The Standing Stones and The Sword of Elistraee

Vassan the Paladin, Kattie, Styrel and a newcomer called Mr Gathercole, an old mage, who at first did not seem terribly proficient in his art travelled south and came upon a village called Sundown. Here they discovered strange things happening, with villagers going missing and strange Ju-Ju Zombies attacking. They eventually deduced that the stone circle outside the village, called the Witches of the Glade, was the source of the trouble. They found that the mage of the village, Arris, had worked out that the stones were in fact petrified priests of an ancient civilization who had been turned to stone. He had decided to try to revive them using a ring of depetrification he managed to obtain.

He managed to depetrify one of the stones, revealing the form of a barbarian shaman like priest, dressed in furs, feathers and bones. What is more, the central stone also depetrified, releasing a creature from the ancient spell keeping it imprisoned by the breaking of the circle by the depetrification of the priest. Thus was released Jaazzpaa, a Vrock from the Outer Planes! The party fought hard and eventually triumphed, dispatching the ancient Vrock and earning the gratitude of the village.

Meanwhile, an emergency started in the Promenade. A Drow war band had gained entry and after poisoning Qilue with some strange alien poison, made off with the secret artefact guarded by the Temple, the Sword of Elistraee - a sword forged by the Goddess herself, able to deal death to another God! Corrie, Tommy, Bobat and Marie pursued a trail through the tunnels of Undermountain beyond the Promenade and fought all manner of creatures, even coming across a Noble Illithid, who warned them that the Drow had not come his way and to leave before he got annoyed. Corrie and Marie agreed it would not have been a good idea to have had Jason with them! Not long after, they were ambushed by four brain spiders creatures who injected both Corrie and Marie with a mind numbing poison which was to have serious affects on them for the next year they found their reactions, agility and memory were affected by the nerve destroying poison, and it took both of them a whole year to recover fully.

Eventually, they realised they had been chasing a diversionary force and the real escape route had been by ship, past Skullport and up the Great Hoist. They returned to the Promenade, where the two women were checked over and it was found nothing could be done to help them, only time would heal the damage. This news, in addition to the loss of the Sword of Elistraee devastated them all. Marie in particular took it very hard. After her losses on the trip to Thay, and the debilitating effects of the spider venom, she decided it was time to take a holiday from Fallow's Cross. There were other reasons however. Inquiries in Skullport came up with the clue that the ship the Drow may have been travelling on was marked with the elven 'H' rune of Guild Haldeman! If the Sword were heading south, it would almost certainly go via Baldur's Gate.

Returning to Stanzfeld Mansion, Marie picked up Julienne and they departed for Baldur's Gate. It would be nearly six months before she would return and in that time much was to happen.