Part XIV: Caliphas

With the events in Illmarsh behind us, we had to get to Caliphas, the capital city of Ustalav. It lay on the other side of the Bay - 60 miles straight across, and almost double that by road. No boats were sailing across the Bay, due to the storms that occur in the middle, so we assigned ourselves to the long walk along the coast road.
Ferdibrand, however, had a different idea. He called up to his deity, Sarenrae, for help. Divine light shone through him briefly, then he reached out and touched each of us. In an instant we were transformed into clouds! Our new forms enabled us to fly across the Bay at great speed, and we arrived in Caliphas just an hour later!

Caliphas was a sprawling metropolis, an ancient city that had been around for thousands of years. Shrouded in fog, Caliphas was the most cosmopolitan and vibrant cities in all of Ustalav.
We now had the daunting task of finding the second dark rider. Fortunately, he found us. Unfortunately, though, he was headless and was riding a fiery black steed. He was quickly dispatched though. And on his body we found a peculiar amulet - a jagged edged disc with a large skull in the centre, surrounded by peculiar runes.
But where did we go now? The dark rider had no other clues about the whereabouts of the Whispering Way. We were at a dead end. We needed help.
The help came in the form of the Order of the Palatine Eye - the organisation that Judge Daramid in Lepidstadt was a member of, and also the professor, whose funeral we had all attended so long ago,. We discovered that they had a meeting hall in Caliphas, and that they would soon be gathering for a meeting.
We had a few days to spare before the meeting, so we took some time out to explore the city (Grimbledon was desperate to spend some money, so we went shopping for new gear).
On our third day in the city, we discovered that the inn we were staying in was abuzz with gossip. There had been a series of murders plaguing the city in the past few weeks, and the bodies had been turned to ash. But the local police had discovered a body that hadn't turned to ash. We decided to investigate.
In a back alley we found the chief of police with the body. It was missing its head and had a wooden stake through its heart. We were also told that there were two other bodies on the roof of the nearby building. We took a look to find two piles of ash. We discovered that the piles also had wooden stakes buried within them, similar in design to the other. We then heard a gasp from below. The officers had moved the body from the alley, and as soon as it had come into the sunlight, it had turned to ash.
Vampires. There was no doubt in our minds. Someone was murdering vampires. When we told the chief of police, he told us something chilling. Caliphas had a huge vampire population living under the streets. The vampires and humans had lived in peace for 800 years, since the Shining Crusade - a war between humans and the undead hordes of the Whispering Tyrant. The chief of police was worried that if someone was killing the vampires, they may decide to wreak vengeance and start a war. This was something that couldn't happen, as the living population would be massacred.
As we pondered on how to calm this situation, the day came around for the meeting of the Order. We went along and we were granted access to the Order's immense library. We found out what the peculiar amulet was - it was an object called a Moribund Key - a magical key used by the Whispering Way that opened hidden doors. The librarian that was with us recognised the symbols and showed us a gargoyle statue that was in the vaults that had been removed from an old cemetery. On its head was a depiction of the key, along with some runes that matched the key. When we used the key like a combination lock, an image of the city appeared in mid air. Near the centre was a building that was lit up in green - a safehouse used by the Whispering Way.

We made our way to the building, used the key to enter the safehouse, and found - nothing. It had been abandoned for years. However, as we were about to leave, a tall man emerged from the shadows. He introduced himself as Quinley Basdel. He said he knew people who could tell us where the Whispering Way had gone. In exchange for this information, he wanted us to help him find the killer of his mother. His mother had been the first victim of the vampire killings - she was a vampire! Quinley was half vampire! He informed us that he had connections with the vampires living under the city, and that their leader could help us with the Whispering Way.
We were at a dilemma. We needed to know the whereabouts of the Whispering Way, but in order to do that, we needed to ally with the vampires of Caliphas. The paladins, the clerics, and even myself, were not happy with this, but it looked like we had no other choice. So, we headed off with Quinley to meet with the leader of the city's vampires...

Part XIII: Journey to the Bottom of the Bay

When we returned to Illmarsh, we discovered that the mayor had gone missing, along with several other townsfolk. No-one had seen what had happened.
So, we couldn't report our success. Our only lead now was the skum cave at the bottom of Avalon Bay. But how would we get to it?
The answer was simple. Horace Croon, the old man we had encountered on the way in Illmarsh, had been working on a submersible. When we approached him, he was more than happy to lend a hand.
We climbed into the metallic fish - it was hot and very cramped - and it was slowly lowered into the water. Through the windows we could see nothing but blue. As we descended, the light faded, and darkness engulfed us. The submersible began to make frightening creaking sounds, but it held together. Suddenly, we noticed that there was a light shining in the darkness. At the bottom of the lake, built against a submerged cliff, was a fantastic dome of metal and glass, emanating bright light - bright enough to see the surrounding area.

