Chapter 4 – Over the Graveyard and Through the Woods

              With the cave, and newly acquired headquarters, cleaned of blood and ash, a messenger from Lord Danish arrived at the cave with a writ allowing the troop safe passage for the next two weeks along with a map of suspected locations of the bandits outside of Randic.   Suiting up the wagon, and hitching up the mare and Wyyntr’s horse, the group set off of on their next adventure.

                Passing on the edge of Randic, the party needed to acquire some supplies.  Food and cloth were required, as well as getting a new ribbed covering for their wagon.   Stepping up to the general store on the outskirts, the party notices that Randic survives solely on the farm lands that surround the town, and most of the inhabitants seem to be living in poverty.   This was totally a severe case of The Farmers kids going without food, as guards and troops could been seen keeping a heavy eye on the population.

                Looking at the map, there was a spot in the woods marked off to where the bandits were suspected of hiding.  Roughly, ten miles south of Randic, in a heavily forested area, the faction of warriors began to trek to the woods.

                Arriving, the path forked in three different paths, showing tracks of human and animal going in all three directions.  Wanting an aerial view, Embry took to the skys on the back of his hippogryph.   Two of the paths were obstructed by the heavy canopies of Oak and Maple trees.  The Third path showed what appeared to be old stones with three old stone buildings at the head of this clearing.  With that being the only visible area, The Ranger came back to ground and reported on his findings to the group. 

After a brief discussion, they all decided to venture to the visible clearing.   Making camp where the paths all split, the horses were hitched with the hippogryph, traps were set by the trap making gnome, the party was set to see what lay ahead. 

                Walking through the woods, and into the clearing, Alandel the Druid with his raptor Mercedes, took the lead followed by Wyyntr and the Dog, Mouse, carrying Alistair upon his back.  Embry decided to take a sneakier approach and walk on the outskirts of the clearing in the trees, and Rangers are ought to do.  

                Through the dim light of night, the group could hear chanting coming from the clearing.  A woman’s voice was chanting something strange in an ancient language.  Alandel and Alistair were both at a loss for what was being chanted, but Wyyntr was all too familiar with this language.  The tongue was speaking the language of the dead. 

                Traveling farther in, the party could see a dim, pulsating light coming from the tip of the roof of one of the stone buildings.  The chanting grew louder as the gang moved in closer, noticing that these were not stones at all.  What Embry thought were simple stones from on high, were really tombstones that time had taken. 

                With the chanting hitting a fever pitch,  moaning and crackling began to erupt.  Skeletons rose from the graves, bumbling and lashing.  Alandel and Alistair went forward and stood tall against the shambling horde, fighting and blasting what they could.  Wyyntr, on the other hand, had a more practical approach.  Using her arcane knowledge of all things dead, she was able to take control of all but a few of the skeletons, making them her puppets.  Turning the skeletons on each other, the first wave was finished.  

                The chanting began to repeat itself, and through the door of the small stone buildings shambled more skeletons and one fresh zombie, all looking towards the intrepid fighters.

                With the fighting continued, Embry had managed to sneak around in the woods.  Making his way to the small stone buildings, he was able to see the glowing stone attached to the roof of one of the buildings.  Climbing on top of the roof, The Ranger was able to let the roof free of the red, glowing stone.  

                Examining the stone, The Elf was able to see a face staring back at him.  The chanting had stopped, while the eyes in the stone peered back at Embry.

                “You Again!” hissed the face in the stone.

                Embry simply smiled and waved back

                “I have had it with you, Ranger!” the face said.   And with that, the stone went silent.

                The Zombie and skeletons had already been awoken, but this was no match for these four.  Wyyntr was able to enslave a few more skeletons, while Alistair, Alandel and Mercedes finished off what remained.

                Regrouping, in the heart of the cemetery, Embry gave the stone to Wyyntr for examination.   Three skulls had been imprinted on one side of the stone, while the front of it now appeared to be no more than a simple ruby.   No more voice and no more face could be found inside the stone.

