The adventurers are dragged to a room situated almost directly above the forge, at the end of the hall from the top of the stairs. There are six chairs lined up across the middle of the room and the guards direct the party to sit. Across from them is a long wooden table with a high back chair on the opposite side. The windows in the room are all closed which plunges the side of the room opposite them into deep shadow. Not long after they are escorted in (Liam, still bound, is physically placed in a chair by two of the guards) another familiar face joins them. It is Frederick, their bandit friend that originally escorted them to Tir Gaelyn. He is looking quite shaken and completely avoids eye contact with the party. Frederick takes the final chair, wincing at his escort’s rough gesture.

The small group of scale-clad guards then leaves the room except for one who crosses to the far side. Along the right wall, there is a door close to the far side of the room. The guard opens the door and bows slightly as a cloaked figure enters. The man crosses the room and sits in the high backed chair facing the party. His cloak remains pulled partly over his face and in the darkness of that side of the room, the party can’t make out any details of the stranger’s appearance.

The man introduces himself as Gaelyn. Gaelyn speaks to them in a very frank manner, telling them they are only still alive because they have managed to catch his interest. Mainly because he is amazed that they have survived despite a display of naivete. Aside from the party fighting off his second in command, Ainfean, without getting themselves killed, Gaelyn is also impressed that Cian managed to elude his guards for so long while among the city walls. Liam, who has been un-gagged for the occasion, makes note that the guards don’t seem very well trained anyway. Gaelyn seems to just shrug this off, with a hint of amusement. Gaelyn then demands to know what brought them to Tir Gaelyn.

An interesting conversation begins that has Gaelyn finishing more than a few sentences and providing more detail about unspoken things than they are comfortable with. Dierdre is the first to speak, trying to diplomatically smooth things over. She speaks convincingly about their desire to set up shop in Tir Gaelyn (Cian being a skilled tattooist) and their desire to get away from certain elements in the north. She also mentions that they hadn’t intended to provoke his guards though Ainfean (the chain wielding woman) had left them little choice. Gaelyn responds that she was simply doing her job, a job that requires zeal. Gaelyn then mentions that he believes Dierdre, in part, though he knows there is something else. Cian adds that they had an encounter with some people who have been unfriendly to "people like us". Cian mentions that they heard he (Gaelyn) had certain powers and that the party wanted to warn him about these dangerous people. Gaelyn appears undisturbed, and even mentions precisely who Cian is referring to (The Fist from session 3). Gaelyn also tells Cian that whatever he may have heard about him is wrong.

As the conversation continues, Gaelyn appears to be gleaning more information than the party is providing and finishing thoughts with eerie accuracy. Cian begins to suspect magic is in play. He gives a few "surface thoughts" loud and clear which basically broadcast something like: "I’d like to share magic with you, we can learn from each other!" Gaelyn doesn’t respond to this though he does happen to look Cian’s way at that point. As the conversation comes to a close, Gaelyn asks them bluntly, why he shouldn’t have them killed. Allowing anyone to challenge his authority is exceptionally dangerous and making clear examples of them would be his best course of action. Dierdre and Cian both continue trying to make amends, apologizing for their fight with the guards. They end up offering to assist him.

Gaelyn seems to consider something for a while then tells the party they can assist him if they wish. Gaelyn tells them of Bran, the leader of the tattooed berserkers they fought on first arriving at the city. Gaelyn explains that Bran and his men control the trapping trade in the boglands and run a fairly decent business with inhabitants of the Freeman’s Lands. They even trade with those of the High Clan’s lands who are willing to turn a blind eye to the fact that they are clanless. Gaelyn also tells how Bran and his men frequently offer themselves out as mercenaries, most commonly to High Clan Steairn. Bran used to be a member of that same High Clan. He even served as a Servant of the Flame (cleric) of High Clan Steairn, and is now a devout worshipper of Badb, goddess of death and war.

Gaelyn tells the party that there is good reason to believe that Bran has an eye on Tir Gaelyn. He requests that the party infiltrate Bran’s village and try to gather any information. In an almost amused tone, Gaelyn also mentions that they can "take care of" Bran if they get the chance. Then with a look at Frederick, Gaelyn says he has already been speaking to their "friend" (Frederick cringes at the mention) about just this sort of thing. Cinn Oir immediately requests that Frederick be released, as he really isn’t a member of the party. Gaelyn says that no harm will come to Frederick but Frederick is going to help get them started on their little mission. Frederick can show them the location of Bran’s village. Once there, he can do as he pleases.

