The party followed Rick back to Terynio. They entered the Sheriff's office and explained all that had happened with the medusa.

Sheriff Johnson took the head and looked at it. "Ugly mother, wasn't he? Yeah, we'll be able to preserve this for any future need - as soon as we do that, we'll turn that priest back to flesh 'n' blood." He looked pointedly at Rick. "Don't you fret, son, I know you tried to do the right thing. Likely we woulda killed him, anyways. Don't be too hard on yourself or your friends."

Rick nodded and headed out the door to the Copper Dragon Inn. The party followed, and they all set up for a good night's sleep.

The following morning, over breakfast, they began to discuss their next moves.

"What about my other brother priest?" asked the cleric.

"What about him?" asked Rick, "He was turned back to flesh last night."

"No," replied the priest, "the last one is still missing!"

"Wait," replied Rick, "There was you, the other who's turned back last night, the one beyond repair in the medusa's lair - that's all three of you, right?"

"No!" exclaimed the priest, "there was a fourth - brother Siness. He is still missing!"

"I don't mean to be an ass," replied Rick, "but how do you suppose we could possibly find him?"

"We could go back to the house we found! That's where this all started!

"Waitaminnit!" exclaimed 'Cyn, "What house?"

"What she said," replied Rick, "what house?"

"The one I told you about when this all started - when you first revived me!" replied the priest.

The party looked quizzically amongst themselves. "You never said anything about a house," answered Rick.

"Yes I did," protested the priest.

Rick rolled his eyes and answered, "OK, we must've forgot it in all the excitement. Tell us about it."

"We were traveling South, when it started to rain," the priest began, "It was dark, and we were looking for a place to take shelter on the side of the road. We saw what we first thought was lightning, but then we could see a bright light through the trees. e followed a narrow trail back into the woods, and we soon came across a house. There was a tower, and there was light coming from the top. We knocked on the door - it was open. We called out, but no one answered..."

"Just invited yourself in, didja?" asked Rick, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," the cleric replied sheepishly, "We didn't think the owner would mind, but we kept calling out for someone. We stepped into the foyer, and then the next thing I knew, I was back here, in town, being revived."

"Huh," posited Alexander, "flashing light? Sounds interesting. I'm up to go take a look."

"Yeah," agreed Rick, "Why not? We'll head out this afternoon - that way we'll get down that way around dark, and be able to see any lights."

The group finished provisioning, ate lunch, and sent for their horses. When the stable boys brought out their horses, they saddled up and took the South road out of town. On the way out, they admired the scenery, and noticed a carnival setting up near the edge of town. They proceeded onward, admiring the familiar scenery around Terynio.

The sun set as the group passed the old ogre cave. Before too much longer, dusk was over, and night was nigh. As they continued southwards, they kept an eye out to the West, searching intently for any signs or clues. Near the Northern edge of the lake, they began to see a bright, flashing light through the trees. This light was not on the ground, but above, flashing much like lightening in the sky.

"Looks like we found it," posited Rick.

"Yep!" agreed Bob, "and I can see something of a path!"

"Careful," said Alexander, "we're near swamps - it might be wil-o-wisps."

"Seems kinda bright," though Rick out loud, "but all caution is likely warranted."

The group dropped down from their mounts, and began leading them, single file, through the forest. They had gone but a quarter mile, and the overgrown path opened up into a clearing. Ahead of them was a large, wooden mansion. The mansin appeared to be built from local timber. Thick wooden shingles covered a sharply pitched roof and the gabled windows were of heavy glass. Several masonry chimneys extended from the roof, ad a great, round tower constructed of dark red bricks loomed over the house at its northeast corner. The central structure was two stories, flanked by one story wings on either side. Broad stone steps lead up to a narrow porch fronting two large wooden doors bound in rusting metal. The door to the left was standing partially opened.

"Well," posited Rick, "whoever it is, they're sure not trying to hide it..."

"Maybe it's a trap?" asked 'Cyn.

"Maybe so," agreed Alexander, "it sure lured in the clerics."

"So," asked Rick, "here we are. What did you and your compatriots do when you got here?"

"We knocked on the door," replied the cleric.

"Oh, that's right, then you let yourselves in, right?"

"Yes, we didn't think anyone would mind, and we didn't hurt anything."

"Well, then what happened?"

"Well, I called out for someone - anyone, and then walked back out to the porch for my friends. That's all I remember."

