Things Fall Apart was the fifth adventure released for the Covenant of Light Faction Adventure to be run as part of the Xen'drik Expeditions campaign.
Synopsis[]
The adventure begins with the PCs being contacted by Liia ir'Kaan, an agent of the Church of the Silver Flame. Liia has been working on Xandrin's case for some time and believes the PCs may be able to talk some sense into her client before the Storm Lords can finish their case against him and the poor man gets executes. She begs the PCs to go see him in his tower cell, providing a mark of passage that will get them past his guards and allow them an audience with the condemned.
Speaking with Xandrin Corvalis will be a test of patience, diplomacy and honor. He is a nearly-broken man with only his personal dignity left to him and a desire to save others through his own sacrifice. A willing martyr, he will have to be convinced to open up and reveal the story of what really happened to his wife. Even so, he will only give the vaguest of details. The PCs will be left with a handful of clues and the cryptic statement that he cannot reveal more or "people will die". If asked which people, his only answer is "everyone". He will say no more.
Liia is waiting for the PCs and when she hears what little they were able o get from Xandrin, she will recommend they work on debunking the Storm Lord's assembled case. The PCs have their choice of which direction to go first from here; they need to visit the witness and they should examine the veracity of the Storm Lord's key piece of evidence—a bloodstained gown belonging to Lady Corvalis. Both parts of the mystery will need to be dealt with if Xandrin is to have a chance.
(There is a third avenue of research if the PCs were unable to get anything from Corvalis personally or if they just wish to be thorough. The Lord of Radiant Hold does have a personal study in the keep; there is enough material present in this room to provide the same leads the PCs could have received if their interview with Lord Corvalis had been more successful.)
The witness can be found in one of the darker districts of the city, holed up in her hovel apartment awaiting fate for her part in this debacle. A former kitchen staff member in Radiand Hold, she relinquished her position nearly a year ago out of fear that she would "disappear" as well. The Cabal found her an easy mark and convinced her to tell her tale with a simple threat. The PCs can get her to admit that she did not actually witness all of the events she claimed to, but only if they can figure out she is being less than truthful and convince her that she will be safe from reprisals.
The evidence is a bit harder to dispute. A torn dress with blood on its collar was exhumed from an unmarked grave north of Radiant Hold. The blood on the dress has been proven by necromantic analysis to belong to Lady Corvalis. Because the testimony comes from a recognized expert in the field, it is impossible to disprove, especially since it is true. Xandrin will admit to burying the dress, though he protests any suggestion that he caused the bloodletting.
The PCs receive help from a surprising source once they have investigated both leads; another member of the Cabal of Shadows has decided to lend his aid in exchange for a favor rom the PCs to be named at a later date. The Cabal member, a cloud giant psion named Deondag, has decided that Xandrin would be far more dangerous as a martyr than he could ever be alive. Acting through Shuurull, a mind-controlled sahuagin proxy, Deondag can direct the PCs to the only man capable of clearing Corvalis—Seraphen Cryheart, fallen paladin and sworn enemy of the Covenant of Light.
To buy Cryheart's aid, the PCs will need leverage. Deondag can provide this as well. He knows from his position in the Cabal that the conspirators have no intention of keeping their end of the bargain. Their dark oath only binds the warlock who made the deal; the other members of the plot intend to kill him and keep the weapon they had agreed to surrender to the blackguard as his blood price. Deondag can guide the PCs to where the sword is being kept under heavy guard. Once they possess it, the blade can be their price for Seraphen's cooperation.
Blade in hand (or armed with their own plan should the PCs not wish to accept Deondag's help), the PCs meet with Seraphen and can negotiate for the truth behind Lady Corvalis' disappearance. Once they know, they can take what they have learned to Liia and the Storm Lords. Xandrin's promise to never tell what happened to his wife does not bind the PCs and once they reveal what they know, the case against the Lord of Radiant Hold will be dropped.
This will not prevent rumors from circulating though Stormreach about what may or may not have happened that night and the defamation plans the Storm Lords put into effect have already caused some damage. Though Xandrin Corvalis is a free man due to the PCs efforts, the Cabal's ruse has not been a total failure. And of course there is the matter of the favor the PCs may now owe an evil force with a reason to some day move against all they hold dear.
That's what happens when Things Fall Apart
Appendix[]
Connections[]