A few months into the new year, with snow still thick on the ground, Danilo, Djerrold and a wandering Druid called Ilex managed to help out a tribe of Firbolg giants, who in turn came to Stanzfeld Mansion to help strengthen the walls and extend the compound to house the small standing army Fallow's Cross Adventurers were beginning to attract. In a related event, Kira, Merlin Sable and Amberson, the strange man who used a form of magic which seemed to come directly from his mind, went to excavate another tomb in the Valley of Tombs, visited a little over a year before by Jason, Dustar and Marie. They gained entrance to a tomb, but the dangers were to great and they only just escaped with their lives. The tomb seemed to be guarded by something like the Mythal of Myth Drannor. They vowed however to return.
A new arrival to Fallow's Cross was a Paladin of an obscure Demi-Power,
the Red Knight.
Whereas Tempus the God of War and Conflict was too chaotic to have
any need of Paladinic Order, the Red Knight was the goddess of Strategy
and Tactics, and as such was much more lawful and ordered in her outlook
and able to sponsor a very small band of Holy Knights. Brigadier Nicholas
Courtney (The Brig) was one of this select band. He hailed form Cormyr
and took his subject very seriously.
The Brig's first outing with the Fallow's Cross Adventurers was one he would remember for some time. Along with Percy, Sable, Fionna - a elven Priestess of Corellon Larethian and with the Goblin, who had survived the attack by Apharac, they tried a new setting on the Summoning Circle. It took them, they eventually realised, to Lurien, the land of Halflings in the deep south. There a cute female halfling stole the amulet and took it into the jungle. They pursued her and while crossing a mountain range were attacked by a Wyvern. Percy rode Delbert, his Hippogriff familiar to do battle. Sadly, the Wyvern was more manoeuvrable in the air and was able to attack Delbert with its poisonous tail stinger. Delbert could not resist the deadly poison and died while still in flight. Percy only just survived, but wished he hadn't when he realised his beloved familiar was dead. He had his revenge however for the Wyvern was soon killed by the party, but it was a bitter revenge.
They continued to follow the trial of the thief. Reaching the settlement, they saw an ancient ruined city, made up of stepped pyramids, overgrown with vines and encroaching jungle. In the village, there were a number of half-human half-snake people. Just as they arrived, they saw a halfling bent over an altar and its heart cut out in sacrifice. Watching the ceremony from the top of the main pyramid, they saw a Yuan-Ti Pureblood and a dark haired woman, around whose wrist was the Amulet. Unfortunately, this stirred the party to attack immediately and they very nearly came to grief and barely managed to get out with their lives.
They returned at night and crept through the village and found a hidden tunnel which led under the ruined buildings to tombs beneath the main pyramid. After several battles, they made their way to the core room of the pyramid, which had been converted into a temple for the Yuan-Ti god. They recovered the Amulet from the woman, who turned out to possess a magic item which allowed her to change her form and they deduced it was she in the guise of a halfling who stole the Amulet. They killed the Yuan-Ti Pureblood Shaman and drove the others from the settlement, freeing the prisoners who were kept for sacrifice.
Percy insisted they take Delbert's body back to Fallow's Cross either to be buried or his spirit brought back in some way. The only way Delbert could be brought back would be by using a Reincarnation spell. Percy travelled to Waterdeep along with the Brig to see if it would be possible to bargain for this service. After a fierce negotiation, a mage agreed to provide a scroll on condition that they enter Undermountain to recover certain item which he understood were in the first level. He mentioned that there was a rumoured thieves' guild being formed there. As soon as Marie heard this, she volunteered to go with them and two newcomers joined them - Giblet a Dwarven fighter who seemed able to perform similar feats of the mind to Amberson and Hastelbane, a mysterious character about whom several of the party were a trifle unsure.
This decent into Undermountain proved as eventful as the first and for several days they trekked the halls of the uppermost level. They discovered the guild and the leader known as The Dark Lady. They bargained with her that if they retrieved an item from a temple of Ghaunadaur further into Undermountain, she would return the Ring sought by the mage. They found the Temple and in it a huge Deepspawn. The party attacked it, but its magic resistance countered most of the spells cast at it by Marie and Percy. It fell to the Brig, Giblet and Hastelbane to fight it with steel. The fight was bloody and in the last seconds, a tentacle of the Deepspawn smashed into the Brig, just as the final killing blows were dealt to the monstrosity. Its final attack, however, was powerful enough to kill the Brig outright. They retrieved the item and returned it to The Dark Lady, who gave them the ring. They left Undermountain, taking the Brig's body with them, returned the ring to the mage and received the scroll.
Back in Fallow's Cross, Bobat cast a Raise Dead on the Brig and brought him back to life as his spirit cried out to be allowed to continue the fight against evil. Jason then cast the Reincarnate over Delbert's corpse and after a short time, a young Orc stumbled into the clearing in the High Forest, disoriented and thinking it had wings. Delbert had returned, but was no longer Percy's familiar. The bond between them was almost as deep, however, and they became firm friends although Delbert was too frail to go adventuring with Percy often.