[D&D 3.5 / IC] The Forgotten Forge During the Last War

[TaiLiu]

You're in Sharn, a bustling metropolis in the midst of Breland. The ongoing Great War has been going on for decades. Some of you remember a time before, a time of peace and a unified kingdom. Most of you do not, and the constant fighting is all you know.

Well, all you know about. Sharn, like much of Breland, is shielded from the worst of the war. There has been no invasion into the City of Towers. Instead, you're dealing with something much smaller and mundane: rain.

You're all staying at The Broken Anvil, a small tavern located in the Mason’s Tower. A few hours ago, a woman by the name of Elaydren d'Cannith has selected your party to be one of several potential adventurer parties to perform a "minor task of great importance" for House Cannith. She has agreed to meet your party at dawn for a brief interview. You went out to celebrate and to explore the city's many towers. It started drizzling. Then it started pouring, dark clouds covering the night sky, the twelve moons, and the ever-present Ring of Siberys. You're all soaked to the bone, and the rain falls down hard enough that your vision is obscured, making it hard to see more than a few feet ahead of you. Even the everbright lanterns don't help all that much. At least it's warm...

...And look! The Mason's Tower is only a few more sky bridges away. In a few more minutes, you can retreat to your rooms to dry off and prepare for your interview the next day.

But that's in a few more minutes. Where are you right now?

[LastCenturion]

Skylar paces down the walks towards the Tower, glowering into the clouds. She hates the rain. From time to time she glances into the front of her cloak, where a light can be glimpsed to bob along.

[Solamnicknight]

Unit 7131130, or Sven as he is known by most draws his green traveler's cloak about his immense iron and darkwood form. He wants to get out of the rain as soon as possible, not happy with being soaked. Sven is partially made of metal after all, so despite the warmth he feels a bit of a chill. He also doesn't like the reduced visibility. He has read enough of the Korranberg Chronicle to know that there are plenty of brigands in a large city like Sharn that would have no problem targeting a group of inexperienced adventurers who had just left a tavern in the rain. He speaks to his companions, rather bluntly since he came out of the creation forge with few social skills. I suggest we get out of this downpour and find shelter as soon as possible. I do not like being soaked, and the reduction in visibility caused by these weather conditions makes it simpler for someone to sneak up on us.

[LordOfCain]

Xavier says "Whilst I do not despise the rain, I too would appreciate leaving it."

[Solamnicknight]

Sven nods at Xavier, quickens his pace, and replies. You're not partially made of metal. Rain irritates me. Besides we have an important interview early tomorrow with Lady Elaydren. I do not wish to disappoint House Cannith, I was created by them and belong to them after all. Besides, serving the Dragonmarked houses usually has great rewards for those involved.

[LastCenturion]

Hrngh "Stupid rain. Stupid metal people. Stupid war and" Hrngh "Stupid freaking dragon houses and rain and water and" hrnGH Skylar groans out under her breath.

Louder now, speaking to the rest of the group, she exhorts "Could we PLEASE hurry, instead of just plodding long and arguing?"

[Simba]

A few meters out in front of the group, Rake seems to be the only one enjoying the rain. At least his sober and quiet behaviour has not changed at all. For him the weather is a fact of life and to be accepted. As the others argue and start to move faster he quickens his pace a little to stay ahead of them, looking out for dangers. "Come on then!" he says in his usual catlike growl "We will be dry soon enough"

[TaiLiu]

As the party traverses another sky bridge, moaning and enduring the rain, there is a sudden sharp pain in your nostrils. It fades almost as quickly.1

Rake, Sven, and Xavier hear a muddled sound that suddenly stops. With the rain, it's impossible to locate. Rake notices a cloaked figure the next sky bridge over, quickly walking away from a crumpled mass on the bridge. The figure quickly reaches the railing of the sky bridge, then slips over the barrier and disappears into the darkness and the rain.

1 Q: How do Warforged smell without noses? A: Just as bad as they would having one! :smallbiggrin:

[Solamnicknight]

Sven points to the nearby Skybridge, and says to the party. A cloaked figure just jumped from that bridge! I think there may be a brigand about. Looks like whoever it was may have attacked someone. We should probably go see if we can assist whoever got attacked. Sven then begins moving cautiously towards the crumpled figure on the bridge.

