DnDNerds!

Render, Neville, VS, and Kain are low on hit points and stripped of their gear as prisoners of the Yellowbone goblins in the weird bolthole laboratory of the wizard Haronin, an insane worshiper of the divination god Savras. The goblins want them to activate the portal pool, but Kain plays for time and Render, who they assume is property because he's a construct, works with M.I.C.H.A.E.L. his shield guardian to find another way in. Neville smooth-talks his captors, and he and Kain get VS to recover some of the wizard's books. Neville starts reading the Savras religious texts, and the party is able to activate the portal, sending Neville through first. The Yellowbones all rush into the portal pool, followed by the party. Still low on health and abilities, they face an unknown danger on the other side of the portal!

In Llorkh, Kain leads Render, Neville, Hokam, and VS in a search north into the hills looking for some ruins supposedly built by a wizard. They find the ruins in a valley of noxious gases, and have to enter the complex by way of the air vents - guarded by a spellcasting Yellowbone goblin. Once inside, they discover strange sigils and a pool that might be a portal, then get into a tangle with the Yellowbones - Render goes down, the others are captured. It's a cliffhanger!

Flip the Sorcerer leads Vond, Lysander, and Kathar back to the Grig Little Kingdom to help overthrow evil vizier Jhabshasid and restore power to King Flibnabmeister and his daughter Hollylollybon. Aided by former captain of guard Bentonkadonk, they infiltrate the Ogre Skull Palace and find the king missing. Princess Holly is found unconscious and attached to a fiendish device that is extracting her blood and transforming it into a serum. They fight the evil guardian and free Holly, then use the serum to get into the magic library of King Filbnabmeister. There they encounter the king's body and a portal to the Shadowfell, and the evil vizier Jhabshasid. Weak from their former battle, he downs most of the party quickly, leaving only Vond able to try to save who he can! Flip is saved, Kathar is slain, and Lysander and the villain disappear into the Shadow realm. Kathar's body is brought to Fort Heartwood, where the archdruid of Lurue is able to reincarnate her - as an orc. Lysander's fate remains unknown, but peace is restored to the grigs.

Floki asks satyr bard Lysander to go see why some grigs and sprites are searching the Dead Magic Zone, so he assembles a team of dragonborn monk Kathar Videro, feytouched human sorcerer Flip, and two new PCs: halfling wizard Vond Lightfoot and dragonborn ranger Balastair. After a nearly deadly encounter with a displacer beast in the night, they talk to the grigs, who seem to be looking for a way to cure their ailing King Filbnabmeister. The party travels to the Grig Little Kingdom, where they drink some "shrinky drinky" and talk to Princess Hollylollybon and the sketchy vizier Jhabshasid in the Ogre Skull Palace. King Filbnabmeister is afraid of the dark and the only person who can access a magical library of some sort, and the shadows seem to behave extra-strangely here. One of the servants, Nannyplumkins, shows the party where to find the now imprisoned former captain of guards, Bentonkadonk. The party manages to free Ben, but in so doing the alarm is raised and the Ogre Skull Palace gets locked down. Lysander sneaks in to find the Princess and King but triggers the alarm once more when Shattering a door. He and the rest of the party flee the village with Ben, and head back to the Dead Magic Zone, where they learn that the grigs and ravens were looking for something there that Jhabshasid wants.

Arty leads Sir Parrik, Bariq, Steven III, and MikMek back into the lair of the necromancer Chetiin to finish the job! They battle watery ghouls and the wraith of former cleric Cassius, then press their way in to discover the eldritch library where the spirit of former warlock Rasprax is held captive by the nefarious Chetiin! An epic battle commences, with clever use of Silence by Arty, Moonbeam by Bariq and Parrik, and other spells to keep Chetiin contained while Rasprax strikes at the characters from within the walls. Parrik summons spectral berserkers with his Horn of Valhalla, and Steven takes blow after blow while MikMek shoots from the shadows. When at last the evil necromancer is defeated, the players regain some old treasures and find a few new ones, including a Cloak of the Bat that MikMek is excited to use.

Sir Parrik leads Artvirious, MikMek, and Steven III into the lair of Chetiin the Goblin Necromancer, where they first fight several aquatic ghouls led by former chaos sorcerer PC Simple Jack. Delving deeper, they encounter a shrine of Orcus and a tight squeeze, where they fight several goblin zombies. In a ghastly feasting hall, they fight more ghouls and undead led by former bugbear paladin PC Raff, who has been dressed as the bride of Chetiin and who still weilds a magic greatsword. Wounded after the battle, the party moves more cautiously, but discovers a necromantic throne, presently unoccupied. They decide to make their way out of the dungeon with the bodies of the former PCs, but encounter and battle a zombie ogre on the way. On the surface, Bariq burns the bodies of the former PCs and the party withdraws to the safety of the Archdruid Saluk Noreaksey's grove to regather their strength.

