Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 2822221" data-attributes="member: 198"><p>The next morning, all of the adventurers gather at the Park and then head down to Middle Central. They find the Citadel to be a huge fortified structure, which occupies the middle levels of Andith Tower. Not only does its bare, gray appearance set it apart from the surrounding embassies, shops and restaurants of Ambassador Towers, but it’s also exceptional in the fact that no skybridges connect to its various levels. In fact, there is no visible entrance. Numerous buildings stand around the base, with guards in Watch uniform moving back and forth. A skycoach dock also stands nearby. </p><p></p><p>Nameless stops a guard and says that they have an appointment. Once he shows the letter, the Angels are quickly shepherded onto a nearby skycoach. It flies upwards until it reaches a huge balcony, guarded by numerous people in both Watch uniform and the armor of the Knights of the Citadel. Disembarking, the adventurers present the letter and are asked to accompany a pair of guards within. </p><p></p><p>They are led through a number of corridors that twist and turn, heading deeper into the body of the Citadel. They soon arrive at a large guarded gate, decorated with both the snarling bear of Breland and the shield of the King's Citadel. After presenting the letter again, the Angels are led inside and eventually arrive at an office. </p><p></p><p>Inside the office is a uniformed gnome sitting at a desk and talking to a half-elf. Six mutters something indistinct about gnomes, as he introduces himself as Captain Talleon. He takes the letter and after skimming it, tells the half-elf to inform 'Ras' that he'll need him in half an hour. While the half-elf leaves, Talleon picks up a sheaf of files off his desk and leads the group into an adjoining meeting room.</p><p></p><p>Once they are all seated, he drops the files on the table (perhaps not-so-coincidentally in a position that lets them see that they bear the names of the various adventurers) and says, "Balan has told me something about you and I've done a little checking myself." He smiles a little and adds, "You people aren't that difficult to find information on."</p><p></p><p>Then he looks at Korm and adds, "You, however, I know comparatively less about." He taps a significantly slimmer file with 'Korm'akhan' on the cover and says. "Let's see - you are a foreigner to Breland, are a member of the Gatekeeper sect of druids, and have been in Sharn for a few weeks. Correct?"</p><p></p><p>Korm simply replies, "Yes," not vouchsafing any more information.</p><p></p><p>"All right," says Talleon, before turning to Gareth. "Gareth Byron Deneith, originally of Karrlakton. You are a paladin of the Silver Flame, right?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes."</p><p></p><p>"Then please do that detection thing you paladins do. Use it on me."</p><p></p><p>More than a little surprised at the request, considering it's one that nobody has ever made to him, Gareth complies, quickly discovering that Talleon detects faintly of evil.</p><p></p><p>Talleon calmly continues, "I've had a couple of people tell me before that I appear to be slightly or mildly evil to that ability, and I've met more than a couple of paranoid paladins, so I figured I'd mention it in the interests of honesty." He leans forward and adds, "Presumably it has something to do with my methods. But I don't give a damn about things like that. I have more important things to worry about."</p><p></p><p>"So you're one of the 'end justifies the means' kind of people?" asks Nameless, with a grin.</p><p></p><p>An unsmiling Talleon replies, "My life is dedicated to protecting my King and my country. I don't have the luxury of worrying about means and ends. I do what I need to." He glances at Gareth and says, "Don't worry - you won't be asked to do anything that will ... offend your morality. Speaking of which, what exactly do you draw the line at?"</p><p></p><p>Gareth says, "There are many things I could say, but the main one is that I won't kill an innocent."</p><p></p><p>Talleon asks, "So what is an innocent?"</p><p></p><p>Gareth quickly replies, "I don't know what it means for you, but for me it's someone who isn't evil and isn't harming other people."</p><p></p><p>"What about when someone is likely to be a danger?"</p><p></p><p>"Listen," says Gareth, "We could talk ethics and judgement for a year and we'd probably still not be able to agree."</p><p></p><p>"That's all right. As I said, it won't be an issue for you."</p><p></p><p>"The rest of us," Nameless interjects, "Are a little more flexible than Gareth here, if it matters."</p><p></p><p>"Noted. Now, before I can tell you what the assignment is, I'd like to test your capabilities. It would very likely be dangerous and I don't want to get you killed because you can't handle it. Do you mind passing a test? It'll be dangerous, but then your line of work puts you in danger all the time. And I'll ensure it isn't fatal."