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


Summary of "Pastemakers Campaign" Part 8
-----------------------------------------

This adventure was based on "The Hunt in Great Allindel" which appeared in
Dungeon Magazine issue #17.


ADVENTURE NOTES--08/06/94

Training: (Apr 20, 697)
    Johnathon made level 5 during his last adventure, so he took his
portion of the small earnings from the last adventure and began training.
    Most of the others spent their time catching up with the present.

Discovery: (May 5, 697)
    As the group passed through Tallow's Post, Xravian and Trevor went
to look up the barmaid that Trevor had med just six months... actually 
a few years ago.  He and she had a wonderful time together and he was 
looking to find someone to share his time with.  Xravian went along to
see what happened between the two.  He suspected that something interesting
was bound to happen.
    Trevor found Marcie had left the bar and now worked at the bakery.
When he went there to talk to her he got a big surprise.  Marcie had become
pregnant and married the baker.  The baker was a kind man did not ask 
who the real father was.  She was now happily married and raising her 
(and Trevor's) daughter Tina.
    It was made very clear by Marcie she did not want to see Trevor at
all.  What right did he have to return after four years and expect to
find her waiting!  She also said that her husband Peter had better not 
find out about him or trouble was bound to brew.
    Trevor was both heartbroken and esctatic over the revelations of the
day.  Xravian thought this was interesting and suggested to Trevor that
he give Tina some token.  Xravian and the rest of the group left town,
but Trevor remained.
    Trevor got permission to talk with Tina some and spent some time
with his daughter over the next week teaching her some basics of the
outdoors.  He promised to return to visit her often and to act as an
"uncle" to her.  
    As a token of this promise, he gave her his magical ring of water 
walking (one of his few magical items!).  Knowing that such an item might 
call harm to the girl he made her promise to keep it a secret and to only 
use it in privacy to remind her of her Uncle.  She was excited about the 
gift and Trevor returned to Kestria feeling guilty about time lost but
looking forward to making it up.

A New Adventure: (May 19, 697)
    While the others were wasting their time, Xravian was working on
how to get the party active in this new era.  He set out studying the map 
they found in the pocket of the rat-rider leader.  The map showed a small
castle near the Dell and Crane rivers.  The Dell river was not familiar
to anyone so he began doing research.  He turned up information about a 
fortress in the Silent Forest and even located a reference to the Dell 
River.  They only had to go south to Silver Rise and then due west.
    Kali and Antonio decided not to venture out on this trip.  The
other four packed up and set out to the south towards Silver Rise.

Off Into the Forest: (May 22, 697)
    In Silver Rise, they stopped at the inn for the night.  They noticed
that the innkeeper was excellent at providing just the right service
at just the right times.  One did not even need to call for a new drink
before the man showed up!  Good service indeed.  The town was small (only
a few hundred people) but seemed to be doing good business.
    In the inn they met William the town mage and he chatted about magic
used to travel to other worlds and seemed pretty distracted.
    On the following morning they headed south of town to look for a 
trail into the Silent Forest.  About a mile out of town they found a large
stone obelisk on the roadside.  It was covered with all kinds of 
inscriptions in an unrecognizable language.  Only the marker which 
proclaimed it as the "Travel Stone" told them anything about it.
    They spent a while at the stone wondering about its origin and arguing
about whether or not they ought to investigate it or find William the
town mage to ask more questions.  In the end they decided to continue on 
their way.  
    Trevor had found an old trail heading west from the Stone's clearing.
They went west.

