Things are about to get moving for the crew.
13 Shanty Lane Map
13 Shanty Lane Map
Adventure in the Open Skies: The Liralen Irregulars (Eberron, Updated 5/10)
PhoenixAsh
First Post
Update #45: Search and Rescue
“You have anything good?” Alexandre grins at the shopkeeper of Wilkenson’s Enchanted Weapons.
“Several things that are very good, what are you interested in?” the merchant answers smoothly.
Ruel leans over to whisper in Alexandre’s ear, “Unless you have a couple thousand gold handy, do not bother.”
Alexandre sighs, “Nothing right now, I guess.”
Ruel straightens, “We are looking for a man who has gone missing. His name is Aloysius, and I believe he purchased magic bolas from your shop?”
“Oh yes,” the shopkeeper nods. “He placed the order a couple weeks ago and paid for it, but he never picked it up. I’ve heard there was a disturbance a couple blocks over, and from what I’ve heard its likely he was involved.”
Ruel nods, “Thank you.” The Irregulars exit the shop after some polite browsing. Ruel looks down the street and nods, “Let me talk to a few people, see what I can turn up.”
Ruel speaks to a few of the shopkeepers. He learns that there was a sudden patch of darkness on the street, and the sounds of a struggle. Its general location puts it next to a few active stores, and one that is out of business and abandoned. A faded sign above the door depicts a carpet flying through the air. Deciding the abandoned store a likely place to start, the Irregulars gather around to observe it.
Dox is first forward. The stone walkway outside the store is stained and scuffed, marking signs of a struggle. Near the door to the abandoned store he finds a torn and bloodied piece of fabric – a Lyrandar uniform. He gestures the rest of the Irregulars over with his chin, showing them the bloodstained fabric.
“We need to get inside,” Sasha says softly.
“No problem!” The door is not locked of any consequence to keep out a rogue of Dox’s skill, and he has it picked in a matter of seconds.
“They could still be here,” Ruel incants and touches Dox’s shoulder, and the changling disappears from view, Invisible. “Check the inside.”
Dox slips through the door with an audible creak, but a quick survey shows that the building is empty. Dox combs the interior, and he can tell that the struggle outside continued in – blood mingles with the heavy dust on the floor, and a muddled but obvious trail of struggling footprints goes through the store and to the door out back and into the alley. He opens the door cautiously and peers outside, but the alleyway is empty and the trail lost to him. He carefully goes over the entirety of the interior. Ruel’s spell expires and the rest of the Irregulars watch his progress from the doorway. Finally, he recovers a tattered book that slid under the store’s counter. Inside, many of the pages are torn out, but he can tell it is a business ledger, full of old contacts. However, one page has recent writing in it, an address: #13 Shanty Lane, Storage, Lower Dura
Dox smiles and returns to the Irregulars, showing them the page. “Looks like we still have a trail.”
The Irregulars leave the district and head lower into the city. Sharn’s sea docks are in the lower reaches of the city, overlooked by magical cranes that litter the cliff face above the Dagger River. These cranes haul goods to various districts in the lower and middle parts of the city. Storage is one such district, and the address the Irregular’s have put them in front of a warehouse, one that seems to be out of regular use.
Dox carefully checks the door for any traps, and then picks the lock on the door with an audible ‘click’, then pushes the door open slowly. He sees a large man in tattered clothing with a very large axe. Swallowing, he straightens and walks in as if he owns the place. The man starts, stirring as if just waking up from being asleep. Dox glares at him sharply, “You’re sleeping on the job!”
The man’s eyes narrow and he shifts quickly to his feet, “Who are you?”
“It is I!” Dox announces grandly, making up a name on the spot, “Althaga!”
The man looks deeply suspicious. However, his suspicion is lifted when he see’s Ruel behind Dox, who has just finished casting Charm Person on him. He’s certain that he recognizes the smiling half-elf – surely a very important person and the rest must be his associates!
