Session 0006 - The Emerald Claw

Roster

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Player characters who's player is attending the game start with 1 Hero Point, and can get more during the session.

Absent

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Player characters for missing players do not start the session with a hero point, and can not get any more during the session.

003-Ferdinand Blackvenner: James

Session Log

After disembarking from their flying vehicles, the party run towards the warehouse. It’s dark now but the streets in the Azure Ward are always well lit. There are gold-plated oil lamp posts every thirty feet. The street outside the warehouse is wide, a line of apple trees in the middle sets it apart from other streets in the wards below. There are patches of grass and small gardens between the different towers. Four tall towers surround the warehouse. You can see lights and silhouetted persons within the windows.
The warehouse features only one entrance. The wooden double doors are wide enough for a horse-drawn cart to pass through. Beside the ballistae on the south side, two armored guards can be seen protecting the place.
As the group run down the street the guards turn to face them, each raising their shields and grabbing a flail and hold it at the ready. Bloody Spear is the fastest to react, rushing forward and trying to stare down the closest guard, who does not seem to be intimidated by the warforged. Ferdinand follows next, and manages to distract the first guard as he moves closer and gets behind an apple tree for cover.
Everyone else then follows up and they quickly engage in melee. The guards attempt to use their flails to trip the obvious fighters in the party, but this tactic does not prove to be effectively. The first guard engages in melee, injuring Bloody Spear before becoming surrounded. The other guard fires off one shot from their crossbow before resorting to shield and flail.
The first soldier is taken out and the second is badly wounded. They yell out in warning to those inside the warehouse while trying in vain to fight off the rest of the party. The soldier is cut down shortly after. Some notice during the fight on the streets that many of the lights in the nearby towers go out and windows are shuttered - it seems the locals do not want to get involved.
Right after the combat Sarroxtíoð tries to open one of the doors and finds it locked. He takes out a crowbar and tries to force the door open while others search the bodies for any keys. He is not successful getting the door open, and no keys are found on the bodies. They do notice the shields have cloth emblems on them of a greenish flaming hand that Alicia immediately recognizes as that of the Emerald Claw.

Eriana gets out a crowbar and works on the other door along with Sarroxtíoð. She is successful and forces that door open while the barbarian does not manage to force open the second door.
Being cautious, Eriana kicks the door open and moves to the side in case there are enemies lying in wait on the other side. Instead, she find an empty foyer behind the entrance.
The two bodies are dragged inside as the group enter the foyer, reloading ranged weapons and getting themselves ready to assault the warehouse. A set of double doors stand on the far wall opposite the entrance, and some members can hear faint noises on the other side.
While they gather themselves and prepare for a fight, Ferdinand drinks the potion of healing (minor) in the party stash. They also compare notes on who the Emerald Claw are. It is considered a terrorist organization with members that follow The Blood of Vol, a deity and member of The Dark Six. They were originally a military order of elite knights and necromancers in the service of the crown of Karrnath during the last war. Followers spread throughout Khorvaire and have operated underground since the attempted dissolution of the order some 4+ decades ago.
With Sarroxtíoð and Bloody Spear positioned at each of the double doors, the group get ready to storm into the main part of the warehouse.
They push the doors open at the same time. The main docking area of the warehouse is just a little over 100 feet wide. The southern side of the chamber does not have a wall and is open to the elements. The ceiling reaches far enough to barely cover the currently docked skycoach in the landing area. The skycoach is in the center of the chamber, its main deck at ground level to the main area, accessed by a gangplank walkway. There is an opening on the floor where the skycoach is docked that gives way to a lower level where the lower body of the skycoach floats. The four ballistae the Order of the Emerald Claw used against the party are located on rotating platforms at various locations around docking bay and warehouse. There is a metal table twenty feet away, next to the skycoach. The stolen schema is on the table.
There is a small group of people surrounding the table on which the schema is located. One of them stands out from the rest. He is a slim white-skinned man, six feet tall, and bald. He is wearing fine clothes, fine enough for him to be a resident of the Skyway. He wears an armband over his dark-green leather coat. The armband is embroidered with a symbol of a green hand that appears to be made of green flames. But the thing that most describes him is a tattoo-like inscription that runs from the top of his head, down the right side of his neck, to his right shoulder. You cannot see where the mark ends due to his clothing. The intricate patterns of the mark are milky white, like pearls, but they shift with the light.
Among the group are two of the thieves you recognize from the recent chase, including the person who helmed the skycoach. He is now sporting a bandage on his head where Sarroxtíoð nailed him with a sling bullet.
The dragonmarked man turns and faces you with a calm but defiant posture. He says with a high-pitched melodic voice, “Well, but it is the stubborn pursuers. I was waiting for you. My name is Arthemis, and I run this operation. Your deeds today! They are impressive. I am impressed but you look like you live a harsh life in the lower wards. That’s not good. I can help you. Just work for me and you will not want again. Join the Order of the Emerald Claw.”

Arthemis (imagine him with green clothes and a tattoo as described...)
There is a brief pause and short exchange of words before Alicia mutters "heretics" and shoots Arthemis with a crossbow.
A fight immediately breaks out, and Arthemis is quick to react. He traces his left hand over the tattoo which glows to his touch, and moments later a small construct akin to a war-forged appears in the doorway and swings at Bloody Spear. Party members begin rushing into the room, and everyone notices that moments after Arthemis summoned the construct the schema on the table begins to glow, levitates and spins. Items from around the room begin to coalesce into two crude war-forged constructs that immediately attack the nearest beings - other members of the Emerald Claw.
The central docking bay then becomes the scene of a large melee with the party in the middle, and summoned constructs attacking anything within reach.
Luck is with the party this day, as just about everything goes in their favour. The two summoned war-forged from the ancient schema keep a couple of the enemy occupied. Eriana manages to successfully push one of them off the gang plank to the skycoach, where they fall onto the lower gantry some 15 feet below.
The guard closest to the docking bay entrance fumbles and struggles to defend themselves before Bloody Spear nearly finishes him off. That guard is felled when Saferous fumbles with a volatile vial, dropping it as his feet and splashes acid on himself, and 7 people around him - including Alicia and Sarroxtíoð.
Ferdinand moves into the room, distracting a guard and taking out the construct summoned by Arthemis. The Emerald Claw leader, Arthemis is peppered with ranged attacks and spells from Rocinante, but proves to be quite durable.
Eventually a path is paved to the leader and Sarroxtíoð bounds in and attacks him. The barbarian swings furiously and misses badly but his last desperate swing critically hits the aristocrat, smashing his hand and hurting him badly.
The wounded Arthemis falls to the ground. For once he looks scared. Arthemis manages to say between heavy difficult breaths, “You win… I yield. I cannot keep this up any longer. But I don’t want to die,” Arthemis coughs up blood and continues, “I won’t stand in your way any longer … take the artifact and call The Sharn Watch. I’ll surrender to the authorities. I’ll pay the price for my actions.”
Eriana is quick to react, bounding in and putting Arthemis in manacles she keeps in her pack. The leader calls for the other soldiers to stand down.
However, the summoned constructs from the ancient schema are still active. One of them critically hits a remaining soldier and kills it before turning on Sarroxtíoð.
With the leader restrained, the party attack the remaining constructs. Ferdinand makes short work of the first one and Alicia and Sarroxtíoð take out the last one.
Looking around the docking station, all of the other solders follow their orders and lay down their weapons.