A TEST OF FAITH Marek the Stalwart, Paladin of the Knights of the Eternal order has stolen a powerful magical artifact. Fleeing the order’s keep he has left several slain paladins of the order in his wake. Our adventurers have been charged with returning Marek, preferably alive, and the artifact to the Knights of the Eternal Order so he can face trial for his crimes This adventure is best played with a group of 4-6 characters of level 4-5. WRITTEN BY MICHAEL PISANI THIS ADVENTURE CONTAINS DANGEROUS CULTISTS AND CUNNING FAY CREATURES. THE AUTHOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR MISSING LIMBS OR SHRUNKEN HEADS. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, FORGOTTEN REALMS, THE DRAGON AMPERSAND, PLAYER’S HANDBOOK, MONSTER MANUAL, DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE, D&D ADVENTURERS LEAGUE, ALL OTHER WIZARDS OF THE COAST PRODUCT NAMES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF WIZARDS OF THE COAST IN THE USA AND OTHER COUNTRIES. ALL CHARACTERS AND THEIR DISTINCTIVE LIKENESSES ARE PROPERTY OF WIZARDS OF THE COAST. THIS MATERIAL IS PROTECTED UNDER THE COPYRIGHT LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ANY REPRODUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE MATERIAL OR ARTWORK CONTAINED HEREIN IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF WIZARDS OF THE COAST. COPYRIGHT 2016 WIZARDS OF THE COAST LLC, PO BOX 707, RENTON, WA 98057-0707, USA. MANUFACTURED BY HASBRO SA, RUE EMILE-BOÉCHAT 31, 2800 DELÉMONT, CH. REPRESENTED BY HASBRO EUROPE, 4 THE SQUARE, STOCKLEY PARK, UXBRIDGE, MIDDLESEX, UB11 1ET, UK. ALL OTHER ORIGINAL MATERIAL IN THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHT 2017 BY MICHAEL PISANI AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE COMMUNITY CONTENT AGREEMENT FOR DUNGEON SampleMASTERS GUILD. file NOT FOR RESALE. PERMISSION GRANTED TO PRINT OR PHOTOCOPY THIS COMPLETE DOCUMENT FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. INTRODUCTION “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.” DMUND YONS —Elisabeth Elliot E L Edmund Lyons is the lord commander of the Knights of the Eternal Order. Edmund is a hearty man with a rounded nose and a thick ABOUT THE ADVENTURE white mustache. He has tired, but warm eyes and a kind, welcoming air about him. He is also in his 70’s and has known Marek almost his A Test of Faith is an adventure designed around the idea that there entire life. is sometimes more to a story than outwardly apparent. Edmund sought out the party in hopes of keeping the loss of the Marek the Stalwart has taken the Eye of Vecna after being contacted artifact as quiet as possible. Although he doubts Marek’s allegations by Kelemvor, his deity. He has slain several paladins of the Knights of of danger from within, he has called in an outside party in the off the Eternal order, subdued several of the guards and fled the order’s chance that his friend is not merely suffering a bout of madness. He stronghold. loves Marek, and hopes to have him returned so that his madness can be treated and this matter can be settled. The party is charged with returning Marek to the stronghold to face judgement for his crimes. Edmund Lyons, the lord commander of the order, prefers that Marek be returned alive. More importantly the EWAN HARPER Eye of Vecna must be returned, even if it means the death of Marek the Stalwart. Ewan is second in command of the order. He is in his late 40’s, slightly balding and has an intimidating and somber presence. Ewan has a reputation, he is known to unleash swift, decisive judgement CHARACTERS OF NOTE on those he deems guilty. He is known to be the most powerful of his order and many members speak of his ferocity and power on the battlefield. Few wish to cross him, and those who do seldom live to MAREK THE STALWART tell the tale. Marek is a human paladin of the Knights of the Eternal Order. He has Ewan was corrupted by Vecna when coming into contact with a very devoted himself, and his life to the service of Kelemvor. Many of the powerful magical text he found in Sylverymoon many years Knights of the order consider Marek to be one of the most pious previous. He has spread the taint of Vecna slowly through the order members of the order and revere the old man. Even in his mid-70’s in an attempt to liberate the Eye. he is still one of the strongest and most adept warriors, slower than he used to be, but still a powerful threat on the battlefield. SLOANE MASON As of late Marek has been receiving warnings