Early this summer I concluded the first part of an epic fantasy role-playing game. This was the third time I had run this story on different groups. It begins with the unrestful dead walking into town and trying to buy a beer.

This first part ended with the final death of a giant wildboar named Sourbelly who had swallowed an undead wizard's soulgem. Sourbelly had become unkillable while his flesh rotted off his giant bones. His mate, Sweettooth, and his offspring defended him against attempts by the players to destroy the undead swine.

Because everywhere Sourbelly went, the dead rose up and caused trouble for the living. Not all of them just wanted a beer.

And so it ended in a funeral pyre. With Sweettooth and her get imprisoned in a magically summoned forest, the players trapped Sourbelly in a pit and kept him there while they burned his body, again and again, until even his bones were ash and the soul gem of the evil wizard lay revealed.

And while they did this great heroic deed, they could hear the screams and wails and squeals of Sweettooth and her children. And yes, some of the players cried.

And now a bird attempts to steal the soulgem, and a snake strikes at the bird and an arrow comes from the woods to slay the snake....

The Daughter of the Demon, the Admiral of the Dead Fleet and the Legion of Ruined Men approach, each wanting to claim the power of the gem.

Let the story continue....