Contest Entry

The Shade Lord has been resurrected by an unknown cult, and shadows cover the Umar Hills. Amaunator's Temple has become a slough of evil again, and hordes of Shades are attacking the nearby villages. Their main target is a new-born baby, who is believed to be a mortal descendant of the sun god.

CHARNAME and the party prepare to face the Shade Lord again, and clean the Temple of Amaunator. However, some party members must stay in the village to protect the new-born and his family.
CHARNAME's companions are Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira and Aerie. They are having a long discussion, but we don't know how they decided eventually. All that is known from their discussion are the following statements: If Jaheira goes, Minsc and CHARNAME will go as well. If CHARNAME goes, Imoen will follow him. However, Aerie will always stay with Minsc, whether he goes or not. We also know something about Jaheira and Minsc: at least one of them always joins any battle. They eventually decided who will stay and who will go, but we have information about Aerie and Imoen only: only one of them left the village, and faced the Shade Lord.

On the way to the Temple of Amaunator, they met an old woman. She quickly gave a broken rod to them, and disappeared without saying a word. The wooden rod consisted of two pieces, and no glue seemed to be able to piece them together.

Meanwhile, a miracle happened in the village. Tears were coming from the eyes of an Amaunator statue, and a golden tattoo appeared on the baby's palm. Someone from CHARNAME's party filled an empty flask with the tears.

Then horrible creatures appeared at the border of the village. Three Shadow Dragons. No hope to defeat them, so everyone was trying to escape. There was thick fog, and the new-born with his protectors, CHARNAME's companions, became trapped in a clearing. The Dragons appeared. Then something unthinkable happened: the baby lifted his little hands, and a cone of immense light and heat left his little palms. The fireballs destroyed all of the three dragons. Their scales melted, and then solidified, forming various shapes. Someone from CHARNAME's party collected the nicer ones, and put them to a backpack.

The baby fell asleep. There was temporary peace in the village. Unlike at Amaunator's Temple -- those party members who came to face the Shade Lord, were fighting constantly. There were too many shades, and there was too dark.

After a long battle, they managed to enter the temple, and reached the darkest chamber. The chamber of the Shade Lord. However, a human shape could be seen. The Cult's founder, who resurrected the Shade Lord. They knew him. And they couldn't believe their eyes! He was...

Tasks:

Which party members went to face the Shade Lord?
Make two items "by using" the three items the party has collected!
Finish the story (at least 5 sentences)!

From the Contest text, we have the following statements:

1. The group consists of CHARNAME, Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira and Aerie.
2. If Jaheira goes, Minsc and CHARNAME will go as well.
3. If CHARNAME goes, Imoen will follow him.
4. Aerie will always stay with Minsc.
5. Jaheira OR Minsc go.
6. Aerie OR Imoen go.

From these statements, we can work out who went

Assume Charname goes.
Imoen must follow Charname. (3)
Either Minsc or Jaheira must go (5) -> Send Minsc.
Aerie follows Minsc (4).
CHARNAME, Imoen, Minsc, Aerie -> FAIL (6)

Assume Charname goes.
Imoen must follow Charname. (3)
Either Minsc or Jaheira must go (5) -> Send Jaheira.
Minsc and Charname follow Jaheira (2).
Aeries follows Minsc (4).
CHARNAME, Imoen, Jaheira, Minsc, Aerie -> FAIL (6)

Assume Imoen goes.
Either Minsc or Jaheira must go (5) -> Send Minsc.
Aerie follows Minsc (54).
Imoen, Minsc, Aerie -> FAIL (6)

Assume Imoen goes.
Either Minsc or Jaheira must go (5) -> Send Jaheira.
Minsc and Charname follow Jaheira (2).
Aeries follows Minsc (4).
Imoen, Jaheira, Minsc, CHARNAME, Aerie -> FAIL (6)

Assume Minsc goes.
Aerie follows Minsc (4).
Minsc, Aerie -> PASS

Assume Jaheira goes.
Minsc and Charname go (2).
Imoen must follow Charname (3).
Aerie follows Minsc (4).
Jaheira, Minsc, CHARNAME, Imoen, Aerie -> FAIL (6)

Assume Aerie goes.
Minsc follows Aerie (4).
Minsc, Aerie -> PASS

We can therefore see that the characters who go to battle the Shade Lord are Minsc and Aerie.

The items available are:

2 sections of a Broken Wooden Rod
Tears from a Statue of Amaunator
Melted Shadow Dragon Scales

The two items created from the merger of these are:

Potion of Enlightenment
Mixing the ashes of a burnt ceremonial Rod of Amaunator into the miraculous Statue Tears has created this powerful, unique potion. The potion itself is a very bright orange and seems to glow with an inner light, though, strangely there is a slight smell of ice and winter. The liquid is thin, and runs easily.

When wholly consumed, this potion restores the imbibers hit points to their maximum value and permanently raises the Wisdom of the imbiber by 1 point. The effects are instantaneous and the potion is destroyed in the process.

Darklight Shield
Darklight Shields were once common features throughout Faerun, but they have not been seen for several generations. The making of the Shield requires Shadow Dragon scales and a ceremonial Rod of Amaunator. Some of the Shadow Dragon scales are metled, and the resulting tar is used to bind other scales together. This creates the barrier section of the Shield, which is then mounted on the Rod. A Darklight Shield has several properties which make it particularly useful to those who regularly battle the undead. Waves of dark light emanate from the Shield, repelling undead. Depending on the experience of the Shield bearer, the light waves can also cause burns, or even return the undead to the grave!

STATISTICS:

Special: Acts as Wing Buffet on undead creatures (Save vs. Breath Weapon to avoid)
Armor Class Bonus: 1
Weight: 7
Requires: 12 Strength
Not Usable By:

Bard
Druid
Mage
Thief

NB. The items are added to the Adventurers Mart, in the default store.

After a long battle, they managed to enter the temple, and reached the darkest chamber. The chamber of the Shade Lord. However, a human shape could be seen. The Cult's founder, who resurrected the Shade Lord. They knew him. And they couldn't believe their eyes! He was the innkeeper from Candlekeep - Winthrop!
"<CHARNAME>, I should'ha known 'twould be you."
"Winthrop? Winthrop! What are you doing?"
"Forging my destiny <CHARNAME>, 'tis all any of us can ever do. You can learn a lot of things at Candlekeep, in the dark tomes, even without knowing what you are looking for. It doesn't take much, not much at all. A careless apprentice, a book left open, a wandering eye."
"Oh Winthrop, dear friend, what has become of you?"
"I have become! I know the power of the Shade Lord, I know his secrets. You see <CHARNAME>, he will do as I command. I will give the orders, I will demand, and I will be rule!"
"But this is evil Wintrop, it is not too late."
"It is far, far too late. Too long have I lived in the shadow of others, of the wise, or the mighty. Now, with the knowledge I have, the knowledge those fools would not use, I am the wise, I am the mighty! You would be wise to join me <CHARNAME>"
"That I cannot do, dear Winthrop."
"Then this is how it must be. Goodbye <CHARNAME>. Do not seek me, for you would seek your death."

With that, Winthrop clapped his hands. His form shimmered and blurred, before dissapearing completly in a blaze of red light.