The Shifters & The Silver Flame

In The News

Sharn Inquisitive: Sul 15 Lharvion - Front Page
Tower 312 is Missing - Architects, magicians, and City Watch officers were baffled on Far when Tower 312, a twisting spire in the Dava Gate district, disappeared completely overnight.

Tower 312 included four upscale residences, a private library, a cartography shop, and a private bathhouse. City records indicate that it had eleven permanent residents, although the Sharn Watch hasn't yet been able to confirm which of them were present at the time of the disappearance. However, Nirram Unslaguel, owner of Meridian Cartography, is definitely among the missing. He did not reside in Tower 312, but family members said he was working late in his shop when the tower disappeared.

Tower 312 was built on balconies and buttresses from Jenzherr Tower. But while Jenzherr Tower continues up into the Mithral Tower district, Tower 312 never supported anything skyward. The buttresses connecting Tower 312 to Jenzherr Tower are gone, and the walls of the latter structure are smooth, as if the buttresses had never been present at all. The support beams and walkways connecting Tower 312 to Calsin Tower have likewise disappeared, leaving no evidence of their existence.

The Blackened Book branch of the Sharn Watch is leading the investigation into this incident. Lady Warden Maira ir'Talan said preliminary investigations indicated the use of powerful abjuration and conjuration magic. "The authorities are treating the disappearance of the tower as a missing persons case, possibly involving misuse of magic," she said.

Chronicle

Sadie went to the Shifter Reconciliation Service to meet some new shifters, and also to see what the Church of the Silver Flame had to say. Not being raised among shifters, she had no inherent dislike or distrust for The Church, and she was excited about meeting like minded shifters. Dressed in fancy clothes she had Toddle (her father) custom tailor, she was quite excited about the mingling after the service. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

The Cathedral of the Cleansing flame was in the Sovereign Tower's district - very close to the Lizard's Mantle, the three simply walked there - the journey taking only twenty minutes. The building itself was an impressive structure. Its gothic walls were covered in ornate carvings and relief of heroes and paladins of The Church. Atop the entrance were two huge burners, sending up torrents of silvered flame into the sky. The cathedral was built at the top of one of Sharn's shorter towers, but lying on the edge of the Central Plateau it was one of the few spots in the central reaches of the city where one could see the sky.

Not that there was much to see. The day was drab and spots of rain came and went. As the adventurers passed through the waterfall of rain that poured over the threshold of the building they caught their first glimpse at the interior. From the narthex they could see a few shifters and a few non-shifters within. Their attention was first taken up, however, by the Silver Flame guards collecting the weapons of all who entered. Sadie had only brought a simple dagger, which she concealed. Cora gave up her weapons (save the dagger hidden in her boot), and Thaspar willingly parted with his sword. After this, the three made their way into the sanctuary of the cathedral.

The room was beautiful. Perfectly circular, it was ringed with doors and balconies (though they lay empty). In the center of the room was a raised circle, on which a man and woman, in exceptionally rich vestments stood. In a ring out from that was another platform, half-way between the floor and the inner circle. On this ring was a collection of strange instruments, drums and flutes, as well as four shifters (two of these wearing Silver Flame vestments). From these inner circles the polished stone floor ran until the outer wall. The floor was ringed with circles of silver. On one side of the sanctuary a large collection of seats, chairs and benches lay stacked together, and most of the shifters had congregated here. The non-shifter participants were on the other side of the church, kneeling on the stone floor along the silver circles. The three made their way over to the seats.

Cora recognized the leaders in the center as Arvellus ir'Kren the high priest of the Cathedral and Ythanna Ythana Morr the Archieophant of Sharn, and while they made their way to their seats Thaspar explained the history of the Silver Flame that he was aware of.

