Enemies of the State
"Stand where you are. Our agents will arrive shortly...to take you into custody."
How could it all go so wrong so fast? What had begun only three days earlier as a search for the missing daughter of elven diplomats had turned into a political fiasco of epic proportions, which reached its peak (or nadir, depending on your point of view) when the elven archer Eandrynn slew Duke Decius Avan in his own bedchamber. Granted, Eandrynn had just witnessed Avan disintegrating the missing elven woman, and the heroes had since determined that the duke's body was possessed by their old foe Strabo, but there was precious little evidence of that to demonstrate their righteousness.
Now, the heroes--Adarrial Smythe, Duran Fortnite, Eandrynn, Falaster Morian, Thomas Johnson, and Thorgrimm--faced charges of treason. With agents of the king on their way, they knew they had to act fast to avoid the situation getting even worse.
But the surprises wouldn't stop with the duke's true identity, for who else should show up on the heroes' doorstep in this time of trouble but the prodigal son himself, Seth McCullin. The occasional (but never fully trusted) comrade-in-arms arrived in Helmsport just hours ahead of the king's agents. Seth promptly admitted that he'd been sent by the king as well, in the hopes that he might be able to take advantage of his friendship with Duran to defuse the situation (or failing that, at least report back to the king with useful information).
Armed with this useful, if troubling, information, the heroes set to work on their investigation. Before they could learn anything useful, they were interrupted by the arrival of Tyrrhenius, Inquisitor of the Church of Blackmere, and his entourage. The heroes received the inquisitor in the safety of New Khundrukar, with dozens of loyal dwarven soldiers only a shout away.
After hearing their story, the inquisitor nonetheless requested that Eandrynn be released into his custody. In a bold move, Thorgrimm invoked his right as Lord of New Khundrukar--sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Undermountain--and refused to turn over his friend.
Instead, the entire group of heroes traveled on to Blackmere under their own power, where they demanded (and received) an audience with the king. There, Thorgrimm shocked both the monarch and his own allies by resigning his standing as a Knight of Blackmere. No longer could he stomach the perceived injustices toward he and his friends from the human government, and he warned the king in no uncertain terms of the diplomatic nightmare that would result from any move against those under the protection of Undermountain.
As the dwarf's shocking words settled, chaos suddenly broke out in the throne room! His mind already fraying dangerously from years of mental possession, Strabo finally snapped. Still in the body of Decius Avan, the sorcerer disintegrated Kell Fleming, chamberlain of Helmsport. In the melee that ensued, the heroes managed to slay the lich-possessed victim before he could take any additional lives. However, before they could collect the corpse for safeguarding, it disappeared from sight!
Moving quickly, the heroes used divinations to locate the missing body in a hidden lair far from civilization. There, they encountered several slaad mercenaries working for Strabo, as well as the lich himself! Finally, the heroes could fight their enemy face-to-face, and their wrath soon won the day.
However, the lich's phylactery--the object that held his vile soul--was nowhere to be found. Without that object, Strabo would only return again in a matter of days. The heroes had precious little time to track down this vital object, otherwise they'd be back where they started!
On top of that, the heroes had to work fast to quell the diplomatic tensions rising between themselves and the kingdoms of Blackmere and Brithonen. Duran returned to Helmsport to smooth things out with the human government, while Eandrynn hurried to Brithonen to explain recent events to the elves. The other five heroes--Adarrial, Falaster, Seth, Thomas, and Thorgrimm--followed up every lead they could think of, no matter how cold the trail. Within a few days, they had a good idea that the lich's true lair was somewhere in the Frozen North, possibly within or near the original stronghold of the barbarian tribe recruited by the Scarlet Sails years earlier.
As they learned early on the morning of April 15th, they didn't work fast enough. Slipping into New Khundrukar unnoticed, Strabo cornered Thomas while the rogue was alone and disintegrated him. While the rest of the heroes scattered to find out what had happened, the lich charmed Seth in an attempt to draw the heroes into a trap. Luckily, the keen insight of Adarrial detected the ruse, and Seth was quickly freed from the lich's control before any harm could be done. Feeling rather invulnerable, the lich attacked the group once again the next morning, but was defeated before he could deal any further losses.
Enough was enough! The heroes knew they couldn't outlast the lich--they'd truly have to pull out all the stops to solve this thorny issue. Calling upon the mightiest powers of his high priest, Hjalmar, Thorgrimm sought the aid of an avatar of Moradin Dwarf-Father himself. With this divine assistance, the heroes were magically transported to the remote barbarian stronghold.
With unmatched fury, the heroes fell upon their foes. After defeating the barbarian guardians, they located a secret subterranean level of the stronghold. This area was more ably protected--by an overgrown canoloth and a powerful nycaloth! Even without their missing comrades, however, the heroes triumphed over their foes, and soon the chamber lay quiet.
But these weren't the final guardians. As the heroes opened yet another secret door, they found themselves facing an enormous stone golem and--yet again--the lich Strabo! This time, however, the heroes finally caught a lucky break. The lich they battled wasn't the true Strabo, but rather a weak simulacrum of the sorcerer, possessing only a fraction of their enemy's magical prowess.
After the last guardians lay destroyed, the heroes could finally claim possession of the lich's phylactery--a hollow metal sphere atop the staff wielded by Strabo's simulacrum. One disintegration later, the heroes could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The threat of Strabo was ended forever.
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