Forest Adventures

Mapping refresh

Present:

• MARMALADING: Phoebe Lacrosse. Human Barbarian from Pugtown – Andrew
• Griza Muso. Human Thief from Lakeside – Jeff
• MARMALADING: Balder Dash. Gnome Wizard from Toluene - Jamie
  
• Bush Tucker. Human Rogue from Spite Anti - Darryl
• Red Feuersturm. Human Temple Fighter of Hob from Toluene - Chris
• Malcom Gandhi. Gnome Thief from Brian – Kevin
  
• MARMALADING: Napolean Twig. Elf Priest of Caribou Gorn from Pugtown - Ian
• Joe Manco. Human Fighter from Toluene – Shane
• Galena Alfdis. Elf Priestess of Vingt et Un from Palantir - Steven

 by Jeff

The dryads were apparently satisfied with our cleaning up of their creek problems and handed over a large posy of the herb Tulsi to Thursa. We were able to camp the night at the edge of their clearing, and the next morning Dahma led us back into the forest, heading back to the town of Tarp.

Red had been peering at Dahma's facial tattoo for most of the morning and eventually asked her about it.

"I, um, really like your tattoo" Red stammered, "What ... does it mean?"
"Nothing" she replied, "I just liked the pattern"
"Oh. Where did you get it done?"
"At the tattooist's"
"Oh. Could I get one?
"It's in Emerald"
"Oh"

"What would your tattoo be of?" Dahma asked.
"Flames of course" Red exclaimed.

That evening Dahma found a nice camp site and we set out watches for the night.
It was during the third watch while Griza and Red were on duty that the sounds started.

"Shhh" whispered Griza, "Do you hear that?"
"Nope" replied Red, "What can you hear?"
"A faint singing I think" stated Griza, "Maybe a woman, but it's very quiet"

Griza took a couple of steps away from the camp, and Bush's snoring, and listened.
The sound was very faint, but sounded lovely, and definitely a female voice.
Griza took a few more steps away from the camp, shook his head, and returned.

[I successfully made a saving throw against Arcane Magic and was able to shake off and resist the compulsion to investigate the source of the singing. Probably a good thing!]

Griza and Red decided to ignore the singing. No one else was awake and there didn't appear to be any immediate threat. Eventually the signing faded away. Then it was light.

The party packed up and Dahma led us all back to Tarp. It was an uneventful and peaceful trip through the forest. We spent the night at the One-Eyed Wombat in Tarp, and in the morning, we loaded up the wagons and left Tarp for Ambient, the next small town along the klib road. We passed a few other wagons travelling on the road, but arrived safely in Ambient before dark, and took rooms in the Fried Bat Inn.

"We'd like fried bat for dinner thanks" requested Bush.
"No sir, we do not eat bats here. That is just the name of the Inn."
"Why's it called the Fried Bat then?" snorted Bush indignantly.
"Unfortunately, the origin of the name is lost in antiquity"

The next day we travelled on. But we left the klib road and took the bypass to Dove.
Dove is deeper within the forest, lying about central between the Spite Delta plain and the barren lands Anti of the Emerald Forest. Thursa informed us that from Dove we would be making another off-road diversion for some different herbs. This time for Lilith, a root nodule collected from below the ground.

"Don't be eating it!" Thursa instructed.

The night in Dove was calm and quiet, but the rain started just after midnight. By the morning it was thundering down. As we peered out from the Dove Inn wondering if it was the wisest thing to be taking off deep into the wild forest during yet another rainstorm, Dahma pushed out through the front door with her rain poncho on and looked back at us.

"Come on then, get a move on"
"We should wait here for a day" noted Joe, "My new chain mail should be delivered here this afternoon"
"Too right mate," agreed Bush, "A cobber with chain mail would be extra useful"
"And your leathers might shrink and constrict your .... bits" noted Red.

