fey : ~ RETHLONDAR 5 Ir Welcowa to Rythlondar, Your first.task as-to cecure food dnd lodgin “auring your etey; | If your plrse-te:rather°ticht, there are frep accotteds tions ayaileble, The! Gity..|.aton Will, pravide free -roon ond ‘board to ‘ fightingwon who” join fateh, ronastery will rrovide lodging to trencdentsolerier, snd the Sorcter ts’ Guild si2i. house dtdhorent matie~ , users, In netutn for thodr-rencroeity ,| hoyever, esch eetadlivanent requires that you perfor servicer for tiem for_one full jou on elteras.te weeks. That dn, one week of work, then) one week on your om, thon snotier Weel Of work, ‘and so on, Other lodringe are evodlable in tae inne und boarding-pouses, according jto your tate und the veivut of ‘your purse You nay even wish to purehace a recidpnoe of your o:n, \ eM the City Council slso inyoses tax uvon 211. 4nhabitents at the start | Niet every weck, thd tdy tote vtendeternined by your-status, being ict the ‘rete. of Ji} pt your expprience points. You sivet “pay, the tax even if-you ‘are‘Receivinr free room dndloard,, \Fadlure to tax when due\is.4’ violation bf the Bane, /and wil: ‘tho Uatoh to arrest you on sicht, Tiale are,cenerally ohly neld) tol deterring ‘ghe! Pindotment,)and have bdop. yeported worse then the pundehmenton occhbion.Thore is painful exploynent available to Bvoi2” euch a-fate, or-shovid one-not wish ‘to risk the hazards of treacurentisktingse= =» rei) eect ess x Rytillondar ie/teeated. 12.0 province -o! ‘Jarguin’jiver te tae ite. ito thé taste lygteh and fortuftoue isolations [the lands of ‘ lgecuritycand civilization ccovito, the -sorjaral\ collapse of ithe old jupire dnto averchy following the) Caste. Wares a, ian Lat | * |.Acrese the flakeudh Bridke-td tie nortaddeo >the Ryth ferry to fhe wild Jends across thewyth. The old elnak road uns worth.te murky Fenyerchy., Mbefe few tidn travel thede: dayé,,. Pac Rit gid Leads cast elong be. - Jarguin tothe hich; pass “it the. nt r Loo! theyroad Jie the ruine ti gp-1on: a than’) at x aban fand-rovergul But few dare ve 21615, Rermen — Gt. Olnir Shorea, ME 18080 | > Recnes: Shey pe TER, Vrtgot otage bay. . oFNOTICE Eton } rie INIFRESTED IN PARTICTEATING 1H) A DRAGONS “AND, Dunc 208s cava rs ‘JPM an cngoing game using the’ Drigens, and’ Bujgeons rolt arcao. The rules devised by the gant's déeigners ‘be a ieiaves pretty closely, yith only minor changes. . They, are sunseee to ré-interpretation ws the. campaign. progres= see. of ¥ At’ present there are Eyo CHIGi John YanDoCraaf” and Leh Scenery.” ating in designing @ large-wilderness area,.a dual-toim, and tvo. completely seperete Gungeon complexes, Tho first expedition will take place’ within Eyo vecks from today, all interested players arc welcome. In the, futuro; ve plan to hold regular.mect ings, fat loact overy thret/weckss! A campaign'time-scale is’ being Worked out, and*all. ckkar~ actors vill operate:within tt. "xperfence polnts: g ned Ly gohn' i over to Len's and vice~vers: “Tn order to get the campalenjoff to. Good starty we are asking. thie aio wha vents to participate do the necessary. dice rolling co determine thel® pla istics today. Either John or, Len will b¢, aval leble 61} daylong t: y eration, and explain it to those who are still Graaf-and Paul Wood... Published infrequently, copies cost 30¢ per issue (except this one which wetre only charging 25¢ for to current subscribers). To subscribe, seni any amount of $ to John Van De Graaf, 37343 Glenbrook, Mt. Clemens, MI 46043, and issuos will te debited against your account as published. Printed with care by Yggdrasill itself, ei Rditor-in-chief: Gragorn of the Lover Depths, Inspiration credit: the White Toad from Monty Python (What! No Holy Hard Grenade?! Art Director: the Invisible BlessarAN INDEX OF ADVENTURERS ALONG THE RIVER RYTH Pighting-mon: F-6 Noto (awf)..... Al Burkacki ..,,,, 12-10-10-1}-12-10 23 Fe6 Barnabas y..... Yom Barkacks 11... 17-11-10-10-15-14 3% F-6 Ragngr.Lodarok’ John Yan De Graaf 15-12-16- 7-12- 9 36 Fo6 Ben Gon .ss.se+ Stevo Walowist .., 11-13-1010 9 32 Re5 Athelfrar::., Barry Hynon . 16-14-13-16-12- 8 48 F-3. ZonkerIV.»4..5. BELL Thomas 11... 16-15-15 9-15 9 3. Rrvandva:(@vf) Kathy Wood . 17-12- 9-10-10-- 9 11 P-3, Hagbut cco... Jon Ansley . Weg = Bel2114 15 Fe2 Balderok sii... bob Archibald 16-15-15-11-11-12 8 Fe2 Ibb (anf)~s... deruy Kniag Qe11-12-14-11- 8 12 Fe2 Kassock,. Steve Hamilton ,,, 12-10- 8-13-1414 7 BQ Aviyel ste... Rick Loomis ...... 1511+ 9212- 7-12 7 Fel Orlok si. Drew Neumann ...,. 13- 5-1l~ 6-15-10 8 Fel Lancefron .,..4 Richard Orbain ... 10-11-10-10- 7-12 7 Fel Gamli (4wf)'. jy; Will Nedbling Ue Qell-13z1e12 8 Conbination fighters/nagion ral/i-4 wlessar(elf) Greg Decesate 13+11-10-12-1 -9 15 F-4/-2 Tinkerbell (pixie)Dennis Dauglistee 9-12-12-11- 9-8 20 Pel/ie-l Jabbar (e1f) Chuck Hostetler Thieves: 7-5 “Bellatane (hob) Eric Vansteel 1-3 Catcick ...... Pat Champion . 7-3 Alexa (delf)... Irene Ulnan , Glerics: C+? Pontizus of Zea. 6. “Benelux V 2-5, Horace SHE Tenis * tony Kniaz . Len Scensny . Russ Stambaugh Ray Ulman Fernando . Barry Bailey ss... Gal Jobns® Jeff Vansteel ..... G4: Ydol. the: Plas 4... Guy Hostetler i... G=3. Brother ‘Ping Mike Bartnikowskd., : -2 “Questor .. Greg Vansteel ..... G-2 Sermonet .. Sharlotte Neibling Al Schlishinger ... Paul Michaud .; Paul Wood, Bob Care: Greg Kniag’ ss. Taurie VandeCr Bob Karena , Dave Clayton Tin MoGraw John Ulnan + 10-11-10 8-25; + G12-1}-10-1412 8 + 10-10~ 9-12-15-12 9 12-16-10-9-14-8 4 13.14 d= Pale Za12-12 + QUr11-12~ 9 Le 9417- B 6-13 Q- GeMe11-12- 9, J JoLB-L1-18- Lee 5-15 512616 Jo10mL6rLle 7-16 9-12-1}-10-15-10 12- 6-1-1 8B Qo Qo P= B15 Pm Gel2W11-12- 9 12 Gell Be 3 Q-15- b= G11-14 B-13- 6- 1212 10-16-12; 9213210 10-16411-'12e36-11 16-17= 7= Su11=17 DIPLLR S24 9 12-1h- 126" Papa LOAM 7= 15-15 hannor 3, shia}s},sva+2 swordr2, armors swa+2, arnor4l,ahid+1 spears3 swdi1, shld.3, ring shield axes] swil, potion herol‘si, shield+l ne shield+2, potion, swd+3 potion dragon control spear+3, elven rope armors 5 ring of proti+] nace,2y, potion, map shield +3 nace+2(disruption) 20 ’ 22 18 19 15 wh Robe of Hyes, dag+l Seroll wand of cold scroll 8 potion‘THE CHRONICLE OF ACTIVITIES September 1, 2775 Waving rested and requippod from the 3 month journey ivio the eastern wilderness, a party of 12 once again visited the Weir to seek their fame and fortune, In tue party were the dwarf swashbuckler Noto, warrior Barnabas, heroes Regnor Lodbrok and Blessar the Elf, Conjurer Sondin, and the holy curate Fontifus of Zola and adopt Forace, with others. ‘they descended to the third @epth and found the entrance to Labyr's troacure. After entering the portal, they were led by Tontifue through the maze of corridors with scarcely @ wrong turn, fighting off the many seavengers frequenting the labyrinth, until they reached the secret treasure room, Therein they came upon two chests containing ore gold and silver than they could carry out. With the way they had cone barred, they used a cecret stairway fron the treasure room which took them to the th level. There they entered a room in which stood 4 block of black stone from which a sword kilt protruded. Soveral firhters tried to withdraw the sword to no avail, until mighty Barnabas drew it forth. As be aid so, 9 basilisk entered the roon. Fontifus managed to avoid ite evil glance, but in the melee which followed was struck twice and turned to stone! The basilisk itself was slain, and Barnabas discovered that he possessed the fabled Tingel, Svord of Slaying Monsters. ‘The party placed Pontifua's stone body upon the magic carpev, and found their way out of the Weir. Treasure value = 15,000 GP. Another party of 9’entered the northern end of the Weir and went down to the third level. In this group were théurgist Fazzlefart, ranger-guide Athelfrar, seer Kodiak, dwarf warrioress.Ervandra, and others. They met and killed a hydra and some zombies, but almost met their doom in a room filled with gargoyles. Athelfrar found @ manual of pilfering, and Fazzle charmed a superhero with & noutral sword of wishes. & shifting block confused their travels when they were chased by a fire-breathing hydra. Treasure was 2310 GP, four died. The now modius Charmen led 2 low-level group with many hirelings to the explored southwest rogions of the lst level of the Weir. They defeated 4 heroce, 3 magicicus, 5 ghouls 8 orcs, and a giant scorpion. They found 5000 GP, @ potion, an’ a scroll. Five members of the party died. Elsewhere; brave Benelux, curate of the Order of the Flaming Wheel, together with his loyal comrade Ben Gon, hero, returned into the eastern wilderness. hey hoped to find the Wizard Talkien in the hope that he would wieh Equinox back to life. They found their way back to the lonely mountain, and the Wizard agreed, if they would perform a hazardous mission to steal a staff trom the dread Gastle Chakor on the shores of Skull Lake. The Wizard let his apprentice go with then, and they chanced a thief on their journey. Unfortunately, they lost their way ond wandered the northern wastes in search of the castle, until finally they encountered 3 frost giants and could not escape. Benelux and Bon Gon were Killed, but the apprentice turned invioible and made his eacape back to the Wizard; thus their bodies were recovered and returned to Rythlonder for resurrection. The journey took 3 weeks, ed Denlux lost his entire treasure. September IT Pontifus was restored to flesh by the Sorcerer's Guild (in return for a substantial donation). The Tigh Lame of the Temple of Tynghod weleoued the Gurate back to hie luties, end told him that af the stone-flesh spells ever felled to rectore hia, he would be weleone tc join the statuary on the temple portico, It would certainly be a suitable place for veneration of the worthy Fontifus, and the pidgeone would enjoy having @ new terget. 3.September III (Week # 41) 41 unusual group of 7 adventurers explored the 4th level of the Weir. Lead= ing the group were -Athelfrar and Horace. ‘The eroup included Ragnor, Comin, and 3 adventurers who claimed ito be from another world, They killed 4 heroes, a spectre, and defeated the Gnoll King and hie licutenante. They located a freacure room, but were unable to bypass the transporter area guarding the chest, and discovered’a ceoret entrance into the rear of the Gnoll Hall, the King of the gnolls was forced to surrender, but tricked the croup into oparing his life for cone gens worth "lO GP, They fained a wand of magic detection and 1050 GP. September was a busy month for the Weir, as yet another group explored its third and fourth levels. This party was led by Pazzle, and contained olf-here Elessar, curate Pontifus (still a little rocky from his recent experience), Noto the dwarf, Barnabes (now a swordeman), Brother Bung, a new acolyte, and magio-users Sondin and Od. They first went to the Gargoyle Room and Illed all 8 of the evil creatures. Then they wandered the corridors and roons, killing a dieplacer beast, 7 ratmen, 2 burglars, 6 minotaurs, and 3 harpics, They also encountered 3 stone giants when they went dowa to the th level, but. cocaped without a battle. The party gained 6260 GP in treasure, and 2 sets of elven boots, which were given to Elessar and Brother Bung. Fer, far away, another party sought out the Isle of Michaud where rumors indicated the existence of ‘the Dungeons of Pall. In the party were medium Charmen, conjurer Kodiak, priest Johns, robber Bellabane, warrior Zonker, and other young adventurers, After entering the first level, the party was captured by the servants of sn ovil cleric, who sent them on a quest to the second level to retrieve a magic mace. ‘hey performed the task, killing 3 ogres, and befriended 2 high level magic-usere on their return to the cleric. When they returned, they decided to fight the cleric, routed his forces, and chased him through a transporter, Finding themselves lost on another section of the first level, the party wandering corridors of death until they eventually found the way out by resurrecting a long-dead lawful oloriec, the Great Labor, who indicated the route they hed to teke. They gained 8856 GP, a vand of cold (siven to Charon), the Amulet of Labor, a +2 mace of disruption, and a potion. Qotober I (Week # 43) A ctrong party made ite way to the dread confines of Castle Norbundus, long unvisited by the forces of Good. In the group wore the heroes Bleacar, Ragnor, and Ben Gon, veteran uaslett, bishop Fontifus, priest Johns, adept Ferdnand, thourgict Sondin, conjurer Clickham, seer Charmen, burglar Beljabane, and others. They went imeciately down to the unexplored 3rd level areas. There’ they came upon & prisoner chalued to a wall, whol they released as a companion of the party. iis name was S1 Jorvel, from Malden, a suall village far to the wset. He was captured while seskinc the enchanted waterfall and a certain aynph, Further wandering end encounters brought them to a door inscribed with the familiar nome of "SLOCUM", the demented magic sculptor. Belind the door was a corridor, in which sat @ harnless-sppearing white toad. he White Toad proved a worthy foe in a fierce battle (during which Elessar's boots went into a tap Gance at a most inorrortune monont, trapping wounded Ragnar alone with the Toad). After finally defeating the toad, the group entored the narrow corridor and followed it to a wizard~laked door. Unable to open the door, and ESP-ing Several fighting men and magic users on the other aide, the group went on to other areas of the third level. In another room they encountered two booilicke, who both looked right at Foutifus. As he turned to stone once again, old Fonty rued his irresistable charm for basilisk stares. ‘Then they made a brief foray to the 4th level, but were chased away by unlcindly ogre magi. Dofeated 3 giant snakes, an evil group of men, 5 gargoyles, 2 basilisks, an umber hulk, 4 dopple- gangers, and the White Toad, and gained 2000 GP in treasure. heThe Caverns of Rytiw 20d attracted another party, this of young adventurers; auorg the i} members of the party Were Kodiak, Brother Pung, Freebooter, Orlok, Jabber, Zouker, and Tinkerboll. They explored the 1st ievel, traversing muci. ground ‘previously eypiored, and lost 3 of their numtar, “uey defeated two gazgoyles, ueven giact toads, 2 swashbucklers, and four fsotpads, and gained 2460 G2 in treasure. The Weis, wan the target of the strongest exzedition yet fielded. Curate Renelux, thauzeturgist Pagzlefart, ranger Athelfrar, dvarf-swashbucker Noto, ewordeman Barnaoas, vicar Horace, medium Od end the veterans Ervandra and Kamor composed most of the 14 members of the party. Operating on the fourth