Eberron Adventure Journal: "Whisper of the Vampire's Blade" (2)

Rhaan 23 - Rhaan 27, YK 998

Part Three - Trolanport Masquerade

The Wandering Wolves slowed and stopped, letting Lucan's carriage ride ahead so they could plan. After some debate, they decided that their best course of action would be for Pel to disguise himself as an orc and ride ahead, and they would pursue, getting ahead of the carriage so they could cut it off.

With that decided, they were back on the road. Pel rode ahead, spurring his magebred horse to run, and as he passed, he saw that the driver was a human woman with harsh features and long red hair. She glanced at him with disgust as he passed. Then she turned and saw the other riders, and began spurring the horses to drive the coach faster. Brand and William rode up ahead, both trying to force the horses and carriages off the road. Brand was unable to get into position, but he helped provide cover so that William could, and the carriage came to a stop in the King's Forest alongside the road.

The driver cast a mage armor spell on herself and then loosed a fireball, hitting all of the Wolves and their horses, save for Tock. The Wolves responded with arrows and crossbow bolts, infused with magic by Tock, and Lysander managed to wound the woman. Then, from the woods, the Wolves heard the howling of a pack of wolves, and Brand surmised that there were about a dozen, close, and that they were on the hunt. The Wolves quickly guessed that the vampire had summoned them.

As William advanced on the driver and tried to climb up, hindered somewhat by his heavy plate armor, she used a wand to cast darkness over the area. Tock countered it with the Everbright Lantern from Heward's Handy Haversack, and William climbed up, but the woman cast a spell and vanished. William swung his sword, but didn't hit anything where she had been. The wolves emerged from the forest, and Brand and Lysander used entangle and sleep spells to keep a number of them at bay, while William, Tock and Pel defended themselves from the wolves that broke through. After about six of the wolves had been killed or incapacitated, the others fled into the woods.

After Pel used a flask of alchemical fire to set the driver's position and the coach on fire, Lysander used his mage hand to open the coach door, revealing an open (and empty) coffin within. Pel jumped in and did a cursory search, finding nothing of note, and Brand did another search after Pel had finished, confirming that there was nothing in the burning carriage. The Wolves took the horses from the carriage with them and rested that night off the road, healing from the damage they had suffered from battling the sorceress and the wolves.

Four days later, on 27 Rhaan, the Wolves rode into Trolanport, the coastal capital city of Zilargo. While most of them went and secured lodging at a House Ghallanda inn called the Traveler's Rest, Pel went to the shrine of the Traveler in town and met with a gnomish cleric there. He told them of the vestments he had found, and was informed that Brother Markos from Sharn had been on his way to Trolanport, and they figured out that the vestments, scroll and other items had probably come from him. The cleric expressed to Pel that it had been the Traveler's will that he find the ogres and avenge Markos, and then spent some time instructing him in holy rites of the Traveler. Pel gave a tithe of 30 gold.

Pel changed identities again so that he could sell the draft horses from Lucan's carriage and the jewelry they had found in the ogres' cave. He gave some of the gold to William and asked if he could buy a magical scimitar, the weapon of his god, and gave the rest to Tock to put into the Haversack and buy himself an Arm Blade.

While William and Tock shopped, Pel, Brand and Lysander went out seeking information. Brand bought some fine maps from the expert cartographers in Trolanport and ran afoul of a pair of Sahuagin rogues, which with the help of Whitehearth he managed to drive off back into the watery canals. The Trolanport watch asked if he was ok, and wound up giving him a card if he wanted to check in with the local watch and help deal with the Sahuagin problem.

As he was buying clothes for disguises, Pel saw that many of the gnomish tailors were crafting masquerade costumes. He asked about it, and was told that there was a Masquerade Ball at the Aundarian embassy that night, and that many of the nobles in town were attending. The tailor told him that probably every tailor on the row was full of costumes for the masquerade, which was a big social event.

Lysander, independently asking around, managed to get even further information on the Masquerade, talking to an elven bard who was playing in the band that night. He found out that it was invitation only, and that there was an Aundarian diplomat named Neya ir'Krell at the party, and that was probably the "krell" that Lucan had mentioned in his notes. Lysander inquired about playing at the party, and the bard told him that he couldn't get him in, but if he got in on his own, the band leader might be open to letting Lysander sit in on a set or two.

With all of this information at hand, the Wolves met back up at Traveler's Rest and began to formulate plans. Pel scouted the area and discovered that no one was wearing armor or carrying weapons. Brand and Lysander used a charm spell to take the costume and invitation from one noble, discovering that the invitations were anonymous rather than specific. Pel then used the Karrnathi paper and ink from the Haversack to forge four more invitations, while Lysander and Brand went out and purchased costumes from gnomish tailors for everyone. They then stuffed all of their weapons into the Haversack.

Properly attired and carrying forged invitations, the Wolves approached the gnomish guards. They scrutinized the invitations, dropped them in the box at their feet, and let the Wolves into the party. One guard noticed Pel's wand of magic missiles, which he had tried to conceal on his person, but Pel managed to convince him it was "medicinal" and got in anyway.

The party was lavish and enormous, with about four dozen guests, food and drink, music and costumes everywhere. Lysander went over to join the band, while the rest of the Wolves circulated, looking for either Neya or Lucan. Lysander managed to charm his way into the band, but unfortunately he was out of practice with his instrument and gave a dreadful performance, quietly slinking back into the crowds afterwards. Brand eavesdropped, but heard nothing of note in the crowds. Pel, however, talked to one of the nobles and got a description of Neya's costume, which he used to locate Neya. He saw her speaking with another woman, who then went over to ask a man to dance.

The man, whom Tock had spotted moments before, was Lucan, wearing a costume and another disguise underneath it. The woman went to dance with him, and Tock went to the other Wolves to warn them that he had spotted their vampire. Meanwhile, Pel sidled up to Neya and engaged her in small talk, each of them trying to ferret out what the other knew about the situation. After a few minutes of small talk and maneuvering, the woman dancing with Lucan tried to cast a spell and then recoiled. Lucan, enraged, summoned the Soul Blade from his Glove of Storing and attacked!

Pandemonium erupted in the crowded ballroom as forty-some guests tried to flood out the doors, overwhelming the gnomish guards. On the dance floor, a melee erupted, as two monks in costumes rushed to the aid of the woman battling Lucan, Lucan's female sorcerer emerged from the crowd and the Wolves made their way toward Lucan as well.

The Soul Blade cast a confusion effect over the area around Lucan, affecting Brand. Brand was defenseless as the sorceress used a scroll to fire a lightning bolt into him, his previous dance partner and William. In his confused state, he charged the sorceress with his dagger, wounding her, while William pulled his greatsword from the Haversack to engage Lucan. The monks, meanwhile, found their attacks ineffective on Lucan and grabbed him, but another confusion effect from the sword forced them to release and attack their boss, knocking her out cold.

William engaged in battle with Lucan, and Lucan struck a couple of deadly blows with the Soul Blade, avoiding William's counter-attacks. Lysander rushed to aid Brand, Tock closed in to help against Lucan, and Pel used his animate rope to entangle Lucan. Lucan and his ally decided to flee. The woman used a dimension door scroll to teleport away, and Lucan turned into a gaseous cloud to escape. Lysander used his dragonmark to make the ceiling appear covered with a holy symbol of the Sovereign Host, and Lucan diverted out the cracks of the walls and into the night.

With the battle ended, Neya dismissed the guards and told the Wolves to come with her. Neya informed them that the woman aiding Lucan was his sister, Grilsha, and that Neya had dealt with Lucan many times in the past, always as a friend. The Wolves confirmed what she had suspected when she sent Meena, the sorceress, to investigate, that Lucan was now a vampire. Neya confessed that she had given Lucan, a longtime friend, traveling papers, a letter of credit and a password to get onboard an airship headed to Karrnath that evening. She encouraged the Wolves to hurry, giving them the password and a hastily scribbled letter, marked with her signet ring, to give to the captain of the ship.