Losing the Trail: (May 23, 697)
    On the second day they entered the Silent Forest and left the 
plainslands.  Trevor continued to lead using his ranger tracking skills to
locate the almost non-existant trail.  They were heading due west and
looking to hit the Dell river.
    Suddenly, Brewster noticed that they were heading south instead of west.
Trevor rechecked his bearings and they set out again to the west... only
to find 10 minutes later that they were going south!  A few more experiments
showed that no matter how hard they tried to pay attention, they kept 
ending up going south.  It was as if the forest itself was steering them.
    They decided to go with it and see where they end up (as if they had
any other choice).  The forest dumped them out into a small clearing in
which the bodies of 10 elven warriors and 24 orcs were strewn about.
Broken arrows and splintered weapons showed that a big battle took place
here.
    As nightfall was coming they decided to camp at the edge of the 
clearing.  During the night a pack of Ghouls attacked and were turned by
Brewster.
    In the morning they set off into the forest only to find that no matter
what they did the forest kept leading them back into the clearing.  There
was no way out!  
    As noon approached, a small group of orcs came into the clearing.  The
party quickly took them out and captured the captain.  They tied him to
a tree.  The captain did not respond well to questioning until they
threatened to feed him to the ghouls.  Then he told them how patrols were
walking the forest to hunt down strays from the battle.  When asked how
they moved in the forest, the orc accidentally let slip that the amulet he
was wearing was magical and stopped the stupid elf magic.
    Brewster took the amulet and the party made its way off into the forest
under their own power.  They left the orc tied to the tree and alone in the
clearing with no way out.

The Dead Town: (May 24, 697)
    A short while later, they came across a beautiful elven village.  The
village was by some open wheat fields which were not harvested even though
the time for harvest was past-due.  The village itself was deserted.  Signs
of fighting were everywhere.  The forest floor was stained with blood and 
small circles of burnt ground.
    The group took some time to investigate some of the elven homes.  They
found the workmanship to be incredible.  The elves managed to make their
homes inside living trees.  Even the wood in the doors was still alive.
Searching around showed them that the place had been ransacked and that
no one was alive here.  
    The town once held about 60 grey elves.
    Xravian could not contain his anger.  The death of so many of his
kind brought him to his knees.  He drew his dagger and while pulling it
through his hand he swore an oath of vengence on his own blood.

The Blood Oath: (May 24, 697)
    Another short walk brought them to what must be the center of culture
in the area.  Here the signs of battle were more brutal.  There were many
damaged trees and the half-eaten remains of elves were scattered about.
They were probably wounded and left to die.
    This part of the town once held over 120 grey elves.
    With the blood still setting on his left hand he again fell to his 
knees and drew blood on his other hand as he swore a more violent oath of 
long-lasting and total vengence on those who committed such a crime!!  
He then cast a Magic Mouth spell on a large tree set to trigger on orcs 
which said:

        These towns will not lie quiet any longer
        It is now known
        And they will be avenged!!

    The whole group worked together to make a funeral pyre for the dead. 
Burial was more appropriate but with the ghouls about, Xravian did not want
the graves disturbed.  Brewster performed a Ceremony for them.
    They spent the night in some homes in trees.

Battle at the River: (May 25, 697)
    In the morning the group headed east.  They found the river and a rocky
ford used for crossings.  They decided to lay low for a while and were
rewarded for their patience when a pack of orcs came out.  
    Trevor used his bow and Johnathon used his crossbow on the orcs that 
tried to cross the river.  Brewster cast Bless and then used his sling 
during the battle.  Xravian used several Magic Missiles to fell the orc
leaders... especially after one of them tossed a small Fireball into the
group!
    When the number of orcs began to drop off, Xravian made for the leader
orc that threw the Fireball.  Brewster also made his way across the rocky
river with the same goal in mind, but Brewster was a bit faster on his
feet and managed to beat Xravian to the prize... a Necklace of Missiles.
    Brewster's speed was nothing short of amazing and Xravian was quite
astonished and miffed.  He delivered a (hypocritical?) speech on how items 
were for the good of the party and not to be taken by just anyone.  
Brewster didn't see the point of the speech, but he said he'd use the
Necklace for the party.
    When they searched the bodies, Trevor claimed one of the amulets of
protection from the forest.

