Winter of the Witch.pdf - Property Is Theft!

Winter of the WitchSIDE TREK:GLOOMWROUGHTIf the PCs are fooled by the false Sir Keegan, they areled on a wild goose chase within Gloomwrought.The PCs can travel to Gloomwrought in a varietyof ways, but the easiest is by the many teleportationcircles that exist in the port. Once the PCs arrive inGloomwrought, they start a skill challenge to findVeira Rimefire. If they succeed, they learn that Veirais a relatively minor mage who was buried in a forsakencemetery outside of town. More importantlythey learn that this appears to be a false lead. If theyfail the skill challenge, they learn this informationonce they find Veira’s grave and deal with the terribleundead monstrosity that haunts the graveyard.GloomwroughtVillage, Population Approximately 12,600A dismal and crowded seaport on the Stormy Sea, thismist-shrouded metropolis is both bleak and foreboding, butit serves as one of the safest ports in the Shadowfell. It willbe difficult to find Veira Rimefire in this place, since itsinhabitants are known for their tight-lipped caution andsecretive plots.This creepy Shadowfell port is dark and dank, but it ishospitable when compared to the rest of this shadowyplane. It sits on the shore of a dark, foreboding sea,amid a group of inland bogs called the Skins.Full information on Gloomwrought is found in theManual of the Planes (pages 58 to 59) but playing it upas creepy, cagey, and crowded will do for this side trek.Traversing the village and its citizens is a skill challengedone over the course of at least a couple of days.Skill Challenge: SC2: Finding Veira Rimefire(page @@).Blackearth CemeteryIf the PCs fail the skill challenge, they are led toBlackearth Cemetery, the last known hideout of VeiraRimefire. A wizard and petty thief, Veira once usedthe cemetery as a hideout, but now she is buried there.Getting to the cemetery is a two-day barge tripthough the Skins, which are the treacherous bogsaround Gloomwrought. Once there, it is easy to findVeira—or her grave. If the PCs try to dig up the graveto look for further clues, they are attacked by the desecrationthat guards the place.Tactical Encounter: G1: The Cemetery (page 43).PART THREE:MONASTERY OF ST. ALABATWith the information gained from Sir Keegan orother sources, the PCs should make their way to theruined monastery of St. Alabat in the DawnforgeMountains to recover the Sun’s Sliver.If Sir Dzrak tricked the PCs into searching forVeira Rimefire in Gloomwrought, and the PCs tookmore than six days to discover that the quest was adiversion, they find St. Alabat empty, the seal broken,remains of a great battle between the angel Remlieland the forces of Orcus, and the Sun’s Sliver gone.While you might want construct a great chase for theSun’s Sliver where the PCs enter the Abyss to retrieveit, that’s beyond the scope of this adventure. Withoutthe Sun’s Sliver the PCs can go on to the ScourgeMountains, enter Koliada’s domain, and even face herat Winter Heart, but any victory will be temporary.They banish Koliada only for a period of time ratherthan destroy her.If the PCs weren’t fooled by the death knight ordidn’t tarry long in Gloomwrought, the forces of Orcusare here and are just about to break open the seal.Orcus’s chief agent in this matter is a sorrowswornrenegade named Morthalat. By the time the PCsarrive, Morthalat and his minions—a rather rag-taggroup of undead and planar renegades—have beenattempting to open the seal binding Remliel and theSun’s Sliver for days, but with little luck. To aid theirendeavors they’ve just activated the Engine of Lum—asomewhat unstable magic device that channels a dangerousform of eldritch energy from the Far Realm.The Engine disrupts the seals and wards of divine,primal, and arcane nature.The ApproachThe only way to reach St. Alabat is by way of a windingtrail up a rugged and windswept section of the DawnforgeMountains. When the PCs reach the monastery,they find the scene described in the tactical encounter.Tactical Encounter: M1: Deathwatch at Ravensroost(page 44).The RuinsThe ruins of St. Alabat sit across the bridge, clingingto the mountain atop a large ledge. Just outside thesundered monastery walls is a flat area where a groupof Morthalat’s cronies waits among the snow andtrees for any interference in their master’s plans (see“M1: Deathwatch at Ravens Roost”).The roofless monastery is long abandoned, and theupper works have collapsed to expose the lower areaand the seal of Remliel to the elements. Morthalatis at work in this area, using the Engine of Lum to pryopen the seal.Tactical Encounter: M2: Morthalat's Endgame(page 47).November 2008 | DUNGEON 16033