Sharn: Beneath The Towers IC

[tyrlaan]

Sitting at the desk is an elf, wearing a darkweave hooded cloak, concealing the rest of his garb. He appears to refocus out of a trance as you approach. "Can I help you?"

"Why yes, I am hoping you can. You see, my compatriots and I have joined in a business venture with a man named Vestan ir'Simul. It has come to our understanding that your guild recently had dealings with this man, to a most foul fate. I was wondering if you could provide us descriptions of the stalwart adventurers lost to this horrid deal. Should we encounter these folk or, pray to the Host this is not the case, their bodies, we could hopefully aid to recover them."

 

[Harvey]

He elf looks down on you with some disdain. "You're not members of the guild, are you?" Without waiting for an answer, he calls out "Barak!"

A few seconds later, out from behind a door walks a bugbear, wearing armor and carrying a heavy flail. "Yeah?" he calls out to the elf.

"Watch the door and our... guests for a few seconds. I will return shortly."

"Sure t'ing" the bugbear responds.

The elf stands from behind the desk and walks into the rear room. The bugbear eyes you all up as he uses one of the spikes on his flail to pick out his fingernails.

After a full minute, the door opens again, and the elf returns with a human male. This human is wearing scale mail, and a morningstar is attacked to his belt. He has short, brown hair, brown eyes and a scar across his brow.

For Eldon:
[SBLOCK]
Knowledge Local 16
You immediately recognize the armor as belonging to a Cyran fighter.
[/SBLOCK]

For Kah:
[SBLOCK]
You immediately recognize him as the same man who shot you a look in Redblade's Tavern.
[/SBLOCK]

The elf returns to his seat, without even acknowledging you. The human beckons you in through the door. "Come in. Come in."

You follow the man into the back room, which is revealed to be a huge hall. The hall is, you judge, to be about 80' x 50'. It has two large row tables in it; each table seating over 20 people. Various doors lead out of the hall. Across one wall there is a huge posting board, with a large amount of papers posted on it. From here, however, you can't seem to read any of them. The human gestures for you to all sit down at one of the tables.

"So" he says, looking at Kah. "I guess I wasn't too clear in my intentions earlier. I wouldn't work for Vestan if I were you. We lost five members of our guild on a job for him. Two of them were friends of mine. But, I know that sometimes you can't pick the job... that the job picks you." He looks at Eldon: "So, I hear you want to know more. Sure, I guess I owe Marcus that much. Let me back up a few weeks. It must have been at least three weeks ago. Some prissy-looking guy comes here with a job. He says he represents some noble named Vestan something-or-other. Says that he needs some help checking out some tunnels in the cogs. Not sure exactly what. So Marcus and I shoot lots over which one of us is going to take the job. He won. So his party goes and takes the job. Only that was a few weeks ago, and they haven't come back. You know the Sharnies... they got too many people patroling Skyway and not enough in the Cogs, and they ain't goin' to waste any time looking for an adventuring party. Me and a few of the fellows go to look for them, but we don't find anything. The cogs are huge. So we confront Vestan. He doesn't know a thing. And between you and me, he seems a little to... well-to-do, I'll say... to get his hands dirty. So, them's the breaks."

"So, we follow Guild procedure. Dunno how much you know about our guild here... hey, I think maybe one or two of you might have applied once upon a time. Well, let me say we've got our own little network here. Need a hireling? We have an approved list. Want to know about Xen'drik? We got books upon books. Need to strike a deal in Sharn? We can figure out who to talk to. So, accourding to our by-laws, anyone that sends a party out to their death gets blacklisted. We got a whole list of them..." he gestures to some papers pinned to the posting board on the far wall.

"I'll tell ya what. You all look wet-eared enough to take on Vestan's job. That's OK, I don't blame ya. But I'll strike a deal with ya. If... and this is a mighty big if... if ya find out what happened to our fellow guild members, me and my crew will sponsor ya for guild membership. Keep in mind that's only four sponsorships... ya need five to get in the guild. But I'm sure a resourceful party like yours can get a fifth. Also keep in mind we got dues... 12 gp a month each... but I'm sure you can swing it."

