Dragonspear II  to  NewDafan: Crater of the Demons

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CALENDAR:

8. Dragonspear Castle II (a.k.a. Amber Keys 2.2) (13-6-4;0), Jema 10-Canne 3 755, AL-NO 98

Background and summary:  Still seeking the Amber Cube, the Party heads back to the castle and this time avoids most of the distractions while picking up lots of new members.  After some unpleasant encounters with undead, they get teleported far to the north and there find the Cube.  From here, they almost immediately get teleported again, straight into another adventure.

Starting members (from Dragonspear I):  Calion(F-3/T-3), Sharana(F-4), Throy(F-4), Pearl(MU-4), Kermut(NrC-3), Christophe(B-3), Boris(R-3)

9. Verbrugge's Hold (a.k.a. Amber Keys 3) (20-8-7;11), Canne 4-5, Canne 18 and Verga 16-Fieth 27 755,  DE 98-AL 99

Background and summary:  the Party is teleported to the neighbourhood of Verbrugge the Frost Giant, who holds the Amber Pyramid, but barely get started before taking two long training breaks.  By the time these are done, Verbrugge's Giants have taken retribution on the locals for the Party's abortive raids, leaving Party with no friends here at all!  Eventually, Verbrugge is killed in a classic battle and Party almost - but not quite - get the Amber Pyramid, so they still have to wade into his holdings to try and find it.  Many days and many casualties later they clear out the complex and rescue lots of prisoners but end up losing the Pyramid to the Dwarf Virag, an accomplice of Verbrugge's.  So off to the Dwarven lands they go, until new recruit Orm attacks Party, other new recruit Flasheart kills Orm, and the bickering really begins in earnest...

Starting members (from Dragonspear II):  Calion(F-3/T-3), Sharana(F-4), Throy(F-4), Pearl(MU-4), Kermut(NrC-3), Christophe(B-3),
                Korzon(WrC-3), Raslow(NrC-1/MU-2), Mrikle(I-3), Thorgrimm(F-3), Xenophonos(F-2)

Can 4 755	Boris, Christophe, Kermut and Thorgrimm get teleported by Signy to a mountain valley and there get jumped by Giants; all barely survive.
	Everyone else gets sent to a forest and start heading for the nearest mountains; meet Thurid, a local Cleric who would become the Party's main contact here.
	Both groups approach and attack the same large band of Ogres from opposite sides without realizing it.
Can 5	Retreat to Haaksfjord, a local town, for a treasury and training break: Kermut to NrC-4, Thorgrimm to F-4, Calion to T-4/F-3, Raslow to MU-3/NrC-1, and Christophe to B-4 thus Christophe leaves for a while.
Can 16	Those not training leave Haaksfjord, heading back to the mountains.
Can 18	Kill a Frost Giant, then take on 5 Hill Giants; Sharana killed in the second battle - taken to -57 h.p. just after calling out from magical darkness how well things were going.
	As nearly everyone else now needs training (Throy to F-5, Boris to R-4, Korzon to WrC-4, Xeno. to F-3, Mrikle to I-4), back to town they go.
Ver 3	Kermut tries on a cursed ring and immediately becomes undead; Kermut killed by Party.
Ver 6	Kermut resurrected.
Ver 8	Sharana resurrected.
Ver 16	While travelling back from training, Korzon gets jumped by a band of Gnolls and Bugbears.  Korzon killed, but strange things happen because of this...
Ver 17	Dead Korzon and a live Elf appear suddenly in local Sif temple.  This very confused Elf is holding a potion she's never seen, and for lack of anything better to do with it pours it into Korzon, thus Korzon raised; somehow, Party via Calion is made aware of this.
	Party takes in Elf as well, so Tirya(F-3) joins.
	Party leaves for mountains, but Korzon stays behind to recover; learn Giants have taken severe retribution on locals for Party's actions and that most locals want Party dead.
Ver 18	Reach same valley as before, take out a few more Giants.
	While Party recovers from this a few more Giants come by, so Party hides in bushes but utterly fails to stay quiet; Giants hear and investigate, and Thorgrimm killed in resulting battle.  Battered Party leaves valley.
Ver 20	Arrive Haaksfjord and hire another Cleric, so Tuchra Defvsdottir(NtC-3) joins.
Ver 22	Return to valley; meet Thurid with a local patrol and a captive Dwarf - Thurid allows Party to "rescue" this Dwarf and thus Groa(F-3) joins.
Ver 23	Calion falls down the same cliff 4 times as Party tries to sneak up valley.
Ver 24	Party finally reaches valley head; take out several Giants in a cave, Boris gets stuck beneath 2 of them.
	Many more Giants arrive; Party hides down a dead-end corridor behind a Mrikle illusion, end of corridor is ice so Calion carves his way outside and explores glacier.
	Much later, Calion's all-clear sends everyone else out onto the glacier; Mrikle had maintained her illusion for over 8 hours!  Party camps on a cliff ledge nearby.
	Various people bump overnight: Raslow to NrC-2/MU-3, Xenophonos to F-4, Tirya to F-4.
Ver 25	A Gryphon tries to join Party on ledge and dies for its trouble.
	Party notices a Dwarf far below who seems to be on friendly terms with Giants; this is Virag, and he would ultimately become a more serious menace than Verbrugge.
Ver 26	Korzon, on his way to catch up to Party, meets 7 Ogres; he kills 3 but the rest take him captive.  Party learns of this through frame.
Ver 27	During night, a rescue mission of Calion, Mrikle, Tirya, Throy and Groa easily succeed in freeing Korzon, but run into big trouble on way back to Party: o Korzon hauled up rope to Party on clifftop, rope then breaks leaving Tirya stranded 2/3 of the way up; o A band of Giants (including Verbrugge himself) arrive, discover group still at base of cliff, and attack; o Groa killed by Verbrugge almost before battle starts (now F-4), but other Giants don't last very long; o Party above frantically repairs rope, Sharana goes down to valley, and lasts less than a minute once there: Sharana killed (but bumps to F-5 as she dies); o Tuchra goes down rope and stops at Tirya, blocking the way; o Verbrugge finds rope and pulls it down, shaking Tirya loose to float across valley and leaving Tuchra clinging to the cliff; o Throy, Calion and Mrikle take turns running Verbrugge around and shooting him, thus Verbrugge killed - but not before he calls for help; o Two more Giants arrive and start chasing Throy and Calion around, but both eventually escape; o Tirya goes to Verbrugge and starts looting but is attacked and poisoned by Virag, so Tirya killed despite massive attempts by Party to save her. (at one point she was within arm's reach of the Amber Pyramid and had it in sight, but Virag's arrival prevented her from taking it; he later took it himself) o One of the chasing Giants finds Mrikle and takes her captive; with this, Giants and Dwarf head back up valley.
	It takes half the day to get remaining Party reunited on the clifftop.
	Mrikle escapes capture in Giant complex, tells Party through frame of several other prisoners within, but is soon recaptured, put in stasis, and turned into a table ornament.
	Xenophonos uses frame to set up a parley with Eric, the new Giant leader, soon learns he is psyonic; his response to parley request is a wave of 18 Ogres sent to clear out the meeting place.
	Pearl and Kermut sneak into complex through hole in glacier under diversion of everyone else attacking the main entrance; everyone soon reuintes inside and keeps going until they meet Eric.
	Eric talks with Pearl until rest of Party leaves; he then throws her in his prison, thus allowing her to make contact with the prisoners (the whole point of the exercise).
Ver 28	Party mounts a full-out assault on cave but only takes out a few Ogres before retreating.
Fie 1	Christophe rejoins and brings a couple of recruits with him, so Araglas(F-3) and Orm(F-3) join.
Fie 2	Another full-out assault runs into a nasty ambush inside cave: o Throy, Orm, and Korzon cut off behind a wedged-shut door; o Kermut killed, then Xenophonos killed; both times, Boris immediately slays the Giant responsible; o Boris killed by the last remaining Giant after a stellar combat; o Meanwhile, Calion sneaks forward and rescues Pearl and another prisoner: Dior(WrC-3) joins; they in turn rescue more prisoners, so Aishah(R-3) and Flasheart Gwynethra(T-3) join as well; o The prison guard chases Calion back to Party; Tuchra killed as a result.
	Party retreats outside, allowing Virag a chance to do some looting and sneak away.
	After careful exploration, Party returns into cave; find scads of booty including Mrikle-as-statue but realize the Amber Pyramid is now heading off down the valley.
Fie 3	Staggering under the weight of their loot, Party goes back down valley; find their horses have been eaten by a local patrol.
Fie 4	Arrive Haaksfjord; various people go various ways to train etc. and Mrikle gets de-stasised.
Fie 13	Calion busts up a slaving operation in Jaarvikshold, a city he is visiting; rescues many slaves including Strang, an old Dwarf from this area.
Fie 15	Half of Party still keeping watch on valley, find some Giants: Orm killed.
Lei 2 756	Orm resurrected in Jaarvikshold.
Lei 11	Party leaves, taking Strang as a guide, intending to find Virag and the Amber Pyramid.
Lei 14	Half a dozen Ogres ambush Party; Orm shocks everyone by attacking Flasheart during this and is nearly killed in the ensuing brawl (and Flasheart's not in much better shape).
	An Ogre Mage disguised as a tree causes all kinds of confusion immediately after this: o Mrikle detects as evil, so Throy charges at her; Pearl webs both up; o Christophe attacks and mows down Korzon, then charges Dior until put to sleep by Pearl; o About this point, someone (Calion?) kills the Ogre Mage but that doesn't help things very much; o Araglas flees into forest pursued by Calion, who shoots her to slow her down; she then turns on him and breaks her enchanted bow trying to mindlessly club him with it, setting off a long, loud, and painful chain-reaction meltdown; o Throy cuts free of web and attacks Aishah to stop her from looting the Ogre Mage; o Throy and Korzon (now cured) clobber Araglas into submission, Korzon then cures Calion from -9 h.p.; o Mrikle gets free of web and sends Flasheart fleeing into the forest screaming, Dior chases; o Pearl shoots Mrikle, then she and Throy subdue her; o Dior gets attacked by some Goblins, Flasheart turns around to help and Dior nearly skewers her, but they're now on the same side and both make their way back to Party.
	After much curing, Throy stands guard over 4 trussed-up turkeys: Orm, Araglas, Christophe and Mrikle.
	Late at night, Aishah tries to kill Araglas but is caught by Calion; she joins the trussed-up brigade.
Lei 15	Christophe, Mrikle, and Araglas let free in morning as they seem to be back to normal; Aishah a bit later.
	Party backtracks Ogres to their village but there's too many, so Party carries on north, arguing all the way about whether to kill Orm or take him to trial; vote is 6-5 for trial.
Lei 16	Orm killed by Flasheart during the night but no-one notices until morning; she admits nothing.
	Lots and lots of suspicion and paranoia among Party from here on, along with much arguing.
	An Imp, disguised as a faery, adds to the mayhem once Party has camped for the night; Pearl webs half of Party along with Imp and nearly kills Aishah in the process.  Throy kills Imp while trying to capture it.
Lei 20	Arguing all the way, Party arrives at Dwarven city of Megrim; Strang gets them in and then leaves.
Lei 27	Sharana, Kermut, and Thorgrimm all resurrected.  Korzon retires; he's had enough.
Sco 12	Boris resurrected.

