Macer Dorn's page

We regrouped in the chapel and then headed downstairs to find Birgun. I brought up the rear, pushing the bound priest in front of me so I could keep an eye on him.

We ended up following more stairs down into a level below where we had entered. It was here that we saw a pool of water and then heard sounds of combat from the next room. We moved into the room and found it filled with young children who looked to be in bad shape, as if they had been mistreated and malnourished.

Beyond the children, we found Birgun fighting a succubus and some other female figure swathed in shadows. As the group joined the battle, our combined force drove off the succubus who once again escaped using some type of portal spell. However, during the fight, the priest I had taken prisoner was killed by a spell from the enemy. Oh well, I guess we won't be able to question him after all.

Birgun told us there was another man named Haugen in the next room, but when we entered the doorway we found only an empty room. Birgun griped that he must have escaped and there must be a hidden exit. We searched unsuccessfully and eventually decided to head back out and take the children with us.

Our way back up the stairs was blocked by a hoard of sinspawn who were wielding swords, so Emma suggested that part of the group teleport upstairs behind the enemy to gain an advantage. Vex and I volunteered to go with Emma and Saunders and quickly found ourselves back up in the chapel. We charged down the stairs and attacked the sinspawn from behind, gradually hacking our way through them toward the second stairway where our friends waited below.

I wrestled the priest to the floor just as a fireball exploded overhead, killing many of the worshippers that were already wounded from the cold spell that had previously swept through the room.

Vex and several of the others engaged two of the enemies who had survived the killing spells and retreated up in the air near the wall of the chamber. It seemed they had a pitched battle happening but I missed most of it as I tied up the priest and made sure he was unable to cast any additional spells using a cloth gag over his mouth.

By the time I stood up, the room was cleared of all but a few enemies near the door where I had entered. The flying enemies had disappeared using spells to escape.

I grabbed the bound priest and drug him back toward the center of the room to where most of my companions waited. It looks like we have someone to question who should be able to shed some light on the various cult activities happening in Magnimar.

I just noticed one other thing. Birgun still isn't here. It's not like him to miss a fight, so we should probably go look for him.

Entering one of the columns with nearly the same group of friends, but more than 10 years later, was a strange feeling for me. My mind ran back through our first experience as we fumbled through the dark and found the dried pieces of the giant spiders and eventually disturbed something that chased us out of the pillar, running scared like only little kids can accomplish.

This time, it was different in that we were now young adults and we had a real purpose and real weapons and skills.

We fought our way through a group of harpies that appeared as little children. (somewhat disturbing considering our past adventures in a similar location...)

We eventually reached a room where the others told me they had found Edwin Aclips, yet another tie to our childhood adventures. Evidently he did something that angered Vex and Vex struck him down. His dagger's "special" ability activated and left nothing but a pile of bones behind.

At this point I entered the doorway to the left and went up the stairs until they reached a landing with a closed door. I yelled down to the others who were still in the room below to tell them what I had found. At that time, the door opened and I saw a large room that appeared to be some type of religious sanctuary filled with people and other things that were all observing a ceremony of some type that involved a sacrifice.

Seeing that the others were running up to follow me, I activated my teleportation helm and appeared behind the startled priest at the altar and grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms in an attempt to stop the ritual. I was immediately struck by mind-altering suggestion spells that caused me to lower my sword and nearly forget my purpose. I fought these feelings and managed to keep a hold on the priest and wrestle him to the ground.

I've spent much of my free time during the past few days checking on Epher and making sure he is still being held safely in the cell we arranged for him. I'm not sure what to do with him at the moment, but figured that we have all the time in the world to decide, and that he can wait patiently for his fate to be determined.

We've also been out patrolling the streets of Magnimar to keep an eye on the doom cults and street preachers that are fleecing the locals and preying on their fears caused by the comet.

For the most part, the ones stirring up trouble seem to be the average shysters taking advantage of the situation to make money or gain power for themselves. However, a few have caused some concern that they represent more sinister forces at work. We'll have to keep an eye on those in particular.

Rumors of murders near the old clock tower from our youth led us to return there to investigate. It was odd returning to the place where it all started for us more than a decade earlier. My thoughts were filled with memories of the long climb and the battle with the goblins that we found there. That truly was a pivotal moment for our little group of friends. It felt strange being there without Sam and Felu. They had been a part of us for so long that their absence left me feeling remorseful about not being able to save them and keep the group together.

It didn't take long for Birgun to find the golem that immediately moved to attack him. They exchanged mighty blows until the combined efforts of our group brought it down.

It didn't stay down long!

A dark, skeletal creature (demon?) appeared to crawl out from inside the mismatched parts of the golem, much like a moth emerging from a cocoon. The shape was hunched at first as it appeared, but stood upright and towered over us as the last of the golem's flesh dropped away.

Back to battle!

The party was going well until Birgun moved up beside me and whispered that my sister had marks that looked very much like the bite of a vampire on her neck.

"What!"

