The Sum of All Men
DM Name: Scathien (GalenDM)
Participants:
Aireiel, level 2, Wizard, Elf, Neutral Good
Raydair, Level4, Rogue1/cleric3, Elf, LG
Satin, 2, Soulknife, Beastfolk, Neutral Good
Challenges:
2 Experienced Guardsman, CR 2 (Circumvented encounter using stealth and a hidden entrance)
Gathering Information
Experience:
400 xp for all characters
Treasure:
450 gp for all
Quest Summary:
The party was summoned to a small village a few days travel away from Avalon, upon arrival the adventurers were put up in the local tavern by an older man, and once settled were asked to speak with him. He revealed that a man by the name of Daylan had arrived a few months prior and had besieged the castle their former lord once ruled from. After taking over, he started taking the young and the strong from the village, and none have been seen since.
Through very clever questions and gathering of information, they learned that not only did this Daylan besige the castle, but he stormed it by himself while his men waited outside, supposedly defeated the forces within single-handedly, and then came out with the former lord in tow, bending the man backwards until his spine snapped (and his full plate armor folded in half at the breastplate) before hanging him from the front gate and promptly took over. It was assumed that a dark and ancient magic was at work.
The group had also learned of a recent construction project of a tower on the castle grounds. As well as a secret entrance to the castle grounds that allowed the group to circumvent the guards at the front gate. Upon entering, they found internal security to be strangely lax, and noticed siege engines in the courtyard as well. The tower upon quick examination was discovered to be of rather shoddy quality, and a solid hit from one of the catapults could bring it down without question.
Thankfully the party decided not to go that route, and instead began to explore the tower itself. Shortly upon entering they were discovered by a blind man and his mute granddaughter. When the party realized they were not going to call for the guards they had a talk instead. Thanks to some amazingly obscure research that Aireiel had taken part in, she learned that what Daylan was using was an ancient force of magic that had not been seen for several milenia. This ritual allowed the caster to bind a person to themsleves, siphoning off an attribute and adding it to his own. Daylan had apparently done this to numerous people, all of whom were stored in the tower.
They soon learned that Daylan was able to link people together in this manner, attaching many people who all gave the same attribute to one person to whom he was personally linked with. These people, known as vectors, were the one weakness that Daylan had. Unfortunatly they also learned that the only way to break the ritual was through death. To fight Daylan at full strength was suicide, but to weaken him enough to where he would be managable meant that innocent lives would have to be lost.
In the end, when one of the three backed out, not having the heart to end the life of an innocent to potentially save many more, the others followed suit, promising to return with a larger force and perhaps armed with knowledge that might allow them to save everyone trapped in the tower.
Since the situation had not changed, they were not well recieved at the village upon their return, they did however recieve a small gift from some of the families, thankful at least for the news that their family members were still alive before the other villagers urged them to leave before Daylan caught wind of their arrival in town and what they may have learned about him.
Thus our heros depart the small town, defeated? Perhaps not… only time will tell where this story will truly end….
