*** Session 05 - Scene 2 (of 9) ***

After dealing with Doyle, Tickles decides to do some more searching into the Cult of Cegaroch. Finding a rougher part of town, he starts asking around.

While he's out and about, he notices a man with a purse who has had too much to drink. He takes the opportunity to liberate the man of his pouch of 30 gold.

As for the cult, he doesn't have much luck finding anyone who has heard of them. One of the men he talks to asks if he's heard about the barbarians in town. Tickles doesn't like the sound of that.

The man goes on to explain about how the barbarian tribe calls themselves, "The Sun People". He asks the man why they call themselves that, but the man does not know.

Tickles tries to get some more information about what's going on. The man explains about Zaladane and her quest for Lorna, and how the Great Mulroney is looking into it. Tickles says he wouldn't hold his breathe on Mulroney solving the case, but is concerned when he learns the barbarians may destroy the town.

The man also discusses the rumors circling about Mathias being involved in the disappearance of Lorna. Tickles knows the man is more than just a wine merchant and wants to talk to him, but since Taybury took the man into custody he figures that could be problematic.

Joking that he can sleep easy with Mulroney on the case, Tickles leaves the man and heads home. There he finds one of Deadly Snow's pigeons with a message on its leg. He unscrolls the message to find she has left a note for him about heading to Thanta's house to help Mulroney with the investigation into Lorna. He decides to head over.

*** Session 05 - Scene 3 (of 9) ***

Tickles tries not to be seen on his way over, but isn't quite as stealthy as he'd like. When he notices someone actually spots him, he coughs and tries to act like he wasn't sneaking around; he doesn't want to ruin his reputation.

When he arrives at the home of the old woman next to the Drunken Cyclops, he sees the front door is closed and does not appear to be broken into. He circumnavigates the house, looking for anything suspicious or alternate ways to enter.

One the side facing the wine shop, he finds a window. After discovering it is unlocked, he looks inside to see there are some candles lit. The room through the window appears to be a bedroom, with a bed and a chest moved away from the wall.

Seeing the trap door next to the wall where the chest was moved away, Tickles climbs through the window into the room. He opens the trap door to see the ladder leading to a cavern below. He decides to head down.

Finding himself in the cavern, he spots the tunnel leading out of the area he climbs down to. He makes his way carefully through the tunnel, trying to keep an ear out for any noises down there. There are some echoing noises, but he has a hard time telling where they are coming from.

Making his way around, he comes to various caverns and intersections. After wandering around for a while, he steps over a short body of some dead humanoid creature and hears some noises coming from the passage below – it sounds like some talking and cries of pain.

The tunnel eventually leads to an open door. Beyond the door appears to be some kind of room.

*** Session 05 - Scene 4 (of 9) ***

Inside the room, Mulroney, Nardig, and Deadly Snow are interrogating Akarios. They are having problems following his tale about all the people with strange names – Alknar, Jalil, and Sa'lid Dra'lah along with the unnamed servant who is supposed to be coming to meet with Akarios soon.

Nardig hears someone coming down the tunnel from the open door. Mulroney gags Akarios and drags him off to the side, leaving Deadly Snow and Nardig to ambush whoever is coming.

When Tickles pokes his head in the door, Nardig (who doesn't recognize the coyle) moves to tackle him. The hobgoblin dives at the thief's legs, but Tickles moves quickly out of the way.

With Nardig on the ground, Tickles jumps on top of him and pins him to the ground. Mulroney yells for Tickles to stop, who insists he is just defending himself.

It takes a moment, but Mulroney clears up the confusion by introducing Tickles to Nardig. The two men eye each other with disdain.

Mulroney shuts the door as Tickles asks what they are doing. Deadly Snow moves in and gives him a hug, which slightly embarrasses him.

Over the next several minutes, Mulroney brings Tickles up to speed on what they've been up to with framing Mathias and searching for Lorna. Tickles notes he knows some of what is going on from the rumors he heard in town.

Mulroney talks about the old woman and her tale of demons, and how they came down and discovered Akarios summoning a jinn. Tickles gets some clarification on what the summoner was talking to the demon about, but is mostly concerned if the man knows anything about the Cult of Cegaroch.

Ungagging the man, Deadly Snow applies some pressure to get more information out of him but he claims not to know anything. Mulroney beats him about the head and shoulders a bit with his staff, but that has no better of results.

Tickles asks what they plan to do with Akarios. Mulroney says, looking straight at the man, that it depends on what further information he can provide them. Mulroney begins asking about the servant coming to meet him, but Akarios doesn't know much except that the servant is a male goblin.

Mulroney mocks the man for not knowing when the goblin will arrive, but Akarios explains the goblin is traveling from a land far away so he's not sure how long that may take. Mulroney asks how the goblin will find him, and Akarios explains he is supposed to arrive at his wheelwright shop (as the summoner poses as the town wheelwright).

With no other valuable information to get out of the man, Mulroney walks behind him and quickly cuts his throat. Deadly Snow is not amused at the dishonorable killing. Tickles starts to get nervous, but his young ward continues to contain herself.

Mulroney can tell she's upset, so he offers to give her some of the magical incense he found earlier. But instead, he double-crosses her by giving her a couple of the non-magical sticks from his personal supply. He watches Nardig carefully, hoping to make an ally out of the evil hobgoblin against the father and daughter team.

