It was tough going and the trolls were several hours ahead and in their native terrain. They set camp at night and were attacked by a band of trolls. They destroyed them, but discovered that there seemed to be some unusual trolls that were a lot more difficult to kill. For the next five days, they trailed the trolls across the moor, occasionally loosing the trail, and frequently being attacked by bands of trolls which had obviously been left to ambush them. They discovered a new type of troll - a dwarf troll, which was used as a missile by larger ones and thrown at the party, then attacking from within or behind them. They were a severe nuisance.
Eventually, they followed a fetid river up to the ruin of an ancient Keep and had to face the toughest troll attack, which nearly cost Vassan and Djerrold their lives.
Inside they encountered zombies, shadows, skeletons and trolls. They explored the whole keep, but it was only when they found an entrance to the dungeons in the basement that they discovered their true quarry. They encountered an enemy they had met before, Kendrak Kendrakson, a zhent agent whose plans a party from Fallow's Cross had foiled in Bard Keep some months before. With him, was a Priest of Loviatar, Pain Tarkold. Together with zombies and trolls, they attacked the party and succeeded in killing Djerrold. When the battle turned against them, Kendrak used a magic item to escape and Pain Tarkold simply disappeared.
They party discovered several prison cells, in which were several members of Fallow's Cross Adventures. In the first was Corrie in a very bad way, having been tortured to near death then partly healed again. Dustar was in the next, his wits befuddled by poison. Jason was found in the next, naked, dirty and drooling like a baby, having been feebleminded. The next room was under the influence of a Silence spell. Its occupant was an unconscious and severely battered dwarf whose beard and hair had been either shaved or ripped out. This turned out to be Bobat. Finally in another Silenced cell was Overelle, the Gold Elf Priestess of Lathander.
They brought everyone out of the ruined keep an set camp a few yards away. Vassan, on watch, spotted a dark speck in the sky to the north. Drawing the others attention to it, they could just discern it to be some sort of flying creature. As it grew nearer and bigger, they realised it was a huge Red Dragon - Apharac! As soon as the Dragon saw the party freed, it screeched its anger and turned back, flying north again. It appeared that several of the enemies of Fallow's Cross Adventurers were now working together!
The party returned to Stanzfeld Mansion and were able to bring Jason out of the feeblemind, and Akordia was able to bring Djerrold back to life again. They had been hearing rumours for the past few months about a new dragon terrorizing the land to the north, Mirabar and its environs. When everyone was back to full health, it was decided that a large party should attempt to track the Dragon and if it was Apharac, destroy it and reclaim the Amulet.
Marie volunteered to go for the Red Dragon Slayer sword she had helped a town recover from the Cult of the Dragon, while a large party was put together to hunt the Dragon down. The weather was against them as it was now the depth of winter, so they had to travel by the well used highways, but the going was rough and cold. Frostbite was a constant threat, but the made it to Triboar by the Evermoor Way and then headed north on The Long Road. they were refused entry to Mirabar, but were able to pick up rumours that the Red Dragon had been spotted near the mountains at The Spine of the World, north of Lurkwood. The party headed for the Valley of Khedrun and saw the smoke rising from the volcano Mount Chamadar. This, it was believed was where the dragon had made its lair.
Climbing the mountain to the crater, they could see two entrances leading to the dark interior. The party then split into two groups. The first comprising Jason, Dustar, Bobat, Djerrold and Mac entered via the main entrance which sported obvious claw scarring on the rocks. The second party of Corrie, Merlin, Malleus, Crompton and Vassan entered via a cave by the edge of a bubbling lake.
The first party soon discovered confirmation that Apharac was in the volcano as a blast of fire swept up the tunnel. Avoiding it in a side alcove, the ground collapsed beneath them and to a man, they fell a long way into a bubbling pool of mud. In quick succession they were assaulted by Phase Spiders, Pyrohydra and a Roper. They then discovered a narrow, winding passage which led further into the volcano. They were forced to halt to excavate it several times before coming to a dead end. They could, however hear the voice of the Red Dragon. IT appeared that there was only a couple of feet of rock separating them from what they believed to be Apharac's cavern.
The second party had a more difficult journey. First they encountered a basilisk, then an Umber Hulk. After that, they came into an obviously constructed room, apparently empty, until a volley of crossbow bolts revealed a troop of Grey Dwarves - Duergar. There were about twenty of them and once battle was joined, a wall behind the party collapsed to reveal several Duergar riding Giant Spiders. The battle was ferocious and Corrie's Lightning Bolt down the line of skirmish tipped the balance in the favour of the party. Once past the Duergar, they came to a long staircase leading down further into the volcano.
After hundreds of steps, the stairs led to a balcony overlooking a cavern about 300 yards wide which housed a Duergar city! The balcony appeared to be directly above the barracks and parade ground of the Duergar army. Just beyond they could see the spires of what appeared to be a temple. Malleus recognized the holy symbol to be that of Abbathor, the God of Evil Dwarves. In the middle of the cavern was a large machine, pistons pumping steam into the cavern. There were Duergar everywhere. The party could see no way to get across the cavern. Fortunately, they had seen another tunnel further up near where they had met a Basilisk. They back tracked and followed this alternative route. It took them down past a pit filled with Gulguthra into a cavern of rocks which suddenly came alive and spat fire - Fire Toads. Once past them they found themselves in a maze of tunnels, one of which led to a large stone door with the Dwarven runes for "Danger Dragon" engraved on.
Using a scroll of Sending the two parties co-ordinated their attack on Apharac. When Corrie's group crashed through the door, Bobat Stone Shaped the wall ahead into a slope so they could get to the floor and Dustar, Vassan, Djerrold, Corrie and Bobat charged in to attack. Dustar was the first to discover the Dragon's trick when a powerful blow driven by all his magically enhanced strength sliced through the Dragon's shoulder like a knife through butter, but left barely ant damage in its wake. All the damage the fighters were doing seemed to do no more than scratch the dragon. Meanwhile, it launched a fierce attack on Jason, and drove him off by dispelling most of his defences. Bobat cast a Dispel Magic at the dragon and managed to dispel the spell protecting it from the sword damage. Apharac's response was to kick Bobat across the cavern to crash hard into the wall, there to slump unconscious. Many say that if he hadn't been a dwarf, he'd have been killed outright. The Dragon's fiery breath did not seem as deadly as it had before and the reason became evident - a still only partly healed scar across its throat from an earlier attack. The concerted efforts of the whole party wore it down however, and in one flurry of attacks, the fighters tore into it.
Apharac's last act was to set off some previously prepared magic which started the ground shaking and steam to bubble up through cracks in the floor which began spreading. It was an imminent eruption! As the Dragon died, its body shimmered and separated into a older dragon than the one they had fought and a humanoid in the robes of a mage. The body of the dragon crumbled as if it were ancient, but the body of the mage seemed to evaporate, leaving behind empty robes and the Amulet where the body's arm had been. The party had to gather up whatever treasure they could from the small hoard of the dragon and escape from the dangerous centre of a volcano ready to blow its top.
Indeed, they only just made it out to the crater before they saw the last of the water from the lake disappear down cracks into the mountain, before erupting back out as superheated steam. They reached their horses and were heading down the mountain when it finally let rip, blasting a cloud of ash and smoke high into the air, raining rocks all over the region. they had killed the Dragon and escaped!