Chronicle

Mon 1 June 1580

AThe Party arrives at the port of Kirk after a long journey "across the sea". The group was assembled by Ub (a dwarfen thief) who possesses a map directing us to the Lichway. The Party at this point consists of Ub, Dran, Nalin, Caerlig and Calligula.

A The Party know that Kirk is an outlet for the trade route north to Jollwater Bridge, Domstoss and dwarfen and elven kingdoms. The trade route was once prosperous but is not so much now due to marauding bands of humanoids. The area is Celtic Christian.

B The Party enter the "Ship" inn on the 'nice' side of Kirk and meet an extremely talkative merchant called Casker Ragson. We inform him that we are hired mercenaries and looking for our employer Slartibartfast whom he tells us may be in the posh "Ermine Coat" inn.

B Casker tells us that all trade between Kirk and Jollwater must travel in convoy with many guards because of the marauding bands of humanoids. However, despite these precautions, half of the convoys are attacked by kobolds, orcs, goblins, bugbears and svart (often working together). All convoys are thus well kept secrets with people being told only a few hours before one is due to depart.

B He also tells us that a few years before Lord Grain of Castle Domstoss won a war against the orcs and so the route from Jollwater to Domstoss is pretty well guarded by his forces.

B We also discover that a man called Tarantamer is an agent for Casker.

B It would seem that there are three major forces in Kirk, the harbour master - whose forces wear an anchor on white; the bishop - whose forces wear white and blue and the guild master General. Timothy the Paladin is a very popular figure but he is away at the moment.

B Kirk is a centre of leather working, rates between 40 to 100 gold pieces. There is a druidic village called Sturville.

A The Party spend the night at the "Crossed Swords".

Tue 2 June 1580

A The Party leave Kirk early via the North gate which is guarded by ten pikemen. About two miles down the coast road we find a cave with a well concealed passage. We enter a cavern and cross a bridged river with a wharf and disused towers on the other side. The Party hear a whistling sound and find a barge containing a rotting chest. It is smashed open and contains a gold goblet and something that is smashed.

A After killing two stirges we enter a hexagonal hall and see two zombies and a ghoul lying on the floor. We hear noises at one door and enter the room to be met by four thieves. We kill one and they tell us they got a map of the Lichway from Odo who stayed in the "Crossed Swords". [Life was more straightforward in the early days! - Ed]

A We find Amdor the Magnificent behind a door, we think he is a magician. Amdor tells us that the Sandlanders buried their dead in the Lichway, putting the bodies behind stone slabs. Amdor thinks that the Sandlanders battled with the Lizardmen and then left. He also tells us that Odo is a user of Magic who lives somewhere in the Lichway with a band of fighters, clerics and thieves.

A Amdor leads us through a secret door to where Odo lives. The thieves we fought are called Venomen, Luke and Pipluk - who is an elf.

A Ranson is the boss of the Thieves Guild. We decide that the thieves will get one sixth of the loot.

B We can no longer hear the whistling. At the end of the secret passage we enter a room which contains a bound, naked woman and an exhausted man. We kill the man and free the woman who turns out to be Pinella - a magic user. We find a cleric called Paxon in some cells. They both join the Party.

C The Party cross a bridge over a small river and enter a room containing a gnome looking at a cube. We attack the gnome who is supported by other followers and Odo. They are all killed except for Odo who escapes. We kill Amdor and enter another room in which we find a statuette with a crystal ball or pearl and a chest containing 85 gold pieces. 83 silver pieces a pot containing ashes, a cube, 3 flasks of oil and 3 torches.

C Later we find 397 platinum pieces, 237 gold pieces and 2 gems with base values of 100 gold pieces and 500 gold pieces respectively, on the end of a chain in the waterfall, guarded by two koalinths.

D The Party returns to Kirk

Wed 3 June 1580

B It is market day in Kirk.

B Calligula is taken ill but friends Charteris and Elsbeth arrive. We book in to the "Crossed Swords" for a full week and head back to the Lichway.

A The Party enter the south door in the hexagonal room and find four goblins and a hobgoblin torching a stirge. We kill three of the goblins, the hobgoblin and a second hobgoblin [for good measure - Ed] although one goblin escapes. We find 20 gold pieces and 30 silver pieces. Looking at the shield it would seem that the hobgoblins symbol is an eye pierced with an arrow, also blood and the goblins have a ragged staff on their shields.

A We go west and capture the other goblin whom we force to walk in to a water filled room. It drowns in the deeper water. [I am transcribing this from the manuscript original towards the end of 1588, the Party has obviously gone soft since the early days, I suspect the influence of Farlas - Ed]

A We return to the hexagonal room and burn the ghoul. Ub kills the zombies. We enter a room through double doors which contains a ten foot high statue of a vampire on a pedestal and a freshwater stream running beneath two arches. There is a bridge of bones over the water and two open lichgates.

A A message on the pedestal reads:

 Bathe Sandlander and Restful

Ease your Cares

Till the singer stills his song

Then rise to claim your wares

A Charteris cannot "Detect evil" in the statue.

A We enter a long corridor which contains many skeletons in alcoves behind slabs on which are written words in an old language. There are fifty skeletons, no it's more like sixty! Further down the passage is a fifteen foot high metal statue of a skeleton resting on a five foot high plinth.

A We meet and fight a dozen svarts who surrender after two of the are killed. Elsbeth and Calligula [I thought he was ill - Ed] torture and kill four svarts who give us a book entitled "Embarrassing facts about Hobbits", 161 gold pieces and 140 silver pieces. [We'd have to pillage and entire town to get that much these days - Ed] The remaining six svarts are released, they have green stars on their shields.

A Dran and Nalin kill a spider and we find a flail, 45 copper pieces, a vial of Holy water, 2 pelts, 2 silver arrows, a longbow, a flask of water, 2 flasks of greek fire, a garlic bud, 37 silver pieces, a gold ring with a precious stone, 85 gold pieces, a sword with writing on and a hand axe. [You have got to be kidding! - Ed]

A We find a five foot stone platform supporting a ten foot square cage of silver bars containing a whistling creature.

A We go up the north passage and enter a room containing sticks of incense and a bottle with silver specs. The next room is unoccupied. The third room contains three giant rats which we kill, some belladonna, a mace, a silver cross, 52 copper pieces, a gold anklet inscribed with the word "Rena" and some rotting foodstuffs.

A A fourth room contains bars pointing outwards from opposite walls with a suit of plate mail with holes inbetween. The spikes seem safe to pass through and we enter a fifth room which contains five dead kobolds and a dead dog. We enter Dark Odo's quarters which have been cleared out.

A The Party return to the whistling creature and kill it. Unfortunately this causes 650 skeletons to animate. [Who counted? - Ed] We escape via secret passageways, spiking doors and fighting and "Turning" numerous skeletons.

B Back in Kirk the cubes are traded for 25 gold pieces each and 12 gold pieces is obtained from a local merchant for the silk from Dark Odo's lair.

B Nalin puts down a deposit of 100 gold pieces for a suit of plate mail with Homer, one of the men of Darrius Olmein - a major merchant. Darrius Olmein's residence is at the end of Saddler Street.

B The Party search for Pinella and Paxon at the church but Ilgan Tremdaine tells us they are not there. We move on to the poor quarter and eventually find them in a tavern. Everyone except the dwarfs gets drunk and staggers back to the "Crossed Swords".

C Pinella tells us that she can cast spells. "Dancing lights", "Enlarge", "Light", "Magic missile", "Shield", "Tenser's floating disk" and "Read magic" are her specialities. Paxon claims to be a 2nd level cleric. [Whatever that is! - Ed]

B Pinella uses her "Read magic" spell to discover that the writing on the sword says "Bloodletter". The sword also has a secret compartment which contains a milky liquid and a cube with different runes on each side.

B The barman tells us that he may be able to find work for us. All the humans except for Dran and Elsbeth get slightly pissed again. [Some things never change - Ed]

Thur 4 June 1580

A At about 9 a.m. the Party awake and discover Elsbeth crying over the dead body of Ub. It turns out that she killed him after commanding him to "Sleep" as he would not love her!! Dran returns from a false errand that Elsbeth had sent him on and kills her in a fit of rage. The church guard soon arrive and the leading cleric decides that Dran will have to be taken in to custody to await trial by the bishop.

A The Party urgently try to find a cleric to raise Ub from the dead but there are non of sufficient power in this land. The church takes Ub's body and all his belongings which they use to pay for pickling him and shipping him overseas for resurrection.

B Nalin puts down the remaining 100 gold piece deposit for his plate mail with Homer.

A The trial of Dran will be on Monday 8 June.

B The remainder of the Party go to the cathedral where we see a large crowd listening to a methodist cleric ranting and roaring. We speak with the curate, Ilgan Tremdaine, who says there may be a way of earning Dran's release. Outside the cathedral Nalin rushes over to the methodist cleric, Rantroarer, and says "I repent of all evil" being converted to the same religion as Rantroarer (Methodist). Nalin introduces Rantroarer to the group and all return to the "Crossed Swords" where everyone except Nalin and Rantroarer drink.

C A soldier named Lucius introduces himself to us and asks to join. Lucius tells us that he has been guarding convoys and has a reasonable knowledge of the road between Kirk and Jollwater.

Fri 5 June 1580

A The barman at the "Crossed Swords" tells us that a merchant named Kaifos wishes to see us. Kaifos tells us that a few weeks ago the "Ragged Cane" tribe of goblins ambushed a merchant convoy and stole, amongst other things, a silver cross which was one of his family heirlooms. He is willing to pay 600 gold pieces for its recovery. He says that the goblins live 10 to 12 miles up the Joll road.

A Kaifos also tells us that the three main centres of power are vying with each other for control of Kirk and the five surrounding villages. At the moment one village is under the control of the harbour master, one under the bishop, one is independent (but receives noble visits from Lord Grain) and two are Druidic (democratic) - under Sturville.

A The barman tells us about a convoy going to Jollwater and says he will give us more information nearer the time. He also passes on a note inviting us to the bishop's residence in the evening. We meet another merchant who entrusts us with a letter to deliver to a sage named Agaff in Tislesp, a small village off the trade route along the river. He will provide boats and pay us 100 gold pieces on return with a reply.

B We arrive at the bishop's residence at about 7 p.m.. The curate introduces us to Annar Hasaldin, the head of the church troops. The bishop invites Rantroarer to preach at the church on Sunday. After dinner we retire to the drawing room where the bishop tells us there is evil in Jollwater Bridge. He says that the head of the church in Jollwater, Pastor Marius Tellman is an evil person but of great popularity in the town. The bishop wants us to kill Marius, who is very powerful, as he wishes Ilgan Tremdaine to take over as pastor. The bishop will release Dran as payment for the job and will hold Charteris fully responsible.

Sat 6 June 1580

A The barman at the "Crossed Swords" gives us two messages to be delivered to the towns of Orlane and Fafehel, we will be paid 50 gold pieces on return. A man named Stanod gives us 25 gold pieces to deliver a message with 25 more on return. We spend the afternoon at the market.

Sun 7 June 1580

A The Party find that the convoy is to leave this morning and we are given a letter of introduction by a merchant not going to Jollwater. There are about 80 soldiers with the convoy and the journey progresses well until about 10 miles from Jollwater. The convoy is attacked by a group of 12 Flind (Gnoll like creatures).

A We eventually get through these and arrive at Jollwater Bridge. It is smaller than Kirk and stands on a hill between the two rivers Joll. The church and rich houses are on the hill whilst other poorer houses are down below. We stay at the "Golden Pike" inn.

B The Party all attend a service at the church give by Tellman. He talks to Rantroarer and Calligula who asks about the bishop. The pastor then leaves us and goes off with a dirty traveller whom he appears to know well.

Mon 8 June 1580

A The Party buy a war/tracking dog for 30 gold pieces and assign it to Calligula as he paid the additional 5 gold pieces required to meet the price.

