The Black Knight of Arabel: 26 Mirtul 1479 DR 1

The Order of the Red Circle consists of:
Donaar, a Dragonborn Paladin of Kelemvor,
Travok, a Dwarvin Cleric of Kelemvor,
Scapin the Sly, a Halfling Rogue &
myself - En'Kethradath, an Eladrin War Wizard.

On the road to Arabel, we met a man desperately trying to fix his wagon before sunset. He warned us ominously of the imminent darkness and of the fact that creatures of shadow attack travelers to Arabel after dark. With his words the sun set and shadow creatures appeared. On a nearby hill a skull-headed warrior could be seen, but he left the area just before battle was engaged. To our right, less than fifty feet away there appeared in a line formation, a shadow Hulk, four shadow Seekers, and five shadow Motes. The motes swarmed us and Donaar easily defeated the majority of them with his draconic lightening breath attack. We converged our attacks on the shadow Hulk, and with its defeat we then were able to crush the shadow Seekers.

The man hiding under his wagon informed us of his gratitude and that his name was Ottro. Travok helped Ottro with his wagon wheel and Ottro traveled with us to the Goblin's Grotto, where he introduced us to the tavern keep, Jaral. Jaral, like all barkeeps, is full of useful information. It seems he is afraid that his son will be taken for a sacrifice, even though no one yet has been taken in this manner. He also informs us that the skull-headed warrior is called Dark Skull by the peoples of Arabel, and that we should head to the brewery to see master brewer Bruin if we want more information. He tells us too that we might also wish to visit the Old Theatre, even though it is undergoing renovations, it is one of Arabel's sites to see. Apparently is has been raining more than usual and that the people have been gathering more often in the square.

Knowing the dwarf Travok and his love of all things alcoholic, we decide not to head to the brewery first, instead vising the square to get a feel for the aura of the town. In the center of the square is the base of a broken obelisk and we find many folk mulling about, talking and grumbling. The atmosphere is one of fear and anger and talking with the people we quickly discover the reason behind their worries. The obelisk was broken and then Dark Skull appeared, causing their fear, and then Burgomeister Mort has done nothing about the situation except have the obelisk hauled off by Brew Master Bruin, causing their ire.

After discovering that Brew Master Bruin dragged the obelisk away, we decided that a detour to the Brewery was in order. Travok and Bruin got along great, mainly because they both like beer. Travok tastes Bruin’s special ale and we find out that the obelisk of Amanautor is currently in the basement of the Brewery. Apparently seeing the rest of us for the first time and realizing that he hasn’t offered us anything to drink, the brew master forces us all to try his special brew. Donaar drinks and coughs and I of course tell Bruin that I am too young to drink and he laughs at me (I’m not that old). Anyway while all Bruin’s attention is focused on me, Scapin switches his mug with an empty mug and Travok seeing the swap decides to drink Scapin’s ale. Forced to drink the brew I am slightly incapacitated by it. Meanwhile, Bruin tells us that no matter what we should all stay away from The Pretentious Pot and leads us down to his basement. As we head there we sing a little ditty about dwarves and drinking, and when we get to the basement we find two shadow hulks and a shadow seeker. Apparently these shadow creatures are drawn to the broken obelisk. Without destroying the many casks of ale that the Brew Master keeps here, we dispatch the shadow creatures with ease. Happy to be rid of the obelisk, Bruin gives us the materials necessary to repair it, as well as a keg for each of us of the Brew Master’s special brew “Bruin’s Special Rainy Day Stout.” Travok was given an extra keg simply because “he appreciates a good ale.” Bruin also gives us a scroll which reads “When the moon turns black, darkness falls on the house of twelve.” He also tells us to return before we leave the city as he has a few other things he’d like to give us.

Making our way back to the square with the obelisk in tow was a quieter affair than I would have imagined. We were able to quickly restore the obelisk with Travok’s Make Whole rite, and noticed then that the obelisk makes the city itself a sundial, and the twelve would be the Old Theatre. From here we immediately realized that all signs pointed to the Old Theatre as being the place where trouble was abreast. But there were still a few places that might pan out clues as to who was behind all of this.

The Pretentious Pot turned out to be a curio shop. Edo, the owner, was a man from Mulhorande. He was very nice and answered all of our questions respectfully. We asked first about the Obelisk and Edo told us that the people of Arabel are very superstitious. He believes that Dark Skull is just a man and is no real supernatural threat. He doesn’t fear the dark like many citizens of Arabel and tells us that during one of his nightly walks, he was passing the Old Theatre and heard lots of people inside making a ruckus. We decide to also ask him about the Master Brewer, and Edo believes that Bruin just doesn’t like people from Mulhorande. He closes up his shop and we must depart, but as we go he mentions that the owner of the Book Emporium might have some more information for us as she is quite the busybody.

We decided to scope out the Old Theatre on our way to the Book Emporium. The Old Theatre was crawling with workers and there is the strong odor of paint and construction sounds coming from inside the building. There are four burly workings hanging around outside and we speak to one whom appears to be in charge of this whole mess. He complains about not having any ale to drink and having to work long hours, late into the night. Keth bribes him with her keg of Bruin’s ale and the Order is allowed to enter the Theatre. There are black walls and black banners hanging from the ceiling. Travok notices that the décor is reminiscent of Shar, the goddess of Shadows, but that there does not seem to be an alter or holy symbols. Scapin notices a door to the roof and climbs up for a better view, but he too could see no symbols anywhere. Upon being asked, a worker tells us that they are “refurbishing the décor as prep for a show” and that the theatre was worn down before. He doesn’t know what show or who is paying for it. We ask the head honcho and he tells us that Burgomeister Mort is paying for it, but that he too doesn’t know what show will be performed.

Continued in Part 2.