XP: 1240

Upcoming Schedule (June)

Here's the schedule for June. Folks chime in if you need to schedule a weekend off, either by editing the post or commenting in the comments section. I'm estimating on how long it'll take to complete modules, it could wind up being a week or two earlier or later, but either way, it'll be the Eberron game.

June 2nd - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Jason out)
June 9th - Nate, Paul out - Game off (Texas Hold'Em at Randy's at 8 PM)
June 16th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in)
June 23rd - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out)
June 30th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Paul out)

Out tonight

Tired, cranky. Out tonight. Kill a vampire (sorry, Vampyr!) for me.

Love,
Ben

Vampiric Lore by Deanas Harwain

This is a relevant passage from the book that Pel procured from the Morgrave University Library:

On Battling Vampyr:
Those of a vampiric nature are a deadly foe, capable of much worse than simply killing you. Make even the slightest misstep and you'll find yourself their unwilling servant, perhaps even beyond your own death and into an eternity of undead servitude.

Best to avoid, then, direct conflict with vampyr. If one is threatened or cornered, however, the following information and tactics may save your life.

Do not ever get in close to a vampyr, if you can avoid it. They can dominate your will with a gaze, drain your life energy with a touch or suck your blood and vitality with a bite. They are immune to weapons that would kill most men, vulnerable only to sorcery and silver, and quick to heal even wounds caused by blade and bow created from such.

The vampyr have a special relationship with the beasts, able to call upon rats, wolves or bats or even to transform themselves into said beasts. Also will they take the form of mist, slipping unseen into unprotected rooms. They cannot go where they are not invited, although most vampyr are subtle and skilled at gaining invitation. Also they cannot cross running water without help, nor can they abide the sight of a mirror or a symbol of faith. The touch of sun to their skin is also anathema, and will destroy them quickly and finally.

Beyond sunlight, the only way to destroy a vampire is to plunge a wooden stake into its heart. However, if the stake is ever removed, the vampire will awaken as if nothing had happened.

Eberron Travel Journal: Zilargo

The newest port of call for the Wandering Wolves is Trolanport, the capital city of the gnomish province of Zilargo. Zilargo is 60% gnomes, 16% humans, 11% dwarves, 7% kobolds and 6% other races. It's major exports are alchemical goods, education, entertainment, maps, precious stones and ships. The gnomes of Khorvaire have lived there for thousands of years. Zilargo is just to the southeast of Breland, between the Howling Peaks and the Seawall Mountains. During the Last War, Zilargo spent part of the conflict as a neutral observer before aligning with Breland in 962 YK. From that point on, the gnomes provided intelligence and elemental-bound weapons to Breland while avoiding more combat. As a result, Zilargo emerged from the Last War stronger than ever, and Breland owes the gnomes a debt for the services they rendered.

House Sivis was born in Zilargo, and the city of Korranberg is still the seat of its power. Sivis acts as a clearinghouse for gnome translators, mediators and purveyors of similar services. Other notable locales in Zilargo include The Library of Korranberg, the greatest repository of general knowledge in Khorvaire, and the home of The Korranberg Chronicle, the most widely distributed and read periodical in the Five Nations. Zilargo is a peaceful nation with a pleasant climate, mild wildlife and very few bandits or other threats to travelers. The gnomish population is generally friendly, helpful and very outgoing, often seeming genuinely interested in talking with strangers. The Triumvirate rules Zilargo fairly but firmly, and deals with threats to the community more with subterfuge than force.

Trolanport is the capital city, with a population of 27,500. This coastal capital has crisscrossing canals and flooded streets and serves as the center of the gnome shipbuilding industry and the nexus for trade of all sorts. The gnomes of Trolanport are among the greatest shipwrights and cartographers of Khorvaire, and even Lhazaar Princes travel there to commission gnome-made vessels. House Kundarak, House Sivis and House Cannith have major outposts here, and all of the dragonmarked houses are represented.

Eberron Adventure Journal: "Whisper of the Vampire's Blade"

Rhaan 21 - Rhaan 22, YK 998

Part One - Job Offer:
During their downtime, the Wandering Wolves had been busy, both with personal business and with the growing duties and privileges of their adventuring band. Pel had adopted the identity of Gareth and hired a clerk to run a shop in the North Market called Gareth's Gear, mostly devoted to selling off the spoils of their adventures. They purchased or upgraded some of their own personal gear, and Tock toiled away in his workshop to create some potions and an amulet of natural armor for the group. They had even been interviewed for a feature in the Korranberg Chronicle. In addition, they had decided to join the Clifftop Adventuring Guild.

It was while relaxing in the guild hall in Upper Dura that they were approached by their latest employer. Early in the day on 11 Rhaan, a courier dressed in the blue and silver livery of House Orien delivered a package addressed to the Wandering Wolves. Inside the package were 5 platinum coins and a note that read "These coins have many friends that would like to meet you. Come to the northeast stairs of Myriad Tower, upper city, at noon. Bring travel gear and those you trust. Also bring your sense of urgency and knack for discretion. Give this parchment to the guard near the stairs, and he will let you ascend." The note was signed with a "V" and the black silhouette of a stylized lantern, which Pel recognized as the symbol of the King's Dark Lanterns.

After finishing their breakfast and gathering their gear, the Wandering Wolves made their way through the rainy streets of Sharn to Myriad Tower. The stairs were blocked by a heavy iron gate, but there was no guard in sight. There was, however, a beggar with a clay bowl. Pel moved in closer and dropped a silver coin in his bowl, only to be greeted by a gruff, very un-beggar-like "Wrong key." Pel quickly worked out what was going on and dropped in the letter from "V." He also hastily snatched his silver piece back, and the "beggar" grinned as he nodded and said "Go up." With that, the iron gate swung open of its own accord, allowing the Wolves access to the stairway within.

As they ascended, the Wolves noticed that it was growing warmer. When they reached the top, they found the reason, as the top of Myriad Tower was an immense greenhouse with a glass ceiling and jungle foliage throughout. Sitting at a bench in front of the man-made jungle was an old man, arranging orchids at a wooden table. "I am Viorr Maelak," he said in a whispery voice. "Welcome to my little piece of the wild."

"I have a job for you," Maelak continued. "One that will make you quite rich." He began placing potion vials on the table as he spoke. "But if you'll indulge me, there's a bit of an audition first. There's a wild ape in my greenhouse. I'd like you to defeat it without killing it. Unconscious is fine, bleeding is fine, magically subdued is fine. Just don't kill it. These are healing potions. Use them however you like. Oh, and do be careful. The ape is carnivorous and quite hungry."

The Wolves, especially William, were not happy about this proposition, and thought Viorr was obviously mad, but they decided to play along. Brand and Lysander decided that the best way to handle the ape would be to use a combination of song and wild empathy, and they made their way carefully into the greenhouse. They spotted the ape lurking in a tree, waiting for an opportunity to pounce, and Lysander began his song. The ape became fascinated, staring in wonder at the bard. Brand then moved in to try and calm the beast, and almost succeeded, but unfortunately, it instead reacted to his presence with anger and fear, breaking Lysander's spell and attacking.

The ape mauled several of the Wolves during the fight, but eventually a combination of attacks brought it down, bloody but alive. Viorr was pleased with their efforts, and he made his way back to his table, and to a leather satchel placed on a chair near it. As he rummaged through, he explained himself to the Wolves, starting with his reply to their angry questions about why they had to fight an ape.

Viorr explained that he worked for the King's Dark Lanterns, and that a rogue agent named Lucan Stellos had disappeared two days ago, taking with him a powerful magic sword called the Soul Blade from a secure vault. He had been spotted leaving Sharn by the east road, and Viorr wanted Lucan back alive, and was willing to pay 2,000 gp each if the Wolves could accomplish that, plus 500 gp each if they also returned the evil blade. He offered a reduced reward if they were forced to return Lucan's body. He also revealed that Lucan had acquired some sort of abilities that he hadn't previously possessed.

