Wandering Wolves: Lightning & Shadows

Dravago 6 - Dravago 13, YK 1000

It took the Wolves four relatively uneventful days to travel back through the jungles of Xen'drik to Stormreach. Halas Martain attempted no further escapes, and when they reached The Citadel of the Twelve, they found Resolute waiting there with Bethesne. He took Halas Martain into custody and the three of them returned, via Orien teleportation, back to Khorvaire.

After a quick journey to the Ship's Cat to pick up Luggoth, the Wolves decided to buy a few supplies around town. They stopped in at Black Iron and Dagoward's Apothecary to pick up some alchemical items, a magic sword and a magic crossbow.

Pel and Lysander spent a day looking around town and listening for information, and heard many choice rumors, all filed away for future reference. In particular, Pel learned that someone had bought 10 barrels of Sooka, a powerful alcoholic beverage, from Molou's Distillery, which was a fairly significant and unusual amount.

Late in the day, they met Ari Romhaar, the elemental mage, in The Ship's Cat to discuss the business with the Behir he had talked to them about a few months ago at the Wolves' Reward.

They found Ari Romhaar fairly trustworthy. He had been running his Elemental Carnival in Fairhaven for four years, having begun it just after the Treaty of Thronehold ended the war. During the war, he was a spellcaster in the Aundarian army. He is an expert with elemental magic, specializing in lightning, and is in several business associations, including one with Tyman Karch, who had vouched for him.

Ari explained that about nine months ago, during one of his regular scouting trips, he heard of a Behir terrorizing the swamps of Xen'drik. He went out to talk to it, and after four separate trips over two months, he offered it 10% of the gate and an up-front payment of 2500 gold to join his circus for a year. The Behir took the money and signed the deal, but when Ari went back with a barge to transport him, the Behir blasted it to smithereens, killed everyone on board and sent Ari packing. When he went back again two weeks later, having secured adventurers to help him, the Behir killed them and scarred Ari, nearly killing him.

Ari explained that he doesn't want the money back. He spent a lot of time and money on this deal, and the Behir negotiated in bad faith. He still has every intention of giving the creature its money, but he has no intention of letting it out of the contract it signed.

Pel and Lysander examined the contract and determined that it wasn't a forgery, that it was legitimate, and though some of the Wolves had qualms about capturing a sentient creature, they were convinced that Ari was the wronged party.

The next morning, using a map provided by Ari, they went back out into Xen'drik to find and capture the Behir. It took them the better part of a day to find it's lair, and when they did, the found the Behir eating noisily, totally unaware of their presence.

As they moved into positions, the Behir finished its meal and pricked its ears up. It snapped its neck up to its full height and looked around at all of them, easily spotting their hidden positions, with the exception of Pel, and said dismissively "Don't tell me Ari sent someone else."

Lysander pretended not to know who Ari was, but feigned interest in what the Behir was talking about. His delaying tactics didn't fool the Behir, however, and it made a run at Brand, lightning crackling all around it, starting the fight.

Pel called down a flame strike that narrowly missed the Behir as it crashed toward Brand, but Lysander pulled his songbow out of his cloak and launched a saga of vengeance that crashed into the beast. Seconds later, it was on Brand, and it swallowed him whole. William, unafraid of the lightning aura, moved in and stabbed Terminus deep into the Behir's neck, unleashing a gout of blood, and then he dropped into his rain of steel stance. Luggoth charged up to join him, slashing the Behir with his axe. The Behir tried to stomp Luggoth and William, but both of them were able to avoid his thundering stomp. Brand used his dragonmark to emerge from William's shadow, and the Behir responded by craning its neck down and swallowing William instead.

As Pel fired a bolt from his new crossbow, Lysander began a song of encouragement and fired another arrow at the Behir. The Behir found William to be a dissatisfying meal, doing as much damage with his rain of steel as the Behir's gullet could deal out, but he was unwilling to let him go. The pain distracted him, however, and he failed to land claw attacks on Lysander, Brand or Luggoth.

From inside the Behir, there came an appalling crunch as William and Vendetta went to work on the creature's internal organs, and the Behir's eyes crossed, dazed by the attack. Luggoth ignored the lightning crackling through him and slashed again at the outside of the Behir, and Brand took aim and marked the beast for death. It fired off a clumsy lightning blast which grazed Luggoth and Pel, and tried to stumble into better position, but the Wolves were having no real trouble with it.

Pel used his trick strike to move into a position where he could manipulate the Behir's movement. Lysander, after seeing the beast shake off his disturbing visions, jumped onto a nearby tree and swung on a branch to run up the back of the Behir. The Behir stomped and knocked down Whitehearth and Luggoth, but the sound of a victorious surge by William resulted in more blood pouring out of the beast. William followed up with his bodyguard's link strike, and the Wolves saw Vendetta stab right out of the Behir's gullet before withdrawing inside to do more damage.

The Behir, even in its arrogance, could see that the fight was going poorly, and tried to withdraw, but Brand, William and Luggoth all attacked him as he tried to flee. He called a halt to hostilities and offered to surrender, and the Wolves ignored his request as the self-serving bluff that it was. In response, he tried to eat Whitehearth, who leaped out of the way.

Lysander, firing from the back of the Behir, launched an arrow into two of his feet, pinning him to the spot, as William spun Vendetta around and slammed the pommel into the back of the Behir's throat, causing his eyes to cross and pass out. William climbed out of the Behir, and the Wolves followed his trail back to his lair.

The found a not-inconsiderable amount of treasure and dispersed it amongst themselves, setting aside 2,500 gold to give back to Ari Romhaar. Then they began wondering how they were going to get the thing back to Stormreach. Finally, they settled on dosing him with some of the Sooka liquor Pel had bought and pushing him into a portal that Brand opened.

The portal closed immediately, and Brand had to spend 10 minutes opening another one. When they returned, they found a panicked group of the Stormreach Watch desperately whacking the Behir with their weapons, unable to penetrate its hide even when it was unconscious. William went and paid gold to some dockworkers to roll the Behir on logs over to the harbor.

Ari, having heard the new that the Behir was captured, came and found them, recovered his gold and paid the Wolves what they were due. They made arrangements to meet soon about bringing the Carnival of Lightning to the Wolves' Reward to perform.

With the Behir and the fugitives dealt with, the Wolves' last reason for visiting Xen'drik was the party being thrown by Kira of the Order of Q'annhyrde's on the next night. Their invitations read simply "Hylanus - The Black Wrack" and "Illumination." Pel and Lysander easily determined that Hylanus was the name of an elf who sometimes visits the Black Wrack, a tavern in Locksmith Square that boasted that it was the "largest tavern in Stormreach."

Lysander went to investigate the Black Wrack, and found a colorful collection of locals and visitors drinking and a wall known for having job postings for adventurers. He spent some time watching the staff, and didn't find anything particularly noteworthy or germane to the Order or Hylanus. After his scouting, he went to the Phiarlan enclave in the Temple district and spoke with Zarzalia Shol d'Phiarlan, a female dragonmarked bard, who looked into the records and determined that the Order had not hired House Phiarlan to entertain at their party.

Pel, meanwhile, stopped in to visit his sect of the Traveler. He discovered a little bit about the Order of Q'annhyrde, notably that they were believers in something called "the Age of Mortals" and generally of a nihilistic viewpoint. He was also told about the Cabal of Shadows, a sect of the Traveler that operates deep underground in Stormreach and is rumored to be involved in dealings with the Bilge Rats.

William took some time to write a letter back to Karola, describing his conquest of the Behir. He then rolled it up, put it in a bottle and threw it into the Thunder Sea.

The Wolves gathered together at the Ship's Cat, where Luggoth, Brand and Whitehearth had been relaxing for the day. Lysander used a bardic ritual to seek rumors, and was able to learn that Hylanus was an assassin for hire who worked for House Thuranni, and that he specialized in blade tricks, stories, bawdy jokes and illusion magic, and that he has operated for several years in Stormreach.

Forewarned as best as they could be, they sought out Hylanus at a corner table at the Black Wrack. He asked them "What do shadows seek?" and they responded with the code phrase from their invitation, "Illumination."

Hylanus knew them immediately, by sight and by reputation, and made small talk with them, focusing particularly on trying to tease information out of Lysander. All the while, Pel studied him, trying to detect his mannerisms so that he'd have an easier time spotting him even in disguise.

Hylanus asked to see their invitations, and told them that they needed to go an alley in Locksmith Square where they would find a hidden door. They were to knock on that door, and someone would ask them "What do dragons and demons alike fear?" The answer was "The Age of Mortals."

The Wolves took their leave of Hylanus and went to the Silverwall district and Locksmith Square. It took them a few minutes, but they found the right alley and the right door, and made their way past security for the evening, a pair of Iron Golems, to enter a very decadent party. Dozens of prostitutes of various races, though mostly elf, tiefling and human, lounged about or danced for customers, while a half-dozen elven bards sang raucous and disturbing songs mocking demons, dragons and gods.

Lysander recognized the place by reputation, realizing that they were in Shadows, an upscale brothel run by House Thuranni. Rumor had it that this was Thuranni's only real presence in Stormreach, and that they generally served as purveyors of pleasure, rather than assassins, while here.

The sumptuous buffet table included a number of items, including something that was obviously scrambled dragon eggs mixed with cheese, peppers and meat. Brand examined the oversized egg shells containing the scrambled egg dish and determined that they were real dragon. Luggoth and Pel both ate the dish, but the other Wolves refrained. William in particular said that if he ever had a dragon asked him if he'd eaten dragon eggs, he wanted to be able to say no.

The Wolves spotted several local celebrities in the crowd, including a dwarf named Jannus Amanatu who was the son of the Storm Lord Yarrick and a member of the Golden Lions, a group of the city's most respected families. Pel also spotted Genne, a changeling that he had heard was a member of the Cabal of Shadows.

Tira, the shapely tiefling woman who was throwing the party, made a point to come over and talk to Luggoth and the rest of the Wolves. She spoke disdainfully of gods, demons and dragons, explaining that the Order believed that mortals were supposed to shape their own destiny. They believed that the Prophecy, and indeed most traditional morality, were a farce.

Lysander offered up a parable about religion and how mortals couldn't really see the shape of it, relating to mice and a musician, and Kira acted amused, but didn't have an immediate answer. She left to mingle, specifically mentioning to Luggoth that he would fit in well with their Order.

