Damned be thy name

"Acane... What are you doing?"

I'm waiting in my cold cell, reflecting on my past life, when the bell begins to chime; I don't have much time, because at 5 o'clock, they take me to the Gallows pole.

The sands of time, for me are running low.

"Running low...."

When the priest comes to give me the last rites, I take a look through the bars at the last sights of a world that has gone very wrong for me. Everything that happened must have been some sort of error. Now it's hard to stop the surmounting terror. Is this really the end or just a crazy dream? Somebody please tell me that I'm dreaming....

"You are not dreaming. This is real. But I can help you..."

It's not easy to stop from screaming. Words escape me when I try to speak. Tears flow, but why am I crying? After all I'm not afraid of dying. I never believed there would never be an end...

"But it does not have to end like this. All you have to do is let me help you..."

As the guards bring me out in the courtyard, somebody crys from a cell "Gods be with you!". I have to smile. None of them gods would not let me die. As I walk, all my life drifts before me. And though the end is near, I am not sorry.

"You were freed from the damned yet you believe this is your fate?"

As my executioner ties the rope around my neck, I wish I found the strength to speak. Mark my words, believe my soul lives on. I'm not worried now that I going. I'm going beyond to seek the truth. When you know your time is close at hand, you begin to understand that life is just a strange illusion.

"Although it might seems like an illusion, it is all you have. Are you ready to lose it?"

The traps open and then I fall. My heart stops and I wait for my death. When I reach the end my neck cracks but does not snap. The horror fills me as I try to gasp for air. Pain flares up as I suffocate. The cheers of the crowd fade fast and I'm left alone in agony.

"The faithless and the damned will welcome you..."

I'm losing consciousness. There is nothing peaceful about death. There is only fear, pain and loneliness.

I don't want to die.

I know....

On the trail of the Heroes...

The damp underground tunnels proved to be very deadly, and the heroes found that out within minutes.

As Aishar went exploring a direction, he found a man laying amongs rocks and dirts, barely conscious. Preoccupied by the man, he did not notice that a puddle of dark water he had walked past was actually moving, crawling toward him. But Auburn's keen eye picked the subtle movement as he moved closer. Auburn's asked Fylikiel what he thought of a moving puddle of dark water, and as the stranger was asking if he was talking to Fylikiel Zerfis, the deadly Black Pudding attacked. The fight was a tough one. They could not escape the acidic grasp of the utterly unintelligent creatue whose sole purpose in existence is to consume. Realizing that if not for the group of adventurers, he probably would have been the next meal, the Warlock Liw joined the fight with his eldritch magic. Which proved critical in the fight, as every physical blow to the ooze splattered it around the tunnel, and every splatters turned to be lethal opponents also. Magic won the fight with Fylikiel and Liw's unrelelenting assaults, while Auburn was trying his best to keep him and Aishar alive. Acane tried her best, but she was more busy killing the Black pudding spawns than the actual threat.

The new comer, having found his quarry, signaled his success to his employer, Fylikiel's sister, and did not think secrecy necessary. What his sister wants with him remains a mystery, but these were matters for later, as they soon found themselves caught in another deadly situation: The tide was rising, flooding the tunnel they were in.

Perhaps the closest they came with death, panick was close, but they soon collected their wits and rushed as best they could down the tunnel. they soon gave up finding a tunnel up, as the water came crashing always harder, and climbing fast. Fylikiel used his dust of creation to form a small raft, barely fit for more than one, but which proved critical in their survival. Liw joined force with him to paddle them faster downstream, hoping to find a cove or a tunnel, while Aishar, unimpressed with the threat as he could breathe easily underwater, tied a rope to their raft, and helped Auburn and Acane catch it. Auburn, most of all, proved his heroism and valor in the face of death, as Acane was tugged by the undertow and drawn underwater. He helped her back up, and kept his grip on her in their flight down the tunnel, although it nearly cost him dearly as she was dragging him down. Aishar was in time with the rope, and soon Acane was able to fight the panic and stay alive.