After the Wolves deciphered the clues and realized that Lucan had most likely become a vampire, Viorr laid out the rest of their mission for them. He gave them a portrait of Lucan and of the coach that he had been spotted traveling in. He laid out Lucan's abilities as a trained warrior and spy, plus his supernatural abilities of persuasion, wall-walking and limited invulnerability. He gave them ID papers that identified them as working for the King of Breland, and arranged for them to have magebred horses from House Vadalis at the east gate of the city. Finally, he provided them with a letter of credit from House Kundarak that they could use to draw advances from their salary, although he cautioned them from using it frivolously.

"We don't know what Lucan's intentions are, but we do have a clue based on a search of his living quarters. Based on some notes he made - notes he thought he destroyed - we know he's going to Trolanport, in Zilargo. The only other word we were able to salvage from the notes was 'krell.' We have no idea who or what a krell is."

The Wolves wanted to prepare for their battle against a vampire, but didn't have a lot of time, since Lucan had a head start of several hours on them. Viorr agreed to send them information on vampires from his agents via the Sivis message station in Trolanport, and Pel grabbed an old book on vampires from the library at Morgrave before the Wolves mounted their horses and headed out.

Part Two - The Road to Trolanport

Once on the road, the Wolves rode fast and straight toward their destination, hoping to pick up Lucan's trail when they got a little closer. About three hours outside of Sharn, they were riding down the road, which bordered the King's Forest, they heard a rustling from the trees, and were confronted by three centaur bandits, wielding longbows and demanding their gold. Predictably, William charged instead.

The fight was joined almost instantly by another centaur, the leader of the band, who leaped out into the melee. It was a very near battle, as the centaurs managed to grievously wound Pel, Tock and Brand. In fact, Pel was very near death, and had an encounter with the god he worshipped, the Traveler, who told him to go back, that he had a purpose and that he should listen for the words of the Traveler in all things.

Things became even more dire when William killed the leader, prompting an angry "They killed Ruarch!" from the remaining two centaurs. The centaurs closed on the dragonmarked warrior, and he managed to swing a deadly blow that felled the uninjured one in one shot. This gave the last centaur pause, and he fled into the woods. Lysander used his wand of cure light wounds and bardic spells to rouse Brand, Pel and Tock. Tock used his own abilities to repair the rest of his damage.

Brand lead the Wolves to the lair of the centaurs, where they found the loot they had been storing from previous raids. This loot included money, some art objects and a dented suit of full plate that William claimed immediately.

Battered and weary, the Wolves rode for few more hours until dusk, when they reached a roadside tavern bearing the seal of approval of House Ghallanda, a place called The Rusty Horseshoe. They paid five silver for a stay and basic food, and took time to rest and get up to full health. During the night, Brand's wolf, who he had named Whitehearth, emerged from the forest and snuck into their room, affirming his bond with his new master. In the morning, the Wolves once again mounted up and headed back out onto the road.

After traveling most of the day, they encountered three ogres crossing the road ahead. Anticipating a charge from William, Tock dismounted and fired his crossbow into the shoulder of one of the ogres, drawing a surprised and angry cry. The Wolves engaged the ogres in battle, making short work of two of them and forcing the last, deeply wounded from about four arrows and crossbow bolts, to flee into the forest. He got about sixty feet away when Brand retrieved his bow from the ground and managed to kill it with one final arrow.

Once again, Brand led the Wolves to the lair of the beasts, and Pel discovered that perhaps there had been a reason for this encounter. In addition to a massive amount of silver, they found the possessions of someone who had obviously been a cleric of the Traveler. He had fine jewelry, a couple of potions, a divine scroll and fine vestments of the Traveler. Pel picked up the vestments as part of his new role, and realized that perhaps the Traveler had already guided him, leading him to avenge the death of one of his followers.

The rest of the journey was fairly uneventful, until the evening of the twelfth day, when the Wolves crested a low rise to spot Lucan's black coach on the road ahead.

XP: 880

Game Notes

A few notes regarding last session:

1. Nate, Tock has levelled up... so we'll need to do his levelling up before we start next session. Maybe you could come early, around 6:30 or so, instead of 7?

2. Paul... I looked at the Animal Lord prestige class in Complete Adventurer, and it looks passable. My inclination was (and still largely is) to keep all of the prestige classes from the Complete series out, but if you do decide you want to pursue the Animal Lord class, I will allow it. The wolflord seems like something that would fit the character and the group.

3. I've updated William, Pel and Lysander with the info from the latest adventure. Paul, you'll need to update Brand (make sure and note his signet ring and magebred horse amongst his possessions).

Party Treasure

Last updated: December 7, 2007

Unless otherwise noted, party treasure is considered to be in the Heward's Handy Haversack, which is currently in the possession of Pel.

GOLD - 135

MAGICAL ITEMS
Cloak of Arachnida
Scroll of Energy Immunity-Fire
Scroll of Create Undead (11th)
Scroll of Teleportation Circle (17th)

ALCHEMICAL ITEMS
(6) Sunrods (6 lbs.)

OTHER ITEMS (IN HAVERSACK)
Daern's Instant Tent
Everbright lantern (3 lbs.)
(8 charges) Healer's Kit (1 lb.)
Hunter's Kit (5 lbs.)
200' Silk Rope (20 lbs.)
(5) torches (5 lbs.)
(1) grappling hook (4 lbs.)
Map Case (contains detailed map of Trolanport, detailed map of Zilargo, map of Darguun, map of the Demon Wastes and maps of Xen'drik) (1/2 lb.)
Quills & (20) vials of ink
(110) sheets of paper
Flint & Steel
Sealing Wax

OTHER ITEMS (STORED IN BAG OF HOLDING)
(5) bedrolls (25 lbs.)
(5) waterskins (20 lbs.)
(12) pitons (6 lbs.)
(1) hammer (2 lbs.)
(2) tents (40 lbs.)
(5) Masquerade costumes (100 gp quality) (20 lbs.)
(5) Emerald Claw disguises (with ID papers)
(60) Arrows

GROUP OWNERSHIP
Membership in Clifftop Adventuring Guild (998 YK)

Whilst perusing online imagery I came across this ring:



I believe our characters should acquire some similar ones.

Roughly Three Weeks Have Passed...

Barrakas 14 - Rhaan 10, YK 998

Since the end of your journey into Whitehearth. The journey back to Sharn aboard the elemental galleon Windrider took four days. During this time, you served as escorts and bodyguards to Lady Elaydren. William stepped up his flirtation with Elaydren, but learned that she is promised to someone within Cannith South, a political marriage to strengthen ties within the branches of the house, and could only politely refuse his advances. However, she did invite everyone to House Cannith's Boldrei's Feast celebration on 9 Rhaan, after you returned to Sharn. The journey was uneventful, and you arrived safe and sound in Sharn on 18 Barrakas. (Barrakas is equivalent to late summer, August, and Rhaan the beginnings of autumn, or September).

Brand and William spent a couple of days selling Talaen Kara, aggravating the Valenar delegation in Sharn with their haggling. Tock set immediately to work on more items, since he had 18 days to work before the Boldrei's Feast celebration. (Nate, this means you have 20 days worth of work time before the next adventure, because you'll have a couple of days after the celebration as well. You can have 21 if you skip the feast and celebration, although I can't see your character missing the chance to rub elbows with House Cannith).

Group Decisions - Shortly after your return, William was approached by Dastok, a gnome who writes for the Korranberg Chronicle. He asked to do a profile on the Wandering Wolves and their adventures in Rose Quarry and the Mournland, especially insofar as your run-ins with the Emerald Claw. There's no money for doing such a profile, but the piece would grant you an increased profile. Of course, it also might get read by William's mother, unless he uses a pseudonym.

