Far Isles Session #25 - The Old Man and the Telescope

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Abdul el Abdul (Fighter 3)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 3), with familiar Hermes, and henchman Xavier (Swashbuckler 1)
Chaff (Vivimancer 3), with familiar Pretty Bird, riding hound Stinky Dog, and henchman Dudley (Cleric 1)
Torak (Cleric 2)
Beuford Bumbletoes (Halfling 2)

Making the perfectly logical assumption that no wizard worth his robes would actually label the door to his treasure room with a large sign that said "Treasure", the party decided to try the "Workshop" first. After a check for traps revealed nothing, Abdul opened the door and waved the rest of the party through. Alas, there was an undetected trap; a sharp portcullis dropped out of the door frame and impaled the less than fully concious Dudley, killing him instantly. Chaff, observing one more dead henchman, shrugged and spurred Stinky Dog on into the room. It was empty except for a series of beakers on a table; most open and dried up, but with a few still stoppered and filled with coloured liquids: blood red, clear with bits, emerald green, gold, orange, puke green, sky blue, and violet. Kwinsea grabbed all of these, packing them as carefully as possible to prevent breakage. Abdul el Abdul, on the other hand, took the table.

Removing Dudley from the portcullis and laying him aside, the party decided next to tackle the "Treasure Room". Rather than walk in this time, Abdul shoved the table ahead of him to trigger any traps. Of which there seemed to be done, so most of the party crowded in to explore. The room was packed with large wooden chests. Kwinsea sent Xavier with a crowbar with orders to pry open one from behind. Which was a good idea, since when the henchman wrenched open the lid, a poison needle shot out of the latch. The chest was packed with straw, and held large stoppered glass jug. Inside of which was a demon idol, obviously too large to fit through the neck of the bottle. With most of the party rapidly running of room to carry more items,  the jar was carefully placed it in the bloody bucket with some straw. To make it easier to carry and less likely to break. Kwinsea likewise repacked the beakers with straw.   Meanwhile, Abdul el Abdul started hauling out the chests and prying them open. Chest after chest contained nothing but piles of copper coins, which were dumped on the floor so the bottom of each chest could be searched for more valuable treasure. After a few chests had been thus treated, Torak noticed something. The coins didn't sound like coins when they were dumped out on the floor. No metallic ring, just a dull thud. Closer examination showed they were not copper coins at all, but discs of stone coated in copper paint.

Blood on the Stairs

Disgusted and disappointed, the party headed back up to the tower, and proceeded to the next level. This was a pretty nondescript space with a bit of furniture and cooking pots, plus a trio of uninteresting bedchambers.  Xavier, however, noted a slow trickle of blood coming down the stairs that led up to the next level. Torak was convinced to climb the stairs to check it out, so the dark cleric lit a torch and gingerly followed the path of blood. At the top of the stairs was a  locked door, and the blood was slowly dripping out of the keyhole. Torak tried to look in the keyhole, but there was something in the lock on the other side blocking the view. When he reported his findings to the group, Chaff surmised that the key was in the keyhole on the opposite side of the door. Ripping a page out of his spare spellbook, the vivmancer tried to talk Xavier into getting the key by sliding the paper under the door, and pushing the key out of the keyhole, and then pulling it back out under the door. The swashbuckler turned to Kwinsea for guidance, and she indicated it was safe for him to follow Chaff's instructions. And indeed the plan did work, and the party soon had the door open. Cracking the door open just a little, nothing could be seen except the curve of the outer tower wall. Torak therefore slipped on his ring of invisibility and moved into the room as quietly as possible. It was a bedchamber, with a bed, desk, and shelves. But of greatest interest was right next to the door. Inside a circle of salt on the floor stoodd an old man, dressed in wizards robe and pointed hat. On a stand next to him was a perfectly formed crystal egg the size of Torak's head.

