The Zombie of the Opera

After helping the Treant Humphgrough clear up the storms that were plaguing his forest, and destroying the Stormhorn, the party was returned to their caravan group, who, while worried about them, had progressed onward, figuring that the four of them could take care of themselves (or that they just got drunk and took off on a bender). They continued on their journey together until Velora, the hometown of Kimo, Perrin and Jericho. The party spent about a week here, shopping and catching up with their families. Karmann spent nearly all of his money on a pistol, and spent his week learning to fire and care for it. The party then joined the steady stream of people traveling northwards to Luminaux, the City of Harmony.

At the gates of the city, they realized that they had, perhaps, not planned far enough in advance – with the advent of the music festival, the city was full to overflowing, and people were camped out on the riverbank for quite some distance outside the city walls.

Continuing through the gates, they were greeted by numerous merchants, gamesmen, and revelers – the city, known for being merry, had turned into a giant carnival. Seeing Jericho and Kimo’s holy symbols, a young half-elf, Phantos RustyWing, approached them, and offered them the last room in the Rusty Wing, his father’s inn, for the bargain price of only 5gp per night.

Each.

With a four-night minimum.

Food not included.

The party, not wanting to camp out a mile or more from the city walls and the center of the excitement, agreed. They proceeded directly there, introduced themselves to their host, and washed the road dirt from their tired bodies.

Eager to identify some of the magical treasure accumulated over the last few months, they went to the Library, where they heard an expert on the topic worked. In due time, they were shown in to meet Brother Denehan ClearStone, a member of the Order of the Mind of the Prophet, who specialized in magic items and lore.

The dwarven specialist agreed to look into the magic items that the party had been unable to identify - a few potions, a pair of bracers, and the ring and amulet discovered during the last adventure. Although there would normally have been a steep fee for this service, the dwarf offered the party a deal.

He claimed to have heard of these adventurers from a friend of his in the Order of the Holy Compass, mostly as a side note to a disturbing story about an arcanist that had recently been destroyed in Corvis - an undead arcanist. He asked the party to look into a small and sensitive matter of personal concern, in lieu of the fee for his services.

Each year, at this time, there is held a competition in Luminaux. In this competition, composers sing their own holy works, in honor of ORB, and the winner is awarded the honor of performing his work as the focus of the High Gloria Mass. It is the most rigorous musical competition in Crescent.

Last year, a friend of mine auditioned. He has a voice like an angel - I have rarely heard anyone who sang so beautifully. He was also one of the most faithful men I have ever known - a member of your order, Jericho. But I always wondered if he hadn't turned to ORB out of bitterness at his failure as a songwriter - for, in spite of his voice, he has no gift for composition. His music, such as it was, typically included a prayer to the god to grant him the ability to write what he felt - give him the words to go with the voice.

His composition was rejected - and in some pretty harsh terms. In a quite melodramatic moment, he vowed revenge against the Maestro, and vanished. He hasn't been seen in nearly a year, and I had begun to think that he had merely left town in disappointment - there are few places more cruel than Luminaux for a failed and bitter songwriter. His name is Bravyn Harprended.

A few nights ago, I got word that he has returned to town. He was seen at the Arcangel's Pride, one of the nicest inns in Luminaux, which also typically features amateur vocalists of surpassing skill. It was one of his favorite spots, in happier days.

I ask you to look into his return to Luminaux, and see what you may find out. I fear that he has returned to do some mischief. I would do it myself, but I have too many demands on my time as it is. In return for this favor, I will identify your items, and waive the fee for that service. Thank you, my sons.

Denehen gestured for Kimo to put the items on the worktable. As he did so, a strange thing occurred - the crystal amulet, which before had been inert, came to life as soon as it left Kimo's hand, and began to scorch the table. Denehen reached out to pick it up, but yanked his hand back when, with a bzzt! he was shocked quite strongly. Turning to Kimo, who was removing a magic ring that was also to be identified from his hand, he asked if the item had ever done that before.

Kimo said that it hadn't, and Bro. Denehen asked if Kimo would touch it again - promising to heal him if he was hurt. He, like the brother before him, was shocked quite painfully. The brother picked up the ring from the table, looked at it, and guessed that it was a Ring of Lightning Resistance, which had probably saved Kimo from quite a bit of damage. Kimo, remembering the wall of lightning which he had, inexplicably, passed through, agreed - and said a quick prayer of thanks to ORB for his good fortune.