level, they fought © shadows, 2 wyverns, and 2 black pudding, after being chased arcund by 2 determined flesh-golems, They alco tried to figure out tueane to the treasure in the stecl-walled transporter room, to no avail. A magaetic tap and the wyvern attcck disillusioned them, and they returned to the 3rd icvsl to drop in on Yidog, the evil cleric nemesia of Cybele. When they did so, however, they found themselves overmatched and were forced to surrender to Ylaeg! ‘Rather thon sacrafice thom to Vang, god of Evil’ Incarnate, as was hie usual. vont, Yidog healed their wounds so thst he could send them upon a Quest against Samactar, the Evil High Priest of Mu'Tacoim, the Evil Twin, whose temple lay in th> northern ‘ildernecs clong the River Templar. Then, with a horrible curse Yidog sot them free to perform yin devilish schene,+++ Detober II (Week # 44) Fagzlefart, ‘thes?sar, and company returned to Rythlondar in woeful anguish. The quest set’ upon thom by beastly Yidog seemed impossible to carry ovt, and their prid2 was charrino’ at their defeat by evil forces and at their servitude to an evi Will. ‘jickly they hurried to the dwelling of the neutral fighter why held their sword of wishes. An unknown number of wishes had they left: one wieh hed bean used vo determine the nature of the sword, another had been used to raise Fazzlefart fro: theurgist to tharnaturgist. Was another Wish left to them cf their Quest? The party srent the night preparing the proper language of the wish, ord at dai th following day, the wish was made that Samarkar-be feuné dea? vith his amulet at Yidog's doorstep and that the Quset be fuliilice. The ewort glowed, sud a heavy Lurden lifted from their hearts. The Quest vas done, and they were freed of Yidog's influence! Vowing vengeance upon ii, the menbers of the narty retired to their lodgings for needed rest. October i2T (Weck # 45) ‘A perty of 10 revurued to jorbundus deterained to explore the 4th level. In the party vers suashbuci-lere Tote and Ragnor, heroes Barnabas and Eleasar, ranger-guide Athelfrar, vateran Void, the holy bishop Pontifus (flesh and bones once again!), good viear Horace, theurgist Sondin, and conjurer Charmen, Using a trick staitway/elide from the’ second level, they swiftly arrived upon the fourth level. There they explored the mamy corridors, killing some scavengers and thieves, until they Sinaily came upon a large group of fighters and magio- users. A decperate etrurgle eneue?, chicily the power of the enemy sleep wends against Chars's wand of colé. At battle's end, Recror, Woto, Fontifus and others vere scund eslecp. ba the hostile group was frozen and cut to pioces, exploriag, and the thrill of being chased by a vareucue purple worm, led the .-cty to males their exit with 17,590 GP in treasure. To the sorth, view Johns, scajzrer Clickham, warrior Zonker and veteran Agelett were part o. a 12 man oxpedi tion inte the Caverns of Rythwood, They defeated gargoyles, skeletone, thieves, spiders and magic-users in their wanderings, losing only iwo of their party, and departed with 3311 GP.A group of 12 entcre” the Weir, led by Faszlefart, medium 04, and acolyte danas, but alvo inclezet ruch etalvarte a6 the noble curate Benélux, hero Ben Gon, pixie-swordeman Wincerbell, theurgist Kodiak, adopt Turdnand, and dwarf~ {eteran E-vandra. They explored a little on the 2nd leve?, but steadily mado their wey to the man*ichore chambor discovered by a previous expedition, In S Well-planneé attack, (he mantichores were bound by Pasile's veb, then stabbed with spears and blasted by a lightning-bolt, As they searched the littered ghanber folloving the destruction of the beaste, they discovered a secret door. Behind the door sas a sell room with. muraled walle and Zour cheete, ‘The chests vere identical i. form, but were inlaid with iron, copper, silver, and gold fron jett to right. a: inseription was found relating that they had come upon the lesser treasure of Flsicon, and that any attempt to open any cheat but the Proper one vould curse them all. ‘The proper chest could be discovered by answering the riddle "What do a pationt aseascin and a sleeping glutton have in comme?! The group puzzled long hours well into tho night in search of the gnower fe he riddle, At last, they thought they had the answer and opened one of the chests. ‘the room misted and then cleared, revealing a trove of geld and precious geus fer beyond their dreams -- a well-oarned reward for their labors, amounting in totel to 162,170 GP value. November I (Week # 47) Newe of the groat tres ure soread quickly ihroagh the taverns, wharves, and fleshpota of Rythlondar, nd other parties formed to enek nore fabled wealth beneath the Weir. The 1irst to organize and descend was a 9 man group composed Gf ewashbucklors Neve, Barnabus, and Ben Gon, elf-hevo Elessar, bishop Pontifus, Brother Bung, and magic-users Kodiak and Sondin, accoupanied by priest Ferdnand: ghey went to untravelied corridors of the 4th level, there defeating a salamander, 2 cockatriz:s, and sone evil men. Eventually they stumbled upon the lair of Black draiicn, which trey surprised end surrounded. Barnabas! nighty sword Tingel giowed redly in the presence of the chaotic beast, and truck hone on the first swing, varalyzing it and rendering it helpless prey for the men's weapons. Of the ‘wsgon‘s hoard, the group could only carry out 180,720 GP of gold, gemr, end jouelry. Another party ‘cllowed the well-worn path to the Weir soon after, This group wap composed of pathfinder Athelfrar, swashbuckler Ragnor, pisie-hero qinkerbell, dvarf—warriorecs Ervandra, warrior Vold, bishop Benelux, vicar Horace, macician Farcle, theurgist Charmon, and conjurer 04, among others, Having heard tales fron Athelfrar and Horace of the gnolle gold on the 3d Level, Fazrle Jed then wo tho great anteroom, whence they fought their way with wanton ue. vi tne wand of cold to the pnoll treaeure, dispatching 45 faolls who were unwary cnengh to attempt to stop them. The gnell troacure being sonaviiat niggardly for their taste, the group left by ihe narrow reur Stairway to the 4th level. Despite the misfortune of finding the magnetic frap shifted into their corridor, the p.rty continued to explore and defeated a chimera. ‘their search of the Chimora's chamber was interrupted by the aprroacl''of footsteps. An evil rroup of 2 enchanters and 3 evashbucklers (aekei, but were defeated, The group left wita 16,570 GP, a ring of protection (given to Beneluz), a Robe of Bye (given to Fazsle), a potion anda ecroll, November IT (weet sf 48) Athelfrar returned from hie last oxpedition ready for a needed rest and & wisit to (uo Baths, He hurries through the busy etreots of Rythlondar, filled with jostling crowds come on Harket Day. Reaching his snall apartment, Athol- frar tokk off his backpack containing ail his worldly possessions as well as hisdiare of the expedition's profits. He spresd out the contents, and noticed an item missing! The small grey manual of Stealthy Pilfering had been pilfered right off his back! lis hand wont to his avord hilt, but his anger ebbed as he realized that even his ranger abilities couldn't track the thief in the busy streets. And the munual iteelf was surely gone now, with a more adept thief.November III (Week # 49) Ragnor Lodbrok, still seeking to share in sone large treasure, organized a strong group to explore the untrod paths of the 5th level of Castle “nrbundus. In his party were Noto, Barnabas, Sléssar, Ibb, Pontifus, Janus, Sondin, charnen, Funblefingers, and a superhero previously charmed by Ragnor's sword, Quicksilver, To the 4th level they went, passing through the room filled with a murky pond (and discovering that a causeway appeared to allow passage at random intervals), to the spiral stairway beyond, On the fifth level, they were attacked by three salamanders, which they promptly dispatched. Further roaming brought then to two stairways down, which they wisely declined to take, and then to a room guarded by a Balrog. The Balrog was overcone with only the death of the charmed superhero, A treasure room was found at the end of a passageway off of the room, wherein Fumblefingers was crushed by a deadfall, The group set off into new corridors, finally coming to a door only passable by lawful persons. In the rooms behind the lawful door was a wizard. While conversing with the wizard, a group of unlawful superheros came down the corridor outside, so the party attacked ani clew then after a long and bloody battle. - Inspection of ‘the bodies of the euperheros revealed 4 magic shields and two suits of magic arnor; Having received many wounds as well as adequate treasure, tHe expedition returned to Roilgard with 39,000 GP in treasure and their fine new magic armor. Meanwhile Fazzle was eager to try out His new robe ob eyes, so he gathered Theurg- ist Od, Athelfrar, BenGon, Ervandrra, Ydol the Pious, Jabbar the elf and his charméd. superhero, Ivan the Flail, and set off to explore new regions of the Weir, ‘Thoy loft the tower steiroase at the ‘ith lovel and followed a long, twisting corridor until at last they came to a door, Passing through the door, they noticed that it disappeared dehind them and that an inscription on the floor said they were now on the fifth level. They tried one corridor to get back to known areas, but a multitude of pits and a staircase down convinced then to abandon that passage, They tried another, but encountered a group of 6 trolls out for a stroll, and so they tried the third corridor, That path led them into an 8 aided room of huge proportions, in which stood a 30° statute of a nearly naked warrior. 4s they entered, the statue uttered a strange riddle, which they noted for later examination. Bach door in the room was inscribed with a'Runo, Faesle quickly noted tho Runes on a sheet of parchment and used a Read Magic, but found the markings not particularly helpful. ‘Two thieves entered the roon from another direction, and the statue offered to answer one question for them, The thieves, however, ran at the oight of the party before asking their question, Pazzle decided that maybe if he came in that door, the statue would answer a question for hin, Upon trying it, though, the statue nerely uttered another etrange riddle. Undaunted, Fazzle tried it once more, and swiftly the statue tock one step and hit Athelfrar with its great sword, The glancing blow did only 11 points of damage, but Fazzle decided that a hasty retreat was fn order. Further wandering brought then face-to-face with a friendly lanmasu, who was good enough to give handy directions to get back to the 4th level. Passing once again through the statue's room, they warily passed ty a wizard and his minions, then found a stairway up. ‘As happily they ascended the stairs, their joy was out ehort by the sound of nonstora in the corridor above. Quickly dousing their lantern, they hoped the beasts Would pass by, but hardly had they done s0 when the nonsters turned down the staircase, probably sensing prey near at hand, With loathsome footsteps descending, 04 franticly rolit the lantern, revealing unber hulls! Confusion! The entire front rank of fighters, Athelfrar, Ervaniiva, and Ivan turned and started beating on poor Jabbar behind them, Fortunately, Athelfrar and Ivan soon regained their senses ani finally killed the Loathsone monsters, but their bloody wounds bore witness to the fierceness of the struggle. The party continued to the top of the stairs, went a short Qistance, and recognized the area as the 3rd level, Sone further vardoring, they thon ‘returned to the fourth level whore they had bogun and started exploring roons. » Behind a secret door, ‘Ervanire heard: the click-click of knitting kneedles, Grandmothers in the Weir? ‘They knocked on the door, ani a sweet old voice bid'them enter, Thoy did. The two chayiled figures knitting on the far side turned to“greet them, dropping their shawls afron their heads to reveal the petrifying visages of 2 Medusae! Instantly, the shock tuzned Od, Jabbar, Atholfrar, BenGon, and Ydol the Pious to solid stone. The remaining“aninate nenbers of the group swiftly killed the evil sisters, and located a substantial tredmire of gold, gems, and magic, Reduced in number from nine to only 4, the parly then left, They had 14,000 GP, 2 seroll’s, 2 potions, and a bag of holding. November IV (Weak #50) A nission of nercy nas sent to recover the stone figures so récéntly ‘renouned adventurers in Rythlondar,” With the aid of the flying carpet, they were swiftly returned to the city, and taken to the High Wizard of the Sorcerer's Giild, ‘The price was'high, but’affordable and willingly paid, Several days of gréat sorcery Followed, as each of them was returned to flesh and survived the ordeal, December I.