When Session 134 started not all of the players had arrived. So the mage who was trying to find a rare ingredient for an enchantment decided to teleport to his hometown on the other side of the globe. The City of Veil in the Great Desert is a place that until recently had only existed in the player character's back story.
Luckily, I had noticed "Gabriel Pickard's, Appetizer Platter" free maps in the Roll20 assets earlier in the day and noted the desert town map. I grabbed that map and dropped it on a blank page and tossed some Dark Sun tokens I had made onto it. Then I just had to decide how hard it would be for the magic-user character to find the component he needed. To come up with NPC names on the fly I used fantasynamegenerators.com. Once he purchased the component he decided to look up his old mentor. On a whim, I decided his mentor was imprisoned by the Emir of another town. Just like that another adventure hook is set.
Session 134: Shadows over Edgerton
Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Domago (human cleric NPC), Brovin (human thief NPC).
The Company of the Black Dragon are back in Edgerton but disturbing dreams in their sleep disrupt their hopes of a peaceful rest.
Lakima in the City of Veil
After completing some research, Lakima decides what he needs is some Quickling hair to successfully create the magic item Alrix has requested. Since there is no place in Edgerton where he can purchase this spell component he decides to teleport to the Grand Market (Bazaar) in the City of Veil. In a flash of magic, Lakima arrives levitating in the air above the marketplace in the distant city. Settling to the flagstones he notes that he has attracted a lot of attention. Looking about he spots the sign to an apothecary and casually walks over and enters the shop. Inside, he bargains with the apothecary Ibrahaim Parsa. The apothecary says he can procure the Quickling hair in a few hours but he is skeptical of Lakima. Lakima hands him a 500-gold deposit to convince him. Leaving the shop, promising to return in a few hours, Lakima decides to do some sightseeing in the city of his youth. He is immediately accosted by two city guards. They tell Lakima that there is a tax on foreigners entering the city – they saw his entrance by teleport. Lakima tells them who he is (the son of Malkin the mighty) but at first, the soldiers do not believe him. Eventually, the soldiers are convinced to leave him alone. But one watches him from a distance. Lakima decides to look in on his former mentor, Elken the Dark. However, when Lakima arrives at Elken’s tower, he finds it broken and inhabited by the common folk. Asking about the whereabouts of the mage, none of the people living in the building know. Lakima heads back to the marketplace and looks about until he spots an aged beggar leaning over a short walking staff with his hand out.
“Beggar, do you recall the wizard who lived in that tower over there?” Lakima asks while holding out a gold coin. Before Lakima can react, the beggar grabs the coin.
“I don't know but I know who does. For another gold coin, I can tell you who to ask,” the beggar says.
Lakima hands him another coin and the beggar points across the market square at a cobbler working under an awning. Lakima approaches the cobbler who tells him his name is Haneed Hakimi. Haneed indeed tells Lakima that his mentor is rumored to have traveled to the city of Turania to the north where he sought to earn a reward offered by the Emir to anyone who could create a flying boat. He failed and was thrown in the dungeons beneath the palace.
“I find it hard to believe any prison could hold Elken?” Lakima says.
The cobbler tells him that the prisons under Turania are warded against magic. Lakima thanks the cobbler and gives him a few gold coins. Returning to the apothecary Lakima completes the purchase of a bag of Quickling hair.
Lakima stepped back out into the afternoon sun and decided to try and find Shani Essa his sweetheart from when he was an apprentice. Locating the corral that her father Jehan used to sell camels from Lakima finds a middle-aged woman working there. When he asks her about Shani he is surprised to discover he is speaking to his former sweetheart. Several years under the hot sun have aged her. Shani tells Lakima about her troubles. Her father is an invalid and needs daily medicine to calm him. She asks Lakima for some gold for old times' sake. Lakima gives her a small pouch containing 200 gold. Shani also tells Lakima a few more details about Elken’s downfall. He tried and failed on his first attempt to enchant Emir Osman’s reed boat. The Emir derided him and Elken did not hold back when letting the Emir know what he thought of him. He has been in prison for 15 years.
