5E Forgotten Forge (IC)

[Pinnacle]

Recruiting Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?381070-5th-Edition-Eberron-The-Forgotten-Forge-Interest-Check)
Dice Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?388841-5E-Forgotten-Forge-Dice-Thread)
OoC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?388842-5E-Forgotten-Forge)

Gaethis d'Torrn (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18354130&postcount=21), half-orc rogue by Teucros
Boneyard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18385506&postcount=35), warforged paladin by Jon D
Tera Beauregard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18392698&postcount=50), half-elf warlock by Rokku
Gauntlet (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18451963&postcount=69), warforged fighter by Rhyvurg
Face (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18486796&postcount=78), changeling bard by lonewolf1210
Guts Slade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18493058&postcount=81), human paladin by HappyMooCow
Alkur Fixenbager (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18512986&postcount=82), gnome wizard

Sharn, the City of Towers!
The most famous city in Breland, Sharn was the fantastical place that had grown up instead of out. In this strange metropolis, higher class people and businesses tend to reside quite literally higher than the low. Its natives sometimes felt disoriented on flat ground, but immigrants and visitors more often then not felt overwhelmed and confused by the labyrinthine lattice of towers, balconies, bridges, and lifts that one needed to navigate in order to get from place to place.
On one particular evening, just as darkness has fallen in earnest after a day dimmed by the overcast skies (those knowledgeable about magic know that Sharn's weather is a side effect of the same planar accident that allows for the magic that enables the floating or impossibly-tall towers; others just know that it rains more often than not), several adventurers found themselves near Morgrave University.

A scream cut through the air, a man's voice cried out in pain and surprise but was quickly cut short. On a skybridge connecting platforms attached to Dalannan Tower and the Kelsa Spire, witnesses caught sight of a cloaked figure who seemed to be trying to avoid the light cast by the everbright lanterns affixed to the bridge's railing. Even those who could see in the dark had difficulty discerning much detail between the rain that had finally started falling, the movement between light and shadow, and the physical obstacle of the stone rail obstructing line of sight. Lightning flashed, and the figure could be seen rummaging for something on the ground--near another person lying motionless on the stone.
Looking up, and noticing that he or she had been spotted, the person vaulted over the rail on the southern side of the skybridge and disappeared from sight.

Anyone who had spent much time in Sharn knew that many of the city's skybridges--particularly in the higher levels of the city where the wealthier residents resided--were enchanted so that anyone falling off of them falls slowly and safely. Presumably it was also true for those who jump intentionally.

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet sprints to the figure on the ground, positioning itself between them and the rail before kneeling to see if they are alive. It takes it a second, but it remembers that flesh-beings breathed while they lived, so it checks for that first.

[Rokku]

A lovely young half-elf in black rushes up to the body, umbrella in hand.

"Bloody hell, it's getting so you can't even walk the streets at night any more," she says.

Looking down at the body, her features curl into a frown.

"Likely dead. Best be careful there warforged, odds are someone'll be along who wants to see to that body."

Perception [roll0]

[Teucros]

A short-haired half-orc brunette, her rather stylish leather armor and coat making a studied contrast with her tattooed face and the necklace of alligator teeth around her neck joins the scene. Her voice is deep and husky.

"I believe the Khoravar's right. That was audacious and brutal. This is not Malleon's gate...The murderer took a risk acting in the open."

She looks at them both. "I am a member of the Torrn line of House Thrashk and have some experience in looking into things. Let me see what I can find here".

1d20+4

So casually murdered...just like her old companions. Gaethis tries to hide it, but she's definitely shaken.

[Jon D]

"Less chatting and more chasing!" Boneyard bellows as he charges past the gathered beings and lewps over the railing in pursuit of the killer. It was less of a plan and more of a reaction, which suited Boneyard just fine.

He just prayed the magics that protected the clumsy and the foolish recognized Warforged.

[Pinnacle]

The adventurers came to a body lying on its right side near the skybridge's northern railing.
The prone figure was that of a middle-aged human male. He was fairly well-dressed, and clutched a stylish leather satchel in his hand. He also appeared to have a set of identity papers in his shirt pocket. He lay in an expanding pool of rainwater mixed with blood, which seeped from a gaping gash in his back, one which was likely made with an axe rather than a stab wound from a knife.
As far as Gauntlet could tell, there was no breathing or other signs of life.

Boneyard landed lightly on a skybridge perhaps 20 feet from where he had leaped. There were flickering everbright lanterns on this level as well, but no immediate sign of where the cloaked murderer had gone.

[HappyMooCow]

Guts attempts to vault over the rail on the southern side of the skybridge.

[Rhyvurg]

"Priotity: in case of lingerlife life remove the subject to a more comfortable area, search personal effects for identification so next of kin may be notified and proper grieving can commence." It wraps the body, possessions and all up in his own cloak and prepares to carry him out of the rain.

[Rokku]

Tera watches the two men leap off the skybridge with some curiosity.

"Well that's just mad innit," she says, "jumping off things on a dark stormy night to chase a murderer. It's like something out of those trashy novels."

She sees the warforged beginning to disturb the body and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you might not want to move that. Inquisitives might want to examine the scene or some such."

[Rhyvurg]

"Investigation is secondary to the possible preservation of life."

[Rokku]

Tera gives the warforged a confused look.

"Yeah, but 'e's dead though, inn'e?"

[Teucros]

Gaethis sighs. "She's right. Again. Then again, this is Sharn. The watch are just as likely to search for valuables and get rid of the corpse" she comments with distaste.

[lonewolf1210]

Face casually stands back and observes while the others spring into action, and just answers towards Gaethis: "Not up here they wont. You must be new to the upper levels of Sharn."

[Teucros]

"I am more used to the mid and lower parts of the city, yes" Gaethis admits.

[garter_snake]

Alkur Fixenbagger hurried accross the bridge, keeping one hand on his cloth cap as the drizzle pelted across his face. He set his eyes straight ahead and slightly down, determinedly not looking at the sides of the bridge and the long, long way down. Intellectually, he knew that the slowfall enchantments on the bridges would prevent a fall from being dangerous. But that didn't make him any less uncomfortable.

