Terinyo (with all apologies to Thomas Biskup) was once a mining town. Terinyo was a source of copper for the empire until the vein ran out, and no further veins were to be found. Many years later, the town had nearly dried up and was merely a shell of its former self. Then, a new discovery was made. In the attempt to found another mine, a new rock was discovered, that burnt like wood. Word quickly spread, and the town has begun to prosper - becoming a boomtown in a matter of months as this new commodity has been rapidly incorporated into the needs of the empire.

Terinyo itself sits near the border on the lee side of the mountains, at a crossroads in trade routes.Two paths cross the mountains, and two extend into the empire. Being that this is a boom town, opportunities are arising like at no other time, and Terinyo is attacting its fair share of adventurers seeking fame and money. With the increase in trade, there has also been a noticeable rise in crime, especially on the northern trails where caravans have been ambushed and robbed. Most recently, these robberies have turned deadly as entire caravans have been looted and burned, with no survivors.

While traveling towards town, Rick noticed the burnt-out husks of several wagons. There were, however, no signs of life, loot, or anything else. There were not even any bodies to bury, so he decided to head on in towards town.

Vidal the elf and Bill the dwarf joined up on the southern road, and fast began to become friends. Bill's paranoia, joined with Vidal's greed make for a good match-up, as they seem to "catch each other's back" quite well. Vidal, however, does seem to have an annoying facination with boots.

Galitus and Tarilya (Paladin and Cleric of Heironus) have travelled together from their lands to spread the word of Heironus and stamp out evil.

These people happen to meet in the bar of the Copper Dragon Inn (where else, but a tavern/inn?) where Galitus has sanctified the bar and is sacrificing beer in the name of Heironus. Bill the dwarf decided to get in on the drinking, as it is apparent that this tallie could hold his own quite well. It is here, also, that Nel was initially met, sipping wine - a variety of which that Vidal liked, and immediately becam a bond between these two women.

In the drunkeness of the evening, several of the locals were heard to be carrying on about the recent banditry and the inability of the sheriff to do anything about it. Nel got so drunk that she went out & bought a pony and didn't even remember it in the morning.

So, the party formed that night in the "Copper Dragon's" tavern, and agreed to meet the next morning. Those that could afford it stayed in the dragon, the rest stayed ant the "Shamrock Inn."

In the morning, the party met, and started walking toward's the sherriff's office. Along the way, they noticed several bills posted offering a 50gp award for bandits brought in to the sherriff, dead or alive (preferably alive).

On the way to the sheriff's office, Vidal overheard snippets of a conversation – "…I'm sick and tired of those danged weasels getting into my henhouse! Why, I don't mind loosing an occasional roaster, but those danged weasels are gonna eat me out of house and home!"

Vidal pulled the rest of the party aside and says "Hey guys! I'm hungry, and that old lady over there's got a weasel problem in her chicken coop!"

The Gnome piped up "Hey! I'm up for some fried chicken – how many days do you think we could milk this gig out? If we can keep the weasels out, we could eat a couple of those chickens ourselves!"

Rick piped up, "Hey! Weasels! That's something we should be able to deal with! Should be a lot easier than hauling in bandits from all over the countryside! It'll give us some insight into the lay of the land, too!"

The paladin looked at the gnome with disgust and said, "That's not right! We'll help that poor old lady, just because it's the right thing to do! Come on, guys!" And off he traipsed up to the old woman, with the rest of the group tagging along behind.

The paladin tugged on her shirt sleeve (not unlike a little boy), and said "Ma'am, we overheard your plight, and wondered if we might help you with your weasel problem?"

Old lady Henagar said, "Oh thank you, sonny! It sure is nice of you to offer to help me out. It's a nice change of pace to see you young un's trying to help out, instead of trying to take advantage of a poor old lady!"

Bill started whispering to Vidal, "I don't trust her! She's up to something – there's more to this than meets the eye!"

The paladin, overhearing this, turned and gave the mistrustful dwarf a dirty look. "Ma'am, he said, we'd be happy to try to help you out with your weasel problem!"

"Oh, thank you!" said Old lady Henagar, "I'll be back up to my place this evening, and I'll be happy to have you in for dinner!"

"See!" said the dwarf, "She wants us for dinner! She's up to no good!"

"How do we get to your place?" asked the paladin.

"Just head out of town on the Northwest road, take the first turnoff, and head north… It's about ten miles to the North from there. I'll look forward to seeing you this evening!"

"We should head on over to the sheriff's office," said Nel, "Maybe Mrs. Hagnar's place is out near those bandits"

"It's Henagar," said the paladin.

"Whatever, I'm just saying we might be able to get some gold and some dinner, with almost no effort!"

"I'm all for that," said the gnome.

"Me too!" cried the cleric, ranger, and mage, nearly in unison.

"Oh, all right," said the paladin, as the party began walking towards the sheriff's office.

"Hey," said the dwarf, "If she lives ten miles North of here, what's she doing in town, and how'd she get here, anyways?"

"Oh, she's probably just in town to get some supplies and do some gossiping," said the ranger.

"Yes, and she's probably got a wagon that she rode in on," said the paladin.

"I just don't trust that old lady," said the dwarf. By this time, the party was at the front door to the sheriff's office. They strode in, and somewhat startled Sheriff Johnson. "What can I do fer y'all," asked the sheriff.

Nel piped up and said; "We hear there's a reward out on some bandits? Is this true?"

"Yes," said the paladin, "we'd like to help out, if we can."

"Well," the sheriff explained, "with the opening of the new mine, Northwest of here, there's been an increase in banditry in the area. Now, we don't like it, but we understand that there'll be some of that going on, but just recently, in the last two months or so, the bandits have turned deadly. I don't think it's people dying defending themselves, `cuz they's apparently just been killed outright."

