Game Sagas - Old #3

"Sundered Faith" by Biff Bluesleeves, Bard and Chronicler
 

Released from the pocket universe they had been trapped in by the Magic Book, the party was chagrined to see that the Magic Book remained in the Mage's study. Understanding that to keep such a thing around would be an assurance of future danger, Guy Mandude the Mage accepted the dangerous and time consuming undertaking of building an enchanted housing to contain the book. As the party discussed this a Page arrived from the Temple of Heironneous with a package for the Paladin. It was around 18 inches long, burlap wrapped with cotton padding, and sealed with a wax stamp of the Fist of Heironneous. The Page had no knowledge of the contents, and after handing it to the Paladin personally he took his leave. The Cleric, Paladin and Thief were able to authenticate that the seal was a legitimate seal from the Order and not a trap or forgery.
The Party laid their curiosity and puzzlement aside, left the package with the Mage, and went to the market district to sell some of their loot from the pocket universe. The Party had taken among other items some Goblets, a cook book and a dress made of Displacer Beast Hide. They were able to sell all of these items for around 5,000 Gold Pieces. They bought some potions and equipment and returned home.

Once home the Party turned their attentions again to the mystery package. From markings on the parcel it was plain that the package had circulated from Temple to Temple for a period of about 3 years. The Paladin carefully cut through the burlap exterior and pushed aside the cotton wadding. The Party gasped as the Paladin pulled the hilt and broken blade of a sword from the package. He instantly recognized it as being part of the Holy Avenger that belonged to his father Lord Magog I. Lord Magog had responded to a call from his old adventuring party to stop a group of Storm Giants from waylaying Pilgrims on a mountain pass, and Magog II had not seen his father for over 13 years.
The sword had been broken about 6 inches from the hilt and looked as if it had received some fire damage. A note inside the parcel from one of the Temples that had handled it explained that a party of adventurers had found the sword, recognized it as belonging to the Order of Heirroneous, and brought it to a Temple. The Temple eventually identified it as belonging to Lord Magog and sent it to his former Fief.
Since Magog II had abandoned his Fief years before no one knew where he had gone. So the sword traveled from Temple to Temple as the Order sought to return the weapon to its rightful owner. Since the Party had bought a house and had a permanent address the package was able to finally reach him. Eagerly desiring to know more about where the sword had been found the Paladin hired a Squire from the Order to travel to all of the Temples that the sword had been passed around to determine who had first received it from the hands of the adventurers.

Returning home from the Temple of Heironneous the Party found a Page from the castle of the Duke that ruled the city waiting for them. The Page stood when they approached and curtly announced that they had an audience with the Duke in an hour about an urgent and private matter. Understanding that they were now subjects of the city and the Duke the Party agreed to meet him at the appointed hour. The Page left to inform the Duke and the Party went inside to change from adventuring gear into their courtly wear.

Two hours later the Party stood before the Duke. With deep concern he confided in the Party that something in the sewers was making people disappear. It had started with workers down in the sewers beneath the City; they went down and were not heard of again. Some of the Towns Guard were dispatched to the sewers to check on the workers, and they disappeared as well. More Town Guards were sent down into the sewer to investigate and were never seen again.
The Duke made his proposition short and simple; The party was a group of trained adventurers that were better suited for this sort of thing than his Guards were, he would give them 2,500 Gold Pieces to go down into the sewers to see what was happening. After conferring with one another the Party decided to accept his offer of 2,500 gold if he would also agree to replace any standard equipment they lost on the mission and give them consideration in the future for anything they might need. The Duke agreed, and asked that they undertake the mission at once. The Party consented and returned to their Manor to outfit themselves.
Guy Mandude was still constructing the containment chamber for the Magic Book, and since it was vital that it be completed immediately the Party agreed that Guy should remain behind. They dressed in their adventuring gear, packed their equipment, and then followed the Page waiting at the door to the entrance of the sewer. The Page led them to the service access tunnel where all of the workers and Guards had disappeared, unlocked the door, and took his leave. The Party took a deep breath and entered the darkness.

The ceiling of the tunnel was low, and the walls close-the Paladin and the Cleric both had to walk hunched over to get their 6 foot frames through. The Thief took point with a torch, and the party shuffled along single file through ankle deep water. A strange stench permeated the air, a mixture of decaying flesh and raw sewage. After the party slogged along for 50 feet they reached a bend in the tunnel. The Thief rounded the corner and ran right into a party of 3 Zombies. He leapt backwards, and scurrying over the hunched over Paladin clambered across everyone's shoulders to the back of the line. The Paladin turned the Undead and the Bladesinger killed one as they staggered away. The Cleric and the Paladin took the point and the Party cautiously proceeded. 