We stayed the day in Dove, playing cards and telling stories. At exactly midday, the Gnomepost wagon slithered into town, dropped off a heavy package for Joe, and roared off again, spraying mud and water.
Joe eagerly tried on his new armour.
"Beautiful" he sighed, "Fits like a glove"

The next morning the rain had cleared up and we left Dove, heading directly towards the centre of the forest. Oddly, Thursa walked beside Malcolm for the whole day, engaging him in conversation about all things Gnome. The rest of us thought it was very strange, but decided there was no accounting for elven tastes, and hoped Thursa knew what she was doing. 

Dahma led us on a winding path that weaved through the thick bush. We were immediately enveloped by the warm, humid atmosphere of the forest. The air was thick with the scents of damp earth and exotic flowers. The canopy above was a tapestry of vibrant greens, filtering REAL's light into dappled patterns on the forest floor. The ground was carpeted with moss that seemed to glow faintly with each step. As we travelled, we noticed the moss behind us slowly rearranging itself, erasing our tracks. We were totally reliant on Dahma's sense of direction now.

We camped overnight in a lovely little meadow and two hours into the next day we arrived at the banks of a small stream. Rows of willow trees stretched along each side of the stream, leaning in close, their branches trailing down into the water and their leaves rustling with whispers. 

At first, it sounded like nonsense, but as we listened closely, we could almost recognize fragments of ancient wisdom and forgotten secrets. It was very peaceful and relaxing, and Thursa stopped us and said that this was our destination. Her words broke the enchantment of the area and returned us to reality.

"You will climb down below the willow root bowl and harvest the nodules that grow on the roots"
"Down where?" queried Bush.
"Those small holes in the bank there, beside the willow trunks"
"Ha" laughed Bush, "You're daft luv, we can't fit down those!"

He was right of course, but also wrong. The small holes were only about 200mm in diameter, much too small for us, even the Gnomes, but Thursa was planning on using her Diminution spell to make us smaller until we could fit. We also noted that columns of ants were heading into and out of most of the holes. Bush scowled. 

"No way luv" responded Bush, "I'll just use this here spade and dig down"

While Bush fished his travel spade from his backpack and went about enlarging one of the holes, the rest of us discussed the Diminution option. 

"I'll do it" volunteered Griza, "Maybe with Invisible to Animals"

Thursa agreed and cast a series of Diminution spells until Griza was just a tiny thing, then went to cast an Invisibility to Animals spell on him.

A large explosion of ash enveloped the party

"BOOM" and a cloud of black ash exploded in the middle of the group. Everyone was instantly covered in black ash, which continued to flutter down around us for some minutes. Griza was blown off his tiny little feet and tumbled across the ground.

"Oops" apologized Thursa, "Let's try that again"

[Richard fumbled the spell cast, rolling a 20 on the D20 die. Similar to all other rolls, a fumble roll initiates a negative effect on a table of 20 options. An 11 was rolled, and a cloud of ash resulted] 

The second attempt was successful. 

Equipped with tiny gloves, a collection bag, and a good description of the Lilith nodules, Griza descended down one of the holes. Keeping clear of the ants, Griza climbed down, down, down, a long way down, until he dropped into a large cavern. 

There were no roots here, but the ants, looking as large as horses now, were tracking along the cavern from a tunnel at one end to a tunnel at the opposite end. They weren't paying any attention to Griza, so feeling confident, he followed their path along the tunnel. 

Eventually the tunnel passed into an area where the ants were scrambling up the wall to the roof above and harvesting the exact Lilith nodules that Griza was hunting. Well versed in climbing, Griza easily managed to climb to the overhead roots and harvest sufficient nodules to fill up his bag. Too easy. Once the bag was full, Griza returned the way he had come, climbed back up the access hole, and delivered the Lilith to Thursa. Everyone was happy, except for Bush who had developed blisters from all his digging. 

Once the Diminution spells had expired and Griza was back to his normal size, the party set of back towards Dove.  We made it back after an uneventful day and night and prepared for the next section of the journey.  It was at least a six-day trip to reach the town of Burq, where the klib road intersected the Spite-Quek road. And Thursa informed us, we had a few diversions along the way to Burq to retrieve even more herbal items.

