We gathered in Llast. A dangerous place, to be sure, but it was the only path to Luskan, and that was where we had to go. The fact that evil was well represented that night didn't help any.

"I don't know what it is," said Kayn, "but its evil, and its powerful. We can't let it continue."

We all murmured our agreement. We were mostly elves and 1/2 elves that night, The Grey Company. Eric Dreamsmyth, myself, Windhawk1, Wolfcry, RAW WILL, and Avator. Kayn, Staerachas, and Mykaraud represented humanity. [Note: my apologies for any mis-spellings or incorrect character info. I forgot to take notes. I special apologies for a rather loose interpretation of that nights events. Poetic license. :)] [Oh, and I hope I haven't forgotten anybody] A large party, but many of the members were yet inexperienced. Eric, Kayn, and I were the only ones with extensive experience in the realms, and this was a powerful foe we were matching against. I was nervous.

Luskan, always a dangerous city, had become even more perilous of late. Citizens were vanishing, bugbears roamed the streets. Even rumors of trolls were circulating. Word had reached that some of the missing citizens were finally found, but as statues. Most were broken, so restoration was impossible. Many dressed in foolish clothing, or painted with grotesque faces, making a mockery of their horribe condition. None of us were looking forward to this excursion.

"A medusa, maybe," Eric suggested. "Or perhaps a pack of basilisks. Or......" he left it trailing. None of us wanted to consider the "or". I looked at Wolfcry, Avator, and the other younger members. I wished we could leave them behind, but we needed every man and elf. I wished there were more experienced adventurers available, but there weren't. I wished this whole trip could be avoided, but it couldn't. What a lousy way to spend my birthday.

We set out for Luskan that evening. True adventurers that we were, the journey was filled with jokes, tales, and light-hearted insults, all of which failed to take our mind off of the one bit of knowledge that was constantly insinuating itself into our thoughts: we were leaving as nine, but the odds were incredibly slim that we would return that way.

RAW WILL was beside me, fingering his magical two-handed sword eagerly. He was more experienced than many members of the party, and a sturdy fighter. Still, I knew that the chances of his surviving through the night were not good. Wolfcry, laughing next to him, taunting me about Zeldas and how he would have her instead of I, would be among the first to fall, I was sure. His bravery and impulsiveness far outstripped his skill. His spell book was barely an inch thick. I prayed to Helm that he live to add many pages to it.

The guilt returned, stronger than before. Mykaraud, Staerachas, Windhawk1, Avator. How many of them would die tonight? Kayn and Eric tok the lead confidently, but I knew their concerns were the same as mine. We all knew what had to be done, and knew that there was no-one else to do it right now.

"Hey! Farradel!" Wolfcry called to me.

"What do you want, Wolfboy?" I asked with a smile.

"Do you think I should wear armour to mine and Zeldas' wedding? Or maybe my dress tunic?" He laughed and easily dodged only half-serious punch I threw at him, and I laughed with him. It was hard to believe that this elf was three times my age, hard not to think of him as a little brother. Hard to imagine him lying in a pool of his own blood.

RAW WILL shook his head at our antics. He was experienced enough to know what we were walking into, and knew the odds well enough. He probably also knew that I was not nearly as confident as I appeared. Despite this, he continued. He knew, at a level that Wolfcry couldn't, that he was facing death tonight. But he continued. That's what adventurers did. They continued until they could no longer do so.

"'GRIFFS!"

The warning cry came from up ahead, and a second later Wolfcry, RAW WILL and I were surrounded by them. I couldn't see the rest of the party. We were cut off. Greyfang flew from his sheath as I surveyed our situation. RAW WILL was holding his own to my left, and I would be O.K. even alone. Wolfcry, however, was surrounded. His sword danced in his hands, and the hippogriffs were at bay for now, but he was faltering. I could see the fear in his eyes.

I cursed and ran toward him. Running through the spells in my head, I wished for a single Hold Monster spell, but my mastery didn't extend that far. If Eric were here, or Kayn..... If.

I hurled a magic missile at one, and it fell. Not much, but it bought me some time. The others were momentarily confused. Wolfcry seized the oppurtunity and ran another through. I allowed myself a glimmer of hope. We could pull through this one. He was going to make it.

I heard the scream befor I saw anything. A 'griff was on top of him, clawing and pecking. Feasting.

"WOLFCRY!" Greyfang took over. Five minutes later they were all dead, and I was kneeling at Wolfcry's body. RAW WILL stood next to me, silent.

"Farradel! Are you all right?" It was Eric and the rest, returning from their own battle. They had all made it. All of them. Kayn and Eric had been with them. Of course they had made it. They they had been well protected.

Eric and Kayn stopped when they saw Wolf's body. "Wolf..." Kayn muttered. Eric hung his head and said nothing.

