4 - The Broken Shield delivers!

Date
The 22nd of Reaping, a Thursday.

Players
Karen - Fighter - Level 1
Harley - Halfling - Level 1
Melark - Magic User - Level 1

Hirelings
(all played by PC's)
Nargax the heavy footman (second expedition), an army vet, ramrod straight
Gygar the light footman. (second expedition)
Werdic the heavy footman (second expedition), last survivor of a murder spree in his monastery.
The Broken Shield - Mercenary company of 6 heavy footmen with special tactics: Wade, Jax, Louis, Oscar, Templeton, Hanibal


Adventure Log
The Silver Swan was mostly still asleep while the party trotted over to the Hurling Heiffar with Melark, now recovered from the dysentary of his encounter with the Wizards Supper Club three weeks earlier, but with Charlie nowhere to be seen. The Heiffar was in full swing already at 8am; their heavy time being the evenings when expeditions get back through early morning when they leave again. Nargax, Werdic, and Gygar were hired for another day. Also hired were a company of heavy footman: The Broken Shield. Specializing in group tactics, they were expensive but the party rationalized they would be able to tackle the stirred by reptilemen in the Bleakmarsh if they were hired.

Leaving the town gates, Ed the gate guard was happy to see them again and inquired about their friend they brought in a few days ago. Clancy said they wouldn't come back and he was dumb to let them in but he knew they would come back! He asked how much treasure they had brought in on all of those large sacks of coins Stickyfingers was laying on and Karen told him 500cp. The tax being 5sp, a clerk came out and gave them an official receipt with wax seal and entered the details in to the log. Enquiring further of Ed, it seems that a personal retinue of the kings taxmen showed up in town about three weeks ago, there being rumors that the local nobility, the Malvoys in the castle up on the hill, had not been as diligent as they could have been. As they left, his buddy Clancy tore in to him, asking him why he had to be like that, chatting up everyone who passed through ... Passing by Franks place they were verbally assaulted by him, wanting a SP to clean up the blood, vomit, and shit that their friend left the last time they were there. They talked him down to 4cp, and were almost sold a fresh locally sourced heirloom beet for the price of 1sp, about 100 times what it was worth. Oh to be rich and have no concept of how much money is actually worth!

They hit the sinkhole after a large cloud of mist erupted. At the bottom they found the body of the older boy (~12) they had escorted out a couple of days ago. He had been gnawed upon. They had no idea why he was there.

They explored north, finding a wondrous site: a waterfall that was flowing backwards, water crashing from a pool in to the ceiling and flowing out through a gap 30' above! Karen took a look in to the water, it was too deep to see in to and the shore dropped away quickly. [Side note: good lighting effects in Marengo cave in Missouri create weird optical illusions with the water. A must see!] As she looked in she saw some eyes. Attached to a GIANT frog. Who surfaced. And breathed gas on her, she being evidently momentarily stunned in to not reacting to all of the warning signs like: you see eyes, attached to a giant frog, that surfaces, and opens it's mouth. It's tongue snapped out and attached to her, dragging her in to the pool! Not to worry though, The Broken Shield sprung in to action! Templeton and Wade run up and grabbed Karen by the shoulders, dragging her back while the other four, in a synchronized ballet, ran run, surrounded the frog, and stabbed in unison, killing it! Hiring these guys was starting to see like a good idea! Harley stripped off his armor and a rope was tied to him, a couple of people holding it, while the hirelings spread out to guard the many exits from the room ... including two on either side of the pool that sloped down quite steeply ... Harley jumped in, and swam UP the waterfall, surveying the passage above, it being not really workable to explore further. He dived back down in to the pool, and saw a small chest in the water! They got it out with rope after he dove in again, finding it sealed with wax! Just then, Gygar yelled out "Something coming up from down below!" Two pale looping humanoids, covered in sores, leaped upon Gygar, knocking him down! One clawed at his chest, ineffectually while the second ended up knocking the first off his chest! The entire group surround them and quickly dispatched them, but Gygar had been hurt bad. He was still up, but only had 1hp left. He soldiered on! The small coffer went in to a Karens backpack.

Traveling south, and west, they found a cave chamber with a ball of flame that was rolling around on the ceiling of the room, leaving char marks on the ceiling and the tops of the walls. Not being able to figure out how to exploit it, they moved on down a long and wide cave passage leading west. Coming to a crossroads, they found two small children poking some decaying bodies with sticks! It was the other young boy from a few days ago, the brother of the now-dead one, about 8. With him has a 2 year old, his younger brother. After they came home with all the silver their dad sent them back for more. Frankie & Brad were scared, and got separated from their older brother. Could the party help find him? Gygar, being nearly dead, was tasked with escorting them back to the surface, it being only about twenty minutes away ("Just enough time for a wandering monster check", thinks the DM ...)