“Hello, nice to see you,” Ruel beams.
“I… really wasn’t sleeping, honest,” the man begins, quickly realizing this important man might be upset if he was sleeping on the job.
“Don’t worry about that,” Ruel smiles. “What was your name?”
“Cinco,” the man answers, straightening up to his full height.
“We are doing a brief survey of the premises, how many of you are here today?” Ruel asks lightly.
“There’s four of us. The boss, me, my good buddy Quatros, and Verday,” Cinco explains.
“Do you have any… guests with you today?” Ruel asks with a smirk.
“Oh yeah!” Cinco grins. “We got this fancy-pants flyboy strung up, from some airship. Getting’ paid real good to get him to talk. Boss is good at this type of stuff, I tell ya.”
Ruel nods, “I’m concerned about the defenses here, do you have any traps or similar mechanisms on any of the doors here?”
“Oh no, you don’t have to worry about that, we got everything handled here, if there’s any trouble,” Cinco explains quickly.
‘What is behind the door there, behind you?”
“Boss just doing some work in there,” Cinco smiles knowingly. There’s a brief bought of jarring laughter audible through the door, followed by a muffled scream.
The Irregulars tense. Ruel briefly glances at the rest, whose hands tighten around their weapons. Looking back to Cinco, he asks, “Would you open the door for us? We’d like to have a word with your boss?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. I’m sure he’d be happy to see ya,” Cinco nods and fishes out a key, opening the door behind him. The door opens on an expansive warehouse. Catwalks lace across the ceiling, and scattered boxes are pushed against the walls. They don’t see Aloysius immediately, but a long chain dangles into a deep pit. They watch as a man above in the catwalk turns a hoist and Aloysius rises over the lip of the pit and into view, dangling upside-down from his ankles on the end of the chain. An elf glares at the dangling crewman, while another man holds a hooked chain, whirling it threateningly.
Ruel immediately takes action and casts Web filling the entrance to the pit completely with interlaced strands of sticky webbing. Cinco claps Ruel on the back, “Good thinking buddy! We’ll catch him like a spider in a web!”
The rest of the men turn upon the Irregulars, surprised at the sudden webbing. The closest gets a nastier surprise, as Dox looses two arrows with expert precision. The first lodges beneath his sternum, and the second through his neck – killing him instantly.
“Quatros!” Cinco shrieks. “Buddy he’s a traitor, get him!” Cinco hoists his greataxe and brings it down upon Dox, whose frantic dodge isn’t quick enough to avoid a heavy hit with the flat of the axe that is still considerably painful. The Irregulars turn blades on their brief ally, and Sasha and Alexandre strike at him. The man’s grief and rage give him strength, however, and he turns their attacks and a counter-attack against Alexandre is poorly blocked by his thin blade, and the haft of the axe strikes his leg with enough force to nearly buckle it. Alexandre grins despite the pain, and brings his dagger down on the other side of the axe and whirls. Cinco has to drop the axe to avoid being pulled to the floor.
He scrambles after it, and both Sasha and Alexandre cut him while he exposes himself to their attacks. As he hauls up his axe he sees Ruel’s dagger flash nearby and looks at the wizard, with a wide-eyed expression of betrayal.
“Sorry! I was trying to hit her, but I missed,” Ruel lies quickly. Cinco buys it, and brings his axe down on Alexandre. He is only able to party deflect the strike, and the axe cuts into his shoulder, nearly crippling him. “Sasha! Help!” he rasps.
Sasha moves to heal Alexandre, but Cinco’s axe is everywhere, and she takes a heavy hit to her side. Her armor compresses inward painfully, but the heavy plate saves her life – and allows her to do the same for Alexandre, as she Cures his injuries.
Thus renewed, Alexandre presses his thinblade forward – it pierces between his ribs and through a lung. Gurgling, Cinco looks imploringly at Ruel. “Buddy…”
With a callous pull, Alexandre yanks his blade free and Cinco collapses in a heap.
