THE SHARN INQUISITIVE

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER FIRE.

JORDAN KERBOW

Smoke chokes the Lower Towers of Terminus. Bystanders scatter as screams echo off soot-stained stone. Vicious gnolls bash their way out of the Gold Dragon Inn, and behind them, they leave a crime scene painted in blood.

The Sharn Watch was, of course, late to the scene.

Locals know better than to count on the badge these days. The real law of the lower wards? Whoever hits hardest—and lately, haymakers are coming from every side.

CITY STREETS ARE UNSAFE

For decades, Sharn’s seediest secrets had a name—Boromar. Backroom gambling in Skyway, narcotics through the docks, extortion wrapped in silver tongues. All of it sanctioned by a halfling empire born in Little Plains and raised on Talenta grit.

For decades, the Boromar Clan bought peace with equal measures order and economic stability.

Now? This "homegrown" empire, which locals have come to know, is bleeding.

The marauding Daask have driven them to the brink. And in this city, the devil you know is a sure sight better than the one you don't.

"They set the place on fire with dogs from your wildest nightmares. This wasn’t about turf—it was about sending a message," says Gressie Gorben, a local witness of the attack.

This raid on the Gold Dragon Inn is the latest in a string of violent lootings that have the Daask name written all over it. What does this gang want? Too soon to tell. Will they get what's coming to them? That's up to the Watch, the Boromar Clan, and potentially one of the infamous inquisitive agencies running around playing hero, while the rest of us just try to stay breathing.

While Daask sends its low-level talent to do its dirty work, its expert Bruisers lead their operations and make sure that every encounter is punctuated with excessive force. One thing is clear: the Daask aren't pulling their punches when it comes to taking over the streets of lower Sharn.

Continued in The Enemy of My Enemy adventure example in Eberron: Forge of the Artificer.

DANGEROUS DREAMS

But while Daask bruisers make the headlines and Boromar smugglers grease the gears of the city, a third suspected threat watches from the dark—silent, patient, and egging on the clashing clans .

Multiple reports from across the city—from the lower streets to Skyway suites—describe vivid, recurring nightmares. Some call it coincidence. Others say it’s alive and moving like a kind of insidious shadow.

A Watch investigator working the Boromar case was reassigned after leaking sensitive details to a known Daask operative. She claims she never shared the information. Her commanding officer insists she was never assigned to the case in the first place.

Elsewhere, House Deneith patrols have been seen rerouting through Daask-held territory without explanation—triggering violent confrontations that “nobody authorized.” Meanwhile, two minor council aides from opposing houses were overheard using identical phrasing to justify conflicting votes, each swearing the idea was their own.

Reports of forged orders, contradictory briefings, and quietly vanished suspects have begun piling up across the city. No clear patterns. No shared motive. Just the slow, widening crack of trust between lawkeepers, council members, and long-standing allies.

Speculation swirls. Whispers of a force that moves unseen. No proof. No names. Just a growing sense that an Infiltrator is pulling strings beneath the surface.

Official sources deny any connection. The Watch calls it “urban fatigue.” But fatigue doesn’t rearrange patrol schedules. Fatigue doesn’t speak through other people’s mouths.

This organization, if it exists at all, leaves no calling card. Only questions.

Who are they? Where do they come from? And how far up the chain of command have they spread?

WHO’S LEFT TO STAND AGAINST THEM?

Inquisitives. That’s the word on everyone’s lips.

They’re the only ones asking the real questions. The only ones who care when a Daask gang kidnaps a council aide, or when a Boromar Clan rival gets firebombed. The only ones who notice when your own dreams start spying on you.

But for how long?

Rumors already swirl about inquisitive agencies being bought out, shut down, or worse—disappeared.

Sharn is a city on the brink. And while its towers scrape the heavens, its streets run red. Between knives in the alleys and ghosts in your thoughts, the question isn’t just who runs Sharn anymore—it’s whether anyone ever truly did.

Want more double-crossing factions and intriguing investigations? On top of a toolkit of new character options and monsters, Eberron: Forge of the Artificer comes equipped with campaign frameworks to help DMs run Eberron's unique genres—from noir mysteries to political thrillers.