The Shadowborn Legacy

Calistril 14, 4712, continued

Having discovered that the Shadowborns hailed from the town of Xer and owned the Ivymore estate, Darelle and Daryle continue their search through the pile of paperwork they grabbed on the third floor of the official archives of Razmiran. They come across several scraps of information found in the archives of Throneskeep about Karolina Shadowborn's mission.

Daryle discovers this short piece of paper placed between a ledger book on the revenues of grazing sheep on common lands in Xer, written by Karolina Dundurst. The handwriting is the same, and the sheet of paper appears to have come from a personal journal.

24 Pharast 3514

Dlagro'azdra's was true and did afflict me and my line with a curse. In my hour of glory he managed to hide a sliver of spirit in my own soul! Now I feel it in my bones, in my blood. I must be careful and guarded lest he takes control. 

After further digging, Daryle also finds this scrap of information in a tax record ledger of the year 3519 for the area of Xer. 

13 Neth, 3522

My second born has been corrupted by the curse. This morning I was given the irrefutable proof in a most horrifying way. She is so young and so unaware, she can't control herself. It pains me to the point of hopelessness, but in good faith the gods will forever forgive me if I release her from this terrible existence. Tonight I shall poison her bedtime drink. I am miserable and doomed, now of the Shadowborn! I cannot escape this new fate.

More research in a portfolio containing maps of the Xer area from the 3600s leads Daryle to the following journal scrap:

21 Pharast 3514

Success! I can't believe this sacred ritual succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. The spirit of the arch demon has been caught and divided into six parts, each in its own evil book. I have attempted to destroy these books, but even the breath of the most powerful dragon has been unable to even damage the pages. I will now make it my mission to disperse these books throughout Golarion so they can never be reunited. To ensure secrecy, I will carry out this mission myself and not leave any record of the dark places where I will leave these books.

While Darelle stumbles upon a treatise that discusses the myriad ways the quail was hunted in the Xer area, Daryle comes across the following in an old family history of the Steadfast clan:

3 Arodus 3531 

Alas, I have discovered a flaw in my ritual. Over time the bonds will fail, and the parts of the spirit Dlagro'azdra will escape. I am old now, and can't remember where I placed these books. Our best hope lie in the books remaining undiscovered, for the longer the demon remains imprisoned, the weaker he becomes. But if the slivers of his spirit escape, they will seek and find each other. I retained The Rules of Chaos in my personal library, and I have instructed my children to remain vigilant and to tell their children both about the curse that afflicts us and about the lesser demons that may come looking for this book. Our hope then will be to reunite the books, release the demon and, as he will be at his weakest, slay him for good. I regret that my line will have to deal with my mistakes... 

Karolina Shadowborn's death date took place a few days after this last entry. Meanwhile, Darelle comes across this last piece of information within the quail book near the end:

14 Gozran, 3512

I am convinced I can imprison Dlagro'azdra through this ritual. The end results remain hazy, however, and I am not sure what physical form his prison will take. I will practice it on several lesser demons first to study the effects and refine the methodology.

The process takes long, and outside it is almost dusk. Needing to be back at their inn before curfew, the Coopers decide to leave. Getting out from under the table, they startle the old archivist who drops a stack of loose sheets on the floor. He asks them if they were successful in their searches, and both Coopers equivocate. The archivist asks Darelle if she would be willing to help him by placing his stack of paper on top of one of the cabinets. Reluctantly, she agrees. The archivist falls in step with Daryle and tells her a boring story about the latest documents he discovered. She does not pay attention to him and therefore misses him casting a spell. Suddenly, she feels more inclined towards the kind old man and when he asks her again what they discovered, she begins telling him what they learned. Darelle overhears the conversation and signals to her sister to stop talking. The archivist attempts to convince Darelle to share their information with them, and that he can provide them with a pass allowing them to travel on the streets after curfew in exchange. Darelle refuses and succeeds in pulling her sister away.

The twins head down the corridor and come down the staircase between the East and West wings. A large window provides an excellent view to the Great Cathedral and the gigantic portrait of the Living God. As they head down to the second floor, a creature appears in front of them. The creature is tall, lean, and a light shade of purple. Horns stick out everywhere. The demon, for clearly that is what the creature is, offers the Coopers their lives in exchange for the information they gained. He enthralls Darelle, and now both Coopers are at his mercy. They decide to fight back, but in the short battle Darelle falls down the stairs. Feeling overpowered, the two agree to the demon's conditions. In exchange for what they discovered, he will let them leave and they will have to take their chances with the patrols, since the bells have now tolled for curfew. The Coopers reveal what little information they found, and the demon, true to his word, lets them go. They are rather surprised, but, after several harrowing minutes manage to regain their lodgings. They decide that in the morning they will depart for Xer and see if they can get more information at Ivymore.


