So it looks like we may be getting to the end of the AD&D campaign, as major quests were completed and mysteries answered. When last we left our merry band, they had gotten to the Abyss with the dual mission of rescuing a Goddess and distracting/killing a Merelith Lord. As the adventurers relax in a local bar, a Balor walks in with Gi, who rats us out and proceeds to flee. That's when our special items kick in and we all go up five levels.

This week we first spent a couple of hours getting our characters up those five levels. Less impressive for me, since I'm multi-classed I only went up two levels, with the fifth level going to my raccoon companion. I used those levels to get another clerical sphere so I could cast Remove Fear and saved 2 character points for rerolls. Once we were done, the fight began.

Round 1. Randall and I cast Remove Fear on the party, while Tolma casts a growth spell on Kormack and Calcli doubles Heather's hit points. The warriors draw weapons and close with the Balor, as he casts Symbol of Fear, which we all save due to having extra character points for rerolls. Round 2 we start hitting the Balor, with Heather doing impressive damage with her Holy Avenger. The Balor Gates in a Badu to help. In round 3, the Balor hits Heather for 49 points of damage. Heather replies with 50-odd points of damage and the Balor fails his Saving Throw and dies. The Badu Gates in four Manes. We quickly dispatch the rest of the demons.

After that we do some more investigating, trying to find where Waukeen is being held prisoner. From a former guard we get the specifics on the caravan that supposedly parades Waukeen, as a show of the the Demon Lord Drazzt's power. The caravan stops at the Merelith's place for a few days before continuing. Thinking that we can kill two birds with one stone, we go to the Merelith's place and see the caravan leave. But we can tell that Waukeen is not in the caravan, so we decide to storm the Merelith's abode.

Once inside, our intrepid party faces four Badu, who put up a tough fight, Gating in more Badu. But overwhelming firepower from Heather, Kormack, and Filbert soon dispatches the bad guys. We wander the fortress, eventually getting to the Merelith's room, where he keeps Waukeen hostage. Rather than bargain for his freedom, the Merelith Gates in two Badu and attacks. But once again, they are no match for the combined firepower of a 12-14th level party. We kill the Merelith, save Waukeen, and find out the identity of the person who has been leaving us clues.

Now, all that remains is to rescue two Unicorn who are being held in the slave pens. Then somehow get out of the Abyss without having to fight our way through hordes of demons. Get back to the Prime Material Plane and find the Sorcerer so he we can force him to cure us. This may require another quest, for all that I know, so maybe we do have quite a bit more to go.

My Star Trek campaign afterwards went well, more or less. Fulton and Woo made characters, then they joined Eric and Donald in the adventure. The intrepid cadets had to get dates for the Sadie Hawkins Dance, score tickets for Professor Moltross' lecture, and find a hard to find component for their Warp Field Containment Unit that they were building for a class project. Standing in their way was an energy draining life form, Detectives Harskee and Skutchingson of Starfleet Security, and Cadet Tom Paris. Only a couple of very brief fights, lots of research and investigation, and a couple of pranks before they were able to solve the mystery and complete the episode. And in only a bit more than a couple of hours of real-time.