- The group fought with the goblins on the high bank and the monstrous elder water elemental that had appeared in their midst.  The tactical advantage the goblins had proved to be very effectve, and the tide of the combat didn't turn until Taryn pulled out his orb and used its powerful breath weapon.

- It was then that the sole surviving goblin in its area - a spellcaster of some apparent power - took notice.  Using a potent stunning spell, he froze Taryn, took the orb from his hands, and disappeared into the grasslands before any of the others were aware of what had happened.

- Now deprived of his second source of power, when he came to the panicked Taryn insisted that they follow the thief.  Kael quickly found that the trail suddenly vanished a few hundred feet from the site of the encounter, however.  The group interrogated one of the subdued goblins and found that the spellcaster, called Akrisk, had taken over their tribe some months ago - though he couldn't tell them much about his abilities.  After releasng him, the group tailed him back to his warren - Ravina's divination having suggested this would be the best way to recover the artifact.  There they found a large triibe inhabiting a cavernous hollow in the ground in a small, hilly region of the grasslands...

GM's Note: Ever since Taryn had found that Orb of Dragonkind and I ruled it had actually be held for some of ts abilities to be used, I have been mindful every time he uses it.  Sooner or later, I knew that something smart enough to recogniize its power would take interest and try to deprive him of it.  As this particular NPC spellcaster was very powerful, I knew if he saw it, he would make a play for it - and I'd given him a couple of spells that would give him a shot.  Even so, several things had to go just right for him to be able to pull it off - and I didn't expect it to actually work.  So now the players are on a little detour from their time-sensitive misson, and they're having interesting coversations about how and whether to try to get it back.