"The mind is a doorway...
...one that you can walk through if you wish."
Summaries from Nathan's interactive storytelling sessions (otherwise known as DnD)
"The mind is a doorway...
...one that you can walk through if you wish."
- everyone besides Allano and Jones is at Halfrock
- Tim Jaques and Elxa Cyr lead the war council - it is decided to send some zeppelins, Plague Doctirs(an elite anti Parasite Dweller unit) and the Ashes to Felgrau Keep - Allano and Jones go to meet with the demon underneath New Dragonsden - Allano makes a successful pact with the demon, and learns that Elok is a girl - but he quickly realizes he was deceived, the Demon takes control - at Felgrau the arrive to realize the garrison if 20k has all been killed in a Richter like manner - as soon as they touch down the DemonKing comes out of the clouds, and obliterates the Sudari fleet, through the shield ship - the plague doctor’s and the ashes flee to the keep - the doctors hold the keep while the ashes run inside the Weylanian ruin - inside the ruin they hear combat - the floor is covered in the remains of dead Weylanian guardians - the screans come from the demon guarding Tim’s artifact, being killed by the Richter - the Richter kills the demon, and comes back to face the group - Tim faces off against the Richter - then 20 of the Richter experiments appear and battle the ashes - the battle is brutal, Ses is almost killed but her life is saved by Borodin. Who dies for her - he was actually a 18 year old boy, pretending to be an old man - Tim is almost killed, but gets to his cloak just in time and repels the Richter - he uses his two artifacts to locate the third - he realizes in a flash of horror that his sword is hidden inside of Kages magic - while they are talking, the Richter starts trying to take people - Tim tries to hold it off but he can’t - Pendragon and Pierre are taken - Tim doesn’t know what to do - Pendragon and Pierre are taken to a cold corridor where the walls are packed with bodies - it becomes apparent that Pendragon is ripped - they start walking down the corridor, after hearing a little boys voice - meanwhile Kage has written a love letter to Bro Smith, and let’s Tim go through with it - Tim expertly uses his magic and draws the blade out from Kage - Kage loses her magic - The pair in the Richter Realm opens up to a massive cube shaped room - it is big enough to fit a planet in - thousands of corridors go out on all directions - in the center of the room is a slash of silvery liquid - the Richter approached - they try to talk with it and fail - Tim appears, decspitatong the Richter - it’s head is hideous with long teeth, but it has the wide eyes of a young Weylanian boy - they teleport back to the real world - back at New Dragonsden, Allano is going to the Senate house - part of the deal he made was that the demon would be free when the war was officially over, so the demon is going to sign a peace treaty at the Senate house - Allano cant stop it - Elok is concocting a plan - Jones is just having fun - when they get to the Senate house Jones pour all his charisma perfume over his head, and pretends to be a senator - he tries to stop the Senate from making peace - the demon ignores all groups and signs the treaty - the demon escapes - Allano uses demonic gas to flood the room - he and Jones escape - they go to the kinsroad - back at Felgrau there are 100 dwellers left out of the 500 that came - they retreat into the ruins with the Ashes - the droga of torment arrives to kill him, who uses lots of his magic to kill the Richter - the torment Lord decides to show tim Sevaleion just before he dies - but Tim was tricking the droga, and slays it as soon as they get to Sevaleion - Tim is out of energy - the rest of the group is transported back to the ruins - lead by Pierre in his armor, they attack from the ruins and charge into the city - they slice through the hordes of parasites but are quickly lead into the middle of the city where they can be bombarded - the demon king opens up on them - turning himself into pure magic, Jack channels huge amounts of magic into Leo - Leo stops the bombardments, and starts obliterating parasites - he gives the group cover while the Phoenix arrives - they start filling it with the remaining doctors - Pierre grabs a couple plague doctor’s and jets up to the Demon King - they are surrounded by strafe, soldiers, and Shed - shed stabs Pierre with a blade she found in a vaultshot - wotj his last breath Pierre activates his armor self destruct, tearing through the ranks on the ship - the demon king pursues the Phoenix - Pendragon challenges shed to a duel - she blinds him and pushes him off the ship, but with Clarent he kills her in his last moments - as the demon king flies away it head towards Caradyl, with a zerkonite bomb prepped - a message is sent to all, surrender or the Sudari capital will be bombed - a few minutes later the Elxa surrenders - back at ND the pair arrives at the Kinsroad - the words of Raven are burned into the cobblestones - Elok asks Allano if he trusts her - he does - she turns him into a demon, and he joins her in the demon realm - the words in the kinsroad fade away, the last of Ravens magic used - Jones takes Allanos stuff, gets on a white stallion, and rides off to go lead the resistance against the globalist - days later the peace treaty is signed - as the world is shifting and changing there is a blur of movement high up in the atmosphere - a red car with a humanoid in a silver suit tumbles through space - then rocket boosters activate, and the car warps off, into another galaxy - Currently everyone is recovering from the siege
