D&D 5E Eberron Campaign thread

[Rabbitbait]

Second Intermission - all done via e-mail:

Spoiler

The tension between the warforged workers in the cogs grows after Hallas Drummond is found dead, considered to be retaliation for his alleged murder of Stoke, a warforged union organiser. Riots begin breaking out and several forges are destroyed. The council of Sharn intervenes and sends troops down, leading to many warforged deaths as well as deaths of many troops. After two weeks a simmering peace is underway, but the cogs are now swarming with troops ensuring the peace in an arbitrary and merciless way.

This tension spills out into the rest of the city with a large amount of prejudice against warforged.


Topsy

You wear some of this. This begins with a visit from the guards who accuse you of causing trouble in the neighbourhood, including bringing undesirables into the district, and threatening the neighbours. You are warned that that you are near the top of the towers and there is a level of decorum expected up here.. They also tell you that it might be wise to either send your toy warforged (indicating your guard) back down to the cogs where he belongs, or to keep him inside so the neighbours can't see him. How do your respond? You also get two more tries for fabricating a prototype magic prosthetic. It's now DC 23 to work it out.

At some point during this period a letter is delivered to you:


This is leading into something I had planned anyway, which was to start going underground as it were. I'm going to see if I can make a deal with some of the warforged to try and find me a spot that I can set up shop in the Cogs. The area in which my shop is currently located is too restrictive for my increasingly shadier dealings I feel. I'll see if I can also get an agent to try and sell my shop to give me some working capital that I can use for my bigger projects going forward. I'm going to take the warforged I already hired and keep them on. I'm going to have my assistant literally assist me and my first roll for the prototype came to a 25 with advantage so I am able to create the schema for that going forward. Once I figure that out, I'll see offer it to any warforged that want to replace a missing limb for the 100gp cost associated with it. I have a little cash, so I can also, for the right candidate, offer to replace a limb in exchange for work - looking for soldiers and such as things feel like they're getting a little dangerous. If it seems like the warforged really need someone to rally around, I'll see if I can step into that role with my workshop earnings going toward setting up a business/factory for employment opportunities for the warforged going forward.

As for the letter, I'm going to go to the House Cannith compound and ask to consult with them in regard to creating prosthetic limbs. No matter, how they respond, I will put up a bit of a stink about needing to speak to a gnome, as some of the concepts and questions I need to address in gnomish. Once I am able to speak with Alicia, I will confer with her for a while, and then declare that she is the one I need to help me. I will demand that we be taken to the chief artificer's office to that I can arrange for her to come with me, creating the opportunity for the theft. Regardless, leave with her and have a chat with her about how our relationship will work in the future.

You start the process to sell your workshop, and before anyone even comes in to see the workshop your agent is offered the asking price by house Cannith. They want to move take ownership as soon as possible. When you quiz your agent, apparently this offer came for Merrix d'Cannith himself, the head of house Cannith in Breeland.

Do you accept the offer?

You start looking for suitable premises and note that Drummonds Independents is for sale as a working concern. It's actually quite a massive facility and one of the few with a direct link to Fernia. It is suffering from an infestation of fire mephits at the moment, but it also has staff in place. You look through the books and see that this facility has been losing money for a long time, but you suspect that is a result of the owner bleeding money from the business rather than it being a bad business.

The money you would make from the sale of your workshop would be just enough to purchase Drummonds Independents as it is a good facility, and it is much cheaper than it would be due to the current warforged problems and the lava mephit infestation.

Would you like to buy it?

You make your way down to the Cannith compound on the map. However there is nothing on the street to make this building look any different than any of the many warehouses in the district apart from two massive Hobgoblins guarding the doors. There do not appear to be any windows in the building.

They are not interested in anything you say. They do not confirm that this is a Cannith building and ignore your requests to talk to a gnome. As you become more insistent one puts his hand on the hilt of the weapon and bluntly tells you that you are not welcome here and that if you persist you will be beaten to within an inch of your life - if you are lucky.

You recognise that you are not going to get far here and that if you want to go any further you may need some help.

What is your next step?

I'll take the offer and buy Drummonds. Sounds like a good match. Will proceed with trying to sort out what works for his business and convert what doesn't over to the manufacture that I can push. Will see if others in our group will help clear out the mephits and help get our place secure and maybe train any warforged who are looking for that kind of role.

As for the Cannith compound, I'll send a message via a courier to the compound asking for an audience/meeting and to Merrix d'Cannith to see if he or an agent of his will help to get a meeting scheduled between me and a gnomish artificer/arcanist to go over the things I mentioned earlier.

You do not receive a response to either message.

Do you tell your dad about any of this - the letter, the forge, retrieving the burning idol? All of these might be of interest to him as your handler.
How are you going to follow up about the Cannith Warehouse? You are getting blocked at every turn in even getting confirmation that it exists.

I will catch Dad up on all the goings on. Particularly if he has an idea of how I get in on the Cannith warehouse.

I will talk to Delgo about maybe getting a spot as a 'made gnome' in the Boromar clan. Setting up a legitimate business with a bunch of enforcers sounds like a good way in for me. If he's amenable, see if he can help me with the Cannith warehouse idea too. See if we can work together to get accomplish my goal and also pick up some stuff for him? Schema?

I intend to keep Tresca and the warforged on if possible. Would like a house arcanist on staff.

Your dad has heard of Alicia Lund and knows she is a trust member. He doesn't think you are related and gnomes are very big on ancestry. However he thinks that if you have been contacted by a trust member who requires rescuing then you should do what you can do to help her. He suggests that you get your crew together and see if you can find another way in. He is also very interested in the chest you acquired for Delgo from your train-top battle. He asks if there is any way you can find out what was in the chest.

