Haunted Village

It was long enough ago that a detailed chain of events is impossible for me to recall. So here are some of the more interesting bits I have noted or can remember.

- Shensen contacts the Crimson Tears in regards to a proposal for work. The group travels to the Lucky Monkey where she explains that some sort of magical infection has tainted the waters that travel through the Redgorge area. Shensen had attempted to contact an old elf caretaker of an even older elven shrine at one of the lakes that feeds into the river that passes through Redgorge, but the elf has been unresponsive to communications. She believes that these two events may have some relation and requests that the party investigate. Their mission would be first to find out what has happened to the old elf, and secondly to stop the corruption of the waters. Payment is in the form of magical potions and scrolls, handed over up front.

- Shensen gives the party two names. Siril is the old elf caretaker of the shrine. Lorhin is his son, a ranger who helps protect the shrine when required.

- Shensen explains to Snake that the party has piqued the interest of the Striders, and this mission is a screening of sorts. This is the first involvement the larger party has with the organization known as the Striders, a group of individuals with interest in the welfare of the common man.

- Shensen provides the group with a contact in Cauldron, Tyro Amberhelm. Tyro is a dwarven merchant with a room at the Drunken Morkoth Inn. He is Shensen's superior in the Striders organization.

- A map of the area is bought from Westkey's Map Emporium.

- As the group leaves the road from Cauldron to Redgorge, they come upon a battle between two giant eagles and three giant crows with riders. In the end, both giant eagles are killed by the crows. However, the crows and riders are in turn all slain. The riders of the crows have dark skin and are decorated with tribal tattoos, they are definitely not from the Cauldron area. After the battle, Snake explains to the party that few of the giant eagles remain and they are considered allies of the elves.

- The group finds two men at the shrine. Neither of them speak the common tongue of the Cauldron area, marking them as outsiders. They are slain.

- The group finds a stash of canoes near the shrine, hidden in a dug out cave near the stream flowing from the lake (that eventually becomes the river through Redgorge).

- The group spends the night near the shrine. During the night more of the large crows fly overhead.

- The next morning Jonl is sent to scout a trail that leads from the shrine to the southeast, towards what is known by locals as the "haunted village". During his scouting a dozen riders pass him by, heading for the shrine. The rest of the party ends up fighting these dozen riders, some escape.

- The party heads to the east, where they set up camp and send out a scouting party the next day to the haunted village. The ones left at camp encounter a "giant" who decides to carry off the corpses of the men that the party has dragged with them. An encoutner with a woman with snake-like features happens at night with Salla. Salla finds the woman to be friendly and has a short discussion with her of the group's motives in the area. Snake shares that the yaun-ti infest the area. Near the haunted village is a former elven settlement, Hearthglen, now occupied by the yaun-ti.

- The scouting party finds a number of interesting landmarks surveying the village froma distance.

- A small army has set up camp to the west of town. They have used a raised area that was once festival grounds to set up their fortifications. While investigating further, the camp has dozens of armed men like the riders they fought earlier. A ring of dragon's teeth and a crude palisade and towers are the fortifications. A ring of smaller tents surrounds a larger tent in the middle of the camp, making it difficult to see what goes on. More of the tattooed men are seen about the area, mostly handling dogs. A disgustingly obese man with a large side of ham as his chosen weapon is spied. As is a beautiful thin woman, dressed in plate and chain armor with a number of blades to accompany.

- An intact manor on the east edge of the village. The manor is in better condition than any of the other structures in the village. The map tags this as Lidu's manor.

- A burning pyre in the middle of the village. The pyre seems to constently burn, even though there is no obvious feeding of the fire taking place. When the party takes a closer look as they are running by, they see skeletons of people that have been consumed by the flames. The party does not stop to investigate and continues running.

- A large castle sitting in a lake. The map tags this as Barov Castle. Snake shares what little he knows of this landmark, explaining this land in the center of the lake was once considered sacred to the elves, potent in arcane energy. However, the elves discovered that the area was tainted and that an ancient kopru necroplis sat under the land feeding the area its greater arcane energy. When Liduton was built, the Barov family was tasked to protect the area, and they chose the small island in the middle of the lake to build their castle.

- A large graveyard...everyone decides that pink is their favorite color and to not investigate the graveyard further.

- The manor is investigated more closely. Using his divine favors, Salla determines that the root cellar has an undead presence, so it is avoided. The first floor of the manor is found to be completely empty. The second floor proves more interesting.
A long hallway contains statues and paintings of a number of important and prestigious figures in Cauldron's past. This includes Surabar Spellmason, Kozomagon Lidu (lion crest), Lord Alexi Barov (twin eagle heads), Lady Jandice Barov, Lord Blackwood (rose), Lord Blackpool (pheonix), Lord Taskerhill, Lord Knowlern, Lord Tercival, Lord Rhiavadi, Lord Simrath (anchor wrapped in ivory), and an unnamed statue of a male elf (Ferrix notes the features bear strong resemblence to Ophelia Knowlern). Lord Simrath's statue is the only object that shows any visible signs of damage, long gouges and cuts have been left across it. Ferrix also notes that the statue and painting of Lidu shows her as an elf, which he findes odd since all the tales and stories he knows present her as a human.
A nursery where "baby ghosts" attempt to cling on to the explorers.
A room with a bloody circle drawn on the floor, and an altar in the rear. A demonuic creature of darkness is fended off while some objects are stolen from the room.
At this point the party departs the manor, leaving the other areas unexpored.