The submersible stopped, and we could see a cave entrance a few hundred yards away. Ferdibrand cast Breathe Water spells, Ellavorn equipped her magical helmet, and we stepped out onto the sea bed. It was an amazing sensation. The weight of the water pressing down on us was incredible, but our magic prevented us from getting crushed.
As we made our way to the cave, Ellavorn's trident lit up. "Something is coming," she said. As we turned, a monstrous octopus, covered with thorny barbs, swam into view and attacked us. Bravely we attacked it as it assailed us with underwater magic. But soon it was defeated, and we made our way into the cave.
At the back of the cave was a glass wall, beyond which we could see a dry tunnel. Cautiously, we touched the glass and found that it was soft, so we pushed ourselves through it and into the tunnel beyond.
The skum tunnels were bereft of skum, their numbers brutally murdered by the alien invaders. But the invaders were still there. Peculiar creatures, born from a nightmare, roamed the tunnels.
We fought tall, thin, faceless creatures that tried to tear us to pieces, fat, tentacled, plant-like creatures that assaulted our minds with psionic attacks, and large, hairy, multi-armed beasts.(That fight was rather interesting. As the fight started, Skalif ran over to the beast, grabbed it, and vanished! A short while later, he reappeared, without the thing. He informed us that he had teleported back to home of the werewolves in the Shudderwood and given them the creature, which they had hungrily turned on.)
During our exploration, we came across a room filled with large glass cylinders, some of which had brains floating in liquid in them. After some experimentation, we worked out the use for some buttons and switches on the cylinders, and found that we could talk to the brains! It was horrifying. Each brain belonged to an Illmarsher. Each one had gone insane. And among them, we found the brain of Mayor Greedle. Through his bouts of insanity, he told us that the whole complex had been invaded by alien creatures known as mi-go, and that they were trying to open a portal to bring their god to this world.
We had to stop them!
As we continued, we found a powerful weapon. It was a mace, whose head was shaped like four ravens. The weapon - which was called the Ravens Head, was a powerful weapon against undead. Ichabod happily took it and looked forward to the chance to use it in battle.
Finally we pushed our way through another glass wall and entered the dome we had seen from outside. There were several long, spindly creatures with wings and tentacles, standing around a table, on which was strapped the dark rider we had been looking for.
The creatures - the mi-go we had been told of - attacked, but they were soon defeated. We went to free the dark rider, but he began to convulse on the table. Skalif grabbed him and teleported to the other side of the room, but it was too late. With a scream, the dark rider exploded, revealing a tentacled creature within him that grew very quickly to a huge size.
We began attacking it, but it was incredibly powerful, and we were hardly scratching it. The paladins then had an idea. Ichabod ordered us to retreat back through the glass wall. As we did, Ellavorn donned her water breathing helmet, raised her pistol, and fired at the glass of the dome. There was a crack. Then another. And then the glass gave in, and the sea rushed in to the dome. The creature flailed around in the water and was quickly crushed by the sheer weight of the water.
Hastily, we made our way back to the waiting submersible. The glass wall between the dome and the caves began to crack, and water was starting to seep in. We had to escape before the whole complex was flooded.
We got back to the submersible and began our slow ascent to the surface. In the darkness we could make out an enormous shape that seemed to be all tentacles and goat hooves. The aliens' god had partially manifested itself here, but with the killing of its offspring, it had no more hold on this world, so it had no choice but to return to its realm beyond the stars.
Once back on the surface, we watched as objects from the caves floated to the surface. Among them was the remains of the dark rider's clothes. In the pocket we found a letter that said that he was to get the Raven Head from Illmarsh and join his colleague in Caliphas.
So, we bid farewell to Horace and headed for Caliphas, the capital city of Ustalav.

Part XII: Under Undiomede House

We continued our exploration of Undiomede House, trying to find out what exactly was happening in Illmarsh. In an abandoned room we were attacked by horrific looking creatures that materialised out of thin air. They were vaguely dog-like, but were straight out of a twisted mind's nightmare. They attacked us without remorse, and when they died they merely turned into black vapour and disappeared.


After this, we discovered the grisly truth behind what had been going on in Illmarsh. Centuries ago, the founder of Illmarsh - Cassius Undiomede - had forged a pact with a local tribe of Skum that lived in Avalon Bay. The townsfolk would give the Skum their second and third born daughters, and in exchange, the Skum would ensure that the towns fishermen would always have full nets of fish, and sometimes even forgotten treasure from the Bay's floor. This had been going on for centuries, and when the Undiomede line died out, it was the local clergy who took up the responsibility of handing over the children. So this is why the mayor wanted us to stop the priests.

We also discovered a peculiar shaped necklace. This, we discovered, was a key. On one of the druidic stones that the house was built upon, we discovered an indentation that matched the necklace's shape. Putting the necklace into the indentation opened up a magical door. Gingerly we stepped through, and found ourselves on a descending staircase built into a natural tunnel.

The tunnel soon opened out into a small network of caves which seemed to be an outpost for part of the tribe of Skum that the priests had been dealing with. However, instead of finding bloodthirsty Skum out to kill us, we encountered a small group of very frightened Skum. Their chieftan, although clearly insane, was able to tell us that their home in Avalon Bay had been invaded by terrifying creatures that had taken over. He also told us that they were trapped in these caves as an "eerie light" was lurking nearby, killing everything it encountered, or driving them insane.

Cautiously we continued our exploration and found more evidence of Illmarsh's traditions. We found a cave that was meant to house human women and children - obviously those taken from the townsfolk. However, what we found was their remains. They seemed to have turned to a chalky substance, which disintegrated at our touch.

We did find one survivor. At the bottom of a pit we found a young woman, tenderly clutching the chalky remains of a baby. She was completely white - hair, skin, eyes, everything. And she was clearly insane. She kept muttering that the light would make everything better. When we tried to help her, she snarled at us like a wild beast, and became very violent. So we had no choice but to leave her.

