The party made its way down the shore, and closer to the stronghold on the other side of the island. Jagged cliffs, and more giant shrimp forced us to move inland, away from the water. Suddenly the lizardman (scouting ahead) signaled for a stop. Ahead, in the middle of a clearing, sat a strange beast… part lion, part goat, part dragon…  a Chimera, and it was wounded.

The Lizardman first used his skills with animals to try to calm the creature, but either he wasn’t a skilled as the job required, or it’s pain had driven it beyond his reach. The beast reared on it’s hind legs and prepared to attack. The rest of the party quickly moved forward and a short, but bloody, battle ensued.

The Chimera fell fast, and at second glance the group could see sword, spear and arrow wounds on it’s hide. The beast had obviously fallen afoul of the pirates.

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After checking the clearing for other threats, the party continued on to the fort on the other side of the island. Now, coming at it over land, instead of by shore. After a tense hike through open terrain, the party arrived at a cliff… 100 feet over the fort. A perfect scouting position, but not the best place from which to mount an attack. About a dozen pirates are in the yard… working, keeping watch, or guarding the doors. A plan quickly formed, hastened by the lizardman’s impatience to ‘run in there and kick down the door’: The lizard will climb down with a rope and Harold in tow, followed by Booth and Qui Feng. Fraeiyn will perch on a ledge above and provide archery support.

Harold clambers onto the lizards back, and he begins the climb, trailing rope behind him. The climb is made quickly, and as he nears the bottom he leaps from the wall and attacks… with Harold still strapped on like a backpack! The two of them make a surprisingly effective team, and they hold off the pirates while Booth and Qui Feng follow. The five heros clear the deck in short order, and then make there way into the fort.

After crossing a trapped hallway, the air fills with sound! Gibbering, incoherent nonsense accompanied by wails, screams, and laughter… a creature of nightmares rounds to corner… a bloated sack of flesh, covered in wide eyes and shouting, biting, seeking mouths. Fear and confusion radiate from the beast, as it’s joined by a second of it’s kind. Booth quickly loses his wits, and flees… or attempts to. The rest of the party leap into action. The creatures fill the room with noxious fumes, but Fraeiyn’s blundrbuss loudly reports and one of them explodes into ichor and gore… the team makes short work of the other aberration.

The room is filled with darkness, and a vision appears… a creature, not of this world, spouting demonic speech. A warning? It disappears as suddenly as it arrived. Our heros are tired, and decide to rest a moment before moving on.

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