Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Felmor 02-02-05, 12:24 AM	I recently began a new Eberron campaign in the DC area. The campaign focuses very heavily on roleplay and storytelling. Combat will be kept to a minimum, but when it happens it is for a purpose, and is vicious and brutal. It is set in Sharn, at least for now. The tone of the campaign will be decidedly dark. I plan to post my write ups of each "episode" as it occurs. The game meets once a month. As will become apparent, I do like to borrow from the nice Sharn Inquisitive articles posted by WOTC. :) --------------------------------------------- First, an introduction of the characters: Galen (cleric), a slightly built teenaged boy and member of House Deneith who has been called to service by the Silver Flame. He is very idealistic and led a cloistered life, and has come to Sharn to seek out information about a relative of his that has been missing. Vril (among other names) (bard), a changeling with a variety of different personas used at different times. To the PC's he's known as a half-orc named Rusk; they are unaware of his powers or his other lives. He's a life-long native of Sharn. Dyllan Brightmore d'Orien (rogue), a man with a dark past on the streets of Sharn who is now all about making money for House Orien. Ruken d'Orien (mage), a haughty member of House Orien interested mostly in advancing his magical studies, his influence in the House, or both. He is a life-long native of Sharn and a graduate of Morgrave University. Lenara, a Warforged Fighter that identifies unusually strongly with the female gender. She is a survivor of the Mourning, and everyone she knew and grew to love is gone. She is in Sharn trying to find her greater purpose. (Two additional players were unable to make the first session. They roleplay Galen’s brother and an Aerenal Elf.) --------------------------------- Before starting the game, I sent an email to the group for "flavor" purposes. I detailed a prophecy that had been gleaned by the Dragons of Argonessen: In the city of the skies shall arise Seven Marks of Fate: A scion of shadow, descendant of murder; A child of flame, its shield and torch; A broken branch, yet trunk and root; A soldier of fortune, kin to despair; A man of two worlds, light and dark; A hydra in the midst, deceiver and schemer; A heart of iron, shame of Dragonkind. Seven paths converging Like seven brides for seven brothers. A stumbling pillar sets the wheel in motion. [Ed.--I swear I didn't know Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was a musical, or if I did I only did so subconsciously--but my players were quick to inform me LOL] ________________________________________ _______ Episode 1: The Code of Vvaraak Part I: Tower’s Collapse The game begins as the PC's are recovering from burn and smoke injuries on mats at the House Jorasco compound in Deathsgate. A Warforged nearby is being seen to by an artificer employed by the House. They watch quietly as they see the kindly Halflings of the House tend to the wounded lying all around them. A particularly matronly Halfling comes by and cheerfully engages the PC's in a bit of conversation, leaving with them a copy of the Sharn Inquisitive newspaper as she moves on. The PC's gather to read the newspaper with interest as they read the headline: "Tower Collapse Was Sabotage, Watch says." They go on to read a story about the collapse of Providence Tower in Copper Arch that, while accurate on the surface, is rather lacking in the details. They are particularly interested in the story, because they all happened to have business in Providence Tower two days prior.... :::Camera fades, and re-focuses shortly before noon two days prior:::: It was a cold dreary day. Providence Tower is a slender spire sitting on top of a larger tower coming up from the district below. Unlike other towers in the district, this one has a spiraling stairway around the exterior of the tower that leads to two levels above the "ground" floor. The ground floor, connected to the rest of the district by a bridge, is the home to an arcane research library. It takes up a majority of the tower's space. As one enters the library one sees books all around, with tables scattered about for researchers. Two additional levels circle the tower, all of which are crammed with additional books. An iron rail surrounds each upper level, and iron stairs connect them to the ground floor. Ruken found himself in the upper stacks. He had been contacted by a friend of his and Professor of History at Morgrave University, Professor Belkul. The note was rather disjointed, something about having deciphered a code, and asked Ruken to come by. He also asked him to go by the arcane research library in Providence Tower beforehand, talk with his friends and fellow researchers Vicart and Sarlic, and pick up a book from them he needed entitled "A Complete Guide to the Legends of the Dragon Below." Ruken had come by and asked Vicart for the book, and had been pointed to the upper stacks. The second level was mostly wealthy townhouses that surrounded the tower’s inner courtyard. Children were playing, women chatting, men going about their business. There was an inn and restaurant on that level called the Evanescent Branch. There was a half elf bard singing during the lunch hour, hired from the Ten Torches Theater. Dyllan d’Orien was seated having a meal with a merchant, discussing business whereby the merchant wanted to use House Orien’s lightning rail to ship some textiles stored in a Cogsgate warehouse. An uncertain teenager Galen entered the restaurant on a tip he had received that someone with information about the relative he sought was often found here (he was disappointed as nobody by that description was present). Next door was an old store that had been converted into the headquarters of a group called “Warforged Rights Now!”, a group that advocated greater civil rights for the Warforged in Sharn. Lenara was rather depressed at the ill treatment she (Lenara was definitely a SHE, not an IT) had received in Sharn since her arrival. She had heard about this group and had been intrigued so she sought them out. She had a nice conversation with the person manning the desk, an aged and worn but friendly half elf woman who filled Lenara in on the activities of the group. Meanwhile, there was trouble brewing downstairs. As Ruken was looking for his book he heard shouting coming from the landing below. Discreetly looking over the railing, he found three black-robed and –cowled figures. Two were holding the researchers, and the third was doing the talking. Ruken managed to spot a strange sigil on the front of the leader’s robe—a stylized bird head—but did not recognize it. He also noted that all the individuals looked Cyran from what he could tell beneath their cowls. He overheard the argument. The leader said he was there to claim “it.” The researcher was holding a large scroll case to his chest. He pleaded with his assailants to let him go and not take “it”, that it was the product of his life’s work. Unsympathetic, the leader of the assailants stepped in and put his hand on the researcher’s head. A sickly blue aura emanated, and the researcher dropped to the ground being nothing more than a withered frozen husk. One of the other assailants withdrew a dagger and plunged it into the second researcher. He then cut out both of their eyes while the leader stepped in and snatched the scroll case. He gestured to one of the assailants, who disappeared into the stacks briefly out of Ruken’s sight and then returned [Ed.