District Type: Industry district
Buildings: Temple (Onatar), poor lodging (2), poor food (7), poor trades (60), poor services (30)
First Impression: Heat and the smell of smoke fills the air. The long passages are dimly lit and coated with soot, and the inhabitants are dour folk focused on their work.
Social Class: Lower class
Blackbones is located under Tavick’s Landing, and stretched west toward the center of Sharn. In most respects it is similar to Ashblack; it is slightly newer, and the corridors are a little wider and better lit. Like Ashblack, there are a considerable number of warforged laborers in this district, and a few businesses have sprung up around these constructs.
The Pool of Onatar’s Tears: When the engineers were building Blackbones, they discovered a bizarre phenomenon—a small pool of cool, crystal-clear water surrounded by a larger pool of blazing lava. In addition to surviving the heat, the water actually seemed to be replenished by an unseen source. Curious, a dwarf priest ordered a forge set up near the pool. A skilled smith, he found that if he used the heat of the lava and then tempered his work in the cool water, his work was far better than what he was used to producing. He declared the site to be the work of the sovereign lord Onatar. Today, smiths and metalworkers from across Khorvaire come to Sharn to be blessed at the pool. A temple has been built around the pool, and services to Onatar are held within.
Those who seek a special blessing are allowed to dip their hands into the water, which is said to enhance their own talents. The powers of the pool may be largely legendary, but they are not completely false. Anyone who tempers a metal item using water from the pool receives a +2 bonus on the associated craft check, though the priest rarely allows anyone to take water from the pool. And if a priest or adept casts a spell from the Artifice domain within 10 feet of the pool, his effective caster level is increased by 2.
The current caretaker of the pool is actually a warforged—one of the few warforged priests on Khorvaire. Smith (LN male personality warforged fighter 2/adept 6) served in the Last War; along the way he developed a deep faith in Onatar, who he believes guided humanity to create the warforged race. Smith believes that the god has a plan for the warforged, and he has done his best to get other members of the warforged community to embrace his vision. Smith is deeply opposed the violent ideology of the Lord of Blades, and firmly believes that the warforged and the creatures of flesh are meant to live together.
The Red Hammer: This unusual business is an inn—for warforged. Warforged do not need to eat, drink, or sleep, but they can still hunger for camaraderie. The Red Hammer is a place for warforged to gather, make new friends, and exchange stories. The Hammer is owned by two warforged, Blue (N female personality warforged fighter 5) and Crucible (N female personality warforged artificer 5). The official story is that Blue bought the Hammer with a cache of gold he found during the Last War, but in truth it was paid for by Merrix d’Cannith. Crucible is one of Merrix’s experimental warforged produced in Sharn, and Merrix also wants to provide the warforged with an outlet for social development. Blue and Crucible are on good terms with Smith, and both support his views as opposed to those of the Lord of Blades.
In addition to companionship, the Hammer is a source for repairs and cosmetic improvement for warforged; costs are equivalent to those of a house of healing. Warforged characters receive a +1 circumstance bonus on any Gather Information or Knowledge (local) checks made in the Red Hammer.
Source: Sharn: City of Towers