- An initial attempt is made to investigate the castle. Inside the castle a conversation is overheard where a "doctor" is told that "Bonesworn" desires results quickly. Searching the upper area of the inner keep only uncovers a room where materials are gathered from some bloody ritual (a large blood-stained bowl, blood-stained dagger, candles, etc.). Moving down into the lower dungeons of the keep, they do not get very far. They find that the area is swarming with the walking dead and Jonl stops his scouting venture when he accidently lets off a trap. The group leaves the castle, but not before making out a female elf dressed in robes, and hear a short speech from the fat man who they saw earlier in the fortified camp.

- A second attempt is made to sneak into the lower keep of the castle and rescue the old elf. A large battle takes place. A monstrous undead creature consisting of tons of blood and meat is hacked to pieces. The elven wizard is taken out, along with the human "doctor". It is also discovered that the lower dungeons of the keep continue on to areas unexplored. The party decides to venture down and they come to an area with several burial chambers in it. They enter one of the burial chambers and battle the spectre of Lord Alexai Barov. Many in the party suffer from the attacks of the creatures, losing their very soul to the creatures attacks. The Barov family sword and armor is looted and the group flees the castle. The leave a couple burial chambers unexplored and an ornate door that they dont seem to have the right key for.

- The old elf, Siril, is mutilated badly. He cautions the group to not head to Cauldron, but insead to the south where he directs them to a safer place for him to recover.

- The group leaves Siril in the care of a giant eagle in a secluded vale. Not before Siril answers some questions, and gives them their next task.
Q: Who were your captors we slew?
A: The older man was called Doctor Krastinov, he was the one who stole pieces of my natural body, and introduced poisons to keep me sedated. The elf you slew, her name was Malicia and she has betrayed her brethren in pursuit of powers she can not have. It was her that allowed the Necrocants to capture me unawares, and to be so well prepared against my magics.
Q: How were you captured?
A: I had unexpected visitors, horsemen led by a fat man, Harrak, with the support of a wizard, someone who I was unable to identify. They were prepared for my defenses, later I was to find out this was the betrayal of Malicia at work.
Q: Where is your son?
A: I was told he was taken by the Khoroshen, a tribe of lizard people near the Spire of Long Shadows, in exchange for something more important. The lizard people mean to ransom him back once the Necrocants are done. His situation can wait, there is a greater matter to attend to now.
Q: Who are the Necrocants?
A group of like-minded individuals, all evil, and all have sworn to follow the orders of Khyron Bonesworn. Khyron is a powerful warrior of Nerull, it would be best to avoid him. From what I could gather they believe that gaining entrance to the necropolis would further their agenda.
Of the Necrocants themselves, other than the Doctor and Malicia, I know little more than what you have seen. Harrok is some champion of evil, specifically of whom I do not know. There is an additional wizard, but I know few details of him, other than he is powerful. If he had not been prepared beforehand with Malicia's knowledge when they ambushed me, he would not have been my match. But even so, there are not many humans I have encountered who have his degree of power. The dark-skinned, tattooed people have some sort of relation with the evil crows and hounds they employ, I do not know their origins. I am sure this is just a small subset of the organization as well, references to others were made in front of me, but with all the toxins in my system I remember little.
Q: What did they want from you?
A: Information, they are attempting to enter the necropolis, and to do so they must gather certain relics of the elves. Relics dating back from before Surabar, when the elves ruled these lands. Most are lost to us now, but a few remain in the hands of others. I told them little they did not already know, enough to prevent the loss of my limbs all together.
Q: How do we stop the corruption in Redgorge?
A: It stems from beneath the lake that Barov Castle sits on, the necropolis where Lidu summoned forth the doom of the village so long ago. Lidu's last act was to seal the necropolis to prevent what was inside from coming out, trapping herself in the process. The Necrocants have slowly penetrated the magical barrier, as it weakens, it seems that the vile energies of the necropolis taint the waters around it. The areas near Redgorge are just beginning to feel the effects.
Facing the Necrocants directly seems the least pleasant option, and most likely to fail, they are a powerful group, from all walks of evil. I have managed to find out some things from my captors during my imprisonment. An ogre, Vorlok, is attempting to barter a deal with the Necrocants, he wants membership in exchange for an item they could use to further their progression into the necropolis.
The ogre's den is not far from the sacred site I was protecting. He is a dangerous foe, practiced in the ways of his tribes magic, a vile necromantic practice. Expect anything, I am sure he has many tricks to employ. He lives in a small cave system, they once were mines, worked by the humans of the region, but long abandoned. He rules over a tribe of small lizard-like creatures that live in the same caves, they are crafty evil creatures, dont let their small stature fool you. The item you are after is an elven spear, the silver tip shaped like a leaf with three points and it sheds light when none is available. Find the spear, keep it safe, return to Tyro in Cauldron and tell him of what you have done.
Q: What is the "danger" you spoke of in Cauldron?
A: During my imprisonment, the doctor spoke of an official in "town" who they had bribed. I do not know specific details, but attempting to find safety in Cauldron would have been difficult with this unknown factor, and my ignorance of the city. Here, I can protect myself in many ways, including against scrying attempts, which I believe the Necrocants have the power to employ.
Q: Do we have time to return to Cauldron?
A: At any time Vorlok could reach a deal with the Necrocants, you must hurry to take the spear. Do not tarry in Cauldron, if that is the route you choose.

- On the journey back to Cauldron the party has a scuffle with some ogres. The ogres have scarred hands, where they appear to have smashed their hands into boulders repeatedly.