A Deadly Disturbance
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5TH-LEVEL ADVENTURE. 5E COMPATIBLE.
Many years ago¸ the village of Blackthorn was laid waste to by an evil necromancer named Zathus. He summoned the town's own dead to rise up and attack them¸ and the villagers had to look on in horror as their lost loved ones clawed and tore them to pieces. The small zombie horde would've roamed the countryside unchecked had it not been for a group of adventurers who arrived and slew Zathus. With their master gone¸ the dead ceased to animate and were returned to the crypts outside the village. One of the adventurers¸ a wizard by trade¸ placed protective wards on the crypt to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. Zathus himself was interred in the deepest depths of the crypt¸ forced to spend eternity in darkness should his spirit refuse to pass on. Generations passed and the village was slowly rebuilt. The stories of the massacre became distant memories¸ and the tale of Zathus was used to frighten small children into behaving.
Recently¸ despite the efforts of adventurers past¸ the dead have begun to rise again. Spirits haunt the streets of Blackthorn at night and the villagers fear that Zathus may have returned. Unbeknownst to most¸ a treasure hunter named Lazarus and his thug cronies made their way deep into the crypts tripping the arcane wards. Trapped inside¸ they had no choice but to delve deeper into the crypts seeking another way out. Only Lazarus made it to the tomb of Zathus alive¸ but he soon fell to the dark influence of the necromancer's spirit and rose as a wraith. Disturbed from his eternal slumber¸ the necromancer reached out with his remaining power and began raising the spirits of the dead and sending them out to drain life force from the living in order to restore himself to life.
Time is of the essence now as the lives of the villagers are at risk. The local priest¸ Father Dumont disappeared into the crypts to try to stem the tide of undead and never returned. He's trapped inside the crypts hiding from the awoken undead. The necromancer's spirit is almost ready to rise from death¸ and the town will be destroyed should he return to the land of the living.