Mysterious Illness Hits Gourthan Expedition!

Sharn Inquisitive News for 22 Sul, Eyre, 998YK

STORMREACH—The bizarre luck of the Gourthan Expedition continued this week’s end as a mysterious ailment befell several of its members. Witnesses remarked that a sleeping sickness took most of the occupants of The Ship’s Cat, a popular inn within the Summerfield district of Southwatch in Stormreach; at the time of the incident, the inn was lent out solely to the beleaguered expedition.

A confidential source close to the story remarked that sometime on Zor, customers that fell asleep within the Inn had troubled dreams. Several reported nosebleeds or other such trauma, but more serious was the case of four of the crew: Ms. Zinnia Elanora Barrasten, niece of the august Professor Beverlea Ginasa Barrasten of the Library of Korranberg and expedition member, her minotaur and hobgoblin bodyguards, and an unidentified crewman. These four could not be woken by any means.

In an interesting wrinkle, the only non-expedition member afflicted by the sleeping disease was one Ms. Valna d’Lyrandar of Aundair. Ms. d’Lyrandar recently made news as the sole survivor of the Lyrandar elemental galleon the Kracken’s Teeth. There is speculation she is in talks with her cousin Lord Malfin d’Lyrandar, captain of the Storm Ascendant, to take over the position of their recently lost bosun.

Our source indicates that early Sul afternoon, most of those afflicted by the mysterious illness awoke; the last (currently unidentified) remains unresponsive. The befuddled survivors spoke a tale of being caught in a “dream laboratory” created by the long ago giants and fighting off nightmarish creatures, including the giant remnants.

“There are no records of the giants doing research in Psychic Studies,” explains Professor Dallan Mumfri of Morgrave University. “While master of Arcana, we do not show any significant interest in the mental arts by any of the known giant empires.”

No explaination of the cause of the illness nor the state of the fifth crewmember has been forthcoming from the Expedition.

Shards of Light, Shards of Shadow is a 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in Eberron. The characters are members of a scholarly expedition to the depths of Xen’drik, and this campaign log captures the triumphs and travails they shall face. For more details, see the Wiki and our Adventure Logs.