Bariq leads Sir Parrik, Artvirous, MikMek, and STEVEN Mk III on a search for the lair of the goblin necromancer Chetiin, who some months ago killed a whole party of the Thorn River Company and then fled into the Southwood. Along the way, they stop at a statue of the unicorn goddess Lurue, and battle several shambling mounds who engulf Arty, Parrik, and Bariq, causing them to have to fight their way out from inside the plant monsters. Exploring further, they find (and avoid) a hydra, and come across a freshly-killed unicorn. They meet the alaghi hermit druid Saluk Noreaksey, with whom Bariq plays chess and who breaks Bariq's tender heart in the morning, after telling the party what he knows of Chetiin. The party find Chetiin's lair, a crumbling fortress, and fight their way in past the Bonepicker Goblin guards and the undead remnant of Swift Current, one of the former members of their party. Entering the underground portion, they reach a flooded room and we pause them on "dungeon time."

Jhank leads Gemwin, Bors, and Hokan to attack the Cult of the Dragon in Runedarth, but sidetracks to investigate the foul waters once again pouring from the central fountain, and find evidence of claw marks and acid corruption. They discover a new secret door, and a shaft leading up into the Arcrown's Refuge, a hidden level. Without exploring it, they find another secret room and shaft leading up to a treasure chamber full of magical items, which turns out to be attached to the Temple of Mordinsamman they had previously cleared, except for the Spectator guardian. After a rest, they descend again and battle Antharzyreph, a black dragon, and its bone naga ally. The skirmisher team is wiped out, but the PCs all survive and take the dragon's hoard. They use part of it to bribe the Cult of the Dragon to leave (they were only there for the dragon anyway) and Bors is called home to Moradin.

Neville leads Kain, Render, and VS as they accept a job from the mysterious half-orc bard Karash to break in and steal a book from a group of Blue Bear Uthgardt suspected of trafficking in people. They case the joint, make a new friend (Dmitry) and a couple new enemies (Dunja the Fence and the Stiletto Set kenku gang), and discover that there's more to the situation that Karash told them. With the help of Karash's colleague Fiona, they break in and find their way down into the under-levels, where they encounter poisonous smoke, avoid guards, and find the prison of the former Uthgardt leader Radovan the Mighty, now a monstrously-transformed yuan-ti. They magically infiltrate his cell, assassinate him, then leave Fiona in his place and escape via Portable Hole with the corpse. In exchange, Karash cedes the deed to the butcher shop known as Pristine Pork to Neville, along with some startup cash.

Gemwin leads Jhank, Bors, Grom, Hokan, and a host of NPC dwarves up into the Halls of the Longbeards in the hope of destroying the Direlord Tribe once and for all. They encounter immediate resistance and have to fight foot-by-foot against orcs, goblins, worgs, and two enormous trolls, with Jhank and Gemwin at the front and Korrin Ironaxe and Grom close behind. Korrin falls in battle, ripped in half by a troll, leaving Gemwin or Jhank as the most likely leaders of the dwarves in Runedarth. They confront the demonic Direlord Wartsnak and his fiendish tanarruk bodyguard in the throne room, where Jhank is charmed and Gemwin gets knocked unconscious, before they turn the tide and near victory. At the last moment, the Direlord escapes by a portal, but the territory that his clan occupied is now in the hands of the dwarves, who discover the treasures they left behind.

Grom leads Gemwin, Jhank, Bors, and Hokan, along with a few archers, to invade the territory of the Direlord tribe and take back the halls of Galloglar and Yund for Dwarven glory! They get into a mega-battle against dozens of goblins, orcs, and a couple of ogres, almost dying again and again. After a short rest, they clean out the remaining humanoids and secure the stairway against further incursion by the Direlord tribe.

Hokan, a new dwarf rogue shows up at the Runedarth dwarfhold ruins and leads Jhank, Gemwin, Bors, and Grom in search of treasure in the Halls of Hammers and Mead and the Halls of Hammered Stone sublevels, where they encounter gricks and darkmantles. Then they charge up the back stairs into Direlord Tribe territory and slaughter a room of goblins and multiple rooms of orcs, setting the stage for a large-scale assault on Direlord territory. This episode is extra-raucous with lots of loud laughter!

