Some of the heroes meet in the town of Avondale.
Jedon had been orc hunting and was returning to his camp when he was ambushed by a pair of orcs. Crystala was fleeing the Barons guards when she came to Jedon's aid. D'mond had been hired to steal something from a warehouse when the heist went wrong and the building started to burn. Dohrum met the others as they recovered at the temple of Koryis. Crystala was fleeing because she had stabbed the Baron in self-defence after he made unwelcome approaches towards her.
The others were met at a disused mine in the mountains north of Avondale.
Orto, the mad Dwarf, had imprisoned Simon and Delmundo the half-orc wizard who wanted them to produce plague spores. Jordan was used as manual labour by the orcs at the mine to break rocks.
The first group of heroes had been sent on a mission by Rhodoban, the head cleric of the order of Koryis in Avondale. There have been rumours that someone has been trying to spread spores of the Great Plague. There searching led them to an abandoned mine in the heart of the mountains between Avondale and Dal Skyr. There they found Orto, a dwarf, with two mage prisoners who he was trying to persuade to manufacture the plague. His previous mage had escaped but in his bid for freedom fell down an open mine shaft. Some of the PCs had started to explore the bottom of the shaft and found the mages' body along with his spell book which had been used for fire lighters by a hobgoblin that occupied the chamber at the foot of the shaft.
In their exploration of the chamber they uncovered an ancient door that seemed to open onto a long lost tomb. They have decided to ignore this for the present and take Orto back to Avondale for punishment. After resting at Zan's master's cave they returned to Avondale. They were in sight of the town when a group of city guard rode past. They thought they were safe but the guards rode back and ordered Crystala and D'mond to remove their hoods. Crystala pretends to be plague struck causing the guards to back off. On the way back to the town they were attacked by kobolds but Crystala showed her bravery once more and their assailants were chased off.
On returning to Avondale they found that the Mayor and the mage Kesryk were absent and hear that the Baron has put a price on Crystala's head. They visit a Dwarven ale house to hand back some items found in the temple. While most try to remain inconspicuous Jordan gets involved in an arm-wrestling bout with a dwarf and wins! Just then they are urged by Jedon to leave by the back way. Just in time it seems as a band of the Baron's men arrive.
Having evaded the guards with the help of Simon's magics they take up residence at the Bridge Inn. The following day they go their separate ways. Jordan, Dohrum, Crystala and Landrick narrowly avoid death in the market at the hands of a Guild Assassin. The authorities seem to think the target was the merchant but the heroes are suspicious, could the bolt have been meant for Crystala?
They are summoned to the temple of Koryis for a meeting with Rhodoban. There they are surprised to see the Baron who offers them a pardon and a pouch of gold if they retrieve a talisman from the family mausoleum.
The heroes decided to take up the Baron's offer and have spent some time researching the history of the Talisman.
They have now travelled into the woods and found the tomb of the Baron's ancestors. So far all has been plain sailing, the tomb opened easily and they find a stone coffin and a statue of the First Baron, intact bar one thumb. During this they meet Landor an elven cleric of few words.
They investigated the side crypts and encountered a number of animated skeletons, each of which have born a different coloured ring. They find a way into the deeper crypts and descend, much to Jedon's displeasure.
After solving many puzzles and overcoming several dangerous foes they came to the chamber where the first of the Jubfek's lay buried. Here they were given the talisman and told to take it to the First not to the current Baron. Sadly this prize came at a cost. Landrick died at the hands of the skeletal foes and D'mond took a wound that has since become infected. They left the temple and headed for the town of Avonmouth.
On the way to Avonmouth they stopped at the Greenwood Inn where a group of rogues started a fight as a distraction. Leaving behind a bottle of poisoned brandy the rogues made their escape. This brandy was passed around and Jedon succumbed to the poison. In a strange dreamworld the ranger imagined himself to be a dragon, one of the lords of an ancient city. In the dream he saw the bard Zanzibar and believes that Zan is a traitor and caused the downfall of the city.
Meanwhile the others searched out a druid who had the cure for the poison. The druid turned the rogues into statues and helped cure Jedon of the poison. She could do nothing for D'mond's arm however.