One hundred feet further down the tunnel the Party happened upon another party of Zombies, which they quickly destroyed. Around another bend they were able to see a large room just ahead of them, one that was emitting light. From the doorway they could see that the room was large and round with tables and chairs, and laying around on the wooden floor were the corpses of 9 Guards and Workers. Cautiously the Group entered the room and began to check the bodies, but as they did the bodies sat up and began to attack. The battle raged between the Zombies and the Adventurers. The Cleric and Paladin were turning the Zombies, the Bladesinger and Thief were swinging their blades into the circling undead. Suddenly the wooden floor, weakened by age and moisture, cracked and broke beneath the combatants feet. Still battling, the Adventurers and surviving Zombies tumbled into the blackness.

The group fell hundreds of feet and plunged into deep water. The Paladin and Cleric began to instantly sink to the bottom, weighed down by their heavy Plate Mail. In the blackness of the icy water both struggled out of their armor, allowing it to fall unnoticed to the bottom. The Paladin managed to hold on to his Short Sword of Ghost Touch, and the Cleric held on to his Masterwork Sword and Magic Gauntlets. Both men surfaced with a gasp. Farther away the Bladesinger and Thief were treading water.
The Bladesinger scanned the horizon with his Infravision, desperately looking for land to swim towards. His keen eyes were able to discern Fluorescent algae on a coast hundreds of yards away, and he began to swim towards it. He suddenly remembered his fellows and stopped. As the only Elf the Bladesinger knew that he alone had Infravision, and he could hear distant splashing and sputtering from the other members of the party. He began to call loudly for the group to swim towards the sound of his voice. The volume of his shouts were dampened by the vastness of the underground cavern, and his voice echoed distantly around the rock walls. Twenty feet away he could make out one of the Zombies as it surfaced and began to swim awkwardly towards him.
Suddenly the water around him exploded upwards, and a gigantic white flash raised out of the water only to plunge back beneath the surface of the deep with the Zombie. The Bladesinger immediately began to swim for shore. The Thief had followed the Bladesinger's voice and was beginning to head for the shore. The water exploded upwards again, and a second Zombie was dragged beneath the surface. The Paladin and Cleric were much farther away from the shore, and the sounds of the zombies being attacked prompted them to swim in the direction they thought the land was. The Cleric was swimming the opposite direction from the coast and the Paladin was swimming parallel to it. A third Zombie went down with a roar, and as he did the Bladesinger thought that he caught a glimpse of the creature.
A snake, white with pink eyes and at least 100 feet long was swimming beneath the surface, dragging down anything that moved. The Bladesinger turned to finish his swim, but saw out of the corner of his eye that the Thief was 20 yards behind and swimming towards him. The Bladesinger began to speak, but as he opened his mouth the Snake burst from the water again, taking a nip at the Thief. Elviso drew his sword and began to furiously swim towards the Thief. Ahz had his dagger out and furiously fought the Snake, deftly avoiding being swallowed by the repeated strikes of the snake. The Bladesinger reached the battle within a minute and swung his +3 Sword, connecting solidly with the Snake. The hissing of the enraged Snake filled the cavern, the Cleric and Paladin stopped and began to swim with vigor towards the sound of the battle.
The Snake turned his full attention to the Bladesinger and the Thief began to swim towards shore. The Snake and Bladesinger exchanged blows as the Thief reached shore and the Paladin and Cleric tried desperately to reach their comrade before it was too late. The Bladesinger began to swim towards shore while continuing to swing his sword, and the Snake followed, striking all the while. The Bladesinger got poisoned by one of the Snakes enormous fangs, and weakly he struggled up to the shore. The Snake lunged for him and Elviso delivered a mighty blow, killing the Snake. The Cleric and Paladin reached shore minutes later, drawn by the light of a signal torch the Thief had lit. The Party looked awestruck at the enormous creature. The Snake was over 100 feet long, with massive fangs that still dripped poison, the drops hissing on the water surface as they fell. It was pure white, with lifeless pink eyes. The Cleric realized that the Snake was somehow Undead itself, and so it would have likely made them all Zombies if it had succeeded in its attack.