"Though I doubt they're still alive, let me fill ya in on who you're looking for. My two pals are Marcus and Alenus Candaral. Marcus you can't miss: big guy carrying a big hammer handed down from is pop. His brother Alenus is a mage. Both human. They're both ex-Cyre like me. They have another ex-Cryan combat vet... a shifter named Crynn. The other two members of the party are Syann, an elven cleric of Arawai, and Kal something-or-other (we all just call him Kal), one of those weird kalashtar."

"Listen, you find out what happened to them, and bring back some proof (preferrably whatever killed them's head on a pike) and I'll help you out. Hell, I'll even let ya keep Marcus' funky warhammer."

"Anyways, I gotta take off. Ya got any questions before I go?"

 

[Guest 11456]

Ka’ashawndrah Leelootuu Treeglitter Elf Enchantress

As the man enters, Kah nods and smiles. Then she goes with the others into the large room and listens. Meanwhile, Peaches seems to have found a bug in the corner and is chasing it. As he finishes, she stands. "Do you perhaps have any more description of these individuals? If we should find them all together it will be easy to identify them by who they are. But should we find them in different locations, a better description might help." She turns to the others. "Can you think of anything else?" Peaches has lost interest in the bug and is now plotting to pounch on Kip when he is looking the other way.

 

[Harvey]

"Hmmm... descriptions... well, Marcus is about my height, with brown hair, long down his back. He wears the same Cyran scale mail that I wear. His brother also has long brown hair and is my height." You note that he is about 6' tall. "Their shifter friend looks like most shifters... covered in brown fur with very sharp fangs. Tended to walk around with this huge rat. Pretty weird. Syann was a pretty regal-looking elf, 'bout 5'10 or so, wore scale mail, and carried a morningstar. The kalashtar looked like a kalashtar. You don't see many of them around, so he stuck out like a sore thumb. Green hair, big glowing crystal in his forehead."

"Can't seem to think of anything else that would help. Oh, yeah. Did I mention Marcus carried around a huge funky-looking hammer? It was damn heavy, and was made out of this weird purple metal."

For Fixer:
[SBLOCK]
Knowledge (The Planes) 22 You recognize the material he is describing as byeshk. This material, mined in the Byeshk Mountains in Droamm, has a lustrous purple sheen and will deal more damage to demons from the plane of Xoriat.
[/SBLOCK]

 

[khavren]

"Sounds like we could pick them out of a bloody mess. I think we're good to get going to lunch."

 

[Harvey]

The party takes a stroll thru Deathsgate, taking in the sights.

Knowledge (local) 8 Eldon, taxing his mind, can't seem to remember where the closest House Ghallandra locale is. Gather Information 13 Eldon spends the next 3 hours tracking down the location, which he eventually finds to be in Middle Dura.

At this point, however, the sun is setting fast. You all decide to reconvene in the morning for a heroes' breakfast and set your sights on the excavation. Each of you head to wherever you hang your hats, agreeing to meet at the Ghallandra Hall in Middle Dura at nine bells.

The next morning comes uneventfully for the group, wherever you find yourselves sleeping, and barring any unusual activity you might have done at night, you find yourselves at Middle Dura in the morning. You are welcomed to partake in the morning Heroes' Feast. Luckily for you, a group of other adventurers are also on-hand, and the House asks that you split the money eleven ways. This means each member pays 66 galifars for the feast. They seat you and the other adventurers (two humans, a gnome, a shifter, and a half-orc) in an upscale room seated away from the rest of the hall. You receive exceptional treatment, as you drink the nectar and feast heavily on the ambrosia. Those of you that are warforged find the feast an interesting event, and find that the food and drink are the best you can remember partaking of since your creation. Who knows? If all food tasted like this, you might eat more...