The sheriff proceeded to sketch out a rough map of the area. The map showed that Terinyo sat on a crossroads. "To the Southeast is a large lake, to the Northeast is forest, and one of the more recent locations of deadly banditry. To the Northwest is a pass through some mountains, and another place where people had been getting killed recently. To the Southwest is the southern pass through the mountains. The old copper mine is up that road into the mountains a ways, and there was some banditry there, but a recent rockslide has blocked the pass, and no one has cleared it out, yet, so there's been no recent banditry there, as no one has been traveling that route."

"There's no evidence?" asked Vidal.

"Oh, they's plenty o' that," said the sheriff, "Couple o' times, we were expecting some people comin' in, but they never made it… Search parties went out & found what was left of their wagons and whatnot, but they was all gone – signs of a fight, but no bodies, ceptin' once, when we found part of a gentleman's leg."

"What about the mine," asked Vidal, "That sounds like a good place for them to hide out."

"Well, said the sheriff, we useta mine copper `round heah, but the vein ran dry `bout twenty some-odd years ago. Town just `bout dried up, but just recently, in the last year or so, that Hopkins boy done found a rock that burns better'n wood. Started a whole new business, what with the miners comin' back to the areas. As for them usin' it as a hideout, I checked up there `bout the time the pass got blocked, and din't see hide nor hair of `em"

"What about that Mrs. Hopkins," asked Bill?

"You mean Mrs. Henagar? She's a nice lady," said the sheriff.

"Oh yeah?" asked the paladin, "You sure she's all right?"

"Top notch!" said the sheriff, "Never come a cross a nicer lady!"

Nel and Vidal began snickering, and Nel began whispering to Vidal, "I can't believe he said that!"

"I don't trust him," said Bill, pointing at the sheriff, "I think they're in cahoots!"

"Come on," said the paladin, "let's head on out."

The group began filing out the sheriff's door, all the while, Bill the dwarf was mumbling about how little he trusted those two humans. Vidal and Nel kept looking over their shoulders at the sheriff, whispering and laughing all the way.

"Bandits schmandits!" cried Bill, "I don't think there are any, and I still think those two are in cahoots! I'll bet that pass isn't blocked, either. I'll bet they're running abusiness ambushing travelers in the pass, with their headquarters in the old mine!"

The sheriff followed them out, just as the town drunk stumbled around the corner and ran into the paladin. "Damned stinkin' little bastards!" cried the drunk, "They's demons, I tells ya hic!"

The sheriff grabbed the drunk by the arm, "Come on, I'm tired o' yer nonsense! When you gonna climb outa that bottle?" Looking at the group, he said "Sorry `bout that, folks, when the old mine shut down, this un climbed into a bottle, and hasn't crawled back out, yet." With that, the sheriff hauled the drunk back into the jail.

"Maybe we should check on the drunk & see if there's anything he can tell us?" asked the paladin.

"They're hiding something!" exclaimed the dwarf.

"Maybe we should go back & ask him some questions," agreed Nel & Vidal.

Upon entering the jail, the group saw the drunk locked up in one of the cells. "Mind if we talk to him?" asked the paladin.

"Bah!" exclaimed the sheriff, "You'll get nuthin' but nonsense outa that one, but go `head and suit yerself!"

"I'm tellin' ya, they're hiding something," said the dwarf.

"You say you saw some demons?" asked the paladin.

"Yes, demons?" asked Nel.

"What're they hiding?" asked Bill.

"Hic! Dirty, rotten, little rat bastards! Demons, I tells ya! Buuurrrp! I seen I tells ya, but nobod…." Said the drunk, just as he passed out. He began snoring so loud that the party members had to yell to be heard.

"Maybe we should come back when he's sober?" yelled the paladin.

"He'll be missing!" Yelled the dwarf, "We should bust him out, now!"

"That's no good," said the gnome, "We'd have the whole town hunting our butts!"

"Let's just get out of here," cried the cleric, "I can't stand all this noise!"

As if in unison, the party members all nodded, and headed out the door. "Well, where should we head?" Asked the paladin.

"To Mrs Heigarfield's!" said the gnome, "I'm hungry!"

"That's Mrs. Henagar's, I think," said Rick.

"Whatever," said Nel, "I agree, I could stand a chicken dinner, right about now."

"I'm tellin' ya, I don't trust that old bag!" said Bill.

"But what about the bandits?" asked the paladin?

"They can wait!" Said the women of the party.

"Yeah," said the gnome, "they'll still be there tomorrow, and my gut'll still be empty if we don't head up to the old bag's house tonight!"

"All right, let's head to Mrs. Hastings' place, then," the paladin sighed.

"I think it's Mrs. Henagar," said Rick.

"Whatever!" cried the group.

"Come on!" called the paladin.

The party spent the rest of the day walking the ten miles r so up the road to Mrs. Henagar's place. Mrs. Henagar has a lovely little one- story house, replete with wooden floors, windows, the works. The party is invited in for a lovely fried chicken dinner, with mashed potatoes & gravy, corn, and okra. The hungrier members of the party eat themselves practically to oblivion, which may have something to do with the remainder of the nights events, but who knows?

"So, you say you have a weasel problem?" asked the paladin, around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Didn't they teach you manners at paladin school?" asked the cleric, "Don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Sorry, you were saying about the weasels?" asked the paladin again.

"Well," began Mrs. Henagar, "those pesky weasels keep sneaking in in the early morning, and stealing my chickens. At least three times, now, they've made off with a couple chickens, but I can never seem to catch the little sneaks!"

"So we should hang out here, and try to catch them first thing in the morning?" asked Nel.

"No, I've tried that, but they always manage to get away – I think they hear me coming," replied Mrs. Henagar. "I've tried waiting outside in a lawn chair for them, but they don't seem to come around when I'm out there waiting for them. I think you'll need to wait inside the coop all night, and get the jump on them when thy sneak in, in the morning."

"Irmph domph phrumst her," whispered Bill, around a mouthful of fried chicken.

"Shh!" replied Vidal.

"All right," replied the paladin, "we'll wait outside near the coop for them. How have they been getting into the coop?"

