Evermoors

In the middle of the Evermoors resided the wizard Arius and Taria. Here they watched the out over the kingdom, tutor promising wizards and helping out in times of need. Taria, however, scared of death in her old age, seeked to become immortal, and in her search, turned to dark magic and in particular, lichdome. Part of the trials in become a lich is to get the blessing of a great demon lord. This is not easily done and requires a great sacrifice or deed for them to be willing. In this case, Effea learned of Levistus, a great demon who was banished years ago to the 9 hells. He is known to work with humans before (dead guy in the cave) and Effea figures that if she can raise him, he will help her out. To raise a demon, a great number of souls are needed which is the driving force behind all the actions presently happening.

**Arrival**

The first glimpse of Arius' tower is from a distance. In the relatively flat evermoors it stands out glaringly from the surrounding landscape. It appears as a white stone tower, pretty basic in appearance. Its round with the classic battlements at the top. The stone is polished white so much so that it gleams in the mid-day sun. Surrounding the tower, you can see an ornate garden, unnaturally grown compared to the vegetation in the moors. It contains the only brightly colored flowers as well as trees for as far as the eye can see. Leading up too the tower door is a flagstone path, curiving through various highlights of the gardens. A low stone wall, about 5 ft tall, sourrounds the gardens. It looks more like a way to separate the tower from the moors than a barrier against intruders. (A wall of force is cast directly behind the wall going 10 ft up from the ground preventing entry to the tower from any entrance other than the path). From here it appears very calm without any sign of life in the gardens or beyond the tower doors.

As you approach the tower via the path, two garden gnomes pop-up beside you and shout-out in a high, squeaky voice "Welcome to Arius' tower! How can we help you today?". These gnomes are **Wood Woads** and will not let the PCs into the tower without a fight. (They seem friendly until the PCs get too close to the door without their permission, the get more and more insistent until they attack the PCs).

Once they reach the door and touch the handle (simple wood door) they trigger the Glyph of Warding on the door and Erupting Earth triggers outside the door.

**First Floor**

As soon as they step inside the tower, they seen an entrance way is much bigger on the inside than it appears from the outside. It is circular, about 100 ft in diameter and 15 ft high. You've stepped into what is a fairly nice lobby. Their are some beautiful painting and tapestries hanging on the walls, a few pieces of furniture as well as a bookshelf on one side. The thing, however, that immediately catches you eye as soon as you step into the room is a large block of ice in the center of the room, rectangular in shape. It is 5 by 5 ft by 10 ft and their is a man encased in the ice. He appears frozen in a surprised and scared sort of pose. He has long black hair with a black goatee and is wearing a black tuxedo. At the back end of the across from you is a archway with a door in it as well as another door a couple paces to the left of the archway. Other than that + what I described, you can see nothing else in this room.

* If the PCs pass by the ice block without saying "Long (Demery) Live (Noctura) Levisuts" an anti-gravity spell will be cast on them (and only them) for the remainder of this tower.
* The door in the archway has a door handle but no lock (no latching mechanism that the players can see). Their is, in the middle of the door, a circular impression in the door.
* The closet is another magic room which is, in actuality, 75ft by 75ft by 10ft. In the middle is a fireproof chest holding a gem which can be used to open the door. If they open the door, the room is on fire and they can't see anything beyond the fire. Its basic fire that can be put out with water or whatever.

**Second floor**

The second floor appears to be a library/sitting room, or was at one time. Now, however, all the furniture has been pushed to one side of the room. A number of sleeping cots have been set up in one corner of the room and a table and chairs in the other corner. Their is a fire burning softly in the hearth at the back wall and a number of paintings line the walls. An impressive chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

Conversing in the middle of the room are 3 decent sized spiders with human heads, chattering away rapidly in a high pitched voices in a language you don't understand. As well, at the far end of the room is an orc who appears standing on alert near a staircase (which looks very similar to the one you just went up) who spots you, points and prepares to throw the javelin he is holding.

**Doorway to Third Floor**

A solid steel door blocks the passageway to the next staircase. It is heavily reinforced and does not look like it could be forced open. The door has 5 heavy set locks, each seems identical and evenly spaced from one another. The only thing that sets each of them apart is a series of characters engraved into the steel next to each lock.

The first lock's message is in Dwarvish it says: 2 or 4 The second lock's message is in Goblin it says: 1 or 4 or 5 The third lock's message is in Orcish it says: 6 The forth lock's message is in Common it says: 3 The final lock's message is in Elven it says: 1 or 2 or 4

The door as some additional information on it that is revealed with a simple investigation. In common at the top of the door a message reads:

*"Open in order or not at all"*

The 2nd and 3rd locks have additional information next to them:

Next to the second lock reads the message: *"Never trust a Goblin"*

Next to the third lock reads the message: *"Orcs can't count"*

Above the doorway is a singular brass key, hanging from hook.