It was in this worried state of mind that he heard a piercing scream from behind him, followed by a bolt of lightning. Alkur jumped a full two feet into the air, then spun around, just catching a shadowy figure leaping over the side of the bridge in his gaze. A body lay on the skybridge, apparently dead, and a group of people started to gather around it, with one person jumping off the side of the bridge, apparently in hot pursuit.

Alkur approached the group, and the body. A large warforged had hoisted the body over his shoulder and was carrying it away, while the rest of the group was discussing how odd it was that a murder had occurred so blatently in the upper reaches.

"Doctor!" Alkur cried out as Gauntlet prepared to leave. "Is there anyone here that is a doctor!?"

[Pinnacle]

The body slumped in the warforged's arms, nothing but dead weight. The satchel slipped from his fingers and fell to the stone with a wet thud.
It certainly seemed that the adventurers' consensus, that his life had already been lost, was correct.

There wasn't much time to contemplate the murder, though, before the murderer made a reappearance.
As Guts swept past the side of the bridge, he and Boneyard both caught sight of the cloak behind him swirling in the wind.
The adventurers on the bridge, too, heard the scrape of metal on stone and a muttered curse from somewhere beneath them and looked up in time to catch sight of her as she leaped back over the southern railing.

The murderer had vaulted over the skybridge's railing, but apparently not off of it completely. She must have clung to the side and then climbed underneath...

The person in the traveling cloak was a warforged. She wore little clothing, just the cloak, a belt to hold her weapon, and straps over her arms presumably connected to a backpack under the cloak. There was a mark burned onto her brow suggesting she was a slave of Karnnath, but that mark had been scratched through repeatedly. There was something mad in her red eyes, and it was fairly plain that she was indeed the murderer--the battleaxe at her belt was the right size, and dripping with fresh blood.
She had probably expected to surprise the group by climbing up the opposite side, but there was no missing that all eyes were on her.

She hesitated only a fraction of a second, though, before her own eyes fell on another warforged: Gauntlet. She snarled at him, an almost primal growl that didn't seem to consist of any actual words, and lunged forward as she reached down for her bloody axe.

She was fast, but there was that split-second hesitation...

Battleaxe pretty much botched her Stealth check, so everybody noticed her and there's no surprise.

I took the liberty of rolling Initiative for everybody, since Battleaxe is definitely attacking.
Face wins and can take a turn, but everyone else is after Battleaxe.

Initiative:
Face
Battleaxe (NPC)
Boneyard
Gauntlet
Tera
Guts
Alkur
Gaethos

[lonewolf1210]

Reacting quickly to the incoming threat, Face weaves magic at the warforged: "I think it would be better for you to go to sleep!"

[casting sleep, choosing an area that only includes battleaxe, such as targeting the point directly 15ft above him]

[Pinnacle]

The warforged barely seemed to notice the spell, but her gaze still turned to Face.
"You'll have to do better than that," she said, "I'm not made of weak flesh like you!"
The attacker slipped her battleaxe from her belt as she stepped towards Face. It glinted in the flickering light of the magical fire from the lanterns as she swung it down at the changeling's shoulder. It was a very near thing, but the glancing blow was deflected by Face's armor and failed to cut.

Battleaxe is unaffected by the sleep spell because she has too man HP.
She attacks Face but misses.
PCs' turns.

Initiative
Boneyard
Gauntlet
Tera
Guts
Alkur
Gaethos
Face
Battleaxe (NPC)

[Jon D]

"You picked the wrong night for stupidity, neighbor" Boneyard rumbled as he draws a javilin from the holster on his hip, takes careful aim, then hurls as hard as he can.

Actual dmg is 6

[Rhyvurg]

Concern for a living being subsumed in hardwired reflexes, Gauntlet drops the body and draws his sword, stepping towards the warforged assassin. "Beginning combat!"

[Rokku]

"****e ****e ****e," curses Tera, as she swings her crossbow off her back and loads it.

"Bloody murderous constructs, wonderful bloody night," she mutters, as she takes aim and looses a bolt.

[HappyMooCow]

Guts draws his short bow and fires.

[garter_snake]

A loud thumping caused Alkur to turn around, and he jumped in suprise at the sight of a large warforge with a bloody axe advancing on the gathered witnesses. The assassin had returned.

The other witnesses reacted more quickly, losing magic and arrows at the assassin, but it took a moment for Alkur to fully react to their assailant. In that brief moment of time, several thoughts flashed through his head.

The assassin came back for the witnesses, instead of just fleeing. Ergo, there's something we've seen that it doesn't want widely known.

It would have just taken the body if it had to do with the target. Ergo, that something has to do with the assassin's identity.

Slinging his crossbow around to his waist, Alkur loosed an arrow at the enemy warforged.


attack and damage roll (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18587628&postcount=15)

[Teucros]

"Oh no, you don't!" Gaethis draws a sword as she closes towards the warforged. A savage axe bearer...her homeland is briming with such warriors. What you need to do is to move quickly,keep your calm, see an opening and...thrust!

[Pinnacle]

Boneyard's weapon clipped the villainous warforged's arm and she shuddered slightly. She glared back over her shoulder at him and snarled "Traitor!" ...although he did not recognize her.

The body fell back to the stone in a heap as Gauntlet released it to draw his weapon. Lightning flashed, and somewhere in a tower up above the battle a woman screamed.

The warforged's eyes flickered tot he fallen body, and while she was distracted Tera's bolt bit into her arm.

She eyed the combatants more warily now, and she moved so that the next missile struck her built-in armor plating leaving nothing but a small scratch on its surface. The next she deflected by catching it with her cloak.

