Synopsis:

Session begins early on the morning of November 2nd.  It is very cold and a light snow is falling.  The party has made camp in the Elchaig river valley after a nighttime trek through a nearby mountain pass.  The night passes uneventfully.

In the morning the party discusses their course of action and they decide to return to Killilan to regroup and refit the party.  They travel southwest along the Elchaig river valley.  It is cold and windy in the valley with temperatures hovering around 20'F before you factor in wind chill.  A dust-like snow is falling continuously which limits visibility to  less than 100 yards.  Kieren casts comfort on  the party to minimize the effects of the inclement weather.

Late in the morning the party sees a large raven perched on a rocky outcrop in front of them.  Mem, the priest of Loki, steps forward to speak to the bird, but he only succeeds in scaring it off.  As the raven takes flight an arrow narrowly misses it.  Mem looks around the outcrop to see who shot the arrow.

A lone human with shortbow is about 50 yards away ,and he is cursing his bad luck at missing the raven.  The human takes note of Mem and begins yelling at him for spoiling his bow shot.  Mem offers a brief apology and asks the man who he is.

The bowman introduces himself Dermid Roy, a hunter and trapper.  He tells Mem that he and his two companions are roasting a stag nearby.  Dermid invites Mem and the rest of the party to  join them for lunch.  The party agrees and introductions are made.  Dermid's two companions are Holgrim, another human, and Sean, a half-elf.  It is noted that Dermid's group has a pack animal that is lightly burdened with supplies and hunting gear.

Dermid explains that his group has recently traveled from Killilan to hunt stag here in the mountains.  The party tells Dermid and the others about some of the their most recent exploits including the plunder of the necromancer's tower.  The hunters seem impressed by their tales and ask why the party is presently in the mountains.

Mem casts know alignment on Dermid but cannot get any reading from him.
He later attempts the same thing on Sean with similar results.

Eventually, the discussion focuses on the lost party members and the recent unhappy encounter with the fairy folk.  Dermid appears non-plussed by the mention of fairy folk and wants to know why they gave the party so much trouble.

Dermid then proceeds to tell the party that he and his companions have traveled through fairy lands numerous times without problems.  He does stress that certain precautions need to be taken when in fairy lands such as ringing the camp with powdered iron and holy water.  He mentions that fairies and their magic can't pass such a ring.  Dermid also comments that holy water is helpful in warding off fairies as it affects them in the same way that it affects the undead.  He also recommends that the party show proper respect for fairy woods by not killing more game than you need to survive and not wantonly destroy the plant life.

Dermid asks the party who is missing and how long they have been missing.  Rutlett and Joseph speak of their companions who have been lost for three days.  Dermid offers to help the party recover those that are missing  if  they will offer a suitable reward:  500 gp for each missing member with an extra 500 gp for Lord Ross.

The party agrees to Dermid's terms and the combined group makes ready to travel to Loch Mullardoch and the fairy lands.  Liothien is troubled by these developments, and he tells the party that he is returning to Killilan to wait for them there.

The party travels as far as the mountain pass that is due west of Loch Mullardoch.  They make camp at the same rocky overhang where the stayed two days earlier.  The pass is quite cold and windy as night falls.  During the night  the middle watch encounters a talking owl  the calls itself "Polly.”  Polly tells Homer that it is out hunting in the pass.  Homer gives the owl some venison, which it gratefully accepts.  The rest of the night passes without incident.

November 3,  It is bitter cold in the morning with temperatures in the mid-teens.  A very low cloud ceiling shrouds the mountains in fog and mist.  Fortunately, there is no
precipitation.  A 2 inch layer of snow blankets the ground making footing treacherous.

The party breaks camp and heads east out of the pass.  By mid-day the party reaches the edge of the forest along the shores of Loch Mullardoch.  They consider taking a break for lunch before entering the woods.  A loud roar is heard to the west and a large flying monster is seen to descend to the trail approximately 250 yards behind the party.  Dermid and his friends run for cover in the woods, and they yell for the rest of the party to do the same.  Apparently, the monster does not see the party and flies off to the west.  Homer uses his spy glass to ascertain that the monster is in fact a manticore.

