NICHOLAS OF THE SWAMP

NICHOLAS OF THE SWAMP

Lawful Elf~ Master Thief, Level 12

AC: 6/13; MV: 8/20; HD: 10+1; HP: 33; #AT: 1*; Treasure: H (w/o maps & magic)

A plump drover w/ a quiverin' belly & a snow-white beard; a negative burglar (thiefy abilities but lawful). Wears a musk-rat suit, dirty w/ ashes & soot. Guides a skiff w/ a long pole stick, pulled by eight alligators. Particularly fond of sherry & strawberry jelly. His treasure is never in coinage, but items inside 1d6 large sacks are worth that value. Nicholas always has 1d10 sleep scrolls tucked away & @ the ready, though 10% may be either invisibility or haste.

*will always attempt to avoid combat, but if unable, uses heavy bag of gifts as weapon. Gators will fight to the death to protect Nicholas. 

~see The Night Before Christmas:  “He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf”

Inspired by Cajun Night Before Christmas by "Trosclair".  Illustration by James Rice.

FURTHERMOOR ADVENTURE EXPRESS (FAE)

Our Coach is a late invention of the Jesuits, being, to speak bluntly, a Conveyance, wherein the inside is quite noticeably larger than the outside, though the fact cannot be appreciated until one is inside. For your Benefit, DePugh, the Mathematickal and Philosophickal Principles upon which the Design depends are known to most Students of the appropriate Arts, - so that I hesitate to burden the Company with information easily obtain'd elsewhere. That my Authorial Authority be made more secure, however, it may be reveal'd without danger that at the basis of the Design lies a logarithmic idea of the three dimensions of Space, realiz'd in an intricate Connexion of precise Analytickal curves, some bearing loads, others merely decorative, still others serving as Cam-Surfaces guiding the motions of other Parts...  Bound through the nocturnal fields, the land asleep, the sky pressing close, losing at an ever-unadjourned game of All-Fours, dyspeptic from the fare at the last inn, restlessly now and then scanning the dark outside for any Light, however distant, I was bounced out of a disgruntled reverie by the Machine's abrupt slowing and eventual halt, out in the middle of a Night already grown heavy with imminent snow. Waiting at the Roadside were two Women, who prov'd to be mother and daughter, dresses flowing as homespun was never suppos'd to, and Faces that were to drive me, later that night, unable to sleep, beneath the Beam of my writing-lanthorn, to diaristic excess... As the pair of Creatures boarded the Machine, I mutely ask'd, - not "pray'd," for all my Prayers in those Days must be Questions, - Are these now come for me, to be my own guides across the borderlands and into Madness? - Mason & Dixon, pgs. 354-355, Thomas Pynchon

Faced w/ the question of how my not-quite-one-off-session-players get from adventure to adventure*, I got to thinking about the above passage from Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. In the novel, by his telling, the Reverend Wicks Cherrycoke appears to travel in a TARDISesque "conveyance". This got me to thinking about the FURTHERMOOR ADVENTURE EXPRESS (FAE).

There are FAE Stations throughout Furthermoor. Some towns/cities embrace the concept, whereas others do not, for various reasons, & any station (if one does indeed exist), may be hard to find. In other words, if you board the FAE in Talbot, & end up in Debthaven, you may want to take extensive notes as to where it is you do "end up", b/c when you walk ten paces & turn around, things may appear quite differently.

The FAE infrastructure is maintained by various factions in different areas. The station in Talbot is maintained by the White Widows, a female sect of the Church of the White Widow. Most of these women are most beautiful & all have lost lovers to adventures in FAE land. There is a good chance that any adventurer will become infatuated w/ one or more of the Widows & gift a percentage of any booty to woo them on return. The Widows, however, are forever cold. They will never emotionally respond to any adventurers' doting & will donate any material possessions gifted them to the Church of the White Widow.

*Currently, my players are all involved in an ongoing weekly campaign game through G+; however, for those weeks when everyone can't make it, different characters are used & it's a separate deal altogether. Currently, the 2nd game is playing B5. But after B5, using the FAE, I may aim these sessions more as true "one-offs" & begin developing other locales throughout Furthermoor w/ nearby adventures, depending on my free time, as well as opening it up to random G+ players live.