Aishar, swimming forward with all his might, was able to fight the water's pull and push himself into a natural cover underground, where he set hold and tried to keep his friends from flowing further. Fylikiel used his magic to teleport himself out of the water and help Aishar out, and tug at the rope. And as the heroes were desperately trying to fight the deadly water, Kruthik attacked them! With not a second of break, Fylikiel went on taking the fight to the Kruthiks, taking hard and painful hits while buying Aishar time to save the others.

In the end, they were victorious and safe... But wet and exhausted. They decided to rest for a few hours and they accepted Liw as one of them, trusting him instinctly after such ordeals.

Once well rested, they went on down the tunnels, trying to follow the paths taken most frequently and recently, until they walked into a large cavern crawling with kruthiks. Over 20 of them, rushing about, sorting and transporting human bodies, many of them hurt or sick but still alive and screaming in agony. As war packs of Kruthiks came in and out of the cavern, they were spotted and had to face over a dozen of the creatures, while the smaller ones run away, carrying the bodies they could get before leaving.

The fight was a slaughter, as Fylikiel's potent magic mowed through the lesser Kruthiks, and the others finished the stronger ones, but the whole battle was not much of a challenge. The real challenging part followed, as Aishar went to the cage and pit of bodies, to see mind numbing horrors of agony and desperation. He soon realized the living were probably all infected with the necrotic plague they had witnessed, and Aishar also fears he's been again contaminated. Putting an end to their misery, he cremated them all with his green fire magic.

On they went, barely avoiding a trap laid by human hands, and finding their way down to a chamber filled with coccoons. Not of Kruthiks, but of what they dont know. The place is covered with what Fylikiel immediately recognized as deadly Doomspores mushrooms, and at the end of the room, on the other side of the coccoons and doomspores, was a large opening leading further down.

What horrible truth is growing inside these coccoons? How will they get close enough to examine them? How deep are they underground and how long until they find the heart of the hive? Soon, they fear, they will find out...

Lyrlia Zerfis meets Liw Snadtar

" It is a blessing we ran into each other. With the Flaming Fist scouring the lands for undead and lizardfolks, recruiting a good mercenary in Baldur's Gate is not as easy as you'd think.", started Lyrlia Zerfis, sitting in front of a middle aged half-elf.

"I told you, I am not a mercenary...", objected Liw Snadtar, but seeing what Liw laid on the table next to the bottle of wine, he paused a second then added, "... but there is always room for discussion.".

Lyrlia smiled as she removed the cloth from around a very special pair of bracers, showing gold, gems and magical runes.

"Of course, I remember, you made it quite clear. And I do not require a simple mercenary, which is why I am interested in you. You see, I come from far, and in this region, I know no one. Yet, I have come to search for someone and have to cover a great deal of lands to find him. I do not wish to hire you to kill or abduct. Simply to find. But it will be dangerous, especially now...", she let her voice trail...

"... now that the lands between here and Waterdeep are slowly being infected with undeath.", the half-elf said, picking up where the eladrin had left, repeating words she had told him earlier. He had recently arrived from Amn and completed what he had come to do in Baldur's Gate. He had found the Miracle city under a curfew and unusually strict guard, which was unheard of in the last decades.

"And this, I assume, is my payment?" he added, referring to the bracers with his eyes.

"You are almost right. This is you first payment", she correted. "It has potent magic I am sure you will have good use for, Warlock", as Liw was about to interrupt, she rose a hand. "No need to ask how I can tell, I just know. Take it for now. When we next meet, I'll have more for you. As for the question you're about to ask, let me answer... His name is Fylikiel Zerfis and he is my brother".

Liw was silent a second, wondering for a moment if the eladrin was actually reading his mind, or just deducing that this was the only logical question he could have asked. And if his eldritch ties were really so apparent. Lyrlia went on.

"He travels with adventurers from Waterdeep. Recently returned from a trip to the Moonshae Isles, they took upon themselves to investigate necrotic attacks along the sword coast. They were also appointed by a high ranking Flaming Fist officer for the same purpose. I have looked accross the region for this Galarnok Partack, and could not find him. Nor could I find Stuh Ryback, a well respected paladin from Waterdeep, who is also investigating these undead attacks".

