Progression

This is the sixth encounter along this journey, and a party of five characters should be 3rd level when they begin this encounter. The previous encounters are:

1. Departure from Skydock Six
2. Storm over the Howling Peaks
3. Friendship in the Wilderness
4. Espionage in Grellreach
5. Sabotage over Lake Cyre

Social Encounter: Gathering in Gatherhold

This encounter is suitable for characters of any level, and can result in either a social or combat encounter suitable for a party of 3rd-level characters.

The Celeste Noir has just suffered a disastrous crisis, incited by a stowaway saboteur. Now crashed in Lake Cyre, a massive lake on the edge of the Mournland, the Celeste Noir and her crew have struggled across the lake to reach the closest city to undergo repairs. Captain Angelica d’Sivis looks grimly toward the horizon as she sails towards the Gatherhold, fretting over her many enemies which call that city their home.

Encounter Summary

The Celeste Noir washes ashore near Gatherhold, and the crew is released into the city on shore leave while Angelica’s shadowy contacts—covert agents of House Cannith—tend to the experimental airship. The characters have a rare opportunity to relax in Gatherhold’s pubs, recover in the city’s inns, and shop in its famous open-air markets. They also have the opportunity to search out Angelica’s enemies, plan a mutiny, and take control of the Celeste Noir once repairs have been completed.

Arrival in Gatherhold

When the characters arrive in Gatherhold, read or paraphrase the following:

Your ship comes to a halt when it digs into the sandy eastern shore of Lake Cyre. A piece of charred wood falls from the still-smoldering strut of the Celeste Noir, and splashes loudly in the shallow water. Just beyond the shore is the city of Gatherhold, an inviting sprawl of squat buildings, bustling streets, and colorful markets.

Captain Angelica d’Sivis stands grimly at the prow of her damaged ship, and her crew gathers around her. “You have a day’s shore leave,” she says, scowling. “I have friends in the city who can repair the Celeste. Don’t mention the ship to anyone, for we have enemies here. Those halflings that attacked us a few weeks ago… I have not forgotten that they came from the plains to the east of this city.”

She strides through the crew towards her cabin, and gestures for you to leave the ship.

The characters can enter the city in search of relaxation. If Ziggy Arcingwind or Grixe Laddimoff are aboard the ship, the characters can conspire with them before leaving. Ziggy, an old and pragmatic being, thinks that it would be wise to find more allies in Gatherhold, like the halflings that attacked the ship over the Howling Peaks, or the kalashtar that attacked them after leaving Sharn. Grixe is eager to see Angelica and her House Cannith allies taken down, but she acknowledges that they can’t strike a mortal blow to the Cannith operation without getting the Celeste Noir up and running again.

Sneaking the goblins off the ship is an easy feat, since the rest of the crew are eager to get into town. As the characters leave the ship, they see a half dozen laborers wearing no insignia dragging carts filled with supplies and tools towards the beached Celeste Noir. These are workers secretly in the employ of House Cannith, and they pay the adventurers no mind.

The Many Amenities of Gatherhold

Gatherhold, described in brief in Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron (and in Eberron: Rising from the Last War after its release on November 19th), is the only sizeable city in the Talenta Plains. The many tribes that live upon the plains use it as a gathering place, and many people—both local and foreign—have set up permanent residence here. The city is rife with halflings and dinosaurs, both of which are native to the plains. As the characters explore the city, you can describe sights such as:

• A gang of halflings striding arrogantly through the streets on their clawfoot raptors.
• A halfling with the Mark of Hospitality welcoming a homeless veteran into her pub.
• A traveler of the plains, dressed entirely in colorful rags that obscure all of their physical features, browsing a market stall and haggling with the owner.

Once the characters have explored the city a bit, ask if they’d like to travel to a marketplace or a pub. Then, progress to the appropriate scene depending on their answer.