You visit Delgo and notice that there don't seem to be any warforged working there any more. "I had to let them go, I run a public business here and it would have just led to trouble keeping them".
Delgo is keen to use your services, and is keen to be an investor in your business.
He would also be very happy if you were able to offer any work to his ex-employees who he says he sees as part of the family.

He's also keen to rescue Alicia Lund as you mention her translation skills. He tells you that the chest was full of ancient schema in a magical code and he cannot crack it with the resources he has available.

He also suggests that you get a crew together to rescue her and asks if there are any resources you want to help you with this.

I will take on any of Delgo's crew that needs employment.

Looks like the Alicia Lund mission may be a party in-person mission. I will see if I can get Delgo to get me intel on the place and see if any of his ex-employee warforged are good for scouting. In any case, I want to see if I can get a couple to stake the place out to observe comings and goings.

I will tell Delgo that I'll see what I can do about what was in the chest and partner with him for what we can get out of it.

I will approach the party and let them know about the mission.

Also, Topsy contacts everyone at some point and tells them that he has a line on someone who can help them figure out what was in the chest that we recovered. There is a person that needs to be rescued from a covert House Cannith compound in Lower Dura. She's undercover there and we need to get her out. Also, as a bonus, if we can get into the head artificer's office and raid any schema or other key things like identification or notes, that would be a huge bonus.

TT is not sure if we should be subtle or aggressive, but we need to be anonymous lest we invite reprisal.

He also lets you know that he has sold his shop and is taking over Drummonds Independents compound in which we fought the mephits to use as his new shop/factory/base of operations. It is quite extensive and you are all welcome to find accommodation within the compound - in exchange for helping clear out the last of the mephits...

Delgo is not interested in partnering for what is in the chest until he knows what is in it. He will hold you high on the list of potential beneficiaries though. That's as good as he is going to do.

None of his warforged are good scouts (that's not what he hired them for) but he does set up a watch mission. They see that there are a heap of people that come into and out of the building wearing grey labcoats. The hobgoblins at the door look at everyone entering through a tiny monocle that they bring out purely to look at people entering with. They also see that there is another entrance at the back of the building that looks like a delivery door. It does not appear to be watched. Delgo also manages to acquire some old plans and thinks that there may be an entrance to the building through the sewers.

Also, Delgo employs far more warforged than you would be able to. They all have particular skillsets around fighting, watching and intimidation. Not so much into working in a forge. If you take them on you will either:

• Have to let your inherited crew go.
• Have the business start out losing a lot of money.

I will keep the factory jobs going, and recruit a small mix of fighters, spies and bullyboys, from his crew, ones that he recommends. Don't mind taking a bit of a loss, but want to ramp up some things down in our area. Will take on more if Delgo will let me take the lead in offering 'protection' in this contested area.

Sounds good. None of his warforged are of the sneaky variety. All are fighters and thugs.

Let's say you take on another 10 warforged. The money you make from prosthetics will cover that cost initially, but since for most people it's a one-time purchase it won't take long to exhaust that income-stream.

Delgo is happy for you to start making moves in the Cogs, but warns you that Daask won't sit back an let it happen. You get to keep 10% of all all protection money you illicit.

Once the rest of the party learn of Topsy's new building, all of them except Ashara decide to take quarters there.

Chronk

You have a knock at your door from a minotaur and another bugbear who want to talk. They explain that they work for Daask and want to know why a Darguun war-hero is working for halflings. Their bosses suspect that there is something deeper going on and that they would like to help you if they can. You are invited to meet Cavallah, the leader of Daask in Sharn. How do your respond?

What does he know about Cavallah? Can he be trusted? Does Lesh Haruuc (the King) trust him?

What do you know about Cavallah:

• You have heard that Cavallah is an Oni (an ogre mage)
• You have heard that Cavallah can be totally brutal, but is more usually cruelly cunning.
• Daask is considered be be an organisation that originated in Droam, and is mainly filled with the monstrous races rather than goblinoid.

"What I do is my business, and who I work for and when I work for them is mine also"
"If you got a job, tell me what it is and i'll decide if I wanna do it"

two reasons

• those mages can be a bit too charming and make you do stuff
• don't care about Droam, it's not Darguun

"Right. OK then. Your funeral. Don't forget that we gave you a chance." The bugbear and minotaur leave.
Dresk

You arrive home on the first week to a disaster. Your brother Kragoor, was killed as he exited the house. Witnessess say that it was a souped up skycoach filled with goblins, one of which had a wand which fired multiple energy bolts into your brother. Your family is distraught, and some suspect that that attack may have been meant for you. How do your respond?

I remember fighting goblins a couple of games ago but can't recall who they were working for, or don't we know? I might do some digging around and see if I can figure out who could be responsible, retribution is definitely in order (against the boss - obviously could be in the long-game). I'm tempted to save my money for the moment, I think I'm almost there paying off my debt.
They most definitely worked for Daask, who used to be your employers. You know that the leader of Daask is an Oni (Ogre-Mage) named Cavallah. Cavallah can be found in the ancient sewer systems of the cogs, but you don't know exactly where - you were too small-time to ever meet the boss.

I think I might still have an old friend somewhere in Daask who doesn't completely hate me, maybe I can ask them about it, does it go all the way to the top or is it some lieutenant who's pissed at me?

You find your old friend Kal Bloodhorn at a bar that your both used to frequent. He seems very shifty when he sees you and takes you to a private booth.

You ask your questions and he tells you that you need to get out of town. That hit was aimed at you, but your brother was killed by accident. He says that you have gotten in with a bad crowd and are being blamed for the deaths of two valuable enforcers. Not only that, but word is out that you are leading a Boromar push for territory. He tells you that it is just a matter of time before you and your family are made examples of. He doesn't have access to the bosses, but he suspects that this has come from the top.

