Coldeven 23, 591CY

 

Our adventure begins in the town of Diamond Lake, a small mining town on the edge of the Cairn Hills. In ages past, Diamond Lake used to be the center of a lucrative trade in artifacts and relics that came from the numerous tombs and burial cairns that crowded the hills around the town. At least a half-dozen long dead cultures interred their dead in these hills. Those days are long past. Most tombs in the Cairn Hills now lay empty, their treasures long since plundered. Few locals pay heed to stories of yet-undiscovered tombs. A handful of treasure seekers still visit Diamond Lake on occasion, but they rarely find anything of value. These days, Diamond Lake is a rather depressing place where most residents toil as miners in the lightless depths for a pittance while corrupt mine managers live in relative wealth, ruthlessly scheming against one another in order protect their interests.

That said, there are some good folk in Diamond Lake. One of these is a wizard by the name of Allustan. The wizard was born in Diamond Lake. After apprenticing in the City of Greyhawk, Allustan came back to the town of his birth. Most believe he stays to support his inept and somewhat corrupt brother, Lanod Neff, who is the Governor-Mayor of Diamond Lake and its environs. Allustan is not only a powerful wizard, he is a respected sage who is a recognized expert on the tombs and catacombs of the Cairn Hills. For this reason, Haldain came to the house of Allustan to inquire about a map he found in the Archives of Mir Kalador. The map appeared to be of a tomb complex and there was a prominent six-pointed star in red ink in the bottom left-hand corner. On the top of the map was written in the Common Tongue the "Whispering Cairn". Haldain was told by another archivist that the map radiated some sort of enchantment and should be looked at by a loremaster. However, before Haldain could do so, he was exiled and had not pursued the mystery of the map - which he ‘borrowed’ from the archive - until now.

 

Haldain has discovered that an ancient tomb complex about a day’s ride northeast of Diamond Lake was also called the Whispering Cairn. Assuming that a map with some sort of enchantment must be important and the fact that Diamond Lake was basically on the same route he was taking to the city of Greyhawk, Haldain traveled to this rather woe begotten town to find out about the complex and perhaps explore it. He first inquired at the Greysmere Covenant, a dwarven mining concern in Diamond Lake. They directed him to Allustan.

Allustan cordially welcomed the dwarf to his home. He introduced both his apprentice, Ren Darkhand, and his 'house warden', Kelton Loris. He looked over the map and, using a Read Magic spell, was able to discern a riddle that was hidden by enchantment on the map. Though the riddle made little sense, the wizard surmised that its meaning might be clearer once Haldain reached the tomb. 

Allustan recommended that Haldain not travel to the Whispering Cairn alone. Rumors of bandits and the threat of the Cairn Hill wolves (some of the most vicious in the Flanaess) would give any treasure seeker pause. He recommended his two servants, Ren and Kelton, travel with him. In the morning, meeting outside of Allustan’s residence, they group was joined by a woman dressed in the clothes of a huntsman. Allustan introduced her as Morwenna Thistledown and insisted she join the group both for her skills as a guide and her ability with a bow. (Both Ren and Kelton were a bit put off by Morwenna’s presence, guessing that Allustan added her to the group so she could watch over them.)

 

Coldeven 24, 591CY

The group set off at the Hour of the Crow (7:00 AM) and headed into the mist shrouded Cairn Hills. The journey was pleasant, with morning mists giving way to blue, sunny skies. Characters arrived at the Whispering Cairn sometime during the Hour of the Rabbit (4:00 PM).

The characters entered the ancient, but remarkably intact, tomb. After searching some of its dusty secrets, the party stumbled upon a 3 wolves (Cairn Hill wolves, quite vicious). After a sharp fight, the party dispatched two of the wolves. The largest wolf, bleeding and now alone, scurried away. They then found a mosaic at the end of a hallway. Though it was faded by grime and age and damaged by the seepage of water, they discerned an image of 11 bald men in robes of white, blue and green underneath a sky filled with stars and planets. (Allustan would later tell the party that the men were Vaati, a noble race from "beyond this realm" that warred with the Queen of Chaos millennia ago). The fresco was evidently a tribute to those who created the tomb.

The party then reach a domed chamber containing what appeared to be a marble sarcophagus sitting upon a dais stylistically shaped like an arrow. A milky white bas-relief figure, bald like the figures in the mosaic, rested passively upon the sarcophagus lid. After some experimenting, the characters determined the sarcophagus moved. Using the riddle from the map as their guide, the characters were able to open 3 separate hidden portals. However, the portals held some nasty surprises. In one lurked a ghoul, possibly an explorer who became trapped in the tomb and died. The other contained extraplanar-demonic creatures, no idea where they came from or what they were doing in a supposedly abandoned tomb.
 

The third portal opened in a ceiling alcove. It led to another false tomb. Underneath the tomb were steps leading to a room. The room, in turn, led to a large shaft (or tall room). Sculpted into the ceiling of the shaft, 20ft above their heads, was the face of a Vaati, his mouth overly distended as if to shout or scream. Below at the bottom of the shaft lay an entrance to another room. As the characters descended the shaft. The mouth in the ceiling became a whirlpool of shadows, through it came a tentacled horror. The creature was a grick, a foul aberration somehow summoned to defend these last rooms. As the characters fought the grick, they heard the whispers of a desolate voice grimly exhorting you on. Once the creature was dispatched, the shadows in the corner coalesced to become the ghostly phantom of a young man, his head hanging from his neck in an unnatural fashion as if it were broken. 

 

The ghost told the party that he was the spirit of Alastor Land, a young runaway who came here to find treasure. He made it this far, only to flee what came through the 'mouth-gate'. In doing so he fell through a trap door and died in the ensuing fall. His ghost now haunts this place, unable to leave, cursed for abandoning his family in a time of need. His curse is broken only if his remains are interred with his family. If the characters do this for him, he will open the door to the true tomb. The door is sealed shut both physically and with powerful wards. The characters cannot breach the door but in his spiritual form Alastor can - from the inside.

 

The characters agree to deliver Alastor's bones in exchange for Alastor opening the tomb door.

 

Here ends part one of our summary.