The party members are told that their trip will not begin for several days, since the maps of the Jerech area are buried in the castle’s library. The city’s library was hastily moved into the castle’s library when the city was evacuated, so all of the books are in disarray. Furthermore they are looking for people who escaped the devastation in Jerech 8 years ago to interview them about the city’s specifics. Galandil volunteers to help the city’s scholars search for the maps in the library.

That evening while Meran is on guard duty, he is approached by one of the Dark Tribes men that he had previously met. The man tells him that he and his group are leaving that morning, and that he wishes Meran luck on his journey. Meran returns the sentiment, and asks where exactly they are going. The man tells him that they are to journey into the deep desert, where even the nomads rarely travel. Later that evening Meran sees a group leave the castle, and an hour or so later another group departs.

The next morning Meran returns to the tent, and explains what he heard from the Dark Tribe man the evening before. Afterwards Galandil returns to the library, Elowisyl to the Priestess’ tent to continue helping to heal the wounded, and Celeb wanders the courtyard helping where he can.

Lionel comes into the Elf Guild’s tent a while later, bearing a pair of practicing rapiers. He asks Neith if she would like to spar a bit, and she accepts. However, after only three moves she penetrates his defenses and hits him badly. He submits and asks her to teach him the technique.

Later that day, a servant is sent to each of the party members’ locations and tells them that King Arayen is about to speak to everyone. As they come to the front of the castle, the King appears at the lowest part of the castle wall just next to the great doors with two guards beside him. “My friends,” he says in a loud booming voice that fills the courtyard. “These are dark times, true, but we have brave men to help us. Plans have been set in motion to combat the threat of the Terrors. This morning the first groups of these brave men have left the castle and risk their lives for our safety. Pray to the goddess Irina for their protection. That is all.”

As the party is returning to their tent, Galandil is stopped by a servant who says that the head of the guard, Trellicus, has requested his presence. Galandil is not sure why he has been summoned, but he goes along anyway. When he reaches the Guard Tower, he sees that Trellicus is a battle-worn man in his mid 50’s. Trellicus introduces himself and says that he was asked by the Warmaster, Verak, to speak with Galandil. Galandil asks why Verak didn’t speak to him directly, and Trellicus responds very plainly that Verak does not like Elves. Galandil tells Trellicus his idea for using the castle’s oil to create a moat around the castle to be lit on fire when enemies approach. Trellicus says that he will take his idea into consideration.

Later that evening Galandil visits the Kaern tent, and is greeted cooly by Erag who asks if he had suggested to the Captain of the Guard that they dig a huge trench outside of town. He says that they are Arc-miners and should not be treated as slaves. Galandil annoyedly defends his decision, but leaves soon afterward without tasting the lichen beer set in front of him.

The next night Meran is again stationed at the wall, and this time three Terrors attack in his area. He drops one immediately with an arrow from his longbow, and helps kill another with his axe but is wounded in the process. They see that these things attacking them seem to be genetically altered in the shape of humans. Meran is healed by one of Yeador’s mages at the guard tower, and then he and his men drag the corpse into the courtyard. Yeador is summoned and looks over the dead insect curiously. He tells his apprentices to take it to his laboratory to be further studied.

Over the next couple of days, everyone continues on their duties. Galandil finds three books while he is searching through the library that seem interesting to him, so he decides to “borrow” them. One is entitled “The Subtle Art of Influence,” another is “Rock Formations of the Western Lands,” and the third is “Arc-mining in High Magma Zones.”

Neith is again challened to a sparring match by Lionel, who seems intent on beating her after she gave him a swift lesson the first time. He gains the initiative and attacks, but Neith dodges and strikes him soundly. Lionel holds his side in pain, but his pride seems more wounded than his person and he yields.

The next evening, Meran is again doing guard duty when he hears a slight rumbling coming from inside the city. Suddenly a huge water snake, not unlike the one they fought in the farmer’s barn, bursts from the sewer and begins to attack. Three more pop up in other places around the city, sending the populace into chaos.

Four alarm bells sound, and the rest of the party awakens to assist with the attack. Elowisyl casts several protective spells on himself and the others before he leaves the tent. They rush towards Meran’s position and see him firing arrows at the thing; they come forward to attack and are able to defeat it without it hurting any of the party members.

