Game Thread: The Forgotten Forge

[sammichweasel]

Yawning after all of the excitement, Nal nodded before he could get his mouth shut. "A good rest before proceeding with these most intriguing events would do us fleshies well, I think."

 

Ready to proceed, good GM!

[TheKhan]

The Broken Anvil turns out to be a small tavern built into the side of the tower and from the sign of a black blink dog hanging from it, you can tell it is property of House Ghallanda. The night watch goes smoothly and Breaker sees no sign of any foul play. Shortly after dawn, the front door is unlocked by a small elderly lady.

"You are expected," she says, beckoning you in and leading you to a secluded table at the back of the common room. "Your guest have arrived, my Lady,"

Seated at the table is a human female wearing a dark blue coat with delicate features, dark blue eyes and sleek black hair bound by silver and turquoise ornaments. She wears a signet ring of House Cannith on her right ring finger and speaks in soft but clear voice.

"Thank you for coming. We have important business to discuss about the unfortunate death of Bonal Geldam. Please, sit down."

[sammichweasel]

Nal opens his mouth to start a tirade on the abuses of the house as a whole, but something about this woman's eyes stopped him cold. Getting the better of his demeanor and attitude, he found himself compelled to at least hear her out before explaining how she was poisoning the world's essence. He pulled out a chair, climbing into it to stare over the edge of the table, his tiny raptor flicking its tongue at her.

[Ange]

Savrin had spent much of the night awake with Breaker, too stubborn in his belief of something-being-up to really get a prolonged rest. He was used to this, though. When did soldiers in wartime ever get a good night's sleep? When the group is invited to the table of this mysterious Cannith woman, he regards her with suspicious eyes. The shifter takes a seat and, before half the group had even taken a seat, bluntly opens the conversation.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asks in an entirely overly straightforward manner, his amber eyes fixed on this woman's dark blue ones. "Are we being dragged into some d'Cannith machination?"

[aivanther]

During the evening Breaker uses Savrin's wakefulness to craft armor

Dice Roll:

1d20+4

(20)+4

Total = 24

work on the damage given to him by the other warforged.

Breaker is somewhat surprised at the change, with the halfling quiet and the shifter aggressive. After a moment it asks, "I would like to know how your man found us so quickly after his death, and what part you and the warforged have in it."

[TheKhan]

As you take your seats, the woman gestures to the glasses and the three pitchers on the table; water, wine and ale.

"I am Elaydren d'Vown, of the House of Cannith. I had been working with the late Provost Geldem to recover a family heirloom buried in Sharn," Lady Elaydren explains.

"I had no part in his death. That was a servent of the Lord of the Blades. The Warforged prophet wants the scheme for his own purposes. His lackeys have been harassing me for weeks, although up until now they had left Bonal alone.

We were to meet last night, but as you know, he never made it. I had sent several of my men to find him and one of them happened upon you just as the Watch arrived. We conversed via sendings, he relayed my message to you and here we are."

Pouring a glass of wine for herself, she continues her explanation. "The heirloom, according to family legend, was locked away in a foundry that dates back to pre-Galifer Sharn, indeed, all the way back to the War of the Mark. Poor Bonal believed he had discovered the location of the foundry in an ancient House Cannith journal. I was going to fund the expedition, but without Bonal..." her voice trails off. Then she leans close.

"Perhaps you would be willing to recover the heirloom for me? You have already avenged his murder, now please finish the work he started. All for a generous reward of course."

[aivanther]

Breaker's interest, already peaked by being a member of house Cannith, became more interested when a reward was mentioned. It had learned that there was much that could be done with gold, a concept previously unknown to the warforged who looked on his soft skinned companions' lust for the yellow metal with odd bemusement. As a free entity, though, it found gold was something of value and need. "You interest me, but I may point out that I find this objecting being a simple 'heirloom' to be somewhat suspect. No one commissions delvers and the Lord of Blades does not seek objects that are don't have value to its cause. What is it and what is its purpse?"

[GrimDarkOtter]

Darius slept through the night easily enough, though he had somewhat lost his practice of going under quickly. Still, he was fresh for the morning meeting, and politely listened to the Cannith scion. He nods at Breaker's comment and adds "I have heard a little of the Lord of Blades, but I too wonder why a warlord is interested in this piece."

