Crossroads

While looking through the SW gateway the party discussed what to do next.  Try and attract the ghouls to move through the gateway and pick them off as they came through.  Charge through and try for surprise, go back and try and find another route through gateways yet unexplored.  Finally the group decided to move through the gateway two or so at a time, spreading out on the far side to try and surprise the ghouls.  As usual Demin moved in first followed by Gofin, Pretis, Mara and Lythandar.  Bringing up the rear were Alhellara and Melisana.  The party got a first attack on a couple of the ghouls but one noticed them right away and moved forward to attack.


The battle was quickly turned into a rout by the hearty adventurers even as three more ghouls emerged from one of the buildings.  Claws and bites missed their mark repeatedly and the ghouls started falling one after the other under siege from the whole party.  Suddenly a area of mist formed into the body of a female who gazed upon Mara then moved forward to attack Melisana.  Melisana immediately noticed the large incisors and yelled that a vampire had joined the party.  Mara attacked Gofin while Demin and Pretis continued to take down the last of the ghouls.  

Lythandar moved into the group surrounding the vampire and shifted her away from himself and Alhellara.  Pretis, Mara, Demin and Gofin found themselves flanking the vampire but she proved exceptionally strong.  Pretis seemed to be continually attacking Gofin or Demin and then standing dazed.  Mara and Demin kept up the attack but several times party members found themselves feeling weak just after being hit by an attack.  At last the group dispatched the vampire and settled down to bind their wounds.  Lythandar did an arcana check and found a Robe of Defying Cold +3 the fate of which was still under discussion. 

Entering the two story building they found a tavern area, which was in complete disarray.  Windows were broken, table, bar and kitchen completely ransacked, bottles all smashed.  There were a few bodies of Vecna cultists and Iuz mercenaries scattered around the floor.  The door to the second level was barred from the opposite side.  Lythandar rushed the door and broke the bar easily and the group headed upstairs where they found 3 rooms, again with beds, etc all broken.  The windows were all covered by dark cloths and the group found a crude coffin under some floorboards.  They set about to sanctify the area and took the dirt out and threw it around the area and through some of the gateways.  Investigation of the second building found a stable, where several horse and donkey carcasses were their half eaten.

The group decided to take an extended rest in their tent and nothing seemed to bother them during the rest.  Next "day" they investigated the ring of archways in the usual manner.

N - Grassy hills appear 2x farther away
NE - Grassy hills appear 10x closer
E - Grassy hills appear 10x closer
SE - Goblyns grabbing adventurers and chewing away on their faces
S - Normal clear view of the grassy hills
SW - Grassy hill appear 10x closer
W - Black curtain fills the archway
NW - Roadway leading to a large white skull, with teeth at the gateway, recognized as Citadel Cavitius

This parallel appears to have four working gateways, the SW one leading back to the twisted archways area that the adventurers came from.  Through the eastern arch the group saw the familiar archways but there appeared to be a mesh wire fence surrounding the arches.  There was a bloated moon emitting a yellow-green radiance.  Broken gravestones littered the area outside the inner arches and there were hundreds of dimly visible humanoid figures, stumbling and lurching among the gravestones.  To the southeast was a faded wooden shack backed up to the wire fence.   There were several bodies of humanoids strewn between the entry and the shack.

The southern gateway showed the familiar inner archways resting on an island in the middle of a vast pink ocean.  The other circles were either missing or drowned beneath the ocean.  In the distance were other islands appearing as a green haze.  One closer island had a pall of smoke hanging over it.  There were several boats pulled up on the shore of the archway island and several bivouac tents were set up in the circle. A huge humanoid with violet, warty skin tended to a large boiling kettle.

The western archway at first seemed completely dark, but once in a while a flicker from the arches revealed the familiar arches, but it was unclear if there was anything beyond them.  Neither the sky nor floor were visible but using a stick Melisana found the the familiar paving stone floor was there.  Melisana felt a slight pull upwards as she stuck her head into the parallel.  Throwing in a body attached to a rope found that it floated away from the gateway and upwards.

The group moved to investigate the eastern parallel since there were bodies strewn there.  Lythandar and Demin moved into the parallel and started searching bodies and looking for magical items.  They were interrupted by four ghouls moving out of the shack at which point they beat a hasty retreat through the gateway back.  That gate showed the tombstones and ghouls 10x closer.

Several minutes were spent discussing strategy, wait for the ghouls, go another direction, etc.  Melisana went into the stable and came out with some wood, a hammer and some nails. She indicated that she would try to secure the door of the shack with them and moved toward the gateway.

Scorecard: The party earned 714 XP for the battle with the ghouls and the vampire.  They now have 31, 769 XP and need 231 more to reach 12the level.