Nearby another one is attacking several guards, and as the party moves closer two of the guards are eaten in front of them. The snake coils and springs upwards, attacking Meran savagely. Galandil summons a huge boulder which crushes the snake. Elowisyl sees Meran fall and rushes to his aid while the others move towards the third snake.

That one defeated with a strike from Celeb’s scimitar, they see that Meran is running towards the fourth and has been enhanced by some spell of Elowisyl’s. He slices the snake apart with his axe, killing it instantly.

Just then Yeador and his men descend from the castle in time to see the chaos come to an end. Several guards are sent into the sewers to clear out any remaining Terrors and block the entrances to the sewers.

Later that day the maps of Jerech are found, and the party eagerly begins preparations for leaving on their mission.

Our heroes, along with their traveling companions the Kaern-folk, reach the city of Tymirr just as the sun is setting. The castle’s four signature gray towers shimmer in the sunlight. As they near the citadel, they see that on either side the outlying town has been burned to a smoking ruin and appears abandoned. As they come to the great bridge, they see that it has been raised at the mid-point to form a giant drawbridge and twelve soldiers are stationed at the fore portion. The river is unnaturally high due to the recent storms. Helmets of soldiers can be seen at the wall 100 feet above where they stand; a call goes out that strangers approach the castle.

The two soldiers closest to the party approach, one of them short and fat and the other tall and skinny. “What be your business here?” says the short one. Elowisyl explains their situation, and the soldiers check the party and their belongings with scrutiny. But before they can move forward, a tall man, previously unseen, approaches them. He is wearing a green cloak and is completely bald except for a substantial black beard protruding from his chin. His lazy eye is most definitely fake (probably made of wood) and he carries a large staff. “I am Yeador, High Magician of Tymirr. You must be Elves from the Western Guild. Your King awaits you at the castle.”

The party begins to explain who they are, but Yeador waves them off. “This is better discussed in the comfort of the castle. You must be weary from your travels,” he says. He then gazes at each person in turn, seemingly taking special note of those with magical ability and items. He then makes a signal to the men on the wall to lower the drawbridge and let the party in.

Once inside, the party sees that what was once a bustling city with many shops and markets has become a mass refugee camp. Hundreds of tents can be seen set up in every possible spot, surrounding the buildings. People of all races and cultures are here, and though the hour is late and many are eating their supper, many more are milling around. Some look worried, as they seem to be trying to find someone, and others are obviously looking for food for themselves or their families. Babies can be heard crying. Farm animals are wandering around as well. The mood here is obviously depressed, but everyone appears to be working peaceably together. Groups of different cultures can be seen huddled in their tents. A party of ten Dark Tribes men are around a campfire doing a murmuring chant. As the party passes they nod to Meran, and he returns the gesture. A woman in courtly dress and her two daughters are handing out loaves of bread and fish to grateful people nearby. The horses literally have to push their way through the crowd to make any progress, so it is slow going through the city.

After walking for more than a half hour, the party sees a large tent with the Western Elf Guild’s signature symbol of a tree with a sun symbol inside it. Their family members greet them with tears and hugs all around. They begin asking questions, but Elowisyl tells them that he must assist the farmer and his family with finding a place to stay. The group leaves again and rides further around the city. After a while the farmer points to a group of people, saying that they are also farmers from the area. He descends from the wagon and begins speaking with some of the men. After a moment he turns around, nodding, and says “They have some room here, we will stay with them.”

Elowisyl disconnects his horses from the wagon and everyone says their goodbyes. Just before they leave, Elowisyl gives the man’s wife several silver. She says that she cannot accept it, but Elowisyl insists and says that it is not actually his money. “You are thieves?!” she says loudly. He explains that they have helped people and have come across money in the past, so they are not out any by giving her a few silver. She finally agrees to take the money and thanks everyone profusely.

The party continues on with the Kaern men, and after a while find a group of Kaern that they seem to know. Some of the men Elowisyl recognizes from the tavern in Ransburgh. “Hard drinkin’ Elf!” they call at him, and he laughs, greeting them. Bogder, Gorn and Erag bid everyone farewell. Erag thanks the party and says that without them, all three of them would have perished, and if they need anything to just let them know. He also turns to Galandil and says that he should return to see them in a few days’ time. Elowisyl gives Gorn some silver to spend for food.

