The Road of Good Intentions
Posted on July 22, 2011
Scourge of the Sunset Vale Arc
Elesias 27, 1479, Year of the Ageless One
Much was discussed by the group after arriving to meet late one evening at The Bear’s Head Inn. Some of the discussions involved how to deal with the undead horde threatening the Eastern Vale, as well as the Zhentarim Network’s threat in the Northern Vale. Eventually, the heroes of Bear’s Head decided to form adventuring groups who will deal with every potential problem. During the meeting, a man who turned out to be a doppelgänger member from Damagers Guild arrived at the Inn to deliver a message. The messenger, who called himself Masquerade, claimed that the Guild was willing to exchange Cain Justice’s phylactery for the sum of seven million gold. After some heated discussions, in which Masquerade made clear that if the ransom was not paid by midnight (less than two hours time), the Guild would destroy the phylactery, therefore destroying Cain’s lich form as well, the ransom was paid. Masquerade opened a teleport circle and exchanged the phylactery for the money. Everyone then returned to their meeting but not before vowing to seek out the Damagers Guild someday!
The next day, a group comprised of Deb, Winslow, Lo-kag, Ang, and Caldreas left Bear’s Head for the thorp of Col Fen to the north. The group’s mission is to infiltrate deep into the Eastern Vale and discover the power behind the undead incursion. After three days, the group arrived at an abandoned hunters’ lodge several miles south of Col Fen. The group came upon a human male threatened by several zombies and an undead composed of earth and rocks. The group quickly dispatched the undead, but not before Ang was injured by a zombie. After realizing he may have been infected by the Zombie Plague, a Cure Disease spell was cast on him which stopped the spread of the disease. The man, emaciated and shackled when he was found, admitted to having escaped from a dungeon prison from Hluthvar. He said that over a dozen other men, charged for various crimes, were also and may still be trapped in their cells in Hluthvar. Winslow decided to see if the man’s claims were true. Despite the other’s plea not to go to Hluthvar and stick to the mission at hand, Winslow bid the group farewell and started walking north. He said that his passion for slaying undead did not mean he would “forsake the living for the dead”. He added that, criminals or not, men should not be left to rot in prison and that Bear’s Head’s justice may be the only justice left in the Sunset Vale.
The others, not wanting leave a friend alone to risk his life, chose to follow the paladin and the prisoner—despite arguing against the danger and perhaps futile attempt at helping criminals from the ruined town of Hluthvar.
Plot type
Chapter
Parent Plot
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