Being a curious bunch, the first thing that the party did upon awakening was to go downstairs and try to figure out why the town seemed to be shut down the night before. As they walked down the stairs, the party became aware of multiple conversations taking place in hushed tones around the room. Andina and Bran decided to go speak with the innkeeper while the rest of the group found a table. While hunting for a table, Zarek happened to overhear a couple of merchants discussing the apparent lack of information and goods leaving the town of Riverfell these days. Nothing has been heard from the town in a couple of weeks.

Andina and Bran learn that the royal party arrived yesterday and that an attempt was made on the prince's life last night. A city-wide curfew was enforced immediately. Supposedly, a dwarfish conspiracy was behind the assassination attempt. The innkeeper points them to Frank, an older city guard who fancies himself a bit of an adventurer, as the source of his information. Andina and Nerantha try to get more out of Frank, but his despair at being put on administrative leave has driven him to drinking early this morning. All of Frank's tales appear to be exaggerated; he mentions dozens of goblins attacking the keep with air support from multiple dragons. The party decides that Frank may not be the most reliable source of information, so they decide to pay a visit to the local magistrate.

Our heroes find city hall a much different place than the last time they were here. The normal town guards have been replaced with large, half-orc bruisers all decked out in black. At first, the guards do not seem willing to show the group in to see the magistrate, but they eventually relent due to some fast-talk from Nerantha. They are led back to an interrogation room and, shortly, the magistrate is forcibly led into the room. It seems obvious that he is no longer in charge. He explains a more reasonable accounting of the events of the previous night. Only a dozen goblins attacked, half being used as a diversion and the other half headed for the prince's quarters. The town guards took care of the diversion, with some heavy losses, and the prince's "elite" guards took care of the assassins. The party offered any help that they could and the magistrate said that, while he could not officially request or accept their assistance, unofficially, anything they could do would be helpful. The magistrate also let the party know about the execution of the conspirators at dusk that evening.

To gather more intelligence, the group tracked down some of the weaponry and armor used in the attack that had been sold on the black market. Some markings on the armor showed that these goblins were from a related clan to the ones in the goblin stronghold that the party had invaded a few months before. Finally, the group checked out the infirmary and spoke with the members of the town guard that were involved in the fighting the night before. The guards that were conscious were able to back up the magistrate's story, although one did mention seeing a shadowy figure flying overhead.

With time rapidly running out, our heroes decided to try and recruit as many town guards as possible to help police the prince's speech, since the group is suspicious of another assassination attempt tonight. As the hour approached, our heroes took up positions near the front of the crowd and settled in to listen to the speech. As the young prince took the stage, Zarek and Andina noticed the regent, a tall, striking Eladrin with long golden hair, hanging back near the accused instead of taking his rightful place near the prince.

The prince calmly explained to the people about the attempt on his life and carefully laid out all of the evidence against the dwarf conspirators and the dwarfish kingdom itself. The longer he spoke, the more and more agitated the crowd became. Even the members of the party began to get agitated; Bran, Nerantha, and Iliyana all shared a glance as they remembered hearing of rituals that could sway emotions. As his speech crescendoed, the prince announced the latest plans -- in five days time, the kingdom of Aldus would go to war against the dwarfs in Craggy Bastion. At this, the crowd erupted in a wave of violence and emotion.

Emerging onto the top floor of the tower, our heroes were greeted by a group of Warforged and odd crossbow constructs, diligently guarding the Hand of Vecna. The party was attacked as the defenders followed instructions that were given to them centuries before. Zarek fell beneath the onslaught, but Bran helped him to recover by pouring their last remaining healing potion down his throat. While the battle ensued, Greegus stealthily made his way around the melee and unlocked the final door, leading to the Hand. After mopping up the constructs, our group of heroes followed Greegus into the room and saw him reaching for the Hand, which was encased in a brilliant red column of energy. Just as his hand touched the column of energy, Zarek shot him from behind and the mask of Greegus fell away to reveal a glowing Angel of Valor.

After being shot by the party, the Angel was hesitant to turn over the Hand of Vecna to the group. However, Nerantha and Andina managed to convince him that it was in everyone's best interest for the party to guard the Hand. The Angel eventually agrees and allows them to take the Hand, leaving them with the warning that a host of Angelic brethren would descend upon them if they deigned to use the Hand. Upon taking the Hand, the party is transported back to the hole beneath the catacombs, the misty portal gone for good. The group leaves the catacombs through the garden exit and is surprised to find it empty. As they are walking back to their inn, the see the streets empty except for a few armed patrols. Not knowing what is going on, they decided to avoid the patrols and make their way to the nearest inn, where they rest for the night.

