We rested long enough for Fortuna to wake up and myself to recover my spent spells. Then we cautiously headed back down. We Headed through a set of double doors this time and found a statue sitting in the middle of a set of ruins. Careful not to awaken it, we traveled around to another door. This one magically locked and needed a key. At first I was told they didn't have a key so we looked down another passage. We found a room with three coffins in it and I figured the key could be in one. That was when it was said that they might have a key. During this discussion I heard a loud noise and when I ran back down the hall to see what it was I found Keth standing at the door that was magically locked, but now it's open and nothing really bad was happening. I took a deep breath and walked in to see two rows of statues I found out spit fire if you pass between them.

As I was thinking of a good way around this everything went chaotic. Suddenly there were fire elementals and the statue came to life. Then in the midst of everything Fortuna opened a coffin and a mummy rose from the dead, a mummy that can cast spells. Then suddenly Fortuna yelled, "You killed Keth."

When everything settled down I 'm standing behind a stone pillar, I realize I hadn't seen Holli in some time, Keth is lying on the floor across the room, and Fortuna in standing next to the coffin. The only visible adversary is the now-living statue. At least it's not looking in my direction.

I awoke in one of those damn igloos. My companions had been unable to heal me magically, but after about seven or eight hours I guess I’d had enough rest. Keth had been saved too, but had gone back into the temple to chat with a scorpionfolk called T’Tith who had, for reasons of his own, spared our lives. Keth made sure that it was okay for us to be in the temple (and apparently, this is a different definition of “okay” than I would have used), and, after a few more futile attempts to heal me, we descended some spiraling stone steps.

A bit of wandering later, and we found ourselves in a chamber containing four columns and a large, bronze, bull-headed statue brandishing a menacing-looking bronze axe. The runes on the floor around it were warning enough; we circumvented the entire area.

There had been three other means of leaving the chamber. One was no longer accessible due to a cave in, and another was a set of locked doors with an ankh-shaped indentation on the surface— and ankh that would be shaped just like the one we’d found in the last temple. Keth was carrying it, and as usual, was no where to be seen. It took me a while to convince Pyotr that we had a key. While we were investigating the final doorway (which lead to a room containing a lit brazier and three sarcophagi), the double doors were opened. Apparently Keth had been in the area.

After opening the doors further, I slipped inside the room before anyone else. The room contained two rows of columns and statues, and a sarcophagus at the far end. I leapt from one column to the next, avoiding the floor, till I was able to get to the end of the room. As I did so, I could hear a commotion in the outer chamber. In the doorway, I could see my companions had managed to activate the bronze statue and at least one large fire elemental.

I hopped down off of the last column onto the sarcophagus and pushed the lid off. I was hardly surprised when the mummy it contained rose up. I shot it with my crossbow and leaped back to the column. For a moment, a wave of fear passed over me and I was unable to move. I could see that Keth was actually in the room with me, Holli was in the hall fighting off the bronze statue, and Pyotr was now in the room. I had intended to rain fiery bolts down on the mummy till it burned up, but Pyotr had other ideas, and began to cast spells at it.

The next few moments seemed like a nightmare. I could see the bronze golem fighting a fire elemental in the outer chamber now— how Holli managed that I am not sure. I could see Keth behind the mummy near me and I could see Pyotr raising his hands to cast a spell. Before I could shout a warning, he cast it. He wounded the mummy severely, but unfortunately, his wildly-cast spell caught Keth, killing him instantly. I was screaming to Holli about what happened as I decided whether to shoot my next bolt at the mummy or the offending sorcerer….

As I languish here, waiting to expire, I can’t help but feel guilty that I didn’t manage to get all my lovely magical items into the hands of my sister. It’s not like I didn’t have enough chances.

Pyotr made me barter for “desert” gear before we left the oasis, and I got rid of a few daggers in the exchange. Apparently iron and steel are rare here, so I was able to outfit us all nicely. I still felt terrible, but, as I am sure that Keth has the same curse (even though he shows no sign of it), we pressed on, hoping to find the temple and a cure.

Pyotr made what he called an “igloo” with a spell— like a fort made of snow, but it didn’t melt. He did this during the hottest parts of the day so we could travel when it wasn’t quite so taxing. We did manage to attract a very large scorpion that tried to kill me. Knowing I was about to die, I threw off all my very best gear so my siblings would have some useful things to aid in their quest. Embarrassingly, Pyotr managed to kill the scorpion and Holli gathered up all the stuff I’d left in the wake of the monster. The look on her and Keth’s faces nearly made me smile. I made her keep my ring that is supposed to allow me “free movement.” Never worked for me anyway. They made me keep everything else though.

