For the Reader D&D, or dungeons and dragons, is a world that was created to provide as many possible adventures

for anyone that desired to play and enjoy. In the world that I'm participating in, I play a wolf character who is of sentience class. (sent*e*ence, sent*e*ent) A sentient being was once a non intelligent animal or plant that has been bestowed human like qualities such as intelligence, 5-finger motor skills, ability to walk on two legs, and so forth, but retain much of their original qualities. For the sake of my story, any animal or plant that has a capitalized letter is a sentient. The size of sentience creatures is based on the ratio of humans. Meaning that the Crab in the story has grown to a size of 4+ feet and larger animals, like an Elephant, has shrunk down to 9+ feet. There are some creatures like song birds who are small enough to retain their size and become fairies or sprites. Sentience beings wander the earth now, because a great entity came down and wiped out all the intelligent beings, such as humans, dwarfs, elves, gnomes, fairies and many others. For us now, is unlawful to murder another sentient being. The ratio of sentience to normal animals is only about 1% of the world. The males only need to wear kilts, shorts, or pants of some type with further clothing at their discretion , where the females have a full body clothing like dresses for example. When I say human qualities, DO NOT simply put an animal head on a human body. It's difficult to describe and is a work in progress. The same goes for items in a room that ARE THERE, but serve little purpose as they are generic materials. This story that I'm writing was originally for myself and not something that I planned on publicizing, but since I've decided to share this with you, I will do my best to make it enjoyable. The way this journal is being written, I believe is part of my event memory at work. I have no creativity to describe what is seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted, only what has happened. So when you read, imagine that you are seeing what I see, hearing what I hear, and so forth. Unless my character is explained to what something is, my character won't know. To me, it's not really important to describe a great deal of details because many items are interchangeable. I will attempt to further

add details to what I've already written based on the first few of my readers that will be my sample audience to help future readers. My wolf stands at 5' 9, a young adult that matured early, a ranger in the d&d world. I'm capable of seeing color in lit areas, and can see in pitch black dark up to about 60ft. Much like a wolf, my character can track by scent and blood. The Pack I make reference to is made of several hundred if not a few thousand in population and is divided into families by a colored accessory like my sash. I am from the blue pack family. My coat is a gradient of white to gray fur, with The Pack signature of a solid silver color tail. Again, this note is to help you the reader better understand my story. This is much like a diary would be where you get to experience the memories of my character. I felt like writing, so I did, and decided to share it with you.

Aegis of SilverTail*blue Journal Day 1: One Pack to Another I decided to leave my pack in search of wonder. Members of my pack talked about the nearby villages where travelers would come and go quite often. Perhaps I will start here as well. With my father's blessing and composite bow I started off. The survival skills ingrained into me will serve vital on my journey. I've come to the village and scout out the area. The inn seems inviting, but I have very limited coin. Without much thought, I step back into the wild to hunt some game. A few rabbits and lucky for me I found some deer. Though wasting a few arrows I manage to kill one. Field dressing as taught, and packing it up I head back to the inn. The inn keeper seemed surprised at first, but was delighted to accept my game as payment for my stay. I asked about the village and what it had to offer, and found out jobs were posted at the local tavern among other word of mouth oddities. It was already late in the evening so leaving the majority of my gear in my room at the inn I head to the tavern to relax. Indeed there were a few job postings on the board. Most of them long term hard labor, but nothing quick overall. I heeded the inn keeper's advice, by ordering a drink and sitting at one of the tables to read my book of crafts while listening to the other sentience in the place. This book was a gift to me by my pack. I must have really gotten into my book, for I didn't notice the large creature standing at about three and a half feet whose body seemed made of a solid hard material had quietly joined me. A Crab is what he is! Greyshell is what he calls himself. Beside him was a Leopard who seemed distracted with just about everything. The Leopard is clothed in a divided dress with a few strings that hold it together at the mid section, whereas the Crab needs only his gray tone shell to walk about public. He took interest in the fact I could read the dwarven language. Said that a Ruin City, a few days travel, was rumored to hold many valuable treasures. Normally, as he put it, a party with a variety of skills would do better at finding things of value than just a band of fighters looking for shiny objects. This could prove quite the adventure, so I decided to join them. We turned in for the night to meet again at dawn at the edge of the village. It would take a couple days to get to the Ruin City, so our next stop will be the Drunk Duck Inn at the cliff that drops to the ocean. We paid

for our rooms and turned to the dining area for a meal. Without making much notice of gathering loose words from the air, my ears could overhear that the undead occupy the city and indeed treasures such as a ring of regeneration were already found. With new found information, and an itch to satisfy curiosity for the unknown, we are eager for morning to come. I'm accustom to hunting with other wolves where we know each other quite well; but a party of a Wolf, Crab, and Leopard? This will be an interesting experience. We are not the only pack of oddities as many other travelers had also heard of the Ruin City. However, where my party individually seem like we could care for ourselves, these other adventurers look like they would run at the first sight of trouble. A few do appear to be dangerous such as the ruffians that are bullying their way through the crowds. I hope we don't meet up with them in combat either. At last we approach the gates of the city. It was hard to miss since the gate is 20ft high, the walls are 30ft high, and the incredible height of the buildings inside the city were well into 200ft high each. The city appears to be oval in shape with the only two gates are at the farthest point of both sides. Based on the travelers' assumed experience, the educated guess of danger to depth into the city and difficulty of navigation, we made a plan of exploration. In we go!

The SilverTail Pack We are taught to survive at birth. We hunt in groups. A pack. We hunt with our developed brethren as well as our lacking brethren. We are strong alone and greatly stronger together. We are a family. Each pack has a color cloth to represent which pack they are from. Mine is of blue. Our pack has been close to a religious body, providing food and protection from the wild beasts as well as control of wild emotions among the developed. The church, as the other packs call it, provide guidance as well as political influence over the area. Some of us learned the celestial language and began reading the books of Man's history stored in the church. Other packs come and go carrying goods never seen before. Father often saw me crafting something or another, and got together with the pack and bought a book of crafts written by Dwarves for the common just for me. Some of our packs will travel to other places in exchange for coins. Sometimes packs will leave and return fewer in number or not at all. What could be out there? Hunting territories are our place to find resources, primarily food for our packs, but among the greater of us, we compete for the leading pack. Unfortunately of late, The Pack has grown greatly and one pack cannot hunt without disrupting the hunt of another. The greater ones agreed to shrink the hunting parties down for hunting and allow other members to develop in other skills. This helped The Pack, for a while. We began to use our new abilities to compliment our natural abilities, but packs continued to grow. Many of mine brethren are growing bored and impatient. It pains me to leave, but it's for the better of The Pack.

The Ruin City and the Wizard's Tower We kept the outer wall in sight as best we could while maintaining a good distance from it and traveling along the right side of the city. Many of the buildings all looked the same and as guessed we didn't see any other travelers this far in. At the same time, we don't see any undead or dangerous creatures about either. How uneasy this silent feeling. Life and death on the line for new adventurers, we keep our senses sharp. Even though we arrived before the sun hit even noon, the tall buildings block out the light. One building stands out from the rest. A rust color, with windows starting at the 3rd level up and a solid door still shut with a lantern beside it burnt out. According to my celestial studies, the basic undead can't think for themselves to open doors and would not feel the need to close them. In any case this building seems special so we shall explore it. The building maintains the same shape all the way up. A large square with a smaller square attached to one corner of the side. The door was heavy and for security we barred the door behind us with a simple board in case we needed a quick escape. The first floor extended into the second floor making one large room with a spiral staircase in it's center, as well as a door leading into that smaller square extension we seen from the outside. Many couches and tables fill the room. We assume that people came here to enjoy entertainment, but without a stage. Some coins were noticed on the sofas so we thought there might be more inside. With luck we did find enough to buy a weeks worth of lodging back at the inn we started from. The Crab also found a gold necklace which will fare a good price. Floor by floor we will search, so to finish things off before going up, we check out the door that is secured with several locks next to it. I doubt that we would ever find the keys to unlock it, so together with the Crab we grab a large couch and RAM IT! Just a dent?! Well, we made some progress, and nothing seems to have been disturbed, so we ram it again. Three times we hit it, and what broke was the hinges that once held it, leaving the door lay in the secret room and HO, the door frame shot bars across to fill the space where the door once stood. Inside, the chamber was very metallic and smooth with a cabinet at the far end. The Leopard nearly took the initiative to jump in through the space under the bars, but we managed to stop her. The Crab was cautious about possible traps inside, so to test it he threw in a piece of furniture. It dissolved when hitting the floor. It would have been time consuming to investigate this one room, where there

were many floors above us unchecked. Heading to the stairs in the center, the Leopard's keen eyes saw a drawer under a table. We couldn't stop her from bashing the poor thing to death until she opened it to find a recipe of some sort. Up to the next floor then. We remain in a circled room with doors leading to each corner of the larger square area. Snoring is coming from the southwest room? I don't recognize the animal, and it hasn't bathed recently either. The Leopard opens the door quietly as if hunting prey, and between her and the Crab it's no wonder they are a bit chaotic, for they attempt to rob the large creature of it's traveling gear. Standing outside the room I watch as the cat creeps, and the creature appears to have heard them without letting them know. Slowly the creature opens his eyes and casually stands 7ft tall as well as being large to intimidate us. The creature is an Elephant, seems he had got here before us but was fatigued enough to forgo searching the place for treasure and found a bed to sleep on. Since we were together and it's better to travel as a group the Elephant joined us. The northwest corner room held many books on shelves with a clean table sitting nearby. A library? Since knowledge is a valuable commodity, we search the selves for a while. In fact to speed things up, we sort out books that are in good condition from bad. Only a few books were of interest along with a page of a scroll that appeared to be a map to a wizard's lab. The problem is that this page was only part of a whole and only allowed us to find the lab within a 100 yards distance. Still, we will hold onto it for later. The northeast room had chairs and a table, but also had cabinets with dish wear and a cooking like area. The dishes appeared valuable, and the pots we could use for our own meals. What caught my attention is that the building goes straight up and the width of this room extends as far as the secret chamber below us did. I look behind the cabinet to find a door. The Elephant moved the cabinet aside to make things easier. We opened the door and noticed the room looked about as comforting as the other secured chamber did. A pedestal with a finely decorated dagger on it. Obviously a trap. Getting my rope out and planning to snag the dagger at a distance, the Leopard snuck in before any of us knew it. Nothing happened. The Leopard did make a quick plan, grab and jump. Unfortunately she wasn't fast enough as flames burst through some holes in the wall to burn her pretty bad. She was so burnt that she started speaking repeatedly. My dagger, it's mine, all mine. It's my

dagger That appears to be the only thing here, so lets move to the final room in the southeast corner. Nearly upset, we've stumbled into a trophy room of sorts with heads of similar species. A very large glass cabinet locked up with potion bottles and equipment inside their own cabinets. The Elephant and I start with the cabinet to pry it open, the Leopard and Crab look over the trophies. Upon touching the cabinet I was thrown back with a shock of what could only be described as lightning. The squirrel head trophy has a rattling sound to it. With her new dagger shes begins cutting the head open to find the cause. Still gathering my senses, she discovers a simple silver ring. The Leopard attempts to put it on but the ring shrinks as if to not want to be worn. A chuckle out of me and she throws it at me to try and wear. Went straight on for me, but this magic ring doesn't seem to accomplish anything. I toss it to the Crab for him to try and the ring rejects him as well. The Elephant too can wear the ring, but what does it do? Keys and locks are sometimes close to one another, maybe this ring is connected to the cabinet. The Elephant was able to touch and thus open the cabinet without getting shocked. The ring seems to make the bearer resistant to lightning shock. Inside was a leather scaled shield, a dark metal club too small for any of us to use, and potion bottles that surprisingly enough were not disturbed when we pounded and pried the cabinet to open. Red, blue, yellow, and green liquids fill these glass containers. Again without thought, the Leopard downs a bottle of red liquid. She grows in overall size by 3ft! So the red potions are imbued with an enlarging factor. Since it wasn't necessarily dangerous what she drank. The rest of us choose a potion and one by one drink. I drank the yellow bottle and my new found friends were surprised, but I didn't understand why. Looking at myself, I've become transparent, but to them I became invisible. Now that red and yellow are known, on to the Elephant with the blue potion. He turned into a puddle of water! Concerned for our new member we think of a way to preserve the puddle, but the puddle is moving about the room. After a brief moment, he pops back to normal. Relief comes to us, and the Crab has become worried about the green potion in his claws. Down the hatch! He turned into a plant. What a strange Batch of bottles this building has. Since the Elephant returned to normal quickly, we decided to rest until the effects wore off the remaining party. After an hour we continue up the spiral stairs. This floor we start with

the northwest room. Several gargoyle statues are standing about the floor, as well as one hanging from the ceiling as well as the accustomed table, chairs and cabinet. A reoccurring pattern if you ask me. Wait, the hanging gargoyle has fur? Hello it says, startling the lot of us. We didn't see it at first, but the Bat had travel gear on him, so we assume that he hasn't been living here. Crab: Did you come to see what this city had to offer as well? Bat: Indeed. The window here was open, so I took a peek inside. I liked the company of this room. That was this morning, and I awake to find you coming up to greet me. Crab: Would you also like to join us, we seek out the valuable treasures this place offers. Bat: Indeed. I've had no goal in mind recently. So I shall The Bat is a warlock and knowledgeable in arcane studies. I wonder if we'll meet a new person on the next floor. Searching the room, the cabinet held a black scaly slimy book with a strap that appears to be a tongue. The Bat says it's magically imbued, so we place the book on the table. Our Leopard friend is only too eager to open the book randomly. The words swirl on the page and Leopard falls to the floor, snoring quite heavily. Without looking into the book the Crab manages to close and latch the book once more and packs it away. She's obviously asleep, but no matter what we do, we can't wake her up. How long will she be asleep? We place her next to the spiral staircase for safe keeping, and continue to the next room. The southwest room. We open the door to find a void of space. Darkness to be more precise. Though we are animal sentience with the ability to see in the dark for a short distance, we cannot see past the door. It's as if a blanket were hanging in our way that was made of pure black color. Our Bat friend has an idea, he sees in the dark with sound. EEEEEEEEEK He gives a shriek and listens to the echo that came back. Our Bat friend then gently and quickly shuts the door. Bat: Inside.... I saw a ritual table, a very evil imbued skull and other sacrificial items. Not to mention the skeleton robed figure that wasn't moving.

Yeah, we're not going in there and I hope we didn't disturb it. I don't get the feeling like we're being pursued though. The Bat believes that the entity may be sealed in by some other force at work. Moving along to the southeast room, we find what looks like a bedroom of sorts. The closet held magical robes and boots, the bed had magic socks under it, and above the dresser was a magic mirror. When the Crab picked up the boots, they changed shape to fit his crustacean feet. Trying them on, he grey magical wings from his back like that of an eagle only larger. The Crab does move a bit slow for the group, perhaps this will speed things up. The mirror was revealing an aura around each of us. After some discussion we figured it was our alignments that it revealed. Very valuable, and surprisingly heavy. Last to do here is the drawers of the dresser. Considering the other traps we encountered, we open cautiously. I pull on the first drawer and manage to get my arm out of the way before the drawer shot out and stuck itself in the wall across the room. The next two were of no danger. One had silk underwear and a key attached under the drawer, another held a book wrapped in cloth. Revealing the book from the cloth, it is written in celestial The Story of Pelor. I pack it away in my gear. The Crab opened the next drawer with difficulty only to accidentally open the bottle inside. The smell causes both the Bat and Elephant to vomit greatly toward the Crab. Fortunately he dodged them both. After some of the neighbors I've been around, I can hold my lunch down. I don't think the Crab even has a nose. The bottle is recapped containing most of the smell to more tolerable levels, but still stinks. Dire Skunk is what the label revealed. One drawer had 12 pairs of gloves, one of which were made of leather. I've seen leather gloves like this worn by other archers, so I try them on. I feel as if my archery skills are being assisted by these gloves. The last drawer had a wand in it, that the Bat took great interest in. The room had been cleared out, but we're are feeling uncertain of continuing on as our packs will grow too heavy to carry with all the things we plan on taking back, including one death wish Leopard who still sleeps. Still keeping an eye on the void room and door, we proceed to the northeast room. I begin to open the door to find what my celestial studies had warned me about with great urgency. A summoning circle!!! I close the door quickly with my ear pressed against the door. I don't hear anything and begin packing up what I can carry and down the stairs I go with my friends following behind as quickly as they unexpectedly could. It seems that again,

the room was not triggered to attack us, but my senses remain on high alert. I've only just started my journey and I feel like I'm in over my head. They understood once I told them what I know, and it was decided that we did have enough to barely carry back. The Leopard, the dish wear, and a couple silver doors would weigh anyone down. The best we can tell, we wait till dark when many other travelers will not dare enter the city, so we can leave unnoticed with all these treasures. The village we travel to is not on the way back, but even closer to the ruin city than the previous. The Leopard finally woke up after 19 hours of sleep. This will lighten the burden a bit. Once in the town the Crab found a place that can analyze magical items and determine their value. Our Crab knocks on the door to be greeted by a Mouse 3ft in height. Mouse: What do you need at this hour of the night?! (The Crab steps out of the way to reveal the rest of us carrying a fair amount of goods.) Mouse: I see. I have a barn out back for my work. We all proceed to go into the barn unnoticed of any locals, thank goodness, and prepare for what our Mouse friend has to tell us. He quickly helps us sort out the magical items from the non magical items with little trouble. The boots we found give wings to the person wearing them. This will be good for the Crab as his movement speed is much slower than the rest of us. The Bat took possession of a pair of gloves that gives great strength to the bearer, but should these gloves be given to a strong person could lower their strength. The Leopard's dagger allows is wielder to use telepathy with other chaotic aligned characters. The Elephant took interest in a pair of 3 sizes gloves. He could magically become 6 inches, normal size, or 60ft tall while remaining of correct proportions. The Leopard decided to be the party cook by keeping the Gloves of the Chef which gave it's bearer great knowledge of how to prepare food and meals. In total after dividing out the gold piece value of what we found, we each receive 63,925gp worth of magical items. The mouse, after doing a happy dance at the money he made from working for us, promised us he would sell the non magical items to the merchants in the town as we will be holding onto and locating people who would actually have the means of

buying the magical items from us. Since we can't divide the loot evenly right now, we each take an interest in certain items that we could use or wish to hold onto as our share of payment. The values that the mouse informed us on is only a well educated guess as to their value, we could sell for more if we are able. We each received three teleport stones as well as dividing up the potion bottles (I took 3 yellow, 2 green, and 1 blue). I plan on using the Gloves of the Archer for my own needs, and possibly using the Gloves of the Amphibian (water breathing) and the Gloves of Thunder (clap to make thunder). I took full possession of the Mirror of Alignment which also reveals if a person is lying. This will do well in a judicial environment, perhaps they will offer a fine price. Lastly, I share 9/10 of the story of Pelor with 1/10 remaining with the Bat. Since the treasures we found are so incredibly valuable and we are only just starting our journey, we will be easy targets if ANY word got out about what we have. The Mouse graciously allowed us to rent a guard house that lies in his possession some 15 miles south of here. For this time only, he will teleport us all there for free, since we've been such considerate customers. He teleports us all, including the goods we are holding onto, down the hill of the guard house. This place stands on the peak of a 300ft steep mountain with a 200 pound limit rickety old bridge that leads to the next mountain peak that once was a base for a great tree that looks like it is the same size as the guard house. The fliers of the group carry us over the bridge to prevent any accidents. Up to the door the Mouse uses a ring full of keys to unlock the many bolts that secure the door as well as telling us the verbal password that must be used to complete the process of opening the door. Honesty, how secure is too secure? The Mouse gives us a quick tour, there are four floors with stairs leading from one to the next and the top floor leads to the roof with a special magic cannon for defensive counter attack. Mouse: Oh, the box that keeps food fresh, open the top lid to save and get food, but DO NOT open the bottom drawer. If the ice elemental gets loose, you WILL get me a new one. Understand? (We all nod.) Mouse: I need to pack a few things and I'll be returning back home.