The Bladesinger was healed, and the Party made camp. The Cleric cast Waterbreathe on himself and walked along the bottom of the lake to retrieve he and the Paladin's gear. While down there he discovered another suit of armor that contained a skeleton. He brought this suit up as well, and the Paladin cleaned it up and kept it.
When the group was ready to proceed they began to explore the area around them. They were able to see faint lights from an area directly behind them, so they moved towards it to investigate. About 50 yards from the beach they found that the source of that light, a stone hallway that lead off down a passage to some unseen end. On the floor was a large brass seal, on which was an inscription in a strange language. The symbols on the plate were recognized by the Paladin as belonging to an Evil religious sect.
The Party decided to proceed into the hallway and investigate, and the Bladesinger went in first. Not wanting to step on the seal lest it be trapped or cursed the Bladesinger deftly leapt over it. Thinking to follow suit the Plate mail clad Paladin attempted to make the same leap. Instead he tripped and landed on his back square in the middle of the seal. Nothing adverse happened to the Paladin, so the rest of the party shrugged and strolled across the seal unharmed.
They proceeded a little ways down the stone hallway and came to a 3 way intersection. From the crossroads they could see that each of the three directions were concealed by large brass doors. The doors to the left and straight ahead were unremarkable, but the doors to the right were bulging outwards and had a thin trickle of water running from underneath it. The Party elected to go to the left door. The Thief checked for traps and picked the lock of the door, opening it with ease. The Party opened the door and saw a short hallway with a door on either side of it. At the end of the hallway was a pile of rubble, and it looked like a cave in had occurred very recently down there, closing off the rest of the hallway. The group elected to explore the room behind the door on the North wall first, so the Thief checked for traps and picked the lock. The Door swung outward and the Adventurers edged into the room. The room had an altar in the middle upon which rested a short sword. In the South East corner was a desk and chair, and in the North West corner a large puddle of water sat with drips from the ceiling feeding it. The Thief boldly went up onto the alter and grabbed the sword. It was a well made Short Sword that someone had begun to enchant. When the Thief grabbed the Sword from the altar the incomplete enchantment was broken, and the Thief gained a very nice masterwork Short Sword.
The Bladesinger was searching the desk and happened upon a secret compartment in one of the chair legs. Inside the compartment was a wand, and written underneath the chair was the word to make it work. The Bladesinger wandered off to search a chest by the water puddle, finding an Ebony Two Handed Sword with a Demon Bone Hilt. The Paladin took this and passed his Ghost Touch Short Sword to the Cleric. Suddenly a large, grey, gelatinous pseudo-pod burst from the puddle and landed with a plat right in front of the Cleric. It grabbed a hold of him, and then withdrew. The Clerics armor began to disintegrate off of him, and seeing that the whole party made for the door with a quickness. The last one out was the Thief, and he slammed the door behind him. A dull thud on the other side of the door let them know that the Grey Ooze was trying to get after them. They hurriedly picked the lock of the door on the South wall and charged inside. They were met by Zombies, whom they promptly mowed down.

The Party decided to move on to another hallway, and they stood pensively in front of the bowed door on the right for a while. They discussed why the door was bowed and unanimously concluded that there was water and a lot of it on the other side. They discussed how to get through the water. The Bladesinger suggested that they go through the top set of doors and then diagonally port through the wall to get at it. No plan sounded like it would end well to the Paladin and Thief, so they went back through the doors on the left and closed them for shelter. The Bladesinger was beginning to head towards the top doors when the Cleric impetuously seized a hold of the handle of the bowed door and gave it a strong pull. The doors flew outwards and a massive wave of water blasted into the unprepared Cleric. The Bladesinger was taken by the swirling water and he washed down through the hallway with the brass seal and shot out of the doorway to the hall. The water gushed out of the hallway like it was coming through a pipe, pouring directly into the lake in the underground cavern. Because of the force of the outpouring water the Bladesinger was unable to get back into the hallway, and he could only wonder with worry what had happened to the Cleric.

What happened to the Cleric was a tower of water slammed into him like a gauntleted fist. He was knocked breathless as the torrential water rushed from the hallway, picking him up and slamming him hard against the brass door on the left. This hard blow knocked him unconscious, and he went limp, held against the door by the pressure of the outpouring water.

On the other side of that Brass door the Paladin and Thief heard the water roar as it burst forth from its pent up holding place, and they heard the unmistakable sound of an armored body being driven into the door. Immediately the pair tried to push the doors open. The immense pressure from the water held the door fast, and the Paladin with a 21 Strength was unable to push it by himself. He frantically called for the Thief to help him, and both men tried in vain. The Paladin pulled his Masterwork Long sword and put it beneath the handle for leverage. Both the Paladin and the Thief strained against the Long Sword until their faces were red and the veins on their necks bulged out as if they'd burst. Finally the door came open, and inch by inch they were able to pry it open. The wider they inched the door open the more water poured into the hallway. The Thief was able to spot the limp form of the Cleric, and as the Paladin held the door open the Thief grabbed the Cleric and pulled him inside. The Paladin released the door and it slammed back into place under the pressure of the water. The Cleric was limp and not breathing. The Thief and Paladin worked feverishly to resuscitate him, the Thief applying first aid as the Paladin laid hands on him. This revived the Cleric, but he was incredibly weakened from almost drowning.