"Well," replied Mrs. Henagar, "the coops a bit old, and needs some repairs. The bottom of the walls are starting to rot some, after al these years, and there's a hole that seems to be just big enough for them to pull a dead chicken through, over by the fence. Why don't you head on outside, and check the coop out for yourself?"

The dinner table being nearly bare, the party agreed, and began to waddle out the door in a tryptophan induced stupor. It was a beautiful early evening in the late summer, and the sun was just beginning to set when the party noticed the building to which Mrs. Henagar was pointing them. The chicken coop was about twenty-five feet wide, by sixty feet long, and had a steeply pitched roof that made it nearly as tall as the house.

"That's a coop!" cried Rick, "I thought it was a barn!"

"Geez Louise!" cried the gnome, "you call that a coop? How many chickens do you have?"

"Oh, I guess about two hundred," said Mrs. Henagar with a shrug.

"Why so many?" asked Nel.

"Oh," said Mrs. Henagar, "it's my business…"

"I told you we shouldn't trust her!" cried the dwarf.

"…I sell eggs and fryers in town," she continued, apparently not hearing the dwarfs comment, "Not a bad living compared to some of the other poor folks around here," she continued, "I try to help out them in need, too."

"…Oh…" said Bill.

"If you need anything, I'll be back in the house, looking forward to seeing you in the morning! Oh, and you look out for that ol' bull o' mine, you heah? He's a cantankerous old fart!"

"Dammit!" cursed the dwarf, "I knew we couldn't trust her!"

The party began to plan the night's activities in earnest. When all was said and done, it was agreed that Rick and Vidal would sit on the roof, watching the hole from above. When the weasels went in, Rick would drop from the roof and cover the hole with a board, trapping the weasels inside. Bill and the paladin would kill the weasels with the aid of the cleric, while Nel and the gnome would wait outside in case the weasels managed to escape. Both Nel and Vidal had sleep spells memorized, in case they were necessary.

Just before dawn, the weasels appeared. "Shh! There they are!" whispered Rick. As the last weasel entered the coop, Rick tried to jump down and seal the hole. Instead, he performed the most ungraceful swan dive… Well, maybe it was a gainer… Regardless, it was the ugliest maneuver seen in these parts in recent history. Somehow, though, Rick managed to do the job and covered the hole. The board was braced up with his nearly unconscious, and very mangled body.

Inside, everyone who was not already awake certainly was now, as the ruckus outside was, thankfully, not quite enough to raise the dead, as they now had there hands full with weasels.

The paladin neatly skewered one weasel, while the cleric just missed turning another to jam with her mace. Bill chopped a third weasel in half.

The not-quite-jammed weasel didn't appreciate the untoward attempts on its life, and attacked the cleric. He jumped up and bit her on her mace arm, and latched on for dear life.

The paladin made a poor attempt at gigging the remaining weasel, but nearly got his toe, instead.

Outside, Vidal, Nel, and the gnome were wondering what was going on in the henhouse, as there seemed to be an awful lot of noise for just a couple weasels. Rick was just leaning on the henhouse moaning, wondering how he had gotten into this predicament – after all, it was supposed to be a short jump, and should have been easy. Maybe it was that last chicken liver he had with dinner last night… He began to cast a Cure Light Wounds on himself.

Back inside the coop, Bill decided to be valiant (rather than grumpy), and save the cleric from her horrible weasel infestation. He swung his sword (stupidly) at the cleric in an attempt to make a weasel pincushion, and missed. Fortunately for the cleric, he didn't skewer her instead. Instead, he slipped and hit his head on a roost on the way down, knocking himself into a similar state as that of Rick, outside. The paladin valiantly destroyed his weasel, while damning the creature to it's own particular weasel hell.

Outside, everyone was getting worried, so Vidal jumped down and kicked the door open, while Nel and the gnome came running up to the coop. They ran in just in time to see the cleric throw the weasel off to the paladin, who skewered it neatly through the gizzard. They began to take care of Bill, who was all right, other than being a little woozy.

Outside, Rick finally came to, and began dragging himself over the fence, and towards Old lady Henagar's house. The rest of the party started towards the door. As the paladin opened the door, he heard "Moo?" Of course, there was the bull waiting for them with a credulous look. Again, as if to say "Who are you and what are you doing here?" the bull gave them a look and said "Moo?"

The group ducked back inside the henhouse and began discussing what to do next, while Rick, who was still outside, jumped over the fence.

Back inside the henhouse, Nell asked "How do we get out? The bull's out there?"

"I say we just kill the damned bull!" said Bill.

"No, we can't kill that poor old woman's bull!" cried the paladin and elves in unison.

"Why not?" asked Bill, "I'm in the mood for a steak. Besides, I'm tellin' ya that that od bag's in cahoots with the sheriff, and they're both up to no good!"

The paladin sighed. Nel piped up, "I can try to put it to sleep, then we can all just hop over the fence and be on our merry way!"

"Good idea!" the rest of the group agreed. Nel opened the door and cast a Sleep spell, while the bull looked on quizzically.

The spell was cast.

The bull yawned.

The party held their breath in anticipation.

The bull said, "Moo?"

"Just kill the damned bull!" cried Bill.

"Look," said the paladin, "why doesn't the fastest of us just run out and distract the bull, while the rest jump over the fence? Who's the fastest among us?"

"Not us!" the women cried in unison.

"You're the one who doesn't want to kill the bull," said Bill, "Why don't you do it?"

"Oh, all right," sighed the paladin. He was out the door like a shot (well, a shot wearing scale armor), and was headed away from the fence and towards the gate. The bull chased after him while the rest of the group jumped the fence by Ranger Rick, who was smiling at the paladin's plight. Finally, the paladin jumped over the fence, escaping the bull's wrath. The bull sat down, gave what could only be described as a smile to the paladin, and began to pant like a dog.

"What is up with that bull?" asked Vidal.

"I don't know," said Vidal, "I'd like to find out what his story is, later."