(Week # 51) Anothez' expedition to the Weir was organized, this time a low level group which headed for the long-silent'halls of the Ist level. In the group were Brother Bung, * Balderol, Conus, the Great Dod, Questor, Alexa, Sormonet, and Aviyak (a fierce wartior from the far-off Buffalo-tribe), and a few others. The group of 12 explored sone uncharted regions, and emerged with only 3 dead, together with a‘goddly treasure. At the sane tine, another group of seasoned adventurers returtied’ to the: Weir, Noto and Barnabas led a party of 12, including Tinkerbell, Blessar, Benelux, Horace, Bellabane, Zonker, Kodiak, Sondin, Kassock, and Johns, Thdy went directly tothe stairway from the 4th level to deécend to the lower regions. ‘There they found a. snall cavern with a strean running through it, and noted the Stream was wedable and xan through‘ tunnels large enough to permit passage. They then Went to other roons nearby, defesting'7 minotaurs and 2-invisible stalkers. Théh they returned to the cavern, ané vegan to Wade upstream, 'The-first tunnel branching off led to a large Pond, appaveritly non-nagical, Tinkerbell flew actoss the bond to scout ahead, and reported a swampy, tree-filled cavern beyond, Thoy decided not to investigate, and returned to the strean, Further upetream they came upon a small beach. As they explored the back’'cock wall"of the bsach, noting the paseages therefron, thay were alerted by'a lazgo opleching sound approaching from downstream, A giant slug appeared, spitting aid erratically, and was ‘promptly sizzled by 2 lightning bolts fron the ragicians, Having gained adequate treasure already, and‘having used their nost potent’ spells, the group returned to the surface, | Over in-Rotlgard, Fagzle, Raghor, Charmen, and Fernando decided to pool their talents (and especially their flying carpet and.bag of holding) for a .lightining sortie into Morbunins to loot a: large cache of gold found. previously, Fazzle trotted down the stairs and-corridors while the. other 3 rode the.carpet, Reaching their dostination.on the ith level, they ‘barred the, doors with spells and loaded as mach. gold as they-could into their bag of holding and:the,saddlebags. Fazzle then poly- morphed hinself into a unicorn and bore the saddlebags, .When they reached the slide up to the 2nd level, charnen-cast ‘a Fly spell-upon the Fazzle~unicorn. and Knocked the few portals.in their. path as they ‘sped.to:the surface. ‘This ends the first year of campaigning along the Fyth valley, As the adventurers rejoice the winter solstice in-the taverns and bavdyhouses, it is rumored that a large party is forming to. venture into-the western wilderness, Ragnor has been observed frequenting the lodging of Anjorel, the:man he rescued fron slavery in the depths of, Morbundus, and Zonkor has teen inquiring at inne and taverns for information on the direction of North Malden; Could it be.that they will seek the Pnchanted Waterfall and the nymph of mysterious: povexs? -And in fythlondar, visitors: to the shrine of the Planing Wheel report that Benelux’ ieclesing the shrine, for Fobruary and Narch, and that he has acquired a light horse and has. converted his gold into gems. Can it be true that-he plans.to ride alone into,the wilderness to, the.east, perhaps to once again seek out the Wizard ‘of the, Lonely Mountain? H 8‘THE CAVERNS OF RYTIWOOD ~ HISTORY ~contimued~ (Biitor's note: Due to *he ab“uction of the. person carrying the historical manuscript from the Cavers to our editorial offices, the next installment will not appear in this iesue. ‘It may not appear at all unless oa organized group ventures to the fourth Cavern level to free our researcher from his captors -- if he is still close to the place of his capture ani if he is still alive. that follows is the report-of a fellow adventurer who was the only one who wenaged to escape the trap laid for the ill-fated explorers.) Report by Jean-Claude Hoofmouth Having sponsored the successful retricval of several volumns of historical documents from the lower depths of the Caverns (a very condensed version of which was presented in the previous issue of the Ryth Chronicle), the Caverns of Rythwood Historical So- ciety decided to imediately outfit another excursion into those mysterious caves to seek additional documents of historical value. I wae among the firet party and, since We had been 60 auccessfl -~ having retrieved several books on the Caverns" early his~ tory ~~ We were all asked to try to repeat our triumphant adventure. Kany of the Party balked at this prespect. We had just returned, had taken no time for rest yet, and several of the group had no desire or courage left to try to tempt fate another time. The original adventure had been the first tine inte the caves for mary of the scholarly types that had gone along. Ap it turned out, the new party Wasn't organized for about to weeks anyway, since word had gotten out of the many terrore we had experionced on the firet trip and new recruits Were hard to find. Of the original group, only Meric Winkelhamuer ~~ a re~ searcher from the Society, and nephew to its President —~ and myself were among the 12 selected for the second one. I'm sure Meric was coorced by hia uncle, the influen- tial Geskor, but my reasons for going were purely monetary « We left Rythlondar on a dark and drizzly morning and travelled up the Ryth River by boat to the outpost at its head, where the Rythwood Forest meets the Northern Mountains. The river journey vas unoventful, but wo could all feel bad vibrations eminating from the outpost even before we docked at the landing. Me felt like turning around right there. But since the Society was paying us handgomely, and we would by looked down upon by the city's society if we backéd out now, we continued onward. : After we packed our equipment and supplies in our pre-arranged quarters at the out~ Post, we headed for a little refreshment at the only inn, the Purple Rat ~~ a not 60 eubtle play on the plague of ratmon that had infested the caves long ago, before the Order of the Red Crogs was formed fo wipe them out. Even while trying to enjoy our firet drink, we heard rumors that our previous adventure into the caves appeared to have stirred up anciont forces of evil, and that the once-thought dead caves were coming to life agein. (It was obvious they hadn't been with ue before.) News had spread that several local inhabitants had seen large rate -- in the shape and size of mon =~ ih the area. A few locals had even been kidnapped, as had been done in olden times, when the ratmen stormed out of the caves and grabbed off farmers and their families for sacrifices. Needless to say, we became even more apprehensive about entering the caves, but we resolved to do our best — epurred on by more than a few courage-booeting ales. ‘| The next day Was oven more dresry, but we packed our gear and headed up into the tountains anyway. Since we had several excellent fighters among us, we managed to avoid any seriots trouble in the upper levels of the caves. But had we known what Was waiting for us, we might never have gone at all. It is fill hard to tell how doep we actually were, but I know we walked mary miles of underground caverns that day. While crossing the. bridge to a wide chasm near our objective, ratmen poured out from behind rooks and crevices and captured our whole party. In the melee, all but Meric (who had picked up a few manuscripts we had left behind on our hasty retreat from the previous expedition) and I were killed or seriously wounded. We were escor- ted to the 4th level, to the dwolling of an Bvil High Priest, where we were subso- quently tortured -~ and where I accomplished uy escapo. I fear for poor Meric, but T @leo fear I have to once again descond to the Caverns to try to find him. =9-NOWS, RUMORS, LEGENDS, AND OTHER STRANGE THINGS "i Puzzle of the Month: When you find in the dungeons ¢ 2° *tatherduster ‘inseribed with the rune for "fire", to determine ite function you si! a) Gather your friends around you ina tight circle, sit on top of the featherduster, and yell "FIRE!" » Convince your woust eneny to do (a). ¢) Give it to the charwonan for cleaning the hearth. (Anyone mowing the answer to this should send his answer to Paull Michaud. Whoever guesses the correct answer gets a free trip in his dungeon!) Yortiner, noted Mester Scribe and Cartographer, is reported to be compiling an accurate and revealing set of maps to the labyrinthine passages of the Weir, so. to aid those of the True Faith in their wanderings through the evil depths. He has Posted notice that those who send hin their maps, with traps and monsters noted, will recievé a copy of his extensive map. He can be reached through Barry Bynon, 30 Saw Mill Ct., Mtn, View, CA 94040, A great multitude of mourners turned out for the funeral of Noto, late dwarf nyrnidon, Services were held at the burial site in the White Mountains, near the waxf city of Kal-Kaban, Lacking Noto's actual body, an effigy had to be placed in his sepulcher, His epitaph reads: “In memory of Noto, dwarven son of the White Nount- aing; he talied too high," Tt will. long be recalled that the nymph of the enchanted Waterfall destoyed him instead of granting his last wish that "there be no limit on how high I can go.” His friends speculate that even iad his wish been granted, he probably would be on the 4th plane of heaven by now and rapidly ascending to the 5th and higher planes of outer space. Rumors ieve reached Tythlondar down the banks of the Ryth that Sanarlar, Evil High Priest of Mu-Tassin, has aysteriously disappeared from his temple, and it is said that soon thereafter @ new High Priest arrived to assune the evil seat of power, liven more disturbing are the whispers that the temple has been rededicated to the worship of Vang, the god of Bvil Incarnate and Father of Demons, High clerics of the Temple of Tynghod suspect that this fell misfortune may have been the work of the Denon hinself to augment the strength of his foul worshippers, John Van De Graaf 37343_ Glenbrook it. Clemens, MI 48043 FIRST CLASS MATL FIRST CLASS MATLMo, V March, 1976 ‘The Ryth Chronicle is the tale cf aiyontures in the nany dungeons and wildernesses along the River Iyth, It is mibliched Khenever sufficient materiol in ac ara ecets 30% por issue. ALL back issues are out of print dus t Geaand, but oocesionaliy there are Xszox coni Published within a month since thers Soryright 1976 by Jcha Van De Graaf ant Paul Veud, Issues aut s: vtiona can be obtained fron John Van De Graaf, 37343 Glenbrook, Mt, Clemens, Hi 460‘), ‘The Moot of Evil = by John Van De ¢ (Tt has cone to the attention of ye sorivenors that there be a vooful ignorance concerning the vantheon of ghods Who nanipulate the Affairs of creatures upon this Urth. Indeaé, it is even whispered thet: sone clerics of High Station cernst recite the Conpsss of the Ghods or the Liturgy of Gigos the Oanipotent, ‘Therefore ye acribes hozewith Present an exclusive report of the Untoly Hoot of Evil recently held at the ghodhone cf Parbnik, the Grey Chad of Shadows and patron ghod of thieves and assassins it be hoped that this be instructive of the nanes of the major gids and imPurt sone Knowledge of the ways of the Evil Ques.) ‘Taerbnik entered the alcove high on tho chamber wall and wrapped hinsolf in Shadows, He peered. the chambor at the tableaux before hin, and a faint smile curled the comners of his lips. "A stroke of, good fortune," ho thought, "that the fiyil Lords should hold a noot and thet I should be the host... thoush verily they had no cholce since I alone would give them entry, ani in mutual distrust some noutral ground was required. Perhaps ‘ny ears will now reward my generosity with sone clue to gain or profit..." Texbnik studied the chanber bolow. In the center were three seated fig ures, aroun then were seven flickering braziers half the distance to the sparvling, gen-encrusted walls, and between the braziers and the walls was a fantastic collection of statuary and priceless artifacts dishonestly gathered through the ages. On this cocasion, however, Tarbuik took no notice of the beauty of his plunder, for the Evil Ones required his full attention, MasTassin, the Wioked Twin, base ghod of treachery and deceit, had summoned this Root, Tis snako-like body was coiled on a velvot curhion, loaving the tip of his sharp taii froo to spear the Diack apples from tho basket at his sido. Emib, Prince of Dariness and Ruler of kine Unliving, sat stiffly on the ivory ‘throne to Mhi~Tasein’s left, Enulb had riddon his Black stéed from his ghodhone on the Fale Noon as It set upon the Urtn, ‘methodically leaving a trail of dosth ind pestilence to mark each hoofprint. “ yn Nanul the Merciless, the inpotuous ‘and often unpredictable ghod of the molten Tock, vas the first to turn the conversation to the matter at hand, "Enough chatter! You asked ue here to discuss a matter of gredt import, or so you said, Let us hear At and be done =- I like not thoso drafty dvellings in the air." "The matter is of great consequence," cane the sibilant voice of Mi-Tassin, “Not ong ago one of ny Iligh Priests was destroyed, an unimportant loss in itself. It is said, hottever, that the deod was dene by the Will cf Vang, and the temple has been occupied by those who clain to worship Vang." The montion of the nane of the Facolecs Ghod of Ghaos had a noticoable effect upon his Listeners: even Tarbnik hidden above stiffened involuntarily and glanced furtively around. "Could it be that he ~ it - has returned to this Plana of Urth, or oven his benon oftepeing in ite oteat? Has ‘tho prophesied tine arrived for the Last Battle of the Gaoas?" “ A short silence ensued, as Emulb pondered and Namul scowled and paced about, then Bmlb spoke in sepulchral tones "It seems unlikely that such.has-coze to pass, For the othor onens of Vang's return have not occurred, Ur is.still bound by the guard~ ing noons and Arn abil] guards ;the sun and holds it in its appointed pith,; Besides, Tt would care not for the affairs of Urth's creatures. Since Gigos first wrested thenany Planes of Heaven fron the Chaos, and gave Order and Substance to the worlds therein before retuning to Aveneg, Vang has bided its time in Darkness aveiting the tine to reclaim the Universe. His forces of entropy are still at work, but the tine bas not yet cone for him to emerge. It could be the work of his Demon offspring, so foolishly brought to Urth by men to destroy the old Empire, but the Demon has been silent many centuries. It nay have returned to the Void whence it came, but who would dare Summon it merely to inquire as to its whereabouts?" "Bah!" rumbled Namul, “Tell me the tonple's place and I will have done with it, Vang, Denon, or no, ‘The Urth will crack beneath it and its tomb shall be a shroud of cooling lava." “ait,” said Omlb, "I think we should first learn at whon or what we strike. I do not think it Vang or his Demon, being unlike them to do aught but destroy. Tt could be one of the lesser ghods, be there one so rash, seeking to augnent their Power in the vain hope that the nano of Vang will stay our interference, It could ‘be one of mankind itself seeking his own onds, and thus no dangor to us. Or... it could be one of us seeking to secretly upset cur balance of power." Yamil's eyes burned and his voice reeked of brimstone, "You look at ne with your accusations?! May Arn impale you on his golden sword and bore you for Sternity with his pious lectures!" Namil turned to MusTassim, swaying gently sidevays as if in agreenent with Emulb's conclusion, “And you, you cold-blooded earthworm, you called us here so that the tvo of you could conspire against mo! liay Ramitaar descond with his hundved-arned heroes of the Ked Moon to flay your inmortal scales and leave your undying flesh prey to the winds and vultures of Tynokias! Mu-Tassim warmed to the argumetit, and retorted “If so, let tho ghods make a clean sweep and Veluria of the Blue Hoon raise the ocoans of ition afainst you, to smother your feeble fires in steam end wash away your mountains into silt!" In the alcove high above, Tarbnik turned away and retired to his room as the argunent continued continued unabated. le mused upon what he had learned. Such convoluted trickery was unlike the openly evil Namil, Emulb certainly had the intelligence to lay such a scheme and the means to execute it; if so, then he had cleverly cast suspicion on Wamul. Trickery, however, was a specialty of Mu-Tessim, and Tarbnik wondered whether Mu~Tassin had called the moot seeking an answer or rev- elation as to the guilty hand, or whether the whole affair was part of sone nefarious Plan of his own, Perhaps the Demon had arisen/returned to bring discord and’ destr- uction to the Urth once again. Discord was indeed evident as a result of the strange events, but it was most likely the, work of one of the three. If not the work of the Evil Ones, who.clse? Tarbnik rejécted the idea that any of the good ghods, Arn the Innaculate, Veluria the Huntress of the Blue Moon, Bnion of tho Five oceans, or Rho-Tasoim, could have any part in this, Nor was it conceivable that the neutral. ghods would do.so.