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As a counterpoint to Sparky's campaign journal, so peopel cah see the similarities and differences of how it played out, I am posting the log form the first session of Shades when I ran it as a capmpaign in 3.5 (as opposed to the playtest sessions, con sessions, and the original 1E/2E campaign).

I cut it off where Sparky's ends so as not to reveal further happenings (though there are a few revelations in mine that Sparky's players might of missed, so beware of spoilers.

Only the first session is recorded this way, so there won't be much in the way of follow up, but I look forward to seeing how it play's out in Saprky's game.

To wit:

Session 1:
Characters
-Hayslip Butternose Female Gnome Bard Level 1 (played by Amy)
-Dwildenak Dwarven Fighter Level 1(played by Mark)
-Aron Noir Human Rogue Level 1 (played by Jacob)
-Kaesick Elven Fighter Level 1 (played by Stephen)

-Palmer's Field Part 1: The Abandoned Village

Rumors of a plague spreading across the Plains of Mayfurrow
troubled the leaders of many of the cities around the region. At Rme, the Grand Duke commissioned a band of 4 travelers to go to the Plains and ascertain the truth of these rumors, to see what the nature of the plague was if true, and to determine what could be done to stop it. The Plains of Mayfurrow were an important source of wool, and a buffer between the Grand Duchy and some of the wilder areas to
the south and west.

So, Hayslip, Dwildenak, Aron, and Kaesick leave from Rme and
travel along the Shepherd's Crook, a small trade route crossing the plains. Along the way they discover several abandoned villages giving credence to the rumors of plague, and the few folk the encounter talk of a gray death loosed upon the plains.

Nearly 2 weeks after departing Rme, the party approaches the small village of Palmer's Field. Recent travelers say the village is still inhabited, and the party looks to a hot meal and a good night's rest in the local inn. As they approach they see a plume of thick black smoke rising from the village and the odor of charred flesh fills the air.

They cautiously enter the village and make a grisly discovery
upon the village green. A still smoldering pyre covers most of the green, filled with the ashes, charred bones and remains of close to 3 score people. The smell is worse nearer to the fire, but the hearty dwarf pokes through the smoldering pile. His search turns up a half- melted slag of metal that looks like it once was a holy symbol of Freya, and several scraps of charred gray cloth. The scraps are curious, as they are made of several different materials (linen, wool, etc.) but are all the same uniform gray in color.

As Dwildenak searches, Aron hears a faint but constant
thumping sound coming from what looks to be the local inn or tavern. The sign hanging from the building identifies it as the Ram's Den. Aron alerts the others to the sound, and the four of them move to investigate once Dwildenak finished searching the smoldering remains of the villagers.

They enter the Ram's Den and locate the source of the sound
as coming from the kitchen behind the common room. They slip
carefully into the kitchen and see that it is in a state of disarray. Charred remains of bread left to bake too long in the oven, vegetables half chopped upon a cutting board, a stew left to cook too long in the hearth and other half finished chores indicate the kitchen was vacated hastily with no concern as to what was left undone.

The thumping is louder, and they see a trap door in the floor that has been barred close from the outside. Something seems to be pounding on the trap door from below. They call out to whomever is beneath the trapdoor, but the only response is a pause in the pounding and an incoherent sound that could be a human voice. After a moment, the pounding on the trap door resumes. Disconcerted, the party hastily determines a course of action. Kaesick will slide the bolt aside, unbarring the trap door, and will open it while Dwildenak readies his crossbow and keeps it trained on the trap door area. Hayslip an Aron fall back just in case.

As Kaesick slips the bar aside, the trapdoor bursts open
knocking Kaesick over. A haggard gray humanoid figure rises through the trap door covered in ragged gray clothes and sporting sharp wicked teeth and long nasty claws. It takes a swipe at Kaesick with those claws and slashes through his armor raking his flesh. The cut burns and the skin around it momentarily turns gray before fading to a normal flesh-tone. Dwildenak fires his crossbow hitting the gray ghoul square in the chest, staggering it back a few steps before it explodes into a cloud of fine gray dust that seemingly disappears as
it falls to the ground, leaving behind only a few scraps of gray
cloth.

The party rushes to aid Kaesick and clean his wounds as best
they can. Kaesick seems weak for a moment, but quickly recovers his strength once the wound is cleaned and bound. Hayslip and Dwildenak peer down through the trapdoor and see that it is an entrance into a root cellar. Haylsip climbs down to investigate seeing no other source of danger, and hastily collects many vegetables and other foodstuffs there to add to the party's stores, which were running low of late after nearly 2 weeks of travel with little opportunity to replenish them.

The party then moves to search the rest of the Ram's Den. In
the innkeeper's room they find a log of the guests and a book of recipes (much to Hayslip's delight). The logbook reports that a merchant named Karn and his manservant had stayed at the inn for 2 days and left the day before the party arrived. There were 3 other guests at the inn, a priest of Talana, Mistress of Secrets, his ward, a young Elven maid, and a minstrel named Surovey Donegal who had entertained at the inn to pay for their stay. The logbook also notes
that Karn's servant stayed in the stables with their wagon.
In one of the guest rooms they find a bunch of adventuring gear and a masterwork harp. It looks like the equipment was hastily abandoned, but there are no weapons left behind. They also find a small journal belonging to Donegal. It reveals that the three are agents hired by the lords of the Forest Kingdoms to investigate the rumors of plague on the plains. They suspect Karn is tied into it somehow, as he had been
to many of the ravaged villages they had found.

In another guestroom, they find a scrap of charred paper in the hearth with a sigil on it. Hayslip recognizes it as the seal of Acgregor, a small kingdom to the north that lies in a vale within the Azure Mountains. Acregor has tried to conquer the region of the plains many times in the past, often clashing with the Grand Duchy or the Forest Kingdoms, but has been inactive in such pursuits for several decades.

The party then splits up to search the rest of the village. Near the stables, they find wagon tracks (presumably from Karn's wagon). Kaesick recalls seeing similar tracks in some of the abandoned villages they had passed through. At the shrine of Freya, they find some hastily scribbled notes by the priestess recording a conversation she had with Mara, the elf maid accompanying the priest of Talana. It seems that they have come to call the plague spreading through the plains the gray death, and it is resistant to healing magic. Those infected die, and rise again as an undead plague carrier
that resembles a ghoul. The disease causes victims to slowly turn a uniform shade of gray, including the clothes they wear. The victims look as if they are aging as they become haggard and shriveled as the disease progresses. It incubates fast, and there is little chance to help a victim once infected.

A bless spell will slow the process of a victim rising again as an undead, and a bless followed by a remove disease spell has a chance of healing the disease, but is not guaranteed. The party also turns up a small cache of healing potions and clerical scrolls inscribed with bless and remove disease that the priestess had been preparing.

There was a little bit more in my first session, but since Sparky's group hasn't gotten to those events yet, I will save them for later.

-M