In my campaigns I like to have the feeling that a lot of things are happening in the world so I have plots and subplots going on and I throw in elements or clues for our next adventure in the current one. In our second game session the group visits a monastery. This is the monastery from Dungeon Magazine adventure "Unhallowed Ground" in issue 54. Things will happen here later. For now the group has to find the Tomb of Blood Everflowing and I expanded on its location by putting it in the old adventure "Keep on the Borderland". Now the valley with the Caves of Chaos are occupied by orcs and goblins who are the advance units of Nalavarauthatoryl the Red who will invade Cormyr next year.
A few of our players could not make it to this session so we did our best without them.
The 7th day of Tarasakh of the year 1370
After returning to the Blue Dragon Inn the group of heroes discussed what they should do next. But this group of diverse strangers could not agree on what their plan should be. So they each took time for their own plans. Rutker went to his temple to explain to the senior priests the circumstances of his arrest. Embryn was so disturbed by his lust to kill Irontusk that he sought time to reverie on what was in his heart and how he wanted to live his life. Michael had an idea that might have upset some of his companions so he worked on it privately. Yen was disappointed in the failure of his spell at the warehouse so took time to meditate and study his developing arcane skills. Dexter sought penance at the shrine of Lathander for his failure to live up to the paladin’s code. And Elwin was driven to find the Abbadoor key.
The idea of a key that could open any lock kept drawing Elwin to search for it. He thought over and over about the information they had so far. Elwin decided that the best lead they had was that the priest who bought the key from Cyrathas was from the church of Oghma. Unable to find any of his companions to go with him, Elwin went to the temple of Oghma by himself. On his way he stopped by a weapon smith’s shop and traded his fine rapier for a short sword. A shorter blade fit his style of fighting better.
At the temple of Oghma Elwin saw several city guards searching the temple and questioning the priests. When the guards left, Elwin did a little questioning of his own and found out that the royal library had been robbed of a book and the thief had been dressed in the robes of a cleric of Oghma. Elwin went back to the Blue Dragon to share what he had learned with his companions.
At the Blue Dragon, Dexter was the only person Elwin could find. He told Dexter what he had found out and the two decided to get some rest and investigate the matter in the morning.
In the morning, Dexter said his prayers to Lathander then set out with Elwin to the temple of Oghma. Michael and Rutker still had not returned to the inn and Yen and Embryn seemed to have something on their mind. At the temple the two investigators met with loremaster Altamaic. He informed the two that there was no chance that a priest of Oghma would steel a book from the library. Loremasters share knowledge not steel it. He was able to tell the two heroes that the missing book was from the ancient Netherese kingdom. It was a large tome with a black leather cover which was locked tight by a magical lock. The royal librarians had contacted mages and priests of Oghma over the years to unlock the book but no one has been successful. What is written in the book is still unknown.
Elwin and Dexter spent the rest of the day trying ideas that didn’t work. They thought they could enlist a local street gang to find the book thief but the gangs wanted nothing to do with them. Elwin and Dexter also thought they might find a secret evil cult in the sewers but that didn’t work out for them either. Finally, in the evening Elwin had the idea to investigate the library from where the tome was stolen.
The two heroes learned that the thief had taken the book from a storage room and jumped out of a first floor window to escape with it. Elwin searched around the window the thief had jumped out of but found no trail that could be tracked. He did however find something in the bushes underneath the window. Elwin found a medallion made of red marble that looked like a closed fist squeezing out a drop of blood. The medallion’s gold chain was broken.
After finding this they went back to the Blue Dragon Inn. Most of their companions were still not around but Yen was there and agreed to help Elwin and Dexter in the morning.
In the morning the three heroes now went back to the temple of Oghma. They showed Altamaic the medallion but he did not know what it was. However, with a small donation to the church for his time he promised to research it for them.
