Gnoll Assault (Date 1/3/27)

The gnolls charged with nets, while well-armored hunters covered them with elven bows from horseback. Undaunted, Justice and Hedge charged, shattering the gnoll's forward line. Marty threw up a fog and counseled that they follow their fighters. The mounted gnolls were the only true threat, inflicting several serious wounds, but thanks to Marty's healing magic they weren't enough to fell the fighters. Two gnolls tried to steal Marty's horse, but he chased them down on Lex's borrowed mount and retrieved his steed.

Back in the city, the boys resumed their research, continuing to hit strange blocks from the current council and odd gaps in the kingdom's records. Shorty after their return, a nearly naked Yuri Hoyer stumbled into town with another startling tale. This time he claimed that he had been a slave to the gnolls for 2 years, and that he - and other slaves - had just been released by the tribe's "head bitch" as a sign of apology in hopes she might head off a war with the humans. Justice found his claims dubious, but the prince put Yuri up in a house with a modest stipend until he could get back on his feet.

Lex discovered a secret cache of interesting documents in his sister's closet.

Zombie Apocalypse (Date 1/3/23)

The dead crawled forth from the sewers. Crawling and shambling, several fell to Hedge's blade, but it became immediately clear that the numbers were unmanageable. A few lucky, clubbing strikes landed as the party retreated into the nearly solid town-hall-like structure whose bell tower had held the phantom bell that had called the undead forth. Those that died turned to vapor that seeped immediately into the ground. The party retreated to the loft and made a stand until morning, with little more to do than debate theories once the stairwells were closed off. Hedge used his new cloak to traverse the rafters in rat form and found a storeroom of old documents that contained several secrets. The town was once called Coranado's Ferry, and was both a shipping hub and a tourist destination for wealthy citizens. It had been presided over by its own mayor. At dawn (around 5am) the bell reappeared floating high in the tower, and as it tolled seven slow chimes the mass of bodies withdrew into the ground.

The party left town and headed south, aiming for home, but on the second day, a well-armed band of mounted gnolls rushed from cover, barking savage war cries, their nets at the ready.

Corondado's Ferry (Date 1/3/20)

The tower offered several avenues of inquiry, but many of them seemed to lead to dead or dried-up ends. In fact, many on the council seemed to have a blind-spot for even the tower itself. Now seemingly ensconced in its new home near the castle, the tower made hints of city across the lake. General Mecklan said no city existed in recent memory, but that if anything was over there the fisher folk would know. Sure enough, a few helpful hours pulling in fishing nets, earned Justice a fisherman's tale of a haunted city on the northern shore where the lake drained away toward the gorge. None who entered there ever returned.

The party made a quick stop over to ensure the boggards had enough gold to pay the troll tax for 2 months, bid farewell to their loved ones and set off along the Old Road west. On the way, they encountered a band of gnoll fishermen, but avoided a fight, even going so far as to give them back their daily catch.

After some debate, a side trip was made to the gorge. There, they found the remains of the great bridge; two immense towers with short spans reaching out into the impossibly vast expanse, their ends shattered as if by a tremendous force. Nesting in the walls of the gorge was a large community of gnolls. These gnolls were similarly avoided. A large flying creature was spotted over the south end of the gorge.

Using Strom's power, the group forded the rushing river and made their way to the city. Cloaked in fog and crawling with vermin, the place looked inhospitable and very dangerous, but scarcely haunted. That is until, night began to fall and the empty clock tower somehow managed to toll and all around the city came alive with groaning, crawling, staggering undead horrors!