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.