Boranel ir'Wynarn, King of Breland has jointly organised with Oargev ir'Wynarn a 1,000 man strong expedition into The Mournland, the purpose of which is to find a cause for The Day of Mourning, and potentially a way to reclaim any of the land somehow, or even reverse it. There is also the question of rumours regrading the so-called Lord of Blades and his army, and so the expedition hopes to find more information with regards to him. Oargev is still bent on restoring Cyre and finding vengeance on those who destroyed it, and has purposefully put himself forward to lead the expedition. Until now, only smaller groups have entered the Mournland. They either haven't returned, or have returned reporting on the strange, otherworldly goings on within the mists, rarely having penetrated them far, with many coming back mad. Maddox, Wulf, and Lanky have all put themselves forward for the expedition for their own various reasons, be it to seek the restoration of Cyre, or the temptation of the 200 gold reward, or anything inbetween.
Leaving the final settlement before the mists, Vathirond, whilst the King observes, Oargev gave a stirring speech, stating that there was no place for cowards on this journey, that many may never return, likely forfeiting their lives, but that they do so for the greater good of the Cyran people. Crowds cheered as the expedition left town and headed into the unknown.
As the expedition ventured into the Mournland, the mists became thicker and thicker as they pushed over barren wasteland. They moved on throughout the day, hoping to see an end to the fog. Magical energy seemed everywhere, with the members of the expedition noticeably feeling the arcane power somehow. As if from nowhere, a magical storm started. The air was charged with static and bolts of lightning fired down. Several men were struck, some with bodies splitting in two, others with heads exploding, spraying bone and brain matter over comrades. Maddox was hit by a bolt, but it wasn't fatal. Some sort of Vortex enveloped Maddox, Wulf and Lanky, and then everything went dark...
The three of them awoke on the floor of a forest to much confusion, with no-one else about, and everything silent. After some basic introductions (they hadn't previously been acquainted on the expedition), they made a few observations: It was noticeably colder here, and there were some unrecognisable mountains in the distance. The trees still had autumnal leaves, whereas back in Breland the leaves were all gone for the winter. And some of the trees were completely unrecognisable to Wulf, despite his nature know-how. While they puzzled over this, Wulf heard something approach, and quickly spun, drawing his bow.
A man, drawing his own bow, was caught out by Wulf. He shouted that he meant no harm and wanted to talk. He introduced himself as Taveck, and asked the others if they'd come from Breland. When they stated they had, he made an unbelievable revelation---that they had somehow been transported to a completely different world by some sort of portal in the Mournland, and that they would need to trust him to ensure their survival. The party eventually decided that he seemed trustworthy, and that in any case, they didn't have much choice but to trust him.
Taveck gave them some background information on where they were: They were in the far north of an old, dead, human kingdom known as Alberetor. The land here had been subjected to blight and pestilence due to a war with necromancers that, although won around 20 years ago, had proved devastating to the land. Legend told that the humans originated from a civilisation north of nearby mountain range, The Titans, and so after sending scouting parties ahead to investigate, the kingdom had moved north, to more fertile land, and was named Ambria. The capital, Yndaros, was founded on the ruins of a 200 year old city of a past human civilisation (presumably the ancestors of the Ambrians), and it was believed that the massive forest even further north, contains the ruins of the 1,000 year old human civilisation of Symbaroum.
Tevick himself claimed to have been in this world for a few years. He said that he was one of The Returners, the group of around 200 known people from Eberron, working covertly to try to find a way back home. They were completely unknown to all natives the the world. He then said that each of the party would need some sort of cover story to hide who they really were in the world. For example, Wulf could claim to be an urchin or runaway Changling from the elves. Maddox a native Ambrian, and Lanky their Ogre servant. Taveck stated that his current role was to find travellers from Eberron and send them to the Returners headquarters in the town of Thistle Hold. And that once there, they would need to make a life for themselves in this world.
He then spoke of how the Returners were working hard in the mysterious forest of Davokar, trying to penetrate ancient ruins in order to find ancient magic to allow them a way back home. It seemed unlikely but there was hope amongst many of them. Others, it seemed, had grown to love their life here and would possible not even want to return home.
He told the party they would need to make their way to the The Red Boar tavern in Thistle Hold and say that Taveck sent them. Then he took them to a nearby caravan---There were still some stragglers leaving the old land for various reasons: some stayed behind trying to someone cultivate and live off the dead land futilely, others had since come back to loot long deserted cities. For whatever reason there were still caravans heading through the mountains to the new land, and Taveck thought it best the party tried to tag on to one of these. He gave the party a booklet with basic knowledge on the history, geography, peoples, factions, and religion of the land.
The caravan was made up of about 40 wagons and there were a dozen campfires. Taveck knew some of them, and introduced the part to Telk, a talkative mule-keeper and Edira, a priestess of the Sun God and Law Giver, Prios, who seemed to keep herself to herself. He then left the party, with no more instruction that to make it through the mountains and to reach Thistle Hold. Telk was chatty but the party opted to not reveal much about themselves. Some others were present around the campfire; the pathfinders Belun and Ludo. There was a sour mood in the air; there had been some news that he caravan may be stopping over the winter, for there was worry that the pass throughout the mountains was going to be too thick with snow for travel already.
