Deciding to camp in the cavern for the night, the party rests well and then continues on in the morning. They leave the large room where the scorpion beasts were and continue down a tunnel dug out of its side (the only other one in the room). This tunnel is considerably smaller, and looks like it was dug hastily and with little care for the surrounding ore. Streaks of metal can be seen on the walls, and it looks like the tunnel is descending rapidly through many layers. Indeed, it is becoming steeper and more difficult to walk through here, and is slightly warmer.

After walking for several more hours, dripping water is heard and another large cave room opens up ahead of them. This room is easily the size of the Ransburgh market, and has huge stalactites and a blue pool in the center of it. A pale light emanates from a house-sized hole in the ceiling of the cave, from which is dripping a steady stream of water. The floor in here is thick with a whitish substance, which the party recognizes as bat guano. As they step into the room a huge swarm of bats rushes past them, screeching. The bats escape through the ceiling and past the party up the tunnel they came from. Looking at this room more closely it seems that there are two other tunnels connecting to it, one to the right and one to the left. There is also an area to the rear that is clear of the guano and appears to have been a camp area.

Celeb peers into the pool near the rear of the room, and sees that it is the beginning of an underground river. He spies something at the bottom here, a piece of clothing of some sort. He disrobes and dives in to the frigid water, finding that the object is a leather shirt. From the shirt falls a reddish amulet with strange runes on it and a cross shaped marking, as well as a black stone or crystal in the center. He takes the amulet up to the other party members and Galandil is immediately interested. He tries to discover the amulet’s secret by attuning it to himself, but is unsuccessful. Elowisyl and Celeb are similarly unsuccessful. Galandil attempts to read the runes on the amulet, and he finds that they are word-sounds: NUR-AM-HARAS. When he speaks these words the amulet glows and he is able to attune with it.

Strangely, Meran recognizes the words as being from a Dark Tribe dialect, literally the incantation means “Spirit, I invoke thee.” After attuning with the amulet, Galandil realizes that its purpose is to assist a spell user in casting earth spells, especially Earth Tunnel. Galandil puts the amulet around his neck for safe keeping.

The group scouts both of the exit tunnels from this room, and finds that the one on the left has more evidence of foot traffic, where the one on the right smells of burning. They opt to go down the tunnel on the right.

While traveling down the tunnel, our heroes notice that they are descending in parallel with the underground stream. It gets very warm after a while, and the stream slows and becomes warmer itself. Eventually it can be seen that it has come to a boil, and the steam is making it even more difficult to breathe. After an hour of walking, a semi-large room is reached where lava can be seen in a small pool in the corner. Meran creeps close to the entrance and shrouds his lantern, looking for movement. He sees none except for water dripping from the ceiling.

Moving forward, Meran reaches halfway through the room when he feels the “water” dripping on to him — it seems like it is not water at all, but a thick black fluid. Disgusted, he wipes it off of him but is caught unaware as a black tentacle descends from the ceiling and strikes him, sweeping him off of his feet. Celeb dashes into the room to protect Meran, now prone, and tries to fight off the tentacle. Several more tentacles appear and the party fights them, Galandil being most successful with his rock-hurling spell.

The beast is defeated, and the thick fluid drops from the ceiling in large blobs and covers the entire floor. Several blobs hit the ground with suprising force, and it is realized that they are humanoid shapes covered in the black substance. Elowisyl approaches one of them and wipes the substance off, realizing that the man is still alive. He quickly heals him and Atentir heals the other. They are two Kaern miners.

The Kaern men are extremely grateful for the rescue, and introduce themselves as Bogder Shale and Gorn Rockfist. They explain that they were working in the mines until they were told that the job was finished and they were to leave. They were curious about what was going on, so they decided to stay along with their Arc-mage friend, Erag Stonecutter. Unfortunately Erag was caught, and the hooded men tortured him and forced him to seal the entrance to the last cave. Then they dragged him through the tunnels to drop him into the Pit, which as they explain is a 300-foot chasm nearby. They had followed to try and rescue Erag, but were attacked and enveloped by the Goo Beast.

The party expresses their intentions of returning down the passage to find the evil mages, but Bogder says that to try and do so would be impossible without Erag to help them. The party decides to help rescue Erag, and continues through the tunnels to the Pit.

After walking for another hour or so, the party comes upon the Pit. Apparently the underground river used to flow through here, and dug a chasm several hundred feet deep. Lava can be seen glowing at the bottom. Bogder leans over the lip of the chasm and calls out to Erag. Erag answers by groaning loudly. Elowisyl spots him about 150 feet down, lying on a ledge. It is decided that there is not enough rope to rescue Erag, so they return to the room with the Goo Beast to recover the Kaern’s equipment. Elowisyl bathes their ropes and picks in the boiling underground river, washing them mostly clean of the goo.

They return to the Pit a while later, and Elowisyl puts on the harness to be lowered down. The ropes are knotted together and Meran takes the brunt of the weight. Luckily Elowisyl is very light, so lowering him down is not too daunting a task. After a few moments Elowisyl reaches Erag’s position, and sees that he landed on a ledge and is pinned down by a large rock. He immediately heals the man, and tries to lift the rock off of him. Finding it too heavy, he activates his Beast Belt and uses its strength to move the rock. He then heals Erag again and straps him into the harness to be lifted up.