[LordOfCain]

What are we doing talking about it? Lets help! Xavier begins to look for the most efficient route to chase the figure.
Xavier does not truly want to help them, but any excuse to gain the favor of a potentially powerful person is a good one. (Who hires a hitman for regular old commoners?)

[LastCenturion]

"Hmm? Oh, sure. Fine by me, thanks for asking. Let's go then." Skylar pauses for a moment to check where Rake pointed, then begins to trudge along, faster than before.

[Simba]

Driven by curiousity as well as a wish to help Rake runs towards the crumpled figure. If what his imagination has already added to what his eyes have seen is true, he will be too late anyway....

[TaiLiu]

The figure has already disappeared over the bridge. The crumpled mass, however, is still there. It's an elderly man, or what is left of an elderly man, though with the rain and the dark, it's hard to see his features. In his left hand is a shiny dagger, with a small gem stone on top. It's practically a letter opener. His right hand grips a leather satchel. There are strange splotches all over his shirt, and his raincoat is torn open. There are many holes in it. His head is almost completely severed from the rest of his body, and is oozing an enormous amount of blood, mixing with the rain water and forming a pink puddle. As the rain falls down and washes blood away, more blood falls out.

What do you do?

You have exactly one round to examine the body.

[LastCenturion]

Skylar kneels down next to the man, slowly unclenching the dead fingers from the handle of the knife. "What is this for? It's too small to be a great weapon..."

[LordOfCain]

Xavier retrieves the satchel, examining its contents closely. If there is anything of value in it, he will attempt to covertly requisition it. By value, he means gems and such things. He would not do such with a couple copper. He double moved over to the body.

[Solamnicknight]

Sven stands at the front of the Skybridge, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching. Worried about the party looking suspicious he says flatly. I would suggest caution in searching the deceased's possessions. We do not want it to look like we committed the murder. We should attempt to contact the Sharn city watch.

[Simba]

Finding the victim beyond help Rake stops a few feet away and looks around, looking for all kinds of tracks that might shed some light on the situation.

[TaiLiu]

Skylar picks up the dagger-***-letter opener. A quick look doesn't reveal anything of significance about it, other than the fact that it's well made and capped with a jewel.

Xavier picks up the leather satchel, and digs around for things of value. The satchel contains a small pouch filled with a few coins, identification papers1, a leather-bound journal, a number of quills and inks, and a wrapped apple. And, of course, the satchel itself, which is very well made.

Sven looks around. No one is approaching. Fortunately, Sharn law presumes innocence rather than guilt. The worst thing that could happen is that the party could be brought in for questioning. In fact, if the party brings in details about the murderer, they may very well be rewarded for their efforts.

In the darkness and the rain, Rake is unable to find a track leading to the murderer.

Of course, a few seconds is not enough for any kind of close examination. Perhaps Skylar could've picked up something interesting about the dagger, with enough time for a magical examination. Perhaps Xavier could have taken a closer look inside the dead man's bag. Perhaps Sven could have hailed someone over; perhaps Rake could have found some tracks.

None of that matters right now, at this particular moment in time, all those could-have-beens. Because, right now, at this particular moment in time, the following fact is true: Rake hears a soft tink! of metal against stone as a shadowy, cloaked figure climbs onto the bridge. As Rake looks up, he sees that the cloaked figure is holding a large battleaxe in one hand. Rake has a few seconds to react to this new threat.

What will he do?

1 The identification papers provide the victim’s name (Bonal Geldem), his position at the university (provost), and his affiliation (School of Pre-Galifar Studies at Morgrave University).

Surprise round! Rake made his Listen check and beat the shadowy figure's Initiative, so he can act first during this round. After that, we revert to group Initiative. So, here's how it's going to go:




Surprise round!
17 - Rake



8 - Shadowy Figure


Regular round!
8 - Shadowy Figure



5.5 - Party acts together



Then we continue on with the regular rounds.

The shadowy figure is on the roll20 map, on square C5.

[Simba]

As Rake sees the shadowy figure climb onto the bridge he shouts out "Beware! The killer has returned!"