The first day of travel passed quietly and we camped on a small clear area on the side of the road. The two wagons were positioned to either end of the camp and we laid out the bed rolls between them. Malcolm and Joe were on the first watch, one seated on each of the wagons. It was just a few hours later than Malcolm noticed a mist rising up out of the ground all around.

"That's odd" he thought, "It's way too warm for mist"

Jumping down off the wagon, Malcolm pointed the mist out to Joe, and then woke Thursa.

"Ah" Thursa exclaimed, "That's the Emerald Mist. We'll just need to wait it out. Wake everyone up"

Bush scampered up a tree to keep out of the mist, but everyone else just lay back down in their bed rolls and waited for the sleepy effects to occur or to pass over them. Malcolm and Thursa both slumped into a deep sleep, otherwise the party was unaffected. 

Griza took over Malcolm's watch and jumped up the wagon, everyone went back to sleep, the thick mists rising to about five meters above the ground. Shortly thereafter Griza heard a crashing noise out in the forest. The noise didn't come any closer, so Griza didn't bother waking everyone, and just kept alert. The noises quietened down, and after an hour the mist started to dissipate, dropping back into the ground and disappearing.

Joe had to chuckle. As the mist dropped, the sleeping party was revealed. Malcom was curled up next to Thursa, clutching her leg, a rag draped across his face. But it wasn't a rag at all. Malcolm had retrieved one of Phoebe's pairs of knickers, for whatever reason, and stuck his head into them.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Thursa woke in the morning with a headache. Malcolm didn't wake at all. He was loaded onto the lead wagon after breakfast and joined the marmaladers as we travelled on. At the end of the day's travel, we set up camp in another clearing and settled in. Malcolm finally woke, but he had a terrible migraine and moaned and groaned for half the night. 

 But that was the only disturbance for the night. In the morning Thursa explained that today would be our first diversion off this section of the road. We would be travelling deeper into the forest to find the old Dwarfish Lookout. Apparently, this lookout is located on the top of a large pillar of rock, rising above some prominent hills in the middle of the forest. Growing at the top of the lookout is a very rare herb called Erontas, or the "Lovers Herb". This diversion would take us at least two days, so the wagons were pulled of the road, secured and hidden, with the marmaladers left to guard.

"Don't worry though" stated Thursa, "The Dwarves are long gone, it's only a ruin now"
"But" she continued, "Don't forget to wear gloves if you are harvesting the Erontas. Its power comes from the naturally distilled Starfall that accumulates in the leaf. And we all know what rare Starfall does, don't we!"

We all looked over at Napolean.

"Yeah baby" laughed Bush.

Dahma led us off into the forest. That night we camped peacefully, and the next day Dahma led us on. The ground began to rise, and through the trees we spotted some rocky hills that rose up out of the forest. The trees stopped around the foothills in a flat line, the forest like a sea unable to rise any higher. Above the hills, a narrow pillar of rock thrust up like a finger.

"We go there" stated Dahma.

Later that day we arrived at the treeline and peered out over the lower hills. The rock pillar looked very slender, and extremely steep! A small waterfall tumbled from low down towards the base of the pillar, and the resulting river could be seen flowing through the foothills and disappearing into the forest some distance off to our left. A black speck was slowly circling the top of the pillar, some large bird. We watched as it settled onto the top of the pillar and disappeared.

"How are we meant to get up that?" wondered Joe aloud.
"That's why I hired you" stated Thursa, "It's a lookout, so there must be a way"
"And what is that bird thing?" asked Galena, "Is it dangerous?"

Griza volunteered to Fly, provided he was Invisible to Animals.

He was given the collection bag and a pair of gloves.
Both Invisibility to Animals and Fly were cast by Thursa, and Griza literally took off and headed for the top of the rock pillar. 

