Sarenith 19th 01 - The Yokel Call

-Several months have passed since the party had explored the northern and eastern sections of their kingdom-

It was two days before the summer solstice and a warm summer morning which was soon interrupted by a visit from one of the Stag Lord's ex-bandits, Auchs, the powerful yet simple minded man who had been living in the village of Ravenmoor, located in the north-west, populated with around 200 weird Stirge-loving yokels.

Let through by the castle guards, Auchs had brought Wyvernshore's ruling council a message from Ravenmoor village.  Vaneer immediately suggested leaving the village alone as after all they were only strange yokels!  But the rest of the group insisted that Ravenmoor was part of their kingdom and should be treated with the same respect as any other part of the kingdom and so Otto opened up the message and inside it simply read "Help Applesauce".  Vaneer sighed at that and rubbed his eyes in frustration...  'Applesauce' was the name of the pet stirge that had been owned by a young lad named Ornigaard Korzha, whom the group had met when they first got to Ravenmoor.

[As you may recall, Stirges are usually killed on sight due to being blood-sucking giant insects - however the village of Ravenmoor had them domesticated as pets!  The party had also been a little bit taken aback by Ravenmoor due to it's backwards ways, old traditions and strange dialect]

A debate took place amongst the council about what actions should be taken and it was eventually agreed that the group would ride to Ravenmoor the following morning and discover what assistance the village required.

Gozran 16th 01 - A Mud Pack and a Facial

The group rest uneventfully and once ready they cross over the rope bridges and head west into a hilly area, but they are able to see that much further to the west is the start of the forest area known as the Narlmarches.

The Narlmarches has an area span of over 350 miles, most of which runs through the western side of their kingdom.  It is in the very northern parts of these woods that they encountered the Temple of the Elk, the Giant Frogs, the two mischievous fey and the boar known as Tuskgutter but there was still very much to explore and discover in these ancient woods, but that would be for another day.  The group decide that they will reach the edge of the woods and then head north and north-east, skirting past the two interconnecting lakes (Lake Tuskwater and Lake Candlemere) that are south of their capital before they head home - this would result in them having explored the entire eastern half of their kingdom and the northern third of the Narlmarches.

Travelling across the hills near to the forest the party spy a herd of Elk running towards them and in the distance, giving chase, was an lumbering green hulk of teeth, flesh and muscle, which after some time became obvious was a troll - a powerful and evil creature with long arms, enormous teeth and a huge appetite, trolls are capable of regenerating, overcoming almost all injuries, unless they are dealt fire-based damage.

Miro hides in wait and successfully sneaks up on the green giant as it followed after the elk and manages to time his blow perfectly to critically injure the creature.  Now that Miro had the troll's attention Otto moves in and launches a flask of oil all over the giant whilst Kyrander fires off a flaming arrow at the oil, setting the troll alight and killing it.  The humans, halfling and half-elf stick around to make sure that the creature is completely destroyed before they start to head north-east into an area of plains and hills.

Travelling past the eastern banks of Lake Candlemere they can see a light layer of fog that covers part of the lake and Kyrander's sharp eyes are just able to make out a large island that sits in the center of the lake.  There are many legends and rumours regarding the evil things that lurk on that island, but the group refrain from exploring it for the time being.

Not too far from the point where the two lakes interconnect they discover an 200-foot pool of shallow bubbling mud, heated by geothermal activity.  The edges also contain large varieties of fungi and mushrooms, some common and some of which are quite rare.  But upon getting close to the mushrooms both Kyrander and his companion Spot begin to vomit from inhaling the fungus spores, which incapacitates them.  This occurs just moments before a huge fungus covered mound rises out of the mud to attack the remaining party members.

A huge carnivorous plant creature, the Tendriculos feeds on living prey, doing so by using its long-reaching tentacles that are capable of paralysing anything living, before it then eats them alive.

A long drawn-out combat ensues, with Vaneer getting grappled by the Tendriculos which then tries to stuff the cleric into its giant maw on several occasions, but fails to do so as the cleric resists the paralysing agent in the tendrils of the plant creature and struggles enough that the creature can't quite swallow him down.  Both Natalia and Otto shoot fire-based spells which are very effective in damaging the overgrown hillock, whilst Miro jumps onto the mossy back of the creature and repeated slashes it with his special-made custom-sized elven blade.  After several minutes the creature finally collapses into a mess of mud and plant-matter and Vaneer is freed the stickly vine-like tendrils.