We more exploration we encountered "the light". Hovering above the floor of the cave was a light. It was an unearthly thing, like something you glimpse between the stars at night. Beautiful, but at the same time unnerving and sinister. And it wasn't friendly. It lashed out at us with beams of energy. It took all of our skills and magical power to destroy it. But eventually it glared like the sun and then vanished, gone forever.

With still no sign of the dark rider that we were searching for, we headed back to Illmarsh to inform the mayor that we had dealt with the sinister priests...

Part XI: The Horrors of Illmarsh

Hot on the trail of the dark riders, we ended up in the town of Thrushmoor, nestled on the edge of Avalon Bay.  We found out that the riders had changed horses here and then split up. No-one knew where one of them had gone, but the other was seen heading south, along the coast, towards the town of Illmarsh.

As we headed along the coast road, the sky darkened, and a storm began to brew. The waves smashed up against the road edge, and a light rain began to fall. Suddenly we noticed a fishing trawler caught among the waves. It seemed to have only one crewman, who was struggling earnestly to steer the ship safely towards a nearby dock. Without hesitation, Skalif took to the air and flew over to the ship, and with his knowledge of the sea, he managed to bring the ship into the dock without any damage.

The grateful man was a white-haired old man named Horace Croon. he told us that he had been testing his new invention - a craft able to traverse underwater - when the storm hit. The rest of the crew had jumped overboard, leaving him on his own. Once we were sure he was ok, we said our goodbyes and continued towards Illmarsh.

The villagers of Illmarsh were insular and suspicious of strangers (which is nothing new in Ustalav), and our enquiries soon came to the attention of the local mayor - Early Greedle. He told us that the local church to Gozreh (god of nature, weather and the sea), the Recondite Order of the Indomitable Sea, was up to something strange and sinister, and he wanted us to put a stop to their evil ways.

So, we investigated the church, and found some clerics who were definitely not happy to see us. We also discovered that the church was actually dedicated to a demon lord known as Dagon, god of evil sea creatures, and that Gozreh was just a cover. We also discovered several corpses of locals without their heads. My medical knowledge could tell that they hadn't been decapitated with a weapon, but more like ripped off.

We also found something disturbing about a tradition of Illmarsh. Every second and third daughter that a couple had was given up for fostering to people known simply as "the neighbours". No-one knew who these mysterious people were, but apparently the young girls fostered lived a life of luxury with the people, but were never seen again. In exchange, the neighbours made sure that the fishermen's nets were always full. And it was the church that dealt with all of this.

However, it seemed that the neighbours hadn't been seen for a while, so the leader of the church had gone to a ruined manor house in the nearby swamp called Undiomede House - the house of the original founding family of Illmarsh - where he could supposedly contact the neighbours.

At the ruined house, we encountered High Priest Voltiaro and his lackeys. As usual, none of them were happy to see us. Voltiaro put up a fight, but Ichabod's strong sword arm soon brought him down. Or so we thought. As the fatal blow struck, Voltiaro staggered backwards, and then, to our horror, his head exploded, and hundreds of writhing tentacles emerged from his neck. And he kept on fighting! When we finally defeated this nightmare, four of the tentacles detached themselves as large slug-like creatures that slithered off into the shadows. One of them latched on to the grizzly bear that Ferdibrand had summoned, and it began to burrow towards its brain. Fortunately, Ellavorn was able to remove it before it got there.

What was going on in Illmarsh? What was the tentacled horror and the slug things it became? We needed to explore the rest of the ruined manor to find out...

Part X: Wolves and the Way

We headed through the Shudderwood to the ancient temple known as the Stairs of the Moon, now the throne of the packlord of the werewolf tribes. With us was Duristan from the Lodge, who was adamant he was coming with us. When we got there, we discovered the place under siege. Mathus, the head of one of the tribes, and his allies had taken the temple. The tribes who were opposed to him were surrounding it. However, as soon as we arrived, Duristan decided to find a way through to the temple on his own, and he quickly left us, despite our protests.

As the rest of us waited, Skalif used his magic to teleport himself directly into the temple, where he encountered Mathus and his allies. With some skillful diplomacy, Skalif convinced Mathus that we were not here to cause any harm, and that we just wanted to know where the Whispering Way had gone. Mathus told us that the Way, lead by a man named Auren Vrood, had taken the packlord's heart and headed east towards a place called Feldgrau.

As we started our journey eastward, we met with the one werewolf tribe that were trying to remain neutral in the whole werewolf crisis - the Prince's Wolves. Their leader told us that some of his people had gone after the Whispering Way, hot on the trail of the Demon Wolf Tribe, who had gone after them to retrieve the packlord's heart. He also gave us tokens to show to his tribe that we were friendly.

It took us six days to reach Feldgrau. When we arrived, we saw that the village was in complete ruin. Most of the houses had been burnt down, and there were no locals to be found.

While exploring, we encountered Duristan. He told us that he and some friends had decided to follow the Demon Wolves here and they were eager for all of us to meet up. So, we set off through the village, trying to avoid the patrols of Whispering Way cultists that were patrolling the ruins.

We found the members of the Prince's Wolves who had come here. And they told us that we were walking into a trap. When Duristan had disappeared from us, he had been captured by the Demon Wolves and infected with lycanthropy. He was now one of them, and he was leading us to our doom. However, before we had a chance to confront him, Duristan changed into a werewolf, so the Prince's Wolves leapt on him and tore him to pieces.

The wolves told us of a ghost that had been seen in the ruins of the inn. We went to see it, and found the spirit of the inn keeper. He told us of the tragic history of Feldgrau: - 20 years ago, an army had stopped in town on the way to a battle elsewhere, and the inn keeper had given them a place to stay. And then, during the night, the army burnt down the village and massacred everyone. The ghost said that the Whispering Way were now raising the dead villagers as a skeletal army.

