“Let’s check the upstairs, OK?” I headed up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, we saw 5 doors. One on the left was slightly ajar. Acgar and I moved closer. “Tracks.” Acgar whispered to me.

“Why are you whispering?” A voice whispered. I whirled around to see Various. “What are you doing — How did you –”
Acgar put her finger to her mouth. “Shhhh! ”

We approached the door. I took a deep breath and pushed it open. What we saw inside was a small and filthy bedroom. Bedding had been pulled from the beds. Pieces of food littered the floor. Various peered in over my shoulder. “Gross.”

We moved on to the other door on that side of the landing. Ian and Myntilly were looking at the lock. Ian pulled out his pack and pulled out what looked sort of like a metallic ruler. He rapped it against the door handle and it made a lovely clear sound. As the sound died away, Ian opened the door. Myntilly smiled. “Handy little thing!” She said as she moved into the room.

This room was larger and well appointed. There was a single bed with several pillows. I felt something brush against my arm and suddenly the pillows moved without anyone touching them. Myntilly quickly cast dispel magic. I started laughing as Various was revealed bouncing on the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She put her hands on her hips and glared at me. “I didn’t have a chance! You’re so quick with the spell. Like some sort of hired assassin. Very impressive.”
“Hey! Who did that? Why am I visible?”
Myntilly walked to the bed. “I’m sorry Various, honey. I didn’t know you were in town. No one (she shot a look at me) told me! I thought you were a ghost or something. Don’t sneak like that! I could have done worse than dispel, you know.”
“Like what? Orb of acid? Fireball? Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if I were set on fire again. Would the other eye smoke, do you think?” She got off the bed and the three of us joined the others on the landing.

“Let’s check the double door. I bet it’s the master bedroom.” I moved toward the doors. Without Cinder around these days doors are a bit more tricky. If I’m up front I say a small prayer and turn the handle. This time Brus padded up beside me. He stood up with front paws on one side of the door and the door swung open. “Good boy! Thank you, buddy.” I peered in. “Yep,” I called. “It’s the master bedroom!”
Myntilly squeezed past me and Brus. “I wonder” she said, “if any of the clothes are still in the closet. That would be a cl –”

From the doorway, I heard Myntilly yelp. And then I heard a scurrying sound. “Oh gross!” Myntilly yelled. I quickly cast fire shield and pushed past Brus. Whatever was in here, I didn’t want Myntilly to face it alone. I was not prepared to see a huge centipede. It was trying to coil itself around Myntilly. She was successfully lobbing spells at it. It must have felt me coming up behind it because it quickly turned and attacked. As it tried to coil around me, the flames of my shield seared it. It released and, not being very smart, launched itself at me again. I almost laughed, and then I saw the teeth. I wondered where everyone else was. Suddenly Brus was at my side. And Acgar jabbed her spear through the opening between the door frame and Brus.

We were lucky, in the end there were only a few babies, which Myntilly and Brus dispatched easily. Later I realized that we only ever got the one door open, so the others had limited vision and access.

As Sadi said later, “It was a jumble in there. I heard Myntilly yelling and then you go in all wreathed in flames and Brus goes in. I couldn’t see a thing with him in the way. And well (she shrugged) you guys weren’t yelling or anything, so I figured you had it under control.”

Our arrival in Sasserine was fairly uneventful. Ian and the animals arrived separately. He used a special “travel by tree” spell that only druids know. It saved us from buying another scroll, so I didn’t argue. He assured us that the costal Cotter pine is all over Sasserine. when we arrived, dead on target (thank you, Myntilly!), the first thing Sadi said is “There are no trees.” I looked around. “There are trees over there.” Buzz pointed behind us, over the water to the opposite shore. ” Acgar asked, in a serious tone, “Can camels swim?”

I took a moment to look around. Sasserine is huge compared to Cauldron. I feel comfortable in Cauldron, but this place — I feel like a hick.
Sasserine is a major (if not THE major) port for the whole area. There’s a saying: “All roads lead to Sasserine.”