Jhank leads Gemwin, Bors, and Grom down to the lowest level of Runedarth - The Halls of Hammers and Mead, where they examine a pillar of sealed portals and then proceed into the Hall of the Pool. There, after defeating the gargoyles who dwell there, Jhank experiments with the controls to a large fountain to try to shut off the corrupt water flowing out of the mountain. They are able to get clean water flowing, then go down to explore the access tunnels to the cisterns and find one with clean water and another with corrupt water. They also explore a little bit of the Halls of Hammered Stone level, finding a route from the pool room to an exterior entrance.

Artvirious leads Lysander, Sir Parrik, and Flip into the Feywild to find the missing treant druid Shrubritney. There, the servants of the Dewdrop Man take umbrage with the way the kingdom of Upperthorn is building up industry near the Southwood. Floki's heritage as a descendant of the green dragon Mornagauth is also a source of tension for the archfey, and he is confronted with an ultimatum.

Grom leads Gemwin, Bors, and Hjalmar to explore and re-take the Temple of Mordinsamman in Runedarth. They battle a yellow musk creeper and its zombies, during which both Hjalmar and Bors are slain and implanted with foul plant seeds. Through Moradin's grace, Bors is saved, but Hjalmar is gone forever and only narrowly avoids reanimating as a zombie. Exploring the temple areas, the party finds a unique guardian and explores the top of the mountain, discovering another entrance possibly associated with the necromantic Cult of the Dragon. They also discover a curious statue with an acrid green teardrop. Dropping back down to the Halls of Gallowglar and Yund, they explore part of the disputed level and battle a patrol of the Direlord Tribe.

Dwarf paladin Gemwin Stonefist leads a large expedition of dwarven adventurers and soldiers through the hills and Greypeak Mountains in search of the ruined dwarfhold of Runedarth! With him are forge cleric Bors McCraw, rune knight Jhank Wildpass, and new ranger Hjalmar Heavyhand (with life cleric Grom and his porter Dhosus along as NPCs). They encounter peaceful ettercaps with woolspider livestock, discover some griffon nests and a mysterious grotto cave (unexplored) and the Sapphire Falls along a fork of the Greyflow River. At the ruins of Runedarth, they make contact with Korrin Ironaxe and the dwarves already there, and set about securing a foothold in the dungeon for their troops. The party mows down an orc/goblin patrol and discovers two magical rune circles with beneficial powers. They stay in the dungeon with the goal of retaking the entire dwarfhold for the glory of all dwarves!

Flip takes over as leader for Za Za Hounddog Jenkins, Grom, Lysander, and new dragonborn monk Kathar Videro, who seems very interested in Flip. They have a tricky battle in a narrow hallway with some vicious redcaps - Za Za goes to death saves four separate times. They all drink from a strange magical fountain and Flip becomes wiser. Za Za almost drowns after finding his way through a flooded passage. The group discovers a kuo-toa shrine (Oop! Ooop!) and fights a few of them, then recovers some treasure including a Deck of Illusions before fleeing the kuo-toa reinforcements. Za Za is given to the nixie Kallista to nurse back to health and serve her for a year, and the rest of the party makes it to civilization in Rickety Bridge. Mike reads a letter received by Gemwin that promises adventure near Axeholm next time...

Lysander the satyr bard leads a low-level mess-around with dwarf life cleric Grom, goblin rogue ZaZa "Hounddog" Jenkins and new feytouched wild sorcerer Flip - they set off to find some recently discovered elf temple ruins near the burgeoning town of Rickety Bridge. We try out our new poker-chip travel system, and Lysander and the crew have trouble locating the ruins. In the night, Lysander is attacked by spiders (again) and it goes badly. Grom and his trusty porter charge in on their dwarven battle-goats and narrowly save the other characters from becoming spider food. Before dawn that same night, ZaZa gets charmed by the nixie Kallista who wants him to serve her for a year. He promises to return after they explore the ruins, which they finally discover. ZaZa triggers a trap, they encounter the cold-cursed and sorrowful elf Quoemin who makes Flip sad, and battle some boggles in a tight room. The party barricades themselves in an apparently safe room and STAYS IN THE DUNGEON for next time...

