Adventure Summaries Prelude Erakis holds a ceremony to celebrate the opening of the magical portal linking Woodhill to several major cities of Faerun. As the portal is opened, a winged figure emerges in a burst of light. Revealing himself as Caelest, a half-celestial paladin of Torm, he hints that the group has a destiny together. Adventure 1 - Frost and Fire (The Crystal Tower) The group is hired to recover a magical amulet from a wizard's tower encased in ice, floating in the sea to the west of Waterdeep. After overcoming traps, monsters, and a group of amoral mercenaries, the group is successful in their task. In the process, Brandlehorn is hit with a feeblemind spell, and recovers only with the aid of magic supplied by Julianne's father. Brandlehorn agrees to pay the wizard back in full. Interlude - Caravan Escort Returning from Waterdeep, the group is set upon by a group of bandits led by two fiendish orcs. Though the party is victorious, several caravan guards lose their lives in the battle. Adventure 2 - A Forgotten Evil (The Tomb of Abysthor) The church of Torm asks Caelest to find to a long-forgotten shrine near Shadowdale. Once there, Caelest is given a quest by a paladin's ghost to recover the chalice of Elanir and the stone of Tircople from inside a nearby burial hall. The group also gains a new member, the bard T'rath. The quest tests the party as never before, as they encounter priests of Orcus, an endless procession of blood-covered skeletons and other undead, and even a wily ogre. Finally, a hidden area in the caves below the burial halls is found, revealing the object of the group's quest. Adventure 3 - The Amulet and the Underdark The group meets an old friend of Erakis, the Lord Griswald, and is asked to assist with a problem. A magical amulet part of the dowry of Griswald's daughter is stolen, endangering an alliance by marriage with Lord Rikard's son. The group tracks bandits, meets a forest gnome that helps with their search, and eventually finds a spriggan who bought the amulet from the bandits. The spriggan tells the party that he sold the amulet to a group of Duergar in an area of the Underdark near Lord Griswald's keep. After receiving some disguising magics from Lord Griswald's wizard, the group fights their way past bugbears and giant centipedes to reach the Duergar compound. The group disguised themselves as Duergar lead by a demon (actually Caelest in disguise). When a Duergar priest began to cast a detection spell, the party attacked and killed him quickly, provoking a combat. After a standoff at the gates, the Duergar decided to negotiate. Vladien was sent in, and an agreement was reached to buy the amulet back for a large sum of gold and magic items. The party returned triumphantly to Lord Griswald's keep, returning the amulet and allowing the marriage to take place. With the lands of the two lords about to be united, an assault force is assembled to destroy the Duergar outpost. Adventure 4 - Abbey of the Undead (The Ghost Machine) In a dream, Tweak is charged by Gond to destroy a perversion of technology. Tweak gathers the others, and sets off for the location seen in his dream. The group finds a ragged monk on the road, who warns them of danger in a halting voice before falling to the ground and scattering into dust. Investigating, they find that the building used by a group of monks is now a haven for undead. After several battles, they find the source of the undead - an ancient machine unwittingly activated by the monks. They destroy the machine, and turn over its power source to the clerics of Torm for proper disposal. Adventure 5 - Breaking The Chains Brandlehorn's cousin comes to Woodhill bearing dire news. A group of orcs and ogres, lead by a large shadowy figure, have attacked Brandlehorn's centaur clan and forced them into slavery. The group goes to rescue the clan, and finds that the orcs and ogres have created a small fort in the depths of the High Forest. They also discover that the centaurs were forced to dig up an ancient elven burial mound, though they do not know exactly what was taken from it. After a vicious battle, the centaurs are freed and most of the enemy is slain. However, the arrival of the shadowy figure (who the centaurs believe to be some sort of demon) forces the group to flee the area. Adventure 6 - A Tale of Two Dragons (Legacy of Madness) While Erakis is away on an errand, the crackle of lightning announces the arrival of the blue dragon Synastarax. The dragon threatens to lay waste to the village unless the group goes to the lair of a dead dragon to retrieve a specific book. The group reluctantly agrees, and sets out to complete the task within the five day time limit. The lair is inhabited by the ghost of a deceased silver dragon, which oddly does not interfere as the party bypasses traps to recover the book. Upon their return to Woodhill, the group is approached by a young silver dragon named Ohandalyar, which reveals that the book is actually the Tome of Logic, an artifact that