Shadows of the Last War (Naomi)
From Toosigma
| Title | Shadows of the Last War |
|---|---|
| Author | Philip Mann - Naomi |
| Campaign | Convergent Threads |
| Session | Shadows of the Last War |
| Posted | |
| Game Date |
The day started out as those I had experienced recently: a calm morning punctuated by the mad rush to get things done in time for the busy lunch crowd. I had only been at the Eyrie for a few minutes and was still putting on my apron when Hero dashed through the door. He showed me a note and briefly explained what they had seen at the Sivis message center. No sooner had I gotten my apron tied than I was removing it, explaining to Mama that I had to go. Arabel was already at work and Kayli never seemed to leave so I knew they were covered. Still, I could not help feeling guilty as I followed Hero out on our way to the Broken Anvil. Punctuating the need for haste, Hero hailed an air taxi and we were on our way.
Lady E's disheveled appearance did not help either. The normally elegant woman of one of the most powerful houses on all of Eberron appeared to have been living on the run since we last met her. It seems that the problems at the message station were just the beginning for us. She gave me a pack with several supplies and a letter explaining the situation and what she wanted us to do. Hero dismissed any illusions that the others may have had about him by transforming his appearance into that of our benefactor right in front of everyone. I was somewhat relieved that the one time secret was no longer mine to bear as he began to propose ways to throw Lady E's pursuers off of her trail. Before I could fully estimate our position, however, we were attacked by some kobolds and another warforged with a stated mission from the Lord of Blades. Our meetings with his minions in recent weeks no longer seemed to be coincidence.
We fought through and made our way out after Lady E disappeared. Whatever direction she was going, it was decided that it would be best for all to see her leave with me and the two warforged. Following the ideas from the letters of credit for travel to our destination, we journeyed to gain passage on an airship. On the way, I gathered my gown for Hero to be a bit more convincing, and it was fortunate that our benefactor and I are proportioned closely enough that it was a fair fit. Once at the station, were attacked again by the Lord of Blades' agents. Thanks to Hero's diversion, the Watch did not ask anything more than the perfunctory questions which left us alone for the most part. Finding that the wait for an outbound airship to be unsatisfactory, we followed the suggestion from the ticket clerk and obtained passage on a wind galleon. Though the passage would be a few days longer, it would be relatively safe and allow adequate time to tend the damage caused to Rook and Moolog most recently. As busy as the weeks had been leading up to our departure, a couple of days to lie out on deck with not a concern in the world were also welcome. Not much was said, at least within my hearing, and I believe I can thank the presence of my warforged friends for appearing every bit the bodyguard-protectors. During this time, I found myself wondering where Kara is. I have not seen her or Kain since we parted after our last adventure, and I only hope that she is safe and well.
It was night when we heard a loud banging from outside of the cabin Hero and I shared. It was Rook alerting us to a situation that was unclear at the moment. I hurried to the deck to find skeletons coming over the side and Moolog, as usual, surrounded by attackers. Trying to get a better look, I illuminated my staff and continued to look around for a few seconds before deciding what to do. Moolog, while still mighty compared to myself, is not quite the juggernaut that Rook is becoming, so I rushed to his side to see if he needed help. I was hit, but not badly, as I did what I could to aid the fight. No matter are arguments of the recent past, I still find that I am drawn to cooperate with him so I imagine we will reach an unspoken compromise in time.
The goblin capitol was not as unwelcoming as I thought it to be. In retrospect, I suppose I did not know what to expect at all since I do not recall ever leaving the crowded towers of Sharn. The air was open and the residence simply went about their business while casting only the occasional glance back our way. Our contact from the letter, Failin, was a little more difficult to locate than I had hoped and finding him brought us directly into the path of his own problems. While I am always one to help, I was somewhat inclined to leave the scene. That is, until a javelin nearly pierced my skull as it stuck into the door frame near my head! I did not get the opportunity to confront the cowardly one who threw the weapon at me because he fled, but I did hurl it down the street in his direction which made me feel somewhat better.
Failin took us to our destination aboard his elemental cart. I recognized it immediately though I had never seen one, finding it difficult to mistake as it is as much on the surface as part of it. One day I may learn the art of binding elementals, but I also feel that is another means of enslavement like the warforged must have experienced during the Last War. Since Moolog has a rather lofty opinion of elves, I can’t help but wonder if the elves have ever been slaves to another race. Maybe then were even worse and some elves enslaved other elves!?
Hero did a substantial amount of scouting around Rose Quarry, locating a militant encampment and a vampire leading the whole thing! Great, that’s what we need with night falling…
We did some roving around as a group, making certain that the locale we sought was where we believed it to be. The problem, however, was that we encountered a patrol and word got back to the main group that we were in the area. I was hurt worse than I let on at the time when everyone deserted me rather suddenly while I was still embattled with one of the strange glass-covered zombies. We were victorious save for the one guard who got away, so we fled. That is, all of us except Hero, who took advantage of the otherwise hideous situation and disguised himself as one of the fallen soldiers.
Their response was rather strange in that they simply posted a lookout to keep an eye on us once we were out of the immediate area. They could have pursued us or, as I expected, the vampire or other undead could have hunted us in the night. Instead, we saw no signs of pursuit or even substantially enhanced patrols. Over the two days that we waited, I took the time to repair Moolog and Rook as needed as well as tend my own wounds from the battle, which left everyone in good shape when our scout returned.
Hero obtained some valuable information and we concocted a plan to find out more. He tried to get me to distract the entire garrison with my charms, but I refused. He then tried to do so, using my gown to augment his disguise as a local lady of the night. Whatever he was trying to do in his efforts to seduce them, it was probably as suspicious to the guards as it was funny to me, and he was quickly captured.