With that I took a direct path that led toward the back corner of the room where my sister was standing. As I approached, I noticed that Vex was already there with her. They saw me approaching and stepped back against the wall as they could tell I was in no mood for pleasantries.

I questioned her and she admitted to seeing Epher who had pursued her romantically. (ugh!) While in the process of explaining all of this to her, Lugh and Birgun also made their way up to us. Lugh confirmed that Epher himself was the vampire.

"What!" (again)

We gave my sister a vial of the blue liquid and had her drink it in front of us. The change in her attitude was immediate and obvious. She went from being confrontational to confused and unhappy. Epher had definitely been using his dark powers to influence her and cloud her mind.

That no good, scheming little jerk from our childhood was suddenly my top priority!

I left the party in a foul mood, thinking of what I would do to him when I caught him.

That attitude lasted for nearly two weeks while I searched nightly for any sign of Epher. I finally caught a glimpse of him one night but he quickly disappeared into the shadows. It was at this point that we decided to contact Baga and see if he had heard or seen anything about Epher.

We found Baga with some of his Scarni friends. He hadn't heard anything or seen Epher, so we warned him about Epher being a vampire and asked him to contact us if he saw him.

Following this, we began searching for Epher as a group at night, using Oona as bait in the dark streets. It took a couple of days, but we finally succeeded in luring Epher out. He appeared close to Vex who was quick to take out his own anger about the situation the best way he knows how ... with sharp knives! (Good dragon!) I heard Vex ask him if he could feel pain, and Epher just smirked, indicating that he did not feel it.

Ether then attempted to flee but was blocked by Lugh who magically branded him on the forehead with a religious mark that seemed to lower his defenses somewhat. Following that, the party swarmed him and struck several blows until Epher attempted to flee by flying straight up into the air above us. He was pelted and blasted by spells and various projectiles in his retreat, but we were unable to stop him.

However, Birgun was flying above us all in bird form and quickly followed him. Nina began casting flying spells on several of us and we began an aerial chase. Vex was in the lead and followed Epher and Birgun to a building several blocks away. By the time the rest of us got close, Epher had been reduced to the misty fog that vampires use to escape their enemies when grievously wounded. However, we were able to follow his gaseous form back to Oona's old house.

We marched right in like we owned the place, and the hired help didn't dare to oppose us with more than words. We found Epher unconscious in a coffin in the basement and quickly carried him back out of the house, lest Oona's father return and catch us in the act.

I looked down at his helpless figure and thought only of my sister and what he had done to her. At that point the party began to discuss what to do with him. I suggested that we show him his final sunrise the next morning! Lugh added that we should do it out on a boat so Oona's father could not intervene.

After some debate caused by Birgun's suggestion that we not kill him, but attempt to help him since he was once our friend (but still a jerk even then!), we decided to take him to the cell in the basement of the Dawnflower temple. There, we placed him in magical manacles that would keep him from using spells to escape. We eventually agreed to use two of the blue vials to bring him back to the living.

I stood there, waiting for him to awaken as I hoped to be the first thing he saw. It turns out that he awoke and immediately tried to use his mind control on one of us. He found out quickly that it didn't work as I walked up to him and said, "Hello Epher. You remember when you said you couldn't feel pain earlier today?"

I then backhanded him across the mouth with my metal gauntlet and split his lip open. SMACK! (It felt good and was SO deserved!)

I looked him right in the eye and gave him a nasty smile and said, "Welcome back to the living!"

Well the werewolf and monster hunt turned out to be more than we had bargained for...

The giant wolves and werewolves that swarmed us after entering the estate were tough, but manageable foes. We killed many of the wolves and a handful of the werewolves without too many problems. However, a section of ground that collapsed under Lugh during the fight revealed what would turn out to be the real enemy. Ghouls ... more specifically, demonic ghouls.

I jumped down into the tunnel to aid Lugh and was soon surrounded by both ghouls and allies alike as everyone seemed to join the fight. The demonic ghouls were tough. Much tougher than their ordinary (?) undead counterparts. They struggled to penetrate my newly enhanced armor so I took little damage from their attacks. That was a good thing as each of the ghouls seemed to take a tremendous amount of damage before death, and for each one we killed there were several more to take their place.

The fight wasn't going well for many of the party and a general call to retreat from the pit was obeyed by all, with Lugh being the last one out after being partially caught in the blast from a fiery explosion that allowed him a chance to climb to safety while the ghouls regrouped.

In the chaos of the retreat, I started briefly in the wrong direction, but was shown the correct way by the new girl, Emma, who yelled and pointed the way so all of us would not be separated in the confusion. We made a mad run through the grounds of the estate, nearly tumbling head first down the hill as we crashed through the brush.

Eventually, everyone made it out. We were joined soon after by Vex and Birgun who had returned from scouting after hearing the battle and witnessing part of our retreat.

Time for a new plan!