But she could not defend herself perfectly from all sides, and Gaethos managed to bury her blade in the woody fibers of the contstruct's unprotected abdomen.
She howled with pain and rage, and her red eyes flashed more fiercely--they may have even been visible without the lantern light. She swung her axe in a wide arc to drive the woman back. It was a reckless move, one that left herself wide open with her weapon to far away to defend--but that didn't change the painful bite of the blade in the half-orc's flesh in time with the peel of thunder.

Another voice rang from above: "Someone call the Watch!"

Boneyard hits. Tera hits. Guts misses. Alkur misses. Gaethos crits; you didn't roll the crit dice, so I rolled them for you and she deals an extra 9 damage.
With Gaethos's attack, Battleaxe has taken more than half her hp in damage.

Trying to make up for the holiday lull and my sluggishness, I'm skipping Face's turn for the moment so I can take Battleaxe's.
Face can go ahead and take the skipped turn and the next one together to make up for it.
Battleaxe attacks Gaethos using her Reckless ability which grants her Advantage on melee weapon attack rolls on her turn, but also grants Advantage on attack rolls against her.
Gaethos is hit and takes 5 damage.

Initiative:
Face (2 turns)
Boneyard
Gauntlet
Tera
Guts
Alkur
Gaethos (5 damage taken)
Battleaxe (NPC; granting Advantage; heavily damaged-35 damage taken)

[lonewolf1210]

After dodging the attack of the warforged, Face sighs and retorts back to it: "I should have known better then to think that a crappy piece of metal and wood would know when to surrender."
After the words come out of his mouth, he thinks on them for a second he turns to Gauntlet and Boneyard, says: "No offence to you guys" and winks.

[Pinnacle]

"You...!" the warforged sputtered somewhat uselessly at the changeling. She was obviously distracted by Face's words, although his magic wasn't quite as effective as he had hoped.

Battleaxe fails one of her saves but makes the other. She takes 2 psychic damage and has Disadvantage on attack rolls.

Other PCs' turns.

Initiative:
Boneyard
Gauntlet
Tera
Guts
Alkur
Gaethos (5 damage taken)
Battleaxe (NPC; granting Advantage; Disadvantage to attack rolls on next turn; heavily damaged-37 damage taken)
Face

[HappyMooCow]

when my turn comes up I will just fire my bow and arrow.

[Pinnacle]

The arrow whistled over the skybridge railing and embedded itself into the warforged murderer's exposed upper left arm.
She barely reacted, her attention still on Face.

Slade's attack hits and deals 7 damage.

Other PCs' turns.

Initiative:
Boneyard
Gauntlet
Tera
Alkur
Gaethos (5 damage taken)
Battleaxe (NPC; granting Advantage; Disadvantage to attack rolls on next turn; heavily damaged-44 damage taken)
Face
Guts Slade

[Rokku]

Tera reloads and fires at the crazed warforged again, hoping to put it down before it decides it wants to murder her.

[garter_snake]

That being the case- Alkur continued his line of thought as his crossbow bolt whizzed above the assasin's right shoulder -lets go for a capture.

Reaching into his spell component pouch, Alkur pulled out a mostly dead cricket and tossed it into the air, following it up with several gestures and arcane mumblings.




Casting Sleep in an area that hits only Battleaxe, such as a point 20ft above her head. Hit Dice total is 20. Duration is 1 min

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet steps in and thrusts his shield in the killer's face, masking the oncoming thrust, but the attack misses his target.

[Pinnacle]

One final missile struck the warforged, and as she grunted the spell hit her.
Warforged don't sleep naturally, but perhaps that only meant she did not know how to deal with the utterly alien feeling of exhaustion that washed through her. Weaker now than when Face had first attempted to put her magically to sleep, she collapsed.

She crashed hard to the stone floor, splashing rainwater and blood as her axe clattered down as well.

"Murder!" shouted a hysterical voice from above, and then--for the moment--all was still.

Tera hits and deals enough damage that she now has less than 20 hp and succumbs to the sleep spell.

Initiative:
Boneyard
Gauntlet
Tera
Alkur
Gaethos (5 damage taken)
Battleaxe (NPC; granting Advantage; Disadvantage to attack rolls on next turn; heavily damaged-52 damage taken; asleep one minute)
Face
Guts Slade
Gauntlet
Tera
Alkur

[Rokku]

Tera reloads her crossbow again and stands directly over Battleaxe with the weapon pointed at her head. She wasn't taking any chances -- if the warforged so much as twitched, she'd scatter whatever it had that passed for brains.

"One of you big fellas want to tie this up or somefin'?"

[HappyMooCow]

"We should tie her and turn her in to the authorities to make a decision."

[Pinnacle]

Some distance away and below, the adventurers heard the blast of a whistle. Harder to make out over the rumble of thunder was the sound of running feet.

The Sharn Watch was approaching.

[Teucros]

"Now they're coming...figures" mumbles Gaethis, looking at her cut skin. That actually hurt a bit.
"Guess we should cooperate...although I for one would really like to know what this was all about."

[HappyMooCow]

Guts Slade, the paladin of vengeance, puts away his weapons and tries to blend in like nothing happened, away from the crowd to someplace where he can observe the others. TRUE STORY. ~Basically trying to hide from the authorities and bystanders while still being able to observe and follow after the group~ If possible find someplace to hide and change into my sailor outfit.

[Jon D]

Boneyard finally made it to the original landing he'd started on, cursing both his lack of familiarity and the local architecture as he'd managed to make himself lost trying to rejoin the fight.

Retrieving his thrown javelin, "Do we wait for the Watch?"

[garter_snake]

Putting away his crossbow, Alkur approached the the sleeping form of the assassin. Gingerly, Alkur pried the battleaxe from its grip and held it awkwardly with both hands, then backed away slowly. Now need to take foolish risks.

"If noone has any rope, can someone at least give it a good whack on the head? Or sit on it or something?" Alkur hissed in a low voice. "That spell only lasts a minute!"

[Jon D]

"It?"

If Boneyard had the ability to **** an eyebrow at the comment, he would have, as he glanced aside at Alkur.

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet stands over the prone assassin, sword ready. "Search the victim, perhaps there is a clue as to who he is. If he is Cannith, this aggression is easily explained."

