airwalkrr
Adventurer
Chapter 1, Part 1
In a remote corner of Xen'drik is a community that is not well-known to the rest of the world. Several hundred years before our story begins, a number of pirates laid claim to the ancient city of Stormreach, using it as a base of operations for raids into the Thunder Sea. But unbeknownst to many a scholar there was one group of travelers to Xen'drik who did not seek to use Xen'drik as a mere staging ground for villainy. Led by the legendary Surabar Spellmason, they traveled further inland, over 200 miles beyond the "safety" of Stormreach to the wild jungles of Xen'drik and founded a community which they called Redgorge. Spellmason had a visionary objective to build an idyllic new center of civilization within the jungle continent that would be free of the Code of Galifar and where free-thinkers and adventurous spirits such as himself could seek their fortunes.
When the demons attacked, it was a devastating blow to Redgorge. But the cunning Spellmason managed to organize his colonists into a powerful fighting force that could rival even the great armies of Galifar. With these forces, he drove the demons back and established a defensible base in the caldera of a dormant volcano. This fortress would eventually come to be known as Cauldron, and it was here that Spellmason's vision would eventually come true. For several hundred years the industrious peoples of Cauldron, humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings and more tamed the wilds of the Xen'drik jungles, building great plantations of coffee and other tropical crops, as well as mining the mountain range surrounding Cauldron for a number of metals and stones that were rare finds in Khorvaire, including dragonshards. From time to time caravans would travel north to Stormreach, escorted by the drow tribes with whom the Cauldronites had made peace, and trade their wares for countless valuable goods that they brought back with them at great profit.
And so it was that the region around Cauldron prospered while the continent of Khorvaire was plunged into a century-long civil war. Few Cauldronites even knew the Last War occurred, nor did they care. Although they were beset at times by demons from the southwest, giants from the southeast, undead from the north and gnolls from all over, the citizens of this brave new world steadfastly rebuffed any encroachment on their lands, slowly taming the wilderness and making it their own. It is here where our story truly begins.
Three Cauldronites, Vislor, cleric of the Sovereign Host, "Psycho," a ranger who had spent some time training with the nearby drow tribes, and Valen, a scout who had trained with the local militia all gathered together one fine evening in the Tipped Tankard to discuss their hopes and dreams. They had grown up together, and were fast friends. They excelled among their peers and quickly realized even in their youth that they were destined for more than the simple distributing of alms or patrolling the countryside. They considered a number of possible adventures. The allegedly abandoned keep of the frost giant Jarl Khurok was proposed as a source of treasure, but the logistics of getting there were challenging as they would be forced to combat high altitude and extreme cold. It was also proposed that perhaps they could seek the fabled Spire of Long Shadows, which was said to the be the source of the undead who periodically ravaged the land, but the mysterious location of the Spire led to complications of its own. Venturing into the Demonskar and ridding the land of the demonic presence was an admirable goal, but not one which seemed to hold much chance of success. Even the great Surabar Spellmason could never do more than drive them from the lands around Cauldron. And so they settled to investigate a local matter, that of a string of disappearances, kidnappings it was said, that had been occurring throughout town over the last few months.
As they discussed how they might proceed to investigate the matter, who should enter but a group of adventurers from far-away lands, who had gathered together in Stormreach for various reasons and set out to Cauldron to seek their fortunes. Fate had smiled upon them, for here were ready allies to assist the three in their venture. There was Diego, a wizard of no mean skill and his companion, a kalashtar who said little about himself; both had come from Adar seeking greater enlightenment. Then there was Grim, a dwarven fighter from the Mror Holds who had come to Xen'drik to test his mettle against all manner of foes. Finally, the half-elven warrior Mordicai of Aundair who had seen some action in the Last War and had set off in search of future battles to prove his worth. Together, the two groups were a potent team, and so they decided to combine their forces and solve the riddle of the kidnappings in Cauldron.