B The Party goes to see Marius Tellman who is wearing a wand case and has a mace at his side. He is with the dirty traveller who is a ranger named Balman. Tellman tells us not to trust Caerlig.

Tue 9 June 1580

A The Party travel up river by boat.

Wed 10 June 1580

A The Party arrive at Tislesp which is walled and very bureaucratic. We hand over all our weapons, other than daggers and longbows which we are allowed to keep, and sign papers for them. There is a large twelve sided domed temple in Tislesp. We deliver the message to the sage who tells us that they follow the religion of Carole. She also tells us that the tower at Fafehel is the abode of a long dead Necromancer. [was the abode? - Ed] She does not like Marius Tellman.

A Rantroarer tries to preach to the villagers using Nalin as an example but this results in them both being arrested and put in cells. Nalin is beaten up because he is a dwarf.

Thur 11 June 1580

A The captain of the guard releases Nalin and Rantroarer who are told never to set foot in Tislesp again. The Party set off by boat for Orlane.

Fri 12 June 1580

A On arrival at Orlane the Party go to the nearest house where a boy is playing outside. Rantroarer converts the man [The owner of the house? - Ed] who tells us that something odd has been going on in the village. Recently a couple of elves have arrived in the village and are keeping themselves to themselves. [There's a joke in there somewhere! - Ed]

A We deliver the letter to the mayor, Zaccharius Ormonde. He thinks that a hermit in the grove to the west is the problem. We receive a reply to the message from the mayor and go to see the elves.

B The elves talk to Calligula in elven, fortunately Lucius understands as they say something about evil. [In fact it was unfortunate, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing - only I was evil - Calligula]. The elves are very unhelpful so we go to visit the hermit. The hermit turns out to be equally unhelpful so we leave the grove and discuss him amongst the Party.

B Calligula goes off to train his dog so the Party decide to get rid of him because he is obviously evil.

B The Party return to the "Slumbering Serpent" inn where both Rantroarer and Charteris attempt to command Calligula to "Sleep".... but fail (Calligula is an elf!). Calligula commands Charteris to "Cannibalise" so all the Party with the exception of Dran attack him. Calligula's dog bites Nalin who despatches the dog with one blow whilst Lucius knocks Calligula unconcious. Unfortunately Charteris bites a villager who collapses so Rantroarer uses "Cure light wounds" and cures him. Nalin is also healed as is Calligula.

B The Party is ejected from Orlane so heads towards Fefehel. We appear to have converted Calligula to neutrality and build him a raft so he can go to Sturville.

Sat 13 June 1580

A The Party returns to Fefehel at noon to find the small village deserted except for a small boy. He tells us that the people of Fefehel have been walking up the hill to the tower and back down again all day. He discovered this on his return from an errand. The people are chanting "Neslam ill neasa ecram".

A We approach the stone tower. It is a hollow construction about 40 feet high supported by four 12 foot high pillars which are about seven feet thick. The villages, 30 - 40 in number, walk round one of these pillars. Rantroarer is able to detect evil beneath him to the west, south west - in fact all around. One of the pillars is hollow.

B Fizz a (gay) magic user approaches us supposedly doing some research. Dran lifts Fizz to the top of the pillar where he can see stairs and a door inside the pillar. Fizz is lowered by rope to the ground inside the pillar where he sees a red hand mark which he presses and a door opens. The whole Party descend the stairs and enter the dungeon.

B We see five ivory stakes pinning moving human corpses to the floor. Between the bodies is a jewelled skull on a plinth. We find it impossible to bypass the corpses so enter a corridor with 18 suits of plate mail lined up 9 to either side. The suits appear to be empty but actually contain invisible zombies which attack in pairs as you pass them. We kill 11 and 7 are turned.

B We descend more spiral stairs and enter a room with pillars and an altar on which lies a body in a pentacle. Two gold statues and a black glass triangle also lie on the altar, there is also a painted black line. We kill the seven turned zombies, Nalin being particularly successful. However Rantroarer becomes unconscious and we are forced to leave the tower and spend the night in the village. The wounded are healed and an uneventful night passes.

Sun 14 June 1580

A We return to the alter room where everyone suffers a loss of strength. We are attacked by three shadows who can only be hit with magic weapons. As Dran is the only person with a magic weapon we beat a hasty retreat. We leave the lower level and return to the room containing the staked corpses. Rantroarer pours a vial of holy water upon the apex of the pentacle which is outside the circle. This causes the body to cease moving. He then walks over to the skull and ties a rope round it and walks back out of the pentacle. Next the rope is pulled and the skull comes out of the pentacle. As the skull passes the still body a black gas appears and the body starts to move again. The pentacle is only revealed by a "Detect magic" spell. The skull contains seven amethysts. We return once again to the alter room and attempt to hit the shadows with burning oil. We miss so we leave.

B The Party return to Tislesp and collect the letter from the sage. We tell the sage about Fefehel and she tells us the tower is called the Tower of the Black Spear. She also tells us to seek out the abomination in the forest of Arhanfarg only two miles to the north west. She says the abomination is a very evil window.

Mon 15 June 1580

A The Party head in to the forest of Arhanfarg and find a clearing containing the window. We find it impossible to approach the window together as the undergrowth seems to force us apart. At first Charteris approaches the window and sees a vision of a pentacle with landmarks on the vertices. The other members of the Party approach the window and all have the same vision. Charteris and Rantroarer also find that they have been given an additional first level spell. Before approaching the window we could see a corpse in it with a flower growing out of its eye.

B The Party return to the sage, Agaff, and tell her of the vision. Agaff tells us that one of the vertices is at a place known as the Dragon's Brook to the south east whilst two others are Castle Cesille and Sartingol

Tue 16 June 1580

Fizz and Dran leave Tislesp and join Nalin and Rantroarer who are forced to stay outside [Why? - Ed]

Wed 17 June 1580

A The Party return to Jollwater where a message awaits in the "Golden Pike" to meet Marius Tellman immediately. The whole Party go to see Tellman who is with Balman. Tellman tells us that Pinella has returned to Kirk and hopes to leave by boat [Has she gone or hasn't she? - Ed] whilst Paxon has joined the church in Jollwater. Tellman also tells us that the pentacle needs to be destroyed and says that Balman will help to destroy one or two vertices.

A Marius Tellman checks the amethysts and holy water bought from the sage and supplies Nalin with a new hammer. Balman brings a canoe with him.

Thur 18 June 1580

A The Party travel up river towards the Dragon's Back. Balman finds a concealed entrance in a cliff and we all enter. Nalin sees 3 orcs in the cavern so the Party attack with surprise and kill them. [Yawn! - Ed] [GPN - Balman has a blazing sword - quite good!].

B We enter a passage leading from the cavern. In room adjacent to the passage we find 12 beds and two orcs which we capture. [I wonder how long until we kill them? - Ed] In one room is a locked chest. We interrogate the orcs and find a secret door. We kill the orcs [Less than one line!! - Ed] and go down stairs to a lower level.

B Here we walk along a long passage and enter a room with braziers, a statue with a single black eye and a human cleric. The cleric casts a "Hold person" spell on Balman and five orcs appear. [Not the usual effect when casting a "Hold person" - Ed] Eventually the orcs and the cleric are killed and the statue is defiled by two vials of holy water. 1,200 gold pieces and a potion are found in the chest and some jewels which Balman takes.

B During the night 40 orcs arrive. We kill ten and the rest flee.

Fri 19 June 1580

A We tell Balman about the bishop of Kirk's order to kill Marius. Balman thinks this is quite amusing. We discover that an astrologer by the name of Sar O'Tawn, who lives in Kirk, is a friend of Marius Tellman.

A We travel back to Tislesp and meet Caerlig whom we decide is actually a thief. Balman leaves us but tells us to try to take out one of the vertices that point towards Fafehel.

Sat 20 June 1580

A These permitted to enter Tislesp go and talk to Agaff. She says that Balman could be an assassin named Terrant who is thought to be a friend to Marius.

B The Party travel to Sartingol. On the way they are attacked by 8 wolves, 4 are killed but 4 get away. Both Nalin and Caerlig are badly injured.

Sun 21 June 1580

A The Party arrive at the castle of Sartingol and meet a monk. He is uncooperative so Fizz tries to "Charm" him. Unfortunately Fizz is hit by a crossbow bolt before he can cast the spell! The Party is forced to spend the remainder of the day sleeping out of view of the castle.

B After night fall the Party approach the castle again with Nalin in the lead so as to avoid the need for torches. We work our way through the castle until we eventually meet some monks. We kill all the monks except one who is charmed. He tells us that a dwarf named Hecavil is the coordinator of the pentacle. Hormor is the second in command.

B We kill the leading monk and pour three vials of holy water over the alter. It ceases to emit evil. In a chest we find 200 gold pieces, 1500 copper pieces [is it worth taking them? - Ed], two healing potions which are blue with silver specs, and a set of thieves tools. We also take a gem from the altar and a silver candlestick.

Mon 22 June 1580

A The Party journey to the mirror which heals lost hit points. [What kind of archaic gobbledygook is this? - Ed] It shows a vision of evil in Orlane - a snake with a human head. It then shows Marius Tellman curing the sick.

B Caerlig falls mysteriously ill so he is dropped off in Tislesp where the Party is able to pick up Charteris and Lucius who have recovered from their debilities.

C The Party journey to Orlane.

Tue 23 June 1580

After an uneventful days travelling the Party arrive at Orlane but sleep downstream to avoid being seen.

Wed 24 June 1580

A The Party skirt round Orlane to visit the hermit, however he is most uncooperative. Fizz walks around in Orlane and reports that it seems reasonably normal so the Party enter. The notable buildings are two inns, the spinners shop, a loom place, a sort of jewellers, the general store and the mayor's residence.

A The Party visit Rantroarer's convent and discover that the people running the store left Orlane for two weeks and when they returned they were much quieter. We decide to visit the store. The owners, a husband and wife, offer us good wine and talk with us. Fizz charms the husband who tells us about the reptile god who a few people in the village follow. As soon as the family realise what is happening the husband is called outside, so we try to convert his wife. A son interrupts us and tells us to leave. We return to the boat and sleep until five o'clock.

B The Party decide that the two elves must be evil so we approach their abode. We knock on the door and command on elf to "Sleep". The Party smash in to the room as the other elf shoots a "Magic missile" at a box on the wall. The slept elf is killed but the box on the wall releases a sleeping gas which sleeps everyone except Dran, the elf and Fizz who is still outside the house.

B Whilst Dran fights the elf Fizz drags Charteris out of the house and he eventually wakes up. Charteris casts a "Dispel water" which removes the liquid content of the sleep gas and renders it useless. Charteris then commands the remaining elf to "Sleep" and Dran kills it.

B We find 200 platinum pieces, 55 gold pieces and a note which says "Donan and Hulyer - asked to protect Orlane against some evil - signed the mayor." There is a spell book which contains the following spells. "Magic missile", "Protection from evil", "Identify", "Friends", "Comprehend languages", "Hold Portal", "Feather fall", "Enlarge", "Nystal's magic aura", "Write", "Shield", "Wizard lock", "Pyrotechnics", "Web", "Fool's gold" and "Levitate". Nalin takes the shield and Lucius takes two swords.

Thur 25 June 1580

A At midnight the Party sneak the elves out and bury them a few miles from Orlane.

A After sleeping we visit the mayor, Zaccharius Ormonde, who informs us that many people have disappeared for short periods of time. He thinks that Orlane's clerics of Manca no longer serve the fertility gods.

B The Party visit the temple which is made of stone and surrounded by a granite wall. The main part of the temple is covered with tapestries depicting crops. Five elm trees support the room. A female cleric meets the Party and informs us that we may not enter the sanctuary. She claims that she has no knowledge of the troubles but distrusts the hermit. Fizz attempts to "Charm" her but appears to fail. She tells us that a male cleric is head of the church and seems not to have noticed Fizz casting the spell.

