[Part of the Party Time journal]
After more weeks of police work the team save a pregnant woman being chased by some idiotic thugs that keep yelling "Pale-dogs!" (their gang name). The woman thanks them for the save and continues on her way to the temple of Koochikoo while the others track down the Paledog leader in a run down house in the city. He reveals they were paid to slay the woman with the still moist offertory box from the temple itself, so they quickly rush there to find the very lecherous priest Carpef organizing some "friends" to take care of her. All the bad guys are arrested and Carpef admits that he needs the woman killed because he had a vision her baby (his child) would bring about the end of the world. But he couldn't kill her himself because he's devout!?
They are then joined by new recruits (all the survivors from the prison) to join caravaner Jhonen's archeological expedition to find treasure for Praetor Artorias. They first stop at Thorsen, a filthy pig farm, where a young woman named Jalla asks to join the mission - because she hates it there. Her father Rorke is against this but Ughh makes him back off.
While traveling alongside a river Aah goes to save a drowning person only to find its a trap by a quartet of great river cats with hands for tails and human voices! Unfortunately the cats didn't count on there being so many soldiers and Jerghonson leads the militia to bash them to death before they can do anything.
Upon entering the Black Vale, bitterworm has spoiled over 70% of the caravan rations and the dark mountain men that live here move their flocks away but send a scout to keep tabs on them. It is a temple of theirs to their god Popeta that Jhonen wants to uncover, and sure enough near a mountain summit the 30 extra miners uncover a belfry they can descend (which saves a lot of digging)!
Jhonen, 5 soldiers, Ughh and Aah rappel down with the miners where they find an odd looking altar - a humanoid form above what seems to be a hand, and sudden movement in the surrounding ash reveals many "hands" / handspiders that come to attack them - with one managing to climb up a miner and puppeteer him! The hands are of little threat with the organized defenders though.
The defense upstairs is good too, led by Mamita and Jerghonson the mountain men's pincer attack raid is easily foiled (despite losing four men) when they kill over half the attackers in one combat round, routing the enemy immediately!