Might start making arrangements for my family to get them somewhere safe.

Where would you like to move your family to? Would you like Delgo's help to arrange a safe-house.

I'd prefer it if we could keep things in-family (i.e. could one of our extended family help out, maybe family members have friends who might know of a place, hopefully non-obvious)

A flurry of e-mails between everyone follows in which a discussion takes place suggesting Chronk pretend to capture Dresk and take him to be Daask so that they can get an opportunity to get the jump of Cavallah. Dresk REALLY wants revenge. Dresk also decides to move his family to Topsy's new premises in the forge. While that building is uncomfortably hot, it can be made quite secure.
Dusty -



Your family leave to return home and try and see if they can revive the old business. They are worried because they don't know why Stend Helmworth did not provide warning of the patrols. They are tempted to visit him along the way. You find yourself alone in a massive suite of rooms, not able to talk with any of the other residents, so spend more and more time at Topsy's. Is there anything you would like to do?

Maybe the family should check in with the local gnomish fence Sundry for any parting wisdom or word on the street.
I'll give my family some of the money I raised to get them out of jail. I had 200 set aside but I'd like a "cloak of many Fashions". Don't know the cost.
I do have some other relatives that live down in the lower levels. Maybe some of them might want to come and stay a few days or just come for a few meals.

The Cloak is 100gp

I'll do some research.
Does the Gnome, Tresca, know what the idol is for?
Now that her boss is dead does she still have employment?
I know a few other gnomes that might be able to help her out.
The university probably has a library or even Sharn Library?
What is a burning Idol?
What is convergence?
I don't want to pay for any help on my roll. I might need my money in future.
I'll keep taking food down to the shifter community in the lower ward where my relatives live. Trying to build some trust amongst them.

I checked my character sheet.
I'll pay 100gp for the cloak,
I'll give 83gp to my departing family (Bond- My ill-gotten gains go to support my family. Ideal- Charity. I steal from the wealthy so that I can help people in need.)
Leaving 100 gp for me.

Tresca doesn't know what the idol is for, other than it is a very powerful object harnessing the power of the plane of Fernia. She does know that convergence is the term used for when a plane of reality comes close to Eberron, often causing a manifest zone. Manifest zones are certain locations on the world of Eberron that share a particularly close connection with one of the thirteen planes that orbit Eberron within the astral sea. Within a manifest zone, the area takes on properties of that plane; for instance, a manifest zone on Eberron with a like to the plane of Risia, the Plain of Ice may make the area much colder than under normal circumstances. Manifest zones also allow passage between one plane and the next; though for some zones this may only be a one-way trip. Sharn itself is built on a manifest zone of Syrania, the Azure Sky, which is why flight is easier here and buildings are able to be taller (or even float).

Tresca is still employed by the executors of Drummonds estate who have put the forge on the market. Whether she stays employed will depend on the whims of whoever buys the business. She is keen to stay as she has spent a lot of time learning how to harness the fires of Fernia.

You are very popular for bringing food into the shifter community. You don't know it yet, but stories are being told of where you got the resources from (totally made up) and you are being painted as robbing the rich to feed the poor.

Ashana


You try to spend your time in quiet contemplation. But during the first week many of the monks including yourself become severely ill. Some divination reveals that there has been a murder attempt in the shrine and one of the meals was poisoned. How do you respond?

List of purchases:

Armour of Gleaming
Clothes of Mending
4x arrows of walloping (bolts)

I would like to try and purchase/acquire either a Light Bringer Mace (Uncommon) or a Gem of Brightness (Uncommon) using my connections at the shrine.
The argument is that I am obviously getting close to something and thus need to continue my connections with the clan.
I will investigate if the assassination attempt was for me and aid in finding the perpetrators either way.
I will also meet with the creepy professor in regards to what he has heard of the Kalahstar and the dreaming darks influence if any in Sharn.

Roll two investigation checks for the items. I'll give you advantage due to the nature of the items you are after. How you roll will affect whether you can find them and how much they cost.

You meet with the creepy professor and he has heard little of the Kalashtar. He believes you to be two species in a symbiotic relationship in way that has made you functionally immortal. He is very keen to know more about this and about the inspired.

He does also put some moves on you with some smooth snake jazz. Up to you whether you succumb to his charms or not.

Ashana rolls (with advantage) an 8 and a 6.

Bad luck. No cool items for you.
At the end of this intermission (with more e-mail back and forth):

• Topsy is in the process of moving his workshop to a new location at Drummonds Independents (soon to be renamed). There are fire mephits to be cleared out.
• Topsy brings the group together, tells them about the secret compound and gets their agreement to rescue Alicia Lund
• Dresk, looking for revenge for his dead brother starts to plan how he can get to Callavah, the Daask leader.
• Dusty is starting to become a folk hero amongst the shifter community
• Chronk refuses the overtures of Daask. This may lead to consequences.
• Dresk and Chronk and Dusty all move into Topsy's new digs. It is uncomfortably hot there. Some engineering may need to be done.

 

[Rabbitbait]

The entire campaign so far can be found here:

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[Rabbitbait]

Tonight we will be playing this module:

DDAL-ELW03 The Cannith Code - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

DDAL-ELW03 The Cannith Code - The Cannith Code is legal for D&D Adventurers League play and part of the Embers of the Last War storyline! Adven

www.dmsguild.com

 

[Rabbitbait]

Here is the journal entry. As always I changed it up a bit, but it's fairly close to the module as written. This one was lots of fun.

