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12.15.11: The Road Goes Ever On and On...
''“And so the heroes of our tale met in the Tavern of the Drunken Monkey. Some were more friendly to one another than others. But be it for greed, for fame, or for a pardon, the party set forth northward to the halfling enclave of Colebeth to investigate the dreams of the merchant king known as ‘The Emerald Lord’.”''

''“It was on this road they came to a seemingly harmless inn run by some most hospitable, yet mentally simple, lizardfolk. They were shown rooms and bedding for the night, provided they had the coin, and their animals were stabled. But the night held other plans for our heroes than sleep. Around the stroke of midnight, the party awoke to the sound of screaming coming from the druid. Boldly the party ran to her rescue, only to find that she was simply haunted by bad dreams. Those tuned to the ethereal realm of magic knew otherwise however. The air was ripe with mana, and a foul presence was afoot.”''

''“In the common room of the inn Xain had chosen to make his bed. He refused to venture upstairs when the screaming began, and so noticed the shadows moving through the room he was in. With a flash and a word, spells flew from his hand. Shadows fell from their hiding places to reveal monstrous creatures with four arms wielding scimitars. Their minds simple enough to succumb to the sleep spell he used.”''

''“This commotion drew the rest of the party, all of whom stormed down the stairs ready for battle. All except the druid and Ebiwen, who remained upstairs. As they were about to go and see what the commotion was a dark shadow, tall, ominous, and ill defined, emerged from the wall of their room, eyes glowing purple with the fires of some dark energy. They were hit by a wave of energy like a brick to the face, and compelled to listen to this creature as it goaded them. In words that have been lost to time (and beer), he told them no amount of heroism would save the day. Their fate was sealed. And with that, and some goading from the druid, the shadow vanished back into the wall. Ebiwen assaulted the shadow’s retreat bravely, but met with nothing but timber and planks.”''

''“Meanwhile, downstairs the party quickly dispatched the remaining 5 monsters. Those that survived the attack but were simply unconscious, were coup de grased. All save one, who the party was strapping to a chair to have words with. It was only after the creature was bound did the party think to ask the question: where were the lizardfolk who ran the establishment?”''