Summary of Amulet Team #4: Ssscaly Thingsss
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ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #7--09/07/07

Mysterious Payment:
    Once again the team found themselves in the briefing room with Grif
Calhoun.  He congratulated them on their excellent performance in Baron 
Ironstar's domain.  "You did us proud pulling off a mission like that one!
You're shaping up to be a fine team."
    He informed them that their new client is Baron Justin Melinik.  He
leads a small barony carved out of the wilds in the foothills of Inarv.
His problem is a series of Lizard Man attacks on his barony.  He wants the
threat neutralized.
    The barony is very small, consisting only of the stronghold town of
Leilon and the supporting farmlands around it.  He was at least wise
enough to have a telepad put in, and he gathers revenue from two other
small baronies nearby that use it.  It's a poor barony with no real trade
goods.  The Lizard Men are based in a nearby swamp, Sunder Mere.
    Baron Melinik will be providing a scout and medical supplies.  It's
up to the team to convince the Lizard Men to stay in the swamp and off
his lands.  Each team member will earn 1,000 gp each plus looting rights.
As usual, Alpha-Z will collect a 20% tax on loot.  (Alpha-Z takes a
similar cut of mission wages prior to the number quoted as the mission
reward.)
    The team asked some routine questions about the mission, and Grif
volunteered an interesting bit of information.  Apparently, the Baron was
unable to afford the fee for this mission, but someone else paid the bill.
Rumor is that a fellow Alpha-Z member covered the cost entirely on the
condition that this team was assigned to the mission.  Grif doesn't know
who it is, but finds it really odd.  He was hoping someone on the team
might know.
    Before leaving the briefing, they asked about the creature they brought
back in a barrel from the previous mission.  All Grif knew is that it was
extraplanar, but he didn't look into it himself.

Small Town Life:
    The team made their way to the quartermaster where Grieves
requisitioned four Cure Disease scrolls and two Lesser Restoration scrolls.
Each team member also took two Healing Potions.  They also got hip waders
and bug repellent for swamp travel.
    They met the mage Farn at the telepad, and he cast the spell to take
them into Leilon.  They arrived in an open courtyard supervised by a
couple of bored guards.  Farn them took them up the short main street to
the practice yard where Baron Melinik was leading some militia in arms
practice.
    Justin Melinik is a middle-aged human that founded this barony only 8
years previously.  He has been busy bringing in people and trying to grow it
from a stronghold (which sits in the center of town) into a thriving barony.
So far, it has a wooden palisade around a town of about 3,000 people, set
against a river.  There is a stronghold, a town hall, the telepad, and then
a number of small businesses and households within the walls.  There are
an additional 7,000 people in farms in the surrounding area that look to
Leilon for protection.
    Baron Melinik explained to them that they have had on and off Lizard Man
attacks ever since they settled in, but mostly just raids for food during a
bad season.  About 4 weeks back, though, the attacks became more frequent
and 10 days ago they became brutal.  Both civilians and soldiers died in 
the skirmishes.  The 3 days have been quiet, but he's convinced it will get 
bad again soon.  He wants the fighting ended.  A treaty if possible.  
Complete eradication of the Lizard Men if not.  He suggested that killing 
the Lizard Man king might be enough to shut them down.  The heroes questioned
the Baron, but he held no sympathy for the Lizard Men at all.  He just wants
them out of his way.
    They learned during the exchange that Farn (the teleport mage) is
Justin's brother.  He's proud of the work.  They were then taken to the town
hall to get maps from the mayor.  The mayor, Jenna Candell, helped them out
by providing what maps they had.  She also tried a bit of a sell job to get
them to move to the area and settle down.  Cheap land and opportunity!
Jenna is the daughter of one of Baron Melinik's companions from back when
they used to adventure together.  She takes care of the non-military matters
in Leilon.

Into the Swamp:
    Farn then brought in Joe Haws, a scout familiar with the swamp.  Joe was
assigned to them.
    The team speculated on what might be upsetting the Lizard Men.  They 
checked out the river for possible pollution of the swamp, and talked to 
various people about encroachment on the swamp or harassment of the 
Lizard Men, but found nothing suspicious.  They finally decided they had to
go in and see what they could find out.
    Grieves cast Pass Without Trace on most of the group to avoid leaving
a broad trail that would make them easy to locate, then they made their
way in.  Joe said that he would lead them south to some hills known as 
The Warts, then west to the Mornhaven Towers, which are just a bit north
of the Lizard Man village.
    Joe told them that the Lizard Men are clever and very nearly civilized,
but it was clear that he too thinks of them as lesser creatures.

Hawks and Wasps and Bats, Oh My!:
    While Victor was practicing his stealth skills a little away from the
group, he found himself facing two angry Giant Wasps when he happened upon
their nest.  He tried a Sleep spell with no effect and called for help.
    William tried using a Smoke Stick to calm them while Moose ran to 
Victor's aid.  Joe and Grieves saw two more Wasps approaching and Joe
started shooting his bow at one.  Grieves summoned a Dire Bat for help and
Diggs summoned a Celestial Hawk.
    William cast Rage on Victor and Moose, who in turn fought bravely as 
two more Wasps flew in.  The Hawk provided them some air cover and Diggs 
fired a Magic Missile into the melee.  In the meantime Joe found himself
in combat with a Wasp as well.  Grieves's dog Doc and the Dire Bat joined
this fray while Grieves summoned another Dire Bat.
    William began playing music to Inspire Courage.  Victor continued to
flail at his enemies, but Moose finally found his groove and began by 
knocking one Wasp out of the air and nearly taking out a second one.
Diggs fired another Magic Missile while his Hawk continued assisting the
group and the second Dire Bat moved in.  Joe and Doc worked together to 
take down a Wasp.  Grieves tried to help but ended up dropping his sword 
in the mud when he tried to enter combat.
    Moose and Victor both hit their enemies hard, with William, the second
Dire Bat and the Hawk helping out.  Two more Wasps fell into the muck.
Joe, Doc, and the first Dire Bat took down the second of the Wasps they
were facing.
    As they got down to their last Wasp, Moose lost control of his sword
and sliced open his teammate Victor.  Victor fell with a splash into the
muck, blood going everywhere.  Grieves and William both moved in to help
Victor with healing spells, and then Moose took out the last Wasp.
    The team did took a quick survey and found that they Victor had been
stung 7 times, Moose 3 times, and Joe and Grieves once each.  Grieves
pulled them all aside and used his skills to help counter the venom of
the Wasps, which tends to strike hardest a minute or so after the sting.
Only Joe suffered any real effects from the stings, feeling a little more
clumsy for the next 3 days.

The Circle of Stones:
    Joe continued to lead them through the swamp and they arrived at
The Warts about an hour before sunset.  The Warts are a trio of hills set
so there is a dry valley between them.  The hills rise about 50 feet,
providing both dry land and one of the few spots of visibility in the swamp.
    In the center of the valley, they found six large stones set in a 
circle.  Joe said that he normally avoided the stones.  They bothered him.
Diggs was excited, however, and it took the combined efforts of several of
his friends to hold him back until they scouted the area for obvious danger
and Victor checked for traps.
    Grieves and Joe found lookout positions while Diggs studied the stones.
He found words carved on them.  His language skills led him to believe that
they were in an archaic form of Elven and might be magical in nature.  He
used a Read Magic spell and found that each of the stones had a spell (as
from a spellbook) etched into it.  The six spells were: Magic Circle,
Tongues, Dispel Magic, Dimensional Anchor, Arcane Sight, and Wall of Force.
Since none of these spells were within his current skill level, he was not
sure if the carvings were complete or if any were damaged.
    The group set up camp nearby, but outside the stones.  They discussed
the possible meaning of the stones.  Joe informed them that there is 
another similar set of stones to the northwest of the Mornhaven Towers
(which were due west of their current position) and the team speculated
that there might be a third set out there given the relative position.
    Diggs studied a bit more in the morning and wanted to try a summoning
spell within the circle, but his teammates would not allow it.

First Contact:
    They set off west toward the towers and it wasn't long before they
encountered their first patrol of Lizard Men.  The leader of the patrol
appeared before them and spoke.  William used a Tongues spell so he could
speak on behalf of the party.  The Lizard Man told them to leave now or be
killed.
    William tried to reason with him saying they just wanted to pass through
and it was clear the Lizard Man did not want to negotiate.  Then he tried
challenging to a one-on-one fight between Moose and their best for the right
to pass, but the Lizard Man did not to talk.  Moose stepped forward to put
on a show of his weapon prowess, and Victor used this distraction to sneak
away from the group.  The talking stopped there as Lizard Men appeared all
around the group and charged them with spears, swords, and tridents.
    William used a Daze spell on the leader.  Grieves used Warp Wood on
their spears, rendering them useless.  Moose and Joe began swinging.  Diggs
tried to cast a spell, but it was disrupted.  Victor cast Sleep on a pair
of them from his hiding spot.
    Grieves used Soften Earth to cause two more Lizard Men to sink chest 
deep in mud, while Victor downed another one.  Diggs used Mage Armor to
protect himself, while Moose, William, and Joe fought on.
    Moose finally hit his groove and took down two and injured a third in
one big swing.  Victor took down one.  And Grieves worked with his dog Doc
to take down another one.  Diggs used Magic Missile.
    Moose and Doc finished up the last of them.  William and Victor tied
up the two sleeping ones for later interrogation.  William collected buckles
from all 10 as trophies.
    It was a quick fight, over in seconds with 8 Lizard Men dead and two
prisoners.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #8--09/21/07

Gathering Information:
    The group then huddled to figure out a strategy for questioning the
Lizard Men.  William's Tongues spell was still active so he could talk with
them.  Diggs already knew their language, but they decided not to let on
that Diggs understood in case they could use it to their advantage later.
    William led the questioning.  He learned that there were humans living
in a fort near Mornhaven Towers and that these humans were blamed for 
killing Lizard Men and also for stealing Lizard Men young.  These particular
Lizard Men did not see the theft, but their king, Ssavath, says it happened.
The humans had been there about one moon past and the theft happened about
half that time past.
    William told them that these humans were from a different tribe he
called the "Tower Tribe", not associated with the other humans of the 
"Hill Tribe" outside the swamp.  He said that they were sent by the 
"Hill Tribe" to make the "Tower Tribe" stop.
    William also asked about the towers.  The Lizard Men didn't know much
about the towers except that they were old and sat in the lake.  They said
the lake held a creature worthy of fear and respect.  And that they did not
know of any of the humans going in the lake or using boats on it.
    They decided to try an earn some favor by properly caring for the 8
dead Lizard Men.  They were told that proper death rites include a pyre,
but it was not feasible to get enough dry wood in the swamp here, so they
instead built a cairn to hold the bodies from scavengers until others
could come.  William used a Dancing Lights spell and faked a set of rites
to impress on them that they were honoring the fallen.

