[Mozenwrathe]

Title:

And That's Where I Left It... (part of the Undead Isles series of events)


Author(s):

Garnet FalconDance and Mozenwrathe


Region Located:

The Undead Isles, The Yawning Portal Inn, one of the new taverns opening up


Concept:

Typical "call and response" quest, where you get the quest, you find the object, you bring it back for points on your "Undermountain Express Card." Of course, part of the problem is where the item is located. Another problem is what the object is supposed to be. And third problem is... where the blasted trinket is located. I mean, how does a CLERIC lose an artifact of that nature in the middle of a bunch of undead?! Secondly, what the heck was Miltiades doing outside of the inn anyway? Didn't he just pop into existence when Durnan built the inn? As well, what in the name of Mystra is stopping the old guy from getting it himself? Or sending some other follower of Tyr in to pick it up. It's not as if there's something waiting just for him, right? Oh, snap, there IS something there waiting for him, specificially. Okay, forget what I said - just go in and get the dang thing for him. Try not to mention his name when you do it...

As for the OTHER person involved, somehow you suspect something is up with them. I mean, what are the chances that two people could have lost something powerful to the same creature outside of the Undermountain? Okay, aside from dragons, powerful wizards, and the local constibulary. But why that creature? And what is it really that this second person wants with the item if and when you get it back for them?


Storyline:

When talking to Miltiades, you notice he has a certain wistful look in his eye. Being an adventurer, you inquire about what is wrong. He goes into a tale of when he was much younger (probably before the birth of Waterdeep at HIS age) how he was attempting to clear the Undead Isles of the Damned and the Doomed. A valiant attempt, he and his allies were mostly successful until they went out to one of the southern penninsulas of the Isle itself. Finding what they thought was merely an abandoned caravan wagon, they went inside to investigate. What they found, however, almost drove the majority of them completely insane. His best friend was just shy of slain, and the remainder of them beat a hasty retreat. The creature that they faced was not only powerful, but could drag the memories from their heads and use it against them. Still, Miltiades did the one thing he could to save them all - hurled his Blessed Holy Symbol Of Tyr coated in holy water at the abominable creation in order to buy them time. And buy them time it did, but at a terrible cost: the creature now waits for Miltiades' return in order to finish the job it started. Now Miltiades wishes for you to get the item back for him. For any cleric that does it, he has something extra for them as a reward.

If you roam around Waterdeep a little more, there are a few other inns and taverns you can go into. One of them will feature a rather comely young woman drinking herself into oblivion. Upon approach, you'll see despite her youth she has a rather battle hardened look to her. If you enquire as to "her story" from the bartender, he'll tell you about how her friends went questing in the Undead Isles (Mistake #1) without a cleric amongst them (Mistake #2) and tried to break into an abandoned gypsy caravan (Mistakes #3, #4, AND #5). They returned somehow, but were not the same since. In order to leave (which is where you get very suspicious) they were told to leave behind something important to each of them. The first of the five companions left behind a powerful sword which he had saved for years to purchase. The second and third of the companions left behind their spellbooks, based on over a decade of research. The fourth of the five abandoned his circlet, custom-made for him by his patrons. And the fifth... left behind the young woman's violin. How he had it in his possession is another tale, but they were allowed to go free. That was less than two weeks ago. All of them have vanished from the streets of Waterdeep since then, and it's strongly suspected they were all lured back to the Undead Isle. What is more disturbing is that no seafaring merchant recalls giving them passage back to the Isle to begin with. Perhaps if the adventurers could go to the Isle (a risky venture indeed) and find out for the woman the fate of her friends and her violin?


Level Requirements:

something epic would be highly advised. a party going there successfully would have at least one of each of the following: a bard, a rogue, and a cleric.


Alignment Kicks:

Success would send the party members towards Lawful Good (for Miltiades' quest) and Good (for the second quest). Evil characters can always do certain other quests to snap them back to the land of wickedness. If scripted in a certain way, you could give one response upon completion to get the good or lawful good kicks, and demand a cash reward instead in order to remain neutral. Evil quests will be coming from my brain sooner or later, don't worry.


Creatures Involved:

- all the variant skeletal creatures on the Undead Isles
- more vampires, awakened vampires, vampire mages, vampire priests
- all the variant zombie creatures on the Undead Isles
- awakened vampire mages, awakened vampire priests, awakened vampire assassins (yes, brand NEW!)
- braineater troll zombies, fleshrender ogre zombies, howling orc horde undead
- new revenant types more powerful than before


Boss Creatures Involved:

Can't actually mention here, but I can tell you I would be visiting a few websites in order to get the right information for them. By the way, if you haven't guessed yet, the gypsy caravan wagon is "larger within" than on the outside. I can't mention why that is, either, but most with a lot of AD&D experience will realize what's happened within minutes of facing against their new foes.


Items To Be Acquired:

- two new [ set ] items lurking somewhere within the caravan wagon...
- three magical keys, two of which shall be on the creatures you have to face
- Miltiades' Blessed Holy Symbol Of Tyr and Wondrous Violin Of The Mistress Of Song
- two spellbooks, one circlet, one magical greatsword
- (at least) four very unlucky and foolish adventurers if they are still alive
- one very interesting ring...


Notes On This Jump-Off:

Not the best idea I have had, but I really like this one. It would be incorporating a few different concepts I have had in my head. One of them will be revisited in another Jump-Off idea. This was borne while on the Undead Isle with Garnet FalconDance. The four items of the friends I am not sure if they'd be useable or not. I'd prefer if they weren't if there was no way to gain evil points on this quest. If it was possible to earn evil points (not giving items back, slaying the companions, doing profane things to the Holy Symbol, swearing allegiance to whatever is within the caravan wagon, et cetera) then it'd be fine for all those items to be useable by the player characters. It would be important for the players to note how all those who went into this caravan wagon were MALE, so it would give them some idea of what they would have to do or face.