A summary of what happened during the game sessions:

April 27, 2001 - Session 7

The group heard the children wailing, but decided to check out the house from all sides first. So Ezhno, Rylan & Jack (yes, the same 3 who were paralyzed by the vines) went around the back. The others went in the front. There was no back entrance, but there was a back window. The only found 5 children, ages 5-12, who had just been released from the vines' control. The oldest of them came around once the strangers made themselves known, and relayed her own version of the women's story.

They decided to take the children to the women out of town before going any further.

Once the children were settled, Jack suggested that they look in all the remaining houses for other people. The women's husbands were all still missing, after all. A careful methodical search was planned, starting at the near end of the town and going to the large garden at the far end. Jon also suggested bringing torches, and they were prepared as well as lanterns.

The first house had no one inside it, as was seen from the outside. They decided not to enter after ensuring no one was at home.

The second structure was a tool shed, with all manner of farm and harvesting equipment. Jack took a scythe to attempt to use against the vines, even though he had little knowledge in its use

The third structure was a small, dilapidated shack, covered in vines. The vines needed to be hacked away to get to the door. Ezhno worked on that with his axe, until Jon was able to shove the door open.

They were assaulted by the smell of decomposing flesh. The corpse of a man, still seated at a small table, with a knife clutched in his hand, greeted them. Flies, other insects and maggots were all over the body, and a filthy pile of rags and liquor bottles (still able to be smelled over the body) were in one corner.

Jon & Margaret decided to go in, but it took Margaret a moment and some camphor on a handkerchief under her nose before she could manage to enter.

Investigating the body, she discovered that he had been strangled, as well as rope burns on his arms and legs. But there was no rope nearby, not even remnants.

There was some discussion on the liquor issue, whether or not it had an effect on the vines. While Jon & Maggie were investigating the interior of the shack, they were bitten by some flying insects. Jon killed the one on him.

Next on the way through town were the stables. There were no animals inside, nor people, but some inspection proved there had been horses stabled there 2 weeks prior.

The next house was entirely covered in vines, with brush and shrubs and plants growing inside the house as well. Light spells cast on rocks and tossed in only produced a greenish glow, so dense was the foliage. As the group debated about what they were going to do, they were attacked once more by the brainvines. After more thrashing and hacking, the vines stopped attacking, and the group decided to proceed without finding the main plant. Sana and Jack were also plagued by a few mosquitos at this point, but fought them off. Jack also realized that handling a scythe in battle was much more difficult than it seemed, and abandoned the weapon/implement.

The last building along the street had been burned, long ago. Margaret entered the ashen area and began to look through the rubble and ashes. It wasn't long before she discovered three bodies, those of a man, woman, and a child. Not desiring to spend more time searching through the wreckage, the group left after Margaret spoke a quick prayer over the dead.

That left the last house to investigate, the large stone building at the end of town, fronting the enormous garden. They approached cautiously, but other than "normal" abundant vegetation, they were not threatened.

The house had two rooms on the first floor, and stairs leading up. A kitchen, long abandoned, was to the right, with a door leading to the back. A study was to the left, and in it was a large desk, lots of cabinets, and the dead, decomposing body of a man.

He appeared to have died of natural causes, from a cursory examination. He wore two rings, which Sana pocketed. One of the rings was magical, the other was not, but was a nice piece. The rest of the room held nothing of real interest, though the desk was thoroughly searched.

The upstairs revealed a small bedroom and the treasure of the house, an alchemical laboratory, with beakers, vials, and all manner of devices. A large book lay upon the desk, with the word "Kurishan" on the outside in bold letters.

The room was thoroughly searched while Margaret set to reading the book. Rylan managed to find a secret panel, which contained a robe, a large sack of coin, and a wand. The wand and robe were magical. Rylan put on the cloak immediately, and attempted to activate it, to no obvious success.

Margaret, meanwhile, managed to determine from her cursory examination that Kurishan was attempting to reincarnate himself as a plant known as "the eternal lily", as he knew his time in this life was coming to an end. There were all manner of formula and details on his spell, but there was no record of its success, or even if it had been attempted.

As the hour was getting late, and no one wanted to attempt the garden at night, the group returned to the place where they had left the women and children, and camped for the evening. Margaret spent time studying the book and praying for her spells, choosing more plant-related ones. Rylan also prepared spells that would help against plants, and identified the magical items they had found within the house.

The ring Sana had found was a ring of plant growth; no doubt the ring Kurishan had used to help Darbin's crops and orchards to grow. The cloak was a cloak of resistance +1, and the wand was a wand of magic missles, with 13 charges left within it. The sack of coin, upon counting, held over eleven-thousand silver.

The mosquitos returned again, biting at everyone. Jon decided to get to the bottom of this mosquito mystery. Sitting down, he began to meditate. Once he had achieved the perfect state, he allowed his awareness to extend to the dimuitive insects. In short order, he had captured one between his fingers, careful not to crush it. It buzzed away in his hand, and Sana asked to see it. She was handed it, and pulled out a magnifying glass. Close inspection revealed it to be actually a tiny mechanical creature, with a tiny vial for holding blood. The only knownd work of this delicate, fine detail had been performed in the Age of Legends, and no one could remember having heard anything of this specifically in their lore and legends. It was put inside a vial and capped, where it continued to buzz away, and attempt to fly/escape, but to no avail.

Further discussion came about the rest of the missing folk of the town, how many people were missing. Some questions were asked of Kurishan, but the villagers had nothing but good things to say about the wizard who helped them with their crops. Also, they prepared more torches and lanterns for the morning's trip.

Morning came, and the group set forth. Margaret had found little more to aid them in her study of Kurishan's book. They made it almost through the rest of the village without incident. However, the last house on the left, the one that looked ready to collapse and they had continued on after the fight with the brainvines ... there, they were attacked as they walked down the street. In short order, the vines were defeated once again. This time, however, they decided not to leave the house alone. Rylan cast a spell that caused a rolling ball of fire to spring to life, and he commanded it to enter the house, and rolled it about, igniting the vines and foliage. Even though the vines were green, the fire was enough to cause the remaining main plants within to catch fire, and soon the entire house had collapsed, and burned slowly to the ground.

During this fight, Jon realized that using a torch was also not very effective, since the vines were green and not easily burnt. But they still carried the torches and lanterns with them, just in case.

The party made it to the stone house, just in front of the garden. And prepared for what they hoped was the final battle.

No quote of the evening was recorded.