An Uneasy Truce:
    The two Lizard Men were led through the swamp with their arms tied in
front but their legs free.  They were linked together and a tow rope was
used to lead them.
    The group marched through the swap westward for nearly two hours before
encountering another Lizard Man patrol.  This time Diggs spoke for the group
because William no longer had his spell active.
    This time the leading Lizard Man seemed a lot sharper than the previous
group.  He ordered them to free his tribe mates.  The group did so, but 
reminded the two that were leaving of their mission to stop the 
"Tower Tribe" and of their attempt to treat the dead properly.  The leader
told them to wait and went off with the two to confer.
    The leader came back and asked their purpose.  Diggs told them that they
wanted safe passage through to the fort.  And he asked about the humans there
and about how dangerous they were.  The leader said there were 4 hands (16)
humans and that more than 5 hands (20) Lizard Men had died fighting there.
The leader agreed to let them through, but they were to travel there along 
the path he pointed them to.  Then the leader backed away.

Plans and Preparations:
    The group followed the path, knowing they were surrounded by Lizard Men.
None of them bothered the group, however, and they made it safely to the
edge of a large clearing.  In the center of the clearing was a wooden fort
about 100 feet by 80 feet in size.  It backed up against a murky lake, in
which the group could see the tops of three stone towers peeking above the
water.  The ground was cleared for 150 feet in all directions around the
fort.
    Grieves took charge at this point, saying that they needed to get into
the fort and take out the humans inside.  He convinced them to wait until
dark before making an assault.  Grieves studied the fort looking for a good
spot to use Warp Wood to make an opening.  Once he was satisfied, he sat 
back to rest and prepare his spells for the coming fight.
    Diggs stepped away from the group and found the same leader Lizard Man
he had talked to before in front of him.  This Lizard Man's name was Tiss.
He told Tiss that his "Hill Tribe" group would be resting until dark before
approaching the fort, then he went back to the others.

The Tower Tribe:
    Once night had fallen, they prepared themselves for the coming fight.
Diggs cast Mage Armor on himself.  Grieves gave out some Goodberries to help
heal up himself, Diggs, and Moose.
    After having time to think on their strategy, they decided to give the 
humans a chance to change their ways before attacking.  They would approach
openly, but not looking hostile and see if they could solve the problem
without bloodshed.  But they had their combat plans in place just in case.
    Moose and Joe carried torches as the group marched toward the gates of
the fort.  William played his music to Inspire Confidence.  As they 
approached, the first thing they heard was "Shut up that music you fools!"
A Dwarf on the fort walls was yelling at them saying he feared that they
would call down all the Lizard Men within a mile on them with that racket.
    Moose did the talking for the team.  He said that they were hired by
Leilon to come here and that the Lizard Men had let them through.  He wanted
to talk to their leader, so the Dwarf called up a human called Captain
Mak'kar to talk with them.
    Moose told Mak'kar that they were hired to come find out what was riling
up the Lizard Men and put a stop to it.  The Lizard Men say that Mak'kar's
group is the problem.  Then Moose asked if they took Lizard Men young.
    Mak'kar informed them that the fort was his.  He claimed it and he was
going to defend it as he sees fit.  They had no right to meddle here.  This
was an allusion to the law of Lantyr, whereby anyone can lay claim to land
in the wilds.  If they can hold the land for a year, it becomes theirs.

Assaulting the Fort:
    Guessing that this was not going to end the way he wanted it to, Grieves
bolted from the group toward the weak spot he identified in the wall.
William used a Ghost Sound spell to make it sound as if a dozen Lizard Men
were coming, and the rest of the group ran off behind Grieves.
    The men on the wall were not sure what to make of this and so they 
hesitated long enough for Grieves to use his Warp Wood to breach the wall.
The team moved inside to find Mak'kar mobilizing his troop in defense.  He
ordered a few men to man the walls and watch for Lizard Men, while the rest
were to take care of the intruders.
    Moose quickly climbed up onto the walls and engaged the men there.  He
fought against 4 men and one lieutenant, taking down three men over the 
course of the fight.
    The rest of the team found themselves bottled in an alleyway behind the
stables.  Mak'kar's men came at them from both sides.  Diggs, Victor, and
William held one end while Grieves and his dog Doc held the other.
    Diggs summoned a Giant Centipede to distract the enemy, then used his
Wand of Web to plant a web over Mak'kar and several of his men.  The web
burned down slowly, however, after some torches in the area set it alight.
In the meantime he was attacked by a Dwarven lieutenant who he fended off 
using a Flaming Sphere and eventually killed him by swinging his dagger at
him.
    Victor used a Sleep spell to down one of the men early on, then he
helped in fighting off the Dwarven lieutenant and in wounding one of the
men.
    William played his music to Inspire Courage early in the battle, then
assisted against the Dwarven lieutenant by using a Daze spell and then a
flash stone.  Then he turned to help Grieves and Doc by casting a Rage
spell on them so they would be tougher in the fight.
    Doc leaped into battle and was constantly engaged with at least two
men.  His efforts kept the back of the team safe and he managed to defeat
one of the lieutenants.
    Grieves used Summon Swarm to send a swarm of spiders into the Web that
Diggs created, causing much pain to several of the enemy and killing one 
of them.  He then tried summoning a Hippogrif, but his spell was disrupted
by the Dwarf.  He then helped out by using healing spells on himself and
on Doc.
    Throughout the fight, Joe was mostly hiding out in the stables, trying
not to get in the way.

The Lizards are Coming!
    The fight looked like it could go either way.  The enemy lost 5 of
their 12 men and 2 of the 4 lieutenants, but our group was running out of 
resources and several were wounded pretty badly.
    The Lizard Men, seeing that Moose had cleared the wall of defenders
decided to take this opportunity to launch their assault.  The last man
on the walls screamed "The Lizards are coming!" and Mak'kar had a choice
to make.  He decided to call for a retreat.  "Fall back" he yelled to his
men.
    The group let Mak'kar's men back off, and then the men moved in a quick,
but practiced way toward the fortified building in the center of the fort.
Victor acted quickly and used his Disguise Self spell to make himself look
like the man he put to sleep earlier and followed along with them.  He got
in just before the lieutenant there shut the door and barred it from the
inside.
    Diggs, William, Grieves, Doc, and Joe started out by following the 
retreating men but realized they were not likely to be invited in... and it
was not likely that the Lizard Men were going to treat them well either.
The Lizard Men might recognize them, but it was more likely they would just
be part of the slaughter when the fort fell.
    The Lizard Men reached the walls at this time.  Scaling ladders went
up and the gates were hammered by a battering ram.  It was only a matter
of time before the Lizard Men were inside the fort.
    Moose was up on the walls at this time and he ran along the walkway up
there toward the back of the keep.  He yelled to his friends to join him.
Perhaps they could get out by going over the back wall?  Moose noticed two
things from his vantage point.  First, that Mak'kar had not gone with the
rest of the men into the fortified building.  He had instead gone into a
shed nearby.  Second, that the lieutenant he had been fighting on the walls
was too slow and didn't make it to the fortified building before it was
locked up.
    Everyone except Victor regrouped on the back wall.  It seemed as if the
Lizard Men would be inside the fort in seconds.  They needed a plan. 

Revelations:
    Victor found himself in the building with 7 men and one lieutenant.  He
was looking forward to what he could learn about the enemy by going with
them on their escape, but he was surprised when the leader ordered them
briskly to get their clothes off!  The others began to quickly shed their
clothes.  The leader finished first, then he closed his eyes and... changed.
Victor found himself looking at a Lizard Man where the lieutenant used to
be.
    Meanwhile, Grieves told his companions that he didn't think the enemy
were human.  As the opponents were fleeing, he noticed that the Dwarven
lieutenant's body didn't look like a Dwarf any more.  It had grayish,
rubbery skin.  The opponents might actually be Doppelgangers!


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #9--10/05/07

Victor Plays Sick:
    Victor started pretending to take his clothes off like the other 
members of the team.  He suggested to the leader that maybe he should
pretend to be human and let the others lead him out as a captive.  That 
way they would have a good reason to leave immediately.  The leader said
that it had been discussed before and they were sticking to the plan as
they had drilled on it before.
    Not knowing what else to do, Victor stripped off most of his clothing
and then pretended to be ill.  A nearby now-Lizard Man grabbed Victor's
shoulders, looked into his eyes, and asked "Why can't I hear you T'Kar?"
Victor said he wasn't sure and that maybe the attacking group did
something to him.  He pretended to concentrate, then exclaimed with
dismay that he also seemed unable to change shape!
    This caused some commotion, but the leader silenced everyone and told
Victor to get his human clothes back on.  They would go with the prisoner
idea.  The leader told Utu (the one that was talking with Victor) to take
responsibility for him.  They would sort it out once they were all clear
of the fort.
    Utu helped tie fake ropes on Victor and showed Victor how to get out
quickly if it came to a fight.  There Victor waited in his shapeshifted
form, looking like the Doppelganger T'Kar.  Then with all in readiness, 
they waited for the Lizard Men to secure the compound before they exited.

Up On the Walls:
    Grieves secured a rope down the back side of the fort for easy use
in escape, and William grabbed a torch from the walls so they would have
some light.  Their first thought was ensuring they had an escape plan.
They would go down the back wall and then make for the forest along the
lake shore.
    The team was shocked at the idea that there might be Doppelgangers
involved.  And they were quite worried for Victor.  They decided to wait
and see if they could talk with the Lizard Men and maybe free Victor.
    As they waited, they realized that if there are indeed Doppelgangers,
that they could change into Lizard Man form and be impossible to spot.
Diggs decided he had to act, so he ran down the wall and leapt onto the
rooftop of the main building in the fort.

A New Reptile Disorder:
    Several Lizard Men scaled the walls and then opened the gate from the
inside.  The courtyard began to fill with them.  They performed an 
orderly search of the compound, checking each building as they came to it,
with intent to kill anyone they encountered.
    The Lizard Man military leader, who they later came to know as Vassi,
stood in the courtyard directing efforts.
    The Doppelganger group exited the main building, bringing Victor out
as a prisoner, which brought some cheers from the Lizard Man troops.  The
Doppelganger leader spoke with Vassi, and Vassi ordered the prisoner
brought out of the fort and held under guard.  Two of the Doppel-Lizards
led Victor out as planned.  In the meantime, several of the other 
Doppel-Lizards made for the smaller building that Moose had seen Mak'kar
go into earlier.
    Seeing Victor being led out, Diggs panicked.  He used a Message spell
on Vassi and said "I'm Diggs the Gnome".  Hearing this, Vassi spun around
unable to see who was speaking to him.  Diggs was in the shadows on one of
the rooftops.  "I don't think they are Lizard Men.  They are Doppelgangers!"
he told Vassi.
    At this time some Lizard Men came out holding some Lizard Man eggs 
from the small building Mak'kar had gone into.  There was cheering as the
Lizard Men were happy to recover their kidnapped young.  Once all the eggs
were brought out, Lizard Men began lighting buildings on fire.
    Diggs continued trying to talk to Vassi.  "Smell them!  They don't smell
right!" he tried, hoping that maybe this would identify the Doppelganger.  
But Vassi wanted to know who was speaking and demanded that the speaker show
himself.  Diggs realized then that the Lizard Man he cast Message on was not 
Tiss, the Lizard Man he had been negotiating with so far.
    During the shouting, the rest of the team on the walls found themselves
at spear point as prisoners in the north-east tower of the fort.  With
none of them knowing Draconic, they had no way to speak for themselves, so
they just waited and hoped Diggs didn't mess it all up.