"Let's head up to the house and get our reward!" said the gnome, as he started walking that way.

The rest of the party quickly caught up, and was met at the door by Mrs. Henagar. She pulled out a little change purse, and handed each member of the group a shiny new gold piece, all the while thanking them "for not taking advantage of a poor old woman."

"One gold piece?" cried the dwarf, "That's it?"

"Hush!" whispered the paladin, beginning to believe that maybe the old bag was up to something, after all, "It's our civic duty!"

"Oh, my, you're right, there was something else!" Would you kids like some lemonade?

Everybody except the Paladin declined the offer. He had a drink (while the rest of the party looked on with great suspicioun) and proclaimed it to be some of the best lemonaid he had ever tasted. Each of the party members filled a spare wineskin with the mixture for later.

"Well," asked the paladin, "now what?"

"The bandits!" cried the gnome, "Let's go get `em!"

"Cripes!" said Rick, "We almost got ourselves killed over some weasels, do you think we can handle bandits?"

"Oh, we've just had a run of bad luck," said the paladin, "things are sure to look up from here. Besides, we all got a good dinner out of it, didn't we?"

"That was some good chicken," the ranger agreed.

"Well," said Vidal, "Where should we head first? To check on the bandits, I mean?"

"We should head up towards the old mine & the allegedly buried pass!" cried Bill.

"Why not," agreed the paladin?

"Let's stop back in town, first, and stop by the store. Maybe we can sell these weasel pelts!" said the gnome.

"Shoot," said Rick, "we've each got a gold piece, let's drink some beer!"

"Good idea!" exclaimed the paladin, "We can stay the night in town, and head off for the southern pass tomorrow."

"And maybe we can check on the drunk," said Nel.

Arriving back in town, the group made arrangements to stay the night, this time at the slightly more upscale Copper Dragon Inn. They then headed to the sheriff's office; only to find that neither the sheriff nor the drunk was to be found.

"I told ya!" cried the dwarf, "I'll bet they're up at that old bag's house, slicing the poor schmuck into chicken feed!"

"Well," said the paladin, "we'll find out tomorrow when we get up to the pass, how much has been truth, and how much has been lies."

The party departed town with the rising of the sun, as one gold piece just doesn't buy the beer it used to, and headed up the road.

OK, the stuff that's been to date, so far, was when the new group just started a couple of years ago. I wrote stuff down the night after it happened, but got behind. I m going from memory, now, so please accept the synopsis format that will continue from here - I'm doing this from memory, ya know...

So, the intrepid party headed back towards town. After making a quick stop at the various shops, they continued to the Southwest, towards the old copper mine and allegedly blocked pass. It was a decent trip, as they had all left their horses in town, so they stayed another night in the two inns, and made their way out the next morning.

As they headed up the road to the Southernmost pass, they noticed three men walking towards them. The party held back to parley with the strangers.

"Hold, stranger!" called Galitus.

The men stopped and pondered their situation - they were clearly outnumbered by the party, and it looked to them as though some were spellcasters. They came slowly forward, hands on sword hilts. Rick, Bob, Bill, and Galitus came forward to meet the strangers, while the rest held back in defensive positions.

"From where are you coming?" asked Galitus.

"We have just come through the pass, and are travelling to Terinyo," replied their leader.

"We were informed by the sheriff that the pass was closed, due to a landslide that has not yet been cleared," said Galitus.

"You have been misinformed, stranger," replied the leader, "the pass is open, and there were no hazards the way we came."

"Thank you strangers," said Galitus, "good health in your travels!"

"Well met," replied the leader of the group, "and good travel."

As the strangers parted, the group reconvened in the middle of the road

"I told you we couldn't trust 'em!" said Bill.

"Well, let's not be too hasty," replied Galitus, "Maybe someone else has cleared the path, recently."

"Bullshit!" cried Bill, "How would the sheriff not know about that?"

"Maybe we should just go on up the road and check it out," said Bob.

"Good idea," said Rick and Galitus in unison.

The party continued up the road, past the old copper mine, only to find that the road was, indeed, blocked - just as the sheriff had told them. This series of events perplexed the party.

"What was up with that," wondered Rick aloud.

"I don't know," replied Galitus, "It's pretty obvious that the sheriff told us the truth."

"Yeah," moped Bill, "at least about this - I still don't trust him!"

"Maybe those were the bandits," said Nel.

"But still, why would they lie about the pass being closed," asked Galitus.

"Maybe they knew they were cornered and thought that confusing us was the best way to escape without battle," said Tarliya.

"Ya, I thoughtyou said you were a Paladin," said Rick to Galitus.

"I am," said Galitus, his feathers somewhat ruffled.

"Well, can't you detect evil, or did you play hookey that day in Paladin school," asked Rick.

"D'oh!" cried Galitus, ashamed.

The party walked glumly back to the old copper mine. The entrance had been barred by two large doors leading into the main entrance. One of these doors had been knocked loose, and there were signs that the mine was being used by someone or something.

Galitus began yanking on the loose door, trying his best to force it open. At one point, he was actually hanging on the door as the hinges appeared to be pulling from the wall. He narrowly avoided being crushed as the large door finally fell away.

"Do you think they heard us?" asked Bob sarcastically.

"What?" asked Galitus.

"Can you make any more noise?" asked Rick.

"Well, no one's attacking us, so I suppose there was no one in there," said Galitus.

"I wouldn't bet on that one," said Nel, "They're probably just setting an ambush for us, now."

The party waited a bit before entering the mine - they then began to journey as deep as their enhanced vision would allow. It wasn't long, however, before they learned the origins of the saying "no matter the species, don't mess with mom," as there was a mother bear and her cub inside the mine.

Of course, the frightened bears immediately attacked, and were slain forthwith. While this saddened the ranger somewhat, he understood the necessity of saving their own skins. He skinned the bears, as he recognized that their pelts should bring the party some much needed cash back in town. He also dressed out the meat, so the party would not be forced to eat iron rations.