C The Party enter the "Slumbering Serpent" where we are given a note from Misha Devi - the female cleric - who tells us to meet her at the deserted "Foaming Mug" inn at 2 a.m.

C The Party arrive early at the "Foaming Mug" and about an hour later see a group of five figures enter the inn via a secret door. Lucius appears to have seen a shadow during our journey to the inn.

Fri 26 June 1580

A At the appointed time we knock on the door and retreat. The female cleric looks out and throws out a small pebble with a "Silence" spell cast on it. Some reptilian creatures that appear to be Troglodytes emerge from the building. We try to retreat but Fizz, who runs fastest, is hit by an assassins sword and killed. The assassins and some thieves were hiding in the bushes.

A The Party fight the thieves, troglodytes and clerics. Nalin and Charteris fall unconscious. At the point were it seems that it is the end for the Party the hermit arrives. He turns out to be a fairly powerful magic user. He finishes off our opponents with "Magic missiles" and a "Lightening bolt". The hermit is called Ramny he gets a fuming red liquid and a ring that we find on the bodies of Misha Devi and the assassins. The Party get a clear amber liquid, a snakes head amulet and some keys.

A The Zaccharius Ormonde and the villagers soon arrive. Most are repulsed by the sight of the troglodytes, but some seem displeased with events.

B The Party sleep until midday when we meet Offa, a ranger, who joins the Party. The barman at the "Slumbering Serpent" tells us that the thieves and assassins were staying at the "Golden Grain" inn.

C The Party visit the church and find a trap door above ground level which leads to the cellar. In the cellar is another door which leads to a maze in which is an ogre that nearly kills Offa. Outside of the maze the Party find an earthen tunnel where we fight a few more troglodytes. We also find a locked chest and the key. The chest contains 460 copper pieces, 204 silver pieces, 89 electrum pieces, 45 gold pieces and a silver bracelet.

C Returning to the upper levels of the temple the Party kill eight skeletons, some goblins and monks. Lucius finds a switch which causes a secret door to open and we enter a large dirty room in which there is a caged girl, a statue of a snake and two chests. The snake statue is Explitica Defeluis, a reptile god - the statue is destroyed. We find that the chests contain 12 gold pieces and we release the girl. [Get the money first - nice one! - Ed] The girl is the store keepers daughter and she tells us that the blacksmith, carpenter and the store keeper are under the power of the reptile god.

D We leave the girl with Zaccharius and visit Ramny. He says that we must kill the reptile god Naga, and that he will go with us. The journey will take about four days.

C Dran, Rantroarer and Charteris visit the "Golden Grain" inn and find a strongbox under a bed containing 160 platinum pieces and five gems. The "Foaming Mug" inn only has the remains of the troglodytes sleeping quarters.

Sat 27 June 1580

A The Party set out on the journey to Naga's lair. As Ramny is travelling with us the pace is only a slow walk. We travel north east across plains until we reach the Dim forest. The Party camp outside the forest as it is evil. During the night a black bear is chased off.

Sun 28 June 1580

A The Party follow the tracks of troglodytes, which Ramny's weasel [GPN - His familiar] can smell, on a trail through the forest. Instead of following the trail to the next town we follow the tracks through dense forest. An uneventful night is spent sleeping.

Mon 29 June 1580

A The Party continue journeying through the forest and reach the edge in the evening. The forest is bounded by marsh at this point so an uneventful night is spent camped at the edge of the forest.

Tue 30 June 1580

The day is spent travelling through the marsh until and island is found. The marsh is held back by a dyke and there is a large hole in the island. Another uneventful night passes.

Wed 1 July 1580

A The Party climb down some slippery steps in to the hole. Nalin slips and three men with spears rush to fight us. A forth man runs off whilst we kill the first three. While searching the other corridors we meet a further 16 humans whom we kill. Most of the rooms are muddy and damp and we find little of interest. Eventually we find the room of the chief human. It contains clerical robes, a scroll with 2 "Cure light wounds" and a chest locked with a glyph. In another room we find a pool and kill 2 giant frogs. In a secret room we find 400 electrum pieces , 70 stones (10 gold pieces) and leave much copper and silver. In another room is a small lake in which we find and kill 3 crocodiles. There is a boat on the lake and we are able to row across to another corridor. Here we meet a giant weasel which grabs Nalin in it's jaws and knocks him unconscious [What a wimp - Ed]. However Dran kills the weasel and the Party return to the surface where the clerics regain their spells and cure some of Nalin's wounds.

A After sleeping the Party return to the complex, kill six troglodytes and find 16 gold pieces. We go down some stairs and enter a second level. Here the Party find some cells in which lie two teenagers and a middle aged man. We manage to set the teenagers free but are unable to help the man. The Party enter the alter room in which we fight a cleric and a wight. Both are killed (the wight with the help of a "Protection from evil" spell) and we find the keys to the cells so are able to release the man. Eventually the Party find the lair of the troglodytes and kill all seven of them then smash up all their eggs.

B The Party journey across a large underground lake and eventually reach Naga's lair. Here Ramny tells us to avoid looking at the Naga as it "Charms" people. He also casts a spell on Party members to make us invulnerable to low grade spells. [GPN - 1st to 3rd level] This is fortunate as the Naga casts a "Fireball" at us! The Naga is killed although it managed to "Charm" Lucius first. Offa managed to hit it with a huge blow which was almost enough to kill it by itself!

B In the Naga's lair the Party find 110 platinum pieces, 890 gold pieces, 1302 silver pieces, a bejewelled bracelet, a ruby ring, a pair of boots, a horn, two other rings and six potions. We also find two scroll tubes that are sealed by thievish methods. There are some other documents, one about Gamlich the Balrog. We sleep overnight in the barracks.

Thur 2 July 1580

A As the Party leave the island we break the dyke thus flooding the lair. An uneventful day is spent travelling out of the swamp.

Fri 3 July 1580

The Party journey through Dim forest. During the night we are attacked by two ogres which are easily killed by commanding them to "Sleep" then slitting their throats.

Sat 4 July 1580

Continuing the journey through the forest, the Party are attacked by a troll during the night. Ramny kills it with a "Lightening bolt" and the remains are burned.

Sun 5 July 1580

Late in the day the Party arrive to a heroes welcome in Orlane. There is merrymaking all night.

Mon 6 July 1580

A All items that might possibly be magical are passed to Ramny for examination.

A Dran, Charteris and Rantroarer journey to Jollwater Bridge to be trained. Lucius and Nalin remain in Orlane as does Offa, who is receiving training.

Tue 7 July to Thur 6 Aug 1580 : 12 July : 26 July

A Time is spent training and journeying to Jollwater Bridge.

A Ramny has identified a ring of free action which he keeps. There is also a +1 ring of protection, a pair of elven boots and a cursed horn of bubbles. The potions are Gaseous Form (Fuming grey liquid); Clairvoyance (Clear blue with taste of almonds); a Filter of Love (Syrupy red); Invisibility (Transparent and fluorescent); two Healing potions (blue with silver specs and minty taste).

A At this stage all money has been fairly distributed.

Fri 7 Aug 1580

A All the Party purchase riding horses or ponies (depending on stature) and stock up on equipment. Offa buys a dog.

Sat 8 Aug 1580

A The Party visit Marius Tellman in the evening for a meal. He has a ginger haired ranger called Danro with him. Danro appears powerful and experienced and is an excellent swordsman.

B Danro tells of the war against the ur-vile and urek hai eight years ago. He thinks that some 200 ur-vile and a similar number of urek hai still survive, this is very worrying. Marius Tellman says that the seven families of Jollwater Bridge are only concerned with short term profit and don't care about the attacks on the road. Marius does not know much about Gamlich other than that he is an extremely powerful Balrog - the swords are also extremely powerful. [The ones Lucius stole from Donan and Hulyer in Orlane? - Ed]

C Marius also mentions a drugs racket originating in the north and that the keep of the bishop of Kirk houses an excellent library containing much information about the area.

D Danro is journeying to Sturville on Monday. Sturville repelled two attacks during the war and is the seat of the Green Council on which both Danro and Balman hold posts. Danro says that there is another route to Kirk via Sturville which can be travelled in safety by small groups.

E The Party are also told of a black dragon which demolished a small village called Balsha a few years ago. The dragon has not been seen since and Marius thinks that it lives in the marshes near Kirk and is likely to wake soon. He would like the Party to go and kill it as it is a direct threat to the villages of Asman and Bigan near Kirk. To aid us in this task Marius Tellman gives us a box containing two of the canine teeth of a black dragon which will turn int dragon warriors if crushed and the name on the box is read out. Dragon warriors can fight for twenty minutes and are immune to the breath weapon of the particular type of dragon from which they came. Marius reminds us to cut the four canine teeth from the dragon if we kill it. [Don't we have to ask it it's name first? - Ed]

F Marius Tellman also tells us that the first bishop of Kirk had a temple built outside the town. It is rumoured that the temple contains a great artifact for good. A cross made from the finger bones of a saint.

Sun 9 Aug 1580

A Rantroarer decides to stay in Jollwater to work with Marius Tellman whilst the rest of us take up Danro's offer to accompany him to Sturville.

Mon 10 Aug 1580

A Danro takes the Party to Sturville following a route known only to rangers. On arrival at Sturville the Party are escorted by two dozen Brother of the Pine (NE) and enter a small village. We are met by the High Druid of Sturville, the white robed Astor. Astor knows what we are thinking due to a magical medallion he wears. He invites us for dinner and tells us that Asman is a druidic village.He gives us a note of introduction to Dreskil, the leader of Asman. Astor knows of the window but thinks that the pentacle acts opposing it and cancelling out the good of the window.

Tue 11 Aug 1580

A Offa shows the way to the village of Asman. The Party stay there overnight.

Wed 12 Aug 1580

A It is market day in Kirk so Lucius, Offa and Nalin go on a shopping trip. Nalin goes to see the merchant about his plate mail but decides that a 700 gold piece advance is too expensive. They look for Ub but his boat has not arrived yet so they return to Asman.

Thur 13 Aug to Wed 19 Aug 1580

A The Party rest at Asman with individuals going to Kirk every few days to search for Ub's return. During the first trip Lucius, Offa and Charteris visit the "Crossed Swords" and collect the 225 gold pieces due for the postal services. Charteris visits Kirk again on Sunday with Lucius doing the honours the following Wednesday.

Thur 20 Aug 1580

A Visiting Kirk again, Lucius meets a creepy thief who leads him to Ub. Lucius takes him back to Asman where there is much celebrating.

Fri 21 Aug 1580

A The Party head towards the marsh to visit the ruins of Balsha which Dreskil tells us is due west. Balsha turns out to be about 1½ miles away and totally deserted. We enter the marsh and are attacked by a green humanoid creature (plant) which animates two trees. Although the creature turns out to be immune to damage from sharp weapons we eventually kill it and return to Asman without finding the dragon.

Sat 22 Aug 1580

A The Party visit the village of Bigan which id under the control of the bishop of Kirk. They don't believe in dragons!

Sun 23 Aug 1580

A The Party enter the marsh again and find a house. Inside the house is a sack containing 1000 silver pieces, 100 electrum pieces, a gem worth about 100 gold pieces and two scrolls. [Why?! - Ed] There are many bones in the house. The Party return to Asman.

Mon 24 Aug 1580

A Lucius is feeling ill so he remains in Asman whilst the rest of the Party leave at dawn to search for the dragon. We reach the edge of the marsh at about 6.20 a.m. [Very precise positioning of the sun - Ed] and see nothing until 9.20 a.m. when Offa discovers some lizardmen tracks. We follow the tracks to a lizardmen village where we speak to about 20 lizardmen in Kobold, they tell us to leave their territory. They also tell us that the dragon is about three miles to the south.

A The lizardmen escort the Party southwards from their territory and we continue southwards and leave the marsh in the early afternoon. The Party decide to circumnavigate the marsh and discover it is about five mile from east to west and about ten miles north to south.