After some respite Vaneer heals up and Kyrander is finally able to function normally again.  Other than some delicious mushrooms and a relaxing mud-bath, the group discover nothing of value other than the useful resource that this mud bowl might bring to their kingdom and it's citizens they continue to explore to the east and the north.  Though they do not discover any further treasures or valuable resources, they are also able to determine that there are no further dangers in this part of their kingdom and return to Wyvenshore.

Gozran 15th 01 - A Sweaty Climb for a Lovely Bite!

The group rest surprisingly uneventfully.

Kyrander looked slightly less pale over breakfast as they ate thanks to the cleric's healing skills and potent spells.

The group decided to ride south back towards where they found the salmon carcass at the shallow river crossing and then turned south east into an area of hills and large rocky outcrops.  Otto and Natalia were taking notes on the landscapes in their kingdom and concluded that whilst building farmland for their kingdom's expansion in the north had been an easy and inexpensive affair, trying to capitalise on the rich land and fertile soil to the east and south-east of their capital would be more difficult and more costly due to the more rugged and varied landscape that they were encountering.

As the group ride across the region exploring and mapping, they begin to hear a female voice shouting in the wind.  After a little searching the group finds an attractive woman whom appears to be stuck upon an rocky outcrop asking for assistance due to a nasty fall that has severely injured her.

Kyrander, Otto and Natalia dismount and climb up the rocks whilst Miro and Vaneer look after the horses (whilst Vaneer would have been best able to assist and heal the wounds of an injured traveller, his climbing ability was utterly appalling and would have been far more likely to result in him breaking his own leg in the attempt).  What the three climbers didn’t expect was that their lady in distress was actually a magical beast which attempted to bite Otto as he reached the top of his climb.

The leucrotta is an intelligent creature that has stags hooves, a lion's body and a badger's head and uses its mimicry to lure unsuspecting travellers into its clutches.

The leucrotta's bite hits, dealing a massive amount of damage that causes Otto to half fall and half jump off the outcropping, luckily he has a ring of feather falling which prevents further damage when he lands.  Vaneer quickly heals the wounded sorcerer as he retaliates with a magic missile spell, whilst Natalia and Kyrander both shoot at the creature with a volley of shots.  The beast charges at Natalia and knocks her into a pile of rocks but further damage from Kyrander and the injured Natalia kills the creature before it can kill her.  Taking the ranger's hand, the druid manages to stand up and they both evaluate a nearby lair that contains some interesting finds.

Once Natalia and Kyrander had finished chucking down the loot atop the rocky crop and successfully climbed down the outcropping the group came together for some more healing from Vaneer.  Amongst the items recovered they identify a magnificently crafted blue dragonhide breastplate and matching blue dragonhide shield which fit Natalia perfectly!

Carrying on southwards, the party found a region of plains which contained numerous little holes and burrows which belonged to large prairie dogs.  Travelling several miles south to the edge of their kingdom, the group then started heading west past a series of hills with vines and a waterfall and continue to encounter prairie dogs.  The druid and ranger conclude that there must be an enormous system of tiny caverns passages below them belonging to the herbivorous burrowing creatures and that this may one of the largest systems in the world!

Continuing west the group find some empty rotting wooden buildings, not far from a 't'-junction of rivers which run through gullies some eighty feet deep and forty to sixty feet  in width.  A small network of sturdy wooden bridges criss-cross where the 't' junction of gullies occur below.  Finding no other signs of life, and no signs of danger the group sleep in the old wooden buildings.

Gozran 14th 01 - Bones Underhill

The night passed uneventfully for the group and they awoke fully refreshed from their sleep.

Once the camp was all packed up and the group were ready to go they set off to the north-east, progressing into an area of hills and grassy knolls.  As they explored the area the group noticed an easy-to-miss opening in the side of one of the hills where the rocks and soil had formed a crack.

Kyrander dismounted his horse first and looked into the crack and with his half Elven eyes was able to see that beyond there was a passageway which led into some sort of chamber after 20ft. Curiosities raised, the group leave their mounts and decide to follow the passageway which indeed opened up into a small chamber from which another passageway sloped out of the chamber.

Just as he started across the chamber Kyrander then noticed above him clinging to the chambers ceiling were thousands of sleeping bats all tightly packed.  The ranger stealthily crosses the chamber as quietly as possible without disturbing the sleeping mammals above and notices that the passage leading away from the chamber also lead on into another chamber.

