When you look in the desecrated sarcophagus you find that the body of the lich has disappeared, though there is a healthy amount of gold and items remaining. In all, you find a horde of magic items along with 5,400 gold pieces. You also find a fine looking gem in the rubble where the Vecna idol stood. After divvying up the booty, you retreat to the high priest’s bedchamber for some much needed rest and healing, but first you search it to find a cache of clerical scrolls.
The night is uneventful and the next day you exit the temple and retrieve your cart and horses. On the ride back you are engulfed in a fireball followed immediately by a choking cloud. When the smoke clears you notice the cart in ruins and the horses dead, and standing in front of you is a large creature with fiery orange skin demanding a toll for passage. In true form, you attack the impudent ne’er-do-well, only to quickly find out that he is a bit more than you can handle, especially after he summons a huge fire elemental. Rethinking your situation, you decide discretion to be the better part of valor and offer to pay him his toll. Soulan offers him 200 gold pieces, which he accepts. The others pay likewise with the exception of Lanolin who gives him the Vecna gem. J’Saahuis, on the other hand, jokingly offers him the gnome. Instead of being humored by the suggestion, the creature is intrigued and takes the wild elf up on his offer.
Glimnoddle, also not amused, tries to make a run for it but is quickly surrounded by the beast on his elemental minion. Just then, the creature calls forth a wall of fire, encircling the three and cutting them off from the rest of the group. With all intention to prevent Glim’s abduction, the men move to intervene, but when the fire wall dissipates the creatures and Glim are nowhere to be seen.
Dejected, you make your way back to Axegard on foot and take respite at Edgar’s flat while Soulan takes word of your gnome-knapping to the sheriff. The sheriff identifies the beast as the Noble Salamander Erasmus, a dangerous foe that terrorized the area some 15 years ago until the town paid him a handsome amount to move on. He tells Soulan to go to the adventurer’s guild and report the incident to the guild master, Gladiatorus, champion of Axegard.
Once at the guildhall, you speak with Gladiatorus who accepts the quest and tells you to gather as much information about where to find this Erasmus and meet back in two days time. He also informs you that if you wish to accompany him, you must first join the guild.
Wanting to aid in freeing your friend you agree, pay your yearly 50 gold piece fee, and get your papers. It is explained to you that you may take on local jobs with a seniority ranking of 1 – 3. Once you choose an assignment, your papers will be stamped and upon completion of the job you will be paid. Furthermore, you are not eligible to take on any further jobs until the first is completed or you choose to withdraw from it. Withdrawing is done at the guildhall, but can affect your seniority ranking.
Since you have two days, you decide to take on a level-1 seniority job posted in the hall. It tells of an ankheg that has been terrorizing the old McReedy farm and claims to pay 500 gold. You go to the desk where they stamp your papers and tell you how to get to the place.
Once there you meet with cantankerous old McReedy who takes you out in the field where there are six enormous holes in the ground and explains how this giant bug crawls up each night and ravages his crops. After the farmer leaves, you take cover in the tall corn and wait for nightfall. Shortly after the sun sets, you feel a rumble beneath you. Lanolin’s sharp elven ears picks up a faint clicking sound as the insect rises out of a hole directly in front of him. Everyone in cover attacks with ranged weapons and you begin to dominate the field of battle until a second bug emerges. One of them scans the area and locks onto Bryce. As it approached it spits acid but misses. Bryce is bit quite badly, but the others rush to his aid in melee combat and the ankhegs are decisively dispatched.
McReedy, overjoyed at the news, signs your papers and allows you to take the exoskeletons of the creatures with you. Upon returning to the guildhall, you get a completed stamp on your papers and the promised reward. You then decide to turn in for the night.
When you arrive at Edgar’s, though, you notice…