Here is the second part of the ninth edition of the D&D Game Summary.
Please refer to the earlier editions for character backgrounds and other
exploits.  


Summary of "NorCal Campaign" Part 9B
------------------------------------

This adventure was based on the adventure "Deception Pass" that
appeared in Dungeon Magazine issue 23.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #35--03/10/95

The Word on the Street: (Mar 4, 698)
    The group collected a lot of odd pieces of information about the pass
before they left:
  - A firebreathing dragon attacks people who use the pass.
  - A hermit lives in the pass.  He comes to town every now and then.  In 
    fact he was here just a few weeks ago.
  - A religious cult lives in the pass.  They are strange but harmless.
  - The pass is rarely travelled.  The elves shut it down.
  - Wolves, gnolls and hobgoblins live in the pass.
  - The pass itself is narrow and was forged when Hastenzi's fire crashed
    down upon Forseti's anvil.

    Spike also got some information from Jacinth.  She tried to persuade him
not to use the pass because it is dangerous.  In fact she's worried about
her human friend Nevra, who entered the pass about 6 months ago to make
a delivery.  Spike was told:
  - The pass is bad for dwarves.  There are signs of a failed dwarven
    presense in the area.
  - It is very dangerous.  Shape-changers and demi-gods live in the pass.
  - The weather in the mountains can be unpredictable.
  - It's so bad that the White Riders are told to avoid it.

Let's Take the High Road: (Mar 6, 698)
    The group set out in good spirits on the wagon to head up into the
Mountains of Gesh.  As the trip started, Furnes took up a new practice
of casting Sacred Guardian once a day on a different member of the party.
Since the spell lasts 6 days, he could always have on in effect on each
of his 6 companions.  Spike also got the group to pack all-weather clothing
for possible cold and snow in the mountains.
    The first two days of travel were nice, but on second night the group 
was attacked by a band of 8 Gnolls.  The watch heard the Gnolls coming and
the Gnolls did almost no damage before they were wiped out.  The most 
interesting part is that this was the first time Alreli was involved in
combat and she showed herself to be an excellent shot with her bow.
    On the third day they began their climb into the mountains.

The Great Pass: (Mar 10, 698)
    Early on the fourth day the group reached the entrace of the Pass.
The pass through the first of the Gesh ranges passes through a crevasse
split into the very mountains themselves.  
    At the entrance to the crevasse they came across a huge gate.  Each of 
the two gates were 35 feet tall and spanned half of the 70 foot wide 
entrance to the pass.  The gates were set up to slide into the walls of the 
crevasse (rather than swinging inward).  At this time, the gates were
partially open so that a space about 30 feet wide was between them.  On
inspection they noted that the gates were frozen open from long disuse.
    Spike was curious about the construction since it seemed dwarven, but
they had heard no word of dwarves in this area.  He found that the gates
were indeed dwarven made and were dedicated the the dwarven hero Oron
Sheltac.  Spike had not heard of him.
    Once inside the gates, they noted that the first couple hundred feet
of the crevasse was _very_ defensible.  There were dozens of positions, 
many of which could not even be seen when travelling from the mouth of
the crevasse.
    They encountered no one during their first day of travel.
    The crevasse ranged from 30 to 50 feet wide and from 100 to 350 feet 
deep.  It headed almost due south.  The floor of the pass was fairly level 
and looked worn as if used for many centuries as a road... but it also was 
in poor repair as if it had not been used in many years.