Later, in another temporary igloo, we were somehow discovered by a roving band of desiccated undead. Pyotr and his cat managed to kill (re-kill) the lot of them. Keth and Holli helped pick off the stragglers. We rested again after that, in a new igloo. Pyotr says he can make about a half dozen of them each day. Thankfully we were not attacked again though.

The next day found us walking over much uninteresting desert. We finally arrived at what was clearly a manmade structure in the shadow of a mountain. Keth snuck into the sand blown, crumbling walls of what had once been a great temple— the Temple of Neferti. But, once again, I managed to attract a scorpion. As I pass in and out of consciousness, I can feel my body being dragged into the temple ruins….

Anyway, we traveled for a few hours and in the heat of this wasteland some creatures are more severely affected. Holly and her familiar Dabs really liked the cooler temps inside my igloo. I tried to tell them I'm known as a frost mage, but I think the term is unknown where they come from. Fortuna and Keth seam to be more adaptable to this weather.

After resting for a bit we headed out again, and as we traveled in the dark, we were attacked by a giant scorpion-thing. It tried to carry off Fortuna, but I stopped it; I can't let any of them die. As I explained to Volos, the more traveling companions we have, the greater our chance of success and getting home alive we have. Thinking about it, to have an ally, even this far away from the clan, might come in handy. Hopefully after we retrieve the chalice for the priestess that will be possible.

Middle of the next day we again tried to stay in my igloo to keep out of the heat, unfortunately we ended up being surrounded by more undead. Volos was able to make a quick distraction as i took out most of the creatures. Fortuna seems convinced she's going to die, I won't let that happen, I need them all to get home alive.

We traveled towards the mountain range, and as we reached some ruins I consulted my map and discovered we are where we need to be. Unfortunately we were attacked by more giant scorpions, and one that has a humanoid body. It was a tough battle until I realized some of what I was fighting is an illusion. Fortuna and Keth fell and were dragged off. Strangely enough even after I hit it with a spell it still just ran off with those two. Holly wants to chase after, and so do I, but something about this feels wrong, very, very wrong.

Once we entered the ruined temple it became clear that it wasn't the same as he had left it a week prior. He led me to a door that should have been sealed, and during our discussion on what we should do a voice told us to "Come on in." Now I could be wrong but I don't think it's normal to be invited into a tomb, but he opened the door and what we saw amazed me. One single small person sitting alone surrounded by the remains of what was once undead. Talking to her for a few minutes while my new friend went to get some water, it became clear she wasn't alone.

Holli's friend, Fortuna, showed herself and after Albus returned I asked if he knew of a cure for their ailment. Apparently Fortuna and another one I had yet to meet acquired something called mommy rot. They apparently had also recently lost a friend.

Albus gave us directions to a person who could help and some advice. I figures if I travel with these strangers to this land I might get the help I need to find the scepter my clan requires. So as the sun set I headed off north with what turned out to be three new travelers; Albus had left hours ago.

We made it to our destination as the sun started to rise; the only real excitement was some wandering undead in the desert, no problem at all. Fortuna could understand and speak to the natives because of a silver tongue in her mouth, nice ability, but watching her try to rip out her own tongue in an attempt to remove it makes me wounder if it's cursed. I spoke of this to Volos, he's sometimes quiet about his thoughts, but I don't foresee him doing anything, for a while anyway.

After some refreshing hospitality, we were allowed to visit the priestess who told us that if we could get a chalice for her she could remove the curse from my new traveling companions. It happens to be located at the same place as the scepter I need to find, I figure I'll tell them about this after we leave here.

We heard voices in the hallway beyond the room we were in. They sounded human, or at least more human than anything we’d heard so far. Keth and I opted to hide while Holli sat in the middle of the room, the remnants of our previous victory scattered about her. Problem was, the voices in the hall were taking an awful long time to decide whether or not to come in— we had to do some coaxing. A pair of human males opened the doors and started a conversation with Holli, then one went to take water from that well we’d found earlier. After much frantic waving on my part, one of the humans finally figured out Holli wasn’t alone and introduced himself to us. Pyotr, some sort of gypsy sorcerer, and his cat have been betrayed by some traveling companion and wound up here in the deserts of Har’akir. The cat, Volos it’s called, stares at me and makes me very nervous. Or it has, at least, ever since I decided to pop that silver tongue in my mouth it’s stared at me. I would blame the halfling in me, but I was only raised by them. Of course, the darn thing is stuck in there now, fused to my own tongue, so now I have a silver-looking tongue.