Deadly Snow decides to punish Mulroney by throwing one of her knives a little too near Shoes. The cat arcs its back, hissing. It then casts a spell on Deadly Snow, causing her to cower in the corner in fear, wetting herself.

Tickles tells Mulroney to call off her cat as the in-fighting isn't helping anyone. Mulroney pretends to call off the cat while mentally having him hiss at her again.

Mulroney makes a comment about the girl dropping her knife. Tickles points out it was a warning, saying they can't keep killing everyone they encounter. Mulroney insists it was necessary, otherwise the man would have brought down the wrath of the Scarlet Alliance on them.

Saying he is an honorable man (which Tickles disagrees with immediately), Mulroney agrees to let all future such decisions be settled by the group as a whole. Letting the matter drop, Tickles suggests they hide the body but Mulroney feels there is no good way to hide it and not leave evidence of some kind.

Instead, Mulroney has Nardig drag the body of the dead boogie man into the room and places his knife in the creature's hand and stages the two bodies to look like they died fighting each other. The effect is not perfect, but may be close enough to fool someone who doesn't investigate too close.

*** Session 05 - Scene 5 (of 9) ***

With the body of Akarios dealt with and Deadly Snow recovered from Shoes' spell, the group discusses what to do next. Mulroney explains what they've found so far, but that there was also a section after the mystic symbol on the cavern wall they have not been to yet. They agree the best course of action is to go down the other corridor.

Tickles takes the lead, with Nardig following then Mulroney and finally Deadly Snow in the rear. The witch is a little nervous about having the disgruntled assassin behind him so he has Shoes keep a close eye on her.

The thief tries to be quiet as he scouts slightly ahead of the others, but his footsteps echo in the caverns despite his best efforts. It attracts the denizens of the chamber just beyond the mystic symbol in the caverns – three plague zombies.

The plague zombies move in quickly to attack. Tickles tries to run away, but the coyle isn't very fast and the creatures catch up with him.

Back in the cavern, Nardig sees Tickles ambling towards him saying something about plague zombies. Just then one of them reaches him, biting his shoulder from behind. He turns and fends off a second attack with his war hammer.

Mulroney calls out to everyone to back up towards the intersection. It takes some time for that to occur with everyone trying to move in the tight space, so Tickles swings his war hammer and smashes into the plague zombie.

As the others coordinate their moves, the plague zombie tears into Tickles' armor, destroying it. With everyone else out of his way, he is able to move back so Tickles takes a tactical retreat. As he does so, the zombie gets in another slight bite on his arm.

With just enough of an opening, Deadly Snow starts tossing knives at the zombie. She throws a series of six of them in rapid succession, hitting with them all but not quite stopping the creature.

The group splits at the intersection, with Mulroney getting behind Nardig on one side and Tickles getting behind Deadly Snow on the other.

Mulroney uses his magic to heal Nardig so he can better participate in the fight. Shoes uses a spell as well.

The zombies split as well, attacking Nardig and Deadly Snow. Nardig strikes the one approaching him with his sword, but fails to hit with a follow-up attack.

Deadly Snow uses her axe to attack the zombie on her. She lops off a large chunk of the creature with a powerful strike. Tickles assists by throwing a dagger over her head into the zombie.

The zombie, badly damaged, attacks at Deadly Snow but she easily deflects the blow. Nardig does the same on the zombie attacking him.

Deadly Snow continues to chop into the zombie in front of her, cutting off another chunk. It bites back, damaging her armor. She responds by burying her axe into the creature's skull, killing it.

Nardig attempts to attack the zombie in front of him, but can't seem to get a hit. He does, however, manage to fend off a further attack by the zombie.

Deadly Snow moves in to attack the third zombie in the cavern, placing herself between the two zombies. She gets in a quick strike and blocks a counter-attack by the creature.

Meanwhile, the other zombie continues to attack Nardig but he also continues to fend off the attacks. He strikes back with his sword, cutting into the creature.
With just enough of an opening, Mulroney and Shoes fire energy bolts into the zombie attacking Nardig. The creature sustains the attack but is badly damaged.

Deadly Snow misses badly with her next attack, leaving herself open. The flesh-eating zombie bites at her arm, injuring her. Tickles throws a dagger into it to help.

The zombie on Nardig damages his armor with another attack. The attack rattles him, and he isn't able to hit it back with his sword. The zombie bites him again, this time hitting flesh. He thrusts with the sword, skewering the zombie through the skull.

Moving quickly, Deadly Snow deflects another attack from the remaining zombie. She gets in a series of two swings with her axe, heavily damaging it. Tickles assists with another thrown dagger. The others wait and let Deadly Snow finish the creature off with her axe.

*** Session 05 - Scene 6 (of 9) ***

Once the zombies are destroyed, Mulroney sends in Shoes to investigate the cavern beyond but finds it empty. Tickles goes in to look for any secret doors or other things hidden in the chamber, but finds nothing. Apparently, this cavern was simply some sort of quarantine area holding the zombies (possibly by the mystic symbol on the cavern wall).

The group spends some time discussing what to do next. Mulroney wants to investigate the ladder in the boogie man's lair.

Since it was trapped before, Tickles offers he could use his grappling hook to test the remaining rungs on the ladder. Mulroney instead offers to head up himself and poke at the trap door with his staff.

He does so, pushing the trap door up just enough to see if there is anyone up there. Some light comes through from the opening and sounds near the door, but not immediately next to it.