The Guard Tower and a New Errand We each drop our loads off in one room or another. The Bat and I took an upper floor as it will provide good means for oversight of the area. Now that we're settled, we need to eat. The Mouse didn't mention that there was only a small piece of leftovers in the icebox, so we make plans to hunt. We each have our own tastes, but since meat is harder to come by than gathering herbs or fishing, I request borrowing the Crab's boots of the eagle to make for a quicker hunt on my part. He agreed. The boots themselves change in shape to fit the sentient and after slipping them on completely a pair of wings form on my back as they did for the Crab. Even my mind seems as ease with the new limbs as if I've used them my entire life. The Elephant will gather vegetables close to the mountain, the Crab will climb down the mountain and sea hunt in the stream feeding the ocean, the Leopard and Bat will hunt together giving an extra pair of eyes to the Leopard while the Bat gathers fruits, and lastly I'll be flying over the forest to hunt game. Even though we're hunting separately, the Crab, Bat and Leopard seem to be mentally linked due to the dagger that the Leopard found. The Crab seems quite quick climbing down the mountain to the river, the Bat follows behind the Leopard from the air, the Elephant shrinks down to 6in so I can carry the Elephant to the other side of the bridge before heading off myself. The land is always so smooth flowing from tree to field along plains to hills. I prefer travel along the ground, but flying along the tops of these trees feels about the same, except more fun bouncing from treetop to treetop. After only 15 min I stumbled onto a very large boar. Since there is no danger of the boar attacking me in the air, I'll take him home as a prize. I fire an arrow that connects well. The boar has been wounded and looking around for the predator. I fire again, but not as accurately causing the beast to run about. Another arrow connects and he's become desperate to either flee or find me in order to survive. The last arrow I shot put him down to the ground unconscious, but he still breathes life. It took a few shots, and I'm glad I wasn't that tree he rammed into. Flying down and walking up to it with caution, I equipped my club and gave a finishing blow to the head. 900 pounds I would guess. Taking a moment to collect up my arrows, I ponder about how to collect up the beast. Returning to the guard house I find my Elephant friend foraging and collecting the leaves he found. Telling him about the boar and asking for his assistance, he shrunk down in size for me to

carry him and his leaves back to the guard house, so we could head back for the boar. He steps up to the boar, holds onto the skin of it and shrinks down to his usual 6in along with the boar and I fly the three of us back. Along the way we flew into the Bat carrying his fruits back to the guard house too. Wolf: Hey Ash. Tell Cindy to come back in, I got a big pig. Bat: That small oinker in your hands? How do you figure? Wolf: Look at what's next to the pig. Bat: An Elephant?.... Oh! Okay. Indeed, yes that's a big pig. (Hey Cindy, Aegis got a big pig, come on back, I'll fly down and get GreyShell.) Leopard: I want that rabbit! Your gonna have to wait! Bat: Hehehe, Cindy is after some rabbits that ran down a hole and now she can barely get to them. Just enough out of reach to keep her there for a while. Leopard: GOT 'IM The Elephant and I return to the guard house to start making preparations for this evening's meal. Shortly there after, everyone came back in and by this time adrenaline was wearing off leaving everyone about to fall over from staying up all day and most of the night, except for the Leopard's book induced cat nap. While we went to get some rest the Leopard began the rest of the night cutting meat and preparing meals with her new found chef gloves on. After a few hours we awoke to the smell of meat that had completely filled the guard house. In fact the air is so thick with meat that it's drowned out all other smells. Coming down to see the progress, we see meat in boiling in pots, pans, hanging to dry, hanging to smoke, just about everywhere including an icebox stuffed full already, along with the dishes of fruits, vegetables, and fish that were easy enough to prepare and two small rabbits on a platter. Leopard: My rabbit, keep your hands off, mine, all mine, non for you, don't even look at it, mine. We take our share of food and find a place to dine. No insult to the cook, but those gloves are a great investment. Stuffed full, we decide on our next course of action. The amount of meat we have is definitely an over

abundance, perhaps we can sell some at a nearby village, as we don't have any currency on hand. About the only thing left behind was the mirror, which is too heavy and large to go unnoticed. We pack up what we can along with who knows how many pounds of boar meat jerky and continue our travels. The Mouse had pointed out the general direction of the next village, in fact we found a trail-like road that hadn't been used in a while. Quite a ways out from the guard house and still a distance from the village we spot some bushes moving violently. Bat: Suspicious bush! I'm gonna throw a fireball at it! Wolf: That's a bit extreme don't you think? If it wanted to attack us, it would be more stealthy Crab: Let's investigate then. We wander over cautiously and none of us were expecting this, a very large pink sentient Hippo all tied up and gagged. I check for traps, nearby creatures, and the set of tracks all suggesting a large group was engaged in fighting. The Crab unties the Hippo and through his rage with extreme foul language we barely learn that a pack of 18 lions had ambushed him and stole his cart and goods. He wounded 8 of them in the process. That's a heck of a Hippo. We decide to come to his aid and proceed with a counter attack. I'll carry the party shrunk down by our Elephant friend while using the boots to increase my speed to catch up to them. Once we come up to the cart of lions that is still in the distance, we formulate a plan of attack. I will be the obvious target, I'll travel along the ground allowing the Leopard to jump into the tall grass for a sneak attack, I'll fly around and then up above dropping the party onto the band of lions. The plan sounds acceptable. The lions stopped to rest a bit in the field next to a couple trees, but quickly got up to see why this Wolf with wings was charging into them. The Leopard jumped as planned without being noticed. I flew around and up, but one of the lions had a sling in his hand smacking me in the head with a rock. I dropped the party accidentally, but the surprise on the lions faces was priceless seeing three large creatures appear out of no where raining down upon them, including the Hippo they had fought. We had no intention of killing them, just subduing them. Equipping my club I flew

down to attack the sling Lion, but he raised his hands in surrender. I couldn't stop my momentum, but redirected it at another Lion. The Bat flying overhead shot a fireball and set a bush ablaze. Looking about, the Crab had run over the top of a lion and the Hippo held one up by the collar of fur. They've surrendered quite quickly. The amount of surprise we dropped on these young lions must have been too extreme for them. In any case they all gave up, and we waited for their leader to wake up from the beating he got earlier. No need to rush since the leader himself is badly injured from earlier by the Hippo and in the meantime, I went over to the Lion who used the slingshot. Looking him in the eye I smack him in the back of the head. Wolf: You speak common? (He shakes his head yes.) Wolf: That hurt by the way, but nice shot none the less. You know why I'm annoyed at you? (He shakes his head no.) Wolf: You gave up. If you can't take a hit, then don't give it. You should apologize to your friend that took the blow of my club for you. (He looked over and understood.) The leader woke up, and was not very happy about getting caught. We figure that tribal people won't give into outsiders easy, no way they'd give the location of their home. My friends try to intimidate him with very poor success, even the Elephant when enlarged to 60ft looked cute with the big smile on his face. I need to work on my negotiating skills too. The leader realized we're pretty good people, but the Hippo managed to get him to talk. The Elephant still 60ft carried the lot of us all to the village of lions. On arriving we've learned that 200 lions live here, all sickly. Their food and water source had been contaminated and they are almost too weak to travel. The 18 lions we beat, were the best of the lot. A wizard demanded work from them, but when they refused, the wizard cast a curse upon them somehow. Taking the group to a few of the huts to recover we discuss arrangements. Crab: Is there anything that your people do well at, or perhaps can obtain much of to trade? Lion Leader: Hmm... We know place that we collect shiny rocks from, here

some that we get, but we won't show where we got them from The Hippo got his eye glass out and looked through some of the gems. The Hippo accepted some of the gems as payment for the salted fish he was carrying along with the barrels that held them plus the cart he was using to transport them. That glint in his eye told me they are more valuable than I originally thought. Hippo: If you want to better yourselves, then use these to trade with the towns nearby including myself, but don't go attacking anyone anymore. Lion Leader: Agreed. (The Hippo took his leave as his business was concluded. I guess he was in a hurry to get back.) Wolf: The problem is getting you back in good health again. Is there a village or place nearby that can offer you aid? Lion Leader: Temple about 5 day journey from here. Will take a bit longer as many fallen ill. We were planning on going anyway, given the chance. We can't defend ourselves in this state. I believe temple dedicated to a deity called Pelor. Crab: My party was looking for a place like that, so we'll be traveling together and offer you protection as best as we can. It was settled, five randomly gathered sentience with magical items protecting 200 lions. The lions prepare their tents and make ready to travel as planned. The Elephant will lead the way with the Crab and Bat flying above, the Leopard at the center of the pack and myself at the rear keeping an eye behind us.

The Lions' Trip... on a Boat? Day 1: During the morning, the party told me afterward, that there wasn't much trouble, just a couple people on the road. Lunch seemed a bit quiet, but hopeful. That afternoon, I noticed that the crowd had stopped. I check behind us to see nothing, so I start to make my way up to the front to see what's the matter. Not taking more than a few steps and a great voice boomed, YOU ALL MUST DIE!, and a fireball struck the flying Crab bringing him down. I run up to assist, finding the Crab had gathered himself back up and flown toward the point of origin that the spell came from. He came back with a figurine as well as being the color green from the fireball. Continuing on nothing else happened, and the reason we stopped was the Elephant kept us from falling in a pit of spikes measuring 30ft wide, 12ft out, and 12ft deep. The fresh earth had caught his attention from underneath a basic grass trap. Someone knows we are moving these lions. Night 1: We found a place that people often use to camp at. Pretty secure with the stream running around the area. However many of the lions are complaining about the pranks being pulled on them. These traps aren't dangerous, but we hear laughter at the edge of the camp. Bat: ELDRITCH BLAST! A fireball flies toward the bushes. The laughter stopped and the Bat got shot with several tiny arrows putting him down hard. A tiny voice is heard. ???: YOU GONNA BE MEAN TO US SOME MORE Crab: We're being targeted by a powerful wizard. We only attacked to defend ourselves from what may have been one of his traps. ???: .... Well we don't work for no wizard (A flock of hummingbirds come toward us.) Hummingbird1: I'll tend to your wounds dear Bat. Hummingbird2: We like to play tricks, but not on the injured Bat: ....Oww.... The hummingbirds promised to remove the remaining traps, and the Bat was also tended to, sense the arrows hit some pretty vital points. Actually, the hummingbirds are quite friendly, as they scattered some powder over the

lions to help them regain some strength back. It's not a permanent fix, but it will help. The hummingbirds can't stay to converse, a messenger spoke to one and now they have other business to attend too as they say in a very stern tone of voice. No matter, we have our own problems at the moment. Day 2: We continue on down the road and suddenly the Elephant grew to 60ft and rapidly stomping at the ground. Everyone is startled and I run up to check things out as well. The stomping is causing me to loss my balance a bit, but nothing I can't compensate for. By the time I get there I see the Elephant stomping, the Crab swinging, the Leopard pouncing, and the Bat joining in the fray of a creature dressed in black dodging them all. I don't know what to say, he's really moving well. Oh wait, the Bat connected. I think he killed it. Nope, he's still breathing that's good. A magic user of some kind. The Bat says the ring and bracelets are magical, so we remove what we can except the ring won't come off. He's tied up, gagged and placed in one of the carts while we travel. Each of us take up guard duty over him until he wakes up. We continue down the road without any trouble, and the Leopard signals to us the gerbil is waking up. We stop the lions for a brief break while we interrogate the little critter. Removing the gag at least and the Leopard placing the dagger at the base of his ringed finger, we start talking. We give him a moment to wake up, since we nearly crushed his head in. Pretty cooperative, the ring only adds to his agility when dodging edged threats. Says he's been running from a rhino that he cheated on a game. In the mess of things he grabbed what he could and ran. Of course NOW he checks his pocket to realize the rhino is chasing him for two silver pieces. We reason with the gerbil discussing how he could appease the rhino and so he thought of something. A magical item that will keep him from getting hungry for a period of time. Also a small side effect of not being able to enter a state of rage, but that could be beneficial at times. We allow the gerbil to travel with us, but not with his items returned yet. Not even half a day's travel and we stumble upon the rhino he so fears. He was catching up quick for what use to be 5 days distance between the two. Seeing us first, the rhino is quite reasonable. We tell him the gerbil offers the money back along with a gift as an apologize for the cheating. The Rhino thinks for a moment, grabs his pouch and places the two silver pieces in it.

Rhino: Yup, that's about right on the weight. Very well, but it's not quite enough, he needs to pay for his deception. Crab: And that would be?... The Rhino goes over to a bush of berries and with his gloves on picks and mashes them together ending with a handful of blue mash. Rhino: Okay, call him here Wolf: (painfully) I'll get him Wolf: The rhino seems to have agreed to everything, but he insists on one last thing. Gerbil: What's that? Wolf: The best I can tell it's a practical joke, he's says he won't kill you. Gerbil: (groan)...Alright, as long as he doesn't kill me. Walking up to the rhino hesitantly, the rhino picks him up and smears the blue mash all over his face and pauses for a brief moment. Rhino: Okay.... now you better wash up before all that fur falls out. Gerbil: WHA? AHHHHH (running to the nearest water pan) Rhino: Hmm. Looks like he made it to the water in time, course the blue won't come out. I'm satisfied. (The rhino leaves to return home.) Wolf: At least your in the clear with your life Gerbil: (disgusted) My fur will grow this blue out eventually. You see this kind of treatment?! It's found on several people back at that town. It's still a few days travel before we get to the temple of Pelor. The gerbil remains with us until we reach one of the villages near the temple. Day 3: Just before lunch the crowd of lions had stopped yet again. How many problems are we gonna run onto. Once getting up front I see most everyone walking around a large polished stone making up the side of a hill with sand spread over it here and there leading down to a sand pit. The Leopard, Crab and Elephant are attempting to lift a rock but can't seem to do so. Wait. A toad is holding it down from underneath! I come to join them and with great effort to lift the rock, but the rock pops loose of the rope tying

it down and we fall back with the rock flying off to the side. We hear a voice in great distress running through hallways and slamming several doors and locking them along the way. The Crab, Leopard and Elephant are eager to go down and investigate, but I see this as breaking into someone's home. Yes they are paranoid, but I don't suspect them of doing anything wrong. Without question the three of them go down. The Bat agreed with me, but is also linked with the Leopard with her telepathy. After a short while and enough time for the lions to come down this side of the stone hill. The three of them emerge without any sense of progress made. Crab: Just to let everyone know, check your things and items you might have been carrying, as they might have fallen off when you slid down the polished stone Several lions start running for the pit to locate the things that slipped off, including the Elephant who was the first to slide down unexpectedly. One thing after another and 4 more days to get there. Back in our positions, an odd noise is heard in the distance. From behind us, what could it be? The sound gets louder and I ask the other lions around me to pay attention. A boat on land!? Heading our direction. The trees it's crushing tell me how big it is. I give a great howl and run through the middle of everyone. Wolf: SCATTER! EVERYONE SCATTER! MAKE WAY BEFORE YOUR CRUSHED! SCATTER! My friends see the danger and react. The poor Bat fell into the sail and can't move. The Crab flies in to no avail. The Elephant went to 60ft and prepared to catch it. He failed to catch the ship, but the boat did stop moving when it struck him. Captain: WAIT! DON'T MOVE YET! GIVE US TIME TO TIE UP THE SAILS! The crew make use of the time and make double haste to put up the sails. The ship appears to have ceased functioning. The Elephant took quite the hit. Nearly unconscious after that blow. The captain calls for his medical

officer down to see to the Elephant first, while we check on the rest of the lions that successfully moved to both sides to avoid getting hit. Captain: Thank you for helping us stop. Our rudder broke and sails went full blast causing the uncontrollable conditions. I don't even know how far off course we are. We were heading toward the temple of Pelor with our supplies of food. Crab: Your in luck, for we are traveling in that very direction. Captain: Great news indeed Crab: Would your ship he able to hold all of these lions, we are seeking the temple for aid from a corrupt wizard, and meeting with us is quite convenient timing. Captain: Absolutely. Considering the trouble we've caused you we can handle load. We simply need to repair the rudder with anything we can find. The crew begin working on the ship to prepare it once again for travel, as some of the crew help load the lions onto the vessel. With luck both are accomplished reasonably quick and off we go. Captain: All ahead one third speed, let's try to take it nice and slow this time. Day 4: What took us 3 days and expected another 4 days of travel ended today as we pulled near the temple. We said goodbye to the gerbil returning his things. The lions all disembarked from the vessel and a priest from the temple came out to greet us all starting with the captain. The priest seemed curious about what the fuss with the lions was all about. We approached the priest explaining the situation with the lions and he understood what needed to be done. He wrote down a note. Priest: Can anyone read this inscription? Lion: I can Priest: Use this on your food and water to remove the curse placed upon your people. Also, there is some land within our borders to the south of here that is currently unused that you may make a new village from.

Lion: Thank you We said goodbye to the lions and turned to the priest again. Wolf: Good priest. I have something that might be of interest to you. I found it in a ruined city. The Story of Pelor. I'd like to know if you'd be willing to trade for it. Priest: Wha-What?! Did I hear you correctly that you FOUND The Story of Pelor? I hand the book to him to see. He is completely shocked and hands the book back for a moment. He tells me that he needs to gather the other members of the council to discuss arrangements. He directs us to a guest room and runs for the temple quite quickly. It doesn't take long, for our escort to bring us before the council. A group of old sentience of a variety of races gather around a large table and offer us a place to sit as well. The story of Pelor that I hold is apparently the only complete copy they've seen out of 4 they know the whereabouts of. They do not have the funds to pay me in but offer something of greater value. The deed to Stone Lake. An island with a manor, a seen servant as well as 6 unseen servants, with a dock to a hamlet of people that fish the lake and provide food for the manor. What once was 50k gold pieces grew to 200k gold pieces, but I only own 9/10 of the book. I offer the Bat my mirror in exchange for the whole book to make things simple and he agreed. The Elephant presented his item to trade. Gloves of the were-rat. Nasty little item that permanently changes the wearer into just that, a wererat. They accept the item and plan to offer to Pelor as an offering of destroying evil things. In exchange they present him with a breast plate of armor that bonds with his flesh. It can be removed as long as he doesn't forget the right words. The Crab on the other hand presented one of the most dangerous items we've encountered, the book of Chasm. The priest seemed a bit stunned that we have possession of such a thing, but understood what to do. They bring forth a large chest to place the book in to seal away for an eternity if possible. Priest: Again, we have nothing to pay with except this thing we present to

you, and if you don't accept it we will simply keep the book and you will receive nothing. We offer to you the barony of WildWood. The Crab accepted. The priests mumble among themselves how they are going to have to explain to the king about the new baron. In any case our business has concluded for now. The council seemed happy to do business with us and provided us a guide to lead us to our new territories. A land owner. I would never have thought I'd achieve such a thing so soon. A gentry is what I'm titled as now. Greater than a noble but less than a baron. With some of our treasures exchanged, we seek out what we have gained.

A New Home, Title, and Secret From the temple we head north. The toad tells us the trip will be about 35 miles. 15 miles to the river where a ferryman will take us across for 4 copper each and another 15 miles to Stone lake before reaching Wildwood. The highway seemed pleasant enough, a lot of flat land with few trees scattered about. The river seemed calm enough here, we could fly or swim across, but for the sake of acting normal we rode the ferry. The river is said to flow from Stone lake and from the mountains in Wildwood, but due to the waterfalls and raging rapids one would not survive the float trip. Continuing down the road another 7 miles we heard singing from around the bend in the road. Forty mice about as happy as they could be were going where we had come. They stopped to chat for a moment, as they didn't know what to make of a party like ours. Even more entertaining was the Leopard was trading with the mice. Her couple of pots for some cheese, grain, and other assortment of foods like fruits. They live in an independent area called the Golden Valley which lays nearly adjacent to both our territories. We said our goodbyes and hoped to do business again since we are now neighbors. Not far after we came upon a tortoise who was traveling so slow that I wonder if he started his way to town as a toddler. Coming closer the tortoise was indeed using a walking stick, but intuition told us this wasn't an ordinary staff. He stepped up toward the Crab as if not to believe what he saw. A bit rude in tongue, but he is indeed a very old powerful arch mage. We inform him of our new homes as a greeting. I don't really want to be on his bad side either. Tortoise: Stone lake huh. You've got some flowers that grow there that I'd like to have a few of. Wolf: For a potion I'm assuming? I doubt it would be for decoration Tortoise: Correct. These flowers stand at a total height of 1 centimeter. I only need 2 petals of one. Wolf: That's quite a small plant. I'll be glad to pick a few. What might the purpose be for? Tortoise: Arthritis. My joints are killing me at my age. After living here for a long time, maybe he knows the area and it's

secrets. The only reason he ever walks anywhere is that he hasn't been there before. Once getting somewhere he uses his magic to travel in an instant. Since he's so proficient in magic, I ask him about magical devices of teleportation, perhaps we could trade him something for either knowledge or device sometime. Taking a moment to think, he looks to the Crab and talks about a tapestry hanging in the castle of Wildwood. That tapestry connects to another tapestry in the king's castle. He wishes to study the magical item and how it was made since the only manufacturer had already passed on. Considering the types of items required to make such a thing as he informed us, I doubt we'd get one anytime soon. Crab: The king's castle? Would you tell us about the king? Tortoise: The last time I saw him was when I gave him permanent jock itch. Party: .... Yeah, with that, business had concluded and we parted ways for now. Looking across the landscape we can see why Golden Valley got it's name. The volume of wheat growing in the valley was vast and all swaying like tides in the sea. The valley itself must have been about a mile wide. The road was beginning to thicken with trees as we made our way further and up the terrain. A divide in the road, one leading east to Stone lake and one leading north again to Wildwood. Since we are here, and it's getting into evening time we head to my new place. The priests had described of a manor on an island in the middle of the lake with a dock on the west side of the lake joining a few houses. We first head to the dock as a lizard was tending to his ship. I introduce everyone including my ownership of the area, and ask him for a tour. A little out of sorts, but cooperative and capable. He is the one that ferries people across the lake to the manor. Of course, there hasn't been anyone to do that for in quite some time. We leave him to setting up sail, as he doesn't want any help and make our way across the lake. He tells me a little about the place and mainly the lake. The four families that reside here are all fishermen and they provide fish for the manor as payment for rent. I never saw myself as a master with servants, but rather a businessman who oversees things. The lake itself was artificially made with a depth of almost 400ft

which is located at the south edge of the island. Very odd shape of terrain in my opinion. The dock is made of stone. No surprise since 95% of the island is all rock scattered about. I don't know how long we will be, but the lizard showed us a ram head next to the dock. A horn to call him back to the dock when someone is ready to leave. Perhaps a second boat will be in order someday to help with transport. The lizard sets off to shore and we head up to the manor where a 7ft tall, skinny brown bear is waiting to greet us. Introductions as always. The bear was recovering from a cold he had, but still gave us a tour. It was obvious that he was the seen servant but what are... A swirling of air was traveling across the paved ground. I see, that is the unseen servant. We first enter the manor into the courtyard which leads into every room on the premises. Eight bedrooms, a storage room at one corner next to the kitchen which sat next to the dining hall at the back of the manor with door leading to library filled with common books and finally to the other corner where a laboratory is. The great hall also has a stairway to the second story which is the more pristine bedroom with windows on all four sides. That took care of the manor, but what about the rest of the island? The Bear seemed a little concerned when asking about keeping his private garden. The previous owner didn't sound like he was well liked, as he was also found dead in a local town. He showed us to another part of the island away from the manor itself. A cave opened up to a chamber that was filled to the brim with greenery. I'm certainly not one to have an unhappy worker, of course he can keep it. The pink flowers that the old tortoise wanted are on the north side of the island, and the Bear also informed us of a rumor that this place was used as a smuggling base before the great death. This bear tends to the place, but neither wants to own it nor is interested in the secrets it might hold. I find it odd, yet understandable. We still have time to wander before turning in, so the Bear makes his way back to the manor while we first look for the flowers. Yes, they were difficult to find as an hour passed before spotting a square foot patch in the rocks. The Tortoise said two, but I'll collect six since they take up so little room. With every treasure story there has been some truth to it, so we begin looking for something out of the ordinary among the rocky terrain. Sure enough, we find a funny looking rock pointing in a hole.

Another rock inside is out of place and when I reach in to move it, it acts as a lever revealing a cave previously blocked by a boulder. Moving the lever back, the boulder moves back. This will be handy for sealing it back up. We proceed down the long tunnel that appears constructed. There is no light down here, but that makes little difference to our dark vision. At last we came to a corner, with a stairway leading down and almost as far again what we walked. At the bottom was a sturdy door with a lever next to it. Taking some caution we open it to find a chamber so big that the floor and ceiling simple fade into nothing. The Crab walked forward a bit and saw about 60ft out a column support for the chamber. I can find my way around a field or forest, but there are no defined landmarks down here. We decided to follow the right hand wall, so not to get lost. The wall curves subtly inward leading us to believe this chamber to be one round room. About 140ft along the wall we came to the first door. Inside was just a small room with a few crates in it. I ask the Crab to open them up with those can openers of his since I didn't bring any kind of metal bar. There are in fact treasures still down here inside this damp and mildewed atmosphere. A 3ft jade human statue with 4 stone statues similar to it. The statues are quite heavy, and I know it's getting late, so we prepare to head back looking forward to coming back sometime. Another note was the hands holding a bowl extruding from the wall next to us. Inside the bowl was a strange liquid that burned our senses, but we didn't know what it was. I collected a small potion bottle full and noticed the bowl refilled itself. Our Toad priest friend finally showed us what it was. Raising him up he used a flint and steel to cause the bowl to come aflame, revealing much more of the chamber. Well that helps me a great deal. Not only will I have light down here next time, but after a while the fire will dry this place out. Until I'm ready to use this place we'll put the fire out for now with the lid above the bowl. We step out of the newly found chamber and cave we found leaving it all the way we found it. Once reaching the manor we found the Bear cooking a pot of fish and herbs for all of us. We dine and I talk about what I'd like to do with the place. I won't be living here on a daily basis, but rather be hunting for more treasures. I'll turn this place into a museum motel of sorts, where treasures will be displayed in some of the rooms and only guests who are interested in studying the antiquities will stay in the manor while tourists will be tended to on the shore by the families living here. The Bear seemed

okay with this plan, but had a request that I find a cook to help out. Something else, since I don't have financial ways of paying my servant, I ask him if there are any plants or related things he'd like me to find to add to his collection. Loreton grass, but the closest it can be found is a city 300 miles south of here. I'll need to find a merchant that deals with such things instead of making the trip myself. We pick out our rooms and turn in for the night. The next morning we fix up some breakfast, then head down to the dock to blow on the ram's head that calls the ferryman. After a short while the boat comes up to the dock and we all set off to shore once again. Lizard: What do you think of the place my lord? Is it to your liking? Wolf: Lord is a bit much, Aegis is fine. And yes I do like the place a great deal. We do a bit of idle chit chat to help me get acquainted with the area, when a very large fish back surfaces the water and dives back down. The size of this fish tells us it could have ate the boat. Party: What was that! Lizard: That's one of the littler gargantuan fish in the lake. I'd estimate him at six ton. Wolf: Your not worried about these things destroying your boat? Lizard: Nay, they don't bother the boats or other large vessels, but anything living that goes swimming is fair game for their dinner. Wolf: I'll keep that in mind. You said this lake was unnaturally made before, so where did this thing come from? Lizard: That family of fish has no natural predators here, so they've been growing and growing for generations. We catch them on occasion for the amount of goods they offer. You ever see a waterskin the size of your Elephant friend? That type of fish is where they come from. Wolf: Hmm. Stone Lake is offering more and more the more I hear. We come to shore and we pay a visit to the hamlet. The families that live here are quite friendly and eager to have a new master of the manor. A Lizard family, Hawk family, Lynx family and Mountain Lion family are all that reside here. I bid them farewell for now, but promise to be back soon.

