After a relatively uneventful trip back to Rothberry, some started to wonder if you being followed by the vampire you had been told about – packs of wolves, and swarms of bats and now rats. Hmmmm.
The mission seemed to be complete. The powers at Rothberry started organizing work crews to repair the dam, other leaders debated about what to do about /powering/ the dam, and still others discussed what to do about the Black Magga in Claybottom Lake. None of this interested many of you or seemed to involve you directly in anyway. Periodically you would be asked a question or two about Fort Ranik or the dam which you happily answered between swigs of ale. It wasn’t until someone brought up the idea of heading back to High Madreth to complete your report to the Lord Mayor that Barl Breakbones came back into the conversation. It wasn’t long before you found yourselves preparing for yet another trip into the forest.
Your travels back and forth to the fort seemed to have cleared off much of what could cause you any problem. You camped on top of the fort again to get ready for the trek to Hook Mountain. During the night, those on watch heard a small voice ask “Men?” “Men? Can you help me?” Everyone was woken and the creature was demanded to show itself. A male pixie, named Yap, appeared. You parleyed and found that he needed some assistance moving some things inside in order to recover something for his mistress, who was apparently ill. He led you to the room where the ogress sorcerer was slain. He tried to wrench a drawer open from the battered wardrobe. Malloric stepped up and yanked it open. It had already been ransacked and Yap threw whatever was left on top the floor and tried to pry open the bottom. Back stepped up and punched a hole through the bottom revealing a secret compartment. Yap dove in and started throwing out papers, a small jewelry box and a pair of leather boots. He started to cry. It turns out he was sent to recover something of Lamatar, Fort Ranik’s Captain. You all pointed out that all those items were his. You soon determined that Yap was instructed to recover not something that belonged to Lamatar, but a piece of his person – a hair, fingernail, etc. Yap was distraught. You offered to travel to see his mistress to see if there was anything you could do to help. He led you on a day and a half journey deep into the Aelinvuud. You spent the night in a fairie glade and were led past two-masted ship beached in a clearing. When reaching his mistress’s glade, you were all stopped by a voice coming from a tree near the center. It was melodious and a bit haunting at the same time. “Yap, Why have you brought these people into my realm?” “Mistress, they can help,” he replied. A few of you toward the front started to approach the tree and some in the back noticed Yap shirk and cover his eyes. It was too late. A horrifically beautiful creature with disembodied arms moved out from behind the tree, literally blinding Malloric when he gazed upon it. After beseeching her that you were there to offer help, she moved away and you were able to converse.
This was Myriana, Lamatar’s lover. She had heard about the attack on Fort Ranik and had gone to help. Unfortunately, the ogre overpowered her and tore her limb from limb. She was now determined to make amends by recovering Lamatar, alive or dead. You learned that he had been taken to Hook Mountain and were asked to recover him or at the very least a piece of him. She ordered Yap to lead you through the forest. He did so with one hunting side trip where he brought you to the den of a dire boar. With the group’s arrows and Yap’s entangle, the boar was dead quickly. You spent a day barbequing it and still had more meat than you could possibly use.
The trip to Hook Mountain was uneventful between the group’s size and Yap’s knowledge of the forest. You climbed the trail to the top and snuck the last portion to a large cave entrance. When you had no more cover, you closed the distance as fast as possible, encountering three large ogres. Two were quickly dealt with and one fled into the cave. Bach noticed that these ogres were wielding shiny, new, large greatswords. Odd for ogres. You went after the ogre through what probably was the rib bones of what might have been a large dragon. Just before the entry closed into a passage, you stared at a 30’ tall statue of a stone giant in full battle armor. Someone noticed that the armor was not actually part of the staute and looked like it could be removed. You also noticed the statue was wearing a very large sihedron medallion. You filed that info away for later.
You reached a major intersection of corridors – all large enough for a giant to easily pass through. Waiting for you were four more ogres with shiny new swords. D’Argo created a wall of broiling acid that split the ogres into two groups. In a few rounds, the few in front of you had fallen. D’Argo dismissed the wall and you dealt with the remainder.
Someone said ‘left,’ so that’s the way you went. After descending quite a number of rough steps, you heard the loud sound of steam and felt in change in the ambient temperature. Very soon after the sound, clouds of steam started pouring into the hallway where you were standing. It carried a heavy, metallic, sulphurous smell. Malloric asked for a light and Edwin cast a continual light on one of his arrows. To get a better view, Malloric launched the arrow into the darkness revealing approximately a dozen ogres, most of which held very large, heavy mining picks. The fight began.
The ogres cautiously approached along the walls to avoid being out in the open and were able to clse without taking too much damage from arrows or spells. When they did reach melee range, they were cut down quicker than they could damage the party. One or two larger, better armed orgres held back and picked their openings. These two swung their great swords with some skill and even more force. They connected a few times. Each time sending the recipient reeling. After the fight the clerics healed everyone up and you looked around. It seemed as though the ogres had doused several smelters and forges. They were still hot but not shedding as much light as they once surely did only a few minutes ago. There were piles of ore, and weapons in various states of completion. In another corner were several piles of tanned leather strips that were being used for weapons hilts. The weapons were only of fair quality. But still must have required quite skilled ogres.
Heading back to the intersection, you took yet another left. The passage turned sharply to the left. Those in front were accosted by heat emanating from a room where the walls had absorbed so much they glowed red. In the center of the room were three sweaty ogresses stirring a large cauldron. Doubting your own eyes, those in front tried to shake the image out of their minds, with only some succeeding. Those who were able to see though the illusion saw the room was as normal as could be and the ogresses were worse. They were hags. Malloring unleashed a few arrows, driving them deep. They responded by surrounding him in a cage whose bars were of pure force. Henrick charged in only to be surprised by a wight that had been hiding around a corner. He ignored the pain and level loss of the wight’s blow and kept onto the hags. Edwin made his way into the room in a few rounds and utterly destroyed the undead creature. Others surrounded the hags and began pounding. They were very strong, occasionally grabbing foes and trying to rend them limb from limb. Once one was downed, the other two became much easier to deal with. It seemed as though they needed three to produce their most powerful magics. The fight was over, and most were drained physicall, magically and in Henrick’s case even in levels. Malloric was still stuck in the cage. After remembering someone was holding onto a potion of gaseous form, you were able to get Malloric out of the forcecage. You scraped up the dust that was once Lamatar and poured him into a small sack. The next few minutes were spent discussing the merits of continuing on in light of health and spell resources.
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