Upon returning to Magnimar with our load of treasure, I was immediately called away to guard service and spent nearly a month with my father and my old unit, helping to resolve an issue down at the docks between some of the locals and a new foreign merchant who handled his business in a manner that did not sit well with the local houses. After being called in to break up several fights and searching for the root cause of the hostilities we were finally able to arrange a peaceful resolution. (If it holds!)

At the end of this time, I returned to find the group still involved with the Kaijitsu manor investigation. Lugh had spent much of his time guarding the Dawnflower temple in case our enemies attempted to destroy it again.

On a night that turned out to be of immense importance to our group of friends, Lugh had asked me to relieve him at the temple so he could go with the others. While I sat up all night and tried not to doze during the uneventful vigil, Lugh and my other friends were confronted by a group of vampires and caught up in a fight which led to Felu's death. Upon hearing the news the next morning, I was overcome with sadness and frustration that I was not there with them. If only I could have aided them, Felu might still be alive. Sam also took the loss hard as it turned out that Felu had been ensnared by some diabolical contract which held her soul in the balance. Upon her death, her body had disappeared. Sam took it upon himself to try and get her back and left for Cheliax to consult his uncle who knew more of the dark arts for advice.

In the meantime, an old friend, Emma Granger, from our youth had asked to join with us. She was a vague memory to me, but now traveled with a seasoned, older warrior who seemed to be both her friend and protector. With the loss of Felu and Sam, we agreed to let her help us with the investigation and cleansing of the Kaijitsu manor.

We set off a day or two later to wipe out the werewolves and other monsters lurking on the grounds of the estate.

My vision finally returned ... just in time to see Birgun having a conversation with the empty air by the side of the road. What the???

Birgun then warned us that a spirit would appear and speak with us. It did!

It spoke of a history with all of us and that we had changed our appearance but were at heart the same band that had been together through history. I had no idea what this meant, considering that our group had all been friends since we were children.

The apparition told us of a great need for our group to come back together and travel with him to a town far to the North that needed our help. Upon saying this, a ghostly carriage and extra horses appeared at the edge of the road.

His incredible story seemed to appeal to all of us. I found myself looking at the others carefully, trying to remember them from some other form in the distant past. While I found no immediate recognition, the feeling that we were destined to be together seemed to ring true. I thought back to the miraculous timing of my friends appearing in Magnimar within hours of the same time after being gone for years. Maybe something more than luck was guiding us in our adventure?

We eventually agreed to travel with him to the town. Most of the group climbed aboard the oversized coach, while I chose to ride one of the spectral horses. We were soon off on our way, traveling through what could only be some other dimension as the outside world seemed to bend around us as we moved unnaturally through it. Our rapid pace continued and the surroundings became a foggy blur. I found myself dozing in the saddle and completely lost track of time.

I awoke as our pace slowed and we found ourselves emerging on the outskirts of Fort Donner. A normal trip would have taken us weeks, but we somehow had arrived much faster with the spectral coach.

We said farewell to the spectre, and made our way into town, stopping to secure rooms at an inn. We then split up to gather more information and planned to meet later that day to discuss our options. I went directly to the barracks that housed the local guard.

I'm used to the camaraderie that those in military service shared, but was shocked to see that it was completely missing here. A few disinterested individuals told me the captain was missing and that I could wait to talk to the lieutenant in his place. The lieutenant proved to be an unlikeable fellow who told me our "help" wasn't needed here. I persisted in questioning him until he finally agreed to meet me on the road outside of town this evening to show me the problems in person.

I left him then and went to tell the others of this dubious arrangement. It smelled like a trap to me!

On the way back to the inn, I heard yelling in the distance and saw Birgun running into a side street, calling for help. I followed him as quickly as possible while being slowed by my full suit of armor. (Cavaliers have horses for a reason, but mine was still back in Sandpoint!)

I saw Lugh and others also running to follow Birgun as he entered an herbalist shop. I continued to run and entered the doorway later after several of the others. I heard the sounds of combat and moved down a hall through an illusionary wall to find the group in combat with yet more demons. What is going on??!!!

I jumped into the fray, faring much better this time with my restored vision and ensorcelled iron weapon that stripped the unnatural protections from the demons.

The combat was short and vicious (oh wait, that was Vex!). Poor Vex was controlled by one of the demons and compelled to stand uselessly during the combat. We finished off the demons, and were left with an injured, armored fighter who turned out to be the missing captain of the guard.

Something is definitely rotten here!

Gah! Will this nightmare never end?

Ever since the fight with the chained creature that released the cloud of ash and hot cinders, I have not been able to see.

I've been led through the halls of this underground complex filled with countless Kobolds who swarmed us like rats. I've heard my friends in combat, and even found myself defending a hall against several of the buggers while I was blind. Nina kept yelling that there were more ahead of me and all I could do was swing my sword in big arcs, hoping to hit whatever got in my way. Somehow, I managed to survive that event (due mainly to the fact that the majority of Kobolds are nearly completely inept at combat).

