Book 1: Chapter 4 - The Crow: The Lower Levels

Eberron is a world of pulp noir where swashbuckling and intrigue run rampant. The Last War is over, the war to end all wars, but many say the fighting has simply shifted from the battlefield to the shadows.

In the wake of a long and terrible war, a world struggles to find its destiny. Will it descend once more into brutal conflict and end in spectacular annihilation, or will the world emerge at last into a new era of peace and prosperity? One group of heroes hopes to make Eberron a better place. The Grey Company, formed by a collection of heroes recruits new members to their growing ranks -- you among them.

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Post by JohnnyWeird » Tue May 24, 2016 7:54 pm

Once the danger of the Shard's release and neutralization is handled, Je Samvarta nods to the question posed to him. Lean and dark, his clothes are plain and practical, save for the crystal that shines at his lapel.

"I would appreciate the opportunity to be useful as I learn more of the time to which I've arrived." His accent is Riedran, though his diction is flawless. "You have my gratitude, and my service."

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Post by Trogdor » Tue May 24, 2016 11:00 pm

Val quickly grabs the Shard with the handkerchief and immediately, places the ioun stone inside of it. "You'll need to be more careful with the remaining Shards," he warns. Their curses are supposed to be worse than this one.

Before he goes on, he looks at Je. "<Riedran> So, you're from Sarlona, are you?" he says in surprisingly good Rierdran. "I've never been myself, but I'd love to hear about it from you, even if your information is far out of date. I'd also relish the opportunity to practice your language. I get few enough opportunities as it is."

He smiles and switches back to Common for the benefit of everyone else. "<Common> I'm pleased that you were successful in finding the second Shard. This is quite a coup for you and for the Grey Company. I hope you're willing to keep up the investigation and look for the third Shard. Now that we have the second, and its curse has been neutralized, we can use it to find the third, the Shard of Lust." He pauses in thought for a moment, then adds, "whatever you do, don't let that one anywhere near Major Benmarrow. I can't stress that enough."

"Oh, I wish I could come with you on this expedition," he continues with genuine envy in his voice. "But my responsibilities here won't allow it. However, I can do everything in my power to help you succeed. I've got this." He draws another ioun stone from his pocket, this one a pink and green sphere. "This stone will neutralize the curse on the Shard of Lust." He places the stone on the table. "It will also enhance the charisma of anyone using it in the meanwhile."

"I also have a list of the remaining Shards and what I know about them." He takes a folded piece of parchment from an inside pocket of his vest and lays it down on the table next to the ioun stone. "I'm working on more ioun stones to deactivate the remaining Shards, but I need more time to gather resources to get that done. They require very specific stones and it's been hard to get what I need here in Stormreach. I may need to head back to Sharn to get what I need." From the tone of his voice, Val does not seem to consider such a thing to be the arduous weeks-long journey that it usually would be.

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Post by TetNak » Tue May 24, 2016 11:02 pm

To the Warforged, Ben grunts, "I wasn't paying attention! Not even in the least!" One of the founding members of the Grey Company, and the King of the Drunken Shifter turns around and follows everyone inside. As they ascend the stairs, and Ben notices Nirus, he walks straight up behind him and smacks him in the butt. "Ha!" he shouts, stepping back from the elf with his hands up. He points to Fletcher and mouths, "He did it." Unlike Nirus, Ben has no weapons on him at all. He's in fact wearing not much. At first you might have assumed it a strangely colored cloak of white, but now you can tell it is a robe, tied loosely around his waist. The shifter is also clearly barefoot.

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"What is that thing?" Ben asks, obviously having absolutely no clue what task Val had sent the new members of the Grey Company to perform.
"Kings have no friends, only subjects and enemies."

- King Stannis Baratheon, First of His Name

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Post by Trogdor » Wed May 25, 2016 2:16 pm

"They are looking for an artifact that has seven parts, or Shards," Val explains. "Each has been hidden such that you need the previous Shard to find it. All seven fit together to form a greater artifact. Each Shard is also cursed so that to hold it is to suffer a severe personality change. We've seen Strife and Greed already. Lust is the next one. That curse can be neutralized with an ioun stone of the proper type, but even so, the Shards should be handled carefully."

