Wraith and the Cult of the Dark King - Resolved
The party has discovered a connection between a powerful Necromancer named Ormund Montgomery and Wraith, an individual from the Goblin nation who has a psychic connection with Amethyst. Ormund purchased a copy of a journal that contained information about the Dark King and what was done with his remains after he was defeated. In Ormund's memories, Amethyst saw a conversation between the two which indicated that were part of a larger group attempting to resurrect the Dark King.
Ormund was placed in the custody of the Ivory Lyceum but his vampire ally is still at large. The party checked around the graveyard but other than a feeding place for the vampire, they didn't find her or learn anything new. Unfortunately, Ormund was ordered to be executed but the guards were found dead and drained and Ormund and the Executioner were gone.
Wraith is known to have allies among the goblins and was spotted at the museum in Port Oruss before an attempt was made to steal a painting there depicting the goblin city of Gezziah. Since then, he has not been seen except in a painting from Gieldor and once again Ormund's memory.
Goblins have been implicated in two other plots: kidnapping the manatechnicians from the Port Oruss airship yards and stealing a relic from the temple in Raven's Crest. It is suspected that they could have ties to Wraith.
After Amethyst had a disturbing dream of the connections between those who share her soul, she found herself trapped in a vivid vision from Wraith's point of view. After discussing this vision, she learned two things: 1) Wraith is a warlock, serving some shadowy entity; and 2) his current location seems to be the town of Bilgewater to the Northwest of Raven's Crest, in the same region where Addie's friend Titus was recently killed.
From the journal they recovered, they found a number of discoveries:
1) the Dark King used a black book to bind a number of extraplanar entities including devils, demons and fey. The bard of the party that killed the Dark King took this book to Anol Korun. It is suspected that Lucas now carries that same book.
2) many of the Dark King's most trusted generals and advisors were gifted with a small plantinum coin, very similar to one that Trevor now carries. Lucia, a succubus bound to Trevor's coin, confirmed this. She also revealed that Xathor, a shadow demon is likely bound to Wraith.
3) the Dark King's real name was Drassar Kodanov and though his body was cut to pieces and burned to ash, his skull could not be destroyed. It was taken and hidden in a shrine at a "home of deserters", i.e. Craven's Rest. At the Temple of Eternal Rest, the party has found a metal box which may contain the skull.
The party investigated the temple and found a discolored stone in the oldest part of the temple, the southern tower. Straeva used Stone Shape to move the block and revealed a metal rune-covered box underneath. When Eldon touched the box, a swirling form of smoke and ash formed into a undead creature which attacked. It revealed itself as a guardian of the skull and may even be the cleric that placed it there in beginning, Bessar'loth.
The party went to Bilgewater to find Wraith but learned that he and a number of allies had already left the village, flying south in an airship. There is no word on where they were going. The allies there included Queresh, allegedly a member of the Geyrvohn Rangers, who was there with some mercenaries including goblins. When Wraith left, Queresh and his group also left with a wagon heading toward the city of Northport.
Through Amethyst's vision, she has been able to spy on Wraith and first saw him flying away from a ruined tower in the forest. In her second vision, he spoke directly to her and revealed that he was approaching Addie's cabin north of Raven's Crest. Through a connection, with Ellia they witnessed him and his group attacking and killing the archdruid and somehow this action left her with no soul in her body.
During her third vision, she kept her presence hidden from Wraith and learned he was going south to Dreyvier to meet up with an "old man" and visit some old friends.
While investigating a missing shipment from Shorehaven, the party found some bandits whose leader, Dexren, was recognized by Sora as one of the first people she ever helped to put in prison. This bandit revealed that a ranger named Queresh got him out of prison in order to work for him. The party dragged the bandits as prisoners back to Mornhold tower where they encountered a group calling themselves the Hunters. As a Necrotic storm moved into the area, the two groups clashed. Three of their number were vampires and after defeating them, they went into catacombs beneath the tower and found more vampires, including Ormund Montgomery and his lady assistant. He was also a vampire.
After the fight was over, they rescued the Cleric from the Hunters and learned their story. They were adventurers based out of Northport and heard of the tower from a member of the Rangers who suggested they restore the place as a new base of operations. He told them he would send people and supplies to help them. The party left the remaining Hunters and the bandits there to continue their work with the assurance that they would not be attacking any other travelers.
The group boarded the Sable Drake once more and after dropping off people and supplies in Raven's Crest, they began the wild race to Dreyvier to catch up to Wraith. Amethyst felt another shadow pass over her mind which could be another fragment being killed. Lucas was able to scry on the whip and learned they had gone to a town called Greenhoof and were still on their way to Dreyvier. The group made it to the capitol city within a day or less of Wraith and his crew.
In Dreyvier, the party found Wraith's ship and his initial destination with the help of the Shadow Syndicate. While they rescued his prisoners and disabled his airship. he claimed another victim, a young man at the Grand Academy. They attempted to set an ambush by he turned it around on them. In the wake of the attack, Keevah was taken and three of the party were killed.
The party tracked them to an abandoned hilltop observatory northeast of the city. After a brutal fight, Wraith and most of his group were dead.
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