"Seems like the medusa got you right here, then. This obviously wasn't where she lived. And the door to the house is still open... You say you walked right in?"

"Yes," replied the cleric, "no one answered our calls."

"'Cyn," asked Rick, "would you check the doorway for traps, please?"

"Sure!" replied 'Cyn, as she got to work. After a minute or so, she stood up. "I don't see any - it looks clear!"

Rick and Bob looked in the doorway. The front doors each had a tarnished brass knocker - the heads of ravens with rings grasped in their beaks. The front doors opened into a small foyer. Beyond the foyer was a large entry room, with a wide staircase that ran half way up, and then forked to either side of the room. Leaves had blown into the foyer, leaving a natural carpet. Some more had blown on in to the entry room.

"Well," exclaimed Bob, "Let's go!"

"Wait!" yelled Rick, too late, as a fireball exploded from the doorway, blowing Bob into the entry room, and knocking Rick to the floor of the porch.

"Ow!" yelled Bob, "I thought you said there were no traps!"

"We told you to wait before you barged in," replied a slightly smoldering Rick. "'Cyn only checked the doorway, nothing else! 'Cyn, is that thing done?"

'Cyn rummaged around through the ashes that were once leaves until she found the trap's trigger. "Looks like it's done, but..." *click* "...there - it's disabled."

Rick tenderly stepped into the foyer and looked around. Above him, he could hear something rustling. "There's something up there," he said.

The group walked into the foyer dust floated in the air from the explosion, and the burnt, tattered remains of some expensive wooden furniture were set back from the entryway to either side. Burnt spiderwebs hung from some very expensive, if slightly burned tapestries,

The group continued through the inner doorway to a large hall opening to both the first and second stories. A grand stairway directly across from the foyer led up to a balcony that ringed the hall. A great crystal chandelier, covered in dust and cobwebs, was hund directly overhead. Scores of paintings and tapestries lined the walls, and thick woven rugs cover the dusty stone floor. Open double doors of dark-stained wod lead out to eithe side of the great hall. The predominant subject of all the artwork in the room was a raven. There were charcoal sketches, elaborate oil portraits, and fine woven tapestries, all featuring the large, black bird.

"Huh," said a thoughtful Alexander, "look at that."

Alexander was pointing to a series of paintings on the wall to the left of the stairway. These oil paintings were hung in gilded frames, each about five feet tall by about three feet wide. The first showed the raven perched on the rails of a simple wooden cradle, looking protectively over an infant boy. The second showed the raven landing, wings outspread, on the shoulder of a young man in his physical prime. The final painting showed the raven circling the balding head of a grey-bearded elderly man.

"Do ya s'pose that's the same person in all those pictures?" asked 'Cyn.

"Ahyep," answered Alexander.

"Ya think it's the same bird in all of them?" asked Bob.

"Dunno," replied Alexander.

Rick looked about thoughtfully. "I think it is," he replied. Look - all the paintings and whatnot center on this bird... Gives me a bad feeling. Like maybe the bird's not a bird, and maybe was somehow controlling the boy or something."

"Or maybe protecting him," answered 'Cyn, while pointing to the first picture.

"Maybe," replied Rick. "Regardless, we ought to be careful. Alexander - do familiars live that long, and what's the likelihood that a baby could have a famliar?"

"Dunno, and about zero," replied Alexander.

"Holy shit!" yelled 'Cyn, "Look at that!"

From out of a dark corner came a large construct, bringing with it the faint smell of dirt and rotting flesh as it lurched slowly towards the party. Alexander quickly unleashed a magic missile at the flesh golem, while Rick and Bob strode into battle, hacking deeply into the construct's hide. Bob felt his knees buckle, and his breath escape slightly as the creature brought down both fists on Bob's shield.

Alexander let loose a huge lightning bolt at the golem, healing some of the wounds previously dealt by the party fighters. "Shit!," he cried, as Rick and Bob looked on in horror - renewing their attacks. 'Cyn unloaded her crossbow into the construct. The golem again struck Bob a devastating blow, rolling him backwards towards the entrance.

Alexander let fly a smallish fireball, slowing the golem considerably. Rick atacked with optimistic vigor while 'Cyn tumbled past the creature, flanking it as her two daggers cut deep filets from the thing's side. Bob regained his feet and ran back into battle. The golem slowly lifted its arms for a strike, and unleashed a heavy bash - narrowly missing Rick's mellon, and coming down on his shoulder."

