Page 265 - Eberron -Rising from the Last War_Neat

ROLEPLAYING ALDEN sign hangs above a nearby button which opens the lift's
doors. When the doors open, read or paraphrase the fol­
Alden, normally charming and inviting, is exhausted, lowing boxed text to the players:
guilty, and worried about his son Caden. He has not yet
informed his wife, Iyana, that their son has been kid­
napped. Alden and Iyana are separated, and Iyana lives The double doors on the enclosed lift car open to reveal
in distant Fairhaven with her sister. the inside of a 1 5 -foot cube made of stone with etchings
Alden is terse with the characters and wants them to of unicorn patterns covering its walls. A magic orb in the
leave him alone. The moment they bring up Daask, the
Sham Watch, or Coal, he becomes agitated, placing his ceiling illuminates the lift. Two young adults-a shifter
hands over his face and emits a strangled scream. Use and a well-dressed human-talk nose to nose, cradling
the following to guide the party's interaction with Alden: each other's faces in a corner of the elevator, absorbed
l fully n each other and taking no notice of you.
i
Alden badly wants to rescue his son but is terrified of
taking action and seeing Caden harmed.
• Caden was abducted almost a month ago. Alden Luna (chaotic neutral female shifter; see chapter 6)
tucked him in one night, he was gone the following and Vonnie ir'Cardwan (neutral female Brelish human
morning with a message in his place. noble) are having a secret date on the lift. This is where
• A hulking half-ogre met with Alden in the following they first met, so it's a frequent rendezvous. They are
days, explaining she needed expendable labor and bemused by the interruption and politely ask the party to
easy transit of said labor and goods. As long as he leave, pointing out the lift is broken and growing more
complied, Caden would be returned unharmed when insistent and annoyed if the characters don't comply.
her business was done. Any character who succeeds on a DC 1 2 Charisma (Di­
• If Alden backed out of the deal, the half-ogre said she plomacy or Intimidation) check convinces the couple to
would visit horrors on Caden that would make the leave the lift. If a character fails the Intimidation check
Mockery sick. or removes the secret panel (see "Medusa Panel" below),
• Alden breaks down sobbing after relaying this infor­ Vonnie gets upset and plainly states she is summoning
mation and staggers inside. the Watch and stalks away with Luna. Two minutes
later, Vonnie returns with three city Watch guards and
ROLEPLAYING VISHTAI
accuses them of harassing her, vandalizing the lift, or
Vishtai is Alden's confidant and knows all about the situ­ both. The guards arrest the party if the lift appears tam­
ation with Daask. He hates bullies and pushes for Alden pered with. Presenting Vilroy's writ and explaining the
to try to rescue his son rather than to keep giving in to situation causes the guards to back off. Hostile action
Daask's demands. After the characters speak to Alden, toward the young lovers or the guards results the guards
Vishtai telepathically relays this message to them before attempting to subdue the party.
hurrying to follow Alden inside:
MEDUSA PANEL
Upon entering the lift, the characters notice that the
"I have no doubt that Caden will die, regardless of Al­ head of a medusa engraved amid all the unicorn heads
den's actions. Please, save Caden and return him to his hides the seams of a secret panel. A tool or weapon can
father. House Orien would owe you a great debt, and be used to pry open the panel, behind which are several
you see how broken the man is. There is an enclosed lift wires connecting the lift car to a small Eberron dragon­
shard. Each wire is connected to an individual pin-sized
five buildings north of this estate. Look for the medusa
hole in the dragonshard. A character who is proficient
inside. Make sure you're alone, as this lift will take you
in Arcana knows the dragonshard and wires control
down to the dig site and, hopefully, Caden." the movement of the lift. A character who makes a suc­
cessful DC 3 Intelligence (Investigation or Arcana)
1
check finds a loose wire among those attached to the
If the party wishes to speak further, Vishtai will hur­ dragonshard and a hole in the dragonshard with no wire
riedly offer the following bits of information: attached. A character who attaches the loose wire to the
• The kidnapper asked for warforged laborers, prefera­ dragonshard causes the lift to descend into the ruins of
bly immigrants. These laborers are digging for some­ Old Sham. While that wire is attached to the crystal, the
thing in a sparsely inhabited area of Old Sham. lift cannot be called anywhere else in the city.
• The lift the characters must use has been modified in
some way to reach Old Sham. BUGBEAR GOING DOWN
• If the characters rescue Caden, Vishtai is certain that If the characters can't find the hidden panel or figure out
he and Alden can help them track down the kidnapper. how to get the lift to Old Sham, eventually the lift goes
down, called to the tavern district of Olladra's Kitchen
E N C L O S E D L I F T in Lower Central by Orgon, a male bugbear working
for Daask. Orgon wants to go down to Old Sham's
If the characters follow Vishtai's directions, they find a ruins to help guard the relic excavation site. If Luna and
lift with an enclosed car that Daask uses to reach the Vonnie are on the lift when Orgon enters, they leave
ruins of Old Sham. Anyone wishing to use the lift must immediately.
open a hidden panel and hot-wire it. An "out of order"

CHAPTER 4 I BUILDING EBERRON ADVENTURES