—he was planting a magical heat-activated explosive device]. When he returned, the leader pointed up to the stacks where a bunch of books were waiting to be shelved, and a crimson red ray emanated from his finger. The books immediately burst into flame, which spread like wildfire (fortunately he pointed in a direction opposite where Ruken was located). Then the leader twisted a ring on his finger and all of them disappeared with a flash. Ruken grabbed the book he’d been looking for and leaped into action, quickly descending to the main floor and going over to Vicart, the victim of the assailant’s necromantic spell. As the fire continued to spread in the library with smoke going everywhere, he slowly pulled the man towards the entrance (not realizing he was dead). He then turned back to see the fire spreading everywhere, and noticed two residential levels above that were probably ignorant of what was happening. He rushed up the outside stairs to sound the alarm. Meanwhile upstairs, the bard had finished singing and had gone to collect his payment for his last few visits. While chatting with the proprietor he began to smell smoke. He went off and quickly changed into a different outfit, assuming the persona of a half-orc and leaving out a back door. Likewise, Galen and Dyllan were going about their own business when they also began to smell and see smoke. The proprietor came rushing out, saying she didn’t know what was going on but asking everyone to leave immediately. The PC’s and other people in the restaurant quickly stepped out into the courtyard, to find some people milling around in confusion. The lady at Warforged Rights Now! had just finished her spiel with Lenara when both of them also smelled smoke [Ed—I ruled that since Warforged have sight and hearing that they also have the sense of smell]. She was rather infirm so Lenara helped her to the courtyard. Ruken popped in and yelled the alarm, and everyone on the level began to panic as they rushed for the relatively narrow exit leading to the ground level. By this time the smoke had gotten quite thick and licks of flame were starting to jump into the level from below. Ruken realized that the people on the third level were probably still completely oblivious, so he climbed up to the next story. Dyllan and the merchant continued discussing business as they joined the press of people. They vaguely noticed that some residents were being crushed at the feet of others stampeding to the exit, but continued on. The bard had managed to get out ahead in half-orc guise and intimidated the hell out of everyone in his way as he quickly descended the stairs. The descent was slow for most residents as the stairs were narrow. In their panic a few lost their balance and plunged to their deaths below. As they descended the stairs they unwittingly stepped all over Vicart’s body that Ruken had carelessly left in the way. Near the back of the line, Galen heard a child crying inside one of the houses. He immediately went to investigate, and found a little girl screaming for her Mommy who was upstairs. The house was filled with smoke. Up he went, to discover a very hot and smoky room. The mother laid unconscious upstairs. Being rather frail Galen was unable to hold his breath for very long, so he sent a lamp flying through the window to shatter it for fresh air. Alas flames were outside, and the sudden inrush of air gave new fuel to the fire, which leaped to the curtains and then the bed, but by then the young cleric had grabbed hold of the mother and dragged her carefully down the stairs. He fled the house with the little girl next to him, but it quickly became clear he would not make it at this pace; the fire had jumped to the trees in the courtyard. In desperation he reached down to touch the unconscious woman’s chest and called out mentally to the Silver Flame for help; he was rewarded by a bright white light that surrounded the woman’s body and brought her to consciousness [Ed--He cast a Cure Minor Wounds]. He implored her to run with him and helped her up. The three of them made their way to the now-thinning crowd at the level’s entrance. Meanwhile, upon seeing children lost and scurrying around, the Warforged Rights Now! activist yelled at Lenara to save the children and leave her behind. She picked up three children and headed down the stairs, coincidentally ending up near Dyllan’s position. As they both neared a narrow window that abutted to the library, it exploded in a gout of flame. Several people who had been near it, including Dyllan’s merchant friend, were consumed in flames and toppled off the stairs. The intermittent column of flame put a stop to the continuing descent down the stairs; people were trapped above. In a show of heroism, Lenara placed her Warforged body in front of the window, taking great damage when the flames would erupt behind her but allowing the Tower’s residents the opportunity to quickly finish their descent. At last everyone finished their descent, though everyone was burned or suffering from smoke inhalation. Lenara was blackened on her entire backside. As the residents fled the tower, a bunch of House Jorasco Halflings and their assistants came running the other way, and behind them came a Sentinel Marshal and the Watch. At that moment a huge explosion was heard from within the library, and the PC’s saw a large part of the library’s wall knocked out. In slow motion they saw the wall on the other side crack from the weight of the tower, and then watched it collapse entirely. Everyone ran further away from the tower. Exhausted and injured, the PC’s did not resist as they were approached by House Jorasco Halflings and guided back to their enclave, where they remained for healing for two days. An artificer took care of Lenara. :::::Camera loses focus, and regains focus two days later again:::::: Part 2: In the Halls of House Jorasco As the PC’s finish reading the newspaper, they see an insert on the next page: DEAD OR ALIVE! A REWARD OF 500 GOLD PIECES WILL BE GIVEN TO WHOEVER PROVIDES INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST AND CONVINCTION OF THE SABOTEURS OF PROVIDENCE TOWER! INQUIRE AT CITY HALL, HIGHEST TOWERS DISTRICT. This immediately drew the interest of several of the PC’s. A few moments later, the Watch arrived, with a severe looking Watch Commander Kurna Dalgoria leading a couple of Watchmen. She congratulated the PC’s for their heroism on behalf of the City and asked them for their personal information. She also got an account about what happened from Ruken, and matched his account with the necromantic, conjuration and evocation auras Sentinel Marshal Rorick Thyrish had detected at the site. Dalgoria did not know the source of the stylized bird head insignia that Ruken described for her. She declared that anyone who brought her the head of the perpetrator along with information about the group to which he belonged would see his/her reward doubled to 1000 gold pieces. The PC’s were extremely interested except for the innocent Galen who was alarmed. Why should the PC’s meet one evil with another by executing the perpetrator rather than bringing him to justice? Ruken retorted and questioned how that was so different from the Inquisition against lycanthropes the Church had undertaken recently—a statement that shook Galen to his very foundations because he had never heard of such an Inquisition. The others rather disingenuously try to sooth him by saying the saboteurs would be brought in alive if at all possible. Vril, using his half-orc persona, thought deeply. He had come across something like that insignia before. In a moment he had it [Ed.—he rolled highly on his bardic knowledge]. He had heard of certain Cults that worshipped beings rumored to be imprisoned in Khyber. He had also heard that they often used stylized symbols of creature’s body parts, especially their heads. He believed this symbol in fact belonged to one of the so-called Cults of the Dragon Below. However he kept this information to himself. The matronly Halfling Joliet took Galen aside. Galen had been assisting the Halflings tend to the wounded for the last couple of days and had on occasion called on his divine power. She noted to him that the Flame seemed strong and pure within him, unlike the corruption of the Church in Sovereign Towers. He asked her what she meant, because he was staying in sparse quarters provided by the Church. She vaguely replied that there were many ways to worship the Flame, some good and some not so good, and encouraged him to seek alternative answers. She then walked away, leaving Galen rather confused. Part 3: Murder at Morgrave University The PC’s finally left the Jorasco compound. Ruken and Dyllan, both graduates of Morgrave University and both of whom had been taught by Professor Belkul, decided to pay the Professor a visit to see whether there was any connection between the sabotage and the Professor’s work, or to see if the Professor otherwise had any information since had known the researcher Vicart. Dyllan, however, had to run an errand first, so Ruken decided to go first by himself. He entered the campus and made his weigh towards the main building, knowing that Professor Belkul’s office was up in the University’s dome. He got to the floor upon which the office was located and went down the hall, past various doors, all of which were shut. When he got to Professor Belkul’s office he noticed it was dark (it was late afternoon). He knocked on the door but got no response. He tried the knob and saw to his