Smith received a missive from his old comrade, Ash stating that there had been a series of murders against Warforged in the Blackbones district of Sharn, and that they were in desperate need of help in finding and stopping the killer. The party headed to the underground area, to the The Red Hammer, the tavern that Ash was running. Selene d'Lyrandar took a Warforged guise inside. After introductions were made (Selene d'Lyrandar getting drunk on extra strong Warforged ale), Ash explained how afraid the Warforged living in Blackbones were and described the murders. 8 had taken place, and only one of these had been witnessed. Corpses left behind were mutilated in various ways, missing a limb, head, or internal components. After consulting a map of the murders, the party quickly realised they were all centred around the Tain Foundry, a foundry where many of the local Warforged worked. Ash then realised all the victims worked at the foundry. This opened up an avenue for investigation. On asking Ash about the bodies, he mentioned they had been reclaimed by Lord Slogar d'Cannith, and were being held at Slogar's Forgehold, another place of interest. Ash also mentioned that a lot of people (himself included) believed the murders could be the work of a legendary ghost, Jack-in-Irons, due to the horrific way the bodies were being left.
There were several Warforged of interest present, which the party questioned:
- Shadowblack was outspoken of his hatred to all creatures of flesh and his affiliation to the Lord of Blades. He clearly thought the guards of the Tain Foundry were responsible for the murders, fuelled by hate for the Warforged. He was little more help than this, and aggressive towards the party, especially Daellin and Elias Minch (the non-Warforged).
- Dandy was the one who discovered the last body. He was still in a state of shock and this had seriously affected him. The party struggled to get much out of him other than crying, but he explained how he got a brief glimpse of the murderer's silhouette, before they fled from the scene. He outlined how the body he found had been mutiliated, with internal parts seemingly taken.
- Copper was raving and ranting whilst the other questioning was going on, clearly affected by the murders, fearing for his own life. He appeared to be in fear of his life, but the party could only get nonsense from him.
The party first investigated the murder sites. At the 2nd site they visited they found a number of small gold chain links, though it was not clear what this could mean. There was a lot of speculation about this.
Next they visited the Tain Foundry. They came across Molric the overseer beating a Warforged worker. When questioned, he stated he was making an example of the worked. He was initially quite hostile, but warmed up eventually. He seemed to enjoy the fact that Warforged were being murdered, but admitted he didn't want it to continue too long, as he needed the workers. Like Ash. he blamed Jack-in-Irons, and denied any part in this. Most of the party seemed to believe him. They did notice he had a bracelet of gold chain links like those found at the murder scene, though they did not quiz him on this.
Smith then tried to use himself as bait for the murderer, walkign the streets at night, but nothing happened.
The following morning, the party went to Slogar's Forgehold, and Selene sweet-talked her way in with the receptionist. On examining the bodies, the Smith realised each body had meticulously and accuractly had various parts taken away as if preserving them, and that the killing would was always a knife blow to the chest. The party wondered if someone was attempting to use the parts to build something new. They were then interrupted by Lord Slogar d'Cannith, who was very unhelpful and rude. He stated he was investigating the murders, and he needed no help. When pressed, he made some hint that there might be a way to "profit" from the killings, but then asked the party to leave.
With all avenues investigated, they headed back towards the Red Hammer to show Ash their findings. On route they were attacked by what appeared to be two master assassins. Selene went down after taking some serious damage, but the party managed to kill the assassins before things got worse. They found shiny new gold coins on the gold, enforcing Elias' assassin theory, though Selene wasn't as sure they were assassins.
There was yet more drama as the party continued their journey. They came across six Warforged almost at blows with Molric and five of his guards. The Warforged were blaming them for the murders, stating Shadowblack had said to kill all the non-Warforged. In an attempt to prevent violence (and to the dismay of the others), Daellin shot an arrow at Molric, attempting to disable him. The arrow whizzed over his head, and Molric assumed it was meant for a Warforged. Selene quickly cast fog over the area, stalling the fight for a few seconds. Elias made the Warforged apprensive, by asking them why Shadowblack wasn't there with them. Selene convinced Molric and the guards to pull back, telling them that violence wasn't the answer. The fight was averted just in time.
As the party arrived at the Red Hammer, they showed Ash the gold links, and he looked back in horror. He explained that Copper used these links regularly as payment for goods. A quick inspection of the room showed that Copper was nowhere to be seen...