Will the Real Lizard Man Please Stand Up:
    Diggs then cast Dancing Lights around himself so everyone in the
compound could see him.  He shouted in Draconic (the Lizard Man language),
"Smell them... they are not Lizard Men.  We are still here fighting them.
Search the south-east corner and you'll find a body."
    Tiss recognized Diggs and followed his advice.  Running to that corner
he found a gray-skinned humanoid, which he dragged out for Vassi to see.
At this point, Vassi ordered the Lizard Man troops to line up by unit.  He
also ordered two Lizard Men to bring back the prisoner and guards.  The
two bolted out of the fort.
    It took a few minutes for them to line up.  During this time Vassi
grabbed one Lizard Man that wasn't lining up and yelled at him.  This
Lizard Man didn't instead tried to run out of the fort, a couple of 
soldiers grabbed him and held him for Vassi to talk to.  He tried to 
attack Vassi and so Vassi stuck a spear through him, killing him on the
spot.  Then before the eyes of the assembled Lizard Man army, this false
Lizard Man shifted into a gray-skinned Doppelganger!
    Diggs and the others realized that not all the Doppelgangers could
speak Draconic, and this one died for its lack of knowledge.
    Vassi shouted, find Skarth's squad!
    All sense of order among the Lizard Men fell apart as they accused
each other of being false.

Double Crossing the Double Crossers:
    Victor, Utu, and another Doppel-Lizard made their way out of the fort
while things were calm, but they could hear the fort heating up as they
made their way across the no man's land outside the fort toward the 
forest's edge.
    Utu said, "Keep quiet 'till we make the forest, then we make for the 
rendezvous location.  Got it?"
    Suddenly a couple of Lizard Men came out of the fort yelling for them
to stop and bring back the prisoner.  Utu led them on, pretending not to
hear.
    Victor knew time was running out.  The spell he used to shapechange
into T'Kar was due to run out soon, so he took matters into his own hands.
He set himself loose and then stabbed the Doppel-Lizard, who stepped back
surprised by the betrayal of his friend.  Victor followed this up by 
dropping his shapechange, reverting to his normal human form.  He then used
his magical touch, paralyzing the Doppel-Lizard.
    Utu sliced into Victor with his short sword, then upon seeing Victor
change shape, he bolted for the forest line.
    Ignoring Utu, Victor delivered a killing blow to the paralyzed 
Doppel-Lizard just as the two soldiers came running up.  They were at first
enraged by his killing of one of their kind, then stopped in horror as the
dead being shifted into one of the gray-skinned Doppelgangers!
    Victor surrendered and let them lead him back to the fort, dragging the
dead Doppelganger behind him.

The Eyes Have It:
    Inside the fort, Vassi slowly regained order, getting all the troops
to line up.
    Diggs kept trying ways to identify the Doppelgangers.  He tried 
telling them to use smell, or ask about family history that only a real
tribe member would know.  This latter helped restore some order.  Finally,
he tried on his magical bug-eyed goggles and to his surprise, he could
clearly see a Doppelganger in the ranks!
    Diggs yelled "Get him, he's a Doppelganger!"  The Doppel-Lizard made a
break for it, but was brought down by archers over the gates.  Once again
they were confronted with a gray-skinned foe.
    The Lizard Men were amazed by Diggs's ability to identify the enemy and
with Tiss backing up Diggs's claim to be helping the tribe, Diggs and the
rest of the team were allowed down into the courtyard just as Victor came
back in under guard.
    From this point on, Diggs never took off his goggles.

Scrounging for Information:
    Some buildings in the fort were raging bonfires at this point and it
looked like the whole fort would be burning soon.  The Lizard Men were
ready to retreat.  They got the eggs they came for and at least a few of
their foes.
    Victor asked Diggs to get permission to search the main building before
flame claimed it.  Vassi granted Diggs's request and allowed Victor went 
back into the building under guard.
    Inside, Victor found the discarded human clothing from the team, but
he also found articles from several Lizard Man tribes.  Apparently, the
Doppelgangers had been gathering things to use as disguises.  They could
change shape, but they needed clothing and/or accessories to finish their
disguise.
    He found a room that was clearly a "war room" of some sort.  He grabbed
every piece of paper he could find.  He also found two rings in Mak'kar's
quarters that he pocketed.
    As the Lizard Man army retreated, so did the group.  They found 
themselves back in their same encampment at the forest's edge, watching as
the fires burned.  It wasn't long before exhaustion claimed them and they
fell into a deep slumber.
    Throughout the night, Tiss brought groups of Lizard Men to the camp
and woke Diggs to look at them and verify that they were indeed good.  No
more Doppelgangers turned up.

Mak'kar's Papers:
    In the morning, they sorted through Mak'kar's papers.
    They had what appeared to be an account book kept in a code they 
couldn't easily break.  They guessed, however, that Mak'kar was leading a
mercenary band that started with 25 members and had 17 at last entry.
Doing a little math, they figured there must be 8 more out there plus
Mak'kar.
    They had a copy of a very old map.  It showed three towers in the 
middle of a dry plain.  Around the towers were three sets of structures
arranged in a triangle around them.  They guessed that the map shows the
same towers, back before this area was a swamp.  One of the structures
could be stones they saw at The Warts.  Joe said that he knew of some
ruins near where a second point of the triangle would be, lending some
support to the story.  The third set would be out in the shallow sea that
borders the swamp.
    They had a map of the swamp that was pretty recent.  The map had
annotations on it in various places.  The group noticed that the Lizard Man
village was marked on the map.  From this they guessed that Mak'kar's team
was not aware of the Lizard Men being here before they arrived.  Until this
point, they assumed that Mak'kar was here to cause dissension between the
town and the Lizard Men.  Now there were not so sure.  They were not able
to guess at the meaning of the other annotations.
    They had a sketch of the layout of the Lizard Man village, with key
areas circled.  Unfortunately it didn't include nice markings like "King
lives here" or such on it.

The Amulets That Go Ping!
    While they were studying the papers, they each heard a loud "Ping!"
noise and their amulets went cold briefly.  They knew the "ping" wasn't
really a sound, though.  It's more like something they heard in their head.
    They all leapt to their feet, on guard against attack.  No attack came.
They scanned the clearing.  They scanned the lake.  Nothing.
    Once they felt safe, they started talking.  It seemed that none of the
Lizard Men heard the sound, yet they all did.  And yet it wasn't really a
sound.  What happened?
    One by one they revealed that each of them was wearing an identical
amulet.  Diggs said "This is really freaking me out!"  They briefly 
compared notes and each of them said their amulet was given to them a long
time ago and that it was an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location.
But perhaps it was something more?
    They also shared that the amulet had gone cold on them once before,
back in Thunderdelve when they were near that evil crystal.

Tracking the Fugitives:
    Grieves stopped the chatter by saying that they had to get moving.  The
sooner they get on the trail of the Doppelgangers, the better their chances
of finding them.  So the group packed up camp and set out for the part of
the forest where Victor had seen Utu go.
    When they tried to leave, Tiss showed up and asked where they were
going.  Diggs explained that they needed to hunt the enemy.  Tiss agreed
and brought along six Lizard Man warriors to help.  Tiss intended to stay
near and protect Diggs.
    Grieves summoned his dog Old Blue, and the two of them worked along 
with Joe and Tiss to track Utu west.  After two hours they came to a spot
where 7 sets of tracks converged.  There was a hidden cache of clothing
here.  The Lizard Man gear was stowed and human tracks set off to the
north.  This must be the meeting place Utu had mentioned to Victor.
    Checking their map, there was indeed an 'X' on the map roughly in this
spot.  They saw another mark to the north, so they set off for it.  They
arrived at that spot to find that there were some boats tied up here, but
the boats were gone.  Did the Doppelgangers go across, up, or downstream?
    They made a guess at upstream and set off that way, with Tiss leading
them around obstacles.  They arrived at another marked spot to find the
boats tied up.  Here there was a much larger cache of clothing and 
supplies.  The group pulled everything out and burned it.  They also hid
the oars for the boats.
    The tracks led north, so they kept following them until darkness came
and the tracks were just too hard to follow.  But using the map they
guessed that the Doppelgangers must be making for the second set of stones.
With this goal in mind, Tiss led the way in the darkness through the swamp.

Shots from the Grassy Knoll:
    When they got close, the group approached cautiously.  Tiss told them
the stones stood on a small hill in a clearing.  Given the moonlight, it
should be possible to see okay in the clearing, but it was terrible in the
swampy forest.  A couple of his warriors were in the lead, when suddenly 
they sprouted arrows and fell to the ground.  The battle was underway.
    Grieves ran out into the clearing and cast Faerie Fire on one of the
Doppelgangers so it could not hide by changing shapes or hide in the 
darkness.  The Doppelgangers responded by peppering Grieves will arrows
from the hilltop, disrupting his attempt to summon a creature for help.
His dog, Doc, ran forward and engaged one of the Doppelgangers in a brutal
fight that killed one of them.
    Diggs cast Bull Strength on Moose and William cast Rage on Moose.  Moose
then yelled his battle cry to activate his sword's movement bonus and 
charged one of the Doppelgangers, killing it in one powerful blow.  Moose 
continued to move quickly among the enemy, never missing with a single blow
and dispatching two others while barely sustaining any damage.
    Tiss led the remaining four Lizard Men into battle.  The four fell
quickly to the enemy's archers, but Tiss made it forward to engage one of
the Doppelgangers.
    William used his music to Inspire Courage in his team through the
first half of the fight, then shifted to providing healing to Grieves and
Joe later in the fight, as well as helping Grieves and Tiss in combat.
    Victor leapt forward and cast Sleep on one Doppelganger, then killed it
in its sleep.
    Diggs found himself alone in the forest as his companions charged into
the combat.  He wasn't alone long.  One of the Doppelgangers engaged with
him, nearly killing him before he was able to get help from Victor.  Once
Victor distracted it, Diggs used a Flaming Sphere to hurt it, then drank
a healing potion.  Between the two of them, they finished it off, then 
went to help with the end of the battle on the hilltop.
    The last Doppelganger standing was fighting with Joe on the hilltop.
Joe fell to the ground with fatal wounds.  Doc tripped the Doppelganger,
making it fall to the ground and Moose sat on it in his heavy armor to
keep it in place while the others disarmed it.  They tied it up and held
it prisoner under guard while William healed Joe.
    Silence descended on the grassy hilltop.  Seven Doppelgangers were
dead.  The one known as Utu was not here.  He must have broken off from
the main group at some point without them noticing.  Utu and Mak'kar
were still on the loose.
    

ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #10--10/19/07

Questioning the Prisoner:
    They searched the bodies of the dead Doppelgangers and found only the
human clothing and minimal survival equipment on them.  They obviously
fled the fort without much.  They searched around and did not find any 
other stash of supplies in the area of the ruins.
    Tiss did death rites for his six companions while Grieves's dog Doc
walked the perimeter of the clearing on watch.
    Most of the team bedded down for the night, but Victor and Moose
stayed up to question the prisoner, who they learned was named Ryll.
Ryll was hogtied and under watch.  They learned that he worked for Mak'kar,
but Ryll refused to say who Mak'kar worked for.  That's Mak'kar's business.
When he wouldn't answer questions, they threatened to throw him into the
fire and even dragged him to the edge of it, but then didn't.
    Along the way, Ryll asked them questions, such as "How is it you are
so quiet?"  They noticed Ryll studying the still awake Joe, then Ryll
began to laugh about how little they knew.  Diggs, who was also not yet
asleep noticed this and quickly moved Joe and Tiss away from the prisoner.
This was where they surmised that the Doppelganger could read minds, but
not their minds.  Their amulets protect them.  Joe and Tiss, however, had
no such protection and would give things away.
    Victor then threatened to really hurt Ryll, and actually cut him some
with a knife.  Ryll shifted from being a big man to being a much smaller
woman, and neatly rolled out of being tied up.  She might have gotten away
if Victor's paralyzing touch hadn't brought him up short (and woken 
everyone up with the stench).
    They decided to give up on the questioning for the night and tied Ryll
up extra tight in the smaller form.  They kept good watch until morning.

The Long March:
    In the morning, they discussed what to do next.  Should they go back 
to warn the Lizard Men that the Doppelgangers can read minds, so the 
tactic of asking a question to verify identity was doomed to failure?  They
could also warn the Lizard Men of the two remaining enemies on the loose?
    In the end they decided that the town of Leilon and Baron Melinik
needed to be warned most.  They also needed to know if the town had been
infiltrated by the Doppelgangers.
    They stripped Ryll down, knowing that Doppelgangers could not make
clothing.  So if she got loose, they would know her from one of the real
party members.  They also tried cutting some of her hair and found out
that it reverted to a gray substance once cut.  They found another way to
identify a Doppelganger!
    Grieves summoned his horse and they tied Ryll onto the horse.  Then
they made their way across the swamp to Leilon.
    Along the way Tiss and Diggs began teaching William, Victor, Grieves,
and Moose the Draconic language.  They all decided that it was important to
know.  It was the start of the language training, which would continue
throughout their stay in the swamp.
    At the edge of the swamp they split up.  Tiss, Victor, and William
stayed behind.  Moose, Grieves, Diggs, Joe, and Ryll went on into town.

Meeting with the Baron:
    As they approached town, Grieves through a cloak over Ryll so no one
would see the bound up woman on horseback.  That would be difficult to
explain.  Moose told Ryll not to even think of making a fuss.  In addition,
he told Ryll to either shift to grayskin form or go into town unconscious.
Ryll complied and reverted to grayskin form under the cloak.
    As they came into town and everywhere they went, Diggs was scanning
for Doppelgangers using his goggles.  They were afraid that anyone could
be one, but were pleased by the end to have not seen any.  There was no
sign of an infestation of them in Leilon.
    They brought Ryll to Baron Melinik.  The Baron questioned Ryll and
learned that he was part of "Mak'kar's Raiders" mercenary company.  He
got no other useful information.
    Grieves explained to the Baron what had happened.  They found these
Doppelgangers in the swamp pretending to be a group of humans setting up
a new barony.  They stole eggs from the Lizard Men, which is why there
was so much fighting.  Grieves claimed that things would be calm now that
the Doppelgangers were dealt with and the eggs returned.  He said that
they needed to go back into the swamp, however, to tie up some loose
ends and figure out what Mak'kar was really up to.
    Ryll claimed that the Lizard Man army was already on its way, which
set the townsfolk there on edge.  Grieves called him a liar.
    Grieves cast Faerie Fire on Ryll so he couldn't pretend to be anyone
else and then handed him off to some guards to have Ryll locked up.  They
warned the Baron that Ryll can likely read minds, so it will be difficult
to question him or to hold him using any sort of password system.  The
Baron says he's up to the task.
    After Ryll is led off, they talk to the Baron and his brother Farn.
The town doesn't have access to magic like Diggs's goggles so they will
have to try the hair technique of identification.  They left Mak'kar's
mercenary account book with Farn to get it decoded and see what they can
learn from it.  They also asked Farn to learn what he can about Mak'kar's
Raiders.
    Grieves then explains to the Baron that he believes peace can be made
with the Lizard Men.  The Baron scoffed at that, but Grieves laid out a
convincing case of how dangerous it is to have a foe on the border that
can be stirred up against you.  An ally (kept at arm's length, of course)
can instead take the casualties if any incursion occurs.  The Baron seemed
to think it was worth considering.
    Grieves told Farn that he should check regularly at a given spot for
an Animal Messenger that may arrive with a note.  He gave an elven code
phrase to prove it was a real message.

The Ping Tolls Twice:
    During the discussion with the Baron, each of the group members (both
in town and in the swap) received a second "ping" event.  This time there 
were two chimes and they seemed more urgent than the first time.  Once 
again the amulets went cold briefly.
    This set each of them on edge, because they did not know what it meant,
but they finished up their discussions with the Baron quickly following
that and made their way back to the swamp.

The Longer March:
    It was near the end of the day when they met up again, tired from two
solid days of trudging through the swamp.  When they got together, they
decided that there was a real chance of a Lizard Man army being on the
move and that they needed to get back to the Lizard Man village as
quickly as possible.
    Tiss led them on a grueling forced march through the swamp.  They went
on a more direct route than Joe knew, but they marched at night, which 
made it harder.  They arrived at the area of the fort shortly after 
midnight to find that the Lizard Men were not raising an army.  Ryll had
lied.
    They settled into their old camp spot once again and slept through the
night and well into the morning.

Origin Stories Told:
    During the march, they discussed what they knew of the amulets.  Each
of them had their Identified as an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and
Location.  This meant the wearer is very difficult to detect with "Detect"
spells (such as Detect Thoughts which is commonly called E.S.P.) or
scrying spells such as Locate Object and Clairvoyance.  A fairly useless
item in most people's lives.
    Grieves received his from Erik Ash.  Erik took Grieves in after the
destruction of his home and death of his family.  He put Grieves back on
his feet and gave the amulet as a gift.
    Moose received his from Walt Daric.  Walt was a wealthy man who hired
Moose on for bodyguard duty when Moose was out of money and not sure what
to do with his life.  He got his first glimpses of the upper class life
this way.  Walt gave him the amulet as a "thank you" after saving Walt's
life one time.
    Victor received his from Saric Alton.  Saric spent time at a crossroads
tavern and told stories while he played Chess with Victor.  Victor learned
much from Saric and this set his mind to making something different of his
life than what his family had in mind for him.
    Diggs received his from Ash Walters.  Ash was a human working at an
archaeological site deep in Gnomish territory.  Ash's tales of the broader
world inspired Diggs to take his magical studies seriously and to go out
seeking deeper education into the arcane than he could find at home.
    William received his from Derek Walsh.  William always loved music, but
could not find the training he needed.  Derek acted as patron, providing
funds necessary to train in his music.  In return Derek asked William to
collect old stories and lore.  When Derek disappeared on day, he left a
note saying that he would one day return for those stories.
    Each of them had a turning point in their life influenced by the giver
of the amulet.  Comparing descriptions, they think it may have been the
same person in all cases going under different names.  But they are not
sure.  Time blurs memories a little.
    Victor said "it's very odd that we're all on the same team."
    Grieves retorted that "it would explain how you got in."
    They all agreed that it was unlikely to be coincidence.  Someone had a
hand in this, but it's not clear how much of their lives had been scripted
by someone else.
    As for the purpose of the amulets, they had no idea.  Moose ventured
that since they protect from scrying, that the "ping" must be a warning
that a scry attempt was made.  No one could disagree with this, but some
thought it didn't feel right.  Who would be scrying on them.  Victor said
that they need to track down whoever paid for the mission and see if they
can learn more from that person.

Shaman Diggs:
    Once they were rested, Tiss collected a squad of warriors to escort
them into the village.  On the route in they were stopped several times by
patrols that checked using either passwords or village knowledge to see if
they were Doppelgangers or not.  They decided not to inform the Lizard Men
warriors that the Doppelgangers can read minds.
    They were met at the village by a Lizard Man with formal tribal body
paint.  Tiss introduced them to Shaman Ssij.  With Ssij were his two
apprentices.  Ssij greeted Shaman Diggs, who returned the greeting.  Diggs
informed Ssij that they had wiped out all but 2 of the Doppelganger in 
their hunt.
    Before the conversation could go further, a large Lizard Man in a
warrior's headdress stomped up to the group, obviously a bit agitated.
General Vassi ignored Ssij's presence and addressed Diggs with "Welcome 
little one to my village."  Diggs warned Vassi of the two remaining
Doppelgangers.  Vassi spoke proudly that he has arranged proper defenses
and patrols.  Indeed it looked as if the whole area were under martial
law.  It was also clear that Vassi enjoyed the power this gave him.
    Vassi then told Captain Tiss to return to his duties.  Tiss nodded a
goodbye to the group and left.

Inspection:
    Diggs asked to inspect the village to see if any Doppelgangers were
there.  Vassi agreed and insisted on escorting Shaman Diggs himself.  When
the rest of the group tried to follow, he scowled.  He didn't want them
along.  When Diggs insisted, he allowed the others to follow 50 feet back.
It was clear that he didn't care at all for mammals and only put up with
Diggs because he had to.
    They toured through the village, looking in homes and storehouses.
Diggs found no Doppelgangers and no suspicious activity.  He complimented
Vassi on doing a good job with the defenses.  He also talked glowingly of
Tiss's abilities.
    About halfway through the tour, they were stopped by a procession in
front of them.  King Ssavath himself came out to greet Shaman Diggs.  Ssij
was there and the group got the impression that Ssij informed the king of
them being here.
    King Ssavath was intrigued by the small mammal with the bug eyes and
asked how the world looked through such eyes.  Vassi explained that he was
further securing the town by walking Shaman Diggs around.  Diggs 
complimented Vassi's work to the king.  It was a short meeting that ended
with the king inviting Shaman Diggs to dine with him that evening.  Diggs
accepted and the king left with Ssij following.
    After meeting the king Diggs asked Vassi how things would change once
the grayskins were gone.  Would the war on humans be over.  Vassi said he
didn't feel the war with humans would be over at all.  The war had been
in effect since the humans arrived and would not end until the humans left.
The grayskins pretending to be humans in the fort were a threat, but they
were not the cause of, nor will they be the end of the war.  When Diggs
proposed the concept of peace with the humans, Vassi laughed.
    During the tour, Victor caught Vassi looking at him several times.  It
made Victor uneasy.