The other human Albus (Keth followed him around during our chat with Pyotr) returned with some potable water and some useful advice about our mummy rot situation. There is a small town called Muhar which has a powerful priestess that could heal us. Albus doesn’t apparently get along with the priestess and opted not to join us— instead, he turned into a big white bird and flew away. Pyotr seemed eager to travel with us— he’s on a quest of his own, which apparently is not in as desperate need of being finished quickly. We walked all night, and other than finding some very dry zombies (or ashen husks, as they are called), we arrived at Muhar.

The small tent town surrounded an oasis (which we had been warned not to help ourselves to, as it’s considered quite rude) and asked to see their priestess. Now, we had always joked with Janet about the duties of her holy order (or at least her self-appointed duties), but when this priestess stood up naked out of a pile of pillows and human males, I was struck speechless.

Unfortunately, we had come to realize I was the only one that spoke her language “Akiri” and I had to translate for my companions. I was trying my best, but Pyotr kept asking me what she said, so I finally snapped and told him she wanted him to remove his pants. My glee at his immediate blushing and cessation of questions became my own embarrassment a moment later when the priestess Snefru agreed with me that he should do that (for the record, he kept them on). Only then did I realize that the silver tongue I was stuck with translated not only what I was hearing, but what I was saying as well. Oh, and when Pyotr said he wished he had such a useful item was when Volos started staring at me.

As for the mummy rot, the Snefru agreed that we could be cured, but she lacked an item that would remove the curse, something called the Chalice of Neferti. The chalice, of course, is a two-day journey across the desert to the Temple of Neferti in the shadow of the Pharaoh’s Rest. Oh, and it seems that we must avoid someone called Anktepot at all costs, as his shadow is deadly.

We’ve been given all manner of hospitality by the people of Muhar. I would give up on the quest myself, if Keth did not have the same curse, as I feel that my time is drawing to a close. It’s hard to believe that a week ago, I was traveling with Janet, Elizair and Fash to Exag….

It turned out to be not one mummy, but two, and fire worked again, however, I couldn’t cast any spells, so I had to tumble through the doorway to light each in turn. The first managed to reach Keth, and both mummies exploded into a swarm of locusts. I continued down the hallway with Fash to a room at the end; we got the double doors open and immediately closed one. Holli soon followed and closed the other! Keth came bursting through a moment later, bowling us aside. We shoved the door closed again and let the bugs burn in the hallway beyond.

The chamber we found ourselves in was filled with treasure chests, urns and a sarcophagus. We carefully checked through each (saving the sarcophagus for last), finding coins, gems, and a silver statue with the dog-head motif. Now, we just needed to find a way out!

We went over every inch of the room, when we detected air flow in one corner of the room. Keth climbed up to the ceiling and found a trap door. Shoving that aside, he disappeared into a tunnel that took him back up near the entrance. Holli decided to close her eyes and rest a few minutes, so I suggested to Fash that we play dead when Keth came back. In spite of the dire situation, the thought made me giggle.

Sadly, that was the last conversation I had with Fash. As Keth slide down the rope he’d secured to the escape hatch, we made plans to open the sarcophagus, figuring we’d have an escape a mummy couldn’t follow us through. While Holli and I waited in the tunnel above, Fash and Keth opened the sarcophagus. It was not filled with a proper mummy, but with scarab beetles, alive and biting! Keth scrambled for the exit, thinking Fash would follow, but instead he chose to splash oil on the bugs (which were biting him) and light the oil (including the oil on the bugs biting him). I didn’t see what happened next, but Keth paled and quickly shut the trapdoor, insisting that Fash didn’t survive his encounter. I tried to get back to the room, but Holli and Keth forced me back. I know I swore a blue streak at them about leaving our brother to die. What cruel fate allowed us to finally find each other after so many years only to be separated by death so soon?

I probably should have told them about that— I’ve pondered this since I was in the pyramid in Exag, and have been sure we were separated as children since arriving in this sandy wasteland. Now we, or at least Fash, will never learn the truth of our circumstances.