The west crossroads went on about 200' further, ending in a dead end. The north has a small chamber full of rags and, searching, they found a stone tablet. It had strange creepy writing on it that no one could read, as well as a pictograph of a humanoid being rubbed on by a group of tentacles. Loot! Although they knew not what to do with it. To the south, after another long cave passage, they found a small pool of water, a spring, with small mushrooms growing around it. Huddled up next to it, in a fetal position muttering softly to itself, but a large humanoid covered in verdant green leaves, just like they saw in Monta-town. It was in bad shape, it's nose cut off, scarred by many intricate knife cuts, and deep lash and whip marks. Malark figured out it spoke hobgoblin after Harler calmed it down with food and soft words. It's name was Furby and it escaped a few days earlier from "Salicia", down deeper. It's friends had all been killed in a party Friday night, it then having escaped "Salicia" on Sunday. It had been a slave to the reptilemen and briefly worked as a day laborer at "The Last Resort" a nice place, Furby said, also down deeper. A bar, tavern, etc, run  by a human. They took Furby with them as they continue exploring. They headed back to the entrance room, this part of the cave system being played out.

Only to find, in the entrance room, the bodies of the two young children, and Gygar! They had been butchered, some of their organs and meat being removed as if they were cattle! Oops! (Looks like the DM rolled a 1 on that wandering monster check ...) Before the party was the misty hallway, stretching to the west. With the newfound confidence imparted by the mass of hirelings, they headed that way. Unlike all of the other passages, this was not a cave. It was worked stone, inlaid massive blocks of limestone. 30' tall and 30' wide, the floor worn smooth with countless traffic. They headed in to the mist ... only to find, about 100 feet down it, that the mist was coming from a bubbling pool of water that had formed along a collapsed section of wall/floor. They looked, and saw nothing. The hallway was sloping down a bit, and the mist was, inexplicably, lighter in that direction. They continued.

Another 200' and the massive avenue ended! There were two massive brass doors, inlaid with scenes, to the west, ending the hallway, as well as two smaller normal doors, one to the north and one to the south. The massive doors had art deco fairytale scenes, light woods, meandering streams and creeks, and fairy tale knight from French romances complete with pennants and banners riding their chargers about. There did seem to be an unusual number of bridges in the scenes, and the knights always seemed to be riding towards the bridges in all of the little vignettes. They tried to open the doors and failed. Furby looked horrified; The Citadel of the Dark Masters, he pleaded with them! The decided that wasn't their thing and gave up on the massive doors, instead heading north.

Coming to a T they went west, passing a short side passage that ended in a door. There was some raucous noise coming from behind it, A LOT of creatures being noisy, Malark identifying a few hobgoblin words now and then. The avoided it, continuing west, past a pit trap to turn in the hallway that ended in a room. What a room! In the middle was a suite of plate mail armor on an armor stand and two-handed sword on a stand next to it! More importantly, right the threshold were a Cousin It and a few of the smaller verdant green leaf creatures. All of which were lying in a huge pool of blood, all of them being neatly cut in half. Some experimentation with a 10' pole yielded two 5' poles and the observation that there were some blades that swung from the ceiling, lighting fast and razor sharp, when the threshold was crossed. Karen offered 5gp to any hireling who would crawl under them, since the blades only came down about 2' from the floor. Templeton, from The Broken Shield, accepted the challenge, after some razzing from his buddies. His friends held his beer while he crawled under them, avoiding the blades! He looked back and gave a Thumbs Up sign ... and then a second set of blades were triggered, these being offset away from the first by a few feet! *Schlock* went his hand! He was pulled back and bandaged. "Chicks dig scars!" he noted, while getting many slaps on the back from his Broken Shield buddies. He then crawled BACK in to the room to get his hand, as a momento, coming back again! Everyone in The Broken Shield had a newfound respect for Templeton.

The party went back to the T, again avoiding the noisy creature room. Walking down a short hallway they avoided a tripwire with cans and jars in a net on the ceiling, a crude alarm. Going through the door at the end they say a room with a fountain and two albino rats, normal sized rats, frolicking in it, one having a copper piece in its mouth. The eastern part of the room was full of crates, barrels, and two sets of bunk beds.  Harley and Karen entered further, everyone else huddling around the doorway. Harley say a Cousin It laying on the floor, behind some crates. He tried to parley, but the Cousin It pulled a rope, causing a ceiling note by the fountain to fall, which Harley leapt out of the way of! It jumped up and pulled out a wicked double-bladed battleaxe! Karen and Harley entered combat, killing it almost immediately! And as they did so Nargax, bodyguard of Malark who usually brought up the rear, cried out! Two more were in the hallway behind them! The party entered the room, forming a semicircle around the door, drawing them in, and then slaughtering one! The other made a fighting retreat down the hallway, yelling over his shoulder "Breeyark! Breeyark!" The Broken Shield, advancing down to kill it, yelled out that there was secret door! Killing the Cousin It, they found that the secret door led BACK in to the room they were just in, the Cousin It's using to to get behind the party! Pretty Sneaky Sis!

