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Battle Against Moghadam

In their continuing search for the artifiact and divine engine piece Ruinblade, the adventurers discovered the hidden lair of Moghadam, original architect of the Tomb of Horrors who was rumored to have been betrayed and entombed there by Acererak.  T

he adventurers defeated a four-limbed gargoyle guarding a teleportation/anti-gravity chamber and discovered a secret door leading deeper into the tomb...

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On to the Keep (Watch Out for the Ants)

After some recon in town, the adventurers journeyed out to the Keep on the Shadowfell to stop evil forces from opening a rift to the Shadowfell.

But before they could arrive, they were attacked by a swarm of ants that had been transformed by magic seeping through from another plane. The ants used fey mind-control and teleportation in an attempt to eat the adventurers' tasty flesh (particularly the flesh of spellcasters), but were ultimately defeated.

Healed up and finally arriving at the keep, the adventurers ventured down to the second level, battling hobgoblin grunts, soldiers, and a warcaster sending forth shock pulses from his staff. The adventurers bravely fought the hobgoblins, defeating them and plundering their valuables.

Watch out!

Meeting in Winterhaven

A group of ragtag adventurers met in the small town of Winterhaven, each brought there for their own reasons but banding together for a common cause. They met over dinner at the inn, stayed overnight, and explored the town.

They quickly learned of a growing evil at the old Keep on the Shadowfell and of goblin slavers who kidnapped several townsfolk.

They met Lord Padraig, leader of Winterhaven, who agreed to pay the group 400 gp if they are able to stop the evil forces at the keep. They spoke with Valthrun the Prescient, who shared his knowledge of the keep's connection to the Shadowfell. They met Delphina Moongem, a wild elf who sells flowers at Market Square, who confirmed the goblin tribe's activities at the keep. Finally, they spoke with Sister Lenora, who offered her rituals, including raise dead should the need arise.

Zombies, Skeletons and Sir Keegan himself

SWAG blasted through the crypt of the Keep, fighting past skeletons and zombies animated from the dead long buried in the Keep.

After passing an altar to Bahamut, they then opened a crypt containing the skeleton of the fallen paladin Sir Keegan, who bestowed on the group Aecris, his trusted magical short sword.

Vermin Hordes Attack!

When we last left off, the adventurers leveled up to Level 2 and continued their exploration of the Keep on the Shadowfell, following an eerie ghostlike child's moan into caverns under the first floor of the keep.

There they encountered a dozen giant rats and a large ochre jelly, whose acid proceeded to dissolve and attempt to consume the brave paladin, Alain. The group defeated the monsters and the paladin was saved.












The group then entered the lair of a horde of sharp-clawed kruthik, which surrounded and began to consume the brave paladin, Alain. After a long battle, the kruthik were defeated and all members of SWAG survived to claim the kruthik's treasure.

The group then descended stairs to a small natural pool. As they approached, something stirred below the dark surface of the water...

Keep on the Shadowfell

The adventurers journeyed to the abandoned Keep on the Shadowfell, rumored to be haunted by the former owner, an ex-paladin driven into murderous madness by the evil that lurked beneath the keep. He is rumored to have slaughtered his family there before his own loyal troops chased him into the dungeons and cut him down.

The current keep occupants fought the adventures at the keep's entrance, with goblin skirmishers and warriors battling to defend their lair. The adventurers defeated them in glorious battle, and pressed on, finding themsevles in a battle in a torture chamber. This battle was won, but not before a goblin bull rushed one brave soul painfully into the iron maiden.

Having defeated several groups of guards, the adventures leveled up to Level 2 and prepared to venture deeper into the keep.

Battle at the Kobold's Waterfall Lair

After rescuing Douvel Staul, the adventurers returned to Winterhaven for some rest and recuperation. They chatted with the townsfolk, learning more about the recent kobold attacks and the secrets of the Keep on the Shadowfell. The group also went to Winterhaven's Market Day, procuring rare items including alchemist's fire and tanglefoot bags.