They had to be stopped.

So, myself, Skalif, and a werewolf teleported into the building that Auren Vrood was using as his headquarters, while the others took on the undead army amassing in the square.

Vrood was not an easy opponent. In fact, his first act was to cast a spell that killed both the werewolf and Skalif! I was on my own against him! Fortunately, the clerics and paladins were quick to destroy the army, and rushed in to help me.

With Auren Vrood dead and the undead army destroyed, the remaining cultists fled. Fortunately, we found a scroll of Raise Dead, and Bazak the priest was able to bring Skalif back to us. But the packlord's heart  couldn't be found. The ghost of the inn keeper then stepped in to help us by retrieving the memories from Vrood's body. We saw that the heart, along with the Seasage Effigy stolen from Lepidstadt University, and the spirit of Warden Hawkin from Harrowstone Prison had been given to a pair of dark riders who had ridden south to the town of Thrushmoor.


So, we headed south, on the trail of the dark riders...

Part IX: Ascanor Lodge

Hot on the trail of the Whispering Way, we headed into the Shudderwood towards Ascanor Lodge.

A bit of background for you. The Shudderwood is known for its werewolf tribes. They keep to themselves mainly, never interfering with life outside the wood's borders.
Ascanor Lodge is a hunting lodge for the rich and powerful, situated within the Shudderwood.

When we finally arrived at the Lodge, we were refused entry. The halfling doorman said that our passes that we had been given were not recognised, and so he blankly refused to let us in.
As we were arguing with him, a group of people barged past us. One was a gruff looking ranger. The other was a nobleman with a group of lackeys carrying his belongings. The nobleman stared at us in awe when he realised we were adventurers, and begged us to accompany him on a hunt. He introduced himself as Duristan, of one of the wealthy families from Ardeal. He was out hunting werewolves, and had a lead on where one might be.

We followed a trail to a clearing where we discovered a dead stag. We also discovered a pair of dire boars who were guarding the kill.
Once the boars were dealt with, we realised it was getting dark, so Duristan decided to set up camp. The ranger said he wasn't staying and headed back to the Lodge.
Once the camp was set up, Duristan wanted to hear stories of our exploits as adventurers. But as we were talking, the night was pierced with the sound of a scream.
Hurrying to the sound, we found that Duristan's lackeys were all dead. Standing over their bodies was a large, grey-furred werewolf.  It told us that we should stay out of werewolf affairs, and that if we continued to side with Mathus, we would end up dead. It then bounded off through the woods.

Who was Mathus?

Returning to the camp, we spent the night, then returned to the Lodge with Duristan.
The halfling doorman was waiting for us, and he apologised about not letting us in. he said that our invites were indeed valid, but he had not recognised them. He also said that the Lodge's overseer would like to meet us.

The interior of Ascanor Lodge was finely decorated, as befitting a hunting lodge for the upper class. We were shown upstairs and into a library, where we were met by the Lodge's overseer - Estovion Lozarov. He also apologised for us not being let in, and said that the Lodge and all of its facilities were at our disposal.

Once we had settled in, we set about finding out about whether the Whispering Way had been here. Most of the other guests knew nothing about them. One guest, though, a woman known as Madame Ivanja, knew something, but wasn't telling. Skalif turned on the charm, and soon he was in Ivanja's good books. We found out that the Whispering Way had indeed been here, though not for very long. They had asked Estovion to arrange a meeting between them and the man called Mathus. The meeting went on for about an hour in secret, and then they left.

Mathus again. We needed to find out who he was.

Using the Lodge's libraries, we found what we were looking for. Mathus was the leader of one of the five werewolf tribes that inhabit the Shudderwood. A ruthless leader, unliked by the other tribes, and one that wanted to be packlord  (the one who ruled over all of the tribes).

The current packlord of the werewolves had been killed by the Whispering Way and her heart had been stolen. Normally, when the packlord is killed, the person who takes her place eats her heart. But with the heart stolen, war had broken out among the tribes over who would be the next packlord.

The information also told of an ancient temple of Desna, known as the Stairs of the Moon, that was now the highthrone of the packlords, and the gathering place for all of the werewolf tribes. And also where the Whispering Way had stolen the packlord's heart.

It was time for us to venture deep into werewolf territory and discover what was going on...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Part VIII: Rescuing the Count

We continued our exploration of the castle. We entered a series of interconnected towers that were partially flooded. It seemed as if someone wanted to stop us continuing, as all access to the upper levels had been severed. Fortunately, our dwarf cleric is a master with stone, and managed to shape a staircase for us so we could reach the top floor.

From the top floor we crossed a slender bridge to the final tower. Shining in the sun was a large lightning rod protruding from the roof.

As we entered, we were met by a huge, slavering beast, stitched together from pieces of animals. It packed quite a punch, and despite the fighting skills of our paladins, and an unusual display of Skalif's sword-wielding moustache, it would not die. Ellavorn then had an idea and took out a Harrow card that she had and threw it to the floor. With a command, she told the creature to flee. The beast fled through the door, and in a mad panic, fell over the edge of the bridge into the waters below.

We explored the tower and found notes and diagrams talking about a machine that could be used to summon and control The Beast of Lepidstadt. So that's what the Whispering Way were doing here. They had used the device to make the Beast steal the Seasage Effigy from the Lepidstadt University.

