Harvest Night

Disaster / Destruction

Four childhood friends, now adventurers living separate lives, return to their hometown in time for the Harvest Festival.

Charlotte-Anne Mountebank, Freck Meeja, Ofrif Duckworth, and Bode Rodea were childhood friends in the town of Middlecross, south of Goodfields.  After about ten years had passed, they return as seasoned adventurers.   Some reunite with their families. Some find their family home destroyed and replaced.  Some avoid their family and impose on another. Regardless, they all managed to find a Tavern and listen to conversations about the town. They found out that the town had its smallest Harvest in a decade, despite record growth in population and capacity.   In the following afternoon, the four met up with an old friend, Koren Miller. The five played games, ate food, and caught up. Soon, Koren had to make an abrupt exit, as his father wanted him to attend a ceremony to the goddess of good fortune, Tyche.   As the party continued playing games, tragedy strikes as the ceremony to Tyche goes horribly wrong in the temple next to the Festival Grounds. Instead of contacting Tyche, Koren's father fell for a manipulation from her spiteful sister, Beshaba. Beshaba, holding a grudge against Elloran, manipulated Koren's father and used him to help her tear a rift in space, opening a gateway between the abyss and Elloria.  Through this gateway, Beshaba sent a Barlgura, a host of Quasits, a Hezrou, and perhaps more.   The Barlgura and other demons slaughtered the commoners in the temple. After which, the Barlgura made its way outside, engaging the party on the Festival's Ferris Wheel with numerous commoners stuck on the ride.   The party made relatively short work of the Barlgura and made their way to the temple to investigate its origin. Seeing the massacre and the emergence of a Hezrou from the rift, two of the members fled Middlecross entirely. Charlotte-Anne and Freck bolted, using their spell slots instead to get as far away as possible. Onofrif and Bode stayed behind to try to contain the threat. It is assumed that both died in the fight as there is no confirmation that the Hezrou was defeated.   Middlecross is scarred from the attack. The temple has been shuttered. The population took a huge hit as about a dozen citizens died in the attack, and many others fled, never to return, or simply moved away.