Talon's Grip (A Fan-Fiction of sorts)

[DrSpacebar]

((Please let me know if this is in the wrong place.))



A few months passed since the Sharn Syndicate fell.

Thwarted by small-time adventurers with few, if any, feats to their name, the remnants of the Syndicate were a laughingstock, barely able to join the Quickfoot Gang. When compared with threats of much greater magnitude, such as the forces of Droaam, Xoriat, and the Stormreaver, their actions fell into obscurity.

But the Syndicate was not finished.



"Okay. One... more contact."

If he was being honest, Washer Will was glad to be rid of the Syndicate. They'd made him rich, and he made that point with his few remaining contacts. But they'd very nearly gotten him killed. If he hadn't fainted when that Barbarian lowered his axe...

Washer Will, of course, had been an accountant for the Shiny Shilling, a supposedly honest Stormreach accountancy that, in fact, was a front for Sharn Syndicate money laundering. For some time, he and two other accountants had reaped the benefits of the Syndicate's favor (namely, a lot of money and minor insomnia). Then Coin Lord Amanatu had ordered the Shiny Shilling shut down. Forcibly. By adventurers. Big adventurers with axes.

Will had lucked out. The adventurers that came to kill him bashed down the door- well, the barbarian did, amidst the rogue's protesting aloud that she'd found the secret lever. His guards were quickly killed when the sorcerer lobbed a few Scorching Rays, meaning they couldn't stab Will in the back. Then a Soundburst spell from the Cleric dazed Will, and when he came to, after seeing a large electrified Greataxe heading toward him, Will fainted and blacked out.

The rogue had emptied his pockets and the whole group had taken most of his ill-gotten gains, but Will was alive, and the adventurers had left a half-empty Potion of Cure Light Wounds on the floor. After some time hiding out until Talon Darsin kicked, and a long series of tying up deals with contacts, Will was almost ready to fade into obscurity and live a more... legal life.

Just one more contact. "Looks to be one... Thughye D'cannith. Huh, got the capitals wrong... the D is the little letter and the C is a big letter. Eh, maybe Cannith can produce a dummy after all... or maybe he's some kind of technological genius that puts so much effort into, uh... Artificering... that he doesn't know how to spell. That'd be interesting, it would..."

Will finally arrived at the door, in a small alley of the Cannith enclave where a few weird-looking gizmos clonked and cluttered. "Whew! Blimey, this has been takin' a good bit longer than it needed to. Right!" Washer Will rapped twice on the door. "Shiny Shilling! I've got a wee notice here..."

"If it isn't the esteemed Washer Will!" A voice sounded from within the building. "Come in... come in!"

"Wh-what?!" Washer Will recognized the voice, having heard it a few times. But it couldn't be. He was dead... Washer Will stood flat-footed, unsure just what to do.

"Oh, for the love of... Slab! Escort our guest inside!"

Will started to turn around and make a break for the Harbor, but a massive hand grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him into the building...

[DrSpacebar]

((I apologize for the double post. I like to keep episodes separate.

This one's a bit slow and expository...))

Episode 1: Adventurers

While assuredly not dragonmarked and certainly not famous, the Aclior family was nonetheless intertwined with the fate of Stormreach.

The fact that almost all of them had names beginning with the letter Z was only the first thing odd about them. Living on a small island off the coast of Xen'drik, in a mansion hidden inside a portable hole, this eccentric family of red-headed Halflings didn't roam the plains on dinosaurs. Instead, their family business was adventuring, and while you wouldn't be disowned for going into something else (there's only SO much adventure to go around, after all), many who bore the last name 'Aclior' were adventurers.

Naturally, the first place they'd look would be Stormreach. Silver Flame spirit binders willing to help out when someone got themselves reduced to a fine mist by a wizard? Check. Lots and lots of problems that called for application of lethal force? Check. Abundance of tasty ham? Double check. Even those Aclior halflings who didn't adventure for a living went out adventuring for what could only be called entertainment.

This story concerns four of these halflings in particular, as well as one Warforged, almost as much as it concerns the Sharn Syndicate.




Clack! Clack! Clack!

Andon "Bloodyface" Grey brought his training sword around for another sweeping blow. "Keep swinging! I'm not done yet!"

Zollos Aclior raised his own blunted wooden training sword to parry Andon's strike, a smile on his face. This was what Fighters liked. No unnecessary pressure, no restraints, no nonsense... a pure contest of skill and power.

As Andon's trainer came down, Zollos lowered his own trainer in the blink of an eye, swatting Andon's to the ground before lunging forward. In a single swift motion, Andon found Zollos's trainer at his neck.

"Whoo..." Andon dropped his trainer, raising his hands to yield. "You're getting better at this, kid. I thought I had you that last round."

"So did I!" Zollos lowered his trainer. "Right. That's enough of fair fighting. As we've gone over before..."

Andon and Zollos said in unison, "If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics are terrible." Andon continued, "It doesn't seem like you to fight dirty, though."

"If it is a choice between my honor and my companions' lives?" Zollos shook his head. "I know which one I'll pick."

"Good man. Right, let's get down to busine-"

"BROOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Zollos barely had time to mouth "one second" to Andon before turning to face the grinning armored Halfling heading his way. "Zilan!"

"Heyyy, Zollos! I JUST RECENTLY heard you were in the area. Of course, the LEGENDARY SPELLBLADE couldn't leave his own flesh and blood ungreeted, but there was some bad magic goin' on at Gladewatch Outpost, and SOMEONE had to go lay down the law on those Wights!" Zilan Aclior's wide grin was visible through his helmet. "Yo, Andon, are you training my little bro, here?"

"Well, yes-"

"Right on! OK, we can catch up later, then. Meet me at the Rusty Nail, bro!"

Zilan ran off, heading toward the Rusty Nail. Zollos shook his head. "He must have used Haste on himself. He's normally high-strung, but that was something new..."

"So that's one of your brothers, eh?"

