Creative Uncut Gallery: Persona 5 Character Artwork

 I am a big fan of Persona 5's artstyle. Especially those with high detail.

The artist uses a mixture of hard, soft and stylized shadows to give the artwork some form of definition. This is a trait I would like to incorporate into my artwork as well.

Have a look!

DEMO

DEMONSTRATION SCRIPT

~ SleepiBoi

OBJECTIVE: 

Get straight to the point. Make it short, sweet and clear. There is an objective you need to fulfill. Throw away the extra fluff. No one wants to hear it.

...

Today I will be presenting to you the changes and improvements I have made to the tool room in these past few weeks. I will begin with the withdrawal changes and the improvements I have made there.

1. Withdrawal Changes. 

In the past, we select the machine we want to use then the project code. After that we are presented with a gigantic list of 600 tools to search through to get the tools we want. 

Now you simply just have to tell the machine what part you're running as well as its machine and project code. Once that is done you are presented with these special lists.

All the tools have already been pre-selected according to its tool list. Simply scroll through the overview box, select & withdraw.

I have affixed several tools with images to assist users with selecting the right one for  the job. This also minimises the chance of having the wrong stock recorded into the system.

BENEFITS: 

Time needed to search for common tools will be cut down as users no longer need to sift through a list of hundreds of tools. Select what you need or withdraw everything on the list.

With the additional menus, more data can be captured by Guhring. This then enables us to specifically pin point where and what the tool that was withdrawn is specifically used for when viewing the data.

2. Export.

Next, we shall take a look at Guhring's export system and how it has improved.

With the old system, we can only view a limited set of data. With the new system in place, we now can see more accurately what each tool that were withdrawn were used for. With this added data, we can, for example, make better and informed decisions when making tool purchases.

3. Automatic Mailing System.

Everything that goes in and out of the tool management system is recorded automatically. With this core principle in mind, I have finally managed to set up an automatic mailing system that is scheduled to send the previous week's consumption reports and analysis charts regarding articles below minimum stock every Monday at 6am to Mr. Foo.

The time spent to manually send emails to him can now be spent on other matters that need my attention. It goes without saying that Mr. Foo will receive his reports in a timely and consistent manner and will no longer need to contact me about reports, enabling him to use his time on other matters as well. I also have these reports CC'd to me so that I can check if the emails are sent.

4. Physical.

Along with the software improvements, I have also made physical improvements regarding tool bin arrangements. All of these have been changed with permanance in mind. Every tool that has been neatly arranged will be locked in their respective positions so as to maintain consistency.

Not only is this pleasing to the eye but searching tools on the fly is also made much easier.

5. Planned Improvements.

During my time working in the tool room, I have seen many opportunities for improvement and how Guhring can be properly utilised to execute them. Here are some of the things I plan to improve in the future.

1. Virtual Storage for Arbors and Collets. Arbors and collets have been some of the most trickiest items to track in the tool room. As soon as I discovered that Guhring is also able to track items outside of the machine, I saw the chance to convert an ordinary storing rack into a trackable entity for the software. 

Not only can Guhring track tool consumption, it will also be able to theoratically track the arbors and collets that move and out of the room as well in the future. Wear and tear as well as shelf life can be determined with this data which will in turn help enable us to make informed purchasing decisions regarding these items. As of now, I am still developing a system to effectively do this but I will give this my full attention once I am finished with my current tasks. 

2. System for Sorting & Storing Used Tools. Tools often get loaded and unloaded. There are also tools that last much longer than others. Once a job is done, setters would prefer to store them somewhere that can be easily retrieved again in the future. But with how sporadic the loading plans can be, setters often do a poor job of storing leading to these tools getting misplaced or stored improperly.

I plan to device a system where used tools can be easily stored and retrieved by setters in the future.

3. Additional Data & Image. Finally, as mentioned earlier, affix every or most critical tool with images. Additionally, I want to add tool life data to each tool using the Additional Data feature. 

++ Extras.

• I plan to look into the Haimer Presetter software to see if there are any ways to improve the workflow. One improvement I am looking into is to connect the presetter to a network so that generated programs can be exported without the need of a thumbdrive. If there is no need for that, the presetter is working fine as is. I would also like to mention that the presetter usage has shot up recently.

Any questions?

Eberron: The Shadow War | Prologue Mission 1, Thieves of Starilaskur

Eberron: The Shadow War

Thieves of Starilaskur

===INTRODUCTION===

Welcome to the Shadow War series. This adventure takes place in the Eberron setting and assumes that all of the characters partaking in this adventure are part of the Espionage Agency group patron, the King's Dark Lantern. This adventure main design objective is to provide a compelling backstory for all characters involved.

The Invisible War series aims to carve out a noire intrigue narrative in the campaign. The characters are all part of the King's Dark Lantern, a branch of the King's Citadel that deals with gathering Intelligence. In the main campaign, the characters take part in all sorts of missions from the Dark Lanterns.

However, there are many elements in the story I would like to build up first to complicate the story even further so as to support the noir narrative.

===STORY===

This story takes place during the Last War, 993YK, 5 years before the start of the campaign. In the Last War, Thrane conducted a major assault on Breland and seized the city Starilaskur. The characters at this time could be working for the Brelish military force who plans to make use of the character's talents to retake the city from Thrane's hands or learn more about the enemy. 

LOOT: Military characters might have just stolen the invader's war plans and keys to the inner city while oppotunistic characters may have taken things of monetary value like art objects, gemstones or a big sum of the Thrane soldier's military fund.

EXTRA INFO: Brelish cannot look at the Thranes the same way again after the seizing of Starilaskur city. The attack was made during a holiday in 916YK where soldiers were supposed to cease fighting and be at peace. Nowadays, to call someone a Thrane in Breland meant that the person was dishonorable and unworthy of trust.

The characters have just managed to lose sight of the guards but are now caught in another dilemma. The soldiers of Starilaskur are now on the lookout for the characters. Walking out of the city will not be a cakewalk. The characters must now find a way out of the city to finish their mission.

In this story, one other character will also be involved in the story. Sam Witts.

SAM WITTS: Human male. Sam is actually a spy of the nation of Thrane. He joined and eventually attained a high rank in the Dark Lanterns. He then uses his authority to command his underlings to walk into the hands of his masters amidst the chaos of the war.

===OVERVIEW===

Part 1

The characters first start the adventure after they've just eluded the Thrane soldier's pursuit. After having realized that there is no way out, they will now have to find the second infiltration team led by the decorated Brelish spy Sam Witts. An hour before the operation, the teams have agreed to meet in the now-ruined City Square.

Part 2

After making their way to the City Square, the characters meet Sam Witts who is alone. He claims that his team got captured en route to the rendezvous point. (Sam actually turned them in when they were away). Sam is aware that there is no way out of the city but during his infiltration, he found an ancient city map that revealed a goblin-made underground passage below a castle that can be found in Starilaskur. The castle is also guarded by Thrane soldiers, but he discovered some conflict between the soldiers stationed at the castle and the main soldiers of Thrane. This might be the perfect opportunity for the characters to make their escape.

Part 3

The castle is an ancient goblin castle with lots of goblin architecture still intact. Soon, the characters find out that the soldiers stationed at the castle have all been charmed by and fight for a mysterious entity.

Part 4

The characters make their way to the lower floors and discover that the passages are long gone and are reduced to rubble, dirt and stone. Sam then suggests that the characters find out what or who is controlling the soldiers stationed in the castle. The characters might be able to use their discovery against the Thranes.

Part 5

Soon the characters discover that an artifact known as the Crown of Domination from the depths of Khyber was uncovered by Thrane military long ago. There were plans to use the power of the artifact to give the Thranes the upper hand to win the war. However the plan backfired when the item was used to turn their own men against them. A former Brelish prisoner of war from the dungeons got hold of the crown and took control of the men stationed in the castle.