Then the heroes decided to visit the Green Daggers again to see if Cyrathas had anymore information about this imposter cleric. They were let in to the hide out by Dalta Gwyn, the female rogue that escaped earlier by jumping off of the roof. She led the heroes upstairs to the office of Cyrathas where they were surprised to see Michael was already there talking with the guild leader. Dexter asked Cyrathas about the medallion. Cyrathas said he had never seen Veltargo with the medallion but Veltargo had been wearing a necklace like the one that the medallion hung from. Cyrathas also told Dexter that he knew of no secret cults in the sewers, just wandering rogues and rats. Cyrathas still offers his help if the heroes can find a cure for his guild brothers. As they were leaving, Michael said he had to finish something but would see them later.
In the evening Dexter, Elwin, and Yen went back to the temple of Oghma to see what Altamaic had learn about the medallion. The loremaster told the heroes that he had found some information in a history book that predated the first king of Cormyr. During that ancient time the noble families had cairns located in the foot hills of the Stormhorn mountains. They would entomb their ancestors in these cairns and protect their spirits with symbols and talismans. The red fist medallion looked like a talisman from the Tomb of Blood Ever Flowing. The tomb was so named because it was said to have a spring of blood that fed a pool in the tomb. Altamaic told the heroes that the story of the blood spring made him think the tomb was near the Cormyrian town of Redspring. In those foothills there is so much iron in the ground that it turns the water red. The temple of Oghma did not have any maps of those ancient cairn sites but Altamaic told the heroes that there was a monastery of Lathander to the north near the hills and they may have maps of the area.
The 3 heroes went back to the Blue Dragon Inn to rest for the night. In the morning they still could not find their other 3 companions so they left a note and headed to the Monastery of the Eternal Lantern without them. The heroes were lucky enough to purchase a ride with a caravan heading out because it rained the first two days out but they stayed dry in the covered wagons.
On the evening of Tarasakh 12 of the year 1370, the three companions arrived at the Eternal Lantern. Dexter was surprised to see a monastery of the god of renewal in such poor condition. The walls were in disrepair and even had gaps in areas, and the gate portcullis was rusted. The heroes were met at the gate by a warm and friendly monk named Dawngreeter Horatio. Dexter explained to the monk that he and his friends were looking for an old cairn called the Tomb of Blood Ever Flowing and that he was also seeking atonement for transgressions he made against the Morning Lord.
Horatio took them to see the monastery’s abbot. High Dawnlord Anselm was a kind elderly priest who was happy to help Awaken Dexter. However, the monastery’s library had burnt down a few days ago and they had few books left. It was a tragic blow for the monks and scribes at the monastery but Abbot Anselm had hope that Lathander would give the monastery a rebirth from the ashes. The High Dawnlord promised to have his monks see if they had any information remaining on the old cairns. And he would have the retired Knight of Aster Dawnlord Bernadino meet with Dexter for his atonement. But for the night he gave them humble priest chambers to rest in.
The next day Dexter joined the monks for their dawn prayers and then met with Bernadino. The dawnlord was a no nonsense holy warrior. He instructed Dexter on the importance of following Lathander’s code for his holy warriors because it nurtured spiritual growth and strength. He explained that trying to bend or break the code was weakness of the flesh and weakness must be purged if one means to serve as a holy warrior. Bernadino prayed with Dexter for his forgiveness and strength.
Dexter met one of the monastery’s young scribes, a teenager named Awakened Abel. Abel was excited about a dream he had that he believes was a vision from the Morninglord. He told Dexter that he was told to have the monks dig a well near the library and prosperity would come back to the monastery. Dexter advised Abel to be cautious; forces of evil can also give us dreams and visions and we wouldn’t want to release something from the Underdark that needs to stay down there. Abel promised to discuss the dream with High Dawnlord Anselm.
In the evening High Dawnlord Anselm told Dexter that the only information they had left of the tomb was that it was to the north in a valley. This valley has many caves and opened cairns that have been used by bandits and monsters over the years. The valley caves have been called the Caves of Chaos because of the dangers that reside there. The monastery’s maps were lost in the fire but Anselm suggested that the Purple Dragon fort to the north may have maps to the valley. So the heroes planned to rest another night at the monastery and travel to Slingdyke Keep in the morning.
