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Dacys – Noble Dragonborn Monk (Amiee)
Urthez – Half-Orc Folk Hero Rogue (Charles)
Twig – Half-Orc Soldier Barbarian (Jake)
Zelona – Noble Half-Elf Paladin (Tam)
Kai – Tiefling Sage Bard (Sami)
Brolimir – Wood Elf Sage Druid (Matt)

A few short days later, the party gathered to help escort the caravan safely to Ridge Crest. The first night out, the party felt as if they were being trailed. They kept watch, and nothing seemed to happen. Brolimir left the path, the first night they camped, and noticed foot prints and broken branches, indicating that someone was indeed following them. Deciding not to pursue it since whoever – or whatever – it was, had not made any aggressive actions, he continued to hunt down herbs for his healing potions.

Like the first night, the party felt as if they were being watched; but nothing ever came of it.

The third night, like the previous nights, the party felt that they were being watched and followed. Brolimir and Urthez went to investigate and followed the footprints down, deeper into the dark forest. There they found a small band of unusual villagers, who had primitive huts and weapons. They appeared to be humans, who decorated their skin in paints and mud, giving them a much darker appearance. Brolimir and Urthez returned back to the caravan to report what they had found; and shortly after, screams from the front of the caravan warned of an attack. The party moved forward and saw that a tree had been cut down and blocked the caravan from moving forward; and someone – something – was attacking from the treetops surrounding the front of the wagon.

The party helped to defend the front of the wagon, and eventually managed to defeat the attackers, which had been the same primitive people that Brolimir and Urthez had spotted. Suddenly, another scream, this time from the back of the caravan warned that someone had stolen one of the caravan owner’s prized horses; which he was used to breed. He offered the party several hundred gold pieces to recover the horse if possible; or at least bring evidence that they had found the horse, if it was dead. The party assumed that the primitive people who launched the attack may be responsible and moved towards the small village they had found. Encountering very little resistance at the small village, the party easily defeated them and found evidence of horse tracks that led into a dark cave. Stepping inside the cave, they saw that it almost immediately opened up to a large pit, where it appeared the horse was either lowered – though no means of mechanical devices were visible. Casting a torch down, the party saw a massive web down below and suddenly found themselves under attack by a creature that had the upper torso of a dark skinned elf, and the lower torso of a large spider. The party defeated the creature, and returned to the caravan and learned that the creature they had fought was a Drider; and a bad omen, as they were connected to a very, very, dark religion. With that bit of knowledge, Kai was able to recall a dark, spider goddess who took sacrifices. Though primarily worshiped by Dark Elves, there were those who worshiped her out of fear, believing that she would one day bring darkness to the world, as prophecsized in some ancient texts, about how her webs would blot out the sun.

When the party reached Ridge Crest, they found the gates to the city had been locked. When they spoke to a guard outside the gate; the guard explained that there was a plague within the city that needed to be contained. Urthez noticed some writing in Thieves Cant, which seemed like every day markings; but to a skilled Thief, were markings. He followed them and met a fellow Thief who explained that there was a way into the city through a hole in the city’s wall; but that hole lead to the sewer system. The hole was covered and used regularly by Thieves coming in and out of Ridge Crest. The Thief explained how to gain entrance. The party found the secret entrance and ventured into the sewer. It was not long before they encountered a gelatinous cube. They managed to defeat the large creature which had grown so large that it consumed the entire passage. Just ahead, they could see stairs that led out of the sewers.