So I continue with my friends to the Crab's new home and country.

Castle of Baron GreyShell Back to the fork in the road and up the other way a short distance, we hear the sound of marching in time and armor clinging. A mouse, a tall bird, a snake and a very hairy creature that reminds me of a canine of sorts appear to be on patrol in their military garb. I'm not exactly sure what possessed the Crab to get this idea from. He wants us to band together and scare them by surprise ambush. Really? The baron of a nation acting like this? He did have a good reason on top of a joke; He wants to test their courage. Very well, I'll play along. We take our places among the forest terrain, hiding quite well except that huge shell the sticks out like a sore thumb. The mouse and company noticed him right off the bat and took to their arms, but were a bit surprised at four others lying in wait. Indeed they were quite prepared to take us on, but the baron introduced himself and provided proof of his claims. The mouse captain gave immediate service and escort to the castle. The captain was quite talkative and informative of the country. This was no surprise as he's been in charge of his militia for quite a few years, but unfortunately or I should say fortunately the country hasn't had any reason to go to war. I am glad they didn't attack us prematurely, as the snake here has quite poisonous venom based on what I know of his color combination. And indeed the hairy looking fellow is in fact a dog. The mouse spoke well of his ability to track even across water, but condemned him of his fighting ability. We each have our gifts and by supporting each other we can do much more, as my pack often taught. The walk to the castle was a bit further than expected as time was drawing to late evening, but company was pleasant, and thus we came upon the very ugly looking castle. The Crab was ecstatic about it since it matched his personality quite well. They showed us in and around the castle as well as introduced us to each of the master craftsmen in the keep. First up was the Cat bookkeeper who by some miracle hadn't died yet from old age was able to give the Crab a complete book of records fully updated four days ago, then off to the Boar blacksmith who looked liked he was overrun with requests, to the huntsmen Rats that were completely bored out of their minds after overloading the storehouse with arrow shafts and hides from animals in the wild, to the mason Bear who would like to get some better stone to build with and finally ended with a few other craftsmen that needed assistance in some way or another. The Crab gave them his ideas

and promised support, he seemed eager to expand on the land he had just gained. Just in time, the dinner bell gong rang out and everyone that had been cleaning up for the evening were quickly gathering at the dining hall. All except the four militia standing their post on the wall. After stepping inside and trying to avoid the rabbit waiters and waitresses that were serving everyone as quickly as possible, the Crab managed to catch one and asked them to take dinner up to the guards. The Crab was shown the head table with all of us following behind. I don't know about the Crab, but I was drilled with good manors growing up, and suggested the Crab invite the masters of each craft up to the head table as well. They deserve to be recognized for their special services as heads of their trade. The Crab was in definite agreement and called out to them. They were a bit hesitant at first, but came up and joined us. It only seemed proper in my opinion, this new baron wasn't simply demanding service from them, but rather would work with them to build a better country. The bookkeeper wouldn't be joining us as he already fell asleep upstairs, so the Crab sent dinner up to him. We all became acquainted and shared brief stories with the table. Since Stone Lake and Wildwood were neighboring lands, we planned on commencing active trade between us. Stone Lake would send fish just inside the border to a village which would be importing a great deal of salt from one of the northern villages in Wildwood as preservative for the fish to transport. For my fish, I'm sure the baron would provide wood in trade since it was a bountiful resource here. The dining hall seemed quite well run, perhaps someone would like to come to Stone Lake as my manor's personal cook. Indeed, Mrs. LongArm was available. Nearing retirement age, she'd be glad to do something on a small scale such as cooking for guests of the manor. I hesitated at first, since her husband had fell down some stairs a few times. This led me to believe she had a temper, but I was reassured that he fell for reasons of cheating on his wife many times, but he's no longer around anymore. After dinner, there was some discussion about court proceedings. The Crab decided to take up being judge for the time being, since the current judge is ill. A bit different from what I'm familiar with, the Bat and Elephant seemed bored and anxious to do something, so we inquire the Hawks who patrol the skies of Wildwood. There is a pre-Death glass wall building in the

woods not far from here that no one has ever been able to get into. Sounds interesting to the three of us, so we leave the Crab to his duties. The Leopard decided to use a teleport stone to return to the Guard house of the Mouse we had left our precious goods at to start with, and bring them back to the castle.

The Glass Winery and Uncle Charlie It didn't take long as the moon hadn't even changed position in the sky before we came to the unexplored building. It stood 6 floors high the 3 large rooms wide both ways, making one big glass cube in the middle of the woods. The walls around the outside were glass, but the walls inside were solid material. The Bat tells us the walls are actually steel with a glass spell cast upon it. Looking the door over I could see how it was latched, but had no way of undoing it. The Elephant had a fantastic idea, as he drank a blue potion to slide under the door and return to normal on the inside. The turned the latch and opened the door for us to enter. The Hawk that came with us was absolutely shocked that we managed to do what no other had done. He decided to stay outside while we went in. This idea was beneficial, since he could see into rooms from the outside that we could not from the inside. So we explore. The building lay like a 3 by 3 grid with each room being 20 feet wide and long, the room in the middle of each floor held a spiral staircase that went to the top floor as well as going down. We took to each floor first searching each room one by one. The 1st Floor South room is the main lobby and entrance to the place and we each take turns opening doors to the next by left hand side first. Each room connected to the center room by a simple door making access to the stairs quite easy. Reminds me of that tower in the Ruin City. 1FSW was a simple dining room. 1FW was a library with all books being pre-death dated. I looked over the books and took a couple that had knowledge of plants and herbs that might be of interest to my Bear at the manor. The Bat found magical book called My Book, Bobby. He opened it slowly until a voice called out Intruder, Intruder, Intruder..., with bells and whistles sounding out. A rather annoying book, but magical regardless so he packs it away. 1FNW held a lounge which led us to search the furniture for loose change again. Yes we had great treasures of great value, but nothing of currency to buy general goods and services. 1FN was what appeared to be a bar. The Elephant seemed happy about this find. I looked through the wine bottles to find the oldest among them and set out two to take home later. The 1FNE was empty with tiles covering the floor in a checker board pattern. Strange looking room, but that didn't stop our Elephant from stepping on one of the tiles. Ding. A musical note? Stepping

on another tile we hear another note, and another. A dance room perhaps? We actually stopped to play in this room for a moment like little cubs, just jumping from tile to tile playing music. That was fun, but we must get moving along. 1FE was filled with a variety of stuffed animals. This floor seemed pleasant enough until we came to the last one 1FSE. Upon opening the door we were reminded of the tower once again. A void space filled the room that we could not look inside. I shouted through the glass to our Hawk friend to ask if he could see inside this room. He looked over to see nothing but plain furniture like any other lounging room. Looking to our Bat, he gives out a shriek and listens to the echo of the room. Three gargoyles surround a table with a skull sitting on it. I look over the stuffed animals for the one in worst condition and throw it in the void room. The Bat said that the animal was flung to the floor and ceiling multiple times very hard and then fell to the floor still in pieces. The Hawk outside was confused by our hesitation to enter a perfectly normal looking room. We close the door and mark it as dangerous so that we can continue on to the next floor. The Elephant wanted to check downstairs first, but the Bat and I wanted to check what we knew first. Up only went so far where down could go to any depth. We parted for the moment and would check on each other after one floor. 2FS was a great Bathroom with a large tub and a solid gold statue dragon as the water faucet. No way we'd be able to remove it, but rather this would add to the value of the building and give more portable treasures to anyone else. 2FSW was a toilet room, 2FW bedroom, 2FNW play area for children based on the toys and two human skeletons inside. We might as well give them a proper grave outside the building once we are done. The Elephant came running back up the stairs to share with us what he found. Descending the stairs by about four floors he discovered a wine brewing facility. He decided that once we were done searching and raiding the place that he was going to ask the baron GreyShell for ownership of the building. Said he'd like to use this place as a home and business. A splendid idea for our friend, seems like we are all gaining great things for ourselves. The 2FN was another bedroom and opening up the 2FNE room we find a maple tree in a pot at the center of the room surrounded by what appears to be shaggy carpet that rises to our ankles. Our brave Elephant decided to step into the room only to have the carpet climbing up around him. We manage to pull him back out and the carpet resided back. We've never seen a plant like this

before, maybe I can take a sample back for others to look at. Using my arrow, the only sharp object in my inventory, I start cutting at the carpet. SHIIIEEEEEEKK. The tree stands out of the pot and stomps our direction. We shut the door and hold it shut while the tree bangs on the door. The banging stops and sounds like the tree went back to where it was. The Elephant and Bat give me a dirty look. Sorry, I'm curious. Opening up the 1FE room by the stairwell's room we find a simple guest room. The last room, 1FSE had a hardwood floor with a skull just sitting in the center of the room. We decide not to investigate this room. Before heading up to the 3rd floor, I start discussing the tree again. We could kill the tree and that would help clear out one more threat in the building, or we could find a way to appease the tree. The Bat thought for a moment and realized the tree was actually a construct, made made sentient. This type of tree requires phosphate, but the only place we could find a large amount of that right now would be in blood, fresh blood. It was decided to befriend the tree and I offered my service of hunting some game in the woods while the Elephant and Bat continued to search the 3rd floor. These woods seem to be full of wildlife, as I moved silently pass several small groups of animals. I believe some of them did in fact notice my presence, but didn't take fearful flight. I do hear a great deal of fighting just ahead though. A pack of wildcats. They seem to be attacking a moose, a sentient moose no less. The Moose seems to be holding off the two or three that are in melee with him, so I'll pick off the group of nine just next to them. Remaining hidden among the trees and brush, I draw my bow, pick my target and (flip). I hit him, but only grazed him. He knows something is amiss, but can't find me. I pick another target, (flip) I missed? No, I did miss my mark, but the one behind took the arrow perfectly. One down. These cats are quite random at movement. The moose is also quite the brute with his hammer, seeing a wildcat fly dead through the air over the others and hanging dead from the tree. The Moose has noticed the number of cats falling and appears to have regained strength. I wound and fell a couple more, as does the moose leaving only a few left. The group seems to be running in fear, but wait, one has become enraged and become greatly more violent against the Moose. I will put my faith in his ability. They face off and strike at each other. The rage of the wildcat has caused him to be inaccurate, missing the Moose. He misses as well, perhaps due to his fatigue and injuries. They pose again at

each other and the Moose managed to connect finishing off the wildcat. I walk up revealing myself from the trees and brush. Wolf: Are you alright good Moose? Moose: A few scraps and bruises, I'll live. Thanks for the assist Wolf: I can't see to your injuries myself, but there is a castle just a short distance back this way. Tell them that you know Aegis of SilverTail and they should see to your wounds. Moose: What of you? You surely didn't come here just to help me. Wolf: I'm on errand for my friends. I needed some game, and these wildcats were just about right. Perhaps we'll meet up again at the castle. Moose: Very good then, I'll make my way there, and thanks again if I don't see you. The Moose begins off to the castle, while I pick up a couple wildcats to take back. One will probably due, and if I'm lucky I'll have another trophy to display. I make my way back to the glass building when I noticed the Crab and Leopard have shown up with the hawks. Wolf: Oh? Court adjourned already? That was quick. Crab: I tell you what, these people have some very odd citizens. Arguments over land measuring 3 x 300 feet of land, bartender Rat serving bad ale and food, and don't get me started on the kidnapping with cross marriage! Wolf: ... Perhaps you can tell me later? Sounds like quite the entertaining event that I missed out on. Crab: What's with the cats anyhow? Wolf: I'll show ya when we go in, one is for a plant inside. Crab: A plant?! And the other? Wolf: I need a rug. We step inside and I lead them up the staircase. From the second floor I call up to the other two that I'm back. We've gathered together again and talk about what's happened. Now on to immediate attention. Since I'm the one the hurt the Maple, I'll see if I can make amends. I opened the door slowly, and the plant doesn't seem to show sign of being irritated sitting back in the

center of the room. Wolf: Sorry about the haircut I gave you earlier. I have a wildcat to offer as an apology. I throw the wildcat into the room and the shaggy looking carpet feeds through the wildcat's body in a very disturbing manor. Makes me cringe every time I think about it. The tree seems to have finished sucking all the blood out. Wolf: If you don't need the hide, I'll take it off your roots. (The plant raises a root and throws it back toward me.) Wolf: Thank you. My Elephant friend would like to discuss living arrangements for you since he'd like to own this place, is that okay? (The tree makes no obvious movements.) The Elephant steps into the room cautiously without being attacked, seems like we're accepted. The Tree is in fact a construct, maple, and it talks. She's been around since during the time of the previous owners, which is of little surprise and yet I wonder where shes been getting water from. The lack of food is what stunted her growth. She'd like to stay in this room, but she'll be growing too big to live in here, so a place outside will have to be arranged some time. Since we've come into good terms with each other the tree reached into a small crack in the ceiling next to the wall to reveal a map of the place. This will help a bit while we clean out the rest of the house. We move on to the next floor leaving the Tree to her room. The Bat and Elephant discuss with us what they've found while I was out. The 3FS room is locked up tight with more locking mechanisms than even a secure safe would have. The map says this is Charlie's room, but that doesn't help us unlock it, so we move on. The Bat nearly vomited at the sight of one room considering the nasty combination of colors the owner once used. That same room had a lead lined crate in it with a statue inside that will remain inside as far as he's concerned. The Elephant found what looks like a bedroom and Bath on this floor designed for a human that was bigger than him in all aspects. No treasure of great value just yet, until we opened Chu

Chu's room, the 3FN room. A child's room with small weapons in a case and the Bat confirmed that they are all magical. A child size skeleton corpse lay off to the side still fully dressed and a toy box sitting idle. Going back to taking turns I step into the room and several toy soldiers take up defense formation on the toy box. Everyone thought I didn't notice and were trying to call me back out, but I simply looked over and spoke to them. Wolf: I take it that you don't want me intruding. Toy Soldier: No, we don't mind you being in the room, just don't mess with our box. Wolf: So we could take everything in here, leaving you alone and you wouldn't mind? Toy Soldier: Correct Crab: Can you tell us about this place? The soldiers told of the child being a forty year old that wore a ring to make him permanently six years old including mentality. The boy enjoyed playing with his toys in very violent acts. Not much different than a normal child but with evil tendencies and the magical items to do it with. The household itself was of evil nature, including the worshiping of evil gods. This seems strange, backwards for that matter which begs a question. Uncle Charlie's room, a bedroom with a door built to secure the most important of things, even if it were to imprison someone. A good person? The toy soldiers say that the room is designed to block powerful magic and slow down time inside. The Crab walks up to the room and knocks on the door. A very incredibly slow and deep voice is heard on the other side. He's alive?! Uncle Charlie?: YYYEEESSS Crab: Are you Uncle Charlie? Uncle Charlie: YYYeeesss, III aaammm. WWWhhhaaattt iiisss gggoooiiinnnggg ooonnn ooouuuttt ttthhheeerrreee? Crab: The household has died from the destruction of the world, you survived by being imprisoned. If your to be free we need a way to open this door. Uncle Charlie: III kkknnnooowww hhhooowww. TTThhheeeyyy tttooolllddd mmmeee aaasss ttthhheeeyyy llloooccckkkeeeddd mmmeee

iiinnn. IIInnn ttthhheee bbbaaassseeemmmeeennnttt, uuunnndddeeerrr ttthhheee ttthhhiiirrrddd tttiiillleee fffrrrooommm ttthhheee wwwaaallllll iiisss aaa llleeeaaaddd bbboooxxx wwwiiittthhh aaa ssspppeeeccciiiaaalll kkkeeeyyy ttthhhaaattt wwwiiillllll ooopppeeennn ttthhhiiisss dddoooooorrr. TTThhheeeyyy tttoooyyyeeeddd wwwiiittthhh mmmeee bbbyyy ttteeelllllliiinnnggg mmmeee mmmyyy fffrrreeeeeedddooommm wwwaaassssss jjjuuusssttt ooouuuttt ooofff mmmyyy rrreeeaaaccchhh. Crab: What can you offer for your freedom? Uncle Charlie: III kkknnnooowww ooofff aaa gggooolllddd mmmiiinnneee nnneeeaaarrr hhheeerrreee. The Elephant hurried down the stairs to the basement, found the tile with the hidden compartment, and retrieved the key from the box. I find the Crab's desire for payment a bit crud, but the wizard will be free none the less. Coming back up, he used the key on the door which in turn made the door appear alive from all the moving parts on it. The door swings open to a naked old man who looks like he's nothing but skin and bones, despite having his daily meals, and reeked a foul odor. The room itself is covered in symbols that Charlie had been writing himself. Magical notes on how to escape from this place. The table cloth in the middle of the room is what provided his meals twice each day by the room's standards. By simple thinking of what the host desired to eat the cloth would magically manifest it, but only twice per day. Now that he was free of the room, he spoke normally as we did. I showed the wizard downstairs to the Bath and went to one of the bedrooms to retrieve a couple robes for him. Being stuck in that one room for forty-five of his own years didn't allow for much exercise of the body. I went back up to find the Bat stuffing his bag with the magic items from Chu Chu's room and the Crab making arrangements for the box of toy soldiers to be given a home back at the castle. They were overjoyed at the thought of giving war reenactments as a show. It was funny giving the box to the guard outside that showed the Crab and Leopard to the house. The Crab told the guard to be careful when handling the box, and the toy soldier popped out and threatened to stab him with the entire army. Not to kill, but it would hurt getting stabbed by 300 toy soldiers with needle size swords. The third floor has been checked, now it's up to the forth floor. Which is a floor that was

best described as an adventure all on it's own. The very first room we check, 4FS, is called Boo Boo's room. Real creative of names here. The door is opened to expose a jungle. All of us see it with the exception of the Bat who sees nothing but blue mist type haze. An illusion and not just visual, the tree just inside the door feels real, but not to the Bat. He proceeds to check the room with his echolocation tells us about a checkered floor with traps under most, a bed at the back of the room, and a very large treasure chest. We obviously want the chest, so here was the brilliant plan. The Elephant shrinks down to six inches, the Bat then carries the Elephant into the room next to the chest, returns to normal size, the Bat directs the Elephant where to place his hands and shrinks to six inches again allowing the Bat to carry the Elephant holding the chest back out of the room where the Elephant returns to normal size with the chest in the staircase room. Now the fun begins. Three locks on this thing. Two locks at each end with a very large magical lock in the front. I have a suggestion to break the hinges on the back of the chest including the locks at each end leaving the lock in front unscathed and bypassed. The strongest in our group is the ever chaotic Bat who with gloves and club of great strength proceeds taking aim at the locks first. These were tough little locks as even our super Bat put a great deal of strength into breaking one off and managing to finally embed the other lock into the wall. Then it happened. The magic lock up front brought forth such a violently high pitch sound that I have no doubt it was in fact heard a mile away. I scream in pain laying on the floor holding closed my blood filled ears. The wizard made a casual appearance in a Bath robe. He placed his hand on the lock and melted it in his clutch. I see them speaking to each other, but I can't hear a thing. The Leopard appears to have lost her hearing as well, but seems to be recovering giving me hope of not having permanent damage myself. I sit down to rest and watch them continue with the chest. The lid is removed and they are picking out jesters items? I don't know what they are saying, but the wizard is telling them about each of the items to the best of his knowledge. He ponders before speaking, that's why I can tell. A belt is revealed and just after the wizard spoke to them they threw it to me. I don't know why just yet, but they'll tell me later I'm sure. Another item removed, but a bright light comes out, leaving me blind. I cover my eyes, but it's too late, I can't see anything but white now. I can still feel the

wall behind me and curl up in a ball to guard me from any more surprises, but now I'm starting to hear again. It's mumbled, but promising. I'm so stressed from what's happening that I don't pay attention to what they are saying regardless of how clear it's becoming. I hear the Crab walk up to me and offers to help me to my feet. I extend my paw only to have a very painful shock similar to the Ruin City building that bit me with lightning. Wolf: WHAT WAS THAT!? Crab: I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It's a hand device to shock people on contact. I wanted to test it. Wolf: That's the last time I trust you. Oww. That hurt. It's bad enough I went deaf, then blind. Bat: You'll get your sight back, and don't worry about the butterflies that have filled the room. Wolf: ... Why are there butterflies in the room? Charlie: They exploded out of a rubber chicken of wondrous items. It's like a pinata only reusable. And the things that come out are completely random. Wolf: What on earth is a pinata? My sight becomes blurry, but I am glad they told me before I started seeing these little wings of light flying about the room. The Crab was now 6 inches tall in body, green, and had full size pincers chasing the Leopard around the room with his buzzer claw who was laughing at him while holding a magic book of jokes. The Bat had donned a brightly colored jester's outfit which gives him armor like steel plate mail, but made of silk. Yeah, going through this chest was just full of surprises. The belt they gave me is a 48 pouch belt of holding (six pouches with seven extra inner pouches each. Each pouch can swallow items up to one cubic foot in size (no sharp objects), then shrink back down to just an ordinary pouch again. This will be great for holding many items and the weight of the item being held reduces greatly while being stored. Another item I took great interest in was a purple sash of illusionary terrain. Twice per day I can concentrate on a spot nearby to create an illusion of another place completely, similar to the jungle we saw in the room. I'll strap it around my chest under my quiver. Charlie said the dweller of the room lived 3 inches off the ground at all times. He never

