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Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
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<blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 2821077" data-attributes="member: 198"><p>Written by shilsen - 10/16/05</p><p></p><p><strong>Session 10: A Paladin in a Sack is Worth...</strong></p><p></p><p>When Gareth goes to Grayflood, he sees the kid he spoke to, playing ball with some others. He sees Gareth and comes over to say that he was coming to Gareth that evening. He hasn't found Bodo, but has found somebody who knows about him. A local gambler named Philo said he thinks he knows where Bodo is and that "the kid is in big trouble," but wants 25 gold for the info. When Gareth asks, he says that Philo must be playing cards at a nearby tavern - which he points out - called The Spilt Ale. Gareth thanks him and heads for the tavern, only to be asked for a reward and then handing the kid two silvers.</p><p></p><p>Once he reaches the tavern and goes in, he finds it to be quite dirty and seedy. Despite it being the morning, it contains a fair number of customers, most of them sailors. The bugbear bouncer ignores Gareth and so does the fat, sweaty bartender, till Gareth asks for Philo. He is told that Philo is playing cards in a side room, the bartender indicating a small corridor, which ends in two doors (the left of which is occupied by Philo's card game).</p><p></p><p>Gareth knocks on the door, which is opened by a surly-looking half-orc with a hook where his left hand used to be. Behind him is a small room with a table and some cards and money on it, around which two humans and a shifter are sitting. One, a slim man with a thin moustache and wavy hair, introduces himself as Philo when asked and says that he did tell the boy he had information. When he asks Gareth, "I believe you're looking for Bodo. What's your interest in him?", Gareth says that it is personal. </p><p></p><p>When Gareth goes to sit down, as Philo asks him to, the shifter grabs at him, while the other pull out daggers and saps. Gareth pulls away and responds with a deep slash to the shifter's arm, but the four attackers surround and pound on or stab at him. His lack of armor proves to be the crucial factor, and the last thing he feels is the half-orc's sap slamming into his skull. Before consciousness totally fades, he hears the shifter growl, "Let's just kill him," and Philo retort, "He could be valuable. Damn fine sword for sure."</p><p></p><p>***</p><p>The others, meanwhile, wrap up their investigation by visiting the only temple of the Sovereign Host in High Walls. The small temple is obviously a modified dwelling and has only a priestess and a young acolyte in attendance. The priestess, Lanora, recognizes Hestia's name and description, identifying her as a regular, quite devout, member, who stopped attending about two weeks ago. She also mentions that Hestia had seemed unhappy with the worship of the Sovereign Host and had been asking questions about why the gods would allow such events as the War and the Day of Mourning. Lanora's answers had not seemed to satisfy her.</p><p></p><p>Nameless asks her if she knows anything of a Zokar, but she does not, the closest equivalent that she knows of being Zorka, a blacksmith in her congregation. Nameless suggests that they speak to him at the next congregation and is told that they are welcome to attend the next day's service. With that, the Misfits wrap up their investigation for the time being and leaves High Walls, with Corven promising Cala to speak to her soon.</p><p></p><p>Nameless and Corven head to their respective mage guilds, while Luna and Six head back to the inn. There, they find Bodo waiting for them. He says that he has been staying in Callestan for the last few days, and when he learns that Gareth has gone to Grayflood to find him, the trio head down there in search of the paladin. A few quick questions lead them to learn than Gareth entered the Spilt Ale tavern and then left a few minutes later. Checking with the bartender of the tavern, they are told that he spoke with somebody called Philo in a back room and then left. </p><p></p><p>As they leave the tavern in search of Gareth, an old drunk accosts them. After vomiting all over Six's feet, he tells them that he saw Gareth leave and followed him to ask for a handout. But according to him, Gareth entered a nearby alley and disappeared down an abandoned sewer access tunnel. After thanking him and paying a few silvers for the information, Six checks out the tunnel with Luna hanging on his ankles and ascertains that it definitely leads to the sewers, the stench from below being unmistakable. Both Luna and he also note marks in the dry muck encrusting the hole that indicate that someone passed through it quite recently. After some discussion, they decide that they need the others before they can safely investigate this, and head back to the towers of Sharn.</p><p></p><p>They stop at first the Esoteric Order and then at the Guild and pick up Corven and Nameless. The former has, in the meantime, researched the name Zokar and found it to be listed among a small list of angels from Syrania in a book about the outer planes. Nameless finds the same book at his guild, this one with a footnote referring to something called Tears of the Fallen. After some searching, he finds this to be not a book but a pamphlet about how angels come to the material plane, some through a fall from grace and a rare few choosing to leave the celestial planes. The pamphlet lists a couple of different variations, including Radiant Idols, which are fallen angels from Syrania. It says that they are those that fall because they gain the desire for power and to be worshipped by their inferiors. The pamphlet claims that they tend to congregate in manifest zones to Syrania, especially large ones like Sharn. On the way back to Grayflood, Nameless tells the others about this discovery and opines that perhaps Hestia - in view of her recent problems with more conventional religion - got involved with such a fallen angel in some way.</p><p></p><p>Once back at Grayflood, the Misfits investigate the tunnel. Six is lowered (despite his claim that there must be "sewer monsters") via rope, to find that the tunnel leads down some eight feet at an angle, ending in a sheer drop of ten feet to the sewers. Once lowered, he finds himself standing thigh deep in filth, with a sluggish stream of liquid running through it. At this point, everyone else rethinks going down to join him and decides to go check the tavern again. Six is pulled back up to the tunnel.