Excerpt from the Cypher's Codex: The Scrawlings of a Warforged Scholar
Doongul encouraged us to investigate the House of the Nine last night. He wanted to pay proper homage to Onatar. The House was not a temple, exactly, but rather a small home and inn run by
an older human couple. They maintained a shrine to the Sovereign Host and were glad to make the acquaintance of a cleric of Onatar. Everyone was pleased by the couple and their home, it was relatively inexpensive and they were even willing to forego a charge for myself, since warforged have no need of sleep. We decided to make it our headquarters for the duration of our stay in Graywall. We rented all four rooms in the house and requested the option to continue to ensure that the entire house would remain ours alone.The next day, we were unable to locate the margoyle when we left the House of the Nine. Xoma failed to reach out to it mentally and sent Zots to find it. Zots was able to find the creature after some time; it was located outside Calabas at a gathering of gargoyles.
We went to the Golden Dragon Inn to meet with the House Tharashk inquisitive as Rendar had arranged the previous day. An orc in Tharashk garb was waiting for Rendar and immediately went to retrieve Jana from the enclave. We sat at a table and everyone else ordered some drinks—even Trug who held up his beer and shouted “Onatar!,” finally pronouncing the deity's name correctly. Doongul sat back on his stool and beamed proudly. We perused the latest published Korranburg Chronicle, which had been floating about the common room for a few days—it was more than ten days old but satisfying nonetheless. There was something about a scandal in Sharn, a ghost ship sighted in the waters south of the City of Towers, and even something about misshapen giants emerging from the Mournland.
More importantly, the incident at the Bookmark Inn got a first-page article ("Murder and Kidnapping in Korranberg"!) but little was known about it. It cited the death of two patrons—gnomes, of course—and that the proprietor, Wenrick, and several patrons had been kidnapped by unknown persons. There was the rumor that a cult had been involved.
Jana arrived at the inn, dressed in the light, worn armor of an experienced ranger. Her demeaner was one of apprehension, not unlike a soldier before an offensive, and she walked towards us with a purpose. When she approached the table, I stood and graciously offered her a beverage. This startled her, being offered a beverage by a warforged, but she recovered in time to demand that Rendar tell her what he knew. And so the tale of our little band began, at times supplemented by the Chronicle article, which provided some context even if it was sparse on details.
In turn, Jana d'Tharashk told us what happened at Hahlo's House, the Jorasco hospice. Someone had murdered Hahlo d'Jorasco and two of his attendants. Hahlo's throat had been torn out, his body had been drained of blood then dumped on the roof of the building, while the others had been stabbed repeatedly with a small blade. Halbazar, of course, had gone missing, and we fear he may have been involved in this. The blood of the slain halflings had been used to paint foul symbols on the walls of the hospice, which their experts identified as affiliated with a daelkyr.
Daelkyr are extraplanar beings, creatures from beyond Eberron from the plane of Xoriat. Long ago, they led an invasion into our world and shattered the Dhakaani Empire but were finally rebuffed by the Gatekeeper druids, orc allies of the goblin empire. Though Dhakaan toppled, the daelkyr lords who were not driven back into the Plane of Madness were imprisoned deep beneath the earth behind Gatekeeper seals. According to Jana, a daelkyr known as Dyrrn the Corruptor was the one who had sacked the Dhakaani city whose ruins Graywall now comprised.
But Tharashk is the House of Finding and they pursued all leads. Jana told us that they finally consulted with the mind flayer Xorchyllic, Graywall's current ruler. Mind flayers are from Xoriat, were once lieutenants in the Xoriat armies, but Xorchyllic was found imprisoned beneath the city long ago, and set free, for some reason at odds with his former masters. He looked upon the daelkyr symbols drawn in blood and determined that they had been falsified. The conclusion: Someone is attempting to use misinformation, to blame a cult devoted to the daelkyr. Who really is our enemy? We believe they may be connected to the foul places we encountered in our passage through Khyber.
And here is further evidence. Not only was the hospice attacked and Jorasco halflings murdered, Vorgath—the half-orc trader we had visited a couple days ago—had been found, badly wounded but alive even more recently, after his shop had been broken into. The partial suit of armor—the ancient hobgoblin Dhakaani we'd found in the Khyber Cube beneath Paluur Draal and had sold to the man—had been stolen.
