In which the Silver Talons interrupt an assassination, order matching suits, meet the Nightshade’s ghost, track down a pair of starcrossed lovers, have an audience with Rats, and select their new base of operations.
Session Recount
We re-join our heroes at the Golden Dragon Inn where they have enjoyed a solid nights rest and recovered from their wounds and replenished their spells. However, upon waking they notice Donnerjack has been missing in action since yesterday afternoon. Tivara, after recovering from her run in with the succubus chooses to sit this days activities out and look investigate more trade based needs for the upcoming blacksmith (This is all conjecture because neither Aleks or Chris were present). Needless to say that this did not stop our brave adventures from their priorities. Whilst they may have made the theatre somewhat safe – it did not mean that they had by any means completed their task of making it a profitable endeavour for their sponsor Jurian Kael. So with that in mind, they head off back to the theatre to begin the process of repair and further investigations. Along the way from their hotel, through the district of Markbirth – an area of high fashion, classy folk and dignitaries, they notice that there seems to be a new fashion style being born – with most young women wearing an orange/yellow flame motif dress. Upon enquiring to a street vendor they learn this is the chosen style for the upcoming royal wedding, an event I’ll remind you of is one where Ifrid the Hobgoblin and Kaster the ‘dwarf’ are planning on constructing a magical sword to present to the king on such an occasion to make their blacksmithing skills become more reknown.
The streets are bustling with activity in the morning sun, vendors shouting out their wares and families stroll the streets, window shopping with smiles and laughs. A horse drawn carriage with the mark of the house Vadalis (dragonmarked house of animal handling) pushes down the street when all of a sudden the road bulges around a manhole grate in the middle of the road and erupts in a shower of stone, dirt and monstrous screams. The explosion was timed perfectly to separate the horse from carriage, the horses panic and flee with their driver entangled in the reins and the carriage gets thrown onto its side as if it were made of matches.As the carriage shatters apart, 2 men are seen lying unconcious in the wreckage – both with clothing embroidered with emblems from House Vadalis. And out from the hole in the road, a large tentacled monster pulls itself into the daylight amongst screams of fleeing shoppers. Kaster jumps into action and dashes in front of the unconcious men and readies his glaive but stops… it seems the monster is communicating with him telepathically. The voice tells him that he is known, that an invitiation has been offered and to get out of the way. Theren, ontop of Allrianne sees Kaster in danger and attacks the creature. Vim, takes a brief moment to survery the surrounding area based on this expertly timed event and sees a young boy on the roof of the store fronts, channeling a spell before disappearing across the rooftops. The Silver Talons prevent the creatures obvious desire to kidnap the men of house vadalis and end the combat by Kaster dismembering and cleaving the monster in two as it attempted to flee back into the sewers.
The team take some time to heal the men, report their good deeds to the now arrived security force on dragonhawks and then enter a nearby tailors to capitalise on their good deeds by convincing the store owner of Tarquin Designs that his store was saved as a priority and that as they are becoming more reknown in the city of Passage, to offer the expert tailor the opportunity to make them some fine clothing/uniforms – complete with agreed upon emblems.With Tarquin agreeing to the new threads task of becoming the Silver Talons personal tailor – they set off on their original path of returning to the nightingale theatre to see how things have gone overnight since rescuing the playwriters and succubus. Within the theatre, they discover very little repairs have been done as well as no other previous troupe members have returned, which concerns our heroes. They learn that there is an actual ghost now occupying the theatre, who, after some clever riddle answers provided by Kaster, convince the ghost that they are friendly, learn that he is an actor by the name of Haran Helmworth and all he wants to do is put on 1 last show before passing over. Yet he needs his starring supporting actors to perform such a show, as well as possess one of the SIlver Talons. He claims that every show he performs in is a guaranteed box office hit, and Vim offers his Changeling body to the ghost to be able to achieve his last wish.
