Our brave group of adventurers met at Dirty Bowbie’s Roadhouse. Although each has their own reason for travelling the Karboskian Marches, all long for adventure and the freedom that the open road can provide. For mutual benefit, they have banded together, forming an adventuring company to fulfill their lust for excitement and the riches that only a life of adventure can provide.

Following a request from Bull, the barbarian proprietor of Dirty Bowbie’s, our intrepid troupe of adventures set out to investigate the kidnapping of Tabika, one of the dancing girls at the Roadhouse. Following an initial confrontation at an isolated crossroads west of the Roadhouse, the adventurers tracked the bandits back to their cavern lair within Red Rock hill. The party methodically investigated the complex, destroying the Red Rock Bandits and defeating their leader Ulrich the Red and his mysterious Face Mace. They rescued Tabika and set off for the return journey to Dirty’s. During the return trip, they happened upon an ambush. They quickly defeated the orc raiding party, but were unable to locate the suspected survivors which had hidden in the tall grass north of the area. As a gesture of good will, they left a single scarf at the scene and instructions to any survivors to return it at the Roadhouse and claim their only remaining wagon and goods.

A few days after returning to Dirty Bowbie’s, a haggard rider appeared at the Roadhouse. The injured rider, named Myskip told his fantastic tale of survival. It seems he was part of a caravan of settlers looking to establish a community west of the Roadhouse. They were attacked and destroyed by an orcish raiding party. Myskip and his niece, Yolanda were the only survivors. A group of adventures happened upon the ambush and ultimately defeated the orcs. This group left a scarf at the scene and instructed survivors to make their way to the Roadhouse. During their journey to Dirty’s, Myskip and Yolanda were again ambushed, this time near the Witch Fens by a group of Gnolls. Myskip escaped, but Yolanda was captured and dragged into the marsh. Myskip pleads for assistance to rescue his niece and the party agrees.

With the assistance of the Ranger Jebedia, the adventurers track the gnolls deep into the swamp. The party has a number of dangerous encounters while tracking the gnolls, including a strange encounter with fen fog during which Jebedia becomes bewildered and wanders into the fog. Although the group recovers the ranger, he remains ever fearful of the Witch Fens. The trail ultimately leads to a Gnoll village. Following a failed assault at the front gate and ultimate infiltration of the encampment by Grugosh and Jebedia, the group finds Yolanda tied to a stake in the center of the village. Grugosh orchestras a daring rescue and escape and our little troupe of adventurers disappears back into the swamp. Returning to Dirty Bowbie’s, the party reunites Yolanda with her uncle Myskip.

Our little adventuring troupe then turns their attention to a rumor that a prominent merchant, named Maksim Ipati is hiring guards for his trip to the city of Dro Mandras. Although not currently at the Roadhouse, upon his return the rumors prove to be true and he quickly hires the adventurers on. The druidess Naela has a strange encounter with Maksim, in which she confronts him regarding his two sons, Borvya and Corpus. Maksim appears to become beset and heavy hearted at the mention of his sons. Clearly, Naela seems to have some info regarding the matter, but has not spoken openly with the rest of the group.

Maksim’s caravan, accompanied by our hearty adventurers, sets out for the great city of Dro Mandras. During the journey south, it quickly becomes clear that all is not right in the area. The group receives warnings from a small group of Centaurs, led by Braunn, to beware orc raiding parties crossing the Mandras River. A few days later, the caravan encounters one of the raiding parties, as a mounted half-orc attempts to ride down a ragged halfling. At Maksim’s order, the adventurers rescue the pitiful halfling and are led into a nearby grove, where they find more slaves guarded by their orcish captors. The party quickly defeats the orcs, frees the slaves and pledge to accompany them to safety in Dro Mandras. Shortly there after the group meets the ranger Rohn, who is in the employ of Sheriff Arn Porski. He is hunting orcs, half-orcs and other raiders at the request of Dro Mandras’ Sheriff. He agrees to investigate the slave’s village, known as Shackleford, then meet up with the refugees in the city. The rest of the journey is uneventful, though upon reaching the city it quickly becomes apparent that Dro Mandras has a hatred toward all orcs and half-orcs. After completing the caravan’s journey to Maksim’s warehouse, the group accompanies the refugees to the safety of the Hospitaller’s Keep. The party then retires to the Four Helms inn. Their half-orc companion, Kroll Longfingers is smuggled into the inn and goes into immediate hiding. While the party settles in at the Helms, they debate their future. Will they explore the city or return to Dirty’s with Maksim in a few days…