Presently they reach the castle at the center of the citadel, and they see that the front gate is guarded by eight soldiers. The two at the fore are elite guards, with shiny pauldrons on their armor and large helmets. On their breastplates and shields is the blue “T” symbol that they have come to recognize as Tymirr’s insignia. They ask the party what their business is here, and Elowisyl tells them that they seek an audience with King Arayen and King Erillas. The guard nods and sends a servant up the stairs. A few moments later the servant returns and whispers into the guard’s ear. The guard says to them, “You are to return in the morning for an audience with the King.” The party agrees and departs.

After returning to the Western Elf Guild tent, the Elf-brothers talk to their mother and sister for a while. Their mother comments that she has seen the Queen out giving bread to the hungry. Elowisyl says that they saw her when they came into the city, and is surprised that the Queen would be doing such a thing. Soon everyone turns in for the night. They are not long on sleep, however, before they are rudely awakened by the sound of a tolling bell. A voice from one of the walls is heard saying “Six at the north wall!” Immediately the party grabs up their gear and rushes out of the tent, ready for battle.

Two guards with lanterns stop them a few feet from the tent, asking them where they are going. The party explains that they are on their way to help fight against whatever is attacking the citadel. The guards tell them that they need not worry, since these attacks happen almost every night and the perimiter guards always take care of the threat before it can get into the castle.

Elowisyl tells the night watchmen that they would like to assist the guard if they can, and the watchmen say that they appreciate any help that can be given, but they should only be worried if they hear more than one bell toll at a time. Elowisyl comments to his brothers that it has never crossed his mind to be “worried” since their own city was destroyed.

Our heroes return to bed, but are awakened again a few hours later when a call goes out that four more Terrors are at the east wall. The party is again startled, but decide to let the guards take care of the problem. There are no more disturbances that night.

The next morning during prayers, Orunn arrives. He congratulates them on completing their journey and is eager to hear what they have found. He says that the specifics will have to wait until the summit with the King, which will occur in an hour or so.

Meanwhile Meran seeks out the Nomad group that he saw when they entered the city. He finds them at their campsite and recognizes that four of them are the miners from Ransburgh that he previously met. He asks them about which route they took to the city, and what dangers they faced. They explain that they took on several Terrors and were triumphant each time. Meran gets the feeling that they are embellishing a bit too much, and therefore thanks them and leaves rather quickly.

Neith also wanders from the tent for a while, looking around the area. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she sees someone turn to stare at her. She wheels and sees that it is her brother, Lionel. He rushes towards her, but she turns away. He grabs her by the shoulder and says “Wait!” She brushes him off and begins to flee towards the tent, but he calls out “Espere!” loudly. She turns again and glares at him. “What do you want?” she says.

“Are you okay? Mother, father, all of us thought that you might be dead! We found out that you had been kidnapped…but I suspected, correctly it seems, that you had faked it to shirk your duties as possible future Duchess of Merrill. Please, take me with you, whatever your reason for being here, I need to make sure that you stay safe.”

“Fine,” she says curtly, and allows him to follow her into the tent, after telling him to hide the insignia of Merrill on his jacket and to make sure and call her “Neith.” When he enters, the Elves within all stare at him. He is a finely dressed man, a few years Neith’s elder, with a red waistcoat and long dark hair. Meran (who had just returned) immediately thinks that they look alike.

“Who is your friend?” asks Elowisyl. Neith introduces him as Lionel, a friend of hers from Southernton, the farming town that they found her in. She says that he is the one who taught her most of her fencing. “Hanging around with a bunch of Elves?” he says incredulously, but she silences him. The party seems a bit put off by his cheeky manner.

Orunn announces that it is time to go and see the king, and everyone packs up to leave. “Oh, am I not invited to your secret meeting?” Lionel says, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Neith tells him that he’d better stick around here.

The party leaves for the castle, and the Elite Guard lets them in. Once inside they see a huge room ahead with pillars reaching fifty feet into the air. In here there are over a hundred dignitaries (Galandil, using his “count” cantrip, sees that there are 103) talking excitedly and arguing. They all seem to be talking about the problems in the area with the Terrors. Elowisyl talks loudly about the beasts that they have killed as they walk by. Some of the dignitaries gasp and one exclaims to one of the others, “Who are these ruffians?!”

