In today's instalment of Eberron Mystery Theatre, our heroes - Chris the Warlock Stab the Spellthief, Diaspo the Monk, Sister Mary, and their new associate Jacquesaurus the Bard began to ply the inquisitives' trade about town, signing not one, not two, but three major cases.
These investigations included the search for House Morrisette's wayward daughter, the search for a mysterious vandal in the Firelight district, and a hunt for the elusive Cogswatch Slasher, who has been dismembering victims in the vicinity of Blackbones and Khyber's Gate in the Cogs.
After accepting these contracts, Chris, Stab, Sister Mary and Jacquesaurus proceeded to gather information about town - information that led them to the Red Rooster Dreamlily Den in Khyber's Gate. At the same time, Diaspo staked out Firelight, and discovered that the vandals were indeed afoot. A witness even claimed to have spotted a black shadow on the rooftops, before the latest spate of lamp explosions.
Whilst investigating the Red Rooster Den, our adventurers discovered several things that didn't quite add up. A miner in the ground level claimed that the latest victim was his foreman, and that the foreman had been called up to organize a maintenance detail even though work in the factories had been suspended due to the killings. Similarly, there was talk amongst the workers that it was the work of a creature called "The Phantom", a mysterious monster that has been haunting the cogs since antiquity.
But that wasn't all our adventurers found out. While snooping around, Sister Mary and Chris discovered the Cogswatch Slasher, and a murder in progress in one of the Den's private suites. They attempted to stop the murderer, but he cut Sister Mary down while she was magically silenced, and dashed out of the window before Chris's lion statuettes could subdue him. An alarm was raised, and Stab went to collect Captain Travish of the Sharn Watch.
Chris followed the murderer, and Jacquesaurus joined in the chase. The two pursued the murderer into the back alleys behind the Red Rooster Den, and over the rooftops. Chris fired an eldritch blast at the murderer, but his attacks fell short, and Jacquesaurus followed up with a crossbow bolt, which pinged off a shiny metal armor plate. They lost the murderer when he jumped off the very edge of the zone and vanished, but not before catching a glimpse of his face - a sinister, skull like metal plate that reflected the moonlight.
Returning to the Red Rooster, the adventurers realized that they had been implicated as potential murder suspects, and that the victim this time was none other than the son of the head of the Merchant's Circle - Lord Hubert ir'Maron. Though they managed to placate the watch, and also make peace with the owners of the den, they soon came to realize that they had only complicated their situation with the Daask Clan.
The following day, the entire group decided to check the location more thoroughly in the light of day, and this helped them uncover a major clue. The murderer had left no tracks in his escape across the roof, and that there was a sewer opening nearby that was, very likely, either the murderer's entry or escape route.
They advanced into the sewers, traversing down the slime encrusted ladder until they arrived in the cavernous tunnels of Sharn's under city. True enough, the murderer had passed this way - a fragment of his cloak hung from a sharp shard of stone sticking out of one ruined and crumbling wall. Retrieving the cloth fragment, Sister Mary intoned a divination, and attempted to locate the cloak it came from - which she was certain would lead her to the Cogswatch Slasher.
True enough, she felt the tuggings of her magic leading her deeper into the lightless depths, past a cavern of oozing, suppurating fungi and ruined thatches. It was here that the party came under assault from invisible beasts, and had to fight for their life. It took great skill and potent magic to defeat the phantom fungi that dwelt here, resources they could ill spare since they had only just started the hunt.
What else awaits them in Sharn's bowels? Will they find the Cogswatch Slasher, or will the denizens of this fell place find them first?
All this and more next week, in Eberron Mystery Theatre.
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Treasure and Experience
1. All adventurers gain enough xp to put them at 21,000 xp. If they haven't already, they level to 7. Jacquesaurus gains 2,000 xp. This puts him at 18,500 xp, and thus halfway to level 7.
2. You acquired the following treasure:
a. An Enchanted Watering Can - as Decanter of Endless Water - retrieved by Stab.
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