The journey continued and they arrived in Avonmouth. Dohrum went to the temple of Koryis and aided the clerics in the preparations for D'mond's cure, a cure that has cost the party 1000gp. The others stayed in the Dog and Razor, a dockside tavern in the poorer part of town. The following day D'mond was cured and they encounter an angry ship's captain at the docks who they decide to sail with to Safeharbour. But before they can go Simon is kidnapped by agents of the Baron and the others with the aid of Greywort, the half-orc boatman, go to his rescue.
They find Simon in the clutches of Argas, the bandit. Just before they are about to leave Greywort the boatman falls dying through the only door out of the caves. A battle with some of Baron Jubfek's guards ensues during which Crystala and Landor are either captured or killed. The others hide in a secret room that somehow Jedon remembers from his dream in the Greenwood Inn. They emerge into the cellars of the lighthouse and are discovered by the lighthouse keeper who with the aid of captain Caduach and the Jubfek Talisman, which they discover is called Ordana's Ward, they get aboard the captain's ship, 'The Flower Of The West.'
Little did they know that others had been set on thier trail.
They set sail for Safeharbour but the weather is against them. First they encounter calm weather that leaves them drifting then the ship is attacked by alus-vaarn, a form of evil water spirit. During the battle the ship is damaged, a number of the crew are hurt or killed and Dohrum looses his holy symbol, ripped from his grasp by one of the evil spirits.
They limp their way into a cove on Dragontooth Island and the heroes go ashore to look for fresh food, water and timber, the evil spirits having corrupted the ships' stores. Once ashore Jedon and Simon are attached by blood sucking birds but they win through with the aid of Jordan's sword craft. They find an old corpse in a halfling net trap that carries a worn and damaged map of the island and a unknown potion. They decide to follow the trail marked on the map after burying the corpse beneath a cairn of stones. The map leads them through a ruined village and an old grave, upon which is some ancient dwarven writing. Dohrum deciphers this and finds it to be a tale of one of the ancient dwarven kings who died here at the hands, or rather teeth of a dragon.
They continue along the trail to a broken bridge. Dohrum again reads some fragments of ancient dwarven writing on the bridge and with eyes closed sets out across it. The others see him get half way before falling to seeming death at the bottom of a deep ravine. They try to find his body but fail. Simon tries to repeat what Dohrum did with the same effect. However this is an illusion and both Dohrum and Simon are safe on the other side. They return to lead the others across.
They follow the path up the side of a mountain to a cave in which they find the bones of the dragon that killed the dwarven king Orry. However as they examine the ancient items preserved amongst the bones they are found by a group of strangely dressed halflings who after much jumping up and down escort them to their village where they are greeted by their chief who provides a magical feast for them.
However they find that the feast has a bitter aftertaste. The chief tells them that the PCs have trespassed on the grave of thier sacred spirit guardian and they must face thier champion in a fight to the death. The tribes humour is not improved when Simon produces an impromptu magical fireworks display which includes a representation of a green dragon - thier spirit guardian.
Fyrmont 24th 1014
Thinking that a halfling would be no match for Jordan they rest easy. However when the time for the challange comes they are shocked to see a hulking ogre step into the ring to take on Jordan. Jordan's ogre upbringing gives him the ability to speak the same tongue as his challenger and he discovers that the ogre is sick of being kept with the halflings and longs for an escape and the two act in concert to break free and a chase ensues along the tracks through forest and mountain. As they run past the cave that caused all the trouble Dohrum snatches up helm and axe that he had detirmined belonged to the ancient king Orry. Jedon took the gold tipped arrow that was embedded in the dragon's eye socket and they ran for the shore. However as they left the cave a green dragon spirit formed within the cave. The heroes stook still in fear as the dragon spirit sniffed and looked at each of them in turn, especially Dohrum and Jedon before floating out of the cave towards the halflings. The frightened, awestruck halfings fell to thier knees and this gave the PCs the chance to dash off.
