Candlekeep Mysteries

Chapter One — The Tomesplitters

A collection of unlikely adventurers came together on the roads between Candlekeep and Baldur’s Gate. Some had been hired to escort an elven woman named Ella, while others had been drawn into the service of Magister Emlin, a scholar of Candlekeep. Their separate assignments eventually brought them together at the Elfsong Tavern, where a seemingly straightforward book transaction proved to be the beginning of a much longer association.

Returning to Candlekeep, the companions became entangled in the mysteries of the great library. Their first investigation led them into an extradimensional mansion created by the wizard Fistandia, where they found themselves trapped among animated furnishings, magical experiments, and hidden clues. Only by discovering a command word concealed throughout the mansion were they able to escape.

Their next investigation involved a dangerous collection of books connected to Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions, drawing them into an affair involving cursed manuscripts, strange creatures, and a journey back to Baldur’s Gate. By the time the matter was resolved, the adventurers had established themselves as capable, if occasionally unconventional, investigators.

They had also discovered that the mysteries of Candlekeep rarely remained confined to its library shelves.

Chapter Two — The Shadow of the Raven

The next adventure arrived quite literally out of the sky when a raven dropped a mysterious book at Vard’s feet, accompanied by an insistent demand for help and payment. Following its clues, the companions traveled into the wilds of Elturgard in search of the abandoned Chalet Brantifax.

The journey led them across gloomy moors and into a neglected estate haunted by the remnants of its former inhabitants. There, the party discovered sinister connections to Orcus, strange supernatural disturbances, and evidence of a passage between worlds. Their investigation eventually carried them through a portal into the Shadowfell, a realm of muted colors, restless spirits, and perpetual gloom. Confronting the undead and other horrors inhabiting the region, the adventurers struggled to untangle the curse surrounding the estate and its inhabitants.

After overcoming the dangers of the Shadowfell, the company returned to the world of the living, bringing their strange investigation to a close. It would not be the last time that a seemingly ordinary book led them somewhere entirely unexpected.

Chapter Three — A Deep and Creeping Darkness

The adventurers’ next commission took them south toward the Cloud Peak Mountains, where the abandoned mining town of Vermillion had become the subject of troubling rumors. Hired by the scholar Paintal Morningfall, the party traveled through Nashkel and into the mountains to investigate the settlement’s disappearance.

Their journey brought changes to the company. Loris, dissatisfied with the rewards of adventuring, departed, leaving an associate named Korruk to take his place. The orc hunter proved considerably less interested in conversation, particularly when Ned was involved, but quickly demonstrated his usefulness in the wilderness.

In Vermillion, the adventurers discovered a town abandoned under mysterious circumstances. Searching its ruined buildings and nearby mines, they encountered unnatural creatures, hidden passages, and evidence of the terror that had driven away its inhabitants. Their investigations revealed the influence of meenlocks, sinister creatures that had preyed upon the townspeople.

Having completed their assignment, the party returned to Paintal Morningfall, who offered a more permanent arrangement: a continuing series of commissions, regular payment, and a residence in Beregost. The companions accepted, establishing a headquarters in an aging townhouse and formalizing their association as the Tomesplitters.

Chapter Four — The Singing Malaise

Life in Beregost was hardly peaceful. While exploring their new residence, the Tomesplitters uncovered unexpected inhabitants, dangerous creatures, and more than a few reasons to question the wisdom of accepting a neglected house as payment.

Their next assignment returned them to Candlekeep, where a delay in retrieving a commissioned manuscript led the party to take temporary quarters in the Firefly Cellar, a subterranean library beneath the House of Rest. There, a strange song began spreading among the inhabitants. The melody was infectious, its lyrics increasingly disturbing, and those affected suffered shared nightmares, violent compulsions, and supernatural attacks. Sealed inside the cellar, the Tomesplitters struggled to understand the curse before it overwhelmed them. Their investigation revealed a sinister entity known as Shemshime, whose power was bound to a seemingly innocuous music box. The party discovered that the creature could be defeated by crushing it beneath a great weight, and devised a plan involving a massive stone book suspended above the library.