Surviving members:  Calion(F-4/T-5), Throy(F-5), Pearl(MU-5), Sharana(F-5), Kermut(NrC-4), Christophe(B-4), Boris(R-4), Korzon(WrC-4),
                Raslow(NrC-2/MU-3), Mrikle(I-4), Thorgrimm(F-4), Araglas(F-4), Aishah(R-4), Dior(WrC-3), Flasheart(T-4)
New members:  Tirya, Tuchra, Groa, Araglas, Orm, Dior, Aishah, Flasheart
Casualties:  Xenophonos, Tirya, Tuchra, Groa; Orm (twice, revived once); (Sharana, Kermut twice each - revived both times; Korzon - revived;
               Boris - revived later)
Retirees:  Korzon (but not for long...)
Continuing party (to Virag's Mines):  Calion, Throy, Pearl, Sharana, Kermut, Christophe, Boris, Mrikle, Raslow, Thorgrimm, Araglas, Dior, Aishah,
               Flasheart

10. Virag's Mines (a.k.a. Amber Keys 4) (17-2-1;6), Scori 14-Tari 18 756, MA-OC 99

Background and summary:  The Dwarf Virag has made off with the Amber Pyramid from Verbrugge's Hold, but the Party still needs it to continue their quest.  Although most of the Party want to put more effort into arguing with each other than anything else, they somehow manage to find and slay Virag, break up his plot against the non-Dwarven residents of Megrim, and at last get the Pyramid along with some much-needed instructions on what these amber keys are to be used for.

Starting members (from Verbrugge's Hold):  Calion(F-4/T-5), Throy(F-5), Pearl(MU-5), Sharana(F-5), Kermut(NrC-4), Christophe(B-4), Boris(R-4),
                Raslow(NrC-2/MU-3), Mrikle(I-4), Thorgrimm(F-4), Araglas(F-4), Aishah(R-4), Flasheart(T-4), Dior(WrC-3)

Sco 4 756	Party pays a Cleric to cast Detect Lie on everyone, revealing Flasheart as Orm's killer.
Sco 6	Two days of heated argument end in a vote: 6 to keep Flasheart in Party under quest, 4 to send her to trial in Dwarven courts, and 3 for trial by duel. (but with who?)  Vote result doesn't sit well with everyone, however.
	Somewhen around now, Aishah adds to the mayhem as she takes a Drow gem found on the Ogre Mage and sticks it in her forehead.  She becomes powerfully psyonic.  Everyone else becomes annoyed.
Sco 12	Party needs another Cleric, so Liniste Steelhands(NrC-4/T-0) joins.
Sco 24	Set off in ceaseless rain for old mines where Virag is reputed to be hiding out, still arguing all the way.
Sco 25	Throy challenges Flasheart to a duel and she accepts, but noise of the battle attracts a passing Red Dragon; Pearl tries to talk to this Dragon and is making progress until Thorgrimm attacks it, and Pearl and Raslow killed in a magic item meltdown caused by its dying breath.
Sco 26	Several Goblins attack while Party decides what to do next; Boris poisoned and Sharana killed, so decision is to retreat to town.
Sco 28	A soaked, bickering, discouraged, and thoroughly disorganized Party arrives back at Megrim.
Tar 1	Pearl resurrected and Raslow raised by the Dwarves.
Tar 3	Throy and Flasheart want to duel again but locals won't allow it, so Party heads off.  Korzon rejoins as he is now Flasheart's champion.
Tar 5	Now out of Dwarven lands, duel commences; combatants are only able to hurt themselves due to a Korzon prayer that didn't work out quite as he had hoped.
	Arguments result in an ultimatum: Flasheart leaves or Throy leaves; Flasheart camps well away from Party that night and doesn't get much sleep.
Tar 6	Flasheart tries to rejoin Party and is driven away.
Tar 7	Flasheart rejoins Party, so Throy leaves (but follows Party); Calion and Kermut leave as well, and head south, and Korzon leaves having done what he came for.
	Party finally remembers what it's supposed to be doing, and start heading toward where they think Virag is.
Tar 10	Start finding various opposition; one of these combats goes badly enough to draw Throy out of hiding, so Throy rejoins.
	Find a supposedly abandoned mine to be anything but, and start exploring.
	Aishah gets poisoned in a battle against 2 Dwarves.
	Christophe gets poisoned vs. another 2 Dwarves; Party takes a captive and leaves.
Tar 11	Herbs cannot be found to cure the poisoned ones so Party heads back for Megrim...again.
Tar 12	Korzon and a high-level Cleric meet Party en route to Megrim; lots of information exchanged (and cures for the poison) and Party now know what Virag is up to: he and a bunch of zealots are trying to make Megrim's water supply deadly to non-Dwarves.
	Captive given to Cleric and Korzon rejoins Party.
Tar 13	A Giant attacks Party while camped and is easily slain; this isn't good enough for Mrikle so she generates 3 illusionary Ogres right after, also easily slain.
Tar 14	Explore mine, discover a local spy in hiding and take him in, so Peregrin (Perry) Took(MU-2/T-3) joins.
	Learn that Korzon's Cleric friend has raised an army and is coming this way; Party's job is now to delay.
Tar 15	Wade in to deepest parts of mine, find a ritual in progress but don't stop it in time so have to fight a Demon; Raslow, Liniste, and Dior killed by its first illusory fireball, Boris and Korzon killed by the second, and Demon escapes. (unknown to Party, it dies later from its wounds)
	Party then fight the summoning Clerics while Dwarven army attacks from the surface.
	Looting the lead Cleric - Virag - produces the Amber Pyramid; Pearl touches the three amber keys together and summons Sif to the room. (!)
	Sif gives some information to Party, then has a word with Pearl; Pearl becomes Cleric.
	Pearl lays the three keys on Dior; Dior raised, much disappointment on learning this was a one-shot deal.
Tar 18	Arrive Megrim, rewarded nicely by locals once actions publicized.