Soon another man appeared, and whispered something clumsily to Telk. Everyone heard it---One of the caravan masters, Master Argasto was going to attempt the journey, but he needed more able body crew to assist him. The newcomer and Telk soon snuck off towards another tent, as did the others round the campfire, leaving the party alone. Lanky decided to go investigate, and followed them to a large, grand looking tent. Belun and Ludo soon came out of the tent with a smile, bragging that they had been accepted into Argasto's caravan, due to the fact that they had traversed the Titans many times already. Next, Telk and his friend (who has introduced himself as another mule-leeper, Keler) went in and came out looking pleased. Finally, Edira was called in along with Lanky.
Argasto was a plump, bald human, and clearly in charge. Edira quickly pulled an interesting looking stone artefact from her bag, and stated she would be needed, for the Sun Stone's heat would make the hard journey a lot easier. Argasto was satisfied with this, so she left again. He asked Lanky what he had to offer, and Lanky stated that he and his friends could provide protection from beasts for the journey. Argasoto agreed to take the three of them, providing they could show their worth in combat against his own crew.
Lanky went and got Maddox and Wulf, and the trial began. The fight was to be with non-lethal weapons only, such as the flat of a blade. They were to fight four of Argasto's crew. Wulf showed his prowess with the bow, hitting the target with corked arrows. Lanky struggled to hit anyone, but Maddox unleashed some serious magic, knocking out one of the guards. At this, Argosto angrily stopped the fight, accusing Maddox of being too dangerous - his man was almost killed. However, he accepted that nine foot tall ogre was too good an opportunity to miss out on, and Maddox had clearly proved himself a powerful mage, and Wulf a great archer. The party were accepted into the caravan, and were to be ready to leave at first light. They used the remaining hours of the evening to read up on Taveck's booklet.
The next morning, the caravan set off. Along with the party was Master Argasto and his men, Telk, Keler, Belun, Ludo, Edira, and a member of the Black Cloaks by the name of Lestra. The weather was relatively good, with no rain or snow, and little wind. Argasto was asking Edira for advice on he weather, which she claimed to sense as if told by Prios himself. At camp later on, Edira went off on her own t a nearby river to wash her clothes. The party tracked her as part of their remit to protect her and the Sun Stone. However, when she made them turn their backs to allow her to get changed, someone must've stolen the stone, for she started shrieking "Thief, thief!" and even blamed the party at one points. Maddox and Wulf quickly found a trail of footprints in the mud and set off in a hurry to get the Sun Stone back. At one point they both lost the trail, but Lanky managed to pick it up.
They came upon a field by the river, with the half-ruined tower of a watermill. Just in the nick of time, Wulf noticed a bear trap, and stopped Lanky from walking right into it. However, he fired an arrow into it, setting it off and alerting someone in the tower. A bolt fired out, narrowly missing them. They quickly made up the grounf to the tower, whilst dodging crossbow bolts. As Lanky got close, he saw that it was Keler, the mule-keeper, in the window. He must have stolen the Sun Stone. Lanky raced up the ladder, somehow avoid more shots coming from the top of the ladder.
As he reached the top and climbed into the room, Keler started screaming "You will regret this! The undead Mal Rogan will chop you to pieces. Not even death could beat him!" However, he was cut short as Lanky pushed him through the window, to the floor 30 feet below. Keler landed with a crunch. he then started shouting to someone that he had the Sun Stone, and to come quickly, but then Maddox and Wulf others made short work of him, killing him. The party spotted who Keler had ben calling to. There were 3 figures a minute or so away. Not wanting to risk a fight with a potentially deadly enemy, than ran back to the caravan. Lanky managed to get a look at the lead of the group, and it did appear to be some sort of undead creature.
Back at the caravan, Argasto seemed worried about this development. It turned out that Mal Rogan used to be a Queens' guard of Alberator, known as Rogan Gorinder. When he lost his arm in combat, his wound festered, but instead of dying, he arose as an undead. He had since created a robber band and as terrorising the land. The caravan set of quickly, knowing they had safety in numbers if Mal Rogan came after them. The party quizzed Telk, wondering if he had known anything about his friend, Keler, in terms of his association with Mal Rogan. Telk seemed shocked at the news, saying he knew that Keler had a shady past with the robbers, but that he had thought he had left all that behind for a new life as a mule-keeper. Madox told him off for not divulging this information sooner.
A couple of days late,r, whilst gathering firewood a couple of days in, a scream was heard, as well as a the roar of a beast. Upon investigation, the party found a large hunger wolf, as well as several smaller Jakars confronting Belun, Ludo and Lestra. They handled the smaller wolves, whilst the party fought a deadly battle against the hunger wolf. They did well to avoid its attacks at first, though soon Maddox went down to a nasty bite. Eventually they prevailed, the jakars killed, and the large wolf fled.