However, Luggoth was somewhat disgusted by this show of decadence and amorality. He caught the eye of Dekker d'Orien, the Siberys heir who had brought them to Xen'drik. Dekker made several cryptic comments about The Order, and told Luggoth to ask around about where the name came from.

Luggoth sought out those answers, and found them in the form of a beautiful elven woman who offered physical temptations to go with the answers. Luggoth resisted the temptation, and got only information. He learned that Q'anhyrde is also the name of a dragon in Khorvaire, who served the Chamber for almost a hundred years, deciphering and shaping the Prophecy, but who eventually declared that nothing mattered but the present. Many believe he is the one who started the Order.

The Wolves had had enough of this party and the Order, and they left reasonably early without indulging in most of the debauchery that was offered. While most of the Wolves went back to the Ship's Cat, Luggoth went to the temple district to visit a Church of the Silver Flame before settling in for the night.

Early the next morning, they heard someone banging desperately on their door. When they opened it, weapons at the ready, Elias Volan tumbled in. He looked exhausted and badly burned, and managed to mutter one word before passing out.

"Demons."

Wandering Wolves: What Waits in The Dark (1)

Zarantyr 27 - Olarune 7, YK 1000

Resolute scooped the remains of Orlok's brain and internal mechanisms into a bag, as Brand concentrated and drew a circle with a mixture of arcane dust on the floor. His dragonmark flared to life, and in seconds, a shimmering portal opened up, showing the arrival room on Wolf Island in Silver Lake. The Wolves, along with their newest ally, stepped through.

They were greeted by Deneith security, who recognized the Wolves but not the warforged holding a smelly sack. Remembering William's constant cautions against shapechangers, they asked for proof of the Wolves' identities in the form of countersigns, questions and a demonstration of functional dragonmarks by William, Lysander and Brand. With security satisfied, and William happy to see that security was being stringent at the linked portals, the Wolves took the ferry over to the Wolves' Reward.

William disbursed gold, gems and platinum to each of the Wolves from the party treasury, and for his part, he took one of the Karrnathi paintings, which he planned to mount, along with his sword Terminus, in the war room below the Reward.

Lysander and William then went to the House Sivis office to send a message to General Karlach and let him know the status of their mission, and that they would be arriving in Karrlakton in a few days.

Brand, meanwhile, went to meet up with Luggoth and hear about what happened on the way to Passage, and anything of note that happened while he was there. Luggoth didn't have much to report, only that Aeromus and many of his allies in the House had been placed under house arrest, awaiting the scheduling of the trial, which they expected to take a few months, as the barristers would be doing research going back years for the case.

Pel took up a few of his roles around the casino, checking in on various schemes and agents, and then took on his identity of Viorr so that he could charter The Beginner's Luck airship from the Reward out to the Mror Holds, so that the Wolves could check in on potential Emerald Claw activity at the Deneith operation going on at the mining village of Grentonn.

After about four days, the Wolves arrived to make a stop in Karrlakton. They disembarked, gave the remains of Orlok to Karlach and gave him a full report on what had happened. Resolute decided to head to Sentinel Tower and make a report about his whereabouts and ask for new assignments, and bid the Wolves farewell for now.

The Wolves boarded the Beginner's Luck again that evening and flew for four more days to the southernmost tip of the Ironroot Mountains. They disembarked by means of rope ladders and entered the subterranean dwarf kingdom of the Mror Holds, walking through the territory of Clan Soldorak. They were close enough to the active volcano the Fist of Onatar that it was consistently hot, which Pel found quite a relief after their journeys in the frigid Karrnathi wilderness.

A few hours later, they found themselves in the small mining town of Grentonn. It had less than a dozen buildings, including one large apartment building most likely for the families of the miners and several other smaller buildings that represented businesses and other needs for the town. Though the Wolves didn't have anyone who could read the Dwarven script on the doors and windows, they were able to figure out that one of the places was the town tavern, and they went in to talk to Dulok ir'Soldorak, the owner of the place.

The tavern was small, and he didn't have any food to offer, explaining that he tended to work on the miners' shifts, and they had been down in the mine for several weeks, ever since the attacks by foulspawn on the town. Dulok told them that the miners had dug too deep and uncovered a vein of Khyber dragonshards, but in doing so they had dug right into Khyber, and foul aberrations had attacked in response. The town sheriff had died successfully repelling the invasion, and the mayor had arranged a contract with House Deneith for security while they dug out the rest of the shards.

The Wolves left Dulok's tavern and went over to the tents that were the base of operations for House Deneith. William was surprised to see that there were less than a dozen Deneith blademarks here, none of them dragonmarked, and their leader, Lieutenant Falchor, came over to tell him why.

Falchor explained that Maresh and most of the blademarks had gone down into the mine to protect against the foulspawn incursions while the miners worked, and he had left a skeleton crew up above to guard the town against attacks from without. Falchor expressed gratitude that the Wolves were there, suggesting they could help bolster what he believed was not enough men to guard the town.

However, there were several suspicious things about Falchor. For one, he and all his men had bushy beards, which was unusual for Deneith men. For another, he seemed very insistent in trying to keep the Wolves from descending into the mines. And for another, he was somewhat disrespectful and distrusting of his commanding officer.

The Wolves decided to seek a bit more information, and they went to a secluded area in town where Lysander could perform arcane rites to seek rumors. He learned of a teacher missing her students, an unpopular dwarven woman in town and that most of the inhabitants were scared, never going outside, and that they didn't much like what had happened "since the Deneith came."

Suspicious, Pel took on the identity of one of the Deneith blademarks and struck up a conversation. He managed to quickly confirm that the Deneiths were gone, and that in fact Falchor and his men were The Emerald Claw in disguise. Luggoth, William and Brand inspected the traces of blood and other battle scenes in the middle of town to confirm the truth of foulspawn involvement, rather than a battle between the Claw and Deneith. Before they could confront Falchor, however, they got much more vivid proof that foulspawn were attacking Grentonn.

With a howling and screaming, a band of foulspawn emerged from the mine shaft, cutting their way through the disguised Claw and into the town, where they found the Wolves waiting. Brand identified them as William counted them off: 2 Dolgaunt Monks, 2 Foulspawn Manglers, 2 Foulspawn Hulks, a Foulspawn Berserker and a Foulspawn Seer leading them. William pulled Vendetta from its sheathe and the Wolves prepared to battle these foul escapees from Khyber's depths.

Pel quickly turned invisible and moved into position, angling for the leader, as the monks charged Lysander and the manglers began moving around William, their four arms swinging bone daggers at him with freakish glee. Luggoth charged one of the Dolgaunt monks as the Hulks slowly squeezed their way through alleys.

Lysander began loudly singing a song of courage, and he punctuated it by slicing his scimitar across the belly of the Dolgaunt monk in front of him, causing it to let out a gout of black blood and an inhuman screech of pain, as lightning burst from Lysander's sword to blast the other Dolgaunt. Brand swiped at one of the manglers before teleporting next to the Foulspawn Seer. He swung his blades into the Seer, but it disappeared in a burst of warped air before the blades could connect.

Unfortunately for the Seer, it teleported right next to Pel, who became visible and shoved his rapier into the foul being's chest.

Luggoth, William and Lysander wound up in a melee with the Hulks, Manglers, Dolgaunts and Berserker as Pel and Brand pursued the Seer, trying to finish him off. The manglers proved deadly with their dagger dance, moving around their opponent and slashing in with a bone dagger whenever their guard was down, leaving numerous tiny cuts first on Brand and then on Whitehearth.

The Dolgaunts used their tentacles to pull various Wolves around, draining their life force from them before the Wolves could cut loose, and the Hulks pounded on William and Luggoth. The Berserker, in a state of frenzy, spent as much time cutting into his allies as he did cutting into the Wolves.

William finished off one of the Hulks and turned his attention to the other as Pel cut himself free of the Dolgaunt's tentacles and then called down the Traveler's burning flame on the foulspawn in retaliation.

The Seer kept teleporting away as Brand pursued him, blasting at the Orien scion with warp orbs that dazed and slowed him down, keeping him at bay. Though the Seer was sorely wounded, he managed to keep clear of the melee, and his foulspawn servants were able to keep the Wolves occupied.

Brand slashed both swords into the remaining Hulk, one of them cutting deep into its flesh, and Luggoth let out a loud cry of rage and finished the monster off, as William struggled with the Dolgaunt who had him wrapped in his tentacles, swinging Vendetta at the creature even as his life-forced flowed into the monk, healing some of its wounds. He pulled away, but the other Dolgaunt grabbed him and pulled him into position for the Manglers to move in and attack William.

As the Dolgaunts continued to grab the various Wolves in turn, and William suffered greatly at the hands of the Manglers, Lysander did his best to keep the Wolves fighting with his majestic words. When one of the Dolgaunts grabbed Lysander with a tentacle and pulled it to him, Lysander reached into his deep-pocket cloak and pulled out a clockwork bomb and sovereign glue, attaching it to the creature's face.

Brand activated his dragonmark, teleporting and swapping places with Luggoth, and he reached out and clicked the timer on the clockwork bomb as the Dolgaunt lashed out a tentacle and grabbed him.

One of the Manglers began its dagger dance and stabbed William three times, finally causing the battered Deneith defender to tumble to the ground, unconscious and bleeding badly.

Luggoth growled angrily and took the offending Mangler's head off with his sword, whirling and charging the other one, killing it as well.

Lysander pulled out his lute to distract one of the Dolgaunts as Brand teleported away from the other one, leaving it alone as the clockwork bomb on its face exploded, leaving it charred, blind but still alive. Brand's teleportation took him next to the Seer, which he killed with a sword stroke before charging over to attack the Berserker.

As Pel and Lysander moved in to help Luggoth with the Berserker, Luggoth exchanged blows with the other Dolgaunt monk. William, restored by Pel's healing, got up to attack the Berserker as well, as Brand finished off one Dolgaunt monk and then moved to help William.

The Berserker swung his greatsword, again dropping the wounded William, but in response, Brand slipped his longsword into the thing's ribs, ending its life. The Wolves then turned on the last Dolgaunt monk, and Brand and Whitehearth managed to finish it off.