Over the course of the hour, stories are swapped and memories enjoyed. Servants wait at your beckoned call, clearing away plates and refilling glasses. The dragonmarked halfling that had created the feast occasionally checks in to see if everything is to your liking. When the meal is finished, you feel yourselves enervated, ready to take on whatever awaits you in the excavation site. While getting ready to leave, a halfling offers to sell you some of House Ghallandra's purified food and drink for the road.

OOC: All of you are now immune to poison and fear, receive a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls and will saves, and have gained an extra 16 hit points for the next 12 hours.

As you leave, Eldon takes note of the fact that you are actually closer to the excavation site than you were in Deathsgate, and he guides you to a magical lift that carries you down into the bowels of Sharn. As the lift takes you into Ashblack, you realize that you still have a bit of hike to the site. It takes you another 20 minutes to reach the location Vestan marked for you.

As you reach the excavation site, you find what appears to be a group of dwarves on strike. They are sitting around, drinking ale and telling stories. Their picks and shovels lie unused on the ground. One dwarf is the center of attention, and seems to be dressed a bit better than the rest.

OOC: Feel free to roleplay any nighttime activities or feast stories you like, I will retcon as needed.

 

[Guest 11456]

Ka’ashawndrah Leelootuu Treeglitter Elf Enchantress

Ka pays the 396 galifars for the six of them and subtracts the total from a scrap of paper she is carrying. After the feast when they are on there way to the Cogs, she tells them what is left. "We started with 1200 galifars. The everbright lantern cost 190 and the six feasts cost a total of 396. That leaves us with 614 galifars of group funds."

Later, as they approach the workers, Ka steps forward and addresses the group of dwarves. "Excuse me! Is there a Murt present here?" She waits expectantly.

 

[P0L]

Fixer, Warforged Artificer

Fixer tries to listen what the dwarves are talking about.

This seems to be a fine group he thinks, especially the halfling and the elf woman.. they really seemt to know how to handle people and social situations. I have a lot to learn here. I wonder how Blix is doing back at the store... he's been alone the whole day....

He turns and adresses Coal.


-Hey, brother, how 'bout we stop playing golem, and you tell me what you think of our mission? Have you ever been down here? Ready for trouble?

 

[Harvey]

The dwarf who you noticed earlier looks up at you all. "So, Vestan finally sent someone down to investigate these disappearances. ‘Bout time." He walks over to the group. The rest of the dwarves look on with interest.

"My name's Murt. So, what happened here is this: Me and my crew of 14 dwarves were originally hired by Vestan to excavate this area day and night for an ore processing plant... that's my crew's expertise, working day and night" he says with a wink. "Since the site began, there have been a few thefts of some minor items... pics and such, but working in Ashblack, that stuff's bound to happen. Then, about eight days ago, Parthan disappeared. There was no reason for him to leave, as he was making good pay and enjoyed the job. But who knows... some peoples in Sharn get an itch, and the next thing you know, they're bound for Xen'drik. Then, two nights ago, Claras also disappeared. Claras is a fine lad, and has a fiancée in Sharn who has not seen him since. That same night, another dwarf named Gripir thought he heard a sound coming from what we call the "Ja'shaarat" room: a room open to the excavation floor that we use for equipment storage." With that, Murt gestures to an arch embedded in the rock. You notice that the archway is covered with boulders for the time being. "When we noticed Claras missing the next morning, we sealed off the room with heavy rocks, and reported everything to Dassar. Dassar told us that his master wanted us to continue working. Would you? Of course we refused. And so, I organized this... labo stoppage... with the hopes that this would drive Vestan to get the town guard, or someone, to investigate. I see it worked" he finished with a twinkle in his eye.

 

[Vargo]

Liu Xie

Liu Xie looks confused. "So, we're the first team you've met up with so far? Nobody else has come by to investigate yet?"