Update

RECAP OF NOVEMBER & DECEMBER GAMING SESSIONS:

*The adventurers continued into the ruins of the underground city "Vaunt".

*Zylar of Neverwinter, aka- Horstach, aka- Etheran, was most unlucky and overlooked a most potent trap. The floor fell open and Etheran fell towards a floor about 20 feet down where a skeleton rested gripping a glowing blade. Once he reached the bottom of the pit, that floor also crashed open. (the skeleton and blade clung magically to the "floor" as it swung open.) He fell another 20 feet into a pit full of acid. The ceiling was angled like a smokestack so that there was no way out. Before the others could even get a rope down they heard the screaming and splashing stop. Etheran was dead.

*The adventurers entered a room full of 10x10 tiles, there were over a hundred of these. Each had a different text scribed upon it's surface in an altered form of Dethek. After Arwuth translated these Culric declared which route to take. The symbols were translated to: Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Vaprak, and Devotion. The first pass was successful, but since some of the tiles would change depending on the order stepped on, Adoril stepped on the wrong tile and fell hundreds of feet down and landed in a viscous flowing mass that glowed green, some kind of ancient underground magical river. Adoril was swept under the waves and away to the unknown as the tile closed shut. Eventually, the rest of the group made it across.

*At this point the surviving members included: Culric, Miendel, Bridgid, Arwuth, and Bergamont. The group found many other rooms with puzzles to solve to prove one's worthiness to proceed. They were successful and bypassed the majority of the dangerous traps.

*The group found more chambers like the first they had entered. Undead filled these corridors and many battles took place. The undead were dispatched with ease thanks to the turning abilities of the party's clerics.

*The group found two rooms most intriguing. One was a workshop full of all sorts of gadgets and levers, buttons and panels. Some of the gears in this room were still turning. The other was a great library with giant sized tomes of all shapes. Arwuth the elven scholar was able to unearth much useful data in the great library of Vaunt located deep within the place. Vaunt was apparently the resting place of hundreds of great ogres of long ago. This underground city is a testimonial to their ability to craft wondrous mechanical and magical devices. It also alluded to that the city of Melvaunt was actually named after the Vaunt city the group was currently in. Mel=New / Vaunt=?? More study was needed in this field, but after 5 hours the adventurers had to move on!

*The entrance to the Orc Caves was found through secret doors. The growling of dogs and orc conversation could be heard through a wall of Vaunt. After opening the secret door, the group was assaulted by the dogs and arrow attack by the orcs. Wading through battle they slayed all of the Orcs present, including the one who almost escaped to warn the others. They hid the bodies but more Orcs kept coming. They killed more and finally withdrew into Vaunt again. At the end of the hall of the room they rested in was a strange door with the symbol of Vaprak upon it.

*Culric tried to open the huge circular door with the symbol of Vaprak upon it and 2 guardians appeared, one at each end of the hallway. The battle was fierce and the guardians were very powerful. If Bergamont had not used his magic the group surely would have perished. After the battle was concluded, Culric attempted to open the door again. The 2 guardians once again appeared. At this point the party was still wounded from the previous battle. The guardians crushed the party and by the end of the battle only 3 members were left standing, just barely. Arwuth and Bridgid met their end in battle. Culric, Miendel, and Bergamont survived and limped back to the library to rest and recoup.

THIS IS WHERE WE LEFT OFF ON 12/4/2009