drove its grandfather insane. The group fights Synastarax when it returns for the book, and defeats her with the help of the silver dragon. Ohandalyar agrees to safeguard the book in the lair until the party finds the means to destroy it. Interlude - Waterdeep The characters go on a shopping trip to Waterdeep, by passing through the portal in Woodhill. Tweak meets with his benefactor, Sir Arondale, and makes plans for an exhibit of his sculptures and other works. The others buy and sell various items over the next week. Adventure 6 - The Temple of Myrkul (Sundered Faith) A reward is offered for investigating the murders of several sewer workers, and Caelest volunteers for the task. The others join him, and descend into the sewers. After falling into a cavern opened up by a recent earthquake, the group discovers an old temple to the dead god Myrkul. Despite the god's demise, the undead and ancient evil bound into the temple are as potent as ever. Eventually, the group defeats the spectre that was once Myrkul's priest, and returns to collect their reward. Adventure 7 - The Hall of the Rainbow Mage Learah Relight, an old friend of Julianne's from Waterdeep, contacts the group. Her uncle, Londar Brightrain (known as the Rainbow Mage for his colorful magics) is missing, and she asks the group to find him. In their search, the group discovers the site of an assassination attempt, but no body. Their search leads them to Londar's home, where they discover that the seemingly-friendly mage in involved in imprisoning creatures, consorting with demons, and crafting an army of constructs to take over the surrounding area. They also meet up with some of Julianne's former adventuring companions - Jalarzi and Shawnsee. They free the sentient contructs crafted by Londar, and find Londar's corpse. Returning the body to Learah, an argument ensues over whether the group should allow Londar to be raised from the dead. The group eventually relents, but Learah's friendship with Julianne is ended over the incident. Adventure 8 - The Gallery of Shadows The group attends the opening of Tweak's art gallery, which is funded by Sir Arondale (actually Vladien in disguise). During the opening, an individual appearing to be Vladien murders one of the guests, a prominent mage named Dolman Tessalar. The group investigates in order to clear Vladien's name, and discovers that the murderer is actually a thief named Slyshadow who was active in Waterdeep roughly twenty years ago. Slyshadow's son was executed by Dolman (apparently under dubious circumstances), who was a magister for the city at the time. The murderer's employer is a man named Elijah Winterkin, who is carrying out a vendetta against Vladien. Vladien is contacted by Elijah, and told that his name will only be cleared if Vladien turns over the sword Hidden Treasure. The group secretly goes with Vladien to confront Elijah. The encounter quickly leads to combat, where Elijah is shown to be a priest of Mask, aided by spirits of Mask worshippers known as Fades. Slyshadow shows up, has his full name revealed to be Ganther Slyshadow, and turns out to be Shawnsee (possessed by the spirit of her grandfather). Elijah escapes, but Ganther/Shawnsee takes responsibility for the murder, clearing Vladien's name and evading the authorities at the same time. Adventure 9 - Life Imitates Art Brandelhorn visits Woodhill complaining of illness. Soon, others in the group begin to have headaches. Alarmingly, the necromantic curse comes not long after Tweak receives word that several of his statues (including one of Brandelhorn) sold at his gallery have since been stolen. An investigation reveals that a Charles Lector had been seeking out high-quality statues of real people. The investigation leads to Triboar and eventually to the ice caves nearby, where the group faces imitations of themselves in ice form. An immoth seems to be the guilty creature behind the affair, but perhaps something else was at work, since evil doings are not in the nature of immoths. An artifact called the Soul Bind (and perhaps a demon encased in ice) had given the immoth the power to use statues to tap the souls of their models. Adventure 10 - Family Ties Caelest undertakes the first part of his quest to attain a holy avenger. The group is transported to an inn owned by T'rath's family, and discover that the inn has been attacked and several people have been taken hostage. During the adventure, the group is captured by an evil cleric and a mysterious bard. Caelest narrowly avoids death, two powerful artifacts are destroyed (the Tome of Logic and the Sigil of Chaos), and Jac meets her long-lost father. Adventure 11 - The Temple of Really Bad Dead Things (from Castle Greyhawk) In the aftermath of the destruction of two artifacts, the forces of Law and Chaos unite in an attempt to destroy the party. However, the interaction of two opposing forces has...odd consequences. The less said, the better. Adventure 12 - (In Progress - Title Unknown) © 2002-2003 Casey McGirt Home