Once the party had moved a little further into the mine, past the bears, they began to hear some more, foreign noises. The paladin bravely (naively?) walked back so far that his human vision was not sufficient, and was immediately attacked by two rust monsters. His scale armour was immediately ruined and the party also learned that paladins wore the same thing under their armor as Scottsmen did under their kilts (not much).

The paladin and the thief attacked the rust monsters. To their dismay, they found that while they were able to deal some initial damage, their wepons immediately crumbled to dust and were rendered useless.

Vidal and Terilya saved the day through their deft thinking - they wrapped maces in cloaks and began pounding one of the cretures forthwith. Bob the Gnome bull-rushed the other rust monster, and tried to push it into the main mine shaft. Just as Terilya and Vidal sent their creature to the great beyond, Bob tried again to give one last shove to push his into the maw. Bob missed his target horribly, and instead fell into the shaft himself. He flailed uselessly for a handhold before taking a great fall and diing of the sudden stop at the bottom.

After the remianing party members finished off the last rust monster, the thief and dwarf searched around and found some gems. The rest of the party tied all their ropes together, and lowered Rick to the bottom of the shaft. It was quite apparent to Rick that there was no first aid good enough to help.

Rick created a guerney and loaded in Bob's body. The party humbly carried Bob back to town, where they used all their profits to have him restored to life.

Bob woke from his dirt nap with a sudden start, and looked around in confusion. He explained that he was thankful to the party, as he was sure it was not yet his time.

"You can thank us by paying back the money we had to pay to have you resurrected!" said Vidal.

Valla and Galitus were taken aback and said that no repayment was necessary, as it was the will of Heironus. Rick also felt uncomfortable, and said that no repayment would be necessary.

The remainder of the party, however, agreed with Vidal, and demanded repayment for their share. Bob agreed that all debts would be repaid. With that matter settled, the party went on to use what little funds remained to pay for rooms at The Copper Dragon, and eat dinner.

At the inn, Galitus bellied up to the bar and again began making his required sacrifice of barley and hops to Heironus. Bill joined him, while the rest of the party sat down to eat.

While eating their dinner, the stablehand asked Nel how much longer she wished to keep her pony in the stables.

"What," she cried! I have a pony?

"Yes," replied the stablehand, "you bought him a couple of nights ago, and you also paid for his stall and board for the next week."

"I knew there was no way I drank that much! Huh, I wondered what had happened to all that gold. Wow, a pony... It's every girl's dream!"

The party stayed in The Copper Dragon for the next few nights to ensure all members were fully rested and healed.

The next day, the party returned to the sheriff's office, and told him of the previous day's events. He nodded, and told the party that some more bandit activity seemed to be occuring on the Northwest road. He promised that he would head out to the old copper mine, and reseal the entrance.

The party road their horses North until the reached Mrs. Henegar's house, and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Oh, it you!" said Mrs Henegar, as she opened the door.

"Yes, ma'am," said Galitus, "May we use your field as a short cut?"

"Why yes you can, young man," answered Mrs. Henegar, "I'm not sure what you done ta that ornery old bull, but he's not the same. Practically ruined - would you please take him away?

"What?" Asked Galitus, "What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, he's just acting odd," replied Mrs. Henegar, "it was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose..."

"How could the bull act any more oddly?" asked Bill.

"Ah, well," said Mrs. Henegar, while looking pointedly at Galitus, "I suppose he's made a good chioce."

"Ummm... Thank you, ma'am," replied Galitus, "I think we'll be on our way."

It was as if Mrs. Henegar suddenly realized some great secret as she said "Yes, you kids scamper along, now! You take good care of that bull!"

Not understanding, the party set off Northward through Mrs. Henegar's field, keeping close lookout for the bull. As they continued onward, the bull soundlessly snuck up behind Galitus, and gave him a hard push with its head.

Surprised, Galitus yelped in alarm, as the bull began prancing in circles around Galitus. Galitus stopped, peering quizzically at the bull. The bull ran back behind Galitus, and began pushing him until he started running, and then chased him around for a bit. About the time Galitus was getting worn out, the bull stopped chasing him, and began rolling around in the dirt like a large dog.

Soon, the bull ran off, came back carying a stick in its mouth, and dropped it at Galitus' feet. Shrugging, Galitus threw the stick, and the bull fetched it. This went on for a while, as the rest of the party made jokes about the paladin's new doggy. It seemd the bull was now a permanent part of the party.

The party continued to the Northern road, and followed it Westward, until the remains of a wagon were found. The wagon had been burned to the ground, and nothing remained. Upon a further search of the area, Rick discovered what appeared to have been an ambush.

"Hey, guys, over here!" exclaimed Rick.

"What is it?" Asked Galitus.

"Here," said Rick, pointing ahead, "Someone camped out here - looks like an ambush!"

The party spread out to find other signs of the bandits, to no avail.

returning to the road, the party continued towards the mountains. Upon reaching the middle foothills, Rick discovered another ambush site - apparently yet to be used. Further searching revealed a path to the South. The party decided to stake out the ambush site in an attempt to ambush the ambushers.

Early the next morning, the party heard some movement coming from the South. As the party was getting ready, three bandits entered the area. The ambush went awry, however, as the bandits discovered the party before the trap could be sprung. Battle was met, and three bandits were subdued after a long battle.

After some questioning, the bandits told the party that their headquarters was to the South, and that business had been "down," due to the savage attacks on wagons. The party bound and gagged the bandits, tied them to their steeds, and began the treck Southward.

After a full day's travel, the party had not yet found the bandit lair. They decided to rest through the night, but decided against a campfire, as they were not sure how close they might be to the bandits' lair. Soon, however, they saw a fire come to life - not one-hundred yards from their camp.

Rick stealthily approcahed the camp, and listened to the pair men discuss their plans. They had been sent by their leader to meet up with the captured bandits, and then move on to another ambush site. Rick crept back to his own party's campsite

"Guys, those're the bandits over there," he explained.