Mulroney climbs back down and discusses if it would be better to exit into the wine shop or Thanta's house instead. Given the trap door is still in open view at Thanta's house, they decide that makes the most sense.

They make their way back up into the woman's bedroom. No one appears to have been there yet. Deadly Snow moves to change into some of the old woman's clothes, but Mulroney yells at her to sneak home instead. She moves silently out the window and into the shadows.

As she does so, Nardig and Mulroney move the trunk to conceal the trap door again. Meanwhile, Tickles tries to sneak out the window as well.

Unfortunately, Tickles is not as stealthy and someone calls out, "Stop, thief!" Looking out the window, Mulroney is shocked to see several town guardsmen making their way towards Tickles. He quickly has Shoes cast a blinding flash while he generates a cloud of smoke.

Tickles slips away in the confusion. When the smoke clears, Mulroney and Nardig see Taybury there with a sergeant (who appears ready to throw his club at any source of danger) and several guards. Taybury yells out to ask what is going on.

Mulroney runs to the window and cries out calls of "Thief!" Taybury comes to the door of the home and asks Mulroney what he is doing there. The witch spins a tale about waiting for the old woman.

Taybury explains the old woman told him a story about Mathias killing Lorna and burning the body, which he was coming to investigate when one of the guards spotted someone sneaking out of the old woman's home. Mulroney explains how Thanta asked him for help with demons talking to her and witnessed her apparently speaking with such a creature along with some "grumbling and groaning sounds", though they saw and heard nothing.

After the old woman left, Mulroney claims they waited around for her to return then spotted a thief who snuck into the house. He says the thief must have used some magical device to affect his escape.

Taybury is suspicious of Mulroney's story, but ultimately accepts he has no better evidence of what occurred and does not challenge the veracity of the man's tale.

The two then discuss the woman's story. Taybury doesn't feel she is a reliable witness to anything, but Mulroney says he believes something very strange is going on. Taybury can't argue with that.

Taybury says he and his men will investigate into the old woman's story but suggests Mulroney and his companion continue to look for Lorna. Mulroney agrees they don't want Beartooth burned to the ground.

When the gruff dwarf says he expects to see results soon, Mulroney asks if anyone has investigated at the wine shop yet. The dwarf says he'll allow Mulroney to go investigate, but the witch explains as he is not a member of the law he wouldn't want to go in without an official representative.

Taybury assigns on of his town guards, Sgt. Hooker, to accompany them while he and the others search for the escaped thief. Using a set of master skeleton keys for town, Hooker opens the door and they head inside.

*** Session 05 - Scene 7 (of 9) ***

Inside the Drunken Cyclops, Mulroney suggests they look the place over from top to bottom. He offers that he and Nardig can search the front area and Lorna's room while Hooker looks in Mathias' room. With a swift motion, the agile sergeant glides himself across the counter and to the other side to go look while Mulroney opens the half door to get to the back.

It doesn't take long before Hooker says he found something. Using his fingers to dab something he found, he tastes them in his mouth and says he appears to have found blood. Mulroney expresses his surprise in his usual flamboyant manner.

Hooker explains the blood was on some herbs he found under Mathias' bed. While Hooker is sniffing at the herbs and attempting to figure out what they are, Mulroney tries to bring up Zaladane's mention of Lorna looking for herbs. But as the sergeant wasn't at that conversation he doesn't know what the man is talking about. Mulroney carries on about how the whole thing is very strange indeed.

Saying the area is clearly a crime scene, Mulroney says they should clear out. He calls out for Nardig to put down the wine. The hobgoblin grumbles as the witch keeps thwarting his plans.

As Hooker is roping off the door with a "keep out" sign, they make their leave and head back to Tickles' home. When the coyle answers the door, Mulroney immediately begins needling him about his display of speed and stealth.

The witch does explain their plan to frame Mathias is going well, which Tickles is happy about, but points out since they haven't actually found out what happened yet they'll want to keep a real close eye on time so they aren't anywhere around when the 48-hour limit is up. Tickles notes this is the first anyone has mentioned having a time limit.

Tickles asks what the chances are they can stop Zaladane from tearing the town apart. Mulroney says he is hoping that framing Mathias will be good enough.

Just to be safe, Tickles suggests they continue to look into the disappearance. Deadly Snow is OK with sacrificing Mathias for the good of the town if it comes to that, but agrees they should try to find him. He asks if they have any other clues, and Mulroney says he kept some of the herbs.

Tickles suggests they begin by asking around about the herbs. Mulroney doesn't want the herbs connected back to him, so they'll want to do it discreetly.

The thief thinks up a good plan to have Mulroney ask Sgt. Hooker for a small sample. Once they get that, they can openly talk to the apothecary to figure out more information about the herbs.

*** Session 05 - Scene 8 (of 9) ***

They all head over to the local apothecary's shop, ran by an old woman named Kalda. Mulroney tells her they are there are important business from Taybury (after getting the name wrong a few times).

Mulroney hands over the herbs he got from Sgt. Hooker along with the others so she has enough to examine. Looking over the herbs, she says it contains some whey, tomato powder, and something rarer in there.

Kalda starts asking where they got the herbs when Nardig interrupts her to ask if she has any poisons. She says she does not sell poisons, as she wants to help people with her herbs. Nardig settles for spending 5 gold on pipe weed.