Suddenly, a small imp-like creature appeared and told us that Count Caromarc was being held prisoner upstairs by an enormous, ravenous beast.

Cautiously we moved upstairs. We found the Count imprisoned inside some sort of iron maiden device. And guarding him was an enormous creature - part human, part spider, part scorpion. We knew it would be too strong for us to take on, so we had only one choice - get to the roof and summon The Beast.

Skalif flew out of the window and up onto the roof. There he manipulated the machine, causing a storm to break over the tower. As the storm raged, Skalif said "I can sense him inside my head. He's coming."

A short while later, the door crashed open, and The Beast stood with us. Furiously he charged at the creature, and an immense battle began. We aided The Beast as best we could, and soon the creature lay dead.

We rescued the Count, who thanked us for bringing his "son" home to him. He also told us that the Whispering Way were headed into the Shudderwood and a place called Ascanor Lodge.

We left the castle and continued following the trail of the Whispering Way once more.

Part VII: Exploring the Schloss

We moved from the first building across a narrow stone bridge to the next. A hundred or so feet below thundered a huge waterfall, that plummeted into the gorge that the castle was built on.

The next building was a single roomed structure that seemed to have suffered from an explosion. One wall was partially missing and was being supported by wooden scaffolding. The rest of the room was in complete dissarray. As we poked through the rubble and debris, three strange looking creatures emerged - rust monsters. They had sensed Ichabod in his shining armour, and were making a bee-line for him. Skalif conjured up a magical wall that caused two of the creatures to stop and be sick, while Ferdibrand summoned a golden dog-like creature from the planes of good to take them on.

The only route from this building was a rickety looking rope bridge that attached to a large building on the other side of the gorge. There was once a graceful stone arch that connected the two buildings, but the explosion had caused the bridge to collapse.
Grimbledon carefully made his way across the swaying bridge first. But as he reached the half way point, there was a puff of smoke and a smell of sulphur, and a woman with blackened wings appeared in the sky, armed with a fiery bow. She began to shoot arrows at Grimbledon, who began to quickly but carefully make his way across to the other side of the bridge.
After a spell from Skalif, Ichabod took to the air and flew up to meet the devil head on. Ferdibrand summoned a giant, shining bat that also engaged the creature in mid air.
During the battle, Skalif had an idea. He cast a spell at the winged woman. At once, the spell took effect and the woman became drowsy, then fell asleep. Her wings folded up and she fell out of the sky, plummeting into the churning water hundreds of feet below.

The building on the other side of the bridge seemed to be a museum. There were rooms with preserved creatures, each with a different theme. One room was dedicated to air creatures, another to beasts of the sea.
We entered a room that had two ornate sarcophagi in it. The halfling, ever curious, decided to open one. He found it empty. He also found that his hands were stuck to the lid. We then watched in horror as the sarcophagus grew arms and began to attack. Our weapons were sticking to the creature as we attacked. And to make matters worse, as we fought, the other sarcophagus opened, revealing a mummy that shambled towards us!
However, the paladin and the cleric were able to despatch the mummy, and the rest of us killed the mimic that was posing as the other sarcophagus.
But there was no time for rest. No sooner were they defeated than the sound of something large coming up the nearby staircase was heard. Emerging from the top was a large golem. But it had no eyes. Instead, chained to it, were six little winged creatures that seemed to be leading it.

We quickly began to pick off the little creatures. As the last one died, the creature stood motionless. It was now just another exhibit in the strange museum.

But there was still no sign of normal life anywhere. Where was the Count that lived in the castle? We had a few more buildings to explore. And it would be there that we would find the answers to what was going on...

Part VI: Enetring Schloss Caromarc

We hastened along to Schloss Caromarc, home of the former ruler of Vieland, Count Alphon Caromarc.

The castle was actually a set of buildings, built onto rocky outcrops on the side of a gorge, with thundering waterfalls hundreds of feet below. Each building was attached to another by an elegant stone bride.

As we approached the gatehouse, we encountered two large, slavering creatures guarding the way. I have since found out that these big brutes were trollhounds. We didn't know this at the time, and thought that they may just be guardians of the castle, so we did our best not to kill them.

Once the hounds were dealt with, we tried to open the doors to the castle. There was no response to our knocks or calls. It was then that Ferdibrand said he could hear voices on the other side - goblins and trolls.

Suddenly the doors swung open, and three scared looking goblins greeted us, claiming they were slaves to a pair of trolls who had found the castle gatehouse abandoned, and had come in to try to take over the castle.

As the goblins told us their story, two trolls appeared and attacked. They were swiftly dealt with.

We let the goblins go, and they said that the trolls had been prevented from entering the castle due to a "monstrous dog thing". So, we continued over the bridge that connected the gatehouse to the main manor house, and came face to face with the "monstrous dog thing" - a large dog that seemed to have been stitched together from bits of other animals - a golem dog.

We managed to defeat the creature and enter the main house. The place was beautifully decorated, but seemed unlived in. It was as if the owner had stopped living in this building for a week or so. He also seemed to have had guests, as one of the guest rooms seemed occupied. While exploring, we discovered a symbol that belonged to the Whispering Way. The Whispering Way had been there? Why? This couldn't be a coincidence. They had been at Harrowstone Prison, and now here. What was going on? We needed to find the Count, warn him of the approaching mob, and find out why the Whispering Way were here....

