The Climb to the Widowmaker

Honorable Priestess of Melora,

Since our last correspondence, we arrived in the city of Ris and began to hunt for a guide to lead us into the mountains, where we could find a way into the Station of Samhain.

As we searched for a guide, it became apparent that no one was willing to lead us up the mountains. It was unclear why everyone was reluctant to help us on our quest.

After much effort, we finally found someone willing to bring us there. He seemed to be a person of questionable character (the Dwarven Cleric "Tiny" -- as we call him -- had some insight into this man's true nature), who seemed to have much knowledge about this area. He said we had to go to The Widowmaker in order to get to the entrance to the Station of Samhain.

The man demanded a sizable payment for his services ("5 gold pieces!"). Ever the diplomat (and the voice of reason for our party), the Half-Elven Paladin Firinne managed to barter him down to 4 gold pieces. Carlagnious, the Dragonborn Fighter, roared at the man and argued that 4 gold pieces was too high a price, but the man would not budge.

We finally agreed on that price, and we followed the man up the winding mountain road. The sides of the road were surrounded by sheer 40 foot walls. My instinct told me that malevolent creatures could use this rocky terrain to their advantage, and I kept my eyes open for areas in which we could be ambushed.

As we were turning around a bend, I felt we were being watched and were about to be attacked. I strode forward ahead of the party and partly around the bend, where I could see the entrance to a cave. In front of the cave, there were two angry, snarling Griffins.

I pulled out my bow and shot two deadly arrows at one of the Griffins -- completely missing it. (Melora was not with me today. I would go on to miss many more shots in this battle...) As I finished shooting, a number of Gnolls moved into view and proceeded to inundate me with crossbow bolts. I would have died, if it had not been for the powerful healing spells cast by the Paladin Firinne and the words of healing from the Half-Elven Warlord Garg.

Firinne instilled the party with the furious wrath of Melora, which made our strikes against the Griffins and Gnolls far more deadly. My comrades moved in and began to battle the Griffins face-to-face.

The Human Mage Kale, our master strategist, had an ingenious way to prevent the rest of us from becoming the easy targets of the Gnoll archers. He created a huge cloud of noxious vapors that obscured their view and blocked the entire passage. None of the Gnolls could shoot us, and the longer they stayed in the cloud, the sicker they became. The only way to escape the deathly cloud was to climb up.

Some of the Gnolls climbed up above the walls before us. More Gnolls appeared above the walls right next to us.

Zrynfari, the Eladrin Warlock, moved swiftly and silently through space, vanishing from his position next to the wall and appearing above the wall. He made one of the Gnolls move in the same unearthly way, except that the Gnoll was left with no ground beneath him -- 40 feet in the air. The Gnoll plummeted to the ground.

The Mage Kale moved the noxious cloud up above the walls, forcing the Gnolls back down to the ground. At one point, amazingly, he had made the cloud hover enough above the ground for us to see and move.

My comrades slew one of the Griffins and beat the second one until it was bleeding badly and screeching. It was then that the Fighter Carlagnious curled his Dragonborn maw into an angry, glaring face. He shouted at the Griffin, threatening to take its life, and the Griffin flew away in sheer fright. We all turned to Carlangious and, with puzzled expressions, asked him why he chose to scare the creature, rather than kill it. Carlangious insisted that he could have forced the creature to become his mount. There was much rolling of eyes, as we tried to explain to the Dragonborn that savage creatures like the Griffin could never be ridden by any other creature. Griffins are too wild and uncontrollable -- they could never serve as mounts.

Not long after this, the Griffin returned -- with a Gnoll archer riding on its back.

And Carlagnious gave us all an eye oozing with more stink than the Mage Kale's noxious cloud could ever emit...

The Warlock Zrynfari noticed that the Griffin was badly injured and was barely able to keep afloat. He struck the Griffin with a deadly force and instantly killed it, sending its Gnoll rider tumbling downward.

Meanwhile, Bran Tredegar, the Halfling Rogue, sliced through several Gnolls in a spinning stroke down to the ground. Carlagnious unleashed what could only be seen as a rain of steel strikes against more of the Gnolls. He chased them further into the cave and burned their flesh with the searing flames from his mouth.

In the end, the few Gnolls remaining chose to fled, and we searched through the cavern to find an unusual neck ornament. The learned Mage Kale mentioned that this could help to protect one of us against creatures that try to savage our minds, our health, and our speed.

We now continue on the road to the Widowmaker. I am hoping that the Great Goddess Melora will watch over us in our continuing travels. May she help my arrows find their targets and help our party to find the Mad Mage.

Your servant,

Aelar