jdnd/sections/5-the-carrion-bird.md

# The Carrion Bird

## Chapter Summary

In this chapter, the PCs arrive in the city of Sigil, where
they have been tasked with finding Rennick.  This turns out
to be difficult: Rennick is in hiding, because he is
terrified of a man named Crow, who is hunting him.

Crow is an incantifer: a member of a small sect of
wizards who have mastered a vile technology. Incantifers
capture a powerful individual, rip the soul out of their
body, and use that soul to build an orb: a construct that 
allows the incantifer to wield the powers of the person
from whom the orb was made.

But the real innovation is in how incantifers control these
orbs: you see, the soul is connected to the body by
something called the silver cord.  It turns out the silver
cord is a braided thing, made up of seven strands, with each
strand connected to one of the body's seven chakras.
Incantifers disconnect one of the seven strands from one of
the chakras, and then reconnect that strand to the orb. This
allows the incantifer to control the orb as if it were part
of their body - using an orb is as fluid as thought.
Incantifers are blazingly fast: an incantifer can cast one
spell per turn per orb, in addition to whatever spell they
cast with their human body. In an action-economy combat
system, an incantifer is a rain of death.  Crow has four
orbs, and for all practical purposes, fighting Crow is like
fighting five powerful mages at the same time.

However, incantifers pay a terrible price for this: the more
strands of the cord are disconnected from the human body,
the more paralyzed the human body becomes.  The more
powerful an incantifer becomes, the more their physical body
becomes a handicap.  Incantifers dream of the day when they
can fully disconnect and discard the physical body, becoming
a creature of pure magic.  However, every incantifer who
has attempted this has died.  At least for now, incantifers
are stuck with their physical body.

Crow has verified that Rennick has the ability to predict
random events.  Crow has concluded that Rennick is actually
a powerful oracle, who has not yet fully realized the extent
of his powers.  Crow intends to take those powers for himself.

The PCs met Rennick near Castle Green.  Shortly after
Rennick parted ways with the PCs, he was captured by Crow.
Fortunately, Rennick has a cautious personality, he values
his safety, and he plans for contingencies.  A long time
ago, Rennick purchased a teleportation tattoo from Fell (see
"Uncaged: Faces of Sigil" for more information about Fell
and Fell's Tattoos).  The tattoo was expensive, and for
years, Rennick had no occasion to need it.  But when Crow
captured him, the tattoo saved his life.

When Crow put Rennick into a cell, he of course took away
all of Rennick's magic items, but he didn't realize the
tattoo was also a magic item.  Rennick allowed Crow to
brag about himself and his plans, and Rennick learned what
Crow planned to do with him.  Then, he used up the tattoo to
teleport away.  Of course, Crow was furious and immediately
set out to recapture Rennick.  Rennick knew he wasn't safe:
he immediately went into hiding.

Up until this moment, there have been very few NPCs in this
campaign who are unadulterated evil.  Green is greedy, but
not a monster, and he can be reasoned with. Orethys was pure
evil, but he is a historical figure. Beshaba is evil, but
she won't play a central role until later.  Crow is the
first genuinely horrible person that the PCs will face.

Do not tell any of this to your players.  All of this will
unfold gradually, as the PCs search for Rennick, and explore
the city of Sigil.

Finding Rennick in the City of Sigil is a very nonlinear
part of the campaign. The PCs can go in any one of several
directions, and can pursue any one of several leads.  The
DM will have to tie all of this together into a story that
flows together coherently.

## Character Leveling

The PCs should be raised to Level 5 before starting this
chapter.

## First Sights of the City

When the PCs emerge from the scrap dealer's tent, they step
out into the Bazaar of Sigil.  It is a one-way portal.
Behind the PCs is just more bazaar.  The first sights they
see are wild and disorienting.  The PCs just stand and stare
for several minutes, unless they consciously try to fit in.
These are the most notable things they see:

- The extreme variety of races.  In addition to the more
common races, the PCs see a ton of people they may or may
not recognize: bariaur, tabaxi, modrons, goblins, gith,
tanaari, everything.  When describing it, be sure to throw
in some really unexpected ones: a giant, a mind flayer, a
group of pixies, you name it.

