The following was added to Second Group History by Sol Blackstar.

1995 May 06

This is the first entry in my journal since leaving Dol Geldar's ashes. We've come upon the bodies of 3 dead orcs and a party of adventurers. The party consists of a warrior, a thief, a cleric, a bard, and one who is apparently useless. All of the adventurers are human and in need of some solid Dwarven guidance. The dead orcs are from Lorgun's band which attacked Dol Geldar. Luckily, Lorgun is not amoung the dead, for his head belongs to me. We will attempt to make allies with these people and hunt Lorgun together.

1995 June 03

We found the scum within 24 hours (Day 1) of meeting up with the party of adventurers. Unfortunately they had the element of surprise. The useless one was immediately knocked out with the joining of combat, Granite was near death until the cleric was able to save him. We were able to kill one orc, take another hostage, then escaped.

Day 2: WE took chase today and made camp a short distance from Lorgun's. When they realized we were there they attempted to barter for the release of the hostage. That evening we ambushed Lorgun and his band using a plan I devised. We were able to slay 8 orcs, but Lorgun was able to escape with his shaman which surprised all of us. We were also able to take 2 more hostages, but none of them are speaking. We also captured many items of value which Lorgun has plundered along his way. I shall not rest until Lorgun's skull is on my belt.

1995 July 07

Day 3-5: There were no signs of Lorgun or the shaman. We finally came across the shaman dead alongside the road. We covered his remains so it would not disgust other travellers. We continued onward in hopes of finding Lorgun. Instead we came across 3 cities(1) which are not on any map. After we passed through the last city, the road looped back so that none may pass. We went through the woods and found a bridge guarded by a halfling. This halfling told us of a madman(2) whose house was a box on stilts and made of ironwood. We had passed this house on the 3rd day and thought nothing of it. This madman was killing the forest animals and abducting the town's children. We returned to his house to investigate and put an end to this evil.

Day 6: We were able to break into the madman's house today. The building is solidly built, but the doors are every building's weakness. We had explored the lower level of the building when the madman came down from upstairs and ambushed us with carnivorous rabbits. During the battle, he was able to escape.

1995 July 28

Day 6:(cont). The madman was only out of our site for a short while, but we realized he had gone back upstairs. There we learned that he meddled with dark sorcery. He had created creatures that were half human and half rabbit. The madman also had various potions which caused the Bard and the wizard to lose all their hair. We finally cornered the madman on the roof, and there he was destroyed.

1995 August 11

Day 7: Today we arrived in New Bragney. Once there I almost killed a sword seller for informing me of the dwarven shop after I had bought a human sword. However, I was able to attain a suit of Dwarven scale mail and a Dwarven shield. I also purchased a few items for the party. Including a Dwarven short sword for the thief. We now look like a Dwarven war party out for blood. I must remember to provide my friends, for they are now my friends, with letters of authenticity so they are not killed.

Day 8: We were joined today by a female bodyguard for the Paladine. The others snickered when they found out her duty, but they must have forgotten that most oppenents will be thrown off by her looks and allow her to strike first. Day 9: The female bodyguard has already had her test. Today there was an attempt on the Paladin's life. She fought bravely and gave myself enough time to enter the fray, at which time, the attackers ran off.

Day 10: Passed without incident.

Day 11: Today we battled creatures controlled by the god of the undead. I was able to destroy 2 of them before the rest could run off. The Paladine also recieved a mission of atonement. A worthy mission it is. He must free a group of children(3) that have been enslaved and punish those responsible.

1995 September 4

Many days were spent traveling to the merchant's house. Once there, we attacked the house. Inside we met up with a wemic; 1/2 man, 1/2 lion. A foul beat, but a formidible fighter. We were looking for its children. The merchant knew nothing of the slaver's activities and unfortunately he was killed. The Paladine redeemed himself while we were under a sleep spell. He killed the slaver. After the slaver's death, we escaped the house with the wemic and its cubs.

The wemic and the cubs were teleported to their own land where the wemic left the cubs. The wemic returned to join us and repay his debt of gratitude for freeing him and the cubs.

Now we must help the cleric find a book with directions for an item of great magic. OF course, only humans would make an item that needs a book to be used.

1995 October 26 — Halloween Session

We left New Bragny on our way to Naldair, which is in Iraila. On the way we found talking rocks which later were being carried away by goblins. We saved the rocks, but the goblins ran off before we were able to kill them. We came to a fork in the road; we went left, travelled a few days and came to a town by the name of Wrong Way. I bought of cask of country ale, decent. The bard did some type of magic, and the crowd thought he was a witch. They wanted to put us all on trial and execute us. Aaragon , the bard, pulled out two undead mice (vile beasts). In the panic, all but Aaragon escaped. We believe he's dead.

The first day out of Wrong Way, Sarah stops and looks around like there's something amiss but won't say a word about it. The second night out of town, Jean Luc disappears. The third night out everyone claims I freaked out. All I remember is a dream with skeletons trying to grab me and than getting hit on the head. The next night (3 nights of out of Wrong Way now), Rondax disappears. The fourth night out, everyone is very worried about the disappearing acts, but despite increased watches, Prentice disappears. After his disappearance, we noticed a shadowy shape in a tree that seconds later fell into our path. Everyone in the group was pretty freaked out by this time. We were able to move the tree out of our path and continued on our way. We finally came to Alkk, a city about the same size as Wrong Way, fairly small. We went to the inn keeper named Minos Kon-Blackstar, surprisingly he knows who I am. He remembers my father and knows about the road from Wrong Way. Tells us to go see the Shadowbane. The Shadowbane reads our Tarah, many intrigues.