Analyzing the Situation:
    They finished the inspection and Vassi escorted them to a hut where
they could stay.  Warriors were positioned outside to keep them safe (and
also watched).  The inspection had found no Doppelgangers or anything else
suspicious.  And it was good to see that none of the leadership of the
village was compromised.
    The map of the village they got from Mak'kar's place was very well
done.  The areas marked on it included the king's hut, Vassi's, and Ssij's,
as well as where the barracks were and the place where the eggs were
guarded.
    They decided that the Doppelgangers must not be trying to stir up
trouble at all.  Otherwise, they would have done more to the leadership of
either Leilon or the Lizard Man village.
    They also discussed the balance of power in the village between Vassi,
Ssij, and Ssavath.  Vassi was quite strong right now due the Doppelganger
situation, and Vassi was not interested in peace.  To get a lasting peace
between Leilon and the Lizard Men, they would need to weaken Vassi's
position.  The idea of having Tiss promoted to Vassi's position definitely
had some appeal if they could arrange it somehow.

Dining with the King:
    Shaman Diggs's dinner with King Ssavath was awkward in some ways.
Neither knew how the other ate or what manners and formality applied, but
they made their way through it without many major offense to either side.
    Diggs asked of the possibility of peace with the "hill tribe" of
humans in Leilon.  The king explained that there could not be peace 
without a blood price being paid.  And that the price would not be his
to set, but would be set by the council of leaders.  The council consists
of the king, general, and shaman.
    Diggs talked positively of Captain Tiss's bravery and skills.  He
refrained from complimenting Vassi at all.  He asked to have Tiss assigned
to them to 

Meeting with Ssij:
    During the dinner Ssij came to the hut where the others were staying.
Since their Draconic was still very poor, William used a Tongues spell in
order to speak with Ssij properly.
    Ssij swapped information in the form of stories with them.  They told
him of their adventures and learnings and he shared of some things they
wanted to know.
    He told the story of the lake guardian.  Through it, they learned that
the beast is a Catoblepas.  Grieves was not pleased to learn this.  The
Lizard Men honor the beast as a guardian with offerings at festival time.
Ssij thinks that once the current situation is over that a special 
offering may be made.  The beast must have been disturbed by the battles
and fire.  Grieves asked if maybe the offering could be sooner, thinking
that they could use the offering as a distraction so they could row out
to the towers.  Ssij said it would not happen that way.
    Ssij told the story of shapeshifters once before coming to the lands
of the Lizard Men.  There were 11 of them (3 hands minus one), a very
unlucky number.  They caused much suffering to the tribe before the
shamans cornered them at the stone circle to the north and destroyed them
with lightning from the sky.  This is why the second circle of stones is
in ruins.  This apparently happened many generations ago.
    They asked him about possible peace with the "hill tribe" and he said 
that peace would not happen as long as the Doppelganger threat was around.
Even after that, a blood price would be required.  Restitution for the
many wrongs done.
    When they were done, William asked to swap songs.  Ssij assigned his
apprentice Evis to spend some time with William later.

Comparing Notes:
    When the whole group was back together, they compared notes and 
considered what they should do.
    They decided that the war was like a feud.  An ongoing dislike fueled
by misunderstanding and a stack of small wrongdoings by both sides.
Perhaps the "blood price" need not be blood, but could be something
prestigious or valuable.

Exploring the Fort:
    Tiss arrived to greet them in the morning.  The king ordered Vassi to
make Tiss available to them for the hunt.  The group was also to get free
access in the village instead of requiring guards all the time.  Their
station had risen, but Vassi was not happy about it.
    They decided to go to the fort and investigate to see if they could
learn anything more of what Mak'kar's Raiders were doing here.
    When they arrived, they saw that the majority of the buildings were
burned down.  The walls stills stood in most places, but there were holes
burned through in others.  One building seemed barely damaged, though.
It was the small building where Mak'kar had gone in and the eggs had come
out.  They went to it and found that it had no windows and only one door.
Surprisingly, the door was locked... from the inside!
    Victor pulled out some small tools he keeps handy and went to work on
the door.  He managed to unbolt the door from the outside.
    Inside they found a 10 by 20 room with a well and some barrels of ale
being kept cool.  Curiously, the walls were stone on the inside even 
though the outside was paneled in wood to look like the other buildings
in the fort.  The stone looked very old.
    A tapestry hung on one wall.  They pulled it aside and found behind it
a small chamber.  In the chamber, hovering in the air was a doorway sized
black rectangle.  But where did the doorway go?


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #11--11/02/07

Third Time's a Charm:
    They decided to check if the rectangle was dangerous.  William stuck
his staff through and pulled it back out, undamaged.  They were discussing
whether to try sending an animal through when something happened.
    "Ping! Ping! Ping!" came the sound that was not a sound, the urgency
in it terribly clear.  And once again the amulets went briefly cold.
    They went on guard, but nothing else happened.  Moose explained that
he thinks this means they are being scryed upon.  The amulets protect
against that and warn them of it.  But since Joe and Tiss are with them
and are unprotected, perhaps whoever did it can see them and knows they
are at the black doorway!
    Victor decided to act and went through the door.  The others followed
suit, leaving Tiss and Joe behind to guard the way out.  They didn't 
know where it went, but it appeared time to act.

The Tower Chambers:
    They arrived in a sitting room within one of the three towers.  There
were chairs and small tables set up here along with some food supplies.
They found recent muddy boot prints on the ground, making it clear this
area had been used recently.  Likely by Mak'kar.
    Diggs used Prestidigitation to clean everyone's boots so they would not
leave new trails that might give them away.  Grieves used a Longstrider
spell on himself to increase his movement.
    There were no threats, so Moose went back to let Joe and Tiss know
they were safe and in one of the towers.
    They chose one of the two doors leaving the room and after checking
for traps and listening, they moved through it into a grand entry hall.
The hall was decorated for greeting people with a large chandelier and a
grand stairway going up.  The one thing missing was a set of doors.  Where
the doors should be there was a solid stone wall.
    They chose not to go up and instead went to the door across the hall.
Once again they checked for traps and listened before entering.  Inside
they found a room that was set up as a bedroom, with a bed, end tables,
sofa, and wardrobe.  Just inside the door was a dirty floor rug.  The
muddy boot tracks ended there.  Whoever was here wiped off their boots
before continuing.
    They searched the room thoroughly looking for clues.  William picked
up an oil lamp from the bedside table that worked without oil.  A small
but useful magic.
    The others didn't find anything, except for Victor.  He found trouble.

Under the Cloak of Darkness:
    Inside the wardrobe, Victor was searching when he got bit by something.
He stepped back and out came a living cloak, hovering in the air.  It
emitted a terrible moaning wail that set Grieves and Diggs to throwing up
with terrible nausea.  Then it flew out and attacked Victor.
    Doc and Moose ran over to help, but by the time they got there, it had
wrapped itself around Victor's torso and head and was busy munching on
him.  Victor was unable to free himself.
    Moose tried to attack the cloak, but with Victor flailing about he
instead got victor in the legs, barely even touching the Cloaker.  Victor
fell down and went still as the Cloaker continued to much on him.
    By this time Diggs and Grieves recovered themselves.  Diggs used a
Magic Missile on the Cloaker, killing it.  Then Grieves ran up and healed
victor of his serious wounds from both the Cloaker and Moose's missed
attack.

A Cold Premonition:
    While Victor was recovering, Grieves listened at the next door and
then Moose opened it, revealing a large bathroom with a ceramic tub full
of water and a wood stove.
    This was the first door they hadn't checked for traps, and on opening
it Moose heard something funny.  Shortly after he opened it, they all
heard a whispered voice of warning.
    "IT IS FREE!"
    Their amulets went terribly cold and stayed that way.
    Moose closed the door and they backed up carefully to the portal
room, not knowing what else to do.  The amulets stayed color.  William
went back through the portal briefly and the amulet stopped being so cold,
then he came back into the tower and it went cold again.  Whatever was
causing the effect was in the tower with them.
    They moved forward cautiously back through the entryway and bedroom
to the bathroom door.  This time Victor examined it carefully and found
that a simple trap had been rigged to the door to string on through to
another door out of the bathroom.
    They all moved into the bathroom, ready for a fight.  The bathroom
seemed harmless, except for the tub.  The water inside it was moving and
likely had some sort of water elemental in it.  Victor examined the next 
door and then opened it, revealing a 10 by 20 space with a ladder going 
down.  Inside was a set of bells rigged to ring when someone opened the 
outer bathroom door.  If someone was here, they got notified when Moose 
opened the other door.

A Hopeless Fight:
    Victor crept in and looked down the ladder.  It went down about 20 feet
and below he could see a room lit with a bluish glow.  At the base of the
ladder was a work desk with a book, some papers, and a backpack set on it.
    Victor went out and then William and Moose went in.  William was
preparing to use Mage Hand to get the book when a figure moved into view
and looked up at him with its penetrating red eyes.  It radiated evil.
Grieves dropped a smoke stick down on it.
    William jumped back as it raced up the ladder with superhuman speed,
stopping at the top to study the two of them.  For the first time they
found themselves facing a Demon.  It was man sized, but deformed and with
reddish skin, long sharp claws, and a huge mouth filled with razor sharp
teeth.  It looked like a living killing machine.
    Moose stepped forward and attacked with all his might, scoring a 
solid hit and yet only scratching his opponent.  The Demon responded with
a brutal set of attacks that left Moose reeling.  Grieves retreated into
the bathroom and began a summoning spell.  Seeing Moose nearly downed from
a single set of attacks, William yelled to the others that a Demon was 
loose, then he used Expeditious Retreat and fled as fast as he could.
    Victor and Diggs lost their nerve as well, fleeing back toward the
portal.  Diggs used Expeditious Retreat as well to speed his movement.
    Moose did an orderly withdrawal and Grieves summoned a Crocodile to
block the doorway.  The two of them found themselves alone against this
terrible opponent and Grieves yelled "He doesn't have to defeat us if we
defeat ourselves first."  The strength of the team lies in its unity and
they were falling apart already.
    The Demon leapt over the Crocodile, ignoring its useless attempts to
hurt it, and raked Moose again with its powerful claws.  Moose and Grieves
retreated to join their fellows in the grand entry hall.