HORROR ON THE HILL - SESSION 2

With the distraught, yet determined Neanderthal @ the lead, waving them on, the party continues SW until they start descending, & as they do, to the west, a pond of water can be seen through the trees. They continue on path & come to a crossroads, the Neanderthal waves them westward & after a bit they see a path that cuts north, but they keep on westward...

They eventually step into a clearing where sits a white-washed cottage w/ bright green shutters. Gravel walkways connect the cottage to each passage out of the clearing & pleasant gardens of flowers surround the home. White curtains hang over each window. The Neanderthal quickly moves to the SW passage & urges them on, the party however, intrigued by the house, waits around in the opening, contemplating what may be inside, perhaps it is the witch's house? Two ladies scramble out of the front door & happily invite the party in for some tea & cake. The party declines, the Neanderthal still grunting @ them from the SW, they exchange pleasantries w/ the ladies & move on...

Entering the SW trail, the party travels for a bit before it gets dark & Guido turns on his lantern. About 30 mins later, 7:30 PM, the party sees 4 Giant Bats swooping down from the west... Before they know it the Bats are on them & battle ensues. It's a nasty one. The weakened Neanderthal gets killed & Howel takes substantial damage. Otherwise, they kill the Bats. Devedos who had dropped the dead Neanderthal he was carrying before the bats, moves both of the bodies off trail, & Gilleegan, along w/ Guido, finds a spot for them to camp for the night... Gilleegan grills Howel, who is hurting, what spell he has available...  "Protection from Evil," says Howel, "If tonight you find it necessary, just let me know," he falls asleep. Devedos decides he will stay on watch all night. The night passes uneventfully & they wake & ready themselves for the day. Given his state, Howel decides to wander off & commune w/ Kushdar for a while, replacing his mind w/ a Cure Light Wounds spell, casting it upon himself in the wilderness & replacing 2 of his HP. He returns to the party, feeling a bit better, ready to move on...

Curious as to exactly where the Neanderthal has been leading them, the party keeps on down the W trail, eventually coming to a 240’ drop that proves to be the end of the hill. They look down on the trees below.  They do not notice anything out of the ordinary. Around them, to the N & S, the elevation drops more gradually than the dead drop to the W. The party decides to head back to the cottage in the clearing.

They attempt to be sneaky about entering the clearing, but within minutes, the two ladies are out the door & greeting them once more. This time the party is more receptive & agree to enter the cottage & visit w/ the women. Their names are Rosabella & Rosalinda. They are sisters, & each is a plump, gray-haired old lady exuding vitality & a rather pleasant manner. Rosalinda has a rolling pin poking from the strings of her apron & Rosabella is empty-handed. The party is cordial to the ladies & take them up on their offer, Gilleegan being particularly “nice”. The party is led into the cottage where they notice the inside to be quite a bit larger than would be expected, about 40’ square. Two hallways lead off the first room & the ladies lead to party down the N hallway, past a sweeping stairway, into a large parlor where they partake of tea & spice cake. Many fine paintings, gold & silver ornaments, & bejeweled knick-knacks are displayed throughout the home. As the party gobbles up their refreshments, the ladies gab about their garden, the weather, & the woods around the Hill. As the party joins in the conversation, the ladies offer to divulge information about the Hill, but say this information cannot be given freely. As the party seems interested in what they may learn, the ladies say that for 100 gp they will tell the party all about the monsters that lurk atop the Hill. Devedos is particularly disgusted by this high price. Gilleegan on the other hand decides to haggle w/ them. Finally, Gilleegan hands over 50 gp from the ogre bag for the information. Pleased, counting the gold, the ladies take turns informing the party of what they can expect to find about the hill: a hobgoblin camp is to the E, beside a pond, the ogres’ cave is to the W, a cave of steam weevils is also to the W, the neanderthals’ cave is to the NW & also, a graveyard w/ ghouls is further to the NW. Devedos seems a bit irritated by this information, feeling that it wasn’t worth the price. The meeting remains civil, however. Gilleegan asks if they know anything else of interest, as Guido & Howel munch another slice of cake. Rosalinda cracks a smile, “I do, but it will not be free.” “How much?” asks Gilleegan. “For 150 more gold I will tell you where you will find the ruined monastery.” Devedos is once again disgusted. “150 gold? Are you kidding me?!” Gilleegan calms him down & tries to haggle again, but ultimately, the ladies will not divulge any more info for any less than 75 gp. The party politely declines the offer, & says farewell. Though disappointed to see Gilleegan hoist the ogre bag back w/ his belongings, the ladies lead the party back to the door where they wave goodbye.