Part V: The Trial of the Beast

We started our journey north to Lepidstadt. It was about a hundred miles to travel, so it took us several days. A few days into our journey, we encountered The Crooked Kin - a travelling circus and freak show. They seemed to be having problems, so when we asked if we could help, they said one of their number had wandered away several hours ago and not come back. So, we followed the woman's trail into a nearby swamp. Unfortunately, we found her body, and her killer - a huge phase spider that appeared and attacked us. It was no match for us, though, and we soon killed it.We returned to the Crooked Kin with their fallen comrade. they were very sad, but thanked us for retrieving her body. They then let us travel with them to Lepidstatdt.

We arrived in the city amid great celebration. The Beast of Vieland - a notorious monster who had killed hundreds of people over the past twenty years - had been captured as was to be put on trial and then burned at the stake.

We delivered the books we needed to deliver to Lepidstadt University, and then visited Miss Daramid to give her the last book. Miss Daramid was actually Judge Daramid, an elderly woman who was about to preside over the trial of The Beast. She told us that something wasn't right about the trial, and she had an inkling that the Beast was innocent. She asked us to help the Defence and find out more about the crimes the Beast was reported to have commited.

We met up with Barrister Kaple, the attorney for the defence. He was a thin man, prone to stuttering. He told us that although the Beast had commited hundreds of crimes, the trial was going to focus on his three most recent ones. We were to hurry if we were to find any evidence for the defence, as the trial was starting the following morning.

Before we started our investigations, we had to meet the Beast. He was a monstrous construct, stitched together from bits of man and animal. Although he appeared terrifying, there was something gentle and childlike about him. He seemed to be sad.Our first crime scene was the hamlet of Morast, where the Beast had reportedly slain ten inhabitants. The locals there told us the Beast had been seen carrying dead bodies, but was driven away by the locals and supposedly eaten by a crocodile. We discovered that there were not simple killings here. It seemed as if someone had been body snatching. We found, among other things, a set of surgeons tools hidden in the swamp with a peculiar emblem on them.

The following day, Ichabod and Ferdibrand joined the defence in the court, bringing out the evidence to prove that the Beast was not responsible for the killings. The rest of us tracked down the owners of the surgeons tools. It lead us on a merry chase, but we found that they were bought by a man called Grine, from Vorkstag and Grine's Chymic Works.

However, we had no time to investigate this, as we had to find more evidence for the next crime. In the village of Hergstag, the Beast was accused of killing six children. He was even seen carrying one of the dead children and laughing. Investigation of the village discovered that the children were in fact slain by a wraith-like creature, and the Beast, who had become friends with one of the children, was returning the body to her family.

The court was in shock that day, as Bazak brought in one of the dead children and used Speak With Dead on him. The boy's spirit told the court everything, and how the Beast was innocent.

A few hours after the trial adjourned for the night, a mob stormed the courthouse, demanding that the Beast be brought out and burned. We tried desperately to disperse the mob before they got too violent, but it was the appearance of The Crooked Kin on our side that calmed the mob down.

We had no time to waste. The final crime scene was a mental hospital called Sanctuary that the Beast was accused of burning down. While there we found more evidence connecting Vorkstag and Grine to all of this.

It was time to confront the two alchemists. We broke into their factory at night, and managed to capture Grine - a pale gnome. He was very uncooperative though. However, when we found Vorkstag, we had better luck. He was an evil fey creature called a Skin Stealer. We found a whole wardrobe filled with stolen skins and faces that the creature would wear and duplicate other people. And among the grisly collection we found a huge skin of a monster that could have been mistaken for the Beast.


So, on the last day, we submitted our last pieces of evidence. Vorkstag and Grine were body snatching, and using the Beast as a scapegoat for their crimes. The judges found the Beast innocent and he was free to go.

The townsfolk were furious. They were forming a mob to go after the creature. We had to save him. Before he left, the Beast told us he was going home to see "his father" who lived in Schloss Caromac, a nearby castle.

Could we reach the castle before the mob did and save our new found friend...?

Part IV: The Last of the Criminals

We ventured first into the northern wing where we were attacked by a fiery headless skeleton, and then encountered the third criminal. Up from a deep pit in the centre of the cell block rose the figure of a man wielding an enormous axe. It was The Lopper. His attacks were lethal, almost killing myself and Crimbledon. But our paladin was stronger and was able to dispatch him.

Next was the west wing. It was here we encountered the spirit of the Mosswater Marauder, a sad looking dwarf with several skulls floating near him. Bazak, the dwarf priest, quickly began to destoy the floating skulls, causing the Mosswater Marauder to wail in agony. He was soon destoyed by the rest of us, using our positive energy attacks again.

While in this wing we found the body of the head prison warder. his body was stretched out on a rack, several bones broken, and his hands severed. He had obviously suffered a horrible death from the escaped prisoners. We also found his badge of office, the item that his wife Vesorianna had asked us to find.

The final wing, the southern one, brought us face to face with the most powerful of the criminals - the ghost of The Splatter Man. We first began to see our names being written in blood on the walls. Frantically, we began to destroy the letters as they appeared, trying to erase our names before they were completed.

As the last letter was removed, an unholy howl filled the air, and the ghost of The Splatter Man appeared before us. He was a powerful wizard, and began hurling spells at us. I remembered the mouldy spellbook we had found, the one Skalif was clutching to himself. I snatched it from him and set the book alight with my torch. The Splatter Man screamed in agony as the book burned. As he wailed, the others let loose all the positive energy they could muster up, and soon had the vile spirit screaming into oblivion.