I don't remember exactly how much gold you have, and I need to see the party treasure list to be exactly sure. But I know you made a lot of gold selling off equipment, and you were given 3000 gp by Lady Elaydren for your services. You'll probably want to spend a lot of that on magical items, I know. If you were serious about Ben's suggestion to open a shop in order to sell your adventuring spoils, however, you might consider investing in that. An average shop, which is the minimum you'd need to sell the kind of equipment you're trying to, would cost 4000 gp to set up. If you do decide to set up a shop, I'll make a d20 roll at the beginning and end of each adventurer to see how the shop is doing. On a 1, you guys lost money, and need to chip in 50 gp to keep the store up and running. On a 2-9, you broke even. On a 10-19, you made (after costs of labor, inventory, etc.) 50 gp. On a 20, you had a fantastic month, and made 250 gp. Perhaps most importantly, I'll give you 3/4 of the value of all items you sell instead of 1/2. Not full value, because I want to represent unsold inventory, etc., but 3/4. I might occasionally give you full value on particularly unique or cool items, I'll reserve judgement on that.

Whether you get a shop or not, you guys should consider where your characters spend their downtime, and if they want some kind of base of operations. This could be a tavern, but you might also consider joining one of the two adventuring guilds in Sharn. It's 13 gp annually to join Clifftop, and 12 gp to join Deathsgate (total for the group, not per character). This provides some benefits, including a +2 on Knowledge (Dungeoneering) checks concerning Xen'drik at the guildhouse, cheap and safe lodgings, storage in the voluminous vaults at the guildhall (free for a week, 5 gp/week beyond that), references for trustworthy hirelings and a general sharing of information to help find jobs or expeditions. It would also help your reputation to be affiliated with one of the guilds. Deathsgate is closer to your usual tavern, university and Sivis message station haunts, being in Middle Tavick's Landing, but Clifftop is the more reputable guild. Clifftop tends to attract more good-aligned adventurers, while Deathsgate is the home of those with a more neutral or evil bent. You all tend more toward the neutral, but affiliating yourself with Deathsgate could lend your band a bit of a sinister reputation is you're not careful. However, you might find many of the guild members of Clifftop insufferable in their more good-aligned personalities. Up to you.

William - After his service to Lady Elaydren, he was recommended for personal security to a number of people within the House and its allies. If William would like, he can hire out as a bodyguard to various members of House Cannith and other wealthy members of society in the ensuing weeks. He has to ensure that these duties don't conflict with his job at Morgrave, which means he can only work about five of the 18 days available... but if he takes on the bodyguarding assignments, he makes 8 gp per day, after paying his dues back to House Deneith.

Brand - Brand took a trip out to the Eldeen Reaches to see his mother, find out if Rorsa and her pack had settled in and get his birthday gift. The trip would take about two and a half days each way on horseback (Light Magebred Horse), which I presume is how Brand would want to travel to avoid attention from House Orien. This means you'll need to lay out 150 gp for a magebred horse. Alternatively, you can manage 7 days each way if you ride on an Orien caravan, and that'll cost only 11 gp each way.

When Brand arrived, he found Rorsa and her pack waiting for him. It had taken them 5 days to get to the Eldeen Reaches, and they had struggled some in the Mournland, battling some of the magical abominations in that cursed land as well as getting lost in the dead-gray mist that surrounds it. They had lost three members of the pack on the way out, bringing her pack down to five wolves. However, they were very grateful to Brand for his help, and very much liked the Eldeen Reaches as their new home.

The gift for Brand was something that had been delivered by an adventuring shifter druid/ranger named Url Cornaway, ostensibly from Brand's father. There was a handwritten note that said "I heard you liked maps. This is a present for your next birthday." The note was attached to a hand-drawn map of a ruined giant town and temple, clearly from somewhere in Xen'drik. There wasn't enough context to figure out where in Xen'drik, but it's still a map of great value for potential explorers or collectors. If Brand was to sell it (and I can't imagine he would, given the sentimental value, but it's your call), he could get 200 gp for it from his bosses at Morgrave.

Tock - Once again, Tock has been spending most of his downtime in Goath's artificer workshop. Goath is pleased to see the warforged coming along with his studies, although he's starting to hint that with your increasing skill, it might be time to start thinking about your own workshop and maybe to begin teaching others or even taking on an apprentice.

Lysander - Lysander's mentor Chiarlan finished his run at the Khavish Theatre in the first week of Rhaan, and departed from Sharn. However, his visit paid off big-time for Lysander. On 25 Barrakas, the actor playing Devost in Kinlen's Folly decided to join a traveling troupe on a tour throughout Khorvaire, and Lysander went from understudy to regular supporting cast in the play at Gailan's. His performances have been earning good reviews in the pages of the Sharn Inquisitive, and while the money isn't great by adventuring standards, it is putting a few extra silver into his pocket every week.

Pel - Pel made his monthly visit to The Cracked Mirror to check in with Xain. If you guys wanted to sell the creation pattern or the extra schema, Xain would be the person to hand it off to. You can get 1000 gp for the schema and 3000 gp for the creation pattern... however, if you do sell it through Xain, it's more than likely to wind up in the hands of either the Lord of Blades or the Emerald Claw. At any rate, Pel can pass on the information about Whitehearth and the map to the other Cannith facilities to the Tyrants.

The war with Moloch continues, and several lower-level members of the Tyrants have been sent to the House Jorasco healing houses by the Daask turf war. Cord is getting some heat from the higher-ups in the Tyrants over this war, and Pel's father is making cautious, covert overtures to Moloch to settle the turf war, possibly getting Cord displaced or at least shamed.

In addition, Pel gets a warning that an agent of the King's Dark Lanterns (think of them like the FBI for the King of Breland) named Lucan Stellos has been looking into spy networks in Sharn. He's thus far clear of the Tyrants, but Pel should keep his eyes open.

Eberron Adventure Journal: "Shadows of the Last War" (3)

Barrakas 10-14, YK 998

Part Five: Whitehearth

The adventurers approached the entrance to Whitehearth, allowing Pel to make a cursory check and determine if there were any traps. After deciding it was safe, they entered the cave, which was an entirely darkened abandoned mineshaft. Using the light from their everburning torch, the adventurers moved in and found a series of 4-foot wide adamantium hatches at different points in the floor, each with a "key slot" that seemed to fit the blue keycharm they had been given by Lady Elaydren. Pel checked one for traps, gave it the all clear, and stood back to allow William to open it.

William got an unpleasant jolt of electricity from the trapped (and fake) hatch. Pel was nominated to open any doors he had checked for traps from then on.

After discovering a couple more trapped fakes, Pel found the entrance into Whitehearth. The hatch opened into a circular metal shaft with a ladder running down, and a few feet down, it was obscured by a wall of darkness. Dropping a sunrod down confirmed that it was a magical darkness. William descended the ladder, passing into the darkness, and the rest of the adventurers followed. They discovered that the ladder descended about 30 feet, depositing them in a very unusual room.

The room they were in was lit by a flickering everbright lantern, and was a perfect metal sphere 20 feet across. There were no visible doors, just a pedestal in the center of the room which held a metal plate. On the metal plate were a variety of keycharm slots of varying colors: blue, brown and green. It took only a few minutes for the adventurers to realize that by inserting the blue keycharm into one of the slots, the entire room would rotate so that it's only opening would point to a new corridor.

From this point on, the adventurers used the keycharms to rotate the room and explore the sunken, abandoned facility of Whitehearth. They found a magical laboratory that had been destroyed when the wave of energy that caused the Mournland hit. Everything from a magical laundry to magically-regenerating pools for baths pointed to a perfect use of magecraft. However, they also found more than a few dangers lurking in the abandoned facility.

The magical energy released on the Day of Mourning had created living spells in two parts of the facility. The adventurers battled a Living Flaming Sphere and a Living Color Spray at two different points. The most interesting encounter on the first level, however, took place with some wolves.

