City of Towers

The Weaved Web Tangles Tightly

By the time that the companions made it back to the districts, they had more questions than answers. And more problems than when they'd first started. Searching the corpse and questioning the remaining thug, they'd seen a picture forming. Or rather, pieces that would make a picture if they could only puzzle out what they meant. And their lives depended on figuring that out.

When this started, it had seemed like such a straightforward job. Shade wanted five magical artifacts. He didn't say what he wanted them for, and they didn't ask- the less they knew, the better in their estimation. But now, they needed to know more.

What facts had they gleaned?

First, the thug didn't know who they were hired by. He just followed orders. Under a little more stringent questioning, he remembered that he'd thought that whoever it was had to be important. It was just the way that the dead thug had talked about them. They had been given a map and a time- they'd been waiting for a few hours, so it wasn't exact- just that they had to retrieve all the possessions of whomever came out of that door. And that they needed to leave them there. He didn't say dead, but it was implied that no one should know that they disappeared. He didn't know any of the others- it was strange that he pulled together a crew that didn't know each other, but not unheard of.

Second, on the body of the other thug they found money. Questioning the live thug again, they found out that if the money was split according to what he was supposed to get, not including the dead thug, it would be exactly the right amount. There was also a slip of paper with an address.

Not much to go on. They had the artifact, and the information. What should they do with it?

“We were only supposed to return the artifact to Shade,” Daakon said, cleaning his blade after disposing of the thug in the manner that he'd meant for them. “What concern do we have with these lowlifes or what they wanted. Or even who hired them?” He stood up, starting to trace their way back topside.

Callendin held up a hand, forestalling his companion. “Let me think this through?”

Baratus spoke up from ahead where he was keeping watch. “We got lucky this time. No guarantee the same will happen again.” His voice was flat and matter-of-fact. “We need to figure this out for our own good. If someone else is after these artifacts, we have four more to find.” He jerked his hand towards where Daakon had disposed of the bodies. “That could be us, next time.”

“Not to mention the fact that I'm not sure we should keep this from Shade,” Callendin added.

Daakon grunted. “So what then? Day's coming in fast.”

“We don't have to have the artifact back until later,” Callendin said, thinking. “Why don't we follow up on this stuff, and call on Shade later. We can meet up before then, and hopefully have something for him then.”

“Sounds good,” Daakon responded. “I can hit up the inns in Clifftop – see if anyone's heard anything. I know a guy that keeps his ear to the ground. I can check with him too, and since the drop is there, I'll check to see if anyone shows up.”

(Investigation: Ridiculous Luck and Vigilance, and checking with Commoners and Outsiders. The GM Informs him that he can spend a point of vigilance to get a bit more information. He does so, and is able to use his skullduggery to get more information.)

“Thieves Guild might know something, especially about those thugs,” Baratus said, sticking to his usual terseness in speech.

(Investigation: City's Secrets and Skullduggery, and checking with Thieves Guild)

“And I'll head back home and hit up a few acquaintances, and let the family know I'm back in the city,” Callendin added.

(Investigation: Scurrilous Rumors and Nobility, checking with the Ancient Nobility)

Daakon sat in the agreed upon tavern, nursing a tankard of some foul concoction that was supposed to be ale, but was several times removed from those roots. However, this was neither his first establishment of the afternoon, nor his first drink, so the taste was lost on him, as he watched the crowd. He'd learned a lot, but nothing to make his mood any better. Indeed, it might have made it worse. The games that nobles played was not a good place for them to be caught in the middle of. He nodded to Callendin as he came in, noticing only at that moment that Baratus was already in the bar as he rose to join them.

“Did either of you find anything to make my mood any better?” he asked without preamble as they sat down.

“You could at least wait until we've ordered,” Callendin said.

“I wouldn't recommend it. The ale's bad and the food is worse,” he responded, turning up his tankard to find it sadly empty. “But I won't complain if you do.”