Our group of brave adventurers find themselves in the city of Dro Mandras. Having completed their mission as caravan guards they spend their days and nights at The Four Helms, a rough and ready inn & tavern popular among locals and adventurers alike. Their short time in Dro Mandras has dampened their enthusiasm for the big city however. The once great city is now under siege, with the orcish armies occupying the eastern half of the city. The western city lives in fear, while crime, bigotry and totalitarian rule dominate the lives of the citizens.

It is at the Helms that our troupe is approached by a mysterious figure known as Cyrus. The stranger is looking to hire a group of adventurers to descend into the sewers and locate his associate, Basil. Always short on gold, our group accepts Cyrus’ offer of 25gp each to locate Basil. They must descend into the sewers and return Basil or his corpse and possessions to Cyrus, who awaits their return at the Four Helms.

Cyrus escorts the adventurers to the eastern edge of the city and within a ruined building near the riverbank, he shows them the stone trapdoor into which Basil descended. The group climbs down the entry shaft and is astounded to find a series of chambers and hallways. It is here that they encounter The Vagabond King, a bugbear who has been tormenting the tramps and refugees who attempt to take refuge in his chambers. The party quickly defeats the bugbear and only learn of his true nature from another tramp (Kol) hiding in one of the rooms, whom they help escape back to the surface. Investigating the area further, the group finds a strange chamber behind a secret door. The room is filled with antiquities, consisting mostly of furniture and ornamental objects. However, they do locate what appears to be a magical short sword, which the druidess Naela claims as her own.

Moving deeper into the tunnels our group found the true sewers, rivers of filth running though the maze of tunnels. Bree, the trusty halfling thief scouted ahead and appeared to pickup a mysterious dagger. The rest of the group, hot on her heels caught up with her just in time to be ambushed by a pair of orcish archers, who appeared to be hold up in a separate section of chambers. The adventurers quickly dispatched the two orcs and then noticed a strange sight. The other bank of the river of filth opens up into a giant cavern, which appears to be filled with…buildings! Our group quickly crosses a small ford and investigates the first building. Within the old warehouse, they find a garden of strange fungus and moss covering the floor and interior of the structure. Shortly after the discovery they are attacked by a giant toad, which had been hiding within the garden. They quickly dispatch the beast with minor incident.

So ends this months session…

Following their encounter with the giant toad, the party quickly exits the ancient warehouse. The group discusses the situation briefly and decide to continue exploring the lost city. After investigating an ancient manse and a partially collapsed inn and discovering little, the group decides to backtrack to the tunnels guarded by the orcish archers.

Our brave adventurers follow the entry tunnel deeper into the unexplored section of the sewers. Taking the first door, they enter into an empty chamber with a spiral stair ascending into the ceiling. After a brief investigation, it is quickly determined the spiral stair leads to an abandoned storefront in the Docks district of Dro Mandras.

While part of the party investigates the storefront above, Xena Vellacus discovers a secret door on the northern wall of the chamber below. Once reunited, the characters decide to explore beyond the secret door. They descend a set of stairs and enter a large temple. The temple has a strange altar at the far end of the room and skeletal remains line the walls. The group advances into the room and Xena quickly investigates the altar. The minute she touches the dark altar, the skeletal remains spring to life and attack the group. Esaleth immediately tries to turn the undead creatures with partial success. A long battle ensues and the adventurers eventually destroy the skeletal foes.