A new task is now afoot! Find the missing actors! Actors who, upon hearing from the ghost were present that final night of the nightingale theater; rehearsing for a show when something came over the male lead as he professed his love to his female counterpart. That something was the emergence of an abbarant dragonmark which burnt a black cursed mark into the stage and inflicted his love with such an exothermic wave of energy that she feel to the ground, seemingly dead, and damaging the building severely. In pain and anguish, the young actor – Jean d’Cannith, gathered his love Marasi and fled the theater. The ghost informs them that he has likely headed to the beachhead near a pier to end his life in a very dramatic way and it is now up to our heroes to get to him before he does something even worse than destroying a building… whatever that might be. Tracks lead them to underneath the pier and after intimidating a rather arrogant hobo, they discover that Jean attempted to bury Marasi and then wandered off to a sewer grate nearby in an emotional state. Little did Jean know, that Marasi has since risen from her shallow grave and shuffled a short way off to a hobo encampment which is crudely ‘governed’ by Prince Camon ir’Wynarn – the long lost brother of Queen Aurala of Aundair. The prince is in no fit state of mind and demands we show him hobo allegiance, with bows and curtsies – all the while Vim stalks the encampment from the shadows.Long story, short; Kaster swallows his pride, Theren revives Marasi resting in a tent nearby, convinces the Prince that Marasi was faking it to get food and shelter and gets her banished from hobotown for being a charlatan.On the outskirts of the beach shanty town, our adventurers learn more about Marasi, tell her the fate of her love and how they need to go after him into the sewers. As it is likely he will be in quite of a state, it would be advantageous that she should join them on their venture and convince her to follow his footprints down into the sewers. With Vim in the lead they head down the slimy, rain-slicked sewer tunnels. 10 minutes pass. 15. At this point Theren goes up to Vim and asks if he is following the right tracks. His response are to the effect of “There are tracks?” (Because he drastically failed a survival check).
Theren leads them all back to the start and easily points out the correct tracks (crit-success) and they begin on the right path. The tracks lead them to a sewer corridor that is blocked by 3 portcullis, and on the other side are some henchmen playing cards around a wooden table. After some consideration as to how to go about infiltrating this base, Vim changes in Goblin – a yellow haired kid that they have met a couple of times, and who has been the one to invite the Silver Talons to a meeting with Rats – an outlaw stirring up trouble in Passage.(Over the next 10 minutes or so Vim fails so many intelligence rolls to guess a password it was rather hilarious) Vim finally guesses the changed password and with Ifrids bat familiar on his shoulder they enter the lair. Among some small interactions with Goblins band of misfits, Vim finds his way, alone, to a large underground auditorium where Jean can be seen crying on a step. Before he can get to him a criminal by the name of Ghoul confronts him and starts asking questions. Upon failing to answer a question correctly, the game is up and Vim reveals that he is not the child he is masquerading as. At this time, he notices a rat with glowing blue eyes sitting on the should of Ghoul – and it is this rat that is telepathically communicating to him and not Ghoul. He speaks to the effect of: “They call me Rats. And I am glad to see that you have accepted my invitation. Where are the rest of your party?”
Long story, short; the party including Marasi are rounded up and brought to Rats. Jean, seeing Marasi alive overcomes his emotional state in a flood of tears and vows never to hurt her again. Some convincing happens, Rats is deemed not a threat to the Silver Talons and offers the chance to rob a train, Jean agrees to go back to the theater under the protection of the Silver Talons should his mark ever become agitated in the future and to perform a new play – the last works of Haran Helmworth.Haran has been repairing the theatre along with the others, causing some of the troupe to return and this quest line is considered complete by our heroes to go and inform Jurian. He agrees and as promised puts forward 2 buildings that could serve as the silver talons base of operations and blacksmith.
End of the Silver Talons Arc
Session glossary
- Tarquin Designs – a tailoring shop in Markbirth
- Lambert d’Vadalis – a dragonmarked human; survived an assassination staged by Rats
- Haran Helmworth – a dead actor who used to worship the Traveler; currently haunting the Nightshade Theatre
- Monster – the Nightshade Theatre’s resident black cat
- Jean d’Cannith – a talented young actor; the son of magewrights; aberrant marked
- Marasi – a young actress; Jean’s beloved; nearly killed by him
- Erandis Vol – a mysterious half-dragon-half-elf, who bore the ultimate Mark of Death
- Blind Ben – a beggar living near Whitehawk Bridge, in the Cobbles
- Prince Camon ir’Wynarn – Queen Aurala’s long-lost big brother; also a beggar living near Whitehawk Bridge
Turn of the Age 