                Gathering themselves and their new skeletal crew, the team decided to journey west to the next spot on the map.  However, not wanting to be found in the dead of night, the group decided to march through the woods.  Embry took the lead, followed by six skeletal troops, while the other 3 brought up the rear.

                Coming upon the next location, a clearing under the tree tops could be seen.   A small rock formation with a miniature cave could be seen at the edge of the clearing.  Embry took the fore-front and asked the others to stay behind so he could asses what was near or in the cave.  Looking at the ground, he could see tracks of blood and were-bears could be seen leading inwards.

                Going back and reporting to the party, the group decided to flush out the beasts by making a lot of noise from behind the skeletal troops.  Easily awoken, and angered, three werebears crawled out of the cave.  Furious that their evening was being wrecked by a band of interlopers, the monsters lashed out at the first thing they saw.  The skeletons stood their ground and took a beating, while The Druid and his Raptor advanced and attacked momma bear.  Embry decided to square off with Papa bear, while Alistair and Wyyntr duked it out with baby bear.  

                After a flurry of teeth, bone, spears, and magic, Papa bear and Baby bear fell to the warriors.  Mama bear, angry but realizing she was in danger, ran away through the forest and escaped to safety.   The night was won.

                Not wanting to waste a good corpse, before the werebears could change back, the gang was able to skin the were-bears of their pelts and keep them for themselves.  Additionally, Embry was able to find a two sided steel battle ax in the cave. 

                With dawn approaching, the travelers walked back to camp and decided to eat, rest, position the skeletons as watchmen, and wait to search the final clearing.

                XP gained – (someone remind me of the nights final calculations so I can imput it.  I really need a record keeper)

                Treasure acquired – Battle Ax, Mysterious Ruby.

Chapter 3 - Attack on the Atrium

               With the wagon packed, the courageous team of Alistair, Embry, Alandel, and Wyyntr packed up their wagon and headed a out of town.  While leaving the town, they decided to make the cave that had just recently become vacated their base of operations.  Having packed the wagon full of booze, food, chairs, tables, and whatever wasn’t nailed to the floor of the Green Pony ( although, Alistair most likely tried to take the nails as well) there were more than enough supplies for them to stock the cave and make a nice, although dank, home.

                Setting up shop came easy once everyone had unloaded the cave.   The group decided that since there were no more doors, as they had been kicked in and shattered, that they would all take turns watching the front room of the cave that had the only door outside, alternating shifts to The Druid and the Wizard so they could meditate.

                After being at the cave for a day and a night, it was once again Alandel’s turn to watch the front entrance.  While he was up front, Wyyntr was in the far back room pouring over an old book.  Embry was in the storage room where the dragon eggs were found searching, and finding, a hidden entrance to the surface.  Alistair was passed out near the pit sleeping off a nasty drunk. 

                At midnight, footsteps began to rumble outside of the cave entrance.  The distinct sound of marching soldiers rang into the Druid’s ears.  While he rose to his feet, a knight, clad head to toe in black entered the cave.  Alandel rang the warning bell to let the others know there was an emergency.  The Ranger and the Wizard heard the call, and ran to his aid, while the gnome slept through the warning.

                Alandel lunged at the knight, dealing some damage with his spear.  Embry appeared in the entrance way and fired a arrow at the knight, while Wyyntr shot a magic blast at the same time.  The knight still stood tall, and took a swipe at Alandel, taking a chunk of his arm in the process.  The druid lunged again while the soldier moved around him, and struck true with his spear.  The knight was still at his feet.  Another knight appeared in the doorway, and made his way to Wyyntr.  The Ranger fired an arrow at one Knight, while the Wizard took another swipe with her magic at the soldier that was approaching her.  Alistair finally joined the fight and let forth with some magic of his own, casting an illusion of a dragon’s roar and terrifying the second soldier.

