[Hey, it's been 1 year since we started our gaming group. Happy anniversary everybody!]

Welcome again to the ongoing chronicles of our illustrious band of adventurers! We find the group back in Waterdeep and rested from their previous day of daring escapades. However, Jegg still complains about being weakened from the vampire attack.

Since the half-drow is short on funds, Sol offers cover the bill for a curative spell. However, this requires more of Jegg's unending servitude. And it requires a written contract that is formally binding. Jegg reluctantly agrees.

Traveling through the fair city, they make their way back to Tymora's Tower of Luck. This time, they meet a different priest. The man is unusually jovial, overweight, and has a few warts on his face (lucky?). He agrees to perform a Restoration spell for the required costs (especially the diamond dust for the material components). Soon glowing energy streams from his open hands and Jegg suddenly feels better.

They also take this time to sell some items at the nearest Aurora's and decide to purchase a talking pet raven. Hopping over to the Market near Trader's Way, they are also able to find a moneylender to convert some gold to gems.

They make their way back to the tomb and, again, they are greeted by Old Cobb. The groundskeeper asks their business and they tell him that they forgot something in the tomb. Luckily, nobody has noticed any of their previous disturbances.

Entering the crypt, they travel back through the secret door and down the steps. Opening the riddle door, Greydin is again sprayed by the mysterious dust. However, it has no affect. But, the two spectral figures (wraiths?) are back and arent going anywhere.

Eery whispers issue from one of the beings as it floats toward Greydin. Touching the fighter, he feels his health wane. Greydin (using his new magic weapon) swings a mighty strike and weakens the undead. Drawing his holy symbol, Astynax mutters a prayer to Torm and turns both of them and they cower away. Bairn speaks the arcane spell Disrupt Undead and deals further injury to the damaged one and it dissipates. While the other one flees to the corner, Greydin hits it with a nasty strike - causing it to disappear.

As the rest of the party checks out the room and portal, Astynax accidently breaths in some of the spores. Slowly, he feels his health being sapped.

The portal is rather ominous looking. The portal-frame appears to be carved in stone with a bas-relief of a skull and ram horns perched above the opening. Stone wings also extend from the two top corners of the frame. A swirling orange/red ether issues from the inky blackness of the portal's entrance.

Working up the bravado, the party members plunge through the entryway one at a time. With sunrod in hand, they emerge in a long narrow cavern that extends out in front of them. Behind them they only find rough stone - and no return portal!
Walking down the corridor, the party suddenly hears something like gears turning. Steel blades swing out of the walls on either side and sweep down the passage. Almost imperceptible grooves in the walls guide the blades along their paths. The blades are about waist high.

Everybody is struck by the blades and get cut up. Astynax is especially hurt. Pausing, the cleric is able to cast some healing and restorative spells.

As the party walks along the irregular floor, it begins to rise toward the passage roof. The opening that is left is less than two and a half feet high. The passage appears to continue like this for about twenty feet, then it looks like it opens back out to its previous dimensions. At this point, the adventurers have to crawl in order to continue.

Suddenly, the party members feel the ground moving beneath their hands. Wriggling centipedes emerge from the detritus. The centipede swarm seeks to surround and attack any living prey it encounters. Slashing and piercing weapons do minimal damage to the mass.

Greydin and Sol are bitten multiple times. Greydin decides to light himself on fire. He grabs his flask of oil, dumps it on himself and strikes his flint &tender. The fighter rolls out of the confined area and continues to roll out his flaming body. Backing out, Astynax is also bitten. Bairn whips out his wand of Burning Hands and shoots out a cone of flame in the area while Greydin tosses another flask of oil. Greydin and Jegg suffer minor burns.

The rest of the party comes through the low tunnel and they decide to rest and recuperate. Setting up a make-shift camp, Astynax starts healing and Sol takes first watch while the rest of the party grabs their blankets and tries to get some shut-eye.

After about an hour, Sol hears something approaching. Quietly he rouses the party (although he tells them to remain prone). Suddenly, a bugbear and squad of goblinoid (hobgoblins?) creatures appear in the cave. "Who goes there?" yells Sol.

The bugbear leader tells Sol that they are a patrol party come to set the trap. Lying to the patrol, Sol (and Jegg - who gets up) tell the corps that they are another patrol party and that they already set the trap back in the caverns. Greydin covers himself up with his bearskin cape and the rest of the party cover their heads as they feign sleep. The bugbear believes the ruse and the patrol backs out of the cave.

