Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
The next day, the Korranberg Chronicle's front-page article is about the Angels' expedition to Xen'drik. It goes into a fair amount of detail about the claims made at the presentation in Morgrave University, including the group's battles with the dragon and the daelkyr, as well as the destruction of the island. There is also a smaller linked article regarding the group's fight with the Children of Winter, the addition of Korm'akhan, his claim about helping dealing with the epidemic and its cause, and the corroboration from Cedric Galan. There is a passing mention of the Angels being taken to the Menthis Watch building by members of the Blackened Book, and says they are supposedly helping the Watch with some investigation. The article ends with a promise to keep the public posted about the Angels' future activities.
The Angels discuss the article while looking at the rest of the newspaper. They read about a sorcerous battle between a Riedran and an unknown spellcaster in the Lhazaar principalities in Regalport. There is another one about the supposed entrance by a dread beholder, reputedly from the Demon Wastes, and its minions into the Whisper Woods in Aundair, which presumably has something to do with the magical Whisper Rock. There is also one about a failed attempt by a band of Aereni elves to steal a Xen'drik artifact from Rekkenmark Academy in Karrnath. Rumor says that they were members of the Aereni Deathguard and the artifact - now moved to the Royal vaults in Korth - was stolen from Aerenal itself. The KC also includes an announcement by House Lyrandar of major plans to increase their fleet, followed by comments from some of the other Houses that the plans are not feasible and are badly designed.
As for Sharn news, the KC mentions the impending Skysedge gala, a big social party that is to occur at Skysedge Park on 25 Barrakas. There is also a short reference to a cultural exhibition of shifter artifacts at Morgrave University. The exhibition title, "Artifacts of a Primitive Culture", draws a disgusted snort from Luna.
In the early evening, Luna heads down to the Citadel in bird shape to await Ras. He emerges in his normal form and then wanders into a nearby shop, where he slips behind a set of shelves and emerges in the scarred human shape he seems to commonly wear. Ras then walks down to the tavern district of Olladra's Kitchen, where he enters a small restaurant called Ellfate's Eatery and settles down to an early dinner.
Luna changes into a dog and slips in the restaurant. Once inside, she hears Ras talking to a few people who look like merchants. The others refer to him as Tars and seem to be blustering about wanting the monarchy to be overthrown and replaced by a consortium of merchant princes. Unfortunately, she is very quickly shooed out of the restaurant and cannot hear any more.
Ras has a leisurely meal and then heads across to the Dragoneyes district and the casino Chance. The rest of the Angels have already made it there by the time he arrives. On the way, they find that Dragoneyes is a red light district, full of establishments and people catering to the more carnal of pleasures. The eastern section is louder and rougher, catering to teamsters and Cog workers, whereas the western part is clearly designed with the more wealthy in mind, providing more sophisticated pleasures.
Chance is such an establishment, an evidently very popular casino, both larger and better appointed than the Lucky Nines. Besides the regular gaming tables, a large section is devoted to covering sporting events around the city. Ras, when he enters, heads straight for the former. Luna enters a little later, to inform the others about what she saw. Once she has arrived, the adventurers split up into two smaller groups, so that they can keep an eye on Ras more easily and less obviously.
While moving around, they learn a little more about Chance from the people around them. The casino takes its name from the eponymous owner, a changeling who is well known for never wearing the same appearance two days in a row. He - or she - is only recognizable by a distinctive amulet that he wears, which bears the symbol of the Traveler. When hearing about this, the reference to the Traveler reminds Nameless of their erstwhile foe Desro and he asks some people whether they ever saw someone fitting his description. A couple of people do mention seeing such a man at Chance about a month ago, which would place it during the time the Angels were in Xen'drik. Nobody mentions seeing him any time recently.
The Angels also hear that one of the well-known, but less overtly advertised, specialities of Chance is the casino's willingness to arrange and cover a bet on literally anything, including unusual things like an adventurer's chance of seducing the Valenar ambassador in 24 hours or a fugitive's chances of evading a Tharashk inquisitive for a week.
While picking up these bits of information, the Angels keep a careful eye on Ras. He is chatting with people he knows as much as actually gambling, and has clearly been here often. He is also using the same name as at Ellfate's, since people refer to him as Tars.
Interestingly, the bearded, blue-eyed man is here too, already present in the casino before Ras arrives. He ends up gambling at the same table right next to Ras, but never actually talking to him. With neither doing anything suspicious, Nameless gets the idea that they might be communicating in some way through their bets. He spends some time studying the numbers and amounts they bet, trying to see a pattern. What he quickly discovers is that they are placing bets that, though seemingly different, are such as to ensure that the amount one bets is regularly the amount the other one wins. And the chips one gets are often placed close enough to the others that they are being exchanged in the shuffle.
The bearded man cashes in and leaves half an hour after Ras enters, with Luna heading out after him a few seconds later. When she enters the foyer, she almost bumps into him as he returns to the main floor area, patting his pockets as if he lost something. Not wanting to get his attention, she continues past him and into the street outside, where she heads down an alley and changes form into an eagle and flies to a shadowy perch. The others see the man re-enter the floor area, look around and then exit again. Once he emerges into the street, Luna follows him again.
Ras continues to gamble for half and hour before leaving too, followed at a distance by the Angels. He walks up to Middle Tavick’s and the Deathsgate district, stopping at a tavern called Redblade’s. The place probably caters to adventurers, considering the number of well-armed individuals drinking within, none of whom have any Watch or military uniforms on. Six uses his hat of disguise and enters too, getting an ale and settling down in a corner.
He sees that Ras is talking across the counter to a middle-aged half-orc, who bears a very impressive collection of scars and some impressive muscles, though he is running a little to fat. Ras, still being called Tars, refers to the other as Rraac and seems to know him quite well. Rraac is presumably the owner, since he makes no motion to serve anyone, letting the other two bartenders handle the work.
The tavern is too busy and loud for Six to work out the details of what Ras is saying, but he gathers that Rraac and he are simply exchanging gossip and pleasantries. Six times it to get out of the door a short while before Ras and has rejoined the others when he emerges. They follow Ras to a skycoach dock and back to Ambassador Towers. There, he goes straight back to the Citadel, only ducking into some shadows on the way to switch to half-orc form.
After seeing him head in, the Angels head up to Carosten Park, where they find Luna waiting for them. She says that it was a very similar experience to last time's. The bearded man proceeded into the eastern section of Dragoneyes, with Luna shadowing him. He ignored propositions from a few of the prostitutes and once again slipped into a dark and empty alley. This time, Luna didn't wait but followed quickly, but by the time she was inside the alley, he was gone again.
This time, she says, she's quite sure he did not enter any buildings. She also used a detect magic at the spot and picked up no lingering magic. Nameless points out that if he used minor enough magic, the auras would only linger for a few seconds. What that means, he theorizes, is that either the person hid himself from Luna using mundane methods or used magic to conceal himself and move away, though evidently without using teleportation magic like a dimension door, since that would leave an aura that would linger for a few minutes. Luna is quite positive that she would have detected the man if he was just hiding, especially since she would have smelt him out.
The Angels discuss a couple of the things they discovered and then split up as usual. Nameless and Six travel back to Deathsgate and head toward Trillia's. People still surround them even though it is after 9 pm, the area's nature as an adventurer's district tending to create later and more traffic than in some other sections of Sharn.
As they are walking across a skybridge and talking about the day's experiences, Six sees a blur of motion as the person walking behind Nameless (a nondescript-looking human) swings a fist at the back of his head. With a startled cry, he shoves Nameless sideways, causing the unexpected blow to miss*.
Even as Nameless whirls around and Six grabs at his spiked chain, more attackers appear from the crowd nearby. A tall mustachioed man in banded mail armor hurls a tanglefoot bag at Six at point-blank range, but the adroit warforged spins away**. A stout dwarven woman with a series of braids in her beard hurls a similar bag at Nameless, which hits his chest and explodes into a mass of sticky goo, hampering his movements.
As the crowd around them shouts in panic and runs, a fourth assailant is revealed. This one, a slender man wearing a chain shirt, doesn't actually move to attack but simply yells a series of commands to the others. "Bracket them! Focus on the mage! Don't let him cast a spell!"
Unfortunately for Nameless and Six, the three other attackers follow the instructions to the letter. Even as Nameless tries to both dodge away and cast a spell, with the sticky goo making it difficult to move fluidly, the first attacker strikes again. He smashes a balled fist into the alienist's side, causing Nameless to see stars and momentarily be unable to act. The armored man, having quickly produced a two-handed flail, smashes the spiked ball into Nameless' head, sending him to his knees in agony. The dwarf steps in, putting all her strength behind a punch with the spiked gauntlet on her right hand***. It smashes into Nameless' jaw, knocking him down and out.
Even as he collapses, the apparent leader yells, "Careful - we're not supposed to kill them!" Turning towards Six he casts a spell, causing a layer of grease to coat the spiked chain. Six manages to hold onto it and manages to roll out of his position between the assailants, but he slips on the goo that still coats the ground**** and takes a nasty punch from the dwarf.
Recovering his balance, Six lashes out at the armored man and trips him, but the target rolls away from the follow-up blow*****. That momentary success is the last for him, as the other two rush him, the dwarf focusing on roundhouse swings while her companion, an unarmored human, unleashes a series of punches and kicks at the warforged. The armored man quickly climbs back to his feet and wades in too.
Even as Six wards of the first couple of blows and takes a hit or two, the leader casts another spell. This one attacks Six's mind and he feels a wave of unusual mirth overtake him******. Laughing maniacally, he collapses to the ground and is promptly beaten into unconsciousness.
A little later, Nameless opens his eyes to see a few concerned faces looking down at him, one of which he recognizes as Glauster, Trillia's steward. "Master Nameless," he says worriedly - and inanely, "Are you all right?"
"Do I look all right?" growls Nameless weakly, feeling the blood running down his face. As they move him to an upright position, he sees a recumbent Six a few steps away. Glauster keeps speaking - "I was returning home when I heard a commotion. I came over to see what happened and saw you and Six and some people run off. The Watch should be coming soon and ..."
A gesture from Nameless cuts him off. "Get me to Six," he says, and the men holding him up gingerly do so. Despite the pain in his head, Nameless manages to cast a spell to repair Six's wounds. The big warforged opens his eyes and then sits up with a muffled groan.
As Six levers himself to his feet, Nameless reaches around to his bag of holding for a potion, only to find it missing. With all of its contents. Including the Key.
"Six?" he says, drawing the warforged's attention, who has already discovered that his own handy haversack is missing too. Nameless simply says, "They stole my bag. With everything in it."
* Also known as a 2 on the attack roll
** Another 2! Both 2's were rolled by Gareth's player, who was evidently on his allies' side.
*** This is when I got to say, "She's 4th lvl, so she only has a +18 to hit right now!" Pity I didn't have a camera for some of the expressions on the players' faces.
**** Natural 1 on the tumble check
***** Natural 1 on the attack
****** Another natural 1. Six would have gone down soon enough, but he made it really easy by rolling five 1's in six rolls, including 4 in a row! I've never seen that happen before.
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
The pair are interrupted by a couple of Watch guards who hurry up. They quickly explain that they hear the commotion and hurried over. Some people pointed out the direction the attackers went but they couldn't find them. They begin to question the two adventurers, asking if they know the attackers, if they live in the area, if they are members of the Deathsgate Adventurers Guild, etc.
Nameless, now slightly past the verge of collapse due to having drunk a healing potion, quickly explains that they do not know the assailants but they were clearly very skilled . He adds that they will visit the Watch house to make a report when they feel up to it. Now that it is clear that nobody was killed, the watchmen seem to have no problems with letting the pair leave and settle for asking the gathered crowd some questions.
As the pair head away with Glauster, he hands Six back his hat of disguise, saying, "Some of the folks who saw the fight said that as soon as you two went down those people grabbed your packs and ran. One took this hat but then dropped it as they fled."
"Why would they leave it?" wonders Six aloud, as he puts it back on. The question is answered immediately as he feels something inside and removes it to extract a folded piece of paper stuck inside.
Unrolling it, he silently reads the message - 'Don't try to protect Tars. You can't.' He shows the note to Nameless, who carefully rolls it up and places it in a pocket for later consideration.
***
Once they are back at Trillia's, Nameless asks her to use a sending to inform Luna what has happened and ask her and Korm to come here, as well as sending someone for Gareth . Trillia, who is both surprised and worried about the attack, promptly does so. The reply from Luna says that she will fetch Gareth herself, while Korm goes directly to Trillia's.
Once Korm arrives, about fifteen minutes later, the three adventurers and Trillia discuss what is to be done. Six points out that it is nearly five hours since the Key was outside the bag and that they may be in trouble if six hours passes. Korm says that perhaps the attackers will open the bag and remove it, and if they do so even temporarily, it will "re-set" their six-hour time limit.
They also discuss the possible identity of the attackers, primarily wondering whether they are involved with Arrok's murder or with the Angels's current job for the Citadel. Without giving Trillia any other details, Nameless tells her that Tars is someone associated with the case. Korm says that maybe they were just trying to scare them off the case and the stealing of the items was an unfortunate coincidence. Nameless says that it's a fairly big coincidence. And coincidence or not, they need to get the Key back before anyone else realizes that it's gone.
Luna and Gareth arrive about an hour after Trillia's sending, along with Cedric Galan, whom Gareth has invited along. Cedric greets the others, having met them for the first time since they returned to Sharn, and Korm'akhan, whom he hasn't seen since shortly after their battle with the Children of Winter in the Cogs, and says that he'll be glad to help in any way.
After some discussion, they decide that Korm should head to the Citadel and get in touch with Talleon, letting him know about the attack and the note, and ask if he has any idea who the attackers might be. Six, who has been making sketches of the attackers, provides him with one. The others are heading to Clifftop to check with the Adventurers Guild there if they recognize any of the attackers and also to check with the Augury to see if any magical tracking can be done. Trillia, though able to cast scrying, has not prepared it this day and says she'll have one the next morning. She remains behind at her home, in case the Watch stop by or any other information is discovered.
Korm sprouts his wings and flies off towards the Citadel, while the rest head to Clifftop. There, Luna heads to the Adventurers Guild with another sketch from Six, while the remaining four go to the Augury. There they argue with a sleepy receptionist until he agrees to call Kestia. She emerges a little later to say that she hopes it is worth disturbing her at close to midnight. Nameless quickly explains that they were attacked and had a number of items stolen, and need her to scry on the thieves.
"So why does this have to be done immediately?" asks Kestia.
"Remember the tattoo that I showed you? All of us have one. One of the items stolen is linked to it and if we do not recover it soon, let's just say bad things will happen to us."
"Hmm. Is there anything you can tell me about the thieves besides a description?"
Nameless grins and produces the note. "Will this help?"
"Definitely. Now make yourselves comfortable. This will take a little over an hour."
Kestia leaves to prepare herself and the adventurers make themselves as comfortable as can be. Cedric, who has been listening with interest to Nameless' discussion with Kestia, asks Gareth, "What's this thing about the tattoo and this item? You never told me about it when you spoke about the trip."
