Things shiny and shambling

Gruffydd took the brunt of the rat swarm, but soon others jumped in. It involved more smashing, squashing and flailing than real fighting.
Gustav was able to call upon his god to heal the minor scrapes and bites. What he couldn't fix, a few healing potions did.
That room yielding only a few coins amongst the refuse, they moved to the next room. There, in the dark, something shuffled and moved. The torchlight revealed and figure clad in once rich robes, now turned to rags. Shining through the filth something glittered. The creature wore a heavy chain of gold and brilliant silver gauntlets.
The thing itself hissed. It was the color of a deathly ill man. Its hands ended in razor sharp claws. It's eyes, burning red coals of hate.
Gustav pushed his way to the front. "Back! Back spawn of hell!" He thrust forth talisman and prayed to Arnor for strength.
A hideous cackling that sounded came from the ghoul. "Not strong enough....for me..."

Poking in Holes

"There are three ways we can do this," Gruffydd said. "We fight him. And we'll lose by the way. We can negotiate. Giants are stupid, but they're greedy and always hungry. We'' probably lose some gold and a couple horses.
Or, we can find a way around."
Just then, Miss Adventure returned from a quick sneak around the tower. "He looks like he's here to stay", she said.
Quietly, they all mounted up and rode into the unknown area down the river. The ground leveled out, and slowly became swampy. The river became a marsh, and fordable at a wide, flat lake. There they crossed.
It was afternoon by the time they made it to the cliffs overlooking the river again. A cool, fireless night was spent there on the cliffs.
Early the next morning they found the side entrance to the Well of Souls they had found weeks before. The cave mouth was overgrown with foliage, and it took some negotiating to get the horses inside.
The cavern inside was wide and tall enough to fit the horses in. It was agreed, this was for the best, rather than leave them to the elements. There were three small tunnels in the cave.
"Left to right?" Gruffydd asked, "or right to left?"
Torches lit, they went single file down the right most tunnel, the dwarf leading the way.
The tunnel was rough and sloped down into a small cavern. It stank of rot and animal dung. It stunk of RATS!
A horde of giants rats made their home here. On seeing the torchlight, they swarmed the closest adventurer.

Return to the Well of Souls

The unrelenting heat finally broke over Wall. Citizens and adventurers alike crept outside to enjoy the cool weather. After their humiliating last effort, Miss Adventure and Gildrid wanted another go at the lands Beyond the Wall. They gathered the rest of their adventuring crew, and set out early one morning.
Again, following the advise of the Lord Marshal to avoid their familiar routes, they left the Old Trade Road and headed cross country. The one place they knew to cross the river that bisected their route east-west, was the ford at the broken towers. It would take two days to reach it, and once there, they would have to be careful of the hornet like creatures that dwelled in the far tower.
Their two days past uneventful. The only other living soul they saw was a hawk circling high in the cloudless sky. By midday they had reached the ford. Crested the hill that led down the river, Gildrid spotted movement.
The rest dismounted while The elf and his cousin Mellion watched from the safety of the trees. The near tower definitely had activity. They waited, and just as they were sure their eyes were playing tricks large shape emerged form the ruined tower.
It was a hill giant. And it seemed he had made their only crossing point his home. The grouped watched as the massive humanoid slumped outside the ruined tower and settled in for an afternoon nap.

My Little Pony

And off they ran. It was over. Zombie plant creatures, bugbears, land sharks, and talking corpses. It was all too much.
They ran and ran. After a day and night they stopped. Exhausted, they entered the glen where their friend the Dryad, Newly, once lived. The grove of full on small trees. Despite the blistering heat a pitiful rain, these trees seemed to flourishing.
Then, they spotted movement. They tensed and waited for the ambush the Lord Marshal had warned them of.
Instead of monsters or bandit they saw a small pony.

"Amazon!" Miss Adventure screamed and ran to the horse. It must have escaped the Land Shark attack. Indeed, it was scratched here and there but otherwise unharmed.
It was only a short distance back to Wall. But the ribbing they would get from their fellow adventurers over this misadventure, would be long and brutal.

Next: A new adventure starring all your favorites. "Return to the Well of Souls"