Dark Dreams Incident

The **Dark Dreams Incident** occurred during a resurgence of Duskwood's usual difficulties, as well as a number of new threats emerging. These difficulties arose not merely in the region, but began to spread beyond its borders to strike fear and darkness into the hearts of the innocent.

*For more technical details on this campaign, please read the Dark Dreams Campaign Guide.*

## Preludes to a Dream (May 5 - 27)

On May 5, 38 L.C., a convoy delivering supplies to the Unbroken in Darkshire failed to arrive. This spurred an investigation that indicated a new threat of terror had arisen.

On May 6, an oil rig owned and operated by the Melrony Crime Family failed catastrophically. The pump clogged, and pressure began to build until geysers of pressurized oil broke through the surrounding ground. The crude oil proved animate--and hostile--and the assembled Melrony personnel had to fight their way to freedom and safety.

Rumors alerted Jeremaias Auromere to the possibility of something odd going on around Duskwood. On May 16, the Shield of Andervell and the Knights of Ashfall conducted a patrol along the Lakeshire Highway. There, they came upon a pocket of gloom and dusk spiderlings--and their matron--and exterminated the eight-legged invaders. At the back of the clearing, Silvwin Saltz discovered a Goblin Weather Machine which, when turned off, began to dissipate the gloom at once.

At this point, Lord Auromere sent out a call, by flyer, to anyone who might have knowledge of these or similar events.

On May 18, the Unbroken and the Order of the Dusk Rose repelled a worgen attack on Darkshire. One monstrous worgen had been enhanced with mechanical devices, and spoke of some "Master" that had bidden him and his packmates go and feed.

On May 19, the Stormwind Guard was called out to the Royal Orchard. There, they discovered that trees that had received grafts from old apple trees in the Rotting Orchard had been possessed by some malign force, and were now cultivating and protecting a nightmare tree. The trees were destroyed, but the curse of Duskwood appeared no longer to be contained within the region.

The same day, the Remnant of Lordaeron answered a call for help in Duskwood. A necromancer was plaguing the area, but when the Remnant arrived to deal with him, they discovered that he was heavily infected with some sort of fungal or plant growth. He was dispatched promptly, but questions remained.

On May 20, the Unbroken encountered an even deeper darkness... ((WIP))

May 21 took the Knights of Ashfall to Booty Bay, to investigate who built the weather machine and, hopefully, identify a culprit. After determining that a Miss Snazzy, a goblin engineer, constructed the machine, she was convinced to divulge the name of the purchaser: a "John Smith" of Westfall. A dead end, but it became clear that a human male was involved.

Following the Town Hall meeting (below), the Remnant of Lordaeron investigated the Rotting Orchard on May 26. There, they uncovered a virulent seed, which exerted an influence that was inciting the trees to further corruption. After a valiant battle, the seed was uprooted and unearthed, but a lingering influence remained...

## Introduction (May 24)

On May 24, many gathered in the Lakeshire Inn to compare notes and discuss plans going forward. After much debate, one Beletene Moongraze, a self-described Druid of the Vine and expert botanist, stepped forward and offered a plan:

The assembled would send aid to Duskwood, and there plant something known as Duskbreaker Seeds, seeds from the sacred trees of Moonglade. The seeds would take root, grow into trees, and push the corruption out of the very soil of the region.

Though many were skeptical, it was agreed that something must be done, and this was the best option available. The various organizations and individuals parted company to prepare, and reassemble in Darkshire on May 29.

In the meantime, Auromere sent a letter of inquiry to an old friend, Warden Kyalin Raintree, to inquire about who exactly these "Druids of the Vine" were. He received a reply from a "Maelydra Starfire" in Dalaran, who sang Beletene's praises and reassured him that everything was as it ought to be.

## Exposition (May 29-June 2)

### **May 29**

The evening of May 29 arrived, and the defenders of Duskwood made their way into Darkshire. The leaders gathered to confer and plan, and agreed to begin work in the region the next day. Tensions were high, as many of these groups had not worked together before--and some had, and had not been successful.