After the resounding defeat of the Witherlings, our heroes decided to continue up the tower to see what awaited them, although Zarek could hear a slight pinging of stone on stone from outside. On the next floor up, they found a room full of armor and weapons. With a glint in their eyes, the party decided to check the room out and see what they could find. After a couple of hours of searching, the group turned up quite a number of magical items and a decent sized chest of gold. Unfortunately, the chest was trapped and Andina took a little bit of acid to the face.

After looting the room, the party noticed that night had fallen outside. However, a eerie glow was coming in through the windows. Nala and Zarek braved a peek outside and saw the landscape covered in flames. The party decided to continue up the tower, but, before they could make it to the stairs, they were attacked by fiery creatures from the outside. A group of Fire Bats harried the heroes from above while Flamespikers finished climbing the tower walls and entering the room. Although tired, our heroes managed to hold their own against the elementals and have finally decided to rest for a while.

After a short rest, our brave heroes decided to throw caution to the wind by throwing open the trapdoor in the corner. Hidden beneath the heavy, oaken door lay a black, dense fog. A sudden, cold fear washes over all who approach the door. A sun-rod dropped into the fog seemingly disappears. Being the most knowledgeable of arcane matters, Bran volunteers to brave the fog and go down the ladder into the dense fog. After Bran emerges on the other side, he finds himself in a brightly light room, much like the room he just left. This chamber has a newness that is a very stark contrast to the ancient, dilapidated room from which he left. However, the most radical change is the brightness of the three suns light the bleak, blasted desert-scape out the windows. After feeling a sharp tug on rope tied around his midriff, Bran hurries back up the latter to where the rest of the party is waiting for him. He explains what he has seen and convinces the rest of the party to follow.

After the party emerges into the new chamber, Bran explains that he believes that they have passed though a planar portal, but he does not know where to. Then, most of the party hears a noise coming from behind one of the doors. Just as Nala reaches to open the door, it is thrust open and a strange little Tiefling man emerges. The man calls himself Greegus and explains that he is here to watch after the tower. His Master left him here a very long time ago, but left instructions that Greegus should take care of visitors that would one day appear; Greegus would know the correct ones. Greegus offers to show our party to "It", although he is not entirely sure what "It" is. After a brief amount of time conferring, Nerantha accepts his help for the party.

While wandering through the tower, trying to find a safe route up, Greegus tells the party of some of the nastier creatures that have taken up residence in the tower. Suddenly, Greegus stops in front of a door and tells the rest that some of these nasty creatures, the Witherlings, have migrated into an area that they must pass through to continue their journey to the upper chambers. After a brief, but heated battle, our heroes have defeated the Witherlings as one of the three suns finishes setting outside of the tower. What awaits our heroes as they prepare to ascend the tower?

To kill time before their tour of the temple, most of the party decided to get several rooms at a local inn. Serideon wandered off to one of the local parks to confer with his pixie companion while the remainder of the party regrouped to decide what to do with their several hours. They decided to briefly cruise around town, but did not really find anything that interested them. At the appointed hour, Serideon met back up with the rest of the gang and they all headed for the temple.

True to his word, the young priest met everyone at the front of the temple and began to give them a tour, pointing out several features of interest. He seemed to get really excited at the mention of the catacombs, so he led everyone down below the temple. While wandering around the catacombs, Iliyana, Nerantha, and Bran were utterly engrossed in all of the intricate, historical details the young priest was able to bring forth about the dead who have been laid to rest there. Andina, being horribly bored, wandered off to explore a small side passageway that caught her attention and was ignored by the priest. She found a boarded off area blocking the path, so she headed back to the party and rescued Zarek from the prattling on of the priest. Both Zarek and Andina peer through the boards after sliding a sun-rod through and where able to make out a bit of ancient Tiefling architecture. Hurrying back to the party, they realized that they had not been missed at all. Serideon and Nala were too bored to notice and the rest were too engrossed in the priest's speech.

