Agents of the Brelish Crown IC

[Wiz]

Soranda nods, "I can't tell you any more about the workshop than what I have already said, only having divined it's location." She takes out a map and indicates the level and the tunnel where it should be accessable from.

"I will continue to look over the book, in case it is somehow the journal that the Provost got from the lady. Supposedly, that journal has clues as to how to access the workshop and/or the item within it."

The artificer ponders, "I wonder... if the weapon of Hellcaller is a source of fire if it was incorporated into some kind of eternal forge?" Her eyes have a faraway look as her mind explores this fantasy.

[In4Dimensions]

Iridae nodded. “I have nothing else of interest from the foundry, so by all means, let’s proceed.”

[GuyFawkes]

Alestair Deskane

Alestair smiled. "Very well, then," he said before standing up. "It is decided. If there are no other matters to discuss, it is best we head there now."

Alestair led them back out the mess hall and out into the front. "I will have to make the necessary arrangements for the matters at the Cogs, and of course, here at the shop. I shan't take long, I shall be there with you shortly."

After leading back to the front and seeing them out, Alestair went back up to the office, writing instructions for one of his men to monitor the D'wor Foundry. Taking care of that, he readied his equipment, taking a similar set than the one Ward used, but distinctly different visually.

"Gneville, my good friend. Alas, I must be off yet again. Do look after this little shop of ours for me. And you, boys and girls. Try not to be too hard on the gnome, will you?" Having said that, he left and headed for the hideout.

[Obscuraphile]

The Lantern Headquarters in Lower Sharn

Jove agrees to meet with Aran's agents on short notice and share what the captured warforged has revealed so far. The senior lantern sits behind his desk sharing bits of an apple that he is carving in his hands with a ring-tailed lemur. "Interrogating warforged presents unique challenges," he says as though beginning a lecture. "Beyond the fact that their minds work differently, making them less responsive to threats and incentives, they don't experience pain in the same way a flesh and blood subject does and their bodies have a tendency to defeat the normal methods of enhanced interrogation." Jove's lemur screeches and holds out an insistent paw as the lantern moves the third piece of apple in a row towards his lips. He flips the small pen knife around so that he is covering the blade completely in his large hands and pokes the monkey firmly in the gut with the handle. "One, I'm bigger than you, so I need more food. Two, it's not exactly like you starve anyways."

The lemur hops onto the padded back of Jove's chair and flicks out its tail to snatch the apple from the old man's grip. Jove simply chuckles and after wiping off the blade, replaces it in the golden rest in easy reach of his left hand. The lemur munches noisily as Jove glances down at the interrogation report on his desk. "We've corroborated what we can, which isn't much unfortunately. The group arrived just four days ago, they were forced to take up lodgings yesterday due to setbacks in their mission progress. They already had knowledge of the Cannith site, supplied by their master. Our conjecture is that there must have been some record of it that survived the destruction of Cyre. However they have been unable to gain access to the site. The prisoner's language around what exactly they seek is exceedingly flowery and vague." Jove picks up the sheet of paper and quotes from it directly, "All it seems to know is that the facility contains 'A relic of elder days, from before the enslavement of our race.' It is much clearer on location however, we have a complete description of the route to take through the foundations of Dorasharn Tower in order to reach the facility. The captive seems to think that 'blessings of the enslavers' are required to open the doors of that place."

Jove sets down the report and fixes each junior agent in turn with a hard stare. "The captive has been remarkably tight lipped about the whereabouts and capabilities of his remaining companion. Don't make me send anyone down there to pull your asses out of the fire."

[fallensavior]

"Well, that is about what I expected. Let us head for Dorasharn without any further delay. Agreed?"

[Ionbound]

Alanna nods and hmms to herself, wondering half-alound, "I wonder what he meant by 'elder days'....Weren't the warforged invented only recently-ish, by House Cannith?"

[Obscuraphile]

Jove

"Apart from snippets of philosophy, the captive has been unhelpful in describing the beliefs and dogma of his particular religious cult. But make no mistake. It is clear that all three are utterly fanatical. It is possible that elder days is simply a rhetorical flourish or it might be a reference to the beginnings of the warforged race, which would imply that they are not very long ago at all. We are not sure either."

Spoiler: Soranda

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You know from your father's expeditions into Xen'drik that warforged-like creatures/constructs/inanimate objects are sometimes encountered/found on that jungle continent and have absolutely no connection to House Cannith.

[In4Dimensions]

“Yes, let us be off. I doubt we have anything else to learn here.”

[GuyFawkes]

Alestair Deskane

"If these three can take on two of them, I like the chances of six of us against one. Then again, this other member could be the leader and, knowing the location of the workshop, could simply call for reinforcements. It would be wise to prepare for those scenarios."

"Two things. One, we have confirmed a disturbance at the Cogs. Dhaakani goblins - Shaarat'khesh - looking for something in the tunnels. They found the entrance, of what we were not able to acertain. Breaching the tunnel walls released Kython, a whole swarm of them. A word to the Watch to send some men to the D'wor Foundry for repelling these creatures would suffice for now.

