Manhunt

In The News

Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 8 Lharvion - Front Page
King Boranel Arrives on 12 Lharvion - King Boranel is making an official visit to Sharn on Zor to meet with the Lord Mayor. There have been rumors that the King is unhappy with the rampant corruption within the Sharn watch. While this is likely the reason for the visit, The Inquisitive finds it laughable that he would even bother bringing this to the Lord Mayor. The corruption in the Watch is not going anywhere, no matter how much Boranel want's to meddle in our affairs.

Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 8 Lharvion - Crime Pg 2
Man arrested for selling fake feather fall amulets - Ekken Dreet, a halfling from Lower Menthis was arrested this week for selling fake amulets of featherfall. Two victims died last week in Menthis when they fell from balconies - both were wearing the amulets. The amulets were traced by to Dreet, and his inventory was confiscated and determined to be false. He was also involved in a number of other illegal activities.

Consumers beware: amulets of feahterfall cost about 50 gold - so be highly suspicous of any that you find cheaper - even in the lower regions of the city. Your best bet is to buy them from a House Cannith Authorized Dealear. In addition, the adepts of House Cannith can quickly (and cheaply) indicate if the amulet is magical. For only 5 gold they can detect magic on the amulet prooving that it is at least magical - which is probably enough of a guarantee. The 100 to 150 gold required for an absolute identification is probably not worth the price.

Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 8 Lharvion - Special Interest Pg 1
Reconcilliation Service to be Held - The Temple of the Silver Flame in the Pinnacle district will be holding a shifter reconcilliation service this upcoming Sul 15 Lharvion at 10 o'clock in the morning. The service is to formally recognize the mistakes that the Church of the Silver Flame has made in the past against shifters and to attempt to heal some of the wounds.

The high priest of the temple, Arvellus ir'Kren, was quoted, "During the great lycanthrope purge, many members of The Church made the mistake of including shifters with the lycanthropes. Even today there are some splinter groups who still do. But the vast majority of Church members realize that this was a mistake. We would like the opportunity to atone for the sins of our predecessors, and reach out to the Shifter Community of Sharn in a spirit of reconcilliation and friendship."

The ceremony will be a combination of typical Silver Flame liturgy and traditional shifter songs and customs. The design of the service was headed by the Church's 3 shifter members in Sharn. It is expected that Councilor Hruit and Tarr of the Sharn City Council will attend, and the Church hopes to draw a reasonable crowd of Shifters to the service. Afterwards food will be served and the Shifters and Church members will have an opportunity to mingle and talk.

Chronicle

It had been a rainy week: the buildings of the upper levels obscured by the pouring rain, the light in the lower regions even more dulled. The dripping water collected and poured from skybridges and balconies far above, while small rivulets traced their way all the way down to the lower city. And yet it was still hot. And humid.

But on Wir the skys cleared, at least for a moment, and the sun came out on the city of towers. It was as if it knew that it was time for a Wir market. Wir was the day of the week that the Tradefair district cut is stall price by 5 silver, in an effor to drum up extra business on a typically slow day. Thus it was that Thaspar and Sadie set out for the market, hoping that that Cora could garner them some deals with her unusual flair for people. They went out looking for a bargain... but got more than they bargained for.

It was no secret that a group of two rogues and a monk, one a halfling, had trouble carrying all of their gear. It didn't take long for Cora's friend Dorg, an old Dwarven smith to pick this up, and see an opportunity.

"You can have this magic pack for 1800 gold, thats a 10% discount"

But neither Cora, nor the party was near rich enough; but Dorg had another proposition.

"You remember that half-elf I employed last Winter," he began, "Mansfield. The one with the nervous twitch."

Dorg laid out the tale of Mansfield's employment and dissapearance - with the Dwarf's beloved crafting gloves - which were both useful and anscestral. He offered them the magic pack, in return for his gloves. He told them the few details that he knew about Mansfield: half elf, nervous twitch, came from the Precarious district, had a sword with a bird carved into the hilt, and he was sometimes very calm and sometimes extremly edgy. With these tenous clues the party set out for Precarious.

