(Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
The crew return to the seaside town of Coriander to witness the aftermath of invasion by Swindon troops and Gora's Panzers.
Purket poses as a census taker to gather information from the survivors.
Coriander Bridge, once the gem of the city, is now riddled with war damage and eerily empty of its usual bustling traffic.
Purket investigates one of the cranes, only to discover a grisly warning hanging from it.
Porcine brutes from Swindon patrol the streets. Cali tries to hide Squalor's conspicuous form by throwing a tent over him...
...but Squalor falls through a weak spot in the damaged bridge, landing directly onto a Porcine brute in the tavern below.
"Something broke my fall- or rather, my fall broke something."
Thankfully they are able to enlist help from the citizens below and plan an attack against their oppressors.
Attempting to reach their friends across the bridge, the crew evade Swindon patrols via the dark Underbridge paths... until they run into a horde of Aberrants!
The crew are barely able to drive off the Aberrants, and make their way up past several traps to meet with Baub, a trinkets dealer that explains that the leader of the Porcines, the Butcher, is terrified by Dragons (even though they aren't real).
Squalor and Cali find Fentman in his dark and damaged Forge. He agrees to set boobytraps on the bridge to take down some enemy Panzers.
Griff visits his old friend Paddywinx, who offers his Dragonfire fireworks to terrorize the Butcher.
Griff discovers a Porcine brute attacking a Piscene down below the bridge, and intercedes.
The grateful Piscenes, on hearing the Butcher's fears, offer to "summon the great Sea Dragon". Griff shrugs- it couldn't hurt.
The enemy Porcines and Panzers sense the unrest of the civilians, and brutally enforce a curfew.
Finn brings the crew's ship to dock at the bridge, despite enemy Panzer fire showering down. Squalor boards his Panzer and ventures into the fray.
Although outnumbered, the boobytraps take their toll, enemy Panzers falling through weak points in the Bridge.
Squalor meets the lead Panzer with grappling attacks to try to pin them down and minimize collateral damage.
The other enemy Panzers circumvent traps by smashing through civilian homes...
... until a huge, sinewy beast launches out of the water and attacks! Could it be... an actual Dragon?
The question is unequivocably answered when the beast barbecues hordes of Porcine brutes, including a terrified Butcher.
Meanwhile, Purket uses his Magic ring to steal the breath away from the enemy Panzer leader! The spell works, but a magical mishap causes Purket to start falling- upward- into the sky! He manages to grab onto the roof of a nearby building.
The enemies rout, and fall back across the bridge. A victory for the people of Coriander!
But the threat of an actual dragon running loose is terrifying. Griff asks the Piscenes to call it off, but they reply that you can't tell a Dragon what to do.
Thankfully, Griff uses his amazing cooking skills to appease the Dragon, who, after eating its fill, slinks back into the waves...
The crew agree to return to the stronghold and get to the bottom of the Gribblins that snuck in. Finn drops the crew off at Agrippa Island. Purket's magic mishap hasn't worn off yet, so Squalor ties him on like a balloon to keep him from floating away.
The path up to the stronghold was strangely quiet... until dart traps and boulders threaten the party!
The crew assume the traps were set by Rusty to keep unwanted visitors away. Squalor catches the undersized boulder and shouts "Maybe bigger next time, Rusty". Griff wonders if his new companions aren't just a little bit crazy...
Inside the Stronghold, the crew are ambushed (once again) by Beer Golems, to Griff's horror! The rest of the crew shrug it off, and look for Rusty and Dima.
The Lich known as "Grandma" pops out with dire warnings and freaks out Griff, until Dima appears and ushers her away. They finally reach the hole in the basement, and descend.
At the bottom is a dark chasm. Purket, still inverted, offers to walk across on the ceiling. But suddenly the chasm fills with fire and lava, endangering the others! After trying numerous doors that loop around to other sides of the room, they finally make their way forward to look any signs of the Gribblins.
A strange sproinging noise comes down the hall, and a Gribblin on a Pogo Stick crashes into Squalor, apologizes, and dissapears down the hall again. Dima chases after it, and disappears.
The crew press on, and find a puppet-wielding Gribblin in a cell. The puppet coaxes them over, and they offer to release the strange creature.