- Moonga , ancient font of.the powors of Magick vecked not the affairs of mon or ghods,. Ramitaar would hardly leave his Hall of Heroes on the Red Moon except for glorious battle. Bmuilb had posed the possibility that one of mankind night be responsible. At least that 4s easily checked, thought Tarbnik, for there be few. who would so dare the wrath of the ghods. ‘ ‘TaxbAik popdered long, but sam no profit in it at last. Verhaps blackmail, if the angwer .bé found quickly, or mischief to relieve the boredom of his days. The puzzle did intrigue his crafty mind, and he resolved to have the matter investigated when he awoke. ee NOTS’ FROM THT UNDERGROUND: With the above tale, the next player-cleric who says he knows nothing of the pan- ‘theon of gods (and lacks the imagination to make up his own patron deity) will be summarily punished -- probably by Enulb who enjoys that sort of work. The ‘referees will be using the Law/Chaos and Good/fyil distinctions pointed out. by Gary Gygax in Strategic Review #6. Be prepared to reorient your thinking: Lawful creatures can be good or evil as can Chaotic creatures. No player/character listing appears this issue due to lack of room, = JohnCHRONICLE OF ACTIVITIIS Potauary 2276: As the nonth of January ended, a host of xenowned adventurers’ gathered in the City of Rollgard, ‘Their purpose was to journey into the western wilderness in search of the nymph of the Tichauted Waterfall, At the sane time they offered to escort Anjorel, whom they hoa resoaed fron slavery in Castle Horbundus, to his renote home in North Malden, The merchants of Roilgard did a profitable business provisioning and equipping the large group, as did the tavern-keepers in whose establishments the adventurers sought any infornation available about the nymph or the way to North Halden, At the beginning of February, the expedition was ready to depart. Tho mombers were: mycnidon Barnabas elf hero/theurgist Ulessar © lama Pontifus nyrmidon Ragnar eutpurse Bellabane curate Janus nyzitidon Ben Gon enchanter Fazzle curate Horace aw? nyrmidon Noto enchanter Kodiak ‘curate Fernando pathfinder Athelfrar thaumatunge Charmen vicar Johns swordsman Zonker theurgist Oa adept Questor Warrior Balderol seer Solstice II Acconpanying the party was Anjorel, acting as guide, The group set cut north from Roilgard, following the road through the mountains beyond Castle Morbundus, As they entered the mountains, scarcely a days journey fron town, thoy net a group of lawful elves. The elves warned then of the evil land of BJorstremt which lay far to the north along this road. The expedition continued on ite way through the nountains and on the fourth day entered the "ndless Forest. Undaunted, they continued to follow the road, and at dusk on the fifth day a cleric ard his men approached the group. Sensing evil, ‘the groups magio-usors loosed their spells upon the cleric and the fighters charged the evil minions. The battle was quickly over and the evil group destroyed, with a email amount of loot gained, plus the horses and armor of the fallen foes. Two days later, ‘the party reached the northern edge of the forest, and met with 15 lawful gnones, with whom they spoke briefly before continuing their journey. At noon of the third day, the group espied a gigantic figure resting by the side of the road. Noting that the giant was exceptionally handsome and exceedingly large, ‘they approached cautiously despite the sbeoncé of amy ovil onanatione, the figure indeed proved to be one of the Titans. The Titan condescerided to converse with the group, telling them of his home in the northern nountains and sowie knowledge he had of the nymph they sought. Their suggestion that he join their éxpedition was naturally rejected, so the group bate him farewell and contimed their journey. North Malden was just another day's march. Anjorél was so’ elated ‘at, arriving hone that he refused to go further with the group. His days of slavery had cured him of adventuring. The party rested in the village for a day, trading the ‘captured horses and armor for additional provisions, and relaxing in the friendly taverns with open ears for information, The following day they set off due north across the Honeylode River into the open countryside beyond where no roads lay. After two days march, they reached a hilly region and observed mountains looning in the distance to the north. de they made camp, it wes decided that a reconaissance should te made, Ragnar unrolled the magic carpet, and they held a council to deternine tho should go, It was decided that Athelfrar was best suited, being toth'e ranger and being able to'take ‘the most damage in the event of nishap, At dawn Athelfrat. set off on the carpet. He flew only 20 miles, however, before obscrving a black, dick-like object spooding ‘towards hin fron the north, Not desiring an encounter With an enignatic eneny, Athel— frar tried to evade by flying into dense douds, but the disk relentlessly followed his every maneuver and slowly closed the distance between then. He then turned and flew directly back to his waiting ‘conpartions at top speed. ‘The party, neanwhile, seeing Athelfrar returning hotly pursued by the strange and ominous disk, quickly scattered Ante an open formation, As Athelfrar’lanted, thé magio-users threv 2 fireballs and a lightning bolt at the disk. ‘The mighty spells struck hone, but’ the hovering diskseemed unaffected as it descended with a slight waver upon the spot occupied by curate Janus, ‘Tho disk touched down and disappeared, along with Jamis and his magic armor! ‘The group was chagrined ani puzcled? what evil had befallen them, and what was Janus* fete? Holy Pontifus knelt in meditation and Commined with his ghode, thon arose and sadly announced that Janus was dead and could not be recovered, and that he had learned that the disk was not directed by any intelligence against which this loss cowld be avenged, The party resolved to avoid any further flying, and erected a onall cairn to mark the spot where Janus had met his doon, The naxt day they set out again, riding to the northeast around the Hills, and on the eve of the second day they enteréd a mountainous area with a stream running to the southwest. Their infornation indicated that they should follow this upstrean, so they followed its twisting course to the northeast. The next day 90 brigands attempted to anbush the party, but Fazzle's robe of eyes revealed thoir presence along the rocky ridge above the stream, Several arrows fell among the party, but two fireballs and an ice stern destroyed the briganis before the fighters could even reach them. During the following day, the group cane upon, and surpriced, 7 trolla wading in the river. Again, fireballs dispatched the evil creatures, though they survived long enough for ‘the fighters to at last enjoy a brief combat, ‘The next: day they came upon the snall pord whence the strean flowed, The path to the north lay through a narrow defile in the high ridgelins, so narrow ana treacherous that the party had to ride single file, Scarcely had they entered the defile,. when Athelfrar in the Lead encounted 3 basilisks coming towards him. Athélrar looked away in time, but his sturdy warhorse tured to stone at the eight of them, While Athelfrar ‘then fought tho loading basilisk, a nagic-user nounted the carpet ani ascended enovgh to use his lightning bolt upon the other two baciliske, With the aid of Barnabas and his sword Tingel, the basilisks were defeated without the loss or petrifaction of any fighters. Continuing on, the defile soon broadened into a valley. On the vestern Slopes looned a large castle. As tho group approached, a man in robes with many fell follwers accosted them and demanded a magic iten as a toll for pascage. It wan decided that the situation was unfavorable to attempt to force passege, so the robe of eyes was reluctantly handed over. ‘The robed nan seemed pleased, and becane quite talkative (though vary) and stated that the nyath lay just a few milos north of tho valley, and that he was one of her friends guarding the approaches to her pool. He said she had the Power of infinite wishes, tut that she was fickle, Half the time the wish would be granted, the other half of the time she would utterly and irrevokably deatroy the Person naling the wich, The highest members of the party realized that the risk vas Yoo great for then to chance, but it was decided to continue for the benefit of the jower nembers of the group. Besides, the toll for passage had elxeady been paid, The nyitgh was reached the following day, and she grested then and offered to let anyone make a Wish. Only five menbezs of the group elected to try a wish, First to try was Zonker, who wished for a rod of lordly might, The nymph vent into her trance, blinked once, and Zonker disappeared.’ Unintimidated, Solstice next wished that, his ancestor Equinox were alive again, and Solstice also vanished. Next questor Wished to de a patriarch, and found that his wish wan partially granted and that he wes now a Priest. Balderol then wished for 10 points to apply to his abilities, and then was Gismayed to loarn it would require another wish to apply the points to specific abil- ities. Balderol tried to apply the points and vanished, Finally Noto succumbed to temptation, being grieved of heart that he had progreseed to the linits of a dwarf, and Wished that thore be no limit to how high he could go. Speculation an the possible Zesults of the Wish's wording Proved moot as poor Voto disappeared with a last wave to his companions of many long adventures. Iastly, Questor, having tasted the only Success thus far, could not resist another wish, and asked that the bag of holding be filled with gens. Questor's luck had run out, though, and he too vanished. By now the Soore was 5 Persons Wishing and five persons gone, with no net wishes granted, so the renaining members decided to loave. As they left, the nymph muttored that the odds Were too good, and that she thought that one wish in three would be more reasonable!The luckless expedition returned to Roilgani, briefly stopping to defeat a chaotic Wigard and his umber hulks and loot his castle of the measly 10,000 GP treasure. ‘They encountered little else of note on their return journey, and reached the city near the end of March, Few desired to seek out the nymph again, and all looked forward to @ few days rest before once again descending into the more familiar dungeon areas, oe Over in Rythlondar in the early days of February, bishop Jenelux ‘saddled his ‘light horse, closed his chapel, and set off alone into the eastern wilderness, It is rumored that a:roc observed his Journey, and related that Benelux traveled swiftly to the Lonely Mountain where dwells the wizard Talkien and his faithful blue dragon Griselda, Benelux returned to Rythlondar, alive and well, at the end of February, hat transpir- ed during his journey is not known, but it is said that Bonelux's fortune is consider- ably smaller and that the worthy cleric now readily senses the presence of evil. March, 2776; With most of the experienced adventurers still off in the western wilderness, a group of young adventurers banded together for a visit to the Weir. In the group were the new paladin liagms, swordsnan Hagbut, dvarf~warrior Ib, Poindexter (another pala~ din), warrior Aiolph Aviyak, elf Xertel, the priest Bung, vicar Ydol, theurgists Clickham and Comus, and medium Kondrus. ‘They explored the second depth of the Weir, killing goblins, Kobolds, ani 2 wereboars, All returned safely, tut with only 961 GP. April, 2776 Upon their return from the western wilderness, Athelfrar, Fazgle, and Fernando organised a group to explore nore of the fifth depth of the Weir. With them went dwarf-heroess Tlvandra, stalwart Grobar, bishop Horace, new acolyte Yaino, pixie hero Tinkerbell, and thaumaturges Od and Charmen, Upon reaching the fifth level, they ent- ered an unexplored passage off of the statue's central chamber, A gas-filled corridor thwarted them, so they tried another corridor. feaching a doorat the end, they sensed @ mischeivious presence beyond and prepared for battle. Upon opéiiing the door, they found a room containing only another door, but as they entered the door behini them disappeared and the other door began conversing with then. They shortly discovered that the door wanted a small fee to pass through, promising treasure beyond, , Finding no other exit, and the fee being nominal, they paid and passed through the talking door to an identical room beyond, They realized that they had been tricked when they sax no exit from this room either, and that the talking door (now chackling behind them) also faced into this room. The door offered then an exit fron this room, but the fee was no longer nominal, They reluctantly paid the gems demanded, and a section of the Wall opened to a passage beyond. ‘The party was given directions by the door to the treasure it had promised, and invited them back for a long talk sonetime, They did vow later to return, but not with Kindness in their hearts. Following the door's directions they proceeded down the corridors. Suddenly a door was seen in the gloon and behind them a metal Portoullis fell inth place, barring ‘the path they had cone. ith Little choice they opened the door, and entered a huge roon with many doors and an enclosed Platform to one side. A lordly fighter stood on the stand with longbowmen on either side, and he announced that they had’ trespassed into his Arena, Being a sporting man, however, he offered to spare their lives and to give them a choice of a dangerous path to freedom or a wager on combat between. their champion against his. Should they win tho combat, he offered to double their treasure and to reveal the door to safety. He enied with a Prohibition on spells as boing a cowardly way to fight, and promised dire consequences should spells be attempted. “The