The characters are at the border of Mother's Hill, traveling downriver on Abbatine's Great River. Players in attendance include Bob (Yorden), Chris (Pawnbroker) and Mike (Messerbad).
The characters swiftly encountered a force of deyrey-manned boats led by the drone Hrilbey the Sailor. He demanded that they give themselves and their goods over to the protection of Mother, essentially a demand for surrender. The characters finally agree to his demands, but with the proviso that they stay in their own boat (a result of Pawnbroker's successful Diplomacy). Hrilbey uses his Water Walking spells to send three deyrey neuters over to the characters' boat.
As the three neuters head across the water, Abodee Monster-Rider makes his move. A water dragon siezes one of the neuters and topples another. The third flees into the character's boat. The situation between Abodee and Hrilbey deteriorated rapidly, to the point of violence. In the process, one of Abodee's water dragons attacked the characters and killed the neuter who had fled to their boat. In return, Laerynthe shot the water dragon with a crossbow, while Yorden shot the drone controlling the creature with his Maker crossbow.
The characters finally elected to drive their boat up onto the reeds at the river's bank to avoid the fighting. By the time they returned to the river, they could see one destroyed boat, one boat with a water dragon carcass across it, and three other boats returning to Mother's Hill. There was no sign of the other water dragons.
Sometime after nightfall, the characters were attacked again by deyrey neuters, this time warriors loyal to Hrilbey under the effects of his Walk on Water spell. The neuters attempt to sneak up to the characters' boat, but are spotted at a range of about 200 meters. A brief crossbow-and-club duel follows during which seven of the twelve neuters are killed, while the rest escape by diving into the water and swimming away.
The characters choose to travel along the shallows of the river on the side opposite Mother's Hill to avoid the hive as much as possible. Along the way, the encounter Chalbon, a low-status drone interested in speaking with the characters. He persuades Yorden and Pawnbroker to accompany him in a trip to see the Elder drones of Mother's Hill. They speak briefly, and manage to gain both safe passage through the lands ruled by Mother's Hill and a meeting for Elfest when his barge comes through. Chalbon is convinced that this bargain will gain him the Mother's favor.
Before he returns them (by litter) to their barge and reunites them with Laerynthe and Messerbad (who had spent much of this time hiding under a tarp), he warns them of the horrible forest-creatures in the Murdertree forests, and of the terrible Drinker of Tears who lives in the ruins of Cirdo Hive on Lacoder Island.
The characters decide to travel as far from Lacoder Island as possible, so as to avoid the Drinker of Tears. They assume that the "terrible forest things" mentioned by Chalbon are adapoi, especially since Messerbad recalls that the Sedemoi, Hybenee and Ganbell Clans all live in this area.
The boat travels quite far into the shallow region, near the banks of the Murdertree Forest. The characters notice that the river plants growing along the banks are much denser near the forest than they have been anywhere else along the river, in a manner suggesting magical augmentation.
Quite late at night, the characters start hearing the rushing of water out in the river. About the same time, they see three adapoi heads lurking among the reeds near the riverbank. The water sound turns out to come from a huge wall of water traveling directly towards them. The adapoi see this, and flee into the woods. The characters use Messerbad's Wither Plant magics to clear a path through the river plants and follow the adapoi. However, the wall of water turns out to be nothing more than an illusion. Quite soon after the boat is beached, the characters hear the terrible screams of the adapoi.
The characters end up rescuing two badly-wounded adapoi from the forest's edge. One of them tells the characters how to reach the Hybenee Clan meeting place, but dies mysteriously before they reach it. At the Hybenee Clanhome, the characters meet with Speaker Hydelai of the Hybenee. He has several of his Clan-mates take the wounded adapoi away for care, and talks to the characters about the city of Kashaad and the strain it has placed upon the Ganbell Clan.
Unfortunately, the wounded adapoi was actually the Drinker of Tears under an Illusion Disguise. Once she was alone with the Hybenee Clan adapoi, she struck, drinking in their lives. In the end, a pitched battle raged between the characters and the Drinker of Tears. In the end, the characters won, though both Messerbad and Laerynthe were badly wounded.
Speaker Hydelai thanked the characters for their help, and offered to provide food and succor for them until their comrades have recovered. Meanwhile, the characters started laying plans to visit the Lacoder Island and loot the Drinker of Tears' lair.
Each character received four experience points.