They are led up several flights of stairs and through several corridors to the King’s chambers. Once inside they see that this is another immense room, filled with plush pillows and ornate decorations. Several low columns line the walls, each with some sort of rare piece of art atop them. At the center of the room is a large circle of chairs, with a larger one at the rear upon which sits the king. He is a man in his late 50’s, with shoulder-length silver hair and a braided gold circlet upon his head. His pale blue eyes study the party. He rises and approaches them, shaking everyone’s hand. He says “Ah yes, here are our brave Elves. And a member of the Dark Tribes, as well, a Water-Elf and a Human? Quite an eclectic group you have here. Congratulations on completing your task successfully, you must have faced many dangers. Please sit and we will talk.”

As they sit they see Erillas and Combellon around the table, as well as the Cleric of Irina, Eleiana (from Ransburgh) and the High Magician Yeador who they had met the day before. Also there are two older men that the King introduces as his advisors, Peratus and Verak; a young dark-haired man in a blue waistcoat is introduced as Duke Rontus of East Tymirr; a balding overweight man in blue robes is Biran, the Duke of North Tymirr; and a well-dressed man in his early twenties is the King’s son, Prince Cortus. The party takes in all of the new faces, but none of them particularly like the look of the King’s advisors, who seem rather shifty.

The King announces to the group, “Now that we have all gathered here, we must all share our information. This is what we know. A large force, made up mostly of insectoid beasts, has been ravaging our countryside for months. They come from the direction of the Erstland Wastes, which seems to be creeping closer every day. In daylight and darkness they come, and attack our towns, kidnap our children. In the past three months the attacks have become so frequent as to overwhelm our outer defenses, forcing us to evacuate and abandon the city and to cower in our citadel as the beasts endlessly thrash against our walls.

“The towns and farmlands near here have been largely evacuated and we have upwards of 25,000 refugees camped in our city whose towns have been destroyed. Apparently Duke Perius of South Tymirr was either in league or being controlled by whomever commands these beasts. He took our friend King Erillas as his prisoner, and was defeated by our brave party here. He had constructed a sort of “gate”, to communicate with the one who commands these beasts. When he was defeated an army of the Terrors emerged from the gate and swarmed the castle, where they are still. We just received word that Ransburgh, the city to our south, has been burned. Allusions to Jerech are unavoidable — as most of you know, our sister city to the west was “swallowed” by the desert eight years ago. As King Erillas traveled here he tasked his brave group of Elves to discover what Perius was doing in his mines. They have succeeded and are before us today.”

The King then asks the party to explain what they found in the caves to the group before them. After hearing the story the assembled group is fairly stunned, with the King’s advisors whispering excitedly. The King interrupts the din by saying “That is quite a story, and something I am sure you will tell your children. You have given us much information and much to think about. Take a rest for a few days while we discuss this, and spend time with your families. But do not wander too far, we have need of skilled men…and women (giving a nod to Neith)…to help us in our continued battle for survival. People like yourselves may be the last hope we have against the Terrors, since our army has been decimated in the continued attacks.”

After a few more moments of discussion and questions, Galandil approaches the King and offers to help with creating more defenses against the Terrors. The King thanks him for his offer and says that he should speak with his Warmaster, Verak. Galandil speaks briefly with Verak but it seems that the oily man doesn’t respect the Elves very much. “If you need our assistance you know where to find us,” Galandil says. The man nods and snickers something to his companion, Peratus. Soon after the party leaves the castle.

That night at supper, Lionel joins them and the party seems curious about him. “You are from Merrill?” says Elowisyl coyly, obviously aware of Neith’s secret past. “Uh, I’m from Southernton,” Lionel says. “And what is it that you do there,” says Galandil. “I’m a…grain farmer,” he says, slightly annoyed and glaring at Neith. Neith begins to explain that she met him in Southernton, but the lie is obviously fooling no-one. The truth comes out that Lionel is actually her brother, and Neith is actually Lady Espere of Merrill, a duchy of Aten in the south. Meran and Elowisyl seem to know what is going on, but Galandil is totally confused. Apparently Meran and Elowisyl surmised from the MISSING poster they found that it was indeed Neith to which it was referring.

Lionel asks if he may accompany them on their “secret mission,” to make sure that Espere is safe. The party agrees, but tells him that Espere has been able to protect herself just fine. Lionel takes note of the impressive rapier that she carries, and asks where she got it from. She says that she defeated Sir Diego de Lunagalia, and he is very impressed. “He was swordfighting and swindling people out of their money when we were only children,” he says. “Most impressive indeed.” He asks her if they could have a sparring match sometime, and she agrees.

