4e FR: Bane of the Golden Blade
Inroduction
The Gray Vale has long been a promising land for the upstart adventurer to begin their career and loot valuable treasures from forgotten ruins. In this case, one could say the problem began when the treasure came looking for them…
Early one morning, a mysterious greatsword of golden metal appeared in the center of the town of Loudwater amidst the homes of residents. It was buried point first, a foot deep, into the stone lain ground near the well. Curious, many of the locals tried their hand at pulling the blade free to no avail and it became a spirited competition, fun amongst friends, for a time.
An hour or perhaps two later, when the local adventuring company returned to the home they had purchased after their most recent excursion into the wilds, a scene of horror unfolded. The mysterious golden blade danced into the air seemingly of its own accord and set to bloody, vicious, battle against the returning heroes.
The conflict spread across the town as the blade methodically stalked them through the alleyways down which they had sought to flee to no avail. They were killed one by one in the messiest fashion one could envision along with any other townsfolk that sought to intervene. Many people died and once the bloody sword had finished the slaughter it returned to the well.
There, it etched a message into the cobble stone by way of fiery magic that seemed to leech the life from all grass and flowers nearby. It read: DREAD CRUCIFEX HAS BEEN RETURNED!
No one understood what it meant as the local wizard, their master of lore, had been put down by the golden sword during the battle. One in three people slain by mysterious blade rose as undead things which were dispatched by the local guard the following day.
Now the sword rests in its chosen spot during the daylight hours. Every night, it rises into the air and dances along the streets of Loudwater. Periodically it cries out in a voice filled with anguish and rage. It is as if the blade is alive and seeking something it cannot find. Yet, it has caused no more harm to any that have not threatened it first since the battle. The locals yet cower away from it.
Outside of town, things have taken a turn for the worse since the event and locals can’t help but speculate that it must all be related somehow. Children have gone missing from homesteads, undead bandits have taken to attacking trade caravans under cloak of sandstorms where none should be possible, and something has been killing the farmer’s crops with rings of blackened blight.
People are afraid and rumors of the events are spreading along the trade way. Looking to begin your career as an adventurer, and perhaps for reasons more personal, you’ve been lured into joining a trade caravan bound for Loudwater in order to investigate the Bane of the Golden Blade with others of like mind.
Explanation
This is a campaign adventure for first level D&D 4e characters set within the Forgotten Realms.
Your quest is to solve the mystery of the cursed golden blade and follow in the wake of a failed adventuring group to discover what wrong was wrought and how a terrible force was awoken from the blackest depths of the Shadowfell to plague the people of the Gray Vale. Evil cultist, undead monstrosities, and other foul beings bent on pure destruction will seek to bar your way.
Powerful magic and other treasures to fuel your expedition must be pried from their blackened hands within the ancient ruins of empires past. If you make it to the point of discovery, you will find yourself pitched into a headlong confrontation against a legendary, mysterious, being of voracious hate and evil power known only as the Crucifex with the entirety of the Vale and areas beyond at stake.
You can’t afford to lose! If you fail, points of light will be extinguished across a vast stretch of Faerun’s wilderness leaving the innocents of the land to suffer in a blight ridden yet smoldering landscape emptied of life and hope that will spread. The people need a hero to stand for the light where none else will or all is lost. They need you…