So ends this month’s session…

Following their battle in the temple, our little group retreats back to the Four Helms to heal up and replenish spells. After a night’s rest and no sign of Cyrus, our group returns to the sewers. This time entering through the secret door in the abandonded shop. Advancing further down the hallway they discover a robing room. Along the eastern wall hang numerous ceremonial robes. Esaleth recognizes the black robes as those of Nartarus’ Clergy and Naela quickly stows one of the robes in her pack. The party pushes deeper into the complex, until they discover a locked chamber. Bashing down the door, the adventurers find a preparation chamber for entombing the dead. In the center of the room, a mysterious green fog bellows from a large cauldron and vents through a grate in the ceiling. The group is immediately attacked by orcish bowmen, while two dark robed clerics of Nartarus begin casting spells. The group has their hands full with their opponents and the cleric’s spells prove to be quite effective. However, the heroes wear down their evil opponents and eventually prevail. As the group investigates the room, they find a dead body chained to the wall. The dagger tattoo on the left forearm confirms their fears…it is indeed Basil.

After a lengthy discussion, the adventures decide to stow the body in the entry shaft of the original entrance to the sewers while Xena makes contact with Cyrus and brings him back to confirm the body. Upon his arrival Cyrus immediately identifies the corpse as Basil. He checks the body and quickly packs an unidentified item into his pouch. Cyrus then thanks the party for their service and pays the reward as promised. Dismissing the adventurers, Cyrus disappears into the dark streets of the Western Docks.

So ends this month’s adventure…

Following their adventures in the sewers, our little troupe decides to spend a few days resting at The Four Helms. During this time, Naela receives a message from Maksim requesting a private meeting with her. When she returns, Naela meets with the party members. Maksim’s two adventuring sons (Borvya and Corpus) have been missing for some time following their last adventure excursion into the Crater of Umeshti (which is a few days travel northwest of Dirty Bowbie’s). Maksim has requested the adventurer’s help in finding his sons and is offering a 1,000gp reward to the party for proof they still live or the return of their remains in the event they are dead. After much discussion, the group decides to accept Maksim’s offer and plan to set out with his caravan for the Roadhouse the following morning.

Unexpectantly, the group is awakened in the wee hours of the morning by one of the stable boys. He tells them the City Watch is here for the half-orc and that Asalia is stalling the guards downstairs. The group immediately exits out the backdoor into the dark alleys of Dro Mandrus. They make their way to the Northwestern gate and after a few perilous moments with the guards exit the city. The next morning, Naela catches up with the group at the crossroads near the village of Shackleford after notifying Maksim of their situation. After a lenghty debate, the group decides to travel directly to the Roadhouse in hopes of meeting Maksim’s caravan there. Despite trailing guardsmen and a passing encounter with Karboskian Miliamen the group makes the trek to Dirty Bowbie’s with minor delays as they avoid both encounters.

The characters enter the main gate of Dirty’s, as this month’s session ends…

Our group of adventurers spends the next few days at the Roadhouse recovering from their time on the road and preparing for their journey north. It is during this rest that our troupe discovers Holly’s delicious fruit pie, with its mixture of peaches from the south and local berries.

One evening in the beer garden, Bull approaches the group regarding their plans to visit the Crater of Umeshti. During the conversation he warns them not to take the perils of the crater too lightly, as kobalds, necromancers and other unmentionable things call the sinkhole home. He also tells them that the site of the crater was once a great city, but it was destroyed nearly a millennia ago during a war between the gods. Finally, he tells them to speak with Brother Frosk before they leave, as he is searching for a strange egg found only in the crater. Naela offers to reward Bull with a piece of Holly’s famous fruit pie for his trouble…which Bull gladly accepts. The next day our little group meets Brother Frosk in the common room, who as fate would have it, also has a sweet tooth for Holly’s fruit pie. The strange and brightly dressed cleric offers the character’s a quest. It seems he has been searching for a large egg with a bloodstone shell. He offers the characters a reward of 200gp for each surviving member of the expedition that returns with the egg. Our little group eagerly accepts his offer.

