All Hail the Wolf Idol, Death to the Wolf Idol
We are about to head down to fight the Wolf Idol when we hear a crashing noise from the tunnel. A dwarf falls down onto the ice behind us. After some cautious introductions we find we share a common language and Nali joins the party. He had been exploring in the area and seemed quite happy to join up with a party of higher-level adventurers. He leads the way as we head down the stairs and into a room full of bones. On the south wall there is an opening into a final room with a big bonfire and some dark figures milling about inside. Harald recognizes this as the room in which our unfortunate captive met his end. We prepare for the attack and face off with the Wolf Idol as he comes charging slowly in.
Turns out the Wolf Idol is a pretty cool guy, following him seems like a much better alternative than some useless fighting. Only Akim resists his charms, and goes running out as fast as his legs will carry him. Niorei and Bruno follow behind. They are pursued by some wolves but luckily Ailyll's giant beetles find them first, and they fly off to hide and rest. After healing and protecting themselves from evil, the escapees plan a rescue party.
Akim successfully sneaks in and backstabs one of the wolves on guard, and Niorei, Bruno and some beetles block the exit while he finishes them off. The rest of the lair seems relatively deserted, most of the wolves are likely still out looking for converts. We are attacked by a Frost Toad on our way down but we just fly past him and hope for the best. We come upon Mamun and Ailyll as they argue about who loves the Wolf Idol the most. Bruno manages to hold Mamun and the confused Frost Toad attacks Ailyll while the others rush in to the Idol's chamber. Bruno trips over his own feet while trying to protect Harald from evil and Akim gets turned into a wolf by the idol. Niorei suggests we run but Bruno decides to give it one more shot. He manages to hold Harald from beetle-back while Niorei rummages through Mamun's pockets and pulls out a scroll of Wall of Thorns. The Idol fails his magic resistance and the two surviving beetles fly us away to relative safety.
Once we are far enough to catch our breath, Bruno ties up Harald and Mamun and revives the unconscious Niorei. We find a temporary shelter in a cliff and discuss a plan. We wake up Harald and give him time too look around the area (gagged, of course). We then place his succor stick in his hand and just as he breaks free of his bonds it breaks, sending him back to the elven lands. There he is fixed up and given a protection from evil 10' radius spell before quickly teleporting back to our cliff-side cave. Niorei and Bruno stay behind while Harald and Mamun teleport back into the cave. This time they are finally able to finish him off along with his fanatic morning star bearing follower.
Meanwhile Niorei and Bruno are attacked by a very fast hairy monster with scary eyes, but they are able to escape with the beetles and re-join the party. They attempt to rest but are soon interrupted by that same hairy monster. He does a pile of damage to Harald then massacres the two beetles as they try to hold him off. He resists Harald's slow and things are looking grim when all of a sudden our good friend Themophoria comes flying in to the rescue. Or rather, he comes limping in and bleeds on the fuzz monster until it goes away. All he can say is a single word - "Jetterlace". We patch him up as well as we can and ask him what happened. Apparently he was attacked by Jetterlace and teleported to the safety of his only friends. He tells us that dragons fear only three things - Tiamat, the Ghost of the Great Wyrm, and Jetterlace. Trying not to take that as a slight, we fill him in on our situation and try to get some rest.
It is not to be, however, and Lord Curias himself comes flying in to ask if we have a permit to park our dragon here. We chat for a bit until he notices Harald's shiny new sword. He informs us that that is his sword, and threatens to kill us and frame the dragon if we don't hand it over. We exchange sophistries for a bit until Harald glibly asks permission to borrow the sword for nine years or so, in exchange for 10 percent of the gold we earn during that period. Curias thinks this is a splendid idea and we part friends with a written agreement in hand.
Themophoria seems quite desperate to get back to check on his eggs, so after dropping off the more lycanthropic portion of the party in the Holy Roman Empire Harald reduces him and teleports back to his cave. Jetterlace himself is still waiting there. He makes quick work of the dragon while his horse eats Akim and Nali and Harald ends up negotiating a truce. We quit fighting and he promises to leave the dragon eggs alone until they reach maturity. Demeter is not especially pleased with the outcome, but she calls up some aquatic beasts to protect the eggs and does not give us any more side quests, so we don't complain.
Back at the Holy Roman Empire Ailyll resists all attempts to cure her of her lycanthropy and we sit around wondering where Harald got to.
