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Gamegrene readers, this is a portion and a shortened/condensed version of Pandora�s Journal. The journey starts at the second entry of Stone Tooth and for those who have gone through the Forge of Fury by Richard Baker, may recognize some of the story line. The reason it starts at the second entry is because this is when I decided to create the journal, and events of the first time we entered Khundrukar had long since escaped my memory. Now, even if you have not gone through this adventure, don�t worry. The journal is merely a prop for the article below and a perspective of an adventure from start to finish for your reading pleasure.

Pandora�s Journal

Journal Entry One - 2nd Entry Of Khundrukar - The Glitterhamme
We rode from Blasingdale to Stone Tooth today; a three-day's ride to stay behind the Orc raiding party, and partly to do with all the equipment we brought this time. Looking back we were ill-prepared, a mistake I plan never to make again. We rested and waited in Blasingdale until the Orcs came to raid. This gave us the edge we needed for safe passage back to the Tooth. Quenching their primal urges to raid and pillage, they were unobservant of the fact they had been followed home. Damn good luck we had with the weather. The wind stayed its course and we traveled in their wake, down wind all the way. It gave us safe passage from other predators as well. The wooded area nearby gave us cover for our horses, one less thing to worry about.

Journal Entry Two - Going In
After a much needed night's rest we broke camp. Feeling somewhat refreshed and armed to the teeth we made our way up the winding stairs to the opening of the cave. I recall our first visit like it was yesterday. There were four Orcs standing watch. They have excellent hearing, even above their own grunting and snarls. This time we were lucky, only two. Terrence used his classic but silent approach to scout the enemy and relay information by hand gesture. Sneaking our way to the top, we mounted our attack at full speed, resulting in two Orcs over the side of the cliff. Nothing else seemed to have changed much. The opening is just how we remembered. We took much damage coming this way before, not to mention we had to burn down the massive door to get in. Tension is high, as well as our emotions. Our dear and most beloved Father Cromwell never stepped foot out of this place. We're in.

Journal Entry Three - The Accursed Bridge
We used the sphere of invisibility to make our way in, and it proved to be most effective. All traces except for the gouges in the stone from grappling hooks are all that remain from our first visit. Alas, the bridge that was Father Cromwell�s undoing. I reiterate, another clue of last adventure, Father Cromwell�s cape laid on the rock below. In our silence of remembrance, we crossed it. From memory, we made our way through the myriad of tunnels to the secret door, found during our first encounter. This secret room had a staircase running down and it led us to what appeared to be a catacomb-like level. It has streams of water, passages that lead off in different directions, and cells for humanoids and celestial creatures alike. The black bear we killed down here must had been found and eaten, as well as the storage of wheat, flour and other dry goods. Continued raids on nearby towns must have exhausted them of the normal supplies. With nothing in storage they will go again and soon.

Journal Entry Four - A Ceiling That Moves
After some time, we came to an opening unexplored before and had to make a jump onto a ledge about 5 feet across. It may have been harder, but the other side was set a little lower which gave us a fighting chance. The concensus of the group was to take a left into what seemed like a hollowed out portion. A small cave within a cave. It was very dark but since we were trying not to draw too much attention to ourselves, we thought one rod would have to do.

The light was enough to see various remains of unfortunate visitors who never made it out alive. Broken skeletons, torn clothing and spilled money carpeted the ground in front of us. The thoughts on the faces of our group were loud, though nobody said a thing. "How many there are" was my own thought and I think I speak for the group when I say it should have been the caption. There was an eerie, sinking feeling in the air. You know the one you get right before something bad happens? At first it would seem they were caught unaware and killed by a roving party. However, Orcs love treasure of any kind, and the fact that the ground was littered with coins made us realize shortly, they had met their fate another way. Man I hate being right all the time. The ceiling suddenly became the floor and the floor the ceiling. There we were, Baylor and myself hanging upside down with all manner of items falling out from every pocket, loop and quiver. �Gricks� they were, on the cave ceilings with tentacles like octopi. They had swooped down upon us, silently and with such speed and accuracy, I thought for sure we were goners. Obviously I lived to tell the tale, but I assure you it was no easy task.

Journal Entry Five - Making Allies
To speed up the rest of the events of this particular journey, we came across an Orc shaman and a few of her crones. We made off with a few potions and magical items to will be listed later. We found a heavy door we managed to unhinge to get inside a corridor leading into a greater hall. Within this great hall several archers greeted us with pointed arrows. Duergar�s (gray dwarf) what was left of Durgeddin�s band of warriors? There were more of them than we had ever thought possible. Though we came to find Durgeddin and/or any of his kin, we found ourselves unwanted and unwelcome. After much questioning and bargaining, they allowed us safe passage for a price. They gave us a guide to help us find our way to the Wormling we came to conquer.

Journal Entry Six - The Wormling
A baby dragon by definition. Unlike a baby though, this very cunning and stealthy creature was the size of a horse and what it lacked in size it made up for in its ability to appear and disappear. Being my first and hopefully the last encounter, I had no idea that dragons despised and liked to single out wizards. Needless to say I took many hits and suffered great burns to my face and shoulders. If it were not for the help of Baylor who shielded me, I would have died for certain. We took out the wormling and for kicks as much as for the reward, Amber cut off the wormlings head. Morbid enough she kept one of its teeth for herself. The lake bottom as it so happened was littered with treasure. Among coins and jewels we found a war axe with Durgeddin�s seal. With the use of potions to breath underwater, Terrence made several trips and banked the treasure. Being the little thief he is, we had Tordek (our newest member and replacement cleric) search him thoroughly in private afterwards. With the help of tensors floating disk and a bag of holding, we were able to haul away a good portion of the treasure to give back to the dwarves.

