Date: 1/26/05

XP Awarded: 1,320 (to 5th level characters), 1,140 (to 6th level characters)

Start: Aelthas’ barbarian encampment on a hilltop near Beorunna’s Well, early Kythorn (June)

Returning to Beorunna’s Well with Hask’s party and the prisoners, the adventurers regroup in Alina’s tower. Andar Heartwood appears to personally thank the party for their help in dealing with the cleric of Talos. Alina and Fei spend the rest of the day using divination magic on the several magic items they found. After divvying up the coin, gems, and magic, the adventurers spend another few days in town resting and recovering.

After a few days of this, the party sets out for Sundabar by way of Citadel Adbar. The first day on the road is cool and clammy, with a thick fog shrouding the landscape. In mid-afternoon the travelers come across the scene of a battle. Several edgy caravan guards explain that their caravan was raided by barbarians riding giant black ravens just a few hours ago, just before a thick wall of fog rolled in. The mage traveling with the caravan was able to bring down one of the gigantic birds with a lightning bolt, but he was then killed by javelins from the other raiders. The caravan didn’t lose any of their cargo of luxury goods, but the guards suffered heavy losses before driving the raiders away. The owner of the caravan, a portly merchant from Amn, offered the party the dead mage’s belongings if they would escort him the rest of the way to Beorunna’s Well. After briefly considering this, the adventurers accepted, and set about making camp, since it was too dark to travel much further that day.

That night, while on watch, Kai hears sounds coming from the carcass of the giant raven on the other side of the road. Warning the others, he and Theodar ride to investigate, and find a pack of ghouls feasting on the battle carrion. The ghouls charge toward the party, and a sickening smell in the air reveals that at least one ghast is among them. A fireball from Fei blasts several ghouls out of the charge, but more appear from the misty darkness. Celowin’s arrows bring down one as it charges towards a fearful caravan guard. One of the ghouls latches on to Kai, who is paralyzed. Whisper tries to carry his master out of combat, but Kai is pulled from his horse near the ghouls. A wight appears from the darkness, but Theodar charges it and it is destroyed by his lance. Another fireball from Fei singes Theodar and his mount, but kills several more ghouls. Celowin’s arrows drop a ghoul just as it is about to feast on Kai’s paralyzed body, and the rest of the undead are quickly dispatched. The caravan owner is very grateful after he gets over his initial confusion.

The next day is warm and sunny, and the fog quickly burns off, making travel quick and pleasant. The caravan arrives at the dell containing Beorunna’s Well in mid-afternoon, but heeding Hask’s advice, the adventurers do not enter town and instead turn around for another several hours of travel before camping along the trail.

Two more days of peaceful travel bring the party to a split in the trail, where the right fork is taken towards Citadel Felbarr. As the group rides through the gently rolling grasslands, Theodar and Kai notice their horses’ agitation and look up just in time to see a wyvern swooping down on Heardan from behind. The wyvern’s tail stings Heardan and wounds him badly, but Heardan resists the poison well enough to ride away from the dragon-kin. Theodar rides past with his lance couched, but the weapon glances off the beast’s thickly-armored breast. Celowin fires arrows and Fei hits the creature with a firebolt as Kai rides in to attack with his katana. Enraged, the wyvern bites Kai savagely and snatches him from Whisper’s back, stinging him with his poisonous tail. Theodar charges with his lance again, knocking the wyvern from the air and killing it, but not in time to save Kai from the deadly poison coursing through his body.

The party loads Kai’s body onto Whisper and take him to a pristine mountain stream flowing through the Rauvin foothills, burying the servant of Silvanus in a bank of gravel beneath a tall oak tree. Encamping there for the night, Celowin carves a wooden wreath to mark his gravesite.