- The enormous arch.  Overhead, there appears to be a huge
arch that spans the entire width of the city.  This is
actually the city itself, forming a ring. But this isn't
immediately obvious to newcomers.  It may take them a little
time to realize it's not a giant structure, it's the city's
topology.

- The gritty atmosphere.  The foundry is not far, and the
yellow soot hangs over the bazaar.  Many of the buildings
are made of steel, rusted and corroded, and blades stick out
from the corners of the buildings and the door and window
frames.  The city somehow looks both extremely poor and
extremely wealthy at the same time.

- The chaos of the bazaar.  People are rushing in every
direction, trying to get business done.  They shove around
the clueless newbies standing in the road, paying them
little attention.

There is a lot of great material about the city of Sigil
published by Wizards of the Coast.  I highly recommend you
familiarize yourself with the city before trying to run this
section of the campaign.  This adventure, as written, is set
in a version of Sigil in which the faction war never
happened. If you want to adapt this to whatever version of
Sigil you prefer, that would not be difficult.

The PCs came to the city with a quest: Find Rennick!  
After wandering around for a few minutes, they may start
to think about their objective.  Before they have a chance
to get started, introduce them to Rico Sparks.


## Rico Sparks, the Tout

As the PCs gape at the bazaar, a Tout named Rico Sparks
notices that the PCs are obviously not from Sigil.  He sees
a business opportunity.  Touts are information brokers,
their bread and butter is selling basic information
about the city to clueless visitors.

Rico is always over-the-top brash and cheerful.  He uses
a *lot* of Sigil slang, and he also like to say "hey, baby!"
His favorite gesture: finger guns.

He approaches the PCs and says, "Hey, cutters!  I'm your
friendly neighborhood drug dealer, and the drug I sell is
easy access to information!  Be careful, it's addictive!"

Rico Sparks is a dwarf-human hybrid - technically, a "Mul."
He is as tall as a human, but bulky, like a dwarf.  Muls
are entirely hairless.  Rico is also plane-touched: his
fingers crackle with little sparks.

Rico stands there grinning: "What do you think of the Cage?
You looking for a Kip?  Or you want to get some bub first?"

Rico is deliberately using slang that the PCs don't know
in order to make the PCs feel disoriented.  This is a
business strategy that works for him, the more clueless
people feel, the more they want an information broker.

If the PCs ask Rico what his race is, or why he gives off
sparks, Rico grins and says, "that information costs more
than you can afford, baby!"

If you ask Rico why he calls himself a drug dealer, he says,
"Touts provide easy access to information, and easy access
to information makes you lazy, it makes you stop trying to
solve problems for yourself. Soon you'll find yourself
calling me because you need me to tell you how to tie your
shoes. That's my income stream, baby! Addicts who can’t stop
calling me to tell them what to do every minute of the day.”

Rico’s price structure is simple: "it costs 5GP to have a
conversation with me. First conversation’s free, baby, like
any good drug dealer!"

During a conversation, Rico will gladly answer all the
questions you have, as long as he knows the answer off the
top of his head.  "It doesn't cost any extra to ask a lot of
questions, so ask everything you can think of!"  Rico knows
a lot about what’s going on around the city, and he has good
general knowledge about many subjects, but he’s not a
database of all information in the universe. If you ask
something that requires research, he’s willing to do
research, but he charges 10GP per hour, sometimes more,
depending on the challenge level. If you ask Rico for
information that might put Rico in danger, then that’s a
hard no.

"If you want, you can retain my services.  If you do that,
I'll show up every couple of days and see if you have
any questions.  However, if I'm going to the trouble
of making myself available, there's something I want in
return: customer loyalty.  You don't do business with
any other tout."

"If you want to ask me a question and I'm not around, you
can summon me.  To do that, tell any tout that you want to
talk to Rico Sparks.  They'll get a message to me.
Summoning me costs 10gp, because it means I have to drop
everything and travel halfway across the city.  If you do
that, it'll take me a few hours to get there."

"You can also summon me fast.  If you do that, I'll use
shortcuts to get to you - portals.  But that costs me a lot
of money - I have to pay the owners of the portals. So
summoning me fast costs 30gp, but I can usually get there
in an hour."

