Sword of Hope  to  Into the Abyss
[includes  entire  Banyatok  Saga]

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

CALENDAR:

31. Sword of Hope (14-2-0;14), Jema 2-23 and Jema 23-Canne 28 757, JA-MR and AL-JL 03

Background and summary:  The Party hears tell of a strange people roaming the eastern Norse woods where in theory nobody lives.  On investigating, they find these to be a previously-unknown form of undead that are coming forth in ever-increasing numbers from an innocuous-looking cave.  The Party plow into this cave and find a large and very dangerous complex within, containing beasts that have no business being where they are (and can't fit out the doors!) and generating new undead as fast as the Party can kill them.  Eventually, after a side-trip to another adventure - Tower of Ullision - the Party takes out Gorkon, the guy who runs everything here, and think the place is now safe.  So they explore, trip a trap, and summon a group of Demons who happily proceed to wipe out 8 of 10 Party members; the other 2 escape by separate teleports.

S'nel'be, one of the escapees, gets everyone else wished back.  The Demons, meanwhile, are gleefully exploring their new homeworld and multiplying as they go, and the Party feel somewhat honour-bound to clean up the mess.  So they recruit some high-powered help and meet the Demons in a pitched battle outside Mirabar.  The Demons lose.  The Party then count their treasury from the complex, and find they're extremely rich.

Starting members (from Mansion On the Hill):   Araglas(F-8), Akasha(I-7), Khrodhar(NrC-7), S'nel'be(WrC-8), Serioge(R-6), He'is(F-6), Eldar(F-6), Margaret(MU-5)
                           (from Sheeramaliea):  Dakiell(F-5)
                           (from The Light of Tirelle):  Leshendra(T-7)
                           (from Lost Temple of Tharizdun):  Gruff(F-2)
                           (from alpha series):  Kairos(MU-6)

Tou 24 757	He'is, Eldar and Throg decide they've bashed enough heads and head back to Luskan, but make note of where they are as there's far too much activity around here to be normal.
Tou 27	H, E, + T reach Luskan; Throg leaves to rejoin alpha party (thence, eventually, to Valley of the Rainbow). Helga Groasdottir(T-7/F-4) joins. As his life expectancy in "E" Party is far from certain, Trilby introduces Gruff to He'is, who takes him on as a hench.  He'is then gets a list of names from Gruff of who in "E" have mistreated him, for later reference. Serioge and He'is argue about Gnolls and their place in the universe.
Tou 28	Party leaves Luskan.
Jem 2	A wandering Giant and some Orcs do nothing except get Eldar to F-7. Start encountering patrols of black-clad people who shouldn't be here.  Capture one, who proves very uninformative. Eldar leaves to go back to Luskan and train.
Jem 3	Reach cave and watch.  Realize "people" are actually undead.  Slay and burn captive.
Jem 4	Seeing the cave slopes down, Khrodhar aims his endless water generator into it to flood out its occupants; "cave" goes much further than he expects, hours of hosing get water to about 2' deep. A mass assault of undead answers this. Party wades (literally) into cave, finds and slays a very out-of-place Hydra along with lots more undead. Retreat back into forest.
Jem 5	Party hears a bunch of drunken Ogres in woods, sees they have Human captives, and attacks. Once rescued, captives turn out to be from a village some way north, so Helga leaves to escort them home.
Jem 7	Party arrives at Luskan.  He'is also now needs training (to F-7) but nobody in town will touch him, so he has to go to Verwood.
Jem 11	Helga arrives at Luskan.  S'nel'be leaves to help a rescue team, see Groa's Journal.
Jem 18	He'is buys a cursed -4 shield, wraps it up, and leaves it at Keep as an anonymous gift for Diora with note “To the mighty Cleric.  May it guard you well.”; this as payback for her mistreatment of Gruff in Lost Temple. (as fate would have it, Diora would not reach Verwood for months; when she did she was en route to retirement, thus it's almost two years from now before shield finally gets put to use)
Jem 20	S'nel'be rejoins, Party leaves Luskan.
Jem 22	Reach cave, find forest clear-cut for a mile around and undead everywhere.  Start picking off undead one patrol at a time.
Jem 23	Into cave, find almost all the water gone.  Slog through lots more undead; at one point undead manage to charm both Leshendra and Dakiell against Party, Kairos nearly killed as a result. Eldar on one swing puts 92 h.p. damage into a wolf during one of these battles. A piece of paper on the floor of a misty room attracts Eldar's attention; he reads it, and.......

32. Tower of Ullision (13-0-0;0), Jema 23 757, MR-AL 03

Background and summary:  The Party find themselves in a misty village full of assorted undead who all seem to think they're still alive. Dealing with these proves fairly simple, as does the puzzle the village represents, but solving it only serves to put the Party right back where they came from - a misty room in Sword of Hope - at the same time as they left, as Ullision turns out to be nothing more than an instantaneous illusion generated by the Sword of Hope complex.

Starting members (from Sword of Hope):  Araglas(F-8), Akasha(I-7), Khrodhar(NrC-7), S'nel'be(WrC-8), Serioge(R-6), He'is(F-7), Eldar(F-7), Margaret(MU-5), Dakiell(F-5), Leshendra(T-7), Gruff(F-2), Kairos(MU-6)

"Day 1"	.....the Party all find themselves somewhere very different indeed: a mist-shrouded road leading to a small village, somewhere. Within minutes, realize everyone here is undead and that they refuse to accept this fact. Get into village courthouse; slay nasty judge and lots of perfectly innocent (but skeletal) bystanders. Meet and defeat (but do not kill) a Vampire accountant; he meets them again in the street soon after and gets killed for real this time, but Kairos loses 2 levels (to MU-4) in the process.
"Day 2"	Clerics concerned as none can recover spells here. (because no time has passed, but they don't know this) Most of day spent dealing with a suit of magic armour that spits out a Wraith every time someone goes within 10 feet of it; despite lots of good attempts, Party eventually forced to leave it behind.
"Day 3"	To shipwights (sic); by now, Party realize they have to find 14 very cold gems and put them in holes in a door of village's central tower; each building seems to have one of these hidden somewhere.
"Day 4"	Find several more gems.
"Day 5"	Now having found enough gems, Party fills holes in tower and reveals a hand-shaped indentation.  Helga puts her hand in indentation and......