The party agrees to this and Cian asks if Gaelyn has any contacts in the village. Gaelyn mentions the barkeep at the local pub will serve as their contact. With that, Gaelyn tells them to get to work and the party is escorted out of Tir Gaelyn. Their equipment is returned to them once they reach the city gates. Once outside, Cinn Oir decides to spend the rest of the day searching for her Dire Weasel and snake, while the party rests and recovers spells. Frederick is very anxious, and visibly nervous. He barely mumbles responses to a few of Dierdre’s questions. Dierdre feels sorry for him and leaves him alone the rest of the day.

By the next morning, Cinn Oir has located her Dire Weasel, though not her snake which she assumes is still inside the town somewhere. Vowing to looking for it later, the party sets off with Frederick in the lead. Frederick sets a very brisk pace as though he is in a hurry. He only briefly mentions that the journey is about half a day and keeps extremely quiet the entire time. By around late afternoon, Frederick stops and points through a small copse of wiry trees ahead and says that the village lies just beyond. The party thanks him, and wordlessly, Frederick leaves.

As they approach the other side of the treeline, the party can make out a small village which looks very nomadic in style. Most of the structures are small huts that appear to be only quasi-permanent and some even look to be very portable. The buildings surround a hill which Cinn Oir notes is not of natural origin. It appears to be similar to the Sidhe they encountered in the Wood Between (See session 9: Goibnhu's Forge). Atop the hill rests a tall standing stone. Seeing this, Cinn Oir feels the urging of her geis.

Dierdre hatches a cover story which they agree to. They will try to pass themselves off as a wandering troupe of entertainers (so as not too look too threatening.) She spends a bit of time using her Disguise skill to help the party conceal weapons and armor and provide them with a more "common" look. She is successful to some degree and the party approaches the village cautiously.

Dierdre assumes the lead and asks the first person they see where the pub might be. She receives a cordial enough response and within minutes the party has found it. It appears to be one of the few structures in town with a fairly permanent look to it. It is a low walled sod house with a thatch roof and even has a stone chimney rising along the western wall. Dierdre and Liam enter while Cinn Oir and Cian leave to get a closer look at the standing stone atop the sidhe.

Dierdre and Liam approach the bar and Dierdre orders a few drinks. She then asks the barkeep if he has any friends in Tir Gaelyn. He responds that he does and that quite a few people do. She then goes about asking whether she can provide some entertainment at his establishment. The bartender just shrugs and gestures out toward the patrons with a "well get to it" look. Dierdre obliges and performs an incredibly successful song and dance routine that has the bar patrons dancing along. When she is finished she returns to the bartender. He enthusiastically informs her that he is also the pub’s owner and that he’d love for her to entertain his customers while she is in town. Dierdre agrees but says that her "husband" (motioning to Liam), and a few friends will need a place to stay. The pub owner offers a small shed out back which Dierdre graciously accepts. Dierdre also brings up Cian’s tattooing skills (not missing a chance to show off the daisy Cian skillfully placed on her shoulder). The pub owner promises to try and set up a meeting with Bran since Bran and his men all wear unique tattoos, though the pub owner warns that they are very particular about the quality.

Meanwhile, Cian and Cinn Oir are travelling toward the center of the village dominated by the large earthen sihde. Cinn Oir wishes to perform her duty as soon as possible. However, as they reach the base of the man-made hill, they are stopped by two tattoo covered warriors. They start questioning Cian and Cinn Oir and refuse to let them any closer to the sidhe. Cinn Oir is diplomatic but firm and manages to convince the guards that she means no harm and only wishes to see the stone. As a druid, she explains that it is within her duties. The guards relent though they don’t allow them any closer. They do however promise to speak to Bran to see if he will allow them. They inform Cian and Cinn Oir to meet them in the same spot the following morning. Cinn Oir agrees and the two adventurers head back toward the pub to meet up with Liam and Dierdre.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully and the heroes enjoy a night at the pub. That evening, the pub owner shows them to the small shed out back. It is pretty cramped quarters but everyone settles in for the night and they set a one man watch just to be safe. Their sleep is mostly uninterrupted save Cinn Oir who is haunted by an eerie dream. She dreams of the standing stone atop the hill. As she approaches it she can see that it begins to glow a sort of sickly green color and its surface has a slick, slimy appearance. She moves forward and reaches out to touch it, carefully tracing the ancient symbols carved upon its face. As she does so, they begin to glow and hum. The light grows steadily brighter around one of the symbols and then slowly fades, revealing a large indention beneath it. As her eyes adjust from the bright illumination, she sees something within the indention. She leans closer. Its dark shape begins to take form….a familiar form. Soon she sees she is staring into the transfixed eyes of a severed human head.