Summit with a Hermit: (Mar 11, 698)
    Early on their second day in the pass, they came upon a set of stairs
climbing up the west face of the pass.  Spike, Studedly, and Melody climbed
the 120 feet to the top of the stairs to see where they went.  The others
stayed to guard the wagon.
    At the top they found a clearing with a spring.  They also noted that
the area looked cared for, since it was not overgrown and stones lined the
walkways.  A path led west into the mountains.
    Spike led the group along the path for about an hour before they came
to a small valley.  In the valley they found a cottage and some cultivated
land.  They peered into the cottage and no one was home.  
    The hermit was around, however, he was just watching them to see what
their intentions were.  Once it became clear that they were not looking for
a fight, the hermit came out and introduced himself as Histellwyn.  He
invited them in and offered some food.  Melody and Studedly snacked a
little, but Spike stayed away from the food.
    They asked him questions and told him news from Vinyard.  In particular,
they discovered that the hermit had not been to town in almost 9 months.
Also, he told them that he once knew dwarves in the pass but had not seen
them in 10 years or more.  Now there were giants living in the pass and 
there is a half-elf that works with them.  They should be very careful if 
they decide to move through the pass.
    The three party members then travelled back to the group, relayed their
information and then stayed the night in the pass.
    The next day the group passed by some natural caves but found them to
be empty.

A Bolt from the Blue: (Mar 13, 698)
    Around mid day on their fourth day int he pass, the group came to a
halt when a one-eyed giant appeared on the cliff overhead.  He demanded
3000 gp ransom if the group wanted to pass.  Otherwise he and his friends
would destroy them.
    The group only thought for a second before yelling, "Yeah?  You and
what army?".  The cyclops growled, "You asked for it" and disappeared.
    At this point the group looked up to see a medium sized dragon coming
in on an attack vector.  Galen dove under the cart, Melody and Furnes hid
behind the cart.  Rhodan, Alreli and Spike ran to the eastern cliff face.
Studedly ran to the west.  The dragon breathed lightning down upon the 
cart, cooking the horses and shattering the cart into a million pieces.
All three of the people at the cart were badly hurt.  Galen made for the
eastern wall, while Melody helped Furnes go to the west.
    Then two cyclopses appeared flying overhead.  One dropped a large rock 
on Furnes, which took him down.  The other tried to drop one on Spike and 
missed.  A third cyclops appeared and shot two crossbow bolts at Galen.
    Melody acted quickly and used a high power Cone of Cold scroll to blow
one of the flying cyclopses (whose name was later dicovered to be Inko) 
out of the sky.  Spike used his crossbow to shoot at one of the others.  
Alreli and Studedly also were using their bows.  Galen attempted to use 
Dispel Magic to knock one of the cyclopses from the sky, but the attempt 
failed.
    Two of the cyclopses disappeared and then one appeared overhead and used
a magic missile to take out Melody.  Another appeared and used its wand
to create a sphere of darkness over Alreli, Rhodan and Galen.  Studedly ran 
and poured healing potions down Furnes' and Melody's throats.  Spike 
continued to look for targets to shoot at.
    About this time the dragon was returning.  Studedly made for a place to
hide and a cyclops dropped a small fireball on him from on top of the cliff.
The others also made to hide, but this time the dragon did not breathe 
lightning, it breathed a repulsion gas that filled Alreli, Galen and Rhodan
with an intense fear.  The three of them began to run back up the pass
the way the group had come.
    Melody was prepared for the dragon this time and used a high level
scroll of Hold Monster on the dragon as it flew by!  The dragon dropped
out of the air and crashed hard on the ground.  Spike attacked it with his
axe doing a lot of damage and Studedly used his bow.
    The cyclopses provided some cover fire for the dragon and allowed it
to escape once it came to.  Then the dragon flew off and the cyclopses
disappeared.
    Studedly ran after Alreli, Galen and Rhodan to bring them back to the
group.  Furnes realized that these creatures were probably more than just
cyclopses.  He thought they might be Ogre Magi and so he had them burn the
body of the one Melody shot down.  The whole group was wounded and a bit
stunned by the incredible battle.