Alexander unleashed another flurry of magic missiles as Bob and Rick whittled small pieces of stinking flesh from the construct. 'Cyn was dismayed at the small damage her normally violent attacks made on the beast. The golem reared up and hit Rick with a blow, the force of which caused the windows of the house to resonate.

Once again, Alexander unleashed a fireball, burning both the golem and most of the group. The golem collapsed as Rick, Bob, and 'Cyn rolled about the floor, putting out the small flames on their bodies. "Crap!" they exclaimed in unison, "whose side are you on!?"

"Sorry," Alexander replied, "it was all I had left that could hurt the thing."

"Yeah, well," replied Rick, "it didn't feel to good to us, either." Rick began casting healing magic on the party members, while the cleric helped out to the extent he could. Everyone was still hurt pretty badly, even after all the healing. "Crud," sighed Bob, "I'm hurting something awful. Got any charges left in those healing wands?"

Alexander and Rick pulled out their wands and expended several charges healing the wounded. "I'm tapped out of healing," posited Rick, "and it's getting on in the day... What say we set up camp and try this again in the morning?"

"Hells," replied Alexander, "why don't we just camp right here?"

"In the house?" asked a somewhat shocked 'Cyn.

"Sure, why not? I've got the magical hut... We can put it right here at the base of the stairs!"

"..." 'Cyn replied.

"Well," posited Rick, "it would make sure no one could come down the stairs without us knowing it..."

"..." said Bob, agreeing completely with 'Cyn.

It's basically impervious to pretty much everything," stated Alexander, "and it has alarms..."

"Yeah," replied Rick, "I guess I'm OK with it - go ahead."

Alexander tossed some components into the air, waved hais hands and mumbled vigorously. A stone structure popped into existance, right on top of the stairs. The group opened the door and walked inside, taking in the hut. Just like last time, there was a fireplace and room for the entire group to rack out, if somewhat cozily.

"Where'd you come up with this, again?" asked Rick.

"Some guy named Leomund developed the spell, replied ALexander, "Pretty nifty, huh?"

"Sure is!" said Bob, while the rest nodded in unison.

The spellcasters spent an hour or so recovering their spells, and then drifted off to sleep, adding their snores to the cacophany created by Bob and 'Cyn. All woke fully refreshed in the morning, and ready to take on the challenges of the day.

The group woke with the sun, yawning, stretching, and feeling generally refreshed. They stepped from the hut and looked around as Alexander dissipated the shelter. Alexander looked around and said, "I think I like this place. We should stay here!"

"Wait, what?" asked an skeptical Rick.

"Yeah, this place is great! It feels homeyand all... I think we should stay here!"

"Didn't you say once that you wanted to go out and explre the world, or some such?"

"I'm allowed to change my mind, aren't I?"

"Yeah, I suppose so, but we had this same talk about that half-dragon's place on the edge of the lake, and you said 'no way.'"

Alexander looked at Rick as if they had never had that conversation, and continued on. "Anyway, let's head over this way.." ALexander seemd to trip and stumble a bit as he moved towards the doorway.

This cemented it - Rick was sure something odd was going on, even though the rest of his friends didn't seem to think so. He would be keeping a close eye on Alexander. The group headed Eastwards into what was obviously a sitting room. Ornate filled the room. Stuffed leather chairs, gilded sofas, and finely carved tables were covered with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. In the Southeast corner of the room was a great fireplace, over it hanging a watercolor portrait of the raven. A fine bronze sculpture of the raven rested on the mantle. To the east lay a set of open double doors and an archway opening into a pair of smaller, connected parlors.

"Wow," said 'Cyn, "posh!"

"Psh," replied Bob with scorn, "the furniture is too tall."

"It's nice, isn't it?" asked Alexander.

Before anyone could answer, the brass raven spoke. "By whose invitation do you enter here?" is asked.

The startled party looked to each other, and Bob pointed to the cleric and said "his!"

The raven flew up from the mantle, as Bob and Rick drew swords. The construct dove towards the party as Rick meted out a hefty blow to its wing. The bronze bird faltered in its flight and belched a room-filling cloud of gas.

Rick coughed twice as the rest of the party fell to the floor, unconcious. Rick fought with the raven for a few more minutes, finally knocking it to the floor in a crumpled heap. Rick checked his freinds' health, and found them all to just be sleeping. He tried several times to wake them, to no avail. Rick walked on into the parlors to see if there was anything else nasty waiting for them.

