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Session 4 - The Hunt for Lambert Continues and a Halfling Destroys a Pub

• Khun'ttslapped Brandon awake while Baxs Tabber dislodged the bolt that was stuck in him. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" John the Bard asked to the bewildered gnome.
• "I was fleeing to warn Lambert; the orcs have grown more restless and barbaric; they attacked Water's Edge again. I was also attacked by undead shadows in my room at the inn! I think it must be to do with the skull." Stammered the gnome.
• Happy with the information they received and not wishing for the troublesome gnome to gossip about the party's plans for claiming the skull; John the Bard slip the Brandon's throat.
  After Dongella buried the body and Khun'tt had taken trophy from the deceased gnome, the party set off on the road to Caldor in pursuit of Lambert.
• Along the way they spoke with several merchants, asking them if they had seen anyone who fitted Lambert's description go past. Most had not but they struck gold when a turner peddler told them that a man of that description had passed by not half a day ago travelling in a battered old spice wagon with two shadowy figures. Happy with this the party set off with high hopes of catching him within the next couple of days.
• That night the party stayed at a wayside inn named the Crooked Man Inn when the rain became too bad for camping; while there the two bards of the party entertained the gathered crowd of merchants and farmers. John the Bard's performance with his new violin was so good that it actually blew out half of the candles lighting the room simply with the power of his music.
• Khun'tt stepped outside into the rain for a smoke, noticing a small shambling figure walking towards the pub. Peering closely Khun'tt saw the shuffling corpse of Brandon the gnome heading towards her; the shadows around him swaying unnaturally.
• Calmly Khun'tt stepped back into the inn and stood behind the door, she informed the party of the incoming danger moments before the wight that was once Brandon stepped through the door.
• Several of the merchants screamed as the shadows leapt from the floor and began to steal their life essence leaving several of them empty husks. The party burst into action sticking several arrows into the wight; however the non-magical arrows shot towards the shadows past straight through them.
• Dongella cast "magic weapon" ensuring that the party would be able to kill the shadows while a longsword thrown across the room by Azreal beheaded the undead gnome. Fitz had his ankle gripped by one of the shadows leading to his strength being sapped from him; however Scarntlat's raw holy power destroyed the shadows before they could do any further damage to the ranger.
• After calming the rest of the inn down, the party spent the night there before heading off in search of Lambert the next day.
• After several hours of travelling Baxs Tabber spotted a wagon that looked a lot like the one that the turnip farmer had said Lambert had been travelling in. The wagon was pulled up to a wayside in called the Laughing Farmer Inn.
  John the Bard, Fitz, Deliah and the clerics elected to venture in to see if Lambert was inside. Azreal and Khun'tt stayed outside while Baxs began to rummage through Lambert's wagon.
• Inside the in a large half-orc bartender pointed the party in the direction of one of the upstairs rooms; the inn itself was mainly full of merchants and merchant guards who had stopped for a late lunch.
• John the Bard chose to knock on the door to Lambert's room and entered pretending to be a travelling minstrel, who simply wanted to play a song for a few spare coppers. While in the room he spied a bag on the floor that could well contain the skull, the room was also made up for three people although it appeared Lambert was the only one present.
• Suspicious of John the Bard, Lambert asked why he was really here. At the same moment Khun'tt spotted John the Bard through an upstairs window looking somewhat uncomfortable; she decided to throw a stone through the window; the sudden shattering of glass caused Lambert to attack and one of his companions to drop down from the rafters to attack John the Bard as well.
• Both Lambert and this other man's face began to shift and mould like clay; leading John the Bard to surmise that they were doppelgangers. Lambert landed a vicious blow with his rapier, causing serious pain to John the Bard while his companion in turn struck Deliah.
• Seeing the commotion upstairs Azreal fired several shots into the room to no avail before deciding to climb up the wall of the pub; hoping to catch the doppelgangers by surprise.
• In a stroke of genius or madness, Baxs decided to hop aboard Lambert's wagon and ride it full speed into the front of the pub; the resulting collision led to the deaths of the two horses pulling the wagon while the debris several injured several of the merchants and their guards. The Halfling was also catapulted across the bar; where he landed miraculously on his feet grabbed a bottle from behind the bar before attacking the barman and fleeing upstairs.
• With Deliah and John the Bard bleeding out, Fitz the ranger and the clerics leapt into action delivering the killing blows to the two doppelgangers. However several of the horses were fleeing up the stairs after crashing through the bar followed by Baxs and several enraged caravan guards baying for the halfling's blood.
• Scarntlat managed to save the two injured party members from being trampled by horses while Dongella searched the room only to conclude that the skull with the gemstones for eyes was not here; it must be in the possession of Lambert's other travelling companion, assumed also to be a doppelganger.