Artvirous and Mikmek deal with the collapse of the Bullywug tribe and save a few remnant teams. Joined by Bariq and Render, they journey to investigate the nearby barrow that has been haunting Arty's dreams. They strike a deal with the undead warrior there, abduct a nearby human warrior who meets certain conditions, and sacrifice him in order to bring the barrow warrior back to life in order to free him from undeath forever. This involves single combat with Arty, who narrowly survives the ordeal, but the barrow is cleansed! Then the party decides to seek out the Turquoise Kobolds to find a new home for Mikmek's koboldwug gremlin children. Along the way they meet the Chicken Slingers and agree to finance them building a chicken farm nearby, and they hear about some nearby gnomes. Mikmek meets Rotom, leader of the Turquoise, who requests help killing the nearby gnomes and destroying their Smokemobile. Mikmek joins the tribe and his children run amok in the new kobold stronghold.

Before our game session starts, and a little bit afterward, we discuss some rules possibilities, including making wheeled vehicle travel possible through difficult terrain, whether absent PCs on long-term bluebook should gain any session credit, the possibility of using non-Charisma stats for PC production bonuses in Rooms & Teams, how our 1:1 time system works if a party stays in the dungeon, and other topics.

Render leads Jhank, Bariq, Za Za Hounddog, and new satyr bard Lysander from the Golem Workshops south to a rumored "Cave of Evil". After discovering warning signs placed there by the Prophet of the Tor, the party triggers an explosive Glyph of Warding, then tasks shield guardian M.I.C.H.A.E.L. with triggering a several more while they watch from a safer distance. They make their way into a tomb complex apparently made for several heroes, and Jhank is careful not to desecrate the space. They discover a large room with a rotating bridge and a strange storeroom. After a brief battle with some gargoyles, they withdraw from the dungeon, promising to return and discover its secrets another time.

New bugbear rogue Malak leads Neville, VS, Grom, and Sigurd on a new attempt to steal the Stone of Chibharo (aka Stone of Controlling Earth Elementals) from the Baneite temple in Llorkh. After various attempts at using Locate Object, the crew take to the sewers, where they discover some interesting chambers, a thief named Melzak the Mouth stranded in a cage, and a large cistern defended by a hungry Otyugh! Things look grim for a bit there but they manage to pull through and steal not only the Stone, but several thousand in gold and a few other magical treasures. They almost kill the thief in a cage, but in the end they let Melzak the Mouth live like they heroes they are!

New rat-shifter spore druid VS joins new firbolg warlock Tharivol and new dwarf life cleric Gorm, along with returning human hotelier/warlock Neville in another Llorkh caper - this time, the Miner's Cooperative is allying with the local wererats to go after a Stone of Controlling Earth Elementals that the Church of Bane has in its temple. They come up with a plan to minimize casualties, case the joint, and infiltrate by night. Killing a few guards in the process, they escape with the stone and several other magic items, only to discover that the stone is a fake. Now the Church of Bane is tearing the town apart looking for the thieves, so the party has to lay low and come up with another plan to go back in and get the real dingus.

STEVEN III leads Render, Jhank, Bariq, and new goblin messenger Hounddog from the Golem Workshop underneath the (now-dead) cyclops Harpilos' house in search of the control amulet to the shield guardian known as MICHAEL (Mechanical Incident Control Hazardous Area Exploration Lifeform). The amulet once belonged to Caradoc, STEVEN's creator, and he is hoping to find out what he can about it, but unfortunately it seems to be where Caradoc died, namely at the bottom of a pool in the middle of the Bullywug Village. The bullywugs, led by King Lenny and the shaman Rebel Sue, think that they recently caused major flooding in the lower Thorn River valley, leading to the collapse of the domain there. STEVEN and crew face hungry refugees, make several plans then go off script anyway, try to align with the skirmishers led by Darvin Dundragon against the Bullywug leadership, but also try to prevent a genocide, all while trying to recover the amulet. Hounddog finds a sequined glove that he interprets as an omen, Bariq executes a plan to recover the actual amulet, STEVEN assassinates the top Bullywug leadership to avoid wider bloodshed, and things mostly work out, unless you're King Lenny or fan-favorite Prince Bodean. After getting the amulet, the party and MICHAEL face off against a bloodsucking mist in the summoning chamber of the golem workshop and against an unhappy wraith that has been causing problems. That facility is now all cleared except for the persistent steam mephit problem.