</p><p></p><p>The adventurers look at each other and shrug. Talleon leads them out of the room to another part of the complex, where they eventually arrive at a large stone door. It slides open to reveal a huge rectangular room, full of obstructions and barriers of various sizes, walls pockmarked with the signs of explosions. There is a large translucent window midway up the side of the room. </p><p></p><p>Talleon asks them to enter and wait for orders. Once they do, door closes behind them. Nameless puts his back to the door and begins to cast protective spells. The others spellcasters do the same, while some draw weapons and Luna turns into a large brown bear. As they are setting themselves into a rough semicircle around Nameless' position, the window turns transparent, revealing Talleon and three more people in a room behind it. "Please defend yourselves," says Talleon. </p><p></p><p>A couple of seconds later, five large apes appear around the Angels, one within reach of each adventurer, bellowing and beating their chests in challenge. Their glowing red eyes and the sulphuric smell that surrounds them mark them as fiendish in nature. </p><p></p><p>Despite their impressive appearance, however, the creatures are clearly not a match for the Angels and go down in seconds beneath a flurry of weapons and claws, with a pair of summoned pseudonatural bison only hastening their demise. </p><p></p><p>Gareth looks around as the last of the summoned creatures drops and vanishes, before calling across the room to Talleon, "Is that all?"</p><p></p><p>The comment is answered immediately, as three dire wolves appear in the room along with two giant wasps (all of these are celestial in nature). These last slightly longer than the apes, with the wasps stinging Nameless and Korm, though both shrug off the effects of their poison. Even so, barely half a minute after the apes appeared, the wolves and wasps are gone too.</p><p></p><p>Gareth again speaks up, asking, "Don't you have anything better?" Even as Nameless growls, "Dammit, Gareth - don't piss off the...", five more creatures appear. Each carries a large, saw-toothed glaive, which marks it out to those in the know as much as the pointed ears, scaly skin, long tail, clawed limbs, and snaky, spiky beard do.</p><p></p><p>"Barbazu from Shavarath," says Nameless, and Gareth and Korm nod as they also recognize the creatures. "Watch the beards."</p><p></p><p>The devils promptly scream wordless battle cries and hurl themselves at the adventurers, landing some powerful blows. A wounded Nameless is forced to get out of range by dimension dooring halfway across the room, while Six switches to defensive fighting, whirling his chain in an impenetrable wall around himself. </p><p></p><p>Gareth's armor protects him from the glaives, but unfortunately for him, he's right in the middle when Korm sends an arc of lightning racing across three of the devils. Even as they convulse in pain, Gareth yells too. "Watch what you do!" he shouts, before turning to swing at a barbazu, anger fueling his blade.</p><p></p><p>Despite their initial success and general toughness, the barbazu go down one by one, the last one being actually cut into two halves by Gareth*. As the bleeding paladin turns towards Talleon and opens his mouth, Luna (to whom Nameless had just said, "Shut him up!") rears up and places a large paw over his mouth (or rather, face) and muffling whatever he was about to say.</p><p></p><p>"I hope we're done now," says Nameless instead, and Talleon replies, "Yes. And very impressively so."</p><p></p><p>The window turns translucent again and moments later, the stone door slides back to reveal Talleon and two uniformed men with wands, who enter the room and set to healing the adventurers. </p><p></p><p>Gareth, having been released by Luna, gives her a dirty look and then bestows an even dirtier one on Korm. "What do you think you were doing?" he asks angrily. "You could have killed me!"</p><p></p><p>"No," says Korm confidently, "It wasn't that powerful a spell. You were quite safe."</p><p></p><p>"That's not the point!" says Gareth and proceeds to chew Korm out about tactics and responsibility, most of which the big orc ignores.</p><p></p><p>Talleon watches the byplay between the two and then says, "Very impressive. You're obviously as skilled as I'd heard." With that, he turns around and leads the Angels back towards his office.</p><p></p><p>When they reach it, they find a muscular, uniformed half-orc waiting for them. He rises at their entrance and Talleon turns to the Angels to say, "This is Raskalorn, one of my finest operatives. We generally call him Ras. Ras, these are the Angels." </p><p></p><p>Leading Ras and the others into the meeting room, Talleon takes a seat and says that, in view of what he's just seen, he thinks the Angels would be perfect for the job. He goes on to say that he heads the King's Dark Lanterns, the intelligence branch of the Citadel, in Sharn. Though dangerous work is common for the Lanterns, Ras is involved in a particularly dangerous case and it is quite likely that he has already had a bounty put on his head by some people whom Talleon can't mention for security reasons. In short, Talleon needs powerful and experienced people unconnected to the Citadel to keep an eye on Ras, which is the assignment for the Angels.