After a few moments, the service began. The early part of the service was a mixture of phrases such as "The Silver Flame is Holy, the Silver Flame is Just," or "The Silver Flame grants victory to its faithful," or "Those that honor their friends are honored by The Silver Flame," to which the congregation would reply "All Hail The Silver Flame," or "All Praise The Silver Flame." The party (and most of the Shifters) mumbled through this part. The service also contained a few traditional shifter songs. While Sadie found these nostalgic, Thaspar and Cora were a little uncomfortable with their tribal and bestial undertones.

The service then moved into a time of silence, and then a chance to offer up prayers to The Silver Flame aloud. During this time the party noticed Ythanna leave the sanctuary. The congregation of faithful started off the prayers, asking for things like forgiveness and reconciliation. Eventually even the shifters and Sadie joined in. After a while one shifter shouted, "Grant me victory in this week’s Reachrace," and another replied, "No grant me victory." There was a small murmur of laughter. Then a voice from across the church called out, "Grant me victory over the enemies of the shifters, and DEATH TO THE SILVER FLAME!!!!"

Suddenly the room erupted into chaos.

A large group of well-armed shifters burst from the crowd and began hewing down shifter and human alike. The trio was slow to react, from the shock of what they had seen, but react they did. Sadie jumped from her seat and thrust her dagger at a large shifter who had just cut down the shifter beside her. Her blow missed the mark and her opponent's axe sprayed blood as it ripped through her body. She fell to the ground in a sickeningly death-like pose.

"Noooo!" Cora screamed. She ran to her companion and emptied the contents of a healing potion into her mouth, but she gave no signs of life. Enraged, Cora attacked her assailant. His axe still clutched in Sadie’s rigid fingers he attacked Cora with his bare hands, and they engaged in a life and death struggle.

Meanwhile Thaspar was surrounded by foes. Three shifters were attacking him from all sides, and it was all his monk reflexes could do to avoid their slashes. It almost spelled his end when an arrow came whistling towards him, but he had seen the bowman in the axe of one of his assailants and was able to avoid deadly shaft at the last moment. The bowmen in the long run, however, proved more harmful to their cause as the shafts aimed at Thaspar found a mark in two of his most deadly opponents - slaying them.

The crowd of shifters and faithful fled the room, leaving only some of the warriors of The Flame in defense. Unarmed, they battled the shifters, and a wolf and dire rat (which had been summoned to the scene) with their bare hands. As the party battled, many were slain.

In a pause in the fighting Cora, in desperation, gave Sadie another healing potion. This time her eyes fluttered open. Getting to her feet shakily she stepped behind the shifter with the large axe to flank him. But, just then, an arrow finally found its way into Thaspar's chest. He shuddered and fell. Things looked dire for the three when a sword-brandishing shifter stepped over the elf and cut Sadie down. They both lay on the ground, conscious but badly wounded, as all of the shifters focused on Cora.

But all was not lost. Thaspar brought out two healing potions, taking one himself and giving the other to Sadie. He was revived. As the shifter who had nearly killed Sadie stepped over him, he delivered a crushing blow between his legs. Jumping to his feet, he raced to attack Cora's foes. Sadie also got to her feet shakily, again, but was again cut down just as she was again standing, and was dying on the ground once more.

Nothing but sheer luck kept Cora alive in the moments that followed. Thaspar, barely conscious, waded into combat. It was also about this time that one of the paladins of the Silver Flame picked up the sword of a fallen shifter and finished off the archers.

Meanwhile Cora was doing her best to handle three foes twice her size. Cora spit in her opponents face, which allowed her to not only escape a death blow, but sink her dagger into his unprotected flesh. With a howl of rage the barbarian swore to kill all elves and halflings, but in the end the opposite came to pass. Suddenly things were on the trio’s side again. Thaspar and Cora downed their foes, and the paladin came racing up and decapitated another.