The young woman has not made any moves yet but the longer she lingers, the greater the chance of Thrane losing control over the city.

Finale

Sam takes hold of the crown (or insists that he takes the crown) and holds the Prophet hostage. As they are led out of the city by the Silver Flame soldier, the characters are betrayed and imprisoned by the Thranes.

Eberron: The Shadow War | Prologue Mission 0, Before the Beginning

The Shadow War

Before the Beginning

The Story

The story below occurred before the current year of 998 YK, before the event known as the Mourning. The divided nations of Khorvaire are still at war with each other. 

SETH ROSETHORN (VILLAIN):

Seth Rosethorn believes himself to be human at first but later on in the story he discovers that he carries the modified blood of the ancient Kalashtar people and a mysterious entity from the land of the Dreaming Dark. Because of Seth's nature, he is a perfect candidate to serve as a vessel as an Inspired, but I'll think more about that later. 

He is the son of Hosho Rosethorn & Layla Rosethorn. House Cannith is always on the hunt for innovation and is never content with what they have already accomplished. The Last War spurred and encouraged this attitude in House Cannith. Although this was good for progress, if left unchecked, could spell disaster for Khorvaire.

HOSHO ROSETHORN (VILLAIN):

This attitude for innovation attracted all kinds of talents. Hosho was one of them. Despite not having the mark of making, he was still a great inventor and scientist and was greatly valued for his mind and skills. Although he was brilliant, he had an obsession with the dark arts that came from the distant lands of Aerenal and carried out his experiments without caring about ethics or morality. Hosho, however, was also great at hiding this dark side of himself and was also strangely charismatic with good communications skills.

LAYLA ROSETHORN:

About 30 years ago, during the Last War, a strange, dark, meteor-like object hit the small village of Woodhelm. Hoping that the object could open doors for innovation, House Cannith hired a team from House Tharashk and sent Hosho with a team of scientists-explorers to the crash-site to investigate. Layla Azlon, later known as Layla Rosethorn, was part of the expedition. The team set up base in the village as they conduct their investigation.

THE INVESTIGATION:

Upon arrival to the village, they found many human-looking people with glowing eyes locked in a meditative state. The team later found one of the more powerful Kalashtars who could still telepathically communicate with them, unlike the rest. Eventually Hosho befriended the Kalashtar and got him to explain their story to the rest of the expedition team.

The team discovered the existence of a nomadic tribe of ancient Kalashtar people who roamed the lands of Khorvaire. These Kalashtars were different from the others and are called "The First". They held greater connection to the spirit plane and could communicate with the spirit of Eberron itself, or the one known to them as the "Great Spirit". 

The communication with Eberron could not be proven as the humans from the team did not have any spiritual connections but the powers these Kalashtars possessed were evident. 

The nomadic Kalashtars were on a journey to a place known as the 'Altar' where they were supposed to sing the song of light and end the cycle of darkness in their homeland, Sarlona

and help the spirits they are connected with. 

Once they've accomplished their task, they will begin their journey back to Sarlona and return their spirits home. They do not have a map that leads to the Altar neither do they need it. The purity of their spirit meant that they could hear the song of the Great Spirit which they simply follow until they find the Altar.

Fearing the end of the cycle of darkness, members of the Dreaming Dark sent the mysterious object crashing into the continent. The object is actually an egg that contained the ender spirits from the Dreaming Dark. Once hatched, the ender spirits tracked those who contained the spirit of light and killed them.

The Kalashtars lost a lot of their people to the ender spirits as they were hunted down relentlessly. As a result, a small team of Kalashtars separated themselves from the main group and conducted a ritual. They sacrificed their bodies to imprison the ender spirits so that the rest can continue on to the Altar. This however, meant that the Kalashtars left behind are forever trapped in a meditative state. The Kalashtars left behind knew that this would be their fate before offering themselves for sacrifice.

After hearing their story, Hosho began obsessing himself with the new discoveries made and slowly began experimenting on the Kalashtars imprisoning the ender spirits in the caves nearby. Vishdan from House Tharashk found out what he was doing and was uncomfortable with Hosho's actions. Vishdan first personally confronted Hosho which later became a heated argument between the two. Vishdan pleaded for Hosho to find his sense of morality while Hosho argued that he was simply doing his job. Vishdan knew that his teammates would support him, so he threatened to reveal Hosho's deeds to them and the Kalashtar. Enraged, Hosho murdered Vishdan. 

Hosho then dismissed House Tharashk and convinced them that both he and Vishdan had a falling out and Vishdan had already left in a fit of anger. The House Tharashk team wanted to know more but Hosho refused to answer and even threatened to report them to their employers if they didn't leave.

And so Hosho began experimenting on the Kalashtars unimpeded. Hosho's team did not protest against him for they also agreed that they were doing their jobs. Eventually, the elder Kalashtar knew what Hosho was up to and refused to speak with Hosho ever again. But desperation soon caught up with him and the elder knew he had to find a solution soon. He used his remaining powers to find goodness in at least one of Hosho's followers. He found one in a man named Gash who also had doubts in Hosho's doings but was too afraid to speak up or stand up against him.

He began speaking with Gash when Hosho wasn't present and eventually revealed his plan. He evaluated the risks and decided that he could release one of his Kalashtars, a young female by the name of Zahari Kokri to run away with Gash. Hosho could potentially be a much bigger threat than the ender spirits so time is short. Eventually Gash submits and decided to work with the Kalashtar.

One night he executed his plans and Gash ran off with the Kalashtar Zahari. Once they were far away from Woodhelm, Zahari realized she could no longer hear the Great Spirit's song and had no idea how to track and find the other Kalashtar group or the Altar. Not sure what the Elder's plan was, Gash decided to bring Zahari to the city of Sharn to figure out what to do next. Eventually they fell in love and had a daughter. They named her Athena. Hosho and his team did notice Gash's absence but in the end decided that their work was more important than finding him.

Meanwhile, Hosho made several breakthroughs and began playing with the idea of combining the powers of the ender spirits and the Kalashtars with the aid of the dark arts. With the dark arts, he turned Vishdar into a hybrid undead and kept him hidden somewhere in the depths of the village where he could not be found. During this time, Hosho also began courting his colleague Layla and later had a child with her who will later be known as Seth. 

He later convinced Layla to begin experimenting on their child with Hosho's discoveries in the name of innovation to which she agreed. As time went on Layla started feeling immense guilt about her actions and fell into a deep depression but was afraid to let Hosho know. Some time later, Seth was born but was taken away from his mother the moment he was birthed. Layla died shortly afterwards, never having the chance to hold her own son. The experiment however, did not just affect Seth. Layla started experiencing the effects of the experiment after her death.

Hosho continued monitoring Seth and through his studies found that Seth had the potential to be an exceptional soldier. Later, he sent him to the King's Sword to be refined as a soldier while Hosho continued his work. During this time, he never revealed what Seth truly was, only that he was his son. He then used what he learned from Seth and applied them to his future experiments. Hosho had never shown Seth any signs of affection and even treated him more like a test subject than his son for that matter. As Seth continued serving the King's Sword, he never saw his father again and grew to detest him for abandoning him. Over a span of many years, Seth even forgot how his father looked like but he never forgot his name.

As time went on, Hosho's experiments yielded results. Seth quickly rose through the ranks and proved himself to be the one of the Sword's finest soldiers with fighting prowess unlike any other. With Seth's immense abilities, he led the outnumbered Brelish army to victory and managed to defeat the Cyrans at Breland's borders, forcing them to retreat. Seth was regarded as the war hero of that conflict. Even though Seth was well received in the King's Sword, Seth wasn't sure why he felt alien among his peers. Seth resorted to contending with his feelings as he continued flourishing in his career.