surprise that it was open. He entered and saw that the office was quite dark, as the drapes were drawn shut. He moved over to a lamp the professor kept and took out his tinderbox to light a flame. At that moment he heard the door creak shut behind him. He whirled around and his heart leaped into his mouth as he realized he was not alone in the office—a cowled black-robed figure stood by the door, bearing the insignia of the stylized bird. The figure drew a wicked looking dagger and advanced menacingly on the mage. Panicking, Ruken raised his hand and lanced a ray in the assassin’s direction [Ed—Ray of Enfeeblement]; the figure staggered from the ray’s effect but kept advancing and struck viciously at the mage. In desperation, Ruken banged open the office window, stumbling over something on the floor he did not have time to look at, and threw himself out and away from the building, falling the entire way down all the way to the Center Bridge district far below. Shortly before meeting his doom he activated another spell and fell gently the last few yards to the ground. As soon as he alighted he rushed to find his way back up the tower to the University. Meanwhile Dyllan made a short detour to a House Orien enclave to obtain contact information for the deceased merchant with whom he had been doing business. He resolved to send a message to the business’s location in Aundair using House Sivis, but first made his way to the University. As he was leaving the enclave he noticed someone waiting for him, reclining against a lamp post and chewing on a piece of straw. The individual was a tall lanky half elf with dirty stringy hair. He recognized him immediately: Slag, leader of the Ruby Gauntlet street gang with whom he spent most of his younger days before being belatedly inducted into House Orien. Dyllan’s heart sank, as he had stayed away from the gang for years and thought this could only be bad news. He was correct. Slag revealed that he was well aware of how Dyllan had abandoned the gang to join the high, mighty and wealthy House Orien while forgetting the people who had given him succor and shelter for all those years. He revealed how the gang had not done well in the intervening time, especially because of the arrival of a new and vicious gang called Daask. Several of the gang’s members had been slaughtered at Daask’s hands, and the gang had no choice but to seek the protection of the Boromar clan. The gang was now essentially just an extension of the Boromars, doing some of their more mundane street level work. Slag couldn’t resist mentioning that as a condition of joining the Boromars he had been required to provide information about all gang members past and present. He had known about Dyllan’s “ascension” into House Orien and therefore “had to” pass along the information. He remarked coyly that the Boromars knew everything about Dyllan, his background, and even where his mother lived—and they would be very interested in having a new contact in House Orien, or else. He told Dyllan to expect a visit from them soon, and with that he left. Slag obviously had an axe to grind, and was indicating to Dyllan that his revenge was complete. Shaking off an impending bad mood, Dyllan hurried across to Morgrave and arrived not too long after Ruken. He went up into the dome to seek out the office, and was surprised to find a really cold draft of air coming from underneath the professor’s door. He tried the knob and found it unlocked, and he entered. He saw the window wide open, and moved over to shut it. That’s when he in turn noticed the dark figure in the room, which lunged at him. He leaped over the desk and tumbled in an attempt to escape out the door, but the assassin struck with his knife and wounded Dyllan deeply (Ed.—he scored a critical hit). Bleeding profusely he fled down the hallway screaming bloody murder. He soon drew the attention of University guards and staff, which all ran up the stairs and down the hallway to the office. The assassin was gone, but they then found the body of Professor Belkul by the window (the object over which Ruken had stumbled). His eyes had likewise been cut out. The University staff rushed out to call the Watch. Dyllan had some skill in forensics and he put it to work. He carefully scanned the crime scene and soon found a few clues. He found a small button that bore the same stylized bird head insignia, thus corroborating the connection between the murder and the tower sabotage. He also found a book on the Professor’s desk entitled “The Legend of Vvaraak.” Additionally he also found a series of small relics around the office, all of which had strange sigils on them. Ruken returned at around this point, and he took a look at the book. It detailed how Vvaraak had passed his lore onto the first Gatekeeper druids, who in turn had used that knowledge 7000 years later to imprison the Daelkyr and their ilk in Khyber. It showed various runes of power that had been used on the seals and other items of importance to the sect, and Ruken noted that some of the sigils on the Professor’s relics matched the sigils in the book. The two of them put the various clues away before the Sharn Watch arrived with a Master Inquisitive. They were interviewed and then released. That day and the next, based on Ruken’s information that the saboteurs had appeared Cyran, the bard descended on the High Walls district because he knew it housed many Cyran refugees. He spent a lot of time trying to gather information about anyone who might fit the saboteur leader’s description, but came up empty-handed. He did discover, however, that the great disillusionment felt by many of the refugees had drawn them to the nihilistic philosophies represented by a Cult that worshipped Khyber. At the same time, Dyllan went to House Sivis to try to send a message to the deceased merchant’s company in Aundair. He was greeted by a surly female gnome who obviously had an eye on his purse. She demanded payment before she would even speak with him, and when he told her what he wanted she demanded additional money. She then told him the message had to be 21 words or less. He hesitated, not knowing quite what to say, and she yelled at him to get out of the way so she could help the rest of the line (there was only one person behind Dyllan). He moved out of the way in a huff to figure out what to send, and he left the gold on the counter. He viscerally noticed the gnome take the money and stick it in her pocket. When he was done, he came back to the counter with his message. She said she didn’t know who he was, and he needed to pay (again). He looked at her in disbelief, belatedly realizing he should not have left his money on the counter until he had gotten what he wanted from her. He exploded in fury, stating he was a noble from House Orien and how dare she treat him that way. Feeling cowed [Ed.—he rolled an Intimidate check and she countered poorly], she asked why he hadn’t said so to start with, said there was no need to be so huffy, and reluctantly sent the message. The message asked the company to contact House Orien in Sharn to arrange for delivery of the textiles. Part 4: the Gatekeeper The party had agreed to meet that night at the Redblade’s tavern in Deathsgate. The place was smoky and crowded with people that looked mostly unsavory with beady eyes. The party felt out of place but nevertheless sat to dinner, although the faire was atrocious. Ruken was especially aggrieved; he was spoiled and raised in luxury his entire life and could barely stand the place. He had to keep a handkerchief to his face the entire time to avoid retching from the (not really so bad) smell of the place. His mood became a lot worse at the end of the night when he reached down to discover his purse had been slit while he had been eating a greasy burger—doubtless by one of the countless people who jostled him on their way into and out from the pub. Towards the end of dinner some in the group noticed that an individual a couple of tables down appeared to be watching them intently. He had a dark green cloak and cowl, and they could barely see his face except from the red glow of a cigar he was smoking. He eventually made the party quite nervous, because he wouldn’t stop. They decided to have Dyllan leave first and hide, and then have the rest of them leave and walk towards Clifftop to visit the Drunken Dragon—a place they had also heard of and thought might suit them better than the dive they were currently patronizing. That way they would see if the person watching them would follow. They put