Young bugbear paladin Roff leads Rasprax, Simple Jack, Cassius, and Swift Current to hunt down the goblin necromancer Chetiin, who recently caused an undead outbreak in the Upperthorn Domain. Despite some bad weather, they discover the hideout in a series of caves, and while battling some undead, one zombie flees to raise the alarm. Swift Current pursues and is the first to fall to the necromancer's magic. As the others start to flee, Chetiin repositions to the entrance cave, and cuts down Rasprax, Cassius and Simple Jack. Roff tries to flee a different way but is killed by skeletons. An attempt is made to recover the bodies before they are lost forever, but Chetiin grows stronger with the raised zombies of this party of PCs, setting the stage for a new direction in the campaign.

Render leads Jhank, Arty, and Swift Current in an epic battle against cyclops cousins Harpalos and Palados, who have finally decided to rid the world of the deceitful guests under Harpalos' house. Palados throws a couple of giant ticks into the mix, Jhank gets big, Arty and Swift move all over the map, and Render mostly shoots from afar until Harpalos closes to him and starts wailing on him. Eventually the adventurers turn the tide and destroy the cyclops cousins, taking Harpalos' home and several magical items as loot! They decide to explore a nearby hex and encounter a strange abandoned mine with a bizarre inhabitant known as Moon Crab who controls a magical machine called the Cimmerian Device. They help Moon Crab back to his home in Hidden Lake and check on the dwarves there, who seem to have gotten even stranger since anyone spoke to them.

Rasprax leads Jorgrim, Swift Current, some pikemen and skirmishers, and two new adventurers - feytouched human sorcerer John Doe/Simple Jack and dwarven forge cleric Bors McCraw - out of the Drow Caves and towards the trading post known as Oleg's where the whole campaign began, carting a wagon full of tin ingots to sell. Along the way the discover a bulette lair, stop at a local vineyard to buy a keg of fine Melshimber wine, and happen across a magical fey-well that causes Jorgrim and Simple Jack to switch bodies. They are attacked by an angry bulette that kills half their soldiers, then meet the ettin BorisChorus who relieves them of their new wine and escorts them to the rock outcrop known as the Horned Titan. Camping there, they are beset by giant ants, who agree to take some of their supplies in exchange for peace. At Oleg's, now renamed Zas Gor, they discover a thriving Zhent operation with a stone fort and palisaded trading area. They sell their tin to shady tobacco merchant Brooks Hyland and investigate the defenses of the fortification.

Jhank leads Gemwin, Cassius, and STEVEN III on an exploratory expedition out of Axeholm, where they discover the dangers of Snow Scorpion Crevasse, the cruel Thorny Hills, a grotto cave home to crag cats, a griffon nest, a votive shrine to the water goddess Eldath, some barrow wight mounds, the polluted quarry, and the stirge-infested sinkhole, ending in the town of Llorkh, where the crew join up with the spellcasters of the Manticore's Muse.

The Llorkh spellcasters Cassius and Kain are joined by War Cleric Sigurd, who is looking for his lost friend Ivar, taken prisoner by the Zhents. With Sigurd leading the way, they cut a deal with Winget Sparrow of the Black Network for some information, then find a drug dealer named Chuka who knows the way to Lost Hope Prison up in the mountains. They encounter kobolds, the stone giant Hazbarg, centaurs, and the cyclops Palidos, who relieves them of a mule. At the prison, they don't manage to get past the security to find and rescue Ivar, so that will have to be a future quest. On the journey back they stop in and visit the Axeholm dwarves.

Arty leads Jorgrim, Bariq, MikMek, and Swift Current back into the giants' lair, where they detour into a forge haunted by undead dwarves, who life drain everyone and drop Jorgrim with mummy rot! They retreat back into the open air, then regroup and come back again the following day to take on the remaining giants. A mine cart is used as a diversion and the group descends by rope and stairway to take on a hill giant and verbeeg. All the former captive miners have been slain by the giants, but luckily there's some treasure at the bottom of the mine, including a magical battleaxe that MikMek reluctantly accepts.

Jorgrim leads MikMek, Bariq, Arty and Swift Current to a mine near Lowerthorn territory rumored to have Ettins keeping humans as slaves. Once there, Swift Current wakes a sleeping ogre by trying to steal his chain and a huge, multi-level, all out battle occurs. Several giants are killed and several PCs go down but the lead giants escape - the party resolves to get reinforcements and conquer the site once and for all!

Dwarven paladin Gemwin leads Render, S.T.E.V.E.N. III, Roff, and the survivors of New Ammarindar as they retake the dwarven hold of Axeholm. Roff shows how a very big bugbear fits into a small arrow slit. In the throne room, Gemwin is attacked by a licklash ghoul and other undead start to pour into the room, but the dwarven priests of Dumathoin summon their Spirit Guardians and destroy the unclean ghouls. Upstairs, the party runs into two spectral elf banshees that cause them some problems, but luckily the two warforged artificers are immune to the wailing effect. Gemwin begins to make plans to settle the dwarves here and start New New Ammarindar...

