The Shadow Lord Escapes!

• Characters: Carn, Dorian, Gallipolas, Karne, Pardonei, Rathgillian, Sentalial
• NPCs: Purple Knights of Cormyr, Freutin General of the Amry of Nature’s Wrath, Roan the page boy, Calimir High Priest of Torm, Zalaznar Crinios Benevolent Tyrant of Cedarspoke and Secretary General of the Council of the Divine
• Synopsis: After several sunrises, the Defenders have rested and restored themselves. With the rear forces of the Black Legion sent astray by the deaths of their commanders, the Circle of Holundi has taken advantage and refortified their position. Just before the sun rises after a tenday, the alarm is sounded calling Defenders from their sleep to the converted prison at the Temple of Oghma. The Purple Knight responsible for guarding the Shadow Lord was subdued and the cage lock sundered. Landryn Teriak has escaped! Dorian is beyond reasoning and rejects the leadership of the League of Wizards as ineffective and short-sighted. After a quick head count, there are several Defenders of the Dragon Coast who are absent: V.L., They Call Him Carn, and Lord Topaz. Forkbeard cannot find any trail when Rathgillian discovers that his helm of teleportation is missing. With no tracks to follow, Alyssic turns to her deity Heironeous, asking particular questions to bring the mass murderer back into custody. The inquiry reveals that the Shadow Lord was freed by They Call Him Carn and has traveled to Cedarspoke using the helm of teleportation. The evil human is under the protection of the Army of Nature’s Wrath and his fears are dominated by himself becoming undead. Under the final question, the Shadow Lord cannot predict the actions of the Defenders without the Historian, the keeper of all things present. The group departs for Cedarspoke via Pardonei’s and Dorian’s magic, arriving after dusk. To gather more information Gallipolas communes with the local natural forces and finds that the Shadow Lord is within the seedy tavern The Hoe, They Call Him Carn is in the high quality inn The Silver Scythe, and the Shadow Lord’s strongest ally is the Council of the Divine. As Gallipolas is interpreting the responses, the group is attacked by a massive rampaging forest sloth that tears into Sentalial and Rathgillian before being destroyed by the party. The following morning the Defenders are given audience with the general of the Army of Nature’s Wrath Freutin. With the utmost respect Freutin relays the Army’s success of holding the eastern front of the war, preserving the characteristic of Cedarspoke having never been invaded. After an exchange of information detailing recent successes on and off the battlefield, the Defenders are escorted to the Temple of Silvanus, the converted headquarters of the Army of Nature’s Wrath under the command of the Council of the Divine. Again the Defenders are given an immediate audience with the 12 members of the Council. The breakout of the Shadow Lord resulted in the deliverance of Landryn Teriak to the Army of Nature’s Wrath. The situation escalates when the Shadow Lord himself is brought to the Council’s chambers. A sly and sometimes disingenuous Landryn Teriak iterates what he has to offer. The Shadow Lord is the only one capable of interpreting the writings of someone he calls the Historian, a keeper of records in the present tense. It is suspected that the Historian has documented the current events and his scrolls will reveal the actions of the Black Legion as they occur. The Council has imprisoned the Shadow Lord and continues questioning him. The Defenders are incensed that the Council is considering the words of the mass murderer and challenges their authority to house their ex-prisoner. The Council of the Divine offers a unification of sorts. They will release Landryn Teriak to the Defenders under an escort that will serve as an envoy of the Army of Nature’s Wrath to the Circle of Holundi on the western front of the war. This escort is a collective referred to as the Divine Hammer, and they will represent the Council in the west. Their offer is summarily rejected by the Defenders who withdrawl from the chambers just short of hostility. Zalaznar Crinios the Secretary General of the Council of the Divine is both embarrassed and stunned at the complete lack of respect. Calimir High Priest of Torm lectures Sentalial of respect for his superiors and respect for the chain of command. Zalaznar warns Gallipolas that the elf is throwing away massive potential out of spite. Spitting on the temple floor, Gallipolas leads his companions out of Cedarspoke and back to the forest. There they decide to return to Reddansyr, report of their findings, and rendezvous in Threshold to discuss their options.
• Encounters: prisoner escape in Reddansyr, forest sloth, Army of Nature’s Wrath in Cedarspoke, Council of the Devine
• Achievements: uncovered the potential traitor They Call Him Carn, traveled to Cedarspoke to investigate, discovered the whereabouts of Landryn Teriak the Shadow Lord, witnessed the complacency of the Council of the Divine with respect to the Shadow Lord, learned that the Historian is in Tendale and is going to be retrieved by agents of the Council of the Divine known collectively as the Divine Hammer.