Rico is very good at extracting money from his customers.
However, he does develop a fondness for interesting 
customers: he is meant to become a friend to the PCs.
He will always charge quite a bit for his services, but
his information is reliable and he tries to make himself
useful.

The PCs probably have lots of questions about Sigil for
Rico.  But there is one essential piece of information
that you must work into the conversation: you must
teach the PCs about portals and portal keys.

One way to work this into the conversation is to have Rico
ask about the metal wire on the PCs' arms: he says: "You
don't need those metal wires any more. That was just a
portal key. You guys know about portals and portal keys?"

Rico then explains: "Supposedly, every door and window in
Sigil is a portal to somewhere.  Yes, interior doors too.
The thing is, most of those portals will never activate,
because nobody knows the right key.  Key could be anything:
it could be a physical object like that loop of wire, but it
could also be a song, or a color, or even a mindset - you
name it."

Rico is a tool for you, the DM.  You can use him to feed
the PCs little bits of information whenever you would
like to do so.  He can help keep the story moving.

The PCs should probably ask Rico where to find Rennick.
Rico will answer that he doesn't know who Rennick is, but
he knows that any member of the Fraternity of Order, who
works in the department of casino regulation, is going
to have an office in the Courthouse.  So the courthouse
is a good place to start looking.

## Taking Care of Pig

If the PCs brought Pig to Sigil, then Pig follows them for a
while, and then gets tired.  He settles into an empty spot
at the bazaar and starts playing his mandolin, and attracts
a small crowd.

Eventually, this draws the attention of the landlord. The
bazaar is spread across several dozen plots of land owned by
several different landlords.  Pig can play music for a few
days without being noticed, but eventually a landlord will
show up and ask the PCs, "does this ogre belong to you?"
The PCs will have to negotiate to rent a plot of land where
Pig can play his music.

Pig's artistry is good, he brings in enough money to pay for
food, rent, and maybe a little more on the side.  Pig is not
picky about shelter, he doesn't mind sleeping outside.

Of course, the real reason Pig is tagging along is because
the PCs promised healing.  Sigil has many powerful priests,
several of whom can cast "Greater Restoration," which is
what Pig needs.

Rico Sparks can tell the PCs where to find a priest: he says
that temples are not allowed in Sigil ever since the
incident with the shattered temple.  However, priests are
allowed to gather in "healing centers," which are not
allowed to hire more than one priest of a given god, in
order to avoid the perception that they are a temple.
Rico can point to several reputable healing centers in the
bazaar.

If the PCs go to one of these, they will have to pay for the
Greater Restoration spell, which is expensive, but it gets
the job done.  Pig doesn't heal immediately.  The priest
explains: "Pig is recovering now, but he has lost almost all
his muscle mass.  He needs lots of protein.  Make sure he
eats like an ogre, and over the course of the next few
months, he'll get strong again."

We are deliberately timing this so that Pig cannot provide
real combat assistance in *this* chapter, but he *will* be
able to fight in the next one.  In the meantime, Pig will
play his music in the bazaar, mostly take care of himself,
and he will be *very* grateful to the PCs because he's
regaining his strength.

The PCs may decide that playing music is actually a
reasonable way to make a few coins.  If so, Pig is willing
to join the troupe.  Feel free to improvise here.

If the PCs ask Pig to fight in *this* chapter, Pig refuses:
he's humiliated by his weakness and doesn't want anyone
to see him fight in this condition.  But that will change
in a month or so.

## Sergio and Jinn, the Xaositects

After the PCs have had a chance to wander around the bazaar
a bit, have them make a perception check.  They hear somebody
say the name "Rennick."  It turns out that two Xaositects,
Sergei and Jinn, are searching for Rennick.  Their strategy?
Just asking people at random on the street: "We're looking
for a guy named Rennick.  Have you seen him?"

Sergei is a Xaositect who has learned through the grapevine
that Rennick has gained the ability to predict random
events. Sergei, like most Xaositects, thinks this is an
abomination. He is on a mission to find an kill Rennick. If
the PCs ask Sergei what he's up to, he explains, "killing
Rennick is only illegal if I get caught."  Fortunately for
Rennick, Sergei is not very efficient.