The next morning the adventurers set out to the northwest for the Crater of Umeshti. The group quickly covers the 80 mile journey on horseback in two days time (much faster than the slow moving caravan to Dro Mandras). The journey passes quickly and is uneventful and the group spends the evening at the foot of the mountain. The next morning they scale the slope and reach the rim of the crater, some 3500 feet above the forest below. As our group is moving down into the bowl of the crater to reach the sinkhole in the middle, they are attached by a group of kobalds. They quickly dispatch the foul creatures and take one prisoner. Reaching the sinkhole in the center of the crater they find a mechanical lift with a cage large enough to lower 6 medium sized creatures down into the blackness below.

Our group descends into the black pit and within a hundred feet the cage comes to rest on a lift dock. As the characters exit the lift cage, they are attacked by a group of kobalds. Their prisoner escapes during the struggle with one of the surviving attackers. The characters attempt to follow, but the small creatures disappear into a tiny tunnel system. When the group takes bowshots from these same tunnels, they quickly vacate the area, choosing to explore a heavy oaken door leading to another section of the complex.

Our little group stands before the heavy oaken door leading east into the complex. Up to this point the rooms and hallways encountered have been fashioned from cut stone. The door and lock are of no lesser quality and Bree fails to pick the lock. Before the group can discuss other options, they are startled by heavy pounding on the other side of the door. Within minutes the door flies from the threshold and a massive ogre stands before them. Fubar attacks with his large club and proves to be a challenging opponent. However our adventurers eventually wear him down and the ogre crashes to the stone floor. Fubar’s lair is not far away and our group finds a small treasure hoard (including various coins, a broken helmet, a jug of sour wine, a silver dagger and two healing potions).

Moving on, our group investigates a small room north of the ogre’s lair, which contains living quarters for two creatures and a locked chest. Bree fails a second lockpick roll and Grugosh impatiently smashes the wooden chest. Coins and 3 agates spill onto the floor, along with two more healing potions. Although currently unoccupied, the room is connected to the mysterious tunnel system encountered in the first room. The group decides to send the halfling into the dark tunnels. Bree moves through the small tunnels easily and stumbles across a cavern-like room occupied by 2 adult cavern raptors, 4 young cavern raptors and their kobald keeper. The halfling quickly retreats and warns the group. Although the adventurers prepare for an ambush, the raptors do not follow them into the room.

Convinced the raptors will not follow, the group decides to explore deeper into the eastern hallways. Almost immediately they are ambushed by kobald archers from the small tunnel system also present in this area. The characters quickly dispatch them, but as our session ends…they hear strange yips and clicks coming from within the dark tunnel entrances.

Fearing the worst, the group prepares for an ambush and they are not disappointed. Kobald archers attack from the small tunnels and kobald warriors attack from the old storehouse. Although the kobald are many, our heroes eventually wear them down.

The group braves the small tunnels leading easterly…from where the attacks seemed to originate. The adventurers find a large natural cavern filled with kobald females and young. Most notable however are three small clutches of eggs. The group immediately thinks of the giant egg that Brother Frosk is searching for…but none of these appear to match the description. The group leaves the seemingly harmless females to guard their young and press further into the tunnels.

The characters advance down a tunnel on the far side of the old storeroom. They open a sturdy door at the end of the hallway that opens into a finshed chamber. The group is surprised as a sticky web-like trap falls from the ceiling, trapping Grugash and holding him fast. Kroll runs into the room to assist, but ends up held in the trap as well. As the rest of the group debates a course of action, the Kobalds take advantage with another ambush. The group battles long and hard and eventually defeats the attackers…but not before Grugash falls from the arrow wounds he received.