The group met Lord Padraig at Market Day and discussed the kobold situation with him. Hearing of the adventurers' success in defeating the kobold menace, he gave them a commission to seek out and destroy the kobolds in their lair. He told them where he believed the lair to be --hidden in a cave behind a waterfall -- and promised 100 gp for evidence of that the kobolds were defeated.

The adventurers then marched out to the kobold lair, launching a surprise attack on the more than a dozen kobolds patrolling outside. The group's wizards used sleep spells to slow the kobold assault, successfully containing them while the rest of the group killed the kobold marauders, except for one who escaped into the lair to warn the others. After defeating the kobolds outside the lair, the group prepared to adventure into the waterfall and battle the kobolds beyond...

Gnomes are monsters now, rawr!

The adventurers arrived in Winterhaven on a cool fall afternoon, 2 1/2 days after departing Fallcrest. Two town guards welcomed the travelers and directed them to the Wrafton Inn, the best (and only) inn in town.

The group met Salvana Wrafton, proprieter of the inn, as well as other townsfolk. The townspeople mentioned that kobolds had been harassing travelers over the last 3 months, drying up trade with the town. They said that Lord Padraig had been unable to convince the militia that the risk of confrontation was worth it, as the town itself had not been harmed.

The adventurers also discovered that the missing mentor Douven Staul had been seen departing for a dragon burial site quite a while ago, but had not returned. The group headed out to investigate, but were ambushed by a powerful band of kobolds. After a difficult battle that nearly ended in defeat, the kobolds were killed and the adventurers retreated to the safety of Winterhaven.

The following day the group set out again, reaching the burial site and seeing a gnome, halfling and several humans at the site. The gnome and his cronies attacked. Two guard drake lizards launched ferocious bite attacks on the paladin, killing and eating him. Meanwhile, the rest of the group fought a harrowing battle, finally defeating the gnome and his allies. Douven Staul was rescued, completing the missing mentor quest. Staul gave the group his amulet of health +1 in gratitude for saving him.

Road to Winterhaven

The adventuting group SIDI (Self Inflicted Damage, Inc.) met in Fallcrest, joined by personal quests all involving travel to village of Winterhaven. The village is located about 50 miles northeast of Fallcrest, a 2 1/2 day journey along the crumbling old King's Road.

On day 2 of the journey, the adventurers were ambushed by more than half a dozen kobolds. While all the kobolds were quite shifty, two of the kobolds wore dragonscale shields and seemed particularly shifty and able to dart away from combat. Another wore globes around his neck which he launched from a sling. One struck the paladin Alain, temporarily gluing him in place.

But in the end, the kobolds were no match for SIDI and were defeated. The adventurers paused to rest and recover before searching the bodies for treasure and continuing on to Winterhaven.

Fallcrest, Gateway to Adventure!

The adventurers meet in Fallcrest, near the middle of the broad borderland region known as the Nentir Vale. The vale is now mostly empty, with a handful of villages and towns scattered over this wide area. Click here to see a map of the Nentir Vale:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifedeveloped/2565198673/sizes/l/

Fallcrest

Fallcrest stands amid the crest of the Moon Hills at the falls of the Nentir River. It is at the intersection of the river, the old King’s Road that runs north and south, and the dwarven Trade Road from the east. The surrounding ridges shelter several small valleys where farmers and woodsfolk live; few are more than six or seven miles from the town.

In general the people outside Fallcrest’s walls earn their living by farming or keeping livestock, and the people inside the walls are artisans, laborers, or merchants. Fallcrest imports finished goods from the larger cities downriver and ironwork from the dwarf town of Hammerfast, and exports timber, leather, fruit, and grain. It also trades with the nearby town of Winterhaven.

The surrounding hills hold several marble quarries that once produced a good deal of stone, but the area has little demand for ornamental stone these days, and only a few stonecutters still practice their trade.

A small town built from the ruins of a larger city, Fallcrest is the crossroads of the Nentir Vale.