their plan in motion, with Dyllan leaving first followed by the rest of the party. Not long after they left the mysterious figure stood up, got his staff, and followed them out the door. It wasn’t long before several in the party noticed they were being trailed. Galen, not knowing any better because of his cloistered past, threw discretion to the winds and turned full circle to stare at their pursuer, drawing sharp rebukes and kicks from the others. They decided they would confront their stalker. They crossed a lighted bridge into an equally well lighted tower, through which the street cut on its way to another bridge headed towards Northedge. They stopped in the middle of the tower and waited. Their shadow entered the tower, his staff clacking woodenly on the ground as the sound reverberated through the small tower’s inside walls. He approached the party and then stopped. Recognizing the insignia on the man’s cloak brooch, Ruken exclaimed “a Gatekeeper!” The man nodded softly and said simply, “follow me.” He led them into Middle Northedge to a quiet inn in Oakbridge. He unlocked the door, entered, moved over to the window to close the drapes, and motioned the party to enter. They made themselves comfortable around the room as the Gatekeeper sat by the window. He said his name was Durinas. He explained he had learned of them from some of their activities in the city and from discreetly questioning the Watch. He had arrived in the City too late to stop what had happened in the Tower; he had intended to intercept Vicart and confiscate the scroll himself, but the Cult of the Dragon Below beat him to it. Durinas explained that Vicart’s work was nothing less than the interpretation of the entire Code of Vvaraak, the original hieroglyphs and sigils used by the Gatekeepers in creating their wards and seals to keep the Daelkyr and their aberrant minions trapped in Khyber. Vicart had worked in conjunction with Professor Belkul, and both had collected relics and visited various locations to help them decipher the runes. At last they had done so, and were about to make their information public. He berated their foolishness. He asked the party rhetorically what they thought might be possible if suddenly the sigils keeping the seals shut became understandable and readable by the general public. He said flatly that the scroll had to be found as soon as possible and destroyed. The Gatekeepers could not abide such a translation being in the hands of a Cult of the Dragon Below; they would doubtless seek to use it to break the seals and free what was imprisoned below, resulting in either the destruction of the world or the return to an Age of Demons. The conversation unfortunately degenerated somewhat as some members of the party wanted to know what financial recompense the Gatekeeper might provide, a response that caused Durinas some disgust. Galen was appalled, as he felt that there could be no greater reason than preventing the destruction of the world. Besides, what good would money be if Khorvaire was overrun by demons? Eventually the party came around to trying to help the Gatekeeper. Discussion turned to how best to try to get the scroll back. After a good deal of debate, the party settled on a plan: it would attempt to infiltrate the Cult to get to its leader in hopes of recovering the scroll. (To be continued)
Emirikol 02-02-05, 06:47 PM	Pretty neat :) jh
ChromeDragon 02-02-05, 07:05 PM	:) You wrote out well the begginings of what sounds like a really cool game. I hope it stretches out into a full campaign. Keep up the good work.
Felmor 02-02-05, 07:17 PM	Thank you both :)
DolArrah 02-06-05, 12:46 PM	When is the next episode, or was that it? gj
Soloran 02-06-05, 04:55 PM	I think this is great! Keep it up.
Felmor 02-06-05, 08:33 PM	When is the next episode, or was that it? gj We are playing once a month, on the last Saturday of each month..so next game is February 26.
MikeyP 02-07-05, 10:15 AM	Sounds like a great campaign, nice work. Hope you don't mind if I yoink a couple of your ideas?
MikeyP 02-17-05, 04:32 PM	Hey, how's this campaign going?
Felmor 02-17-05, 05:07 PM	Episode 2 is scheduled for the 26th..so I will post my write up after that. We play once per month. And BTW I have no trouble with you using what you like for your own game. :)
bliz666 02-17-05, 09:48 PM	awsome campaign!
Felmor 03-02-05, 04:21 PM	Episode 2: Infiltrating the Cult of the Dragon Below Characters: Galen (cleric), a slightly built teenaged boy and member of House Deneith who has been called to service by the Silver Flame. He is very idealistic and led a cloistered life, and has come to Sharn to seek out information about a relative of his that has been missing. Vril (among other names) (bard), a changeling with a variety of different personas used at different times. To the PC's he's known as a half-orc named Rusk; they are unaware of his powers or his other lives. In this episode he also makes a debut with the PC’s as “Cappen Vera”, a flamboyant half elf singer. He's a life-long native of Sharn. Dyllan Brightmore d'Orien (rogue), a man with a dark past on the streets of Sharn who is now all about making money for House Orien. Ruken d'Orien (mage), a haughty member of House Orien interested mostly in advancing his magical studies, his influence in the House, or both. He is a life-long native of Sharn and a graduate of Morgrave University. Lenara, a Warforged Fighter that identifies unusually strongly with the female gender. She is a survivor of the Mourning, and everyone she knew and grew to love is gone. She is in Sharn trying to find her greater purpose. Westley (swashbuckler), Galen’s older brother, a veteran of the Last War, and also a member of House Deneith. He loves his missing older brother dearly and wants to find him, but finds himself always in his brother’s shadow before his father. (A seventh character, an Aerenal Elf, has dropped out of the game and will not be replaced.) Synopsis The characters decide to infiltrate the Cult of the Dragon Below to collect the City’s reward for finding the perpetrators of Providence Tower’s collapse, and to help Durinas the Gatekeeper recover the Code of Vvaarak. They try various ways of finding a contact in the High Walls district populated by many Cyran refugees who are being drawn into the Cult. Eventually they discover that a Cyran named Borzuyeh is the key to infiltrating the Cult. In the meantime each of the characters face their own personal challenges. Westley’s quest to find his missing brother is frustrated upon his discovery that records relating to his brother are missing from House Deneith’s archives. Dyllan, a House Orien nobleman, faces extortion or worse at the hands of the Boromir criminal syndicate that has discovered his gang-related background; he also desires to increase his status in the House by expanding his business contacts. Ruken, another Orien nobleman, desires power in his own way and strives to fund his magical studies; he also seeks to extend his economic influence. Lenara is being drawn into a citywide debate about the status and rights to be accorded to Warforged, making some powerful allies—and enemies. Vril seeks fame and fortune in a city that has not been kind to changelings, and he has learned to employ secretiveness and multiple personas to advance his agenda. And the previously cloistered Galen continues to find himself and learn about a world whose shades of grey instead of stark black and white just bewilder him. The PC’s encounter Borzuyeh, engage him in talk, and also find out where he lives. Dyllan breaks into Borzuyeh’s house when he’s not present and discovers a tower and sewer map as well as a letter suggesting that the next Cult indoctrination ceremony will take place the next day. The PC’s follow the sewer map, distracted briefly by an encounter with the Red Jackals shifter gang, and find the secret and gory location of the Cult’s indoctrination ceremonies. They withdraw to plan their next approach, aware of the fact that the Cult is probably aware of their pursuit given the break-in into Borzuyeh’s house. Part 1: Gathering Information, Personal Challenges The episode picks up where the last one left off: the characters sitting in a room around a fireplace in a small inn, talking with Durinas the Gatekeeper. They resolve to assist the Gatekeeper in recovering the Code of Vvaarak, primarily for financial motivations (except for Galen, who sees the greater nobility in the cause). They agree to split up to do research and meet again at the Drunken Dragon tavern in Clifftop the following