The group quickly springs into action, freeing the Grugosh and healing him. Although badly beaten the barbarian is on his feet and able to proceed. Spying a door at the far end of the chamber, the group investigates and find the portal locked. After some difficulty, the warriors eventually break down the door only to be greeted by another locked door at the end of the short hallway.

The characters quickly bash the door down, surprising the kobald guards in the small chamber. The group quickly takes down the kobald warriors and finds a lift platform accessing the sinkhole. A metal basket descends deeper into the pit. Our little troupe decides to descend deeper into complex. Naela and Kroll stay on the platform and lower the rest of the group.

As the basket rests upon the landing of what can only be level 2, a dozen or more kobalds respond to the intruders. The group has difficulty exiting the basket as they take missile fire from the kobald archers. Meanwhile, Kroll sees the ambush unfold below and decides to climb down the chain to the basket. Untrained in such skills, the half-orc makes it a few feet before his hands slip and he finds himself falling. From the platform above, Naela sees the horror unfolding below and springs into action. She casts an Entangle spell and the roots deep below the surface spring forth, catching Kroll and holding him fast.

All the while, Tristan and Jebedia are holding off the kobald horde, as the remaining characters free themselves from the basket. Not long before the last kobald falls, Grugosh pulls Kroll to safety on the platform. Battered and demoralized, the group decides to fortify the lift room above and rest.

Our little group spends the remainder of the day and the day following recovering their strength and healing their wounded. Although weary of ambush, they are not disturbed…

Following their extended rest, our brave heroes survey their surroundings. Finding no sign of activity near their room they decide to descend back to the second level. After hearing kobald voices below, the group decides to send Bree down to the platform below to scout out the enemy and provide a distraction, allowing the other members of the group to exit the elevator.

Silently the party lowers the halfling rogue to the second level landing, where she climbs onto the rocky wall. With Bree in place the rest of the group is lowered down in the iron basket. As the the iron cage rests upon the landing, Bree calls forth the ghost jackel from her dagger and sends the beast into the cavern. Sensing battle from the platform above, Kroll begins descending the rope and promptly loses his grip…again. This time however the half-orc has secured himself with a rope attached to the cage. The rope holds and Kroll comes to an abrupt stop near the platform. As the rest of the group quickly exits the elevator, the half-orc pulls himself onto the platform.

Our little troupe charges into battle against more than a dozen kobalds, one of which is a spellcaster. The horde of little creatures turn out to be a serious challenge for the characters. Two characters, Elanor and Jebadia fall in combat, while Kroll is incapacitated by the kobald shaman. However, our heroes continue to battle and eventually force the few remaining kobalds to retreat. Following the battle Kroll quickly regains his composure and Jebadia receives healing from Esaleth and recovers. Elanor however is seriously injured and will take some time to heal. Our group decides to hold up in the current room in hopes of recovering spells and providing additional healing to the injured characters. In preparation for the extended rest, the halfling rogue sets an alarm trap at each of the entrances into the chamber…

Our group of adventurers spends a couple of days resting in the large cavern near the second level platform. The time passes relatively peacefully with one exception, an ambush early on by a group of Cavern Raptors led by a small contingent of kobalds. After an extented combat the adventurers manage to defeat the attack. The attackers defeated, our group spends the next two days healing and recovering spells. Initially the adventurers decide to investigate the ledge along the chasm. They find it leads about 1/4 way around the pit then ends. However, near the end of the ledge they find a small hole leading to a cavern beyond. They decide to stuff a raptor corpse in the hole, effectively blocking it.

The group doubles back and takes the other exit out of the platform cavern. They follow it around through a series of smaller caverns, encountering kobalds and raptors along the way. The group also encounters a strange gnome, Ynger Froog who had been captured by the kobalds. He claims to be from Lamplight Station, which is deeper in the caverns and offers to accompany the group as their scout. The adventurers reluctantly agree, though many amoung the group are suspicious of the gnome.

