It's a Tunnel!

Penetrating deeper into the continent, the motley caravan next came up across a range of foothills, crowned by Things with Big Tentacles. The goblins decided to pop into a small dark hole in the hillside, while the locathah chose a damp dark hole of well-like appearance, leaving the adventurers from in and around Culdin little choice but to proceed through a dry, five-foot-high tunnel. Several feet into the smooth dirt, they were ambushed by a large ant-like creature, which seized Erannar and, despite the fight put up, managed to drag him down into the earth. Dreneil jumped into the crumbling hole with her axe between her feet and hit the creature in the eye, killing it and also unfortunately collapsing the hole. Eltana, Starq, Starlight, and Blade dug them out as quickly as possible, Erannar in shock from the experience. He revived in the air of the tunnel.

The tunnel soon became paved, perhaps as a precaution against the ankheg, and even boasted a door, through which could be heard mutterings in goblin. Not much of a door, as Dreneil discovered after kicking it down. It opened on three bugbears, who took up arms and attempted to smash everybody. They succeeded in wounding Starlight heavily, and were then summarily decapitated by the enraged Dreneil.

Going out of the little room of the bugbears into a wider, rockier part of the tunnel, the group decided to rest and regroup. The next day they continued on until they saw daylight. A cave happened before the daylight. A dip in the floor happened before the cave. In that dip sat a nasty otyugh, eyeing them dully. The party decided to throw a tanglefoot bag over it, which stuck it to the spot while Dreneil chucked axes and Erannar twanged arrows into it. Neither of these did much more than awaken some growling from the next room. However, Eltana's ball of flame cooked the thing pretty well. Dreneil retrieved her axe from the mess.

Awakened by the tumult outside, a troll lumbered toward the group. They all fell on it, Dreneil with great force, astonished as it seemed to regrow much of its injuries as they fought. Farwind, with room enough to be in large form for the first time today, was struck to the ground. Varen took it upon himself to take up the eagle's place; unfortunately, he was struck dead. Dreneil summoned a wolf and continued to deliver mighty blows, but the troll struck her unconscious as well. Finally, the woodlike creature was struck down and everyone revived. This took some time in the case of Varen, who was flown back to Culdin and raised in exchange for quite a few of the rubies found in an old helmet in the troll's possession. While the others waited for Starq, Varen, and Farwind to return, they rested and healed and watched the goblins and locathah go on to the southeast.

Experience Points

Ankheg: 200
Bugbears: 450
Otyugh: 300
Troll: 400

Chipping in for Varen: 250

A Battle That Got Pretty

Erannar guided Farwind to the ground, and directed him to drop the figurine. Farwind became small again, and on taking the figurine, became large again. Starq than put the statue in his own mouth, and though he felt light of heart, not much else happened. He then gave it to his raven familiar Varen, who became 30 ft. tall and wanted to keep it. It was shiny.

After pondering the disappearing stranger once more, the group moved forward. Ahead of them, the unicorn tracks disappeared and reappeared in the soft mud of a cave in the bank of the stream across from them.

Dreneil hacked a fallen tree from its few remaining roots, and the group dragged the tree to the edge of the bank. Dreneil summoned a hummingbird, which grasped the figurine in its tiny beak, and then hovered over the stream to position the log. Erannar waltzed down the makeshift bridge; Dreneil followed him and recovered the silver statue and dismissed the hummingbird. All made it across until Starlight, Dreneil's cougar, fell in and got stuck on the lower opposite bank. Starq tied a rope around himself, and rightly so, for he too fell in and Dreneil had to haul him up. With the help of a rope, Starlight made it up too.

Now inside the smooth earthen tunnel, the party continued to follow the unicorn tracks. They came to a wider place with the remains of a camp, and several vertical shafts; after discovering nothing but darkness down the holes, they continued on. Again they came to a break in the path, with another ill-smelling vertical hole, and a break to the sunlight above. Following the unicorn, they reemerged into the forest.

Ahead they heard orcish voices, orcs singing a marching song. Starq ran up and hailed them, but they did not understand. Erannar spoke to them in orcish, and after little conversation, the orcs decided to attack. Starq, however, intimidated them with his potential magical powers, and the orcs decided to continue hunting their previous quarry.

Soon, all of them came to a clearing by another stream, where the orcs were making ready to attack a group of goblins, who seemed to be having a face-off with some fish-folk. Acting quickly, the group started to negotiate with the goblins through Dreneil, and managed to keep the group of orcs cowed by the giant eagle. Starq had limited success speaking a few words of draconic to one of the locathah, so Dreneil tried to press the goblins for more information. They poked her with a javelin when she tried to explain their plan to everyone else, however.

