And so it begins.........

Chapter 1 - On the Road

...our tale began with the Dwarven Cleric, Thorgar Grimbarrow, sitting beside the East Way enjoying a pipe in the warm morning sun. He is observed by the Elf Eriash, who is sitting in a nearby tree. A couple of minutes later Thorgar is joined by a human fighter making her way to the town of Winterhaven to search for a missing archeologist by the name of Douven Staul. Having established acquaintances, they hail the elf to join them and the three set off.

Shortly, they come across a robed figure, (Riffon the Mage),attempting to get his stubborn donkey to move. Information is exchanged and soon the party is united and heading to Winterhaven.

About half and hour away from the town the party are ambushed on the road by a band of kobolds. Eriash the Elf leads the way down the road and manages to spot a couple of the hidden Kobolds. Was it Avandra's luck ? or was it Lloth's spider senses that prevented the party being surprised.

The encounter began, Eriash headed off to the right to engage a Kobold Dragonshield fighter whilst Thorgar attempted a flanking manouvre on the left. Kayesha the fighter headed straight down the road whilst Riffon positioned himself to cast.

Thorgar was mobbed by some Kobold minions who had been hiding nearby, whilst a kobold slinger popped out from behind a rock and started firing. The battle ebbed and flowed with the Kobolds having the better of it. Eventually, their numerical advantage paid off as Thorgar fell. Meanwhile Eriash was also bloodied having gone toe to toe with a tough Dragonshield and looked like a strong wind might have blown him over.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man (or in this case woman), as Kayesha hit her stride and quickly despatched the Kobold minions to even up the numbers. By now Riffon was letting fly left, right and centre with magic missiles from his wand of accuracy. Unfortunately, this had obviously warped over time resulting in many of the missiles failing to hit their intended targets.

Then, like Lazarus, the Dwarf rose from unconciousness, dusted himself down and proceeded to grab the remaining Kobold. Having subdued the Kobold and tied him up the party then struck a deal with their captive. In return for his freedom the captured Kobold told the party about a Dragon burial site located south of Winterhaven. The party looted the Kobold bodies and ventured on to Winterhaven leaving the captive cursing them and vowing to himself that he would avenge his fallen brothers.

The party arried at Winterhaven, a small town on the East Way. They quickly found lodgings at Wrafton's inn and were soon bribing the serving girls for tidbits of information. After some fine hog and some tankards of "old knocker" the party were in good spirits. Towards closing time an Elven Hunter called Ninaran quietly entered the inn and spoke with the proprietor. Eriash took a particular interest in the Elf as he believed it to be his quarry. However, he was unable to get close enough to question her as she rode off into the night.

The next day, the party set out to explore the town. It was market day and Thorgar started by replenishing his stock of pipe weed with a costly purchase from a fey herb seller who assured Thorgar that he would not be disappointed with his purchase.

The party then tried to off load their stash of stolen Koblod shortswords with the Dwarven blacksmith but he was not interested in such poor quality material and suggested they try the general store instead.

Just before lunch the party made their way towards the Manor House where they struck up a conversation with the Local Area Public Defence (LAPD) officers. The LAPD captain was interested in hearing about the parties encounter with the Kobolds and commissioned them to clear out the Kobold lair in return for a 100 gold pieces and the right to keep any booty they found.

End of chapter 1.