touched the ground through his levitation magic and thus the tiles in the room were never set off by his presence. The wizard pulls out a crown and the look he gives shows the item is indeed of such great importance. Crown of the Joker, thought to have been lost for a thousand of years in his time. The crown has about 50 gems decorating it, all magical. The Joker's crown is indeed a very funny thing. Some gems create a devastating explosion that affects everyone including the wearer, but some gems cancel out damage taken by the bearer, thus leaving them unharmed, mostly. The crown itself would sell for a continent, but this item being as magical as it is could have it's magic drained to create other magical items, thus removing from the world such a lethal thing. Great care must be taken, since the gems would destroy a very large area should any one be forcibly removed. Since the Bat has taken interest in using the crown and he's decided to set up shop in my manor with laboratory included, I'll keep the crown hidden in my belt pouch to display back at the manor, under heavy security. The remaining items could be sold as cheap tricks, but nothing magical or that great. One room and chest down, the remaining floor to go. A couple of guest rooms, a room with a very large human female statue standing over a trapdoor, another room is tinted perfectly black and white, another with varying shades of purple, a quad room, yes a QUAD room, and according to the map this room is called Many HaHa. The statue has a rock construct inside waiting to crush anyone that comes near the trap door. The Bat searches the black and white room to find a couple of nice desk items. The Many HaHa room, when peered into reveals a circled symbol that takes up the entire floor. It doesn't summon, thankfully. The floor is actually a teleportation circle that leads to the land of Many HaHa, wherever that is. The Crab became curious and decided to step into the circle. He disappeared and a moment later reappeared. The circle leads to another circle located on an island in the middle of a water area and a very ominous looking abandoned tower also resides. The Quad room as previously noted is in fact that. The door reveals four floors stacked on top of each other all about two and a half foot tall. The Elephant decided to investigate this place by using his gloves to shrink down to 6 inches in order to examine the place in a place. He glanced around and found that many items were of magic base, he couldn't understand most of anything here. I call in to suggest giving the Bat the gloves in order to thoroughly search

around. He agreed and off went the six inch Bat to check things out. The place could be used as a school considering the number of rooms, the content of the library, and the remaining comforts a person might need, but for people less than two and a half feet tall. The library did have some magic books of sorts. The Bat brought all the books out a few at a time since he'd already shrunk down to size. Tiny Timmy's books of spells. A variety of literature, but none of us are proficient at reading magic and our wizard friend sees no interest in it since he's much more powerful to use something of this nature. In any case, we finally finish the 4th floor, what on earth could stumble across next. The fifth floor was by far the most dangerous one we've seen. The map revealed the names starting from the 5FS and going around right, {Chapel, Priest, Storage, Sacrifice, Trophy, Toys, Junior priests, Apprentice priests}. Charlie looked at the door to the Chapel which appeared to be a large mouth in decoration was actually a planer gate to a place in the nine hells, and gave great advice to not stay here long. I don't think anything will happen as long as we don't open any doors, so we'll skip this floor. The sixth floor was strange at first. The map gave names of each room as elements, {Water, Ice, Air, Smoke, Fire, Lava, Earth, Mud}. The Crab had a thought and opened the Water door. It was just that, about waist high the water flowed up to the door but did not pass the door. These are also planer gates, but to areas of resource rather than places like the Chapel downstairs. Inside these planes exist elementals of their appropriate plane. I ask the wizard his advice of catching elementals through the door like a fisherman would fish. It is possible, but not practical just yet. We have to have some magical devices equivalent to a fishing rod and cage, but we can save that for another time. The stairs continue up however, though there are only six floors. They lead up to a trap door in the ceiling which after unlocking and stepping up through, we find ourselves at last to the roof of the building. I for one sigh with relieve, but Charlie says an Eagle sentient he knew of was also taken prisoner here. The only place we didn't check was the 5th floor. Back we go. My thoughts run to the sacrifice room. I open it first to find cages with human remains and sure enough an Eagle suspended in a cage alone. Simple locks keep it bound, and we look to our friend the Bat once more. He steps up and I step out. A good thing I did, as one of the locks is embedded in the

door next to me. He didn't have much luck either. Some of the locks fell to the floor shattering and pieces came back up hitting him. The Eagle falls to the ground out of the cage. Eagle: Are you guys the ones who are gonna sacrifice me? Crab: No. You've been stuck here for over 300 years. Those guys are long dead. Your free. Eagle: Well ain't that just dandy. Hey Charlie, how have you been? Charlie: It's funny, they kept us prisoner to punish us, but in the long run we survived because of them. A human, the first sentient animal, and treasures beyond imagination in one place. Scholars from all over the world are going to be knocking at our doors. Out of curiosity we check the Storage room. Inside are a variety of supplies like a barrel of eyes, barrel of pig ears, and other oddities used in magic spells, but one barrel looked different. A barrel of wine, surely not. The Bat says it's magical, and the Eagle seems to have an idea what it might be too by overhearing her captors. Four ounces of this wine will bring intelligence to any living thing that did not previously have any, or it could be a very lethal poison. The Crab fills an empty bottle with the liquid and he goes down to test this liquid on some plants outside. The Crab returned with a Moss plant clinging to him. Yeah, this stuff could be very beneficial. Before leaving we discuss some final matters of the building. I recommend a proper grave for the dead inside, even though they may have been evil at one time, it would still be appropriate. The Toad who has been standing outside this whole time was glad to find a spot of consecrate and bless some area for a burial site. Which is funny in itself, burying evil in a blessed grave site. The Elephant grabs a couple of bottles of intelligence wine to scatter on a few dwarfed trees. The living being given intelligence becomes a friend of the one that gave the dose. He instructs them to clean the place up for future development under the guidance of the Maple inside, steering clear of the dangers that still remain. An Elephant brewer with tree servants, what a combo. We bid farewell to this place and head back to the castle, where a good nights sleep is in order. Along the way the Leopard couldn't stop talking about how she was going to find a cat to bring intelligence to. Sure enough,

just before entering the castle among the village streets we noticed a cat. A very big tom cat, that looked like it had seen more war time than the average veteran soldier. Even the dogs left him alone, and they were twice his size. The Leopard was so excited that she nearly tripped over herself to comfort the thing. Once the tom cat had accepted her company, she gave him a dose of the intelligence wine, and now we have a new companion in the group. The dogs howled in relief that this cat was leaving. They may be simple dogs, but I can still understand canine speech. As a matter of fact, I asked them about the Moose that was in the woods just a while ago. They informed me the Moose did make it to the castle, was patched up and made tent outside the castle. Their speech was more like: dogs: Moose here. Wounds healed. Sleeping in tent. (pointing in direction) So I'm relieved that he did make it even though the Crab and Leopard had missed him somehow. Next time I'll be more prepared in the field. The Rabbit cook inside had the late evening meal prepared for us, where most of the other servants had turned in already. We talked about what had happened while we were separated from each other. The Crab had some interesting court cases to share and the Leopard made it back with everything we left at the guard house of the mouse we first did business with, and the Charlie was delighted to converse with the new world of sentience.

The King, Capital City, and Shopping We decided to pay a visit to the king as planned with gifts to present his majesty. The servants took some measurements and proceeded to tailor some more formal clothing for us. No purple clothing unless your a baron or higher, but even then it must be minimal. Charlie was going to head back to his home back in the mountains. His description lead us to believe it could still be there, as it was well protected and almost impossible to reach by man, beast, of other entity, not to mention hard to find. He would welcome us if we were to visit, but he didn't want to see the world just yet. The Eagle would be accompanying us for a while, her knowledge of the pre-death era would be quite helpful, and we could introduce her to the world we're so accustomed to. The next morning we get cleaned up, breakfast, and head up to the upper floor of the castle where the tapestry hangs that leads to the king's castle. We all step through entering a closet that was identical to the image on the tapestry. We open the door to the laboratory of a Dog. Crab: Hello again, Dog. Dog: Baron GreyShell. What brings you to the castle? Crab: We came to visit the king and present gifts in good will. Dog: Very good then. I'll take a look at them and introduce you in the court. The Crab had apparently met the Dog in court yesterday. The Dog's nephew had an abusive father who now wanders the streets with shackles that shock him for every evil thought that comes to mind. I decided to give a bottle of wine that I took from the glass house, spoils of my recent adventure. The Dog managed to extract a shot from the wine bottle and I gave the sample to the Crab since he has a strong stomach for alcohol. The quality of wine is that of 90 gold pieces, which can't be found in hardly anywhere in the world. The Bat is going to offer the teddy bear to the king for his son. The bear will be completely harmless to children, but grow to a ten foot raging beast if the child were ever threatened. The Dog made an adjustment to the bear allowing a father to punish his child. A platinum letter opener of minor magic drain, a platinum pen of ever full ink, the Eagle could offer pre-death information about the land, we believe these will be fine gifts to the king.

With everything checked out and manners of presentation gone over, we head down to the king's court where today, like every month, the king opens his court to the public. A large Rhino is the king, lounged in his throne making quick decisions of petty requests and complaints. We step forth, with the Dog introducing us. The king seems delighted at the sound of gifts. For my wine I received his blessing of land that lay northeast of me, a small amount, but anything beyond that border is uninhabited land so there will be little resistance should I extend my own border. The Bat was made baron of a tower with a bit of land, although he didn't seem that excited about it. He told me afterward that, he was happy with the laboratory I offered back at the manor. The Eagle was made a member of the court. A sentient who traveled about and could lay claim to land under the authority of the king. I don't understand how this is reasonable of the people who live out there, but I have no desire to question the king's demands just yet. The Leopard was given the land between Wildwood and the Golden Valley. Uninhabitable, but the roads must travel between the two regardless. For simplicity the Leopard merged her land in with the Crab. The king gave a mountain to the Crab for extra land development, but the ores within are expected to be extracted as soon as possible. Of course the mountain is located a few hundred miles away from Wildwood anyway, how they are considered connected is beyond me. The king decided to present to us a request, so recessing court for the time being, the king brought us back to a war room with maps and charts alike. The king is in conflict with three other kings over a group of islands. He knows that one of the kings is using pirates to attack his citizens and merchants. The kings order is: if we see any pirates, to kill them on site, unless they are willing to surrender and serve his majesty. The most dangerous group bears a red flag with a black sword, next bears a black flag with a red fist, and least of the three (possibly friendly) is a green flag with a yellow border and star in the center. Should we take up this request the king offers us the use of the Raven. A pre-death vessel with three hulls. The ship is considered very quick, but small compared to what we're going up against. The ship can be made ready within ten days, which gives us plenty of time to prepare. The Dog mage still with us, I hand him a piece of paper I found containing ingredients for a non-magic fireball. He says it can be done, and I ask if the Raven can be equipped with a device that can fire this type of ammunition. It'll be there, he promises.

With the meeting concluded we decide on exploring the city. The Crab and Bat wanted to visit the money changer to convert some of their gold bars into gold pieces. I still don't have but a few silver pieces despite the valuable treasure acquired. It was enough that I was able to buy 40 arrows from the king's own fletcher. 20 war arrows that pierce armor with greater ease and 20 hunting arrows that cause the victim to bleed more easily. It's no wonder that these arrows are difficult to get a hold of, considering how dangerous they are. We all meet back up out at the front gate where a cab awaits us due to the Crab's negotiations. We first head to a place called Sundersons, a magic shop that sells strictly items of holding, similar to my belt pouch. The place is like a garden jungle. We come up to the front door and pull on a chain. A voice comes out of a trumpet vine just above the door asking what we want. Crab: We have a chest full of gold and want to buy. Trumpet Vine: MASTER! CUSTOMERS! It was not a speaking device, but a plant that appeared to be such. It jumped down and led us through the door to another plant and that plant took us to Sunderson himself, an old Goat. Both the Crab and Eagle purchased a couple of backpacks that will hold a great deal of things and decrease the weight to a few ounces from tons. While I was here I asked the old Goat what my belt of many pouches would run. I was happy the value was about nine thousand gold pieces, which was on par with the backpacks we just bought. In the enlightenment of conversation, attention went to the Bat about his outfit he had hidden under his robe. The Bat had no problem showing the Goat the jester's motley and the Goat laughed out loud. Goat: Hold that pose for a moment (clap, clap) (A little creature jumped from the desk with a blank canvas and brush.) Bat: What's that?... The little creature looked at the Bat and with a tiny screech, proceeded to paint a portrait of the Bat in motley at such a fast speed that I barely seen him move. If this little guy had a bow and arrow, I'd have been shot 300 times before getting one arrow out. The creature disappeared to the desk once more and the Goat hung the canvas with a perfect picture of the Bat in a

brightly colored motley on the wall. Goat: You won't find a creature like that anywhere else in the world. Captures a moment in a picture in record time, every time. Bat: ... The Goat was so pleased with our entertaining visit that he tossed a coin pouch to the Bat. This pouch can hold any amount of valuable coin or bar and not bear any weight. Since we have other magical items to sell I ask for suggestions of our next stop. The old Goat told of a magic school that might take interest. The Elephant had other items to sell, but the jewelry shop was clear across the city. The Elephant managed to convince the Eagle to give him a ride to the shop, so they took off. We took the cab down the street to the school of magic and I presented Timmy's books of spells, I got quite the deal on two of the spell books, 5500 gold pieces. Although, the set of books was so valuable that they didn't have the funds to buy it, 105,000 gold pieces. I'll have to find another shop to relieve myself of these treasures including Tiny Timmy's book of fast spells, can cast three spells at the rate of one normal spell in combat. Come to find out there is a city called Freeport that is small, but is by far the richest city in the world. The catch is that the people here will take every advantage they can to make money, but they won't cheat you, meaning they won't just steal it. On to further business, I was able to trade out my Gloves of the Amphibian for a Necklace of the Amphibian. An even trade with one catch, the necklace will give my feet webbing which will help with my swimming, but not for my hunting. I gave them my gloves, but I'll have to come back in a week to pick up the necklace since they didn't have one on hand. I'm starting to miss using the Crab's Boots of the Eagle, so I inquire to a price and find they are 5000gp a pair. Considering the haul we've had I'll be able to pick up a pair, later. Now that I think about it, I should find out about an herbalist in the area. Madam Mushka is her name, her shop is just a few blocks down the way. My own business was concluded, so I wait to the side for my friends to barter as well. The Leopard inquired of a few items to buy and sell. The Crab didn't really need to buy anything, but since we were waiting for the rest of our party we spent the time chatting. The mages were kind enough to enlighten us of various magics in the world as well as the

schools that teach them to the best of their knowledge. The Elephant and Eagle made it back to join us, apparently he got a nice deal on the jewelry box he had, but would have to make arrangements of collecting his payment later in the week. In the mix of trade, my eyes catch a glint of the Leopard pulling out a book she got from the glass house. For once I'm quick on my feet and dart out the door. The Crab followed behind and as we shut the door we noticed a few mages had vanished too. We begin to hear a disgusted moaning from the Elephant and a Leopard laughing. We open the door again to find the Elephant had a creamy food substance coming out from his armor, I'd guess three pounds worth. The Leopard's book calls the joke she read Tapioca pudding gag. The mages provided some water and cloth to help out the unfortunate Elephant, it's a wonder why he didn't cream her after that. Another shop down, and one more for me at least. Madam Mushka seemed pleasant, but maybe it's the perfumes she had from her home grown herbs. I ask about a grass called Loreton grass, which my Bear servant requested, but of all the herbs she has, that was not among them. She did know where to find it at least, a Rat down in the sewers of the city about 60 feet below us. He's crazy, legit, nobody messes with him, and the going rate is about 600gp/per ounce of seeds. The problem is that the sewers also hide the thieves guild. I'm almost at a loss, but my friends assure me they wouldn't mind checking out the black market down there. Since we've settled for going down, we take a trip back to the mages shop to find items that help prevent thievery. The mages offer us a coin, a special coin, to be more precise a coin golem. This little coin must be in contact with your skin for one full day to recognize who it's master is. Then the coin is placed inside a pouch of your choosing to bite the hand of anyone else that sticks their hands in. Out of all of us the Crab is wealthy enough to ask about the more expensive golems. Apparently some golems are strong enough to one bite an entire hand off. These golems do require food every week though, a mouse or small rat would suffice. Considering the expense, I won't be able to afford one, but the others did pick up a few for themselves. Now to kill off a full day. We return to the baron's castle through the tapestry to make arrangements to stay the night and secure our belongings that we don't want to risk losing. I'll need to at least bring 1500gp with me at my stop and a little extra in case something comes up. Before heading to bed I write two

letters: One letter is my invitation to my pack to reside on my new land with 500gp as proof with travel expense and the other will go to the manor telling of my possibly coming pack. The king's post is famous for sending letters great distances in such a short amount of time at 1gp each.

Letter To SilverTail Pack*blue Brethren! It's only been a few short weeks and I've seen so much. I know my leaving was of short notice, but I have great news. I have acquired land of my own, Stone Lake. A manor on an island in the middle of a lake and a portion of land around it. The previous owner kept the place in good order, but fell due to poor circumstance. Nonetheless, the manor remains kept by a brown Bear, and the packs living on the edge of the lake provide fish for me as rent for their stay. I do miss home, but as you know the hunting ground for each pack grows smaller every generation. I wish to invite some of you to come live on my land. I am in need of the packs services for protection, while I continue to seek out new treasures. This wish of mine will benefit The Pack as well, dividing the hunting grounds among fewer packs and opening up new territory for you that accept my invitation. I only expect a few of you, since many are content. Say hello to father and mother, as well as brothers and sisters. Best wishes to all. Aegis

Sewer Market and a New Life About mid day, the next day, we locate the entrance most used by the crew that maintains the underground waterways. From the road, a set of stairs leads down to the channeled water and a walkway that leads both ways. A bell hangs from the sewer entrance that we ring and the echo is heard down through the pipe. We see a worker come up to us, but rest assured we could smell him much sooner than we saw him. We inform him of where we'd like to go and he tells us the simplest way is by his barge. I give him 3gp for a trip for us to go there and back. He agreed, with an odd smile about him. I can't place my paw on it, but I'll be alert regardless. The barge departs and we enter the 7 foot clearance pipe. We barely get well underway when our captain tells us we have about 2 miles of rapids to deal with. Rapids!? We find the nearest support and find ourselves tossing and weaving through the narrow pipeline. The rushing water comes from all the other pipes that feed this main line. We begin to slow down again, when again our captain says to remain firm for our 8 foot drop. Your joking right?! He begins to peddle faster on his contraption to increase our speed. We see an exit of the pipe. All at once we feel our bodies floating for a moment and come crashing back to the boat hard. At least we're still upright, but the fun's not over yet. The boat speeds around a corner forcing us to one side. I didn't count the number of circles, but we came straight down by several feet. At the end of this corkscrew that he called it, we splash into a calm pool of collected sewage. Final stop: Central Pool. He said this is the cleanest part of the whole area, a room about 200 by 300 feet with a clearance of 20. I walk over to throw up my breakfast from the rough ride. The Elephant and Leopard both start throwing up just from the smell of the sewage. The Elephant clogged up his trunk making him talk funny. I don't think the Leopard had any food left after how much came up. He pulls the barge up to the side of the walkway that is partially fenced. Any boat down here could dock anywhere along the walkway, saving the effort of a crowded platform. The Shop was right next to where we landed as promised. I step inside to great a Mushroom behind the counter, who then calls for his master. An albino Rat?

Wolf: How on earth do you keep your fur clean down here? Intrigued, he steps over to a cabinet with good clean water flowing out. I'm impressed. Anyway. I came looking for Loreton grass, which he did have in stock. I paid 1000gp for a good amount, since the life expectancy was only 50-50. I'm sure my Bear will know how to take good care of it, but I'd rather not make another trip down that adventure. We all discuss other herbs and potions he has. In fact, I decided to buy some poison to dip some arrows heads in. 10 doses in this little, very expensive bottle. I'll choose my victims wisely. He recommends we head into the black market, just down the walkway through the tunnel and into a larger chamber than this. Since I don't have any coin golems I lead the way allowing my comrades to keep an eye on me, while the others with these coins need not watch their pouches. The Leopard told a joke. I cringe as I await what's about to happen. I feel... a crawling itch... I check my clothing, my fur, I don't see anything, but it's real. The captain back at the barge is dancing around swearing loudly. Other sentience in the tents ahead are being thrown around by others in anger, including a head that rolls out without it's body. I run over and grab the Leopard holding her over the edge of the walkway. We demand she cancel the spell, before she gets us killed. With a sneer smirk she knows I won't drop her in the sewage. She's lucky, this time. She gets the book back out and looks for the reversing spell, she reads the passage, and starts laughing hard, unnaturally. This itching feeling goes away, but my anger still resides, which doesn't bode well for everyone around. The spell says it's affect radius was 500 feet, this would include everyone above ground too, not to mention the prince's castle. We make our way to the main market, mainly made up of tents and cheap construction, but what can you do with limited good supplies. A bottle shop. We step in to find a 10 year old rabbit at the counter. Someone so young, chances are he's not the only one. He seems very eager to display the bottles he's gathered from the sewer and cleaned up. Rabbit: Oh, I have big bottles, little bottles, glass, tin, clay... I have lots to choose from. Wolf: How much for 1 ounce clay bottles? Rabbit: 1 silver piece each, sir.

Wolf: I'll take 20 then, here's 2gp Rabbit: Thank you Crab: How many bottles do you have altogether? Rabbit: Over 500 last I checked Leopard: What's the most expensive bottle you have? Rabbit: (checking us over) Shh. Close the door. Here, in this box, a bottle I found a while back. It's a bottle made of Jade. I asked a good friend of mine how much it was, and he said it was worth 2000gp. Leopard: I'll buy it. This way you can use the money to make something better for yourself like schooling. Rabbit: The surface? No, I can't! My parents had some nasty enemies up there. I can't. Leopard: What if you come with us? We live in a country not far from here, but far enough that no one would bother you or your family. Rabbit: Really?! You'd, You'd do that for me? But I've grown fond of my bottle shop. They help so many people out. Crab: Tell you what, I can put your entire collection in my bag of holding. It's a special bag that can hold many things in a very small space. Rabbit: ... Okay. Leopard: Your parents could come with us, even your friend. Anyone that would like to leave this place Rabbit: My parents... I don't know where they are. Even my friend disappeared... The other shops next to me take care of me and I them. They might come. Wolf: I have what I need. I'll head back to the barge and let the captain know were getting ready to leave. I head back with the Eagle to the boat. We let the captain know what our status is. He tells us that in order to get back we have to continue forward to the ocean. Once there, we have to head back up a river to the city docks. This could be a problem, as the Rabbit among others might be at risk. We'll have to keep a guard up. A moment passes while I watch the market shift about. The Crab and company talk to a few locals, but then something I saw sparked a series of thoughts. We were a party of 6, the Rabbit, now a Dog, a Rat, a very large creature I don't recognize has joined them, and now a pack of 30+ smaller animals all children from the looks of it. If we were to

head back on foot, the only way back is through the king's castle where many people are bound to be. In addition, we came to this city by way of the tapestry in the mage's study. I doubt we would go unnoticed. Wolf: Captain. We're going back to join them. If you see us disappear, don't worry about us and go about your business. I thank you for the trip. Both the Captain and the Eagle give me a strange look, but she followed me regardless. The large sentient had stepped away and brought back a much larger boat than the one we came in on. This will work out well. We try to comfort the children as they agree to come with us, but as all children left alone, they are still skittish. Once everyone was aboard I motioned everyone to quiet down. I ask the large sentient if he would like to be my boatman back at Stone Lake. He asked how big it was. I assured him it was quite big and the fish are gargantuan as well. He seemed interested and agreed. I'm still getting some confused looks as to what I'm doing, until I bring out my teleport stone. Wolf: I'll be teleporting us all back to my docks at Stone Lake. This'll be one-way so make sure to hold onto the boat and each other tightly. Once we get there, DO NOT jump in the water, the fish will eat you. Understood? Leopard: Here, you'll need more than one to teleport a group this big. The Leopard hands me one of her stones as well, and she was correct. When I focused on the stone and thought of everyone here, I only found about half of them. But when I focused on both stones I was able to see everyone at the same time. Now to focus on my docks, and away we go. A blinding flash and coming into focus exactly where I wanted to be, with the boat and everyone on it. All heads accounted for. All the children were astonished at the land. None of them had ever been outside the sewers to see the sun, the grass, trees, or even breathe fresh air. In the mix of excitement, the sentient grew a smile wider than his face. He jumps down to the shore, cracks a few knuckles, and removes the necklace around his neck. He grew to an amazing 29 foot tall Killer Whale. With great laughter he jumps into the water and swims about like a cub playing in the field.