Jhank leads Render, new warforged artificer S.T.E.V.E.N. Mk III, new bugbear paladin Roff, and new dwarven paladin Gemwin (yes, that's three new PCs) on an expedition into the Greypeak Mountains to save the survivors of the fall of New Ammarindar, who are sheltering at some abandoned goliath caves. Once there, they decide to look for the abandoned dwarfhold of Axeholme as a possible new start to the elusive dream of a dwarven domain in the harsh Greypeaks.

Elior leads Kain and Neville out into the wilderness near Llorkh, where they get attacked by stirges, find the Red Wizard Tharidun Mirza excavating some mysterious Netherese ruins with a zombie crew that includes the body of their dead friend Zimevos, then they run out of food in the hills. Foraging separately, Elior is attacked and killed by a panther. His friends find the body and are then joined by young goliath barbarian Bron, who explores several nearby hexes with the spellcasters (and narrowly survives a leucrotta attack) before getting back to Llorkh. Over in Upperthorn, Swift Current goes as emissary to the Bignose Goblins, and Mike contemplates his next moves to save New Ammarindar and send an expedition north into the ruins of Orlbar.

Artvirous leads Caradoc, MikMek, and Bariq to destroy the bullywug village but they get taken before King Lenny who declares that Arty is his long-lost son and possible heir. Prince Bodean goads Arty into swimming down into a froghemoth lair, where Arty and Bariq get swallowed whole and MikMek and Caradoc get captured by its tentacles. By the end, Caradoc and Arty are dead but Bariq, barely brought back from the brink by MikMek, revivifies Arty. Stephen II, Caradoc's Steel Defender, runs away with Caradoc's body while Arty and Bodean get into a frog-wrasslin' match. Mikmek agrees to get changed into a bullywug but the ceremony goes sideways and he ends up with a couple of mutations instead, but still gets a bullywug mate. Arty and the remaining crew then explore a nearby tomb, where some treasure is found including a magical sword that is not as full of hate as the last one was.

Sir Parrik leads Bariq, Caradoc, and Arty to deal with a cursed place centered on a standing stone near his domain of Lowerthorn. They demolish the menhir only to find that the effect persists - digging down they discover that there is a malevolent sword there thirsty for blood and looking for a new wielder. Bariq tries to Identify the sword but falls prey to it and tries to murder his friends! They try to restrain him while Arty tries to get the sword safely away to the Dead Magic Zone about thirty miles away.

Kain leads Neville, Rustle, and new arcane cleric Cassius on a hunt for the assassins who nearly killed Jahan at the Miners Cooperative warehouse a few weeks ago. They talk to a reporter, get denied entrance to a gambling hall, give a poison sample to an herbalist, and hatch a plot to bring the assailants out into the open. This results in a chaotic street battle, and the party leaves town for a few days to get Jahan to safety. The plan changes slightly and the Black Cats take over Jahan's security, while the party heads back to find the gang known as the Green Daggers. In the Green Dagger hideout, Kain gets drained by a stirge, Neville has a memory of a former self, Rustle kills some dogs, Cassius springs a trap, and a hostage situation ends in bloodshed. The party retreats and the gang's leaders escape... for now!

In Llorkh, Rustle Ironbottom accepts a job from Winget Sparrow of the Black Network to protect his boss Jahan during a meeting with the Miner's Cooperative at a shady warehouse. Rustle, Neville, Zim, and Kain make plans to protect their VIP and try to find a Sleep scroll. On the evening of the meet, things go well until a hit squad shows up and kills the miners, then throws poison and shoots arrows at Jahan. The party is caught between deadly archers and unknown shady figures in the warehouse and gets into a tricky spot, while Neville makes his way outside and around to try to rescue them with the wagon. Suddenly the building itself collapses and the trapped wizards and their protectee Jahan are all crushed in the rubble! In a dramatic set of death saves, all players get to their fifth and final round - Zim perishes while Kain and Rustle pull through. Before the city guard can arrive, Neville loads all the bodies in the wagon and they make their way to Winget, who takes posession of Zim's corpse and one of the hostiles, and Jahan decides its time to take that out of town promotion he's been considering. A few days later, the party accepts a job from Gunther Strojny of the Miners Cooperative to smuggle the goliath skull they previously stole to a waiting goliath warrior, but Rustle has awful dreams where he is haunted by the dead shaman's skull and cannot rest properly, leading to exhaustion and near death.

