After subduing and questioning the mysterious stalker in the Glitterdust tavern, our adventurers realize that he is a Valanar elf named Jalros, a hapless fan who has been keeping an eye on Star upon realizing that somebody or something was stalking her. He had attempted to break into the tavern to warn her after discovering some raven feathers near her abode, but had been delayed by the party. In the confusion, the Raven had done the deed, and abducted Star, or so it seemed.
True enough, there was another warning, penned in red ink, left in the center of the stage, where Star had last been seen. It described a graveyard of warforged and discarded rail cars, deep in the Cogs. Tapping their contacts for more information, our adventurers realized that there were tales of a spider creature in that particular sector that was dangerous and threatening, and they resolved to visit the House Cannith enclave to seek advice from the artificers.
Both Stab and Jacquesaurs decided to infiltrate one of the staff rooms of the Cannith enclave while Picadilly and Chris waited in line for their consultation. Both our roguish adventurers bit off a whole lot more than they could chew though, and Jacquesaurs ended up indebted to Patriarch Merrix, the chief artificer and leader of the Cannith house in Sharn! :o
Still, they managed to wrangle enough information out of the Cannith artificers about the spider. It was likely an adamantite spider walker from the Last War that had been experimented on and decommissioned. Somehow it must have been brought back to life, and it would prove difficult to put the creation down. Armed with what knowledge they discovered, the adventurers headed deep into the Cogs, past the poisonous coal vents and burning fires in Khyber's Gate and Blackbones, to Orien's Graveyard, where Star was presumably held.
Our adventurers were ambushed in the fog as they poked through the burned and wrecked husks of carriages and lightning rail cars by primitive looking warforged made of brass and bronze that wielded fire throwers and sharp spears. They easily dispatched these annoyances, but these turned out to be purely fodder. The spider construct took the opportunity to surprise them and joined the fray, lobbing steel cables and fire balls left and right, while at the same time stamping and stabbing with its adamantite legs.
The battle was hard fought, with Jacquesaurs doing all he could to hide and bolster his companions with his rousing songs, with Chris zapping willy nilly, and Stab stabbing the spider whenever he could. Picadilly clobbered the spider too, but was toasted and made into beef jerky by a fireball. As more fireballs landed in the yard, causing rail cars to explode and shower the party with debris, Stab found an opening, and hurled his meteoric knife. It stuck in a vital piece of arcane circuitry, and caused the spider to implode.
Chunks of the spider landed haphazardly in the yard, and as it rolled to a stop in front of the adventurers, they realized that it was indeed a cross between a warforged and a mechanical spider contraption, armed with wands and other such implements. Implements which they of course looted.
Now that the danger was out of the way, the adventurers continued to search the train yard, kicking down doors as they came across them. One of the train cars, a group of three cargo cars chained together, smelt funny, and they decided to investigate it. True enough, the smell of dried blood, rotten meat and decay permeated the place, and it was all the adventurers could do to keep their dinners and not gag.
Chains hung from the ceilings in these cars, or lay in piles on the ground, mixed with crates containing rotting foodstuffs and rubbish. Bugs creeped and crawled through the melange, and a half dozen putrid cow carcasses hung, strung up, from the rafters. The party split up, with Chris and Stab moving to investigate the cow carcasses, while Picadilly and Jacquesaurs proceeded to the final cart, where they discovered Star's flensed body, hanging from a meat hook.
Before they could liberate her body however, the chains in the cart started to dance, and the doors all slammed shut, sealed by dancing, clanging and whipping chains. A lithe, naked creature with glowering yellow eyes descended from the darkness, and started flailing at the party. Another guardian had been placed here - a chain devil.
Once again, Stab won the day. As the party wailed at the chain devil with weapons and spells, he shivved the devil but good with his knife, killing it. This stopped the chains from moving magically, and released Star from her hook as well.
As Jacquesaurs inspected Star's body, he discovered a note shoved halfway down her throat. It was the third piece of the Raven's tale, and it held ominous portents. It was scrawled, rather than written, in a hasty hand, and it described how the adventurers had gone about their investigation, how they had fought the warforged and the spider thing, and even their battle with the chain devil. It was as if the Raven had been nearby, watching all along.
It also portended something sinister and grim. The adventurers were the true targets of the Raven, and he promised them a surprise when they returned to Clifftop. They would arrive in time to see it burn.
And that was when Jacquesaurs read the final line, which described how the Raven had rigged the note with magic. And then the note exploded in his face.
Will the adventurers rush back to Clifftop in time to stop the Raven, or will they arrive too late to defeat this new nemesis?
Stay tuned to Eberron Mystery Theatre to find out.
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