Moving On: (Mar 13, 698)
    Figuring that they had no defensible position in the crevasse, the group
pushed forward and were rewarded a mile later by the pass opening up into
a valley 3/4 mile wide and 2 miles long.  The valley was covered in sparse
vegetation (i.e. nothing big enough to really hide in), and showed signs
of once being cultivated.
    On the east wall of the valley they saw a fortress with two towers set
into the cliff face.  On the west wall they saw signs of mining.  While
some of the group set up camp along the base of the cliff a few hundred 
yards into the valley, Spike, Studdedly and Rhodan scouted ahead along the
road through the middle of the valley.  They did their best to remain 
unseen but the valley offered little in the way of vegetation to hide
behind.
    They did not find anyone, but they did find a pair of rails that 
appeared to run from the mines to the fortress.  Rhodan spotted dwarven
footprints alongside the tracks, and Spike noted that the rails had been
used recently.  They returned to camp for the night.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #36--03/24/95

Tag, You're It: (Mar 14, 698)
    The next morning the group moved together towards the mines.  Since
they found signs of dwarves in the area, they wanted to see if they could
enlist their aid.  They approached the mines carefully.  
    There were three large entrances to the mines and the tracks, obviously
for ore carts entered all three.  The group chose to move into the first
one.  Once they were all inside, an Ogre Magi (named Ondako) appeared and 
blasted them with a cone of cold.  Alreli and Studedly were dropped by the 
blast.  Galen and Melody followed up with some quick Magic Missiles, and 
Rhodan charged the Magi, but the Ogre Magi disappeared before he could make 
contact with his sword.  The Magi did not return, and so the group healed 
up then moved into the mines with a lot more caution.
    What they did not know, but suspected, is that the Magi returned to
warn his companions.
    All three of the mine entrances went 80 feet into the cliff and then
into a large cavern.  A lot of ore carts (some full and some empty) were
in the room.  Many tunnels could be seen leaving the room.
    Spike did some exploring with Studedly's help and they found an unused
store room to settle into.  The party made camp there, and stayed put for
two nights.

Digging Up Information: (Mar 16, 698)
    After the first night, Spike and Studedly went out to track down the 
dwarves that must inhabit the mines.  After a couple of hours of work, 
they found the tunnel which seemed to be currently in use and followed it 
until they could hear the signs of mining activity.
    Spike was just about to walk in and introduce himself to the dwarves
when something struck him as not being right about the situation...
the dwarves were not singing!  [DM's note: Noticing this one without being
promted got the play of the night award]  He backed off and had Studedly
sneak up and peek into the room instead.
    Studedly saw 5 dwarves mining away with a single elf sitting on an ore 
cart watching over them.  The elf was wearing leather armor, but not any 
obvious weapons.  Still, the elf looked dangerous.  Also, when one of the
dwarves began to humm as he worked the elf silenced him, saying that 
dwarven songs were poor excuses for music.
    They moved back and filled in the rest of the party members on what
happened.

Hey, Nobody's Home: (Mar 16, 698)
    After the second night in the mines, the group plotted their attack on
the elf.  Galen cast Invisibility on himself and the others set up to
support the attack.  But when they got to the right tunnel, the dwarves
were not there.
    This was something of a let down, so the group made their way back to
the main cavern.  It was there that they first heard the dwarves coming
into the mines.  They all quickly made for cover.  Furnes cast a Prayer
spell.
    The five dwarves came in with an empty ore cart and pushed it over to
where Melody was hiding (behind the 3 full mine carts).  The elf overseer
was loitering by the mine entrance and ordering the dwarves to be quick 
about it.
    Galen started the fight with a Magic Missile to the elf, who quickly
reverted to an Ogre Magi (named Zuska).  Spike and Rhodan charged the Magi
with weapons drawn.  Melody jumped up and called the dwarves to cover,
but instead of being friendly three of them grabbed clubs and attacked
her!  After scrambling backwards, she used a Sleep spell to put them
down.
    The fight with the Magi was pretty rough.  The Magi was hit by both
Spike and Rhodan but also managed to hit them with a cone of cold.  
Melody tried a Color Spray to no effect.  Alreli and Studedly were trying
to pelt him with arrows, and it was Studedly's shot which dropped the  
Magi from the air.  Furnes burnt the body.