Marketplace: Grand Skysight

The Grand Skysight market is a shopping district in the south of Gatherhold. Many local traders from all across the Talenta Plains come here to sell wares to travelers, barter for goods with other traders, and learn about recent events from distant corners of the plains. If you want to give your players information that they missed earlier in this encounter series or foreshadow upcoming conflicts in future arcs of your campaign, this market is a perfect place to do so.

There are untold dozens of market stalls selling various goods here. A few of them are selling:

• Silver jewelry
• Occult instruments and scrolls
• Herbal remedies
• Small, concealable weapons
• Fresh produce
• Hot, honey-glazed buckwheat cakes
• Pottery and small furniture

Here to Relax. Characters relaxing in the market can browse through stalls at their leisure. The price of the items sold at this market never exceed 1 gp. Characters looking for combat equipment or adventuring gear can also find it at the market, though it takes 6d10 minutes of searching to find the right shop. Any equipment described in chapter 5 the Player’s Handbook (at your discretion) can be found in the markets of Gatherhold.

Here on Business. If the characters are looking around the market for potential allies, or are just looking for something more interesting than shopping, they see a small group of halflings on clawfoot raptors lurking in the shadows of an alleyway. The halflings look straight at the characters, mutter something to each other, glance back up at the characters, and then disappear into the alleyway. In short, they recognized the characters, and are headed back to their hideout to report to their boss. If the characters follow, they arrive at a local gearhouse called the Nine Quick Fingers (see “The Enemy of My Enemy,” below).

Pub: The Wind on the Plains

The Wind on the Plains is a fine public house run by Tilly d’Ghallanda, a halfling lady that bears the Mark of Hospitality. House Ghallanda owns or oversees nearly every inn, pub, or tavern of note in Khorvaire, and is based out of Gatherhold. The Wind on the Plains isn’t House Ghallanda’s headquarters, but it’s nevertheless a well-funded arm of House Ghallanda’s network of informants and gossipmongers. There are plenty of locals relaxing in this pub, including:

• Zilbo Chelston, a halfling commoner that frequents the pub. He has curly brown hair and wears a well-worn suit. He’s an immigrant from Sharn.
• Rieme d’Sivis, a gnome scout that is taking a vacation in Gatherhold. She’s heard of Angelica d’Sivis, but muses that she never heard of her when she was growing up.
• “Nero,” a kalashtar knight that lurks in the back of the bar, glowering at everyone, as if searching for something. (See “Here on Business,” below).

Here to Relax. If the characters come here to kick back, Tilly makes them feel perfectly at home in her pub. The food is heavily spiced local fare made mostly from red meat, ancient grains, and tubers. The ale is cold and heady, and the pub’s seat cushions are soft and thick. While relaxing, some of the pub’s patrons come by and chat with the characters.

The Enemy of My Enemy

The characters have the opportunity to encounter enemies of Angelica d’Sivis, and to learn the full extent of her past with them.

Gearhouse: Nine Quick Fingers

Following the dinosaur-riding halflings leads the characters to a gearhouse called the Nine Quick Fingers. This is a black market shop where warforged without money for high-quality repairs or customizations come to get affordable alternatives. Most of the shop’s clients are gang members looking to customize their bodies with deadly weaponry or armor.

The halflings within are led by their boss, Riskyl. She took over after their former boss, Agetza Orr, was defeated by the adventurers in the Howling Peaks. Riskyl and the Quick Fingers gang are allied with a kalashtar named Nerokhad, the Dream Raider. This kalashtar helped Ziggy Arcingwind escape captivity several months ago. Riskyl explains that her old boss was too soft, and lost a lot of good warriors and dinosaurs helping out Nero on his quest for vengeance, and she’s not going to throw lives away so casually. If the characters want to talk to old Nero, they can find him at a little shrine a half-mile north of here called the Chapel of Justice.