As the tour began to wrap up, Andina hid herself among some old, dry bones as the rest of the party is let out of the catacombs and into a back garden for the temple. After the priest passes by her without noticing, Andina sneaks back to the locked garden door and slowly begins to pick the lock. Once she gets the door opened, she and Zarek lead the rest of the group back to the blocked off passage. Although the passage appears to be boarded up with large timbers, Nala finds them to be half-rotted and is able to quickly remove them. The party hesitantly creeps down a dark, narrow, ancient passage until they have to round a corner. After rouding the corner, the heroes hear squeaking and gnawing sounds coming from one corner of a large, expansive stone area with a stream of sewage running down the middle.

The heroes have disturbed a group of dire rats and wererats in the middle of a meal! The filthy rodents attack the party, who are able to make short work of the creatures. Unfortunately, several of the party members were bitten by the disease ridden pests and have begun to feel slightly ill from the effects of the disease. There is a large trapdoor leading farther down into the structure. What lies below?

As we journey towards Adelaine, Dina and Zarek point out that there are an unusual number of Dwarves traveling away from Adelaine. Dina amazes me at her perceptiveness sometimes, and while Zarek's interests are often simple, his knack for observing the slightest details has saved us in a number of our forays while back in Granmere.

A series of brief discussions with various traveling folk lead us to understand that the Dwarvish citizens of Adelaine have been forcibly removed from their homes, and the city itself! Apparently it is the belief that a Dwarvish assassin killed my King, in his own chambers, possibly using a poison. I do not understand such a ruling against an entire people! Would this have happened had a human been suspected? An Elf or Eladrin? In any case, if their had been an assassin, a professional would have left town as quickly as possible. If the assassin had been a long term plant, evicting all of these Dwarves would give him more cover than if he had just disappeared from the King's Court after the King's death. It's almost as if someone were trying to aid the assassin! Assuming there is one to begin with. The assassin theory does not seem to hold sway with the members of the guard that we met upon arrival in Adelaine. It also seems possible that, if a force had infiltrated the King's Courtiers, that the might also make effort to break the relationship that humans and dwarves have built over time. For the amount of time it takes to construct a bridge, it takes little effort to destroy it, and often double the time to rebuild. We should investigate this matter further, to find the assassin, or to ascertain if their is indeed an assassin at all. With the destiny that we have been given to forge, I fear that I may begin to see conspiracies around every corner. Truth be told, I would hope that these events are conspiratorial in nature, and that the Kingdom is not being ruled by one who would willingly break an alliance with one of the civilized races.

Upon further reflection, Iliyana comes to mind. While I do not feel as though I have treated her unfairly, I must confess that in my heart and mind that I have not fully trusted her . . . by virtue of her birth. It would seem that even those of us trained in the arcane mysteries are not above certain human frailties. I shall endeavor to change my thinking on this, and to be firm, yet compassionate to those who cannot see past their own fears.

Once we discharged our warning of goblin invasions to the King's Guard, we made effort to find the Tower of Adelain. Our search was quickly rewarded when we found the Temple dedicated to Erathis. My companions and I casually searched the temple to see if we could find the remains of a tower hidden within the temple. I did not hear her say it, but Andina's eyes told me that we would likely find her in jail later this evening for violating the temple, if we did not find something useful soon. I cast out my senses, thinking that a tower of this magnitude and import must surely have some magical resonance within. I'm not sure what happened, but it is as if Erathis herself wanted me to find the tower. My senses were sharpened beyond anything I've experienced before, and immediately guided me to a magical presence *below* the temple. Sensing impatience and frustrations from my companions that might land us in jail, I did the first thing that came to mind, a mild obfuscation that has aided me in the past. I claimed my status as a scholar to the first priest I could find, and explained to him that I was traveling the kingdom gathering lore about the various church buildings and their history. The Priest immediately asked if I wanted to see the Tower! As it turns out, they give tours to the ruins from time to time, and sensing my professional interest, being more than mere casual curiosity, the Priest agreed to give me a tour after the temple closed for the day. I managed to get my friends included on this tour, but under the ruse that they are my protectors. Often this is indeed the truth, though I think my companions chaffed under the implication that the were mere hirelings. I will apologize for this later, but for now, this gets us into the temple, quietly, without much observation, possibly to complete one portion of our mission. I do not care for lying, and surely Erathis would loathe such a violation of community. However the dangerous nature of our mission necessitates that as few people as possible know what we are trying to accomplish. For their safety as well as ours. I pray Erathis and Ioun would forgive this trespass, for deception of any sort does not aid their causes.