We found ourselves in the hallway with the sphinx statues, and I was feeling reckless. We pushed the doors open at the end of the hall and saw a long room with a sarcophagus at one end, and four more of those awful tomb guardians. I tumbled between the lot of them and jumped up on the sarcophagus, planning to make a last stand, goading Holli to shut the doors. Alas, Keth stormed the room with me, so Holli followed. Not caring much about my fate, I climbed up a carved column so I could rain bolts down on the undead guards, all of which were incapable, or too stupid, to climb up after me. I shot each in turn till there were none left, and ironically, didn’t get a scratch on me. After the last fell still, I leaped down. We opened the sarcophagus and ransacked it. The mummy was dead and stayed dead. We found a jade scarab, a strange hooked sword and six sealed jars. Further searching revealed a stone box containing gems, a gold ankh, two small jars and two vials. I popped the top on one of the vials and drank it, figuring it would kill me and spare my siblings from watching me die from whatever disease the mummy gave me, or it would cure me. I felt much better immediately, but I don’t believe I found a cure, just a stay of execution. I tried the stuff in one of the jars and again, felt a bit better. Keth seemed to understand what I was doing, but I could tell Holli was a bit upset with me. We also found a silver tongue in the mummy’s mouth. I grabbed that too, but, reckless though I feel, I’ve not had the nerve to put it in my own mouth….

Although different, it was very use full in the heat of some regions' summers. Cold never bothered Pyotr as much as it did his friends and family members. And a large family it was: two aunts, three uncles, two brothers, four sisters, and numerous cousins, not counting extended family, his family was large and well-versed in many areas of life. Learning to harness his abilities helped a lot and it didn't take long for him to realize that not everything is hurt by cold, so he added a bit of variety to his arsenal.

Life wasn't always easy though. There were times when the clan fought different creatures that lived in the mist. These were deadly and many times his closest friends were mortally wounded. It was the way life sometimes took you from heights of glory to the depths of pain and despair: defeating your enemies only to turn around and have a close friend dying next to you. Or being sent on a mission to find an artifact that might not even be there, only to wake up and find your companion had left you to die in the desert. It was obvious this giorgio Mickehil, he called himself, didn't have the stomach to kill, but he apparently didn't have any reservations on leaving someone to die. Good thing the elders had the presence of mind to give him a spare map without the betrayer's knowledge. Taking his staff in hand he headed out towards the ruin hoping to get there in time, and as he walks his mind wanders.

Pyotr remembers how he found the staff leaning next to a tree almost five years ago. Just standing there, its light barely noticeable in the sun. and how his father showed him the secret compartments that his eyes were untrained to find. That's one of the reasons Mickehil was allowed to go with him, that and the betrayer owed his father a favor.

Pyotr thinks of the time his mother gave him the symbol of The Morninglord and a gift for his 18th birthday. She told him that as long as he wore it The Morninglord would keep him safe. Memories of his family would always make him smile. He thought for a second of how his family would feel if he never got home, or was found dead. Mickehil would pay for this, pay with his life as soon as Pyotr caught up to him.

Standing outside the ruined temple Pyotr pauses a moment waiting to see if anyone would exit, and noticing the charred bodies on the ground he wonders who they were and how that happened.

We probably should have headed outside after the run-in with the undead guards, but we didn’t. Instead, we wandered around following Fash, and eventually found a room, empty save for a well in the corner. As Holli peered over the side, Fash decided to check it for critters by tossing a rock in, nearly hitting Holli in the process (he did yell “move!” first). She, in return, stormed past him and gave him a pretty good slap. I ran after her to see if I could explain Fash’s lack of, well, tact, and found out that she’d heard a splash at the bottom— I took a bucket from my pack for Fash to fill with water. We then caught up with Keth who was in a room with two altars and many wall carvings of humanoids with animal heads. We also found some weird wax-sealed jars, wax, and the strangest “surgical” tools I’d ever seen. I was discussing the possibility of an ancient dog-headed race with Keth when I heard Holli and Fash screaming different things— turns out Fash had set off a trap on a door, which in turn had sprayed him in the face with acid. Ugh— he was already somewhat painful to look at. Things got worse quickly as a bandaged creature, which I’m told is a “mummy” wandered out from the now-opened door. Fash and Keth were momentarily frozen in place, and I managed to shake off a feeling of dread long enough to grab the torch from Keth’s unmoving hand and throw it at the mummy. I put a flask of oil in Keth’s hand, hoping he’d snap out of it and throw the oil, which he did. All we had to do was keep away from the mummy until it fell into a pile of ash, but unfortunately it managed to touch Fash and me.

