The end of Malcolm

With their unfortunate duty in Pungumplia complete, the group had a decision about where to go next... Ridgeshire, where Malcolm and his group was residing... or Greyfold, where the Ridgeshire army had taken over.

Scrying for Governor Muddlebrooke, She'dra was treated to the sight of Blake Bannon ordering the soldiers of Ridgeshire around the burning town of Greyfold. In the background, the head of the former king, Pluvian, was newly piked. In his hand... the crown of Greyfold. Standing next to him, Muddlebrooke looked mostly confused.

Apologizing once again to the council proves useless, as they firmly tell the adventurers to leave them in peace. Their rebukes and disapproving looks don't sit well with most of the group, and it seems to take its toll on Edge's shoulders especially.

Before they reached the city limits, She'dra was once again contacted by Kae Nacin, still held with Malcolm's group. Informing She'dra of the resistance movement she was gathering together, she implored him to rush to the city...

Informing the rest of the group of this, the decision was soon made that Ridgeshire would be the first stop on the tour. Not that Lunk or She'dra were really interested in going anywhere that Malcolm wasn't. The only holdout was Zerin. Still only concerned with the gems, he refused to see the logic in going to Ridgeshire when Greyfold was where he sensed the presence of the last two.

Fortunately for him, motivation borne of leathery wings was soon to arrive. Swooping down from the heavens was Malik, the guardian that the group had encountered all the way back at the giant's camp where they found the gem of might. He let Zerin know that the guardians were all gathering near Greyfold ready for the assualt... except for Driari. She was still off on her mad quest for vengeance, and Malik let him know that she was headed towards Ridgeshire. The party put two and two together and came up with the same answer that they often did... Malcolm... She was going after Malcolm.

With that decided, they loaded up the new danger cart and set off towards the same place that the whole journey started.

The trip was mostly uneventful until they reached the Irendu lands. Emerys began to notice that they were being followed... it didn't take him long to realize that it was by members of his tribe. Hopping out of the cart to speak to one of his tribesmen, he was informed that his father Rane was very interested in seeing him and his friends.

And the reason for that became abundantly clear as Rane approached the group... accompanied by Sir Phobos! Apologizing to Sir Damas for ever believing him to be a traitor, the mighty knight explained that the Knights of Ridgeshire had abandoned the kingdom when the invasion of Greyfold started. Looking to retain their honor an embrace their history, they took up the banner of the Order of Lin. Asking Damas and Ambrose where their loyalties lay, he was thrilled to hear that they would stand with the rest of the order. Making an offer to allow the wizened Sir Ambrose to lead the newly refounded order, Phobos was shocked when Ambrose declined. Citing the job he'd done so far in organizing everything, Ambrose suggested that he'd be proud to follow Sir Phobos as the head of the knighthood. Damas agreed.

Discussing the situation, Rane and Phobos had planned to march towards Greyfold, but were severely limited in their numbers. 23 Knights made up the Order of Lin, and the Irendu couldn't have more than 100 battle ready tribesmen. Although some of them were especially skilled or able to use forest magic to aid them, 123 were still no match for the ridgeshire army which numbered somewhere near 50,000. They would have loved to bolster their numbers with the Ridgeshire resistance and the captured Yomiuri clan, but they could not risk assaulting Malcolm's group and losing more of their all ready all too limited number.

With that, the group agreed to take on the task. Leaving Sir Ambrose, a brilliant strategist, to accompany the Irendu and the Knights, everyone agreed that once the reinforcements were acquired that they would all meet outside of Greyfold and try to make their attack count. And so the eight remaining group members rode on towards Ridgeshire.

Seeing hide nor hair of any enemies, the party was able to march directly through town and right into the Governor's mansion. As they approached the main hall, She'dra began casting spells to augment his allies and their abilities for the upcoming battle.

The group was soon greeted by the sounds of loud yelling. A woman's voice... Driari!

Screaming at Malcolm she demanded to know if he had been the one who killed her lover Taeren, letting him know that he'd be incapable of lying in the area of her spell. He calmly looked her in the eye and gave her an answer. "No."

Angrily spinning around, Driari was searching for answers. Certain that it had been Malcolm, she was now left to go searching once again. "Who was it?? Who killed him and took the gem??" Malcolm shrugged, "I don't know! Probably Muddlebrooke... or Bannon. They have the gem."

Calling out to Driari, Zerin begged for her to stop the madness. His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, as Driari stared him down momentarily before taking flight once again, presumably towards Greyfold.

As she left, Malcolm's attention fell upon the recently arrived group. "Well, well, well... Look who finally showed up. What took you so long?"

Surrounded by his associates, Malcolm rose and got ready for battle. His side also boasted the presence of Calin the mighty necromancer (arch-nemesis of Baldric the mad wizard). It seemed he had resurrected Luthor Plaguewind, "Black Adam" Bloodseed, and Maxmillion Slade, as the three undead warriors surrounded him. Kinto, the ronin warrior encountered by Ryo and Edge in the tomb of Sir Miralas was there as well as Quint's murderer Ricky "the Blade." Also nearby, but perhaps not on his side was the bard Kae Nacin. As She'dra arrived she gave him a look as if to say "finally!"

And so with that the final confrontation with Malcolm began.

Kae retreated to a corner and began to play her bard song, magically enhancing the battle prowess of her companions... strangely enough Malcolm's entourage received no bonus to their performance, whereas She'dra, Edge and the rest of the group gained some additional magical inspiration.