It is 11:30 AM.

SESSION 6 - CRACKENMORE

Magus is now back to the land of the moving & in that time also the party notices some mechanism on the north wall, w/ a lever.  After examining the lever, giddy & daring w/ his new, shiny shield, Djarel decides to pull it w/o any real discussion w/ the others.  A few seconds later they hear a massive crashing on the other side of the door.  They decide to leave the room & check it out.  Magus tries the door but fails.  Amadi steps up, twirls & gives the door a well-placed kick, opening it up...  They file into the E-W corridor, noticing a portcullis that is now to their direct east, blocking the dead end.  Also, they notice someone running their way from the W, a human, & behind the human, turning the corner, three Orcs.  Leif bolts to the northside of the corridor & whistles off an arrow @ one of the orcs, hitting it in the jugular, dropping it...  The other orcs approach after the thief nearing the others, swinging their clubs, one misses while the other strikes Gnolan in the ribs; then Magus, bumbling through like a tail back, plants his battle axe through the skull of one.  The last orc is now between them all, overwhelmed.  Having now composed himself from his flight, Telal the Thief (who the orcs had been chasing), circles around & jabs his dagger through the last orc's midsection.  The orc falls.  The party rests & Talel tells them of his previous party's demise, in some other twisted part of the dungeon.  They were lost & ambushed by orcs.  Telal was the only one to survive.  He thanks the party & joins them.

Viewing their map, they weigh their options.  They decide to head back to the secret door Leif located previously.  Leif opens the secret door & they find a relatively empty room save a 2" pile of rubble in the NW corner, chalky, white rubble, compared to the black, smooth obsidian walls.  The party spends some time searching the rubble & end up finding, @ the very bottom, a golden ring.  They put it in a bag w/ their other finds.

They exit the room & S, coming to an E-W passage.  They go W, then S, then E, S, W, until they come upon another S passage & a door on the north wall. Amadi steps up, circling, kicking; but his attempt fails; next thing Magus is barreling forward, crashing into the door, budging it open...   They enter the door & find the room quite familiar: an outcropping of cyrstalline rock shining from the NW corner.  The door shuts behind them & suddenly, Leif notices the water he had put on the floor previously appears, though not quite as much of it.  The party rolls out of the room, & once more disoriented, finds themselves in a N-S passage.  They go N, cut W, S, E, S, W, then S...  They go for a good while S, then cut E & S, coming to a door, they decide to skip the door & continue W where they pass another door, go S, then E, ultimately coming to a dead end & a door on the north wall of the corridor.  Amadi spins & kicks the door open.  The party moves into a 20' x 20' room w/ a stack of large, wood logs in the NE corner, a hole in the floor to the SE & a door in the NW wall.  Also of note is a large, iron ring protruding from the south wall, near the 3" wide hole.  After searching over the pile of wood & finding nothing, Amadi hangs his lantern down the hole a bit, but from what he can see it is just dark space, then, suddenly his lantern burns out.  Telal lights a torch & they decide to send Magus down the hole.  Using a 50' rope, they lower Magus down & after 40' he hits bottom, seeing that he is in a small room of a rough cavern w/ an opening to his NE.  One-by-one, the remainder of the party safely make their descent, leaving the rope hanging, tied to the iron ring in the wall above.  They travel NE out of the room, then S, then SW, slow through the cave, much more rugged & rocky than the corridors above.  They turn E & come to a junction where to the north they can see the cave open into an ante-chamber, & there is a glowing object on the north wall...  As they near, entering the room, they see that the glow is coming from a large, chunk of rock which appears to be mica.  It radiates magic strongly.  Suddenly, standing in the shadows just out of the glow of the radiating stone, the party notices two Gnomes standing there.  They appear to be just as surprised to suddenly find the party standing in the room.  Magus greets them in gnomish, "Howdy there, fellas."

