For those who would like to spend some time reading back over previous adventures:

WS5 - The Wolves of Falcor Prologue - WS5 - The Wolves of Falcor the start of this year's adventure! Chapter 1: Return-to-Crystania - Story & RP :: OOC thread Chapter 2: By the Knacking of My Thumbs... - Story & RP :: OOC thread Chapter 3: Of Flying, Faeries, and Flutes - Story :: OOC thread Chapter 4: Singari Portents - Story - part 1 :: Story - part 2 :: OOC thread Chapter 5: The Singari Maze - Story & RP :: OOC thread Chapter 6: Dancing Riddles - Story - part 1 :: OOC thread Chapter 7: Whirling Rainbows - Story :: OOC thread Chapter 8/9: Cauldron and Conundrum - Story :: OOC thread Chapter 10: The Fight for Falcor - Story :: OOC thread

WS4 - Beyond the Borders

Prologue - Wayward Squirrel 4--Beyond the Borders]Wayward Squirrel 4-Beyond the Borders :: Part 2 Chapter 1: Just Another (Manic) Monday at the Wayward Squirrel Chapter 2: Konundrums, Katastrophes, and Klytie (Last May Be Redundant) :: bonus puzzle Chapter 3: Seriously Strange Music Chapter 4: Travels with a Goat Guardian, Makeshift Costumes, and One Tough Survivor :: Riddle Chapter 5: One VERY Annoyed Tigress and the Great Shishin Chase Chapter 6: Haven at the Gold Dragon Inn? Chapter 7: The REAL Squirrel Dragon Inn :: Part 2 Chapter 8: The Great Rickshaw Race Chapter 9: The Silver Metal EX-Boyfriend Chapter 10: Gwishin and Stone Demons Epilogue: Resolutions and Portents

WS3 - Shadows over Bordertown

Prologue: Rising Mists :: On Wings of Cat :: Crackling Crystals; Pulsing Portals :: Part 4 Chapter 1: Into, and Hopefully Through, the Mists Chapter 2: Creatures of the Darkfog, or Why the Unseelies Aren't Nice Guys Chapter 3: In the Borderlands or Just What We Needed: Another Bromance! :: Part 2 Chapter 4: Princes and Puzzles, or Sometimes, Girlie, You're Just All Wet Chapter 5: Taking Things Seriously, or Gosh, I Guess Evil Really Is Nasty! :: Part 2 :: Part 3 Chapter 6: Curing, Conundrums, and Concerts AKA Let's Rock! Chapter 7: Amaze-ing Developments, or Don't Shoot the Piano Player :: Part 2 Chapter 8: Saving Those Precious to Us or Where the Heck Is That Third Key? Chapter 9: A Plethora of Prevarications AKA Greased Lightning :: Part 2 Chapter 10: Death in the Skies AKA Who Invited These Guys? :: Part 2 :: Part 3: The Rocky Runway :: Part 4 Chapter 11: The Three Keys AKA Hurting Those You Love Epilogue: The Bell of Hope

WS2 - Chapter 1: The Protectors Return :: Part 2 :: Part 3 Chapter 2: DaDaDe; DeWinter Has Come :: Part 2 :: Part 3 Chapter 3: Camping with Kobolds :: Part 2 :: Part 3 Chapter 4: Thorson's Solutions :: Part 2 :: Part 3 :: Part 4 Chapter 5: Airlocks and Airships :: Part 2 Chapter 6: Darkness in Wolfenhague :: Part 2 Chapter 7: The Lady Must Die! :: Part 2 Chapter 8: A Masquerade to Remember :: Part 2 :: Part 3 Chapter 9 & 10: Night of the Nancy Boys :: Part 2 :: Part 3 :: Part 4 :: Part 5 :: Part 6 :: Part 7 Chapter 11: Daring Escapades--Escapes Included :: Part 2 :: Part 3 Chapter 12: Making Things Right :: Part 2 :: Part 3 Chapter 13: Reunions and Farewells

WS1 - very condensed version... So they came, on that warm summer night, through the bowers of morning glories that bloomed even at night. From all the layers of Backers they arrived, some alone, many more already in groups. They were as motley as they were merry, and companions roamed freely among them. They introduced themselves one by one, and showed off the finery of each class. Winton, Ertude, and Larianne welcomed them all to the Wayward Squirrel, and set them up with food, drink, and comfortable suites. Almost as soon as they arrived, they set to work, solving Winton's fuzzball dilemma and helping Larianne with a particularly terrifying palm tree, just in time to discover that the cellar just might be infected with grues.