"Don't dawdle" yelled Thursa, "You only have ten minutes"

This was a totally new experience for Griza, and it took some time just to get the hang of flying. It was like he had invisible wings attached to his arms, and by adjusting his arm position he could control his direction, orientation, and speed. 

Soon Griza was racing for the top of the pillar, trusting that he would be invisible to the bird.

But shortly thereafter, the bird was racing directly for Griza. Obviously, this was no animal! Spinning in the air, Griza powered back down towards the treeline, the creature in hot pursuit. Griza had noted that it was birdlike, but with a four-meter wingspan, feathered wings and body, but with pink skin along its neck. Sharp talons glittered at the end of its legs, and it had a viscous looking hooked beak.

Crashing in through the trees just in front of the creature, which swooped low across the top of the trees, circled a few times, and then flapped its way back up to the top of the stone pillar, Griza breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Not invisible to that" he reported to the rest of the party, "Now what?"
"Let's lure it down and shoot it dead" suggested Bush, "There is only one after all"
"It's pretty big" noted Joe, "And you are the only one with a bow"
"Let's see if that waterfall provides a stealthier route up the pillar" proposed Griza.
"Yes, good idea", decided Thursa, "Go check it out"

Griza snuck cautiously down to the river and stealthily made his way upstream to the waterfall.
The water sprung out of the side of the pillar about forty meters above its base. It thundered down into a large pool among the rocks, a large cloud of spray billowing up, and then flowed away down the river. The waters in the pool and around the base of the falls seemed to flow not in one direction, but in complex patterns that defied gravity. Strange fish with scales like mirrors and reflected the surroundings swam through the air above the water as easily as through it. As Griza watched, a fish leapt from the water and transformed mid-air into a small, winged creature before diving back into the pool and disappearing. 

"Cool" thought Griza.

A dark shadow behind the waterfall indicated the presence of a cavern or cave tucked secretly away behind the thundering cascade. Keeping a wary on the strange fish things, Griza clambered over the rocks and along the narrow path that threaded between boulders and led behind the waterfall. Directly behind the densest section of the waterfall the path turned into the rock face and a dark tunnel led on, directly towards the centre of the pillar which towered overhead. Peering into the pitch-black depths of the hillside, Griza decided that it was time to report back to the team, so cautiously way his way back downstream to where the party waited.

"Good news" reported Griza, "There is a tunnel into the middle of the pillar"
"Awesome" said Joe, "What's in there?"
"Um, I didn't actually go in" replied Griza sheepishly, "It was very dark"
"Use your magic spectacle things" suggested Malcolm.
"Check the tunnel out" instructed Thursa, "See if you can get to the Erontas bushes at the top"
"Give me two hours" noted Griza, "Then come rescue me if I'm not back"

The cave behind the falls

It was no trouble for Griza to get back to the tunnel entrance, and slipping on his magical spectacles, he slowly made his way forward into the tunnel. It was still dark, but at least there was nothing showing up in the infra-vision range as he crept forward. And noise wouldn't be an issue, the thundering of the water from the falls just behind masked any sounds that Griza might have made. After about twenty metres of level stone floor, the tunnel widened up into a much larger cavern. Some small amount of light filtered in from somewhere above, and combined with the infra-vision spectacles, Griza could make out some details. A cobbled path led directly across the cavern, with shiny black and seamless obsidian stone filling the remainder of the cavern floor. A series of three stone statues lined each side of the cobbled path, extremely lifelike statues of dwarfs in pairs, staring towards each other over the cobbled path, and each holding some form of weapon.

Griza, his senses fully alert, slowly approached the first pair of statues. They were incredibly lifelike, finely carved in intricate detail. And each of them with a different weapon. This first one's fingers wrapped around the handle of a large two-handed axe. Lowering himself to the ground just before the statue, Griza checked the ground for traps. Surely this would be the perfect place for a trap to catch the unwary Griza thought to himself. And sure enough, Griza sensed something. No pressure pads or mechanical triggers, but a tingling sense of danger and arcane powers that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Magic!  Griza looked up from the floor at the nearest statue.

