Why does it always start with a wizard?

The party hires its services to a wizard in trouble. Obviously geased, their poor employer requests the party seek out a vital spell component from a neglected area in the Outlands. But all is not as it seems, the party must deal with fiendish intervention and resolve a terrible moral dilemma; their actions will surely doom either their employer or other innocent victims.

Adventure Outline:

1. Sigil

While in Sigil, the party is approached by a wizard, a paunchy middle aged man clearly suffering from lack of sleep and food. He’s a friend of a friend of theirs and in dire need of assistance. He requires brave adventurers to obtain a singing crystal from a location in the Outlands. He will provide directions, a portal location, and the portal key for it. He will offer 500gp in gems as payment on completion. Why? Simply, he has been geased by a powerful foe to conduct magical research requiring the crystal as a component. The nature of the geas prevents him from talking about the nature of the research, the location of his lab, or his “employer”. Consequently he will refuse to answer any questions and implore the characters to assist him – “I beseech you, I you don’t help me I’ll die”. Should he be refused or too many questions be asked, his body will writhe with spasms, a silent scream revealing his torment. When he has recovered he will plead with the party: “You are my last hope, my condition worsens every day. Without the crystal you surely condemn me”. He then breaks down, sobbing briefly. If the party delays further he is again overwhelmed with pain and opens his mouth in another silent scream: “Pleeeeeasse”. Once the party accepts the offer he weeps in relief. He then provides the party with a tattered cloth map of a location in the Outlands, a bracelet woven out of some kind of plant (the portal key) and tells them the location of the portal.

2. The Outlands

The trail shown on the map is easy enough to follow. It leads through an unpopulated forested area of the Outlands, into a valley. The area they are looking for is Spireward of a stream at the base of the valley but not beyond the great Limbok tree. During the two day journey, no intelligent life is seen or heard. It’s like being on the Astral – only green. As the party approaches the valley they see the faint tendrils of smoke. Exploration of the area makes it apparent that the smoke pretty much marks the location they are looking for.

3. The Smoke

Scouting the area reveals what appears to be a deserted encampment. The camp is laid out in an orderly fashion and consists of tents with a fenced area or corral nearby. The largest tent also has a pennant tied to a tall pole nearby – there isn’t enough wind to fly the flag and even so, it isn't recognizable at this distance. A faint sound of metal on stone can be heard further upriver. Although the party won’t know it at this time, this is a Baatezu camp. The bulk of the force is at the mine (further upriver) but there are two Spinagon sentries in place guarding the camp. Each has been given the same order – watch the camp and the other sentry as it may be a spy. If there is any trouble get word to the commander. They will notice the party if the enter the camp otherwise they are more interested in stalking each other. The tents house the majority of the Baatezu force (the exact numbers should be enough to discourage the party from a frontal assault) and the corral is clearly some kind of slave pen.

4. The Mine

Following the river toward the sounds leads to a quarry. On approach the party will hear sounds of whips, the occasional scream, occasional shouting in a foreign tongue, and a variably pitched note rising and falling in volume. In the quarry, a large force of Baatezu oversees a number of slaves mining a large outcrop blue crystal. A smaller force guards a cart containing the mined crystal. This cart is returned to camp twice a day and another smaller force of fiends planeshift the crystals away. At this point the party may face a predicament – what to do with the slaves? It should be made clear that their life expectancy is short under their current masters. Any reasonable plan should work.

5. The Crystal

Again, any reasonable plan for retrieval of a crystal should work. The fiends are not expecting an attack and know the area to be uninhabited. However, after an attack they will go onto maximum readiness and the camp will be shifted to the mine and heavily fortified (a signal of the importance of their mission) – this may be important for later in the adventure. Once the party have the crystal they should return to the gate to Sigil. On the way back to the gate the crystal will start humming, sometimes in tune with the heartbeat of the character carrying it. The character carrying it will also be convinced that he can occasionally feel the crystal move. As they get close to the gate they will feel as if they are being watched – perceptive characters will see bushes and small trees move and hear the light footsteps through nearby shrubs. At this stage they will not be able to identify or catch their watchers. As they near the gate the party will hear a high pitched keening from in the woods. The crystal will then reply in the exact same pitch. Then the same pitch will sound from almost right in front of the party. Then right before their eyes a nearby cluster of boulders forms into small humanoids (new monster - Earthlings – see coming Creature Codex entry). One of their number extends his hand and speaks “Give” then repeats the same note. The crystal replies and the character carrying the crystal feels it move. As the party delay more earthlings start to appear until a total of 24 surround the party. Examining the crystal shows it “morphing”. As the party watches it goes from crystalline form, to an almost liquid form, to an acorn-like shape, to a ring, then back to a crystal form then suddenly it rings out the same note again and as it does so its hue changes from bright blue to the same grey clay of the earthlings.

6. The dark

As it turns out the crystal is an “egg” of the earthlings and the blue crystal outcropping is the birthplace of this tribe. To the Baatezu, the magic of the crystal and the earthlings represents a tremendous opportunity for their war effort. They are under instructions to capture any earthlings in the area and bring back as much crystal as possible for study. They are also planning a larger operation to move the crystal mother back to Baator for study. This raises three problems for the party: 1. how to help their patron. Can they turn over something that they know to be a sentient non-evil being to be used as a spell component? (and yes the crystal is consumed in the research). If not, what can they do to remove the geas of their poor employer. 2. Can they release the crystal mother from its torment?3. Who has geased their patron? Baatezu, tanar'ri or the 'loths... or someone else?