Adventure # 3: The Monster of Highforge

Sir Kristoff, Kerwyn the Mysterious, Father Orekh and Fedul were summoned by their superiors for a meeting with Rostilav Radu, a powerful Specularan merchant. Radu explained that once each year the Gnome city of Highforge opened its doors to outside merchants, trading with them for food and various luxury items. The Radu always engage in this lucrative trade, but they had just received word that their sizable caravan had been destroyed by an unidentified beast just miles from the Gnome city. Furthermore, according to the caravan's sole survivor, the Gnomes had been evasive regarding the incident, refusing to discuss it or commit soldiers to patrolling the area. Concerned about the danger that this beast posed to the realm, the Archduke's ministers dispatched the heroes to investigate the strange occurrences. Secondarily, they were instructed to safeguard Radu's interests if there was any evidence of foul play from the gnomes of Highforge.

One day's ride from Highforge, the heroes arrived at the village of Novgrod only to find a hideous beast attacking the locals. Roughly humanoid in shape, the monster stood 16' high. It had a reddish-orange carapace over a pitch-black body that had a tar like consistency. A gaping mouth with rows of teeth made for rending and grinding rounded out the creature's most prominent features. The heroes managed to kill the beast, but not before it took the lives of several villagers. Unable to identify the beast, Kerwyn started a new entry in his Encyclopedia of Monsters. Conversations with the people fo Novgrod revealed that Radu's caravan had passed through the village one day before being attacked.

The next day the heroes arrived in Highforge. They presented themselves as the Radu's representatives and asked to be directed to their contact in the city, a gnome merchant named Ryek Tinkerton. Guided by a gnome named Jadnic the Huge, one of Ryek's menservants, the heroes were invited into the Tinkerton home for refreshments. Ryek grew visibly nervous when the heroes mentioned the attack on Radu's caravan, but he did agree to take the matter to Dorfus Hilltopper, the gnome king. Ordering Jadnic to bring more refreshments for his guests, Ryek left to do as he promised.

Casting a spell, Kerwyn detected poison in the refreshments served to them by Jadnic. Quickly ruling out the manservant as the primary culprit, they waited for Ryek and confronted him on the matter. He immediately broke down, assuring them that the poison was only a sedative meant to incapacitate them for a short time while Highforge's merchant elite could figure out how to keep the heroes from alerting Dorfus Hilltopper to the attacks on the surrounding countryside. Such news, they feared, would lead the King to seal off the city, which would hurt their commerce with the people of Karameikos. Pressured by the heroes, Ryek agreed to take them to see Dorfus Hilltopper. As they made their way to the King's stronghold, Sir Kristoff noticed the banner of the Black Eagle Barony displayed on the livery of several soldiers guarding an apartment in the city's merchants quarter.

Entering the palace stronghold, the heroes met Dorfus Hilltopper sitting upon his throne and flanked by his elite guard. At his side stood a red-headed and bearded human holding a heavy wooden staff. After the appropriate greetings, the King introduced his human advisor as Sarunev - a human wizard who had arrived in time to help Highforge in its moment of need. Highforge, Hilltopper explained, had been plagued by attacks from monstrous beasts for nearly two weeks. Every night a single creature would approach the gnome city from a different direction, engaging his warriors in combat and taking many lives. Every night his warriors managed to kill the beast, only to see its corpse vanish into thin air. Sarunev had been providing what help he could in the form of alarms and protection circles, but their resources were stretching thin and each night the beast seemed to get closer to its destination - the throne room and, presumably, the King himself. The heroes then relayed their own story, including the attack on the Radu caravan, their battle with the creature at Novgrod, and Ryek's betrayal. Hilltopper promised to deal with Ryek and the merchant elite. The creature the heroes fought in Novgrod, however, didn't seem to match the description of the monsters of Highforge. These, Hilltopper reported, seemed more like ice demons, with black skin, white fur, barbed tails, sharp talons and the ability to project a deadly cone of cold. Faced with more questions than before, the heroes agreed to help Hilltopper with his problems.

Of immediate concern was Sarunev. Kerwyn noted that his name was an acronym of Avernus, the wizard who seemed to have caused all of the chaos at Saros and Kosava (see Adventure # 2). Kerwyn and Orekh, therefore, decided to watch Sarunev to see if they could observe any suspicious behavior. Kristoff and Fedul, in the meantime, rode out to see if they could find any trace of the Radu caravan.

Upon inspection, Sarunev seemed on the up-and-up. He was forthcoming about his strategy for keeping the King safe, and Kerwyn observed him setting up protection spells in the throne room and alarm spells in the adjoining hallways. Upon being asked in the course of casual conversation, Sarunev shared that he was simply passing through Highforge when he sensed evil emanating from one of the city's mine shafts. Stealthing in to investigate, he observed the ice demon engaging the gnome warriors. He helped fight off the beast and then offered his services to help in the city's defense. Speaking with the guard confirmed Sarunev's version of the story.

Meanwhile, Kristoff and Fedul managed to find remnants of the caravan. Strangely, these remnants had been moved off the road and hidden in a nearby copse of trees. Searching for tracks, Fedul found signs that two large beasts had been in the area. One set of prints matched the creature they fought at Novgrod, while the other belonged to some other creature that Fedul could not identify. With that information in hand, Fedul and Kristoff rode back toward Highforge.

The heroes regrouped just in time for the nightly attack on Highforge. Striking with great ferocity, the ice demon smashed its way into the throne room, gazing angrily in the direction of the King. Standing next to Hilltopper, a somewhat unnerved Sarunev raised his hand to cast a spell, but Fedul, Kristoff and Orekh struck down the already injured monster before he could finish his incantation. With its angry roar still echoing through the palace halls, the beast vanished as expected.

The next day, the heroes approached Hilltopper with the suggestion that he should leave Highforge. The king refused on a point of honor. He represented an ancient lineage of gnome warriors. His people's honor, he knew, had degenerated over the years, as they grew to value luxury and profit over valor. He found himself increasingly out of sync with his people's priorities, but that was all the more reason to stand and fight. If he must die, it would be honoring the lives and values of the heroes of old.

The heroes also confronted Sarunev, accusing him of being Avernus. Sarunev denied the charge, and urged the heroes to focus their efforts on determining who was responsible for what he believed to be a summoning of some sort. Shortly before creature's nightly attack, Sir Kristoff remembered the banner of the Black Eagle Barony that he saw hanging in the merchants quarter. Knowing of the renowned treachary of that land, he and Father Orekh rushed to investigate.

The creature attacked shortly after they left. It burst into the throne room, just as it had the previous night and went straight for its target - Sarunev! Roaring in victory, it lifted the wizard over its head. Sarunev then activated a spell, dropping his disguise for an instant before transforming into a cloud of mist. In a rage, the demon lunged for the fleeing Avernus, while Kerwyn and Fedul, assisted by the gnomes, tried to slay the beast.

In the meantime, Sir Kristoff and Father Orekh approached the apartments occupied by the men from the Black Eagle Barony. Muscling their way past the guards, they discovered the wizard Amadeus sitting before a summoning circle and observing the events transpiring in King Hilltopper's throne room via a scrying spell. Amadeus' bodyguard defended his master, but after a brief and terrible battle both villains lay slain. With his master killed, the ice demon vanished - this time for good.

A search of the kingdom revealed no trace of Avernus. Once again, the heroes saved the day, only to be left with a series of unanswered questions and a potential enemy at large.