D&D: Session #1

Our party of adventurers is on a mission on behalf of the lords of these coastal regions, who apparently are having a bit of trouble with a band of marauding slavers. While an underground trade in human slaves is to be expected, the slavers have now started sacking whole villages, bringing trouble to the entire coast. The local lords want the problem contained. We've been hired as muscle to solve the problem.

Here's the team we've assembled for this caper:

• Icar (Kurt): human cleric, devoted servant of Thor, swings a trusty war hammer


• Fayden Kinchen Roy (Kevin): elvish cleric, lacking in outward religious fervor, but stout of heart


• Gurney (Fred): elven thief/magic-user of few hit points


• Dirk (Matt Z): human fighter of many hit points, "Dirk smash!"


• Funk (Jesse): human paladin, trying not to let his glowing goodness get us all killed


• Atari (Annalee): half-elven magic-user of indeterminate gender and fantastical intelligence


• Cara (Chris): half-elven thief, but with considerable fighting skillz


• Baltar the Brave (Jason): ranger, captured by the slavers, awaiting rescue by us!

So our ship arrives at Highport, a formerly human village now overrun by the evil minions of the slave lords. The rumor is that the slavers are working out of a ruined temple nearby. We're met dock-side by a friendly operative, who manages to high-tail us to a tower held by a powerful, if somewhat eccentric wizard (illusionist, apparently). He's just about the last of the town's former residents, and has managed to hold out thanks to his serious magical skillz.

We depart Highport, under cover of dark and a helpful glamour, making our way to the ruined temple. We manage to turn a couple groups of zombies, and kill off a group of sentry orcs (under a silence spell, preventing their calling for help). Slipping in thru a secret entrance, we enter the temple itself. It seems the slavers have left this portion of the temple unguarded. Why? Because it's crawling with undead nasties, including a posse of zombies and ghasts, which put up a bit of a fight before being re-killed.

We also encounter a sticky, tentacle-sprouting, vinegar-averse, acid blob creature. After an ill-advised frontal assault by Dirk ("Dirk smash!"), arrows are spent, spells are cast, and we move into what appears to be the more inhabited portion of the temple complex.

Stairs have led us underground, where we find ourselves in a rough-hewn (burrowed?) dirt tunnel, running off into the dark in both directions...