Calistril 15, 4712

Following morning prayers and breakfast, the Coopers set out of Throneskeep and head to Xer, a two days trip. They expect to be challenged, but they are allowed to regain their equipment and leave the city.


Calistril 17, 4712

Mid morning, Darelle and Daryle arrive on the outskirts of Xer, in the small village of Blair upon Verdant. They come upon an auction in the center of the village, and realize, to their horror, that the manor has just been purchased by ... the Millers. Sneaking in the manor house, they find the library and discover the first book, The Rules of Chaos. Daryle takes it and places it in her backpack, and they head out.

Over the course of the trip, bad things keep happening. They are ambushed by bandits. Daryle's backpack breaks at the seams and the book falls in the mud. Darelle realizes that her purse has a hole in it and all of her coins are gone. The cold snaps Daryle's bow string and somehow she cannot find any more. One of the horse breaks a leg. The other horse is killed when a branch falls on its head. On the third day, they stop by a small shrine of Iomedae manned by a local priest. They ask the priest to bless the book. He takes one look at it, and tells them this is a foul book, and that there is no power he can grant that would protect the wielder of the book. He does provide them with holy water, and Daryle liberally sprays the book, to no obvious reaction. Misfortune continues to plague them along the way.


Calistril 23, 4712

Daryle and Darelle arrive back in Fort Inevitable. They speculate that Abernard may be in possession of one of the six books already. The old man is out of town, and Daryle would rather not meet with Cassandra and Nissa, so they agree to meet with Dr. Mordel. After discussing the item and the information they discovered, Dr. Mordel advises them that this book has a different power and he cannot counteract it. But during this discussion the Coopers come to the conclusion that they will need to secure all six books so that the arch demon can be called forth and killed. After considering several places where to dispose of the book, including in the magma underneath the Emerad Spire, they decide to place it on the tomb of Karolina. And magically, the bad luck stops ... for now.

Tale of the Crypt

Calistril 4, 4712

Daryle spends the morning in town and she hears the gossip that the Millers have returned from their trip to the Emerald Spire and turned in over 20 pairs of goblin ears. Daryle suspects that they are a plant for Razmir. 

The Coopers are relaxing in the evening with a nice glass of wine and a good book in the newly renovated library. Darelle is reading River Kingdoms Herbs: Not Just Folk Remedies, while Daryle is consulting an ancient tome about the history of the Shadowborn family, titled Shadowborn, Leaders of the River. She comes across a very strange reference to the mausoleum that sits in the corner of the estate. It appears that it was once part of a much larger crypt. Daryle tells her sister, and they vow to explore it come morning.


Calistril 5, 4712

Daryle continued to read the book last night, and she tells her sister that the last people buried here were buried over four hundred years ago. The dates span from 4218 to 4323. Shadowborn Manor was built in 4087, and the Shadowborn family itself can trace its origins from roughly 3550.

Daryle decides to search the tomb where they first discovered the dirt. She digs for fifteen minutes, but she finds nothing.

The sisters move to the left, and look at the second tomb. It is that of Anna Tirolia Shadowborn, wife of Baltazar Shadowborn, (4190-4245) the last male identified in her book as having been buried here. The corpse is wearing black funeral garb but holds a very well preserved carnation. Darelle takes a closer look and discovers that the carnation is in fact real, and appears to be as old as the body itself. She leaves the flower behind.

Lukas Shadowborn, brother of Baltazar (4231-4281). He had two broken legs, which predated his death by a few years. It would have been very difficult for him to walk. Most likely it would have been the result of accident or warfare. 

Leopolda Shadowborn (4301-4323), sister of Perisic and Rudolf, was Johann's third child. Her extremities are tainted green and orange, suggesting she was poisoned. Twenty-two years old when she died, there are no records indicating that she was married to anyone, which Darelle finds strange

Rudolf (4290-4321) was Johann's second son. He also shows signs of having been poisoned. He too did not seem to have a spouse.

Perisic (4285-4298) was Johann's first son. He also shows signs of having been poisoned at the age of thirteen.

