In today's instalment of Eberron Mystery Theatre, our heroes - Picadilly, Jacquesaurs and Chris decided to follow up on the Firelight vandal, a seemingly innocuous quest from the Lamplighter's Guild. Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, the case took a rather deadly twist when they discovered that the vandal was much more than that.
Having solved the Case of the Cogswatch Slasher, the party gained much fame and prominence with the Merchant's Concern, which meant preferential treatment and member's prices at stores. While shopping, Picadilly decided to also shop for new friends to join the group, since Sister Mary had been sent back to her convent in a 6-ft long pine box to recover from her being crushed by a golem. The result was Seran the Halfling, Paladin and Vigilante of Dol Arrah, and Akamiya, a very lucky rogue.
With their new associates in tow, the party decided to follow up on Diaspo's investigation of the Firelight vandal. Whilst meeting up with Diaspo, they discovered the monk snoring and fast asleep outside a bordello with a broken window, and proceeded to investigate. As Chris, Akamiya and Jacquesaurus clambered into the window on the second floor to investigate, Picadilly and Saren stood outside to keep watch. Their antics attracted a fairly sizeable crowd though, and much unwanted attention.
Inside, our adventurers discovered that everything was deadly quiet, and an inspection of the area yielded numerous broken statues of guests and workers in petrified condition, and all indubitably smashed. Picadilly did sniff out a scrawny elf, however, one Jorick, who was a warrior in training, and supposedly a guard at the bordello. Questioning Jorick, the party discovered that something had broken in through the window, and Jorick had hidden under the bed to avoid detection.
Jorick led Jacquesaurus and the two new members to the Daask Clan hideout in Gate of Gold to see their leader, and as it turned out, the bard discovered that there was indeed a pattern to the vandalism in Firelight. It was likely a side effect of attacks on Daask Clan holdings, which had been assaulted by somebody in the past week. The one place yet to be attacked was a fighting pit and gambling area called the Fight Club, recently set up by the Daask Clan on the outskirts of the area.
Jacquesaurus cut a deal with the Daask Clan, and the Daask Clan promised to overlook past transgressions by the party if they could help get rid of the culprit. Jorick, unfortunately, did not survive meeting his boss.
The party visited the Fight Club after, where they discovered that it was quite packed, with numerous patrons from the upper and lower classes. As it turned out, the boss had sent a note ahead and the guards at the Fight Club were waiting for our inquisitives, who were instructed to put on masks, and to keep watch for signs of trouble, like the note said. The orc also convinced both Chris and Jacquesaurus to wager on the outcome of a coming match, to keep them entertained while they did their job.
As it turned out, the coming match was between a Drider Sorcerer and a group of seasoned adventurers. It was a hard and furious match, full of flying spells and deadly magic effects, but the Drider triumphed. As the crowd cheered, the lights suddenly went out, and then the drider was loose.
Fireballs flew into the aisles, incinerating the patrons, and setting the place on fire. The Daask guards quickly ushered their guests out, and then proceeded to barricade the doors before our inquisitives too could flee, leaving them inside the warehouse with the deadly drider.
The drider attacked them quickly, throwing a fireball at the party. Akamiya was quick, and managed to nimbly get away from the blast, but the others were not so lucky. Most of the party were singed, and Chris's wizard cohort had to beat a hasty retreat. Spells and crossbow bolts continued flying, as Picadilly rushed up to engage the drider and Akamiya tumbled past to flank it. Jacquesaurus sang, and the power of dragonfire roared to life on the group's weapons, imbuing them with magic. The drider reached out and groped Akamiya, paralyzing him, and then Saren scored the killing blow, shooting the drider with a crossbow bolt and pinning it to the wall as it reached out to bite the rogue's head off.
And not a moment too soon. The culprit responsible for the Firelight explosions was hovering above the pit by the skylight, mounted on a fearsome dragon-lion hybrid. The culprit flew into the pit, with the dragonne trailing, and threw back its hood, revealing a ghastly, snakelike visage and a mass of hair made of vipers and poisonous snakes. It was a medusa, the culprit the inquisitives had suspected responsible for the slaughter at the bordello, and true enough, she proceeded to attack the party for spoiling her plans.
Chris's wizard friend threw a fireball into the pit, scorching the dragonne, but the medusa escaped unscathed. Then the medusa started its assault, glaring at Chris in an attempt to petrify him. The dragonne roared and pounced out from the pit, tearing into Chris's wizard and then Chris once the bookworm was down. Things were looking grim indeed.
Picadilly jumped into the pit and hounded the medusa, smiting liberally, while the others attacked the dragonne, making short work out of it. The medusa then proceeded to paralyze Chris, and attempted to continue bringing its petrifying gaze to bear on the party. Saren quickly threw up a fog cloud using his armor, which protected him from being turned to stone, and Jacquesaurus and him both attacked the dragonne and then the medusa with crossbow bolts. Picadilly smacked the medusa again, and then the medusa began to back away, more than a little bloodied.
Finally, the dragonne fell down, dead, and Chris took a potshot at the medusa with his eldritch blast. He scored twice, blowing the medusa away. :o
And with that, it was the end of the Firelight vandal's spree, as well as the end of the attacks on the Daask Clan holdings. As promised, the Daask Clan made peace with our inquisitives, and even allowed them to keep their winnings from the fight (even if it had been disrupted) as a token gesture. The Lamplighter's Guild gladly accepted the medusa's head for the bounty, and paid in full.
This meant there was only one contract left for the week. The party had to fulfill the search for Lady Alanis ir'Morrisette, in an adventure that would take them away from Sharn, and possibly into the ruins of Xen'drik. Would they succeed in this endeavour, especially with only 5 days to go?
All this and more next week, in Eberron Mystery Theatre.
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Treasure and Experience
1. All adventurers gain 2,500 xp.
2. You acquired the following treasure:
a. A Girdle of Many Pockets - A belt that allows you to store up to 64 items in its numerous pockets.
b. A Wand of Invisibility - Caster Level 3rd, 15 charges.
c. A Potion of Flying - Let's you fly (as spell) for 5 minutes.
d. A Potion of Cure Serious Wounds - Heals 3d8+9 hit points when drunk.
e. A Wand of Enervation - Caster Level 7th, 3 charges.
f. An Eberron Spellshard - Contains the following spells - Ice Storm (4th), Lightning Bolt (3rd), Stoneskin (4th), and Cloudkill (5th). You can cast these spells from the Spellshard as if using a scroll, or scribe the spells into your spellbook at the standard costs.
g. Cape of the Mountebank - 1/day, Dimension Door you and 3 others up to 760-ft.
h. Mithralmist Shirt - +5 AC, counts as a Mithril Shirt +1, 7/day cloud of fog centered on you.
i. Sound Burst Sling - +1 sling. On hit, inflicts an additional 1d8 sonic damage. Creatures within 10-ft of the primary target must make a Fort save DC 15, or be deafened for 1 round.
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