Characters

• Chartreuse – There are enemies here, villains older than the elven nations.
• Eldrox – The necrotic energy of the Crimson Lotus and the cult of the Black Harbinger has permanently tainted the land around Blightwillow.
• Helm – There is no greater way to support the will of St. Cuthbert than ending the necromancy of the Black Harbinger.
• Radon – The mercenaries aren’t really into this. He can see in their eyes that they’re just here for the money.
• Voxi – The obelisks are physical artifacts, ancient machines, used to connect the abyss to the world. They are both beacons and energy sources.
• Zaffre – The draw of the twisted undead lies thick here, souls used as energy for a war between demon princes.

Strong Start

Skeletons start crawling out of the ground, then specters. Whatever terrible ritual grows in the depths of Blightwillow. A handful of mercenary veterans seek what happened to the guards of Blightwillow.

Scenes

• The dead awaken. Voxi feels an artifact at work.

Secret and Clues

• [ ] Gorum the Crimson Lotus has a piece of another obelisk he’s empowering to find the one below Valentin’s Folly..
• [ ] Gorum isn’t a priest, he’s an artificer who knows that the obelisks and the Black Cathedral are an ancient machine that opens a gateway between the Abyss and Oerth.
• [ ] The obelisk below Valentin’s Folly is missing a key that no one has found. The key lies within Valentin’s Folly. It is a small slab of black stone or metal, featureless until used when it becomes any sort of tool the wielder can use. +2 All-Purpose Tool. It is known as the Shard of Abysm.
• [ ] Gorum is using the Shard of Abysm to awaken the obelisk shard he has so he can find and unlock the obelisk beneath the Shadowed Keep.
• [ ] In their construction of Valentin’s Folly, the dwarves that Valentin Ironwolf hired to build his keep and the dungeons below found an ancient chamber containing a black obelisk. Those that touched it went berserk, murdering their friends. The others sealed the remaining dwarves within.
• [ ] Valentin used a guardian he had discovered during his journey to guard the vault. The dwarves then hid its entrance deep within the Shadowed Keep so none would find it.
• [ ] Nightmares plagued the Ironwolves and their hired bands, orc marauders attacked from above and goblin hunters attacked from below – all drawn to the call of the obelisk.
• [ ] Gorum has sent an acolyte, a dwarf priest of the Black Harbinger named Jaane Felblade. She is accompanied by a handful of cult fanatics of the Black Harbinger, undead reserves, and mercenaries of the Iron Drakes.