We certainly hope that we’ll find the Mayor at his vacation house. I am anxious to be face to face with Embril, the priestess of Wee Jas. We have things to discuss.

The first shop we noticed seemed like a sign from god. It was called “Cages A Plenty” and considering all we’ve heard about cagewrights, we had to stop in. It turns out to be a pet store. I got a weird feeling from the clerk and perhaps for good reason. I did a little bluff to get more information and somehow I walked out of there having agreed to purchase a worg pup. Sadi was laughing so hard but she couldn’t tell me why. Acgar glared at me and said “Worgs are evil! Why did you do that?” I raised an eyebrow. “Evil? Evil how?”

She sighed. “Don’t you know anything? Goblins ride them in battle.”
“That’s pretty evil. But it’s a puppy! So we can teach it to be good. Er, neutral. Neutral good.”

Myntilly stood at the dock. “We need some way to get around.” Sadi hitched her thumb over her shoulder. “We could hire those guys.” There was a barge unloading at the dock. Myntilly went over and negotiated a fair price for taxi and tour service. Ian and the animals showed up just in time. According to Ian, camels can wade up to their necks with the best of them.

As sometimes happens, Ian knew one of the boatmen. Aaron is a fellow druid who took passage on the barge and helps provide protection. Scratch is the other body guard and Toremi is the owner. It was getting late, so Toremi suggested Rumbleguts Inn as a good place to stay the night. “Rumbleguts? That doesn’t sound so great,” I ventured. Sadi disagreed saying “With a name like that, they have to be the best kitchen in town!” Toremi agreed with her. “We’ve told him to change the name, but that’s his name and he won’t change it for nothing.”

While we were waiting for a good and hearty dinner, Myntilly chatted with the bartender. No doubt she flashed her dimples at him. Soon he was giving information. He had seen the Mayor. It’d been a few weeks before and he’d cut his hair and grown a mustache and beard since the last time Knut had seen him. “No one,” he told Myntilly, “has seen him since.”
After dinner Sadi and Myntilly snuck (with the help of invisibility) into the Mayor’s house and found some clues but no Mayor.

The next day we found what turned out to be Lord Vhalantru’s family home. It was boarded up and in disrepair. We found signs of magic and struggle inside. Some effort was made to clean, but perhaps the assailants were interrupted during the cleanup. There were stairs going down and we followed them. I was up front and Ian was right behind me with Brus. It was dark and close in the stairwell. We heard a shuffling sound below. “I can’t see a damned thing!” I turned to Ian. “Dark vision? Or is that dwarves?” He moved up beside me and peered ahead. “Oh. Oh dear.”

“What do you see?” Myntilly hissed from behind. “Um, OK. You know that poster that Dyskko has up? he one for his new show? And there’s that eye thing? It’s one of those.”

I heard Acgar gasp. “A beholder?”
“Wait,” said Ian. “Do those have feet? This thing has feet and a really, oh yeah, a really long tongue.”
Sadi and Acgar pushed to the front. Acgar held up her torch. “What in heaven’s name is that?”
Said tilted her head. “Hard to say but it looks a little big for this cellar.”

When she said that I realized she was right. It was trying to float and it had no head room to do so. Sadi reached around her throat. “Fireball.”

The flames exploded on either side of the creature. “Oh man,” Acgar moaned. “It must have anti-magic on one of its eyestalks.” Buzz came forward and blessed Sadi’s bow. “Good hunting.”
Acgar turned to the group. “We’re going to have to get close.” An idea was forming in my head and at the first chance I cast command. “By Pelor’s beard, you will turn around!” I bellowed at the creature. It turned its back, and more importantly, its eyestalks to us. Acgar ran up and jabbed it with her spear. Unfortunately the creature backed into her in response but she was just knocked over. Ian began to cast lightening. Myntilly and Sadi and Buzz were doing their best to help bring it down before my command wore off. So the creature was down and dying when Ian released his spell. The lightening caused the creature to explode.

