The party spent a month or so
riding out the worst of the winter in Dagger's Falls before they were summoned
to the Constable's Tower by Larkall Greenspan, Randall had a small favour to
ask of them, that the deliver a small package to the mage Elminster in
Shadowdale. The party readily agreed and set off on the trail through the
Dagger Hills. Arriving safely in Daggerdale they found Elminster gone, but
asking around in the Old Skull Inn they found the best person to leave the note
with was Lhaeo his scribe who by an amazing coincidence had just walked into
the pub! Greeting the young scribe, the party swiftly made friends with
him and after a few beers me made them a proposition - he would pay the party
500 gp to retrieve two volumes "The Art of Weaponcrafting" and
"Metal Spellweaving" from the tomb of the great weapons-mage
Shraevyn. The party readily agreed and Lhaeo gave them rough directions to the
tomb and the advice that the mage's library was hidden behind a secret door
that could only be opened by the possessor of the mage's signet ring.
The Tethymar Trail
Setting off they encountered a caravan heading towards Shadowdale that had
recently been ambushed by orcs, Nystrae tended to their wounded, moving onwards
up the Tethymar trail the party stopped briefly at a shrine to Torm,
before deciding it was too early to cam and pushing on for a few hours made a
cold camp by the trailside. That night they were attacked by a band of
kobolds, however they proved helpless against, Ramas's spells, Nym's bow and
the flashing blades of Nystrae and Senella.
Crossing the
Serpentsbridge the party discovered the body of a traveller obviously died in
his sleep, as the pondered this tragedy they were attacked by a strange beast
some combination of cat and bird but also somehow insubstantial, as the
creature grasped Senella and she felt it somehow feeding on her mind, her
comrades rallied round and soon despatched the Though Eater. Searching the
corpse of the Thought Eater's previous victim, they discovered him to be Erik
Hopkirk, the blacksmiths son from Dagger's Falls who had been camped here
awaiting a friend. Burying the unfortunate with due reverence they moved on,
leaving the Tethymar trail and heading further across the plains towards the
mountains before resting that evening.
Next morning they ahead they could see the stand of trees mentioned in their
directions, and above it they could see birds circling lazily. As they got
closer Seladrin began to get uncomfortable as she noticed the total absence of
any game sign the closer to the trees they got. Seladrin's suspicions proved
correct as the flock wheeled and headed towards them, the keen sighted elves
quickly ascertained that these were not birds but stirges. Seladrin managed to
get a couple of bowshots off before the stirges attacked! As the party hacked
their way through the creatures, a stranger joined the fray. After the stirges
were slain, the stranger introduced
himself a Randall, a fighter on his way south to meet his friend Erik!
The Giant`s Craw
After the party had explained Erik's sad fate, Randall decided to join up with
them. They spent a little time retrieving some bits and pieces from some of the
stirges previous victims scatted about the area. Moving on, after another
night's rest they finally arrived at the Giant's Craw, and descending into the
valley made their way to the tomb entrance, as they did so they were attacked
by a Zhent patrol which was swiftly dealt with.
Heading on up to the tomb, after Senella had a slight misadventure with a
trapped statue, they were confronted by a metal door which as they gazed at it
magically spoke a riddle, after much discussion Senella managed to work out the
answer and the door swung open. Inside the tomb they made their way past some
murals to a central chamber with an intricate puzzle that obviously opened the
door to the inner tomb. After many, many, hours of trying to work out the
solution, Ramas finally give the vital clue that it was something to do with
schools of magic, and after a little trial and error, the inner door was opened.
Inside they party made their way to the burial chamber where they found the
wizard's sarcophagus, the lid had been removed, probably when the Sword of The
Dales had been recovered and they could clearly see the wizard's signet ring on
his bony finger. Before they could retrieve it, however - a series of secret doors swung open and they
were attacked by six skeletons, two of them trolls, and some zombies. The human
skeletons proved little difficulty as the fell before Randall's morningstar and
Senella's warhammer, the zombies fared little better as Nystrae managed to turn
them easily. The troll skeletons however, proved a more difficult challenge as
their slashing and biting attacks cut a swathe through the party. First
Seladrin, sorely wounded had to withdraw, then Senella and Randall fell before
their attacks, forcing Nystrae to call on the healing power of her god.
Eventually however even the giant skeletons succumbed to the parties attack.
After a day's rest thee
party decided to brave Shraevy'n library, after Nym had searched for traps,
behind the mural in the entranceway to the tomb. Quickly disposing of the two
wights lurking there (courtesy of Nystrae's Turning ability) they recovered the
two volumes Lhaeo wanted as well as a map annotated in a script none of them
could read. Heading back to Shadowdale they passed the books to Lhaeo who
identified the script as ancient Netherese and offered to translate it for
them.
Next morning, he advised them it appeared to be a set of directions from
Shraevyn't tomb to one of his towers, deep in the Desertmouth mountains.
Intrigued by this the party decided to set out and explore this mysterious
tower, and headed back to the tomb, following the ancient wizard's
instructions, led on the trail by Seladrin.