Terminus District, Lower Tavick's Landing

This district is a buzzing hive of activity. Orien lightning rail coaches arrive and depart twice a day, and merchants and labourers are constantly loading and unloading crates of merchandise. Skycoaches and magic lifts are in constant motion, carrying travellers up to the higher towers.

The party arrive at Terminus Station, the massive House Orien enclave that serves as an endpoint for the lightning rail coach line. There is a queue for city entry some two hours long.

The party do not know this, but ancient artifacts such as the items retrieved from the Whispering Cairn are contraband. The laws are mainly intended for articles bought back from Xen'drik, which these items are not (they are relics of the Wind Dukes) but they probably apply. A bribe will work, if it is done diplomatically.

Flash is not interested in hanging about for two hours, so decides to disguise himself as a really, really hot chick. This works great, and the party are moved up in the queue and enter the city with no probs.

Yes, Sharn is just a huge nightclub.

The Festival of Shadows

The intersection ahead is packed with a throng of people, straining their necks and cheering as a pair of jugglers, preceded by a large metal cage, makes its way down the cross street. The parade continues to roll past, displaying the talents of numerous street performers and various caged beasts. One large and extravagant cage on a horse-drawn wagon actually consists of two cages. The inner cage is made of iron bars, with panes of glass mounted outside the bars on all four sides. Within is a three-headed monstrosity with the heads of a goat, a lion, and a brilliant blue dragon. As the parade trundles along, the beast roars over and over as its dragon head blasts the iron cage with bolts of electricity that play along the metal bars.

Acquiring a guide is no problem. A couple of seconds standing about looking lost do the trick. The party decide to head straight for Eligos, in the Plantinate district. As they head up through Sharn's middle layers, they are stopped by a carnival. It seems that House Pharlain's "Festival of Shadows" is on. There are jugglers, mimes, and savage beasts in cages. A cage containing a chimera fails, and the party must decide: the chimera, or the mimes?

They elect to battle the chimera. The party manage to subdue it without slaying the beast. The circus proprietor is effusively grateful, giving the party two potions of Resist Energy (lightning). The party, however, are not unscathed. Unspotted by them, a pickpocket has been at work, and they have lost one or two items of small value.

The Street of the Prophets

Up ahead, standing atop a covered rain barrel, a man screams at a public that seems keen to ignore his ravings. Dressed only in a ratty robe and waving a long, charred staff, the balding human man seems to be shouting himself hoarse, yet the crowd still passes him by without paying much attention at all.

Further on, the party wander through a street featuring a number of prophets and assorted doomsayers. There are crowds of people here for cheap entertainment. Some are listening, most are heckling. One prophet, however, catches the party's attention when he mentions the "Age of Worms".

“Listen to me, you children of the Free City, and hear the doom that builds before your blind eyes. You in your house of gold and you in your hovel of mud and even you in your mail of metal, none of you are safe from the doom, from the Age of Worms. Oh yes, it is coming. Have you not heard the dead dragons roar? Have you not smelled the rot festering under your very nose? Have you not dreamt of the worm that walks, bringing decay to all he touches? Fools, you are all fools! Your doom is upon you! The end is in sight and none of you shall be spared. Decay is the future and the future is here!”

The party attempt to question the man. He identifies himself as "The Golden Oracle", and repeats his spiel. The party attempt to gain more information from him. They try a Remove Curse, I think another curative, and eventually Flash resorts to a Read Thoughts. The man is simply what he appears to be - a madman who, somehow, has subconsciously tapped into the currents of destiny now stirring. The Age of Worms indeed is coming, but our “Golden Oracle” knows nothing more beyond this.

The townhomes in this district are large and well kept, clearly displaying the wealth of their occupants. Servants move about on the business of their employers, and guards can be seen posted at many of the doors. The party finally ascend Menthis Plateu and reach the Platinate district. Next to the university, and very, very upscale, this district attracts scholars from wealthy families, and the occasional explorer who struck it rich selling artifacts from Xen'drik.

Eligos' Estate

A white stone wall surrounds a manicured yard of trimmed hedges and exotic fauna. A cobbled path,flanked by a pair of pools and rearing dragon statues, leads to a white marble manor house with gilded double doors and flickering golden lanterns. It is here that the sage Eligos makes his home. The party knocks on the door and are conducted inside and left to wait in a waiting room. Within a minute or two, Eligos makes his appearance.

Eligos

A middle-aged man wearing an open red robe with a silver breastplate underneath enters the room. His eyes are sharp wells of deep gray accented by specks of red. His hair, red like the setting sun, shows the first signs of receding. “My manservant, Pollard, tells me that you wish to speak to me,” he says in a calm, even voice. “My name is Eligos. How can I be of assistance?” Eligos listens to the party's story patiently, and with more interest after Allustan's name is mentioned. He examines the artifacts that the party have bough, and glances over Allustan's notes. He says:

“Although not my area of expertise, I do know a bit of what you speak and am greatly disturbed. I will look into this matter, but it will take some time. There are many books to consult, and most are kept in the Great Library. I should be able to gather the information you seek within the week. While you wait, might I recommend that you stay at the Crooked House in Underlook? It is an excellent inn and the keeper and I are old friends - mention my name and he’s sure to give you a discount on rooms. I shall contact you there when I have found the knowledge you seek. Until then, I suggest you enjoy the comforts Sharn has to offer.”