Going back to the bronze doors, they headed through the south door. Coming to a portcullis, they raised it up. This section, and the northern section, again being of worked stone, unlike the rest of the caves. In fact, this room was COVERED in bas reliefs, every wall surface, showing lizard-like men with elegant features, almost elf-like, frolicking with dinosaurs. They heading out the only exit, to the south. Avoiding a pit, they came to a door the the hallway ended at. They pounded at it HARD but it wouldn't budge a micron. They gave up and returned to the pit, finding that, at the bottom, there was a hallway running east and west. Going west, the came to a room with four statues. Three were of lizard-like men with elegant features, in alcoves on the north, west, and south walls. In the center of the room as a fourth statue, of a small crocodile with yellow eyes in a "pool" of rocks. Harley, searching, found the the western statues could be turned, releasing a secret door behind it. Looking in they saw a small landing and then a VERY steep set of stairs going down. Almost ladder-like in their steepness. They closed the door and headed east from the pit bottom. They came to a set of stairs, going up, that ended in a blank wall. It was obvious there should be a door there, so they searched until they found it. Another room, with an exit on the north, covered in carvings! But this time the lizard-like men looked more reptillian, and were casting spells and using magic while they played with the dinosaurs! Heading through the door they fond another similar room, but they looked even more lizard-like and were casting even more powerful spells. There was also a fist sized orange gem in the middle of the room, taking precautions they retrieved it, Karen noting that looking in to it she could see a raging inferno of fire. And not that "Hearts on Fire" valentine day ring fire either, but a real raging fire! They headed through the north door. More carvings covering the walls. Even more lizard-like and almost no elf features at all. And they were casting VERY powerful spells, like blowing up stars in the sky spells. In fact, they found a secret door behind that scene, opening in to a hallway that full of a pale green mist. It wasn't flammable, but they soon discovered that throwing oil in it and lighting it did cause the mist to burn out somewhat. Karen took a deep breathe and ran the length, 501, crashing through a door at the end! She found a short hallway, with a set of stairs going down on either end.

It now being 6 hours inside, they decided they needed to return to town, since it was getting late and "No one returns from the Bleakmarsh after dark" Karen fell asleep as she returned down the hallway, but was retrieved and slapped awake after ten minutes. They made they way back to the entrance uneventfully, and avoided Frank yelling at them. They had nothing to declare to the gate guards, a cursory search not looking in the backpack with the coffer, and paid 1GP for all of them to enter.

Returning to the Singing Swan, Harley used his local contacts to get in tough with Fast Eddy to unlock the small chest. He was out of place in the Swan, so they went to the alley out back, Eddy unlocking the coffer for them. As he started to open it both Harley and Karen, immediately and in unison, slapped the lid down with Harley dismissing Eddy. Eddy, looking straight at Karen, asked her if she ever had any friends that only wanted her for her pickup truck and didn't want to hang out or even have a beer together after loaning it? Eddy was given an extra gp. Back in their rooms they got ready for a fight and opened it ... finding a MAGNIFICENT delicate gold necklace with HUGE rubies. It had an inscription: To my darling Malvoy, from Aristide." Noting this was the name of the local noble family, they decided they would have to be careful "pawning" it. A quick trip to Drez the Unspeakable's tower, the host for Malarks supper club party a few days earlier, revealed only three members of the local Wizards Guild/Supper Club/Dinner Parties: Drez, Malark (who just joined) and "Aristide", who hadn't come to one in a couple of hundred years now. He id'd the necklace as just being a necklace and the gem as magical, offering to take it off their hands. They declined, deciding he was low-balling them, even though he DID say he's cast minor spells for cost if they did.

They wrapped up and headed to bed at the Singing Swan.

Deaths
Gygar the light footman - Died off screen escorting two small children back to the surface. Butchered by killers and remains placed in stone cairn by party. This was his second expedition with the party.

Loot & XP
Giant Mutated Frog
2 pale mangy looping pouncing humanoids
3 Cousin It's
Intricate gold & ruby necklace (5000gp) with a inscription To my darling Malvoy, from Aristide.
Stone tablet with strange writing and picture of tentacles rubbing on a humanoid figure
Fist sized orange gem that can erupt with fire bolts, but is unstable ...

Treasure Map!!!

Players
Karen - Fighter - Level 1
Harley - Halfling - Level 1
Charley - Magic User - Level 1


Adventure Log
Karen and Charley, having met outside the tower of Drez the Unspeakable, looked over their newfound treasure map from the last excursion. Back at the Singing Swan, while consulting with Harley, it seemed easy enough. Just four rooms in to the Prison of the Silken Caliphate there was a note of Treasure, with the word LOTS underlined three times. Simple enough, right? Plus, they had stirred up the reptillians in the Bleakmarsh and wanted some time for things to settle down. Karen also needed an extra day of rest to heal up.

Off they went to the Hurling Heifer. There seemed to be much anticipation by the bar patrons, the place already packed at 8am, as drunks and layabout hobos will do. Baited breaths abound as Karen and Harley walked through the door ... and then sighs and cheers as Charley walked through ... and Rado and Aramil did not. Karen took to the table and the recruitments began! Werdic the heavy footman was hired; he was the last survivor of  murder spree in a monastery and took up a life as a hired man after that. Nargax was hired, a stoic heavy footman who called everyone Sir and stood at attention a lot. Bardoon the light footman was hired also; an ex-bodyguard with a desire to "stab things again." Gygar the bowman was the last of the crew hired. Charkley pulled out some magic daggers to sell, and while most of the patrons ignored him, one elf, from a table of hard living men in the back corner approached. He was very interested in the magic wares. Wanting to know what it did, and if Charley used it, and what spell Charley had memorized. Charley noted "Fireball" in response, once an offer to teach Power Word: Kill was offered by the elf, Denkel. Supplies were obtained and the crew set out to the Northwest, to the Prison of the Silken Caliphate, in haste lest the patrons of the Heiffer ambush them. As they left, more wagers by the patrons were made ...

