Wilds - Civilized

The party comes over the ridge with Maro, Grendor and Durego in the lead. The others follow, spread out in case of trouble. They're half-way down the ridge before they draw attention from the people among the tents. Someone nudges an armored guard (?) and points. She looks up, studies the group for a moment, then whistles. A few other guards join her, and move to meet the group as they reach the west end of the settlement. A handful of other folk gather behind the guards, and Maro notes that many of them are armed, a mix of daggers, hand axes, cudgels and other common weapons. "Hold there!" calls the woman in mail, who seems to be in charge. In the fading evening light you can see her shield is emblazoned with the seal of Highcliff Keep. "Who are you and where are you from?"

The Wilds - On the Border

After spotting horse, hound and human tracks in the abandoned village, the party proceeds with more caution. As they continue along the roadway, they note the horsemen came and went the same way. "Could be good, could be bad," muttered Durego. "Maybe Lord Thambar is just beefing up patrols."

"If he's still in charge," answeres Grendor.

The Wilds - The Road Home

Time for a travelogue!

Wilds - East Bound

With the crypts cleared, there is little left to do in Pillar Vale. The collapsed entrances hold some interest, but the party has few tools for excavation, and the wiser party members have finally realized the dire state of their supplies. Even Raúguey's pleas to pick up the cached supplies the group left near Hill Hole fall on deaf ears. Durego says, "We need to head straight back. Odds are we're going to lose at least one mule. If we start losing mules, we can't haul the food we need or the loot we've recovered. We've scored big. Let's get it to safety."

Wilds - Jackpot

With the shades defeated, the party turns its attention to the usual subject, grave-robbing.

The Wilds - Keep your Dead, Really

The party continues to fight the undead shades they encountered in the crypts beneath Pillar Vale

Wilds - A Chilling Development

Durego shoves his way past the front ranks and strides into the room with his holy symbol raised before him. "Begone foul evil. You have no power here. You have no power over my companions. Begone from this place in the name of Erlinga. Begone."

Wilds - [Insert Title Here]

As the others move around the pit, some east, some south, Durego casts a spell (find traps). Rawon waits at the edge of the trap while Maro keeps watch on the north passage at the rear of the group.

Wilds - Back with a Plan

After a night's rest, the group is ready to head back to the crypts, better prepared for their chilling foes.

Wilds - So Cold

Sorely wounded, the party regroups and immediately decides a retreat is in order. Those affected by the chilling aura try to warm themselves while the others gather their arrows and darts. Strom reaches into pale Durego's pack and pulls out the kettle. "Let's make use of this quickly, then get moving!"

Wilds - The Icy Hand of...

Faced with a shadowy undead creature, the party reacts swiftly.

Wilds - Death's Door?

After watching Ohwatoo check the three sarcophagi in the last chamber for magic [none], Maro says, "You know, it's odd there are no inscriptions or writing anywhere in here."

Durego shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not. Most tombs of Erlinga's faithful have little in the way of markings or writing either. Perhaps the statues are markers for those entombed here."

"But we've found many more sarcophagi than statues," says the elf.

"Maybe they're the important people. The others... retainers? Slaves? Guards? Who knows what these people believed," Grendor is keeping watch as Ingvild examines the next set of doors for traps. "We ready to open this door?"

Wilds - Turn About

As the others debate where to go next, Raúguey takes an interest in the statues while Strom Maro,
Ingvild, and Ohwatoo examine the open sarcophagus.

Wilds - Tomb-inated

The group continues to explore the underground complex they've discovered in hopes of finding their lost, dead companions.

The Wilds - Crossroads is Under Attack!

"Be careful," says Dagmarten as he, Mordikarr, and Saurabh watch the others move toward the bowl, scouts in the lead. Ingvild nods, then he and Rawon start their careful descent. The pair circles the entire rim, then circles down, checking each of the doorways as they go. Once at the bottom they check the pool, and Ingvild tests the liquid with a branch. The pair returns to the rim, and the others gather near one of the big stone pillars.

Wilds - Where did Every-body Go?

