Life Debt

Months ago, I was investigating a lead into the smuggling of illicit goods into Neverwinter when I ran afoul of pirates in Luskan. While fleeing my pursuers, I stowed away on a ship named the Errant Stingray and was quickly discovered by Osthrynn, the first mate of the ship. Rather than turn me in, she provided me safe passage back to Neverwinter in return for a life debt to be repaid some time in the future.
 
About a week ago, Osthrynn called in my debt in a most unexpected way. A soldier by the name of Edwam Cave arrived in Neverwinter late at night. The guards directed him to where I had been staying and, upon finding me, he handed me a pouch that contained a single coin and a piece of paper with Osthrynn’s name written on it. Barely a moment after he handed me the pouch, the soldier fell to the ground dead and turned into a soggy long-dead corpse right before my eyes. Still get shivers up my spine when I think back to that moment.
 
I’d been staying with Imoen and Oswald and told them what had happened. Both offered to help me repay my life debt. Our investigations into the coin from Edwam led us to Port Llast. We arrived at the port city late in the afternoon and made camp nearby. During the night, Osthrynn’s ghost paid us a visit. At first I thought she was an illusion. Osthrynn was so youthful and vibrant the last time I saw her. However, once Osthrynn started explaining the situation, my heart sank. She and her crew had perished out at sea and were now compelled to serve an unknown master. They were being used to plunder shipwrecks at the bottom of the sea. Before disappearing, she bade me to defeat whoever was responsible, allowing her and her crew to finally rest in peace. Once the task was completed, my life debt would be repaid in full.
 
Over the next couple of days, we attempted to track down whoever was controlling the undead. When our search turned up empty, we looked into other ways to free the dead. A cleric in town helped us find a way to purge the dark magic from the sewers using Candles of Lathander. We procured the candles and made our way into the dark sewers.
 
Each Candle of Lathander had to be lit and placed in a specific order and in a specific location within the sewers. Partway through the task, we found ourselves surrounded by undead. Oswald’s dragon fire flasks came in handy as we barely managed to fight off the swarms of undead and light the last of the candles. Once all of the candles were placed and lit, their light began to glow brighter and brighter until the sewers filled with their light. The remaining undead crumpled to the ground and ceased to move. As the light from the candles began to subside, we saw a shadowy figure appear. He introduced himself as Volgos Huune. Imoen recognized him as one of the merchants we came across the other day. Before any of us could move to apprehend the man, he disappeared.
 
We informed the local authorities of what had transpired down in the sewers. Unfortunately, no one saw where Volgos went. Within a few hours, the undead remains were cleared from the sewers by the ebb and flow of the sea. As we left Port Llast, I could feel a weight being lifted from me. When I looked in the pouch in my pocket, the coin and paper were gone. My life debt had been repaid.