Our little troupe, led by Ynger continues deep into the complex and finally stumble upon another nest cavern. The group quickly defeats the kobald guards, including a spell-caster and is confronted by a group of angry females protecting their eggs. Grugosh, still under the effects of the kobald spell-caster unknowingly attacks the females with his magical mace. Tasting blood the barbarian’s frenzy continues until he has murdered the 6 females. Following the blood bath, the adventuers regroup, searching the bodies and investigating the eggs. They find this to be a large nest with over 100 eggs, about 10 of which are coal black. None of the eggs however appear to be the strange bloodstone egg sought by Brother Frosk…

Having defeated the kobalds in the nest cavern, our little troupe takes a moment to investigate the chamber and examine the eggs. Although none of the eggs appear to match the description of the giant egg that Brother Frosk seeks, Xena considers taking a few, but in the end reconsiders. During the break our group takes an inventory of their supplies and finds that, after over a week in the complex their food and water is running low. The group decides to fall back to the room in which they rescued Ynger Froog and send out a small raiding party back to the natural pool in the nest cavern on the first level. Meanshile, Ynger Froog assists the group by smoking the raptor meat.

Meanwhile, Tristan and Esaleth take the lift to the first level. They head back to the nest cavern to fill their skins at the natural pool. As they enter the room they are attacked by a group of giant rats that have been feasting on the eggs in the nest. Tristan makes quick work of the creatures while Esaleth fills the skins. They consider going back to the ogre’s chamber and recovering the wine and ale casks, but reconsider and head back to the group instead.

The party rests throught the night. Froog has managed to preserve about a weeks worth of rations for each character in the party, which they gladly stow in their packs. Rested and partially healed the group heads deeper into the complex. They pass through an abandoned raptor cavern on their way back to the nest cave. Reaching the nest, they decide to head deeper into the complex. They follow a narrow hallway into a foul smelling cavern filled with strange mushroom-like fungas. As they advance across the room, the fungus begin the screech. Nearly deafened by the noise the party pushes through to the far end of the cavern to investigates the two exits. The first is a dead end cavern, which appears to be a training room for young raptors and the group quickly takes down the three immature beasts in the room. Finding little of interest in the cavern they move on to the next exit and find that it connects up with the ledge around the chasm (as evidenced by the raptor body stuffed in the small exit).

The group moves back into the room to investigate the final exit on the north wall. As they carefully make their way around the strange fungus, the plants begin screeching. The characters hurry out of the room to get away from the sound and find themselves in a short hallway ending with a solid oaken door. A number of strange agitated voices can be heard on the other side of the door. The group decides to rush into the room, but finds the door locked. Bree investigates the lock, but is unable to attampt to pick it. She is sure the portal is barred from the other side…

Our little troupe struggles with the barred door…until Elanor casts a mage hand and successfully lifts the bar and opens the door. Our characters charge in and find a large group of heavily armored kobalds defending the room.

Our brave adventurers soon find the kobald’s armor more than a match for their party. However, they keep pressing and manage to take down enough the creatures to secure an route escape. Seizing their opportunity the characters flee. The remaining kobalds slam the door behind them and thankfully, choose not to pursue. Bloody and beaten your little group falls back to the room in which they located Froog, which has become their campsite on this level. The characters set a watch and rest the night.

Our little group of adventurers spends the next two days resting and healing from their first encounter with the elite kobald guards. Rested and fully healed, the characters face their fears and move through the dark corridors to face their foes once more.

Returning to the chamber, the characters find the door again barred. Grugosh, ill temptered and eager to get into the fight quickly chops throught he door and lifts the bar. The adventurers again rush into the chamber and attack the kobalds. Bree quickly calls forth her jackal companion, creating a stir among the kobalds. The group’s warriors tear into the kobald defenses. Although the kobald’s armor is strong, the party wears down the creatures and ultimately defeats them.

