An Adventurers Journal -chapter three-

     Our party of unholy crusaders has changed. In Ascutholl Arrion met with a fellow rogue who had a mission for the group. He wanted something taken from the bank in the city. The bank was guarded by magic traps and puzzles. The group had to find a way into the magic picture inside the bank which would take them into the vault area. They waited until the runners in the bank were off for the night and followed one home. They learned, through torture, that magic necklaces allowed them to travel safely into the tapestry. They waylaid several more runners and procured a necklace for each of them. Arrion picked the lock to the door of the bank, cloaked in invisibility, and the party entered. With the new necklaces they traveled safely through the magical tapestry.
Inside they found a room full of locked doors and a set of ceramic tiles, with a yin-yang symbol on them, lying on a table. Assuming it was a way to make the doors either open or take them to a new set of doors they approached the tiles. Little did they know it was a deck of many things. Arrion, Aybara and Garrin all drew cards and one by one disappeared. Garrin sunk through the floor, Aybara disappeared and Arrion watched in horror as a minion of Mephistopheles reached out of a fissure and pulled him down into the pits of hell. Selber drew and was rewarded with 20 gems, Rurik drew and got +2 to his wisdom, and Kelvin drew and got the chance to increase his experience from single handedly defeating his next foe.
The last three survivors limped home and went to work trying to find more fiends to help them do their black deeds. They were met with a blood wizard fledgling, a sorcerer and a half Orc barbarian. The wizard needed word from a fellow blood cult member who had disappeared and was rumored to be a master of transmutation. They went to his house, and were confronted by a reptilian guardian. He posed them a puzzle and they figured it out. This allowed them to go to the depths of the wizard’s house. While there one of them found an accursed broach which burrowed into his skin and stopped his heart. The party stalled for an hour while Kelvin went to the temple of Talos and got his friend resurrected. When he returned they met the wizard’s butler, cook and housekeeper rolled into one.
They let him know they were there looking for the missing wizard on orders from the blood cult. They went towards the magic laboratory of the wizard and started hearing a slamming on the door. The door was magically barred, so they needed a wizard to read the scroll of knock they had been carrying for just such an emergency. As they opened the door a thing of horror stared at them. It was a huge transmuted creature that was growing and searching for more food and body parts. After a mighty fight they killed the creature and gutted it. They found numerous things, including a hammer, some boots, and a few potions.  They took the wizards body up to the temple of Talos to be resurrected. The wizard thanked them, and they let him know if they ever needed any help they would appreciate his help in the future. The party went to the bard to eat and relax after a hard days fighting.

By Billy (a.k.a. Kelvin Sharpblade)