I am happy to say that I am writing this journal from the comfort of my own front porch. In other words, we made it back alive!

We didn’t run into much trouble getting everyone out of the crevasse, and Gildean was still there when we got back to him. After we gathered everyone together, we managed to drag the weakened people back to town on Valon’s tent. (It was probably a pretty funny sight, but it got the job done!)

After arriving in town, we immediately went to the Rat’s Egg and arranged food and lodging for the group we had rescued. A local boy was sent to fetch the druids who live on the outskirts of town, so that they could attempt to heal Gildean’s group. (Drusilia and Ghelt had both used up all of their healing abilities for the day.)

When everything was taken care of, we sat down for some food and relaxation, but it wasn’t meant to be. Drusilia came over and told us that she had been asked to remove some evil spirits that were haunting widow McGillis’s house, and that she was going to go check it out. Since I was ready to head home anyway, I volunteered to go along. Next thing you know, we were all going (including Trap, who had a room at the Inn — a room which he now has to pay for since he lost his job!!!)

Well, we arrived at Mrs. McGillis house to find that the ‘evil spirits’ were actually stirges. As we engaged them in melee combat, we asked Trap to take Mrs. McGillis outside and close the door behind him. He apparently misunderstood...

Instead of waiting outside, Trap decided to start shooting arrows into the melee!!! It was a 20’ x 20’ room, not an archery range! This had no effect on the stirges, but I am sorry to say that one of his arrows did hit me in the backside! Its a good thing I was out of spells, or he would have found himself in a MOST unpleasant situation.

As it was, the stirges decided that Trap looked like a tempting target (probably because he was waving only his bow around, instead of his sword!), and several of them latched on to him. Ironically, this let us kill them easier, and they were soon dispatched.

After cleaning up the house, we patched the hole the stirges had entered through, and Lady McGillis happily returned home. The rest of us then turned in for the night.

The next day, we divvied up the treasure we had found. We all got a goodly amount of gold, and also some items. I took possession of both a wand and two scrolls which we had found. I was making some progress identifying the wand, when Trap showed up, and offered to help. He assured me he was very good with magic devices, so I decided to let him have a try. (At the least, I figured it would be good for a laugh).

It turned out even better than I expected. Trap did indeed ‘activate’ the wand (of color spray, it turns out)... but not how he had hoped. Instead of spraying a wave of color in front of him, he sprayed himself, and is now a ‘multi-colored’ halfing! :) I hope it doesn’t wear off too soon!

~=Fafnir Flamebrewer=~
Planting 13, 592 CY