B About half way down the east side of the marsh Offa discovers some humanoid tracks which lead us to an orc guard post overlooking the road to Jollwater. Ub goes closer to listen to the conversation but learns nothing of interest. The Party decide to attack the orcs and kill all five with Offa and Ub attacking from behind. We gain 35 electrum pieces and some horns. The emblems on their shields indicate that they are orcs of the "Bloody Hammer" tribe.

C The Party return to Asman but Astor is not very interested in the orcs. Charteris casts a "Know alignment" spell on Astor and establishes that he is Lawful Neutral.

Tue 25 Aug 1580

A Offa goes to Kirk where he meets a mercenary captain called Sarl Heinz who is prepared to help us attack the orcs with a band of mercenaries if we can pay. Offa goes on to talk to Sar O'Tawn, the astrologer, who shows him a map depicting the route to the lair of the Blood hammer orcs. Offa returns in the afternoon and Ub visits Kirk in the evening.

Wed 26 Aug 1580

A The Party return to the orcs area and follow an orc patrol to the guard post where we see ten orcs. We sneak past the guard post and travel 1½ miles north to the ranger path. Once there the Party travel a further two miles west until we can view the orc settlement. It is a two story stone building with a clear area of 200 yards all around it. There is very little activity but we estimate that it could hold 300 to 400 orcs. Charteris attempts to find out information about the building and the orcs by speaking to a woodpecker (lesser spotted) and a squirrel (red) but he learns little of interest.

B The Party return to Asman where we hire Dreskil's thrush to search the marsh the following day.

Thur 27 Aug 1580

A Offa journeys to Kirk to buy a Hawk but has no joy as there is no market. He receives a letter from Sar O'Tawn which tells of some suspicion about Asman but confirms Heinz's worth.

B Dreskil's thrush returns to Asman in the late afternoon. Charteris speaks with the thrush which did not find the dragon but did see some lizardmen.

Fri 28 Aug 1580

A The Party hire the thrush for a second day and it searches an area to the south of the area it searched before. The Party also search the marsh but are met by seven humanoids mounted on wolves. The Party is escorted northwards where we meet and melee with two large frogs which hop away when they start to lose. The Party continue to search but are attacked by four large spiders who kill Offa's dog before we are able to kill them all.

B The Party return to Asman where Charteris questions the thrush who still has not found the dragon but did see 50 gnoll. [A remarkably numerate thrush - Ed]

Sat 29 Aug 1580

A Offa buys a hawk in Kirk

Sun 30 Aug 1580

Offa's hawk searches the southern part of the marsh and discovers the dragon two miles north of the gnoll. It also reports some black creatures in caves on the edge of the marsh.

Mon 31 Aug 1580

A The hawk guides the Party to the dragon and warns us that we are being followed by a humanoid. The Party ignore the humanoid and approach the dragon which is woken by the hawk. The horses are left with Offa and the Party close in on the dragon. We let the two dragon warriors move in first whilst Ub imbibes an invisibility potion. Ub moves behind the dragon wielding a sword known to have startling advantages when employed against reptiles [GPN - +4 vs reptiles]. Dran attacks mounted using a lance. It is quickly apparent that the dragon can see invisible objects when it breaths acid directly on Ub! Ub survives this and attacks the dragon from behind causing a serious wound [GPN - 33 hit points]. The dragon has sustained damage elsewhere in the fight and Ub's blow proves to be fatal.

A Whilst the melee with the dragon was ongoing Offa was attacked and knocked unconscious by a measel which Dran finishes off with his lance.

B We find 150,000 silver pieces, 4,000 electrum pieces, 150,000 copper pieces, 275 gold pieces, 700 platinum pieces, 8 gems with a combined value of 1,910 gold pieces, jewellery, a gold pin with a ruby, a silver medal inlaid with gems, a small gold box, some silver ear rings, two potions (Amber - speed, Clear - flying), books, three scrolls (two for magic users and one clerical with "Cure serious wounds", "Part water", "Word of recall", "Prayer", "Insect plague" and "Detect lie"), a pair of bracers and a lyre. [What about the cuddly toy? How did we spend all this money before any of my characters joined? - Ed] We also take the dragons four canine teeth.

C The Party can only take 5,000 of the silver pieces back to Asman due to the weight!

Tue 1 Sep 1580

A Offa goes to Kirk to buy two horses and two ponies to replace the ones lost yesterday when Offa was attacked by the measel.

B The Party make two trips back into the marsh and move 50,000 silver pieces into the woods. In total, 54,500 silver pieces are buried.

Wed 2 Sep 1580

A Offa's hawk discovers that the gnoll are removing the remainder of the silver so the Party decide not to return to the marsh.

B The Party ride to Sturville where Astor says he will allow a force of men to stay outside Sturville at a cost of one gold piece per head.

Thur 3 Sep 1580

A The Party ride to Jollwater Bridge

Fri 4 Sep to Sat 19 Sep 1580 : 13 Sep

A Nalin and Dran travel to Castle Domstoss where they are trained and Nalin hires two henchmen, Thelworth - a human thief and Bazron - a dwarfen fighter). Offa is trained in Orlane and Charteris by Marius Tellman in Jollwater.

Sun 20 Sep to Tue 22 Sep 1580

A Further henchmen are hired by Charteris. A magic user named Hortense and a saxon fighter named Beowald.

A A Druid named Sebell and two elven magic users named Ir'dohn and Farlas (who is also a fighter) have joined the party so the current membership is:

• Charteris
• Nalin
• Offa
• Sebell
• Ir'dohn
• Farlas
• Bazron
• Thelworth
• Beowald
• Hortense

[plus Lucius, it would appear that at about this time Ub and Dran take up permanent residence in Kirk and de facto leave the Party although they both continue to work closely with it on frequent occasions - Ed]

Wed 23 Sep 1580

A A letter is received from Ub and Dran, who went to Kirk a few days earlier. They seem to be in some sort of trouble.

Thur 24 Sep 1580

A Although a convoy is leaving for Kirk the Party decide to go via Sturville.

Fri 25 Sep 1580

A On arrival at Kirk only Offa, Thelworth, Beowald and Hortense enter the town because of the trouble and our past record in Kirk. [There's something implicit here isn't there? - Ed] The rest of the Party stay in Asman.

A When the four arrive at Kirk in the later afternoon they find it heavily guarded. The guards ask them where they have come from but as they do not believe in Sturville the four say they have arrived from Asman. They gain entry to Kirk and immediately go to the "Crossed Swords" and talk to Sarl Heinz who informs us that an important person has died although none of the three main people are dead. The guild master is scouring the town for a halfling, a dwarf and a human.

B Eventually Offa's group obtains information about the whereabouts of Dran and Ub and find them hiding in the poor quarter. They discover that Ub and Dran were involved in a fight with what appeared to be a high level assassin. Both Ub and dran were badly wounded. They have an elven thief named Pipluk with them who is also wanted by the guild master who they think hired the assassin.

A After much discussion it is decided to smuggle Dran out as a drunk and return for Ub and Pipluk at midnight. Ub will use a potion of gaseous form and float over the wall whilst Pipluk will climb over once a magic user has slept the guards on the wall. On the way out of town a guard recognises Dran so Hortense "Charms" the guard who lets them out.

A The Party assemble outside Kirk just before midnight and the guards are "Slept" but there is no sign of Pipluk. Before the spell wears off Thelworth climbs the wall and sees the prostrate body of Pipluk who has obviously fallen from the wall. Thelworth quickly lowers a rope and pulls Charteris up. They tie up the guards and Thelworth climbs down the inside of the wall to rescue Pipluk. He brings the unconscious Pipluk over the wall but falls himself when climbing back down the outside. Thelworth survives the fall.

A Ub materialises whilst the Party are travelling back to Asman.

Sat 26 Sep 1580

A The Party decide to investigate the supposed ur-vile caves near the swamp. We head to the required area by following the hawk and find a cave entrance after about half an hour of searching. There is a message written in a strange language, which the dwarfs say is very old, over the entrance. The magic users cast a comprehend language spell on the words and discover that they say "Halls of Carysic" - the place mentioned on the document [Document? - Ed]. The Party spends the night nearby.

Sun 27 Sep 1580

A The Party enter the cave and see four black humanoid creatures which are blind, they are thought to be ur-viles but no one is sure. For mapping purposes it is decided that this is "room 1" [GPN - See Map A]. Charteris casts a "Silence" spell and the Party are able to sneak past them taking a north western branch of the tunnel.

B "Room 2" contains 25 creatures including young. "Room 3" has 12 adults and 12 young. In "Room 4" is a sleeping humanoid female with a hood over her face. Ir'dohn and Ub approach it and Ir'dohn gently wakes it only to be turned to stone as it is a medusa. Ub quickly slits its throat. Under a large stone lies three bags containing 167 silver pieces, 125 electrum pieces and 173 gold pieces. There is also five onyx with a combined value of 210 gold pieces, 4 pearls totalling 800 gold pieces, a very large diamond, a feather with an anchor on it [honest - Ed], a scroll with "Lightening bolt", "Suggestion", "Clairaudience", "Slow", "Dispel magic" and "Stone to flesh" transcribed. One of the magic users attempts the "Stone to flesh" spell on Ir'dohn but it fails as the magic user id not of a high enough level to use the spell.

A In "room 5" the Party is attacked by 19 adults and ten young. We retreat killing three of them. There is a inscription in the west corner of the room. Back in "room 1" the Party kill one and severely damage another before leaving the caves.

A Nalin and Farlas return to the caves and Farlas casts a "Sleep" spell which seems to work on the two creatures that they can see. Nalin walks in and kills one of them but is attacked by two others who appear out of the walls. Nalin makes a fighting retreat and kills two of them.

C The whole Party re-enter the caves and go down the right hand passage. The next three rooms "room 6, 7 and 8" contain varying numbers of adult and young. In "room 9" are two adults lying on each other. Due to the fact that they did not form wedges and the evidence of "room 9" the Party conclude that they are not ur-viles!

C The Party leave the cave and make camp for the night. During the night between 40 and 80 of the humanoids emerge so the Party mounts and rides off to the ruined village.

Mon 28 Sep 1580

A The Party search the ruined village but find nothing of interest.

B Dran, the dwarfs and Sebell journey to Asman to hire a messenger to take a letter written by Ub to the guild master at Kirk. However when they arrive near Asman they are chased away by 20 mounted men. The rest of the Party ambush them from the trees and kill eight with bow fire before the rest ride away. Shortly after this a peasant runs up and tell us that about 50 troops of the guild master have taken over the village and imprisoned Dreskil.

C The Party skirt around the village and lie in wait on the Kirk road. Towards the end of the afternoon ten riders come up the road. Sebell casts an "Entangle" spell and they are stuck, allowing us to kill four of them and capture the other six. The soldiers are swapped for Dreskil and we ride to Sturville. Dreskil tells us that there are 20 soldiers left in the village including ten archers, there is also a priest.

Tue 29 Sep 1580

A At about 4 a.m. the Party are met by Astor and some pinemen, they sleep until noon. Offa is permitted to sit as an observer on the Green Council. The members are Astor and another human, two druids, a giant, two ents, a dendridi, a beautiful woman and a short beautiful woman (about 4 feet tall) in a shimmering gown. The women are called Narella and Cledira.

A The Green Council decide that Beowald, Farlas, Thelworth, Offa, Narella and Cledira will go as messengers to Kirk to deliver an ultimatum to the guild master. The rest of the Party will stay at the druidic village of Hylnford.

Wed 30 Sep 1580

A The messengers go to Kirk and are immediately taken too Darrius Olmein's residence. They are shown into the drawing room where there is a secretary, two soldiers in plate armour and Darrius Olmein himself. Narella tells him he has three days to get his soldiers out of Asman and then the group leaves.

Thur 1 Oct 1580

A The Party discover that the troops in Asman are lead by none other than Sarl Heinz so we send an emissary to talk to him. The long discussion demoralises Heinz somewhat but he will not disobey Olmein's orders.

