Once we had our fill of breakfast at the MacGregor Farmstead we headed back to Trollskull Manor where we would spend some time discussing how we wanted to go about fixing the place up and then contacted some workers to come out and start construction. We had noticed a bulletin board was erected along the street outside recently and we went to see if there was anything of interest posted. Among the various leaflets and posters there was a cryptic request seeking adventurers to help The House of Many Faiths to resolve an issue on the grounds. It wasn’t much but we thought it couldn’t hurt to stop in and see what it was about.
When we arrived we met with Jaldaar Silversmith, a dwarf priest who seemed very confused as to what we wanted. He told us his associate must have put up the flier even though he specifically asked to keep the matter quiet. Apparently the temple had been forced to close services because of an evil presence within the undercroft, possibly related to the dead that were buried there. He was a little vague about payment but we figured we were already there and it seemed simple enough so we offered to take a look.
Descending into the dark corridors of the undercroft we came upon a partially decomposed body sitting in a pool of blood at a distance but it was still making noise. Now on high alert for anything that might attack we approached carefully. We attempted to kill the monstrosity quickly but as soon as we made a sound we were attacked by several more shambling corpses coming from different directions. We focused our efforts to kill them… or at least return them to death in this case and managed to reduce their numbers significantly. It was at this moment that Jaldaar came strolling down the hallway behind us. Confused, we turned our attention toward him to see why he would wade into the fray only to realize he was in the process of casting a spell at us.
Duelo’s quick thinking to slam a door in his face broke his ability to attack us but it was short lived as he emerged through the door in the form of a mist and then solidified back into his dwarven body once again. Realizing the significant threat he now posed we all turned our attacks toward him. He was outnumbered and it wasn’t long before he was starting to look heavily injured. At one point I heard him shout and there was a sudden flash then the next thing I remember I was on the ground. I was told I was knocked unconscious by whatever spell he hit me with. However this wouldn’t win him the day and Jaldaar was slain.
Shockingly, the moment his body slumped to the floor his dwarven form melted away to reveal a human male in his late twenties. After searching the rest of the compound we learned that his real name was Kris Weatherly and he was the apprentice of the real Jaldaar Silversmith, whose body we found in a small room near the back of the undercroft. Greemus also showed us that during the fight with the undead he managed to notice another one of those strange crystals, the same ones we saw at the MacGregor Farmstead. We also found a letter which talked about a “master” and instructed Kris to make sure the shards are planted. It seems that all of this is somehow linked together. The druids of the Emerald Enclave will surely want to hear about this.