After that I was led/drug through more passages by members of the group as they sought to rescue several children that were being held prisoner. The group killed the Kobold "king" and his guards, and then finally made their way out of the caverns. There was talk of taking the kids back to their parents, and then we were off again through the woods. Apparently, there was a small girl found in the woods who turned out to be some type of shape-changing wolf. She attacked Atz when the rest of us were not looking and was killed by the party.

I think my vision may be starting to come back now, as I can at least tell light from dark. I hope it's soon as I'm tired of being a liability to the others who have to lead me around like a helpless puppy.

For those asking about a link to the new game journals, click here:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rkul&page=1?Ghoulies-and-Ghosties-and-Long -leggeddy

I spent the rest of the night and the following morning relaxing and enjoying good food and drink with a few from our group as well as some of the locals.

We then agreed to follow Birgun back into the woods to investigate some old ruins after he told us a tale of giants and ogres on his boar hunt the previous day.

We gathered our belongings and then hiked off into the woods. It wasn't long until we ran into (literally) some enormous plant creature that tried to wrap us up in vines and thorns, presumably to be fertilizer for it. Several of the group were tangled and couldn't escape, while a few of us were able to break out of its grasp and aid our trapped friends.

We vacated the area, patched up the wounded, and headed on to the ruins. We found a stairway leading down into a room filled with a mob of kobolds. They were similar to Vex but feral and unfriendly. They attacked us from several directions, but really were not much of a threat. We killed all but one, and questioned him about the ruins. He told us he would take us to his leader (king?) and led us down a series of connected hallways. I was near the back of the group looking at a beheaded body in the corridor when some type of trap activated and separated the lead members from us with a large door. We could hear sounds of combat from the other side, but could do little to help. Eventually, the combat ended and Lugh forced open the door. He warned us where not to walk to avoid resetting the trap as we enter the room.

We moved past the trap room which contained some type of magnetic rock that attracted all metal objects when the trap was activated.

Another fight broke out at the front of the group, and I arrived in time to be attacked by some type of ghost-like creature. Its cold touch was unpleasant to say the least, and left me feeling tired. The group soon killed the two attackers, and then paused to bandage the wounded and examine the room.

Change of plans!

Deverin decided he wanted us to accompany him to Sandpoint to visit his niece before we tried to take back the Kaijitsu estate from whomever (whatever?) is living there now.

We had our own reasons for wanting to accompany him that consisted mainly of watching out for whatever was possessing him and his alleged lycanthropy. We traveled by coach and served as guards on what turned out to be the most uneventful trip we've taken to Sandpoint. No goblins, no orcs, no problems.

When we arrived there, the first thing I did was go to the stables and check on Hickory. It had been far too long to have him stabled. A warhorse doesn't have the disposition to stand quietly in a stall or be hobbled for extended periods of time.

I paid the stable master a small bonus for taking good care of Hickory, as he seemed to still be in excellent condition. I then attached the saddle and harness and took him out for a ride so he could stretch his legs and release some energy.

After several hours, I returned him to the stable, brushed him down, and made sure he had fresh water and a bag of oats.

I then joined the others at the Rusty Dragon Inn and paid for a room and a hot bath. After the bath I changed into fresh clothes and went to the common room to eat and discuss our upcoming plans to deal with Deverin's problems. Vex and some of the others had already made arrangements for a local priest to expel the demon and remove his curse this very evening.

They seemed to have the situation well in hand, so I enjoyed a night of food and fellowship with the locals who were more than happy to share their town's history with me.

Following the fight at the temple,the party took advantage of the following week to rest, heal, and sort through the loot left behind by our foes. It turns out that there was a lot of expensive items that we decided to sell to help fund our adventuring, and pay to replace and upgrade damaged weapons and armor.

After consulting with our magic users, I decided to sell my sword and purchase a new one that would be able to cut through the magical protection of the demons. I then spoke with armorers and weapon smiths in the bizarre to purchase new items and have enchantments placed on my armor and my new sword. These things can't be rushed (according to the finger wigglers), so I left the items with them for several days along with a down payment to insure the work was completed on time.

I spent the next several days with my family. It is strange how I miss them now that I don't live at home. I easily fell back in to the old routine, as the familiar habits and food smells made it seem like nothing had changed.

My little sister, Mira, is no longer a child. In fact, she has blossomed into a beautiful young woman and is popular with her group of friends, especially the boys. (Leading to increased surveillance from my father.) I talked with her at length at home, and we walked down through the bizarre one afternoon and I bought her some trinkets and clothing that caught her eye. I also picked up some jewelry for my mother, and a fine, quality Kelishite dagger for my father.

The days were relaxing and enjoyable, but passed all too quickly. After checking back in with the group, I found that plans were moving ahead for our next job and that arrangements had been made for us to have temporary lodging at the Deverin estate, which was located next door to the Kaijitsu estate that we tasked with reclaiming. Both of these families had ties to Sandpoint, so it seems that word of our success has spread and is creating a lucrative situation for us.