I include here the complete list of events:
1) Met with Mayor for tea and met Divas. Lord Vhalantru took sketches for future statues.
2) Left to meet Captain Quinlan Ghelve at the Slippery Eel, but ran into
a) the Stormblades, and we had to drop off our captive at the Temple of Kord
b) an umberhulk tearing apart buildings, and we stayed to investigate
c) Celeste who invited us to the Cusp of Sunrise for a special mission
3) Arrived at Cusp of Sunrise and met Davked Splintershield who bid us to find his son Zenith
4) Traveled out of Cauldron and
a) met Crazy Jared
b) slew a red dragon
c) discovered the Pit of the Seven Jaws
5) Returned to Cauldron to hire some half-orc mercenaries
6) Returned to the Pit of the Seven Jaws and fought
a) a cryohydra
b) several kuo-toa
c) some poisonous fungus
d) an extra-planar woman figure
7) Found Zenith and convinced him to come to Cauldron with us Camped near Crazy Jared’s former hut and met
a) Jared’s sister
b) a Paladin
9) Returned to Cauldron with Zenith and our new friends.
10) At Cusp of Sunrise, Celeste and Davked were unavailable, so we asked Lord Vhalantru to fetch Davked for us to reunite us with his son. Then we went shopping at Skie’s.
11) Overnight, Zenith disappeared.
12) At Cusp of Sunrise, Lord Vhalantru informed us of Davked’s death.

As I read over the list of events, I am again saddened at the results of our quest. But all adventures have successful endings, so this means the adventure is not yet ended.

And I am now reminded of several questions. I must ask the Divas these questions when we next meet. Perhaps they have answers. Perhaps also they have new questions.

Where’s Celeste? Who’s Celeste?

Did Davked really die? We haven’t seen his body. Where’s his estate?

What can I use cryohydra poop for? Kuo-toa slime? poisonous fungus?

What was Zenith doing with the Kuo-toas? What were all those dead bodies? And it was Zenith’s statue at Kazmojen’s slave bazaar – so are they connected?

Why did the umberhulk attack those warehouses? Who summoned it?

What was that gnomish guy doing at the umberhulk event? Magical Threats Agency = good? bad?

Is there anyone else that has disappeared? Where’s Elvis Krylscar? And the other kidnap victims? Is Gryffin doing okay? The kids that the Divas rescued?

Why did that dragon burn down Jared’s Hut?

How is everything connected? The cage building at Dixie Mattress Company? The Yin Yang Gang? The stolen wands of control water? The missing people?

What is the symbol the Divas found at the Dixie Mattress Company? Have we seen it anywhere else?

It’s time I hung out at the Bard Hall and gathered some information from colleagues.

Celeste was pretty clear about the dress code when she handed Myntilly the invitation to The Cusp of Sunrise. Lucky for us, some people paid attention. Wow, what a swanky place. It reminds very much of my father’s club back home. Women were allowed in the front part of his club and he would take me there for dinner sometimes. God, but it was boring sitting there listening to his business partners drone on about imports and exports.
The Cusp of Sunrise was anything but boring.

I was nervous when we presented our invitation at the door. Who is Celeste? And why meet here? It’s been a long time since I found myself in such opulence and it feels uncomfortable.

A man named Rengen lead us into a foyer and told us to wait a moment. He came back quickly. He pulled Myntilly to the side and in a low voice said, “Your, ah, dragon friend will need to put her hood up. And, I must ask that you sit away from the main area.”
There was a moment of silence. I nodded sagely. “Thank you for the advice.” I had no intention of asking Acgar to keep her hood up and I knew we’d sit where ever we wanted.

He led us into a beautiful circular library. The walls were filled with books. Well dressed people sat at tables or talked in groups. I pulled at my new tabard to straighten it. Dyssko went striding up to a table near the center of the room and sat down.

A beautiful woman in a sweeping blue dress came over and handed us each a single sheet of paper, the menu. I ordered the mussels and a glass of Elvish red wine and looked around. There was a good looking man surrounded by women standing over by a globe. The women hung on his every word. There was a gnomish woman sitting by herself near us. Across the room I saw a dwarf laughing to himself and rolling dice. And over in a corner — Lord Vahlantru!

