Synopsis for new or prospective players
A chronology of events so far
On the continent called Ghlastrea, is a small town called Falcon's Hollow. Our story started with a group of adventurers who come together under the leadership of a cleric of Heironeious named Jhaelin. This group of companions accepted a quest to find rare reagents that would be used to cure a spreading plague called the black scour taint. They ventured north, deep into the dark wood forest, encountering many obstacles, finding those reagents. One was located within an ancient dwarven monastery. Friends were made, and friends were lost along the way. Successful, the companions returned to the Hollow and the plague was cured. The heroes were rewarded with land, money, and local prestige. But the monastery called to some, beckoned them back, and most of the party did go back, seeking to know the secrets beneath that monastery. They never returned. Almost a year has passed.
One night, the mystery of several missing cemetery cadavers of late in Falcon's Hollow was solved when two deputies of the sheriff catch the culprit unawares. The man is subdued and thrown into the gaol's cell to await judgement of the magistrate the following day, but fate chose a different path. The gaol was breached by a half-ogre minion, freeing the cadaver taking necromancer. Incidentally, or maybe deliberately, a man was killed in this action and the fugitive flees north. A group comes together in the wee hours of the morning by happenstance, discovering the murder, and they decide that whoever perpetrated the murderous act had to be tracked down and dealt with. Together they would find the fugitive and return him to the gaol. Unbeknownst to this party, a local priestess' daughter has been abducted by minions of the necromancer for an evil sacrificial rite the day before and a party is sent to rescue her. The two parties merge, when the fugitive is tracked to a farmstead outside of Falcon's Hollow to the north. A fight ensues, the priestess is rescued, the murderer killed, and Zarrin the necromancer escapes by a scroll of recall. The party makes its way back to Falcon's Hollow with a recovered evil item known as a Book of Vile Darkness. The prelate of the church of Iomedae gives unto the companions a quest to destroy the book. They must venture beneath Droskar's monastery and find the Foundry of Souls where the book can be destroyed upon the forge's anvil.
In the course of events, the party discovers their taking of this valuable item is now known by bad actors, which brings us to the first stop in the journey at the cut yard. During an overnight stay, the party is besieged by another adventuring group that has taken the liberty and hired some of the more unruly cutters of the yard to aid them in retrieving an evil item the party has in their possession. The party prevails, killing several of the cutters, yard guards, and adventurers. They piece together information given by a captured "Black Crow" that one of their mages had been commissioned by an unknown actor to retrieve the book of vile darkness from the companions. This quest was portrayed as a holy quest to them, yet the mage had an agenda of his own. In the morning, the dead adventurers and dead cutters and yard guards are all loaded to carts and sent to Falcon's Hollow to their families, or burial. The companions ready themselves for an overland journey to the dwarven monastery near the base of Droskar's Peak. It will be an arduous journey and one not without difficulty. Xenaryn decides after the fighting that the life of an adventurer is not for her. She travels back to her home in Falcon's Hollow.
Two days into the journey, the companions skirt the lake through difficult terrain, eventually having to cross a marshland, the shallow end of the lake that is covered in bog moss, willow reeds, weeds, small brush, and semi-solid ground floating atop the water. It is here the party fights their first monster. They defeat a giant tuatera and rescue a young Lamai'nain.
The harsh terrain of thick vegetation has hidden dangers and the party encounters a red creeper near the top of one ridge. They defeat the creeper and finally reach their destination, the dwarven monastery beneath which should lay the foundry of souls. Approaching the monastery, the party scouts and finds that it is inhabited by kobolds and large raptors known locally as Razorclaws. They find that the razors are controlled by a hobgoblin currently dwelling within, possibly leading or commanding a group of kobolds.
(OOC) There are many, many nuanced details that are in the orginal posts and not mentioned in this synopsis. But overall, you should get the picture.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:58, Tue 19 Dec 2023.
