Cinder had decided to go to Gaverr to clear her name.
Gurin tried to dissuade Cinder from this course of action, since the rest of the group intended on going after the dark climbers. Gurin started by playing the cowardice card on Cinder, but that fell on deaf ears. Alerin explained to Cinder that the safety of the Ingalwood people was more important than that of Cinder's. Tar then mentioned that he believed the Wanted sign to be a forgery, but didn't elaborate much. Gurin next expounded on his knowledge of official seals, noting that the Wanted sign looked to be made of dwarven wax, not of Gaverian wax. This also fell on deaf ears. He then tried to pick Cinder's pockets, and was caught in the act. Ultimately, Cinder decided that she should find out when the next boat was leaving for Gaverre. Cinder could join the group until it was time to catch her boat.
On her way to the docks, Cinder ran into one of the guards from the night before. The guard explained to Cinder that Feldorn and Torvovan had been captured. Moreover, documents were found in the possession of the prisoners that proved them to be master forgers. With this, Cinder resigned to the notion that the Wanted sign must indeed have been a forgery. With a clear conscience, and warmed by the flames that emanated from the wanted sign, Cinder agreed to join the group on a journey to rid the forests of the dark climbers.
When the adventurers were ready to journey, Tarr suggested that they head north in search of the Lost Lake, where a steep incline would lead them to the fortress of the dark climbers. None of the group knew how Tarr knew this, but we were all wondering why he kept looking into his jacket as he described it.
Before heading off, Alerin was nice enough to buy two weeks of not-too-fancy food for the group. Cinder loaded most of the food into her saddlebags while everyone in the group loaded some into his/her pack.
The group headed north for a couple of days. On the third day, the group was met by Lara, a lone wood elf with no weapons in hand, headed in the opposite direction of the group. The group was cautious at first, with Gurin checking hand calluses and making a quick dash around the perimeter so as to flank any potential threats. Lara turned out to be no threat. The two groups agreed to set camp together and talk over a meal. Lara turned out to be the leader of a forest patrol group of 5 wood elves and a human (Elves: Lara, Shannon, Chad, Thill, Jovian, Human: Vrade). Lara told us about the recent battle of the Mushroom Caves (insert elven word here), where the Ingalwood elves had fought the dark climbers. Though the battle was fierce and full of bloodshed, they believed to have defeated the dark climbers soundly. Vrade, the human, was a valiant fighter and had played a pivotal part in the battle. The two groups spoke for a while and many questions were asked about the dark climbers. Thill told the group about the fortress of the dark climbers and about a secret entrance. A second secret entrance was rumored to exist. We told the wood elves that we intended to go to the fortress and wipe out any remaining dark climbers. Trying to solicit their help, we explained to the wood elves that there must be treasure left and that we ought to ensure the safety of the people of the Ingalwoods. The wood elves, duty bound to scout the forests, refused to join us, but did offer Vrade to us. We accepted and headed to the lost lake.
Once at the lost lake, we saw the fortress of the dark climbers at the top of a bluff over the lake. It was an awesome structure, but was barred to entry by an impassable draw bridge and what we assumed to be dark climber guards, who we thought we saw moving in the far distance once in a while. We split up into three groups--one trying to find the rumored second secret entrance, one looking for boats, and one looking for an entrance that wouldn't require a boat. Only one of the groups succeeded, finding two recently-built rafts tied up under a tree near the shore.
With Heezzol, Allerin, Cinder, and Shallelle on the first raft and the rest on the second, we paddled up the river, hugging the shoreline as much as possible. After passing undetected under the fortress, we approached a ravine in the side of the cliffs that Thill had described to us as a secret entrance. We paddled into the ravine in a narrow path of water between two large boulders. We soon passed into a natural cave and under a man-made archway that led to a water filled room with what appeared to be a dock of some sort. With torches lit, we headed towards the dock, intending to get off the rafts there.
At this point, Tar cast a mysterious spell that suspended time until Thursday, September 11. The group was awed, yet bewildered.....