Population: 1,350; another 900 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the town. The people of Fallcrest are mostly humans, halflings, and dwarves. No dragonborn or eladrin are permanent residents, but travelers of all races pass through on occasion.

Government: The human noble Faren Markelhay is the Lord Warden (hereditary lord) of the town. He is in charge of the town’s justice, defense, and laws. The Lord Warden appoints a town council to look after routine commerce and public projects.

Defense: The Fallcrest Guard numbers sixty warriors (see the accompanying statistics block), who also serve as constables. Moonstone Keep is their barracks. The Lord Warden can call up 350 militia at need.

Inns: Nentir Inn; Silver Unicorn. The Silver Unicorn is pricier and offers better service; the Nentir Inn sees a more interesting clientele.

Taverns: Blue Moon Alehouse; Lucky Gnome Taphouse; Nentir Inn taproom.

Supplies: Halfmoon Trading House; Sandercot Provisioners.

Temples: Temple of Erathis; Moonsong Temple (Sehanine); House of the Sun (Pelor).

Fallcrest’s Story

Up until four centuries or so ago, the Moon Hills and the surrounding Nentir Vale were thinly settled borderlands, home to quarrelsome human hill-chieftains and remote realms of nonhumans such as dwarves and elves. Giants, minotaurs, orcs, ogres, and goblins plagued the area. Ruins such as those on the Gray Downs or the ring-forts atop the Old Hills date back to these days, as do stories of the hero Vendar and the dragon of the Nentir.

With the rise of the empire of Nerath to the south, human settlers began to move up the Nentir, establishing towns such as Fastormel, Harkenwold, and Winterhaven. A Nerathan hero named Aranda Markelhay obtained a charter to build a keep at the portage of the Nentir Falls. She raised a simple tower at the site of Moonstone Keep three hundred ten years ago, and under its protection the town of Fallcrest began to grow.

Over the next two centuries, Fallcrest grew into a small and prosperous city. It was a natural crossroads for trade, and the Markelhays ruled it well. When the empire of Nerath began to crumble about a century ago, Fallcrest continued to flourish—for a time.

Ninety years ago, a fierce horde of orcs known as the Bloodspears descended from the Stonemarch and swept over the vale. Fallcrest’s army was defeated in a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears out on Gardbury Downs. The Bloodspears burned and pillaged Fallcrest and went on to wreak havoc all across the Nentir Vale.

In the decades since the Bloodspear War, Fallcrest has struggled to reestablish itself. The town is a shadow of the former city; little trade passes up and down the river these days. The countryside for scores of miles around is dotted with abandoned homesteads and manors from the days of Nerath. Once again the Nentir Vale is a thinly settled borderland where few folk live. This is a place in need of a few heroes.

The Final Battle!

After the defeat of the sniper Skather, SWAG prepared to lead the troops gathering in Cathedral Square to defend it against an assault by a strike force led by the horde's powerful leaders.

SWAG organized the dwarven mercenaries, Tiri Kitor elf rangers, and town guard, along with the town's leaders and allies from the Luminous Order. As battle cries echoed through the night, a sudden storm swept into the square, knocking out the street lamps. Brave town guard ran forward to relight them, as the song of the horde's bard was heard singing an inspiring song to the troops.

With the sight of a goblin worg rider, the battle was on. Hobgoblins joined in as the Sumberton defenders moved to engage the attacks. Soon after, the horde's leaders emerged along with an assault force of hill giants and ogres. Petra rode forward to engage the enemy leader, Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn, a powerful hobgoblin in full plate red dragon scale armor. Odette and Trillian peppered the attackers with arrows while Quintavian enlarged the dwarves and DeKelley, and she blasted the enemy with magic attacks. DeKelley raced to heal the wounded.

As the battle raged, the horde leaders used their knowledge of SWAG from past battles to their advantage. Petra was flanked by giants as Kharn attacked with his wounding heavy pick. The ranger Saarvith fired bane arrows, knocking Harsty down. The bard Ulwai Stormcaller launched musical thunderstrikes while the bugbear Koth sent forth deadly lightning bolts. SWAG and the dwarves pummeled the hobgoblins, while the giants smashed through allied ranks and massacred town guard and elf archers.

