The Shadow Within, Part 3
Contents
About the Saga
The Cuthbertian cleric Calvin Cloudmore is dead and the Blackrazors think they know what did it: a vampire.
Timeframe
- Greyhawk Date: Flocktime 19, CY 591
- Real World Date: September 24, 2003
- Read other Blackrazor Guild Sagas
Cast of Characters
Notable Quotes
"Damn Scrappy, at this rate you're not going to have any more enemies left." -- Mugwort
What Has Come Before
The Blackrazor Gaiseric has been shaken down by members of the Sellsword Guild. Following this incident, the Blackrazor cleric Calvin Cloudmore was brutally murder in his parsonage at the Caring Cudgel in the Mudsitters District. Read The Shadow Within, Part 2.
The Saga
Flocktime 19, CY 591
Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword
The Blackrazors awoke to the news of a new murder: during the night, Derach Wailhorne, leader of the Sellsword Guild, had been found dead in his room, slaughtered by claws that left his bedclothes untouched. Along side him was found a naked and similarly butchered prostitute.
At around midnight, a Sellsword guard, who'd been located outside the room, heard the killing and rushed in to find nothing but darkness … and death. When the Blackrazor Guild investigated just after sunrise, they found a guild that was less then thrilled to see them there. They learned little beyond what they'd heard from the city guard -- Wailhorne's room was locked form the outside, and there was no sign of forced entry into the room. Looking at the body, they found that the wounds were identical to the ones Cal received. As with the cleric, the man had deep penetrating wounds but his clothes were undamaged. And as with Cal, it was impossible to communicate with the Wailhorne's soul via a speak with dead spell.
Vengeance Thwarted
After investigating the body, they met up with Ellington of the Church of Trithereon in Obsidian Bay, who immediately agreed to use divination spells to reveal facts surrounding the murderers.
At this point, the Blackrazors' theory about the killer had evolved. They still suspected the possibility of a vampire, but they were no longer thinking that it was a clan working on behalf of the fallen vampires of Geoff. Instead, their suspicions ran toward other enemies, notably the infamous Dark Circle, which had orchestrated the city's fall to the Scarlet Brotherhood years earlier.
To start, Ellington cast a divination spell, intent on asking questions about the murder of Calvin. When he asked his first question about the identity of the murderer, he was shocked to by a sudden feeling of vileness shoot deep into his mind. He was able to shrug off the mental assault, but the damage was done: the connection was broken. Concerned, he decided to try again, but this time he ignore the murderer, and focused on more general questions. Through his questioning he was able to determine that the Dark Circle was active in the UnderOerth beneath the Pomarj, and that they were actively seeking dark knowledge and artifacts … but not why.
Another Broken Sword
Later the same day the Blackrazors received news from the City Guard -- yet another body had been found. This time it belonged to a Sellsworder -- a man named Khithein -- and his corpse was found in a pile of trash in the Wharf District. The man's body was brutually butchered, just like his late guildmaster and Calvin. The man's clothes were dirty, but intact.
No one saw the man murdered, but the Blackrazors were able to learn that he'd been drinking at the Blackened Stump two days earlier. He drank himself stupid, then stumbled out at around 3 a.m. No one saw him alive again.
Scrappy was able to provide one other revelation -- Khithein was one of the men who threatened him on the 17th.
Mugwort, one of Greggor O Vurd'on's Bodyguards, responded to this by saying "Damn Scrappy, at this rate you're not going to have any enemies left."
Experience
Not available.