Eventually the water all poured out, and the Bladesinger cautiously proceeded back into the hallway. He found the Party resting in the hallway on the left, protected by the door. The Cleric cast some Healing spells on himself and when he had returned to full health the Adventurers ventured down the right hallway where the water had all come from. The hallway went on for 40 feet and then sloped down into deep water. From the edge of the water they were able to make out a submerged door. They elected to come back to it and headed instead for the top doors. The Thief was again employed to pick the lock, and the door slowly creaked outward.

A long hallway was in front of the Adventurers, ending with a bend to the right. Going around the corner the group found another 3 way intersection, each passage gated and obscured by large brass doors. The party went left first. The door opened into a large stone room that looked to be a chapel of some kind. Rough wooden pews lined either side of an aisle, and at the end of the aisle was a large altar. The party began to search the room for anything of value. As they did the lid flew off of the altar and a vampire sprang forth. He locked right in on the Cleric and injured him badly with a mighty blow. The rest of the party attacked the Vampire but did minimal damage to him. The Vampire again attacked the Cleric, unleashing Flurry of Blows upon him. A dozen rapid and hard blows hit the Cleric, causing him to lose consciousness on his feet and fall to the floor in a heap. The vampire jumped back into combat with the Bladesinger, and realizing that they were outmatched the Paladin attempted to Bluff him. The Paladin announced that He was Lord Magog, renowned Paladin of the Fist of Heironneous, and that he and his attendants were there to destroy the foul Undead of that place utterly. The Bluff worked, and the Vampire fled. Relieved, the Party set about to once again heal the Cleric.

Another room off of that hall revealed 2 straw mattresses, 2 sets of dressers and a desk. The Party entered the room to search the desks, and as they did 2 Ghosts came up out of the beds and attacked. After a long battle the Ghosts were destroyed, and the Party was faced with a decision. They were injured and spells were low. They had not yet found the source of the undead, and knew that something much larger than what they had fought still existed out there. They wisely decided to camp out in that room. Guard was posted, the door was sealed, and those who were on watch got to listen to Undead moaning and lurching down the hallway all night. After 8 hours of sleep the Party felt refreshed and ready to go. They went back into the intersection and went through the door on the right.

This room appeared to be some sort of confessional. Walled stalls for meditation lined each side of the room, and a narrow aisle separated the 2 rows of stalls. The Cleric went in first, followed by the Paladin, followed by the Bladesinger and Thief. As they had passed a couple of stalls a Lich leapt from one of them and attacked the Group. They all fought the Lich, doing minimal damage, and were rewarded for their efforts by 8 Wight's that came out from the stalls in the back of the room. Above the commotion of battle the group agreed to back out of the room and let the Bladesinger drop a Fireball into it to wipe the Undead out. The Thief and the Bladesinger backed out of the room, and the Paladin and Cleric tried to do the same. The Cleric got flanked on 3 sides by the Undead, so the Paladin had to remain where he was so that the Cleric wouldn't be totally surrounded. The Paladin and Cleric were unable to withdraw from the battle and the Bladesinger and Thief were not able to join the battle in the narrow aisles. The Paladin and Cleric turned the Undead and then hacked them to pieces. That battle won, the Group healed and returned to the intersection. The only door they hadn't gone through yet was the middle, so they approached it. Through the door the Thief was able to hear chanting and mumbling. He could tell that it was ritualistic rather than spell casting, and he could only make out one person in the room. The Party quickly formulated a plan; The Bladesinger would cast Invisibility on he and the Paladin. The Thief would open the door, and the Invisible Paladin and Bladesinger would each hug a separate wall as they entered the room. They would end up Invisibly flanking the chanter, and would attack. As they were doing that the Thief would lay suppressing fire with his bow and the Cleric would attack using Spiritual Hammer, both from the doorway.

Assured that nothing could go wrong with the plan the Thief picked the lock, the Bladesinger cast his spell, and the door flew open as the Thief kicked it, bow drawn. Inside an Evil Cleric was reading a text aloud, and on a great round altar in front of him stood a newly conjured Bone Devil, a skeletal demon with a scorpion tail. The Paladin instantly hit the wall and began to sneak up towards the Cleric. The Bladesinger knew that the Bone Devil could see invisible creatures and charged the Cleric, hitting him squarely and rendering himself visible. The Thief fired an arrow at the Cleric but it went wide and bounced off of the wall. The Paladin reached the Evil Cleric but was unwilling to backstab him while Invisible. He attacked the Bone Devil instead.

