keeping a vigilant watch for anyone sneaking up behind them.
Navarro helped the others search through the coffins. All of them were empty, evidently looted long ago. Nostariel noted that the runes atop the lids of each coffin identified who was buried within at one time. She read names like “Ardheg, son of Bulmi, Shield of Bereg Whitehelm”, and so on.
“Perhaps these here coffins belong to me dwarven brethren,” Fierson said as helped searched through the stone coffins. “But me not fer certain sayin’ that to be true.”
After minutes of searching, the group heard Zai’s voice from the nearby passageway. When they all got there, Navarro could see that Zai had apparently found another secret door leading out of the crypt. The civilar marveled at Zai’s amazing knack for finding secret doors.
Soon, the group emerged into another corridor. It led to a T-intersection at one end, while going around a corner at the other.
“We should go this way,” Zai said matter-of-factly pointing down the corridor towards the T-intersection.
Nostariel looked at Zai with suspicion.
“Another hunch?” Gilraen asked with a hint of disbelief in her voice. Zai looked at Gilraen. Navarro could barely make out what appeared to be a smile under the black cloth that masked all but Zai’s eyes.
“Naturally,” Zai whispered back.
Walking towards where the corridor split, Fierson noticed that the passage had collapsed further down. “I be needin’ some o’ that dirt over there,” The dwarf said pointing at the large pile of dirt and broken masonry.
“Why?” Elric asked with a quizzical look.
“As a Stonelord, rubbing dirt over me wounds helps to heal me body. It’s like drinkin’ a swig of healin’ potion.”
“Don’t stop him Elric,” Nostariel countered. “If eating playing in dirt like a hog means Fierson will no longer need my healing spells—then by all means, let him play in the dirt!”
“Although close to nature, I’m glad we elves are not in the habit of rolling around in the mud like a common swine,” Ang said.
“Nah. Ye long-ears just like to hug trees to make ya feel better is all,” Fierson joked.
The group erupted in a chorus of chuckles and laughter. Navarro noticed that Fierson, nor Ang didn’t seem to mind the mirth at their expense. She also noticed that although the adventurers each had his or her own varied personality, they were all able to come together as a strong group when the occasion necessitated it. She had witnessed it first hand back at the crypt. She was impressed by the way they fought as one. Navarro was beginning to feel less apprehensive about her chances of survival in Undermountain.
As the group turned the corner towards the side passage, a large section of the floor opened beneath Fierson and Navarro. Fierson tried to keep his balance but fell into the pit. The fall knocked the wind out of the dwarf, but otherwise he was uninjured. Fortunately, Fierson’s twenty-foot fall was cushioned by a pile of decomposing bodies at the bottom of the pit.
Navarro, meanwhile, managed to keep herself from falling into the pit. She stumbled backwards nearly crashing into Ang who was walking behind her.
Suddenly Navarro and Elric both noticed a man-size figure step out from behind a corner some distance down the dungeon hallway. The figure, wrapped from head to toe in dark clothing and wearing a black hooded cloak, aimed a light crossbow at the group but didn’t shoot. Elric also noticed a second and third figure emerge from another corner a short distance further down the passageway. About halfway down the dungeon, the group spotted a wooden door along one side of the corridor.
Navarro felt she quickly had to take charge of the situation.
“Gilraen, use your wand to levitate the dwarf out of the pit! We don’t have time to waste using ropes on him while we’re being attacked.”
“Aye, good plan,” Fierson added from inside the pit. He tried to stand but lost his balance when his foot slipped on the back of a decomposing bugbear. “And while yer at it, I’ll be usin’ meself as a bridge for the lot of ye to step on and cross over to the other side.”
“Great plan, Fierson!” Elric said.
Staying around the corner for cover, Gilraen whispered a command word while aiming her wand of levitation on Fierson. A few more robed figures appeared down the corridor. Soon, Fierson was levitating just inches below the pit’s opening. He held on to the edge of the pit for stability. Elric quickly stepped on the dwarf’s back and onto the side passageway, brandishing his weapons.
Vicious, his wolf companion was at his side, sharp fangs bared ready to pounce upon the robe men. After Gilraen stepped across, she reached into her spell component pouch and took out a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur. She then pointed her finger down the corridor and uttered a short arcane phrase.
Immediately, a tiny ball of flame sparked into existence and sped down the hall exploding upon striking the floor where the sorceress had pointed. Robed men screamed as the conflagration covered the entire hallway. Some of the men fell down on the ground writhing, their dying shriek echoing down the passage. Others, although their robes were burned off managed to survive the fiery blast.
One of the robed men who had avoided the fireball suddenly stepped from around a corner. He plucked a marble-size object from around his neck and threw it down the hall. It landed on the stone floor to the left of Elric and exploded in ball of fire that engulfed Gilraen, Nostariel, Elric and Navarro.
Another figure stepped into view, raised a wand and pointed it at Elric who was nearly halfway down the corridor. A short burst of magical energy shot out of the figure’s wand striking Elric unerringly in the shoulder. The magic missile did little to slow down the ranger. Focusing his thoughts on a spell, Elric cast a resist energy spell on himself. With all of the fireballs being hurled up and down the corridor, he couldn’t take any chances with that much fire.
Meanwhile, Nostariel, feeling like she had just emerged from a fiery furnace, pointed her staff of fire down the passage. Uttering the command word that allowed her to tap into the staff’s stored magics, a small streak of fire suddenly shot out from the tip of the staff. The fire raced down the corridor blossoming into a large ball of flame and smoke along the way. It then struck the dark robed man on the chest and exploded. The fiery explosion instantly killed the man along with a few others unfortunate enough to be near him.
Disappointed that he had not gotten a chance to slay any of the men himself, Ang stepped onto the dwarf’s back and joined his companions down the hallway. Already some of them were beginning to search through the charred remains.
Fierson, still clinging to the side of the pit looked back over his shoulder at Zai, the last of his companions who needed to cross over the deep pit. “Go ahead, Zai, yer turn.”
Zai, cautiously stepped onto Fierson’s back. He then planted his right foot on the dwarf’s head and pushed himself off landing on the other side of the pit’s edge. “That was fun,” Zai whispered loud enough for the dwarf to hear.
“Arrgh, what do ya mean by that I wonder?” Fierson said. “Why, I should—”
The dwarf’s words were cut off as the pit’s large doors—painted to look like part of the dungeon floor—violently swung back into place slamming into the dwarf’s body sending Fierson a few feet straight up into the air. Fierson avoided narrowly hitting his head against the ceiling by grabbing on to a corner of the nearby wall. He then carefully pushed himself down the corridor to join his friends and nurse his aching pride.
Moments later, the group had assembled what magical treasures Nostariel’s spell detected on the bodies of the robed figures. They were also surprised to discover that what they thought were human men, turned out to be a race of birds the size and shape of humans, their bodies wrapped entirely in black cloths. Hooded cloaks helped to further conceal their identities. Zai recognized the creatures as similar to those he had encountered and fought earlier before meeting up with the others in the group.
They gathered everything they found and stored them in Elric’s bag of holding.
“Let’s throw these creatures down into the pit,” Nostariel offered.
“These birdmen, people—whatever, are so light I can carry about a half-dozen myself easily,” Ang bragged. He dragged about five of the creatures and threw them on top of where the pit was.
The combined weight of the bird-men’s bodies caused the pit to reopen depositing them some twenty feet below. Elric and Navarro came up behind Ang, throwing two more of the creatures into the pit. Several seconds later, the pit closed again.
Back down the hall, the others were looking down a passageway where the bird creatures had presumably come from.
“I think we should explore this hallway,” Nostariel offered.
“I think we should go through that door,” Zai whispered. He pointed at the wooden door right in front of him. “We’re just going to waste time wandering through the rest of the dungeon.” Gilraen just rolled her eyes in disbelief.
Elric, wiping his blood-stained hands on his pants, returned with the others. “May as well. If nothing else, it may be a room we can use to rest.”
“I could use a break soon to replenish some spells,” Gilraen said.
“Me too,” Nostariel added. “Besides, I could use a trip to the outhouse.” Fierson raised his hand, momentarily letting go of the wall. He was floating just inches off the floor. “Same here—and soon!”
After Gilraen dispelled the levitation spell on Fierson, the group entered the room Zai pointed at. It turned out to be an old storage room. On the opposite wall was painted an intricate mural of a stylized archway. Above the archway, words painted in common read, “Back in to move on.”
“That be plain enough fer me,” Fierson deduced. “Walk backwards through that wall and yer in!”
“Anyone here willing to test that theory?” Navarro asked. After no one volunteered, she walked up to the mural. First, she stood facing the wall under the painted archway. She tapped on the wall with her fingers. Nothing happened. Navarro then turned around and placed her back against the wall. She took a step back.
“See you all on the other side,” Navarro said just as she disappeared into the wall. Seeing Navarro disappear through the wall, the others followed.
Navarro felt a wave of nausea sweep over her. She reached out with one arm, trying to find something to lean against as she fought off the dizzying effects of stepping through the wall. All she felt was Elric’s shoulder. He placed a comforting hand on her arm.
“It’s alright Navarro,” Elric said. “We’re safe…for the moment.”
“Where are we?” Navarro asked.
Looking around, she saw that she and the others had appeared on one side of a very large room with many pillars. One side of the room featured a raised circular platform surrounded by six jet-black statues. A large translucent sphere of light that barely illuminated the massive chamber flickered at the center of the platform. A door on the opposite wall, nearly a hundred feet away hung open, revealing a dark corridor beyond. On the floor, near the platform, the group could barely make out writing chalked in common, dwarven, and elven scripts.
It read, “Do not attack the statues or enter the light!”
“Something’s wrong here,” Gilraen said. Something in the way she said it alarmed Navarro. “Can you feel it, Nostariel?”
“Yes I can,” Nostariel answered, sounding concerned herself.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Navarro asked.
Fierson stepped up to the civilar and tapped his shield. Moments before, Fierson’s shield was glowing illuminating an area nearly ten feet around the dwarf. It was why Navarro chose to walk alongside the dwarf. Without the shield, she would have to carry a torch or stumble around in the dark since everyone else were somehow able to see their way in the dark—even the humans.
But now, the shield was dark. No light radiated from it.
“It be simple, lass,” Fierson said. “We be in a dead-magic area.”

