All of you receive an invitation to join Delgo for lunch. You arrive at the appointed time and are recognised by the doorguards, one of whom ushers you straight up to a luxurious lounge with windows in the floor looking down at the gaming tables. There are very few people gaming at this time, but you have a clear view of their game, including the cards in their hands. You are fairly sure that you can't see the windows in the gaming hall. Food arrives in quantities and quality that you are not used to and you feast. After a short time Delgo enters and he is obviously happy to see you all.
"Heeey, guys. Am I pleased to see you all. Glad you made it. You guys did really well for me a couple of weeks back and I never really got a chance to tell you all how happy I was. I was happy. Really happy. Keep this up, guys, and you might just become my go-to people. Anyhows, I don't have much time so I'll get to buisness. I need you to collect an order for a client—a bespoke piece, courtesy of an artificer called Tresca Teesbeak. She works at a workshop called Drummond Independents way down in the Cogs. Blackbones district. Ask her for the Burning Idol and give her this…”
He hands over an envelope sealed with the crest of the Banking Guild of House Kundarak.
“That credit note is properly notarized so don't bother getting funny ideas. Bring the Idol back here and hey, be careful, yeah? The Cogs ain’t always friendly. It's right in Daask territory and they got a grudge. Also, there's some fallout there from your last task - it seems some of the warforged are getting pretty uppity - seems that some gnome has given them some big ideas.”
He winks at Topsy.
"Any questions? No, good. Gotta, go, lots of work to do. Enjoy lunch and then if you could head down and collect the item that will be very much considered a favour to me".
Delgo leaves and you finish off your lunch. Then you travel over to highwall to find a lift down into Blackbones. The human attendant double-checks the condition of the lift’s ropes and pulleys, and having satisfied himself, he calls out your destination. “Welcome aboard for Blackbones. Please keep your arms inside the cabin, and for your own safety and sanity, try not to stare too deeply into the darkness.”
He pulls a lever at his control point, and the cage begins to descend.
Soon the throngs of people thin out, and the light of everbright lanterns becomes increasingly rare. Within minutes, the lantern aboard the elevator is your only sanctuary against the darkness. Beyond the cabin, the lowest Depths of the towers of Sharn are stacked with broken floors, collapsed bridges and abandoned streets—a ghost of an ancient city, now merely a foundation. It is silent save for the labored breathing of the attendant. Then, even the ruins are swallowed by natural rock, and the silence gives way to the rumbles of industry: rhythmic hammering, the hiss of steam, and the roar of forge fire.
The lift attendant opens the cage to reveal the cavernous expanse of the Blackbones central square, lit in the deep orange glow of molten metal and everburning torches. At its focus is an oasis of sparkling water surrounded by a pool of blazing lava. At its fringes, shadowed, smoke-filled tunnels promise an endless network of foundries and mines.
Untroubled by the smoke and sulfur, warforged are common—hauling machinery, pushing carts of ore, and pumping the bellows. As in much of Sharn’s underbelly, goblinoids share the space, making their living as best they can from the shadows. You ask directions of a bypasser and find your way to Drummond Independents. The entrance is from another central square, but the building itself backs into a solid wall of rock, indicating that the operations of the building occur in natural caverns.
Outside of the building is a small crowd of warforged who are obviously unhappy. Their chanting is accompanied with the thumping of their hammers against the ground. Many of the crew are carrying protest boards made from offcuts of soot-covered wood: “Thronehold means Freedom,” “Sovereigns not Slaves,” and “Our war is not over!”
A hulking warforged paces in front of the picket, rousing the chanting crowd. His adamantine frame shines with the reflected orange glow of the forges, though his hands and forearms are charred and blackened. “For too long the charlatan Drummond has taken us for granted. We work until our joints weaken and our armor is shot—but we are cast as servants and slaves, not partners or comrades.”
He stops down the line, and places a hand on one of his crew mate's shoulders, then he takes the hand of another. His touch is tender despite his strength. “They cast us as weapons, as slaves of war. Today we show them how we build our future without shedding blood. It is time we earned what we are worth. It is time for Drummond to listen.”
His crew muster all the enthusiasm they can, but it’s clear that some of them are nervous about the display, or struggling to keep up the furor. As you approach, the leader sees you, turns back to his comrades and shouts "And see here who has come to join us, it is Topsy Turvey, our inspiration for seeking our rights, and well known artificer from the Cog Carnival".
He comes up and shakes Topsy's hand, grinding the bones against each other, "Mr Turvey, this means so much to us. The villain Drummond is refusing to listen to demands. He thinks of us as mere tools, not as people with our own hopes and dreams. Your words to the warforged you rescued from indenture has meant so much to all of us and no longer will Warforged submit to unfair pay".
You then see a window open in the front of the building and a head sticks out. "I can wait you out, you'll come crawling back! I ain't paying you any more than I spend on my hammers. Some of us folk actually have to eat, you know.”
