Murder in Shadowdale

Setting:The farming community of Shadowdale

Type Of Adventure:Murder Mystery

PC Level/#of PCs:1-3/2-6

Monster XP:

Story XP:

Set Up

• There was a murder yesterday. The deceased is Nadia Aitrus, a page for the wizard Eleasias Dagar, who was staying at the Old Skull inn for the last few months. Nadia's body was found near Toad knoll. She was stabbed with a sword like weapon and left to die. The body was found by a farmer en-route to Shadowdale. So far nothing is known about the killer. Thurbal, the captain of the arms , has put out the call for anyone who has any information about the case or wishes to help in the solving of it. There would not be such a demand if the authorities were not at such a lose. This is not the first murder to happen in the Shadowdale area. For the last month or so seven bodies have been found, and no clues have turned up. However, this is the first that is at all different from the others. All of the other bodies were found drained of blood. It appeared that their life-fluid had been drained from their right pinky fingers( which were severed). The bodies were found in the area of Shadowdale and Daggerdale. It was suspected that the killer or killers were vampires. The difference between Nadia and the others is that her body was found with the pinky intact, no blood was drained, and she was found with a note. So, the mission for the PCs is thus: solve the murder of Nadia Aitrus, and determine whether it is related to the other murders.
• While the group is in Shadowdale a companion goes secretly missing. The longer the companion has been with the better, because it helps if the group shares a kinship with that member. After two days(possibly an adventure while they search)an adventurer finds the body of that member on the shore of the Ashaba south of the villageof Shadowdale. Kulnar Ohane takes the body back to town for examination. Just like the murders of the the others the blood has been drained from the body and it is missing a pinky finger.

For the Dungeon Master

The two possible set ups ultimately lead to the same thing; the PCs help Kulnar Ohane solve the murders. If the first possibility is used it will be harder to get the PCs to want to join in the investigation, because no one close to them has been murdered. But, if the PCs are by themselves when they enter Shadowdale the first is the alternative to getting them involved. So, the best way to start the adventure is to pursue the second possibility, and then have the Nadia Aitrus murder happen when the group is already invoved. But, whatever the DM thinks is the best way is obviously the way it should go. That's why I included the two as options.

The murders are linked. The necromancer behind the whole thing is Fillinous Von Dergan, a former war wizard of Cormyr. Fillinous commited crimes against the crown and was set to be executed. He mysteriously escaped and was never heard from since. Now he has a secret lair deep in the Spiderhaunt wood where he is working on an imortality spell. The spell involves an intelligent artifact that the necromancer found in the Horn hills a few years ago. The nature of the artifact was unknown to Fillinous until recently when he found an ancient tome on death magic. The tome stated that the artifact was one of imortality. At the petty price of a few souls the artifact would grant the owner with imortality. The tome instructed him to bring a living human to the artifact and drain the life from that person into the artifact through a small opening in the persons right pinky finger. So, Fillinous told his apprentice, Bell, to kidnap someone for him. Up to this time Bell had been asked to do quite a few wierd things in the past, but this one tugged on his conscience like no other. But Bell didn't want to refuse Fillinous, because he had promised to make him a wizard, so Bell did as he was instructed. When Fillinous brought the captive and sacrificed it to the artifact, the artifact glowed orange, and then quickly faded. Fillinous knew that that artifact would need more souls before it granted him eternal life, and before he knew it he was killing people all the time for the artifact. Bell remains his servant, capturing the people for sacrifice, and dumping the lifeless bodies in random locations around the area.

Nadia Aitrus, however was not killed by Fillinous. Bell did kidnap her, and Fillinous did hold her in his keep, but unlike the others she escaped, and was on her way back to Shadowdale. Fillinous sent Bell to retrieve her. In a struggle near Toad knoll Bell killed Nadia. Bell, who had never commited such an act before panicked and ran back to Fillinous' keep without checking the body or trying the clean up evidence. When Nadia was in the keep she thought for a fact that she was going to die in the manner as the others, so she wrote a note on a piece of parchment so that after her death the killers would be named, so that what was going to happen to her would never happen to another person again. She placed the note in her boot. But then she escaped, and thought that she wouldn't have to worry about anyone finding the note, for she was going to live. Unfortunately, she didn't. But, the note remained in her boot, and was found by Kulnar later. As of now the note and the dagger used to kill Nadia are the only pieces of evidence.

1. Elminster Clone(well kind of)

The main street through Shadowdale, that you stand on, is unusually bare of people. The afternoon Mirtul sun is high in the sky, and there is a slight breeze, making it a pleasent day. It is strangely warm for this time of the year, however. The famous Shadowdale lookes like a comfortable little town nestled in a river valley. Frankly you were expecting a little more extravagance, but you know that anything in the realms is not always as it seems, and as the great Elminster says in his rules of the rabbit,"A rabbit is not always a rabbit". The lack of citizens on the streets seems to make the ones present ever more paranoid, and you notice lots of quick looks and scared faces.

After a minute or two you notice a little old man to your left. He is picking around in the grass beside a building called, "Tulba's Weaving". You realize that he has been there for quite some time, and appears to be searching".

The old man is a self proclaimed murder investigator. He is searching for clues from the murder of Nadia Aitrus. He is what you could call "almost senile". He did in fact see Nadia in this alley a few days ago with Bell. He told Kulnar about it, and when Kulnar said he was glad to have the help he took it the wrong way. So, the old man(who calls himself Elminster, he is obviously not)thinks that he is on the case, which isn't bad, it's just that he will not move from the spot he is until he finds another clue, which he won't. When asked he will divulge the following information, of which only some is truth:

• Kulnar Ohane is in charge of the case of the murder, and gives directions.(True)
• He saw Nadia the night before she went missing with a "shifty looking" little fellow, in this alley, on his way home from the Old Skull inn.(True)
• He is Elminster, a powerful mage who lost his spellbook.(False)

The old man is about sixty years old. He has long white hair and a few days of white stubble for a beard. He is wearing the clothes of a farmer, and has a withered wooden cane that he uses to walk. His real name is Mortimer, which Kulnar tells later. He has spent most of his time in Shadowdale and will tell you the history of it, that is if he can remember.

2.Kulnar Ohane

In Progress