The same morning that Aelar and his party set out from Whitehead to the Tomb of Alderon, a half orc comes into town asking around for people matching the description, of Aelar, Morwyn, and Artemis, as well as their other deceased companions. The town drunk blurts out that they have set off for the Tomb before the rest of the townsfolk in the Crazy Wolf bar can silence them. The half orc hurries off satisfied.
Word spreads to Artemis and Morwyn, who are resting a friend's home nearby. They quickly pursue the half orc and pick up his trail at the city gates where he has headed off down the path to the Tomb. Halfway up the mountain they see the half orc join up with the remaining orcs from the band they encountered in the first adventure, accompanied by their cheiftian, a giant grey orc. The half orc turns into a wereboar.
Artemis and Morwyn overhead them plotting to pursue Aelor in the Tomb so they rush ahead to warn them. As the sun sets and the moon starts to rise, they see four gargoyles take flight over the valley outside the tomb from the mountaintop. They hide and the creatures pass. They rest outside the tomb, waiting to ambush the orcs if they arrive before their friends.
Meanwhile, Aelor becomes entrapped in the tomb. They enter a room that has four ship masts as columns holding up the ceiling. When Aelor sneaks through the room the ship's masts come alive and grasp him tightly. The enchanted rigging tightens as he struggles to release himself. Even his magical blade will not cut the ropes. The Whodat gives him some rations and agrees to come back to retrieve him after they explore further and hopefully find some way to release him.
Heading into the tomb they find three crypts marked as defenders who died guarding the Emperor. They pass through the chamber into the next room and find a ships steering wheel on a platform across a flooded chamber. The steering wheel is attached to a chain and two words "PORT CULLIS" appear engraved above the wheel on the wall.
Whodat the rogue enters and turns the wheel clockwise, which causes a small drain to open in the center of the room followed by some bubbles and then nothing. The water does not noticeably lower in the room, still at shoulder height for the halfling, but as he moves the wheel another turn something bites him on the leg under the water.
He flees out of the chamber and his companions carry him back through the crypt room, where they find the crypt's lids have been removed and they are empty now. They head back into the main hall to regroup and recover, discovering that the bite appears to be from a large snake.
Heading the opposite way they find some catacombs and Whodat disturbs the skeletons entombed there kicking their bones about to make sure they are not undead skeletons. Disturbing the bones rouses a large centipede, which Whodat, Neyvara, and Aubrey kill without much injury.
In the next room they find a long hall with a pool in the middle. In the pool the water is slightly milky but otherwise clear and in the center of the pool lies a skeleton wearing some sort of magical armor, but without any other noticeable possessions. On the far side of the hall is a large metal portcullis, which is closed.
The party re-enters the wheel room to try their luck there again. On their way in they notice the lids have returned to the crypts that were open minutes ago. Whodat tries throwing some of Aubreys ropes and grapples across the flooded room to remotely operate the wheel, but their attempts to get a second grapple across fail. Whodat tightrope walks across the rope as Aubrey and Neyvara secure it tightly. On the opposite platform, Whodat again turns the wheel in the clockwise direction with the same result. Moments later an iron cobra lunges out of the water to strike him on the platform.
Aubrey wades into the water to aid the halfling, but as she strikes the cobra, three undead guardians rise around her in the room and knock her our with several hacking chops. As she falls unconscious and sinks into the darkened waters, an undead dwarf continues to slash at her mechanically and her blood bubbles up from below.
Whodat and Neyvara skillfully retreat out of the chamber, noticing the lids are now gone from the three crypts and they head out into the hall. They find that Aelor has tactfully relaxed his body enough to slip free from the magical rigging trap and he joins them as they flee from the tomb.
Outside they are surprised to find Artemis and Morwyn, who tell them of the orcs coming to hunt them. They climb the side of the valley and hide as the giant orcs, his one-eyed commander, and the wereboar enter the valley then the tomb, intent on revenge. They notice that one of the orcs in the party is missing and the orcs have seen battle, presumably from the gargoyles that were hunting the trail earlier.
They find their way back down the trail past Underkeep then on to Whitehead where they rest for the next couple of weeks. Whodat retires back to his life of fishing, deciding that the adventurers life is too much for him. The death of his childhood friend Aubrey weighs heavily on him. Meanwhile, a friend of Aubrey's from the artificer's guild comes to town seeking her to let her know that there is a guild meeting called in nearby Fallcrest. Once this artificer named Stasi learns of her friend's death he joins the party to aid them in their quest.
Stasi, who serves Morradin, along with the elves and eladrin all share the same dream the night after a wake is held for Aubrey is held at the Crazy Wolf tavern. As they discuss the dream, they are joined by the half orc barbarian priest Darmak, who they often drink with into the late hours.
They dreamed of Underkeep hall's ruins in the side of the mountain. The mountain opened up, and inside the ravine they find a blue glowing door. On the other side of the door, they find a great cavern full of skeletal remains. As they pass through the cavern they find an opening to a valley with a river and some ships. They sail upstream to the source of the river. At the source of the river is a great open wetland field. They see the four free gods, cloaked and pointing at a red castle on the horizon, sitting on a hill by the sea.
Darmak is a servant of Rosentz Darkhorn, a Teifling rogue and traveller who has been known to spy for many kingdoms. Darmak was freed from Rosentz's service and returned to his home in Whitehead, awaiting further summons from his master when he was needed. Praying to his god Kord, the diety of storms and lighting, a promising dark cloud above the peak of Whitemountain the next morning tells him that it is auspicious to join this quest and that there will be much battle.
