- As the group made their way north toward the Matheye Forest, they became aware of a pack of norther jackals gaining size and approaching them from the west.  In order to avoid them, the group deviated from their route more and more to the east.  As they got closer, some of the company thought they saw at least one humanoid among the jackals.

- The course change, unfortunately, led them into an ankheg hive.  Due to Carmella's Pass Without Trace spell, however, the ankhegs were just as surprised as they were when a few fell through the mounds of loose earth and into their tunnels.

- The resulting skirmish was chaotic and unorganized, but those who had remained above finally managed to pull the others up and out of the holes and evacuate the area before they were completely overrun.  Before emerging, Kugrash noticed the ruins of masonry and possible carvings among the monstrous insects hive complex.

- Arriving at the edge of the forest by early evening, the group was introduced to the eighth and final member of their company: Lethan Stahzer.  Kugrash recognized the name and the likeness as someone his friend Joccan had warned him about back in Erelan...

- The group made ready for trouble and, one by one, made their way outside.  There, they found the town under attack by kobolds while something roared and screeched overhead.

- After finishing off a group of kobolds that had crawled up to their area through the storm drains in order to start fires further into the city, they were met by a detachment of soldiers who urged them on to the gate where the bulk of the fighting was taking place.

- Down near the gate, in the thick of the fighting, something large suddenly fell from the sky, completely obliterating some nearby buildings.  Emerging from the rubble was an enormous white dragon and a giant, eagle-like bird - both injured and fighting one another.  While the group took a couple of pot-shots at the dragon, few of the soldiers had the nerve to approach, and all of the kobolds had fled.  It was only moments before the dragon grabbed the great bird by the neck, and slammed it into the ground.

- The wyrm declared its victory before letting loose and icy blast that froze several streets and leaping into the sky.

- The town spent the next couple of days trying to re-secure the gate (which had been burned through), restore the destroyed and frozen areas of town, and tend to the wounded.

- Fyndwhyr came to visit them a couple of days later, asking if they were still committed to his expedition.  They told him they were, and that they had received information from a mysterious figure that if the expedition was to be a success, time was of the essence.  The party set out the following morning, making their way north...

- After further discussion with the stage operators, the group vote overall was to go ahead and let the local wainwright repair the stage properly, even if it cost more and set them back several days.  Jesse, the man technically "in charge" was the only dissenting voice, but was hesitant to go against everyone else on the journey (including 4 paying customers) and so he ultimately relented and made the necessary preparations.

- In the meantime, Kevin, Percy, and Montana joined with three townsfolk to find the bear that came through and killed a couple of men two days previous.  They tracked the enormous creature northeast across the river and up into the hills north of town, eventually coming to a cave opening, outside of which was a tree from which hung a couple dozen dead animals.  As they contimplated whether to go in or dynamite the entrance, they caught sight of a young girl who told them they should leave - becoming increasingly hysterical, talking about her "daddy".  Somehow, Montana recognized the girl as the daughter of a man he had saved from a burning building in Grayfalls three years earlier.  It was then that thick black smoke began pouring out of the cave.

- The group pulled back from the cave entrance.  Snarls, growls, and moving shadows began to issue from the cloud of smoke, and the townsfolk began shooting at it, but when this had no effect, quickly ran.  A woman - presumably the girl's mother - then arrived, looking for her daughter, Una.  As she began dragging the hysterical girl away from the smoking cave and the strange men, Percy pursued them - only to see a bright flash of light as the woman collapsed unconscious and Una began to float up off the ground, staring at him through yellow eyes and telling him threateningly that he "should have listened".

- Believing the girl to be possessed, Percy and Montana immediately attacked - Percy's 'bolt' spell nearly killing her.  As the woman regained consciousness, Kevin was over the girl, using his divine blessing to save her life - though she was still greivously injured.  They carried her back to her house, and advised the woman, Lisa, as to her care and need to see a doctor.

- The three returned to Clark's Ford where they had a brief conversation with one of the men who'd accompanied them - he hadn't seen the other two, nor did he have any interest in pursuing the matter futher.  After Montana and Kevin retired for the night, Percy was having a drink at the Sagebrush saloon when he saw a familiar man in a pinstriped suit.  The man smiled, and walked over to his table asking "So, what do you think of miss Una...?"

- As the rest of the group began fighting the jackal in the street, Mido ran up and into the inn.  Inside, he found more jackals and the tavern area a complete wreck.  The  jackal there suddenly transformed into a monstrous humanoid-jackal.  I tried to grab Mido with its claws, but he slipped out of its reach.  Unfortunately, when he met it eyes he passed out and collapsed.  Waking in a dark chamber later, he found himself being addressed by someone else.  This person told him that they must abandon their expedition or they would all die.  There was a flash of light and Mido passed out again - but just before he did, he caught sight of the speaker: a creature with man's torso but the lower body of a great lion.