Spoiler

You all decide that of your tasks, rescuing Alicia Lund from the secret Cannith compound is the most urgent. So you make your way down to the Stores district, leaving your ship in the neibouring district of Callestan at The Anvil. Dresk and Dusty go and surrepticiously watch the place first, noting a large number of people going in and out of the building, all of them wearing grey robes. You also see the hobgoblin guards at the door carefully looking at all people approaching the building through small monocles.

Then Cronk approaches and tries to act as a drunken passerby, seeing how easy it is to draw the guards from their posts. They are not to be shifted and so he returns to you all. You also sneak round and check out the back door which is locked, and when you listen you hear plenty of noise from the other side.

You group up and decide to look for the sewer entrance that you were told might exist, and before long you find a manhole, covered in deitrus of the towers above. You lift the manhole and find yourself in a dry sewer, but not far away is a door with the Cannith symbol emblazoned on it. Topsy checks out the door and finds it both trapped and locked and is easily able to remedy both problems.

You make your way up a short tunnel leading to some stairs going up. There is light spilling down the stairs and you hear voices, chatting about the details of their domestic lives. Dusty decides to make use of his new purchase, a cloak of many fashions, and turns it to the same grey as the workers robes. He then wraps it around himself, signals to you all to follow and enters the area with confidence.

You find yourself in a small laboratory. It smells clean and sterile, and the center of the room is wide open; all of the lab tables have been pushed against the walls. Four magewright researchers work at these tables, and all of them have a warforged head on the table in front of them. The heads’ cranial plates are open, and the researchers are tinkering around inside and scribbling notes as they observe their skulls’ reactions. Some are speaking to their skulls, and they occasionally sputter out an unintelligible reply.

The researchers look up in surprise as you enter. They all leap to their feet and one stands in front of you "Stop it right there, you shouldn't be here, where is your identification".

Dusty tries to bluff his way through but no-one is falling for his grey cloak. "Stay right where you are", says the leader, "Geedar, go fetch the guard". Chronk looks ready to attack but you manage to stop the researcher leaving the room and reveal just how dangerous this situation might be. These are not adventurers and are easily cowed. You intimidate them into going into a corner of the room and being tied and gagged.

You then continue onwards, opening a door leading to the south. A grey robed man sits at a desk scribbling at some notes. He doesn't look up and says "Get out, I said I was not to be disturbed". Dresk rushes up and grabs him. He is about to start shouting but Chronk also runs up and punches him in the face, smashing his nose and knocking him unconcious".

"Who is this guy anyway?", says Dresk as Topsy rushes in ands starts clearing the papers off the desk and out of the desk. A quick glance at the papers reveals reports into an ongoing effort to animate warforged without the use of a creation forge, as well as personal communications between the receiver of the letters, Garavantus, and someone else who signs their name "MX".

Dresk has found a name badge on their unconcious victim that reveals him to be Chief Artificer Garavantus d’Cannith. Uh oh, you just assulted someone important from one of the main dragonmarked houses. As you realise this you notice a stone figure that appears to be merging out of the wall beside you. It morphes into a statuelike figure and smashes Topsy with one of his arms, almost killing him with one hit.



You all start to fight back, but find that your weapons have no impact on the creature whatsoever, however Ashana's spells seem to still have an impact. Chronk looks around and sees a rune covered paperweight on the desk. He grabs it and smashes into the constructs face, causing it to crack. From that point on you are slowly able to beat the creature into rubble.

You then explore the room further, finding a small bedroom and then through another door a bar area beside a huge laboratory. This laboratory is engulfed in the sounds of fiery welding tools, screeching blades, and crackling firebolts. A dozen researchers in beige lab coats move back and forth between long lab tables. The center of the room is brightly lit, but the walls are cast in shadow (see “Lighting” in “Area Information”). Twelve magewright researchers are hard at work. Four are taking apart warforged bodies on lab tables; three are operating welding tools and creating unusually-shaped warforged armblades; two are holding up tower shields while two others shoot firebolts at them; and one is sitting at a desk, recording research notes. You note that two of the researchers are gnomes - male and female.

You duck back in before they see you and Dusty comes up with a plan. He takes Garavantus' clothes and puts them on, and casts a spell making him look identical to him. He then ducks out into the bar area and shouts towards the gnomes, "You and you, in my office now".

The two gnomes look nervous and then make their way to the office, through another door. Unfortunetely they enter the door before you are able to head them off and when they walk into the other room they see the other tied up researchers. They go to leave but you firmly shut the door and usher them toward the office.

"What is this, what is going on sir?" they ask Dusty. You know that you are meant to be rescuing a female gnome, so you signal Chronk who bonks the male gnome on the head, knocking him unconcious. You then tell the female gnome that you received her letter and that you are here to rescue her. She seems to have no idea what you are talking about and starts getting more and more frantic until Chronk slaps her face to try and calm her down. You hear a crack and she falls to the ground unconcious. You are still unsure whether she is the one you are to rescue, so Topsy suggests searching her for a dragonmark. Realising what that entails, Ashana steps forward and tells the males that they will not be examining her body for marks, sends them away and does the examination herself revealing no dragonmarks. This was not the correct gnome.

This means that you need to explore further into the complex, so Dusty decides to continue to facade as Garavantus, taking you for a tour through the complex. This works well and the workers barely look up from their desks. Dusty takes you through the laboratory and up some stairs where you find yourself in some sort of library or repository. Textbooks and almanacs on arcane technology are intermingled with folders full to bursting with notes scribbled in House Cannith research shorthand.

It's a large space and there doesn't seem to be a staff member present at the empty desk, so you split up to explore the shelves. Dusty rounds a corner and finds a female gnome furiously copying a binder of research notes into a notepad. She looks up, sees him there and quickly shoves the binder back in a guilty manner. She looks like she is about to run, but Ashana is at the other end of the aisle. By this time you all arrive and you are able to ascertain that this is indeed Alicia Lund, the gnome you were sent to rescue. However she has no idea who you are and says she never sent the letter.