After supper that evening, Meran approaches some of the guards and asks if he can assist them in evening watch. They say that he may, but he must pass the test before he can become part of the watch. He agrees, and three men accompany him to a clear area in the couryard. All three men strip to the waist and throw down their swords, and Meran is instructed to do the same. The men attack him, and Meran punches the first in the stomach, sending him immediately to the ground. The second man kicks Meran in the chest, but Meran retaliates quickly and delivers a devastating blow to his face. He, too, slumps earthward. Meran and the third man fight for several moments, but Meran finally defeats him as well. They agree that he may help them with the watch, and ask if he can swing a sword or fire a bow. “I can swing an axe,” he replies.

That night Galandil stops by the Kaern tent — they greet and give him some lichen beer to drink, and he nearly vomits but manages to choke some down. It tastes somewhat like gorgonzola cheese. Later Erag talks with him for a while. He tells him that he has learned much about the ways of the Arc-miner, and though he is certainly still an apprentice (as full Arc-miners usually study for years before they may take the Oath), it has been decided by him and one of the elders that is also in this town that due to his progress and extenuating circumstances, he will be temporarily inducted into the Order and given his own amulet. After he has completed his adventures, he is to return to Tymirr and take the Oath if he feels that he is worthy. Galandil can hardly contain his glee at this statement, but still manages to remain silent. He nods and thanks Erag.

Concurrently Elowisyl seeks out Eleiana, the high priestess of Irina they met in Ransburgh. Along the way he sees several sick and hurt people, and stops to help them. Eleiana is at another tent in the city, and is tending to several ill people herself. He asks her how the journey was from Ransburgh to Tymirr, and she says that amazingly they only lost 6 people due to Terrors attacks. He offers to help her with healing the wounded, and she gratefully accepts, saying that her clerics are exhausted from working many hours a day. Elowisyl stays the night in Eleiana’s tent.

Later that evening Meran is assigned to watch on the south wall, and there are no creatures encountered that night. A group of four Terrors attacks the east wall, however, and Meran sees that three of them are spider-like, and one of them is a large ogre-ish beast like the one they fought in the caves. The other guardsmen take care of the problem, and Meran remains at his post.

The next evening after supper Erag stops by and tells Galandil, “It is time.” Galandil tells his brothers and the others, “I have to go.” A while later he reaches the Kaern’s tent, and waiting inside are all the other Kaern, lined up on either side of the tent. They are wearing dress robes, and there is a wizened old man, obviously the Elder that Erag was speaking about, in the middle. The Elder speaks a long incantation, the rites for transferring the responsibility of an Arc-miner to Galandil. Afterwards a pint of lichen beer is thrust into Galandil’s hand and he drinks, again nearly choking. The Elder removes the amulet from around his neck and puts it around Galandil’s, still incanting the sacred words. Galandil notices that the amulet is very worn and has marks from years of use. As the Elder finishes his incantation, he instructs Galandil to summon the elemental within the amulet. “NUR-AM-HARAS,” Galandil speaks, and the earth elemental springs from the jewel. It gives its old master a low bow, and then returns to the jewel with a crackle of magical energy.

A celebration follows, and all of the Kaern congratulate Galandil on his provisional ascension. They give him some more of the lichen beer, and soon he feels very sick. He does manage to ask them if they have any extra for Elowisyl, and they respond by having the Brewmaster bring out a quarter barrel of the stuff for Galandil to take back. He returns to the Guild’s tent after a few hours, and on the way gets sick to his stomach. Elowisyl is delighted to see the quarter barrel of beer, and heals Galandil of his wounds while concealing a smile.

The next morning at 6am, much to Galandil’s dismay, a page comes by the tent and announces loudly that the King requests their presence. They comply, and at the King’s chambers they see all of the men from the last meeting, as well as several other people in attendance. The group of Nomads that Meran previously met (Afshar, Farrokh, Kayvan, and Javad) plus four additional men are there, as well as the Kaern men (Bogder Shale, Gorn Rockfist and Erag Stonecutter), who seem none the worse for wear after their night of heavy drinking. Also there is a group of individuals they have not seen before, consisting of a Tall One (a warrior in armor), two Humans (a cleric and another warrior), a Savage (rogue, from the looks of him) and a Water-Elf (mage) make up this group.