The Precarious district was filled with bustling lower-class humanity. Workers and citizens shuffled the streets between dull warehouses. As the three pushed their way through the throng they were approached by a half-elven potionseller by the name of Marcus. He desperately wanted a sale, and Cora reluctantly bought a potion from him. After this he warmed up to the party and gave him the address of Mansfield - an old aquantance of his. Apparently Mansfield could be found in a warehouse in the Cliffside District. But the warehouse was owned by the Boromar clan - an exceptionally powerful crime family.

Cora, Sadie, and Thaspar apprehensively descended the steps cut into the cliffs down from Precarious to Cliffside. Cliffside had a reputation of danger. Filled with sailors, brothels, cutthroats, thugs, and businesses that didn't feel the need to advertise their nature - it was a dangerous place for anyone to visit.

Alas, they found this out first hand. As they walked through the streets they suddently found themselves in a darked alley, out of the thronging crowds. Before they could even react they were jumped by experienced thugs. The battle with the one-eyed dwarf, a sickly, scabby human, and two filthy goblins. The battle was quick, but furious. In the end the goblins fled, and the dwarf and human were downed. The trio did the best they could to stabilize the wounds of their fallen foes before setting off for the warehouse once again.

As they came out into the square across from the warehouse in question, the sunny day was shattered by a sheet of rain that crashed down upon the city. They could see in the dim blur of the rain that the door to the Warehouse was guarded by a large half-orc, armed with a viscious looking polearm. After scouting other entrances to the building they decided to try the direct approach first.

"Whaddya want," the half-orc growled.
"I'm looking for a fella...", replied Cora.
"Looking for a fella?! Well you found 'im! Har"

Cora convinced the guard to let them in with her considerable charm. Nodding his head, he pulled open the doors with a warty left hand, and the group slipped past into the warehouse.

They found themselves in a short hallway, ending with a door. Beyond that door was a reception area. The room was filled with piles of junk. Weapons, flasks, and other bits and pieces of metal and wood littered the floor and collected in large ungainly heaps. In one corner, behind and heavily scratched desk, sat a male shifter with a particularly wolfish appearance.

"What are you doing here?"

The shifter, who introduced himself as Jarek, seemed to believe that the three should not be here. Especially when they indicated that they were looking for Mansfield.

"Tell you what," he said, "for 2o gold, I won't call the guards"

Despite Sadie's bitter protestation they paid the gold and continued further into the building, per the Shifter's instruction. As it turns out the 20 gold had just bought their way into a trap. Searching the hallway, Cora stepped on a loose floor tile and activated the alarm. Two guards pored out from the far end of the hall and engaged them. The first to appear was a well armored halfling who proved an able opponent. The human guard, however, was clad only in trousers, but he was still a threat. He downed Cora in a single blow. Thankfully, Sadie leapt across the hallway, and in one motion uncorked a healing potion and shoved it down Cora's dying throat. She was saved. After both guards had fallen the party discovered a woman huddling under a sheet in the room of the man. Terrified, she fled the building. Sadie attempted first aid on the fallen guards, but they were both beyond repair.

At end of the hallway were stairs up and down. Before taking them, however, Sadie went back to yell at the treacherous Shifter. The Shifter didn't seem to care, and just threatened to call more guards (with a rather Smarmy tone). Getting nowhere, they party headed down the steps into the dimly lit basement (where Mansfield's room apparently was).

The hallway was unlit, but by their lanterns they could see two wooden doors on the right, and an iron door on the left.

The first door led into room filled with strange pipes, distilling flasks, bubling cauldrons, and dripping tubes. In one corner three brains floated in jars, connected by wires to the rest of the apparatus.

The trio spit up to search the room, but suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Thaspar caught movement. In one corner of the room there was a small indentation in the floor with water in it. But had the water moved? In the next second his question was answered and the water oozed out of its pool and shot out a large pseudopod directly at his face. Dodging deftly with his fine tuned monk combat senses he quickly replied with a viscous sword blow through the ooze. Unfortunately, while this seemed to do some harm the blob, also great harm was done to his sword. Sizzling and smoking the blade disintegrated as he pulled it from the blob, coated in acid. Deciding this was his cue to leave, he made to flee.