Two, I would like to request for some supplies for this mission. Would you happen to have some wands with curative properties, would you?"

Spoiler

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Requisition rolls for wand of cure light wounds (10 charges): (1d20+3)[16]

[Obscuraphile]

Jove

"Hmm, very well, I doubt the Watch can be motivated to send a force into the cogs for anything less than an imminent threat to the city as a whole, but if you think it necessary to focus on the warforged agent, I will put a team together to investigate these Shaarat'Kesh. Please turn over any intelligence you might have on the matter.

As for your supply needs, I'm sure the quartermaster can provide you with such a thing."

Spoiler: OoC

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One wand of cure light wounds (10 charges) is yours.

[GuyFawkes]

Alestair Deskane

Alestair drew from one of his pockets one small scroll which he had prepared earlier for the report and handed it over.

"Thank you."

Turning to the others, he said, "I will just retrieve my supplies and we can start heading out." He then proceeded to find the quartermaster to see to his request.

[Ionbound]

Alanna nods, "Let's get ready to go." She thinks for a moment, ending up deciding against requisitioning anything, and spends her time waiting for the others sharpening her glaive.

[Wiz]

Soranda nods, "I am mostly ready to go, I wanted to see if I could get some alchemist's fire from the quartermaster." Checking with that worthy individual, she makes inquiries, pointing out the usefulness they may have to the mission.

Intelligence, DC:8 for 3 (1d20+6)[17] (Heh... could have tried for 4! ;) )

[Thundercracker]

Katriel decided to ask for a rope and grappling hook.

Spoiler

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int: (1d20+4)[22]

[Obscuraphile]

Lantern Hideout, Lower Central

The wordless quartermaster produces a hard-sided case about six inches long and three inches square on the end. It has a folding leather top with a large toggle held by a loop. Opening it she shows the three glass vials inside to Soranda. They look particularly small and fragile in the large woman's hands. There are loops on the back of the case for mounting on a belt or bandolier. The quartermaster fixes Soranda with a hard eye, and the half-giant can't quite tell if it is an appraising stare, or if the quartermaster is begrudging her the supplies, or perhaps she's even trying to urge Soranda to take care with these tools.

Before the young scholar can go anywhere with these thoughts Katriel approaches the counter and makes her request. The woman grunts and heads into her back room returning with a full climbing kit, ropes, hooks, pitons, hammer, and all. She flips it up onto the counter and checks the contents, carefully noting everything in her logbook. When done she pushes the back towards Katriel and gives her a similar stare.

Dorasharn Tower, The Descent

Soranda leads the group, following her map, across the Lower City to the base of Dorasharn. The tunnels and corridors grow ever tighter and darker as the already sparse everbright lanterns thin even further, eventually being replaced by smokey, sputtering lanterns burning rancid oil. At some points Soranda and Clamp are forced to stoop and almost squeeze. The walls and foundations of the towers the group passes crowd close and only an occasional window breaks the monotony of the dirty stone walls.

Despite all of this the alleys and corridors of the Lower City are crowded with rough and dirty people. The city stinks of sweat and sewage in this neighborhood where Sharn's goblins, shifters, and gnolls greatly outnumber its resident humans, dwarves, and halflings. A few hard looks or greedy eyes follow the Lanterns through the archways and narrow stairs of their path but none are bold enough to start anything. Whether this is due to the agents' numbers, their obvious weaponry, or Clamp and Soranda's physical size is unclear, but it is certainly not out of a fear of intervention by the Watch, not in this neighborhood.

At one point the tunnels open onto a large chamber, the first of its kind that Soranda's guidance has taken the party though. A mix of humans, shifters, and goblins all gather around piles of garbage spread out on various filthy blankets. Katriel recognizes a Rat's Market when she sees one. A group of goblins seems to be running the show here, belting out prices for various bits of trash. Nothing is clean and little is intact, but people push and shove as if fighting for polished gold. The lanterns stick out like half a dozen sore thumbs in this place and Soranda hurries everybody along after quickly determining which of the several exits they need to take.

Eventually, the party passes into the sewers proper, working their way down a narrow stair, and are forced to wade through the running waste itself. It flows ankle deep along the rounded floor of great pipes that collect and transport endless rain water of Sharn out towards the Dagger River. Great valves along the tunnel walls snap open periodically unleashing great torrents of sewage to join the slower stream. After about five minutes in the great sewage pipe, Soranda stops at a wall hatch that looks very much like one of the valves, except that, after the grime of years is removed from its face and ancient device is revealed.

A stylized hammer and anvil worked in a silver-white metal shines with its own light. Soranda recognizes it both from her studies and her knowledge of her father's house. It is the sign of House Cannith from before the founding of the nation of Galifar. Now the only question is how to get it open. No mundane means presents itself. There are no indications of hinges or handle, but Soranda is in no doubt that this is the portal she seeks.