King Arayen announces, “Since Tymirr’s guard is short quite a few men, we are recruiting all of you in small teams to accomplish the first debilitating strikes against the Dark One, as we have begun to call him. We have found that the Dark One controls his army of Terrors by using some sort of mind control magic, which is strengthened by the existence of the “gates” he is building at magical nexus points. Study of the existence of these ley lines and nexus points is only in the beginning stages, but a rough estimate of where the nexus points are has been established.” The King shows them the map of the nexus points, and several appear in the area. One goes through South Tymirr, another through the nearby mountains, one exists northwest of Calese, one goes through the Erstland Mountains to the north, and there are three in the Wastelands: one goes through Jerech, and two are in the deeper wastelands.

The King says that it should be assumed that these nexus points are already under the Dark One’s control, especially in the deep desert where no one can oppose him. The Tall One’s group must travel to Calese to disable the gate there; the Kaern men must go north to discover if there is a gate constructed in those mountains; the Elves (plus Meran and Neith) must travel to nearby Jerech to see if there is a gate constructed there; and the Nomads must travel into the deep desert to scout the area. Elowisyl looks to Erillas for his approval on this tact, and the Elf-king nods his head.

The King says that they must leave within the next few days, and asks if they have any questions. Meran asks if they have maps of this city or any further information. The King says that they will be provided with maps of the city before they leave, but no one has set foot there since the disaster so there have been no personal accounts of what it looks like now.

Before they leave the castle, the party members are given special cloaks that protect against the heat of the desert, as well as specially designed waterskins. They return to their tent for breakfast and morning prayers, and to speak about their mission.

Upon reaching the elevator shaft where they descended, the party sees that the ropes they used are still hanging from the pulleys. Howerver it appears that the insect’s shell, which they still carry, may have trouble fitting through.

The Arc-miner Erag is lifted to the top first, and he uses his magical amulet to widen the shaft so the shell may fit through. It is lifted up next, and then the rest of the party follows.

Their first breath of fresh air in five days is slightly chilly; it seems that autumn has set in. Though it is midday, the sky is dark with clouds and they hear a rumble of thunder. The party finds their horses as they left them, although they appear hungry and are certainly excited when they see their masters.

As they are packing up their gear, the rain starts. It is decided that they must move quickly if they are to make it to the camp they had set up a few miles from here.

While exiting the forest, they see on the road what looks to have been a wagon, but it is completely smashed. Elowisyl catches a glimpse of something moving near the pile, and he believes it to be an insect-like being feeding on something. The party rushes to attack, flinging arrows and magic at it, and it scurries into the forest after taking a hit.

They approach the wagon to check it out, but as they come nearer Elowisyl notices that the insect (which appers to be a smaller version of the scorpion they encountered in the caves) is circling around and attempting to flank them. The party turns to attack it and deals several crushing blows, but the creature manages to wound two party members severely.

Finally the beast is defeated and the party looks over the remains of the wagon. Apparently the wagon was carrying several Northmen miners, and was attacked by kobolds — the scorpion was feeding on the corpses of those who had fallen. The party searches through the wagon and finds a couple of purses with some silver and gold in them.

Meran decides that these people’s bodies must be treated with honor, and he sets the wagon ablaze. The party then hurries to the west toward their shelter, to avoid the worst of the storm. Even so, it is raining very hard and the way is difficult. Along the way they see a strange orange glow from the area to the south, and are able to surmise that Ransburgh is burning. The fire is so large that the rain seems not to be affecting it.

As the shelter is neared, Meran notices insect tracks all over the area. Some of them are a week or more old, and they have moved in and out of the hideout area. Torches in hand, the party descends into the cave to see if any insects remain.

They reach the bottom of the cavern and see, huddled together, several zombies. They seem to be torn apart badly, ostensibly due to battle with the insect Terrors. They recoil slightly from the light of the torches, but soon strike angrily at the party with their fists and the rusty blades that they carry.

After a few moments the zombies are dispatched, although it appears that their remains are still moving. Meran suggests that they be burned, and a small fire is set to destroy the remnants. The party sets up camp on the other side of the cavern, and are finally given some time to talk with the Kaern-folk.

The Kaern ask they how they got involved in this mess, and the party relates the story of how they met. Also told is how Erillas and Orunn were captured by the Duke and how they found that he was in league with the evil that is plaguing the land. The Kaern are appalled by this story and saddened. The party invites them to come along to Tymirr, as they may find their other Kaern friends there. The stout miners agree.

