The Adventure Begins

Our tale begins as so many do on a road twisting and winding ontoward the unknown. With our companions settling down for camp after a hard day's travel to the borderland city of Sora in pursuit of fortune and glory, it was instead adventure that found them.

Just as the flames of the campfire began to crackle in earnest, fending off the dampness of the misty rain, a large commotion of human yelling and horses neighing came from the east. With the snapping of large branches, a horse run nearly to death and a just as frantic rider burst from the woodline and crashed through the fire. As the rider leapt clear of his collapsing mount the adventurers could see that it had been a crossbow bolt to the steed's neck that had dropped it and not fatigue.

Rolling to a crouch and drawing a short sword and dagger, the tall blonde stranger pointed in the direction he had just arrived from. "No time to tarry on introductions, they are upon us!"

As if on queue seven brigands stepped from the shadows and approached the camp. Five were dressed in leather, while the leader sported a suit of chainmail, helm, and shield, and the last hid in the shadows.

Raising his sword toward the party the leader exclaimed with a sneer, "Kill the wretch..and his friends!" and with that battle was joined. Oberlind the elven ranger, Kiernan the monk, and the mysterious stranger stepped forward to engage the brigands in melee while Morgel the warlock and Jad Lim the sorceror hung back to provide support from afar.

Six of the brigands engaged in hand to hand while the shadow cloaked member held back...until Morgel unleashed his eldritch powers. Identified as a caster, the cloaked stranger fired of a pair of magic missles himself, seriously wounding Morgel, even as he manuevered for cover amongst the trees.

Jad's attempt to summon a Celestial Honey Badger was interrupted as well by a vicious blow by one of the brigands. Not to be deterred, Jad ditched his spells, drew his trusty crossbow and fired a bolt into the midst of combat, 'accidentally' striking the friendly stranger full in the back and driving him down to one knee.

The party slowly wore through the brigands while Morgel was struck down to near death. Eventually the leader and spellcaster of the brigands ran off into the darkness and rode off on their mounts and leaving the party to lick its wounds and parlay with the stranger in their midst.

The bloodied stranger introduced himself with a flourish as Maksimillan Alesar or more simply, "Maks". He explained that he had been a part of a band of "treasure seekers" who were headed to the town of Sora for supplies before continuing on to Fort Tiroth in the neighboring Barony of Varimov, a land known for its thriving slave trade, cruel army, and blood-thirsty leader, Baron Gorgen "The Butcher".

There were rumors floating around that some of the Baron's agents had stumbled upon a great treasure, or more to the point, had stumbled upon a map that could lead to great treasure. The map supposedly showed the location of the Tomb of High Priest Ispep, a devil cult leader of some renown 30 or 40 years prior.

Maks and his companions were on their way to Fort Tiroth to see if they could "acquire" the map and find the tomb for themselves. Somehow their secret had been revealed to the Iron Ring, the Barony's secret police/local slave trade union. Offering a full share to each of the adventurers if they agreed to help, the party resettled their camp and then hit the trail for Sora the next morning.

A cold spring drizzle turned to heavier rain as the day wore on. Reaching the gates of Sora in late afternoon, the party had little trouble with the guards. Maks drew a small map from a leather pouch and navigated the party through winding streets to a shoesmith's shop (yes, a real shoesmith, NOT a cobbler).

"Oh shit! The boss is dead!!"

Maks ushered the party in out of the rain. As everyone shook off the rain and adjusted their eyes to the lighting they saw another group of ruffians standing with swords drawn. Battle was started once again only this time the party left no Iron Ring survivors. After securing the shop a moan was heard from one of the back rooms. Approaching cautiously the party came across one of Maks' friends Alexei.

With his dying breath Alexei uttered a warning stating that the Iron Ring had known to expect Maks and that he should make haste to the Night's Ferry Inn to make contact with Leraith.

Wasting no time the party hustled back into the rain and took a path of winding back streets and alleys to inn along the river. With darkness descending the party entered the warm inn and set to filling their bellies. Maks, flanked by two of the more cautious party members, grilled Janoosh the barkeep about Leraith's whereabouts.

For a price Janoosh indicated that Leraith had been very popular that day as a group of rough looking sorts had been looking for him earlier. Janoosh slipped a note to Maks from Leraith stating that the city had become too dangerous and that he was moving ahead to Fort Tiroth to gather information.

The party held council and decided to stay the night in the inn and proceed out the next day. Two more days of travel through drizzling rain and the adventurers were finally drawing close to the Fort. Along the way Maks detailed that his original group had discussed two methods of entering the Fort. One was to simply pass through the front gates as travelers who have business in the Fort. The other was to search for an entrance to some caves carved into the side of the hill that the Fort rests on. Rumor had it that the caves were somehow connected to the dungeons of the Fort. The party decided in favor of searching for the cave entrance.

Along the way, some of the more eagle-eyed members of the party suddenly noticed eyes watching the party...lots and lots of eyes...A trio of monstrous spiders descended from the trees and attacked. Maks suffered a bad bite, the discoloration indicating he'd been poisoned. Thankfully it wasn't fatal and a few days rest would have him back to normal. The party also discovered a small vial of liquid that the sorceror discovered was a potion of invisibility.

Finally the party approached close enough to see the black smoke rising from the Fort. Waiting for nightfall they did some scouting and discovered the entrance. With the cover of the next morning's fog the party crept into the dank wet tunnels. Relying on the ranger to identify which paths to take the party started by checking the right passage. Eventually they discovered a room with a pair of ghouls who rushed to attack. The adventurers handled them efficiently though Maks was scraped and temporarily paralyzed. The next chamber held some skeleton defenders and the torn up body of a slave or worker being gnawed on by rats.

Switching over to the left passage the ranger was nearly decapitated by an axe wielding gnoll. Thankfully his compatriots were able to cut down the enemy quickly. With chittering noises coming from up ahead the party paused to take stock of the situation and that is where we ended for the day. What lies ahead in the caverns under the dreaded Fort Tiroth? Time will tell..