Barz’Tera 11, 3575 Campaign starts… Each responding to the fliers posted around the kingdom for their own reasons, the party report to Castle Greyhawk joining up informally on the road. Along the road Severell is attacked by a giant bombardier beetle with a Hack Factor of 12 and defeats it single-handedly, though he sustains significant damage. Upon reaching the castle, a dispute over the toll to enter results in the party being arrested, and Renal being executed for assaulting a town guard. They do manage to get a room in an inn and stable Simon’s camel, “Joseph”, and Severell’s elephant.

Barz’Tera 12 The remains of the party, Simon and Severell, are joined by Bruce and Dances with Butterfliesand become a registered adventuring company due to a pedantic clerk and the merit of all bursting into the room at the same time and talking over each other. Thus the adventuring company of “What Are These Fliers Doing All Over My Forest” was formed, with its heraldry of a bear and a bombardier beetle rampant facing each other with a rainbow over them. They are tasked by the Herzog Akitrom the Merely Worried with clearing out the dungeons under the castle, and given a room in the tower to use as a base of operations.

Barz’Tera 13 The players are conned by Cullum, apparently a poor orphan, into rescuing his “dad” who, according to the urchin, ventured down into the dungeons to earn some money so he “can taste a bit ‘o potato before I’m a grown man, sirs.” The first level of the dungeon turns out to be less of a dungeon, and more of an almost-open zoo, filled with misfit monsters. The party manages to rescue the proprietor, Zando, from an unusually stupid ettin (actually a “cretin”) thanks to the quick thinking of Dances with Butterflies convincing the monster’s two heads to beat each other to death. Cullum manages to piss off Severell enough that he decides to kill the little street rat, and just manages to escape, sustaining a scarring injury and leaving the half-ogre swearing vengeance. In exchange for the rescue Zando promises the party a cut of the profits from the zoo. He also informs the party that he hired Zando to get a rescue party and there is no “dear ol’ Dad,” further enraging Severell.

Barz’tera 14 – Tarn’Tera 10 The party proceeds to all train up to level 4, and clear the second dungeon level, almost losing Bruce in the process. Dances with Butterflies makes great use of her Barter skill, and takes a couple of cheaply made swords barely worth the effort of dragging them up from the dungeon and trades repeatedly ending up with a squire, Timmy Generic, and an expensive piece of jewelry. The party is just about ready to head down to the third dungeon level and the shit hits the fan…

Tarn’Tera 11 Severell realizes he stabled his elephant almost two months ago, and hasn’t been back to check on it since. When he arrives, he is advised by the bored, minimum-wage stable boy that per stable policy, when they didn’t receive any payments after three weeks, the elephant and camel were sold. Severell threatens the boy, but he escapes and advises the town guard, who arrive just as the half-ogre tries to leave the stable with two horses which he is taking in compensation for the two missing animals. He is outnumbered and surrounded, and is placed under arrest. When they try to put him in a cell under the Citadel Union building though, his claustrophobia takes over and he takes on a dozen guards and the captain bare-handed, and manages to escape despite being almost killed.

Tarn’Tera 12 – 18 The rest of the party use a Cloak of Spider Climb to hide Severell on the roof of the tower, and after a week the guard finally give up looking for him. Unfortunately deceiving the guard, even to help his friend, is enough to push the Monk from Lawful Neutral to True Neutral, and he loses a level and his Monk status, leaving him a 3rd level Fighter. On the 18th the guard banishes the party from Castle Greyhawk, and they are forced to leave behind many of the trophies they have been collecting. Luckily they have smuggled Severell out the night before, and they regroup and head North, trying to find the Cathayan traders that bought their mounts.

To be continued…