The Old Castle: (May 25, 697)
    It was not difficult to follow the orc's trail back to the old castle.
And old it was indeed.  The walls were mostly destroyed by age.  But they
were still taller than a man and quite strong.  The land around it was
very defensible as well.
    The group decided to charge the walls from the south as quickly as 
possible to not be targets for too long.  When a pair of orcs started 
firing bows on them, Johnathon stopped to offer cover fire for them.  
Trevor tried this as well but his bow string broke and he gave it up.
Xravian went Invisible and made his way around the west wall.  The others
made for the gate on the south wall.
    The orcs on the wall were taken out.  Trevor restrung his bow and then
climbed the wall and set about trying to pick off orcs on the inside.  
Brewster and Johnathon decided to use the gates as cover and lure orcs 
into hand-to-hand combat.
    Within a few rounds the disorganized orcs took on more organization as
their leadership came up and began participating.  The orc shaman began
using Chant.  Brewster took him out with one of the Fireballs on the
Necklace.  The number of orcs kept increasing, however, and the tides
turned against the group.  They were outnumbered and were close to being
outflanked!
    Xravian made it to the north wall and climbed into the castle.  Inside
he spotted a heavily robed humaniod leading the orcs and used a Fireball
to dispatch the leader.  Many of the aids were killed but the leader
shook the magic off as if it were nothing.  With his robes burned off, 
however, the Mind Flayer stood stunned in the afternoon sunlight.  Seeing 
that this was _not_ a good situation, Xravian quickly made himself Invisible.
    In a pissed off mood, the Mind Flayer pushed the orcs to attack and
dropped an Ice Storm on Brewster and Johnathon.  They retreated from the
gate.  Trevor was also forced to retreat from the wall.  The orcs massed 
up and the three stood together in a last stand as the Mind Flayer
came forward.
    Seeing that they were in trouble, Xravian dropped two Fireballs in
succession on the Mind Flayer.  The first was ignored by its innate ability
to resist magic.  The second, however, hurt it badly and it hurled an
ice storm and a magic missile in Xravian's direction.  Xravian was hurt 
badly, he retreated to drink a healing potion.  
    This bought the others enough time to fight off the majority of the
orcs.  Trevor went berzerk and was fighting for his life.  Johnathon was
doing his best as well.  And then the Mind Flayer came through the gate.
Brewster cast Silence near it and succeed in getting past the magic
resistance.  He then tried a Fireball bead on it unsuccessfully before 
it used a Psionic Blast on them.  Trevor, Johnathon and 8 orcs all fell 
to the ground stunned.  Brewster resisted the blast's effects.
    Brewster realized he was alone and in deep trouble, so he charged the
Mind Flayer in a desperate attempt to kill it physically with his hammer.
This blind charge paid off in a direct hit on the Mind Flayer, who seeing
that things were not going well, disappeared.
    Morale was low at this point.  Most of the characters were down and the
enemy had teleported away.  Brewster took the off chance that the Mind
Flayer had not used Teleport and instead had just gone Invisible.  He
charged through the space the Flayer had occupied swinging his hammer
and scored a hit.  The Flayer struck back, however, and Brewster was
down.
    Xravian was alive merely by virtue of the healing potions he kept
in his pack, but as he saw the Flayer running back through the castle 
toward the keep and Brewster lying on the ground, he put his energy into
one last Magic Missile and was lucky enough to get past the magic resistance
to kill his foe.  
    About this time Johnathon and Trevor came to and helped Xravian get
Brewster back up and to finish off the remaining orcs.  Some 43 orcs 
and a Mind Flayer littered the field of battle.
    Searching the field, they found a +1 Flail, a +1 Morning Star, 
Bracers AC=5, and a +1 Bastard Sword (Flame Tongue, Purpose to slay evil 
creatures, Chaotic Good, Flames only to kill evil creatures but can be 
illumiated like a torch, and Ego becomes stronger when great evil is near
... and yes, an Orc leader was stupid enough to carry this item).

