Eberron: Lord of Blades in Sharn

[Kristian Serrano]

I'm curious as to what type of interaction Merrix d'Cannith would have with the Lord of Blades if the two ever met.

If rumors are spreading, might there be any parties (i.e. - Dark Lanterns) interested in finding out if he is in fact Bulwark?

 

[Grymar]

Keep in mind the schema may not be in Cannith Tower but in the Forgehold in the Cogs. That, in my game, is the true power seat of Cannith. The Tower is the public face and where business deals are made, but the cream of the crop of talent and power work in the Forgehold. It also is where the creation forge is located.

If the LoB does visit the cogs he may have a mixed reception. The two warforged who run a "tavern" down there, Blue and Crucible I believe are there names, preach an anti-LoB take on dealing with the warforged inequities. Plus there is the Tears of Onatar shrine where the warforged adept/cleric preaches against the LoB.

So he'd want to convince/discredit/kill these antagonists so he can gather the strength of the warforged without much fight.

Now getting into the Forgehold or Tower would not be easy. He would want a distraction, a BIG one, to divide Cannith's strength. Something like crashing an airship into the Tower would be a good start.

 

[Crothian]

If someone wants to hide in Sharn, they go to the Cogs. The Watch is a non-entity down there, and nobody asks any questions. Of course, the Cogs are also where the warforged labor gangs are, forced to work 20 hours a day by cruel taskmasters. The House Cannith functionary down there, Slogar d'Cannith, is a heartless man who views warforged as tools of House Cannith to be used as they are needed.

A Dungeon magazine adventure, Steel Shadows, deals with the warforged rights issues in the Cogs very well. Suffice it to say, the Lord of Blades is not likely to be happy with conditions down there. And he does have supporters in the Cogs, notably the vocal but somewhat dim Shadowblack.

We did run Steel Shadows. That was why the LoB was now willing to deal with the PCs since they had solved the mystery and shown themselves to be friends to the Warforged.

I think Slogar d'Cannith is going to be found dead on the same day rumors of the return of LoB will start to surface around the city. Thanks for reminding me about him.

 

[Crothian]

(2) On the other hand, and thinking of Bladerunner, the LoB may represent the prodigal son returned to Baron Merrix. The two may be able to cut a deal where they cooperate to complete investigations, maybe even crank up warforged production again.

In many ways I prefer option (2) since it follows on from the party's actions. They've let the LoB in, and now he's changing the politics of Sharn, House Cannith and maybe even all Khorvaire. Of course it takes you further away from the published setting, but it does give the party a real incentive to sort out the mess they've created.

I don't mind going away from the published setting. I had to establish that to my players because they felt at first that if they tried to kill the LoB I wouldn't allow it. I like the idea of the prodigal son, that is a good one. Of course in the treaties from the last war I believe Warforged are not allowed to be created anymore or something like that. I may have them meet secretly and then agree to move the forge to the Mournlands using my PCs as cover for that. In the Mournlands they can then create Warforged without others noticing. Cannith would then have many Warforged explore the Mournlands for them and hand over lost secrets from that place.

In the meantime, perhaps the LoBs presence starts to bring about a more general level of mistrust and paranoia towards Warforged. A pogrom against the 'forged actually makes a lot of sense in light of conditions post-Last War. And if Sharn swings against the 'forged, will that have implications for attitudes elsewhere?

With the rumors flying around I can see this easily happen. The party will be at some point brought into the world politics as little Haydith Ir'Wynarn (sister to Kaius III of Karrnath and perhaps soon to be Queen of Breland) is going to take an interest in the party. A former PC Bard has been very successful in Sharn with the tales of the PCs and got invited to perform for the King in Wroat.

And finally, in all this, we have the product of the Creation Pattern. There might be... repercussions if that gets to influence events.

Interesting times ahead, Crothian! Out of interest, did their actions surprise you in giving in to the LoB's demands?

They have a long tradition of getting in way over their heads and working out deals with the enemy. In our last campaign not in Eberron there were NPCs that thought the PCs were the secret henchmen of an evil Wizard because they would try to foil the Wizards plots but mess up and get captured and have to deal for their lives. And once that happened a few times then the Wizard actually started to pay them to work for him. They new it was wrong but couldn't help themselves. With the LoB I thought they would go in fighting since one player has been saying that's what he wants to do for a while. It was a little bit of a suprise, yes.

 

[Crothian]

If rumors are spreading, might there be any parties (i.e. - Dark Lanterns) interested in finding out if he is in fact Bulwark?

Yes, and the PCs did for a little while work for the Dark Lanterns. While the group doesn't know what is going to happen next they know they don't want to be around for it. Right now they seem to planning a vacation to the Demon Wastes

 

[Crothian]

Keep in mind the schema may not be in Cannith Tower but in the Forgehold in the Cogs. That, in my game, is the true power seat of Cannith. The Tower is the public face and where business deals are made, but the cream of the crop of talent and power work in the Forgehold. It also is where the creation forge is located.

If the LoB does visit the cogs he may have a mixed reception. The two warforged who run a "tavern" down there, Blue and Crucible I believe are there names, preach an anti-LoB take on dealing with the warforged inequities. Plus there is the Tears of Onatar shrine where the warforged adept/cleric preaches against the LoB.

I imagine much of this is in the Sharn book, a book I do not have. Doh!!

 

[Grymar]

The good news is that there isn't too much detail. Cannith Tower is in the Dragon Towers district with the other enclaves. But down in the Cogs, the caverns and lava pools beneath the city, there is the Forgehold, the foundry of House Cannith. They say little other than the fact that it is heavily fortified.

I don't know what your budget is but if you can pick up Sharn: CoT I would recommend it. It is far and away the best book I've bought and only second to the Player's Handbook on the frequency of use.

 

[Crothian]

I don't know what your budget is but if you can pick up Sharn: CoT I would recommend it. It is far and away the best book I've bought and only second to the Player's Handbook on the frequency of use.

One of my players has it so I'm just going to borrow his for now. Thanks

 

[Shazman]

I don't see LOB striking any long term deals with 'breathers". At least none he intends to keep. He hates them too much, and would likely turn on them once he got what he wanted. He would probably have high level, loyal followers, and some changling mercenaries to infiltrate the tower and steal the schema. He would themn transport it to the Mournlands to work on his Weapon of Mass Destruction.

 

[drothgery]

They didn't want to die.

That's what gaining levels is for.