Once we have finished our business in the Tower, I will discuss with the party the possibility of obtaining an audience with the new King to see if we can use our skills to re-forge the relationship with the Dwarves, for surely in the future the unity of our peoples will be necessary to turn back the onslaught of evil. If we desire, and if time permits, my master may be able to provide introduction via letter to the king and his court. I am uncertain how far his influence reaches.

Upon awakening in the church, our heroes quickly split up their loot and began to head towards Adelain. Along the way, the party noticed a steady stream of people coming and going from Adelain with a disproportionate number of dwarves leaving Adelain. After watching group after group of dwarves heading away with little more than the clothes on their backs, Nerantha and Andina decided to approach some and try to figure out what was going on. Several groups told Nerantha and Andina that they had been roused from their sleep and forcibly evacuated from the town. One group of human travelers passed on a rumor that the king had been poisoned by the dwarves and had died and that is why they were being kicked out. Concerned, the party made all haste towards Adelain and arrived to find a sizable line to get in the city gates.

When the party made it to the guards in front of the gate, they were asked their business. Nerantha replied that they were warning towns about a possible goblin incursion into the northern part of the valley. The guards were distressed and took our heroes to see the magistrate of the city watch. On the way to guard house, our heroes marveled at the parade or party decorations covering the streets and worried over the strange-looking half-orc guards that seemed stationed at virtually every street corner. The magistrate confirmed that the king had dies recently and that the regent, crown prince, and the king's body were due to arrive in Adelain for a state parade and viewing within a few days. The magistrate thanks the party for informing him about the possible goblin raiders and hastened to make preparations for their arrival.

Turned loose, our heroes decided to investigate the Temple of Erathis, the probably location of one of the ancient artifacts. Poking around inside, in full view of all the other parishioners, our party determined that the Temple appeared to just be a temple. However, Bran learned from a priest that the Temple was in fact built on top of the remains of an old Tiefling tower. The priest offered to give them a tour after the Temple closed for the evening. Since that was several hours away, our heroes have a little free time to explore the city...

The last several days have been quite a blur.
We arrived in Ossel, a town not unlike Granmere, in time to deliver our counsel before the goblin roaches had attempted to infest this small town. The Mayor heeded our warnings, and began taking precautionary measures. He also sent craftsmen to Granmere to aid in reconstruction, and fortification, I hope.
Afterwards, we visited Andina's uncle, who then sent us off on a quest to discover Dina's destiny. I must confess, a part of me hoped that this was some elaborate ruse constructed by the halfling family to discourage such a young child from taking up the adventurer's mantle. Dina is a warm and convivial youth, and I would see her grow to womanhood in more mundane circumstances that might allow her to mature, marry, and have her own family. It is already unfortunate that she is familiar with warfare at all, if nothing else I would have chosen to save her that burden until adulthood.
Sigh.
My newfound companion insists that at this point I should mention how remarkably attractive Andina is. He also refuses to be quiet until I do so. I have done so, and now he (it?) will allow me to continue, though he insists on balking at the uninterested manner in which I describe her.

Alas, such a ruse was not to be found. While I regret the burden this places on young Dina, I rejoice that Ioun has seen fit to deliver us to a source of information about our destiny! A Deva, no less! Apparently, there are three artifacts, all from the days of the Tiefling Empire, that the villain of our story is attempting to collect. His goal is to become a deity, after which surely evil shall reign for a thousand years, and the civilized races shall know only slavery, death, and destruction. While we all agree that there are several fronts on which to confront our villain, the most obvious course of action is to collect the artifacts and ensure that they do not fall into his hands. I am certain we will be required to kill this man at some point in the future, for even if we keep him from his demonic artifacts, he is still a powerful agent of evil, and requires redress in his own right. If the legends and history I have collected are to indicate any truth, it is that rarely do men so dedicated to evil ever
reform. I do not wish to include any further details of his plot, for surely if my companions and I fall, it will be to some form of evil. Evil has enough creative force of its own, it shall not have my journal to inspire it further.
After we departed the Cave of Destiny (pardon my lack of poetry, but I do not know what else to call it), we returned to Ossel, where we were able to turn back a force of orcs that had organized and decided to attack the small town. Thanks to our forewarning, and our timely arrival, the orcs were turned back with minimal damage to the town. Unfortunately, Andina's uncle paid the ultimate price for our knowledge. It would seem that he had been working with The Enemy for some time, procuring some knowledge regarding the artifacts and the prophecy. It is not entirely clear whether he was acting as a spy during his service, or if his conscience and love of family turned him towards the light. Regardless, The Enemy's agents, creatures of necromantic origin, stood about his house, searching for information and summoning the uncle's spirit for questioning. We were able to turn
back the fiends, and allow his spirit to rest. A little more searching turned up more information about the nature of the three artifacts, one of which little is known, though it is apparently the most important of the three, as it may allow the user to ascend to godhood. Again, I will not enclose details of these artifacts for fear of delivering information to The Enemy in this, or a future age. Perhaps, as time passes, and opportunity permits, I will place a more complete record of events into the hands of the Priests of Ioun for safekeeping.

