You finally found the source of the undead ghouls that stormed the Temple of Wisdom. Someone was using a strange ritual in a circle of blood, at its centre a strange skull with only one eye socket, filled with the light emanating from a large emerald. You fought hard and won, but the skull remains on the floor, and in your minds you feel its maddening whispers!
You were certainly not expecting a confrontation when you entered the Temple of Wisdom, but without hesitation you all sprung into action using your capabilities and arsenal within reach, including and not limited to some of the church furniture! Sadly two acolytes were taken by the brazen and strange ghouls, two others were killed. With might and courage you jumped down the well in pursuit, explored weird ruins demanding tributes of blood and even faced the hunger of hole in the dirt, what more can this forsaken place have, and where in the hell's did the ghouls took those poor souls...
You arrived and started to explore the small delights of Birk in their taverns and inn, but as they say there is no rest for the wicked! With a satisfying meal you decide to go after the job post about the missing priest of St. Cuthbert. You arrive at the Temple of Wisdom and exchange greetings with the current head of the church, a few seconds later, noises erupt from a side chamber, you hear people screaming, the door burst open into the main chamber of the temple, ghoulish creatures with green bright eyes spill forth and attack everyone in sight!
The fight left you tired and wounded, and some of you unconscious. Sadly the druids were found dead, but what killed them, why were they here, the mystery behind this locations keeps growing. You know of another room with more undead, but no exits on this room, the only ways out seems to be from the lake where most of you came in or perhaps through whatever lies beyond the teleportation circle you found! What are you gonna do ?
After a rough dive in the lake and following tracks of what you believe to be made by the druids, you come up to a dank cavern, a man-made structure with dungeon-like features sits atop the water. It's walls are covered of mysterious frescos, and even strangers it seems some of those are covering even older more defaced frescos. A first room down the north western path led to a door and a room with an ghostly warrior and some shadows... what more remains to be discovered in this forsaken place!?
What happened in the ominous lake deep in the Etched Woods the night of the Midsummer? The only druid from the expedition left to tell the tale has only a few moments of lucidity and only recalls a few bits before plunging into a maddening string of incoherent sentences. Not only that since you are closer to the lake, most of you have been feeling deep despair going through various and eerie emotional effects. Yet the only clue you got is that something happened that night that left the Lady of the Lake in shock, diving back and racing underwater towards the mountains behind it. Most of the druids killed each other in a frenzy and others followed the Lady into the Lake.
The party promise the small hamlet of Harmony to help the poor gnome farmer cursed with Lycanthropy, but for that they need first to find the druids from the Circle of the Stars who went to the lake north of Harmony in pilgrimage to speak with the Lady of the Lake.
After a deserving rest our heroes keep on braving the mysterious Etched Woods, only to discover a plague upon its flora and fauna. Deep in the midst of the corruption a marble-like stone tower stands, all around it purplish fungi sprout strange creatures hellbent in destroying any who approach it. Inside the tower, the ghost of an Eladrin, El'Enorae, who died centuries ago and is trapped with the curse, seeks help from our heroes, to root out the evil that spreads the corruption and tethers the poor soul of the elven maiden, locking her away from eternal rest! At the top, you find the coffins of her ancestor's, one of them, her grand-mother, is responsible for the corruption, a weapon she created to consume the Material plane. From her coffin a monstrous creature bursts out, a true horror and perversion of all that is Nature, and attacks our heroes!
After helping the survivors of Haven and getting their belonging, our heroes say their goodbyes and decide to track the Druids from the Circle of the Stars, entering the mystical Etched Woods...
Winterhaven will never be the same after that fateful night, when at the peak of midsummer night, the big light in the sky split open into a thousands smoldering rocks of fire that spread around all Winterhaven and its countryside. Something enigmatic in that fiery shower brought forth an army of undead and elemental creatures from all corners, hellbent in taking as many souls as possible from the poor people of Winterhaven. All could have been worse if not for the help of some exceptional individuals, heroes faced the creatures, killing most of them, sadly not enough to avoid a great toll of lifes to have been paid. Most of the peaceful village is now in ash, many dead, but its is now up to the survivors to have the courage to move forward. Rebuild? Seek refuge elsewhere? Maybe seek answers? What are those heroes do do now?
Richfest is here, a week of celebration, important for both the Old Faith and the other Pantheons, and most of all for the people to bask in a time of happiness, eating, drinking and partying! Winterhaven loves this holiday week. Godsday is an important one with all festivities in full swing and the long awaited Midsummer Festival, with a tournament full of fun games and activities.