The three locals were leading the new arrivals to a local inn where they could pad down for the night when a fortuitous event occurred. As they walked through the rainy night a piercing scream echoed from ahead. They quickly rushed up to investigate, only to find a man being beaten in an alleyway by a group of thugs. The toughs had painted their faces, half white, half black, and warned their victim to stay away from the Lantern Street Orphanage. A short scuffle ensued, as the adventurers tried to assist the beleaguered victim. Although they managed to capture one of the thugs before the rest fled, Psycho spotted a woman clinging to the wall above the alley as a spider might. She, too, fled from the scene, but not before warning that the victim, a priest of the Silver Flame as it later turned out, was only alive because she wished it so, and left a final warning to stay away from the orphanage.
The priest, one Ruphus Laro thanked his saviors and explained that his church would be greatly indebted to the party for their heroism. After interrogating their captive, he proposed that they come with him to the Temple of the Silver Flame to meet his superior, acting High Priestess Jenya Urikas. Unfortunately, the captured thug proved to know little. He had been bribed a tidy sum to assault the cleric of the Silver Flame and warn him to stay away from the orphanage, but the thug did not know why, nor did he care. He was unceremoniously dumped at the local jail in the hands of one Lieutenant Dosh, who assured the party that their role in this matter would be noted and passed along to the Captain of the Watch, Terseon Skellerang.
Escorting Ruphos Laro back to his temple, the party was tiring at this point, but Brother Laro was most insistent that they meet his superior and see what she had to say. After all, it seemed most fortunate that their interests and his were the same. He had just come from the Lantern Street Orphanage after counseling the headmistress regarding four children who had been kidnapped just three days before.
At the Temple of the Silver Flame, the party was warmly received, given blankets and tea while Brother Laro went to report to the high priestess. Soon the party found themselves face to face with acting High Priestess Jenya Urikas, who graciously received them and thanked them profusely for their benevolent actions on Brother Laro's behalf. She also inquired about the party's interest in solving the mystery of the disappearances and the two quickly came to the conclusion that they had much to gain by collaborating.
As it happened, Jenya had already been investigating the matter herself. She had taken advantage of the power of a mighty church relic to divine how best to proceed with locating the children. Though she had been reluctant to use the relic because it ought to be for the true High Priest to decide (one Brother Sarcem Delasharn, who was away on extended business in Stormreach), she felt the situation was escalating out of control and made the judgment that it was a truly worthwhile cause. The divination she performed provided a hint that the locks of the doors of the orphanage were key to locating the children, and so she suggested the heroes start their investigation there. She also offered to use the resources of the church of the Silver Flame to aid them in this endeavor and even offered a 2,500 gp reward if the children were returned to the orphanage safely.
The next day, the party went to the orphanage, where they interviewed the staff and children regarding their experience. The four missing children were seemingly whisked away at night from their beds without any of the other children hearing or seeing a thing. They simply woke up to find them gone. The headmistress of the orphanage further explained that she was the only one to carry the keys of the orphanage and that the entire place, including the childrens' dormitories, were locked up tight every night. A careful investigation showed that the locks had not been tampered with, but a telling piece of information came to light. The headmistress informed the party that a well-respected gnome locksmith known as Keygan Ghelve had fashioned each of the locks in the orphanage.
Seeking to get to the bottom of the matter, the party bore the divination's riddle in mind. If the locks were the key, then the locksmith was their next stop in their investigation. The party made their way towards Ghelve's shop, which was not far away, but as they traveled, Valen and Psycho noticed that they had a shadow. A pair of cloaked figures was following them throughout the city, maintaining a careful distance, but sticking with them every step of the way. Attempts to shake them failed, as did attempts to confront them, for they always dashed out of sight at the last minute, only to show up again not long after. The party decided to keep a careful eye out but that their mission must proceed. While Psycho and Valen went looking for the two figures (an errand which never bore fruit) the rest entered Ghelve's shop with the intention of finding the truth.
