Chapter 3: The Graveyard

The Characters wake at first light to the sound of the occupants of the manor making preparations of some kind. As the characters leave their rooms they are met by the same well dressed guard that met them at the door the previous day. 

Guard:

Please follow me. We have prepared food before you depart. 

The guards take the characters to the main corridor where tables of food have been placed. There are no chairs at the table suggesting that the food is meant to be eaten fast or taken with. Tarth is standing at the table eating some bacon and a piece of bread. He is wearing a breastplate and a few miscellaneous pieces of armor none of which looks to fit properly. 

Tarth:  

Hello, I’m ready when you are. 

After eating or chatting with Tarth for a moment they head out into the town on the way to the graveyard. As they pass through the town they notice that some of the families are packing all of their belongings into wagons. At the edge of town the characters reach a branch in the road and head right. They follow the road for about 30 minutes in the wagon before Tarth takes them off the road into the woods.

Tarth:

The graveyard is this way.

As the characters travel through the woods Wisdom Perception (DC10) perception check or passive Perception of 10 or higher. Any character that passes the check notices that the forest seems to be void of life and there are no sounds of birds or other animals, only silence and the breeze. 

After about 30 minutes of traveling through a dense forest the sky grows dark as the night sky overcast with dark clouds with a hint of an eerie green glow.They can just barely make out the graveyard up ahead in a clearing.  Mist forms on the ground gently swirling through the trees. The air grows cold as you hear twigs and branches snapping followed by an eerie low moan followed by a familiar clicking sound. Skeletal warriors explode from the underbrush all around the characters. Tarth drops to the ground and screams. 

The skeletons are the dead seekers of light soldiers. Intelligence History (DC15) check will reveal that the symbol on the armor’s breastplates and sheilds is from an ancient organization “Seekers of the. Light” (see history in chapter 2) Some of the Skeletons wield Sun Blades that drop when the skeletons are defeated. The skeletal alchemist drops a Staff of Healing and  a Sun staff. Adjust the number of skeletons depending on the number of players. With the skeletons there is one Nightmare. The Skeletons are attracted to whichever character holds the orb. 

After the encounter the characters should take a short rest. Take this time to have them heal and attune to the  Sun Blades if they have chosen to use them. Tarth has disappeared 

After a short rest the Characters approach the clearing in the woods that reveals an ancient graveyard. In the center of the graveyard they see a beautiful woman wizard casting a spell. Green glowing smoke quickly swirls around the wizard and the gravestones close to her. Her eyes glow bright green as she concentrates on the spell. You see spirits rise out of the ground all around her. 

The Wizard is actually a Lich

If the characters try to speak to her she ignores them, staying focused on the magic she is casting. 

If the characters try to attack, touch, or otherwise disrupt the magic read the following:

The beautiful woman bursts into green flames and transforms into a horrible Lich before your eyes. The lich screams into the dark sky with a howl that seems to pierce your soul. A large green flame wall of fire surrounds all of you as you are suddenly pulled into an open portal under your feet. You fall for a moment before hitting the ground with a thud. 

As you look up you see a large temple hall covered in a dark green glow. There are rows of pillars before you, with an altar at the far end. A wall of Ghosts and Specters rising up from a moat of phantasmic slime behind the altar.