He moves to stand between the rest of the group and the perceived enemy, his claws out as the beast inside him awakens, read to defend himself and his pack.


free action: shift
standard action: Move to G6

[LordOfCain]

Xavier will grab the identification papers and manifests psionic grease underneath the figure.

[TaiLiu]

The figure quickly shoots a missile of acid at Rake to shut him up, but it misses, splashing onto the bridge. The party feels another pain in their nostrils: less painful and sharp than before, but recognizable all the same. Both the smell and the acid are quickly washed away by the rain.

The party lifts their heads as Rake shouts out a warning. Lightning flashes, followed by rumbling thunder in the distance. The added illumination, combined with the everbright lanterns, allows the party to distinguish additional details about the figure. Like Rake, they see the battleaxe the cloaked figure is holding. But they also see that the figure is wearing a bird-like beak mask, like the mask worn by plague doctors of yore. On the figure's shoulder sits a green-eyed raven, not at all bothered by the heavy-hitting rain. Most of the figure's body is covered by their dark cloak, but you can see a loose-fitting shirt and trousers. There is a streak of blurred red running down the shirt, and as the figure shifts and moves, you can see a small cut on the shirt, a minor wound behind it. So it looks like Bonal Geldem was able to fight back, after all - though not very effectively, given his paltry weapon and advanced age.

"Don't move." A female voice rings out loud and clear, not at all muffled behind the mask. Another word, and a large green orb appears, floating a few inches away from her outstretched palm. "If any of you so much utter a sound or lift a finger, I will melt your faces off." Her eyes swivel toward Xavier, who is being guarded by Rake. "Except for you. Drop the satchel and kick it to me. Do anything else, old man, and I will leave you like I left the old man sitting behind you."

"You have five seconds to comply."

What do you do?

A DC 15 Spellcraft check tells you that the spell the figure cast was Acid Splash.

The figure moves to D6.

[LastCenturion]

"Blah blah blah blah blah. Y'know what I heard, madam I-Killed-A-Man,-Respect-Me-Or-I-Might-Kill-You-Too? I heard this: 'I'm scary. Give me what I want for vague yet menacing reasons.' You got hurt trying to kill a professor who was about to die anyways, what makes you think you could deal with any kind of resistance better than a tiny dagger borne by an old man?" Skylar calls back derisively, using the dagger to geture at the figure, then the corpse, then the figure, then the corpse, then the group, then in a convoluted twist at her own forearm that holds the blade. Looking again at the dagger, she shrugs and throws it at the man.

Skylar is fifteen years old. Threats and cajoling are not the way to reason with her. Attack roll, assuming the speaker is within the range increment of a dagger being thrown: [roll0] Damage roll, assuming I somehow hit (given that I've rolled a grand total of about 10 over the last four d20 rolls in this game, unlikely, but...) [roll1] (assuming the dagger is small sized, because it was commented that it's on the small end of daggers)

[LordOfCain]

Xavier manifests vigor on himself, giving himself five temporary hit points. He then withdraws the notebook and looks for any noticeable reaction on the part of the assassins.

[Solamnicknight]

Sven pulls his shield from the side of his pack and holding it at the ready moves in front of Xavier after he flashes the notebook at the assassin. He says to the cloaked figure his voice more intense then his usual robotic tone If you desire a fight assassin then be prepared to face me! I am designed for battle!
[roll0]

[LordOfCain]

Next round if Xavier isn't incapacitated and the assassins have a reaction, he will manifest grease on the notebook and toss it to them.

The spell can also be used to create a greasy coating on an item. Material objects not in use are always affected by this spell, while an object wielded or employed by a creature receives a Reflex saving throw to avoid the effect. If the initial saving throw fails, the creature immediately drops the item. A saving throw must be made in each round that the creature attempts to pick up or use the greased item.

[Simba]

A low growl can be heard from Rake as the shadowy figure attacks him with magic.
Without giving it a second thought he charges the enemy, claws extended.


Charge attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]
Rake ends up standing in E6

[TaiLiu]

The tense situation quickly explodes into chaos. Skylar taunts the assassin and throws Geldem's letter opener at him, missing her mark; Xavier pulls out the notebook, and the cloaked figure's eyes turn into slits; Sven readies himself for battle, shouting a battle cry; Rake swipes at the cloaked figure, only for his attack to be deflected by some kind of unseen force; her spell is disrupted, and the orb of acid breaks off into little magical pieces of nothing - pandemonium!