---

“Let Me Give You a Hand” 11 Marpenoth, 1375 DR, The Year of Risen Elfkin
Around highsun, Yogazai gave his gold coin to Durnan, proprietor of the Yawning Portal, so he could be lowered into the depths below and into the Undermountain. Upon reaching the entry well some 140 feet below the inn’s tap room, Yogazai came upon two darkly cloaked, masked, and hooded individuals who were apparently preparing to ambush anyone being lowered from the room above. After a very short battle, Yogazai searched the two individuals and found silver and gold coins, hand-held crossbows and crossbow bolts on them. Uncovering their masked faces, Yogazai was surprised to note that their faces resembled that of a bird. Feathers, a beak, along with talons for feet, and hand-like claws were carefully wrapped in clothing to conceal what the individuals were. Not sure of what to make of the strange creatures, Yogazai carefully placed their bodies under the ceiling leading up the Yawning Portal. He then carefully made his way down the dungeon to find the other adventurers who had left the inn to enter Undermountain earlier today.
Yogazai emerged into a 20-foot wide corridor. A few steps away, he noticed a pool of blood on the stone floor. A wall nearby wall had blood streaks on it as well. A large streak of blood leaving the area suggested that something had been dragged away from the area recently. While searching the area for clues as to what happened, Yogazai noted the outlines of a secret door upon the blood-splattered wall. Further inspection allowed Yogazai to open the secret door. Stepping into the room, he immediately heard the sound of battle…
While resting in the room, Fierson—during his watch—heard strange soft voices coming from a corner of the room near the ceiling. Careful inspection showed that small coin-size holes dotted the ceiling at regular intervals. From these holes could be heard distant conversations from various parts of the city above. Before the dwarf can ponder this strange occurrence, he was shocked to see a swarm of hands cut off at the wrists emerge from under the door leading out of the room. Within seconds the swarms of crawling hands were upon the rest of the sleeping adventurers. Fierson yelled for everyone to wake up! Within moments a battle against dozens of hands was underway. Although Nostariel and Elric suffered minor scrapes and prodding from the hands, the adventurers destroyed all of the hands. Yogazai made himself known moments after the battle was over. After filling him in with recent events from their adventures, the entire group rested for five more hours since their rest was interrupted.
After getting themselves ready, the group continued through the dungeon. Eventually they came upon a room with a large wooden frame resting upon one wall. The frame was carved to depict a variety of ships at sea. Inside the room, the group also saw a half-eaten corpse in one corner. All that was left was the person’s lower half. Finding nothing else of interest, the group moved on.
Next, the group came upon a rickety rope bridge spanning a large chasm which extended into the darkness. Some distance away, the rope bridge ended at another twenty-foot wide corridor. Carefully making his way across the rickety bridge, Yogazai spotted a woman dangling some thirty feet below the bridge halfway across. Attached by a rope around her waist, the woman was anchored to the bridge by a grappling hook. The others considered the possibility that they may have found the lost adventurer they were assigned to find. Halfway across the bridge, two squid-like creatures with stone-hard shells and membrane-laced tentacles dropped from the darkness above. The creatures quickly enveloped the adventurers in a globe of darkness and attacked. Elric and Ang quickly slew the two creatures. After, Elric and Ang carefully made their way across the bridge to retrieve the woman’s dangling body. While figuring out how to safely raise the woman while avoiding falling off of the bridge, Gilraen the sorceress used her wand of levitation to solve the problem. Tied to a rope held by Fierson, Elric along with Ang managed to retrieve the woman’s body. After inspecting and discerning that they had found the lost adventurer, they carefully place her body into an empty bag of holding. Gilraen then used her wand of levitation on everyone. The entire group then made their way across the bridge safely, with no fear of falling thanks to Gilraen.
Safely across the other side, the party noticed that the floor of the corridor was submerged in black water. With levitation spells still functioning, the group floated near the ceiling and made their way across the corridor. Nearly halfway the seventy-foot long hallway, the group was attacked by two rusty longswords that floated out of the black water. The blades were each held by a pair of skeletal arms. The blades immediately attacked the group. The adventurers quickly destroyed the skeletal arms. But just as the battle against the skeletal arms was won, Elric saw a human skull wreathed in evil green fire hovering above the water down the hall. Emerald gleams of malice danced in its otherwise empty eye sockets. Before Elric could react, the creature shot a fireball at the wall next to Elric who avoided most of the conflagration. The fireball also ignited the black water which turned out to be quite flammable. Trying not to get burned by the flames below him, Elric quickly pushed himself towards the skull and destroyed it with one powerful blow from his enchanted blade.
Although the battle against the undead foes was won, the heroes found themselves floating above a corridor quickly filling with smoke. Holding their breaths, the party pushed themselves as fast as they could across the ceiling pass the oil-filled corridor. After finding a dry floor to settle on, the party moved further down the dungeon as far as possible putting distance between themselves and the fire and smoke behind them.

---

“Into the Undermountain” 11 Marpenoth, 1375 DR, The Year of Risen Elfkin
After spending several days wandering the city of Waterdeep selling goods and buying equipment, the adventurers—without Yogazai—decided to head back down into Undermountain with the hope of gaining much needed treasure. Also, strange recurring dreams of Undermountain somehow kept compelling all of theme to visit the largest dungeon in the entire continent of Faerûn.
Before being lowered into the dungeon depths below the Yawning Portal Inn, the group was approached by half-elven bard named Ellithral the Golden. He explained that he knows of a friend in Undermountain named Errya Eltorchul who is willing to sell the group a “one-of-a-kind, recently drawn, up-to-date” map of the dungeons below. She waits for adventurers near a room with many pillars. The group thanked for the helpful information.
Again, before being lowered into the depths below, the group was approached by a matronly woman who was accompanied by a bodyguard. The woman explained that her daughter is missing and had entered Undermountain with a group of adventurers known as The Company of the Silver Dagger. She feels that something terrible may have happened to her daughter. She offered the group a handsome reward if they would find her daughter and return with word of her daughter’s whereabouts. She mentioned that her daughter, along with the other members of the adventuring company can be recognized by the tattoo of a silver dagger upon their upper arm. The group accepted the woman’s plea for help.
Illuminating their way with their everburning torches, and Fierson’s glowing shield, the group carefully made their way through several corridors. Mapping their way through the dungeon, the group soon came upon a large room with many pillars. Three other exits were visible in the room. Immediately upon stepping into the room, the group was plunged into darkness. Even darkvision spells casted upon some of the members by the sorcerers of the group stopped working. Only those with natural darkvision were able to see. Seconds later, Fierson the dwarf, noticed that one of the many pillars in the room had transformed into a woman made of stone. Armed with a wicked longsword, the stone woman attacked. Fierson held off the woman while the rest carefully felt their way through the darkness back to the corridor where they came from. The adventurers were happy to know that save for the darkvision spells, the torches worked in the hallway. They realized that the large room with the pillars was dead-magic area. No magic items or spells would function in such an area.
With weapons clanging upon another, the stone woman battled with Fierson who slowly led the woman towards his friends who had made their way back down the corridor. Upon reaching the corridor where his friends stood, a secret door opened along one wall of the corridor. Soon, a trio of goblins similar to the ones they had encountered before stepped out of a room behind the secret door. Nostariel lobbed a fireball from her staff into the room which killed all but two goblins. Moments later, the other two goblins were killed as well as the stone woman in the corridor. Inside the secret room where the goblins emerged was a door leading into a side passage north of the pillared chamber.
After going through the door from the secret room, the group ran into Errya Eltorchul and two bugbear bodyguards. She and the bugbears tried to ambush the group but were quickly slain by the group’s powerful blades and spells.
Although no one was severely wounded, the group decided to rest for several hours in the secret room so the sorcerers could regain some spells they had used since entering Undermountain.

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“Enter Yogazai” Highharvestide (a holiday of feasting and a time for journeys), 1375 DR, The Year of Risen Elfkin

It’s the day after the month of Eleint. The smell of autumn is in the air and leaves are turning a rich brown golden hue.
Yesterday, just after dawn, a long, rolling earthquake shook the city of Waterdeep awake. Cracks appeared in walls and crockery rattled, but no building collapsed.
Uproar ensued. Earthquakes are almost unheard of in the city. Rumors of disaster soon raced through the streets, fueled by the anguish of people across the city whose heads filled with sharp, sudden mental visions of a screaming bearded man whose eyes blazed with rage, sorrow, and swimming stars. The visions shifted into scenes of pillars cracking and tumbling, ceilings collapsing in caverns and dark rooms, and surging explosions of blue-white sparks. These tides of fearsome force left many who received the vision gasping on their knees, unharmed but overwhelmed by the sensation of great magical forces crashing through them. Repeatedly, the screaming face returned, with feelings of strong despair, of something left unfinished—and then swept away in great loss and ruin.
What was this vision? A few wizards across the city who shared the disturbing visions recognize the screaming face as that of Halaster Blackcloak, the infamous “Mad Mage of Undermountain”.
Soon, everyone was aware that something terrible had happened in Undermountain. There’s a sense that an unknown but exceedingly dark doom is approaching the city and the massive dungeon beneath it.
Just hours after the earthquake, people who received the terrible visions were drawn to the city, filled with a desire to explore the legendary dungeon of Undermountain. Still, others who didn’t receive the visions but have had some past connection to Undermountain also found themselves equally drawn to the city and its infamous dungeon. These individuals—inexplicably drawn by their visions—are being referred to as The Called.
Yogazai, an escaped half-drow from Eryndlyn ran as fast his legs would allow. For over a tenday, he has wandered the Underdark, using his survival skills to keep him alive. Avoiding creatures and other hazards, Yogazai made his way through the Underdark.
Yesterday, Yogazai woke up to a violent shaking of the earth. A stalactite, broken loose by the violent quake broke off and nearly impaled him. Minutes later, the young half-drow gathered his equipment and traveled on hoping to gain some distance between him and the drow city of Eryndlyn. During the next few hours, Yogazai traveled through the Underdark guided more by a strange compelling sense of direction rather than his own skills.
While stopping to eat some underground crickets he came upon, he detected a strong familiar scent. Yogazai smelled what seemed like meat being roasted over an open fire. The strong aromatic scent was coming from a nearby passageway. Quickly, Yogazai followed the scent down the passageway.
Later, Yogazai encountered several goblins living in a dungeon complex. While searching a small shrine, a column carved with serpents triggered a recollection of a strange dream he had just before the quake awoke him. In his dream, he saw himself entering a strange armory filled with weapons and armor of all kinds. Upon a shelf, he spotted a set of bracers adorned with silver inlays and gems. Donning the leather bracers, he immediately felt the protective enchantments of the bracers sweep over him.
Exploring further into the dungeon, Yogazai came upon three humans and a half-orc all wearing tabards or amulets depicting an upraised black gauntlet. Quietly dispatching the goblins and a human acolyte, Yogazai searched all the rooms for treasure. Later, he also followed the half-orc and two humans (one woman) as the three left their lair and trekked deeper into the dungeon.
The half-orc and two humans made their way to a chamber sealed by a magical force field. The half-orc placed a small crystal into a setting upon the wall next to the room’s entrance which caused the force field to drop. Inside, Yogazai spotted several figures lying on the ground. A thick layer of dust coated their bodies and equipment. Within seconds the figure—seemingly sleeping—all began to wake up.
Fierson, Ang, Gilraen, Nostariel, and Elric all slowly woke up from their sleep. Each felt stiff, as if they had slept upon the hard ground for an eternity. A thick layer of dust coated their bodies as well as their equipment.
After waking up, the half-orc and two humans standing outside the chambers ordered the adventurers to surrender their weapons and all treasures they were carrying. Rather than obey the commands of the half-orc, the adventurers attacked the enemy. The battle was won quickly.
After, the adventurers introduced themselves to the Yogazai. They then explored the rest of the dungeon only to find that the room they were in had somehow changed its location since the rest of the corridors were unfamiliar. After fighting over a dozen goblins, the group eventually found their way to a large room. Above them, on the ceiling, they noted a large opening that extended over 100 feet above. They could also hear the sound of distant conversations drifting from a room far above them. After some yelling, they heard a reply from above. Soon a rope was lowered. On the rope was attached a small bucket and several straps. A loud voice from above offered to raise them for gold coin each. After placing the gold coins in the bucket, the rope was again lowered. The adventurers were then hauled up to the room above.
After emerging from the hole, the adventurers found themselves in the tap room of the Yawning Portal Inn, one of Waterdeep’s famous inns. A man, introducing himself as Durnan the proprietor of the inn, offered the adventurers drink and food. After talking a while, the group discovered that they were indeed back in Waterdeep and had emerged from the Undermountain. Also the group had somehow been sleeping for 974 years. The group was also surprised to note that they had actually awaked in the year 1375 DR. Last time the adventurers were in Waterdeep, it was the year 1372 DR.
After a round of drinks and a small meal, the adventurers rented rooms for a tenday knowing that they would have to reacquaint themselves with the City of Splendors. Yogazai also knew that he would have to familiarize himself with this wondrous city.