Finally, all of their opponents fell. Cora was seriously wounded, Thaspar clung to life, and Sadie was dying. But, as calm fell again, the temple healers quickly appeared to tend to the wounded. In the end only eleven innocents were slain (6 shifters and 5 humans). In the aftermath everyone was a little out of it. The high priest administered healing (he had been disabled by a poison laced blade early on). Cora questioned the prisoners, but they were obstinate. Their leader, a large gorebrute, insisted on silence, and rude watchmen didn't help the process.

In the end the only good that came of the situation was the encounter with Merrin Tox. Merrin was the paladin who had helped the party in the end, the only one left standing (with Thaspar) at the end of the ordeal. He was interested in talking with a shifter, and had seen Sadie's heroic (though failed) efforts. However, he seemed to really take a liking to her, and asked to accompany her to the Reachrace opening ceremonies later that day.

The party spent the rest of the day recovering from the atrocity, and after meeting Merrin for supper they headed out for the ceremonies, after which festivities began. Exhausted, Cora and Thaspar headed for bed, while Sadie and Merrin stayed up late into the night talking - which of itself was unusual for both of them. In the end they decided to meet once again for the closing ceremonies.

The trio spent the next day relaxing and recuperating, especially Sadie who planned to participate in the next days Quickclimb event. Thaspar was also preoccupied by thoughts of taking the swordbrother trials. Over the last few weeks he had been practicing his swordplay, and he was starting to feel that his sword handling skills were becoming such that he could take the swordbrother trials. Cora was also interested in her own tasks - staking out the warehouse where they had almost been slaughtered by the Daask. For now the party went their own ways, until their next adventure...

Timeline

• Sul 15 Lharvion - Shifter Reconcilliation Service, and Reachrace opening ceremonies
• Mol 16 Lharvion - Recuperation
  

People

Merrin Tox
Merrin Tox is a paladin of The Silver Flame. Originally from Anduar he came to Sharn to avoid the extremism of some of the Aunduarian churches. He was actively involved in the battle against the assailants who attacked the Shifter Reconcilliation service, and he seems to have taken a liking to Sadie.

Heroic Actions

• The huge shifter barbarian was about to bring his axe down on Cora, but she spit in his eyes at the last second causing his blow to swing wide, and as he was wiping the spittle from his face he found Cora's knife in his ribs.
• The same shifter earlier downed Sadie in a single blow. The blow should have ripped her in two but by some miracle she lived long enough for Cora to administer healing.
• Thaspar would also have been downed at one point, this time by an archer. However, he saw the reflection of the bowman in the axe of his primary assailant and had just enough edge to see the arrow whiz by.
  

Heroic Quotes

• "Those jerks! They're ruining my special day!" - Sadie
• "Why is her hand on fire?" - Robert
• "I kindof expected something to happen, but not this!" - Bryan
  

Adventure Names

• Robert - Why Do Bad Shifters Always Have to Give Other Shifters a Bad Name?
  
• Robyn - Shifters Get All the Guys
  
• Bryan - 'Tis But a Scratch
  

Legends & Lore

Once, Cyre shone more brightly than any of its sibling nations in the kingdom of Galifar. The Last War took a toll on the nation and its citizens, slowly toppling its many achievements as it became the battleground on which the armies of Karrnath and Thrane and Breland clashed. Finally, disaster struck. No one knows if the catastrophe was caused by a weapon of the enemy or a doomsday device of Cyre’s on design. The cataclysm may have been deliberate; it may have been an accident. In the end, the result was the same. Beautiful Cyre, jewel of Galifar’s vast holding, exploded in a blast of arcane power, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the ruin of Xen’drik forty thousand years before. On the Day of Mourning in 994 YK, Cyre disappeared. Now the region that was once Cyre goes by a different, darker name. Now it is simply the Mournland.

Statistics

Date Played: October 9, 2005
Session Length: 4 hours
Experience Gained: 623/character
Foes Vanquished: A horde of shifters
Silver Flame Members Slain: 5
Good Shifters Slain: 6
Evil Shifters Slain: 7
Total Shifters Slain: 13
Remaining Shifters: 8483