Rushing back from the Orien train yards, our heroes discovered that Clifftop was, in fact, burning. A thick blanket of ash, filled the skies above the water tower, and flames that burnt black and red and orange in the night flickered ominously in the distance. Rubble rained down from the edge of the cliff - bits of detritus, loose bricks, debris, a half eaten hand, and Diaspo, whose broken and battered body had been shot full of holes and eaten by some sort of carnivorous plant.
Arriving at Clifftop, the party witnessed first hand the destruction wrought by the Raven. The ground was pitted and charred, rocks blasted black and broken. Nearby oak trees had been blasted apart by lightning, and continued to smoke intermittantly. The water tower was in shambles, a collapsed, smoking ruin, and bodies - those of Chris's hirelings, littered the area. They had tried to put up a fight - that much was obvious, but it was clearly one sided.
A murder of crows flocked ominously above the water tower, and as the party scrambled onto the scene, one of them grew larger, changing shape into a robed figure clad in black feathers. The crows parted, as if following his mental command, and hovered around him sinisterly, their darkness blocking out all light, their wings blotting the sky.
Gloating, the figure introduced himself as the Raven, and after raining a few lightning bolts down on the party, flew away, leaving only a vellum note - a challenge for the party to find him, before he killed off the hostages he had taken from Clifftop.
Jalros joined the group immediately, eager to take revenge on the Raven for his murder of Star, but a passer-by, who had joined the fray with his crossbow in hand, slipped away before the party could question him further. Who was this mystery helper? The party wondered, but they had more pressing concerns before them. They only had 24 hours before the Raven would kill the hostages, and not much of a clue to start with.
Everyone examined the note anxiously, and then Stab had an epiphany. The note hinted at a clock tower, and there were only three such places in Sharn. The most likely one, though, was the one in the orphanage at Aureon's Gate, where everything had started.
The party passed into the Gate of Gold, and into Aureon's Gate, where they spied somebody lurking about in one of the rooms. Jacquesaurs casted an invisibility spell on himself, and sneaked in, only to spot that the lurker was none other than Star - who had been presumed dead. Jacquesaurs sneaked closer for a look, only to step on some bits of spikey broken glass in the doorway, cutting his foot and giving his position away. Held at sword point, Jacquesaurs was forced to drop his invisibility and fast talk his way out of the situation. It seemed that Star had escaped from the Raven, and was ready to flee the town. But Picadilly, observing the exchange from a nearby window, noticed something strange. Star's nose was glowing an unhealthy shade of red, a sure sign of evil. Stab pulled out a placard and stuck it on the window to alert Jacquesaurs, and as the bard stalled for time, Picadilly busted through the wall with her hammer, and conked the imposter senseless.
The imposter quickly surrendered, revealing himself to the be none other than Vrinn the changeling. He had been alternately hired and blackmailed by the Raven into masquerading as Star, and everything had been an elaborate set up. The real exotic dancer had been killed several days ago, and left to rot in the rail car, while Vrinn had adapted himself into Star's life, and pretended to be kidnapped while dancing on stage. The flash of light was a careful ruse to blind anyone who might be able to spot him while he drank a potion of invisibility and fled into the rafters. He was the one who had dropped the note on the stage in the Glitterdust, and also disguised himself as one of the stage hands after the act.
The plan, it seemed, was motivated by revenge. The Raven was out to get the party because of their involvement in the capture of Victor Saint-Demain, whom the Raven admired. In exchange for his life, Vrinn took the party to the place where he normally met the Raven, an open area beneath a large tree at Skysedge Park. From there, the party quickly traced the Raven's animal messenger, a small crow, to Morgrave University's sealed section.
After gaining entry into the University and asking the permission of Headmaster Larrian, the party converged on the sealed section - an old quarter of the university comprising several hostels, classrooms, and a clock tower, long since abandoned. There, they found the Raven's telltale pets hovering about, and the clock tower's hands moving, counting backwards, to the 12 'o clock.
Entering the clock tower, the party found Chris's dwarf chained to a marble slab. Ominous music played from a pipe organ set in the walls, and steam jets and chains manipulated a crushing weight above the slab. As the music went up a key, the weight lowered, pressing closer onto the poor dwarf. Eager to save his hireling, Chris cursed the organ with his magic. But his Baleful Utterance backfired, and released the weight immediately, flattening the poor dwarf and turning him into paste. At least the way was clear up to the second level.