Auromere emerged as the leader of the effort, though he made clear that he had no legal lordship nor absolute command over the orders, organizations, and individuals. However, he swiftly put in place a system by which volunteers could be directed into the missions they sought to assist, which cemented him as the *de facto* head of the effort.

### **May 30**

    Work began in earnest on Tuesday of that week. Besides the following, it was rumored that the undead were restless and gathering at Deadwind Pass:

#### *Worgen Overtime*

Brightwood Grove was marked out for the first of the Duskbreaker Seeds, and a party assembled to escort and then plant it. However, rather than a small stealth mission, Opalarie D'ath determined to carry out a larger assault mission, and sent in the Unbroken in advance of the escort to attack the worgen living there directly. In the midst of the battlefield, the Seed was planted, but it attracted the attention of a minion claiming to work for the unknown "Master" that the Unbroken had heard of before. The Seed finally took root, and its growth was unnaturally accelerated by absorbing the minion's dark energies.

#### *Victorious Dead*

The Heroes' Memorial graveyard is the resting place of many veterans of Stormwind's wars. However, a necromancer had managed to stir up some spirit of resentment among the fallen, raising them as sullen, angry undead that believed they had been forgotten. Jeremaias Auromere led a team to use incense, respect, and good old-fashioned elbow grease to lay them to rest once again. The dead were placated, the spirit of resentment defeated, and the necromancer's identity hinted when he left behind a soul shard upon his escape. A Duskbreaker seed was later planted to finish cleansing the cemetery of dark energies.

#### *Suddenly Trolls*

A routine patrol led by Father Eric Parthilan along the Duskwood Highway encountered a raiding party of trolls from Stranglethorn Vale. The trolls were determined to take advantage of the chaos in Duskwood to plunder and pillage. The attack was repelled, but the trolls declared that they would return, in greater force, to answer the insult.

#### *Ogre Load*

The Stormwind Guard and a handful of assistants answered the concern of local villagers that the Vul'Gol ogres had raided their valuable mushroom supplies. The Guard did battle against the ogres, holding them off while others collected and secured the crates of mushrooms, and then withdrew to safety. Discovered in the crates was a letter, ostensibly from the Horde, introducing an emissary and offering entry to the Horde for the Vul'Gol ogres.

#### *Shafted*

A long since abandoned mine in the southern reaches of Duskwood was targeted for a Duskbreaker Seed, and Father Longhat, the rather colorful leader of the Order of Nancy Teapot, took up the task of investigating the area and planting the seed. Unfortunately, though, a vengeful tribe of gnolls had recently taken up residence there, and had set up a formidable defense involving stolen technology and twisted creations of necromancy. The party managed to plant the seed and escape, badly wounded.

### **May 31**

#### *Bear Witness*

Another party, led by "Father Longhat", went forth into the woods west of Raven Hill in search of a bear that was stealing, killing livestock, and obliterating the hunters that went after it. When the hunting parties discovered the bear, they also discovered that it had been heavily mutated, granting it the ability to teleport, use fel fire against its enemies, and acidic blood. The bear was finally slain, and its head returned to Darkshire to be examined, tested, and scryed.

#### *Well Enough Alone*

A call was issued to Raven Hill in response to a growing corruption in Duskwood’s western water supply. A party led by Baelthane Anvilmar set out from Darkshire, enroute to the small village. Before they could reach their destination, however, a member of the group picked up the sounds of panic erupting from the town ahead. Upon their hastened arrival, the group discovered animated, corrupt volumes of water roaming the streets and terrorizing the townspeople. After defeating numerous waves (which came forth from the town well), as well as slaying a monstrous amalgam of acidic solution, the corruption subsided, and the town appeared to be safe again. Within the remains of the large “sludge” was a strongbox, partially damaged by the acid. Within was an ornate necklace, an heirloom of the Wilden family lineage--indicating that the sludge had flowed through the gravesite of one of the Wilden family. An old woman approached and introduced herself as Melanie Wilden, last descendant of the line. She offered to show the party, should they return to Raven Hill, the source of Duskwood’s aqueous corruption.