But the Gribblin crone just walks out of the unlocked cell... and asks the crew to find her "Pet dog- four legs- you'll know him when you see him. Named Roquefort- maybe..." The crew agree, but in exchange, no more Gribblins raiding the stronghold! Griff leaves a trail of snacks to try to lure this "Roquefort" out.
In the next room, the doors shut as soon as the crew all enter, and the ceiling begins lowering- or is the floor... rising? Purket realizes that four holes on the ceiling line up with four pillars on the floor, and encourages everyone to get on a pillar! Squalor has to detach his arms to fit through the hole as he ascends...
Arriving safely in the room above, Purket can't help but fiddle with the ancient device found there... and the floor starts rising again! This time, ascending alcoves provide the way out.
Just as each adventurer climbs into their alcoves, a hideous winged beast gleefully leaps into the alcove with Griff, sporting a nametag on their collar- "Roquefort".
The crew arise into a large chamber, as the sound of... Seagulls? They realize they have been here before- somehow they have travelled all the way to the shrine in Scrimshaw! Dima is there ahead of them. Griff is stunned- until Roquefort slurps the back of his head, rubbing his fur the wrong way.
FLASHBACK GAME: ABOUT 5 YEARS AGO...
The Arcadian Academic Archeological Association, or 4A (Foray- get it?) have discovered the location of an ancient temple in the southern jungle that contains a priceless artifact from ancient times- the Needle of Lament.
Lady Chatterly, a 4A member, wants the artifact badly, and hires Johnathan Scrubbs, AKA the Captain, AKA Slippery Jack, to retrieve it. Knowing the dangers, Slippery Jack brings Mayne the mercenary and his pet lion Percival to accompany him.
But Hampton, another 4A member, also wants the artifact, and goes personally to get it, along with jungle expert and mercenary tracker, Calico.
Hampton also secretly hires another merc, Griff, to follow Johnathan Scrubbs (aka Jack) and track his progress.
Slippery Jack, Mayne, and Percy arrives at the temple site, followed by Griff.
Meanwhile, Hampton and Calico forge ahead into the temple on their own.
Slippery Jack runs into a nest of vipers! Percival reluctantly paws at the snakes until Mayne beats them back with his massive club.
Griff decides to investigate the temple himself, and finds treasure! But then a poisonous giant centipede finds him...
Giant dragonflies buzz into the temple, charging Hampton until he blinds them with his flashgun. They stagger blindly, bumping into the cliffs.
Griff manages to slip away from the centipede, and Hampton runs into him and invites him to join their party, now that they know where slippery Jack has gone.
Calico scouts ahead, encountering gas-spewing plants, and a Skullker: a strange little skull-wearing figure who tries to ward her off with pantomime warnings of danger ahead.
Meanwhile slippery Jack goes deeper into the Temple, finding gas plants of his own, plus carvings in the walls of an ancient people, possibly Elven folk, surrounding a strange giant warrior. Then he notices a bizarre creature in the next room, grazing on the plants there.
Before he can decide what to do, the creature is attacked by a Carnosaur! Slippery Jack slips past them both, out onto a rickety bridge... and spots the rival relic hunter Hampton on the other side!
Calico ignores the Skullker's warning and enters a dark chamber with a looming warrior statue at the back. It has something jammed into its spine: the Needle of Lament! Hampton dashes through the room shouting instructions to fetch the needle.
Griff finds his way past the Skullker, followed by Mayne and Percy who tackle him. The Skullker gives up in disgust and leaves the intruders to their fate. Griff offers to lead Mayne to some treasure, and they form a truce and exit the warrior's chamber.
Hampton runs into some humanoid savages and their deadly bow fire. Slippery Jack takes a poisoned arrow to the arm, as the two rivals find themselves caught in an ambush. Ignoring the stink of gas plants, Slippery Jack fires his pistol at the savages...
And the gas ignites in a fiery explosion! Slippery Jack is knocked out, and Hampton and Calico are shoved back as the savages disappear behind the cloud of flames.
Trusting Calico to grab the artifact, Hampton nobly tends to Slippery Jack's wounds.
Calico climbs onto the warrior's back and removes the Needle of Lament. But the warrior statue is actually an Auran, a deadly creature created by the ancient Elvens and held in stasis by the artifact. It tremors... and comes to life!
Calico makes a break for it with the artifact in tow, the awakened Auran not far behind.
All the adventurers manage to flee the temple before the Auran can catch up with them, treasures in hand... But what have they unleashed?
ON TO PART 4!
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