The would-be thief is surprisingly calm, even as the party attacks and mocks her. She tightens her grip on her weapon and swings the battleaxe towards Rake, the metal making a whoosh sound as it cuts through air and rain. "Don't make trouble," she says, "You won't win, even with a war machine on your side." Her eyes swing over to Sven for a second before she turns back towards the battle. She holds her battleaxe up in a defensive position. "I'm surprised that House Cannith lackeys would learn of this so quickly. Have they partnered up with House Medani?"

Attack roll against Rake's AC 16: [roll0].
Damage roll if she hits: [roll1].

A Spellcraft check of 16 reveals that the spell protecting the cloaked figure is Mage Armour.

[LastCenturion]

"Lady, you have no idea what you're talking about. Square up." Skylar says, shifting into a ready stance and drawing her greatsword, the rain forgotten.

Taking the Total Defense action and drawing my sword. Hope it works.

[LordOfCain]

Xavier manifests grease underneath the assassin.

[Simba]

Hearing the others closing in Rake moves to the side tring to flank the attacker.
He holds his attack for now: "Who are you?"

[Solamnicknight]

Sven draws his sword and closes the distance between him and the assassin cautiously. Holding his shield at the ready and poised to strike Sven doesn't hesitate like Rake. He swings his sword at the attacker, in an attempt to eliminate this foe of the dragonmarked houses! [roll0]

[TaiLiu]

The cloaked figure opens her mouth to respond to Skylar, but a quick manifestation of Grease from Xavier causes her to fall head over heels onto the wet, slippery ground. A calculated strike by Sven all but guaranteed that she wouldn't be getting up. "Okay," she says, looking at Rake, panic creeping into her voice, "Okay! I'll let you know. Just keep that war machine away from me!"

[Solamnicknight]

Sven looms threateningly over her, his sword at the ready. He looks at her sternly with his glowing blue eyes and says in his robotic voice. Speak assassin. Why did you kill this elderly man, then try to kill us? Don't try to escape. If you do you will face my steel, understood?

[TaiLiu]

As the cloaked and masked figure speaks, anyone who's paying close attention to her body notices that the raven on her shoulder is no longer there. Someone paying close attention in the darkness notices the raven on top of an everbright lantern. The only thing revealing it are its bright green eyes against the night sky.

"I work with the Ornithologists' Guild," says the woman. She sits up, her cloak soaking up the psionic grease. "And I wouldn't have had to attack you if you just gave me the satchel. Just give me the satchel, and I'll go. It's for the greater good, believe me."

If anyone questions her further about the Guild, she says something about the study of birds, and then clams up.

In case anyone wants to roll a Knowledge (Local) check on the Guild:


DC 5 - Wow, these people sure are into birds. They even started a club about them!

DC 10 - The Ornithologists' Guild does not actually have any ornithologists in it. Instead, the small and obscure guild is mostly composed of people who have bound bird familiars to themselves.

DC 15 - The Guild is said to have ties to the Blood of Vol. They study the magical bond that makes familiars so intelligent and so long-lived compared to normal animals.

DC 20 - The Guild is actually a sect of Blood of Vol practitioners who believe that the magical bond between master and familiar could hold the secrets to unlocking the Divinity Within.

A Knowledge (Religion) check at the same DC reveals the Blood of Vol connection, but nothing else. A Knowledge (Arcane) check at the same DC reveals the familiar and bonding parts, but nothing else.

[LastCenturion]

"You just threatened our lives. Like, with acid and stuff. Why would we give you what you want for vague assurances? Details, lady. Details. What's so important about - Skylar reaches over to grab the satchel and try to look inside - this anyways?"

As she speaks, Skylar advances towards the woman, carefully avoiding stepping onto the greasy stones.

[Solamnicknight]

Sven looks over to Skylar and says I wouldn't let that satchel anywhere near this assassin. Also, keep a tight grip on that. I just recalled from my studies of local organizations that the ornithologists guild is a subsect of the Blood of Vol that believes familiars are important to their beliefs. So be wary of any animals that are nearby. Sven then puts the tip of his sword to the assassin's throat and states firmly Don't try anything, follower of Vol. Or your familiar will lose it's master

[LastCenturion]

"Familiars... oh yeah, I've heard of that. Didn't she have one on her shoulder a minute ago? Some bird or something? Where did that get off to?" Skylar stops and looks around for the raven. Seeing nothing, she walks over and kicks the assassin in the ribs. Hey you. What happened to your bird? Get it back here right now."