The Cards:(4)

1. Outcome: Judgement
2. Governing Aspect: Hanged-Man: Wisdom, Execution
3. : : Location, Temperance, Moderation, balance
4. What has passed: 6 of Cups: Holding on to past, obsession
5. US: 1 of 6's: Travellers
6. Control Aspect: Moon: represents forces of darkness, enemies, secret affiars
7. Enemy: Queen of Swords: pale blue eyes, blonde, tragedy
8. Present: 8 of Swords: Fate, captivity, trickery, Unforeseen
9. Physical Strength: Magician: Magic, skill, power, diplomacy
10. Opp. Strength: Strength reversed:
11. Opp. Strength: Hermit: solitude, cautious, corruption, paranoia
12. Spectral Strength: : illusion, vision of what may or may not be, appear as they are not

Personal Cards:

• Granite: 7 of Swords: Plan that may fail
• Sol: Wheel of Fortune: Destiny, Fate, Chance
• Sarah: Tower: Ravages and Destruction
• Tyconderoga: 2 of ones: Remember crystal of world, while looking in will not see everything
• Bono: Fool: Stupidity, do no lose self in dream world. Realiy, or lack thereof

Symbols of the Meeting:

• Rose: Payment from man whose wife killed herself after passing through the woods
• Talisman (watch): Payment from a man who saw his own death, hanged after he killed a suspected murderer
• Skull: Dead, underwold, Dark Power
• Crystal Bottle: Potions of great power, empty vessel
• Broken Mirror: gate between spiritual/physical, broken, never to be open/shut again
• Cyrstal: imperfection, seen by Granite
• Crushed Star: symbol from one card-broken, represents loss, but still a bright prospect

1995 November 07

We returned to the inn and left the next morning on a search to find the others. We all ended up with the others in the garden of Lady Lily(5) , a ghost. She can pass through walls that no one else can. When Aaragon appears, she believes him to be Charlan, her husband. I removed a silver rose from the stone fountain and give it to Sarah. While holding the rose, Sarah is able to pass through walls just like Lady Lily. Sarah left and returned with both Lady Lily's and Charlan's dead bodies. Charlan got up, as if he had been sleeping and took Lily to the underworld. As soon as Lady Lily was gone, the garden disappeared. We retruned to the inn where we celebrated, all except Granite, Tyc, and Sarah. I spiked the Jean Luc's milk (uggh, milk) with some good Dwarven Spirits, which reminds me I need another bottle. We had a blast, even with Aaragon hanging from the roof.

We left town the next day and headed for Irelia. The guards at the gate won't let Aaragon in. They tried him as a necromancer and found him insane. He was sent to an asylum (good riddance I say). They also won't let Tyc in because he holds the Chalice of Noldar. We ended up camping at the gates for the night until we figure out something to do.

1995 November 08

Today we passed through the gates of Irelia after some short, wiry human looked at the fire-spitting Chalice. This human looked closely at the chalice, sniffited it, than threw it in the mud, saying it is trash. Once through the gates, Tondax and the ox were confiscated to be checked for disease. both were released the next day. Meanwhile, the party split into two groups. The humans went to the Gantran Embassy, while Granite and I went to the Dwarven embassy(6). We enjoyed our first dwarven meal in an extremely long time, much better than human cooking. They believed our nation had been destroyed, and we were forced to prove otherwise. Finally we were able to set up diplomatic relations with the others. They promised to send help if possible, both dwarves and money. They also supplied me with a good dwarven bastard sword, much better than the human sword I had been using.

Tyconderoga also had a priest re-attach his foot(7). Surprisingly it actually worked. The price is the return of some stolen art which we must find. In the process I bought a pair of gauntlets that will cause some serious pain.

A crab told us the whereabouts of the stolen art. He claimed it was on a boat, why a boat...they're prone to sinking. The boat's name is Iceberg, and supposedly this boat has an extremely large creature named Bertha in its hull.

We found Iceberg, the boat. We surprised the crew and charged across the plank. Somehow I fell into the water and almost drowned. The crew offered almost no resistance. We searched the boat and found the art in the hull, with Bertha(8). I was able to slay Bertha, almost single-handidly despite being swallowed twice. After recovering the art, we torched the boat...best thing to do with them all if you ask me.

After resting the night and returning the art, we left for Brechmore, a city in Irelia(9). We're hoping that we can find the whereabouts of Naldar there.

On the way to Brechmore, we met Marcallis , an overweight mage who is friends with a skunk. Marcallis, Prentice and Tyc went into the woods with the chalice and cliam to have seen a blue face that foretold of our capture. That night we were visited by a man who cannot be seen nor heard(10). The following night, the same thing happened, this time Rondax was unable to follow the trail because the scent disappeared. The following day, three trees fell and a rock split into pieces. We immediately ran for our lives. I think something very wrong and strange took place that day, but I really don't want to find out.

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Footnotes:

1. These are the three mysterious cities that I can't recall a name to or their exact location.
2. This madman has a name, what it is, I never wrote down. I do know that he was a necromancer with some power.
3. These children were actually wemic cubs. Rondax was with them at the time and was enslaved as well. I can't recall the name of the slaver, or the city where they were held.
4. Adam as you can see I have most from that night, but there's some pieces missing yet. I'll need some input for #3, #10, #11 when you get a chance. I'll show you the notes I have on the cards and you can finish filling me in on the layout and the actual cards.
5. Lady Lily was indeed a ghost. We believe she spent the rest of eternity in the underworld with Charlan. It seems that she was trapped between Wrong Way and Alkk.
6. I can't remember the names of the two dwarves we spoke with that day. Didn't seem all that important at the time.
7. I can't recall exactly when or where Tyc lost his foot.
8. I don't recall what Bertha was, I do remember it was a nasty beast with a habit of swallowing dwarves.
9. The Capital of Irelia is Renre'. We'll get there in due time.
10. This man was an esper, he shows up again.