Zollos nodded. "Yes. He's a Wizard, though he fights more like a Ranger. And he's got contacts with the Harpe-"

Andon brought his trainer down, but Zollos quickly blocked with his own. "So that's your crash course in dirty fighting, is it?"

"You're catching on fast. En garde!"




Twenty minutes of training later, Zollos found himself opening the door to the Rusty Nail. The few occupants of the tavern gave him a hearty greeting, with Zilan's voice louder than any of the others. "Zollos! How's it been, little brother?"

"Fine, thank you." Zollos sat down across from Zilan, who was eagerly devouring a roast boar shank. "I've advanced far in my training, and I think I've successfully worked heavy blades into my style."

"Heavy blades! I'd like to see the Ammyn Ninjas use THAT!" Zilan grinned ear-to-ear. "And to think, those ninjas called you 'weak'."

Zollos hung his head. "It wasn't because of my choice of weapon that they called me weak, Zilan."

"Well, no, it wasn't. It was your unwillingness to put up with their garbage that got them going BAWWW, HE'S JUST A STUPID WEAK MEANIE HEAD!" Zilan grinned at his own mockery of the unethical Ammyn Ninja Clan. "You're way better than those crooks, bro! And you can take that to the Kundarak Bank and lock it up in maximum security!"

Zollos cracked a smile. "I wouldn't mock ninjas in front of their faces, Zilan."

"Well, yeah. Especially them. 'Cause we know they'll stab you for money, or stab you for not stabbing someone for money, or stab you for deviating from their moves. But that last one means they're gonna make someone angry who has better moves than them. Heh heh..." Zilan patted his main Khopesh in its sheath, almost as if it were a beloved pet. "Old Blue would send 'em runnin' for their mamas."

"So, how've you been, Zilan?"

Zilan nodded. "All right. Life is good. I'm building up a fighting style based on knowing where the enemy's gonna be, and then hitting 'em right where it hurts. Let me tell you, the Harpers know their business!"

"I should hope so," Zollos said. "Otherwise, I'd have to question your working with them. So, has anyone gotten angry at you for not knowing how to throw a fireball?"

"Ha, no. Zeto covers all the fireball-related stuff. And boy, does he cover it! ...oh, man, I've gotta tell you about this lead I got. HUGE opportunity for EPIC HEROISM! And lots of money, too."

Zollos sighed. "Zilan, this isn't one of those leads that turns out to lead us into an Arzag-Khor ambush, is it?"

"No, no!" Zilan leaned forward. "This is for real, little bro. See, the other day, Zalli was in the Phiarlan Enclave, chattin' with Fingalar..."




"Your brothers will be here in two hours?"

Zalli Aclior nodded vigorously. "Yep, yep, yep. Zilan just had to go fight Wights. And Zeto's doing some research. But we'll be ready to do your investigating!"

Fingalar replied, "All right, then. Want some Jump for the road? On the house."

"You bet!"

Fingalar nodded, and with a simple motion, used his improved Jump on Zalli. "All right, have a good day."

"Thanks! You too!"

Zalli sped off down the road, two scepters on her back behind her lute. This normally wasn't what you'd see a Bard carry- you'd expect a sword, or at least a light axe or hammer. But Zalli wasn't a typical Bard. Her muscles were unnaturally weak- even for a Halfling- from birth, and no matter how much she'd tried to get stronger, nothing seemed to help. Despite this, Zalli wanted to be an adventurer and a Bard, so she instead focused on the raw power of song.

Humming a tune to herself, Zalli walked out of the House Phiarlan Enclave and into the Marketplace. After a quick glance in the direction of the Tenements, Zalli continued on her way to the center of the Market...

"So you're the one they call Zalli the Voice, correct?"

Zalli spun around, facing the Warforged that just addressed her. "Yep! What's your name, mister? Or miss? I can't tell, sorry. Not an expert."

"I generally go with 'mister'. I am known as Fell, and Fingalar d'Phiarlan says I am to be working alongside you."

"Great! Nice to meet you, Fell. ...Hey, wait, FELL?!" Zalli's eyes grew wide. "THE Fell? Fell the Flayer-Slayer?!"

"Well... yes."

Zalli gasped. "Oh my gosh, I'M WORKING WITH FELL THE FLAYER-SLAYER! I heard about how you fought Yaulthoon! Oh, oh, you've gotta tell me more about that. I could make some GREAT ballads about you!"

"...Can we skip that part?" Fell shook his head. "Sorry. The whole mess with that Mindflayer is... a sore spot for me."

"Oh, okay. I understand! Totally understand. This one time, I was being chased by Shadows- oh, you should meet my brother!" Zalli pointed toward the Rusty Nail. "You could trade fighting tips! I mean, he uses dual Khopeshes and you wield a huge axe, but you might be able to get something out of it!"

"I... suppose? I'm not doing much, anyway. But could we stop at the bank first? I left something there that I'd like to get."

"Most certainly!" Zalli grinned. "Heck, they might give you a discount. You're Fell! You saved hundreds of lives! AND you have Good Hope! Oh, wait, no you don't." Zalli promptly snapped her fingers. "Goooood Hope! Wait for it, wait for it, there we go. Okay! Good Hope! Now let's go make that withdrawal! Lead the way, Fell!"

Fell was honestly astounded at how the little halfling could have so much energy. But at least she didn't seem like the sort to run into a mob of ogres without waiting for her allies...




"Hmm hmm hmm... laa dee daa dee dum..."

Zeto Aclior was watching a coconut roll across the floor of the Open Palm Inn. "Ah, yes... homing commands are working impressively... huh. It's not rolling fast enough. Hmmmmm..."

After a little frantic staff-waving, the coconut on the floor began rolling around a lot quicker. "Ooh! Yes, yes! It's working! It's working! Now... ZING!"

Most Wizards didn't go with the word "Zing" as the word that caused an enchanted coconut to suddenly roll at high speed toward a target- in this case, a hapless chair. Most Wizards would not have considered an enchanted rolling coconut as remotely viable for study. But Zeto was not most Wizards.