9:30 PM

HORROR ON THE HILL - SESSION 1

Gilleegan, a hobbit thief, & Devedos, human monk of the Guiding Star, visit Guido's Fort, on the wide, Mad River, where they've heard possible adventure awaits.  At the fort, they enter the Lion's Den, a mellow establishment, it's 10 AM...  The party is greeted by Guido himself, a happy, go-lucky chap w/ a Charlie Chaplin-esque mustache.  Guido proves to be a rather strong & charismatic fellow.  Gilleegan & Devedos ask him about the sinister looking Hill across the river & a Kushdarian cleric, named Howel, pipes up from a nearby table that man-eating ghouls are known to hunt the hill.  G & D walk up to the bar & are directed toward the Old Timer in a corner who tells them a few other tales as they buy him a drink, a double.  1. An evil witch lives on the hill, etc. 2. many centuries ago, an old monastery was located on top of the hill, & 3. repeats the same info about ghouls.  G & D enlist both Guido & Howel & begin to make plans to cross the river.  Amazed by price of hiring a fisherman to boat them across, Gilleegan decides to drop 60 gp & just buy a boat for the party.  Before long, the party finds themselves moving west across the Mad River.

As they cross the river, they spot two "landing" spaces, north & south, they move toward the north space, a narrow clearing along the riverbank, the ground is muddy, lots of marshy plants, buzz of mosquitoes, the party pulls their boat up, moves it well onto land & covers it as much as they can.  Noticing trail heads to the NW & SW, they take the SW & after a bit, Gilleegan scouting ahead, comes upon a Killer Bee hovering over the path a ways ahead...  The party drops back a bit to figure it out, but Gilleegan is noticed, the Bee hovers down a bit & Devedos gets the aim on it w/ his bow & fires, hitting w/ precision, the bee, about a foot long, drops dead in the trail...  They continue down the path to the SW & enter a lush glen, shady on the edges, beautiful, quiet, peaceful, wildflowers everywhere among the grass...  The party notices a trail to the NW & another to the SW, they decide on the NW & after just a bit, though the path continues, they see a path that turns SW & they see that it has a sharper incline up the hill.  They decide to head up hill & just as Gilleegan, who is still scouting a bit ahead (about 10' ahead), comes upon the steepest part, he sees an Ogre sitting to the side of the passage.  Slipping back to the party, a plan is made.  Missile shot to lure the ogre down the passage where a trip rope is rigged to trip the ogre & Gilleegan will jump out for a backstab...  Devedos sends off an arrow that hits the ogre in the arm for a bit of damage.  Pissed, & as planned, the ogre he rises & runs down the trail toward the party, but as he gets to the trip rope held by both Guido & Howel, his stride totally misses the rope...  Gilleegan jumps out anyway & plants his sword backstab-style for nice damage, then, whiled rattled a bit, the ogre is surprised by both Guido & Howel jumping out & attacking, chipping away @ the ogre, they both do a bit of damage, the Ogre, totters, about to retaliate, but then Gilleegan, gaining initiative on the next round, slashes his the short sword, bringing an end to the Ogre...  The party is pleased to find a large pouch hanging from the ogre's belt that holds 300 gold pieces.

The collect themselves & continues down the trail to the SW, passing another trail head that turns SE.  They keep SW for some time, finally meeting up w/ another trail that runs NE & SW, they take it to the SW which takes them higher up the hill, to about 160' elevation above the river.  Continuing W down the trail, after a short bit they come into an opening that reveals a cave-mouth between two large boulders where the contour of the hill elevates sharply.  Thick bushes choke the entrance to a height of about 2'.  The party moves a bit of brush out of the way & Gilleegan goes in a bit just to get an idea of what's inside...  From just the sunlight, he is only able to gauge about 20' inside, seeing that the cave expands rapidly, many boulders on the floor, stalactites & stalagmites in the distance.  The party decides to go further in & Guido takes the lead w/ his lantern...  It is slow going, but they move west into the cavern to find that it opens up a bit & heads N-S.  They first go south, but ultimately come to a dead end sidechamber choked w/ rocks & stalactites & doesnt look to be passable.  Turning back, the party then heads N & down a NE passage bringing them to a small side passage containing a pool of stagnant, brown water.  The party is still & Devedos listens for anything that may be in the water.  They then probe it a bit, but nothing happens.  They turn back & moving SW, coming around some boulders, are surprised to see 2 Neanderthals, who are also surprised.  The Neanderthals do not seem hostile, however, & quickly go about trying to communicate w/ the party.  They signal for the party to follow them out of the cave, which the party does.  Back out in the opening the neanderthals try to communicate, but it is rough going, at times they find the party humorous.  One of them acts angry @ the other & does a stabbing motion.  The neanderthals then lead the party up a stepping incline that leads to a clearing up over the cave.  In this clearing is ancient statue, a hideous idol, carved from granite, by some forgotten race.  The statue depicts a fat, squatting, vaguely humanoid figure, whose face is twisted into a hideous leer.  The party does not recognize what race this creature may be.  Standing near the idol, the neanderthals begin doing the same "skit" as before.  One of them acts angry & does a stabbing motion @ the other, who then acts injured & sad.