</p><p></p><p>Even as he is re-entering it, he hears a sound and then the sharp pain of something piercing his rear end. Giving a yelp of pain, he climbs into the tunnel and pulls out a crossbow bolt. He yells up that the "sewer monsters are using crossbows!" Nameless calls down to the unseen attackers below, who respond to reveal that they are goblins. They threaten to attack anyone who comes into their territory, but a few questions seem to confuse them. They do reveal that they will let the group pass if they pay them, just as the last person did. Some more questioning reveals that he was a "funny-face guy ... face change lots", which Corven and Nameless decipher as "a changeling." Nameless throws them some money in thanks, starting a fight among the goblins, from the sounds of it.</p><p></p><p>The Misfits head back into the tavern to ask more questions about Philo and Gareth, and once Corven agrees to buy a round (which nobody drinks), the bartender tells them where Philo lives and suggest they speak to him. They go on to investigate the room that Philo and Gareth had met in, where Corven finds signs of a fight. Opening the back door, they find it opens onto an alley that emerges into the street behind the tavern, close to Philo's supposed residence. The alley has signs of something being dragged through it. The bugbear bouncer follows to yell at them for leaving the door open, and after being bribed, reveals that Philo and his cronies did mug their friend.</p><p></p><p>Heading to the boarding house where Philo lives, the Misfits speak to the old lady sitting on the porch. She owns it and is happy to show them around once Nameless claims that a couple of them want a room there. After checking out the two-storey building and paying in advance for a week, Nameless also ascertains that Philo does stay there, pretending that they know him. Since he is apparently in his room upstairs, the Misfits head upstairs. Luna sneaks up to the door and hears people arguing inside about what to do with "the guy," and signals to the others that it is the right place. Nameless moves to the door and casts a web into the room, trapping the four people who are inside, while Six (whose spiked chain Corven has enchanted with a merciful enchantment) throws the door open and Luna casts a produce flame and holds her fire. </p><p></p><p>While three of the people only shout in surprise and try to work out what is going on, one (a burly one-armed half-orc) throws a dagger, nicking Nameless. He is promptly battered and burned into unconsciousness by Six and Luna, making the others even more cooperative. The Misfits burn away the web and join them in the room and begin to interrogate them about Gareth. Seizing the opportunity, one of the men tries to jump out a back window. He is promptly tripped on the way, which sends him crashing out, missing the lean-to he planned to land on and instead hitting the ground and breaking his leg. His screams only intensify when Luna leans out the window and hits him with a hurled bolt of flame. Six goes downstairs, walks over to the back street where he is lying, picks him up, and comes back (discovering as he does so that this one smells as if he has been down in the sewers). </p><p></p><p>These actions and especially the screaming man have already drawn a small crowd, and the landlady comes pounding up the stairs to ask what's going on. Once she is handed ten galifars, she leaves just as quickly, only warning them, "Don't hurt the furniture." Once Six returns, he drops the man on a bed and applies a temporary splint to his leg, making him scream twice as much.</p><p></p><p>The others, meanwhile, discover after some minor effort that these are the four who mugged Gareth, and find the paladin tied up and unconscious in a sack under one of the beds, with a couple of very large lumps on his head. Luna heals him back to consciousness after they drag him out (and discover that he has been stripped down to his underclothes). Understandably, Gareth is first confused and then incensed, especially when he discovers that all his equipment, including Kyzmet, has been taken. He quickly sends the relieved Bodo off to the Deneith enclave with a message for Lalia to come to this place with twenty soldiers.</p><p></p><p>Philo reveals grudgingly that they have already sold Gareth's equipment to a fence, protesting a number of times that if he tells them where it is, then "they" will kill him and the adventurers. With Nameless pointing out that the other option is for just him to die now and Gareth glaring at him, he gives in and reveals that the fence is a goblin in Malleon's Gate and that he works for Daask. Apparently Philo and his gang have not taken any payment but were to receive small payments over the course of many weeks, including drugs and money. Checking the room, the Misfits do find little equipment or money, but Gareth does find enough to at least clothe himself.</p><p></p><p>After about half an hour of discussion and waiting, Bodo returns, but with only four soldiers. Lalia was not present but one of the people at the enclave recognized Gareth's name and sent the four. Once their leader is told that the group wants to go to Malleon's Gate and especially deal with Daask, he demurs. Eventually, he agrees to take three of the criminals back to the enclave and hold them temporarily (he points out, however, that the Watch is unlikely to care about a case like this in Grayflood), while leaving one of his men with the group to fetch help if they get in trouble. He also leaves a set of chainmail, a sword and a shield with Gareth.</p><p></p><p>Once the Deneith soldiers leave and Bodo is sent (reluctantly) back to the inn to await the group, the Misfits take Philo with them and head to Malleon's Gate. At Gareth's suggestion, they make a short detour through Callestan and the Cracked Mirror, but find neither Gorlick nor his brother. Heading on into Malleon's Gate, the northernmost district in Lower Dura, they find it to be in even more deplorable condition than Callestan. Chaos and noise fills the air, as does smoke from many small cookfires on what passes for a pavement. Rats scurry across the street. Goblins are everywhere, squabbling, haggling and shouting at each other, with larger goblinoids here and there. The group sees three very well-armed hobgoblins berating a goblin merchant while a bugbear forces his way through the crowd nearby. The Misfits draw a number of curious looks but nobody tries to stop them.