The Pax Hamingbellica has lasted for many years since the sequestration of the Lich, but there are now rumblings of dangers and discontents in the countryside. Most of you are high-profile enough that you don’t usually need to bother with these things—one of Thym’s disciple druids, one of Hasta’s apprentices, or one of Marble’s biggest fans who has long studied his martial art techniques, can usually put together a solid band of adventurers and return with few casualties, full treasure sacks, good stories for Lucas, and more valuable life experience. Lately, there have been more casualties than usual. People, including people you know fairly well, have failed to return. Some of this is normal. Sometimes someone dies, we comb their apartments for hair or finger clippings, visit Khelgar’s gemshop and buy a big honkin’ diamond, and soon we’re all laughing after “Resurrection,” with the recipient grateful, but pale, sipping herbal tinctures prepared by Thym. They will spend much of the rest of their life paying back the diamond their learning experience required. Sometimes this is jokingly called “educational debt.”
Often we mourn, putting their ashes in one of Clayton’s beautiful urns, shelve them, and move on. Can’t be bankrupting the city or burning through the limited diamond supply. That’s life and death on the frontier. For this reason Thym is particularly concerned, since he feels responsible for every apprentice who ignores the rules of his druid school and goes off on an adventure, emulating their teacher in the most dangerous way.
Recently, for the first time in memory, nearly an entire party of “lower level adventurers” as they are sometimes inexplicably called, has failed to return. This is especially odd because their Marbelian fighter, Thymian druid, Hastanian wizard, their Jath-iper ranger-rogue, and Claytonic oracle should have been just the sort of well-rounded force to solve so simple a problem as a provincial kidnapping. The town of Nugget Scorner requested help finding some young adults who have mysteriously disappeared. Well, sort of mysteriously—several of the kidnappers were recognized as denizens of the bandit-fortress-town of Damning. The job seemed simple: go to Damning, find the missing people, return them by diplomacy or force.
But only the ranger-rouge, a young devotee of the legends of Jathiel and Juniper, has returned, half-crazy, with tales of dark rituals in the depths of night, of people fattened for sacrifice, of the droning drums that resound across the Nooksack Valley at night, while the moon illuminates the snowy peak of Mt. Baker. The moon is waxing, and you’ve been told that this young ranger-rogue keeps screaming about the horrors await the night of the full moon—screaming that you must save her lost companions before they are sent into the darkness of eternal night.
Hasta is in the midst of crafting a powerful magic staff. That’s why she’s not coming along. But she says she’s not coming because she and Thym shouldn’t adventure together now that they have a kid. “Somebody’s got to stay home to look after Hazel and I’m crafting leave me alone and here take Hazel up to the gorillas they’re great with kids” is basically what she told Thym when he asked if she was interested in going on a quest. When asked if she was worried about her apprentice, she shrugged, said she’s neutral evil and has lots of apprentices. “You’re NOT neutral evil anymore, I got you an Atonement scroll for your present last Candlemass!” says Thym, in obvious exasperation. But Hasta can’t hear in the shower of magical sparks she’s pumping into the elaborately carved cedarwood staff on the workbench. "Say hi to the crew for me!"
You’ve agreed to meet at the Red Light to discuss your next moves. I’d appreciate it if you bite the plot hook, but you don’t have to if you’d rather go fishing or something. If so, your apprentices will never be seen again.