"Oh," says Gareth, before going on to provide a few details about it, though he says as little about the Key as possible. "If it makes you feel a little better," he concludes, "I haven't even told the Archierophant about it."
Cedric chuckles and says, "You know, that does make me feel a little better."
A little while later, Luna walks in to say that she spoke to a few people at the Clifftop Guild. One of them recognized the dwarf and the martial artist and said that he thinks they're new members of the Deathsgate Guild. They'd started a brawl with a few members of the Clifftop Guild, as "those bastards at Deathsgate" have been known to do every once in a while.
Korm also arrives, nearly an hour later, with less positive information. He says that he made the mistake of flying directly up to the huge balcony at the Citadel, where he was almost shot by a couple of ballistae before he managed to identify himself. It took a long while before he was eventually able to meet Talleon, who apparently wasn't that pleased about the late-night (and ostentatious) visit.
Talleon did, however, say that he's pleased to get the information. Though he wasn't about to mobilize Citadel resources because of an attack on the Angels, he'd consider providing them some help if it turned out to be absolutely necessary. For the time being, he suggests simply trying to track down the attackers and finding out who hired them. He'll contact the group soon and check what they discovered.
Kestia makes another appearance some time after Korm arrives, to say that she has been successful in scrying the attackers and was undetected in doing so. She found the slim human and the one in banded mail sitting at a table with a number of items, presumably including the stolen ones strewn across it. From the surroundings and what they were speaking of, Kestia presumes that it was a derelict building or abandoned warehouse in Lower Dura. Among the interesting things that they spoke of was a plan to leave Sharn as soon as they have the rest of the money ("and screw the Deathsgate Guild", one said), which they are apparently to receive at a place called Redblade's. There was on reference to who had hired them, but the slimmer man did say that the others had come too close to killing the targets and also comments that they were "bloody easy to take."
"I'll show them bloody easy next time," says Nameless grimly, before thanking Kestia.
He hands over another 500 galifars to go with the original amount he had given Kestia and says that he'll provide more when needed. Kestia thanks Nameless and says that she'll contact him when she has something more on what he already asked her.
The group then heads back to Deathsgate and Trillia's home, discussing what they are to do next. Along the way, they stop near Redblade's and find that it is closed. Six changes form into that of a drunken human and goes and bashes on the door, yelling, "Open up!"
After some time, a light appears at a window above him and the same half-orc he saw before sticks his head out. "Dagger take you!" he shouts angrily, "It's the middle of the night!"
"So?" slurs Six, "When you open?!"
"At six in the morning. Now get away from here, you bum!"
Six stumbles away to rejoin the others. They then head back to Trillia's, who they find having a nap. After they tell her what they discovered, she suggests that she could visit the Deathsgate Guild and check on the people who attacked them. Cedric looks up from a bottle that he has somehow managed to locate during their traveling and suggests that he do so instead.
"Good idea," says Nameless. "You'll probably be better at that. The path of the alienist tends not to make us people persons."
"Hey!" says Trillia, sounding indignant but smiling. "That's true, but still - hey!"
Cedric laughs and takes his leave. He returns half an hour later to say that he did manage to find something about the attackers. The slim human is called Jayson and his companions are Selgo (man in banded mail), Phiros (martial artist) and Orda (dwarven priestess). They are a group of adventurers from northern Breland who recently came to Sharn and joined the Deathsgate Guild. They have also recently been expelled from the Guild because of fighting other members.
Cedric comments, "From what I've heard of the Deathsgate Guild, you have to do some serious to get chucked out. But, on the bright side, nobody's going to care if you end up fighting and killing these guys."
"Oh, no," says Nameless with deadly seriousness, "We're definitely not killing them. If you kill somebody, it makes the pain stop."
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
That gets things to the way they were before the boards crashed. We've had one session since, so I'll start posting a section every two-three days, as I had been doing.
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
With a number of hours to go before the tavern opens, the Angels decide to get a good night's sleep, or rather a partial night's sleep, considering that it is already about 2 am. Before they do so, Nameless asks Six to return to Redblade and pick a place near the tavern from which he can keep an eye on it. Nameless also asks Cedric if he's willing to give Six some company, so that he's not out there alone.
"Oh, great!" says Cedric with a grimace. "So you lazy buggers settle down here while I'm up all night?" Before Nameless can respond, he quickly adds, "Yeah, yeah, I'm just kidding - I'll go along. I'll need to grab my forty winks there too, but at least I'll be there if somebody tries to jump us."
After Six and Cedric depart, Trillia finds everyone a place to sleep. Though some quarters are quite cramped, with all of their exertions and traveling of the previous day, the adventurers are soon asleep.
***
Their sleep is interrupted after only three hours, when they all come awake, with their tattoos warm and throbbing and a strong sense that they should get close to the Key. Evidently the muggers must have replaced the Key in an extradimensional space six hours ago. Luckily, the sensation of desire for the Key's presence fades in half a minute. Each of the Angels also feels an internal certainty that it is because they are seeking to recover the Key that there are no untoward effects of their separation from it. The throbbing fades along with the desire, but the tattoos remain warm, though not uncomfortably so.
With no options at this point, the adventurers go back to sleep. This one, however, is just as short-lived, since they are woken an hour later by Trillia. She tells them that Dala is waiting to meet them.
The group quickly convenes in Trillia's sitting room. Dala, having had no knowledge of the Key's loss, had been woken an hour earlier by the throbbing sensation. Wondering what was going on, she headed to Trillia's to meet the Angels. They explain what has happened, which understandably worries her a lot.
"Do you think this attack has something to do with Arrok's murder?" she asks.
"No," says Nameless. "While these ones were efficient, they weren't anywhere near as powerful as the person who killed him is supposed to have been. And we've got some information - which I can't share right now - that indicates it has more to do with one of our other jobs. I can tell you that we had Kestia, from the Augury, scry on the attackers and they said something about being hired to do this. We're hoping to catch them where their payoff is supposed to occur."
As the conversation continues, a slightly tired-looking Cedric returns to say that the tavern has just opened. A couple of people already went in, but they seem to be part of the staff there. The adventurers immediately move out, leaving Dala with Trillia.
They find Six in a reasonably concealed position from which he can keep an eye on both the tavern and the skybridge (which is the only entrance and exit) leading to it. Shortly after they arrive, a couple of armed and armored people head into the tavern, presumably members of the Deathsgate guild that the tavern is supposed to cater to.
Nameless suggests that Six and Cedric enter the tavern separately and grab seats in there, so they can keep a closer eye on the clientele. The two of them do so, taking seats on opposite sides of the door.
Over the next hour and a bit, a dozen or so more people enter the tavern, a much higher number than one would expect at most taverns this early in the day. Most seem to be adventurers, from the amount of weapons and armor carried. Most are also clearly regular customers, from the way they greet the eponymous half-orc proprietor Redblade. A few of them are taken into the back rooms of the tavern for fifteen minutes or so at a time.
Around 8 o'clock, Nameless notices something unusual about a pair of people who are just stepping onto the skybridge. While he examines them carefully, as he has everyone heading into the tavern, Nameless notices tiny and telltale flickers, which indicate that they are wearing some form of magical disguise.
Not wanting to risk being heard casting a spell, Nameless elbows Gareth in the ribs and hisses, "Detect evil on this end of the skybridge. Quick!" A startled Gareth does so, almost immediately saying, "I do detect evil in the area." After a few more seconds of concentration, he adds, "There are a couple of lingering auras." Then he adds, pointing at a rotund merchant setting up a street stall, "And that guy's faintly evil."
Nameless throws another look at the two people who are halfway down the skybridge and says, "That's enough for me." He motions the others to follow and, as they go, explains what he saw. Stopping at a relatively secluded area, he casts a couple of preparatory spells, as do the others. That being done, the group turns and heads back to the skybridge and across it into the tavern.
As they enter, Nameless sees the two men who caught his attention sitting at a table against the wall. One looks up at the entrance of the Angels, and without a word of warning, Nameless casts a dispel magic, targeting it on the man whose magical disguise he had detected.
Not only does Nameless ' action take his target and his allies off-guard, but it surprises the dozen or so armed people in the room. Cries of "Hey!" and "What the hell?!" ring out, and hands drop to weapons or dart towards spell component pouches as Nameless incantates his spell.
Before anyone can interfere, the magic takes effect, stripping away the target's disguise and revealing him to be the nondescript-looking martial artist who had begun the attack the previous night. Evidently some of the people in the room recognize him, since a couple of cries of "Phiros?" also ring out.
Quickly realizing what the reaction from the room might be, Nameless promptly shouts, "So you were screwing with the Deathsgate Guild, eh?"
The man sitting across from Phiros comes quickly to his feet, pulling out a scroll he was apparently holding under the table. "Get them!" he shouts, "The bastards are from the Clifftop guild!" As he speaks he steps back to the wall, and then he raises the scroll and shouts a string of arcane syllables.
Luna, who's already in the middle of a spell, feels a mental tug but ignores it, as do the rest of her companions. Other than Six, who leaps to his feet and begins to babble and sway back and forth.
Gareth quickly raises a hand and shouts to the room in general, "Do not worry! We're only here to apprehend those criminals!" Cedric, who has smoothly kicked back his chair and risen to his feet, longsword sliding into one hand (the other being busy keeping his drink from spilling), adds his voice.
Their attempts at diplomacy are quickly drowned out as Luna completes her spell. To the horror of her allies and the evident alarm of the customers, a column of fire blasts down on Phiros and his ally as Luna uses a flame strike as persuasion. Phiros adroitly leaps out of the way, but his companion only has time to scream once before he collapses in a smoking heap.
Nameless' aggrieved, "Son of a bitch! Luna - I want to take them alive!" is drowned out by Redblade's even more aggrieved growl, "The bastards are burning my place! Get them!"
Immediately, a number of the Deathsgate members leap into action, a couple sending arrows flying at the Angels, while others charge them with weapons drawn. One near the rear of the room clasps a holy symbol and brings down a sound burst that momentarily rocks Luna, Korm and Nameless with concussive force.
The adventurers keep their composure and do not respond in kind, trying to persuade the customers and the irate Redblade that they mean no harm to anyone other than the two muggers. Nameless, ignoring a halfling that has just caught him a wicked blow to the knee, pulls out a bag of money and yells, "I'll pay for the damage," while Korm settles for drawing his sword and threatening, "Don't force me to kick all of your asses!"
Gareth, meanwhile, rushes up to Phiros and smashes the flat of Kizmet's blade against his head. Phiros staggers backwards and uses his momentum to tumble backwards and out of the nearest open window. The sight provides a bit of a distraction and aids in the cessation of hostilities, as does Luna's response of rushing out the door, transforming into an eagle and diving off the skybridge. The confused Six unintentionally helps as well, suddenly swinging wildly and catching an unprepared Korm a crack on the side of his head.
As the big orc yells and steps backwards, Nameless shouts again, "He's confused. Let me dispel the enchantment. I promise we mean you no harm."
Redblade, who's just produced a large studded wooden club from behind the bar, growls, "HE'S confused?!" Then he looks around and says, "Okay, guys, hold on for a moment. Don't kill them - yet!"
There are a few grumbles of discontent, but the Deathsgate members do comply, though they all keep a very careful eye on the Angels. Nameless quickly dispels Six's confusion and then, with help from Cedric and Gareth, explains that they had been mugged (some of the clientele say they'd heard of a mugging in the area) and were just trying to apprehend the attackers.
Luna, meanwhile, quickly finds Phiros a few hundred feet beneath her and dropping. She folds her wings and dives like a stone after him. Her unfortunate target, not having noticed her, activates a brooch of feather fall and begins to float down to a skybridge below him. He has barely landed when a feathered bolt alights on his head with claws extended, sending him to the ground in an unconscious and bleeding heap.
The surprised witnesses stare aghast as the eagle claws and pecks the unconscious man a little more to ensure that he stays down and then turns into a shifter. Luna looks around, waves nonchalantly and announces loudly, "Don't be scared. I am one of the Angels. We're cleaning up Sharn!" She then turns into a bat the size of a horse, seizes the unconscious man and flies upwards carrying him, leaving a crowd of onlookers animatedly discussing the event.
Up at Redblade's, her companions have bound their prisoner (who turns out to be Jayson, supposedly the leader of the four muggers) and his wounds, divested him of equipment (which included Six's handy haversack but not any of Nameless' equipment or the Key), explained the situation a couple more times, and Nameless has handed over fifty galifars for damage to the tavern and bought the room a round (which makes them - and Cedric - very happy).
That's when someone near the window says, "I think your friend's back. Or Phiros got mugged by a giant bat."
With Luna's return, the Angels and Cedric take a hurried leave. Before they go, Redblade tells them, "Thanks for the money. And here's some advice - if you ever come into my tavern again, you'll be leaving feet first. Now get out."
Once back at Trillia's, the Angels find Surr'kal waiting for them as well. Having only heard (when Korm and Luna left him the previous night) that the Key was lost, he had shown up to find out what the situation was. Nameless explains that though the two prisoners don't have the Key on them, they should have some information soon enough.
The Angels head down to a secure room in Trillia's basement with the two bound prisoners. There, Nameless says, "Let's question them one at a time. Leave Phiros tied up. And somebody nail Jayson to something heavy."
Korm asks puzzledly, "Nail?"
Nameless grins mirthlessly and says, "Yeah. His hands."
Cedric says calmly but firmly, "I know you're upset about being mugged and the stuff you lost, but there's no need for that." Gareth quickly adds, "We aren't torturing these people. Period."
Nameless argues, "This isn't torture," but, after one look at their expressions, gives up. "Fine. Then hold on for a moment." He summons a pseudonatural large spider, which is about the size of a cow, and orders it to perch above Jayson and assume its alternate form. The creature does so, turning into a disgusting mass of writhing tentacles.
The Angels then revive Jayson, who promptly screams and apparently wets himself at the sight perched a foot above his face. Once he has calmed down and is certain that he's not about to be killed immediately, the questioning commences. Unsurprisingly, considering the circumstances, Jayson is very eager to share as much as he possibly can with them, only asking in return that he not be killed. Nameless grimly says, "No, you will not be killed."
Jayson reveals that he and his three companions had been thrown out of the Deathsgate guild and were trying to make some money before leaving Sharn. They were at Redblade's two days ago when a half-elf offered them a job. Though none of them knew him, he apparently knew them and their circumstances, since he approached them. They were told that they would get a confirmation on the night of the 16th, which they did, less than an hour before the actual mugging.
As for the targets, they were told that these were a pair of adventurers belonging to the Clifftop guild. They were explicitly not supposed to kill them but were to beat them up, drop a note and run. Jayson admits that the taking of some of their equipment was due to simple greed on the part of him and his companions. The payment was supposed to be 4000 galifars in total, with an advance of 2000 and some equipment to help. The rest was to be provided this morning. "Decent amount of money," comments Gareth.