They followed the river for two hours, speaking of the places nearby. The Well of Souls, rumored home of the demonlord Orcus, and it's infested wilderness. Zelkors Ferry, to the north of the Well, and rumored to be an easier entrance to the Well. The Black Maw, site of where the dawns first light touched the earth. The Bleakmarsh, site of their first two expeditions. The Barrowfield, home to countless barrows ... and the undead. Overlooking it all was the corrupted Castle, Xentillan, home of the local bandit lords/rulers: the family Malvey.

They found the side trek to Prison and followed it, finding a slot canyon a few hundred feet deep, sealed off by a wall. It had a tunnel through the center to get in to the canyon and a collapsed section to the north and south they could climb over. Harley scouted the tunnel, only to find murder holes. The ones to the north side of the tunnel he saw nothing ... and ran back quickly when the ones to the south had the sounds of moans and rattling chains! They proceeded over the rubble to the north to gain entry to the canyon, not taking the tunnel.

Inside the canyon were several ruined building foundation, covered with weeds. There were worked stone entrances to the canyon walls to the north and south, as well as a cave on each side higher up. A great steaming pool of water, from a waterfall, was deeper in, as well as another cave and another worked stone entrance. And, of course, the great arch, 20' wide, in the shape of a demon mouth: the main entrance to the Prison of the Silken Caliphate. Gygar took a shot at a cute little bunny on a tree stump, only to miss. The bunny didn't move. They decided to avoid it and, finding a statues of a heavily armored man, kneeling on one knee, in one of the ruined foundations, Charley knelt also, and then had Bardoon kneel, both to no effect.

The took to the entrance and quickly found it ended in a small room with a wide staircase going down, the walls covered in graffiti. "Karl was here" "So were the Shining Shields!" and other graffiti as well, in crude hand, in an unfamiliar alphabet. The treasure map was consulted, a marching order obtained, and down they went. And down. And down. 100'. To the bottom.

Decay and mold assaulted their noses as they entered the first room from the stair. Five exits, but the map indicated the one to the southwest. Karen opened the door, to find a room with skeletons on the flood, and old dried bloodstains. They entered and Bardoon was instructed to smash the skeleton skulls with a hammer. He did one. Then a second. Then a HUGE wind picked up in the room and a booming voice shouted "Fools! Flee before your bones rest here forever!" with a sinister booming laugh following. Bardoon, scared, was given a magic ring by Charley, and instructed to rub it when he was scared and it would make him not scared ... but warned to never do it twice in a row or he would go blind ...

Nothing happening, Karen lifted a rusty portcullis to the west, as their map indicated, and Bardoon spiked it open. They found a T, with one side having a door with a wheel carved in to it, inlaid with charcoal. But the map indicated the north passage. As the neared the northern door great rat squeeks were heard behind them. Oil was laid out on the floor quickly and, as a HORDE of giant rats turned the corner in their direction they lit it! One made it through, quickly killed, and two turned back and ran away (strangely, causing the Voice In the Room to once again threaten the rats with fooldom) the rest taken by the sudden flames. The hallway, stinking of bloated rat and burned hair, was left in favor of the door to the north, as the map indicated. Inside they found a fountain, dry, with carvings of leaping fish. They threw a copper piece in, to no effect and headed out the western door, as the map indicated.

Coming to a crossroads they saw a cave to the north, with a strange green glow coming from it, and another room to the west. To the south they found another portcullis, closed, and a hallway with four doors on each side, ending in a door, just as their map indicated. Karen raised the bars again and, once again, it was spiked open. The map said the door to the south ... but temptation was too much. Karen investigated one of the doors, trying to open it. It would not budge. Turning  to leave, suddenly voices were heard behind the door. Moaning. Pounding on the door. Loud. And then from another door. And another. And then a voice, in a dry whisper. "Is someone there?" repeating itself. And another voice, also dry "Bob, is that you?" The voice pleaded to be let out, for the door to be broken down. They were exploring yesterday and were trapped inside, with the door closing behind them. Help, please! The heartless party ignored them, going through the southern door.

To find a chapel, and home of the secret room with the loot! Vaulted ceiling, the alter made up of bones! And, on the wall, a great inlay of bones making up a 7' diameter Grinning Skull. Charley lit some incense and placed it on the alter. And then started laughing hysterically! Karen responded by destroying the alter, smashing it with the magic sword Illuminator! And then SHE started laughing also! They quickly found the secret door where the map indicated and saw a small room. It had black robes with skull patterns on them, and a few skull hat vestments, with tiny skulls hanging down from them as if they were braids. Charley donned one set as Harley found a poison needle on the chest. Opening it, they found two vials of pink liquid, sweet smelling, and A FUCK TON of silver coins. Harley declined, but PC and hireling alike filled up their santa claus bags with silver coins, as both Charley and Karen stopped laughing. Charley set about repairing the alter Karen had smashed as Harley gave his hireling free reign to take as much silver as they wanted, greatly improving his morale.

And as he was doing so ...