As Kyrander started to head down the new passageway he motioned for the party to follow, attempting as best they could both Vaneer and Otto just weren't quiet enough as the bats wakened from their sleep and startled by the intrusion flew out of the cave, attacking the party as they flew past, forcing the group to run through the bat swarm into the same chamber that Kyrander now stood in.  This chamber was just like the previous one except that there were three more short passages leading out of the chamber, one to the north, one to the south and one to the east.  Oh! and there is a single skeleton laying face down in the exact centre of the chamber.

Both Miro and Kyrander slowly approach the skeleton and determine that it died from attacks consisting of claws and a sword wound, but also make sure to carefully search the surrounding area to ensure there were no nasty traps.  Miro quickly spotted a trigger that would released poisonous gas that would severely weaken living creatures and succeeds in disabling it.  But time for celebration was short, just as the trap had been disabled, scuffling noises could be heard from the northern and southern passageways as the sounds of bone on stone could be heard as things started heading towards the central chamber that they were standing in.

After a couple of moments ten human shaped skeletons appeared in the room from the two opposing directions and shambled towards the group. Vaneer acting quick of the mark casts a healing burst which not only heals Miro of some minor damage caused by the bats but also dispatches eight of the skeletons in one swoop of positive energy.  Bob the badger charges at another and kills it whilst Otto uses a magic missile to kill the remaining skeleton.

As Miro was literally picking through the bones another scrapping noise could be heard coming from the eastern passage and Kyrander scurried off to investigate the noise before the rest of the group was ready to back him up.  The eastern passageway lead into another chamber but this chamber was decorated with arms and armours from ancient times (decorative but worthless) and tattered banners.  Whilst resting in the middle of the chamber was an open coffin and standing next to it was something that was once human but was now a skeletal creature with taunt flesh, ancient armour and a powerful ancient cold iron longsword, though the sword's tip and edges were damaged.  The creature's lips parted, possibly forcing a grin, before leaping at the intruding ranger.

In a matter of seconds the rest of the group could hear the sounds of combat down the eastern passage and hurried to aid Kyrander.

As the group entered the chamber Vaneer automatically knew Kyrander's foe!  He shouted to the ranger that he was fighting a Cairn Wright and should avoid being hit by the creature due to it's ability to drain energy out of living creatures.  Alas Vaneer's warning was too late as just as the advice had been given the wright managed to hit the ranger with it's sword and through that was able to suck some of the human's life force right from him before it then continued an onslaught of powerful slashes. Quick off the mark the group jump into action as Vaneer casts his bless spell to aid his comrades in the fight whilst Otto fired a volley of Scorching Ray attacks, Miro used flanking to harry the creature as it continued to attack Kyrander.  The battle against the Wight took sometime, but with Vaneer nearly exhausting his healing bursts to help keep people fighting the battle is eventually won with an combination of Bob charging the creature and Natalia throwing an ball of flaming fire into the creature's face.  The combined damage destroys the undead menace before it is fully able to take all of Kyrander's life force.

After a short rest to check over the weakened Kyrander and provide some spells that restored some of his energy, the group continue to check out the remaining chambers to find nothing new and nothing threatening whilst Miro took inventory on what they found on the Cairn Wight; whilst it's armour was damaged and mundane, the sword it had wielded was a great find; it was a very powerful magical longsword that not only bypasses the damage resistance that some creatures have due to it's composing material, but it is also capable of dealing huge amounts of extra magical damage against fey foes.  They then leave the chambers under the hill and head look for a place to rest.

(Over the next few days the group's spellcasters would utilise mending and repairing spells to restore the +2 fey bane cold iron longsword to its full glory which was then given to Kyrander as he was the only party member capable of wielding it). 

Gozran 13th 01 - Something Smells Fishy

After a year of overseeing their fledgling city's construction (which they named Wyvernshore) the group grew restless and decided to travel outside of the city boundaries and explore the surrounding areas that lay to the east south and west of their base.

As they left the city the group headed south-east and soon encountered a fisherman whom seemed rather disgruntled.  Through conversation the group discovered that the fisherman was having issues with his nets being damaged by a large bad-tempered turtle.