Even though the cleric was invisible, the old man had seen the door open and heard movement. "Hullo, who's there? Please, can you help free me? Just brush away the salt to break the circle" he spoke. At this point, hearing from Torak there was no immediate danger, the rest of the party entered. While most fanned out around the room to loot, Chaff and Kwinsea proceeded to question the old man. He claimed to be a wizard who'd gotten trapped in this summoning circle thanks to a bumbling apprentice oh so many years ago. He didn't convince Chaff and Kwinsea, who suspected he was in fact some horrid demon from beyond space and time, just disguised as a half-senile magic user. The old mage offered a small reward to have the salt brushed away, but Chaff insisted he tell them where his treasure was hidden, to prove he was who he said he was.  At this point the wizard started to get angry, and was soon  frothing at the mouth and SHOUTING, THREATENING TO FLAY THE FLESH FROM THEIR BONES AND SCATTER THEIR SOULS TO THE FAR ENDS OF THE COSMOS IF THEY DID NOT LET HIM FREE!!! AND THEN HE'LL GO AFTER THEIR FAMILY, FRIENDS, VAGUE ACQUAINTANCES , AND ANYONE THEY SO MUCH AS EVER SPOKE TO!!!!!! As he lost his temper, he attempted to cast a spell at Chaff, but it exploded in a shower of sparks inside the ring of salt.

Calcidius

Whatever or whoever that was in the circle was obviously no threat, so the party in the end just ignored him and looted the room. Abdul el Abdul took the crystal egg, and Kwinsea grabbed a book, covered in odd leather and titled "Communications and Signaling the Beyond". There were no stairs going up, but a door led into a round shaft, similar to the one seen in the basement. Looking inside this time, a dial was found on the north wall, labeled from 1-5. In addition, a round disk was suspended in the shaft, connected to a mass of machinery by chains and pulleys and belts.  Xavier and Kwinsea squeezed onto the disk, and set the dial to "4". This brought them up to the next level. They quickly checked out the two doors which led off the shaft; one led to a room with a table, the other into an ice cold room. Shouting down, they told the rest of the party it was safe to come up. Chaff, Stinky Dog and Pretty Bird were the last to leave the wizards' room. Except of course the figure in the summoning circle, still screaming and ranting, and warning Chaff to fear the "wrath of Calcidius" when he finally escaped.

They party now gathered in the larger room with a table. A book, "Surviving the Interorbular Ether" lay closed on the table. Kwinsea pocked this one as well, finding after a brief read that it discusssed outer space and how unfriendly an environment it was for regular life forms. There were several other doors out of the room, and the party first checked the north exit. It opened with a "whoosh", like an airlock being opened. The room was a library, and a brief survey of the titles on the books' spines showed volumes on glass, light and metalworking. By the door was a table with fine kid gloves, tongs, a lantern with red glass, and a quill and pile of parchment. Abdul lit the lamp, but it did nothing but let off a red light. Chaff tried on the gloves, but they didn't fit. Meanwhile, Torak went to check out the other door in this library, which led back into the cold room. In there he found a small metal chest, which upon opening was found to be very cold and contained several dozen stopped vials of what appeared to be frozen blood.  This got hauled out into the central room for safekeeping, along with the demon jar.

Everyone then headed for the next door, which led into a small room with a table and pair of chairs. Another door exited it to the south, so Torak once more put on the ring of invisibility to go explore. He tried to open the door, but a force field stopped him. At this point,  a ghostly figure appeared in one of the chairs and asked "Who will gamble their soul in a game of chance and skill for the opportunity to pass through the door?" No one was inclined at first, but when they could find no way through the door, Chaff decided to sit down and accept the challenge. The ghostly figure pulled out a pack of cards, and challenged the stubby vivimancer to  few hands of poker, the best two out of three being the winner. Sweating bullets, Chaff lost the first hand. But with help from the rest of the party, he was able to squeak a win on the second and third hands. The ghost screamed in frustration, and then he and the cards disappeared. As did the force-field around the door. Passing into the new room, the party found it was another library. This one was filled with books on communication with other worlds, creatures from beyond, and two hundred scrolls about knots. Chaff rooted through the scrolls and was rewarded with 4 spell scrolls. Meanwhile, everyone else fanned out to look for other treasure and possibly a secret door leading to a 'blank' space on their tower map. When nothing was found, Abdul el Abdul got frustrated and started chopping bookshelves off the walls, and slicing up the books. Luckily Torak was watching, for he managed to recover a spell book from the fighters hands before it became confetti.

