Pilgrimage to the Moon Door

After the siege at Harkenwold is finished, Lord Ironfist heads north to Hammerfast to deal with some bandits on the King's Road. He sends G'Kar, Artemis, and Morwyn on a skiff down the White River to visit the Lord Mayor of Moonstair and remind her that she promised to send a dozen elven archers to join the league's militias in Therund.

When the party arrives in Moonstair they are well received, but the Lord Mayor advises that she needs her rangers to guard the pilgrims to the Moon Door, a magical portal that opens every full moon to the Feywild (and the means by which Neyvara and Morwyn the Eladrin have come to the lands of Nerath). Pilgrims traveling to the Moon Door have been plagued by two bandits who rob and sometimes kill and eat travelers. If they rid the town of this menace she can spare the men.

They inquire around town and learn from survivors of the attacks that the bandits are two half troll/half orc Kruggs. Moonstair is built on the ruins of the ancient Troll Kingdom of Vardar. The lands to the west of the river are still under the rule of the Troll King and his hill giant tribes. Orcs also are found in abundance in the woods of Harkenwold to the east of the river, so creatures like Kruggs are not uncommon in the area. Though smaller than trolls they fight with their ferocity and can heal quickly unless damaged by fire or acid.

The party disguises themselves as pilgrims, buying a mule to carry a small keg of oil. They also light some torches to carry and set off the next morning down the trail to the Moon Door. They come upon a turn in the road where the sweet smell of flowers barely masks the scent of rotting flesh. There the Kruggs leap from the bushes.

G'Kar charges forward to draw their blows while Artemis and Morwyn plant their torches in the ground and use them to light their arrows as they fire them at the monsters. Artemis uses a magic missile to smash a rock one of the kruggs used as a weapon, so it must resort to its clawed hands. The other holds a large scimitar. G'Kar holds them off for a while then retreats behind the archers badly bloodied, but one of the trolls circles around trying to follow him. The donkey is spooked by the battle and jumps, but artemis holds it.

The troll with the scimitar lunges forward hacking at the ranger and moon priest as they let loose more arrows. G'Kar opens the keg of oil on the donkey's saddle pack and begins to cover his weapon in it. Before he can recork the keg, the trollthing's rushes toward him and the donkey bolts, though it is cut down by the two krugs. It lets out one final bray and collapses on the trail, with lamp oil leaking everywhere. Morwyn fires a flaming arrow at the keg on the donkey's saddle and it explode blocking the trial and casting fire in a wide area.

The kruggs move away from the fire, and Artemis pins one in and hits it with a bottle of oil that sets it on fire. The monsters screams as it hacks Artemis apart, separating one arm and shoulder from his torso and cutting deep through his heart and lungs. G'Kar and Morwyn finish the beast as it's unarmed ally rushes off, vowing that its master Darcayn will punish them for this.

They take Artemis to the priests at the Moon Door. That night they take him through the door at midnight and perform a ritual in the Feywild to resurrect him. He gives them a large sum of gold to pay for the components spent to bring him back to life. The next day they continue further south following the Krugg's trail through the swampy part of Harkenwood.

As they follow the creatures path through the swamp, Morwyn's cat Kiara is struck by a poisoned dart. They move forward along the trail and in the distance a lizardfolk raider is sending more poison darts their way, but they shrug them off and advance. At a fork in the trail, a large blackscale lizard chieftain and a hunter leap onto the trial to strike out.

Artemis is knocked back by the large chief, but he returns equal force and shoves the chief back. The two bands fight for several minutes before the bloodied lizardfolk, not reknowned for their bravery, all beat a quick retreat back toward their village.

They find a small island with a clearing in the swamp. A broken cart has been dragged into the clearing and a terrible smell emanates. The sun is starting to set and the rain looks like it's moving in. They approach the ruined cart and find that the Krugg that ran away is taking shelter beneath it. He rises and begins to toss large rocks in their direction. Morwyn and G'Kar distract the monster while Artemis sneaks up behind him. Artemis sets his sword on fire and stabs the krugg in the back then breaks a bottle of oil over the monsters head, setting it and himself aflame. Artemis' allies quickly move in to roll the thief over in the wet grass to put out the fire on his cloak, then gently rouse him back to consciousness. They take shelter under the stinking cart full of some treasure and odd items.

The next day they see that there are dragon prints leading east and human prints going south on a trail. They head south and find the settlement of Marshglen where they tell the folk there that the bandits have been defeated, presenting the krugg's head. A farmer takes them back up the river to Rathmore where they catch a ferry north to Moonstair. The Lord Mayor fulfills her promise and gladly sends the dozen archers south to Therund to join the militas there.

As the party travels to meet up with their friends in Therund they see another barge on the river with a half dozen nobles struggling to stay afloat. The oarsmen are gone and the barge is taking on water, listing toward the western shore of the river, where several trolls and hill giants wait to eat their prey. The party orders their ship's mate to sail them alongside the barge and they bring several over the side successfully, but four of the nobles are already in the water and the current is taking them toward the trolls.

G'kar is too burdened by his armor and complains that he cannot swim as well so stays on the craft, but the ranger and rogue leap in and begin paddling toward the drowning nobles, rescuing three of them. The last noble, a young noblewoman is caught up by the trolls and giants and dragged off kicking and screaming to be eaten. One of the trolls in the water attacks artemis when he gets too close to the shore, but he eventually gets out beyond the monsters reach and it abandons the chase and returns to shore. Several rocks are thrown at the ship but they all miss and they continue on to Therund.

In the capitol city, Ser Eagleheart warmly welcomes them and they sit at his table at the Baron's feast. Later in the evening the militiamen from Sarthel and Vor Rukoth start a brawl, accusing one another of consorting with devils. While they honor Artemis' bravery as a hero they ask him to stand aside when he tries to calm their dispute and the melee continues until the city guard kicks both militia's out beyond the city's walls where they sleep off their spirits down by the river.