The Missing Daughter

## Overview:

A cult is stealing villagers from the town of Brighton. They need human subjects to use their bodies as hosts in which to merge fey and shadow spirits.

The merging of spirits of positive and negative energies would create an immensely powerful being, but they require a host body. They have been stealing villagers to experiment and find the right host. They believe that the only body that will successfully host both spirits is a child of a bloodline they call ‘chosen’, whose ability to channel magic is far greater than average, given the right conditions.

They have no specific way of finding these individuals so they are simply picking people at random.

The cult has opened a gate to the feywild, where they can obtain fey spirits as well as harness the excess of magical energy to perform the merging ritual.

A wandering spirit from the feywild is initially believed to be the one stealing villagers, but turns out to be looking for someone to help stop the cult, as the rituals being performed by the cult are draining Fey energy from his home.

## Characters

* Alliance messenger
* Mayor Caldwell
* Mr Bradley
* Edrid Astell
* Maidenhair

## Opening

Players are all in the area surrounding a small town called Blairton. Players that are in the town will hear a town cryer calling for aid from any registered adventurers and beckoning them to meet at the town hall at noon. Players outside of the town will be visited by an Alliance messenger and asked to come to the town to assist in a mission.

## Meeting in Blairton

When they arrive at the town hall they find Mayor Caldwell, and his assistant Mr Bradley waiting for them. The Mayor looks distressed and is pacing the room. Mr Bradley tells the adventurers that recently people have been going missing from the town at night. It isn’t all that strange for someone to go missing in these parts but it’s currently happening far too regularly and the most recent victim is the Mayor’s daughter, Abigail Caldwell.

He goes on to explain that some of the townsfolk have been reporting seeing a spirit wandering through the town on the nights that people have gone missing. He asks you all if you could please look into this and find the missing townsfolk. The Mayor adds in a voice of desperation that they must return his daughter. He’s willing to pay the adventurers handsomely.

The mayor then gives the players a small crystalline amulet. He says it is enchanted with a locating spell linked to a necklace his daughter is wearing, and it will glow when pointed in her direction, getting brighter the closer she is. He describes his Abigail as being around 12 years old with bright red hair and a freckled face.

Mr Bradley also adds that there is a Magizooligist in town, named Edrid Astell who may be able to provide some guidance as far as spiritual activity goes.

Upon leaving the hall they see multiple families who rush up to them, crying and asking them to please bring their family members home. Some hold drawings and paintings of their loved ones out of hope that the adventurers will recognise them.

## Meeting Edrid

When the players arrive at the house of Edrid Astell, they are greeted by a small talking bird sitting on a perch at the door. It introduces itself as Peter and welcomes them inside. Peter flies over to the kitchen and tugs on a string which runs into the roof, ringing a bell down the hallway. He then flutters over to a kettle and starts it boiling. Moments later a woman in her mid-60s walks out and thanks peter before addressing the party. She introduces herself as Edrid Astell and asks what their business is.

Edrid reveals that she has been following the disappearances closely and has some theories.

Peter flies over, struggling to carry the kettle of tea to the table in the center of the room and Edrid pours you all a cup of tea.

She says that typically a spirit from this plane wouldn't be malicious and that stealing people seems very out of the ordinary. All the same the sightings she's been told of do seem to be from some kind of spiritual activity so it's worth looking into. She believes it could be some form of wandering spirit from another material level. There are no nearby material bridges between levels, but it could have come through a natural magic gate that has opened up somewhere nearby, as rare as that is.

She also tells them that the sightings have been happening around midnight, the same time people have been going missing. She tells them that if the players meet her just before then, she can ritual cast a spiritual detection spell and locate any spiritual presences in the town.

## The Spirit

That night the spirit appears. Edrid is able to locate it on the north side of town near the forest's edge. When the players get there, they see a man walking through the streets, he seems to be stumbling, and almost shambling about in the darkness. When they get closer they can see that he is foaming from the mouth, and his eyes are glowing a deep purple. The players recognise him from one of the drawings they saw outside of the town hall. He is a villager.

The players must fight the villager. They can kill him or they can choose to knock him out. If they bring him to Edrid, she will tell them that he is possessed by a spirit from Shadowfell, which can usually only happen via a ritual. The players can then track the path of the villager where they will see the emerald spirit following the same path (see below).