A group of creatures appeared by the portcullis! Small, red, scaley, and looking for all the word like little devils! They set up a ladder and started taking out the spike that held the gate up! Then they saw the party! Yelling at them in a weird language, and then "Bad men! Dumb men!" Charley appeared in skull regalia, and shouted back at them! Up to this point Charley had been doling out silver and gold to his hirelings pretty regularly when they showed doubt, and now he did the same with the little devil people. It seemed to greatly improve their mood! They offered to take the party to Monta-town. There was much apprehension but Charley insisted on going. They followed the friendly little creatures, back to the entry staircase room, over a pit they were warned of. Through several rooms, one of which had intricate stone carvings all over the walls. Through a gate manned by a little devil person, they went through a living quarters full of the devil people, then another room full of boxes and crates and piles of supplies on the floor being sorted by devil people. All the while being encouraged by the little friendly devil people tugging on their hands and clothing. They heard a din and saw light ahead, to the south ...

A great chamber! Full of noise, smoke, sounds, and lights! Little stalls set up all over the room, subdividing it, with little devil people manning them! Selling everything! Small snakes in cages in one! Another frying small snakes in cages to eat! Ropes made from hair! Clothing/rags! Weapons! Armor! Arrows! A broken down wagon dispensing drinks! A curtained off stall ... and countless others! And the people! Little red devil people! Patrols of them and great blobs of hair, like bulkier versions of Cousin It, not features visible! Svelte men, nearly nude, but with the heads of pigs! Little verdant green people that seemed to made up from leaves, and much taller versions, looking stern. Hairy men with the heads of various breeds of dogs, Doberman, pit bulls, rottweilers. And .. a few rough looking humans drinking at the wagon! Charley was hungry and went off, out of the room to the east, with some little devil men. Harley went to peek inside the curtained off stall. Karen approached the humans drinking.

Charley was taken to a nearby room, The Rat Kabob Kafe written on the walls in ... red paint? He ordered a rat kabob, being surrounded by people of all sort eating rat kabobs. The little red devil waiter asked him if he wanted it bloody as hell or burnt to a crisp, and was confused by the "medium" response, until they figured out Charley was a gourmet and wanted half and half, and continued his habit of overpaying. A rat in a cage was quickly killed, skinned, gutted, and grilled, served half raw and half burnt, just like mom used to make. Until ... his friends hosed back up, coming in the cafe in a hurry.

Karen approached the drinking men. "What are you guys doing down here?" was responded to with "Hey baby, looking for you! How's it going?" She backed off fast, but a little devil man asked if they were bothering her, this being a safe space fo everyone. She replied yes, which got the men a stern talking to from the patrol of little devil men and hairy Cousin It's. Karen could see the drunk men giving her a dirty look when she heard Harley calling out. It was not good.

Harley had investigated the curtained off stall, finding a small devil woman crouching on the floor, full of bones and chicken in cages. A soothsayer! Handing over cash and spitting on the bones in the old devil womans hands, the bones were rolled and consulted. He was to be rich! He ran outside the curtained stall yelling "Karen I'm gonna be rich!"

Things don't always translate well in Monta-town. All sounds stopped. Everyone stared at Harley. And Karen. They quickly ran to get Charley, noting the enemies they had made and the social faux-pax of yelling out "rich" in a room full of monsters. They had a devil person lead them out, back to the entrance.

On the way they met four trigger happy and nervous dwarves, and one more, Snorri Broadshoulders, on an architectural tour of the Prison, located now in the room full of intricate carvings. He was excited, noting in response to inquiries that he was not on some cultural tourism, he was a dwarf of science, a student of architecture, not like those filthy liberal arts archeology majors. Agreeing to tell him if they found anything interesting, and promising him to look him up at The Lame Lady in Kryshal, they headed back to town.

Stopped at the gates, they, and their santa claus bags fulls of loot, were charged A LOT in taxes, but also their information taken down by an official looking ledger, given a receipt signed and an official looking stamp affixed to it. Weird. Harley and Charley, both natives of Kryshal, had never encountered this behaviour before ...


Deaths
None!


Loot & XP
11 Giant Rats
5000 sp
2 sweet smelling potions

Bleakmarsh 2 - Electric Bugaloo!

Players
Karen - Fighter - Level 1
Harley - Halfling - Level 1
Stickyfingers - Thief - Level 1


Adventure Log
Everyone awoke in The Singing Swan, except Malark, who was feeling poorly after his first mage guild supper club. On the way downstairs Harley say the chambermaid emptying the nights pots out the back door, next to the head of a vagrant passed out on the stoop. It was Stickyfingers! Stickyfingers was known as a local beggar and Failure At Everything. The innkeep offered to have a boy beat him if he was bother Harley, but instead Harley took him up and fed him.

The group planned their next expedition, selecting the tunnels under the Bleakmarsh again. Upgrading and restocking equipment Harley elected against a set of fully depreciated chainmail and, instead, opted for a brand new set, against the advice of the armorer, who insisted it was going to go down in value as soon as he left the shop. They headed back to the Hurling Heifer. Many folk seemed disappointed to see them, while some were overjoyed and bought them drinks. Stickyfingers joined in and bought everyone in the bar a couple of rounds also ... at 8:30 in the morning, while Karen, in her new platemail, stood upon a table and recruited hirelings. A sorry lot, she selected Rado, who was armed with a dagger, leather, shield, and had a broadsword with glowing runes on his back. Also hired was Aramil the Elf, dressed in purple robes and a tall pointy hat decorated with stars and moons ... and wearing leather armor strapped over the top of it all with a spear. 3 gp/day each. Most folks were now three drinks in at 9am in the morning.