[Pinnacle]

They rounded the corner then, and came into view.

Three people, a dwarf in the lead running full out. There were two humans behind him, running but keeping pace with the slower dwarf.
The dwarf was a middle-aged male. He was bald, and his greying beard was neatly cropped. He carried a loaded crossbow, and small case at his belt held spare bolts.
The two humans were both young and strong, perhaps early twenties. One was a man with short dark hair and the other a woman with longer red hair. Both of them were carrying halberds.
All three were wearing the characteristic uniform of the Sharn Watch--green leather armor with black studs.

As the dwarf reached the bridge, the humans flanked him and raised their halberds. The dwarf kept his crossbow at the ready, but did not aim it at anybody in particular.
"Olladra's bloody nose," he said, his eyes flicking to the two prone figures. "By order of the Sharn Watch, drop your weapons and explain yourselves!"

[Rokku]

"Fing on the ground killed that fella," says Tera, pointing at the corpse, "we stopped it from scarperin'. It's still alive, if you wanna talk to it."

[lonewolf1210]

Face uses the few seconds he has between beeing warned about the watch coming and it actually showing up to distance himself from the rest of the group a bit.

Wielding no weapons, he moves towards the patrol once they arrive. "Very good that you are here! These heroes ..." pointing at the rest of the group, " ... have done a marvelous job of defending myself and other innocent bystanders as well as performing a citizen arrest of this warforged murderer. They are ought to be rewarded for their service to the city!" He then moves towards the group again and shakes everyones hand most energetic and thanks them deeply.

[Teucros]

Gaethis nods at the officers, not in a way bot not cordially either. "Gaethis d'Torrn, prospector and occasionally inquisitive of House Tharashk." The half-orc seahtes her blade. "This one, the deceased's murderer, attacked us and gave me the injury you can see. We haveviewsconcerning such behaviour, as you can imagine. Its name and purpose are entirely unknown to us."

[HappyMooCow]

Guts still silent, still trying to acting like nothing happened and still trying to sneak off LOL.

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet does as he is told and sets his sword on the ground.

[Pinnacle]

When it became clear that no attack was forthcoming, at least, the dwarf waved the two humans forward. "See to the fallen," he said, and the two humans dashed forward to examine the body and the fallen warforged.

"Alive you say? Warforged can survive quite a beating, but why do you seem so certain about that?"

[Jon D]

"I struck it with a javelin from the lower level", Boneyard slowly waves a hand towards the railing, "after see this one climb up and attack this group."

He indicates the fallen warforged.

[garter_snake]

Alkur hastily dropped the warforged's battleaxe, and raised his hands into the air.

Damn. It's the guard.

He slowly scooted away from the warforged's body while the rest of the group talked. Nothing good ever came of talking to the guard. They were philistines, reactionaries, closed-minded and uninterested to the possibilities of whatever experiment's explosion brought them to your door. Best to just keep your distance and your mouth shut. Besides-

Alkur glanced sideways at the warforged's sleeping body. That thing was going to wake up any moment. Best to not be right next to it when it did.

Alkur took another step back, positioning himself with the large warforged who had tried to carry off the dead man's body between him and the assassin's sleeping form.

[lonewolf1210]

Face turns to the dwarf again: "They used magic to put him to sleep. Your men should be careful. He is bound to wake up again soon."

[Pinnacle]

"Eh!?" said the dwarf, "That's somethin' you shoulda said sooner! Becca, restrain him!" He leveled the crossbow at the warforged.

The female guard took a set of manacles from the back at her waist. She fixed them to the warforged's wrists and resumed standing over the prone figure with her halberd ready.
The male stood up and shook his head. "He's dead already, Sergeant," he said. He returned to the dwarf and handed over the identification he had retrieved from the corpse's pocket.

The dwarf sergeant glanced down at them. "The name 'Bonal Geldem' mean anything to any o' you?"

The warforged began stirring, and then writhing against her restrains, and then cursing and leveling slurs at the feet she could see.

"A'right," said the sergeant, "that certainly seems to corroborate your story." He looked at the adventurers--other than Face, who had been told was not involved in the fight, and Slade, who he did not seem to notice--more sternly. "But why did you all get involved? This sounds like the kinda thing you should leave to us; that's what we're here for."

[Jon D]

"Because we were hete, and you were not."

Boneyard does not chide them, simply stating that the Watch cannot be everywhere.

[Rokku]

"I was 'appy to just wait for you lot to show up and keep an eye on the body," said Tara, "til it came back all crazy waving that axe. Thought I best shoot it, then."

[Rhyvurg]

"That man needed help, that is the reason."

[Teucros]

"Cities" Gaethis mumbles, almost but not entirely under her breath. "In the swamps, you learn to get involved. The next one might be you"

The name means nothing to her. but Gaethis commits the deceased's name to memory. She could make a few inquiries later...

[HappyMooCow]

Guts Slade sulks as the watch turns out to be good... his hopes and dreams of slaying evil injustice is crushed.

[Pinnacle]

"This is Sharn, though," said the sergeant, frowning. "We have a Watch, so you don't have to place yourselves in danger--call us, it's what we're for."

Then he grinned, and nodded at Gauntlet. "I can't really argue with stepping in to help when someone's in immediate danger, though. I'm Sgt. Dolom, and for that I guess I should really be--eh?"

Battleaxe had stopped cursing and was instead staring back towards Dolom and the adventurers speaking with him. She laughed. "I suppose you have me trapped, but now they'll know who you are," she said.
From the slot in her chest, common to warforged, something emerged. It was small, metallic, an insect-like. It took off through the air, away from her, away from the skybridge, and off into the storm.

"What in all the nations is that thing!?" demanded Dolom. He leveled his crossbow at it, but still didn't fire.

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet leans down towards the killer. "Do not presume to think you, nor anything like you, holds any terror for me. Let them come, they will find me ready to usher them on to whatever Hell awaits our kind. I sincerely hope you are sentenced to lifelong imprisonment for this. As a fellow immortal, I can appreciate just how long that would be for you, a slave to the wills of organics once again. I hope you live a good, long life, murderer. I hope you live forever."