Mulroney asks what happens when someone indulges too much in pipe weed. Kalda says they will lose their ambition. When he presses her for what happens after, she says sometimes they get hungry as well and possibly impotent. Mulroney lets the matter drop.

The old woman asks again about where the herbs came from, but Mulroney won't tell her saying it is confidential. She says it is difficult to help without all the information, but that they must have come from out in the wild caverns somewhere.

She doesn't recall coming across this particular herb before but offers her assistant may have. Mulroney asks who the assistant is, and she gives the name as Galen. The witch doesn't recognize the name.

Kalda calls up Galen, who appears to be a handsome young teenage boy. Mulroney asks if he's ever seen the herbs before. He says he has not, but Tickles and Mulroney think he may be lying.

Mulroney tells Kalda they need to speak to the boy privately. When they get him alone in a back room, Mulroney forces the matter with the boy more. Deadly Snow makes some threatening gestures and the boy is scared but doesn't talk.

With the boy nearly catatonic, Mulroney decides to change tactics. He calls out for Tickles to stop her. While Tickles makes a crack about Mulroney always being the voice of reason, Mulroney coddles the boy and has Shoes rub up against him.

Using his golden tongue, Mulroney convinces Galen he'd be better off telling him what he knows. Galen cracks, saying all he did was tell Lorna where she could find the sunchipweed. Mulroney is confused by the name of the herb, having never heard of it before.

Mulroney asks why he didn't say anything earlier. Galen explains he didn't want the girl to get into trouble as she mentioned whatever she was using it for was something she wasn't supposed to do yet.

Interrogating further, Mulroney gets out of the boy that he and Lorna were on somewhat intimate terms. Deadly Snow looks on with disdain, surprised Mulroney is able to follow even the obvious train of clues.

The witch asks Galen to tell him where he found the herbs and gave them to her. He said he found it out near the cavern where Lorna likes to practice her magical rituals.

Feeling they are really on to something, Mulroney asks the lad if he's ever been around for any of the rituals but he says she never let him. Mulroney has the boy take them out to the cavern to show them.

*** Session 05 - Scene 9 (of 9) ***

Lorna's secret cavern is located a fair distance out of town, an hour or so away and off the beaten path. As they get near, Galen tells them it is just up ahead.

Mulroney presses the boy to continue on with them. He says he has never been closer than this as Lorna warned him it was dangerous, but Mulroney tells him it will be all right.

As they get closer, Mulroney asks more about the sunchipweed. Galen doesn't know much about it, except that it was an herb she needed for some magical ritual. He explains they are normally just used as a seasoning for baked goods.

They decide to approach the cavern with Mulroney and Galen in front, with Nardig behind Galen, and Tickles and Deadly Snow following in single file order.

As they walk through a field of light cave grass on the way, it releases sports of a fungus growing. As the cloud comes up into their faces, Galen starts coughing. Mulroney tells the others to run.

Everyone begins heading backwards while Galen stops to cough. Tickles uses his grappling hook to pull the youth out of the fungal field. Nardig tries to determine what the fungus was, but only Tickles spots it as choking fungus.

Unfortunately, all the noise has attracted something. A lizard-like creature with large flaps on skin on its legs looks out from a nearby ledge on a rocky outcropping; its curly tail raised high. It is a sloderi.

Deadly Snow decides to make a run for the cave. The sloderi jumps off its ledge and begins gliding towards her. Behind them, Nardig decides to head to the cave as well. Tickles, however, decides to hide himself behind a nearby boulder.

Mulroney calls to Galen to run back to town to save himself. He then sprints for the cave himself.

Everyone making a run for it gets into the cave. It is a medium-sized, single chamber cavern. Mulroney positions himself behind Deadly Snow, who herself tries to hide in the shadows as best she can (despite Mulroney's lantern shining behind her).

The creature makes the first attack, lashing out at Nardig with one of its claws and drawing blood. Nardig strikes back with a skewering strike of his sword and the lizard cries out in pain.

Mulroney and Shoes each blast the creature with energy bolts. Deadly Snow opts to throw a pair of daggers into it, but both bounce off its scaled hide.

The other claw of the creature cuts into Nardig's leg, wounding him further. Distracted by pain, Nardig is not able to hit the creature with his counterattack.

After blocking the sloderi's bite attack with his shield, Nardig wounds it with his sword.

Deadly Snow jumps over the creature with a backflip to get behind it. She stabs into it from behind with her daggers but the small blades barely wound it.

As Nardig blocks the sloderi's tail with his shield, Deadly Snow finishes it off from behind with her daggers.

Once the battle is over, Deadly Snow signals Tickles to come meet them. They find the cavern contains several chalk drawings on the floor along with some pages of written notes.

In the center of the room is a cauldron full of some sort of liquid. Nardig examines it closely, but can't tell if it is poison or anything else. Tickles can't identify the smell either.

As they examine it, a ghostly visage of an armored knight emerges from the wall. The figure draws a sword from his side and tells them all to leave immediately or face certain death...

*** Session 05 - Session Notes ***

This was the first time in the campaign we've had all four players at once. While it doesn't run quite as smooth as it did with only three players, it still went pretty well (and having four of them is much better for exploration / combat, if not investigative scenes).