Petra held off the attacks as long as she could, finally falling to pick and greatclub attacks, dying on the battlefield she fought to defend. But the tide had turned, and SWAG rallied to kill horde leader Khran and most of his minions, with most enemy troops killed, the other 3 horde leaders fled to fight another day.

After a night filled with raging battles, SWAG was victorious in driving off the horde. Through well-staged diplomacy, strong alliances and winning battlefield tactics, the horde proved too weak to regroup and scattered into the country. Chased down by the Luminous Order, the horde was vanquished, and the Valley of Obelisks was restored to peace.

In gratitude for SWAG's actions, Lord Carstellan granted each member of the group land and funds for a small keep, and Petra was raised from the dead. The Valley citizens began to rebuild the destroyed towns of Andrushel, Lukrimar Keep and Dondurran, while the Luminous Order moved to restore and fortify Vraath Keep to defend against any future threat. Peace and quiet returned to the Valley, for now....

Dragonspawn Sniper!

After holding back waves of horde attackers, Carstellan contacted DeKelley to inform him that the horde was falling back to regroup. Carstellan called on SWAG to return to Cathedral Square so the city defenders could also regroup to prepare for the final battle.

SWAG headed to Cathedral Square as the sounds of skirmishes continued to echo through the streets and the Tiri Kitor engaged the dragons in the aerial combat. As SWAG approached the square, Carstellan contacted DeKelley again as choatic shouts erupted in the square. Carstellan said that the powerful wizard Immerstal had fallen before Carstellan suddenly fell silent.

At Cathedral Square, SWAG saw Luminary Champion Armin Harrack yelling for soldiers to take cover from an unseen sniper. A poisoned human bane arrow flew across the square, hitting Harrack, rendering him helpless, while other bane arrows hit SWAG. Quintavian cast fog cloud to provide cover as SWAG headed toward the source of the sniper attack. Petra flew into a coffin shop where the sniper was hiding - finding a blackspawn ninja that could disappear in the blink of an eye, deflty evading sword attacks. DeKelley raced to heal fallen soldiers and damage from the bane arrows.

After a well placed glitterdust, Petra and Odette fought Skather, the ninja sniper, while the rest of SWAG battled hobgoblin spellcasters. With nowhere the flee to, Skather and his hobgoblin horde agents were destroyed.

After the battle, Carstellan and Harrack were healed but badly weakened from the poison arrow attacks. From the skies, Sellyria Starsinger reported that a group of hobgoblins led by the horde leaders themselves was headed for Cathedral Square. SWAG would have to lead the troops in a final battle to defend Sumberton from the Red Hand horde.

Streets of Blood/Defense of Carstellan Manor

After defeating the attacking hobgoblins in Sumberton, SWAG braced for repeated waves of attackers trying to reach defense HQ at Carstellan Manor. During a lull, retreating Tiri Kitor elves raced toward SWAG in an attempt to escape their Red Hand pursuers.

Blood ghost berserker bugbears followed, cutting down several elves as they tried to flee to the safety of SWAG's line. SWAG engaged the bugbears, taking out several with Odette's well-placed arrows, Petra's sword, Hartsy's air assaults, Quintavian's fireballs and DeKelley's artillery and even his demon gate relic revolver.

As the battle raged, the bugbears swarmed the barricade and clambored over and around it, killing the other Tiri Kitor and nearly killing Quintavian. SWAG regrouped and took out the last of the bugbears.

After the bugbears were defeated, goblin riders on bluespawn thunderlizards charged down the road. But SWAG was ready, super-sized and resistant to electric attacks. SWAG stopped the goblins and thunderlizards, holding off the horde's attempt to rampage straight through to Carstellan Manor.

Hold the Line!

With thousands of hobgoblins and other evil creatures pouring through the breached Sumberton walls, SWAG raced from the battle with the dragon to the main road leading to Carstellan manor. There, SWAG met up with a small force of Sumberton guard and militia led by a Luminous Order knight.

