The Danger Gang Meets An Arab And Some Greater Ghouls
After a boring night, Martialis has gotten a little antsy in the pantsy. He kills some time Scrying on ol' Ruth and Theodulf; they're in mourning somewhere. Enough is enough, he casts Control Winds, and they set sail. They arrive later in the day at the island of Syracus. They want to track down Archimede's Tomb, but they'll need somebody with a little local knowledge. Luckily, they see a rather chic looking sheik, and they offer him a little scratch to show them around. He introduces himself as Barry Ceasefire. He leads them to a big old graveyard. There are tons of mud mounds scattered about. There's also an old woman picking flowers. They go tell her that it ain't safe for old ladies around here. Just then, as if by their very suggestion, several seven foot tall deformed Greater Ghouls leap up out of the graveyard. The old woman's face grows twisted and distorted; she too is one of these horrible ghouls.
A battle ensues. Magic flies all around, and the creatures horrible electric claws make things quite unpleasant for our heroes. Karl Shinyhands get knocked down, and the former old woman turns him invisible, which freaks everyone out. Can busts out his Thunder Staff spell in an attempt to take care of these dudes, or those that resisted his and Ezio's terrible Color Sprays. This proves ineffective in doing much beyond waking up some Giant Wasps. They decide it's time to book. They run into a nearby abandoned house and Kerasa sets up a Rope Trick. They hide in there for a little while. Can soon comes up and builds a Secure Shelter.
They rest until dark. Martialis seems anxious to return to the fray, show these guys who's boss. Everyone mutters about how they seemed to be bothered by the light, that maybe going during the day would be better, but Marty has none of it. They press on.
Soon they are set upon by the greater ghouls again. Their spellcaster cast Light on their eyes to help them resist Color Spray (crafty little poppet), but they end up being felled anyway. It's not easy, but the Gang takes care of business. Can sets up another Secure Shelter and Karl goes on watch. for the night. He's excited for a quiet night admiring his tiny diamond and working on his automaton. Unfortunately, these quiet moments were not to last, as the outer wall mysteriously irises open (there was no iris door there) revealing a ten foot tall Slaad accompanied by two Displacer Beasts. The Slaad unleashes the beasts on Karl and then closes the iris. Karl is able to wake his companions before the beasts beat the shit out of him. They prove to be tough little beasties. Marty steps up to the plate after the magic users blow their wad. Eventually, he polishes one of them off and the other runs off. Everyone agrees that setting up camp in the graveyard isn't working out. They track down the inn where Kotrag and Hush have spent the day reuniting. They tell the rest of the gang that they met some sort of government bureaucrat. Said bureaucrat extended an invitation to the Danger Gang to the governor's mansion. They mull it over, and decide to sleep on it.