Two Months Pass

Sypheros 18, YK 999 - Vult 26, YK 999

The Layout of the Wolves' Reward:
The Wolves' Reward grand opening is planned for the eve of the new millennium, the night before Zarantyr 1, YK 1000. The opening will include a gala party event and the first performance in the theater. The facilities are open to a limited guest list starting in the last two weeks of Vult, to make sure everything is up and running smoothly, but it's not open to the general public until New Year's Eve.

The ambassadorial city above The Wolves' Reward is named Galifar's Hope, and is due to be finished in the middle of 1000 YK. However, it will be open at the beginning of the year, still under construction but functional enough to house ambassadors and their staff.

House Orien and House Deneith create an island in the center of Silver Lake where linked portals in Sharn (Breland), Passage (Aundair), Flamekeep (Thrane), Trolanport (Zilargo) and Korth (Karrnath) can be reached. Arrival is in a heavily secured area, to prevent anyone from using the linked portals to assault Wolves' Reward or Galifar's Hope. Ferries run by House Lyrandar are used to transport from the island to the casino's dock.

The basic layout of the Wolves Reward is as follows:
The ground floor is made up largely of two casino floors, separated in the middle by the House Ghallanda restaurant, which has a large common area and several private dining rooms, one of which is permanently reserved for the Wolves. The House Phiarlan theater is connected off one of the casino floors, and the other casino floor connects to the House Kundarak bank and the House Orien office. A series of 200 standard rooms surround the casino, with access to the casino floors. The House Deneith barracks for the Protectors security detail surrounds those, and makes up the defensible exterior of the casino.

Upstairs, on the second floor, is the House Jorasco hospital and the new Gareth's Gear, and 100 more standard rooms.

Third level has 100 deluxe rooms, each the size of two standard rooms.

Fourth level has 25 deluxe suites, each the size of five standard rooms.

Fifth level has 25 private rooms and offices for permanent residents of the casino (the Casino Manager, Head of Security, etc.)

Sixth level has 10 private rooms (the size of ten standard rooms), one for each of the Wolves and five extras for any of their guests.

Seventh level is the House Lyrandar docking tower, with stairs descending through the center of the hotel, with exits on levels one through four. A separate emergency staircase is accessible on the fifth and sixth levels, and only exits on the first level.

The ability to construct so high comes from enchantments based on the elemental plane of air, influenced by the construction in Sharn and on Arcanix, and drawing on the same magic that keeps Galifar's Hope aloft.

Underground, accessible by secret doors in the Wolves' personal chambers, is the Wolves' War Room. The key installation here is the Teleportation Disk that the Wolves found in Count Orlok's lair, transported and installed by a few trusted House Orien magewrights.

The Houses at The Wolves' Reward:
Ghallanda-approved restaurant. Phiarlan-approved theater. A House Sivis Message Station & Notary, linked with a House Kundarak bank. House Jorasco hospital. House Lyrandar docking tower. House Orien has an office here, staffed with security and magewrights for the linked portals.

Gareth's Gear opens in the Wolves' Reward, with Tock as its in-house artificer, now a full-fledged member of House Cannith thanks to Lord Kor and Lady Elaydren. The new Gareth's Gear is part of the Fabricators Guild & Tinkers Guild of House Cannith, and has two dragonmarked heirs and several non-dragonmarked operatives of the House employed there as well. "Gareth" is "revealed" to have been a longstanding member of House Cannith as well, this also set up through Lord Kor and Lady Elaydren (both of whom will have to know the truth about Gareth for this to work.)

Josilian Kan d'Tiarlan is a gnome who runs the House Sivis office at the casino. Luggoth met him once, at the opening ceremony for the Golden Dragon. He's a somewhat arrogant, but very sharp, lawyer and translator. He isn't dragonmarked, but is obviously well-respected and powerful in the House, and has two dragonmarked associates.

Rochus d'Kundarak is put in charge of security and operations for House Kundarak at the Wolves' Reward. He doesn't actually run the bank day-to-day, but everyone there ultimately answers to him. He's also responsible for the security systems throughout the casino and in Galifar's Hope. He is the guy who knows every secret passage and every trap in both locations.

The head of the theater at the Wolves' Reward is appointed, a male Brelish dragonmarked elf named Hannet d'Phiarlan. He trained with the Demesne of Shadow, and he is a skilled actor, orator and illusionist, as well as a secret member of the Serpentine Table. He asks Lysander to help create the opening performances, particularly in the realm of music. He has three department heads below him: Glennara d'Phiarlan (Aundarian female elf from the Demesne of Memory, a writer), Colle d'Phiarlan (Brelish female elf from the Demesne of Motion, a dancer/acrobat and another spy), and Byron d'Phiarlan (Thranish male elf, a composer from the Demesne of Music). Each of these departments has a staff of a half-dozen performers or writers, and they will also bring in other Phiarlan performers from time to time for specific performances.

Security by the Deneith Protectors Guild, who have posted fifty trained soldiers at the disposal of the Head of Security for the casino. This is in addition to the private security personnel who work for the ambassadors and House officials.

Galifar's Hope:
The ambassadorial city above The Wolves' Reward is named Galifar's Hope, and is due to be finished in the middle of 1000 YK. However, it will be open at the beginning of the year, still under construction but functional enough to house ambassadors and their staff.

As expected, six nations have assigned ambassadors to Galifar's Hope.
Breland's ambassador is Cersi Kemble, a female half-elf (and Pel knows she is secretly a King's Dark Lantern).
Karrnath's ambassador is Sedge Avadarrn, a male human that the Wolves met on the Golden Dragon, and his skeletal bodyguard Skarad is with him.
Thrane's ambassador is Prince Valtar ir'Wynarn, a male human who is a cousin to the Queen of Thrane.
Aundair's ambassador is Neya ir'Krell, a female human that the Wolves met in Zilargo while chasing Lucan, and both Pel and Lysander suspect she is secretly one of the Royal Eyes of Aundair.
The Mror Holds have assigned Moris ir'Mroranon, a male dwarf who was the father of Jalis ir'Mroranon, who ran Gareth's gear until she was murdered, and the Wolves (especially William) pick up some mild hostility from Moris as a result.
The Eldeen Reaches have appointed Arden Thea, a female half-orc druid. And Zilargo has sent Borton Malek, a male gnome career politician.

There are four other ambassadors in Galifar's Hope as well.
The Lhazaar Principalities have sent Lady Damia Valisa, a female human who dresses and acts more like a pirate captain than an ambassador.
Though not officially recognized, Cyre has sent an "observer" to look out for their destroyed nation's interests, a successful artist and jeweler named Medyev Celian.
The biggest surprise is that one of the dragons of Argonessen has sent an ambassador at the Galifar's Hope - Maechen Eyre, former member of the Wolves, with Muroni, another ally, as his bodyguard and aide.
In addition, rumor has it that Droaam will have a permanent ambassador attached, although no one knows who it is yet.

Events in the last two months:
Rumors surface of an assassination attempt against the Daughters of Sora Kell, and of secret meetings between the Daughters and ambassadors from the Sigilstar Alliance (brokered through Aundarian ambassador Neya ir'Krell from Zilargo). The result is a truce, with a more formal agreement to end the war in the works at a summit to be held during the first of the year.

Of course, the assassination was a setup, part of the deal between Breland and the Daughters, as suggested by Pel, William and Lysander to Lord Kor. Best not to ask who the assassins were and how they had earned their death at the hands of Sora Maenya when their "attempt" failed. In addition, the Wolves are officially asked, in the name of peace, not to mention anything relating to Crezyan Rrac, Neshar or any of their activities in Droaam. Officially, none of it happened, because if it did, they would have to explain that Breland was considering an assassination attempt against the Hags.

William:
Some political capital burned for William due to the death of Vadis. William's inability to capture a dangerous fugitive has not helped him in his goal to become a Sentinel Marshal. However, William's stronger ties to the House continue to help him, as he visits Karrnath frequently to connect with members of the House.

Luggoth:
Savannah and her brother want to stay permanently at the Wolves' Reward. Savannah can work as a waitress or hostess. In addition, Savannah has been praying daily to the Flame for guidance about what Luggoth has told her. She has told him every day that the dragons are liars and manipulators, that she doesn't believe he could ever hurt Jaela, and asks him for permission to talk to Prophecy scholars in the church about their interpretation of Luggoth's destiny. But it's his private business, so she won't do that unless he tells her it's okay.

Brand:
Brand visits the Eldeen Reaches frequently during this time, visiting his mother, but his father is nowhere to be found. He will occasionally send messages via Brand's mother, cryptic puzzles that Brand has to decipher before he can read them. It seems clear that he's no longer in the Reaches, Xen'drik or the Shadow Marches, and that he's planning some kind of gambit to discredit Aeromus and restore himself to the House. He doesn't tell Brand exactly what it is, but always closes the messages with a reminder to "Be ready. What we've waited for for so long is almost prepared."

Pel:
Pel also lost a bit of political capital with the death of Vadis. Pel was supposed to bring in Vadis for information and to give Breland a potential patsy for their gambit with the Daughters of Sora Kell.

Kalibar Jenks makes frequent visits to the casino under construction with his elven bard companions. When he does, he always spends some time talking to Pel, passing along information to Viorr. The Boromar Clan has consolidated its hold on the council now that the Tyrants are in a bit of disarray, and they have more political influence than ever. The Daask were also a bit shattered by Vadis's plot to destroy them, and by being cutoff from Droaamish reinforcements by the war. They've been laying low, and the Boromars more or less have the run of Sharn as far as organized crime goes right now. The bad news is, they're more powerful than ever. The good news is, without rivals and gang wars to speak of, they're more of a corrupt political force than a criminal gang at the moment.

The Tyrant Council has fallen under the temporary leadership of a woman, quite probably Yelena, one of Vadis's former lovers and someone who Pel did not have a great relationship with. She has spread the word that Pel is no longer to be trusted. He is more or less out as a member of the Tyrants. Not that it really matters, as he now has eyes inside the organization and more power than even being head of the Tyrants would have given him. At any rate, the Tyrants, deeply affected by Vadis's failed ambitions, have cut back their operations to more contained prostitution, blackmail and information-brokering, rather than trying to start and maintain dangerous gang wars.