The two parlors were furnished much like the sitting room. Large windows draped with haevy velvet curtains occupied the SOuth walls of each room. Below the windows were small stone fireplaces. On the mantle in the second room was a delicate woodcarving of the raven. Rick tentatively poked at it with his sword. The carving fell to the floor and broke.

Rick looked about, and took the only door. The door led to a narrow hallway that obviously connected to both parlors, and back into the sitting room where the rest of the party lay sleeping. He took a quick walk back to check on the party, and found them just as he had left them. Rick walked back away from the sitting room, through another door, and into the library.

The room was graced with a single wide, floor-to-ceiling window in the middle of the East wall. Every remaining inch of wall space was occupied by heavy wooden shelves, neatly stacked with scores of books, scrols, and tablets of al varieties. Clusters of comfortable-looking chairs, sofas sat about with sturdy reading tables. On the tables sat dusty, tarnished oil lamps hung with cobwebs. Rick's curiosity was piqued, and he began looking at the tiltles on the books. Their titles covered history, politics, religion, art, philosophy, law, geography, and many other subjects.

Rick quickly cast a magical detection spell, and saw that all the books glowed with some sort of magic - even the ones damaged by the apparent leak in the roof. He picked up one of the books and opened it. As he looked, he watched the writing fade from sight. He flipped through the pages and found the entire book to now be blank. Trying again with a second book, Rick saw the sme thing happen again.

One other door left the library, and Rick took it into what would best be described as a large study. The Northwest wall was curved - likely the wall of the tower from which the group had originally seen the bright lights. Hanging on this wall was a large, brightly-colored tapestry showing the raven in flight. Dominating the room, however, was a massive oak desk standing beofre two windows on the North wall. Smaller bookcases and scroll racks lined the walls. Another bookcase was filled with knicknacks featuring the raven. To the left of the desk was a brass perch with a raven standing on it. Rick took a few steps toward the raven, and it flew off through a slightly-opened window.

Rick headed back to the sitting room, where the rest of the group was still sound asleep. Their light snores filled the air. Rick rolled (I'm never gonna let you go!) his eyes as he walked back into the great hall. Rick stopped, and then thought for a moment - it would likely be best to not wander to far away from his friends, lest they should come to some harm. He walked back to the sitting room and made himself comfortable. It was only a few more minutes before his companions began to awaken.

"'Bout time you guys woke up," quipped Rick as the group began to stir.

"Hrmph," posited 'Cyn.

"OooOoohhh," agreed Bob.

"OoOowww," posited the cleric as he held his head.

"What happened?" asked Alexander, as he rubbed his temples.

Rick made sure everyone was okay, and then proceeded to explain what all had occurred over the past twenty minutes.

'Cyn stood up and immediately got a funny look on her face. Feeling around on her body, she suddenly yelled, "Fuckers! Where's my bag!?"

Everyone looked at 'Cyn as though she had a Rok on her head.

"My bag!" she screamed, "It's gone! Where the hells is my bag!?" She looked at Rick with murderous intent.

"Wait!" cried Rick, "I didn't do it!"

"Then where's my bag, nature boy!?"

"Nobody move! Somebody must've come in while I was looking in one of the other rooms!" With that, Rick began peering intently at the footprints in the dust. Soon, he found a set different than any in the party, and began following them.

"Fucker... I want my shineys back," 'Cyn volunteered with a frown, "that was my magic bag."

"I'm on it," Rick replied. He led the party back through the hall, and out the front door of the house. They followed the tracks through the fallen leaves around the side of the house, and behind the tower. As they passed, they saw a raven fly in an open window beyond the tower.

"Huh," posited Rick, "I wonder if that's the same one I saw in the house? Maybe it snatched your bag?"

"Or maybe someone is able to change shape?" posited Aexander.

"Dunno, but it looks like I've lost the trail here, where the area clears out." Rick began searching in concentric circles, looking again for his quarry's spoor, to no avail. "Lost him," Rick said matter-of-factly, "but there's a doorway in over there."

The group's collective gase followed Rick's finger tip to a small, wooden outbuilding connected to the back of the house. The group walked over ot take a closer look. Rick entered while the remainder of the group looked in through the doorway. This was obviously once used as a chicken coop - inside the door was a chicken wire, and every square inch of the floor was overed in droppings. A large, jagged hole was obvious in the fencing.

