The party surveyed the situation. They had just wandered into a large mansion, been attacked by seemingly innocuous creatures, and had subdued one, and now were facing the dining room. All in all, it was turning out to be a pretty strange day.

The centerpiece of the dining room was a large wooden table with 12 chairs ringing it. Off to the side was a fireplace. Two chandeliers hung from the ceiling. In the northeast corner stood a doorway facing east. Haphazardly strewn on top of the table lay numerous plates, forks, knives, cups, and other assorted dinnerware. As the party examined the table and fireplace, the door swung open and then shut. Through the door emerged two floating cups. All of a sudden the cups flew at high velocity at Kestrel. One of the cups missed to the left and went crashing into some plates on the table. The other shattered harmlessly against Kestrel's armor. The door then again swung open and closed.

The party stood around wondering what was happening, when a couple minutes later the incident was repeated, except this time instead of cups, two knives came flying again at Kestrel, one hitting him in the arm. Deciding enough was enough the party advanced to the door and boldly stepped through it.

The door led into a small 20' x 10' hallway with another door at the far end. Opening that door, the party recognized a well-stocked kitchen. Two woodblocks lay in the center of the room. At the far end, two large ovens stood idle. On the south wall, a large set of shelves housed plates, silverware, cups, and other utensils. On the north wall were two large basins with buckets of water in between them.

At the center of the room, 4 more of the strange creatures stood. As Kestrel charged into the room, suddenly several plates, cups, and knives were flung at him. A large serving fork struck him again in the arm, but Kestrel ignored the pain as he rushed the strange creature.

The rest of the party rushed into the room, and the strange creatures met them. One finally managed to hit Errol. It didn't hurt much, but made Errol very drowsy. He tried to shake it off but succumbed and fell asleep. However, the creatures were not much of a match for the party and were quickly killed. More vexing, random utensils had continued to fly at them throughout the melee, and the party had no idea what to do with them. Finally, the party woke Errol up and they ran out of the room and spiked the doors.

The party then decided to climb the stairs. The stairs topped out into a long hallway with two double doors on either side about halfway down. At the far edge stood yet another centaur statue. Vernon strode forward and opened one of the doors. Some sort of fire trap was sprung, but Vernon was lucky enough to dodge most of it and was only moderately hurt.

More alarming, though, was the sight through the doors, which had been blown apart. It was obviously a wizard's laboratory, that much was certain.

In the far left corner of the laboratory, clearly something had exploded. Charred blocks of wood, blown out bookcases, destroyed chairs, and debris lay scattered in that corner. To the far right corner another mishap had occured, though the nature this was one was harder to determine. Pieces of glass littered the floor and deep scratches were embedded into the floor and walls. To the left side of the room lay three more of the sleep-inducing creatures, and in the center of the room were two tables, obviously animate. In back and to the right of them was an animate cauldron.

Kestrel and Vernon sprang forward to allow the rest of the party to move in. Vaugner and Malif provided range support, Errol started singing a song to inspire courage, and Blink rushed the strange creatures.

The small creatures proved to be little more than a nuisance. The tables looked formidable, but Kestrel was able to repeatedly trip his target despite it having four legs. Each time the table tried to recover, it was subject to many attacks of opportunities. Malif moved in to cast burning hands on the table, but as he cast the spell he felt something drain the magical energy away. Meanwhile the cauldron cowered in a corner.

Soon the battle was over and the party was only minimally hurt. The cauldron was still cowering in the corner and obviously non-violent. As the party came up to the cauldron, it started making sounds like the Churbas did! Malif brought out the magical lens and started when he viewed the room through the lens. The entire room was covered in a oily magical gunk.

Malif remembered the cherbas in his pack and pulled them out. Instead of the two cherbas he started out with, there were now 10! And looking at the lens was also disturbing. Instead of radiating a magical aura, there were completely black, as if they sucked in magical aura instead of radiating it. Also disturbing, Malif noticed that his potion of cure light wounds and the unidentified potion he was carrying were now inert and non-magical.

While this was happening, Kestrel and Vernon were playing with the cauldron. Kestrel started talking to the cauldron and it seemed the cauldron was able to understand him. Vernon started a fire in hopes it would calm the cauldron down.