Questions:
1. Given the Wolves' adventuring natures, they're going to need a head of operations that they trust for the casino. Someone who knows how to run the place, someone that they trust. They might be able to get someone appointed by folks they trust, maybe someone from House Deneith or House Phiarlan, although they might have secondary agendas you don't know about.

Looking over the various folks you know, the obvious choice is Chance, who runs a casino in Sharn and might be convinced to come run The Wolves' Reward instead. He's a known loyal quantity, and the only secondary loyalty he has is to the Traveler, which is probably a net positive for Pel but might not be so welcome to William.

Other suggestions?

2. Along similar lines, you're going to need a Chief of Security, who will have to be from House Deneith. The obvious possibility here (a recommendation from William's mother) would be Diarmand d'Deneith, William's swashbuckling cousin. He's more light-hearted than most Karrnathi, which would suit someone running security for a casino.

3. Name of the Theater? The Restaurant?

4. What does Pel tell Captain Vron, his superior in the King's Citadel, about what happened with Vadis? Keeping in mind that if he wants to substitute a new Vadis in with the Tyrants, Vron is going to have to know about it.

If there are layout changes or things you'd like to have in the casino that I haven't enumerated above, add them in the comments. The Wolves had input into Cannith's building of the casino, so you can definitely change things if you want to move them around. Also, y'all might want to look through Adventurers' Vault 2, pages 79-82, for magic Lair items, next time we get together.

Wolves: The New Era

Being the travel journal of William d’Deneith, wielder of Terminus, during his time with the adventuring company The Wandering Wolves.

First entry, Barrakas 24, 999—

My new comrades, who also claim to be my old comrades, filled me in on some things that happened during my dreaming. An adventuring company of four changelings called The Shifting Blades impersonated us and attempted the assassination of the King of Breland, leading to a prolonged and continuing hunt for us.

According to some fancy spy named “Kalibar” or something, whom the other Wolves seem to trust and I would prefer to skewer, the Shifting Blades are operating in Zilargo. He says that a journalist named Gerand Moor was doing an exposé on the Shifting Blades, but disappeared a few days ago. He thinks the Blades won't kill Gerand because he is an operative of the Zilargo secret police, called the Trust. He sent us to Trolanport aboard his stormship Galifar’s Fury or something to try to find this hack.

After an uneventful 8-day trip notable mainly for its lack of female company, we landed at Trolanport and began investigating. The head of Witchfire House, a tavern, told us to check the ships coming in; might want to walk around docks, talk to sailors and navigators; everyone nervous about Droaam war. A gnome says he saw Gerund Moore, asking around about a tavern called The Kraken’s Eye.

Some half-orcs I beat up said that some changelings operate out of The Kraken’s Eye. A later contact of Lysander’s said that those changelings aren’t the Shifting Blades. Ly and Pel impersonated Brelish investigators and gather information from Zilargo law enforcement with a glib limerick:

A beast in Zilargo is clawing
Folks’ throats and their blood he is drawing
We’re both here from Sharn
There’s no cause for alarm
But the state of your files is appalling!

+300 XP result of skill challenge

Pel, Lysander, and Brand went to search the apartment of Gerand Moor after tracking that down, discovering that while there are five shifting blades, the are six of the other gang, led by a succubus named “Melissandra.” Sounded hot.

Ly cast an illusion on us, making us appear to be half-orc pirates, and we entered The Kraken's Eye. Immediately espying the most likely candidate for a succubus, I walked over and inserted myself rudely between some asshole and the only lady patron in the joint and told the fop to piss off. Ly tried to intervene to prevent a brawl, bizarrely, but when the lady kissed me and asked my protection, a fight began as the the other Wolves belatedly recognized her as the succubus.

I stood toe-to-toe with the fop in the cape, who transformed into a big-ass werewolf, while Melis flew around and kept ensorcelling my allies. I was bitten by the werewolf and contracted Greater Moon Fever, but in the end Terminus put him down. Melis escaped, another success for William, her hero.

+720 XP result of combat

Treasure: 4 daggers (Ly), magical unfettered thieves’ tools [AV178] (Pel), 8 gems @ 100gp each (party)

We kept one of the changelings for interrogation. He told us that they had hired House Tharashk to guard Gerand Moor, which they are doing on a boat in the ocean. Foes are said to include two gargoyles, harpies, minotaurs. At the conclusion of the interrogation, Luggoth decided unilaterally to slay the prisoner. After a short break for food and drink, we proceeded quickly to the docks. Pel disguised himself as the werewolf fop, and the rest of us returned to our natural forms.

Happily, one of the guards saw through Pel’s disguise and we launched immediately into combat, against two minotaurs, two gargoyles, a harpy and a flail-wielding ogre.

The harpy opened with a Song of Fire, which caused constant burning and blistering of our skin, and without even the courtesy of a little romp in the hay that you'd get from even the dirtiest of the ladies of the Crimson District. Unwisely, however, she then flew into melee range, hovering just off the quay. I spitted her with Terminus, and my allies promptly tore her apart. Unfortunately, the distraction let the ogre advance upon us before we were fully prepared, and Brand took a wrecking ball in the gut.

Soon, however, we had the ogre surrounded, and despite receiving nigh-mortal wounds, I managed to land the killing crushing blow. Then all that remained were the gargoyles. They attempted to flee, but Luggoth slayed one and I stopped the other, which promptly turned to stone. I wrapped an anchor and chain around it and threw it into the sea.

+680 XP result of combat

Treasure: 1000gp gem, 600 g

Aboard the vessel, we found and freed Gerund Moore. He told us that the Blades are investigating Droaam, the Queen of Stone, and an Ogre Mage, and that they had booked passage from Droaam back to Trolanport. He gave Lysander a Choker of Eloquence [AV150]. He suspects that the Blades plan to return to Trolanport with 4 captives, since they booked passage for 8.

Leaving Gerund, we had a conference with Kalibar The Prick again, who told us in confidence that peace talks have been underway with Droaam despite the King’s misgivings. Sounds like he's a traitor, too, then. So it sounds like the Blades are trying to interfere with that treaty. Weird that they'd end up doing what the King they tried to assassinate would probably prefer. The Queen of Stone and Tzaryan Rrac (the ogre mage) are coming here to meet with emissaries from Droaam in Trolanport.

By this time Kalibutthole had contradicted himself so many times even he couldn’t keep track of the lies, so I made him repeat it all again. He believes the Shifting Blades are going to go to kidnap the ambassador and her retinue, come here, and meet with the Breland emissary. He wants us to go and kidnap her first, which just sounds like a terrible idea. Apparently after actually committing a kidnapping against the Ambassador of Droaam, he’ll clear our names of not actually committing an assassination attempt against the King of Breland. Oh, no, never mind; we get to do the clearing ourselves. Class act, this Kalibar.

Wandering Wolves: Lure of Ancient Spells (2)

Dravago 17 - Nymm 5

With the Library of Korranberg team in possession of the journal, the Wolves had only a few pages and their secrecy on their side. They headed out into the jungle and raided a fallen Giant laboratory that had a few surprises left in store, namely alchemy beetles and a couple golems, as well as a black dragon that had taken up residence. The Wolves defeated all their adversaries, driving the dragon off into the jungle, before cracking open the vault below. They found the translation wheel they needed to translate the maps they would find at the Idol of Dal Onam, and they found that it was guarded by a half-mad giant ghost. They fled from the ghost with the wheel.

Outside, they had a run-in with Lucan and his sister Grilsha, who were working with the King's Task Force. They managed to trick him and escape the task force for a time.

Dal Onam turned out to be a gigantic stone statue with a temple below. It had been taken over by Yuan-Ti, who had already captured a team of Cyran mercenaries also seeking the Labyrinth of Ancient Spells. They rescued the mercenary and defeated the Yuan-Ti, using the translation wheel to examine the remnants of the Cul'Sir Empire map room below and determine the location of Yaoteca Venta, the Labyrinth of Ancient Spells, in the southern part of Xen'drik.

Lysander received a message spell from Gorenof, the bard who was heading up the Korranberg Expedition, who revealed that they had been betrayed. He wasn't sure who was responsible, but their academics had been murdered and their airship hijacked, and the forces responsible were now trying to crack the codes and figure out the way to Yaoteca Venta. Using Lysander's scrying and Brand's dragonmark, the Wolves were able to teleport aboard.

They discovered that the betrayers worked for The Twelve, and included a number of dragonmarked as well as Halas Martain and a particularly nasty mercenary troll. After an extended fight in which several people were thrown off the airship and a few members of the Twelve strike force escaped, the Wolves managed to regain control and joined forces with what remained of the Korranberg Expedition to head for Yaoteca Venta.

The travel aboard the airship was relatively easy, considering that they are flying over the untamed lands of Xen'drik. They flew for two weeks, flying over jungle, volcanic fields, vast desert wastelands and a series of mountains called "The Scimitar Spires." The map guided them, but the Traveler's Curse affected them, and the mood had grown somewhat dour, as some wondered if they would ever be able to find the lost city, even though they had a map to its location.

Then, on the thirteenth day of travel, as the sun faded below the horizon, the mountains broke, the air turned bitter cold and below them were snow fields and glaciers. Everyone felt in a celebratory mood, surely the expedition was getting close. But just after night fell, when most were in their quarters trying to stay warm or get some rest, the airship jerked violently, as if hit by a massive fist. The Wolves rushed to the deck to find strange, arcane-tinged snow and ice pelting the ship with such ferocity that it killed some of the crew and tore into the ship. The captain ordered them to turn back, but a massive elemental of ice and wind formed on the deck and smashed him through to the bottom of the ship. One of the quick-thinking crew members summoned the fire elemental from the ship to battle the frost elemental, but it was a primordial thing, shrugging off attacks from all quarters (even the Wolves) and the battle between the fire and frost began to tear the ship apart, sending it plummeting toward the ground.

Brand used his teleportation to save the Wolves and a few of the expedition members, but some kind of magical effect interfered with it. The next thing the Wolves remembered was blackness, and hazy dreams. Pel remembered talking with a faceless, shifting man/woman who told him "You have come seeking one quest, you will find that your role here is one completely different. I have guided you in your travels to help an unlikely savior into this world." Lysander dreamed of Arenydee, on the run in Stormreach from something that was clearly terrifying to her. She looked hurt and scared, but when he reached out to comfort her, he awoke. Brand dreamed of his father, standing beside his drow priestess looking pensive as she attempted to read omens, but she only shook her head sadly. Xydryk dreamed of nothing, although he was the first to awake.