Obviously as this dwindling supply of fish could affect the trade within the city, so the group agreed to aid the fisherman and were directed down a nearby path to a lake where the creature dwelled.  It didn't take long to spot the large turtle which also seemed unhappy to see the party and charged itself to the shoreline to attack the group, only to narrowly miss biting Miro's hand off.  The ensuing fight was short even though the year away from adventuring had taken more of a toll on the party's abilities than they had thought, with a lot of their attacks missing their mark, but eventually the turtle was wounded and slaughtered with a few minor scruffs to a couple of the party members.  With the turtle dispatched and the fisherman now happy that he can fish with no more risk to his nets the group head east.

After four hours the group came across the deep and mighty Gurdrin River and in following the river they soon find a part of the river where it was shallow enough for the horses to cross over.  As the group reach the other bank they find the carcass of a large fish.  Natalia took a closer look at the large carcass and even though it was 2ft long it was only a portion of the original fish!  Consulting Kyrander, they both decide that what they were looking at the remains of a dead salmon of approx 7ft in length!!  It had been rumoured that there were fish this size that swam this length of river and both the ranger and druid noticed that there were nearby tracks and entrails which suggested that a number of owlbears had feasted here, killing and consuming a large quantity of these magnificent salmon.

They continue to travel through the area for a further couple of hours before setting up camp for the evening.

Gozran 11th to Gozran 12th 01 - Montage Time...

After nearly a week of fine dining and wining from the various nobles and religious organisations that were keen to make a mark on the new kingdom the group had confirmed in their minds and with a large amount of assistance from Lady Aria, who they would align themselves with [see Kindgom Funding for a complete list who the group aligned themselves with].  There were several noble houses and organisations that were very keen to pledge support to a kingdom that had refused the steely trap that House Surtova had placed in front of them and with Aria's assistance the party managed to acquired more funding and labour than previously anticipated due to some in-depth negotiations.

As a result, the group take a year out from adventuring to ensure things get started correctly.

Though this didn't mean the year went easily, oh no! The biggest dilemma was where their capital should be build and what it should be called.  After some debating the group settled on "Wyvenshore" and decided to start building around the stag lord’s fort due to it's central location in the greenbelt with ample supplies, close water supplies and convenient lakes and rivers for shipping.  Of course there was just a tiny matter of the cursed undead monks that inhabited the hill around the fort, but this was soon dealt with by Vaneer and a small army of priests.

The next big decision; who should be King?! Or Queen!  Miro was quite adamant that he should be the king until Kyrander pointed out that the deal made with the Priests of Bolka and House Medvyed both came with the criteria that whomever the ruler is, they would need to be married within two years of the kingdom being established.  The halfling soon retracted his stake on rulership, stating that it wouldn't be fair to the kingdom if his attentions were always focused on those of politics and that he should be better suited for a more hands-on role.

Eventually the ruling positions were all agreed [see Kingdom Leadership Roles for a complete list] with Otto being made ruler of Wyvenshore.

Begin the Kingdom Building Montage!

Gozran 10th - The Deed, A New City and More Politics!!

The morning soon came and the group were reluctant to leave the comfy beds of the Laughing Fox inn, but eventually some form of clothes shopping had to be done before attending the palace.

The palace was a grand affair, if you overlook the mess that Miro made over the banqueting table.  The group were each commended by King Noleski Surtova and rewarded for their involvement of cleaning up the greenbelt and then as a group were presented with a charter declaring them the official rulers of a new kingdom, to be established in the greenbelt as they see fit.  The only clause was that they must seek funding and assistance to start the kingdom.

After the palace events the group were directed to the hall where they would meet all the possible "partners" for their kingdom's development, though they would not be alone in this endeavour as there were two other groups who were also in the same position, having received charters for land to the east and the west the greenbelt.  The first visitor encountered was a familiar face as Aria glided through the door in a long flowing gown with smile on her face. "My darlings! How lovely you all look in those outfits - you seem almost at ease" as she greeted them whilst taking a seat, "So I made sure I was first to see you and to find out if you have made a decision regarding my offer?”

Vaneer shifted uneasily on his feet before saying "Well it wasn't easy as this is all new to us but...we've discussed it at length and we'd like to accept to your offer".

"Excellent!" She exclaimed, "Trust me, you will not regret it. Now go forth, talk to these bloaters and contact me here regarding those people you would like me to do some digging up on."  With that she got up from her chair and glided back out waving farewell to the group.

