Winterhaven – The Keep on the Shadowfell.
The party:
Eggs Benedict – A mysterious cloaked figure wielding a huge
blade, a servant of Avandra he has vowed to destroy all who would rob people of
their freedom. (Hates slavers with a vengeance).
Poppin Thunderlips – A proud and stout dwarven cleric in the
service of Avandra, his knowledge of healing and religious matters may be vital
for the party. (Can be a touch hamfisted).
Trixie Jumblepuff – A young Halfling; beneath her unassuming
appearance lies a chaotic power that she is still learning to control and
wield. (Hobbies include fashion)
Britfilta Erwater – A Wilden, has the ability to control a
battle using his psionic powers (likes nature walks and learning about
different cultures).
On the road to the village of Winterhaven our party of adventurers,
seeking the fate of their mentor Douven Staul, is ambushed by a small band of
kobolds, after some initial troubles they dispatchtheir foes and continue
onward. Staul had trained our
adventurers well and given them their first taste of life on the road. They had last heard from their mentor three
months previously when he claimed that he had heard tale of an ancient dragon’s
tomb near to the village of Winterhaven.
He was due to return some time ago and his continued absence did not
bode well, our adventurers, fearing the worst set out to discover his fate.
On arrival at the village, they find a small walled enclave
surrounded by farms and thatched buildings, a fairly unassuming place. They head to the local inn, Wrafton’s, keen
to enquire about their missing friend.
The villagers are more concerned about the bands of kobolds that are
frequently disrupting the local trade routes, the party is directed to the
local village lord Padraig, who offers them a reward if they can find and shut
down the kobold’s operation. The party
accepts hoping that this favour will foster good relations with the villagers.
Having been given directions to the potential site of the
kobold lair, our adventurers set off, once again, they are set upon by a group
of kobolds, accompanied by a shaman, he is carrying a small necklace which they
discern to be a charm dedicated to Orcus.
After dispatching this group the party arrives at the site of a
waterfall, which is teeming with the reptilian creatures.
After a frantic battle the party finds a path through the
waterfall and into the lair iself, the kobolds are ready for them and wave upon
wave of the creature attack the party, until finally their chief, ‘Irontooth’
steps into the fray. After a fierce and
exhausting battle he is dispatched along with his allies. Upon his corpse the adventurers find a
troubling letter, addressed from a man named Kalarel, it speaks of opening a
rift that will allow the servants of Orcus to attack Winterhaven! It also speaks
of a spy within the village itself.
On returning to Winterhaven and collecting their reward they
present this information to Lord Padraig, he is very concerned and directs them
to speak to a man named Valthrun the Prescient, one of the village elders and a
font of knowledge. They find the sage in
Wrafton’s Inn, he conveys to them a story about the rift being beneath an
ancient keep not far from Winterhaven itself, however he urges the party to
wait so that he can undertake some more research. When asked about Douven Staul, Valthrun is
able to tell the party that he last saw him heading to an ancient burial site
south west of Winterhaven, he draws a map for the adventurers who decide to set
out in the morning after resting, following the day’s ordeals.
The next morning our party set out for the burial site, on
arrival they find what appears to be a ghostly apparition, overseeing a group
of workers who seem to have uncovered some sort of relic. One of the workers, a gnome, attempts to tempt
the adventurers into the pit, claiming to be a friend of Douven’s. The party refuse to believe him and after
dispatching their guard drakes into a pit, slay the remaining men and battle
the gnome and the mysterious spectral apparition. Upon dispatching the spectre the gnome cries
out “Kalarel, I have failed you.” It
would seem that our adventurers had found their priest of Orcus. Staul is found bound and gagged, upon
releasing him he rewards the party with his amulet and informs them that Kalarel
is attempting to open a rift to the Shadowfell, he believes that the site of
this is an ancient keep nearby. The
party also discover the relic that Kalarel’s minions were seeking, an ancient
mirror, although any magic it may have had appears to be spent. Douven decides
that his adventuring days are over and sets off to return to his beloved wife.
On returning to Winterhaven the adventurers call upon
Valthrun, who has been conducting research into the rift. It appears that the ancient keep was built
during the time of Nerath and was constructed to contain an ancient evil, a
gateway between this world and the Shadowfell.
The keep was abandoned after the last Protector of the Keep, Sir Keegan,
was sealed inside having been driven insane and murdering his family. The party decide to set out for the keep as
soon as possible, after speaking to some of the villagers they are warned that
there are frequent goblin patrols in the area.
On arrival the party discover an entrance that appears to
have been recently used, they proceed into the dungeons and discover a large
amount of goblins that have taken up residence there. After battling through several rooms the
party find a goblin chieftain, Balgron the Fat, and slay him, however before
doing so they interrogate him and discover a pass phrase for the next level of
the keep, “and life fails in the dark.”
