15 Eleasias - 2 Marponeth, 1375: The students face months of instruction after the disaster that was the Luskin trip. Without explanation, Barnaby, Darvin and Chand return, alive and whole (though at a lower level). Class emphasis is on staying focused on the task at hand and when to retreat. The students also complete other personal tasks as well. The next assignment is to join Wyland to determine the fate of Cory. It appears that in the intervening months since the students last left him that Lizardfolk have moved in.
2 Marponeth, 1375: The students pursue the fleeing lizardman, discovering more lizardfolk to defeat. The complex is replete with new traps, some that actually threaten the students. Along the way in their explorations they encounter salt and steam mephits, wraiths and lizardfolk zombies.
2-3 Marponeth, 1375: The students explore, discovering many tricky traps. Harold makes good use of his levitation and floating disc, especially when Darvin is held by some overwhelming runic abjuration magic associated with a gold door at the end of a long, long (trapped) corridor. After a dream about Cory, Numan uses a few locate objects to facilitate in their search.
3-6 Marponeth, 1375: The students battle some very tough lizardfolk warriors. Numan is killed and incinerated by Chand's fireball and Shalindar's flame strike. The students kill two of the lizardfolk, but one escapes. They pursue and find themselves in the sarcophagus room. Wyland points out they left some treasure behind with the dead lizardfolk. Shalindar and his dire wolverine run back to get it and encounter a lizardfolk sorceror. There is a short skirmish and she manages to escape. Wyland points out they are slowly being taken out, what with Darvin held and Numan dead (thus not having any cleric), so the students decide to return to the Academy. The Academy declines to raise Numan since there is nought but ashes, so Shalindar does a reincarnation. However, Numan's soul does not return.
6-11 Marponeth, 1375: The students resume classes. Three new students are introduced to the team: Firefinger (a warmage), Belladonna Took (a halfling cleric/rogue), and Faris Alsheikh (a cleric/runecaster). It is decided to send them on a simple mission to help the team bond so they are assigned to take care of ("kill" in barbarian) some ogres in the Neverwood Forest. Their first night in they encounter an ogre ranger who comes to warn them. Darvin, and then Barnaby, take this as an agressive action and attack. The students try to reason with the pair, and it finally sinks in that Brand (the ogre ranger) didn't attack after all. He tells them the ogres are well prepared for any assault, that they are led by an ogre barbarian and have at least a cleric as a spellcaster. They also have set up many traps (which the students soon discover.) Brand tells Harold to ignore tracks before disappearing into the forest. The next day the students ride along the trail deeper into the forest (after Shalindar flies some recon) and discover the forest has been blighted. They also discover a well hidden pit into which Darvin and Barnaby and their horses fall into.
11 Marponeth, 1375: The students extracate Darvin and Barnaby, and their horses (though Belladonna uses an animate dead on Barnaby's horse) by having Shalindar become a blue dragon and dig a ramp. Barnaby takes the point and finds another pit trap. Shalindar digs another ramp. The students try a different tactic, having Harold take point and use his levitation to keep from falling into the pits. This works well. At the fork in the trail Harold determines more ogres head up river than to higher ground, so they ignore Brand's suggestion and follow the trail. They encounter more pit traps and then reach the end of the blighted forest. Shalindar, in blue dragon form, flies to recon and the students decide to take the other trail. Harold, once again on point, encounters a different kind of trap and is pounded by falling/swinging logs. The students encounter two ogres, and Chand magic missiles the one in full plate. The missiles just diappear. It turns out to be Brand and his cousin, S(ch)mitty. Brand convinces the students to take Smitty to aid them and promises to watch their backs. He leaves while they continue on to the ogre stronghold. Inside the cave are two dire boars. Then two ogres show up. The battles aren't too hard. Harold falls into a pit trap filled with something like rancid honey. Very sticky. And smelly. The students explore one of the passages and discover two more ogres - this battle is over quickly. As the students become more separated an ogre sneaks up on Shalindar. Unlike the other ogres they have encountered so far, this one is also a barbarian. The barbarian ogre kills Shalindar and wounds the dire wolverine, which causes it to rage uncontrolably. Chand, Darvin, Smitty and Belladonna deal with the barbarian ogre and the wolverine. Meanwhile, Firefinger, Harold, Barnaby and Faris explore further, for everyone knows the best tactic is to split the group. They encounter an even badder ogre barbarian that deals Firefinger quite the wallop. Barnaby steps up to take on this ogre.
11-28 Marponeth, 1375: The students find the ogres to be tougher than expected, especially because they split up. Darvin is the next to die. Eventually, once they students gather together again, they are able to defeat the ogres; but at the cost of Shalindar and Darvin. They collect the treasure and return to the academy, with Smitty in tow.