Kneeling down, Skylar begins to whisper threats and cajolments to the fallen assassin while holding her arms helplessly to the ground above her head.

Intimidate Check, I'm guessing. I'm not sure how we ended up interpreting that rule, but I guess we aren't in combat anymore so it doesn't matter. I'll use a minute to get her to be really afraid of me.
[roll0]
I have Intimidate maxed because... how else does one build a cult? Diplomacy? Booooriiiiiing.

Grapple check to pin her, although I doubt she's resisting.
[roll1]

And while rereading this, here's my balance check to not fall in the Grease, assuming that's still around. RIP me. [roll2]
Another thing I noted that I need is to note where I'm putting the satchel. To which the answer is... I dunno. My pocket, I guess. Wherever I'm keeping my potion.

EDIT: RIP the Intimidate check :smalleek: also, I might change these actions depending on what's in the satchel, so... TaiLiu?

[Simba]

Hearing the bird mentioned Rake looks around for something he could throw, maybe a large stone or something similiar. Then he tries to locate the bird without being too obvious about it.

[TaiLiu]

The woman gives a slim smile when Sven lets her know that he knows about her organization. She complies with the party's demands. "There's a journal in there," she says, "Leather-bound. That's all we want. You can keep the rest."

Skylar takes a look and notes that the satchel contains a small pouch filled with a few coins, identification papers, a number of quills and inks, a wrapped apple, and the aforementioned leather-bound journal. If Skylar examines the book more closely, she notes that this small journal, measuring about 3 inches by 6 inches and 1 inch thick, has a cover of dark brown leather with strands of mithral thread woven in a strange pattern. It bears no title, just the mithral-thread icon on the front cover. Inside, every page is blank, but the sheets have a strange feel; they don’t seem to be paper or leather, but something not readily identifiable.

"And the bird's not mine—"

"—The Guild doesn't believe in ownership of sentient beings." Out of the raven's mouth tumbles out crisp, clean Common, though this isn't surprising for anyone familiar with familiars. Rake's sharp eyesight is the first to spot it atop of a everbright lantern. Then, everybody else sees. The bird seems to be looking directly at Sven when he speaks. "The name's Thomas. Give us the journal, and we'll go away. We'll even give you a few gold pieces for your trouble. We can all scram before any guards come by, and no one'll be the wiser. What do you say?"

[LastCenturion]

"Huh. I'm guessing we'd get more money from ripping this thing apart than just giving it to you, and I'm not particularly inclined to help you out, seeing as you tried to kill us literally thirty seconds ago. Can you give me a good reason that you or this bird should be allowed to live?"

[Solamnicknight]

Sven irritated by the assassin's smugness immediately drops his sword and shield to the ground, draws his light crossbow, ***** it and takes a potshot at the raven. [roll0] [roll1]

[Simba]

Rake lets the others talk and keeps a careful eye and ear on the surroundings, especially on the bird.

[TaiLiu]

Thomas dodges a crossbow bolt from Sven, landing on an adjacent lantern. "It is as my companion says," he says, "It's for the greater good. House Cannith seeks an old schema... A catalyst for their building machines. We have no doubt they will use it for their profit-seeking purposes – and profit, in this case, means fueling the War.

"The man that my companion just killed was a friend of House Cannith," continues the raven, "and a fellow profit-seeker as well. He would have given a contact in the house his notes, and would have been rewarded handsomely for it. And in doing so, he would have cast more lives into the fires of a too-long war.

"The Guild is here to stop that. Give us the journal. We cannot reward you as well as House Cannith can, but you can rest easy knowing that you'd be doing good."

[Solamnicknight]

Sven is even more angered by the bird's speech. he responds his robotic tone taking on an angry edge You want us to trust you, the Blood of Vol with a schema? And tell me carrion-bird what would an organization so focused on death and undeath do with such power? hypocrite! Sven reloads takes another shot at the blasted pest of a raven. [roll0] [roll1]

[TaiLiu]

Sven's bolt pieces raven flesh, clipping Thomas's side. He caws in pain and flies off, warning the party that they are now enemies with the Guild. The masked figure watches silently as her guild-mate leaves.

