Lead-in adventure to the Shackled City?

[ZeroEffect]

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. All of the players in my group have made 1st level characters and were eagerly looking forward to starting the Shackled City this week. Problem is, our DM had to cancel at the last minute. He has suggested that I step into his shoes and run a 1st level adventure for the players to get them ready for the Shackled City (using their intended Shackled City characters of course). Can anyone suggest a good adventure that I can use? I have a stack of Dungeon magazines to choose from. I'm looking for something that will be fun (and hardcore) for a single session and that will also fit with the tone and mood of the Shackled City campaign which we'll officially start next week, once our DM returns. Any suggestions?

 

[Qualidar]

I know a lot of people have used Mad God's Key as an intro to both adventure paths. You could set it in Sasserune and cut it down to 1 night. It's been a while sinse I read it, but you would probably replace the BBG with something more tied into the campaign, too.

~Qualidar~

 

[Schmoe]

I'm using the Burning Plague as a lead-in (second session tomorrow), set in the small town to the southeast of Cauldron. I've come up with what I think is a pretty good tie-in to the Shackled City, with the mine being owned by Lord Taskerhill. I can give you more details by e-mail if you're interested.

As a bonus, the Burning Plague is available as a free download off the WoTC site.

 

[Festivus]

I have used "A Dark and Stormy Knight". In a nutshell, a storm outside forces complete strangers into a cave, which turns out to be a dungeon from a nearby tower.

Are there other modules like that one? It really works well for explaining how a group gets together, but I think one of my new group has run through this one before.