Isle of the Magi, Part II

2 Suns after Last Claim's Day

After recuperating for a night in the minotaur's lair, the doughty adventurers explored this new area of the Maze and attempted to locate the missing Gump.  A shimmering illusion of a gold necklace, almost tempted the halfling thief to his doom at the hand of scrags.  Luckily, Sir Nagrom‘s sensitivity to evil saved the wee adventurer from a wet and bloody end.  The company also engaged a lesser spiderspawn of Zynar; a huge, bloated, and hideous arachnid that wielded poison and enchanted rings.  A miscast spell by Alvar Herrickson helped kill the beast.  Raven, in a display of bladesinging grace, claimed one of the spiderspawn's rings (and legs) as his own.  Upon the "defeat" of the fiend, it vanished.

Meanwhile, Gump had regained conciousness in the warrens of the were-rats.  Chained next to him was the Gloryseeker priest of Fortuna, the Warlady Thria of the Sunken Empire of the Dwarfs.  Thria and Gump attempted to escape, and the mage's bravery saved the dwarf priestess from torture and death at the hands of the lycanthropes.  Thria’s throaty cries, cursing the shape-shifting fiends, drew their badly wounded compatriots into the warrens.  There the band slew a small pack of were-rats and scattered their giant rat companions.  Thria healed several in the group, and only through the blessing of Fortuna was the battle won.  Gump and Thria were freed but, tragically, Sir Nagrom the Just was afflicted with lycanthropy.  The Apprehender struggles mightily not to slay its noble master, but with the coming of the full moon, this battle will become far more torturous.  Thria was unable (or unwilling ?) to rectify this draw from Fortuna's hand.  The group recovered some treasure, as well as a potion of superheroism  and gauntlets of ogre power  (now worn by Coon).

Thria lead the group free of the warrens into the final piece of maze before the Tower of the Magi.  In the Tower's gateway, a titanic, two-headed, ettin slept (or did he?) and the gate beyond was open.  There was also divine evidence of an evil hidden in a chamber behind the party.

Isle of the Magi, Part I

3 Suns after First Claim's Fest

The elven bladesinger Raven; Alvar Herrickson the half-elven; Gump the Mage; the avenging hand of Lothar,  Sir Nagrom the Just; and the halfling adventurer Coon were drinking in the Listing Swordsman Tavern.  They were approached by Ulric, a servant of the Merchant-lord Goldmaster.   Goldmaster wished to hire the adventures for 20,000 Royal Kings each to rescue 10 of the sons and daughters of Northreach's finest and most upstanding.  The children were being held captive by their mentor, Mazkorick of the Maze, a semi-retired High Councilor of the Council of Mortal Majicks.  Mazkorick, had for the past 57 summers taken 5 sons and 5 daughter's on First Claim's day and educated them at his island tower in return for a year's supply of goods. A year of schooling for a year of food, clothing, and spices.

In the 234th year of the rule of the Kings of Nornasck, on First Claim's day Mazkorick's magic galleon did not return.  In a few days, angst turned to panic and Goldmaster along with the other lords and ladies sought to secretly return their children by any means necessary.  Hence they sought the adventurers above, who investigated the Merchant-lords' story and questioned the local Magistrate of Majicks.  Nagrom, discovered that the Magistrate lied to them.  And the group decided to take the case.  They were secretly transported out of Northreach by a freighter-cog  and taken east toward the Mazewerks of Mazkorick...

Last Claim's Day

About midmorning, the craft was ambushed by a large squid, rare in this part of the world.  After bravely fighting the mighty kraken, and bloodying their blades the adventurers travelled onwards toward the island.  Only one crew member was swept overboard, and no evidence of magical summoning were indicated.

1 Sun after Last Claim's Day

The adventurers breached the Mazewerks for the first time.  Alvar, Coon and Raven fought bravely against a contingent of were-rats and their gigantic rat allies.  Alvar was badly wounded but survived.  Gump and Coon fabricated a sling bullet with a continual light  spell which they used to good effect.  The group also discovered the presence of an underground warren of caves, connected to the Mazewerks.

One of the captive children was also found by a poorly placed sling stone.  It turned out to be a mostly incoherent Gill Stonegrinder who reported (a) a mad and changed Mazkorick, (b) mindless, zombified friends, and (c) confirmed the underground connection between the maze and the tower.  Nagrom and Alvar fought a huge spider and the group discovered a group of large, amphibious humanoids in (one of ?) the Maze's lake(s).  They also fought a group of skeletons, who were dispatched by the bravery of Coon, Sir Nagrom and Raven.  During this battle Gump vanished, wether voluntary or no, is unknown.  Finally, the remaining four breached the magical gate  to a minotaurs layer. After suffering badly at the beast's hands, they dispatched it, and plundered its lair.  During this, Lothar's Apprehender a powerful, lawful good, sentient long sword was recovered and claimed by Sir Nagrom.  Apprehender reported that Mazkorick was a greatly changed man, but whether he was now mad, a lich, or some other possed evil it could not determine.