- Meanwhile, the others entered the inn and killed or drove off the remaining jackals.  They found the entire establishment wrecked, and the ominous words "we are watching you" gouged into the floors of their rooms.  They searched the inn and the surrounding area, but found no trace of their friend.  They helped the innkeeper clean up the place and stayed the night there.  Mido turned up around 4am, having awakened in the tunnel between the Hillside district and the Undercroft.  He woke them up and relayed what he had "learned".

- In the following days, they sent word to Fyndwhyr at the keep about this new possible threat to the expedition, ultimately deciding they would proceed but warily.  Mido, Jaydah, and Carmella all received thier 50% payment advance to prepare for the expedition, and the group decided they would pool and divide the 300gp 4 ways, so as not to leave Kugrash out.

- Kugrash met up with his friend Joccan a couple of times - once to "celebrate" their armwrestling match, and once more.... unplanned.  Kugrash questioned Joccan about the jackal creatures, and the man seemed to know something about them - suggesting they were part of a dangerous organization, and that Kugrash would be better off leaving town.  The second time they met, Joccan had actually come to find him.  The man was wearing a hooded cloak and acting wary.  He showed Kugrash a wanted poster of a man called Lethan Stahzer.  Joccan told him he believed this man was involved with the expedition or with Fyndwhyr, and was not to be trusted.  He offered Kugrash 500gp if he could get Stahzer arrested - or even if he could just "prevent" him from returning to the Plain.  No questions asked.

- It was a couple of nights later when the group was awakened n the middle of the night by the keep's alarm bell.  Looking outside, they could see a couple of flickering fires further down the hillside, as well as movement in the streets.  As well, they could hear the distant din of shouts and commotion - and a tremendous roar from overhead...

- The following day, the group spent some time cleaning up and getting ready for the banquet at the lord's manor that night - where they were to get some details about the expedition they'd been hired for.  Kugrash meanwhile, went looking for an instrument-maker who could "fix up" his axe-flute and ended up in an arm-wrestling contest with a man called Joccan in the Avenue Tavern.  He lost the contest, but barely - and his opponent's reaction to the victory seemed a little overly-humble for his demeanor.

- At the banquet - after a "fine" meal and more casual conversation with those present - their host, the archivist Eughenn Fyndwhyr, explained their objective.  He had found some old maps which contained some markings of unknown structures deep in the northern wilderness.  Their intention was to travel to these locations and investigate.  His hope seemed to be that one may be the remains of an ancient and unknown city.  They were to depart in a week's time.

- Returning from the banquet later that evening, they found the lights in the street near their inn mysteriously extinquished, casting the street into darkness.  Remembering their encounter from the previous evening, they approached cautiously.  As they did so, they could hear occasional shouts, crashes, and breaking glass coming from the inn - and they saw a  wolf-like creature emerge from the shadows coming toward them - baring its fangs and growling...

- As the shootout began, Jesse and George managed to press the stage foward while Percy, Kevin, and Montana exchanged a few bullets with the bandits.  There were relatively few casualties on either side by the time of their escape.  George was the only one who'd taken a particularly hard hit, and Kevin was able to call upon his Higher Authority to heal it before anyone really knew what had happened.

- The group proceded on to Gainer, where they spent a somewhat uneventful evening at the run-down hotel along the Highland Trail.  The following day they discovered the right rear wheel of the stage had developed some issues.  A few spokes were fractured and it was flexing worryingly.  This slowed their progress somewhat.  During one of their stops, they were meet by a traveling preacher who warned them about a beast that had recently come through Clark's Ford and killed a couple of men.

- Upon arriving in Clark's Ford, Jesse went to find a wainwright to repair the stage's wheel while the others headed to the Sagebrush saloon.  There they met a few men organizing a hunting party to go after the bear that had killed their friends...

- The group left Sims' Camp the following morning and sailed the remainder of the way to Erelan. On arrival, the captain Satwi had the Jovossa pulled out of the water for inspection and found that it had sustained damage she was unsure how to fix.  She and Hemmet would be in town for a few days at least - and were a little hesitant to make the return journey on their own.

- They made their way to the top of Erelan's bluff to the Lord's Keep where they spoke with Regulus Brandt, the keep's quartermaster.  They were given letters of invitation to a banquet to be held soon, and notes for accommodation at a local inn called the Cardinal Arms.