Whenever the PCs fail at opening the door, a poison cloud envelopes the room. They must succeed on a DC15 Con save or take 6d6 poison damage (half as much on a save).

**Third floor**

The third floor is completely empty of furniture. Their is however, a large green snake lying against the left wall. It is not moving. (It is a dead Guardian Naga killed by Temria Effea). Further their are two people tied up in the middle of the room, back to back. Once the PCs enter the room they will turn into their true form while casting fiendish charm on the Warlock and the fighter. Depending on how the role-playing goes, they may applaud the PCs for coming this far but regret to inform that they will be going no further. They are sarcastic and cocky.

**Fourth floor**

This room appears to be set up as a conference room of sorts. It is dominated by a large table in the middle of the room. The table is covered with various maps, documents and figurines. Pushed to the side is a four-poster bed, as well as some reading chairs and a small bookshelf. Their is a small coffee table their covered in books and scrap pieces of paper. Their is a small fire burning in near the reading place as well. Oddly this room has no torches or candles lighting it. Their are 3 windows as well as 3 floating orbs of light providing all the light (plus the fireplace). Sitting around the table are 4 creatures in a heated discussion. Their is are two orcs (One orc blood Shaman, one orc war chief), a plain old human (babau who looks like a human until the necromancer dies) and finally, at the head of the table, their is a beautiful elven lady (necromancer with half the hit points). Finally the 3 will-o-wisps will attack after the first round.

The elven lady is a simulacrum who is holding the tower under a spell to look good. This spell, plus the disguise of the babau, drops after she dies leaving only the truth behind. A ruined tower, with dead bodies and blood and destruction everywhere.

The conversation goes something along the following lines lead by the elf at the head table: "I've heard back from Khara and all systems are a go. The walls are ready to fall as scheduled. He's built the tunnels and both the beast and the soul suckers are in place. (Waves a piece of paper around when she says this). It's just a waiting game at this point. Can I get an update on the troops?" (*Turns to one of the orcs (war chief)*.

War cheif: "Most are in place, ready for the final advance. We are still receiving about 250 extra/day but with the numbers expected plus the extras we will have more than enough to advance on schedule. With the help of the beast of course." *(He turns to the human)* "Are we sure the beast will... cooperate during the seige"

At this point the 2nd orc starts talking to the human in a language you don't understand. They human responds and the third orc pipes up in common: "He says ever since the last incident 6 months ago their have been no issues. Beasts of it's nature are always tough to handle but all signs point to it acting as trained." He adds "For myself, it better act appropriately. Soul sucker production is still underway but it will take weeks to replace the number that would be destroyed if he went ballistic.

The elf points up: "I understand your concerns **ORC NAMES** but the risks in this case are worth the reward. Without the beast we simply won't get enough innocent deaths to accomplish what we need. *Pauses* "Well is seems we are all on the same page - unless anybody has anything else to bring up, I will see in 3 days time. Demrey Noctura Levistus!" They all respond "Demrey Noctura Levistus".

**Stuff**

* 100 gp just lying around in places
* Among the books on the **bedside table** their is one that catches your eye. It's title is called "Demons and Devils". Bookmarked is a chapter on Levistus where you can pick up the following information:
	+ Levistus was an archdevil or middling importance who was ruler over the Stygia - the fifth layer of the nine hells. He was known to consort with humans as he loved seeing the death and destruction they were willing to wreck on each other. About 500 years ago, a number of great warriors banded together to banish him from earth and lock him in a place where he could not return. Ever since then, he has not been seen.
* Further letters between Effea, DA and Khara but all of these are written in a language you don't understand. You do notice that all the letters between Effea and Khara have the same "Demrey Noctura Levistus" that the first letter you found did.
* **On the table** is a number of maps of faerun. Of note is a couple on the city of Neverwinter. One is just a regular map but the second is an outline of the city with a number of lines drawn all throughout the city. It doesn't actually show any of the buildings or road in Neverwinter. There are a number of circles on the map as well as large X, in the middle of what would be the protectors enclave. Their are a few other maps showing Neverwinter in it's surrounding area as well but you can't make much out of the usefulness of these as any pawns and what not that would've been used to show troops movements have been knocked around in the course of the fight.
* **In the fire** is a message that is almost completely burnt in which the PCs can read "Waiting in Waterdeep" and that's all.