As the party all disembarks, the families of the hamlet come over to see what the commotion is about. I ask them to prepare a banquet outside tonight, to bring out the tables and even bed sheets to dine upon if possible. It would be only appropriate to let them enjoy being outside today. The children of the Hamlet come out to greet and begin playing games with them. I look to my new boatman and request he take me to the island to get one more person. I step back onto the boat alone and he grabs the rope to pull me out there. Compared to that sewer rapids this is much faster but smoother of a ride. Once docked I make my way up to the manor, with the Bear at the door to greet me. Before I get a word in, he inquires what is going on in a variety of questions. Wolf: It would seem we have guests, and to accommodate them, we will be dining on shore tonight. We have a new boatman in my employment. Oh! And I found your Loreton grass seeds. Seems they were much closer than expected. I can't begin to tell you the look on his face of excitement and happiness of both activity brought to the manor and the gift I gave him. Before I knew it he hurried into the kitchen and storage to gather some things to bring to the first banquet they've had in a long time. The Killer Whale is still excited and was pulling us just as fast as earlier. The Bear was holding on for dear life, since he was a bit older. Back on shore, we begin setting things up when we started noticing the children's unusual behaviors. One child was adding ingredients to the soup, which was helpful, but even the cooks were overwhelmed by how good it tasted. Another child walked up to our party and started pointing at things calling them magical and not magical. How strange. Even back in the sewer, one of the children became invisible, but we thought it may have been just an item being used. Are these children gifted? One of the children, barely seen under a cloaked hood, tugged on the Crab's leg, pointed in a direction and said a child was being beaten two miles from here. The Crab noticed the location was inside his barony, so the child climbed upon his back and with his wing giving boots flew toward the place. I have faith he'll be alright, and even be back for dinner. The topic of where these people would be living had come up. I proposed that they will lodge at the manor here for tonight, then we'll travel

into Wildwood to find homes for them. One of the hamlet families told me of a cliff between the lake and Wildwood. It's not far, so some of us take a little walk. The cliff itself is more like a circled fortress just extruding out of the ground. We could see it from the distance dipping into the ground a short distance. A series of caves can be seen high off the ground with a few holes at the base for entry to the caves inside. Lynx: It's not much, but this is where we retreat to when war parties come around. Or I should say use to ever since our previous lord, the barony, and other nations started forming; we haven't seen any raiders for some time. I would imagine they spent a lot of time in here, since the rooms are well made, furnished, and ready to use. The only problem is it's a bit dusty from lack of real use. This place doesn't just stop a few rooms and hallways in, but a door at the back opens up to the secret of this place. We open the door to the outside again, or I should say the backside of the cliff walls. A naturally formed fortress. A spring feeds this area, but escapes by some underground route, plant life of variety grow here, a food source when locked in for long periods of time. The top is completely open up to the edge of the cliff walls. People could scale the outside cliff facing, but the chances of doing so are slim to none. We may have only helped a few people out, this place could be used as a starting refuge to give others a new start in life. Speaking of which, I wonder how many of my pack will be coming to my new land. We return to the lake shore where everyone is at, but still no sign of the Crab and telepathic Snake child. They still have time, as we are preparing for the meal. In the commotion, we notice another child is missing. Most of us start to panic about the lost child, but some of the children are giggling. They inform us that the Bear cub hitched a ride with the Crab and Snake unnoticed. More invisibility tricks, just what we need, at least their well mannered. Indeed we do see the Crab walking up the road with a family of Dogs along with the two kids. Seems like the Crab had to fight off a War-Dog father that was abusing not only his wife, but eight children as well. The Snake was brave enough to paralyze the father for the Crab, and the Bear cub

appears to have healing abilities that saved all of them. We weren't exactly expecting more company, but yet another child displayed their natural talents. He asked for the dining cloth that creates food and had us walk over to a stone circle that lay hidden for who knows how many years based on the overgrowth of vegetation. Placing the cloth in the circle, he held up his hands and now the cloth lay hidden under a mound of food. Even he was shocked about the amplification of this circle. Now that we have everything prepared, let us dine! The circle came up in topic along with other things. The circle seems to amplify magic by 10 times according to the Bat. Although we don't have much need for magic and is limited to just this spot, I had an idea come to mind. The Bat will be residing here at the manor as my magic user. The best course of action is to plant a fruit tree here for the Bat to feast upon before conducting experiments. Moving on to another topic, we discuss the arrangements the Crab and I are making to trade fish and stone for Wildwood's resources. This will allow us to build more structures to accommodate future guests and residents. While we are here, I quietly discuss the hidden chamber under the manor. A few of the male members of the Hamlet agree to help us move the treasures we already found in addition to what we might find for a few gold pieces. The goods found under the manor would help develop this land significantly. After the meal, we say goodbye to the Dog family and bring the rest of our guests to the manor for the night. The Killer Whale pulls us at a steady pace to prevent anyone from falling overboard. The fish in the water seem to be keeping their distance as well, so I have no fear that he'll be alright in the lake. At the island I give the Whale a potion of intelligence-giving to give a fish in the water for him to befriend should he see fit to do so. In addition, I explain to him that this lake appears to be unnatural, so he should take the liberty of exploring this four mile wide body of water. I have eight bedrooms at my disposal, leaving about 6 people per room. This would normally not suit others, but because of their previous living conditions they accept wholeheartedly. All the kids are divided up with at least one adult per room. I tell the kids they can play as they like, but to continue to mind their manors while my party conducts some investigation underground. No, they can't come with us, but maybe after we secure the possible dangers down there. I realize now that the Bear's excitement was

also due to being around kids. Although he has none of his own, he's become like a loving grandfather to all of them. He prepares a late evening dinner, and we make our way to the hidden tunnel.

The Secrets Under Stone Lake Stepping through the door once more, I move along the right hand side curve wall lighting the fountain torches as I find them and the Bat flies along the left hand curve wall doing the same. The chamber is a half circle by shape with columns spread around to hold the ceiling up. Along the walls we find a few doors, which we'll investigate shortly, and a very large throne of sorts sitting in front of the two doors centered at the back of the chamber. Now that this place is well lit and from what the mage school was telling me, this mossy atmosphere will eventually dry out. We've already checked out the first door on the right from the main entry. It held a few stone statues as well as a pure jade statue. I instruct my hired help to carefully move the statues up to the manor for display. The second door on the right hand side seems normal enough, except the magical door frame. Given what the Bat has experienced, he observes the magic aura to determine what it is. After a moment he tells us the frame has two auras: One is an alignment check, and the other is a lightning spell. So if the door frame doesn't accept you, you'll be struck dead or close to it. I feel as if I'm becoming more and more sensitive to this thing called lightning. Under the circumstances, this place would not be friendly to lawful good people, as such, the Leopard steps through unscathed. A few of the others step through, but I do not. Inside, the place resembles that of a chapel for halflings. The room is oval in shape, with a small alter and other religious symbols about, but the main attraction is the mural painting dedicated to halfling thieves covering the entire wall of the whole room. Our first instinct tells us this mural is a portal, but when the Leopard touched the wall, she felt refreshed, cleaner, even less hungry for that matter. As interesting as this room is, it provides little to our treasure hunt, but one less room to worry about. We'll put a sign up explaining the door frame to prevent any accidents. On to the next room to the right, the Elephant kicks the stuck door inward only to see the door disappear. Not magically, the door simply fell through a six foot wide pit in the middle of the triangular shape room. The pit itself is 15 feet deep with very long spikes extruding from the bottom along with a skeleton at the bottom. Poor fellow didn't think to check for traps first. Then again, he was probably distracted by the 14 chests sitting at

the far ends of the room. The Bat says the skeleton is wearing a couple magic rings. The Elephant uses his magic hat to fly down and use one of my arrows to retrieve them. The Bat tells us one of the rings is a minor healing ring, while the other is a ring of spell storing that appears to be full. So many magic spells and enchantments and not a wizard among us, with exception of a warlock Bat who is doing his best (wizards study magic of all types, where warlocks use a few choice spells naturally). We manage to jump around the pit, but for good measure I recommend at least one of us to fly over the pit to catch us from falling in. Considering the traps we've encountered in the past, it wouldn't surprise me if one tried to throw us in. Taking a chance I kick the first chest; nothing happens, so I open it up only to be blinded again. A rotten cream pie smacks me in the face. Disgusted, I wipe the pie off then check the contents ignoring the laughter of my friends even though I too thought it was funny. A single small vial made of all steel, cork and all. It still has something in it, but there's no labels of any kind on it. I'll place it in my belt for now. The next chest has 16 locks on it, so the Elephant gets out his trusty triangle of knocking to remove the locks one at a time. After the last lock fell off, the lid of the chest grew in size nearly taking us all out and imbedded into the ceiling by a good few inches. That won't be coming down anytime soon. Looking at the spring mechanism that threw that stone lid off, we wonder just how strong the person was that set it up to begin with. Inside was another box made of lead which held a dagger where the hilt appeared to be a vampire's skull. A vampire is one that leeches blood from it's victim. The Bat says based on the aura, the dagger only poses a threat on the blade end and not to the wielder. The next chest is just a basic wood chest, that contains a very intricately gnome made metal chest that I would estimate no less than 30kgp by itself considering the mithril fittings in the design and the lock on it 6kgp. More vials, about 50 one ounce magic potions that the Bat says are concentrated forms. An example would be the intelligence-giving potion requires 4 ounces, where if concentrated would only be one ounce. The Crab chose the forth chest to open by first smacking it with the slap stick of lightning. After getting that annoying ringing out of our ears again, he opens up the chest. Lucky for him, the lightning that came out missed and left a very large black mark on the ceiling. No seafood tonight. The lightning came from what appears to be a copper bar attached to some unusual black boxes at the

bottom of the chest. In addition to that there are smaller boxes sitting in rubber inserts. What a odd combination, but most things involving magic study has always been strange in itself, intriguing but strange. The 8 boxes all contain a different color of powder. Magic ingredients by the looks of it. The fifth chest is lined with leather and inside is a series of folded cloths along with an evil aura underneath. The Bat looks upon the glowing light and is confused about the magic. The light emits both a necro aura with cleric magic. Taking a risk, I lift up the cloth to reveal a wand where the hilt is a lizard claw grasping a red stone. Nothing happens and the Bat was able to determine better that the wand is used for healing the undead. The sixth chest is all black including the lock. The Elephant rings his chime, but the aura appears to have been sucked into the lock. The Bat has made himself distant from the chest as this metal is called eog (Eog is a metal that absorbs magic, which is useful for removing magic from something or somebody). Since I have the least amount of magic items, I place my gear off to the side and take up my club. I swing at the lock only to have it deflected back at the ground and then hitting me between the legs. It was my own mistake of direction of swing rather than the chest defending itself as my friends had thought. I'll just sit over in the corner for a while. The Elephant was kind enough to toss me the ring of minor healing to tend to my misery. Moving on to the next chest, the Bat seems to be having trouble lifting the metal lid off of it. Even with the gloves of the titan that gives him as much strength as the Elephant he only manages to open it just enough to have another object placed in between; the lid is just that heavy, 3 and 1/2 tons the Elephant wagers. Both the Elephant and the Bat together managed to lift the lid only to have it fall off the back side revealing a wand with a spiraled horn. I've seen this horn before on the paintings of unicorns. Bat says the wand has two auras about it; one at the point that heals life and the brunt side will neutralize any poison. Seems to be in good condition and will prove very useful to us on our adventures. The eighth chest was a bit odd being made of living sticks and ropes made of vines. Inside was a mud substance that when the Elephant stuck my arrow down into the arrow started to sprout leaves of it's own. My grandfather's friends talked about using fertilizers in their gardens, but this stuff is incredible. Not only was this muddy substance inside, but three other items lay off to the side. A wand made of mistletoe, a ring made from a

rosebush and a simple bird's wing. The Bat seemed leery of the bird's wing, as he says it'll stop all flight ability for a full day. The ninth chest was red painted wood, with a simple lock on it. Inside was papers, pens, and other secretarial items, but one of the pens was familiar to some of us, a pen that includes magic in the writings. If the Bat were to write a sentence of magic, the sentence itself would contain that magic similar to spell scrolls. I'm feeling better by this point and ready to give that chest a piece of my club again. Taking special care of aim this time, I managed to hit the lock and damaging it. Swinging again I knock it off clean, allowing me access inside. It was a bit heavy, but I was the only one without magic at the time to open it. Laying at the bottom of the chest is a book bound in red scaly hide. It's not a language I've seen exactly, but my best guess would be demonic of some kind. Most books like this are alive to a degree, pushing me to go ahead and knock on the cover of it. The book doesn't respond to my greeting and the Bat says it doesn't glow with any aura what so ever. Being imprisoned in this eog chest must have killed it, leaving the book to be possibly usable for the Bat's research. For safe keeping, we'll leave the book inside this eog box to keep any kind of magic user away from the book. The tenth chest is lined with fur from a ermin as the Leopard explained. Opening the lid, the Leopard reached down into a slimy substance that then began to climb up and eat away at her arm. She managed to fling it away, but the pieces that splattered started reforming. The Crab managed to slap a piece with his stick of lightning stunning the thing allowing the Bat to blast it with a fireball turning it to dust. Although this was effective, the slime turned it's attention to the Bat who was flying over the pit. He spoke to it to see if it were intelligent, but the slime shows the same mindset as a simple animal. Although the fireball was effective, my instincts turned to my intelligence-giving potion. I poured the bottle onto the slime and viola, the slime looked up at us as if newly reborn. It still has resentful memories of this place causing the bubbling foul words at times, but I think he'll be better once getting out into the world. I ask the Crab for one of the bottles he was holding for the Rabbit, a bottle about 5 gallons to accommodate the slime's 4 gallon capacity. He says he'll split after reaching 5 gallons, so I'll have to make arrangements for keeping him limited on his number. The slime was feeding off a bone from a troll, which was regenerating all on it's own. Acting quickly, the Leopard throws the bone into the pit and the Bat burns it

to nothingness. Apparently, if you were to cut the limb off a troll, not only would the troll regrow the arm, but the arm would regrow a troll giving you twice as many problems. Collecting the slime into the bottle, we set him outside the room to calm him down. The slime didn't know it, but he was guarding three items in the chest. A gauntlet of brilliance spikes decorated in heavy steel with blue and red enamel. These energy spike ignore armor when used to attack. A gold wrist band is made just like the gauntlet in color and design, but made for the other hand. A pair of goggles also shares the design. All of these are magical and the magic between them becomes stronger when worn together. The Bat seemed interested in the goggles and what they could do. After putting them on he proceeded over to a blank spot of the wall. He opened an invisible chest that became visible when he opened the lid. Inside was a crown and scepter that had alignment magic checks on them. Could the wearer only be lawful? I know all of these treasures will be shared as equally as possible, but perhaps this will go to my share to display in my manor. Furthermore, I'd rather put it to good use, a gift to the king that might reward me greatly. The chest itself has it's uses as well, but I'd have to be careful of any thieves that could see it, like we did. Just a few chests to go of this place. The twelfth chest was a hand carved woodland scene that will fetch a nice price or simply add decoration to one of my rooms. Inside was a frog skin book titled Madam Voga's book of Spells including 1st and 2nd level spells, but also variances of spells like featherfall, prismatic sphere, ironwall all the way up to 9th level. The thirteenth was made of crab shell that the Crab himself was displeased with seeing when we first came into the room. Instead of a standard lock, this latch appears to be a puzzler of sorts. The Elephant and I look it over to no avail, but the Bat noticed the trick to it and solved it without a hitch. Three books in this one: a book of Seafood diet recipes, a book of house keeping tips using crab shell powder, and the last which is totally unrelated is a Journal containing the history of Stoney Point Manor which I shall benefit from greatly if it's referring to my home. The only problem is that it's written in human common, so I'll have to get the Leopard or somebody to read it to me, or I'll have to learn the language myself which could be beneficial anyway. The Bat proceeded to lift the lid of the fourteenth chest when a foul

smell overcame all of us to nearly passing out. The Bat dropped the lid back down to contain the smell, but we noticed the bottom portion of the chest shift oddly. A bit more potent than the dire skunk. What looks like a normal chest is a three part container. The top layer wraps around everything down to nearly the floor and is the lid to the second section being a bottle, and the second layer sits and covers the real chest hidden under it all. In the third section, or bottom section, contained 8 pouches all containing a variety of coins and 2 rubies. In addition, there was a set of eog knuckles and 1 scroll tube containing 7 1st level mage spells. The scroll tube was interesting, if it were sealed up I don't think even water could get inside. The last chest was made of an odd metal. The Elephant rang his chime to open the lock, then the lock exploded hitting most of us with metal shards. I've had splitters before, but not made of metal. While some of us tend to our wounds, the Crab pulls out a strange device inscribed with human symbols on each of the buttons. The device also seems to be fed paper of a certain dimension. Why they resorted to using such a complex thing to write is beyond me. Another item to put on display as far as I'm concerned. At last the final chest of this room has been revealed. Stepping back into the chamber we follow the wall once again to the next door. The door itself was a bit heavy and revealed a hallway lined with doors along both sides and a door at the far end. A bit uniform compared to what we've seen. We open all 20 doors quickly down the hall after realizing these are sleeping quarters. Nothing special has revealed itself yet. At the end of the hallway the end door opens up to a kitchen and dining area. Seems to be in good condition, and will do nicely to accommodate my pack should they make their way here. This hallway was the last door on this side of the chamber, so we make our way back to the entrance to follow the other side of the wall. My hired help has returned to further give their assistance. I show them the treasure room and we help bring the treasures that we can just outside the door just inside the chamber. On to the first room along the left wall, the room has a bazaar shape to it, holding rusted weapons in many places except for one perfectly clean ordinary full-blade sword. According to the Leopard, the sword is a mercurial blade and the Bat added in that the aura on the blade is quite vicious, as the victim could not recover unless a full heal spell was used to tend to the wound given. I instruct my help to gather the rusted blades into

groups for future transport since we lack the proper supplies to do so now. My friends and I continue to the next room which appears to be a trophy display room of sorts. 20 feet wide and 70 feet down the walls are somewhat lined with glass cases all containing valuable things, but only a few have magic properties. A couple items of interest are are a single set of brass knuckles, a set of 12 throwing daggers and a leather strap with butterfly wings on it. The Elephant donned the knuckles and without thinking punched at the wall causing his whole arm to go though, but the wall remained undamaged. The Bat exclaimed knuckles of passwall. The Elephant thought it was a fun concept and proceeded to walk through the wall. We called out to him, and noticed he came back through a secret door. He had passed through the wall and into another room. Before going into the secret room, we looked at what was left. The Leopard thought it was cosmetic to put the leather strap on, only to have magical pixie wings appear in bright colors. The Bat is almost disgusted that he's the only one who should have flight, but at least we have more resources at our disposal. I on the other hand was observing the daggers, for when they came to stop moving outside their pouch, they disappeared then reappeared back into their pouch. Daggers of returning is the best way to describe them. The Crab motioned us to continue into the secret room where the Bat was quite shocked by the blinding light of magical detection he was using. Outside the door, he could only see a white void, but after stepping inside the room the entire room was seen clearly and magical auras filled the room. Everything in here had some kind of magical enchantment. Glancing about the glass cases filled with goodies, we see the following: three rings, four daggers, set of toy soldiers, a dragon's set of 800 teeth complete with jaw to wear, 4 books for a child, 2 bracers wielding 4 wands each like we saw of the blue Gerbil, a full suit of plate mail that was changing shape based on the closest person to it, and lastly a wholly mammoth standing on a pad of sorts. The Crab pipes up saying it's a stasis pad. A stasis pad is one that freezes in time anything that stands within the pad, similar to the cell that our Eagle friend laid dormant. Based on the Bat's vision of magic in this room, the traps we had to deal with already, and the creature that seems like an ancient ancestor of the Elephant here, I would assume if we touch ANYTHING, the creature will come to life and crush all of us. We hear a clank and a metal vibrating rapier... The Leopard decided to swing her sword at the glass case

to break it open. We all look at her with evil eyes. The glass case sustained no damage showing how strong they are, but I'd rather deal with the mammoth first so I take to tactical thinking. The Elephant with his knuckle of passwall will have the best advantage of moving the mammoth out of this room and into the main chamber. The Crab standing and I flying, will be positioned in the chamber ready to attack at first sight. The Leopard will trigger the lever attached to the pad to release the beast, leaving the Bat at the door way to enter either room based on if the Elephant succeeds to ride it out or be stuck in here. Borrowing the Crab's boots once more, we wait. HERE THEY COME. I doubt I'll get through the Elephant's armor, so I take the risk of firing a couple of arrows. The Elephant was being choked by the mammoth's trunk. He managed to break free giving him a chance to take a swing doing some damage, but the mammoth slammed him hard. The Elephant realizes the trouble he's been looking for is too much and decides to run into the wall he came through confusing the mammoth. This advantage went to the Crab allowing him to swing and put the mammoth out of commission, but not dead. Before dealing the final blow the Elephant feels the need to uplift the mammoth to intelligence. So be it. I pull the arrows out, the Elephant gives the mammoth a potion to drink and the Bat uses the unicorn wand to restore the life of this poor beast. The commotion we made worried the guys organizing the rusted weapons to come to our aid, but a bit late. I appreciate their concern, but everything is alright now. One of them for that matter showed us another item found among the rust. A blade in the shape of a star or as the Leopard calls it a shuriken. The Bat took notice of the glow and instructed him to hold on for a moment. The wounds all reseal back to their original forms and the Mammoth looks up at us, with an annoyed look about him, but doesn't seem to want to kill us. Wolf: Are you calmed down now? Mammoth: Yeah. But keep your pointy things to yourself. So what do you want. I want to get out of here. Crab: We didn't want you to stay trapped down here forever. Plus, in your previous state, you were a threat to us, but now your better off. Mammoth: Better off?! What am I suppose to do now?