The best way to sober up was walking two hours through a hot high humidity swamp full of bugs, they decided. Off they went out of town, past the new guards on the southern gate, and, passing Frank's farm, they didn't see him out in the fields. Harley went over to his shack and pounded on the door, only to hear snoring followed by a shrill woman's voice bitching at Frank to get up because there was someone at the door. She continued to berate him while he continued to snore, a couple of whisky bottles being discovered next to the door, Harley went back and the troop continued to the large sinkhole in the Bleakmarsh ... easily identifiable because of the clouds of mist that occasionally drifted out of the top of it. Down they went, down the stone spiral ramp, to the bottom, where Aramil the Elf hireling immediately identified the glowing eyes in the corner as belonging to possums.

Stickyfingers, asking about his spells for the day, seemed to make Aramil very sad. In fact, many questions that Stickyfingers asked of Aramil seemed to make him very sad. "Read that magic writing!" "What spells do you know?" and so on. Aramil would not answer, just looking sad. At one point Stickyfingers asked him why he was always sad. Aramil waited a few moments and replied "What, do you think are we friends?" A shocked Stickyfingers replying "Well, I don't now."

Deciding that the misty and blackness of the western side of the chamber was still not something to be messed with, they moved down the northern hallway, Rado in front with the torch, and they found a skeleton on the floor in rotting purple robes and a hat with stars and moons. There was a broken staff next to it and the area all around was full of scorch marks. Searching, they found a scroll tube with a scroll with magic writing on it, which again made Aramil sad when he was asked to read it. He did not reply. 

They heard the sounds of water to the north and some muttering sounds to the east, so they went east. Finding a small crossroads chamber, they saw a small group of seven halflings huddled together against the wall, as if in a cuddle for warmth. They were scared, and after being calmed down by pleadings to SUMMAR, the halfling god, they noted that their friend Tim brought them down here to show them something and he had gone east from here and never returned. Harley gave them directions out, back to the South, and the troop headed east to find Tim.

They came upon a large cavern full of stalactites and stalagmites and giant black mushrooms, seven or eight feet tall, growing. Rado, Harley and Karen moved in to investigate the darkness in the back where their torch light did not reach, while Aramil and Stickyfingers stayed back. Finding a passage to the south and another headed west, Rano suddenly turned around and, holding out his hand, dumbly stated "Uh. My dagger is now made of rubber." Everyone paused. And then a wicked knife just BARELY missed Rado's back as he turned a bit, the same happening to Aramil back on the other side of the room. The halflings! Coming out of the shadows with wicked knives they seemed everywhere, wicked grins on their faces! Stickyfingers bowstring broke as his bow turned to rubber as Rado was stabbed through the back of the neck, the halflings knife coming out the other side, a dumb look on Rado's face! Rado's torch fell and everyone, party and halflings alike, seemed to be having trouble in the low light with finding their opponents to stab. Stickyfingers solved that by tossing oil on three of them attacking Aramil and lighting them on fire, burning them to crisp and providing more light! Karen stabbed one good before they heard a voice "Zots the word, be a bird!" causing Harley to float up in the air! toward the ceiling!

Then ... there was silence. The remaining two halflings were gone. The disembodied voice was quite. The black mushrooms had turned in to stalagmites and stalactites. The room was searched, finding nothing. They looted Rado, finding his "Linkbearers Union" card ... evidentially he was just a torchbearer and not a mercenary. They propped him up against a wall to take him back when they left.

A bloodtrail led south. In that chamber they found a cold cookfire with cooking spit and and a chamber to the east. As they started in they heard a voice "Back off you fuckers! This is our place! Get your own!" The same voice from the previous room! More cursing and strained negotiations followed, with them going east to find a room with ten cots and footlockers. A halfling was bleeding out on one cot. Karen tried to put it out of its misery, but then ...! A little man appeared. Dressed in black shoes, green pants, a green very and black hat with red hair. He yelled "Nighty night fucker!" and Karen fell to the floor, asleep, as another halfling stepped out of the shadows and tried to tab Karen. Harley stepped in to calm the situation down, with Stickyfingers offering them some skin of wine. The man in green and the unwounded halfing were having none of it, but the gut-stabbed one declared he wasn't going out sober, and drank up. The little man offer to give them gold and scout the hallways for the party, in return for not being killed. Stickyfingers held out his hand to offer a handshake ... and then turned it in to a bearhug, trapping the little mans arms! Yelling "Stab the fuckers! Stab them!" After Aramil missed one Sticky yelled at him "Use the pointy end  of the spear Aramil!" That made Aramil sad. The two halflings tried, the unwounded one stabbing Aramil in the chest, killing him. The wounded one collapsed trying to kill Karen, who had been woken by Harley. The little man broke free and his smooth, calming voice tried to entrance Stickyfingers, who resisted! The little man disappeared, vowing vengeance.

