We finish sweeping level 3 for secret doors with Imervent. We find nothing and then head up to the surface. It's cold - the high is 22 - but the minions have been busy improving the tents/yurts and digging down a little. We make a backup plan that they can head to the tower if the weather gets too terrible.

Then the party heads to Verbobonc with Javier and Prince Thramul in tow. Endure Elements is cast to make the trip more comfortable. A little before lunch, it gets up to 16 degrees and a heavy snow starts to fall.

We're headed into a forested section of road, someone spots movement in the trees -"Squirrels!" Then darkness appears, and ice mephits appear, and a vargouille, and a baying hound to scare us. Panic and Paralysis affect various characters. Jeff: "I didn't even know squirrels had these powers."

Some countersong (thanks Javier) and remove fear (thanks Pire) get rid of most of the effects. Unfortunately Elmo had already ridden off. Pire's summoned dire bat tears a mephit apart in a single swoop. Thramul engages a shadowhound and is pulled from Binky, who he had been riding. The enemy illusionist is surrounded by Diren, Theldin, Pire's celestial bat and dispatched. After several rounds of being confused by the shadow hound's shadowy aura, Sir Thramul strikes true several times and fells the beast with Binkie's help.

Diren heals the illusionist before she dies, and manacles her as best she can. She's blurry and weird and not of this plane. He drags her back to the cart. She's a shae (outsider from the plane of shadow). We interrogate her - she isn't evil, just summoned by a wizard and compelled to hunt us. We get a few details of the fourth level and plan to dismiss her tomorrow.

Then we get back to Hommlet. A magic circle keeps the shae confined in the temple of St Cuthbert until Pire can Dismiss her back to the plane of shadow. A few cold days of travel later to Verbobonc.

We stay at an inn, keep our loot wagon at the fort. The next day is shopping. We attend a fine dinner hosted by Thramul's friends. And Elmo is presented with a magical warhammer, Mutterstone, from the church of St Cuthbert.

Diren returns the holy items from the temple trophy room to the temple of Pelor.