Meanwhile Sadie had recognized the foe, from across the room. Her many hours of sewer delving had meant she had seen one or two Gray Oozes in her time. She wisely advised the party to flee. Thaspar gladly obliged, but Cora, saying "It just looks like a puddle to me," paused to scoop some of the liquid in a boiling cauldron into an empty flask. This turned out to be a mistake. The ooze shot out a goey appendage and wrapped it around her body. As it drew her into its body she felt the crushing weight of its grip and its stinging acid poured over her, and conciousness left.

She was awakended as another healing potion was administered. Thaspar had pulled her bodily from the ooze and they had fled up the stairs. Finding the door at the very top locked, they made their way back down to the main floor, as to not get cut off. Then Sadie slunk down the stairs and found the ooze back in its pool.

Sneaking past the first room the group turned to the iron door on the left. Sadie expertly picked the lock and looking within they saw a strange room. The man-made floor, walls, and ceiling became rough hewn rock, and half of the floor was missing, falling away into a watery pool. In the room were many large crates, and a gnome, who hadn't noticed them, working on something. Sadie wanted to leave him alone, but Cora insisted on saying hello. This simply caused the gnome to start yelling for help. Once they had left the room, he fled up the stairs.

Going to the final room, they opened the unlocked door onto a scene of chaos. Papers and laundry covered the floor of the small room. Their were bloodstains on the floor, a small wooden bed, and, in the corner, a sword with a bird carved in the hilt. But no sign of Mansfield, or anyone else for that matter.

Then everything went crazy. As they searched room a commotion broke out overhead. There were shouts of "The Daask are attacking!" A warforged came charging into the room, demanding to know who they were. Somehow, Sadie convinced him to leave, but not before he had revealed that Mansfield had defected to the Daask. The warforged charged down the hallway where he was cut down by Daask warriors. The three took no time decided to bar the door with the bed, and soon a Daask warrior was hacking at the door with his sword.

Hope seemed lost, but two things happended that saved the trio's skin. First, the Daask fighters disturbed the Gray Ooze, which began wreaking havoc on them, drawing the warriors away from the party. Second, it suddenly occured to Thaspar that they might be able to escape via the water in the room the gnome was in.

Hurrying across the hall, while the Daask were indisposed, they threw themselves into the room, and barred the door with heavy crates. Thaspar, being the most adept at swimming tied a rope to his waist and swam out, under the rock wall, and out into the Hilt of the Dagger River. He quickly swam to a nearby dock and secured the rope. Then, the poorer swimmers, Sadie and Cora climbed and swam their way out along the rope. Cora gulped some water, but they all made it, gasping and panting, under the docks of cliffside.

Not caring who saw them anymore, they climbed onto the docks (to some odd looks) and hurriedly left the district. Before returning to the Lizard's Mantle for a relaxing drink and restful night, they reported their results to Dorg. He was a little dissapointed, but said his offer still stood.

Still on edge from their narrow escape, the trio settled down in the inn to calm their nerves and plan their next action.

Timeline

• Wir 4 Lharvion - Talked to Dorg and went to warehouse
  

People

Dorg
A Dwarven friend of Cora's who runs a stall at the Tradefair market where he sells the fruits of his smithing. He has offered them a magic pack in return for his crafting gloves, stolen by an half-elf named Mansfield. He has also offered a reward to see Mansfield captured alive and brought before a magistrate.

Marcus
A half-elf potion seller in precarious. He sells potions that help you stay concious in battle, but is a little naive about the best ways to do so.

Heroic Actions

• Sadie ran, jumped and thrust the contents of a healing potion down Cora's throat in one continuous action. Saving her from the deadly clutches of a Gray Ooze!
  

Heroic Quotes

• "I hate that Shifter" - Sadie
• "I just had a though. Maybe we could swim out" - Thaspar
• "You know if you want to make a living selling potions..." - Cora
• "I'm just going to collect some of this stuff in the cauldron" - Cora
• "I'm just going to go in and talk to the gnome" - Cora

Adventure Names

• Robert - The Adventures of Thaspar, the Amazing Aquatic Elf
  
• Robyn - Well, it Looked Like a Harmless Puddle!
  
• Bryan - Shifters Suck
  

Statistics

Date Played: September 10, 2005
Session Length: 6 hours
Experience Gained: 403/character
Foes Vanquished: Street thugs, got past Ugluk, guards, various Boromar and Daask agents
Foes Run Away From: Gray Ooze
Shifters Killed: 1 (we assume)
Shifters Left: 8496