Date: 10/16/04

XP Awarded: 710 (to 2nd level characters)

Start: The walled fortress-city of Sundabar, late Mirtul

Fei and Theodar leave Sundabar the next morning.

The two-day journey to Redridge is largely uneventful. As the adventurers travel further from the walls of Sundabar, the villages and farms become sparser.

Along the way, they encounter a druid named Kai who tells them that he is searching for a druid near the village of Redridge. They join forces and soon cross a gigantic stone bridge over the River Redrun.

Later they arrive at the village and are greeted by wary villagers. The town spokesman, Davus Thilrivven, explains what’s been happening recently, and suggests the group check out the druid that lives nearby. He also asks the party to spend the night in town for extra protection.

The next morning the party sets out across the foothills of the Nether Mountains to find the druid. After a half-day of searching, they spot the druid and close the distance. Kai converses with the recluse in the secret language of the druids and finds that strange beasts are in the area of the tower, but usually don’t stray far from it. He also tells the group that he saw a woman in armor poking around the ruins some time ago, and that the paladin Hamlin approached him about the ruins as well. He also tells the group about the wizard Jerren Winterbite specializes in cold magic, and gives directions to a good camping place and to the tower ruins.

After spending the night in a sheltered canyon, the adventurers are riding to the ruins of the tower when they encounter a group of barbarians. The leader, Ander Stormwind, tells the group about some orcs in the area, gives directions to the ruins of the tower, and tells Kai about a town to the north named Beorunna’s Well where he might find more info on something he’s looking for.

The druid’s directions lead the party onto a high, forested plateau. The group sees the ruins on top of this hill and head toward it, finding a thickly overgrown area at the base that conceals something large that is making splashing sounds. Ascending the hill from the other side, the group is startled by a cockatrice that flies to attack. The group overcomes the beast and investigates the ruins, finding nothing of interest outside. The tower has collapsed into a large mound of rubble, but an attached building is still mostly intact. Inside the building are the remains of a camp and some bones. Theodar disturbs a pack of small beholderkin that swarm to attack. He is hit with magical rays that temporarily stun him, and Fei is hit with other rays that cause him to flee in fear. Theodar recovers, but is also overcome by magically induced fear. Kai finishes off the last of the beholderkin, and the other adventurers return. They go outside to poke around the mound of rubble from the tower, then go back inside and find a hidden trap door. It descends to the basement of the tower, where they find the body of the dead paladin Hamlin Allersdale hidden under some garbage. Further inside the ruins is a monstrous centipede that is slain, a partially-flooded room with some sort of slithering creature, and a low-slung, ferocious creature of some type.

The group returns to the upper level to rest for the night. While resting, a number of fire beetles roam the area outside. A few attempt to enter the building, but they are killed. The next morning the party returns to the lower level and excavates a collapsed passage that leads into a rubble-strewn room where several more fire beetles lair. A door inscribed with runes leads to a laboratory of some sort, where the group finds a wand, a rod, a spellbook, some gems, and a magic sword named Arreluth. There are also some directions to a hidden shrine of Velsharoon near Everlund. The party returns to the upper level, hoping to lay an ambush for whoever was staying in the ruins. That night, some orcs return and attempt to use the ruins as shelter, but they are killed by the adventurers. A thick fog has settled over the area. The party returns to the lower level for one more look, and when they return, their horses are missing. They set off into the surrounding forest and find a villager, Randal Lackman, who has stolen the horses but gotten lost in the thick fog. He is bound and the group sets off for Redridge. Along the way they come upon a battle between a dwarven patrol and an orc raiding band. Theodar charges in to help the dwarven leader against a huge orc wielding an orcish double-axe. The orcs are driven off and the leader, Cardus Rockfist, is thankful, though he kicks Theodar in the shin for interrupting his fight with the orc leader.