Eberron: The Secrets of War Group A IC

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane

Zalivane reaches into a satchel and produces a wooden block.
"This is used to mark trails in Xen'Drik."

"In this case, it is used to keep you from biting your tongue off."

(d20+4)[9] Heal check to remove the arrow with minimal damage.

"Mortimus, you are hardy indeed. I cannot say the same for our belittling friend Arturo."

"Massie, carrying around Pex is akin to carrying around a deadly parasite. He stays anyone who leaves sufficient detritus. The more rubbish that his owner spouts, the better."
"So of course, Arturo is a prime candidate for Pex's affection."

Zalivane grins very slightly, unsure if anyone will understand his humor.


"And he secretes a deadly, deadly, deadly poison. Which is extremely convenient. Of course, someone in your position likely does not need to defend herself from rampaging thugs on a daily basis, no?"

"So, erm... Garome. You are not an urbanite, then? Curious. I left Xen'Drik specifically because I grew to detest the squalid pallor of the jungles."

[Hyozo]

Gabe

Gabe laughs for a moment after hearing Zalivane's comment about Arturo. For the moment he didn't feel like he was in any immediate danger, so he was in a relatively good mood. When Zalivane mentions the reason he left Xen'Drik, Gabe shrugs and says "I left because I hated Stormreach."

[Hlaine Larkin]

Arturo

"What's your problem, dark elf? You know nothing of me, speak so much ill of me as this and that, but come off as more of a prat than anyone!" Arturo says with a queasy smile, he's obviously holding back running the drow through right here and now.

[Darkantra]

"I've taken down a few thugs in my time," Massie turns around a bit to give you all a grin, "Cinderblock here has burned more than her fair share of people trying to steal her too. Gotta say though, that is damn impressive to cart around a dangerous creature like that if you aren't a druid."

As Arturo starts to visibly anger and threaten the drow, the coach gives a slight lurch. The glow around Massie intensifies and the temperature inside the carriage goes up a few degrees.

"Settle down back there, if anyone spills any blood in my skycoach, they'll get burned. I promise you that," the temperature drops back to a nicely warm level again and the glow recedes a bit.

As you all chat away the skycoach continues to climb through the sky. You all notice a perceptible change in the air as Cinderblock reaches the upper level, the air has only a hint of the sea and is fresh and clean to your lungs, a quite different feel then in the lower city.

The difference between the lower and higher wards are striking. While the lower ward's buildings were built on the layer of earth and stone between it and the cogs, the middle and upper wards are formed from great towers of stone that arch into the sky and platforms of rock that defy gravity in their ability to almost float in the air.

Dozens of towers grace the night sky up here, whereas you could only see their bases in the lower city the tops are festooned with small gardens and magical lights. The skycoach steers around one tower that has a riotous party on the roof, and you can all see people with finery that could very well buy out the Manky Goblin several times over.

From there it's only a short ride to the Ivy Towers, a collection of towers that seem to have been built eclectically but well, with different styles of stonework for each floor. Aelton takes a look out one of the windows and beams.

"Aha! We're here."

Cinderblock comes to one tower, made of a light red hued stone and about ninety feet wide, and circles around it once before pulling up and landing on a platform attached to it halfway up it's base. As she takes her hands off of the pedestal the soft hum and glow fade and the skycoach settles onto the platform.

"Alright, we'll wait here while you lot have a look inside," the pilot slaps the metal again, causing the door to shunt open, and then lithely steps out onto the platform. She retrieves the partial cigar and lights it up again with a tindertwig.

"If you want," she gestures at the wand, "I can have a look at that and figure out their command words while I'm waiting, isn't like I have much else to do. I saw you figuring out those caltrops, but you looked a bit stumped by the stick there," she turns to Zalivane, "I'm gonna suggest that the scorpion stays here, I don't think that the other residents would care much for it walking down their hallways,"

Aelton meanwhile has moved over to the wooden door in the side of the building and has pushed it open, revealing a well-lit hallway. When you follow him in the structure of this apartment tower becomes clear. A short hallway runs from the doorway to a wide staircase in the middle of the hall, and another ten feet down the hallway there are three imposing wooden doors facing the north, east and west. Even on the inside of the structure the stone retains it's nice rose hue. The hallway is largely unadorned except for a simple carpet down it's length.

Aelton motions you all towards the stairs and begins ascending.

"The apartments here," he begins to explain without asking if you would all like to know, "Are split with three to a floor until you get to the top few floors which are the suites of the building. The walls are thick enough that a great deal of privacy is warranted, and most of the other tenants here are quite pleasant people," you thankfully only go up one floor before Aelton steps off of the stairs and walks over to one of the doors. He fishes in his belt for a set of keys and sets himself to unlocking the three locks on the door, "Silly of me really," he says as he gets the first one unlocked, "I've always maintained that a good lock makes a good home, but I've never even bothered to put one on the window," he finishes unlocking the door and opens it for you. The professor steps in and after a bit of fumbling manages to light a large lantern by the door, shedding light on the room.