It was now late in the day, the party decided to settle down in this apparently quite secure room for the night. After a good rest, they decided to head up the elevator once more. They found themselves in a room that seemed to fill the entire top of the tower. The roof consisted of overlapping metal plates, and a number of odd items occupied the room. At one end was a shallow pool in the floor, filled with a clear liquid and a handful of bizarre fish. At another point were three metal bins; one empty, one filled with coal, and one with a little bit of gunpowder. But most impressive was a dome with a telescope sticking out. Next to it was a podium and a control panel with four switches and a button. Closer examination of the telescope revealed a strange metal cage over the objective lens. Which Abdul el Abdul found held the crystal egg perfectly. At the base of the telescope was a small metal chamber, generally empty but with a residue of burned coal or gunpowder or something similar. Kwinsea meanwhile and examined the podium, recovering another book, this one titled "Flora and Fauna of Necropoli Centauri".

Telescope and Dome

Chaff now began fiddling with the control panel. He pressed the button, but nothing seemed to happen. Flipping the first switch, the metal roof retracted, revealing the lighting and cloud filled sky. The second switch extended the telescope, which the third unblocked the objective lens. The fourth switch seemed to do nothing, so Chaff decided to light a coal and gunpowder fire in the metal chamber to see what happened. Flipping the fourth switch now resulted in a weak beam of red light shooting out of the telescope and through the crystal egg. In fact, the red light burned a small hole though the cloud cover and when Chaff and Abdul el Abdul took turns looking through the 'scope, they could see the surface of a planet, with mossy plant creatures  moving around an alien landscape  with a motion that can only be described as  “bopping.”

To be continued ....

TOTAL XP
0

GAINS
Demon in a Jar
8 Beakers of Questionable Fluids
Crystal Egg
Ice Chest filling with Frozen Blood
Book - "Communications and Signaling the Beyond"
Book - "Surviving the Interorbular Ether"
Book - ""Flora and Fauna of Necropoli Centauri"
Spell Book- 1/Charm Person, 1/Shocking Grasp 1/Floating Disk 1/Jarring Hand, 1/Read Languages, 2/Detect Evil, 2/Knock, 4/Polymorph Others
4 Scrolls - 1/Message, 1/Enlarge
                  1/ Mending, 1/Detect Magic
                  1/Allure, 1/Shocking Grasp
                  4/Massmorph

KILLS
none

LOSSES
Dudley

Far Isles Session #24 - The Lightning Tower

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Abdul el Abdul (Fighter 3)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 3), with familiar Hermes, and henchman Xavier (Swashbuckler 1)
Chaff (Vivimancer 3), with familiar Pretty Bird, riding hound Stinky Dog, and henchman Dudley (Cleric 1)
Torak (Cleric 2)
Beuford Bumbletoes (Halfling 2)

Using the great brass horn, the party summoned the whale, which dutifully deposited them back at the anchorage after a voyage of 5-6 days. Disgorging them just outside the little cove, the party could see right away the place was nearly deserted. Just a single vessel rode at anchor, a small dark ship called the "Nights Dark Angel". Luckily Nalco's boat was still there, so they rowed over to their employer. Who was both surprised and irritated at their appearance, having gotten tired of waiting around and pretty much given the party up for lost. But he immediately got down to business, reviewing all of the magical items they'd brought back.  The adolescent mage took the skull, the spell book "On The Witching of Stone", the mystery mirror/painting, and the erstwhile stone wizard Nysul (assuming the former mage was loaded with magic items that could be recovered once he was turned back to flesh). Nalco also claimed the ebony fly, but Chaff convinced him to let the party keep it for now. The vivimancer proposed that the party return to the Magic Isles for another run, and the fly would be of great  help in their exploration. To this Nalco agreed, and further agreed that at he would consider letting the party keep the fly if they brought back sufficient magical goodies satiate his needs.

The party took leave of Nalco and rowed for shore, bringing the now somewhat decayed Abdul el Abdul to Bellaphrone the Incontatrix, to see if the witch could bring him back from the dead. This she agreed to do so, in return for the sarcastic magic goblets and the various medusa parts they party carried. She had the party dump Abdul el Abdul into a large cauldron steaming over a low fire, and told the party to return in a few days. Before leaving, Kwinsea requested the witch's help with curing Xaviers rotting disease. Bellaphrone laughed at her, and told her to go speak to the whiskey priest; her dark arts did not extend to such matters.

Nilex of Velas

Back at the beach, they found the priest (Nilex of Velas) passed out under an overhanging pine. After rousing him, Kwinsea was able to explain (several times) the assistance Xavier required. The priest agreed, but in a hungover haze somehow cast striking on the poor henchman rather than remove curse. A half dozen flasks of wine later, Nilex was able to straighten himself out and call on Velas with the correct prayer, and Xavier was cured.