And it was somewhat viable. Once the coconut connected with the chair leg, it sent the chair flying over to the other side of the inn, causing it to shatter against the wall in an almost comic display that drew the innkeep's attention. "Hey! Just what..."

"Uh..." Zeto held up his hands, dead silent. "Uhm, I... I'll pay for that."

After a quick transaction involving one platinum, Zeto returned to observing his coconut. "Hmm. Some damage to the shell. Let's try Repair... Pull yourself together!" At Zeto's command, the coconut... did exactly that.

Zeto shook his head. "Now... hmmmmm." Zeto looked at the coconut again. It had some natural armor, but no external protection...

"MAGE ARMOR." Zeto quickly applied Mage Armor to the coconut, then rammed it into another chair. "I'll pay for this one, too!"

The second chair also went flying, shattering against the wall close to the first. This time, however, the coconut's shell was undamaged.

"SUCCESS! HA HA!" Zeto pumped his fist in the air, before returning the coconut to his bag. "My research has BORNE FRUIT! Which makes sense, because it INVOLVED fruit. I suppose a coconut counts as fruit. Does it?"

The innkeeper snapped his fingers. "Zeto?"

"Oh, right. Hmm.... sooo, that will be two platinum..."

After paying up and leaving the tavern, Zeto looked toward the exit of the Jorasco enclave. Hopefully he was still welcome in the Rusty Nail...





Two hours later, Fingalar d'Phiarlan pushed open the door to his office. This small room in the Phiarlan chapterhouse was at least two hundred years old, and Fingalar had used it every one of those two hundred years to discuss almost everything under the sun. Today's discussion would not be the first one like it.

"...and then he just ran right into the spikes! Honestly! They call ME a nutter, but let me tell you who the real nutter is." Zeto's voice. Fingalar sighed and nodded, understanding Zeto's sentiment.

"These days, adventurers seem to think they're invincible, don't they?" Another halfling... a relative, perhaps? It wasn't Zalli or Zilan and was definitely not Fell. "I had a cleric that decided it wasn't in her best interest to heal me when I was THIS close to collapsing. Nothing attacking her, no one else in trouble, just me and a few archers that didn't much like me. Her response was to run into the next room and get the attention of some bugbears."

"She didn't heal you? For shame!" Zalli's voice, and it was quite indignant. "What's her name? I'll give her a shouting-to!"

"Um... I, ah, can't remember."

"Here it is. Everyone, on your BEST behavior, for we're in the presence of-"

"Hi, Fingalar!" Zalli pushed open the door, revealing four halflings- the three Fingalar had spoken to, and one more- and Fell the Warforged. "We're all set to go!"

"Ah, good." Fingalar shook each one's hand in turn. "And who's this?"

The fourth halfling bowed. "Zollos Aclior, sir."

"Zollos, eh?" Fingalar tried to remember the name. "Zollos... ah, the one who escaped the Ammyn Ninjas. Welcome, welcome. I've heard good things about your swordplay."

"It's nothing too special, sir." Zollos sat down at the desk.

"So, we have two wizards- one of which is more of a swordsman... one bard, specializing in medicine and crowd-control... one Barbarian with some technical skills..." Fingalar nodded toward Zollos. "And now a fighter. With some aspects of a monk's fighting style?"

"Yes." Zollos nodded. "So... down to business."

"Down to business." Fingalar sat down at a large table, motioning for each of his guests to find a seat as well. Then he reached into a bag for a map of Stormreach. "Right. As you're no doubt aware..."

[DrSpacebar]

Episode 2: The Briefing

"Right. As you're no doubt aware, there's been strange goings-on in the Cannith enclave." Fingalar pointed to the enclave, displayed prominently on the map with a picture of Cannith's bull-head crest. "Large-scale burglary of machine parts. This is old news if you've been around the Cannith Enclave."

"I heard about that the other day." Fell shook his head. "I know your house well enough to know that's not all your information. What else do you know?"

"Quite a bit. I personally observed some strange thefts around... here." Fingalar placed a wooden peg on the map, on a building in the Tenements. "This small complex was the headquarters of the Sharn Syndicate, before the death of Talon Darsin. Are you familiar with the Sharn Syndicate?"

Everyone around the table except Zollos nodded their head. Zollos asked, "Fill me in, sir?"

"They were a group of organized criminals from Sharn, and their leader, Talon Darsin, was vying for control of Stormreach. But their extortion rackets in the Cerulean Hills were exposed by adventurers. Coin Lord Yorrick Amanatu personally oversaw their destruction."

"Wait." Zilan piped up, "The Syndicate's out for the count. What's left to steal from their headquarters? Rat ****?"

"Napkins, perhaps." Zeto nodded. "Everybody has use for napkins."

"I think it's more substantial than that. What I saw baffled me. There were about four men leaving the old Syndicate headquarters, led by... something. It was huge, and looked vaguely humanoid, and kept shouting at the others to 'hurry up' and that 'the boss' didn't have all day. The men were carrying bags, but I couldn't get a good look at them."

"Bags?" Zalli leaned in. "You think they're holding... bodies?"

"Possibly, but I smelled nothing of interest from them, and they didn't look like the sort of bags you'd put a body in."

"Hmm. So you've got mysterious goings-on in this Syndicate's headquarters, and thefts in the Cannith Enclave." Zollos asked, "Anything else?"

"Of course. Here's the clincher... people have been moving from the tenements to the enclaves of the dragonmarked houses."

Zalli asked, "So I take it that doesn't mean the economy is improving?"

"Unfortunately not," Fingalar said. "There have been a few crimes in every house, apart from the Cannith machine part thefts... three murders, one unidentified disappearance, and an instance of extortion in Kundarak. The perpetrators we've caught are all linked to these new moves, and their equipment seems to derive from the same source. Meanwhile, crime rates in the Tenements have gone down."

"A resurgence of the Sharn Syndicate."

The entire table looked at Zollos after he said this. Zollos shrugged. "It's a guess, but... we have a rather large fellow talking about a 'boss' while getting something from the Syndicate's old headquarters, and we have an apparently organized group of criminals. And they've got the guts to rob the dragonmarked houses, which are significantly tougher targets."

