*The Night the Druid Died

Ms. Vickers protested at first, but she was outvoted. The men all agreed that spending the night in a nearby cave was a wise choice. The Werebard might return with an legion of lycanthropic lyricists to avenge the severed tail. Nothing is scarier than a rogue poetry group. So they packed their gear and walked up the hill towards the cave that Klem Matoh scouted out earlier. But before leaving they kept the fire going as a decoy. They also set up a Tiger Trap with carefully placed journals as bait. It is well known that Werebards often reappropriate unpublished material.

The cave entrance was narrow and long, as they went deeper into the cave the torch revealed a dog leg tunnel. They slowly moved forward, Ah Ro Ghant pushed ahead of the troup, Ms. Vickers just shrugged her shoulders and said "Keep going." Gobarth and Klem Matoh followed, and then Natzzo and Karl. The ceiling was low, it was covered with a powdery network of fungi and cobwebs. As they moved deeper, a warm breeze rush by and blew out the torches. Klem Matoh turned on his cell phone. In the low light he saw dime size reflections blink back at him. Then they were gone.

"You guys see that?" Ver Klempt asked. He turned on his Blackberry, bathing the walls with a bluish luminescence. Up ahead they heard dry rattling and a few clicking sounds. Ah Ro Ghant finally got the torch lit and held it high.They saw nothing. Then Ms. Vickers screamed "Ahhhh! something just bit my leg!" something scurried away beneath her, she was bleeding. Then all at once they emerged from the darkenss, two Ant Men and their giant drones. The troup had unwittingly invaded a nesting chamber.

The Ant Men stood on two legs, nearly 8 feet tall. Their chitin-armored bodies were black and shiney, their arms were covered with stiff wirey hair. "Interlopers! SEIZE THEM!" one cried. The pig-sized drones charged with their pinchers wide open grabbing at anything, even themselves. One grabbed onto Ms. Vickers sheild, she gave it a solid kick. Ver Klempt guzzled a vile of purple liquid and turned into a gas just as a drone reached for his neck. More drones poured out from the darkenss ahead. Ah Ro Ghant swung about frantically with his Sword of Sharpness cutting some of the drones in two. Klem Matoh created mirror images of himself, fooling the drones, giving just enough time for Gobarth to pull a drone off of Natzzo's back.

This was truely mahem! Long and short range weapons abounded as they defended themselves fiercely. Three drones surrounded Karl one by the arm the other by the leg. The third drone ran up the low ceiling and jumped on him, the only thing separatng him from eminent danger was his wooden sheild. He stabbed blindly with his +1 spear. More drones came from the other side of the tunnel, one grabbed Natzzo by his leg. Gobarth swung at it with his mace and tore its head from its body.

Klem Matoh shot an arrow at one of the Ant Men peircing its boney hide. It clutched its chest and fell over and Ah Ro Ghant leapt forward and cut off its head spilling hot sulfury juice from it neck. Suddenly some of the drones froze to a dead stop as if they were unplugged!

"Its the Ant Men! They control the drones' every movement!" Ms. Vickers jumped through the air and with her sword in hand sliced into the other Ant Man's back. Without further struggle it fell to the ground, Vickers deliverred another blow to the thorax, cutting it in half. The bottom half hobbled into a wall. The top half writhed in pain. Flipping itself over, it tried to pull itself back into the darkenss. Gobarth delivered the final blow with his mace, splattering the its head like a ripened plum. Sallow smelling blood bubbled on the cave floor making a hissing sound. All the drones were now frozen in various attack positions.

Everyone examined their injuries, Natzzo's side was bleeding badly, he needed the Staff of Healing. Ver Klemp materialized from his gaseous form and called out "Karl, get over here! We need your Staff!" Karl didn't reply. To the far corner of the tunnel lay a trail of wood and leather. It was Karl's wooden shield splintered into kindling. Ah Ro Ghant spotted the tip of a spear beneath a large pile of drones. He plowed through them and there below he found Karl, his body still in the pinchers of a drone. Gobarth cast his spell of "Heal Light Wounds" while Ver Klempt pried Karl's limp body from the drone's grip. Ah Ro Ghant grabbed him by his collar and slapped him across the face a few times. "Come on! Get up!" He stopped and picked the chunk of dirt that was resting on the white of Karl's left eye. Was it too late?

They stood sullenly around Karl. Natzzo sat on a toppled drone with his hand over his mouth and heaved a heavy sighed. "Wow, he just made it to fifth level, man." Ver Klempt held Karl's wrist and felt for a pulse. "Nothing... I heard a Druid can live over 200 years if he get's past sixth level. A tortoise can live for 177, you know. Karl was no boney-shelled slacker." he said with abandon. They stood silently, looking away from each other. Karl the Druid was dead.

Ms. Vickers cleared her throat "Ahhhhem. He was already low on hit points from the last adventure. You all knew that... Well, there's nothing more we can do now. Come on boys, let's divide his gear." a single tear rolled down her cheek and splashed on her boot. She handed Gobarth the Staff of Healing. "Goodbye, Druid." she said as she knelt and closed his lids over his clay-colored eyes. "Let's not waste any more time."

Epilgoue
What Crap! Is life so fragile that one's fate rests solely on the roll of a 20-sided di? Was the dragon dream a horrible harbinger of bad news? Will Karl make the evening news? Who will be at the wake? Will it be catered? Will some of Karl's gear appear on Ebay with procedes going towards Druid Disaster Relief? Who will maintain this blog?!! Log on as the adventure continues.