Elior takes the lead in Llorkh, where he accepts a job from Gunther Strojny of the Miners Cooperative to recover a magical goliath skull from the Zhents. This involves a young Zhent wizard, Skylar Nazariel, who knows where the skull is held and wants to get out of town. With the help of Kain, Zim, and Neville, Elior plans the heist and also colludes with the local goliath street gang to smuggle some gems out of town. Nazariel is rescued (and her death is faked), the skull is stolen from the basement of Vince Mustachio's house, and the crew gets the gems to the fence at Oleg's trading post, returning with a cargo of copper ore (and paying hefty bribes both directions).

A new party of 1st-level spellcasters heads east towards Llorkh, led by warlock Neville Cavendish. On the way, they fight twig blights, get chased by an ogre, get extorted by some Zhent thugs, and get their horses eaten by a manticore. Upon reaching Llorkh, they go looking for a good place to set up shop and they end up purchasing a rundown inn which they rename the Manticore's Muse.

Gnome druid Jorgrim leads Arty, Swift, and Bariq to hunt down a threat from a misshapen fomorian giant near the Shrine of Lurue. On the way there they encounter some bandits, a bear, a crag cat, some giant snakes, and a few curious settlers, and they borrow some skirmishers from the village of Perfection. Once there, they interrogate a bugbear and formulate an ambush, which almost goes as planned, but the giant's evil eyes and the wicked blades of its redcap companions are a vicious threat and not every party member will survive the battle.

Dwarven death cleric Thronor leads Jhank, Artvirous, Jorgrim, and Swift Current to try and secure the hexes where the Maze of Moradin and Moradin's Forge are located, but they are attacked by the fang dragon Incyzor, who downs Jhank while everyone else scrambles for cover! Some quick thinking saves Jhank's life and the party explores looking for all the ways in to the Maze of Moradin. They explore the cave of giant bats and encounter the rust myconids, then try another way in the hopes of finding where the drow raiding parties are coming from. They conduct reconnaissance on a drow outpost and make plans to counter this threat to their nearby domains.

Jhank leads Floki, Swift Current, Thronor, and Render to the monastery of the Order of the Burning Forge, where grief-stricken widow Yulia Bronzevow detains them for the murder of her husband Gorya (Episode 34!). They face a dwarven tribunal of justice, and their sentence involves going upriver to battle foul spider-children of the demon queen Lolth!

Caradoc leads Thronor, MikMek, Render, and new kobold warlock Saurod set out to handle the remaining problems at the Golem Workshop under the house of the cyclops Harpalos. This goes terribly awry when the wraith who haunts the creepy mist observation room life-drains Saurod in a single hit. Thronor drives away the wraith but then animates Saurod as a zombie, much to his cousin MikMek's dismay. Arty joins the party as Caradoc and MikMek crawl into some steam tunnels and encounter several mephits there but eventually have to back out without defeating them. The party returns to the surface and shares treasure with Harpalos and discusses whether to build him a new home somewhere else or murder him. Leaving the problems in the golem workshop unsolved, they head west, encountering the dryad Leshanna in her grove and discussing a nearby hex with religious pilgrims. Crossing the Thorn River, they run into a storm that causes them to waste a day taking shelter. On the other side, they encounter a tree cult and sacrifice the zombie Saurod to the twisted dryad there. They track a tatzylwyrm and get into a scrap with some competitive hunters, killing their leader and scattering the others. They find and kill the tatzylwyrm and save its head, fulfilling a quest from one of the very first sessions of the campaign! Exploring further, they get into another battle with some dark fey meenlocks who have taken over a former lumber camp.

Arty leads Bariq, Jhank, and Render to Highstar Lake, where they search for the underwater bubble they glimpsed many months ago. They find an enormous bubble protected by arcane traps and considered to be the property of Sh'derra D'zeer, the amethyst dragon who claims the lakebed as her own. They go to investigate rumors that the Wererats of the Hark are building canals and stop to attack a depressed hill giant along the way.