As they walked into what had once been the support barracks, a large dire wolf emerged into the corridor. Before the adventurers reacted, she spoke. "Hail, adventurers! I am Rorsa. I would like to speak to you." The adventurers learned that Rorsa and her pack, made up of two normal wolves, had been living in Whitehearth since the facility was destroyed four years ago. It became clear that Rorsa had been awakened by the events of the Day of Mourning. Since then, she and her wolves had survived on the ever-clean pools of water and the magically regenerating corpses in this barracks. She longed for word of the outside world, and indeed wanted to explore it, but she didn't want to leave the rest of her pack.

Rorsa explained that the majority of her pack was held captive in the kennels, guarded by some kind of stone wolf that she had been unable to defeat. If the adventurers would defeat the wolf and rescue her pack, she offered to give them her green keycharm and pearl of power. The adventurers agreed, and followed Rorsa to another rotator room and on into the kennel.

After Pel scouted the area out and saw the stone wolf, a bizarre golem-like construct, the adventurers attacked. William, as ever, was in the lead, and the first to be affected by the stone wolf's slow ability. The ability didn't help much, however, as the adventurers made short work of the golem. It's obsidian teeth tore into some of them, particularly Pel and Brand, but with the help of construct bane enchantments from Tock and their usual brand of teamwork, the adventurers managed to bring down the stone wolf without any casualties. They freed the seven remaining wolves, who went with Rorsa back to the barracks.

From there, the adventurers found their way into a third rotator room, and on into the machine chamber, which held the schema they were looking for. They previewed the room via a magical scrying chamber elsewhere in the complex, so they knew that it was hot and contained some sort of hydra-headed molten glass machine, as well as a crystalline chest that held the schema they were looking for. They didn't know that the fire elementals once bound to the machine were loose in the room, and a battle was joined. With their various enchanted weapons and special abilities, the adventurers had little trouble defeating the fire elementals, and soon they had the rewards found in the chest. These included not only the diamond-shaped schema they were seeking, but an exact replica, a creation pattern that had room for two other schema beyond the ones they had recovered, and potions and scrolls.

The adventurers made their way to the surface, accompanied by Rorsa and her newly-reunited pack. When they reached the exit, however, they were in for a surprise. A wall of Emerald Claw soldiers and skeletons stood waiting for them, and the misty form of their vampiric leader barked out demands.

"Well done, adventurers. It is futile to fight us. Give me the third schema, and I will let you live. Oppose us, and I will take it from your corpses, and then raise your bodies to serve me."

There was very little debate before the adventurers decided to charge into battle. Through a combination of William's tactics, Tock's human-bane crossbow, Lysander's encouraging songs, Rorsa's pack and the battle prowess of Pel and Brand, the adventurers made short work of the Emerald Claw forces, and the vampire once again fled in a cloud of mist.

Rorsa and most of her pack asked Brand for directions to the Eldeen Reaches, and they headed out in that direction. Brand gave Rorsa the name of his mother, and told Rorsa to seek out her help in the Reaches. Rorsa decided to leave one of her pack with Brand as a companion, and then she and the rest of her pack headed out into the Mournland. The adventurers found Failin, got into his cart and rode back to Rhukaan Draal, where they found Lady Elaydren waiting for them.

Elaydren was pleased to recieve the schema (although the adventurers didn't tell her about the copy, or the creation pattern), and gave the party a 2000 gold reward. She offered them another 1000 gold if they would accompany her on her journey back to Sharn as her escort and bodyguards, and the adventurers accepted.

On the way back, Pel suggested that the adventurers adopt the name "The Wandering Wolves" to a general agreement.

XP: 1900

More schedule tidbits

It looks like Chris and I won't be moving until May 6-7. This means I won't be able to run or play anything on Friday the 5th. Our application is still pending on our new place. Wish us luck. Randy, I'll help you move if you help me!*

* Contrapositive: I won't help you move if you won't help me!

** Corollary: I might help you move if you would have helped me.

Upcoming Schedule IV: A New Hope

April 28th - Gaming Off (Randy moving... everybody else helping out? :)
May 5th - Gaming Off (Ben & Chris moving... everyone but Randy, who'll be on an ill-timed vacation, helping out? :)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Jason out)
May 26th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Memorial Day Weekend... Paul possibly out of town... everyone else in, or do we skip this week?)

If anyone's available to help move on Friday and/or Sunday... Suzanne and I could use help with moving, pretty much boxes... furniture and heavy stuff is going with movers the next week, and mostly we just need extra cars so we can make less trips. Chris & Ben may need the help more.

By the way, the new locale for gaming, at least sometimes, is 11205 Bending Bough Trail. You can get there via Mopac, IH-35, Lamar, etc. Lamar or IH-35 is easier and slightly closer. In that case, turn left. When you see Parkfield (which is, I believe, the first light after Lamar on Braker), take a left. There's a big church right there, if you need a landmark. Then take an almost immediate right onto Blossom Bell, pass Jordan and turn left onto Bending Bough. We're two (I think, maybe three) down on the left.

If you're coming from Mopac, you'll want to take a right on Parkfield, and it'll be a bit longer of a drive on Braker to get to it.

Map is HERE. This all presumes we actually get the closing done on the 27th, so everybody think good thoughts. :)

Upcoming Schedule III

In response to the idea of me (Jason) running a one or two shot during the gap. I have a couple of questions for the group: 1) What would you want to do? I can't see playing straight DnD, because we have two campaigns already running. I guess it would be easiest for me, right now, aside from DnD, to run a Pulp Hero adventure or Fantasy Hero, but character creation might be a problem. I am also, as I mentioned earlier, fairly well versed in Classic Traveller. I'll try almost anything with Hero, but have never run Champs, go figure. 2) What about Nate's OGL Horror idea? If he was ready to introduce it with a one shot that might work also. Nor do I have anything at all against going back to the prequel Realms under the great Ben. (Does that get me extra xp?) Anyway, comment with your thoughts and we can decide what everyone wants to do. Oh, and, I am really getting a kick out of Eberron, thanks Randy.

Eberron Adventure Journal: "Shadows of the Last War" (2)

Barrakas 9-10, YK 998

Part Three - Rose Quarry:
Wounded and weary from the combat, the adventurers began recovering their wits when William and Lysander spotted a dark figure at the entrance to the church below. He had a monstrous appearance, and was dressed in black robes. He stared up at them, and then transformed into a thick mist and floated away. William told the rest of the adventurers that there was a vampire, and that he had just flown away.

Unwilling to leave the quarry alone long enough for reinforcements to arrive, the adventurers decided to heal up using Lysander's wand of cure light wounds and then descend by rope into the zombie-infested village and seek out the map. They snuck up on a group of two zombies, and Pel tried to slip past them and into the House Cannith refinery. He was successful, but he got the attention of the two zombies inside the facility, and slipped back out.

A battle was joined between the adventurers and four of the glass-covered dwarf zombies. Because there were more of the vile creatures nearby, the adventurers were unable to retreat or maneuver very well, and they took some damage in subduing the creatures. William worked out that once you shattered the glass coating surrounding the zombies, they were susceptible to either slashing or magic weapons, and after taking relatively little damage, the adventurers managed to make short work of the Emerald Claw's undead guardians.

They then entered the Cannith chamber, and looked once more at the map on the floor. While Pel and Lysander searched the fireplaces for clues, Tock discovered that there was writing on the back of the statues at each fireplace. After a bit of looking around, Pel found that the Red Dragon statue read "Whitehearth, White Seal, NE 9." William figured out that the White Seal was the seal of Cannith in front of the white fireplace, and walked out 9 paces northeast onto the map. He found himself standing on a faint, barely noticeable mark of a crossed pick and shovel, which would be about 30 miles into the Mournland, in what was once the hills of southwestern Cyre.