During his evening prayers Dexter was reminded by Lathander that there were sick people in Arabel who had their hope in him for a cure. So Dexter sought out the monastery’s apothecary to inquiry about medicine to help the disease. Dawngreeter Tulen did have some potions but he was hoping to sell them to raise money to rebuild the library. Dexter convinced Tulen that sick people were in need of the potions now and that he would help get money for the monastery later. Tulen agreed. Dexter arranged to have one of the monks run the potions to a guy named Michael at the Blue Dragon Inn in Arabel.
In the morning, Dexter, Elwin, and Yen traveled to Slingdyke Keep. It only took one day to travel through the hills from the monastery to the keep. The companions were able to get a room at an inn in the keep’s courtyard. While they were settling into their room they heard a ruckus outside. The Purple Dragon cavalry was galloping out of the keep in a hurry and the keep residents were heading to the walls to have a look. So the companions climbed to the wall battlements to watch the cavalry charge down the road. From the top of the wall they saw a merchant caravan being attacked by bandits just a mile south of the keep. When the bandits saw the cavalry coming they stopped their attack and looting and ran off into the forest on the east side of the road. The cavalry could only escort the caravan the last mile to the keep; the bandits had escaped their charge.
When the caravan arrived at the keep there were casualties among the guards, so Dexter went to the gate to give what aid he could. Dexter found a guard who was bleeding profusely from a wound so he grabbed some bandages and put a dressing on the wound. As he did this he said a prayer to Lathander for the wound to stay clean and heal quickly. A Purple Dragon soldier overheard Dexter’s prayer and commented about his faith. Dexter explained that he was an Awakened of Lathander and a holy warrior initiate.
On the morning of the 15th of Tarasakh, the 3 heroes were surprised to get a summons to appear before the keeps commander, Castellon Ferec Marliir. At the meeting Lord Marliir explained to the heroes that he had been made aware of the presence of a holy warrior of the Morninglord in his keep. Lord Marliir said he wanted to meet such a brave and dedicated warrior who fights so selflessly to defend the weak. Lord Marliir then told the heroes about the problem with bandits on the road, highwaymen attacking innocent travelers. His garrison is too small to patrol the road and search the forest for these robbers. Castle Crag to the east gets all of the funds and soldiers from the Crown leaving his modest keep with little. Furthermore, the bandits must have spies or lookouts about the keep because whenever a patrol is sent out of the gates the bandits know about it and go into hiding. The good lord ended his talk by asking if the fine warrior of Lathander would be willing to help capture the bandits.
Dexter accepted the lord’s offer and drafted Elwin and Yen to help him. The 3 heroes received equipment and volunteers from the keep. At two in the morning the 3 heroes and the 8 volunteers they picked to go with them went over the keep’s back wall by ropes to avoid any lookouts who may be watching the front gates. The hunting party was able to find the bandit’s camp in the forest about half of a mile east of the road.
Perimeter guards were taken out with extreme stealth and sniper shots by archers. The party from the keep surrounded the bandit camp and attacked by surprise. Those bandits who did not surrender were slain for their crimes against the king. The warriors from the keep returned victoriously with prisoners and recovered merchandise without a wound amongst them.
The heroes were so successful that Lord Marliir held a banquet to celebrate their victory. A great feast was held to honor Dexter, Elwin, and Yen. After the feast, Lord Marliir spoke with the 3 heroes in private. The lord offered them another job, since they were so successful against the bandits. His patrols were having problems with orcs. These orcs were attacking in the foothills to the northwest and his scouts believe they have their lair in a cave complex commonly called the Caves of Chaos. His soldiers are needed to guard the road and he doesn’t have the men to go look for the orcs. If the heroes were interested in the job the lord would pay them by giving them a free adventurer’s charter. The 3 heroes agreed to help but needed to go back to Arabel to get several friends.
