And things where going so well!

After installing Don-Jon Raskin at the Moutain Toe Gold Mine, we were enjoying some well-earned downtime in Phanlyn. Dergal, Elspeth and I were drinking and swapping old lies when Solomon returned from settling accounts with Harbin.
 
"Pack it up, friends. Got a new job. Seems Harbin sent that other party to an old dwarven fortress. Place called Axeholm. He's worried they might need help, and we are the calvary."
 
Fortunately, Harbin had supplied us with a map, which cheered me up. I didn't relish the prospect of trudging around in the woods for days, swatting insects and getting rained on. I like my environs civilized--and although I still have my doubts about Phanlyn, one can at least find passable ale and a warm fire there. Not that I dislike the natural world--I find it fascinating and beautiful, but more so if I can step inside when it gets brisk or wet. Although I do like mountains. All that stone seems comforting. Stone is a proper building material, bones of the earth. Since I was little I've been fascinated with stones: the different types: layered, amorphous, soft to hard, damn near every color you can imagine. I suppose that's what first lead me to finding my ability to summon magical energy. An oddly lumpy but smooth greenish stone that I've carried ever since the day... Well, maybe some other time.
 
We'd been on the road for a couple of days, and according to the map, would probably reach Axeholm by mid-morning the next day. Elspeth spied a couple of large boulders near the edge of a woody area, and we decided to camp there for the night. We had a roaring fire going quickly. The boulders were a jumble of stones about the size of large wagons. All that heat reflecting off the stone was nice and toasty. Almost like being at the inn.
 
I drew the short straw and took first watch, which was uneventful. Dergal had next watch; I woke him and then wrapped myself in my cloak near the fire, leaned back against the warm stone, and was soon fast asleep.
 
Sometime in the night, I woke. Dergal was still sitting by the fire, his sword across his knees. The fire had burned down to a robust bed of coals and one log that Dergal has been feeding in slowly, which was sufficient to light the immediate camp. I had a pressing need to take a piss, and muttered something to that effect to Dergal as I stumbled out of the firelight. Another annoying thing about the out-of-doors: No chamber pots. So there I am, leaning up against a tree, watering the local flora, when something moves in the corner of my eye. Quiet, quick. More than one. Behind me I hear Dergal shout an alarm, and then the sound of his sword biting deep into some unfortunate.
 
I grip my focus and summon light.
 
There are a bunch of them. They appear humanoid, although there is something odd about their faces. Blank, or at least emotionless. Several of them have Solomon and Elspetch subdued, and a few more have surrounded Dergal, who is trying to keep them at a distance so he isn't buried while he hacks away. The rest, and it certainly seems to be a lot, are turning to look at *me*. I fire off a couple of fire bolts, and then they are almost on me. I can't fight them all, but maybe I can pick them off on the run, and circle back to help the others. Hopefully Dergal can hang on till then.
 
I recall the path not being far from camp, so I turn and sprint through the woods in that direction. It seems to be further than I recall, and I can hear my pursuers behind me. Suddenly I stumble clear of the trees--I'm on the path. Without slowing, I start charging uphill. I've outdistanced my pursuers, so I try my new trick: quaking the ground. This only works when there is sufficient stone present, and the path is rocky. I managed to throw a few off the path, but the rest are gaining on me, so I sprint uphill again. It seems this goes on for a long time, but suddenly I'm at Axeholm. I'm exhausted, and they are still pursuing me. My original plan seems ridiculously optimistic at this point. I'm backing up towards the entrance. I saw a portcullis back there, and it was down. No hope from the quarter. They've got me trapped. Despite the exhaustion and the fear, I'm angry. Really angry. These creatures need to pay for what they've done to Solomon, Dergal and Elspeth. I reach deep for the power, and try to make the earth shake them off its surface. There is a tremendous CRACK and a rumble, and then a whistling sound above me and I know this is the end. I've expended a huge amount of energy, and the darkness comes roaring in from the edges of my vision until everything is black.
 
 
I'm confused: I thought I died? Something must've bounced off my head, because I feel somewhat queasy, my ears are ringing, and I see a light. I get up on my hands and knees. I'm not in pain, in fact, I'm rapidly feeling much better. I should be dead. There seems to be a lot of rubble around. In fact, as I stand and look, there is quite a pile just in front of me.
 
Someone is shouting at me. The light is coming from an opening in the fortress above me, and it seems I'm being threatened. I obey the voice and raise my hands. I try to explain what just happened, but I'm still a bit confused about it myself. If this is Axeholm, are these the people we were coming to help? Huh. Well, the boot is clearly on the other foot now.
 
After some negotiations, the portcullis is opened and I meet the party face to face. I'd met them before at the Mountain Toe Gold Mine, which is useful, as I'm able to establish that I'm not a threat fairly quickly, despite the mess I've made at the front entrance. There is some evidence of cracking in the fortress itself near the entrance, and I've evidently collapsed the chimney they had used to enter the fortress. A collapse has also killed one of their pack animals, but their elven ranger simply set to work butchering the carcass.
 
They are reluctant to leave the portcullis up, so a search for a new exit ensues. In the search, we are beset by swarms of stinging flying insects (did I mention I hate swatting insects?). I crisp a few. Upstairs from the main hall, a terrifying visage of a elven woman assaults us, but we are able to overcome her. After another flurry of insects, we discover a unblocked chimney, and beyond it, a secret room with a chest. Baric produces a signet ring he found downstairs which matches an indentation on the chest. Fearing a trap, he wants me to use mage hand to open the chest. The signet ring opens the chest. There is no trap, but an nice helm and some gauntlets, which the dwarf Balderdash claims.