The Desperate Necromancer

Decades ago, a group of heroes known as Lór Estel travelled the Empire trying to do good. They saved people and places, and tried to solve any problems they encountered. Among them were the elven wizard Theirastra Amastacia. Full of wonder and curiosity, she was quiet but passionate in her quest. When she lost the rest of her party to a hidden enemy they had been seeking for a long time, the Shadow Fiend, she despaired. Turning to necromancy to bring her friends back, to save the world from the Fiend, she lost herself.

Plot points/Scenes

A group of four wake up in a dark underground room. They are strangers, and none know where they are or why. Seeking answers and a way out, they leave the room. On the door there is a note, calling them chosen heroes. They venture onwards, and find themselves in battle with fae spiders- giant, ethereal creatures who jump between this plan and another. The spiders slain, the enter a trap room. Another note on the door warns them that sometimes, sacrifice of innocents is necessary to do good. The group, however, manage to avoid too much sacrifice as Sabien finds a hidden switch that turns off the traps. They move on, and in a natural cave with sunlight pouring through a hole in the mountainside they fight a manticore. In a locked room, they find one more manticore in a cage. They speak to it, and it reveals that it obeys a master. Tact, a tiefling wizard, provokes it hoping to get answers, but instead it breaks free. Only its orders keep it from attacking the already tired party, and they leave the cage alone, shaken. In a connected room, they find something even more disturbing. A body dump - with corpses the same races as them, similar in age. It would seem they were not the first. When attempting to leave the cave, they were trapped in a small chamber that started filling up with sleeping gas. A voice told them they had passed the trials and were thus worthy. One by one, they fell asleep, but at last Tact managed to blow up the door with a last desperate firebolt. He confronted a young tiefling woman, Verity, and Charmed her into helping them. She did, and led them to Theirastra's private room. In Theirastra's room, the group found a diary written in Elvish. In it, the Necromancer herself wrote about her quest. It revealed that she had lost her friends and partymembers to a black dragon as part of a trap set by their secretive enemy, the Shadow Fiend. Convinced that only she and her group could find and defeat him, she had sought out necromancy to raise her friends from the dead. She had tried the conventional way, but her lover's soul had been unwilling to return and so she had to find another way. With the help of Verity, she kidnapped adventurerers similar to her friends and held trials to test their strength. She would then expel their souls and implant those of her friends in the bodies instead. This was her plan for the group. They confronted Theirastra in her study after tying Verity up and leaving her in Theirastra's room. They nearly convinced the elf that she was wrong, but when Brighdin the barbarian threatened to destroy the soul cages keeping her friends, she snapped and fought. Eventually, she fled using a Dimension Door spell. Verity managed to escape as well, but the group was finally free.

Backdrops

Locations

The Western Adhar Mountains, near Seranna.

Encounters

Verity, Theirastra, first time hearing of the Shadow Fiend.

Plot type

Campaign Introduction

Parent Plot

Main Quest

Related Locations

• Seranna
• The Adhar Mountains