Fangs and Vipers

Structure

Exposition

15th of Irami’el 1245 AE
The adventurers were stopped at the entrance to the underground city of Ironpeak by guards. The city was currently in lockdown after a large explosion killed several Dwarves. Until everything was sorted out they could not let anybody in or out the city. Lucky for them the guards were not hard to bribe and they were let into the city.

Rising Action

After entering the city of Ironpeak the group decided to find more information concerning the recent attack in the city. They went to see the leading officer to offer their help. Luckily for the adventurers the captain had heard of their recent exploits in Averton and gladly accepted their help. Once they received directions to the crime scene they went towards the slums of Ironpeak.
The entirety of the slums was under martial law and several houses near the crime scene were being searched by soldiers. When the group arrived they were quickly informed of the situation by the captain. A cart was placed in the early morning by an unkown individual. After several hours some other person was seen messing with the cart after which it exploded. This person himself was one of the victims of the explosion. The investigation of the soldiers revealed that the victim was wearing clothes identifying him as one of the Shadow Fangs. Close examination of the crime scene revealed that the cause of the explosion was a fire sigil on the cart which was accidently triggered by the victim. In addition a small key was found with number 27. While they were examining one of the group saw a hooded figure in the shadows who quickly disappeared after letting something drop.
The letter claimed to be from a friend who could give the adventurers more information. After a quick chase in the streets of the slums they located the hooded figure in a tavern. Janos Dorivas was there offering them once more a drink. He was there for business with the Crystal Vipers. He told them that the Crystal Vipers were being set up by the Shadow Fangs. If they wanted more information he could set up a meeting for them.
The group decided to keep the offer open until later once they had more information. Janos however  did give them the directions to several possible tenements from where the key could originate.

The investigation

After a short search they arrived at an apartment in the slums that could be opened with the key. Inside they found a woman dwarf bound to a chair. Once they were inside they were ambushed by several dwarfs dressed in black. The adventurers managed to capture one of them and were able to extract some information from him. However they also learned that the victim of the explosion was possibly the husband of the woman. He was given Shadow Fangs clothes and ordered to go to the cart some hours earlier.
Following the information of the captured dwarf they went to the Leaky Mug tavern, a Shadow Fang owned tavern. While ordering a drink the adventurers quickly noticed that a room in the back was used very often. Through there rather bold questions and remarks they couldn’t stay very long as to not arouse any more suspicion.
Afterwards they decided to visit the local mages guild in Ironpeak to learn more about the possible leader of the Shadow Fangs. They learned that Urdur Blackbender was once a member of the mages guild but was banished after being exposed as a demon summoner. What happenend afterwards was unkown to the mages. While searching the library in the mages guild Dimble Cloak found some information about ancient Gnome outposts in Terios.

Hidden doors

16th of Irami’el 1245 AE
After a rest at the barrack of Ironpeak the adventurers set out again. This time they went to a local delicacies shop that was the hideout of the Crystal Vipers. After introducing themselves the shopowner showed them the cellar where he openend one of the kegs to reveal a hidden doorway. They quickly saw that the Crystal Vipers were not to be underestimated. Once they arrived in a large chamber many dwarfs could be seen pointing their bows towards them from the balcony. Several moments later the leader of the criminals appeared, Arkud Bloodgrip, a cleric to the evil Misiran god Afepsis. It appeared he already was well aware of most of the information that the adventurers could provide.
After some talking he agreed to help them since Arkud also wanted the Shadow Fangs gone, especially after blaming his organization for the terror attack. The Crystal Fangs would create a diversion while the adventurers would infiltrate the Shadow Fang tavern. They agreed to this without fully knowing the benefit that Arkud Bloodgrip would get from this. During the night they received a message urging them to go to the tavern as fast as possible.
It did not take long before the Crystal Vipers started their attack. This was all the group needed to enter the room they noticed during their first visit here. After some searching they found that one of the bottles in a closet was a switch that opened the way to an underground hideout. Although the first room was quiet they quickly noticed a guardian in the adjacent room. From what could only be prison cells they also heard some voices calling for help. Not wanting to waste a lot of time they quickly launched a fireball to the guardian. This attack missed however causing an enormous noise once the fireball exploded on one of the prison doors. Although the guardian was killed rather quickly it did not take long for remaining Shadow Fangs members to find them.
During the battle in the Shadow Fangs the adventurers gained some unexpected allies. Vittoria Bendetti who had been imprisoned there for 2 months, could escape after the damage the group had done to the prison cells. She quickly joined the fight and gained the trust of the group because of her help. However Vittoria was not alone, she was accompanied by Hideo Kiyoshi a Gnome from Oneraga that was also captured by the Shadow Fangs. Speaking with him was rather difficult because of the language barrier but they could get all necessary information out of him.
Hideo told the group that he came to Farlis for his research to find strong places of elemental power. But he was caught by the Crystal Vipers who forced him to work for them. During this time he had to create mechanical spiders common in his homeland. Eventually he was captured by the Shadow Fangs where he had to provide any information on the Crystal Vipers and continue his work. He made it very clear he did not want to return to the Crystal Vipers. Arkud Bloodgrip came only recently in power according to him and he changed the gang in a cult. The original members did not like this but were thinned out over the years. Hideo recommended the group to kill both Arkud and Urdur to make Ironpeak safe.

Climax

Urdur Blackbender

The group continued with exploring the rest of the hideout. Some sounds could be heard from behind a door and they quickly decided to barricade it while they would search the other chambers. They could see a sole guard standing near a door at the end of a hall. Dimble Cloak decided to lure some Shadow Fangs outside by disguising himself as a member. Even though his plan worked he could only take the guard out of the equation. Afterwards Dimble called the rest of the group and they moved towards the office of Urdur Blackbender. By seeing the member, that just came to lure his guard away, together with the rest of the adventurers, Urdur knew he was betrayed. He quickly activated a trap that managed to hit Dimble but not incapacitate him.
The group was determined to break through the door behind which the criminal leader had taken refuge. After trying a few times they managed to blast the door open. Inside they were surprised by a mechanical spider construct. This was one of the creations Hideo was forced to make. But Urdur had another trick up his sleeves. By using an illusionary duplicate of himself he was able to let the group waste some of their attacks. In the end both the construct and Urdur Blackbender were killed and the group was able to extract a lesser elemental gem from the spider. Finrod Ingoldo vaguely recognized it but couldn’t place where he had seen such a thing before. From the papers in the office they learned of a drop location in Ostend where the Shadow Fangs regularly had to bring diamonds to.

Resolution

Once the group left the office and returned to the main room in the hideout they were greeted by several Crystal Vipers. They made it very clear they wanted Hideo Kiyoshi returned to them. The adventurers were hesitant to fulfill their demands and wanted to fight them until some more Crystal Vipers entered. Unexpectedly they attacked the first Vipers. After a few seconds Janos Dorivas arrived saying that he had arrived to help.

Parent Plot

Problems in Vamena region