The Story So Far: (Mar 16, 698)
    The group tied up the dwarves and when the dwarves awoke the group 
discovered that 3 of the 5 were still loyal to Zuska, and they were quite 
pissed to find out that the party killed their friend.  One of the other 
two was the leader of the small group and told them that a charm spell was 
used on the others.
    Galen used a Dispel Magic to remove the effects of the charm.  The 
dwarves were a lot more friendly after that, so they untied them.  They
also got the story of what has been happening here in the valley.
    The five dwarves were named Nexer (male leader), Kelar (male), Akar 
(male), Gerod (male), and Folera (female).  There were 3 others dwarves
still being held by the other Ogre Magi: Palen (male), Dwayner (male) and
Chela (female).  Nexer revealed his great worry for Chela because she was
the heir to the Sheltac clan and he was currently her guardian and last
retainer to the clan.
    Going back in time a bit, the Sheltac clan moved from the Crystol
mountains to the Southern Gesh mountains about 300 years ago by Chela's
grandfather, Captain Geren Sheltac.  With 30 dwarves they founded a new
community in the pass, here.  Chela's father, Tegor, was young at the time
and inherited leadership of the clan when things were reaching their prime.
It took nearly 100 years to properly set up the mines and the fortress
structure.  In that time the clan grew to over 150 dwarves.
    About 100 years ago, the clan was decimated by the attack of an evil
mage.  In order to stimulate trade, the fortress was made more open as
a stopping point for travellers through the pass.  Well, an evil mage got
his henchmen in disguised as a caravan and killed almost 100 dwarves 
before he was defeated.  Cursed be Taskarn the Gray.
    The clan stopped protecting the trade route and it quickly fell into
disuse.  They were just getting back on their feet when 20 years ago they
were set upon by nine Ogre Magi and a Bronze Dragon.  After the battle,
only about 20 dwarves were alive and three of the Magi were dead.  Since
then 12 others have died trying to escape or as punishment for breaking
the Magi's rules.  Only eight of them remain.  
    Spike asked why he had not heard of dwarves in the Gesh mountains
before and Nexer told him that the clan did not part on good terms.  They
were pretty much thrown out of the dwarven halls for being too headstrong.
Partly this was by design, but it did mean that the dwarves were truely on
their own and could not call for help.  It also meant that most dwarves
never even heard of them.
    The Ogre Magi ruled with an iron hand.  The bronze dragon, Siblius,
was raised from a hatchling by the Magi and while good in nature, he
has been twisted by the words of the Ogre Magi into a mean creature.

Come into My Cavern Said the Player to the Magi: (Mar 16, 698)
    Nexer also told them about the work schedule.  The dwarves worked on
an 8 day schedule.  For 6 days they would mine ore.  On the seventh they
would haul the carts back to the fortress.  And on the eighth they would
smelt the ore.  This was currently a seventh day and they would be expected
to return soon with another ore cart.
    On top of this information, the dwarves are usually watched over by
two Magi.  Zuska watches over them in person, but Ondako usually guards the
mine entrances.  Ondako is usually invisible and so they were not sure if
he was out there right now.
    This bit of information set the players to laying a trap for the Magi.
Studedly rigged a tripwire to alert them if an invisible creature should
enter the mine cavern and the others found defensible positions in the
cavern.  The dwarves armed themselves from a hiddle weapons storage room.
Then they all waited for the Magi to show up.
    With a little bit of luck, the Magi did indeed trigger the tripwire
as he came in.  Spike leaped to his feet and was blasted by a cone of cold
from the Magi.  As soon as the Magi appeared, Melody placed a Web spell
over him so he could not fly away.  The other players moved in to attack.
    Melody followed the Web up with a Flaming Sphere which burned down the
webs and let Spike at the Magi.  The Magi flew up and went to become 
invisible again, but before he could do so Furnes placed a Fairie Fire
spell on him.  Thus, the invisible Magi was still visible and Alreli and
Studedly filled him with arrows and Spike used his crossbow.  Melody
tried a Magic Missile but it seemed to have no effect on him (due to a
Broach of Shielding they acquired from his body).  Galen did his best to 
save his spell points. 
    The battle was swift and the party was victorious.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #37--04/07/95