Very shortly after Aria's departure another lady quickly stole into the room to talk to the new rulers, her name was Lady Jamandi Aldori and she was the representative of the swordlords - the group who had first persuaded Restov and then the country of Brevoy to send out enterprising groups to conquer and potentially colonise the 'stolen lands'.  Being very upfront, Lady Jamandi informed them that the Swordlords would be providing a small amount of support upfront regardless of allegiances made here today, but they would be willing to give a greater amount of funding if the group stayed neutral and did not align with Brevoy's ruling house, Surtova!

The rest of the day dragged for the group; one person or group after another came and went.  Each person talked about why they should be allowed to help build the new kingdom, what they could offer and the terms that they would have in providing said support.  By the end of the day it all started to sound the same to the fledgling lords.

The group then headed back to their Inn and over supper talked through all the "bloaters" as Aria had accurately put it and what they thought of each of the offers.  Everyone at the table wanted to talk about one offer in particular and that was House Surtova; the offer they had put forward was tempting! Very tempting as it was by far and away the largest pledge of support and monetary offering that had be brought to them, but what they wanted in return... well that was another story.

Vaneer turned to Miro, "Look I'm tired of dancing round this subject. Miro, we know you are part of Surtova, some very small part... but would you have any issues if we turned them down?"

Miro smiled "Nope, I hate the buggers anyway."

With that the atmosphere became relaxed and through the evening the group picked the offers they liked and decided which groups they would have Aria look into and those that the group themselves would try to do some digging on before confirming each offer.

With those decisions made the group then settled down for another night in the city.

Gozran 9th - Politics!! What a Headache!

The group rested uneventfully and woke up in good health albeit a little hung over, after breakfast the group gathered their belongings and started the ride towards the city.

The ride took most of the day and by late afternoon they had arrived in the city and were able to acquire accommodation and stabling to see them through the palace visit and what ever lay before them afterwards.

News soon started to spread that the Stag Lord's slayers had arrived within the city and heroes they must be to be summoned to the palace. Though free drinks didn’t flow freely there were plenty of ears clamouring to hear the dramatic tale of the bandit kings death.

As the night went on an Elven women by the name of Aria Vellara introduced herself and sat at the groups table, she ordered them all a drink and wished to discuss a business opportunity with them.  As the conversation unfurled she informed the group that she was of sorts a "Broker of Information" and that she would like to assist them in their upcoming ventures simply in exchange for some land.

The group looked a little puzzled, "What? We don't have any land!  Are you sure you're talking to the right people my lady?" retorted Otto.

Aria smirked, "Of course, I'm sorry you don’t know yet, how silly of me.  Please allow me to explain."  The Elven lady explained that when the group arrive at the palace tomorrow they will be praised for clearing the greenbelt of its bandit issues and in return will be presented with another charter that will instruct them to begin construction of a new city in the greenbelt and a great deal of land, which they will rule.

Vaneer laughed, "You’re crazy Lady!  Why would we want to start a city for someone else if they can't be bothered to do it themselves?  We're not exactly political people, as you can tell".

"Indeed!" replied Aria, "And this is where my offer to help comes into play". She went on to continue "You see, you will be given rulership of the city between the five of you, as you see fit.  Now obviously you can't just build a city overnight.  You will need supplies and finances and after tomorrow's announcement you will be approached by many houses and merchants all wanting to ‘offer’ their support of finances, materials, labour, etc in return for something later down the line. I am very skilled at finding those dirty little secrets that these people like to hide and what I'm offering to you in return for a portion of land is my ability to find what secrets a number of these potential partners have and are keeping from you.  Point me at the person or groups you want to have investigated and I will do just that."

The group sat in silence for a moment trying to take all the information in, Aria smiled before finishing, "You don't need to give me an answer today, I want you to think about and discuss this together as a team.  But you will soon be up to your necks in politics and the two face backstabbing that comes with it.  I am just after a plot of land to retire to, so my offer is genuine. Think it over, I shall be at the palace tomorrow, so you let me know either way." and with a smile she finished off her wine and said her farewells.

"Soooo what the crap do we do now?" asked Vaneer

"I'm going to be a KING!" Smiled Miro

Vaneer smacked the Halfling across the head, "Quiet you idiot! Besides you can't be king you wouldn’t know responsibility if it bit you on the backside!, No I meant with what she said, I can't help but feel we're being played."

"Agreed" muffled Kyrander from the bottom of his pint as Otto nodded.