#### *Beggar Thy Neighbor*

The soul shard discovered at the Heroes' Memorial, when scryed, revealed two points of origin: one, in the west above Raven Hill Cemetery, and one at Beggar's Haunt, where Abercrombie the necromancer once plied his wicked trade. Auromere and a group of volunteers went to the Haunt to investigate one of the leads, and to intercept the restless invaders from Deadwind Pass if necessary. There, they discovered evidence that a death knight had been operated on, that his or her runeblade had been discarded, and that a Veiled Hand cultist had died at that location with his neck crushed. Additionally, an artifact was discovered there that drove Necrospeaker Daelin mad in very short order. The necromancer being sought was not present, but a party of undead was intercepted and destroyed.

#### *Unwanted Ogre-Tures*

The concern regarding a Horde emissary in the Vul'Gol ogre mound could not go unanswered, and the Stormwind Guard returned to capture him. While a larger party carried out an assault on the mound, a smaller party took advantage of the chaos to enter the caverns and seek the target. After defeating the ogre chieftain and his bodyguards, the extraction party captured the goblin emissary and withdrew to Darkshire, signaling the diversion party to withdraw as well. The emissary was handed over to SI:7, who removed him to Stormwind City for questioning.

### **June 1**

#### *Of Magic and Monsters*

Aldorae Starseeker led a team to place Umbra Wards around Duskwood, in hopes of interfering with Shadow activity in the region. One ward had already been placed, and two more were needed; the team was to place the remaining runes and activate them. This activity attracted the attention of a wraith and a number of shades, who followed and continually assaulted the team until the Wards took hold. With the activation of the third Ward, the wraith and shades became vulnerable to
 attack, and they were handily dispatched.

#### *Necromancers Again*

The second lead from the soul shard led Auromere's party to Raven Hill Cemetery, where they discovered a mausoleum door barred that should not have been, and an excavation. Down in the excavation, they discovered a tunnel, which they collapsed in an effort to flush out the necromancer. This worked; the necromancer fled from his workshop with two flesh beasts in tow. He ordered the flesh beasts to engage the party, and fled; but before he could escape, he was seriously injured and went to ground. The party defeated the flesh beasts, and returned to Darkshire to recover and attempt to locate the necromancer again.

### **June 2**

#### *Petrolfied*

Another party was formed to follow up on the previous water corruption perceived two days earlier in Raven Hill. Baelthane Anvilmar was issued a Duskbreaker Seed, should he and his party discover the source of the abnormalities. Upon arrival at Raven Hill, Melanie Wilden led the group into the expansive graveyard north of the town, claiming that it was the location of the corruption. It was concluded that the party would have to descend into the nearby crypt to get closer to the “root of the problem.” After fighting their way through the unstable stone catacombs, the party came across a large room that offered passage into the root system of the trees above. The Duskbreaker Seed was planted as wave after wave of amalgams oozed from the crypt walls. Outnumbered two to one, the odds of success began to dwindle. It was only the seed’s latching into the soil that caused the sludges to violently subside, suggesting that the ongoing problems with the water were cleansed.

#### *No Rest for the Wicked*

Scouting parties located the necromancer at an abandoned farm, and a strike team was dispatched to capture or kill him. The necromancer, though ambushed, fled into a barn, activating an unexpected number of skeletons buried in the field to intercept the team. The target lost consciousness in the barn, but not until he had animated a bone golem made of large bones and saronite "patches". The team tore down the golem by targeted attacks on its weak points, and then captured the necromancer, who was later handed off to SI:7 for questioning.

#### *Duskwood Necroplanter*

Cardinal Niklos Adamant led a team into the northerly reaches of Brightwood in search of a reported overgrowth of vegetation, with the objection of planting another Seed. Their search was not in vain; they discovered a forest not unlike the lush botani overgrowths of Gorgrond. After deftly avoiding many dangerous plants, they located a great tree feeding off of the malign energies of the area, and within it, a core of dark heartwood. Destroying the core and replacing it with the Duskbreaker Seed caused the tree to collapse, and the team narrowly escaped.