When asked about the rest of the equipment, he says that it's with his allies, Selgo and Orda, in their temporary lair, an abandoned building in the Fallen district. They'd figured that there'd be no chance of running into someone they knew there. Nameless makes him provide detailed directions to the place and warns him that if any of the information is wrong, he will regret it. Jayson says that he's told them everything he knows. "For your sake, I hope so," says Nameless, as the group departs, knocking out Jayson before they go and leaving Phiros and him tied up and gagged.
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
Ravers (or "What the hell? These guys are just weird!")
Fallen, a district in Lower Dura, is in many ways the most deplorable section of Sharn that the Angels have seen. At first glance it looks like a ruin, with huge chunks of stone scattered around the outer streets. Statues of the gods are common here, but almost all have shattered features and broken limbs. Many of the buildings and almost all of the few bridges in the area have collapsed in whole or part, and most of the surviving buildings show some amount of damage. The population here is less than in any other district they have seen, consisting almost purely of the poor and indigent, who stare at the heavily armed and well-dressed adventurers and scuttle out of their path.
As the group proceeds deeper into the area, the buildings are in progressively worse shape, and soon segments of what must have been a huge structure are visible, jutting from crushed buildings.
"The Glass Tower," says Nameless, recalling the history of the War even though he has no idea where that knowledge comes from. "It was a floating citadel that was brought down in 918, almost certainly by magic. It fell apart and took out this district, which never recovered. Biggest act of sabotage in Sharn during the War."
"Yes," says Cedric. "I've heard of it. They still commemorate - or mourn - the date here in Sharn, sometime in Olarune."
The building that Jayson said his companions are in is deep within Fallen, close to the epicentre of the Glass Tower's fall. It was originally a larger structure, but now has only the ground floor standing, with the shattered remnants of the floor above, and rubble surrounding it.
After some discussion, the adventurers decide that most of them will stay hidden as close as possible, while the two druids fly to the building from above and enter. Korm calls upon his Gatekeeper training and large feathery wings grow from his shoulders. He then picks Luna up and flies upwards, coming in from above and hoping not to be spotted.
Luna and he land amidst the remnants of the floor above and locate a partly shattered staircase leading down. Proceeding downstairs into a dusty and rubble-strewn room, they find no immediate sign of habitation, though there are clear tracks in the dust. While Luna takes advantage of the increased space to take on her habitual form of a large brown bear, Korm shoves open a nearby door.
As he does, the first thing the pair see is an armored man with a two-handed flail, evidently awaiting their arrival. He stands inside a large and much cleaner room. His companion appears too, emerging from her invisible position next to an open door in the far wall as she brings down a sound burst on the two druids.
The cacophony of sound stuns Korm, causing him to drop his sword, but Luna ignores it and rushes forward, squeezing through the doorway. The waiting warrior, surprised by the appearance of a large bear, shouts and swings wildly, the flail bouncing off her magically-enchanted hide. Before he can recover, a large paw lays his neck open and pulls him into her grasp.
The dwarf shouts and rushes forward, her spiked gauntlet glowing with a dark radiance as she swings it with brutal force into the bear's side. Luna stoically ignores the blow and proceeds to squeeze the breath out of her target, interspersing it with bites and more clawing.
With Korm picking up his sword and entering the battle with a swing that would have taken the dwarf's head from her shoulders if she hadn't ducked, she decides that this is a lost cause and rushes for the rear door. Her ally screams, "Orda - you bitch! Don't leave me!", but to no avail. A desperate lunge pulls him out of the bear's grasp and he manages to land a heavy blow with the flail before Luna rips off part of his face, sending him staggering into a slash from Korm that drops him in a heap.
Luna promptly rushes after the dwarf. Squeezing through the door, she finds herself in what was presumably the rear of the house, which has now fallen apart and become one with the remnants of the fallen citadel. Large segments of the Glass Tower remain intact, with smaller pieces littering the area and creating a maze of masonry and rubble. Orda is hurrying through it as fast as she can, but she is barely fifty feet from the door when Luna catches up to her and she is forced to turn and fight.
Cedric and the rest of the Angels, who headed for the building as soon as they heard the sounds of conflict, burst into the room to see a dead man on the floor and Luna facing the dwarf some distance outside the rear door.
Korm, having figured that Luna can handle Orda, is looking through a table nearby. As the others enter, he lifts a bag and the Key and says, "Found it!"
"Is my necklace in there?" calls Nameless, even as he takes a few steps towards the door to the rear. As Six, Gareth and Cedric rush past Nameless and out the door, Korm checks inside the bag of holding and produces the necklace.
Outside, Luna has just seized Orda when she notices movement through the ruins around them. Patches of shadow seem to be moving through the rubble towards them. As she tries to drag the struggling dwarf back towards the others, a dozen individuals step out of the ruins.
Most of them are human (with a couple from other races), but they are bestial in appearance, with matted hair and twisted features. They are all wearing ragged robes and where skin is visible it is usually covered with sores, some scabbed over and others openly bleeding. What is perhaps strangest is that they all have shards of glass attached to their robes like some strange jewelry. Or perhaps not the strangest, considering that two of them stand in the middle of patches of shadow that moves with them.
"Do you know who, or what, they are?" asks Gareth.
"No idea," says Cedric, as he takes a ready stance beside Gareth, just in case. Nameless, seeing these new arrivals, quickly summons a pair of his patented bison, commanding them to wait until they realize exactly what these people are.
Orda seems to have some idea, as she shouts, "Ravers!" She struggles even harder in Luna's grasp and then punches Luna with another glowing fist. Irritated, Luna growls and bites into her shoulder.
Half of the ravers pull off small shards of glass from their clothing and hurl them at the adventurers. To the relief of their targets, none of the shards hit. The relief is momentary. As the shards hit the ground and shatter, a couple of the Angels feel a sharp pain as if slashed by a weapon, and shallow cuts appear on their bodies.
The other six ravers rip larger shards of glass from their clothing and each walk up to one of the adventurers, lifting the shard to show it to the chosen person (or, in two cases, bison). Then they crack the shards in half and drop them, ignoring the blood that drips from their cut hands. And as each shard breaks, the person (or bovine) reflected in it feels a wound as deep as if inflicted by a weapon swung by a powerful enemy.
Cries of pain, surprise and general unease ring out and the adventurers quickly fall to defending themselves. To their relief, the enemies are not as durable as they are strange, even though their skin is evidently as hard as bark.
Gareth smites one to the ground and shouts, "They're evil!"
"Do you really think I give a damn?" responds Nameless, splitting a volley of magic missiles to drop the two that his bison have just gored.
Cedric, diving adroitly past one to flank it between Korm and himself and send it staggering back from a sword-blow, grins and says, "Nameless has a point!"
Luna, finally having dropped Orda, drags her corpse closer to the door. As she does so, she sees more figures emerging from the ruins in the distance and moving closer. Unable to speak, she growls and waves a paw in that direction, indicating it to the others.
The ravers continue to attack in their strange fashion, some displaying even more strange abilities. Two hurl shards near Six that explode into puffs of dust, which expand into clouds that resemble large arms reaching up to clasp the big warforged. Six, just having had his spiked chain pulled from his grasp by a burly raver, smashes one arm into dust with a punch but the other wraps around him. Others among the Angels find that as they suffer more wounds, strange feelings of despair assault their minds, though they manage to fight them off.
Luna, having squeezed her way back into the room, drops Orda's corpse and summons a dinosaur to support the one remaining bison. This buys her allies more time and they make a fighting retreat, Cedric, Gareth and Six (who manages to fight his way out of the grasping arm of dust) dropping a couple more ravers, while Korm blasts two to the ground with an arc of lightning.
As soon as everyone else is in the room, Korm shuts the door and bars it. Outside, there is the momentary sound of the bison and dinosaur fighting the ravers and then silence. Nobody approaches the door, as far as anyone inside can make out.
Luna changes back into her normal form and asks, "What the bloody hell were those things?"
"I don't want to know," says Six, feeling dents and cracks in his plating, as he produces a wand to repair them. "As long as we don't need to deal with them again." The sentiment is clearly shared by the others.
While they heal themselves, the adventurers search and strip the two bodies, taking everything valuable off them. Nameless carefully places the Key back in his bag of holding and hangs it on his belt.
As they leave, Cedric looks back at the corpses as they leave the building but doesn't say anything about them. On the way back, he says, "Would you guys mind if I took two hundred galifars from what you found?"
Surprised, Nameless says, "You get a full share, just as each of us does."
Cedric smiles and waves a hand. "Thanks, but that's all right. Two hundred will do."
***
Surr'kal and Dala are still waiting when the group returns to Trillia's, and Nameless provides them a fairly detailed coverage of what happened, with the others inserting comments as needed. When they refer to the strange people they fought, Dala exclaims, "You fought ravers?"
"You know them?"
"Only by reputation. I've heard that they're a strange group that dwell in the central ruins, among the remnants of the Glass Tower. Some people think they're a cult and others think they're something released from the Depths when the tower fell. There are rumors that they have strange powers - which your encounter confirms - and that they sometimes carry off people from Fallen, but nobody really knows for sure."
"Whatever they are," says Nameless, "There's a dozen less of them now."
The conversation then turns to the Key and what is to be done with it after its recovery. Gareth and Nameless embark on one of their patented arguments about how to keep it safe and especially whether to involve the Church of the Silver Flame.
"The Key just isn't safe on you," argues Gareth. "If four muggers can get it off Six and you, then whoever killed Arrok shouldn't have a hard time at all."
"Be that as it may," responds Nameless, "I am not going to hand it over to the Church."
Gareth argues that he should at least be allowed to speak to the Archierophant about it, suggesting that he broach the topic without giving her any details, and if she promises not to mention it to her superiors, then they can tell her about it and see if she can help.
Cedric, who knows the least about the Key of anyone in the room but is gradually learning more, speaks up from his seat in the corner. "You guys know I don't see eye to eye with Ythana Morr, but I'll admit that she's about as influential as any members of the Church in Breland, so I don't think you'll have to worry about her having to answer to anyone about that Key. On the other hand, she takes her responsibilities damn seriously and if she figures the Key isn't safe with you, she may try to pull rank on Gareth to have it handed over to her for safekeeping. Anyway, it's your call."
The comment doesn't really help much, with the argument continuing and branching off onto the question of what one is to do with the Key after all. Nameless is momentarily stumped when Gareth asks what his eventual plans for the Key is, but then replies, "To either bury it in a place where nobody will ever find it, or hand it over to the Gatekeepers."
"Okay, but what about the damn tattoos?" asks Luna. "As long as they're around, we've got to stay close to the bloody thing, and I do NOT like that situation. Why don't you try to remove ours again?"
"Did you see what happened last time?" says Nameless. "We almost killed Corven and Korm." Korm doesn't say anything, simply scratching reflexively at the tattoo on his chest.
Surr'kal adds, "I'm hoping that Gurr'khan will be here soon. He should leave as soon as he gets the message, which should be within a week's time. Once he's here and we let him know what the situation is, he can contact people in the Shadow Marches and the Eldeen Reaches. He's the only one of our people in Breland powerful enough to do so."
"All right - but what do we do for that week?" asks Gareth.
"Wait and travel in larger groups," says Nameless.
"That we should, but I don't want to wait that long," responds Gareth.
Surr'kal persists, "You might be able to learn more from one of our loremasters, but they are only found in the Marches and the Reaches. Would you consider traveling there, if needed?"
"Get out of this city? Hell yeah!" says Luna. Beside her, Korm nods and adds, "I know much of the Marches and some areas in the Reaches. I'd be happy to guide you there, if needed."
The discussion continues for a while, with the eventual decision that long-term decisions will be made after Gurr'khan's arrival. In the short term, Gareth (who remains obdurate about the Key not being safe with them) will speak to the Archierophant that evening and arrange a meeting with the entire group the next morning. They also decide that from now on, Korm, Luna and Six will accompany Nameless to and from Trillia's whenever he travels in the city.
Dala, Surr'kal and Cedric all take their leave, asking the Angels to keep them posted on events. Gareth asks Cedric if he wishes to come along the next day when they speak to the Archierophant, but he declines. He also reminds the group before he goes that they have two prisoners to dispose of.
Nameless says, "Well, I was thinking of cutting off that Jayson guy's tongue..."
Cedric lifts an eyebrow. "That's a little drastic."
"Well," says Nameless, "It seems singularly fitting for one of the bardic persuasion."
"You want to turn him into a mime? Now that's just evil!"
Nameless chuckles and says, "Well, we could remove tongue and limbs, in which case..."
"Not a good idea. I know they pissed you off - a lot, but always remember, you're better than them. So play nice."
Not necessarily, thinks Nameless, but he doesn't argue. Once Cedric leaves, he asks Trillia if she is willing to keep the prisoners there for a day or two until he can decide what to do with them. Trillia points at the living room, now much dirtier than before the large group of people occupied it. "Sure - why not? It's not like it'll be any extra trouble."
"Speaking of which," says Nameless, turning to address Luna, Korm and Gareth, "Would you be interested in accompanying Trillia, Six and me to explore a Dhakaani ruin and fight aberrations?"
"Like I said before," replies Luna, "If it's outside the city I'm in. As long as I can flame strike things without people complaining." Korm says, "Yes, I would. I wish to see Yarkuun Draal too." Gareth agrees too.
Nameless turns back to Trillia and says, "Consider that thanks for all the trouble."
His mentor grins and says, "And here I thought you were coming along because you wanted to wrestle another daelkyr. Deal."
"There's a daelkyr there?" asks Gareth.
"Not necessarily, but with the number of aberrations we saw the last time I was there, one either has a lair nearby or some of its minions creating more."
"Wait a minute - I thought the daelkyr were bound away, like the one we encountered."
Trillia then proceeds to give Gareth and the others (other than Nameless, who already knows this) a quick coverage of the situation with the daelkyr. She explains that unlike the rakshasa rajahs - the progenitors of the Lords of Dust - bound away at the end of the Age of Demons, who are imprisoned within huge Khyber dragonshards, the daelkyr that remained in Khorvaire are not so constrained. They are bound within Khyber, unable to breach the surface of the world even if a physical opening is made to them, as long as the dimensional seals and binding of the Gatekeepers remains in effect. But within Khyber they are free to move around and are believed to have carved lairs and domains for themselves there. The one that the Angels encountered in Xen'drik is quite anomalous in actually being bound within a dimensional seal, which may also explain why it was significantly weakened when they encountered it.
After she is done, Korm and Luna leave for Carosten Park, while Gareth leaves to visit the Cathedral. There he obtains an interview with Ythana Morr, and asks her for a meeting the next day with his entire group. When she agrees and asks what they wish to speak to her about, he says that he cannot tell her anything right now, since it is a particularly discreet matter. Ythana looks curious but simply says that she'll look forward to meeting them then, and Gareth departs.
***
Meanwhile, in Coldflame Keep...
Mazin Tana looks up as Cedric walks in. "What happened? You look like something the cat refused to drag in."
Cedric chuckles. "Yes, Mazin - you look pretty too." Then he stretches and yawns, "I'm just tired. It's been a bloody long night - and day."