"Either way, I think we need some help in this coming madness and she's at least been up front with us" mentioned Natalia.

Reluctantly they all agreed to that statement, they knew nothing of this Elven woman but yet she may give them a fighting chance in this game of politics.

With that in mind the group settled down for the night thinking that maybe they should get some clothing more suited for tomorrows events.

Gozran 8th - New Stetven Calls

After a grueling two weeks of looting the Stag lords fortress the group finally return to Olegs with the last cart load of goods.

As they deposit the last of the items into Oleg's storehouse and rider gallops into the courtyard of the trading post proclaiming to bring a mesage for the adventurers that brought down the stag lord. The messenger carried an invitation or as most of the party saw it an order for them to appear at the palace in New Stetven in 2 days time.

The group grumbled thier agreement to the invite back at the messenger and confirmed that they would leave tomorrow morning and arrive in New Stetven later that day. After eating thier belly full and drinking twice as much they eventually fall alseep for the evening.

Pharast 27th - Stags Fall

Along with a stopover at Oleg's, during which time they retrieved some of the loot they had obtained over the last few weeks, the group also purchased some potions from the hermit-like alchemist; Bokken and benefited from a peaceful night’s sleep in preparation for a day full of bandit berating.

Miro tried his hand at using his neglected disguise skill upon himself and the rest of the group, attempting to make them all appear more dishevelled and wilderness-hardy, akin to bandits rather than the average adventurer.

Once they were ready, our bandit bashers saddled up with the "stolen goods" they had retrieved from Oleg’s and made their way south east, taking a slight detour before approaching the stag lords’ fortress in case they were being observed.  Whilst travelling the indirect route to the fortress, the group spy a large cave in the distance, but before they were able to investigate it further, a number of wolves plus a very large jet black wolf appeared out of the mouth of the cave and begin to sniff the air.  Otto and Kyrander advocated that the group hold fire on taking the offensive as the large wolf was actually a Worg, an intelligent supernatural wolf, although usually evil in intent, and the group had no time to take on this fight and then get to the Staglord’s abode that evening in good health. The group unanimously agreed that the downfall of the Staglord should take priority over everything else and continue their way west to the fort.

As they had been forewarned by Akiros, there was one path that led to the fortress which was located on top of a hill that used to be a monastery many decades ago.  The path sloped up the hill and on either side of the path were fields of grass leading all the way up to fort, though these fields were reported to be home to the ravenous undead who once resided here and were now cursed to attack anyone not approaching via the obvious path.  Not wanting to risk overplaying their hand just yet, the group decide to keep to the path and slowly begin to make their way up towards the fort.  As the group head up the path they soon notice a head peering over from a watchtower, followed by a shout of "Men Approaching!!!".  As they approach the gates to the fort are still obviously closed and bared as another figure shouts "Identify yourselves or be killed where you stand!".

Kyrander shouts out the pass phrase that Akiros supplied to them and fervently hopes that their trust in the staglord’s second in command had not been misplaced. After a tense moment of waiting in silence they could hear a creak of wood as the doors to the fort open, followed by "Welcome friends!".

Making their way into the fort’s courtyard, the adventurers in disguise are greeted by around a dozen bandits, each uglier than the last.  Akiros, the third strongest bandit in the camp is present, along a thin dark-skinned man sporting cultural tattoos, wearing tight leathers and a flashy rapier.  Next to him is a simpering hulk of a man that could have been nearly seven feet in height if he were not partially stooped over. In both his hands were little toy soldiers whilst a nasty looking club of immense size with giant nails embedded into it rested on a simple belt.  The most notable presence was that of a tall imposing man, in green and brown clothing and leather, brandishing a powerful bow that is aimed at the group and wearing a helmet made from a stag’s skull which covers most of his face "And! What do we have here? You're not part of my group!! ANSWER!! NOW!!!" the man demanded.

Vaneer quickly responded with "Great Staglord!  We have come to join your clan and have brought stolen items and fine wine as a gift and a demonstration of our abilities".

"Wine? WINE! Let me see" exclaimed the Staglord as he pulled out a bottle and pulled the cork with his teeth and chugging down a couple of mouthfuls, "Indeed! This is good stuff! The best I've had in a while!  If you keep bringing bottles like this then WELCOME!" he announced to a cheer that went up from around the courtyard.