[Rokku]

"Trouble, most like," says Tera, "but we're done 'ere now, yeah? I'd like to get home before the storm gets any worse."

[HappyMooCow]

Guts scratches his head and says to himself after seeing something fly off... "was the warforged possessed?"

[garter_snake]

Alkur peered off into the storm, at the rapidly fading dot that flew out of the chest of the warforged.

"Oh, that's not good."

Alkur turned to look back in the direction of the assassin warforged. The synthetic he had chosen to hide behind had moved over it and was now talking down at it. Its behavior is remarkably similar to the male dominance rituals of the Northern-Zilargo Speckled Finch. Fascinating. Well, leaving aside curious synthetic behavior, what was that flying object?

Possibilities:
1. A bird made a nest in the assassin synthetic's body.
2. Some sort of minor construct or familiar was embedded into the synthetic's body.
3. Some conditional spell was used. Perhaps a variation of Message that uses a physical medium to increase the range?

Two and three are the more likely. Therefore...


Alkur repositioned himself behind the human seafarer. "Mmm, doubtful." He said in response to the human's question. "Leaving aside the question of whether synthetics are susceptible to magic jars and other such effects, the subject appears to still be animate, and its disposition unchanged. That was probably a familiar of some type, intended to serve as a messenger, incase its attempt at murder failed."

[Teucros]

Gaethis watches the metallic thing flying away and continues her muttering. "More Cannith tricks causing a mess. Great. Juuust great"

[Pinnacle]

"Maybe you should fear us, traitor," the warforged hissed at Gauntlet. The humans guarding her looked nervous and tightened their grips on their weapons

Dolom ignored her, sighing and unloading his crossbow. "Yeh, I suppose that's everything covered, and we can take things from here. I actually wish we were a little less crowded." He nodded towards a few people creeping towards the end of the bridge, gawking at the scene on it. Most wore cloaks against the rain, but some seemed hurriedly pulled on over night clothes. "So.. thank you for your service in this matter, but in the future I advise you to call for the Watch when you can. If you think of anything else useful, please bring it to any guard station." He started to move towards the body, but then seemed to notice Gaethis's wound. "Er, Miss, do you need assistance reaching a healing house?"

Someone in a dark blue cloak--a human male one might guess from the size and shape of him--moved towards Slade. "I saw you with them, right?" He motioned for the paladin to follow him, and then beckoned urgently to the adventurers still on the higher Skybridge.

[lonewolf1210]

The last comment criticising them for getting involved broke the camels back from Faces point of view.
This arrogant selfrighteous seargant must be taught a lesson.

Face moves back towards Dolum and also goes for a hearty handshake, thanking the dwarf for his valuable duty while he has both his hands busy with unloading his crossbow, resulting in a bit of an intentionally awkward moment and Face looks like to reconsider and goes for a hug instead, with his slippery fingers doing their own work.

[Teucros]

Gaethis hesitates for a second. "Thank you, sir, but I will deal with this myself"she finally replies.

The rogue grins at Face's shenanigans and then frowns as the cloaked man enters the scene. Not exactly subtle, are we?

"I can't say that the guy inspires confidence, but he seems to know more about happened here. I say we follow for now." she suggests to the others.

[Rokku]

Tera sighed.

"I just wanted a nice quiet night with my sewing."

She hops down to the mysterious stranger.

[Jon D]

Boneyard moved to follow the cloaked figure. There was more going on here than a simple murder, that was for certain. The flying object that had sprung forth from the fallen warforged was a messenger, he's seen them during the war, but he seemed to remember that they were very rare.

Clearly there was more to be learned, and something bigger brewing.

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet scoops up his sword and follows along, happy to be included in a group activity.

[Pinnacle]

"Er, thanks," said Dolom, looking confused at Face. "You remind me of an inquisitive I've worked with."

He didn't seem to notice as the changeling palmed his badge.

[HappyMooCow]

I follow the man, "you got me."

[Pinnacle]

The person under the cloak was a young human man, fair with blue eyes and dark hair. He was well-dressed, but not extravagantly--possibly a servant or assistant of a wealthier person. He kept his cloak pulled down around himself, but that was as likely to be due to the rain and cold as anything else.

"I don't mean to sneak around the Watch," he said, eying the dwarf sergeant nervously, "but I want to report in before I get stuck talking to them... but I wanted to catch you before you went away and I couldn't find you.

"Provost Geldam was late for a meeting with my employer. She sent me here to fetch him, thinking he just lost track of the time... and this is what I find here. If you want to learn more about the unfortunate death of Bonal Geldam, she'd be the one to talk to. And I'm sure she'd want to speak with you. I suspect she may even have an opportunity for some capable adventurers like yourselves... She'll be in the Broken Anvil's tavern tomorrow morning at dawn."

He shrugged. "The Broken Anvil is in Lower Dura, but it is run by House Ghallanda. If nothing else, I can promise you a fine breakfast."


Dura was the oldest of Sharn's quarters, but as the city expanded Dura was forgotten. Now it was the poorest of the quarters, with even Upper Dura being largely middle-class and Lower Dura often being snubbed as little better than the Cogs beneath the city.

[Rokku]

"Well the night's looking up then. Nobody can say Tera Beauregard ever turned down a job offer and a free meal. I'd be happy to meet with your mistress."

[HappyMooCow]

OK, I will do it and dine. :)

I announce it to the other party members.

. The dead person was important to some lady who will be at the Broken Anvil's tavern tomorrow morning at dawn. The Broken Anvil is in Lower Dura, run by House Ghallanda. Free food, so I am there.

[Teucros]

It's not as if business hasn't been slow lately, thinks Gaethis.

Well, then. Let's see where this takes us.

[garter_snake]

Alkur followed behind the large sailor as he went to the hooded man. Might as well see what this was about. Also, no reason to tempt fate and stand near a defective construct any longer than was needed.