And Luggoth? Nobody knows what Luggoth dreamt of, because he was gone. When the Wolves awake, it took them hours to find one another. They met up in time to find a cave to hide out from the vicious winter storm still raging through the area.

In the morning, the snow was four feet deep, the wind and snowfall had abated and all that was left was a vast chill and a general sense that if they were to reach Yaoteca Venta, they needed to move south.

After hiking for a while through the freezing snow, the group was attacked by a frost giant atop a mammoth, along with his winter wolf and another frost giant. After a harrowing battle, they managed to talk with the giants, and learned that the mounted giant was named Matay, and he was the leader of a group of giants who had escaped from the Everice with their pregnant princess in tow. The princess's child was prophesied to overthrow the corrupt leader of the tribe, and so the leader had intended to murder the princess before she could give birth. A loyal shaman and believer in the prophecy gathered the princess and her few loyal supporters and sailed for Xen'drik, for a place where legends said their people had once lived. The shaman died in the journey, making the princess's birth look even more dangerous, but they did reach their destination.

That place, it turned out, was Yaoteca Venta. Matay took the Wolves to the city, where they found that the princess, very pregnant and due very soon, was resting in the top of the gigantic tower at the center of the frozen city. Pel was certain that this was the quest his god had told him about, that he was supposed to come here and make sure this frost giant prince was born safely. The Wolves helped the princess and made sure the baby was born safely.

Shortly after, a copper dragon appeared and attacked. The Wolves defended the newborn prince and his mother, and defeated the dragon, who explained to them the true nature of the Labyrinth of Ancient Spells. It had been created by the dragons as a prison to contain a Rakshasa Rajah during the Age of Demons. The giants built their city up around it and began researching this ancient prison, and in casting one of the spells, had accidentally frozen the southern part of Xen'drik. The dragon explained that if any of the spells were cast, it could release the Rajah back upon the world. He also explained that Sithov Nagel from the auction house was an agent of the Lords of Dust, and he was on his way with an army of undead and demons to attack the city and unleash the Rajah.

The Wolves teamed up with the giants and the dragon to defend the city, and after a pitched battle, managed to defeat the forces arrayed against them. However, in the course of the attack, two things happened: First, William d'Deneith, leading a force of Emerald Claw expatriates-turned-vampires, rushed into the city to attack the Wolves, and two, Sithov Nagel did manage to get into the city and begin casting one of the spells. As a security measure, only one spell could be cast by any individual being, but Nagel had managed to cast a spell that would begin a chain unraveling several of the other spells, and quite possibly freeing the Rajah.

While the remaining giants and Brand battled William, the dragon, along with Pel, Lysander and Xydryk, began working to try and re-weave the spells so that they could prevent the Rajah's release. Eventually, the battle between Brand and William and their allies spilled down into the spell area. The heroes were successful, but not entirely. They had to use the dragon's knowledge of Prophecy, their arcane abilities, Pel's connection to his god and the Prophecy imbued within their dragonmarks to essentially re-weave reality.

In the end, reality was saved and the Rajah remained imprisoned, but using ancient dragon magic to interfere with the Prophecy resulted in changes in the world, both large and small. One of the most important, at least for the Wolves, was that William was no longer a vampire, but had been restored back to his original form and personality, albeit with a dead dragonmark. The Wolves had undergone other changes in abilities, possessions and perhaps even slight personality and history changes, but they didn't recall these changes. Indeed, there are probably few in the world who remember it as it was, as opposed to how it is. Some of those few are dragons, some of them are Lords of Dust, most of them are probably not entirely happy with it, and thus the Wolves have gained a few new enemies, although they won't ever really know why.

Wandering Wolves: Lure of the Ancient Spells (1)

Dravago 16 - Dravago 17

Part One - Action at the Auction House
After a somewhat eventful stay in Stormreach, the next quest for the Wandering Wolves began at an auction held at Von Ruthvek's Splendors of the South Antiquities Boutique on the evening of Dravago 16.

Using the disguises that they had adopted for all of their time in Stormreach, the Wandering Wolves approached Von Ruthvek's boutique as the sun began to fall. They were asked to surrender any weapons, and asked if they wanted to bank any money to bid on the auctions. Lysander gave a small sum to a House Kundarak dwarf, who immediately placed it in a secure carriage that shortly carried it away with other moneys to a Kundarak bank in Stormreach. In exchange, he was given a wooden paddle with his name on it and a letter of credit for the money.

A sign cautioned "By Order of the Storm Lords, there is no unauthorized magic use inside the walls of Von Ruthvek's Establishment." The security seemed relatively light to Pel and Lysander, a half-dozen members of the Stormreach Guard and a couple Medani sentries, as well as a half-dozen dwarves from House Kundarak. They soon discovered that each auction item was held inside a glass case with a glyph of warding, and that the most valuable items were stored in a Kundarak vault at the back of the shop, which seemed impressively impregnable.

The event was catered by House Ghallanda, who served fine cuisine from all of the Five Nations, as well as a few spicy (and borderline dangerous) treats from Valenar and Q'barra and plenty of Kuryeva, the trademark berry gin of Xen'drik. While they waited for the auction to begin and kept an eye out for Kalibar Jenks, the Wolves mingled with a couple dozen people there for the auction. In terms of folks they knew, they spotted Halas Martain, who was representing the Wayfinder Foundation, but went out of their way not to talk to him. They also spoke with Caius d'Lyrandar, the lieutenant of a Lyrandar wind galleon who turned out to be much more than he appeared.

They also met the guest of honor, Professor Greyare, the only surviving member of the original Yaoteco Venta expedition. He was a man in his early fifties, and was clearly a bit paranoid and unsettled after what he had been through in the wilds of Xen'drik. He was quite friendly with Sithov Nagel, the Aundarian sorcerer who had rescued him, and his standoffish half-orc bodyguard Tellus.

There were a number of bidders there for the auction for Seeker's journal, including Sithov, The Library of Korranberg's gnomish bard Gorenof Vanetos, Lord Dassix d'Cannith and Lady Vanessa d'Cannith, representing different factions of the splintered House of Making, an Aundarian wizard named Weldon Noveq and an art dealer named Melveris that many assumed was a Sea Baron of Lhazaar in disguise. The Wolves had seen Lady Vanessa at Lady Elaydren's wedding, but they didn't speak to her in particular during the auction.

While everyone circulated, Pel and Lysander in particular spread their particular charms around looking for information. They found out details on a number of the bidders, including a private confederation of mages headed by Weldon Noveq, and Pel detected some friction between Sithov and Melveris, but was unable to ferret out any further information.

After about four hours of auction on antiquities from throughout Xen'drik, including a 3-foot tall obsidian statue of Vulkoor, the drow scorpion god, Alexa Von Ruthvek came to the stage and asked the bidders on Seeker's Journal to come forward, while asking the remaining, thinned crowd to be quite while the event of the night took place.

The auction began at 25,000 gp, and began as a contest between Sithov and Melveris, until Weldon and Vannessa d'Cannith joined at about the 60,000 gp mark. Lord Dassix d'Cannith joined in at 75,000 gp, and Gorenof entered at 80,000 gp.

At 95,000 gp, the private mages confederation was outbid, and Weldon left the building. Vanessa d'Cannith, who had outbid him, quickly hit her own limit, however, when Lord Dassix bid 115,000 gold, causing Vanessa to curse and storm out, and causing a bit of a stir amongst the crowd. Alexa Von Ruthvek suggested a small break to calm things down, and when the auction resumed, it was clear that Melveris had also been outbid, as he had slipped away during the break.

With only three bidders remaining, Gorenof picked things up at 120,000 gold, and that was too rich for Sithov Nagel, who graciously excused himself and left with Tellus and Professor Greyare. The crowd had thinned out considerably at this point, down only to those who had won an item in the prior auction and the two bidders remaining in the larger auction.

Lord Dassix and Gorenof exchanged bids one more time, and then Dassix extended his hand to congratulate Gorenof on the winning bid of 130,000 gold. The Library of Korranberg had won the journal and all of Seeker's notes, and would be the ones mounting an expedition to the lost giant city of Yaoteco Venta.

While Alexa Von Ruthvek was settling accounts and making sure everyone got their goods, however, some uninvited guests showed up. A band of drow burst in, taking hostages including an heiress who had won a valuable item and Caius d'Lyrandar. Pel managed to turn invisible before he was noticed, and the rest of the Wolves waited, unwilling to risk the hostages.

The drow demanded that Von Ruthvek open the vault, and when she hesitated, they stabbed the heiress severely wounding her. This was enough to push Von Ruthvek to open the vault, and two of the drow rushed inside. Before anything else could happen, Caius d'Lyrandar did something that provoked his drow guard, who promptly stabbed him and left him on the floor. With the hostages out of the equation, Luggoth went into action, and when he shifted forms, he frightened several of the drow. Pel moved to heal the heiress while remaining invisible, and as the drow and the Wolves jockeyed for position, Brand realized that all they wanted was the idol of their god back. He yelled out to them in drow to take the idol and nothing else and go, and they wouldn't be harmed, and they took him up on the offer.

Pel moved over to try and heal Caius d'Lyrandar, but right before he placed his hands on him, the fallen man transformed into a cloud of mist and flowed through the cracks in the floor.

With the drow gone, Von Ruthvek offered some valuable rings to the Wolves as a token of gratitude. However, the Wolves were hoping for a different form of gratitude, namely a place on the Korranberg Expedition. Gorenof Vanetos was sympathetic, but explained that the decision rested with his superiors, and he would message them and ask for permission, and get in touch with the Wolves in the morning. Since they couldn't use their true identities, they couldn't use their reputation, and thus Gorenof was not optimistic about their chances.

Fortunately, being a part of the auction was not the only way for the Wolves to find their way to Yaoteco Venta and a spell that might cure their old friend William. As they left the auction house, a voice called to them from a nearby alley. He presented himself as a follower of the Traveler, and gave Pel sheafs of paper that were clearly copies of the text in Seeker's journal, before disappearing into the night.