The force had built a barracade to block the street from the approaching force. Meanwhile, battles raged throughout the city in countless street skirmishes and ambushes in alleyways.

SWAG took control of the defending force and prepared for the assault. Moments later, manticores flew through the dark night sky, bombarding the defenders with tail spike attacks. Several guard and militia fell to the onslaught. In the meantime, hobgoblins began racing toward the barracade, firing arrows into the defenders.

SWAG met the attacks with a volley of spells and arrows and flying and horseback charges. DeKelley desperately tried to heal the wounded. A mortally wounded Tiri Kitor ranger mounted on a dying giant owl hurtled from the sky, praising Corellan Lorethian as he dive bombed a manticore in a final suicide attack. As SWAG fought on, the tide turned. With the attacking force mostly defeated, a hobgoblin spellcaster fled into the sky. SWAG regrouped as Carstellan warned via telepathic link that a force of bugbears was headed that way.

They've Breached the Walls!

With the Red Hand horde preparing to storm Sumberton's city walls, SWAG helped the city with final defensive preparations. On a tense, hot summer day, SWAG patrolled the city, helping to repel several probes of city defenses by goblin worg riders and flying horde creatures.

Shortly after nightfall, cries rang out as boulders hurled from the darkness began crashing into the city walls from the north and south. SWAG raced to the northern walls while Luminous Order knights prepared to engage the southern attackers. SWAG exited the city, heading 500 feet north to stop 4 hill giants who were bombarding the city walls with hurled rocks.

Dodging arrows from hobgoblins firing from long range, SWAG engaged the giants. The giants were determined not to be stopped from their bombardment, and they continued pummeling the city even as their comrades fell to SWAG's attacks. Finally, SWAG succeeded in defeating the giants. The city's northern walls were severely weakened, but did not fall.

As SWAG returned to the city, Lord Carstellan informed them that the Luminous Order knights to the south were unable to prevent the collapse of the southern walls. The horde began pouring into the city through the breached walls.

Before SWAG could reach the breached southern walls to help defend the city, the large red dragon Abithriax began his assault on Sumberton, setting several buildings on fire and descending to grab militia members only to fly up with them and then drop them to their deaths. SWAG reached the dragon to find several dwarven mercenaries and Sumberton soldiers dead or unconscious, and the remaining militia fleeing for their lives.

SWAG engaged Abithriax as a sudden windstorm appeared, fanning the flames and spreading the fire to nearby buildings. As the city around them burned, SWAG launched a devastating attack on the dragon, trapping it in tanglefoot bags, magically suppressing its breath weapon, and smiting it with greatsword and bow attacks. Finally, Abithriax fell, and SWAG helped put out the city fires, preventing the destruction of more of the city's infrastructure.

SWAG quickly healed and prepared for the next battle.

Striking a Deal With the Ghostlord

With the Red Hand horde a mere 6 days from Sumberton, SWAG continued its journey into the Ghostlord lich's lair. SWAG first entered a dissection chamber, finding surgical implements and a disposal pit. Harsty glided into the pit, only to be attacked by a large gray ooze. The ooze was not all that mobile though, and SWAG dispatched it quickly.

SWAG then encountered the Ghostlord's bonedrinkers, which lept up to try and pin their foes and dissolve their tasty bones. Apparently, raptorans have the tastiest of dissolved bones. After SWAG dispatched these creatures as well, the Ghostlord himself came to investigate.

SWAG negotiated with the Ghostlord, offering to return his phylactery in exchange for him calling off his 50 force strong undead legion that was due to depart shortly for Sumberton. Although SWAG contemplated attacking the lich, the nearby ghost lions and the urgency of returning to Sumberton dissauded them from attacking, and a deal was struck. Defeating the lich could wait for another day.

SWAG then hurried back to Sumberton, with a stopover in Silvermont. SWAG had never been there, and had trouble finding it. SWAG soon learned that the Ebon Cabal had hidden the entire town in a powerful illusion. Naryalla the bard urged SWAG to leave, and SWAG reluctantly did so.

