Players: Kathi, Chris, JC, Davy, Kris, Jeff

Characters: DM, Lew, Illuverin & Erin, Caland, A'Tora, Saunder

Begin on the 15th of Flamerule

Before crossing the threshold into myth Dranor proper we inventory the scrolls given us by Khelben. Two are Protection of Extra-Planar Creatures and the other two are Protection from Dragon Breath. We also have a scroll detailing the powers of the Blade of Baeltharik. There is also some discussion of the possibility of using Locate Object to look for either Estarria or the Blade of Baeltharik. Unfortunately the range of the spell is somewhat limited so the spell will have to wait.

As we pass into the city itself there is a faint shimmering curtain which is the area of effect of the Mithil. Once inside the realization that the adventure is begun in earnest settles over Illuverin and he sharpens his awareness as much as possible looking around for any signs of trouble.

We enter the city and A'Tora recognizes where we are in fairly short order. She points the direction we should go and we set off. This street used to be shops and upper class homes but now it's all ruins. We pass by an odd painting of eyes peering out through open flames. Caland swears he saw them blink but nobody else sees it happen and we continue on.

Illuverin looks up and sees circling overhead a small birdlike creature cirlcing overhead. He calls the others attention to it and Caland slings a small stone hoping to hit it. He misses but before Illuverin can draw an arrow it flies away.

As we pass a cross street A'Tora and Erin shimmer briefly and both stop feeling the effect of something. We notice that some of their items now appear to be softly glowing or shimmering and Erin says that it feels like there's creepy little fingers tingling up and down his spine. Since there don't seem to be any other effects we continue on.

A few feet later A'Tora stops again and says she doesn't feel right at all. She backs up, casts a spell and then continues on. She announces we are entering a dead magic zone and for all to be careful. We pick up the pace hoping to get through the area quickly. A'Tora slips on some green slimy dung and falls. Given that she can't use a cantrip to clean her foot she continues grimly on.

We pass a ruined building and see a glowing oval in an archway. When Lew goes to investigate a medium sized creature comes scuttling out. It looks to have some form of armor plating and has antenna coming out from under it's eyes. It reaches for Lew's weapon and grabs it but nothing happens. Lew hits it with Magic Missles and Illuverin hits with two arrows which kill it. He manages to retrieve one of the arrows but the other is destroyed by rust and is unusable. (A rust monster obviously.)

As we pass the building the shimmering begins again and A'Tora Clean's her foot while still in the shimmering area. The spells produces boiling water and she takes some damage.

Passing by the next building we see a statue of a lady elven mage with a book levitating above her hands and from the other side of the street there is the sound of a slam of wood against stone. As A'Tora goes to investigate the statue Lew goes across the street to check out the noise. He swears that there's something in one of the windows. Erin wants to go in and investigate and takes a fist sized rock and throws it through the open window. It's a good shot and the stone sails through the open window but there is no visible or audible sign of it thereafter. The group decides to not to investigate and continues on.

As we pass another building A'Tora sees something moving in one the windows and as the group looks up Erin and Lew see an odd winged cat. Illuverin doesn't see it but does continue to look behind them and above for signs of any thing out of the ordinary.

As we pass a large ruin we see a set of stairs going down. On the other side of the building there are different sounds, that of battle and of growls, roars and the occasional clash of metal. Ignoring the stairs Illuverin looks around the corner and sees the battle going on between an adventuring group and a demon. He comes quickly back to the others to let them know what's going on and the decision is quickly reached to join the battle (since we can't continue without being seen) and Erin leads the charge around the corner.

MELEE

Illuverin misses badly with two arrows but Erin hits for massive damage and Lew hits the demon with Magic Missles. The demon shreiks and begins falling to the ground but disappears before it hits. The remaining humans, dwarf and gnome quickly ransack the downed bodies and leave.

Saunder checks the downed man and woman and both are alive. He casts Cure Light Wounds on the female and finds the male paralyzed. We discover that the man is wearing a holy symbol of an oak leaf (that of Sylvanis) and that he is actually a half-elf. We get them out of the middle of the street and Saunder casts Neutralize Poison on the cleric. The man is a Knight of Myth Dranor and he and his companion are on patrol duty.

Caland offers a Potion of Healing to the lady and Illuverin asks if they will help us but the man is insistant that the others must not be allowed to escape. Illuverin and Erin are both left shaking their heads at the apparent foolishness of them setting out alone.

As we continue on Illuverin keeps watch behind us and above us and sees something flit behind one of the buildings. He looks about more often but doesn't see it again. We pass several more buildings and then all of a sudden the glowing effect returns.

As we approach the ruins of the Temple of Corellon Lariethian the shimmering effect remains with us and as we approach A'Tora kicks an odd piece of metal which rolls away from her. It turns out to be a helm that has a large dent as if from an axe blow. The temple itself is overgrown by vegitation and neither of the buildings have a roof. As we enter into the grounds we can see an obvious opening at the end of a ramp going down into the earth.

Saunder casts Locate Object concentating on Estarria's pendant but he reports the spells is somehow absorbed and negated. When he tells us this Lew remembers that all spells of the divination variety and some other just don't work within the range of the Mithil.

As we descend the ramp the path is 20' wide, 7' high. Soon the walls are natural stone and the passageway continues for some 180' feet before leveling off and coming to a set of double doors. The doors are marked with a pattern of four diamonds (a larger one surrounded by three smaller ones in a triangular pattern) and the left hand door has been wedged open by the failure of the topmost hinge so that the bulk of the doors weight now rests on the floor. Beyond the doors is a rectangular room roughly 50' deep and 80' wide and there's another set of double doors on the opposite wall across from us. There are also double door sets on each of the side walls. We also notice that there are small, roughly 1' square openings on the opposite wall up near the sides close to the ceiling.

Caland enters first and runs (using his Boots of Speed) across to the doors on the opposite wall. Erin and A'Tora enter and keep along the right hand wall while Lew, Illuverin and Saunder enter and keep to the left. Illuverin listens at the left hand door and hears nothing. Checking for traps reveals nothing. Continuing around to where Caland is he listens and checks them for traps, again with no results. As he is continuing around to where Caland and A'Tora are he notices to his horror that A'Tora is opening the door she and Erin are standing in front of.

All of the doors appear to open into other 20' wide passages. Illuverin continues toward Erin and A'Tora and doesn't see Saunder, Lew and Caland enter the corridor opposite the door we came in. Suddenly there is a LOUD clang and the half-elf stops turning to look back. Failing to see the others he rushes back to the door and sees the three of them standing in front of a downed portculus which Caland appears to be trying to lift.

Caland reports that his hands are stuck and warns everyone else to NOT try to lift the gate. Erin tries it anyway after wrapping his hands in an old sword cloth but is unsuccessful. The cloth is stuck but Erin's hands are not. As we ponder how to free Caland, the elf tries to free himself but to no avail. It takes Erin and Caland pulling with all their might to free him but all of the layers of skin and part of the underlying muscle remain fixed to the portcullis. Saunder casts Cure Light Wounds to heal the damage but Caland will always have odd shaped scars on the palms of his hands unless Healed

End of Session. All party members are in the short, seemingly dead end passageway.

Next date 5/6/2001