"I don't recall it being said that it was free..." Alkur muttered in response to the sailor's jubilation.

[HappyMooCow]

No one promises a paladin a fine breakfast that he has gotsta to pay for. That is just pure evil.

[Pinnacle]

The man smirked.
"Lady Elaydren will provide breakfast," he said, "That is one thing I can promise for certain."

He nodded to the adventurers, shot a nervous glance towards Sgt. Dolom, and turned to leave down a long flight of stairs headed towards the city's lower levels.

[HappyMooCow]

Okay, totally going to be there at his breakfast. What are you guys going to do now? Want to go drinking? I ain't got no sailin to do. Maybe I can sneak in some moonshine to that breakfast.

[lonewolf1210]

Face hides a smile as he pockets the badge and starts thinking about how to use it in the future.
Then he moves away from the group quickly to get to this mysterious man that seeks their attention, without it getting too obvious that he is in fact part of this group.



While listening to the man, Face also closely memorizes his face, mannerism and voice, to be able to impersonate him. He leaves the direct responses to the rest of the team and only speaks again as the man had already turned to leave.

"Sounds intriguing." He thinks for a second calmly then suddenly springs into quick action, with only a few quick words explaining himself: "Well, see ya´ll there. I´ve got some shopping to do." With that, he jumps over the rail muttering arcane words of feather fall and vanshes into the rain.

Having left the others behind, Face has 2 goals that he would like to accomplish that evening: Buying some clothes that roughly resemble those of the guy they just met(they dont need to hold up to a close inspection) and meet one of his contacts among the tyrants to inquire if he knows anything about a Lady Elaydren. He would like to know who he is dealing with before they meet.

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet claps the man on the shoulder. "You can count on my help!"

[Pinnacle]

Face:

Clothing was easy enough to find in Sharn. Face found a set of second-hand clothing that more-or-less resembled the man's for 5 sp, although the cloak was noticeably inferior. He also found a better set that was closer, for 5 gp.

As far as his contacts new, there was no noblewoman in Sharn by the name of Elaydren. There was a member of House Cannith with that given name, though. She lived in a townhouse in Middle Central.
Unfortunately, that was all the information Face could find on that night's investigation.

Everyone:
While Lower Dura as a whole was a somewhat seedy area, the neighborhood immediately around the Broken Anvil was... somewhat nicer.
The inn itself was set into a corner of its tower, accessible from the center.
The tavern was roughly triangular, with the kitchen opposite the entrance. The tavern had several round tables scattered around it, with private dining areas set into the side rooms that could be separated with curtains. There was also a door in each wall that presumably led to the guest quarters.
At this time, there were not many patrons in the tavern.
A plump, middle-aged halfling woman greeted the adventurers at the door. She seemed to be expecting them, and directed them to a large round table with only one occupied chair which contained an attractive human woman in her late twenties or early thirties.
"Lady Elaydren," said the halfling, "your guests have arrived."

The human looked up. She looked exhausted, and apparently hadn't noticed the group approaching her table.
She wore a blue gown, and blue and silver ornaments in her dark hair, that matched her blue eyes exactly. There was an opening on the gown's right sleeve that put her Mark of Making on display. She really didn't seem to fit her present environment very well.
"Oh," she said, "Yes. Please, sit." She motioned at the empty chairs around the table, as well as the empty glasses and bottles of assorted drinks in the middle of it.
"I'm glad my assistant took the initiative and asked you to meet with me. He was right, we have much to discuss."

[Teucros]

Gaethis takes a seat but igores the drinks for the time being. "A man is dead, a warfored maniac attempts to kill us and House Cannith takes an interest in the situation. Yes, I believe we do."

The half-orc looks around her. "Not the establishment I'd have expected from a member of the older houses. I assume that we will be made some sort of unofficial offer?"

[HappyMooCow]

I am a sailor and a paladin of vengeance. I will have a pitcher of ale. I need to make some money and kill some evil and make people happy oh and I need to get revenge on someone - someday I run into them until then I am a mercenary with morals.

Guts says in a drunken stupor.... from drinking at the tavern all night.

[Pinnacle]

"I can see why you might think that," Elaydren said to Gaethis, "but not exactly. If I were trying to be that discrete, I'd at least wear an outfit that hid my mark... No, I was staying in this inn because it's a convenient location. Since he had to name a meeting place before speaking with me, Reyn chose it because he knew I'd be here... Of course, since I had to go to Upper Central last night to meet with that Watchman, it would have actually been easier to host you at my townhouse.

"As you say, Cannith is an old house. The man who was murdered last night was Provost Bonal Geldem of the School of Pre-Galifar Studies at Morgrave University. He was helping me plan an expedition to find an old Cannith foundry that's, well," she pointed down, "in the ruins of old Sharn, below here. There's a certain long-lost heirloom that I was researching that he believes is there.

"There is an element of truth to what you say," she said delicately, "I'm sure you've all heard of Cannith's fractured leadership after the Day of Mourning. Baron Merrix controls Sharn. I work for Baroness Jorlanna. I'm not an enemy of the local house, certainly, but I am somewhat on my own here."

To Slade she said "Well, I expect I might be able to help you make some coin, then. I was hoping at least a few of you, who I am told handled yourselves quite well against the assassin, might be willing to pursue that sort of work. As for evil souls... Battleaxe--that's what the murderer calls herself--claims not to have been working alone.
"That's exactly the reason I find myself suddenly in need of acting quickly."

[HappyMooCow]

We will get them.

[Teucros]

By the great spirits.... Gaethis could have screamed at the paladin who would have her and the rest of the group just go along with Cannnith machiniation just like that. Still, the half-orc manages to control herself and keep her voice cool and professional.

We will? Maybe, maybe not. What is this artifact? Is the foundry guar-well, they always are, so what should we expect? And how much do you pay?

[garter_snake]

Alkur climbed onto a stool. It was half-ling size, so a bit small for him, but it was close enough.