Surviving members:  Calion(F-4/T-5), Throy(F-5), Pearl(MU-5/NrC-1), Kermut(NrC-4), Christophe(B-4), Boris(R-4), Mrikle(I-5), Thorgrimm(F-4),
                Araglas(F-4), Aishah(R-4), Flasheart(T-4), Dior(WrC-4), Perry(MU-2/T-3)
New members:  Liniste, Perry
Casualties:  Sharana, Korzon, Liniste; Raslow (twice, revived once); (Pearl, Dior, Boris - all revived)
Retirees:  Calion, Kermut, Boris, Mrikle (all to Pharoah's Tomb); Flasheart (shows up again in Circus at Verwood)
Continuing party (to Mystery at Neverwinter):  Throy, Pearl, Christophe, Thorgrimm, Araglas, Aishah, Dior, Perry

That's the adventure, but lots happens during the break:

Tar 22	Boris resurrected.
Tar 23	Party plane-shifted to elven woods near Neverwinter, as that's where Sif told them to go.  Dior immediately leaves for training but would catch up later.
Tar 25	Flasheart retires, having made her point and long since become tired of the arguments.
	Meet a solitary knight at a crossroads; he has little else to do, so Wulfgang Gyz'alm(Cvr-3) joins.
	Having been shadowed for a few days by someone parallelling their course, Party blunderingly tries to flush her out; after much confusion all round Nyseshi-Ka Ke'ves-Te(R-3) joins.
Tar 28	Mrikle leaves for training.
Pri 1	Arrive at a cold and very wintry Neverwinter.
Pri 3	Boris retires; leaves for Riveria, eventually meets and joins Kermut and Calion coming down from the north.

11. Mystery at Neverwinter (a.k.a. Amber Keys 5) (13-5-4;2), Tari 23-Prici 11 756, OC-DE 99

Background and summary: after all this effort to recover the amber keys, Sif has informed the Party they are to use them to open a particular door in Neverwinter and then find and claim the White Man, whatever that is, behind it.  With nothing more to go on than the name of a pub, the Party gets nowhere in their investigations and are not helped by the fact that Neverwinter is quite unfriendly to non-Humans - i.e., most of the Party.  Finally, after doing well to decipher a cryptic hint, the Party finds and opens the door; it is a gate to a different and very non-magical world.  The White Man turns out to be an Elf in a failing stasis field that is keeping him alive - without it, the lack of magic would slay him - so the Party negotiate his release from the pirate band that owns him and bring him back to Riveria.  Here, they find he is Ancalidon Turamarth, a Paladin to the Elvish god Thalion, but neither they nor he have any idea why Sif - a Barbarian deity - would go through all these convoluted steps just so a bunch of adventurers could rescue him; this mystery would remain unsolved for years.

Starting members (from Virag's Mines):  Throy(F-5), Pearl(MU-5/NrC-1), Christophe(B-4), Thorgrimm(F-4), Araglas(F-4), Aishah(R-4),
                Dior(WrC-4), Perry(MU-2/T-3),
                           (picked up en route):  Wulfgang(Cvr-3), Nyseshi-Ka(R-3)

Pri 3 756	Party now keeping tabs on Longbar Pub and does so for days; Perry even gets part-time work there, and Christophe provides evening entertainment, but no useful info forthcoming.
	Obvious non-Humans (Throy, Pearl, etc.) forced to stay out of sight or else get picked on by racist locals.
Pri 7	Wulfgang realizes a nearby white statue is pointing at pub; looking at pub from statue shows a square, circle and triangle in a pattern, so he gets the keys and holds them up in front of the statue.
	The resulting brilliant beam of light panics everyone in the square.
	While everyone else calms down the locals, Perry follows beam of light to a door in a warehouse basement.
	Behind door is a passage that blinds half the Party; Wulfgang and Nyseshi-Ka ignore this triviality and explore by braille, they find little of note but amazingly miss all kinds of nasty traps.
	To a local temple to get everyone's sight restored; this would become a habit
Pri 8	Try the passage again; despite much preparation some people still blinded including Nyseshi-Ka, who this time finds lots of traps the hard way.
	Thorgrimm and Araglas severely weakened by 2 Shadows.  Party retreats to get people's vision back again.
	Town has a couple of Dwarves to get rid of: Yngvar son of Bjarnnisson(NrC-3) and Y'Qaqestul(F-3) join.
Pri 9	Flasheart drops by to say she's found adventures of her own, then leaves for good.
Pri 10	Try passage again; nobody blinded this time so much more progress made.
	A skull animates and pounds Party to bits: Wulfgang and Thorgrimm killed, everyone else in big pain.
	A statue of Sif speaks to Party; skull was final test, and amber door awaits.  Party camps at foot of statue.
Pri 11	Everyone in perfect health on awakening, but corpses still dead.
	Pearl uses the keys to open door to a dark cavern; soon becomes apparent magic does not work here.
	Meet too many pirates to fight, so open discussions; meanwhile, Araglas and Dior are becoming ill.
	Eventually agree to trade White Man "statue" for statue of Sif; much carpentry required to move Sif through door, Araglas and Dior forced back to Riveria side by illness due to lack of ambient magic.
	Door vanishes when White Man brought through, and he springs to life: Ancalidon Turamarth(P-5) joins.
	Back to inn; several days of two-way debriefing follows but no-one can explain why Sif did all this.
Pri 17	Y'Qaqestul retires; Perry and Nyseshi-Ka retire as well, a few days later.

Surviving members:  Throy(F-5), Pearl(MU-5/NrC-1), Christophe(B-4), Araglas(F-4), Aishah(R-4), Dior(WrC-4), Perry(MU-2/T-3), Nyseshi-Ka(R-3),
                Yngvar(NrC-3), Y'Qaqestul(F-3), Ancalidon(P-5)
New members:  Wulfgang, Nyseshi-Ka, Yngvar, Y'Qaqestull; Ancalidon(from Telenet)
Casualties:  Wulfgang, Thorgrimm
Retirees:  Perry (to To Find A Hero); Nyseshi-Ka(to Valley of the Rainbow, eventually); Y'Qaqestul
Continuing party (to Pharoah's Tomb):  Throy, Pearl, Christophe, Araglas, Aishah, Dior, Yngvar, Ancalidon

12. Pharoah's Tomb (21-9-5;5), Aqui 9-19 756, JA-JN 00

Background and summary:  intending to make their leisurely way back to Riveria, the Party set off westward and gather people at a frightening rate as they go along.  Their journey is soon interrupted by the appearance of a hot desert in the middle of a cold prairie winter where no desert has any business being, but they plow ahead and try to cross it anyway.  En route, they meet a strange individual who explains that the desert is here because of some sort of curse on a pyramid and asks could the Party please do something about it, so the now-enormous group wades in and after any number of odd encounters and memorable events manages to clear things up to everyone's satisfaction; incredibly, they come out with even more people than they took in!  Shortly after this, they are visited by a lone traveller who turns out to be the god Skaldi; as He is very pleased with what the Party has done, He provides great reward, but Calion pushes things too far and ends up female.  From here, the Party - now about the size of a village with feet - trundles into Caradon and there splits in two; one half continuing as "A" Party and the other half becoming "B" Party via recruitment by a local Ranger.

Starting members (from Mystery at Neverwinter):  Throy(F-5), Pearl(MU-5/NrC-1), Christophe(B-4), Araglas(F-4), Aishah(R-4), Dior(WrC-4),
                Yngvar(NrC-3), Ancalidon(P-5)
                               (from Virag's Mines):  Mrikle(I-5), Boris(R-4), Calion(F4-T5), Kermut(NrC-4)