party then discussed the natter among thenselves, deciding that electing a chanpion to do battle was less risky than an outright attack on their captor, and accepted his terms, Iyxmidon Grobar was selected with his greater experience and strength, and he Was given the best armor and Athelfrar's +3 shield; he carried his: own +3 spear and, borrowed Athelfrar's magic sword. He strode to the center of the dvona, at which the lordly Karnak revealed his champions: 3 cockatrices! Grobar slew one with hig spearas they charged, thon drew the sword in nortal combat with the romaining two, Grobar held the advantage in his ability to inflict grievous wounds upon them, but they had ‘the offsetting ability to turn hin to solid stone with a single hit, Grobar*s sword ran red, but still they attacked from both eides, and one finally onote hin fron behind where the shield could not protect hin. But the creature's blow aid not turn bis flech to stono, and he ves able to slay the other and turn to face the one behind. Swiftly then he slev the last creature, to the rolief of his worried companions, with— out receiving aucther wound, The battle over, Karnak kept his tromise and loaded thon with 9000 GP fairy won and released them, Yow realizing where they were, the group returned to the fifth level to try yet ehe nore passage, There they defeated 2 giant, ‘armed gangoyle, then cane upon a zoom containing come fighters and magic-users, Webbing the fighters and killing the nagic-users with a blast fron the cold wand, they were surprised to note the fighters ‘were not Struggling to treak free of the web, Suddenly thinking that this was going too easily, Fazzle began to mumble incoherently, Charmen and (i recognized the symp~ ‘tons of a Feoblerind spell which they were unable to break. Lacking Fazzle's spells and recognizing that a powerful wizard mist be nearby, they took fazzle's hand ani led him away. They tarried not for further exploring and ascended to the surface, os In the early days of April, elf Xertel and young paladin Anrad Datun (also called Magms) met at the Tampant Lion to discuss the poor results cf their last expedition into the Weir over a tankand of ale, As they conmisereted in a dark corner of the tavern, a stranger took an empty table next to thom, carefully placing the wall to his back and casting furtive glances of terror at anyone approaching his vicinity. After observing the stranger's demeanor for sone timo, Anrad decided that perhaps the fellow Was in need of help, and Xertel was plainly curious about any prospect for adventure, Thewfore they turned to the stranger and engaged him in conversation, and ordered a copious amount, of ale fron the tavern-keeper. Kith Anrad's noticeable charisma, it Proved easy to win the stranger's confidence, and the ale loosed his tongue, Thoy quickly learned that he had escaped fron a sinister cungeon on the island of Taru, located at the mouth of the Ryth River, On the island were the Ruins of Thon, long thought to be of no importance. But, the stranger said, the tunnels benoath the ruins hed been occupied several years ago by a female civilization, who had since deepened and extemied the latyrintine passages. ‘The fenale organization was ruled by Kattahha Wurusena, whom he never encountered. The female warrior scouts had captured hin on ® raiding party, and had taken hin to Thon in slave chains. In those dire depths he vas tortured for information, with a strange emphasis upon information about the denon Gragorn and the strength of his followers, He had finally managed to escape, but they had pursued hin to the very borders of Hythlond. After extracting what information they could before the stranger lapsed into a drunken stupor, Anrad and Xertel departed the tavern. It sounded like a promising Place for plunder or for striking a blow against evil, and they assured each other that ‘they would mount a Joint expedition there within the week, we Xertel was the first to hire a boat and gather his close friends to make the journey to Taru and the Ruins of Thon, With Anrad standing on the dock shouting the few curses Ternitted paladins, Xertel set sail dovnetroan with his 11 companion: dwarf Balin, dvarf Golong, paladin Poindexter, swordsman Addph Aviyak, warrior Tai Pan, veteran Achilles, hobbit thief Unbar, Dod the adept and Sermonet, theurgist Coms, and seer Harad with the wand of fireballs, Upon reaching the Ruins, they quickly uncovered the entrance and descended to the first depth, Their explorations revealed a tax center guarded by 2 ogres, and thoy cane upon and Killed 4 bugbears and 3 robbers. ‘The paladin Poindexter had been acting rather strangely, for a paladin, in suggesting anbushes and other devious mischief. Then they cane upon a band of neutral sharpers, whom they killed except for one sharper who surrendered when his follox thieves were clain, After questioning him, Poimlexter urged that he be slein, ‘The others protested, but Poindexter drew his sword and struckthe unarmed thief from behind, Instantly Poindexter felt hig paladin status slip- away as the angexed gods of Good withdrew their favors for such evil, acte.. ,Zven fur ther misfortune: befell Poindexter, for tho thief picked up the sivord he had dropped and began to defend himself. Though wounded twice; the sharper was a dangeraua.foe as Poindexter: learned when he soon found himself transfixed on the sharper's ston. Thus Poindexter. died; unrepentant. of his evil ways, Tho rept-of tho pakty decided to return to the tax’ center to loot whatever treas~ ures lay within, ‘They stopped 2 distance aay from the chanber where the. ogres to the tax center, A straight corridor before them.opened into’ the a side room and found it’empty, so Harad leaned through the doorway and aimed !:is'vand down the cooridor and ¢ast’a fireball, ‘The gloon is. Pierced by 2 blinding flash’as the fireball struck. Almost instantly the chanher was filled with a fiery. tall which expanded to:fill the chamber ani then billowed ‘back down the corridor, reaching poor Harad where he stood bofore he could vithdras! to safety. . When the:flames.vore spent; the rest of the party energed into the .snoke~ filled corciser, Theto,lay Haxad's charred boly, and nearby a pile of ash aarked the remains of his potent wand. Down the corridor, they heard the angry noises of two very scorched, but very alive: ogres. "They ran to the chamber to finish the creatures off, but in the melee the ogres fought fiercely, Killing Golong, ani fighting men came through the tax center doors 0 soe what the commotion was. ‘The group decided that a strategic retreat was now in order, and withdrew all the way to the surface, They had gained 13,500 GP, a potion, and a rope of entanglenent. we Anrad Datun's expedition arrived at the Ruins two days later. With hin were swondenan Haghut, dwarf Gemli, elf Lenox, el? Jabbar, Vicar Johns, vicar Bune, aco- lyte Scion, theurgist Clickhax, and mediuns Kordras and ‘Borzenc, They also, explored the first level, killing bugbears and shadows in their wandering! They"then met a dzunken peasant, who.told them of a bordello oh the secon level, so they descended deeper.and eventually found the entrance: While waiting to be admitted to the bar- dello, they vere attacked by 6 giant snakes and Soion died in the battle, . They then entered and tarricd several hours with the girls, or gambling if they preferred: After sating their pleasures, they returned to the first level to explore furth and killed more bugbears and some kobolds. They left with 2,624 GP. Runs’ of the nowly discovered: dungeons on Taru spread through RythLondar, . Ragnar Lodbrok had.‘been organizing a highly experienced group to explore the Caverns of fythwood, but-hearing of ‘the Ruins ani having’a boat ready to depart, they changed | their destination to the deland of Tara, With "Ragnar went mighty nyrmidon Barnabas, dwarf. swordsnan Ibb, elf hero/thaunaturge: Elésear With his sword of cold, lama Ponti- fus, bishop Benelux, enchanter Kodiak, magician Sondin, and cutpirse Bellabane, They learned from Jnred Datun of a apirel stivixcase leading’ past the second depth, and this they descended to’ the fifth level. eh e They traveled far through the’ nany cobridots following Pontifis's intuition that their goal, should; lie far to the southwest.’ One such corridor ended in a door, 50... they: decided to. begin searching rooms. .Batering @ hexagonal room, they found 3 dodrd and located 3 secret doors, a door on each wall. In the center of the floor was a circle inscribed with a triangle. Runes on the doors provided sone clues. They open= ed:one door and Benelux east.a handfull of sticks into the’short passage ‘beyond, then turned then into snakes. .The snakes performed their mission well, killing the 2 mpdu see lurking.inxthe chamber at the end-of the passage. ‘Continuing’ on their journey, ‘they came upon 2 wyverns, charning ono of them and killing thé other, ‘The next room contained a. 9-headed fire-breathing hydra’ which was defeated, but the hydta’ managed to. finish off ‘the wyyern.finst,. More wandsring enl discovertes, then they entered a room containing a dread gorgon, which broathed-ite potrifying breath upon the group and turned Ibby Sondin, and of courve:Pantifus, ‘Ore breath was all it got, for Barnabas struck with Tingel and paralyzed-the ‘ereature: A-scrb11 was found, with a Stong-flesh spell used‘on Ponty, and-ayncp and treasure’. They then made.their return, ‘fighting 8 myrmidons, of whon 3 were charaad and the rest slain. A profitable oxpodition.May, 2776 With the coming of May, lama Betielux sought ont elf Elessar and thaunaturge Charnen to accompany hin into the depths of the Weir, there to seek a treasure indicated by the ancient map which Benelux hed gained. Down to the sixth depth they wont, into a swiftly flowing stream which led them past dark pools and through swampy narrow passages. Fcllowing. the map's directions, they finally reached a painted chamber without miskap. They searchet the chanbor long and thoroughly. A rust monster came upon them, but they cast a wei) into tho narrow passageway and caught the creature in the sticky strands, At lasi, in the macky floor their probing struck something solid, Uncover- ing the object, Found it to be a large chest, ‘They loaded the huge treasure swiftly, while one tool guard at: the passageway. Before the loading was completed, however, the rplaxhing feet of a Lich wandered into the passageway. Fortunately Blessar anf Chavmen minaged to cast their potent spells first, wounding the Lich so badly tet it fled, ‘thelr treasure gained was 65,000 GP, a magic sword, a brazicr, @ boan bay containing 1 bean, and ring of protection. A group of nanticorae tried to catch 4 > thsy fled the dungeons with their treasure, but with the speed of the flying caxyst and some knock spells they managed to stay out of the manticoras! reach and eventuslly to lose then 2% Benelux, Blessar, and Charmen returned to Rythlondar with their new-found loot, and proceeded to Benelux's chapel outside the South Gate to divide the ‘treasure. Fart of Benelux's share was the bean bag, and, being the inguisitive sort, he decided to plant the bean along the road to the Elestar and Charmen agreed to accompany him just in case the bean turned out to be danzjarous. Coning to a clear and usinhabited area about halfway to the Weir, thoy made camp for the day. harmen set up tiie brazier and with intense concentration, she Summoned fron the flanes a Fire Blenental, which paced frenetically as other preparations were completed. Elescar drew his sword of cold, and Berlelux prayed and Blessed his small group. Then Benelux carefully planted the bean in the fertile soil, ‘They waited expectantly, but nothing hazponed, ‘The sun gradually dropped to the horizon, and Charnen had to release the Hlemental in her fatigue, retitrning it to the brazier. ‘Twilight came, ‘and Bencluk gathered wood and they ede a campfize, Obviously this was & slow magic bean, .As the stars appeared, they settled down to a long vigil, ani took tums standing watch over the boan. But as night deepened, large grey clouds began to cover the sky, ‘and soon a thunderstorm grupted to make theix night uncomfortable and to obscure all vision of ‘tthe Place where the bean had been planted, 4s the dann sky turned grey and the storm slackened, they saw an incredible bean stalk (what else did thoy expect fron a bean?) which grew skynards until ‘lost-in misty Clouds above. ‘The thres adventurers discussed tho cituation, and concluded that further investigation should be conducted by a fully prepared expedition, They therefore returned to Rythloniar to gather their companions and nake thelr preparations, ee In early May a group of young adventurers led by Anrad Datun made their way to the Weir. With Anrad Were stridor Achilles, dvarf veteran Pleron, veteran Thednize, elf Xertel, veteran Lennox, vicexs Bung and Tydol, priestess Sernonet, thourgist Clickham, seer Harad, and medium Kondrus, ‘They waniered the corsidors of the eocond level until they cane upon 3 Wereboars which they speedily dispatched, While looting the verboars' treasure, 2 unfriendly fighters of great prowess entered the room. In tho mallee, the rope of entanglement was cast upon the fightors, but thoy quickly destroyed the rope with a single blow! The rope hai distracted them, however, and many blows were surack ty the group. Thus, with the rope gone, the fightezs were sorely wounded and they withdrew ‘to safety.mrad ani his party continued to another roon, in which they had to fight 15 skele- tons plus 2 clad in suits of armor. The armored skeletons wera unaffected by the vicars and killed several of the group before they were destroyed. After the battle, they discovered the armor was nagical, and located a cocre niche containing a goodly treasure. Continuing their exploration, they killed 2 giant weasles and a nyrnidon, With a respectable amount of loot, they made their way to the exit from the dung~ eons, but as they climbed the lest flight of stairs, they saw 3 robed figures silhou- etited in the entranceway above. One of the figures raised a horn to hie lips and blow loudly, The group charged, but were intercepted by a group of berserk swordsmen and had to fight thoir way to safety with several losses, ‘They gained 4200 GP, 5 magic arrows and the magic armor, Ragnar and his companions, meanwhile, had decided to verture ones again into the of The group was strong: myrmidon Ragnar and the 2 myrnidons chard by cksilver, nyxmidon Barnabas vith his sword Tingel, @ myrmidon charned by Sordin, Jabbar the elf, Alexa tho