Exploration: (May 25, 697)
    With the main force cleaned out, the group wanted to clean out the
nest as well.  But going into underground tunnels could be dangerous.
So, Xravian used one of his last mana points on a Phantasmal Force of
the Mind Flayer.  With the image of the Flayer before them, Xravian, 
Brewster and Trevor went down into the tunnels.  Johnathon was so beat up
that he took up position on top to watch the area for other dangers.
    They explored the tunnels.  On the first pass they just noted where
things were until they came across the jail.  There, Xravian informed the
guard that the Leader wanted an elf right now.  They were given one and
the guard led the group to the Leader's chambers.  The guard was dispatched
by Trevor and then the elf was brought to. 
    They explained the situation to the elf, and he did the same for them.
Apparently, the elven city of Allindel was attacked by an army of orcs.
When they went out to do battle, the Flayer used powerful magic and mind
powers on the unsuspecting army and they were routed.  The orcs also seemed
immune to the forest defences.  Over 150 elves fell in the battle but
over 400 orcs were killed as well.  Another 50 of the elves were killed
in their homes during the raid on the city.  The remaining 60 elves were 
captured and placed in the dungeon.  This all happened 10 days ago and
since then the Flayer has been feeding on them twice a day.  Only about
40 elves are still alive.

Fulfilling the Oath: (May 25, 697)
    Xravian's anger was renewed by the information he got.  He then led
the Flayer image around and ordered all the orcs to collect topside and
line up.
    Half an hour later, all the women and children orcs (about 60 of them)
were lined up in the castle courtyard along with about 6 male orcs.  They
were all scared and wondering what their leader had in mind.  Johnathon,
Trevor and Brewster were also wondering.
    Xravian had the Flayer raise its hand to call for silence and then he
used his Wand of Fire to create a Wall of Fire over all the remaining orcs.
They all died right there.  Quickly.  He dropped the image of the Flayer
and sat down hard on the ground.  It was a hard choice.  The others all 
stood stunned at the mass killing.
    His oath was now fulfilled.

Treasure: (May 25, 697)
    The group then set about freeing all the Elves and getting them outside
in the fresh air.  Brewster and Johnathon got them water and food as well.
The elves in the best condition were given buckets and sent to the river
for more.
    They also searched the dungeons for treasure and found 3474.79 GP
worth of coins and jewelry, 280# of silverware, a Potion of Extra Healing,
+1 Chain Mail, +2 Dagger, Wand of Illumination (8 charges), Scroll of
("Fire Trap", "Invisibility", "Comprehend Languages"), Bag of Holding
(30 cubic feet, 250# limit, 15# weight), and a Ring of Water Breathing 
with other abilities as well.

The Elves of Allindel: (May 26, 697)
    The party spent most of the next month helping out the remaining 
people of Allindel in cleaning up and rebuilding parts of their town.
The elves were very grateful and made all of the party members honorary
members of the elven community.  They worked hard.  They also gave back
2 shares of the treasure (in addition to the obvious items owned by the
elves) to the elven people.
    Allindel means "Second Home" and is part of the grey elven line which
split off a thousand years ago to find a new home.  Xravian offered to 
bring a message back to the elven lands that they still existed.  The
Allindel Elves have long been isolationist, but the sudden decrease in
their numbers led them to accept Xravian's offer.

Some Things Change: (June 22, 697)
    The group made its way back out of the forest and back toward Silver
Rise.  They found that things were much different now, however.  The
Travel Stone was gone.  In its place was a field of obsidian fragments
and burnt soil.  Something very violent happened there.
    The town was also very different.  Since the last time the group
came through, the town was attacked by Shadows and then attacked by
a band of raiders on horseback.  Many people were killed (including
William the town mage) and the people were much less easy.
    The party made its way from there on to Kestria.
    There, they donated one share of the treasure to the temple of Shinare.

THE FUTURE: (June 26, 697)
    The Pastemakers proved to themselves that they still have what it takes
to be a sucessful adventuring team.  Brewster got a chance to see how the
group worked and proved himself to the rest of the team as well.
    Xravian accepted a new charge, to deliver a message to the elves.
And Trevor and Xravian both made enough experience to clear a level.