SWAG then flew to Sumberton, and saw thousands of hobgoblins and other foul creatures encamped outside the city's walls. SWAG flew into the city past archers guarding the newly fortified city walls and met with the War Council. SWAG helped persuade the War Council to: 1) mount its major defense from the safety of the city walls, rather than taking the main battle into the field outside the city, 2) distribute most of the clerics among the soldiers to aid in battlefield healing rather than holding them back at the Cathedral of Pelor, and 3) provide a telepathic bond to Sellyria Starsinger of the Tiri Kitor, rather than the captain of the army or the head of the merchant's guild.

Only one day now remains until the horde launches its attack on the walled City of Sumberton...

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Scryin' Me, and I have no privacy (oh oh oh oh)

After the Carstellan party excitement on the night of Wealsun 6, some members of SWAG enjoyed a restful sleep while others engaged in "nighttime diplomacy." The following day, SWAG met with Lord Bariss Carstellan and the Sumberton city council, who thanked them for their intervention and apologized for Thrann's actions. On SWAG's recommendation, the council agreed to shore up city defenses, muster the city militia, and begin evacuating civilians to the southern towns.

SWAG spent the next day helping refugees flee Dondurran. That night a group of barghests and hobgoblins attacked SWAG, knowing where they were camped at an abandoned farm from a previous scry. The barghests used their dimension door powers to teleport through walls to great effect, but SWAG drove them away in defeat.

SWAG then learned that a group of several hundred enemy troops had broken off from the main horde encampment at Dondurran and was heading toward Kel's Rise. SWAG flew to Kel's Rise to warn the village, which was huddled behind a small castle's walls with 20 village guard and 20 militia defending the town. SWAG contemplated helping the town resist the horde, but instead urged them to evacuate and planned an air raid on the horde approaching the village.

SWAG approached the smaller horde of 300 or so enemy troops and tried to get close enough to launch a fireball. Thirteen flying creatures were guarding the horde from the air, however, preventing SWAG from getting too close. Instead, SWAG dropped aerial bombardments of alchemist's fire and Odette fired her bow at the troops' leader, Wyrmlord Saarvith who had previously fled the battle at Rhest. After Odette hit Saarvith and several horde arrows hit SWAG, Saarvith and a few other flying creatures turned invisible and SWAG retreated.

SWAG then flew back to Sumberton -- now in full war preparation -- to retrieve Petra's newly upgraded heavenly burst greatsword +1, and they learned the location of the Ghostlord's lion-shaped lair. SWAG spent the next 4 days flying around the horde to the Ghostlord's lair in the Thornwaste, arriving on Wealsun 18.

With the Red Hand only 6 days away from its planned attack on Sumberton, SWAG enterred the Ghostlord's massive carved lion lair and battled hobgoblin monks with grappling dragonchains. SWAG defeated the monks and then encountered more monks, Red Hand clerics and the bard Ulwai Stormcaller. SWAG pummelled Ulwai's guards while she used bardic music thunderstrikes to attack Petra. As SWAG closed on Ulwai and landed several hits, she turned invisible and fled.

Miss Manners Wererat Party Tips

Dear Miss Manners:

I am planning on attending a party, but I believe the host is a wererat. I am concerned that he may be secretly allied with an invading goblin army. Time is short as the evil horde advances and refugees flee their homes. I fear that in order to expose him I must break the law, but if the law has been corrputed by evil, isn't it my duty to unmask it?

Dear Troubled in Sumberton:

Eating from the point of a knife was commonplace until it was roundly condemned about 200 years ago, when the fork came into widespread use. And cutting up all the meat before it is eaten is done only for small children not yet trusted to wield knives. That you were not told this before is a shame. But now you know.