Rake's spots a couple of lantern lights the tower over. The bearers of the lanterns are heading the party's way.

You have two rounds to do what you wish with Madam Masked.

[Simba]

"Friends, company is coming!"

[LastCenturion]

"You make a good point, if you can be believed. Letting this schema or whatever get into the hands of people we don't know is a sure way to prolong the war."

Skylar lets this statement sit for a second, long enough for the assassin to feel hope.

"We don't know you, though. I think I'll keep this for myself. And you, you are going to confess to your murder when these people show up. Alright?

"Somebody else hold her. I'm going to go look for that knife."

[TaiLiu]

The masked lady does not say anything, but her cold demeanor seems to radiate outward. She gives Skylar a furious stare.

Skylar finds the letter opener on the bridge. Aside from a minor scratch on the side, the knife has been unharmed from her throwing.

Rake's eyes prove true. As the lantern lights grow closer, the party can see two hooded figures wearing the green and black studded leather of the Sharn City Watch. "Olladra’s bloody nose!" one of them cusses, "I knew I saw something! By order of the Watch, drop your weapons and explain yourselves!"

The other looks up at Sven, mouth open. "Is that a Warforged? What's it doing in the city?"

[Solamnicknight]

Sven immediately drops his crossbow and puts his hands up and says to the watchmen. We were on our way to meet with a representative of House Cannith for a job inquiry when we came across this body on the bridge. Then this masked woman attacked us and admitted to the murder. Be careful, she is a member of the Blood of Vol.

[LastCenturion]

Skylar slowly and deliberately places the dagger into her belt. "Uh, yeah. What the machine said. She surrendered like as soon as we started fighting though." Skylar slowly walks over towards the fallen assassin, and speaks quietly, directly to her. "Tell the guards what you told us, and I promise I'll keep the journal safe."

[Simba]

Rake simply stands by as his shifting ends, trying to look as innocent as possible. He holds his hands at his side clearly visible.

[TaiLiu]

"Keep the journal safe?" hisses the masked woman, also quietly, "You're going to give it to House Cannith. They're going to wage war with that schema. I would rather you rip it up and throw it away."

"Hey!" says the first guard, taking off his hood. You can see that he's an elf. "You don't talk to anyone except for us."

The other guard, still hooded, continues staring at Sven. "A Warforged walking around in our city—"

"Not now, Jennifer." The elf turns his lantern towards the masked woman. "Is this true? Did you murder the man? Speak."

She does not. The elf sighs and says to Jennifer, "Call for backup. And a stretcher for the dead man." The other guard does as she is told. The elf turns back towards the party. "Names, identification papers, and addresses, please. Then you can go. We'll contact you if we think further questioning is needed."

[LordOfCain]

I am Groot Xavier.

[Simba]

Without saying a word Rake presents his identification papers to the elf guard.

[Solamnicknight]

Sven presents his Letter of Purpose to the guards, making sure that they can see what he is doing when he gets his papers.

[LastCenturion]

"My name's Adeline, since you asked." Skylar says easily. "I haven't had an address for the better part of a decade, but I'd be happy to write up some personal details if you're trying to find me again."

[TaiLiu]

The elf reads Rake's identification papers and Sven's letter of purpose, and then gives them back. He asks Xavier and "Adeline" for their addresses.

[LordOfCain]

Xavier rattles off a fairly standard address.
Bluff Check: [roll0]

[LastCenturion]

"Like I said, I don't have one. I try to stick around with these guys, for the most part, though, so if you need me, they're a pretty good way to find me."

[Solamnicknight]

Having shown the guards his identification, Sven gathers his dropped weapons and shield and vouches for Skylar and Xavier. We are quite a cohesive group. In fact, we were on our way for an important interview with Lady Elaydren d'Cannith when we happened upon this grisly scene and this assassin attacked us. He nudges the masked lady with his foot to emphasize who he is referring to. I think we had best be on our way, though if you need to ask us any more questions we aren't hard to find and will be willing to help your investigation any way we can.