evening. After splitting up, Galen returned to the Deneith enclave with Lenara in tow, for Lenara had nowhere better to go and she seemed to be developing an affinity for the lad. Upon arriving Galen was greeted by the matronly old Mariella d’Deneith, who had taken an immediate liking to Galen upon his arrival in Sharn and had already become protective of him. She doted on him and fed him cookies until she noticed “it”—the Warforged—standing oddly in the midst of all the opulence that was House Deneith. She inquired archly from Galen about who “it” was, and Galen told her about his new friend. Upon hearing that Galen wanted Lenara to spend the night, Mariella summoned a servant and had Lenara whisked away to a lavishly furnished room upstairs. She then lectured Galen about the risks of wandering the streets of Sharn and in particular about contact with the Warforged: “they were bred for war and now have nothing to do—they’re dangerous and can’t be trusted!” Her words were enough to sow a seed of doubt in Galen’s mind, but he shrugged it off until later. He eventually excused himself and went up to his room. The next morning was witness to a comedy of errors in the various bedrooms. First, Westley had been staying in one of these rooms. Although from House Deneith himself he had not previously visited this lavish enclave and was completely overwhelmed by how he was waited upon hand and foot. When the servants sought to bring him expensive outfits he eschewed them all. When they attempted to bathe him he cursed at them. In the meantime, Lenara saw her bath and decided to finally do something about her charred backside, the product of her heroic blocking of flames during the collapse of Providence Tower just a few days prior. She awkwardly asked her servant to scrape the soot off, but the servant had other plans. She ordered the appearance of a gaggle of servants who proceeded to prepare a hot bath. Completely lost as to what to do, Lenara succumbed to the commands of her rather bossy servant (“get in the bath!” “Sit down!” “Stay still!” “Stand up!”) as the servants scrubbed at her backside. When they were done much of the soot had been removed, but it was clear that some scarring would always remain. They brought a beautiful dress for Lenara to wear, but she decided she was best off in simple pants and a shirt in case she needed to engage in combat. She nevertheless kept the dress for another day. Galen went to have a chat with his brother Westley. After talking for a while Westley decided to visit Karr’ashta, the Inquisitive they had hired to help hunt down their brother Jasper’s commanding officer in Sharn. After being admitted into his office they had a conversation whereupon Karr’ashta admitted he was having trouble unearthing additional clues; it’s a big city after all. He expressed unusual interest when he learned that Westley’s brother had been caught in Providence Tower’s collapse when he had gone there to follow up on Karr’ashta’s previous lead that the Commander was reputed to visit a tavern there. He plied Westley with questions but Westley was evasive and gave him minimal answers, without including any information about the Cult or the Code of Vvaarak. As Westley was getting ready to leave, Karr’ashta wondered aloud whether the local House Deneith enclave might have records of whatever became of Westley’s brother. They parted ways after Karr’ashta promised to keep looking, as long as he kept being paid of course. Westley hurried back to the House Deneith complex. There he looked up Deneith’s recordkeeper Edlin d’Deneith, a very meticulous man surrounded by stacks and stacks of books and ledgers indicating who was in the House’s command and where they were within the southern reaches at any point in the last several decades. Westley explained his problem to Edlin, who was dubious he could help because Westley’s family was from Karrnath. However he looked Jasper’s commanding officer up to see whether he had come within the purview of the southern branch of House Deneith and was surprised to see him listed. He must have been assigned to the southern arm of the House at some point. Excitedly he went to find Jasper’s officer’s commission, but his excitement turned to sadness. “Oh…he was assigned to the Cyre-Breland border in the last months of the War,” he said. Meeting a blank stare from Westley, Edlin related how there had been many hobgoblins assigned to this border region—so many that they had an uprising and declared their own new country of Darguun, unopposed by either Cyre or Breland due to the other strains of war. It had been a terrible humiliation for House Deneith. Many of Deneith’s non-hobgoblin mercenaries in the region were imprisoned, made into slaves, or killed. Edlin then looked up Jasper’s record directly, and was surprised to find that his record had been torn out of the ledger. Looking up the other soldiers in the officer’s command, he discovered that their records had also been torn out. Dumbfounded, Edlin recalled how there had been a break-in to his office about six months prior, but at the time he had thought nothing was taken. Now it seemed the thief had been after these records in particular. Westley left, confused about why anyone would want to take his brother’s personal record. Meanwhile, Ruken secreted himself away in Morgrave’s library and spent the entire day reading the book he had found in Providence Tower—“A Complete Guide to the Legends of the Dragon Below.” Therein he learned about the legends of Khyber, Eberron, and Syberis; about how their struggle had turned them into the earth, the earth below, and the earth above; about how Khyber had first spawned sentient beings in the form of hags and demons that had made the surface of Eberron a hell for eons during the Age of Demons; how the hags and demons were ultimately imprisoned in Khyber thus giving rise to the Common Races; how Vvaarak passed on his lore to the first Orcish Gatekeepers, who millennia later used that knowledge to imprison the Daelkyr who had emerged from the convergence of Eberron and Xoriat; and how various Cults had arisen to worship the beings imprisoned below, seeking power from them or seeking to release them. Vril spent the day in the High Walls district attempting to gather information about the Cult. He confirmed that the Cult was gaining in popularity in that district, and that there was someone who was often seen recruiting new members at the Whistling Pig tavern. However he was unable to find the recruiter’s name. Galen decided to check in with the Church of the Silver Flame in Sovereign Towers, hoping to query a priest about any information he might possess about cults in the city. After visiting with a bureaucrat in the back of the cathedral she pointed him to Father Devlin who she believed was currently in the Church itself. He peeked in and saw a priest meditating in the front pews of the vast Church, and an acolyte who appeared to be tidying the place up. He inquired of the acolyte and confirmed the figure in the front was indeed Father Devlin. Galen waited quite a while until the priest was done with his prayers and appeared about to leave. Galen intercepted him, introduced himself, and asked about the Cult. The priest was not terribly helpful, instead going into a diatribe about evil in general about how it had to be defeated. He clearly did not know much about the Cult in which Galen was interested. After some more chat Galen left, Father Devlin encouraging him to come visit should he want to talk more or decide he wanted to minister to the faithful. Dyllan checked into work at his House (Orien) and discovered that a teleporter had a message for him. It was a reply from the message he had sent via House Sivis regarding the goods of the merchant who had met his untimely end at Providence Tower. The response came from the merchant’s sister Laurana, who thanked Dyllan for his diligence. She asked him to ship the textiles to her in Fairhaven as soon as possible. She also extended a business offer to him; her brother had been responsible for finding good linens and textiles in Sharn and she was now looking for an agent—if he was interested he should let her know. He replied immediately stating that he would happy to serve that role for her, and then made arrangements for the textiles to be shipped the following morning on Orien’s lightning rail. Part 2: Warforged Hero As dinnertime rolled around the PC’s converged upon the Drunken Dragon tavern, which they found much more to their liking than Redblade’s. While exchanging