I see that I left off with us just ready to "investigate" the Tarascon's townhouse. Oh, that was a big success... We got there and knocked again, but of course, no one was home. Just as some of us were preparing to go around to the back, Dogboy walked up (and I'd thought we'd lost him... oh well!). I guess I'm glad he's back; it wouldn't do for me to run into his zombie on a dark and stormy night, after all. And perhaps he can be of more use than he's been so far; after all, Mitsy turned out to be sort of okay towards the end...

Of course, even though I think it's fairly obvious, it seems that none of my companions has much of an idea about how breaking and entering is supposed to work. This proved very problematic, we subsequently found. But let me start from the beginning. We found the rear door, but alas, my rudimentary skills with lockpicks proved to be entirely insufficient for the job. Not to be deterred, I was merely going to pry the window frame loose or something like that when I found, to my horror, that DB had just unlimbered his axe and, being urged on by both Haley and Liss (I thought they had more sense than this!), was preparing to chop the door down. Perhaps I'm just being silly, but I had always thought that subtlety was crucial in such issues, and that even if one is willing to make a lot of noise, breaking a window is a lot faster and easier than battering down a door. Since it was one or the other, I chose to go through the window; alas, this is rarely, if ever, a quiet procedure, and I knew that we'd only have a few minutes to investigate. If only my comrades were a little more patient, I could have gotten us in for a long period of time, but alas... Remind me not to go on any "investigations" with them ever again!

We found ourselves in a kitchen, but since we didn't have a lot of time, I went straight upstairs after trying to block the door to slow down pursuit. At this point, things became fairly confused; next time, perhaps I should "investigate" on my own or with just one or two comrades rather than the entire party. I went to the study, checked the desk, and since I don't have the strength to deal with looking behind the bookcase and Liss, Haley, and Dogboy were helping me with the study in any event... I moved on to the bedrooms, but didn't find anything useful. Apparently, DB moved the bookcase for the rest of us (he's fairly strong), and revealed an alcove containing a cloak and a scroll tube.

This was about the extent of our investigation, since at this point, the constable showed up. I was able to hide (in retrospect, I should have just continued to search, but I was a little upset about the prospect of having to go to jail or having to plan a jailbreak just because my friends don't understand the finer points of burglary), but the rest of the people got caught. I'm not sure how they did it, but Haley talked her way out of it (showing remarkable tact, for once; being caught red-handed in a burglary may have had something to do with that). Gremin eventually let us go, giving us an admonishment not to try some other such foolish stunt again.

Being incredibly bright, I suggested that as long as Gremin was occupied investigating the townhouse, we ought to take advantage of the chance to investigate the plantation. Alas, I was once again unable to get through the lock (it was a really tough one!), and people were once again pondering trying to smash the door down. Not wanting to be arrested twice in one hour, I was all for going home when Leighla saw a bit of light. Following her (and being followed in turn by the rest of the party), we found a window into the dining room. I was just looking through it when a ghoul reached out and grabbed me!

Screaming a bit in my shock (these kinds of things don't happen to me every day, or at least they didn't until I got here), I was nevertheless able to dispatch it with more of that great swordsmanship that Aerik tried so hard to teach me. Leighla, Dogboy, and Maerlyan accounted for its companions, and that (I assumed) was that. Our first battle in which everything went well! Except, of course, that poor Prihelm seems to be cursed or something...

Going in through the window, we saw that the ghouls had been serving the remains of a young boy on a silver platter. This provoked varying degrees of reaction: Liss and Dogboy bolted (I'm beginning to think that DB is a coward at heart), Leighla screamed, Prihelm gave his familiar glassy stare, and I fainted. Haley, I suppose more accustomed to being around dead people, just looked on in disinterest as she waited for us to come around. Liss and Dogboy were gone for good, Prihelm was babbling about "look what's on the platter! Hey, Jen, did you see what they were eating?" and so forth, Leighla was even more messed up, so it was up to me to protect my friend (she owes me for this one!). We explored the house (quickly), and other than several more half eaten bodies (and most of my breakfast and lunch), we didn't see anything else.

Eventually gathering the rest, we noticed that it was getting dark. Haley wanted to explore the barn, but fortunately, was incapable of breaking the door down, do we decided to go back to town. I jogged off, expecting that the rest would follow me, and my day took a significant downturn (and here you didn't think it could do that, did you?).