Fri 2 Oct 1580

A The Party go to Sturville with a plan of attack which is agreed with the druids.

Sat 3 Oct 1580

A Virtually the entire Party journey to Kirk with Narella and Cledira to get an answer to Wednesday's ultimatum. Narella hands Darrius Olmein the declaration of war but pikemen appear from hiding places in the walls. The main druids including Astor materialise in the room and the pikemen are soon killed. Everyone including Darrius Olmein leave in the "Chariot of Sustare".

Sun 4 Oct 1580

A Darrius Olmein is tried by the Green Council for his crimes. As it is his first offence he is not hung but bound over to keep the peace. He agrees to leave Asman and not harass the Party in Kirk.

Mon 5 Oct 1580

A The Party escort Darrius Olmein back to Kirk and find the gate guarded by church guards. We return Olmein to his house which now has a hole burnt by the chariot, and stay in the "Crossed Swords".

Tue 6 Oct 1580

A The Party journey to Sturville without Ub, Dran and Pipluk and give a message from Sarl Heinz to the druids. He says that he is returning the village of Asman to it's original state and will leave in a few days.

Wed 7 Oct 1580

A The Party journey to Jollwater Bridge to tell Marius Tellman about the events concerning Sturville, Asman and the guild master.

Thur 8 Oct 1580

A Nalin and his henchmen join a convoy and return to Kirk.

B Charteris, his henchmen and Offa journey to Castle Domstoss to order special strong bows because of the great strength of Offa and Beowald.

Fri 9 Oct to Wed 14 Oct 1580

A Charteris, his henchmen and Offa return to Jollwater Bridge to await the bows.

Thur 15 Oct 1580

A The bows arrive from Domstoss so Charteris, his henchmen, Offa and Farlas decide to journey to Kirk.

Fri 16 Oct 1580

A Charteris, his henchmen, Offa and Farlas journey to Sturville.

Sat 17 Oct 1580

A The Party meet at Kirk and stay at the "Crossed Swords". Ub has begun to try to establish a thieves guild. The Party decide to tackle the black creatures again.

Sun 18 Oct 1580

A The Party return to the Halls of Carysic where we cast a "Silence" spell and kill the two guards in the entrance then head straight for "room 5" where four more creatures are "Slept" and all seven male adults are killed. The remaining females and young huddle in a corner.

A The Party find 385 silver pieces and a secret door. Behind the door is a passage that slopes downwards. Along this passage we meet a putrid corpse which Charteris "Turns" and forces before us. At a branch in the passage the Party heads north and finds two caverns. In "room 10" are two childlike pink humanoids who might be lava children. "Room 11" holds another one.

A The Party decide not to attack them and go back and take the east passage. The corpse is forced in to "room 12" and killed. "Room 13" contains two ogres and "room 14" has three. The Party eventually kill them all, find 240 gold pieces and move on. "Room 15" has three more ogres. The Party kill two but one runs off. In "room 16" the Party kill two females and three young and find 120 gold pieces.

B The Party is attacked by eight ogres from the north but, eventually, these are all killed as well. "Room 17" has a trap in the ceiling, "room 18" contains an inscription and "room 19" has 100 gold pieces. "Room 20" has sacks variously containing 4274 copper pieces, 956 silver pieces, 1483 electrum pieces and 576 gold pieces, a suit of enhanced plate mail [GPN - +2] which fits Offa, a pearl worth 100 gold pieces, two - 500 gold piece pearls, an emerald worth 1,000 gold pieces, two old books and a tea service. There are also two humans from Asman chained to the wall who the Party set free. In "room 21" is a miserly 80 gold pieces and "room 22" contains two more pink creatures.

A The Party exit by a trap door and return to Kirk.

Mon 19 Oct 1580

A Ub wants the Party to cause some trouble with the bishop's guards but the whole Party will not agree to this.

B The Party leave at 7 a.m. for the Halls of Carysic leaving their mounts in Asman. The Party enter the Halls through the trap door at about mid-morning. The Party enter the labyrinth through two doors with a "Magic mouth" laughing at us to attract monsters. Immediately we are attacked by a mummy which Nalin and Offa kill, but not before it has inflicted them with a disease.

B The Party wander around an enormous labyrinth and are teleported at various points [GPN - See maps]. Eventually the Party find a room containing a black pillar which we return to after teleportation. Farlas acts in a very cowardly manner. The Party meet an ochre jelly and a large feather [! - Ed] which are killed and chased off respectively. We also kill eight constitution draining grey humanoids and three zombies out of six as well as one of three ghouls. The Party then reach a large room which is magically darkened.

B Leaving the darkened room the Party come upon another room in which there is a statue of an old man pointing to a door with a message saying "I may be pointing to your salvation or I may not depending on who I am." The Party are teleported again and find an identical room. We kill five more zombies, a gelatinous cube, a feather and six skeletons. The Party decide to sleep before tackling the doors pointed at by the statue.

B In the night nine zombies attack but are driven away, two of them are killed. Later a ghostly skeleton appears from the wall and tries to strangle Beowald however he does not believe so it goes away.

Tue 20 Oct 1580

A Some of the Party recover and spells are recharged. The Party search the remainder of the labyrinth and find a door with "congratulations" written on it. The handle is electrified and behind it is a wall with the word "tough". The Party search the darkened room but find nothing. A second door is found which is the reverse of the entrance but we are told that it cannot be opened without "passage".

A The Party go to the second room with the statue and Charteris casts an "Augury" spell which reveals that it is where we should go. The Party enter the room after Offa has a "Protection from evil" cast on him. We find a large double door and open it only to be confronted by a type II demon [What kind of description is that?- Ed] which radiates fear and scares off most of the Party. Offa attacks it but Nalin does not want to get involved as he is unprotected. Eventually the rest of the Party return with Farlas and Charteris going over the far wall and retrieving the two magic swords, Fearno and Mengros. Charteris falls into a pit that is covered by an illusory floor.

B Fearno is a magical long sword [GPN - +1/+4 v undead, with empathy], it is given to Offa. Mengros is a magical two-handed sword [GPN - +2, cast "Lightening bolt" on command word "Acrakra" once per day], it is given to Dran who releases the "Lightening bolt" when told the command word by Fearno though Offa.

A After a tough battle with the frog like demon which Nalin also joined, it is defeated. Fearno enables the Party to leave the Labyrinth and we return to Asman where Dreskil cures Nalin and Offa.

Wed 21 Oct 1580

A Everyone except Lucius, Dran and Ub travel to Sturville.

Thur 22 Oct 1580

A The Party continue from Sturville to Jollwater Bridge where we meet Marius Tellman and inform him of the labyrinth. He is very pleased to hear of the release of the swords. Marius gives the Party two more documents concerning Gamlich and tells us that we need to discover exactly where the kingdom of Desus was. He tells us that this information and information about the star are probably in a book called the Claracon and that there may be a copy in the library of the bishop of Kirk. Unfortunately Marius says that the bishop will never let us see the book so the Party will have to journey to the kingdom of Meresvale where another copy of the Claracon is rumoured to exist. Meresvale is about one weeks journey to the north of Kirk.

B The Party receives a letter from the sage in which she says that she now realises that the window is good and that it has told her that evil power is building up in the tower of Cesille (on one vertex of the pentangle). However the sage advises that we should visit the window in person as she has an item which will "help" us on our quest.

Fri 23 Oct 1580

A The Party journey to Tislesp and arrive in the evening. All the Party except Offa and the dwarfs enter the town handing in their weapons and signing the appropriate forms. The guards do not seem keen on Farlas.

A The sage eagerly greets the Party and hand over a magical metal cross which she tells us to give to the person who can take the most damage as it will help them. She urges the Party to visit the tower this very night as the evil is threatening and may be completely in control by the morning.

A The Party leave Tislesp but Farlas is not given his well made sword as the authorities say that he did not properly complete his forms. Farlas completes some more forms and is told to return for his sword in a few days. The Party decide to give the cross to Nalin and immediately head for Cesille. On the way the Party is ambushed by a group of orcs and Offa's war horse falls into a pit, breaking its leg. The Party manage to kill most of the orcs with the help of a "Sleep" and an "Entangle" spell but Thelworth is killed in the scuffle. Nalin, Bazron and Farlas bury Thelworth together with his possessions.

B The Party continue their journey and soon arrive at the castle Cesille. The Party enter through two noisy portcullises in to an open central area, Hortense lets her owl explore the tower but nothing of interest is learned. The Party enter the main tower which initially seems to be deserted. However when we find a room containing much junk on the second floor the Party splits up to search and is ambushed by some urek hai that were hiding in the rubbish. They are soon reinforced by more urek hai and a female half elf fighter, magic user. All the Party except Farlas are captured with Nalin suffering terrible damage from the magical cross which exploded on the command "Pirolle Nims" uttered by the fighter M.U.. Luckily no Party members died and we managed to kill ten urek and one of their leaders. Farlas escaped down a rope in the fire place but left his cat familiar behind. Hortense let her owl out to contact Sturville but the leader spotted it and forced her to bring it back otherwise she would have crushed Sebell's balls.

Sat 24 Oct 1580

A All the Party are conscious. This is an acutely disadvantageous state for Hortense and she is continuously raped by the urek hai whilst Offa and Nalin are being used for fighting practice by the Urek. The Party learn that a cleric may be used as a sacrifice to set up a vertex of the pentangle. This will be in a few days time.

Sun 25 Oct 1580

A The abuse in the tower continues unabated until Cledira appears. She "Sleeps" the guards and tells the Party that Farlas is returning from Kirk with Marius and Danro together with some druids. They arrive later that day and pretend to be surprised as before but Marius kills the imp familiar of the half-elf whilst the rest of the rescuers kill most of the urek hai. The druid attempts to "Create a fire elemental" but is prevented when one of the "Pirolle Nims" devices nearly kills him. The urek hai leaders all escape as does the fighter/M.U., the abscond with virtually all the Parties wealth and magic items. The Party return to Jollwater Bridge.

Mon 26 Oct 1580

A The Party arrive in Jollwater Bridge.

Tue 27 Oct 1580

A The Party journey to Sturville.

Wed 28 Oct 1580

A The Party arrive in Kirk.

Thur 29 Oct 1580

A The Party stay in Kirk and Ub tries once again to persuade them to cause some trouble with the bishop. No definite plans are made as not all the Party will agree to do it.

Fri 30 Oct 1580

A Charteris, Offa, Farlas and Beowald stand in the cathedral square whilst Charteris denounces the bishop. The bishop's guards attack the group and Nalin moves in to assist. many of the bishop's guards are killed until the bishop himself casts a "Hold person" spell which immobilises Nalin, Charteris and Offa. The remaining people are easily captured and hauled off to jail. The bishop had suffered some damage so Dran zaps him with a "Lightening bolt" from Mengros which causes him to collapse unconscious. Dran retrieves Fearno (after it has killed a guard) whilst the bishop's clerics take advantage of the lull to cure him.

B Darrius Olmein visits the bishop to negotiate the release of captive Party members.

Sat 31 Oct 1580

A Hortense, Bazron and Sebell journey to Asman after spending the night in Olmein's house.

A The fighters are released with all their equipment except for Offa's magical plate armour. They are forbidden by the bishop to enter Kirk although Darrius Olmein will allow them in.

A This leaves only Charteris in jail and the bishop is not looking very likely to release him!

Sun 1 Nov 1580

A The day is spent resting at Asman.

Mon 2 Nov 1580

A Ub and Dran together with Lucius and Ub's men at arms journey to Asman to see the Party. Lucius rejoins the Party. Ub's men at arms sport badges depicting a bronze dragon. Ub asks the Party to recover a small silver statue that was stolen from Darrius Olmein by some "goblins" who live about 30 miles west of Kirk near a place called Ershal. After careful negotiations the Party agree to attempt the job if Darrius Olmein can secure the release of Charteris even if he has to be exiled from the area.