Though lacking the maps and context of the journal, these would provide clues that would lead the Wolves to a Giant laboratory in the jungles that promised to have further clues to Yaoteco Venta.

The next morning, Gorenof came to the Ship's Cat to tell them that the Library had refused him permission to add anyone to the auction. However, he did exchange a song of his with a song of Lysander's, explaining that such a thing would make it easier to find each other, if that turned out to be helpful to either of them later.

Adventure: Eyes of the Lich Queen Part Two

Barrakas 9-10, YK 998


The Temple of Kha'shazul Part Four - Guardians of the Temple Portico

The band used some minor spells and potions of healing before splitting up to investigate the huts of the Blackscale and Poison Dusk Lizardfolk. While Hamba kept watch, Vedim and Sokol searched the huts of the Poison Dusk Lizardfolk they had just killed and found valuable bags of dragonshards. Meanwhile, Ayrmidon snuck over to the huts where they had previously seen the Blackscales, only to find them now abandoned. He did find some kind of white-furred creature howling inside a wooden cage, but was unable to identify it as it roared and shook the cage whenever he got close enough to try and look through the slats.

Ayrmidon reported back to the others, and they all went back to investigate the cage. Hamba suggested that they should let it out, but as he approached the cage, it began to rock back and forth violently, the howling and roaring growing ever louder, and they all determined that this might be a bad idea.

With no further response to the alarm, it was decided to sneak through the underbrush to get to the temple. As they got closer, the adventurers could see a stepped stone platform underneath a stone roof held up by columns. Patrolling on this portal into the temple they saw two Blackscale Lizardfolk. As they snuck closer, Sokol got his foot caught in a vine and tripped, grabbing hold of a large branch for stability. Unfortunately, the branch bent forward and he lost his balance, causing the branch to swing back and thwack him solidly in the face. The resulting din alerted the Blackscales to the approaching adventurers, and the fight was on!

Hamba pulled down his deathmask and rode forward on Ooni's back as Sokol recovered his balance and launched magic missiles at one of the Blackscales. Meanwhile, Vedim moved forward and cast Bless, although Ayrmidon was out of the effect, just a few meters out of reach and readying his bow for a sneak attack.

Unfortunately, his shot went wide, and announced his presence to the Blackscales. While Hamba engaged one of the Blackscales, the other charged into the jungle at Sokol, who continued to pepper him with magic missiles. Then Hamba became aware of another threat, as a creature that looked like half-dragon, half-centaur (later identified as a dracotaur) emerged from the shadows at the entrance to the temple and spit a fiery glob at him. The glob missed Hamba, but it exploded in a shower of flame and sparks that still singed a few of the dwarf's whiskers.

Ayrmidon fired again at the Blackscale attacking Hamba, but was unable to get a clear shot without endangering Hamba or Ooni. Ooni clawed the Blackscale, but she paid for the attack when the Blackscale delivered a crushing blow to her skull, nearly killing her and forcing Hamba to leap off, putting him in the path of the dracotaur's spear, which slid deep into his side.

The other Blackscale reached Sokol and bit him, causing Sokol to draw his sword while Vedim moved in to flank and hit the large creature in the back with his warhammer, causing it to roar in pain and stumble slightly. Sensing its weakness, Sokol fired a burst of magic missiles point blank and killed it, just as two more Blackscale Lizardfolk came around the other side of the temple to join the fray.

Hamba moved to Ooni's side and bandaged her wounds enough to stop the bleeding, and then he stood astride his mount and roared a challenge, flying into a berserker rage. His roar unsettled the Blackscale attacking him enough to cause it to miss, and Hamba slashed into him with his tangat and killed it.

Vedim left the dead Blackscale at Sokol's feet to rush forward and cast a healing spell that awakened the weakened Ooni. Ayrmidon, having cast an infusion to make his bow the bane of Lizardfolk, fired a sniper shot at the Blackscale reinforcements. It was a solid shot right to the Blackscale's chest, but despite its wounds, the creature kept charging, joining up with the dracotaur to close in on the adventurers.

However, Sokol fired a snowball swarm at the dracotaur and the wounded Blackscale, and while the dracotaur dodged most of the damage, the arcane cold spell was enough to finish off the wounded Blackscale. Sokol paid for his bravery, however, as the dracotaur rushed up and stabbed the spear right through his throat, nearly killing the Karrnathi sorcerer. Vedim responded by firing a burst of searing light at the dracotaur, causing it to growl ferociously and turn in the dwarven cleric's direction.

The last remaining Blackscale launched an unsuccessful attack on Hamba, and took an arrow from Ayrmidon in return, but it did get to slash away at Hamba as he rushed to Sokol's aid, slashing into the dracotaur with his tangat. With the Blackscale so close and her defenders gone, Ooni took this chance to swipe her back claws into the nearby Blackscale, hurting it but not killing it.

The dracotaur stabbed Vedim with its spear while swinging its tail fiercely into Hamba, but Vedim managed to recover enough to bestow a curse of slowing on the dracotaur, which slowed him enough for Hamba to finish off the beast.

Meanwhile, the other Blackscale knocked out Ooni for the second time, but before it could deliver a killing blow, Ayrmidon shot it through the chest and the Blackscale fell to the ground.

Vedim moved to heal Sokol as Hamba drank a potion to heal his wounds, and then the group began checking the bodies of the creatures for weapons and treasure. However, while they were searching the bodies, now located in the jungle, they saw a young black dragon fly up and out of the well at the temple entrance. It flew over the jungle, but didn't see them, and then it flew back down into the well.

Not really prepared to attack a dragon after such a close encounter with the temple defenders, the group returned to their campsite a few hours back into the jungle and rested, with Vedim ministering to the wounded Hamba. When they felt rested enough, they left in the middle of the night to return to the temple.

The Temple of Kha'shazul Part Five - The Cult of Rhashaak

The adventurers were pleased to discover that the guard at the temple entrance hadn't been replaced, and so Ayrmidon scouted the well by tying a rope off and climbing down. He discovered that there was a solid floor about 20 feet down, and determined that it could rotate to open, but that the mechanism was clearly located on the other side.

The others joined Ayrmidon and ventured into the darkened temple. Moving down the central corridor, they spotted a bas-relief of a skeletal dragon in victorious battle against a horde of demons, rising like a swarm of locusts from the caldera of a raging volcano. They also heard some kind of beast growling and snarling in an adjacent chamber, and Ayrmidon snuck in, spotting a Blackscale Lizardfolk in a suite of rooms that clearly served as some kind of dormitories. Just beyond, he could hear another of the creatures yelling at whatever the beast was in Draconic.

Ayrmidon pulled back and the group voted on whether to go down the well or to try to find another way in. While Ayrmidon and Vedim suggested attacking the dragon, Sokol counseled taking care of the Blackscales to avoid any reinforcements showing up during the dragon battle, and his course was determined to be the wisest.

Once again, Ayrmidon was given the role of scout and sneak, and he used a Lizardfolk bane on his rapier before Sokol cast a scroll of invisibility on him and Vedim blessed him with Protection from Evil. Ayrmidon snuck into the chamber near one of the Blackscales as Sokol threw a lighted pebble to get their attention.

Much to the surprise of the adventurers, as Vedim cast spells from his god and moved into the circle of light to draw the Lizardfolk out, they heard the Blackscales calling upon their god, the half-fiendish dragon Rhashaak, and protecting themselves from good before moving in to investigate.

As the other Blackscale emerged from the room, Ayrmidon moved in and stabbed the Blackscale in the dormitory with his rapier, piercing the creature's lung. The Blackscale spun in place and slammed its greatclub into Ayrmidon's chest as the other one charged forward into the circle of light and found itself the focus of a burst of attacks from the rest of the adventurers. Sokol unleashed a magic missile as Hamba charged forward on Ooni. The Blackscale adept ignored these attacks, instead swinging his club into the dwarven cleric of a different god.

Ayrmidon stabbed his opponent again, following through on his momentum from his previous attack, and the Blackscale fell unconscious, breathing shallowly from its perforated lung. Meanwhile, the others fell into combat with the Blackscale adept, which managed to avoid taking any hits other than Sokol's magic missile, but was unable to land any attacks either as a result. Vedim and Sokol finished the Blackscale off with searing light and magic missiles. For his part, Ayrmidon finished off the unconscious Blackscale adept with a stab of his rapier.

As the others took treasure and equipment from the Blackscales, Hamba moved into the next room to discover that it was some kind of sacrifice chamber, with empty cages, another well leading down below and a dire wolverine chained to the wall. Hamba calmed the wolverine enough to search its area, but didn't find anything of note there.

Following the faint sound of chanting, Ayrmidon moved through the central corridor and into another room, where he saw a massive altar, a mural behind it depicting a black dragon perched on an active volcano, the bodies of demons littering the base. The room also featured another circular well, and there were three Blackscale Lizardfolk performing a ritual with incense and chanting. One of them was decked out with a gold-inlaid chausible over his robes, clearly the temple's high priest.

Ayrmidon took this chance to fire his longbow at one of the adepts, but it bounced off the heavy armor underneath his robes, and the battle was joined, as Hamba and Ooni rushed in and Vedim cast Magic Circle Against Evil to protect his allies.

Before the Blackscales could do much to react, Ayrmidon shifted his aim up and fired another arrow, this time hitting the adept in the shoulder and causing a spurt of black blood. Hamba charged into the room as the High Priest cast a spell and vanished.

After failing to command Ooni and Ayrmidon with their spells, the adepts joined in combat with Hamba and Ooni. Hamba and Ooni nearly killed one of the adepts, causing it to back off and drink a potion while the other struck Hamba hard with its greatclub.

Sokol unleashed a web spell on half of the room, trapping both of the adepts in the web, and Ayrmidon dropped his bow and moved in with his rapier to attack the wounded Blackscale and finish him off. Hamba began attacking the other one, and Vedim followed up on Sokol's spell by casting burning hands at the Blackscale, lighting the web on fire.

The adept was able to escape the burning web and rush away, but not before Hamba swung his tangat into his fleeing backside. This adept drank his potion of healing, but he was struck almost immediately by magic missiles from Sokol.

Ayrmidon, Hamba and Ooni moved in to attack the adept while Vedim cast an inhibit spell to prevent him from acting, giving Hamba enough time to move into position and kill the adept with his tangat.