"Something to do with Gareth? He was in a great hurry when you left last night."
"Yes. Can't discuss most of it with you, I'm afraid, because it's private to him and his friends. Let's just say they've been getting into trouble, and from what I've heard, are liable to get into some more." Cedric beckons for Mazin to follow him. "For example..."
A curious Mazin follows him out into one of the emptier chambers, where he finds four husky-looking men standing around a large cart covered by a cloth. Cedric walks up to it and lifts the cover, to reveal over a dozen corpses. Most of them are twisted and malformed, except for two, of a dwarven woman and a human male. All of them seem to have been slain violently.
"By the Flame!"
"Don't worry," reassures Cedric. "They earned it - unfortunately. Still, we need to give them a proper cremation."
"Yes, yes, of course," says a still shocked Mazin. "Did he ... they ... I mean, did Gareth and his companions ..."
"And I," says Cedric quietly. "There was little choice in the matter. I'll tell you about it later. I'd have been back earlier, but Gareth and the others weren't really interested in disposing of them once they were done, so I had to go back down to Fallen and get the bodies."
"So they killed some people and just left the corpses lying there?" asks Mazin, a tinge of surprise in his tone.
"Adventurers," says Cedric succinctly.
"But Gareth?" persists Mazin, "He should know better."
"Yeah. And I should be sober. What are you gonna do?" Cedric takes a look at Mazin's face and adds, more reassuringly, "Don't worry. He's got potential. He'll learn." And if he doesn't, well ... he won't be the first.
Mazin doesn't reply, and after a few seconds Cedric says, "Um, Mazin? You know ... arrangements?"
"Yes, yes," says the elderly priest. "I'll go take care of it." As he heads for the door, a call of "Hold on," stops him and he awkwardly catches the jingling bag tossed in his direction. "What is this?"
"A hundred and ninety-nine galifars. Use what you need for the cremation and use the rest for this place."
Cedric grins and opens his backpack to show a couple of bottles inside. "Let's just say the cost of good hooch in this place is criminal!"
Mazin smiles and leaves, still looking faintly concerned. Once he's gone, Cedric kneels beside the cart and begins to pray for the departed souls of the slain.
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
Did you use flavored descriptions of spellcasting on that one or something more funky. If the first, what class did you use (Personaly I love alternate flavor on the spellcasting of sorcerers and clerics and use it whenever possible).
Did you use flavored descriptions of spellcasting on that one or something more funky. If the first, what class did you use (Personaly I love alternate flavor on the spellcasting of sorcerers and clerics and use it whenever possible).
I'm a big fan of changing the flavor too, and that's all it was. Mechanically they were actually just a bunch of 2nd lvl humans, the ranged attackers being 2nd lvl Warlocks and the guys who got up close being Barbarian1/Fighter1s.
I was thinking about them lairing in the remnants of the Glass Tower and figured I'd depict their abilities as glass-focused. If I hadn't changed the flavor, it would have been just another random encounter. Instead, the PCs and the players (who are all more experienced than me) were significantly confused and on tenterhooks, since they weren't sure what they were dealing with, even when they worked out that the enemies weren't too tough.
Color me a happy DM
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
...even when they worked out that the enemies weren't too tough.
Er yeah. They were taking 25+ points of damage a piece, the ones with the big glass shards were dealing out 20-30 pts of damage a shot and there was a dozen+ of the SOBs. Not too tough, right. Sure. Pushovers.
__________________ "We are all Individuals! They chanted in unison...
since they weren't sure what they were dealing with, even when they worked out that the enemies weren't too tough.
Color me a happy DM
Yea, and let it be know that *I* was the one who said "lets stay and fight". The paladin who has been accused of being a coward was the one who said "Come on guys don't run"...from the level 2's
__________________ If you know someone is going to grow up to be the next Hitler would you kill him while he was an innocent baby? My paladin would.
Yea, and let it be know that *I* was the one who said "lets stay and fight". The paladin who has been accused of being a coward was the one who said "Come on guys don't run"...from the level 2's
You know wanting to stay and fight the CR2s, we had no reason to fight and weren't going to be getting any treasure or XP from, isn't helping your case...
__________________ "We are all Individuals! They chanted in unison...
Er yeah. They were taking 25+ points of damage a piece, the ones with the big glass shards were dealing out 20-30 pts of damage a shot and there was a dozen+ of the SOBs. Not too tough, right. Sure. Pushovers.
Au contraire, mon alienist! The warlocks only had 14 hp and the barbarians 26 hp. The former were doing 1d6+1 damage and the latter 1d12+11 (effectively full PA with a greataxe). There were 12 of them (six each).
Come on, give a poor old DM credit for making what should have been a boring, pushover combat interesting
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
The next day, Gareth, Korm and Luna arrive at Trillia's in the morning to meet Nameless and Six. With them they bring a copy of the Korranberg Chronicle, checking which has become a group ritual for the Angels.
This edition reports that the problem of the aberrations in the Mror Holds is diminishing, with the dwarven clans having wiped out the majority, albeit with substantial loss of lives and property. There is a story about an explosion in Regalport and an undead attack, probably connected to the necromancer who won the spell battle reported a couple days ago. Silver Flame investigators checking on horrid lycanthropes in western Aundair say that they may be entering from Droaam, rather than the Eldeen Reaches, as originally suspected. Some alarmists say that this may lead to another crusade against lycanthropes, but most agree that it is highly unlikely, partly because there are not enough lycanthropes in existence and partly because the Church's connection with Thrane makes such an act in the wake of the Last War a hugely political event. More news from Droaam says that giant cockatrices have appeared in the mountains and have been attacking travelers, resulting in Houses Orien and Lyrandar announcing high fees for adventurers willing to guard their caravans and airships. Closer to home, the Ir'Tains of Sharn are supposedly planning to commission a huge elemental galleon from House Lyrandar. Across the border in Zilargo, the bard Brodden Dendle has put on a very successful 1-man show called "The Truth about Merrix" in Trolanport.
While reading and discussing the paper, the Angels receive another message from Captain Talleon. It says that on the 19th, Ras will be visiting the Lava Pit, a restaurant in the Cogs below Tavick's Landing, and then entering Khyber's Gate to visit one of the Shadow Markets there. The Angels are to reach the Lava Pit just before 7 pm, stay for dinner, leave when Ras does, follow him to Khyber's Gate and throughout his time there, and then guard him back up to the surface, where they will leave him. The customary secret portion of the message says that the one additional aspect of the job is to tail Ras back to the Citadel. It also mentions that Talleon will stop by Carosten Park in the evening to meet the group.
Having digested that information, the group heads to the Cathedral, making a stop at the Augury first. There, they find Kestia expecting them. She checks if their search for the lost items was successful and then proceeds to tell them what she has discovered.
"I began with an augury, as I normally do," she says, "Asking about using a divination to find Arrok's killer. The response was 'weal and woe', which doesn't say much, but it's both better than simply 'woe' and indicative that there might be some use in a divination. Which I then proceeded to do, to no avail. It was as if something was blocking my magic."
"So it just didn't work?" asks Nameless.
"At that point. But I've experience with such things and protective magic before. They are rarely usable beyond a certain period of time and can also be worked around. So I tried divinations at various points in the day, varying the time and question. Eventually, on my fourth try, I got an answer. The question I asked was 'How do we find Arrok's murderer?' The response was 'Dust stirs in Tyrial Dashar's lair, where the circle was broken and may be again'. Does that mean anything to any of you?"
Luna looks around at the others and says, "Wasn't there something about dust in Flamewind's prophecy?"
"Yes," says Nameless. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the Lords of Dust that Trillia mentioned."
Kestia says, "I see you are well informed about these matters. I did wonder about that too. As for Tyrial Dashar, that is a more local reference, which you may not know. He was reputed to be a powerful conjuror, who disappeared nearly four hundred years ago. It was shortly before the Esoteric Order and the Guild of Starlight and Shadows destroyed the Closed Circle (which he belonged to). Whether his disappearance had anything to do with that event is unknown. He was reputed to have had a secret lair somewhere in the city, I would presume in UnderSharn, but that's just a supposition."
"Well," she says, "That is what I have found. Obviously, no more divinations on the subject will help. The next option with be a contact other plane, but as we've discussed, that is better used when you have more information."
Nameless thanks Kestia and asks if any further payment is required. The magewright says it isn't necessary, asking only that the Angels keep her informed of what they find, since this case has piqued her curiosity. Nameless says he will do so and the Angels leave.
***
An hour later, all of them are sitting in a comfortable meeting room facing Ythana Morr. After she greets them and asks what it is that they wished to speak to her about, Gareth embarks on an explanation that whatever they tell her cannot be shared with anyone else, including anyone in the Church hierarchy, clearly implying (without actually saying so) that he would appreciate a promise of such from her.
Ythana looks at him for a long moment and then asks, "Does this involve something that would be a danger to the Church? Or the common people of Sharn?"
"Actually," puts in Nameless, "It's something that's a danger to anything and everything."
"And you wish me to keep something like that secret? Why?"
"Because revealing it may actually increase the danger. Substantially."
Ythana considers for a moment and says, "What if it seems to me that in order to aid you in dealing with this matter I need to inform people I trust?"
"No!" says Gareth, a little more abruptly than he'd intended, drawing a very cool look from her. He quickly adds, "Though I trust you completely, Archierophant, we cannot be sure of others whom we don't know."
Ythana's gaze doesn't shift for a while and then she says dryly, "And I make allowances for you because I trust you, as a worshipper of the Flame and a paladin." A faint flicker of humor crosses her face. "Even if you are a paladin who thinks he might be a fiend."
This comment leads to a minor digression, with Gareth and Nameless talking about the encounter with the daelkyr. When Nameless says, "Maybe the daelkyr was talking about your sword rather than you," Ythana looks slightly more amused. Her tone, however, is as dry as ever. "So now your sword is a fiend."
Before Gareth can reply, she lifts a hand and says, "Let us return to our primary subject." Instead of looking at Gareth, she looks around the table at the others and says, "Can I assume that Gareth's lack of trust for anyone I speak to is shared by ... or perhaps based on ... the rest of you?"
Nameless replies, "Yes. I do not trust you."
This time, the Archierophant's tone is glacial. "You do not trust me?" Her gaze is at least as cold.
Nameless holds her gaze for a moment and then clarifies, "Rather, I don't trust the Church. With your track record, I'm sure you can understand why."
Gareth quickly adds, "Nameless has certain prejudices about the Church and..."
"Yes," says Ythana Morr calmly, very mild disappointment in her tone. "Many people do, judging the whole due to the failings of a small part. But that is not my problem." She lowers her head and there is a long pause before she looks up and says, "Very well. Tell me what you have to. I will not share the information."
Gareth then proceeds to explain the details about and situation of the Key, with Nameless adding in as needed. Ythana asks a question or two to clarify matters but mostly just listens.
Finally, she asks, "And you believe that this Key is capable of that kind of destruction?"
Gareth and Nameless for once agree that they aren't sure whether the Key itself can cause such destruction or whether it was a product (or perhaps by-product, partly caused by the nature of the island) of the Key's interaction with the dimensional seal.
Ythana listens and then says, "So how do you wish me to help you?"
"I don't think the Key is safe with us, so I'd feel better if it was somewhere with greater security, like this Cathedral. The only problem is that you couldn't let them know what they are guarding. Or actually even that they are guarding something, since that would attract attention."
Luna, who's been quite obviously fidgeting through the discussion, snorts and says, "Yeah, right! Like that would make the thing any more secure than with us!"
Ythana says, "I see your companion doesn't think much of your plan, Gareth."
"Neither do I," says Nameless. "I'm only here because Gareth insisted. As I've said, I don't think your Church can help us. And there's too much corruption there for me to trust them."
Ythana's tone goes colder again. "I think you will find corruption in every organization. And if you mistrust an entire group because of a few who are unworthy, where will you go for aid?"
"To the Gatekeepers." As Nameless says this, Korm leans forward on the table and nods, but doesn't say anything.
"The Gatekeepers? I am not an expert, but I believe their resources are seriously limited."
"Perhaps," says Nameless, "But this is an area of expertise for them. They're more focused on fighting such dangers than anyone else."
The expression on the Archierophant's face indicates that, if it weren't clearly inconceivable that she should do snort like Luna, she would do so. "The Church of the Silver Flame has been fighting supernatural evil from its inception. Every day, we stand between the common people of Khorvaire and dangers that even you, with your knowledge, have no conception of."
You'd be surprised! thinks Nameless, but doesn't say it aloud. All he says is, "Anyway, I am not handing the Key over to the Church."
This comment promptly starts a yelling match between Gareth and Nameless. After watching silently for a minute or two, Ythana Morr raises her voice slightly and cuts across them. "This argument is pointless. The choice is yours, whether to bestow the item with the Cathedral or not. I will, as I have before," she adds pointedly, "Aid you however I can."
"Think you could help get these damn tattoos off us?" asks Luna.
"From what you have described, it might be a geas or quest enchantment. It is a form of curse and I can attempt to remove it, if you wish."
"Curse is right! And I wish, all right."
"Very well." Ythana casts a detect magic, which she uses to scan the group (and then the Key, which Nameless lets her handle at her request). She then touches Luna's tattoo and performs a remove curse, to no avail.
After a little more discussion, the Archierophant ends the meeting. "Remember," she says as they go, "I am willing to aid you as I can." With a look at Nameless, she says, "But that aid is limited by the amount of your trust." Nameless doesn't respond.
Once they leave, Gareth and Nameless begin their usual arguments, with Gareth arguing that it isn't Nameless' decision what to do with the Key but something that is up to a group decision, while Nameless is adamant that he's not giving the Key to the Church of the Silver Flame. With nothing resolved, they eventually end the argument when it's clear that none of the others are waiting around to hear them fight.
***
A few hours later, Talleon (in his halfling guise) stops by Carosten Park. He checks about exactly what happened with the mugging and comments that it wasn't a good idea to have Korm going to the Citadel, since that might make Ras suspicious about their interaction with him.
Nameless points out, "Since the muggers left a note referring to our guarding Tars, it makes sense for us to have contacted you."
Talleon says, "Yes, that makes it a lot more plausible, which is why I'm not canceling the job, which I'd considered. Do you think that Ras knows that you have been spying on him?"
The Angels look at each other and shrug, and Nameless says, "It's likely. The blue-eyed man very likely knows Luna followed him. We did warn you that stealth and subterfuge isn't our specialty."
"Yes, you did," agrees Talleon, not seeming concerned about it. "And you've done well so far. Hopefully your trip to the Cogs tomorrow will be helpful too. I would guess that you'll only need one more such job to wrap up this operation."
After checking if anyone has any questions, Talleon leaves, but not before saying that he will have his men collect the two muggers from Trillia's house. "I'm sure we'll be able to extract a little more information than they think they have," he says ominously, as he goes.