The Bone Devil took some good damage from the Paladin's Ebon Blade, and then grabbed the Paladin by both shoulders, pinning his arms to his side and lifting him off the ground. The Bladesinger reasoned that if the Evil Cleric were dead the Bone Devil might disappear, so he attacked the Evil Cleric with vigor. The Cleric cast Hold Person on the Evil Cleric, and the Evil Cleric was frozen in place. The Bladesinger and Thief quickly killed him, and his dead body hung limply upright. The Paladin was taking bite attacks from the Bone Devil, and every attack the Bone Devil attempted to stab the Paladin in the abdomen with his stinger. The Bladesinger clipped the Bone Devil with a wicked cleave, so the Bone Devil directed his bite attacks at the Bladesinger and his stinger attack at the Paladin. The Cleric cast Spiritual Hammer no less than 1,000 times and failed with all of them. The Thief attempted a spring attack and missed so badly that he bounced off of the wall. The Paladin eventually got poisoned, and lost enough of his Strength that he could not break free. Because his kicks didn't do enough damage to the Demon to count this enabled the Paladin to essentially dangle there and get stabbed over and over again. The Bone Devil was exempted from the first 10 points of every attack, and he took a very long time to kill. The Bladesinger and the Thief hacked away at it, and the Cleric began to make contact with his Spiritual Hammer spell. The Paladin nearly died and had to lay hands on himself to stay alive. Eventually the Bone Devil was killed, and he disappeared in a puff of sulfuric smoke to return to the dimension he had been summoned from.

The Paladin was healed, and the party investigated the room. It appeared to be the hub of the whole operation, and the Cleric deduced that the Undead were being generated by the Altar itself. He cast Bless on it and the Altar cracked in half, which destroyed all of the remaining Zombies, Lichs and Wights. At the back of the room the Party found a fissure in the Earth which contained an exit into the City. Weary and battered the Party emerged from the sewers, and promptly reported to the Duke for debriefing and payment.

"Enter the Dragon" by Biff Bluesleeves, Bard and Chronicler

 Scarcely had the party returned from their meeting with the Duke when adventure called upon them again. As they entered the gates of their estate the thundering sound of hoof beats bearing down hard upon them echoed with increasing volume off of the walls of the compound. The Party drew their weapons and waited with cool anticipation to see if the rider was friend or foe. Moments later a lathered horse, eyes rolling, burst in through the gate way. On his back a boy in his young teens lolled, looking as if he would collapse at any moment. Jyvves rushed from the house to the side of the horse, catching the boy as he fell. He called the boy by name, and helped him to sit. The Paladin healed the dying horse so that it recovered, and the Party's stable hands came forward to tend to the horse in the stable.

 The Party circled around Jyvves and the boy, watching as Jyvves helped the boy drink some water from a skin. As he did so he looked up at the party and explained that the boy was his Nephew and had apparently ridden the 2 day distance from the village he lived. The Party waited for the boy to collect himself, and when he did he began by telling his Uncle that their village was in grave danger. He said that a few days ago a large Blue Dragon had descended upon their village. It didn't attack, but rather called the village to assemble before it. The Dragon told the village that she wanted a book retrieved from a cave high in the mountains, one that was well known to the villagers to be the lair of an ancient Silver Dragon, one that had not been seen in hundreds of years. The Dragon's ultimatum was concise: select someone to retrieve the book for me in 3 days, otherwise the Dragon would decimate the village and move on to another village for the same purpose.
With that said the Blue Dragon flew off. The villagers were frightened, but Jyvves' brother knew that Jyvves worked for a Party of mostly Good Adventurers, and he quickly dispatched his son to implore his brother's employers.

 When the boys tale was told Jyvves pleaded with the Party to save the village. The Party quickly discussed the matter, and immediately concluded that they would need to intervene. They agreed to help, and instantly began to assemble their Adventuring gear. A problem existed; the boy had taken 2 of the 3 days given to reach the party. There would be no way even on the Paladin's War Horse to reach the Village in time. The Mage solved the dilemma by conjuring a Phantom Steed for every member of the party, and within minutes the Party was virtually flying towards their destination. In half a day the Party reached the threatened Village. They secured a room in the Inn, slept through the night, and early the next morning they positioned themselves in front of the outskirts of the village.

 Soon the sky darkened, the rustle of wings was heard and dust began to fly through the air. A Gargantuan fully adult Blue Dragon descended from the air and landed right in front of the party. The Paladin Detected Evil on the Dragon and got a nosebleed. She looked at the party with a mixture of disdain and satisfaction, and asked if they were prepared to seek her book. The Party replied that they were, and the Dragon delivered her instructions. The Party was to seek the book in a cave 2 days ride from the village. The Dragon had no idea where within the cave the book would be, but said that she was certain it was there. The Paladin asked her what she wanted the book for, and without answering the Dragon began to alight into the sky. As she hovered over the Party she thundered down to them that they had 5 days to return with the book in their possession. If they failed or if they did not return by the date due she would destroy the village and everyone inside it. With that she flew off.