Per my usual style, I always start by catching up whoever hasn't been around recently - not only because I loathe a RPG session that doesn't make sense as a story (I hate it when other GMs just "teleport" PCs in and out of the story based on whether they show up to a session or not), but also because it gives that player a chance to get engaged in what's going on early on.

The highlight of the session was the fact one of the players brought a bag of Sun Chips for snacks then later asked me for the herb name so I gave "Sunchipweed". Hilariously, he didn't get the joke so the rest of us had to stop the game for over 10 minutes to laugh and mock him.

Random notes from the session:
* The tale of the Thieves of Harr-Ki is just there to keep that subplot in the back of the player's minds. The witch named Tr'di is another in-joke tied back to the main joke about who the thieves are modeled after.

* The Cult of Cegaroch comes from the Games Workshop background for the Harlequins. Hence, the cult and the renegade clowns are one in the same (though the players don't know that yet as none of them are fans of the GW games).

* Doyle trying to politically maneuver around Materich is a subplot I had planned for the thieves' guild. I want the guild to have a lot of plotting and back-stabbing going on. The Tickles player, however, didn't seem to want to engage in that subplot at the moment.

* The Tickles player spontaneously decided that since he was in the bad part of town looking for info, he might as well rob someone. I love it so provided the victim.

* Deadly Snow's message is a bit of a retcon, but I needed some way to get Tickles caught up to the group.

* The goblin Akarios is referring to is Snarg, the character from both my D&D 4e Nentir Vale campaign and my AD&D Al-Qadim campaign. The players figured that out a while ago even if their characters don't know who he is yet.

* I loved the "staged crime scene" with Akarios' body, though I'm not sure why they didn't just try to hide or dispose of it another way.

* Tickles and Deadly Snow aren't nearly as murderous as Mulroney and Nardig, which should lead to some more conflict down the road.

* The quarantined plague zombies are part of the whole plague zombie plot that is still being fleshed out.

* The Boogie Man's ladder emerged into an alley, which I thought was implied enough before. But the players seemed very nervous about where it might lead.

* Sgt. Hooker wasn't named in the session nor did he do anything of note during the actual play. In the write-up, I needed a name so I threw in some T.J. Hooker jokes.

* The herbs Kalda recognizes are ingredients from the bag of Sun Chips sitting on the game table. I read them off directly (which made it even better when he didn't get the "sunchipweed" joke just a few minutes later).

* I'm not sure what Mulroney was going for with asking about the pipe weed. He kept wanting an answer that wasn't a pot-related joke, but I'm not sure why.

* When the name Galen came up, the players furiously started looking through their notes just to make sure he'd never been mentioned before.

* I forgot to note which book the sloderi came from so spent forever trying to look it up so I could show the players what it looked like. Mental note for later - always reference book and page.

* The cauldron in the cave and the magic ritual is implying Lorna was attempting the "magic cauldron" ritual. But what exactly happened is still to be revealed.

* The ghostly knight hasn't been identified yet, but let's just say he's another call back to a previous campaign I ran...

*** Session 06 - Cast of Characters ***

The Great Mulroney: A miscreant changeling witch who believes he is human and masquerades as a prestidigitator. He sold his soul to the devil prince Glebecar and has a devil familiar named Shoes.

Yukiko Agami (The Deadly Snow): A ten-year-old aberrant human girl; a major psychic trained as a secret assassin. She considers Tickles to be her father after he raised her as an orphan.

Nardig: A miscreant hobgoblin mercenary exiled from his family for his evil deeds. He can control his tendencies for short periods of time to work with small groups, but will steal from them and turn on them with the slightest provocation.

*** Session 06 - Scene 1 (of 7) ***

Seeing the spirit, Mulroney determines it is a haunting entity, a type of intangible apparition bound to the world of the living due to some unresolved situation and are usually stuck in their own past. As a haunting entity, the witch knows it could be good or evil and can't harm them physically but could assault them psionically.

Knowing the entity may or may not be aware enough to reason with, Mulroney decides to try and talk to it given his instructions from Enilefil. Before he can do so, some noises break out near the opening of the cave. Everyone turns to see a humanoid shape begin to form from the rocks and earth.

Deadly Snow isn't sure if what is happening is real, or part of a psychic attack by the entity. She activates a mind block to protect herself. Tickles, however, believes that discretion is the better part of valor and makes a run for it before the figure can completely block the way.

Mulroney turns back to the ghost, telling it they are there to look for his mistress, Lorna. He says something happened to her and they are there to help.

The knight raises his sword and advances towards the figure of rock and earth. He tells them all it is too late now, and they must protect themselves. Too late, Mulroney realizes the ghost's statement about leaving was not a threat, but a warning against this other entity. He surmises it must be an evil tectonic entity.

Nardig turns to face the tectonic entity, preparing to defend himself with his shield. The entity punches at him, but manages to get around the hobgoblin's shield. The resulting strike slams him in the shoulder, cracking some bones.

Deadly Snow considers running out to follow Tickles, but the creature is fully-formed now and standing in the way. She throws a couple of daggers at the creature instead, but they bounce harmlessly off of its stone body. Mulroney calls out to let his companions know a tectonic entity can only be damaged by psionics or magic.

Mulroney then casts out a fire bolt, but the entity moves out of the way. Shoes casts a fire bolt as well, and that one hits. With no way to attack the creature, Nardig maneuvers himself behind Mulroney for protection. The witch is a bit nonplussed about a warrior hiding behind him.