I met my friends later that evening after they had already been introduced to master Deverin. I apologized for being late to dinner, and was then shown to the elegant room that had been reserved for me. Every room of the estate seemed to be filled with furniture and artwork of exceptional quality. After I unpacked my belongings, I rejoined the others in another room that looked out over the grounds of the Kaijitsu estate. We were in the process of discussing how best to approach the job of reclaiming the estate without upsetting the locals or causing unnecessary damage to the property, when Birgun surprised us all by sharing a new trick he had mastered in his druid training. We watched in amazement as he turned from his normal, giant appearance to the form of a great owl. During the transformation it seemed that his body shrank and his armor was absorbed directly into the feathers of the owl. It was shocking to say the least!

After the transformation became complete, we opened a window and he flew to the ledge, turning his head briefly as only an owl can do, and then disappeared into the night with a soft whisper of wings.

Our return to the city has been marked by a steady stream of foes showing themselves once we began digging into the desecration of the temple. We exposed the murderers of the followers of Sarenrae that included a gargoyle-like demon who initially escaped our ambush.

We followed the clues to the old temple itself, and dispatched the gargoyle at the front entrance when it attack some of my friends. The rest of us had entered through the back graveyard the way we always had done as children. We were momentarily distracted from our search by the fight at the front entrance, but then returned as a group to the back and began to scour the area for clues. One of the first things we found was the fact the the graves of three original priests had been recently exhumed and their bodies were missing.

Upon entering the stairway leading into the crypts below the temple, we found ourselves confronted by the shades of the priests in the main hallway leading through the crypts. We fought an intense battle against the undead and finally succeeded in destroying the creatures.

We moved on through the crypt and found a newly constructed shrine hidden farthest from the entrance. The shrine contained several rows of benches and an altar covered with various vile objects. There were many dead birds impaled around the shrine and the altar. We noticed that there were two barred cells located one on each side of the altar. As Lugh examined the first cell, he was confronted by a man begging to be released. Lugh, not one to be fooled twice, began reading a scroll which had the effect of exposing the creature's true shape, and the "man" magically teleported away from us. Lugh was afraid that the creature was returning to the main temple to finish destroying the statue of Sarenrae.

Lugh led the way as we began to hurry back through the crypt to the stairs leading up and out. I was near the back of the group, after watching Birgun and Vex burn the items on the dark altar before leaving the shrine. When we rounded the corner into the first hall of the crypt, we found the other party members engaged in a fierce combat against the assassin, Falhkan, a dark stalker, an armored fighter, and a female demon of some type. She had small wings and was disturbingly beautiful, yet twisted in a dark way that chilled me to the bone.

As we moved into the fight, Sam used his magic to increase the size of myself, Lugh, and Birgun to give us an advantage of reach against our foes. The battle was the hardest we have fought, as the frontline foes were skilled in melee, and were supported by the beguiling magic of the female demon which was used to control some of our actions. During the combat, other demons appeared and aided the foes. Several of my friends fell with grievous wounds. Atz used his healing powers to keep us in the fight, and Sam and others attended the fallen and forced healing draughts down their throats to keep them alive.

Eventually, we were able to kill all of he foes, except for one of the female demons who had appeared later in the fight. I learned later that Kiera, the other assassin that Birgun had befriended on the road had arrived and helped kill Falhkan and the others. Oona had suffered a terrible wound, and I thought she was dead. Several of the others carried her body up to the main altar in the temple above, and it seems a miracle occurred as she suddenly gasped and began coughing as her breath returned. Maybe there is something to all of this religious belief held by Lugh and some of the others.

Well...this adventure has been exciting so far.

We followed the goblin trail through the woods to the hidden underground entrance that Vex had spotted earlier. We made our way through the caverns filled with frogs(?), goblins, and these shadowy creatures that couldn't stand any light that we used to see our own way through the tunnels. In fact, my sunrod completely blinded them and made them helpless targets. The only drawback to fighting these creatures was the fact that they exploded in a bright flash of light that temporarily blinded some of us.

The room with the shadowy creatures had three doors on the far wall. We blocked one of them that had been used by reinforcements, and moved into the far, left hallway where we had learned the "leaders" were located. In the hallway we found several doors and split the group slightly to investigate the various rooms. Huge and I spent most of our time guarding the hallway, except when our friends found a room with several orcs that needed killed. Sam, Felu, Kelyn, and some of the others found one of the leaders in a back room and used him to get information as much as possible. I never really saw much of him, but Huge said he was one of the creatures from the previous fight that had injured him and cut off Lugh's ear. Huge didn't trust him and I didn't blame him considering their history.

Huge, Lugh, and I poked around in the hallway, opening a few of the doors to see what was behind them while the others dealt with the leader. I found a door that led to several natural caverns which disappeared into the darkness underground. We had no reason to follow these, so we shut the door and continued to wait for the others.

During this time, Huge grew bored and suggested that those of us in the hallway should go ahead and open the door that led into the underground temple where we could hear goblin voices. Never ones to back down from a fight, we all grinned and followed him into the room as he smiled and opened the door.