She paused a second to let the warlock take it all in. He seemed suspicious for a second...

"You mean to tell me I am to track an adventurer along the sword coast, as he tracks zombies, just to tell him his sister is looking for him? I don't buy it".

Lyrlia feigned surprise, that much was obvious to Liw. She expected him to inquire more, of course.

"You are right, there is more to it. ", she went on, "Truth is, my brother disappeared decades ago from my family's quarters. We had thought him dead after triggering wild and powerfull magical traps from ancient sealed tomes. And now, he is back and alive".

Liw nodded. That made more sense. Also, he suspected this lost brother possessed something that was precious, that very same thing that had been trapped. But that much, he did not share with Lyrlia. In Amn, you learn to not voice such hypothesis without proofs. Better that she didn't know what he suspected.

"And how will I be able to tell that he's really your brother?", he asked simply.

"He bears a spellscar in the shape of a snake."

The Twins of the Feywild

Fylikiel invoked magic lights, revealing the cover of the old tome. The Book of Uld, the cover said in an ancient language, obfuscated by old magic. The turned the cover and passed the first pages where the author, Yogg'Sar, presented himself. He leaged through a few pages, then his eyes come to rest on a page with notes and sketches added in the margins; someone had deciphered these writings and added notes and comments to the text...

The Twins

The Sundering had left the world broken and the remnants of civilizations were struggling to find their place in a world without the enlightened ones. Few such races had taken refuge, or were dragged, into other worlds (planes) . From one such realm, a realm of dreams and illusions (feywild), came the moon folks (eladrins!) . Their world had strong ties with this one, through forests and mires, and their knowledge of magic was great.

In my time, two of their kingdoms stood as grand over the others. They were led by twin brothers of the same name. The Quel'Danas realms were properous kingdoms of high magical deeds, mirrors of each others. One such realm was in the neverending sunrise (eastern) forests (the dales? Myth Drannor?), the other was along the great sunset sea ( west, the sea of swords). The twins traveled and experimented through this world and others, until the day they released beast of untold power from a locked distant and twisted world (the farrealm? the elemental chaos?). The beast devastated the lands and the twins fought it. It was slain, but one brother died. And that was the beginning... So great was the brothers tie that the dead Quel'Danas refused to pass away and he rose back from the ashes of the cataclyms that had killed him. Death had claimed his mind though and with his resurrection, Quel'Danas of the Sunset sea discovered mastery over death and the undead, binding his essence with a world of tears and shadows (could be the shadowfell) .

The two kingdoms soon became opposites and the tie of brotherhood became one of rivality. The coastal cities were abandonned, the moon folks died by hundreds before finding other homes or worlds. And the twin battled for years. The coast was dark with night and crawling with the dead, spreading like an infection accross the world.

This part of Uld almost turned black, if not for the final sacrifice of the living twin...

Fylikiel closed the book. He was puzzled. The writtings in this book were somewhat familiar, yet he did not know who could have deciphered the tome before him. Maybe his father, or an ancestor. How did that book come into his family?

On the trail of the Heroes...

The kruthik came out of the ground and attacked the group of villagers from the back. Luckily, the heroes were all there and Aishar was ready for it. What he was not ready for was the Direguard Deathbringer, a vile undead creature whose sole purpose is to kill. The undead seemed to be giving orders to the insects who attacked ferociously. The battle seemed hopeless when 2 more kruthicks appeared close to the villagers, charging them, trying to bring the bodies back. Acane and Fylikiel combined their efforts to protect the villagers, then turned their focus on the remaining threat: The Direguard. Joe Brandis seemed to shake out of his letargy when he saw his brother fighting valiantly, and he was able to handle 2 of the kruthiks on his own! Victorious, and with very little casualities, they decided to rest.

During that night, Fylikiel and Acane went scouting the coast and located an entrance on the side of a cliff, which could have been used by the Kruthiks.