Soon, the Dark Lanterns had a growing interest in recruiting Seth as a master hunter for the branch and offered him an even higher position with them to which Seth agreed.

HOUSE CANNITH:

House Cannith saw prosperity during the Last War until the Mourning occured and destroyed their main base of operation. Although broken, the surviving leaders of House Cannith still held immeasurable power in politics, finances and many more.

Some Things to Buy When You Have the Time

| Alright Since I Visit This Site So Often... 

Didn't feel like making the purchase now but when you are feeling that irritation again I have saved some links here so all you have to do is just wire the money over and wait for the product to arrive.

Right now, I find myself in need of:

1. Portable Charger. My last one broke and I need to prepare myself for doomsday scenario. Sent someone to find the box and warranty for me but there's a fair chance it will NEVER be found since I left it somewhere and didn't try to look for it for a LONG time. Things change and move on so just prepare yourself for that shit.
2. Bluetooth Speaker. I had another one that came with ipad as a free gift. I left that god damn thing somewhere and maybe it was being petty but it didn't want to show itself to me when I needed it most. Well fuck it, I'll just go and buy another one then.

Eberron: All Over Again [Side Quest Material]

Welcome to Eberron: All Over Again Adventure! This adventure is intended for four to five Tier 1 characters starting their careers in the exciting, progressive world of Eberron. Eberron: All Over Again is built with good aligned characters in mind and assumes that the characters have taken up the Adventurer's Guild Group Patron or other similar Group Patrons/Factions.

This adventure first starts at Clifftop Adventurer's Guild where they will assigned a job that will take them to the hamlet of the First Tower.

BACKGROUND

This adventure contains 3 mini-adventures that can be played in any order. These mini-adventures are written in a way that will give the characters a little taste of how life is like in the world of Eberron. 

ADVENTURE OVERVIEW

 As mentioned above, the adventure first starts at Clifftop Adventurer's Guild where characters can introduce themselves to the party they will travel with for the upcoming adventures. There, they are assigned to travel to the adjacent thorp of the First Tower where they will meet characters that require their help.

HOOKS

This adventure is written with the assumption that all participating characters are members of the Adventurer's Guild Group Patron. The Adventurer's Guild houses Khorvaire's bravest and brightest adventurers and provide jobs for their members. Members can choose to take up the jobs posted by the guild or go off on their own adventures as long as they pay the guildhall a visit from time to time. 

Players are more than welcome to come up with their own hooks so long as they motivate their character to cooperate and take part in the following adventure. Feel free to adjust the adventure accordingly.

The following contain some ideas for hooks players can use instead of joining the Adventurer's Guild. These ideas can also serve as inspiration for the players to come up with their own original hooks.

1. Making a living is tough in Breland and jobs are hard to come by. You are willing to take anything (within reason) that comes your way. You've heard of this job in one of your enquiries and took it without sparing a thought.

2. You've built your own guild but you find yourself in need of renown & recognition (Maybe even cash). This job seemed like the right place to start.

3. The King's Citadel is willing to employ third-party assistance to enforce justice to all of Breland. The King's Citadel has a hard time enforcing the law in the many metropolises of Breland and lawlessness runs rampant in areas outside of the major cities. You decided to take up the King's Citadel call for help.

3.5 The King's Citadel are also looking to recruit new talents into their force. There are other branches that operate under the same umbrella but have different specializations. For example, the King's Dark Lantern is a branch of the King's Citadel but they specialize in Intelligence gathering than law enforcement. Any characters that show potential might be approached and asked to join the appropriate branch when the opportunity presents itself.

4. You may be uncomfortable with working under the service of the King for your own reasons but lawlessness is still something you cannot tolerate. You are more than happy to enforce your own justice to any troublemaker in your adventures. Earning some extra cash along the way would be nice.

NOTE! Since the adventure begins at the adventurer's guild, you may allow characters who aren't guild members to take jobs from the Adventurer's Guild. Your Adventurer's Guild could be open to providing jobs to non-members in a bid to allow members to join on their own accord or to help Clifftop's economy. Feel free to adjust the adventure and come up with other ways as to how the characters get to participate in the adventure should your Guild be more exclusive to their own members.

PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER

This adventure is designed to be really flexible and self-contained. After the characters are done with the quests at the First Tower, their adventure may continue in the city of Sharn or in the skies via an airship.

Eberron Episode III: Stolen Goods

In the last adventure, our adventurers explored the city of Starilaskur and even completed a job for a fellow citizen.

...And then they went on to steal goods from one of the city's most famous blacksmith.

PLAYER OBJECTIVE: Sell your Stolen Goods.

DESIGN OBJECTIVE:

- Add more locales & sites to Starilaskur

- Enforce consequences

- Possibly invent a brand new villain

===NEW PLACES===

Etoile's Restaurant: A highly-regarded Gnomish restaurant which sells the best Gnomish Specialty Dishes. Eating a dish here grants a Gnomish effect. You can only have one Gnomish effect at a time.

• Deep Fried Frog Crunchies. Served with risotto, breadsticks and ale. (50gp) For the next 4 hours, choose one target. You have advantage on Charisma checks against the target for the duration.
• Gnomish Pasta with aged cheese and tomatoes. Served with wine. (75gp) For the next 24 hours, you may add 1d4 to one ability check.
• Ramen Gnomebowl. Served with pork slices, fresh mushrooms and wine. (100gp) For the next 24 hours, you may add 1d4 to one saving throw.
• A Gnome's Feast. Roasted Whole Chicken, served with crunchies, bread, risotto & wine. (150gp) For the next 24 hours, you may add 1d4 to any saving throw.

Etoile Restaurant is very popular in Starilaskur and most of the time it is fully packed with hungry customers. 

Commune's Eatery. Ordinary restaurant which serves decent food. They specialize in the common beef Gnomebowl which comes in a set for 5sp.

Le Auberge. An inn that offers cheap rooms that go for 1gp per night. Also serves meals and drinks for 1sp.

===NEW BOOKS===

The Starry Library has some new books in store:

1. The Big Bad B-Word

2. Gang of Monsters

===SELL YOUR STOLEN GOODS===

A DC10 Intelligence check or similar will tell the character that selling the stolen goods at the public market is not a good idea. Someone might deduce that the party members are the thieves the City Watch is looking for and might even make a report. 

Coulee, on the other hand, can find his contact and find a better way of dealing with things.

Criminal Contact: Through his contacts, Coulee managed to find a local Boromar gang member who gave advice about their operation. He basically discouraged them from doing so but they went on to do it anyway.

Coulee can go back to the Boromar member (Joton Barrelfall) to look for a way to sell the goods.

• Word around the city is that the Hopping Hammer got fleeced recently. It is very obvious that you and your friends are responsible.
• Any aspiring thieves know that you have to find a fence for your goods. Someone who is willing to accept the stolen goods and knows of ways to profit from them.
• But before that... I'd like to know one thing

MONSTERS: Velociraptors, Zhent martial art adepts, Halfling Thugs, Clawfoots.

"You see piercing amber eyes staring at you from the shadows around you. It creeps towards you slowly, revealing itself to be a velociraptor armed with sharp teeth and claws. Then several more appear with drool hanging from their terrifying teeth. Intimidating-looking Halflings also step out from the shadows, cutting off any means of escape."

• You and I don't want to things to get ugly, so answer my questions and you might go free.
• Who are you? You working for the Tyrants? Show me your true form!
• What have you to gain by stealing from Daask? Huh?
• Extremely unlikely, but... did House Tarkanan send you?

"Please roll an insight check with advantage."

A successful DC10 Insight check will tell the character that even though Joton seems hostile right now, it's all part of the tough guy act. He has no desire to spill any blood but will do it if he must.