This enrages the protesters, but their leader steps in front again and says "Friends, please, don't let him rile you. He hopes to anger you so that you fall to violence, but that would just prove what the fleshlings say about us. We may have been made for war, but we forge our own destinies. We will win this battle without violence. Mr Turvy, let me introduce my compatriots, all of us strong in resolve." He takes Topsy down the line of warforged, "I am Stoke and this is Anvil, Auger, Axle, Flux, Graver, Hammer, Helve, Matchet, Mint, Pig, Quench, Slag, Striker, Tilt, and Tongs. All of us inspired by you".
Meanwhile the rest of you are standing in the background of Topsy's glory. One of the warforged to the back of group approaches Chronk, "Um, excuse me, you look pretty tough. Are you good in a fight?".
"Fighting is what I am best at", says Chronk.
The warforged explains that she is already late for an appointment, but since Chronk is the same size she wonders if he could take her place. "I don't want to upset Stoke, but if I'm late for this I might not get to fight again. Lots of people have bet on me and if they lose by default they will be very upset". She further explains that she is secretly a ring fighter at the Trolls Nose tavern. She always wears a cloak and mask to hide her warforged nature and goes by the name 'the Silver Kiss'. She thinks that Chronk could wear her costume, take her place and in return he would get to keep the prize money if he wins.
Chronk considers it, but doesn't want to let down his companions. He decides to try and find a way to sneak the Silver Kiss away without Stoke noticing if he gets a chance.
Topsy tells Stoke that he needs to enter the establishment, which cheers Stoke up immensely. "Here that everyone, Topsy is going in to sort that scum Drummond out".
You all head into the building amongst the cheers of the warforged. You walk into a plush reception area and a female gnome stands up behind the reception counter.
"You've done well giving the warforged some morale, but I hope you have a plan beyond that. Drummond doesn't seem at all inclined to back down. He already has a plan in place to hire some other warforged temporarily until the normal crew gives up and gets back to work.
As she says this, Drummond enters from his office, "Get the hell out of my building you rabble rousers. You are not welcome here",
"But sir", you respond, "Delgo asked us to visit you to purchase an item".
Drummond and the gnome exchange a glance and Drummond's attitude immediately changes. "My apologies to you all, I did not realise who you were. Yes, yes, the burning idol. Have you got the letter of credit with you?"
You pass over the letter. "Very good, very good", Drummond says with a look of great relief, "We can certainly make the item for you. However there will be a delay as currently our workforce are unavailable. A temporary situation I assure you. If you come back next week I will have this ready for you".
You are not inclined to wait a week and try to convince Drummond to pay his workers a reasonable wage.
“I don’t pay my hammer, and I don't pay my kiln. I'm already more generous than I ought to be. Treaty or not, they got a long way to go to prove themselves to me", Drummond responds. You try again but Drummond refuses to listen to reason. Eventually you give up and leave, but Topsy has and idea so you all head up to the Cog Carnival, the warforged bar where Topsy has been providing repairs for the patrons.
You are welcomed in like old friends, especially Topsy, Chronk and Dusty who have been there often over the last fortnight. Topsy goes to the bar and explains the situation to Blue and Crucible, the owners of the establishment.
"Do you hear that everyone", Blue shouts out to the room, "Topsy needs help to help some more of us. Everyone up. Anyone who doesn't join us isn't welcome at this bar anymore. We are going to Drummonds Independents to scare the sap out of Drummond". A few of the warforged exchange sheepish glances, but everyone follows Blue's instructions.
A horde of warforged troop out and make their way to Drummonds, making a small sad looking crowd suddenly into a large and loud mob. Blue and Stoke stand in front of the crowd, encouraging them and more and more warforged appear from the streets around. The square is totally packed and the ground shakes from the noise they make. During this, a certain warforged sneaks away and the Silver Kiss fights again.
A chorus of steel and stone echoes across Blackbones as Stoke's warforged proclaim, with one voice, their right to be treated as people, not tools or weapons. Having retreated from the growing display, Drummond returns with a sack of sovereign coins and the promise of more.
“Fine, fine.” He speaks through gritted teeth. “Take your money. And you'd best be worth it.”
As his crew cheer on, Stoke finds a moment with you. “We won't forget your part in this. I don't think any warforged in the Cogs will. I'll make sure of it. You'll have friends here, if you need ‘em".
You make your way into the building with the warforged who return to their stations further down the tunnels.
"Well I see you got your way", says Drummond, "I hope you are happy now that I'm poor. Tresca, you and Stoke take these folks down and build their damned item for them".
Tresca gives you a wink and you join her and Stoke into a very large and hot looking forge area. It is uncomfortably hot, but Tresca has a small globe floating near her that seems to radiate cold over her and Stoke does not seem concerned by the heat.
“Listen, that forge has been unattended for too long.” She hands a stone crucible to Dusty. “I can handle the planar instability, but I need you to help me lock it down. Who knows what the fires of Fernia have brought with them,” the gnome mutters as she scribbles notes into her book. “But keep them off me and wait for my signals. It's important we do this together.”
Stoke peels off to the right of the forge’s central chamber entering a large but private seperate forge, readying his wrench to open a valve on a vat of molten metal. Tresca takes her place in the center of a circle of arcane glyphs only ten feet from a roaring fire.