"I couldn't stop them, " I whispered. "I tried. They just wouldn't stop. There were so many...."

RAW WILL put a hand on my shoulder. "You did everything you could, Farradel."

Eric was weeping. "If I had been here....."

"But you weren't here, Eric," I said. "I was, and it happened anyway."

"You can't blame yourself, Farradel." Kayn said. "Sometimes there is nothing we can do, any of us."

I knew he was right, but for now I grieved, and I hated myself. If I had been faster. If I had done it differently. If....

The ceremony was terse. We had a mission, and long way to go before it was over.

The streets of Luskan were empty when we arrived, which was just as well. Our party was not exactly inconspicuous, and the less we were seen the better. We arrived at the inn without incident.

We prepared in relative silence, but we all knew what we were thinking. We'd already lost Wolfcry, and the danger was about to increase ten-fold. Who would be next? Beyond this point, nobody was safe, not even Kayn.

Finally, we had to move. Sitting in the inn would not end this any quicker. We shouldered our packs and moved out.

"What are we looking for?" asked Avator.

Kayn shrugged. "Anything that might give us a clue. _Something_ is obviously causing the trouble here, and I'm afraid its nothing small. We'll find it. Or, it'll find us."

We found it sooner than we expected. "Here!" Eric called out. He was standing in front of a door, looking down at the ground.

"Stone chips. From a statue, " he said.

We looked at each other with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. The fragments may have been a coincidence, but probably not. We had found what we were looking for, or were very close.

Without a spoken word, we prepared for trouble. Weapons were drawn and spells readied. We had no idea what we would be facing. It was not a good feeing.

Kayn burst through the door with Fireball already on his lips. Empty. Nothing. Not even a kobold. You could feel the sighs.

"Dead end" Mykaraud muttered.

"I doubt it," Eric replied.

"Fan out," Kayn said. "Search the walls. Listen to them. Feel for drafts."

"Secret door?" Staerachas asked.

"Probably," I said. "You rarely find what you're looking for out in the open. Especially if it doesn't want to be found."

A few minutes and we were rewarded. "I found it!" RAW WILL cried. It was well concealed, but craftsmen that could fool elven eyes are few and far between. It was only a matter of time.

Again we prepared ourselves, knowing we secret entries almost gaurenteed secret enemies. Our efforts would not go to waste this time.

Again, Kayn burst through the door. Again, Fireball was at the ready. This time, our preperations paid off.

We faced a horde of hobgoblins and a few ogres. I breathed a sigh of relief. This would not be a problem. I wouldn't even need a spell. Greyfang would make short work of them.

"Troll!" I looked again, startled. Windhawk1 was right. In the back, partly concealed by the ogres, was a huge troll. Maybe this wouldn't be so easy after all.

Of course, Kayn was here. His fireball hurled toward the enemy, killing most of the hobgoblins and ogres instantly. The troll was badly wounded, but not down.

Eric lept forward and his sword flashed once, twice. The troll fell in a bloody charred heap.

We finished off the rest of the enemy easily. They were disorganized, and panic stricken at the swift defeat of the troll. None of us even broke a sweat.

A quick survey of the room revealed another secret door. Behind it a staircase lead into the bowels of Luskan. Some of the younger elves looked uneasy at the prospect of going underground, but none backed away. We were adventurers, and we continued until we could continue no longer.

We moved down cautiously, thankful for the torches that were mounted in the walls. One by one, we passed through the door....

Until it closed of its own accord. And we weren't ll through.

"RAW WILL!" Windhawk1 cried. He hadn't made it. He was on the other side. Alone. And we could hear the sound of battle.

We tried everything. Magic, force, prayers, to no avail. The door remained shut. And the battle outside raged on.

Until we heard the scream, the scream in a voice that was all too familiar. RAW WILL had fallen.

Eric banged on the door one more time, with a fury that I rarely saw in him. I understood. In one day, he had lost two of his Company, both young, both full of promise. I felt the rage as well. Whatever it was down here, it would pay. Already the cost of this adventure was too high, and it had only just begun.

The dungeons of Luskan were a deep red, enhanced by the light of the flickering torches. We were a grim party that evening. So many had been lost already, and we were only now beginning the most dangerous part. Without a word, we shouldered our packs and made our way into the bowels of the abyss.

"Where's Avator?" Windhawk1 asked suddenly. We stopped. We looked. He was gone. The search was as thorough as the situation would allow, but we found nothing. Standing next to Eric, I heard him whisper, almost imperceptebly "Another one." We never saw him again.

We moved on reluctantly. There were no tears, no cries, no savage promises of revenge. We were empty. Even elves have a limit, and I could see that Eric had reached his. So much promise, so much life, casually brushed aside as so much chaffe. We no longer sought victory, or revenge, or the destruction of evil. We simply sought the end.

