Session begins on the morning of October 20 with the party camped beneath a rock overhang in the mountain pass west of Loch Cluanie. It is overcast with fog and drizzle. Visibility is 30’ to 50’. A warm breeze is blowing through the pass from the West. The party is under attack by a marauding band of 8 gargoyles that have surprised the morning watch. The gargoyles engage Brook, Lio, Tarl, and Kieren. All but Tarl are injured in the initial melee with the gargoyles. Agate and Magnus awake and charge into battle to assist their comrades. Agate, Kieren and Brook all strike gargoyles, and Brook kills his with a well placed sword stroke. Gawain, the priest, casts a prayer spell to assist the party. Liana, casts a web spell which entangles 6 of gargoyles as well as Magnus and Lio. Tarl falls back from the battle, tosses his magical hand axe to Liana and prepares to cast a light spell on a gargoyle. Tarl casts light on a gargoyles eyes and blinds it. Gawain casts spirit hammer and uses it to attack a gargoyle entangled in the webs. Agate cleaves a gargoyle with his magic battleaxe and the creature falls. Liana casts 3 magic missiles at a wounded gargoyle and kills it. The gargoyles panic and attempt to flee the party. Tarl kicks embers from the fire into the webbed area which ignites the webs and destroys them. Liana casts 2 magic missiles at a fleeing gargoyle and wounds it. Kieren shoots an arrow at the gargoyle but it bounces off the creatures skin with no effect. Gawain follows up with a spirit hammer attack that hits and kills the fleeing gargoyle. The blinded gargoyle is cleaved by Agate’s battleaxe and it is killed. After the combat, Gawain heals Kieren’s wounds with an Orison. The party searches the bodies of the 5 dead gargoyles and recovers 400 gp in treasure.

The party regroups, binds its wounds and presses on West through the mountain pass to Glen Shiel. Brook estimates that the party should make Invershiel on Loch Duich before nightfall. The party reaches the summit of the mountain pass before 10 AM. Shortly afterwards they reach the headwaters of the River Shiel. At this point the discover a trail from the South that joins with the one they are following. The trail appears to have been very recently traveled by giant-kind. There is fresh blood on the trail, which may indicate that the giants are injured. Kieren estimates that there are a 6 giants in the group, and they are moving West in the same direction as the party. The giants are probably 2-3 hours ahead of the party.

The party presses on West into Glen Shiel. At mid-day they find another path headed North into the mountains. The giants appear to be going North along the new trail. Kieren estimates that they are no more than an hour ahead of the party now. Kieren also notes a second set of tracks coming from the West and proceeding North on the new trail. He believes that the tracks were made by a group of 10 lightly encumbered men within the past few hours. The party decides to press on West and avoid the giants if possible.

Brook, being naturally curious, polymorphs into a hawk and flies North along the other trail to see what the giants are up to. Thirty minutes later, Brook rejoins the party and says there is a battle in progress between some hill giants and a group of men in clan colors. The party decides to help out the men and charges off to the trail to the North.

Half an hour later the party arrives at the site of the battle. The bodies of 4 men and one hill giant lay motionless. The party checks the bodies and find that one of the men is still alive with a weak pulse. He has a broken arm and ribs. Tarl heals the man with CMW and is able to revive him. The man is disoriented at first and obviously in great pain from his injuries. Tarl sets the man’s broken bones with a Repair Injury spell. The party questions the man and learns that his name is Neill MacKenzie. He was on patrol with 8 other warriors from his village of Invershiel. They were checking on activity at a nearby hill giant steading when they ran into a group of hill giants returning from a hunt. Neill’s patrol tried to take the giants by surprise, but the giants quickly overran them and cornered the patrol in a gully. Neill saw two other members of his patrol fall in combat before he was knocked unconscious. He identifies the other 3 bodies as James and Oliver MacRae and Molloch MacIver. Kieren checks the battle site and determines that the remaining 5 hill giants are headed north into the mountains with the other 5 members of the patrol as prisoners. The prisoners appear to be hobbled and bound.

The party decides to pursue the giants and rescue the other members of the patrol. Neill demands to go along even though he is weak from his injuries. The fog has burned off and visibility is now 200+ yards. Brook takes off ahead of the party.