As they watch him leave, Korm unconsciously runs a hand over the hilt of his sword. "Gnomes!" he mutters. "Dolgrims and dolgaunts, gibbering mouthers and mindflayers - those, I can handle. But these gnomes are just creepy!"
Handled over email between sessions:
Shil:
Talleon leaving you guys occurs on the evening of the 18th. The next thing which you have planned is on the evening of the 19th, when you're supposed to be at the restaurant (the Lava Pit) in the Cogs when Raskalorn will be there and then follow Ras to Khyber's Gate, where he's visiting one of the underground markets, and back to the surface. Anything you do before that?
Rackhir:
Quote:
"At that point. But I've experience with such things and protective magic before. They are rarely usable beyond a certain period of time and can also be worked around. So I tried divinations at various points in the day, varying the time and question. Eventually, on my fourth try, I got an answer. The question I asked was 'How do we find Arrok's murderer?' The response was 'Dust stirs in Tyrial Dashar's lair, where the circle was broken and may be again'.
It's probably worth bouncing this bit of info off of our other contacts like Flamewind, Havakhad and possibly even Talleon or the Blackened Book Guy. We should also check with the mage guilds.
Does Trillia know anything about him?
Shil:
You use the evening of the 18th and the morning of the 19th to do some checking with various sources. Here's what they say:
Trillia - "I'd done some checking on the Closed Circle when I first became interested in Xoriat, since they were supposedly quite strongly focused on the lore of the daelkyr and that of the Dragon Below. So strongly focused, in fact, that they scared both the Esoteric Order and the Guild of Starlight & Shadow into working together to eliminate them. Unfortunately, it seems that whatever lore about the Closed Circle was recovered (or previously existed) was then destroyed by mutual agreement of the two mage guilds. I'm quite sure some of the individual members, especially those involved in the destruction, might have kept titbits to themselves, but they never shared it openly enough for me to find any contacts. As for Tyrial Dashar, I've heard the name, but I can't remember anything besides him being one of their more powerful members and the fact that his mysterious disappearance was never solved."
Guild of Starlight & Shadow - The resident loremaster-cum-glorified-clerk who handles the library says that he doesn't really know much about the Closed Circle and points Nameless to a few old documents about the history of the Guild. Nameless finds a few references to the destruction of the Closed Circle. Though they provide little detail, they do confirm that the citadel of the Closed Circle was sealed physically and magically and that it was in the undercity of Sharn. In one of the older documents, Nameless catches an interesting titbit that isn't common knowledge. The Order and the Guild did not work alone against the Circle. They were apparently provided substantial aid by the Church of the Silver Flame, whose aid conclusively swung the fight against the Close Circle. Templars of the Church participated in the final attack and the sealing of the Circle's citadel. Tyrial Dashar is mentioned a few times in the old documents, but apparently was never involved in the last battles, having disappeared before that. He is described as a powerful conjuror, who specialized in binding magic. He was also apparently one of the more benevolent members of the Circle, having a workshop somewhere in the undercity not to hide from prying eyes but to avoid endangering Sharn with his experiments. Or so he claimed.
Esoteric Order - None of you is a member, so you can't get at their records.
Flamewind - Flamewind isn't present when you try to meet her.
Warden Balan Cord - "I've only heard of the Closed Circle as a bit of a legend and a supposed example of the madness of mages. And the disappearance of Tyrial Dashar is just one in the long list of unsolved magical mysteries out there. Maybe something he summoned ate him. It was 350 years ago, so let's just say that it's not something we're concerned with now. As for your friend Arrok, unfortunately, there's no good news there. We've done some magical checking but our divinations haven't come up with anything. Unless we have some kind of a break, that case is at a dead end. Nameless, of course, is clearly innocent and there are no worries on that score."
Havakhad - "The Closed Circle is something that I have heard of in passing, but I know nothing about it or this Tyrial Dashar. The kalashtar do what we can to protect Sharn from magical threats, but the Circle has been gone for centuries and has never been a concern for us. I unfortunately cannot tell you who murdered your companion, but I can tell you who did not. The quori were not involved. Without something more specific that I can use my abilities on (such as a murder weapon), I cannot be of much use, but the presence or taint of the quori is something I can always sense. And I have communed with my spirit and those of my people. They confirm that there is no sign of quori involvement in the matter of your dreams, and if they had been involved with the death of your companion, it would have registered too. Still, I will consider the matter of this murder and see if I can learn anything. As for the question of danger, I think you for the warning, but that is part the kalashtar life, though most around us do not know. And I am too old a man to worry about it. If the Lords of Dust are involved, then there is truly danger, though it is unlikely to be simple violence or what seems to be obvious. I have not faced them, though my people have, and they are subtle and patient. I will see if I can help in any way."
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
On the evening of the 19th, the Angels meet at Trillia's and then head down to Cogsgate in Lower Tavick's. As on their previous visit here, they find the district full of teamsters and laborers traveling to and from the warehouses and storage towers that fill it. Series of carts pass by, carrying ore brought from Zilargo or Karrnath, heading towards the access tunnels to the Blackbones Cogs below.
As the group nears one of the access tunnels, someone shouts from behind them, "Edgar! Hey, Edgar!"
They turn around to see a young man dressed in workman's clothes, hurrying towards them. As he reaches them, he pauses for a moment, stares into Nameless' face, and then hurtles forward and grabs him in a bear-hug. "Son of a bitch! Edgar, you bum - I thought you were dead!"
The young man's eyes then go wide as he finds a couple of swords at his throat. Nameless quickly disengages himself and then, when it's clear there's no danger, says, "You know Edgar? That's fascinating." He then proceeds to pull Edgar out of his pocket.
Once certain that he's not about to be butchered, the man looks first relieved and then puzzledly at Nameless. "What do you mean? Edgar - it's me, Kitan. I thought you got killed in the Mourning. How did you get out? Where have you been? Were you in Sharn ever since?"
Nameless, who has absolutely no memory of the person, explains patiently, "No - I am Nameless. This is Edgar." Which, unsurprisingly, confuses the man a lot.
Over the next few minutes, the stranger explains that he is called Kitan and is from the village of Arjon Ford in Cyre, where he was the neighbor and good friend to Edgar Thorn. Edgar had possessed a little proficiency with magic and had joined the Cyran military in 991 YK, and the last time Kitan saw him was on a short trip back home in 993. Kitan had assumed he'd been killed on the Day of Mourning, which Kitan had only survived due to being in Northern Breland at the time. He'd come to Sharn and been here ever since, working for a furniture maker in High Walls. Kitan says that he's absolutely sure that Nameless is Edgar, though his eyes look a little funny.
Nameless explains that he has no memory of what Kitan says and adds that he's an amnesiac.
"Did Edgar have a thing for eating tentacles?" asks Gareth.
"Huh?! I don't remember anything about him and tentacles." Kitan smiles, his eyes unfocusing slightly at a memory. "Though one of the Tilon twins did once say something about his tentacle after a date. I think she was kidding." He adds, "Edgar and I and a couple of our friends used to go down to the tavern and get drunk and then chase the local girls, especially the twins."
As he is speaking, Nameless has a fleeting visual memory of sitting across a table from a younger-looking Kitan, with mugs of ale on it and a couple more young men sharing the table and laughing with them.
Gareth, having heard Kitan's little anecdote, shakes his head and says, "Drinks and women? Oh yeah - you've definitely got the wrong guy!"
"Really?" Kitan scratches his head and asks, "Do you have a birthmark like an arrowhead on your left shoulder blade?"
Nameless looks at the others. "Do I?"
"Yes!"
"See?" shouts Kitan in excitement, "I knew it was you!" Nameless continues to look unconvinced, not mentioning the little flash of memory he had.
After a little more conversation, Kitan says that he has to go but wants to know if he can come and speak to Nameless and the others another day.
"Definitely!" says Six, "I would be interested to hear more about this over a drink with you." After a moment, he amends, "And watch you have a drink."
Naturally, the others are also interested in this unexpected visitation from Nameless' past, and they tell Kitan that he can find them at Carosten Park. He says he'll be able to do so in a couple of days and leaves.
As they continue onwards, Luna looks at Nameless and says, "Shouldn't you be a little more excited about that?" Nameless simply shrugs and makes no comment.
The Angels proceed to the closest access shaft and head down. When they reach Blackbones, they follow the directions from Talleon's letter until they eventually reach the Lava Pit. It is a large building set into the wall of a cavern.
The entrance area has a lurid red light shining into it from the main chamber beyond. Unlike in the other places that the Angels have recently been, there are no comments made about their weapons, though they do draw a few looks from both the staff and the clientele. Inside, the restaurant is shaped like an amphitheater, with tables around a huge hole in the floor, which overlooks a gigantic abandoned forge. A huge stream of molten lava flows through it, producing the red light that suffuses the place. While the restaurant is no more than adequately appointed, it seems quite upper-class in comparison to the area beyond. It also has quite a wide-ranging menu, with the focus being on spicy barbecued meats from the Shadow Marches.
Shortly after the Angels arrive, Ras arrives too, in his regular disguise as Tars. He goes to a table across the room, which is occupied by the only person besides Gareth in full-plate, a hobgoblin wearing spiky and traditional Dhakaani armor. A shield the size of a small door leans against the wall near him and a flail hangs off the back off his chair. An unarmored goblin in nondescript robes shares the table. They both wave Ras over and he joins them.
Once they are done ordering, Nameless heads to the lavatory and casts a couple of protective spells on himself. Korm, meanwhile, heads for the kitchen, where he startles the cook. Having decided that his cleaver doesn't look that impressive in comparison to the sword Korm is carrying, the cook stops in mid-shout and asks what he wants.
"I just wanted to make sure that it's really spicy. Give me the real deal. Not the water-down stuff you give the Brelish."
"You from the Marches?"
"Yes."
"Ah - in that case...." The cook picks up the chunk of meat he was sprinkling with spices and dips it into three boxes of spices in turn. "Think that'll do?"
"Excellent!" Korm turns around and head back to the table.
The meal turns out to be quite good and Korm's meat is "authentically Marcher steak", as the big orc confirms happily with streaming eyes. The group makes sure to finish just as Ras and his companions are, and leave the Lava Pit a few seconds after them.
The three make their way through Blackbones and head into the boundary area that separates Blackbones (and Ashblack) from the lawless area of Khyber's Gate. In order to make following them easier, Luna transforms into a dog and stays a little distance behind them, while the rest of the group follows a little distance behind.
Eventually the group emerges into Khyber's Gate. Though this area is new to them, it looks exactly as the other parts they have seen do, consisting of a maze of passages with shops and dwellings carved out of the walls. Though the air is less hot than in Blackbones, it is as smoky and also has a constant mild smell of garbage. Korm, seeing this area for the first time, doesn't hide his distaste for these conditions, so far from the more open and natural surroundings he is used to.
As the group moves along, they pass a trio of armed gnolls, most likely members of Daask. They spare a look at the adventurers, as just about all the denizens of the area do, but show no signs of recognition. Gareth, with a large cloak wrapped around himself and knowing that he is the most conspicuous of the group, breathes a quiet sigh of relief as they pass by.
Shortly afterwards, they enter a large cavern which contains a bazaar-like area. The 'shops' consist of tables, trays or just piled-up rocks holding all sorts of wares. A few do resemble shops, mostly consisting of a tent with a table before it or a few poles with cloth hung on them to make a structure. All sorts of things are being sold, from food to clothes to weapons to junk. There is just as much variety in the merchants, which includes many goblinoids. The customers are also of many races. A couple of people seem too well-dressed to be from Khyber's Gate, both of whom have a pair of attendant bodyguards. Just about everyone in sight is carrying a weapon openly.
Ras and the other two move through the market, stopping here and there for a moment but not buying anything, until they come to a small shop. This consists of a tent with a table in front, which holds a variety of weapons and armor, which is staffed by a pair of armed gnolls. Ras speaks to them and is then let into the tent. There is a quick glimpse of two men inside as he enters, but none of the Angels recognize them.
The adventurers move around the area for the next ten minutes, till Ras emerges. As they are about to follow him out of the area, they are stopped by half a dozen impoverished-looking goblins.
"How much dat doggie cost?" asks one.
As Nameless corrects his grammar, another one says, "Yeah - looks like good meat on it."
Gareth chortles at the comment, while Korm hurriedly whispers, "No flame strikes, Luna!"
With a deadpan expression, Nameless says, "You wouldn't want it. Too old and tough."
Luna turns to gaze balefully at her companion, causing both Six and Korm to step away from Nameless. Then, with a warning growl, she turns away and heads towards the exit. Which causes a salivating goblin to heft a rock and say, "Hey - doggie running off. You wants me to stop it?”
"No," says Gareth hurriedly. "And it's not for sale." Unfortunately!
The chuckling adventurers proceed out of the area and follow Luna. She sees Ras leave his companions after a few minutes and continue on alone. He heads back to Blackbones and up to Cogsgate without incident, followed by the Angels all the way.
Once back in aboveground Sharn, Ras walks up to Middle Tavick's and stops in again at Redblade. Recalling the warning from their last visit, the Angels send in a disguised Six alone to keep an eye in him. Ras simply has a drink and talks to Redblade for a few minutes before leaving.
He then takes a skycoach back to Middle Central, with the Angels following a fair distance behind in one. Luna, having changed into a bird once they emerged above ground, follows more closely. She sees him disembark and then head directly back towards the Citadel. As he goes, Ras is accosted at one point by a pair of men who step around a corner with weapons drawn. Luna barely stops herself from dropping a reflexive flame strike on them, which turns out to be a good thing since they apparently know Ras. They shakes hands, exchange a couple of comments and laughs, and then Ras heads on. Once he reaches and enters the Citadel, Luna returns to tell the others.
The Angels then follow their usual procedure, all of them going to Trillia's and leaving Nameless and Six there, after which Gareth heads to Coldflame Keep and the two druids head to Carosten Park.
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
The next day, the group receives another of Talleon's messages. This one says that Ras will be going down to the Cogs again on the 21st. This time, he'll be going to Shamukaar, where he's supposed to meet with an important contact. The adventurers are to wait at an access shaft in Cogsgate around 6 pm. When they see Ras enter, they are to follow him down and to Shamukaar, where he will be for about 30 minutes, and then follow him back to the surface when he leaves.
The secret page section says that it's very likely that there will be an attack during the trip back from Shamukaar, so the group should be prepared accordingly. If an attack does occur, they should feel free to kill the attackers. Prisoners would be a bonus but are not a major priority. The note ends by saying that this assignment should wrap up the group's work for the Citadel.
With that piece of information received, the Angels go about their business for the rest of the day. Six stops by the weaponsmith with whom he commissioned the drow version of the spiked chain. The weapon is ready for him and he finds that the smith has done a very good job of meeting the specifications Six provided. While he is testing out the weapon, Six checks with the smith about places in Sharn where he can get it enchanted.
"Well," says the man, "You've got a few options. There's the Mithral Blade in Clifftop and Ancient Blades in Deathsgate that specialize in magical weapons. They mainly cater to the adventurers there. Some of those mage guys at the guilds will also do it, and the Cannith joints also do some."