</p><p></p><p>Eventually they reach a small shop set into the base of one of the large towers, with a grubby sign identifying it as Maarkra's Goods. Philo makes one last attempt to dissuade them but is ignored, and they enter. They find the shop to be one selling odds and ends. The shopkeeper, a goblin, quickly admits to having done business with Philo, but points out that he did not buy Gareth's equipment. He simply set up the transfer between Philo and Daask members, who have collected the equipment and left an hour ago. If the group has any problems with the sale of equipment, they need to take it up with Daask. Corven, who has cast a detect magic before entering the shop, ascertains that there are a couple of minor magics in there, but it does seem that Maarkra is speaking the truth. He cannot say who in Daask has the sword, but suggests the group speak to Keshta, a gnoll and Daask member, who may know. With nothing else to do, the Misfits leave.</p><p></p><p>After sending Philo off to the enclave with the last Deneith soldier, they head back to the inn, discussing what to do next. Six suggests talking to Killian, since he seems to have contacts in the underworld. The Misfits head to the Drunken Dragon tavern in Upper Dura, where they locate the changeling Flan (now in the form of a male shifter) and let him know what has happened and that they would like to speak to Killian that evening. He says that it is likely that Killian will be free at such short notice, but says he will try. The Misfits also meet Narik, the dwarf from the Clifftop Adventuring Guild that they had met before, and ask him to meet them at the inn with his companions and Deemin and Finch, if he can find them. </p><p></p><p>Returning to the inn, they grab some food before Narik and his two friends (Lothas and Valin) arrive. Narik says that he couldn't find Deemin or Finch, but left them a message, and also says that he heard about Gareth exorcising the creature possessing Finch. The Misfits tell him about what happened with Gareth's mugging and that they may have to enter Khyber's Gate and fight Daask operatives. To that end, they ask if Narik and his friends would be interested in participating. Narik admits that he'd rather not tangle with Daask, especially not down in their own territory, but says that if it is a quick venture, attack and retreat, they could be interested. Especially if there is a chance of substantial treasure. The Misfits says that they will try to find out as much as they can, and ask him to speak to them the next day.</p><p></p><p>When Narik and his friends leave, the others visit the Clifftop Adventurers Guild with them and become members, with Luna paying the dues for the group (some of whom are relatively impoverished). Gareth makes it to the Cathedral for some prayer and to meet the Archieropant. He tells Ythana Morr exactly what happened and asks if she can help in any way. She answers that since this is occurring in the Cogs and is substantially beyond Church jurisdiction, there is little she can actively do, though she can provide healing and similar aid to those involved in the operation. She does provide Gareth with a new holy symbol and wishes him luck and the blessing of the Silver Flame on his venture.</p><p></p><p>Shortly after Gareth returns to the inn, Flan arrives to say that Killian is too busy but will be happy to meet the group the next morning, down at the Lucky Nines casino, as usual. Killian also has a specific message for Gareth, saying that he is "really looking forward to seeing you again." This doesn't help the already distraught Gareth's mood at all. After Flan leaves, the Misfits head to bed and pass a peaceful night.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p>The next morning, Corven heads to the Cyran embassy while the others go down to Firelight and the Lucky Nines. Killian is at his regular table and greets them effusively. It is very obvious that he is incredibly amused by Gareth's misfortune and he teases the paladin constantly, asking him to repeat what has happened so that Killian "has the story just right," repeating the events in great detail - and with insulting phrasing - when Gareth chooses not to do so, etc. When the Misfits ask for information and aid in this endeavor, he points out that they are really going to owe him after this one, and asks, "If I may be crass, what's in it for me?" Nameless, who is quite amused himself and even more so at Killian's antics, suggests he ask Gareth. The latter grits out that he will be "very grateful," causing Killian to pull a list out of his pocket and start calculating how much that will net him.</p><p></p><p>Eventually, he promises to do some checking on the location of the sword and see if he can help the group in any other way. He also suggests that the group take care of the drug den the next day and then speak to him. Gareth suggests they do so the next night, and he agrees. Six asks if he has any other information he can give them, and Killian produces a rough map of the area of Tumbledown that the drug den is in and a drawing of the front area, which is set up as a tavern. The drawing indicates the door in the rear wall of the front room, which leads to the drug den proper. After handing over the map, Killian then bids them goodbye, wishing them best of luck and continuing to chuckle into his drink.</p><p></p><p>When they return to the inn, Corven meets them there. He has his own and the group's invitation, as well as some information about what will or will not be allowed during the visit (i.e. no armor, weapons larger than daggers to be left with the Karrnathi guards, etc). He also has some things that Tyrala has provided, consisting of two potions of invisibility, a scroll of detect thoughts, and two packets of powder of silent passage. After some discussion, it is agreed that Luna will be the one to do the "breaking in", and she takes the potions and the packets. Six also gives her a potion to hide from undead, in view of the Karrnathi penchant for using them. At her suggestion, they also utilize their party funds to purchase a potion of gaseous form, figuring that will be useful for entering locked rooms and that Tyrala will recompense them.</p><p></p><p>After that, Corven returns to the Esoteric Order to continue work on Gareth's armor, while the others busy themselves in various ways, some of it involving buying appropriate clothing. Meeting before the evening, they prepare themselves and then head for Ambassador Towers. Reaching the district, they head towards the Karrnathi embassy. They find it to be set in a solitary tower of its own and built to resemble a fortress, with thick, unvariegated granite walls, barred windows, and a single skybridge leading to it. A portcullised courtyard with guardrooms on either side separates the man gate from the embassy proper, and the group is stopped there and has their credentials checked. Once that is done, they are led into the actual embassy, where Six's spiked chain is taken away "for safekeeping".