Ten minutes after the party ascends the trail they hear heavy footfalls approaching from the trail above. The party positions itself behind a turn in the trail to lay and ambush. Kieren casts invisibility on himself to avoid detection. Lio and Neill ready their bows. Gawain begins casting a prayer on the party. The fleeing hill giants round the bend in the trail and run headlong into the party. Lio and Neill shoot arrows at the giants with Lio hitting the lead giant. Agate and Magnus advance to engage the giants and slow them down. Liana casts a lightning bolt at the column of giants for a total of 20 HP of damage. The giants are momentarily disoriented by these attacks and stop to engage the nearest foes. While Lio is switching from bow to a spear he takes a heavy hit from a giants club. Kieren casts 4 magic missiles at two of the more injured giants and becomes visible. Two giants advance on Kieren, and both smash him with their clubs for serious damage. Meanwhile Tarl climbs to higher ground and attempts to cast sunscorch on a giant but his prayer goes unanswered. Magnus and Agate attack the lead giant and drop him in his tracks. Liana casts two magic missiles on the giant that hit Lio. Lio takes another heavy blow from the giants club. The two giants attacking Kieren panic and flee back up the trail. Kieren drops one of them as it turns to run. Liana casts a second lightning at the two remaining giants for 20 HP and drops them in their tracks. The remaining giant flees back up the trail. Kieren climbs to higher ground to try and cast a spell at the giant but he can’t see it.

The fleeing giant runs headlong into Brook who attacks the giant from surprise and deals it a grievous wound. The giant and Brook exchange heavy blows and the giant goes down. Kieren, Magnus, and Agate meet up with Brook right after he kills the fleeing giant. Brook tells them what happened and leads them to the members of Neill’s patrol. The members of the patrol tell the party that a large copper dragon appeared near the crest of the trail and sent the giants fleeing in terror. Curiously, once the giants fled the dragon disappeared without a trace. The survivors gather up their equipment that was dropped by the giants and return to the rest of the party. Denholm MacKenzie, the leader of the patrol, speaks with party and thanks them for their timely rescue. Kieren converses with Denholm and tells him about the party’s quest to rescue his daughter from the MacLeods on Skye. Tarl casts Detect Magic to check the giants and battle site for any magic. He finds a magical hand axe that belonged to a dead patrol member. Tarl and Agate also search the fallen giants and find 138 ep, 328 gp and 18 gems.

The party and patrol regroup, gather up the dead, and heal the wounded as best as they can. Gawain casts Orisons on the injured patrol members so that they are at least fit enough to travel. Tarl casts Repair Injury on Durant MacRae and Michael MacIver to mend their broken bones so that they can travel. Tarl heals Lio’s wounds by casting 2 CMW. The combined parties head for Invershiel and the trip is uneventful. They arrive shortly after nightfall. There is a mixed reception for the group: families of the fallen begin grieving, while those of the living celebrate their safe return. The party members receive a hearty greeting and are taken to the Lee Shore Inn, the only one in town. The wounded members of the patrol are taken to the local church of Dagda for healing.

The party members are treated to a hearty meal and all the ale they can drink. Relatives of the rescued patrol members thank the party for their intervention. Lucas MacKenzie, clan chief, speaks at length with Kieren and discusses his quest. Kieren learns that a powerful dragon named Infyrana resides on Skye and is in league with the Lords of the Isles. Apparently, the dragon has a taste for young maidens, which are captured in raids by the Lords of the Isles. Lucas also relates that there is an aged crone named Gerdie, who is knowledgeable on the dragon. She lives on the outskirts of Keppoch, a nearby village ruled by the MacKenzie clan.

Treasure: 138 ep, 728 gp and 18 gems (7x5gp, 8x10gp, 2x100gp, 1x500gp), magic hand axe

Liana - Fighter/M-U

Total EP 4822

Spell point total: 5 / 22

Hit point total: 33 / 33

Kieren – Ranger

Total EP 3372

Spell point total: 6 / 12

Hit point total: 10 / 40

Liothien – Fighter

Total EP 2872

Hit point total: 55 / 65

Tarl – Cleric/Th

Total EP 4472

Spell point total: 0 / 25

Hit point total: 38 / 38

Brook – Warrior Sidhe

Total EP 4222

Spell point total: 7 / 13

Hit point total: 42 / 55