                The Druid was finally able to put down the first night, with an assist from The Ranger, but not before the second man struck Wyyntr down.   With Wyyntr laying on the floor,  a knight in gold appeared in the entrance and demanded that the group surrender and stand trial for their crimes in Macridi, the killing of three city guards, one bar owner, and the chief constable of Macridi.  

                Embry stepped forward and warned the Gold Plated man to leave.  The Captain of these troops scoffed at the notion, and once again demanded their surrender or they would surley die.  Reaching from his belt, The Elf threw a bottle of Alchemist Fire on the black night, while splashing the gold captain and the door way (seriously, this was some Batman shit.  The Ranger thinks he is The Dark Knight of Gotham mixed with The Green Arrow).  The black soldier had perished, while the captain ran out of the cave, burning and cussing the Ranger. 

                While the entrance Burned, Embry and Alandel brought the Necromancer back to the waking world and let her heal.  Realizing they were outnumbered, and out classed in a physical fight, the group drew back out of the cavernous atrium, and held the hallway leading to the back rooms.  As the fire guarded the entrance way, they devised a small plan on how to guard their new home.

                The Atrium soon filled up with nine black knights, along with the burned golden captain.  Once again, the Captain demanded surrender.  

The Ranger had one motto for this night.  Death First

Fury and Rage flew through the door as The Ranger flung another vile of Alchemist fire at the knights, followed by The Druid and the Sorcerer taking a vile from Embry, and splashing the knights right and left.  The Atrium was now filled with Green Flame and burning soldiers.   The knights and the captain ran out of the cave, trying to keep their lives intact.

As dawn broke, and the team had licked their wounds and looted the corpses of the fallen soldiers, a voice beckoned from outside, asking to meet with the men who had dispatched with his soldiers, saying that he did not come to harm them and would like a guarantee that we would also not be harmed if he entered the cave.

The faction of warriors gathered and agreed to let the man enter.  Through the entrance stepped a man dressed in fine garb carrying a bagpipe around his shoulder, followed by a large brute of a barbarian guarding his back side.  The man introduced himself as Lord Darish of Randric.     The Lord informed the four battle worn combatants that they were wanted for murder in Macridi and they were to stand trial for these crimes.  However, he could make these charges disappear if the gang was willing to play ball.

Lord Darish gave the four an offer.  There were some bandits that were causing him a great deal of trouble.  Normally, he would send the Black Jackets to take care of these matters, however, this was a “delicate” matter that did not need to be hacked and slashed to bits.  He needed a small group with a bit of finesse to dispatch with these bandits.  Additionally, the bandits had taken something quiet precious.  A necklace with a blue stone pendent.  The Lord was very keen that this was to also be retrieved for him. 

After some negotiating with Embry, Lord Darish agreed that he would give them a two week writ of pass while they proceeded with their investigation along with a map of his findings as to where the bandits may be located.  

The Lord and his guard turned on heel, and walked out of the cave, leaving the adventurers to prepare for their next journey.

XP gained – 2600 per person (seriously, those were some tough ass knights)

Additional XP – 300 per person for story advancement.

Total – 2900 XP

All party members are now at Level 2 (possibly level 3 now)

Chapter 2 - Pesky Skulls

Kobolds

                With the moon setting, and the sun rising on the east, our heroes awake to a new day.  Sleeping without any disruptions through the night, near the cave entrance, the party suited up and attempted another go into the cave. 

                The initial chamber was without peril, except for the smoldering ashes of one Kobold guard.  Walking through the cavern, they walked through the hallway and decided to stay the course and press on over the pit that had lead to the fall of the Druid.  With a little skill and luck, everyone was able to jump across the perilous hole.    Walking a little further down the hall, and taking a quick peak around the corner, the party came upon a storage room containing two treasure chests. 

                After some debate as to who would go first, Embry ,the Elven Ranger, opened the first chest from behind.  This quick thinking lead to  his safety, as the first chest was merely a decoy containing nothing more than an acid trap.   The acid splashed to the floor, bubbling and fizzing.  Alistair, the gnome sorcerer, opened the second chest from behind.   Telling his party that this chest was also empty, Alistair emptied the contents of the chest, including a rare Camp Fire bead, into his pockets without the party knowing. 