Calin the necromancer immediately attempted to shift the odds in his favor by summoning three undead zombie ogres!! The huge monsters set forth and began viciously attacking the Ridgeshire rebels. Not to be outdone, She'dra used his arcane might to call forth three monstrous centipedes! The enormous creatures served to make an already cramped battlefield even more crowded!

Malcolm sent a volley of magic missles out towards his nemesis, but they were absorbed by She'dra's shield spell. She'dra, reluctant to have another fire spell countered as it was on the ship, tried a magic missle of his own... but it was similarly absorbed by Malcolm's shield spell. Malcolm was somewhat less fortunate in that his shield offered no protection from a charging Edge and his sword.

While Edge was distracted with taking down Malcolm he was attacked from behind by Maxmillion Slade, the undead assassin. It seems that Slade was slightly peeved at having been killed so quickly by Edge back in Fujoo! And it seemed all over the battlefield that that was a popular motivation for the revived killers... Luthor Plaguewind furiously assaulted Zerin with everything he had, even using powers granted to him by his evil god to attempt to poison the guardian! And finally, "Black Adam" once again targeted his bow in the direction of Emerys, leading to a shootout between the two of them.

Not all feuds require a death beforehand... Kinto and Ryo stared one another down and did a lot of talking before facing off with one another. As for the others, Vialas and his wolf companion (blank), Lunk, and Damas fought bravely against the horrid Zombogres.

That is until Lunk caught sight of Malcolm, fleeing from Edge's furious assault. The sorcerer retreated to the corner and begged Kae to heal him. Apologizing to Malcolm, Kae admitted that she had switched sides. Although he felt betrayed, Malcolm pushed it aside and gave Kae his best doe eyed expression to accompany the words: "Kae... they're going to kill me..." Despite her conflicting loyalties, Kae was a good person and agreed to use her healing spell...

Lunk meanwhile flew into a rage when he saw the man responsible for the murder of his brother Edwin. Left without a clear path, he nonetheless made haste across the battlefield. On his way he was attacked by a few of the combatants, including the three zombogres! No matter how hard they hit Lunk, however, none of them could do enough to stop him from reaching his goal. He stood there directly in front of Malcolm, his eyes consumed with rage as he screamed and slobbered and raised his axe... Malcolm said a silent prayer as a blow struck true...

The blow of Captain Grimm!! The notorious pirate had been hiding behind a large tapestry since the beginning of the battle, ready to choose his spot... and he did directly in Lunk's back! The huge warrior, due to the punishment he had taken to reach Malcolm and now due to the Captain's almost surgical strike to the back, could not survive another such blow. He wheeled around, and weilding his own fury as a weapon swung his greataxe at the man trying to deny him his vengeance. The first strike crippled Grimm for the rest of his (brief) life, and the second quickly ended it as he removed his top half from his bottom half.

Now covered in blood Lunk turned back to face Malcolm again. She'dra, seeing HIS life's goal about to be taken from him cast a lightning spell at Malcolm. Unfortunately he could not hit Malcolm with Lunk in the way. It no longer mattered to the obsessed wizard. The energy crackled through Lunk before zapping Malcolm as well. Once again denied a chance to strike, Lunk was confused. Using that to his advantage, Malcolm summoned up a charm spell, and whispered into Lunk's ear. Managing to confuse him in his enraged state, he got Lunk to set his sights on She'dra.

At this point She'dra had a choice... Malcolm was barely alive and one more spell would kill him. However that would leave the wizard defenseless to Lunk's attack. An attack on Lunk would kill him as well, but a dispel would end the enchantment. If he concentrated on Lunk though, Malcolm could heal again or even escape. Although I present these options here, none of them ever occured to She'dra. He saw but one path... Another lightning bolt shot from his fingers, finally dropping not only his long time arch nemesis Malcolm, but also his friend and traveling companion Lunk. Satisfied (for the moment), he turned his attention to finishing Calin.

Kinto and Ryo went back and forth with Ryo slowly but surely winning the battle. Activating his magical belt with the phrase "It's clobberin time!" he struck a mighty blow that nearly finished the Ronin for good! Calling Ryo and his clan fools, he spit at the samurais feet, even as he struggled to hold onto life. Sickened by the ex-samurai, Ryo informed him that he was doing him a favor since he truly died the day that he lost his honor. One swift strike later, and Kinto was dead in a more literal sense.

Emerys and "Black Adam" rolled and dodged and fired arrow after arrow at one another. Unfortunately for "Black Adam" the Irendu Bow struck especially true against those with evil in their hearts... and that was him all over. Knowing he was losing the battle, he cast a spell enlarging Emerys, making him an easier target, while relatively making himself a smaller, harder to hit target. Emerys was too skillful though! He did hit, and often! Knowing he was about to die yet again, he stood amidst the battle field no longer seeking cover, and commanded Emerys to finish it. And he did.

Edge bounced around the battlefield helping where he could, killing a zombogre and greatly damaging many of the other members of Malcolm's group, including Ricky "the Blade!" Left near death, the rogue decided once again that discretion was the better part of valor and tried to run... Unfortunately he was still enchanted by the mark of justice from the beginning! When trying to run, the mark of justice would only allow you to accomplish half of what you tried to do... the other half of the time you would be unable to act. This was the bad half of the time. Trying to leave the battlefield, Ricky was paralyzed and fell to the ground. Staring at the ceiling he cried out for Malcolm to remove the mark slightly too late... just as a monstrous centipede moved in to make a meal of him. His screams were horrible, but short lived.