The Skeletal Cellars

Not to be daunted, down they went, where they found not grues, but goblins everywhere! Some in merchant stalls with exorbitant prices, and others gathered for a world-class event of the WWG (Wild Wrestling Goblique), where the warrior from each team was forced into the ring with Erdoolo, the ginormous rift monster. After some really bloody battles, and even more merriment, the parties emerged victorious, and were marched off to meet the Goblin King. Since his most precious ring had just been stolen by trolls, and only a ghost party trapped behind the solid rock wall nearby knew where it was, the King was not in a very good mood. It was time to blast, lightning bolt, lockpick or otherwise get through the wall to the ghosts, where they not only heard their tragic stories from the ghost party members, but also learned of the Feline Faerie Queen, and how the trolls held her captive. Each party made their own decision whether or not to help the ghosts return home, and were whisked back to the inn, where they figured out the combination to Thorson's abandoned alchemical lab, stocked up on supplies, and rushed into the dawn-vacant Faerie Markets to meet a very strange party of Ambassadors and be shown a secret tunnel to the

Chapter 3 - Incarcerated Cats Part 1 :: Part 2 :: Part 3 :: Part 4 :: Part 5 :: Part 6 ::

Dashing down the secret hallway, they gained a strange guide in a vaporing cat, who got them across the Goblin King's Throne Room and into Troll Territory. Here, they were confronted by an appalling sight: cases of cats being fattened by the trolls, and a small alcove containing the Feline Faerie Queen chained to a dais and guarded by her faithful, if morose, consort. He explained that more than just cats and his beloved queen were at stake, since the trolls also held an royal elven baby. For the first time, they learned the mastermind behind all this mayhem was an evil necromancer! Well, this rescue required clever bard thinking, but the parties rose to the challenge, defeated the trolls, reunited Grumpkins with his beloved, and saved the elf baby and his lovely governess, obtaining the cursed ring in the process. They then followed the governess to:

Chapter 4 - The Elven Halls Part 1 :: Part 2 :: Part 3 :: Part 4

Here, they were welcomed by the Elven Court, and shown the Janus Glass by the royal cat couple. The parties saw the consequences of their actions with the ring and the effect of those actions on the ghost party behind the wall. They had little time to ponder those actions, though, as they found their Ranger must be stylish enough to be selected for the elite Elven Archer Corps. The rangers were given the use of the Hall of Backdrops to pick a suitable setting for their costume designs, and they performed with much skill. But the elves were a bit tricksy, and the Rangers had to vanish themselves first, to prove their worthiness, and then all the party had to decode ancient tapestries so the Ranger could impersonate the Goblin Queen of Legend, and deal with the nasty Goblin King once and for all. With that triumph assured, the parties were surprised to find out there was a third task (isn't it always three?) and were admitted to the lake to see if they could succeed in creating...

Chapter 5 - Lost Love Found Part 1 :: Part 2 :: Part 3 :: Part 4 :: Part 5 :: Part 6

Solving a series of tough riddles to clear the fog around the lake for passage, they found a lovely kimono and an exquisite head fan and heard a tragic tale from a devoted samurai who lost his love when she was lured into the waters by an evil enchantress. However, they were aided by the Enchantress of the Lake, who explained that the maid was held in a bubble by the water nymphs that could only be called forth in the correct order of the colors of their realms and natures. This was a hugs problem for the Magic-Users, but not one they couldn't solve, and they did! The maid was called forth and the lovers reunited, destroying the evil cousin and restoring the Enchantress to her rightful position. But, as Spring returned to the land, the Necromancer erupted in rage and cast the parties into...

Chapter 6 - The Clockwork Corridor Part 1 :: Part 2 :: Part 3 ::

Oddly enough, this place is right under the Wayward Squirrel's Cellar, but the parties couldn't reach the inn and safety, so they narrowly escaped, helping one of the Market Goblins on the way and earning his gratitude. With some technical knowledge, they solved devious problems, and thought they were safe, when most of the parties vanished and the Alchemist was rescued by Thorson and whisked into his secret lab, where they worked together to solve one of the most devious chess problems ever created. With the potions created by the Alchemist and Thorson, brilliant chess strategies, and even a reward from a good deed, Nefario the Necromancer was banished forever, Thorson was free to return to the Inn, and the parties found themselves...

Home? at the Wayward Squirrel Part 1 :: Part 2

While the parties feasted and picked their prizes from the lavish Faerie Gallery, Winton announced his plans to remodel the inn, adding on a special wing for the new order: Protectors of the Squirrel. Gnome crews are making great progress, and the wing is expanding daily, a tribute to the expectant spirits of all the Wayward Squirrel's staff. And so it sits in glory on the wall next to the "Under Construction" sign for the new wing, a large plaque with, as Larianne would put it, "dear dear names," enscribed in gold and surmounted by a squirrel rampant. Some names have faded a bit, to show that the owners will not be seen for some time, or perhaps ever, but most of the names shine magically in the twinkling lights above, shimmering and waiting for the new adventures to begin.