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IN THE PAST “Outlaws” 15 Kythorn, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

When Ang, Gilraen, Erasmus, Elric and Balzanar left Captain Stella Brightblade at the dwarven fortress in Auvandell, they ran into Nostariel who had been waiting for the rest of the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep to return. Nostariel immediately explained the events leading up to Fierson and Durak’s death. While discussing the recent turn of events, Falrinn emerged from the tower fortress where he had been staying for a few days after returning from his mission of rescuing the wizard Vandril.
Gathering what gold they had and selling some magical items, the group raised enough money to resurrect Fierson. They considered asking Fierson when he returns whether or not the group should resurrect Durak Deathbreaker, paladin of Moradin.
After Madeas, cleric of Oghma the god of knowledge resurrected Fierson the dwarf decided that Durak had served his god well in combat and should not be resurrected. The clerics and acolytes of Oghma also returned what was left of Durak’s belongings to the adventurers.
Deeply troubled by his experience with death, Fierson wanted to spend a quiet moment at the shrine of Moradin located within the dwarven tower fortress. Falrinn decided to return to his room to wait there.
Soon after, Captain Brightblade along with a contingency of Auvandell soldiers burst into the shrine. Brightblade announced that the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep are hereby banished from Auvandell for the crime of stealing and lying—a crime punishable by death under dwarven laws. It seems the room where Ang spoke with Brightblade was enchanted with a permanent discern lie spell which would reveal any attempts at lying inside the stone chamber. Because Captain Brightblade had convinced General Torrens Andallar and the dwarven council for leniency, they were instead to be banished forever from Auvandell and Sundbarr Vale. Captain Brightblade left some soldiers at the shrine while she and two soldiers went to Falrinn’s room to deliver the same message.
Falrinn was displeased with the verdict and insisted that his own actions—and that of the others—should be considered instead of punishing the entire company of adventurers. It was, after all, Ang Calmcacil that stole the arrows. Brightblade insisted that the decision had been made by Andallar and the dwarven council and that she was powerless to change it. The dwarves, ever suspicious, felt that all members of the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep could not be trusted since nearly half of its members were involved—directly or indirectly—with the theft. She personally apologized to Falrinn and insisted that he leave Auvandell lest the soldiers carry out the general’s orders which could result in people being injured or killed unnecessarily. Falrinn gathered all of his belongings and left the tower fortress.
Down in the courtyard, the others ran into Trehalas, the crazy old mage from the Silverlode Arms. After explaining to Trehalas what happened, the old mage laughed it off and offered them the chance to work for him instead. They told Trehalas that they would meet him outside of Auvandell’s gates within the hour.
Blazanar saw Falrinn emerge from the tower fortress. Falrinn, not wanting to talk to the other members, left the courtyard through a different gate. Blazanar, along with Fierson caught up to Falrinn to talk to the gnome. Falrinn told the halfling and the dwarf that he will be leaving the group and bade them luck. Blazanar, the halfling, decided to join the gnome and also left the rest of the group.
Outside the gates of Auvandell, Erasmus Truesilver, also bid the group farewell. He said that his fate lies with Silver Village and that he could not travel with the group any longer. He then caught up with Falrinn and Blazanar as they made their way back west through the pass towards Silver Village and their own future.
Trehalas met up with the remaining members of the Warriors offering to pay them handsomely if they journeyed with him back to his dungeon enclave back in Deepwater far to the west along the Sword Coast. The old mage then overheard the group discussing about possibly returning to the future where they are from. Insisting they share with him, Fierson revealed to Trehalas their story.
After some time, Trehalas was clearly amazed at the group’s tale time traveling. He then offered the adventurers the possibility of helping them return to their own time. Ang, Fierson, Nostariel, Gilraen, and Elric asked how that was possible. Trehalas suggested that he could place all of them under a protective spell that also froze any object or person in time until the spell released them at a later time. In effect, they would be frozen in time until the year 1372 DR. Nostariel, having some knowledge of Waterdeep lore took the others aside and discussed the possibility that this mage was the mad mage Halaster Blackcloak, creator of the infamous Undermountain rumored to be the biggest dungeon in all of Faerûn. Ang asked Trehalas if he also went by the name Halaster. Trehalas simply said, “No”. After some further discussion, the group reluctantly offered to help Trehalas rid his dungeon enclave of drows—which he explained was plaguing his efforts to expand his dungeon. After the group held hands and gathered together, Trehalas cast a powerful teleport spell to take them back to his dungeon beneath Deepwater Harbor.
The five adventurers appeared inside a square room measuring some 25 feet across. Peeling plaster lined the walls while dust and loose dirt coated the stone floor. A single tunnel some 10 feet across led out of the room. Two torches were visible down the corridor along with other passages.
Immediately, the group realized that Trehalas was not with them! A voice, seemingly coming from the very stale air itself, announced the group’s arrival deep within the dungeon complex of Halaster. The voice of Trehalas revealed himself to be Halaster and told the group that he had teleported them to his dungeon so they can test out his creation—Undermountain. He said that he was also pleasantly surprised to find out that he would live long enough to complete his masterwork dungeon and be alive in the year 1372 DR which is still some 971 years into the future. His ethereal voice explained that he brought the group into his dungeon with one intention—to see if they could survive his many monsters, traps, and…”find a way out!”
Apparently mislead, the group quickly came up with a plan to survive this dungeon and find their way out.
Immediately, the group saw a spider the size of large dog crawling along the wall down the tunnel leading out the room they were in. Ang shot at it with an arrow while the rest advanced up to it. Soon the group fought and killed five spiders. Investigation of a web-filled room where the spiders all emerged from revealed a large room where dozen of empty silk cocoons dangled from the ceiling and walls. They also spotted a young elven boy encased—save for his head—within a cocoon hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room. The boy was also laughing and giggling during the whole time. All attempts at communicating with the elven boy only met with further laughter and giggling. Nostariel then cast detect magic in the room and discovered that the boy was giving off an aura of magic. While the rest guarded the corridors, Nostariel’s spell revealed that the boy’s magical aura was faint. Nostariel tried but failed to find out the aura’s school of magic. Fierson suggested that perhaps the child was a mere illusion.
At that moment, Gilraen’s alarm spell which she cast down the corridor gave off its warning alarm. The group spotted two creatures, resembling a cross between a gangly human and a bloated spider (Ettercap), coming down a nearby passageway. Although Ang was caught in a glob of sticky web thrown by one of the creatures until Gilraen freed him, the fight with the creatures was quickly won.
Tired and exhausted from the day’s event. The group decided to return to the room where they first appeared to rest and regain valuable spells.

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“Explosive Events” 15 Kythorn, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

After spending six days searching the road towards Sundbarr for signs of the army’s missing crates of exploding arrows, Ang, Gilraen, Erasmus, Elric and Balzanar found all 10 crates (1,000 arrows). In retrieving the arrows for Auvandell, the adventurers fought off ogre skullbashers, ankhegs, a band of orcs, and a pair of wyverns.
When they returned to Auvandell late in the afternoon, the group decided to keep a crate of arrows for themselves rather than return all 10 crates to Captain Brightblade. When asked if the group found all ten crates, the group informed Captain Brightblade that they had only found nine crates. As part of the agreement, Brightblade still gave the group 40 +1 Arrows with Exploding.

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“Two Dwarves Down” 12 Kythorn, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

After returning back down into the Underdark beneath Auvandell’s cemetery, Durak, Fierson and Nostariel ran into a pair of Hook Horrors which killed both dwarves. Nostariel barely managed to escape back to the surface. She then hired four adventurers to help her retrieve her friends’ bodies.
After killing the two already-wounded creatures, Nostariel and the others found the remains of the two dwarves. Some body parts were missing and were presumably eaten by the creatures. Gathering what they could, Nostariel and the others returned to Auvandell. Acarus, a cleric/fighter whom Nostariel hired said it would take a resurrection spell to bring back the dwarves since their bodies weren’t whole. A cleric of Oghma offered to resurrect each dwarf for a total of 10,910 gp each. The material component alone costs 10,000 gp (diamond dust) to perform the spell.
Nostariel decided to wait for the rest of the group to get together before paying for the cost of casting the spell or selling any of Fierson’s and/or Durak’s items to cover the cost.

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“Falrinn’s Mission” 12 Kythorn, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

After three days of following a map, Falrinn arrived at abandoned keep hidden somewhere in the Varathar Hills southwest of Auvandell, so named because of the abundance of mushroom-like herbs often found under large rocks and boulders all around the area.
Three days ago, Falrinn was hired by Captain Stella Brightblade of the Auvandell army to single-handedly infiltrate the keep. His mission was to enter the keep undetected and rescue the wizard, Vandril.
Using the shadows as his ally, Falrinn carefully made his way into the bandit’s keep. Using his magic items and rogue skills, he quietly made his way past sentries and entered a large building in the middle of the keep. Inside, Falrinn avoided a magical trap and found his way into the keep’s prison cells.
After taking out a lone guard, Falrinn looked into each cell and found Vandril. Falrinn also found Gorren, the half-elf spy who was apparently being held as a prisoner as well. As another guard approached the prison cells, Falrinn had Vandrill use the scroll with the teleport spell, transporting all three back to Auvandell.
Back in Auvandell, Captain Stella Brightblade offered to pay Falrinn 3,000 gold coins as reward for completing his mission. Falrinn declined the offer insisting the army use the money for its own purpose. Grateful of Falrinn’s generosity, Stella Brightblade offered to give him other missions as they become available.