I’m not feeling well, and I’m told I’m not looking well either. Fash looks absolutely terrible— if we wrapped some bandages around him, he could probably pass for a mummy.

We decided to rest, and so went into the room beyond the acid-spewing doors. There were three sarcophagi in the room, one of which was open. We found a small red clay box in the open one (presumably where the mummy had rested). It contained some gold and gems, a scroll in a bone case, and a vial of black liquid. Holli said the scroll is a spell to hide from undead— how useful!

We rested for quite a while, but I actually feel worse, and judging by Fash’s appearance, we’ve managed to get some sort of disease or curse from that mummy. I have a bad feeling about that. I hope I have more time with these three— as awful as things are right now, I have a strange feeling that I’m where I’m supposed to be, and the more we compare backgrounds, the more we all suspect that we share a common history.

After our uneasy rest, we learned that Fash should probably not be checking stuff over for traps— he just doesn’t have an eye for that sort of thing. We did learn that the two other sarcophagi contained plain old dead skeletons, but after opening one, the chamber’s doors slammed shut, and after the other, the ceiling started to come down. As luck would have it, we found a staircase inside the one sarcophagus though, so we quickly descended through that.

We found ourselves in a new room with four stone statues and a door that we simply could not open. I suggested that we attempt to turn the statues. Of course, the first time we did it, the door we came in banged shut (which hardly mattered since the room above us was crushed!). After many, many attempts, we had the statues in the specific order that apparently was required to open the next door out. As the door swung open though, we could see the outline of a bandaged figure shambling toward us….

We did a quick head-count— six humans (including one adept from a different temple and one town guard) and the four, make that three, of us. I didn’t see Keth anywhere, but tried not to worry too much about that. We had plenty of other things to worry about— as we peeked out one of the church’s shuttered windows, we could see a horde of undead shambling towards the doors and windows. We quickly got some of the pews pushed up against the openings, but they did very little to help. The adept seemed unable, or unwilling, to cast even the least blessing or protective spell. I saw Fash head towards the altar with some of the humans while Holli and I attempted to fight two skeletons that were gaining entrance via a window. I looked over my shoulder to see if we could get help when I saw the altar overturn, and heard a loud clap of thunder above us as the red clay roof of the church collapsed.

We all must have been knocked out. Actually, it was worse for the humans— they did not survive the attack, or storm, or destruction of the building. Holli, Keth, Fash and I came to— it was still night, but we were alone except for a few bodies of the recently dead. Being practical, we searched the bodies for anything that might help us against the onslaught, and as we did so, we realized a few things. There was no storm, but we still could not see the sky, even though the roof was gone. And what was left of the roof and temple was sandstone, and the remaining walls were covered in strange glyphs that none of us could read. The yard beyond the perimeter of the temple was blowing sand dotted with crumbling plaster columns. At least the undead army appeared to be gone.

We all become conscious how exhausted we were, and decided to camp right where we were. Let me amend that— Keth had to do some “investigating” first. He followed the columns to some steps, which in turn led him into an opening in a wall not too far from where we were attempting to rest. He came back soon to tell us that he’d found another dead human that had been poisoned (rather than crushed) and had looted that body, finding a curved dagger and some waterskins.

After a few more hours of resting, we studied our situation in the light of dawn— desert as far as the eye could see, at least from our vantage point. We opted to follow the steps and see what we might find beyond where Keth had searched the night before. We determined that the dead human had been poisoned by a dart that had shot from a wall when he stepped on a pressure plate, so we decided it would be best not to step on any of those.

We did find an intersection with a floor covered in runes flanked by four columns. We could also see that the way was blocked by four very desiccated, bandage-covered creatures in bronze armor. Keth and I snuck up to one each and attempted our usually-efficient back stabbings, but mine at least appeared to do no damage to my foe. It did cause it to notice my presence though. We took a few more moments to smack at them while Fash and Holli joined the fray. I would hit one of the undead guardians as hard as I could with no result. Keth called over to me, “fire!” and as luck would have it, fire did quite a bit of damage to the dry creatures— while my companions whacked at them a few more times, I lit two of them. Eventually the four of us were the only ones still moving.

