OSRIC Game Play Journal: Crazy Bear

We only managed a couple of hours of play, seems a 9pm start is a bit late for us near 40 year olds! So we're going to try moving it to a little earlier in the evening. Next week we'll be back to alternating with LL play with a new group of PCs following the near TPK...
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The party was about to leave the settlement with Ouze, the NPC magic user, when it became more apparent that they’d need horses - they opted to get another draft horse and a pony, trading in a suit of armor for them... This put the two dwarves on one of the drafts, the gnome and cleric on another, Ouze had his own horse, and they bought a pony as a spare.

Without too much trouble they were able to find Vadco, the recently exiled murderer, hiding in some rock outcroppings to the East of the settlement. He was very happy to see the party, and they gave him some food and water. Anrid the Dwarven fighter fashioned him a meager spear with his axe, and journeyed back to the horse trader on the edge of town with Ouze in order to re-acquire their armor (which would reasonably fit Vadco) and some additional provisions.

On their return, they were attacked by a bear that seemed either rabid or extremely hungry, keeping just out of its reach by virtue of being on horseback and utilizing their slings in an effort to drive it away or kill it. At some point, Gladric the Dwarven thief saw what was happening back at camp, and was able to score a good hit on the beast with a crossbow bolt. Shortly after that though, the bear attacked the campsite, and Gladric was able to gut it with his short sword, helped slightly by Vadco (with his new wooden spear). Oddly, the bear bled out and foamed at the mouth the same strange amber ichor that had oozed out of the paladin’s assassin back in the settlement some time ago.

The party pitched a camp, and the next day carried on, traveling East, until to the Northeast they saw a large tower loom. Approaching it, they were yelled to by a voice from another rock outcropping, and after some discussion parleyed with a plain appearing, human, female magic-user. Her name was Demararg, and she’d previously adventured inside the tower with a group of gnomes (!). They’d all died, but she’d escaped and been camping here awaiting a chance to avenge their deaths and further explore/exploit the tower. They agreed to join up with her, and she hinted that she had some (presumably magical) abilities that would come in handy in accessing certain parts of the tower, which she said had a number of collapsed levels.