Surviving members:   Araglas(F-8), Akasha(I-7), Khrodhar(NrC-7), S'nel'be(WrC-8), Serioge(R-6), He'is(F-7), Eldar(F-7), Margaret(MU-5), Dakiell(F-5), Leshendra(T-7), Gruff(F-2), Kairos(MU-4)
New members:  none
Casualties:  none
Retirees:  none
Continuing party (back to Sword of Hope):  Araglas, Akasha, Khrodhar, S'nel'be, Serioge, He'is, Eldar, Margaret, Dakiell, Leshendra, Gruff, Kairos

Jem 23 757	.....Party finds itself right back in the misty room in Sword of Hope, getting mugged by undead.  Soon realize it is the same day and time as when they left, as then-freshly-killed wolves are still bleeding, etc.
Jem 24	Find and slay 4 Wyverns in a room barely big enough to hold them. Half a dozen Hill Giants prove little trouble. During this battle, He'is fumbles and breaks a very magical 2-handed sword, then undoes the action with a Wish he'd had outstanding since shortly after he joined this Party!
Jem 25	A big White Dragon in a little tiny room nearly kills Khrodhar.  Rest of day spent counting its 18,000 g.p. hoard of coins.
Jem 26	Some large lions provide a good morning workout. Dakiell opens a door; behind it is a blast furnace, and disaster strikes:  o someone's Cloak of Something melts in the heat and goes boom;  o this explosion takes out some other magic items, leading to an amazing domino-effect meltdown;  o S'nel'be, Araglas, Eldar, Serioge and Helga all killed, along with about 75,000 g.p. worth of magic;  o a wild magic surge summons a Djinni to Akasha; she asks it to bring her the most magical item in the complex, and 20 minutes later it returns, grumpily, with the Sword of Hope! Margaret uses belt of teleporting to get to Verwood, brings back Party's tapestry, then everyone uses tapestry to get to Verwood except Gruff leaves to stay in woods near here. S'nel'be raised by Khrodhar, using a Candle.
Jem 27	Khrodhar casts Speak With Dead on the various deceased; Serioge asks to remain dead and wills all his possessions to Araglas, "the woman I love". Contact Simpson (via Crown) in Waterdeep to inquire about buying a wish.  Contact Lanefan in Luskan to inform him Helga is dead; he immediately heads south.
Can 4	Akasha tries playing with the Sword of Hope and gets irretrievably quested by Sword to defeat Friztingarth, an extremely powerful Demon prince.  She cannot put the Sword down, even to sleep.
Can 5	Lanefan arrives at Verwood and pays for Helga's raise.
Can 6	Everyone to Waterdeep.
Can 8	Gruff killed in woods by some passing wildlife but nobody realizes it - yet.
Can 10	With no other way to get rid of the Sword, and knowing a mass-retrieval wish was coming the next day, Akasha kills herself.  People take much more care handling Sword from here on.
Can 11	Helga, Araglas, Eldar, Akasha, Gruff (much to everyone's surprise) and Serioge (oops!) all revived via wish and appear in Waterdeep.  S'nel'be also gets back his lost Con. point out of this, somehow.
Can 12	Serioge realizes his secret isn't secret anymore, becomes very quiet and withdrawn, and starts making plans to leave - but tells no-one.
Can 19	Everyone reaches Verwood.  Helga, Kairos and Gruff retire and stay at the Keep.
Can 20	Party tapestries back to cave entrance except Serioge leaves, going to Luskan instead.  Much annoyance among Party as they had no warning of his intentions. Plow back into cave, clear out a bunch of undead that weren't here last time.
Can 21	Spend most of day trying to puzzle out riddles contained in bad poetry on the floors.
Can 22	Shel'lecryn the Silent(R-6) joins, a replacement Ranger sent by Serioge to shut the Party up. Gorkon, boss of the place, causes lots of headaches.  Eldar nearly killed, Khrodhar loses 4 levels (to NrC-3), and several others badly hurt before Gorkon defeated.
Can 23	Thinking things now to be safe - at least undead have stopped appearing - Party starts exploring and finds nothing but loot for the next few days.
Can 25	Ignoring warnings in the poetry, He'is steps into a room and disappears (see below).  Everyone else has to deal with the three enormous Demons that appear in his place:  o the roof falls in to block retreat, and Khrodhar killed when it lands on him;  o largest Demon is recognized as Friztingarth, so Eldar grabs the Sword of Hope and charges;  o Leshendra has to deal with one "small" (i.e. merely 18 HD) Demon on her own while everyone else concentrates on the other one;  o Eldar killed, so Araglas picks up the Sword of Hope and gamely keeps at it, between she and Eldar they badly hurt Friztingarth (over 100 h.p. damage) but do not quite slay him (he has about 20 h.p. left);  o Leshendra killed by her Demon but the other "small" Demon is hacked apart by everyone else;  o Margaret gets psyonically charmed against Party by one Demon then (fortunately!) is immediately slain by the other, so Margaret killed;  o S'nel'be grabs some valuables from the fallen and - realizing there would be no survivors here - teleports out to Verwood;  o Araglas killed by Friztingarth, who then just rolls up the line as nobody else can get to the Sword;  o Akasha, Dakiell and Shel'lecryn killed.  Demons leave complex, start gating in friends, and go for a cruise through the northlands letting blood at every turn. By 9:30 a.m., S'nel'be is all that's left of the Party.  (he doesn't know that He'is has survived elsewhere) S'nel'be tapestries to Waterdeep, meets with Simpson, realizes he has brought a ridiculously expensive Staff with him.

What becomes of He'is?

On disappearing from the Demon room, He'is finds himself in a very different place; before long, he concludes he is in a pirate stronghold - somewhere - and is hopelessly outnumbered.  He manages to start a conversation, however, and before long convinces the pirates to actually take him in as a crewman!  He doesn't really get too far into his new duties, however, before S'nel'be manages to get him out.

Can 26	S'nel'be trades Staff for a wish and gets a pile of people back: Araglas, Akasha, Leshendra, Khrodhar, Eldar, Dakiell, Margaret and Shel'lecryn all revived; He'is also arrives from pirate base (and leaves behind some very confused pirates!).  S'nel'be has wish make everyone appear at Mirabar, and he soon gets there via teleport. Start alerting Important Locals of impending Demon threat, as they're headed straight for the city. Important Locals brace for battle.  Important Locals also ask Party why they're releasing powerful Demons that need battling.
Can 28	Demons, Party, and some Important Locals meet at a creek some 20 miles west of Mirabar: Friztingarth (not yet fully healed) and 11 companions of various types and powers put up a decent fight but all end up dead at cost of one Important Local. Return to Mirabar, start dividing a mammoth treasury.
Ver 9	By now, Khrodhar, Margaret and He'is have all retired, and Khrodhar has had his levels restored.

Surviving members:	Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-7), Khrodhar(NrC-7), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Serioge(R-7), He'is(F-7), Eldar(F-7), Margaret(MU-5), Dakiell(F-6), Leshendra(T-8), Gruff(F-3), Kairos(MU-4), Helga(T-7/F-4), Shel'lecryn(R-6)
New members:	Helga, Shel'lecryn
Casualties:	([Araglas, Eldar, Akasha - twice each]; S'nel'be, Serioge, Helga, Khrodhar, Leshendra, Margaret, Dakiell, Shel'lecryn; Gruff(elsewhere) - everyone revived each time)
Retirees:	Helga (to Future Tense World); Khrodhar, Margaret (to Assault on Verwood Keep); He'is (but not for long); Kairos, Gruff
Continuing parties:	(to Halls of Foraya):  Araglas, Akasha, S'nel'be, Eldar, Dakiell, Leshendra, Shel'lecryn (to Heart of Asgeir):  Serioge

Note: the only characters not to die in this adventure were He’is and Kairos (though Kairos lost 2 levels).