Errol studied the charred ruins in one of the corners but didn't find anything interesting. Malif peered at the cauldron through the lens, expecting it to look similar to the cherbas, but to his surpise it glowed with a normal magical aura. Kestrel attempted to become friends with the cauldron, to mixed success.

Vernon then went to the spiral staircase. It was wrought iron and finely crafted. At the top of it was a trapdoor. Vernon attempted to open it, but it was weighted down from above.

Malif left his cherbas in a corner of the room in two jars, and the party went back to the hallway. Finding no traps at the other door, Kestrel opened the door to the library. It looked cozy, with a fireplace on one side, bookshelves lining the walls, and two tables. In one corner, the remnants of books and a bookshelf destroyed from an explosion littered the floor.

Finding nothing exciting in the room, the party returned to the library. Kestrel tried to push open the trapdoor, and with some help from Blink was able to shoulder the obstruction off the trapdoor. There was a crashing sound as well as a sharp wail. Kestrel poked his head in and looked around the wizard's room.

It was a normal room, a desk, table, bookshelves, fireplace, and a door into another room. In one corner was a bed with a terrified wizard beside it. Upon seeing that the party was not animate objects coming to kill him, he wept in relief. When he saw Vernon carry the cauldron up the stairs, though, he bagan to scream hysterically again until the cauldron was out of sight.

"Thank you for saving me!" he gushed. "I thought I was a dead man for sure." At the questioning of the party he continued, "I got back home four days ago, and as I neared by house I knew something was wrong. I rushed in and up to my laboratory. In it were several animate tables, chairs, and glassware. I didn't have many combat spells loaded since I was travelling, so I retreated into my tower and barricaded the door.

"I spent some time thinking and I pieced together what I think happened. I had been experimenting with trying to create animation to help out around the house and to keep me company. I thought I had come upon a successful formula, and I coated a couple stones to take with me to Pavalar, where I hoped to consult some experts.

"I think that in my haste I had accidently left one of the burners going, and eventually the fluid overflowed. There were a lot of liquids in that area, and it's possible it might have reacted with something there.

"I think they may feed and multiply off of magical energy. In any event, they are able to multiply somehow. I think originally only a table, chair, cauldron, and some flasks were coated with the fluid, but when I returned to my lab, there were many more desks and chairs than there should have been.

"I memorized all my combat spells, thinking that while three fireballs meant that I would lose most of my lab, at least I would be alive. With that thought, I went to sleep that night. In the morning I got my new spells, and steeled myself to destroy my lab. I opened the door and cast my first fireball, which destroyed many of the creatures, but not all of them. As I uttered the words to cast my second fireball, I felt my magic slipping away from me. Undeterred I tried another fireball but that also fizzled. I was able to get another melf's and a couple magic missiles off, but about half of those fizzled as well. In the end I wasn't able to kill all the objects and was forced to retreat back into my room.

"I reloaded the spells for the next day, but to my horror I couldn't cast a single one. Since then I've come to the theory that these objects emit something that dampens the magic around them, and that is what is causing my spells not to work. Since then I've been surviving on my trail rations. Imagine being a wizard and being unable to cast spells. I was totally defenseless," he shuddered at the thought.

When asked about what he did in Pavalar he said, "Well as I said I was on the way to the inner city when I noticed that the pouch with the stones were missing. Not knowing exactly where I lost them I began to retrace my steps. I'm still not sure where those stones ended up."

The party then explained the situation in Pavalar. It soon became apparent that Pippy had stolen the stones and they had started multiplying on him. Never one to pass up an opportunity, he started selling them.

The party then asked if he knew how to get rid of them. "Based on my experiments and my theories, while they can feed for some time off water, total immersion in water for 30 or more minutes will render them inert," he said. The party tested the theory with the cherbas they had. After thirty minutes Malif checked the auras of the stones and found them to be non-magical.

While Rillan was reluctant to return to Pavalar, the party convinced him that he should return to set the record straight and to help in getting rid of the cherbas. Kestrel stowed the cauldron in his backpack. Vernon tracked down Rillan's horse, which had broken free of the stable but had remained close to the keep, and they started heading back to Pavalar.

