Chop Suey (Date: 1/2/27)

It was decided. In three day's time the party would embark on a weeklong expedition to find and investigate the ancient, abandoned fort in the forest. All that remained was to gather supplies, check in with friends and family and say farewells. When Marty told Lumi the news, the young blacksmith expressed her sorrow that he would be going so soon and that he would even be gone for his birthday. This changed everything! The expedition was put on hold and in its stead, the group decided to investigate the haunted theater. It was still haunted and also the sight of gang fights during the day. Roman was spotted, but ran off before he could be apprehended.

Once the ruffians were dealt with, Euwyn claimed the theater as his own, placed guards at the entrances and hired a cleanup crew. The group labored through the day until sunset when the ghost manifested and her fear aura cleared the room. Lex, Marty and Hedge snuck back in to find the ghost weeping in the dressing room, but upon approaching her, she turned vicious and attacked. The trio fled again, and it was agreed that the place be boarded up again until a lasting answer could be discovered. Lex did a little research, and a dream reminded him that the same family likely owned the Busby Theater and the Busby Mine; a family of gnomes who left the area over 30 years ago as the economy began to fail.

Justice went to check in with his old gang, but discovered they were ditching him to hang at Junkers. By reports, they now felt he was too important to care about them anymore.

Finally the band decided to investigate the hills on the far side of the lake, but found little of interest other than some squat fishing huts and the three-river junction. While camping the final night, the party was distracted by wolf calls. Giada said not to worry, but Lex detected an odd accompaniment. There was the hauntingly familiar sound of a bizarre woodwind instrument matching the wail of the canines. As he leapt to his feet to investigate, Lex spied a large wolf bounding over the nearby hills on course for the camp. As it came, its body swelled and distended until it had grown to immense proportions, nearly eight feet at the shoulder! Blood burning in its eyes, it charged!

Ambush! (Date: 1/2/20)

Hot on the trail for a night and a day, Giada and Lex let their guard slip, and what was thought to be yet-another-snare-trap turned out to be a goblin bomb which exploded in Giada's face. She fell to the ground still burning. Lex ran to aid her, smothering the flames with his cloak just before arrows shot out of the trees dropping him as well. Then the party arrived in force and the tide turned quickly. Marty saved Lex and Giada with the power of Strom, allowing Giada to make two heroic shots, each felling a goblin, before being taken down again by others. The fighters took their share of scratches, but in the end, only a pair of goblins lived to flee into the woods. Justice summoned his trusty steed, Atlas, and gave chase!

Galloping through the thick tree cover and brush was a challenge, but with his mounted speed advantage and reckless disregard for his own safety, Justice was able to keep the goblin firestarter in sight, chasing him into a clearing where a horde of goblins waited. Their leader was Longlegs, a goblin who - true to reports - stood as tall as a man, though his torso was slightly truncated in comparison to his legs. Other goblins stood out including a red-eye alchemist and a white-skinned female with eyes of power and toad riding on her shoulder. Longlegs professed he wanted nothing but peace with humans and gave the traitor over to be killed. Euwyn professed - on Marty's suggestion - that peace would reign as long as Longlegs was in charge.

The party retreated to town. Malwan claimed another hex. Justice agreed to keep an eye on Giada. Giada was talked out of leaving by Euwyn who convinced her to lead the party to the old fort.

Goblin Battle (Date: 1/2/16)

Hiking into the woods, following Giada's lead, the group seeks the camp of the raiding goblins. At the first night's rest, Giada sneaks into Lexington's tent and expresses her concern over Marty's powers and disposition. Lexington states that things are changing, that something important seems to be approaching, considering Euwyn's powers as well. Giada adds that she's not really concerned with Euwyn's abilities, given that his head seems to be in the right place. She asks if Lex is "with her". Which he confirms. But when she tries to get physical, Lex rebukes her, stating his feeling are too real for a casual grope fest. Giada seems surprised, but doesn't force the issue.

The party finds the goblin camp and attacks. The battle is fierce with the goblin's numbers threatening to overwhelm the party, until Marty calls a cloud of mist to cloak them and the goblins flee. Giada is caught outside the mist and nearly killed, but Marty arrives in time to save her.

Heading into the goblin camp proper, the band finds the goblin leader and the other survivors gathering up valuables, but they are quickly routed and sent fleeing into the woods. After securing any items of value that look to belong to the Jaldor farm, the party pursues...

Polygamists and Goblins (Date: 1/2/14)

Returning home from the swamp, Euwyn and company stopped by the Drywell estate where they found Giada waiting for them. She had recently returned from a trip home to find the boys had put their plan to use their power to fix the kingdom into action. A quick party ensued with wine, a bonfire and dancing, and Giada gave Marty a pleasant surprise. Euwyn also nearly wound up sharing a bed with the elf when room designations weren't clearly assigned.

The group decided to make for Jaldor farm where they found a large compound surrounded by an earthen rampart. Upon entering, they were greeted by Andrion Jaldor and his extended family. After some tense debate over trespassing and warning signs, the group retreated beyond the fence and a civil discussion ensued. Andrion explained he had been having trouble with goblins of late. Said the nearby tribe were led by a tall goblin by the name of Longlegs who stood "nearly as tall as a man." He welcomed assistance but expressed concern that the return of the empire might be a problem for his current living arrangement. Euwyn said, "no problem", but Marty said, "No, problem!" A fractious argument followed nearly ending the campaign, but in the end cooler heads prevailed, and it was agreed to shelve the issue of the Jaldor polygamy and first deal with the goblin situation.