The first push of Light against the Darkness...
Elventree is a Harper tree town in the Moonsea region. This is where the great heroes started their quest. Stumpwubble and Myrd call this town home, and Thesian is a ward of Elventree now, because of his attempted burglary of the House of Mysteries. Guerrand and Saganth fled from the evil city of Hillsfar and sought refuge in the benevolent home of the elves. The Harpers gave Stumpwubble, janitor of the House of Mysteries, a mission of the utmost importance to Elventree. He, and his companions (including the legally bound convict bard, Thesian) were to collect reconnaissance on a Red Plume camp near the tree town. They successfully gained the Red Plume agenda for Elventree, helping the town in remaining a bastion of freedom in the infamous Moonsea region.
The group also uncovered two Zhentarim spies in Elventree. The spies were trying to gain some information on a magical artifact, so they broke into the House of Mysteries. Luckily, Stumpwubble was on duty at the temple, and the spies accidentally encountered one of the temple's numerous magical traps while the heroes were fighting the spies. The two spies were a drow male (which was surprising, and just a little forboding) and a human male. A map was found on the spies, leading back to a suspicious tower off of the road between Elventree and Hillsfar. In order to destroy the artifact that the Zhentarim was looking for, the heroes decided to follow the Zhentarim expedition and then try to pass them, getting to the artifact before tham, and then trying to get it to the House of Mysteries in time.
The heroes followed the map to the ancient tower, fending off somw native lizard people interested in the nutritional value of demi-human and human flesh. The tower was actually an old sorcerer's domicile, but that was long ago. The Zhentarim had just recently used it as a hide-out while searching for the artifact. Using the old tomes, Saganth was able to find out that the tower used to be the home of Garaz, the arch-nemesis of the creator of the artifact the zhentarim sought. Garaz's nemesis was Necron, the great orcish necromancer (apparently a gift from the evil gods), and the ultimate destroyer of Northkeep. Northkeep (See Northkeep section of "The Moonsea" FR accessory) was the first human settlement in the northern Moonsea. After many years of holding up against the goblin tribes (Orcs, Ogres, goblins, and the like), the entire goblin population united into one large army, under the leadership of Necron. When Northkeep was under siege, and their mages were holding up against Necron's spells, a stranded sorcerer, Garaz, made use of Northkeep's secret entrance to get back inside. Necron's minions saw the secret entrance, and made use of it, laying waste to the entire city. Necron later, using his arcane power, sank all of Northkeep into the Moonsea. A year later, after Garaz escaped the destruction of Northkeep, Necron hunted him down to the southern Moonsea, and there a great spell battle was engaged, using their minions as well. Both sorcerers died in the battle, but Necron's artifact survived. After finding out about the history of the artifact Myrd was able to track the agents into a dying part of the Elven Court.
The heroes met with many reanimated corpses along the way to the stronghold of Garaz. When they got there, the Zhentarim had already set up camp, and despite the valiant efforts in combat, the group from Elventree was captured. The next morning, the Zhentarim captain forced the group to go into the stronghold alone to find the artifact for them. While exploring Garaz's stronghold in the safety of daylight, the group found a lone half-elf, Rynd Flameraven, who was saved from the undead Necron, by the undead Garaz. Rynd had stumbled upon an abandoned shrine in the Elven Court to Lathander the Morninglord that had been corrupted by Necron's presence. He learned of a priest who had gone mad because of Necron's undead presence, and became paranoid. Thinking that there were fiends from the lower planes terrorizing the shrine (rather than Necron) he immediately suspected his own family of being fiends that had masqueraded as his family for many years. One night, after Necron had spoken him in the shrine, the priest's psyche snapped and he went home and murdered his wife and two daughters with an axe. He then fled into the night, immediately realizing what he had done, but seeing the Elven Court's trees as his lower planar tormentors. As he laughed his insane laugh and cut down his imaginary tormentors, a fog enveloped him. He was never heard from again. Rynd found out that Necron's undead spirit was trapped under the shrine, unable to get out without assistance because of the holy presence above, was locked in a magically warded chest. Rynd was able to open the chest, realize what was in it, and then trap Necron back in the chest again. Unfortunately, Necron's undead minions, while re-enacting the fatal battle with Garaz's minions, attempted to slay him, but a mysterious zombie lord narrowly saved him. With this added information, the group asked if Rynd would join them in their quest against darkness, and he accepted.
The group found Garaz himself in the bowels of his Elven Court stronghold. He was the zombie lord that saved Rynd. Garaz agreed to give the group the Orb of Necron, the vile necromantic artifact that the Zhentarim was looking for, and a wand to summon a flaming giant skeleton that would burn the group of spies outside from the face of Toril. He had one condition though; that Rynd summon Necron, since he had the power to, being the last one to trap him, so that he and Garaz can have their final battle, and slay each other, ending the centuries long cycle of battle in undeath. Rynd agreed, and the two undead sorcerers met each other in the stronghold. While the battle raged on, the heroes summoned the skeleton to eradicate the Zhentarim agents camped outside of the stronghold. After the fiery blast, the skeleton disappeared, but so did Necron and Garaz, into a mysterious flowing mist.
The heroes, with the artifact successfully apprehended, travelled back to Elventree to have it safely stored in the House of Mysteries...
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