“Wounded coming through!” Joseph Pope hollered to the guards outside the main doors.

Grimwardens men scrambled to ope the heavy stone door a little wider as he helped the blinded Lucious through them and into the sunlit docks area. Behind them Felix led Termerian stumbling and shaking from the magic drain on his system into the arms of another of the mercenary band.

When the two mages had been led to the ruined tower the rest of the band had set up as a base. Grimwarden pulled Joseph aside. “Ok recruit, what happened in there? Did you get the last target? Where are the others, and who the hell is the blind guy!”

Joseph shook his head, it was not like he wasn’t tired or nothing: But the dwarf wasn’t going to stop till he had an answer so he straightened himself as best he could and put on his most winning smile:

“Yes. No idea they were right behind us. He was trapped in there and helped us out. Last thing Dark Odo conjured hurt his eyes I think. I could use a beer right now, as well boss.”

Grimwarden blinked. Maybe unused to what he considered a wet behind the ears newbie talking back to him so bluntly. The the dwarfs craggy face cracked a smile. With a thump on the back that nearly made Joseph sprawl on the floor he grinned at the man. “oh course ye do! right come sit with me and fill me in. You got the main mark that’s the main thing indeed!” Drawing Joseph to his spot by the fire he grabbed a couple of guards. “You two take a peek back inside see if you can round up the stragglers. Got it!?”

A few minutes later the strangely ebullient dwarf handed Joseph a leather travel tankard of cheap ale. “Right tell me every thing, you got proof of her death I take it?”

Joseph nodded as he drank the brew down.

“Good fetch it out and I’ll show ye a little trick we were given” Unrolling an ornate looking vellum scroll he read the names “Dark Odo” and “Vivlock the foul” aloud over the grisly trophies. As he spoke their names an ethereal voice echoed from the scroll. “Deceased! Justice served”

“Master Zathabar gave me that to verify things and so we can collect our bounty from whatever local authority that recognises the kings warrant is in where we are.” he explained. “Now fill me in, between sips o course!”

Dutifully Joseph retold the scout teams adventures including the final take down of the rogue apprentice mage and her creatures. Nodding Grimawrden seemed pleased.

“Not bad both targets down fer only one loss of our own, though a couple of the lads out here got a scratch or two as well. Shame about Arvid, but so it goes in this game. You think that dark sorcerer would sign on for a bit to replace ‘im?”

Joseph thought it over. He wasn’t sure that would be a good thing judging by the mans unpredictable nature but instead he just nodded. “I don’t know how much use he’d be right now I think the thing at the end got his sight.”

Grimwarden just smiled. “Ah well thats not too much of an issue. I expect I c’n heal that with a bit o prayer though I’ve a mind to let Phaedra have a crack at it first as she’s late coming back. I’m thinking we may need more magical back up as I see the elf’s gone and done for himself!” he said with a laugh.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh I seen that look before in spell casters, tap your own life energies too hard and too fast for their unholy arts and it leaves you weak as a kitten for days. I was planning on a week or so’s R’n’R when we get back to NewSandport but I suspect even with that Tem may be needing to take a back seat a while longer by the look of him? We’ll see.”

As I mentioned as an aside the other night, I was fully intending to grant you all a weeks down time to justify training/healing/examining treasure etc. Temerian does have severe spell burn and probably wont be 100% after a week. So as Dave & Matt suggested they might want to take alternate characters out for a spin this seems like a good way of putting Tem/Felix or anyone onto the reserve list for a session or two as you wish. Just bear in mind that secondary characters will be a shade behind principles in XP and that the adventure is based on the fact that the majority of you will be 2nd level. It may be you will be able to just level before you hit the main thread of the next arc but you cant count on that so I suggest no more than half of you change out characters.

About an hour had past and not much to report. A couple more of the vampire birds had flown in and now that we were expecting them got shot down before they could do any mischief. The look outs had seen signs of Lizard folks swimming in the bay but none had come up where we could see them. Still we were keeping an eye out just in case they massed for an attack or anything.

A few minutes later Arvid the clerk or some silly name came boiling out of the tunnel where he and a couple of the others had gone in to explore. I admit I had been nervous when the group had opted to split in two like they did. But I had my orders not to interfere just watch and see what became of them.

“Hey Arvid where are the others whats happening in there!” One of the watchmen called out; One Magee or something pretty good shot with a crossbow that’s all I remembered about him.

“No time to stop my friend” the man called as he ran up to the concealed door. We have found some body thats all I know I think we have one of the rogues we look for I tell you more later!” he cried as he wiggled into the tight secret space the Elf had discovered previously.

Damn I hated that! What the hell was going on in there? Why’d he come out alone? While I was thinking it over word came in from the squad i sent out to scout the area.

“What to report soldier?”

Well we found tracks in the softer ground outside the land path sir. Band of Orcs or something like it came this way less than a day ago.

That was  not good. “How many?” I asked

“Hard to say at least a score from the tracks, they were pretty small for Orcs buts how it looked to us.”

“Ok double the guard.” This was great the Lizaerd folks massing in the water and now there was a chance an Orc warband was inside already? Ye gods what next!

Instinctively I ducked and rolled away from the waters edge. Coming to a crouch I scanned the area. Two huge bird like creatures had dropped from the shadowy recesses of the grotto above us. One had swooped at me and was now circling back the Other had latched onto one of the men.

With an Oath and a cry of revulsion the fellow tore the thing from him and hurled it to the ground. Grotesquely its long snout writhed like an octopus’s tentacle and dripped the troopers blood. Vampire birds!