Pri 16 756	Mrikle rejoins, having finished training.
Pri 18	Leave Neverwinter, intending to head back to their home in Riveria and see how things are doing.
Aqu 5	Arrive Mirabar, here find some old friends, thus Boris, Calion, and Kermut rejoin.
	Start hearing stories of problems with the western trade route; these become more frequent as time goes on.
Aqu 9	Meet an Elf in a village: Khorindel Yvelles(MU-3) joins amid a flurry of psyonic distrust.
Aqu 10	Meet an Elf in another village: Ithillith(A-3) joins but goes by name of "Sharlin" for entire career.  For some reason Party trust him and forego the usual checks, assuming him a Thief; his real class would never be revealed.
	Around now, Party picks up 2 mules: Dis and Aster.
Aq 12-1	Realize there really is a problem with the trade route, as it disappears into a desert that shouldn't be there.
	Wade into desert and meet Amon Ra; he babbles a spiel about curses and gods and pyramids that no-one really understands, so everyone ignores him for now.
Aq 12-2	Reach a pyramid temple; reception hostile, so Party kills some Clerics, takes some captives, and leaves.
	For some reason, Ancalidon and Khorindel now get into a vicious psyonic battle with each other; everyone jumps in except Ithillith (of all people!) and the bickering goes on for hours - perhaps this is why nobody notices they are repeating the same date as yesterday!
	Amon Ra appears and babbles his spiel again; it now makes more sense, and some people even take notes.
	Having learned from captives there's a Sphinx to the west, Party heads there seeking information.
Aqu 13	Reach Sphinx: o Mules and most of Party stand off while a small away team goes in to negotiate; o The only person in Party who shares a language with Sphinx is Khorindel (or so they think), thus most of conversation is psyonic (thus silent); o Pearl sneaks in invisible until Sphinx traps her under a gigantic paw; o Sphinx wants Dis and Aster in trade for information but Khorindel offers up any 4 Party members instead; o Sphinx agrees and some information is exchanged, but he's very hungry so suddenly dashes to main Party, and explains Khorindel's offer in perfect Common.  Mules flee, Party goes ballistic except Mrikle, who just stands off and prepares for the inevitable combat; o Party is allowed to choose which 4 to give up, Sphinx amuses self herding mules while they do; o Sphinx gets bored and attacks, toys with Party until Dior desperately Commands it to sleep - it does, and Mrikle kills it with a boulder she'd been levitating for just this purpose.
	Boris and Ithillith spend hours rounding up mules; everyone else (predictably) spends hours questioning Khorindel's sanity loudly enough that most don't notice another visit and recitation from Amon Ra.
Aqu 14	Return to pyramid after arguing nearly all day, then get annoyed by yet another Amon Ra visit.
	Pearl, Dior and Aishah spend night observing comings and goings at pyramid.
Aqu 15	Calion sneaks invisible into pyramid and causes all kinds of mayhem; climbs a statue to steal a gem, spends hours hanging there as people nearby, then plants gem on a temple Cleric and leaves.
	Party forced to retreat as activity increases greatly when planted gem is discovered.
Aqu 16	"The day that never ends" took 9 sessions to play! Party sneaks into temple but soon abandons sneaking as bashing Clerics much more fun.
	Teleport into maze in pyramid and continue clobbering everything they meet.
	Ithillith starts causing mayhem; some one-sided infighting soon sees him run off, so Ithillith leaves.
	Party captures 4 temple Clerics, finds one of them acceptable, so Elnoc Happuset(NrC-2) joins; right after this, Mrikle generates some illusory Clerics that behave strangely when slain by Party.
	Christophe finds a Minotaur in maze and gets thrashed.  Khorindel goes in to help and rest of Party (with Sphinx incident fresh in mind) leaves him to it, so Khorindel killed; when his thrown head bounces off Throy Party decides it's time to act and slays Minotaur in short order while Christophe gets patched up.
	A wizard wanders out of the mist, claims to be rescuing Party but is obviously just as lost as they are, thus Dezler the Magnificent(MU-6) joins.  Party then camps for the day, gets moving again in late afternoon.
	Against Party's better judgement, Throy retrieves a sword stuck in the maze floor; he finds a pair of badly-hurt acolytes in the process and brings them back as well, so Foote(NrC-0) and Churla(NrC-0) join.  The sword is given to Ancalidon.
	Find a way out of maze, then Calion steals a gem from a statue and sets off a foghorn that attracts lots of inhabitants; despite his best efforts to replace gem the horn would sound for days.
	A lost knight shows up: Stonehammer Lionheart(Cvr-4) joins.
	Somewhen around now, Aishah blows a wish she didn't know she had by wishing for a feather bed; the bed is too big to fit out through the door of room it appears in!
	Aishah killed, and Araglas almost, by a crazy old mage.  Mrikle takes Aishah's Drow Gem, sticks it in her forehead before anyone can stop her, and becomes weakly psyonic;
	A gravity-challenged shaft causes much head-scratching; Christophe and Stonehammer float to top, find a Gnome digging through the place with a spoon, so "Prit" joins. (see To Find A Hero for more about Prit)
	Putting gravity right causes a huge flood-wave that nearly kills several people; Ancalidon tries body-surfing.
	3 Wraiths cost Calion a level (so now F-4/T-4) but don't last long; combat invokes curse on sword Throy gave Ancalidon and he attacks Party: o Ancalidon psyonically charms Mrikle, who gets clear of Party and starts casting illusions; o Pearl nearly killed by Ancalidon in one blow, Stonehammer leaps to her aid and battles Ancalidon; o Party lock selves in room once Ancalidon subdued - but Mrikle still outside; o Mrikle uses a corpse as a door-knocker, freaking out two previously-unnoticed new arrivals; o Mrikle then uses one of the strangers as a door-knocker but Party have had enough and capture Mrikle; o thoroughly unsettled, Dharmastin Woodfellow(R-3) and Majiro Sandathae(WrC-3) join, warily.
Aqu 17	Araglas swears to worship Osiris in exchange for curing from Elnoc.
Aqu 18	Majiro throws a torch down a shaft and unintentionally sets off an elaborate firetrap set against Party by Ithillith and some new friends; Ithillith killed along with his friends.
	Very bored Party spots 2 Wraiths down a hall and charges them en masse!
	Elnoc catches Dharmastin and Majiro kissing; big argument ensues.
	Party splits in half; one half explores lower level, Throy nearly killed by a Lurker Above.
	Other half goes down passage dug by Prit and finds a Clay Golem; Stonehammer killed in a fumble-filled battle but Dior manages to break what the Golem was guarding: a jar containing a beating heart.
	Retreat, rejoin, and sack out; Elnoc reacts to day's chaotic events by proposing a very elaborate Party committee structure, which is soundly voted down after a long argument.
Aqu 19	Thinking it an illusion, Christophe steps out a window and falls 10,000 very non-illusionary feet to land on top of pyramid: Christophe killed (at -126 h.p.).
	Party pound everything in sight and finally get out of pyramid; Calion and Boris scrape up Christophe.
	Elnoc, Foote and Churla retire to stay with pyramid-temple, rest of Party leaves.
	Pyramid and desert disappear once Party move off; winter returns with a vengeance.
	An old traveller visits Party's camp that night; Party suspiciously feed him and tell him their tale, he turns out to be the god Skaldi: o Calion remains suspicious and keeps mouthing off, gets turned female (now Caliona) for his-her trouble; o Lots of people get free training on the spot; o Saying "you've suffered enough, little one" Skaldi takes Prit with Him, so Prit leaves; (see end of To Find A Hero for significance of this) o Calling Dior aside, He offers her the choice of training or loss of her phobia of metal armour; she chooses to be rid of the phobia, so He duly blesses her, and leaves.
Aqu 23	Party reaches Riverian border; Pearl, Throy, Boris and Kermut all arrested, questioned, and released a few days later - all to do with the long-forgotten "wanted" posters still seen in Riveria city.
Leq 2	Arrive Caradon, start treasury division.
Leq 3	Araglas gets thrown in jail for something, later gets banished from town for a year so heads for Riveria.
Leq 7	Ancalidon and Dezler arrive at Riveria; Ancalidon (!) looks for a place for Dior to train and provides much amusement for local Loki temple.
Leq 10	Caliona arrives at Riveria (see below); Caliona retires.
Leq 11	Party splits; Throy, Pearl, Mrikle, Boris and Yngvar all get themselves recruited by a local Ranger (see To Find A Hero), while Kermut retires to see to the much-later resurrection of Christophe.  Everyone else goes to Riveria; see Against the Slavers for what they get up to there.

Surviving members:  Throy(F-6), Pearl(MU-5/NrC-1), Christophe(B-5), Araglas(F-5), Dior(WrC-5), Yngvar(NrC-4), Ancalidon(P-5), Mrikle(I-5),
                Boris(R-5), Caliona(F4-T4), Kermut(NrC-5), Dharmastin(R-4), Majiro(WrC-4), Dezler(MU-6), Elnoc(NrC-3), Foote(NrC-1), Churla(NrC-1)
New members:  Khorindel, Ithillith, Elnoc, Foote, Churla, Dezler, Stonehammer, Dharmastin, Majiro
Casualties:  Khorindel, Ithillith, Stonehammer, Aishah; (Christophe - revived later)
Retirees:  Elnoc, Foote, Churla; Caliona(to To Find A Hero, later); Kermut(to Evils of Tymore Island); Ancalidon(to Black Hand I);
               Christophe(to Swordquest)
Continuing parties (to To Find A Hero):  Throy, Pearl, Mrikle, Yngvar, Boris
                           (to Against the Slavers):  Araglas, Dior, Dharmastin, Majiro, Dezler

And what does Caliona get up to now?

