The Shadowy Thief

The team get summoned to the Shadowfell. Surprising that they haven't had good relations with the inhabitants there. Something there has been stolen and the team is asked to retrieve it. The Bladed Pouch stole a magic item and a leading Shadar-Kai called Sil wants it returned on the orders of the Raven Queen.

Plot points/Scenes

The team meet up in the morning as usual, and are approached by a Shadar-Kai called Sil in disguise. He has a proposal for the team saying that they can get a bit of loot, and a bit of kudos with the Raven Queen. A magic item called the Orb of Darkness has been stolen from the Shadowfell, and has brought to the world by the Bladed Pouch. It is now sitting in an ancient chamber at the edge of the Underdark below the Alps. It is being passed to a cult belonging to the Star Gods, who are looking to bring eternal darkness to the region. Any treasure found there is theirs to take as long as the Orb is successfully returned.
They are given a location to the entrance to the southeast and told it is in a mountain pass. There they can enter and to stick to the main chamber until deep enough. There they will find a couple of smaller caverns leading off deeper. Water is heard coming from the one on the left.
The main chamber may have pockets of gas that force a DC 12 Constitution saving throw that if failed causes the Poisoned condition. Otherwise they can travel on down. It looks as if very little has been down here in a long long time.
If going into the left cavern, it will appear cold, incredibly damp & icy, and soon be shown to have water pouring from a source above flooding the lower levels. There is a chance of slipping if not careful and each run the risk of this. To close to the edge they will require a DC 12 Dexterity or Athletics saving throw t oavoid slipping into the water with it being cold and when hit it wil lcause them to have the Paralysed & Prone conditions for a Turn and take 2 1d4 cold damage
The cavern on the right looks as if it has been used sometime in the past and it slopes down to another slightly larger chamber. There at the end is an altar made of bone and wet looking rock. On it sits a crystaline orb of dark blue & purple that seems to suck in light. It appears to ddampen down lights near it automatically. Symbols & sigils are carved on the back wall, and on the altar of strange design and prove to be Primordial if investigated.
The 'temple' here proves to be dedicated to a being or deity called Nylarothep, "the bringer of dark sciences". Uless checked beforehand, hte team will be surprised by 5 1d10 cultists. These should be easy enough to defeat. They are hiding around & behind multiple staigmites & stalagtites, boxes of provisions, stone outcrops and boulders.
Once though when the Orb is taken, the bodies of the cultists will knit together or break apart in horrifying squeltching noises,ripping of tissue and cracking of bones to form 2 1d4 Gibberring Mouthers. These will try to attack immediately.
If everything is fine then the team can examine the remainder of the area. They will find a number of items:

• a jade & obsidian tiara (worth about 125 gold)
• 321 gold coins
• 5 daggers & 5 vials of one-use poison (worth about 25 gold altogether)
• A spell scroll of Waterbreathing (200 gold)
• and a full set of 300 yeay old Roman Centurian armour including a shield giving AC 14 (worth 25 gold as junk or a display piece) or 75 gold to a collector)

When doing this they will hear the waters in the other chamber starting to get agitated, getting more & more worked up. Something seems to be hitting the wall to the left side of the chamber with a dull thud. Cracks syaty yo appear and water seeps through these.
The team need to move immediately or the wall cracks and freezing cold water pours in knocking anyone caught in it Prone or Incapacitated on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw and causing 4 1d8 Force damage.
Unless pulled out or rescued within 2 1d3 rounds they drop to zero HPs and drown. The survivors may notice a huge tentacle below the gloomy surface on a successful Perception test and appears to come in from the other chamber. What it is attached to is unknown and best left unmentioned.
They can now return to the surface, go back to Eschbach, and try to meet Sil. They will need to find a temporarly portal he set up in a room of the Eschbach Shields. When they go there they will find it leads to a chamber in a fortified stronghold and are surprised to find a squad of Shadar-Kai Gloom Weavers there. They have to act quickly to persuade they are friendly and looking for Sil.
The Shadar-Kai will take a bit of persuading as it turns out Sil had returned to tell the leaders that he had people now on gtting the Orb, but was assassinated by the Bladed Pouch. The latter had ran amok afterwards causing some damage to the building which happens to be a wing of the Raven Queen's palacial grounds before escaping.
The team will be shown into a room to which place the Orb on a pedestal alongside two others. A room that is strewn with darkened shadowed clothing & armour, all fitting descriptions of Shadar-Kai clothing & armour.  If asked these will be how some of these are treated after being made to imbue them with elements of magical darkness. Only certain amounts are done each year.
They may be told as well it was the Bladed Pouch that stole it in the first place and took it to Earth to cause some chaos, and gave it to cultists who were going to use it to summon a Star God.
The Shadar-Kai are gregatful and the team gets a bonus of 25 gold each. They may be given a one-use item of a piece of cloth that can be tied to their clothing to turn them invisible like the spell that lasts only for 10 minutes.
Then they are shown back to the portal, let through and have it closed down after them permanently.

Related Characters

• Baldwin Gerswinda
• Alfre
• Bjorn
• Druid Emma Duckthorne
• Edward the Monk
• Fleur
• Meaven

Related Organizations

• Franks
• The Thieves of Frankia

Related Locations

• Eschbach
• The Eschbach Shields