[fallensavior]

Clamp would normally carry his quarterstaff as a walking stick, but here he tries to avoid putting the end of his staff down into the sewage.

"...Is this the spot? Has anyone been through here?"

[Thundercracker]

Katriel tried to make some educated guesses as to how to open this thing, based on her studies.

Spoiler

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local and dungeoneering 9, arcana 8

[Wiz]

Soranda studies the door, the symbology, everything that she can see and think of to try to understand how this may be opened. She will look at the goblin journal and see if there is anything writ therein that might indicate it was in Cannith hands after the hero's weapon was entombed in pre-Sharn.

Intelligence +6
Thievery, 4 ranks, +10
Search, 4 ranks, +10
Knowledge: Arcana, 4 ranks, +11
Knowledge: Nobility & Royalty (including House Cannith), 2 ranks, +9
Knowledge: anything else, 1 rank, +8
Decipher Script, 2 ranks, +8

[In4Dimensions]

Iridae tapped Alestair on the shoulder. “D’you think you could use that wand on me once, please? I got bitten by a kython when I was down in the mines.”

[fallensavior]

If all else fails, Clamp pulls out his crowbar and waits for the others to move aside.

Spoiler: Only as a last resort...

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Strength - (d20+11)[21] (+11=Str+size+tool+trait)

[Obscuraphile]

Katriel and Soranda both realize that there are small, shallow etchings in the lines of silver-white metal on the portal. A spell was quite clearly laid upon this door, at one time, however a millennium is a very long time to ask even a spell to stand vigil. While it is unlikely that the magical protection has faded entirely, it certainly won't produce the effect it might have when it was new made.

Soranda, try as she might, can draw no connections between the goblin's journal and any knowledge she uncovered about the forgotten Cannith heir and his or her secret workshop. Refocusing on the door, she is confident that it can be forced, either by craft or main strength, but either option is likely to provoke the warding spell. Finally, she knows that such facilities are still common among living heirs, who usually guard their private abodes jealously from those outside the family. However a dragonmarked house is a large network and one never knows when relatives might come calling, so there are a few common pass phrases in use which might deactivate any defense measures. Soranda has also heard of doors which open at the mere touch of one who shares the blood, unlikely given that she has already scrapped sewage off the door, but some are said to open at the touch of a signet of the house.

[Ionbound]

Alanna regards the door for a moment, and mutters, "I wonder..." before glancing to the left and right shiftily and taking off her left handed glove and pushing the door with her bare, dragonmarked, hand.

[Obscuraphile]

The metal's internal glow intensifies at Alanna's touch, racing down the patterns set in the wall of the sewage tunnel. When it reaches the ends the light turns blue and pulses back up the veins of metal to Alanna's hand. The snap of a powerful electric spark rises over the background echoes of flowing sewage and the smell of ozone briefly overpowers the stench of decay.

Spoiler: OoC

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Alanna takes (1d3)[3] electric damage. The door obviously responds to dragonmarks, but it would appear that it also knows its own.

[Ionbound]

Alanna winces as she recoils from the shock and shakes for a moment from the shock, then quickly puts her glove back on and says, "Well...That was one heck of a trap. At least the door was unlocked...I'd have to have to press that again."

[In4Dimensions]

“Should I try to just blast it open? If I don’t touch it, it might not shock me.” Iridae asked, as she waited for Alestair’s reply.

[GuyFawkes]

Alestair Deskane

Alestair let the others deal with the hatch while he pulled out the wand he had requisitioned.

"I haven't really gotten to study this yet. Let's see if this works."

He pointed the wand at Iridae and muttered some ancient words.

Spoiler

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Use Magic Device: (1d20+3)[20]
Iridae is healed for 4 HP.

Suddenly, Alestair could feel this surge of warm, positive energy well within him. He placed his hand on Iridae and he felt it rush from within him through his arm and out of his hand onto the girl. He then smiled and stowed the wand away.

"How was it? Oh, and you should probably know you can ask for this kind of service at the hideout. It is for free. Best use it for when you you're there."

[In4Dimensions]

Iridae smiled warmly as she felt the healing energy stitch up her wounds. “Aah, thank you. Feels much better. And that’s good to know about the hideout; I wasn’t aware of it.”

[Thundercracker]

Katriel

“I think we should blast it,” Katriel said, “maybe if we stand back the lightning won’t be able to reach us.”

[Wiz]

Soranda has no house signet, not even a broach... just a notation on her identity papers. She has always found it best not to advertise her relationship to the house. Still, though she has touched it directly... there is one last option she holds. Making sure the surface is relatively clean, she pricks the tip of a finger, drawing a drop of blood, then traces the least mark of making on the surface of the door.

[Ionbound]

Alanna raises an eyebrow at Sorlanda, and stands well back from the door, curious as to what's going to happen.