Not at all impressed with her newfound femininity, Caliona spares no expense in trying to get Skaldi's curse (as she sees it) reversed.  After much inquiring, she finally has to buy in to a Commune spell and is told "mirth, quest, or time" will reverse the change; knowing Skaldi to be a deity easily amused, she chooses the "mirth" route and sets about putting together one of the biggest parties Riveria had ever seen.  Stealing an entire sack of mirthweed from a caravan certainly helped the cause, and on Lequi 22 many in Riveria awoke with a hangover...and Calion woke up male (but with a "luxuriant handlebar moustache") having suitably impressed Skaldi with his efforts.

In the meantime, she also does some detective work in an attempt to trace the source of the bounty still on various peoples' heads, but before long realizes she is merely doing things "A" party has already done as part of Against the Slavers.  She then backs off and awaits results from their end, ready to take up the trail should their efforts prove unsuccessful, and concentrates instead on her efforts to change gender.

Somewhere along here she also gets her lost level restored, so back to F-4/T-5.

With his built-in disguise now gone and a large price still on his head, Calion flees Riveria for Caradon and stays put until the bounty gets lifted (see Against the Slavers for how this was done), then returns on Jera 16 just in time to barely miss "B" party's return to To Find A Hero; he would have to pay for a Planeshift in order to catch up.


F-Series (F1-F8; minis) (2-1-0;0), Aves 6 755-Lequi 19 756, SE 00

Background and summary:  Fulvin goes into hiding to escape the Shining Band, but soon gets bored and instead goes off adventuring.  He eventually hooks up with Simpson, a wizard with whom he shares an unusual talent: the ability to survive when all about them are dropping like flies.  These two get into (and out of) a number of very dangerous situations, and become old hands at burial ceremonies for their companions.

Starting member (from Deadman's Island ):  Fulvin(NrC-1/T-1)

Leq 3 755	Fulvin kidnapped in Riveria.
Leq 5	Barely escapes kidnappers, nearly drowns in process.  (though Fulvin would never know it, his kidnapping and Pandora's were related, as Teimperian hoped to use Fulvin as bait to lure the Party to another death trap.  But Fulvin wrecked that plan by escaping, and Teimperian moved on to other nefarious things.)
Leq 8	Fulvin wakes up, spends a month sneaking back to his home at Knill.
Ave 6	Start F1, an expedition to pound some Orcs at the Gruumsh temple from Gruumsh's Revenge .
Tou 1	End F1, as they can't find any Orcs to pound; expedition is a complete waste of time.
Tou 9	Start F2, an expedition to pound wildlife in woods near Warrock.
Tou 23	End F2; but now Fulvin can't afford to train (to T-2).
Jem	Becomes hench to a F-5/T-4.
Jem 15	Start F3, a follow-up to the Sigurd's Realm adventure; much rougher than expected.
Can 2	End F3, then train to T-2 with boss.
Can 15	To Greenshire; Simpson the Lucky(MU-3) joins here while Fulvin trains to NrC-2.
Ver 12	Start F4a, a Giant-hunting foray into the mountains; 4 members of a Party of 7 die, but F + S both survive.
Ver 20	End F4a as remains of Party retreat to civilization, and round up a new batch of recruits.
Ver 28	Start F4b, a much more successful second try at the same adventure.
Fie 13	End F4b but it leads directly into start F5 as Giants have human allies the Party hadn't known about.
Fie 22	End F5 much poorer than they started it as opponents rob Party blind and then flee.
Lei 5 756:	Start F6, predictably, this involves chasing down those who robbed them in F5.
Lei 23	End F6 as Party forced to retreat.  Fulvin now NrC-3/T-3 and Simpson now MU-5; both train at Mirabar.
Pri 3	Start F7, an easy and lucrative takeout of a Giant outpost.
Pri 8	End F7.
Pri 14	Start F8; as the last Giants were so easy, Party tries again and this time gets almost annihilated.  Of a Party of 6, only Fulvin and Simpson survive. (but they're both rolling in ExP and booty!)
Pri 19	End F8; spend months travelling to Waterdeep and there training (Fulvin to NrC-4/T-4, Simpson to MU-6).
Leq	Simpson buys a house in Waterdeep but then promptly leaves it to go travelling again; this house would become a Party base for years.

Surviving members:  Fulvin(NrC-4/T-4), Simpson(MU-6)
New members:  Simpson
Casualties:  none
Retirees:  none
Continuing party (to Dwarves of Vanamore): Fulvin, Simpson

13. To Find A Hero (16-10-6;10), Lequi 16-Aves 4 756, JL 00-FE 01

Background and summary:  Aimbitlooa, a local Ranger, has stumbled across a book that prophesizes the return of a hero, and seems to indicate the time for this return is fast approaching.  So, she recruits a local Cleric and half of a party that happens to be passing through town, and they set off for the Dragon Mountains in search of this legend.  Once there, they proceed to get thrashed time and again while taking the longest way possible to get where they're going.  Finally, after many casualties they find the Hero they seek, and to their shock awaken the un-cursed version of Prit!  No longer the half-insane little Gnome they found in Pharoah's Tomb, this Prit, or Prittr, is a hulking Barbarian full of attitude who finds himself about 1500 years out of date.

It then occurs to everyone involved they have no idea why this hero - Prit - is supposed to return to life, but as the few shreds of available information seem to indicate it has something to do with King Richard, the Party lets him go to Riveria and leaves him for Richard to sort out.  On arriving, they are much relieved to find the bounty on their heads has been lifted, and the Enterprise Company is now exempt from Riveria's skaying tax. (see Against the Slavers for how this came to be)

Starting members (local adventurers):  Aimbitlooa(R-4), S'nel'be(WrC-4)
                           (from Pharoah's Tomb):  Throy(F-6), Pearl(MU-5/NrC-1), Yngvar(NrC-4), Mrikle(I-5), Boris(R-5)

