The game has returned now that Carl is back home. Quick note. OOC since most of our original group was missing or the people who were there had their character's pass away in the previous session this group was sidetracked on a slightly different mission (find the original group or investigate the mine's where that group was) and only Nerolia (Liz) from the original group ended up in this session. I have now been semi-empowered to chronicle things, mostly what NPCs we off for XP purposes, so in theory this retelling will be more accurate as I will have solid numbers of kills. That said...
The party meets up at the Blue Pelican in the Crystal Lake District of the City of Stone. Nerolia woke up in a room in the Blue Pelican having gone to sleep in a cave back in the dungeon. Oddly enough when a huge hulking figure who declares his name to be Dust (Chuck) announces he needs people to go explore a cave he gains several willing members of which hardly any state their reasons for volunteering short of payment and adventure. The group is composed of Dust, a fighter who goes by Thavik (Troy), a confused wizard [Nerolia], a silent Favored Soul [Moros (Dorie)], and an oddly willing Psion [Mirv (myself)].
The group follows after Dust who leads them into a mine that Nerolia quickly recognizes as what she has just recently traversed. Sadly she manages to direct this group about as well as the previous time and although the party makes it down the lift and into the central room it does so more by Dust's directions and less by her actual expierence. As the party exits the lift they are confronted by two gaurds.
Moros attempts to talk the gaurds down from a fight but it quickly degenerates into a battle as Thavik is rather rearing for a fight. Thavik primarily engages the gaurds blocking anyone else from easily engaging. Despite wounds he dispatches the gaurds. One of the gaurds during the tense attempted negioations manages to raise the alarm and they are replaced by 8 skeletons. Thavik gives way so that a thoroughly frustrated Moros can finally help out and engage. Mirv also quits leaning on his quarterstaff and gives a helping hand. He uses a sonic energy missile to great affect on the skeletons dropping several. Thavik and Morose finish off the rest. Shortly after the last skeleton drops Dust and a newcomer barbarian [Atearia (Bob)] make it down the lift.
At this point Mirv loots the bodies while the rest of the party begins to explore the room. Thavik finds that one end of the room has a chilly pool of black surrounded by stairs and raised platforms. On the highest platform he finds a small pouch which he pockets without investigating further. In the meantime Atearia explores down one of the doorways. For no particular reason the rest of the party follows, rather to Atearia's bewilderment.
This portion of the dungeon is an unlit maze-like structure of hallways the corner sharply and randomly making navigation a challenge and limiting line of sight. The group doesn't get far before out of nowhere a pair of feral dire weasels leap out and attack. They manage to attach themselves to Atearia and Mirv. The rather severely hurt both draining much blood. Dust removes the one from Mirv's chest with a single swing. He then collects the surviving weasel claws to add to his tree stump-cum-warclub. Atearia with some help eliminates the other weasel.
Now the party takes a moment to regroup in the weasel's den. Thavik leads an attempt to determine if there are other weasels in the area. He is convinced there are but the rest of the party is just as convinced there are normal weasels at least none denning in this room. Dust decides to attempt to loop around through a side corridor. In the process he encounters two strange humanoid bird creatures. He kills one but the other escapes around a corner and has dissapeared completely when Dust pursues.
Suddenly Dust hears Atearia under attack close to the entrance to this portion of the dungeon. Incidentally Atearia and several other party members who are resting also hear her under attack. Needless to say the party investigates from various directions. The ensuing time involves many confusing ambushes, escapes, and faked party noises created by an unknown number of those humanoid birdmen. The party eventually retreats to a room with a known exit and a known secret door. Mirv who had at this point managed to get himself shot or attacked then the rest of the party combined actually helps out finding the door using the stone mind power and unlocking it with psionic knock. With known exits covered the party opts to rest allowing Moros healing magic to help those who had lost blood and hit points to recover.
Dust and Thavik then venture out to retrieve two composite longbows that had been on the dead gaurds back in the lift room. Mirv had looted and distributed the rest of the loot but at the time noone wanted/needed ranged weapons. Now the party faced with a lack of ranged firepower needed it to counter an enemy who could snipe and duck behind a corner into a secret passageway before pursuit could follow. They were surpised to encounter a stranger with an old dog by the gaurds (Heame [Adam]) who opted to join up with the strangers. Although both sides were somewhat suspicious they decided to take each other at face value.
On returning the birdmen attack again but suffer casualties when engaged by the bow wielding Dust and Thavik. They severely injure one and pursue another. They take the surviver back to interogate him as they rest. During the night watch Dust helps to heal up the birdman and then intimidates him into giving some basic information and then attempts to convince him to help out. The birdman is willing to do so out of fear for his life and Dust releases him with the threat that he would "kill them and eat their souls" if they bretrayed him.
The next morning "Chip", the released birdman, is nowhere to be seen. The party proceeds with caution anyways. As they approach the dire weasel den they are attacked from nearly all sides. The attack begins with a bead of fireball dropping into the group nearly killing Nerolia who is barely standing. Dust promptly bashes the birdman in front who seems to be the leader reducing him to an appropriate sized smear. Tree trunk + birdman = dead chicken seems to be valid party math. Atearia charges down a right side hall to engage several birdmen. Thavik and Heame find themselves nearly flanked by birdmen directly on either side and farther back down the hallway. Moros pursues more birdmen down a left side hall but not before another bead of fireball hammers Thavik badly and takes down Nerolia. Mirv, now somewhat pissed off because he has not been able to kill any of these birdmen who had shot him several times previously, max powers an energy missile and toasts 4 of the birdmen straight to the Colonel's specifications, minus the spell breading. Moros engages several birdmen in side hall killing one and encountering the true leader. Dust follows in her direction. Thavik gets taken down by crossbolt fire. Heame attempts to engage one of the nearby birdmen. Atearia, now bereft of his initial target due to Mirv, circles around and flanks the birdman who took down Thavik. Mirv revives with his last potion Nerolia who then proceeds to cast blindness on the birdman by Heame. Mirv as soon as he has administered the potion to Nerolia max energy missiles the birdmen at the end of the hallway removing those three from the fight. Heame revives Thavik with a potion and Thavik engages the blinded birdman elminating him. A fiery explosion from where Moros and Dust signifies another bead of fireball being used. Shortly thereafter Dust's club elminates the leader. Atearia cuts down the last surviving birdman in the rear. Nerolia casts sleep on an unlucky birdman who turns up in front of the party making him a new captive member of the party.
The party now exhausted opts to rest and then carefully explore this area now, unsurprisingly, devoid of any life other then their own.