"Whaddaya think?" asked Galitus.

"I think we can maybe catch them unawares, but if that fails, maybe we can convince them to surrender," said Rick.

After some discussion amongst themselves, the party agreed that this was probably a good idea, and that they should go ahead and raid the encampment, and bring the two bandits to justice.

As the party approached the bandits' encampment, the clinking of Galitus' armor gave them away. The bandits were at the ready when the party arrived.

Rick came forward to parley, "We've got you outnumbered - we're here to bring you in for the crimes of highway robbery and murder. If you come along peaceably, the sheriff will show some lieniency."

In reply, the bandits decided to attack the party, but were quickly beaten down. As one of the bandits succumbed to the party's blows, the other's moral broke, and he began to run Southward. Rick gave immediate chase, dropping his pack and running after. Even though the bandit was wearing armor much lighter than Rick's scale, Rick managed to gain ground.

The chase wore on for over twenty minutes, and Rick realized that he would be too tired to carry on a battle. Rick dropped his sword. As he approached closer to the bandit, Rick drew his longbow and neatly pierced the bandit's heart.

While panting, Rick heard the soft sound of a horses shiver. He moved closer to a few horses ties down to a hitch a short distance away. Communing with the horses, Rick learned that the bandits were, indeed nearby. He convinced the horses to remain quiet while he led them back to the fallen bandit. After loading the bandit's body back on the horse, Rick led the group back to his own party's encampment.

The party was obviously worried, and hand taken up defensive positions upon hearing the sounds of the horses. The group was relieved to see Rick, and immediately began asking questions.

"Where have you been?" asked Galitus.

"Where did you get the horses?" asked Vidal.

"What took so long?" asked Bob.

"Chasing the bandit, at the bandit's hideout, and he was a good runner," gasped Rick, answering all questions at once.

After Rick had a chance to rest, he told the full story, and the party scouted Southward to the bandits' hideout.

The hideout was a cave set into a sheer rock cliff. While it was still dark, the party could see the interior of the cave reasonably well. It appeared as though there might be another chamber deeper into the cave, and at least one guard could also be seen. After some discussion, the party decided to wait until early morning before trying to enter the cave - the guards should be tired by then, and the sun would not be bright enough to silhouette the party's entrance to the cave.

As dawn began to break, the party asked blessings, and made their way into the cave. Unfortunatley, they did not catch the guards by surprise.

Fortunately, there were only two guards. The battle ensued, and soon the bandit leader came into the fray. It was a tough fight, as it soon became obvious that the bandits and their leader were much more learned in the ways of combat. Sheer numbers quickly weighed against the bandits, though, and the two guards fell and their leader surrendered.

The party began questioning Karnach (again, apologies to Thomas Biskup), and soon learned that this was indeed the gang that had been robbing caravans.

We've not killed anyone, though," Karnach explained, "Some other gang has been "horning in" on my territory, killing off the caravans and scaring away business. We've been planning on picking up and moving somewhere else, 'cause the competition's been killing us."

A quick search of the lair turned up two chests. Vidal checked them out - "I think they might be trapped," she said.

Rick put his sword on Karnach's throat and said "The keys. Hand them over, now."

Seeing no alternative, Karnach handed the keys over to Rick, who tossed them to Vidal.

"Anything goes 'boom,' and I slit your throat," said Rick.

"The keys will work, I swear," exclaimed Karnach.

The party tied Karnach up and laid him accross a horse so they could bring him back to town for trial. The party confiscated the contents as evidense. The party laid claim on several magic items, as well, including a deck of cards, a sword, some scrolls, and some potions. Four of the potions had been rigged into the chest lids to break if the box was forcibly opened, so the party immediately decided that these might be of some later use. Rick took possession of the magic sword, and the party split the gold amongst themselves.

Once the party made it back to town, they brought the bandits and horses back to the sheriff's office. When the sheriff saw the party and their laden horses, he gave a hearty smile.

"Come on in!" said Sheriff Johnson, "Looks like you've been busy!"

The party took turns explaingin all that had happened over the last few days. The Sheriff asked if they had any evidense, and they told him of the loot taken from the chests.

"I recognize this necklace," said the sheriff, "it belongs to the aunt of a friend of mine! This is enough, by itself, to convict the gang. Y'all can keep all the rest, seeing as how none of it is identifiable." The sheriff then pay them another fifty gold per bandit.

From within the cells, Karnach was insisting on his innocence in the killings and pleading for the sheriff's mercy. As if to emphasize his pleas, a locaal came running in to the jailhouse and announced that another burnt caravan had just been found to the North.

The party assured the sheriff that they had captured Karnach and his gang long enough ago that they could not be responsible for this latest atrocity. They would check this new situation out and report back to the sheriff as they had the chance.

The party sat down with Sheriff Johnson and plotted out where the caravan burnings had occurred, and realized that nearly all of them were to the North. With this information, the party set out Northward to investigate these goings on.

The party restocked their provisions, and used the remains of their money to identify what magic items they could. Rick's new sword turned out to have an enhanced ability to not only hit, but to also deal damage. Rick also had some special arrows made - these arrows would not only deal out normal damage, but damage their target's constitution when they gathered the target's blood. As Rick's mom was magical, and his dad's friends were mages, he was quite interested in gathering components that could be used for magical research and creation of magical items. He called these "Arrows of Stirge's Bite"

The party regrouped, and spent the night at the Copper Dragon. There, they saw Sheriff Johnson who thanked them again for their help in capturing the bandits.

"Is that Mrs. Henegar's bull, I saw in the stables?" asked Sheriff Johnson.

Galitus said yes and told him the story.

Sheriff Johnson looked Galitus up and down, and seemed to nod his approval. "It looks like he made a good choice," said the sheriff, "you take good care of him."

The sheriff walked out the door before Galitus could begin asking questions.