</p><p></p><p>Entering the embassy, they pass through a broad corridor with doors on either side, till they reach a set of double doors, which open into a large, roughly circular hall with a broad set of steps to the right heading up. Across the hall are another open set of double doors, which reveal a larger hall beyond, that one with a section separated by curtains to hold tables and chairs for dining. A small string quartet plays softly in the corner, and Karrnathi flags and military banners decorate the two halls. A number of people are already moving around in the two rooms, and some of them quickly come forward to greet the group.</p><p></p><p>In the lead is a lady with graying hair but an incongruously young face, who introduces herself as Syra ir'Tarrn, the ambassador from Karrnath. She greets the group and welcomes them, telling Corven that she has heard that he has been recently invested as head of his household and that this is his first official dinner as a representative of the embassy. While leading them into the room, she introduces the group to her aide Malen Torr, a tall and slim man, who is gaunt enough to pass for a Karrnathi undead with a little grayer coloring. They also meet Kanarr Talan, the head of the embassy guard and the only armored man in the room. The bearded, tall and muscular warrior gives them a military bow and promptly ignores them for the rest of the evening.</p><p></p><p>Syra continues around the room to introduce Corven and the others to a number of people, such as Helais ir'Lantar, the Aundairan ambassador who attended Corven's investiture, and a friendly and jolly gnome called Taho Mol Doras, the ambassador from Zilargo. The Riedran ambassador could not make it, but they meet his aide Helkashtai, a very attractive woman dressed in Riedran fashions. What is most arresting about her, however, is that she has a tattoo of a bird which travels around her bare shoulders, arms and neck, once in a while disappearing below her neckline and then reappearing later.</p><p></p><p>It doesn't take the group long to meet the Butcher of Eston either. Dals Nelmo turns out to be very different from what his reputation would lead one to expect. The retired general is short, chubby and red-cheeked, looking more like a jolly merchant or innkeeper than a military genius and supposed war criminal. Dals spends a fair amount of time talking to Corven and Gareth, expressing interest in finding a Karrnathi as a member of the Cyran delegation. Corven tells him a little about their background together. Some minutes into the conversation, Dals says, "You might as well go ahead and ask me. Everybody does." Gareth asks what he means and he says that five minutes into every conversation with him, someone wants to know about the 'Butcher of Eston' incident and name. Gareth admits that he had wondered about it but wasn't about to ask, but since Dals brought it up, he might as well mention it. Dals seems quite matter-of-fact about the incident, describing it as simply doing what he needed to do to protect the lives of the soldiers under his command, and says that he has never regretted it. Gareth suggests that he try to let more people know about his perspective, since that might lower the number of people who hate him due to the incident, but Dals says he doubts that would occur.</p><p></p><p>Corven takes the opportunity to slip into the nearby bathroom and use the scroll of detect thoughts. When he emerges, first Gareth and then Luna ask Dals about his accommodations at the embassy. When he talks about it, Corven reads his surface thoughts (luckily without him realizing it) and realizes that the room is two levels above. Corven lets Luna know about it, and they decide that this would be a good time to attempt the break-in, since the attendants have just begun to bring in the food and many people are moving in the direction of the dining area. </p><p></p><p>Luna enters the bathroom and uses a potion of invisibility, slipping out when Nameless 'conveniently' opens the door and heading for the stairs. Reaching the next floor, she finds four doors and two guards. Luckily the movement and noise below masks her movements, and she continues on to the next level. Here she finds a pair of double doors, which should lead to Dals' room, and another door. Once she reaches the door, she quietly casts a detect magic spell to note that there are some abjurations on the doors, as well as one on the floor which she fortuitously missed stepping on. Luna then uses a dose of the powder of silent passage to deactivate the abjurations on the door. At this point, she hears someone opening the door. Still invisible, she quickly swigs the potion of gaseous form. The door opens to reveal another guard, followed by two armed and armored zombies. As Luna slips between them invisibly and gaseous, she hears the guard say, "Stay here and watch the door" and sees the zombies take up position on either side of the door as it closes.</p><p></p><p>The room beyond is quite well-appointed, with a four-posted bed, a desk and chair, a small table with another two chairs, a couple of closets, and a door apparently leading to a bathroom. After a few moments of checking, Luna realizes that she cannot do a good job of searching the place in gaseous form, and returns to normal. Then she gives the room a very detailed search, going through the papers on the desk and the drawers in it, searching the closet, checking under the bed, opening a battered haversack beside the bed, and so on. Though she finds a number of different things, including Dals' old armor and weapons, some military medals, a dagger from the famed Rekkenmark Academy, letters to Zilargo, and a set of diaries (in the haversack) going back to the War, she finds no incriminating evidence. Though she cannot check all the diaries, she leafs through many and finds more poor poetry than references to the Day of Mourning. In fact, the only reference she finds is an entry where Dals conjectures to himself what its cause could have been, but that is it.</p><p></p><p>Deciding that the information was probably wrong, Luna uses another batch of powder on the door before drinking the second potion of invisibility and the one to hide from undead. Then she opens the door, causing the zombies to turn around, draw their weapons and enter the room to investigate. They do not seem to have seen her and she manages to slip out. Heading down the stairs, she passes the (now three) guards on the second level without trouble and reaches the bottom. She heads out the double doors and then dismisses the invisibility, coming back into the room as if she had wandered out. Nobody seems to have noticed her absence or return, and she joins the others and quietly tells Corven what she discovered (or failed to).</p><p></p><p>The dinner winds down over the next hour, and the adventurers take their leave after a while. Syra bids them goodbye, telling Corven that she looks forward to meeting him at future gatherings. Heading back to the inn, the Misfits head to bed, expecting a very eventful day on the following.