"That's my theory..." Fingalar shrugged. "But I'm not sure. It could be the same Syndicate, an imitator, or even an unaffiliated group that knew something about the Syndicate. What is true, though, is that there's a threat of organized crime. Can we count on your aid?"

"Of course!" Zollos stood. "I will not stand for extortion and murder."

"Yeah! We're gonna wreck these punks!" Zilan drew his Khopesh. "Ain't that right, Old Blue?"

"Do put that away, please." Fingalar shook his head. "I trust you, but I get nervous when weapons are drawn in my office."

"Right, sorry." Zilan stowed "Old Blue" in its sheath. "So, we ready to fight some thugs?"

"We're always ready to fight some thugs!" Fell clenched his fist. "I can handle locks and traps, and you know my approach to combat."

"Ah, yes, my brothers are eager to get going on this venture." Zeto flipped a wand in his hand. "I, too, shall lend aid. Murder is hardly the best environment for research!"

"These crime gangs walk all over the common folk, who already have it tough as it is. As the one who champions their cause and sings in their favor," Zalli said, "I'd be remiss not to offer a little bardic know-how!"

Fingalar watched the reactions of the five, and smiled. "It's good to know you're on our side. Now, where shall we begin our investigation?"

"I'm curious. What is it the big fellow was getting?" Zeto asked. "Perhaps something of a magical nature? How much magic is assisting these fellows?"

Fingalar sighed. "A token amount of spellcasters have been apprehended, with nothing out of the ordinary. But we can't tell at this state..."

"I guess we should investigate these old headquarters." Fell stood up. "Thank you for the information, Fingalar."

"We'll be back with news, Fingalar!" Zilan stood up. "Let's go search some headquarters!"

[DrSpacebar]

((For those of you who were wanting more action, we now have more action.))

Episode 3: Ghost of the Syndicate

The Tenements were quiet.

Zalli had been in them before to play her music. The Tenements had always been a rowdy place, where the gangs of Stormreach ran wild. This had only slowed down a little with the fall of the Sharn Syndicate.

But now it was so quiet. People came and went, but it looked to Zalli like any other part of town.

"There!"

Zeto pointed toward a large building with an out-of-place fancy gate. "That's it. Looks like a mansion, doesn't it? Well, that's where the Syndicate operated. It smells... of orange rinds."

Zilan sniffed the air. "Doesn't smell like orange rinds to me."

"Hmm. Must just be my head. Fell, could you handle that gate?"

"No problem." Fell walked up to the gate, stared it down, growled at it, considered how ridiculous he looked for a moment, then, with his bare metal hands, tore the gate off its hinges.

"Well done, Fell. Now, Zalli, your music?"

"Sure thing, little brother!" Zalli, at Zollos's request, immediately segued into a series of songs- Spellsong Trance, Song of Arcane Might, and Inspire Greatness- and followed it up with Good Hope, then finished up with Detect Secret Doors, which Zeto and Zilan also cast on themselves.

"All right. Leave no stone unturned! And watch where you step- we don't want to crush any evidence."

Fell systematically checked the floor, looking for footprints, indentations, anything that would give away some kind of hidden compartment. Meanwhile, the halflings came to a fork. Zalli and Zilan walked off to the left, while Zeto and Zollos moved to the right.



Zalli quickly spied what looked to be a... laundry room? There was no laundry, but there WAS the remains of a tub and clotheslines. "Zilan? Does this place look like anything other than a laundry room?"

"Levers!" Zilan took a look at two levers, nestled against the wall. "Looks like there's a label here... gate control. Well, if Fell wasn't able to rip the gate off its hinges, this would have been helpful."

"Let's pull these levers."

"Whoa, wait, shouldn't we check for traps?" Zilan looked back toward the entrance. "You know how these punks are. Put traps right in front of levers like this. Fell can take on traps, right?"

"Yep! Remember? The Chronicle's interview said the Swiftfoot Gang had traps in front of their HQ. And Fell disabled every one of them." Zalli smiled. "I'm going to work THAT into a ballad! Bravely did Fell raise his axe, with caution did Fell stop the traps..."



Down the other path, Zollos and Zeto quickly came to a closed gate that seemed to lead upstairs; the hallway turned to the left there, continuing toward a larger space. Zeto scratched his head. "Hmm. Now here is an issue."

"Zeto, can you get rid of this?"

"I can do better than that." Zeto stared at the door for a moment, then flicked his wrist and shouted, "There IS a door!" And indeed, there was soon a door; a Dimension Door took Zeto and Zollos to the other side of the shut gate.

"Nice work!" Zollos looked back at the gate. "Now, is there some sort of control to this gate?"

"Perhaps a valve? Or a lever? Or maybe they're unique, and use a cheese wheel? Upstairs, perhaps." Zeto began walking upstairs, when something caught his eye... on the wall on the left-hand side, as they walked up the stairs. "Hey, look! Secret door!"

As Zeto approached the door, Zollos raised his hand. "Stop! There may be a trap. Stand back and let me get the door."

"Ah! Caution, always useful." Zeto stepped away from the door. "Do you think there WILL be a trap?"

"Maybe. Maybe not..." Zollos focused, allowing worries to wash over him, stepping as with the tide in Ocean Stance. Then he activated the door.

As the door began to open, Zollos felt the steps below him pull away. A quick leap saved Zollos from falling through the hole in the steps that wasn't there before, into a pit filled with what looked like molten slag. "...Very clever, Syndicate."

"Nice save! Twelve retracting steps. Interesting choice of trap!"

"Seamless, too. I didn't notice any difference in the retracting steps until they activated. Well, the door's open..."

Zollos and Zeto were both able to jump from their position on the steps into the door. Ahead of them was a pitch-dark hallway; to their right, there were a few valves, one of which clearly controlled the retracting steps, and the other labelled "Stairs Gate Control".