Four major criminal syndicates operate all across Khorvaire and Starilaskur is not spared. Joton belongs to the Boromars, a criminal syndicate mostly made up of Halflings.

The Hopping Hammers are in league with Daask.

Then there is House Tarkanan and the Tyrants.

Eberron Episode II: Part 4, Sabotage?

Starilaskur, the City of Gnomes

For this particular adventure, I wanna adapt a few elements from AL's Boltsmelter's Book with a few changes of my own.

Characters can learn about an ongoing conflict if they listen in on some rumors or decide to visit the smiths for themselves.

BACKGROUND

Eberron Episode II: Part 3, Trouble at Brey Hills Farms

Introduction

Eberron Episode II: Part 2, You May Not Leave

If players try to leave Starilaskur by lightning rail...

...they're gonna have to wait for a while before that could happen. House Orien is concerned for the customer's safety and has shut the trains down temporarily.

[This adventure is designed for players who decide to leave prematurely.]

If they choose to leave via the roads by foot or carriage however...

"A few days passed after you first started your journey. A strange mysterious dust cloud appear out of seemingly nowhere. Needless to say, this dust cloud heavily obscured your vision to the point where you could not see where you're headed to.  

You were able to make out some kind of shelter in the dust storm. There seems to be nowhere else to go. What do you do? "

  Kalkia the Gynosphinx

===BACKGROUND===

Kalkia the gynosphinx was once a mighty warrior that battled monsters for the thrill of it, and she bears many scars as signs of her years of combat, including a long gash that begins on her left temple, crosses her left eye and her leonine muzzle, and terminates at her right jaw. She was tasked by one of the gods with defending a legendary relic in this dungeon, and commanded to not let any intruders through unless she was bested.

Kalakia stayed true to this command for something approaching one thousand years, but time has made her bored and weary. She hasn’t had anyone but the boorish manticores that have made their nest in the unprotected parts of this dungeon for company for the past hundred years, and she’s desperate for entertainment. As soon as the adventures enter her domain, she traps them and forces them to answer her riddles—if only to inject some amusement into her life. The entertainment boosts her mood immensely, and she ultimately figures that any adventurers that successfully solve one of her riddles has technically “bested” her, thus fulfilling her obligation.

Kalkia's Domain

START!!

When everyone is ready to begin, read the following...

 

You enter a room at the base of a short staircase, with tall walls on either side of you. After ascending the stairs, you emerge into a sandy arena, dimly lit by torches burning with blue flame. The door slams shut behind you, and iron bars slide into place in front of it. Before you stands a majestic sphinx, her long and unruly mane decorated with splendid golden finery. A raucous wave of cheering and jeering erupts around you, and you see nearly a dozen manticores sitting in amphitheater-style seating all around the room.

 

“Welcome, esteemed guests,” the sphinx purrs. “I am Kalakia. Behind me is the treasure I have been tasked by the gods to not relinquish unless I am bested.” She yawns loudly and crosses her paws. “But I have stood vigil here for an eon, and I grow bored. Perhaps being bested in a game of riddles would be suitable to release me from my charge?”

 

Kalakia stamps a paw and the blue flames illuminating this room grow brighter, revealing innumerable bas relief carvings all along the walls of this chamber. The carvings depict gods, mythic locales, monsters, spells, and artifacts wielded by mighty heroes.

 

Kalakia’s Riddles

Eberron Episode II: Part 1, Starilaskur Lock Horn Championship

Hungry for more jobs and adventures, the party have chosen to make a quick pit stop at the Gnome-dominated city Starilaskur.

15gp per player; 60gp altogether for the ride from Vathirond to Starilaskur. Using the lightning rails significantly reduces the travelling time at a price.

Vathirond & Starilaskur is roughly 200 miles away from each other. That would take about two weeks of travel to cover that distance. Using the lightning rails reduces the travelling time about 4 to 6 hours.

I have decided to chart my own pricing as the information from the sourcebook is really pricey. A ride from town to city can cost up to 100gp which is ridiculous.

First Class: 5sp per mile

Economy: 5cp per mile

Upscaling the Danger (Ongoing)

The Adventure's League Season 2 adventure City of Danger is the adventure that this article will refer to. This page's purpose is to consolidate all the monsters that will be used throughout this adventure and provide an easy place to access all the stats needed to run it.

The adventure mentioned is meant for Levels 1 to 2 characters. There are some monsters that I wish to add into the mix so that I can spike up the difficulty. I also don't want to waste my efforts building these monsters and ending up not using any of them. Although, they might be a little too powerful for the players to handle, but I have it in good judgement that a challenge is what they are looking for.

Also, Beyond20 has some kick-ass new features that I am eager to use for my games so it would be a waste to resort to ordinary stat blocks. Without further ado, let's start:

Mini-Adventure 1: Hatred Like Clawed Wind

The Kron family plans to exact their revenge against the Cloaks. They've joined forces with the Cult of the Howling Wind to do just that! Little did they know that the Cult also plans to use their hatred for the Cloaks to achieve their own agendas.

EXTRA: 1 Larch (Hostage, Commoner)

MONSTERS: (Wave 1)

1. 4 Guards
2. 1 Samurai Veteran
3. 1 Proskler

WAVE 2:

1. 8 Blood Hawk
2. 4Terror Hippogriff

Mini-Adventure 2: Love Like Raging Fire

MONSTERS:

1. 4 Thugs
2. 1 Salamander

Mini-Adventure 3: Envy Like Crushing Earth

MONSTERS:

1. Giant Badger

Boss

1. Frightener Ankheg

Mini-Adventure 4: Greed Like Fathomless Water (Completed)

MONSTERS:

1. Bullywug
2. Giant Frog

Mini-Adventure 5: Fear like Dark Oblivion

MONSTERS:

1. Baron of Darax-us
2. Dretch
3. Mane

Apartment:

1. Quasit

End of the Saj Festival: Saj's Fun Showdown

All good things must come to an end and the Saj festival is no different. The adventurers might have clinched an extra level by the time they reach this night.

Saul managed to speak with the fighters Daisho talked about and they agreed to visit the estate to provide some bloody entertainment.

Ladies & gentlemen, I present to you... the Blood Sport!

The Blood Sport

This is a series of gladiator fights designed to give viewers the maximum viewing pleasure possible. Competitors can use any means to win fights and they're allowed to make any strikes with full force.

Astrid, with the help of the Thayan wizard, has gone ahead to invite the both the city's and Thay's strongest healers to the festival. Fallen fighters are eliminate from the tournament but they cannot. Any wounded are immediately rushed to the healers.

Before the fight, Thayans will provide the winners with a special potion that instantaneously grant long rest to those who consume it. The loser will just receive healing but are not allowed back in the fight.

With that, the following contains the tournament's roster:

[Medium] Astrid: "First fight of the Night! Are you ready for some fun?"

4x Zhentarim Thugs

[Deadly] Astrid: "These guys seem confident! Will they be able to win the night?"

1x Uthgardt Barbarian Leader

3x Beserkers

[Deadly] Astrid: "No Weapons? Are they for real?"

4x Zhent Martial Art Adept

[BEYOND DEADLY] Astrid: "Now who is this handsome, strapping fella? Folks, I think we might be looking at the winner already!"

1x Blackguard

After the arena, consider using the Downtime Activity rule for 1 in-game week before the start of the next adventure.

 

Eberron: Derailed

You are on your way back to Sharn from your last mission via the lightning rails, one of the fastest ways of travelling around Breland and even the rest of Khorvaire! Something tells you this might not be some ordinary train-ride. Will you able to figure out who's trying to ruin your ride?