</p><p></p><p>...and somewhere in Sharn, the watcher dismisses his spell and leans back in his comfortable chair. He chuckles inwardly to himself for a moment, and then says aloud, "Not exactly what I had planned, but these should make for an interesting twist. Very interesting."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="shilsen, post: 2821077, member: 198"] Written by shilsen - 10/16/05 [B]Session 10: A Paladin in a Sack is Worth...[/B] When Gareth goes to Grayflood, he sees the kid he spoke to, playing ball with some others. He sees Gareth and comes over to say that he was coming to Gareth that evening. He hasn't found Bodo, but has found somebody who knows about him. A local gambler named Philo said he thinks he knows where Bodo is and that "the kid is in big trouble," but wants 25 gold for the info. When Gareth asks, he says that Philo must be playing cards at a nearby tavern - which he points out - called The Spilt Ale. Gareth thanks him and heads for the tavern, only to be asked for a reward and then handing the kid two silvers. Once he reaches the tavern and goes in, he finds it to be quite dirty and seedy. Despite it being the morning, it contains a fair number of customers, most of them sailors. The bugbear bouncer ignores Gareth and so does the fat, sweaty bartender, till Gareth asks for Philo. He is told that Philo is playing cards in a side room, the bartender indicating a small corridor, which ends in two doors (the left of which is occupied by Philo's card game). Gareth knocks on the door, which is opened by a surly-looking half-orc with a hook where his left hand used to be. Behind him is a small room with a table and some cards and money on it, around which two humans and a shifter are sitting. One, a slim man with a thin moustache and wavy hair, introduces himself as Philo when asked and says that he did tell the boy he had information. When he asks Gareth, "I believe you're looking for Bodo. What's your interest in him?", Gareth says that it is personal. When Gareth goes to sit down, as Philo asks him to, the shifter grabs at him, while the other pull out daggers and saps. Gareth pulls away and responds with a deep slash to the shifter's arm, but the four attackers surround and pound on or stab at him. His lack of armor proves to be the crucial factor, and the last thing he feels is the half-orc's sap slamming into his skull. Before consciousness totally fades, he hears the shifter growl, "Let's just kill him," and Philo retort, "He could be valuable. Damn fine sword for sure." *** The others, meanwhile, wrap up their investigation by visiting the only temple of the Sovereign Host in High Walls. The small temple is obviously a modified dwelling and has only a priestess and a young acolyte in attendance. The priestess, Lanora, recognizes Hestia's name and description, identifying her as a regular, quite devout, member, who stopped attending about two weeks ago. She also mentions that Hestia had seemed unhappy with the worship of the Sovereign Host and had been asking questions about why the gods would allow such events as the War and the Day of Mourning. Lanora's answers had not seemed to satisfy her. Nameless asks her if she knows anything of a Zokar, but she does not, the closest equivalent that she knows of being Zorka, a blacksmith in her congregation. Nameless suggests that they speak to him at the next congregation and is told that they are welcome to attend the next day's service. With that, the Misfits wrap up their investigation for the time being and leaves High Walls, with Corven promising Cala to speak to her soon. Nameless and Corven head to their respective mage guilds, while Luna and Six head back to the inn. There, they find Bodo waiting for them. He says that he has been staying in Callestan for the last few days, and when he learns that Gareth has gone to Grayflood to find him, the trio head down there in search of the paladin. A few quick questions lead them to learn than Gareth entered the Spilt Ale tavern and then left a few minutes later. Checking with the bartender of the tavern, they are told that he spoke with somebody called Philo in a back room and then left. As they leave the tavern in search of Gareth, an old drunk accosts them. After vomiting all over Six's feet, he tells them that he saw Gareth leave and followed him to ask for a handout. But according to him, Gareth entered a nearby alley and disappeared down an abandoned sewer access tunnel. After thanking him and paying a few silvers for the information, Six checks out the tunnel with Luna hanging on his ankles and ascertains that it definitely leads to the sewers, the stench from below being unmistakable. Both Luna and he also note marks in the dry muck encrusting the hole that indicate that someone passed through it quite recently. After some discussion, they decide that they need the others before they can safely investigate this, and head back to the towers of Sharn. They stop at first the Esoteric Order and then at the Guild and pick up Corven and Nameless. The former has, in the meantime, researched the name Zokar and found it to be listed among a small list of angels from Syrania in a book about the outer planes. Nameless finds the same book at his guild, this one with a footnote referring to something called Tears of the Fallen. After some searching, he finds this to be not a book but a pamphlet about how angels come to the material plane, some through a fall from grace and a rare few choosing to leave the celestial planes. The pamphlet lists a couple of different variations, including Radiant Idols, which are fallen angels from Syrania. It says that they are those that fall because they gain the desire for power and to be worshipped by their inferiors. The pamphlet claims that they tend to congregate in manifest zones to Syrania, especially large ones like Sharn. On the way back to Grayflood, Nameless tells the others about this discovery and opines that perhaps Hestia - in view of her recent problems with more conventional religion - got involved with such a fallen angel in some way. Once back at Grayflood, the Misfits investigate the tunnel. Six is lowered (despite his claim that there must be "sewer monsters") via rope, to find that the tunnel leads down some eight feet at an angle, ending in a sheer drop of ten feet to the sewers. Once lowered, he finds himself standing thigh deep in filth, with a sluggish stream of liquid running through it. At this point, everyone else rethinks going down to join him and decides to go check the tavern again. Six is pulled back up to the tunnel. Even as he is re-entering it, he hears a sound and then the sharp pain of something piercing his rear end. Giving a yelp of pain, he climbs into the tunnel