</p><p></p><p>For the next few days, they will be told about various locations where Ras will be, usually with about a day's advance notice. They will make sure to "coincidentally" be present at the same location and time. Sometimes they will also need to keep an eye on Ras as he travels to and from these locations. They will protect him from anyone who attacks him, and are free to take such attackers down "by any means necessary". </p><p></p><p>Talleon says that the locations will usually be in middle to lower Sharn and possibly even the Cogs. Of course, he assumes, this shouldn't be a problem for the adventurers. Nameless comments that they'd prefer it to not be Malleon's Gate, since some people there might not want to see them return, but otherwise it shouldn't be a problem. </p><p></p><p>Talleon notes it and adds that they should need the Angels on and off for ten days to a fortnight, but not on a daily basis. He asks for a contact location where he can send them the information as needed, and is told to use Trillia's home and, failing that, the Gatehouse in Carosten Park. </p><p></p><p>The adventurers have a couple of minor questions, but otherwise simply take in the information. So does Raskalorn, who simply says that he is pleased to meet them and hopes that their expertise won't be needed. Talleon tells the group to study both Raskalorn's current appearance and also the disguise he'll most commonly use, which Ras demonstrates by turning into a scarred human. Once that is done, with no questions forthcoming, he dismisses both Ras and the group.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers head back towards the exit with their two guards. Just as they are about to reach the large gate that led into this section, a halfling steps into the corridor ahead of them. Though none of them recognize him, he seems to be expecting them, since he waits till they get closer and then flashes a badge at the guards. As the guards stop, he says, "In here," to the adventurers, adding, "We need to talk."</p><p></p><p>The Angels look at each other, shrug and follow him into the room, though Six mutters something about almost having made it out. The halfling shuts the door with the guards outside. Then he changes into Captain Talleon, drawing a couple of sighs from the Angels, and tells them to sit down. Doing so himself, he says, "Now here's the real job."</p><p></p><p>He quickly goes on to say that there's more to the job than he said in front of Ras. While it's true that Ras is one of his best operatives, he has information that Ras is a double agent and has been selling information to the Royal Eyes of Aundair, the spy service that answers to Queen Aurala. Which, incidentally, is why the Angels fit his needs, since he wanted a group with no Aundairans. Since Ras is a long-serving member of the Citadel and the Dark Lanterns, Talleon needs external people to keep an eye on Ras, people who Ras will allow to stay close to him. The assignment to protect Ras takes care of that angle.</p><p></p><p>While the Angels are truly supposed to protect Ras, they're also supposed to keep an eye on anything suspicious he does. They should watch for people who show up at consistently at the places they will be going to. They should note whoever he speaks to. Or if he exchanges any items with anyone. In short, Talleon wants them to note anything he does that is the least bit suspicious. </p><p></p><p>Talleon adds that when he sends them the information about meeting/guarding Ras, it will be in the form of a letter and will contain separate information about their actual job in the form of a secret page spell. The command word "Sumar" will allow them to access it. </p><p></p><p>When Talleon asks them if they have any questions, this time there are a number of queries. Nameless asks, "What do we do if we detect anything definitely suspicious? Do we stop Ras?"</p><p></p><p>"No. Simply report back to me about it later. I will probably meet you again after you've had a couple of days."</p><p></p><p>Gareth, who's just used his detect evil on Talleon and, for the first time in his life, been a little relieved at detecting a faint level of evil, queries, "Is there actually a bounty out on Ras?"</p><p></p><p>"No, I lied," says Talleon blandly. "Of course, it's likely that some people would like him dead, but I have no information about any impending attempt on his life. The odds are that you will simply need to observe Ras, rather than fight anyone."</p><p></p><p>Nameless puts in, "I should point out that we are a lot better at the fighting than at subtlety."</p><p></p><p>"That's all right. You're clearly experienced and versatile in your skills. I'm sure you'll make do."</p><p></p><p>Six apparently has more material concerns. "Do we have an expense account?" he inquires, drawing a snicker from Luna.</p><p></p><p>Talleon almost looks surprised as he answers, "Your incidental expenses will be covered. Emphasis on incidental."</p><p></p><p>After answering a couple more minor questions, Talleon ends the impromptu meeting. He then changes back to a halfling, lets them out and closes the door. The guards see them out to the balcony and to a waiting skycoach, which drops them to the bottom of the Citadel tower.</p><p></p><p>As the Angels move off, Six shakes his head and says, "Great. Just great. There just had to be a double-cross in there."</p><p></p><p>Gareth shrugs. "I'm not surprised that happened. The first job seemed a little simple for people of our skills."