Elephant: Since you and I are related, why not come live at my tavern to kick out any ruffians? I'll provide for your needs and you keep the trouble makers out. Mammoth: ...Until I sort myself out, I'll accept. I still want out of this place though. Wolf: Your on an island at the moment. Kenny here will help you get just outside for some fresh air, but please remain by the door until we come out. Mammoth: Very well Crab: Actually, would you step into the room with the cases once more and stand next to the case with the armor in it? Leading the Mammoth back into the room he started, he stands next to the full suit of armor and the armor changes it's shape to be worn by the Mammoth. The armor begins to take form, but the size is too much for the case causing the panels to pop apart. I would have expected them to shatter, but according to the Bat the glass panels are actually made of steel that have a glass appearance spell applied to them. With that the Elephant takes the mammoth over to the main entry, shrinks the both of them down to six inches and flies out the door. The Bat then turns his attention to the bladed star. According to the Bat this is a throwing star, which is promising for my range abilities, but what is special is that if the blade stuck perfectly in its target with these special points in contact, then the target explodes. The star would reshape itself based on the restoring aura about it, however finding where it landed is another matter altogether. I may throw it at something someday, or maybe I'll just use it on a test dummy for practice every now and then. I instruct the Lynx to return to what he was doing. I believe we'll be wrapping up soon giving us time to dine and retiring for the night. Upon returning the Elephant tells us the Mammoth is laying down by the lake shore fully aware of the danger of the fish. He just needs some time alone. Something we've all noticed is that there is much treasure here, however no corpses have been seen except the one victim in the pit. This still doesn't explain why nobody is here. The last thing to take care of is looking at the items there were in those cases. The Leopard speaks the words under the cases and writes down the word next to it how to speak the human common word in our common for

the rest of us. The three rings will only barely fit my fingers which each having special properties. One giving stone like skin, one allowing water breathing and faster movement, and the last gives the bearer courage enough to negate any fear. I know we are at my home, but we have yet to discover all the dangers it provides. I don the stone ring and the stream ring on my smallest finger as they are the only ones capable. The daggers I had hope for, unfortunately the spells enchanted upon them are only usable by halflings. The Bat is excited since he can fool the daggers into thinking he is a halfling. The dagger in his hands become a great sword that appears to be made of a strange rainbow light. He says this light doesn't cut armor, it cuts the living thing inside. I'm glad he's not evil in nature, but I do have to watch that chaotic side of his. He does offer me two of the blades to hold onto as I have been looking for some for a while now. I may not be able to use the special abilities endowed upon them, but they are of masterful work, so they will be quite durable in our adventures. The bracers are very similar to the ones we saw on the blue Gerbil we met. Gnome designed, with multi-fire ability or something of that idea. The dragons teeth were, as far as I was concerned a nice trophy to display, but the Bat speaks otherwise. Each of the necklaces are made of red dragon's teeth, 200 bead. The person wearing it would not only have the jaw strength of an adult dragon, but if the necklace has the power, the wearer can breathe dragon's flame. Without warning the Crab and Bat grab a necklace to wear. It was funny at first since they both had to flip the necklace over their heads a few times to properly wear it. The thought of having such a strong bite took to my interest, so I grab on as well. Unlike them, I wrap the bead around me twice as I would my scarf to have the appearance of a toothed garment. Now I shouldn't have much trouble with such a loose item. We've searched out all the rooms thus far with the last one behind the great stone throne. Opening the door, we step into a natural cave completely different from the well built chamber we've been in. The Bat has never before seen a cave as beautiful as this one. The cavern room is as big as the chamber, with a natural crystal formed into the ceiling toward the back of the cave bringing light in from the lake above and the last remaining sunset light. In all my time in the wild wood, I have never seen a family of plants as the ones grown here, and I doubt my friend Bear has either. The Crab and Leopard wanted a closer look at the crystal, the Elephant noticed a table and

furnace in the central area of the cave and I noticed a large something that is neither stone nor plant, a fourteen foot long skull overgrown by moss. I finally get the Bat to notice from his daze about the cave. He immediately took flight over the skull's eye to perch and look inside. He showed me a ruby inside the eye socket with an aura of fire resistance magic about it. I started to reach in when he warned me about the moss being both poisonous and acidic, which makes for good material for magic study. I would never have dreamed of the world being so flooded with magic. Bat: I could make the plant intelligent and have it give us the ruby. Wolf: This again? You know we might want to limit ourselves on how many things we use that on. Plus you'll end up killing the thing for one of your experiments later on. Bat: (sadly) Indeed. Wolf: ... All things considered, the moss isn't going anywhere, so we can give it new life when we settle down here later on. This cave will be a far better dwelling than that tiny room back at the manor. Just think each of us will have a personal pet of some kind. Bat: (gladly) Indeed! Thank you Aegis. I look forward to it. Wolf: As far as the gem is concerned, we might be able to consult the Bear about it, since he seems to be quite the herbalist. We step over to the stone circle table to join the others, which looks like it was made for someone nine, maybe ten feet tall. The Bat flies up and marvels at the figurines of demonic type creatures all standing an inch tall around an emblem of some kind engraved in the table. Nothing of great interest here, but the Elephant decided to open the oven which had inside a skeleton about the size of a human child. I will have to give him a proper burial when I can. We look around with new eyes and see concentrated spots of plant growth and determine we're already in a grave yard. The Crab took notice that the ashes don't seem right. It's as if the oven were abandoned right in the middle of being used. A larger plot of moss seems about right for the overly sized creature. The Crab searches the spot to find a corpse holding a highly decorated knife. The Crab turns to the Bat. Crab: Hey Ash! Come over and check this out!

Bat: ... Hey GreyShell! Step away from the corpse, the glow behind you makes you look like your radiating. The Crab jumping away from the body gives us all room and curiosity to gather around the knife. Bat: I'm not UGLY. I'm fuzzy Crab: Just what do you mean by WEIRD? Leopard: Well of course I'm ADORABLE. Wolf: ... Are you guys alright? The Bat, Crab, and Leopard seem to be having a conversation with the knife. It's a sacrificial blade for Cyrix, a god of sorts that has insanity issues. The Bat informs me the knife can see and even speak to a couple of the children in the manor. I will not tolerate this at all, but how do we get rid of it. The blade being this powerful would surely control the bearer. However, I inquire the Bat about using wearing the eog set of knuckles while carrying the blade. I remove all my gear and retrieve the knuckles from the treasure stash. Wielding the knuckles I pick up the blade with the same paw. The others are standing ready in case I lose control. I feel as if there is a mind on the other side of my hand in the blade itself, but other than that I feel like myself. We head over the to the treasure room where the eog chest still sits where we found it. The problem is the pit in the middle of the room blocking my path. I could probably make the jump, but for safe measure the Bat has a rope tied to me to catch me in case I fall. I run through the door, ready to spring over, only to miss step or slip and plummet into the spike pit. The Bat caught me and pulled me to safety by the rope. After catching my breath and thanking the Bat for my life, I hold the dagger over the open chest of eog. The others tell me the dagger is pleading with them promising of great power and wealth, but to no avail. I drop the dagger next to the dead book also lying at the bottom of this magic death trap allowing the Bat and Elephant to lift the lid back on top of the chest. The cries from the dagger can no longer be heard by my friends. Now that this danger is out of the way, we make our way back to continue where we left off. After collecting my gear once more, we walk toward the back of the cave to the last door we've seen thus far. Brushing past some of the

vegetation, the Elephant warns us that some of the plants will produce a vile smell if bruised. Being careful about that note, we pass by the skull and I see everybody trip on the remaining vertebra, except for... where's the Leopard? The overall size of this creature is massive. The Crab seems to think that it was once a lizard similar to a crocodile only the size of a dragon. We make our way back to the treasure room where we last saw the Leopard, only to find her curled up on top of the eog chest. Why she thinks that's a good idea is beyond us, but since she's put her gear off to the side and not using them at the moment, I'll borrow her pixie wings giving all of us flight for further exploration of what seems to keep going. Was that the last distraction? The door at the back of the cave seems to have a preservation spell attached to it. Stepping through and onto a 20x20 platform, we look down the spiral slide coated with a slimy substance. It's not like we couldn't get back up, but there is something ominous about descending into this darkness down a waste disposal. Three of us won't have much problem, but the Crab has to use the knuckles of passwall to avoid the sides of this narrow decent. We land at the bottom of the slide in a large room with an incredibly fast moving stream of water in front of us, blocking our path to the other side with a strange looking door. The Bat took notice of a glowing object in the stream. Even the Crab says he'd have a difficult time not getting swept away by the current, unless he uses an enlarge potion to make himself much heavier. Collecting the scroll tube that was only five feet under the water, we look at the inscriptions on it. One side is human common, one end has elven on it, and the other is dwarven. I read from the dwarven Speak Enter and it shall open. I've read this riddle from a story from long ago, and inform the Bat how to pronounce the word Enter. The end of the tube opens up giving us a gold metal sheet with a spell on it. The Bat is excited about it. A spell of prism wall, a magical barrier that can be put up that is very powerful. We had to reacquire the Bat's attention to the door for a moment to see anything special about the door. He's the only one able to see magic and understand it, so we rely on him quite a lot. The door face appears to have a combination of a bat, toad, and crab look about it. After staring at it for a moment, the door looked back at him, then us! Door: The world hath fallen. Such weird creatures now roam earth Crab: The world hasn't fallen, it's become more interesting in my opinion.

Can't say I've seen a talking door before. Bat: You sure are ugly for a door. Door: I still reach you with scimitar? (a magical hand extends up to us, but not close enough) Bat: ... (door retracts his arm) Door: I was human once, taking on most powerful liches, til I was sealed here as door (small life story 9000 years ago) I've kept busy with fighting back beasts downstairs. Wolf: Well according to the Temple of Pelor, I own this estate now and would like to rid it of many if not all the dangers it holds. As much as I'd like to free you from your current state, I'll need you to hold back whatever is down there for a while longer Elephant: What is beyond this room? Door: I guard passage from 300 zombies and 250 skeletons that reside lower levels of mountain. Only one way past me, lower levels. I not open for anyone come back. Lower levels hold many treasures, power and big gold statues. Wolf: If that's suppose to be tempting to us I'm afraid it won't be easy, we seem to stumble across these treasures quite easily at the moment. Door: I don't care about you. I simply answered question. Hang on. (the door face is gone, but we hear him from the other side) Door: BACK! DOWN I SAY! BACK! (the door face returns to our side) Elephant: Trouble? Door: Six red dead zombies on other side here, seem to be aware of you. It would be difficult to go beyond the door without having much chance of survival, although we could take on the 6 red dead zombies behind the door and use the knuckles of passwall to come back around the door. I know my party is eager to fight, but based on the door's description the zombies will be tough without our proper gear we left back at the castle. I only have six arrows and a couple simple daggers to work with myself. Crab: Where does this stream flow so quickly to? Door: Stream there flow from air ducts that feed mountain, past here and finally out mountain to river through passage of 14 miles

One good thought is that this door a secure enough entity for me to sleep soundly for a while, and the trip down here will stop with the Crab going for a swim. He jumps in eagerly to follow the stream out to where it leads, leaving the rest of us to travel back the way we came to meet up topside. No real hurry since it's still 14 miles to the Crab's exit. With that Shell of his, plus the magic armor of various types I doubt he'll get so much as a scratch on him. We ponder about what has littered the river though since the lake has been flushing out this place for a while now. The only river I'm aware of is the one that leads back to the capital, which the thought sits uneasy with us.

River Expedition The next morning, we were expecting the Crab to show up, but no sign of him so far. This was convenient timing as my other comrades wanted to take the day off from adventuring. I gave them leave of what they would like to do since I myself will be requiring the Killer Whale's assistance to explore down river. It concerns me that we haven't seen anything from the Crab and in addition it makes me wonder what has washed out of this once resided mountain. The Bat took the Bear down into the chamber cave, the Leopard decided to sleep the day away, the Elephant wanted to go ashore, and each of the kids followed any of them that was interesting. The Killer Whale gives me a ride to the only spot on the lake that flows out, which surprisingly enough is both narrow and shallow (15ft x 6ft). I travel through the brush just alongside the river and he trudges through the water to avoid all the debris. The Temple of Pelor said that my land extends miles downriver, so this will be quite the walk. About a mile or so, we hear what sounds like a waterfall. The stream cuts off to the side flowing down and also being fed by the outlet pipe at a very high rate of speed. The two come together becoming a new river of about 35ft wide and 15ft deep. I ask the Killer Whale his opinion of the water and what might be in it. After dunking his head under the water and giving off what I assume is a low tone shriek similar to the Bat's high tone, he reached down to pull out a small Jade statue. Interesting that the water was powerful enough to push something like this out. It didn't take long to spot the Crab lying on the shore next to a tree with a large indention in it. He's out cold, but the cries we hear are coming from underneath him, a Pocket Mouse about 2 and a half feet tall. I ask the Killer Whale to take the Crab back to the manor, and I'll see to the Mouse here. Before letting them go, I snatch the Crab's boots. The Pocket Mouse has some typical stream searching gear on, which is proof that treasures are in fact washing out or have been. Wolf: Are you alright? What might you be doing out here? Pocket Mouse: I was exploring the river for treasures like some of my fellow villagers. I decided to come further than any of them upstream which has been a 3 mile trek. I just got inside that pipe when I heard

what sounded like a metal gate moving and this large creature hit me like a ton of bricks. Wolf: Your lucky the Crab hit the tree before you did. Pocket Mouse: huh? (looking up at the tree and the indention, he passed out) Wolf: ... maybe I shouldn't have said anything I sense no danger in the area, so until he wakes up I'll search the pool for a moment. Stepping into the rushing water I notice that the mud is quite soft and deep. Although I have a ring that allows me to breathe underwater, my ability to see anything is severally lacking. After running my arms through the mud for a bit, I found a large box shape hard object. Taking this thing by a convenient handle I drag it back up to the surface, with a Pocket Mouse standing right above me in curiosity of what I found. With a little bit of his help we get it completely out of the water. Yet another chest with a lock on it and no Bat around to beat it off. The Pocket Mouse holds up some thieving tools and asks permission to open it. As far as I'm concerned the both of us are sharing in some of the loot we're finding. This little guy picked that lock before I knew what he was doing. Unfortunately the chest appears to be full of rotten clothing, with exception of a piece of clothing that is pure white. A tunic about my size without a blemish of dirt on it. I think it looks alright on me, even though I don't notice any magical qualities to it. Turning the chest over to dump the rest of the water and junk goods out, a silver buckle falls out in clean condition just like the tunic. Giving the buckle to the Mouse, we decide to check out the pipe once more. A very narrow edge runs along both sides of the rushing water enough for me to sidle in. I wouldn't want to touch that jet stream coming out, anyone would probably lose a limb in that. Though the Crab was well protected, even he was nearly killed on that ride he had. The narrow part is only a few steps in and opens into a small room with the water coming from a door way of sorts, a lever extending from the floor off to the side and lastly a small boxed room with a couple buttons next to it. Just to see what happens I attempt to shift the level over, with little progress. It's rusty. I try again with the Pocket Mouse jumping around on the top of it with success. We hear a very large clunk sound and the water stops flowing from well

within the closed gate. A couple zombies come up to the gate to greet us with moaning. Right now my main concern is that the water has stopped flowing, which means I've just started flooding my underground chamber. Quickly we manage to pull it back the other way where it was before. A large clunk sound again and the zombies explode from the force of water that just hit them pushing their parts out the pipe. Next time I'll have to bring some oil to use on this lever. That gate seems secure enough, but I don't think it can be opened from this side, which means the only thing keeping those zombies at bay is the lack of intelligence to simply open the gate. The boxed room has our attention next though, a red and green button sit in the wall. I push the green button and the 3ft by 4ft by 4ft room begins to rise up about 12 feet up. Pushing the red button brings it back down. The Pocket Mouse jumped into the box and couldn't stop saying let me up, let me up, let me up. Pushing the button he went up and called back down that he'd found the same buttons up there and told me to join him. He says it's safe, mostly. I manage to squeeze in and up I go. A large room filled with both steel and wooden crates, a large door with several locks on it is being beat upon from the other side with moaning added to the sound. The only light is found from a torch that doesn't have a flame to it, but emits just enough light to see the torch, but nothing around it. Maybe I can get it restored by a mage somewhere. I'll keep an eye on the door regardless, but I'd also like to know what is being stored here. The Pocket Mouse went right to work with checking some of the chests for traps and unlocking them with ease. One chest had raw silver dust in it weighing about 400lbs I would imagine. I run my paw through the silver the best I can and don't find anything hidden within. The wooden crates don't seem to have locks on them, so I open one up. The life in me was startled a bit with a toy head springing up with a screech. I force out the toy and toss it aside from frustration I have now against jokers. A few books were uncovered, one of which has human common symbols on it, another I don't recognize, and the Pocket Mouse says the other is a spell book written in gnomish. Neither one of us can read the language of mages, but from what I understood of the Bat a level of spell is based on the number of pages it requires. One of the spells seems to stretch for 12 pages, meaning it is of a 12th level spell. Was magic such a commodity back then? We've seemed to stumble on so many spell

books, scrolls and the like of magical items. I'll take with me the two other books for my companions to see. He starts to open another chest when a puff of smoke burst out and caused him to fall over and stop breathing. Holding my breath, I drag him away from the chest to try and save him. His tongue has swelled up. Rolling him over and pulling out his tongue, he breathes life once more. The gas seems to have dissipated enough to check the chest out without concern now. Platinum lock picks, a human cape that the Mouse could use, and leather explorer outfits that are just a bit small for me to even try on. He flips the cape around and equips the silver buckle. The buckle then begins to form into upper body plate mail. Another crate has a lovely nature scene on it with other religious symbols on it. The top and front both open up to reveal what is guessed at a nature's healer's kit. It's far too big to carry out, but I don't think it'll go anywhere. 3 ivory cases were found in another, with a sheath for a dagger but no dagger. The Pocket Mouse dons the sheath and tried putting one of his daggers into it that I thought wouldn't fit. It magically fit, and when he pulled it back out the blade seemed freshly polished and ready to use. One last item was the most hideous short sword I've ever seen. Maybe the sheath can fix that, but no, the sword retained it's appearance making me believe it was enchanted. I swing the sword at the lid of a crate and the lid shattered into several hundred pieces. This short sword acts like a great club. Although it's ugly, I can make good use of this over my large bronze club. I believe that's enough for now so we make our way back down and out the pipe to give us better light to check out the locked ivory cases and the corpses that hit the same tree the Crab did. Finding a well lit spot for the Pocket Mouse, he begins his work on checking the little chests for traps and picking the locks. While he takes care of that, I'll be looking the zombie corpses over for items of interest. That Pocket Mouse had already picked the first lock and was looking the goods over before I even got started on my task. Looks like he's found some necklaces of sorts. Although the zombie's clothing had rotted long ago, the jet stream had torn them beyond repair. The first thing that caught my eye was the 2in ruby embedded into the forehead of one of the zombies. Taking my dagger out, I cut the ruby out and observe the eerie glow at it's center. What took my

attention away from the gem was the child like playing of a Pocket Mouse who is swimming with incredible speed and grace in the river. Apparently one of the items makes you swim like a fish of some species. I place the ruby into my belt where I feel safer with it not being in this plane anymore, and turn my attention to the zombies' hands. I find a couple of rings, one of which is perhaps steel with a wolf emblem on it. The Pocket Mouse had tried on yet another necklace, turning him into an even more hairy creature that I can only describe as a cave dwelling creature, long sharp claws to boot. Perhaps he's become a feral creature. It was funny that taking the gold nugget necklace off caused all that hair that freshly grew out just fell off. Feeling curious, I slip the plain ring on. I don't feel any pain, but my body transformed into a plant much like an Ent's that I've heard so much about, only I haven't grown in size. The Pocket Mouse had returned to the other items and trying them on after seeing what happened to me. Slipping a bracelet on, I now look at a very large and smell a very musky ox. Pocket Mouse: What's the matter? Wolf: You've changed into a very large and smelly ox! Pocket Mouse: What are you talking about? I haven't changed at all. Wolf: ... It's an illusion. (knowing that, I can see the Pocket Mouses body silhouette inside) I don't see anything else on the zombies, so I step over to the Pocket Mouse to see what else he's found in the next chest. One of the bracelets looks like the charm bracelet the Elephant had found. The Mouse tries on the charm bracelet and pulls on the bow charm. A large composite bow emerges that is too big for him, so he slips the bow back on the charm and tosses the bracelet to me. This is something I'll make good use of, but I'd forgotten about the wolf ring in my hand. Trying on the wolf ring, the Pocket Mouse has a very concerned look about him. Looking back at myself, I realize I'm more vicious looking with being 1ft taller, feel stronger, more teeth for that matter. I convince him that I haven't lost my mind and still see him as a friend. I pull the bow out once more and it's about right for my new condition. The other charms look like a sword, an ax, and a cauldron. The Pocket Mouse tries on the last bracelet and begins forming crab-like armor. He seems so happy about the treasures he's finding.