A musty smell of parchment greets you as you enter Aelton's home, and from the chaos in the main room you aren't very surprised at the scent. The single large room seems more like a study than a living area, with a huge oak desk with it's drawers open and several bookshelves dominating the western side of the room. On the eastern wall a lounge couch faces an iron-wrought fireplace and a set of cabinets, and a small table and pantry take up the corner beside a door that presumably goes into Aelton's bedroom. Two large windows occupy the sloping north-westerly facing wall and you imagine that the apartment must see a great deal of light during the day.

Stands and smaller shelves dot the room with collections of strange items on them. On stand holds the talon of some beast, while another has a slightly cracked vase with a strange language written on it, to name a few of the eclectic items. Aside from that, the room seems to be a window into some realm of chaos. Books and parchment cover the area with the the bookshelves and desk, and broken glass litters the corner beside the desk.

Aelton goes around the apartment, carefully trying to not disturb anything, and activates a few soft magical lights that help to illuminate the room.

"Well, as a friend of mine says, 'mi casa, su casa', my home is your home" the professor walks over to the cabinets and retrieves a bottle of wine from one of them, "Though I'm not too certain he translated it correctly, I still think that 'casa' means colon, though I could be wrong. Err," he unstops the bottle and pours himself a glass, "If any of you would like a glass while you search you are welcome to it," he takes a sip and gestures to the desk, "I had my notes and the journal in there. All right then, I leave you all to your expertise."


OOC: Everyone start performing search and spot checks please. The general time is still the evening, so none of you are in any danger of dropping from exhaustion, and you can take 10 or 20 on the search if you'd like.

[Hyozo]

Gabe

When Aelton comments on the lack of a lock on the window Gabe almost grins and comments "That's certainly a surprisingly common mistake, although I imagine that it would be slightly less of a problem up here than it would in the lower wards."

Gabe begins to thouroughly search every corner of the room, noting any potential clue he comes across. This job could help him to live well for months, legitimately even, and he did not want to do less than his best on it.

Taking 20 on the search check for a total of 27
spot check - (1d20+9)[19]

[Hlaine Larkin]

Arturo

Not really interested in what anyone has to say for now, Arturo helps himself to a glass of wine, while carefully searching the apartment for whatever there would be to find.

Search = 23
Spot = (1d20-1)[15]

[Madmal]

Fierna

"I'd be honored, ma'am." she says as she hands the wand to Massie.

Once on the apartment, she stands in the middle of every room for a while scanning it, then proceeding to a more dedicated search.

Spot= (1d20+3)[7]
Search= taking 20, result of 29

[Mantid]

Garome

Without a word and wearing the same frown he has had since boarding the Cinderblock, Garome busies himself with searching.

Search - 20+3
Spot - (1d20+8)[19]

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane

"Thank you, Massie. I will see you when we return."

"Pex... stay."

Spoiler

Show

I don't think I need to order him to stay, since he's not going anywhere, but just in case - Roll high....!
(d20+5)[25]

Zalivane enters the abode. I guess there's a lot more I could say, but I'm really not in the mood to say it. So Zalivane's there. And he's kinda sleepy again, and takes a seat in the couch near the cupboards.
He refuses the wine, and, relaxing, proceeds to scan the room - from the comfort of a couch.

"I have never much been one for investigation. Leave that to the Inquisitives; they are far more proficient in such a delicate task. Besides, I would only get in your way.

Fierna and Gabe seem to have it under control."

"Is something wrong, Garome? You have been sour for some time. Are you uncomfortable around this urban sprawl?"

[Deathslayer7]

Mortimus

Motrimus goes inside but doesn't bother searching he was never good at that. Instead he will just look around.

Spoiler

Show

spot:(1d20+4)[11]

[Darkantra]

Pex gladly stays in the small compartment. It's the warmest small place he's been in for a long while.

A half-hour of careful searching passes as the night finally descends from dusk into true night. As you work Aelton offers you all some refreshments; some fruit, cheese, crackers and of course the wine.

In a general search around the room you find that only the desk was opened, the burglars seemed to not have any interest in the pantry or cupboards. Nothing really except the one part of the room seems to be disturbed. Nonetheless, you all carefully search in every part of the room, even looking out the window, where you find a scrape along the side of the building beneath one of the windows. The scrape seems to not have gouged into the stone so much as cut a shallow, jagged, line horizontally about ten feet below the window.