"Did it have its axe raised up like that before?" he wondered.
"Surely it must have" he decided.

Backing away, Griza then studied the edge of the shiny black obsidian surface that ran behind the statues. The same sense of pending threat. Magic! He picked up a pebble from the path and tossed it over the shiny stone surface. Plink, plink, plonk as it tumbled across the stone. Nothing unusual there.

Looking back at the statue, the axe was now definitely held low across its chest. It had moved!
But it wasn't moving at the moment. Griza backed away and decided that some additional party support might be required, especially if the stone statues were able to move, and gods forbid, fight!

Outside again, Griza checked the skies around the pillar, two large bird things circling up there now! Moving stealthily back down the river, Griza made his way back to the party, still secreted safely within the forest edge near the river and reported his findings within the cave.

"Well" chuckled Red nervously, "We won't be able to sneak up to the waterfall"
"Maybe they can't see at night" suggested Joe.
"Wait" cut in Bush, "I have a plan to get the bird things on our side"
"What's that then?" asked Galena.
"We'll negotiate with them" Bush proudly stated.
"They are birds" replied Thursa, "How are you going to do that?"
"Food" replied Bush smugly.

Bush took off into the forest to hunt a deer, which he was going to place out on the rocks beyond the forest edge. This would make them friendly to him he surmised, and then they would listen to him and let him up onto the top of the pillar to harvest the Erontas bushes.

"It won't take long" stated Bush as he strung his bow and walked off into the forest.
"I'm getting low on spell points" Thursa noted, "Can anyone Transfer?"

Five spell points were transferred to Thursa and then we all settled down to wait for Bush to return.

[Transfer is a spell that allows the transfer of D6 power points from one caster to another. Very useful if a key spell caster is running low on power and another has plenty spare. Note, do not attempt this spell if the caster has less than six points as the results could be hazardous to your health!]

"How's Bush going to talk to a bird?" asked Malcolm.
"That ain't no bird" noted Griza.

Needless to say, Bush's negotiation plan with the bird things didn't pan out. After that first day, the night, and a second day, with multiple deer, flag waving, and even a note, the birds were not cooperating. 

"I don't understand" grumbled Bush.

During that second night, the party made their way up the riverbank and gathered at the entrance to the cave, behind the waterfall. Galena cast a Light spell, and everyone proceeded into the first cavern, where the cobbled path and the six dwarfish statues still waited.

"See" waved Griza, "Magic stuff. And check that first guys axe, held across his chest yeah"
"Yes, magic" confirmed Galena, casting her Detect magic spell.
"Well" she concluded, "That shiny black stone and the statues anyway"
Yeah, and watch this" said Griza.

Griza moved carefully up to just in front of the first statue, looked up, and noted the axe had again been raised above its head, ready to strike.

"See that" Griza cried, "It swung its axe up, ready to attack"

Everyone looked at the statue, then at each other, then back at Griza.

"Ah ... nope" replied Joe, "It's still holding it across its chest"
"No no, it's definitely up above its head" confirmed Griza, checking carefully, without moving forward.
"Ah ... nope" countered Red, "It definitely hasn't moved, the axe is down"
"Oh ... weird" declared Griza, "Is this not real then?"

Gritting his teeth and deliberately looking down at the cobbled path beneath his feet, Griza hurried through between the pairs of statues. He could feel their eyes on him, and he was sure he could hear the air swish as weapons swung towards him. But the rest of the party were watching, and no alarm was raised. Popping out from between the last pair of statues, Griza hurried on a fee more steps before turning and looking back. Each of the statues had their weapons poised in the air, ready to hack down at anyone passing.

"You bastards" Griza yelled, "They were all ready to take go at me!"
"Ah ... nope" yelled Joe, "Not a one of them has moved, all still exactly the same"
"#@#%^&&$" muttered Griza under his breath.

