Session One

After their partial success in Shadowfell Keep, the heroes rest for the night. When they wake, they take care of some business before heading back to Fallcrest to report. They talk to Valthrun the Prescient and buy some provisions from him, and they talk to Lord Padraig. From Padraig they procure a promise that he will contact a friend of his in Bastion in order to learn whether or not he will come to Winterhaven to run Bairwin's now-abandoned store for the heroes. Once they've settled their business, they head out on the road.

On the way to Fallcrest, toward the end of the second day of travel, the heroes are caught in the start of a bad snowstorm. They hastily look for shelter and firewood, finding a cave in which to spend the night. Shava notices tracks around the cave that she recognizes as belonging to orcs, but it's too late to find shelter elsewhere, so they set up camp within the cave and post watches on both entrances: Chance on one side and Shava on the other. It's a good thing they do, because, as it nears dawn, they are attacked by orcs.

There are seven orcs, along with their pet dire wolf, and they attack both entrances at once. Shava spots them through the snowstorm immediately, getting some preemptive shots off at the orc leader and another orc with battle axes on long chains attached to his belt. Chance is not so lucky; he is immediately attacked by a pair of orcs and the dire wolf, and is knocked prone. While he is struggling to regain his feet, a third orc rushes past him and into the cave proper in order to attack the rest of the party, who are asleep. Luckily, Shava is able to shout a warning to her comrades, and they wake quickly.

The battle is short and brutal. One of the orcs tries to escape when he sees his companions slain, but Kraygin and Shava manage to cut him down before he is out of view. Chance, meanwhile, notices that the dire wolf has been mistreated by the orcs; it is wearing a barbed wire collar, and has clearly been abused to the point of rage and simply let loose on the party. He tries to calm it, managing to remove the collar, and prays to Avandra to heal its wounds, which she does. The wolf calms and stops attacking, and soon the party has a new companion.

The next morning, the party–dire wolf in tow–arrives at Fallcrest. They draw some stares as they parade the huge wolf through the town, but nobody stops them. When they arrive at the Warden headquarters, they find Warden Captain Garreth waiting for them. “Well,” he says, “What happened?” The party explains that, while the immediate threat of the bandits has been ended in Winterhaven, Kalarel escaped and managed to open a portal to the Shadowfell. Garreth nods. “Well, you screwed up, and I'm going to have to fix it. But right now we've got bigger problems.” Garreth explains that Fallcrest has been infected by a plague, and that the southeastern quarter of the town has been quarantined because of it. In addition, two members of the town council have been assassinated recently, and the Wardens have no leads. Finally, a new criminal gang–The Mockers–has begun to make their presence known in town, and there are hints that they are connected to the plague. “What I need you to do is find out what you can about the plague and the Mockers, try to stop them, and keep your eyes and ears open about the assassinations.”

With that, the heroes split up, each following up their own leads and pursuing their own goals. Chance goes to Fallcrest Manor, to stable his dire wolf companion with people who are used to stabling unusual mounts; Lord Warden Faren Markhelay's stables are experienced when it comes to that sort of thing. Kraygin goes to a museum to find a buyer for the ceremonial swords that the party was rewarded by Lord Padraig. Silus goes to see a contact of his, a fence named Vanity. He manages to learn from Vanity that the Mockers have their hands in drugs, contraband, burglary, prostitution, and protection rackets, and may indeed be connected to the plague. She further reveals that they have been painting an insignia around town, and shows it to Silus:

She also promises to look into the assassinations for him, as well as to find a buyer for the ceremonial swords.

Shava and Sredni, meanwhile, go to a tavern near the quarantine zone to gather information. Shava talks to the bartender first. He tells her that the Mockers are definitely behind the plague, and that they are lead by a man who calls himself Red-Eye. Sredni stiffens. “Kalder Red-Eye? He's dead.” The bartender shrugs. Shava calms Sredni down, then asks the bartender to set up a meeting with the Mockers. The bartender agrees, and Shava tells him to contact Elaine in a tavern near the Warden headquarters.

The pair then talk to an unhelpful halfling and a surly half-orc. The half-orc reveals that his entire family is dead because of the plague, and that he is leaving town tomorrow. He is angry that nobody is helping to cure the plague; specifically he names the Wardens of the Wood–a druidic sect to the west–and the priests of the Black Aerie, who are dedicated to the Raven Queen.

The group meets back at headquarters and shares information. Shortly afterward, Shava discovers that there is a message for Elaine at the tavern next door, a note that reads, “Hangman's Square. Midnight.” The group decides to patrol outside of the quarantine zone until near midnight, then go to Hangman's Square.

The patrol reveals nothing of note. When the party arrives at Hangman's Square, they find it deserted. Suspecting an ambush, they prepare an ambush of their own, with Sredni and Shava out in plain sight and everyone else hidden. After a short wait, something slithers up from within the sewers: an animated skin! It quickly climbs up onto the rooftop where Silus is waiting and attacks him; Silus teleports away quickly, leaving it alone on the rooftop. Then, a huge undead creature with a bastard sword and writhing entrails charges out of an alley and attacks Sredni and Shava. The group converges to attack the new threats, and while they are focused on them, five zombies climb out of the river behind them.

The party fights hard and eventually defeats the undead creatures. They examine the corpses and find pustules covering their faces: a tell-tale sign of the plague. More disturbing still, these undead are outside of the quarantine zone. They also determine that the plague is likely the result of tainted food or drink, but could be spread by bite; luckily, nobody was bitten in the attack.

They go back to headquarters to rest until morning. When morning comes, they go back to the tavern that Shava and Sredni had visited the day before to confront the bartender who set up the meeting. They find the tavern closed and locked, but they see the bartender sitting within, his back to the door. They knock, but there is no reaction. Silus teleports into the tavern, then summons Hethor to unlock the door for the others. When they examine the bartender, they find him dead; he has been strangled and his eyes have been gouged out, and he has clear signs of being infected with the plague. Sredni recognizes the gouged out eyes as a calling card of Kalder Red-Eye.

After informing the authorities of an infected victim outside the quarantine zone, the party decides that their next course of action is to go to the Black Aerie and enlist the help of the priests of the Raven Queen. Silus remembers–but does not reveal–that the high priestess of the Black Aerie is Isolde, his ex-lover.

The party makes the two-hour journey north to the temple. Silus hastily disguises himself, not wanting to draw Isolde's attention, but most of the priests are paying more attention to Chance. Chance leads the rest of the party to the altar, where Isolde stands with her back to them. “Isolde, we have come for your help.” He says.

She turns around, saying, “What can I do for . . . Judgement!” Her eyes are wide in disbelief as she looks at Chance. After a moment, she regains her composure. “Forgive me,” she says. “I mistook you for someone else.” This confuses Chance; as far as he knows, he is the only one if his kind. She reveals that Judgement was once an agent of the Raven Queen, and undertook missions to eliminate the Raven Queen's enemies and those who defied her laws by cheating death. He looked remarkably like Chance. Some time ago, however, Judgement forsook his vows and started killing without being told to, becoming a mere murderer rather than the righteous hand of the Raven Queen.

Chance then pleads their case, telling Isolde of the plague in Fallcrest and the fact that it animates its victims as undead monstrosities. She agrees to help, and says that she will meet the party in Fallcrest with a contingent of her priests and warriors. The party then leaves to go speak to the Wardens of the Wood, in order to enlist their aid. On the way, though, they are ambushed by gnolls!