Event 3: Ancient Temple

Having rested in the temple ruins, the party sets off to explore the rest of the structure.  Inside, they find religious carvings depicting rituals of passage into death.  A care examination of the room revealed a deadly fire trap set up to guard a tunnel leading to another similar temple chamber. As they were about to squeeze through the partially collapsed tunnel, the party discovered that they are being watched by an invisible observer but were unable to discover the observer's identity before it disappeared into the darkness.

On the other side of the tunnel, the party was confronted with more religious carvings and a detailed model of an unknown city.  At the model's centre was a small pyramid containing the carefully mummified corpse of a human.  Unfortunately, opening the pyramid triggered the release of mummy rot dust and two party members were infected with a slowly debilitating disease.  The model was also the focus of an elaborate wheel puzzle which opened the way to a third smaller chamber.

Beyond the second chamber was the lair of a batlike creature known as varagoin.  The monster had made this section of the temple its nest and viciously attacks any intruders.  The varagoin was not much of the challenge to the well-prepared team but its death brought about a surprise attack from the invisible watcher that the party had noticed earlier.  The stalker had turned out to be a will-o-wisp which had previously claimed the temple as its home but the arrival of the varagoin several months ago had displaced the will-o-wisp.  The varagoin had inadvertantly triggered an ancient wall of iron trap designed to prevent graverobbers from accessing the final burial chamber. The wall of iron prevented the will-o-wisp from confronting the varragoin, who had begun to starve from a paltry diet of rodents and insects.

Within the burial chamber, the party discovered the mummified remains of dozens of humanoids carefully lay to rest within a well filled with negative energy.  Strangely, Riley decided to leap into the dark, fog-filled well activating magics that drained away his life, leaving him unconscious and badly injured at the well's bottom.  Luckily, Draziw's monodrone familiar was immune to the well's necromatic powers and was able to tie a rope around the unconcious paladin so that the party could drag him out. Riley was later revived by a quick dip in a similar well outside the temple filled with positive energy.  Meanwhile, inside the burial chamber, the party discovered a small collection of gems and coins under the varragoin's nest and two finely carved bat figurines made of gold.  Diseased and injured (from their well-hoping escapade), the party once again made camp in the structure outside the temple.

Event 2: The Isle of Dread

As the party prepares to search for Lavinia, the kidnapped captain of the Sea Wyvern, a foul creature attacks the ship.  The Sea Wyvern is suddenly surrounded by a forest of partially rotting seaweed and aquatic vines.  The vegetation begins to attack the hull of the ship, threatening to sink the vessel.  The party discovers a Vine Mother at the centre of the sargasso and manages to defeat the foul creature and save the ship.

Isle of Dread

At dawn, the party decides to search for Lavinia on the nearby shore and discovers a trail leading into the fecund jungle.  The trail leads them to an ancient ruin elaborately decorated with images of anthropomorphic gods. Outside the ruins the party encounters a garden of statues, the victims of a basilisk which had made the ruins' entrance its nest.  After defeating the basilisk and narrowly escaping petrification, the party frees a strange gnomish druid from who had been turned to stone long ago.  Seeking a place to rest, the party disturbs the lair of a gibbering mouther and is attacked by the disgusting ooze.

The party makes camp after dispatching the gibbering mouther and settles in to rest before heading further into the ruins.

Event 1: Aboard the Sea Wyvern

The party awakens in the hold of the Thunderer, a pirate slave ship bound for the lower planes. They are rescued from captivity by Lavinia Vanderboren and assist her in reacquiring her family's ship, the Sea Wyvern.  The party managed to defeat the cruel slavemaster of the pirate crew and rescue the other slaves onboard. Unfortunately, Lavinia's plans fall apart when her brother (Vanthus), perhaps in a moment of panic, failed to rendevous with the party aboard the Sea Wyvern.  Alerted to their presence, the pirates attack the newly freed Sea Wyvern but were unable to prevent the party from disengaging the ship from the Crimson moon, the pirate flagship.  As the two groups battle, a duegar pirate spellcaster summons a water elemental and begins a strange ritual.  As the battle and the ritual come to a climax, the party, along with the Sea Wyvern, is magically transported through a wake portal to the shores of unknown island, an island which Lavinia claims is the fabled Isle of Dread.

The Sea Wyvern

Once the sea wyvern is secured, Lavinia reveals that she and her family are explorers and that her original plan had been to free her captured crew from the Crimson Moon Pirates. Lavinia is grateful to the party for their assistance and tells them of her family's plan to launch an expedition to the Isle of Dread.  She relates how she and her brother had just managed to decipher an ancient artifact known as the Wake Portal, an artifact that can transport ships to Isle of Dread. Lavinia introduces the party to Skald, the first mate of the Sea Wyvern, and everyone retires below decks to rest and recuperate. The Sea Wyvern circles the shores of the mysterious island for two days, drawing maps and scouting the waters around the island. On the second night, the party is awakened by a commotion above decks and rushes outside just in time to see Lavinia seized by a giant feral ape. The monstrous ape promptly disappears into the night with teleportation magic, taking Lavinia with it.  The party is left alone, and stranded, off the shores of the Isle of Dread.