We did not know what would become of him, however, since we needed to get into the map room before more guards arrived. Once inside, Moolog and Rook quickly cleared any resistance and began defending the room while I scurried from statue to statue trying to complete what Hero was able to pass on to us. I saw that the two warforged were becoming badly damaged so I stopped my work and tended to them. Using every resource available to me, I took care of my friends and resumed mapping. I felt that coming here without retrieving all of the information that this place could provide would be a bad mistake, so I plotted and mapped every location that the room would reveal. Hero, disguised as a guard, showed up near the end of the conflict and looked none the worse for wear. I could not help but wonder where my gown was…
We returned to the capital using a cart that we recovered from the encampment since Failin abandoned us. Not that I can blame him, I am still amazed that we were not attacked during the time we waited for Hero.
After that, we resumed our journey into the Mournlands. We found an old battlefield from the Last War, but some strange bit of magic kept the whole scene as fresh as if it had just happened. I thought that I might get sick, but felt even worse when I didn’t feel anything at all. We were set upon by a huge monstrosity that picked Moolog up like a child’s toy. The beast thrashed him around and its armored body kept most of our blows from doing any damage. The only way to do any harm was to strike it in a place that was not armored: its mind and only Hero could do that since Kara was not with us. The group found a huge amount of long-forgotten treasure, which would surely take up my free time once we return home.
Enroute to Whitehearth, Hero noticed that a bird of some kind was following us. It looked far away and we became certain that there was something terribly wrong with it. The bird was missing pieces, as if something had eaten part of it and cast it back into the winds to follow us. Once we reached our destination, the horrid thing attacked but proved no match to a warforged and a great sword.
Once inside we were confronted by a pedestal that appeared to be a puzzle of some sort. Everyone stepped away from me and the pedestal, a move that I tried not to take as an insult to my ability to figure it out. After all, did I not accurately determine the key to the last puzzle we found when someone else had failed? No, I suppose they had no faith that I could figure out how to get us through…
As it turned out, the pedestal was a position index for the whole room and the orifice that we came through. Simple enough, but it did immediately tell me that we needed to do a lot of searching down here to find keys of at least two different colors.
Down a hall, we met a talking wolf named Rorsa. She told us some of the nature of this place and made a deal with us to take care of a rock-plated wolf that had killed two of her friends. There was mention of some treasure, but I was already breaking under the weight of the Mournlands and wanted to get this over with. We fought and defeated Rorsa’s terror and retrieved the needed keys from the treasure around the area. Several other artifacts were recovered, but Hero quickly stuffed everything into his pockets before anyone else could see. He is really picky about his opportunities to earn the trust of others.
Ignoring the input from everyone, I followed a path that seemed the right one and we reached a very hot room with a pair of fire elementals in residence. They were handily defeated and we looked around a bit. The centerpiece of the room was a cauldron of molten glass, which I recognized as the same sort of glass that now covered Rose Quarry. A chest surrendered the object of our search and several other items that will add to the amount of time I do not get to spend with Kayli when we get home. We rested in the room with the cauldron of molten glass. It was warm and safe, and allowed ample opportunity to repair what damage had been done to the warforged. It also allowed a respite to think about what had happened and what was waiting for me back home…
When everyone had rested, we debated whether to explore the remainder of the complex or to resurface and rush back to Sharn. I had to suppress my desire to leave and champion the idea of exploring the rest of the complex. My hope was that we would glean all that we could from this place and not have to venture so far from home for a while.
We found very little else of interest, storage and experimentation facilities mostly. I had heard of living spells before, a strange effect in the Mournlands that brought spells to life, but seeing them was certainly exciting. The burning hands spell had been busily affecting everything in its prison, not so obviously confined as the prismatic spray. Seeing the mirrored room, however, made me wonder whether the being had been imprisoned or created here. We eventually found our way around every area we could reach, and I could not help that we would have to return if we ever found the other keys. The real challenge, however, began as we tried to leave the cavern.
After we played around with what we determined to be decoy entrances, we headed toward the exit only to find a greeting party waiting. Hero’s stealth allowed us enough time to be prepared so I did every enhancement that I could. We searched through the weapons that we had found to find one that would work better than my staff. Of the several swords and other weapons, trying to find a suitable one to combat the evil before us, I almost overlooked the double scimitar. The weapon, so exotic and strange compared to those with it, felt somehow familiar and comfortable in my hands. This, I knew, was the weapon that I would use. We continued preparations, but in the end I saw no way out except to attack them head-on, so I charged the leaders…
With Moolog’s help, the wizard went down fast, but then the vampire turned his attention to me. His curse took my momentum, but the others were able to finish the task causing the vampire to flee. Moolog had been cursed as well, but it did little to abate his power.
After a day of travel, I was able to cure and repair what damage had been done. We had a cart full of items we hoped to sell so our travel was less than speedy. Just before we left the haze of the Mournlands we were pursued by another living spell, a sentient fireball, that herded us into an ambush. Hero dealt with the spell which burned the wagon and the less sturdy contents while the warforged and I destroyed the other attackers. When it was all done, we carried what was left back to Rhukaan Draal where we met Lady Elaydren and she transported us back into Sharn aboard an airship.
I gave Lady Elaydren only the schema that she asked us to retrieve and a description of the compound. Some of the conversations from the Tain Gala made me feel that there could be more to these simple treasure hunts. Besides, the opportunity to study such an old creation pattern and schema would be very helpful for my work as an artificer.
