The Symbol, a new mission and some very nasty Lightnin' Lizzies

From the Chronicles of Ahmok, Swordmaster.

After some well deserved R&R and after learning some new moves, we all met to decide what was to be done next. After some deliberation it was decided that we should investigate further on the strange symbol tattooed on our bodies by that twisted elf that had us in captivity. Elissar and Ajisha had a go at the Travar library. He zeroed in on a book but the librarian told him that that particular book had just been taken by a dwarf, seconds earlier. That dwarf was exiting the building at that same moment. Our two heroes decided to follow him through the city streets but after a while, the streets being so busy, they lost him. As Ajisha is trying to locate him from her vantage point, Elissar turns a corner into an alley and is cornered by the same dwarf he was hounding. The cowled dwarf demands an explanation but after revealing his face Elissar sees it is Lau Ben, the dwarf who escaped with us from the prison and who was also branded with the same symbol we had. That also explained the interest he had in the book. After moments of deliberation, Lau Ben convinces Elissar that he has better means and resources to research the symbol than us and that a friend of his working in the local Throal embassy needs our services.
Meeting back with us, Elissar and Ajisha tell us their story and we decide to go to the Throal embassy and speak with this person. He turns out to be yet another dwarf by the name of Varadifarion. He describes his predicament which basically consists of caravans travelling between the Twilight Peaks and Tylon Mountains that are disappearing at an alarming rate and also that he needs us to investigate the matter. As an incentive he also gives us an earth elemental coin each as down payment. We are to go to the city of Daiche, the place where we originally escaped from and try to meet a contact of Varadifarion if he is still alive; he tells us that he has not heard from him in a while and fears for his safety. This contact is a human who goes by the name of Forrest with black hair and green eyes; not very common features I must say.
That done we go to some reputable stables to buy some riding horses and our songstress manages to get a slight discount with some hay to boot on them.
That same afternoon we leave Travar on to our destination, Daiche.
The first few days are uneventful and we meet various caravans, merchants, mashalls and adventuring parties on our way; the road to Travar is a very busy one indeed. Eventually even these start to get scarcer the further out we go from Travar. The terrain also starts to get a bit hilly.
On the third day our hawk eyed elf spots a clearing with a solitary tree in its middle; dangling from it are four cages, we get closer. From a closer view the tree is sooty black and nothing grows underneath it, like the ground around it had been salted. using astral sight Elissar notices that it has a sort of pattern. We get even closer and see that two fo the cages are occupied by dried desiccated bones. Opposite each of the two occupied cages is an inscription on the bark. In astral sight Elissar tells us that the imprints look like they are possessed.
Elissar and me approach even closer and we are able to read the inscriptions. One reads thus, 'Herein is trapped Morath, consortor of horrors, destroyer of the village Fabian's grove, may he suffer to his last breath'.
The other reads, 'Herein is trapped the assassin Paulus, Vestrial's questor, may he suffer to his last breath.
Looking up I also notice some berries growing out of the bark of the tree and climb up to investigate them. I decide not to pick them upon Elissar's council but curiosity has the better of Jarl and Ivor and the latter stretches to pick some of the siclky berries up, put them in a container and hands them over to Jarl. We decide to put some distance between us and this ominous place before we make camp for the night.
The following day we find some goats in a pen surrounded by rubble walls. Apart from the milling goats there are also the carcasses of some of them. We decide to investigate and Ivor literally trips over what he originally thought was a goat carcass and eventually turned out to be the corpse of a dwarf, probably the shepherd. With a sidelong glance I managed to glimpse the tail of something flitting inside the hut. I warn the others and we prepare for battle. Scant seconds after we draw our weapons four huge lizards rush out of the hut and charge Ivor and me. The nasty creatures pack a surprise we did not expect; apart from the usual biting and clawing you would expect from a giant lizard, they also start shooting lightning bolts from their eyes (no I will not say it). An extra hidden surprise is that when one hits them they can discharge lightning through the weapon. The damage dealt, especially to me, with these lightning attacks is considerable but after some good swordplay and very useful spells we manage to dispatch the creatures. Jarl also tells us that the eyes of these creatures are worth something so we pop them out of their sockets and put them in our backpacks for future sale.
We bury the shepherd with his staff, his tool of the trade, in the goat pen, next to his hut; his home. We also free his goats and let nature take its course but not after we butcher two of them for our nourishment and culinary pleasure. That night we feasted on goat meat and cheese in memory of the poor shepherd who died protecting his livelihood. We slept in his hut and the next morning, after a last goodbye to the dwarf shepherd, we are on our way to Daiche again.