- Ardwyn Unghart, an attractive dwarf rogue, hoped to pick up the trail of her lost family while staying a step ahead of those who wished to see her dead.
- Adamir Dubhach, a surly half-elf ranger, came in pursuit of revenge for his slaughtered parents.
- Valra, a quiet elf druid, was beginning a new search for the meaning and enlightenment that eluded her during her long seclusion in the wilderness.
- And Tessel Evenstrike, a human paladin raised in the Temple of Bahamut, was setting out to fulfill her oath to serve her god and rid the world of evil.
As the four of them disembarked, they were met on the docks by a high elf wearing fine robes and flanked by guards, who introduced himself as Daelon Illinistra, vizier of the Duke of Cindre. The mysterious elf said that he had been expecting them, and he invited them to join the Duke to discuss an opportunity. Though some were suspicious, the party agreed and followed him through streets bustling with soldiers toward the Duke’s modest palace, introducing themselves and making small talk along the way.
Inside the palace’s great hall, they found the Duke Lanna Greydale, a young woman lounging casually in her armor, as well as the more formal Captain of the Guard, her younger cousin Galbarth Greydale, dining together at a well-laden table. The Duke invited the party to join them, and explained that she wished to hire the adventurers for a sensitive job. Galbarth spread handfuls of gold coins across the table, offering 250gp apiece for completion of the task. Most in the party did not take this especially well, though Daelon assured them that they would be also serving the greater good of the realm.
But first, the Duke asked for a fair, sportsmanlike demonstration of skill, having promised Galbarth that she would make sure the adventurers were worth more than his guardsmen. Four confident guards stepped forward, twirling their maces. Their confidence was quickly shattered after one got the wind knocked out of him by Tessel, while the unimpressed Adamir shot the mace right out of the hand of another (who quickly fled). To their credit, the remaining guards continued to fight, and they did succeed in getting a few good hits in. But after the paladin healed her partymates, and after two of the guards were knocked out, the last one surrendered, and they pulled back to tend to their wounds.
This quick victory was met by gracious applause from the Duke. The party sat down again more confidently, with Adamir taking a place especially close to the nervous Galbarth. The Duke went on to explain the details of the job: Arstan Sylvan, the Sage who leads the Silver Tower (one of two independent schools of magic in Rakos), had disappeared a few days ago, after speaking cryptically about making some discovery about a basilisk. Then, all communication had ceased from the Tower, and travelers reported that it had been closed. The Duke, seeking to maintain Cindre’s prestige, didn’t want the fuss and attention that would come with an official inquiry, and since she was about to lead her army elsewhere, she wanted some freelancers to make this problem go away.
Galbarth loaned the party some magical amulets, a Bag of Holding, and Everlasting Rations for their journey, which was enough to convince them that the job might be worthwhile. the Duke also announced that she would send along her vizier, the wizard Daelon, with her signet ring. Ardwyn welcomed him into the party with a somewhat fumbling flourish of her dagger, to the Duke’s amusement. After some haggling about money for a carriage, the Duke agreed to give the party an extra 10gp in advance for travel expenses. Galbarth brought in some bards to heal the party, Daelon arranged a carriage, and the party set off for the Silver Tower.
After an uneventful day of travel (except perhaps for Valra’s annoyance at Daelon), the party arrived in the village of Fairway to spend the night. Ardwyn found an admirer in the common room and attempted to get information, but didn’t find much that was useful. Tessel approached a drunk man in the corner, who was alternately raving about demons and crying to himself. The man (identified by a villager as “old Tuck”), incoherently claimed to have been set on fire, to have seen demons, and that he “didn’t want to do it”. The paladin was unable to calm Tuck down before being pulled away by a sympathetic villager. The party spent the night in Fairway and set off for the Tower the next morning.
Along the road, they came across a band of armed villagers and farmers, arguing amongst themselves. Ardwyn hid in the trees, while Daelon signaled to stop the carriage. Upon sighting the party, the villagers started to advance on them, arguing about whether they “had to” attack and kill the four adventurers.
The party attempted to settle this confrontation with words. Daelon used a spell to send a silent message to one of the villagers, who cried out that a voice in his head had told him to turn around. The rest were still unconvinced and approaching aggressively, but Ardwyn came out of hiding to talk to them, and after some persuasion, they began to back off. One of the villagers approached and explained their dilemma. They believed that a demon had ordered them to travel to Cindre, convert followers to his cause, and kill anyone traveling toward the Silver Tower, on pain of death. They had “seen terrible things” and one of them claimed he had been set aflame by the demon’s wrath (though Valra noticed he seemed unburnt, like Tuck).
After more persuasive words from Adamir (and the help of a “Friends” spell from Daelon), the party was able to convince the villagers to give up their murderous quest, at least for a day. Unfortunately, when the wizard's spell wore off, the subject of his enchantment became enraged at this magical intrusion into his mind, attacked the elf, and tried to threaten Ardwyn as well. Luckily, he was calmed before he could do any damage, and the rest of his dejected band had no will to fight.
Passing the strange villagers, the party continued along the road until reaching the Tower, a large 12-story octagonal structure of light grey stone. The houses and shops outside seemed abandoned. The party approached the main doors, and knocked.
They were greeted by a curmudgeonly dwarf, Dunya, who firmly informed them that the Tower was closed and turned them away. The party knocked again, and tried to claim that they were on business from the Sage himself. The dwarf softened her tone, but asked for proof. Tessel brandished the Duke’s signet ring, and Dunya, impressed but increasingly confused, demanded to know the party’s identity and purpose. Ardwyn made an impassioned plea, claiming again to be on business from the Sage. The perplexed dwarf finally agreed to let them in, asking only that she be kept out of any trouble.