The following day, they made it to the lighthouse, where they were welcomed by the priestesses and the few remaining guards. Turns out lizardfolks had been attacking them. They were glad to see the fishermen alive, and started working with them to feed everybody. Auburn charged his brother with the task of leading those men, a task Joe accepted as a challenge. Maybe was he still good for something after all.

After a night of rest, on the darkest Midsummer day the Realms have seen in years, our Heroes set forth to the cave entrance they had spotted next to the ambush. Crawling in the narrow tunnel, they descended into a larger passage, deep in the cliff, covered with slimy fungi and puddles of water darkened by the chalky black rocks of the cliff.

Thus starts their hunt for the Kruthik hive. What are they to encounter in the depth of the sword coast, they do not know, for none of them has ever explored the depths of their world...

The Book of Uld

For another night of Watch, Fylikiel looks around him carefully, making sure his companions are asleep and that everything is quiet... then he recites a simple enchantment producing a dim light, illuminating the cover of a leather bound tome. A tome he had in his possession for a very long time.

One of two tomes he has never been able to read. Ever.

The frustration bordering on madness forces him to open it, scrutinize it, analyze it every time he could. The only thing fascinating him more than dark secrets and ancient lores was Magic itself.

But now with the use of newly acquired dweomers, he hoped he could decipher the unintelligible texts of the grimoire. As he finished reciting the last words of his ritual, he set back his eyes on the cover, and for the first time, the glyphs formed words that his mind could interpret...

The Book of Uld, by Yogg'Sar

This grimoire has seen many millennia, yet remains almost unaltered by the ravages of time. The time of writing is thus very hard to determine, but whoever has set eyes on its ancient pages and were able to understand the cryptic words understood that the events detailed in these pages date from an age past, not too far from the Sundering. This book is written almost like a journal, detailing events witnessed or known by Yogg'Sar. Wars, creations, cataclyms and betrayals, little escaped the eye of Yogg'Sar of Uld.

On the trail of the Heroes...

Calixa dead, Hollow Hill keep is now deserted. Our heroes decided to spend the night and tend their wounds in the tower overlooking the keep. They discussed with the elves, asking that they watch over the keep and send words of any activity to Bunyan's Camp, which was the heroes' destination on the next day. The night before they left, Aishar received a very curious visit; the shardar-kai man who had survived their encounter a few days before. The dark man inquired about Aishar's fighting style, a very rare and specific style he had only witnessed in the Shadowfel and in one other location on Faerun, and practiced by specific individuals: The Shades of the Netheril empire. Aishar did not seem impressed by the questions and happily revealed everything he knew. The stranger then left with a promise to meet again.

The next day, their travel to the camp was unenventful, but once at Trollaxe's Lumbercamp, they were greeted by Daggerford patrolmen. Then after detailing the events at the keep to an angry Trollaxe, they were approached by a intriguing man who presented himself Baron Ollen of Daggerford. Apparently a very influencial merchand from the swordcoast who took a very personnal interest in these zombie infestations. He explained the situation: Undead creatures have started roaming about the region between Daggerford and the coast, and they are posing a threat to the locals and travelers. The heroes detailed their travels and reasons they were after these undeads. They told him about the Eladrin they were looking for, the meeting with Stuh Ryback and the implication of the Flaming Fist of Baldur's Gate. The Baron seemed taken aback from all these details, his mind working furiously to get a grasp on the situation...

Finally, the very same day, the heroes left for the fishing camp along the coast. Waiting there, looking over the isolated village, Auburn met someone he thought lost forever: his brother. Having lost everything, his father, his ship, his brother, his arm and his pride, Auburn's older brother had also seemingly lost his sanity. Drunk and dying of the same fever that had taken over Fylikiel, he was almost hopeless, but Auburn did not give up on him. They decided to save these poor fishermen. They brought up the bridge and convinced the people to follow them to Selune's Lighthouse, not far to the north.

So thus, along the swordcoast, our heroes are travelling with the remnant of a dying village, accross lands that are now crawling with the undeath... And as they passed a ravine they heard them... The kruthicks.