The journey on to Safeharbour began quietly enough but barely a day had passed before a drifting ship was sighted. Fearing that it was a trap set by Captain Vai but honour bound by Guild rules to investigate
Captain Caduach drew the Flower of the West alongside. He soon recognised the ship as the All or Nothing, owned by the Exratty family out of Safeharbour. A quick inspection of the deck revealed no crew except for a much sunblasted and seagull pecked mage hanging from the mast.
The companions investigated the deserted wreck and found little in the cabins of the crew until the captain's cabin was searched. Here they found the ships's log which described how a mage had chartered and modified the ship for some sort of hunt. All had gone well untill some creature of the depths had been dredged up in the net. Here the log ended.
Realising the creature may still be in the hold the brave companions searched the lower levels of the ship. Here the discovered a horrible creature that tried to fool them with its mental powers. Dohrum and Verlis were nearly convinced that they saw a beutiful mermaid trapped in a glass bowl but them managed to see through the creature's illusion. Instead they saw a Terror of the Deep, a marine beholder.
Jordan and Dohrum smashed the glass tank and with the aid of Jedon and Simon finished the creature off. As it died it turned to stone and Captain Caduach, to prevent fear amongst his crew, pretended it was a statue and had it thrown over the side.
Further investigation of the ship led to the disovery of the mage's spell book and other items, including a note book that contained some valuable information on the nature of the beast.
Captain Caduach assigned a skeleton crew to the All or Nothing and both ships sailed towards Safeharbour once more.
On disembarking they are accosted by street urchins who are eventually scared off by one of Simon's illusions. This draws some of the patrolling militia who take the prisoners and the companions to the Militia House. Meanwhile Arrik and Dohrum go to the aid of a woman who has fainted. It appears that she is the wife of one of the dead crewmembers of the All or Nothing. She is distraught and is left in the care of Captain Caduach while Arrik and Dohrum catch up with the others.
Once the business in the Militia House is concluded the companions go to the Three Dragon's Inn where Simon causes a stir by telling the innkeeper's fortune as well as that of Arbet Garch.
Meanwhile Jedon has gone for a walk around the town and is kidnapped by a group of slavers operating out of the Scarlet Feather brothel. After spending a little time in a dank celler Jedon manages to escape through the sewers but not before he has a fist fight with a pair of guards.
D'mond, Verlis, Andrinor and Arrik go to find Scardovari a dealer in gems to sell the sapphire in order to raise the money to get Verlis cured of his lycanthropy. However Scardovari drives a hard bargin and the companions have to do him a favour in order to get their gold; distract the guards at Kingsgate to allow him to get his cargo out.
They decide to stage a fight in the Crippled Giant a tavern near the gate. They discover that Zan has a 'bit of history' with the half-giant bouncer that works there. The disruption escalates as planned and guards are drawn away from the gate and Zan gets thrown through a window in the ensuing fracas. However D'mond notices that the guards left at the gate have been killed by Scardovari's agents and with Zan, Arrik, Dohrum, Andrinor and the returning Jedon gives chase.
Simon and Verlis are taken into custody and are only saved from being put to the question by Arbet Garch by the direct intevention of Lord Kesryk. They then follow Symber from the inn to the tracks leading out of the city.
D'mond and the others discover a partially ruined stockade in the forest north of the city guarded archers. They manage to gain entance, leaving Zan and Dohrum to guard the path beside a spiked pit into which Jedon had earlier fallen. D'mond calls upon the power of the Jubfek Amulet to strkie fear into the heart of the slavers within the stockade where they are guarding the cargo of slaves that is awaiting a boat to arrive at a cove to the east. After a bloody battle the slave leader is killed and the fleaing slavers are herded into the pit they themselves constructed. This they did by stripping to their smalls and producing puppets from thier armour which they hung from the trees.
After a welcome nights rest the heroes meet Chang, a traveller from the uttermost east who is searching for his father, a bard of some renown. Over breakfast a summons arrives from the first, they have been granted an audience with the First and they are to meet a boat at Three Dragon Quay at noon. Meanwhile they recieve news that the Scarlet Feather brothel was burnt down in the night, an event foreshadowed in a note that was found in one of the slaver's tents.