Thiof, lama Pontifus and bishop Fernanio, and en~ chanters Sondin and Kodiak. No sooner had they reached the fifth level than they were attacked by 5 evil wights, The presence of Pontifus caused only 2 wights to run away. A battle ensiied, during which poor Jabbar was touched and euffered transformation into ong of the evil creatures himself. His companions reluctantly put Jabbar out of his undead misery. They then continued to the hexagonal room they had located last time, and explored seyveral more doors. One room held a machine that occupied their attent— ion for awhile (and on which they spent sone gold pieces), Behind another door lay @ corridor, which they tried; One chanber off the corridor held 8 giant snakes, thich they webbed and killed, but’ suffered sone danage in the process that proved their undoing later on, fn a larger cavern further along, they camé upon 3 fire lizards, Which inflicted yet more damage on the party ina fierce fight. The Lizards wore destroyed and sone treasure found, bit the spells of healing had been mostly used after the giant snake battle, They continied despite their wounds, trying a side corridor which led to a sual chamber with only one door, but behind them came 3 balrogs. ‘The evil beings Laughed at the lightning bolt cast’ by Kodiak and attacked, The subsequent nelee was a slaugh- ter, unfortunately not of Balrogs. Barnabas, Fernando, ani all 3 charmed myrnidons died, and still 2 of the balrogs fought with undininished vigor. Pontifus was forced to try adesperate ganble and put his entire Will behind a great spell to Dispoll Evil. ‘The balrogs were not dispelled, but they were induced to leave. The striken group mourned thoir losses and used Sondin's scroll to Teleport Barnabas and his sword back to Rythlondar. Suddenly 3 ninotaurs leaped out of tho dark corridor, and the last lightning bolt wes used to destroy then. The group entered the chanter ard listened at the one door while searching for others, Eight ogres next came down the corridor, making the wounded party wonder why they wore cursed with euch attention, Fortunately the sleep spells could be used while Xagnar ani Pontifus held the opening. After the ogres wore slain, the group hastily departed lest some other evil befall them. Gained by the 5 survivors vas 18,600 GP and a mumber of magic items, 11 Faealofert and Atholfrar xeturned to the Weir to continue their exploration of the fifth depth, With then were Grobar, Elvandza, Aviyak, Minkerbell the pixie, clerics Horace and Johns, and mages Oi and Conus. They first tried to solve the yuzzle of the eword-guarded chest (after Fazzle first dispatched some minotaurs with a bolt), but they were unable to obtain tho chest despite many clever attenpts. Frustrated, they continued to the central statue room to explore new doors. In a series of rooms ‘they found a secret room and defeated an invisible stalker and gained the treasure it guaried. They algo looted an olf's room, found e zealous lanmasu, killed = chimera, almost lost Athelfrar in a psychedelic room, and found a slot machine, On theiz way out, Gi acquired, to his surprise, a Deck of Many Things, and in 3 draws pulled the Ace of diamonds, a Joker, and the Queen of Hearts! They gained 29,600 GP.‘THT ORIGINS OF THY RUINS OF THON - - by Laurie Van’ De Graaf ‘ Tt. came to pass in the Warly Days of Urth. that an island was raised fron the Great Ocean near the mouth of the mighty River Ryth, It was called. Taru, andthe ghoas rejoiced in their work, And the isle, with all its lands and waters, was left in the trust. of Thon, beloved..of the ghods and a King of men, that he might prove himseif worthy of. the, ghods' favors... For untold years he watched and ruled tho.lend fron.the.topnost tower of his castle perched on the rocky tor overlooking both the isle and the waters of the Ocean nd the Ryth. : Tt is said thet King Thon ordered a great wall be. built dividing the lands such that every creature sliculd have its appointed place. and he directed the brothers and sisters Yarusema that they should walk anongst his peoples and wander the lands naintaining his Laws and imposing his Sanction. For atime. the isle and all its divers beings flourished in harmony and peace. But the King began to place worldly wares and carnal pleasures before the Law. of his Janis ei peoples, and as the years, passed, he grew decadent in his desires ani neg- ligent in his duties and rulership.. And so it came to pass that the ghods in their anger brought dcvin a great holocaust upon the island of Taru, and the inhabitants and their guardians no longer lived in harmony, but vere pitted against: one another ina struggle for survival ina chaotic land...” ‘Ty is not written What became of King Thon, but his castle fell in ruins to the hordes and beasties ravaging the isle. The battle~scarred remains still stand atop the lofty crag. It is*runored that all manner of men and other beings havedholed, carved, and burrowed deep abodes beneath the once regal. ruins. . Tt is not known what nay lurk in ‘the lanis beyond the castle ruins, for. none from fythlonder. have ever ventured into those forbidding regions, but it is rumored that the Great Wall; ago- worn and narred by the holocaust, still stands, dividing the lenis as once the powerful King Thon had decreed it should, No longer does the Wall bring order to the lands, for through the broken gaps great beasts ani fell creatures do fearlessly roam, and chaos reigns. suprene. John Van De Graaf 37343 Glenbrook * Nt, Clemons, Hi 48043 _PIRST CLASS “HAIL FIRST CLASS MATLYo. ¥ RYTH CHRONTOLS June, 1976 Tho iyth Chronicle is a sumary of adventures along the River Ryth, published for the amusesont of ihe plsyors im our D&D campaign and anyone else who may be interest~ ed, le try to publish whenever sufficient material has accumulated, but occasionally the naterial outpaces the magazine, as is true this jssue, Thus there is no player Listing, for it would rct be current with the present character levels, Copyright 1976 by John Van Ds Craaf and Paul Wood. fesues can be obtained from John Van De Graaf, 373/'3 Glenbrook, Nt. Clemons, HI 48043, for 30¢ per mimeo copy. ‘The subscription rate is simply the number of issues you want multiplied by 30¢ por copy, Back issues are now available by photocopy for No. I (50), and No.s II and III (75¢ each), There are still some mimeo copies of No, IV available for 30¢ each. This issue was written by John Van De Graaf and Laurie Van De Graaf, except where otherwise noted, Players are encouraged to submit itens about the game or about their characters, religious orders, erotic art, or other relevant subjects. (Biitor's Note: The following item is an extract from Lord Unberay's Guide to Urthly Wonders, a traveler's handbook long thought to have been happily lost in antiquity, Unfortunately, a dung-collector rummaging in a privy near murky Fennarch uncovered ‘the ancient tome and brought it forth to light of day, It is believed that this entzy is the only one of any valuo for adventurers since tho island is reported to actually exist, unlike the preceding entry concerning the mythical Harun-Scarim Land and the entry following which purports to describe the Jelly-ilorship of Petroleus, The extract faithfully quotes from the original source, and the ‘ditor apologizes to the worshippers of It-Tacsim, Namul, Smlb, Vang ani the other evil gods for the author's obvious bias in favor of Dla-atan,) TLS-HOT SZANDSA (by Ray Ulman) Far to thesouth in the Great Southern cean, hundreds of leagues from the City of Rythlondar and beyond the island of Taru, lies the island of Tle~Hot Seander, the Islo of Shadow Mountains. On this island the great river Floe-varatan courses through the land of Dlawatan to the ocean, At the mouth of the river stands the city of Lunar-atan, hone of the great god Atan, the Good, Great Lord of the Bternal. Flame and Protect or of the Spring of Bverlasting Life, Also on the island, to the north of Iunarsatan, lies the dungeons of Apo Kalyps, the home of the Four Riders, Further to the north and east of the Floe= varatan, lies the realm of the unnentionable Tri~Spavn in the lend of Za-atan, who rule the Shadow Mountains. ‘Thus it is that the Dlanatani are always on guard against the forces of dark- ness, Hot Sencar, the Nountain of Vigil, is alvays garrisoned end Lamar-atan stands ever ready to fight the hordes of evil, (In.the interest of-fair play, we present the followit published by the Za~atan Chamber of Commercial Horrors): Visit scenic Za-atan where volcanic spumes add delight to every footstep! Be a fronterow guest at a human sacrafice! Watch the splendor of the Shadow Nount= ains casting their vivid grey pall corcss the landt Cheap accomodations available at any one of the many idyllic dungeons burrowed around the landscape, with cuis~ ine for the most exotic palates ani undreaned of entertainnent to provide you with thrills for the rest of your lifetine! No reservations necessary: come as you are, except from a. brochune Gubsoiber: you have $ left in your account, this is a trade, this is a sample copy. the devil made me send it,June, 2776 : Benelsx, Charnen, and Gllessar spent 2 week gathering a snall group of adventurers in Rythlondar and equipping thenselves for ah expedition up the Beanstalk which they had planteg hy the rontsile from the Weir, . From the Guand barracks they brought Grobar BenGon, the gcin and silent champion, and Srvanéra, dwarf swashbuckler. From the Tenple of Tynghod, Benelux recruited vicer Yéol the Pious, and Charmen conbed the dim recesses of the Guild to recruit enchanter Fagzlefart and young acolyte Solstice III, The party set out in the first weck of June ami quickly reached the Beanstalk. Naturally the unusual sight of the gigantic beanstalk coiling skyward until disappear- ing in the clouds had attractoa a large group of curious poasants, With a final payer by Benelux, the group began to climb the beanstalk to the Waves ani cheors cf the poasants. The ascent was nob too difficult, but they didn't Teach the misty clouis until the following day. ‘Tho poacants, having planted their crops and having nothing better to do, settled down to avait the groups return, On the third day, a rider approached along the road fron Rythlondar with the startling news that myrnidon Zamabas, slain by Balrogs of Thon and since lying in state aviaiting burial after the utmost offorts of the High Lama had failed to ressurect hin, had suddenly groaned and sat up in his coffin yesterday, with his wounds beginning to bleed freshly. The peasants narvelled at this miracle, and continued their vigil as the rider contimed down the road. On the fourth day a sharp-eyed lad spotted ‘the small specks descending the bean~ stalk. Late in the afternoon the party of explorers reached earth to the cheers of the peasants. one of the explorers would relate the adventures which had befallen them, but it was noticed that Solstice ITI was not among them; instead another nagic- user who looked renarkably like old Bguinox, a cousin of Solstice's who-had died almost a year ago. And grey-cloaked Zlessar was not anorg then, but glimpsed in the bag of holding was a silver statue of identical likeness, Grobar's magic spear was also nissing, and it was noted that he often glanced wistfully at charmen, who returned his glances with scorn and brandished her cold wand in Warning. They had gained 21,000 GP in treasure, and later it was noticed that they had acquired several new nagic items. _ Far to the South in the Great Ocean, a group of’ young adventurers arrived at the island of Taru to-investigate the Ruins of Thon, Leading the group was paladin-warr- for Anrad Datan| ho had been to. the dungeons seferes lis group vas conposed of. dvaxt veteran Pieron, young elf Jabbar, dwarf swordshan Ibb, dwarf veteran Ganli, priest Dod, vicar Bung, priestess Sernionet, theurgist Clickhan, seer Kondius, and: others, They explored the second level, with a stop at Ishahara's, bordello, and killed 11 berserk ers, an invisible stalker, 13 goblins, 3 harpies, 8 kobolds, a graip of thieves, and 2 giant weasels. Their bloody path cost then the life of vicar Bung, who was later ressurrected by lana Benelux, ad gained then over 12,000 GP. Pilferer Bellabane assembled a small. goup in the third week of June for an exped~ ition to the second depth of the Meir. ith Bollabane vont 2 half-clves, curates Fernando and Johns, and theurgist Comus, Bellabane led his group to the secret rear ‘entrance to Cybele's old quarters on the second depth, most recently found to be inhabited by ogres. On their may, the group encountered and killed sone wére-rats and a 7-headed hydra, and they charmed 2 myrmidons to help them against the ogres, When they reached their destination, they burst open the door and surprised 6 ogres munching on their grisly meals. Comus quickly cast a web upon them before they could react, and the fighters began to slay the trapped ogres with their spears, As they id so, nore ogres rushed into’ the room and a furious melee ensued. In the battle, they managed to slay the ogres, but lost one of the myrmidons, a half-elf, and Comis. The death of Gomis freed the other’ myrmidon from his enchantment, which the party noticed in time to kill him. ‘They then searched the nany side roons and chambers, now strewn with wreckage and debris from the ogres‘ conception of good housekeeping, and cane upon yet one more ogre in the former swine pen of Cybele's, which they slept ~2with their last remaining spell and killed, Groping beneath the mud and filth on the floor, they discovered the ogres' cache of treasure, which they quickly loaded into their copious sacks, As they prepured to leave, however, 2 wyverns burst into ihe main hall 100m where they were acsembled. The wyverns wero distracted by the fresh ogre corpses in the ha!l, so the group.managed to Flee safely 1o the surface, They gained a magic sword and sone magic arrews in eddition to their treasure. 