The elf opposite the pit sees both men fall and backs up while drawing a longsword. He snarls at the man at the controls to the winch, “Verday! Get down here!” Dox answers by firing an arrow that imbeds shallowly in the man’s leather armor.
Ruel launches a bolt from his crossbow at Verday as the man descends down from the catwalk, but the bolt shatters on a bar of the metal ladder he uses. Alexandre and Sasha move forward, readying to strike at either man if they approach.
“Verday!” The elf gestures with his chin. “Flank ‘im!” They advance to do so, but Alexandre lashes upwards and wraps a dangling winch line around his wrist and kicks upwards. The winch moves on its rail, yanking him back several feet. The elf swings at him, but Alexandre’s thinblade meets the strike and parries it neatly. The sure-footed deckhand lands in a crouch.
Ruel casts again and Verday hiccups, guffaws, then collapses into gales of Hideous Laughter. Dox looses another arrow that pincushions the elf. Sasha charges and her blade clashes with that of the elf. Sasha get’s the worse of the exchange, as the man strikes her arm soundly, enough to cut flesh and deliver a burning poison. A cold sweat breaks out on Sasha’s brow as her vitality is sapped.
Alexandre, is grinning as he runs up to a ladder and begins to climb up to the catwalk, while the elf backs off from the fight to quickly drink a potion. Ruel gestures briefly and a flash of light Dazes him. Another arrow from Dox lodges in the elf’s thigh. Sasha prays and her hand is coated in an oily sheathe of energy, but the Inflict spell dissipates harmlessly in air as she misses the elf.
Dox runs across the catwalk then takes a flying leap. His blade punches through the muscle of the elf’s shoulder. The elf pales as he is nearly overwhelmed by the series of attacks from four opponents.
He brightens when his two remaining men move up onto the warehouse floor from a staircase in the back. There is nothing between them and Ruel, and the wizard frantically tries to dodge, without even his accustomed Mage Armor to ward him. He manages to only get struck once, but even a glancing blow from the powerful man was almost enough to snap ribs.
Ruel steps back and grabs for a scroll in his Handy Haversack – reciting it, a whirling clash of colors washes over both men. One is overwhelmed, and he drops his weapon as he covers his eyes. The other blinks off the effects of the spell and brings his axe down on the wizard. Ruel can neither dodge nor block and so crumples as the weapon bites deep.
Another arrow strikes the elf’s arm from Dox, and his guard is broken at a poor moment. Sasha’s blade cuts through his leathers and into his stomach, killing him in a single smooth slash. She looks back at the new opponents and pales at the sight of the fallen wizard, and moves towards him.
Alexandre turns on Verday, who is slowly recovering from the Hideous Laughter and pierces him repeatedly to make sure he never does.
Dox bites his lip, then pulls out the party’s Javelin of Lightning. He hurls it and it turns into a crackling lightning bolt. Both men are shocked violently, and their flesh sizzles, but they remain upright. Dox quickly moves past Sasha, determined to avoid Ruel’s fate.
Sasha doesn’t bat an eye, but surges forward to meet the attack of the last threat. Still smoking, the man lunges at Sasha but she deflects the strike and her counter attack cuts him deeply. The man staggers, nearly falling. He hefts his axe for one more strike, but its fall is met by Sasha’s shield. The man’s fingers go numb, his axe drops – then he falls as the blood loss becomes too much for his body to bear.
A single arrow from Dox is enough to finish his blinded and stunned partner.
Sasha rushes to Ruel and prays – healing energy pours into the wizard and his flesh mends. The wizard spasms, turns, then coughs up blood. Praying again, she uses another healing spell and the wound knits up completely. Gasping, Ruel struggles upright.
“Take it easy, they’re all defeated,” Sasha helps him back up.