Cinn Oir awakes with a start. It is morning now and the rest of the group is already up and getting set for the day. Still disturbed, Cinn Oir relays her dream to the others. They speak about it in length but are unable to come up with any sort of explanation based on either spellcraft or arcane knowledge. They agree to be on their guard but to go about their planned activities for the day. Cian has plans to go with Cinn Oir to the stone and Liam and Dierdre intend to scope out the town a little before offering to help the pub owner prepare for the day. Before they go their separate ways, Dierdre warns Cian that she may have setup a job interview of sorts with Bran for some tattooing work for him and his men. She informs him that she will let him know this afternoon.

Liam and Dierdre find very little of interest around the town. The residents seem to tolerate strangers though don’t appear overly friendly. There are a large contingent of tattooed warriors, all of which look ready to do battle on a moments notice. As they have observed at the pub, they are a fairly raucous group at times, though when a situation calls for it, they react with well-disciplined clarity. Returning to the pub, Dierdre finds out from the pub owner that he has indeed setup a meeting for Cian with some of Bran’s men. They will evaluate his tattooing skill to see if he can handle their particular job. Dierdre thanks him and then Liam and her spend the late morning helping prepare the pub for business.

Cian and Cinn Oir head off to the same spot at which they encountered the guards the previous day. As they approach, they see that the guards are indeed there. However, this time they are accompanied by someone else. . He is a full head taller than the brawny tattooed men next to him. An incredibly imposing figure, it can only be Bran. He is dressed in crude hides which Cinn Oir surmises came from a bear. The shoulders of his hide armor are decorated with the jet black feathers of the raven, and in his hand he carries a crooked hafted scythe. As they approach, the disturbing figure simply nods and motions for them to follow. With wary glances, Cian and Cinn Oir agree and follow the three men up the hill.

Once at the top, Bran and his men keep their distance and watch silently as Cinn Oir approaches and begins her work. She tends carefully to the stone, clearing away several years of moss and muttering muted blessings to the gods. As she touches the surface of the stone, she nearly recoils in shock. It has an icy cold surface, much cooler than the air temperature would indicate. Concerned, she continues her work. When she is at last satisfied, she steps away from the stone and speaks with the imposing man. He indeed identifies himself as Bran. Bran thanks Cinn Oir and informs her that Badb told him just such a druid would come. Puzzled, Cinn Oir thinks better than to push the issue. She tries to engage Bran in small talk but he says very little. Cian and Cinn Oir do find out though that he lives within the sidhe itself. An odd place to make a residence indeed.

Cinn Oir thanks Bran for allowing her to perform her duty and her and Cian return to the pub. At the pub they meet up with Dierdre and Liam and assist in the few remaining chores. The rest of the afternoon, the group hangs out at the pub, taking sometime to discuss the events of the day in private. Cian retires to the shed early to prepare spells. His up coming meeting with Bran’s men may be their next best chance to gain more information and he wants to be prepared.

That evening the pub is packed. Dierdre spends her time helping the serving girls and entertaining the customers with song and dance. Just before nightfall, Cian is told that the meeting with Bran’s men has been cancelled. The pub owner doesn’t seem to know why, though he said it sounded like they had some other pressing business. The pub owner agrees to try to get him another meeting at a later date. Dierdre also hears some interesting news. As she does her best to entertain the crowd she is also keeping close attention to any news or gossip that is floating about the tavern. Late into the night she overhears a few of Bran’s men speaking quietly about something. She overhears one of them say "I’ll see you back here later tonight." Both men then leave and Dierdre wanders over to Cian to tell him what she just heard. Cian sends his familiar out to follow one of the tattooed men so they will know when he is coming back. Cian’s familiar tails the man across town where he enters a small hut and doesn’t re-emerge for several hours.