8 At the Ruing on an experienced group gathered to seek out a treasure on the sixth depth, Gnclanter Kodiak vas the caretaker of the map which they had found in a previous descent, and with hin were pathfinder Athelfrar, myrnidon Ragnar, swords— nan Haghut, thief Alexa, lama Pontifus, bishop Korace, and enchanter Sondin. ‘The cryptic markings on the map indicated that they mist find a 20' wide section of * corridor at the foot of a stairway somerhore on the sixth lovol, ‘They descerded the spiral staircase to tie sixth level, ani promptly encountered 8 mummies. Lema Pontifus nade known his holy Eresence, ard 5 of the loathsone croaturoo fled. The venaining 3 nunmies vere dispatched to eternal reat by the fightore, though Hagbut had to be cured of gone rotting flesh where one of the minnies had touched him. ‘The group continued on for a long Jeriod through the dire passegeways, napping a lazge portion of the un- explored regions, but the starting place for the map could not be found, Realizing that thoy cowld conceivably spond the renainier of the day in fruitless searching (well aware that no sane person would care to stay in the dungeons at night), they decided to seek divine assistance, Pontifus Imolt in prayer to Commune with his gods while the rest of the party rested, then arose to announce that they were indeed headed in the Wrong direction. with guidance from Pontifus, the group retraced their path to the proper corridor, encountering only a giant slug on the way (which they Webbed and hastened their steps). After a long journey in this new direction, they cate upon the starting point for the map, They folloved the directions on the map, finally coming into a chambor at the end of a corridor, and fervently hoped that they had correctly interpreted the ambiguous glyphs on the aged parchment. Their hopes vere revanded when a Little digcing uncovered a chest buried in the floce of the chamber. As thoy did so, 9 ogres cane upon then, Sondin cast a sticky web uyon them and Kodiak charmad one of the creaturas. After releasing the charned ogre, they dispatched the xenalider with Lightning bolt, . The sound of fighting and the final thunderclap echoed down the dark corridors, ani quickly the party hoard heavy footsteps approaching. They again aoployed for battle: around the corner of’ the corridor cane 3 unber hulks with their baleful eyes gleaming wickedly trom the darkness, Kodiak sviftly loosed a bolt of Lightning ot them but failed to kill thom, Atholfrar, Ragnar, and Horace were confused by their horrible visages and struck haphardly at anything near then (poor Pontifus Was stanling behind. Ragnar and took 20 points of danage from tvo of Ragnar's blows -- fortunately Quicksilver did not, charm Pontifus either tine). Bventually, the creatures were slain in the confused and bloody battle, Tontifus and Horece tended to those most seriously wounded, as the others searched the chost and emptied its gold and gone into thoir sacks. Athelfrar, with his magically enhanced strength, lifted the chest out of the hole, and Alexa noticed another chest beneath ‘the first one, At this point 3 tasllisks came round the bend, petrifying Regnar at firet glance. Gondin used his Lightning bolt, -tho last remaining bolt, and destroyed all three baéilisks. ‘The secon chest was inspected, bit seened harmless, As Alexa then ‘picked the strong lock and opened the chest, she scratched horsol? on a small needle ... dying almost innediately before Pontifis could reach her to neutralize the poison in her veins. ‘This chest contained more gold, Plus platinum and Jewelry, As this chest ‘es being emptied, 7 spactres flew owt of the darkness, The"presence of Horace and Pont= ifus did not deter their attack, ani a deadly hand-to-hand fight ensued. . Ragnar was alnost relieved to be a stone statue, observing the fray in relative safety. Athel- frar was struck and badly drained, Horace was struck twice and died, and Hagbut was struck once and died before the evil beirigs were driven.off, The survivors then made =sure that thelr late comades would not rise to haunt them, and finished loading the ‘raagure, ‘they quicliy made their way to the surface, theti returned for the bodies of the dead and for the Ragnar-ststue, ‘they gained over 100,000 GP in treasnr: Ragnar diod later when ths Guild attenpted to turn hin beck to.flech, but Pontifus resurrected tia.as Wolt'‘as Hegbat and’ Moxe ace, however, could not be. revived. Late in June, enshanter 01 gathered a young fellowebip to explore the Caverns of, Rythwood. In the group were hero Adolph ranger-scolit Achilles, swordsman" Wai Pan, avarf warsior Ealin, pixie hero Dinkorbell, aéclyte Colong, conjurer Farad, nediun ‘hir Key, and thieves Catrick and Unbar. They Were the first ever to explore the second depth of the Caverns, overcoming’ the obstaclés’ which often make the Caverns inaccessible to-mortals. They killed gnolis, bugbears, cres, thieves and a wight, and Oi charmed 3 hobgoblins, Harad,’ Golong, Tur Key, and Unbar diedin the battles, ‘The group gained 8913 GP in treasure, plus a nagic'dagget, bow, armor, and shields, : July, 2776 x Paladin Anrad, now a swordsman, sougit out worthy Behelux and gathered infornation’ on sone of his earier adventures on the upper levels of the Weir, With maps and infornation, Anrad gathered a party to explore the 2nd depth; with ‘hin Went! dwarf warrior Pieron } elf Knonix conjurer Knonidrus veteran Orlok 4 elf Jabbar theurgist Clickhan veteran Lancefron vicar Dod medium Benzene warrior Hagbut vicar Bung After wandering the’ dire corridors, meeting only 2 shadows ‘afd an ogre which’ they quickly slew, they-finally cane to a roon containing 10 bagbears. Benelux had told Anrad the tale of how he, Fazzle, and Athelfrar had almost niet their doom therein, and how only the use of the Wish spell from Cybele's scroll.had saved then’ fron des~ truction. Anrad was careful, and his half-elves reported hearing soft shuffling be~ hind the locked door. «Bursting open the door, the group attacked the bugbears, and finally killed then all with scant danage to their party, A secret door was found, Which led to the bugbears treasure. Continuing down the corridor behind the secret gor, they passed several doors until they sew up shend on, open door! Intrigued, they began to advance to the door, when they were stopped by 4 armored fighters who emerged fron a door on the opposite side of the corridor. ‘The hostile Sighters gaye ‘the group a nasty surprise when the charm spells and slecp apells failed to have any effect, and in the subsequent melee they inflicted so nany wounds uyon the group that amrad. gave up hope of getting past then and began to worry about surviving the battle. Gaining the initistive as the hostile fightere hositated, Anrad led hie group through a side corridor and found. that they hed no vay to return as the door disappeared behind then. ‘They found a stairvay back to the surface shortly afterwards, and’ re* turned to Rythlondar with 15,850 GP in treasure. Over in Roilgart, lama Benelux, superhero Ragnar, enchantress Gharmen, and rangor- guige Athelfrar conmiserated in a local tavern over the high cost of living in the cities. Clearly, at the rate theix expensos wore increasing, they would always just bo ono Jump ahoad of devtor's prison, "I'm paying enough to build a castle!" exclain- ed Ragnar, then adding “Uny don't we get a castle for ourselves with the gold we're spending?" ‘The others agreed this would, be an excellent idea, and they decided to set out dato tho vildornces to the west of Roilgand to finda castle site. | ‘A week was spent gathering supplies andj maling axrengements with the masons and engineers to start work as soon ds thé site had been selected and clearéd of any creatures, ‘Tho four adventurers then set out weatvanis along the causeway road through the ewanp until they came to the open fields beyond the swamp. Locating the stream flowing into the swanp, they followed upstrean for 7 miles unil they located a hill in the bend of the strean hich overlooked the surrounding countryside, TheyHaving cupplios for several weeks, they decided to explore further upstream, A day's march brought them to the hills whonce flowed the stream, They briefly scouted the hills, finding.a snall.band of evil kobolds, and then returned to the road 10 Roilgard to sunnon the workers, ‘4s thoy mie their vay-back through the swamp, however, they vere set upon by 6 nunmics who lurched out of the misty tangles into the roadway before them. The mm- nies quickly sensed tho holy prosence of Benelux, and all fled back into the swamp, Not ones to pass up an adventure, the group followed the fleeing mummies using Athel~ frax's uncanny tracking ability. The mimnies had fled to their lair in an an ancient tomb, and they again fled at Benelux's approach, but 2 of the creatures wore slain bofore they could got aay. A search of the tonb uncovered 1000 GP. lio sooner had. this been loaded into their packs than they heerd sonething splashing through the svamps, It was an evil iligh Priest vith 5 men-st-arns cone to resouo hie subject nunnics, Charmen used her cold wand on the evil group, killing 3 of the fighters, while Bonelug cast. 2 Hold Person upon the Kigh Priest, which succeeded in paralysing hin, but not before his ovn Blade Barrier spell had been cast, Ragnar and Athelfrar advanosd ani slow the ronaining 2 fighters in brief battles, but were understandably reluctant to enter the blade barrier to slay the High Priest, So Gharnon used her cold wand once more upon the inmobile High Priest, The Blade Barrier eventually disappeared fron around the dead priest, and Benelux gained his magic hanmer and Ragnar gained his magic shield, ‘The four then returned to the road to Roilgand and quickly reached the city to send their worlnentto the castle site, It would be sev~ eral months before the four-towered stronghold would be finished, but now they had a place to reside beyond the taxes and extravagence of the city. “ee Holy Pontifus, now énjoying his status es full Patriarch, had lohg desired to found his own community in the wilderness. Elf hero/magician Sleksar, myrnidon Dam~ abas, swordsman Tbb, curate Johns, and warlock Sordin with his chtamod Ogre ("Fang" offered to accompany him-in exchange for a place to live in his castle, They set: out along the ola South Road fron Rythlondar along the east bank of the Tyth’ River. Passing the Blven Forest, they were stopped for a toll by a party of knights fron ‘rmhold Castle. .They paid the toll, and continued down the road until they met a paladin who tried to convince then to join his crusade against an evil lord nearby, ‘They declined the invitation, eince it was clearly suicidal, and began to explore the fields south of the Blven Forest. They located an marked @ good castle site beside ‘a vory onsll stroan,. In clearing the area around the castle, they cane upon a cave in which vere 3 very hostile balrogs, Mlessar found that his cold wand acguized on the beanstalk worked quite well, and Darmabes fought with especial valor, ‘no doubt recalling tho unfortunate result of his last encounter with balrogs. In the excite~ ment, Sondin forgot all about Fang, who stocd behind the group cheering both sides on. Yanbers finally overwhelmed the balrogs, though both Johns and Ibb roquixed consider~ able hoaling to be fit to travel again, ; With the area cleared, they returned to Rythlondar, then returned with the workmen to begin construction, Tt was noticed that on the xetum trip, a great throng of peasants gathored to follow Pontifus to his new Holy Domain. oe Fazglefart decided to return to the depths of the Weir for another foray onto the fifth depth, He took with him onchanter Oi, pixie Tinkerbell, chanpion Grobar, ‘hero dviyak, curate Ydol the Pious, vicaress Sermonet, théurgist coms, ani Od's.3 charned hobgoblins, They descenied the vell-knum path and went directly to tho chanber of the stzange chest of the Five Sorde, Fugzle cast a Dispell Magic upon the swords, and (a ordered one of his hobgobliins 0 open the chest. The poor creature did so, only to be struck dead by the center sword, Fazale casi another Dispell Magic, ond this tine the second hobgoblin touched the chest without any xeaction by the swords, Opening the chest vas deceptively easy as a poisoned latch felled this hobgoblin, The cost 5(in'hobgoblins) and. previous frustrations were revanded when they extracted fron the chest a huge treasure, along with a.nagic mace and a heln.of brilliance. Flushed with thoir early success, the group decided to explore furthor around the fifth depth. They made their way finally to a room in which they sensed a fire giant’ with.his pets. They confidently burst down the tall door, but the giant and his two evil hellhounds were not surprised by the intr ne hellhound breathed as they tried to, flee fron the giant, ‘The fiery breath killed Ot, Sernonet, Comus, and the last hobgoblin, and the rest of the party were severély wounded. Fortunately, the giart ahd his pets were: content to. let them go with the warm farewell and did not pursue.’ The survivors nade their way to thé'surfaco with over 78,000 GP in treasure. we August, 2776: ‘The Shrine of the Flaning Wheel lies just outside the southern gates of Rythloniar, a wooden building purchased by Benelux and converted inté a place of Worship and meditation. Here Benelux assembled a group of adventurers early in August. to discuss with then an expedition into the wilderness. Invited to the meeting were the mighty fighters Barnabas, Athelfrar, and paledin Anrad, magic-users Fazzle, Kodiak, and Charmen, and Blessar the olf’ and Pieron the dwarf, When the group had assonblod, Benelux explained his intentions...