But, she says, it is time she left as she has found the information she needs. She shuts her notebook and asks you to lead the way. You head back towards the stairs but as you get out onto the balcony you see the front doors in the level below smash open and a troop of Hobgoblins rush in, weapons drawn. Some of them are armoured, but some are wearing robes with wands drawn. The guards from the front door have also joined them.

"Everybody stay exactly where you are", shouts one of them, "there is evidence that a spy is in here", nobody gets to leave until we work out who it is".

Dusty, still appearing as Garavantus looks down at the hobgoblins, "What is the meaning of this? You must leave this building immediately". The hobgoblin captain looks confused for a moment and then turns to one of the door guards, "Check him". One of the door guards pulls out one of the small monocles that you saw earlier and looks at Dusty through it. "That's not Garavantus, it's an illusion", says the guard.

"Get them", shouts the captain and the armoured guards start running for the stairs.

Dusty pulls out his bow and starts shooting guards and in response one of the hobgolin mages points his wand to an area just behind Dusty. A fireball blossoms into existence, hitting most of you and setting one of the shelves of books on fire. Ashana takes the brunt of the blast and falls to the ground, burnt and dying. You suddenly realise that these hobgoblins are tough. Dresk runs to Ahana and drags her back to a safer location where Topsy heals her. He then runs to the front ready to take on the hobgoblin warriors coming up the stairs. A battle commences and Dresk is knocked down several times only to be healed again by Ashana.

Alicia looks at you all, "This is the most unsubtle rescue attempt I have ever seen. Good luck, I might see you again. I doubt it". She then runs to the back of the library, runs through a door and you can hear her shouting "Fire, there is a fire in the library, run for your lives".

There is a sudden rush at the other end of the balcony as a door opens and researchers rush out. They see the smoke pouring out of the library door and panic, rushing down the stairs and towards the front entrance.

"Stop, none of you can leave", the hobgoblin captain shouts down to

Alicia is among them and you see her somersault of the balcony and then run out the front door.

Chronk and Topsy run to the back of the library to see if there is another exit, but are suddenly swarmed by more door guards who rush in, are surprised to see them and then attack.

Dusty sees that you are fighting on two fronts, and likely to lose. He also sees that Alicia has escaped. He jumps off the balcony, and runs out the front door. He sees Alicia run down a nearby alley and follows her, dropping his disguise as he does so. He begins quietly tracking her.

Back in the building the battle is continuing and looking very bad for you all, but you slowly manage to turn the tide, eventually killing all the hobgoblins. You are badly hurt. You leave the building. You have lost the spy you were supposed to rescue but have aquired a lot of interesting papers that will be well worth studying. You make your back towards your skycoach.

 

[Rabbitbait]

And this weeks entry:

Spoiler

You leave the Cannith compound, wounded and weary. Dusty and Alicia are nowhere to be seen so you start making your way back to your skycoach. You are passing through a crowded market area when suddenly an Ogre steps out in front of your group. "DRESK KROTOUR", he yells, "TIME FOR PAYBACK OLD FRIEND. YOU GOT ME SENT TO JAIL AND THEN TURNED TRAITOR ON DAASK. WELL HERE'S WHERE YOU LEARN YOUR PLACE. TELL YOUR PRETTY FRIENDS TO STEP BACK, THIS IS JUST YOU AND ME".

It is an Daask enforcer that Dresk used to work with, Goord the Blunt. He had gone to jail when a job that Dresk and him were on went wrong, leading to the death of a merchant.



Goord looks at the crowd who are scattering away, "ANYONE WANNA SEE A MURDER? STICK AROUND, THIS IS GOING TO BE A DOOZY". He then looks around the group. "HEY, WHERE'S THE GNOME. YOU WERE MEANT TO RESCUE THE GNOME".

"How did you know about the Gnome?" asks Dresk.

"OH YEAH, THE LETTER WAS FAKE. THE BOSS WANTS THE GNOME AND WE ALL WANT YOU DEAD. THIS WAS A GOOD WAY OF KILLING TWO SQUIRTS WITH ONE STONE".

You look around to see if there are any escape routes. You are all badly wounded and this is possibly a fight you cannot win. As you look around you see a figure step out of a doorway. It is another old Daask friend, Kal Bloodthorn.



"Sorry Dresk", he says sadly, "There is no escape this time".

"YOU LOOK AFTER HIS FRIENDS", Goord shouts, "DRESK IS MINE".

With that he attacks. Dresk sees the attack coming and gets in first, pulling his maul out and giving Goord a solid hit in the side. Bones crunch. Goords growls in pain and smashes a massive club down on Dresks shoulder, breaking it. One more hit will be enough to kill him".

Meanwhile Kal puts his head down and charges at Chronk, who is very badly injured and had decided to sit this one out. He gores Chronk who only just manages to stay conscious. Chronk grabs Kal's horns and starts pushing him back to the edge of the platform.

Ashana sees that her friends have been badly injured and digs deep into her ancient memories. A wave of healing energy flows from her, closing Chronk's wounds and fixing Dresk's shoulder. Topsy runs forward to help Dresk with the ogre, punching Goord hard with his power gloves. Suddenly goblins jump out from around corners, shooting from shortbows and wounding several of you. Meanwhile a gargoyle detaches itself from a nearby rooftop and launches itself at Ashana, clawing and biting.

Chronk keeps pushing on Kals horns and manages to shove him off the edge of the platform. Kal grabs at Chronk, trying to pull Chronk down with him him but fails, plummeting down. However after a short fall his decent suddenly slows and he slowly floats down to a nearby bridge. He looks up at Chronk, salutes him, and then walks away.