Regrouped:
    They considered simply running away.  It looked like they could not
hurt it without being prepared, but then they realized that the Demon 
would be loose and doing untold damage to the Lizard Men and people of
the area.  Hopeless as it might be, they had to try and fight it.
    They then formed a killing box around the door from the bedroom.
    The Demon advanced cautiously and they used the brief interlude for
Moose to drink a healing potion, Grieves to heal him, and for William to 
cast Rage on Moose and Victor.  Then darkness fell over them all as the
Demon used its natural ability over the whole area.  In the dimness they
could see the its red eyes looking at them.
    Diggs summoned a Giant Scorpion and the Crocodile also came into the
bedroom, but neither did anything to harm the Demon.  Grieves used Faerie
Fire to try and light the Demon up, but it resisted the spell and only
the Scorpion was lit up.  William tried a Confusion spell, but it resisted
that as well.
    It then began playing with them.  It darted forward and attacked
Grieves, nimbly moving back out of their attack range again and into the
bedroom, leaving Grieves very wounded.  They were surprised by its speed
but adapted quickly.  They readied themselves for its next move and William
healed Grieves.
    This time when the Demon came forward, Diggs used his Wand of Web to
fill the room behind it, leaving it no option to retreat.  Grieves and
Doc aided Moose.  Moose and Victor both attacked their opponent with their
most deadly attacks... and both of them missed.  Unharmed, it hit Grieves
again, nearly downing him.
    Unable to toy with them any further, the Demon let loose its fury
upon them.  It was clear to the Demon that Grieves was the one inspiring
and organizing the opposition.  In one move it felled Grieves, then it 
began looking for the next opponent to take down.  Moose and Victor failed
to hit it once again, even with the aid of Doc.
    Things were looking very grim.  They lost their healer, were running
out of spells, and their weapons were unable to hit it or hurt it.

Light At the End of the Tunnel:
    William pulled Grieves away from the Demon and administered a healing
potion to bring him to.  As he did so, he noticed a bluish light coming
from under Grieves's chest armor.  As Grieves came to, he noticed it as
well.  Not knowing what else to do, Grieves struggled to his feet and
pulled his amulet out.
    The amulet flashed blue and then a beam of light connected it with the
Demon.  This got the Demon's full attention.  Grieves wasn't sure if this
was a good thing or a bad thing.
    The rest of the team acted quickly, each of them giving up the attack
and instead merely defending themselves as they pulled out their amulets
one by one.
    As each amulet came out, it flashed and then connected a beam of light
to the Demon, and to each other already lit up amulet.  When the fourth
amulet came out, the Demon became immobile and began cursing at them.
When the fifth one came out, it became encased in a bluish glow and stopped
moving entirely.

Investigation:
    The sudden end to the fight left them both surprised and elated.  But
now what?
    They guessed that there must be some way to trap the Demon down the
ladder somewhere, but someone had to investigate.  That meant one person
with an amulet leaving.  Victor tried taking off his amulet.  The beam of
light from it stopped and the Demon was one again able to talk but 
immobile.  Victor tried putting the amulet on Doc, but it didn't work.
The decided not to involve Joe or Tiss.  The Demon seemed in check, so
Victor was going to go ahead and check on things.
    He set fire to the Webs in the bedroom, which burned quickly, damaging
everything inside.  Then he set off for the bathroom.  When he got there,
he found himself facing Mak'kar, who was just as surprised to see Victor as
Victor was to see him.  Mak'kar was sure the Demon would take them out,
and the group had completely forgotten about Mak'kar.
    Victor got in the first move and used his special touch power to 
paralyze Mak'kar before Mak'kar could attack.  Then he delivered a killing
blow to the paralyzed man, who fell to the ground and died.  He did not
revert to a Doppelganger form.  Mak'kar himself was not a Doppelganger.
    Being upset with everything, Victor dragged Mak'kar over to the tub and
pushed the body in.  The water elementals in the tub went to work attacking
Mak'kar's body.
    Victor then made his way cautiously down the ladder.  What he found at
the bottom was a 100' diameter circular room with a dim cylinder of light 
in the center.  Surrounding that was a circle of sand on the ground.  
Around that was a shallow depression about 8" deep that was damp.  And
around that was a circular groove in the ground.  No one was here, but the
work desk remained with notes and drawings of the room.

Where's the Key?
    Victor went back up to his friends and informed them of Mak'kar's
demise.  Now just Utu remained on the loose.  The fact that Mak'kar wasn't
a Doppelganger was surprising to them.
    Victor pulled out his amulet and with five beams on the Demon they were
able to move it.  It was annoying to do, but they moved it through the
rooms and down the ladder to the warding room.
    Here they had to wait while Diggs studied the papers there to find out
what happened to release the Demon and how to re-imprison it.  They waited
more than an hour for Diggs to get the information they needed.
    The outer groove is where a Wall of Force was.  It was opened by saying
"Liberatus Infernum" once each hour for 5 hours.  It can be relocked by
saying "I cage thee" three times.
    The shallow moat is supposed to be filled with moving water.  Mak'kar 
built a scaffold to block the water feed hole in the ceiling.  He did not
block the drain, so the water had drained out.  Restoring the water should
lock it.
    Next was a black marble circle inlaid with golden spell runes.  One of
the repeated runs included the exact some one each of them had on their
amulets.  Mak'kar unlocked this by spreading a purified sand over the 
entire surface.  Purifying the sand was done by washing it thoroughly.
    And finally, the center was locked by a key.  Removing the key would
release the prisoner.  The key wasn't there.

Locking the Prison:
    Their first guess was that Mak'kar must have it, but his body was in
the tub with some nasty water elementals.  Diggs rejoined the amulet circle
and Moose left it.  Grieves cast Speak With Animals and told Doc to go 
with Moose and to perform his "drag to safety" trick on Mak'kar's body 
while Moose distracted the elementals.
    So Moose went up with Doc and engaged the elementals for long enough 
for Doc to pull Mak'kar's body out.  Then the two retreated and the
elementals stayed in their tub.  On Mak'kar's body was a metal circle with
a glowing blue gemstone on it.  Moose brought it back down.
    The five of them maneuvered the Demon into the center with their
amulets, and then William used Mage Hand to put the key into the base of
the pillar.  The blue light in the center flared and the amulet beams shut
off.  The Demon was held now, but could still speak.
    They then set to work carefully removing every bit of sand from the
black marble circle.  They swept it into the moat.  When they finished,
the Demon could no longer speak.
    Then Moose ripped down the scaffolding so the water would flow again.
It slowly began to fill up.
    And finally Diggs said the incantation to re-enable to Wall of Force,
locking the Demon up tight.

Resting:
    They deemed the tower an unsafe place to rest, so they made their way
back through the portal and into the Fort.  Diggs brought along all the
notes from the warding room.  Moose brought Mak'kar's body to give to the
Lizard Men.
    Joe asked what the voice meant when it said "It is free"?  Grieves said
there's all kinds of weird and dangerous things going on in there, and left
it at that.  No one wanted to share information on the existence of the
Demon at this time.  Instead he told the story of the Cloaker.
    They made their way out to their now-familiar camp and settled in after
another day of taking a serious beating and using every resource they had
at their disposal.
    They found a +1 Longsword and +2 Chain Mail Shirt on Mak'kar.  His
other personal belongings must be elsewhere.
    While everyone tried resting, Diggs campaigned to convince them that
the towers were an important archaeological find that must be explored
fully.  They need to stay focused on it.  Everyone tuned him out after a
while.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #12--11/16/07

Towering Decisions:
    Before letting everyone rest, Victor insisted on discussing the tower.
He said that like it or not, they were now the guardians of the tower.
They have a responsibility.  There was general agreement that the tower
(and the Demon trapped within) were dangerous and needed protection.
    Grieves pointed out that the best solution was to help Tiss get into a
position of power so as to protect the area.  By doing that, they could
address the mission and protect the tower.  It was the logical course of
action.
    William felt they should do the right thing for the Lizard Men.  This
meant achieving peace with the town and protecting the tower.
    Diggs wanted the tower to explore and study, but he found himself 
caring deeply about the Lizard Men who revered him so much.  He felt a
certain amount of responsibility for them as a result.
    Moose argued that everyone was being too "goodie goodie" and they 
should just finish the mission and get out of the slimy swamp so they could
get paid.
    The long term future of the tower was not something they could decide
at that time, however.  What they could decide on is what to do next.
Everyone wanted to go back into the tower to see what they could find, but
they also felt it was important to let the Lizard Men know that Mak'kar
was defeated.  They decided to send Tiss ahead with the body and word of
their success.
    Diggs explained to Tiss that they wanted him to take Mak'kar's body to
the village and explain that Mak'kar and his raiders were now defeated.
Only one more remains on the loose.  They hoped that Tiss would gain 
stature from this, but Tiss told them that he wouldn't take credit for 
their incredible accomplishment.  He would carry the message.
    The group feared that Tiss might become a target, so they warned him
to be extra careful.  Victor gave half of his potion of Gaseous Form to
Tiss.  Diggs explained that if Tiss ever got into terrible danger that
he should drink the potion and escape.  Tiss was a little confused, but
accepted the truth of Shaman Diggs's instructions.
    Tiss left with a trusted squad of Lizard Men that evening for the 
village.  The others bedded down and rested through the night.

Treasure in the Closet:
    In the morning, they had Joe guard the doorway as they went back into
the tower.
    They passed through the entry room and found a dining room.  
Everything in it had been smashed.  It looked like someone ripped the room
apart in a rage, and it looked like it happened recently.
    The next room was a large kitchen.  This room looked to be in good 
order, with utensils hanging and such.  But there was also nothing of value.
    The next room was the servant's quarters.  It was a spartan room, with
a spilled sack of flour in the center of the floor.  Moose pulled out his
sword and advanced on the sack saying "Give us your treasure and I'll let
you live!" in a mocking voice.  To his surprise the flour sack formed into
a small creature that struck out at him.  It didn't manage to hurt him,
however, before his huge sword destroyed the sack, sending a cloud of
flour everywhere.  Diggs used his Prestidigitation spell to clean up.
    The final room on the floor was the linen closet.  This is where
Mak'kar had hidden his cash box for the mercenary troop.  Victor found a
trap on the lock, and Diggs disarmed it.  Inside they found 87 PP, 324 GP,
6 pearls (50gp each), and 5 amethysts (100gp each).  In addition, they
found 8 bottles of preserved exotic oils (100gp each) on shelves in the
closet.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #13--11/30/07

Searching the Tower:
    They then went up the stairs to the second floor.  Here they found a
space for performing music, with seats set up for listening, and some old,
tarnished instruments left sitting there.  Diggs found the marks of several
craftsmen on the instruments so he could investigate them later.
    They also found a laboratory.  It looked as if this room had been 
sifted through thoroughly before they arrived, and they found nothing of
value.
    Next, was a library.  The library had hundreds of books, but it also
had many blank spaces on the shelves.  The books appeared to be about 1000
years old and well preserved.  The tomes that were left were not of
particular value or interest.
    The next three floors going up were quarters for people long gone.
Every room was completely empty.
    The top floor was situated under the pointy roof of the tower and had
the inside of the roof was the ceiling.  There were some bats living inside
that got in through a hole in the roof.  Moose used a grappling hook and a
rope to hook into the hole, then Victor climbed up and found that they were
in the tower closest to the fort.
    They discussed the geography of the area.  There were 3 towers and
three stone circles out there, and they appeared to be aligned.  They found
one entry to this tower.  Perhaps there might be similar entrances for the
other two towers?
    Having spent all day searching the tower, they spent the night in the
library.  Diggs scanned through many books and happened on a Scroll of 
Dispel Magic.  He pocketed it without telling the others of his find.