In the morning, the party headed out. They stopped by the jail for a bit, but the sheriff was out. The party headed North to investigate the recent destruction.

After a day and a half's travel, the Bull went on point - sniffing the air and wagging its tail. The party noticed this odd behavior, and began looking around. Up ahead, was a freshly burnt out wagon - smoke was still rising from the wreckage. The party tied off the animals back some way, and went to investigate. There were no bodies, but Rick found some drag marks and blood. Further investigation showed some faint trails leading back into the woods.

The party traveled a short distance back into the woods, then left the trails. They stayed out of sight while Rick began searching the nearby woods. Rick followed the trails as far as he thought prudent, as they were becoming more and more used, the further North and West he travelled. Rick returned to the party and relayed his newfound information.

"It looks as thought there's quite a bit of activity back in the woods - the trails are dense and well-used. We might be up against more than just a small group," explained Rick.

"Well," sighed Galitus, "we've got a job to do, I suppose we should get moving."

"Yes, I suppose you're right - I'll take point. I'll scout about one-hundred fifty feet ahead. You guys move out slowly & quitely about five minutes after I leave - this will give me enough time to work my way back to you if I need." said Rick.

The party began moving forward up the path, with Rick at far point. Soon, they found Rick, waiting for them near an intersection of trails.

"I think we should set up a listening post & just hang out & gather some intel for a bit," said Rick, "The trails are getting kind of busy."

"I can agree with that," said Bill, "I'm getting a bit tired, anyway."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, too," said Fiona.

The party set up a off-trail camp to listen for whatever was terrorizing the area. It was not long before the party heard some sounds best described as barking in the distance. Rick and Bob immediately recognized thm as their most hated enemies, kobolds!

Both Rick and Bob showed great restraint to sit still and listen listen to what was going on, and soon realized that a hunting party was moving along and talking amongst themselves. Rick and Bob both could hear the vile creatures well enough to make out several phrases, including "the king will come soon," and "I hopes we can gets more of those hooman babies! They's tasty!"

Rick held back until the hunting party passed by, and then motioned for the party to attack. There were nine kobolds in the party, along with one large dire weasel. The weasel was immediately felled with a shot from Rick's longbow, while Bob led the charge into battle. Rick followed shortly with his new sword, and the party made short work of the evil beasts.

The party pulled the bodies away from the trail. Rick and Bob gave each other knowing looks as they began searching the bodies for clues.

"Damn it," muttered Rick.

"What?" asked Galitus

"Kobolds are like roaches," frowned Bob"

"Yeah," said Rick, "They come by the hundreds, and they're damned near impossible to get rid of. I think it's a bit odd that they would be moving into an already populated area, though."

Bill shrugged. "We just need to kill them."

"Can't we bargain with them?" asked Galitus.

Bob and Rick looked at each other and laughed. "No, they're kobolds," they replied in unison.

Bob and Rick explained to the rest of the party that kobolds were an evil scourge hat bred like rabbits. They described the little monsters as capricious, destructive, generally evil, and if not for being mostly stupid, they would overrun the world. Bob and Rick felt it to be their civic duty to rid the world of these beasts wherever they were encountered.

The party continued forward down the most used path. It was not long before they encounetred another kobold hunting party. The party dispatched these kobolds quickly, and moved forward again. It was not long before another battle ensued, resulting in more kobold deaths.

Each of these hunting parties had about ten kobolds and up to two weasels. The party was being slowly worn down, and realized that they would soon need to rest in order to heal their wounds. The party quickly backtracked to the road, and encountered two more hunting parties along the way.

The party moved far enough away to have a reasonable chance at a good night's rest, but the watch was tense, nonetheless. The next morning, the party woke, freshly rested, and began following the trails yet again. Four more hunting parties were encountered and destroyed before the party came to a large clearing.

In the center of this clearing was a small hill with a rough-hewn entrance. Surrounding the hill were the stumps that were once the trees of this forest. There were the smouldering remains of camfires sread about, and the remaining smoke hung in the still morning air.

As the party watched, yet another hunting party emerged from the hill, and headed their way. The party melted back into the woods, and allowed the hunting party to pass, for fear of alerting whatever mass of beasties might still be within the hill. After the hunters passed, the party quickly made plans to perform a scouting mission inside the kobold's lair.

Rick cast a "light" spell on a small stone, and handed it to Galitus. Galitus tossed the rock into the dark entryway. Within could be seen two very surprised guards that were obviously not paying expecting any unwanted company. Rick and Bob made short work of the guards - each died with an arrow through the neck.

The party entered the hill, and almost immediately saw dark passage ahead and another to the left. Galitus picked up the lighted stone, and tossed it down the leftward corridor. The party followed the light, and repeated this until they came to a sudden turn in the hall. As the party made the turn, they saw a group of kobolds ahead. The kobolds saw them, too, and the two groups rushed headlong into battle.

As the party was beating down this group of creatures, another group arrived. Sound travelled well in their lair, and they arrived fully prepared for battle. The party realized this, and began a fighting retreat back down the hallway. When they reached the turn, they saw another group of the nasty creatures running down the hallway from behind them - they were trapped in the hallway corner!

The battle raged to a new level of intensity as the party realized they were in a desparate situation. The rear of the party held off the newest group of kobolds, while the front made good progress against the earlier groups. As the party advanced slowly back up the hallway (away from the entrance), yet more groups of kobolds arrived. Fortunately, the bend in the hallway, and the shortness of the leg they were in made it impossible for the kobolds to effectively employ ranged attacks. Soon, there was a great crowd of these evil creatures, in both front and back, nearly stepping on each other to strike at the party.

The fighters spread evenly between the front and rear to protect the mage and thief. Galitus, not knowing anything better to do, took a chance with the potions that they had earlier found in Karnach's chests, and hurled two back into the corner of the hallway. The party was amazed to see most of the kobolds begin to slip and slide, as if they were on ice. Galitus threw a second potion into the fray, and the koboldsd also began to drop their weapons. They would later learn of their good luck - these were oils of slipperiness and fumbling.