37. Banyatok A: Halls of Foraya (11-2-2;5), Verga 21 757-Leirn 17 758, AU-NO 03

Background and summary:  The Party stumbles on Prittr's recently-slain corpse on the road from Mirabar to Riveria.  Investigation reveals he was slain far to the north and his body left here as a warning, but the Party take it as a challenge instead, and - not quite realizing what they're getting into - go to finish what he started.  What they find is a powerful band of Hobgoblins laying siege to a glacial cavern complex full of Ice Trolls, and the Party's arrival makes this a 3-way war.  Eventually, however, the Party equalizes the affair by simply killing anything that moves until there's nobody left at all.  This done, they explore the cavern complex and receive a visitation from a priest of Banyatok, a Goddess long thought lost; this visitation starts the Party on what ends up as a long quest to ultimately restore Her to divinity. (see below for Banyatok's tale)

Starting members (from Sword of Hope):   Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-7), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Eldar(F-7), Dakiell(F-6), Leshendra(T-8), Shel'lecryn(R-6)
                           (from Deadman's Island):  Lars(NrC-7)

Ver 13 757	Llandreesa gives birth at Linithe; everyone gets psyonic cigars from Altheas.
Ver 15	Marlu(MU-6) joins.
Ver 17	S'nel'be planeshifts first Lanefan, then Perry to Mirabar; see Stairway to Heaven for what this means.
Ver 18	Leave Mirabar.
Ver 20	Akasha casts Find Familiar; a dog shows up, and she keeps it.
Ver 21	Find freshly-slain corpse of Prittr on roadside.  As it is obvious he did not die here, S'nel'be casts Speak With Dead several times over the next few days and learns:  o Prittr's killer is Maroua the Ice Troll;  o Prittr died far to the north in something called the Halls of Foraya;  o He was up there doing something concerning Banyatok, who or whatever that is.
Fie 3	Arrive Verwood; by now know Banyatok was a winter Goddess at one time but is now thought to be gone.
Fie 14	Lars joins, not seen since Deadman's Island and previously unknown to any in this Party. All to Mirabar by tapestry.
Fie 15	Leave Mirabar on foot heading northeast.
Fie 27
	By now well into Coldwood, find an enormous Green Dragon munching a Hill Giant for lunch and kill it. Someone who had been tracking the Dragon for some time makes herself known, so Nashanna Winterleaf (NtC-6) joins.
Lei 1 758	Take on 27 Trolls and get hammered.  Leshendra and Dakiell killed.
	Dakiell raised by S'nel'be.
Lei 2	S'nel'be planeshifts to Riveria with Lars, and Leshendra's corpse.  Lars retires as Nashanna's arrival has made him redundant.
Lei 3	Leshendra resurrected at Riveria.  She and S'nel'be return to Party.
Lei 4	A massive glyph-like gate across a valley poses a brief problem, trail beyond leads up a steep river gorge. Meet a heavily-armoured Hobgoblin on trail; S'nel'be, Eldar, and Marlu kill it without realizing it's a WrC-10. A Water Elemental near a flimsy bridge almost drowns Araglas. Find a large Hobgoblin camp, then retreat and sack out.  Party realizes Hob's are laying siege to a cave and eventually learn they are trying to prevent Banyatok's return.
Lei 5	5 Hobgoblins (45 levels worth) come looking for their friend; Party trap them on bridge and win easily. Hob's barricade path farther up while Party's scouts watch.
Lei 7	A Hob. sentry at their barricade lasts just long enough to alert the camp of Party's approach; Party realize this and take refuge up a Rope Trick, but the Hob's dispel it and send everyone crashing to the ground.  Party barely survives the resulting battle.  Araglas and Eldar killed, along with Akasha's familiar and about 35 Hobgoblins ranging from 2nd to 12th level.  (Eldar F-8 at this point) One Hob. is damaged 25 different times by Party before dying.
Lei 8	S'nel'be planeshifts everyone to Verwood. Araglas raised by S'nel'be.  Eldar elects to remain dead.
Lei 9	S'nel'be tries on a suit of armour and turns into a Hobgoblin; a very lucky Dispel Magic fixes this. He'is, who is at Verwood, takes the armour and keeps it, so He'is becomes Hobgoblin, gaining +7 Int. and -1 Str. in the process. He'is rejoins so he can earn money to pay for the armour.
Lei 10	Tapestry back to battle site and sneak ahead; Leshendra blows the sneaking and Party have to fight some more Hob's, but win fairly easily this time and take a captive. Araglas sneaks off on her own, finds another Hobgoblin, and gets paralyzed; S'nel'be bails her out.
Lei 11	Finally remember to question captive but get only name, rank and serial number. Into cavern; Shel'lecryn nearly killed by a Remorhaz. Start meeting Ice Trolls, one battle leads to another until 22 of them lay dead.  Dakiell killed. Retreat outside.  Dakiell raised by S'nel'be.
Lei 12	Back into cave, find and kill 14 Ice Trolls. (one is Maroua, thus Party avenges Prittr without realizing it)
Lei 13	As there seem to be no Ice Trolls left, Party start exploring, and find someone frozen in the ice.  As soon as S'nel'be starts trying to cut through to him, he materializes next to Party and babbles a spiel about Banyatok and what it will take to get Her functioning again.  He then disappears, but stays in the ice. A S'nel'be Commune fills in some holes in the apparition's info.  (see below)
Lei 15	A White Dragon provides brief entertainment.
Lei 17	Planeshift to Verwood for a training break.  He'is retires.
Sco 4	Dakiell's pursuit of Nashanna provokes a firefight involving about 15 characters including people from both parties, as "E" is also in the Keep.  No serious harm done.

Surviving members:	Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Dakiell(F-7), Leshendra(T-8), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Lars(NrC-7), He'is(F-8), Marlu(MU-6), Nashanna(NtC-6)
New members:	Lars (from Deadman's Island ); Marlu, Nashanna
Casualties:	Eldar; (Leshendra, [Dakiell - twice], Araglas - all revived)
Retirees:	Lars (to Dark Ships at Nymph Bay); He'is (to Assault on Verwood Keep)
Continuing party	(to Dreamsinger):  Araglas, Akasha, S'nel'be, Dakiell, Leshendra, Shel'lecryn, Marlu, Nashanna

So who is - or was - Banyatok, and what happened to her?

