Downtime

Therendor 8th-9th, 998 Y.K.

The group spend the next couple of days trading goods.

Anvil spends some time making sure that the couple who won the raffle are safe and do not feel any threat along with their new found wealth. He then heads to Everbright district to have his composite plating enchanted.

Ajax hires a wizard to cast animal messenger on a small bird and asks that it is sent to Fallen to contact his tribe's shaman, Yulunga. His message asks that she looks up to a bridge high above her in one months time, there Ajax will be waiting to contact her (Zol, 10th Eyre).
He also begins asking questions about the gargoyle known as 'Scrimshaw'. From what he can determine, this albino gargoyle is a sociopathic killer, sniping at his victims from balconies and ledges. He is indiscriminate and seems to kill for the sheer pleasure. Currently it is said that he is under the watchful investigation of Viktor Saint-Demain, perhaps the best inquisitive that Sharn has ever seen.

Meanwhile the rest of the group head to Lyrander Tower to see about the details of the expedition to Bluescar lighthouse.

They are informed that the light itself is a large dragonshard that is highly polished and imbued with extraordinary light magics. The dragonshard would normally sit in a mounting behind several strong lenses that slowly revolve around the lightsource. However, on the night of 6th Olarune 998 Y.K. the light at Bluescar vanished and has not been sighted since.....

House Lyrander's shipping routes on the south-eastern shores, specifically to and from Valenar and Q'Barra, have been plagued by pirates driving the ships ashore in the shallow waters around the headland. Many of these vessels were carrying valuable cargos of Valenar horses,  commisioned by House Vadalis, and due to the current state of the Mournland, overland routes are impractical. They are informed that the road from Sharn heads south through the Silln Highlands to Gullsnest, a reasonably large fishing village, and from there a trail heads east to the tiny village of Bluescar.

They are informed that there have been two parties sent to inquire about the situation already but neither have returned. The House is putting up a 3000 gold reward for either the reinstatement of the shard into the lighthouse or if that is not possible the return of the shard to Sharn, both require a full statement of events so that preventative measures can be taken in future.

They agree to the contract and give their details to the clerk, Aleal d'Lyrander - Shipping co-ordinator for the south-east coast.

They then head to House Vadalis to see if they can double up their reward by completeing the task for both Houses. Unfortunately they quickly come to realise that the coin being provided by both Houses is coming from the same coffers.

Sharn Inquisitive - Sul, 8th Therendor

Street-Kind Heroes

Red Blade Gang Brought to Justice

The annual Street-Kind Charity Ball was held last night with dignitaries and nobility travelling from across Sharn to Crystal Springs, the beautiful home of Lady Corven Sahlmer in the Mithral Towers district of the Upper Central Plateau. As the skycoaches flew in the crowds gathered to see the rich and sequestered draped in all their finery, hoping to catch a glimpse of their heroes.

Guests included folk from all walks of life, from the most the distingushed nobility to the most humble of street-folk. Actors, musicians, politicians and socialites rubbed shoulders with traders, blacksmiths, cogs-workers and the homeless in this wonderful event that reminds us that we are part of this great city and that we should help each other as bet as we can.

It has, however, come to the attention of this reporter that all did not run smoothly at the function. Apparently as the party was in full swing there was an attempted robbery, one of the guests had their hippogriff stolen.

As the thieves returned for a second time, reportedly for another hippogriff, they butchered the guards posted there and would have got away with the prized mount were it not for a group of unknown individuals who had the courage to stand up to the gang.

The Red Blades have been fugitives from the law for some time now and their leader, Drem Lamor, was described by Yric Oureson of the City Watch as "a criminal master-mind in the making". After a series of bloody heists the gang got their name as a force to be reckoned with and with reputed ties to some of Sharn's largest criminal syndicates the have-a-go heroes who stood up to villainy and unlawful behaviour had best watch their backs for fear of revenge.
All five members were killed in the altercation.

The Sharn Inquisitive says:
Let the heroes who brought down such a vile group of villains be decorated and recognised by the city.
There are too many good folk suffering at the hands of criminals.

With an estimated 80,000 gold pieces raised for the charity it was hailed as a huge success.

Therendor 9th, 998 Y.K. - 7 p.m. - The Meeting with Chalit Morranal

The group head to the Deathsgate Guildhouse to meet with the brother of Erunn, one of their sponsors to join the organisation.
He explains that they are to be travelling to Zilspar, a journey he anticipates to be about 9 days. The roads are starting to dry out from the heavy spring rains and as a result the bandits will be heading for the roads in search of merchants. He explains that he is taking his cart to Zilspar, drawn by 2 horses, so should anyone wish to ride the wagon they are more than welcome. The wagon will be empty on the outward journey.
Aside from bandits the only other prevalent source of trouble at moment is the reported attacks of lizardmen. These lizardmen are of a tribe called the Dark Talons, they are bulkier than most lizardmen and are for some reason heading out of their normal habitats. The King's rangers are scouring the forest for traces of them but so far have found nothing. Merchants are being warned to be extra vigilant.
The group agree to meet with Chalit tomorrow morning at 8.30 outside the House Vadalis hostelry and satbles in Terminus District.