When the battle is over, the players will see a green glow coming from the edge of the forest. If they follow it they will catch a glimpse of an emerald coloured spirit wandering through the forest. Following the spirit will lead through the forest. If they continue to follow the spirit they will come out into an opening with tall rocks standing in a circle. The spirit won't be there, but leading into the center of the circle will be a set of tracks belonging to the possessed villager. If the players step into the circle, they will be transported to the Feywild.

## The Feywild

If there is time, when the players enter the Feywild there will be an encounter. They will be ambushed by 4 Gnolls who believe the players are cultists. The emerald spirit will step in before too much damage is done.

When the players reach the Feywild they will be greeted by the emerald spirit who calls himself Maidenhair. He apologises for not introducing himself earlier but explains that he is unable to speak when in the Midrealm, as the negative energy there is too powerful for him to be able to produce sound.

He is a forest spirit and he has been going through the gate each night looking for someone who could help him. He explains that a group of drow cultists has been encamped in his forest performing some kind of ritual that has been pulling the energy from the surrounding land, slowly killing off the forest and corrupting the creatures within.

If the players ask about the missing villagers, Maidenhair will tell them he has seen the cultists bringing other people through the gate and taking them to their encampment.

Maidenhair explains that the cultists are gathered at the center of his domain around an ancestral tree where the spiritual energy is strongest. He leads them to the edge of an enormous hollow in the ground where the earth rolls down through layers of misty firmament. From the top of the mist rises the leafy carapace of a giant tree.

Maidenhair says that is where they will also find the villagers. He would go along too but his energy is being drained by the cultists along with his domain, and the closer he gets the weaker he becomes.

## Descent

As the party descend into the misty hollow, they hear strange sounds around them. The ground starts to level out as they reach the bottom of the basin, and suddenly it's nearly impossible to navigate. They do their best to find their way but ultimately become helplessly lost. As they attempt to continue, they are ambushed by a small pack of corrupted forest creatures. There are 2 Death Dogs and 3 Zorbos.

After fighting off the attack, the pendant given to them by the Mayor starts to glow. They can follow it all the way to the cultists encampment.

## Cultists

When the party reaches the cultist encampment, they see a series of large torches burning purple atop carved wooden pillars in a circle around the massive base of the tree. All of the grass is dead and strange purple fungi is spreading across the ground. There are multiple make-shift cages containing around 25 humanoids. It's hard to tell from a distance if they are alive. There are also multiple wooden huts and five large wooden piles that look like shrines surrounding the encampment with more humanoids strapped to them. There is also a shimmering black plane hovering just above the ground just outside the circle of cultists, between them and the largest wooden hut.

At the center, surrounding the tree, are 12 hooded figures chanting in unison in a strange tongue. Chained to the tree is a young girl around 12 years old with bright red hair and a freckled face. Her head is pulled back in agony, muscles taught in her neck as a bright blue-green energy swirls around her head.

If the players attempt to attack the cultists, or if they accidentally trigger a fight, two cult fanatics will exit out of the largest wooden hut. One will take 4 of the cultists and come attack the players. The other will join the cultists around the tree in an attempt to finish the ritual.

While the players are fighting the ritual will finish and the cult fanatic will take the now unconscious Abigail down from the tree and exit through the portal with the cultists who haven't joined the fight. The portal closes behind them and any remaining cultists resign themselves to death as they continue to attack.

If the players check on the townsfolk, they will find that the ones on the wooden piles are all dead. In the cages 20 of the villagers are still alive, however, half of them are transformed in some way, merged with forest creatures or being corrupted like the villager they faced off against, though they are all too weak to fight.

## Return

Back at the village, many rejoice the return of their loved ones, and others mourn the loss of theirs. Edrid sets about putting together a cure for the villagers who are corrupted by the spirits, but she informs you that while their personalities can return, any physical changes will remain.

Mayor Caldwell is distraught that his daughter hasn't returned and shouts that he won't pay you until she is safe. Mr Bradley takes him aside and comes back to talk to you alone. He hands each player 100gp and apologises for the Mayor's state. He explains that if you are still willing to press on, a further reward of 150gp each is in store, along with his eternal gratitude.

Talking with him and Edrid, the players are informed that from their descriptions, the cultists likely would have travelled to Shadowfell. Edrid also tells everyone that one of the villagers who was taken has just woken up and has information for the party.