The band of increasingly eeevil and slightly deranged nouveau riche flit about the city. They have money, but they also have targets upon yon backsides. Although it is unclear who (aside from the church of Lothian, the criminal gangs, the Surgeon and the various cultists, House Vladdam and possibly a lich) might bear a grudge against them, a certain level of paranoia seems appropriate.
Some recollecting and gentle investigating makes it seem like the wilderness of Tehoth might be just the place to get lost for a while.
Passage is obtained and the group sails along, meeting longboats near Phinothae and eventually docking in the elven enclave of Paelinth. Zaal comes into his own as the rest of the group is quietly shunned…except the dwarves, who are actively shunned. After a bit of back and forth, the group says fukit and summons mounts to ride into the wilderness.
They set off along the coast, riding northward by day and once the mounts vanish, walking for a bit till they find a nice campsite. There is only the odd griffin sighting near the peaks of the mountains they are passing by to make the days exciting…looks like this side of the mountain range is pretty dull. Wait! What is that? The eagle-eyed waif reports that there seems to be a crackling vortex of energy swirling about an area near the cliffs. Right! Full speed ahead.
They arrive to find great sealed stone doors and the aforementioned energy vortex that makes everything slightly tingly. Still, what are giant sealed doors for if not to be opened? Having a super strong dwarf sure is nice! After a mundane yet taboo door opening ceremony the group wanders the halls finding little but an interesting variety of traps. Poisoned darts, sharpened discs, statues that shoot cones of cold, LAVA!, illusionary bridges over acid and the like hinder their passage to the final destination.
The end game appears to be a wizened man? shielded by zapping crystals and a force field. Repeated applications of the spell of shadoobie shatter the crystals and some more destroy the anchor for the force field. This seems to anger the occupant and he does his level best to slay the intruders, felling most of the party members before succumbing to his wounds. Some light looting follows before the dead are reset to the living state and the real looting can begin. They plunder and heal, then set out in search of even more life-threatening encounters. Aaaah the countryside…so relaxing.
They traverse the mountains to descend into the valley below and set about exploring some ruins they spotted during the descent. Skeletal figures are seen in several locations in relatively large numbers. The party sets about dithering together a plan of attack.
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