## Development (June 3 - 4)

### **June 3: To Sleep, Perchance**

The defenders of Duskwood, tired and wounded from a week's hard work, were invited to rest and recover while awaiting the firstfruits of their labors. However, on Saturday evening, rest would be hard to come by. Objects began moving on their own, either randomly or as if influenced by ghosts or the past, people began hallucinating, and the windows of the Scarlet Raven Tavern broke all in the same pattern.

No explanation seemed immediately available, though there had been an uptick in "background noise" from the arcane powers that run through Azeroth. Many of the manifestations seemed to resemble those of Karazhan (though nobody much recognized it).

Beletene reassured the defenders that this was perfectly normal, but that blessing the town and saturating it in holy magics might help suppress the phenomena. This was attempted, and seemed successful.

### **June 4: Dark Dreamers**

    But that success would not be unalloyed. The next night, as the defenders began to gather for a victory celebration, a green dragon swept into town and began demanding to see the person in charge. She was identified as Bessara, a child of Ysera, and frantically informed the confused champions that the Druids of the Vine were actually a group known as the Cult of the New Day.

This Cult, she explained quickly, was thought obliterated by the Green Dragonflight just after the Third War. The Cult believed that the presence of sapient beings was the cause of the Burning Legion's attacks, and were attempting to use the Duskbreaker Seeds as siphons from the leylines that run through Duskwood to fuel a spell--a spell to merge the layers of the Emerald Dream with the "Material Plane". If successful, this might simply cause reality as the heroes knew it to stop existing, replaced by previous versions of the world that exist in the Dream.

Parties swiftly formed to go out and destroy the Duskbreaker saplings, which were feeding the arcane energies to a "Mother Tree" in the Twilight Grove. The destruction of the saplings resulted in a magical backlash within the Grove, and caused the Mother Tree to merge with the druids there--killing the druids, and making the tree over into a semi-sapient monster.

The champions of Duskwood--and now, the world--gathered at the Grove and attacked the tree boldly, with the aid of Bessara. Under so mighty an assault, the tree could not survive, and was destroyed.

*See also the Heroic Battle Against the Mother Tree*

## Recapitulation (June 4 onward)

The circumstances of the Mutant Tree's existence, and its destruction, resulted in the creation of an artifact within it. This artifact, composed of enchanted wood, was imbued with the dreams of the Cult of the New Day. At least, so Bessara explained in a vague way. This new relic--strangely anticipated by "Father Longhat", and seemingly the reason for his "order's" presence--was argued over, but Lord Auromere insisted that its final disposition must be determined by King Anduin Wrynn. In the meantime, it would be relocated to another, unanticipated location, to await his decision.

The questioning of the two captives taken during the missions was rather different. The "Horde emissary" trying to incite the Vul'gol ogres was revealed to be a Venture Co. employee, there to stir up trouble so that the Company could continue to operate unmolested in Stranglethorn Vale.

The necromancer himself alleged to be working for someone else, a death knight. The soul shard had been taken from the corpse at Beggar's Haunt, but the necromancer did not know what work had been done there--only that his employer had no further need for the man and wished him irrevocably dead.

*See also:*

* Tirisgarde Politics
* Unbroken Contract

## Coda (June 10)

On June 10, the Heart of Dreams was packed up and transferred to Sentinel Hill in anticipation of the King's reply for its disposition. The Greyshields made up the vast majority of the convoy's escort, as well as Captain Lylth Engel and a contingent from the Knights of Ashfall.

The convoy set out from Darkshire, traveling west along the highway. However, after crossing into Westfall, they were ambushed by the Melrony Crime Family and forced to defend. The defenders were successful, but unbeknownst to them, a demon hunter in Melrony employ managed to switch the Heart of Dreams with a very convincing facsimile.

The fake is currently under the protection of Marshal Gryan Stoutmantle in Sentinel Hill, while the real Heart of Dreams is in the possession of Selvatore Melrony.