The pub closes down late that night without incident and the party settles into the small shed for the night. Cinn Oir ‘s sleep is again interrupted by a dream just after midnight. She dreams of approaching the standing stone again only this time, as she closes in on it, the entire stone has taken on a different shape. It looks to her to be an enormous human spine sticking straight up from the ground. As she gets closer, there is a flash of lightning and beside the grisly formation is something even more disturbing. A jet black horse stands near the spine, nostrils flared. On its back sits a rider, half concealed in a long cloak. In his right hand he wields a human spine, brandished as if it were a weapon. His left hand rests across the saddle. The figure slowly raises the hand, turning it to face her. To her horror, grasped in a bony grip is a human head! The skin is a mottled green with a waxy surface and its eyes roll lazily about to fix themselves on her. As she looks up, she sees the rider’s empty shoulders and knows the head’s prior resting place.

There is a clap of thunder and Cinn Oir awakens. Liam is on watch near the door and the sound of a veritable torrent of rain can be heard pounding on the roof of the tiny shack. Cinn Oir looks around, noticing that Cian and Dierdre have also been awakened by the storm and are discussing something. Cian’s hawk has returned. The hawk waited outside the hut for several hours before the man emerged. He followed the tattooed man across the village to the sidhe where the man entered. Dierdre is very intrigued by this information and is discussing infiltrating the sidhe. Cinn Oir wishes to go as well and Cian offers to make them both Invisible. Cinn Oir and Dierdre both agree and soon are sneaking off toward the center of town unseen.

When the two heroines reach the sidhe, they circle around to the far side and see the entrance. It is an earthen tunnel lined with stone arches, very similar to the one revealed to them at Goibnhu’s Forge,. However, flanking the entrance are two spear wielding guards, seemingly oblivious to the rain and very focused on their duty. Cinn Oir decides to risk it and take a closer look. She carefully approaches the entrance, trying her best to remain quiet (GM’s Note: though the rain helps mask Cinn Oir’s approach quite a bit and having a trackless step comes in handy….) However, despite her best efforts, as she reaches the entry, both guards stop and look apprehensively at each other. (GM’s Note: These guards do have a little bit invested in Spot though it was more due to the two 19 and 20 I rolled! Never fear, the NPC rolling streak does not continue as you will see later….) Despite the fact that they are on now very alert, Cinn Oir decides to slip into the short hallway. Just as she does, one of the guards also turns into the hallway, spear down while the other begins combing the area just around the door.

Cinn Oir glances up the hall which ends at a long curtain. Filtering in from behind it is torchlight and the faint murmur of voices but she can’t make out any conversation above the pouring rain and thunder. Looking back toward the exit, she sees she is now mostly blocked in by the wary guard who is giving the hallway a thorough scan. She is trapped and unsure what to do. Getting by the curtain and investigating further would be impossible without the guard noticing and the hallway is too narrow to slip around him and leave.

Dierdre, outside, sees Cinn Oir disappear and watches as the guard goes in after her. Knowing Cinn Oir is in trouble, Dierdre comes up with a distraction. She casts Light on a nearby tree and begins making "haunting" noises. The little show definitely gets the attention of both guards and the one in the narrow hall immediately turns around and steps out to see what the commotion is while the guard outside stares on in awe. Cinn Oir seizes the opportunity and rushes out past them. Running toward Dierdre’s ghostly moans and wails, she lets her know she is there, and both of them rush back toward the shack. Before they are all the way back, the Invisibility wears off and they come bursting in through the door, soaked and quite easy to see.

Dierdre and Cinn Oir tell of what happened while Cian mentions he has been keeping an eye on the storm. The weather appears to be getting worse. Cinn Oir has noticed this as well, and between the two of them, they determine that it most likely isn’t of natural causes. They spend the next several minutes discussing what their next move should be. There is definitely something a foot with Bran and his men and the fact that a few of them were planning on "meeting back at the pub later" coupled with the secretive meeting at the sidhe has the adventurers worried. Their questions are soon answered though, with a heavy knock on the door. Liam, stands and opens the door. A bolt of lightning tears across the sky outlining the silhouette of a large, dark figure wielding a scythe. Liam steps back in alarm and immediately slams the door!

The knock comes again and Liam cautiously opens the door. Bran extends a hand and motions toward Cinn Oir. "You need to complete your work druid." Cinn Oir protests and claims her work is complete but Bran insists. With a nervous look she follows him out of the door. Cian quickly requests to come and Bran agrees, seemingly unconcerned. As the group leaves the shack on Bran’s heels, they notice four of his tattooed warriors are with him. All are armed though none appear hostile at the moment.