The temple inside was a confusing, chaotic scene with goblins running everywhere, and some strange, hairless creatures that rose from a dark pool near the center of the room. We all jumped into combat, targeting the goblins first, and then moving on to the center where Huge had engaged the summoned abominations.

The fight continued as more of the creatures appeared from the pool. Vex and Lugh were still hunting goblins, while Atz, Oona, and others began to enter the room and join the melee. Eventually, we cut down the last of the creatures. It seems that the goblins were sacrificing themselves (or their friends) to bleed into a font at the far wall of the temple. As their blood (or bodies) entered the font, more of the creatures appeared in the pool. Lugh was the first to figure this out and had made a point of killing the goblins that were causing the problem.

Lugh seemed almost crazed as he found a hammer and began to pound on the font. The strange stone resisted his blows and we eventually had to pull him back from his futile efforts to destroy it.

As all of our stories came together, we learned that there were plans by the dark forces to destroy the Sarenrae shrine in Magnimar. We decided to leave as quickly as possible to return to Magnimar to try and prevent the destruction of the shrine.

We rested soon after the encounter with the goblins, and then arose early in the morning to arrive at the burned-out halfway inn around noon. We had only been back on the road for an hour when we spotted another group of goblins crossing the road ahead of us.

When we reached the spot where they had crossed, we found footprints that showed their path after they exited our sight. We decided to hunt this group before continuing on to the inn. Our concern continues to grow as we keep finding more and more of the greenskins presence in the area.

Their trail was easy to follow, and we soon noticed that they had changed their pace and possibly joined another group. We spread out and prepared ourselves for battle as it seemed they were laying in wait for us to appear.

There were three groups waiting for us. The center group had humans(?) with them. There were also several orcs and some of the goblins in each group were riding feral, mangy dogs.

Birgun bellowed a challenge and the fight was on! The humans ran soon after the fight began, hoping to escape while the goblins and orcs kept us from following them. Of course, they didn't know who they were facing as Birgun, Lugh, and Vex all immediately ran to follow them up and over the hill.

The rest of us engaged the remaining goblins and orcs. The goblins fired small bows before leaping into the melee with small blades. Our training gave us the edge over the mob, and we quickly began to cut them down. As we finished off the last of them and took the goblin ears for the bounty, we could hear Birgun and the others fighting on the other side of the hill.

Several of us began running up the hill to aid our friends. It took us a while to reach the top, and when we did, we found Birgun and Lugh all cut up and bleeding. Vex had also taken some wounds. It seems that one of the humans had cut off Lugh's ear after he fell, and tried to take it with him as he left. Vex had killed him and recovered Lugh's ear. Atz arrived and helped treat the wounds, and then used his healing gift to reattach the ear.

After everyone was treated enough to walk, we made our way back to the road and on to the ruins of the inn. We checked the immediate area for threats before setting up a camp for the night. It seems I had just fallen asleep when I was awoken by the "boom" of a pistol shot shattering the night...

After the orc was killed and the goblins fled, we gathered the remaining Scarni and our friends to guard against any new attack, and put the others to work extinguishing the fires at the stables.

Vex was missing for a while, but since I knew his history of hunting goblins in the sewers of Magnimar, I wasn't really worried about him. He did show up about 30 minutes after the fight ended. He had followed the goblins as they ran into the woods and discovered a large hole in the earth that led to some type of underground tunnels. The goblins had jumped into the hole and disappeared from sight.

We spent the rest of the night salvaging what we could from the smoking ruins and loading it onto the wagons. Early the next morning, we all set out together for Sandpoint to make sure the cargo and passengers were delivered safely to their destination.

Sandpoint turned out to be a medium-sized town with many stores and inns. We asked a few of the locals for directions and then located a stable for the horses. The rest of our group went on to secure rooms at the Rusty Dragon Inn while I stayed to feed and brush Hickory after paying the owner of the stables.

I spent some time walking around the town during the day. It looked as though many of the buildings were newer construction or had been repaired sometime in the past few years. The town square contained several notable statues depicting the "Heroes of Sandpoint" or some similar grandiose title. A local told us the story of how the heroes had saved Sandpoint from attacks by goblins, giants, and a dragon.

Later that evening I returned to the inn and paid for a hot bath before joining my friends for dinner in the common room.The food and drink were both good, and we were enjoying the music and stories of a gnome woman who was very popular with the local crowd. I think her name was Mossie or something...

The relaxing evening was interrupted by a man who entered the inn and scanned the crowd. Kelyn noticed him and pointed at him while loudly asking the others at the table if "that was him?" The man noticed the commotion in our corner of the room and promptly walked straight up to our table. He began questioning Lugh, who, upon seeing the man had stood up and moved to intercept him. I didn't hear all of the conversation, but I immediately got the impression that the guy was unhappy about something. He kept asking about some woman he was searching for that had recently come to Sandpoint. Birgun interrupted the questioning and said that he had seen the woman, that she had aided him, and that he wasn't going to tell the man where she was. The man didn't seem to like that answer, but he recognized that our whole table was facing him now and he withdrew to the door and left.