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together: (Mar 16, 698)
    With two Magi down in one day, the party was feeling good, but they
were not too excited about doing any more skirmishes with the beasts.
Still, Nexer was adamant that if the party did not go with him, that he'd
go back with his fellows to do what he could for the heir, Chela.  Spike
helped convince the party to move forward.
    It took a long time to figure out how to approach the fortress 
properly.  Eventually they settled on the following:  Studedly used his
disguise skills to make himself look like the elf form of Zuska.  He would
ride on an ore cart which the dwarves would push.  The ore cart would
have Spike and Alreli in it hiding under some wooden boards with ore piled 
on top (so it would look full).  Galen made Melody and himself invisible.
    When they moved out, Galen, Rhodan and Furnes made thier way around 
the valley to the south.  They wanted to sneak up on the access road to 
the fortress (which was 130 feet up the cliff).  The dwarves, with
Studedly disguised and and invisible Melody walking along with them, pushed
the ore cart along the rails to the fortress.

The Best Laid Plans: (Mar 16, 698)
    As they got close to the fortress, Melody moved to the north of the
group and cast a Dancing Lights spell up in the sky to draw the sentry's
attention.  The trick worked since the sentry was on the watch for signs
of the party's activity.  A quick command called the Dragon out to
investigate.  Melody then ran toward the ramp up to the fortress.
    The dwarves made it to the base of the cliff as the other group began
to make their way up the ramp.  They stalled the half-elven sentry, Ashlor,
as the other two dwarves (Palen and Dwayner) worked the winch to lower the 
cables for the ore cart.
    The Dragon discovered the trick at about the same time that the party
members made it up to the fortress' gate.  Melody used a pair of Knock
spells to open up the gate and she and Rhodan (who drank a Potion of 
Heroism went in.  Galen stayed back to offer covering fire against the 
Dragon.  
    Things got very hairy, very fast.  Rhodan and Melody fought it out with
the half-elf, but the elf used the dwarven heir, Chela, as cover.  He
also called out two of the remaining three Ogre Magi to fight.  
    Galen found his hands full fighting off the Ogre Magi, Tori, who used
a cone of cold on both him and Furnes.  Galen used his fireball wand and
Magic Missiles to blast the Magi while Studedly fired on him with his bow.
Tori tried using his Wand of Wonder but only managed to get a spray of
butterflies out of it.  Shortly he was downed.
    The Dragon came back to the fortress to find that there was no safe way
to attack the enemy without hurting his own forces so he stayed in a 
holding pattern for a while.  Furnes gave the group of people on the ramp
protection by using a Obscurement spell to make the enemy unable to see
them.
    Alreli, Spike and the dwarves were making their way up the ramp as best
they could when they were spotted by the Dragon and attacked.  The Dragon's
lightning breath killed Akar and Gerod while wounding the others.  Galen
broke from cover to fireball wand the Dragon.  Spike used a healing potion
to bring Nexer back up and he also picked up Alreli's body.  
    The other Ogre Magi, Kurgii, took this chance to Web up Galen.  Furnes 
reacted quickly and broke cover to burn the webs down.  Galen fired a Magic 
Missile off then followed the dwarves in a run for the cover the Obscurement 
offered.  Furnes was furiously using healing spells to save Alreli and Nexer
but was not able to bring Alreli back up. 
    By this time Ashlor was killed by Rhodan and Melody.  The three dwarves
were herded back into the Obscurement, but the group was attacked by 
Kurgii and they split up.  Rhodan entered the main fortress through the
front on his own.  The others regrouped in the Obscurement.  Melody put her
Periapt of Wound Closure on Alreli to keep her from slipping any further.
    Furnes used a Stone Shape, along with some help from Nexus with 
knowledge of the fortress, to open a tunnel into a guard room.  They all
made their way inside as quickly as possible.  They managed to avoid the
Dragon's next breath attack this way.
    At this point the battle ended and the search began.