In the morning after breakfast and prayers, they begin their trek towards Tymirr. The rains from the day before have subsided, but since the ground has hardened with the cold there has been some flooding. As they pass the castle at South Tymirr, they see legions of insects in formation off in the distance. The castle has apparently become a permanent residence for the bugs.

Soon they see that a large pool of water, several feet deep, has covered part of the road and they must go around. They opt to go to the west, further away from South Tymirr and the insect armies. While circumventing the pool they pass several farms, most of them uninhabited. The third farm that they pass seems to have several people on the roof of the barn. Moving closer to investigate, it seems that the barn is flooded in several feet of water, and the farmer and his family are huddled on the roof under blankets.

The party approaches and calls to them, asking if they can help. The farmer stands up on the roof and, waving a hay fork, yells at them to get off his land. Elowisyl tells them that it will be much safer if they came along to Tymirr with them. The man refuses and adds several racial epithets against Elves. Elowisyl asks him if there is another reason that they are on the roof besides the water. The man replies, “Naw, there’s somethin’ in my barn!”

Elowisyl asks him if the party can take care of it for him, and the farmer says that they would probably die if they tried, and he doesn’t want “Yer Elvish brethren knockin’ on my door accusin’ me of killin’ their kind.” Meran assures him that “This is what we’ve been doing for the past month.” The farmer finally agrees to let them try and kill the creature.

Leaving the Kaern on a hilltop nearby with most of the horses and gear, the party approaches the barn. Peering inside using her newly acquired Dark Vision, Neith sees a huge creature perhaps 100 feet long and 4 feet in diameter — something like a giant water snake. The others consider alternatives to attacking the beast straight-on, but Elowisyl flings the barn door open wide.

The beast is startled and thrusts its huge head through the door, attempting to bite them. Elowisyl slices him hard in the face with his sword, the beast responds by biting him savagely. Meran then gashes him with his bastard axe. Writhing in pain, the beast submerges its head and is seemingly trying to flee. Neith ends his pain by expertly striking him with her rapier. Blood quickly fills the water.

Tying a rope to its head, the party drags the beast from the barn to show the farmer what they had killed. The farmer’s wife is horrified and covers her children’s eyes. After a debate about leaving their “ancestral home,” the farmer reluctantly agrees to accompany them to Tymirr. The party requisitions a wagon from the nearby farmhouse and rigs it to two of their horses.

From here the journey to Tymirr is only a half hour, they can see the towers shimmering in the fading sunlight as they near the city.

The two cultists and the foreman lie dead at the group’s feet. Searching the cultists, they find several curious items. Both of them are wearing a reddish pendant with the symbol of a tower, but they seem to have been cracked in half. Investigation into their magical potential turns up nothing. One of them is wearing a ring with a large claw protruding from it parallel to his finger. It is determined that the ring is used to deliver poison to whomever the claw scratches. They both also have brown weaved armor underneath their cloaks. The mining foreman has a longsword and a purse with some silver and copper pieces in it. The group takes these items and pushes the corpses down the tunnel.

Before the group continues, Atentir volunteers to check out the situation. He transforms himself into a bat once again and flutters down the tunnel. He hears a lot of commotion and hammering. The stone door is nowhere to be seen, and neither are the stone “half-walls” that Erag previously created. They were apparently blown out into the room when the stone door gave way. In the room he sees several dead bodies about, ostensibly from the impact of the stone door or the rush of water. Three robed men remain, and six workers. The robed men seem to be guarding the room while the workers that are still alive are scrambling around through 2 feet of water, picking up pieces of metal from the ground and pounding them together. In the middle of the room stands two silver metal spires curled towards each other, creating a huge gate similar to the one from the South Tymirr Castle.

The center of the Gate is glowing and two piercing yellow eyes are seen. A hissing voice is issuing commands to the people in the room. “You fools must work faster! Assemble the final pieces before those interlopers return! Too late, they are upon you!” One of the robed men seems to sense Atentir’s presence and whirles around, beginning an incantation. Atentir streaks from the room and is nearly caught in a poison cloud. He returns to the upper cavern and relates what he saw to the other members of the group.