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9 Kythorn, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Falrinn was asked to appear before Captain Stella Brightblade. The mission went as follows:
Stella Brightblade, a female human captain, has asked to meet with Falrinn regarding an important mission. Recently, she has come upon information regarding the capture and imprisonment of Vandril, a male human wizard of some skill. Besides being a wizard, Vandril is also one of the few living persons who have studied the ancient language of Aragrakh, an ancient form of draconic. Stella Brightblade has recently come upon an ancient tome which may have been written in that ancient text. She needs Vandril to read the tome to see if it contains any knowledge which can help the battle against the orcs.
Unfortunately, according to a half-elf spy who is working for Brightblade, the wizard has somehow been captured and imprisoned by the bandits known as the Crimson Cloaks. Other reports indicate that the Crimson Cloaks have been attacking travelers heading into the Silver Pass towards Silver Village. Gorren, Brightblade’s half-elf spy couldn’t verify the bandits’ exact numbers, but he did report that their leader is a medusa named Euryale. Besides having a strong thirst for gold and magic items, Euryale is rumored to be from another prime world called Mythica and is extremely powerful—although Gorren isn’t certain if she’s a spellcaster or something else.
The spy also reports that the bandits have set up a base in an abandoned keep hidden somewhere in the Varathar Hills to the SW, so named because of the abundance of mushroom-like herbs often found under large rocks and boulders all around the area.
His mission was to quietly infiltrate the bandits’ keep. Her spy indicates that the bandits are aware of the attack on Sundbarr and are at a heightened sense of security. Euryale has ordered the bandits to immediately slay Vandril and any other prisoners if the keep ever comes under attack. In the event that Vandril may have been turned to stone by the medusa’s powerful gaze, Captain Brighblade gave him two scrolls: one containing the spell, stone to flesh and another containing the spell, teleport. If Vandril had been turned to stone, he must use the spell stone to flesh to bring him back. If he dies during the transformation, Falrinn should then use the teleport spell to bring his body and himself back to Auvandell immediately.
Needless to say, Falrinn cannot allow the bandits to know that he has infiltrated their keep. He must use all of his roguish skills to insure the success of this mission. If he fails or perish in his mission, Captain Brightblade cannot send anyone to rescue him or recover his remains.
In addition to keeping whatever treasures he find, he would be awarded 3,000 gold pieces (in silver bars) once he has returned to Auvandell with Vandril.

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“Cemetery Clearing” 9 Kythorn, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Recently gravediggers discovered an underground cavern while digging additional gravesites at the cemetery south of Auvandell. While their other companions were busy exploring the hamlet or adventuring on their own, Fierson, Nostariel, and Durak Deathbreaker, Paladin of Moradin agreed to investigate the caverns after hearing reports of ghouls being sighted in the underground cavern. They traveled to the cemetery a few hours before highsun. Workers at the cemetery after seeing them warned them the dangers of the cavern below. Apparently, the workers had helped three other adventurers enter the caverns five days ago. The adventurers hadn’t been heard from since.
Before being lowered into the cavern, Nostariel cast darkvision upon herself, so she can see in the dark as well as her two dwarf companions. Then, with a rope tied to Durak’s warhorse, Stonehoof, the adventurers were lowered into the cavern below. The cavern consisted of a cobwebbed filled chamber. Two tunnels, just wide enough for a man to walk through disappeared into the darkness beyond. Besides a large pile of dirt and a broken shovel belonging to the gravedigger who broke through the cavern’s ceiling, nothing else was visible in the cavern.
Upon being lowered into the cavern. The three adventurers were immediately attacked by skeletons dressed in commoners’ clothing. The battle lasted less than a breath with no one being injured. Further investigation of a nearby tunnel revealed partially buried sarcophagi; some looked like they had been broken into (or out of?) in the past.
While further investigating the tunnels, the adventurers ran into some ghouls on several occasions. During one encounter, Nostariel was raked by a ghoul’s sharp claws but she suffered no adverse effects (it’s thought that a ghoul’s bite or claw can cause paralysis to its victim). Despite being fully armored, Fierson, too, couldn’t escape the claw of one ghoul although he didn’t sustain any adverse effects either. Later, a group consisting of four ghouls came upon the group from a nearby tunnel. Nostariel immediately burned them to ashes by casting a fireball from her newly acquired staff of fire. Traveling deeper into the tunnels, the group found many tunnels filled with debris, loose soil and rocks, and what was later identified as a bag of dust of dryness. While walking down a side tunnel, Fierson was attacked by a ghoul who was hiding in a small alcove. The three were surprised to discover that ghouls were capable of hiding like their comrade Falrinn, the group’s gnome rogue.
Later, the three adventurers came upon a tomb deep within the labyrinthine caverns. When Durak stepped inside, he saw an opened sarcophagus atop a dais. He also spotted two skeletons—one skeleton and one human—dressed in mail armor and a ghoul. Both skeletons were well armed while the ghoul wore a pair of bracers. The three immediately fought the three undead. The battle lasted nearly 30 seconds with Nostariel being raked by the ghoul but again, she resisted any adverse effects from the attack. The ghoul, speaking in common, warned the group that they would surely meet their end in the tomb, but that would not be the case. Soon after it began, the battle was won after Durak and Fierson struck the ghoul with their devastating attacks and Nostariel slayed the ghoul with her magic missile spell.
After spending half an hour searching the catacomb carefully, the group discovered and identified a +2 Helm of Armor, +2 Bracers of Armor, scrolls containing the spells shatter and shout, along with 120 silver coins scattered on the ground. Durak and Fierson drew straws for the helm and bracers. Fierson, winning first pick, chose the bracers and Durak ended up with the helm. Both scrolls went to Nostariel.
After securing all of their newly found treasures, the group decided to search the remainder of the caverns. After going turning down a tunnel the group ignored after first entering the caverns, the adventurers discovered a set of caverns: one containing a stagnant pool of water and the other with a gaping hole in the ground measuring nearly 15 feet across and some 70 feet deep. Fierson looked into the hole and noted several handholds that would it easy for anyone to climb down. Durak wondered if the sinkhole led into the Underdark since there are rumored to be caves, and tunnels leading into the Underdark scattered around the area. The group decided to investigate the stagnant pool before going down a hole that may lead to further danger.
The pool, its surface covered in slime filled a large cavern. About 40 feet from where the adventurers stood, they clearly saw an object below the surface that was giving off bright light—enough to light up a 10-foot area. Fierson volunteered to remove his armor and try to retrieve the glowing object in the pool. Durak helped Fierson remove his armor while Nostariel tied two 50 foot length of ropes together. Later, they tied the rope to Fierson. He then dunked his head below the surface to see below the surface. With his darkvision penetrating the murky water, he saw that the glow was coming from a medium steel shield resting about 10 feet at the bottom of the pool. He also saw a ghoul floating near the bottom a short distance away. Grabbing his axe, Fierson entered the water. The ghoul swam toward Fierson. Fierson swung his axe at the ghoul. Despite how difficult it was to swing a weapon underwater, Fierson struck the ghoul with such as force that he killed it instantly! Fierson then retrieved the shield which seemed lighter than normal for a medium steel shield. He also uncovered a pearl hidden beneath the shield. Taking both items, he swam back to the surface to join the others.
After donning his armor back on, Fierson noted that the shield was made of mithral which explained its lighter weight. Not able to identify the items since Nostariel had no more crushed pearl—a requirement for casting the spell, identify—the trio decided to return to Auvandell. When they reached the cavern where they first entered, they were shocked to discover that Durak’s warhorse had disappeared. After cemetery workers helped them out of the caverns, one worker explained that he simply saw the horse “bolt away, like it was attacked or something!” When Fierson and Nostariel asked Durak if he knew what happened, he said he wasn’t certain. Something like this had never happened before. Perhaps, the horse was attacked by someone “hiding or invisible” who may have noticed the three being lowered into the cavern. Either way, Durak said he would search for Stonehoof while Nostariel and Fierson rested. Durak would meet up with the two others sometime the next day.
After Nostariel purchased more crushed pearls, she identified the shield and the pearl which were both magical. The shield turned out to be a +3 Mithral Heavy Steel Shield with Bashing, while the pearl turned out to be a pearl of power (4th lvl). When Durak met up with the two other, he explained that he was couldn’t find Stonehoof nor summon it back. He fears that the horse may have been killed. If so, then he can’t summon another mount for at least a month.
The three then decided to gather their belongings and explore the hole they discovered that may lead into the Underdark.

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“Enter Durak Deathbreaker” 14 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Emerging from a deadly journey through the Silver Pass, the group reaches the hamlet of Auvandell. Auvandell is located on the western edge of Sundbarr Vale, near the place where the trail through the Silver Pass descends out of the Nether Mountains. Auvandell is an old dwarf watchtower from the early days of Delzoun. A small hamlet (comprised of humans, dwarfs, some halflings, and a handful of half-elves) clusters about the tower’s gray plinth. Auvandell serves as watchtower for Stronghold Sundbarr, keeping a vigilant eye out for any dangers from the Silver Pass and the nearby Nether Mountains.
History: This small hamlet is named for the human hero Auvan Arlandspyr, who was said to have slain a dragon here in the service of the king of Delzoun some centuries past. The dwarf tower was raised over the wyrm’s hoard, or so it’s said. The land in the vicinity is rugged and difficult to farm. Goatherds and shepherds make up most of the hamlet’s agricultural base. Apple and cherry orchards on the south facing hillsides near the hamlet do well. There are also two small mines in the nearby hills, where copper, lead, and iron ingots are smelted and sent down to Sundbarr in sturdy carts pulled by teams of oxen.
When the group arrived in Auvandell, they immediately noticed that the hamlet is bustling with activity. They also saw tents, lean-tos, and other makeshift shelter dotting the hillside around the hamlet. Armed men on horses and on foot stood about as if waiting for a battle.
A dwarf dressed in full plate mail, riding a heavy warhorse quickly made his way to the group. After introducing himself as Durak Deathbreaker, a paladin of the dwarf god Moradin, he offered the use of his charger to help pull the wagon.
Meanwhile, Durak explains that the adventurers couldn’t have arrived at a worse time. Stronghold Sundbarr has been under siege and is all but captured by orcs and their foul minions. Word has it that some of the city’s people made it out while many others perished. It’s been nearly two tendays since the city was attacked (the attack came early in the morning). The dwarves of Sundbarr shut off all entrances to the undercity protecting their precious Everfire from the invading force.
Durak says, just like nearly 13 winters ago when the last siege occurred, the dwarves of Sundbarr did not reclaim the upper city. Instead they used all of their resources to defend the Everfire, a river of molten lava used to power their incredible forges. During that time, the city was under orc and monstrous control for nearly four winters. They abandoned the city only when they had nearly destroyed all of its buildings and used up every bit of their supplies. And so the cycle of rebuilding and conquering has occurred for nearly a century now.
He went on to explain that a small army of men, dwarves and adventurers have made a stand at Auvandell. So far, the orc horde seems intent on capturing Sundbarr and has not marched west toward Auvandell, but no one is certain how long that may last. He says that Torrens Andellar, a human fighter, commands the small army at Auvandell. Although, he’s not certain how many people comprise Andellar’s army, he knows it’s not enough to recapture the city of Sundbarr. Currently, Andellar is looking for more adventurers to help with dangerous missions and to help defend Auvandell from any possible attack.
Meanwhile, Durak goes on to explain, the hamlet’s population has grown threefold. Fresh water and food supplies are scarce. Some adventurers and rogues have taken advantage of the situation, stealing and taking what they can. There is also fear of diseases spreading throughout the hamlet. It’s apparent that Torrens Andellar is in dire need of people to fill in his small army or help with the troubles plaguing the hamlet of Auvandell.
Durak also says that many of the shopkeepers from the city made it out alive and have set up a makeshift market of sorts in the hamlet. He says that the hamlet’s only tavern, The Silverlode Arms, is always full of adventurers.
After selling a lot of the group’s magical treasures and purchasing new magical items, the adventurers went to the Silverlode Arms. There, they met a wizard named Trehalas who was willing to cast stone to flesh on Ang for 700 gold pieces. Allowing for the wizard to memorize that particular spell, the group met up with Trehalas the next day. After casting the spell, Ang was transformed back into his old self again. During this time, Trehalas asked the group if they were willing to help deal with some problems he’s been having with drows.
Apparently, Trehalas has a wizard’s keep in the small logging hamlet of Deep Water along the Sword Coast. He has also built a network of tunnels and dungeons beneath his keep. Recently, Drows and other foul creatures from the Underdark have been entering his dungeons. He would like the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep to help rid his dungeons of these pests for a handsome fee. The group offered to do it for 3,000 gp each. Trehalas agreed to pay the Warriors’ asking price.
The group asked if they can help him after they get some of their magic items upgraded and after they’ve completed some quests in Auvendell. Seemingly not in a hurry since monsters have been infesting his dungeons for some time now, Trehalas didn’t mind waiting a bit longer. He agreed to meet the group at the Silverlode Arms at a designated time and day.
Meanwhile the group spent 24 days resting, honing their skills, purchasing items, and upgrading what items they had. During this time, Falrinn, through the spell dream receives a message from a human female wizard. The woman, an unnamed wizard, was hired by Robin to send Falrinn a message. It seems Robin made it back to Silver Village but had received word that Owl stopped at Silver Village but left immediately for the High Forest. Owl wanted Robin to travel to the High Forest and join him there. Robin also offered Falrinn his share of the treasure gained from their journey through the Silver Pass.