Trouble with Tiss:
    In the morning, they left the tower with the treasure.  When they came
out, 3 Lizard Men approached Diggs and told him that Tiss had been 
arrested for murder of Shaman Ssij's apprentice, Evis.  There were
eyewitnesses to the crime.  Tiss denies it, but has no one to confirm
where he really was.  The trial is to be today at noon!
    The group quickly decided that they had to save Tiss, so they loaded
up and made for the village as quickly as they could.
    As they approached the village, they were stopped by Ssena and a troop
of Lizard Men.  Ssena, Tiss, and Wissa were Vassi's three captains.  Ssena
said that he was ordered by Vassi to take them to the village under guard 
for their safety.  The group was not happy with this, but followed anyway.
They were led to a hut on the edge of the village and told to wait there.
A guard was posted.
    From the commotion outside, it sounded like the trial might be started
and the group wanted to be there.  Grieves used an Animal Messenger spell
and had a rat carry a message to King Ssavath telling him they were here.
Diggs tried ordering one of the guards to take him to the trial, but the
guard said he couldn't.
    A few minutes later, Ssij's apprentice Kassa showed up and escorted
them out to the trial.

Trial at High Noon:
    As they were brought out, Diggs cast Detect Magic so he could notice
any spells and was on the lookout for the Doppelganger.  He didn't find
any sign of either.
    They arrived in the center of the village to find around 200 Lizard
Men standing in a circle.  Near the center was Tiss.  At the head were
three chairs, holding King Ssavath, Shaman Ssij, and Protector Vassi.  The
group was led to stand within the circle, not far from Tiss.
    Vassi explained that Tiss was charged with murder of Evis.  He brought
forth a witness that said he saw Tiss enter the hut where Evis was, then
come back out without his weapon.  Another witness explained how he found
Evis's body in that hut with Tiss's weapon stuck through him.
    Vassi then told the crowd that while Tiss had been an upstanding
member of the village, that much had changed recently.  Tiss has been
spending time with the mammals and has become corrupted by them.  He said
that Mr. Diggs had been claiming much and accomplishing nothing except
corrupting their ways.
    Vassi called forth another witness.  This Lizard Man was one of the
guards sent to get Victor after he was led out of the fort.  He told the
crowd how he saw Victor change shape.  Vassi informed everyone that this
supposed hunter of shapeshifters had a shapeshifter in his own team!  How
could anyone doing such be anything other than evil!
    Diggs spoke up at this point saying that he indeed had a shapeshifter
in his team, but that it was necessary in order to hunt the evil ones.
Vassi smiled at this and accepted the admission of guilt by Diggs into
the record of the trial.  Victor was really unhappy with how Diggs handled
that.
    Vassi stepped down as prosecutor.  His case against Tiss was solid.

Winning Over the Crowd:
    Tiss was given a chance to speak.  Tiss simply said that he was 
innocent of this crime.  He would not hurt the well loved Evis, or any other
member of the tribe.  Tiss talked of the challenges facing the village and
how many suffered before the arrival of Shaman Diggs and his team.  
Shaman Diggs's team destroyed the nest of shapeshifters, and hunted them 
down throughout the swamp.  They were great heroes and friends of the 
Lizard Men.  Think poorly of him if you must, but believe in these heroes.
    Diggs was given a chance to speak.  He tried putting together a logical
case for what had happened, explaining the timeline of events since his
team arrived and trying to build on this.  But it wasn't sounding
convincing.  He then simply said that a shapeshifter framed Tiss.  The
shapeshifters gain by having the town turn against those best set to defend
it.  Tiss as a hero is the natural target of the enemy.  This whole trial
is achieving the ends of the enemy.
    Then Diggs realized that they were in the circle too and asked if they
too were on trial.  Vassi smiled and nodded.  Things were suddenly a little
more complicated.
    With both sides having spoken, the three member of the council each got
to speak.  King Ssavath told the people to choose wisely, for the future of
the village may rest on their choice.  Shaman Ssij said that he did not
believe that Tiss would murder his apprentice and that perhaps there was an
enemy among them.  Protector Vassi reiterated his claim that Tiss had been
corrupted by the mammals.  All of them are guilty, especially the 
shapeshifter among them!
    At this point the crowd was given the chance to vote.  The fear that
ruled the village for weeks and the strong words from Vassi had many 
villagers convinced.  But others knew Tiss and valued Ssij's advice.  The
crowd was not coming to a quick decision.
    In this void, Moose started a chant... Tiss... Tiss... Tiss!  And
William began to play the song that Evis had taught him earlier.  Hearing
the song tipped the crowd's mood and the vote came up "innocent" from the
people!

Verdicts:
    The king stepped forth and proclaimed the decision of the crowd.
Vassi stated that the evidence was strong and that Tiss should be held in
custody.  The king agreed to hold Tiss for now.
    Vassi then started in on his case against Mr. Diggs and team, but the
king cut him off.  The king stated that the shapeshifter must be found so
that the people are safe.  He turned to Diggs and asked him what he needed
to find the shapeshifter.  Diggs said that he needed to see everyone, so
the king proclaimed that every member of the village be recalled for a
meeting at sunset so that Shaman Diggs could ensure that no shapeshifter
was among them.  The king then proclaimed that Diggs and his team were
given then authority to hunt the shapeshifter.
    Vassi was furious and left the circle.
    Some guards game out to take Tiss into custody.  Grieves cast Speak
with Animals then gave his dog Doc orders to guard Tiss.  Doc then went
to Tiss's side and watched over him as he left.
    The team was then taken back to their hut.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #14--12/14/07

Motivations:
    In the hut, the team tried to figure out what is going on.  Why is Utu
still here at all?  Why didn't he just cut and run?
    Moose said that perhaps Utu was lying in wait here, then when Tiss
arrived with Mak'kar's body and word that all the others were dead, that
Utu struck out in a rage.  And that being a Doppelganger, he would not
simply attack his foe, but instead try to destroy him by framing him for
a murder.
    Grieves wondered yet again if there might be something more to the plan
than freeing the Demon.  Perhaps they were here to destabilize the region,
and the Demon would simply do it faster.  That Utu would continue the
mission of messing things up.
    Then again, perhaps Utu had already left.

Utu, Brute? (with apologies to Shakespeare for butchering his line)
    As they were talking, Vassi came to the hut with a squad of soldiers.
He stopped outside and ordered Mr. Diggs to come out and speak with him.
Moose stood in the doorway and told Vassi to call him Shaman Diggs or to
go away.  Vassi was not happy, but then said that he needed to speak to
Shaman Diggs on a matter of village security.
    Diggs came out to find himself mere feet away from Utu in the form of
Vassi.  Diggs did not tell his companions it was Utu just yet.  Even so,
Grieves mobilized everyone inside the hut for combat.  If something
happened here, he wanted everyone ready.
    Vassi/Utu told Diggs that he had just visited Shaman Ssij and was here
to get the papers that shapeshifter Victor took from the building in the
fort.  He said that if the papers were not handed over that something very
bad could happen to the village.  He would deliver the papers to the Shaman
himself.
    Diggs refused to hand over the papers, but said that he could deliver
them himself.  Vassi/Utu snarled, but said that it might be possible to
come to a satisfactory result that way.
    Not knowing what else to do and feeling like the negotiation was
failing, Diggs simply said "Utu, no matter what, you are not getting your
hands on the papers!".  Hearing this, Grieves cast Faerie Fire on Vassi/Utu,
painting him and four other Lizard Man guards with glowing flame-like light.
    Vassi/Utu screamed that he was under attack and the Lizard Man soldiers
moved in to protect him.  Moose charged out of the tent and tried to break
through the soldiers without hurting them badly, but failed to do so.  They
attacked him back in self defense.  Diggs cast a Magic Missile at Vassi/Utu.
William played music to Inspire Courage.
    Victor used Alter Self to change himself into Vassi and stepped out,
ordering the others to arrest the false Vassi... but Victor messed up the
shape badly and it was simply confusing to the Lizard Men, so he dropped 
the disguise.  In the meantime, Vassi/Utu was running as fast as he could
to get away, all the while shouting that the mammals were attacking the
village.
    Grieves finished summoning a Hippogrif, which appeared above the Lizard
Man soldiers and caused them to scatter, which made room for Moose to get
through.  Moose used the power of his sword to speed up his movement and
charged after Vassi/Utu.  Diggs cast Expeditious Retreat on himself, 
similarly boosting his movement and also ran after Vassi/Utu.  Grieves then
climbed onto the Hippogrif to use it as a mount to track Vassi/Utu from the
air.  Victor simply ran.
    Vassi/Utu quickly figured out that he could not outrun the group and
that as long as he was marked with Faerie Fire, changing shape would not
hide him.  So he tried to rally some Lizard Man soldier to follow him and
he charged back at the team, with his focus on Victor.
    Vassi/Utu crashed into Victor, inflicting a terrible wound, but he soon
found himself trapped between Moose and Victor and receiving punishing 
wounds from both of them.  On top of this Diggs cast a Flaming Sphere and
placed it next to him.  Vassi/Utu pulled out a small dagger and stabbed
Victor, saying that he would have his revenge!  The poison on the dagger
ran through Victor's veins, but before he fell he buried his sword to the
hilt through Vassi/Utu's heart.  Victor's body hit the ground a few seconds
after Vassi/Utu's.

Ding, Dong, the Shifter Is Dead:
    During the fight, the Lizard Men of the village were not sure what to
do.  The original group of soldiers started by defending Vassi, but when
the town found Shaman Diggs and Protector Vassi in a fight, they were not
sure what to do, so they held off.
    Shortly after he died, Vassi/Utu's form changed to its natural 
gray-skinned form in front of dozens of witnesses.
    The Flaming Sphere had set a nearby hut on fire, so some Lizard Men were
occupied putting out the fire.  Others were sent by Diggs to find 
Shaman Ssij and to check on Vassi.  Ssij arrived shortly to see the scene.
He then ordered that Tiss be set free.  Tiss arrived and spit on Utu's
corpse.  Then he bowed to Shaman Diggs and thanked him.  Diggs bowed back
and thanked Tiss.
    A Lizard Man came back from Vassi's hut saying that he found Vassi's
dead body there along with Captain Wissa's belongings.  The group reasoned
that Utu must have killed Wissa and used that disguise to get close to Vassi.
Whether Vassi knew it or not, Utu was likely feeding Vassi misinformation 
and additional hatred of the team.
    Grieves tried suggesting that the village needed a new Protector, but
when King Ssavath arrived he said that would be decided in council.  The
king then asked if Diggs still needed everyone to assemble to be viewed.
Diggs said "no, tonight we celebrate".  (Cue the Ewok celebration music.)
    And they did.

