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All six players in attendance:

After recovering from the battle with the manticore, the party resumes their travels. Around noon on March 2nd, they encounter a small hunting party that is armored more heavily than usual. Their spokesman is named Jacy and he is quite friendly. The hunters tell the group that in the past few weeks, there have been an unusual number of monsters in the area.

The party helps the hunters find some game (including a small deer and a handful of small game animals). With the food in hand, they then trek back to the hunters' village: Aulii. They speak at length with the village chief, Kaga. He tells them more of the Rain King - about how he protects his people (called the Lomasi) by controlling the weather. Kaga speaks of the Rain King as if he were a demigod.

Kaga also directs the party to a shorter path that will help them avoid the bulk of the Rain King's domain. It's a wilder trail then the main one, but Kaga tells them that in four days time, they will arrive at a friendly village - named Gressa (GRAY-suh). Gressa is on the edge of Lomasi territory, but the trail will take them directly to the mountain pass which they need to use to get to the central plains.

Despite the hospitality at Aulii, the party packs up the next morning and heads out along the trail that Kaga suggested for them. Around noon of the second day (March 4th), they spot a black dragon flying high in the sky - more evidence of the strange creatures in this area.

On March 5th, the trail descends into a long, shallow valley where a heavy fog obscures the party's view. While they encounter nothing directly on that day, they do hear ominous and unnatural shrieks and screams in the fog. The noises are intermittent and persist through the night.

On the morning of March 6th, the fog lifts and the party spots a demon flying overhead carrying a corpse. It seems to have come from the general direction the party is heading. That afternoon, they find a barricade across the trail: A large “X” of wood with a bear hide and a red hand print (a left hand made to look like an outstretched right hand).

They press on and arrive at what must be the village of Gressa. Sadly, all the people in the village are dead - most having been killed by knife or sword wounds. A few were killed by blunt trauma, and there are three well-armed and armored soldiers amongst the dead. In addition, every pole or stick longer than a few inches has been broken in half. This strange phenomena extends even to the fence posts that surround a goat pen.

Roderick casts a Detect Thoughts spell and discovers a strange sight:

 You see a young woman sitting on a log near the ruins of one of the huts.
 She appears to be mending a small garment.  As you approach her, she looks up
 and says, "Will you help us?" - in your native tongue!
 
 Then, she looks away, toward the center of the village, as if she sees
 something terrible.  You instinctively turn to follow her gaze, but see
 nothing.  When you turn back, she is gone - and you're not entirely sure that
 she was ever there.
 
 However, on the log where she sat, is a misshapen knot that is clearly in the
 shape of a step pyramid.

Then, a misty elemental appears and attacks Kesi - trying to take her quarterstaff from her. The party responds and destroys the creature. When it dissipates, a magical staff head falls to the ground. It bears a symbol that is evocative of the Rain King, and is highly magical.

For the remainder of the day, some of the party scout the surrounding areas, while others clean up the bodies and build a pyre. There are two clear paths out of the village - one that seems to head to the northeast (deeper into Lomasi territory), and another that turns toward the hills and the mountain pass beyond. That night, the group camps a few hundred yards outside the village - under the shelter of the forest.

The next morning, March 7th, Roderick returns to the village and casts a consecrate spell on the ground around the pyre. Again, he sees the shape of a stepped pyramid in the remains of the pyre.

Since much mystery remains, Bigby decides to cast an Identify spell on the staff head - which Dhersion has since reattached to its wooden staff with a Mend spell. Around twilight, the flying demon returns to the village, circles it a few times, then departs.

Bigby's Identify spell takes longer than expected, and he does not complete it until the middle of the night. The next morning, March 8th, he explains what he's learned: That the staff is designed to summon or dispel mist on a very large scale. As such, it could be used to create or dissipate clouds and have a profound effect on the weather in the immediate vicinity of its use. Now, however, it appears to be still active, but is “leaking” a substance that is clearly not mist. With the group's permission, Bigby attemps to turn off the magic of the staff and is successful.

XP awarded: 1,000 each, Running Total: 4,000.