 The Thief knew exactly where the cave was, so more Phantom steeds were conjured by the Mage, and the Party was off once more. They reached the mouth of the cave by the mid afternoon. The mouth of the cave was very wide, and led by the Bladesinger the party edged cautiously into the gloom. The Thief lit a torch, and light filled the cave in a wide arc. Off in the periphery of the light in the shadows the Bladesinger was able to detect some movement and scurrying. He had barely drawn his sword when he and the Paladin were attacked by 2 Ogres. The melee went on for a minute, and then a voice from the shadows yelled something in Ogre. The Bladesinger understood the language of the Ogres, and was horrified to hear the voice yell, "Get out of the way, I'm casting a spell". Both Ogre Skirmishers and the Bladesinger hit the deck, leaving the bewildered Paladin taking the full effects of the Cone of Cold that shot from the shadows. The Bladesinger, identifying the magic user as the larger threat, left the 2 Ogres and charged into the shadows after the mage. The Paladin decided to charge the 2 Ogres to cover the Bladesinger's efforts. Unfortunately the Cone of Cold left the ground frozen, and the Paladin slipped and fell, sliding on his back for a short distance until he came to rest at the feet of the bemused looking Ogres, who promptly began to pummel the prone Paladin. In the meantime the Ogre Mage, still shrouded in shadow, cast Befriend Other on the Party Mage. The Ogre Mage then ordered Guy Mandude to attack the party from the rear, which Guy obediently began to do. Ahz was next to Guy at the time and began to clobber the Mage over the head with his sap in hopes of knocking him unconscious. The first blow did not knock the Mage unconscious, and neither did the second. Or the third. Ahz was compelled to hit Guy Mandude over the head 5 times in order to put him down.

 By this time the Bladesinger had entered the shadows to find the Ogre Mage. His Infravision not working Elviso tried to light a torch, quickly finding that the deep blackness of the shadows were a magical darkness. Suddenly he got hit hard from behind and above. The Ogre Mage had cast a Fly spell on himself and was circling around the Bladesinger, striking him with a sword where his defenses were weak. Blind and under attack Elviso could do nothing but swing his sword in wide arcs in hopes of hitting his unseen foe.

 At the same time Magog was struggling to his feet under the bludgeoning clubs of the Ogres. He managed to get up and Cleave one of the Ogres a hard blow. Ahz, having subdued the Party's Mage rushed to Magog's aid, getting in a backstab that finished one of the Ogres. Magog hit the remaining Ogre for substantial damage. Elviso was taking a lot of damage in the shadows from the Flying Mage and yelled for aid from his friends. Magog left Ahz to finish the surviving Ogre and charged into the shadows to try to heal Elviso. Unfortunately Magog was unable to light a torch, and he blindly groped along looking for Elviso, heading the opposite way. Elviso kept swinging and made a few good contacts with his sword on the Ogre Mage. Magog stumbles into a Magical Trap and took full damage for the second time in minutes from a Cone of Cold. Elviso finally killed the Ogre mage and unsteadily emerged from the shadow, badly injured. Ahz killed the remaining Ogre and rushed to help Guy, who was just regaining consciousness with a splitting headache. Magog had a hard time finding his way out of the darkness, slipping on the ice generated by the Cone of Cold trap he had triggered. After several slips and hard falls Magog also emerged from the shadow, which shortly afterwards dispelled. Toki joined the party in the mouth of the cave and used most of his healing spells for the day on the injured group.

 After all healing had been administered the Party geared up and traveled into the passage the Ogres had been guarding. The tunnel fed into a round room, and from the doorway the party could see that on the far side of the round room the tunnel continued on. On the floor of the round room some writing was visible, engraved into the stone. The Party cautiously edged into the room, and suddenly the Thief flew up to the ceiling, landing with a bang against the hard rock. The party had to stop and allow the Mage to Dispel Magic, which caused the Thief to come crashing down again. Entering the tunnel again the party proceeded on. The Paladin entered first and set off an Acid Mist trap. His armor survived, but his belt, pack, bow, arrows and quiver were all eaten away. All of his gold and potions lay on the floor in a heap, but the party had to rush through to avoid taking damage. They ran through the tunnel and emerged into one of the largest rooms the Party had ever seen. Treasure as far as the eye could see was piled feet high all over the room. Gold, Gems, Coins, Platinum and bejeweled Weapons covered every inch of the floor. Seeing no one the Bladesinger grabbed a hold of a gold piece from the piled loot and began to stick it into his pouch. Suddenly the enormous ethereal specter of an Ancient Silver Dragon filled the room, it's angry face looking right at the Bladesinger. "Leave my Treasure and Be gone from my Cave!!" the spirit Dragon bellowed.