In fact the monster is a manticore that has spotted Liothien crossing the glen by himself.  Liothien has been quietly trailing the party unknown to them.  The manticore roars as it descends to attack him.  Fortunately, Lio is not surprised and opts to hide inside his warp marble.  This stratagem works, however when the manticore lands where Liothien was, it takes note of the warp marble lying on the ground.  The manticore decides to take the bauble and flies off in search of prey.  A short while later the manticore kills a highland steer and carries the carcass back to its lair for its mate..  The manticore places the warp marble with its other treasure in the back of its aerie.

Rutlett, Homer, and Joseph go to area where the manticore landed and examine the area thoroughly.  They find nothing of interest.  No kill, no extra tracks, nothing to explain why the monster landed.

The party breaks for lunch in the woods.  Kieren speaks with Dermid about recovering the shard from the dragon amulet as well as the dragon-slaying sword that Cameron Gunn spoke about.  Dermid considers this and offers to recover the items for 5000 gp.  He qualifies the offer by saying that he makes no guarantees about recovery because he has never had to deal directly with fairies.  He has simply avoided them in the past.

The party presses on through the afternoon and makes camp in a lightly wooded section of the shoreline of Loch Mullardoch.  There is a thin band (30 yards wide) of conifers between the shore and the rocky slopes of Glen Mullardoch.  A camp is made in the trees adjacent to the rocky hill side.  A large fire is built  from fallen timber and Dermid rings the camp with a 20 foot diameter circle of powdered iron and holy water.  He cautions the party to stay within the circle after dark.  Several blankets and skins are tied in the trees to shield the party from the wind and  to conceal the campfire from prying eyes.

The party sets its watches and goes to sleep.  Kieren casts invisibility on himself and goes to sleep.  It is noted  that during the first watch Holgrim sits by the fire with his eyes closed.  Curiously he scans the area around the camp periodically as if he is looking for something.  During the change of watches Holgrim speaks briefly  with Sean who then does the same things as Holgrim.

During the second watch Sean alerts Homer that 2 intruders are approaching the camp and tells him to wake the others.  Sean mentions that one intruder is cautiously advancing from the southeast, while the other has appeared to the south from the loch.  Homer quietly  awakes the party to warn them.  Homer notes that shortly after rousing Holgrim he disappears from sight.  Once Kieren is awakened, he casts levitate on himself.

The invisible Kieren quietly approaches Sean and asks him what he sees.  Sean is not startled by Kieren’s presence.  Sean  tells Kieren of the two intruders and comments that one of them is now just outside of the powdered iron circle that rings the camp.  Kieren whispers that he plans to cast a spell on one of the fairies, but Sean  cautions him to hold his action until he gets the signal.

The signal arrives moments later as a cry of pain is heard from the southeast perimeter of the camp.

Meanwhile, in an aerie far away…
Liothien surveys his situation from within the safety  of the warp marble.  He notes that the light outside is fading, which is a sure sign that night is falling.  He also sees that both manticores have fallen asleep after gorging themselves on the highland steer.  Liothien formulates a plan,  removes two +3 arrows from his quiver and exits the warp marble.  He takes careful aim on the larger of the two manticores and fires a killing shot into its throat which kills it almost instantly.  Unfortunately, the twang of the bowstring and death throes of the manticore awakens the other manticore.  Liothien quickly draws the second arrow and fires another killing shot into the second manticore as it charges him.  This manticore falls dead at his feet.  Liothien looks around the aerie and discovers it is in a vertical cliff face 100’ above solid ground.  Aside from the dead manticores and steer carcass there is a pile of bones and treasure in the rear of the aerie.

Session ends.
 
Experience point awards and character status:

Liana Ashwood - Fighter/M-U
Total EP’s                   200
Spell point total:        32 / 32
Hit point total:           38 / 38

Kieren Urquhart – Ranger
Total EP’s                   200
Spell point total:        8  / 12
Hit point total:          40 / 40
 
Rhyawdd MacPherson – Rogue
Total EP's                   200
Hit  point total:        66 / 66

Liothien Snowhawk – Fighter
Total EP’s                 2150
Hit point total:         75 / 75

Joseph Kerr – Invoker
Total EP’s                 200
Hit Point total:         32 / 32
Spell point total:      24 / 24

Rutlett Trollcrusher – Fighter
Total EP’s                 200
Hit Point total:         63 / 63

Mem Hammerworker - Priest of Loki
Total EP’s                   200
Spell point total:      13 / 13
Hit point total:         29 / 29

Cedric - Fighter
No EP's
Hit Point total:         46 / 46

Homer Goodmead – Rogue
No  EP's
Hit Point total:         10 / 10