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Post by Scout89 » Wed May 25, 2016 3:55 pm

"What happens when all shards are brought together? What does this artifact do?"
A.K.A. Tvrod.

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Post by AdamDaBomb11 » Wed May 25, 2016 4:03 pm

"It causes it's wielder to have a serious case of mixed feelings. So, like being in a relationship with a woman." Oloven smiles but then turns to Val to get an actual explanation.
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Post by Vardaen » Wed May 25, 2016 4:26 pm

Imric can't help but chuckle when Val'trith mentions not letting the Shard of Lust near Benmarrow. He straightens up after that and inspects the sheet with the various ioun stones listed out on it. He grins again when Oloven mentions being in a relationship with a woman but he clears his throat. "We don't actually know yet. In fact we aren't certain how to reunite the shard currently either. We do know that we'll need a specially prepared forge of sorts. Something where we can slot each shard, a forge or alter of sorts infused with the right ancient power."

He looks at Val, "Colonel would you care for a full report from the company now? I know Major Nirus had asked them to collect some data while they were away, perhaps we can sort everything out now in one take?"
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Post by Trogdor » Wed May 25, 2016 6:03 pm

"That sounds like a good idea," Val replies. "If that works for you too." He raises an eyebrow at Nirus.

Assuming Nirus agrees, Val gives a nod. "Please report. What happened to you and how did you find the Shard of Greed?"

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Post by AdamDaBomb11 » Wed May 25, 2016 6:38 pm

"The Crow was certainly no easy task. I think all of those who went can agree to that. Plenty of surprises around each and every corner, and there were A LOT of corners in that place. Oh, and there was no shortage of stairs either." Oloven says as he sits back and tries to recall whatever he can remember. He starts from the point they returned back at the Crow for their second attempt to clear the place. "As you can remember, we bought a couple vials of alchemist fire last time we were here. There turned out to be multiple swarms of centipedes that we needed that fire for. It was also a good thing that we had a Warforged with us. It gave us enough of a distraction to deal with them easy enough. Then we ran into a caged Sinspawn that we left caged there in the case one of you wanted to study it. We soon after discovered a small pool of healing water. We found Je in a magical pillar that seemed to be of magic a bit beyond my expertise. Then there was the numerous undead and aberrations. We discovered that one of the citizens of Stormreach had died and come back to life, he called himself Brast. After we managed to retrieve an item he had lost in an underwater shipwreck he was fairly friendly and actually aided us afterwards. Oh yeah, at the bottom of the Crow is a small magical door that allows creatures to enter and exit there but keeps the water at bay to prevent the lower levels from flooding. Brast helped us uncover a secret operation going on in the Crow where a group of Derro were kidnapping various people in Stormreach and experimenting on them. If you had reports of people going missing, that is probably what was causing it. We managed to put a stop to their operation. We then found the Shard on an alter in the middle of a room guarded by a pair of Shriezyx." Oloven then produces all their drawings and markings of any important information they crossed paths with. "There are still a few dangers in the Crow. The Sinspawn I mentioned is still there, although it is caged. We also found some brown mold in one of the rooms. Brast is also still there, but he sticks to the areas with water and is rather friendly."
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Post by Trogdor » Wed May 25, 2016 7:23 pm

As Oloven prepares to talk, Val takes a few pieces of parchment from the table and removes a pen from his vest pocket. He speaks a magic word and the pen hovers over the page. When Oloven starts talking, it begins to write down everything he says. When he's done, Val picks the pen out of the air and says another magic word to deactivate it.

"Very good," he says. "I'll have to update our notes on the Crow. And this might warrant a follow-up team. I'd like to know more about the Sinspawn, the healing pool, the magical pillar, and this Brast fellow. As for the Derro, excellent work with that. I wish I could say that they had been responsible for every disappearance in Stormreach. But that would be just wishful thinking."

He leafs through the drawings and markings that Oloven gave him. "This is particularly well done," he adds. "Very few people understand the value of documentation. It's so nice to get some solid information for a change."

"So what's your plan now? How long will you need to recuperate before you're ready to try for the next piece. If you like, we can check now as to what the Shard of Greed has to say about where the Shard of Lust is likely to be."

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