Edge had so much trouble finding a fighting partner because Slade was so ineffective when it came to attacking him. Despite using his best tricks, he could do nothing! Even turning invisible was foiled by a technique Edge knew designed to sense around you even what you could not see. Without the element of surprise, even hitting him was impossible for Slade.

Soon Calin fell, followed by both of his zombogres. Even Vialas' wolf (blank) managed to strike a killing blow! Soon the only ones left were Luthor PLaguewind and an invisible Slade. Since Plaguewind was the only visible enemy left standing, a concentrated effort was made to put him down. Even as he did his best to kill Zerin (And he may well have succeeded had the battle not shifted so far in our heroes favor), the combined might of the group finally proved to be too much for the undead Ravager. He fell, and the battle ended.

While it was true that Slade yet lived (or unlived), he abandonded the battle field rather than waste his second life trying to kill a party that his whole group couldn't defeat. Scanning the room, She'dra and Edge sensed no one around. Victory was entirely theirs!

With some care and effort Lunk's bleeding was stopped, and his wounds magically healed. As he rose to his feet he stood over Malcolm. She'dra approached and Lunk alerted him to the fact that Malcolm still had some life in him.

Malcolm addressed the wizard. "She'dra... I'm... I'm... I'm sorry it came to this... Things got... seriously carried away... I... I wish... things were different... In another world... we could have... been friends... I'm sorry... I'm sorry it had to... come to this." She'dra paused. He coldly responded. "Me too." before letting loose with a fiery burst to put his rival down for good.

Then silence. Looking first at Malcolm's corpse and then to the scorch marks on his own chest, Lunk looked to She'dra. "Satisfied?" he said. "Yes," was the response. As Lunk started to walk away, She'dra said "I'm sorry that I had to blast you as well." Never looking back, Lunk muttered as he walked away, "Yeah, see... I don't think you are..."

And so the group licked their wounds and gathered themselves up as they prepared to march onto Greyfold. Kae gathered her resistance which consisted of several hundred disgruntled citizens of Ridgeshire, and this gave the anti-Muddlebrooke forces some greater numbers, which they desperately needed.

Ryo, almost instantly after the battle concluded, made his way to the dungeons to free the Yomiuri clan. After some inital confusion over the armor he was wearing that belonged to Kinto the ronin, Ryo managed to convince them that he remained ever loyal to the clan. As a sign of good faith, he abandoned Kinto's armor, and took back the traditional Yomiuri armor, even though it was a bit clunkier than Kinto's.

With that sorted out, the resistance, the samurai and our party began the long march south to meet with the Irendu tribe and the Order of Lin. The Greyfold invasion would begin very soon...

The end is near, as the last gem is obtained...

Gathering outside the gates of the Dwarven kingdom, the group was waiting for She'dra to join them. In the meantime, Lunk has peppered Ryo with questions and praise for his showing against the dwarven champion Oskarr.

After a while of hearing about how great samurai are, Damas sputters and mutters to himself about a lack of honor. Catching this immediately Ryo turned to ask the knight if he had something he wanted to say. Calmly brushing Ryo off, he simply claimed to have some misconceptions about samurais, saying that he thought they were men of honor.

Ryo, livid, shot back at Damas wondering how he dared to question Ryo's honor. Damas, once again very calm in his delivery, simply claimed that it was a misunderstanding. He said he had thought that samurai were the honorable type of man, like a knight, who would not resort to cheating in a competition.

Ryo vehemently defended himself, suggesting that he had no choice but to win the gem. Edge chimed in, attempting to help justify Ryo's action with an 'end justifies the means' typed argument. But the knight wouldn't have any of it, putting forth that Ryo never once batted an eye thinking about his actions. By his count an honorable man would need to do some soul searching before cheating. Edge countered that it wasn't cheating so much as leveling the playing field in an unfair contest. But Lunk, occasionally stumbling across a nuggest of wisdom, stated that Ryo had agreed to the unfair contest... so he still cheated.

She'dra, coming back to the group and hearing the word cheated added a word... "twice." Everyone turned quizzically towards the wizard who told them about the unluck spell he had cast upon Oskarr mid-battle. Ryo was shocked and upset, while Damas broke out into a grim smile... a sort of an "I'm right but I'm not happy about it" look. Pulling his swords and pointing them towards the knight of Ridgeshire, Ryo let Damas know that if he ever wanted to challenge his honor and fight, that Ryo would be ready. Sir Damas just shook his head and remained silent.

With the fight simmering down a bit, She'dra hit the group with a bombshell. (Errr... fireball spell?) Ridgeshire had invaded Greyfold. Jaws dropped all around.

Describing the scene in his scrying, he told everyone that Malcolm was in the throne room of Ridgeshire with Kae, his inside source. Among the group gathered there with him were Captain Grimm, Ricky "the blade," a pale magic user dressed in black robes, and undead incarnations of three of the thugs who jumped the party in Fujoo... "Black" Adam Bloodseed, Luthor Plaguewind, and Maxmillion Slade!

As the group returned to the surface, arguments abounded. It seemed that as things were coming to a head, the resulting tension was causing some serious friction in the group. At one point Damas' loyalty was questioned... Would he stand with the knights of Ridgeshire with the governor, or would he stand with the group? He claimed to be loyal to the group, and defended the knights reputation. It was made very clear to him that should he stand against the party, that they would put him down in a heartbeat. Lunk repeatedly apologized to Vialas, suggesting that most of the guys were usually much more friendly.