Ruel nods as he straightens, trying to avoid looking at all of his blood pooled beneath him. Dox and Alexandre are already searching the downed men’s bodies for valuables, the changling briefly giving the wizard a thumb’s up as they see him rise. Ruel looks up at Aloysius, “We need to get him down.”
He goes for the ladder and climbs up. Near the top one of the rungs on the ladder give way and he stumbles, but manages to haul himself up. Sasha looks on with a small frown, “Ruel..!”
“I am fine,” Ruel waves away her concern. Still, he crawls cautiously over to the lever box on the catwalk – not taking any chances. The mechanism is not hard for him to deduce, and he moves the hanging Aloysius out from over the web-covered pit and by Sasha, and then lowers him slowly. Sasha catches him, unties him, then heals Aloysius as best she can – which is only a few orisons, after the intensity of the combat. It is enough to make the Liralen’s first mate conscious.
“Look at this, a tattoo!” Alexandre notes, as he tugs off the elf’s armor. Ruel carefully climbs down a different ladder. Only a brief glance is enough for him to tell – it’s a dragonmark, a Least Dragonmark of Shadow.
“Oh gods…” he covers his mouth.
“What? What’s wrong? Not getting squeamish on me are ya?” Alexandre chides.
“No, no of course not. That’s a dragonmark. This man is of either House Phiarlan or House Thuranni. Does he have any identification?” he asks nervously.
“Not that I can see,” Alexandre rummages through the man’s belt pouches. “Some good money in here though!”
“Well, it most certainly must be Thuranni. Phiarlan is a house of entertainers and artists,” Ruel decides with forced casualness.
Dox looks thoughtfully at Ruel, “How do you know all this?”
Ruel blinks, looking around. Alexandre, Dox, Sasha – even Aloysius seem to be looking at him expectantly. “Ah – well Ermineth, you recall, she was part of House Phiarlan. We spoke, and that is how I know.”
The answer seems to satisfy. When Ruel is not looking, Sasha smiles slightly and shakes her head. (Our newest party member did not neglect Sense Motive, unfortunately.)
Or perhaps not. “I know! Let’s take the body with us!” Alexandre exclaims.
“You have anything good?” Alexandre grins at the shopkeeper of Wilkenson’s Enchanted Weapons.
“Several things that are very good, what are you interested in?” the merchant answers smoothly.
Ruel leans over to whisper in Alexandre’s ear, “Unless you have a couple thousand gold handy, do not bother.”
Alexandre sighs, “Nothing right now, I guess.”
Ruel straightens, “We are looking for a man who has gone missing. His name is Aloysius, and I believe he purchased magic bolas from your shop?”
“Oh yes,” the shopkeeper nods. “He placed the order a couple weeks ago and paid for it, but he never picked it up. I’ve heard there was a disturbance a couple blocks over, and from what I’ve heard its likely he was involved.”
Ruel nods, “Thank you.” The Irregulars exit the shop after some polite browsing. Ruel looks down the street and nods, “Let me talk to a few people, see what I can turn up.”
Ruel speaks to a few of the shopkeepers. He learns that there was a sudden patch of darkness on the street, and the sounds of a struggle. Its general location puts it next to a few active stores, and one that is out of business and abandoned. A faded sign above the door depicts a carpet flying through the air. Deciding the abandoned store a likely place to start, the Irregulars gather around to observe it.
Dox is first forward. The stone walkway outside the store is stained and scuffed, marking signs of a struggle. Near the door to the abandoned store he finds a torn and bloodied piece of fabric – a Lyrandar uniform. He gestures the rest of the Irregulars over with his chin, showing them the bloodstained fabric.
“We need to get inside,” Sasha says softly.
“No problem!” The door is not locked of any consequence to keep out a rogue of Dox’s skill, and he has it picked in a matter of seconds.
“They could still be here,” Ruel incants and touches Dox’s shoulder, and the changling disappears from view, Invisible. “Check the inside.”