and pulls out a crossbow bolt. He yells up that the "sewer monsters are using crossbows!" Nameless calls down to the unseen attackers below, who respond to reveal that they are goblins. They threaten to attack anyone who comes into their territory, but a few questions seem to confuse them. They do reveal that they will let the group pass if they pay them, just as the last person did. Some more questioning reveals that he was a "funny-face guy ... face change lots", which Corven and Nameless decipher as "a changeling." Nameless throws them some money in thanks, starting a fight among the goblins, from the sounds of it. The Misfits head back into the tavern to ask more questions about Philo and Gareth, and once Corven agrees to buy a round (which nobody drinks), the bartender tells them where Philo lives and suggest they speak to him. They go on to investigate the room that Philo and Gareth had met in, where Corven finds signs of a fight. Opening the back door, they find it opens onto an alley that emerges into the street behind the tavern, close to Philo's supposed residence. The alley has signs of something being dragged through it. The bugbear bouncer follows to yell at them for leaving the door open, and after being bribed, reveals that Philo and his cronies did mug their friend. Heading to the boarding house where Philo lives, the Misfits speak to the old lady sitting on the porch. She owns it and is happy to show them around once Nameless claims that a couple of them want a room there. After checking out the two-storey building and paying in advance for a week, Nameless also ascertains that Philo does stay there, pretending that they know him. Since he is apparently in his room upstairs, the Misfits head upstairs. Luna sneaks up to the door and hears people arguing inside about what to do with "the guy," and signals to the others that it is the right place. Nameless moves to the door and casts a web into the room, trapping the four people who are inside, while Six (whose spiked chain Corven has enchanted with a merciful enchantment) throws the door open and Luna casts a produce flame and holds her fire. While three of the people only shout in surprise and try to work out what is going on, one (a burly one-armed half-orc) throws a dagger, nicking Nameless. He is promptly battered and burned into unconsciousness by Six and Luna, making the others even more cooperative. The Misfits burn away the web and join them in the room and begin to interrogate them about Gareth. Seizing the opportunity, one of the men tries to jump out a back window. He is promptly tripped on the way, which sends him crashing out, missing the lean-to he planned to land on and instead hitting the ground and breaking his leg. His screams only intensify when Luna leans out the window and hits him with a hurled bolt of flame. Six goes downstairs, walks over to the back street where he is lying, picks him up, and comes back (discovering as he does so that this one smells as if he has been down in the sewers). These actions and especially the screaming man have already drawn a small crowd, and the landlady comes pounding up the stairs to ask what's going on. Once she is handed ten galifars, she leaves just as quickly, only warning them, "Don't hurt the furniture." Once Six returns, he drops the man on a bed and applies a temporary splint to his leg, making him scream twice as much. The others, meanwhile, discover after some minor effort that these are the four who mugged Gareth, and find the paladin tied up and unconscious in a sack under one of the beds, with a couple of very large lumps on his head. Luna heals him back to consciousness after they drag him out (and discover that he has been stripped down to his underclothes). Understandably, Gareth is first confused and then incensed, especially when he discovers that all his equipment, including Kyzmet, has been taken. He quickly sends the relieved Bodo off to the Deneith enclave with a message for Lalia to come to this place with twenty soldiers. Philo reveals grudgingly that they have already sold Gareth's equipment to a fence, protesting a number of times that if he tells them where it is, then "they" will kill him and the adventurers. With Nameless pointing out that the other option is for just him to die now and Gareth glaring at him, he gives in and reveals that the fence is a goblin in Malleon's Gate and that he works for Daask. Apparently Philo and his gang have not taken any payment but were to receive small payments over the course of many weeks, including drugs and money. Checking the room, the Misfits do find little equipment or money, but Gareth does find enough to at least clothe himself. After about half an hour of discussion and waiting, Bodo returns, but with only four soldiers. Lalia was not present but one of the people at the enclave recognized Gareth's name and sent the four. Once their leader is told that the group wants to go to Malleon's Gate and especially deal with Daask, he demurs. Eventually, he agrees to take three of the criminals back to the enclave and hold them temporarily (he points out, however, that the Watch is unlikely to care about a case like this in Grayflood), while leaving one of his men with the group to fetch help if they get in trouble. He also leaves a set of chainmail, a sword and a shield with Gareth. Once the Deneith soldiers leave and Bodo is sent (reluctantly) back to the inn to await the group, the Misfits take Philo with them and head to Malleon's Gate. At Gareth's suggestion, they make a short detour through Callestan and the Cracked Mirror, but find neither Gorlick nor his brother. Heading on into Malleon's Gate, the northernmost district in Lower Dura, they find it to be in even more deplorable condition than Callestan. Chaos and noise fills the air, as does smoke from many small cookfires on what passes for a pavement. Rats scurry across the street. Goblins are everywhere, squabbling, haggling and shouting at each other, with larger goblinoids here and there. The group sees three very well-armed hobgoblins berating a goblin merchant while a bugbear forces his way through the crowd nearby. The Misfits draw a number of curious looks but nobody tries to stop them. Eventually they reach a small shop set into the base of one of the large towers, with a grubby sign identifying it as Maarkra's Goods. Philo makes one last attempt to dissuade them but is ignored, and they enter. They find the shop to be one selling odds and ends. The shopkeeper, a goblin, quickly admits to having done business with Philo, but points out that he did not buy Gareth's equipment. He simply set up the transfer between Philo and Daask members, who have collected the equipment and left an hour ago. If the group has any problems with the sale of equipment, they need to