information of what they had discovered that day Lenara looked up and saw an elderly half elf woman entering the tavern, obviously looking uncomfortable and out of place. Lenara recognized her immediately as Mela, the half elf activist who had run the “Warforged Rights Now!” office in Providence Tower before its destruction. Lenara excused herself and went to speak with Mela. Mela’s eyes lit up as she informed Lenara she had come looking for her at a place where most adventurers passed by sooner or later. The two of them sat in a quiet corner to talk. Mela revealed that word of Lenara’s heroic deed at Providence Tower had traveled far and wide, and had even reached the ears of the Sharn City Council. Not everyone was happy to hear of the deed, especially those who opposed the Warforged presence in the city or opposed the extension of their civil rights. On the other hand, she said, word of the deed had also reached the ears of powerful allies of the Warforged, including a man with whom she has dealings and knows only as “Rick.” She knows Rick to be a powerful man, although not exactly certain in what way, and he has a lot of money. She suspects he is part of one of the Houses but has no proof, and she would rather not ask nosy questions. Rick in fact funded her activist operation and is now helping her find a new office. Rick told Mela that he wanted to meet Lenara, to thank her personally for her heroism and to find out more about her. Mela urged Lenara to agree, thinking it might be beneficial to Lenara in the long run. Lenara assented after giving it some thought. Mela asked her to meet at the Drunken Dragon tomorrow and they would then walk over to the King of Fire tavern in the Hareth’s Folly district of Middle Dura, where she often meets with Rick and is scheduled to see him the next evening. [Unbeknown to the characters, “Rick” is in fact Merrix d’Cannith. This will not be revealed to the PC’s until much later.—Ed.] [For the sake of clarity I will conclude Lenara’s story here even though other characters performed activities in the interim as described later.—Ed.] The next evening Lenara met Mela at the appointed hour. She had brought the fancy House Deneith dress with her, and scooted into an alley with Lenara to put it on. Though Mela was respectful she could not fully hide her mirth at the idea of a Warforged wearing a dress, and so Lenara decided it looked ridiculous and removed it again. The two then walked over to Hareth’s Folly and entered the Tavern. After pausing a moment to take in the many fire-related illusions and props, Mela led Lenara over to a large stocky man with a handlebar moustache sitting alone at one of the tables. Upon seeing them he stood up and guided them to a private room with a table and a fireplace, drawing the curtain for privacy. Rick introduced himself and asked Lenara about why she identified as female. He also probed her greatly about her background, especially in regard to her experiences in Cyre on the Day of Mourning. So interested was he that he expressed a desire to view these events from Lenara’s own point of view. Curious as to what he meant, Rick explained he could use magic to see her thoughts as if they were his own. She agreed, though with some misgivings. Rick pulled a solid gold monocle out of his pocket, that was attached to his vest with a black string. The monocle had a lens. He pulled the lens up to his eye and then met Lenara’s gaze through it. Lenara watched as the monocle and Rick’s eye seemed to expand larger and larger until they were large enough to swallow her. She then felt a presence in her own mind and knew that to be Rick. In a moment of panic she tested whether she could lock memories away from him and found that she could (or at least that he would allow her to do so). After that she felt more comfortable and allowed him to probe more deeply into her thoughts and memories about her background and the Day of Mourning. While he was busy doing that she found that the link was two-way and that she had the ability to do some probing of her own. Rick had carefully locked away information about his identity and that could not be penetrated, but she was able to look into his heart. She quickly determined that “Rick” is quite possibly one of the most powerful men in Sharn. His heart held a ruthlessness of purpose, which some might call “evil” in that he will stop at nothing to meet his goals. However she also detected an overwhelming affection for the Warforged, and a desire to make their lives better—something she could not really understand. Finally she detected a pervasive sense of guilt over something, although what that “something” was had been locked away out of her view. Moments later she was back within herself and the contact was ended. Rick thanked her for allowing him to probe her. She asked him no questions about what she had seen. As they prepared to part ways Rick mentioned she might want to visit the Red Hammer tavern in the Blackbones district of the Cogs, where he told her many Warforged converged. She also asked him if he knew anything about Cults in the city. He replied with a gentle admonishment that she should stay away from such things as they could be dangerous, and also said he had heard there were Cults in the city that worshipped beings alleged to be imprisoned beneath the ground. He made it clear he thought the Cults were just deluded. Finally he told her that if she ever needed help she could leave word for him at the tavern. As Mela and Lenara left the tavern they heard a commotion next door. The door of the next tavern over smashed open and several savage looking gnolls and halflings spilled out. They bore insignias that seemed to identify them as members of two different groups. They got up and took to each other with daggers and maces. Lenara thought about helping the halflings but Mela held her back, saying that this was gang violence between different factions that was best left alone. She complained that the violence had been escalating in recent times. They continued on their way, but Lenara noticed as she looked back that the gnolls had killed the halflings and had run away as someone was calling for the Watch. Part 3: First Contact After dinner at the Drunken Dragon on the same night Lenara first met Mela, Dyllan headed to Middle Menthis. His mother Yanessa was an actress at Mizano Rupa’s dinner theater. As he arrived with Ruken he found the dinner theater dark except for small candles at each table, and his mother was on stage in the finishing acts of a play. He and Ruken seated themselves and waited for the play to end. The play’s end was met with raucous applause; the actors came out to be recognized and then went table to table to meet the various patrons. His mother saw Dyllan almost immediately and came over. She asked Dyllan and Ruken to come with her to her private dressing room. Once inside Dyllan was surprised to discover his mother had been wanting to speak with him already. She relayed how some rather menacing looking halflings had visited her home in the last day, demanding to know where Dyllan was to be found. Dyllan explained to her how his past in the street gang was catching up to him as the Boromars now sought to use Dyllan’s old gang ties to establish a contact in House Orien. He mused that he was not terribly disturbed about that, because the relationship with the Boromars might work both ways. His mother almost slapped him when he said that, reminding him that the Boromars were a criminal syndicate with tentacles everywhere, even on the City Council—how could he think of negotiating with such a group? “Where are the morals I taught you,” she railed at him. In her agitation she started to cry, admitting she was scared that these halflings would come again and harm her. Dyllan assured her that he would make sure that would not happen—a promise he was not quite sure he knew how to keep. With that discussion over it was Dyllan’s turn. He knew his mother was Cyran. He told her about the Cult he was helping to hunt down and how it seemed to be centered among the Cyran refugees. He wondered if she knew anything about it? She replied that her contact with Cyran refugees was minimal these days, as she spent most of her time with some of the better-off Cyrans at the Embassy. She did know one refugee named Leffer in High Walls, and suggested he talk with him. Dyllan and Ruken excused themselves after talking a while longer. The next morning, Dyllan headed to High Walls. After a few inquiries he tracked down Leffer’s house, a humble but well-kept abode in one of the better parts of the district. He was greeted by Leffer, who invited him inside for tea. After some pleasantries were exchanged, Dyllan got to the heart of the matter and inquired about the Cult. Leffer looked obviously distressed as he put down his teacup with a bang. After some hesitation he related how many of the refugees in the district were succumbing to the Cult; he also noted that other refugees were disappearing altogether and he suspected the Cult’s involvement there as well although he had no proof. He had heard that a man named Borzuyeh would recruit people at the Whistling Pig tavern and suggested that Dyllan start there. Dyllan went to the tavern to discover Borzuyeh talking with an individual in the back, but could not overhear what was being said [the listener was Vril, see below, but since Dyllan doesn’t know Vril is a changeling he had no idea it was the same person as Rusk the half-orc—Ed.] Meanwhile Vril already knew about the Whistling Pig, though not about Borzuyeh specifically. He too headed to the High Walls district, but changed his appearance to resemble a Cyran [I have described the Cyrans in my game as being somewhat like the Gypsies in Europe, or the Rhennee in Greyhawk—dark curly hair, very dark eyes, etc.