Dox slips through the door with an audible creak, but a quick survey shows that the building is empty. Dox combs the interior, and he can tell that the struggle outside continued in – blood mingles with the heavy dust on the floor, and a muddled but obvious trail of struggling footprints goes through the store and to the door out back and into the alley. He opens the door cautiously and peers outside, but the alleyway is empty and the trail lost to him. He carefully goes over the entirety of the interior. Ruel’s spell expires and the rest of the Irregulars watch his progress from the doorway. Finally, he recovers a tattered book that slid under the store’s counter. Inside, many of the pages are torn out, but he can tell it is a business ledger, full of old contacts. However, one page has recent writing in it, an address: #13 Shanty Lane, Storage, Lower Dura
Dox smiles and returns to the Irregulars, showing them the page. “Looks like we still have a trail.”
The Irregulars leave the district and head lower into the city. Sharn’s sea docks are in the lower reaches of the city, overlooked by magical cranes that litter the cliff face above the Dagger River. These cranes haul goods to various districts in the lower and middle parts of the city. Storage is one such district, and the address the Irregular’s have put them in front of a warehouse, one that seems to be out of regular use.
Dox carefully checks the door for any traps, and then picks the lock on the door with an audible ‘click’, then pushes the door open slowly. He sees a large man in tattered clothing with a very large axe. Swallowing, he straightens and walks in as if he owns the place. The man starts, stirring as if just waking up from being asleep. Dox glares at him sharply, “You’re sleeping on the job!”
The man’s eyes narrow and he shifts quickly to his feet, “Who are you?”
“It is I!” Dox announces grandly, making up a name on the spot, “Althaga!”
The man looks deeply suspicious. However, his suspicion is lifted when he see’s Ruel behind Dox, who has just finished casting Charm Person on him. He’s certain that he recognizes the smiling half-elf – surely a very important person and the rest must be his associates!
“Hello, nice to see you,” Ruel beams.
“I… really wasn’t sleeping, honest,” the man begins, quickly realizing this important man might be upset if he was sleeping on the job.
“Don’t worry about that,” Ruel smiles. “What was your name?”
“Cinco,” the man answers, straightening up to his full height.
“We are doing a brief survey of the premises, how many of you are here today?” Ruel asks lightly.
“There’s four of us. The boss, me, my good buddy Quatros, and Verday,” Cinco explains.
“Do you have any… guests with you today?” Ruel asks with a smirk.
“Oh yeah!” Cinco grins. “We got this fancy-pants flyboy strung up, from some airship. Getting’ paid real good to get him to talk. Boss is good at this type of stuff, I tell ya.”
Ruel nods, “I’m concerned about the defenses here, do you have any traps or similar mechanisms on any of the doors here?”
“Oh no, you don’t have to worry about that, we got everything handled here, if there’s any trouble,” Cinco explains quickly.
‘What is behind the door there, behind you?”
“Boss just doing some work in there,” Cinco smiles knowingly. There’s a brief bought of jarring laughter audible through the door, followed by a muffled scream.
The Irregulars tense. Ruel briefly glances at the rest, whose hands tighten around their weapons. Looking back to Cinco, he asks, “Would you open the door for us? We’d like to have a word with your boss?”
“Yeah, yeah, sure. I’m sure he’d be happy to see ya,” Cinco nods and fishes out a key, opening the door behind him. The door opens on an expansive warehouse. Catwalks lace across the ceiling, and scattered boxes are pushed against the walls. They don’t see Aloysius immediately, but a long chain dangles into a deep pit. They watch as a man above in the catwalk turns a hoist and Aloysius rises over the lip of the pit and into view, dangling upside-down from his ankles on the end of the chain. An elf glares at the dangling crewman, while another man holds a hooked chain, whirling it threateningly.
Ruel immediately takes action and casts Web filling the entrance to the pit completely with interlaced strands of sticky webbing. Cinco claps Ruel on the back, “Good thinking buddy! We’ll catch him like a spider in a web!”
