Session 3: The Lady with the Bronze Rings

General Summary

The Foundation made their way back to the port of Sharn. Upon returning to the offices of the Phaeros Foundation, the party found a few House Medani bodyguards outside. Inside, Dr. Turk was meeting with Vivienne Marquette, a Bronze Order member of the Aurum (a philanthropic organization that exists throughout Khorvaire). After a brief scuffle (where Vivienne showed that she was, herself, a mancer), Vivienne left to return later and the party spoke with Turk about their mission.
Dr. Turk recognized the description of their attacker, identifying him as an “Operative” of a group only known as “the Shadow”. He explained that this group was a rumor only, but one he believed in. They are said to be a group that works to hold control over Khorvaire from behind the scenes and that these Operatives had only been mentioned a few times. Those who had mentioned them ended up dead. He also mentioned that only two had ever been identified, Operatives II and IV. To officially end their mission, Vax gave Turk the recovered House Vol seal and Turk placed the seal in a safe in his office.
Turk left to call on Vivienne and invite her to return for lunch. Marcella left to visit a Sivis Post Office and send a message. She was followed by Vax and Balarath, however, they were not able to see what the message said that she sent to Fairhaven. When she left, she ran into them and they told her that they were simply following her to protect her.
Vivienne invited the Foundation to a lunch in Upper Tavick’s Landing, a lavish section of Sharn famous for fine-dining, upscale shopping, and modern architecture. At a restaurant called Guillermo’s, the party dines on fine Aundairian cuisine and wine, all courtesy of Vivienne and the Aurum. She describes the Aurum to the party as an organization that ensures the success and advancement of the people of Khorvaire separate from any House or Nation. She tells Turk that she was quite interested in his dissertation which she managed to get her hands on despite it being thrown out by Morgrave University.
Turk’s dissertation dealt with a theory that the reason why Thrane invaded Aundaire, occupied the capital of Thaliost and eventually saw it included in their lands in the Treaty of Thronehold was that it hid artifacts that disputed the church’s history. It also theorized that they did this because they were pushed to by the Shadow. The dissertation identified a specific artifact, the Dragonshard Skull, as the most prominent artifact that might be hidden in Thaliost. The skull itself is depicted in Aundairian artwork, music, and stories surrounding the Crusade of Flames, while Thrane’s depiction of the same period is strangely missing this artifact.
Vivienne makes them an offer: she would like to purchase the Foundation and privately fund its endeavors from that point on. Specifically, she would like their first assignment to be launching an expedition to prove Turk’s theories on Thaliost. The party discusses this deal and comes to the conclusion that, while they don’t trust the Aurum yet, the pay (500 crown per week) is enough for them to accept the offer to further their personal interests. In the end, Hackett expresses that he may not agree, but he won’t stop them from accepting the offer.
Vivienne pays for the lunch and tells the party that they will have new offices by the end of the week. For the next six days, each member had downtime to use how they wanted.

• Balarath decided to work on his crossbowmanship by spending his six days at one of Sharn’s Martial Centers (essentially recreation complexes). His skill drew the attention of a dwarven member of the Borromar Clan who left Bal a seemingly blank business card.
• Yelena sought out survival training by hiring a House Tharashk agent, Agent Vasquez, to train her for two sessions at a Martial Center. After the last session, the large, grey-skinned half orc gave Yelena his card and hoped to see her again.
• Rasp spent his six days at a House Sivis Library in the Upper Center District researching a number of topics including the Aurum, the Shadow, the history of the Church of the Silver Flame, Thrane, Cyre, and Seafaring. Of those, he learned about Thrane’s government and a great deal about seasickness thanks to some help from Yelena. He was noticed by a member of the Blades, Breland’s national security agency, who warned him about being suspicious in public.
• Marcella also spent her downtime researching at the House Sivis library including looking into topics such as the Shadow, House Vol, Aberrant Dragonmarks, the Kalashtar, Turk’s dissertation, as well as procuring a violin and music selections. In looking into the Shadow, Marcella noticed no specific mentions of the group, but did notice strange patterns of decisions during the war that seemed to go against common sense as well as essentially confirming that Thrane’s invasion of Aundaire was contradictory to their entire wartime strategy up until that date.
• Vex spent his downtime studying the Aurum in an attempt to recreate the proper documentation of a Silver Order member. While he did manage to replicate signatures, paperwork, and procure appropriate rings, he could not replicate the Aurum’s seal on his own. Instead, he ordered a custom seal made by a seedy consignment shop owner that will be delivered in a few days.

After the downtime and at the end of the week (June 8, 998YK), the Phaeros Foundation moved into its new offices in Upper Tavick’s Landing in the Glass Gardens Tower. The entire 15th floor has been given to the Foundation. The space is open with large, glass windows, modern steel construction, and includes a loft for ten small bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The rooms were taken as follows:

1. Vax
2. Yelena
3. Rasp
4. Karkhan
5. Balarath
6. (Open)
7. Marcella
8. Hackett
9. Turk
10. (Open)

Vivienne promised to make them all keys and return with a welcome gift in the afternoon where they would begin planning the expedition.

Character(s) interacted with

Lady Vivienne Marquette
Anton

Report Date

05 Jul 2020

Primary Location

Sharn