Sergei insists that he is the president of the Xaositects.
He occasionally changes his mind and decides he's the
"chairman" of the Xaositects, or the "emperor", or sometimes
even the "factol."  No other Xaositect thinks that Sergei
is any of these things.

The other Xaositect, Jinn, is enigmatic.  She refuses to
make any assertions about anything.  She explains: " Suppose
your friend tells you that there's an excellent cheese shop
about two blocks north. But think about it: they could be
lying. They could be telling the truth, but they may have a
bad sense of direction.  They may be misremembering.  You
may have misheard them.  They might just have terrible taste
in cheese.  There are just so many different ways that our
knowledge can be broken.  We act as if our knowledge is
good, but over and over it just turns out our memories, our
perception, or our communication is flawed - sometimes, all
three. It's safer to just assume you know nothing."

Jinn has no hostility toward Rennick, because she doesn't
know anything about who Rennick is, or what he did, or...
well, she doesn't know anything about anything, really.

However, Jinn has a supernatural ability to just be where
she needs to be, when she needs to be there.  She does what
she needs to do, without knowing why she's doing it.  Right
now, the universe has a purpose for her, and it involves
Rennick.  So, she's searching for Rennick.  She has no idea
why.

Sergei calls Jinn "my secretary," or "my assistant," or "my
servant."  When he does, Jinn gets an irritated look on her
face, and sometimes she replies: "I'm not your piking
servant." Sergei knows how to push Jinn's buttons: "How do
you know you're not?"  Jinn has no answer for this.

Sergei is a male bariaur, a LV4 fighter.  Jinn is a female
water genasi.  Her class and level are unknown - she has
different skills on different days.  Jinn carries around a
"loot bag," which contains random items that she has no idea
where she got them, but the loot bag often contains
something relevant to what she needs.

The two Xaositects both come across as morons.  For Sergei,
that perception is entirely deserved.  Jinn is
knowledge-free, but also, extremely intelligent, which is a
strange combination.

Each time the PCs go to another location, there's a
substantial chance that Sergei and Jinn will already be
there.  This will happen over and over.  The PCs show up,
and there are Sergei and Jinn asking passers-by about
Rennick.

The reason for this is Jinn's special ability to
just be in the right place.  But it's not the right time
for her to do what she needs to do, so she's just hanging
around waiting, and looking for Rennick.

In addition to asking around about Rennick, the two of them
both enjoy drinking.  Sometimes, when the PCs show up,
Sergei may already be passed out on the floor, with Jinn
just napping or sipping liquor until he wakes up.

## Sending to Rennick

The PCs are now at a level where they can potentially cast
the spell "Sending."  This is a very useful tool for finding
Rennick.  According to the spell, one must be "familiar"
with the recipient.  The PCs met Rennick at Castle Green.
Whether that's enough to constitute "familiarity" depends on
how the PCs interacted with Rennick.  If they barely said
two words to him, then no, it's not enough.  But if they had
a good solid conversation with him, then that's enough: he's
"familiar."  Your judgement call.

Do not feel obligated: if the PCs can't cast sending, they
can still complete this chapter just fine.

If the PCs cast sending, then Rennick can respond with a
25-word response.  Pretty much no matter what the PCs say,
Rennick says:

>  Incantifer, Crow, plans to kill me!  I'm hiding from him.
>  He may be spying right now!  Say nothing!  He's listening.
>  Cast sending again.

At this point, the PCs are likely to have tons of questions.
If the PCs try asking questions, Rennick says:

>  Cannot explain: Crow listening.  Cannot come out of hiding.
>  If you save me from Crow, I will cooperate with you.
>  Will you help?

If the PCs agree to help, Crow says:

>  DO NOT FIGHT CROW!  Too deadly.  Research strengths,
>  weaknesses.  Choose spells.  Raid my stash, buy right equipment.
>  Hire mercenary from Ysgard. When prepared, contact me.

With that, the PCs now understand the broad outlines of
this chapter and what they have to do.  However, that
still leaves tons of questions unanswered:

* What is an "Incantifer?"  What are Crow's powers?