Karen searched the footlockers, finding several hundred silver coins in most of them as well as a few platinum coins ... and a treasure map! Stickyfingers heard sounds to the west and saw the campfire being dug out by unseen hands! And then the digging stopped! Stickfingers saw the top of a large iron trunk buried in the fire fit ... and then the party heard voices from the Stalagtite/mite chamber! "I think I heard the voices over here Timmy!" Investigating, Harley found two small children with a torch and holding sticks, maybe ten and thirteen years old. The younger seemed scared but the older kept punching him and demanded the parties treasure. Karen showed up and went in to Stern Mom Mode, cowing the boys. They brought them back to the "cots" room and let them have as many silver coin treasure as they could carry. They were mollified.

Meanwhile, Stickyfingers checked the chest hinges for traps and finding none began to pick the lock. He got it open, only to get his finger pricked by a small needle. He felt fine. But his finger was turning black. He opted to NOT cut off his finger immediatly and instead chewed up some garlic he had and made a compress for his finger. Inside the trunk was full of gold and silver coins! And a bottle of liquid with flies in suspension and another that seemed full of blood. Stickyfingers, thinking he was poisoned, gulped down the blood liquid. He felt GREAT! Really REALLY good! No hint of feeling bad at all! The trunk also contained a longsword and three silver armbands, two with encircling vine motifs and one with a barbed wire motif. They filled a bag with a thousand gold coins and the rest of the loot as they left the silver behind. Then Stickyfingers vomited up a bunch of blood. A lot. And part of his stomach. And pissed himself. They grabbed the kids and headed back out, to get to town to save Stickyfingers life. Getting back to the "halfing cuddle crossroads" they saw, coming from the west, two seven or eight foot tall reptilians with feathers around their neck, like Harley had seen die in front of him yesterday! They creatures SCREECHED when they saw the party, causing one of the children to run south and the other to sit down and start crying. Harley grabbed the sitting one and everyone RAN south, grabbing the other kid, and going up the ramp in to the daylight ... in to which the reptillians seemed loathe to follow.

 Stickyfingers was in bad shape. At Franks farm they negotiated to buy his cart, declining his 10gp initial offer and giving him 1gp. They loaded Stickyfingers and the loot bags in it, ignoring that Stickyfingers was now shitting himself and vomiting blood almost continually. Going up the gate guards they got a "Woah woah woah! Just where the fuck do you think you're taking that?" in regard to a cart full of bags spilling coins with a body laying on it, everything covered in blood and shit. "We have to get him to healer!" shouted Harley, in spite of Stickyfingers already being dead. One guard was having none of it but the other related how his mother was saved by quick healer action and let them in if they promised to return to pay the fees.

In they went ... and straight to the undertaker. Carlos Undertaker was very sympathetic to them, offering condolences, until he saw the body! Deciding against an open casket they opted for cremation and left, returning briefly to loot Stickyfingers body of the third silver armband and the rest of his gear. Carlos didn't even recognize Stickyfingers, even though Stickyfingers once worked for him collecting bodies ... so forgettable and such a failure was Stickyfingers at everything in life.

Karen visited the tower of Drez the Unspeakable, who charged her to identify the sword, declining a beer from Drez when he was finished. ON the way out she met a fellow in green dreadlocks, Charley, a fellow wizard and friend of her husband, the miner who died in the Well of Souls. He joined the group.

Deaths
Rado the Torchbearer - Dead by halfling knife stab through the neck.
Aramil the failed MU apprentice - Dead by halfling knife stab in the stab.
(PC) Stickyfingers the Thief - Dead by poison needle trap in chest lock.

Loot & XP
7 murderous little halfling shits killed
1000 gp
70 pp
3 Silver armbands, 75 gp each, two vine and one barbed wire motif, kept & worn by the party
Treasure Map
Illuminator, the magic sword.
A vial of liquid with flies in suspension.
A vial of blood (drunk by Stickyfingers)

In to the Bleakmarsh ...

Karen - Fighter - Level 1
Harley - Halfling - Level 1
Malark Whistler - MagicUser - Level 1

Kryshal! Shining jewel of the west! Last beacon of civilization before the borderlands! A bustling, dusty corrupt metropolis. Inside the slum quarter, inside The Hurling Heifer, a farmer sits at a table with a another. Dirty rags on his feet, muddy clothes, hands stained red from beets, smelling of turnips with a ragged tooth mouth. Over the din of the crowd, the drunken calls for booze, the shouting, one word: 'gold!' Three sets of ears prick up immediately. Instantly homing in on the farmers. Instantly recognizing, without a glance, the other two. Never met before but obviously companions: Hobos4Lif.

They approach the farmer and, perhaps a bit too loudly, speak with him. The kings tax man, ambushed outside of Frank the beet farmers farm. A wagon of gold gone. Down, in the Bleakmarsh, where no one comes back from after dark. They negotiate a price beyond measure, 1gp, for the farmer to take them there. As they leave the Heifer the bartender uncovers a chalkboard and begins to write "Odds" on it ...