The ghostly knight moves in and strikes at the tectonic entity, wounding it with his spiritual sword. Deadly Snow drops her mind block and uses a telekinetic kick to attack the creature but the entity parries the attempt. The telekinetic feedback injures Deadly Snow instead.

The entity strikes back at the ghost knight, who deflects the blow with his sword. Deadly Snow strikes twice more with a combination of kicks, damaging the creature further but further injuring her leg from the stress of the extra energy.

With the last of her inner strength, Deadly Snow gives a powerful strike directly into the center of the creature, temporarily disrupting its cohesion.  The knight tries to take advantage of the situation, but the entity reforms quickly enough to block his strike. Out of options, Deadly Snow follows Nardig's example and moves herself behind the ghost knight.

Shoes blasts the entity with another fire bolt, but does relatively little damage. The creature attempts to dodge Mulroney's spell, but fails and takes the full brunt of his fire bolt.

The knight strikes at the creature again, but it knocks the sword aside. However, it then turns and stomps out of the cave off into the distance. As it walks away, the knight tells them they must have damaged it enough to convince it to leave.

*** Session 06 - Scene 2 (of 7) ***

With the fight over for the moment, Mulroney asks the knight if Lorna brought the entity there to protect the cave. The knight says no, saying he isn't sure who Lorna is. He asks Mulroney if she would have been the young woman he saw some days ago here.

When Mulroney says that would have been Lorna, the knight explains he and the tectonic entity were both drawn to the cave by the same power. He points to the cauldron.

Mulroney asks what happened, if she was trying to summon something but had unintended consequences. The knight says he believes she made a mistake of some kind and inadvertently drew them there.

When Mulroney asks what happened to Lorna, the knight tells him a third entity was summoned as well. He names the third entity as Ma'leese. According to the knight, Ma'leese possessed Lorna and then left.

Deadly Snow asks if the cauldron is still drawing entities to the area. The knight says he understands little of magic, but from his time alive he recalls this sort of ritual will cause evil spirits to be drawn to it if the contents are not dumped out after the ritual. Mulroney makes sure to stand well away as the young girl dumps the contents.

The knight gives his approval at the actions. Putting his sword away, he introduces himself to them as Sir Percy of Scandia. Mulroney doesn't recognize the name so he asks the ghost why he is still wandering the Earth.

According to Sir Percy, he is trapped to remain as a spirit due to the way he died. He explains that unlike most entities of his type, he is more aware of his state of being.

Sir Percy goes on to say he is not from their world, and died many centuries ago (in a time on his world known as the "12th Century"). According to Sir Percy, he came from a land known as "England"; a half-formed memory starts to bug Mulroney at the back of his mind at the mention of England, but he cannot clarify what it means.

While Mulroney is wondering about this England, Nardig asks Sir Percy if his unique condition allows him to come and go as he pleases. He says he is bound, in a manner of sorts.

Sir Percy explains by starting with the tale of his life and death. Back when he was a young knight in England, he was recruited by a man named Prester John to form a new kingdom in a land on his world called "The Orient". He says he believed Prester John was a human from the lands of "Europe", but he later discovered he was a different type of humanoid known as an "Atlantean". According to Sir Percy, Prester John came from this world (which he calls Palladium) many millennia ago.

Getting back on subject, Sir Percy says Prester John formed his kingdom in the Orient to guard against the release of a powerful, ancient entity known as the Lord of the Deep. The Lord of the Deep is a dark, powerful entity that lives below the depths of the oceans in his world. Sir Percy likens it to the tales of the Old Ones in the Palladium world.

As Sir Percy's tale continues, he says one day the leader of an evil cult of followers of the Lord of the Deep, known as the Witch Lord. The Witch Lord led an assault on Prester John's castle with a small army of demons from the sea. The Witch Lord used a powerful blade made from evil magic in his assault – a demon sword known as the ebony blade.

Sir Percy says the Witch Lord slew him with that blade, causing his soul to be forever bound to it. Because of the binding, Sir Percy has a better understanding of the weapon and its properties. He explains the blade was made with a particular alloy of magical minerals mined from Hades itself, the home dimension of the demons. The Witch Lord himself carved the runes into it to enchant it further with its power to absorb souls.

Deadly Snow asks what the purpose of the sword was. Sir Percy explains it was forged as a weapon in the great war between the demons of Hades and the other evil entities who opposed them, the devils of Hell (or Dyval, as the creatures themselves call it).

Mulroney recognizes the ebony blade as potentially being the magic sword Akarios and Jalil were discussing – the one being used by Sa'lid Dra'lah in Black Eagle and that Alknar wanted to acquire. He decides to ask Sir Percy if he's ever heard of Sa'lid or Alknar. Sir Percy doesn't recognize the names, though admits he can't recall the names of everyone he has come into contact with since his death. According to his explanation, his interactions with the living tend to fade in his mind over time.

Deadly Snow mentions she believes they are looking for the same sword that killed him, and asks what they may need to know about handling it. Sir Percy tells her they must be very careful, for the sword's dark magic that absorbs souls can also corrupt its wielder through the power of the souls of the devils the Witch Lord slew and bound into it.

Sir Percy goes on to say how Prester John defeated the Witch Lord and his army of demons, though died in the attempt. Though John's kingdom soon crumbled, the sword was protected by a powerful magic and placed under the protection of Sir Eobar of Garrington. Garrington's family protected the sword from everyone until centuries later when the Garrington Castle was destroyed during a cataclysmic event on Sir Percy's world he calls "The Coming of the Rifts".