Lakima teleports to the marketplace of the City of Turania. Immediately he arrives floating in the air above the marketplace. Turania is similar to the City of Veils but with fewer towers and larger slums. The people seem more downtrodden. There are more slaves visible in the street and more armed guards. As Lakima descends to the stone pavement three guards call out and approach him.
“You are under arrest, foreign wizard!” a guard shouts.
Lakima tells them who he is and warns them not to anger him. The men approach with magic-negating manacles. Feeling he has warned them Lakima casts the Death spell and instantly kills all three guards and three locals who happen to be standing too close. Lakima settles to the ground and looks about. Local people are screaming and running from the marketplace in all directions. After a few minutes, a large group of guards approaches him (twenty men). The men keep a respectful distance.
“I wish to speak with the Emir,” Lakima shouts, “I have a gift for him!”
The guard leader approaches Lakima and tells him he is under arrest. He can meet the Emir after he is put in shackles. Then Lakima notices a man approaching who appears to be a mage or priest accompanied by two bodyguards. The man attempts to cast a spell but Lakima absorbs it with his Rod of Absorption. He notes that it was a clerical spell. Tired of dealing with the guards of Turania, Lakima teleports back to the Manor House in Edgerton arriving in the late evening hours and all the household is asleep.
Meanwhile in Edgerton
Earlier that same day, Eathwund decides to spend the day at the Sign of the Purple Bugbear. Business is doing well, though there are some fights in the neighborhood between ill-tempered locals who have not been getting much sleep. Alrix on the other hand does some investigating. He heads to a local bakery and buys some pastries and asks the dwarven baker if he is having trouble sleeping. The dwarf tells him that he is not but he has noticed a lot of his human servants are complaining of nightmares. Walking back to the manor through the main square, Alrix notices some local fortune tellers preaching that the end of the world is nigh. Those travelers from outside the town whom he speaks with tell him that they did not have nightmares until they entered the town. Back in the manor, he finds Lakima is not around. Alrix is not alarmed figuring that Lakima is either off somewhere or he is locked in his study in the attic.
Eathwund stays at the tavern until late in the evening. After midnight he heads home to the manor. While passing through the main square he hears a scream and decides to investigate. He comes upon a guard of the night watch desperately fighting a shadow. Another nearby guard lies on the pavement. With a few swift blows with his sword, Eathwund kills the shadow and it vanishes. The watch member thanks him for saving him, but it is too late for his compatriot. Eathwund stays long enough to speak with the night watch commander and then he continues home.
The next day, Lakima has returned and he speaks with the other members of the company over breakfast. He does not reveal where he has been, only that he has procured the needed Quickling hairs. Alrix tells him of what he has learned and Eathwund speaks of the shadow he encountered. Lakima, Eathwund, Alrix, Aldus, and Domago go over to the apothecary to speak with Malyn. The seemingly young mage seems uninterested in the nightmares plaguing the humans of Edgerton. He tells them that whatever it is the wards around the Temple of the Dark Lady protect him. Lakima asks Malyn to investigate but it takes a promise of a favour before Malyn agrees. The group then head to the nearby Church of St. Cuthbert and speak with Abbot Marta. Marta cannot add anything to what he told them previously about having a vision of something evil beneath the city. Eathwund tells Alrix that the city is built on ruins and graveyards. There are all manner of dungeons and tunnels beneath the streets. The group then goes to the Red Leatherworks and Alrix pays the owner 180 gold for a pair of gloves sewn with the Quickling hair. The leatherworker promises to have the work done in two days.
That evening Alayna informs everyone that she has created sleeping tinctures that should allow the user to get a good sleep free of nightmares. Only Aldus decides to use it. Lakima and Eathwund have nightmares that evening. The next morning breakfast is interrupted by Sergeant Frans of the Watch who tells them that shadow hounds chased townsfolk through the streets last night killing six. He asks for help. Lakima asks the sergeant where the attacks occurred.
“We will be waiting there tonight,” Lakima assures him.