Reaching the doorway, a few quick knocks prompted Emerys and Ambrose to operate the lever on the gnomish control panel and open the door. Sadly, the reuniting was not as sweet this time around... Tempers were flaring a bit as the group argued about their next course of action. Ryo wanted to go to Greyfold to find his clan, while Zerin wanted to stick to the original plan and obtain the final stone unaccounted for... the Gem of Insight.

Heading back to Yobyalp and obtaining a new wagon, the group used it along with the four horses from Ocan Cite to expedite their journey. Sadly, the increase in the quality of their travels did not decrease the amount of their squabbling.

Using his travel time mostly for study, She'dra decided to take a break as the group neared Greyfold. Deciding once again to scrye upon Malcolm, the vision slowly came into view... Malcolm was speaking with a man who's features resembled those of Ryo's people. Apparently the Yomiuri clan... Ryo's clan... was captured and is in the dungeons of Ridgeshire. Hearing of this, this man who was apparently a samurai castoff, had come to taunt and torture the members of the clan. Malcolm reluctantly allowed it, on the condition that the man would enter into service with the rest of Malcolm's group. When this information was passed along to Ryo, he immediately knew what had happened... the letter he had sent to his clan spurred them into action. They went to Ridgeshire to demand his freedom and were immediately captured. Ryo reflected on the news and mostly sulked by himself for the rest of the trip.

When the cart made its way to the part of the path nearest Greyfold, everyone present could see... Greyfold castle was missing.

Yes. Missing.

The skyline of Greyfold was missing a very important figure, and no one was sure quite where it went or even how it could have happened! Smoke also rose from the city, showing signs of a battle that had recently taken place. From the looks of things, Greyfold didn't do very well, though the party was too far away to really see any detail. (Like the castle. Was there rubble? Or had it just vanished entirely?)

Coming around towards the north side of the city... the side from which Ridgeshire would have attacked... the sight of a field full of dead soldiers came into view. In their midst a large mechanical monstrosity was slowly gathering up the corpses one at a time, lifting them, and impaling them upon the spikes that adorned the monster's head and shoulders.

Some more in group friction ruled the day, as there was a division in regards to what to do next. Damas and Ryo voiced their displeasure about the desecration of the bodies, some of which may have been Ryo's friends. Edge and Zerin touted the virtues of continuing on and not starting a fight when it was unecessary. Lunk wanted to fight anything. In the end, it was She'dra's assertion that the corpses may well be on their way back to Malcolm's necromancer in order to animate them. This thought swayed the group towards a confrontation.

Hopping out of the cart, the battle began! Magically scanning the creature, She'dra found that his spell fizzled before he could learn anything. This was similar to the gnomish guardian they had fought before... as the melee fighters soon found out. Each blow struck true, but didn't do nearly as much damage as they should have to the creature's stone hide.

Emerys fired arrow after arrow as Damas, Ryo, Vialas, and a raging Lunk chopped away. Edge too bounced around striking at the fiend... but perhaps the most interesting assault came from She'dra, who sumoned to his side a demon! The vile creatures moved in and fought against the corpse gatherer along with the others.

Persistance paid off as eventually the fiendish construct crumbled to the ground, whatever sinister purpose behind its corpse gathering apparently foiled. But just as the battle was ending, Ryo caught out of the corner of his eye a new threat to the group. From futher out in the battle field and slowly moving its way in was a large creature (about ten feet tall, maybe) covered in armor with bits and pieces of the battlefield (weapons and armor and the like) floating around it, in addition to random bursts of flame and lightning.

Edge, convinced to fight the corpse gathering monster, had heard no such arguments towards fighting this new threat. As such, he suggested they return to the cart and be on their way before an unnecessary battle took place. Most of the allies agreed, including an exhausted Lunk.

As most of the men moved towards the cart, two notables did not retreat. A worn out Ryo still had his swords drawn, ready to continue avenging his friends and his kingdom. Also, She'dra was motionless, studying the creature for a moment before commanding his demon to attack it!

While this may have been a good strategy for escape, this was not She'dra's intention as he sat and watched the creature. Several times he seemed to begin casting a spell, but each time stopped himself and continued to watch. With words doing little to move the man or the elf, a new plan was enacted. Lunk grabbed Ryo and dragged him back to the cart, while Zerin made a rare use of his magic skills and commanded She'dra to "run." Unprepared for the spell, She'dra fell prey to it, and ran right into Edge's arms as he moved back towards the road.

With a few quick swipes and a spell cast, the giant creature obliterated the summoned demon and continued to follow the group for a time. However, as they continued to distance themselves from the battlefield, the creature seemed to lose interest and headed back.

Explanations were asked for on the journey towards Pungumplia... but none were forthcoming from She'dra. In fact, he didn't say a word. No matter how much Edge, or Damas, or Lunk questioned his sanity on the battlefield. The earlier questions about Damas' loyalty resurfaced, but this time reshaped and pointed in She'dra's direction. Had he gone mad? Was he trying to get himself or everyone else killed? But still he never spoke up to defend himself.

Ryo, on the other hand, explained himself and how he got carried away by the moment. He did make it clear that rescuing his clan from Ridgeshire would now be his greatest concern.

And so, after an especially tense journey, the group arrived back to the familiar sight of Pungumplia. But this time it was different... The camp town that had sprung up outside the gates had entirely vanished. When finally they approached the city limits, they recognized the same wisenheimer guards from oh so long ago. (Seems like ages, doesn't it?)