Suddenly, two creatures flew from the back of the coop, startling everybody! These animals had the head and body of a rooster, the wings of a bat, and a long, lizard's tail. The group jumped back in shock, except for Rick, who could not back out through the crowded doorway. The first cockatrice pecked him hard in the shin, and deftly avoided his stroke. The second looked Rick squarely in the eyes, and Rick turned to stone!

Taken aback, Bob swung mightily at the closest of the ugly creatures, and cut off its wing and tail with one wild blow. Alexander finished off the lead cockatrice with a flurry of magic missiles that made its eyes momentarily glow a bright blue. 'Cyn whipped her crossbow from under her cloak, and fired a shot past Rick, sticking a bolt into the second critter's neck.

Bob stepped towards the doorway, and aimed a precise jab to the second cockatrice's wishbone. The beast squawked at him one last time as another flurry of magic missiles endied its pitiful existence.

"Crap!" said 'Cyn, looking at Rick, "Now what? That's the second time he's been turned to stone!"

"I have another scroll for that," Alexander replied. He pulled it out of his bag, walked over to Rick's statuesque form, and began reading.

"Frick!" Rick exclaimed in surprise as he changed back. "The hells?"

"It happened again," replied Bob.

"What did?"

"You got turned to stone."

"Huh. That sucks - I should stop doing that, I guess... Well, let's look around..." Rick looked about the coop for anything of interest. In the nest, he found three eggs. "Look at these!"

"You hungry?" asked bob.

"Nope! Gonna save these for later!" Rick answered, as he gently tucked them inside his clothes.

"What're you doing that for?" asked 'Cyn.

"Guard dogs!" replied Rick. "I'll try to hatch them sometime in the future!"

Alexander laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Huh," posited 'Cyn, "that's not a bad idea."

"Well," posited Rick, "if we're gonna find whomever stole your bag, we'll need to keep looking. We didn't see him coming around this way, so maybe he went on around." Rick headed around the coop, and past the edge of the house while the rest of the group followed. Just around the corner, they found another, somewhat beaten door leading into the West side of a wooden shed on the back side of the coop.

'Cyn checked the door for traps, and then stepped back to let someone else open it. Rick pushed the door open, and stepped into the shed. It was filled with landscaping and garden tools, rotting seed bags, barrels of oil, firewood, and other mundane gardening equipment. To the South was another door leading into the house. Rick led the way through the door into a pantry filled with rotting food. Large rotting bags of grain, baskets of rotting fruit and moldy bread filled the room with a pungeant odor. Other walls were lined with shelves full of various preserves. To the back of the room was a metal staircase leading down.

"Ugh!" exclaimed 'Cyn, "smells like a garbage can!"

"Yeah," agreed Rick, "not so good for my nose, either."

"What smell?" asked Bob.

"I'm guessing those stairs lead to a root cellar," posited Alexander. "We should probably check it out before we head on."

Bob and Rick led the way, while Alexander and 'Cyn followed. The priest stayed upstairs. They decended into an earthen-floored cellar. The masonry walls were lined with shelves of rotting food. Several large barrels sat in one corner.

Rick popped the bung from one of the barrels and screwed his face into a grimace. "Ugh!" he exclaimed, "Old wine turned to vinegar!"

Alexander walked over to one of the walls. "This wall looks different," he pointed out.

Bob studied the wall for a bit. "It's much newer," he replied.

After a short discussion, the group decided to break down the wall. On the other side, they found a small alcove containing a human skeleton. Rotting bedclothes hung from the bones, and a necklace hung about its neck.

"Magic," intoned Rick, as he pointed at the necklace. He then stooped to pick a ring up from the dirt on the floor. "This too," he said.

"We shouldn't loot the body," said Alexander, reverently. "We should bury him."

'Cyn took a step back from Alexander, narrowing her eyes in concern. She looked at Rick and raised an eyebrow at him. Rick nodded in return, and reached for the necklace.

"We can't bury him right now," replied 'Cyn, "there's some jerk skulking about this house. Maybe after..."

This seemed to mollify Alexander somewhat. "Here," he said, "Let me take that amulet - it looks familiar to me. He reached over and took it from Rick's hands.