Carefully avoiding the runes in the middle of the floor (which Holli believes to contain some sort of necromantic spell), we started down a hallway flanked with sphinx statues. At least, that’s what we think they are called. We have no idea how we got here, or where “here” is!

Allister and I went to the Lord Mayor’s red clay “pyramid” to apprise him of Exag’s dire situation. The first thing the pompous human said was “why did you bring one of those?” (That made me feel about 4’ tall!) I do not like the Lord Mayor, and I kept quiet during the meeting, but used my ability to speak subaudibly to Allister while we were in the throne room. Allister asked all the right questions to lead me to believe the mayor is a few cards shy of a deck. He and the mayor spoke to each other quietly, but I had no trouble hearing most of what they said. Apparently, the mayor knew about the undead army, and had agreed to let them into the city to acquire some artifact called the Eye of Anubis which is sealed beneath the city. The undead would not attack as long as they were not provoked, which is why the city watch had been stationed so far away. Stranger still, the mayor planned to use Fash, Keth, Holli and I as sacrifices to retrieve the Eye, due to some “four of one family” of my race being needed!

Allister, now that he was up-to-speed on the mad plan, quickly escorted me from the mayor’s throne room, telling me I must gather my brothers and sister and depart from town as quickly as possible. I told him that not only weren’t we family, but that I wasn’t positive we were even the same race. Holli was raised by gnomes, Fash by dwarves, Keth by orcs, and I by an elf and some halflings. Allister walked with me till we found Fash, and then had to say a hasty goodbye— I fear I will not see him again, and feel strangely sad about that.

As Fash and I walked to the inn to collect Holli and Keth (well, we went to collect Holli, assuming Keth would naturally follow along at some point), I had some flashbacks to when Elizair found me. I was 14 years old— I should have some memories of my life before that, but I really don’t. I must have had some family that was the same race as me. I then had some pangs of guilt at how quickly I was replacing Janet and Elizair as my “family” with these three gnomes I’d just met.

We found Holli (and as predicted, could not find Keth). We decided to leave the city, but then we immediately snuck back in, hoping to help in some small way. We planned to hole up in the cell that had the hidden tunnel behind it. Good that we did, as we found Keth in a different cell in the same jail. I picked the lock on his cell and he managed to stay visible for a few minutes while we scavenged some provisions (and mattresses) to make a comfortable “nest” for ourselves if we had to weather a protracted battle in town.

Incidentally, I learned that Fash is my age (54), and that Keth and Holli are both 46. None of them seem to remember their early childhoods either, and I’m unclear how Keth and Holli ended up traveling together, but there seems to be a high level of trust between them.

I would have attempted to learn more, but we heard something occurring outside the gate— the undead army had arrived, and the archers on the city wall were told to stand down while the monsters entered the town unmolested. We saw many townsfolk hurrying into their homes and closing doors and windows. The city seemed to hold its collective breath as the undead marched to the red pyramid and a group of them moved inside. Keth decided to follow them while Fash wanted to stay with the archers; Holli and I waited till the undead had disappeared into the pyramid, and then went to hide outside of it and watch.

Nothing happened for a few minutes, then a wave of death seemed to burst forth from the pyramid. Holli and I nearly doubled over from the strength of it, and we both feel greatly weakened now. The wave seemed to extend to the very wall of Exag. Dark clouds gathered over the city and a 20’ tall humanoid shadow formed, possibly as a result of that un-energy wave, and left via the south gate. The undead army then departed as well, though it was about twice as large as before— many appeared from the city’s buildings as newly-dead humans joined ranks with their long-dead relatives. Holli and I then ran into the now-deserted pyramid to find Keth. He was looking at a pit in the floor surrounded by statues— he had tried to stop the undead leader from retrieving the Eye, and had then endeavored break the statues after the ceremony had completed. We attempted to help him with that part but were also unsuccessful. I asked him if he had seen Allister, but the look he gave me suggested that it would be something best discussed at a later time.

Trying to shake off the weakness and feeling of doom, I recommended that we go ransack a magic store, figuring whatever was left inside might better aid us than any future looters that might happen through. Even that did not go well— we got chased by a wraith. We did find Fash though, looking about as healthy at the three of us, and then we found a group of survivors hiding in a temple to Ulaa (the name is somewhat familiar, but I just can’t for the life of me place it)— it’s a small comfort that we aren’t alone, but I am not sure what we can do to help them when we can’t even help ourselves. Unlike our encounters in the city prior to today, the people in this temple seemed pleased that there were gnomes joining them, or perhaps they too are just grateful to see more survivors.