B Ub goes on to introduce a Christian cleric known as Rustbulj the Corpulent and Pipluk, the half elven thief who has adventured with the Party before. Pipluk joins Farlas as a henchman whilst Rustbulj is invited to join the Party as an independent member.

A Ub, Dran and the men at arms leave Asman and will return with further news of the deal when they have it.

Tue 3 Nov 1580

A Ub does not return to Asman yet.

A In the evening Hortense sends her owl to Jollwater Bridge to see Marius Tellman. He wants to see the Party by mid December and wants to know more about Rustbulj.

Wed 4 Nov 1580

A Ub returns with his men, Dran and two others. Ub tells us that Olmein is happy with the deal and that Charteris will be released this evening and sent into exile over the sea. Charteris' hench people are free to go with him or remain with the Party. Lucius agrees to journey back to Kirk with Ub to witness the release of Charteris.

A Ub tells the Party to contact Rosan Doygan, the agent of Darrius Olmein at Ershal, who will tell us where the goblin's lair is. Olmein will provide a boat to take the Party to Ershal so the horses and ponies are sent to Jollwater bridge to stay with Marius.

B Ub introduces a young fighter named Guerin and a pacifist cleric called Losarn who become henchmen of Nalin and Lucius respectively.

A Ub, Dran, the men at arms and Lucius return to Kirk where Lucius witnesses the departure of Charteris and Beowald his henchman. Hortense remains with the Party as a henchman [woman? - Ed] of Offa.

Thur 5 Nov 1580

A At this point the Party consists of the following people:

• Nalin (fighter), Bazron (fighter), Guerin (fighter) [GPN - Andy Leach]
• Offa (ranger), Hortense (magic user) [GPN - Jonathan Cardy]
• Farlas (fighter/magic user), Pipluk (thief) [GPN - Richard Hodson]
• Rustbulj (cleric) [GPN - Martin Clark]
• Lucius (fighter), Losarn (cleric) [GPN - Tone Glasper]

[What has happened to Sebell, he went to Asman on 31/10/80? - Ed]

B The Party pick up a boat to the east of Kirk and journey to Ershal where we meet Rosan who takes us to an inn where the Party decide to stay the night. Ershal is quite a large port with a road to Orlane. In the evening all the Party except Nalin, Bazron and Losarn stay in the bar area of the inn where they are of great interest. They soon begin to tell stories, Hortense tells one about the slaying of the black dragon and Lucius sings a bardic song. The regulars do not believe these tails and their most outspoken person, Ironfist, openly scoffs at the Party members and challenges Farlas (whom he deems to be a weedy elf) to spend the night in a "haunted" house outside of town. Farlas agrees to the challenge and also gives Ironfist and arm wrestle which Ironfist just wins.

C At closing time Ironfist and a few of his mates journey up to the house with Farlas, Offa and Rustbulj who all enter the house whilst the towns folk wait outside. The rest of the Party get some sheets and follow the towns folk to the house. At the house Hortense dresses up as a ghost and with the aid of some other effects like smashing windows and the casting of "Haunting" cantrips, frightens off the towns folk.

C The Party joins together and investigates the house. In the library are many books including three by Tenser. In another room a "Magic mouth" dooms us to death and Pipluk and Bazron run screaming into the library where they are soon comforted. In the study the Party find two doses of a Neutralise Poison potion [GPN - Green with bad eggs smell]. In the kitchen Nalin and Farlas are surprised by some giant centipedes which Nalin despatches. The Party go upstairs and kill two giant spiders with missile fire and find a valueless transparent crystal. Offa twice falls through the floor and Farlas disturbs some yellow mould but nothing fatal happens. A scroll of "Hold person" is found which Rustbulj takes possession of, four small diamonds are found as well. Nalin and Farlas ascend into the attic and are attacked by five stirges which they kill. A ring is found. The Party descend into the cellar and find a human corpse wearing magical plate armour. The corpse is infested with rot grubs which we burn however the plate fits no one in the Party. An emerald worth 150 gold pieces is found in the dead man's boot.

C Farlas finds a secret door which opens to reveal a lighted room containing ten beds and a long table. Seated at the table is a human whom the Party capture when Rustbulj commands him to "Sleep". It turns out that he is a smuggler named Koros and has three gold pieces, 13 silver pieces, seven copper pieces a gem worth 100 gold pieces and a large golden earring. The Party interrogate him and he tells us that there are skeletons behind one wooden door marked danger and that another door leads to the bosses room, a man named Sanbarlet.

C The Party enter Sanbarlet's room and find three flasks of Greek fire, a parchment written in gnollish, Sanbarlet's illusionist spell book and a metal box containing something magic. Koros tells us that Sanbarlet together with nine smugglers and two gnolls are below in caverns. The Party find a druid named Llewin tied up in Sanbarlet's room, he is untied and joins the Party.

C Footsteps and voices can be heard approaching the main room so the Party aim six bows at the door. Two men enter but quickly leave when they come under arrow fire. They block the door and run away. The Party breaks the door down and enters the caverns where we are ambushed by Sanbarlet, his men and the two gnolls. Hortense is knocked unconscious by an invisible smuggler however Offa and Nalin kill off most of the smugglers. Nalin is knocked unconscious by a "Colour spray" spell and Offa is "Hypnotised" into believing that he must protect Sanbarlet. Rustbulj cures Hortense whilst Farlas chases Sanbarlet into the sea and a rowing boat. However Offa prevents Farlas from hurting Sanbarlet. As Sanbarlet boards the boat Farlas grapples him whilst Hortense "Holds" him. Lucius kills the gnolls. Sanbarlet is tied up and the remainder of the smugglers are killed.

C The illusionist has the keys to the box in his room in which we find three daggers, seven gold pieces, some gaming dice, three gems worth 100 - 200 gold pieces, a grey foaming potion of Flying, a blue Healing potion with silver specs, and a yellow effervescent potion of Speed. In the caverns the Party find ten small bolts of silk and 15 casks of brandy.

Thur 6 Nov 1580

A Offa, Rustbulj and Farlas go to Ershal to get Losarn and meet with Rosan Doygan. It is the day of rest in Ershal and no one is about but the meet Losarn and wait in the inn. At about midday Rosan arrives and a conversation takes place in the room that the Party has taken.

A Rosan tells the group that the tribe of Lanatar has the silver statue and they are to be found ten to twelve miles up the road to Orlane and a few miles off the road. Rosan offers a guide.

A Back at the haunted house Nalin, Lucius, Bazron and Guerin investigate the caverns only to find a green slime which is burned.

B Offa, Farlas, Rustbulj and Losarn return to the house and the Party sleeps in rota until about 7 a.m. Offa, Farlas, Lucius and Guerin decide to go back to Ershal to collect their bets. In general talk it is discovered that Searnan is a town on the road to Orlane and that there is a market in Ershal on Tuesday and Sunday. Ironfist denies that the Party spent the night in the house but eventually agrees to pay the group back at his boat. Offa, Farlas, Lucius and Guerin together with 17 towns folk go to get the money. However the four are set upon by the 17 towns folk led by Ironfist.

B Farlas and Guerin are immediately knocked out whilst Offa is held by two men and pummelled. Lucius however manages to avoid the grapples due to his dexterity and proceeds to knock out three locals with punches. He then draws his sword and kills two more including Ironfist. Meanwhile Offa breaks free killing another and knocking one out. The rest of the towns folk flee. Whilst the group are recovering the town guard arrives and puts them in jail together with the towns folk that are left alive.

Sat 7 Nov 1580

A Offa, Farlas, Rustbulj and Losarn fail to return so Nalin and Hortense journey to Ershal and discover they are in jail and to be tried for murder before the town council on Tuesday or Wednesday. Nalin is not allowed to see any of the prisoners.

Sun 8 Nov to Tue 10 Nov 1580

A Ub, Dran and Ub's men at arms arrive in Ershal with a lawyer hired by Darrius Olmein. They stay at an inn. It turns out that Rosan Doygan sent word to Olmein concerning the plight of the "Gang of Four" and he despatched Ub with the lawyer. They are allowed to see the prisoners.

A Eventually Nalin finds out that Ub is in town and goes to see him. When the lawyer finds out about the smugglers he thinks it will be easy to "get them off".

Wed 11 Nov 1580

A The trial takes place and due to the evidence about the smugglers and the known character of Ironfist all of the "Gang of Four" are set free.

A Notwithstanding strong disagreement from Nalin, the Party give the magical plate armour to Dran as he is the only person it fits. Ub is given all the loot except for the three books, the spell book and magic items to sell in Kirk and bank the money for the Party.

A The town marshall wishes to be shown round the "haunted" house at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday. Sanbarlet is arrested and put in jail.

B In the late afternoon the Party decide to investigate the door in the house marked "Danger". When the door is opened six skeletons attack but Rustbulj is able to "Turn" them and the Party smash them up. Opening another door we see a figure sitting in a chair but this turns out to be just a dead skeleton of an alchemist. In this room the Party find a magic golden pebble [GPN - philosophers stone], an apple, a rose, a skull and five disks all of which are gold. There is also a book entitled "Secrets of the Philosophers Stone". In a secret compartment are a magic white crystal and a magic users spell book containing the spells "Affect normal fires", "Find familiar", "Message", "Fool's gold", and "Animate dead".

Thur 12 Nov 1580

A The town marshall visits the "haunted" house and is very impressed. He is shown a piece of parchment with various "signals" on it. The marshall expects another delivery to be made soon and asks the Party to see him at 10.30 on Saturday about this.

B The Party meet Rosan's guide and hire horses to travel towards the tribe of Lanatar. After travelling about ten miles up the road we turn west and soon find a large hole which is the entrance to the tribal lair. The Party decide to watch overnight.

Fri 13 Nov 1580

A After an uneventful night Guerin is left to look after the horses and the rest of the Party are lowered into the hole which is about 60 feet deep and 40 to 100 feet wide. Nalin goes first and when everyone is down Guerin pulls up the rope with instructions to lower it again when the owl signals to him.

A From the hole the Party enter a room in which three guards are waiting. Although one is killed the other two escape up a rope through a trap door. The Party search the room and find a key hole in a wooden statue on the wall. Pipluk attempts to pick the lock but eventually becomes exhausted and gives up. Everyone except Losarn gets soapy green skin. The room is searched again and we realise that it is easy to see people coming down the hole. The Party hide in the hole but none of the humanoids reappear so we return to the surface.

A Losarn cures Rustbulj and Lucius of the disease. The Party waits overnight but nothing happens.

Sat 14 Nov 1580

A The Party return to Ershal and meet the marshall whose name is Loren Fawn. He tells us that most of the Party are suffering from the disease of Lanatar but that it does not appear to have any ill effects. Loren says that the town council want to break the seaward end of the smuggling ring and will pay the Party 1,000 gold pieces plus any loot taken if we attempt the job. Loren suspects that the smugglers will come within the next week as the new moon is on the 20th. The Party will be given the help of the coast guard to board the ship. The Party accepts the job waits at Ershal in the house that was "haunted".

A Guerin catches the disease.

Sun 15 Nov 1580

A Hortense sends her owl to watch the hole at Lanatar. The owl sees five or six men emerge from the hole and cautiously look about. When they feel it is safe they go hunting whilst women and children emerge and gather fruit and food.

B An uneventful day passes at Ershal.

Mon 16 Nov 1580

A The owl sees much the same again at Lanatar.

B An uneventful day passes at Ershal. There is no sign of a ship.

Tue 17 Nov 1580

A The owl sees much the same again at Lanatar.

B An uneventful day passes at Ershal. There is no sign of a ship.

Wed 18 Nov 1580

A The coast guard report that they have spotted the smuggler's ship and expect it to arrive by evening. It is about 90 feet long. The Party decide to give the signals as written on the paper found in Sanbarlet's room and decide to send Farlas, Lucius, Offa and Guerin in the rowing boat to rendezvous with the ship after the signals. Guerin will be dressed as Sanbarlet with Farlas, Lucius and Offa as smugglers. The rest of the Party will attack from behind in the coast guard's boat with Rustbulj "Silencing" it.

