Wake the Dead PCs
Kaerlamagna
Loris Dalon
Reine Desdémona
Wake the Dead NPCs
Adam Mallinger
Human
Captain of the Guard for the town of Gratz
Later is indirectly featured in The Foe of Many Faces Returns through his child, Countess Olympia Mallinger
A human "bard" who was singing a story about Vecna at the start of session
Lich who was the BBEG of the game
Later featured in The Foe of Many Faces Returns as the instigator of some major plot points, as well as the patron of Orenoi
The cool magic swamp tree
Later featured in The Foe of Many Faces Returns as patron of Otto
Synopsis
Kaerlamagna, Loris, and Reine arrive in the Moody Horse tavern in the town of Gratz to discuss what is going on in the nearby swamp with captain of the guard, Adam Mallinger. He informs them that they basically have no idea what is going on beyond animals behaving strangely and a strange smell coming from the swamp. Five other parties of adventurers have gone into the swamp and failed to return, so they have called in the strongest adventurers to deal with the problem before it can get out of hand.
As the party is talking to Adam they notice a woman at the other side of the bar is singing softly. When they listen closer they can hear that she is singing a tale about a party of adventurers who defeated the Undying King with the help of Lady Remeny of Gratz about 70 years ago. They have a conversation about Vecna with the singing woman and she gives the party a mysterious rock that she claims will help them on their adventure. As they turn away the woman shouts “Good luck” and as the party turns back to wave goodbye they can see that she is suddenly wearing a hat and her hair has become long, red, and curly.
After the party leaves the tavern they attempt to identify the rock that was given to them but all they can discover is that it is a magic item that may help them if they are in danger. As they near the swamp they notice a group of giant rats guarding the entrance. Loris very quickly dispatches most of them, and as one tries to run away and warn Vecna that they are coming, Loris shoots the last rat as well. As they get inside the swamp they find that their path is blocked by a giant web full of giant spiders. The web and spiders in it are set on fire, but one of them is able to escape and warn Vecna that another group of adventurers is coming to try and stop him.
As they enter the center of the swamp they see Vecna at the base of a giant glowing cypress tree casually reading a book, seemingly unconcerned that they are there to try and kill him. As he is trying to finish his Evil Villain Monologue the party decides to surprise attack him, but only one arrow from Loris hits before Vecna is able to teleport away and dodge the remaining moves from the party. Vecna is defeated fairly quickly, finished off by two arrows from Loris with one shot in his mouth to keep him from further rambling in his annoying voice (said to be reminiscent of Kix from Unprepared Casters). As Vecna is dying, the tree raps one of its roots around his body and drags him down into the ground.
After Vecna has died, a green glowing figure appears at the base of the tree. She claims that she herself is the tree and thanks the party for defeating Vecna, as he was trying to use the tree’s magic to raise an army of undead throughout Kauvet all at once. She hands them Vecna’s Book of Vile Darkness so that it can be kept safe. Reine accepts the task of holding on to the book.
The party heads back to the tavern to celebrate their victory and they are rewarded with 5,000 gold each. Kaerlamagna decides to buy the tavern with her money, and Loris refuses the reward as they have decided to stay in Gratz to guard the swamp and make sure Vecna cannot escape. They speak to the woman they met at the beginning of their quest again, though now she appears to be faintly glowing and claims she could have gone into the swamp and killed Vecna by herself if she wasn’t “Busy helping out other adventurers and such.” The woman reveals that the rock they were given is a magic item known as the Heart of Glory with the power to bring a fallen ally back to life. The adventurers ask her what her name is and she replies “You may call me Rem.” Adam attempts to join the conversation multiple times but is repeatedly told to shut up and/or threatened by the party. After Kaerlamagna buys the bar, Adam is promptly kicked out. Loris and Kaerlamagna settle into their new lives in the town of Gratz and Reine returns to the same duties she has been doing before the adventure with an interesting new book she may or may not decide to make use of in the future.
Trivia
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