Meanwhile Dresk gives a massive swing on his maul, hitting Goord in the ear. Goord falls to the ground with a thump, dead. Dresk looks at the goblins around him and gives a gutteral roar. They look at each other and then run and Topsy takes one of them down with a bolt of fire.

Chronk looks around and sees two other goblins who both turn and run. Chronk chases one and grabs him. "Who sent you", he yells.

The goblin in a panicked voice squeeks, "I don't know nuffin, please don't kill me, I wasn't told this would happen, please let me go, please, please, I don't wanna diiiiiiie".

Chronk realises that this goblin will tell him nothing useful throws him away over the edge of the platform and the goblin then plummets to a messy end far below.

Now there is only the gargoyle left and it starts taking damage from Dresk and Topsy. Realising that he cannot win, he soars up and away.

You have survived this ambush, but Topsy is worried. They knew you would be here, they knew about Alicia Lund, which means her cover had already been blown, and Daask obviously wants you dead.

You make your way back to your new headquarters at Drummonds Independents to patch up your wounds and recover.



Meanwhile, Dusty is still tracking Alicia Lund. Your special attributes allow you to stay out of sight of her without losing track of her. She takes a circuitious and confusing route through the city. After over an hour you have made your way right up the towers of the city to the Highest Towers district where Alicia enters a House Sivis building. You follow her in to the busy public space and watch as she talks to an official who looks around and then takes her into a back room. You decide to wait, and lean nonchalently against a desk for about half an hour. She then comes back out and is wearing what appears to be travelling clothes with a large suitcase. She exits the building and you follow her. As you exit she has disappears from sight, but you can sense that she has dodged down a nearby alley. You enter the alley and there appears to be nobody there. You can spot her foot - she is hiding behind a dumpster.



Dusty: "Alicia Lund, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm one of your rescuers from the compound".

Alicia :"I wouldn't have needed rescuing if you hadn't blown my cover".

Dusty: "But you sent us a letter, you said you needed rescuing in exchange for codebreaking"

Alicia: "I didn't send a letter. Hang on, what codes need breaking?"



You explain about the ancient chest that you had taken from Daask with the coded schema. Alicia suddenly becomes much more interested and agrees to take a look. She returns to House Sivis and leaves her suitcase there, and then joins you as you escort her to the Queen of the Damned. Delgo is very happy to see her and after introductions takes her to look at the contents of the chest. With nothing left to do here you return to Drummond's Independents and catch up with the others about all that has occured.

You all spend the night here. It's uncomfortably hot but you get to meet Dresk's family.

The next morning you decide that it is time to clear the mephits out from the furnace that you had locked up previously. Topsy declines to join you as he wants to study the papers he stole from the Cannith Compound. He finds interesting papers indicating that Garavantus was answering to Merrix d'Cannith and was trying to find a way to create warforged without the use of a creation forge. This is potentially huge blackmail material. The use of creation forges was banned as part of the Treaty of Thronehold, but creating them without one would be against the spirit of the law. You also find this letter:





Meanwhile Dusty, Dresk, Ashana and Chronk make their way down to the locked furnace. You quietly unbar the door and then launch yourselves inside. The room has been destroyed, anything that has been burnt is now cinders, and even the walls are scorched. The wall at the back of the room has collapsed, revealing a tunnel winding downwards into the darkness.

The mephits are still there, but there are also giant red beetles. You fight them, but it is still not easy. They breathe gouts of fire on you and you fall back as you fight so that you can hopefully close the door if you need to. However 3 of the 5 mephits raise their hands and another 5 mephits appear behind you. Suddenly you have double the danger. You manage to kill one of the originals and clear the doorway. You then shut the door and fight the 5 in the corridor with you. But once again you are badly injured. You have managed to kill one of the original mephits, but four remain. And what is the passage that has been revealed?

 

[Rabbitbait]

And this weeks entry. This week was pure homebrew, but I'll be leading into another published adventure very soon.

For the ancient weapons I used some of the items from: Arcana of the Ancients - Monte Cook Games Store

Spoiler

You take a nights rest to recuperate, ready to tackle the forge again the next day. However the next morning a messenger arrives bringing an invitation to meet with Merrix d'Cannith a week hence at 7pm to discuss a matter of mutual interest. Merrix is the head of house Cannith and given your recent invasion of a secret Cannith compound this makes you very nervous. But there is a week before this meeting so you decide to head back to the forge. This time Topsy joins you and you find you are easily able to defeat the lava mephits and secure the room.

Chronk is raging and rushes down the new tunnel that has been revealed through the collapsed back wall and runs into a long dark cave, killing more giant fire beetles as he goes. You chase after him and suddenly find yourself in a cavern lit by a pool of lava and filled with the charred, ancient bones of dozens of hobgoblins. Tunnels run off this cavern to the north and south. After examining the bones you decide to investigate north, but you are already getting weary from the extreme heat down here. You find an alcove filled with ancient coins, mostly copper and silver but also gold. They are all semi-melted but it is a large pile, there must be thousands of galifars worth there. You notice movement to the north and spot a giant minotaur skeleton in front of a lake of lava . You sneak around and are able to surprise it, launching a savage attack. However when you are revealed, some of the lake bulges and a form reveals itself. It is a fire elemental that moves in to attack.



The creature engulfs Topsy and Chronk before passing over them and engulfing Ashana. You attack savagely, drawing it away, but when it leaves Ashana's sapce she is lying on the ground - a burnt husk. Dusty rushes over with a potion of healing to try and revive her but it is too late. She is already dead.

You manage to kill the skeleton and the elemental and then return to the forge.