BACKGROUND

A legendary artifact has been uncovered from the mysterious continent of Xen'drik. The artifact was en route to Morgrave University for further study but the halfling, Gossan Crestlit from the Boromar clan has somehow caught wind of this news. Such an artifact is highly coveted in Breland, especially in Sharn and Gossan wants it all for himself.

Knowing that the artifact is going to be heavily guarded, Gossan deploys a team of his most trusted companions and bandits to pull off this heist.

Gossan's Heist Team:

•  Fodder: A group of bandits Gossan could afford
• Bruiser: Zarpin Fulgur, Human Blood Hunter (lightning)
• Safecracker: Quiscies Fairtaint, Halfling Rogue
• Mastermind: Gossan Crestlit, Halfling Bard

===START!===

Once the table is ready to begin, start with the following

"You are on your way back to Sharn from your last mission via the lightning rails. While boarding the train at the lightning rails station, you noticed something peculiar: An entourage of well-armed guards were accompanying a tightly-secured and embellished box into a furthest car of the train. No announcements were made so you simply have no clue what that was all about.

It was just about to be another ordinary lightning rail trip. You watch the car's window as the greeneries of Breland speed past your eyes. Suddenly, you heard a scream, followed by a loud voice yelling at the back of the car:

"Oi! None of ya'll do anything stupid now and no one gets hurt!" You quickly dart your eyes back to see a gang of cocky bandits holding their weapons toward the passengers with ill-intent. You can feel the hilt of your weapon with your fingers as your hand instinctively reach for it. What do you do?"

MONSTERS: 3 Bandits

The Halfling Bandit hang back and hold a passenger hostage while 2 bandits prowl around the car to rob the passengers.

 

These bandits intend to rob all of the passengers for extra loot but their purpose is to prevent anyone from reaching the first-class car.

Having beaten all of the main guards unconscious, they rob the rest of the car with confidence, thinking that the worse has already passed.

 

This map is not finalized. You will have to do some small editing of your own so as to fit the adventure.

What's Next?

There are 2 more cars after the current one and each of them have two to three bandits each. These bandits only want to collect valuables and are generally not interested in taking lives.

MONSTERS: 3 Bandits per car

REWARDS: 75 gp worth of stolen valuables which can be returned to the passengers. If characters choose the honorable path, the passengers are happy to allow them to keep 10 gp to share among themselves.

Discoverable Info: (A captured bandit or a journal reveals the following information)

• Turns out, this was no ordinary passenger train. The discovery of the Xen'drik artifact has already drawn a lot of unwanted attention.
• Morgrave University took initiative and prepared a decoy on the official cargo train. The real artifact was then placed in this seemingly ordinary passenger train. 
• However, a rat in the University revealed the plan to Gossan and sabotaged their efforts.
• The brains behind this operation is a Halfling called Gossan Crestlit, a member of the Boromar clan.

===SAFECRACKER===

Having heard the ruckus outside, Quiscies promptly hides and plans to jump the unsuspecting characters. 

"Upon entering this car, you noticed several bodies of unconscious guards laying on the ground. These were the same guards you saw earlier before boarding the train. Whatever they were protecting must have been compromised. You hear a noise up ahead. Sounds like trouble. What do you do?"

MONSTERS: 1 Rogue, 2 Bandits

REWARDS: 90gp worth of stolen treasure.

INFO: Quiscies can be encouraged to tell on his criminal partners.

• My superb lockpicking skills landed the role of the safecracker. My job was to disable the security that grant my partners access to the treasure.
• My partner, Zarpin, is a blood hunter who made quick work of the guards while cracked the safe open. We've opened the safe long ago.
• Due to some... complications, I was tasked slow down any signs of resistance.
• A skycoach is catching up to this train as we speak. My partners must've already made it out with the artifact.
• The artifact was in the car after me.

Once the characters are done, read the following:

"At this moment you hear a strange noise coming from the rear door. You might not be too late after all. What do you do?"

===BOTCHED ESCAPE===

"This is the car at the furthest end of this train. You see opened locks dangling from their chains and an empty safe. At the furthest end you see a male elf with the strangest-looking set of armor you've ever set your eyes on. He is accompanied by a halfling and a few bandits with the same outfit as the ones you've fought before. Beside them is a half-opened door with a special sky-coach latched onto the car.

'What have you done with Quiscies?!' The halfling screams at you. 'To hell with this! Zarpin, we'll settle our problems later. Right now you have to kill them!' The elf brandishes his twin blades as he charges towards you. Brace yourselves and roll initiatives!"

 

The Boromars use a sky-coach that is simply a boat attached to crystals that powers it. They meant to escape with their prize much earlier but something held them back.

MONSTERS: 1 Blood Hunter, 1 Bard & 2 Bandits

The Blood Hunter is wearing the Variant Living Armor and has the benefits listed in the item description.

REWARDS: 

• Gossan has a gem stone worth 100 gp on him
• The Blood Hunter has the Variant Living Armor

Armor (any), very rare (requires attunement)

This hideous armor is formed from black chitin, beneath which veins pulse and red sinews glisten. To attune to this item, you must wear it for the entire attunement period, during which tendrils on the inside burrow into you.

While wearing this armor, you have a +1 bonus to Armor Class, and you have resistance to the following damage types: necrotic, poison, and psychic.

Symbiotic Nature. The armor can’t be removed from you while you’re attuned to it, and you can’t voluntarily end your attunement to it. If you’re targeted by a spell that ends a curse, your attunement to the armor ends, and it detaches from you.

The armor feeds on its host's life force. Immediately after you finish any long rest, you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be reduced to 0 hit points.

 Once the characters reach Wroat's station, the authorities insists that they give the armor up. If they somehow wiggle their way out of the authorities' grasp and choose to sell it, they can find only one buyer who is willing to take the armor off their hands for 50 gp.

(They can, however, hold on to the item until a later level when they can find a more reputable buyer.)

===CONCLUSION===

If the Boromar clan members are defeated, the characters can choose to either round them up or execute them. 

Whichever path they choose, the train makes a quick stop at Wroat, the capital city of Breland. They can either hand the felons over or inform the authorities of the events that transpired.

Eventually the Adventurer's Guild will hear of the party's deeds. This is one deed that can help the party gain infamy in Breland. Gaining enough infamy could gain the attention of the Wayfounder's Foundation which can open a lot of doors for the players.

House Orien, House Cannith and Morgrave University will eventually hear about the character's deeds and consider giving the Adventurer's Guild a little treat whenever the members need to catch a ride on the lightning rails.

In any case, this adventure will inexplicably change the fates of the characters. Malicious organizations will not like hearing about their failures to recover the artifact and will carefully think about their next move.

Eberron: Dog Tags (Completed)

ADVENTURE: Dog Tags

===MISSION BRIEF===

You are investigating the case of some missing members from the Adventurer's Guild. They were last seen in the town of New Cyre and never returned since then. After days of travel you now find yourselves in Sterngate, preparing yourself for the adventure ahead. You are tasked to find Silth Withers in the town and find out more about the adventurers' disappearance and report back to Clifftop Adventurer's Guild for the reward.

REWARDS: 100 GP (to share) for accepting the quest and 100 GP (to share) upon completion.

===OVERVIEW===

The party first meet in the fortress of Sterngate in one of the many Adventurer's Guild branches in the country. Here they can introduce themselves to each other, form a story of how they met or just take up a pre-determined story and proceed with the rest of the adventure. Here, they will also learn more about the quest that is assigned to them, provided in the MISSION BRIEF section above.

 

They reach the town of New Cyre by nightfall through the roads and find Silth Withers, a retired Adventurer's Guild member and fighter. They learn that the missing members went to Vathirond, a torn down city East of New Cyre to assist the military and fight off the monsters of the Mournlands. 

Once they reach Vathirond, they find that the town is no longer a town but a warzone. Here, they'll learn more about where to find the missing members.