- Kino, Pendragon, Allano, and Jack are in a small cafe in Halfrock - Walhar the pilot walks in, proposing that they run a stealth mission into New Dragonsden(which he has been technically ordered not to do) - he stole some blink fuel, and get sneak by the Sudari and Alweni blockades - there is a vigilante leading a small group of rebels under the catacombs of ND - they gather with Borodin and Fi, and fly to ND under cover of darkness - it takes all Borodin’s concentration but he keeps the ship undetected - they get into the catacombs and fly for hours - eventually they get to the Caverns(the part beneath the catacombs) and fly for even longer - finally they dock over a massive pit - Fi stays to guard the ship, and the party goes deep into a tunnel - they walk for a long time, and hear lots of little footsteps - Pendragon figures out that there is a parallel tunnel to theirs - everyone arms up, but continues on for a while with no incident - the tunnel opens up to a room filled with darkness - pilot flares, Borodin illusions, and fire do not dispel the darkness - the ground slowly starts to shake, something is coming - cave goblins attack the group - the Ashes slay a dozen of them quickly, but are heavily outnumbered - they retreat into the darkness - the team is covered in a light film of dark ooze, it numbs their senses one by one - eventually it is getting into their noses, ears, and throats - but their sense of touch is gone, so only gag reflexes stop them from choking on it - eventually they lose track of each other - finally when they are losing consciousness, they all see a big eye with a blood red iris open up - then a five meter long grin with sharp teeth appears - it is a dark creature - the team is helpless - it consumes a part of each of them, then let’s them go - the rebels find their wounded bodies, and rush them back to camp - they are treated for their wounds, and the ooze is sweated out of their pores - they meet with the rebel leader: Arthur, brother of Jaques - he has been resisting shed, but needs supplies, soldiers, and a ritualgraph station - his eventual goal is to help save General Strafe - after a few days of planning and recovering the group is heading back to their tents in the rebel camp - they round a corner to find a door made of dark rotting wood - they try to turn around, but the door is there too - it is the door to the Richter House - and the team enters - [REDACTED] - [REDACTED] - [REDACTED] - the group is awakened by rebel soldiers - the camp has to be moved periodically, to dodge parasites and cave goblins - this time it’s the goblins - everyone retreats down a tunnel and gets to an underground river - everything is packed into stone boats, which are pushed off into crazy white water rapids - when the boats come to a rest, they are at the next campsite, which is actually at the bottom of the pit which Fi is hovering over - a portable Ritualism station is set up so that Arthur can communicate with Alliance Command - the team returns to Halfrock with a grand and terrible battle on the horizon - after a restless sleep the tram convenes in the main hall of Halfrock around an illusion table
- they have lost all contact with the entire north of the continent - various people arrive throughout the day as plans are discussed - it is learned that massive amounts of Norren and Alweni troops are moving down from the norm at ultra fast speeds - a special 5 man blink pod cones from Caradyl, carrying the Elxa’s ambassador - once everything is understood the Elxa arrives in the pod, her army is moving as fast as it can up here - the Blayist Regiment arrives, some Dweller foreign legions arrive, some Alweni troops zeppelins arrive, derfel arrives, Jahman and some rangers arrive, some Strafe arrive - strafe, inspectors, and General Strafen are besieged in Meridian tower - Jaques tells everyone about the zerkonite bombs held on the Demon King Dreadnaught, designed to kill magic sources - since all living things have magical sources it could clear out a whole city, without doing any physical damage. The parasites could then infect all the dead bodies - word comes from New Dragonsden, all her forces are prepared outside the city - she sends about 1% of her army, escorted by 20 battle zeppelins and a shield ship to test Halfrock - Halfrock has to hold for 2 hours - most of the Ashes(everyone but Pierre) get on the Sudari blink pod and blast on board the Demon King - the five zeppelins(lead by a Ace Pilot Captain Walhar) engage the enemy - the parasites charge the wall, and use catapults to hurl kissers at the Alliance soldiers - the Alliance holds out will - Pierre takes down the shield ship, allowing Waldhar to start obliterating enemy ships - Jack expertly enhances Leo, who clears the deck of the Demon King - the rest of the party goes below decks, engaging some Strafe - the outer wall is taken, and the Alliance troops fall back to the keep - the group finds the engine room of the Demon King and set oraxium charges - they blink out and the Demon King crashes, but is not destroyed - only Waldhar’s ship is left(of the Alliance ships) most of the Alliance fliers are dead too - he has slain 7 enemy ships - the keep is taken, and the remaining troops are pushed back into the main hall - the Ashes strike team arrive back at Halfrock Keep just as the Sudari arrive - using expert zeppelins tactics, soul suit battalions, and super tanks, the Sudari push back the enemy - the battle stops at one point when the Richter arrives - Tim follows it, and uncovers that the love letter Ses found is his glove artifact - Tim attacks the Richter, and they battle as the parasites are driven off - the Demon King is being repaired - Tim tells the group that this whole problem with Shed is the first punch of this dark force manipulating things - he tells them the next location of an artifact, The Sudari Fortress of Felgrau Keep - the Ashes fly over New Dragonsden
