6-6A: Storm of Ravenous Shadows
“All signs point to Virlych.” Venture-Captain Evni Zognoss folds her hands on her desk. She seems surprisingly chipper, given the sentence she just uttered. “The Lastwall Knights and I have been researching Trazavai’s history. It seems he has most likely hidden his phylactery in the hoard of his friend, the demilich Yln.”
You’ve heard of Virlych, though you’ve never been there. The forbidding Ustalavic province is a land ruled by monsters and undead. It has been many generations since it was home to any but the bravest and most foolhardy of explorers. Since the rise of the Whispering Tyrant, the land’s threats could only have become more dire.
“Locating Yln’s lair might have proven difficult, but luck was on our side.” The venture-captain gestures toward a tall woman with dark hair and blue-grey robes standing behind her. “Aviva Racovick has spent the past several years studying ancient sites in Virlych, and she believes she knows where the demilich resides.”
Racovick nods in greeting. “When Vigil was destroyed, my compatriots and I were investigating a newly discovered site rife with necromantic energies. I returned to Lastwall to aid in the defense against the Whispering Tyrant.”
“I suggest you take the next few hours to make any last-minute preparations,” said Zognoss. “Be sure to bring plenty of food and clean water; Virlych is short on both.”
You set out at first light. When you cross the border into Virlych, the land becomes more desolate, and the plant life scarcer and less recognizable. Keeping a close eye on your surroundings, you manage to easily defeat a few lone skeletons and avoid some larger hordes of zombies. Then, a few hours into your trek, clouds fill the sky and a sudden storm descends. Sheets of acidic rain burn against your skin, reducing your vision to only a few feet in front of you.
“We need to find shelter!” shouts Racovick, though you can barely hear her over the howling of the wind. “I think I know a—”
Before she can finish, lightning flashes in the sky, revealing a rotting figure in black armor atop a spectral horse. All around you, the shadows come to life. You realize they aren’t shadows at all, but hungry wraiths. And they don’t plan to let you pass.