The adventurers proceed deeper into the complex, finding a strange room full of what appear to be gears and other parts for the complex’s elevator system. Jebedia moves into the room and quickly finds the chamber is riddled with traps. Bree steps forward and clears the room of the devious devices. Crossing the room, our heroes find themselves on another platform, with a lift that descends to the third level. It is at this time that the group notices Ynger Froog is missing following an “incident” with Bree.

Our little troupe decides to finish exploring the second level before moving to the third and travels deeper in the tunnels. The PC’s find another chamber and decide to investigate. Inside they find the walls covered in strange carvings depicting kobalds interacting with what appears to be their dragon queen. In the center of the room is a depression in the floor that pulses with a strange unholy light. Within the depression are a clutch of eggs…with a bloodstone like cast. One of the eggs is much larger than the others and throps atop the heap. The characters quickly realize they have found the giant egg the Brother Frosk is searching for. They quickly secure the giant egg and a couple of the smaller ones for good measure. By this time it is late in the afternoon and our heroes decide to fall back to kobald guard room to rest and discuss their next move. Some members believe they should return the egg to Brother Frosk immediately, however after much debate they decide to continue thier search for the Ipati brothers. Naela decides to don her amulet before falling asleep in an effort to induce another prophecy regarding the brothers…

Retreating back to their safe room on the second level, our group of adventurers spends the night resting and healing following their battles with the elite kobald guards. Naela has a strange and horrifying dream sequence during the night. She shares the vision with the other adventures in the morning. In her dream, she witnesses the murder of one of the Ipati boys by a strange cloaked figure named Malash, which they later determine to be the mysterious “Necromancer”.

The next morning they set out. The group is still torn between exploring the rest of the second level or moving on to the third. The party congretates near the gear room and sends a scout down the unexplored hallway toward a lighted chamber. The scout quickly returns and reports a kobald presence in the chamber. The adventureres quickly determine the kobalds are preparing for an attack and decide to move on to the third level.

Our little troupe finds themselves on the landing of the third level and immediately notice the stone used is a bit darker than what they’ve seen before. The move deeper into the complex and find a chamber with two strange winged statues. The statues appear to radiate magic and the group does their best to avoid them as they move on.

Moving down a long winding hallway, the party checks to locked doors. The first they are unable to open, but Bree manages to get them past the second. Inside the find a chamber filled with large urn, stopped with wax. Naela recognizes these from her dream and quickly moves to open one. Inside they find a human corpse submersed in a strange acidy smelling liquid. Jebadiah examines the body finds the Ipati birth mark on its neck. The adventures check the rest of jars, but do not find the other brother.

Moving farther down the winding hallway they find it ends a large room, that can only be described as the laboratory of a mad man. Inside they find all manner of macabre experiments, including dissections and dismemberments. Each is pinned to its respective table and includes research notes. From the ceiling hang cages, many of which contain the unfortunate subjects of strange and unnatural experiments. The group quickly decices to move on, but finds the southern door locked and unopenable. As a result, they decide to explore the other exit from the jar room.

The adventurers quickly determine the exit connects to a ledge along the circumfrence of the pit. They follow it for some time and eventually find it connects with an “L” shaped hallway deeper in the complex. As the adventurers move to investigate the hallway, the are surprised by a large group of skeletons. While setting their line for battle a second group of skeletons joins the fray. Esaleth quickly moves to turn the foul creatures…but fails miserably. As the skeletons continue to advance the characters soon realize they will be overwhelmed and organize a retreat back to the winding hallway. As Tristan covers the retreating characters, Grugosh chops down the other locked door in the hallway as an escape route. Meanwhile, Bree studies the lock to the jar room. As the last characters emerge into the safety of the tunnel, Bree slams the door shut and locks it. Grugush has chopped through the heavy oaken door and group moves into the dark room beyond as skeletons claw at the locked door…

Our little group enters the room beyond the shattered door. For the first time since they met, Esaleth seems to notice Grugosh’s manly prowess? Meanwhile, as the adventures enter the room, they find a large pool filled with a strange silver liquid. The group spends a considerable amount of time investigating the pool. They quickly determine it is a scrying pool from the dwarven runes carved into the lip of the structure. Naela eventually discovers that one can read the thoughts of another, who’s reflection appears in the pool. She also feels the pool may have other effects that require a command word.

