We get off to something of a slow start, given that many of us headed off to see Shrek in place of the first bit of gaming. Tim (Antok of the Storm Tribe), Paul (Marik), Chuck (Arnoux Urag) and Chris (Dojango Sangaree) all show up.
Things start with a squawk. The characters are on board the Induway Traveler on the Yanyan River, passing by the tree-choked ruins of Nan Ro Nan. Two greyfeather storks are within seconds of making an attack upon their vessel. Most of the crew has taken refuge below decks, with three unlucky exceptions: two men set to work the sails, and one man on the tiller. One of the crew leaps from the sails into the water, only to be speared like a fish by one of the storks. The characters watch as the man's body is flung high in the air to land with a boneless thump upon the rocks of the shore. The characters cluster near the mast, hoping that it will prevent the storks from attacking them. Marik elects to remain in tiger shape, not because he expects that it will help him against the birds, but because he feels safer that way.
The second bird flies in fast, but too high to attack any of the characters. Antok of the Storm Tribe casts a javelin at the bird with his atlatl. His throw flies true, but he is deeply surprised when the javelin is deflected from the bird's feathers with a sharp "Clang!" Dojango Sangaree yells down at the hiding crewmen, "What's up with these birds? Why did the spear go 'clang'?" The obviously-terrified captain responds, "They have iron feathers!" Dojango is instantly disgusted: "You knew they had iron feathers, and you didn't think to tell us?"
The characters decide that they should concentrate on avoiding the creatures until the Induway Traveler gets far enough away from Nan Ro Nan that the storks no longer bother it. This confident plan is swiftly punctured when they notice that the two storks are making high passes against the boat's rigging, severing halyards and stays with miserable precision. The characters decide that grayfeather storks are substantially more intelligent than they had given credit for, possibly more intelligent than Captain Rattouf.
The characters turn their attention to fighting the birds off. They are cheered to find that the boat is carrying a half-dozen heavy gaff hooks equipped with sharp points. Dojango and Antok prepare two of the weapons to meet a stork's rush while Arnoux Urag prepares to use the hook on one of the gaffs to catch a stork as it flies by. The captain helps everyone's morale by squealing out in panic every time either a stork or a character makes a noise.
The birds take the bait and do their best to savage the characters, gaff hooks or no. One bird manages to evade Dojango's spear thrust and stab him almost through, leaving him gasping for breath and spitting up blood. The characters regroup, prepare for the next bird's attack, and manage to stab it several times. Antok delivers the death blow, all the while laughing gleefully, "This! This is what I was trained to do as a child! Hahahahaahaa!" Marik looks at both Dojango and Antok as if they were insane while he applies healing magic to Dojango's wounds. Arnoux openly speculates that his own (unsuccessful) efforts to hook a stork might have worked out better if he possessed any skill with the spear.
With Nan Ro Nan vanishing behind the Induway Traveler's stern, Captain Rattouf finally comes out on deck with the rest of his crew. Dojango Sangaree wastes little time: he accuses the Captain of criminal cowardice, stating that if the characters hadn't been there, the entire crew would have been slaughtered by the storks. Dojango asks the Captain's Mate Reykard if he knows the river and can run the boat. Surprised by the question, Reykard (a stout-looking Sangorn human) says that he has been sailing the Yanyan river for over ten years, and knows it well. Satisfied with the Mate's answer, Dojango brings out his spear and attacks the Captain. Captain Rattouf brings out a short knife and does his best to defend himself, but his efforts aren't enough: Dojango spears him to the deck, then throws the body overboard (but not before Antok takes the scalp).
Only minutes after Dojango deals with the Captain, Arnous heads down to the Captain's cabin to loot it. Marik follows him, while Antok and Dojango stay up on deck to keep the crew under control. They manage to find a variety of items of interest, including:
Arnoux and Marik divide up the loot, with Arnoux taking the clavars and Marik taking the statue and altar. They then rejoin Antok and Dojango abovedecks.
Antok comments, "We'd better figure out how the crew is going to react to Dojango murdering the captain." Dojango: "I didn't murder him!" Antok responds, "At least you should be honest about it."
Dojango decides to test the crew's opinions when he notices that nobody is doing anything about the damage the storks inflicted upon the boat. He finds Mate (now Captain) Reykard and yells, "Ropes broken! Fix now!" Reykard agrees to have someone make the repairs, though he is obviously rather nervous around Dojango. The characters also notice that most of the heavy gaff hooks the Captain claimed to have on board have since vanished somewhere.
Antok spends his time butchering the grayfeather stork. He covers the aft deck with gore as he takes the bird apart. Dojango makes comments until Antok throws a three-foot length of intestine at him.
The creature masses several hundred kilograms, and produces a tremendous quantity of meat that Marik uses his magical skills to verify is somewhat poisonous. Antok is able to determine that the bird's bones have normal-looking centers, but are covered with a thin layer of iron. The creature's feathers are entirely made of iron, as is it's bill. Marik is able to determine that the rest of the bird's flesh also contains small amounts of iron, enough to make the meat inedible.
Antok keeps all the feathers, and the solid iron bill, and the eyes. He makes a point of eating the creature's heart, no matter what Marik says. He then spends his time on deck cleaning the bones.
The characters eventually use the meat as bait for fishing.