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“Finding the Killers” 12 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

The group arrives back at the camp to find that a battle had taken place. On the way to the camp, the group discovered Erasmus, scared and starving, from hiding in a small cave about a mile from the trapper’s hut. He relates to the group about the attack at the camp and how he saw Crow on the ground with blood everywhere.
The adventurers searched the camp only to discover that neither Crow’s nor Shrike’s body could be found. Also, the half-orc ranger was missing, apparently freed by whoever killed Shrike and Crow. The group also discovered that their only horse was taken.
Elric, looking for tracks, noted that the horse—seemingly loaded with added weight—headed east towards Sundbarr.
The next day, the group left for Sundbarr carefully following the tracks left by the horse. Gilraen, having recently learned the spell, mount, used the summoned mount to pull the wagon that carried their supplies and Ang the statue.
Robin having lost two members of his adventuring company insisted on leaving the group to return to Silver Village. He said he had to meet up with Owl, his company’s druid who was supposed to meet him and his companions before the month of Kythorn. He offers to join up with the group at a later time, perhaps in Sundbarr once he joins up with Owl.

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“Death of Friends” 10 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

“I bet the rest of them are havin’ more fun than us,” Crow says with a tone of pure boredom. “I bet they’re busy slicing off orc heads right now and thinkin’ about the treasure they’re gonna be splittin’. If I were there, I’ woulda had some fun usin’ my wand of fireballs against those stinkin’ orcs.”
Standing just outside the cave’s entrance, Crow looks towards the back of the small cave at the bound female half-orc and the gnome who is crouching next to her. Shrike, a gnome monk, holds a waterskin over the half-orc’s mouth as she gulps down a mouthful of water. “Perhaps, Crow,” Shrike replies. “Or perhaps, they may be as bored as you are. One should not always look forward to a fight, but one should always be prepared for it.” “Where did Erasmus go?” Crow asks quickly changing the subject. He wonders why Robin, the fighter and ranger of the adventuring company known as The Long Blades, always leaves him with Shrike. Perhaps, the dwarf thinks, its Robin’s way of making him suffer for the wrongs he may have done—unintentionally of course. It’s not that he dislikes the monk, but the monk’s unending tirade on philosophies regarding life, battle, and drinking always irritates the dwarf.
Taking a few steps further outside the cave, the dwarf scans the nearby woods looking for any sign of the young sorcerer. “He’s been gone a while.”
“He went into the woods to relieve himself again,” Shrike says. “He says his stomach isn’t used to eating rations and wild game. He’s got the making of a good sorcerer, but I think trail rations will kill him before any dragon or orc ever will.”
“Well, if he’s not back soon, I’m gonna—“
An arrow shaft shot from directly above the unsuspecting dwarf suddenly imbeds itself into Crow’s left shoulder blade. The arrow’s impact all but shatters his collar bone.
Crow, he’s vision slightly blurred from the burning pain in his shoulder, looks up and sees a figure leaping down from above the cave’s entrance.
The figure, a brutish looking male half-orc, lands within arm’s reach of Crow. Thick animal hides help cover a steel breastplate over his muscled torso. In his left arm, the half-orc holds a large wooden shield covered with dried scalps from various races. In his right hand he grips a battleaxe, its steel blade honed to a razor-sharp edge.
With a resounding battle cry, the half-orc, his face contorted in rage brings his axe down on Crow. Crow tries to dodge the axe, but is struck in the leg. Trying to ignore the intense pain, Crow realizes that the half-orc is too close for him to use his wand of fireball.
Instead Crow tries to cast a “displacement” spell hoping it would provide the protection he needs against the barbarian until he could get far enough away to use his wand or cast his offensive spells. But because of the intense pain from his leg, Crow can’t concentrate well enough and the spell is ruined.
Shrike, seeing his friend in trouble, runs, leaps, and lands a solid kick to the barbarian’s torso. The half-orc, slightly shaken, swings his battle axe striking Shrike in the back as the monk lands next to him. Focusing his rage back at Crow, the barbarian hits the dwarf cutting a deep, bloody gash across his chest.
Before the sorcerer and monk could both recover, the barbarian brings his axe back down on Crow hitting him on the same shoulder the arrow struck earlier. Next, he spins around using the momentum of his battle axe to sever the dwarf’s head completely off. Shrike, horrified at the sight of his fallen comrade, yells and launches himself at the barbarian delivering a vicious kick and a punch directly at the barbarian’s flank. Although both blows hit, the half-orc is hardly injured by the attack.
Meanwhile, Erasmus emerges from behind a copse of trees a short distance from the cave. Immediately, Shrike spots the human sorcerer and cries out a warning.
“Run!” the monk yells at the young sorcerer through clenched teeth. “Find the others! I’ll try to hold him off. Now run!”
Erasmus, despite not wanting to heed the gnome’s words realizes that he would surely die if he stays. Despite his training with Gilraen and Nostariel—the group’s two powerful sorcerers—Erasmus knows that he’s not ready to fight someone as skilled as the half-orc. Turning in the direction the others went the day before, Erasmus runs as fast his legs could take him.
“Now it’s just you and me,” Shrike says to the barbarian.
The barbarian slowly turns to face the gnome. With a grunt, he slaps his shield with the bloodied blade of his battle axe.
“No. It’s just me,” the half-orc grunts. “You’re going to die right here, right now. I will have my mate again and your scalp will decorate my shield as a tribute to your honorable death.”
Circling each other, the barbarian and monk face off for a final battle that each knew would mean the death of one of them.
Finding an opening in the monk’s defense, the barbarian swings his axe at the monk’s legs. The axe comes to within inches of the gnome’s feet as Shrike flips backwards into the air.
Knowing a second strike was coming, the gnome ends the flip flat on the ground, his legs and arms spread out wide to the side. The barbarian, swinging the axe where he expected the monk’s torso will be, instead misses.
Pushing off with both legs, Shrike tumbles forward and tries to deliver a stunning fist strike to the barbarian’s left leg hoping his opponent would be weakened by it. He immediately follows the punch with an upper cut to the half-orc’s groin.
Although the barbarian was able to ignore the stunning effects of Shrike’s powerful punches, he couldn’t ignore the pain that came with each solid strike. Reeling back in pain, the barbarian issues another battle cry and lunges forward swinging his battle axe in a deadly arc that catches the gnome along his upper right arm.
His arm nearly severed by the barbarian’s vicious attack, Shrike barely manages to dodge the half-orc’s second attack.
Crouching low, Shrike swings his leg around then straight up, kicking the barbarian in the stomach. Before the barbarian could recover from the kick, the monk punches with all of his might straight at the half-orc’s chest. Despite denting the barbarian’s breastplate, his punch barely had any affect on the enraged half-orc.
Stealing a glance over his shoulder, Shrike sees Erasmus disappear into the thick woods. Perhaps the barbarian or his mate, the ranger, can track the sorcerer Shrike thinks, but at least he hopes that he bought Erasmus precious time to get far enough away.
Turning back once again to face the half-orc, the gnome never sees the battle axe coming directly for his throat…
Falling to his knees, Shrike grabs for his neck trying desperately to staunch the flow of blood streaming between his fingers. The barbarian steps forward, grabs the gnome by the head and scalps him with the tip of his battle axe. Shrike falls forward, dead before he even hits the ground.
The barbarian looks toward the direction the young man went, but ignores him for the moment. The half-orc is nearly exhausted from the effects of the rage and the heat of battle. There’s time enough to go after him, he thinks—if he even felt it necessary to hunt him down. He had watched the others from a distance. He knows that he can best any one or two of the other adventurers in a fight, but not an entire adventuring company.
Besides, he has other matters to attend to. Issuing a war cry of victory and a silent prayer to Tempus, the God of Battle, the half-orc barbarian steps into the cave. Durotar the Deathdealer couldn’t wait to be with his beloved mate again.