"Right. Let's see what we've got in here." Reverting to his Wind Stance, Zollos readied his sword, in case something jumped out of the dark.



"No traps in here." Fell shook his head. "Go ahead and pull the levers."

"All right!" Zalli and Zilan promptly yanked the two levers to their other position.

"But I don't think they'll do anything other than control the gates..." Fell shook his head. "Nothing interesting so far."

Zilan sighed. "Well... dang. This room was usele-"

"WHICH ONE OF YOU GNATS SHUT THIS GATE?!" A voice outside bellowed.

"Not quite useless, it seems!" Zalli began walking to the entrance. "I believe this may be the large fellow Fingalar referred to. And I daresay I'll be able to get something out of him with the good old-fashioned bardic art!"

"IS THAT A GIRL?! I THOUGHT THE BOSS DIDN'T HAVE ANY LADIES ON THIS CREW! HEY! THAT'S AN INTRUDER, ISN'T IT?!"

Zalli stopped just before getting outside the gate, and drew her lute. Then, she began singing, softly, and yet firmly, in an attempt to fascinate the loud guy. "My friend, you're mistaken, I'm just passing throu-"

CRRRREEEEAK! Zalli's singing was interrupted by the sound of the secondary gate being loudly torn off its hinges. "Hey! I'm trying to sing here!" Zalli instinctively stepped back, while Zilan and Fell ran to her side, with Fell hefting a bat-winged greataxe and Zilan carrying his trademark Khopeshes.

A massive... human-like THING in a full-body cloak, standing twelve feet tall and brandishing the gate like a weapon, stepped into the building. "YOU PICKED THE WRONG PLACE TO SING, HALFLING!"

"My sister can sing wherever she wants!" Zilan willed his Improved Mage Armor and Shield into existence, then leveled his main Khopesh at the thing. "Now butt out before Old Blue takes offense!"

Fell began staring the big thing down, preparing for his chance to strike.

"Yeah!" Zalli, getting over the initial surprise of seeing an enormous thing brandishing a gate at her, clenched her hands around her Scepters. "We're trying to work here!"

"WELL, STOP WORKING! I'M GONNA SQUASH YOU MAGGOTS!"

The thing began to lift the gate. Zalli quickly Shouted and jumped back behind the warriors, while Fell charged, roaring a battle cry. Zilan's Khopeshes burst into flames.

Zalli's shout, though it seemed to hurt the giant thing, didn't stop it from swinging its gate. Fell gritted his teeth and pushed against the blow as it struck him with a loud THWUNK. "Grrrr! Not... half bad!"

Fell's knees buckled as intense pain racked his body. But Zalli was quick to Cure Critical Wounds, repairing some of the damage. Meanwhile, Zilan tore at the creature's side with an Eldritch Strike.

"HEY! NO SNEAKING BEHIND ME!" The thing swung the gate around to try and strike Zilan, but Zilan was too quick, tumbling out of the way of the swing. Fell seized his chance, striking with Great Cleave, and his weapon's Vampiric Bond began restoring health. Meanwhile, Zalli hurled a Sonic Blast at the thing's gut.

The thing turned around to swing at Fell again, but this time, Fell tried to block the attack with his greataxe. The resulting RINGGGG shook the room, and Fell stumbled back. The creature prepared to swing at Fell again...

...only to find its cloak fly off, as Zilan gave the string holding it together a good cut. The shock stopped the monstrous man from swinging the gate.

Zalli gasped. Before her stood a terrifying monster, less a man than a slug. But even so, vaguely human-like features were visible; namely, the creature's twisted, mangled, and very much FURIOUS face, and its enormous arms, which still held the gate.

"Well, you're an ugly one!" Fell glared at the monster's head. "Just what are you, anyway?"

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, RUNT!" The monster continued its swing, knocking Fell against the wall. "I'M GONNA BREAK YOU IN HALF!"

Zalli quickly used Cure Critical Wounds on Fell, which instantly earned the monster's ire. "HEY! STOP THAT! HEALING IS FOR WIMPS WHO CAN'T FIGHT!"

Ignoring Zilan's furious swings at its back, the monster moved toward Zalli, its gate rising up in preparation for a nasty sweep. Zalli tried to deter it with Shout, followed by Reverberate, which only made it even angrier.

THUD! Fellforge landed a critical blow with his greataxe, getting the monster's attention. "What's the matter? Too scared of the big bad Warforged?!"

"BE QUIET! AAAAARGH!" The effects of Reverberate were quickly apparent, as the monster's head began ringing. Zalli renewed the Reverberate, and the monster began swinging the gate around, haphazardly and without any regard to where his foes actually were.

"Okay, it's workin'! Keep it up!"

"WHAT'S WORKING?!" The monster, despite its wounds, didn't seem anywhere close to flagging. But Reverberate was causing it plenty of pain. It swung its gate again, and this time, the gate struck Zilan and sent him flying across the room.

Zalli, after casting Reverberate again, ran to check on Zilan. "Are you all right?"

"Uuuh... the legend of whatsit and whaddayacallit..."

"Cure Critical Wounds!"

Zalli quickly restored Zilan's health, and Zilan leapt back to his feet. "All right! Where's that chump?! Let me at him!"

But the enormous thing was running, swinging the gate awkwardly to keep Fell away. "ENOUGH! THIS IS TOO MUCH OF A HEADACHE! I'M LEAVING!"

Zilan tried to give chase, but the monster could move surprisingly quickly, and disappeared into the Tenements.

"Aaargh! Where'd he go?"

"I don't know!" Fell looked at the alleys outside. "He could have run down any of those alleys."

"There!" Zalli pointed toward a large, detached gate. "He must have dropped it. Keep trying to find him!"



"There's no lighting in here. Perhaps this section was abandoned."

"Nonetheless, we should check. Just to be thorough."

Zollos took point, his sword ready for whatever may have leapt out of the dark. But, after a good five minutes of walking through twisting dark hallway, Zollos wasn't sure anything would leap out.

Then, finally, Zollos spied something ahead. "Around the corner."