While Brand used the statues and the map to make a detailed map of the area, including the locations of six Cannith facilities, William smashed the statues to prevent anyone else from discovering the location of Whitehearth. With this job done, the adventurers climbed out of Rose Quarry and headed back to Failin's cart.

Failin looked quite nervous, and had his dagger out and ready. When the adventurers explained where Whitehearth was, he at first refused to enter the Mournland. However, William then coerced Brand into revealing his own dragonmark and speaking the draconic word for "travel," attempting to convince Failin that they didn't need him. Unfortunately, Failin had sensed their deception and somehow locked the cart from receiving other commands. The adventurers offered him more money, and eventually negotiated 65 gp each for Failin to take them to Whitehearth. He spoke a different draconic word, under his breath, and "unlocked" the cart, allowing them to start rolling towards the gray mist that blocked off the Mournland.

XP: 160

Part Four - The Mournland:
The cart rolled towards the Mournland for about an hour, and then the adventurers stopped to make camp, rest and recover spells. 8 hours later, just as the sun began to rise, they got back into the cart and rolled toward the Mournland again. It took less than half an hour for them to reach the dead-gray mist, and they plunged in.

The elemental-powered cart kept them on track, but all of the adventurers, and Failin, were disoriented by the gray mist. A deep sense of isolation and dread grew within each of them. After a period of time that none of them could guess at, the cart rumbled through the dead-gray mist and into the corpse-strewn, magic-blasted, gray lit Mournland.

As the cart rolled on, the adventurers, and especially William, noted a large number of Karrnatthi and Cyran troops, obviously dead from the Day of Mourning. However, something about the magical effect had preserved the corpses, so that it looked they had died hours ago, not years. There was no sign of decomposition, and the wounds appeared fresh. William in particular found this quite disturbing, and announced that the place was cursed.

A short time later, the adventurers rolled past a broken siege engine, surrounded by a handful of dead Brelish soldiers. Lysander, Tock and Pel were curious about this sight, and Pailin was intrigued by the promise of treasure, so they rolled to a stop. As they did so, however, Brand looked out into the siege engine wreckage and saw shadows moving. He yelled a warning, but even as he did, the shadows revealed themselves as a half-dozen skeletal wolves and charged.

The wolves were skeletons, with human skeleton parts fused to their bodies by the weird arcane effects of the Mournland. Their jagged mouths barked silently as they approached, and they tried to leap into the covered cart from both ends. Tock yelled at Failin to start the cart and run them over, but when he revealed his dragonmarked arm, one of the wolves took a bite out of it. Another leaped into the cart and began attacking as well, and Failin used his dragonmark to dimension leap out of the cart and into hiding behind the siege engine. William, Brand and Pel disembarked from the back of the cart to fight three of the beasts while Tock and Lysander held the front. At one point, three of the wolves had leaped into the cart, while all of the adventurers had jumped out to avoid fighting in cramped quarters. The wolves did some damage, most notably to Pel, but eventually the adventurers triumped, in large measure due to William's greatsword, Tock's mace and the courage-inspiring effects of Lysander's songs.

The adventurers gathered in the cart and William urged Brand to try once more to activate it. He discovered that his dragonmark and the draconic "travel" were enough to start it rumbling, and William was gleeful at this discovery. Failin was not so gleeful, and he came running toward the cart, yelling "Don't leave me! Wait!" while brandishing a masterwork mace he had found among the Brelish solders. "Look what I found!" he yelled, desparate to get the adventurers to stop.

Not wanting to outright murder Failin by leaving him in the Mournland, the adventurers waited for him, although he wouldn't give Pel the mace until after he climbed in the cart, just in case. Brand found that he could only get the cart moving in a straight line, about half as fast as Failin, but it was clear that Failin still wasn't happy about this discovery. Tock claimed the mace, intending to check it later for any magical properties.

Failin took the helm of the cart once more, and the adventurers continued their journey into the Mournland. Another half hour passed and they came upon a scene of carnage massive and bloody even by the standards of the Mournland. A massive battle between Brelish infantry and Cyran archers provided the foundation for the carnage, but atop these four-year dead corpses were the remnants of a newer battle. A warband of Valenar elves had clearly encountered a party of Talenta halfling hunters, and it looked like they had torn each other apart. The real nature of this carnage soon became clear, however, as the mound of corpses shifted and a carcass crab emerged from the pile.

Certain that the massive crab would destroy his cart in a head-on collision, Failin ordered it to stop. William jumped out of the cart and began running toward the beast, and it responded by firing a poisoned barb at him, which he shrugged off. As the rest of the adventurers fired bows, crossbows and a wand of magic missiles, William pulled out his greatsword and charged, landing two powerful blows before the giant crab picked him up in both pincers and squeezed. William was grievously wounded and unable to move freely, but he summoned the strength to punch the weakened crab with his spiked gauntlet, killing it and forcing it to release him.

While William was ready to move on, Failin suggested that they search the bodies for treasure, even offering to give up his fee if he could keep half of the treasure found. Pel struck a deal with him that he would get an equal share of the treasure, rather than half, and could keep his fee. Failin agreed and the adventurers disembarked to search the corpses for weapons, magic and other goods that were no longer useful to the dead.

After three hours of searching, they turned up a small amount of coins, a letter of credit from the Kundarak Banking Guild, some potions, a cloak, a wand of magic missiles, a masterwork Talenta tangat and a magical Valenar double scimitar named Talaen Kara. Focused on the treasure and the labor-intensive work of gathering it, none of the adventurers noticed a single carrion bird circling high above them, watching their every move.

The final leg of the journey took about an hour, and the cart rolled up to a low hill. At the base of the hill was a dark tunnel that looked like any abandoned mineshaft, except for the House Cannith seal emblazoned on the center crossbeam. Pel disembarked to examine it for traps, and was caught off-guard as a vulture zombie dove in to attack. William emerged from the cart and quickly destroyed the bird, before it could do any more than scratch him once. With this minor threat dispatched, the adventurers turned and prepared to enter the lost Cannith facility known as Whitehearth.

XP: 480

Game Notes

1. Tock is marked as having a heavy crossbow, but he's been doing damage (and reloading) as a light crossbow. Nate, do you want to upgrade to the heavy crossbow (and take the full-action reload that comes with it) that your character sheet says you have or stick with the light crossbow you've effectively been using?

I'm going to stick with the light crossbow for now. With the infusions it makes for an awesome little weapon.

2. Party Treasure - Chris, can you either type up the list of party treasure and post it here or get me the hardcopy on Friday? I want to keep that list updated on the blog as well.

C: Just saw this post. Sure I can do that. Can we put it in a sidebar or something, so it stays in one place?

3. Characters are updated with XP and equipment from the latest session. Chris, check the charges on your wand of magic missiles, I guessed 10 but wasn't sure.

C: I will check. Don't have that with me at work, obviously.

Upcoming Schedule Part II

I've added my notes below. -Paul

Here's my proposal for "the gap": Either I run a 2-shot Realms game linking Part 1 of the Prehistory game to an upcoming Part 2 (where you'll actually start thinking about the World's Largest Boondogg-- er, Dungeon) or Jason runs a 2-shot somethingorother. In either case, Dave could play. I suppose. If he does of course I'll be sure to kill his character, the traitorous scum.

I think it'd be fun to see Jason DM!

April 7th - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Paul out)
April 14th - Randy & Suzanne's House-Cooling Party... no gaming
April 21st - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Chris NOT out)
April 28th - Ben's Realms or Jason's Something (Randy out, Paul Out)
May 5th - Ben's Realms or Jason's Something (Randy out, Paul Out)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out - Chris, are you going to want to skip this week because Live Art is next day? If so, we should go ahead and call this day off, and start Whisper of the Vampire's Blade with everybody on May 19)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in?)
May 26th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in? Paul note: This is Memorial Day weekend. I may be out of town.)