Leq 1 756	Aimbitlooa arrives in Caradon having found a strange book in some nearby ruins thought to have been long since cleaned out.
Leq 2	Meets with the Sage Temara, who explains book and its significance; goes out and recruits S'nel'be right away but cannot find any other volunteers for days despite much advertising.
Leq 7	Throy and Boris hear of Aimbitlooa's quest and sign up half their old Party to join in.
Leq 13	Everyone finally ready to travel, Party leaves Caradon.
Leq 17	Reach Dragon Mountains, start trying to find a way in; a cave leads to Lurkers Above that nearly kill Boris and Pearl, this cave turns out to be start of a series of tunnels through mountains.
Leq 18	A well-planned attack on 3 Giants and 4 Ogres goes wrong; Party barely wins, and Yngvar killed.
	2 Ogres bring in a captive who Party rescues, thus Perry rejoins; he had been lost in mountains for weeks before being captured and was able to tell Party much about what lay ahead.
	Party realize they're understaffed; psyonic call goes out to Kermut in Caradon to start rounding up recruits.
Leq 19	Party trapped in tunnel by a raging flash flood, can't get out for days.
Leq 23	Finally reach town of Mithra and meet stagecoach carrying Kermut's recruits; Drogo Chubbs(F-4), Posco Galabas(NtC-4), Nadii(NrC-4), and Brunhilde(F-4) all join.
	News comes in from Ancalidon of "A" party's progress investigating Shining Band.
Leq 24	Meet Llandreesa while passing through Elvish woods on way back to mountains; on hearing news about Shining Band she immediately heads for Riveria.
	Into mountains, start clobbering Ogres at every turn.
Leq 25	Find a cave containing 44 Ogres and waste hours planning attack as elaborate plan falls apart in first round: o Silence cast on a coin to aid sneaking; o S'nel'be tries to throw coin back down passage and fumbles, dropping it in midst of Party as they charge at cave; o Pearl gets a Fireball away and does 336 points total damage to Ogres, merely annoying all of them; o Throy picks up coin and advances, puts several Party spellcasters into silence in mid-cast, annoys all; o Ogres charge but Mrikle casts illusion of a cave-in, stopping most; o Throy gets pushed backwards into Pearl and blows another of her spells; o Brunhilde slays Ogre after Ogre but gets way overextended and is lucky to survive; o Pearl gives up on spells and fries Ogres with a Potion of Firebreathing instead, to great effect.
	Boris and Brunhilde find one remaining Ogre and start discussions; turns out to be a reasonable Cleric, so Gorath the Wise(WrC-4) joins.
Leq 26	3-way battle between Giants, Ogres, and Party; somehow, Gorath survives.
	Sneak past lots of Giants in tunnels, then spend days exploring mountains and avoiding wildlife.
Jer 2	A Blue Dragon flies across lake and attacks.  Gorath volunteers to be ground zero but Party don't cover him quite as well as he expects, so Gorath killed.  Boris attempts to parley, warns Dragon of Throy's invisible approach, and Throy takes 73 hp damage in 2 segments! (from full to -6)  Dragon then lightning bolts Boris for good measure, and dies after a messy battle.
	During battle, Perry sneaks into a nearby cave and finds a huge pile of treasure, but the treasure is cursed such that any touching it will fall asleep, which he does.
	Party rescues Perry and leaves treasure alone, intends to sack out in cave.
	A Red Dragon falls victim to the treasure's curse, then to a boulder Mrikle drops on its head.
	Something in one of the cave walls nearly kills Boris with psyonics, then tries to charm Mrikle and overdoes it, nearly driving her insane.  With this, Party scoops up treasure (the curse seems to leave once treasure removed from pile) and leaves.
	Throy checks out a magic bucket of water from hoard and gets his head sucked in.  S'nel'be and Brunhilde, both with much-enhanced strength, break his neck trying to free him before he drowns, so Throy killed - one segment before Nadii's Destroy Water resolves that would have released him safely.
Jer 3	Boris has a dream about a shaft of sunlight; notices a similar beam between the clouds on awakening, and correctly interprets it as a hint to go northeast.  Party spends days crawling around north shore of lake.
Jer 6	Find a valley occupied by a large Green Dragon, Perry scouts its lair, then Party retreats up valley to camp.
Jer 7	A wolf sniffs around Party's camp; Pearl gets suspicious and soon realizes it is the Dragon, polymorphed.
	Something of a chess match ensues up and down the valley, as neither Party nor Dragon want to make the first move to combat.  Parley, however, goes nowhere.
	"Wolf" starts to morph into Dragon, Boris sees opportunity, so pulls a sword and charges right at it; Boris killed but draws Dragon into battle, Dragon dies but takes a few more characters with it: Brunhilde and Posco killed.
	Remains of Party enter Dragon's cave.  Perry and S'nel'be scout, get jumped by Ice Trolls; Perry flees "to get help" and leaves S'nel'be to it, so S'nel'be killed before Party arrives and takes out the Trolls.
	Aimbitlooa explores cave, notices an odd ledge, and finds a skeleton on it.  Putting the little sceptre in its hand brings it to life, so Prittr Jorgessen(F-15) joins. (see below for his tale)
	Bolstered by this reinforcement, though still utterly thrashed, for some reason Party keeps going down Troll passage.
	Find caverns with more Trolls, Pearl nearly killed by mold on floor.  Retreat and sack out.
Jer 8	Party uses cursed bucket to very cruelly torture a few Trolls, then fireballs the rest.
	A shaft leads down to a Purple Worm; Prittr and Drogo take this out almost unassisted.
	Party leaves caves, realize they have too much treasure to carry, bury a bunch of it in valley.
Jer 10	Reach Griffon's Gate pass; Sir Charles (alerted to Party's plight via Ancalidon in Riveria) meets them on road.  Throy raised by Charles, who then planeshifts to Riveria with Throy, Pearl, and Perry.
Jer 13	S'nel'be raised; Charles planeshifts Mrikle to Riveria.  Lots of people have bumped (Mrikle to I-6, Aimy to R-5, Drogo to F-5, Nadii to NrC-5) but funds needed for training are still buried in mountains.
Jer 14	Along with "A" party (see Against the Slavers), Throy, Pearl and Mrikle are invited to the King's Ball in honour of the Enterprise Company.  King Richard forever exempts the Company from the skay tax.
	During ball, Perry tries to break in to "A" party's hotel room, but a punch in the face from Brogmac and the timely intervention of local constables see him thrown in jail instead, so Perry leaves. (see below)
	Calion hears of goings-on, comes out of hiding, and heads for Riveria.
Jer 16	Perry escapes and flees town, but for some reason returns later the same day and turns himself in.
	Charles takes Throy, Mrikle and Pearl back to rest of Party at White Falls.
	Myra(B-4) joins in White Falls, and Party leaves.  Prittr stays in town, intending to make his own way to Riveria, so Prittr leaves.
Jer 17	Calion finds Charles, learns he's just missed Party, and persuades Charles to take him to White Falls.
	Calion(F-4/T-5) joins by catching up to Party while they figure out how to safely cross river.
Jer 18	A Frost Giant cheerily waves to Party as they pass his lookout point.  Party keeps going.
	A massive argument breaks out between Throy and S'nel'be over what is to become of a Drow gem from the treasury; S'nel'be ends it (but annoys some people) by sticking it in his own forehead.
Jer 19	Throy and Aimbitlooa backtrack to talk to Kiili, the stoned and very mellow Frost Giant.
	Reach valley where treasure buried; a Black Dragon attacks while Party climbs down into valley, and Mrikle and Aimbitlooa killed before they knew what hit them.  Rest of Party takes out Dragon.
Jer 22	After 3 days of rest, Party recovers treasure, then decides to go along lakeshore and recover some more things left behind.  Travel is by night, invisible, and camp during daylight.
Jer 23	Take out 2 Hill Giants, then camp in the small grove of trees they held.
	A Ranger sneaks into camp, doesn't notice and isn't noticed by the 3 invisible people on watch, and gets right into Nadii's tent.  He wakes up Nadii and tries to start a conversation, but Nadii panics.  Calion, on watch, dashes into tent and spectacularly fumbles; Myra follows up and puts 66 hp damage into the Ranger, killing him instantly.  Thus, ?: NPC Ranger(R-4) joins and ?: NPC Ranger killed all at once!
	Ranger buried during lots of discussion about ethics, etc.
Jer 25	Reach cave with sleep-cursed treasure hoard; find some Dwarves already there, having trouble with the curse, and help out.
	Dwarves turn on Party and attack; messy combat gets messier when psyonic thing in wall charms one of the Dwarves to dig it out, and an undead Mind Flayer with glowing green eyes starts roaming the room.
	Nadii makes 3 (!) saves vs. instant death from psyonics, but Myra and one of the Dwarves get their minds fried (to Int. 3) before Mind Flayer finally beaten.
	Discover its "eyes" are in fact quasi-living snake-like beings of pure magical energy; destroy both outside by dropping boulders on them, resulting pyrotechnics and earthquakes are seen and felt for miles.
Jer 26	Taking the 3 remaining Dwarves and herding the two idiots, Party leaves.
Ave 1	Meet Kiili again; Dwarves attack immediately, half of Party join in, rest try to prevent, and Nadii cures Kiili from brink of death.
	Mrikle freaks Kiili out by telekinesing his hash pipe over to him; Kiili completely stoned to begin with.
Ave 3	Arrive White Falls.  Myra's Int. up to 6; she realizes by now she is not smart enough for Bardhood, thus becomes a fighter-thief instead, so Myra to F-3/T-4.
Ave 5	Christophe resurrected in Caradon.
Ave 7	Party arrives at Caradon, starts dividing treasure, and people head off all over the place for training.
	A big argument breaks out over interpretation of Mrikle's will; some people want to get their hands on her possessions and thus are all too willing to interpret it such that she stays dead, but to no avail.
	Throy leaves for Dwarven war front, earns enough ExP there to bump to F-7, stays there to train.
Ave 12	Boris fails resurrection.
Ave 27	Mrikle resurrected, barely, at Caradon.
Tou 1	Aimbitlooa resurrected at Rithetwood.
Tou 7	Calion goes to Culavera to give Perry his share of treasure and gets involved in a very important meeting while there (see Library of Leng and Black Hand I for details), so Calion leaves.

Surviving members:  Aimbitlooa(R-5), S'nel'be(WrC-5), Throy(F-7), Pearl(MU-6/NrC-1), Mrikle(I-6), Perry(MU-3/T-4), Calion(F-4/T-5),
                Myra(F-3/T-4), Nadii(NrC-5), Drogo(F-5), Prittr(F-15)
New members:  Aimbitlooa, S'nel'be, Drogo, Posco, Nadii, Brunhilde, Gorath, Prittr, Myra, ?: NPC Ranger
Casualties: Yngvar, Gorath, Boris, Brunhilde, Posco, ?: NPC Ranger; (Throy, S'nel'be, Mrikle, Aimbitlooa - all revived)
Retirees:  Calion, Perry (both to Black Hand I), Prittr (to Black Hand II)
Continuing party (to Dwarves of Vanamore):  Aimbitlooa, S'nel'be, Throy, Pearl, Mrikle, Myra, Nadii, Drogo

Prittr's  Tale

Prittr Jorgessen was, some 1500 years ago, one of the finest warriors ever produced by the Norse.  His fame ran far and wide, as he and his legendary sword "Snipfang" led the Vikings to one glorious victory after another, up and down the west coast.  However, he was not loved by all; most women hated him for his words even as they lusted after him for his body, and many men were jealous of his prowess and fame.  So a plan was put into motion, backed by the trickster Loki among others, that would see Prittr brought down to size - and it hinged around Briggta, the then-Chieftain's daughter.  If she could take him to her bed, their curse would take effect and he would be gone forever...and this is how it went, from the point of view of his compatriots; he went off with Briggta one night and was never seen again.  Most presumed him dead, and his body lost.

