A DM'S JOURNAL: Into the Shadowhaunt!
So, my first adventure blog. Very excited.
An overview of who plays which characters...
- The player of Cairn is also Seiriea.
- The one who played Relic rejoins as Aukan.
- And both Su-Ruhk and Mathas are NPC's run by me.
After the young white dragon in Kobold Hall killed the Warforged Warden Relic and the Tiefling Warlock Cairn the remaining party fled.
Orsik the Dwarf Ranger, Leshanna the Eladrin Wizard, and Su-Ruhk the Human Rogue are dumbfounded by the seemingly young human man-child standing before them in Archmage robes but before they could do anything were knocked out by powerful magic.
Orsik and Leshanna woke up, Su-Ruhk gone, and they started their trek across the unfamiliar fen they found themselves in.
Finally reaching a mountain, the sheer cliff reached into the clouds and at the base was a mausoleum turned sanctuary.
Inside, a venerable Deva Shaman by the name Mathas Tavar, and his two also recently joined compatriots Aukan the Golaith Fighter and Seriea the Shifter Avenger.
Mathas explained the young man, Zardek, is not one you cross more then once. The swamp is where he "makes people go away" and while Mathas DID know the way out of the valley, he couldn't leave until Helvec the Necromancer was dealt with. Helvec wormed his way into the deepest parts of the mausoleum the earlier night to awaken some dark power for Zardek.
So they delved deeply into the haunted recesses. A spirit beckoned them to leave and gave them a riddle. Orsik only barely held back his arrows at the sight of the specter. The goliath Fighter turns out to be quite a history scholar and with the aid of said knowledge solved the puzzle before anyone else (sweet irony).
They fought their way past booby trapped hallways and hobgoblins. Aukan tipped an oil filled sarcophagus over, lighting himself and a hobgoblin on fire. The party slowly cut the hobgoblins down with arrow, magic, and summoned spirits.
They soon discovered a natural cave and a door with a demonic countenance. Behind the door were two children in a ghoulishly green magic circle. Unsure what to do and if to trust the two imprisoned boys, the party left them to eliminate Helvec before saving them.
It didn't take long. The next large room they found him in another circle of evil, chanting from a book on a large pillar, and as he shrieked at them, his skeletons flew into the fray to rip the flesh from the players' bones.
The players made short work of the vile mage, bloodying him in moments and then the shadow spirit took it's vengence. After dispatching the skeletons, and looting the necromancer's living quarters, they headed back to the two boys.
The boys pled them for help once again, and warned them of the dangerous trap for anyone who would take them from the circle. The fighter ignored their warning and entered the circle to aid them, as the statues on either side of the chamber sprung to life. As the Avenger, Shaman, Ranger, and Wizard tried to ward them off, the fighter failed to free the boys and sets off the trap.
An earthquake ripped through the entire underground and the players fled with the boys, thanks to the skill of Orsik. Fight as hard as they did, the boys still died in the resulting rockfall as did Mathas. Leaving the Shaman's mortal coil behind, the rest of the party made it to safety and rested.
I might add more details later, and hopefully some character bios!
