In the midst of bemoaning the loss of Lord Lubboch and pondering the probability of procuring another Parker, the group is feeling somewhat disheartened. Well, all except for the Feaster, who is feeling like a sprout in the spring.
“‘Oh the cruel nature of fate – Lubboch was wearing a ring of wishes. He could have wished back another character that was made fishy. Oh how cruel…”
“Wait”, says Dalliance…”I have a wish ring too!”
And there was much rejoicing and pondering of proper wording so as to avoid any grudges. In the end, Lubboch was restored to the state in which he was immediate prior to being turned into a trout, but in the same room as Dalliance – as opposed to under the mountain. And so the words were spoken.

And then there was Lubboch. And Lubboch was made to give up his wish ring to Dalliance. It was an easy decision of course. So reduced in number only by one, the group seeks additional adventure. Dalliance requests something brief and local, as her old bones are getting creaky. Dither, dither, shop, investigate, dither…eventually the decision is made to try and acquire the services of a cleric. Inquiries are made, applicants are interviewed and a cleric of Azuth is chosen.

The group sets out to follow up on a lead provided by a fellow wizard of Dalliance’s acquaintance. Apparently a rock in the desert foothills produces a grey foam. Nearby is a necromancing operation…or something. Rumor has it that great swag is a distinct possibility. The Beholdertoll has doubled in the past few months, to the party’s dismay. Paid and passed, into the desert – camels are summoned, the journey is made with a deficit of life threatening encounters. Strange manscorpions are seen in the distance as well as what might be a mining operation in the vast desert expanse.

The foaming rock is found, and an animated skeleton politely informs the group that the area is under the protection of a wizard. Scouting reveals a nearby cairn, guarded by skeletal figures. The group approaches and triggers a series of gongs. Drawing nearer – Dalliance lets fly with a fireball, toasting the watchful dead. This evokes an outraged cry from within the cairn.
“Go away! We don’t want any!”
“We had to save you from the skeletons” opines the Feaster.
“I’m a frikkin necromancer, you dolt!”.
The group climbs atop the cairn, and are the recipients of a toasty surprise from within the gravesite. The fireball nearly slays the priest of Azuth, who seems a bit taken aback at the wizardly methods of diplomacy.

With those graceful openings, a discussion is entered into and a bargain is struck. The group will enter and plunder to their heart’s content, but the cairn-dwelling necromancer’s lab space and workshop are off limits. Agreed, and the group descends to meet the wizardess of the waste, with a withered arm and a plate-mail clad skeletal guard…and an entourage composed of about 100 animated corpses. She points out a staircase to the lower depths and bids the group adieu, retreating to her workspace…

Barreling into the dusty tunnel complex, the group find its way blocked by a large pit and a large flesh golem, armed with magic staff and ring of spell storing.
A pitched battle reveals the monster to be immune to most magics, but capable of dealing terrible damage. Parker is slain by multiple fireball and lighting strikes and his soul does not care to return to his earthly shell. Lord Lubboch is turned into a trout, and then into a cooked fish, and then into a grease spot on the floor – all in rapid succession.

in the end, the desperate stabbings of Barada’s spear and a few timely sling stones from Bud Feaster manage to deal enough physical damage to disable the monster. Limping onward, the group enters a vast cavern. At the far end, a light shines like a beacon. Drawing closer, the group finds a stalagmite encrusted gnome who still fitfully clings to life as the golden crown he wears casts its light into a pit full of yellowed dragon bones. When Tardalus the High Priest of Lathander approaches even closer, the gnome expires and the crown pitches into the pit.

Immediately the dragon’s bones begin o assemble and as the priest scrabbles around trying to get his hands on the crown, Dragotha comes to unlife and begins to breath the void on the party. Terrible damage is suffered until the priest finally manages to don the crown and sacrifice himself to act as the guardian of this unholy tomb. With the ‘cork’ back in the dragon’s ‘bottle’, the group retraces its steps across the caverns, across the mountains, across the land – all the while being hailed by the Lathanderites as saviors of the North.

Diminished by the loss of a third of the party, the group remains in Thudheim for a bit and plots a new course.

With rod-bits in tow and headed toward Thudheim, the group (Barada) suffers a serious setback. One morning when awakened – Barada notes that his rod has gone missing. Gone. Vanished. Poof!
Although, with the disappearance, his old personality seems to re-emerge. Somewhat disheartened and a whole lot of disgruntled is a mild way to describe the mood that morning. Still – life _is_ and adventure…so onwards!

