The Abandoned Abbey of Helm

"Never betray your trust. Be vigilant. Stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young."

— Father Gylevine, reciting part of the 'Dogma of Helm'

Once A Devout Place of Worship

This crumbling Abbey was a bustling place of prayer and refuge for everyone that needed it. When the Lord at the time came to them with a proposition to store cursed relics and artifacts below the Abbey, the monks were not keen on it, but could not refuse the Lord. This ended in the destruction of the Abbey when ~20 years ago a relic transport ended in catastrophe. Those that survived left, never to return, all except for two monks - Father Gylevine and Father Siferin.
Now the land surrounding the Abbey is scorched, what little life survives is slowly decaying. It is unusually quiet, even for an abandoned building, and there is a massive hole in the outer wall that leads to the catacombs entrance due to the explosion the relic let off. Despite the terror that happened here, some are still desperate enough for a place to stay. Lady Namalia and her companions took refuge here to hide from the Unseelie courts and to look for their Lady, The Scales. They've told you that the only way to hide from a fey Queen is to mask that you are a fey somehow and the Children of The Scales chose to turn to vampirism, using the stink of undeath to mask their true nature. The Archfey vampire Lord Kannoth, father of 'Strahd,' turned them to buy them time to secretly find a solution. Namalia's dedicated found family, with her, turned to vampirism to give them more time to rectify the wrongful erasure of their lady. They soon will be heading back to the feywild, and told the group they would be able to find them at 'the bazaar,' a safe grey zone just inside the feywild.
The fathers have offered any help they can give, and have given you a safe tour of the cursed objects below.

“There’s an old Abbey in the woods to the southeast. It's been all but abandoned since the incident they had sealing a dangerous relic of some sort some odd 20 years ago. But the remaining two fathers have recently let some strange refugees in, last I'd heard. It's at least worth investigating.”

— Ignatius Creed, on the Investigation

Investigation

• The forests surrounding the abbey are filled with hundreds of will-o'-wisps that seem to be the innocents decimated by the relic tragedy that ruined the Abbey.
• The crypts below it still house numerous cursed artifacts, though the party doesn't know what exactly is down there.
• The refugees are all runaways from the feywild, hiding from the Unseelie that wish them harm. Some of them seem extremely suspicious, but they don't seem to be the cause of what is happening in Feyport.

Persons of Interest

• Father Gylevine & Father Siferin 
• Lady Namalia 
• Lazarus 
• Strahd 
• Vincent 
• Taul & Raul 
• Orpheus 
• Drusilla 
• Willow 
• Rasmodeus

RUINED STRUCTURE
Year 1379, the 3rd Chronicle

Founding Date

Year 906, the 1st Chronicle

Type

Abbey

Parent Location

Feyport

Contested By

• The Lords of Feyport

Related Historical Events

• 1379 Ch
  The Relic Disaster at the Abbey of Helm
• 1094 Ch
  Lord Armand begins storing cursed relics in the Abbey crypts

Dogma of Helm

Never betray your trust. Be vigilant. Stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and do not sacrifice them for others or yourself. Anticipate attacks and be ready. Know your foes. Care for your weapons so they may perform their duties when called upon. Careful planning always defeats rushed actions in the end. Always obey orders, providing those orders follow the dictates of Helm. Demonstrate excellence and purity of loyalty in your role as a guardian and protector.