March 11

The party and Rillan were making good time and the trip back had been uneventful so far. Suddenly, a group of four figures emerged in the distance in front of them. Kestrel recognized it as a teleport spell. The party had a brief discussion and reined in at the figures.

"Is one of you Rillan?" the woman in the forefront asked, looking straight at Rillan. Rillan was too frightened to say much, so Vaugner spoke up. "Who are you and why do you want to speak to Rillan?" he asked.

"My name is Jasrina and I am one of the Chief Investigators in Pavalar, and Rillan is wanted in Pavalar to answer several questions," she replied, still looking at Rillan.

The party questioned Jasrina to verify her identity as an investigator, to minimal success. However, looking at her well-armed guards as well as remembering that teleport was a high level spell, the party had to take her word for it. The party then tried to get her to take one of the members with her, but she declined saying that the wizard could only transport himself and 4 others, which left no room for anyone else, and she was unwilling to leave one of the guards behind.

In the end, Jasrina took Rillan with her and teleported away, presumably to Pavalar. Vernon was left to care for Rillan's horse.

March 12

Towards nightfall, the party came to the outskirts of the Pavalar. Lively music and festive lights could be seen from within. Reaching the gates, Errol asked the guard what the celebration was for. The guard responded that the governor had decreed that there would be three days of festivities to celebrate the removal of the cherbas.

The party went back to the inner city to check in Mortenser, but it was too late and he wasn't around. The party was exhausted from rushing back to Pavalar and promprly went to sleep.

March 13

Vernon awoke early and went to the trainer to advance himself. The rest of the party went to Mortenser's office. Mortenser greeted them and asked how he could help them. The party reported on their trip and asked what happened after Jasrina brought Rillan back.

Mortenser looked impressed and filled them in. "When Rillan arrived, he told us about submerging the Cherbas in water. He collected some samples and went to work in one of our laboratories. Pretty quickly he discovered the cherbas were attracted to music, especially low frequencies. With that knowledge the governor declared three days of celebration to attract the cherbas to the musicians.

"We've been able to collect almost all the cherbas and have been dumping them in the ocean. The music has done a good job of attracting the cherbas. They are literally crawling out of the woodwork.

"Oh, btw, when I realized that you wouldn't be here for Alana's trial, I sent a representative. It turns out a couple unfortunate and odd things has happened. First of all, the courier pouch has been stolen. Also, due due to the cherba fiasco, the other evidence you brought back spoiled and was destroyed, along with everything else that was being kept frozen. Because of the irregularities, the judge was unwilling to simply dismiss the case, despite your depositions. He did agree to reschedule the date to the 22nd.

"Also, I've heard that Jay's going away party is that night. If you have nothing better to do, Tera has asked that you show up to the party at some point, and stay late... as late as necessary. She would appreciate it if you did that."

The party seemed surprised but agreed to go to the party, which most had been planning on attending anyways.

The party was curious what had happened to Rillan, and went to the Office of Justice to look for Jasrina. Once there they spoke to one of the receptionists. Initially they were unable to get an appointment with Jasrina, but they managed to convince him that they were the ones who were originally escorting Rillan back to Pavalar.

He went off and returned a few minutes later asking the party to follow. A small issue was made of the party's weapons, but it was quickly settled. Jasrina met them in a conference room and greeted them.

To the party's questions, she said, "So we meet again. As you can see I'm not an imposter. Rillan was very apologetic and helpful in repairing the damage he has unwittingly caused. He has offered, and his offer has been accepted, to make reperations for the problems he's caused, and we've released him. I'm not sure if he's still in the city or if he has gone home. In any event, the locals are happy with the impromptu celebration, so he shouldn't be burned at the stake for his actions."

When the party asked about the gold she responded, "Oh the reward... no problem wait here a couple minutes I'll be right back." She soon returned with a large bag of gold. "Here's the 1500 gold. Good job on finding him. He said you saved his life."

Deciding not to argue about the amount of gold, the party thanked her and left. Checking in on the dream researcher, they found that he had discovered no new information, but did mention that if they could remember parts of the riddle, that there were some experts whose livelihood was studying riddles, and that they might be helpful.

The party spent the rest of the day celebrating, but didn't stay up late as they were planning on training for the next two days.