The party departed, intent on visiting Arcangel's Pride, and Phantos, who had waited outside the library for them, offered to show them the way. Jericho, who wanted to register for the Mask and Scroll auditions, split off and headed for the main guild offices.

At the Arcangel, the party had a late lunch, listened to some music, drank some beer, and gossiped. Phantos, who had been let in on the mission, proved quite capable at gathering information, as did Karmann. Together, they quickly discovered a number of things. First, Bravyn had indeed been seen, but had not sung at the tavern, and was dressing all in black - unusual for both bards and clerics. Most disturbingly, he was no longer wearing his holy symbol.

Thier disturbing news was met with news of equal strangeness that evening, when the party met back at the Rusty Wing. Jericho reported that the Mask and Scroll offices were in something of an uproar - a number of noted instrumentalists had disappeared in the preceding nights.

Lacking evidence of a connection between Bravyn and these events, and unable to trace Bravyn's steps any further, they charted a bold course. Returning the next morning to the Library, they dug up Bravyn's music for the audition the year before. Denehen hadn't been joking - it was awful. But, in a strange way, it was also compelling. Phantos and Jericho, both musicians, got the feeling that the music suffered not so much from lack of ideas, but from too many ideas all together, in the same space.

They rewrote the music to make it simpler but more clear, and Phantos arranged an audition with the inn keeper of the Arcangel. Jericho played beautifully, surpassing even his own best performances, and was offered a choice spot in the evening lineup. Jericho played at the Arcangel that evening, again with magnificent skill, and capped his performance with Bravyn's rewritten song. The rest of the party drank and gossiped. Karmann and Phantos again proved to be great at gathering information, as they quickly heard a rumour that the Graveyard des Fortissimos, in the old quarter of town, had been reduced to a smoking hole in the ground. Spliting the party up, they ran to the graveyard - which was, in fact, mostly intact. There were, however, a number of graves which appeared to have been exhumed. However, with some examination, they determined that they hadn't been dug up - they had been opened from the inside. Further, all of the graves had epitaphs dealing with music - and one of the graves was the tomb of a great composer, from two (human) generations ago. Bribing the gravekeeper to notify them of any other strange activity, they left, quite shaken.

Meanwhile, observing the audience closely, Druid Who Shall Not Be Named saw a short and ugly human get up and run off. He followed him with gnome-like stealth, and was quickly led to a warehouse. Approaching carefully, Druid Who Shall Not Be Named heard some very strange music coming from inside. he climbed to the roof with the aid of one of his monkey friends, and then sent a note back to Perrin (who was at this point the only party member left in the bar with Jericho) giving him the address. Karmann and Phantos came back at about that time, and the whole party went to the warehouse.

Jericho and Phantos immediately identified the music as Bravyn's, although changed somewhat. Climbing down off the roof, Perrin made some noise, and the henchman came outside to see what was going on. Perrin, thinking fast, pretended to be drunk (he had observed it often enough, travelling with Kimo and Jericho) and the henchman simply told him off and went back inside.

The group, deciding that a frontal assault was perhaps somewhat risky, went back to their rooms. There, they discussed their strategy, and it was noted that only instrumentalists and composers had been targeted - no vocalists. Given the evidence they now had, it was generally concluded that Bravyn was behind all the noted events. In order to make himself more of a target, Jericho decided that he would perform only instrumentally the next evening.

The next day is uneventful, filled mainly with shopping and sightseeing. The highlight of the day is the tour of the Grand Concert Hall, the biggest single room on Crescent, and also the most acoustically perfect. The party learns that it is also a place of great magical power, as the singer on stage can reach everyone in the hall, and the acoustics will allow his voice to be heard with equal clarity. The tour guide implied that this will include any vocal-based spell he cares to cast, which is why performers are so rigorously screened. She also told of the other way to use the hall - should the audience began to sing together, their power is focused onto the stage - it can be used to call up great holy power, and channel it all through one person, the singer on stage. The hall was used this way only once - at the end of the Scarlet War, the combined holy power of thousands of faithful was used to tear away the arcane defenses surrounding the Jade Tower, rendering it vulnerable to the army of ORB.