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“Haidran’s Marauders” 9 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

For nearly seven hours, Elric led the adventurers north through the woods and through rugged mountains trails. Despite the rain, the ranger was able to follow the orcs’ tracks which lead back to their camp. The camp was located some several miles into the Nether Mountains. Upon reaching the camp a few hours before sunset, the adventurers spotted a gnome and a human playing with a dog in the middle of the camp. There were no signs of orcs anywhere. Several tents lay nearby—all seemingly vacant. A cave that led into the base of a mountainside was also visible at the center of the camp, while a ruined tower, its walls barely standing stood within shot of the cave entrance. Hiding in the foliage, the adventurers listened in on the two people’s conversation. Speaking Illuskan, a few of the adventurers discerned that the gnome and human are part of an adventuring group who came upon the camp some days ago. Apparently, the group had dispatched whatever orcs remained in the camp. It also seemed that the adventurers were planning on traveling to Silver Village after resting at the camp for a while longer. Within moments, another member of the group emerged from behind a rock. A female figure, dressed in a tight leather outfit, had the lower half of a goat, but with the upper body of an elven or half-elven figure. Although not a satyr, Elric’s group could not discern what race the female belonged to. She was also armed with a bow and sword.
Coming out of hiding, Elric strolled into the open. The gnome, without drawing any weapons asked Elric—in the common tongue—who he was. The human also approached while the female adventurer took a defensive position behind a nearby tree. Fierson, Nostariel, and Gilraen also came out from hiding places while the gnome challenged Fierson and his companions demanding that they leave the area immediately. The female aimed her bow at Elric threatening to shoot him if he were to move any closer. Realizing a tense battle was imminent, Elric stepped forward as the female shot her bow, missing Elric. Immediately a battle erupted in the camp.
The Warriors of Wolfguard Keep along with Robin, the Halfling fighter/ranger, of The Long Blades battled against Haidran’s Marauders. During the battle, Haidran—an evil druid—cast entangle which incapacitated nearly half of the group’s members. Within moments, two figures, hidden atop nearby pine trees opened fire with longbows on the Warriors. Working together, the two archers nearly killed Nostariel and Balzanar. The adventurers fought back valiantly with mighty spells and well-aimed ranged attacks. Together with Falrinn, Elric killed the female ranger, the dog, and then slew the gnome with an arrow through his head. Meanwhile, Gilraen and Fierson worked together to take down the human rogue. Unfortunately, Robin of The Long Blades, unable to resist the effects of Haidran’s entangle spell could not break free and was kept out of the battle the whole time. Using spells, the adventurers killed both archers in the trees as well. After falling to the ground dead, the archers turned out to be hobgoblins—hired mercenaries perhaps. Next, Elric cast entangle near where Haidran the druid stood. Unable to break free of the grass and roots tugging at him, Haidran was unable to cast spells. In seconds, the adventurers were upon him and killed him with spells and ranged attacks.
Soon the battle was over. Although Balzanar the Halfling cleric of Mielikki and Nostariel the sorcerer had been mortally wounded, every single one of Haidran’s Marauders were slain in a fight that lasted less than a minute.
After tending to Balzanar and Nostariel, the adventurers searched the dead, the cave, and the camp. What was thought to be magical items were gathered. Detect magic and identify were also cast and other treasures were collected. The group discovered that the archers were seated upon tree stands. Both tree stands allowed the archers a greater view of the surrounding area and enabled them to blend in better with the trees’ branches and leaves. The cave turned out to be a mine. Inside the mine—which extended a few hundred feet into the mountainside—contained mining tools, crates used for transporting rocks and ore, a large sieve, and stacks of wood for shoring up excavated tunnels. Inside one tunnel, the group also found the stacked bodies of nearly two dozen orcs. Their wounds indicated they may have been killed by Haidran’s Marauders. A careful search of the decomposing remains indicated that only a few of the orcs may have been warriors, while the others may have been miners. Although no one in the group had knowledge relating to, or skills in mining, the group was able to see what appeared to be flecks of gold littering some of the tunnel floors. One cavern, littered with mining tools, also had exposed gold ore veins running the length of its walls.
After searching the area and the mine, the group settled in for the night while the rest of the group (Erasmus, Shrike, Crow, and Ang the statue) waited several miles south of the mine. Elric predicts clear skies with moderate winds during the next two days.
NOTE: The group found the following items after searching Haidran’s Marauders, the camp, and the mine:
From Haidran’s Marauders:
Male Human Rogue: 1 short sword, 2 potions of cure light wounds (1d83), right of protection +1, cloak of resistance +1, leather armor, three throwing daggers, light crossbow, 6 bolts, one week’s rations in a pouch, traveler’s outfit, thieves tools, waterskin, belt pouch, 7 gold coins (minted in Sundbarr)…
Female Ranger of unknown race: 3 dagger with Energy Aura (1d6 damage, wielder chooses from the following as a free action once per round: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or soniccloak of resistance +1, 2 potions of hiding; shortbow, 9 arrows, traveler’s outfit, 2 days of rations, belt pouch, waterskin, 26 gp (gold coins of various shapes and minting origin)
Pouncer, the dog: leather collar with spikes…
Hobgoblin mercenaries: 1 potion of cure light wounds each; +1 composite longbow each (Str rating 14 masterwork chain shirt, buckler, flail; cloak, potion belt (holds 3 bottles tree stands; 3 days of rations each, 2 waterskins each, belt pouch, traveler’s outfit, 9 gp each (Sundbarr mint)…
Male Gnome Ranger: (All of the following are sized for small creatures only) 1 studded leather; composite longbow +1 (1 Str bonus 2 +1 arrows; Cloak of Charisma +2; traveler’s outfit, waterskin, belt pouch, 11 gp, 17 sp (all Sundbarr mint)…
Haidran, Male Human Druid: +2 Hide Armor; Scimitar +1; Cloak of Resistance +2; sling, stones (11 darts (7 spell component pouch; traveler’s outfit, belt pouch, 36 gp, 31 sp, 3 pp
Orc Camp: 34 large wooden shields; 5 chain shirts; 7 battleaxes, 13 light crossbows, 300 bolts, 18 assorted iron pots and pans; 23 assorted iron ladles and spoons, 62 wooden drinking bowls; 56 bedrolls (lice infested 8 four-person tents (40 lbs each 18 sharpening stones; 7 flint rocks; 2 hand-held mirrors, 4 healer’s kit, 14 masterwork manacles; silver holy symbol (a single eye on a silver disk 72 torches; 16 small kegs containing strong liquor (Goblin Thudrud, Fortitude DC 12, “tastes and smell like a rotting cow that caught fire” 600 pounds of furs and hides; 800 feet of rope; 12 large chest (chests were all placed together inside one cave tunnel; locks were apparently picked) containing: silver and ivory tankard (70 gp), chalcedony (50 gp 200 gold coins (orc minting 1000 lbs of gold ore (2 lbs each 80 small purses containing gold dust (roughly 1/4 lb each)
Gold Mine: Assorted crates of various sizes; dozens of mining picks, shovels, buckets, and hammers; wooden boxes of large iron nails; a huge sieve; 3 dozen lanterns, stacks of wood for shoring up tunnels
REMINDER: Your group has one wagon and one heavy horse. Ang, in statue form, weighs 8X his normal body weight. The wagon can carry 2000 lbs max because you only have one horse (travels roughly 16 miles per day, ¾ that through the pass). If you get another heavy horse, the wagon will be able to carry its normal 4000 lbs at the same speed.

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“Voltog’s Revenge” 9 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Hours before sunrise, two worgs wearing spiked collars attacked the group while three of their members were on watch. Although Nostariel was critically wounded, the others slew the worgs and healed her. Later during the day, just before highsun, the group’s camp was again attacked—this time by a band of orcs, led by a brutish looking orc wearing an enchanted breastplate and wielding a magical battleaxe. The orc commander, calling himself Voltog, fought in retaliation for the adventurers slaying his pet worgs, Blackfang and Bloodjaws. With limited visibility due to rain, the adventurers defended themselves valiantly and slew all but one orc who fled north back up into the mountains. The orc raiders’ leader, Voltog, was slain in the fight; cut down by Fierson. After searching through the slain orcs for treasures, the adventurers considered tracking the orcs back to their camp.

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“Orc Encounter” 8 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Soaked and cold for the past two days, the group found a suitable campsite for the night. A small rocky outcropping afforded the group a small, dry cave in which to rest from a tiring sojourn through the pass. As the entire group was setting up camp, Elric reconnoitered to make sure the area was clear of dangerous animals or creatures. To help insure that the group has enough rations to make it to Sundbarr, Elric had been hunting and foraging for the group for the past two days.
Nearly a mile north of the camp, Elric found a small stream. As he was filling up empty waterskins for the group, he heard someone scream quickly followed by a feral growl. Quietly moving through the underbrush, Elric came upon a wolf that had attacked and killed an old man dressed in rough hides and animals skins. Elric let his owl, Shadow, fly to safety as the wolf lunged at Elric. Within moments, Elric and Shadow killed the wolf. Elric then searched the dead man, finding only a skinning knife. With visibility limited to 50 feet because of the rain, Elric quietly searched the area for signs of where the man may have come from. Minutes later, he was suddenly fired upon by a female half-orc from 40 feet away with a longbow. While one arrow missed Elric, a second arrow painfully struck Elric in the leg. Elric tried to entrap the half-orc with an entangle spell, who swore she would kill Elric for killing her wolf companion and for simply being human. Unfortunately, the pain in his leg was too unbearable to focus on casting the spell properly. Gaining the advantage, the half-orc ranger lunged at Elric who dodged the attack. Elric then critically wounded the half-orc ranger who fell unconscious—but not dead—to the ground. He then tied the ranger and had Shadow stay and watch over his prisoner. A more thorough search of the area revealed a small crude woodsman’s hut perched atop a tree-covered hill. Elric searched the hut and found more animal hides, another skinning knife, and a potion. While inside the hut, Elric heard the unmistakable sounds of two orcs outside the hut. Realizing he was seriously injured, Elric quaffed two cure light wounds potions. Hiding amidst some hides, Elric waited for the orcs. The orcs, seemingly on patrol from an orc camp some distance away, carefully entered the hut. Stepping out from hiding, Elric surprised one orc, decapitating it instantly. Before the other orc could react, the ranger gutted it. Not wanting to risk himself any more than necessary, and realizing that he needed to warn the rest of the group regarding his discovery, Elric gathered what treasure he could carry, threw the stable but unconscious half-orc over his shoulder, and headed back to camp to join the others.
The arcane users in the group later identified any magic items Elric found on the half-orc ranger and the woodsman’s hut. The following items were identified: 1 chain shirt, +1 buckler, eight +1 arrows, and three potions of cure light wounds. Elric kept the buckler, arrows, and potions. Elric also brought back a masterwork longsword and composite longbow (2 STR) for the group to look at. The ranger also related how he overheard the orcs having come from a camp not too far away. Although some discussion about going back to the woodsman’s hut came up, despite the darkness and rain, many thought it would be best to wait until sunrise to go back and investigate further. The rest of the night went by uneventfully. The rain stopped for a few hours during the night but started again in the morning.

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“Lunch with a Dragon” 3 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

While traveling through Silver Pass on their way to Stronghold Sundbarr, the group was suddenly attacked by a large Fang Dragon. The dragon, calling itself Razor, demanded the group hand over their one horse as food for the dragon. The group attacked the dragon and slayed it, but not before it had seriously injured Elric the Ranger. Its bite not only wounded the ranger but also weakened him severely. The group realized that it would take powerful arcane or divine spells to restore Elric’s constitution back to normal. After recovering from their first battle with a dragon, the group traveled onward, deeper into the Silver Pass.

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“On The Road Again” 1 Mirtul, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Under clear skies, strong winds, and warmer temperature (79° F), the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep and The Company of Long Blades set out through the Silver Pass towards Stronghold Sundbarr. The journey is expected to take 15 days. Elric, a ranger, is leading the group through the wilderness.