The plan nearly succeeded. When the creature survived the first crushing blow, Vard threw himself into the battle, wrestling it into position beneath a towering bookcase. Rhogar pushed the shelves over, crushing Shemshime and ending the curse. But Vard was caught beneath the falling shelves. The party desperately attempted to save him, but their efforts proved futile. Vard Korrick, veteran mercenary and one of the founding Tomesplitters, had died saving his companions.

Though the curse was broken and Candlekeep was safe, the victory came at a terrible cost. The party returned to Beregost without him, leaving behind a companion whose sacrifice would not soon be forgotten.

Chapter Five — The Price of Beauty

In the aftermath of Vard’s death, the Tomesplitters found themselves approached by new acquaintances seeking assistance with a missing scholar. Among them was Pippin Dorn, an eccentric young necromancer whose enthusiasm for experimental magic was matched only by his conviction that the world fundamentally misunderstood the useful applications of the undead.

Accompanied by his skeletal assistant, Steve, Pippin joined the investigation into the disappearance of Falthrax Loder, a scholar whose last known activities involved a mysterious book called The Price of Beauty. Following the book’s clues, the company traveled to the Temple of the Restful Lily, an isolated spa that promised relaxation, rejuvenation, and supernatural improvements to its guests. Predictably, its welcoming appearance concealed something considerably more sinister. The adventurers discovered that the establishment was controlled by dangerous hags, whose promises of beauty and happiness came at a terrible price. Investigating the spa and its inhabitants, the Tomesplitters encountered charmed victims, magical transformations, concealed enemies, and creatures whose appearances could not be trusted.Their investigation eventually brought them into direct conflict with the hags and their servants. After a series of confrontations, the party overcame the establishment’s masters and brought their operation to an end.

For Pippin, the adventure provided a practical introduction to the group he had joined: their investigations were dangerous, their methods were unpredictable, and their relationship with ordinary definitions of good judgment was frequently strained. He fit in surprisingly well.

Chapter Six — The Cabrassi Affair

Returning to Beregost, the Tomesplitters discovered that their patron, Paintal Morningfall, had become the victim of an elaborate deception. An alluring tiefling named Azutha had apparently charmed him, relieving him of money, property, and several important possessions. The investigation led to Cabrassi Manor, a heavily guarded estate occupied by dangerous spellcasters, animated guardians, and members of a family with connections to far more powerful organizations.

What followed was an increasingly elaborate operation involving magical surveillance, reconnaissance, carefully devised plans, and their inevitable collapse upon contact with reality. The party infiltrated the manor, fought its defenders, uncovered imprisoned victims, and confronted the wizard Leofric Cabrassi. During the struggle they learned that Azutha was a succubus caught up in the family’s schemes. Their actions brought the surviving Cabrassi family into open conflict with the Tomesplitters. Soon their townhouse was under attack by mercenaries and Zhentarim agents, forcing the party to defend their home against an organized assault.

The confrontation ended unexpectedly when a beholder arrived through a portal and intervened on behalf of the Zhentarim, declaring that the Cabrassis had acted without authorization. Rather than continue the battle, the beholder placed the surviving offender under arrest and demanded the party’s participation in a formal judgment. The resulting proceedings brought Korruk’s personal history into the affair, revealing a connection between the Cabrassi family’s crimes and his missing sister. Ultimately, the matter was settled, though not without consequences for the orc hunter.

By the end of the affair, the Tomesplitters had defended their home, recovered much of their patron’s property, and somehow become involved in a legal dispute presided over by a beholder. For an organization ostensibly devoted to collecting books, their affairs had become remarkably complicated.

Chapter Seven — The Book of the Deep

A new assignment from Candlekeep sent the Tomesplitters north by sea, where a remote community of grippli had ceased supplying the library with its customary shipments of giant crabs. The company boarded the Dog’s Ear, accompanied by a familiar ogre named Little One, who had been entrusted with delivering a mysterious book to Waterdeep. Their voyage quickly took a dangerous turn.

Strange creatures emerged from the sea, apparently drawn to the book in Little One’s possession. As the party investigated, they discovered that the manuscript was connected to Illuun, a powerful undead aboleth known as a nihilith. Rather than immediately resolve the grippli’s troubles, the Tomesplitters diverted to Waterdeep to deliver the book to Lady Rumalia Haventree.

