Dungeons & Dragons Online/The High Road of Shadows

The High Road of Shadows is an adventure pack for Dungeons & Dragons Online where the player characters walk the High Road of Cormyr, hunting for the pieces of a Nether Scroll. The adventure pack was added to the game on November 12th, 2012 as part of Update 16, and connects the two main stories of Shadowfell Conspiracy.

Content

Netherese Legacy

“

They say nothing clears the mind like travel. The sky above, the road ahead — yes, this would all be very pleasant if the fate of Cormyr were not at stake. Yet what did I expect when I first sought a Nether Scroll for my collection? There are those who would destroy a kingdom to possess a single Nether Scroll. Anyone who holds a Scroll can expect danger to follow.

”

— Oriphaun Huntsilver

The Netherese Legacy quest chain takes place after the Shadow Over Wheloon quest chain of Shadowfell Conspiracy, in the wake of Oriphaun Huntsilver's escape from Wheloon Prison with the Nether Scroll. A team of Harpers arrive in Eveningstar to follow his trail and find the pieces of the Nether Scroll that he has hidden along the High Road west of town. The Shadovar are also hot on the trail and wish to recover their artifact, and opportunistic bandits and werewolves try to take advantage of the situation while the Purple Dragons and War Wizards are busy with the Sschindylryn invasion of Eveningstar. The leader of the Harpers, Rina Belostos, is responsible for giving the quest chain. In addition to the quests, the High Road is littered with Oriphaun's journal entries, describing his thoughts and experiences as he evades the Shadovar and hides the Scroll pieces.

Detour sends the players from Tibalt Dormen to meet Bensen Virandson at Greenweald Lane. They must escort him and his piece of the Nether Scroll past a small army of hired mercenaries (including the double-agent Nil sent to seize the Scroll and reach the Harper lodge for safe storage. The leader of the mercenaries, Dom, beats the Harpers there but is overcome.

In Rest Stop, Freda Gambosi sends the players to Beckside Castle, where Oriphaun has hidden another piece. The ruins are inhabited by a number of adventurers using it as a camping spot, unaware of the Netherese agents elsewhere in the structure. After finding the Netherese forces, the players overcome the arcanists Keldan Shadeskein and Gaston Wyrst, taking the Scroll for the Harpers.

Lost in the Swamp takes the players to Lost Souls' Swamp where the hermit Seamus lives, only to find the medusa Sshaastess has already taken over the swamp and the Nether Scroll piece. After fighting through the creatures defending Sshaastess, the medusa is slain and the Scroll recovered. The players may also help the titular lost souls of the swamp—Callie Brennan, Evrim Whitehair, and Kyle Briarbuck, who were trapped by a powerful shadow.

In A Stay at the Inn, Kordo Sweetspire sends players to the The Old Man's Face inn of Tyrluk. Oriphaun hid a piece there and the Netherese have already taken over the inn, but are unable to find it. After taking out the Netherese commander Tarys, the bartender William Windsphere reveals that the only thing Oriphaun left was a bar tab—actually the Nether Scroll, flipped over and scribbled on. Thus the players are able to recover that piece of the artifact.

The End of the Road has Olyn Araphyr dispatch players to meet Girmond Dyle, holder of the Harper's pieces, before heading to Granwell Keep in the Blooded Wood, where the Netherese have gathered up all the remaining pieces of the Nether Scroll. On arrival at the Keep, the players find Girmond dead and the Netherese in possession of all of the pieces. Before the players confront the arcanists, they accidentally cause the Scroll to open a portal to the Abyss, causing the glabrezu Razagnol and his dretches to invade. The battle ends with Rina Belostos and Elminster arriving to take custody of the Scroll and ensure that it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

Index

Characters

Arganon Pine • Aya Ironhart • Bensen Virandson • Bobbish Brankstone • Branson Blackboot • Breagar Coppervein • Breatis • Dessafon • Dia Depthcaria • Dolthin • Dom • Elminster • Eradin Krall • Eternal Wanderer • Falsifax • Freda Gambosi • Gaston Wyrst • Girmond Dyle • Golo Manks • Greenstalker • Griffon Graves • Gruck • Keldan Shadeskein • Kordo Sweetspire • Leif Graves • Letty Tallbane • Lunasa Eveningwood • Lyrica Whitestone • Malin Quickarrow • Merlin Fastfoot • Miremere • Mystia Hollygrove • Nil • Oakarm • Olyn Araphyr • Oriphaun Huntsilver • Pelloth • Rand • Razagnol • Rina Belostos • Rrosp • Seamus • Shadowpaw • Sshaastess • Slade Destinaxe • Slam • Song • Tanya Brock • Tarys • Theodas Riveron • Thoven • Thrane Mettleworth • Tibalt Dormen • Twilizen • Udere • Ursus • Vicas Oakleaf • Vindavere Dyrwool • William Windsphere • Wyle • Xittin Silvertongue

Creatures

bear (dire) • deer • demon (dretch, fire reaver, glabrezu) • dryad • elemental (earth, water) • fox • frog • half-orc • human • mephit (fire) • mudman • shadowspecter • spider (brush creeper) • vine horror • wolf • umbral creature (gargoyle, rat, worg) • will-o'-wisp • werewolf • wolf • wood woad • yuan-ti (abomination, pureblood)

Items

Abyssal Planus Mechanus Nether Scroll • Bastion • bracers of twisting shade • Forgotten Light • ironwood khopesh • nether grasps • roadwatch bow • treads of falling shadow • whisperchain • wizard's ward

Locations

Beckside Castle • Blooded Wood • Eveningstar • Granwell Keep • Greenweald Lane • Harper lodge • High Road • King's Forest • Lost Souls' Swamp • the Old Man's Face • Tyrluk

Organizations

Harpers • Purple Dragons • War Wizards

Appendix

External Links

• The High Road of Shadows on DDO wiki