Eberron Adventure Journal: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (4)

Rhaan 28 - Sypheros 1, YK 998

Part Five - Travel By Lightning Rail

The Wolves spent an hour or so investigating the fallen airships. They discovered no bodies that they believed to be Grilsha or Captain Rarwog, although in fairness plenty of the bodies were completely unrecognizable thanks to the spectacular crash. As they finished ransacking the wreckage, a patrol of soldiers, headed up by a Captain Vox, rode up to them out of Sterngate. They were shocked to learn that there had been any survivors, and the captain expressed an interest in hearing the Wolves' story of the attack and crash, but didn't seem suspicious of them. Lysander spun the tale, presenting them as humble travelers who had been onboard the Cloud's Destiny when it was attacked by the Emerald Claw. They had gotten aboard a skiff and escaped before the crash hit. He did not mention Lucan or the true identities of the Wolves.

When the Wolves got into Sterngate, they noticed that there was a lightning rail station, and that a train was currently docked there. Vox indicated that the train was heading north into Thrane in the morning, and given that there were no airship docks in town, the Wolves quickly deduced that this was the fastest way for Lucan to get north towards Karrnath. "Lucan will be aboard that train in the morning," Pel said with certainty.

With an overnight stay ahead of them and no easy way to find Lucan or Grilsha, the Wolves settled in to an inn and had meals and rest. Lysander performed for a small but appreciative crowd in the tavern part of the inn, and everyone took turns venturing into town to see if they could learn anything that might point to Lucan or his sister. They got only vague information, but it was enough to confirm their suspicions that Grilsha was alive, and that she and Lucan had made their way to town. They booked passage on the lightning rail to its next stop in Starilaskur, including a cargo cart passage for Whitehearth, who was put onboard overnight.

The next morning, when the Wolves went to board the train, they found that Lucan had left another surprise for them. Two dominated House Orien guards and a swarm of bats engaged the Wolves as the train began to power up to depart. The Wolves fought only briefly, quickly realizing it was to their advantage to avoid the fight and get onboard the train, which they did, with minor damage.

Once onboard, the Wolves went to work investigating. They were in a passenger coach with a family traveling to Thrane (evidenced by their Silver Flame medallions), a pair of gnomish businessman and an attractive elf woman. Brand and Kanatash headed back to the cargo coach to check on Whitehearth while Tock, Pel and Lysander moved forward to go to the lounge. The elven woman got up and said to the Orien steward that she wanted to go to the lounge as well. The steward unlocked the door allowing them access to the next coach, which also had a steward and a lock guarding it.

In the lounge car, the men found out that the woman's name was Yara, and that she was in "security" and a frequent traveler. The lounge was empty except for the Wolves and their new companion, save a bartender who offered them berry juice given the early hour. Lysander inquired about performing and put on an impressive performance, leading the bartender to hire him to perform at lunch and dinner in exchange for free food and drink. Lysander also played the rough draft of his chronicle in the making about the Wolves to an appreciate Yara. Yara insisted that Pel and Tock stay to hear the song as well, which seemed suspicious, but none of the men believed her to have an agenda, as she seemed just to be seeking attention and company.

Pel did test the security by moving into the next coach, but found himself blocked by a steward. He succeeded in getting into the next passenger coach by bluffing that he needed to use the nearest privy, but there was no one suspicious in the next cabin, and he was unable to easily investigate the private cabins or move much further into the train without arousing suspicion. Brand also informed them that the private coaches of House Orien contained a thin sheet of lead that would prevent Detect Undead and similar mystical means of locating Lucan. It seemed that they would have to bide their time and find the moment to unmask the vampire.

With direct investigation ruled out, Pel spent some time going through the papers he had discovered in Grilsha's room aboard the Cloud's Destiny. He found a half-finished scroll of dimension door as well as notes for her journal. The journal indicated that she knew that her brother had become a vampire, and had watched him murder and feed, but that he had told her he was seeking a cure for his condition in Karrnath. She was staying with him out of loyalty, and because she believed she could help her brother cure himself of his vampirism using the many necromantic secrets possessed by those in Karrnath.

When they arrived in Starilaskur, Kanatash mind-linked the Wolves, and they all went off, most of them following potential suspects who might be Lucan or Grilsha. None of these leads turned out to be anything, and the most successful three-hour layover was probably that of Lysander, who spent some time in a museum with the lovely Yara. She seemed to have a knowledge of sculpture and an appreciation of art, and had a bit of a kindred spirit with Lysander in many ways.