CHAPTER ONE - The Ball

Therendor 7th, Sar, 998 Y.K.

The Seventh Street-Kind Charity Ball

Hosted by Corven Sahlmer

The Sahlmer Residence, Crystal Springs, Mithral Tower, Upper Central Plateau.

The building is a beautiful example of understated opulence, bathed in Mithral filigree. A large garden surrounds the building filled with rare and exotic flowers and trees, songbirds and the centrepiece, surrounded by topiary animals, is a great fountain of crystal that seems to sing as the water splashes over it.

People of all classes are moving towards the great gates and on along the winding pathway to the main entrance. Somewhere over the edge of the tower there must be a landing balcony for those who have flown in, as an assortment of flying steeds and skycoaches slowly circle under the watchful eye of mounted guards. Reporters from the “Sharn Inquisitive” are present taking notes and asking for stories as people pass through the grand gates, occasionally being buffeted back by the gate guard.

Those who are carrying weapons of any kind are politely asked to leave them at the reception along with coats and bags that people wish to store safely. Of course weapons can be hidden, people are not frisked upon entry, but etiquette does not smile on such activity.

The crowds are politely herded to a vast banqueting hall in the centre of the building; huge crystal chandeliers hang from the high vaulted ceiling; several long buffet tables piled high with exquisite culinary delights run adjacent to the walls, a small twelve man orchestra fills the blossom fragranced air with dulcet tones, and a fleet of warforged servants meander through the throng with trays of drinks and orderves.

A well dressed servant asks for your tickets as you enter the ballroom, he quickly scans over them and directs you to a large table on the far side of the room.

Once you are seated a warforged waiter heads over with a 2 bottles of wine (one red, one white) and a tray of glasses.

“My name is Tend; I will be your waiter for the evening. Please do not hesitate to ask of my services”. He serves everyone a drink and asks if there is anything else they require.

The group are not confined to their chairs, they are free and indeed encouraged to mingle and pick at the buffet, play at the gambling tables or head to the bar for a drink. There are numerous servants wandering around selling raffle tickets, for 2 silver pieces a ticket.

The group mingle with the guests meeting several interesting people.

Kalen and Temasi E’ressar – elven siblings seeking help to find their father, Hathmarri, either practical or financial. Used to be wealthier but the absence of their father’s income forced them to the lower wards. They last saw their father in Downstairs but he ran when they saw him. The pair now live in a side-alley by Hythan's Smithy in Downstairs.

Hervall Gen – human, ex-adventurer. Owner of an adventurer's mart in Deathsgate.

Wingnut – a severely damaged warforged. He is studying a lifestyle he has never experienced.

Manora and Seph Cambert – Female human exotic dancers that love to be the centre of attention.

Satok Perep – a human Silver Flame adept. A very pious man who speaks loudly of the benefits of the purging of lycanthropy.

Trom Casurs – a male shifter. An old retired inquisitive that wishes to return to the land of his childhood – the Eldeen Reaches – but is oathbound to remain. He swore he would not return home until the albino gargoyle Scrimshaw was behind bars.

Malaren Dexel – Male human. A businessman who has discovered that a watch captain has been wrongly charged with narcotic supply and he has concerns about a corrupt watch captain that has replaced him.

The big story of the evening that most people seem to be talking about is the situation with a lighthouse at a southerly point between Flint Keep and Yarkuun Draal, near a tiny village known as Bluescar. It is said that the lighthouse is out of commision and House Lyrander are puting up a 3000 gp reward for any who can resolve the situation as they are losing trade to pirates who are forcing their ships aground on the rocks.

The lighthouse is on one of the main shipping routes from Valenar and there have already been many Valenar horses lost to the waves, incurring huge losses to the Lyrander coffers, House Vadalis are also feeling the effects of this particular area of lost trade. Th group express an interest as they will be in the area when they head out to Zilspar and Turvin in a few days.

Zametiro ir’Dheren a wealthy merchant noble asks any who are heading to the lighthouse if they could keep their eyes open for any sign of his daughter who was a part of a merchant caravan carrying silks that never made it to Gullsnest. He can pay well for any information.

9.30 Dinner is served

At 9.15 sharp a bell is rung and the servants begin encouraging guests to their tables explaining that dinner is to be served shortly.