Eventually the adventurers move on and circle back to the first chamber with the stone statues. As the group investigates the two winged statues…suddenly they come to life and attack. The adventurers find them difficult to hit, but eventually Tristan’s mighty blows smite the foul beasts.

Following the battle, they decide to move east and find themselves in an irregular shaped chamber. Each of the three unexplored exits are blocked by a portcullis. As the group investigates the room, they stumble upon a pressure plate, which seems to control the porcullises. The first activation closes the portcullis on the hallway in which they entered and traps Xena…knocking her unconscious. As part of the group struggles to free Xena, the rest are confronted by a group of ghouls which enter through the, now open, southern hallway. Unhappy with the odds, the party continues to stomp on the pressure plate, eventually letting a group of strangly mutated kobalds into the room as well. Outnumbered the characters flail away at their enemies. After a lengthy battle, the adventurers eventually best their foes and manage to free Xena. Battered and bloody the group retreats back to the pool room to rest. After reinforcing the broken door and putting the jackal on guard duty the characters settle down for the night. The evening passes peacefully and as the characters are waking, the jackal begins to howl. Suddenly a forceful pounding rattles the door…

Startled awake by the rhythmic pounding at the door, our brave group of adventures set themselves for the invevitable assault. As the zombie horde breaks through the makeshift door, the characters hold their ground. They wait for the undead to filter into the room and deal with them one at at time. The method proves effective and the group eventually dispatches the undead.

After some debate, the group decides to move back to the irregularly shaped porcullis room. This time they coordinate their efforts and only open one porcullis at at time. The first attempt opens the southern exit and group quickly dispatches a pair of ghouls. They advance down the hallway and find it ends in a filthy cavern, which they quickly determine to be the ghoul’s lair. Returning back to the arena room, they hit the pressure plate a second time and open up the eastern porcullis. A group of strange mutated kobalds ambush them from the shadows. The characters find these creatures much stronger than normal kobalds and their strange ambushing technique remains a mystery. Persistance wins the day and the characters eventually overpower the strange creatures.

The session ends as our brave troupe advances down the dark eastern corridor…

The dark eastern corridor quickly ends in a Y intersection. Our brave adventurers choose to follow the left path and following the twisting natural natural corridor to a small cavern. The cave is occupied by four of the strange mutated kobalds, which immediately attack. The creatures are tough opponents and the adventurers are surprised to learn that this group can breath fire! Their attacks are effective, but the party wears down the mutants and defeats them.

Moving back to the Y intersection, the group decides to head down the the right corridor. The investigage a side passage which ends in a small cavern. In the center of the room a rope ladder hangs down from the ceiling. The adventurers decide not to investigate and move on. Eventually the hallway leads to a very large natural cavern. At the edge of their vision, the group can see human sized figures moving in the darkness. The advance cautiously into the cavern. Near the middle of the room, a dozen of the figures advance on them from out of the darkness. The party quickly recognizes them as zombies. However, where the last group operated in a random unorganized fashion, these seem to be organized and utilizing tactics. Esaleth acts quickly casting a sound burst spell as her first action, she takes out nearly half of the creatures. Then she turns the rest, who retreat to the back of the cavern. The rest of the party quickly cuts them down. However, Bree notices something strange on her opponent…the creature seems to have a strange heart shaped birth mark on its cheek. The threat eliminated the group investigates Bree’s opponent and quickly decide they have found the final Ipati brother.

After a brief discussion, the party realizes that Maksim has requested that they bring his son’s remains back to him so they can receive a proper burial. They load up the new Ipati corpse onto Kroll and bring it back to the pool room. There they construct two makeshift litters and after determing there appear to be skeletons still prowling in the jar room, they decide to rest the night in the pool room and recover the first body in the morning…