Whilst exploring the keep our adventurers also discover a small,
damp cave that hides a vicious blue, slimelike creature. After a frenzied
battle the party discover two corpses, they are carrying a letter from a Chief
Krand of the Bloodreavers. It hints that
Kalarel may also be providing slaves to Duergar in an area named
Thunderspire. This news greatly upsets
the party, especially Eggs and Poppin, who swear an oath to Avandra to look
into this matter and fuelling their hatred for Kalarel himself.
As well as goblins the second part of the dungeon is
crawling with undead zombies and skeletons, there are also evil arcane runes
set into the floor in some areas, that shriek wildly and attract these necrotic
denizens to the party. After a
particularly gruelling encounter which involves a seemingly endless wave of
skeletons inside a chapel dedicated to Bahamut, the party stumble across a tomb
and a ghostly spectre. Realising that
this is Sir Keegan, the party successfully convince him that their motives are
pure. Sir Keegan relays to them his
tragic tale and asks that they seek out his children’s effects and lay them
properly to rest. He urges the party to
make haste and close the rift as catastrophe will ensue otherwise. He gives
Britfilta his blade, Aecris, and tells them to seek ‘Bahamut’s boon’ in the altar
outside. Upon searching the altar Trixie
finds 4 silver dragon statuettes. On
exploring the area further the party discover a hidden room, which contains a
magic hidden wall. On killing the zombie
residents inside they manage to solve a riddle and discover some ancient
armour, they also realise that this may be a safe place to rest.
After several hours our adventurers find a stairwell leading
further into the depths of the keep, upon descending they are confronted by hobgoblins
who challenge them with the phrase “Shadow seeks Shadow”. When Poppin replies with the correct password,
the guards are suspicious. One of them
backs further away towards a cage containing an enormous spider. A battle ensues and more hobgoblins appear
from all sides, but the party emerges victorious.
In another area the group are attacked by a hideous
gelatinous cube, in an old tomb. After
defeating it and the two corrupted corpses that dwelt in there, they find a toy
sword, a hairbrush and a small doll, amongst a pile of rags they find two
medallions, indicating that these are the effects of the Keegan family.
The adventurers eventually stumble across a seemingly empty
room, containing a huge statue of a warrior and two dragons, at the far end of
the room are cherubic statues holding vases.
Upon setting foot inside the room the party finds itself in the centre
of an elaborate trap! The warrior swings
its huge sword around, knocking people prone in its wake, whilst the dragons
breathe fiery plumes towards the party..
Seeking safety, Eggs, Trixie and Britfilta hop onto the statues
dais. Poppin makes a break for the
double doors on the opposite side of the room, but much to the party’s horror
an impenetrable magical wall appears, trapping him. The remaining party members eventually manage
to disable the warrior and avoid the dragon breath. However Poppin is in dire
trouble, the cherubic statues begin to pour a never-ending supply of water into
the tiny space he occupies. Fearing that
he may drown, Poppin tries to smash the statues to pieces, doing so slows the
rate of the water and in the nick of time he decapitates the last statue,
destroying the magical wall and breaking the spell; he emerges gasping for
breath, very damp and extremely irate.
The path through the double doors is treacherous, with ghoul
like creatures and a small clay homunculus barring their way. After negotiating this warren the group
emerge into a large cathedral-like structure, where they are confronted by
vampire spawn, several beserkers and a priest of Orcus. Huge streams of blood flow from an altar down
a large hole in the centre of the room.
Our heroes dispatch their foes in another savage battle and decide to
scale the bloody chains that descend into the pit below.
After safely negotiating their descent the party comes face
to face with Kalarel and the portion of the rift he has opened as well as
several wight like creatures and skeleton sentinels. A huge portal on the northern wall attempts
to grab Britfilta and drag him into the abyss beyond. The party battle fiercely and as they strike
the killing blow, Kalarel is swept into the portal by dark shimmering
tentacles. However the rift remains open,
in an attempt to close it Trixie throws the dragon statuettes, ‘Bahamut’s boon,’,inside. This has no effect and
unbeknownst to her, hinders the party’s efforts. Eventually after calling upon his religious
knowledge Poppin manages to successfully seal the rift. Deciding that they
should immediately escape, the party head back to Winterhaven. On their arrival they are greeted as true
heroes and richly rewarded by Lord Padraig.
Now, they decide.... it’s time to investigate these slavers up at
Thunderspire.....
As the Pilgrim and his vile coterie
of demons and Blind Varlets enter the Palace of Lord Azzur of Khare, a memory
is stirred in the minds of Balthazar, Christophe and Alain Fu. They remember a
day during the Brass War, a day blanked from their minds by Varlet magick,
where they were sent to recover some missing Flatlander scouts. Following a trail
of bandits through the wilderness, the young party come across a strange ritual
site, where they are beset by thugs in black garb, and a strange undead spirit
who they dispatch by deactivated a standing stone. From over a bluff, suddenly a
horde of cultists with blindfolds emerge led by a man who they recognise now as
Tawni Abbas, the sponser and friend of the party. He told the party that they
would lead Alain Fu on a great adventure to retrieve the Cyrinishad and grow in
power ready for his sacrifice during the Eclipse…