                With this room empty, the group left the chamber, walked down the hallway and attempted to jump across the pit again.  Unfortunately, Alandel, the druid,  fell into the pit yet again (seriously, same damn pit.  What are the damn odds on that one?).  This time, however, he was able to brace for the fall and survive with a little life left in him.   The Ranger threw a rope down that hole, and the Druid was able to scale out of the pit.  With the party gathered together, there was only one hallway left to explore. 

                Deeper into the cavern, The company of adventurers traveled forward.   Unfortunately, those pesky reptiles had set traps in the hallway.  With Embry in the front, the first trap sprung to life.  Arrows darted out of the wall,.  However, The Elf was able to roll out of the way just in time.   As he moved forward, a second trap came to life.   Fortune was not on his side, as he took two darts to the knee. Surviving this mechanical ambush, Embry picked himself up, took the darts out of his knees, and carried on. 

                Finding the crudely constructed door at the end of the hallway, Embry kicked open the door and surprised a group of Kobolds gathered around a campfire.  With this shocking attack, The Ranger fired off two arrows and was able to dispatch with two of the lizard men with great ease.  The druid followed and attacked one of the Kobolds, knocking the lizard unconscious.  Alistair and Wyyntr performing a near tag team attack, were able to get rid of the last lizard standing. 

                Searching the bodies,  finding little to nothing except for a spear that the druid took with him, Embry tossed one of the fallen Kobold bodies into the fire.  Creating a dense smoke, a cough was heard from the ceiling.  The group looked up, and saw a Kobold dressed in all black clinging to the roof of the cave.     

                Jumping down, the Lizard hissed at the party.  Embry was able to punch the kobold,  only stunning him a little.  Alandel struck , but only brushed the Kobold’s hair with  his staff.   Embry was able to get a shot off, only winging the enemy’s arm.  The Kobold lunged for the Druid with two daggers in his hands, but only caught his cape, as though they were locked in some awkward dance.   Alistair took his shot, and wounded the enemy, while Wyyntr readied her cross bow.   Alandel struck again, this time finishing the rouge lizard and curb stomping his head into the cavern floor.

                Tossing his body aside, a note fell from the adversaries cloak.  The envelope, ordained with three skulls on the front, contained a note written in Draconian that said “Keep the eggs.  Wait for me”.  

                Looking around the cave, the intrepid troop noticed a door to the side that was well made, far from anything that the Kobolds could construct.  Bad luck, though, as it was locked.  Alistair tried to drop kick it down, but it did not budge.  Same result for the druid.  The third attempt by Embry loosened the door , giving way to a secret chamber.  Embry and Wyyntr walked into the room, and before them stood two chests.  The first chest, opened by Embry, contained some gold and a few wears from the torn apart wagon.  The second chest, Elven in make, was locked.  Wyyntr attempted to open the lock with a spell, but was only able to turn a few tumblers.  Embry asked the Wizard to leave it alone, and suggested they pick the chest up and walk back out of the cave with it in tow.

So Tiny - So Psychic

                Once outside, the party asked Embry to open the chest so they could see what was contained within.  The Ranger pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the chest.  Inside the chest was a sight to behold, as three dragon eggs were nestled in a silk lining.  A noise from under The elves cloak began to make itself known.  Embry reached into a satchel at his side, and pulled a small lizard from his side.  This was a fire lizard.  A pet of enormous potential.  Small in stature, and unsuitable for combat, these Lizard are the perfect spy and communication tool, with abilities in Teleportation to known people and places and telepathy with its owner, this wondrous creature was a sight to behold.

                With a cry from The Ranger’s pet, the other eggs began to crack.  Out of the box sprang three little fire lizards, opening their eyes to the new world around them and greeting the morning with small caws and yelps.   The baby dragons marched forward and chose their new owners.  With each party member receiving a new pet, the trepid adventurers walked away from the camp, found and hitched the wagon to their mounts, and headed back to Macridi.