Beyond the statues the tunnel continued out of the cavern, and Griza cautiously moved forward. Which may have been a waste of time given all the yelling that had just taken place, and light shining from Galena's spell, but ever cautious in strange dark tunnels was one of Griza's guiding principles. 

The short tunnel opened up into another large cavern, a similar cobbled path running along the centre to an opening in the far wall. A huge statue stood right in the centre of the path, just in front of the far opening. At the feet of the statue, the path split left and right, rounded the statue and merged again behind it, just in front of the far opening. The statue was stone, depicting another Dwarven warrior clad in heavy armour and wielding a mighty two-handed axe. Its gaze seemed to pin Griza to the floor as he looked up at it. Looking around the room Griza noticed a lot of carved symbols all over the walls, maybe some of that writing stuff that he could never understand.

Yelling a report back through the tunnel behind him, Griza sidled across to the walls and took a closer look at the carvings. He he leaned forward to study one of the carvings, a burst of Light flared out from the wall. Griza stumbled back, momentarily dazzled by the flash.

"What was that flash?" yelled Thursa from the previous cavern.
"Some writing stuff on the wall" yelled back Griza, "But it's all good"

Griza carefully approached the huge guardian statue and checked for traps on the path.
Nothing, not even the tingle of magic. Easy Griza decided.
Keeping his head down and not looking at the statue, Griza strolled left on the path.

"TWANG" 

A crossbow bolt embedded itself in Griza's chest and he staggered back.
Two glowing heat sources appeared behind the statue, and Griza turned and fled.
Zigzagging back along the path, through the narrow tunnel, and straight back between the first sets of statues, Griza screamed out for help.

But nothing followed him.

"Look" Griza complained, "I got shot, there were two of them, at least"

The crossbow quarrel was indeed there, quivering from Griza's chest. Galena cast a Cure, and it dropped to the ground, the wound closing up. Joe inspected the quarrel, it was finely wrought, not your normal brigand's weapon, a well-crafted dwarven quarrel. Plans were quickly made.

Protection from Normal Missiles were cast on Joe and Griza, and they hastened past the paired statues, heads looking down, Dahma slipping in right behind them. Half the party moved forward in that initial wave, while the rest watched the statues to make sure there was no movement. Then the second half moved forward, the others watching the statues, except for Joe and Griza who waited in the tunnel, keeping a watch out for the actual live dwarves. Once everyone was past the statues, they all rushed through into the second cavern, Joe and Griza in the front, Dahma right behind them.

Two figures were crouched behind the huge statue. Trusting in the power of the Protections, Joe and Griza charged, yelling ferociously. Two crossbow quarrels flew from behind the statue, dropping harmlessly in front of Joe as their momentum was absorbed by the Protection spells. Then the figures turned and fled, Joe, Griza, and Dahma in hot pursuit.

"Ware ambush" panted Griza as he hurried along with Joe, footsteps sounding from ahead.
"New chain mail" grinned Joe, "And Protection, their crossbows are useless now"

The tunnel forked, footsteps echoing from the right-hand branch. Joe followed, Griza and Dahma right behind him. Then another fork, footsteps from the right. Joe, Griza, and Dahma followed. The tunnel opened up into a medium sized cavern, a single exit on the far side. A large number of sleeping mats were scattered around the room. Griza counted at least twenty. Joe charged on, following the fading footsteps across the cavern and into the other tunnel. Griza, casting a nervous glance over the large numbers of sleeping matts, followed right behind him. Dahma trotted forward also, just behind Griza.

The sound of crashing water echoed from ahead, masking any further footsteps, and any other sounds!
Joe rushed into the next chamber. A tumble of water from the left, mist spraying up and a small channel of water crossing the rear of the chamber. Two pale skinned creatures stood before him; axes raised. They could have been dwarves he figured, but pasty skinned ones. Joe attacked one, Dahma stepping forward past Griza and engaging the second. Griza stepped in beside Dahma and also attacked.

