OK so this is the general setup at the start of the adventure. Rossco and Doris are agent's of the Harper's. With your mutual love of knowledge, skills at both research and the arcane arts, and access to the various library's, halls and taverns, you both are exactly the sort they would have sought to recruit. I'll leave it up to you to decide how well you know each other, time spent in Harper service or whether you've worked together on previous assignments before. Several weeks earlier, you were both called to a meeting with a Harper handler (Mirabelle the Weaver, a half-elf washerwoman ) in the Yawning Portal tavern in Waterdeep. She unwrapped an old fragment of a blade, tarnished with age but still carrying an exceptional quality edge, a dwarven makers-mark stamped into it's center. She explained that the piece had been found in the possession of an orc who was part of a raiding party killed by a patrol of city soldiers, at a site known as Stone Tooth, a rocky outcrop in the foothills of the Nether Mountains, east of the city of Everlund. The soldier that found the blade fragment contacted a representative of the Moongleam Tower, the Harper stronghold in the North, as he knew they often paid a hefty bag of silver for curios or tidbits of information. After analyzing the maker's mark they came to the conclusion that the blade is the work of the legendary dwarven smith, Durgeddin. You were tasked with using all the resources available to you to locate any information about the smith, investigate the truth behind the tales of his "superior blades", travel to Everlund (using the teleportation circles network made available to Harper agents), make contact with any locals familiar with the lands near this Stone Tooth, locate the lost stronghold of Khundrukar, assemble an exploratory party to breach it's depths, and make it out alive to return a detailed report to the Tower. This report will provide valuable political capital in their regular information brokering with the nearby dwarven settlement of Mithral Hall. Any recovered artifacts or information on fallen ancestors would be seen as a valuable gesture of goodwill. This is where Grenn and Erevan come in. There's a few features of Everlund that make it a suitable location for you two to be residing in. It is close to the Nether Mountains, a very large range and a suitable place for Grenn's tribal village to be located. Everlund is also one of the bigger centers of commerce in this area of the North (known as the Silver Marches). All this wealth and business passing through would attract the sort of individuals that would likely be your quarry. You might have done contract work for the Harper's via their representatives before and have been recommend for your skills and familiarity with the nearby peaks. Both you and Doris are active practitioners of the arcane arts, adventuring in their 60's, which is unusual in a young persons game, so i imagine there would be a natural draw or something in common. For Erevan, the city itself has a very large population of elves and half-elves compared to the other cities in the Silver Marches. One of the Counsel of Elders that rule Everlund is the High Priest of Corellon Larethian named Yeshelné Amrallatha. She has been actively encouraging the influx of elven refugees from Evermeet and other exotic locales to settle in the city and a lot of those with elven blood are drawn to the city because of these communities and elven architecture. I'd imagine Eledrin stranded on this plane would be equally welcomed. As a wilderness expert and scout, your skills would be sorely needed by the two city folk planning a trip into the wild. Rosco's fascination with creatures of the Feywild would probably drive him to engage you if your paths did cross, and he'd know how to pick an Eledrin from a 'normal' elf. The adventure proper will start with the party deep in the wilderness, the silhouette of the Stone Tooth looming in the distance. Weeks have passed since the initial meeting in the tavern in Waterdeep. Since then, Doris has managed to scour the records for details on long forgotten dwarven dynasties and locate a rough geological map of the area. Rossco, you have used your contacts at your college to get a greater understanding as to the history on which the tales of Durgeddin are based. Both Erevan and Grenn are familiar enough with the area to know of the Tornskull orc tribe claim on the territory and likely have a garrisoned presence in or near the Stone Tooth and there are regular sightings of several blue dragons that roost in the mountains proper and occasionally emerge to cause mayhem. The Tale of Durgeddin the Black Durgeddin was a master smith who forged blades of surpassing quality and power. Centuries ago, his home was sacked by orcs. Durgeddin led the remnants of his clan to the mountains north of the town of Lhuvenhead and established Khundrukar, a small, secret stronghold somewhere in the trackless wilderness. From his hidden redoubt, he waged a decades-long vendetta against all orc-kind, until his enemies discovered his fortress and attacked it after a long siege. Durgeddin and his followers perished, and much wealth was carried away by the conquering hordes. But it’s said that the deepest and best-hidden vaults and armories escaped the looting, and that some of Durgeddin’s extraordinary blades still wait in the darkness for a hand bold enough to claim one. Today legends of Durgeddin’s Vengeance (or the Smith’s War) and the extraordinary blades the dwarves forged in anger still surface from time to time in the lands near the Stone Tooth. Delzoun. The great North kingdom of the dwarves, Delzoun was carved out of the rock beneath the area known until recently as the Silver Marches. Founded soon after the fall of Besilmer, Delzoun remained a great power for nearly four thousand years, until ore hordes and subterranean monsters did it in. Many of Delzoun's greatest works, citadels such as Sundbarr and Ad bar, survive and thrive yet today. Sigil: a horizontal, double-headed hammer in a triangle of three sparkling gems. The Harpers The Harpers are spellcasters and spies who covertly oppose the abuse of power, magical or otherwise. Working alone or in small cells, they gather information throughout Faerûn, discern the political dynamics within each region, and help the weak, the poor, and the oppressed, acting openly only as a last resort. Everlund Situated on the banks of the Rauvin River, Everlund is one of the North’s most active mercantile communities. A thick stone wall encloses the city, pierced in five places by gates. Like the spokes of a wheel, broad, straight avenues lead from each gate to the Bell Market at the city’s center. The streets are clean and wide enough to accommodate large caravan vehicles. The layout of these streets and the location of certain city features, such as the market, many inns, and warehouses, are designed for the accommodation of caravans and their merchants.Soldiers of the city’s army make a show of patrolling the walls, to reassure citizens and visitors as well as to discourage attackers. The buildings of Everlund are stately and well maintained, with steeply pitched rooftops and tall spires that sport colorful banners. Two bridges span the river, which has parks and trees along its shores. Despite its size and constant level of activity, Everlund’s physical appearance is a testimony to both its founders and current leaders. Though ready to withstand an attack at any given moment, it is nonetheless a beautiful community that does not look like a city of war. Everlund’s buildings are constructed mainly of stone and timber, and they show clear influence of both elf and dwarf architectural styles. Buildings are arranged in discrete sections separated by green space: trees, hedges, bowers, gardens, and flowerbeds are common sights in all parts of the city. The result is an impression of calm and tranquility that belies the many dangers lurking just beyond the city’s walls. The Rauvin flows through the heart of the city, crossed by two bridges—the Knightbridge and the Dwarfbridge. For nearly five hundred years, Everlund has been ruled by the Council of Elders. This group is always composed of the people holding the most prominent positions in the city, Moongleam Tower The tower is a keep of black stone that serves as a Harper stronghold in the North. It rises from one of the higher knolls in the city and consists of four narrow, cylindrical towers joined together, surrounded by a dry moat that can be quickly flooded through a system of cisterns and pumps. Crowning the roof is an open turret, where a signaling mirror shaped like a crescent moon stands. The Harper's operate a secret network of teleportation circles and their sigil addresses are located in Everlund, Loudwater, Mirabar, Neverwinter, Waterdeep, and Yartar. The teleportation circle in Everlund is located inside a circular chamber in Moongleam Tower. The Waterdeep circle is located inside a raised crypt in Waterdeep’s walled cemetery, the City of the Dead.