Ages ago, there were - as now - many different deities of many different things.  Over time, two of these became something of a winter-aspect duality - Banyatok for Good, and Tapoketa for Evil - and both were well known and devoutly worshipped, particularly in the northlands.  But Tapoketa wanted winter all to Himself, and so He allied with some other less-than-decent gods in a conspiracy to remove Banyatok from the heavens, and by means yet unknown this plot succeeded.   Though not slain, Banyatok was struck down, essentially put to sleep, and given to a Demon Prince for safekeeping; Her Clerics lost their powers, and Her worshippers eventually turned elsewhere.  (as fate would have it, many turned away from Tapoketa as well; He had not counted on how many worshipped Them as a pair, and His powers were thus somewhat reduced for a while - oops!)

However, all was not lost.  Banyatok was not without friends in the pantheons, and as She fell a few critical foundations were laid to one day allow for Her return.  Far to the north, in the Spine of the World, lay one of Her more significant temples, and here one of Her primary priests - Foraya by name - was given some instructions, put in stasis, and frozen into the ice until such time as his knowledge would be needed.  A colony of Ice Trolls was then "encouraged" to make their home there, to guard the frozen priest, but within a few decades (a few minutes, in some cases) they completely forgot about him.  After that, they just did whatever Ice Trolls do, for generation after generation through the centuries, while keeping the ex-temple as their home.  Foraya's name lived on, however, in that the ice-cave complex became known as the Halls of Foraya - though none knew why.

Also put into the universe were five swords, each relatively innocuous to most yet very powerful if in the right hands.  Most of these swords ended up on the Riverian world (as Banyatok was by origin a Riverian deity, this made sense) but one was put on Greenworld, the plane of the Elvish afterlife.  Dreamsinger was the key, as its song would lead to the other four, but it would only sing this particular song to one who it knew had spoken with Foraya.  In this way was Banyatok kept safe; only those who deliberately sought Her could find Her, and of the deities who had arranged this, Mielikki took it upon Herself to keep an eye on things as time went on. (thus Anurri, who had owned Dreamsinger for some time but had never heard of Foraya much less talked to him, had no idea of its true purpose despite the sword singing about related things on a regular basis)

Various deities took quiet note of Banyatok's fate, and in many cases took steps to ensure that what had befallen Her could not happen to them.  Even some Good deities were happy to see Her gone, as it represented one less deity competing for worshippers.  But a few - most notably Azak'hri of the Hobgoblins - knew or learned more, and took steps to either help or hinder any potential Banyatok revival.

Among mortals, Banyatok faded from memory.  Meanwhile, the sword that had been put on Greenworld found its way to Nontur, the afterlife plane of Green Dragons, and stayed there.

About 2000 years later, a lone - though very powerful - adventurer tried singlehandedly to bring Banyatok back after receiving a vision (quite possibly from Mielikki) of his doing just that.  This was Prittr, and his attempt accomplished two things.  One, it alerted Azak'hri and others that the Banyatok situation might be about to flare up again, and so steps were taken to quell this including the posting of a very powerful and well-equipped troop of guards outside Foraya's Halls.  And two, in a twist of irony it saw Prittr killed by the descendants of the very Ice Trolls that had been put in Foraya's temple to guard it until someone like him showed up.

On Prittr's death, Mielikki saw to it that his body would be found by those most likely to aid him, and it was.  But, once found, he threw an unexpected wrench in the works when he refused to come back to life.  Much to Mielikki's joy, however, the group that found him then took his mission on as their own - and this is the Party whose story is told here.  They find the Halls of Foraya, defeat the imposing group of Hobgoblins that Azak'hri has posted as guards, then defeat the Ice Trolls, and finally speak with Foraya.  He tells them of the five swords, and of where Dreamsinger might be found, before returning to his stasis in the ice to await their return.  The adventurers go off to recover the swords....

38. Banyatok B: Dreamsinger #38  (9-1-0;0), Scori 7-12 758, DE 03

Background and summary:  A nomad chieftain named Anurri is the last known possessor of Dreamsinger, the first of the swords needed to restore Banyatok.  The Party find Anurri's village and make a rather spectacular mess of it, but can't pry Dreamsinger loose from Anurri. So they just pry Anurri loose from the village, and he brings the sword with him.

Starting members (from Halls of Foraya):  Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Dakiell(F-7), Leshendra(T-8), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Marlu(MU-6), Nashanna(NtC-6)

Sco 7 758	To plains east of Mirabar via tapestry.
Sco 8	Find a nomad village, learn Anurri has been behaving most un-nomad-like - building permanent structures, starting farms, etc. - since a particular priest (to Ouck'Ta'She, as it turns out) showed up.
Sco 9	Reach Anurri's village:  o Everyone tries to sneak in but most blow it, Nashanna and Leshendra get cut off and separated;  o Rest of Party regroup outside;  o Marlu and Akasha find and fireball the priest, take out lots of innocent villagers but priest survives;  o Leshendra sneaks around invisible, tries to get in priest's hut, gets put to sleep by a glyph;  o Nashanna stumbles over Leshendra and drags her clear, right into path of fleeing villagers;  o Priest finds Leshendra and prepares to sacrifice her;  o Nashanna hailcones priest (and wipes out some more villagers);  o Rest of Party arrives and mops up, Anurri taken captive. S'nel'be and Nashanna do some triage on wounded villagers. Long talk with Anurri.  Dreamsinger is the local deity here, and Anurri is its keeper, so if Party wants either they get both and the whole village besides. As Party doesn't want the whole village tagging along, S'nel'be quests Anurri to come by himself and so Anurri(F-12) joins, not entirely by his own choice.
Sco 10	Nashanna gets no spells, and S'nel'be half; deities annoyed about all the innocent victims yesterday. After some painful experimentation, Leshendra takes Dreamsinger as she is the only one who can safely hold it (other than Anurri). Dreamsinger sings at great length about 4 more swords.  Party takes notes.
Sco 11	Planeshift to Verwood.  Nashanna still only at half spells.

Surviving members:  Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Dakiell(F-7), Leshendra(T-8), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Marlu(MU-6), Nashanna(NtC-6), Anurri(F-12)
New members:  Anurri
Casualties:  none
Retirees:     none
Continuing party (to Greenswaithe):  Araglas, Akasha, S'nel'be, Dakiell, Leshendra, Shel'lecryn, Marlu, Nashanna, Anurri

39. Banyatok C: Greenswaithe (9-0-0;1), Scori 12-22 758, JA 04

Background and summary:  The Party learns the next sword - Greenswaithe - is not on the Riverian world at all, and is in fact on or near the plane reserved for spirits of deceased Green Dragons.  So they make arrangements to go here, via the Elvish homeworld that borders this plane.  Once here, they learn the sword is held by a very large and unusually nasty Dragon priest named Forryxxtariya, and against the better judgement of some they go off and find this individual.  He proves powerful, but very beatable, and the Party recover Greenswaithe.