Next, the neanderthals signal for the party to follow them, entering a trail head @ the S of the clearing that heads SW.  The party follows them down the trail which climbs higher still...  Once the trail seems to level out, the party comes upon 6 Stirges that are hovering in the road...  Seeing the party, the stirges attack...  Both of the neaderthals soon find stirges attached to their necks, & one of them dies before the rest of the party can kill the stirges.  The only member of the party affected, is Guido, who takes 4 damage in blood loss, but ultimately, the party bests the stirges, Gilleegan w/ an impressive showing, as well as Devedos destroying one of the striges w/ only his hands...  The neanderthal that lives is beside himself in regard to his friend, he begins dragging the body, but then stops in crying fits...  Devedos lifts the body onto his shoulder & the wounded neanderthal begins back down the path, to the SW, once more.  The party follows...

It is 5:30 PM

SESSION 5 - CRACKENMORE

Still within the room w/ the crystal outcropping, the party talks through what they have just experienced, not sure if this is the same room or not.  Leif takes out his waterskin & pours a bit of noticeable water on the ground.  At the same time, Amadi holds the gnoll map up to the crystal while shining his lantern at it, but nothing happens.  The party files out into the corridor around 2:20 PM, & once again find themselves disoriented.  They could have sworn that they entered this room northward from an E-W passage, but now, as the door closes behind them, they find themselves standing @ the south end of a N-S passage w/ a slight dead end to the east.  Their immediate reaction, while once more consulting their map, is that the room must be turning.  They decide to wander a bit through the corridors, taking careful notes, trying to trace back to something recognizable on their map.  This proves to be more difficult than they first thought as things just seem too different the further they get...  Moving northward, they soon enter a corridor leading to a turn eastward.  As they enter this short corridor, Leif senses something off about the western wall of the corridor.  The party halts as he searches the wall further, ultimately locating a secret door, the ridges well hidden within the smooth, black rock.  The party notes the door on their map, but choose to continue on w/ the task @ hand:  getting back to something noticeable.

They cut eastward for a good 100' before it turns south.  They follow the corridor, ultimately turning west once more which wraps them around inwardly until they funnel into another E-W passage.  The passage dead ends to the west.  The party decides to examine the dead end & go about throroughly searching it.  They locate nothing.  As they get ready to move on, turning eastward, they  notice 2 Orcs, one w/ a morning star, the other w/ a club, headed their way.  Though the Orcs dont look necessarily hostile, once they see the party bracing for battle, they ready themselves as well.

First out of the gate is Djarel, as a sudden hate for his orcish side seems to be surfacing, despising the chaotic strain of his blood, he swings his hammer w/ wild abandon @ the Orc w/ the club, getting a solid hit in there, but for only 1 damage...  At the same moment, the other Orc plants his morning star w/ a nasty thud into Magus' chest, knocking him back for a brutal 6 damage, he's just hangin on, tries to swing his battle axe in reply but misses dreadfully.  Leif then skirts around for position & feeling he has the shot, flings off an arrow @ the Orc w/ club, but things dont go as planned, & the arrow actually comes close to both Magus & Djarel but hits the rock  & splinters out.  Amadi then runs @ the Orc w/ the morning star, swirling his staff in a cyclone motion, landing a killer blow to the orc's head; it crumbles dead...  Gnollan, seeming a bit confused, rushes to Amadi's side.  The remaining Orc then swings his club @ Djarel, but misses.  Leif then having moved a bit further over, looses off another arrow, but again, this one misses, crashing into the rock wall, breaking.  Djarel has now regained his steady hand, but his rage is apparent in his face as he once again focuses his hammer on Orc flesh, this time w/ a disgustingly righteous hit the hammer folds into the Orc's face, so that when he yanks it out, the Orc's face pulls off & stuff goes everywhere, it is nasty, but effective.  They search the bodies surprised to find quite a bit of gold among them (35 gp), as well as a yellowish liquid in a vial.  Leif, still down a number of hits from the gnoll battle the day previous, grabs for the vial, remembering Magus quick drain of the last.  He smells it, the soft scent of daffodil, & then sips it, feels invigorated, then nothing.  He then drinks half of the potion, which is indeed a potion of healing, & he gains back 3 (or was it 4?) HP.  Djarel then nears Magus & begins humming & saying words no one can understand, moving his hands around, he touches Magus & suddenly Magus feels a good bit healthier, gaining back 4 HP from the Cure Light Wounds spell.