Aman Shadowborn (4277-4301) was Johann's wife. She also holds a faded red carnation. The Coopers decide not to touch that one either.

Johann Shadowborn (4210-4298) was Baltazar's brother. The body that once was Johann emerges shrouded in darkness, and casts deeper darkness. Everything goes dark. He casts ray of enfeeblement, and Darelle is hit. Fortunately, Daryle comes to her rescue and the two of them are able to neutralize this threat. All of these names are mentioned in Daryle's history book. But where is Baltazar's tomb?

Under Aman's tomb is a secret passage down, so Darelle and Daryle move Aman in Johann's now emptied tomb, and the Coopes pivot Aman's tomb, revealing a set of stairs. After a descent of about 20 feet they enter a large room with five more tombs.

• Matthias (4198-4279) and Maria Anna Shadowborn (4203-4254), husband and wife.
• Joseph (4200-4267) and Eleonora Magdelena Shadowborn (4199-4267), husband and wife.
• Margaret Teresa (4170-4208) is identified as Baltazar, Matthias and Joseph's mother. She never married and the father of the children is not identified in the book. 

Next to Margaret Teresa the Coopers discover a secret passage which leads to Baltazar's actual tomb, along with an unnamed tomb, possibly that of his girlfriend.

The Coopers continue to explore the vast rooms that lay underneath Shadowborn Manor and discover countless tombs. Each large room contains tombs organized in rough centuries. In the last (or first) room built, they find tombs with inscriptions dating from the 3600s. Strangely, many candles line the walls and are burning. When Darelle takes a closer look, the candles suddenly attack, and the Coopers must defend themselves.

After defeating the candles, they explore the room and find yet another secret passage, this time leading to a smaller room containing one tomb. The inscription on it reveals it to be that of Karolina Shadowborn (? - 3531). Carefully opening the lid, they discover a well-preserved body wearing a beautiful white dress. She is also surrounded by red carnations that have not been faded by time. The white dress shimmers in the low light, and Darelle decides to carefully remove it from the body after a small female voice whispers in her ear that the dress should belong to her. She is now in possession of the Shadowborn dress. Both Coopers pick up a red carnation, then respectfully close the lid to the tomb.

They retrace their steps and enter an unexplored room. The tombs in this room are small. Daryle realizes that there have been no other children's tombs since the first room on this level. These are all the resting place of dead children. A sobbing sound emerges from the back of the room. The Coopers cautiously enter the room and walk towards the back. Two small children made of ash emerge from behind one of the tombs and open up their arms, as if meaning to be hugged. Daryle and Darelle launch arrows, which burn instantly when they hit the young ones. They continue forward and hug Darelle, who is immediately badly burned. The battle continues until Daryle realize that they in fact want hugs. She bends down and hugs one of the children, taking some damage but releasing his soul. Darelle does the same.

They check the room to see if any other ash children remain, but they do not discover any. They check each tomb, and realize that all of the young bodies in this room have been poisoned by a similar poison to the ones in the mausoleum. Why would anyone need to poison children?

Morlock Muck

Abadius 14, 4712

Gerald presents himself to Roscoe and requests a uniform. Roscoe inquires as to why his brother would like a Hellknight uniform. Gerald presents his commission, and Roscoe can only shake his head. After some back and forth, he agrees to provide Gerald with a Signifier uniform. The sorceror looks fabulous wearing the Hellknight colors.


Abadius 17, 4712

Captain Rémi arrives in town and meets the Coopers to collect their 50 crowns per person for their safe passage a year ago. He introduces the Millers, a new family coming from Razmiran that has just arrived on his ship. First there is Rexhall, about 25 years old and rippling with muscles. Second is Card, about 19, a spellcaster of some kind. Then there are the female twins, Ace and Spades, both fighter types. Finally, the youngest member of the Miller family is Rose, a girl quick on her feet. The Coopers have an uneasy feeling at the arrival of these strange Millers.


Abadius 18, 4712

Now that matters are back in order, the Coopers are edging to a fight and are ready to head back to the Emerald Spire. As commander, Roscoe leaves Maralictor Wirt in charge of Fort Inevitable, and he and the four siblings, along with five Hellknight soldiers, depart the town in the Spire's direction. The trek takes most of the morning and enter the underground through the third level tunnel. Nothing much has changed since the last time the Coopers were here.

