129 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
129 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
# The Carrion Bird
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In this chapter, the PCs arrive in the city of Sigil, where
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they have been tasked with finding Rennick. This turns out
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to be difficult: Rennick is in hiding, because he is
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terrified of a man named Crow, who is hunting him.
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Crow is an incantifer: a member of a small sect of
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wizards who have mastered a vile technology. Incantifers
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capture a powerful individual, rip the soul out of their
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body, and use that soul to build an orb: a construct that
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allows the incantifer to wield the powers of the person
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from whom the orb was made.
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But the real innovation is in how incantifers control these
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orbs: you see, the soul is connected to the body by
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something called the silver cord. It turns out the silver
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cord is a braided thing, made up of seven strands, with each
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strand connected to one of the body's seven chakras.
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Incantifers disconnect one of the seven strands from one of
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the chakras, and then reconnect that strand to the orb. This
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allows the incantifer to control the orb as if it were part
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of their body - using an orb is as fluid as thought.
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Incantifers are blazingly fast: an incantifer can cast one
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spell per turn per orb, in addition to whatever spell they
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cast with their human body. In an action-economy combat
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system, an incantifer is a rain of death. Crow has four
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orbs, and for all practical purposes, fighting Crow is like
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fighting five powerful mages at the same time.
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However, incantifers pay a terrible price for this: the more
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strands of the cord are disconnected from the human body,
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the more paralyzed the human body becomes. The more
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powerful an incantifer becomes, the more their physical body
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becomes a handicap. Incantifers dream of the day when they
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can fully disconnect and discard the physical body, becoming
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a creature of pure magic. However, every incantifer who
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has attempted this has died. At least for now, incantifers
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are stuck with their physical body.
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Crow has verified that Rennick has the ability to predict
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random events. Crow has concluded that Rennick is actually
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a powerful oracle, who has not yet fully realized the extent
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of his powers. Crow intends to take those powers for himself.
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Up until this moment, there have been very few NPCs in this
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campaign who are unadulterated evil. Green is greedy, but
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he has redeeming qualities, and he can be reasoned with.
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Orethys was pure evil, but he is a historical figure.
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Beshaba is evil, but she won't play a central role until
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later. Crow is the first genuinely horrible person that the
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PCs will face.
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Do not tell any of this to your players. All of this will
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unfold gradually, as the PCs search for Rennick, and explore
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the city of Sigil.
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## First Sights of the City
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When the PCs emerge from the scrap dealer's tent, they step
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out into the Bazaar of Sigil. It is a one-way portal.
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Behind the PCs is just more bazaar. The first sights they
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see are wild and disorienting. The PCs just stand and stare
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for several minutes, unless they consciously try to fit in.
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These are the most notable things they see:
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- The extreme variety of races. In addition to the more
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common races, the PCs see a ton of people they may or may
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not recognize: bariaur, tabaxi, modrons, goblins, gith,
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tanaari, everything. When describing it, be sure to throw
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in some really unexpected ones: a giant, a mind flayer, a
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group of pixies, you name it.
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- The enormous arch. Overhead, there appears to be a huge
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arch that spans the entire width of the city. This is
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actually the city itself, forming a ring. But this isn't
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immediately obvious to newcomers. It may take them a little
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time to realize it's not a giant structure, it's the city's
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topology.
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- The gritty atmosphere. The foundry is not far, and the
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yellow soot hangs over the bazaar. Many of the buildings
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are made of steel, rusted and corroded, and blades stick out
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from the corners of the buildings and the door and window
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frames. The city somehow looks both extremely poor and
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extremely wealthy at the same time.
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- The chaos of the bazaar. People are rushing in every
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direction, trying to get business done. They shove around
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the clueless newbies standing in the road, paying them
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little attention.
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There is a lot of great material about the city of Sigil
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published by Wizards of the Coast. I highly recommend you
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familiarize yourself with the city before trying to run this
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section of the campaign. This adventure, as written, is set
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in a version of Sigil in which the faction war never
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happened. If you want to adapt this to whatever version of
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Sigil you prefer, that would not be difficult.
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The PCs came to the city with a quest: Find Rennick!
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After wandering around for a few minutes, they may start
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to think about their objective. Before they have a chance
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to get started, introduce them to Rico Sparks.
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## Rico Sparks, the Tout
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- Finding a Kip
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- Searching for Rennick
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## Healing Pig
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## Rennick's Office at the Courthouse
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## The Hall of Records
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## The Goblins in the Casino
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## Sending to Rennick
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## Rennick's House
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## Sergio and Jinn, the Xaositects
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## The Mercenary from Ysgard
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## The Greatest Show in Ysgard
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