Distraught, you take Ashana to her home, The Shrine of il-Yannah, and ask her superior The Enlightened Havakhad to raise her from the dead. He sadly explains that there is no-one in the temple with that level of power that they could reverse death itself but suggests that you take her to House Jorasco. They do have rituals that can reverse death, but they take time and they don't come cheap.



You take the corpse down the House Jorasco who can indeed raise Ashana, but explain that even the effort costs 3,000 galifar. If the dead are willing to remain wherever they have gone there is no power that can force them to resume life. You leave a deposit and Ashana's body with house Jorasco and return to the forge.

You have another nights rest and then set up a chain gang with Topsy's warforged staff to bring up all the coins. You spend the day gathering, counting and organising the coins before taking them to House Kundarak to get valued and changed into modern denominations - a 3,000 galifar note of credit to House Jorasco and 2000 galifar of lesser notes to make up the rest of what you found. You then visit House Jorasco who tell you that the ritual will take two days and ask you to visit then. You then return home for another nights sleep.

The next morning you return down the tunnel to explore further. You find a number of dead ends and a tunnel that has been blocked by a cave in. You also find a cavern with a strange black obelisk standing in the centre. It has a number of strange runes on it which seem to blur in and out of vision. Chronk is the first to find it and he finds it fascinating. He stares at it and finds a calm enter his mind, a calm that he has never felt before. It feels like a new presence is in his head, but also a clarity and understanding of the world that he never possessed before. Life is good.

You all find him there, and Topsy also examines the obelisk. The same effect happens to him but does not seem to affect the rest of you. You move on and find yourself in another cavern where a small ledge holds a large stone chest on the other side of a pool of lava. As you are considering your options lava snakes emerge from the pool and quickly surround you.



You defeat them, but it is a close thing. During the fight Chronk realises that he is too calm. He can no longer enter a rage. While this makes him less effective, it is worth it for his new feeling of wellbeing.

You then look again at the chest. Chronk realises that he is strong enough to be able to jump over to the ledge with a run up, so he does so successfully. He then opens the chest and finds a treasure trove of ancient hobgoblin weapons - all in perfect condition. He then proceeds to throw all the weapons over to the rest of you before looking to return. However he realises without a run up it is unlikely he can make the jump successfully and on the ledge he can only manage a standing jump.

You throw him a rope and prepare to pull him as he jumps to try and increase the distance. You hold the rope tight as he ties it around his waist and then he makes the jump. It's close, but he doesn't make it. He lands in a shallow pool of lava and falls as the pain sends him into immediate anguish. You pull him out before the rope burns completely, but the flesh has already melted away from his legs and across his body. It is gruesome. Topsy casts a healing spell that seems to reverse the effects and you make your way back to the forge to recuperate.

Topsy spends that afternoon and the next morning examining the weapons. All of the weapons are magical and while they are somewhat similar in function to contemporary weapons they use a strange form of unstable magic. He realises that there must have been something in the chest keeping them stable as the magic auras interact in weird and dangerous ways. It is dangerous to keep more than three of these weapons close together. He seperates them all out and starts examining this strange and interesting form of ancient magic.

That afternoon you return to House Jarasco for the end stages of the ritual. You watch as the flesh and colour return to her body as a team of dragonmarked halflings perform the strange ritual. Suddenly Ashana takes a deep breathe and opens her eyes. She is back.

 

[Rabbitbait]

Anyone else running Eberron games out there that they want to share?

 

[collin]

I am currently running a Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure set in Sharn (Sharn: Galifar Heist). Six players: 1 warforged cleric, 1 warforged rogue, 1 halfling rogue, 1 shifter barbarian, 1 gnome wizard, and 1 kalashtar mystic. We started the game before the Rise of War came out, so players started out using UA rules, including the Mystic for the Kalashtar. I have used the Alexandrian variant for the heist, so it takes about twice as long to run as the regular 5 chapter adventure in the book. It's been fun. The players seem to be enjoying it. We are currently running our games on Zoom. Hope to return to live games some time this summer.

 

[Vael]

I'm currently in an Eberron campaign in Sharn. We're going through some adventures. The party composition is ... weird. I'm playing a Changeling Awakened Mystic, and I'm in a party with 3 Artificers, a Dwarf (dragonmarked), Drow and Warforged. Just got to 3rd level, so the Artificers are happy that they can pick their subclasses, we're going to have an Alchemist, Artillerist and the Dwarf is trying out the UA Armorer.

Anyone, I'm having way too much fun with my character. Being telepathic, using the fact that I can use Psionic powers without obvious displays ... Changeling's dream. Level 4, planning on taking Magic Initiate for Prestidigitation and Minor Illusion, and I think Find Familiar.

 

[Rabbitbait]

The journal from the last session. Still all homebrew, but likely to head back into published material depending on which way the characters decide to go. I have three pre-written modules that fit different likely scenarios. Very hard preparing a game at the moment as I have just gotten hooked on a video game.

Spoiler

Ashana opens her eyes and you see their normal Kalashtar glow. Immediately something in the back of Topsy and Chronks' heads tells them they are in danger and that the need to kill Ashana immediately. They are able to hold that urge back, but as Ashana sees them with hate in their eyes she feels a sudden suspicion.

She questions them and the calm and centred manner they ask the questions in is totally unlike Topsy's normal frantic babble and Chronks barely contained rage. Ashana is now quite sure that her friends have early stage infection from the Quori. Their minds are being taken over.

She calls over one of the healers and asks how much it costs to purchase curse removals. It is expensive but affordable and you manage to talk Topsy and Chronk into accepting the cure. Immediately they return to their normal personalities.