Hamba then ordered Ooni to seek the high priest, and was startled to discover that the high priest was only a few feet away, stuck in the vestry next to the altar and unable to escape invisibly thanks to Vedim and Sokol's flaming webs.

Unfortunately, the high priest had taken advantage of the combat to cast a few spells on himself, and empowered by his god's magic, he moved in and swung his greatclub at both Ooni and Hamba, dealing massive, powerful blows to each of them. Sokol opened up with magic missiles, but discovered that the priest was wearing a brooch of protection, and so he instead began preparing to cast a spell into the well if the black dragon were to emerge during the fight.

As Hamba tumbled back to drink a potion, the high priest swung his greatclub into Vedim's midsection, who stepped back a bit to cast a cure spell on Hamba and a quick wound closure spell on the badly wounded Ooni.

Ayrmidon tumbled in to join the fight as Hamba summoned his rage, and Vedim summoned flame into his hands and launched a spiritual hammer to attack the high priest. Sokol, convinced that the dragon wasn't coming, pulled out his bow and began firing at the high priest.

The group concentrated its attacks on the high priest, suffering severe damage from its greatclub and bites in return. Wounds from Ayrmidon and Hamba began to wear down the priest, but a burst of fire and electricity from Vedim that struck just at the right time staggered him, giving Ayrmidon an opening to finish the Blackscale holy warrior off with his rapier.

Badly battered after this battle, the group took treasure and magic items from the priest and his adepts and again retreated back into the jungle. They spent time healing and resting, and as the morning sun rose over the jungle, they resolved to go back into the Temple of Kha'shazul and seek out the black dragon that had made it his home.

XP: 2688

Eberron Interlude: Three Weeks to Xen'drik

Dravago 1 - Dravago 15

And so it was that after a night of rest and rushed planning, the Wolves planned to begin their trek towards Zarash'ak to catch a slow boat to Stormreach. But The Prophecy had one last surprise for them.

When they awoke the next morning, Maechen was gone. He had left simple, short notes to each of the Wolves explaining his departure. While he slept, dreams had come to him, dreams that he was certain were sent by his master, calling him back to Argonessen. He expressed his regret at leaving the Wolves, but said that he hoped the Prophecy would set their paths together again in the future. His note to Luggoth read "You are on the path, Luggoth, and I believe the Wolves will keep you on that path. Do not be swayed by honeyed words and promises, for the Lords of Dust still have an interest in you, and you have a larger role to play."

Unhappy about the departure of their comrade, the Wolves had no choice but to continue without him. Following a plan devised by Brand and refined by Lysander and Pel, the Wolves split into two groups, planning out a rendezvous spot based on Brand's knowledge of the Eldeen Reaches. Luggoth and Cavoletta would lead Savannah and her son Borgoth through the Reaches, moving in a slow but inexorable path towards the swamps of the Shadow Marches. For three days, as they traveled, Brand would teleport with Pel, Lysander and Arenydee to several locations to lay a false trail and send messages to potential allies. At the end of those three days, the Wolves would reunite at a planned rendezvous spot where Brand had hunted often as a boy.

Day One - A Misguided Attempt
For Luggoth's group, the first day of travel was relatively uneventful, although Luggoth quickly learned that Cavoletta's interest in him was more than just that of a lost tribe-mate. Whenever Savannah was out of earshot, Cavoletta would make increasingly lewd suggestions that she and Luggoth should "restart their tribe with new life." Luggoth, having gotten more in touch with his animal side thanks to studying the ways of the were-touched master, found this animal intensity alluring, although whether he acted on it in the heat of passion one night on the trail, who is to say?

Meanwhile, Brand's group attempted to teleport to Fairhaven, but due to Brand's relative unfamiliarity with the location, they instead found themselves in the thematically similar, but considerably more dangerous, Passage, home of Brand's devious uncle Aeromus. It was decided that spreading a false trail in this city might be a bit too dangerous, and so the Wolves disguised themselves and hid out in an inn until Brand was ready to teleport again, the next morning. During the night, Arenydee confessed that she didn't entirely trust Cavoletta. The were-touched mistress had been a great help to them, had saved their lives several times, but Arenydee could not read her thoughts with her magical medallion, and this made her wary. She hadn't wanted to say anything while in close proximity to Cavoletta.

Day Two - Deception, Death and Discovery
As Luggoth and his group continued through the Eldeen Reaches, both Luggoth and Cavoletta sensed that they were being followed. They found a defensible location, a wooded area with a cave, and sent Savannah and Borgoth to hide inside before trying to stalk their pursuers. As it turned out, the pursuers were Lukar Drosin, agent of the Silver Flame and ally, and the House Tharashk half-orc bounty hunter he had hired to help track them down. "Cardinal Hetrion told me that his hands are tied politically, but he stands ready to assist you if he can," Lukar said. "I'll journey with you to help clear your name." Turning to the bounty hunter, Lukar said "Thank you for your assistance, my friend. Without your skills, I doubt I would ever have found them." As he produced a bag of gold, the half-orc shook his head.

"I'm not a friend. I'm a bounty hunter." Luggoth and Cavoletta were already in motion at this point, but it took Lukar a second to figure out what was going on, a second in which the bounty hunter chopped deep into the Silver Flame agent's body with his greataxe. The rest of the bounty hunter's allies, hidden in the forest, opened fire with bows and charged in with greataxes. A dozen trained half-orc bounty hunters were no match for two angry shifters and a Silver Flame spellcaster, though. Lukar fell in battle, but when it was over, a dozen of House Tharashk's best lay beside him. The sound of horses, bringing reinforcements, drove Cavoletta and Luggoth to run, although Luggoth shrugged off Cavoletta's suggestion that we "Leave behind the girl and her cub! They'll be safe enough, and they're slowing us down!"

This day was easier for Brand's group, as they managed to successfully teleport to Fairhaven. Disguised, they set about their individual missions in the town. Pel infiltrated Lady Elaydren's house, not only to leave her a personal written message but also to see if he could ferret out the spy. In the short time he had, he was unable to make much progress, although his gut feeling was that she had not, in fact, been compromised as Arenydee believed. Pel also stopped by "Karch's Korner" to have a chat with Tyman Karch in disguise and leave a message for him as well. He was disappointed to learn that Karch was not a printmaker so much as someone who sold parchment, ink and book-binding materials, although he was heartened to find that Karch believed the charges against the Wolves to be "so much rubbish! They protected my family from the worst kind of demons!" Pel also learned, while doing some research, that the Golden Dragon had been bought by the three-nation coalition and was being retrofitted as a warship, and that Captain Alastair and his crew were now on different ships in the Lyrandar fleet.

Lysander and Arenydee slipped into the local House of Phiarlan to talk with contacts made there while Lysander was playing his tour. This included a visit with Viceroy Dulaen Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan, Lord Seneschal of Aundair and Master of the Demesne of Memory. He agreed to help spearhead a word of mouth campaign amongst the bards of Aundair that would cast doubt on the Wolves' involvement in the affairs in Sharn. He cautioned them, however, that Baron Elvinor had expressly told him not to be too strident in protesting their innocence, although she hadn't said why. She had indicated only that if it were to be a certainty that they had not tried to assassinate King Boranel, things might go very badly for the Wolves.

While Lysander went out to speak with underworld contacts made in Fairhaven, Arenydee and Brand arranged separately to send some of the messages the Wolves had agreed upon. They sent a message to Elias Volan asking him to look into the supposed vampirism cure mentioned in the Morgrave Library archives. They sent a message to Chance protesting their innocence and assuring him that Pel remained on the path of the Traveler. And they sent a message to Dahlia Hume d'Orien in Sharn that Brand was innocent, and asked her to spread the word amongst those in the House.

Before they left, Viceroy Dulaen insisted on giving the Wolves a private dinner, which they warily accepted. Their paranoia turned out to be for naught, however, as Dulaen was a gracious host providing the best meal these Wolves had had in months, and packing their Haversack full of delicious pastries and fine Aundarian wine for their journey.

After the meal, there was also one more surprise waiting for them. Emerging from a hidden compartment where she had observed them, an older elven woman identified herself as Ceranda Elorrenthi d'Phiarlan... Lysander's mother. She explained that after the death of Lysander's father in the war with House Thuranni, she was presumed dead, and she used that to infiltrate the Emerald Claw, hoping to find out if they had been involved in the shadow schism. After more than 20 years with the organization, however, she had seen and done awful things, but she had never been able to determine one way or the other if the Claw was involved in the schism that killed her husband. Finally, two years ago, she had given up, made her existence known to House Phiarlan and come back to the House in exchange for the information she had gathered. She had returned to Sharn, operating in disguises and working on various missions for Baron Elvinor, who was one of her distant cousins. Because she had hidden her survival from her son and had nothing to show for it, she was too ashamed to meet him, although she did use scrying abilities to keep an eye on him from time to time and worked in the shadows to help him when she could.

When the Wolves' supposed assassination attempt took place, Ceranda asked Elvinor to let her help. Elvinor suggested that she go to Fairhaven and investigate Lady Elaydren d'Cannith, to see if she was still an ally of the Wolves. All of her investigations showed that she was a loyal and true ally, and she was unable to determine any information leaks. When she heard that her son was in Fairhaven, she felt it was time to meet him directly. And she had an offer for him, and for his fiancee. "Let me take my new daughter-in-law, or as good as, since you've not had time to wed, and let us do some digging here in her homeland of Aundair. Perhaps we can find out a little bit more about what drives this nation to ally with King Boranel, and maybe find some information that can give the Wolves some leverage in the government here." With Lysander's permission, Arenydee agrees to stay behind and once again indulge in some spy work. Lysander's mother also provided him with a name from Baron Elvinor, Bethesne Shol d'Phiarlan, who would be his contact at the Chapterhouse in Stormreach.

The next morning came the most dangerous part of the operation, the "sighting" of the Wolves in Fairhaven. Pel and Lysander traveled together in the merchant districts of Fairhaven, selling some of the magical items they had recovered from the Corrupting Flame and purchasing a pair of hats of disguise for Brand and Luggoth. Once this was done, they dropped their disguises, rejoined Brand and continued doing some magic item selling and shopping until they were quite certain the guard had spotted them. At that point, they teleported away. The original plan, if the first teleport to Fairhaven had worked, was to teleport to Sigilstar inside Thrane and lie low before teleporting into Zilargo to visit with the ambassador there, but a missed jaunt had thrown that plan out of kilter, and so they teleported a day early to the rendezvous point in the Eldeen Reaches.