"Oh, a source of light! Now what, I wonder, is this source?"

Zollos and Zeto rushed down the hallway and turned the corner. Before them stood a room of medium size. Strongboxes were piled inside, most of them emptied. But the most significant thing there was the large iron golem in the center of the room, who stared down the two halflings with glowing red eyes. The golem appeared to have... rune arms? Yes, rune arms connected to its... well, its arms.

"STATE PASSWORD."

Zollos turned toward Zeto. "You wouldn't happen to know the password, would you?"

"Hmm. No. But let me have a few guesses. Hmm... Sharn Syndicate... Sharn... Syndicate... Ooh!" Zeto pointed toward the Iron Golem. "Murder and mayhem!"

"INCORRECT."

"Edible flagons."

"INCORRECT."

"Ooh, he's tricky. All right, what's the riddle?"

"INCORRECT."

"That was a question, not a password!"

"INCORRECT."

"How many tries do we get?" Zollos asked.

"INCORRECT."

"Pfft. Well, that's helpful."

"INCORRECT."

Zeto grinned, as if he'd come up with something clever. "If you say 'incorrect' to this sentence, we've been told by the master that it will mean 'correct' and it is safe to pass."

"WRONG."

Zeto's eyes narrowed. "Oooh. Clever."

"INCORRECT."

"Dummy."

"INCORRECT. THE NEXT FAILED ATTEMPT WILL TRIGGER ATTACK MODE."

Zollos sighed and turned to Zeto. "All right, then. Do you think we can take him?"

"Of course we can! Just remember to run away if he hits you hard enough."

"All right." Zollos, trying to look nonthreatening, walked forward, hiding his sword behind his back.

"WARNING. APPROACHING DANGER ZONE. STEPPING FURTHER WILL TRIGGER ATTACK MODE."

"Understood."

"INCOR-"

CLANG! Zollos leapt forward and swung his blade about, striking the golem's arm from below. The blow connected, but it wasn't nearly enough.

"ATTACK MODE TRIGGERED." The Golem quickly responded by lifting both arms, charging its Rune Arms, while spraying a cone of poison from its mouth.

"Urgh!" Zollos felt the poison coat his body. It began to seep in, eating away at him from inside... think, Zollos, think!

Hearing the Rune Arms charging, Zollos quickly rolled under the Golem's feet, and upon getting back on his feet on the other side of the golem, began hacking at its back.

"Hmm! Now I've heard of a poisonous tongue before, but that's rather literal, don't you thin- GREAT MOTHER O' BIGBY!"

Zeto leapt to the side to try and avoid a combined fire-acid stream from both rune arms. It didn't entirely work; Zeto's left arm was now on fire. "Drat! My arm! My arm hurts! Ow ow ow- oh for the love of..." Zeto blew on his arm, putting it out with an ice-magic-assisted gust of his own breath.

"Zeto!" Zollos kept swinging at the golem, gritting his teeth and trying to ignore the poison. "It's absorbing these attacks like they're nothing!"

"Hmm, right right right. Well then." Zeto lifted his staff with both hands, and slammed it on the ground. "SIZZLE IN DRIZZLE! Get it?"

Acid Rain began to fall on the golem, causing some damage. "Drizzle? ...Rain? Sheesh, tough crowd."

The golem glared at Zeto, charging its Rune Arms again. Zollos, safely ignoring the rain due to Zeto's magic preventing it from harming him, leapt upward and slashed at the golem's shoulder.

"ENGAGING EVIDENCE TAMPERING MODE."

The golem changed tactics, pointing its arms at the boxes. But Zollos was too quick. He slashed at the left rune arm, knocking it off balance, then tore into the right rune arm. While he couldn't break it before it fired, he could push it aside before it fired at the chest.

Jets of energy fired out of the golem's rune arms- flame from the right and acid from the left. While the heat was enough to give Zollos a slight burn, the strongboxes weren't hit.

"Ha!" Zollos disengaged as the golem raised its fist in an uppercut. "With your weapons down..."

"ENGAGING SELF-DESTRUCT-"

KRSH-KRSH-KRSHHH! Three Frost Lances collided with the golem's back, dealing enough damage to disable its systems in a much less volatile way. Zollos backed off as the golem fell forward, landing with a loud THUD on the ground.

"Wheeeeew." Zeto patted his left arm. "Now that was a nasty surprise! But it's nothing that tactics and a cool head can't beat. Or was it a cool back? Yes, definitely the latter."

"Have you got anything for this poison? It's a nasty one."

Zollos quickly found himself dropping his blade on the floor to catch a potion Zeto flung at him. "Drink that," Zeto said, "'cause it's the BEST for poison!"

Zollos quickly obliged while Zeto began examining the strongboxes. "Hmm. Unlocked. Unlocked. Unlocked. Locked! Knock-a-dee, knock-a-doo, I'm-a-using Knock on you..."



"...I tried." Fell shook his head. "He left no trail."

"What WAS he, anyway?" Zilan leaned against the wall. "Some kinda crazy slug-man, but WHAT kinda crazy slug-man?"

"Guys! Come quick! Look what I found in his cloak!"

Fell and Zilan made for the entrance to the old Syndicate Headquarters, where Zalli had been rummaging through the enormous cloak the monster-man left behind. "This guy's name is Slab. He worked for the old Sharn Syndicate!"

"Whaaaat? I heard that guy died tryin' to take someone's saloon!"

"There's more." Zalli looked at the bottom of a letter. "These are orders to move machine parts. And they're given by one 'Zircon'."

"A Warforged name, I believe... wasn't he the one that tricked Amanatu's mercs into robbing the Lordsmarch bank?"

Zalli nodded. "Yep. I remember that. But what sort of machine parts could he be trying to move?"

"These, for starters."

Zalli turned toward her younger brother's voice. "Zollos! Did you find anything? Oh, your face looks awfully burnt! One second..." Zalli quickly threw a Cure Light Wounds in Zollos's direction, and then, seeing Zeto's arm, gave him Cure Serious.