Ben

Chris: I'll be there this week (4/21) after all. 5/5 may be tricky for Ben and I as we almost certainly will be moving that weekend. 5/12 - not sure at this point. I don't think it would be a problem for me though.

Chris: Update - looks like 4/28 weekend will be the actual move time. Let's discuss things tonight.

Eberron Adventure Journal: "Shadows of the Last War"

Barrakas 1 - Barrakas 8, YK 998

Part One - Sharn:
Two weeks had passed since the adventurers had delved into the Cogs in search of a lost Cannith forge and fought the agents of the sinister Lord of Blades. In that time, the adventurers had been making regular stops at the House Sivis message station in Barmin Tower, looking for more messages from Lady Elaydren. William had stopped by the House Cannith enclave from time to time, but each time he stopped, he was told that Lady Elaydren wasn't in.

On another rainy day in Sharn, the adventurers went to make their semi-regular stop in at the Sivis message station. When they arrived, however, they saw that something was not right. The door hung open at an odd angle, one of its hinges separated from the doorframe, and a soft moaning came from inside. William and Brand drew weapons and charged in, while the others moved more cautiously, but they all soon saw the same scene: A ransacked store, with tables overturned and a clerk unconscious, but thankfully alive.

Brand woke Ella, the gnomish clerk they had come to know, and she rushed over in a panic to check the speaking stone. Fortunately, it was intact, and new messages were arriving just fine. Unfortunately, she reported that five kobolds and a humanoid in a cloak had burst in a little while before and snatched the message intended for William, then knocked her unconscious. A little bit of snooping confirmed that there had been kobolds, and they also determined from a careless footprint that the humanoid had been a warforged. Ella was unable to (and not allowed to) remember the message, but a slip of the tongue keyed the adventurers in to the realization that she remembered something, and after a little cajoling, she revealed that she did know the message had been sent by Lady Elaydren.

The adventurers left a message for Lady Elaydren to be picked up the next time Cannith sent messengers down and resolved to meet with her at the Broken Anvil Tavern the next evening. Their meeting turned out to be unnecessary, however, when they stepped back out into the rain and a giant owl flew in and deposited a scroll at their feet. On the scroll was a message from Lady Elaydren

The adventurers rushed over to the Broken Anvil, but fearing a trap, they sent Pel in disguised as a human. He discovered that the tavern was empty, save a woman in a cloak, and he approached her, trying to ascertain that it was Lady Elaydren. He got a look at her face just as she was beginning to cast a spell, and he quickly revealed his true nature. She appeared nervous and somewhat bedraggled, as if she had been on the run for some time.

The others came into the tavern, and Elaydren's nerves didn't seem to noticeably calm. She lifted a leather backpack off the floor and put it on the table, her eyes darting back and forth from the adventurers to the door. "There's no time to explain," she said. "Instructions, gold and supplies are in this pack. Take it and go. The letter in the left-hand pocket explains everything, but you must go now! Trust me. If you can accomplish this task, the rewards will be vast."

Before the adventurers could press Elaydren any further, the door from the street burst open, and the kobolds and warforged burst in. The warforged levelled his crossbow and fired a bolt at Elaydren as Tock reacted and fired his own crossbow at the attacking warforged. Neither bolt struck home, although Elaydren was nicked by the bolt as it went by.

A brutal melee erupted in the tavern, as the kobolds proved unusually proficient with their spears. One of them ran Pel nearly all the way through, another scored several surprising hits on William. The warforged proved even more dangerous, using a magical longsword to land brutal blows on William while keeping the kobolds focused and tactically sound. William managed to disarm the warforged, reducing him to swinging his metal fists, and together the adventurers managed to defeat the kobolds and their master. Elaydren grabbed one of the spears and yelled out "More of these assassins could show up at any moment. All the information you need is in the backpack. Take it and go! Get out of the city as quickly as you can!" and then ran out and into the nearest alleyway, disappearing into the night.

The adventurers picked up the backpack and dashed to a hideout that Pel kept in the Lower Dura Plateau to examine it. They discovered that it was a Heward's Handy Haversack, containing 80 arrows, 80 bolts, 50' silk rope, 5 bedrolls, 5 waterskins, 15 days of trail rations, an everbright lantern, flint and steel, a healer's kit, 5 torches, 3 sacks, 3 vials of holy water, 3 potions of cure light wounds, a pouch with 150 pp, a casket with 500 gp and several items that hinted at their mission.

There was a letter of credit for either House Orien or House Lyrandar covering passage to Rhukaan Draal, capital city of the Hobgoblin-ruled nation of Darguun. There was a three inch rod of blue metal with a sapphire tip which they speculated might be some kind of key, and there was a letter from Lady Elaydren.

The adventurers wanted to depart quickly, but they did take a little bit of time to spend some of the money in the pack, buying new armor and weapons, alchemist's fire, antitoxin, a wand of cure light wounds and a few other odds and ends. Then they decided to take the quicker method of journeying (and the one Brand had encouraged, since it allowed him to steer clear of House Orien), boarding a Lyrandar Elemental Galleon bound for Rhukaan Draal.

XP: 330

Part Two - Darguun
The Lyrandar Galleon Windrider left from the ports at the base of the Sharn cliffs, traveling from the Hilt to the Straits of Shargon along the coast before moving into Zilargo waters and then into Kraken Bay.

The first three days of the journey were fairly uneventful, and the adventurers spent their time recovering from their fight in the tavern. Tock used the time to brew a potion of Cat's Grace for Brand, who spent most of his time sleeping not in the shared cabin but up on the deck, out in the open air. This served him well on the third night, as he heard a scraping noise on the side of the ship. Lysander heard the sound inside the cabin, albeit more faintly, and began making his way up to the deck to investigate.

As it turned out, the mystery of the noise wouldn't last long. Brand went to the side and saw skeletons climbing over, using the fog as cover to climb the side of the ship. Before he could do much more than yell a warning of "Skeletons!" to the crew and his friends below, there were ten of the undead abominations aboard the ship. The half-elf captain dispatched four of his crew to help repel the boarders, and the adventurers, most of them decked out in sleeping clothes rather than armor, rushed to defend the ship as well.

The skeletons proved resistant to the bladed weapons that most of the ship's defenders were using, so William came up with the idea of bull-rushing them off the side and into the water. This tactic worked, and the skeletons were repelled or destroyed, although not before they killed the four half-elves attacking them. The captain gratefully offered a written commendation from House Lyrandar as well as 50 gold to each member of the party as thanks for defending the ship.

A day and a half later, the Windrider pulled into the port of Rhukaan Draal at mid-morning. The goblinoid city, built around what was once a Cyran frontier town, sprawled out in a way quite different from the metropolis of Sharn, full of tents, brick and stone buildings and mud huts, and all centered on a ten story red stone tower at the center of the city. Pel asked the captain how to locate the Bloody Market, and the adventurers had little difficulty finding it, as it was a vast marketplace full of haggling goblins, bugbears, hobgoblins and even a few humans and other humanoids. They did some asking around, and Tock learned that Failin did business in a tavern called The Clenched Fist.

The Clenched Fist seemed to cater to humans and other common races, rather than the goblinoid majority of Rhukaan Draal, but it was still quite crowded. William walked up to the bar and ordered ale for the party, overpaying the bartender, and asked where he could find Failin. The friendly bartender was only too happy to point him out, sitting at a table in the back of the tavern.

Failin was a gangly man with a shock of unruly red hair and clean, well-tailored clothing, giving the immediate impression that he did not lack for gold. He watched the adventurers curiously but unconcerned as they approached. Pel began to offer a diplomatic introduction, but the brusque Brand simply said "We heard you could get us to Rose Quarry."

"Rose Quarry?" Failin said, his words running together in an odd, quick method of speaking. "Very far away. Near the border. Near the gray mist. Mining town. I can take you. Yes. But it will cost you. Sixty gold each, forty up front. You bring your own supplies."