===HOOKS===

1. FRIEND. One of the missing members, Cinders Teine (Female Fire Genasi) is a childhood friend of yours. Her family is worried about her sudden silence and wants to learn about what happened or at the very least receive some closure. Finding Cinders will grant you inspiration.

2. JOBS. Jobs are hard to come by in Breland. That's why as soon as you saw that the Adventurer's Guild had an assignment you volunteered yourself as fast as you could. Completing this quest will grant you inspiration.

3. FOLLOWER. You look up to and follow the footsteps of the legendary hunter adventurer Lord Boroman ir'Dayne. You are quick and eager to prove yourself to the world of adventurers in Eberron and took this assignment to add to your growing resume of adventures you've been involved in. Completing this quest grants you inspiration.

4. MOURNLAND HORRORS. You've heard stories about the horrors of the Mournlands but never had the opportunity to see them for yourself. As soon as you heard of an assignment that required you to make a trip to the town of New Cyre (a site that is geographically close to the Mournlands) you saw a chance to potentially satisfy your curiosity. You receive inspiration once you have uncovered the mystery known as the 'Mournland horrors'. 

BEFORE BEGINNING: Gentle reminder please refrain from playing with the brush tool and the tokens. Use them for gameplay purposes. I have prepared a story for today's session so it will do you a lot of good if you listen to it and play along. Please cooperate.

When you listen, focus on what you think your character would do in the given situation. This will help you roleplay and enjoy the game a lot better!

===STERNGATE===

"You find yourselves in a small Adventurer's Guild branch in the Brelish fortress called Sterngate. The branch is tiny, cramped and packed with multiple adventurers & employees pacing to and fro across the wooden floors, tending to their businesses. You see some new faces as well as some old ones in the waiting room as you wait for the receptionist to bring you your coin and documentations.

Prior to this moment, you have already agreed to and accepted the assignment to find Silth Withers in New Cyre. Turns out, these new faces before you have also accepted the same assignment. While waiting, you see this as a chance to introduce yourself to new faces. What do you do?"

 

Give the players some time to roleplay their characters. Once they are done:

 

"A petite human lady primly dressed in the guild's uniform brings your pouch of 100 gp and sets of instructions that ought to lead you to Silth's house in New Cyre. You are now ready to proceed. Are you ready to go?"

===ROAD TO NEW CYRE===

This is also good chance for the players role play their characters a bit more. Once they are done or wish to arrive at New Cyre sooner, proceed to the next section.

===NEW CYRE===

"After some time travelling, your eyes finally see shapes that resemble a town ahead. As you march even closer, however, you can't help but notice that this town could use some repairs and renovations. New Cyre looks more like a giant slum than a town if you were being truthful. 

Life here looks tough. The citizens of New Cyre have stress written all over their faces as they go on about their business. You can't quite figure out why, but you feel that these people have a fire within that drives them to push on. 

You followed the directions provided to you and sure enough, you've found yourself at the gates of Silth's house. What do you do?"

Crossing a Drow: Conclusion

Once all of the targets are taken care of, the party's names shall be cleared.

If the characters signed on with the Cloaks and complete the Cloak's Tasks laid out in the adventure, their ranks are considered for promotion and will receive renown among the faction.

Characters that intend to head to Astrid Saj's festival can do so without any interference from the cults and bounty hunters. 

And that's about it for the adventure. Put on your fanciest clothes cause it's time for a celebration in the City of Danger!

===SPECIAL SENTENCING TABLE===

The following contains a sentencing table that PCs can use against NPC criminals

>4	Due to a technicality or missing witness, the Magistrate does not find the accused guilty.
4-6	All belongings are seized and the accused is teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
7-9	The accused is whipped in public before being teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
10-12	The accused tongue is chopped off before being teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
13-15	The accused fingers are cut off and cauterized with a brand before being teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
16-18	The accused is publicly executed by hanging.
19	The accused is publicly executed by being drawn and quartered.
20	The accused is publicly burned alive with its remains scattered in the Moonsea.

Crossing a Drow: Break it Down Broko

===BROKO SHOVS===

Born as a lower class citizen of Mulmaster, Broko is no stranger to the tough and unfair life a huge percentage of the population have to face. He also had to suppress his innate magical nature due to the state of the city. Word got around that the ghettos he was from were praying to a new deity who supposedly answered their prayers. It granted all wishes from financial help to exacting revenge on anyone who've done them wrong. Broko investigated these claims and found the cultists from the Black Earth who are actively going around to answer poor people's prayers. The cult actively encouraged his use of magic and soon Broko found himself using his gifts to serve the cult. Broko was assigned to retrieve the codex in light of the Black Earth's failure to secure the book.

Broko is also an avid tattoo artist and has imbued everyone who follows him the Eldritch Claw Tattoo on their right arm (including himself)

===CLOAK'S TASK===

Broko is an unsanctioned magic user who has caused harm to the citizens of Mulmaster using his magic. He was involved in an attack in the past against the Earthspur Miners. He must be brought in and arrested to face punishment for his crimes.

 

This tattoo depicts clawlike forms and other jagged shapes. While the tattoo is on your skin, your unarmed strikes are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical attacks, and you gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes.

Eldritch Maul. As a bonus action, you can empower the tattoo for 1 minute. For the duration, each of your melee weapon attacks can reach a target up to 30 feet away from you, as tendrils of ink launch from your weapon or unarmed strike toward the target. In addition, your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 force damage on a hit. Once used, this bonus action can’t be used again until the next dawn.

Tattoo Attunement. To attune to this item, you hold the needle to your skin where you want the tattoo to appear, pressing the needle there throughout the attunement process. When the attunement is complete, the needle turns into the ink that becomes the tattoo, which appears on the skin. If you have multiple magic tattoos, they count as a single magic item with regard to the number of magic items you can attune to. If your attunement to the tattoo ends, the tattoo vanishes, and the needle reappears in the closest unoccupied space to you. Source

AREA: A large stone altar made of natural broken rocks sitting in a large open grassy field. Large rocks and trees are strewn about the area which can provide half-cover. Smells of burning incense and broken rocks coming from the cultist's activities from the altar.

SOUNDS: Singing birds and whistling wind can be heard in the distance if it's daytime. Crickets singing in the night if it's dark.

2 Sacred Stone Monks, 1 Gargoyle and Broko Shovs (Black Earth Priest) are present in this area.
NOTE: ALL monsters present have the Eldritch Claw Tattoo and receives buffs accordingly (Refer to above)

 

Important Spells: Acid Splash, Earth Tremor, Shatter, Slow
Seeing that he is a 5th level Sorceror, you can also consider giving him the quickening ability to combo his casted spells with his multiattacks. (2/long rest)

 
DON'T FORGET!!! The monks' unarmed strike have the added benefit of reach 30 feet, +5 to hit and 1d6 + 3 bludgeoning + 1d6 force damage with the tattoo.

 

===TREASURE===

A sculpture of Ogremoch made of jade and precious gems worth 200 gold pieces
A map that leads North of the Moonsea titled 'Mark of the Eldritch Claw' (Incomplete. Only half of the map)
5 potion of Healing
1 potion of Greater Healing (20HP)

In case the fight gets too grim, Poten and Jacquenette happened to be on the way to the Earthspur Mines and can assist if needed.
Additional Characters:
Poten
Jacquenette Covenreave

Crossing a Drow: Confronting the Mhursvayas

===PATH OF FAILURE===

Failing the ambush at the alleyway, the party is bounded, stripped of their gear and prepared for questioning in a dark shack in the middle of seemingly nowhere.

AREA: Dark shack. Low visibility but the shack is well-lived in. The shack smells of freshly cut wood and pine.

SOUNDS: Sounds of an animal racing across the wooden floor can be heard from time to time and the whistling winds from outside.