Alkur stayed quiet as Elaydren and Gaethis spoke to each other. He didn't have much experience with the politics of the Dragonmarked houses, but he knew their history a bit.

The Canniths... their the ones renowned for being expert artificers. The Lightning Rail, the Warforged- both of these were Cannith designs. SO her story is that she's an outsider of the local branch who came here to look for some artifact in the lower depths of the city. Her partner was murdered by the rogue construct, and now she's looking for additional assistance.

"A question." The gnome spoke up, as the others were expressing interest on the job. "Besides you and Provost Geldem, who knew of this 'foundry'? And did anyone know that you were planning on a expedition to it?

Also..." Alkur hesitated. "I'm not familiar with what you mean by 'foundry'. Is it a mages workshop, or something more nuanced?"

[lonewolf1210]

Face gets the cheaper variant of the assistants clothes, but then decides not to use this new disguise for now. Keeping an ace like that hidden is also worth much.


Face arrives at the meeting wearing his dark cloak and a hood darkening his face. He sits down at the ladies invitation and simply starts eating breakfast, appearing as if his focus was mostly on that, while in fact he was listening very closely.
Interesting. Intrigue, Murder and Mystery that suddenly appeared right in front of me. Who am I to say no to such signs of the Traveler?

Turning to Gaethis he speaks for the first time in this meeting:
"While I understand your hesitation and I also dont like to be volunteered by someone else for a mission like this, ..." here he glares punishingly at Guts " ... I for one feel like fate is giving me a nudge and I will join whoever else will come along. And I am also not that worried about negotiating payment beforehand for a mission like this one. Once we have the artifact, we can still negotiate and we are in an even better position than now.
Finally, I believe that if Lady Elaydren is interested in aquiring this artifact, ..." Face trails of mid sentence for a second, and continues in Lady Elaydrens voice " ... then Lady Elaydren should go down there and aquire it." He pulls down his hood, appearing exactly like Lady Elaydren, except her clothes of course(and the area of her dragonmark hidden from view by the cloak). With that Face continues with his breakfast without any further explanation.

[HappyMooCow]

What is the going rate for mercenary work these days? In any case this sounds like fun and I need to get to know the city more.

[Pinnacle]

"The heirloom itself is something called schema. It's a small adamantine plate about the size of my hand, covered in etchings. We believe this one to be star-shaped--six points. It was used by Cannith artificers in the creation of magic items, and we'd like to examine it to compare old and modern methods.
"It is magical, but it's only one part of a larger creation pattern and doesn't have any actual powers by itself.
"The foundry was in use until it gradually fell out of use and was, over time, forgotten. I don't know that it's guarded--but of course we're talking about House Cannith, not House Vedalis. If there's a guard, it was probably a construct and may well still be active. The path there was sealed sometime between when it was used and now, but I have a key of sorts I can lend you. Bonal was more concerned about.. creatures. Rats and things."

"As for my rate.. I can promise 200 gold, and my favor.
"Oh and plunder rights, of course. I can put that in writing, if you like: If you take the job, House Cannith relinquishes to you all rights to property within the foundry--save the schema, obviously. I doubt you'll find much in the way of magic items as those would have been taken from the foundry and sold, but I expect you'll still find some valuables there."

"Ah.." said Elaydren hesitantly as Alkur asked who knew about the foundry, "I see what you're getting at. But as I said, this wasn't a particularly secretive mission and we didn't expect to be opposed--certainly not violently. Who else knows? My assistant knows some, Bonal's assistants know more, his colleagues, his students, likely some of his students families, my own superiors within my house, certainly some members of the local house... there's no one leak because it wasn't meant to be contained."
"We're discussing a facility that has been out of use for a very long time," she said with an apologetic shrug, "but Bonal's belief is that it was a place were magic items were made, and an office. Probably no research or anything experimental being done there."

When Face mimicked her, Elaydren stared blankly at him for a moment before saying simply "A changeling. Reyn didn't say.. but of course he wouldn't have known."
She raised an eyebrow. "I think you're suggesting extorting me. Interesting tactic, saying so right in front of me. It probably should make me less likely to offer you the job... but given that my friend has been murdered my primary goal here is thwarting his attackers. I have no idea what they hope to accomplish, but I know I don't want them to do so... and once you've acquired the heirloom that task will already be complete."

[HappyMooCow]

Slay some rodents, make some mother ****ing money, and get you your item. Sounds like a plan. Last time I tried to make some mother ****ing money, the ship crew died, and I was left for dead, I need to get back on the bull and tie it by the balls. Not sure plundering is my thing, do the items belong to anyone? Other than that I am getting back on the saddle and kicking the donkey in the ass. Just hand me the directions and I will grab a beer and go.

[lonewolf1210]

Without changing his appearance again away from the ladies, Face responds to her with an amused smile:
"Extortion? What an ... unpolite word. And not at all what I meant. This time.
I was just reassuring my companions here that there is no need to worry about not getting paid. And I was also just offering an additional service beyond of what you asked for: A body double. Your friend was murdered probably because he was looking into aquiring this schema, so it stands to reason that you could be a target as well. Frankly I am somewhat suprised to see you in an area like this without any personal guards. So if these unknown attackers see you ..." pointing at himself "... going to aquire that schema, you ..." pointing at Lady Elaydren " ... should be safer especially if you keep a lower profile."

[Rhyvurg]

Gauntlet is silent for a moment. "Schema. So that's why they were so interested. Bonal's killer was a warforged, called me a traitor, said 'they will know who we are.' Logic dictates that she was one of those anti-organic fanatics, maybe even associated with...him. And she wasn't working alone. We should expect another attack, and next time they will know more about us and how to fight us. I will go."

[HappyMooCow]

Anti organic? Is mage food really that bad for you?

[Pinnacle]

Elaydren smirked. "I believe he meant organic people, as opposed to constructed ones. Humans, elves, gnomes... everyone but other warforged."