Protectors and Guardians:
    The next day, a funeral was held for Protector Vassi.  Following that
Ssij led a memorial service for all those lost in the battle against the
shapeshifters.  Nearly one fourth of the villagers died in the past weeks.
    Grieves used an Animal Messenger spell to send a note to Farn in Leilon
that all was well in the swamp and that they would return within a few days.
    That evening Diggs met with the king.  He asked about peace with the
humans of the Hill Tribe.  The king felt that peace was possible now that
the shapeshifter threat was ended, but the town would need to decide on
the blood price.
    Diggs then explained to the king about the tower being accessible 
through the fort, and that it is very dangerous.  Diggs asked if he could
be granted guardianship of the fort so as to protect the Lizard Men from
its dangers.  The king said he would think about it.
    The following day there was a town council meeting.
    The first order of business was to select a new Protector.  The 
villagers elected Tiss to that role.  Tiss stepped up and took a position
on the council with Ssavath and Ssij.
    Next they discussed peace with the Hill Tribe humans.  Ssavath gave the
villagers five days to make their claim for a portion of the blood price to
be asked in return for peace.
    And finally, the king said they needed a guardian for the fort because
it is dangerous, and that Shaman Diggs had volunteered to take this duty.
Some of the villagers were not happy with this.  They worried that the
mammals would re-fortify it and use it against them again some day.  Diggs
explained that it would be rebuilt, but so the dangers couldn't get out,
and that the Lizard Men would be welcome to patrol around it and that the
council would be informed of any changes.  The villagers were not happy
with this, so in the end the king gave them conditional guardianship until
the council decides otherwise.
    That concluded the public council.
    Then in private, Diggs met with Ssavath, Ssij, and Tiss.  Diggs
explained everything that Tiss knew already, but not much more.  He left
out the contents of the tower, the Demon, and the amulets.  His goal was to
come across as truthful and not withholding information, and it worked
well.

The Missing Shapeshifter:
    The next morning, the group set off for Leilon on foot.  Tiss stayed
behind and Joe acted as guide to get them out.  They arrived late in the
day.
    The first thing they learned is that the Doppelganger Ryll escaped.
Apparently one of the guards fell asleep and a passing townsperson heard
his fiance's voice inside.  He went in to find her crying and so he took
the guard's keys and let her out.  She conked him on the head and he was
found there in the cell.  It took a while for him to convince anyone that
he wasn't the Doppelganger.  By then the real Doppelganger was long gone.
    The Baron was furious with the outcome and not pleased to admit the
failure of his prison to hold Ryll.

The Log Book:
    They met up with Farn, the Baron's brother and town mage, to find out
what he had learned from Mak'kar's log book.  Farn had a friend in another
city (though the teleport pad) break the code, so he had more information.
He confirmed what the group already suspected about the number of members
of the group and that all except Mak'kar were Doppelgangers.  He also had
their current money balance, which exactly matched what the team found in
the strongbox in the tower.
    Digging deeper, her learned that the current mission for Mak'kar's
Raiders was to release Ta'Zi'Nor from imprisonment, whoever that might be.
The team knew this was likely the Demon's name but didn't share this with
Farn.  Mak'kar was hired by someone he simply referred to as The Queen in
his log book.  Looking through it, it appears that she has hired him in
the past for other special missions.  No other information on her is 
available.
    Looking at some of the other missions showed that Mak'kar led a really
brutal team.  He was sent on assassinations, to ruin baronies, to recover
objects, to do kidnappings, and more.  It looked like his general way of
operating was to generate a huge amount of chaos in the area his team
operated in, committing numerous other atrocities to cover up his actual
goals and whether or not they were actually accomplished.  Having a team
of Doppelgangers made that a lot easier.

Steps Toward Peace:
    Grieves talked with Baron Melinik about peace with the Lizard Men.  He
said that the swamp was now cleaned out of Doppelgangers and that the
Lizard Men understand that it was humans (and elves and gnomes) that saved
their village.  The Lizard Men are ready for peace.
    Grieves pointed out that the few attacks by Lizard Men were really
attempts to get food, and that perhaps by giving the savages some hoes and
some livestock, the Lizard Men would both think good of them and have a
more stable food supply so as to not need to bother the town.
    The Baron looked doubtful, but Joe inserted his opinion that he 
believes the Lizard Men are actually quite civilized and capable of holding
the peace.  That they were mostly striking out of need and self defense.
    Grieves added that there may be additional possibilities of trade, and
that the military advantages of an alliance with a couple of hundred Lizard
Men had its own reward.  Grieves also asked about the possibility of 
getting a water trade route open through the swamp.
    The Baron thought the arguments were good and so he assigned Mayor
Jenna Candell to work with Joe, Grieves, and Diggs to hammer out treaty.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #15--12/28/07

Sealing the Deal:
    Moose suggested that the team should try not to stay out of the way of
the treaty process and only provide advice.  Everyone agreed that the peace
would last longer if it was built by those involved in it.
    Over the next two days, a plan was hammered out in Leilon.  Then Joe and
the team traveled to the Lizard Man village.  The King had collected the
desired "blood price" information, and it was pretty close to what the Baron
was ready to accept.  
    The only troublesome bit was the issue of where the border was.  Jenna
felt it should be the river that goes from Leilon to the sea.  The river
would be neutral.  That would be unambiguous and clear.  She didn't think
the Lizard Men would understand survey markers.  The Lizard Men didn't want
to give up that much swampland.  And Diggs didn't want to see the second
set of stones end up on the human side, so they worked out a plan with Joe
and the council to mark the edge of the territory on trees for now until
more permanent markers could be placed.
    While in the area, 
    Then they went back to town and waited while Jenna and the Baron reviewed
terms, and Joe made another round trip to the village to finalize things.
    Finally, there was a treaty signing and "blood price" gift giving at the
hills called The Warts.  Everything went smoothly.

Sealing the Tower:
    While the initial set of negotiations was underway, Victor had Farn
teleport him to Owari where he got some supplies and a Scroll of Arcane Lock.
He returned in time to make the trip to the village.
    While at the village, the Diggs used the scroll to lock the door to the
building that housed the doorway to the tower.  This way, no one could get
in.  Grieves put a Fire Trap on the door as well.  They also put up signs 
indicating danger.
    This was not as strong a defense as they wanted to put in place, but it
was all they could manage at the time.

Debriefing:
    There was a lot of discussion about how much of the adventure to share
with Alpha-Z headquarters during the debriefing.  If something was to be left
out, they all should do it.
    There was total agreement that the amulets should not be mentioned at
all in their reports.  Whether or not the demon should be mentioned was not
so clear.  Some people even wanted to omit mentioning that they got in the
tower, but that was felt to be too big of a lie to stand up under scrutiny.
    Some people thought they should omit key things from the report, but
provide the information verbally to the highest ranking person they could.
An off-the-record report.  Some thought they should hold this off and 
specifically say they would report extra details only to the person who paid
for the mission to try and smoke that person out.
    In the end, they agreed to tell the whole story, omitting mention of
the amulets and editing the fight in the tower with the demon to make that
into the fight with Mak'kar.  The demon was not to be directly mentioned,
but a nameless danger still residing in the tower might be.
    When they returned to Alpha-Z and did their individual debriefings, 
everyone stuck to the story... at least as far as each of them knew.

The Spoils of Victory:
    The team collected the following loot during the adventure: 2,359gp in
coins, gems, and bottled oils; a +1 longsword (1000gp value); a +2 chain
mail shirt (2000gp value); and a magical oil lamp (20gp value).  This is
a net value of 5,379gp.  Alpha-Z takes a 20% cut on loot, which means they
took 1,076gp.  The remaining 4,303gp belonged to the group.
    The team used up 3 healing potions and 1 scroll of lesser restoration,
totaling 300gp in expenses.  They were to get 1,000gp each in reward, so
a total of 4,700gp was given to them by Alpha-Z.
    The 9003gp were divided evenly with 1,800gp each.  William took the lamp
and +2 chain mail shirt (putting back 220gp in coin).  Grieves took the 
sword plus 800gp in coin.  Everyone else got coin.
    Of the non-cash items, Grieves took the old map of the towers and the
sketched map of the swamp that they got from the Doppelgangers.  Victor kept
Mak'kar's notebook.  And Diggs kept the notes on how to free the demon.
Diggs plans to memorize them, then destroy them so they can't be used.
Victor threatened Diggs that he better destroy them afterwards, or else.

Training Up:
    There was a note waiting for Grieves when the team arrived back from
Leilon.  It said "Meet me at the Bilge Pump by the docs at 9pm on ____.  
I have answers."  It was signed "J.M." and the date was about 3 weeks out.
    The team spent the next 3 weeks in training at Alpha-Z, and wondering
who this "J.M." was.
    During this time, Grieves purchased a +1 Buckler to improve his AC and a
Collar of Obedience to help him with training animals.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Other

Adventure Timeline:
    Here is the timeline for events in this adventure.

 -28 days : Mak'kar's Raiders move into the Fort
 -25 days : Lizard Man attacks start
 -11 days : Lizard Man eggs stolen by Mak'kar
 -10 days : Lizard Man attacks get really rough on the town
  -3 days : Attacks quiet down
   0 days : The team arrives in Leilon, gets briefed, and goes to the Warts
  +1 day  : Fight then befriend Lizard Men, then attack the Fort
  +2 days : First Ping ; Hunt the Doppelgangers in the swamp
  +3 days : Take Ryll to Leilon ; Second Ping ; Forced march to the Fort
  +4 days : Go to the Lizard Man village and talk
  +5 days : Go into the Fort and Tower ; Fight the Demon ; Send Tiss to town
  +6 days : Loot the tower
  +7 days : Hurry to Tiss's Trial ; Defeat Utu
  +8 days : Funeral and memorial in village
  +9 days : Council selects Tiss and grants guardianship of Tower
 +10 days : March to Leilon, get information, and start negotiations
 +12 days : March to village, to continue negotiations
 +14 days : March to Leilon, to continue negotiations
 +20 days : Treaty is signed at the Warts
 +21 days : Return to Owari for debriefing
 +22 days : Start training


Dramatis Personae:
  HUMANS
  Farn Melinik   : Baron's brother.  Mage.  Runs the telepad.
  Jenna Candell  : Mayor of Leilon.  Daughter of Aron, Justin's co-adventurer.
  Joe Haws       : Swamp tracker that adventured with the group.
  Justin Melinik : Baron.  Former adventurer.

  LIZARD MEN
  Evis     : Apprentice Shaman.  Killed by Utu.
  Kassa    : Apprentice Shaman.
  Skarth   : Leader of a squad that was replaced by the Doppelgangers.
  Ssavath  : Village King.
  Ssena    : Captain.
  Ssij     : Village Shaman.
  Tiss     : Village Protector.  Former captain.  Friend of the team.
  Vassi    : Former village Protector.  Killed by Utu.
  Wissa    : Captain.  Killed by Utu.

  MAK'KAR's RAIDERS:
  Mak'Kar   : Leader.  Only human among them.
  Ryll      : Captured by the team but escaped.
  Ta'Zi'Nor : The captive demon.
  T'Kar     : The Doppelganger that Victor impersonated.
  Utu       : Last of them to fall.
  (Others)  : Some other names include Boz, Cayla, Dunn, and Flox