The group worked their way back up the stairs, and headed through the remaining door, and into a large kitchen. The kitchen was well-outfitted, with two large brick ovens, and all sorts of pots and utensils hanging over a long wooden countertop. "Yep," nodded Alexander, "this is a nice place - we should stay here when we're done."

A quick search revealed nothing of interest. Alexander walked on towards another doorway.

"Where ya goin'?" asked 'Cyn.

"I think we should head upstairs toward the tower," he replied.

Rick and 'Cyn shrugged, and let Alexander lead the way. Alexander led the group through the dining room. A table big enough to seat twenty dominated the room. Alexander banged into a chair and almost tripped as he walked through, back into the great hall. As they passed through the great hall, Rick sidetracked the group. "Hey," he exclaimed, pointing, "we haven't checked that door - it might go into the tower."

"Naaah," replied Alexander, "I doubt it."

"Still," answered Rick, I'd like to not leave anyone behind us, if they're there." Rick walked over to the door and opened it. He jumped back, startled to see the skeleton of a large bird hanging from the ceiling of this large closet.

"Even death shall not comfort you while you are in this house!" screeched the unmoving skeleton.

Rick eyed the bird warily, and gave it a poke with his sword. "Not real," he stated, watching the gruesome thing swining about on small wires.

"Scared you good, though," laughed 'Cyn

"Yeah, well, not the kind of thing you normally expect to find right behind a door..."

"Come on," said Alexander, "let's get on upstairs."

The rest of the group followed Alexander up the stairs. Alexander took a turn to the right, but Rick went instead tot he left. He walked on around the balcony to the first door an opened it. Inside he saw what was once a well-appointed bedroom. It looked, however, as if small dragon children had used it as a playground. Smashed furniture was scattered about the room, ragged holes were gouged in the walls, books, papers, and other refuse covered the floor, and the curtains were ripped down, and the goose down from the matress was everywhere. The group searched the room, finding only a torn journal.

The remains of the journal told the story of Padwin, the apprentice of Memnor. Memnor was the owner of this estate, a wizard who single-mindedly persued hise studies and experiments. His only true friend seemed to be his familiar - a great, black raven named Midnight. The magic bond between the wizard and his familiar was so tight that they often seemed as one. He had become obsessed with his safety. He had spent most of his life savings towards his life's work - a shield guardian to protect himself and Midnight. He realized he would need assistance, so he hired Padwin as his apprentice. Padwin was to perform the more menial tasks, and in turn, he was to be taught in the arcane arts.

Memnor, however, kept Padwin so busy collecting materials, maintainingthe forge, cutting wood, and cleaning that Padwin found almost no time to persue his own magical studies. Padwin felt like he had been duped - he had been promised training, but all he got was one menial task after another. To make things worse, Memnot seemed to reserve all of his time and attention for that damned bird, while completely neglecting Padwin. Everywhere Padwin went, he was reminded of the raven - sculpture, paintings, drawings, and carvings filled the house. He began to hate the raven, and began to fantasize about the various gruesome ends he might arrange for the stinking bird.

Months passed, and Padwin began to hate the wizard as much as his familiar. His hatred grew and grew, but his sanity seemed to slip away as he began plotting the murder of Memnor. Padwin began poisoning Memnor's meals. Within a week, Memnor was bedridden and all progress on his shield guardian came to a halt. The stinking bird never left its master's side, and would screech at Padwin any time he entered the room. Finally Memnor succombed to the poison and died. Padwin dragged Memnor down to the celar, and hid his body. The damned bird kept chasing and dive-bombing him...

The journal ended in some scribbling. "Wow," posited 'Cyn, after hearing Rick tell the story, "that's some serious stuff..."

"Yeah," replied Rick, "That must have been Memnor down in the basement. I wonder what happened to Padwin?"

"Maybe he's the little sneak that got my bag," sid 'Cyn, more than a little angrily.

The group left Padwin's room and continued counter-clockwise around the balcony. The next door opened up into a large bedroom. This room was once well-appointed and elegantly decorated. However, time had taken its toll: dust covered everything, the bed linens and drapes were tattered and yellowed with age, and the plaster was peeling from the ceilng. A quick search revealed nothing of interest, just a washbasin and flask on a table against the West wall.

"Check this out," called Rick, as he walked over to the flask, "it's magic!" He opened the flask and examined it - "looks like water." He tipped it over into the basin, and filled the basin from the small flask. "Well," he pontificated, "this could be useful, sometime." Rick closed the flask and dropped it into his pocket.