Mhursvayas the drow has no time for games.

• He aggressively questions the party for the codex. 
• He asks why they chose to betray him
• He takes a jab at their naivity as if thinking that crossing him would bear no repercussions

He whips his victims if they do not cooperate, which is an automatic hit dealing 1d4 bludgeoning damage.

Once Mhursvayas has what he wants to know, he leaves the shack for his carriage, leaving the characters for spider food. 2 Giant Spiders and 4 Giant Wolf Spiders appear out of the woodworks to devour them. After one round of spider attacks, Cha'ab (Scout) makes his way through the door with a gang of 3 Zhent commoners with the intent to rescue them from their restraints.

Each player controls one of the commoner except for Uro who controls Cha'ab by default. It takes one action to release the restraints. The extra NPCs do not roll initiatives and take their turns after their respective player.

  

Cha'ab kept a close eye on Uro knowing the dangers of the city. Once word got out that the Uro and his party was captured, he set up a rescue operation immediately.

Going through this path means that the party has no chance to catch up to Mhursvayas but their names are cleared regardless as the drow assumes them dead after the confrontation.

Path of Failure CONCLUSION: Cha'ab later informs the party that there are 2 other persons looking for them and have intructed their cult to look for them in the city. He reveals the names Pristee Chyden and Broko Shovs from the water and earth cults respectively. Hearing the names also remind Cloak members that the Cloaks are after them for crimes of unsanctioned illegal magic. Taking care of these leaders will help cause disarray in the cult and clear their names for the time being. 

===PATH OF SUCCESS===

Following the instructions given prior, the adventurers stumble upon the shack in the middle of the woods. 

AREA: A small well-maintained shack sitting in the middle of an open grassy field somwhere in the woods.

SOUNDS: Rustling of leaves and whistling winds can be heard.

Mhursvayas waits anxiously in the shack, irritated by the lateness of the hired bounty hunters. Little did he know that they failed and it is he who is hunted instead.

===KNOWING THAT MHURSVAYAS IS A MAGIC USER===

Upon seeing the drow cast his first spell for harmful means and bearing no medallion to the Cloaks, the drow can be arrested and brought to the Cloaks for punishment as an unsanctioned magic user. He must be taken down non-lethally and brought in alive.

 

Giant Spider

Giant Wolf Spider

===TREASURE===

Searching Mhursvayas grants a key to the locked chest in the shack

Searching the shack, the party finds a locked chest of DC20 Strength & Dex check.

• 600 gold pieces
• 2 Potions of Poisons

Crossing a Drow: Headhuntress Pristee Chyden

===HEADHUNTRESS PRISTEE CHYDEN===

Pristee Chyden is a Water Genasi refugee from Phlan. She lived a normal life before the catastrophic events known as the Tyranny of Dragons and since then, she sees dragons and fire as a means of evil. She looks at the element, water, for sense of comfort and guidance but sought for justice for the wrong that has been done to her. Mulmaster's mistreatment of refugees didn't exactly make matters any better. When she stumbled upon the Cult of the Crushing Wave and learnt of their philosophy, she joined without hesitation.

After hearing of the Crushing Wave's failure to secure the codex, Pristee took charge of the operation and focused all her efforts into finding capturing the persons responsible.

===CLOAK's TASK===

Capture & arrest Pristee Chyden. Pristee has intentionally evaded the Cloaks to use her magic for nefarious means. She must face punishment for her crimes.

===RUINS BY THE RIVER LIS===

This particular ruin lies west of the River Lis. Formerly held by Lizardfolk, it is currently taken over by the Cultists of Crushing Wave. This ruin resembles a huge stone basin that is filled with water.

AREA: Floors and walls made of broken, aged stone. Years of neglect have taken a toll on this place with several structures lying around, fallen apart. Runes in Lizardfolk language riddle the pillars and walls. Trees and thick vegetation cover a huge chunk of the ruin. The environment feels wet, moist and humid.

RUNES: The Runes speak of the wives' prayers for the husbands' protection to the Lizardfolk forest Gods. Deciphering the rune with a spell or a successful DC 15 Intelligence check enables the reader and the companions he/she chooses to share this knowledge to have a buff equivalent to having Shield of Faith, which lasts for 1 minute without the need for concentration unless the rune is completely destroyed (AC11;HP15), casted on them. This, however, does not count as a spell text and cannot be copied into a spellbook.

The large basin of water lie 5 feet below the half-submerged platforms at the South & East. However, the platform at the North stands 10 feet above the water. The waterfall north-east is 15 feet tall from the submerged platform. The surrounding forest smells pleasant. Smells like damp moss, rain, wet tree trunks, flowers, and needle-covered path.

SOUNDS: Wildlife can be heard all around, from birds calling to monkeys howling as well as the loud rushing waterfall.

Residing this place is Pristee Chyden, (Crushing Wave Caller), 1 Dark Tide Knight using a Giant Aquatic Scorpion (has a swimming speed of 40 ft.) as his mount & 3 Reavers.

    

===TREASURE===

Carving of an Octopus made of Ivory worth 100 gold pieces

Journal containing several pieces of information:

• Reading this journal allows the players to access Pristee Chyden's infobar if they're interested to learn more about her.
• The journal also details the elemental node as well as how the codex was supposed to help the cult find the elemental node of water which in turn would allow the cultists to access the water elemental plane with ease.
  
• The journal also mentions the devastation orb of water but no details are expended on this item

4 x Potion of Watchful Rest (Common)

When you drink this potion, you gain the following benefits for the next 8 hours: magic can't put you to sleep, and you can remain awake during a long rest and still gain its benefits. This sweet, amber-colored brew has no effect on creatures that don't require sleep, such as elves.

===Interrogating Pristee Chyden===
Interrogating the Water Genasi reveals the following information:

• We are pragmatic and oppotunistic. Like a flood that seeks the weak point in a levee and then bursts through with ever-growing strength, we are quick to sense an opening and then act to exploit it. (Philosophy)
• We seek riches and use it to develop our schemes.
• Somewhere in the Lis Ruins contains our prize, the water elemental node. But we need the codex for that.
• I was formerly assigned under Therus, the cult's priest to seek out the devastation orb of water hidden somewhere in or around Mulmaster. After hearing about the failure of the codex retrieval, the plan changed and I was assigned elsewhere.
• I know nothing more about the devastation orb or the water elemental node.

BONUS

• All Crushing Wave members share a common enemy, the Eternal Flame. I hate them with every fiber of my being. 
• We believe that Umberlee is the false Goddess of the sea. Olhydra is the true Goddess of all things water. Other than our main goals, we also seek to eradicate all items that pertain to her worship as well as her worshippers.
• The main leaders of the Crushing Wave are secretive and only authorized members can access that knowledge. The only other leaders I know other than me is Therus, a priest.
• There is another I do not know the name of, but he rides a Giant Aquatic Scorpion. I last saw him at the edge of the Lis Ruins before we parted ways.
• I do not know the current locations of the names I have mentioned. 

===Sentencing Pristee Chyden===

The following contains a sentencing table that PCs can use against NPC criminals

>4	Due to a technicality or missing witness, the Magistrate does not find the accused guilty.
4-6	All belongings are seized and the accused is teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
7-9	The accused is whipped in public before being teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
10-12	The accused tongue is chopped off before being teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
13-15	The accused fingers are cut off and cauterized with a brand before being teleported to a random location in Faerun, away from Mulmaster.
16-18	The accused is publicly executed by hanging.
19	The accused is publicly executed by being drawn and quartered.
20	The accused is publicly burned alive with its remains scattered in the Moonsea.

Crossing a Drow: Intro

===BACKGROUND===

Somehow, Mhursvayas (MV) knew about the treasure that laid in the earth cyst. Furgis was very interested in the treasure. He did not want to live his life as a blackmailer anymore, always having to look at his back or be subjected to all manners of violence.