"And.. yes." She winced. "Battleaxe claimed to work for the Lord of Blades. Given that she seemed quite deranged and that I can't imagine what he'd want with it, I'm not sure that's true. Sgt. Dolom seemed to believe, at least, that she was in fact working with a group of warforged... er, cultists, I suppose. He mentioned that she released an insect-like device--that would be a final messenger. It's a minor magic item used for communication, but it's only useable by warforged since it has to be attached. So either she sent it nowhere, or there's at least one more warforged ally of hers somewhere in Sharn."

[Teucros]

Gaethis nods. "The terms are satisfactory, Elaydren d' Cannith".

[HappyMooCow]

I kind of want some priest food now, that good old bland taste... with the crisp refreshing crystal clear dirt free water... I need to go to church and atone... maybe someday... ah screw it, I just need to get this schema for you.. Step 1 Schema recovery Step 2 ... Step 3 Retribution for my fallen crew mates... I need another beer... I will fight evil till I die and take their money to fund my war for retribution.

[garter_snake]

Alkur showed surprise at the changeling's revelation, but quickly put it aside to focus once more on Elaydren.

200 gold... that's very cheap for just buying even the meanest permanent magical item, much less outfitting a 7-person expedition to find one made out of adamantine. And one usually wouldn't attempt to retrieve something that could be easily substituted, meaning the item is likely unique.

So the only way she could comfortably offer that amount as compensation is if the schema was useless to anyone besides her. As there was just an assassination of her colleague, I have my doubts about this being the case...

I wonder. Just what was that schema used to create?



Alkur tapped the bridge of his nose. "Worrying. So there is at least one, and possibly more, deranged synthetic who knows of us. hmm..." He thought for a moment. "...very well. I will accompany this expedition as well."

[HappyMooCow]

Ah crap I forgot about splitting up the gold. Oh well, just the life of a paladin. I stay broke. I kill for food and beer if it is evil. Knowing my luck I will run into an abandoned child and spend my coins to get her a family.

[Pinnacle]

Schemas and creation patterns like those Lady Elaydren described had long been used by House Cannith to create a wide variety of things uniformly. They were involved in magic item creation, and it was rumored they had been used in the creation of the warforged.
Elaydren seemed to be a little delicate when discussing herself, but she seemed entirely forthcoming concerning the situation and the item. As far as Alkur could tell, she had nothing to hide there.
He did get the impression she intended to pay more than she had promised.

"I'm pleased to hear that," said Elaydren with a smile. She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry," she said, "I haven't slept... I think I've told you everything.."

She opened her handbag and removed a small leather-bound book and a folded piece of parchment. "Bonal had this journal," she said, "and getting it back from the Watch was quite a hassle." The book had a stylized version of the House Cannith symbol on the cover outlined in shining metallic thread--perhaps mithril.
"This belonged to an ancestor of mine. You won't be able to read it, it was written in a special invisible ink since it had proprietary House information. Those are quite out of date anyway, but the reason I'm lending it to you isn't because of what's written inside--this is the key I mentioned that will break the seal to the foundry's level."

Elaydren unfolded the parchment next, looking uncertain. "Bonal drew this map.." she said"I know you need to go to the lowest level in this tower that is a modern-day sewer. Behind something Bonal called the 'E-213 Valve Cluster' you'll find the seal."
She pointed to the place where the words "E-213 Valve Cluster" were scribbled on the map in a neat hand, which was about the only intelligible thing on the parchment. ."Maps of Sharn can be difficult to follow since it's a two-dimensional depiction of a three-dimensional city, and Bonal never expected anybody other than himself to have to read this...

[garter_snake]

Alkur's hand snaked out and grabbed the journal.

"I'm sure we'll be alright."

[Rhyvurg]

"I do not require payment, this is something that must be done for the greater good."

[HappyMooCow]

[roll0]

Guts is proficient with navigator tools and pulls out his trusted compass... (not sure if I add +2 proficiency or if my tools give me another bonus or if I add wisdom and intelligence here... hard to understand what check this is by looking at the players)

Do not worry guys I am good at reading maps, if I can navigate a giant ocean, I can navigate Sharn... just give me a whirl... you never know until you go so you just got to go with the flow

[Teucros]

If an investigation check applies, Gaethis might know some people who know some people that could help :smallbiggrin:

[HappyMooCow]

I accept the job and the terms of the contract. Where do I sign? You guys in on this?

[Rokku]

Tera had been sitting quietly and listening... and eating. Didn't get to have breakfast on some noble's dime that often, after all.

"Sounds like fair pay for the work," she finally says, and if there's more crazy constructs between us and the job, I shan't hesitate to put 'em down."

The favor of a Cannith would be valuable too. Tera could already see new doors opening for her in the Seamstress' Guild.

[garter_snake]

"As it appears that most everyone here is resolved..." Alkur glanced around. "We should get to introductions." Standing up on the stool, Alkur gestures to himself. "I am Alkur Fixenbagger, genius gnome, talented tinker, and wizard extraordinaire. My specialties include biology, mechanics, arcanary, engineering, and general brilliance. Yourselves?"

[lonewolf1210]

Face takes the opportunty to rise and answers:
"Obviously, I am Elaydren d`Cannith, your employer and benefactor. And from now on lets keep it that way even when we think that were just between us. My specialities include, among many others, unmatched beauty, a healthy coinpurse, and beeing a good judge of character to hire only the most capable people for my jobs."
He starts saying this with a straight face, but at the end he cant help but grin widely.



After the introductions are done, Face uses the facilities to quickly change into his fine female clothes to make the disguise more believable, and then offers his dark cloak to the real Lady Elaydren.
"My Lady, if we are to keep this believable, I would suggest that you hide your face until we are done with this job. If someone has followed you here, we want him to follow me from now on instead."

[Teucros]

Gaethis nods. "Gaethis d' Torrn, of House Tharashk. Prospector and investigator. I'd argue that getting at the Forge unwitnessed might be of more importance to us but it's not as if your ladyship's plan does not have its merit."

[HappyMooCow]

I have always preferred to go loud and proud.