take it up with Daask. Corven, who has cast a detect magic before entering the shop, ascertains that there are a couple of minor magics in there, but it does seem that Maarkra is speaking the truth. He cannot say who in Daask has the sword, but suggests the group speak to Keshta, a gnoll and Daask member, who may know. With nothing else to do, the Misfits leave. After sending Philo off to the enclave with the last Deneith soldier, they head back to the inn, discussing what to do next. Six suggests talking to Killian, since he seems to have contacts in the underworld. The Misfits head to the Drunken Dragon tavern in Upper Dura, where they locate the changeling Flan (now in the form of a male shifter) and let him know what has happened and that they would like to speak to Killian that evening. He says that it is likely that Killian will be free at such short notice, but says he will try. The Misfits also meet Narik, the dwarf from the Clifftop Adventuring Guild that they had met before, and ask him to meet them at the inn with his companions and Deemin and Finch, if he can find them. Returning to the inn, they grab some food before Narik and his two friends (Lothas and Valin) arrive. Narik says that he couldn't find Deemin or Finch, but left them a message, and also says that he heard about Gareth exorcising the creature possessing Finch. The Misfits tell him about what happened with Gareth's mugging and that they may have to enter Khyber's Gate and fight Daask operatives. To that end, they ask if Narik and his friends would be interested in participating. Narik admits that he'd rather not tangle with Daask, especially not down in their own territory, but says that if it is a quick venture, attack and retreat, they could be interested. Especially if there is a chance of substantial treasure. The Misfits says that they will try to find out as much as they can, and ask him to speak to them the next day. When Narik and his friends leave, the others visit the Clifftop Adventurers Guild with them and become members, with Luna paying the dues for the group (some of whom are relatively impoverished). Gareth makes it to the Cathedral for some prayer and to meet the Archieropant. He tells Ythana Morr exactly what happened and asks if she can help in any way. She answers that since this is occurring in the Cogs and is substantially beyond Church jurisdiction, there is little she can actively do, though she can provide healing and similar aid to those involved in the operation. She does provide Gareth with a new holy symbol and wishes him luck and the blessing of the Silver Flame on his venture. Shortly after Gareth returns to the inn, Flan arrives to say that Killian is too busy but will be happy to meet the group the next morning, down at the Lucky Nines casino, as usual. Killian also has a specific message for Gareth, saying that he is "really looking forward to seeing you again." This doesn't help the already distraught Gareth's mood at all. After Flan leaves, the Misfits head to bed and pass a peaceful night. *** The next morning, Corven heads to the Cyran embassy while the others go down to Firelight and the Lucky Nines. Killian is at his regular table and greets them effusively. It is very obvious that he is incredibly amused by Gareth's misfortune and he teases the paladin constantly, asking him to repeat what has happened so that Killian "has the story just right," repeating the events in great detail - and with insulting phrasing - when Gareth chooses not to do so, etc. When the Misfits ask for information and aid in this endeavor, he points out that they are really going to owe him after this one, and asks, "If I may be crass, what's in it for me?" Nameless, who is quite amused himself and even more so at Killian's antics, suggests he ask Gareth. The latter grits out that he will be "very grateful," causing Killian to pull a list out of his pocket and start calculating how much that will net him. Eventually, he promises to do some checking on the location of the sword and see if he can help the group in any other way. He also suggests that the group take care of the drug den the next day and then speak to him. Gareth suggests they do so the next night, and he agrees. Six asks if he has any other information he can give them, and Killian produces a rough map of the area of Tumbledown that the drug den is in and a drawing of the front area, which is set up as a tavern. The drawing indicates the door in the rear wall of the front room, which leads to the drug den proper. After handing over the map, Killian then bids them goodbye, wishing them best of luck and continuing to chuckle into his drink. When they return to the inn, Corven meets them there. He has his own and the group's invitation, as well as some information about what will or will not be allowed during the visit (i.e. no armor, weapons larger than daggers to be left with the Karrnathi guards, etc). He also has some things that Tyrala has provided, consisting of two potions of invisibility, a scroll of detect thoughts, and two packets of powder of silent passage. After some discussion, it is agreed that Luna will be the one to do the "breaking in", and she takes the potions and the packets. Six also gives her a potion to hide from undead, in view of the Karrnathi penchant for using them. At her suggestion, they also utilize their party funds to purchase a potion of gaseous form, figuring that will be useful for entering locked rooms and that Tyrala will recompense them. After that, Corven returns to the Esoteric Order to continue work on Gareth's armor, while the others busy themselves in various ways, some of it involving buying appropriate clothing. Meeting before the evening, they prepare themselves and then head for Ambassador Towers. Reaching the district, they head towards the Karrnathi embassy. They find it to be set in a solitary tower of its own and built to resemble a fortress, with thick, unvariegated granite walls, barred windows, and a single skybridge leading to it. A portcullised courtyard with guardrooms on either side separates the man gate from the embassy proper, and the group is stopped there and has their credentials checked. Once that is done, they are led into the actual embassy, where Six's spiked chain is taken away "for safekeeping". Entering the embassy, they pass through a broad corridor with doors on either side, till they reach a set of double doors, which open into a large, roughly circular hall with a broad set of steps to the right heading up. Across the hall are another open set of double doors, which reveal a larger hall beyond, that one with a section separated by curtains to hold tables and chairs for dining. A small string quartet plays softly in the corner, and Karrnathi flags and military banners decorate the two