"Ah, thank you, thank you." Zeto rubbed his cured arm. "Much better. I don't like burned arms. They have too much in common with... dying fish."

"Whoa, bro, where'd you get the stuff?" Zilan looked at the large bag strapped to Zilan's back.

"A hidden room we found in the mansion. It was guarded by a heavily armed iron golem that was instructed to protect them." Zollos opened the bag, revealing complex metal parts and canisters of odd liquids. "Can anyone make anything of this?"

Fell shook his head. "I like to think I understand how machines work... but this stuff doesn't make any sense to me. We need to go see an expert. I'll take this bag."

Fell lifted the bag, and left the Sharn Syndicate headquarters with the halflings. What could these parts be for...

[DrSpacebar]

((Sorry about the delay! I'll be aiming to update twice a week from now on.))

Episode 4: The Same Cast


"Slab the Crusher and Zircon..." Fingalar shook his head. "I suppose they aren't quite dead."

"It would seem that way."

"Well." Fingalar glanced over his shoulder. "Them being alive makes this more dangerous. But we have a lead, at least. I'll send these parts to Cannith; an expert can look at them."

Fell stared outside. "In the meantime, this new Syndicate is causing trouble. And I'd like to give them some trouble back!"

Fingalar looked toward a small sheet of paper. "Give them trouble? Well, then you're in luck. A certain Eryet d'Deneith just publicly called this new Syndicate 'a bunch of cowards' and 'Hireling fodder', and dared them to fight her."

Zollos shook his head. "Why would she do that? Perhaps she's trying to draw their attention to herself?"

"It would seem so."

"Then we'd better take advantage of this. Zalli?"

"Hmm?"

Zollos began coming up with a rough idea of what he'd do. "Do you still know Invisibility?"



"Ha!" Eryet d'Deneith scoffed, "Old Fingalar is really worried, eh?"

"With one Syndicate leader all but confirmed to be not only alive, but also turned into some kind of slug... monster... thing?" Zollos nodded. "I'd be worried too."

"Well, he sounds a little intimidating. But it's nothing I can't handle. Stick around, though." Eryet looked down at Zollos. "Assuming you can take a few hits?"

"A few. And we have a little more cover." Zollos looked up at the walls across from the Anvilfire Inn.

"A little more? Care to tell me?"

Zollos shook his head. "Afraid not. Fingalar's orders are that it has to be a surprise."

"I don’t usually like surprises."

“Normally, I don’t either, but this one’s going to be more pleasant.” Zollos was still curious, though... “So why’d you taunt the Syndicate?”

Eryet’s brow furrowed in resentment. “When the Devils attacked... some advance Syndicate agents were drafted on the spot and assigned to the command of my brother. They sold him out, They led him into an Abishai ambush for a sum of platinum...” Eryet clenched her fists. “Who knows when we’ll be attacked again? And who knows which one of us is going to get stuck drafted with some Syndicate scum?”

“I see. This is about revenge?”

“Revenge? The fools who sold out my brother were skewered on the spot by Orthons and the devils who killed him were shot down by our ballisticians. No.” Eryet stared up at the Deneith tower. “This is about protecting our city from criminal scum. I’ve seen too many strong soldiers die because of a stupid obsession with revenge, anyway...”

“As have I.” Zollos hung his head. “As have I...”

"Zollos, do you notice something?" Eryet and Zollos were outside the Anvilfire Inn. And... "I don't see any of the usual lot outside."

"It is unusually quiet..."

Suddenly, someone shouted and snapped their fingers. Zollos turned in the direction of the shout, drawing his sword, but he saw nothing there. "Eryet! Stay back!"

Zollos received no response, and glanced behind him- to find Eryet standing stock-still, turned into stone!

"So, that's how you're going to play, spellcaster..." Zollos looked this way and that for the spellcaster, but he couldn't see anyone...

Then he turned around as a ball of magical ice materialized on the stairs and shot toward Eryet at breakneck speed...

"NOT TODAY!"

A sudden gust of wind sent the ball of ice flying off in the wrong direction; it struck the door of the Anvilfire Inn, harming no one. Zilan stood there, staring down what appeared to be nothing. "Hey, bro, how'd ya like that? Gust of Wind. Freakin' SWEET."

"Zilan! Excellent timing. Now-"

"EAT STEEL, CHUCKLEHEAD!" Zilan ran toward the stairs. Doubtless that was where the spellcaster was. Zollos could also make out heavy CLANK-CLANK-CLANKing from Fell.

"Sooo, Zollos, need a hand?" Zalli materialized next to him with her lute in her hand. "Right. Being a statue just isn't much fun, get rid of this magic so that you can run..."

"I'm TRYING!" Eryet shouted, annoyed... before immediately realizing that was a Song of Freedom. "Ha, thanks."

"Anytime!"

Zollos and Eryet immediately turned toward Zilan and Fell, who were swinging away at... something? "What, you scared? Didn't expect adventurers, did ya?! Man, you suck! Get back here!"

"Zilan! Where'd he go?"

"Over thatta way!" Zilan pointed while Fell began chasing the invisible assailant.

"Bad magic! BAD! SIT DOWN! Good boy!"

Yep, that was Zeto, and his Dispel Magic promptly removed the assailant's invisibility as he ran from Fell. However, as Fell's axe came down, the assailant shouted something and vanished into the shadows, and Fell's axe struck nothing!

"Dang. That weasel used Shadow Walk!"

"Grr!" Eryet lifted her sword. "Thought you'd hit and run, eh? Why don't you Shadow Walk up here so I can cut you down?!"

"Oh, come on! Six against one is hardly FAIR."

The caster was standing on the roof. Zollos got a better look at... was he a zombie?! He looked like one and smelled like one, but...

"I remember when I had to go up against the exact same odds. Plus or minus a few useless underlings... You adventurers have no taste."

"Because turning a woman to stone and lobbing a ball of ice at her is generally called 'taste'?" Zollos asked.

"Pffffft! Listen to him!" The zombie spellcaster raised a scepter to begin casting...