The staglord scooped up an armful of bottles and proceeded to disappear back into the fortress leaving Akiros to order some of the bandits to put the rest of the loot with their stash.  Akiros approached the group and welcomed them to the fort with a wink.

The next four hours was spent with Akiros talking to Vaneer and Otto about the "rules" of the bandit group and the territories and domains that they had staked out, whilst Miro, Kyrander and Natalia innocently scouted the fort’s layout and talked to some of the bandits.

Miro strikes up a conversation with Craggers, one of the bandits that displays similarly gifted/sticky fingers and a disposition that nearly mirrored Miro’s own.  Through this, Miro is able to persuade Craggers to side with his group when the time comes and is also able to get information on the other bandits regarding habits and the likelihood of them being persuaded to join the winning side.

During the scout Natalia hears a strange hooting sound from a nearby reinforced pen only to discover that the Staglord has recently caught an owlbear and is trying to tame it, but is currently without success.  This leads Vaneer to come up with a plan that involves releasing the owlbear once a signal is given in hopes that it would provide a distraction and help drop the number of bandits present.  To this end Natalia manages to loosen the cage door’s latch slightly.

Eventually as night falls and the staglord has emptied out the supply of wine that the group had brought with them Akiros gives the signal that the group had been waiting for and the fight for the staglords fort begins…

Kyrander manages to subtly fire a shot from his bow at the latch of the owlbear's cage, successfully hitting the latch and unlocking it.  As the cage door slowly swings open there was a low whirling noise followed by a shriek as the owlbear charges out of the cage causing the desired chaos as the bandits suddenly rush to get control of the owlbear.

Miro and Craggers both quickly dispatch an unnamed bandit mook that they had persuaded to join them for a drink, away from the main group.

Otto casts a sleep spell upon a couple of bandits up on the fort watchtower, which takes hold.

The Owlbear gets its claws on one of its captors and rips the unfortunate human apart.

One of the bandits attacks Vaneer but fails to hit the cleric.

Kyrander shoots at the bandit attacking Vaneer, injuring the bandit in the back who then shouts at another bandit, ordering his to take care of the archer.  As ordered, the bandit shoots at Kyrander but misses the ranger.

Another bandit rushes to attack Kyrander and like his partner in crime completely misses.

A nearby bandit has no choice but to slash at the Owlbear and hits the creature causing it to shriek out in pain.

Akiros attacks the bandit attacking Vaneer and scores a killing blow.

Miro and Craggers discuss their shared interest in looting the fort whilst sitting out the rest of the ongoing brawl.

Otto casts another sleep spell taking out a bandit shooting at Kyrander.

Natalia shoots at a bandit and misses whilst Bob charges a bandit target, successfully biting his ankle and drawing blood.

The Owlbear slashes out at Vaneer but narrowly misses.

The bandit that had attacked the owlbear tumbles through the fray and makes a run for the front door.  Akiros chases after the fleeing bandit and kills him before he can reach the door.

Another bandit has the idea to run to the front doors and opens the doors up in the hopes that the owlbear might leave.

The bandit with a Bob attached to his ankle takes a swing at the Badger but misses.

Another rather overweight bandit, named Norry, seems quite content to sit on the edge of battle and munch on a turkey leg rather than get involved.

Otto casts magic missile at the owlbear hurting the creature.

Natalia shoots at the bandit attacking Bob and lodges the arrow into the bandit’s shoulder.

Bob continues to gnaw at the bandit’s ankle.

The Owlbear attacks Vaneer and hits the cleric.

Kyrander shoots at the bandit at the front door, his arrow killing the bandit and pinning his lifeless body to the wooden door.

Akiros uses himself as bait in an attempt to bait the raging owlbear out of the fort’s front door.

The bandit manages to free himself from Bob’s grip and with nowhere else to go attempts to jump out of the fort watchtower in order to escape Bob and Natalie in a spectacular acrobatics display only to kill himself by blowing his landing at the bottom.

Otto and Akiros throw a couple of bandit chunks down the hill which is enough to tempt the owlbear out of the fort, as it dispatches another bandit in a single hit and then shrieks and runs after the easy morsels, disappearing out of the door and down the hill path.  Just as the remaining combatants breathe a sigh of relief at the departure of the owlbear, from behind a curtained doorway an arrow flies out and lodges itself into the back of Vaneers back, dropping the cleric to the ground with just one hit!