The knight can't really explain what happened, but says something about how a great eruption of magical energy caused gates to many other planes to open and become invaded by all manner of creatures and entities. In the aftermath, the sword was found by an adventuring knight named Palin Partur, but just touching the blade caused Partur to be possessed and transformed into a demon calling itself, "The Bloodwraith". Sir Percy says he has heard of some creatures known as blood wraiths on this world (referring to the undead creatures of the Lands of the Damned) but clarifies this Bloodwraith is unrelated.

According to Sir Percy, the Bloodwraith used Partur's body as a demonhost. The creature spread terror and destruction as part of a cult of followers of a necromancer known as Avaj Eroc while being hunted down by one of Partur's old companions, another knight named D'artagnon.

D'artagnon was never able to find the Bloodwraith himself, but he enlisted the help of another knight named Rugar Blascan. Blascan killed the creature with a magical spear then took careful possession of the sword. Fearful the sword would be taken by a member of his own group who had been tainted by demons, a wizard named Liftkor, Blascan gave possession over to a powerful cabal of wizards calling themselves the Ungala Draconis.

The Ungala Draconis live in a fortress inside of a pocket dimension, and it was there Sir Percy stayed with the sword until the cabal used a ceremony to destroy it. Sir Percy thought he was free, but something happened later to cause the sword to re-form; Sir Percy again notes his ignorance of the ways of magic and cannot explain precisely what occurred.

After the sword reformed, a devil named Enilefil snuck into the fortress of the Ungala Draconis and stole the blade, giving it over to a devil lord named Glebecar. The next years were spent with Sir Percy and the blade trapped in the possession of Glebecar as he wielded it in a series of conflicts in the war against the demons of Hades.

In the final days of the war that Sir Percy experienced, the conflict took place in a different world where large ships of metal moved through the dark seas of the sky along with great floating cities. In a gigantic city known as "Center", Glebecar fought against a demon lord named Zelezn.

During the battle, the sword was lost and fell through a portal to this world. Sir Percy and the other souls inside the blade were dragged along with it. As Sir Percy explains this, Mulroney starts to piece together the story in his mind; clearly Enilefil was sent to get Mulroney to find out where the sword is so he can return it to their dark lord, Glebecar.

Mulroney asks if the sword controls him, but he says he is simply "bound" to it. He knows the sword is somewhere in this region, but not precisely where. He similarly explains to Deadly Snow the sword cannot open portals to other worlds itself.

Nardig asks if he can leave the cave, and Sir Percy says he can. Mulroney asks if he can communicate telepathically and Sir Percy explains that is how he is "speaking" with them now.

Mulroney tries asking how they can free Sir Percy from his imprisonment to the mortal plane. Deadly Snow is suspicious at this attempt to seem helpful, but says nothing. Sir Percy says because of the unique situation with the sword, he isn't sure if freeing him to move on is even possible (since it didn't happen last time the sword was destroyed).

Nardig asks Sir Percy if he could join them to help search for and destroy the sword. The ghostly night examines them a minute then says he would not care to continue his association with them. He says there is a strange touch of evil associated with them.

Mulroney tries to say they are agents of honesty and decency, which almost causes Deadly Snow to openly show disgust. Sir Percy looks over at Shoes. Mulroney asks why he is interested in his cat.

Sir Percy's tone grows dark as he says, "It is one of them!" Looking at all of them, he says they are not there to help at all, but are more agents of evil who want the sword for themselves. Mulroney tries to argue they want to help but he says he will take his leave of them. Ignoring Mulroney's request for more information on Ma'leese, Sir Percy says he will not help them find the sword and disappears back into the cavern wall.

*** Session 06 - Scene 3 (of 7) ***

After Sir Percy leaves, Mulroney says they should look around for any secret compartments in the cave just to be sure. Nardig and Deadly Snow look around carefully, but find nothing.

Deadly Snow then looks outside the cave for signs of Lorna's tracks, but finds nothing. Nardig, however, picks up a set of tracks near the cave, leading away towards the settlement of Rikki. Mulroney finds that fortuitous, as he needs to take care of the renegade clowns in that area anyway.

Since they are injured and badly fatigued after their recent encounters, Mulroney believes they should spend some time resting and meditating before heading out again.

He begins by applying some first aid to Nardig, bandaging his injured shoulder. He tries assisting with Deadly Snow's wounds as well, but can't provide much help to her sprained ankle.

The group then decide to head back to Beartooth to rest in safety, since they aren't sure when the tectonic entity may show up again. When they get back, they find Tickles at his home. He greets them, and says something about having to head back to town for "guild business". When Mulroney starts to mock him about it, he says he has some more business to take care of and leaves.

Everyone else spends the next five hours resting and meditating. After the rest period, Nardig and Deadly Snow decide to head to see priestess Fleria to heal them. Because he is so badly injured, Nardig spends all his money and then some on healing. He ends up getting 50 gold from Mulroney (who later lies and says he owes him 75) and another 75 from Deadly Snow.

Just as they are finishing up and leaving the shrine, Zaladane and some of her men approach them. She calls out to Mulroney, asking what he's found so far in the investigation into her missing sister. He sardonically says they discovered Lorna has gone missing then follows up by saying "all the evidence" suggests she was killed by Mathias who burned her body.