I was completely at a loss as to who the man was, and what was going on that had him so agitated.

When everyone returned to the table I asked them who that was and what had just happened? They proceeded to tell me a story about this mystery woman (Kiera?) who was an assassin from Magnimar. The guy was another assassin named Falcon and he was looking for Kiera. Kiera had helped fight the goblins at the Halfway Inn, so Birgun decided she was square with us and this guy didn't need to know anything else about her location. I guess I had completely missed her during the fight at the inn.

After the discussion we talked about our plans for the next day. It was decided that we should return to the underground tunnels that Vex had located to hunt down the rest of the goblins.

We left the next morning after breakfast, and were promptly attacked by yet another group of goblins led by an orc. These pests were everywhere in this area! We quickly killed the goblins and the orc in a short combat session. This time, we didn't have anyone receive any major injuries, so we regrouped and moved on toward the lair of the goblins.

Sam and Felu caught up with us shortly before the caravan stopped to camp for the night. We ate and got everything settled before posting guards to make sure the goblins didn't return during the night. I must have been really tired as I went to sleep early and didn't awaken until the morning. (I didn't intend to avoid guard duty, it just happened!)

The next morning I learned that another caravan had stopped to camp near us during the night. Birgun told me that Baga was a guard with the new caravan, and it looked like some of the thugs who had tried to muscle us out of guarding our caravan were with him.

Baga ate breakfast with us before we headed to the Halfway Inn. He was never my favorite friend as a child, but seems to be a decent person now that he is older. It was surprisingly good to see him as he added another piece to the nearly-complete puzzle of our childhood reunion.

The short journey from our campsite to the inn was uneventful except for seeing goblins lurking along the woods near the road. They avoided us and we passed without any problems.

When we were within sight of the inn, we decided that some of us should go back to make sure that the second caravan didn't have any trouble with the goblins. Sam and Felu stayed with our wagons while the rest of us doubled back. We encountered the second caravan, but they too, had not been attacked by the goblins.

We all returned to the inn together, and found a spot at a table with Sam, Felu, and several "working girls" that were also traveling to Sandpoint. We sat and ate and drank together until a few of the thugs from the second caravan wandered over and complained that all of the "whores" were with us. That didn't sit well with any of us and I shoved back my chair and stood up.

"I'd have guessed that you men would have wanted to keep the few remaining teeth you have in your mouths," I said while staring the leader right in the eye. "I suggest you consider your next words ... carefully..."

Birgun covered his drink and said, "It would be a shame if someone spilled my new drink and I had to beat them to death," in a quiet, serious tone that also got their attention.

While I was confronting the leader and his henchmen, I heard and saw others from our group stand or take defensive postures. During this time, Sam said something quietly to the leader who had made a half-hearted grab at him. The leader seemed to change his tone, and began to apologize to everyone at the table. This, along with the deadly serious looks from our group, helped take his henchmens' bravado away and they also backed down.

Lugh and Oona had some words for the retreating thugs that nearly started the fight again, but the situation was once again defused by Birgun's wit when he said, "That noise you hear is your peckers shrinkin'!" I burst out laughing when I heard that and the laughter spread throughout the room to both caravan groups with the exception of the thugs who continued on out of the door.

We finished our food and drinks, and then Lugh and Birgun and I went out to the courtyard and sparred together. It was obvious to see that my friends were well-trained like myself, although in different styles of combat.

After our practice, I washed up and ate dinner before retiring to the room upstairs with Vex. We talked briefly about the day's events, but I soon found myself falling asleep.

I was awoken sometime during the night by yelling and cries of "fire!" from the hallway. I sat up and immediately breathed in a bunch of hot smoke and started coughing. Vex was also awake, and we quickly grabbed our belongings and tossed them to the ground outside. Vex jumped first, using his wings to glide carefully to the ground. I lowered myself from the window ledge as far as possible and then dropped and rolled upon impact. I grabbed my shield and sword from the pile of equipment and ran toward the stables and the sounds of the horses screaming from the fires.

The area around the inn and stables was filled with smoke and the figures of people and goblins running in fear or excitement. I saw a group of caravan guards trying to make a bucket line to extinguish the fire in the stables. I ran by them and threw open the door where Hickory was kicking at the stalls around him. I was able to calm him enough to lead him from the inferno, and was happy to see that he was physically unharmed. Lugh and some of the caravan guards continued to free the other trapped horses, so I turned my attention to hunting down the goblins as they appeared through the smoke. I killed a few of them before coming upon Atz being harried by a large orc. He was a huge, menacing brute, so I yelled and charged forward to direct his attention to me...

The rumors were true!

Our friends had come back. By some stroke of luck or fate or whatever, they arrived on different ships on the same day.

