Eastward bound, our heroes stopped to camp along the Vaewater, then rode through a mountain pass to the town of Gold, which used to be a legion camp south of a gold mine. We then took a shortcut to Lead, forded the Alewater and rode through grasslands to the town of Copper, another former legion encampment. We set up camp just off the road, between the Neckbreaker Peaks and the Great Woods. A traveler approached the fire, introduced himself as Maerk, and shared some of his high-octane ale with the dwarves, who tried to sell him a false story of our journey. Maerk said that he was headed south, and as the trio kept drinking, his enormous black panther approached and scared the wits out of everyone. Maerk said that she was his friend and that her name was Tigress, then he and the dwarves passed out in a drunken stupor.
In the morning, Tigress had killed and dragged back a lovely yak for us to feast upon. Our new friend Maerk noticed my lovely new scales, but resisted my sermon about Apsu, leaving with his giant cat. Humans... We followed in his footsteps along an animal trail, passing a waypost tree marked with an "O". Soon after, a giant form burst forth from the shrubbery, a monster with the body of a bear and the head of a giant angry owl. Hagbard smote the beast with a blast of divine sound, stunning it, then Hralf swung his mighty axe, slashing its face. Honor threw her dagger, scoring the side of its head. Hagbard burned it with magical acid as I made a beautiful shot from afar, sinking an arrow down to the fletching. The vicious beast bit Hralf's head, denting his helm, then impaled him on a massive claw and lifted him squirming off of the ground. Yberre took the opportunity to slash the owlbear's stomach open with his legion sword, then I put an arrow through its right arm. The bloodied beast dropped Hralf and ripped into him with claws. Hralf responded by sinking the spike of his shield into the monster's heart, dispatching it in a spray of blood.
We followed the owlbear's tracks back to its cave, only to find the corpses of its mate and baby as well as three goblin skeletons and some orgoshi arrows. I grabbed one of the obsidian-tipped, black-feather fletched arrows as evidence. Rummaging through a sack, I discovered a cache of silver coins, which we divided. Then we continued on our way for ten hours through the forest. We camped at an inviting clearing and slept unmolested. When we awoke, Yberre was flushed and sluggish, suffering from heat exhaustion. We resumed our trek, and as we left the edge of the Great Wood, we caught our first glimpse of Starshine, a mountain several thousand feet tall, the whole sculpted into a spiral. The lifting late afternoon mist revealed the coast and a small town at the foot of the spiral mountain surrounded by hundreds of different-colored tents, flying the banners of various noble houses. We made our way to the Brightstar pavilion and hailed Gaius Wind. He cast a spell of silence and described sightings of dark stalkers and orgoshi at the ruins of an old fortress at the southeastern edge of the base of Starshine. We told him of our triumphs and travails since our last meeting, and my entreaties for lamb went unanswered, offending me deeply.
Our band of heroes sallied forth to the southeastern reach, where Yberre's keen eye discerned a manmade wall fifty feet up, partially uncovered by a rock slide. Honor scaled the cliff and found a hole with a recently installed rope ladder. We climbed to the entrance and then down the rope ladder into a large room with two doors. After opening the door to the north, Honor set off a lightning trap that burned her and myself almost to death. It wasn't my fault this time, as I have begun to understand the dangers of doors. Hagbard healed us and Yberre smashed through the trapped door, revealing a large circular room with a cracked fountain in the center and four burly hobgoblins. The blaggarts fired arrows at us and loosed a giant hyena. Yberre was wounded by the beast and rushed up a flight of stairs to dispatch the archers. Honor dodged claws and sword as Markas and Hagbard launched magical attacks. Hagbard slew the hyena with an acid dart as Markas summoned a hyena to combat their hyena. Hagbard and myself slew a hobgoblin with acid and magic missiles as Hralf dispatched another with his waraxe. Markas was hit with an arrow as, up on the stairs Honor slit a hobgoblin's throat from ear to ear and tossed him down into the fountain. Markas's summoned hyena dispatched the final hobgoblin with horrific crunching and slurping sounds.
We broke into two locked rooms, finding nothing of note. Honor narrowly avoided an acid trap, opening a door to reveal two portcullises and a pair of arrow-pierced skeletons. Deciding to avoid the death trap, we returned to the circular room and addressed the door at the top of the stairs. Honor unbarred it from the outside in a feat of skill, revealing a long hallway with a cave-in at one end and a door at the other. Honer opened it, only to be attacked by three more hobgoblins. They triggered a trap that dumped Honor and Hralf into a spiked pit. In response, Hagbard and I assailed them with acid dart and longbow, knocking one of the craven beasts into the pit, which at this point was on fire due to a combination of alchemist's fire and lamp oil. Honor managed to get into the room with them and killed another. She pulled a lever, popping the floor back into place, which allowed Yberre to rush in and slash the remaining beast to ribbons. We looted the corpses and continued exploring. Honor disabled a second pit trap, and then a third, and then opened a door to reveal a giant tusked humanoid, almost as big as Yberre. As Yberre and Hralf stationed themselves on either side of the door, the monster swung a huge morning star around the doorframe and into Hralf. I smashed the beast with two magic missile spells as Hagbard healed Hralf. Yberre rushed in and and struck the bugbear, followed by Hralf with an axe blow, and as both attacked again, the beast struck my head. Angered, I grew my claws attacked, but my magnificent claws only screeched on its metal armor. The tusked giant swept its massive maul towards my face and my vision went white, then faded to black. I awoke, head ringing, to find that Honor had slit the monster's throat. -Praise Apsu for this victory and my survival-
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