halls. A number of people are already moving around in the two rooms, and some of them quickly come forward to greet the group. In the lead is a lady with graying hair but an incongruously young face, who introduces herself as Syra ir'Tarrn, the ambassador from Karrnath. She greets the group and welcomes them, telling Corven that she has heard that he has been recently invested as head of his household and that this is his first official dinner as a representative of the embassy. While leading them into the room, she introduces the group to her aide Malen Torr, a tall and slim man, who is gaunt enough to pass for a Karrnathi undead with a little grayer coloring. They also meet Kanarr Talan, the head of the embassy guard and the only armored man in the room. The bearded, tall and muscular warrior gives them a military bow and promptly ignores them for the rest of the evening. Syra continues around the room to introduce Corven and the others to a number of people, such as Helais ir'Lantar, the Aundairan ambassador who attended Corven's investiture, and a friendly and jolly gnome called Taho Mol Doras, the ambassador from Zilargo. The Riedran ambassador could not make it, but they meet his aide Helkashtai, a very attractive woman dressed in Riedran fashions. What is most arresting about her, however, is that she has a tattoo of a bird which travels around her bare shoulders, arms and neck, once in a while disappearing below her neckline and then reappearing later. It doesn't take the group long to meet the Butcher of Eston either. Dals Nelmo turns out to be very different from what his reputation would lead one to expect. The retired general is short, chubby and red-cheeked, looking more like a jolly merchant or innkeeper than a military genius and supposed war criminal. Dals spends a fair amount of time talking to Corven and Gareth, expressing interest in finding a Karrnathi as a member of the Cyran delegation. Corven tells him a little about their background together. Some minutes into the conversation, Dals says, "You might as well go ahead and ask me. Everybody does." Gareth asks what he means and he says that five minutes into every conversation with him, someone wants to know about the 'Butcher of Eston' incident and name. Gareth admits that he had wondered about it but wasn't about to ask, but since Dals brought it up, he might as well mention it. Dals seems quite matter-of-fact about the incident, describing it as simply doing what he needed to do to protect the lives of the soldiers under his command, and says that he has never regretted it. Gareth suggests that he try to let more people know about his perspective, since that might lower the number of people who hate him due to the incident, but Dals says he doubts that would occur. Corven takes the opportunity to slip into the nearby bathroom and use the scroll of detect thoughts. When he emerges, first Gareth and then Luna ask Dals about his accommodations at the embassy. When he talks about it, Corven reads his surface thoughts (luckily without him realizing it) and realizes that the room is two levels above. Corven lets Luna know about it, and they decide that this would be a good time to attempt the break-in, since the attendants have just begun to bring in the food and many people are moving in the direction of the dining area. Luna enters the bathroom and uses a potion of invisibility, slipping out when Nameless 'conveniently' opens the door and heading for the stairs. Reaching the next floor, she finds four doors and two guards. Luckily the movement and noise below masks her movements, and she continues on to the next level. Here she finds a pair of double doors, which should lead to Dals' room, and another door. Once she reaches the door, she quietly casts a detect magic spell to note that there are some abjurations on the doors, as well as one on the floor which she fortuitously missed stepping on. Luna then uses a dose of the powder of silent passage to deactivate the abjurations on the door. At this point, she hears someone opening the door. Still invisible, she quickly swigs the potion of gaseous form. The door opens to reveal another guard, followed by two armed and armored zombies. As Luna slips between them invisibly and gaseous, she hears the guard say, "Stay here and watch the door" and sees the zombies take up position on either side of the door as it closes. The room beyond is quite well-appointed, with a four-posted bed, a desk and chair, a small table with another two chairs, a couple of closets, and a door apparently leading to a bathroom. After a few moments of checking, Luna realizes that she cannot do a good job of searching the place in gaseous form, and returns to normal. Then she gives the room a very detailed search, going through the papers on the desk and the drawers in it, searching the closet, checking under the bed, opening a battered haversack beside the bed, and so on. Though she finds a number of different things, including Dals' old armor and weapons, some military medals, a dagger from the famed Rekkenmark Academy, letters to Zilargo, and a set of diaries (in the haversack) going back to the War, she finds no incriminating evidence. Though she cannot check all the diaries, she leafs through many and finds more poor poetry than references to the Day of Mourning. In fact, the only reference she finds is an entry where Dals conjectures to himself what its cause could have been, but that is it. Deciding that the information was probably wrong, Luna uses another batch of powder on the door before drinking the second potion of invisibility and the one to hide from undead. Then she opens the door, causing the zombies to turn around, draw their weapons and enter the room to investigate. They do not seem to have seen her and she manages to slip out. Heading down the stairs, she passes the (now three) guards on the second level without trouble and reaches the bottom. She heads out the double doors and then dismisses the invisibility, coming back into the room as if she had wandered out. Nobody seems to have noticed her absence or return, and she joins the others and quietly tells Corven what she discovered (or failed to). The dinner winds down over the next hour, and the adventurers take their leave after a while. Syra bids them goodbye, telling Corven that she looks forward to meeting him at future gatherings. Heading back to the inn, the Misfits head to bed, expecting a very eventful day on the following. ...and somewhere in Sharn, the watcher dismisses his spell and leans back in his comfortable chair. He chuckles inwardly to himself for a moment, and then says aloud, "Not exactly what I had planned, but these should make for an interesting twist. Very interesting." [/QUOTE]
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