Star Trail: Evil Twin

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

With Paeroka's condition getting worse the team rushes back down the mountain the way they came, heading right for the besieged city of Lowangen in hopes of finding a cure for her there. Wolfy notices that they are being followed by other parties as they cross the plains but there's a bigger threat ahead of them. The orc army camped outside the city was still there. Shintar tries using her challenge speech from last time, to "duel" their leader to the death, but it seems the orcs no longer follow that tradition and instead attack en masse!

Oops! Reload... :P

Using a calmer approach the team willingly submits to the orc army who are actually willing to let them into the city: for the simple price of all their gear. With no other alternatives the heroes strip once more and have most of their stuff taken away by the massed horde. The local shaman distrusts the few magical items they carry though so those are returned without issue. After the degradation of having a long naked walk up to the town gates with orcish laughter all around them, the team is let inside the city and are greeted by a crowd of people. One guy in particular looks pretty familiar.

Hmm, both options are actually true!

Antharon's corpse is quickly taken away by his brother, Gavron, who also proves to be a much better thief as he manages to swipe the Salamander Stone while doing so... AND gets away!? How hard is it to keep up with a guy carrying a dead guy? Sheesh.

Star Trail: Going Deeper

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

The first few levels are sprawling and mostly devoid of life, yet Paeroka manages to get her hand jammed into a rusty bear trap while unlocking one of the many old chests there and catching some unknown malady. On the plus side is there seems to be a surplus of magical strength girdles in here. On the third level down their path is blocked by a five meter pit which the agile rogue, Antharon volunteers to jump across first.

What agility!

After Wolfy retrieves his corpse (which leads me to ask why they couldn't climb down the pit then up the other side) the team decides to look for another path and they find it in the form of collapsed tunnels on one side of the level. With only one shovel, Zubon pulled the short straw and was tasked with clearing out the rubble of stones and bodies of dead dwarves blocking the way.

LOL

Eventually they find a shaft that leads them deeper, and right into a chamber with four gargoyle statues that come to life! Obviously sculpted by racist dwarves the monsters all focus on Pike the Hare and tear him to pieces before the party can defeat the stone creatures. Further in there are also zombie dwarves, and a large basin of water that must first be drained to reveal submerged stairs underneath a heavy metal drain. Good thing Shintar packed a crowbar!

Star Trail: One Way Door

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

With an Eastern heading since that's the direction the heard the "Dwarven Pit" was in, the team runs into more orc patrols and harpies who are easily slain. More problematic is their low food supply. Fortunately its only a few days before the team finds the not so hidden dwarf city of Finsterkoppen in the mountains where they stock up on rations. This is also doubles as the site of the Dwarven Pit but the racist dwarves guarding the entrance prevent Pike from entering. He simply circumvents this by using his magic to temporarily transform into a dog.

Nice doggy!

In the deeper city Paeroka convinces the local temple priest in handing over the key to the sacred pit before actually finding the huge doors that lead down to it. It's made pretty clear that the key mechanism is a one way deal, and those that go in would probably not be able to go out. Dauntless, the party proceeds in anyway, finding a decomposing skeleton right on the other side of the door.

They grimly all vowed not to end up starving to death like that poor sod.

Star Trail: Black Pelts

[Part of the Darklands of Arkania Story.]

In a surprising turn of events the Gashokian townsfolk bust into the inn the party is staying at and dragging them out into the town square, strip them naked and prepare to stone them to death for murdering one of their citizens. Fortunately a random person in the crowd (I'll say it's ex-party member Vayshen Panda because it makes more sense) discovers proof that the victim was actually a bad guy so the team is released but told to get out of town.

At least Atherion is more grateful, giving his magical bow and sword as reward for their actions. With that quest done the team continues South along the road coming across a wide river with an unmanned ferry. Since it was the obvious way across, they all boarded and set sail but soon discovered none of them actually knew how to steer a boat.

Sailing skill: zero.

Now totally dependent on Pike's foraging skills for food the team hurries to the next city and come across a rogue on the road, eating a sausage. He offers to join the party and since they are one man down they accept without question.

Antharon the sausage eater.

He's right about the "blackpelts" though: aka in these parts as orcs. The next city of Lowangen is under siege by a massive orc army so the team decides to head elsewhere.