Wild accusations began to fly almost immediately as the party attempted to catch the locksmith off-guard. Mordicai in particular would not relent in his determined interrogation and insistence that Ghelve, as the crafter of the orphanage locks, must somehow be involved in the disappearances. The gnome balked at such a claim, but both Vislor and the kalashtar detected that there was an uneasiness in the gnome's voice and a shakiness when the subject was broached. Eventually the kalashtar forged a mindlink with the gnome to get him to reveal the truth when it became apparent that Ghelve was being watched carefully. Ghelve admitted to the telepath that he had been coerced into providing strange creatures with a skeleton key to all the locks he had ever fashioned, but offered to cooperate if the party would agree to release the hold the strange creatures had over him, for they had kidnapped his familiar, Star.
As Ghelve "closed for lunch," he passed the kalashtar the key to his shop and crossed the street to watch from afar as the heroes went about their work. They entered Ghelve's shop and quickly made their way to the back room where they suspected the strange creatures Ghelve had referred to were lurking. The creatures had an uncanny knack for hiding from sight, even when a normal person ought to be plainly visible and tried to launch a surprise attack as the party entered the back room. But they were outnumbered and soon outflanked. To make an example, the sinister wizard Diego dealt a death blow to one of the creatures which lay dying while the party revived the other (now manacled) and interrogated him.
The creatures were skulks, creatures that lived in the depths of Khyber and abhorred the light. Diego, as it happened, had studied these creatures before and knew of their stealthy abilities, as well as their uncanny talent for leaving virtually no trace of a trail wherever they went. This information, combined with the admittance of Ghelve to providing them with a skeleton key to his locks, finally began to create a clear picture of the forces at work.
As Ghelve later explained, the creatures came from Jzadirune, a gnomish enclave beneath the city which had been abandoned almost a century ago in the wake of a terrible magical malady known as the Vanishing, a disease which caused its victims to quite literally vanish from existence over the course of a few days. He had thought the city abandoned, but when the skulks captured his familiar and blackmailed him into helping them, he discovered that it was not quite so abandoned as he thought. Also, it seemed, Ghelve's shop was the site of one of the only remaining passages into Jzadirune from Cauldron above, a hidden door concealed behind a portrait of his father in his workshop. The captured skulk refused to talk. And so it seemed that in order to learn more, the heroes would need to venture into Jzadirune itself to seek more answers as to why the skulks had been kidnapping the citizenry of Cauldron.
In a remote corner of Xen'drik is a community that is not well-known to the rest of the world. Several hundred years before our story begins, a number of pirates laid claim to the ancient city of Stormreach, using it as a base of operations for raids into the Thunder Sea. But unbeknownst to many a scholar there was one group of travelers to Xen'drik who did not seek to use Xen'drik as a mere staging ground for villainy. Led by the legendary Surabar Spellmason, they traveled further inland, over 200 miles beyond the "safety" of Stormreach to the wild jungles of Xen'drik and founded a community which they called Redgorge. Spellmason had a visionary objective to build an idyllic new center of civilization within the jungle continent that would be free of the Code of Galifar and where free-thinkers and adventurous spirits such as himself could seek their fortunes.
When the demons attacked, it was a devastating blow to Redgorge. But the cunning Spellmason managed to organize his colonists into a powerful fighting force that could rival even the great armies of Galifar. With these forces, he drove the demons back and established a defensible base in the caldera of a dormant volcano. This fortress would eventually come to be known as Cauldron, and it was here that Spellmason's vision would eventually come true. For several hundred years the industrious peoples of Cauldron, humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings and more tamed the wilds of the Xen'drik jungles, building great plantations of coffee and other tropical crops, as well as mining the mountain range surrounding Cauldron for a number of metals and stones that were rare finds in Khorvaire, including dragonshards. From time to time caravans would travel north to Stormreach, escorted by the drow tribes with whom the Cauldronites had made peace, and trade their wares for countless valuable goods that they brought back with them at great profit.
And so it was that the region around Cauldron prospered while the continent of Khorvaire was plunged into a century-long civil war. Few Cauldronites even knew the Last War occurred, nor did they care. Although they were beset at times by demons from the southwest, giants from the southeast, undead from the north and gnolls from all over, the citizens of this brave new world steadfastly rebuffed any encroachment on their lands, slowly taming the wilderness and making it their own. It is here where our story truly begins.