The guards also recognized them as the group (more or less) that had freed the town from Thaddeus and his bandits' reign of terror. Quickly figuring out that they needed to enter the main cathedral and see the council to attain the gem, they did just that with the blessing of the guards. (Still thrilled about the bandit situation.)

With the current vibe having most group members on edge (not the swordsman), there was no time taken to knock... the door to the chamber was kicked open.

The council, consisting of eight different holy leaders (Acolyte Sophia, Brother Crispin, Father Dunstan, Chaplain Lucia, Abbott Jacobus, Confessor Anselm, Cardinal Thomas, and the leader High Inquisitor Elijah... for those of you keeping score at home), did not take kindly to the rude interruption to their meeting.

It seems they had gathered together to discuss the rumors about the Greyfold invasion... publicly it was stated that the meeting was how to quash the rumors, but it seems that the heart of the meeting was to figure out Pungumplia's next action in light of Ridgeshire's power play. When the rumor was confirmed by the party, it only sent the council into more of a tizzy.

Several of the clerics argued that Pungumplia needed to close off and defend itself once again, while some argued that they needed to aggressively raise an army and strike back!

Interrupting the council's squabbles, Zerin stepped forward to let the clerics know that they needed gem of Insight. Though the council agreed on very little, each of them seemed to agree that now was the worst time for them to lose any possible advantage that Pungumplia could have. Various counter-arguments were made... that the gem in their hands did nothing for them compared to what it could do in our heroes hands, or that the gem didn't belong to them in the first place. But regardless of what was said, the council was unwavering in their desire to retain the jewel.

That is when She'dra acted. Moving towards the door, he was cut off by the grand inquisitor. It was then that he dared to cast upon the clerics!! Seeing this as an act of war, the clerics all stepped forward and prayed to their various gods to hold the intruders where they stood. Emerys fell victim to the paralysis, and more importantly so did She'dra. Edge, not taking any chances, clubbed the immobile mage and knocked him unconscious.

Apologizing for the actions of their friend, Edge did his best to reason with the holy men (and women) and did his best to avoid a confrontation. As he neared the door to the gem's room though, he heard the High Inquisitor bellow out to Pelor to grant him extraordinary power to fend off the heathens! Filling with divine might, he grew to twice his size and began to glow as the sun! And the battle had begun!

Damas, Edgerrin and Ryo all at various times communicated to the group that there was to be no killing in this battle, since these were innocent men merely doing what they thought they needed to to survive. Emerys broke his mental control and began to fire on Acolyte Sophia and Brother Crispin. Ryo faced down with Cardinal Thomas, one of the more vocal leaders, while Lunk and Vialas matched up with Abbot Jacobus and Confessor Anselm respectively. Damas rushed to aid Edge in his battle with Elijah, while She'dra stirred and re-awoke amidst a battle scene...

Once again calling on the power of the infernal, a demon appeared and immediately tried to disembowel Chaplain Lucia and Father Dunstan!! Truly horrified now, those two did their best to destroy the abomination.

Divine spells flew all around the room. A searing blast of light shot from Thomas' hand to destroy the demon, while Brother Crispin did his best to heal the wounds that Abbot Jacobus was sustaining from Lunk's greataxe! Confessor Anselm caled upon the might of Tyr to take the vision from his opponent... and for Vialas everything went black!

Zerin, also a user of the divine, once again used his power to command and shouted the word "run!" Caught in the spell were Sophia, Anselm, and Jacobus! The three of which immediately flew through the gem room door and their magical prompting continued to make them run until they were far away from the battle. Ryo used his commanding presence to shake even the pious Cardinal Thomas. He turned from the humans and attended to the demon currently fighting two of his allies, but was interrupted by Lunk. Commanding the shaken holy man to heal his friend, the Cardinal complied, lifting the blindness from Vialas before heading off to fight the demon.

She'dra's demon struck Lucia one last time, leaving a trail of blood trickling down from a gash in her throat. The beast went wild, it's face contorted into a wicked smile, and turned it's attention back to the father. Seeing their companion fall, the remaining clergy (save the High Inquisitor) rushed to her side to attempt to revive her. Lunk too took offense. "HEY!!" he bellowed, "No killing!!!" He stepped forward to block the demon's path while healing spells brought Chaplain Lucia back from the brink of death.

The giant high inquisitor was engaged in a pitched battle with Edgerrin, who was using every one of his skills to hit and run and bounce in and out to avoid the blows from the Inquisitor's massive mace. Despite the power flowing through Elijah granted to him by his deity Pelor he was slowly but surely fighting a losing battle. With the remaining council members focused on saving Lucia and fighting the demon, Elijah was all alone against everyone. Ignoring any chances to surrender, he eventually took one blow too many, and collapsed to the ground a bloody mess. Edge, knowing that this was a good man, did his best to keep him from bleeding out.

As he fell he had reverted to his normal size, but his wounds were no less serious. With the demon held at bay (Damas ordered She'dra to make his pet yield... Not that he had the authority to make such an order, but She'dra complied anyway...), the clergy were free to aid their leader. Once again words of prayer and holy light filled the room as Elijah's wounds began to heal and mend. Having regained consciousness, Elijah unsteadily got to his feet again and looked to continue the battle! Taking defensive positions, the group members were surprised to see the light fade from the inquisitor. His wounds, recently magically healed, opened up once again... only much more fiercely this time. It seems that an earlier spell granting the High Inquisitor increased vitality had worn off, leaving him in much worse shape than he appeared to be. He instantly dropped dead... this time beyond even magical healing.