Getting his hands on the treasure can set Furgis up for life and then some. All he had to do was to hand MV the Elemental Codex. Things went wrong when they got another party involved that didn't make good on their word.

First, they handed Furgis over to the Hammers of Moradin. Furgis blackmailed the chief to get his hands on the book. He then sailed to the City of Danger to find MV and hired some bodyguards but these guards betrayed him when the Hammers offered more money.

To make matter worse, 2 other cults are looking for the book too. The Black Earth cult managed to get their hands on the book. They used the rituals in the book to create a devastation orb but the guards managed to nab the book before that could happen. MV helped the adventurers open the Earthen Cyst with the promise of having some time with the book to collect some rituals. The survivors of the encounter unfortunately had different intentions and left without fulfilling his part of the bargain.

MV created a story about saving his people from demons when in fact, he wanted to use the book to raise an army and create a brand new devastation orb, an orb of darkness! The orb will allow MV to banish areas in a 1 mile radius to a plane of darkness and wreak havoc when he so chooses.

So he was pissed when adventurers he teamed up with up and ran with the book. MV visited the area to find dead adventurers and several corpses. After some time, he placed bounties on the survivors Bel and Uro. He wants them alive so that he can question them about the whereabouts of the book.

===OVERVIEW===

Part 1, the adventurers are lured into an alley to be attacked by bounty hunters. If the bounty hunters are successful, the adventurers will be brought to an unknown location to face Mhursvayas for questioning. Mhursvayas is also interested in questioning Uro and Bel's recent contacts to find out about the book.

After Mhursvayas hears what he wants he commands his spider minions to dispose of the adventurers. If the adventurers break out of their bonds early, Mhursvayas will make a run for the carriage outside to escape unless they catch up to him on time.

If the bounty hunters are not successful, either the survivors will inform the adventurers about Mhursvayas secret location or Cha'ab will inform Uro about Mhursvayas's bounty placed on Uro and Bel. Over there, they will face Mhursvayas who will try to escape before he even comes close to them.

Part 2 will have the adventurers going around to clear their names. Uro and gang will have to find Mhursvayas and force him or end his life to stop the bounty. However, the Crushing Wave and Black Earth wants to find Uro and Bel and get their hands on the book once more.

Either Cha'ab or the survivors will inform the adventurers about the heads of these cults who passed down the command to cult members about hunting them. Taking care of these heads will cause internal conflicts within the cult, staving off the heat from the adventurers.

===PART 1===

SITUATION: The bounty hunters track and follow their target [Stealth DC 20]. Uro knows of a shortcut to their next destination through the alleyway. The bounty hunters seize their chance and attack them while they are there.

Uro and gang will will either be heading back to rest from the Tower of Arcane Might or heading to their next job. Uro's background allows him to know about shortcuts and alleyways to get around the city quicker. Unbeknownst to him, bounty hunters hired by Mhursvayas are tracking his every move and are waiting for the right chance to strike.

Let the players settle into the session by explaining what their characters are up to. Once they decide on where they want to move next [it's possible at this point that they would want to head to Astrid's party]:

"You know of a shortcut to your next destination through a series of alleyways. The alleys of the city aren't pretty and has a peculiar smell, but it's nothing you can't handle.

Some time later, you've made it through half of your journey. This part of the alley is lifeless and quiet. However, your senses tell you that you are not alone.

Sure enough, a few figures step out from hiding and turn to face your direction. 'You shouldn't have crossed the dark elf Mhursvayas!' One of the figures screams as he charges towards you with his blade!"

The bounty hunters (spies) aim to knock the players unconscious with their poisons and bring them to a secret location outside of the city. 

 3 Spies and 2 Guards attack the adventurers in the alley.

 

FAILURE:

• The party is bounded up and brought to an undisclosed location for questioning, torture and eventually be eaten by wolf and giant spiders
• However, they have a chance to escape from their restraints later and fight their way out OR end the bounty by taking care of Mhursvayas

SUCCESS:

• By some miracle, the bounty hunters are defeated. Jandar Skullik [human-hobgoblin], one of the bounty hunters, can be questioned. Alternatively, if everyone is killed, Cha'ab arrives after the fight to explain everything.
• DC 15 Persuasion or Intimidation check convinces Jandar to spill the beans. Cha'ab requires no checks.
• Mhursvayas placed a bounty for Bel and Uro. 250 gold pieces if alive, 100 gold pieces if dead per bounty. Word got out about Daisho's and Gus's relation with the bounties who both have 50 gold pieces bounties placed on them, dead or alive. 
• Mhursvayas is the drow who helped cast a ritual to open the Earth Cyst back in the Boltsmelter's Book adventure in exchange for a few hours with the codex. He is pissed that the survivors did not fulfill their part of the deal.
• Jandar or Cha'ab reveals where Mhursvayas is hiding. An abandoned shack on the outskirts of the city where they are supposed to be bounded up and brought in for questioning, torture and eventually be eaten by wolf and giant spiders
• Other bounty hunters are after the same bounty. They'll do themselves a huge favour if they end the bounty by taking care of the employer Mhursvayas.
• BONUS: Cults from the Crushing Wave and the Black Earth have orders from above to capture Uro and Bel to find out about the codex. They roam around the city to look for their targets.
• ADDITIONAL TARGETS: Pristee Chyden [Crushing Wave] & Broko Shoves [Black Earth] are the current heads in charge of taking in the party. Taking care of these target will cause disarray within the cult, staving off some of the heat from the party. Their locations are unknown.

CLOAK'S TASK: Upon hearing the names of Pristee Chyden & Broko Shoves, any character signed on with the Cloaks knows that they are the 2 of the Cloak's most illustruous targets. They are guilty of mastering the craft of magic as a means to harm Mulmaster. Their locations are currently unknown but the cultists from the 2 cults will more than likely know about their whereabouts.

If the party chooses to hunt Mhursvayas first, they first have to head to Southroad Keep and go through the remains of Elmwood before arriving at Mhursvayas' hideout.

Succeeding the encounter causes some unwelcomed complications...

===PART 1.5===

Prowling the streets of Mulmaster are cultists from the Crushing Wave and the Black Earth. Before the party reaches the area of Southroad Keep:

"You see several men dressed in familiar blue robes accompanied by shoddily armored members from the City Watch. They scan every civilian that cross the streets of Mulmaster, keeping a lookout for their targets. A number of posters hang on the walls adjacent to these men containing sketches of a scarred man, a brutish-looking half-orc, a silver-haired lady and a gaunt dragonborn."

A few of the cultists engage in conversation with each other that mention the name Pristee Chyden. They should know where she is. Each enemy of this encounter has Insight and Perception of DC15 

 

 This group contains 2 Crushing Wave Reavers, 2 Cultists and 2 City Watch Guards. Several civilians walk by the streets and disperse when they spot any sign of trouble. 

  

SPILLING THE BEANS: Capturing a cultist reveals the location of Pristee Chyden. She is currently hiding in the Lis ruins which is a long way from their current location.

===BLACK EARTH===

Some time after crossing the Southroad Keep, cultists dressed in black robes roam the area to sniff the party out.

"A few men dressed in dark robes lean on the walls nearby. However, they're keeping their eyes and ears peeled for anyone who even resemble their targets."

1 Black Earth Guard and 3 cultists are present for this stake out.

 

SPILLING THE BEANS: There is a hideout in between the gates of Mulmaster and the Earthspur Mines. Broko Shoves currently resides in there.

Conclusion:

The party will find out that there are 3 groups that are hunting them down. At this point they should also have three names to hunt down to clear their names. If they don't do so, future employment in the city can prove really difficult.