• Before Corwin will get the party past the Devereux guards, he asks for a favor. Countess Taris’ son, Derek (4 years old), has been taken hostage by Devereux henchmen and is being kept in a manor outside Arness. The party must rescue him before Corwin will help.

• Fin shapeshifts into a sparrow and flies to the manor to scout things out.

• Unable to find the boy outside or in any of the rooms with windows, Fin flies into an empty room and turns into a rat. He finds nothing but dire wolves and humans (probably werewolves) hanging around the house.

• Luckily, the wolves did not smell Fin and he was able to make it out. But not before he overheard some of the humans talking about what sounded like Derek (I think “little bastard” was the term used): ”...wonder if he’ll catch anything the first time out?”

• This made it seem like Derek was not at the manor anymore, so Fin shifted back into sparrow form and flew into the woods in search of Derek. Unable to locate the boy, he turned back to report to the party once it got dark.

• While Fin was scouting, Shun decided to get to know Corwin a little better. They mostly talk about politics and Shun discovers that Corwin actually thinks highly of Duke Harcourt. He doesn’t believe that Harcourt kmows what the Devereux’s have been up to. Corwin also talks about his hatred of Smoth’s father and how he’s the root of all Kensing’s problems. Since Smoth is not “Smoth”, he keeps his mouth shut, not wanting to start any trouble with an ally.

• Shun with help from the others finally convinces Corwin of Harcourt’s wickedness and Corwin pledges his men to our cause when we need them. Bonus!

• When Fin returned, the party decided to have Fin continue scouting in Eagle form and have the rest of the party wait on the fringes of the woods in case the boy came back.

• In a clearing in the woods, Fin sees 6 humans in loin-cloths eating a deer. One of the humans is a child.

• Assuming it must be Derik, Fin swoops in and grabs the child before any of his under-dressed companions can react.

• The child is reluctant to go. (The party thinks he’s already been turned into a werewolf by the Devereux’s) He struggles and causes Fin to lose his grip. The impact from the fall injured the child most severely, but Fin was able to heal him.

• After regrouping, Keldon teleported everyone back to Arness. Since they had a few extra people along this time, Smoth and Fin had to travel in the Bag of Holding.

• After the trip, both of them said it didn’t smell all that bad…

Experience

Scouted the Devereaux mansion (and avoided the fights) – CR 9

9	3600
10	2700
11	1650

Rescued Derek from the Devereaux thugs – CR 9

9	3600
10	2700
11	1650

Totals:

9	7200
10	5200
11	3300

xp/person:

9	1800
10	1300
11	825

Completely avoided combat ;) – story award (Finn only) – 500xp

Excellent roleplaying with Corwin – story award (Shun only) – 750xp

Note: only 1/2 xp to Smoth (not present)