After routing a Goblin attack on the city, you returned to The Tricky Pony, to
receive your reward and rest. You see old man Bob come into the tavern, and
mid-greeting he turns a sickly shade of blue, as you see a spectral hand rip out
his soul, leaving a husk of a man behind.
Grog immediately recognizes this as a sign that The Temple, a sealed, old
research center built over ancient ruins, being active again.
Being the only adventurers at hand he offers 50 GP for you to investigate, but
insists on you taking the less than friendly wizard Nitram, who was hanging at
the bar and helped in the fight against the Goblins.
After walking in the direction of Ja'ffay Depths, you approach the outskirts
of the swampy marshlands. Ione deduces that Nitram, being a wizard, has at
least basic knowledge of this "Temple". He confirms this, and gives her the
general location and an estimated time of arrival, and the party decides to rest.
After an uneventful night (during which both Ione and Nitram had a barely
civil conversation) you begin to enter the marshland. Almost immediately Ravoo
and Ione notice that the more the party advances, the more corrupted the
ecosystem seems to get.
You're suddenly attacked by a swarm of Skeletons, and through luck, experience,
and grit you manage to defeat them all. You decide to take a short rest and as
you are gathering strength and tending to your wounds, 2 wraiths, whose presence
emanates more power and darkness than anyone or anything any of you has ever
encountered, manifest. They conjure a pair of what seem to be hand pistols and
without warning, shoot the at the ground beneath Nitram's feet, forming a dark
and arcane sigil.
The last you see of this Half-elf wizard is his face full of fear and terror,
as he tries to extend a hand towards all of you, just to be grappled by a pair
of ghostly, necrotic green skeletal hands that pull him into the dark abyss,
as he vanishes before your eyes.
It is here where we reenter our story.