 The Bladesinger swiftly put the coin down, and the Paladin asked the Dragon to hand over the Book. The Silver Dragon snorted derisively and said that the Book was not for this world. The Paladin pressed the issue, insisting that innocent people would die if they returned without the book. The Dragon responded that many more innocent people would die if the book fell into the wrong hands. The Paladin then asked the Silver Dragon for aid in fighting the Blue Dragon. The Silver Dragon allowed the party to take a magic arrow that would do significant damage to the Blue Dragon. The spirit told the party a second time to be gone, and then it vanished. The Thief in the meantime was searching for hidden doors, and shortly after the Dragon's disappearance located a secret door in the rock wall on the far side of the cave. He checked it for traps and opened it. The Party proceeded down a narrow tunnel until they came to a second door. The Thief checked this one for traps as well, and as he touched the door handle his hand became frozen to it. The party tried to pull him free but injured the Thief's shoulder. They tried to hold a torch near the lock to thaw his hand off but only succeeded in burning the Thief. The frost began to slowly creep up his arm, turning flesh to ice as it went. The party began deliberations about whether or not to cut the Thief's arm off to save his life, and concluded that they should. The Mage had a better idea and cast Dispel Magic on the door. The freezing stopped, the Thief was released, and the Paladin used a Restoration spell to reverse the damage.

 Once the Thief was properly treated and healed they traveled on to find a third door. Very cautiously the Thief checked the door for traps, and successfully opened the door. The door opened to reveal a small room, and on a slab in the middle was the book the Party sought. After a short and sharp discussion about whether to take the book after the Dragon had refused them permission to do so the Thief pocketed the book and they ran from the cave.

 Taking the Phantom steeds back to the Village the Party arrived 2 days early. They understood that the book could by no means be turned over to the evil Blue Dragon, but did not want to see innocent people die. The solution was to ambush and slay the Blue Dragon. To that end that Party evacuated the Villagers from their homes and began to plan their trap. The fountain in the town square had enough open space that the Blue Dragon could land. It was also flanked on all sides by buildings, so Archers and Magic Users could attack from behind from a distance, while the Thief could sneak in for a back stab. After careful planning the stage was set and all of the Adventurers took their respective places.

 The Paladin and Thief stood on the west side of the fountain facing the largest open space in the town square, the Dragon would land in front of them. Next to the Paladin and Thief were 3 horses upon which 3 recently deceased corpses from the local cemetery were slung over the saddle and covered in burlap. The Party reasoned that they could explain the absence of the Bladesinger, Cleric and Mage by stating they had been killed during the journey. In a doorway on the North West side of the fountain the Bladesinger lurked, the magic arrow notched in his bow and ready to fire. The Mage waited in the doorway on the West side of the square, directly where the Dragon was supposed to land. The Cleric waited in an East building for his healing services to be required. Before long the party heard the rush of wings and saw a Dragon approaching. The Bladesinger's keen Elven eyes picked up the fact that the approaching Dragon was Silver, not Blue. The Party watched as a younger Silver Dragon landed right in front of the Paladin and Thief, and eyeing the two demanded the return of the Book. The Paladin declined, stating that they would gladly surrender it after the Blue Dragon was slain, but that in order to save the village the Book must be used as bait. The Silver Dragon reluctantly agreed, but declared that he would remain with the party to defend the Book and make sure it was safe. The Party gratefully accepted his help.

 Right then the Blue Dragon descended from the sky. It landed near the Paladin and Thief, then sneered at the young Silver Dragon. Loudly she demanded that the party turn the book over to her. At this cue the Bladesinger fired the Magic Arrow right into her back while the Mage cast Magic Missiles at her at the same time. The magic Arrow did not have the effect that the Party thought it would, and the Blue Dragon let forth a stream of Blue Electricity from her mouth, blasting the Paladin, Thief and Silver Dragon. The Silver Dragon took the brunt of that attack, but despite his grave wounds he attacked the Blue Dragon with ferocity. The Paladin flanked the Blue Dragon and attacked her side as the Silver Dragon attacked the front. The Thief took that opportunity to sneak around the back of the Blue Dragon and delivered a powerful backstab to her. She responded by blasting the Silver Dragon with another electrical blast, and the Silver Dragon fell down lifeless. The Bladesinger joined the fray, charging the Blue Dragons flank, and the Mage launched more Magic missiles. After an hour of hard fighting the Blue Dragon was slain. The Paladin and Cleric healed the Silver Dragon, restoring him to health. They returned the book to him and thanked him, and the Silver Dragon flew off with the Artifact. The Party returned to their compound in the city with Dragon Teeth and the Village's reward. 