* Why does Crow want to kill Rennick?

* How can the PCs find Crow?

* For that matter, how can the PCs *avoid* Crow until they're ready?

* "Hire mercenary from Ysgard."  What mercenary from Ysgard?  What are you talking about?

* "Raid my stash."  What stash?  Where is this stash?

* "Buy right equipment."  What is the "right equipment?"

* Where is Rennick hiding?

The PCs will have to figure out the answers to these questions
by themselves.  Any further attempt to send messages to Rennick
will result in Rennick saying:

> Stop casting sending, too dangerous.  May be possible to
> trace you.  I know you are smart.  Info you need is out there.

So Rennick refuses to answer any more questions.  Fortunately,
Rico Sparks is a big help.  Rico is a tout, an information broker,
so he knows how things work and where to find useful information.
He can do all of the following:

* Rico has heard of the incantifers.  He volunteers to research them.

* Rico observes that Rennick's coworkers might know
  something.

* Rico is confident that he can find out where Rennick
  lives, when he's not in hiding.

* Rico doesn't know who the mercenary from Ysgard is, but he
  says, "based on the wording, it's clear that Rennick has
  somebody specific in mind."

## Sending to Green

Green is in Beshaba's realm, in the Abyss.  Beshaba is
allowing him to stay there, even providing protection.  This
is because she sees the Deck as bait that might lure Tymora
to her realm.

If the PCs cast sending to talk to Green, Green will happily
answer their questions.  He doesn't have any up-to-date
information about Rennick, but he knows general facts.

If the PCs ask Green about exactly what he's *doing* there
in Beshaba's realm, or if the PCs just start asking Green
more questions than you want, cut them off.  Here's how: A
goddess is almost omnipotent in her own realm.  Beshaba can
easily intervene in any sending spell cast into her realm.
The PCs cast sending and ask the wrong question.  They get a
reply that's not from Green, it's from Beshaba:

> So, Tymora's little pawns are getting information from my
> little pawns.  I think it's time for me to put a stop to that.

The caster recognizes the voice of Beshaba.  The caster ends
up with a splitting headache, and two levels of exhaustion.
If they're stupid enough to try again, make it even worse
for them.

## An Appointment with Casino Regulation

The courthouse is the base of operations for the
Fraternity of Order, of which Rennick is a part.  The
main door of the courthouse leads to a large antechamber,
with a big receptionist desk.  Working the desk is a 
tired-looking man named Timon Pherenikos.

Timon appears human, however, he is actually the son of a
Human and an Oread.  Timon's Oread heritage has left him
with two unusual traits: he's extraordinarily patient (which
is why he's the receptionist), and he smells slightly of
earth.

When the PCs ask for Rennick, Timon says "to get an appointment
with the Department of Casino Regulation, you need to be a
casino representative, and you need to be requesting regulation
for your casino.  Here's the form."  He hands over a blank
CM1-228, "REQUEST BY CASINO FOR INITIAL CONSULTATION FOR
ACQUISITION OF CERTIFICATE OF FAIR PLAY."

This is where the PCs next "adventure" begins: a ludicrous
mini-quest in which the PCs have to actually fill out a
Fraternity form.  This will be the PCs' first encounter with
a faction, and it is meant to highlight the absurdity of
faction ideology.  The form is full of over-the-top
bureaucratic jargon and impossible questions. The form can
be found in appendix XYZ. Filling it out will be a
challenge.

Of course, the PCs will beg Timon to just let them go talk
to the Department, skipping the formality.  That ain't
happening: this is the Fraternity of Order.  Timon says:
"Rules are rules.  If you want an appointment, you fill out
the form."

Timon is strict, but he's actually quite kind, and patient.
If the PCs want, they can try to befriend him, which works.
He still won't bend the rules, but he will be as helpful
as he can be within the rules.

The PCs may try charm magic.  Timon is zero-level, so a
simple “Charm Person” would succeed in bending him to your
will. However, the Fraternity has silent alarm systems in
place to detect the use of magic in the courthouse, and
moments later you’ll be facing a Harmonium patrol.