Meran masterfully pulls the Kaern to the surface, and drops the harness back down the pit to retrieve Elowisyl. As he starts climbing he gets a bad handhold and slips off the ledge, bruising himself badly. Luckily Meran is able to stabilize the rope and quickly pulls Elowisyl out of the pit.

Erag seems dazed but relieved, and thanks the party for saving him. After everyone has rested for a few moments, Galandil approaches Erag and asks him what happened to him (careful to keep the Arc-miner amulet out of sight). Erag says that five or six hooded men wearing skull-shaped amulets had captured him and forced him to use his magic to seal the tunnel to the last room. After that they dragged him to the Pit and hurled him in. He was able to slow his descent by grabbing onto the sides, but still broke his leg on the way down.

He says to Galandil that if he is to help the party get through the stone wall he created, he will need “the amulet that is around your neck.” He seems to have felt its presence. Galandil grudgingly returns the amulet to him.

Erag explains that all Kaern Arc-miners have a similar amulet to this one, which holds an earth elemental in its black crystal. The elemental can be summoned to assist with earth spells. He says that Galandil may be able to learn how to use it, one day. Presently Erag notices that Galandil was able to use it, and seems impressed that he figured it out by himself.

When everyone is rested, they travel back down to the room where the river begins. While here, Atentir studies the form of several of the bats in the area. He casts a spell on himself and turns into a bat. He flies up through the hole in the ceiling and sees the mountains above him for thousands of feet.

After spending another night here, the party decides that it is time to go through the tunnel. They descend down and walk approximately two miles, where they see the rock wall that Erag was forced to make. He uses the amulet to cut through it, and then turns to Galandil. He tells Galandil that he is of little use during a battle, so he should use the amulet for the time being. Galandil accepts it.

Looking and listening at the hole, the party sees that the cave opens up into a large cavern some 500 feet past the rock wall. They hear muffled voices speaking from the cavern. It is decided that they will attempt to lure the people in the room to them so they can kill them one by one. Erag creates two rock walls that they may hide behind while their victims are approaching. A rock is thrown at the entrance, but no one comes up the tunnel. Galandil calls out loudly, yelling expletives at the people in the room. A few moments later two men come walking up the tunnel, human miners carrying picks. The party ambushes them and they are swiftly killed.

A few moments later Galandil sees a robed shape at the mouth of the tunnel. He sees him gesticulate in the party’s direction and suddenly a cloud of poisionous gas appears above them. Galandil gets a mouthful and begins coughing violently, and Elowisyl vomits.

It is decided that since the spellcaster was well out of the range of the party’s spells but could still cast on them, that they are dealing with a much more powerful magic user and cannot win — they must retreat. Erag is asked to seal up the door once more.

Returning to the room with the waterfall, they contemplate on what to do. Celeb suggests that they divert the course of the water to flow down the tunnel, filling it up until the water pressure breaks through the rock door and floods the entire room. Everyone agrees on this and the work begins on diverting the waterfall.

Erag uses his earth shaping spells to divert the water, and it begins flowing down the hallway. A few hours later, the water has nearly reached the ceiling of the tunnel. A loud noise echoes through the floor, and suddenly the water level drops dramatically — apparently the rock wall gave way.

The party waits about 20 minutes for any survivors to try and come up the tunnel. Atentir turns into his bat form and flies down the tunnel, seeing that three people are approaching. Two are mages and one seems to be the mining foreman. The party takes positions to surprise them, and easily dispatches all three in a few moments. Meran nearly decapitates one of the mages with his axe, and Elowisyl spills the guts of the other with his sword.

During morning prayers and breakfast, Orunn sends word that he wishes to speak to the group before they depart for the mines. He gives them several items that may help in their journey: one is a fist-sized white quartz stone, which he says will glow for 1 hour a day and provide light equal to that of a torch; another is a small silver ring with a tear-shaped blue stone embedded in it, Orunn says that this ring will grant the wearer increased endurance; lastly he gives them a small leather bag with 15 berries appearing like small green grapes. When consumed the berries increase focus during battle. Orunn wishes them luck in their task and takes his leave.

Afterward, Galandil goes to speak with Erillas. As Erillas sees him approaching, he informs Galandil that his son Combellon will not accompany them on their journey to the mines. Galandil warns that Combellon has stolen away on several other occasions to be with the group, but Erillas says that he “spoke” with his son the prior evening and is confident that Combellon will not shirk his princely duties this time. Galandil offers to have he and his brothers look after the lad, to make sure he is safe, but Erillas says that he will be busy with diplomatic matters once they reach Tymirr — perhaps afterward he may accompany the group again. Galandil agrees, and Erillas wishes the group luck on their journey.

Packing up their gear and underground equipment, the group leaves the camp by horseback. They travel up the south trail of the forest, and soon must dismount their horses due to the steepness of the trail.

After traveling for nearly an hour, they come upon a large clearing to their left. From a dark corner they hear the cicada-buzz of Gorgers, and the sounds of battle. Meran charges the sounds, some 200 feet away, and sees a tall and ornately dressed elf fending off 2 Gorgers.

Freeing his axe, Meran slices one of the gorgers across the shoulder, wounding him badly. Neith follows on her horse, and with an expert rapier strike causes the other one to bleed. After several moments of combat the Gorgers are both killed.

The elf looks grateful for the help, but is badly wounded. Elowisyl heals him and also Meran, and they ask the strange elf what he is doing in this area. It is apparent by his blue-tinted skin that he is a member of the Blue Folk race, or Water-Elves. Neith surprises him by speaking in his own language, assuring him that the Tree-Elves may seem rough, but they are actually harmless.