The cohorts continued around the balcony to the next doorway.

Bob opened the next door. Inside, he saw two unfinished rooms. The next room and this room were separated only by bare studs. Support beams and rafters were visible, and the floor boards were bare, unvarnished timbers. The windows to these rooms had sturdy shutters, but none of the thick glass panes found elsewhere in the house. On the floor pieces of covered furniture and dusty boxes. In the air were several winged, bat-like creatures falling from the rafters, flying towards the party!

The nightwings screached as they flew towards the group. The lead of these shreiking creatures was flying directly towards bob, the jaws of its elongated, sloping skull bristling with needle-sharp teeth. "Yikes!" Bob shrieked in return, slamming the door back closed. The door resounded with several heavy impacts as Bob and Rick both leaned against it, ensuring its security.

Rick looked down at Bob and said, "I think I can pass no that room."

"Yep," agreed Bob.

"Yeeah," posited 'Cyn, "I don't think Padwan is in there."

"I think we should check the tower," agreed Alexander.

The group again continued around the balcony. Rick carefully opened the next door, and peered in. Inside was a large bedroom, simply-decorated and sparsely-furnished. A dusty unmade bed, oak wardrobe, and small side table were the only furniture. A large oil portrait of the raven hung on the wall behind the bed. A doorway to the North connected this room to the next.

Bob carefully opened the door and peered into a bathroom. The small room had a large, oval-shaped wooden bathtub with tarnished brass fittings. A thick, luxurious bearskin rug covered the floor. A washbasinrested against the South wall, and linen-stacked shelves the West.

Rick looked in over Bob's shoulder. He began to scan the room, but his attention was drwan to the North wall, just behind the door to the balcony. He peered intently for a few seconds. "Cyn?" he asked.

"Yeah?" 'Cyn asked, as she stuck her head through the door. She followed Rick's gaze to the wall. 'Cyn blinked several times and said "Yep, that's a hidden door!"

"Thought so," agreed Rick, "thanks. For a minute, there, I thought I was seeing things."

"You were," she replied, "a hidden door!"

Rick gave 'Cyn an ear scrape, and continued in, rolling his eyes.

'Cyn made a quick check of the door - "No traps here," she delcared.

Rick pushed the door open. Inside the door was a small landing. A door was set in the interior, curved wall - obviously a route into the tower. Rick tried the door. "Locked," he said with a frown.

"Here," said Alexander, pushing his way in, "Let me!" Alexander walked right up and opened the door. Alexander walked into the circular room, the rest of the group following closely. Inside, were bookshelf-lined walls, scroll racks, reading tables, and comfortably looking chairs. This was obviously some sort of private study. To the side of the room ws an oversized desk, cluttered with papers, vials of ink, scrolls, and assorted other small items. Beside the desk was a bird perch. Stairs against the wall led up and down to other floors of the tower. A quick search found most of the items to be destroyed, but several tomes on various subjects such as arcane lore, planar theory, and astrology remained.

Alexander began leading the group towards the upper levels, where a commotion appeared to be starting. The party peered over the landing edge to see a large construct lying on a massive stone table, shelves covered with all manner of magical apparatus, a frantic Padwin, and two medium-sized earth elementals.

The first elemental smashed its huge fist into Bob's shield, nearly knocking him back down the stairs. Rick caught Bob, and gave him a push back up the stairs, while avoiding the attack of the second outsider.

Bob and Rick sprang forth from the top of the stair well. Close behind, Alexander jumped up the staris and skirted the fighting, working his way towards the shield golom. Bob and Rick traded blows with theelementals, giving as good as they got. Alexander had a gleam in his eye as he took Memnor's amulet from his pocket, and pushed his way past a screaming Padwin. He reached out with the amulet, moving towards a fitting depression in the golom's chest. As he reached forth to place the amulet in the depression, 'Cyn stabbed him in the back!

Alexander blinked several times, as if confused by the situation. He looked about in consternation. He turned towards 'Cyn and asked "Did you just stab me? ... And where are we?"

The noise of the battle grew in intensity as Bob and Rick whittled away at the earth elementals.

"Why yes, yes I did," answered 'Cyn, matter-of-factly. "What the hells did you think you were doing?"

Loud pounding noises nearly washed out Alexander's reply, as the earth elementals whittled away at Bob and Rick.

