Our cast of characters...
Dracon, human initiate of obad hai & beastmaster of the Wegwier;
Kalik, halfling initiate of Avoreen;
Milik, halfling sorcerer;
Kendradell, female half-elf bard & initiate of Lydia;
Murray, human wizard;
Nikolai, suloise human initiate of Lendor;
Sabian, gnome thief;
Marcus, half-elf (oerid/high) initiate of Hieroneous (Rel Mord)
and finally;
Tarqualan, high elf mystic (Vesve Forest)
[21st of Planting, 577]
We rejoined our band in Perrenland, where they had journied seeking more information on Tsojcanth, Iggwilv, and the ruins of a ziggraut somewhere in the mountains nearby. Shortly after their arrival, Kaganost, while looking at the snow capped mountains and remembering the winter snows, elected to return south alone, and damn the consequences.
While saddened by their friend's departure, the party soon located a knowledgeable mountain guide, a dwarf by the name of Flemin Roackabee, who also happened to be the uncle of the guide who had been hired by Ka'antos, Flavius, and their companions a month before. On the night before they were due to depart for the mountains, a high elf who gave his name as Baronet Tarqualan of the Vesve introduced himself to them, seeking to join with them. It seemed that the masked party they sought had recently passed through the elven lands ruled by his father, and were wanted for a variety of crimes against nature, property, and elven life...
And so the next morning (1st of Flocktime) the newly reinforced group set out for the Yatils, and soon passed between the Clatspurs and reached a trail that led into the interior of the southern part of the range. Following the trail markings blazed by Flemin's nephew, the group made good time, though on their second night they were ambushed by a pack of wolves led by a werewolf; most of the wolves fled the battle, however, as they were not quite hungry enough to die for their meal (the werewolf was not so fortunate, receiving special attention from Marcus' enchanted axe).
The next day found them facing a fork in the trail ahead, and the marks indicated that Ka'antos' party had indeed followed it. Several hours later the party narrowly detected a small group of trolls lying in ambush on the trail ahead, though Sabian's attempt at determining the exact nature of their assailants nearly cost him his life. Once defeated, the trolls small lair revealed a large sack stuffed with hides, misc. equipment, several gems and a dagger. Further evaluation of the booty revealed that the dagger and two of the gems were magical in nature, and these were quickly farmed out among the group.
Eventually they reached the end of the trail they were following, where lie a large cave with several blackened corpses lying outside, and even more within. It would seem that the group they were trailing had made short work of the main troll lair, and had moved on...
Once they had backtracked to the original fork, they began to see fewer and fewer of Flemin's nephew's trail marks, indicating that he was likely not being permitted to leave them as often as he would like. Other forks in the trail showed signs of having been carefully swept of tracks, forcing the group to explore in a somewhat haphazard fashion.
Eventually the party entered a large valley, and were stopped by a pair of gnome sentries. In the distance, signs of a small community could be seen...
... and so ends another night...
[8th of Flocktime, 577]