Starting members (from Dreamsinger):  Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Dakiell(F-7), Leshendra(T-8), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Marlu(MU-6), Nashanna(NtC-6), Anurri(F-12)

Sco 12 758	Nashanna consults with the Linithe Elves, as Dreamsinger has indicated the next sword is on the Elvish homeworld.
Sco 14	Some powerful Elves from Linithe arrive at Verwood and inform Party the sword is not on Greenworld any more, but rather on Nontur, the spirit world of Green Dragons that borders the Elvish plane. The Elves ask some very pointed questions regarding the presence of Tamarrik at Verwood and are not all that happy with the answers given. Party starts a continent-wide psyonic search for items that can help vs. Green Dragons, don't find much.
Sco 15	Elves plane-shift Party to Elvish homeworld. Soon meet a minion of Rillifane, near Her palace, who sets Party straight on how things work here. Minion teleports Party to forest near border with Nontur.
Sco 16	Cross "bridge" into Nontur, immediately have to hide from a massive Dragon.
Sco 17	It gets dark at 10:30 a.m. and remains that way for 2 days.
Sco 19	Find an impenetrable wall of thorns and trees, spend half a day trying to go around. Marlu flies Dakiell over wall; he meets an odd spirit here called Reghir, who gives some good information but is otherwise useless. Rest of Party comes over wall, then several days of travel; Reghir tags along, sort of.
Sco 27	Meet a somewhat friendly Dragon who informs Party Forryxx isn't that popular among the Dragons either. Forryxx flies by, drawn by Dreamsinger's call, and battle begins:  o Forryxx can't fit among the trees (80' wingspan, 110' long) so he flies back and forth overhead casting occasional spells below, and Party see he is holding Greenswaithe;  o Party doesn't want to fly up and meet him so they cast occasional spells from ground;  o Forryxx leaves, cures himself up, and returns to toy with the mortals some more;  o Marlu and S'nel'be get Entangled just as Nashanna casts Heat Metal on Greenswaithe;  o Forryxx forced to drop Greenswaithe, so he goes berserk and charges at Party, crashing through forest to get at them (his over-whelming ego will not allow him to change into non-Dragon shape);  o He nearly swallows Akasha in one bite, so Akasha killed, but she gets stuck - thus negating Forryxx's three best attacks (bite, breath and spell);  o Rest of Party carve him to bits. Reghir goes off and recovers Greenswaithe while Party recovers hit points. Party then has to go and recover Reghir, who has forgotten what he's doing, and get Greenswaithe.
Sco 28	Plane-shift back to Verwood.
Sco 22	Arrive Verwood, learn they are 6 days out of synch with Riveria time.
Sco 24	Akasha raised by S'nel'be.

Surviving members:  Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Dakiell(F-7), Leshendra(T-8), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Marlu(MU-7), Nashanna(NtC-7), Anurri(F-12)
New members:  none
Casualties:  (Akasha - raised)
Retirees:     none
Continuing party (to Desert Stalker):  Araglas, Akasha, S'nel'be, Dakiell, Leshendra, Shel'lecryn, Marlu, Nashanna, Anurri

40. Banyatok D: The Desert Stalker (9-0-0;0), 758, JA-AL 04

Background and summary:  A long journey into the Anauroch Desert leads to some confusing local politics, a fair amount of danger, and Stalker, the next of the Banyatok swords.

Starting members (from Greenswaithe):  Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-9), Dakiell(F-7), Leshendra(T-8), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Marlu(MU-7), Nashanna(NtC-7), Anurri(F-12)

Tar 8 758	S'nel'be casts Commune and learns about Stalker. Pearl borrows Akasha's crown and contacts Elnoc, realizing his pyramid - now back where it should be in the desert - might be the best jumping-off point.
Tar 10	S'nel'be to Waterdeep to meet a high-level Osiris Cleric, who planeshifts both to pyramid.  S'nel'be is then subjected to days of conversion attempts.
Tar 12	A message arrives at Verwood from the military post at Marshall Summers asking Company to please come and do something about the Barbarian horde at the gates who seem to want to invade just so they can get at the Company.
Tar 13	All to Marshall Summers via tapestry.  Barbarians are Anurri's tribe, who have spent the last few months chasing him and Dreamsinger across the plains.  Anurri talks them out of invading, somehow. S'nel'be finally gets free of Osiris Clerics and planeshifts to join party.  All then planeshift to pyramid except Araglas and Dakiell, who follow next day.
Tar 14	Araglas-Elnoc reunion does not go well, as Araglas is reminded of some vows she made in Pharaoh and has since conveniently ignored.
Tar 15	Araglas annoys the Osiris Clerics enough that they get a Cloak of Alignment Change (to LN) made for her, but she downs a potion of haste (ages 12 years) and flees into desert on learning of this. Everyone else leaves a bit later; Araglas soon rejoins.  Nashanna leaves lots of greenery behind. A couple of bulettes provide a brief workout in evening.
Tar 21	After days of travel, meet some friendly nomads who warn of a madman riding a black camel.
Tar 22	Party camps at an oasis; madman attacks that night, puts up a good fight, but is killed.  Party takes and keeps the black camel.
Tar 25	Meet a military patrol and are told to turn east to report to local Shah.  Party turns east.
Pri 1	Meet Shah, who gives some advice and blessings on hearing Party killed the madman.
Pri 2	Leave city with more camels.
Pri 10	Reach pyramids known to be base of the Desert Stalker, a local Robin-Hood-like figure who has been thus far able to singlehandedly keep the Shah from taking this area.  Nashanna flies over and scouts, then weather glues Party up for days.
Pri 13	A Purple Worm swallows all three of Anurri, Dakiell and Shel'lecryn before dying; all survive.
Pri 15	Find a small village near pyramids; Nashanna goes in alone to talk with locals but doesn't accomplish much.
Pri 16	Track Desert Stalker to village; Akasha goes in via Wraithform, gets discovered, and barely escapes. Nashanna (using crown), a local Cleric, and the Desert Stalker open a strange 3-way dialogue; on learning Party want his sword he refuses to communicate further.
Pri 17	Party does nothing while S'nel'be and Marlu planeshift to Verwood so Marlu can learn a spell.
Pri 18	All of Party's camels chased off during night, with a fair amount of spare gear. Nashanna finds a shaft into top of one pyramid.  Lots of detection and scouting spells, then S'nel'be casts Dispel Magic and summons a tough Demon (oops!); all survive. Party realize Desert Stalker is snooping around and lay some traps to try and catch; no luck, but chase him to village later and eventually kill him.
Pri 19	While field-testing Stalker's possessions, Araglas puts on a Helm of Alignment Change and becomes LG. Try entering another pyramid; find lots of undead.  Shel'lecryn loses 2 levels (to R-5) to a Spectre.
Pri 20	Try entering again; more undead, lots of loot.  Retreat again, and give up.
Pri 21	Leaving all kinds of mayhem and chaos behind (coloured crystals on pyramids, false forests everywhere), Party planeshifts to Verwood and crashes right into Assault on Verwood Keep.