The Search: (Mar 16, 698)
    Rhodan wandered the halls of the fortress looking for either the party
or some more enemies to kill.  He found a large number of empty rooms
before finding the rest of the group.
    The rest of the group followed Nexer's directions and headed deep into
the mountain to find a place to sleep.  Furnes took a quick moment to
Detect Evil on the dwarves to make sure they didn't have any disguised
Ogre Magi in their midst.  
    They left all the dwarves except Nexer to watch over Alreli, then they 
moved on.  They probably would have completely camped out, but Nexer wanted 
to ensure that Chela was okay and suspected that she was probably in the 
royal quarters.
    During this time Kurgii was also looking for them, but Nexer's 
knowledge of the fortress gave the party an advantage, and Spike worked
heavily to apply his tactical knowledge to outguess Kurgii.  
    The only encounter on the way to the royal chambers through the back
way was with a pair of Ogres that were quickly dispatched.  The Ogres
were in a room which had been set up as a temple to Synifai.
    
Treasures: (Mar 16, 698)
    Nexer showed them the path to the princess' room.  She was there, 
alright, but she was charmed and unwilling to go with them.  Galen had
to use a Sleep spell on her while the rest of the party dealt with her
guardian, the Ogre Magi, Eli.  
    Eli got hammered by Rhodan and Spike so after unleashing a cone of 
cold he went to gaseous form to escape them.  Furnes surprised Eli by
using a Dust Devil spell to trap the Ogre Magi and then using a Flame
Blade to finish him off.
    The group wanted to raid the royal chambers for treasure and did some
looking around.  Nexer uncovered the Sheltac family Hammer along with two
Healing potions and 250 gp.  The others found 700 gp, a Scroll of Tongues
(at 8th level), a Scroll of Explosive Rules (at 8th level), 16 gems
(500, 100*2, 50*3, 10*10), 20 silver tipped arrows, a pouch with two
uses of Dust of Appearance, and a set of magical Bagpipes.


ADVENTURE NOTES--Day #38--04/21/95

More Treasures: (Mar 16, 698)
    Spike discovered a secret door in the clanleader's room (currently
Kurgii's room) and Studedly disarmed the trap on the door and led Spike
through a tunnel, past a pit trap, and to a treasure room.
    In the room was 1800 gp, 900 sp, a +1 two-handed sword, a Potion of
Heroism, Potion of Vitality, Potion of Hill Giant Strength, Potion of
Poison, and a bunch of silk, tapestries and such.
    They grabbed the potions and were getting ready to run when things
got hot again.

Final Showdown: (Mar 16, 698)
    Rhodan and Melody were keeping watch on the two entrances to the
royal chambers.  When one of the entrances opened and Kurgii looked in,
Melody quickly responded with a Wall of Stone spell off a scroll to fill
the long hallway and block that entrance.
    The group then quickly made their way out the other entrance but
Kurgii also went that way and was ready to meet them.
    Furnes used a Prayer on the group before they made their way back
through the temple, and it was a good thing because that is were Kurgii
was waiting.  The group was smart and kept as spread out as possible to
avoid having multiple people taken out by a cone of cold or lightning
blast.  Melody also used a Scroll of Protection from Lightning on herself.
    The Dragon, Siblius, joined the battle as well.  Spike drank a Potion
of Strength and made his way to the dragon while trying to use a column
as cover.  Kurgii was throwing around Magic Missiles and even a Lightning
Bolt to hurt the party members as he flew around the room.  Studedly 
used his bow while Rhodan ran around trying to get his sword on Kurgii
without getting himself killed in the process.
    Melody was out of spell power and so she offered support as best she
could.  Galen was also out of spell power, so he used the last of his
fireball wand's charges to blast Kurgii and the Dragon when they got
close to each other.  He followed that up with an Enervation scroll cast
at Kurgii, which succeeded in hurting the Ogre Magi enough that the Magi
dropped to the ground where Rhodan finished him off.
    Spike and Melody were sparring with the dragon and Spike was knocked
unconscious by the Dragon's claws and breath.  Furnes was downed by a
Magic Missile from the dragon.  Melody used her one healing potions to 
bring Spike back up and it was Spike's final blow that finished the dragon 
off.  The other healing potion was used to bring Furnes back.
    The battle left them all very heavily wounded.