Bran takes an almost leisurely walk through the pouring rain, responding to very few questions. He insists that Cinn Oir’s work is not done though she has done a great service for Badb. Puzzled they continue following Bran and note he is headed straight for the sidhe. As they reach the base, Cinn Oir is the first to notice that atop the hill and just next to the standing stone is a mounted figure. The figure is difficult to make out in the darkness, though Cinn Oir immediately recalls her dream from earlier that night. Bran continues up the hill, giving the figure no heed while still talking of Cinn Oir’s work. He stops just short of the stone. As a fork of lightning crosses the sky, they all note the mounted figure is headless…..mounted atop a jet black steed. Cian finds himself finding a powerful fear. Bran’s men seem to be effected as well, and they stop short of the top of the hill. Cian continues on with the group, though every step he is combating the desire to turn and run.

"What is that?" Cinn Oir asks Bran, motioning to the headless rider.

"That is the Dullahan, a mighty servant of Badb. You have awakened him and for that Badb is pleased," responds Bran with an ominous tone. "He demands a sacrifice."

"Oh, ok. I could perhaps come up with something…." Cinn Oir is sounding nervous and the rest of the group is bracing for action.

"No, it would be best if it were you." With that , Bran pulls back his scythe and takes a swing at Cinn Oir!

Cinn Oir is just grazed by the shot and Liam responds first with a Hold Person. Suddenly, Bran is frozen in mid swing! After a brief exchange of amazed glances, the group descends on Bran like a pack of wild dogs. All except Liam who decides to attempt to Turn the Dullahan (GM’s Note: Liam persists in this and it probably saves Bran’s life, saving him an extra helpless attack. Unfortunately, Liam didn’t have a chance of turning the creature, though he was very stalwart in his duty as a cleric so I can’t say he did the wrong thing! I even gave him a little extra XP for trying so hard despite the odds.) Dierdre wounds Bran horribly, sending her shortsword straight through to Bran’s back. (A vicious sneak attack on top of the standard auto critical against a helpless opponent.) Cinn Oir spends her first round casting Shillelagh so she can crack Bran over the head later (a -very- nice spell now I might add). Cian takes a swing with his staff and also deals an auto critical against the helpless Bran. (Bran consistently makes his Fortitude saving throws to avoid dying from these attacks. He has an phenomenal Fort save….)

Bran’s men hold back their fear and charge (the only reason I didn’t allow the party to just finish off the helpless Bran—his men were still technically in range to join the melee.) Two of them are wielding spears while the remaining two are dual wielding shortswords and daggers. Despite flying into a berserk rage, their fear shows plainly as their weapons flail in the air uselessly. (Here begins a continued streak of horrible rolls by the GM. Not much shows up over a 6 on the d20s!) Liam continues to try to turn the Dullahan which is merely watching the fight as it holds its head up high. It seems pretty anxious though entirely unconcerned. The next several rounds, Bran’s men serve their purpose: a distraction. While well trained warriors, something about the fear gripping their soul (and the GM’s dice….) keeps their blades from striking a solid target. However, the adventures have trouble of their own dealing out enough damage to put them down efficiently.

During the melee, Dierdre scorches three of them several times with a well placed Burning Hands. The third casting costs her though as she is struck hard by a spear and nearly put down. Cinn Oir continues to wail on Bran, making the helplessly frozen behemoth’s face look like raw hamburger. Cian concentrates on the warrior closest to him while trying to avoid being flanked. Mostly, Cian’s efforts with his staff are made ineffective by the fear that surrounds him (remember his complement of spells for the day included mostly stealth and info gathering for his cancelled meeting) and Cian unfortunately takes a hard shot from both a shortsword and dagger of the barbarian/ranger facing him. It nearly brings him to his knees, but Cian keeps fighting. After a second attempt to Turn, Liam joins the melee and brings down a second spear wielding barbarian that is on Cian. The Dullahan seems quite pleased at this and edges closer to the fray.