Six visits the two weapon shops in turn and finds that each has a large selection of magical weapons. They are apparently willing to enchant weapons as well, though he currently can't afford it. Six also asks if any of the artificers working at the shops are interested in working for and traveling with the Angels. The response is a combination of amusement and polite rejection. One of the artificers suggests that Six try the adventurers guilds or the mage guilds, adding that while he's much more likely to find people willing to risk their lives at the former, the latter will probably provide more skilled artificers.
When they meet later, Six mentions his idea of hiring an artificer to Nameless. The alienist says that he can check at the Guild of Starlight and Shadows to see whether anyone is interested. Trillia is actually at the Guild right then, to dispose of the extra equipment recovered from the muggers, which the Angels had given her in thanks for her help and hospitality. When she returns, Nameless mentions Six's interest in hiring an artificer. Trillia says that she hasn't had any real interaction with the few artificers that belong to the Guild, so she can't recommend anyone in particular. She does mention having heard of a skilled warforged artificer who has just joined the Esoteric Order, who might be an option to consider.
Gareth, meanwhile, visits the Deneith enclave to check on Lalia's whereabouts. He is informed that she will only be back at the end of the month and perhaps even a little later than that, since she is busy on work outside Sharn.
Korm and Luna spend the majority of the day in and around Carosten Park. At one point, when Luna is flying around the city as an eagle, Surr'kal invites Korm into his cottage. Once they are within, the older druid asks Korm, "There is something I have been meaning to ask you. Tell me - what do you think about the safety of the Key with Nameless and his companions?"
Korm considers and replies, "I believe it's as safe with them as it'd be anywhere in the city." After a slight pause, he adds, "Though they do have a remarkable ability to get into trouble."
"Yes, I'd noticed, which is why I thought I'd ask you. Especially since you've spent some time with them now and know them much better than I do. So you do not have any concerns about the Key's safety?"
Korm shrugs his massive shoulders. "I'd be as concerned wherever it was. It's reasonably safe with them, I think."
Surr'kal hesitates slightly and then says, "And what do you think of Nameless?"
"Nameless? Hmmm. He's the hardest of the lot to get a real sense of. Why'd you ask?"
"I was just wondering if you have any thoughts about his ... stability. Especially in view of his apparent aberration nature. Which I do not understand, and I do not think he does either."
"No, I don't believe he does. As for stability, he hasn't shown any signs of losing control that I've seen. You worried that he's being corrupted in some way? He has a strong will, I think, so it would take something strong to corrupt - and even more, control - him, but then anything's possible. I haven't seen any signs of it."
Surr'kal looks a little relieved and explains, "I do not think he is necessarily being corrupted by the Key, but it is a possibility. You know what proximity to things associated with the daelkyr can do." As Korm nods silently, he continues, "Gurr'khan, for example, is the strongest Gatekeeper in Breland, and is untouched in mind and spirit, but his body has been changed due to the time spent guarding the manifest zone and the Seal that he does."
"Doesn't the dimensional seal prevent such effects?"
"In theory, but often there can be some seepage. There is evidently some in his case. Anyway, I am a little relieved by your opinion of the situation. I'd have asked Luna, but she might have felt uncomfortable talking about her companion." After a moment, Surr'kal adds, "Plus I find her a trifle - unreliable."
Korm grins widely and says, "She's definitely impulsive. I see what you meant about her not liking to be told what to do or constrained in any way."
"Yes. It's a good thing she has never met any of the Greensingers."
Korm thinks of the few Greensingers that he has met and of the influence that one of the friends of the fey, the embodiments of chaos and capricious nature, could have upon Luna. "Oh gods, yes!"
***
The next evening, the group is assembled and waiting nearby when Raskalorn makes his way into one of the access tunnels in Cogsgate. Gareth and Luna, who have both purchased hats of disguise from the Moonlit Loom (a shop in the Clifftop Mystic Market specializing in enchanted clothing), look very different now, as does Six. The adventurers follow Ras down and then through Blackbones towards and into Khyber's Gate.
Ras heads directly towards Shamukaar, the neutral ground area of the district that the Angels had been to once before and barely emerged alive from. They find it to be exactly the same as it was on their previous visit. The building is set into the wall of a large cavern. Even from the outside it is clear that the proportions are slightly larger than for humans.
At the door, the group is met by a strong stench of meat and blood. Inside, they find a combination slaughterhouse, butcher shop, restaurant and tavern. To the right of the large sitting and drinking/eating area that they enter into are a large pair of open doors, revealing the lip of a large pit beyond. As they are taking seats, a couple of them quietly tell Korm that the pit is the arena where they fought a pair of horrid apes on their previous visit.
As on that visit, though there are some customers from the more common races, most of the tavern is occupied by goblinoids, with some gnolls and a couple of ogres, as well as a couple of more exotic individuals. A large minotaur (which the Angels recognize as Torarg, the Daask member) is seated near the bar and talking to a pair of gnolls and a monstrous-looking humanoid with a pair of batlike wings folded behind her. Nameless takes one look and says quietly, "Harpy." The eponymous owner of the establishment, a large half-ogre, is at the bar near Torarg, talking alternately to the Daask members and some others near him. A bugbear serves drinks at the bar, while an ogre stands behind a large table with a cleaver, cutting meat off large slabs of meat hanging from hooks in the ceiling near him.
Ras heads directly to the bar and gets himself a drink. He evidently knows Shamukaar, Torarg and the harpy, since he greets each in turn and exchanges a few words while getting his drink. A couple of minutes after he arrives, a nondescript-looking human walks through the door and heads for a table. Ras promptly walks over to join him.
Meanwhile, a goblin server comes over to the adventurers' table. With their previous experiences here, the others settle for a drink or two, but Korm places an order of the enticingly named "spicy meat" (as opposed to "meat with soss", "meat without soss", "double meat" and the like). Not surprisingly, it turns out to be significantly poorer than what he had at The Lava Pit, but at least he's kept occupied with trying to work out what it might be.
After about twenty minutes, Ras (who took a small package from his companion shortly after sitting down) rises, shakes hands with the man, and heads out the door. The Angels give it a minute or so and follow. Ras heads directly back towards Blackbones, following exactly the same route that he had in coming here. Once they make it out of Blackbones, the adventurers fall back a little and cast a number of protective spells, and then hurry to catch up.
About halfway back to Blackbones, a couple of the Angels hear Ras cry out, followed by the sound of a blow and someone falling. A couple of those with keener hearing detect the sounds of multiple moving feet.
Six is the first to rush forward, unslinging his new spiked chain as he goes, unfortunately rounding the corner a second before Nameless casts haste and Korm mass lesser vigor. In the light of the continual flame rock set into his helmet, Six sees Ras lying on the ground to the right of the larger chamber that the tunnel opens into, with six figures standing around him. Four are skeletons, two slightly larger than the others, all wearing leather armor that hangs loosely on their fleshless frames. The other two are much larger and while they have flesh on their bones, it is clearly undead in nature.
"Ogre zombies! And skeletons!" yells Six as he dives past the first couple of undead and comes up with his back to a wall, his chain lashing out to crack an advancing skeleton's skull.
As his allies follow him, they find that the undead have temporarily blocked the exit to the tunnel in their attempt to follow Six. Not for long, however, as nearly 2000 ursine pounds of wildshaped druid charges into them, shoving them out of the way and creating an opening for Gareth and Korm to follow her.
With everyone able to join in the battle is quickly over, with the skeletons being cut down in seconds. Though the big zombies last a little longer and manage to land a bruising blow or two, they go down soon enough.
With the enemies disposed of, Luna lumbers over to the recumbent figure of Ras and uses her ring to cast a lesser vigor on him. Nameless, who has stayed in the tunnel casting spells out of it walks forward and says, "The question is who put the undead here."
"Good question," says Korm. He concentrates for a moment, calling on his Gatekeeper training, and feels his sense of smell improve. Raising his face he sniffs the still air in the area and says, "I don't detect anyone nearby. Luna?" The bear raises her head and shakes it.
Gareth, who has been cleaning pieces of zombie flesh off Kizmet, looks over at Six, who has moved to the one exit from the chamber. "Six?"
The big warforged takes a step back and readies his chain, as he notes the figures emerging around the corner of the tunnel he is looking into. "We've got company."
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
The enemies Six sees are all goblinoids. In the lead is a burly-looking bugbear with a gleaming greatsword. Next to the bugbear is an armored hobgoblin with a tower shield, whom Six recognizes as the one that was with Ras at the Lava Pit. The goblin who was with them is also present, along with four mirror images that mimic his movements. A small glowing magical hand floats at his side. A second unarmored goblin walks beside him. The fifth member of the group is another hobgoblin in full plate, though this one carries a heavy steel shield and has no drawn weapon. A holy symbol hangs at his throat.
Even as Six shouts a warning, the first goblin makes a gesture and speaks a string of arcane syllables, causing an invisible burst of force to explode among the Angels. The spell is still in the process of being cast as the second goblin races forward, diving past Six before he can react and coming up on the opposite side. Even as the goblin rises, it disappears from sight. A shuriken leaps from the point where it was last seen, crackling through the air to embed itself in Nameless' chest.
Nameless staggers back and gasps, "Sharaat'khesh!", identifying it as one of the infamous goblin ninja. Shaking off the pain, the alienist does what he does best, summoning three pseudonatural bison, two within the tunnel to block the goblinoids' egress and one next to the invisible ninja. The leading bison hurls forward, driving the hastily raised tower shield into the helmet of its wielder. The one near the ninja butts at an empty space and bellows its frustration as it misses.
"Keep them bottled in there!" advises Gareth as he hurries up to the tunnel, placing himself behind the bison filling it. As Korm follows, the hobgoblin in the rear drops a dispel magic in the area. Not only do many of the adventurers feel a spell being stripped off them, but the three bison promptly disappear.
As soon as a space is created, the goblinoids move forward, with the tower shield-user in the lead. Gareth slices at him and is surprised as he smoothly pivots, letting Kizmet slide off his shield, and wraps his flail around the paladin's foot, almost pulling him off balance. Without pausing, the hobgoblin continues by, placing himself before Korm. The large bugbear roars a battle-cry and stops to cut at Gareth and land a deep cut on his shoulder, while the wizard and the cleric (whose symbol is now seen to be the curved blue dagger of the Keeper) also move closer.
Both Six and Luna are temporarily dazed by the effects of the goblin's first spell and this lets the enemy focus on the others. The wizard sends his spectral hand shooting forward to strike Nameless in the chest. A powerful shock rocks the wounded alienist and he collapses. The cleric drops a sound burst between Korm, Six and Gareth, further wounding all three.
Korm, shaking off the spell's effects, moves closer, his newly manifested ability to scent enemies letting him pinpoint the invisible ninja. The big orc quickly drops a faerie fire in the area, illumining the goblin with insubstantial purple flames.
The momentary success is one of very few for the adventurers. The attackers display an eerie combination of excellent tactics, teamwork, unexpected abilities and not inconsiderable luck. The ninja dives through the Angels to come up on the far side, snapping, "Get this off me!" to his allies. To the disgust of Korm and the others, the cleric promptly does so, allowing the ninja to disappear again and strike Luna with a shuriken she cannot dodge.
The druid in bear form growls at the pain and focuses on casting a summon spell of her own. Since it takes longer than Nameless' ones do, she is a target of opportunity while casting and suffers an attack from the wizard, his spectral hand now draining some of her health with a vampiric touch. Despite the distraction, she retains her focus.
Korm, Six and Gareth, meanwhile, are fighting the bugbear and the hobgoblin warrior. The bugbear swings powerful blows with equal force to Korm, while the hobgoblin focuses on hampering their enemies, constantly threatening to twirl their weapons out of their hands. His most deadly attack, however, is not even launched by him. Korm, just having pulled his greatsword from the clutches of his flail, sets his feet and swings back with all his strength. As the blow comes in, the hobgoblin pivots out of the way, letting Korm's unusual greatsword slide along the surface of his shield and striking Korm lightly on the shoulder to add to his momentum. Off-balance, Korm has no way to stop himself. Gareth's eyes go wide in first surprise and then pain as Korm's sword slams into his side, cracking a rib.*
"Aaargh! What the hell?!" cries Gareth, even as Korm mutters a hurried, "Sorry!"
The sight is almost more of a shock for Luna than the spells and shuriken hitting her, but she manages to retain her concentration and end her spell. A unicorn appears next to Nameless' recumbent form, looking around expectantly. ! thinks Luna, realizing that she cannot speak in bear form, I can't order it to heal Nameless! Luckily, Six, Korm and Gareth all shout, "Heal him!" The bear nods vigorously to show its assent and the unicorn nods in return**, touching Nameless with its horn. Some of his wounds close immediately and his eyes open.
"Yes!" exults Korm, as Luna now comes roaring into the fight to claw and grab the bugbear, "Now summon some more of those bison and let's kill these idiots!"
The moment of hope is unfortunately short-lived. Even as he speaks, the ninja pops in and out of sight, this time sending four shuriken flying through the air. A couple knock Nameless back into unconscious before he can recover enough to cast a spell, while the others embed themselves in Luna's sides. To add injury to insult, the bugbear seizes the moment to break free as she winces as the pain.
Unable to wound the hobgoblin behind his tower shield, Six focuses on the shield itself and attacks it. Though he puts a couple of large cracks in it, the shield remains whole. Korm, however, ignoring the wizard's attempt to grease his sword (which he has already had to pick up once after being disarmed by the hobgoblin), does manage to wound the hobgoblin grievously. The warrior backs away and cries to his cleric ally, "Heal me!" Even in the middle of a fight, Korm can't help commenting to Gareth, "Hey - he sounds like you!"
Luna, already badly wounded and realizing that they need to drop the enemy spellcasters, charges the enemy wizard. Her sense of smell lets her pick him out from his mirror images, but in her hurry she stumbles as she strikes at him***. Before she can recover, the ninja buries a volley of shuriken in her side and she collapses. The clearly relieved wizard steps away from her and fires three magic missiles past her. Nameless, having once more regained consciousness due to the unicorn's healing, slumps to the ground again!****
Korm shouts an orcish oath and hurls his greatsword, its enchantment sending it flying through the air at first the cleric and then the wizard. To his disgust and disappointment, both targets dodge out of the way*****. Grabbing the sword as it flies back to him, Korm rejoins Six and Gareth in their struggle, but it's a losing battle. Six is the first to go down, the fact that he hadn't been within range of the mass lesser vigor making a substantial difference. A second after Six drops, Gareth manages to smite the hobgoblin warrior to the ground. And then collapses on his fallen enemy as the bugbear drives his sword into the paladin's side. Before the bugbear can recover, Korm decapitates him.