Render the warforged artificer leads Jhank, Caradoc, Eaglebane, and Bariq to explore the ruined workshops and laboratories underneath the house of the cyclops Harpalos. On the way there they have a run-in with the stone giant Kuljarn, meet some goliath shepherds, and see evidence of ettins in the area. Harpalos welcomes them into his home and allows them in his basement on condition of bringing him back treasure. The party quickly gets entangled with a guardian wood golem, finds an enchanted oil vat and explores the ruins. A password found in the ruins allows them to avoid combat with the kitchen golems, and they find a strange viewing room haunted by a wraith. Eaglebane causes it to flee and they backtrack to explore another wing, where they once again get into a scrap with one of the guardian constructs. They send Caradoc down a privy to look for gold and find a wall safe that they can't quite crack. Big plans are made to restore the ruins to some of their former glory if they can either convince Harpalos to let them stay or, y'know, murder him...

When word reaches the higher-level characters in the western forest that MikMek was petrified in the Razorvine Ruins, wildfire druid Bariq leads Artvirous the lizardfolk ranger, Jhank the dwarven rune knight, and Jorgrim the gnome druid back eastward to try to rescue him. Along the way they encounter a hostage situation with some bandits, which they resolve with a combination of cunning and violence. At the Giant Skunk Hunting Lodge they exchange Jorgrim for the warforged artificer Render and make their way up to the basilisk-infested ruins. Relying on Jhank and Arty's blindsight capabilities, they try to take on the basilisks without getting anyone else turned to stone. However, the ruins hold a few other surprises including a gelatinous cube and a minotaur skeleton. MikMek is rescued and turned back from a statue into a kobold and the ruins are cleared of hostile creatures so that the Lowerthorn domain can try to expand here. Post-game, we have a discussion about some of our house rule systems and whether it would be worthwhile to try to publish them for other gaming groups to enjoy.

Continuing their exploration of the Razorvine Ruins, kobold rogue Mikmek leads dwarf paladin Riswynn Ruby-Eye, goliath cleric/rogue Eaglebane, warforged artificer Render and dragonborn rogue/monk Swift Current deeper into the ruined fort. Things go terribly awry when Mikmek opens a door onto a basilisk and fails both petrification saves, getting turned to stone. The party tries to drag him back through the hallway but Riswynn gets bitten by the basilisk's poisonous bite and other basilisks are drawn to the commotion. Eaglebane, Render, and Swift flee for the exit and head to the nearby hunting lodge, leaving Mikmek a statue and Riswynn unconscious and left for dead! Riswynn manages to escape some hours later and makes her way alone through the wilderness, but Mikmek's fate is uncertain. Switching gears, dwarven anthropologist warrior Jhank leads OG party members Bariq, Artvirous, Caradoc, and gnome druid Jorgim on a grand exploration into the Southwood. They discover an elvish tomb near the source of the Skunk River, a forest fort controlled by earth elementals, the source of another river flowing east (which Jhank names the Jhank River), some territorial shambling mounds, and the nearly intact ruins of an artificer's workshop. Caradoc, an artificer himself, wants to stay here and study what he can of the library of bizarre contraptions and constructs.

Swift Currrent, a tabaxi rogue/monk reincarnated as a dragonborn, leads kobold rogue Mikmek, goliath rogue/cleric Eaglebane, warforged artificer Render, and new dwarven paladin Riswynn Ruby-Eye in search of some ruins along the Thorn River. Along the way they encounter a leucrotta ambush, some tricky fey boggarts, and a grove of reveling satyrs before arriving in the razorvine-infested ruins. There are some suspiciously lifelike statues there, and as the party begins to explore their fears are realized as they are attacked by several stone-cursed and a basilisk! As several of their party members become petrified, the remaining crew must figure out how to help them and still escape with their lives.

Jared guest-GM's a DarkWizard Quest Special Episode! Goblin wizard Litesnak leads Balifra, Bariq, Arty, and Render to a cave where the barghest Rockfire the Magnificent has taken refuge. The party absails in and starts to explore but ends up in a dangerous battle with a roper and the barghest! Eventually the baddies are defeated and some treasure is gained from Darkwizard, who is glad his goblin minions can now live without fear of a demonic barghest in their midst.

Atrvirous leads Bariq, Balifra, Swift, Jorgrim, and Oneiros against the Corpse Flower that has taken over the former Sootscale Caverns complex. They take it on in its zombie-filled lair and cleanse the caverns of its foul stench forever. They leave the skirmisher teams called Lyas Lions there to begin converting it into a base, and the party travels to the Altar of Nomog-Geaya, where they battle goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears led by a hobgoblin holy man called Fenic. Diplomacy unexpectedly breaks out when Fenic threatens to unleash the hordes of Urshani hobgoblins upon the nascent Lowerthorn domain, and a tenuous accord is reached, which includes Oneiros taking on a bugbear henchman.