A The smuggler's ship arrives at about 7 p.m. and the owl watches it from above. The plan goes well until the members of the Party in the first boat are recognised as they are about to board the smuggler's boat. Farlas "Sleeps" one crew member on deck as Lucius and Offa get on board although they take many wounds in the process. Lucius collapses unconscious whilst Farlas and Guerin are pinned to the rowing boat by arrow fire.

A Meanwhile the coast guard's boat arrives and Pipluk climbs up the anchor chain and stabs the tiller man in the back. The corporal of the coast guard follows Pipluk and attacks the smuggler's magic user. Rustbulj is next up and he throws a pebble on which a "Silence" spell has been cast into the midst of the battle. He follows this up with a "Hold person" spell which is very useful as is affects three smugglers including the captain and the magic user.

A This turns the battle as Nalin, Bazron, Hortense, Llewin and Losarn are subsequently able to board the ship. The magic user had managed to "Sleep" Offa before he was "Held". Just as the Party appear to have won the battle three lizardmen come out of a cabin and attack Nalin. Bazron and Llewin. Nalin kills one but the other two jump overboard and swim away. Offa is woken up and we win the battle. Everyone is cured with Lucius in a very bad way.

B The captain of the ship is searched and a magic long sword [GPN - +1], a ring, some small gems and two keys are found. The mate has a braod sword [GPN - +1] which is taken by the corporal of the coast guard, a gold ring and a key. The magic user is relieved of a ring of protection, a wand of "Magic missiles" and two gems. Elsewhere the Party find many small items of jewellery, a silver bowl, a silver goblet, 50 gold pieces, bills, a letter to Sigurd Snakeeyes (the captain), Iron wear goods, four potions (two Healing (blue with silver specs), one Neutralise poison (green and pungent) and one which is sticky yellow [GPN - Cure disease]) and 1,000 electrum pieces. There is also a spell book containing "Magic missile", "Mending", "Sleep", "Spider climb" and "Web".

B The Party also find a map which suggests that the lizardmen may be intending to invade Ershal. This causes great concern amongst the town council. There are also many weapons to be delivered to the lizardmen. The dead lizard man wears a silver collar bearing a lizard with a forked tongue.

C We also find a captured sea elf named Oceanus who is a fighter thief. He explains that he was watching this boat but was captured. He agrees to join the Party.

A The boat and its goods (90 bolts of silk, 81 brandy casks, 219 fine wine) are sold to the town for 7,500 gold pieces.

Thur 19 Nov 1580

A The day is spent resting, dividing loot [This only took one day! - Ed] and training various people.

Fri 20 Nov 1580

A The Party receive an invoice from Ub for 1,072 gold pieces for goods sold for us less 5% commission (1,019 gold pieces). we send weaponry and other goods from the ship to Ub to sell. Ub also banks certain money for Party members. The captured smugglers are sent to Kirk.

B Offa, Rustbulj and Lucius go to a meeting of the town council. The council would like the Party to spy out the lair of the lizardmen to discover their numbers and intentions. The council will pay the Party 5,000 gold pieces and will lend us the smuggler's boat for a deposit of 2,500 gold pieces. The Party agree to the terms and put up the deposit on the boat with Lucius contributing 1,200 gold pieces, Offa 650, Llewin 500 and Nalin 150. The coast guards will go with us in return for a fair share.

C Hortense sends her owl to the area marked on the sketch map and sees tracks in the marsh.

D Various people are trained.

Sat 21 Nov 1580

A The morning is spent in training.

B The Party leave about midday and anchor about a mile north of the lizardmen's lair. Hortense, Offa, Llewin, Nalin, Lucius and Rustbulj journey to the inlet in a rowing boat whilst Oceanus swims. They lay in wait by the path all day and night but see nothing of note and Offa cannot find any tracks.

Sun 22 Nov 1580

A The rest of the Party arrive without the coast guards and the whole Party follow the path. We are soon ambushed by some frog-like creatures which launch their attacks in waves. After a tough fight in which Llewin is knocked unconscious all 24 frogs are killed. 550 gold pieces, five rubies, a leather pouch with three small stones, a special helmet with the word STYX and movable eyepieces and a magic shield are found.

B The Party follow the path further and Farlas finds a concealed door which opens in to a lighted tunnel. The Party enter and battle with a number of lizardmen, killing seven and taking one prisoner. On further investigation the armoury is found followed by the kitchen and mess hall. The latter has settings for 100 to 200. A much larger force of fighters is encountered and after killing five of them the Party is forced to retreat.

C The Party returns to Ershal with the captive lizardman.

Mon 23 Nov to Wed 25 1580

A Various members of the Party receive more training.

B The captive lizardman suggests that we parley with the deputy of the lizardmen tribe, a proposition which is acceptable. He claims that they are no threat to the town.

Thur 26 Nov 1580

A The Party return to the lizardmen lair and Farlas enters alone. Two mermen and lizardmen come out to talk. An exchange of hostages is agreed. Hortense, Nalin and Llewin remain whilst the rest of the Party return to Ershal with the deputy chief and two other lizardmen.

Fri 27 Nov 1580

A The deputy chief of the lizardmen gives a message to the town mayor and there is a meeting of the town council which Party members attend. The lizardman says that about a year ago the sahalogin drove them out of their home in the marshes to the south and that their plans of attack are against this objective and not the town.

B News of sahalogin in the vicinity disturbs the council greatly and there are suggestions of evacuation or calling Olmein for help. finally it is agreed that attack is the best form of defence and that the Party will be employed to get the sahalogin out of the old lizardmen lair. Six lizardmen and six soldier will go to assist the Party. The lizardmen are able to supply a map of the layout of the lair.

Sat 28 Nov to Fri 18 Dec 1580 : 4 Dec : 18 Dec

A Dran arrives and helps to train some of the Party members. During the course of this training a giant crocodile and a giant dragon-like creature are attacked and killed. [! - Ed] 2,100 gold pieces are found in the lair of the dragon creature, together with a necklace of rubies and diamonds, a scroll, a magic scimitar in a leather sheath, a double draft of a blue and effervescent liquid and an inscribed agate which is magical!

Sat 19 Dec 1580

A A meeting of the Ershal town council sets the objectives for the raid on the lair now occupied by the sahalogin:

1. Determine the strength of the sahalogin force
2. Locate important areas in the fortress
3. Locate significant defensive areas and traps
4. Discover how advanced their preparations are and how likely they are to attack.

A Oceanus will go with the Party together with eight soldiers from the town - a captain, lieutenant and six grunts, and 12 lizardmen - two officers and ten grunts. The Party takes a large merchant ship which is crewed by a captain, mate, boatswain and 12 sailors

A The three small stones recovered from the bullywugs [the giant frogs - Ed] are identified as Ioun stones. The red sphere increases dexterity and is taken by Oceanus whilst the pale green prism increases Llewin's abilities and the iridescent spindle shape which has no obvious effect is taken by Nalin. The Party spends a considerable time discussing the attack plan. [The start of a long trend - Ed]

Sun 20 Dec 1580

A The force leaves Ershal at dawn. Four hours into the journey the ship unexpectedly slows and then stops. Tentacles appear on both sides of the ship and attack those people on deck. Several members of the Party are grabbed and a number of tentacles are severed. The tentacles on the starboard side retreat but the others fight on and Farlas is dragged over board. The other tentacles now retreat and Oceanus dives over board and saves Farlas. Much use is made of cure spells.

Mon 21 Dec 1580

A The force land at the edge of the marsh at dawn and approach the causeway leading to the island upon which is the sahalogin lair. The lizardmen say that the island appears lower in the water. The causeway is crossed on mass and we find a large pair of stone doors which appear only to open from the inside. Llewin casts a "Stone shape" spell on the door creating a secret door which opens from the outside and a spy hole. Rustbulj casts "Darkness" and "Silence" so we can invade unnoticed.

A There are four guards in the room beyond the door and Oceanus and Pipluk manage to dispose of them without attracting the attention of the sahalogin in the next room. The second room is sealed with a portcullis. We attempt to overcome the occupants of the room using a "Sleep" spell and a "Pseudo-dragon" but this fails. Melee ensues and Offa, Lucius and Oceanus eventually manage to raise the portcullis and get through to kill two sahalogin. The pseudo-dragon kills a further two whilst the leader and another one are caught in a "Hold person" spell cast by Rustbulj.

A Further exploration reveals many empty silent rooms mostly neatly tiled including one large room containing 60 empty coffers which we surmise is the barracks. The Party also find an armoury with many weapons which are transported to the entrance. The pseudo-dragon finds another room containing three more sahalogin guards but they remain unaware of our presence. We discover what appears to be a fridge or larder containing the corpses of octopus, lizardmen, humans and dwarfs. Oceanus, Nalin and Offa attack and kill the three guards and discover a big room where it appears that a large number of animals (or perhaps people) have been chained up. At the far end of the room is an old man on the verge of death who says that he is a magic user who attacked the sahalogin recently under the command of Prince Monmal. He says that the sahalogin have built much below and that he has made a secret door in a "room beyond widening passage" which leads to a small room and he urges us not to forget "Metamorph".

A The Party locate the secret room and find in it a leather cloak, a full suit of human sized plate armour, a set of dwarf sized chain mail, three shields, a spear, a sword in a scabbard (all magical) and a coffer. In the coffer is a stoppered bone tube containing a wand, a glass jar half full of a blue effervescent liquid (four quaffs), four rings and three varnished books and four stoppered scroll tubes (again all magical).

A Guerin takes the plate mail and Nalin the chain. Offa, Lucius and Rustbulj take a shield each, Oceanus gets the spear and Pipluk the mystery sword (for the moment). One ring is of "Invisibility", the other three have no obvious effect. Oceanus gets the "Invisibility" ring whilst Offa, Lucius and Rustbulj take the other three. Farlas takes a "Knock" scroll, Hortense takes an "Ice storm" scroll and Rustbulj gets the remaining "Silence" and "Continual light".

A The old man says that one of the rings is for "Spell storing", he also says that the wand is "safe" and that the sword is "lucky". We "Metamorph" the old man into a young man to try to save his life, but he dies. Hortense takes a ring of "Spell storing" from Offa.

A Further exploration reveals a room with ten slaves working under the supervision of eight sahalogin. Using the ring of "Invisibility", the magic spear, the wand of "Metamorph", a "Sleep" spell and the pseudo-dragon the Party attack and deal with the sahalogin in short order. [I should think so with that armoury! - Ed] The slaves are of mixed races including lizardmen, orcs and goblins. They are thinking of fleeing but Offa kills one to dissuade them and they are put back to work to restore normal noise conditions. There is a pool in the room that connects to the next level down. Oceanus looks down but sees only an empty room.

A The Party experiments with the magic items that we have found. Hortense puts on the cloak and as she enters the water she assumes the form of a manta ray. Rustbulj's ring allows him to move freely in the water but he is not able to breathe [GPN - Ring of "Free action"]. The blue effervescent potions allow underwater breathing. Nalin's prism shaped ioun stone allows him to operate without air in any environment. Lucius' ring gives no obvious benefit.

A Those who can, enter the water to investigate the level below. Offa wears his helm of "Underwater action", Hortense wears the cloak, Rustbulj with his ring after taking a potion, Nalin with the ioun stone and Lucius "Metamophed" into a shark. Oceanus and the 14 lizardman travel without obvious magical assistance. The rest of the force remain behind.