Chanting a simple spell of warding. I watched as the archers in the squad filled the air with shots at my assailant, two bolts took it down but the thing wouldnt die and instead flopped about the Wharf pathetically until another man finished it off.

The other took back to the skies, weather to escape or to have another swooping attack I couldn’t tell. In a moment it was full of bolts and splashed into the shallow waters of the bay.

I grimaced, that was unfortunate. “Good shooting all of you,” I called rejoining the men in the tower.. “But the blood in the water might stir up any Lizard folk I am thinking. So stay sharp archers. You see any of those scaly bastards shoot it, don’t wait for orders.”

“Got something over here!” called one of the two bowmen on the ruined coastward tower.

“What is it?”

“As I followed that stirge down I saw something in the wreck. Looks like its still full of cargo. I can see a metal box lying on top of the sunken deck.”

“Huh OK take two more and look into it. Far as I am concerned anything found is salvage. Take a careful look and drag anything worth having back to the tower.”

---

A tense half hour passed.

No sign of the Lizard folk, but the boys dragged a few salvageable items from the barge. Nearly lost one of them to some kind of giant freshwater leech that was using the rotting wood as its nest, but the haul was worth it. Nice gold cup and a few other nick nacks to go in the war chest.

Probably not the best idea to sell them off in Newsandport though. At a guess the “Lads” just pillaged the last funeral barge sent here after the attack… Still the dead don’t mind, just the fanatics of the local cult. “Eternal flame” my arse, call it what it is: A death cult. Lets hope the daredevils in squad one don’t try and flog anything off incautiously they loot from the Temple interior. I just know they’ll pocket some of what they find; only to be expected. Lets just hope they is discrete about it!

So landfall soon, and the real job of shaking these wastrels into something approaching real soldiers begins. This squad seems to be one of the most scrambled and dysfunctional of the lot. Why Zath insists on training up peasants and malcontents I shall never know. Its all well and good declaring that “All should have a chance to show their potential” when its not you that has to draw that potential out! Wizards and their patrons! Been sniffing the sulphur again I fear.

Still if they fail they are easily replaced I supposed. I may be surprised this time; perhaps!

The following day we all went about our business tracking down the first leads to bring these blaggards to their much deserved justice. It seems we were all sucessful to one degree or another. Master Pope managed to get some information from the city watch that our quarry indeed passed through these parts. They seem to have split up however but as I suspected at least one of them seems to still be in the local area though not within the Town precincts.

It appears that the Enchantress Dark Odo and her scarfaced accomplice Vivlok are lurking nearby. A rumor brought to us by Mistress Calistra seems to indicate this wizardess somehow obtained permission to explore the abandoned Holy Site of these sour faced folk some ways down the coast. She and her band of followers never returned, but interestingly a mysterious boatload of “hunters” has appeared in town every week to claim some of the Lizardman bounties and buy supplies shortly thereafter.

This is an encouraging start! That upstart woman should never have been taken under Master Zathabarius’s wing. Still she tried to use him an now vengeance comes from him. Such is the wheel of life! I would surmise that Odo and her surviving guards have established a robbers base in or near the ruined Temple vault. We shall see as we plan top explore it on the morrow.

To that end I have charted a fishing smack to sail us across the estuary to the ruin’s locale. Horses and other draft animals seem to be very short supply here indeed though I see master Temerian has located a few at least, perhaps we can purchase at least a cart horse and a wagon for our supplies after this foray?

Mercifully the bay was comparatively still as we made our way to the abandoned temple of the Sandlanders. I heard the captain of our vessel muttering some last minute advice to some of the novice troops and made sure I was able to hear the man:

“…Climb one o those towers..” he began “… light a lamp at the highest point and I’ll no to come an’ fetch ye. But I’ll not stay closer than a mile otherwise.”

Not suprising, these folk talk a good game but whenever the thought of fightng any of the Lizard people that despoiled thier home comes up they turn tail! No matter let them fish and farm perhaps later this would be a good place to establish a chapter house for the Band. Plenty of work gaurding and raiding the Lizards for them maybe. But for now we needed to make a good start to this mission.

“We’ll take care of that.” I stated flatly. The tower nearest the coastal edge seemed to be the most intact. I’d take second squad to secure that while first squad made a reconnaissance of the Temple. Besides I think I saw a land path leading up through the cliff to the coastal cliffs nearest that tower. If I was right we could cover both the Temple and any likely escape routes. It was probably what the towers builders had in mind in any case.

Squad one moved towards the most obvious feature of the Wharf. The large ornate doors set into the cliff face facing it. A few seemed to be checking out the small inlet on the coastal side as well. Not bad, but I noticed nobody had even set a watch on the most obvious (and therefore most suspect) entrance to the Temple: The large open doors to the left of us. Wearily I sent two men to check out each of the other  tower while the bulk of us headed to the the one by the passage down from the cliffs.

There was a wrecked funeral barge in one of the docking bays, partially submerged. It could have been a hiding place for Lizard folks to I bade my lookouts in the ruined tower to cover it with thier bows as well. That tower was half gone and unsafe so I wouldn’t risk more than a couple of the more nimble fellows to watch it.

The two intact towers were damp and full of storm wrack as might be expected, but otherwise empty and gave good cover. I got the men to gather anything that looked like it would make a fire – just in case we were hear overnight and then went to check on fist squad.

Naturally they had disappeared in to the Temple. Presumably they had picked a path and begun their exploration. I saw what appeared to be a secret panel popped out of the still sealed central door lieing on the ground beside it. Well spotted I thought as I turned back towards our camp.

“Above you!” Came the call from one of the watchmen….