Upon return to the Academy, Darvin is raised, treasure is divided, Faris asks for a transfer, and Chand is offered a staff position. Another staff member, Ilarion, works with Chand. Faris is replaced with Regalla Thorp, a cleric of Chantea. Chand is assigned to discover what is going on in the gnome keep where Cory was lost. He decides to take his old team with him. The trip to the cliff keep is uneventful, and the students find dead goblins and lizardfold scattered outside. The first room is magically trapped, but Chand is able to counter it. The second room has a mysterious undead creature that is pretty quickly taken out. The third room holds a pile of stinking, rotting lizardfolk corpses. The fourth room holds an altered lizardfolk who is quickly taken out as well. They head downstairs, follow a long windy corridor, and discover an unknown gnome pinned to a door with seven swords. Darvin opens the door and heavy stone walls fall, dividing the students. Chand and Firefinger blast the walls while Darvin searches for a release mechanism. Though it is close (Regalla had fainted), they are able to free everyone, and then use the swords and coins to prop open the walls so they can escape. They discover the level release mechanism back at the stairs.
28 Marponeth, 1375: The students backtrack some and discover a cleared out workshop except for a large brass minotaur. It doesn't move until Darvin opens the door behind it, then it attacks the dwarf. As the students spring into action to defend Darvin, the brass minotaur kills him. They distroy the brass minotaur and take its huge greataxe. Regalla uses a raise dead to bring Darvin back, and her wands to cure the students. The corridor beyond leads downstairs. They find a series of rooms which includes a pair of invisible monstrous scorpions, animated attacking darts in a closet, a very long, long corridor, and finally a door with a hold person trap which nabs Smitty and Belladonna. Chand and Darvin combine to open the door, beyond which are ten mind flayers. Regalla uses a break enchantment to free Smitty and Belladonna, Darvin closes the door, and the students quickly backtrack away. They discover a room with three chests. Belladonna discovers one chest is actually a mimic. Harold, Illarion, Firefinger and Darvin free her by killing the mimic. The next chest is trapped with an acid fog. The last chest holds some nice treasure. All the while, Barnaby remains quiet and distant.
28 Marponeth, 1375: The students Explore some more of the seemingly endless corridors. They find a door they are unable to open by any means (and Smitty takes some damage from trying to break with his axe), find a pit trap (which Smitty falls into, but is only 10' deep, so Smitty ferries the students across it), find a magical portal and animated fresco room (the door is semi-opaque glass upon which lines of red, green, and then blue form most of some magical writing, though the students never figure out how to complete the writing. Chand has a brief encounter with gnomes of the past and three black dragons in the fresco), and finally with another unmovable door. This time they are able to get through and rediscover the ballroom beyond which they believe Cory is. There are three dull-eyed mind flayers in the room which mind blast the students (Chand and Barnaby are stunned). The fight is on, and is complicated by random fireballs. The student prevail, Chand finds the secret door to the sphere room and is joined by Barnaby and Belladonna. Smitty opens the other door to confirm it leads to the corridor that should connect and it does. He jams the door open with his axe. The doors (secret and special, but not the one Smitty jammed) close suddenly. In the sphere room is suspended a mind flayer with an exceptionally large cranium, but no Cory. The mind flayer stuns Chand. Belladonna hands Barnaby a potion of levitation and then shoves the stunned Chand into the spherical room. Darvin seeks healing from Regalla, and he and Harold try to get the secret door open. Ilarion keeps watch with his bow. The mind flayer apparently charmsBelladonna just as Ilarion enters the 5' square room she is in. Barnaby slides into the room and levitates up to engage the mind flayer. Belladonna attacks Ilarion. Smitty shoves Belladonna and Ilarion into the spherical room and follows them. Belladonna coup de grace Chand. Harold and Darvin enter the secret room, with Harold continuing on to the spherical room. Barnaby is grappled by the mind flayer's tentacles. The combined attacks of Barnaby, Smitty, Ilarion, Darvin, and Harold slay the mind flayer before it can suck out Barnaby's mind. Smitty grapples and holds Belladonna until the charm wears off. Cory's ghostly spirit appears and informs the students he is now back in control of the complex, and where his body can be found. He informs them he is now forever tied to the complex. He also tells them they are always welcome there. Firefinger is pretty much a non-factor.
28 Marponeth - Uktar 7, 1375: The students rest to recover from the battle. The next morning they exit the complex to find this other entrance. Upon finding it, they come upon stairs down in one direction and a door in the other. Going through the door they discover an empty room, except for a gnome body face down on the other side. Suspecting a trap, the students search, but only determine that the body (which is Cory) is under a temporal stasis spell. Smitty tries to pick up the body to put it on Harold's floating disc, but this sets off the trap: a forcecage surrounds Smitty, Harold, Barnaby and Darvin, and a Barbed Devil is summoned. The devil attacks Smitty, causing him great fear. Firefinger dimension doors with Ilarion and Chand into the cage. There is a lot of damage dealt, but the superior numbers of the students prevail. The forcecage drops and Smitty flees, followed by Belladonna and Ilarion to make sure he doesn't get too far. The students collect up Cory's body and inter it with the other gnomes. They return to Neverwinter for more study, purchasing of goods, and creating of magical items.