What Really Happened --or-- How Prolth saved the day and the party from disaster

The party was hard-pressed. Shine had just been killed by one of the mysterious cat men and all sensed the danger around them. If the group were to survive the encounter each member would have to act quickly and decisively--not a moment could be spared and each action required resolute determination and strength. All were keenly aware that their lives were hanging by threads. And so Prolth hid.

But he did not just hide of course, he also let loose a devastating sneak attack against the nearest cat man, rallying the party and inspiring them to continue the fight even in Shine's absence. Hearing the call resounding in the air after Prolth's arrow had whizzed by, Madak and Aleska found the courage to fight.

The tiger man was still nowhere to be seen and so Madak moved to the rear of the nearby hut to search for him while Aleska cast invisibility on brave Prolth. Emboldened by his now heightened ability for stealth, Prolth moved to the rear of the hut as well and it was there that his keen senses picked up two of the cat men although the tiger man remained at large. Paying no attention to the risk he was taking, Prolth moved by the two cat men and positioned himself behind them, yelling out to Madak that one could be found directly in front of him. Madak then struck a furious blow, and the feel of his greataxe slicing through the hidden cat man must have been very satisfying indeed.

No doubt frightened out of his senses by Prolth's proximity, the cat man nearest him scrambled up onto the roof of the hut, quickly followed by the other. Prolth dutifully announced this to all as well, and Aleska, flying overhead, spotted one and outlined him with some dancing lights so that the others could more easily spot him. Madak too followed suit, climbing to the roof himself with Prolth joining him at the far end.

A strange reptilian cry from a small lizard man on a boulder in the yard threatened to distract the party, but they overcame the creature's need for attention and focused on the task at hand. Madak delivered another furious blow to the prone cat man nearest him, pathetically trying to hide in the shadows of the roof, and cleaved its head clean off of its body, letting the fresh corpse roll to the ground below. Aleska then cast Levitate on the lizard man still screeching to be noticed afield and commanded his mechanical lion to move behind the building to where the cat man had fallen. The tiger man remained at large.

Prolth, once more risking life and limb in the valiant fighting style for which he is so well known, stepped forward to allow Madak to flank the remaining cat man on the roof, but this was not to be as the cat man struck out with lighting speed and dealt Prolth two devastating blows, one of which struck home as only a sneak attack can and damaged the mighty satyr almost beyond recognition. The cat man then leapt through the hole in the roof, leaving the bloodied but not beaten Prolth with no enemy in sight.

Madak followed the cat man down into the hole, but despite his darkvision he could not spot the creature in the confines within. Prolth, thinking quickly despite his terribly wounded state, pulled out his coin of light and also jumped into the hole, while the lizard man moved into position to shoot at the creatures within and Aleska continued hovering above.

The cat man could not be found, but there inside the hut things were being shouted in a language that only Aleska could understand, and the frantic cries of what must have been the tiger man were duly translated for the party's benefit by their wise gnome wizard. It was then that Prolth spotted a statuette of a woman bathing being lifted off the mantlepiece and disappearing. Yelling this out to Madak the barbarian half-orc then struck three times, hitting home with the last and revealing the position of one of the creatures. It was all that was needed.

The lizard man rained down arrows on the creature from outside, and Prolth readied to do so as well from inside, when more orders came from the invisible tiger man. The cat man was to draw them outside! The cat man then fled the room, and it was soon revealed that the tiger man was outside as well, but the party would have none of it.

Aleska once more outlined the cat man with his dancing lights, and the tiger man revealed himself as he tried to strike with his greatsword near the very boulder that the lizard man had once been atop. Our heroes were of course too much for the villains, and as poisoned arrows sped into their feline hides and Madak's greataxe sang through their flesh, one after the other fell, the tiger man brought down by the lizard man's arrows and the cat man felled by a single shot from Prolth--not, of course, because Prolth can only shoot one arrow at a time, but rather because he only needs to shoot one arrow at a time.

Victorious, our party breathed a deep sigh of relief. The lizard man introduced himself as Ydenzyk, sent by Stromm of the Wastelords to assist them and invite them to the Wastelord's keep. The news that they would have the honor of meeting the four Wastelords, and especially the glorious rogue/bard Lyle, in person further bolstered the spirits of all. But Praxis was dead, and Aleska grieved for his former mentor. Madak made some cryptic remarks about filling shoes and attempted to de-boot the poor slain wizard as Ydenzyk grieved himself for Shine and collected a finger from him, also taking the statuette from the slain tiger man. Prolth searched the bodies of their enemies for loot, and, amongst the weapons, armor, and platinum pieces that he found, gallantly pocketed one of the seven gems that were among the fallen, being the true rogue that he is. His keen skills also discovered a ciphered message tucked into ankle pouches of each cat man, and Aleska determined that the code could be broken but that it would take time.

It was then that the party was met with an unexpected turn. Like true politicians, a security group from the Wizard's Council suddenly showed up, unlooked for and unwelcome. They offered no help but simply made demands, and despite Aleska's warm words to them all they could reply with was that they wanted the statuette that the tiger man had been after. Aleska, in a move that shocked all, baldly lied to them and said he had no idea what they were talking about. The leader of the security group, Leeadak, then turned to the mighty Prolth for assistance, no doubt recognizing in him a creature of immense integrity and wisdom.

Prolth, although he could not understand why Aleska would want to deceive those of his own order, and knowing that the group could scarcely afford to make enemies of the powerful Wizard's Council, then bravely and selflessly announced that it was Aleska who had the statuette and Leeadak should seek it from him.

Taken aback, the security group then prepared themselves for action, and the party once more felt its nerves on end...