</p><p></p><p>Korm replies, "Considering what I have seen of gnomes, especially in this city, there's probably a triple- or a quadruple-cross in there somewhere." He throws a look at the cloudy sky above, though most of it is blocked by the huge shape of Skyway floating above. "The wilds are a lot simpler than this place."</p><p></p><p>Luna isn't the only person in the group who nods in agreement.</p><p></p><p>* Crit on a power-attacking smite with divine might, doing 90+ pts of damage on one hit</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="shilsen, post: 2822221, member: 198"] The next morning, all of the adventurers gather at the Park and then head down to Middle Central. They find the Citadel to be a huge fortified structure, which occupies the middle levels of Andith Tower. Not only does its bare, gray appearance set it apart from the surrounding embassies, shops and restaurants of Ambassador Towers, but it’s also exceptional in the fact that no skybridges connect to its various levels. In fact, there is no visible entrance. Numerous buildings stand around the base, with guards in Watch uniform moving back and forth. A skycoach dock also stands nearby. Nameless stops a guard and says that they have an appointment. Once he shows the letter, the Angels are quickly shepherded onto a nearby skycoach. It flies upwards until it reaches a huge balcony, guarded by numerous people in both Watch uniform and the armor of the Knights of the Citadel. Disembarking, the adventurers present the letter and are asked to accompany a pair of guards within. They are led through a number of corridors that twist and turn, heading deeper into the body of the Citadel. They soon arrive at a large guarded gate, decorated with both the snarling bear of Breland and the shield of the King's Citadel. After presenting the letter again, the Angels are led inside and eventually arrive at an office. Inside the office is a uniformed gnome sitting at a desk and talking to a half-elf. Six mutters something indistinct about gnomes, as he introduces himself as Captain Talleon. He takes the letter and after skimming it, tells the half-elf to inform 'Ras' that he'll need him in half an hour. While the half-elf leaves, Talleon picks up a sheaf of files off his desk and leads the group into an adjoining meeting room. Once they are all seated, he drops the files on the table (perhaps not-so-coincidentally in a position that lets them see that they bear the names of the various adventurers) and says, "Balan has told me something about you and I've done a little checking myself." He smiles a little and adds, "You people aren't that difficult to find information on." Then he looks at Korm and adds, "You, however, I know comparatively less about." He taps a significantly slimmer file with 'Korm'akhan' on the cover and says. "Let's see - you are a foreigner to Breland, are a member of the Gatekeeper sect of druids, and have been in Sharn for a few weeks. Correct?" Korm simply replies, "Yes," not vouchsafing any more information. "All right," says Talleon, before turning to Gareth. "Gareth Byron Deneith, originally of Karrlakton. You are a paladin of the Silver Flame, right?" "Yes." "Then please do that detection thing you paladins do. Use it on me." More than a little surprised at the request, considering it's one that nobody has ever made to him, Gareth complies, quickly discovering that Talleon detects faintly of evil. Talleon calmly continues, "I've had a couple of people tell me before that I appear to be slightly or mildly evil to that ability, and I've met more than a couple of paranoid paladins, so I figured I'd mention it in the interests of honesty." He leans forward and adds, "Presumably it has something to do with my methods. But I don't give a damn about things like that. I have more important things to worry about." "So you're one of the 'end justifies the means' kind of people?" asks Nameless, with a grin. An unsmiling Talleon replies, "My life is dedicated to protecting my King and my country. I don't have the luxury of worrying about means and ends. I do what I need to." He glances at Gareth and says, "Don't worry - you won't be asked to do anything that will ... offend your morality. Speaking of which, what exactly do you draw the line at?" Gareth says, "There are many things I could say, but the main one is that I won't kill an innocent." Talleon asks, "So what is an innocent?" Gareth quickly replies, "I don't know what it means for you, but for me it's someone who isn't evil and isn't harming other people." "What about when someone is likely to be a danger?" "Listen," says Gareth, "We could talk ethics and judgement for a year and we'd probably still not be able to agree." "That's all right. As I said, it won't be an issue for you." "The rest of us," Nameless interjects, "Are a little more flexible than Gareth here, if it matters." "Noted. Now, before I can tell you what the assignment is, I'd like to test your capabilities. It would very likely be dangerous and I don't want to get you killed because you can't handle it. Do you mind passing a test? It'll be dangerous, but then your line of work puts you in danger all the time. And I'll ensure it isn't fatal." The adventurers look at each other and shrug. Talleon leads them out of the room to another part of the complex, where they eventually arrive at a large stone door. It slides open to reveal a huge rectangular room, full of