Back in the room, papers are cleared, drawers checked, and items slipped into piles based on what you find. It takes as long as it does because you have to keep holding up strange items one after another to Aelton for inspection. His shelf must have held many things besides books. In all you find that the glass was from an airship in a bottle, a Xen'drik boomerang with a large red stripe on it, various skeletal or preserved animal (and possibly not animal) parts, a gold monocle with a strange crystalline structure instead of a lens and a small and wickedly curved dagger.

Everyone in the room has to turn a collective wrinkled nose as you uncover a uncleaned litter-box underneath a pile of paper next to the desk. Aelton looks at you all a bit sheepishly as he dumps the mess out of the window.

"Well... I did leave in a hurry," he walks over to the pile of object you've collected and frowns a little, "Hold on a moment... I did have a small Talentan styled dagger but this is more in the style of Darguul," he looks at you all in excitement, "This isn't mine, therefore..."

He leaves the unspoken to you all as the dagger is more closely inspected. The dagger's curve ends in a sharply hooked point, and there is a symbol on the bottom, of three small globes inside of a pyramid, but the inscription seems to have been scratched out.

Knowledge local checks please.

[Deathslayer7]

Mortimus

Spoiler

Show

knowledge local: (1d20+4)[11]
nobility if it applies: (1d20+4)[19]

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane (But you knew that Phantom.exe's character was Zalivane already, didn't you?)

Spending his time relaxing means that Zalivane had time to - well, relax instead of having to search.

"No, no, no. Someone as competent as you four should be able to find it."

When the party notices the strange scratch below the wall, Zalivane speaks up -probably interrupting anyone else speaking at the time.

"My guess is that either our drunken half-elf friend here made it by accident, or it was used as part of the entry to this domicile."

"Suppose, for a moment, that you were the burglar. The front door is conspicuous, and the window is, of course, impossible to reach from the ground floor. If you were absolutely barred from entering the front, you would simply climb. It is not a difficult task to imagine. With a few tools and a piton or two, one could make their way up the side of the tower."

"At least, this assumes it was a piton that was placed in that gash. It could also have been a more adventurous burglar, using, say, some sort of alchemical grappling arrow - or even an extreme thief, planting swords as climbing utensils."

"At least, that is how I would do it."

Upon the party's discovery of the dagger, Zalivane has no opinion.
[COLOR="rgb(112, 128, 144)"]"I do not know what that is."[/COLOR]

[Madmal]

Fierna

"ifyouexcusemeprofessori'lltakethatthankyou" Fierna snatches the dagger hurriedly and walks over to the nearby light source to give it a closer examination.

"hmmm...definately a dagger designed to fit a small creature...possibly a goblin, judging from the symbol. you see, this refers to the Daask, one of the largest criminal organizations in Sharn, and mostly composed of the so called "brute humanoids" such as goblinoids, gnolls and ogres. the threee globes refer to a ruling body of some sort...not sure which ones, and the pyramid refers to secrets general...oddly enough, the scrtaches maded on the dagger seem deliberate..."

she hands the dagger back to Aelton "the Daask are widely feared here, so i'm against assuming someone using it out of spite of them, the owner probaly is, or was, a member."

[Mantid]

Garome

With some help, Garome manages to retrieve a small scrap of cloth he spotted outside the window near the scratch on the wall. It turns out to be a piece of burlap with the remainders of some emblem on it, something that might be a red fang or similar shape. The tribal halfling studies it for a moment before passing it around. "What do you make of this?" he asks.

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane

Zalivane hums some tune from the Last War. He has trouble remembering the title, but it was used in a few recruiting drives. Even though it was Brelish, it must have drifted into Xen'Drik at some point - though where he heard it is beyond him...

Drifting. Curious. All these items seem to be from different places across Khorvaire. This could be a national issue indeed.

"Anyone - what - find anything good?"

[Darkantra]

[Alright, no more delays, time to get this game moving again]

A slightly drunk Aelton, having finished up the bottle of wine with Arturo's help, inspects both the dagger and the patch of cloth as they are brought to him.

"You are right my dear," he smiles in pride at Fierna as his student spells out the dagger's history, "That sign is definitely of Daask," he looks at the patch of cloth, "Though I'm not sure how it's connected to this torn print. It may very well belong to a small organization that I haven't heard of, considering it's crude rendition."

The professor also spends a moment looking over the windowsill at the large gash into the side of the building.

"No, I definitely didn't cause this, and there do not seem to be any pinton holes either on the way up, so I would propose that something ground into the side of the building. Hmm, I don't remember hearing anything before the glass bottle broke though."

He paces for a minute before nodding to himself and smiling at you all.