Kyrander runs over to the fallen cleric whilst trying to retrieve a potion of cure moderate wounds from his backpack.

Akiros runs through and past the group and straight behind the curtained door where suddenly the sound of fighting can be heard.

Miro decides that with the majority of the bandits now deceased that it is a good time to get involved with the combat and throws a flask of alchemist’s fire at the curtain covering the doorway into the Staglord’s chambers.  Akiros stumbles backwards through the flaming remains of the curtain and then rushes back into the fight beyond the doorway but the group notice the arrow protruding from his chest as the Staglord seems to have the upper hand in the fight.

Only just able to move thanks to the potion of cure, Vanerr he wastes no time in aiding Akiros by rolling towards the doorway and casts a healing burst to help keep their ally going and can now see that the final opponent is of course the Staglord!

Kyrander moves into position opposite the doorway and attempts to shoot the staglord, only slightly grazing the bandit king.

Natalia sets out to summon forth two stirges (blood-sucking flying insects) to attack the staglord which is successful and manages to reduce the bandit king’s constitution, weakening him slightly.

Otto throws a magic missile into the fight.

The Staglord turns his attention to Kyrander and critically injures the ranger on his first shot and luckily misses Kyrander with his second shot.

Vaneer casts another healing burst to keep his party members from falling.

Kyrander tries to shoot back at the staglord but misses his target who is too fast for him.

Akiros takes another swing at the bandit king but also misses.

One of the remaining bandits decides to shift allegiances and makes an attack at the staglord but also misses.

Miro breaks out his highly-prized magical flaming arrows and shoots at the staglord successfully hitting and causing a good amount of damage to the big bad boss.

Otto casts another magic missile at the staglord, inflicting constant damage that slowly weakens him.

The Staglord attacks Kyrander again and hits the ranger almost bringing him to his knees.

Akiros takes the opportunity of the staglord’s back being turned enters into a rage, hitting and critically wounding the bandit king.

Sensing the staglord weakening the group make one last final push against the villain of the piece,

Miro manages to hit the bandit king and injures him further.

Vaneer attempts to cast hold person but the staglord’s will proved too strong and he overcame the effects of the spell.

Akiros deals the fatal blow and brings the staglord to his knees just as Bob charges at the falling man, finishing the job.

After taking a brief moment to regain their breath the group soon find themselves at a standoff with the remaining bandits, Otto and Akiros both step forward arms raised and attempt to convince the other bandits to drop their weapons and join with the party.

The discussions are long but eventually the bandits agree to leave in peace and some head to the village of Ravenmoor.  With the bandits now gone the group feel like they can relax for a minute and deal with wounds before looting the fortress of all it spoils.

As the group are looking around the place they discover in the staglords room a trap door with stone stairs leading down into the bowels of the fort and so they decide to make their way down the stairs to see what lies below.

The basement is a very large stone room with a spiral carved into the floor of the chamber.  This also appears to be the bandit groups stash room as there are many items of value for the group to rifle through.  Whilst taking account of the items they had found they suddenly notice a strange looking naked old man standing nearby who threatens the group should they not leave promptly.

Miro, trying to be threatening, mentions to the old man that the group will do to him what they had just done to the staglord upstairs. This of course angers the man who is the staglord’s father (a druid who blamed his son for the death of his wife and so tortured and scarred the lad for many years until the man who would turn into the stag lord grew strong enough to overpower his father, turning the tables and now delivering sound beatings on a regular basis to the man that abused him so many years ago.) and uses a druidic spell to merge with the basement ceiling so that only an stone face could be seen, he then starts throwing out spells at the party, attacking them.

Otto decides to throw a magic missile at the face hitting it square on.

Miro shoots an arrow at the ceiling and manages to hit where the rest of the party fail to.

From the ceiling the strange man summons forth an Earth elemental to battle the group and it just barely misses scoring a hit on Otto.

Natalia creates a magical flame and throws it at the ceiling shouting to the party that if they take out the caster then the elemental should return from where it came from.  In the meantime Bob decides to test the strength of his teeth and bites the elemental to little effect.

Otto casts another magic missile at the face in the ceiling.

Kyrander and Miro also manage to hit the emerged face in the ceiling and the combined effort causes the old man to fall out of the ceiling and strikes the floor dead.  The summoned elemental vanishes into thin air.

Now exhausted from the evenings battles the group decide to close the doors to the fort and set up camp for the night.