It seemed that our path was crossed with stars from the beginning. We soon came upon a contingent of trolls and ogres, intent on our blood. They moved in on us quickly, and we were scattered. Kayn, always prepared for danger, let loose a fireball, ut his positioning was bad. One of the trolls was badly burned, but so was Kayn. He would live, but his maps were destroyed.

Unable to use my magic from my position, I lept into battle with Greyfang, and quickly took down one of the ogres. At my side were Windhawk1 and Staerachas. No sooner had the ogre fallen than two trolls took his place. We fought hard, and Windhawk1 acquitted himself well. The enemy was overwhelming him, however, and I could see him going down.

I tried to shift my position to help, but the other troll had Staerachas and me locked in battle, and I couldn't break off. Greyfang danced in my hands, almost with a will of its own, but all my speed and skill weren't enough. I fought on with Windhawk1's death ringing in my ear. His cry was not so much of pain or fear, but of fury. A dwarf would have said that he died well. I just know that he died.

We finished off the rest without incident. Wearily, after some brief words for Windhawk1, we moved on. After several battles with trolls, ogres, and even a large wing of wyverns, we knew we had arrived at the center of the evil. You could feel it, moving around you, clinging to you, invading you with every breath. I was sure that this was what life in the Underdark must be like. That thought made me very uneasy.

"I have good news," Kayn announced suddenly. Good news? I thought. How could there possibly be good news amidst all of this?

"Deadpulse is coming. We've been communicating, and he is almost here."

That name meant nothing to me, by Eric brightened considerably at its mention. Anything that will cheer Eric, I thought, is good news indeed.

"WHERE IS THAT DUNCE KAYN? AND THAT BLASTED ELF 'SMYTH? HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WANDER IN THIS MAZE TO FIND THOSE BLOOMING IMBECILES?"

My face set into a scowl almost immediately. I have difficulty accepting any person who speaks of Eric in such a way. Eric DreamSmyth, afte all, gave me my start in Neverwinter, and gave me a place to belong. I would sooner cut out a person's tongue than hear it wag in such a way.

"You had best be careful of yourself, friend," I cautioned. "I will not tolerate any slights aimed at my captain." I fingered Greyfang's hilt meaningfully. Sometimes, I think, my drow heritage gets the better of me.

Eric, seeing my reaction, put a quieting hand on my shoulder. "Peace," he murmured. "Deadpulse is a friend, and this is his way. He is rough, but I have put my life in his hands many time, and he had always returned it."

I grudgingly accepted this, but kept my eye on Deadpulse. He would have to prove himself in the coming battle.

"It's time," Kayn stated. "We all know what we're probably facing here, so prepare yourselves accordingly."

Differences forgotten, we made ready. I cast protection spells to ward against evil, blessed and prayed for the party, and set about duplicating myself to confuse enemies. Another spell surrounded me with mystical fire, making any physical attacks on me dangerous for my enemy. Finally, I magically enlarged myself. This fight would be bladework only. No magic, other than protection, would help.

Finally, we were ready. The door in front of us was jet black, with mystic runes inscribed on it. Quickly, we pushed through.

It is one thing to be expecting a beholder. It is another thing entirely to meet one. Six feet in diamter, with eight eyes waving on top and one large eye in the center, it is a fearsome sight indeed. It is no less fearsome a foe.

All of our preperation did little for Staerachas. No sooner had we entered than he was turned to stone by a sickly yellow ray, emanating from one of the waving eyes.

The ensuing battle was furious. Mykaraud, the only remaing apprentice of our group, fought with a viciousness that surprised us all. Heedless of the danger, he lept at the creature and landed a telling blow with his magical sword. The rest of us were not far behind with our attacks.

We circled the enemy, preventing him from atacking more than one of us at a time with his deadly rays. Our attacks were furious, and it was unable aim with any accuracy. Desperate, it launched itself forward and sank its teeth into my arm. The pain was excrutiating, but so was the fire that swept over the beholder's body when it hit. I thanked Helm for my forsight and moved in for the kill.

Perhaps it was rage, perhaps it was the pain, but I missed in my lunge, and fell forward, off balance. I could feel the beholder closing on me, I could smell the evil as it approached. There was no way I could move in time. I was going to die.....

Then, a strange gurgling sound, and a dead "thump". I turned to see the beholder's lifeless form on the floor, Deadpulse standing over it with his bloodied blade.

"What, not even a 'thank you', elf?" he asked with a smile.

We emerged to daylight, but we were cheered little by the sight. Too many had died. We began as eleven, but onyl five of the original party lived to see the end. We prayed for their souls, and cried for our loss, and wondered who would be next. But, somehow, we continued. We were adventurers, and thats what adventurers do.