The road to Thudheim yields bits and pieces of adventure fragments, but it isn’t until contacting the Lathanderites that a real death-defying mission is found. The group and entourage pack up for a trip to the blasted region near the crater that once housed the city of Neverwinter. It seems that during the time of meteor diverting wizards and the rampages of Emor the Eeeevil a little thing like the lair of a draco-litch has gone unnoticed, unheeded, unplundered. The Dragon Cult has been active in the region given the power vacuum that has formed, and the Morning Lord has decreed that this abomination of life must be halted. With a High Priest of the church to lead the way, the group travels through bandit-ridden valleys and across forests populated (once) by human hating elves – across the fringes of a vast swamp (pausing only to stir up, then destroy a few Bog Mummies and into the remote foothills where the lair is to be found. Drawing upon an old map fragment, Tardalus the Priest of Lathander leads the group to a long hidden secret door. With the key in place, the rock wall is pushed back, revealing a dry cave and a pair of tunnels leading to victory or doom…

…the party had successfully snatched a rod bit from the hair of the matron of honor and fled back to Treflamme, There it is established that both Parker and Barada must seek additional training, and so the group spends 6 months journeying back to Thudheim, A six month stint in that fair …town… with some jaunts to Waterdeep and Daggerford keeps the rest of the group members occupied if not enthralled with life.

Soon enough, Barada returns and the group follows the now-familiar tug on his rod. Passing by the town of Orlbar and through Llorhk, over the Dawn Pass – being quite polite to the undead beholder – and onto the trade road that led to the desert city of the Invincible Overlord – now defunct.

Dalliance conjures up camels and the group abandons the open road for the gently undulating dunes of the southern desert. While the Feaster flies surveillance, the group meanders along. Eventually they make contact with some goat herders. Cheese is sought and bought and the party eventually beds down near the goat herder’s home village – a collection of a dozen or so mud huts. While there, it is established that the tug of Barada’s rod will lead them to an abandopned and haunted caravanserai. The bard and druid assume animal form and go off to scout the place for the next few days while Dalliance dallies amidst moist and fragrant cheeses. The group completes its purchase of goaty cheese and sets off along a much abused and quite weathered trade road.

Arraiving near the caravanserai – and armed with the knowledge that there are veiled women and purple-skinned bathers and a working forge and a cookhouse that seems to be in use – the group attempts to sneak in, Unfortunately for them, a donkey smells them and starts braying to be fed. The group hurries along and are passing by the forge when they are directly addressed by a group of bat-winged, turban wearing creatures that look like Gonzo from the Muppets. A brief exchange leaves the party breathing clouds of smoky soot and the creatures fleeing and cackling with delight. Dalliance lights them up with a hefty lightning bolt and the group springs into high gear.

Entering a courtyard, the group enters a room with an elaborate rug and stairs upwards and a door in the far wall. They investigate the upstairs and find living room sets and a desk and a talking raven and a statue acting as a clothes rack. They try to detect magic but are not successful, so they head downstairs. Heading towards the door brings them face to face with one of Maurice Sendak’s Wild Things – who admonishes them for being rude and asks that they wait in the courtyard so coffee may be served. The group is taken aback and agrees. In the courtyard, they make small talk with an apparently deceased trader until the decision is spontaneously undertaken that they will not waste more time in polite chatter – ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!

They start opening doors – eventually coming face to face with The Wild Thing and 6 medusa. In the melee that follows, Lubboch is poisoned and dies, Feaster has his leg torn out of the socket, Dallaince wastes her most potent magic on an illusion, walls of fire spring up and seal the party in the rooms they occupy and poisoned arrows start being shot through the flames and into the party. On the plus side – The medusa are slain and the Wild Thing is reduced to gaseous form.

Finding this situation untenable, the group reverses course and tries fleeing through the medusa harem. Upon exiting, they encounter 4 purple ‘humans’ – that immediately grow to 12 feet in size and start administering the beatdown. The party gives as good as it gets and wins through – only to fight another quartet of late arrivals. Much damage is dealt and more is taken. The group eventually seeks refuge in the upstairs and barricades themselves within. After some hours without losing massive amounts of blood – the group starts to wonder if the inhabitants have fled.

In desperation the suggestion is made that the statues should be questioned. Since Dalliance has the Stone to Flesh spell, she returns the clothes rack to the world of the living. Barada presents a rod segment and asks “have you seen such a thing?”. The former laundry depository flips back his cloak and produces two pieces of the rod – joined together. He presents them to Barada with his compliments. Some Q&A reveals information about the arcane processes required to join the rest of the segments. Some Alignment Detection reveals the Chaotic Evil nature of the former rod bearer and the party encourages him to be on his way.