At that moment Liam reminds the group over the din of battle that Bran will be back around again soon. Cian and Dierdre both take note and turn their attention back to Bran. (Neither Cian nor Dierdre want to risk the AoO produced by taking the Auto Crit shot on an opponent, so they satisfy themselves with bonuses to standard melee attacks.) Cian strikes several times with his staff and even orders his familiar to attack. Both of them score very weak shots, due to the fear which hangs over them. Dierdre attacks as well, missing on her first attempt. She then decides to fire off a volley of Magic Missiles at Bran. Her luck with casting and trying to avoid the blows of Bran’s warriors doesn’t hold however. Before she can complete the spell, she is struck hard and lies dying amid the soggy ground. Cinn Oir changes target immediately and begins wailing away on the barbarian that struck Dierdre. She scores a nasty hit that really gets his attention (Cinn Oir proves she doesn’t need Hold Person to get a crit!)

Liam rushes to Dierdre’s side. With a well placed crack of his staff, the barbarian that struck her is also on the ground. Liam then drops down and calls upon Epona to Cure Dierdre, stabilizing her and bringing her back from almost certain death. Cian, continues his assault on Bran, firing a Ray of Frost. (At this point Bran has taken close to 50 points of damage! He had just over that as he is a very buff mid-level Barbarian/Cleric. The Ray of Frost puts him into negative territory but Bran has the constitution of an ox and is still alive!) Just after the Ray strikes, Bran is free from the Hold Person. He lets out a scream of rage and roars out an incantation. Unable to interrupt his spell, the party watches helplessly as a Cure Moderate begins to close some of Bran’s wounds!

Liam returns to the combat after having stabilized Dierdre. He glances around the battlefield and sees the first Barbarian which fell giving out his final breath. The Dullahan gives a wicked smile and moves toward the group. Unsure what to do, Liam rushes forward to Cian’s side (the side the Dullahan is on) and tries again to Turn the creature. The Dullahan responds by taking a basin off his saddle and slinging blod into the fray. Liam, Cian and even Bran are struck however only one fails their save….. It’s not Cian’s night. A darkness descends over Cian. Blinded, he staggers, but valiantly maintains melee with Bran. Liam watches as the Dullahan continues to ignore him. With one fell swing, the creature severs the fallen barbarian’s head. The foul undead then slides off its mount only long enough to wrap the grisly trophy by the hair around the saddlehorn. As it does this, Bran’s remaining two warriors flee in terror.

Meanwhile, Bran suddenly sees he is fighting for his life. He takes a wild swing at Cinn Oir (the poor guy has power attack and is near death without having made a swing so I gamble and take 8 from his attack roll. He could have potentially dealt over twenty points of damage if he hit, but the low rolling continues and the swing is a wild miss.) Cinn Oir answers back with a solid blow from her Shillelagh. Meanwhile Cian tries to telepathically use his hawk as a spotter and takes a wild swing at Bran.

Liam rejoins combat and now Bran is faced with three combatants, one of which is obviously having no end of trouble (the poor Blinded and Frightened Cian is thrashing about like a mad-man with his staff and even when he does connect by some miracle, it produces little more than a scratch.) In desperation, Bran summons a Spiritual Weapon to help even the odds. Liam responds by landing a solid blow across Bran’s forehead with his quarterstaff (another crit for the good guys!!) The Spiritual Weapon then places a vicious blow on Liam in return (a crit for the spiritual weapon….jeesh, everyone BUT the big nasty barbarian/cleric can hit something.) Finally Bran succeeds in landing a shot on Cinn Oir that nearly cripples her. (I think now the party realizes just how lucky they have been. The raging scythe wielding barbarian finally connects, dealing some incredible damage as it was supposed to have done all along.) Cinn Oir drops back from combat and Liam steps up to prevent the determined Bran from pursuing her.

Unwilling to risk casting in the melee again, Bran takes a different sort of risk and levels a mighty swing at Liam (power attack, only 5 points this time but coupled with yet another low roll and Liam’s decent AC its still enough to miss.) The scythe comes up empty. Liam takes the opportunity to place a Cure Moderate on himself and does so without a problem—casting on the defensive is his specialty (check out his Concentration score on his character sheet!!!) Cinn Oir has fallen back and healed herself as well and comes rushing back into the battle, striking Bran squarely with her Shillelagh. Within moments, Liam has landed another powerful blow and Bran falls to the ground.

Suddenly, the group is reminded of the Dullahan. They fall back, taking a defensive stance around their fallen comrade (and dragging Cian back out of the way!) It seems uninterested in them as it walks first to the fallen barbarian and then to Bran, repeating its grisly harvest. Once done, it vaults into the saddle, riding off into the night with a cackle of glee.

The session ends with the adventurers getting Dierdre on her feet with a bevy of healing spells and making a beeline for the edge of town…….