Being cured of her curse, Alicia Lund reveals the secrets of the decrypted letter. Soon after, the party learns that a Boromar mob boss had ordered the theft of the letter in the first place. They are requested by House Phiarlan to retrieve evidence of this fact by infiltrating the Boromar outpost, but can they do so in time before a rogue dragonmarked agent, one who is out for revenge, gets there first?
Player Characters: Balkris, Mickey Bishop, R. Sativus, Reckoner, Timber
When Alicia Lund was cured by a potion of greater restoration, she read the decrypted letter from the dead House Orien Courier. It revealed that one of the three rival factions of House Cannith had been hired by the Swords of Liberty, a radical organization plotting to overthrow the Brelish Monarchy. One of the other Cannith rivals became aware of this and was now working with the Boromar Clan.
Two weeks later, Tamior d’Phiarlan invited the Rabble to meet him at the Starfire Dragon Inn in Middle Menthis. He informed them that the man originally behind the murder of the Orien courier was a halfling mob boss named Fridden “Friddo” Boromar. Tamior asked the party to retrieve evidence in Friddo’s possession linking the Boromar Clan with House Cannith on behalf of his House Orien contacts, as assurance to prevent other murders in the future. The party was introduced to a shifter monk named Timber to aid them in their quest.
With his contacts in the Boromar Clan, Mickey Bishop gathered intel on Friddo and his outpost in the upscale dwarven district of Highhold. He also met with Cyril, a scion of House Orien independently plotting Friddo’s murder in retribution for the slight against his house, at the Starfire Dragon Inn to coordinate their efforts. But suspecting Cyril of eventual treachery, Mickey plotted against him as well by hiring an exotic dancer named Erin to spread dark rumors about him: The renegade scion had masterminded the killing of the Orien courier, his own cousin, to further his own ends.
Meanwhile, R. Sativus and Timber plumbed the depths of the Cogs for clues concerning the rumors they had heard of a secret building project. They came across warforged laborers looking for work in a junkyard. The heroes broke up a fight between a passing Valenar elf and one of the warforged. In gratitude, a warforged named Skirmisher told them that they were waiting to be hired by a Cannith agent to scavenge useful parts from the junkyard.
Elsewhere in the city, Reckoner and Balkris met with Jebediah Givens in the Cyran refugee camp of High Walls. He was the cousin of Reckoner’s former commander, Raylan Givens. Although the Last War had separated Jeb and Raylan who fought on opposite sides, the cousins still had a strong family bond. Reckoner had hoped to hear tidings of his former commander, but Jeb delivered the tragic news that his beloved cousin Raylan had reportedly perished in an accident during the reconstruction of Rekkenmark. However, both he and Reckoner had heard strange rumors that Raylan had been seen in Sharn. Jeb had come here to track down these rumors and learn the truth. His final lead was another Karrnathi warforged named Bastion from Reckoner’s former squadron. Bastion also came to Sharn to search for Commander Raylan. But Jeb had been unable to locate Bastion in the city.
Having a few days remaining before their mission in Highhold, R. Sativus and Timber returned to the Cogs, this time to help Reckoner in his investigation. They found Skirmisher once more, and he informed them that a warforged named Bastion had been working in the junkyard. But Bastion had already left to seek out a man named “Waldrin.”
Meanwhile, Balkris and Reckoner arranged a meeting with Zorlan d’Cannith, the patriach of Cannith East from Karrnath, who had invited them to the Tain Gala. Zorlan confirmed Jeb’s news of Raylan Givens’ death. However, he also revealed that Raylan had been involved in a top-secret experiment to combine human and warforged bodies. These experiments had been conducted by a researcher named Waldrin d’Cannith. Zorlan was also aware of the party’s pending mission to Highhold. He offered to tell them more if they agreed to show him the evidence they found first before handing it over to House Orien.
With a day remaining, R. Sativus sent her rat familiar into Friddo’s outpost to scout out the place. The three-story building had a front door and a rooftop ladder, but there were no other points of entry. Inside the compound, Friddo was in his private chamber, poring over his ledger. His room was guarded by his second-in-command, a dwarf bard named Arduk, who sat beside her fellow Boromar gang members and strummed on her lute. When Arduk was preoccupied and had leaned her lute against the wall, the rat quietly chew through its strings.
On the day of the mission, Mickey infiltrated Friddo’s outpost, posing as a Boromor agent who came to check up on Friddo’s activities. At the same time, R. Sativus and Timber snuck into a tower across the street where a Boromar archer was positioned to guard the outpost. On their way up, they noticed a group of eight masked men hiding in the shadows. They were Cyril’s assassins sent to ensure that Friddo’s murder was carried out neatly.
Balkris and Reckoner arrived at the outpost, claiming to have an appointment with Friddo, but were barred entry by the dwarven mercenaries posted at the door. Balkris flew into a rage at the offence and attacked with his rapier. Reckoner charged to his aid and crushed the leader of the dwarves with his warhammer. At the same time, R. Sativus and Timber ambushed the archer in the tower, aided by Cyril’s assassins from the shadows. With the archer dead, Timber leaped down from the tower, enchanted by R. Sativus’s Feather Fall spell, to aid his companions.
Just then, Arduk emerged from the outpost with reinforcements, but she was distraught when she cut her fingers on the broken strings of her lute and realized that her precious instrument had been ruined. Although Arduk was distracted, the remaining gang members outnumbered the heroes 2 to 1 and might have overwhelmed them. But in that moment, whistles were heard as the Sharn Watch arrived on the scene.
The remaining dwarves pointed at their dead leader and explained the situation to the Sharn Watch. Balkris claimed that he had acted in self defense, but his own bloody rapier and Reckoner’s warhammer covered in gore were evidence to the contrary. Balkris, Reckoner, and Timber were apprehended by the authorities and were taken away in manacles.
R. Sativus watched the scene unfold on the street before descending the tower. Cyril’s assassins emerged from the shadows in the stairwell. They had been sent to make sure there were no loose ends that might link the mission back to Cyril. They surrounded R. Sativus, but the gnome made clever use of an illusory puff of smoke and vanished into a dimensional pocket using a Rope Trick spell. The assassins were fooled into believing that she had escaped and left the tower in dismay.
While these events took place, Mickey met with Friddo after the fight on the street drew out Arduk and most of the gang in the outpost. Mickey persuaded the halfling to join him in escaping from the compound. Friddo grabbed his ledger from a locked desk cabinet, then led Mickey and one remaining gang member to the attic where they climbed a ladder down to the street. In a dark alley, more assassins sent by Cyril were lying in wait, but Mickey Bishop knew the streets of Sharn like the back of his hand. He led Friddo through the alleys and hidden passages until they lost the assassins in the maze of the city.
Friddo and his ledger, which provided the evidence that Tamior was seeking, were now in the hands of the Rabble. However, Balkris, Reckoner, and Timber faced trial and were charged by the Highhold crown prosecutor with attempted trespassing, armed battery, and dwarfslaughter. House Vadalis barristers reached a settlement with the city on the condition that the defendants perform several days of community service. Balkris could have sent his retainers in his stead, but he opted to carry out the service himself. Balkris, Reckoner, and Timber spent the next few days cleaning up part of the junkyard in the Cogs.
On the final exhausting day of their community service, they made a startling discovery in the junkyard.