Session Notes for 2004-09-16

Module 1: The Forgotten Forge

The module is from the Eberron campaign book.

March 16th

Last night I stayed in the Broken Anvil, and inn the Mason's Tower in Sharn. Sharn has proved to be an interesting city. The humans don't appear to entirely understand the powerful dweomers that enchant their city, but have become blaze.

The tavern is run by House Ghallandra, the halfling house of hospitality. The bar is tended by Lydia, an elderly halfling woman. It's been drizzling on and off all day. I've returned for an evening meal.

The bartender heads into the kitchen, then there is a shriek. "Get away from me." She is chased out of the kitchen by a human man wearing a tunic. He's waving a knife about. Several patrons stand to assist the women, myself included. The man grabs the halfling and puts a knife to her throat. He says he's just after money.

An elven woman offers the man money. I attempt to Command him to fall, but he resists the spell. He grabs the money and flees. The elven woman calls for the guards, we then speak to the halfling woman. She asks us to escort her to the House Ghallandra tower. She thinks that the thief was after a trinket she has and would like to deposit it somewhere safer. The four of us agree to help.

She fetches a small box. She thinks the man wore clothes that looked like the clothes a gang called the Bloody Knives typically wear. I think I've heard of the group, they're actually the Bloody Daggers.

We head off through the Mason's Tower. The rain has slightly picked up. The woman is clearly afraid; she clings to another halfing who was in the inn.

Our group is the older halfling woman, a younger halfling woman, a warforged, and an elven woman. The halfling has braids and pigtails and is wearing furs and scale mail. The warforged is covered in artistic patterns drawn in ink. The patterns suggest arcane patterns, as drawn by someone who isn't actually familiar with the arts. The elven woman is wearing a green cloak. All of the inn patrons picked up backpacks on the way out the door. Travellers like myself.

We eventually arrive at the House Ghallandra tower. On either side of the door are wolf-like faces. The halfling woman knocks on the door three times quickly, then four times slowly. A smaller halfling sized door opens in the larger door. She gives the elf a key to the inn and invites us to stay for free. She'll meet up with us later.

On the way back, we introduce ourselves. The halfling is Appleberry Bottletail, or Red. The warforged is Warforged Artifacer Number Eight, or Number Eight. The elven woman is Lin, an odd name for an elf. She's is cold toward me. Has she gone native? The warforged asks why we are in town. I explain that I was travelling the continent. The warforged is working as an armoror in town. Lin says she is trying to get away from people like me, while looking pointedly at my holy symbol, Indeed, gone native.

We're walking along walkways near the Kelsa Spire, a park area. Ahead we notice a dark figure skulking in the darkness on a bridge between Dallanan Tower and the Kelsa Spire. Lightening illuminates a form on the ground. The skulking figure climbs over the side of a bridge and disappears. We hurry to the form on the ground. The bleeding form holds a satchel. He body is an older man wearing artisan's garb.

As Lin arrives and examines the body, a warforged swings onto the bridge from below. "Back, fleshbags, back!" it shouts while attacking with a battleaxe. I draw and attack, driving my blade into its neck. The warforged falls. The warforged breastplate pops open and a small glowing orb pops out and flies high into the sky. Two batlike wings pop out of it and it flies off. From nearby windows people cry out for guards. We hear guards quickly approaching. I examine the body, the man is dead.

Eight identifies the orb as a message, it will convey the warforged's last sight to someone else.

113 1 Warforged, 1 Robber

Three guards arrive, a dwarven man and a male and female human. We explain what happened. We're to wait here while they question witnesses. I inspect the warforged while we wait. The forged has seen battle, it's body is scarred up. It bears the symbol of the human nation of Karrnath. The dead human is a pale, scrawny man. A necklack or symbol hangs out of his shirt.

When the head guard returns, he apologies for holding us up. The witnesses back up our story. He offers each of us two gold.

We arrive back at the Broken Anvil. The owner is waiting for us. She offers us soup and provide complementary rooms.

