Attendance: All present

6 May 1125 – evening – (New Moon)

In the city of Hookridge, the characters found themselves at “The Wild Unicorn Inn”, a popular establishment just outside the city walls. Unlike the finer public houses inside the city, this place caters to the slightly rough-and-tumble crowd.

The Gnome magician, Seebo, and the folk hero Cleric, Portia, are regulars here, while the ex-soldier, Stefan, is from the area, but has only recently discovered this place. The Warlock, Fiora, and her bodyguard Fin are new to the area – as is the Dwarven Ranger, Garril.

It is the latter who inadvertently instigated the encounter that brought them all together. As soon as Garril entered the Inn, Karag (a Half-Orc thug well-known to the regulars) picked a fight with the hapless Dwarf, suggesting it was for some prior slight (even though time would reveal that Garril had never met the hot-headed Half-Orc).

While most people scattered, Karag's comrades stepped in to either help him or calm him down. Either way, it appeared as though a large group of skilled combatants was suddenly attacking a Dwarven Ranger. This prompted a group of people (who otherwise did not know each other) to step in and join the fight on the side of the Dwarf.

In the end, Karag was defeated – along with his Wood Elven Sorceress (and lover), Sara, and the Gnome Rogue, Mergrim (aka “The Mouse”). Two other of Karag's friends, Hannah, the Bard, and Panos, a Half-Elven Druid, also took part in the fight but stopped when Karag went down. A final member of Karag's party, Rikki, mostly stayed out of the fight since she knew Garril as a fellow Ranger.

Afterward, since Karag and his “Krew” worked for a man named "Nilo" (known by most simply as “The Fixer”), he offered to pay for the damages, but then turned the offer around and convinced the party to take on a “simple” job. He asked them to deliver a message to an ally at Anpu Keep, offering to pay them the sum of 500 gp.

(Later, it was learned that Nilo sent Karag to deliver a similar message to a friend of his in the Village of Hommlett).

After a brief discussion – and hasty introductions – the newly-formed party accepted this seemingly generous assignment and made plans to head out the following day.

7 May 1125

In the morning, the party gathered at the “Wild Unicorn” and then headed out for the trip to the Keep at Anpu (known by the locals as “The Keep on the Borderlands”). At a little over 30 miles, the trip forced the party to camp out one night before reaching the keep.

As the sun was setting, they were attacked by a band of Goblins. The sheer numbers nearly overwhelmed the inexperienced group, but in the end, they were victorious and their bond was sealed!

8 May 1125

Arrived at Anpu Keep. Delivered Nilo's message to his “counterpart”. Spent the rest of the day wandering the shops of the keep and learned some crazy rumors of treasure to be had in a nearby place known as “The Caves of Chaos”.

9 May 1125

After a discussion about whether it would be a good idea to seek out the riches that might await them in “The Caves of Chaos”, the party decided to stick with their “bird in the hand” and chose to return to Hookridge for their payment.

10 May 1125

Arrived back in Hookridge safe and sound. Got their payment from Nilo without incident. He told them to come back the next day as he may have a new job for them.

11 May 1125

The party reassembled back at the Wild Unicorn, where “The Fixer” told them about a manor house up in “The Highlands” – several days march into the wilderness.