The Water-Elf introduces himself as Celeb Falas, a resident of the Blue River area just south of Tymirr. He was traveling with a merchant band, and all of his companions were slain by strange beasts. He fled and found himself in this forest, attempting to hide from the Terrors.

Elowisyl tells him that he can either go on his way or accompany the group to the mines, where they plan to discover what Duke Perius was doing there. Celeb opts to go with them, as his skills may help the group accomplish their task.

They continue up the path, and an hour or so later come upon the entrance to the caves. There are several miners here, packing up to leave. Two of them Meran recognizes as the dark-skinned tribesmen that he met in Ransburgh. Meran asks them what they are doing, and one of them says that their job is done so they must leave as ordered by the Foreman. They heard about the destruction of the South Tymirr castle, and will go to Tymirr with the rest of the group from Ransburgh to seek refuge there.

The man speaking to Meran mounts his horse and begins to leave, but his companion pulls Meran aside (despite a warning look from the other man) and tells Meran that they should not go into the mines. Meran asks him why, and he says that when their two other companions got too curious, they were killed by men using some sort of magical power. Not only this, but there are other dangers in the mines, and the ropes from all of the elevators have been cut.

The man’s friend calls to him and he says that he must go, and bids Meran good luck. The miners all leave on their horses. Meran explains what the man told him to the rest of the party, and despite the unsettling news they continue on. They leave their horses at the cave entrance, tying them up with enough slack so that they may feed on the surrounding grass.

Seeing that the caves have been boarded up, Elowisyl uses the Tree-Knife to cut through the boards easily. They enter the mine, and notice that the tunnel here is very narrow, only fitting 2 people abreast. The ground is scattered with broken rocks and is very slow going — everyone must take care not to trip.

After a few minutes of walking they reach what looks to have been an elevator shaft. The elevator car itself is missing, and there are no ropes anywhere, only two pulleys bolted into the rock. Elowisyl drops a rock down the shaft and attempts to estimate how deep it is by how long it takes the rock to fall. It falls for a full 3 or 4 seconds, meaning that the shaft is 100 feet or more. Using their Elf-made rope and one of the pulleys, they tie Meran at one end and prepare to lower him down.

Since Meran weighs in excess of 300 pounds, it takes everyone’s strength to hold the ropes with Elowisyl at the fore. Halfway through his descent, the rope begins to slip and it takes everyone’s strength to slow him. The rope comes off the track on the pulley, and he slams into the side of the shaft. Luckily he only receives a bruise, but the rest of the descent is slow going. Soon he reaches the bottom, and appears to be standing on the smashed remains of the elevator.

The Elves and Neith are considerably lighter, so bringing them down is a less daunting task. Soon everyone is at the bottom, and they leave the rope on the pulley for their return trip.

In this area the cave is considerably larger and wider, and would fit 5 of them across. They move quickly with lanterns raised, and are encompassed by the claustrophobia of being so far underground. Every few hundred feet there are tunnels splitting off from the main path, but obviously they end only a few feet away. The group surmises that these must have been “wrong turns” that the miners took.

Walking for a few hours, they pass several areas that open up into larger cave rooms, some of them with pools of water. Natural gas or petroleum bubbles from some of the springs, and other are clear. Coming upon the third of these such rooms, they hear movement from the far wall near a water spring. Meran raises his lantern and sees two creatures that look like reptilian scorpions of some sort, with large jaws and a raised stinger behind them.

The creatures initially recoil from the light, but as the party nears them they move to attack. One of them stabs Meran viciously with his stinger, and he begins bleeding badly from the neck. He is able to resist the effects of the injected poison, however. Celeb is similarly wounded, and falls back to let the others take position. Neith and Meran free their blades and strike the creatures down with one hit each.

Healing their wounded companions, the group rests for a few moments before they move to the next area.

Now that Neith’s foe, Sir Diego de Lunagalia, has been defeated, his men cower and begin to retreat. The two dignitaries that were with them are dumbfounded at what has occurred in front of them, and do not speak.

Elowisyl demands that the two men explain what they were doing here, and they respond that Sir Diego was an old friend of the Duke’s, and was here to sell them some wine. They are asked if the Duke had any kin — they reply that he has a daughter, but they have not seen her since they arrived. They also mention that they were told not to enter the forest to the east. It is determined that they are not a threat and are let go.

The dignitaries are questioned and they are indignant to be spoken to in harsh tones by “Elven rabble.” One of them asks, “Do you not know the Earl of Westmoor when you see him?!” Unfazed, Elowisyl asks them if they had any knowledge of what the Duke was doing in the castle. They do not answer, but ask where the Duke is. Elowisyl responds that he has been killed. The Earl begins yelling for the guards; Elowisyl grabs him and puts his knife to the man’s neck, and knocks his companion to the ground.

Soon footsteps and the clank of armor are heard on the stairs, and four guards appear. Galandil tells them in loud tones that it would behoove them not to attack. They pour into the room and demand to know what is going on. When the answers do not please them, they attack the Elves and their companions. Combellon hurls the hand-axe he found in the Duke’s chambers at one of the guards, missing by a few inches, but is surprised to note that the axe returns to his hand like a magical boomerang.