Yours, Miss Manners

SWAG enjoyed a relaxing sleep in Sumberton following many days of travel, and had a breakfast meeting with Luminary Champion Armin Harrack the following morning, on Wealsun 6. He said that he had successfully persuaded the soldiers blockading Dondorran that their orders were unlawful, and they let the refugees begin their trek toward Sumberton.

SWAG also met with Naryalla of the Ebon Cabal who provided SWAG with scrolls of reveal lycanthropy to unmask Thrann Carstellan and his guards as lycanthropes. SWAG prepared for the party by procuring silvered weapons and hiding what weapons they could with reduce spells and other tricks.

At the party, Thrann Carstellan made a brief appearance. SWAG swung into action, dispelling magic protecting him and launching their attack. Thrann was revealed as a wererat to an entangled group of party-goers and SWAG fought to stop him. Two disguised warforged ninjas lept to his defense and SWAG fought a spirited battle. While SWAG attempted to hit Thrann and fought his ninjas and other guards, a small kobold cohort climbed under a table and critically hit Thrann with an inflict serious wounds spell. Thrann fell and the battle was won.

SWAG found Thrann's father and brother unconscious in a nearby room along with the halfling leader of the merchant's guild. With the wererat conspiracy unmasked, Armin Harrack promised to heal the Carstellan family and remove their lycanthropy curse. With the city's leaders rescued, an immediate council meeting would be called to begin preparations for a last-ditch defense of the city.

Panic on the streets of Dondurran

After SWAG destroyed the hobgoblin roadblock, they ventured on into the Blackfens swamp. The next day, they were attacked by a greenspawn razorfiend's acid and razor wing attacks. They defeated the creature and befriended the wild elf Tiri Kitor tribe that inhabits these parts.

The Tiri Kitor gave SWAG a safe place to sleep before investigating Red Hand operatives based in the ancient flooded city of Rhest. Joined by Tiri Kitor bard Trellara Nightshadow, who sought to avenge the death of her brother by the razorfiend, SWAG assaulted the Red Hand in Rhest.

In a swift nighttime surprise raid, SWAG swept into Rhest, quickly killing ogre guards. SWAG fought an ettin and Red Hand goblin ranger Wyrmlord Saarvith mounted on a black dragon. After killing the ettin, and bringing it back as an undead minion (shhh, don't tell Petra), Saarvith and the black dragon were badly wounded and fled. SWAG dispatched the remaining lizardmen and hobgoblins with the aid of a summoned squid and shark.

With Saarvith and the black dragon gone, SWAG found the dragon's hoard and its many coins and magic items. SWAG also found a phylactery belonging to a lich named the Ghostlord and a note from Red Hand leader Ulwai telling Saarvith to keep the phylactery secure. SWAG then returned to the Tiri Kitor, securing their alliance in the fight against the Red Hand, the use of several giant owl mounts, and a host of magic items.

SWAG learned that Lukrimar Keep had fallen to the horde, and flew back to Sumberton to meet with Armin Harrack. On the way, SWAG rescued Teyana Suri, allowing her gold caravan to continue on to seek the aid of the Shining Axe Company of dwarven mercenaries in the northern dwarven lands.

Aiding refugees along the way, SWAG made a pit stop in Dondurran to find several thousand refugees trapped in the town by the elite guard of Sumberton's Lord Carstellan. SWAG tried to persaude the guard to let the refugees past, but the guard insisted it must follow its orders. SWAG uncovered a spider-woman spy in town and killed her, and then continued swiftly to Sumberton.

In Sumberton, SWAG met with Armin Harrack, who pledged to break the Carstellan blockade of Dondurran. He also said that he had called a town council meeting but that it had been delayed by the arrest of the halfling leader of the merchant guild. He urged patience until the council meets. Ebon Cabal bard Naryalla also contacted SWAG, prodding them to end their strict adherence to law and order and expose Thrann Carstellan as a lycanthrope agent of the Red Hand.

SWAG investigated the merchant guild, breaking in and finding signs of a struggle but no clue as to the whereabouts of its leader. As the Red Hand Horde moved toward Dondurran in the first week of Wealsun, SWAG pondered its next move.