Taking leave of Nilex, and leaving him with wine and gold, the party next had to figure out how to resupply since there were no merchant ships in port (a result of  Xin and Chan'rk being once more at war, so it was not safe to sail the seas unescorted at the moment). Nalco was able to provide food, but the greatest gap right now was some armor for Abdul el Abdul. Eyeing the "Nights Dark Angel", they figured the adventurers aboard might be willing to part with a spare set of armor if they offered the right price. They rowed out to the black ship, and were met at the rail by some of the crew and several of the adventurers. Abdul el Abdul made his plea, and in return was mocked by the arrogant and haughty pair at the rail. In the end, however,  they did agree to sell some battered chainmail and a shield to Abdul el Abdul for the usurious sum of 500gp! Muttering under his breath, Abdul el Abdul had little choice but to agree. They also learned the "Night's Dark Angel" was off on an expiration to capture some great monster or beast, the ship being laden with nets and ropes and cages. Chaff, meanwhile, had taken the time to summon a new familiar (a less scrawny parrot he named Pretty Bird), as well as recruit a somnolescent cleric of Nod by the name of Dudley to replace his lost henchman.

The Lightning Tower

Now equip and healed, the party were ready to go back to the Magic Isles. Nalco once more summoned the whale, and it again carried the party back to the isles, spitting them out in pretty much the same spot as before. Based on the information they'd received from the tribesmen on their last trip, they turned the boat to the southeast in search of the lightning tower. Which was pretty easy to find, for it lived up to its name. They found a stone tower, the upper half of which was a globe surrounded by a ring of steel spikes. On the ground, at four points of the compass, were tall steel spikes, jutting up towards the top of the tower. And most significantly, a permanent bank of dark cloud hung overhead, from which a bolt of lighting sprang every few seconds, striking either the top of the tower or one of the four spikes on the ground.

They pulled the boat up onto the island, swampy and hilly like the isle of the Blue Tower, and headed towards the lightning. Reaching the spikes, they could see inside the ring, the ground was blasted into a fine grey powder and nothing grew. Everyone dropped to the ground and crawled towards the stairs that they could now see.  The air around them came alive with lighting and the smell of ozone. Luckily for all, no one was struck, and the party made it to the top of the stairs with no problem. There they found a set of heavy iron doors, each of which had a serpent shaped handle and a large knocker. Before letting anyone near the door, Kwinsea closely examined the handle, and discovered it was in some way magically trapped. So Abdul el Abdul and Beuford pulled out hammer and spikes, and knocked out the hinge pins. The great door fell with a "BOOM!", but once the dust settled the party was able to walk right in. The first room was an entry chamber of some sort, quite clean but largely empty. Torak cast detect magic and noted the entire room gave off a faint glow. Not really comfortable with that fact, the party moved through one of the two doors exiting the room. They  found themselves in a cloak room full of old clothing, both in condition and style wise. With nothing of interest there, they passed out through the entrance again and headed through the second door that led deeper into the tower.

The Snake Handle

This room was a siting room, with a large table and chairs and a staircase going up. Along one wall was a hutch with fine china and four bottles of wine (claimed by Xavier). At the other end of the room was a statue of a medusa embracing a king, and behind that a pile of boxes. Kwinsea immediately rushed over to the statue and brandished the crystal heart.The statue came to life, but given it's strange form it had trouble moving about. However, it was mounted on wheels and rolled around the room following Kwinsea's mental commands. When it did move, the party could see that it had been covering a trap door. Meanwhile, Abdul el Abdul had gone to examine the pile of boxes, and found they were just a shell covering a second trap door.  Opening the two trapdoors, they found the one under the boxes had a set of stairs going down, whereas the other was going to requires some other means to access the lower level. Abdul el Abdul started to get out a rope and tie it to the banister of the stairs going up, while the rest of the party headed down the stairs under the second trapdoor. They found themselves in a room filled with hundreds of crates, labelled with strange contents: "fingers of a musician who loved dragons"; "shoulder blade of a merchant who loved butterflies"; and so on. After cracking a few crates to confirm, yes, they all contained a variety of body parts, the party headed for the only other visible entrance, a large iron door on the east wall. This was locked, but with Abdul el Abdul now joining them, the beefier members of the party were able to smash it open.