The last chest gave him a bit of concern though, the trap is the lock itself. Should he not pick it correctly, needles will shoot out of the hole. I suggested that he use a branching twig so that he's not directly in front of the lock. Successfully tripping the trap without us being injured, the only thing inside was a pair of ear rings in the shape of horses. Not exactly the most fashionable thing in the world, but the Mouse put them on regardless and noticed he was literally as strong as a horse. He seemed excited and in a hurry to collect that chest of silver we found inside the outlet secret room, but I managed to convince him that perhaps there were better treasures in the river that we haven't found yet. Besides, those crates aren't going anywhere anytime soon. With thanks to the dolphin necklace on him and my ring of water breathing, we are able to spend much more time scavenging the river bottom than normal. The Pocket Mouse made an odd discovery, a bronze axle that appears big enough to be part of a large cart. The two of us begin searching where he found that axle and find a couple of wheels to fix to it. Among other items found were a jade horseshoe, whip, harness, the top of a chariot made of solid gold, a pope's headdress with a snake symbol, a scepter with the largest emerald I've even laid eyes on. Several items regarding a chariot, but I can't help that we're not finding all the pieces. By this time my Killer Whale returned and was curious of all the junk that was sitting off to the side. Wolf: We're trying to piece together a chariot. What to join us? The Killer Whale dipped his head back into the water and gave his echo sense to a much larger volume. He informed us that many items are in a hole just off to the side there. We all jump in and pull out several items and place them in their appropriate places where they might go, but we're still short several pieces. No other items can be found, but after placing the chariot top where it was suppose to go, the pieces then fused together and formed what was missing. I don't think I'll get use to the amount of magical items I will find in my lifetime or the next. The carriage itself could hold comfortably 8 adults inside the cart let alone the roof and driver seat. It is getting late in the day, so we decide to load up what we have in the chariot and attempt to bring it with us. In my dire wolf form I'll pull from the front, the Killer Whale not caring for debris will push from behind and the

Pocket Mouse will ride inside keeping an eye on everything. He's only 2 and a half feet tall and doesn't have much strength, what would you expect. He does lead us back to his village about 3 miles away downhill along the river and through the woods. Exhausted when we show up at the edge of the village, we seem to have attracted some attention. The Pocket Mouse happily hops out to introduce us to the locals and gets us a place to dine at. During dinner, we talk about the adventure we've just had and they share with me some of the history about their little village. I'm sure this latest find of loot will no doubt bring even more people to scavenge the river for valuables. I invite them to raid the river as they see fit, but at the very least bring the treasure back to Stone Lake Manor for archiving in my records and possibly selling the treasure back to me. It will be far easier for me and my people to sell these valuables safely, than a villager to make a journey to the city alone. Coming late in the evening, I ask if any horses are available to pull the carriage back to Stone Lake. For a couple gold pieces, one of the farmers rented me a two horses for 10 days as they are in the middle of harvest time and won't be needing them right now. I may not have many citizens of my new home, but I am making good on acquiring new employees. We say our goodbyes, but the Pocket Mouse who had so much fun decided to join us for more adventures. I welcome him into my employment. As dark as it is, the Whale and I trade off during the night to drive the horses back home on a 15 mile road. The Pocket Mouse has already fallen asleep holding the crown and scepter under each arm. It's pretty quiet this evening with the only excitement being a bird flying low toward us, then flying off in terror as if we were dangerous. A Wolf and a Whale driving a carriage, what's wrong with that? We make it home in the wee hours of the morning. The Whale plops down by the lake shore leaving me and the Mouse to sleep in the carriage. A few hours later, a couple of the families came to wake us up and see us back to the island on their ship. Looking at the carriage with dawns morning light, I can see that this carriage needs to be in the hands of the king or a filthy rich merchant, as the thing is incredibly gaudy to look at. I'm almost ashamed of riding on or even driving it. At the manor, my Bear seems to be an early riser, as I find him at the door ready to serve. To make things simple, I'll let the Pocket Mouse set up his sleeping bag in my chambers for the night, or morning I should say.

Tending to Our Homes I finally awoke about mid afternoon to the smell of lunch being served. Coming down the spiral stairwell, I was attacked by several little youngsters eager with questions. Kid 1: Why did you leave? Kid 2: Who's the Pocket Mouse? Kid 3: Where'd that fancy cart come from? Kid 4: Can we play on it? Kid 5: When are we going to see the ugly castle? Kid 6: Can we stay with you guys? It caught me off guard, but I was moved that some of the kids wanted to stay, even though I didn't have much to offer. I motioned everyone to sit down at the tables to make conversation a bit more pleasant. The Pocket Mouse had woke up a bit earlier than I did and was playing with the kids already. I shared with them what happened yesterday about the Crab, the Mouse, the river of treasure that flows from the mountain pipe and the village of Pocket Mice. The Pocket Mouse himself was talking about his talents with lock picking which motioned the Crab and Elephant to bring up their stories of opening locks. The Crab that opened a door by opening an evil book to the right page by accident and the Elephant's triangle of opening that came in quite useful. Pocket Mouse: Hey! Can I buy that from you? Elephant: No way. You were just bragging about what a great lock-pick artist you are. Pocket Mouse: What about your hat? You said it could make you fly. Elephant: I like my hat. I found mine, you can find one of your own. Pocket Mouse: You don't want to trade anything, do you? Elephant: Not really interested. I think I'll go back to my winery tavern for a while and save the adventuring for later. Crab: I'm still not feeling the best in the world either after that trip through that water slide of yours Wolf. I may spend some time at the castle until we're ready to take up the king's request.

Leopard: We still have to find parents for the kids coming with us you know. Crab: I wouldn't leave that to just you, you know. It'll get me more acquainted with my people as well. Eagle: I'll be making my way back to the Capital the long way. I'm the king's pre-death cartographer now after all, and I want to see the new land from my point of view high in the sky. We discussed our plans for the day and give the kids a chance to ride the colorful chariot. They burst out in such a cheer that I'd believe the families on shore could have even heard them. The oldest, about 14 years in age, was asking about staying here and using the cave as a place to live and even build up. After going around the table there were 13 of the kids that shared the idea. I'm delighted with their enthusiasm, but I instructed them that they'd have to work hard to start building up Stone Lake Castle. After lunch everyone begins packing up their things, but I myself had almost forgotten the ruby I found. I no more pulled it out of my belt and the Bat asked me if I feel funny in the slightest. I assured him no, but he insisted that we break the jewel for it's a Lich's falactory and it's still active. This gem, should the Lich that made it die, would bring his soul to the gem and bring him back to life close by. This tells me that the Lich that made it still lives under the manor (Joy...). It's really easy to break, we just need something hard to hit it with (Bat holds up his club) and something really hard to hit it on. I ask the Bear if we own anything that merits such a task. The Bear said the previous master had planned on sculpting the block of jade just on the southeast corner of the island, but never got the chance. Without making a scene we trek over to the spot with the jade block. I place the gem and the Bat gives it a mighty swing, breaking it into several pieces. I would imagine this block where it was, was going to be a masterpiece based on the landscape. Like the painters I've read about sitting by the sea. Wolf: Won't the Lich know it's been broken? Bat: Indeed. He's been made aware. But that's all. He couldn't know where it was exactly, who broke it, or even how for that matter, only that it exists or not. It'll take about 3 years for him to make another, but if he dies before making it, he'll be gone for good

Wolf: So our best chance is to kill him within the next 3 years. I guess we've got some work to do then. You know, we could have just dropped it in the eog box with the other nasty items too. Bat: ... (Laughter) That would have been great, but this is for the better. He wouldn't have been able to use it or make another at all. Which means he would have been frantically searching for it with whatever means plausible. I didn't want to waste too much more time, so after everyone gathered up their stuff to the boat we headed for shore and as promised the children that would be staying could at least ride the chariot around the lake before we leave. I do not plan on keeping a hold of this thing for very long. One of the families provided another, yet smaller cart and horse for us to travel to the castle on. Everyone said their goodbyes and some promised to visit each other later. And with that, we head down the road. The trip itself would take a couple of hours and with the exception of a few people looking at this unusual caravan and not believing their eyes, not much really happened. This gave the Bat an opportunity to look at some of the magic items that have gone overlooked. Some of the items were once again unique and interesting, but I still can't wrap my mind around the volume of enchanted items in the world. Although this does bring up an interesting thought about what to do about the slime I have in a bottle. The Bat here has enlightened me on his knowledge in the arcane arts. A wizard's life seems difficult to me as the spells they learn are completely forgotten when they cast them, thus they must relearn the spell they spent so much time on already. After going through a list of common spells wizards use, I believe I know what to look for and how to get it. We've arrived at Greyshell's castle with even more people stopping what they're doing to see what is going on. This attention will help these guys find families to adopt into. An older couple was the first to come up and greet the kids. They had retired some time ago and never was able to have children of their own. I decided to invite them to Stone Lake, as those kids will need more experienced people to look up to. They accept the invitation and I inform them we'll be coming back through later today. Which reminds me to make another stop. I take my friends' leave with the Bat and Pocket Mouse to head to the room with the tapestry that leads to the

king's castle. Along the way, I ask around for Mrs. LongArm the Orangutang. I find her in the market area picking out fruits of a variety. I ask if she's still interested in working for me as my cook at Stone Lake, seeing as I've picked up more people to tend to. She has such an odd accent that makes her sound annoyed in a way, but she assures me she'll come as promised. I tell her we'll come back through later this evening so she can get her things together. It's not like anyone is going very far, but being a day's trip away from your favorite cooking pot is rather annoying. That's all I can think of at the moment, so we're off to the Capital. Saying hello to the Dog mage on the way in, we decide to show him some items we've found recently; not only to let him know what we have acquired, but to inform us what we have as well. I asked about a spear and whip I picked up from the river. He tells me the whip will grapple anything with perfect accuracy that I aim at. The spear has a word inscribed on it that I couldn't read myself. He tells me to visit the training area with the straw dummies set up and speak the word Crom before throwing the spear at it. The Bat lacked the ability to add enchantments to items, so he asked the Dog what it would take to add a spell of extend to the foot long club he's been using to break things like a great club would be used for. The Dog nearly fell out of his chair laughing at the thought of such a small item having 15 feet of reach to it when used. Dog: Tell you what Ash, I'll enchant the club for free, I just need the ingredients to do it with. (pointing on his map) You can find them in the city at a few of these shops here. I will warn you that the ingredients aren't cheap. You might have to spend between 6 to 9k gold pieces for them. The Bat also inquired about the unusual wand that was on his bracer, which held an aura of all the schools of magic. The Dog quickly snatched it away from the Bat's hand and claimed it for his own in exchange for any 7 wands on his wall. He tells us a bit about the wand and how it's far too powerful for anyone to use really, so it'll go in the king's vault. The Bat couldn't think of what to ask for, lucky for him I had a suggestion; a monocle that allowed the person seeing through it to read a language they could not previously do so. He had something of merit, a circlet with an eye at the

front, a false eye that the wearer uses like his own. After asking about our items, I inquire about the king having open court today. He is, allowing us to present our gifts and requests. We stand in the main court and request an audience with the king from one of the guards. Realizing our titles the guard makes preparations to let us see the king as quickly as possible. After a couple of citizens take their turn, we step before the king who seems delighted to see us. I present to his majesty an emerald scepter with a commanding aura about it. As usual the king offers land that I'm not exactly able to tend to just yet, but the title of baron is promising. Wolf: As gracious a gift as the new land and title is, I would like to request instead a spell from your majesty's mage. A spell called spider climb for my new found slime here. Rhino: I believe that can be arranged, but I shall give you the land as well. Wolf: Thank you majesty. My friends here also have things to present, before I present something else. Pocket Mouse: Your majesty, I have a crown to offer. Would your majesty like to try it on? Rhino: (passing his crown to a servant and donning the new one) It fits quite well. Is there anything special about it? Pocket Mouse: Are there any guards that would like to attack the king? Some of us are a bit shocked that he would ask that, but none of the guards say anything or make any moves. The king understands that the crown is special, but this Mouse doesn't understand quite well what it does. The king calls for the Dog mage to explain the magic that dwells within. Dog: Your highness the snake on your crown is your best friend. Should anyone make an attempt attack you, the snake manifests from the crown to attack, bite and even poison the attacker. The color I see suggests the type of poison of the snake, which is quite lethal. Rhino: Good Mouse, I suggest looking into an item with more care before experimenting with such dangerous things, but I shall reward you no less. Come forth, kneel, and give your name. Pocket Mouse: Gold Pocket, your majesty

Rhino: I give you responsibility over the land with 4 volcanoes Gold Pocket. The land lay rich in fertile soil among other resources. Pocket Mouse: Thank you majesty, and I'll heed your advice. Does your majesty happen to have seen a weapon made in the pre death era that was made by gnomes and looks like a crossbow. I'd like to find one to use in my travels. Rhino: Does it look like it has a lot of gizmos and gears on it? I believe we put those in the vault with the rest of the things since we don't know what they are. (calling to a secretary to bring back one of these things) It'll just take a moment to find. (turning his attention) Baron Ash. I understand you have something? Bat: I found a sword that may be of interest to your majesty's strategist. A guard collects the sword from the Bat and presents it to the king, and the Dog whispers to the king what qualities the sword contains. The king holds up a hand to call forth his strategist. An incredibly fat Badger in full plate armor comes out. I'd wager he's 4ft tall, but 6ft wide. The Bat told me later that the Badger was glowing quite a bit already with magical items. The king hands the sword to the badger, and his eyes light up as if further enlightened. The king says he's smarter, wiser and the life of the party while carrying this with him. Sounds like the sword will remain with the strategist whoever fills the position. The king returns his attention to the Bat. Rhino: I have for you the lizard territory. The land itself when mapped out is in the shape of a lizard. It lays adjacent to your friends' lands the Stone Lake and Wildwood, with the tail leading to the capital and the tongue leading up a mountain. It was designed to cover strictly the roads that connect neighboring properties. Your duties there are to keep the roads patrolled for safe travel of the highway. The taxes there usually keep up the pay there, but maintaining people for patrol is an ongoing process. I wish you the best. (The secretary comes back with something) Ah, is this what your talking about? (facing the Pocket Mouse) Pocket Mouse: I believe so, I read about them in an old book. If I may look it over I might be able to demonstrate it's abilities. (tinkering with the gnomish antique and adding oil in various places, the device begins to

whirl in motion and noise) Is there something I can aim at? Rhino: That empty suit of armor will suffice (staring in amazement) The Pocket Mouse takes aim and startles the lot of us with the empty suit's helmet being dislodged and pinned to the wall behind it. The king then commissions his servants to bring them out of storage, reworked, then distributed into his guard. As reward the mechanical crossbow is given to the Pocket Mouse along with the Dog's recommendation of pearls enchanted with an explosive magic. I'm glad the king trusts us, but I wonder how many sentients he has given such powerful items too. Rhino: Baron Aegis. Was there something else? Wolf: Yes, if I could have the middle of the court cleared for a moment, I can show you what I have for your highness. Rhino: Show us? Very well. Let's clear the middle of the court! During the transition I pull out my purple sash and wrap it around my belt. Only barons and up can wear a small amount of purple before the king, but this sash allows me to create illusions of terrain. I step forth and think about the chariot. Everyone can see a haze of shapes but the visual is unclear. Wolf: I apologize. I'm having trouble concentrating on the chariot. Dog: If I may, think about the memory of what you want to show and start just before that. Build the illusion like a artist would. Start with the background and put details in it a little at a time until you have come to the spot your thinking of. I look back at the middle of the room as if looking at a blank canvas. I first draw in the grass, the trees, even the stream of water where we first found the chariot. Everyone is in awe of the illusion being created, but the last to be built, the chariot made of gold, bronze and other decorations was what really set the crowd off. Wolf: Your majesty. I'm presenting to you an exquisite chariot which resides at my land. Is it to your liking?

Rhino: You... Your presenting this? (His eyes drinking every detail of the illusion) What did you have in mind in exchange? Wolf: I would like to request a highway be constructed between the Capital and Stone Lake manor. I understand that the current road is long and hazardous, weaving between mountains through 120 miles of valleys. Perhaps a straighter path could be made through the mountain? (The king calls for a cartographer, and discusses the terrain) Rhino: (mumbling) 30mi as the crow flies. It is possible. Will take some time too, but I'll need you to do something to complete the task. A bridge will need to constructed over a space of 100ft long and over a ravine that's 300ft deep. The spot is only 5mi south of your place, located here on my map. Wolf: I believe I can handle that. My neighbor, Baron Greyshell, has quite a resource of lumber I might be able to trade for, as well as people that I might hire from. Does your majesty know of some architects that could handle the design of the bridge? Rhino: I know a few people that could handle the job. I'll send word to them that you seek their attention. Wolf: Thank you your majesty. We'll take our leave now. Rhino: I look forward to the new trade route between us Baron Aegis. Oh! The cart will be at Stone Lake correct? I'll send my guard to retrieve it. We leave the court and begin heading for the front entrance. We stop by the money changer for the Bat to trade out some of his bars for coins. It didn't occur to me till just now, but we haven't ate for a while. I call for a cab and give him a couple of gold pieces for the full day. Our cabby first takes us to a well known bar for it's food and drink. Although the king recognizes our titles, the common folk do not, and I'm happy with that. We hear a few people talking about the itching plague that came about a few days ago, which unknown to them was the Leopard's doing. Although it was the topic at the moment, I sense little hostility and no clues of finding the perpetrator. The food was good and we managed to collect some information about where a few places of interest to shop would be. We made a stop by a jewelry store for the Pocket Mouse to sell those ivory cases for a nice sum. In fact, I showed them the small jade statue we found in the river to discover a buyer.

They informed me that a Beaver who lives just outside the city would be the only one interested enough to buy such an ugly thing. So much interest that I should barter ten times the normal value of it. We made a few more stops at a variety of places to pick up ingredients for the Bat's plans for magic items along the way. One major stop I wanted to make was a place that sold religious merchandise. The one chapel we stopped at was dedicated mainly to nature and peaceful living, but the Cheetah there did say the building across the street might be of help to us. What I'm looking for are some items that prevent zombie infection. Yes, I plan on exterminating some of the population under my manor. According to basic knowledge of the undead, namely zombies, they have the ability to turn you into one of their own. Although the building is in fact of chapel design, they do not dedicate themselves to anything specific, but rather involve themselves with the capital of religious merchandise. I make the purchase of three amulets for us at 175gp each and the merchant informs me that they will break in two weeks after being attached to our clothing. They are a business after all; can't sell anything that will last. The last stop was the Beaver's place on the outskirts of town, just within range of our cabby. I shoot him an offer of 18k to start off, which was less than the ten times as suggested earlier. Without so much as a blink of hesitation he called for his servant Freddy to fetch some chests. A Frog brings out two chests, which from one the Beaver pulls out a mithril coin worth 10k gold pieces by itself and the other smaller chest he takes out a few paw fulls of coin and presents me the chest with 8k gold coins in it. I'll have to look this gentle sentient up again, as I believe I might find more of that style of statue where we are going. And with that I instruct our cab driver to take us back to the capital castle. Stepping our way back into the castle we catch sight of a few soldiers saying their going to the training ground. I tell my friends that I want to test out the spear the mage was telling me about. Talking to one of the guards, he points me to a section where dummies are set up for ranged practice. One of the guards comes with us as an aide or escort I would imagine. Taking the spear from my charm bracelet, I judge the distance, take aim, and just before throwing I speak the word Crom. The spear became a bolt of lightning just after I released it from my grasp. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw that display. Though the test dummy was set ablaze, it wasn't close enough to

catch anything else on fire, and the spear lay on the ground in front of the dummy as it once was. A nearby servant comes out with some water to douse the dummy down and returns the spear to me promptly. They seem to be prepared for this kind of activity, but I apologize regardless. I think they were more amused at my reaction than concerned with replacing the dummy. Before leaving for Greyshell castle, we pay the Dog one last visit since the tapestry is in his wing of the castle. I set the slime's bottle down and out of the way until the Dog can begin the slime's treatment. The process takes a full day, so by the time I return in a couple days, he should be ready to go. The Bat leaves his small club with the Dog for the night and will retrieve it in the morning. The Dog informed us that the progress of the Raven, for our pirate raid, is going according to schedule. We'll have to let the Crab know as we pass through. Coming back into Greyshell castle, I learn from a few attendants that the baron had taken to a few of the villages to find parents for some of the children. I leave some information with the attendant who can pass on to the Crab including my return to Stone Lake for a few days until it's time to go to sea. The chariot and cart are left in good order for us to depart on. We locate the old couple as well as the Orangutang who will ride in the fancy cart with me as their driver, leaving the Bat and Pocket Mouse to follow behind with the Lynx's cart. Again the road is easy travel with interesting conversation from the carriage that I would deem as older folk gossip. I wonder how long it will take before word spreads of such valuables traveling along the road unguarded. Upon arrival, I introduce everyone to one another as fellow residents now. The new members are taken to visit the children to discuss living arrangements and favorite food items I'm sure. Between the three of us and the Killer Whale we dismantle the fancy cart and transport it to the island for safe keeping until the king's royal barrage of guard arrives to take claim of it. The plan is to spend the rest of the evening resting up with final preparation for the morning zombie raid. While I lay there in my chambers, I feel a strange sensation. This anticipation of battle, exploring an unknown enemy area, and taking the lead of a party of my own leaves me feeling restless. I think back on my training days and wonder of my pack leader felt the same. We were training to be rangers; those that scouted an area first to bring back intel of resources,

enemy numbers, and best paths to take. Our survival training was the most intense for these reasons of traveling with life and death on the line. Although we went into possibly dangerous territory, we did not go in unprepared. I feel that I'm prepared for this mission by making the purchases of the amulets, asking around about fighting zombies, I also have with me a magic user and a lock picker who are both skilled and prepared for their trades. One problem that bothers me, which I believe applies to many in the world, is the unknown itself. It's hard to prepare for something that your not previously aware of. Hence the other portion of our survival training of keeping a sharp mind. The ability to compensate for an obstacle not already known. With my friends to support me, I believe this will be a successful mission.

The Ranger's Trial (part 1) During the early morning the Bat had already ate some fruits for breakfast and had left for the Dog mage's study to retrieve his enchanted club. After breakfast, I sort through my backpack and belt pouch to determine what I'm going to bring with me. The Pocket Mouse seems to be practicing in the court yard area with his new rapier. We all seem to know what the plan is, but that doesn't make it much easier as we will be hunting a small portion of the population of 400+ undead. The Bat returns quite quickly with a sense of glee about him over his club. After letting the Bat rest up a bit, we head down to the door that keeps the zombies at bay. After the Bat helps us descend down the slide, we see the door appears normal. We hear quite a lot of commotion on the other side of the door. Wolf: Having troubles Door? (An eye and a mouth appear on the facing) Door: Bit busy at the moment. (The Door turns back to the other side and we hear a very loud explosion. Then the Door appears before us again.) Dealing with a thing that keeps coming back to life and trying to tear me down. What you want? Bat: It wasn't that lich by any chance was it? Door: No, it be a plant that regrows from it's own ashes. Puny annoying thing. Wolf: We came down to eliminate some of the infestation on the other side. Perhaps it'll give you a chance to rest for even a short while. Door: What are those amulets you have on? Pocket Mouse: They prevent magical disease like the zombie infection. Door: Interesting.... Place your hands against my face... Not exactly the most pleasant of ideas, but we cross over the stream and place our hands on the door's facing. In an instant we find ourselves in another room. After a moment to gather our senses, we figure out that this room is the other side of the door with the ashes of the plant he was dealing with earlier. This is quite a large empty room with what appears to be a statue as the main attraction. It would seem to depict a battle between goblins and a strange looking creature. We go up to it to find a small inscription at the base which the Bat reads using his circlet's eye.