At 9.30 fleets of waiters move through the tables with platters of various foods placing them on each for the guests to feast upon. The meal has five courses and takes about 2 ½ hours from beginning to end. Guests are in no way confined to their tables during the meal, nobles have their servants running messages as part of the course.

11.30 The Hippogriff is stolen

Just as the waiters begin to serve dessert, the stable hand races into the ball with a message for a noble sitting at the table next to the group. They overhear that the gentleman's hippogriff has been stolen before he storms out of the banquet hall to the stables. Kapek, accompanied by Anvil, follows the man and his two guards with concern for the safety of Fareye, his dinosaur mount that is stabled there. The situation is now over, it turns out that the Hippogriff that was stolen was not the gentleman's and he heads back to the ball obviously relieved, however the stable-hands now have to give the bad news to the right owner and are a little nervous as they return to the dining hall. Meanwhile Anvil and Kapek look around the scene, there was one casualty in the theft, a Vadalis stable-boy who has a blow to the head, he claims he detected a pungent smell that made his head swim before he fell into unconsciousness, it is determined that this was probably the result of an oil known as Aroma of Dreams.

With nothing else that can be done here the group return to the banquet.

12.00 The Proposition

The tables are cleared from the dance floor and the band begins to play. Gradually couples leave their tables to dance.

Paxor ir’Somera approaches the PCs enlisting their aid. He only brought two of his personal guard this evening and they have been posted in the stables. He feels threatened by the evening’s events and is sure that they are not over. They are offered 30 gold to guard his hippogriff, Kapek, Katerina and Anvil accept the deal and head down to the stables.

As they enter the stables they realise that all is not right here, the lights have been doused and the stable is silent save for the gentle sounds of what could be someone coaxing an animal to do their bidding. Katerina rushes back to fetch the other two who are busy socialising and dancing as Kapek and Anvil head further into the stables to investigate.
Battle commences. Through the fog cloud that was cast in the area the group eventually defeat the thieves, a fighter, a ranger, a pair of rogues and a wizard that seem particularly well organised. It becomes apparent that the first hippogriff has been returned and they are in the process of stealing the second, their plans are thwarted in bloody combat.
As the fight ends the house guard arrive with Paxor, he checks over his mount and tells his new employees they are free to return to the party should they wish. Anvil and Kapek, both men of honour, remain in the stables as they have been paid.

12.30 Speeches from the sponsors
Various nobles and representatives of charities and groups spend some time giving details of how they contributed to the event, and special awards for outstanding contributions to society are given to ordinary people for extraordinary acts.
These speeches and awards continue until the drawing of the raffle at 2.00 am.

2.00 The Raffle is Drawn
As the raffle is drawn the tension in the room mounts, curious gamblers wonder what this years first prize will be. As the winning ticket is drawn a working class couple jump with joy as their prize is revealed as a diamond tiara.
It becomes clear that one party-goer is not pleased with this result and with a flushed face and agitated gait he storms directly towards Paxor accusing him of stealing what is rightfully his and questioning his nerve at giving such a priceless heirloom away. Paxor takes the high-road and decides that it is time to leave.

The red faced noble notices Ajax and demands that he and his group make amends for such a public humiliation. This demand obviously is not something that Ajax responds to particularly well but after a few heated words he heads down to the stables to fetch the others.
The noble, known as Kalesh ir'Semhel, claims that the tiara is a family heirloom and that it was stolen from his estate several weeks ago. The tiara was crafted for his grandmother some 60 years ago from an original piece found in a lizardman temple in Q’barra. It was prized by the lizardfolk of the area and his grandmother managed to acquire it and had the crude ornament crafted into a tiara. Upon his mother's recent death the tiara passed to Kalesh.
He want it back....

He demands that the group find out where the winners live and from there he can retrieve it, but Anvil has other, more law abiding ideas. Through careful negotiation he gets the winners to agree to a price of 2000 gold in exchange for the return of the heirloom, meanwhile continually preventing Kalesh from finding out where they live as he has suspicions about the nobles integrity.
By the end of the evening Kalesh has his tiara back and the poor couple are 2000 gold richer.

3.00 The Party's End
A bell rings and servants hurry into the banqueting hall and begin to clear the tables. Guests gradually leave and Corven Sahlmer meets with each guest as they leave, her ettiquette is impecable and it becomes clear that she is well versed in many languages, cultures and customs.
The guests are harrassed as they leave the grounds by several Sharn Inquisitive reporters eager for a story but they ignore the throngs, head to a waiting skycoach and return to Anvils workshop in the cogs.

Downtime

Therendor 3rd - 7th, 998 Y.K.

Upon returning to Anvil's home in the Cogs they tried to make the child more comfortable but it was totally unresponsive, to the point where he had to be encouraged to eat. As the group layed to get some rest Anvil watched over the youngster whilst drawing up plans for a figurine that Lorric asked him to make.