I can’t help but wonder— what happened to the army that was gathering at the mine?

The next time we saw Elizair and Janet, they were dead. The bone devil dragged their remains right past where Fash and I were cowering, and there was nothing we could do. Sometimes it is an unfortunate thing to have such good vision— even in total darkness, we could see there was no help for either of our companions. We slunk back to the room where the battle took place— there was a lot of blood, a blue feather or two and nothing else. We had to take stock of our bleak situation— Fash lost a very good bow and shield, and of course, my sword was gone as well. But, we were alive, and we did have news to take back to Exag— at least Elizair and Janet did not die in vain. We squeezed through the small fissure where Elizair had closed the passage off to larger creatures, scurried to the shaft out, and left the mine as quickly and quietly as we could.

We were making fairly good time on the road to Exag, but it was midday and we didn’t take the time to hide ourselves at all. In fact, we weren’t being all that quiet either. We came upon three ogres with clubs. I managed to kill one when Fash and I were able to flank it, but the other two were fairly undamaged at that point. Thankfully, two small people appeared on the road behind the ogres, and with their magic and weapons, we were able to dispatch the other two.

I turned to thank them and realized there was only a lone mage— the other creature was nowhere to be found, or was at the very least invisible. Holli introduced herself to us and called herself a “whisper” gnome. I had no idea there was more than one type of gnome, but then, Fash doesn’t look exactly like a “normal” gnome either. Holli also had a large furry “weasel” draped around her neck she introduced as Dabs. Dabs barely opened an eye to study us briefly, and then went back to doing whatever it is weasel scarves do.

Holli appeared as though she would continue on the way we just came from, so we hurriedly explained why that was a very bad idea. She said something to Dabs or perhaps the air beside her head, and then agreed to accompany us back to Allister and then Exag, which was nearly visible on the horizon. If only we’d paid more attention to how to get back safely.

We turned off the road and attempted to go well around the town so as not to be seen by anyone manning the walls. After an hour, we started to recognize the landscape, but only because we’d just seen it an hour before. Scanning the nearby hillside, we saw a rectangular opening in the shadows on one side, and somehow, we ended up wandering in. At this point, I was still trying to figure out who Holli was talking to over her shoulder. We found some blood right inside the roughhewn opening and further in, some broken sarcophagi. Fash found some shambling creatures as well, and not having his bow, attempted to engage one in melee. It did not go well for him, but the little green guy that was with Holli reappeared and came to his aid. We killed (rekilled?) both of the undead things, and checked the damaged sarcophagi— already looted.

Not really sure why we made a stop at this tomb, we decided we’d better get heading back to find Allister. But, we were pretty lost, and it was now late evening, so we decided to make camp and try again in the morning. Oh, we also got to meet the other whisper gnome, Keth, who travels with Holli. I have to admit, I find myself comfortable around them, even though they are very unusual— other than Fash, I don’t really know any other gnomes— my family is/was Elizair and the Whisperleaf family. Hopefully we’ll all get to know each other better, once the current crisis is past. I’m not sure I can face my adopted halfling family right now.

We accidentally managed to check out the ruins of Hightower the next day— the information will actually be invaluable if we can get to Allister in time. The ruins were crawling with undead— hundreds of skeletons and some fleshier undead were lining up to march on Exag. Once we figured out they were heading that way we made sure we got moving faster so that we could provide warning. Once we saw the walls of the town we headed south to where we thought Allister had gone with a few dozen of the town watch, and sure enough, found a group of tents where they’d been told to make camp. Once we announced who we were, we were ushered to Allister’s tent. I had to explain that Elizair and Janet had been slain, and many of the men-at-arms were quite sad to hear about the loss of my cousin. I guess she had some fans.

Once we spoke to Allister, he issued orders to break camp immediately. We then all returned to Exag so we could get them ready for the impending invasion— undead, ogres, orcs, duergar, mindflayers….

My name is Keth, I am what some call a Whisper Gnome, and what others call trouble. My family is the source of my problems as far as I can tell. Jarcus, my adopted Half-Orc brother, says his father found my mother in what was left of a caravan that was attacked. Of the forty travelers, my mother was the only one found breathing, and that was not for long. Mom, as I like to call her, passed away not to much later after giving birth to me.