Holy Site: Chapel of Justice

Following Nero from the pub (or following Riskyl’s directions from the Nine Quick Fingers gearhouse), leads the characters to a tiny shrine called the Chapel of Justice. This unassuming stone pagoda stands on an island in a small, artificial lake, and is covered by greenery despite the arid climate. The kalashtar Nero sits cross-legged in the center of the shrine, and speaks in his rasping, broken voice. “I am Nerokhad. She who claims to be of House Sivis is a deceiver. She deserves death, even if it can’t outweigh all she has already caused.”

Nero explains the truth about Angelica: she isn’t a member of House Sivis, nor does she possess the Mark of Scribing. She possesses an aberrant dragonmark, and uses its power to create an illusory dragonmark upon her face. The “sundial” that was taken from the Ciel Rouge contains the fragmented consciousness of a quori, which was cobbled together from hundreds of kalashtar sacrifices. This device uses the quori’s power to grant a vessel it’s mounted to unpredictable power over the planes. Nero isn’t sure what its exact powers are, but he believes it could allow a Cannith-made airship to travel incredible distances in mere seconds, by taking a metaphysical shortcut through the Plane of Dreams. The stone disc can’t be destroyed by physical blows, and Nero doesn’t know how to destroy it himself—but perhaps someone in House Cannith would.

Nero is terrified at the ramifications of such a power. Using it could have disastrous consequences. At worst, it could open a door for evil quori spirits to enter Eberron and wreak havoc against a people unprepared for such an alien foe. In the name of stopping Angelica and her House Cannith allies, Nero pledges to aid the characters. If they refuse his aid, he puts his hand on the hilt of his sword and asks if they will defend Angelica. If so, he attacks. If not, he calls them spineless cowards, and will take vengeance himself—and flees their presence.

Conclusion: Onward? Or Mutiny?

At the end of the day, the Celeste Noir’s crew returns to the ship to find it completely repaired. She isn’t good as new, but is airworthy again. Repairs on the Celeste Noir were rapidly completed by secret cell of House Cannith agents hiding within Gatherhold. Here, the characters have two options: continue on in secret, potentially adding Nero to their group of stowaways to overthrow Angelica in the future, or mutiny now. Whenever the characters decide to mutiny, they are joined by all of their companions, such as Ziggy, Grixe, and Nero.

Angelica is aided by a group of loyal crew. The encounter is composed of:

• Angelica Estrella d’Sivis, a gnome mage with a powerful aberrant dragonmark that allows her to cast alter self once per day and disguise self at will.
• Aubrey Galatea, a changeling assassin with an aberrant dragonmark that allows her to cast charm person once per day and friends at will.
• Benjamin Octavius, a human acolyte.
• Brunhilde Kheldeburn, a dwarf berserker.
• Demetrius d’Lyrandar, a half-elf spy with a Mark of Storms that allows him to cast gust of wind once per day and gust at will.
• Natsuko Hayashi, a human druid.
• Oliver Ramorell, a human veteran.

If the characters became close friends with any of these characters, such as allowing them into their party during their mission to Grellreach, they can make a DC 11 Charisma (Persuasion) check as an action to call out to their friend to lower their arms. On a success, that character drops their weapon and flees the fight. If the check succeeds by 5 or more, the character joins the mutiny and fights against Angelica.

Treasure and Progression

If the characters didn’t mutiny, then in the week of travel between this encounter and next week’s encounter, the characters receive their weekly stipend of 2 gp each. If they defeated Angelica, they find that she has a chest in her quarters containing 856 gold, which she has been using to pay the crew and to cover other expenses. The characters receive a total of 1,000 XP for their investigations on shore leave, and gain an additional 9,000 XP (divided among all allied combatants) for successfully mutinying.

If Angelica is still the captain, she commands the ship to fly northward. If the characters overthrew her, they find that her plans indicate that their next stop is in the Mror Holds, homeland of the dwarves.

This adventure will continue next week in Encounter of the Week: Dragonmark of the Dwarves. Where else do you want to visit along this journey? Let us know in the comments!

Eberron: Rising from the Last War releases on November 19th, 2019. Preorder it now on the Marketplace!