Underlook District, Middle Dura

The Underlook district has seen better days. Dingy inns and restaraunts line the streets, but many old businesses have closed and been transformed into wretched tenements. Nonetheless, cheap lodging is plentiful and travellers from across Khorvaire walk the streets.

The Crooked House

One of the larger buildings in the neighborhood, the Crooked House, is just that - a bit off tilt. Its walls are all at odd angles while none of its windows and doors are quite square. Despite this, the building looks to be in good repair, freshly painted and clean.

And so the party head down to Underlook and take lodgings at The Crooked House. The next few days are uneventful as they wait for word from Eligos. They see the sights and go shopping, seperately and together. On the third day, things turn interesting.

Frith retires upstairs at the usual time. A little early, as is common for spellcasters. A few minutes later, he comes back downstairs, jumps the bar, stabs Tarquin the inkeeper, and runs upstairs again!

DM caveat: IRL, I have no idea whatever how a real barfight progresses. My players tell me that mainly everyone stands around watching everyone else for some clue about what to do.

Well! As you can imagine, everyone grabs a dagger or chairleg, and then stands around wondering whom, exactly, to hit with it. Someone runs off to get the watch. Tarquin is down but stable. Arn leaps onto the bar prepared to defend Frith, while Jericho moves behind the bar towards Tarquin, presumably on the theory that if Frith wants him dead then someone should finish the job.

A patron of the inn leaps onto a table and begins to incite the crowd. Meanwhile, Frith comes downstairs again, followed by Tom (who is a good lad and avoids the demon drink. Just as well, really.) Frith, seeing that the crowd is turning ugly but not knowing why, casts Sanctuary and Calm Emotions. Seeing that Tarquin is wounded, Frith moves to do some curing. The man on the table yells "'Eee's going to finish the job!". A patron attempts to attack Frith, but is unable to bring himself to do so. Flash downs most of the crowd by casting Deep Slumber.

Yeah - I am a little mixed up about the sequence. Whatever.

Tarquin is revived. The man on the table attempts to flee, but Frith blocks the exit.

At about this point, the watch arrive. After hearing everyone's conflicting versions of what happened, they decide to arrest everyone - taking both the party and the man on the table into custody. They are stripped of their gear and spell component pouches, but they leave Frith's holy symbol.

As I keep saying - I go too easy on these guys.

Greyflood, Cliffside

Most of the traffic here consists of sailors looking for entertainment. Bars, flophouses, and small shops – many of which don't bother to advertise the nature of their wares – line the street, which winds precariously along the edge of a steep cliff overlooking the Dagger river.

The party spend the night in the lockup. In the morining, they are transferred to another prison. This one is down in Greyflood, for some reason. Their gaolers lock them up and leave, snickering suspiciously as they do. Equally suspicious - the man who attempted to incite he crowd at the Crooked House to attack the party is not there.

D6. Cells

This tall chamber contains five cells, each with a wall of iron bars facing the corridor that runs between them. A number of the cells are occupied, one with a young elven woman, one with a pair of young men, and another with what appears to be a dead man.

They speak to their companions. The pair of young men are Martel and Regim, members of the town guard captured a week ago. They speak in vague terms of the horrible things that happen here, including probing into their minds, severing and then reattaching limbs, and worse. The young elven woman claims to be Cyra ir'Tarn, of the ir'Tarn family. But she will say no more, accusing the party of "playing with her mind" when they attempt to ask. It's pretty clear that the party is no longer in legitimate custody.

And so the party debate what to do. Breaking out turns out to be easy. Frith uses a Stone Shape spell to weaken the floor where the cell bars go (for four of the five cells), and Tom bends the bars the rest of the way.

Someone screwed this up. The building is made of wood, an old warehouse in the docks, but according to the module "Each cell consists of three reinforced masonry walls and one wall made of iron bars (treat as an iron portcullis).". Would have made far more sense simply to say that the walls etc are stout wood. What about the floors and ceilings? Did they bring in bricks and brick up the walls? I suppose so - this room would not have been cells originally. But if I was turning an existing room in a wooden building into cells, I'd use bars all the way around, set into sleepers bolted into the floor and ceiling - not bricks. Has the additional advantage that you can watch everyone. Whatever.

First, Tom frees the rest of the party. Then he commences to free the other captives. On freeing Martel and Regim, they draw swords and attack! Martel surprises Tom with a critical hit, and then in the first round with another critical and a regular hit. Tom is unarmed and without armour, and very nearly falls. He retreats, and Arn takes over - merely blocking their exit from the cell while the spellcasters do the dirty work. Regim attacks from behind the bars of his cell, but his attacks are thwarted by the cover provided by the bars.

Flash cats Deep Slumber on one, and then on the other, and they fall unconscious. The party applies the coup-de-gras. As they die, Martel and Regim's features blur and shift and they are revealed for what they are - doppelgangers.

The party take stock. Jericho has found the party's gear and the party arm and armour themselves, much to their relief. The dead man was not dead, but very badly wounded. The party revive him but he is irretrevably mad. All they get is that he was a local tax collector.

Cyra is now more forthcoming. The doppelgangers capture people, presumably to effectively impersonate them. She needs to return to her family immediately. She tells the party that she has determined that one door leads out, and the other leads further in, but she really has no more information to give. For their rescue, she gives the party her Periapt of health, stored in a chest alongside the party's gear. The party also take tax collector's Bag of Holding and the taxes in it. He has no further use for them now.