Nerd Dice: Prologue

In the town of Elturel in the Western Heartlands, something is afoot. People are disappearing without a trace, and they all seem to have been in the company of a beautiful, long-haired woman right before they vanish.

A follower of Torm, Leythan had come to Elturel in a state of disillusionment. But he found that roaming the land and helping those that needed protection provided him with a sense of purpose and reward. As a paladin, he decided to protect and serve the people of Elturel and its plains.

An unusually articulate half-orc, Milos was raised by a priest of Tyr and taught to follow law and justice. Now he is wandering through the lands of Faerun, seeking to learn more of the world and punish the evil and unjust.

Thirsting for vengeance against all orcs after seeing his entire village slaughtered, Thorne is travelling through the Western Heartlands to kill as many of the hated enemy as he can. Distrustful of swords and arrows, he uses magic to fight evil.

Laucian was dissatisfied with the elven haven of Evermeet, and headed east to make his way in the wide world. Orphaned by beholders, he uses his bow and swords to destroy as many of them and other aberrations as he can.

Half moon elf Mirabelle has travelled from Baldur's Gate. She uses her stealthy skills to fight those who do evil, rather than become a thief or assassin.

Wandering down from the cold mountains of Damara, Sergor is a young half-elf, left as an orphan at the Yellow Rose Monastary. He is looking to test his training from the monastary and his beliefs as a follower of Ilmater against the cruel and evil in the world.

In a tavern in Elturel, these six find each other, spurred by stories of raids on nearby caravans and mysteriously disappearing locals. They head out into the nearby wilderness and find that a group of kobolds has been attacking the caravans in such numbers that they overwhelm the guards. Behind all the mischief is an evil half-orc cleric, who the group destroy.

But they still hadn't discovered why folks were disappearing. They hear of a beautiful dark-haired woman accompanying two missing young men out of town. They manage to find the woman and track her to some wagon tracks, which they follow. Out on the road, they discover some disreputable types with a cart full of people. They ambush the slavers, slaughtering all but the leader, who they try to interrogate. They free the two missing men who hide out in the nearest village, Trell. The other slaves, they discover, are evil, and on the insistence of Milos they are returned to the authorities in Elturel.

Further sleuthing back in the town leads the party to the Thayan enclave outside of town. Despite the Thayans' spotless record, the group are sure that the slaving activity is originating there. They enter the enclave and speak with the leader, pointing out the Red Wizard who was donning a wig and luring men away from taverns with enchantments.

Finding herself revealed, the Red Wizard attacks, but after a dangerous battle, she is captured by the party and then executed by the Thayans. The town is grateful for the end to slaving activity. The Thayans, too, are grateful-- for now-- the woman's activity wasn't sanctioned and tarnished the enclave's business reputation.

Flush with their first victory as a group, the party head north to investigate rumors of a plague decimating a nearby mining village. They have seen evidence of the sickness in Elturel's temple as refugees futilely attempt to escape death. Entering the town, they find the plague has ravaged the population almost completely. After asking what few people they can find, they suspect the source of the plague is in the village's mine, which has also been overrun by kobolds.

Inside the mine the kobolds appear to be suffering badly from the plague as well, and are easily finished off.

Deeper inside the mine and through a passageway a source of the contagion is revealed. Piles of rotting corpses lie in the cave, near an underground river which obviously feeds into the town's water supply. The group retrieve a barrel of lamp oil they discovered in the mine and use it to set fire to the corpses in an attempt to purify the area. When the fire has burned out, they travel through to an adjoining cave.

Inside they find an orc cleric who had cursed the town's water supply with a magical plague, generated by the disease coming from the rotting corpses. The town had taken the mine from a tribe of orcs, and this was the sole survivor's revenge. Casting a cloud of impenetrable darkness over the party, the orc attacks with surprising accuracy. But despite this deficiency, they manage to kill the orc and end the effects of his spell. The grateful townfolk promise to build a shrine to the triad, and those with healing skills in the group attempt to nurse the worst townfolk back to health.

Moving on to the east on the road to Hill's Edge, the party find a small town called New Keep that is being plagued by an Ettin. Suspicious of the Ettin's behavior, they discover that the creature is a cleric of Tyr who had been cursed for his overzealous behavior. They break the curse and in the process kill some orcs who had been planning to raid the town while it was weakened by the Ettin's attacks.