Journal Entry Seven - The Banquet
The dwarves were surprised to see us again, but as we came bearing gifts we proved our worth and for the first time showed as much respect for us they could for such a proud race. Nimira, the daughter of Durgeddin the Black was particularly grateful for the return of the war axe. They set a meager banquet, but to break bread together was a new beginning for all of us. During the feast, we told Nimira of how we came to meet a cousin of Durgeddin. Having not heard from Durgeddin for quite some time, he hired the group to come and find what information we could in regards to him. We were given a map and told to go by way of Blasingdale where we could get supplies. As dumb luck would have it, we soon found out the town was giving out rewards for killing Orcs (twenty-five gold pieces for each dead Orc) and a significant reward for the wormling that had been terrorizing them. Tordek found it impossible, not to mention that Baron Althon was giving rewards for any blades found with Durgeddin�s seal which did not seem to go over well with new found friends, but they appreciated that shared piece of knowledge. Afterwards, Nimira gave a full account of the last days and the fall of Durgeddin and his men.

Journal Entry Eight - Sad Tidings
On the wings of my familiar we sent word to the cousin regarding the hostile take over of Khundrukar, the death of the Durgeddin and an account of the duergar that remained. We left the Khundrukar with a heavy heart and his loss will be ours to take with us.

A Gamegrene reader had suggested to me I write about the emotions of gaming life and how much of it is brought to the gaming table. And since I can I am going to tie it up with how it stems from a topic I recently read about: the DM�s ability to cheat and not cheat (I wanted to give credit to the writer who shared their sentiments on the topic of DM cheating but could not remember the source, somewhere Gamegrene).

Anyway, to Starhawk and all you other readers I have cried at the table only once, I came close three other times but didn�t want to give the DM the satisfaction. I have threatened to eat my young sitting across the table from me for making moronic decisions for the group as a whole and on several occasions, stopped game to give high fives and dance on the chairs.

We left Stone Tooth because we ran out of food, drinkable water and light sources. This was just the nature of the game and not any fault of the DM. However, upon exiting the mountain the first time, we lost a member of our crew, �Father Cromwell�. Now Father Cromwell was as fat as fat gets (due to a clerics tendency to eat and drink) and my son could not make an appropriate saving throw. Still not the DM�s fault. . . or is it? Our DM does use a shield and to top it off, he rolls when we roll. He sometimes uses his roll and sometimes whatever we roll we use. He never tells us what he rolls, we never know what set of dice he is using and therefore can never tell if our roll was not good enough or if his was. We don�t even have anyway of know when he makes up his mind which dice he�s going to use. For all we know he chooses after the rolls are made. During this same adventure, Pandora almost bought the farm as the wormling repeatedly attacked her. None of her spells seem to have any affect and was wondering if the system of rolling had anything to do with that. She was the only one taking hits as well, DM preference? Maybe. We had seven players in this particular adventure. Now what do you think? She fought the good fight until she became unconscious, then Baylor stepped in as a human shield.

Now before you guys get all worked up, I have to tell you there is some reasoning and method to the DM�s madness. Our son has a nasty habit of counting hit points and doesn�t take into account a natural 20 doesn�t guarantee a kill. He forgets one creature, although the same as another may have more hit points in general. Maybe they are wearing armour that gives them a bonus. Spell protection and feats that allow you to dodge or have great fortitude are always a plus for the enemy and of course although the DM is suppose to be impartial, he says the monsters have a right to life as we do and will pick us off like flies if given the chance. Do I agree with his philosophy? Absolutely. I just don�t always agree with his methods. I have a tendency to get hot over the amount of latitude and liberties the DM takes to mold and shape a campaign. It shouldn�t matter in what direction it goes, as long as everybody is with you. And having a good time of course.

Although we find ourselves at the mercy of the DM sometimes, there is the rare moment when they make it fun for you when with 24 characters you can kill 199 Orc. You stumble across an item you know you�re not worthy of but the DM gives it to you anyway, just to see what happens the moment you stop respecting the power of the item. The DM sent my wizard off to school for a year, snatched her back for two more adventures then slowed her down by making her pregnant. Sooooo not funny, but boy he sure got a kick out of it. I couldn�t be mad for long though. The DM has to have his or her fun too or it�s not fun for anyone. The DM killed off 4 characters including my beloved Pandora in the �Heart of the Nightfang Spire�, which I mentioned in the last article. Of course that was the adventure that time and not the DM. Luckily, at fifteenth level (if you adventure) your opportunity to liberate funds from others or places you travel to be astounding and for a price, your friends in high places can resurrect you. Little thief Terrence met his match in Bethany who made off with his �Deck of many things� after his three-year pilgrimage to find it. One day, the DM decided because my ranger spent a better part of a year building up a keep we acquired, he suddenly developed Alzheimer�s against the ranger way and turned him into a fighter. Ever lost anything important in a battle? Ever lost it due of another group member? On account of a critical hit from a flaming sword I lost a Bacoob�s Blessed book. !@#$ just caught on fire from being too close to the action. If you have a wizard at high levels and need a book like that, then you will know just how costly that was for me. The pisser of it all was I was running both of those characters. It wasn�t anyone else�s fault but my own. I have a love-hate relationship with this game. I get discouraged sometimes and choices (be it my own or those made by others) good or ill can seriously tip the scale or take it to a whole other level. But I can�t stop playing. Who out there is as sick as I am?