On the other side, they found four stone tables, each holding a preserved body. One of which was human, and showed signs of having been cut open and then stitched up again with gold thread. Choosing to not  mess with those, Chaff went to check out a side table that held a microscope, box of slides, and a rack of stoppered vials holding what appeared to be blood.  He took out one of the slides (on which were also drops of blood) and placed it under the microscope and had a look. The vivimancer immediately tore the slide off the stage and proceeded to lick at the blood, then started grabbing the rest of the slides and doing the same. Everyone recoiled in disgust and turned to explore the rest of the room.  Torak noted a short hall filled with mirrors at the north of the room, but no one was interested in examining those too closely.  Kwinsea meanwhile checked out a narrow opening in the east wall, find a space filled with machinery and a circular hole in both ceiling and floor. And Xavier went to listen at a door in the south, on the other side of which he could hear tortured moans.

Wary of disturbing anything in this creepy room, the party waited for Chaff to finish with his blood lust, then head back upstairs and down the rope into the other trapdoor. They had to leave the statue behind, as it had now finished it's animation and was stone cold once more. Down below there was a short corridor leading north, which ended at a closed portcullis. On the other side was a room, containing a crevasse from which wafted the smell of blood, while against the far wall sat a bucket. Abdul el Abdul easily lifted the portcullis, and everyone else started to file into the room. They were surprised when a stone colored spider dropped on them from the ceiling, but were able to make short work of the crawly beast. Exploring the rest of the room, the crevasse they found was narrow and extended well beyond their lights, while the bucket was coated in dried blood. There were also two doors, one each in the east and west walls. The east one was labelled "Workshop" while the west was labelled "Treasure Room". Humm, which to take ....

TOTAL XP
65

GAINS
4 bottles of wine

KILLS
Stone Spider

LOSSES
None

Far Isles Session #23 - That Was Easy!

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 2), with familiar Hermes, and henchman Xavier (Swashbuckler 1)
Chaff (Vivimancer 3), with familiar Dirty Bird, riding hound Stinky Dog, and hench-monster Cephenere the Medusa
Torak (Cleric 2)
Beuford Bumbletoes (Halfling 2)

As the sounds of battle died, Chaff cast a spell and got down to business taking off all his clothes; just so he would be invisible when  his transparency spell kicked in of course. Everyone else avoided him. Xavier and Torak hammered doors shut with iron spikes to keep in the third  attacker, as well as anyone who may lurk in the fourth room. Before much else could be done, the mystery woman disappeared again. And another figure appeared at the top of the stars, accompanied by an overwhelming smell of rot and spice. The figure was old and bent, dressed in pale blues robes and wearing an odd set of goggles on his head. Presumably the Blue Mage. Chaff, by now invisible and feeling a draft, sent Cephenere into action. See turned her gaze onto the Blue Mage and transformed him to stone. Moments later, however, the source of the rotten smell became apparent. A ghoulish/mummy creature appeared on the stairs and ran at Cephenere, biting and clawing until the medusa fell into paralysis. Xavier sprang onto the stair rail and slide down to skewer the beast with his sword, in which he was successful, but likewise took the brunt of the beasts attacks and fell, bleeding and near death. Both he and Cephenere also started to give off a powerful smell of rot.

The Blue Mage

The mystery woman now reappeared, and the party finally got a chance to question their new companion. Her name was Azral, and she was an adventurer like them, part of an exploration ship that sank nearby. She and some of her colleagues made it to this island, where they met Nysul the Blue Mage. He proceeded to charm one of her companions (the one now barred in his room by the party), while she was able to resist the magic and escape. She discovered it was impossible to leave, as all the doors and windows had been arcane locked by Nysul. Azral also found out what Nysul was looking for; company. Her companion, Varso,  and two others already in the tower (the hoplite and Amazon) were his 'guests', there to provide cultured companionship to the lonely old mage. Azral made it clear she wanted to get off the island with the party (and was unconcerned about the fate of Varso). The party didn't argue the point right now, and she joined them in the attempt to find a way out of the tower.

Chaff sent Dirty Bird up the stairs to scout, finding nothing to report. Laying Cephenere, Xavier and the expired Abdul el Abdul aside, everybody else headed up the stairs. There they found a large dining room with a stage. They swiped the silver candlesticks from the table and then went to check out the next room. This was another bedroom, larger but otherwise similar to those on the lower level. A quick search revealed some clothes but little else.Two other doors led out of the room; one opened into a workshop filled with gears and fine mechanical bit and bobs. The other contained a large, cast iron box that looked like a coffin. To it was connected a series of iron pipes which disappeared into the wall of the tower, and at the bottom of the iron box was a small glass bulb. On the wall was a lever, and piled in the corner was a mess of books on necromancy.