Rest Time: (Mar 16, 698)
    They made their way back to the hiding place where the dwarves and
Alreli were left.  Although he was wounded, Rhodan stayed up all night
watching over his mother.  He was greatly releived in the morning when
Furnes was able to heal Alreli back to consciousness.  He fell into a
deep sleep shortly thereafter.  She was alive again but the sustained
time near death meant that it'd be a couple of months before she'd be
well enough to travel again.
    To pass the time, the dwarves played some arm wrestling games.  Rhodan
joined in when he awoke.

More Treasure: (Mar 17, 698)
    The next day they treked back up to the royal chambers and from there
to the Dragon's room.  There they found 1400 sp, 4500 cp, 1200 gp, 15 gems
(50 gp each), 20 gems (10 gp each), 91 gems (1 gp each), two silver
bladed swords and a silver bladed axe (40 gp each), a suit of guilded
dwarven plate mail, and 43 mithril coins.
    In one of the rooms, a figure leaped up at them and fired a crossbow
when they opened the door.  It turned out to be a clever trap rigged by
one of the Ogre Magi.  Studedly spent a lot of time studying it.  In this
room they also found 150 sp, 160 gp, and 20 Bolts of Flame (1d4+2d6 dmg).

Mopping Up: (Mar 17, 698)
    Nexer pointed out that the most recent aid to the Ogre Magi had not
been seen.  She was a mysterious mage that the Ogre Magi brought in about
six months back.
    The group split up and cornered the human magic user, Nevra.  Galen 
used a Dispel Magic to remove the charm effect on her.  It turned out 
that she was a White Rider travelling through to the elflands... the same 
White Rider that Jacinth knew.

Staying Over: (Mar 18, 698)
    With some spare time on their hands, each of the party members set to
work on some personal projects.
    Furnes formally desecrated the temple to Synafai and consecrated a 
new temple to Hastenzi.  Galen worked on studying his thesis on 
spellcasting.  He also spent some time talking with Nevra.
    Rhodan put his time into mapping the dwarven keep and talking with his
mother about elven culture.  Alreli spent her time recouperating from
her wound.  Studedly helped with the mapping tasks.  He also studied the 
pully-based trap and other interesting workings in the keep.  Studedly also 
grabbed some dragon scales for himself.  Melody split her time between 
studying mechanisms with Studedly and magic with Galen.  She also put time 
into learning about her new magical bagpipres.  Melody grabbed some dragon 
scales as well.
    Spike spent his time learning the basics of mithril working from the
dwarves.  He also learned a bit more on the founding of the Sheltac clan
in this area.  The clan knew of the new mithril find and wanted to make
their name with it rather than just be a minor clan.  Spike offered the
remaining Sheltac's a home back with his clan in the Crystols.  They are
considering his offer seriously.
    Nevra, the White Rider, spent a lot of time by herself.  What time
she spent with people, she spent with Spike (asking about the world) and
with Galen (asking about magic).  What her destination is or what she is
carrying was never revealed.

Information About the Pass: (Mar 698)
    It has been several years since the dwarves could travel the pass and
even then, they rarely did so.  Still, the pass was known to be fairly 
easy to travel and the roads well marked.  Dangerous creatures probably
have made a home in the pass, so the group should be careful.  The only
other settlement in the pass is an odd village of humans near the south
end of the pass.  The humans in the village keep to themselves and 
discourage visits from strangers... sometimes violently.  
    Once past the village, it should be a relatively easy trip down the
far side of the mountains and into elf country.  The dwarves discouraged
travel in the elven forests.  They can be as dangerous as the mountains.  
They are filled with bizarre magics and creatures.  With elven 
accompanyment the group should be okay, but the dwarves are happy they
are not going into the forests themselves.