Eventually the council members run off by Zerin's spell had returned, but the battle was over with the death of the High Inquisitor. Defeated, the holy men (and women) resorted to one of religion's greatest strengths... guilt! "Well you may as well take your precious jewel... Elijah's death has doomed us all anyway."

Any attempts made to explain their actions or apologize were shrugged off and dealt with by saying that they have what they wanted and that they should go. She'dra, looking at the big picture noted "You'll thank me when I save your lives... when I save the world."

Heading down another spiraling staircase, the group met Krenscheck, the last of the guardians. Searching through the group he picked out Edge to carry the blessing/burden of the gem. Only this time... no warning. He explained that this gem would enhance the carrier's wisdom, and that with wisdom would come the responsibility not to abuse the gem. He gladly passed it on.

Now it was complete. All 6 gems were displaced. She'dra was in possession of the Mind's Eye, Emerys of the Nimblestone, Ryo the Pride of the Dwarves, and Edge the Jewel of Insight. At best their enemies only owned the Gem of Might and possibly the Trueheart (Which is still, as of yet, unaccounted for... though Zerin did sense it's presence.)

A decision was made to leave Pungumplia before they encountered any further trouble, but where was their next destination? Two ideas surfaced... On to Greyfold, or over to Ridgeshire?

In Greyfold, the army of Ridgeshire had seemingly taken over. The castle was missing and the city burned... Corpses littered the fields, and that beast patrolled among them.

In Ridgeshire Kae requested help to earn her freedom from the group of monsters that Malcolm had aligned himself with. Malcolm... She'dra and Lunk each wanted to deal with him immediately, and Ryo wanted to set the Yomiuri clan free as soon as possible.

Ultimately, the decision would be...

Drinking to save the world

After having overcome different obstacles to get there, each of the groups reunited in Yobyalp in time for a great gnomish celebration! The night was spent with old friends (they really are at this point, aren't they?) getting reacquainted, and lots and lots of celebratory drinking.

Everyone but She'dra of course. A cool greeting for his companions, and then it was off to study. Digging through the different scrolls and spellbooks he had gained on his journey, he attempted to increase his own arcane might by learning new spells.

Somewhere in the night a voice called out to him. "Hello?" Looking about the room, he discovered that he was alone. Cocking an eyebrow he cautiously went back to his studies when the voice called out again... "Hello? She'dra? Are you there?" Now having been called by name, She'dra felt the need to respond. "Uh... Hello?"

The voice, which She'dra thought had sounded familiar, apparently belonged to Kae Nacin, the bard who was a part of Malcolm's group. She explained that she had touched She'dra back on the Sad Hangman so that she might communicate with him via a bard spell that she had learned. Disinterested in bardic spells, She'dra asked why Kae was contacting him. Explaining her situation, she simply said that she thought Malcolm had lost control and that more than anything she wanted out of the group... and that the men they'd recruited recently...

Kae's though was interrupted as she told She'dra that Malcolm was coming and that she would contact him later. Making a mental note to add this new information to his thought process, She'dra got back to his studies for most of the night.

The next morning most of the group woke to hear Lunk moaning... a disturbing sound no matter the cause. As it turned out though, this was the moan of the dreaded morning after hangover. Complaining of a splitting headache, Lunk caught the attention of a nearby Gnome. Tugging at Lunk's belt, he claimed to have the cure for what ailed the giant of a man. Handing over a small vial, he claimed it was his very own invention... Minky's hangover cure! When taken, it would completely neutralize the effects of alcohol! Sort of a bummer if you took it and then started drinking, but a perfect cure for a hangover!.

Downing the odorless liquid, Lunk soon found himself entirely symptom free! His headache and diziness were gone, and his nausea gave way to Lunk's normal morning hunger! Thanking the little gnome and praising him for his invention seemed to work... Minky handed Lunk three more vials that he said he could have for free as long as long as he spread the word about the product. Happily agreeing, Lunk tucked the vials away in his puch and went about looking for food.

Time passed and eventually all of the group was gathered together in the inn and ready to leave. However, when Zerin described their destination, more gnomish ears perked up. "You can't go there!" opined one such gnome. Hoping that the gnome was not making a challenge, Zerin inquired further. As it turned out, the gnome was not threatening the group but warning them of some danger. He advised them to see the local town wizard Linky Fizzlebug before they set off.

Begrudgingly accepting what the gnomes told them, they made their way to the huge strangely shaped tower in the center of town. After knocking they eventually gained entrance and found themselves in the company of a small, white haired and bearded looking older gnome. When Zerin explained to him that they were headed to the underdark entrance nearby, he almost flipped his pointy wizard hat.

Linky, with the help(?) of his wife Pinky, explained that they had put in some measures to secure the entrance... but that they had lost control of them. A sealed door was built, and a guardian erected. The door had to be opened from a control room nearby and would only stay open for about a minute, meaning you needed someone on the surface to stay and open the door. Worse yet was the guardian... a large construct that was extremely powerful, resistant to most damage AND entirely immuneto magic!! Offering the group some help (since no gnomes were brave/foolish enough to venture there anymore) he produced a weapon. It was a small sword that was magically enchanted to the point where it should hurt the beast much better than mundane weapons. Thanking Linky for his help, it was decided that perhaps Ryo could best weild the short sword.

Departing Yobyalp the men made their way towards the underdark entrance, entirely unaware that their travels were being watched...