On the second level, the party discovered Chris's artificer friend tied to a chair, with long needles stuck into his arms and legs, bleeding him for 'ink'. Wires and pulleys connected the chair to a printing press, and the printing press to a large ladder that dangled from the ceiling. This trap was more elaborate than the last, and as the adventurers tried to puzzle out the way to disable the trap, they thought they heard the Raven's mocking laugh echoing down.
Faced with little time or choice, the adventurers quickly cut the cables connecting the artificer to the machine. True enough, it dropped the ladder, allowing entry to the third level, but it also caused a sudden spurt of blood to pour out of the artificer, causing his death.
The third, and final trap that awaited them was a true marvel of evil engineering. In the center of the chamber was a large glass jar, and in it, Chris saw Cassandra Seele, the ship captain he had recently sponsored. Tubes poured a nasty chemical into the glass jar, and four sconces at the edges of the room were directed towards the gas pipes, likely to ignite them. Everyone noticed this immediately, and quickly disabled the torches. However, their efforts only caused the gas to be emitted faster. Chris was flustered, and tried to curse the bell jar open, to no avail. Picadilly helped to bash the jar with her hammer, and the others joined in as well.
Eventually, with great effort, the party managed to break enough of the bell jar to allow the poisonous gas to disperse, and pulled Cassandra to safety. The doorway to the fourth level was unbarred, but this led to a precarious, one foot wide ledge that circled around the outside of the tower, to a ladder up to the fourth floor.
Jacquesaurs, being the lightest, was the first one to brave the ladder. He managed to climb up, and opened the door to the fourth floor, only to trigger a trap that hit him with a big gust of wind. Fortunately, he was tied to a rope, and did not fall to his death. It was, however a near thing. The party made their way up more carefully after that, and as they piled into the fourth floor chamber, realized that it was the Raven's laboratory and study. Sifting through the notes, they discovered that the Raven had plotted everything in great detail. They also discovered damning letters between the Raven and Victor, who was supposedly locked away in Hell's Heart, a maximum security prison floating on a rock outside of Sharn.
They had everything they needed to convict the villainous Raven now. All they needed was to find him. Hearing another cackle from the top of the tower, the adventurers decided that instead of climbing up to face him, they would fireball the top of the tower, blowing it up, and the Raven with it.
Rappeling down the rope to the ground floor, the party took cover, and both Chris and Jacquesaurs used fireball charges to destroy the fifth floor of the tower. Both fireballs impacted the clock face, blowing it to smithereens. As the parts of the clock rained down on the ground, the party noticed the figure of the Raven unfurling his cloak and taking to the air, seemingly unscathed.
What followed was a long battle where the party and the Raven traded spells and attacks. Lightning bolts, scorching flame strikes, swarms of stinging insects and even a water elemental were summoned by the Raven, who seemed to have the upper hand from his perch. Picadilly teleported both Stab and Jacquesaurs to the top of the tower, but to no avail. The Raven simply blew Stab off the tower with a gust of wind, and sent his elemental after Jacquesaurs, causing Jacquesaurs to fall off.
That was when the mysterious helper - Ellis the rogue, joined the fray. He levitated cunningly up from the rear of the tower, and took several shots at the Raven. With the addition of a new member, the tide of battle slowly turned. The Raven's magical protections were whittled away, and he was forced to cast a spell of acid rain to take out the adventurers. But by then, the Raven was on his last legs, and the combined effort of the party, and a well placed crossbow bolt from the friendly rogue took care of him, ending the Raven's spree forever.
With the threat of the Raven neutralized, there were still questions to be answered. Victor was obviously involved somehow, and there was the question of finding a new place of business and refurbishing it.
What will the party get up to next in Eberron Mystery Theatre? Stay tuned to find out.
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Treasure and Experience
1. All adventurers gain 1,500 xp.
2. Keen Rapier +1 - From Vrinn.
3. Wand of Call Lightning - 5 charges
4. Wand of Invisibility - 7 charges
5. Cloak of Black Feathers - 3/day Polymorph into a raven for up to 10 minutes.
6. Stonebark Armor - Hide Armor +3. 1/day Stoneskin (DR 10/-, Absorb up to 70 damage) for 7 rounds.
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