Which leaves the badly wounded orc alone facing the cleric, the wizard and the now visible ninja (who has just slain the summoned unicorn). Only for a couple of seconds. The cleric raises an armored fist, which begins to glow with a dark, coruscating energy. He steps in with an anticipatory smile and touches Korm's chest. The latter immediately feels a coldness surround his heart and contract painfully, as if the cleric were physically squeezing it. Though he tries to resist, Korm is too badly wounded already and everything goes black for him.******
***
All of the adventurers other than Six open their eyes to find themselves still in the chamber. They are still badly wounded and their hands are tied behind them. Above them stand the three remaining goblinoids, the dead hobgoblin and bugbear still lying in the middle of the floor.
Not very surprisingly, among the goblinoids stands Ras and, besides him, the blue-eyed and bearded man that the Angels had seen with him before. I knew there was something strange going on! thinks Luna. There's no way he should have stayed unconscious after I healed him.
Ras, satisfaction evident on his face, steps forward to place a sword at Nameless' throat. "So tell me," he asks, "Who paid you to spy on me?" There is a long moment of silence and then Luna says, "I'll explain." She looks at the others and says, "Leave it to me." Despite their situation, all three of her companions turn to stare at her, Nameless nearly cutting his throat in the process. What?!
Luckily for them, Luna never does get to try out her diplomatic abilities. As Ras turns to look at her, there is the twang of a bowstring and the sound of metal hitting flesh. Ras screams as the head of a crossbow bolt erupts from his shoulder and spins around, as do his allies.
Standing at the same entrance that the goblinoids had used is Talleon, a crossbow in his hands. Beside and behind him are six people, three of them wearing Citadel uniforms (as Talleon does), two pointing wands at the goblinoids. "I did," says Talleon conversationally, before adding to his companions, "Take them."
What follows isn't a fight so much as a massacre. The three goblinoids have used all their resources in taking down the Angels and neither Ras nor the bearded man are expecting trouble. Within seconds, the wizard and the cleric are dead, the ninja is fleeing invisibly, and Ras and the bearded man are rendered insensible.
The attackers then move up to ensure that the goblinoids are dead, to restrain the two unconscious men, and to free and heal the Angels enough that they can take care of themselves. Talleon comes up to the Angels and says, "Good work. We'll take care of things from here on out. I'll see you at the Park early tomorrow."
Since it's clear that their presence is no longer needed or desired, the Angels tend to their remaining wounds and then head back to the surface.
***
Next morning, Talleon shows up to Carosten Park. He thanks the group again for their work. Naturally, none of the Angels seems as satisfied as he does.
"So you were expecting us to get attacked there?" asks Gareth.
"Yes," admits Talleon without the least sign of embarrassment or deception. "I counted on Raskalorn realizing that you were following him and wanting to find out who was getting you to do so. It wasn't too much of a stretch, considering what you," he indicates Nameless, "Said about your lack of stealthiness."
Nameless doesn't reply and Talleon continues, "The Cogs were a place where he'd risk an open attack as he couldn't - or wouldn't - in Sharn. Those people who attacked you were a crack mercenary group who'd recently come to Sharn from Darguun. When Ras set up the ambush one of my ... contacts informed me. I figured you'd either defeat them or at least weaken them enough for us to be able to drop them and grab Ras. He has some influential contacts so I needed to catch him red-handed. And we did."
Korm glowers at him and says, "So if we died that would be ... what? An acceptable loss?"
Talleon snorts, though it's unclear whether that's because Korm's comment is incorrect or because it goes without saying. "You risk your lives daily and I told you it would be dangerous." He shrugs and adds, "Anyway, you survived. So everybody - except Ras - wins."
"Can we get a note of thanks or some token of the work we did?" asks Gareth.
"Hah!" laughs Talleon. "I told you - the Citadel doesn't pay for services rendered. But if I can put in a good word for you in the future I will. If you do ever need to contact me for some reason, tell Warden Balan Cord." He looks at Korm and adds, "Don't fly up to the Citadel again."
"I'll remember that." And I'm in no hurry to meet you again.
"Then," says Talleon, "This is goodbye. For now. I'm quite impressed with your abilities and I may contact you again regarding any work I think you're especially suited for. If nothing else, you may find it helpful when you're trying to do things like identify a certain gnome."
Nobody replies and Talleon leaves. Once he is out of sight, Nameless looks around at the others. "Another job for the Citadel? Anyone for Yarkuun Draal?"
"Yes!"
* Elusive Target is a beautiful, beautiful feat. Esp. when your player is nice enough to roll and confirm a critical on his ally
** The caster has to be the one able to command a summoned creature to do something other than fight, but I figured I'd cut the group some slack. As you can see, they needed it!
*** One of a few 1s the players rolled at crucial times
**** Strangely, though Nameless went down thrice, he never went below -10 hit pts (as Luna, Gareth and Korm did)
***** I think he rolled something like a 2 and 3 to hit, and when using an action pt, again rolled 2 and 3 on the two d6 (needed a 4). Which mimicked Six's previous use of an action pt.
****** Death Touch is a very nasty domain power
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
Gareth Byron Deneith - Human Pal3/Clr2/Exorcist of the Silver Flame4
Korm'akhan - Orc Drd7/Hexer2
Luna - Shifter Drd9
Mithral 6 of 6 - Warforged Ftr4/Scout5 (retroactive level change)
Nameless - Human Wiz6/Alienist3
Shortly after Talleon leaves, an elderly orc carrying a gnarled staff steps out of the bark of a large tree near the Gatehouse. He walks up to the Angels, who recognize him as Gurr'khan, and gives them a nod. Then turning to Surr'kal, he says gruffly, "So - what's the big emergency?"
The group settles down on the lawn-like area outside the Gatehouse, and Nameless casts a private sanctum spell to protect them from mundane or magical eavesdropping. Surr'kal then proceeds to explain all of the details about the adventurers' experiences with the Key. The Angels fill in with details as needed.
Gurr'khan listens quietly for the most part, other than for the odd question or comment. When Surr'kal is done, he explains that they need more information than is available to them here, and he thought that Gurr'khan could help, since he is the only Gatekeeper in Breland capable of traveling instantly to the Shadow Marches or the Eldeen Reaches.
Gurr'khan thinks about it for a while and then asks, indicating the Angels around him, "Do you trust them with it?"
Surr'kal looks a little surprised, whether at the bluntness or the question itself. "Umm ... I ... yes, I do trust them."
Gurr'khan says, "Good. Then I'll respect your judgement and not take it from them," with no trace of humor. He then adds, "I am no loremaster, but I can think of a couple of people who might know more about this - or at least tell me of someone who might. Saala Torrn in the Marches. And Koruun, in the Reaches."
Korm, who is meeting the older Gatekeeper for the first time and has been watching him carefully, says, "I know of Koruun. And I've met Saala once. She is a wise woman."
"Yes," says Gurr'khan, and continues, "I'll stay here tonight and leave tomorrow. I would have gone traveling sooner or later, and this is as good an excuse as any other. It'll take me a week or so to meet and speak to both and then return, I think. I can't take you all with me, and that's not necessary right now anyway."
"I can teleport us up to 900 miles, if needed," says Nameless.
"That wouldn't even get us to the Marches, but it'll be a helpful option for the future. I think you may have to do some traveling to get answers. Speaking of which, I have some more questions."
Gurr'khan spends some more time with the group asking about details of their time in Sharn with the Key, taking especial interest in Arrok's murder and the links between the Key and the adventurers.
Afterwards, the group heads to Trillia's home. After they tell her that the job for the Citadel is now completed, she begins to discuss plans for the expedition to Yarkuun Draal.
Trillia says that she wants to leave two days later, on the morning of the 24th. While the adventurers were in Xen'drik, she paid a small group of explorers to travel near Yarkuun Draal and scried them, so that she can teleport there. With a spell to shrink the four Angels besides Six, she can take all of them with her. The location is about a dozen miles from Yarkuun Draal, from which they will travel to about two miles from the city and spend the night there, so that both Nameless and she have a place they are familiar enough with to teleport to when needed.
Trillia emphasizes that this will be a very dangerous expedition and she wants to be as safe as they can be. If the group gets into a bad situation, Nameless should get as many people out and back to her place in Sharn and she will do the same. The aim is not to clean out Yarkuun Draal, since that would not be possible without a large army, if at all.
Luna, getting a little bored with the discussion, yawns and says, "So why are we going to this place?"
Trillia, who's got used to the mercurial druidess, grins and says, "Different reasons, I suppose. For myself, and presumably for Nameless, it's about knowledge. We study the creations of the daelkyr and the influences of Xoriat. For Six, it's a chance to get out of the city and avoid dealing with gnomes. Korm gets to practice fighting the aberrations that the Gatekeepers oppose. Gareth gets to smite evil creatures and bring the light of the Flame into a dark place." Trillia grins broadly and says, "And you, my dear, get to kick ass without taking names and drop flame strikes without having to worry about collateral damage."
Luna grins back. "I'm in. Let's go. Now."
Trillia laughs and continues. "Also, considering that Yarkuun Draal was supposedly one of the finest cities of the Dhakaani empire, eve after all this time I'm sure there are historical artifacts that might be of value, not to mention magical items. If my theory about there being a dimensional seal is correct, the chances are that there are powerful aberrations in the area trying to affect it, and they're sure to have magical possessions of their own. As well as retaining original Dhakaani items, I presume. So there's a good chance you'll be getting a lot richer too. I'm obtaining a letter of marque tomorrow that will let us retain or sell Dhakaani items we recover."
"Better and better," says Luna. "I have a big list of things I'd like to pick up at some point."
Trillia then turns to Nameless. "Are you planning to take that Key with you? If I'm right about the dimensional seal and if that thing can unlock any dimensional seal, if any aberration there finds out you have it, we'll end up as far more important targets than we already will be."
"We don't have too many options," says Nameless. He taps the adamantine-bound case in which he now carries the Key. "And it's about as safe here as anywhere else. Plus it can't really be detected magically, which helps."
"How about trying to use that Key again?" interrupts Luna.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean - why don't you try experimenting with it? Like see if you can use it to control or destroy aberrations or find some other powers it has."
"I'm ... not really sure that's a good idea. Especially since I really can't control it or predict what the result will be."
"Okay. Just a suggestion." Wuss!
"However," says Nameless, turning to Trillia, "I'd like to attempt a contact another plane regarding Arrok's murder. And, as you know, if that goes wrong then it might delay the trip a bit."
"Hmm. You really want to risk it?"
"Yes. I think it's worth the attempt."
"Fine. It's your call."
Nameless explains a little about the contact other plane dweomer to the others, especially the fact that the strain it will put on him might affect his ability to use magic for a while. After the explanation and having discussed what he might ask, the group goes to Trillia's spellcasting sanctum.
There, Nameless prepares himself, casts a couple of preparatory spells to further protect himself, and then speaks the tongue-twisting words of the spell. Each of the ten syllables takes an entire minute of concentration to pronounce. Once he has pronounced the last one, Nameless feels his consciousness expanding, the mental sensation being accompanied by a physical pressure inside his head. The pressure increases to near unbearable proportions, but he grits his teeth and, after a couple of seconds when he feels he might succumb*, the pressure disappears.
A strange illusory web appears before Nameless, pulsing with light. He realizes that he is in temporary contact with a vast reservoir of cosmic knowledge, with every glowing mote on the web consisting of a piece of information. Then he hears a voice in his head, which says simply, "Ask."
Nameless says, both aloud and in his mind, "Have we met the murderer of Arrok?"
There is a pause and then the web reorients itself, a single speck on one strand glowing more brightly as the answer comes, "Yes."
Even as Nameless is about to ask another question, he hears - and vaguely sees, though the glowing web monopolizes his vision, overlaying the reality in the room around him - Luna. "They dropped the charges against you, right? So why do we give a damn about Arrok's murder?"
Nameless can't help rolling his eyes, even as he struggles to retain his concentration. Unusually for him, he is relieved to hear Gareth speak. "Because Arrok's murderer is probably interested in the Key and might want to kill us, so we need to find out about him."
Speaking quietly and trying not to lose concentration, Nameless adds, "And because I promised to protect Arrok."
"Too late now for that, isn't it?" continues Luna.
Nameless sighs and ignores her. Aloud, he asks, "Is Arrok's murderer a member of the Closed Circle?"
Again, the web reorients and the answer comes, "No." There is a pause and then it continues, "But he is near where the Closed Circle was."
"Yeah, okay," continues the irrepressible Luna. "Ask it if he's Killian. Or a gnome."
Oh my bloody gods that I do not worship!"Gareth!" says Nameless urgently, "Please talk to her about something ... anything ... before she ruins the spell."
Gareth grins at Nameless' irritation and then says, "So, Luna - let me tell you about the Silver Flame."
Luna promptly feigns rolling over and beginning to snore, but she does stop interrupting Nameless. The alienist continues, "Did we meet Arrok's murderer before leaving for Xen'drik?"
This time, the answer is quicker. "Yes. And after."
With only one question left, Nameless thinks for a moment and then asks, "Is Arrok's murderer male or female?"
There is a long pause and then the answer. "Male. Though he does not need to appear so."
With that, the web quickly spirals in on itself and fades away, leaving Nameless with spots in front of his eyes and the beginnings of a headache.
"Didn't seem that helpful," comments Luna on the way out. Gareth and Nameless exchange glances, for once in agreement.
***
Gurr'khan leaves the next morning, gruffly warning the group to keep themselves and the Key safe, before he steps into the tree and disappears.
Later, Kitan stops by the Park to speak to Nameless, or Edgar Thorn, as he calls him. The discussion isn't any more pleasurable for him than the previous one, since it's quite (and quickly) clear that Nameless - though remaining polite - isn't really interested in finding out about his past.
"But don't you want to find out who you are?" asks a clearly confused Kitan.
"I know who I am. I'm Nameless. And this," he indicates the rock, "Is Edgar."
"But what about your past? Where you came from?"
"My past is irrelevant. All that matters is the future. And that I will craft."
Gareth, who has recently developed greater powers through his link with the Silver Flame, concentrates silently on trying to detect thoughts. Completely unnoticed by Kitan, the paladin is now able to read his surface thoughts. The overriding emotion he picks up is one of confusion, layered into thoughts that flit through Kitan's mind, such as "But why doesn't he care?", "How could he have forgotten everything?" and "What the hell is it with him and the damn rock?!" One fleeting thought that is particularly interesting for Gareth is, "Should I tell him about his parents?"
It's quite clear to Gareth that Kitan is exactly who he says he is, so he looks at Nameless and gives a quick nod and tries to convey facially that Kitan is telling the truth.
Nameless stares back at him for a moment and then says, "Are you constipated, Gareth?"
As Gareth sighs, Luna steps in, speaking to Kitan. "Did Edgar have a twin or a relative who looked a lot like him? I'm just wondering if Nameless looking like him is a coincidence."
"I don't think so. The resemblance is ... well, it's not just a resemblance. He looks exactly the same. And remember the birthmark?"
"Yes, that's true. So what happened to his family?"
Kitan hesitates, throwing a look at Nameless, and then says, "His parents - Teros and Pomela - both died on the Day of Mourning. I'm sorry."
When he mentions the names, Nameless has a momentary feeling of familiarity, like one does when hearing a name one recognizes but cannot place. His expression, however, doesn't change, remaining at the level of polite interest.