[TaiLiu]

The elf nods. "That sure is a standard address," he says. He also thanks Sven for his offer and lets the party go on its way.

[TaiLiu]

It's dawn. After a restful night at the Broken Anvil, the party arises to meet with Elaydren d'Cannith. When the party leaves their rooms upstairs and come into the common area, the halfling matron of the Anvil directs the party to a secluded table in the back of the room. There the Cannith heir sits, waiting for the party.

The human female in the dark blue cloak has delicate features, dark blue eyes, and sleek black hair bound with silver and turquoise ornaments. She wears a signet ring of House Cannith on her right ring finger and speaks in a soft but clear voice. She greets Sven first, and then the rest of the party. "Please, sit down," she said, gesturing at the table. Pitchers of ale, wine, and water sit next to empty glasses, and a small and neat pile of plates sit next to platters full of breakfast foods: warm bread and eggs, fresh fruit, pink sausages linked to one another and stacked high. "I heard about Bonal Geldem's death from the City Watch," she said. "What a pity. He was to help me recover a family heirloom: my aforementioned 'minor task of great importance.'

"I heard your party was there at the scene of the crime. What happened?"

[LastCenturion]

Skylar wrinkles her nose at the display of affluence. Her hair is a mess this morning; as normal, she went to bed too late and got up too early. "The old man died before we got there, some kook admitted to killing him. What's it to you?"

"And anyways. If all you wanted was a old dead guy, why'd you drag me out of bed so early? And what's the heirloom?" Skylar says, stepping over and inspecting a pear. "Also, is there coffee?"

[Solamnicknight]

Sven didn't really need to sleep, and instead spent the night preparing for the meeting with lady Elaydren. Making sure he was wearing a clean blue tabbard, fresh green cloak, and new pair of polished brown boots he got to the meeting on time. Upon entering he gives Lady Elaydren a slight bow then takes a seat and begins eating out of politeness. However not long into the meal
Sven is shocked by his companion's rudeness to their patron and jumps into the conversation. He tries to clear up the situation by explaining what happened in more detail. I apologize for the rudeness of my companion Lady Elaydren. Allow me to explain in more detail. We were on our way back from a local tavern, when we happened upon the corpse of Bonal Geldem. We poked around a bit, to see what we could find out when the assassin appeared. She mentioned being from the "ornithologists guild" which I deduced was a front for the Blood of Vol cult. We had a brief skirmish, but she surrendered quickly and tried to convince us to hand over a journal of some significance that was on Bonal's person. I believe my young friend who just spoke to you still has it. Then the watch showed up and we are here where we are now.

[LastCenturion]

Skylar wrinkles her nose at Sven too. "I threw it off a bridge, actually." She says. The journal is sitting in her room, where it's been since the night before. "Lady was ranting about it's dangerous, what do you think I'm going to do?"

(Bluff: [roll0])

"Anyways, what about the coffee?"

[TaiLiu]

"Thank you, Sven. And as for your friend..." She snaps her fingers, and a waiter comes to her side. She orders a cup of coffee for Skylar before continuing. "I can't think of a reason a cult of the Blood of Vol would want a Cannith heirloom. Nor can I think of a possible danger the journal could contain. But if they truly went out of their way to kill Bonal, they must really be eager for it. The coordinates for the heirloom were in the journal. Bonal was going to sell it to me, but with him and the journal gone..."

She gives Skylar a dirty look. "The heirloom is an old schema, not that it matters with the journal gone. But I'll pay your party fifty gold pieces each if you find it and produce it for me." As she finishes, the waiter comes back with Skylar's coffee.

[Simba]

Rake has been quiet throughout the conversation, doing his best to be polite and friendly to their boss.
He eats but little, focusing on their surroundings instead. With an assassin in the picture it is good to be careful
at all times.

[LordOfCain]

We will consider it.

[TaiLiu]

She waves the party away. "This interview is over," she says. "I'll send out agents to try and find it as well. Which bridge did you throw it off of?"

[LastCenturion]

"The sky bridge where we found the body. Thanks for breakfast." Skylar stands and walks back to her room to gather her stuff. When she returns, she'll ask the party what they plan to do next; "So, what'd'you guys want to do now?"