obstructions and barriers of various sizes, walls pockmarked with the signs of explosions. There is a large translucent window midway up the side of the room. Talleon asks them to enter and wait for orders. Once they do, door closes behind them. Nameless puts his back to the door and begins to cast protective spells. The others spellcasters do the same, while some draw weapons and Luna turns into a large brown bear. As they are setting themselves into a rough semicircle around Nameless' position, the window turns transparent, revealing Talleon and three more people in a room behind it. "Please defend yourselves," says Talleon. A couple of seconds later, five large apes appear around the Angels, one within reach of each adventurer, bellowing and beating their chests in challenge. Their glowing red eyes and the sulphuric smell that surrounds them mark them as fiendish in nature. Despite their impressive appearance, however, the creatures are clearly not a match for the Angels and go down in seconds beneath a flurry of weapons and claws, with a pair of summoned pseudonatural bison only hastening their demise. Gareth looks around as the last of the summoned creatures drops and vanishes, before calling across the room to Talleon, "Is that all?" The comment is answered immediately, as three dire wolves appear in the room along with two giant wasps (all of these are celestial in nature). These last slightly longer than the apes, with the wasps stinging Nameless and Korm, though both shrug off the effects of their poison. Even so, barely half a minute after the apes appeared, the wolves and wasps are gone too. Gareth again speaks up, asking, "Don't you have anything better?" Even as Nameless growls, "Dammit, Gareth - don't piss off the...", five more creatures appear. Each carries a large, saw-toothed glaive, which marks it out to those in the know as much as the pointed ears, scaly skin, long tail, clawed limbs, and snaky, spiky beard do. "Barbazu from Shavarath," says Nameless, and Gareth and Korm nod as they also recognize the creatures. "Watch the beards." The devils promptly scream wordless battle cries and hurl themselves at the adventurers, landing some powerful blows. A wounded Nameless is forced to get out of range by dimension dooring halfway across the room, while Six switches to defensive fighting, whirling his chain in an impenetrable wall around himself. Gareth's armor protects him from the glaives, but unfortunately for him, he's right in the middle when Korm sends an arc of lightning racing across three of the devils. Even as they convulse in pain, Gareth yells too. "Watch what you do!" he shouts, before turning to swing at a barbazu, anger fueling his blade. Despite their initial success and general toughness, the barbazu go down one by one, the last one being actually cut into two halves by Gareth*. As the bleeding paladin turns towards Talleon and opens his mouth, Luna (to whom Nameless had just said, "Shut him up!") rears up and places a large paw over his mouth (or rather, face) and muffling whatever he was about to say. "I hope we're done now," says Nameless instead, and Talleon replies, "Yes. And very impressively so." The window turns translucent again and moments later, the stone door slides back to reveal Talleon and two uniformed men with wands, who enter the room and set to healing the adventurers. Gareth, having been released by Luna, gives her a dirty look and then bestows an even dirtier one on Korm. "What do you think you were doing?" he asks angrily. "You could have killed me!" "No," says Korm confidently, "It wasn't that powerful a spell. You were quite safe." "That's not the point!" says Gareth and proceeds to chew Korm out about tactics and responsibility, most of which the big orc ignores. Talleon watches the byplay between the two and then says, "Very impressive. You're obviously as skilled as I'd heard." With that, he turns around and leads the Angels back towards his office. When they reach it, they find a muscular, uniformed half-orc waiting for them. He rises at their entrance and Talleon turns to the Angels to say, "This is Raskalorn, one of my finest operatives. We generally call him Ras. Ras, these are the Angels." Leading Ras and the others into the meeting room, Talleon takes a seat and says that, in view of what he's just seen, he thinks the Angels would be perfect for the job. He goes on to say that he heads the King's Dark Lanterns, the intelligence branch of the Citadel, in Sharn. Though dangerous work is common for the Lanterns, Ras is involved in a particularly dangerous case and it is quite likely that he has already had a bounty put on his head by some people whom Talleon can't mention for security reasons. In short, Talleon needs powerful and experienced people unconnected to the Citadel to keep an eye on Ras, which is the assignment for the Angels. For the next few days, they will be told about various locations where Ras will be, usually with about a day's advance notice. They will make sure to "coincidentally" be present at the same location and time. Sometimes they will also need to keep an eye on Ras as he travels to and from these locations. They will protect him from anyone who attacks him, and are free to take such attackers down "by any means necessary". Talleon says that the locations will usually