After viewing the scene at the death camp, most party members want to follow the tracks leading away from the camp to see if they can figure out what's happened to the remains of their comrades. Several members of the group take the time to relieve the mules (and themselves) of some of the excess baggage they're carrying, caching everything beneath a rock ledge and covering it with spare cloaks and piled rocks. The scouts are already on the move. Rawon, Mordikarr and Ingvild take the lead, with Ohwatoo following. The others bring up the rear.

Wilds - Grave Duty

After the tension of the ambush, and the sudden loss of the camp guards, the party has little motivation to move. The scouts, Rawon and Mordikarr, are exhausted, the rest of the party variously tired, grief-stricken or angry. No one is in a mood to move, despite the potential threat of bug men looking for their dead companions. The group sets watch and settles in to wait out the rest of the day and night. "We'll decide in the morning," is all Ohwatoo says after Raúguey grumbles about a plan.

Wilds - Don't Split... Ah Nevermind

After quickly butchering the deer into manageable sections, Mordikarr and Rawon load up half the carcass and head toward base camp. It's been a while since the group has checked in with the guards, and they can grab some cold-weather gear too. The remainder of the group moves away from the main path taken by the bugs and tries to find a reasonable place to set up a temporary camp for the remainder of the night. After eating some fresh food, the spell-casters head to bed while the others keep watch by turns.

The Wilds - Execute!

The bat and the well-laid ambush work, the spider things are caught completely by surprise!

The Wilds - Bug Tracker

"Northeast? That's toward our camp. We should get moving quickly. If they're going to attack the guards and the mules, we'll be left without supplies."

"Slow down Maro, just because they're heading in that general direction doesn't mean the camp is in danger. The hunters we've seen are usually gone for four or five hours and camp is almost six miles away. They'd have to move pretty quickly to get there and back in that amount of time, and they'd have to know where camp is." Durego is already on his feet, ready to go.

The group falls into their usual marching order and moves out, circling the vertical cliff face. When they reach the top, Rawon and Dagmarten start looking for tracks while Mordikarr sends Ava northeast, along the creature's probable path of travel. As the scouts look for the trail, Durego and Ohwatoo poke around the top of the hill. "Hey," whispers Ohwatoo. "Look at this." Several group members gather around the wizard, who is stooped over a low mound.

"What is it?" asks Durego.

"Some kind of monument or something. There's something engraved on the face, writing maybe? Spread your cloaks and I'll expose a light."

The others huddle close and Ohwatoo pulls out his light stone. The monument is a weathered stone obelisk, a few feet across. The top is engraved with faded writing [image on web site]. "Can you make it out?" asks Durego, who is more concerned with keeping an eye on the surroundings than the writing.

"It's very faint. A pity we don't have more time to study it."

"No time at all. They have the trail. Hide the light."

The scouts quickly find signs of passage, the same odd prints they found outside Hill Hole's entrance. The group follows the trail, which leads away northeast, though not directly toward the group's campsite, which is south of the travel line. Or at least that's how the party remembers it. "Probably just a hunting party then," mutters Raúguey.

The group follows the trail for an hour, then Rawon holds up a warning hand. He scouts ahead a short distance, then returns to the group. "The trail crosses a small clearing here, and there's a big fallen tree along the near edge. Looks like a good ambush site. We're far enough from Hill Hole that noise won't carry. I say we set up here."

There are murmurs of agreement from the others, and the group takes positions flanking the creatures' trail. Grendor, Strom and Maro take position behind the huge fallen tree. Raúguey finds a shallow crevice behind a rock to the left of the tree and covers himself with leaves. Rawon and Dagmarten take position in the woods behind the fighter, hunkered down behind a small outcropping of stones. Durego and Ohwatoo back the tree group, while Ingvild and Mordikarr split off to the right, ready to use missile weapons.

Time passes and a thin fog rises from the soaking-wet ground. Raúguey shivers as cold mud slowly creeps into his armor. A noise? Yes, a noise, a faint clickity-clack. Then movement. The three creatures enter the clearing from the northeast, moving at a quick pace [from what you can see, they probably travel faster than humans]. From this distance you can see two of the creatures are carrying something, a deer perhaps, suspended from a pole. You can also see they are armed with bladed weapons.

As the creatures reach the center of the clearing, Ohwatoo speaks the command word for the Fang of Bats, summoning a vampire bat. With a word, he indicates the targets. The bat flies up, and then swoops down at the front spider thing, which hisses in surprise!

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