                Arriving at the town of Macridi, the troop went in search of Mr. Telhook to claim their reward and deliver the bad news about the wagon and its contents.  Entering the Green Pony,  Embry noticed that Mr. Telhook was passed out at the bar.  Walking over to wake the sleeping drunk, Alistair poked the bar owner, sending his body sliding out of the bar stool and on to the floor.  Checking for a pulse, it was obvious that Telhook was dead, but not for long as his body was still slightly warm.    Wyyntr briefly brought the corpse back to the world of the living.  In this brief moment, Mr. Telhook was able to tell them that he didn’t know exactly who had struck him down, but that he was poisoned and the money in his . 

                With no obvious evidence of foul play,  The Druid went up stairs to search The Bar owner’s room to see if their payment.  The entire room had been ransacked except for an empty envelope marked with three skulls.    With the Druid preoccupied with searching the room, the rest of the party remained downstairs looking for something good to drink and plotting their next move.  Suddenly, three men dressed burst through the door.  One bald man, introducing himself as Captain Picard of the city guard, informed the party that they were under arrest for the murder of James Telhook. 

                Embry gave them fair warning, but the guards would hear none of this.  With the speed only an elf could react with, a dagger found its way into the Captain’s neck.  Falling to the ground with blood spurting forth like a volcano, the Captain was finished.  Alistair and Wyyntr attacked the other guards with some bolts of concentrated magic, blasting them against separate walls.  From the balcony, Alandel leaped over the balcony and finished one guard by crushing his head with a staff.  The lone guard tried to defend himself, but the team was too much, and was quickly finished. 

                While cleaning up and looting the fallen guards, a figure appeared in the doorway.  Announcing himself as the town leader, he politely asked warned the travelers to leave town.  Pulling out his scimitar, Embry took hostage of the strange man and threatened to take his hand if he didn’t tell him who killed Telhook and why.  The Man became quickly terrified of the Ranger and spilled his guts if the troop would get him out of town and take him as far as the city of Greengold in Kyonin.  He had killed Telhook and ransacked the room, taking all money and anything of value. Additionally, he spilled his guts about who he was working for.  A group known as the Three Skulls, and that he was a dead man for just telling Embry their name.

                Splitting  the party up, Embry took the Town Leader by sword point so they could retrieve the money that was rightfully theirs, Alandel went to the store to look for a proper cart pulling horse, and Wyyntr and Alistair stayed at the Green Pony to search of anything left behind (mostly, just looking for money according to the gnome).

                While walking down the streets of Macridi,  The Leader kept begging to leave quickly, and that the Three Skulls were on to him already.  Embry demanded that the man lead him to the money.   Walking up to his house, as soon as he unlocked the front door, an arrow found a new home within the leaders head.  Embry spun around to see who fired upon his hostage, but could only make out a shadowed figure running on the roof tops across the street.   Looking through the house, The Ranger was able to find the missing loot, along with a few rubies, and some extra cash.   Grabbing an owl-bear rug off the floor and rolling the body up, The elf hoisted the hidden corpse on his shoulder and walked back to the Green Pony.

                Meeting his friends inside, Alistair and Wyyntr were able to find a few gold pieces lying around the bar and a whole lot of booze.  Alandel was able to secure a new horse to pull the wagon.  The Party was now ready to hit the road with fresh supplies and a new corpse.

(Notable Treasures found – Camp fire bead, Ring of Arcane signets, Fire Lizard x 3)

(XP Gained – 475 points each)

Chapter 1 - Deeper into the Bush

On a calm, breezy evening in the town of Macridi, four Adventurers set out for a search and rescue mission.  A merchant, accompanied an elf ranger known as Embry,  burst into a Tavern known as The Green Pony.  Mr. Tellhook  was looking for a few stout warriors to hunt down his missing caravan.  The crowded bar was silent, except for a three people taking advantage of the situation for glory and money; A half-elf necromancer named Wyyntr,  Alistair, A gnome sorcerer, and a elven druid named Alandel Grantron . 