Surviving members:  Araglas(F-9), Akasha(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-10), Dakiell(F-7),Leshendra(T-9), Shel'lecryn(R-5), Marlu(MU-7), Nashanna(NtC-7), Anurri(F-12)
New members:  none
Casualties:  none
Retirees:     none
Continuing party (to Assault on Verwood Keep): Araglas, Akasha, S'nel'be, Dakiell, Leshendra, Shel'lecryn, Marlu, Nashanna, Anurri

48. Banyatok E:  Harmonizer (15-1-0;5), Lequi 15-19 758, AU-OC 04

Background and summary:  Harmonizer awaits at the Halls of Foraya, but so do lots of Hobgoblins.  The Party plow through these, recover Harmonizer, then use the 5 swords to thaw the priest Foraya out of the ice.  Much disappointment follows on learning this is but Step One in the process to restore Banyatok to divinity.

Starting members (from Assault on Verwood Keep):  Mrikle(I-8), S'nel'be(WrC-10), Dakiell(F-7), Leshendra(T-9), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Marlu(MU-7), Nashanna(NtC-7), Anurri(F-12), Myra(B-7), Jane(MU-6)

Leq 15 758	After a lengthy break, Nashanna casts several Reflecting Pools and learns Hobgoblins have retaken the Halls of Foraya in force.  Everyone goes up there for a look; all return to Verwood except Nashanna, who stays on site to observe. S'nel'be casts Commune to get more info.
Leq 16	S'nel'be, Jane, Mrikle, Myra, Shel'lecryn, Dakiell and Anurri all to Mirabar, to the Mielikki temple there; it seems She has a greater interest in all this than first realized.
Leq 17	Mirabar group all blessed by Mielikki in morning.  Nashanna has to deal with 8" of snow at Halls. Nashanna makes contact with a Hobgoblin turncoat, but flees before getting any useful info. Marlu and Leshendra teleport to Halls from Verwood, find and meet same turncoat, who planeshifts them far north to a thawing Hobgoblin city.  Turncoat explains this is a Bad Thing (but never says why; see below) and indicates support for Party's efforts.  She then takes them back to Halls, and leaves. Rest of Party planeshift to Halls, and everybody wades in to bash heads.  Dakiell cuts off 2 heads in 2 swings with Edge; even with this, assault falters and all retreat to Verwood except Nashanna. Trilby casts a Commune at Verwood on Party's behalf.Party do some recruiting at castle: Nigella, Pearl, Ancalidon and Lanefan all join.  Now-larger Party then spends all night planning next attack.
Leq 18	Various inactive Company members put 149 spell-points worth of pre-castings into assault group. Nashanna, still at Halls, notes weather has warmed dramatically; casts Predict Weather and get a wrong(!) forecast. (Azak'hri was interfering) Party launches a 2-pronged attack on Halls:  o Anurri killed in diversion group by a Slay Living spell.  o Anurri raised a minute later by S'nel'be, then Healed by Lanefan's sword, so back to full function.  o Dakiell takes 2 heads in 2 swings (again!) in other group.  o Diversion group causes lots of noise, destruction, and mayhem, then retreats and joins main group. Party starts sneaking toward where they know Harmonizer to be but get intercepted by a powerful band of Hob's en route.  Dakiell killed simultaneously with his removal of his foe's (a F-16) head. Take a few captives; Ancalidon and Lanefan loudly argue over what to do with them. Party hears another battle down a hall; soon realize it is the turncoat but cannot help her, so she dies. Recover Harmonizer and give it to Leshendra; on this, clones of entire Party appear and attack. Mrikle, Myra, Shel'lecryn and Anurri (again!) killed by clones; Party barely wins. The 5 swords are put together and touched to the ice, releasing Foraya(NrC-10) who joins.  He functions essentially as a 54 h.p. 0th-level for some time, as he has no spells etc. and is somewhat rusty (he's been in the ice for about 2,000 years). Mielikki blesses Foraya temporarily, and he starts raising people: Dakiell, Mrikle, Myra, Shel'lecryn and Anurri all raised; Anurri thus goes through 2 complete death-raise cycles in a bit over an hour!
Leq 19	One last Hobgoblin attacks; an avatar sent by Azak'hri that lasts just long enough to cut off Lanefan's arm. Planeshift out to Verwood; captives slain once Ancalidon leaves.  A treasury and training break follows.
Leq	At some point along here, Lanefan gets his arm restored.
Leq	Marlu retires; Lanefan, Nigella and Ancalidon retire again.

Surviving members:	Mrikle(I-9), S'nel'be(WrC-10), Dakiell(F-8), Leshendra(T-9), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Jane(MU-7), Marlu(MU-8), Nashanna(NtC-8), Anurri(F-12), Ancalidon(P-7), Nigella(Cvr-7), Pearl(MU-8/NrC-4), Myra(B-7), Lanefan(F-9), Foraya(NrC-10)
New members:	Foraya
Casualties:	(Dakiell, Mrikle, Myra, Shel'lecryn, [Anurri - twice] - all revived)
Retirees:	Marlu (to Volcano of the Giants); Ancalidon (to War of the Giants – East); Nigella (to War of the Giants – West); Lanefan (to Coldwood Menace)
Continuing party	(to Into the Abyss):  Mrikle, S'nel'be, Dakiell, Leshendra, Shel'lecryn, Jane, Nashanna, Anurri, Pearl, Myra, Foraya

So what's the story on that Hobgoblin turncoat?

There are, infrequently, Hobgoblins who are willing to think beyond the somewhat-limited parameters of their race, and look at the bigger picture.  This turncoat - a high-level Cleric - was such a one.  She had looked into the history of the Hobgoblin race, why they had been frozen into the ice and so on, and had somehow learned that in the time when the Hob's were frozen they were not their own masters; they were in fact enslaved by yet another race, and the freezing had probably been to the Hob’s’ overall benefit.

She also learned that thawing the Hobgoblins would also thaw their old masters.  As this would of course be unacceptable, she did what she could to slow the thawing while researching ways to thaw just the Hobgoblins but not those who would enslave them.  She learned of the Party and their intentions, took a chance, and gave them her support at great personal risk...having no idea the Party's intent was ultimately to reverse the thaw completely and re-freeze slave and master alike.  And she never got a chance to find out, as she gave her life in a diversionary battle to allow the Party to reach Harmonizer.

49. Banyatok F:  Into the Abyss (14-1-1;9), Jema 11-Aves 5 758, NO 04-AL 05

Background and summary: The next (and last) step in restoring Banyatok is to go into the Abyssal planes and recover her physical body from Graz'zt, the Demon Prince who is holding it.  The journey proves as dangerous as the destination, as Azak'hri - who knows She cannot get at the Party once they enter the Abyss itself - throws everything She can at them before they arrive.  The Party win through this, enter the Abyss, but then fall victim to a deadly diversion of Graz'zt's before finally rescuing Banyatok.