If the PCs used charm magic, but were nonviolent, the patrol
takes the PCs outside, and gives them a stern talking to.
"I'm not going to throw you in jail, every damn clueless who
comes to the city tries that.  If I threw all of you in
jail, there would be no room in the jail for anyone else.
But don't even think about trying that again." If the PCs
complain about the bureaucracy, the leader of the patrol
sympathizes: "Yeah, I know, their forms are completely
unreasonable.  But the law's the law, and it's my job to
enforce it."  In the end, the PCs's best course of action is
to actually just figure out a way to fill out the form.

The PCs may attempt to fill out the form with bullshit. If
they do so, Timon will look at the filled out form and say,
sympathetically, "If I send this upstairs, they'll just put
it in the circular file.  You need to fill in real
information.  You need to put down information from an
actual, real casino.  You might want to go to the hall
of records and get an actual example of an actual form
CM1-228 filled out by a real casino, that might help.
The hall of records is the next building over."

It may occur to the PCs to go find Green's Casino, and to
look there for clues about how to fill out the form.  It takes
Rico only an hour to locate the casino (finding
entertainment venues for tourists is the bread and butter
of touts everywhere.)  The casino's real name is "The Golden
Hoard," and it's in the market ward, not far.  Rico says
it's boarded up.

Another possibility is that the PCs may think
themselves: Edric, the steward, has probably filled out
this very form, and he's in town somewhere.  Rico can find
Edric too, though it's not as fast.

Edric Says: "Green's Casino is called The Golden Hoard.  It
gets reinspected every so often.  I had to fill that form
out last time. Nothing has changed, you can just get the old
form from the hall of records and copy everything over.  To
get that, you'll need the tax ID number for the casino. I'm
afraid I don't remember the tax ID number, it's been a
while.  There's still some old paperwork at the casino
building, I imagine one of those old forms has the tax ID
number somewhere."

If the PCs go to the hall of records, they end up in
a room that looks like a library reading room, with a
giant desk.  Behind the desk are many "librarians", 
and a football-field sized room full of shelving units
packed with filing boxes.  The PCs get in line, and
eventually get served.

The hall of records keeps the forms organized by:

* Date,
* Tax ID number,
* Form number.

Those are your choices.  You can specify more than one
of these.  If you ask for anything else - literally,
anything else, the librarians will just get annoyed and
will explain to you that you have to give them a tax
ID number, a date range, and/or a form number.

The librarians also say: "every form retrieved costs 10gp."

If the PCs say something like, "can we just see an example
of a form CM1-228,"  the librarian says, "I can bring you
all of the form CM1-228s.  There are probably thousands of
them, remember, they cost 10gp each."

If the PCs say, "no we just want to see one," the librarian
looks increasingly annoyed and says, "No Fraternity member
is going to bring you a *random* form CM1-228.  Randomness
is not how things get done, we don't do that here.  You
can pick a form by form number, tax ID number, or date
range."

It *is* possible to get an example of a form CM1-228 while
only paying 10gp.  The trick is to use a narrow date range.
"Bring me any form CM1-228 filed in the last 24 hours."  The
librarian will look annoyed, go into the stacks, and return
saying, "none have been filed in the last 24 hours." Then,
the PC can say, "OK, bring me any form CM1-228 filed in the
last 48 hours."  The librarian will object, saying, "this is
wasting my time," to which the PC can say, "I asked for one
form, and you refused to do that.  Fine.  I'm using your
rules: I'm giving you date ranges.  You made the rules, now
you follow them." They can't object: they're the Fraternity.
If the PCs keep this up, they'll eventually end up with the
most recently-filed CM1-228.

If the PCs don't pull off this trick with the date ranges,
the other real option is to go to the Golden Hoard, find the
tax ID number, and come back to the hall of records. In that
way, the PCs can obtain a CM1-228 from the Golden Hoard, and
use it in the same way. 

After the PCs obtain a CM1-228, they can copy the
information over from that form to their own form,
substituting their own name and signature.  Then, they give
it to Timon.  Timon says, "well, you signed this form
claiming to be the casino's authorized representative.  I
know you don't actually work for this casino, so that's
misrepresentation."

But, if the PCs got the CM1-228 from the Golden Hoard, and
if Edric gave them the go-ahead, they can legitimately claim
to actually be authorized.  Timon is impressed.

