In The Valley Of Shadows

January 2, 2007

The group leaves Eveningstar and goes to Arabel. While there, they stock up on arrows, healing potions and some better armor. Once they are finished, they head north. This time is quite different than the last one. They were trying to sneak out of the area to get to Tilverton. Now, they ride on the road, seeing some patrols, saying hello, and traveling with no problems.

When they get to the meeting point, they say Nail's name and in about fifteen minutes, he arrives. They talk about how Duece has decided to keep the book but they still want to go. He says fine, changes into human form, and joins them to show them the way. Eric is amazed at the shape changing and asks if the dragon can teach him how to do it. The others try to explain that Nail is a dragon who turned into a human, not a human who turned into a dragon. However, Nail says that maybe Eric can learn to turn into a bear. Nail can do the tests to see if Eric is able. Eric quickly agrees.

Over the next several days as they travel north, through the Stonelands and on the border of Anauroch, Nail "tests" Eric. He has him yell like a bear. He has him run around mostly naked, 'cause bears don't wear clothes. He slathers him in bear fat and has him yell more. He decides to add fur to the bear fat. He has him jump in cold water. At one point, Eric thinks he might have seen hair on his face and tries more. In the end, though, Nail has to tell him that it doesn't look like he is able to turn into a bear.

Of course, Nail just strung Eric along, knowing full well he wasn't a shape changer. He did let him get some rest before they arrived.

They finally got to an area and Nail tells them to be careful as there are lots of things wondering around. The group says they aren't afraid because they have a dragon. Nail says that he can't shift to his dragon form as he is out of his territory and can't let the dragon whose territory they are in know he is there.

They are walking through deep canyons, leading the horses. After a few hours, Nail says it is not much further. He tells them how to get there and says he will watch the horses. They ask about this place and Nail turns out to be a font of information on Tilverton, the City of Shade and Netheril, of which this is an outpost. There are also some writings in the book on the place. Apparently, this is where Shadow Magic was researched by the Netherese.

Nail tells them of the fighting that happened at Tilverton with the city of Shade, trapping many inhabitants there. He knows some have been rescued but not all. He also gives some background on Netheril. With this information, the party proceeds to the outpost.

Duece scouts it out and sees the two guards near the front doors. The place is carved in the side of the wall in the valley. There are two pillars and double stone doors. The men are hiding behind the pillars. One sees Duece and brings up a crossbow and fires! Duece dodges out of the way and runs back to the others. After telling them, Duece thinks he can get them. They others agree to this plan and Duece heads forward again.

Duece passes a concealed guard, not seeing him and not being noticed as the guard was distracted. Duece keeps moving foward until he sees the other guard and those two get in a shooting match. Meanwhile, Eric and Victor attack the guard in the valley. In a short fight, both guards are dispatched and they go to the entrance.

Duece concentrates and sees beyond into the opening. He can tell there are no other guards, so they head inside. Duece again scouts out some corridors without opening any doors. He finds some barracks and they leave it alone. They find the kitchen area and some slaves are working the kitchens. Duece isn't sure if they are dead or trapped in the Shadow Plane but doesn't stick around to find out. Duece heads back to the other two and they are talking with they are ambushed. They are hit hard but fight harder and win. As they are healing themselves, a priest attacks them but the priest falls as well, although he does hurt Eric pretty bad.

They are wondering what they should do when they hear noises from another side corridor. Duece heads down to scout it out when a mage jumps out and attacks with magic! Duece is hurt pretty bad, but still manages to hit the mage with an arrow. Then Eric charges around the corner and skewers the mage on his broad sword. They hear chanting from further in the area.

To be continued . . .

Notes

• One player was not present. The other players wanted his character to do all of the dangerous scouting and trap finding but I said no.
• This is the second time that they have had a lot of money to spend. And the player that missed this session, missed that session as well.
• We didn't get all the way done because we hadn't seen each other in so long and so talked a bit. I think about the time Eric was trying to become a bear was when we got into it.
• The good ol' fashioned dungeon crawl was great! It was a lot of fun! I tried to get done with it but realized we wouldn't, so we decided to save it for next time.
• The Alternity rules for how to handle flame/heat damage are very good! They worked out well with the spells the priest and mage threw at the group. I was very happy, not having used them much before.
• I almost didn't suggest the healing potions but knew they would need them and they are a "staple" of FR. They also went through all of the ones they bought plus several they took off the enemy. So, it was probably a good idea to have them.