Three Cauldronites, Vislor, cleric of the Sovereign Host, "Psycho," a ranger who had spent some time training with the nearby drow tribes, and Valen, a scout who had trained with the local militia all gathered together one fine evening in the Tipped Tankard to discuss their hopes and dreams. They had grown up together, and were fast friends. They excelled among their peers and quickly realized even in their youth that they were destined for more than the simple distributing of alms or patrolling the countryside. They considered a number of possible adventures. The allegedly abandoned keep of the frost giant Jarl Khurok was proposed as a source of treasure, but the logistics of getting there were challenging as they would be forced to combat high altitude and extreme cold. It was also proposed that perhaps they could seek the fabled Spire of Long Shadows, which was said to the be the source of the undead who periodically ravaged the land, but the mysterious location of the Spire led to complications of its own. Venturing into the Demonskar and ridding the land of the demonic presence was an admirable goal, but not one which seemed to hold much chance of success. Even the great Surabar Spellmason could never do more than drive them from the lands around Cauldron. And so they settled to investigate a local matter, that of a string of disappearances, kidnappings it was said, that had been occurring throughout town over the last few months.
As they discussed how they might proceed to investigate the matter, who should enter but a group of adventurers from far-away lands, who had gathered together in Stormreach for various reasons and set out to Cauldron to seek their fortunes. Fate had smiled upon them, for here were ready allies to assist the three in their venture. There was Diego, a wizard of no mean skill and his companion, a kalashtar who said little about himself; both had come from Adar seeking greater enlightenment. Then there was Grim, a dwarven fighter from the Mror Holds who had come to Xen'drik to test his mettle against all manner of foes. Finally, the half-elven warrior Mordicai of Aundair who had seen some action in the Last War and had set off in search of future battles to prove his worth. Together, the two groups were a potent team, and so they decided to combine their forces and solve the riddle of the kidnappings in Cauldron.
The three locals were leading the new arrivals to a local inn where they could pad down for the night when a fortuitous event occurred. As they walked through the rainy night a piercing scream echoed from ahead. They quickly rushed up to investigate, only to find a man being beaten in an alleyway by a group of thugs. The toughs had painted their faces, half white, half black, and warned their victim to stay away from the Lantern Street Orphanage. A short scuffle ensued, as the adventurers tried to assist the beleaguered victim. Although they managed to capture one of the thugs before the rest fled, Psycho spotted a woman clinging to the wall above the alley as a spider might. She, too, fled from the scene, but not before warning that the victim, a priest of the Silver Flame as it later turned out, was only alive because she wished it so, and left a final warning to stay away from the orphanage.
The priest, one Ruphus Laro thanked his saviors and explained that his church would be greatly indebted to the party for their heroism. After interrogating their captive, he proposed that they come with him to the Temple of the Silver Flame to meet his superior, acting High Priestess Jenya Urikas. Unfortunately, the captured thug proved to know little. He had been bribed a tidy sum to assault the cleric of the Silver Flame and warn him to stay away from the orphanage, but the thug did not know why, nor did he care. He was unceremoniously dumped at the local jail in the hands of one Lieutenant Dosh, who assured the party that their role in this matter would be noted and passed along to the Captain of the Watch, Terseon Skellerang.
Escorting Ruphos Laro back to his temple, the party was tiring at this point, but Brother Laro was most insistent that they meet his superior and see what she had to say. After all, it seemed most fortunate that their interests and his were the same. He had just come from the Lantern Street Orphanage after counseling the headmistress regarding four children who had been kidnapped just three days before.
At the Temple of the Silver Flame, the party was warmly received, given blankets and tea while Brother Laro went to report to the high priestess. Soon the party found themselves face to face with acting High Priestess Jenya Urikas, who graciously received them and thanked them profusely for their benevolent actions on Brother Laro's behalf. She also inquired about the party's interest in solving the mystery of the disappearances and the two quickly came to the conclusion that they had much to gain by collaborating.
