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Irmirsul the vampyre sorcerer licks his lips as Plo Koon offers his neck. A pint of blood in return for the bracer of strength, the magical item that grants the wearer enhanced physical ability. To Plo Koon's relief the vampyre is true to his word, although the feeling of having his blood drained weakens him considerably.
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They return to the party and the elf called Leafblight, the battlemage, leads them through her homeland to the north, where the wolf Ulnar is thought to roam. As they move through settlements of refugees from Castle Haddon they are accosted by a group of noble thugs led by Lufus Maldrey.
Valorn - who is from noble stock himself - recognizes a minor northern house, as well as the four henchmen with him. He knows these arrogant young nobles are looking for a fight...which is why Valorn hangs back and prepares his bow. If it's a fight you want, bring it on!
It is clear to the rest of the party that this noble bully wants a fight. Leafblight immediately casts Colour Spray and stuns three of the henchmen. Irmirsul casts magic missile and hits the leader Rufus in the leg and chest. Plo Koon, Tragladt, Wyrin and Leafblight hurl themselves into battle.
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Valorn shoots two of the stunned bullies in the head in quick succession and it appears that the fight will be short. But when Wyrin's dire mace bounces harmlessly of the leader's head they realise that the nobleman has Stoneskin.
Tragladt and Wyrin make light work of the two other henchmen and despite his expertise with the longsword, Rufus Maldrey knows he's in trouble. Peppered by magic missiles and facing more blows than he can defend, he realises that his stoneskin will only protect him for so long.
He begins to yell out and wail in desperation as the party press their advantage. To the party's amusement the noble bully pisses himself before the end, and is unable to control his bowels before Wyrin crushes half his skull with her dire mace.
Leafblight notices eyes in the trees and goes to investigate as the rest of her companions search the bodies. A fellow elf, part of a larger patrol, nod in acknowledgement at the scene before them.
"We saw nothing my lady," the patrol leader says, "just make sure you bury the bodies well."
Leafblight smiles and nods back. "Consider it done brother elf."
From the bodies they retrieve a longsword of the elders (which Tragladt takes), two rings; one protection and the other called the ring of Maldrey (which Valorn takes), with a silk shirt of silence being taken by Wyrin.
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After they have buried the bodies and the elf patrol has left, they encounter a butler with the same insignia worn by the bully Lufus. Valorn questions him and gives no indication that they have seen his master. The butler does not believe the archer, but is astonished when Valorn hands him a gold coin for his troubles.
The butler's eyes turn black - which somewhat startles Valorn - then the old man says; "Gift received my lord," and Valorn feels himself tingle with magic. None of the party understand the significance and after a short while they move on in search of the White Wolf.
Two hours later a fog rolls in. Both sorcerers - Irmirsul and Leafblight - sense magic. The fog is not only unusual it is also thick and suppresses magic. Leafblight uses a stick to guide the party in one direction as she fears that they could become hopelessly lost in such a fog.
She soon leads them to the base of a large stone tower. This she finds curious, as for most of her life she has inhabited the White Woods and has never seen or even heard of such a tower. Driven by the desire to understand the mystery, Leafblight attaches a grappling hook to her rope and begins a brave ascent up the alien tower.
At the halfway point up the tower - one hundred and fifty feet up - she reaches a ledge and a circular room becomes evident. Three globes orbit near the ceiling illuminating their way. Stairs spiral up and down and she secures then lowers the rope to her companions.
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Each one of them make the climb and explore the tower carefully. They head upwards to reach a a flat platform with scratches in the rock as though some great winged beast had once landed there. But the markings and blemishes are ancient, centuries old.
Leafblight leads them down. At thirty feet above the ground they reach another empty chamber; but it is Plo Koon who accidentally comes across a trap door. It is made of stone and opens by magic; the elf lowers a lantern down into the hidden chamber and the treasures of a sorcerer's study are revealed. Leafblight and Valorn are lowered into the study where the anvcient magical treasures are revealed.
Thick layers of dust are everywhere. Strange creatures and skeletal figures reside in jars embalmed for centuries. Some of the tomes are useful but some fall apart to the touch. Leafblight starts to pile the useful stuff on a table and empty anything magical into a large sack.
After an hour a magic mouth appears on one of the bookcases and yells "Begone strangers!" incessantly. The trap door crashes shut and the two companions are trapped. Leafblight does not panic; instead she continues to gather the stuff and awaits rescue.
Rescue comes on the form of three enormously strong individuals: Plo Koon and his bracer, Wyrin and her dire mace, and Tragladt the dwarf who knows how to dig through stone and how to smash down rock. It does not take them long.
But whilst they successfully smash through into the hidden study they hear movement above. Irmirsul listens hard. "I can't hear a heartbeat," he tells them.
"It's some sort of golem then," Tragladt says, "a tower guardian perhaps."
Time to leave the study. Leafblight would like to spend more time here but the heavy footsteps are menacing and getting ever closer. In a moment of inspired genius Irmirsul casts grease onto the steep spirals steps...then watches as the stone monster crashes head first down the stairs and fall forty feet until it comes to a halt.
The party hurry upwards. Irmirsul lays grease spells behind him as the party reach the ledge and secure the rope for their quick descent. The golem struggles upwards, allowing the party to hasten down the tower and back into the forest. Valorn rams an arrow with a wall of force across the entrance to the ledge and makes his way down. Plo Koon is last to make the descent, but he loses his grasp halfway down and crashes ignominiously to the forest floor. Despite sprains and a few bruises he survives the fall and urges the party to head away from the tower.
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Leafblight has already identified a dagger called Grolom's Dagger and wonders what other treasures fill her sack.
"Time for that later," Plo Koon says as he rubs the bruising. "Let's get out of this fog and put this tower behind us!"
None of the party argue, although they fall in behind the methodical Leafblight, whose straight stick theory will lead them north...
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