The party goes back to sleep. However, a couple hours later, Sol wakes the party again as a large insect-like creature enters the cave. It has six legs, is colored brown, about 10 feet long, and armed with large mandibles. Sol shoots it with an arrow and the party is able to defeat the insect while suffering minimal damage. However, as they ready for the day, they are now fatigued from the night's activities.

Moving down the tunnel, the party eventually comes to a fork in the passageway. Their light glimmers all across the walls of the passage to the right. Deciding to be a bit more cautious, the group decides to avoid this passage.

Further down the tunnel, Sol decides to take the lead and use his darkvison to scout ahead. The tunnel opens into a larger cave, sneaking up to the area, he sees seven figures. Four are goblins, one is a very heavy set woman, another is a very large bull man (minotaur?), and the final one is a man with sharp features; he has black skin, thin limbs, and his hands and feet are withered into black, bony claws. He also has dull red slitted eyes and six bone horns growing from his skull. One of the goblins is whipping what looks to be a dwarf (covered in tattoos and skin piercings) with a whip and the others are armed with morning stars.

Deciding to reveal himself, Sol (the drow) tells the group that he is a scout for his drow patrol party. However, this group is a little more hesitant than the last group. The heavy-set women is suspicious and asks the drow to name the House he belongs to. In actuality, Sol's House was destroyed by a rival House. Therefore, he decides to lie to the group and tell them he is from House Tanor'Thal - a House that is close by. To back up his bluff, he goes back and gets Jegg - his "servant."

The horn-headed guy, talking to the fat lady, also becomes a little suspicious of Sol and Jegg. Sol offers to buy the dwarf, but they decline. However, they are willing to let the two pass. This presents a conundrum.

Telling Jegg to get the rest of the group (in elven) the Crinti is able to tell the party what's going on. Astynax is able to cast both a Bull Strength and Enlarge spell on Greydin and the fighter charges into the room. However, their new enemies were prepared. The minotaur also charges and meets Greydin head on.

Jegg rages and Sol backs up a bit. Bairn enters the area and fires off a couple of arrows at the fat lady. The goblins are easily dispatched.

The remaining three prove a little more difficult. Horn guy shoots an arrow and the fat lady is able to cast a Magic Missile at Greydin - striking the fighter with magical energy. Jegg is gored by the minotaur's horns.

Horn-headed guy jumps over the dwarf and hits Sol with his horns. The fat lady draws a sword and also strikes Sol. Jegg is gored some more. Suddenly, bull-man casts a spell (huh?) and catches Greydins shield on fire. The fighter also suffers burns from the spell.

Bairn pumps out more arrows and the rest of the party swings their weapons. Astynax, mutters a spell (boosting his strength a bit), and strikes the minotaur with his great sword. Weird horn-guy turns into a giant snake.

Jegg kills the minotaur. Astynax is able to cast a spell and heal Sol (who needs it at this point). The giant snake (formally horn-guy) bites Sol and the drow is able to avoid any poison. Bairn shoots one last arrow that takes out the fat lady. Greydin turns his attention on the snake. Jegg joins Greydin and together they defeat the creature.
The dwarf identifies himself as Dwarnid Inkpeddler. He relates how he is the uncontested master of body art in Skullport. Tall for a dwarf, and powerfully muscled, Dwarnid is readily identifiable in any crowd because his entire body is covered with brightly colored tattoos and body piercings. To accentuate his handiwork, Dwarnid keeps his beard neatly trimmed and goes about without a shirt, preferring to wear padded leather vests, sturdy trousers, and sandals. He speaks with an unidentifiable accent.

Dwarnid thanks the party for rescuing him and tells them that the Yuan-Ti Nhyris (the guy with the horns) lost a gambling bet with him and instead of paying they kidnaped him. Bound and gagged, they put him in a sack. They had just uncovered him in this cave and began whipping him when the party showed up. After the beating, he believes Nhyris was going to take him down a side tunnel and sell him into slavery.

Dwarnid tells the characters about Skullport and his business (a tattoo parlor called "Skin-Deep"). He tells them about the leaders of Skullport - known as "The Skulls." As their name implies, they are flaming, floating skulls. Thirteen in all, they were created eons ago.