[Solamnicknight]

Sven speaks up, frustrated with his party members absolute lack of protocol and respect in this situation. Lady Elaydren. Please do not waste House Cannith resources sending out agents to search for the journal. My associate lied to you. She still has the journal. She is a bit immature and doesn't quite understand how agreements between the Dragonmarked houses and adventuring parties work. I can assure you we will use the coordinates in the journal to retrieve the schema for House Cannith. He addresses the rest of the party. Now let us be on our way. We have a schema to locate, which means preparation and planning.

[LastCenturion]

Skylar walks back down a moment after leaving, before getting anything, looking pensive. Turning to Lady Elaydren, she asks "All we've talked about is us finding a dead body last night, but that happened well after we arranged this. What were we going to talk about otherwise?" After listening to any answer that's provided, she asks another; "And why did you want the journal so badly? The pages were completely blank." Once another answer is provided, she nods in acknowledgement and returns to the stairs to tidy up and gather her things.

[TaiLiu]

Lady Elaydren frowns, now dreadfully confused by the situation. "Do you have it or not?" she asks. "If you do, please hand it over, and I'll hand over the money as promised.

"And an additional bonus: I'll cancel all my other interviews and allow you the opportunity to take the quest. Fortune and my house's favour follow."

She doesn't answer Skylar's question quite yet.

[LordOfCain]

May we please have a few moments to discuss this as a group?

[TaiLiu]

"Fine." She bites into an apple in clear frustration, greatly confused by the actions of the party.

[Solamnicknight]

Sven goes over to Skylar on the stairs and says quietly I think we need to have a group discussion about this journal, come let us gather together and decide what we are doing

[LastCenturion]

"What do you want me to do? Give up the thing that we were explicitly told would lead to a bunch of death? Maybe I'll find some moral friends, then.

"Anyways, I left it upstairs as you well know. How about I actually retrieve the item we would be discussing first?" Without waiting for an answer to her hissed tirade, Skylar continues upstairs.

[Simba]

"We should do that together and talk upstairs, privately."
Rake follows Skylar up the stairs.

[LordOfCain]

Theoretically, the most secure option would be to destroy it, at the cost of losing our patron. However, I believe that we should hand it to our patron.

[LordOfCain]

How about we vote on it? Would anonymous or out in the open voting be best?

[Solamnicknight]

I support open voting. We decide this as a group. Sven replies though by the tone of his robotic voice it is apparent that he is frustrated with this whole mess.

[LastCenturion]

"Seems fair to me. It seems to me that our options are to keep it, destroy it, or turn it over.

"I agree that destroying it would be best, and I slightly regret not destroying it when I had the chance. It's clearly dangerous, and that woman downstairs wanted it a little bit too much for my liking." Skylar says, walking over towards the window and leaning against the frame. "If we can get her to tell us what it says, but keep the journal ourselves, that would be ideal to me so we can make an informed decision about what to do with it."

She walks over into her room and emerges a moment later with the journal in hand. "So what do you guys want?"

[Simba]

"I am for sticking to our original plan and handing it over.
Your fear is based on the words of a Follower of the blood of Vol.
Not the most reliable source of information, right?"

[Solamnicknight]

Sven crosses his arms and nods in agreement with Rake I agree, an insane cult isn't exactly trustworthy...I mean that masked woman only tried to bargain once we had her at swordpoint. Her initial plan was to murder us and take the book. I think it is best we hand the journal over to Lady Elaydren.

[LordOfCain]

Despite the source of the information, we should take it into consideration.

[Simba]

"Of course we should. Mabe we should have talked about it before our meeting here, right? Anway, why do you think this thing is such a big deal? Even if it leads to the construction of new weapons...."

[LastCenturion]

"Okay, how about this. Everybody write down on a scrap of paper that either Yes, you think we should hand it over, or No, you think we should keep it. Don't put your names. I'll look at it, and if you guys all think we should hand it over we can do that. Can we just be done with this and move along?" Skylar says, rummaging in her desk for a bit of paper and handing it over, then going back to stand by the window with a sigh and staring out into the world.

[Solamnicknight]

Sven angrily snatches the piece of paper from Skylar, writes YES on it and hands it back.

[LordOfCain]

Xavier takes a piece of paper and writes yes in it.