"I just kind of woke up - I don't know what was going on - I was dreaming that I was about to activate this golem by putting this amulet in its... Oh!" Alexander was interrupted in his thoughts by a few magic missiles fired by Padwin. Alexander returned fire with a few magic missiles of his own while 'Cyn tumbled towards Padwin, and whiffed what would have been an otherwise impressive vivisection of his kidneys.

Bob and Rick recovered their composure, and fiercely pressed their attack on the earth elementals. Their combined attack ended ones existence on the Prime Material Plane with a shower of elementat dirt. Bob turned his attack to the remaining elemental, knocking some rather largish pieces from it.

Padwin began casting another spell, giving 'Cyn a chance to redeem her previously missed opportunity. Her sacrificial dagger neatly skewered one of Padwin's kidneys on its way up to his heart, ending him abruptly. As he fell to the floor, the remaining elementals binding to this plane ended, returning him to whence he came.

The party recovered their composure and looked around a bit. "What the hels is [i]that[/i] thing?" asked 'Cyn, pointing at the construct, "and what the hells were you trying to do with it?"

Alexander thought about it a few minutes before replying. "I'm not sure, but I think it's a shield golem. I don't know much about them, but what I seem to remember is that if you don't know exactly what you're doing, they can become uncontrollable. As for what I was doing... They usually have a magical key, so I suppose I was trying to start it."

"Why?" asked Bob.

"I... I don't know," replied Alexander, "I can't remember anything since we went to sleep."

"Bull!" replied Bob, "What the heck are you up to?"

"He's been acting strangely," replied Rick, "I'm thinking maybe he was possessed."

"Acting strangely" asked Bob, "How can you tell? You all act strange to me... I think the air is thin up there where your heads are..."

"Trust me.." answered Rick, with some amusement, "He was acting strangely.. For the last day or so, since we woke up." Rick scrutinized Padwin's body for a couple of seconds. "'Cyn, I think he's your bag thief... And Alex?"

"Yeah?" answered a somewhat shaken Alexander - the idea of being the subject of a ghostly posession obviously did not sit well with him.

"You know more about these things than anyone else here - what should we do with the golem?"

Alex thought about it for a minute or so, and then piped up. "As much as I'd like to have a golem, I don't think I oculd control this one. I've got the activation here, in the amylet, but I don't know any of the command words. It'd be a mistake for me to activate it."

"If that's the case," posited Rick, "it'd likely be a mistake to leavie it around where someone else might accidentally activate it. Even if we were to separate the amulet, these things seem to have a way of turning bad. Can you destroy the golem?"

Alexander cast some spells and carefully scrutinized the golem. After a few minutes, he replied, "It'll take a while, but I think I can effectively disable it - maybe take out some constituent parts and make sure it's permanent." With that, Alexander went to work.

While Alexander worked to permanently disable the golem, the rest of the party searched around the house. THey found little but some magic items, of which were a healing potion, a ring of feather faling and a magic shield (which all agreed would be best used by Bob), and some other things they agered to sell later.

That evening, the group gave Memnor a proper burial. This seemed to appease the raven, which started building a nest in a tree over the gravesite. After much discusion, they finally decided to give Padwin a proper burial away from Memnor. The next morning, the friends left the mansion and headed back North to Terynio.

"But what about my brother cleric!" demanded the priest.

"Consider yourself lucky to have survived," replied Rick, "I think maybe you've imposed yourself on us long enough."

This seemed to mollify the priest until they arrived back in town. Once he was in the presence of his elder, however, he picked back up on the subject. After some heated discussion, the elder finally reigned in his acolyte. "Brother," he said, "this group of frends has helped us more than we could ever repay. Through their good hearts, we have been saved from the medusas, and many ills to the local area have been mollified. This turns to be great work in the name of St. Cuthbert, even if they meant it not as such - the gods work in mysterious ways.

This did not seem to appease thepriest much, but he was not about to argue publicly with his leader. Likely, more discussions would take place later. The party found this to be amusing, but kept their tongues throughout. The priests thanked the party once more and made plans to continue thier treck Southward. The party continued over to the Sheriff's office and informed him of the happenings at the manor. "Memnor died, huh? The Burkes will be sorry to hear that. He came in to town to kibbitz quite often..." After some more small talk, the party headed over to the Copper Dragon to get some well-earned rest.

This ends India Campaign