A few swift moments later, all but one of them have been dispatched. Galandil says that the last one should be left alive, but is then brutally attacked by the man, leaving him bleeding badly. Neith disarms him, but Combellon hurls his hand axe at the man and buries it in his chest.

Angry at his disobedience, Meran knocks Combellon in the back of the head with the haft of his axe. Galandil puts his staff to the prince’s neck and tells him that he should not disobey an order in battle again. Fuming, Combellon tells him that he should remove his staff or lose an arm.

Galandil does not back down, and the two begin swinging at one another. Combellon angrily punches the cleric in the face, breaking his nose and causing him to bleed badly. He then turns to Meran as if nothing had happened, and asks him if he was able to get any information out of the guard.

Atentir heals the guard and he is convinced to help them get to Erillas’ cell without alerting the rest of the guard. He takes them through the Duke’s daughter’s chambers and down a set of stairs to the level where Erillas is being held. He and Orunn are still in their cells.

Using Steelslayer, the Elf king’s sword, Elowisyl breaks through the magical locks on the cells and Erillas and Orunn are quickly healed. Erillas thanks them, and asks what happened. Furious at the prospect of Duke Perius working with some dark being, he says that the King will hear of his treachery. The guard is awestruck that such things were occurring in the castle without his knowledge.

As they are about to leave, there is a rumbling as if a powerful earthquake is occurring. They hear an explosion and rocks raining down onto the walls of the castle. The guard leads them outside to the castle wall, and looking up they see a strange sight. The spire room, where the Duke was found, has been destroyed and a large ball of white crackling energy has now consumed the upper part of the castle.

The guard says that he must evacuate the castle, and alerts the other guards on the castle wall. Servants are quickly shuffled down the stairs to safety. The guard leads the Elves to the stables on the ground floor, and they make a hasty escape from the castle.

Looking back, they see hundreds of dark shapes — the spider-like Terrors, as they recognize them, pouring out of the white ball of energy and covering the castle. They ride to the Elf camp just to the south.

As they return, Erillas announces to his people what has occurred, and says that they will make for Tymirr in the morning to seek the safety of the great city. He is asked if the King can be trusted, and he says that he has known him for a great many years, and knows him to be a good man. He says that while he leads the civilians to Tymirr, our heroes must search out the forest and the caves to find out what the Duke has been doing there.

An evening meal is served, after which Galandil asks to see Erillas. He explains that he struck Combellon during their mission because of his disobedience. Erillas apologizes for his son and says that he should not be in the line of battle, rather he should stay and learn how to be king to his people. If he insists on acting like an insubordinate soldier, he should be treated as such. Erillas has a few words with his son, and Combellon looks very angry.

Elowisyl speaks with the cleric, Orunn, and asks him what he makes of the portal and the strange being beyond. Orunn says that he sensed great magic power in that castle when he arrived; the location of the castle must lie on a nexus point, where magical ley lines meet. The existence of these magical “lines” is still theoretical, but he has heard mention of them. No one has discovered a way of using them, but perhaps the being that the Duke was communicating with has found a way.

Elowisyl asks Orunn what the Duke may have been doing by having miners dig through the nearby mountains, and Orunn is baffled. He says that they should be very careful, in any case.

Erillas is given the Duke’s signature amulet so he may prove the man’s treachery to King Arayen. Orunn senses that it is cursed, and should not touch flesh should it corrupt the person. Atentir and Elowisyl take the two amulets found in the Duke’s chamber and realize that they add to their magical power.

Before dusk, our heroes ride south for the village of Ransburgh. They meet with the High Priestess in the Temple of Irina, and explain to her what has happened, giving her the large bag of gold they found in the Duke’s chamber. She says that she is aware that the castle at South Tymirr has been destroyed, and agrees that since they no longer have Duke Perius’ protection from the Terrors, they should flee the village. She suggests that her people should ride north with the Elves to Tymirr, and will send a messenger to confirm that they will be coming.

Riding back, our heroes take a well-deserved rest. In the morning they prepare to leave for the forest. As they do a messenger arrives who says that the people of Ransburgh will be coming by midday to ride with the Elves; the town is being emptied.

Trapped in the darkness of the room, the party knows that they have been betrayed. Vile hissing comes from the opposite end of the room and three pairs of glowing red eyes appear. A protracted battle in the dark occurs, and the creatures are wounding the party badly.

Meran finally lights a torch, and the creatures are revealed to be similar to the spider they encountered in the woods the day before, but much smaller. They recoil from the light and the party advances, killing all of them.

Searching for an exit to the room, Elowisyl crawls into the space where the spiders were being kept. He sees vile droppings and some bones, but little else. Above him he sees light and calls the rest of the party to come into the crawlspace.

Everyone is able to climb up towards the light, which exits onto the second floor of the castle on the outside wall. Near the front of the castle they can see two guards standing watch, and also nearby there is a window that they could crawl through. Meran peers through the window and sees three nobles and three brigands. They are all drinking wine and one of the brigands is regaling them all with a story.

The party decides to dispose of the guards, and Elowisyl and Galandil use Galandil’s staff to clothesline them off of the wall. The guards fall down 40 feet to their deaths.

The rest of the party sneaks to where the guards were standing watch, and enters a small guard room. There are two guards playing cards in here; they are taken by surprise and easily dispatched.

Elowisyl locks the door and moves down the spiral staircase in this room. Downstairs is a guard’s quarters room with several beds. There are no people in here. He comes back upstairs and leads the party to the third floor.