With the five major criminals now destroyed, we headed back to the spirit of the warder's wife. She thanked us, and she said that she could now prevent the minor spirits from leaving the prison forever.

Before she faded from view, she said "Find my husband". And that was it. Harrowstone Prison was now an empty shell. All that remained were the physical reminders of the past.

We headed back to Ravengro. We had only a few days to wait before we were allowed to leave. In that time, we helped Professor Lorrimor's daughter complete her affairs.

With the month in Ravengro over, we made arrangements to head north to the city of Lepidstadt, to deliver the books we were asked to deliver, and to pick up the final monetary part of the Professor's will.

Part III: The First of the Prisoners

As we continued our exploration of the fire-wracked ruins of Harrowstone Prison, we came across the laundry room, where, no doubt, prisoners would spend their time washing clothes. It was here that we encountered the ghost of Vesorianna Hawkin, wife of the prison warder.

She had some terrible news for us. Since the fire, her husband's spirit had been keeping the spirits of the prsioners in check. However, several weeks ago, her husband's spirit had vanished, as if pulled away from the prison. She had desperately tried to take over in controlling the prisoners, but they were too strong for her. She was losing control, and soon the ghosts would be free to escape and wreak havoc across the land. She begged us to destroy the five strongest spirits. And to help us, she directed us to a hidden room that held objects that were dear to the spirits, objects that we could use against them.

So, we first explored the upper floor of the prison, where the non-violent prisoners were kept. Each cell held the remains of a prisoner, each one having died of smoke asphixiation fom the fire of the floors below. The place was made even eerier by the mournful flute music that echoed around the halls. The music came from the ghost of the Piper of Illmarsh. One of the items we had picked up was the Piper's silver flute. Ichabod tried to play it, but was overcome by the spirit of the Piper, and he could not stop playing. Blood began to pour from his eyes, but he still could not stop. Crimbledon eventually managed to rip the flute out of his hands, breaking the curse. We then noticed that the eerie music that had been filling the area had stopped. But suddenly it started up again, and an apparition of the Piper appeared before us. Skalif grabbed the flute and began to play. The spirit thrashed around in pain as he played. While he was distracted, the rest of us attacked him with positive energy attacks. Soon, the spirit of the Piper was destroyed. One down.


The next spirit we encountered was that of Father Charlatan. Ellavorn took out the tangle of holy symbols we had found and held tham up towards the apparition. Again, he reeled from them, and the rest of us could finish him off. Two down.

With the upper floor fully explored, it was time to venture down into the area beneath the prison, where the dangerous and violent criminals were kept. We still had three spirits to defeat - The Lopper, The Mosswater Marauder, and The Splatter Man.

As we entered the charred remains of one of the cell blocks, Skalif was acting strangely. He kept saying that he could see his name written in blood on the walls. He had been affected by the curse that came with a moldy spellbook we had found and that he was carrying. He had become too scared to cast his spells, afraid he may never get them back.

We entered the main hall of the lower prison, and were promptly attacked by the skeletal remains of several of the prisoners. Ichabod took great delight in cleaving the undead with his greatsword.

We were now faced with three wings of the prison. Three wings to explore, and three ghostly prisoners remaining. Three extremely violent ghostly prisoners. We were about to engage in one of our most difficult battles ever...

Part II:Entering Harrowstone Prison

As the strange events continued around Ravengro, the population grow more and more frightened and concerned. A meeting was set up in the Town Hall to discuss the problems and what could be done about them.

The Town Hall was packed. Almost all of the townsfolk were there. Councilman Hearthmount quitened the crowd, and then began to speak. Suddenly, several of the torches adorning the walls roared into life, sending sparks of fire across the hall. The building was on fire!

The assembled crowd panicked. Everyone tried to leave the hall as the flames spread. Skalif, our witch, tried frantically to control them, getting them to move in an orderly fashion, and exit the building quicker. The rest of starting battling the fires. The halfling cleric, Ferdibrand, brought his Create Water spell to great use.

There was suddenly a shattering of glass as the two windows at the back of the hall exploded inward, and through them floated two flaming skulls, which began to attack the terrified councilmen on the stage. Fortunately our two paladins, Ichabod and Ellavorn, were ready. Ichabod leapt up onto the stage and took out out one them with his greatsword, while Ellavorn raised her firearm and blasted the other to pieces. (Ellavorn later told me that the weapon was called a pistol, and was made in the magic-dead city of Alkenstar, way to the south).

Once the townsfolk had all left the building and the fires were put out, the councilmen approached us and begged us for help. Everything seemed to be connected to the old prison up on the hill, so it was time for us to visit Harrowstone and find out what was going on.

Harrowstone Prison was a grand building on top of a nearby hill. The fire that ravaged it 75 years ago had takens its toll on the structure, though, casuing the eastern side to collapse. A sinkhole had formed and filled with dark, murky water, which flowed into the eastern half of the building.

Scouting round the outskirts of the building, Skalif noticed that the building's foundations were completely inscribed with strange, magical runes, which, he said, were used for capture and imprisonment.

Carefully we stepped inside. The horrors of the catastrophic events that happened there had manifested as haunting visions. We glimpsed ghostly prisoners who were ablaze and screaming. A large furnace, used to burn prisoners alive, belched into life, spewing flames at everyone. And in the infirmary, a skeletal ghostly apparition arose, which hurled old scalpels and other sharp objects at us.

Why was the haunted prison affecting the nearby townsfolk? We were about to find out...