Zaladane asks Mulroney where Lorna's ashes are; she says she will require him to retrieve her sister's ashes. Mulroney wonders what the woman is up to with the ashes, but she says only that it does not concern him. As he is unfamiliar with her religion, he can't be sure what she has planned but is very suspicious.

The priestess then tells Mulroney he has twelve hours to find the ashes or she will destroy the town. Mulroney says he already proved what happened to Lorna, so the least she can do is give him another day and a half.

Zaladane considers his offer for a moment then decides to give him 36 hours, but says not a minute more. Mulroney is happy they have some breathing room to rest up (or at least get far away from Beartooth).

Leaving Zaladane, they decide to start by heading back to the cave and seeing if they can pick up Lorna's trail. Mulroney reminds everyone to be careful and try to avoid the choke fungus (or at least cover their mouth and nose while passing through).

When they get there, Nardig picks up the trail with ease. They begin following it for some time. After an hour or two, it occurs to everyone that Rikki is a couple of days' travel away and Lorna has been missing for more than a week so had more than enough time to get all the way to Rikki by now.

Mulroney has them stop for a moment and decide what to do next. They don't know anything about Ma'leese or where she is headed. Deadly Snow suggests one of them should run back to town to try and get more time out of Zaladane by saying they've found reason to believe Lorna went to Rikki.

With no way to get a message back to town, Deadly Snow offers to run back. Mulroney isn't thrilled with the plan, but since it is all they have agrees to continue on with Nardig and Shoes while the girl runs back and catches up to them later.

*** Session 06 - Scene 4 (of 7) ***

Deadly Snow runs quickly in the dark with her torch back towards town. Part of the way back, she runs across a trio of plague zombies. These particular plague zombies move very fast and close in on her quickly.

Snow pulls out a pair of knives and throws them into one of the creatures as they run towards her. She draws out her battle axe as they begin to surround her, dropping the torch. It stays lit, but unfortunately does little to keep the plague zombies at bay.

The zombies lunge in, biting. Deadly Snow manages to parry off one and avoid another, but a third still manages to bite her arm.

The assassin slashes back with her axe at the one that bit her, scoring a slight hit. The zombie bites her back again, while another gets in a deep bite from her flank.

The fight continues as Deadly Snow scores another slight hit on the zombie. She then defends against their bites and scores with a second hit on the same zombie; it is beginning to look damaged.

One of the zombies gets in another bite on Deadly Snow as she strikes the damaged one again. Unfortunately, it still doesn't go down.

A couple of more bites later, the assassin wonders if she may need to make a break for it. But first takes out the damaged zombie with an axe through the head.

Continuing to take bites, Deadly Snow strikes into one of the other zombies with a slight hit. The dance of death continues and the girl notices she is beginning to wear down.

Worried she may get bit deep enough to contract the plague soon, she grabs her torch and tries to make a run for it. The zombies catch up to her and bite at her again, further injuring her.

Shoving one of the zombies aside, she summons her inner strength and runs for it again. This time, she manages to break off from them and gets back to the main gate in town.

The watchmen at the gate asks her what is going on. She explains there are zombies coming. The guards close the gates and spear the zombies to death when they arrive while Deadly Snow takes a moment to recover from the fatigue of her fight and run.

*** Session 06 - Scene 5 (of 7) ***

Taybury comes over afterward and asks (hopefully) if her companions are dead. She says they are still alive and she needs to talk to Zaladane. He takes her to the priestess.

Zaladane grants Deadly Snow audience with her, asking what news she has. The young assassin explains they believe Lorna was taken to Rikki before she died (being careful to choose her words as not to explicitly lie). She explains about tracking the trail and how they need more time to investigate.

The priestess is suspicious of the girl's story. Deadly Snow offers to let her accompany her back to Rikki, but Zaladane has something else in mind. She tells the girl she will need to "prove her honor" by defeating one of her barbarians in unarmed combat.

Deadly Snow agrees and faces off against one of the larger men. She moves in quickly, using a telekinetic kick to his face. The warrior rolls with the impact to minimize the injury.

The barbarian uses an axe-hand strike to smash at the little girl. She's hit, but also manages to roll with the blow.

Maneuvering around, Deadly Snow gives a sharp kick to his solar plexus. He expresses his amazement that a little girl can kick so hard. He kicks her back in response, cracking her ribs.

Using a spinning round kick, she knocks the warrior out cold but the stress from the telekinetic strike breaks her foot. She falls to the ground in pain.

Zaladane offers she is impressed with the young girl's prowess in combat. She says she is clearly an honorable warrior for one so young. The priestess even says Deadly Snow would make a fine Sun Person.

Since Deadly Snow has defeated the warrior, Zaladane's urgency for Lorna's ashes is mollified. She has faith that Garrak will see the ashes are returned in due time. But just to be safe, she has Deadly Snow promise on her word of honor she will go to Rikki and retrieve the ashes before she'll agree to withdraw her forces from Beartooth. Choosing her words carefully, Deadly Snow only promises to go to Rikki and return whatever is left of her sister.

Because the girl fought so gallantly in the battle, Zaladane heals her injured foot enough so she can stand again. Zaladane and the Sun People then take their leave while Deadly Snow heads over to Fleria to get healed the rest of the way as well as meditate to recover her inner strength.