from Kelemvor himself warning the old man of the danger growing inside the order itself. Sloane is a 22-year-old half elven ranger. She is an expert track and He has not kept the messages silent, Marek is a brash man, causing has been assigned to the party by Edmund. Unbeknownst to the many in the order to believe that in his advanced age his sanity may party she is also Marek’s daughter. She is a member of the order and be diminishing. is hoping to convince her father to return and face his judgement. She will protect the party as best she can, but should they attempt to kill her father she will quickly turn on them. She will also do her Marek’s Failing Sanity best to hide her identity. Although Marek may seem mad to some of those around Sloane is a good source of information about the surrounding lands. him, he is, in fact, being contacted by Kelemvor. The deity It won’t take her long to find her father’s path. The more has chosen his champion and deems him to be the information Sloane hears regarding the existence of a cult inside the most adequate protector of the Hand of Vecna. order the more she begins to believe her father, until she eventually decides to help him escape. Sample file Written by Michael Pisani A Test of Faith 2 KNIGHTS OF THE ETERNAL ORDER The primary duty of the Knights of the Eternal Order, Kelemvor's main order of paladins, is to hunt and destroy powerful undead. The order Edmund’s chapter of the Order is located in a keep just outside of The city of Silverymoon, close enough to have a view of the city’s beautiful moon bridge. Kelemvor Kelemvor Lyonsbane is known as the Lord of the Dead and Judge of the Damned. Kelemvor urges that death is natural, and part of life, and should not be feared. Because of his reverence for death as a part of life, he holds the undead in extreme contempt Sample file Written by Michael Pisani A Test of Faith 3 A BLOODY EXIT THE INNER SANCTUM The second corpse is of a dark-haired man looking to be in his early The party is escorted through a reinforced door by two of the 40’s. His tight cut curls matted against his face with now dried order’s guards. Edmund stands looking over the two slain bodies as sweat. He sits slumped against the pedestal with a puncture wound a couple of guards sit in a corner holding their heads, seemingly at his clavicle spilling blood onto his breastplate. A DC 12 MEDICINE nursing head injuries. Edmund seems perplexed by the scene. CHECK reveals that a sword was more than likely driven downward from the top through his body inside of his armor. The room is a hexagonal chamber with a pedestal at the center. Crumpled below the pedestal on the floor are the corpses of two A DC 16 INVESTIGATION CHECK on either body reveals the elf and paladins whose armor bears the symbol of the Knights of the Eternal human both have a small vial of blood worn on a silver chain around Order their necks. These necklaces signify members of the cult operating inside the EDMUND order. If other members of the order are asked about the vials they Edmund, upon seeing the party moves to greet them. He tells the either don’t know, or pretend not to know what they are. party that a very powerful magical item that the order has been protecting for years has been taken, and they believe on of their HE UARDS own ahs taken it. He quickly confesses to being a good friend of T G Marek and seems genuinely perplexed by his friend’s betrayal. He If Questioned the guards give similar accounts of the events. They says this is even more confusing because Marek is often considered say that Marek entered the chamber, turning to close the door to be the most pious of all Kelemvor’s followers. behind him. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days, and began uttering to the guards some madness about a looming threat and a He tells the party that Marek had spearheaded an expedition into growing cancer. He then apologized to the guards before lifting a the nearby city of Sylverymoon to root out what he feared was the scroll and uttering a few words, blanketing the room in a magical beginning of a cult of Vecna worshipers working out of the docking silence. Drawing his sword he made his way towards the Eye of district. He claimed to have found evidence of the cult in a small Vecna. mercantile guild called The Voice of the Silent and had been planning to eventually lead a small group into the city to root out The two Paladins in the room drew their weapons as he approached, the infestation in the coming weeks.