"Um, did you say Fernia," you ask in concern, "aren't you worried something is going to come out of there"?
"Oh it's only a small chance", replies Tresca, "but all the same, be ready. Dusty, when the silver liquid starts to flow out of the valve over there, fill this crucible and bring it over to Topsy. Topsy, I'll need you to pour this carefully so it fills all the glyphs. Don't be wasteful though, there is just enough in the crucible to cover it all. Stoke! Crank it!"
Stoke turns a valve and suddenly the heat coming from the forge is unbearable. Silver liquid starts dribbling from a spigot and Dusty moves over to fill it up. Suddenly a shape begins to emerge in the forge and a fire mephit steps out. "Keep it off me", says Tresca calmly, "I need to concentrate". She is now muttering arcane words and referring to her notebook. The glyphs below her start to glow. "hurry up Dusty, I need that liquid".
You defeat the mephit easily enough, but suddenly there are two more, then another two, then another two, then another two. You are outnumbered. Dusty fills the crucible and hands it to Topsy and Dresk, Chronk, Stoke and Ashara fight the mephits, but they continue to come in.
"Hurry Topsy", shouts Tresca, "I need to stablise the planar instability and cut off the gate".
Topsy pours the liquid into the glyphs, but is in too much of a hurry and does it unevenly, leaving some glyphs uncovered. Chronk and Stoke are completely surrounded by mephits at this stage and Stonk is overwhelmed. He falls to the floor and the light fades from his eyes. Dusty is forced to dodge through the mephits back to the spigot, fill the crucible and return to Topsy who finishes the job. A bright light surrounds Tresca, who pulls a bottle out of her pocket and fills it up with liquid from the forge itself. "NOW RUN", she shouts and you all manage to fight your way out of the room, slamming a thick steel door behind you and barring it.
Tresca is in tears at the loss of Stoke. "Here. Take your artifact. I hope it was worth it to you. Just handle it carefully OK. It can break easily and if it does the fires of fernia will spread fast". Topsy takes her at her word and carefully places the bottle into a special interdimensional space in his pack that he had created some time earlier".
You all make your way back up the tunnel to the reception area. As you do so, you hear a loud voice roaring "
Money or blood Drummond, money or blood".
"Look, Yadha-Ro, I don't have your money now. I just had to pay out a bunch of damned warforged. Give me a day and I can cash this Kundarek note and I'll have your money."
"You were warned, Drummond, have your money or we'll take your skin. This paper stuff is no good to me, I want the money."
Dresk looks at you all in fright. He knows the name Yadha-Ro - it is one of the top Daask enforcers. He has a reputation of killing half the people he shakes down. You quickly confer and then make your way up to the reception area.
"Drummond", shouts Dresk, "would you like to come under clan Boromar protection. It will cost you 50 Galifar a month".
Drummond is staring at Yahha-Ro, a massive ettin standing in the entrance with two goblins.
"I agree", shouts Drummond, "protect me from this thing".
The fight is on, and the reception area is quickly trashed while you battle the Daask enforcer and his henchmen. Drummond flees down the tunnel while this occurs and Dusty takes the opportunity to sneak into a room that looks like some sort of office in the hope of finding something valuable".
In there he finds Tresca, in the act of searching through the cabinets. She sees Dusty and jumps back with a guilty look on her face.
"Hi Tresca", Dusty says, "I see you are taking the opportunity to make a profit. How about we split it 50/50".
"Yes, yes the takings, that's what I was doing, I was taking the opportunity to make a profit. Yes. 50/50. Sounds good".
Dusty and her go through the takings and split them 50/50. By that time the battle has finished and the goblins and Yadha-Ro lie dead in a wrecked reception area. Drummond returns and panics about the dead Daask operatives in his building so you help him to dispose of the bodies in the furnaces.
You return to the Queen of the Damned and Delgo is very happy to see you. He carefully takes the burning idol and places it in a desk drawer and then rewards you with more notarized Kundarak banknotes.
"But before you go, I wanna introduce you to someone", he says, "you might be seeing more of this guy so it's best you know who he is.
"He takes you into a well-appointed sitting room decorated in oak. A middle-aged human man is seated in one of the plush chairs. He appears well-to-do, with a well-maintained mustache and academic robes. He is scratching away in a notebook with an ink pen at an almost feverish pace. Delgo clears his throat when the man doesn't immediately notice your group enter. He makes introductions when his attention is finally drawn from his writing. “This is Provost Nigel Faurious, who shares a mutual interest with us. Nigel, these are the people I told you about".
Topsy recognises Nigel as a professor from Morgrave University. He looks at the note book but can only see the title - The Convergence Manifesto. Small talk ensues, but Nigel shows particular interest in her Kalashtar blood. He invites her up to the university for a private conversation so he can learn about the spirit that inhabits her, how that works, and whether it forms as a form of immortality. He then suggests that the evening could lead to further activities". Urgh. At that you all make your apologies and head back to your homes.
Level Up - Advance to 3rd level.
