The Slaughter at the Ruin Sea

First, a litany of the dead.

This is the roll of adventurers who were cut down on the shores of the Ruin Sea by viking raven men with cold axes and no mercy for the dying. 

• Merrik, Ranger Prince of Dark Helm
• Blimm Hollylock, Gnomish Necromancer
• Rigorous Prawn, Weird-scarred Warrior
• Solcoras Shaan Severin, Beast Triune of the Vaettir
• Jari Scaleheart, Dwarven Paladin of the Coil

Why did the party provoke the raven men, though they were outnumbered two-to-one? 

They needed a boat.

This did not deter the three survivors. 

• Reginald Tenement, Adventuring Consultant (inquire at 112 Baker's District)
• Iqbal. AKA, Doctor Iqbal, Gnome Magician
• Torg, Half-Orc Priest of the Sun (whose body Reginald Tenement dragged for some six hours until Torg awoke to consciousness and was able to heal himself)

The survivors went on to recruit five new allies, to venture into a dungeon on a cold, barren isle near the dragon's mountain (but not too near). 

And so it was that the thief Lynn, the brawler Friar Monk, the mystery man Hideous Gleam, the half-orc soldier Uruz, and the warrior maiden Red Ailsa the Harlot joined the party. 

And they all might have lived through the first few rooms of the dungeon, too, if Reginald Tenement had not insisted on walking into a black portal upon which he himself had read the words "The Door of Death." He had time to scream as the rot grubs devoured his body. 

Also, there was: 

cold-blooded murder, 

corpse-robbery, 

the throwing of a large rock at an animated statue, 

something gaunt, with sharp fingers and fangs, waiting in a pit,

skeletons caught by surprise, 

a door of life,
a wolf, 

a lying boat captain. 

And the paying of taxes.

Dungeons & Dragons -- that game where you never know what is going to happen.