Starting members (from Harmonizer):  Mrikle(I-9), S'nel'be(WrC-10), Dakiell(F-8), Leshendra(T-9), Jane(MU-7), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Nashanna(NtC-8), Anurri(F-12), Pearl(MU-8/NrC-4), Myra(B-7), Foraya(NrC-10)
                           (from Assault on Verwood Keep):  He'is(F-8)

Jer 10 758	Various Party members go to various temples in various cities asking how to get to the Abyss.
Jer 11	The Kerial temple in Culavera has an answer; an indirect path to many planes including the Abyss has an entry there, so everyone heads that way. S'nel'be casts a Commune, to get more answers the Kerial people can't give, then goes to Verwood.
Jer 12	S'nel'be casts Forbiddance under a large chunk of the castle grounds, making it inaccessible to any who would dig there. (he later intends to expand the castle's underground areas there for his own use)  He then returns to Culavera.
Jer 13	Party leaves Kerial temple and enters the Infinite Staircase.  All stairs go up, no matter which way you go, and between the stairways is only blackness.  Party starts climbing, and all soon have sore legs. Meet a strange creature that claims to be a guardian of the Staircase; she explains the rules: anything goes, as long as stairs, platforms and guardians are not harmed. A platform holds some invisible and very annoying Pixie-like critters; Party leave quickly. Another platform holds a single Human cooking food in a little pot; he is friendly, and explains some of how things work here when the guardians aren't looking. Meet a group of very tough Orcs on a stair.  He'is defeats their best in single combat, and all ends well. During this combat, Dakiell tries to intercede but Nashanna bares her breasts to distract him.  This works a bit too well; Dakiell, already attracted to Nashanna to begin with, becomes utterly infatuated.  Nashanna just wants him to go away.
Jer 14	Dakiell tries to cook breakfast for Nashanna but succeeds only in melting some of the platform.  Party leave quickly before any guardians notice.
Jer 15	Arrive at the Nexus, a sort of village on a large platform.  Party start asking directions but don't get much of use. Dakiell attracts attention of a local maiden; they make love in the street while rest of Party hold up scorecards.  Shortly after, Dakiell notices he has been robbed of over 2,000 g.p. Nashanna goes to a local brothel to hire Dakiell some company but instead gets hired herself; she refuses, and a brawl erupts:  o Brothel's enforcer - Thickoved - grabs Nash. and hauls her inside where "madam" awaits;  o Some of Party see this and come crashing in to help, meanwhile Nashanna fails a spell and summons a Valkyrie instead;  o Madam neutralized, so Thickoved drops Nashanna and flees, chased by several Party members;  o Thickoved trips over a brothel employee and customer, several pursuers trip over both, a huge train wreck results (and both courtesan and customer are almost killed by incidental damage);  o Thickoved then slain by Leshendra, with help;  o A crowd forms in the street until Valkyrie tells them all at swordpoint to get lost, she then vanishes. Party get out of Nexus as fast as possible.
Jer 16	A band of Grell drop down from another stairway onto Party; Pearl, Mrikle and Jane killed. Jane raised by S'nel'be.  Pearl and Mrikle fail raises tried by S'nel'be. While S'nel'be is casting these spells, Darby(MU-6/NrC-0) arrives and recognizes some people including the corpses of Pearl and Mrikle. Darby prays for divine intervention and gets it:  o Pearl reincarnated as Pearle.  Pearle becomes Part-Elf.  Pearle becomes MU (i.e. no longer Cleric).  o Mrikle reincarnated as Melkir.  Melkir becomes Dwarf.  Melkir becomes War Cleric to Vergadain.  o Pearle has no memories, and Melkir only very vague ones, of previous selves.  Pearle also knows no spells at all and has to start re-learning from scratch; she does, one per day from here on. Darby charms Dakiell but does nothing with it; he also turns Dakiell a bright shade of purple. Rest of day spent informing Pearle and Melkir who and where they are and what they are doing.
Jer 17	Meet a Demon on stairs whose combat tactic is to knock people off to their doom.  All goes well for Party until Demon sends both Leshendra and Dakiell over the side at the same time.  Foraya saves Leshendra with telekinesis ring; Nashanna in bird form dives off stairs and passes a feather-fall ring to Dakiell.  He puts it on just in time to crash-land on a platform; amazingly, he survives, and Nashanna joins him. Dakiell and Nashanna realize they are hopelessly lost, but assume Party has survived when bits of Demon start landing on their platform.  Both groups head for Nexus, being the only known landmark. Before long, Dakiell realizes he has Nashanna all to himself.  Nashanna spends most of trip as a porcupine.
Jer 18	Main Party arrive at Nexus.  Melkir casts a Commune once here (and informs Vergadain she exists, among other things). Darby turns himself loose in Nexus, stirs up a hornets' nest, and leaves.  Darby retires on reaching Riveria the next day. Dakiell and Nashanna spend most of day wandering stairs with 2 Dwarves who are just as lost as they.
Jer 19	Main Party set off to try and find D+N.  Instead, they find a powerful force of Hobgoblins who are here looking for them, and take them out. D+N meet a small band of Orcs and barely survive; Dakiell down to 1 h.p.
Jer 20	Party find D+N and reunite, head back to Nexus.
Jer 21	Arrive Nexus, finally give in and hire Nangud, a very expensive (but very competent) Gnome guide.
Jer 23	Reach previous point of furthest advance.  Nangud tells Party their goal is at end of next stairway, then leaves after warning of another Demon further on.
Jer 24	Reach final platform and find it held by another band of Hobgoblins.  Dakiell killed in a tough battle. Myra investigates a source of magic left by Hob's and becomes 2" tall, imprisoned in a tiny cage. Speak With Dead’s on some of the Hob's warn Party of organized resistance to their mission. Dakiell fails raise from S'nel'be but he as caster has no idea why. (and see below)
Jer 25	S'nel'be casts Commune, then everyone planeshifts to Verwood except Nashanna, Pearle, He'is, Anurri and Shel'lecryn who start returning home by foot. Myra's cage is found to be psyonically controlled; Company's best psyonics can't break in but somehow S'nel'be can, so Myra freed. Pearle's crew meet another travelling party on a platform.  All goes well until Shel'lecryn killed by a hidden Assassin from that party; rest of away team barely win the resulting brawl. Shel'lecryn raised by Nashanna, using incense.
Jer 26	Illyrah(R-6) joins at Verwood; that group planeshifts to Culavera.
Jer 27	Party reunites on stairway.  Shel'lecryn retires and leaves for Culavera, arrives late evening.
Ave 1	Once again reach final platform.  Foraya glows brighter and brighter blue, and becomes more and more fatigued, through day; nothing Party tries can fix this. (Mielikki is using his energy to shield Party from lots and lots of searching Hobgoblins, but Party don't learn this until much later.  They do, however, wonder where all the Hob's have gone) Melkir casts a Commune on arrival at door to Abyss. Pass through door and enter Samora, an Abyssal city.  Immediately get jumped by some ape-like Demons. Explore, find someone named Warwick who is supposedly an ally...and is, if very well paid.  He gives lots of information, but Party don't ask quite enough questions and he volunteers nothing, so a few crucial details get skipped.
Ave 2	Spell failure charms Pearle to Nashanna, but nobody cares.
Ave 3	Leshendra and Myra find a pub and go in.  Myra gets jumped by Zzyztra, an amorous Demon who is also supposedly an ally.  (he is; but he's also dumb as a post, thus his information is nigh-worthless.  Party don't know this, and proceed as if it were accurate) Myra talks Zzyztra into letting whole Party sack out in his tiny apartment.  Zzyztra tells of a caravan he'll be guarding when it leaves town tomorrow with a Very Important Passenger.  Party assume this will be Banyatok, and plan accordingly.  (caravan is in fact an elaborate Graz'zt trap designed to catch those who would seek to free Banyatok, but Zzyztra doesn't know this; all he knows is he gets paid really well to help guard it)
Ave 4	Spy on caravan; realize it is carrying someone who could be Banyatok, and follow it out of town. Attack caravan all-out when it gets out of sight of city.  Lots of carnage, and Party extended to the limit.  Finally reach "Banyatok" and find she is a Vampire (with extras) and her "handmaidens" are Succubi.  Leshendra loses 2 levels (to T-7) to one of these, but Party manage to prevail. Vampire speaks as Graz'zt during battle, Party thus warned Graz'zt is on to them.  It also tries claiming Nashanna as a servant of Graz'zt, but Rillifane will have none of it, so Nash. just collapses instead. After battle, Nashanna gets up glowing; when she tries to cure Leshendra the glow fades and Leshie gets her lost levels back (so T-9, again). Mild panic sets in; desperate, the Party try touching the 5 swords together and teleport themselves right back into downtown Samora. (unknown to Party, this throws Graz'zt off considerably, thus giving them time to finish) Through a gate, get jumped by 4 tough Demons.  Melkir killed.  Jane and Pearle both lose their spellbooks to Dispel Magic effects. During all this, Anurri's fumbles do a total of 105 points damage to his own side, 74 of that to himself! Explore a small cavern complex.  Leshendra breathes in some cold mold and turns to ice; begins functioning as a cold-based creature, but keeps all her skills, levels, etc. Meet one last very tough Demon; Anurri redeems himself by almost singlehandedly slaying it. Find Banyatok stapled to a table; release, and flee.  Also find Her shawl and dagger nearby. Various Demons try to stop Party but get nowhere.  Graz'zt arrives just in time to get away one last shot; He'is, Leshendra and Foraya killed psyonically, within mere yards of door to Stairway. Once in stairway, the 5 swords are touched to Banyatok's shawl; each turns to cloth and weaves itself into the shawl!  With this, Banyatok recovers some of Her powers (they had been stored in the swords), and planeshifts everyone to Her realm.
Ave 5	After a good night's rest, Banyatok starts undoing damage:  o He'is, Leshendra, Foraya and Melkir raised, also Leshendra made warm-blooded again;  o Melkir turned back into Mrikle: Mrikle becomes Gnome.  Mrikle becomes Illusionist;  o Pearle turned back into Pearl: Pearl becomes Gnome.  Pearl remains MU, but - with Sif's blessing - loses the Cleric side;  o Nashanna, with Rillifane's blessing, converts to become a Cleric to Banyatok;  o Party are informed what has become of Dakiell (see below). Lots of people realize they have bumped.  Banyatok rewards each over the next several days; Myra gets instantly trained (to B-8), Anurri gets a replica Dreamsinger, Leshendra gets a permanent gate to Banyatok's plane for use as a hidey-hole, and so on.
Ave	Banyatok spends much of the month in consultation with other deities, to find out what she's missed.
Ave 21	Banyatok watches events unfold at end of North Pole: The Leukaio Project and rescues the corpse of Nanomi, along with a hoard of treasure he had been guarding, from Hob's who had just slain him. Nanomi raised by Banyatok, eventually, and sent back to Riveria.
Ave 25	Everyone back to various parts of the Riverian world; begin a long break.  Foraya, Anurri, Nashanna, Jane, Illyrah and S’nel’be all retire.