A It is soon obvious that the water course is pitch dark and only Oceanus and the lizardmen can see. A "shark" scout is needed who can see so Pipluk to prevailed upon and eventually agrees. Pipluk scouts to the east whilst Oceanus goes west. To the west Oceanus finds a room containing two sahalogin. Four lizardmen rush in to attack while Oceanus and Rustbulj attempt to find a way in to the room from the back. They find no other entrance and return. The lizardmen kill the sahalogin and find 12 platinum pieces, 150 gold pieces, a gold armband with coral beads, four harnesses with golden buckles, a gold finger ring set with a pearl and an inscribed silver goblet. There is also a very fine set of thieves tools which is taken by Oceanus.

A Further exploration reveals a large room containing many female and infant sahalogin, a temple with four or five clerical sahalogin, two rooms with 20 sahalogin soldiers with one officer in each and a throne room with a hugh four armed sahalogin on the throne guarded by a male and female cleric and a number of lesser sahalogin. There are also a number of smaller empty rooms containing coffers. from the latter we take six gold harness buckles and 12 platinum harness buckles, two emeralds, a diamond, 20 small rubies, a gold locket on a chain, a small silver mirror, a magical dagger, an underwater crossbow and an electrum coffer set with pearls.

A Amazingly the force remain undiscovered all this time except for three sahalogin females who are ambushed and killed.

A The entrance to the next level down is found and Nalin is metamorphed into a shark so that he can explore. Nalin finds a store room, two rooms each with about 20 sahalogin, another room containing ten sahalogin and an officer, a run of cells where two sahalogin are torturing a bullywug, an arena where a number of sahalogin including one of high rank are watching a battle between two others and two more rooms with five sahalogin guards in each. There is a portcullis which obviously leads to the sea cave.

A Whilst the force is debating how to get past one of the portcullis a sahalogen approaches and is overpowered by lizardmen and Oceanus. He is bound and a platinum harness buckle, a gold arm band set with amber, eight platinum pieces and a pearl are taken from him. Rustbulj, Oceanus, Hortense and the two lizardmen officers go down to the west portcullis and attack the five guards using a "Light" spell and the "Silence" spell from the scroll. Hortense chucks in some "Sleep" spells. The guards are overpowered and the force confirm that the portcullis does lead to the sea cave. About 50 sahalogin are seen in the sea cave, there is a large bronze gate over the entrance and net traps by the portcullis.

A At this point having thoroughly mapped most of the fortress, identifies the number of sahalogin present and the defenses, the force withdraws taking as many weapons as we can, the corpses from the fridge, the two sahalogin prisoners and a tortoise and return to the ship.

Tue 22 Dec 1580

A The force arrive back at Ershal and Oceanus takes his leave of the Party. He gives the location of the home of the sea elves and pledges their support for the future.

B The town council are pleased with the results of the scouting mission. The Party decide to head back to Jollwater Bridge.

Wed 23 Dec 1580

A In order to get back to Jollwater Bridge the Party makes a forced march to Lohrmarhn, a small market town with a temple to Farah. The weather is bad and there is much snow. Travelling conditions are terrible but the Party consider that we must make the journey.

Thur 24 Dec 1580

A The Party rest to recover from the forced march.

Fri 25 Dec 1580

A Rustbulj holds an early morning service to celebrate the Christian festival of Christmas before the Party moves on. The Party set off in the direction of Orlane. The journey is difficult and at night the Party are attacked by five spiders which Farlas fortunately has no difficulty in "Sleeping".

Sat 26 Dec 1580

A The Party battle onwards through the snow but by the end of the day Pipluk has collapsed. At night two black bears attack but this time Hortense "Sleeps" them.

Sun 27 Dec and Mon 28 Dec 1580

A The arduous travelling continues unabated

Tue 29 Dec 1580

A At about midday whilst the Party are approaching Orlane, a pack of 12 wolves attack. They are beaten off at the cost of most of the Party spell power. About two hours later 24 wolves attack. this time the battle is not so one sided as the Party has little spell power left and are weak from the journey. The fight is long and hard. Farlas and Guerin are knocked unconscious as is Rustbulj, twice. Pipluk is killed. The wolves continue there attack until only four remain and they finally take flight.

B Late in the day and in a very sorry state the Party stagger in to Orlane.

Wed 30 Dec 1580 : 1 Jan 1581

A A message arrives from Marius Tellman. He warns the Party to "Beware of travelling through the Tissal valley". The warning appears to relate to a band of urek hai and a female magic user which must be the group previously encountered by the Party. Marius goes on to say that he would like to see the Party as soon as we can make it although we should not miss out on any training and such like.

B The Party arrange to stay in Orlane for six weeks to complete training for all those who can benefit from it (with the exception of Rustbulj who must train with Marius Tellman in Jollwater Bridge). The Party contact the hermit magic user named Ramny and ask him to examine several of the magic items.

Thur 7 Jan 1581

A Farlas receives news that two of his "colleagues" have been found in shallow graves in nearby woods. Apparently they were killed by members of the Party in an earlier visit to this area. farlas is understandably upset and asks why he was not told of this incident. Members of the Party who were present at that time demur and explain that the whole affair was a mistake brought about by false information supplied by a certain Calligula (who has since been found to be evil and has been converted to neutrality). The Party had mistakenly decided that the elves were evil and had killed them, although the actual killer, Dran, has since left the Party. Farlas is still distressed although he accepts the Parties story. Arrangements are made to have the elves bodies sent back to their home for burial.

Fri 8 Jan 1581

A It is Nalin's 53rd birthday and Offa buys himself three more war dogs.

B Ramny completes his examination of the Luck Blade. He explains it's powers [GPN - It is "+1" and "+1" on all saving throws] and says that normally it would have "Wishes" but they have been used up on this sword.

Tue 12 Jan 1581

A It is Hortense's birthday and Offa gives her a war dog as a present.

B Ramny completes his examination of the "Polymorph" wand and says there are between 15 and 25 charges left.

Fri 15 Jan 1581

A Ramny reports that the agate with runes is a "Proof against poison" [GPN - give +3 on saving throws against poison].

Sun 24 Jan 1581 : 29 Jan

The crystal is found to be a powerful item. It confers permanency on a spell if crushed over the person.

Sat 7 Feb 1581

A Ramny's examination of the Philosopher's Stone proves fruitless. He informs the Party that it would take much time and effort to even have a chance of finding its secret.

Tue 10 Feb 1581

A Ramny reveals that the "Magic missile" wand has 20 to 30 charges left.

A The six weeks training is complete and it is time to travel to Jollwater Bridge. It is one days sail down the Tissal valley but Marius Tellman has warned against this route. However, as the alternative route is to spend several weeks travelling back to the coast and then going the long way round, the Party decide to risk the valley. Offa, Hortense, Lucius, Losarn and the four war dogs go in one boat with Farlas, Rustbulj, Nalin, Bazron and Guerin in another lead boat.

B Half an hour after sailing through Tislesp the Party are ambushed by urek hai on the approach to a tight bend in the river. The river has been "mined" with rocks and a gate has been strung across it. The boats come under a hail of arrows and Hortense, Farlas and Losarn are hit. The lead boat runs aground and the other one is holed. Lucius throws a rope from the holed boat to Guerin in the other. The arrows are still falling like rain. The people in the grounded boat land on the right bank and are immediately attacked by eight to ten urek hai. Farlas slips on his ring of "Invisibility" and disappears.

B Offa, whilst trying to steer the holed boat, is attacked by two large black birds which Hortense zaps with the "Magic missile" wand.

B Back on the bank the invisible Farlas "Polymorphs" the leading uruk hai into a goldfish but this does not phase the others at all. The holed boat lands and its occupants disembark and fighting starts in earnest. Arrow fire is still coming from the opposite bank but one of the boats is hauled up to provide a measure of protection.

B The urek hai have the Party hemmed in on the river bank and have developed a system of attack. Only eight to ten attack at any time whilst the rest hide in the bushes, as soon as one of the fighters is killed another one runs in to take its place. Some of the urek hai are replaced by wargs. The enemy leader quickly spots that Offa is particularly effective against urek hai (due to his sword) and only sends wargs against him. Consequently Offa frequently changes places with other fighters in the ring to bring his sword to play where it will do most damage.

B Farlas makes an abortive attempt to cast "Ice storm" from a scroll on two boats of orcs who cross the river to join the attack. The still invisible Farlas is "stung" by an equally invisible evil creature which then flees over the river. Hortense casts a "Protection from evil" spell on Farlas by the invisible thing returns and tries to steal Farlas' wand. It stings Hortense.

B All the time the battle of swords goes on and the pile of urek hai and wargs grows, but still they come. On a hunch some members of the Party shout "Pirolle Nims" but nothing happens. The orcs in the woods begin to chant, there are still a lot left. The chant seems to be some form of tribal spell as the orcs fighting ability appears to suddenly go up.

B A strange voice from above Farlas says "Pirolle Nims" and a burst of fire strikes Farlas . This happens twice more in quick succession and Farlas collapses although no one actually sees this as he is still invisible. Rustbulj finds him by touch and cures him. Something has worked the wand loose from its hiding place inside his armour, but luckily we still have it. Farlas is hit again and collapses once more. Rustbulj leaps on him to protect the wand from the invisible thief. Hortense gives Farlas a "Healing" potion. Farlas comes round again and casts a "Detect magic" spell to try to identify the source of his peril, but all he sees is two "Magic missiles" coming from a distance just before they strike him!

C The battle is going badly and Rustbulj is forced to take a place in the line. Offa withdraws and takes the ring and wand from Farlas and uses Fearno to detect the evil hereabouts. He does so but it flees swiftly before he can "Polymorph" it. Rustbulj "Fire bombs" a couple of wargs fighting Guerin. The orcs and dire wolves are still attacking furiously and the Parties resistance is weakening. Guerin is hit badly twice in succession and dies. Offa returns the ring and wand to Farlas and takes Guerin's place in the line.

C Six more of the black birds attack Hortense who makes good use of the "Magic missile" wand to knock off four of them, the others fly away. A cloaked figure appears suddenly some distance from the fight and tries to "Magic missile" Hortense but fails due to a "Shield" spell that she had cast earlier. Offa tries to "Metamorph" the figure but it is too far away, the green light issues forth from the wand but it fizzles out some ten yards short of the mark.

C Lucius drops after receiving a wound that caused a burning sensation. Hortense takes Farlas' wand and "Metamorphs" his attacker. More "Magic missiles" issue from the cloaked figure and strike Nalin. Hortense casts a "Sleep" spell which knocks out the four remaining orcs. The chanting in the woods still continues but is somewhat diminished. More "Magic missiles" strike Nalin. In desperation Hortense starts "Polymorphing" orcs willy-nilly.

D Suddenly the flow of attacking urek hai stops...... but their final attack was effective. Nalin, Lucius, Bazron and Farlas are unconscious and Guerin is dead. While people are catching their breath Losarn neutralises the poison that Lucius received.

D The wounded and dead are loaded in to the unholed boat and the Party start down river to take one of the orc's boats. An uruk hai appears and starts to smash the boats. He wrecks one and sets the other two adrift before leaping on a dire wolf and fleeing. Rustbulj chases after the loose boat and catches it.

D The Party drift into Jollwater Bridge in a poor condition. Our spells are used up, both wands are severely depleted, four Party members are unconscious and one is dead.

E Marius Tellman and his clerics rally round and cast spells like there is no tomorrow. Marius successfully casts a "Raise dead" spell on Guerin. Then he announces that it is the first time he has ever done it!

Wed 11 Feb 1581

A Marius Tellman is pleased to see the Party and hands over a letter from Ub detailing the proceeds from the last lot of loot he fenced, plus dividends of cash and fine clothes for some of the Party. Rustbulj arranges some serious training [GPN - the 5th level] and this will take until mid May.

B Farlas goes to Domstoss to train and takes Guerin, Nalin and Bazron.

Sat 28 Mar 1581

A As training and recuperation continues, Balman the ranger goes off in search of any remaining urek hai.

B San Angmar, a fighter thief, arrives to join the Party.

Thur 16 Apr 1581

A Rumours that Asman has been wiped out by a surprise orc attack.

Sun 10 May 1581

A More dividends are received from Ub.