Collecting their things, the party continues east down to corridor to a door they noticed when entering the passage.  Amadi kicks the door open & they file in.  What they find is an Implement Room of sorts, everything from large iron vises, ropes, chains, mallets, unfinished arrows, wooden pegs & hacksaws, the party glances about, taking it all in.  They discuss items they may wish the leave w/.  Magus wonders over to the SW corner of the room, searching a bit deeper, where he sees a shiny shield behind some long iron bars, leaning over, reaching for the shield, he pulls it up, & while lifting it, also unrevealed is the tentacled face of a Carrion Crawler that is hidden along the base of the room behind stacks of empty barrels...  Leif gets a jump just as the Carrion Crawler slithers up, rearing up from it's prone position & pokes it in its body w/ his knife for 1 damage...  But this does not keep the Carrion Crawler's 8 tentacles from swarming & slapping Magus' dwarf figure numerous times, though he drops the shield, he is frozen otherwise, paralyzed...  But then, it's...  Gnollan! swinging his sword, missing [I cant remember if it was Leif or Gnollan that first hit the CC.  Do yall remember?] & also Amadi, sliding up, brandishing his staff once again & planting it solidly into the back of the Carrion Crawler's "head" knocking it out, dead, w/ impressive damage.  Leif congratulates Gnollan in gnollish for his efforts.  The party inspects the shield closer, noticing its exquisite craftsmanship, & also, in Common, toward the bottom, an inscription that reads, "Kinchen Forever".  The party decides to rest a bit, & so they take a load off, inspecting the items in the room, packing some of them, while watching for any change in Magus' condition.  It is about an hour later, @ 4:30 PM, when Magus begins to slowly move once more, grumbling something in Dwarvish, not happy in the slightest...

SESSION 4 - CRACKENMORE

So the party acquaints themselves w/ their new party member, the charmed gnoll & Amadi christens him, Gnolan.  They spread out & search the room, but find nothing of interest except for the other features of the room: a dais on the north wall, & lots of tables, the ones in the south of the room mainly turned over, where the battle against the gnolls took place.  The party decides to rest in the north section of the room, far from the door, w/ discussion of staying the night so that in the morning, both Amadi & Djinnger can refresh their spell abilities.  Also, there is concern for Magus' & Leif's wounds.  Discussion brews regarding the murky potion vial they found on one of the dead gnolls & Leif decides to smell it.  It smells of roses.  Magus asks to see it & takes a small sip from the vial.  He feels invigorated for a moment, but it quickly wears off.  Next thing they know, he turns the vial up & drains it.  Magically, his wounds heal up & he feels full HP once more.  Leif seems a bit irritated that he downed the entire thing, but talk turns back to whether to stay the night or not.  Djinnger in the meantime has secluded himself to the NW corner to meditate on the the Great Tulip, Dawnbringer.  Amadi on the other hand is bothering Leif to teach him some gnollish so he can start ordering Gnolan around, but Leif on the other hand is busy studying the map they found on one of the gnolls.  Leif ignores Amadi & asks Gnolan what he can tell him about the map.  Gnolan, quite simply, tells Leif that they actually just found the map in this room.  Magus & Leif then brew over the map a bit, until it is decided they will stay the night here in Crackenmore & take their chances w/ whatever lurks in the night.  They spread out & nibble @ their rations in the north part of the room & then plan a nightwatch...  But they hear something @ the door, @ the SE corner of the room, & watch as an Orc busts through, carrying a shield & a morning star.  Immediately, Djinnger, in orcish, asks, "Who goes there?"  The orc stops mid-room, grunts & then says, "What are you doing here?"  Djinnger begins threatening the orc.  Finally taking in the entire party sitting around, the orc seems confused.  Djinnger continues his threats, telling the orc if he doesnt leave now, he is in for it.  The orc backs up a bit & darts for the door.  In an impressive chain of events, Leif suddenly has his bow @ hand & almost flicks off two arrows @ the orc.  The first misses, but the second is quite a blunder, his hand slipping & the arrow not even making it off the string.  The orc gets away unscathed.  Djinnger moves to the south part of the room & spends some time barricading the door w/ a few of the overturned tables.  The party goes into sleep mode & rotate watch.  First it's Magus, then Gnolan, then Amadi, then Djinnger, & lastly, Leif, who wakes the party @ 6 AM.  For the next hour, after slight rations, Djinnger prays to Dawnbringer for Cure Light Wounds while Amadi studies his spell book for Charm Person once more.  The party collects their belongings & moves back through the SE door & into the corridor.  It is around 7:30 AM.  As they are doing this, Djinnger informs the party that he will no longer go by the name Djinnger, a nickname he never liked.  He will now go by his real name, Djarel.

