The group is sent to investigate, and are joined in this endeavor by Sir M.C. Mallet, a crusading street preacher and Mostly Holy Knight of Times New Roman. Traveling without Colonna, they come across rumors of the wizard being sighted in the direction of Mayflower, a town to the south and west. Arriving at said town, the group discovered the place completely devastated - the buildings were charred, and everything, save the church was burnt down. The bodies of the townsfolk, too, were well scorched and lay in a neat pile in the town square.
Skirting the area of devastation, the group approached the church first, where they discovered several survivors - all young children, and a nun, who inform them that a powerful half-elven wizard had attacked the village without provocation. The townsfolk had tried to parley, and even the village priest, a cleric of Times New Roman, had joined in to help, but they were clearly no match. It was only with the grace of the gods that the children had survived.
Sir Mallet frowned upon such a great indignity, and rallied the others to at least give the townsfolk a decent burial. Unknown to them, however, the townsfolk had been turned into zombies and shadows, and the minute the goodly knights approached, they sprang up to attack. It took all their courage and piety to help them prevail. Martini's mind magic was hopeless against the undead, and arrows from Burger didn't do much damage. The strength sapping powers of the shadows, too, proved painful. Fortunately, they won through, but not without blowing up a few more buildings and the town square with fireballs in the process.
Pressing on, they discovered that the wizard had left in the direction of the town of Magnolia, in the direction of the mountains, so they rushed after him. Traveling through the forest, the group encountered a druid of Bud Wiser, who was hunting someone who had desecrated and buggered the cute woodland critters, and warned him that Magnolia was in grave peril. The druid left to warn the town, while the party continued their pursuit.
Eventually, they caught up to the wizard, who turned out to be none other than Az the Sodomizer. However, taking him down proved more of a challenge than they thought. The wizard was rumored to have mastered over 9,000 spells, and was the most powerful caster in the world of Fontia, and it took all their combined efforts to knock him out.
It was only after Az was arrested did they discover that something unusual had happened. This Az was not anywhere near as powerful as the legends claimed he was. Also, he'd lost his mind - it had fragmented into several pieces. They had found the Chaotic part of Az, but the Neutral part, and the Sodomizer part were still out there somewhere.
After reporting back to Lady Ramen, the group gained another lead, as well as a new member - a mostly holy monk, Orly, had volunteered to join the group, and this time they set off for the farming community of Marigold, where there were stories of a buggery creature terrorizing the sheep (again). It sounded very much like Az the Sodomizer, so the group traveled there to find out for sure.
As it turned out, the townsfolk proved incredibly hostile, and were completely uncooperative. However, by throwing about their authority, the group convinced the headman to let them stake out the pastures. True enough, a massive wolf creature attacked that night, and it very nearly spirited away Orly. Fortunately, the group beat the wolf back, and chased it away.
The following morning, the group confronted the headman, who refused to tell them more. Asking around the town, they discovered that an adventurer called Ambrose had been taken ill after vanquishing a goblinoid invasion, and was resting in Marigold. Confronting Ambrose, the group suggested that Ambrose could have been the wolf creature, which Ambrose denied.
They later discovered that Ambrose had disappeared, and resolved to track him down. Information pointed to the resurfacing of a goblinoid horde nearby, and that Ambrose had planned to attack them, and possibly die in the process. The group arrive at the encampment, which turned out to be a cave in the nearby forest, and proceeded to decimate the goblinoids within. Blasting down the barriers with fireballs and lightning bolts, they stormed the cave, only to be confronted by a shaman who was also a werewolf.
After a hard battle (and the loss of a theurge who shall not be named), the group vanquished the lot of them, and discovered that someone named N had planted the seeds of conspiracy, and was instigating the goblinoids to attack the civilized lands, and even provided a means for them to spread the werewolf curse to make their hordes stronger. Ambrose arrived just then, and the group convinced him to return to seek healing from the Mostly Holy Knights.
Subsequently, the party discovered several new leads, none of them good. Don Cordon had discovered some sort of secret that had put something he coveted (presumably Az) in his grasp, while somebody else was working on raising a goblinoid army, and had even started recruiting from within the city.
Through careful subterfuge, Martini discovered that the person raising that army might be Don Cordon (whose name was Nicole), and also that the goblinoids were being mustered to the south, past the town of Periwinkle. As a group, the party decided to infiltrate the town, and put a stop to the goblinoid plans before they could cause any harm. They also figured that they might be able to catch N in the act, and prevent any further incidents of werewolf turning.
Arriving at the town of Periwinkle, the group discovered that the bulk of the townsfolk had been massacred, and that the rest - mainly the young ones and the women, had been corraled into a pit. The party decided there and then to call for aid from Lady Ramen, and then charge through the front gate, using the element of surprise to take out the goblinoids before they could do any worse, and rescue the prisoners at the same time.
The group stormed the gate, where they were beset by were-goblinoid defenders, who swiftly fell to their magic. The shamans that assaulted them after proved a tougher challenge, but were nonetheless dispatched. The group then moved to the pit, where they managed to liberate the prisoners, and got them to hide in a place of safety.
They then moved towards the central longhouse, where the chief of the goblinoids, reported to be a giant wolf, resided. Aldeco tried to spy on the longhouse, and was surprised when the wolf was riled up.
The wolf sprang to attack - it was twice the size and height of the other werewolves, with superior strength and reach. Worse still, it was aided by several shaman, who pelted the group with spells while they split up to engage the large wolf.
The wolf struck powerfully, and battered both Orly and Sir Mallet, even as the others pelted it with powerful spells and arrows. As Sir Mallet fell, the wolf seized him by the leg, and hurled him into Aldeco, knocking both of them out. It then tried to savage Orly, but got clouted in the snout, and electrocuted. Meanwhile, the ranged attackers in the group managed to defeat the shamans, all save one, who dropped his disguise, revealing a darkly cloaked figure in black armor, that promptly teleported away.
That was when the airship with the remaining Mostly Holy Knights arrived to mop up the mess.
What else will our party get up to in their continuing adventures and the hunt for more Az? Stay tuned to find out!
Experience
1. Survivors all reach Level 8.
2. Consolidated Statement of Loot:
a. An Amulet of Vermin (summon a Giant Stag Beetle 1/day for 1 minute)
b. A Belt of Giant Strength +2c. A Ring of Protection +1 (from one of the dead shamans, +1 Deflection bonus to AC)
d. A Vanisher Cloak (Invisibility for several rounds, 3/day)
e. Staff of the Four Winds - A Cold IronQuarterstaff +1, that also grants either a +2 bonus to AC for 1 round, or Feather Fall, up to 4/day. (looted by Mason)
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