The CATS crew took a break atop the dark tower (I hope stephen king doesn’t sue). Then they set out through the ruins of Darkmith back to their airship to collect a few things. Biminey is positive they won’t be able to get the ship moving again without more information for him. [It would be the equivalent of a mechanic from the 50's trying to fix an engine problem caused by a faulty computer chip in a modern day car.]
They headed out through the ruins the next day, north toward home. Their trip through the city saw them harassed by small bands of ferals but none in forces large enough to do much more than minor wounding and abrasions. Their pursuit trailed off as they entered a more damaged section of town.
In the center of a curiously free of rubble area they found a crypt of white stone bound in metal that was untarnished, no small feat in the humid air a city sinking into a swamp. Biminey went to examine it while the others held back out of fear like little kids confronted with something with big teeth and red eyes.
He found a crypt that was constructed of the finest craftsmanship, engraved in runes in the dead language of the city (dead as far as Biminey was concerned) as well as runes of arcanic nature that protected the crypt he thought from outside influences. As he went back to join the party he noticed tall emaciated figures. It was as if they’d been veiled from his sight until he left the crypt unmolested and then suddenly he became aware of them. As did the others.
The figures were not much more than leathery skin and bone with arms abnormally long and fingers tipped in claws stained with ancient blood. More stains covered their faces especially around the very large mouths and down their chests. Their eyes were sewn shut but they seemed able to see in spite of it as they tracked his movements exactly. Â The only motion of any of them were the slow turning of their heads and sporadic slow mouth openings revealing rows of needled pointed teeth. Burned or carved into their foreheads was a sigil that matched the one carved above door to the crypt. A sigil that Biminey associated with that of the prince who came back to Darkmith and destroyed the city to purge it of the darkness and chaos brought upon it by his soulridden royal family.
Backing away the party detoured around the strange crypt and the stranger guardians and continued on their trip through the ruins. At least reaching the swamps they hadn’t gone very far when they were attacked by giant crocodiles with huge clamping jaws. The fight was difficult, movement in the water and deep mud of the swamps making it hard to get around but the group prevailed without serious although most of the people involved in direct melee combat with the crocodiles ended up clamped in their mouths on at least one occasion.
Learning the dangers of the swamps as they continued they found it easier going after time but still very draining. Then a huge explosion of water in front of them revealed a creature that seemed to be swamp given animate form. A Swamp Walker surged up out of the water and it’s powers reached out and two trees nearby twisted their roots up out of the mud and dirt and started flailing branches at the group while the swamp walker beat on them with smashing limbs and generating wave surges that attempted to drown them. The trees were beaten down without much trouble but the Walker took considerable damage before its essence was extinguished and it dissolved back into the swamp of its nature.
[Level 5 Solo Soldier with 2 level 3 Skirmishers. I didn't find the fight taking 'omg fights take forever in 4th edition against solo's personally.]
The party recovered a strange insect riddled staff in the center of the mass of the destroyed walker that Dra’kin took as his own. [Feyswarm Staff].
Eventually the party survived the swamps and made it to dry land, the lands of the warlike hobgoblins. Not too far from the swamp they encountered a strange black eyed wolf like creature leading a pack of normal wolves. After one attack the pack fled leaving behind one corpse.
The next days of travel saw them moving carefully during the day and then digging into the thickets of brush at night to hide as they slept. One night as Torel sat lonely vigil he spotted an orange glow growing north of their position and just barely caught the faint sound of screaming in the night air. Â He woke Stak and then the rest of the party and they moved up to investigate. The party staying well back as Stak stealthed up.
He saw a band of hobgoblins torturing two humans or half-elves, it was hard to say from the fire damage. Other slaves roamed the camp serving the hobgoblins of which there were about 15 visible. Then as he was turning away a patrol wandered in to camp, another 6 hobgoblins and 6 more left from the ones that had been resting and drinking.
Stak went back to the others and as a group they attempted to stealth into position. Then Elisssa tripped and fell into a thicket of bushes. The hobgoblin warcaster heard the noise and then turned and saw Biminey and Stak standing at the edge of a small drop off. The warcaster moved up with a savage snarl and used his power to yank Biminey down from the rise. Biminey smirked a bit and then used the power of his amulet to teleport back up.
The fight was on then and the swarms of hobgoblins rushed the cliff lead by their commander. Â Deadly hobgoblin archers remained where they were peppering the group with jagged bladed shafts while the grunts shifted up the rise at their commanders orders after the group.
Slowly the hobgoblin forces were decimated even with arrival of the wandering patrol as reinforcements.
For some reason Biminey decided to rush the archers down below and was peppered with shafts and dropped at their feet. Mostly dead he used his last healing infusion on himself and the two archers shook their heads and shot him twice again, one impaling him through the throat and into the ground.
[Due to a mistake in my math we assumed Biminey was dead at this point. He was at negative 19 health and his negative bloody is 18. But I doubled the damage on the archer's critical to 20 rather than maximizing it 15. As a result Biminey only appeared dead to the rest of the group and we'll roll back time and allow the group try to stabilize him. Which given the plethora of action points left and Biminey's proximity to the group should be a given he'll not die. On a side note, given the plethora of action points left the group could have certainly have killed one or more of the archers before they got a chance to kill the artificer. Very much like the death of Aoefel it could have been prevented by the actions of the rest of the group... Perhaps they didn't think I'd kill him given the chance? Perhaps now they know better.... 
 But because it was an honest mistake on my part in dealing out the damage, I'm fine with rolling back.]
The party searched through the gear of the hobgoblins and came up with a Battle Standard of Might and a Staggering Broadsword along with valuables of monetary nature as some very welcome potions of healing.
[Although I had another overland encounter planned at this point it was getting late and we called it.]