Sergeant Frans also tells them about a fortune teller named Tedeun who has gained quite a following. He claims to know what is causing the nightmares and is prophesizing the end of the world. That day the company heads to the main square to see this prophet of doom for themselves. They see an old, but energetic man speaking from beneath an awning in the main square. A small crowd of townsfolk gathered around him. The people are kept in line by a pair of thugs who appear to be members of a local street gang. Nearby, four town guards are taking in the proceedings. Lakima tells Aldus and Eathwund to get them an audience. The two fighters advance and clear a path through the crowd. The thugs at first try to look intimidating but quickly scoop up their earnings and runoff. The fortune teller himself seems unaware of their approach. He offers to read Lakima’s fortune. The man appears to be crazy and has trouble staying on topic. He often veers off on a tangent or sees something that is not there. But he does tell them that the Twilight Coven has a shadowstone with which they will plunge Edgerton into the Shadowfell. He whispers in Lakima’s ear that the holder of the shadowstone is a man named Fulraid. He also tells them that they should seek out Zekar Fester. He warns Alrix that he foresees his death within the next week should events remain unchanged.
Lakima suggests they go to the Library of Antiquity to investigate some of the names they have been told by the madman. Tedeun becomes more agitated as he talks to them and begins shouting so the guards take him into custody. At the Library, one of the Librarians suggests they consult books in the Hall of Legends. The Head Librarian Dellik immediately recognizes the name Zekar Fester. He is the author of a book entitled The Tome of Shadows. The book is a treatise on the mythical realm of Shadow. Which is sometimes confused with limbo or the lands of the dead. Lakima asks to be allowed to take the book home for study.
That afternoon Lakima studies the book, while other members of the company take afternoon naps to prepare for a long evening. As night falls, they head over to the Marketplace, the scene of yesterday’s deaths. There are a lot fewer people on the streets than normal and several shops have closed up for the evening. A few members of the night watch come by to speak with the company. Nothing happens for hours. But about three hours after midnight they hear the shrill whistle of the watch coming from Mirdton.
Following two guards who are rushing to the Low market they continue on until they hear sounds of fighting and the baying of hounds. They arrive in Mirdton Square and see two guards fighting a pack of shadow hounds guided by two shadows. Eathwund and Aldus immediately plunge into the melee destroying hounds and shadows, while Lakima summons a glow minion. The bright light of the minion drives back the shadows. Lakima follows up with magic missiles. Alrix uses his longbow and then spots two figures dressed head to tow in black. The two men are watching from the shadows. As the shadow hounds and shadows begin to lose the fight the men turn and leave.
Alrix transforms to his true form and flies above the rooftops to get ahead of the two men as they are traversing an alley. Alrix calls for them to halt but the men immediately draw swords and move to attack. The fight is over quickly, Alrix bites one man killing him with poison and constricts the second man until he passes out. Back in Mirdton Square, the shadows have all been killed and all four guards have been saved. The company heads off in the direction Alrix went followed by two guards. They arrive just as Alrix has taken one guard prisoner and killed the other. Terrified of the flying serpent, the guards have to be calmed down to keep from running away.
Lakima puts on the Medallion of ESP and listens in on the man’s thoughts while they question him. When asked where the shadowstone is now he sees an image in the man’s mind of the crypts beneath the Church of St. Bethesda. When asked about the leader he sees a normal enough-looking man and hears the name Nalazar Blackhand. After the questioning is over they turn the man over to the guards.
“The Church of St. Bethesda again,” Lakima says in exasperation, “I need to find the owner and buy this ruin.” He waves at the looming ruins of a church rising up behind them.
Eathwund tells Alrix about some of their adventures beneath the church, fighting ghouls, a wormwraith, thieves, and the ghost of an evil abbot.
The church is securely boarded up and several entrances are bricked shut. They head around to the main entrance and Lakima tells Brovin to open the doors. Brovin looks about then shrugs and gets to work with his crowbar. During the loud dismantling of the boards over the door, two members of the night watch appear to ask what is going on but seeing who is demolishing the door they move along. After about a half hour Brovin gets one door open and the group steps inside the nave of the church. It has changed little from the last time they entered. Moonlight shines down through holes in the ceiling. The two enormous statues of St. Bethesda frown down upon them. The stair to the cellar appears clear of rubble.
It is time to descend to the crypt again.
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