There they learned that the manuscript contained knowledge of a ritual capable of banishing the creature. The party returned to sea, following Little One toward a submerged temple where the ritual could be performed. Beneath the waves, the adventurers encountered corrupted aquatic creatures and unnatural manifestations of the aboleth’s influence. Their journey culminated in a desperate battle in an underwater cavern, where the party was nearly annihilated.

As the Tomesplitters fell one by one, Pippin’s skeletal assistant Steve continued fighting, ultimately delivering the blow that ended the confrontation. The victory left the adventurers battered, exhausted, and considerably more appreciative of their necromancer’s unusual companions. With the immediate supernatural threat defeated, they resumed the mission that had originally brought them north: discovering what had happened to the grippli and their missing crab shipments.

Chapter Eight — Dragons and the Night Serpent

Arriving at the grippli settlement, the Tomesplitters discovered that a nearby village had been occupied by yuan-ti, serpentfolk who had driven out the inhabitants and disrupted the region’s trade. Worse still, a powerful black dragon named Vyrmath had established itself in the surrounding jungle. The party launched an assault on the occupied settlement, fighting through yuan-ti warriors, monstrous abominations, and undead grippli. Their advance drew the attention of Vyrmath, who descended upon the battlefield and nearly overwhelmed the adventurers before they finally brought the dragon down.

Their investigation continued into an ancient temple where the serpentfolk had been excavating a mysterious relic. There they discovered Rhogar, their former dragonborn companion, imprisoned and badly beaten. His presence revealed that the yuan-ti’s activities were connected to a larger search involving dragonkind and an artifact of considerable power.

Deep beneath the temple, the adventurers uncovered a strange cylinder containing an ancient presence known as the Night Serpent. The entity spoke of dragons, undeath, and a dangerous relic that needed to be removed from the world. Within the shattered cylinder, the party discovered part of a black dragon mask. Rhogar agreed to take responsibility for the artifact, departing once more to ensure it could not easily fall into the wrong hands. With the serpentfolk defeated, the dragon slain, and the mysterious relic removed, the Tomesplitters returned to the grateful grippli. Their mission was finally complete, and the region’s crab trade could resume.

The voyage home held one final calamity when Little One succumbed to the influence of his magical crown, turning violently against the ship’s crew. The party was forced to subdue him and cast the corrupted crown into the sea. By the time the Dog’s Ear limped into Waterdeep, the adventurers were more than ready for dry land.

Chapter Nine — The Shocking Climax

Back in Waterdeep, Pippin invited his companions to dinner at the Dorn family mansion. What should have been a relatively civilized evening instead became the beginning of another supernatural investigation when the party encountered a mysterious diary and the restless spirit of a young woman named Sarah. The diary described terrible events connected to Yellowcrest Manor and a sinister figure known as Lord Viallis. As the adventurers investigated, they uncovered evidence of murder, forbidden rituals, and a growing cult whose activities had spread through the city.

Following a trail of clues, the Tomesplitters searched the abandoned manor, confronted supernatural guardians, and eventually traced the cult’s activities to a brewery. Their investigation revealed an operation involving magically altered beer, enthralled followers, and a secret passage descending far beneath Waterdeep. The passage led into the depths below the city, where the adventurers discovered a hidden temple devoted to contacting something from beyond the material world.

There, Lord Viallis and his followers were conducting a terrible ritual before a gigantic statue of a tentacled brain. As the Tomesplitters attacked, the ritual began to unravel, and the otherworldly creature attempted to drag Viallis back through the portal. The party fought desperately to stop the cultists and disrupt their chanting. Ned opened Sarah’s diary, allowing her spirit to appear one final time and confront the man responsible for her suffering.

With the ritual broken, the portal collapsed in a violent psychic explosion. The creature and Lord Viallis vanished, the cult’s plans were defeated, and the Tomesplitters emerged victorious. Exhausted but successful, the adventurers recovered yet another dangerous book and prepared to return it to Candlekeep.

And so the adventures of the Tomesplitters came to an end, their story having carried them from an unusual book transaction on the Sword Coast to haunted libraries, distant ruins, dangerous seas, dragons, and forgotten horrors beneath Waterdeep. They had returned quite a few books to Candlekeep along the way. They had also left behind a considerable amount of destruction.