The goblins returned the sealskin pack to the locathah, claiming that they hadn't stolen it, it had just appeared in their midst. The party was reminded of the mysterious stranger from the day before.

Erannar managed to make the orcs leave off hunting the goblins - who'd run off from their city, they said - by giving them each three pieces of gold. With the orcs gone, the goblins explained they were trying to found their own city, a better city than the one they'd come from with the orcs, and that they were looking for the powerful Pearl of the Sirines, held by the late Leader of the Forest, on Mt. Heatwing.

From what Starq could gather, the locathah were also heading toward Mt. Heatwing.

So, they all decided that for the time being, the best plan was to travel together.

Experience:

Creative spell use (Starq): 50
Crossing the log: 300
Navigating the tunnel: 100
The battle that didn't happen: 500

Starq's Start

Starq Joiner dreamed of a raven, cawing in warning and plucking at a spider with its beak. Starq Joiner awoke to two bulbous eyes staring into his. He seized a candlestick and swiped at the creature, knocking it onto his arm, where the rat-sized arachnid bit him. He then knocked it to the floor and killed it, where it disappeared in a little flare of black flame.

Starq told his parents that morning, who advised that he see a doctor. His father went with him. His mother seemed not quite as surprised as she should have been.

In the market square, in Dr. Walknaught's office, stood not Dr. Walknaught but a red-haired halfling, who was seeing patients and prescribing healing potions. He pronounced Starq to be magical (were there any dragons in the family?), and the bite non-magical, and upon pressing let him see Dr. Walknaught in the back room who was laid up with a broken leg. Dr. Walknaught assured Starq and his father that the bite was not spreading poison. Relieved, they went home. Mr. Joiner told his son that they'd go back to the marked the next day, for it was time that Starq chose his trade and found a place for his apprenticeship.

That night Starq dreamed again of the raven. That day he found the raven, who spoke Elvish, as he went to speak to the halfling Condros Silverfingers again. Condros said he'd take him on as an apprentice and bring him back to the city of Culdin, which had the famous Rival Schools of Sorcerers and of Wizards. Before making a final decision, Starq went to speak to his great-grandfather, whom he was suddenly suspecting of being a dragon. The old but hale man told him to use his gift for good. So, Starq packed his things in a well-made chest and left for the continent of Durille with Condros, who'd finished selling all his healing potions from his aborted search for the Gates of Sunstair.

He's Off Again

At the end of the birthday feast, as folks grew sillier with the lateness and the wine, the unicorn stepped out of the hall. He scented the air, and listened to the chattering animals, and those inside heard the sober pronouncement: "Alas! While I was bound to the merrymaking here, the Leader of the Forest has been struck down. I must go." And the unicorn galloped away southeast.

Starq consulted Lord Talley on this matter, and he said, "I am a human, ordinary and nonmagical. But I find it wise to heed magical doings and fairies. If you four should again follow the unicorn, I will give you patronage."

That night, Erannar and Dreneil listened to the forest stirring.

The next day, Starq, Eltana, and the two elves procured a letter from Lord Talley to his son Ethan. They journeyed back to Culdin in order to buy supplies and discover information on the "Leader of the Forest." Erannar, in a moment of revelation in the wizards' museum of natural history, learned the most information: that the Leader was an oak tree. Meanwhile, Starq and Eltana managed to turn the wolf Blade a magical shade of green, and Dreneil went for a nice dinner and a little opera with Ethan.

Re-outfitted, the party went back to Lord Talley's country house to start following the cold trail of the unicorn; thankfully, the trail went straight and true south-east, with never a turn or a failing. On the first night, Erannar noticed a swarthy, scimitar-bearing gentleman walking through the woods near them. He hailed him, and the man asked what they were doing. When Starq told him they were following the unicorn trail, he promptly vanished. Dreneil saw and heard nothing during her watch, but that morning one of their packs had been moved outside the camp. They all crowded around the pack, and all except Dreneil were caught in a net and suspended from a tree. Dreneil was left to hold off an owlbear who was attracted by the commotion; Erannar cut himself out of the net and helped, and Starq stayed safely up in the tree to cast his spells. Eltana worked herself out in time to heal everyone a little.

Meanwhile, Farwind was attracted by a shiny object lodged atop a tree. Erannar climbed up to have a look, and found a silver figurine of a tiny figure riding an eagle. Farwind then clasped the figurine in his beak, and became a giant eagle, a mount beneath Erannar.

Experience:

Researching the Leader of the Forest: 100
Owlbear: 300