The battle was over quickly. And despite Griza's worries, no other creatures appeared. A quick search of the room revealed a set of old sleeping matts, long rotted away, dust everywhere despite the gentle breeze stirrer up by the tumbling water. There looked to be a small shaft leading deeper into the rock beside the outflow of water, about two meters above the ground, which was left unexplored, for now.

Returning triumphantly back to the rest of the party, Joe, Griza, and Dahma reported that the two creatures had been eliminated, but that there were other tunnels yet to explore. A flurry of Cures for Joe (despite his new shiny chain mail armour, he was quite battered in the battle with the pale dwarf) and then everyone passed by the large guardian statue and the rest of the tunnel complex was explored.

There was one large room, a dining room it appeared, which contained a large oak table with many chairs surrounding it. One large chair, almost a throne, sat at the head of the table. Two stairs led upwards from each side of the room, a statue of a dwarven warrior standing at the base of each stair. Candlesticks sat on the table, and two of them spluttered and flickered to life as we entered. Galena cast a Detect magic and confirmed that the candlesticks, the thronelike chair, and the two statues radiated a magical aura. Leaving this room and the upstairs for later, the party returned to other unexplored parts of the lower level. 

Another mess hall with a smaller table and chairs. A large fireplace, stained black but cold and empty, sat at the end of the room, a dark and dusty chimney cut up through the stone of the hill behind it extending upwards. Five or so sets of tracks could be clearly seen on the floor, meandering around the room and leading out an exit on the far wall into another dark tunnel. We followed.

The tunnel eventually opened up into a massive underground lake, the water lapping just beyond the opening of the huge cavern. The water was calm and still, although a faint current flowing to the right could be detected. A tinge of light penetrated the cavern far off to the left, and a small island could just be seen way out in the lake, surrounded by darkness. The faint sound of dripping water echoed around the cavern, although the source of the sound could not be determined.

Without wading or swimming there was no way forward, so the party returned to another unexplored branch of the complex. This branch again opened up to the lake, somewhere to the right of the previous shore. The opening was raised up above the water level, and an old iron ring was anchored into the rock of the wall, an empty boat mooring. But again, there was no way forward from there, so we backed up again to yet another branch of the complex that opened up on the lake.

Third time lucky!
A boat bobbed in the water just in front of us, its painter attached to an iron ring anchor in the wall.

"The island then?" questioned Malcom.
"No way cobber" stated Bush firmly, "There might be crocs out there"
"Look" noted Griza, "This boat has had recent repairs carried out"
"Maybe there are still creatures around?" wondered Joe.

"TWANG, TWANG" echoed from the tunnel behind us, and Galena and Bush collapsed to the ground, crossbow quarrels protruding from their backs. A small fountain of blood erupts from Galena's wound in a spurt, and Thursa immediately prepares to cast a Cure. Joe, Griza, and Dahma spin around and charge up the tunnel, hoping that all the attacker's crossbows are now unloaded. Bush opened one eye from his prone position on the ground.

"Are they gone?" he asked.

[No one made their Hear Noise/Perception rolls so the party was "surprised" by the attack. Richard's crossbow attack roll against Galena was a critical hit. For critical hit rolls against a party member, the party member decides how much Luck to spend to attempt to reduce the critical effect. Steven chose to spend 3 Luck, so rolled 3 D20 dice, and selected the critical table entry with the least significant effect to Galena. Steven rolled a 1, a 6, and a 10, and selected entry 1 in the critical table. Stagger forward and take an additional D4 damage. This was still enough to knock Steven's Priest Galena unconscious. Going negative from a single attack also means that a Major Wound has been inflicted, and the character is bleeding out. A roll against Constitution must be made every combat round thereafter, until First Aid is administered, or a Cure is cast. Failing this Constitution roll results in death!

Following the conclusion of the game, Darryl raised an issue with the frequency and potentially significant effects of the critical hit and fumble mechanism. Too frequent and too significant were his claim. Discussion ensued and will be ongoing. 

Predicted outcome - the critical and fumble effect tables will be adjusted to water down and reduce the scale of their effects. Watch this space ...]