...then immediately ducked behind the wall as a Sonic Blast, a throwing axe, and a Lightning Bolt all flew through where he'd just been.

"Get back here!" Eryet drew another throwing axe. "There's more where that came from!"

"Hmmm... MAYBE... noooot."

The caster didn't jump back down. But about twenty Earth Elementals took his place. Zilan's jaw dropped. "IS HE SERIOUS?!"

The Elementals immediately moved to attack. Zollos tried to run forward, but found himself held in place by an Earthgrab.

"I said, SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Zeto dispelled one Elemental's control, causing it to turn and fight another. Fell opted for a more direct approach, intercepting two more Elementals before they could attack Zalli. Zilan got the attention of three Elementals at once with a well-timed Strike, while Zalli began singing, running around to avoid the three Elementals chasing her.

That left ten elementals heading for Eryet and Zollos. Eryet shouted and lifted her greatsword, charging into the fray.

Zollos tried to get in ahead of her. "Don't you love these odds? Ten against- wait a moment." Another Elemental turned about and began punching a few of its fellows thanks to Zeto's Dispel Magic. That left four heading for Eryet and three for Zollos.

"HYAAAARGH!" Eryet opened the fight with a Great Cleave, cutting a wide gash in two of the Elementals. They immediately retaliated with enormous punches; Eryet ducked under one, but the others struck her. "Bah!" Eryet grimaced, ignoring the pain of having just been punched in the gut by three enormous rock monsters; she'd had much worse than that. "Come on, is that all you've got?!"

Zollos rolled in and used a Cleave against his three Elementals before tumbling aside, barely ducking under one stony backhand. A quick glance revealed that Zalli was still fine, Zilan had thrown glitterdust, Fell had hewed the two Elementals in half already, and Zeto was held by Earthgrab...

"Zollos, got a second?!" Zilan was desperately trying to fight off two elementals, keeping them away from Zeto; the third was using his Earthgrab. One fell down, while the other, barely wounded in the first place, knocked Zilan to the ground with a nasty punch.

Zollos responded by leaping forward and tearing at the elemental's side with his sword, immediately getting its attention. Pretty soon, he, too, was held in place by stony fingers, and prepared to be struck with a nasty punch...

...but the Elemental just stopped, staring at Zalli.

"All right, ALL RIGHT!" Zilan pumped his fist. "BOOYAH! HEY, CRAPSACK, MY SIS JUST FASCINATED YOUR ELEMENTALS! WHATCHA GONNA SAY ABOUT THAT?!"

"Nice timing, Zalli." Zollos looked at each party member in turn. Zalli was immediately tending to the rest of the party's wounds while they had the chance.

"Thanks, bro! I think I missed a few notes, though."

"Hah... not half bad." Eryet looked around at the elementals. "Make this quick. Everyone, take one elemental at a time. We'll let the Warforged pick, he killed the most so far."

One by one, Fell pointed out Elementals and the entire party hit them with their weapons, except for Zalli (who used Reverberate) and Zeto (who lobbed Frost Lances and Force Missiles). By the time the elementals broke free, only two remained, and one had been hit by Zeto's Dispel Magic.

Ballisticians fired from the wall and put a bolt through each Elemental, but this was, at that point, merely adding insult to injury.

"Took 'em long enough!" Eryet shouted up at the ballistae. "What took you so long? Sleeping on the job?!"

"Yeah!" A surprisingly honest reply... "Someone hit us with sleep magic!"

"I see. All right, be on the lookout for a zombie wizard!"

"Understood!"

Zeto shook his head. "A zombie wizard. How does that occur?"

"They found a bunch of zombie wizards a while back." Eryet stared toward the port. "They worked for the Blood Tide Pirates... I guess the Syndicate isn't too different."

"All right. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Eryet rubbed her head. "Still got a little headache from trying to fight off that spell. Other than that, the bard healed me pretty well. We can take it from here, so you tell Fingalar your mission was a success."

"All right." Zollos began walking toward the portal.

"Oh, yeah." Eryet cracked a half-smile. "Thanks for the aid."

"You're welcome." Zollos half-smiled back as he left for the teleporter.



"But do you like-like Eryet?" Zalli asked.

Zollos's face turned a shade of red. "Ah... it's far too early to say."

"Suuuure it is."

"Ask her on a date, man!" Zilan laid back in his chair. "Pro advice from the Spellblade. Ask her to meet you for lunch at the Hammersmith's! Or maybe go off into the sewers and fight trogs, I don't know, whatever it is Fighters do!"

"No, no, no. Troglodytes smell bad, that's bad for a date. No, you want to fight Oozes."

"Oozes?!" Fell threw his arms out to the sides. "That's even worse! It'll cost you platinum to pay for the broken gear. Nah, for Fighters like you two, I'd go with Hobgoblins. You can impress her by ducking under Lightning Bolts!"

"Seriously, guys? She has to fight for her job, she won't want to fight on her date too!" Zalli sighed. "For a date, you want something fun! Ooh, you could go to the carnival. We're RIGHT in the neighborhood to buy tickets!"

Zollos wasn't quite sure how to respond to any of this, so he was relieved when Fingalar walked into the room. "Excellent work. I've heard already from Oleg. You were fighting a zombified wizard, correct?"

"Yes. A powerful one, too. He used Flesh to Stone."

Fingalar pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. "Our sources have matched the description Eryet provided with one 'Quendrel'- another old Syndicate member. Quendrel used his magic to head the Syndicate's extortion operations until his death at the hands of Amanatu's hired swords. The fact that Quendrel's tomb was found robbed early after his death supports this theory, as does the zombie's use of arcane magic."

"So, three regulars..." Fell glared. "Back from the dead with their jobs intact. Slab is still hitting things and bein' dumb, Quendrel- if that was Quendrel- is still usin' magic, and that Zircon guy... How'd they pull that off? Never heard of a Warforged zombie."

"Incidentally." Fingalar looked at another sheet of paper on his desk. "That would be what you're investigating next..."