That evening, Jericho's performance goes quite well, although the henchman is not noticed in the audience. However, late that night, Kimo heard a sound, and looked up to see a dark figure, cloaked in shadow, standing in the window of his room at the Rusty Wing. He immediately wakened his roommates, Jericho and Druid Who Shall Not Be Named, and sprung to the attack. Shrugging off a dark spell from the figure, he also pounded on the wall, waking Karmann and Phantos. Perrin slept happily.

They party drove off the figure, who leapt from the window and flew up into the sky. Playing a hunch, they party set off straight for the warehouse (with the now awakened but still groggy Perrin in tow), and got there in time to see the figure, now assumed to be Bravyn, enter the warehouse. They heard the bar on the door fall as they ran up to the door. Running down an alleyway, they saw the river-doors of the warehouse open and a barge float out onto the river. Bravyn taunted them from the deck, and then turned away. Perrin, lighting an arrow, fired at range, and smiled grimly as he heard a curse from the boat.

Kimo, Karmann, and Phantos climbed to the roof, and then swung into the river doors and onto the main floor of the warehouse (well, Kimo and Phantos did; Karmann splashed into the river itself and sank like a rock. Kimo dragged him out with a rope). Letting Jericho in the front door, they began to search the warehouse, only to discover a fire raging in what appeared to be an office on the second floor. Fighting the fire with blankets, a hose, and a very wet Karmann, they put it out, and then found that it had been started with sheet music - music which led them to believe that Bravyn was up to something very evil. To Phantos and Jericho's trained eyes, it looked like the music could, under the right circumstances, compel the listener to sing along with it - and the second verse was a plea to the gods to give the focus his greatest desire. Fearing that Bravyn meant to take the place of the Gloria soloist, and use the power of the Hall to grant himself unholy power, they immediately decided to pursue him.

Meanwhile, Ragnar and Perrin had followed the barge downstream, assaulting it with spells and fire. Jericho, Kimo, Phantos and Karmann found a boat, and began to row after the barge. They caught up, and boarded it - coming face to face with a half dozen undead - skeletons and zombies - and Bravyn himself. The dark bard ordered his undead minions to attack, but the undead proved to be no match for hardened warriors. Perrin and Ragnar convinced their mounts to swim out to the barge, and joined the fight. Bravyn quickly fell to the party, but not without cost. As his last resort, he reached out, called the powers of darkness, and touched Phantos in the chest - who fell over, dead. However, nearly immediately, he was struck down and taken captive.

The party rowed the barge ashore, and went in search of Brother Denehen, carrying both the unconscious body of Bravyn and the corpse of Phantos with them. They found him, and he thanked them for their courage and their service. He called the city guard, and Bravyn was taken to face justice. He also called for Phantos' father, who was quite heartbroken to see the still form of his son, lying motionless on Denehen's worktable. However, the old dwarf took him aside, and spoke to him for a while, and he seemed much relieved after.

Denehen said, "I cannot offer you monetary reward, as my order typically spends most of it's money on educating the poor, and on our libraries and workshops. However, we do have a box at the Grand Concert Hall - I can reserve five seats for you there, on Saeday morning."

The party went to bed, and rose early the next morning - as Jericho had his auditions for the Guild. Petitioning for entrance as a journeyman in Vocal and Instrumental performance, as well as Composition, his day promised to be full. In spite of the tension and excitement, and the lack of sleep, he performed excellently (although not as well as at the Arcangel a few nights before) and was granted admission for all three areas.

The morning of the Gloria, the team filed into the Concert Hall, and took their seats. The atmosphere was one of excitement and tension, as the news of the plot to desecrate the festival with blasphemous songs and zombie musicians had circulated, as had the story of the six brave adventurers who had put a stop to it.

Their excitement was only compounded when, at the climax of the High Mass, the body of Phantos appeared onstage in a bright column of light. Jericho, translating the lyrics of the song for his friends who don't speak Celestial, gaped in amazement as the last lines of the song were a plea to ORB to return from the dead the hero Phantos, to return him to his work on Crescent.

Business at the Rusty Wing has improved dramatically since the Gloria, as people flock to see the hero and his friends.