 
"Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"
By Biff the Bluesleeves 7/21/07

While at their compound a strange elf appeared with a message for Elviso. Opening the seal Elviso found an invitation to the 1,000^th birthday party of his former master and Bladesinger trainer Centauri Singlesword. The elf that delivered the invitation was instructed to escort the group back to the community where the celebration was to be held, and he consented to allow the Party to travel with them.
The group set off on the month long journey, and after weeks sleeping in the field decided to stay at an inn the next town they came to. The party stopped at the inn and filed in to a remote table in the corner with their backs towards the wall and facing the door. Discreetly the Paladin detected evil on the crowd of patrons to determine what sort of men surrounded them.
Not so discreetly the Cleric performed Detect Magic on the crowd. A great deal louder than he had intended he virtually shouted the audible spell, startling the patrons. The startle turned to anger for many of them when they discovered that the magic items they were all holding glowed blue on their persons. A magic hating barbarian (that was ironically carrying a magic axe) drove himself into a berserker fury and attacked the Cleric. He threw a table across the room in his rage and mortally wounded a barmaid.
The Paladin and the Cleric battled the Barbarian as a barroom brawl erupted in the tavern. A pair of twin elves standing at the bar were wearing matching eye patches and aloofly watching the whole scuffle. The Bladesinger cast Invisibility on himself and tried to circle around behind the Barbarian. To his puzzlement the twin elves passively watched his every move while invisible, quite obviously still able to see him. The Bladesinger attacked the Barbarian and the Cleric tried to slip away to heal the wounded barmaid. As he went to her he was seized by a half giant and some human thieves. The giant picked him up and began to shake him while the 2 thieves began to strip what they could get off of him. The Mage cast chain lightning at the group, injuring all of them. The 2 thieves began to make a break for it, and the Paladin ran to cover the door to stop them. As he reached the door the elf guide circled around to fight the half giant and save the Cleric. The Mage cast Dispel magic, and suddenly everyone was visible-including a thief that was unseen next to the Paladin. The paladin swung at him and he escaped. The 2 other Thieves leapt through a window and ran off into the night with the Clerics belt of components.
The Paladin began to give chase but was attacked from behind by a woman with a rapier. The Bladesinger attacked the half giant and the Barbarian pursued him, but then elected to attack the twin elves at the bar. Both elves removed swords from beneath their robes and mortally wounded the Barbarian, dropping him to the floor. The Cleric cast Wall of Blades, and the Half Giant and one of the Thieves was cut to pieces by it. The ceiling of the inn was also badly damaged as the 20 foot long blades ripped through the wooden support beams. The Paladin ignored the woman attacking him and ran outside, calling for his warhorse and leaping onto her back when she arrived. Before he could try to ride off into the darkness in pursuit of the Thieves the woman with the rapier jumped onto the horse behind him and tried to knock the Paladin off. The Paladin stayed on, and the Bladesinger ran from the inn to give aid. Seeing the woman attacking the Paladin the Bladesinger stabbed the woman in the back 3 times. She fell dead from the saddle. The twin elves walked off with the Barbarians axe and the other patrons cleared out as well, leaving the Party with an angry tavern owner. The Cleric paid for the damage and gave extra to the injured barmaid, after which the party went about their way.

After an uneventful night passed with a Dwarven tinker that they met in the woods the party arrived at the Elven community. They found it in panicked disarray. Centauri Singlesword had been found decapitated in the woods nearby, and patrols of elves were being sent out to scour every inch of the surrounding land. Elviso and his Elf guide volunteered, and soon the Party was out among them searching for Centauri’s killer.
They were attacked by a group of 8 demons, and after a heated battle managed to slay them. They proceeded cautiously into the woods, and farther in encountered an elven maiden. The Paladin detected evil on her and felt no presence of it on her, so the party approached her to talk to her. She bewitched the elf guide, who ran off down the path shouting for the party to follow him, the killer was near.
The elf maid then attacked the rest of the party. The Paladin called for his war horse and charged off after the elf guide to keep him from harm, and the Elf maid charmed the Cleric, trying to convince him to attack the party. The party battled the elf maiden until they injured her enough to make her Dimension Door an escape.
As the badly wounded party began to heal themselves the elf maiden re-appeared, this time bearing a large sword with a green gem in the pommel. Elviso swung at her but fumbled his blow and ended up taking off his own left ear. The Paladin was charmed by the elf maiden (who was revealed to be a demon) and stood by in a stupor as the party fought for their lives. The Mage had the good sense to cast a spell to anchor the demon to this plane of existence so she could not escape a second time. Slowly the party whittled her down to nothing, and at last she died. The sword was recovered and closely inspected. The sword was Masterwork, but the gem on the pommel gave it a Vorpal enchantment. After very little deliberation the Party awarded the gem to the Bladesinger. Centauri was buried and the party returned home to the compound.