—Ed.] He entered the tavern and noted that there was someone in the back talking animatedly with two others. He sat in such a way he could overhear snatches of the conversation, which revolved around Cyran nationalism and how the “group” espoused by the speaker proposed a different way. After the two listeners left, Vril made his way over to the speaker, who introduced himself as Borzuyeh. Borzuyeh was initially suspicious because he had never seen anyone of Vril’s description in the district before. However Vril went into such a diatribe about the oppression of the Cyran people and how they deserved to have their country back that Borzuyeh was impressed with the depth of Vril’s passion and decided to confide in him. He spoke to him about a “group” that promised power that would allow the Cyrans to overthrow their Brelish oppressors and reclaim their country. Borzuyeh went on at length about how to obtain this power by worshiping the beings beneath Eberron and seeking to free them; so much so that Vril concluded that Borzuyeh, while lucid, was completely mad. Eventually the conversation turned to how Vril could join the Cult, whereupon Borzuyeh told him that there would be an indoctrination ceremony in two days (upon questioning he conceded the ceremony was rather “rough” and a bit “painful” on the inductee, but that the cost was far outweighed by the promise of a return of Cyran power). He told Vril to meet him at the tavern at midnight two nights hence if he wished to join. Ruken returned to Morgrave University. He serves as a liaison between House Orien and the University, and in his capacity as alumnus he helps new students attending the University by mentoring them and ensuring they adjust to life in Sharn. He paid a visit to Alfreda Robbins, an affable gnome serving as Morgrave Dean of Students. Alfreda informed him that she had heard of a new student coming from the faraway land of Aerenal—one named Amras d’Phiarlan. He hailed from the family bearing the Mark of Shadow as it exists on Aerenal, although Alfreda was unsure whether Amras was marked himself or not. She told Ruken that Amras would arrive in about a week’s time by boat, and asked whether Ruken could serve as liaison and mentor. He said he would, and they agreed that he would return in one week’s time for an introduction. Westley returned to Karr’ashta the Inquisitive. He requested an update on seeking out his brother’s commanding officer, but Karr’ashta had no further information at the moment. Westley then took a big gamble: he decided to hire Karr’ashta to perform two additional duties apart from seeking the officer. First, Westley revealed that they were searching for a Cult worshipping the Dragon Below, and wanted Karr’ashta to learn everything he could about it and where it met and then report back. Second, he asked Karr’ashta to launch an investigation into Jasper’s entire company led by Deneith’s commanding officer to see whether there was any reason why all of their records should have been stolen. Karr’ashta accepted the jobs but demanded triple payment, one for each assignment. Westley reluctantly paid and left. [What an interesting turn of events—the City of Towers book itself says that Karr’ashta is secretly an agent of the Cult. :) --Ed.] Part 4: Hatching a plot Dinner that night did not include Lenara given her appointment in Hareth’s Folly. The other characters began to plot how they would try to infiltrate the cult the next day. They decided they needed to find out where Borzuyeh lived in hopes of finding further clues as to the cult’s whereabouts. They decided that some of them would attempt to follow Borzuyeh the next day, while others would meander the district trying to look inconspicuous. When Lenara returned they filled her in on the plan, which she protested as she did not see how she could be made to look “inconspicuous.” Rusk told them he would contact a friend of his to help create a distraction in the district to try to divert attention from some of the more conspicuous types. On their way home to the Deneith compound, Westley and Galen thought they heard footfalls behind them as they were crossing a bridge. They saw nobody, but it was the first of several subsequent incidents where Westley became convinced he was being followed. The group put their plan into motion the next morning. Galen and Westley ordered the Deneith servants to bring them the smelliest poorest clothing available in the compound. The servants returned with the gardeners’ clothes. They and the others met at the Pink Hippogryph inn at the edge of High Walls district, where Rusk used his unusually good disguising ability to make the characters look like Cyran refugees (including pitch in the hair to make it dark). There was unfortunately no disguise for Lenara. Galen went to the nearby market square to hang around until a suspicious guard made him leave. Ruken disguised himself as a beggar, who made not much money in an already poor district. Dyllan went into the Whistling Pig and made himself inconspicuous while he scoped Borzuyeh out, who did not arrive until a bit later. But the star of the day was Vril, who left the group as Rusk and then changed into his Cappen Vera half-elf persona. He went through the streets singing sad odes about Cyre, and his performances were outstanding [he rolled very highly in his Perform check—Ed.]. So good were the performances that he actually had people following him around for a good part of the day, thus distracting attention to the awkward Warforged that seemed to have business in the district. Later in the evening as other events unfolded he stayed at the Whistling Pig to give another performance that was met by standing ovations, so that he could keep an eye on Borzuyeh and the tavern goings-on. Borzuyeh left the tavern after lunch and was shortly followed by Dyllan and later Westley. They managed to find the house into which Borzuyeh disappeared. They stalked the house all afternoon but Borzuyeh did not emerge until dinnertime, when he left back in the direction of the tavern. The sun had set and it was getting dark. Westley remained on lookout while Dyllan attempted a break-in. Dyllan approached the house and saw it was completely dark. The door was locked, something that was simply resolved. Dyllan quietly let himself into the house, and stumbled around until he found a small oil lamp on a table. He lit it and found himself in a small but cozy house, in the middle of its living room. He noticed stairs going upstairs and up he went, whereupon he found a corridor and two bedrooms. He entered one bedroom, noticing a desk by the window. Upon further investigation he found a scroll case in a desk drawer, and a letter to Borzuyeh laying on top of the desk. He took both. He then went into the other bedroom and noted it was used as a storage space. He noticed several black cowled robes hanging on the walls, with accompanying medallions bearing the Cult’s symbol. He took two sets of these, the only ones that could fit into his sack, and then quickly departed the house. Borzuyeh left the tavern; Galen and the others trailed him at a fair distance so he would not notice. In the meantime Westley saw him coming, so he and Dyllan quickly left the area and joined the crowd of people on a