The party carefully crept up the stairs, past the entry hall and dining area. On the third floor, they found students in the halls, speaking in quiet tones, and shooting alarmed looks when they spotted the party. One, wearing robes instead of the more common uniform, approached the party flustered, and ushered them into one of the student’s quarters. The man, introducing himself as Perrin, a Teacher in the tower, told the party that they were in danger. The Sage had departed a few days ago, and Marcilinus, one of the three Masters (the direct pupils and assistants of the Sage), was in charge. He had executed a student for “betraying the Tower” shortly after the Sage left, had closed the Tower, and had started giving strange lectures to the student body (as well as private lessons to a smaller group he deemed especially promising). Perrin was frightened and nervous, but gladly welcomed the party’s help. He soon left to gather some uniforms for the party to use as disguises, and handed over his own robe for good measure.
The party proceeded carefully, with Tessel trying to detect the presence of any demons or otherworldly creatures. (None were present, but she did feel a strange, unsettling echo...) Ascending past the student’s quarters and into the classrooms, the party heard voices above. Ardwyn crept stealthily up the stairs and found Marcilinus discussing demons with a small group of students. The party agreed to confront him, and charged up the stairs. The magi reacted with hostility, with Marcilinus imperiously demanding to know their business and hiding behind his students.
Daelon broke the standoff by casting Sleep on the students, immediately sending two of them into a slumber. The remaining students shot Rays of Frost and Fire Bolts, and Marcilinus tried to trip up the party with magical Grease, but they found little success, and Valra was able to conjure magical vines to Entangle several of the students. Unfortunately, the usually reliable Adamir took an especially poor shot, shooting Daelon in the back of the leg and taking him out of the fight.
By by this time, the tide of battle had already turned to the party’s advantage. With only one student awake (and with a hole in his hand). Marcilinus changed his strategy. Barely deflecting an arrow from Valra with a magical Shield, the mage cast a spell to enhance his speed and dashed out of the room.
Unfortunately for Marcilinus, despite his magically augmented speed, the quick-thinking Valra was able to slash him with her scimitar on his way out, and Ardwyn quickly emerged from hiding to plant a well-aimed dagger in his shoulder. Adamir was able to catch up in time to knock out the fleeing mage, sending him crashing into the stairs, no doubt spoiling whatever nefarious plans he might have set into action if he had made it past the party. Tessel used her holy powers to heal the fallen Daelon. Since his Sleep spell had been interrupted, the two slumbering students woke up, but Ardwyn approached and demanded that they stand down. With two of them still entangled by the druid’s vines, and one still whimpering from the injury to his hand, the students gave up the fight.
Adamir tied up the defeated magi (with special attention to preventing them from using their hands) and the party interrogated the students. They had little information to give, but confirmed that Marcilinus had taken over the Tower, executed a student, and started giving lectures about “the nature of demons and the birth of gods”. They hadn’t seen the Sage for days, and one of them had seen one of the other Masters (Baldric) leaving. After getting tired of hearing the students try to defend their behavior, the party gagged them and left to interrogate Marcilinus in another classroom.
Once woken, Marcilinus was quick to test his restraints and look for an escape, and even quicker to surrender when he saw no way out. The party demanded to know what had happened. Marcilinus denied any responsibility, claiming he was under orders from the Sage, but nonetheless agreed to tell what happened.
It was a strange tale. Apparently, the Sage, Sylvan, had been researching Tharizdun (the chaotic evil God of Madness, who is said to have created the Abyss, from which all demons are spawned, and who was imprisoned there by the other gods for this terrible crime). Sylvan came to believe that Tharizdun was the most powerful of the gods, and that it was inevitable that he would one day escape his prison and take over the multiverse.
Sylvan believed that Tharizdun would reward those who had helped him escape, and even more importantly, that he would punish any who realized that they could help and yet refused to do so. Since merely seeing this truth would therefore bind a person to serve Tharizdun, he named this idea “the Basilisk”, and he committed himself to serving the God of Madness, starting by passing this idea to his most powerful and closest students, the three Masters of the Tower.
Of the three Masters, Marcilinus and Baldric were quick to agree to his theories and join him, though “Rath was less cooperative”. Together, they cast a Magic Circle and used a scroll to ask Tharizdun to send a servant. They successfully summoned a demon, who told them that their ideas were absolutely correct, and that they should spread the word and conquer in Tharizdun's name. They set the demon free at his command, and later split up to pursue their new evil goals. Marcilinus took over the Tower and began preparing to convert the students there. Baldric and Sylvan departed, with Baldric heading east and Sylvan heading west toward Cindre. The plan was to convert some villagers along the way, using magic and trickery to persuade them that their demonic overlords were already taking over.
Concluding his confession, the smug Marcilinus began to declare in triumph that the party, having gazed upon the Basilisk, was now bound to serve Tharizdun, but he was interrupted by the hilt of Tessel's sword connecting with his skull.
The party briefly discussed this new information, and they determined to ask a few more questions, once again awakening the battered mage. After securing a promise from the paladin (but no one else) to refrain from hitting him again, Marcilinus answered their questions, informing them that the executed student had been killed as punishment for informing the Duke about the events at the Tower. When asked about Rath, Marcilinus smirked and said that he was still captive upstairs.
Satisfied with these answers for the time being, Tessel slung Marcilinus roughly over a shoulder, and the party prepared to ascend further, climbing toward the libraries and the Sage’s quarters in the upper floors of the Tower...