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“Green Day” Greengrass, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Under clear skies, strong winds, and warmer temperature (79° F), Greengrass celebrations went as planned and a great and merry time was had by all. It seemed all of Silver Village was present at the celebration which was held in the open field in front of the Moonsilver Inn. Folks from all over brought flowers and floral decorations for the spring celebration. Farell Dorn led the festivities as offerings were gathered and offered to the gods. Prayer-parchments, placed on top of small floral “floats”, were placed in the Rauvin River while hymns about spring led by Bachus, the satyr bard, were sung. The festivities lasted from sunrise to sunset.

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“Ang Gets Stoned” 28 Tarsakh, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Some members of the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep decided to hunt for wolves. While hunting along the Rauvin River to the southeast, the group ran into several wolves near an abandoned campsite nestled among grassy hills. They also saw a large eight-legged lizard in the camp. Two of the wolves were barking and snarling at the lizard. As soon as the group entered the campsite, the wolves attacked the company and were quickly killed. Meanwhile, the lizard began eating one of the slain wolves. Ang, not wanting to lose a good pelt to the lizard, tried to scare off the lizard from its meal. The lizard turned to face the fighter, and with its deadly gaze, turned Ang and his goods into stone. The others quickly came to his aid and slew the lizard.
Searching the camp, the group found the remains of an abandoned camp but no one nearby. Among the abandoned supplies, Nostariel found a dark brown cloak she later identified as a Minor Cloak of Displacement.
Distraught, the group returned with the lizard and wolf carcasses back to the village. After meeting Danthorn, the village skinner, he said the lizard carcass is a basilisk and may have been the creature turning many of the local livestock into stone.
After visiting Old Dame Lydia, she explained that no one in the village is skilled enough to cast a spell that can turn Ang back to flesh. She offers the possibility that the group may have to travel to a large city like Sundbarr, Felbarr, or Neverwinter for help. The dwarves in Sundbarr may have or know of a wizard powerful enough to help. The elves of the High Forest may also have magic powerful enough to help.
After spending a few days to gather supplies and provisions, the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep, along with The Company of Long Blades, intend to travel through the pass to Sundbarr to hunt for orcs and help their friend Ang.

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“Farmer Zombie” 27 Tarsakh, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Falrinn, Elric and the Company of Long Blades met Bran Truesilver outside of the Moonsilver Inn. After offering the adventurers a light morning meal, he asked if they would visit his son’s farm and find out why he had not heard from his son, Darren and his son’s wife Ellean along with their children and farmhands. The adventurers agreed to help and set off early that morning for Darren’s farm which is about 1.5 miles north of the village.
Under heavy rain, the group was horrified to discover that the entire farm was infested with zombies. Farmhands, now zombies, began attacking the adventurers. Zombies, a goblin adept named Hognos, and his two goblin warrior bodyguards fought back but to no avail. In the end, the group killed all the creatures and rescued Darren, his family, and several surviving farmhands.
When the group explained that Bran, Darren’s father had sent them to help him, Darren seemed confused. He explained that Bran had recently left for Neverwinter and would not be returning until the end of summer. Later, a man left in charge at the Agamand Mills confirmed that Bran had left for Neverwinter and could not have spoken with the group. For saving his family, Brann offered the group 1,000gp for their effort. The town, although mystified by the possibility that someone/something was posing as Bran Agamand, was happy to know that the Derran and his family is well.

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“Stay for a Bite or Two” 25 Tarsakh, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist

Upon your group returning to the Moonsilver Inn, everyone there were happy to hear that Wolfguard Keep is free of monsters—again. The villagers were sad to find out that several loggers and some locals—whose bodies were found in the well—were apparently victims of the vampires your group slayed. They were also frightened when you described the vampires as looking like loggers.
Farell Dorn offers the possibility that a greater vampire may be “hunting” in the area and may have turned those two loggers into “lesser” vampires. Farell seems surprised that the vampires you slayed were fairly easy—as far as he thinks—to kill. He then asks your group to find and slay the vampire—if there’s one out there. In return, he says he will persuade the villagers to help rebuild Wolfguard keep for your group at no cost to you (put in new wooden doors, a roof over the courtyard, and patch up any damaged areas). By the way, the villagers are very willing to have you stay at the Keep. They feel good having a strong adventuring party like yours staying in the village. Let me know what your group wants to do with the watchtower.
Note: It looks like a cold (51° F) and rainy tenday (week) ahead in the area. Don’t forget to buy appropriate clothing!
… Later that afternoon after your group cleared the Keep, a strange looking wagon pulled by two large oxen came rumbling into town from the Northeast. Driven by an equally strange looking old gnome, the wagon came to a stop in front of the Moonsilver Inn. Everyone in the inn seemed very thrilled to see the wagon (apparently the locals have seen this wagon and gnome before). Despite the cold rain, the inn clears out as everyone goes out to greet the gnome whose name is overheard as “Hoggle”. Farell Dorn explains that Hoggle is a gnome who comes to visit the village around Greengrass, the spring festival, held at the end of Tarsakh.
Hoggle, with a flourish, pulls on a rope and the wagon’s side drops down to reveal a shop’s worth of mundane and magical items. An instant later, a large iron golem—a bit rusty in some parts—magically materializes out of thin air. Sinking a bit into the mud, the heavy golem stands next to the wagon as a guard to distract any “free shopping”. With a wave of his hand, Hoggle conjures up some lights to shine down on his wares. He announces that “Hoggle’s Wondrous Wagon is now open for business offering the finest wares this side of Cormanthor”.
Note: Besides mundane items (everyday items), Hoggle sells magical Minor Weapons (no added abilities), Minor Wands, and all Minor Wondrous Items. Everything is full price as per the Player’s Handbook. He does take items in for trade (at half-price). If anyone wants to haggle with Hoggle, you will need to roll a successful Appraise check (to know the value of an item) and an opposed Bluff check to persuade Hoggle to reduce the price by 10% each time to a maximum of 20%. There’s a skill called Silver Palm in the FRCampaign book that adds +2 to both Appraise and Bluff, if you want to get it.

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“Stuck in the Past, Part 2” 19 — 24 Tarsakh, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist
The adventurers rent rooms at Moonsilver Inn and adventure in the area near the Moonwood and the hills near Silver Village.

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“Stuck in the Past, Part 1” 19 Tarsakh, 401 DR, The Year of Serous Fist
The group that would someday be the Warriors of Wolfguard Keep arrives in Silver Village. They traveled through a portal at the edge of the Moonwood Forest.

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“Back in Time” 16 Uktar, 1372 DR, The Year of Wild Magic
The caravan bound for New Dawn arrives at the small village of Valtar some 60 miles south of Dragonspear Castle.
While investigating an ancient fountain within the remains of the ancient village of Valtar, a group of adventurers that would one day become known as The Warriors of Wolfguard Keep, activated the fountain’s powerful enchantment. After Nostariel cast detect magic on the fountain, the fountain’s magic released a trapped spell that transported those near the fountain back into Faerûn’s past. Within seconds, the group found themselves transported from 1372 DR to the year 401 DR.
Immediately, the adventurers noticed that they were standing in the middle of an intact, albeit abandoned village. While searching the village for any clues as to the disappearance of its people, the adventurers were approached by a satyr who claimed to be a bard named Bachus. Soon after meeting the satyr bard and discovering that they had somehow been transported back through time, the group heard the howls of a large pack of wolves coming towards the village from the south. Seeking shelter inside a village hut, the group spotted a pack of feral wolves led by a dire wolf who spoke common. Within moments, the dire wolf and the entire pack disappeared back towards the south while the dire wolf ordered two wolves to head north towards a distant tower.
Soon after the wolves left, the adventurers left the village and headed north towards a small keep with a tower protected by a magical force field. While searching about the grounds of the keep, the group was attacked by two assassin vines and later, an owlbear. After discovering entrances leading under the keep, the group heard the dire wolf and its pack headed for the keep.
The group ran into various monsters populating the dungeon below the keep but could not find any obvious entrance into the tower which was still protected by a force field. Unable to return to the surface because of the dire wolf and its pack, the group continued their search for a means of escape.
For nearly four days, the group fought and searched their way through the keep’s dungeon. After avoiding deadly traps, the group found an entrance into the tower. Fighting two human size earth elementals and a band of evil adventurers led by a drow fighter and a drow priest of Lloth, the adventurers made their way into the tower’s main room: a wizard’s laboratory and study. The group searched the room and found, besides treasures and magical tomes containing spells, three teleportation platforms. One platform was inert, while the other two seemingly still worked. After investigating the magical portals, the group found that one portal led to a small seaside fishing community called Deepwater. The other portal exited into a forest. The group also noticed a small village at the edge of a river. They also noticed that the area was much colder with snow-capped mountains visible to the southeast. Choosing to seek answers in the village by the river, the adventurers gathered what treasures they could and stepped out of the tower and into an unknown destiny.

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“Dragonspear Castle” 13 Uktar, 1372 DR, The Year of Wild Magic
After staying for a few days, the caravan leaves Dragonspear Castle.

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“Enter Falrinn” 11 Uktar, 1372 DR, The Year of Wild Magic
Making a short stop in Daggerford, the group arrives along with the caravan at Dragonspear Castle. There, the caravan bound for New Dawn decided to take advantage of the hospitality offered by worshippers of Helm at Dragonspear Castle.
During this time, Falrinn met Ang, Gilraen, Nostariel, Fierson, and Elric. While sitting around a campfire, Dragonspear Castle was attacked by a force of orcs from the High Moor. The adventurers and warriors of Helm repelled the attacks.

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“New Dawn” 14 Marpenoth, 1372 DR, The Year of Wild Magic
Under thick fog, a caravan headed for New Dawn left Waterdeep. Along with Ang, Gilraen, Nostariel, Fierson, and Elric, Falrinn the gnome joins the caravan. He was hired by Sunrise Lord Ghentilara and the church of Lathander to help safeguard the caravan on its journey south.