Ashana asks what you found and you explain the obelisk you found under the forge. You all quickly travel to the shrine of Il-Yannah and Ashana reports to The Enlightened Havakhad.

He is very concerned about this and tells you he will send a delegation to the forge tomorrow to destroy the obelisk. He recommends you avoid it. You agree to do so, but decide you want to clear out the rest of the complex you have found - you don't want any more surprises down there for the delegation to come across.

You all decide to take some of the ancient weapons you found last time and return to the depths. You find another pile of bones, but this time as you are watching they start moving, forming into 3 more Minotaur skeletons.

Dusty draws out his ancient weapon to attack, but he had not listened to Topsy's warning to only take a few at most. He finds that the 4 items he selected have somehow combined and now look like some sort of ambulatory metal arm with sharp blades moving. He feels a voice in goblin in his head but somehow understands what it is conveying "Just lie still, this surgery won't take long. We'll have it out in no time".

He finds himself attacking his own weapons as they attempt to open him up surgically. He manages to grab a hilt and throw the weapon into the lava. At the same time, Ashana has turned 2 of the skeletons and Dusty has resisted being charged into a lava pool. One of the skeletons flees and you are able to pick the other two off. You follow the final skeleton down a winding corridor until you find it huddled against a large stone door carved with goblin heirogliphs. You kill the final skeleton and Chronk and Topsy examine the pictures.

Chronk can't make any sense of it but Topsy, who has studied some ancient hobgoblin culture recognises the story.

THE TALE OF MUR'TAAL "Raat shi anaa, with Mur’taal, a hobgoblin warlord of great skill and pride. One day, an ancient crone told him of a legendary vale in which laid a trial that only the greatest of heroes could overcome. Seeking to prove himself worthy of his ancestor’s weapon, he took off to complete the trials, but never returned. For many years afterward, stories were told of the great Mur’taal, of his skill with the chain and keen tactical insight, of his peerless atcha and unsurpassed devotion to muut.
Then many more years passed, and eventually, as all stories do, the tale of Mur’taal faded into common legend. Then, much later, it came to be that the Dhakaani Empire found itself engaged in a fierce battle with their ancient enemies, the Tairnadal. The Dhakaani needed a champion to confront the peerless warrior leading the elven war host.
A young duur’kala, Miishka, took it upon herself to follow the legends of Mur’taal, traveling to the Vale to retrieve the lost hero of the dar. Along the way, she faced three great trials – the Test of Courage, the Challenge of Wisdom and the Trial of Honor to see if she was worthy of entering the Vale to retrieve Mur’taal.
Driven by her muut, her duty to reclaim him as the champion of the Empire, Miishka passed all of the challenges set before her and found Mur’taal trapped in his own Trial of Honor, unable to see the solution. As Miishka questioned him with the wisdom of the duur’kala, Mur’taal realized that only his pride and atcha, his dangerous desire for personal glory, was holding him back.
Instead, he needed to follow his muut, his duty to his people. In understanding this, Mur’taal completed his final trial and was freed from his entrapment. The two heroes returned to battle, and Mur’taal, newly humbled by his experiences in the Vale, easily defeated the horselord of the Tairnadal forces by playing on the elf’s own arrogance and need for personal glory. Thus, the field was won by the Dhakaani. Raat shan gath’kal dor, “The Story stops, but never ends…”

Chronk opens the heavy stone door. Inside is a massive chamber with more stories showing the bravery and skill of Mur'taal carved all over the walls. In center of the room is a massive stone casket flanked by weapon racks. In front of the casket stands an ancient suit of armour, positioned as if standing guard.

You spread out and start exploring the room. Chronk notices that there are more inscriptions on top of the casket, but the casket is too large to easily see them so he climbs on top for a better view. As he does so suddenly the weapons in the racks animate and fly in to attack, and the armour also starts moving attacking anyone near it.

You manage to defeat the animated objects and then decide that you want to see what is in the casket. It takes all of your strength, but you manage to put the lid off where it falls on the floor and breaks into several pieces.

Inside, wearing a white robe and holding a scroll case, is a massive hobgoblin. He does not look dead. He simply looks asleep. Obviously there is some sort of magic here preserving the body. You take the scrollcase and find a map inside indicating a valley in Darguun.

You return the the forge and take a nights rest. Topsy takes the time to examine the papers you found in the secret Cannith compound to see if they can offer any more information. There is enough technical information to see that this workshop was trying to find a way to create new warforged without needing to use a creation forge (therefore meeting the terms of the Thronehold Treaty, if not the intent behind it). It looks as if they were having no success.

You note that there is some letters about a particular type of Kyber crystal from Zilargo that they were using. They had managed to convince the gnome that owns the mine that the crystals has been corrupted and were of little use, but in actuality they were central to the effort. They were smuggling the crystals in to try and keep the Zilargo authorities in the dark about the mine. Lately the smugglers had been arrested and there were no crystals coming into Sharn as a result of this. There was a real risk that the workshop would run out. All the communications regarding this were to Galavantus from someone who signed off 'Mx'.

The next morning a visitor arrives at the forge. This is not someone you would usually see down here, garbed as they are in the finest Sharn fashions. He explains that he is Viktor, one of the organisors of the soiree at the mansion of Merrix d'Cannith that you have been invited to. He is here to check that you will be suitably attired and understand the social norms at events such as this.

Upon learning that you do not have any high quality clothing he quickly measures you all and arranges for clothes to be sent, "They won't be tailored, there is no time for that, but they will do in a pinch". He also explains some of ettiquite expected and informs you that you cannot take weapons onto the premises. "My master looks forward to meeting you", he says, "he has been following your exploits and thinks you will be able to have a very interesting conversation. Until then." He leaves, leaving you wondering what this event is all about.