In plain terms, Jana believes a vampire or vampire-like creature was responsible. She demanded to know more about our experiences, who Halbazar was, and how we might be involved in this. House Tharashk, under the command of Baron Kundran Torrn d'Tharask (a distant relative of Rendar's!), was responsible for security in Calabas, so this attack had infuriated them. We agreed to keep her informed.
While Rendar was telling our story to Jana, though, I noticed a gnome carefully listening to our conversation. It was the female we'd met on our first visit to the Golden Dragon, Fherina. Wanting to carefully take control of the situation, I excused myself from the table and went to the bar. I asked the bartender for a beverage that would be suitable for a female gnome and he gave me a cup of sweetened wine. I walked to Fherina’s table, avoiding a direct route, intending to sneak up on her. However, while I was at the bar, prompted by a note from Xoma who also noticed her, Doongul loudly and aggressively made his way to Fherina’s table and was intimidating her into admitting that she'd been eavesdropping. His was a tactless strategy and she was reluctant to admit to anything under duress. I approached her from the other side and offered her the drink. I set the wine in front of her and she looked me at me with great confusion.
It took her several moments to realize she was surrounded so she compose herself, but it was more than enough time for me to notice the bundle of papers in her lap before she hid them in her satchel—a recent copy of the Korranberg Chronicles, only a few days old. I asked Fherina about it. She stammered some response but Doongul was impatient. He demanded the paper. Fherina desperately tried to regain ground in the negotiation, offering the paper in exchange for a seat at the table with Rendar and Jana. Doongul continued to gruffly state his position, but I saw no reason to exclude this woman from the conversation. She had already heard all that had been said so far and we had learned nothing from her in that time. I wanted to include her at the table where we could better control the flow and direction of information. I accepted her terms, and before Doongul could argue, I grabbed Fherina’s bag from the floor, and the wine I had brought her, and moved it to my former seat next to Magnus. Having taken the initiative from her, even while giving her what she asked for, Fherina was again taken aback by the actions of the warforged in front of her, and quietly made her way to our table.
Jana demanded to know who the new woman was and before I could explain, Fherina offered up the broadsheet she'd been holding. The issue was quite new, dated to the 15th of Vult. It was now the 19th, so the paper was only four days old. Fherina promptly informed us said that there was an article about us within, listing names and unmistakable details about each of our party. Doongul grabbed the paper when he returned to his seat and read aloud the relevant article.
SURVIVERS OF THE BOOKMARK MYSTERY OFFER MYSTIFYING CLUES
KORRANBERG — On Far, thirteen survivors from the Bookmark Inn incident returned on foot to the city in the company of one Kyress Ventoran, a professor from Morgrave University. Ventoran had discovered all thirteen in the ruins of Paluur Draal while on an expedition of archaeological research. Nine of the survivors were Zils who called Korranberg their home, while three comprised a Brelish family on holiday. Most have requested anonymity.
The inn’s proprietor, a Zil named Wenrick, had his tongue forcibly removed by the cultists during their ordeal aboard the airship that had stolen them away. Wenrick was sent to a Jorasco healing house, but not before conveying the essence of the crime to authorities.
Many of the survivors spoke of their trials and, when questioned, Professor Ventoran confirmed a few of the details herself. Allegedly, it was indeed a cult of the Dragon Below that had kidnapped them and taken them northward by airship for reasons unknown. In their company were malformed humanoids that gibbered and murmured words of madness. The cultists appeared to have wyverns at their disposal, a fact that especially worries authorities considering the beasts’ attacks near Oskilor back in the month Barrakas.
The survivors claim that several of their fellow captives—it should be noted, none of whom were Zils—escaped their bonds and defeated the cultists. In circumstances not yet clear, while control of the ship was wrested from the cultists, it was ultimately steered back towards the south only to crash land in Paluur Draal.
The airship itself has been confirmed by the survivors as the Sky Talon, a private vessel whose owner, an Aundairian noble named Reltran ir’Harran, was counted among the captives but may have been complicit in the cult’s activities. Ir’Harran, a member of the Arcane Congress, is now in custody but was described as being “in a state of great delusion” at the time of his arrest. When the healers have finished attending him, ir’Harran and the Korranberg’s Aundairian diplomats will be questioned by the Council of Nine.