The rest of the men turn upon the Irregulars, surprised at the sudden webbing. The closest gets a nastier surprise, as Dox looses two arrows with expert precision. The first lodges beneath his sternum, and the second through his neck – killing him instantly.
“Quatros!” Cinco shrieks. “Buddy he’s a traitor, get him!” Cinco hoists his greataxe and brings it down upon Dox, whose frantic dodge isn’t quick enough to avoid a heavy hit with the flat of the axe that is still considerably painful. The Irregulars turn blades on their brief ally, and Sasha and Alexandre strike at him. The man’s grief and rage give him strength, however, and he turns their attacks and a counter-attack against Alexandre is poorly blocked by his thin blade, and the haft of the axe strikes his leg with enough force to nearly buckle it. Alexandre grins despite the pain, and brings his dagger down on the other side of the axe and whirls. Cinco has to drop the axe to avoid being pulled to the floor.
He scrambles after it, and both Sasha and Alexandre cut him while he exposes himself to their attacks. As he hauls up his axe he sees Ruel’s dagger flash nearby and looks at the wizard, with a wide-eyed expression of betrayal.
“Sorry! I was trying to hit her, but I missed,” Ruel lies quickly. Cinco buys it, and brings his axe down on Alexandre. He is only able to party deflect the strike, and the axe cuts into his shoulder, nearly crippling him. “Sasha! Help!” he rasps.
Sasha moves to heal Alexandre, but Cinco’s axe is everywhere, and she takes a heavy hit to her side. Her armor compresses inward painfully, but the heavy plate saves her life – and allows her to do the same for Alexandre, as she Cures his injuries.
Thus renewed, Alexandre presses his thinblade forward – it pierces between his ribs and through a lung. Gurgling, Cinco looks imploringly at Ruel. “Buddy…”
With a callous pull, Alexandre yanks his blade free and Cinco collapses in a heap.
The elf opposite the pit sees both men fall and backs up while drawing a longsword. He snarls at the man at the controls to the winch, “Verday! Get down here!” Dox answers by firing an arrow that imbeds shallowly in the man’s leather armor.
Ruel launches a bolt from his crossbow at Verday as the man descends down from the catwalk, but the bolt shatters on a bar of the metal ladder he uses. Alexandre and Sasha move forward, readying to strike at either man if they approach.
“Verday!” The elf gestures with his chin. “Flank ‘im!” They advance to do so, but Alexandre lashes upwards and wraps a dangling winch line around his wrist and kicks upwards. The winch moves on its rail, yanking him back several feet. The elf swings at him, but Alexandre’s thinblade meets the strike and parries it neatly. The sure-footed deckhand lands in a crouch.
Ruel casts again and Verday hiccups, guffaws, then collapses into gales of Hideous Laughter. Dox looses another arrow that pincushions the elf. Sasha charges and her blade clashes with that of the elf. Sasha get’s the worse of the exchange, as the man strikes her arm soundly, enough to cut flesh and deliver a burning poison. A cold sweat breaks out on Sasha’s brow as her vitality is sapped.
Alexandre, is grinning as he runs up to a ladder and begins to climb up to the catwalk, while the elf backs off from the fight to quickly drink a potion. Ruel gestures briefly and a flash of light Dazes him. Another arrow from Dox lodges in the elf’s thigh. Sasha prays and her hand is coated in an oily sheathe of energy, but the Inflict spell dissipates harmlessly in air as she misses the elf.
Dox runs across the catwalk then takes a flying leap. His blade punches through the muscle of the elf’s shoulder. The elf pales as he is nearly overwhelmed by the series of attacks from four opponents.
He brightens when his two remaining men move up onto the warehouse floor from a staircase in the back. There is nothing between them and Ruel, and the wizard frantically tries to dodge, without even his accustomed Mage Armor to ward him. He manages to only get struck once, but even a glancing blow from the powerful man was almost enough to snap ribs.
