Session 2: Seven Adventures' Bad Luck

And so our heroes, being heroes (and having their escape route cut off), drew their weapons and faced off against the horde of hideous creatures and their leader. Elena found herself suddenly (miraculously?) in possession of the mighty holy weapon Purifier, and resolutely began handing out the blessings of the gods to the unfortunate dead. Enthusiasm and a magic weapon turned out to be less than a perfect match for the weight of numbers and the dark priest's ability to confound their senses, and things looked grim until Lancaster hit upon simply sealing the crypt doors with a handy Wizard Lock. The shambling creatures locked outside... for now... Elena took the opportunity to strike at the priest with a mighty double-handed swing of Purifier. An inhuman screech emerged from the priest as it shattered into tiny, mirrored fragments. At the same moment, or near enough for dramatic recreation purposes, Lancaster loosed an Acid Arrow into the mass of human-headed spiders, disrupting their diabolical ritual, and opening the way for the rest of the party to kill them off.

... Whiiiile being scrabbled at by filthy-clawed ghouls, which seemed not at all perturbed by their leader being taken out of commission. Ren fell first, bouncing back with Elena's divine assistance only to be knocked senseless again moments later. Till'Ka, too, only narrowly avoided becoming a ghoul snack, and things looked dire even before they heard a loud, strange scratching beneath them, and were suddenly reminded of those mysteriously empty graves... Lancaster had time to propose taking refuge atop the fallen paladin's bier before the dead burst forth from the strangely fluid earth. One seized the already-battered Till'Ka, and dove back underground with her in its rigorous grip - others pounded Lancaster with their dead fists until he finally colapsed. But with the ritual stopped and the priest-thing defeated, the battle turned, Till'ka clawed her way back to the surface and placed the final arrow in the brain of the corpse that had attempted to suffocate her, and the party emerged from the crypt bloody but triumphant.

Mayor Bayliss thanked them profusely, and curiously refused Elena's attempts to return Purifier - The weapon she wielded, though it spoke in the self-same voice, had a different appearance from the holy mace, and the original, it seemed, rested in its place in the church. The merry-making that followed was only somewhat shadowed when Till'Ka found herself visited briefly by the spirit of the original Valencia Harcourt, trapped between the world of the living and the dead by the shattering of the mirror. The thanks of the people of Greenhill ringing in their ears and their coins jangling in their pockets, the party set off towards Axis, only to be distracted by a voice from above. The Prince of Shadows, standing on a branch that could not possibly support his weight, explained his swap of Purifier for another magically-disguised mace in his possession, and intimated that in return for this small favour, the party could help him to resolve a few small matters in Shadowport. They readily agreed, for varied personal reasons, and set off down the road that would lead them to the darkened streets and plentiful elbow-rests of Shadowport.

NEXT SESSION: May 14th, and check out the SRD for which of your class goodies you can get as your bump. You can get:

• any spell or power of 3rd level, though it will replace one of your known spells/powers: Till'ka, your Ranger Ex Cathedra talent means you can pick a 3rd-level Cleric spell, if you wish. Lancaster, note that low-level spells can be taken at higher levels for higher damage. Ren, you have your run of the 3rd-level Rogue powers, go nuts - Slick Feint and Thief's Strike seem to work well with your concept as I understand it. Elena, uh, Paladins don't get level-based powers. Check it out anyway? 
• +1 to all Skill checks. Nice and simple, and Shadowport seems like a skill-checky place.
• a feat, either boosting one of your talents, spells, or powers, or an unrelated one (strongly considering using these heritage feats, so consider those; For example, Lancaster, the Alien Mind feat there could represent your language reprogramming your brain).
• extra hit points: Ren 7, Lancaster 8, Till'Ka 8, Elena 10. Boring but, as we've seen, eminently practical.