Whilst Edira healed Maddox, Lestra bounded after the hunger wolf to finish it off. Upon finding her and the corpse, the corpse was transformed into a dead Elf, with a ring of The Iron Pact. Lestra was very worried about this - she mentioned that Elves would not be this far south without good reason, and that there would in all probability be more. She eyed the group with suspicion as she said this. As a member of the Black Cloaks, they knew she was interested in blighted creatures, and there was a possibility that the Elves were after the same thing - The Iron Pact was known for its intolerance for those entering Davokar, who may well have been struck down with blight. Lestra insisted the party go with her to talk to Argasto about this news.
He seemed worried about this as well, fearing more elves were near, however the party did not think to attempt to track where the wolves had come from. The party then noticed Lestra eyeing Belun and Ludo with suspicion, and then realised that the pathfinders had been awfully quiet during this whole event. Maddox questioned them as good cop, Lestra as bad cop, and they buckled. They stated that they thought the Elves were here for them, and they told their story. A couple of months back, they had been part of an expedition into Davokar, with a leader named Gorak and his second, the Changling, Alahara. They came upon the ruins of an ancient king, and looted the treasure. The whole group shared out the treasure and briefly lived like kings back in Thistle Hold, however all Gorak had been interested in was a Copper Crown, merged with the dead kings cranium. One night they all had a feel of the crown. It felt warm to the touch and they felt the dead eyes staring back at them.
One by one members of the group that ventured into Davakar starting to go missing or dropped dead. Gorak and Alahara were seen talking the the mayor of Thistle Hold, Lasifor Nightpitch, but then also disappeared. Belun and Ludo decided it was safest to skip town and headed south. They were now on their way back, thinking that whatever was out to get them may have forgotten by now. Which was clearly not the case. Lestra mentioned that she had cast Shadow Sight on the pair, and could see that they were affected by blight sickness. She requested Argasto that he put them in shackles, so that she could take them to the monastery of the Twilight Friars (Black Cloaks) for study and healing, but he said that he would make a decision in the morning.
Soon, two more Elves appeared, one riding an elk and introducing himself as Godrai, and his beast-like companian, Saran-Ri. They told how Belun and Ludo had violated the treaties, and tunnelled too deep into the soil of Davokar. And that they were-blight stricken and must be purged. They said they would be back for the pair of them at sundown, and that there would be blood if they were refused. The caravan was in debate. Lestra was still calling for the two of them to be shackled so she could take them to the monastery, and that they would have to fight the Elves to the death either way i.e. that the Elves would kill everyone, no matter what the decision. Maddox realised she was not telling the whole truth; he felt that the Elves only wanted Belun and Ludo, and would leave the rest of the caravan alone if they complied. It was clear Lestra had an agenda to take the two to her order for "research", at whatever the cost. Others wanted to hand them over to the Elves, believing this would avoid confrontation.
Argasto ordered them shackled anyway, while a decision was being made. Upon doing this, Belun started to writhe around on the floor. Then, something started to claw its way out of his skin. A towering creature with bare muscles and fingers like knives, and outgrowths like a pointy crown from its skull. The party were forced to fight and slaw it, before it also ripped them apart. Fortunately, it was not as tough a battle as the shape-shifting Elf.
They then had a vote. Wulf voted to attempt to save Ludo by sending him with Lestra to the monastery, but he was outvoted by Lanky and Maddox. The decision was made to hand Ludo over. Lestra was disappointed by this, saying that it was "a waste of life, and the loss of an opportunity to identify, study, and cleanse blight, in order to breathe life into Prios and purify the realm of evil." Godrai and Saran-Ri came back at sundown, and Ludo was handed over, screaming and begging for his life. Eventually though, he seemed to accept his fate. Some turned their backs on what happened next, and some watched. Godrai drew a sword, and sliced Ludo's head off in one stroke.
The caravan continued for another week, and the weather was kind. They were soon out of the Titans, and onto the Ambrian side of the mountain range. The land looked fertile, with farmlands, glittering rivers and swaying fields. They could see trees burning, making way for more fields, and the great captial of Yndaros could faintly be made out in the distance. The party imagined Thistle Hold and Davokar even further away. The other members of the caravan had hope in their eyes, now that they had finally reached the Promised Land.
Argasto was now fond of Maddox, Lanky, and Wulf, having seen their prowess in battle first-hand. He told them to look out for him if they were ever in Yndaros Telk couldn't believe the events of the past few days, constantly talking about the adventures he'd had, clearly in awe of the arty. Lestra attempted to educated the party on the Lawgiver's (Prios') new realm, with more religious talk. The caravan was heading to Yndaros, but Edira asked the party if they would accompany her as guards all the way to Thistle Hold, to which they agreed. The caravan continued on down from the slopes of the Titan's, towards the capital city...