Ruel steps back and grabs for a scroll in his Handy Haversack – reciting it, a whirling clash of colors washes over both men. One is overwhelmed, and he drops his weapon as he covers his eyes. The other blinks off the effects of the spell and brings his axe down on the wizard. Ruel can neither dodge nor block and so crumples as the weapon bites deep.
Another arrow strikes the elf’s arm from Dox, and his guard is broken at a poor moment. Sasha’s blade cuts through his leathers and into his stomach, killing him in a single smooth slash. She looks back at the new opponents and pales at the sight of the fallen wizard, and moves towards him.
Alexandre turns on Verday, who is slowly recovering from the Hideous Laughter and pierces him repeatedly to make sure he never does.
Dox bites his lip, then pulls out the party’s Javelin of Lightning. He hurls it and it turns into a crackling lightning bolt. Both men are shocked violently, and their flesh sizzles, but they remain upright. Dox quickly moves past Sasha, determined to avoid Ruel’s fate.
Sasha doesn’t bat an eye, but surges forward to meet the attack of the last threat. Still smoking, the man lunges at Sasha but she deflects the strike and her counter attack cuts him deeply. The man staggers, nearly falling. He hefts his axe for one more strike, but its fall is met by Sasha’s shield. The man’s fingers go numb, his axe drops – then he falls as the blood loss becomes too much for his body to bear.
A single arrow from Dox is enough to finish his blinded and stunned partner.
Sasha rushes to Ruel and prays – healing energy pours into the wizard and his flesh mends. The wizard spasms, turns, then coughs up blood. Praying again, she uses another healing spell and the wound knits up completely. Gasping, Ruel struggles upright.
“Take it easy, they’re all defeated,” Sasha helps him back up.
Ruel nods as he straightens, trying to avoid looking at all of his blood pooled beneath him. Dox and Alexandre are already searching the downed men’s bodies for valuables, the changling briefly giving the wizard a thumb’s up as they see him rise. Ruel looks up at Aloysius, “We need to get him down.”
He goes for the ladder and climbs up. Near the top one of the rungs on the ladder give way and he stumbles, but manages to haul himself up. Sasha looks on with a small frown, “Ruel..!”
“I am fine,” Ruel waves away her concern. Still, he crawls cautiously over to the lever box on the catwalk – not taking any chances. The mechanism is not hard for him to deduce, and he moves the hanging Aloysius out from over the web-covered pit and by Sasha, and then lowers him slowly. Sasha catches him, unties him, then heals Aloysius as best she can – which is only a few orisons, after the intensity of the combat. It is enough to make the Liralen’s first mate conscious.
“Look at this, a tattoo!” Alexandre notes, as he tugs off the elf’s armor. Ruel carefully climbs down a different ladder. Only a brief glance is enough for him to tell – it’s a dragonmark, a Least Dragonmark of Shadow.
“Oh gods…” he covers his mouth.
“What? What’s wrong? Not getting squeamish on me are ya?” Alexandre chides.
“No, no of course not. That’s a dragonmark. This man is of either House Phiarlan or House Thuranni. Does he have any identification?” he asks nervously.
“Not that I can see,” Alexandre rummages through the man’s belt pouches. “Some good money in here though!”
“Well, it most certainly must be Thuranni. Phiarlan is a house of entertainers and artists,” Ruel decides with forced casualness.
Dox looks thoughtfully at Ruel, “How do you know all this?”
Ruel blinks, looking around. Alexandre, Dox, Sasha – even Aloysius seem to be looking at him expectantly. “Ah – well Ermineth, you recall, she was part of House Phiarlan. We spoke, and that is how I know.”
The answer seems to satisfy. When Ruel is not looking, Sasha smiles slightly and shakes her head. (Our newest party member did not neglect Sense Motive, unfortunately.)
Or perhaps not. “I know! Let’s take the body with us!” Alexandre exclaims.
toetapper1
First Post
Audric says with cool determination and a slight smirk on his face, "Let the race begin"
