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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fusangite" data-source="post: 1235045" data-attributes="member: 7240">Episode #3Upon being informed by Norfinn that the Earwig Tribe had been slaughtered by some unknown force, those less proficient at climbing began their slow ascent of the Slate Mountains to the plateau occupied by the encampment. Unfortunately, most of the group lacked the scouts' skill in climbing; in the end, skin ropes were employed to aid the party in their ascent.A more detailed investigation revealed that in addition to the slaughter in the camp, six Earwigs had died by the same mysterious force in their flight up or down the mountain away from the camp. Despite their anxiety over the unkown cause of their foes' death, the party were unable to restrain themselves from immediately looting the camp to replace their meat and other supplies.While Norfinn, Zofelar and Shotanari set to work on more thoroughly searching the tents and corpses, Fatima scouted the remainder of the narrow ridge and the areas where the fleeing Earwigs had collapsed. Just as Fatima was able to discern some strange bird-like tracks in the snow and what appeared to be evidence of tunneling, Shotanari caught a glimpse of a small white creature darting across the snow about 100' away; but it vanished before he was able to look more closely.While Shotanari suspected that the strange, fast-moving fox-sized creature might be the cause of these deaths, nothing in his bardic knowledge seemed to apply. And before he could consider further, the creatures attacked.The small pure white creatures climbing out of the snow (White Dragons) were unlike anything the party had previously seen; while Norfinn, Zofelar and Shotanari fought off the two who had tunneled through the snow to emerge practically underneath them, Gatain ran furiously across the snow to aid Fatima. Fortunately, Fatima's incredible reflexes were able to keep her alive long enough for Gatain to come to her aid.Despite suffering considerable injuries, the characters were able to dispatch two of the creatures before the third turned tail and dived into the snow, vanishing from sight. Still, their breath weapons had sufficiently terrified the party that after finishing their search of the encampment, they descended from the ridge and pitched camp a mile from the slope. They spent an uneasy night hardly sleeping while Shokirin tended their wounds. The next morning, Fatima and Norfinn fitted up the series of ropes and, while the other party members climbed, carefully tracked the movements of the odd furless monsters. Their combined skill eventually led them to the most recent collapsed tunnel the creature had made into the mountainside where the party promptly decided to dig after it.To their surprise, after clearing eight feet of it, the lightly packed snow gave way to a stone passageway leading into their mountain. Casting his Light cantrip, Shotanari lighted the passage which the party cautiously entered. While there were ancient legends of caves, none of them had previously been inside a stone structure -- there was considerable trepidation. But caution gave way to shock as the passageway opened onto a room unlike anything they had ever seen. Perhaps this contributed to their decision not to pursue the white creature darted away down another passage. Instead, the group posted Gatain and Zofelar, one at each door, to guard the room while they explored the strange boxes and fabulous objects therein-- suits of metal armour, daggers with blades as long as axe handles (scimitars), metal ropes (chains), metal ladels, metal shields, cooking pots, knives, huge egg shells, not to mention the strange objects they could not identify (forks, spoons, caltrops, shovels, mirror, grappling hooks, metal flasks, piles of hexagonal gold and silver pieces). After spending many hours examining the objects, the group chose to move on. Or rather, chose to move on after Norfinn came back alive after scouting down the hallway down which the white creature had fled. Beyond a fork in the hallway, Norfinn reported, was a room containing more boxes. But the contents of these boxes were quite different from those in the other room. Not only were their only three boxes, as compared to the dozens in the previous  room, but they contained what seemed to be useless small sheets of thinly-stretched skin with abstract designs on them, either rolled into a tube or sewn together with dozens of other sheets. As Norfinn and Fatima carefully searched the boxes, Zofelar and Gatain began the work of securing the room. But to Zofelar's surprise, the apparently empty corner of the room was occupied -- occupied by something large, cold and invisible. So, just as Norfinn began flipping through what would later be discovered to have been a Tome of Clear Thought, a much larger transluscent version of the creature they had been pursuing (crystal dragon) materialized in the formerly-vacant end of the room.</blockquote>

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