Day Three - Last Chance for Stormreach
They waited nervously for a day, hoping that their allies would reach them. Indeed, they did, but they weren't the first ones to the rendezvous point. As midday approached, and a warm spring rain began to fall, the Wolves heard the roar of an elemental fire ring and then saw an airship heading in their direction. They braced for an attack, drawing weapons and preparing wands, but they softened their stance as they saw a familiar form leap off the airship and begin levitating toward the ground. Tworock, the half-giant who had once fought beside them, came to rest gently on the earth, his eyes glowing with psionic power, and then he greeted them with a hearty "Hail the Wandering Wolves!"

Tworock explained that the ship was called The Last Chance and that it's captain, Garth d'Lyrandar, was a Windwright Captain of House Lyrandar who had recently come to Xen'drik. Medrea, the drow oracle of the Native, had been keeping tabs on Brand by scrying ever since he rejoined the Wolves, and though she wasn't able to see him when he was in the Demon Wastes, she did reacquire him once he returned to the Eldeen Reaches, and so they knew of the rendezvous plans. The Native hired Captain d'Lyrandar and the Last Chance to fly to the rendezvous and pick them up, and he sent Tworock so that they'd know they could trust the captain and his ship.

The Wolves spent the night in the cabins of the ship, floating above the rendezvous point, and they got to know the captain and his half-elven crew. Garth confessed to Pel privately that he was a follower of the Traveler, and that he knew that the Wolves were innocent. He suggested to them that his services were being paid for by The Native until he got back to Stormreach, but if they needed help and he wasn't engaged in other business, he would be happy to hire his airship out to the Wolves at a moderate rate if they needed transportation.

The next morning, after eating a breakfast in the ship's galley, Brand used his dimension door ability to teleport to the ground and wait for Luggoth, Cavoletta, Savannah and Borgoth to return. It was midday the next day when they reached the rendezvous point, but they stayed out of sight, fearing danger from the airship. Fortunately, Brand spotted them, and he told them what had transpired with the airship. He teleported the group up to the deck of The Last Chance, and the ship was underway for Xen'drik.

On their journey over the Shadow Marches and across the Thunder Sea, the reunited Wolves shared their experiences in the days prior. The trip took about six days, all told, a fraction of what traveling by boat would have taken. There were several bad storms passing across the Thunder Sea, but Captain d'Lyrandar was a skilled pilot, and he and his crew gave the Wolves a safe, if not always comforting, ride.

Arrival in Stormreach
On Dravago 9, the Last Chance sailed over the city of Stormreach, and Garth flew them over to the docks, where the Native's diplomat, Yanesh Hite, was waiting to receive them. Hite was dressed in a glamerweave set of monk's robes, a strange dichotomy of humble fashion and flashy fashion sense, and his manner was likewise somewhat fractious. He was friendly and robust with Brand and Tworock, whom he had spent plenty of time with, and seemed deferential and friendly towards Pel, but his mood towards the rest was courteous but standoffish. Lysander thought he sensed a particular dislike from the man, although Pel assured him that he was being paranoid. Hite handed a bag of gems to Garth, who thanked the Native for his service and expressed that if anyone needed him, he'd be staying at the House Lyrandar enclave for at least a few days. Pel caught a glance at the bag of gems, and although he wasn't sure, he estimated their worth at well over 10,000 gold... clearly The Native had paid a pretty penny to get them safely to Stormreach.

Lysander adopted a disguise using his hat, and Pel changed into a disguise as well, and they went to the Chapterhouse, the joint venture of House Phiarlan and House Ghallanda. They met with Bethesne, who turned out to be a lovely young elf who performed a singing act at the Chapterhouse each night. She expressed admiration for Lysander's songs and tales, although she hadn't seen him perform them since she had been living in Stormreach for the last 30 years. As previously arranged, all responses to messages they put out in Khorvaire had been sent to different contacts in House Phiarlan, who then sent messages to their own contacts in House Sivis, who then sent messages to Bethesne in Stormreach.

As a result, Bethesne had several messages for the Wolves. Arenydee and Ceranda reported that they had discovered some information that might be of interest to the Wolves: Someone high up in the Aundarian government had dispatched a covert force to Stormreach on some kind of mission, but they didn't have any more details on that just yet. Lady Elaydren had sent along a message of support, although she warned that her own influence in House Cannith was on the wane due to her links with the Wolves. A message from Dahlia Hume d'Orien promised similar support, even offering to abandon her post in Sharn and come to Stormreach to continue helping brand learn the ways of the Blade of Orien.

There was also a message from Elias Volan containing the information he had gotten from the Morgrave Archives. Tracking down the clues they had given them, he came across a reference to a fallen warforged professor named Seeker, wo had died in Xen'drik seeking out some kind of grove of ancient spells. The Morgrave Library had, in a sealed area, a record of his final expedition last year when he sought the frozen giant city of Yaoteco Venta that supposedly contained a vast array of powerful giant magic. There was also a record of what was on his final messenger. It was an image of glowing runes on massive stone walls, encased in ice, and the message "Such arcane treasures! Bring another translation stone, for spells of life and death, of terrifying insight, dimensional upheaval and arcane construction abound." Elias saw that at least a dozen others had checked these records in the past few months, and he gave them the list of names, although he expressed that many of those names were probably false. The records also mentioned a new expedition being prepared in Stormreach to leave in the month of Dravago.

Volan had one postscript to his message. After leaving Morgrave to go to the Sivis message station, he found a letter in his pocket, addressed to Pel. He didn't know how it had gotten there, but inside he found a short note he was supposed to pass along. It said simply "Green allies report a pale former friend has broken with their organization and taken a dozen of their agents. He seeks revenge, and may be in Xen'drik even now. Be on your guard."

As Lysander and Pel prepared to leave, a halfling barmaid came over with a bottle of wine from Sharn. Stuck to the underside of the bottle was a small folded note that read simply "Von Ruthvek's Splendors - Dravago 16 - Wear Disguise, I'll Find You - KJ" Lysander looked around, but was unable to determine who had sent the bottle, and the halfling barmaid said that she had found it sitting on a tray at her station with five platinum pieces and a note that told her to deliver it to a man fitting Lysander's description (in the disguise he was currently wearing.)

While Lysander and Pel were having their meeting, Brand and Luggoth went to buy and sell equipment. They visited The Citadel of the Twelve to purchase spells, magic items, weapon enchantments and the like, using a signed note from Baron Elvinor that indicated they were purchasing for her in order to avoid The Twelve's traditional 5% mark-up. They sold some goods to Black Iron, the smithy that specialized in giant-sized goods, as well as some to Von Ruthvek's Splendors of the South, one of the Stormreach's best known antiquities dealers and the best place in town to get strange and magical items identified. It was there that they first heard about the auction going on in one week's time.

As it turned out, a Professor Greyare, who had been presumed dead after going missing along with the rest of a Morgrave University Expedition a year ago, had returned to Stormreach about a month ago in the company of a pair of adventurers who had rescued him from a band of drow in the jungles of Xen'drik. Greyare had the journal of the head of the expedition, a warforged named Seeker, which purported to point the way to an immensely valuable lost giant city, and Valexa Von Ruthvek had partnered with Morgrave University and The Wayfinder Foundation to hold an auction for the journal. Von Ruthvek's is decked out for an enormous party to celebrate this auction, which also includes an auction for a number of smaller antiquities. As part of the money she paid them for antiquities and magic items purchased, Valexa gave Brand and Luggoth (in their disguised identities) four invitations to the event.

You have one week in which to get enchantments done, which means basically anything costing 7,000 gp or less (or any item you're buying new) will be finished. Anything costing more than 7,000 gp (like bumping a +2 weapon up to +3) will not be done by the time of the auction, which as you might have guessed is where we'll be starting the next adventure. So you'll be out that weapon when we start the adventure, waiting on its return from the sorcerers at The Citadel of the Twelve.

While in Stormreach, the Wolves discover a few interesting things about the city:
-Local crime is mostly run by The Bilge Rats, who run mugging, protection rackets and robbery from the ships and warehouses and who have loose ties to the Boromar Clan.

-There is a small inn named The Ship's Cat which is run by a shifter named Harysh and, as long as the Wolves don't mind sharing the inn with her dozen cats, they find that she offers excellent care to animal companions, as well as fair dealing and discretion, the latter of which would be hard to come by at the busier Chapterhouse.

-Just about every god is worshipped here, some under unfamiliar names taken from the giant pantheons. Since the Dark Six are worshipped openly in Stormreach, Pel finds the first public temple to the Traveler he's ever seen.

-House Jorasco has an impressive setup here, including a high-ranking spellcaster who can cast raise dead and a resurrection altar that can be used on behalf of favored clients. Pel wishes ruefully that they had discovered this before they made the deal with a cleric of The Keeper to resurrect him on their first trip here.

-There are an astonishing amount of gladiatorial battles held in the Red Ring, all legal under the auspices of the Storm Lords who run Stormreach.

-Once a month, a ring of ancient stones known as the Circle of Visions produces a programmed image that changes each time, sometimes something simple and sometimes something more sinister. No one knows if these are works of art from the Age of Giants, some sort of ongoing communication or prophecy or something else. While the Wolves are there, the Circle produces an image of meteor showers crashing into the jungles.

Questions for the comments section:
Does Luggoth take Cavoletta up on her offers? And if so, will he try to keep it secret from Savannah? If he's going to resist, I'm going to need three separate Will saves, at DC 15, DC 17 and DC 20, as his new ties to his bestial nature make her nature hard for you to resist.

Does Lysander want to scry on anyone in the 17 days between leaving Sheryn Wayfinder's community and going to the auction?

Will Brand try to sneak in some time with Saia while he's in Stormreach, even though it might put him at risk?

Does Pel have anything he wishes to do in Stormreach?

With a relatively secure but risky message system, is there anyone you want to send a message to back in Khorvaire? Keep in mind that each time you send a message, there's a chance that the system House Phiarlan has set up will be compromised, and you could lose contact with House Phiarlan in Khorvaire as a result.