March 17th

The halfling owner offers to introduce us to a friend. Her friend apparently knows something about what happened to us last night. Her friend is a human woman wearing a dark blue cloak, black hair, and blue hair. She wears a House Cannith signet ring. She carries the satchel we saw last night. The man who died was Bonal Geldem. The man was Provost. She is Elaydren D'vown. She was to meet Bonal last night. She was working with Geldem to acquire a family heirloom. It was locked away in a foundry in Sharn, pre-Galifar. Bonal thought he found the location in an ancient house Cannith journal. Without Bonal, she needs help. She asks for our help and is willing to pay.

The way is through the sewers of the Dorasharn Tower. It leads to the E-213 valve cluster. There will be a door with a symbol. Opening the seal will lead to a tunnel to the foundry.

From the satchel she pulls a booK, the journal. It is written in an ornate script and has sketches throughout. On the front is the symbol. The symbol is made of hard metal. It looks like a primative symbol for House Cannith. Elaydren offers us 100 gold pieces to fund the expedition. If we find the heirloom, she will offer us 1,000 more. It is an adamantine plate, about the size of a hand. It is a seven pointed star. It is part of a schema, a pattern used in crafting items in days of old.

Elaydren thinks that the warforged attacker is a follower of the Lord of Blades. She explains that the Lord of Blades is a warforged prophet in the Mournlands. He apparently wants the pattern for his own purposes. She suspects others will also want the schema. She doesn't know what the pattern is for.

She trusts us because Lydia trusts us.

We agree to the task. We're to contact Lydia when we recover the schema. Elaydren leaves, leaving us with the journal and map.

The map starts at the 50th level of the Dorasharn tower. It takes a winding path to level simply marked S. There is leads to a junction labelled E-213.

We equip for the expedition. Eight stays in his room to create a scroll. Lydia suggests we visit Hoberman's.

By afternoon we head to the Dorasharn Tower. We follow the map into the depths of the tower. It's about a half-hour until we arrive at the level marked S.

S is dense and smells of sewage. The halls are filled with poor. En route we arrive at a small market. The goblin salesman identifies it as The Rat's Market.

The salesmen offers to sell us things, or information. Eight mentions that we're seeking the valve cluster. The salesman is willing to take 100 silver to take us to the cluster. Lin barters him down to 65 silver. We follow the goblin on. As we head away, we notice a shifter in the crowd watching us. He ducks down and disappears.

The goblin leads us to a stairwell further down. As he asks to paid, he identifies himself as Shikahn. Lin pays Shikahn 6 gold and promises the remainder upon our return. We head down the stairs.

The smell of mold and sewage becomes worse.

We arrive as a sewage trough. To each side is a set of valves with sluices,

Apparently we've arrived. Unfortunately we need to head into the sewage to move forward. I hike up my pants. Ahead I head sludge splashing into the sewage. I head in. At the end of the cooridor I see two shadowy figures. I call out and step forward. They're two shifters with elongated claws and lupine teeth. "Come here little elf," they growl.

Behind use a grate smashes open, revealing a warforged. "For the Lord!" it screams as it attacks Eight. Red bullrushes the warforged, forcing it back. Lin rolls past and fires a bolt into the warforged's head. The warforged collapses.

The shifters charge down the cooridor. I advance on the shifters and strike the first blow. As we battle, the sluices occasionally release small torrents of waste. Red dashes forward and stabs the second shifter in the gut; it falls bleeding into the sewage. Suddenly a load of sewage pours onto the remaining shifter, he falls into the muck. I order him to stand down, but he surges out of the filth and attacks. I cut the fool down.

We search the bodies. Red finds a pair of daggers and ten gold on the shifters. Eight turns over the warforged. Another one of the reporting balls escapes. On the warforged we find a backpack, a rapier, a light crossbow, 10 bolts, thieves tools,

225 1 Warforged Rogue, 2 Shifters