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“Beware the Werebadger” 13 Marpenoth, 1372 DR, The Year of Wild Magic
Hours before dawn…
While Ang kept vigilant watch over the resting group, a figure immerged out of the basement’s well. A dwarf, dressed in dark-stained studded leather, armed with a short sword and short bow climbed out of the well and was surprised to see the basement occupied by four adventurers. Ang immediately drew his weapon and confronted the dwarf. To Ang’s surprise, the dwarf’s features shifted into that of a werebadger. Ang struck the werebadger square on the jaw with his morningstar but did little damage to it. The werebadger, grinning at Ang, clawed him twice and bit him on the arm.
Alerted by the fight, the others woke up to see Ang mortally wounded by this horrific creature. The barely conscious elven fighter backed away from the werebadger. Next, Nostariel lobbed an acid splash spell at the creature, while Gilraen leaped on top of a nearby crate and shocked the creature with her shocking jolt spell. Angered by these attacks, the werebadger then clawed at Gilraen’s leg, nearly severing it. Fierson, drawing his range weapon, fired at the werebadger and missed. Nostariel struck the creature with another acid splash just as Gilraen stabbed the creature with the magical spear the group found earlier. The werebadger hissed in pain as the spear bit deeply into its shoulder blade.
With fury in its eyes, the creature clawed at Gilraen who fell unconscious from its onslaught. The creature then leaped on top of the crate where Gilraen now lay dying. Ang, mustering every last ounce of strength remaining in his body, swung at the creature and then lapsed into unconsciousness.
Fierson yelled in hopes of waking up Jorrond. He then challenged the werebadger lest the creature slay his dying friends where they lay. The dwarf also leaped atop a nearby crate. Nostariel moved into a better position just as the werebadger leaped down to land next to Fierson. The creature clawed and tried to bite the dwarf but only managed to do little damage. Nostariel then struck the beast with a well placed magic missile which nearly dropped it. Dazed, the creature never saw Fierson’s attack until it was too late. Unsheathing the silver dagger he found earlier, Fierson stabbed down and struck the werebadger’s jaw with all of his might. The silvered blade struck true and instantly killed the beast.
Just then, Jorrond appeared. Acting quickly to save their comrades, Fierson and Nostariel helped heal Ang and Gilraen using what remaining potions of heal they had left. The group also decided to rest some more before going down into the well.
Jorrond later explained how a lycanthrope’s attack can have adverse affect on those it had struck in battle. Unsure as to whether or not they may have avoided the werebadger’s curse, the group decided to seek out a healer who may know more about lycanthropy. Hours later and with gold spent while searching, the group met with Mhare, a quiet cleric of Lathander who like, Nostariel, hails from Neverwinter. The group told the cleric of their plight who sadly mentioned that too many hours had already passed for simple curative means to help them with the lycanthrope’s curse. She offered to take the adventurers to the Spires of the Morning, the Church of Lathander, to meet with Sunrise Lord Ghentilara an aging, yet powerful priestess of the Morninglord. Upon meeting Ghentilara, the Sunrise Lord offered to cast remove curse spells upon all but Nostariel who was not struck by the creature during the fight. The group was shocked when they were told that the spell, if cast on three of them, would cost them nearly 11,000 dragons. Naturally, the young adventurers didn’t have that much gold and was unsure about what to do next.
Sunrise Lord Ghentilara came up with a solution that could benefit all of them. She offered to cast the spell upon the party free of charge provided they performed a service to the church. She explained that the church is planning to build a farming community dedicated to the Morninglord. The farming community, to be named New Dawn, is to be built in the wild countryside northwest of Secomber. The group’s task then is to guard workers as a planned temple and community is built there. The chosen site is in what local shepherds and drovers call the Hindhorn Hills, a rolling area of scrub woodlands, small cliffs, and deep ravines shown on few maps — an area rich in deer, hares, and hawks but plagued by roaming packs of wolves and armed bands of gnolls and orcs.
Normally such a task would pay adventurers handsomely, but since the party is now indebted to the Church of Lathander, the party agreed to the task without such pay. The priestess did add that the group is still entitled to any treasure and magical items they find and would even pay fair price to any items the group wishes to sell to the church.
Sunrise Lord Ghentilara told the four to gather their belongings for a journey that could take some time—maybe a season or two—and return to the church after several hours. She would then cast remove curse on Ang, Fierson and Gilraen. She added that the group was expected to leave with a caravan of clergy, farmers, workers, and church guards on the morrow—bound for New Dawn.

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“The Thirsty Throat Tavern” 12 Marpenoth, 1372 DR, The Year of Wild Magic
Two bells past sundown.
Fierson the dwarven fighter and Ang, the elven fighters were both asked to drop by the Thirsty Throat Tavern in Dock Ward. Recently purchased by Jorrond, a half-ogre who used to own the Inn of Well-deserved Rest before that burned down, the half-ogre was looking for bouncers to come and work at his new tavern. Fierson and Ang used to work at Sharky’s, a run-down tavern near the docks. Jorrond was willing to double their salaries if they would come and work for him.
Along with Nostariel the half-elven spellcaster and Gilraen, a human sorcerer who is married to Ang, all four went to the Thirsty Throat Tavern to meet with Jorrond. Elric was not feeling well so chose to stay at Ang’s and Gilraen’s home to fight off his ailment.
When they arrived early in the evening, they were surprised to see that the tavern was empty of customers. Jorrond greeted them and told them that he had sent what few customers he had away because of a problem he was having in the basement.
After introductions were made, Jorrond led the four down to the basement. He related how he had been having problems with supplies disappearing from his basement. He noted that he had discovered tracks leading out of a 10-foot diameter freshwater well located near one of the basement’s corners. The tracks seem to suggest that a dwarfish-size humanoid gained entry into the basement via the well. His ward and tavern help, Tymora Theof, discovered fresh tracks just moments before the four had arrived. A bit too large—and too old—to be climbing down wells, he asked the four if they could help him solve the mystery of his disappearing supplies. Besides hiring Fierson and Ang as bouncers, he offered to pay each of them 100 dragons (Waterdeep gold pieces) if they investigated the well.
After securing ropes, Fierson began the climb down the well’s 60-foot shaft. Nearly a third of the way down, Ang began to climb down as well, but lost his footing on the well’s slippery wall. Ang desperately tried to cling to the rope but couldn’t and fell. Fierson tried to grab Ang as he passed the dwarf’s position. In the attempt, Fierson lost his grip on the rope as well. Both plummeted down to the water below. The impact knocked Ang unconscious. Fierson was seriously hurt but remained conscious, managing only to cling to the side of the well. Jorrond, risking all, jumped into the well barely missing the coughing and gagging dwarf as he struck the water. Jorrond fished around for Ang and pulled his head above the water. He then asked the dwarf to reach into his belt pouch for potion of healing for Ang. Forcing the healing liquid down Ang’s throat, Ang quickly regained consciousness.
Jorrond asked the two fighters to remain at the bottom of the well while he climbed back up. He said he would then lower each of the ladies by rope for safety since climbing was too dangerous even with the help of a rope.
Before one of the lasses was lowered, Ang noticed a slightly discolored part of the shaft’s wall several inches above the water’s surface. Along with the help of Fierson, they both discovered and found the means of opening a secret door which led into a dark, wet, narrow tunnel. To give room for the ladies, Fierson and Ang stepped into the tunnel. After everyone was in the tunnel which had a ceiling height of about six feet and equally wide, they carefully proceeded onward with only a lantern to light their way.
They had only traversed down 40 feet of the narrow tunnel when Fierson noted a foul odor coming from a small cavern up ahead. As soon as they came to the cavern’s entrance, they were all horrified to see three dwarves in various stages of decay slowly ambling towards them. One of the dead dwarves clutched a spear in one of his cadaverous hands. They also noted an exit on the opposite side of the small cavern.
…after nearly a full minute of intense fighting, the four adventurers managed to destroy the undead dwarves but sustained serious injuries. With spells nearly depleted and both fighters having been injured, the four adventurers took whatever they considered valuable from the undead dwarves and decided to head back to the surface to rest and regain valuable spells. Jorrond, who offered to wait at the top of the well for them, lifted each one up to safety. The rope was also hauled up and kept next to the well.
Safely back in the basement, the four informed Jorrond of their discovery and offered the return of a silver-gilded dagger and the spear (which seemed well crafted) to Jorrond. He said that these weapons did not belong to him and that they were welcome to them. Nostariel detected magic on the items and found that the spear was magical. After casting identify, she noted that the spear was mildly enchanted (+1) and that the dagger, crafted with silver, was probably a masterwork item.
With treasure distributed, the four offered to rest but promised that they would go back down the well in hopes of finding out why three undead dwarves were lurking in the cavern and possibly solve the mystery of Jorrond’s disappearing supplies. They also offered to rest in the basement in the event whomever, or whatever, the thief may be would return for more supplies. Grateful for their willingness to help, Jorrond brought them all food and ale.

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“Beginnings” 7 Marpenoth, 1372 DR, The Year of Wild Magic
Early one autumn evening in Waterdeep, the City of Splendors, Ang and Fierson, an Elven Fighter and Dwarven Fighter were on their way to work as bouncers at Sharky’s, a tavern located in the seedy side of Dock Ward. While walking near the docks, they noticed a group of three rough-looking men who had surrounded and were accosting a young woman and her very young daughter. The men, all humans, were dressed and equipped like sailors or pirates often seen along the Sword Coast.
Nostariel, a young Half-Elven Spellcaster who hailed from Neverwinter had just disembarked from a ship when she, too, noticed the sailors accosting the woman and her daughter. Nostariel also took note of the dwarf and the elf. New to Waterdeep, Nostariel was uncertain as to whether to get involved or not.
A short distance away, another person, a young Human Urban Ranger from the town of Daggerford, had also noticed what was happening. Elric of Daggerford had just arrived in Waterdeep not two bells before sundown and was ready to come to the aid of the woman and her daughter.
Ang and Fierson quickly challenged the sailors and offered them a chance to walk away in peace. The pirates, rather than avoid bloodshed, threw taunts at Ang and Fierson. Two of the men then drew cutlasses, while the third held on to the woman. The young child, too scared to run away, remained at her mother’s side.
Nostariel, keeping within the shadows of the pier, kept a fair distance from the ensuing fight. She prepared spells just in case the need should arise.
Elric moved up quickly to join in the battle, drawing his blade since he was unable to use a range weapon lest he risked hitting anyone other than a sailor.
…the fight lasted a little more than 30 breaths. During the fight, Ang suffered a serious wound; two sailors lay dead or dying, while one fled the scene and disappeared into the shadowy streets of Dock Ward.
The woman and her daughter were extremely grateful and thanked her rescuers. Several minutes later, she left and said she would report the incident to the nearest city watch she came upon. Meanwhile, the four adventurers introduced themselves to one another, tied and searched the sailors. They found gold pieces—far more than normally carried by common sailors—and a few various magical potions clearly labeled as such.
Elric, always alert for any sign of trouble, was first to notice a figure step out from around the corner of a warehouse a short distance away. The figure, a woman dressed in close-fitting leather armor, had a bow aimed at the four adventurers. The woman was also accompanied by a barrel-chested dwarf dressed in studded leather. He held a loaded crossbow in one hand. A few strides away stood the familiar sailor who had escaped earlier.
The human woman introduced herself as Erquaa Ashilim, captain of the Dark Thunder and of the crew whom the adventurers had just defeated. She threatened bloody revenge as weapons were drawn and another fight ensued…
…this fight was as equally short as the first. All but Nostariel had suffered wounds from this fight. The dwarven and human pirate both lay wounded and unconscious on the street. The female captain, seconds after her crew had suffered at the blades and spells of the adventurers, escaped. Before running away, she cursed and vowed revenge at the four adventurers for killing or capturing her crew.
After searching the dwarf and the other sailor, who also had a lot of gold and potions on their persons, Elric and Ang tied up the wounded sailors. They were about to leave when a watch patrol arrived along with the grateful woman and her daughter. The watch asked the four some questions and let the adventurers go on with their business for the evening.
Having been introduced, Ang and Fierson offered Nostariel and Elric a place to stay until they could both find a place of their own in Waterdeep. Healed by found potions and curative spells from Nostariel, all four walked to Sharky’s for a well deserved round of drinks.