With two weeks to spare before a scheduled inspection of the Hell's Heart Prison, where the mastermind behind the Raven's killing spree - their archnemesis Victor Saint-Demain - has been imprisoned, our heroes realize that they have some time to spare before they are called upon to finally indict the old bastard, and see to his execution for crimes against the goodly folk of the city of Sharn.
Thusly, they decided to take up some work to earn them extra money, money that would help them refurbish their new lodgings in Morgrave University's Old Quarter, and as it turned out, there were quite a few quests to be had.
The Church of the Silver Flame was financing an expedition to the Eldeen Reaches, where a sliver of rock and a dreaded rift from the great dark beyond had appeared.
In the same vein, the Merchant's Concern, chaired by Lord Hubert ir'Maron, had received a somewhat sensitive request. One of their members, an artificer called Frederick, an excoriate of the House of Cannith, was seeking aid with the retrieval of a precious medallion and scepter from the crypt of Lord Valkar, which the adventurers had attempted to pillage previously. Of course, the medallion had been sold by Jacquesaurs on the black market, but the scepter was still somewhere within the crypt, or so it seemed.
Seizing the opportunity to finally acquire the golden doors they'd left in Lord Valkar's crypt, and seeing this quest as a sign of providence, the inquisitives, together with a reluctant Picadilly, traveled through Undersharn towards Valkar's resting spot, and there they began to tear the crypt apart. The shadows that spawned now were not a match for the group, and Jalros easily dispatched the lone shadow that materialized in response to Picadilly's presence.
True enough, there was a hidden compartment in the portrait in Lord Valkar's crypt. A cunning shelf of rock was hidden behind the picture frame, and there was something caught inside it. Vicks used his ability to soften earth and stone to break open the stone shelf and secure the scepter within. But the scepter was clearly a foul relic. As soon as Vicks touched it, he felt his lifeforce being drained away. Picadilly retreated out of the chamber, and Vicks tried to do the same, but Vicks realized that he couldn't exit the chamber.
Jacquesaurs entered the chamber to help, and so did Ellis, and the both of them were stuck. It was then that they realized that something was wrong, and that their presence had caused a shadowy creature to spawn in the center of the room - an abomination that was an amalgamation of all their images.
Outside, the other adventurers realized that they couldn't hear what transpired within, or affect the interior. Even worse, Picadilly and Jalros couldn't enter the chamber. A potent magical force kept them at bay. Stab, who was naturally cautious, hung back and began to observe his surroundings for a clue.
Inside, the trapped adventurers found a talisman, which Ellis attempted to use on the magical symbol of the Keeper that they had suspected was responsible for the magic keeping them in the chamber and summoning the shadow creature. Unfortunately, the talisman only sped up the process of summoning the shadow, and it quickly grew active. Swinging one of its four arms up, it grappled Ellis, and started draining the poor rogue's strength. It then moved closer to Jacquesaurs and Vicks, and began threatening them.
Outside, Picadilly, Jalros, his bird and Stab started poking at the runes and symbols around the door, which were designed to prevent them from entering. It was tough work, and as they watched, the shadow monster snapped Ellis like a twig, and then proceeded to squeeze the life out of Jacquesaurs. Vicks hurled several Flame Strikes at the monster, and then wailed at it with his paws in bear form, but those attacks didn't seem to hurt too much. Ellis rose up as a shadow creature, but was incinerated by a Flame Strike.
Eventually, the outside group managed to break down the magical symbols, but it was too late for Jacquesaurs. The monster smacked Jacquesaurs about, and Jacquesaurs died, drained to a withered husk. Jalros feathered the monster now that the room was back in phase in the real world, and exploded it, and then Jacquesaurs, who had been killed, turned into a shadow creature. Vicks flailed him and destroyed his remains quickly, before he could take an offensive action.
Now that the group had lost two of their members, very likely permanently, they quickly packed the scepter, retrieved the golden doors of Lord Valkar's tomb, and beat a hasty retreat. Eventually, they decided to consult with the goodly temple of Dol Arrah that Picadilly was from, and sought help bringing Jacquesaurs back to life. It was an expensive proposition, however, which would eat up any profit they would make out of selling the golden doors. But the gnome was a good friend who would be sorely missed otherwise.
So they steeled themselves, and requested the high cleric to pray for a Miracle. The Miracle was granted, and Jacquesaurs was returned to the land of the living, none the worse for wear, and heavily in debt to the party.
With the gnome bard alive again, the party decided to pursue their other lead. They had to track down the other part of their mission - the amulet that Jacquesaurs had sold away on the Tyrants' black market. They visited the Tyrants, only to realize that the amulet had recently been purchased by an agent of Zan Zar, the merchant the party had crossed in Xen'drik. The agent was none other than Simon, the Necromancer. It seemed that some characters from their past had cropped up. How odd was that?
Resolving to pursue Simon and collect the amulet, the adventurers boarded the White Seele, bound for Stormreach, where Zan Zar was based. But when they arrived, they discovered Stormreach to be devoid of life - it looked as if some disaster had swept the streets - not a soul was in sight, and what movement they saw was due to zombies. The city was filled with those undead things, crawling with zombies, and the living, or what was left of them, were scattered in tiny pockets across the three tiered city.
Flying up to Stormreach Keep, the adventurers encountered the one remaining lord of the city, Lord Thoric, and his ragtag group of survivors. He had managed to keep some 300 of the citizens, members of the watch, and several members from the Dragonmarked houses safe, and they were doing their best to make a spirited, if somewhat futile defense against the zombies. Somehow, all divine magic in the city had failed, and with no clerics to stem the undead tide, they had washed over the city quickly. The city watch had fallen within a day, riots had broken out in the lower levels, adventurers had caused more harm than help, and everything had bloody went to hell in a handbasket, or so Lord Thoric claimed.
Our inquisitives decided to pitch in, since they had an airship. They offered to take some of Lord Thoric's men on a supply run, and ended up rescuing some additional members of the town watch who had been sent for supplies and were waylaid, as well as a bunch of survivors who had hidden themselves in a tavern.
The airship hovered towards Zan Zar's tent, which seemed to be zombie free, and Stab rappelled down to spy. He poked a hole through the canvas, and noticed Zan Zar in communion with a cloaked figure, talking in Abyssal. Using the sending stone in his possession, he attempted to transmit the conversation to the others so they could figure out what was going on. However, he was noticed, and barely escaped being incinerated by a blast of acid.
As the tent dissolved away, everyone discovered that Zan Zar was in the tent with several other hooded figures, and Simon the Necromancer. There was also a magic circle with a bound demon in it, and their conversation, which revolved around demons and sacrifices, sounded rather sketchy.
It was a surprising reveal. There was obviously something going on here, and clearly both Zan Zar, who was spotted wearing the evil amulet, and Simon the Necromancer, were involved somehow.
But what was going on exactly? What will the party get up to next in Eberron Mystery Theatre? Stay tuned to find out.
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Treasure and Experience
1. All adventurers gain enough XP to put them at Level 11. Those who perished today however only gain 1,500 xp. Please update your character sheets accordingly.
2. Golden Doors - From Lord Valkar's crypt. Sold for 25,000 gp.
3. Scepter of the Keeper - A quest item, claimed by Frederick the Excoriate to possess the ability to act as a power source. Currently possesses undocumented powers.
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