Eberron One

You see shadows flit about up behind the window, and then a couple of minutes go by. A small door on the right, behind the big iron portcullis, then opens and a man in plate mail steps out carrying a blazing torch. He approaches the portcullis "do you haff papers vit you?"

After he looks at your letter for a moment, he asks you to wait a moment, and goes back into the small door. Soon, the portcullis begins to slowly lift, clanking upward. At the opposite side of the little tunnel you're in, you see massive wooden double doors filling a rounded archway, heavily reinforced with dark metal. The little door the guard came through is on your right. You also note, looking above, that the ceiling is pierced by dozens of murder holes.

After a few moments the guard calls down from above "I must close de portcullis bevore I open de gates," and the portcullis rapidly descends behind you. Snow falls silently and heavily beyond the iron bars, and the worrisome space in which you stand is nearly pitch black.

Long moments go by before you hear loud banging and clanking sounds from the other side of the massive gate doors, and then they begin to creak loudly, the sound cutting into the small space. Only one opens, and only enough to pass one at a time, but a different man in plate mail beckons you through. Stepping through the opening, you enter a small area open to the sky. Wide stone steps go upward to another large wooden gateway, which lies at the bottom of a tall tower. To your right the walls of the garrison shoot dizzyingly skyward, but to your left you see open battlements. The guard here looks at your papers again, then leads you up the wide stone stairs, hauls open one of the massive wooden doors, and leads you inside.

You are now in a large, high ceilinged room with narrow slit-windows on the left. You see a large man approaching you, and he says "I am Captain Thul."

He quickly looks over your party as they are introduced, nodding succinctly to each. The semi-scowl on his face is apparently a semi-permanent fixture. His deep voice grinds out like crushing rocks.

"We have two sections of forged assigned to us to repair buildings in de town, roads, marchwalls, barns. Some dey are supervised, but de forged don't sleep or rest, so dey work all de time, day and night. The first go missing about two months ago. Probably isolated attacks. This is to be expected. Not a real problem." He speaks to the guard who brought you into the room "sergeant, brandy for dem. But then it's more, and more often as well. Still from the countryside, where dey work on roads and walls. Den, almost two weeks ago, dey start to go missing at places in town too. I sent 3 men to investigate.. nuttingk. Now it's every 2 or 3 days, and sometimes more den one. After de sun comes up tomorrow, I can almost guarantee de patrol finds two or tree of de forged gone. No trace."

The sergeant returns from a door beyond with several tin cups. He passes them out to all who will take them, and fills each with brandy from a large, half-empty bottle.

Captain Thul (he pronounced it about halfway between 'thull' and 'tull') gives a low, gravelly grunt. "This zeems acceptable. I can't devote that kind of time, but dese forged are valuable, and we can't keep losing dem. I would advise you though, that due to the hour, the darkness, and the snow, it might be best to stay in the garrison tonight, den be taken to de worksites in the morning. I have one full section of forged out now, dat's ten. The other is here, in reserve, and it's 2 low now, only eight of dem."

ehiker133 wrote:

"Hmmm... Something has to be happening to them, though, whether it is them leaving on their own or them being taken against their will."

She pauses for a moment, lost in thought...

"I wonder if we could monitor some of them at work during the night and see what happens. Captain, how many warforged do you currently have working on repairs? Maybe we could split up and try to keep an eye on two or three of these sites to see if anything happens. It might be helpful if you could assist us by limiting the number of sites for a few days. I'd rather we have teams of at least two people, so we could watch two at a time. If necessary, though, we could set me, Ducats, and Jaral up on separate sites and have Finora and Tagor watch a fourth one."

OOC: I did the latter split that way because Ducats can Hide in Shadows and Jaral and Caby have a 9 in 10 chance of being unseen when outdoors. There is less chance of something bad happening to them if they can't be spotted.

[ooc] Works for me.

"Yes, they verk through the night, hot or cold. I'll show you a map." Captain Thul leads you through a doorway further into the garrison. Passing through a large mustering room with pennants and banners on the stone walls, he leads you through one of the many doors into a room lit with candles and several coldfire crystals. On a very large, dark, ornately carved wooden table lies a spread-out map of the surrounding county.

He points out several places marked on the map:
1. One works on a marchwall (a hedge with a stone wall at its center, intended to slow down invading forces) west of Vulyar.
2. Two work on a ruined building in the southeast section of town.
3. One works on a road heading southwest out of Vulyar, about a mile out. The road is labeled 'Fort Bones.'
4. Two work on a barn south of town.
5. One works on a ruined building in the northeast section of town.
6. One works on a small road southeast of Vulyar.
7. Two work on a barn east of town.

OOC: Sorry - haven't been getting the update emails. Logged out and logged back in, though, so hopefully I'll start getting them again. However, this all sounds good to me so far.

ehiker133 wrote:

"I'll watch the one on the road southeast of Vulyar; that way, Jaral and I will at least be in the same vicinity.

Ducats, which building in town do you want to watch? The one in the southeast or the one in the northeast section of town? Maybe Finora and Tagor can watch the other building in town?

Captain, can you spare any men at all to watch the other three groups? I'd hate for something to happen to one of the warforged we're not watching..."

The captain says "I'm afraid I can't. This is why I am glad you are here."

"Sergeant, show them to Johann's room please."

The sergeant who escorted you into the keep nods quickly to the captain, then leads you to a door in the back corner of this room. Unlocking it with a large key, he opens it onto a spiral staircase which extends up and down, dimly lit by sparsely ensconced coldfire crystals. He leads you up the stairs, apparently one floor, and again bringing out his keys unlocks the first door you encounter. You are let into a room roughly 15 feet by 12 feet. It has one bed, about the size of an inn bed, and holds the typical personal items of a Karnnathi soldier, including a trunk nearly identical to Push's, as well as a weapons rack with 2 different pole arms, 2 spears, a flail and a military pick. There is a decent size brazier with coals for heat. Though cold now, there is a stack of kindling near it. There are two torch holders on the walls, and two small candelabras.

The sergeant hands you the torch he was carrying. "The other door, over dere, is not locked, but you may lock it from de inzide. I will retrieve you in de morning for mesz. Breakfast, dat is. I apologize for de closeness of dese quarters, but it is all dat is unoccupied now. I hope it will zuffice."

As the sergeant is closing the door, Tagor says "Johann will not mind us using his room?"

The sergeant says "he's dead" and shuts and locks the door.