Sigh. Yes, I was just getting to that part.
In preparation for our journey, I chose to visit my counterpart in Ossel, a man I've never met personally, but have exchanged correspondence with, as well as traded goods with, through Andina's family: Mr. Holmeswood. Mr. Holmeswood has a reputation for having a fine collection of ritual magic, and I wished to avail myself of the opportunity to peruse his shelves. Among other purchases, Mr. Holmeswood insisted that I accept as a gift a rather morbid curio: a human skull carved with arcane writings. Mr. H made claim that he had little understanding of the object, and that it mostly served as a object to promote, as he called it, "The Atmosphere of Mystery" that a magic shop should have. I am certain I do not know what Mr. H speaks of. He also expressed a desire to know what purpose this skull with it's peculiar lettering might serve, and hoped that I might discover this on my journeys. In the interest of cordiality, and I must admit, a certain amount of curiosity, I accepted the gift. It would be several days before the nature of the gift made itself apparent. I had thought that Mr. H and I got along well. Perhaps I was mistaken. I shall have to recall our dealings in the past to ascertain if I have unwittingly offended Mr. H, or if he truly did not understand that which he gifted me with. The skull is possessed by a spirit. A spirit of knowledge to be sure. And while I have learned a number of historical points of interest, I have also learned about the creatures carnal interests. He, I assume for no genitalia are apparent, thank Ioun, seems to have no prejudice towards race, creed, or culture, as he has expressed his appreciation for every single female member of my companions (why he insists on chuckling slyly whenever I mention the word "member" is beyond me. . .). Still, in spite of his obsessions, he does seem to genuinely want to help me in my endeavors, though he doesn't exactly know what our goals are at the moment.
We continue our journey towards Adelaine. I pray Ioun will provide guidance in our mission once we arrive.

Seeing no real reason to hang out in Ossel any longer, our brave adventurers leave early on a dreary, gray morning for Adelain. A steady, light rain falls on our heroes for the first two days, but otherwise the time passes uneventfully. By the end of the second day, the rain has increased to a heavy downpour and the group is forced to take shelter in a burnt out shell of a church, located a little ways off of the road.

While settling in for the night, Iliyana recounts the tale of how the church came to be in the condition it is in. A couple hundred years ago, a group of brigands were chasing a young woman across the countryside until she tried to take refuse inside the church. The priest of the church, being a True Cleric of Ioun, gave her sanctuary and shut out the brigands. But, near midnight, the brigands broke into the church and killed the poor woman. Discovering this, the cleric set upon the brigands and was doing fairly well against them until someone knocked over a brazier, engulfing the room in flames. No one made it out alive.

The rest of the party greatly enjoyed the story and most settled in for a bit of sleep before their watch. Andina and Iliyana kept watch during the early part of the night. As midnight approached, Andina began to hear a mournful song, just on the edge of her perception. When the song began to get louder, she began to awaken her companions just as the spirit of the young woman appeared. Serideon was the first to become lost in her melancholy tune, but several of the others soon followed. As everyone began to investigate, the spirit of the cleric appeared by the young woman, seemingly defending her, as a group of spirit marauders attacked the party from behind. After a slight misunderstanding that resulted in the cleric attacking Nerantha, the party quickly mopped up the outlaws. The spirits of the cleric and the young woman faded away after revealing a hidden stash of magical items as a "Thank you" for defeating the brigands, once and for all.

I am working on a full-featured copy of Andina's Uncle's diary. So far, I have written material on the artifacts and on the ritual that Iosef wants to use. All of this is from the Uncle's point of view; this is information that he has gathered over the years, bits and pieces of rumors and snippets of truth that was hard won and ultimately cost him his life.