Neyvara still suffers from rot grubs, which she takes herbal teas to remedy, though from time to time she still expels one of the foul creatures. Aelor has been troubled by the dream and spends a great deal of time in a sort of meditative trance contemplating it. The party assembles and strikes off toward Underkeep, which once was a prosperous dwarf hold, but many generations ago fell to madness and ruin, it's inhabitants fighting among each other.
As they approach the ruins, Aelor and Neyvara set up watch up top to prevent any goblins from sneaking up on them. Goblins are known to raid from Underkeep and the town of Whitehead occasionally sends fighters in to clear them out. Likewise the dragon who lives on the mountain of the Tomb raids the tomb yearly, as none have been brave enough to yet slay the beast there. Many in the town tell the party they were lucky to get back from the tomb alive without raising the dragon's wrath.
Darmak and Artemis lead the party down a stairwell in one ruined tower. The rest of the party follows several paces behind. They fail to detect a trap and are cast down hundreds of feet on a sloping shaft. Morwyn and Stasi decide to follow them rather than be separated. They trigger the trapdoor on the stairs and slide down as well.
The shaft expels them into a tiny cell in a dungeon. Human remains litter the floor and a swarm of spiders crawls toward them, covering them with sticky webs and biting at their flesh. The party fights furiously to squash the creatures, finally destroying them all. The half orc furiously kicks open the barred wall of the cell and inspects the dungeon finding a torture rack and a wash basin which has been used as a latrine.
Through the only exit from the dungeon they find a hall with tunnels heading to stairs leading up and more halls on the left and right. In the center straight ahead is a glowing magical portal and a coded set of runes for controlling the gate with various locations in other planes listed on it. The half orc casts the torture rack into the room, but does not trigger any traps. Further inspection shows the runes do not respond to touch.
The party agrees to head their dreams and explore the blue portal stepping through. on the other side of the portal they find a great cavern as in the dream, filled with skeletal remains. On the opposite side of the cavern they find a hill of rubble with a door on top. As they approach the door five skeletons rise from the debris to attack them.
They fight off the skeletons easily, though the clatter of blades on bone summons the guard on the other side of the door. A shadar-kai warrior in black chainmail and covered in tattoos with two katar attacks. As they fight he turns to shadow teleporting around and becoming insubstantial for moments at a time, making him an elusive target. Finally they defeat him and he prays to the Raven Queen with his dying breath.
They find the guard has a map of these caves here and they follow it's course toward the exit to outdoors. First they sneak through a room with several adjacent cells, then in the next room they hear footsteps and a foul deformed creature that was once a many but now feast on flesh crawls from a tunnel and attacks. They kill the thing, but in the process their loud thunder attacks summon a pack of zombies from an adjacent room. They hear them moaning in the distance.
As Artemis and Morwyn guard the passage from zombies, tossing molotov cocktails down the corridor at them, Darmak and Stasi hear a man calling to them in one of the cells. The free the man, who says that he is Lord Kalton and promises them a reward if they return to his lands south of Fallcrest. They give him the katar and he comes with them.
They fight off a pack off a dozen or so zombies, including one great tough winged zombie creature, which Stasi takes out with a single heroic shot to the head. in the next room they find a list of dungeons with places crossed off and mention of an expedition to find the lost Library of Nerath.
There are references in the map and journals to an expedition which successfully collected the remains of Emperor Alderon and one of his advisers. There is also indication that interrogation of the advisers remains using speak with dead narrowed the search to one of the locations on their list, but no further. Four of the ten locations have already been crossed off, indicated they have been searched or ruled out.
Also in the study are several tables for making zombies and some half completed zombie corpses in the works. They set the tables on fire and smash everything in the lab. As they work, Lord Kalton hears a voice at the top of the stairs calling for help. A voice claiming to be buried under some rubble begs for help and Lord Kalton starts to try and dig for the voice, but Darmak stops him. The Lord becomes furious with the half orc and bears fangs then attacks him. The party comes to Darmak's aid and quickly slays the vampire. Darmak takes Lord Kalton's signet ring.
All this commotion draws further attention and they hear voices in the next corridor. Darmak investigates and finds a room with several cave murals depicting Orcus the lord of undeath feeding his blood to several humanoid creatures, who are in turn also feeding on the blood of other creatures. As he starts to slowly move to the other end of the passage, a Shadar-Kai witch materializes and attacks.
Two more shadar-kai warriors join the battle and Darmak bravely charges to attack all three cutting a great swath of thunderous strikes across their ranks. Several arrows from Morwyn's bow draw the witch's ire and she blinds the eladrin ranger with a magical attack. Firce melee ensues and the artificer again blasts the enemy with fire and thunder spouting from runes inscribed on her allies armor.
The witch tries one last ploy to blind the party with a great wave of darkness that emanates from her, but Darmak turns and skillfully cleaves her in twain with his great blade and the darkness is lifted. The party dispatches the other two shadar-kai. One dies as his grinning head falls to the floor, the other prays for death to take him even as he throws his spiked chain out for one final strike.
Heavily wounded by the battle the party decides to set up camp and rest, holed up the zombie making lab. The blackened tables and smoke choking the air, they nervously set up camp. After four hours they are interrupted by the heavy footsteps of a creature set upon them. A large ogre zombie with a great chain around its neck as though it was leashed, lumbers down the stairs and into the room to fight them.
Darmak valiantly takes the bulk of the creatures blows and hovers on death's door as his friends charge forward to push the beast back and keep him from mauling their friend further. The beast seams dead for a moment and then surprisingly rises again.
Stasi stops the bleeding as the ogre zombie knocks out the ranger's hunting cat Kiara. Artemis holds the beast at bay, drawing its attacks as Morwyn, already injured herself by the beast draws a bow and fires arrows a volley of arrows into the thing. Another arrow through the eye brings the monster its final end. The pary finishes a restless sleep.
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