The Festival of Therion: A Tale of Unexpected Heroism
In the peaceful farming town of Greendale (Campaign), the renowned Festival of Therion had just concluded, bringing together dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans in celebration of the harvest. But as the last merchants packed their stalls and visitors departed, an unlikely group of six strangers found themselves summoned to the guard barracks on urgent business.
The Desperate Captain’s Plea
Captain Aldrich, weathered and desperate, revealed his dilemma: reports of a suspicious individual questioning the vault manager, combined with his own guard’s shameful unpreparedness—their weapons gathering dust and rust from years of peaceful neglect. With the festival’s wealth stored in the town vault, he feared an imminent heist and pleaded for help from this random assembly of capable souls:
- Vale Oakheart, a monk-warrior seeking tranquility
- Eris, an elven cleric of Light
- Wren, the mysterious ranger
- Cyrene, a pale Aasimar paladin harboring dark secrets
- Silas, a gaunt wizard crackling with arcane energy
- Fiona, an unexpectedly polite orcish monk
The Investigation Begins
Their investigation led them first to Mensarius, the nervous bank manager whose tendency to overshare had already revealed dangerous details about vault security to the suspicious woodsman. From there, they visited The Third Onion Tavern, where the vibrant innkeeper Tarin Copper confirmed their quarry—a disheveled man who’d paid premium prices for a room during festival week, yet avoided all social contact while positioning himself to observe both the bank and guard barracks.
Dark Discoveries
The guest room told a chilling story. A deadly axe trap nearly claimed Wren’s life, clearly intended for whoever entered after the woodsman’s departure. Hidden beneath the bed, they discovered crude maps marking the bank, barracks, and northern escape route with ominous X’s.
Most disturbing were the words pressed into the table’s wood grain:
“Dawn Assault,” “Vault Proceeds,” and “north to Thornvale”
—an abandoned farm on the edge of the feared Gloamwood Forest.
Gathering Intelligence
Gathering intelligence from tavern patrons revealed disturbing reports:
- Strange lights emanating from ancient ruins northeast of town
- Missing livestock on northern roads
- Armed men spotted near abandoned settlements
The evidence painted a picture of coordinated banditry using the superstition-shrouded Gloamwood as their base of operations.
The Ruins of High Watch
As darkness approached, the party ventured to the ruins of High Watch, using Vale’s magic to move unseen through the rocky terrain. What they discovered defied their expectations entirely.
Instead of hardened bandits planning the vault heist, they found a grief-stricken young necromancer surrounded by eight animated skeletons, desperately attempting to resurrect someone—or something—from a small grave in the center of a ritual circle.
The Heart-Breaking Truth
When Vale attempted peaceful negotiation, the boy’s anguished response shattered any notion of criminal conspiracy:
“Whiskers doesn’t deserve this!”
Through tears and magical exhaustion, the young necromancer’s tragic purpose became clear—he was trying to bring back his beloved companion, heedless of the kingdom’s laws against necromancy.
The True Enemy
As the skeletons raised their weapons and the boy’s forbidden magic flickered in the candlelight, our heroes realized that sometimes the greatest threats to a community come not from calculated evil, but from grief and love twisted into dangerous desperation.
The battle for Greendale’s safety was about to begin, but the true enemy might be sorrow itself. The festival’s joyous celebration had given way to a mystery that would test not only their combat skills, but their understanding of justice, mercy, and the lengths one will go to defy death itself.
To be continued…