If not, Timon says, "It's misrepresentation, but that's a
civil lawsuit, and I don't have standing, so I can't call
you out on it.  But, if you send this upstairs, it may come
back to bite you, in the form of a lawsuit.  Your call.
Send it up or not?"

In reality, there's no risk of a lawsuit.  Nobody is going
to check up on this.

Timon gives the form to an imp, who flies it upstairs.
The imp returns a few minutes later with a note.  Timon
says: "your appointment is in 10 minutes.  Take those
stairs, three stories up, go left, all the way down the
hall."

## Hazel Senjen, Rennick's Boss

When the PCs enter the Department of Casino Regulation,
they are met by Rennick's boss: Hazel Senjen.  She is a
smallish human.  Unlike Rennick, she's not a researcher
or a statistician: she's an administrator, she coordinates
the department.

She says, "You're the ones who filled out this form?"
She tosses it in the circular file.  "I know this casino
doesn't need a certificate, so what's this about?"

At this point, the PCs can explain their mission, that
they're looking for Rennick.  As soon as they say this,
Hazel looks at Lada, and says, "Wait - Halfling, priestess
of Tymora?  Are you Lada?"  Lada looks surprised and agrees.
Hazel says: "Good, Rennick told me that you and your friends
would probably show up, he was counting on it."  Now that
Hazel knows who the PCs are, she trusts them and is willing
to share information.

Hazel can tell the PCs the backstory of everything that led
up to this moment.  Her story will fill in a *lot* of the
missing pieces.  You might want to print this whole story
out, and just give it to them.

> Many months ago, Rennick told me that he had discovered a
> new technology that allowed him to predict certain random
> events.  Rennick told me that this would be a boon for the
> Fraternity of Order.  I don't understand the technology, I'm
> not a mathematician, but Rennick was very excited.
>
> He also told me that he found a small box by his bedside,
> with dice on the cover.  He was very suspicious of the box,
> but he tried to open it anyway.  It wouldn't open.
>
> a few weeks later, he came to me looking worried.  He said,
> "I think I've made a huge mistake.  This technology is too
> dangerous.  I wish I could put the genie back in the bottle."
> He also wished he hadn't told so many people about it.
>
> I said to him, "if it's so dangerous, why don't you just
> burn your notes?"  He said, "you know the priciple of the
> idea whose time has come?  Even if I destroy my notes,
> other scientists are going to rediscover it, and soon.
> This technology is getting out whether I like it or not.
> If it does, the universe is piked.  I have to do something."
>
> He kept me posted on his progress.  Through divination, he
> figured out the box contained the avatar of a god of
> randomness.  He assumed this god had some interest in his
> technology, since the box appeared on the day he made his
> breakthrough.  He decided he really wanted to talk to this
> god: he was sure a god of randomness could help him
> fix the situation.
>
> He also figured out why he couldn't open the box.
> The Lady of Pain doesn't allow other gods in the city.
> It was her power keeping the box sealed tight.
>
> So, he took the box out of Sigil, and opened it.  He was
> really disappointed: it was a deck of many things.  He
> wanted to *talk* to the god, not play cards. So he did
> more divination, and figured out: This god is *asleep*,
> the cards are its *sleeping* form. He realized he couldn't
> get this God's help unless he woke it up first.
>
> He said "to wake somebody up, what do you do?  You agitate
> the ever-living shit out of them."  He says, "I can use
> this deck to create predictable outcomes, instead of
> random ones, the same way a casino makes a predictable
> income from games of chance.  That would violate this
> god's core priciples, using its tool, designed to dispense
> randomness, to create a predictable result.  That should
> aggravate it enough to wake it up, I hope."
>
> I said, "Are you sure you want to deal with a pissed-off
> god?" He said, "I have to, this is important.  I have
> confidence, I can handle it."
>
> He brought in a guy named Green to help implement his
> plan. A few months later, he was frustrated that the God
> wasn't waking up.  "Green can agitate anyone, but it's
> apparently not enough."  Then, he told me he had another
> idea, to raise this God's anxiety level further, but he
> refused to let me in on that part of the plan.  I think
> he's crazy, deliberately provoking a god, but it's
> Rennick. When he decides to do something, he doesn't
> listen to advice.
>
> About a week later, he went to Saint Parnas to catch up
> with Green.  He comes back two or three days later,
> totally in a panic.  He's rushing around, saying, "a guy
> named Crow is trying to kill me.  Capture me, barely
> escaped.  Wants to turn me into a magic item.  Going into
> hiding."  He's telling me this, and frantically filling
> out forms at the same time. He says, "there's people, good
> people, who I think are likely to show up. Lada, halfling,
> curly hair, Tymora priestess. Can't remember other names.
> Help them.  I have to run!" Then, he hands me the forms,
> makes me sign them, and then rushes out the door.  Haven't
> seen him since.  Been, what, a week and a half?
>
> Those forms are over here... there you go.