The room in the third floor looks like it used to be a guest room, but it now has two jail cells. In front of the cells are two guards, and the party attacks and kills them. Inside the cell on the right is Erillas, and he is chained to the wall. His breathing is labored and he appears to have large burns on his chest. In the next cell is the Elf Guild’s head cleric, Orunn. He is also chained, blinded and gagged, and appers to be unconscious.

Moving to try and pick the locks, the party realizes that there are no locks on these cells, only a metal plate with a dragon embossed on it. Erillas tells them that they are sealed in here by some magical means, and they must retrieve his sword, Steelslayer, to cut through the bars. He also explains that Duke Perius used some sort of magic to paralyze them and then tortured them in the cellar of the castle. Also in the cellar, he says, are many Terrors that they had performed autopsies and strange surgeries on.

The party tells him that they will release him, and continues up to the fourth floor. They reach a large hall, and see several guards and a guard captain in this room. They move to attack and kill them swiftly, except for one guard, who they question briefly. He tells them that Duke Perius is probably in his chambers or in the Spire Room, which is reached by a spiral staircase in his chambers.

The door to the duke’s chambers is kicked in and two guard captains are seen inside. They are killed after a brief battle and Elowisyl immediately rushes upstairs to confront the Duke.

As he reaches the top of the stairs, he sees the Duke standing in front of a huge metal structure — some sort of gate. Between the pillars of the gate can be seen a strange mottling of colors like clouds, and two yellow glowing eyes. The duke is speaking towards the gate and says “I’m not sure what to do. Please Master, instruct me.” The yellow eyes from the gate fix on Elowisyl.

Elowisyl rushes the duke without hesitation and impales him with his sword from behind. As the duke falls and dies, the gate closes. Elowisyl takes the duke’s gold jewelry and returns downstairs to the duke’s room.

There are three trunks in the duke’s room, and after some trial and error they are opened. One contains a wealth of gold, another all of Erillas and Orunn’s equipment, and a third contains a hand axe and two golden necklaces that appear to be magical.

Taking Erillas’ sword, the party begins to go back downstairs to free him. As they leave the duke’s room, however, they hear voices and see the three nobles and three brigands ascending the staircase from the dining hall on the second floor.

The head brigand, a tall man with a moustache and a foppish hat, sees Neith’s rapier and challenges her to a duel. She asks him who challenges her, and he tells her that his name is Sir Diego de Lunagalia. They begin to fight and it is apparent that his skill outstrips hers by quite a bit.

The other brigands look nervous and pull their swords out, preparing to defend themselves from the party. Meran nocks an arrow in case things get out of hand.

Sir Diego seems to be toying with her at first, scoring several small fencing slash hits and parrying her attacks. Neith manages to wound him quite badly, however, and he begins to fight in earnest. After only a few short seconds, they are both bloodied but Sir Diego is much more the worse for wear. He takes a step back and salutes Neith before collapsing in a pool of his own blood.

Neith retrieves the man’s rapier and finds that it is magical in nature. It can apparently do tremendous damage, but it is difficult to wield.

The next morning, our heroes awaken a bit sore but none the worse for wear. After they have finished their morning prayers, one of the clerics of Irina enters the chapel and addresses Combellon. She says that the Priestess requests the audience of him and his men. He agrees and they follow the cleric to the temple.

The temple has impressive columns and a huge statue of Irina (which reads at the bottom: Love and Protection), but on the inside it seems rather dilapidated and threadbare. The Priestess greets them and introduces herself as Eleiana. The party members each introduce themselves, and Eleiana is surprised that two non-Elves are with them. Meran and Neith explain why they have accompanied the Elves, and Eleiana tell them all that she is sorry for their losses.

Elowisyl asks why the miners and the town guard acted as they did towards them, and if she condones it. She counters that Elowisyl was the one who threw the first punch, though she certainly does not condone their actions. She explains that the clerics of Irina are not given much respect, and are largely ignored by the king.

The Priestess explains that they will be safe as long as they wish to stay in the chapel, but she recommends that they keep a low profile from now on. She reveals that the mayor approached her the evening before and asked her to turn all of the Elves out, but she refused to do so.

The Elves tell her that they will soon be leaving, to move to a place outside of town. She warns them that the wilderness is dangerous and that they would be much safer where they are. When asked why the town is safer, she replies that Irina protects the town and everyone in it.

The party returns to the chapel and informs everyone that it is time to leave and that they will be relocating to a spot outside of town. The fifteen people from Neith’s village decide that they will stay in the village and say a tearful goodbye. Elowisyl gives them some money so they are not destitute, and they are very grateful.

Taking the remaining 100 Elven civilians and 20 guards on horseback and with four wagons, the group leaves to the north. As during the burial march, some of the villagers are curious or awestruck at the sight of such a large number of Elves, and the town guard is watchful and suspicious.

Finding a safe area near the road, the party leaves the 20 Elven soldiers to defend the civilians and go off to find a more permanent area to set up camp. Initial searches turn up a somewhat inadequate wood, but after a while they find a larger area of woods. Atentir notices a cave on the south-east side, and Meran sees several large tracks nearby. It is decided that whatever is in the cave must be dealt with before they can relocate the civilians here.

A fire is built in front of the cave to flush any vermin out, but after 20 minutes nothing has happened. Suddenly everyone notices a large black shape in the forest resembling a huge spider. It approaches them and begins to attack. After a few moments and some minor injuries, it is defeated. The corpse is burned where it lies.