be in middle to lower Sharn and possibly even the Cogs. Of course, he assumes, this shouldn't be a problem for the adventurers. Nameless comments that they'd prefer it to not be Malleon's Gate, since some people there might not want to see them return, but otherwise it shouldn't be a problem. Talleon notes it and adds that they should need the Angels on and off for ten days to a fortnight, but not on a daily basis. He asks for a contact location where he can send them the information as needed, and is told to use Trillia's home and, failing that, the Gatehouse in Carosten Park. The adventurers have a couple of minor questions, but otherwise simply take in the information. So does Raskalorn, who simply says that he is pleased to meet them and hopes that their expertise won't be needed. Talleon tells the group to study both Raskalorn's current appearance and also the disguise he'll most commonly use, which Ras demonstrates by turning into a scarred human. Once that is done, with no questions forthcoming, he dismisses both Ras and the group. The adventurers head back towards the exit with their two guards. Just as they are about to reach the large gate that led into this section, a halfling steps into the corridor ahead of them. Though none of them recognize him, he seems to be expecting them, since he waits till they get closer and then flashes a badge at the guards. As the guards stop, he says, "In here," to the adventurers, adding, "We need to talk." The Angels look at each other, shrug and follow him into the room, though Six mutters something about almost having made it out. The halfling shuts the door with the guards outside. Then he changes into Captain Talleon, drawing a couple of sighs from the Angels, and tells them to sit down. Doing so himself, he says, "Now here's the real job." He quickly goes on to say that there's more to the job than he said in front of Ras. While it's true that Ras is one of his best operatives, he has information that Ras is a double agent and has been selling information to the Royal Eyes of Aundair, the spy service that answers to Queen Aurala. Which, incidentally, is why the Angels fit his needs, since he wanted a group with no Aundairans. Since Ras is a long-serving member of the Citadel and the Dark Lanterns, Talleon needs external people to keep an eye on Ras, people who Ras will allow to stay close to him. The assignment to protect Ras takes care of that angle. While the Angels are truly supposed to protect Ras, they're also supposed to keep an eye on anything suspicious he does. They should watch for people who show up at consistently at the places they will be going to. They should note whoever he speaks to. Or if he exchanges any items with anyone. In short, Talleon wants them to note anything he does that is the least bit suspicious. Talleon adds that when he sends them the information about meeting/guarding Ras, it will be in the form of a letter and will contain separate information about their actual job in the form of a secret page spell. The command word "Sumar" will allow them to access it. When Talleon asks them if they have any questions, this time there are a number of queries. Nameless asks, "What do we do if we detect anything definitely suspicious? Do we stop Ras?" "No. Simply report back to me about it later. I will probably meet you again after you've had a couple of days." Gareth, who's just used his detect evil on Talleon and, for the first time in his life, been a little relieved at detecting a faint level of evil, queries, "Is there actually a bounty out on Ras?" "No, I lied," says Talleon blandly. "Of course, it's likely that some people would like him dead, but I have no information about any impending attempt on his life. The odds are that you will simply need to observe Ras, rather than fight anyone." Nameless puts in, "I should point out that we are a lot better at the fighting than at subtlety." "That's all right. You're clearly experienced and versatile in your skills. I'm sure you'll make do." Six apparently has more material concerns. "Do we have an expense account?" he inquires, drawing a snicker from Luna. Talleon almost looks surprised as he answers, "Your incidental expenses will be covered. Emphasis on incidental." After answering a couple more minor questions, Talleon ends the impromptu meeting. He then changes back to a halfling, lets them out and closes the door. The guards see them out to the balcony and to a waiting skycoach, which drops them to the bottom of the Citadel tower. As the Angels move off, Six shakes his head and says, "Great. Just great. There just had to be a double-cross in there." Gareth shrugs. "I'm not surprised that happened. The first job seemed a little simple for people of our skills." Korm replies, "Considering what I have seen of gnomes, especially in this city, there's probably a triple- or a quadruple-cross in there somewhere." He throws a look at the cloudy sky above, though most of it is blocked by the huge shape of Skyway floating above. "The wilds are a lot simpler than this place." Luna isn't the only person in the group who nods in agreement. * Crit on a power-attacking smite with divine might, doing 90+ pts of damage on one hit [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Shilsen's Eberron SH (Finished - The Last Word : 9/20/15)
Top