What really happened, however, was much different.  He had been transformed by the curse into a near-mindless Gnome, and his mighty sword into a spoon, and both had been placed in a pyramid thousands of miles away.  Neither Gnome nor spoon could be destroyed by any known force; as this included thirst and starvation, the little Gnome would, in theory, live forever in a vapid hell.

What none counted on was the resilience of Prittr's spirit.  Even in Gnome form, he retained enough memory to know his name - or close - and that he had to escape, to exact his revenge on those who had done this.  So he took his little spoon and started digging a passage with it that would eventually become enormous, relative to his size.

When found, many centuries later, he knew only about his immediate surroundings, that he had to keep digging, and that his name was Prit.  He was rescued by a Party of adventurers and by sheer chance brought into the presence of the god Skaldi, who recognized him for who he really was.  Skaldi took him to His realm and there undid the curse, but knowing Prittr's tale was yet unfinished He put his skeleton back on Riveria and left hints as to its whereabouts; as luck would have it, some of the same adventurers that had rescued Prit as a Gnome now became responsible for rescuing him again, this time from the dead.

Prittr emerged into a world much changed from what he knew.  In his day, Riveria city did not exist; Elves held most of what is now the Riverian nation, and the Norse held the Dragon mountains in relative safety.  So, he left his rescuers at the first reasonable opportunity, and set off on foot to travel the once-familiar land and see how it had changed.  He would wind up in Riveria, bound by a quest to save the King's life at a particular day and time; he would do this in two different timelines (see Black Hand II and The Chronos Stone) and then fade into obscurity.

A year or so later, he would turn up dead yet again; see The Halls of Foraya for how this came about.

And what becomes of Perry now?

During the King's ball, Perry tried to break into the inn rooms of the company's other Party and got caught, both by one of the other Party (Brogmac) and by a passing peacekeeper, and arrested.  He was jailed, and charged with both the attempted break-in and a number of violations of the rules regarding magic use in Riveria city.  A few days later he managed to escape, but for some reason (advice from Ancalidon?) turned himself back in later the same day.

Ancalidon offered defense counsel, and before long the case went to trial by tribunal - the usual way of handling such minor things in Riveria.  After a gallant attempt at defense by Ancalidon, Perry was convicted and banished for life from Riveria city.  He took his leave and headed for Culavera, as he had heard through the grapevine that a number of adventurers were gathering there, and after training to MU-4 became involved in Black Hand I.

Ancalidon later appealed the sentence, and had the banishment reduced to a year and a day.

17. The Dwarves of Vanamore (10-0-0;3), Touri 22-Jema 5 756, MR-MA 01

Background and summary:  far to the east of Riveria, the Vanamore Dwarves have over the last year or two been waging an ever more successful yet ever less explainable war on their neighbours, the Mitherendel Elves.  A Human culture that used to be the third member of this little triumvirate has been virtually wiped out, and the Elves are concerned that they will soon follow suit.  So they ask for divine intervention just prior to yet another attack from the Dwarves, resulting in the Party's sudden appearance in the battlefield between the two forces!  While the Elves struggle to survive, the Party does some spying in Vanamore, and finds the Dwarven leaders have been replaced by Drow, who are enthralling the Dwarves and using them as cannon fodder.  Finally, they and the Elves hatch a plan to both draw out the "Dwarven" leaders and capture - but not kill - the ordinary Dwarves who are but pawns in all this; with a few casualties all round, this works well, and the Elves reward the Party handsomely.  They then try to send the Party back where they came from, but this goes wrong and instead puts most of them on a different world entirely - as they've now become divine intervention for someone else!

Starting members (from To Find A Hero):  Aimbitlooa(R-5), S'nel'be(WrC-5), Throy(F-7), Pearl(MU-6/NrC-1), Mrikle(I-5), Myra(F-3/T-4),
                Nadii(NrC-5), Drogo(F-5)
                           (from F-Series):  Fulvin(NrC-4/T-4), Simpson(MU-6)

Tou 5 756	Fulvin and Simpson arrive, having spent a month wandering north from Waterdeep.
Tou 21	Everyone finally finished training, Party reconvenes in Caradon and realizes it has no idea what to do next.
Tou 22	Leave Caradon for nowhere in particular, hoping to find adventure along the way, but adventure finds them first: Party suddenly disappears from road in late afternoon and reappears...
Tou 23	...in the middle of an open sloping field between two forests, with an army of Dwarves charging from above and a bunch of Elves hiding below screaming at Party to get out of the way.
	Party flees into forest as confused Dwarves break their charge; learn much from Elves including where they are (Mitherendel, the Elves' forest) and what's going on, but no idea why they're here or how.
	Elves introduce Party to Torval, a captured Dwarf.  Brief conversation with him is enough to convince Party there's something very odd about Torval and the Dwarves in general.
	Party splits in half.  Throy, Pearl, Mrikle, Fulvin, and S'nel'be go to the main entrance to Vanamore and try to get in.  Aimbitlooa, Nadii, Myra, Drogo and Simpson head for a known side entrance some miles away, to spy and report.
Tou 25	Throy's group reaches Vanamore city; meet Grava, the last remaining foreigner in town, and hear tell of a Gnome roaming loose.  They spend much effort trying to attract this Gnome but fail.
	City group learn Vergadain temple and local Thieves' guild are opposed to the war but can't make contact.
	Aimbitlooa's group tries to return to Elves and finds they've been nearly wiped out by another Dwarven incursion the Party somehow didn't see coming (despite covering both entrances!).  Aimbitlooa tries to backtrack.
Tou 26	Aimbitlooa discovers Dwarves came out of nowhere at a point in forest not far from where Party showed up.  Elves suspect they're using some form of mass teleport.
	City group makes contact with Vergadain temple, helps organize resistance; learns Dwarven commanders are all relatively new to town.
	City group report Dwarves massing for a battle, get a warning to Elves, and get out of town.
Tou 27	Party reunites near what is now known to be a Dwarven "gate" and waits for Dwarves to appear.
	Major battle when Dwarves appear; Drogo and Nadii do exceptionally well, but Myra gets captured, so Myra leaves.  Party has 3 captives in exchange, and are now convinced the Dwarves are acting against their own free will in these battles.
	Party uses Mrikle-Ancalidon psyonic contact to put out a call for help to Elven lands around the continent; response is generally good but it takes time for word to spread.
	Throy throws a note in Vanamore entrance suggesting a Myra-for-Dwarves captive swap.
Tou 28	During night, several very high-power Elves teleport or planeshift in from around the continent.  Much debriefing and planning.
	Throy disguises himself as a local and prepares to go in to rescue Myra, but stands down when report comes from contacts in town that she is dead; Myra killed.
	Party roams around capturing Dwarves, ends up with 16 captives.
Jem 1	Dwarves come out again for what they think will be the final assault, are surprised by the Elves' reinforcements and get hammered.  Mrikle and Nadii killed by a pre-emptive fireball right at start of battle, but the so-called Dwarvish leader is exposed as a Drow when slain.  With this, most Dwarves either change sides or surrender, and the problem is solved.
Jem 3	Myra raised by Elves.  Nadii raised by Elves.
Jem 4	Mrikle resurrected by Elves.
Jem 5	Party are each given an expensive token of thanks by the Elves, along with an explanation of why their forest is so important: it is the remains of an ancient Mythal, a place steeped in Elvish magic, and to have it fall into the hands of Drow would be a disaster.
	Elves then try to planeshift Party to Waterdeep but only Myra, Mrikle and Simpson make it - along with the casting Cleric - while everyone else goes to the wrong world. (!)