Inside the creature’s borough is found some old bones and tattered clothing, as well as a purse with 15 silver and a fine short sword. It continues along a bend and surfaces to another opening at the east side of the wood. The party cleans out this area so it may provide a safe haven if the civilians are ever attacked.

They return to the encampment and stay the night, setting up a rotating watch. The evening is uneventful and in the morning they relocate everyone to the forest and cave area to the north. Some seem uncomfortable with the prospect of hiding in a dingy borough, but everyone’s spirits are lifted now that they are in a wood where they belong. The woodworkers are asked to begin making furniture and new wagons, and Elowisyl assists with the tree knife.

After another uneventful evening, it is decided that it has been too long since Erillas left, and it is time to go and find him. Combellon asks the guards to stand watch until they return, and if they are attacked to retreat to the cave.

The party leaves for South Tymirr, and arrives there a few short hours later by horseback. The South Tymirr castle is flying the purple colors of Tymirr, and the dragon insignia of Duke Perius. After introducing themselves to the guards, they are welcomed into the castle and are taken to a room to await Erillas and Duke Perius.

The guard who accompanied them shuts the door, and suddenly the braziers retract into the wall, plunging the room into darkness. Thundering is heard as a stone door slams shut over the wooden one, blocking out any remaining light and trapping them in. From the darkness across the room, sinister hissing can be heard.

Still sore from the battle the evening before, our heroes awaken early and (after morning prayers) start towards the small town to the north. On the way, Galandil approaches and greets a farmer tilling his field. The farmer seems friendly enough, and explains that he saw the caravan of Elves move into the city the morning prior. He says that they seemed rather somber.

Continuing into the town, called Ransburgh, they are greeted by a number of passers-by. The people here seem to be cheerful, and many of them appear to be miners due to their clothes and their head-to-toe grime. They appear to be getting off of third shift, and are filtering into the nearby inns and taverns.

Moving into the center of the city they see a large and lively market, with vendors selling all sorts of things and minstrels singing and playing instruments. Nearby the Elves spot some of their kinsmen, who tell them that the wounded from the caravan are being taken care of at the Shrine of Our Lady Irina, which is in the north part of town.

The Elves go to the shrine and are told that the caravan was attacked while it was moving through the Gray Forest by several Gorgers and the giant millipede, and barely escaped while the Elf soldiers fought them off. They find that their sister and grandmother were killed in the battle, and their grandfather is still in grave condition. Elowisyl and Atentir work quickly to begin healing their grandfather and other wounded Elves, while Galandil comforts their mother.

Meanwhile, Meran visits the local blacksmith and leather-working shops in the town, and is fitted for a suit of armor. Neith visits the market square, speaking briefly to one of the minstrels. The minstrel says that he is confident that Duke Perius, lord of the South Tymirr fiefdom (in which Ransburgh lies) will protect them all from the Terrors.

A short while later, Meran visits the nearby Inn and sees several miners having breakfast. He recognizes four of them as being from a similar tribe to his own, and strikes up a conversation. They explain that they were traveling just west of the river when a huge group of undead beasts started coming from the west. They fled across the river and came upon this town. They got work as miners and have been here for almost a month. The men say that they receive a good wage working in the mines, but they confide to Meran that there is something strange going on — it seems that the miners are not actually excavating any ore or gems, but are digging a tunnel through the nearby mountain. They have asked the foreman why, but he would not answer them. The men also mention that the townspeople here believe that Duke Perius has some means of protecting them from the Terrors.

After expending all of their magical energy on healing their kinsmen, the Elves take a well-deserved breather. Combellon approaches them and says that his father is at the castle just to the north, speaking with Duke Perius. They are to tend to the wounded and stay in the village until he returns.

Elowisyl suggests to Combellon that they take their dead, over 50 people, to a nearby forest to bury them. He agrees and it is decided that they will leave at dawn for the forest.

The Elves leave the temple and go to the market to get some food for dinner. They purchase a large amount of fruit and vegetables and have them delivered to the chapel. They then go to the nearby Inn to purchase some wine.

Upon entering the Inn, Atentir suddenly notices a missing poster hanging on the wall near the entrance. The penciled drawing looks strikingly like Neith, and it reads: “MISSING: Lady Esp

As our heroes approach the forest to the east of the destroyed Kobold camp, they see many tracks leading around and through the forest. They can discern that the caravan went through the forest. They realize that this is the Gray Forest, a dark and dangerous place.

They enter the forest, and immediately feel a sense of dread about them. The forest is dark, and a foul wind blows through it. A gray moss grows over most everything, giving the forest its name. Nettles and poison bushes are everywhere. They see signs that the caravan has passed through here. As they progress further, they see supplies and clothes strewn about. They also see signs of a battle and pools of blood, but no bodies.

As they move further, Atentir hears strange clicking sound coming from ahead, like buzzing insects. They slow their horses and move further cautiously. Ahead they see two strange looking beasts blocking the path ahead. They are about man-sized, and can be described as hideous gorilla-like reptiles. They have glowing red stalk-eyes, and huge mouths with hundreds of sharp teeth. Their teeth are clacking together, making the sound that Atentir previously heard.

The group dismounts and attacks the beasts, driving them back into the forest. After several moments they are finally killed. Nearby is spotted their lair, and next to it a cache of items hidden in a hollow tree stump. Found there are a rusty dagger, a battered short sword, some ruined armor, a large belt with an engraved lion on the clasp, a quiver with 30 arrows, a waterskin filled with wine, a reddish bar of metal, a purse with 35 silver, and another purse with several small jewels.

