Unexplained Kidnappings
Chapter One - Kidnapped Children
4th day of the 9th month in the year 3025 AF - Gnolls attack travelers on the road to Little Ferry The Fate Bound save Laren, Mistra, Becca and Brogan Smithwick a family on the way from Hilltown to Little Ferry. Strangely, the gnolls were trying to take one of the children, Brogan Smithwick hostage. After making sure that the family was safely on their way to Little Ferry they returned to track down the gnolls. 5th day of the 9th month in the year 3025 AF - Attack on the Gnoll encampment The Fate Bound track the gnolls back to the fringes of the Druthain Wood and there meet elves of the Galanor clan and their leader Silver Leaf. After convincing the elves to help them, the Fate Bound destroy the gnolls, but are unable to save the children they have kidnapped. The children disappear into a magical, purple portal that then disappears. At the same time a purple comet appears in the sky. 7th day of the 9th month in the year 3025 AF - Arrival in Little Ferry The Fate Bound arrive in Little Ferry and speak with Commander Zander of the Riverguard. They tell him what occurred on the road from Hilltown, the gnoll kidnappings and the appearance of the Comet Spawn. Commander Zander tells them that more people were missing and that they were all children who had not yet come of age. With the harvest festival looming, the Riverguard would be busy keeping the peace. He asks for their help in solving the disappearances. The heroes agreed and Commander Zander tells them to speak with Sergeant Baldwin his second in command to get all the details about the missing children. 8th day of the 9th month in the year 3025 AF The Fate Bound started their investigation into the kidnappings in Little Ferry. Their first visit was to M & B Leatherworks to let the parents of Quinn Jacoby know what had happened to their son. They learned that Quinn had been on a hunting trip with his friend Cory Arnbyte on the other side of the river. Cory's father Colwyn Arnbyte sent out search parties to look for the missing boy, but they all came back empty-handed. Colwyn has offered a reward for the safe return of Quinn. Goren Apfel the sage of Little Ferry the lights in the sky were most certainly not a comet, for comets would appear in the sky for much longer periods of time. He was not sure what it was or what the portal was, but he was sure that the creature on the table was not of this plane. His best guess was that it was from the astral plane, most likely brought her by whoever or whatever had created the portal. He surmised that the gnolls, or at least their leader, had been possessed and directed to kidnap the children possibly with the intention of using the life force of the children to bring in these creatures from the astral plane. A prisoner named Rebecca Thames in Fort Highwater who appeared to be insane was healed by Tenzin and then told them she indeed seen a flash of light and then a three-headed dog had emerged from an alley way in Dockside. Sergeant Baldwin told the heroes about the other missing children. Warick Splintershield a 20 year-old dwarf serving as a cook at the Temple of Dalana was ministering to the poor in the Greyside district and never returned to the temple.Lars Balaran of Southside a 15 year-old human boy. He told his mother that he thought he was being followed by men in dark hoods, but she thought he was only saying that to get out of his job on the docks so she regretfully did not report it. Marlene Erwin the 13 year-old daughter of Gregor and Nettie Torsten. Gregor is a Knight of the Shining Circle now stationed in Little Ferry. She disappeared one day on her way to services at the temple of Dalana. An eyewitness account was discounted as the drunken vagrant that saw the abduction claimed the he saw a shimmering light appear in an alley and that the girl disappeared after stepping into it. The vagrant, a dragonborn named Svegrin, is currently being held in jail. Jonila Quillen the 16 year old daughter of Thom and Ariel Quillen who live in Northside. He is a retired adventurer who now serves as a bouncer and caravan guard. Jonila disappeared a week ago in Dockside after seeing her father off with a caravan to Hilltown. She never returned home and there were no witnesses to her disappearance. Svegrin was released into their custody, but as he was about to tell them how he was involved in the kidnappings, he was killed by a poison dart from an assassin. The Fate Bound chased the assassin and caught him. After questioning him they killed him, but Tenzin used the power of the Empaths to raise him form the dead. They learned the name of the assassin was Malcolm and he seemed to be in a daze having been raised form the dead. Both Tenzin and Malcolm fell unconscious and the heroes took them to the temple of Morwen. Evening of the 8th day of the 9th month in the year 3025 AF The heroes are called to a warehouse by the Riverguard and stop a cultist of Thydos from unleashing vicious creatures into the city. 9th day of the 9th month in the year 3025 AF A visit to the home of Colwyn Arnbyte reveals that he is connected to the warehouses based on the Whiskey Gold the heroes found there because he is the exclusive distributor of the liquor in the north. Cory Arnbyte secretly contacts the heroes to let them know his father told him not to look for Quinn Jacoby right after he disappeared. He did not know why. The assassin Malcolm was questioned about the cultists and he told them to look for them "in the halls of his fathers". 9th day of the 9th month in the year 3025 AF As the Harvest Festival gets underway, the Fate Bound decide that Colwyn Arnbyte is behind the kidnapped children. Gaining entry to his manor, they find a hidden passageway in the cellar that leads them to an underground crypt. There they find that the cultists of Thydos have been using it has their lair. Fighting their way through cultists, undead, traps and magical barriers they reach an unholy chamber where a ritual is underway to sacrifice the children. After a hard fought battle with cultists, a Comet Spawn and Colwyn the leader of the cult Arveer sacrificed some of his constitution to free the children before they could be sacrificed. in the aftermath of the battle, the Fate Bound also killed a strange creature that appeared next to Colwyn's body. It looked like a brain with four legs.
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