Entering the cave, the group found the trail to the control room. Knowing that someone had to stay, Emerys begged the other to let it be him, citing the extreme discomfort that the woodsman suffered from being underground. Everyone seemed to be in aggreement when Sir Ambrose volunteered to keep Emerys company and watch his back. With that settled they made their way down the hallway as the other group looked to find this guardian...

When they reached the end of the path, they found a large stone slab that appeared to move aside, possibly allowing passage underground. In the center of the room was a large golden statue of a minotaur. Each of them having the same idea, they prepared to fight the statue as soon as it moved from its spot.

It did not take long for the golden minotaur to pull out an enormous axe and begin to assault the party! Using a special technique, Edge found a way to damage the creature that ignored his tough outer casing. Ryo shared this success with the use of the gnomes short sword, but he was less skilled in using it than he would have been with his katana. Lunk Zerin and Damas, meanwhile, did very little damage with each blow regardless of their skill. The creature's magical hide was simply too tough for mundane weapons to do much damage.

Speaking of magic, She'dra was limited in what he could to the creature... It's immunity to magic limited the wizard to spells that would aid his companions, since a frontal assault would simply fizzle. Using his summoning abilities, he brought in several elementals to get the construct's attention. The elementals did little to damage the beast, but they did take a blow for the companions, which was helpful... She'dra, meanwhile, decided to make use of the ring of invisibility that he found in Baldric's tower... The only problem was that magic items made by Baldric didn't always function exactly as intended. This ring did little to make someone invisible, but did a great deal towards making someone THINK they were invisible. In fact, they could not be convinced otherwise. All during the battle, and for some time after, She'dra thought he was invisibly moving about the cave, when in reality everyone saw him and wondered why he was acting so strangely.

The creatures axe was magically enchanted so that any wounds it would inflict were especially nasty and would tend to bleed much worse than a normal injury. It wasn't a big deal at first, but after a while the injuries started to really pile up on everyone... Lunk and Ryo in specific.

With the battle seemingly even at this point, a figure emerged from the shadows. After watching the group on their way into the tunnels, a half-drow ranger by the name of Vialas Thoaithali emerged and began to help the group destroy the minotaur!

With the battle slowly but surely leaning the way of the Ridgeshire group, the minotuar assessed the threats and decided to eliminate Ryo and his enchanted sword. Looking down at him and pointing, his mouth tilted open and sound emerged saying... "MAZE!" Ryo promptly disappeared, finding himself running through a dungeon somewhere in a series of twisting and turning hallways...

Meanwhile, back at the battle, the mighty beast was eventually overcome and fell to the ground with a clang. No longer would the construct torture those who attempted passage into the underdark.

Emerys and Ambrose activated the control panel, and the door to the underdark slid open. Entering the passageway, our heroes once again ventured beneath the surface towards the expansive underdark. She'dra, somewhat wary about their new drowish companion, tailed him closely, thinking that he was invisible. Vialas, openly looking directly at She'dra, questioned what he was doing. She'dra cursed the drow's keen elven ears for giving away his location...

A series of gaps in the path required Edge to leap across and search for some way to aid his less nimble companions. Finding another gnomish invention, he activated it, leading to mechanical extenders emerging from each stone in the path and nearly closing the gaps. Nearly.

Sooner or later, and regardless of some bumps and bruises, everyone eventually made it across. Except Quint. He fell every time.

Finally reaching the end of their path, the group encountered not a great wide open expanse of land, but instead a huge, finely crafted castle and town! They had discovered Thandol, the city of the dwarves!!

Getting a few looks as they passed through town (humans were not seen often in Thandol, and drow like Vialas were not often welcome...), they made their way towards the castle when they caught sight of a guardian! Drunk! And passed out at the castle's tavern!

Zerin sighed as he shook his companion Paradon to try to wake him. After having a half lucid conversation complete with slurred speech and drunken repitition that they couldn't have the gem, it was decided that perhaps Minky's hangover cure could come in handy. After ingesting the potion, Paradon became much more reasonable and his speech became more discernible, but his insistence that the gem could not be had did not change.

He explained that Oskarr, the hero of the dwarves, guarded the gem personally, and would not let it leave the dwarven kingdom. In fact, the gem was known as the "Pride of the Dwarves!" Demanding to get the gem anyway, the group followed Paradon to the center of the castle. It was a room like the others that housed the gem, only with fine dwarven stonework walling it in.

The request was made to Oskarr, but he refused to let the gem leave no matter the reason. He explained that if they tried to take the gem, there would be an army of dwarves ready to make sure that the group never left. This comment didn't sit well with Ryo, who grabbed for his swords. Zerin and Edge managed to calm him however, and the question was posed as to what would have to be done to get the gem. Oskarr though for a moment, stroking his long, red beard, before responding saying that he liked to offer a challenge to anyone around to beat him in three events. The first was a one on one fight, the second a drinking contest, and the third... well, he'd always won the first two so he always planned to let the opponent name the third if it should come down to it. He put forth that if one of them should challenge him and win, that he'd let the gem go.

Weighing their options, the group found they had little choice. Paradon looked each of them up and down, and selected Ryo as the one to champion the cause. Laughing that he'd gte to shut the loud mouth up, Oskarr suggested that everyone rest until they were ready to initiate the contest.