It is decided to travel most of the way down the tunnel and have Erag create another tunnel through the wall of the cavern, hopefully catching the enemies below by surprise. Erag says the incantation and invokes the spirit, which begins to carve a 10 foot wide tunnel upward through the rock. The group follows behind Erag, hoping that the noise will not alert the enemies of their presence. As they travel down the tunnel towards the last room, the mages again feel their magical power increased. When the tunnel breaks through to the larger cavern, it is almost 30 feet from the ground. The enemies, three robed men and six workers, are completely caught by surprise and open to attack. The party begins firing arrows and spells at them, and Galandil catches one off-guard by opening a fissure under his feet. The man slips under the water and struggles to reach the surface again.

As the battle continues, the party pelts the two remaining mages with more arrows and spells, and they are driven back to defend. Galandil opens a fissure under each of the spires, causing them to nearly collapse. Several of the miners who were working on the Gate are thrown off into the water. The shadowy face in the Gate begins to distort and fade. It says nothing, glaring at the party angrily.

One of the robed men, seemingly the leader, casts a devastating poison spell on Neith, driving her back. The others strike him with several arrows, and he turns seemingly to flee. Just at that moment, however, it appears that the remaining miners have finished nailing the metal plates to the spires. The leader gestures and incants a spell, which causes the seams in the spires to disappear. The shadowy face disappears from the center of the Gate and a black orb appears in the center. Neith strikes the man with another arrow, and he stumbles forward into the gate and vanishes.

Presently the Kaern men, on orders from Elowisyl, rush down the tunnel to cut off any of the surviving miners from escaping. The spellcaster who Galandil nearly drowned resurfaces, only to be dunked again when Galandil opens another fissure beneath his feet.

The orb quickly begins to expand, despite additional fissure spells from Galandil to attempt to topple the spires. A huge beast emerges — a 20 foot tall humanoid-shaped insect with glowing red eyes and vestigal wings flattened to his back, resembling a genetically altered ogre. It roars and bares its fang-like teeth, rushing towards the party to attack. Galandil fires one last desperate fissure spell before his mana is depleted, and the spires topple. The gate implodes behind the insectoid creature.

The party begins to retreat, and the beast begins beating its wings to pursue. It takes flight briefly and lands inside the tunnel that Erag created, slashing at the party members with its claws. It catches Neith the worst, throwing her against the cave wall and slashing her armor to pieces. Atentir rushes to heal her, but he himself is struck badly.

Galandil continues to pelt the creature with elemental bolts while the others get the wounded away from the battle. He then follows them down the cavern, outrunning the beast. Meanwhile Elowisyl sees that the Kaern have defeated the remaining miners, but the last spellcaster has surfaced from the water and is attempting to flee. He catches up to and slashes the man with his sword, killing him instantly. The man slumps over and the amulet around his neck snaps in half.

Though they have the opportunity to flee, the group decides that they must face the insect beast. Elowisyl leads the charge back up the cavern Erag created to face the creature. However, he stops short when he sees that the creature is no longer pursuing them and looks very confused. His eyes are no longer glowing red, instead they are a deep black. Elowisyl tosses the insect some dried meat, and it sniffs it before devouring it. He then looks at Elowisyl as if waiting to see what he will do.

Elowisyl consults with the group and they decide that the beast must be killed so he does not escape and terrorize nearby villages. The party attacks him again and Elowisyl manages to bring him down with one of his arcane bolt spells.

After the beast is killed, the battle is finally over and the party members begin scouring the scene for any useful items. Most of the supplies and tools that were down here have been destroyed or waterlogged because of the flood, but the spellcasters’ cloaks are still intact. Broken amulets are found on the two men and also the same armor weave that the previous two were wearing.

Two magical items are also detectd here. A thin silver circlet with an ornate eye carved into it is discovered by Galandil, who finds that it is a Circlet of Dark Vision, granting the ability to see in complete darkness to the wearer. A second item is a ring with an eight-pointed star on it. Galandil finds that this is a Ring of Direction, which gives the wearer the knowledge of which direction he is facing at all times.

Also inspected is the insect creature. It appears to be some sort of ogre-insect hybrid and has a thick chitinous shell. Elowisyl decides that the shell would be useful for creating armor. Using their weapons, they cut it off of the beast and carry it with them.

The party then consults the Kaern to figure out which way to go. The cavern with the crude steps in the corner of the room will take them to the east side of the mountains, where going back will take them to the west side (where they entered). They decide to go back and are led by the Kaern through the tunnel for two days until they reach the surface.

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