Bear Traps
Pyotr the Hunter and his tiger Ilya, Reppa the druid and her wolf Wulfgar, Ambiorix the archaeologist, Stormbolt the taninim trueblood sorceror, and Froing the cleric defeated the pack of wolves. Froing channeled positive energy to heal the party and then used Rebuke Death to revive the alpha. The large wolf rose and limped off. Froing cast Cure Light Wounds on Stormbolt.
The party continued exploring until Wulfgar stepped onto a bear trap and was mauled. Froing used Rebuke Death on the wolf to revive it. Ambiorix opened the trap to release the paw, and the Froing and Reppa healed it.
Froing searched the area looking for the trapper, but did not find anyone. He did find and avoided another trap. Stormbolt snapped the trap with a stick to close it. He continued on foot, leading the others on horseback, looking for additional traps. Several hours later he avoided one but got trapped by another. Ambiorix opened it and Froing healed some of the damage.
Ambiorix took over searching for traps and uncovered another before it could snap on his leg. They found a deer in another trap that was not dead. Ilya, Wulfgar, and Stormbolt ate it while the humanoids argued over whether to heal it or kill it.
Fey Pranks in the Dark
They continued exploring until nightfall and did not find any more traps. They made camp around Reppa’s heating stone.
During the third watch, Stormbolt heard the sound of footsteps in the undergrowth, but did not see anything. He awakened Ambiorix, but the sound was gone. Stormbolt investigated and heard footsteps from back where he came. He returned and fired Jolts in all directions. He was hit on the head by a stick.
Eventually Stormbolt spied a tiny dragon laughing on a tree branch. Stormbolt invited it to talk. His name was Perlivash, and he was wary of the others. He said that he and his friend had taken care of the trapper and knew where some of the traps were. Stormbolt convinced Perlivash to come back to camp under his protection and tell the party what he knew.
Stormbolt returned to camp and awakened the others. They waited for morning to see the trapper. Perlivash said he knew where the temple was and agreed to tell the how to get to it, though he did not want to go there himself.
Finding the Trapper
In the morning, Stormbolt recognized Perlivash as a fairy dragon, a non-Taninim lesser dragon. He knew that they had low level spell like abilities, as well as a euphoric gas breath weapon. Over the next few hours, Pervalish led the party to the traps he knew of and they disabled a dozen of them.
Perlivash led them to a river, but they had to find a place to cross and lost some time finding a ford. Eventually, the crossed. On the opposite side, Reppa noted the snout and horns of a wild boar. Stormbolt asked Perlivash to pacify the boar. He flew over to them and came back saying that there were too many. The party crossed and avoided the pigs.
They followed along the southern shore of the Thorn River back to where they would have crossed and continued until Stormbolt spied a man whose legs were pinned to the ground, surrounded by logs and ropes. They approached and determined that the man had been dead for some time. Froing buried the man while Stormbolt and Ambiorix examined the trap. They recovered a masterwork hand axe.
Stormbolt asked for directions to the temple. Perlivash told them to travel a day to the southeast and look out for the bear before departing. The party mapped the area for the rest of the day and made camp as heavy snow started to fall.
In the morning, half a foot of snow had accumulated in the open areas. They avoided the boars and continued to map the region around the head of the Thorn River for the rest of the day and made camp.
Dragon Attacked
The night passed uneventfully. As they continued on, Piotr discovered a small pile of dead rabbits that was especiallly attractive to Ilya. Piotr determined that the rabbits did not die naturally. There were no tracks around and the rabbits were still warm.
While they were examining the rabbits, they party was surprised by some large reptiles with dragon-like heads and claws, expertly camouflaged in the foliage. They were tatzlwyms, a kind of primitive, wild dragon. Stormbolt knew that they had a poison breath weapon and they had higher than animal intelligence. The tatzlwyrms attacked Ilya, Stormbolt and Froing, but missed.
The tatzlwyrms attacked again and wounded Ilya. They raked with their claws and grabbed Ilya and Stormbolt in their mouths. Stormbolt attacked but was unable to connect. Wulfgar attacked the one on Stormbolt and bit its tail. Froing defended himself, but missed.
The tatzlwyrm bit Ilya. The one on Stormbolt attempted to poison him with its breath weapon but failed. The last one missed Froing. Stormbolt clawed his opponent and killed it. Wulfgar attacked Ilya’s foe, but missed. Froing missed. Ilya fought back and missed. Ambiorix advanced to flank Froing’s attacker. Reppa advanced and healed Ilya. Piotr attacked the tatzlwyrm on Ilya.
The tatzlwyrm switched from Ilya to Piotr and clawed him and grabbed him. The other attacked Ambiorix and bit and clawed him savagely before grappling him. Stormbolt attacked Ambiorix’s opponent and bit with an electrically charged bite. Froing hit it as well. Ilya bit and clawed his opponent. Ambiorix attempted to free himself. Reppa moved to flank Piotr’s opponent and killed it.
The tatzlwyrm breathed on Ambiorix to no effect. Stormbolt clawed it. Froing hit it. Ambiorix attempted to wrest himself free. Reppa advanced and killed the last one. Froing healed the party. Searching the area, Reppa found a hollow tree containing some treasure.