And so they did rest for three days, the amount of time it took for the minotaur wounds to heal on Ryo. In that time, Edge had struck up a deal with a local smith. Noticing countless items made from the mithril that he had long searched for, he inquired as to how to obtain a suit of armor made for him. The smith Bruni suggested that would he could use more than anything was an extra pair of hands at the anvil. Asking Edge to craft him a fine axe, he said that if it met his quality standards, he'd allow the man to help craft him axes around the shop, and in exchange would craft hima fine mithril breastplate. Agreeing, Edge set to making the finest greataxe he'd ever made.

Also during the three days Vialas searched out drow in the Underdark, looking to find revenge for what they had done to his mother. Finding few drow, and little solace in killing those he did find, he returned to the dwarven kingdom and found the group he had followed down. Lunk, questioning the half drow as to what he was going to do with himself was greeted with very few answers. It seemed Vialas had no idea. Lunk suggested that he stick with the group, explaining how they loved to pick up strays, and how he had no one left but them anymore, and planned to stick around till the end. It was a small conversation, but one that Vialas had to consider... It was probably the nicest anyone has been to him since his ranger friends...

Finally, She'dra's invisibility ring became a topic of conversation. Despite his protestation, anyone he asked would tell him that he was entirely visible with the ring on... but of course he knew that to be false. After some arguing, he decided to let Ryo wear the ring to prove it to him. When Ryo put the ring on and said the activation word, something magical happened... Ryo thought he turned invisible! Suddenly believing She'dra, Ryo apologized for not believing him. She'dra, seeing Ryo as plain as day assumed that Ryo had mispronounced the activation word (ali, or elven for shadow), or worse yet that he was making fun of the wizard by pretending to be invisible when he was clearly not. This misunderstanding lasted for several minutes, much to Lunk's amusement, until it was broken up by spoil sport Damas. She'dra took back his ring and still believes it to be functioning properly.

Finally ready for battle, Ryo and his companions returned to the gem room. Oskarr's friends and admirers and the Ridgeshire faithful formed a circle, and Oskarr and Ryo began to battle!

Digging in to his spot, Edge noticed that Oskarr took a defensive stance, increasing his stability strength and positioning to avoid blows. Ryo quickly found this out as he charged in and managed to barely graze the dwarf. Oskarr's counter, however, did some serious damage to Ryo. Again trying a frontal assault, Ryo found little success, while Oskarr landed a solid hit on the samurai. Jumping back out of range, Ryo made use of the Ram's Head ring that Ralphus had given to She'dra. Prior t the battle She'dra thought that it may come in handy, and allowed Ryo to use it for the battle. Come in handy it did, as Ryo used a fully charged blast to knock Oskarr backwards and off his feet!

The dwarves in the room gasped! No one had ever knocked Oskarr from his position once he set! Even his mighty tower shield wasn't enough to keep him from flying backwards. Somewhat angry at having been humiliated, Oskarr charged forward... but unbeknownst to him he was about to become the target of a spell... an unluck spell from She'dra that caused things to go Ryo's way ever so slightly...

And things did go the samurai's way. Hits that should have landed fell just short, while Ryo struck true time and again. Slowly but surely Ryo dismantled Oskarr in front of his adoring crowd. Overcoming his superior armor and arguably superior technique, Ryo ended the fight relatively quickly. After one especially vicious blow, Oskarr knew that he could take no more. Dropping his shield and axe, he held up his hands and yielded to Ryo.

Deftly switching from magnanimous loser to boastful competitor, he laughed and brushed off Ryo's chances of winning the drinking contest much to the delight of the crowd of dwarves.

Taking a few hours to rest up, the party devised a plan to use Minky's anti-booze juice to rig the drinking competition. She'dra got Lunk to hand over the last two vials, and Ryo was set to win.

Everyone made their way to the tavern and waited for Oskarr to arrive... which was easy to notice. You could hear a group of dwarves loudly stomping and chering for Oskarr as he made his way into the tavern. He had never been beaten by another dwarf, so this human had no chance! Or so he thought...

Giving Ryo the choice between dwarven whiskey or dwarven ale, Ryo opted for the whiskey. Oskarr was pleased, thinking the match would end even sooner. Meanwhile, Ryo downed Minky's potion and was ready to go.

The drinks came fast and furious... pour-clink-drink-slam and the ref checked each man... pour-clink-drink-slam and the ref checked each man... and so on and so on...

The fiftieth round came and went, and both men appeared to be well schnookered. In Oskarr's case it was true, and in Ryo's case it was a bluff. Ryo did notice, however, that the last few drinks started to taste bad... the potion was wearing off! If Oskarr didn't drop soon, he might win the rigged competition anyway!

51. Nothing

52. Nothing

53. Nothing!

54. NOTHING!

55. Nothing... Nothing bust Oskarr's eyes rolling back into his head and him slumping to the floor in a heap!!

The stunned dwarves politely clapped for their new champion, and Zerin was all to glad to be moving on. Paradon, leading Ryo to the gem room, gave him the typical speech about the great power involved here and how he needed to make sure that he did not become corrupt. Agreeing, Ryo took the gem and immediately felt three times as solid as his did a moment ago. His stomach felt as if it was made of iron, and the rest of him as sturdy as oak! He felt like he could run for hours, or take any abuse and keep standing.

Taking a little while to rest before setting off gave Oskarr time to regain consciousness. He was amazed at how Ryo had beaten him fair and square and said that from now on he was always a friend to the dwarves. He reached into a pouch came up with an amulet, which he gave to Ryo as a gift.

As the group left, Oskarr bid them farewell. And it seemed that Vialas too had had enough of the underdark as he accompanied them back to the surface... It was time to track down the last gem.