Using a spire transport, they move from the third to the 7th level, then descend the stairs to the 8th level where Darelle acquires the runes that will allow them to directly transport to this level. They then descend the stairs for about 250 feet before reaching the landing for the 9th level. It is pitch black, so the Coopers light up torches and lanterns.

In the first room, they encounter collapsed walls. One direction looks like it has been there for a long time. The second, however, looks like it was recently built. A small hole in the rubble provides access to the room beyond. Thorne throws a torch in the small hole, sees nothing but another set of decayed walls.

Roscoe examines both walls, and makes a decision. The Hellknight soldiers will dig the western tunnel. The soldiers obey immediately. Gerald, meanwhile, begins digging the southern wall. During the digging, Thorne removes the lock from the door to the 8th level and studies it to figure out how he failed. The sisters just stand around, telling each other stories and exchanging beauty tips. After five hours the soldiers manage to make a hole big enough to crawl through the three and a half feet of dirt and loose stones to the continuing hallway behind, while Gerald has successfully move seven stones and has progressed a hand's width.

Thorne crawls through the tunnel, and throws another torch beyond the rubble. Taking a quick peek, he notices four morlocks clinging to the wall, ready to pounce on the first person through the tunnel. Deciding that the situation would be too difficult to fight in, he returns and discusses the dilemma with the rest of the group. It is quickly agreed that Gerald should deal with this situation. The sorcerer  kneels by the tunnel's entrance, and casts a fireball, killing the morlocks but collapsing the tunnel. The Coopers won't be heading that way.

The soldiers begin digging again, this time in the southern wall. After two hours they are through. Thorne steps through, but sees nothing. Darelle steps into the room, then turns a corner. She is attacked by four morlocks, but Roscoe manages to kill them off. Unfortunately, one of them has escaped, no doubt to warn the others.

Thorne sets up a trip wire in the hallway leading south and rejoins the group. After a short discussion the party begins moving south. Thorne remains behind and convinces a soldier to push Gerald in the tripwire. Meanwhile, he will search this room and see if there are any secret passages or doors.

The hallway in which the Coopers find themselves has several branches, and stinks to high heaven. Clearly, they have stumbled into the morlocks' latrine. Roscoe is in the lead, and he triggers a trap that inflicts significant damage on the party. Three soldiers die. There is no time to mourn them, however, as Gerald steps near the tripwire, and is immediately pushed by one of the soldiers. He falls face first into the four inch muck.

Thorne discovers a secret door. He opens it, and finds a room that, unlike the rest of the dungeon so far, shows no sign of having been looted or defaced. The walls still feature ancient Azlan pictures. And in the middle of the room is a pile of treasure, including coins, gems, and items. Thorne greedily walks towards the treasure, but falls in a pit trap along with the treasure, hurting himself. He takes some of the jewelry and the sword. He attempts to climb the ten feet distance back tot he floor, but is unable to do so. He yells for help, and the only person who hears him is Gerald. Reluctantly, the sorcerer backtracks and helps Thorne climb out of the pit.


Abadius 19, 4712

Proceeding down the tunnel, the Coopers and their two remaining soldiers enter another room. A large berm of rubble separates the room into two different parts, and a wooden door is set against the south wall. Roscoe cautiously steps over the berm, then heads for the door. Several pieces of wood wedge the door from this side. Roscoe removes the wedges and steps through the door into the passageway beyond. Everyone else follows. The passageway twists and turns but terminates in a dead end. Roscoe and the rest of the party search for secret doors, but find none.

Gerald, being the last one in, notices that the door closed behind them. He opens it and steps back into the room, only to be attacked by more morlocks armed with repeating crossbows. Gerald is cribbed with bolts. He steps back in the passageway, then emerges again to unleash a fireball, killing all of them. Unfortunately, three of them were hiding in the rubble and escape the terrible fate suffered by the others, and they step out once the fire dies down. Gerald is surprised and finds himself clubbed. Hearing the sounds of battle, Daryle tells the soldier in front of her to open the door. He does so, and she readies an arrow. However, she can't tell which of the four darkened figures is Gerald, so she yells at him. Gerald responds, but gets attacked again, and he is once again wounded, this time falling unconscious.

Daryle lets an arrow fly, and one of the three morlocks dies. A second one jumps back into the rubble and escapes, while the third strikes Gerald again. He is brought down by Daryle, but not before the sorcerer is brought to the very edge of death. With a wounded party and three soldiers dead, what will the Coopers do? The story continues in Hunting Morlocks.