“We have to meet Shade soon anyway,” the sorcerer responded. “We can't put him off much longer without a damned good reason. Either of you have that?”

“I have information, but it won't make you any happier,” Baratus offered.

From their respective investigations, they find that there was a fixer for someone looking into hiring for a contract. They wanted disposable help, and had someone to lead the job. There was a possibility of follow on jobs. There are rumors of moves being made in House ir'Starn and House ir'Dain, regarding a conflict between minor houses in their aegis – House Mawstorm, House Wintersun, and House Greyheart. By luck and sharp eye, Daakon had happened to piece together that passerby on the street was actually looking for some sign at the drop point, and had followed him to a property owned by a scion of House Greyheart.

“Yeah, it's as I thought,” Daakon said, scowling at Callendin. “We're in the shit now.”

“I'll take the artifact to Shade, if it helps,” he offered. “Meet you later?”

The other two were more than happy to let him take the lead talking to their imposing patron, and they agreed to meet up after.

This Job Has Really Gone to Shite

Never had a job been so frustratingly precise with as few details as they'd been provided. Shade had given a map of the actual underground hall in the depths and a reasonable location in that hall of the artifact that he wanted retrieved. He'd also given a good description of the artifact, and a direction that it lay in, in relation to their current location. That last phrase was the part that caused the consternation.

Sharn was constructed in discrete layers, with the quarters, wards, and districts, arranged in layers like a cake. The 4 different layers formed this cake. However, between two of the layers – the Lower City and the Cogs – there was a messy filling in the order. The sewers lay below the Lower City, and served the same function as sewers in any other city. However, all of this was built on the ruins of what had come before- giving the depths. Ruins, treasures, monsters – all could be found right under the city. Shade didn't know the path through the sewers to the portion of the depths depicted in the map. So it was left to the three of them to attempt to pick their way through an ill-defined path to get to the location on the map.

“Great,” Callendin said, meaning anything but. “I might be able to find something in our libraries. Our family history extends back that far.”

(Investigation: Forbidden Lore and checking with the Ancient Nobility)

“I might be able to find some adventurers in the bars that I frequent that have gone that deep,” Daakon added, no happier than Callendin at this turn of events.

(Check with Outsiders faction)

“And I'll check with my contacts again, and try to find some records from back that far.” Baratus looked at the other two. “Back here?”

(Investigation: City's Secrets, and check with Thieves faction)

The others nodded, and they set out to work their leads. Thankfully, they're able to get a partial map of the sewers in the area where the hall is supposed to be, but the other leads didn't pan out.

“Well, damn,” Daakon grunted, looking over the sparse information.

“I know which gate would be closer to where this section of the sewers is,” Baratus offered. “The different sections of the sewers are laid out according to function, so this should be near the shore side, from the output.”

Callendin narrowed his eyes, regarding Baratus as if he'd seen something that he'd missed before. But Baratus offered nothing more.

“Let's get our gear and meet there. Hopefully it will be more straightforward than it appears,” he said, not really thinking it would be.

Monstrosities in the Sharn Sewers

Though the guard did not actively patrol the sewers, neither would they look the other way if they saw someone crawling into them, figuring that person might be up to trouble. Therefore, the entrance that Baratus spoke of was a grate in a loosely patrolled area- the entrance to a makeshift black market. The market had formed as a way station for smugglers bringing things into or out of the city surreptitiously. The architecture looked similar to that of the other scrap, so they figured that the hall had to be in the area. There were certain symbols that should lead the way according to the legend on the map Shade had provided.

The security was just as covert as the place that they were going, but Baratus made them out and gave them both the signals. He saw them relax and was glad that he didn't have to kill them. Going behind a series of boxes at the end of Chumwater Street, they dropped down into the muck.