Meeting in the VIP room of the tavern, the adventurers are given the details.  A wagon, traveling from the capital city of Kerse that first set wheels to ground from Greengold,  was set to arrive two days ago.  A lost wagon on this route was nothing new, but this particular shipment was very rare and valuable.   A shipment sent from the Elves to arrive in Druma, it was last seen leaving Kerse . Alistair spoke up asking how much was this retrieval worth.  The merchant agreed that this was worth 1000 gold pieces to the party, providing the merchandise is retrieved. 

Exiting the Green Pony, the Adventurers decide that it is best to take their mounts for a walk.  Wyyntr mounted up on her horse, The Druid climbed upon his Mercedes, his Raptor,  and the Gnome, much to the amusement of the rest of the party, climbed upon his dog.   Looking in puzzlement at their newly found friend, Embry, wondering how he was going to keep up with the rest of the troop.  Looking upon the sky, Embry let out a lyrical whistle.   A caw was returned through the air, and a hippogriff soared towards the party and landed at the feet of the regal traveler.

Heading North from Macridi in the cover of night, the party came upon a destroyed wagon, two slain oxen, and the bodies of the two men driving the cart.  The cart itself was ravaged completely.   Embry was able to indentify this as the cart that was carrying the cargo that was set to arrive two days ago.  With no tracks noticeable as to where the attackers were or who did this, Wyyntr kneeled next to the dead ranger who was accompanying the cart on its way to Macridi.  Casting a spell, the Ranger groaned to life with his soul infused into his decaying body.   Asking 3 questions to the Ranger, Wyntrr was able to learn that the men were jumped from a barrage of arrows coming from the side of the road, but the attackers were never seen.  The Gnome inspected the bodies and the caravan, but were unable to find anything.  Everything was looted, and, while the wagon itself did not have any structural damage, the canopy was torn apart and all cargo was taken.  Embry leaned over the men, inspected the bodies, and determined that these was no normal attack, but the work of Kobolds.

Having his Dog and Mercedes sniff around the wagon, the animals were able to pick up the scent of the Kobolds, and knew where to track them.    Detaching the wagon, and pulling it to the side of the road and hiding it in the brush, the group set off being led by a Raptor and Dog.  

Not too far from the road, after traversing through some rough bush, a cave is discovered with a few Kobold tracks leading inside.  Leaving the hippogriff and horse, being lead by Embry, the adventurers decided to enter the cave and see where the cargo was taken.

The entrance of the cave was a large, simple cavern.  A fire burned in the center of the cave, while one lowly Kobold guarded a door on the left side of the cave.   Seeing an elf carrying a torch into his room, the Kobold advanced on Embry taking a swipe and doing a little damage.  Embry managed to get off an arrow from his bow, but missed.  However, Wyyntr was able to cast a few magic missiles, slaying the Kobold and knocking his corpse into the fire. 

Finding the door, Embry kicked the door apart, opening a path deeper into the cavern.  The party, walking deeper into the dark cavern, came upon a fork in the path.  With Alistair marking the way, the group went left.  Farther down the cavernous hallway, Embry nearly met his demise by falling into a pit.  However, detecting this before it was too late, Embry was able to flip backwards.   Seeing it was not that far across the pit, The Ranger was able to jump over the pit.  Wyyntr was able to leap across the trap, as was Alistair and his dog.  However, not riding his Raptor, Alandel slipped while trying to jump across and fell 20 feet into the pit, knocking himself unconscious.

Reaching into his knapsack, Embry pulled out a rope and scaled to the bottom of the pit to rescue the fallen comrade.  Picking the Druid up, and climbing back out of the hole, the troop decided this was enough for now, and they all needed to rest.  Walking back out of the cave, with Embry healing  Alandel and bringing him back to the waking world, the adventures decided to make camp at the entrance of the Cave, hoping they would be left alone for the rest of the night.