- The group spend a few days in town, exploring the place and looking for such things as smiths, shops, libraries, and so on.  One evening as they were on their way to the inn from the Red Elk Tavern, they came upon a stretch of road darkened by covered lamps.  Here they were attacked by a pair of grey oozes that had come up from the storm drains.  They saw the movement of some small humanoids - possibly children - in a nearby alley, but were unable to get a closer look before they'd disappeared into the maze of side streets.

- The group finalized plans to take Carlson's stage coach north to Flagstaff the following week, making preparations as were necessary.  Both Percy and Kevin sought out Ms Mason at different times and for different reasons, but Father Delworth eventually succeeded in getting her to (grudgingly) agree to join them, convincing her that she was involved with what was unfolding.  Meanwhile, Percy passed the time at the card tables, and Montana spent some time getting to know the Armstrong miners at the Dollar Saloon.

- The night before their departure, Kevin was awakened by Father Silas Butler, the older priest who had been something of a mentor to him for the past few years. In his failing health he had been known to have episodes of delirium - and this seemed to be one.  Father Butler was pounding on Kevin's door in a panic, asking where he was going and rambling about "falling into darkness".  Kevin did his best to calm the man, who eventually collapsed onto the floor.  Before he lost consciousness, his voice darkened and he whispered a final question to Kevin: "Are you coming to see us? It has been so long..."

- The following morning at sunrise, the stage headed north.  Jesse Carlson had spoken with marshall Haney about the threat of indians, and while the marshall said they'd noted increased movements/activity, he didn't think a trip north was necessesarily "unwise", but to be cautious.  As their journey progressed late into the afternoon, the stage slowly came to a stop and the group could hear shouting from outside.  Stepping out, Kevin noted the presense of a young apache indian in the road demanding payment for use of the road (for the "spirits"), but that the native's companions on the hillside and behind bushes and rocks nearby where, in fact, white men attempting to disguise themselves as indians.  As the tense "negotiation" began to fall apart, one of the men on the hills stood up and yelled "Dammit, just shoot 'em, boys!"...

- The group fought off the kobold attackers while Satwi and Hemmet attempted to navigate the boat through the shallows to the right of the stone outcropping protruding from the center of the river.  The effort required dumping some cargo and quickly emptying some ballast tanks but still resulted in a couple of hard hits on the bottom, resulting in some moderate damage to the underside of the vessel.  The fight against the kobolds and a couple of worgs was tough, but they ultimately fended enough of them off that the rest declined to pursue them further.

- Some time later, as they made their way further up the river, they were suddenly hit by a strong, cold wind from the west, and witnessed the river ahead of them freezing over, they attempted to turn the boat around to escape, but found themselves froze in the river before they could.  Across the ice, they were approached by a ghostly horse and rider, which Jaydah believed to be a wraith of some kind.  It seemed in command of the howling wind and the intense cold, but rather than attacking aggressively, only approached, talking to them in some unknown language.  Jaydah thought it sounded something like an antiquated common dialect, but was only able to pick out a few probable words.  When they were unable to respond to the creature, it disappated and vanished - and the frigid wind subsided.

- The group was delayed significantly by having to cut themselves out of the ice, and Satwi told them they wouldn't quite make it to the capitol that day - instead, suggesting they make for the edge of the forest and a small hunting and logging camp that sat by the river there.  They reached the camp just after sundown, and spent the evening talking with the locals about the gnolls, the frost wraith, and other local events - before heading out again the following morning.

- The three enjoyed something of a reunion at a casual card game with Miss Lily Mason and a couple of other saloon patrons until the others had left - at which point, father Delworth produced the flyer he'd found about a "revival" in Flagstaff - a revival that claimed Father Mandrake (whom he believed dead) and the ominous words "LEST YE BURN" at the bottom.  He'd been in conversation with a local stage operator by the name of Jesse Carlson who was making preparations to head north in a few days.  Believing Lily Mason was somehow also connected with these events - after all, she had been in Grayfalls three years earlier - Father Delworth attempted to pressure her into joining them.

- In the midst of their conversation, escalating tensions between a couple groups of miners present errupted into a brawl.  Some punches were thrown and some attempted to talk the belligerents down - ultimately succeeding.

- The following day, Montana made his way to the address he was paid to deliver the envelope to.  The man at the address, a Li Jun Zhoa, did not seem at all happy to see him.  He gave Montana the promised payment, and requested that he wait until evening for further conversation.  When Montana indicated he was just paid to deliver the message and didn't know anything else, Zhao's mood seemed to improve - he told Montana not to worry about returning, and bid him good day.