Galandil takes the belt and examines it. Pressing the engraved lion apparently gives the wearer great strength, and causes the visage of a lion to appear around them. He puts it on and finds that it shrinks to fit his waist. Elowisyl takes the reddish rod and presses the switch at the base. It suddenly expands to an 8 foot staff. Galandil and Elowisyl agree to trade items, since Galandil is adept at using a staff as a weapon.

They move on, and soon afterward see a disturbing image — above them one of the caravan’s wagons is perched upon a large branch. There are swords laying around and the ground beneath them seems disturbed. Elowisyl’s horse is spooked and takes off running back down the trail. Atentir spurs his horse and rides after it.

Suddenly the ground shakes, taking 3 of the party off their feet. A huge insect, what looks to be a millipede, emerges from the ground nearby and begins to attack them. It is roughly 4 feet tall and about 25 feet long. Several attacks are aimed at it, but Elowisyl draws his sword and does a mighty strike to its head, killing it instantly. Atentir returns with Elowisyl’s horse and they continue on. They spend a night in the forest and are not further harried.

In the morning they continue on and soon find themselves at a crossroads. They decide to continue north, as Meran is able to determine that the path leads to a nearby village. By midday they are out of the forest and continue on the road.

They camp another evening before they reach the village. During the last watch, they are assailed by two youths with longbows. Elowisyl is hit in the arm by one of the arrows, and becomes angry. Meran attempts to attack them but is badly wounded, an arrow breaking his arm and another wounding him in the leg. Elowisyl runs full-tilt at the two bandits, brandishing his bastard sword. Galandil hits one with an elemental bolt, breaking his arm and sending him reeling.

Combellon, eager to join the battle, gets up and starts to run towards the others. Atentir grabs him and refuses to let him go. Combellon becomes angry and swipes at him with his hand-axe. Though he misses, he is able to get away and run towards the battle.

Elowisyl finally reaches the two youths and slashes the remaining one in the groin with his sword. They search and find a small amount of money on the youths, as well as a very nice looking longbow.

They gather their supplies and continue on towards the town.

The once grand Elven city stands before our heroes in ruins, torn asunder by an unknown force and a cadre of hideous undead.

Erillas thanks the party for looking after his son, Combellon, during the battle. He chides Combellon for fighting alongside the deployed forces like a common foot soldier. Combellon apologizes but protests, saying that he wishes to be a fighter and not a prince.

Erillas tells the party to look help in the city and look after their own families. He then tells Combellon that he wishes to speak to him in private.

The three Elf-brothers rush quickly to their family home, and the Desert Ranger, Meran, accompanies them. They find that their home is burning, and they hear cries of their family members from inside. After Meran tries to scale the burning tree and falls onto his backside, Galandil and Atentir manage to climb up the trunk of the tree and get inside.

After breaking down a heavy door, they manage to get to their family members inside. Their father, it seems, has succumbed to the smoke and heat and has passed on. Their other family members, including their mother, sister, grandmother and grandfather are suffering from smoke inhalation.

The family members are lowered to the ground and tended to. The father’s body is also removed from the burning building, and given to the town’s cleric for a special healing rite. After a long while the cleric returns with sad news — the father has passed on and nothing else can be done for him.

Later that evening, Erillas addresses the remnants of his people and announces that this day will be a day of mourning for the homes and the lives lost — sadly, his wife Shanni was killed in the battle. On the next morning, they will leave their ancient home and travel north to the Human city of Tymirr to seek refuge. King Arayen of Tymirr has long been an Elf-friend, Erillas says, and he will welcome them there.

The next morning the Elf brothers bury their father in a brief ceremony. Elowisyl, although the oldest child, is too overcome to speak. Galandil mutters a prayer under his breath. Meran plays a sad tune on his lute to honor him, and the sister says a few short words.

Packing what belongings they have, the Elves set out for the long journey to Tymirr on horseback and in wagons. The band departs (made up of our heroes, Erillas, Combellon, 150 civilians and 50 Elf-soldiers).

While traveling it is noticed that the ground on the nearby plains has been eaten away by the oncoming threat, leaving little but dead grass and dirt. It is nearly impossible to follow the road north, and navigation must be done by compass.

Soon after the caravan leaves, their path takes them to a small village that appears to have been attacked by a similar band of undead that ravaged the Elf Guild’s city. There are only a few remaining survivors, one of which is a young woman who appears to be dressed as a warrior. She introduces herself as Neith. Elowisyl invites these people to join their band traveling to Tymirr. They gladly agree, and they all pack up their belongings to leave. Neith also decides to go with the caravan.

Another evening passes without incident, and the band enters a mountainous area that does not seem to be affected by the surrounding scourge. The weather turns to rain, and they camp that evening in a rocky hollow with some trees for shelter.

While scouting the perimiter, Meran hears a noise off in the distance. Silently approaching the area from which the noise originated, he sees a man in his mid 50’s, exhausted and wounded. Meran attempts to help him to the camp, though the man’s horse cannot get up and after a few moments, it expires.

The man introduces himself as Aesmos, a resident of a small town about 20 miles east of their position. He explains that he was out riding earlier in the evening and was attacked by undead. Meran takes him back to the camp and the party attempts to heal him, but a large wound on his neck remains open. The party calls for the cleric, but before he can arrive the man displays strange symptoms and then attempts to attack Elowisyl.