While interesting, none of this looked like it was going to get them out of the tower. The party then turned their thoughts to the square boxy peak of the tower. How to get up there? They started searching for secret doors, and Kwinsea found done in the centre 'shaft' of the tower. Opening it, they found the shaft was hollow, extending 30' up and 30' down from where they stood. Inside swarmed a large number of the gold and blue fireflies, and along the walls were about 30 small shelves. On each was a doll or manikin of some sort, a huge variety that moved and clattered about. At the top of the shaft was a trap door, but there was no obvious way to get there. Chaff pulled out  potion of levitation, and after some heated discussion between Troak and Beuford, the halfling agreed to drink it and float up to the ceiling. First, however, Chaff wanted Dirty Bird to have a closer look. The ragged parrot flew into the shaft, and immediately the fireflies swarmed him. The poor familiar was stung to death, and fell to the bottom of the shaft with a thud. Chaff, incensed, pulled out his wand of paralyzation, and shot up and down the shaft to clear out the bugs.

The Chair

The coast now clear, Beuford floated up to the trap door and opened it up. It did indeed lead into the square room. Inside was a comfortable captain's type chair, a panel with three buttons (blue, yellow and red), and a wooden chest. In the ceiling was a square pane of glass looking out at the sky. Beuford lowered a rope and everyone climbed up and proceeded to look around. Kwinsea carefully opened the chest and found a mound of gold coins. Meanwhile, Beuford floated up to the window and smashed it.  The halfling then rose up through the opening; it was not arcane locked, and it seemed the party had found a way to get out. Beuford dropped a couple of lengths of rope down the side of the tower for everyone to climb, but he himself decided to ride in style and summoned the ebony fly.  Azral was quick to head out of the tower, followed by Torak. Kwinsea and Chaff decided to head back and get Cephenere, Xavier and Abdul el Abdul, and go out the front door once Beuford opened it for them. When they got back to where the three had been laid, however, they found the medusa  was missing. Xavier repeated she had shaken off the ghoul-things' paralysis and wandered away. Chaff, broken-hearted, called out for her, but the monster-henchman did not reappear. So he and Kwinsea carried Xavier, while Stinky Dog carried Abdul el Abdul, down to the entry level. There, they came face to face with Cephenere, who now turned on them and tried to turn them to stone. Chaff once more whipped out his wand, and the medusa was paralyzed. Beuford now sauntered in and chopped off her head, then headed down to the kitchens to get some salt and wine with which to preserve it. Coming back, he reported Cephenere had turned the kitchen staff to stone so they'd have to make their own dinner. Chaff meanwhile, carried the rest of Cephenere up to the room with the iron coffin and placed her inside. He pulled on the lever, which started up a great chugging vaccum pump. After a few minutes it stopped, and the glass bulb at the bottom of the coffin was now filled with an oily yellow-green liquid. Chaff decided not to open the coffin to see what was left of Cephenere, but he did take the glass globe of liquid.

Everyone now headed outside, where they all confronted  Azral. Torak had caught her trying to make a run for their boat; it appeared she was willing to abandon them on the island and get away alone. They tied her up and Chaff took to lead in interrogating her, demanding the ring of invisibility she had (he'd spied it earlier when she'd turned invisible) in return for her freedom. Azral was not willing to give it up, so they stripped her of all her belongings (including a vivimantic spellbook), and tossed her into the tower. Kwinsea meanwhile used the crystal heart to animate the statue Nysul, and between he and the ebony fly, the party carried all their loot, invalids, and a week's supply of salt pork back to the boat. 

TOTAL XP
4579

GAINS
Ring of Invisibility
Spellbook  (1/Read Magic, 1/Blood Rapture, 1/Echo Location, 1/Elasticity, 2/Instinct, 2/Leeching Touch)
Nysul, the [Stone] Blue Mage
4 Silver Candelabra (4x30gp)
2000gp 

KILLS
Nysul, the Blue Mage
Cephenere, the rogue medusa
A whole swarm of magical glowing fireflies
1 Ghoul/Mummy Hybrid

LOSSES
Cephenere