As it happened, Jenya had already been investigating the matter herself. She had taken advantage of the power of a mighty church relic to divine how best to proceed with locating the children. Though she had been reluctant to use the relic because it ought to be for the true High Priest to decide (one Brother Sarcem Delasharn, who was away on extended business in Stormreach), she felt the situation was escalating out of control and made the judgment that it was a truly worthwhile cause. The divination she performed provided a hint that the locks of the doors of the orphanage were key to locating the children, and so she suggested the heroes start their investigation there. She also offered to use the resources of the church of the Silver Flame to aid them in this endeavor and even offered a 2,500 gp reward if the children were returned to the orphanage safely.
The next day, the party went to the orphanage, where they interviewed the staff and children regarding their experience. The four missing children were seemingly whisked away at night from their beds without any of the other children hearing or seeing a thing. They simply woke up to find them gone. The headmistress of the orphanage further explained that she was the only one to carry the keys of the orphanage and that the entire place, including the childrens' dormitories, were locked up tight every night. A careful investigation showed that the locks had not been tampered with, but a telling piece of information came to light. The headmistress informed the party that a well-respected gnome locksmith known as Keygan Ghelve had fashioned each of the locks in the orphanage.
Seeking to get to the bottom of the matter, the party bore the divination's riddle in mind. If the locks were the key, then the locksmith was their next stop in their investigation. The party made their way towards Ghelve's shop, which was not far away, but as they traveled, Valen and Psycho noticed that they had a shadow. A pair of cloaked figures was following them throughout the city, maintaining a careful distance, but sticking with them every step of the way. Attempts to shake them failed, as did attempts to confront them, for they always dashed out of sight at the last minute, only to show up again not long after. The party decided to keep a careful eye out but that their mission must proceed. While Psycho and Valen went looking for the two figures (an errand which never bore fruit) the rest entered Ghelve's shop with the intention of finding the truth.
Wild accusations began to fly almost immediately as the party attempted to catch the locksmith off-guard. Mordicai in particular would not relent in his determined interrogation and insistence that Ghelve, as the crafter of the orphanage locks, must somehow be involved in the disappearances. The gnome balked at such a claim, but both Vislor and the kalashtar detected that there was an uneasiness in the gnome's voice and a shakiness when the subject was broached. Eventually the kalashtar forged a mindlink with the gnome to get him to reveal the truth when it became apparent that Ghelve was being watched carefully. Ghelve admitted to the telepath that he had been coerced into providing strange creatures with a skeleton key to all the locks he had ever fashioned, but offered to cooperate if the party would agree to release the hold the strange creatures had over him, for they had kidnapped his familiar, Star.
As Ghelve "closed for lunch," he passed the kalashtar the key to his shop and crossed the street to watch from afar as the heroes went about their work. They entered Ghelve's shop and quickly made their way to the back room where they suspected the strange creatures Ghelve had referred to were lurking. The creatures had an uncanny knack for hiding from sight, even when a normal person ought to be plainly visible and tried to launch a surprise attack as the party entered the back room. But they were outnumbered and soon outflanked. To make an example, the sinister wizard Diego dealt a death blow to one of the creatures which lay dying while the party revived the other (now manacled) and interrogated him.
The creatures were skulks, creatures that lived in the depths of Khyber and abhorred the light. Diego, as it happened, had studied these creatures before and knew of their stealthy abilities, as well as their uncanny talent for leaving virtually no trace of a trail wherever they went. This information, combined with the admittance of Ghelve to providing them with a skeleton key to his locks, finally began to create a clear picture of the forces at work.
As Ghelve later explained, the creatures came from Jzadirune, a gnomish enclave beneath the city which had been abandoned almost a century ago in the wake of a terrible magical malady known as the Vanishing, a disease which caused its victims to quite literally vanish from existence over the course of a few days. He had thought the city abandoned, but when the skulks captured his familiar and blackmailed him into helping them, he discovered that it was not quite so abandoned as he thought. Also, it seemed, Ghelve's shop was the site of one of the only remaining passages into Jzadirune from Cauldron above, a hidden door concealed behind a portrait of his father in his workshop. The captured skulk refused to talk. And so it seemed that in order to learn more, the heroes would need to venture into Jzadirune itself to seek more answers as to why the skulks had been kidnapping the citizenry of Cauldron.