The Amber Dome

Foreword

Not since the city of Catun sealed itself within an orb of flame glass have I seen such a spell cast. It is the work of only the most desperate and frightened of souls, to lock yourself away at the mercy of chance and the honor of men. I will follow these events closely, for unlike Catun, these poor souls have some semblance of a chance to survive.

— Observation of Elias Dods, Concerning the Events of the 23rd of Midflame.

The Incident

The Festival of the Grove was supposed to be a night of revelry for the village of Woodcreek, the beginning of a new season for the lumber town. Though locals and travelers from across the Shardlands celebrated in earnest, darker forces operated while they planted new trees and the children played. No one expected the doom that loomed over the town to befall its oblivious population.

Stolen from a sacred site to Lady Death, cursed coins originating from the First Men's ancient past were traded in the shadowy alleys of Woodcreek. These Monothic Relics fetched a small fortune in Golden Gazers with The Gray Underground's merchants, a network of black market traders operating illicitly across Haven. As the festivities ended and the traders dispersed with the dawn, they solidified the curse's hold on the town.

As the divine curse began to root itself, the first of many began to fall gravely ill. First fell the children, the young and the soon to be grown; Second fell the elderly, the venerable and decrepit; Last fell the adults, the strong and healthy. As sickness consumed the town, Shardholm's Vanguard discovered its source: a set of Monothic Coins stolen from within the Hillgrove Mausoleum outside town. What was worse, they suspected one of their own had done as his greed consumed all common sense and reason. Their confrontation only made his guilt more apparent, and thus they lashed their traitor in chains and stripped him of rank and honors. Nothing the Grovetender's Guild and their wise druid leader, Lowbark, could do seemed to stave off the illness for anything more than a few short hours. Three children had died by the dawn of the second day. Many more were following close behind them, and in utter desperation, the master druids of the Grovetenders proposed a terrible solution.

The town of Woodcreek would be frozen in time, sealed away in an amber tomb of Primal Life. Preserved and protected until Shardholm's Vanguard could hunt down these cursed coins and return them to the Hillgrove Mausoleum. By blood and honor, the Captain of the Vanguard swore his men would atone for this atrocity. Whether it would take a year or a lifetime, they would return with salvation for the people of Woodcreek. The sun rose on the third day, and they left the town dejected and crestfallen as druidic chanting filled the woodland air. A great shimmering dome rose from the earth, swallowing the village in an orange glow of strange magical energy. A sound like rolling thunder echoed off the hills as it solidified as the orange miasma became like translucent stone, sealing those within away from Haven and time itself. There they would remain utterly trapped until such time as the Monothic Coins were returned to their home, thus breaking the curse and lifting the amber spell.

OOC Breakdown of Events

• The Vanguard returns to Woodcreek after capturing the Necromancer in the Hillgrove Mausoleum.
• The Vanguard receives a handful of simple rewards, where they are warned of the last time others robbed Monothic Relics from the Hillgrove Mausoleum.
• The Vanguard participates in the Festival of the Grove, joining in the merriment and revelry.
• Kai-Chora returns to the Hillgrove Mausoleum under the guise of returning the Coin he initially took. Instead, he steals all 13 of the medallion sized coins and returns to town looking for buyers.
• Kai-Chora finds many buyers and offloads all but a handful of the relics into the hands of Gray Underground merchants.
• The Interview with a Necromancer occurs.
• Sometime in the night, Kai-Chora slips 250 Gazers into the bags of each member in the Vanguard.
• Many merchants leave in the night and many more leave at first light, taking with them the Monothic Coins.
• The dawn of the next day brings with it a terrible illness that takes hold in all children born to families that live and own property in the town.
• 36 children fall gravely ill, and the Vanguard investigates, finding a connection between the divine curse that brought the illness and the Monothic Coins of the ruin.
• The Vanguard tracks down and confronts Kai-Chora, turning out his back and discovering more Monothic Coins hidden within.
• Kai-Chora is unceremoniously stripped of his rank and standing in the Vanguard, promptly arrested and placed in chains.
• The Vanguard begins working with the Grovetenders to attempt to cure or delay the mass deaths of the people of Woodcreek.
• Several children are placed into magical hibernation, buying them a few short hours until the next dawn.
• Three children die the next day, finalizing more desperate plans to stave off the divine disease.
• Lowbark organizes the Grovetenders to prepare for a grand ritual to freeze the town in Amber.
• Captain Aldus vows oaths to fix the horrible atrocity committed here, declaring they would return the coins to their rightful place.
• The next day at dawn, the Vanguard leaves and watches on as a magical dome encases the town. Thus buying them time to hunt down the stolen relics.