Out the great southern gates and down the Kings Road they tell the guards they are day laborers on Franks beet farm. Passing the beet farm they see blood and signs of a struggle. Further in, two hours in to the Bleakmarsh they see a sinkhole a quarter mile off the road. Firmer then the other sinkholes in the area, they see wagon tracks leading to it ... and one footprint, not covered by the wagon tracks. One giant foot, with three clawed toes. A waft of mist blows up out of the cave, cold, defying the laws of physics. Down the sinkhole they go, down the spiral ramp that leads in to it, avoiding the moss and dripping water form the marsh.

At the bottom, a large cave. The stone floor cleared of rubble, it pushed up against the wall. Not as dusty or dirty as it should be. Their torch shows exits from the large cave to the east, north, and northwest ... but they can't see the western edge of the cave ... but hold their breath as another blast of cold mist comes from that direction. They hear rustling in dry leaves to the northwest and Harley sneaks up to check it out. At the edge of the light he sees a pair of glowing white eyes, down low to the ground. And then another. And then another. And another. Retreating back, a plan is formed. The NW tunnel is ruled out because of the eyes. The N tunnel is also out because it's too close to the NW tunnel. The W is ruled out because of the mist coming from it. They head east, Karen leading the way. Again, the floors are cleared of the fallen ceiling rubble, the paths too well used to show much dust. In a large chamber they find a skeleton on the floor in a corner dressed in strange clothes with a metallic sheen. A dead elf. They break its fingers to free the large ruby clutched in its outstretched hand.  There might be, they decide, more than gold down in this ole ...

Exploring south they find a single human footprint in the dust off the main cleared path, heading their direction. There's salt in the air now, not stale cave air. They find a cavern littered with refuse. Crab shells and legs, large and small, carapaces, splintered bone spears. And a few broken stone spears and a shattered stone axe. But nothing else. Nearby there's a passage leading down, in to darkness, to the east, with the smell of salt on the air heavy ... they avoid it, not going deeper in. To the south of the refuse chamber, in the darkness they hear screeching and howling. The avoid it.

Moving west they come to a wide passage leading south, going down even more steeply, with the smell of bird guano coming from it, and a large watery white mess on the floor. Malark is looking for spell components, and guano is a big one ... but they avoid going deeper. Heading further in to the darkness of the west they see something on the floor in a T passage ... going further they find a pile of rags, children's clothes, shredded, full of blood. Not a good sign. Passages to the south wind around to the west. Passages to the west wind back to them. They hear more screeching and grunting from the west and northwest as they wind through the dark cavernous maze. And see another pile of clothes. Again, children's rags, in blood. Harley, who has snuck ahead to examine them, sees something crawling toward him from the NW, out of the darkness. Backing up back to his friends ... he sees a large brutish reptilian like humanoid with neck feathers dragging itself toward him ... and the light ... coming from where the sounds of battle are coming from. It looks up ... and then the head drops, moving no more. Karen comes up and stabs it in the head, just to be sure. A quick loot reveals a leather thong on its neck attached to a crude gold medallion with an X in a circle design hammered in to it. A leather bag has rotting human hands in it ... gnawed up. But they are large, rough hands, of men who have had a rough life.

Retreating from the sounds of battle, they see some flickering light to the north. Following it, still past the sounds of battle to the west, they see a wide side corridor to the east, with flickering firelight in the distance. Harley sneaks up again, and peering around a corner he sees ... a flickering bonfire with a giant cauldron sitting on it, something bubbling in it. The walls are covered with small little niches, the size of a cup, and a narrow passage to the rear of the chamber. On the other side of the cauldron is huge pale white hulking brute. Eight or nine feet tall, open pus sores and burst of rough black hair growing from them, two large tusks coming up from its lower jaw. A plan if formed. Oil is readied, to use the cauldron fire. Malark steps out and yells "Good night sweet child!" ... and the brute falls over, slumbering. Harley races in to search the niches, as does Malark, as Karen rushes in to chop its head off! Blood spurts out of the neck comically as Karen expertly chops off the head, the creatures eyes opening once, looking sadly at Karen as it mouths the words "Gulag?"

The niches are full of gold coins! And the cauldron full of human and reptile arms and legs and fingers and eyes and ears! They loot a large number of gold coins, a bronze necklace, and a small bottle of white fluid with snotty yellow rivluts in it. It smells like pine. And then ceder. And then cotton. And then mutton. And then ... every changing.

They left town at 1pm. They hit the sinkhole at 3pm. They've been inside for a couple of hours ... they need to leave soon to get back to town before dark ... because no one comes back from the Bleakmarsh after dark. They quickly make their way back to the sinkhole entrance/exit, the sounds of battle to the west no longer being heard. Up and out, they pass back by Franks farm. He's sitting int he muck next to the road, holding a bloody rag to his head. "Hey! Hey you!" he calls out ... they ignore him. On the way back through the gates of Kryshal they toss a couple of gold coins to the guards "The beet harvest was good!" One guard immediately quits, telling off his super Karl. The group makes its way to the Singing Swan, an inn in he better part of town, staying up all night guarding backpacks full of coin, before hitting the mining guildhall in the morning to leverage Karens contacts ... her dead husband was a miner and the guildhall will hold the gold in bond for her. Malark finds the wizards guild and joins, mostly for the monthly dinners and networking. They plan their next assault ...

1000 gold coins
300 gp ruby
50gp gold medallion
30 gp bronze mecklance
1 potion

Killed: 1 Gulag