Known as the Sargauth Enclave, the area was a Netherese outpost where powerful wizards delved into the nature of the Weave and magic. They created a magical mantle for the thrid level of Undermountain. However, with the fall of Netheril in the Year of Sundered Webs (-339 DR), the spell backlash from Karsus' death unleashed powerful magical surges through the subterranean outpost and its mantle. The cavern ceiling, temporarily unsupported by stone or magic, collapsed, burying more than two-thirds of the enclave and leaving the area close in configuration to its current complex of isolated cavern systems that contain mysterious ruins (the current Level Three of Undermountain). Attendant blasts of magic vaporized much left uncovered by the debris, along with the residing wizards. Disrupted but not destroyed, the twisted mantle magic absorbed the essences of some of the magicians and reasserted itself in a curious fashion by protecting and empowering 13 of its former citizens' skulls (who became the Skulls of the future Skullport).

The Skulls are entirely unpredictable and, at times, very eccentric in their ways. They have been known to send citizens on bizarre quests for no apparent reason. However, two things they cannot tolerate is disruption of the slave trade and religious proselytizing.

Skullport itself is a haven for cutthroats, murderers, and peddlers of commodities that most cities deem illegal. It is home to many different races - even those considered "monsters" by surface dwellers. Many people come to the underground urban center because they are running from something. Other than that, Dwarnid loves Skullport. Everyday is a new experience - and that makes life more interesting!

After a few minutes of talk, Dwarnid looks around and tries to get his bearings. He offers to escort the party to Skullport for saving his life. The party agrees and the dwarf sets off into an opposite tunnel.
After a bit of travel, the party emerges into an opening with about three exits. Dwarnid stops and looks around the four way intersection for about 10 minutes. He begins to run his hands on the rock walls. He tells the party that he is using his dwarven intuition to gain his bearings and try to decide which way to go.

As he is doing this, he begins to recite a dwarven folktale about how badger stole fire for the dwarves. The story relates how long ago dwarves did not have fire and how a badger stole it from three Azers (fire dwarves) near a volcano. It also explains why badgers dont have tails (burned off) and why chipmunks have strips (the Azer raked it's back). Finally, it tells how badger learned about striking two rocks together to produce sparks by observing a Galeb-Duhr (stone humanoid) who clapped his rocky hands together as he seized the flame. The badger showed the dwarves how to make fire by striking two rocks together in the same fashion.

Opening his eyes, Dwarnid points out the correct tunnel. The party trudges onward.

Soon, they come to a large cavern. In the center of this area are three massive columns two feet in diameter stretches from floor to ceiling. These columns are not carved but appear to be formed by the meeting of a stalactite that has grown down from the ceiling and a stalagmite that has formed from the cavern floor. Throughout this area stalagmites grow with their fingers reaching up toward the ceiling and sharp stalactites menace from above. As they look around, the shadows cast by the light and the formations are stark, menacing, and confusing.

They see a creature the size of a large horse that darts out from behind one of the columns. It resembles a spider except that it has ten legs instead of eight. Sharp spines cover its body and its eight eyes look more humanlike rather than those of an arachnid.

A spiny projectile shoots out from the spiders body and strikes the drow and he gets knocked down. Attached to the spine is a thick sticky goo. The spider reels in Sol and bites him. Striking the creature, Greydin is also pierced by some of the spines. Astynax, concentrating on a cure spell while avoiding the spines, is able to reach in and heal Sol.

Picking up Sol with its legs, the Harpoon Spider drops the dark elf on its back - piercing him multiple times. Bairn shoots off a couple of arrows, hits the creature in a few vital spots, and drops the ten legged menace to the ground dead. The party quickly leaves the cave.

Continuing down another tunnel for awhile, they finally emerge into different cavern. The cave is pretty non-descript, however, there appears to be no exits. Dwarnid seems a little confused at this point. He keeps muttering, "I dont understand, Skullport should be right here."

The party searches the cave. After a few minutes, Jegg yells out, "I found a secret door!" Blending nicely in the rock wall is a stone door that opens onto another passage. The new passage has walls that are unworked and jagged, and its ceiling is unusually high, rising nearly 20 feet above the sand-covered floor in some points. It is obvious that this passage is used frequently to even the least observant adventurer. The drafty passage has an unusual number of shadows in it. Off in the distance, the party can hear the echoes of city life. Finally, they have reached Skullport.

[Experience Point Awards]

Astynax 1605
Bairn 1053
Jegg 1862
Greydin 1605
Sol 1605