The party attacks the man, Atentir finally slicing him apart with his javelin, but not before he can strike a brutal blow on Neith. She is soon healed, but is worried that the attack would cause her to become an undead. The cleric checks her wound and says that it is not infected.

Erillas, hearing of what happened with the man, asks the party to scout out the area for any other dangers that may threaten the camp. With a few Elf rangers as escort, they ride out and make sure that the man’s horse has not become an undead. Finding that it is indeed dead, they ride up to the north over the ridge to search for any other threats.

As they crest the ridge, they see campfires to the north. Moving closer they see a group of at least 20 kobolds making camp in the area. While attempting to sneak back to camp to warn them, the party unwittingly makes a sound that alerts the kobolds to their presence.

They race back to their horses, the kobolds hot on their heels. They manage to get back to camp to alert the guard, and see that the kobolds have turned back and are not attacking the camp.

Elowisyl attempts to convince Erillas that they must mount an offensive on the kobolds before they could plan their own attack, but Erillas refuses, saying that he will not waste the lives of his people. Instead he says that they will leave early the next morning and give the kobold camp a wide berth — but to make sure that there is no further threat, he volunteers the party to ride up and check the camp to see if the kobolds are still there, while the caravan continues north.

Later that evening, Elowisyl further examines the strange blade that he recovered from one of the undead that attacked their village. It seems very dull, and does not cut human flesh. Atentir also examines the blade, and is able to divine that it is used for cutting wood. Elowisyl tests it on a piece of wood he was carving for a bow, and it cuts through it easily. He then tries it on a dead tree, and it slices through it as though it were a hot knife cutting through butter.

In the morning they follow Erillas’ plan, but Combellon hears of the plan and takes the place of one of the guards set to go with the party. They advance on the kobold camp, but see that they have been wiped out by a group of undead. Meran finds the tracks that the undead left, and (using a spell) finds that the trail originated in the southern Wastelands and ends a few miles north at another village.

Traveling north in pursuit of the caravan, the party crests another ridge and sees the village to the west, already destroyed. They surmise that the caravan moved further to the east to avoid the town, and have entered a heavily forested area. They follow with all haste.

Our story opens in a Tree Whisperer (wood-elf) city southwest of the Human city of Tymirr. Over the past few months their defenses have been eroded by increasing numbers of undead and other foul beasts, all seemingly coming from the Erstland Wastes to the west.

Another threat are the so-called “Terrors”, a mysterious force that have the local farmers and city-folk talking. Strange disappearances and deaths are blamed on this unknown entity or entities, but nothing has been sighted in the area.

Erillas, the silver-haired leader of the Western Elf Guild, makes a grim proclamation to the gathered masses at the Guild’s largest city. “Our outer defenses are all but destroyed and the Enemy advances on our city. We have received reports of hundreds of undead and other menaces only a few miles away. Logic tells us that these “Terrors”, whatever they are, are not far behind. Prepare to defend yourselves for true!”

Erillas’ wife, the beautiful and waifish Shanni, steps up next to her husband and addresses the crowd. “We will hold fast. Have faith, brothers and sisters, that the Gods may deliver us from these evils.”

Erillas continues, “I have divided our forces into four groups. Two will defend the city from within, and two will flank the enemy as they approach. To your stations, and the Gods be with you!”

Our heroes are among those of the 3rd Guard, taking left flanking position against the oncoming threat. They notice that Erillas’ son, Combellon, has snuck into the group and stands with them to fight.

Presently a rider appears in the distance, a swarthy Western nomad. He introduces himself as Meran Al’Sahiri, and he warns that the enemy is not far behind him — a force of kobolds, zombies and skeletons, more than a thousand in number. He joins the group to defend the area.

After moments of terrifying silence, waves of enemies appear and begin to attack, trying to corner and drive back the Elves. Strangely they appear as if they have already been attacked; zombies have large chunks of flesh and limbs missing, and skeletons are only slightly better for wear. The archers fire upon the attackers, taking down several before they reach melee range.

The battle is joined, and our heroes fell many kobolds, zombies and skeletons. Several of the rangers and townsfolk who had joined the group fall in the battle, but the Enemy are finally struck down.

While searching through the remnants of the battle for survivors, Elowisyl finds a strange looking dagger. It is made out of an unknown alloy and appears to be dull. Galandil confirms that it is indeed magical.

Meran notices that the boy, Combellon, is missing. Galandil finds him nearby caught under a fallen zombie. His arm is broken and he is bleeding badly. Atentir uses spells to stop his bleeding and mend his broken arm.

Just then a earthquake rips through the ground in the area, sending Elowisyl toppling to the ground. Galandil tries to analyze if the quake was caused by a magic spell, but he does not believe it was so.

The survivors are gathered up and they continue back to the Guild city, aware of the eerie silence after the earthquake.

As they crest the final hill on the way towards the city, they see droves of mauled undead and slaughtered kobolds. Meran ascertains that some of the undead were men from Nomad clans when they were living, some of which he recognizes and some of which he does not. Approaching closer, they see more Elf corpses, many of them familiar.

The city itself is a smoking ruin, the immense tree that was at the center of the village completely uprooted and snapped in half. What evil could have done this?

Nearby a pile of zombies shifts and Erillas emerges, covered in gore. “They will pay for this,” he hisses.