Kitan stares at Nameless, clearly expecting more of a reaction. Realizing that it isn't forthcoming, Luna quickly distracts Kitan with more questions, and Kitan says some more about Edgar. He says that Edgar was the son of wealthy farmers and had some minor magical ability, which is why he had joined a special forces unit in the military.
After a few more minutes, Kitan says, "I have to leave now. Perhaps I will come by again later. If that is all right?"
"Certainly," says Nameless urbanely. Can't you take a hint?
As Kitan leaves, Luna says, "I don't think he'll be back in a hurry." She looks at Nameless. "You really don't want to know about your past? Assuming it is your past, that is."
"No," says Nameless shortly. He taps his forehead. "All I need to remember is here."
***
Later in the day, the group checks the Korranberg Chronicle, as usual. The main article this time takes up not just the front page but has a number of offshoots dominating the bulk of the paper. It is about the supposed destruction of the Lord of Blades. The article says a fact-finding mission to the Mournland (which was sponsored by House Cannith, guarded by Deneith mercenaries, and included experts from Morgrave University) encountered proof of his existence and information about his location.
Baron Merrix d'Cannith, who spoke to the KC about the events, says that he was persuaded to arrange an attack on the Lord of Blades' camp by the well-known Brelish adventuring group, the Blades of Arakhain, whom the Angels knew of and had met in passing during the Brightblade celebrations. The Blades had encountered the Lord of Blades on an earlier expedition into the Mournland and were part of this one. Merrix says that they persuaded him that it was for the good of all Khorvaire that the Lord of Blades be eliminated, and he allowed the Blades to lead a force of Deneith mercenaries and Cannith artificers against his camp.
The Lord of Blades was slain during the battle and his forces scattered. Sadly, the Blades were slain as well. Merrix declined to discuss their deaths, other than to say that they had gallantly sacrificed their lives to keep Khorvaire safe from a great danger, or to reveal anything about the location of the Lord of Blades' camp, saying that he was discussing it with members of Parliament and the Court and that it was a matter of national security.
As they travel around town while making their preparations for the trip, the Angels find that the subject is a very hot topic for discussion. Opinions range from those who believe that it's all true and are very relieved at the news to those who think Merrix eliminated the warforged messiah for his own benefit to those who think it is a complete fabrication. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, there are a fair number who are vocal with their opinion that this is more proof of warforged as a species being a danger to the people of Khorvaire and that they should be constrained in some way, instead of being allowed to wander freely and treated as equals. Nobody is stupid enough to voice this to Six, but he does at one point get a couple of stones thrown at him by a bunch of children, who chant "Monster! Monster! Go to the Mournland!" and then run off. Six simply watches them go, reminding himself how stupid people can be and being a little relieved that Luna isn't with him when it happens.
***
The next morning, after having made the last of their preparations and completed a hearty breakfast, the group prepares to depart from Trillia's house. When they are all ready, Trillia casts a spell that reduces Nameless, Gareth, Luna and Korm to half their size. Having used it, she has them all clasp hands and then puts a hand on Nameless' shoulder, before casting teleport.
The adventurers feel a momentary sense of dislocation, as if the ground had fallen away under their feet. And then they are standing on a dusty, rocky plain, next to a small oasis of trees around a pool of water.
"Ladies and gentlemen," says Trillia, looking around with a look of satisfaction on her face, "Welcome to the Siln Highlands."
* Nameless blew the save and had to use an action pt to prevent his Int dropping to 8 for the next 5 weeks
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
Baron Merrix d'Cannith, who spoke to the KC about the events, says that he was persuaded to arrange an attack on the Lord of Blades' camp by the well-known Brelish adventuring group, the Blades of Arakhain, whom the Angels knew of and had met in passing during the Brightblade celebrations. The Blades had encountered the Lord of Blades on an earlier expedition into the Mournland and were part of this one. Merrix says that they persuaded him that it was for the good of all Khorvaire that the Lord of Blades be eliminated, and he allowed the Blades to lead a force of Deneith mercenaries and Cannith artificers against his camp.
The Lord of Blades was slain during the battle and his forces scattered. Sadly, the Blades were slain as well. Merrix declined to discuss their deaths, other than to say that they had gallantly sacrificed their lives to keep Khorvaire safe from a great danger, or to reveal anything about the location of the Lord of Blades' camp, saying that he was discussing it with members of Parliament and the Court and that it was a matter of national security.
Wasn't that the other group you DM. Since you can't really TPK your groups, I take it far more is going on here?
Wasn't that the other group you DM. Since you can't really TPK your groups, I take it far more is going on here?
Yes, that is the other group. We've been having a lot of scheduling difficulties and significantly losing momentum, so we've temporarily put that Eberron game on hold and I'm running a Mutants & Masterminds game for them for the time being. We ended with their PCs on the way to the LoB's main camp (after having taken out a smaller one and learned of the main one's location), so I know they'd end up with a big battle against him, which I presume they would win. And let's just say that they'd be likely to have a conflict of interest with their employers over some of the things they'd discover, so it's very likely they'd be attacked at the end of it and end up being stuck in the Mournland and having to find their way out. So, depending on when (& whether) we continue with that campaign, stories of their demise may be greatly exaggerated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Piratecat
Yoink!
Enjoy! And say "hello" to your PCs from me
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
The area that the Angels find themselves in is a study in contrasts. Most of it is rocky and barren, with small cracks and crevasses breaking up the ground, and large spires and outcrops of rock rising above it. Dotted across the area, however, are a large number of oases, made up of ferns and surrounding trees that overhang a central pool. Trillia says that literally thousands of underground springs emerge in such oases across the area. She also points out the rough trail that leads towards and away from the oasis they are near, saying that it was made by the Dhakaani empire.
Near where they appeared are the remnants of an old camp and a fire-pit, presumably left by the travelers whom Trillia had paid to come to this place. Six checks the fire-pit and says, “Something - or somebody - went through this some time after it was last lit.”
Trillia, who has been orienting herself direction-wise, says, “Probably not a creature from the city, but one can’t say.” She points and adds, “Heading directly south-east should get us there. I’m estimating it’s about a dozen miles away.”
Before they leave, Luna says that she wants to try something. “You can talk to other planes and stuff,” she tells Nameless, “But I’ll take getting information from nature any day. At least it doesn‘t rot your brain.”
Assuming a cross-legged stance, she recites the words and goes through the gestures of a commune with nature. As she proceeds, Luna feels herself becoming one with the land around her, information about the area flooding into her senses. Knowing that she cannot contain or comprehend all the information, she focuses on just three subjects - the presence of humanoids in the area, the presence of powerful aberrations and the presence of minerals. She picks up a sense of a large number of humanoids, perhaps over a hundred, about six miles to the northeast. She also senses two large sets of aberrations to the east and the southeast, near the limits of her ability, which is about nine miles. As for minerals, she picks up minor silver deposits very deep underground and a large concentration of iron very close to or in the same area as the large humanoid presence.
After she informs them what she discovered, the group heads southeast, following one of the old trails. It is quickly clear that the roads must have been excellent highways at one point, with millennia of wear and tear having reduced them to the state of a well-worn track. Nevertheless, it does make travel easier.
After they have traveled for about 2 hours, a few of the Angels notice tracks along the trail. They stop to let Six, aided by Luna, cast around and find more about the tracks. He eventually decides that they must have been made by four to six creatures of human size, wearing armor or at least metal-shod boots. He also finds a smaller track, about halfling size, which seems to have been made by a creature traveling with but ahead of those making the larger tracks, perhaps acting as a scout. He estimates that the tracks are only a day or two old.
“Perhaps they’re hobgoblins,” says Trillia. “There have been reports of hobgoblins in the area for decades, with the rare attack on travelers and even a couple of ineffectual raids on Flint Keep. Probably descendants of the original owners of Yarkuun Draal.”
“Do you want me to see if I can track them? This ground doesn’t hold tracks well, but I might be able to.”
“No need. As long as they don’t bother us, we shouldn’t mess with them.”
The group continues onwards, traveling through the afternoon. The weather is hotter than the Angels are used to in Sharn, but being outside the manifest zone means it’s also much drier, so the traveling is quite comfortable.
When they are about six miles away from their starting point, the group is startled by the sound of cries from above, combining a deep-throated growl and a loud hiss. Spinning around, they see three large creatures dive off the top of a thick rocky spire over a hundred feet tall and about eighty feet away. As they spread their leathery bat wings and come zooming downwards with claws extended, a number of the adventurers cry out, “Wyverns!”
Nameless is the quickest to react, throwing a pinch of powder in the air and casting a spell. Trillia gives a snort of laughter as she realizes what he’s doing, and the other spell casters grin too. A puzzled Six just begins to ask, “What’s so fu…” when two of the wyverns flatten themselves painfully against the wall of force that Nameless just conjured. With startled squawks and expressions of confusion and anger, they slide off and land on the ground. The third wyvern comes in talons first at Six, only to have him dodge aside and feed it a faceful of spiked chain.
After that inauspicious (for the wyverns, that is) beginning to the attack, the rest of the battle is quite one-sided. Neither Nameless nor Trillia even bother to summon anything for support, settling for a little supportive magic, while the other four rip into the wyverns. The creatures manage to land some powerful blows with their fangs, wings and talons, but not enough to be dangerous. The creatures are too stupid to flee during the very limited period when they have a chance and are quickly turned into wyvern steak, though only Luna (perhaps giving in to the animal instincts of her ursine form) tries some.
“Does she usually eat what you kill?” asks Trillia, watching with interest as the bear bites into one of the carcasses. "Especially raw?”
“Not that I’ve noticed,” replies Korm. “And she’s not eating it raw, or not completely. That's the one she used flame strike on. Seals in the flavor.”
Luna quits after a couple of bites and rejoins the others, and after taking care of the necessary healing and making sure that neither Korm nor Gareth (each of whom was stung by a wyvern’s tail) has been poisoned, the group heads on.
The rest of the day’s journey is uneventful, with the landscape remaining constant. The travelers do notice, however, that there is a change in the forms - or rather, variety - of life in the area. While the flora remains essentially the same, consisting of concentrated clumps of vegetation around the multitude of pools that they pass, the fauna in the area gradually becomes scarcer. As the miles pass, the birds, small mammals and reptiles diminish in number.
“I’m guessing they sense the proximity of the city in some way,” comments Trillia, as she brings the group to a halt, even though there’s enough light for the group to continue for at least an hour. “We're probably about two or three miles from the city and I’d rather be some distance from there.”
Once they have made camp, Trillia and Nameless spend a while studying every facet of the immediate and surrounding area. “Remember,” she reminds him, “If it ever looks like we’re in really serious trouble - and I’m sure we will be, sooner or later - get as many people as you can out and come here. I’ll get the rest.”
Once they are ready to turn in, Luna takes the staff from the island and places it upright in the middle of the camp. As she activates the staff, it expands to become a twenty foot tall sapling and roots itself firmly, despite the rocky ground. A small cluster of branches appear along its sides and at the top, with those six feet above the ground holding a small bunch of berries, an apple and a tangerine. A hemisphere with a diameter of forty feet forms around it, mimicking the effect of a tiny hut spell. Luna pulls off a berry and pops it in her mouth. “Aah, goodberry - don’t leave home without it.”
The first two watches of the night pass peacefully. During the third, the never-sleeping Six's keen eyes* spots movement about a hundred and fifty feet away from the camp. Looking around carefully in the light of the stars and Eberron’s multiple moons, he notices over half a dozen wolf-like creatures spaced around the camp, all stealthily creeping closer.
“Look out!” he says to Korm and Gareth, both of whom are on watch with him, “Company - there, there, and there!” Then he raises his voice and shouts, “Get up! We’re under attack! Wolves!” Taking a few quick steps to the side, he punctuates his words by booting Luna, sleeping in her bear form, in the ribs.
She comes growling out of her sleep, giving Six a dirty look as she realizes what he just did. Nameless quickly rises too, followed more slowly by Trillia, who is apparently as heavy a sleeper as she is loud a snorer.
Korm looks around, catching sight of the creatures now that Six has pointed them out, and says, “They can’t be wolves. This isn’t the right environment.”
He’s quickly proved correct, as the creatures - realizing that they’ve been spotted - leap to their feet and fully reveal themselves. Each has a canine form and a vaguely wolf-like (but much larger) head, but the long, almost serpentine neck that bears it grows out of the middle of the beast’s back. The sides are marked with what look like tattoos and runes. Those members of the group with better eyesight note that the creatures have no eyes.
“What in Hell are those things?” asks Gareth, with Luna adding a curious growl.
Nameless, in the middle of casting a haste on the group, says, “I think they’re runehounds. I’ve never fought one but I read about them. They’re creations of the daelkyr. They’re affected by silver weapons and their wounds heal very quickly.”
Trillia adds, “And can spit globs of acid and webbing over long distances. So watch out.” Luna promptly growls and waves a paw, casting a spell to resist energy on herself.
“At least,” says Nameless, as the others assume defensive positions, “They can’t see us through the tiny hut, so they can’t target us easily.”
This theory doesn’t last long. The eight runehounds come loping in to a distance of about fifty feet, before they all spit globs of acid. Despite the lack of evident eyes and the concealment provided by the tiny hut, they are clearly able to target the adventurers. Each and every one of the group is hit by at least one glob of acid, only Luna being unaffected, due to her protective spell. The runehounds all howl loudly and charge in.
“Damn!” swears Korm, trying to scrape the sticky, burning liquid off his chest. “Wolves would have been a lot better.”
“Yes,” agrees Nameless. “They would!” He casts a spell and a wolf more than thrice the size of one of the runehounds appears next to it. As always with Nameless’ summoned creatures, this one has a writhing fringe of tentacles. It bites deeply into the side of the startled runehound and pulls it yelping off its feet.
“What happened to the wall of beef?” asks Six, as he tumbles past an onrushing runehound and then lays its side open.
“I upgraded,” says Nameless. “It’s wall of wolf now.” After a slight pause, he says, “Well, it will be when I get more than one.”
Trillia, beside him, grins as she prepares to cast. “Don’t worry - the first time’s always difficult.” She casts and three more such wolves appear, engaging more of the runehounds. “See - that’s how it’s done!”
With four of the enemies engaged, the rest of the adventurers have a much easier time of it. Though Korm, Six, Gareth and Luna are all further wounded by the end of the fight, four of the runehounds are soon dead and the others fleeing with the four pseudonatural wolves in pursuit.
Once they are certain that the danger is past, the adventurers fall to healing. Luna gingerly tries a little bit of runehound (finding it to be surprisingly tasty) before joining the others.
“That’s a small sample of what we’re likely to find at the city,” says Trillia, as she’s heading back to her blankets.
“Great!” says Gareth. “Make sure you guys have a few extra teleports on hand tomorrow!”
* Fricking 30 Spot check!
__________________ shilsen is broken - Crothian (and this is why)
My Eberron Story Hour. Updated November 12. Almost at the climax!
- Crothian (and 
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