“ ; ’ "I have dedicated my life to the destruction of “vil, Benolux bogan. « "The forces of “Evil are strong, ‘ani the struggle is hard, Ye°do not always Prevail in tho strug- glo, as it migfortuncd us to be defeated by the evil Yidog bonoath tho Woir many. months ago. Let the bitterness of that lesson provent the sin of Pride in our othor achicvenents fron blinding us to the dangors wo often face, “any of you were with me on that oxpodition, and’tho rest havo hoand toll of our capture by Ydog, It soomod tho’ gdde of Good wore’ smiling that day when wo learned that Yidog would not uso us as 1ifc-blood victims for his ‘noxt unholy sacrafice; instead ho spared our lives and reloasod us undor quost to carry out a mission for hin, ‘Tho mission was to slay Sanarkar, high pricot of Ma'Taesin, for his rofusal to obey tho Summons to the gathering forces of ovil. You will rocall: that, wo uscd. tio, Wishes fron a nagic sword to fulfil1 the quest, and went our ways, “Joyful, of the cade with which vo had avoided further dangor and oxtricated oursolvos from Y1dog's powor, "T have since mado a long and solitery journcy to the good wizard of tho Lonely, Mountain, to confor with him about tho struggle to overcono evil, ~ Tho wiserd impart~ od a good deal of whedon and revealed that ve orred grievously in so lightly carrying out Yidog"s ovil will with no. rogard for the consequences of our-actions. In. deg~ troying Sanarkar, we had renoved an inpedinent to tho mustering of ovil, Sanackar'e tomple was handed to the control of the worshippers of Vang, tho Facoloss, a more diro throat than cvor Sdmarkar posed to the forcos of Good. We have furthered the goals of Evil in cur reckloss action, end nade no attompt to consider the conseguon- ces. ho time has cono for us to mond cur past nictakes. Wo have all. gainod mich neoled oxperionce in tho nonths sinco our captiire. I propose we seck out ‘the evil ' tomplo ant-destroy the cvil therein." : : When Bonclux had finished, the adventurers bogtin to discuss tho norits of his proposal, and to voigh tho ricks involved. One by ono, thoy resolved to go with Fenclux, until only Fazglo, a warlock, vas loft, uncommitted. "A group,of ton to defeat a High Price’ and the cvil:guandians of his temple?) said Feazlo, "Tho prospoct of siceces is'ndt yetascurod, I Deliove, and I say wo would likoly meet only nore misfortund. ‘Ronouber, Yidog was e lane, and ho, defeated us, Iwill not accompany yoi to your deaths if you'dnaist, on going. More profit econs in the dungcon dopthe, ‘whore wo ab loast havo sone: knowledge of tho passaees, and dangors," With that, Faszio loft the mcotiag, but tho othors remained to plan thoir expedition. % ‘hoy spont tho following two days ‘procuring supplios," sharpening swords, menorii- dng spolls, and rented a snall boat to take thom to the mouth of tho:Tomplar_RivorWith thon went young Squincx, a modium, Tho full party thus composood tho lama Bono— lux, warlock Kediek, Chezmon'the onchantross, Hguinox, champion Zarnabas with Tingol, Atholfrar the rangor, once again a pathfinder, paledin-svordsman Anrad, and now votor~ an-dwarf Picron, Completing the group was olf hero/magician Blossar with his sword of cold. ‘Tho boat took thom soveral days up the Ryth River to its confluence with tho Tomplar, whore tho boatnan let thon ashore and. proniscd to await thoir roturn, They followed tho rivorcourso to the cast, ani thon 2s it curved to tho north. Tho gently. rolling fields through which they pessed scened dovoid of 1ifo until thoy came upon’ & trail following the course of the rivor, Thoy followed tho trail, finally coning upon a small village. At the crosercadis in tho villege sat a snall shrino, ‘The villagers refused to talk to the strangers, and the fearful facos indicated that Little could be gainc’ from thom, The party thon cautiously approached the shrino, and Bonolux sensed an evil prosonce inside. At that monont a single cowled and robed figure oncxged fron the shrinc, Taking no chances, Kodiak cast e Cham Person spell at the figure and the rest stood roady to strike. Tho figure stopped, thon invited thon forward and welconed them. A search of the single interior of the ‘uilding reveled that tho one figure was all in the shrino, so they entered to tale with the priost, who scencd entirely fricndly ard vory talkative. Ho said he Was a pordor-priost of Sanarkar, and a Worshipper of ityTassim, and lanented the nysterious disappearance of Samarkar and the subsequent, arrival of a igh Priost of Vang. Tho ‘temple, he said, wae boing converted to tho donon worship and the peasants forced to oboy the now clorical powers of the realm, ‘The pricst offered to help overthrow the Vang worshippers, and said he Ine a secret entrance into the tenple. ‘The scars of many battles nade the adventurers wary of such ovil promises, espec~ dally when too oasily gained. Charnon cast an BSP spell, as they mate the priest repeat his story.:. They discovered thet a good deal. of his story was truc, but thet his expressions of friendship. (especially for Kodiak) vioro probably false. ‘The harm had’ apparently not worked, so Charmon tried a Charn., The priest's eyes turned fondly upon her as the spell was completed, and she asked 1f he was charmed, to which he replied, with enthusiasm, that he was. The GSP indicated that he lod. liven his answers to his own etation in 1ifo wore a confused mixture of truth and falsehood. | Wo said he was rot really a priest, but only a “lay priest" having no spell abilitics. Unable to separate truth fron fiction, and charm spells being strangely incffoctive against hin, despite the lack of any discornable magical protection, they decided to tako hin with thom to show_then, the location of the secret entrance, ‘They also sev a guard.upon him, and bound hin to'the horse for the journey, to which he subsitted peaceably. They’ then followed, the road aorocs tho, Tonplar and made camp for the: night when they ‘xoached a nearby wood. They, Wero surprised.to find in thé Wood a énall- gypsy wagon; searching-revealsd, nothing of value, but Benelux 'noticed’ that he had’ seen ib before,. It was the wagon of Term the Peddler, whon he had met several months boforo-on his abortive attempt to obtain.a Wish to xessurrect Equinox.’ Torm was nowhere to be found, so they posted guards and rested the night. Torm was an accom plished high-level thief, and Bonelux pondered the moaning of his presoticd in this area. ‘They set-out well bofore dawn the next day. The "priest" told thom the teaplé was but @ few miles distant, and: they had no desire to be observed approaching down the road, Dy the timo. tho dan lightonod the sky, they had reached’a grove of trees alongside the massive gray stono Wall of the temple. ‘The pricst led then‘ to a chapel in the.center.of the grove, ani showed, ihen 4 secret door behind ‘the alter, which he said led into the temple iteclf,, Eloseax took the prisst back into the grove to tle hin securely, and after tying hin, raised his sNord and struck off his head, a baso act which did-not go unnoticed by the gods. \after some jhispored confusion, ‘the group arranged a marching ordé® ‘through the very narrow passage behind the socret door. Tlespim and Benelux led ‘the way, with Pieron and ,squinox the last two in line, They decided a light would be too risky, 6 4 “7 :and so descended into’ the black cortidsr with only the elven eyes of Slessar to scan ‘the passageway ahead. After travelling 60 fect, thoy heard a small scuffling behind them. ‘Thoy called back to’ Picron,: thé dwarf who was last in line,:what the noise vas, Pieron mitered a few oaths about his own clumsiness causing him to trip, and tho group contimiea a short way further. A muffled sound cane from behind them, and again ‘they stopped. This tine they lit a torch, but Myninox reported that it scomod clear in the corridor behind, ‘They xeswied their march, Sudderly Atholfrar ‘shouted that he was undor attack and had been struck, Athelfrar span around, only to see himself standing with a bloody upraised sword! A grim battle followed between Atholfrar and his double, the rest of the party unable to help in the confining passageway. At last, ono of tho conbatarts fcll dead to the floor, Benelux detected no evil from ‘the Athelfrar still standing, bat ordered the group to go back to the chapel, In ‘beir passage, they ‘cane upon the bodies of Pieron and quinox, both slain by a lethal thrust in the back, ‘The other Athelfrar was examined in the daylight, and death gradually turned the bedy to tho amorphous nase of a Fiendich dopploganger. Blessar returned to the place Where he had left the priest's body, and saw the empty xopes ard the snall mass he had severed fron the creature, ‘The snaller group then reformed their ranks and returned into the secret passage- way. ‘The corridor led to a stairway which ended in a door. They cautiously listened at the door and probed behind the door With‘their spells, Beyond the door Was a room containing several trolls, so they swiftly laid their plans and burst. open. the door, Gharnen's’ odld wand and a lightning bolt from Kodiak slew several. of the Loathsone trolls at the outset, ani wounded the other two,. but around a corner cane another four trolls. join in the fray. A furious melee ensued in which the clerics and fighters killed the trolls one by one, while the nagic-users set the troll bodies afire With oil before they could regenerate, hen the room was cleared of the creatures they rested to cure some of their wounds and to probe beyond the only other doorway in the door, In the corridor outside the door, they sensed a bustle of activity by temple guards coming to investigate the source of ‘the ‘reverberating thunder which had shaken the temple, The party hurried to take the offensive before the temple guard realized that the trolls had been slain. ‘They opened the door, and Charmen froze ‘the lowly guards in the corridor. Off the corridor were several doors ard side passages. As they made their way cautiously down the corridor, bowen entered froma side corridor out. of range of Charnen's Wand. The arrows did no serious damage, but the group realized that they Were being surrounied. An ESP spell revealed an empty room to one side, They enter- ed, posted guards at the two doors in the room, and surveyed their situation. . They. were in a small chapel, The ESP revealed a multitude of guards taking positions around their room, ‘The area beyond the other door in the room was the main sanctuary of the temple, in which the High Priest had gathered his strongest forces. To offer battle there would expose then to missile fire from all sides, as they discovered in a brief sortie. They were trapped. Benelux realized that desperate measures were called for if they were ever to escape. He therefore offered to parley with the High Priest, and suggested to, the High Priest a duel ty champions to decide the issue. He recognized the High Priest to be Yidog, and Benelux had more reason to desire: trial by combat. Yldog accepted the. challenge becauss of tho highlevel imagic-users in the party, which he knew. would destroy nany of his followers before they could be slain, and thus the force with which he maintained his precarious hold on the area would be grievously weakened. ‘The combat was acreed to be hand-to-hand combat between Benelux and Yidog and between 2 other champions, Athelfrar was chosen to be the party's champions Yldog brought forward.a huge, grim fighter of great experience, a battle-scarred myrnidon who had slain.many in his service of the: Evil Gods. Tho four contutants met in. the center of the sanctuary area, with their forces watching for treachery on either side. Benelux and Y1dog struck first, while the fighters circled looking for an opening to strike at each other. Benelux's magic mace landed upon Yidogs shield, and Yidog's ~6staff also failed to strike, The clerics continued trading blows, until at last Wdog hit Bonelux's armor and suddenly ascumed the writhing shape of a giant snake eis] en twined itscl? abort Benciux. Innobilized, Benclux watched in horror as Yidog drew out a hosvy spiked mave With which to crush his helmet, ‘The fighters meanwhile had dogun to strike each cther, with considerable success, and both fighters suffered many wounds, Athelfrar's exceptional endurance sustzined him past the point at which a normal man wowid have diod, wiil fimly be saw his opponent stagger and delivered a vicovs blow to the myzmidon’s neck, which cleaved through his helnet and Yehoaded him, Athelfiar turned in time to see Yidog drawing his mace, In five swift strides, Athelfrar was beside Benslux and blocked Yidods blow, then struck with his bloody sword bofore Yidog could recover, Sorely beset by Athelfrar, Yidog: had no opportunity to utter the treacherous spell Yidog had planned to use for their destruction, Tats Yidog died beneath's Athelfrar's blade, and the rest of the party was extrencly rolicved to see ‘their chanions prevail, The snake returned to the form of a staff at Yidog’s death, and Sonslux picked it up after finding it not to be evil itself, Tho rest of YIdog*s forces had fled out of the temple at his death, and only a few bold peasants, renained to soe who their now masters would be. ‘the group posted guards, and began to search tho tonzle, A treasure xoon was Located, ahi the contents Were confiscated in the name cf Goodness. Another strange door into a central area of the tomple was located, which the peasants whispered must contain tho uneponkable Unholy of Unholios, They decided to open the door when their spells could detect nothing beyond. ‘The double partals swung open at a touch, and isappeared into the inky blackness within, The strange dazimess ended abruptly ot the edge of the roon, and even Benelux's dontinual Light could not penetrate the black vall of notingness cr illuminate the area within the roon, Objects thrust into the blacknoss could be withdrawn without apparent harm, but the unlmown dangers were considered too great to rick omtering without light. It was thon they wealiced thet soncons vould have to enter, if only to close again the doors.so that whatever lay within would not be unleashed upon the viorld, Benclux Imew his duty, ond with a Blessing entered the darimess with only a rope prudently tied about his vaist to pull hin to hie companions if nocd arose, Tenelux entered and felt his mind wrench, but managed to reach the doors and start them closing before total insanity overcane hin, His screan and the souni of the doors caused hie frionds to pull him out before the doors owmng ahut, A remove curse emi dispell magic Were enough to restore hin to his sonses. ‘Their mission done, thé party returned to.Rythlondar with 62,000 GP in treasure and a number of magic items. For poor Pieron, his constitution could not endure the attonpted resurrection spell by Benelux, so Kodiak used a Reincarnation spell fron a scroll found in the temple, Pieron’s soul came to rest in a nearby Pegasus. a8 Charmen, Benelux, and Athelfrar returned to their castle Usmigard, still under construction, after their encounter with Yidog, ilaiting for them was Ragnar, the — other joint owner of Zsmigard, an a wheezing, doddering old man clad in robes; ‘As. Charnen approached, the old man stood up shakily and handed her a mall parchment roll impressed with the Guild Rune Seal, She broke the seal and read the message with a sense of dread. It was indeed a message from the liages' Guild, She loarned that Igburff the mie ustxiious, the youngest and ablost protege of the Guild, had been captured by pirates and sold to the priestesses of Shartis. The Guild feared that the priestesses intend- ed to include him among their sacrafices on the day of tho Feast of the rithing Waters, just tuo months hence, The Guild naturally felt this to be an 111 way to treat their protege, ani requested Charmen to rescue him, offering various lame excuses that the high-level Guild menbers had previous commitnents which prevented thon fron attending to the matter thenselves. "ch no!™,Charnen thought, "Dann then, why me? If Igburff got himself into the ~9-