With the kobolds in the rear being mostly hindered, the party was able to focus efforts towads those in front. Soon, however, some of those in the rear began running away from the battle, and reappearing at the front. The party was badly hurt, and in another act of desparation, Galitus threw a torch into the mixture of oils in the hallway behind them. The oils burst into flames, giving off a thick, black, acrid smoke. Those kobolds not killed outright by the flames were badly affected by the fumes.

As the flames burnt down, the party held their collective breath and retreated through the smoke. Only a few of the kobolds followed, but the remainder met them near the main entrance, and the battle ensued yet again.

The party's luck began looking up, as they carved their way through the last of the vile creatures and escaped out the front entrance, leaving a scene of destruction behind them. They ran off to the woods, and hid for a brief time, discussing their options.

"Crap! They didn't follow us out. Do you suppose we killed them all," asked Galitus.

"I don't know, but I'm in no shape to find out," replied Bob.

"I think I'm in good enough shape to scout it out some, but not without backup - I've got no healing magic left," said Rick.

"I'd think that they'd be flooding out, looking for us if there were many left," Galitus posited.

"Yeah, but we don't know how many might be on patrol inside, yet," replied Bob.

After some more discussion, the party decided to head back to town for some much-needed R&R, and also maybe some training or study.

The party went back to where the horses (and bull) were tied, and set off for Terinyo. The trip back was thankfully uneventful. The party checked their horses (and bull) into the stables, and checked themselves into the Copper Dragon. During the healing process, the fighters trained with the sheriff, Rick and Terilya worked to improve their healing magics at the temple, and the party, in general, rested.

The party reported all of the recent events to the sheriff, and were hopeful that they had cleared out the kobold's lair. About two weeks had passed, however, and they needed to go back and check, now that they were fully healed and rested.

The party reprovisioned and set out to the kobolds lair. It was a day's travel to get back to the woodland trails, so the party spent the night off the road and out of sight. They felt that since kobolds were normally nocturnal, that they might have a better chance of suprising any remaining vermin during the morning hours.

The night passed uneventfully, and the party moved forward as dawn was breaking. While following the trails, the party gave no quarter to two kobold hunting parties - apparently, they had not destroyed them all.

The scene of the kobod's lair looked no different from the last time the party had visited - lingering smoke from camp fires, tree stumps, and a general feel of devestation. The party took quick stock of the area, and began preparations to enter the lair. Final protective spells were cast and blessings asked, before the party began their reconnaissance in force.

Again, the party took the guards by surprise. This time, however, the guards were able to sound the alarm before they were dispatched. The party advanced into the tunnels, running to mete out pain before their spells of protection died out. A running battle ensued soon enough, as the party met up with a patrol. As before, when the party was nearly finished disatching one patrol, another would appear. Fortunately, the party had stocked up on some extra healing magic, and were able to continue deeper into the lair.

The party progressed, wiping out two more groups of kobolds before the tunnels became very rough (even by kobold standards), and it became apparent that they were in very new construction. Continuing on, the party came accross a small group of kobold workers, busily digging out the tunnel.

These workers fought with surprising tenacity, using their small picks and shovels surprisingly well for their unintended role as weapons. It mattered not, however, as they too soon fell to the party's wrath.

Turning, the party headed back the way they came - off to explore other parts of the lair. Several more groups of the evil creatures were handily dispatched, as the party came to what appeared to be the kobod's barrack. Here, there were only a couple of guards. The guards fell easily, and the party ventured on.

It was not long before the party ventured into what was obviously a throne room. Workers were here, too, putting finishing touches on the kobold king's dias. The workers jumped up, screaming in pidgin draconic - yelling that the party must get out lest they face the king's wrath upon his coming from the old homelands.

The party quickly routed these angry workers, and moved on through the lair to what appeared to be a large chow hall for feeding the kobold soldiers. In the back was an overweight kobold cook along with his two assistants. The grizzled od cook turned to out to be one of the party's toughest opponents, as he threw knives and used a cleaver as well as any Dwarf ever wielded an axe. The cook fought valiantly as his assistants cowered in a corner, pleading for mercy. The party finished the cook, and began parleying with the two remaining kobolds.

"Please don't hurt us! We's just doing what we's told!" cried one.

"Yes, enjoy some of our very favorite soup, and we go!" cried the other.

Rick and Bob looked uneasily at the boiling cauldron in the fireplace. The liguid had the consistency of boiling blood, and the meat looked as though it still had patches of fur. The mere scent of the stuff caused their stomachs to churn.

"I'll not eat your filth!" cried Rick, "You'll be lucky to live as it is!"

"Yes," agreed Bob, "you must go back to your kingdom and tell them never to come to this area again."

"But theys will kills us!" cried one.

The other kobold, in a desparate bid to escape attacked Rick, and was quickly dispatched. The remaining creature looked on in abject horror as Rick cleaned the blood from his sword. Rick then used a bit of rope to tie the other kobold's hands behind his back.

"We will kill you now if you don't take the message back to your king," said Bob, "You will leave now and never turn back. Any of your kind ever found on this side of the mountains will be killed instantly and gleefully!"

The party escorted the kobold out of the lair, and with a boot to the rear, sent him on his way. The party then began a thorough search of the lair and surrounding areas. Careful searching revealed a hidden treasure room in the lair, but of course, since the king had not yet arrived, this room was sparse.

The party returned to Terinyo for a well-deserved rest. More training would continue over the next few weeks, and they all decided they would pamper themselves for a time.

Nel and Bill decided that the adventuring life was not for them - their scrapes with their own mortality had shaken them. And so, they took their shares of the party's profits, and went on their way - back towards their respective homelands. Vidal decided to "hang out" for a while & see what happened next. Terilia, Bob, Rick, and Galitus had forged a strong bond of friendship through ther recent travails, and agreed to stay together for the forseeable future.

This ends the Alpha Campaign.

More to come.....