Bat: Here lays sealed for eternity the half breed of a demon prince and high angel. His efforts to bring honor back to his mother's rape had brought death to many of our kind, and was a futile effort. A sealed entity that brought about the destruction of many evil beings. I'm all up for freeing any allies I might find, but I'd like to find out more about them before doing something foolish. We don't see any corpses in the area either, which begs the question of what zombies do here since we know they were here a couple days ago. There are also a couple of doors leading out of this area, so we'll choose the right hand door for now. When we approached the door, we hear an unusual sound. It reminds me a lot like the same noise from the land boat's engine room. Opening the door with caution, as we will be doing with all the doors down here, we see a large machine that is currently running and sitting in ankle deep water. None of us have knowledge of machines to speak of, but leaving things like this alone is probably for the best for the time being. Another door can be seen at the far end of this narrow room. The Pocket Mouse opened the door up, but failed to realize that first step into a pool of water about 4 or 5 feet deep. I rushed up to collect him up before something aquatic might take advantage of him. We could see across the room finding 3 doors all with the same platform as what we were standing on, which was just enough for us to stand on together. I didn't want to risk anyone traveling through the pool, so the Bat carried me as best he could to the middle door and the Pocket Mouse was small enough to travel alone the ledge around the room to follow. I had to lend one of my swords to the Pocket Mouse to carry to relieve the Bat of some burden. Along the way I saw at least one skeleton in the water below. The Bat says the door frames are magical and have the same aura of magic that the portal doors had back in the glass winery. We also notice that none of the doors have handles, almost like the doors are meant to swing freely. These doors may simply be here and no room may exist on the other side. The Bat takes out the knuckles of passwall to peek around the door through the wall. He pops back out and says there is in fact a room behind the door that is a long hallway of sorts with storage boxes and a zombie at the far end of it. We grab a hold of each other allowing us to join the Bat in passing around the door and stepping into the room. The zombie takes notice

and charges toward us. I swing my sword above the Bat's head to draw first blood of the zombie, but when my body spun around a bit, I saw something I didn't like at all. The Pocket Mouse had his crossbow armed and ready to fire with a pearl tipped bolt. Wolf: DON'T SHOOT! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T SHOOT! (The Bat reacted before hearing me, and the confused look the Pocket Mouse gave reassures me he won't.) Bat: 'Extend' The zombie that was before us had his torso plunged to the back of the hallway in pieces leaving his head and limbs to fall in place. We look at the Bat in astonishment with this new toy of combat. That knocks one zombie down with many more to go. As tempting as it is to go through many of the crates and possible treasure troves before us, we've come here to remove the threat. Afterward we can dive right in to the chests that are bountiful in loot and perhaps lingering with traps. The door at the end of the hall where the zombie was standing is left open, leaving us to believe others might be nearby. If I hadn't been watching the Pocket Mouse with my own eyes, I wouldn't have noticed his presence moving to investigate the open door, and to make matters worse he did it while...prancing? He motions that it's safe. The room appears to have many beds like a barracks would, but none are filled except one. I take an arrow out and fire a shot near the bed to disrupt the thing. A large volume of bugs comes out from the covers and travel into a hole near a clock by the looks of it. The church I studied at had one left from the pre death era. I believe they called this one a grandfather clock by the looks of it. The Bat says the bugs themselves are magical and completely disappeared once entering that hole. This room is clear, so back to the hallway. To satisfy curiosity, I decided to push the door open that we walked around. The door reveals the pool room we were in. The Bat came to the same conclusion I did that rooms such as this one are only accessible one way unless the magic were dispelled or the door were left ajar the correct direction. We leave the door propped open with a few things to allow us to come back through to the hallway. There was another door halfway down the hallway that we check out next. It opens into a room that isn't quite a large as

the barracks room, but nothing is in here except a pile of debrie in the corner separating two doors on either wall. The door to the left opens up into a chapel area. The space between us and the door to our left is about the same distance as the pool room might be. The Bat flies over and pushes the door open to reveal as such. While grabbing a nearby rock to hold the door open, I look over at the statue with the foot of it piled up with bodies of zombies that begin to rise. I draw an arrow to strike one and move to a position between my friends as the front line of defense. The Bat was so happy to find victims that the fireball he cast blew up prematurely hitting himself, me, and a few zombies by the pews I missed. I hear a shot from behind me and watch it strike a zombie in the chest blowing him up and the few others standing next to him. I'm so grateful I stopped him from firing in that narrow hallway. The Bat positioned himself to my back left firing off a blast of magic and the Pocket Mouse moved to my back right firing another pearl bolt at the group coming at us. I prepare myself with the blue glass sword to keep them at bay the best I can. The remaining zombies managed to get in close. The Pocket Mouse puts me to shame with his rapier. I can only guess the zombie just can't see it coming, but I failed to keep him from getting hit a few times. The Bat brings out his club for melee instead of risking another accident at such close quarters. We've defeated several zombies in this room, but we need to discuss better tactics for the next engagement. To Be Continued...

Hunting at Sea, and Sea Tales It's been a couple days since we started scouting and killing the undead under the manor, but as promised, my friends and I leave for baron GreyShell's castle to do a pirate raid for the king. Unfortunately when we got there the Crab and Leopard both have found themselves busy with their citizens. I don't believe the king will be very happy about the baron and baronette's lack of enthusiasm to serve as requested. Even the Elephant has retired from adventuring to run his tavern. Maybe we can find a couple replacements before setting sail. The Crab has given the Bat and I permission to use the tapestry as often as we wish within reason. Stepping through the tapestry, my slime is quite happy to see me, climbing on the walls and the ceiling. The Dog passes on a message to us that we are to go to the docks where the ship Raven is and find an admiral who is a Walrus. The Bat, Pocket Mouse, Slime and I find the Walrus without much of an effort. The fleet will consist of 5 ships including this one to hunt for any of the pirates that were specified by the king: the red flag with black sword who kill, the black flag with red fist who loot, and the green/yellow flag who may be friendly. It will be a little bit before the ships are fully prepared, so we take the time to familiarize ourselves with the Raven, it's crew and supplies. Speaking of supplies, I have plenty of time to head to the mage shop to finish my previously arranged purchases. In fact it's close enough that I'll simply walk to it. The mage shop has the necklace of the amphibian which magically let's me breathe underwater, but a side effect is the webbing the grows on the wearer's feet. The other item that I have been anxious to acquire is the boots of the raven which are similar to the Crab's boots of the eagle, with the exception of wing style. Had to pay 5k of gold pieces for it, but it's something I wanted and hope to hold onto for a long time. When coming out of the shop with wings displayed in the manner of a cape and a refreshed feeling, I make my way back to the docks, then feel something bump into me making me feel off balance. I check the spot that was bumped and find my ugly short sword missing! I glance around quickly and thankfully I see the edge of my sword under a cape and darting down an alley. I take flight a couple dozen feet above the ground and head down the alley. The caped critter made his way behind a set of stacked boxes and crates next to the right

hand building. I fly down and knock some of the boxes away to reveal a door. I beat on the door. Wolf: I want my sword back little vermin! (An eye panel slides open then closed quickly and I hear both swearing and moving of heavy objects blocking the door. My Slime comes rolling up making use of his new abilities to change shape a little.) Hey Slyph, can you pass through the cracks of this door? You can eat what ever is on the other side. The Slime manages to pass beneath the door and dissolves a bit of the door with his acidic embodiment. I begin to hear even more swearing and a lot of large items being knocked over. During this moment I slip on the dire wolf ring to force open the door. The chaos behind the door gives me the motivation to put as much effort into the door as I can, but only open it a small amount. Removing the ring I become small enough to squeeze through the space and drop a few steps into the wrecked room. It's quieted down a bit, with the sound of a squeaking from the next room. Stepping over, I see a Rat hanging from a swinging chandelier while swinging his own sword at the slime who is hanging above him out of reach of the sword. Wolf: I want my sword back. Rat: EH?! UM!? Wha What sword? Wolf: You have my sword little Rat! Give it back and I'll consider calling off my slime. Rat: I don't have...wait it's it's over in that barrel of wine I swear. Wolf: This one? (I open the barrel and the handle is just above the waterline of wine. What's sad is the wine bath probably did the sword some good.) Now for you. This is quite the detour you put me on. Rat: You said you'd call off the slime! Wolf: Come on down Slyph, but stay close to him. (the slime drips off to his side to the floor under him. The Rat decides to remain hanging. I glance around the place and see a lot of uncommon goods displays and stored.) Do you find the business of stealing profitable? I wonder what the authorities might think of this place... Rat: No No not that. Don't turn me in. You can have anything you want. I have many valuable items that I found. Not all stolen I assure you, I've

been looting ruins too. Please, they are over there. Wolf: Really now... (I browse the goods over) But I'm not overly interested in more stuff... Rat: Um. Um.... I have a specially good treasure in the chest over this way. (muttering) Course I better run for my life once he sees it... Wolf: And the contents. (giving him a doubtful eye) Rat: (sweating by this point) Aheh... It's a map of the city! Secret passages included. Streets, buildings, sewers, one of the maps is strictly the castle too. Wolf: Quite. That is quite the valuable item, but something like that I would feel the need to burn really. (looking at the chest with consideration) Rat: No! Don't do that! Please, it's been helpful to me. Wolf: I may have something in mind then. Rat: Anything! Anything! Wolf: You WILL work for me as my spy of this city. You WILL stop stealing to keep the authorities from putting you behind bars. Treasure hunting is okay. You can't make any money in a cell can you now. Collateral will be my silence and this red robe which I believe holds quite a bit of value. If you want it back, then remain in my service for the next year. I will return it, but should you wish to remain, I will pay you well for the information you provide me. Should you hear that I'm around, find me. Agreed? Rat: DONE! DONE! I WILL! PROMISE, I WILL! Wolf: (Before stepping out the door) By the way, should you decide to run, I come from a pack of hunters. I have your scent and WILL track you down if necessary. Rat: ... Walking back to the main street down the alley with my slime rolling alongside, I think to myself what an eventful moment. Stressful, but memorable as well as a new member in my employment. Coming onto the street I see a rhino and cart charging down the street blindly in a hurry. I don't know where the character is heading, but I've been distracted enough as is. However, looking back where the rhino came, I see a Fox laying on the street next to a cart of food goods, injured from the charge. She just recently came to the city and is having a difficult time selling her goods. The Pocket

Mouse has been practicing medicines for a living while having the treasure hunting as a hobby. I ask if she would like to follow me back to the docks to be patched up, but more importantly the ships could use these types of foods. She agreed and I helped her up to her pony to ride along. We both noticed a Monkey hanging from the second story of a tree home branch who looked like he just saw death. If that rhino had charged at me by surprise attack, I think I would have been in the same state. That was quite a jump if he were standing in the street, but no matter. I see a bar and grill on our way to the docks and decide to step in for a minute. I ask the owner if he has any rotten meat to sell me. He found that a bit strange, but did have a little in the back to bring out while holding his nose. I tell him it's for the Slime here and hand him a couple of copper pieces. He tosses the meat to the Slime who engulfs the meat with delight. I needed to reward him for handling the Rat back there even though he didn't get a chance to eat him as I promised. The Slime had told me earlier that he prefers rotten meat. The more rotten the better. We step back out to find the Monkey, who had been hanging from the building earlier, was talking to the Vixen. It would seem he's just recently come to the city to escape his dangerous hometown and didn't find the city all that pleasant at first sight either. Although, he decided to follow us under the impression that I was a nice and safe Wolf. Little does he realize I'm walking back to a dock ready to hunt pirates. I allowed him to follow and do as he wishes. He didn't come unprepared either, he's a wizard by practice. An apprentice. He may be of some use to the fleet if he's interested. Once back at the dock, I'm greeted by the Bat first. He leads us back to the Pocket Mouse who is tending to some of the minor injuries caused by everyday shipping accidents. Bat: You leave for a short while and come back with a couple sentience and... an interesting red robe over your shoulder. Wolf: Oh... I found a shop down an alley that caught my eye. Nothing major. Bat: Indeed.... That robe is a type of fire robe that protects against flames and emits them when willed. Plus the only button left on it turns into a fireball when thrown.

The Pocket Mouse mends the Vixen's wounds rather efficiently. The admiral quickly made a deal with the Vixen for her goods and as requested by both the Vixen and Monkey have been allowed to come with us. The remainder of the day was spent touring the raven and getting to know each other. The Raven itself is a very long ship holding 3 tiers of rowers running down both sides of the ship for a total of ??? sentience. The oars have three handles dividing between the tiers. The front mass of the ship is a 900 lb solid ram head, with the purpose of literally ramming ships. A few masts hold modest size sails for easier sailing and comfort of shade during the day. With the volume of sentience and supplies on the vessel there leaves little room for personal space and belongings. Truth be told, it blows my mind that an entire village is packed onto such a small water treading craft. The kinds of weapons this warship has are gatling guns for small rapid fire, a few small cannons, the catapult that came from the recipe I gave the Dog mage and about 25 sentience that practice sparing and await close combat. Water militia would be the best way to describe them. Because we were requested by the king himself, we are not part of the military of the ship, but do have officer-like special privileges. A mercenary group would come to mind really. I hope to develop some water based tactical thinking on this voyage. About mid day we see everyone becoming more lively. All supplies are loaded and secured, the crew ready at their stations and the admiral gives the word to set sail. This will be a new experience for me, as I have only done hunting in the woods and fields as well as more recently abandoned cities, narrow alleys and underground facilities. The Pocket Mouse has decided to aid the ship's doctor, the Monkey has isolated himself to his studies of magic but comes out to help with the sails, the Vixen prepares dinner with the cooks, leaving the Bat, myself, and another crewman to switch shifts of the crow's nest as lookouts. We travel at 3-5 knots with a fleet of 4 other larger vessels following behind in formation. It's been 3 days so far and nothing can be seen for miles. I find myself observing the crew almost as much as the horizon. I wonder if the swaying of the ship and tilt of the mass is soothing enough to cause me to nod off. I'll need to ask for suggestions to prevent this. I've been out on month long hunts before so patience isn't difficult and a virtue embedded in me, but these military trained sentience seem to get bored very easily. They play their games, sing songs at random, tease and trick to keep their minds sane I

suppose. When my shift of crow's nest is up, I take up some of the physical tasks to maintain my strength. Some of us discuss what we'd do when the time came to lay ambush or how we could retaliate when ambushed. Out of all of us the Bat is probably the most deadly weapon on the ship. He was telling me about a wand he has that can bring rocks from the sky. Not pebbles you hold in your hand, nor boulders you block streams with, but bits of land the size of our ships and bigger even. A thought came to mind about throwing rocks in the stream before and watching the ripples crash and topple things floating about. I recommend to not use that wand except as a last resort. 8 days have passed with no sign of pirates or any other vessels for that matter. In the middle of a discussion with the admiral about life at sea we hear from the crow's nest. Crewman: Sentience overboard! Raft at 6 points off port side! The admiral passes an eye glass to me to locate the object and sentient. A Bluebird lays on broken pieces of a ship. The admiral gives the command to change course for intercept. I grab my boots and call for the Bat so that we can fly ahead. The two of us come upon the Bluebird who appears to be breathing, so that brings us hope. We land on the raft that was once part of a ship to tend to the sentient. The Bat pours a bit of water in the Bird's mouth to revive him a bit of thirst, and I look at the injuries he's sustained. A completely broken wing, his left leg I can support with a board, along with other bruising that will heal with rest. It would be best since we're here to simply bring him back to the ship than to wait for the row boats and move the Bird three or four times to get the same result. A couple of large boards are available to make a usable body board. With a bit of rope, we secure the Bluebird down and take up both ends of the board to fly back to the ship. The Bat feels the need to point out that my magical wings can fly better than his natural ones. We make it back to the ship for the the ship's doctor and Pocket Mouse to look over. Something the Pocket Mouse has been keeping to himself is a special technique of healing. It was difficult to keep track of what his hands were doing, but the injuries were mending as if they never happened. Even the broken wing seems in good condition as the Bluebird moves it about with

stretching. The cook brings out some soups for the survivor as he's been out for 5 days without food. After giving him a moment to regain his senses, the Bluebird tells us he's a merchant who runs along this trade route. The island that the pirates came from was in the direction of a smoking island. The admiral informs us that the only island with an active volcano isn't far from here and the only one for hundreds of miles. We set sail immediately, eager to exploit this clue we found and possibly some action. Usually when my pack went hunting, we would find all kinds of indications of activity from our prey, but out here on the open sea there is nothing to go by other than sightings and ship's logs of destinations. At last we have a sighting of the island and on the far side of the island we see a fleet of ships. The Bat and I take flight even higher than the ship's crow's nest to get a better view. A fleet of 5 ships all bearing the black with red fist telling us who they are, but something else to take note of is the fleet of green and yellow flagged ships coming up from behind. Hovering here for a moment to get a better understanding of the situation, we see the green/yellow ships firing from catapults a green ball of flame. The Bat is taken for a bit of shock, telling me that level of magic requires multiple experienced wizards performing a ritual. The Bat and I hear in our heads the Monkey's voice asking what the status is. We fly back down and inform the admiral what we saw, and without a moment's hesitation of how to approach tactically, he picks up his drum sticks to initiate battle stations. We begin traveling at a speed of 15 knots with the combined effort of all the rowers, the militia gear up and stand ready, and the ship's cannons and catapults are armed and manned. Approaching the black/red fleet with great speed, two of the ships begin burning with green flames with no sign of extinguishing the blaze. The other pirate ships had turned to face the green/yellow pirates leaving us a chance to attack without being countered. We hear in a loud voice from the admiral, RAMMING SPEED!, which doesn't bode well with me and we begin going even faster. I fly down to the Pocket Mouse picking him up off the ship with the Bat following behind attempting to stay airborne momentarily. The raven slams into the pirate ship wedging it in tight and most of the crew seem well practiced using the impact to give a running start. The three of us hold for a moment and believe the crew can handle the pirates on this ship, so we turn our attention to the remaining 2 that are fleeing. The Bat flies to the

one with wands in hand leaving the Pocket Mouse on my back to fly to the other. I make my way high above the pirate ship allowing the Pocket Mouse to drop a few explosive pearls on the top deck. During the explosions I dive down to an open rowers port to peak my head in. Willing the red dragon necklace, I take a deep breathe and spew a mass of flame as the dragons are depicted as doing so. Two of the rowers at that port turn to ash as well as the third rower losing his left foot. The blaze was intense enough to catch many of the supplies allowing the fire to begin work sinking the ship. I fly back and up just above deck allowing for a few more pearls to liven things up. The last stop I plan to make is the captains stain glass window toward the back of the ship. With my short sword of concussive force I shatter the glass and breathe flames again. The officers all dive away, leaving the captain to turn to ash like the rowers did, but behind him was a cabin boy who used him as a shield, then darted out with great speed. I believe our work here is done, so we make our way back to the raven. Halfway back, we notice three robed figures levitating to the rammed ship. All the crew that boarded the pirate ship are scrambling to return to the raven. All at once the raven was pushed back by a good 60ft away from the pirate ship. Touching down on the raven joining the Bat who just got here as well, we all watch the robed figures. By magical force they lift the black/red pirate captain up before them. The captain's skin begin peeling away and healing behind it as a means of torturing. They turn toward us with a great voice. Robed Figure: We know why your here. The pirate threat has been settled. Tell the king we lay claim of this island. Return in peace. A bit bewildered at the mass of power these three have, one figure waves his hand toward the black/red pirate ships and they explode leaving nothing behind. They return with their prey bound by magic to their ships. In the midst of debris and wreckage, we see a few life boats with a few crewmen still alive. The admiral gives permission to collect them up as prisoners. We may have been here to kill the pirates, but that doesn't mean we should act as murderers. We set sail for home to tell of our tales.

We follow the admiral to bring word to the king of what has happened. With acceptable satisfaction of the end result he calls for a feast of celebration to be held for this victory. The king offers us a room to lay down our gear and servants to clean us up. Returning to the great hall, it has turned from a court room to a dining hall like none I've ever imagined. We are shown to our tables based on title and rank of importance. During the meal, our entertainment was that of a bard telling the tale of the crew's battle against the pirates. Wolf: (thinking out loud) It would seem he's missing a few details of the battle King: Oh? Then perhaps you could fill in some of the details for us. Crowd: Yes, tell us., Let us hear from everyone., Tell us your tale. And so we shared. Wolf: 7 Days had passed without a sign of our prey. On the 8th day we found our friend the Bluebird nearly dead, but by bringing him back to good health he showed us the way. We saw them in the distance being pursued by another group of pirates, the green with yellow flags. The admiral called out RAMMING SPEED, warning me to grab my friends to take flight above the ship. The raven slammed into the pirate ship and you all took charge to slaughter the enemy! (a great cheer from the crew) I took Gold Pocket with me to lay ambush on the starboard side pirate ship left unscathed. Gold Pocket dropped pearls on deck leaving chaos in the explosions. I dove down to breathe fire inside the lower decks through the portholes and once more through the captain's stain glass quarters. (Aiming over the crowd with a gentle breathe of flame, giving them a gasp and thrill) Letting the fires finish the job, we return to the raven. Bat: My friend Aegis here forgot to mention I had to keep him company to keep him awake. (The crowd and I laugh) There we were before the pirates, I followed Aegis above the ship to gain a better view of the

watery field of war. We parted ways as there were two ships to either side of ours undamaged. Taking flight as fast as I could, I came within range to use my magical wand. I waved my wand, focusing on my target, and shot out a ray of rainbow-like lights. The pirate ship radiated like the sun and changed every color imaginable. I saw lightning, I saw poison, the ship dewed in acid, some of the crew turned to stone, some of the crew ran around mad, parts of the ship simply vanished from this plane of existence. (The Dog mage realizing the spell, cast an illusion of the effects before the crowd) After seeing the damage done, I returned to the ship to meet up with Aegis again. Monkey: There I was, hanging from the nets waiting for the right moment to cast my spells. We came within sight of the green with yellow ships and I called forth to them with my message sending spell. They told me to relay a message to not harm the captain of the ship we were aiming for. The one with red fur. I gazed at all of our crewmen and told them the same message by thought. The admiral called out to ram the pirate ship which left me bewildered for a moment. Upon impact and regaining my balance, I join my comrades in the brawl. I manage my best with my remaining spells, going so far as to poke one in the eye from 10ft away. My eyes caught sight of three figures wearing green and yellow floating toward us. I realized the scepters they carried were that of arch mages. Turning tail I called for a retreat knowing we would be no match for such powerful beings. All the crew made it back in time before the ship was launched back a good 60ft away form the pirate ship. Many of the pirates lay dead, leaving the red hair at the mercy of the arch mages. They offered no mercy to the red hair captain when they took him back, but before leaving they made their claims and let us return. Vixen: As I recall the Monkey was the last to engage the foes. I charged with all the men to the death of the pirates. I may be small, but I can make them wish they didn't meet me. I laid my bite into one of the Wolves and he couldn't let go to save his life. Monkey: You mean that Wolf

you had a hold of by his right nipple? (the crowd ohed and laughed) Vixen: I knew where it would hurt... Anyway, I remember seeing the Monkey here running for his life all over the ship, but then again I saw everyone else heading back to the ship. I don't know what kept me from falling off the ship when I made that first and only step. I don't remember losing my balance or anything. I just gazed at the figures who waved their hands and BOOM. All the pirate ships were utterly destroyed. The others shared small tidbits of special events that happened on the ship, including the singing, the games, the pranks, even roasting one another on activities and anything they wanted to delight the crowd with. It was a night to remember.

Author's Notes I hope you enjoyed the journal of my adventure I shared with some friends. The story lays unfinished due to not playing anymore. I really liked my character as well as the concept of life we were living. Something I didn't care for was the massive amount of very powerful items we were getting. However, if you think about the technology we have today it's almost realistic to see the volume of items. I enjoyed writing this journal and would gladly do it again, given the chance to sit in another group and stroll around in their world. What I wrote is 85% of the Dungeon Master's creativity, 10% of party conversation and 5% my character's perspective view point. My journal has only had minor editing done to it, so I'm sure there are things to be fixed, but I wanted to upload it anyway to see what happens.