"Well, a good show that was my friends, I'm glad that I hired you, you have everything wonderfully in hand! I think that I'll turn in, get a good night's rest," he looks pointedly at the empty wine bottle, "Staying up any longer will only invite a headache tomorrow. Massie is under my retainer for the rest of the night so if you want to continue with your investigations she can transport you around the city until morning, otherwise I would suggest that you all get some rest as well."

[So a recap since it's been a little while: You know that one of the thieves' names is Muurac, you have a dagger with a scratched out symbol of the Daask thieving clan and a patch of cloth with what seems to be a red tusk or fang on it. The option is up to you all whether you continue with the investigation now, or take some rest and start up again in the morning the following day.]

[Deathslayer7]

Mortimus looks around at the group. Well we found some clues. Any idea where those lead too?

OOC: I have knowledge local. Tells the others.

[Darkantra]

[I forgot to mention, anyone trained in knowledge local will automatically know that Daask bases many of their activities in the cogs, the underground network of industry that supplies Sharn with most of it's trade goods, and Malleon's Gate in the lower wards. Malleon's gate is primary occupied by goblonoids and other monstrous humanoids.]

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane

Zalivane looks tired - inexplicably so, as the drow has done hardly any menial or physical work. His expression is more one of boredom - until he begins to sift through the items in the ragged apartment.
"Companions, I would like to formally announce that thus far, today has resulted in a great deal of excitement - enough to keep me from dying of boredom, if nothing else."

"Aelton, I would also like to apologize that we are unable to come..."

Zalivane stops his phrase mid-sentence.
[COLOR="rgb(105, 105, 105)"]"This boomerang..."
[/COLOR]

Zalivane reaches for the Xen'Drik boomerang resting in the "pile o' plot items."
"Pardon me, Aelton- but where did you procure this item? It has a familiarity about it."
"Though not identical, it has a few similarities to my own... though much older, much more visceral and bloodied."

The elf stares at the item, palming it in his hands, testing its weight, tossing it idly in the air.
[COLOR="rgb(112, 128, 144)"]"I talk too much. I apologize. Believe me, it is a curse of gibness. However, interacting is much more enjoyable and useful than not interacting."[/COLOR]

[Darkantra]

Aelton waves his hand dismissively at the boomerang.

"Oh, that was a keepsake that my father got as a gift from a tribe in Xen' Drik. The chieftain had sworn up and down that it had a gift of magic but my father always complained that it was a clumsy thing. You're welcome to have it if you like."

[Doh, and I forgot that you guys have the lead that Brunt let you in on as well, that someone hired him to take out Aelton, and that Sebastian Ovis was one of the only people to know where Aelton would be this night.]

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane

"Thank you, Aelton. I will keep it. Your father must have been a very intelligent man, to have earned the trust of a tribe."

Zalivane looks more alert, more awake. His eyes are opened all the way, rather than half-mast.

"All right. Now, I think, is a good time for compling our clues together. After that, methinks we should follow up on Brunt's contact."

"Okay, what do we know...
One of the thieves that absconded with Aelton's possesions was named Muurac. We've a dagger with a scratched-out piece that belogned to the Dhakaani thieving clan, and a red piece of cloth. Things appear to point to bugbear or goblinoid incursion."

"Aelton, I don't suppose you've ever been to the Darguun?"
Zalivane sits down on the couch, and, as swiftly as he awoke, begins to slide back into a slumber.

Just as Aelton finishes speaking, Zalivane drifts to sleep.

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane

In sleep...

Zalivane does not dream lightly. Any dream that he experiences is vivid - at least, so he claims.
There is nothing mystical or magical in dreams, according to his tribe. They are not spirits or premonitions. Any tales of dreams taking place in far-off lands of demons and angels is nothing but superstitious gibberish. We're Drow. We know these things. We have racial modifiers, damnit!

***
Zalivane dreams of towers, and cities. It couldn't possibly be Sharn; this city is much shorter and completely covered in moss, in damaged structures and ruins. Massive archaic buildings are frozen in place, beginning to topple to the ground but never quite making it.
Everything is so easy to grasp; the vines are easy to swing from, the moss perfect for climbing. Bridges and walkways are formed from nature; it would be a paradise for Zalivane.

The only other person is Aurelia; a long-time friend of Zalivane's. A icy-haired female with eyes of striking yellow, she owned Acquisitions Incorporated, the shipping company that brought him to Sharn. Her hair flowed as if underwater as she jumped and sprinted around the natural and unnatural jungle.
This was pretty good.
***

[Phantom.exe]

....Zalivane wakes up?

[Phantom.exe]

Zalivane looks exasperated.

"..."

"Anyone feeling any more motivated after a good night's sleep?"