The smell wasn't as bad as it could be with this section being shoreside- the water sloughed into The Hilt- the tributary right outside the city leading to the ocean. The pipe was lit dimly by hooded torches that could be snuffed quickly if the signal was given. There was some traffic, but it was relatively quiet as they walked through the pipe, headed towards the debris at the west end of the tunnel. Though the main part of the pipe was blocked, there was space to go past into the rest of the sewers. The lookout on that side was more obvious, though he didn't pay them much attention as they passed. Down here, the threats were further in tunnels.

Lighting the lanterns that they carried, they could see the signs of the sea air in the lichen that covered the brick walls. Baratus decided to take point, with Daakon bringing up the rear as they proceeded single-file through the tunnels.

It didn't take them long to find one of the symbols on the legend, carved high into the eroded latticework in the wall. Unfortunately, it wasn't the first symbol.

“Which symbol is it,” Callendin mused, looking down at the legend. This being the third symbol, they reasoned that they must be near the beginning. Though they scoured the area around their find and found a couple of symbols, they could not find the first one in the sequence. Being so quiet for so long, with frustration mounting as they scoured the area for the elusive beginning of the path, they almost missed the movement from the bloated bodies in the sludge beneath their feet until the Zombies began to moan and rise through the miasma.

(GM Rules no surprise and the heroes have the first action. The party chooses Daakon to go first. As this is the first adventure, the GM does tell them about Zombies and the fact that they can only be taken down by critical hits. This would be considered an Alternate scene, so has 4 zombies. Daakon decides to sweep widely, giving the others the chance to take the zombies down with relative ease. He tags Callendin as next. Spending 3 warfare, he rolls 6, choosing the booster Cleave. Damage doesn't really matter as none of them will be taken out by this, but they will lose their action, leaving only one zombie to attack)

Daakon pulled his sword from his hip across the line of foes, catching the three closest zombies with the edge of his blade. Flesh followed in his blade's wake, as it inflicted terrible damage to their soft skin. But they merely stopped their wailing for a moment- none falling.

(Callendin tags the last zombie, and also attacks it with a rush of fire, spending four sorcery. Rolling a 5, he crisps the zombie with a critical strike)

Fire leapt at Callendin's command to encircle the zombie's neck. As he tightened his fist, the fiery lasso constricted. The line of flame cut the zombie's head off its body, leaving the twitching remains to fall into the muck.

(Baratus is the last to act, and tags Callendin to start the next round. He attacks one of the inert zombies, spending 5 warfare on the strike. Rolling a 4, he incapacitates one of the zombies)

His sword flashing out, Baratus powered the sliver of blackened steel through one of the zombies' skulls, cutting off the top half of its head. It keeled over in the muck, dead.

(Acting first, Callendin tagged Daakon, seeking to take down the zombie in front of him. If he was able to do so, then Daakon would be free to kill the last one. If not, he could either attempt to cleave the last two, or tag Baratus to finish the last one. He spends 4 sorcery on the attempt, rolling a 5 for a total of 9.)

The flames still rippled around Callendin's hand, and with the merest exercise of his will, they winged towards the nearest zombie, illuminating its eyes as they burned through them and then out the back of its skull. It stood for a moment, before gravity captured it, bringing it splashing into the water.

(Daakon tags Baratus, and cleaves the last zombie, spending 4 warfare, and rolling a 6.)

Bringing his sword down heavily, Daakon cleaves the zombie from head to tail, splitting it in half. The halves fall heavily to the ground, as he spins looking for more.

(GM Notes post-combat – for 4 refresh, the party spent a total of 20 pool points. And this was with them getting lucky! Maybe the zombies are not as easy a target as he'd planned them to be.)

It seemed random for the zombies to just appear as they looked around. There had to be a reason that they would be found. Searching the area, they still didn't find the first rune in the sequence- but they did find the last. Knowing that the door should be close, they examined the rune on instinct and found that the lower dot on the rune pressed inward, a click revealing the seam of the door as a puff of dust escaped. They'd found their prize!