The following day (Therendor 4th) at about midday a knock at the door disturbed the groups conversations and Kapek opened the door to find a House Sivis emblazoned gnome bearing a message and a bag of gold for the group.

They graciously accepted the invites (to the Street-Kind Charity Ball) and the gold that was owed to them. Shortly after the visit of the gnome there was a second visitor, a halfling of House Jorasco, she had come to care for the child.

She examines the child and surmises that he is under the influence of a drug known commonly as Helmsbane. She describes the effects of this plant to the group.

Helmsbane
A subterranean root plant similar to the potato only it grows downward from the ceilings of caverns, draping its leaves downward to extract nutrients from the various gases present deep underground. The tubers are difficult to extract from the fine rock fractures from which it grows.
When ground and dried it becomes a cakey yellow powder which upon ingestion removes all higher thought from its victim, they would not eat if they were not told to. The eyes turn milky white and the victim is highly susceptible to suggestion, some have even taken their own life at the request of their poisoner.
This drug is particularly employed by evil denizens of Khyber who like to keep their food fresh, it is worth noting that those who eat the flesh of a poisoned victim experience no effects of secondary poisoning.
This poison is particularly difficult to purge from the system, its effects lasting days or even weeks to wear off, and many of those poisoned actually die from their “cold turkey”. There is no known antidote.

The group had several days to heal their wounds, polish their weapons and armour, and there was time to head to the market to trade. Buying and selling weapons and goods and aquiring new outfits for the Ball they are to be attending on the 7th.

Some of the group decide that it is time to find their own accomodation rather than bunking down on the floor of Anvils workshop, especially Katerina who thinks of it as unseemly for a young woman to be in this situation. Ajax finds a small appartment in Kenton, meanwhile Kapek opts for the other option and formally leaves his accomodation in Little Plains to move into the workshop with Anvil.

Lorric spends much of his time in the studio of the Joy Street Hostel practicing his katas and meditating.

Therendor 5th - The Meeting with Erunn
The party head to Deathsgate to speak with Erunn of the Deathsgate guild as he requested. Sure enough he is awaiting their arrival by the fire, he offers them drinks as they enter the lounge.

Erunn’s brother, Chalit Morannal, is a merchant. Specifically he imports wood crafts from the hamlet of Turvin, some 50 or so miles west of Zilspar.

Turvin is famous for its masterful wood crafts and has been an important resource for merchant houses looking to distribute these goods. Lately the quality of the craftsmanship has declined causing many distributors to look elsewhere.
Erunn can see his brother, and indeed the hamlet, are on the road to ruin as a result. He asks them to travel to Turvin and speak with the mayor directly.

As part of the deal Erunn wishes the group to escort his brother to Zilspar on the way, for this he will pay them a standard mercenary fee of 1 gp/day (i.e. 9 gp each).
Chalit leaves town on Zol, 10th of Therendor, the roads are still treacherous from the early spring rains before this time, unfortunately as the merchants begin to once more travel the roads the bandits come from their camps deep in the forest to prey on the unwary travellers.

As far as rewards go, Erunn simply states that his sponsorship is reward enough.

As the meeting draws to a close the group begin to ask of the benefits of membership to the guild and this invariably draws the subject matter to the land of Xen'drik where the group learn a little of the giant empire that once ruled the continent and the quori invasion that brought this empire to an end. Anvil seems more than a little concerned of the fact that the quori could invade the dreams of his companions at any time and has some trouble in understanding what a dream actually is.

A little later Vaenya enters the lounge and informs the PCs that due to their success in helping Pearl escape the clutches of the Amber Eye, she will grant them her patronage in joining the guild.

A Little later - Return to Fallen
Ajax feels a compulsion to contact his old tribe, the Black Claws. The shaman, Yulunga, told him she would try to smooth the situation and help his re-integration with the tribe. His thoughts were to leave a message for her upon a crumbling tower where a single small tree catches a shaft of daylight for a few minutes each day, at this location she is known to meditate on a regular basis.
Against the advice of all his companions he will not change his mind and so rather than let him go alone they all decide to stand by him.

As the cliffside towers and the fading afternoon sun fall behind them they enter the darkened shadowy streets of Fallen. A silence that is found nowhere else in the city surrounds them and the deep shadows are not cast aside by everbright lanterns here. After some 15 minutes of travel they are only half way to the site that Ajax has in mind when Lorric spots a movement in the ruins ahead. Kapek instigates combat by hurling a boomerang at the spot where there is a shadowy figure and then the sounds of alert can be heard followed by the silent approach of a large number of barbarians of the Nightstalker Tribe that attack the group, severly injuring Ajax. Gradually they are fought off and the group decide that the best plan of action is to retreat rather than press on, so once more they flee Fallen....