28th Day of Coldeven, CY 579

Athan, Pontus and Sarril find themselves together, naked, on the side of the road on the way to Hommlet, having been the victims of some foul magic. The newly formed party soon realized they share a common goal, and it must be fate or the gods that have brought them together. The newly formed party agreed to stay together at least long enough to get to Hommlet.

In a field not far outside the village, the group found the bodies of what looked like adventurers, freshly geared up, carrying a map to a dungeon called White Plume Mountain where adventure, danger and treasure must surely have waited for them. Someone else had other plans, however, as their bodies were peppered with arrows. Most of the valuable items were stripped from them, but the group was able to take their clothes and some basic weapons. Athan's clothes were a little baggy, while Pontus was clearly squeezing into things three sizes too small, but they outfitted themselves as best they could and moved on to Hommlet where they looked out of place, to be sure, but at least not naked.

Knowing they were on a mission, even if they were no longer carrying the mysterious black shards, Pontus and Sarril insisted that Pontus hold off his desire to drink for a few minutes while they look for the druid, Jaroo. Besides, no one had any money. 

They were able to find Jaroo's grove, but it was empty. Athan felt it would be a good idea to enter the druid's hut and make sure he truly wasn't home. While looking around in the hut, they found a mysterious decanter that seemed to remain full of water no matter how much was poured out. Pontus, the barbarian, became enraged at the sight of it and immediately smashed it into pieces, saving the party from whatever terrible fate would have befallen them if they had remained exposed to that accursed thing. Just to be sure they were safe, Pontus searched the entire hut for anything radiating a similar foul aura, but did not find anything. He told his party members they were now safe and did not need to thank him. Athan continued his search nonetheless, pocketing a few potions and other items for safe keeping. Sarril was quite upset about this intrusion into Jaroo's private residence and destruction of his property, but his objections were ignored by the other two.

It was clear that Jaroo was not home, though the part searched around the outside of the hut to be sure. They noticed a black bear in the woods at the edge of the grove, watching them, but no Jaroo. Pontus found an entrance to a root cellar and decided to check it out. Once again sensing the foul presence of magic in the dirt floor, he began to dig until he uncovered a chest. Opening the chest set off a magical fire trap, which destroyed the root cellar and burned Pontus pretty good - with only his barbarian toughness saving him. Inside the chest were several gems, which Athan insisted Jaroo must have wanted them to have as he came into the root cellar and placed them in his pockets.

Returning outside, Pontus noticed the bear again. Not knowing much about druids, he did remember some things his father told him about them being nature worshipers and possessing something similar to divine magic. Pontus decided the bear itself might be a shapeshifted Jaroo. He followed the bear out into a clearing shouting to it "Jaroo!, Jaroo!" When the bear did not respond, he wisely picked up a large rock and hurled it right at the bear, doing a decent amount of damage in the process. "That will get Jaroo's attention" smiled Pontus. The angry bear turned and charged him. Lucky for Pontus, his unarmored AC made him nearly untouchable. He fended off the bear with his recently acquired sword, backing up in the process saying "Jaroo, I don't want to hurt you." The bear got a few swipes in and Pontus realized his life would soon end if he didn't defend himself properly, so he began to slice at the bear with the sword. Just as the bear was near death, Sarril ran in to intervene. Yelling at Pontus to stop, he cast a healing spell and, risking his own life, walked up to the bear and placed it on him. This calmed the bear down long enough for Pontus to clear the area. The bear roared, then walked away.

And thus the newly formed party, on their very first day together, managed to make a mess of the Grove of Jaroo, the druid whose help they would be seeking soon. Much regret began to sink in as they realized this - with the possible exception of Athan, who thought it was really good of Jaroo to give them all of this stuff to help them on their mission.

After the grove, the party had a meal at the Inn of the Welcome Wench and met the proprietor, Ostler Gundergroot. After a great meal, they explored the rest of the village and discovered a few more people and places. 

• Jack, the Village Elder, who lives with his two sons; 
• Rannos and Gremag who run the trading post;
• Rufus (Fighter) and Burne (Mage), local nobles who are building a castle and living in a tower. They have some brigands they have captured over the years and put to work. Some of them have been turned into a militia known as "Burne's Badgers."
• Calmert and Canon Terjon within the Church of St. Cuthbert. Canon Terjon is new, having been sent from Veluna to replace Canoness Y'Dey, who disappeared mysteriously a couple of months ago.

The party used their newly acquired wealth to purchase a room at the Inn for the night. Thus ended the first group session of this Oldschool Greyhawk Campaign.