Three hours later, in the middle of the night as 28 Rhaan turned into 1 Sypheros, the train departed Starilaskur and began its long journey up into Vathirond, its last stop inside the borders of Breland. The Wolves mostly rested and slept on this leg of the journey, with Kanatash creating some psionic powerstones and Lysander spending his time getting to know Yara and entertaining passengers in the lounge car.

The stopover in Vathirond, taking place mid-morning on 1 Sypheros, saw most of the passengers disembark once more. No doubt the worshippers of the Silver Flame aboard went to find a local church celebrating the religious holiday of The Ascension, and others probably sought out a heartier breakfast than they could find aboard the train. Three hours later, the train headed out towards the city of Aruldusk, just inside the borders of Thrane.

As it turned out, the lightning rail was not going to make this destination. After about eight hours on the journey, well into the evening and well inside the borders of Thrane, there was an attack. Lysander was entertaining in the lounge, and Yara was there as she had been over the past two days. Brand was riding with Whitehearth in the cargo cart near the back, and the rest of the Wolves were relaxing and talking in their passenger cart.

Brand was the first to realize something was wrong, when the door to the cargo cart swung open and he saw a female identified warforged and four male warforged coming in. Tock had a clue as well, as he looked out the windows and saw a halfling fly by, mounted on a glidewing. Brand quickly retreated with Whitehearth back to the passenger cart, warning the others that the warforged were coming, and the battle was joined.

The warforged rushed into the cabin, one of them falling to the attacks of Brand, Whitehearth and Tock as he tried to bully his way through. The female, wielding a scimitar, called out "Weak flesh! Surrender the schema!" and then led her warforged in an attack. Kanatash's energy missile was loud enough to signal those in the lounge that something was going on, which is when Yara did something interesting. She moved forward, convinced the steward that they should all move away from the attack, and slipped into the next passenger cabin. Lysander, curious about her intentions, turned invisible and followed her.

As the warforged fell in battle to the Wolves, mostly doing little to no damage, Lysander watched Yara move up to the door of a private cabin and begin to pick the lock. She didn't get far, as the door opened and standing there was Lucan. "Arenydee," he said, surprised and clearly recognizing "Yara."

"Lucan, it's over," she replied. "Surrender." She drew her rapier and stepped back, bumping into Lysander. He whispered quietly who he was and that he was there to back her up. Seconds later, Grilsha, standing behind Lucan in the cabin, unleashed magic missiles that struck Arenydee.

The warforged were dispatched, save the leader, when Kanatash unleashed a powerful mind bolt that ripped through the female warforged. "Weak flesh, we will meet again" she growled, as she leaped over Whitehearth and off the train. The Wolves then began to wonder why Lysander hadn't come back to join them in the fight. They also wondered why the lightning rail had suddenly increased its speed.

Lysander had problems of his own, as he decided to throw his vial of holy water using the element of surprise, splashing Lucan and doing damage but also revealing his presence. Lucan responded by dominating Arenydee and setting her on Lysander.

The Wolves ran, one by one, through the lounge cart and into the passenger cart where the fight was taking place. While they were making the transition, the coach lurched to a sudden stop, throwing most of them to the ground or into the bulkheads.

Grilsha responded to these new attacks as she always had, by protecting her brother, firing off a Fly spell so that he could fly out of the cabin. Kanatash yelled after him that he believed Lucan was seeking a cure, and that they wanted to help him. "I know what your cure would be," he sneered and flew out of the train and into the wilderness. Before he fled, the Soul Blade launched a confusion effect that caught Lysander and Whitehearth.

Kanatash went outside onto the balcony and saw the halfling mercenaries flying away. He levitated over the train and saw Lucan, transformed into a dire wolf, running towards an ancient ziggurat in the distance. Then he went inside to help the others subdue Grilsha and Arenydee. Pel used his rope trick to entangle Grilsha, and though she tried to fool them by turning invisible, it didn't work, and Tock, Whitehearth (attacking in confusion), Brand and Kanatash managed to subdue both women, though not without some wounds to Brand and Whitehearth.

Curious as to what happened to stop the train, the Wolves moved forward and found the dead conductor along with the four Warforged who killed him. The Warforged moved to flee and the Wolves, realizing that they had a larger battle ahead, let them go.

Wounded and a little bit tired, the Wolves knew that their job wasn't done. They had to get to the ziggurat in the Thrane wilderness and track down Lucan once and for all.

XP: 1440