Okay, I'm new at this so don't expect perfection. I'll do the best I can. This is how we started the first night...

Somehow, someway you have all been placed in the Capital City of the Blackrock Empire. The city is Walst. The Blackrock Empire was started over 100 years ago. It is USUALLY a peaceful Kingdom. So, to see men from the Royal Army practically everywhere in town is, for most, a cause for some concern. (At this point all the players introduced their characters, and were told that they are approched by soldiers from the royal army. The characters are an Elf Ranger named Cain, a Human Psion named Serif, and a Half-Orc Barbarian named Gwar)

You have all been gathered by the royal army personnel, who have escorted you to the Temple of Yaulti, Goddess of Growth, Prosperity, and Selfishness. You have not been arrested or charged with any crime, but you have been told to wait in small rooms by yourself until you are called upon by the guards. You have not been relieved of your weapons, as is so often the case when you enter the Temple. You have been treated very well since you were brought here, offered a good meal and wine, and the rooms, though small, are comfortably furnished.

As the bells toll the noon hour you are brought before the Templer. He is an older man, about 50ish, soft spoken but very firm. He reads to you an order from the King.

King Thorran of the Blackrock Empire has ordered his army to find a small group of persons from the area to go on a mission for the Crown. You are the chosen ones. The King wants you to go to the ruins of a small town from the Kassomer Kingdom. This town is said to have been once the home to a power full Sorcerer. There is rumored to be an underground cavern used by the Sorcerer that is filled with items from his time spent there. King Thorran wants you to retrieve as many of the items as possible. This will not be an easy task.

First to get to the town of Vardeen you must travel south-southwest for approximately 6 days on horse back through heavy forest. Then cross a large river with a swift current. The forest is filled with beings of many sorts. Once you reach the city, you must be careful; the town has never been explored before. So, of course, the exact location of the Sorcerer’s home is not known, as matter of fact, the town has never been proven to exist either. No one quite knows the nature of the items in the cavern. Some could be cursed, others may be useless

Queen Marriet is due to have the royal heir in 3 months, King Thorran wishes for you to return by that time so he may bestow upon his heir any “gifts” the items you bring back may contain.

You are to meet with the King at day break tomorrow in the office of the Captain of the guard. He will give you further instructions. If you succeed in this you will be heavily rewarded, if you fail it could cost you your lives. Good luck to you all and May Yaulti watch over you.

Now, I have learned while DMing with this group not to plan too far ahead because they just mess with my plans, so alot of what we do is spur of the moment.

In the morning, they meet the King. He reminds them of how important this mission is to the Kingdom. At the end of this brief meeting, the King offers the group a horse each. (Not that a horse is much good to a half-orc)

Immediatly after leaving the Captain's office the group hits the road, er, well there is no road heading that way so they travel through heavy forest. It wasn't untill they examined the map the King gave them that they realized they could float down river on a raft or boat. Then use the craft to manuver through the swamp to the ruins of the city. Once they figured this out the traveled west to the river, built a raft, killed the horses and smoked the meat, and set sail.

Now, if you have read Serif's accounts of the adventure thus far you already know what has been happening to the group. What you don't know is how they have changed almost everything I had planned. I had every intention of putting them against a crap load of undead anythings, zombies, skeletons, ghouls, everything I could find, and in the end a demon or devil. Yeah, well, that's not happening. So, instead I brought in an Astral Diva, who by the way has a bad temper. After two gaming sessions the guys had reached their destination with minimal difficulty. Little did they know things were about to get bit harder.

Anyway they made it to the ruins of the city they were looking for. Of course finding it wasn't too hard and neither was finding out how to get in. The decantur of endless water was easy to find and easy to shut off. Then there was the wait for the swamp to empty, which did not take too long because of the river nearby and it's fast current.

Just before they were about to decend into the underground a human female fighter shows up. (played by my daughter using one of my old characters) By now Cain, the elf ranger, is missing, seeming to have dissapeared while on watch duty. (not my plan, but we knew he was going to have to be taken out of the game, how was the question until now)

It's alot of fun to DM this game, I think it is because I don't even know what is going to happen each time we play. I have a tentative plan and I stick to it as much as possible. But I also let the characters move the game along at their will alittle. I think if I tried to keep them on the plan that I had when we started we would not be having nearly as much fun as we are now.

After finding their way into the underground rooms, the group hears a voice, seeming to come from nowhere, tell them to get out. Apparently the psion took this personally and started to argue with the voice. This ticked her off and she threw a large wooden table at him, barely missing his head. (He did take some damage from the splintered wood) As they moved through the rooms they found the "owner" of the voice, along with some items that Serif wanted.

When they confronted the the woman they argued for a few minutes then she levetated a pilar that has an item that Serif REALLY wants on it, then dissapeared into thin air. As they ventured further, they came across 2 earth mephits and eraticated them quickly. They also came across a small alter room, in which the angel again warned them to leave. After a breif argument, Serif desecrated the alter by releiving himself on it.

While searching the rooms they found a set of stairs leading further down. Upon decending these new stairs they found a new set of rooms. The first room was empty except for a few torture devices. The second room had 3 undead goblins in it. Gwar, being the only one who speaks goblin, translated for the group. After some urging, the goblins took the party to see the "master". The master turned out to be Marious, the sorcerer who's underground cavern they had been looking for. The problem is he is now a Vrock, and is being held captive by a curse in the small sub-chamber.

Marious tells Serif that although Nerull wants the angel dead, he does not. The angel is Chantell, his wife. She too is cursed, locked in the upper chambers. They have been like this for almost 100 years. Not seeing each other or even hearing the others voice. Marious asks Serif for his help in breaking the curse.

Serif is played by my boyfriend, Greg, he is the one responsible for most of the changes I have to make. (Thanx Dear!) In one night he has managed to piss off an Angel and become "friends" with a Vrock. He definatly keeps things rolling in the game. I do have to say though, my favorite character is Gwar, he's hillarious and Kyle plays him so well. Things are going to get alot more interesting for Gwar in the game sessions to come. Just as I have plans for Serif, I have BIG plans for Gwar. Hopefully the guys won't make it too hard on themselves in getting to the point I hope to lead them to next week.