[TheKhan]

"The relic I seek is an adamantine plate in the shape of a seven pointed star, about the size of your hand. It is an ancient example of what we call a Major Schema. It is a piece of a pattern used by House Cannith artificers of old, both marked and unmarked, to create strange and unusual objects beyond their usual skills. On its own, it can achieve nothing, it needs other schema parts to be effective. We believe that it's creator was a ranger of some sort, so that may be a clue to what it adds to the design, but to be honest, we won't know until it is recovered."

"As for why the Lord of Blades wants it... I'd be very rich woman if I could read his mind. He is born of House Cannith, he may be trying to gather as many of our artifacts as possible to help his cause, or perhaps he has found another Schema buried in Cyre's ruins and he seeks a second that is currently beyond our reach to see what he can do with them. I can't say."

"Recover the Schema for us before and I offer you one thousand Galifers each and the good will of my House. To recover artifact would be to recover a part of our history and our gratitude will be great indeed."

[GrimDarkOtter]

Darius nods, knowing that the thousands of Galifars it will cost the Lady probably are nothing next to the potential benefit to her house. "I think that sounds a suitable arrangement. Do you have the appropriate permissions for a delving, or is this not a sanctioned venture?"

[aivanther]

I suspect this is somehow tied to my people, if the Lord of Blades is after it, as I understand his creed is for the forged only. Given how we've been treated in many places, I understand it. Despite that, I am willing to take the job. I do not take kindly to being called a traitor and attacked now that we are free, ostensibly., Breaker says. It looks at its companions.

[Ange]

The Lord of Blades... Anyone with even a passing interest in Cyre had heard of the warforged who called himself a god of the Mournlands, of the rumours of the armies he was raising amidst the wastelands. Savrin was sure hunting for relics that the Lord of Blades wanted, relics created by the House of Cannith, the strongest Dragonmarked House in Cyre, would eventually lead them to the ruins of his former homeland. And this perked the shifter's interests. Even if it didn't, the payment was certainly nothing to sneeze at. Even if this ended up nowhere, he could fund himself for a good couple of months with a thousand Galifers. With a flick of his ears, he nods. "I will help you as well... I'm sorry for my suspicion, but one can never be too careful in these times. In this place."

[TheKhan]

"No offense is taken, it is a difficult time for all. This action would be sanctioned, although we have kept it rather quite. House Cannith is rife with rifts and betrayals now that the leadership has been thrown in to question and I have enough interference as it is with Warforged assassins. I would rather not have one of my rivals swoop in to claim this victory for themselves after I've put months into it."

She politely waits for Nal's verdict as well before continuing.

[sammichweasel]

Perfect opportunity, Nal. You get into the depths, you find ancient relics of Cannith, they owe you. Heck, there might be information attached to these things. Maybe you secure future work with them, maybe they let you into their workshops. You can do a lot more to the House from the inside than out... Not debating much with himself, Nal took only a moment to reach a decision. He looked up at the lady and smiled broadly. "It would be the pleasure of the Talentans to aid your house in this moment of need. While the payment is quite suitable, I ask that this action be remembered, despite it's... quiet nature. To be blunt, favor carries farther than gold."

[TheKhan]

"Certainly master halfling. Such an arrangement would be customary. Although I would caution you to be discrete in who you ask for such favours, as I would not want you to be drawn into our own internal politics, but it is unlikely that I need to explain that to one of your stature."

As she finishes speaking, Elaydren pulls a journal from her pack. It appears to be old and blank, until she holds her signet ring near it. The pages light up as a light tracery of mithral and her ring glows as she touches them together causing diagrams and a delicate script to appear.

"This is what Bonal was killed for. It was a journal a very long time ago and it is from this that he decoded the location of the foundry. Unfortunately, that is also the point it ends at. He felt it was crucial to have the journal with him when we went on the expedition, so I turn it over to you. Unfortunately I believe the assassin you interrupted last night was trying to steal this and it was only your actions that prevented the theft. The Watch returned it to me last night," she explains.

"The location of the foundry is deep within Dorasharn Tower," the lady proclaims, "fifty seven levels bellow the present day sewer system. While you can get down very far just by walking, you will need climbing equipment at some point."