After a half-hearted bit of bargaining, the adventurers agreed to Failin's terms and gave him 20 platinum out of the Heward's Haversack. As they stood to leave, however, a pair of bugbears pushed their way into the bar. "Failin, you cheat us!" they growled, raising their morningstars to threatening positions.

William rushed forward, but Pel took this as an opportunity to negotiate. Failin was reluctant, but agreed to 37 gold each instead of 60, and William slashed into one of the bugbears, wounding him so grievously that he immediately fled. The other, braver than he was smart, attacked William and got killed for his troubles. Failin then rushed the adventurers out of the tavern, promising the refund he owed them "later, later. To my land cart!"

The land cart he spoke of was an Orien elemental-powered land cart, a large covered wagon with room for eight passengers. It was powered by a Khyber dragonshard that bound an earth elemental to the wagon, which had the side effect of making the wagon look as though it were decoared with stones, gems and other crystalline protrusions.

Failin rolled up his right sleeve, exposing a least Dragonmark of passage, and spoke the draconic word for "travel," which activated the land cart, starting a low rumbling sound. The adventurers packed in, and the rumbling noise got louder as the cart began moving across the ground, its wheels half-in and half-out of the ground, providing a smooth ride despite the terrain.

XP: 550

Part Three - Rose Quarry
It took about three and a half days for the land cart to make the trip from Rhukaan Draal to Rose Quarry. Like Rhukaan Draal, Rose Quarry was a Cyran frontier town before the war, but now it was a ruined town so near the Mournland that inhabitants could see the dead-gray mist from the ridge that surrounded it. Failin explained that House Cannith prospectors established the village when they found a massive vein of red marble, and then brought in dwarves from the Mror Holds to mine it. "Half the red stone in Khorvaire probably came from this quarry," he said.

When the land cart closed in on Rose Quarry, the sun had set and the moon was rising. Failin stopped the cart as they crested a rise, seeing light echoing off the sides of the red canyon and smoke drifting lazily into the air. "Were you expecting company?"

The adventurers proceeded on foot to the edge of the cliff, and looked down into the town, which sat in a crater about 50 feet below them. From their vantage point, they spotted about sixteen horses, two dozen wagons, and seven humans in chainmail armor. Lysander, his eyes sharper in the twilight, determined that they were wearing the distinctive half-faceplate design of the Emerald Claw, and that two skeletons stood guard at one of their tents. All of them heard a periodic ringing sound to the north, like that of a pick striking stone or ice.

Given his ability to see more clearly in the dim lighting and his stealth abilities, Lysander was chosen to scout the area, looking for the map that Elaydren's letter had told them about. He carried one of the invisibility potions Tock had brewed with him as a last resort.

Initially, the scouting mission seemed to be going alright. Lysander stayed north of the Emerald Claw camp, instead investigating the ruins to the north. He quickly realized that the entire town was covered in glass, as if it had been poured in molten form over the village, burning it to cinders and then freezing the remains. He encountered the former inhabitants of the village just after that, dwarven zombies coated in a layer of thick glass. He rushed to a nearby alcove and, afraid that the zombies would find him, drank his potion of invisibility.

He then decided to investigate one of the two standing structures in the town. He steered clear of the ruined church of the Sovereign Host, instead heading into the Cannith Refinery, which the ringing noises were emanating from. As he moved in, a powerful looking woman and an Emerald Claw soldier emerged from the entrance, and he froze when they seemed to hear him. The woman noticed that the dwarven glass zombies had moved, and using hand signals, indicated that the soldier should move in that direction. They both went to investigate the place where Lysander had just been, and he ducked into the refinery.

Once inside, he saw another dwarven zombie stacking rubble in the outer rooms, and he went into the inner room. There, he saw a large room with four chimneys that had obviously once been used to shape and polish the red stone from the quarry. He also saw two Emerald Claw soldiers, digging in the rubble and obviously looking for something. Perhaps most importantly, he noted that the floor was a detailed, bas relief map of central Khorvaire, showing the nations of Aundair, Cyre, Karrnath, Thrane and Breland, showing cities, topographical features and even major mines, although not the location of Whitehearth or other Cannith research facilities. The room was surrounded by six statues, located in pairs of two next to fireplaces on three of the walls.

Lysander realized his potion was wearing off, so he attempted to climb one of these fireplaces up and out. Unfortunately, his hands slipped and he fell to the bottom with a loud crash, just as his invisibility wore off. The Emerald Claw Soldiers turned and looked, surely thinking he had just climbed in through the fireplace.

As one charged and the other started to run for help, Lysander cast a sleep spell. The one who had been seeking help dropped into a dreamless sleep, but the other shook it off and swung his morningstar at Lysander, who ducked out of the way. Lysander ran out the door, with the Emerald Claw soldier in hot pursuit.

He ran out and around the refinery, heading for the rope he had used to descend into the canyon. The rest of the adventurers, seeing his situation, began firing arrows at his pursuer. This discouraged pursuit, but lead to the soldier rushing over to the camp, and as Lysander reached the top of the rope and pulled it up after him, the adventurers realized that a pitched battle with the Emerald Claw was coming.

The forces emerged from two different parts of the camp. Near Lysander's point of exit, on the far end of the ridge, the military leader of the forces, a human woman named Kaela, moved in with one Emerald Claw soldier, following their unsuccessful attempt to locate Lysander when they heard him moving around invisibly. The bulk of the forces, however, emerged from the camp. Keltis Doran, a cleric of the Blood of Vol, and Mallora, a female human necromancer, led a contingent of 9 Emerald Claw Warriors and 2 Skeletons toward the ridge. Half of the Emerald Claw soldiers provided covering fire with their crossbows, and one scored a lucky and grievous hit on Pel, while the others moved quickly toward the ridge. Meanwhile, the adventurers fired down on the advancing forces, hoping to whittle their numbers before they scaled the hill. Tock infused his crossbow bolts with a shocking aura, and combined with fire from Brand, Lysander and William, managed to kill Mallora despite her Mage Armor and use of cover.

The crossbow and bow shots from above and below the ridge mostly fell against the cover, and soon the melee had begun in earnest. Tock managed to finish off Kaela with one of his shocking bolts before she could fully charge, and dispatched her soldier shortly after he closed in as well. Meanwhile, the rest of the adventurers dealt with the larger Emerald Claw force. Brand and William both found themselves surrounded, and each of them took serious damage, but the use of their new Wand of Cure Light Wounds by Lysander kept them in the fight, and Brand managed to dispatch Keltis after William successfully shrugged off his attempt at a cause fear spell. The adventurers faced a pitched battle with the remaining Emerald Claw soldiers, but they eventually emerged, tired, battered and wounded but victorious.

XP: 1120

Skill Synergies

As Paul noted last time, you guys now have enough skill levels that you will get synergy bonuses. As an example, Tock has a +2 to his Spellcraft because of 5+ ranks in Knowledge (arcana), a +2 on Spellcraft involving scrolls because of 5+ ranks in Use Magic Devices and a +2 on Use Magic Device involving scrolls because of 5+ ranks in Spellcraft. So everyone... check your synergy bonuses! You can find a guide HERE.

Upcoming Game Schedule

April 7th - Eberron: Shadows of the Last War (Paul out)
April 14th - Randy & Suzanne's House-Cooling Party... no gaming
April 21st - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Chris out)
April 28th - ?? (Randy out, no Eberron)
May 5th - ?? (Randy out, no Eberron)
May 12th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Nate out)
May 19th - Eberron: Whisper of the Vampire's Blade (Everyone in?)
May 26th - Eberron: Grasp of the Emerald Claw (Everyone in?)

By the way, I've offered Dave the chance to come in and "guest play" anybody who is out for the week if his other gaming group (filthy traitor!) schedule coincides. That way, maybe the NPC character will be less likely to be used as a door opener and arrow shield, etc.