Near nightfall several days after the characters pass Nan Ro Nan, Reykard tells Marik that the lookout has spotted the lights of Dith Lun in the distance. He explains that he would like to dock here, to keep the boat out of sight of the town. He also explains that he approached Marik because he is the least murderous of the characters. Marik relays this information to the rest of the group, who agree witih Reykard's request. The crew prepares to dock and allow the characters to debark. Antok spends his time storing his various stork trophies in a couple of empty barrels so he can bury them on the shore. He is completely convinced that the Induway Traveler crew are going to abandon the characters at Dith Lun as soon as they can. The other characters don't offer their own opinions.
The crew wears the ship up to the shore and puts out a gangplank. Marik levitates himself out because he thinks he'd fall of a gangplank. The characters transport all their various cargo off the ship, and Marik suggests to the crew that they head downstream a bit to stay out of the way. Antok continues to debate what to do with his metal feathers, which range in side from small down to huge feathers.
While the debate over where to hide the barrels (two full of iron feathers, three full of food) rages, Marik wanders upslope away from the river. He almost stumbles over a ruined village about 300 meters away from the shore, including a subterranean granary containing some broken amphorae. It is an excellent place to hide supplies, providing a +2 bonus to Camouflage. Dojango hides the barrels of supplies (and stork parts) there.
Marik and Dojango head to a nearby hill in hopes of seeing the town. Both Antok and Arnoux are forced to remain behind, in the underground granary, as they are albinos who can't deal with sunlight. They are able to get a good view of the place, though the don't see too many residents going about their business. They also discover a large number of graau tracks visible on the hilltop. Marik estimates that at least forty or fifty graau came by, stopped briefly, and then headed towards Dith Lun. His best guess is that the riders came by about twelve to fifteen days ago.
Graau tracks aside, the characters are able to get a good view of Dith Lun, and learn the following things:
The characters debate what to do next: sneak up to the town, or follow the graau tracks back to see where they came from. The characters also debate where the locals might be. Dojango comes up with the most imaginative suggestion: he argues that the locals might be nocturnal, or might be out in the forest humping trees.
The characters finally elect to follow the graau tracks back to their source. With Marik and Dojango in the lead, they follow the trail for two hours, eventually coming upon a camp large enough for forty to sixty men. They investigate the camp for a while, then continue on for another four hours, until they reach the Yanyan river. The tracks look like they just came right up out of the river. Dojango mentions that the townsfolk had one large boat tied up at their dock, but Marik estimates that the boat could only carry about a dozen graau at a time, far fewer than were in the group the characters are following. Marik also notices that there are no signs of either corralling areas or gangplanks, both of which would have accompanied a "normal" landing from a boat.
Dojango remembers that graau will swim, but don't like water much. Persuading one to cross a river with a rider requires extensive training. Marik suggests that magic was probably involved, though exactly what type isn't clear. Arnoux suggests that there could be a ford here. Dojango argues against this idea, as the characters sailed by here, and didn't hit a sand bar.
At this point, Antok pipes up, "We have dogs in Dost. They have tentacles." The other characters pay him no heed.
Marik flies over the river and finds tracks on the other side. They are even with the ones on the other bank, so he doubts that the critters swam: they would have been been pushed downriver some distance by the current.
Coming to the eventual conclusion that magic was the most likely way the riders crossed the river, the characters come up with several possible strategies: freezing the river, the Walk on Water spell, and a quick dimensional gate.
The characters decide to head back to Dith Lun and do a perimeter search for more tracks. They make good speed, and slightly before nightfall, Dojango finds tracks from a larger group of graau, plus wagon tracks, headed out of Dith Lun. The characters have an easy time following this trail, and eventually conclude that the animals and wagons are accompanied by people on foot. Some distance from Dith Lun, they find a dead Sangorn human in a loincloth, head bashed in with a flanged mace.
The characters decide to head in through one of the planted areas surrounding Dith Lun under cover of night, with the idea that they will try to sneak over the walls. They encounter nobody as they pass through the outer edges of the treeline, noting a large area of toppled trees off to one side. Along the way to the city walls, they find a mud brick granary that was put to the torch within the last several days: the fires are all out, but the building is hot to the touch, and faint embers can still be seen inside.
Dojango notes that the random-seeming distribution of crop and wild plants within the greened areas is actually a fairly typical restoration strategy for Garden settlements. Some plants are regarded as blessed by Yaggo, and act to restore the fertility of the soil. Many of these plants are not agriculturally useful, so many Garden folk plant a wide area in "blessed" plants, and then later clear isolated areas for their fields and gardens once the soil is able to support agricultural plants again.
The characters reach the inner edge of the planted area and hide next to an empty stable to take stock of the situtation. They see that a 50-meter area leading up to the walls has been left clear of vegetation. They also see what looks like a single group of two guards patrolling on top of the wall. The guards are wearing tall bronze helmets and long robes that might conceal additional armor. They are armed with long pikes and shields.
The characters time the guards' circuit carefully, then sprint for the walls. Arnoux hurls a grapple and a rope up to the top of the wall, then attempts to ascend. No sooner has he reached the top of the wall than a series of bronze plates attached to the flagpole of the nearest guard station start to flap up and down, making a terrible clatter in the process. The characters realize that the jig is up. Arnoux drops back down to the ground, and the entire group sprints back to the safety of the tree line. By the time they reach cover, five or six guards have assembled around the guard station. Two of them use an obviously magical device to send a bright beam of light around the area, clearly searching for whatever caused the alarm. The guards are all armored in a similar manner, but a couple of them carry bows instead of pikes.
The characters elect to withdraw back to their camp for the night.
The session ends with the characters sneaking away from the walls of Dith Lun. Each character gains four experience points.