Surviving members:  Aimbitlooa(R-5), S'nel'be(WrC-5), Throy(F-7), Pearl(MU-6/NrC-1), Mrikle(I-5), Myra(F-3/T-4), Nadii(NrC-5), Drogo(F-5),
                Fulvin(NrC-4/T-4), Simpson(MU-6)
New members:  none
Casualties:  (Myra, Mrikle, Nadii - all revived)
Retirees:  none
Continuing parties (to NewDafan, Crater of the Demons):  Pearl, Throy, Aimbitlooa, Nadii, Fulvin, S'nel'be, Drogo
                           (to Black Hand I):  Mrikle, Myra, Simpson

N1. NewDafan: Crater of the Demons (14-6-5;2), Quelle 5-24 159 local dating; MA-SE 01

Background and summary: Each winter, deformed creatures have been emerging from an old volcanic crater to terrorize outlying farms around Nusavik, and the problem grows worse each year.  This year, with the first snow ready to fall, a party from another world is divinely summoned to deal with the situation once and for all.  After doing so, those summoned are sent back where they came from, while the locals form a new party.
 
Starting members (from Riveria, Dwarves of Vanamore): Pearl(MU-6/NrC-1), Throy(F-7), Aimbitlooa(R-5), Nadii(NrC-5), Fulvin(NrC-4/T-4),
               S'nel'be(WrC-5), Drogo(F-5)

Quelle 5	Expecting to be plane-shifted to Waterdeep, Party instead finds itself in the middle of an unfamiliar forest; at first they get really paranoid, thinking this a trick of the Dwarves at Vanamore, but when nothing bad happens they relax a bit and start exploring.
	Aimbitlooa finds a humble altar to various goddesses; as Sif is one, Pearl prays and gets a good response. Aimy also determines it is about early fall, this tells Party they are far adrift; it was late spring where they just came from.
	Wethrin G'miwwn(T-4) and Bieran DaFrijh(F-4) join, announcing their presence by kidnapping Fulvin; a note to DM reads: "Strip him BUCK NAKED, take all his possessions, and release him.  We stand off at a vantage point and watch."
Quel 7	After some negotiations, during which Fulvin recovered his scattered possessions, Wethrin and Bieran lead Party to Nusavik ("New Husavik"), the nearest town, and to a temple there.
	Discussion with a few Clerics tells Party why they're here (see background, above) but not exactly where they are; experimentation with psyonics soon proves they're not on Riveria.  Party stays put for a few days, recovering from their last adventure and re-equipping.
	Throy buys a Broom of Flying.
Quel 8	Set off for trouble zone; Tusa(R-4) joins en route, as local guide.
Quel 11	Arrive at crater's edge, scout, notice everything is oddly quiet.
Quel 12	Descend into crater, find en route an odd little shack that has appeared there recently enough that the grass under it is still freshly squashed: o Shack's occupant, Steve DaFiji, tries to stop Party nosing around and actually manages to hurt Bieran, but Throy then flattens him - 40 hp into a 4 hp salesman - and almost takes out Bieran as well; o Shack proves to be full of odd boxes holding odder things, along with lots of colourfully coated wires and heavy little cylinders that make excellent sling bullets.  Party stocks up; o The building itself comes to life one plank at a time, the planks start fighting Party until for some reason many of them sprout little arms and legs and flee in all directions; o Pearl fireballs what's left of the shack into utter obliteration, and Party presses on.
	Find a grassy mound with a wall around it but none of the locals can explain who built it or why it is here.
	Wall has several grotesque statues; Pearl finds these are somewhat alive and leaves them offerings which seem to be accepted. (!)
	An oddly-clad Ogre is also checking out these statues, thinking them long-lost gargoyles; Party approaches and discussion ensues (thus Ashnak of the Fighting Hgaku(NrC-4) joins) but his taunts soon spur attack from Throy, Bieran and Drogo.  Party Clerics try to stop the brawl - Pearl gets divine intervention and S'nel'be stops time - but they merely delay the inevitable: Ashnak killed by Party.
	A 4-armed Demon and several Ghouls appear out of a mural inside structure.  Bieran killed, very messily.
	Throy goes off on his broom to destroy two evil swords taken from Demon.  He breaks one, loses the other, then gets hopelessly lost in the clouds.  Rest of Party makes camp.
	Throy finds a road, asks a passer-by - Amelia (X) Xana-Deianeira(MU-4) - for directions, and gets some, but when he refuses to give her transport to the next town she blinds him with a Light spell (furthering his navigational woes).  He flies off, and soon recovers his sight.  (part of the contention might be that X has heard of only one other broom-flying Dwarf, the legendary Cusaperius of Hestia; Throy won't say where he's from, when asked, thus she can't determine if there's any relation between the two)
	Independently, both proceed to the next village - Savola - and stay there overnight.
Quel 13	X finds out Throy's in town and knocks on his inn door; Throy sees who it is and swings for 51 hp damage (half temporary) nearly killing her; he stabilizes her and tries to fly off but realizes she will not survive the trip, and that he's still lost.  So, he instead tries to drop her on the local temple's steps - and gets arrested in the process!  Once cured, X insists Throy take her to the crater with him as persuasion for her not to press charges (she was heading there anyway); she knows the way, so they fly to Party.
	Meanwhile, a passing local "Ranger" happens on Party and sticks around; Thorheim Stannisson(NtC-3/T-4) joins, and runs as a Ranger for the whole adventure.
	Party gives up waiting for Throy and returns to mound; Pearl and S'nel'be destroy another two swords.
	Throy returns, and X joins; on hearing X's tale many questioning looks are thrown Throy's way.
	Party wades through various hazards inside mound, eventually finding a way underground; once here, two Shambling Mounds put up a good fight.  Entrance disappears during this battle, so Party is now stuck.
Quel 14	During night, to everyone's surprise Grolsch(T-4) joins by stumbling into Party's camp.  He had gone to sleep on Riveria, woken up next to an underground pool, and avoided some large unknown creatures before finding Party.  He has no idea where he is or why he is here.
	Clerics have great difficulty regaining spells.
	Pearl figures out her feather gift from the Mitherendel Elves and produces a Gryphon - T'th'kaa - right on top of the still-incurable X, nearly killing her.
	Party slays a few Owlbears (T'th'kaa glad of the fresh food) and wanders around in a maze of caverns.
	Finally find a pool; Grolsch recognizes this as being where he woke up.  Find lots of bits of wood washed ashore; these turn out to be pieces of the fireballed shack, still alive but with no idea how they got here.
	Pool is only 2' deep, but is "floating" on some sort of gas that is very unhealthy to people and magic items.
	An island in the pool has on it 3 stone sarcophagi; busting these open finds 2 spellcasting Drow Wights (X hammered yet again during the ensuing battle) and a huge amount of treasure.
	Throy nearly drowns in pool but is saved by a lucky grab from T'th'kaa.
	Thorheim and Wethrin figure out the exit lies through and under the pool, to beneath the lake in the crater.
Quel 15	Taking all the wood and as much coin as they can carry, everyone exits and swims to shore.
	Party helps the wood bits rebuild their shack; it somehow holds together despite missing 3/4 of itself.
	Return to the grassy mound and find it in ruins, as if not touched for centuries.  Too confusing, so Party instead turns its attention to building 4 travois to carry their hoard.
Quel 16	Spend day hauling treasure out of crater.
	Some of Party investigate a nasty-looking cave on far side of crater; this awakens gargoyles at the mound, and Party barely wins the long battle that ensues.
Quel 17	Back to lake to recover more treasure from below; a water-walking Grolsch has to flee from a previously-unnoticed large (and very hungry!) lake monster.  Party then gives up and leaves.
Quel 21	Slowed by some 10 tons(!) of treasure, Party staggers into Nusavik.
Quel 24	Several days of snow have brought no raids, so Party seem to have succeeded.  With this, Party leaves town, heading nowhere in particular.
	That night, a disturbance near Party's camp provides a Sign that those bound for Riveria must head west, so the native Riverians do, and within a few hours find themselves emerging in the middle of a very rainy downtown Waterdeep.  Wethrin, Tusa, X (still incurable!) and Thorheim stay put.
	Once back on Riveria, Aimbitlooa and Nadii retire immediately.

Surviving members: Pearl(MU-6/NrC-2), Throy(F-7), Aimbitlooa(R-5), Nadii(NrC-6), Fulvin(NrC-4/T-5), S'nel'be(WrC-6), Drogo(F-6), Grolsch(T-5),
                Wethrin(T-5), X(MU-4), Tusa(R-4), Thorheim(NtC-4/T-4)
New members: Wethrin, Bieran, Tusa, Ashnak, X, Thorheim
Retirees:  Aimbitlooa, Nadii (both on Riveria)
Casualties: Ashnak, Bieran
Continuing parties (to NewDafan campaign, eventually): Wethrin, Tusa, X, Thorheim
                           (to Riveria, Black Hand II):  Pearl, Throy, S'nel'be, Fulvin, Drogo, Grolsch