To Live Among You was the twelfth and final adventure released for the Covenant of Light Faction Adventure to be run as part of the Xen'drik Expeditions campaign.
Synopsis
The scenario begins with the PCs gathered in the chapel of the Lord's Tower , the now broken keep on the east side of Radiant Hold , in a meeting with the recently redeemed Seraphen Cryheart , reformed blackguard and newly appointed commander of the Covenant of Light . Though no one in the fortress is pleased with this arrangement, especially Seraphen, he has the backing of both the Lady Lirashana herself and the executive appointment of Lord Xandrin Corvalis .
Corvalis, lying in critical condition and now in a coma, placed Seraphen in charge before lapsing into unconsciousness. "You need us now," he whispered to his grief stricken friend at his bedside. "And we need you more than ever."
Now Seraphen is in the uneasy position of being all-but-hated by most of the people he is supposed to lead and in command a nearly-ruined fortress that his own troops put to the torch. On top of all that, he has to ask the PCs (most if not all of whom he recently tried to kill) to handle this Whisper situation and see to it that whatever she knows gets revealed in time to do them all any good.
When Whisper meets with the PCs, it will be for the first time face to face. Even so, she knows each of them quite well, having watched them with her spying skills and psychic abilities over the past two years. She addresses each by name, even showing almost-intimate familiarity. This is just her nature and while she is not trying to be coy or abrasive, some of the PCs may take understandable offense. Even if they do, they must put it aside and convince her to tell them what she knows.
She is willing to do so but they have to agree to her terms. They are fixed and she will not be bargained down. The danger from below that she foresees for the Covenant is not as urgent or immediate as her lover's peril and if he is not rescued first, she does not care what happens to Radiant Hold (or herself, truth be told, so threats are useless).
Once they agree, she will explain the plan. She knows the location of the Isle of Regrets , the holding isle off the coast near Dar Qat where Warrant is being held. The recent turbulence in the seas around Xen'drik has delayed many vessels, including the ones gong to and from Sarlona . This means there is a very short window of opportunity to rescue Warrant while his captors await the galleon that is coming for him. She wants to get in, grab her beloved and get out.
Though it may be hard for the PCs to believe, Whisper is completely on the level. She has very simple motivation here and her reasons are pure. Even so, from this point on, her fate is in the hands of the PCs. She is not a good person and while her devotion to evil is quite shaken, it could return if she is treated poorly or if the PCs cannot provide good examples for her to follow.
The adventure moves to the coast near Dar Qat compliments of a secret teleportation circle Whisper knows of southwest of Stormreach . The PCs and Whisper will have to get aboard a supply cog heading from the city to the Isle of Regrets, either by stealth or force. Once there, they can slip in under the watchful Eye of Loathing , the Isle's manifest sentinel. Though stealth is required for the first part of the mission, strength will be needed when they get to the Wailing Vault .
There, the PCs will have to deal with a kolyarut , a manifestation of psychic energy sent to exact revenge against Whisper for her violation of the union between her and her bonded Quori .
This is a moment of truth for her. If the PCs have given her no reason to believe that Good is something worth pursuing, she will give in to the kolyarut's ultimatum to return to Sarlona and reunite with her Quori spirit. She asks that Warrant be spared and the kolyarut agrees, leaving with Whisper to Sarlona and leaving the PCs to their own devices.
If however the PCs have been kind and supportive, she is able to resist the summons home. She defies the kolyarut and refuses to go back. The manifest-creature attacks and if the PCs can help her defeat it, they can all flee the sceen using a psychic-powered skiff before reinforcements arrive.
Returning to shore, they can use the circle and get to Xen'drik before the monstrous Eye of Loathing from the Isle of Regret can catch them. Whisper breaks the circle, preventing it from following them further. She and Warrant are reunited but happiness will have to wait. She has a promise to keep and if they have all gotten this far, she intends to do so.
Whisper reveals to the PCs that there is an underground grotto beneath Radiant Hold, a crystal lined cave with a deep pool and a wide river that leads to the ocean through a forgotten system of caverns. Bathed in the lights of dozens of nightshards ( Khyber dragonshards ), a long lost evil has been bound by their dark radiance. With the turmoil of recent days above, this sleeping fiend is waking and if it is allowed to regain its full strength, it will erupt from the earth with such fury and wrath that Radiant Hold will be consumed entire.
From there, the PCs journey to the Cavern of Crystal Sleep (likely by means of Glitch and Lady Cannonball , his tumbler ) and do battle with the half-slumbering nightwalker there. Though weakened by his long interment and unable to bring his full power to bear, this combat serves as the true pinnacle of the adventure and of the PCs' evolution as heroes of the Covenant.
If they win, they save their faction and put to rest an evil that had been plaguing Stormreach since its founding. If they fail, all they know will end in a shadow storm of night and fire.
But even if they fall, the PCs may still have a legacy in the lives of Whisper and Warrant, living together, living among the people of Stormreach. Two people, once dedicated to the evil of Sarlona and the Inspired , now free to find their own way in the Light...
Appendix
Connections