On the morning of the Daeorian summer solstice the PCs are ready to ambush any thieves who come up the road. They don't have to wait long. A dwarf and two humans come up the road passing a bottle around and clearly getting an early start on their solstice celebration. A predictable altercation follows and two of the three are killed, one captured. The prisoner is bound and put away in a cottage for the moment.

Then along come 4 human thieves. Three are dispatched, but the fourth, after Reigner smashes his crossbow, runs away.

The PCs revive their prisoner for interrogation. After getting all the information they can, they decide to nobly give the man some gold and instruct him to find a church and pray for guidance and forgiveness. They warn him that, if he returns to the thieves, the next time they cross paths he will not likely survive. He fled north, as instructed.

Based in part on information gathered from their prisoner, the PCs take a boat down the river to Dellahm. Along the way they tangle with a large, multi-tentacled, soft-bodied creature with an appetite for humanoids in a boat. As they near Dellahm they spot their escaped thief running away.

Arriving in Dellahm they discover that Geldahr is badly injured and near death. The cleric does what he can and stabilizes him, but he is still unconscious and needs the continuing care of his wife.

The PCs decide to pursue the thief on the off chance that they can get to him before he warns the rest of the thieves about the approaching PCs. Two of the PCs run up behind the tiring thief and subdue him. The rest of the party catches up shortly.

The PCs choose a camp site on slightly higher ground between two low peaks of a hill. While encamped there the ground drops out from beneath them and tumbles them into an underground ruin. The huge stone slab upon which they had been camping raises back up and closes, sealing them in.

In the sky above, the stars wink brightly in the silent, black Daeorian night.

[All PCs get 1350 XP for this day's gaming.]

The PCs learn from Geldahr that another group of adventurers had recently passed through the thorp in search of the thieves. The thieves came through, but no sign of the other adventurers has been seen. So, the PCs travel north to investigate.

About a quarter mile up the road are five bodies lying strewn about the road. All are dead except one, who is clinging to life by a thread. They revive him and Alanahr, the Elf Ranger, joins the party.

Traveling north to the next village, the PCs run into a large, ugly female half-orc walking down the road while munching on a meaty leg. The half-orc readily admits to being part of Benton's band of thieves. A confrontation ensues and the thief is defeated. She is bound and revived enough to interrogate. After getting all the information from her that they can, Mallorian slits her throat and conceals the body off the road.

The PCs try to convince the residents of the village to stand and fight against the thieves, but they decide instead to flee to the north and abandon their homes. The PCs decide to use the village to set up an ambush for the next group of thieves to come along looking for trouble.

The session ends with the PCs waiting to ambush the thieves.

[All PCs receive 650 XP for this session.]

The PCs decide to invade the lair of the reptilian humanoids that attacked them (same night, previous gaming session.) Encountering (and defeating) them in 1s and 2s, they make their way through the long entrance tunnel to the main chamber. At the main chamber they encounter a larger creature of vaguely similar type, but this one also has a poisonous stinger at the end of its tail.
[All PCs receive 2100 XP for defeating the opponents up to this point.]

At this point, Dalnak is unconscious, Lieran is running on negative HP and cannot exert himself, and the others are pretty well beat up, too. Also, one reptilian opponent fled into the depths of the lair after taking a couple of shots at the approaching PCs, so it is known that there is at least one more enemy lurking in the dark places of this cave. So, most of the badly injured PCs decide that it would be prudent to back out of the lair and recover from their injuries before someone gets seriously killed.

Mallorian, however, thinks it would be a good idea to remain in the cave and continue alone. Crouched low, she cautiously explores the large main chamber and spots a short passageway to a smaller side chamber. Moving carefully, she spots what seems to be a trap. Unable to disarm it from her location, she stands up and jumps over the trap  ... directly into the line of fire of a waiting reptilian with a crossbow. "Twang!" He shoots. "Thunk!" He hits. "Plop!" She's down and out!

Meanwhile, the rest of the party stands watch over the entrance to the cave while waiting for morning to let them refresh their healing spells. After healing themselves up a bit in the morning, they head back into the cave looking for their missing rogue. They find her stuffed in a small cage with another occupant: an unconscious young boy of 9 years. (Apparently, the boy was to be on this morning's breakfast menu, but the PC's raid on the lair eliminated the clientele that might have partaken of that breakfast.)

The PCs revive the boy and learn that he's from a hamlet to the north. They attempt to return him to his family, only to learn that the homes there have been razed and the occupants killed. So, they decide to deliver him to an uncle in the next village to the north.

As they approach the next village, they find a body lying in the road a few dozen yards before the village. Upon approaching the body, the dwarf lying on the road leaps to his feet brandishing an axe, six archers rise up from the surrounding scrub and dry grass (three on each side), and two swordsmen close in from behind them. The dwarf with the axe demands all their money and their weapons as the price for being allowed to pass.

In spite of being outnumbered more than two to one by well armed and armored opponents, the PCs refuse to give up coin or steel and ready themselves for a fight. Intrigued by the PC's naïveté and arrogance, the leader of the band of thieves (the dwarf) offers them a compromise and asks for only 10 gp ...each. The PCs agree, but the dwarf decides to see how much more he can push them. The PCs circle the boy to protect him and start chanting and incanting and making loud boasts in an apparent attempt to impress and/or intimidate the thieves.

Amused by the PC's posturing and boastful threats, the dwarf takes the proffered gold and the thieves depart to the west ocassionally glancing back at the PCs and chuckling to themselves.

The PCs deliver the boy (Rickland) to his uncle (Geldahr). Then the PCs begin a discussion about how they can deal with the thieves.
[All PCs receive 100 XP for delivering the boy to his family.]

The PCs arrived seperately from various locations at the magical, inter-planar teleport in Ashtakahr. Together they exited the portal building and perused the postings on the billboard outside the teleport. After traveling to a lower middle-class tavern, they held a discrete conversation about why they had come to Daeoria and decided to work together.

Dalnak and Vigo decided to test their skills in the Arena of Ashtakahr. The were pitted against three recognizeable Troglodytes and were victorious.
[Dalnak and Vigo are awarded 900 XP for this encounter. Vigo receives and extra 50 for his handling of concealing his abilities and surprising Battlemaster Glen (and the DM).]

After a discouraging experience seeking employment with the Merchant Guard, our entrepid heroes accept the challenge of seeking bounty on capturing live beasts and monsters for battle in the Arena. They depart Ashtakahr and head north along the northern road that follows the Ashtakahr River.

At the end of their first day of travel, as they settle down to camp, they are attacked from the west out of the setting sun by a wandering band of reptilian humanoids. Some party members suffer considerable damage, but the team is victorious against the creatures.
[All party members are awarded 450 XP for this encounter. Mallorian receives an extra 50 XP for courageous conduct under fire: charging an unknown, concealed enemy while injured.]