I couldn’t believe our luck. Once we had drinks, we spread out to mingle. Dyssko and I headed right for Lord Vahlantru. He was warm with us. Putting his book down and chatting for a few minutes. He was reading a history of Cauldron and I wanted to sound knowledgeable and engage him in conversation. He saw right through me, but he was polite anyway. After a few minutes though, he politely excused himself.

Dyssko, with a Cauldron Sunrise (how can he drink that?!) in hand, sat down at the harpsichord and started playing some old favorites. “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” was one.
Myntilly walked up to the handsome man and introduced herself. He said his name was Lord Taskerhill and said he knew who she was. He praised our group for bravery and handed Myntilly a pouch with 10 platinum pieces as a thank you. She could not draw him away from his group of admirers, though. Too bad. As Cinder reminded us, Anna, who ambushed us, her last name is also Taskerhill.

Acgar and Sadi wanted to learn the dice gamed that people were playing and a waiter suggested that the gnomish woman might be willing to teach them. She was. Her name is Lady Livia Ladyhawk. She loves animals and so they all got to talking about horse care and the finer points of camel training.

Cinder walked over to the dwarf. I joined her there. the dwarf seemed mad. Black leather covered one half of his face. I was reminded of the Yin Yang gang. He laughed a lot and wanted to teach us the dice game. “Grab Your Jewels” I think he called it. But he wanted to play for platinum pieces, so we declined and went back to our table.

After dinner, we still hadn’t seen Celeste yet, so we decided to explore the building a bit. Hopefully Celeste will arrive soon. I feel uneasy.

Myntilly & the Lord Mayor

When the mayor invited us to tea I was surprised at how excited Elvis got at the idea of seeing him again. I’d never heard Elvis say one nice thing about him and in fact, now that he’s got it in his head to run for mayor himself, I thought the last thing he’d want was a photo opportunity.

I was pretty sure that we’d only been invited because of Myntilly. The mayor was so taken by her at the wedding, introducing her around to his friends and making little jokes to charm her.

When the invitation came we were sitting around debating what the orb was that we’d found in Skavin’s area. “It’s not magical” said Acgar. “And you can’t unlock it — not in any way I know.” Cinder tossed it to Buzz. He rolled it around in his palms. “Maybe” he said slowly. “Maybe it’s a cat toy.” Sometimes Buzz scares me with his brilliance.

We have only ourselves to blame for Elvis’ sudden civic pride. We told him about Illyea being a statue in the mayor’s garden and our theory that she’s not the only living statue there. “Look for the tiger statue. That’s our fallen friend.”
He snuck in one night and now he won’t stop talking about it! He’s obsessed with freeing Illyea and the others and making a major publicity event out of it.

I have a bit more experience under my belt now, but I don’t relish another botched attempt to free Illyea. The last time I did so poorly at pronouncing the words on the scroll, that I am amazed I didn’t turn myself or some one else into stone! The idea of trying again and in front of the crowds that Elvis describes…… count me out. I do have some vanity. We’ll get another cleric, preferably one who has the correct training, to cast the spell.

We were introduced to Lord Valantrue when we first arrived at the mayor’s house. I was shocked. I honestly did not believe that he existed — at least not in a human form. I’m still not totally convinced that it is not the Beholder who turned Illyea to stone. Later Cinder mentioned that Valantrue never blinked. He stared intently at each of us, she said. As if memorizing our faces.

I broached the “tiger statue” with the mayor. I told him that we were ready to move it to its new home. “Thank you” I said, “for your kindness in holding it for us. My father is looking forward to having it in his permanent collection.”
“It’s my favorite piece!” cried the mayor. “Could I keep it just one more day?!”

That surprised the heck out of me. Why did he like it so much? Does he know what it really is. I smiled sadly. “Oh, Lord Mayor. You are a hard man to say no to…. Unfortunately so is my father. I must have this statue on the next wagon out. You know, you and my father — you have heard of Joachim Burningwood? He’s my father — you and he have a lot in common.”

Whew! He agreed to let us take the statue. Now to free Illyea. It will be good to have our tiger back.