The Stories of the Cackling Crow is a 5th edition Dungeon & Dragons campaign using The Tales of the Yawning Portal and the adventures contained within. Please enjoy.

 The Premise:

In the dismal port city of Murkwater, deep within the tangled alleys and backroads, a hidden rundown inn known as The Cackling Crow harbors tales untold. Within the shadowed halls and behind brick walls, an enigmatic storyteller known as Malachai the Minstrel weaves narratives of forgotten dungeons, ancient dragons, and of the distant lands.

On a dark and moonless night, after a long day of heavy toil and weary trouble, you warm yourself by hearth, bread, and ale at The Cackling Crow -- where you gather for the wistful words of the mysterious Minstrel. 

As Malachai the Minstrel raises the veil on each table, the boundaries of reality will begin to blur, and the line between storyteller and story become almost indistinguishable. Will you become the protagonist of this fabled category of chronicles, or merely a supporting spectator in the following Stories of The Cackling Crow?

 The Forgotten Depths: The Keep Sleeps Beneath the Stone

The Session 0 Hooks:

A Request of Rescue: A traveler bearing the symbol of Vortigan, the Abyssal Tempest made his way into the Village of Oakhurst several weeks ago. He was a tall man who spoke quietly and offered little about himself. During his time at the Old Boar Inn within the village, he assisted Garon the Innkeeper with daily chores and gained the attention of two youths from the village; Talgen Hucrele and Sharwyn Hucrele. He spent several long nights speaking to the innkeeper about a local legend, an ancient stronghold. After only a tendays time spent within the village, this traveler set out with the Hucrele Twins and an Elven Ranger from the Northern Forest. They have not returned for over a month, and the Matriarch of the local merchant family grows more worried every day. A missive has been sent through The Temple of Law to The Stormward Sanctum promising salvage rights to whomever can find and return with her offspring -- or at the very least return with the gold signet rings worn by the missing brother and sister. 

'Coatl', Acolyte and Cleric of Vortigan, the Abyssal Tempest has been tasked by the clergy of The Stormward Sanctum to venture to the Village of Oakhurst; make inquiries as to the identity of the traveler bearing the symbol of Vortigan, the Abyssal Tempest; and to locate if possibly rescue the missing youths of the Hucrele Family.

A Terrible Theft: Once a year, during the Midsummer Solstice, a local tribe of Goblin venture forth to sell a single piece of magical fruit to the highest bidder of the Village of Oakhurst. This has continued on for over a decade. Unfortunately the last two years have been particularly difficult on the villagers, with the coffers nearly empty and the hopes of ever acquiring more of the magical fruit dwindling. A proposition to take the purchased magical fruit and plant a grove from the seeds was passed by unanimous decision. After the seeds were sown, growth was slow but after a full season -- a twiggy mass of twisted sapling stems grew. That is until it reached only a couple feet in height, and in the dead of night -- the plant was stolen. The village is convinced that it was the goblins, hoping to maintain a monopoly over the magical fruit. Mayor Vurnor Leng is certain that a compromise can be reached and an agreement made between the Village of Oakhurst and the Goblin Tribe. A request has been sent off to The Altar of Mercantile Wisdom in the neighboring dismal port city of Murkwater to help facilitate such an agreement; but as the request was filtered through The Temple of Law first, certain details of the request were seemingly forgotten or overlooked.

Rían Kane, sworn Paladin of Vortigan, the Abyssal Tempest has been dispatched by The Stormward Sanctum through a joint venture of the three major temples within Murkwater to not only investigate the thefts, but also of any unethical practices of monopolization and if a trade agreement can be made between the Village of Oakhurst and the Goblin Tribe.

The Mysterious Missive: Within the Village of Oakhurst, a local legend has been passed down from generation to generation. A fierce monster that ruled the region more than a thousand years ago; a group of adventurers who fought against the creature's tyranny; a cult that was dispatched back behind the walls of their fortified bastion before it was swallowed by the very ground during the cataclysm that reshaped an entire sub-region into a desolate and barren wasteland. Of course, which each new generation that passes, the legend has grown and been reduced time and time again -- with almost no one truly knowing what could be irrefutable fact from fanciful fiction. Many who reside within the Village of Oakhurst and it's surrounding farmland can acknowledge some facts of the legend, but many find it difficult to believe that the ancient bastion could possibly still remain, buried under more than a millennium of stone. Many would pass it off as nothing more than a story to be told; a lesson to be learned by the youth to behave lest a fiendish cult snatch them from their beds late in the night.

Stamin De Valle Webfield, last in line for a noble title and fledgling Divination Wizard, has received a mysterious scrap of parchment while suffering through a lack of direction. The scrap has been torn free from something much greater; with one side showing faded inked handwriting in an unfamiliar language and the other only containing the words "Village of Oakhurst" and "Citadel". The handwriting of those few words is familiar to Stamin De Valle Webfield, and he is convinced they are from his Mentor. Without pause, he sets out to the Village of Oakhurst as he may discover the meaning behind the message.

Going for Glory: Far to the Northwest, situated deep in the dreary cold and rain soaked narrow cobbled streets of Stormwall, in The Duchy of Wynthrope, a young archivist apprentice under the employ of a seemingly generous benefactor discovers a dusty tome amidst the aging stacks. The parchment is brittle to the touch and the ink has faded over the years it has been left untouched; lost and forgotten within the veritable treasure trove of history and manuscripts. The tome itself speaks very little of an ancient cult and the summoning of a magnificent creature of considerable strength by Fel Magics from beyond the barriers that separate the Prime Material Plane and the Elemental Planes. It is during an expedition of research spurred be a desire for more knowledge, tucked behind walls of scrolls and leather-bound books, a nefarious nobleman schemes for political clout far above his own station. Through various machination and political maneuvering, he is poised to enact his own will -- until he is caught up in the scheme of others who believed him a threat. He is not a man without a plethora of plans, and a simple exchanging of coins places a young apprentice in the center of a whirlwind of accusations resulting in her imprisonment and eventual banishment from The Duchy of Wynthrope.

Miavaris 'Mia' Inara, a young half-elf of no background beyond her profession of an apprentice archivist, sets out with nothing more than a few unanswered questions. A self-imposed mission to learn more about a cult that would summon such a creature would have her travel across old road and through foreign land, alone. She would discover glory and quite possibly some treasure along the way.

Session 1 to Follow.