Marga Threy, Jarcus’s father, says that Mom said they were on the run, and that I must be allowed to live. There seems to be more to the story here, but no one seems to want to tell me. Marga had a secret that he always kept from me, but I am suspecting that Jarcus knows.

Marga was a traveler himself it seems, never seemed to find the right place to call home I guess. He kept us on the road, never spending much time in any one place. Jarcus and me grew up on the road along with a few others who came and went from our flock.

Anyhow, I got lost a while back, well lost from my brother. We had gone off on a trip to see if the eyes, in a certain statue, in a certain temple, were actually magical gems. Let me tell you, some people just over react. We didn’t mean any harm, Jarcus and me were just looking at them, from the ropes, from the temple ceiling, with our new daggers. It was just blown way out of proportion.

Nevertheless, when they came for me with swords, Jarcus just went crazy and everything changed too quickly to be any good. Jarcus fought his way out one way, I went the other. Now normally we just meet up later after the town guards calm down, but this was different. The entire town was up in arms and they were after us. I have now doubt that Jarcus made it out, after all, only half of them came after me.

I had to hide for twenty days. I searched and searched, but I could not find Jarcus or Marga. There were constant patrols and a lot of weird guys in blue cloaks searching for us. I don’t know who they really were, or where they came from, but I did not like the way they asked questions. Each time they were done asking people questions and left, I would go to the people and try my best to patch the wounds and I would also give them some silvers to help them out until they were able to work again.

A week after that I felt no guilt in taking those jewels from those statues, none at all. Since that day I travel and find friends when I can. Doesn’t seem to help that I don’t really talk much, Jarcus always told me to keep quite and let him do the talking, I see no reason to change that just because he isn’t here.

I think as long as I keep travelling and pay attention, I will find my brother again. He is probably laughing at me right now. He always said to keep my weapons sharp and clean, and they will take care of me, I don’t like violence much though. Not that I am not capable of it, I just don’t like it much. Doesn’t solve anything, and then I have to clean my weapons again.

I woke up in a cell with the others. Elizair was also just coming to. I noticed our equipment was all missing, and was told by Janet and Fash that soldiers had come in and hauled us out, saying they were under orders to bring us in for our “safety.” I briefly considered breaking out, but I just couldn’t believe Allister would have us locked up if it wasn’t important, so I decided to just hide in the shadows of the cell until one of our jailors showed up.

Sure enough, one did, bringing us a bucket of gruel. He seemed worried that there were only three of us, but Elizair assured him I would be back after taking care of some business. Turns out things were much different than they appeared— the guard told us there was a secret exit from the cell, and that all of our equipment was in the tunnel beyond it. Allister wanted us to escape safely and try to get more info on the situation at the mine, as the mayor of Exag seemed to be issuing orders that would be disastrous if there was an impending attack from that direction. We had one hour to get out before alarms would sound that the strangers had “escaped.” That was all we needed. We got out, circled around the town and headed west towards the mines.

We took the unused shaft to sneak back into the mine. We made it back to our “trouble spot” (where we’d fought the illithid) and saw six orcs. Fash and I were going to take them out quietly, but I fear my attempt to get Elizair and Janet to move quietly to our position met with disaster. We dispatched the orcs quickly, but not before one was able to sound a horn. Other horns echoed a reply throughout the mines, and the sound of footsteps quickly converged on the cavern from three tunnels. I grabbed the horn and we all hid as best we could. A group of invisible soldiers seemed to pass through the tunnels, followed by three ogres, and eventually, a few orcs. I was close enough to catch some of what the orcs said (in orcish): “Has Kaleth been informed?.... message relayed…they want to raise town… form beachhead… frustrated about wait… waiting till final pieces have been placed.”

A duergar caught up to the orcs and told them the “Final key has been secured from Hightower— prepare to move.”

As soon as they left, Elizair placed an “earthlock” on the tunnel, which would prevent them from using the main tunnel. Moments later, ten drippy-looking creatures appeared in the cavern, but Elizair quickly dispatched them. Some boney-looking devil materialized in front of Elizair and Janet then and began to viciously attack them. I tried to sneak up behind it and kill it, but instead, I found myself dropping my very nice sword, screaming and running off through random tunnels as quickly as I could. Fash quickly followed me. I’m not sure how long we’ve been hiding, or even where we are, but Elizair and Janet have not followed. I am worried— the last time something scared me that badly, Munthrek was dead the next time I saw him. I am praying that Elizair and Janet can find us as easily as Fash caught up to me….