nearby larger avenue. The two of them met with the rest of the party minus Vril; but Vril had finished his performance at the tavern and left himself. He eventually intercepted the rest of the party but they did not recognize him in his half-elf disguise. Despite his flamboyant efforts to befriend them and provide them with information he had, they became deeply suspicious of him—especially Galen. Westley put it best: “we didn’t know you ten minutes ago and you want us to trust you?” Cappen claimed that Rusk had hired him to help the others, but Rusk had failed to mention that to the characters himself. A very funny exchange occurred between the various characters before they essentially dissed Cappen Vera and left him to his own devices, much to Vril’s frustration. As they were leaving, Westley looked in the direction of the Whistling Pig and saw a shadowy figure looking in his direction standing right next to the tavern. He turned back to the others and told them he’d be right back, but when he turned back around the figure was gone; he ran up to the tavern but the shadow was nowhere to be found. The group then returned to the Pink Hippogryph. Part 5: Into The Sewers The characters gathered around the items Dyllan had found. They read the note, which was from someone named Aranis addressed to Borzuyeh stating that the next induction ceremony would be the following evening. They also discovered that the scroll case contained a map scroll. Upon further inspection they saw the scroll actually contained two maps—one was a 2-D cutaway map of two towers in two different districts; each one showed a stairway descending into sewers and thus being connected by them. The second map was a sewer map that seemed to join the two towers together. Several of the Sharn natives present recognized the two towers as being Molgrim Tower in High Walls, and Valor Tower in Cogsgate. They decided to investigate the map’s destination. They went to the area of Molgrim Tower indicated on the map and discovered two abandoned stores. They investigated the first one but found the dust on the floor undisturbed; when they checked the second they saw many footsteps coming and going and thus knew they had the correct one. They searched carefully for secret doors and found one in the middle of the floor. Dyllan also discovered and disarmed a trap. Opening the door they smelled a fetid odor emanating from below, with stairs descending into darkness. Lighting a lantern, they descended one by one. The stairs seemed to descend forever, and the bad odor increased in intensity. Finally the stairs ended, and the characters were confronted by a hatch on the floor. Opening the hatch they saw it led down into pitch dark sewers. As they descended they noted the sewage came up to their heels, and they noted the occasional gush of water cascading into the sewers from various points. Ignoring the smell, the party pressed on in the direction indicated by the map. After walking for some time, Dyllan thought he heard an unusual splashing behind them. Further attempts to listen confirmed that something was in the dark and seemed to be stalking them. The party picked up the pace but so did the splashing sounds. They stopped again and Dyllan decided to fade into the shadows to see whether he could ascertain who was stalking the party. The party then moved on, and complete darkness surrounded the thief. Moments after the light had passed leaving him in complete darkness he heard several sets of steps coming up behind, along with guttural voices. Thankfully they appeared not to see him. He overheard their talk: “They are near….i can almost SMELL them!!!!” one hissed. “Back off….they’re mine first..I haven’t eaten in FIVE DAYS!!!!” growled another. “Silence or they will hear you!” admonished a third. Then they were gone. The party had indeed heard them. They decided that enough was enough and they would make a stand. Lenara rushed back in the direction of the stalkers, who had now moved into the outer ranges of the lantern’s light. She saw what appeared to be feral shifters, each wearing a red arm band [they were four members of the Red Jackals sewer gang—Ed.]. With a bloodcurdling scream, one of the creatures shifted into Razorclaw form, with wicked looking claws growing from its fingertips. It viciously attacked Lenara and sunk her claws deeply into the Warforged and gravely wounding her. Lenara swung back in desperation and decapitated the miserable creature in one blow with her greatsword. Dyllan snuck up behind the group and stabbed one deeply in the back, and was met with another scream and an attack that thankfully missed him. One of the creatures broke away and ran towards Galen and the others, but Westley intercepted it and came up behind it. He plunged his rapier into the shifter’s kidney and finished it off with a dagger blow through the eye. It dropped immediately, and a small rivulet of blood quickly flowed past the horrified Galen. Galen rushed to heal the wounded Lenara, but was dismayed at how his spell had almost no effect. Dyllan finished off the third, and the fourth fled down the sewers. They decided not to give it pursuit and continued on their way. Eventually they reached the end of the sewer map and noticed there was another hatch. They opened it and climbed up, noticing there was another stairway ascending into darkness. This one was covered by thick sticky webs, but no spiders seemed to be in evidence. They climbed the wide circular stairs, level after level until all of them were quite tired. At last they came upon a thick ironbound door. Dyllan attempted to disarm the trap he found on the door but activated the trap instead; a small dagger flew out of a little hole and gave him a glancing blow in the chest. He unlocked the door and they entered. The party found itself in a dark room about 30x30 in size, and a door on the far end. On one of the walls were many pegs, and on the pegs were sets of black cowled robes and their accompanying medallions. They went through the smaller door and found themselves in what seemed to be the Cult’s indoctrination chamber. The chamber reeked with the coppery smell of dried blood. Up against one wall was a dais. The dais was surrounded by several tall candelabra with unlit candles. On top of the dais was a pillar with manacles, and the entire stone floor surrounding the pillar was stained in red. In the center of the dais was a table, on top of which lay a large iron pot and a bloodstained dagger. Inside the pot was a branding iron that bore the stylized bird symbol used by the Cult. Fearing that the Cult would for some reason come up the stairs (especially after Borzuyeh noted his documents missing), the group made a quick exit after trying to leave everything as it was before. Unfortunately Dyllan could not re-set the trap on the door, and the dagger just stayed limply inside its hole in the door. They rushed back down the stairs and through the sewers without further events. They went back up the stairs of Molgrim Tower and exited back out at the store. They pulled the trap door shut and the trap reset itself. The party then left the abandoned store. To be continued…..(next game is March 26.)
Web_Dancer 03-07-05, 12:06 AM	This is great! You have a great writing style and love how you include DM comments about what spells are beings cast and such, I wish other campaign logs would do this. Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see what happens next. :)
James Silverleaf 03-07-05, 08:14 AM	nice story... I like your style.... i just spent one and a half hour reading this. :D:D i like this dude.-... keep it coming
DolArrah 03-07-05, 09:06 AM	Hello. Great story by the way. Do any of your characters have accounts here? If so, I am sure we would like to hear from them as soon as possible. Talking to the characters makes the thing more real, and we get their take on it.
Felmor 03-07-05, 09:12 PM	Hello. Great story by the way. Do any of your characters have accounts here? If so, I am sure we would like to hear from them as soon as possible. Talking to the characters makes the thing more real, and we get their take on it. No they don't. I will forward what you said to them to see if any of them want to log in. :)
Felmor 03-07-05, 09:16 PM	nice story... I like your style.... i just spent one and a half hour reading this. :D:D i like this dude.-... keep it coming Thank you. :) I'm totally new to DM'ing my own stories so I appreciate the encouragement. When I was in high school a VERY long time ago I DM'ed but it was always from modules.