Chapter 3: Secret of the Sumber Hills - Princes of the Apocalypse

Chapter 3: Secret of the Sumber Hills. The adventure starts in Red Larch, with the characters investigating the disappearance of a delegation from Mirabar. Characters are free to go wherever their information, as provided by you, takes them. Clues lead them to Haunted Keeps in the Sumber Hills. These old fortresses have become secret outposts for the cults of Elemental Evil. The Missing Delegation For months now, the cults of Elemental Evil have been establishing themselves in the Dessarin Valley without attracting much attention. Two tendays ago, that changed when an important delegation from the city of Mirabar disappeared in the Sumber Hills. The delegation traveled overland from Westbridge to Beliard, crossing the Stone Bridge. From Beliard it headed south into the Sumber Hills, bound for Summit Hall. Earth cultists attacked the group a few miles from Summit Hall. The cultists took prisoners back to the Sacred Stone Monastery, paying water cultists for the use of their riverboats to cross the Dessarin River, which is how the delegation's valuables end up in Womford (see "Rumors in Red Larch"). On their way back to their base, the earth cultists skirmished with air cultists, which accounts for the "Shallow Graves" section later in this chapter. After their arrival at the Sacred Stone Monastery, some of the delegation members were put to work in the mines. Others were sent down to the Temple of the Black Earth (see chapter 4). Other troubles have also surfaced recently, including some that might directly affect the characters. Tailor the introduction to work with the factions, backgrounds, and motivations in play among the characters. The Priest's Purse If you began this campaign with the introductory adventures in chapter 6, remind the players about the trade bars, minted in Mirabar, that the party found in the possession of Larrakh in the Tomb of Moving Stones. Adventure Start Red Larch is a little town on the Long Road, a few days' travel north of Waterdeep...