The next FOUR & ONE HALF hours prove to be quite frustrating for the party.  As they exit the room, go south, & then west, coming to a south door, Leif begins using the gnoll map, but what they are seeing doesnt seem to jive w/ what is on it.  They keep on west until they spiral a bit & come upon a door, they open the door, spike it & pass through to the west, & for the next few hours, find themselves passing this spiked door, either from the east or west side, passing back through it, until @ one point they come upon a dead end...  Amazingly, they encounter no wandering monsters during this entire time, or during the remainder of their current delve...  After the dead end, they try to back track but keep getting confused by the door & @ this point arent sure which map is correct: theirs or the gnoll map, or possibly both are wrong?  The party begins to question Amadi's judgement @ this point, as he had been the keeper of their own map.  They then decide to shift the duties to Djarel, who also frustrated ["I feel like I'm playing Zork.  I have no fuckin' idea what's goin on!"], decides to pass the door versus going through it.

This eventually finds them @ another closed door on the south wall.  Leif busts it open, they spike it, & then move west until it turns north & they find themselves traveling north for quite a bit, whether it's NW, NE, a curvature, etc, they keep north wrapping around to the NE & down until they come to more doors.  Amadi busts one open they pass through, to more corridor, so they pass back through the spiked door to a pair of ornately carved oaken doors on the north wall of the corridor.  Again, Amadi busts the door open & Djarel spikes the door.  They walk into a room.  The floor is covered w/ dust, but as they tread up some of the dust they can see that the floor is of shiny substance, polished red granite.  The stone is inlaid in large blocks & extends uniformly to within a foot of each of the walls.  In the very center of the room within the floor surface are blocks of white granite within the red stone, & these form the letters K & Z w/ an ampersand between...  There is a strange reddish glow to north wall of the room when the party enter, what Amadi finds to come from some fire beetles moving around within cases that are inset in the wall.  He cannot figure out how to open them.  From the rest of the items in the room: relaxing chairs, tables, books, etc. they can deduce that this was a Library.  The party searches the room, going through the books, & also through a rack of deteriorating scrolls on the east wall.  Leif comes away w/ a book about Cosmetics.  Amadi a book on Mathematics, as well as a scroll w/ magical writing from the rack.  Magus locates a book on Weapons & Tactics, written in his native language, dwarvish, & lastly, after some deep digging, Djarel locates a curious volume titled, the Cult of the Black Dog.

Next, the party moves back south through the doors & then to the west, through an already spiked door, further west & to the north.  Here, they enter a door after Magus busts it open.  It's a room about 20' x 30'.  They file inside & Amadi's lantern sparkles off of something in the NE corner of the room.  Inspecting it, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock.  They touch it, but nothing happens that they notice off hand.  Amadi then pulls out his scroll & holds it up to the sparkle, but nothing happens.  The party then files back out of the door, but when they come out, they are confused by what they see.  Instead of what they are expecting, they are now in corridor headed N w/ a short 10' bit to the east into a dead end.  Also, as they reorient themselves, it seems the door they just left is actually to their west.  They decide to head north & then to the west & south, wrapping around more to the south until they come to a door on the north wall.  Amadi kicks the door in & they enter.  As he gets into the room & his lantern illuminates it, & the rest of party files in, they notice a sparkling in the NE corner that seems eerily familiar, like deja vu, & sure enough, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock, just like the previous room, or is this the same room?

It is 2:20 PM