In the meantime, representatives from Houses Medani and Tharashk have also come forward, offering assistance in the investigation. The question is apparent, but none have declared it openly: Was this the work of a single, deranged cult or is there a larger threat to be concerned with? What was a wizard from the Arcane Congress doing in Zilargo, allegedly consorting with a cult of the Dragon Below?
While many questions about these crimes linger, the whereabouts and identities of the survivor’s true saviors have become the subject of speculation. Wenrick refused to impart any more information publicly, but our chronicles have questioned the other survivors and have gathered a description of the heroes.
Numbering among them is one Rendar d’Tharashk, a freelance bounty hunter whose business in the city remains unknown. With him was Cyzicus, a shifter with an Eldeen accent, and Doongul Ironfoot, a Mrorian who walked with a peg leg and employed clamorous magic. Magnus, one of the group’s two humans, was described as a barbarian, but none are certain where he came from; Q’Barra is one obvious possibility. Cypher, a Brelish warforged in their company, appeared more as a tinkerer and less as a soldier. Perhaps most memorably, a drow—dark elf of Xen’drik—in strange attire calling himself Xoma had joined them. Some of the Zils said that Xoma had stowed away aboard the Sky Talon to pursue the cultists.
Such a disparate collection of adventurers has led some of the city’s officials to speculate that the “heroes” were themselves complicit in the kidnapping. Was their involvement mere bad luck for the cultists or was it no coincidence that they had been in the Bookmark Inn that night? Had they known about the cult? The patrons of the inn refuse to believe in any conspiracy theories, insisting that were it not for the strangers’ actions, they’d have been sacrificed by the cult for nefarious purposes. One anonymous survivor even said, “I don’t think they even knew each other. But I’d wager they’ve seen some action before. Veterans of the war, maybe. But I’m not sure on whose side.”
The so-called heroes were last seen plunging deeper in the ruins of Paluur Draal, ostensibly to draw off wyvern riders who had pursued them. Professor Ventoran told the Chronicle, “I pray they are alive and well, and that they’ll read these words soon. And if they do, I hope they keep their distance for a while. There are many eyes on this city, and they know the key to survival is empirical.”
Curious words, for a scholar of Dhakaani antiquities, and Professor Ventoran had nothing more to say on the subject. Agents of House Lyrandar, whose docking tower should have known about the Sky Talon’s presence last week, could not be reached for comment.
Jana asked the gnome how she came upon the latest edition of the Korranburg Chronicle, as even House Tharashk did not have it. Evidently the Chronicle doesn't distribute as regularly this far out from the Five Nations. Fherina reluctantly admitted to having contacts within the local House Sivis chapter from whom she procured the Chronicle. She said that it would be publicly available within 24 hours. We realized that the article would out us within the city of Graywall—even worse than the minor infamy we had already achieved, and we discussed how to delay the inevitable release of the paper. Jana and Fherina agreed to try to delay the distribution of the article, using Jana’s authority in House Tharashk and Fherina’s contacts at Sivis. They left us for the Sivis message station and we headed back toward the Tooth and Nail smithy, agreeing to find Jana again if we discover more information.
On our way out of the Calabas, I noticed the warforged Grapnel standing guard by two humans at the wall. We made eye contact and Grapnel nodded slightly at my presence. I decided to walk to him to see if he had any news to share. As I approached, I saw that the rough men were looking at a notice posted on the wall. I asked about it and the men turned to me abruptly, incredulous that I had addressed them. With hands on hilts, they stared at me for a moment and then turned away; Grapnel made no movement at all. I read the sign: it referenced an event at the Arena in Bloodstone and a game called "Six Stones." I also noticed then that these humans were wearing cheap and worn clothes typical of Karrn. It was clear that these men were those whom had enslaved Grapnel. I spoke up again, louder and with more strength, “Ahh, a tournament of some type. Have either of you men seen this Six Stones competition before?” I am by most standards patient but the poor treatment of my fellow warforged by those worthless creatures was difficult to pass by.
This time I was trying to provoke the Karrnathi slavers. But the Karrns didn't give in to my tone, and my friends pulled me away from the encounter, not wanting to delay any longer.
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