When Vex and I first got word of their return, we went and gathered them all and spent the evening telling new tales and retelling old tales at the Captain's Club. We had all grown up, some of us more than others... Huge had lived up to his nickname and now towered over all of us. The girls had changed as well. They had all grown into beautiful young ladies, but it's still hard for me to think of them other than as my sisters. Felu had traveled with Sam, and now they were a couple. Also, Nina and Kelyn had traveled together and seemed close. Oona and Lugh had spent time together, but they appear to be friends rather than lovers.

Regardless, it was great to see them all again after our years apart. I laughed more than I had in the past year that night. The talk at the table eventually turned to future plans, and it seems that they were all at a place where their futures were wide open.

I had recently learned of goblin troubles between Magnimar and Sandpoint and had heard there was money to be made eliminating the goblins. Considering our childhood adventures in the clock tower, this seemed to be a natural choice. When I told them, they all thought this would be a good opportunity for our gang to have another adventure and earn some coin.

We met the next morning at the Lost Coast Trading Company and were hired to guard a shipment heading to Sandpoint. There was a brief moment where some local thugs tried to take our place to guard the wagons, but Huge moved up and told them to "pi$$ off!" The look on the thugs' faces was priceless and I couldn't help myself as I burst out in laughter. The thugs scowled at us, but realized they were outnumbered and slunk away to find easier prey.

It didn't take long for us to find the goblin problems soon after leaving the city. I noticed a group of them standing on the road in front of us just as several arrows flew by and into the group. I saw Sam get plunked hard, but didn't have time to see how he fared as I spurred Hickory forward and cut down the goblin closest to me. Vex jumped off from the back of my horse and went after another group of goblins that appeared on the side of the road. Combat was quick and easy for me as the goblins put up little fight against an opponent on a horse. Some of the others were not as lucky and took some wounds. Sam looked to have the worst injuries, but produced a healing potion from his backpack and looked better after drinking the liquid.

Sam had also used his magic to capture a female who was leading the goblins. (Why would humans associate with the nasty creatures??!!) We agreed that Sam and Felu would take her back to town for questioning by the City Guard while the rest of us stayed with the wagons. They've been gone for a while now, but should return shortly.

The night of Oona's party was the last time I saw several of my friends. With the passing years since then, it all seems like a dream to me. The party in their mansion ... Oona's strange parents ... leaving the house and being attacked by the thugs ... seeking shelter in the abandoned shrine ... the crashing attack of her father seeking to enter the shrine ... all of those things blur together in my memories now. The one thing that I'll never forget from that night is how it brought our group of friends even closer, creating a bond between us that seemed to mark the very day we ceased being children and became young adults.

Many of our group went separate ways soon after that night. At first I was jealous of all of them and their travels to lands far from Magnimar, but I soon found myself busy with my own life and the new challenges as I trained with the city guard.

By that time, I knew that Vex wasn't a real dragon despite all of my childhood wishes to the contrary. He was a kobold, and that meant he wasn't welcome in some circles of our society. To me though, he was still my most-trusted friend. The hours we had spent together in our youth created a connection between us that wouldn't be broken by society's disapproving stare. Vex also was growing up and finding his own way. He would be gone for days at a time, but always seemed to return to tell me of his latest "adventures."

My days were filled with a physical training regimen that pushed my young body to grow in strength and toughness. I awoke early in the morning to exercise with the other new recruits, and then we were trained in combat using various weapons and styles. As our training progressed, we were paired with city guard patrols to accompany them on their daily duties around Magnimar. I had always known there was a seedy side to the city, but the patrols opened my eyes and brought the fact home to me. I saw parts of the city where we had played as children in a whole new light as a young adult. It's probably a good thing my parents didn't ever find out the extent of our youthful adventures into Underbridge and the surrounding areas.

I worked hard and continually improved my combat skills until I could hold my own with most of the guardsmen. Eventually, during the course of my training, I caught the eye of a benefactor who supported the functions of the local government and offices in Magnimar. Garin Tullows is a man of means with connections throughout Magnimar and the surrounding area. He saw some potential in me beyond a life in the city guard, and with my father's blessing, invited me to train with some of his personal men-at-arms at one of his properties near Magnimar. This was a great honor and I was eager to learn from these men who had traveled throughout the lands and experienced more of the world than my own family and friends.

My training became more specialized as I was taught how to ride a warhorse into battle. I practiced in heavy armor each day until it no longer hindered me or tired me quickly. The men who trained me pushed me harder than ever before. They were professionals who treated me fairly, but spared no lesson and pulled no punches when I failed to do as they instructed. I wore many bruises and cuts during this time as a constant reminder that failure in a real battle could have fatal results.

The years since my friends left passed quickly. I have been so busy training, that I have had little time for anything else. However, I have reached a place and an age where I can now begin to choose my own path in life. Vex and I have recently had a little time to spend together again, and it is good for us both. We often reminisce about our previous adventures and wonder what has become of the others from our group.

I have heard rumors that some of them may be returning to Magnimar. I hope it is true.