Keepers: @bhskittykatt @holeyfailadin_29351 @krissmelser @darrylspeed @Sollyn, @Xtopher, @Sam,

Objectives: Find out if the Emerald Claw is behind the Gloaming and see if Zorlan of Cannith East has any involvement with the Blood of Vol or Emerald Claw.

Outcome: Zorlan is a low ranking member of the Blood of Vol. The Emerald Claw and Blood of Vol are collaborating closely with a goal to increase Mabar incidents in Eberron.

A sentinel contact by the name of Saoirse sent our party to Korth to investigate the possibility of collaboration between the Order of the Emerald Claw and the Blood of Vol, two organizations who were once powerful and influential in Karnnath but have since been outlawed by direct orders of the regent. The Blood of Vol still retains some amount of influence and sway, particularly over the downtrodden and desperate so it was expected that the Blood of Vol would be present in some capacity in Korth, but what our contact did not know was if there was close collaboration between the Blood of Vol and Emerald Claw. A member of our party named Ratha was able to use the true story of her involvement with a demon as a cover story to gain access to the Blood of Vol via a passphrase “Dolurth is Oblivion”. Apparently a “Sacrament of Blood” was being held in two days where they would take blood from all attending, mix it, and all would drink of the mixed blood.

We were pointed to a tavern called the Corvid which is sympathetic to the Blood of Vol and we found additional members as well as Emerald Claw soldiers who were quite drunk and willing to divulge that the Emerald Claw and the Blood of Vol were closely collaborating. The Emerald Claw appears to be used primarily for security purposes, acting as guards and enforcers for higher ranking members. The highest ranking members of the Blood of Vol are known as the “Crimson Covenant” and they control promotion of the average initiate to the status of clergy. At the head of the Covenant is a singular figure called the Queen of Death who appears to pull the majority of the strings behind the organization. In addition Zorlan D’Cannith, of Cannith East is allegedly a member of the Blood of Vol, though he does not currently hold any position of significant influence within the organization. According to the members in the Corvid, a location near the city known as the Nightwood appears to have a fragile boundary between Eberron and another plane, approaching that of a manifest zone. Sure enough, when visiting we encountered a fiend who was kind enough to inform us of the Queen’s true name “Lady Illmarrow” who is a lich. All this information was sent back discretely to Saoirse.

On a more personal note, as a Karnnathian I thought I would be of great assistance to this mission but upon reaching the city it was quite obvious that I have spent a bit too long in dark forests. In a city, every dark corner is occupied and the skills and tactics to remain unseen are entirely different than sneaking through forests. Instead I was mostly a bystander to the mission, and my usual approach to being quiet and speaking few words paradoxically drew more attention to myself in this setting. I felt like the bumbling fool that I was on my first day of ranger training. Sollyn, a half-elf in our party, essentially coaxed nearly all the information we learned with her silver tongue. It was a bit scary watching her work, you could put her in a hostile military base and by the end of the week they would have somehow gained intelligence on the base that would have taken a ranger like me at least a month to confirm from the outside. She was kind enough to offer some lessons on herbalism that should prove helpful in the field.