The story not only fills in a lot of information about the
past, it also reveals some things about Rennick.  

He also thinks he can handle an angry god, which tells you
something about his inflated sense of self.  He also isn't
good at listening to advice.  He can't remember the PCs'
names, only Lada - he respects her, because she's a
theoretical fortunologist like Rennick. But she's the only
one he bothers to remember.  Overall, it paints a picture of
a man who is self-important.

Hazel hands the PCs the two forms that Rennick filed in a
panic: XP3-907, "REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY ABSENCE DUE TO
CREDIBLE THREAT TO LIFE", and COI-441, "AUTHORIZATION TO
VISIT PLACE OF BUSINESS DESPITE REGULATORY CONFLICT OF
INTEREST."

The "Request for Temporary Absence" is mostly just
silliness.  The idea that the Fraternity would have a form
to request permission to go into hiding from a psychopath is
deliberately ludicrous.  But the "authorization to Visit
Place of Business" contains a critical clue: the place of
business in question is Green's Casino, the Golden Hoard.

Why would Rennick, while fleeing from Crow, want to go to
casino that's closed?  What could possibly be at a closed
casino that would help him deal with Crow?  It doesn't make
sense.  The form itself says: "Show producer may
have information which may pertain to my safety."  Why would
there be a show, and a producer, at a closed casino, and
how could a show's producer protect Rennick from Crow?

If the PCs haven't visited the Golden Hoard yet, it's
definitely time for them to do so.

## Rico Learns About Crow

This is a good time for Rico Sparks to show up and say, "I've
learned a little information about the incantifers.
20gp for research plus 5gp for the conversation."

Here are the points of information that Rico can
contribute at this point:

* Who the incantifers are: a small sect of wizards who
capture individuals, rip the souls out of their bodies, and
use that soul to build orbs, which he says is some kind of
very powerful magical item that can rapidly cast spells.  He
knows that Crow has four orbs.  He doesn't know what they
can do.

* He tells the PCs that there are three known incantifers
who occasionally show up in Sigil: Crow, Peregrine, and
Albatross.  He has no idea how to contact any of them.

* He says that all three of the known incantifers are wanted
by the mercykillers.  Apparently, the mercykillers attempted
a raid on the tower sorcerous a few years ago, but couldn't
get inside.

Finally, Rico promises to keep looking for information on
Crow.  He says he's sure he can find more.

## The Goblins in the Casino



## Rennick's House

At some point, Rico says, "I've located Rennick's house."
(Research cost: 20gp.)  

By this time, Rico is fond of the PCs.  If the PCs say
they're going to Rennick's house, Rico says:

> Okay, but really, be careful.  Crow might be watching
> Rennick's house.
>
> Back in Saint Parnas, you guys were big fishes in a little
> pond.  But here in the Cage, you're not in a little pond
> any more.  There are people walking around on these
> streets who are archdemons in disguise.  There are wizards
> who are famous all over the multiverse.  I *really* doubt
> you guys are strong enough to fight Crow.  If you go
> starting fights with powerful people, you're going to put
> yourselves in the dead book *very* fast.  If this Rennick
> is so scared of Crow, then you would have to be real
> leatherheads to fight him unprepared.
>
> So go and investigate if you have to, but please, keep
> a low profile, and get out of there fast as you can.

## The Mercenary from Ysgard

## The Greatest Show in Ysgard