Surviving members:	Mrikle(I-9), S'nel'be(WrC-10), Leshendra(T-10), Jane(MU-7), Shel'lecryn(R-7), Nashanna(NtC-9), Anurri(F-13), Pearl(MU-9), Myra(B-8), Foraya(NrC-10), He'is(F-9), Illyrah(R-7), Darby(MU-6/NrC-0)
New members:	Illyrah; Darby (from Asgeir's Saga B)
Casualties:	(Mrikle[twice - once as Melkir], Pearl, Jane, Shel'lecryn, He'is, Leshendra, Foraya - all revived); Dakiell (revived later)
Retirees:	Darby, S’nel’be, Jane, Illyrah, Pearl(all to War of the Giants – West);  Nashanna(to Coldwood Menace, eventually); Shel'lecryn, Foraya, Anurri
Continuing party	(to Volcano of the Giants):  Mrikle, Leshendra, He’is

And what of Dakiell?

Azak’hri, the Goddess of the Hobgoblins, was paying particular attention to the Hob. seek-and-destroy teams patrolling the Infinite Stairway in search of the Party; after all, it was She who had sent them there.  So when one of the enemy - in this case Dakiell - is slain, it is an easy matter for Azak'hri to snap his soul up and claim it as Hers.  Thus, even though S'nel'be's Raise attempt comes fairly soon after the battle, the soul is already unrecoverable by such a spell.  And Azak'hri makes sure S'nel'be cannot easily learn what has gone wrong, in a further attempt to confuse the Party and slow them down.

As fate would have it, some others known to Dakiell would also soon find their way to Azak'hri's iron palace.  Araglas, Akasha, and the rest of the Leukaio Project party end up thrown in the same dungeon for a time; they meet and recognize Dakiell here even while Dakiell's old Party is still with Banyatok, but cannot free him.  Meanwhile, Azak'hri is paying so much attention to Dakiell's spirit She fails to keep tabs on that of Perry, who arrives dead with the Leukaio party, and so Hel - always an avid collector of souls - is able to snatch Perry's spirit right out from under Azak'hri's nose.  (see Highway To Hel for what results from this)

Dakiell would ultimately go on to become Azak'hri's (not always willing) consort for a short time before being returned to the Riverian plane by Her during Coldwood Menace.