Part I: Ravengro.

I travelled to Ravengro to attend the funeral of Professor Lorrimor. When I arrived, I met Kendra, the professor's daughter, and several others whom the professor had encountered in his life. Among them was a gruff dwarf priest name Bazak, a paladin named Ichabod, and a monk named Crimbledon.

We started the funeral procession through the Restlands cemetary, but soon encountered trouble. A local gang of thugs, lead by a man named Gibs, stopped us, and tried to stop us burying the professor in the graveyard, claiming that he was a necromancer. A scuffle broke out, and several of the thugs were injured, which caused the others to flee. Once the incident was over, the funeral continued uninterrupted.

We returned to the Lorrimor home with Kendra for the reading of the will. It was an odd will. The professor had left most things to his daughter, but had left myself and the other adventurers a chest with several books in it. The will also stipulated that we were not to leave Ravengro for a month, so we could help Kendra sort out her father's affairs.

Looking through the books, we discovered the professor's personal journal. Inside, he had circled several passages. They spoke of a plot by a group called the Whispering Way and their interest in something up at Harrowstone Prison.

A piece of history for you - Ravengro was famous throughout Ustalav for Harrowstone Prison, a place where notorious criminals throughout the country were brought for execution. However, 75 years ago, there was a riot, and the prison was destroyed by fire, killing the prisoners, 23 guards, Warden Hawkin, and his wife.

While Kendra went about her business, my new found friends and I decided to do some research on the Whispering Way and Harrowstone Prison. The locals were suspicious of us, but reluctantly let us use their libraries.

We discovered that the Whispering Way are a cult of necromancers whose main goals seem to be finding ways to become liches, and to release someone called the Whispering Tyrant. We also found out that on the night Harrowstone Prison burnt down, among the prisoners were five notorious and very dangerous criminals - Father Charlatan (a con man who pretended to be a priest), The Lopper (a killer who beheaded his victims), The Mosswater Marauder (a dwarf who smahed in the skulls of his victims), The Piper of Illmarsh (a man who poisoned his victims, then let his pet stirges drain them of blood), and The Splatter Man (a killer with an unnatural obsession with his victims' names).

We were also told in the journal that there was a secret stash of items that may be useful to us, hidden in a false crypt in The Restlands. We tried to ask the local temple of Pharasma for help, but they refused. So, under the cover of darkness, we decided to sneak in to the crypt and find the items ourselves. When we arrived there were two pirests outside. Our paladin, however, kept them distracted by debating with them about religion, while the rest of us broke in to the crypt. Inside, we encountered a pair of giant centipedes. Horrible creatures. But they were easily dispatched. And inside the sarcophagus we found a collection of items that would become useful in the future.

As we explored Ravengro, we noticed some very strange goings-on. Children were singing a skipping song that mentioned the five prisoners. A pack of cards burst into flames during a card game (almost setting the dwarf's beard alight!). A gravestone appeared with Crimbledon's name on it. And then, one night, we discovered a series of letters, painted in blood, by a memorial to the guards who lost their lives in the Prison fire. We discovered that the thug from the graveyard, Gibs, was writing the letters. But when we approached him, he had no knowledge of what he was doing. The frightening thing was that he was acting exactly like The Splatter Man - spelling out the names of his victims before killing them.

What was happening in Ravengro? What had The Whispering Way set in motion? What was happening in Harrowstone prison? The professor knew. That's why he gathered us all together. It was now up to us to find out, and to put a stop to it.

Prequel

My name is Acacia Misko. I have been asked to tell you of a series of events that happened a few years ago in the country of Ustalav. A series of events that came to be known as The Carrion Crown.

First, though, a little bit about myself. My father was an elf who was a travelling merchant. My mother was a human farm worker on a farm just outside the town of Tamrivena in western Ustalav. They met, fell in love, married, and had me. My father then went away to deliver goods to the neighbouring country of Belkzen, and he never came back. Reports say his wagon was attacked by orcs, but his body was never found.

My mother worked long hours on the farm, so I was usually on my own for most of the day. I would wander the nearby forests and mountains, learning about the ways of the wild. It was only natural, then, that when I came of age, I decided to become a ranger. I would help the local townsfolk whenever they needed to venture into the wilderness, to gather food, find lost sheep, and so on.

It was on one of my forays into the nearby forest that my destiny was to be revealed.

I could hear up ahead some wolves barking and snarling. I then heard a man's voice cry out for help. Dashing through the trees, I came across a middle-aged man on the floor, surrounded by three wolves. His leggings had been torn where one of the wolves had bitten him, and I could see blood. I ran in, making a loud noise and waving my axe above my head. Two of the wolves fled from my intrusion, but a third turned toward me and leapt. Instinctively I lashed out with my axe, and metal met bone. With a yelp, the wolf crashed to the ground, my axe buried in its neck.

The man thanked me profusely, and as I bandaged his leg, he told me that his name was Professor Petros Lorrimor. I helped him up, and I helped him walk back to town. I got him a room at the inn and left him there for the night. In the morning I returned to see how he was. He thanked me once again and said he would never forget my bravery. And that was it. He said goodbye, left town, and I never thought about the incident again.

A year later, I received a letter from Kendra Lorrimor, the professor's daughter. It was to tell me that the professor had been killed in an accident, and, to my surprise, I had been mentioned in the will. The old man had remembered me after all. I was asked to attend his funeral and the reading of his will in the town of Ravengro.

And so it began. I had started along the path of the Carrion Crown.