- it is a chilly winters day, perfect weather for the Festival! - the group runs through the streets, participating in the celebrations! - there is singing, decorations, dancing, competitions, games, speeches and performances - Kage and Bro Smith go on a competition date - Ses and Mags win a bird training competition - Pierre has a meeting with his father - the group goes to a Sharkof concert, where he plays music around them on stage - Shed is at the concert, and comes to meet the players - her beauty is stunning, and she flirts with everyone a but before walking back into the crowd - then everyone dances and sings as they get closer to midnight - over the city the new Dreadnaught class battle zeppelins, the Demon King, shoots fireworks into the air - at 5 minutes to midnight everyone joins in the rebirth song - the city explodes in cheers at the clock hits midnight - it is the 200th anniversary of Alwen - then the group gets on the Phoenix, and flies with Aubrey to a small valley in the Dwelle mountains - they tuck in for the night and in the morning open presents! - then they all go ice skating on the lake until a familiar figure approaches - it is Derfel! He recognizes ink and invited them back for lunch - he has made a little house on the ruins of loften, and lives there with Alana - Derfel seems to use arrows to a commical degree(such as opening doors and hanging up coats) - they are both old, and although they argue it is clear they love each other - derfel catches up with the group, and bids them good day after a little lunch together - ink tells the group he must leave and Tim also heads out - Aubrey is in the valley playing with his new present - the sound of kinetic cycles fills the air - three Shae from the Blayist Regiment are speeding towards the valley - it is Trollgan and two of his companions - in a recent battles Shed and her minions wiped out 7 regiments of the Shae policing force(each regiment numbers 20 - 250) - there are two regiments left but they are down by Sanctuary - the group Shed employed were not all infected - and those that were acted much smarter, more independent, more human, - they killed the Shae instead of trying to infect them - then they infected their dead bodies and raised them afterwards - Trollgan is at a loss for how to handle the situation - Shed is going to get into the Senate by a long shot, the election is in a few days - the group head back to New Dragonsden, but are stopped by a battle zeppelins half way there - commanding it is Shed, and she comes aboard with a Strafe escort - she tells the group not to come near New Dragonsden - Pierre tries to use his time stop amulet but the Strafe stop him from using it - the group heads away from ND and towards Danderon - when they are almost there they realize that one of Trollgans companions isn’t talking - they confront him, and he is a Kisser - they hold him fast but the parasite burrows down his body and out his leg - the thing escapes and spits acid through the floor window, falling out into the forest - Pendragon shoots it with a tracking bullet - a group of Kissers/Shed supporters ride out of the gates of Danderon to find the parasite - Ses flies towards the location of the fallen creature, but is shredded by reaction fire - she falls out of the sky, and leads near the fallen creature, almost dead - the Shae + Kage get on Kinetic Cycles and rush the enemy - Mags and Pierre team up, obliterating 14 of the enemy with an earthquake style attack - Pendragon is ambushed by the parasite, but captures it - as they are fighting the massive crawler horde they have heard so much about attacks Danderon - they get up into the Phoenix and help an Alweni battle zeppelin pepper the horde with artillery - then Leo uses Kage as a magical battery and kills thousands of Crawlers by crushing them with magic - the group keeps fighting for hours - then Borodin comes, with four zeppelins at his back - they evacuate the town and escape - within moments the crawlers level the large city completely - the group flies off towards Halfrock - a zeppelins intercepts them on the way, and Jack le Fleur is on it - they tell him everything, and he promises to gather all the allies he can in Halfrock, and they will plan to defeat shed then - while Allano, Leo, Kino, and Pendragon rest at Velka, Keyra and Go fly the Phoenix back to New Dragonsden
- they are picking up the rest of the group - when they get there Mags has brought back a small brown bear cub from the city - before they set off, two academics from the Academy come to the ship - they wish to join the crew - it is Pierre le Fleur and Jack Daniels. - also a crazy conspiracy theorist named Jones yells at the ship for half an hour, so Kage brings him on the ship to intimidate him - Jones isn’t intimidated - Kage is impressed, and allows him to stay - on the flight back Pierre reveals he is a Ritualist and the group get a a little wary of him - they all meet in Velka and convene - they talk about what to do next when someone knocks on the door - it is a man scarred with burns, and a zerkonite ax, and white short hair - it is the reaper(a famous mage hunter), he is looking for his son: Clint de Bullier - the group tells him the bad news - the Reaper gets emotional, and thanks Pendragon for being there to support his son, even if he couldn’t save him - the Reaper says that they can call on him at any time, and speeds away on his Kinetic Cycle - Pierre gives a speech about how Ritualism isn’t as spooky as people think - he also shows them a cool bullet project he was working on - the group is talking about the Weylanian broom closet, when Keyra rushes out of the room - they ask her what’s going on and she tells then the story - she was preparing to read the Fallden Mirror when suddenly the writing stopped appearing, and the page burned up - she sent word to one of her contacts in the Mirror, and she just got a signal that they had wrote back to her via Ritualgraph - they check the ritualgraph and apparently the great expedition found a new world - they landed and met(peacfully) with the natives, who massacred the explorers and destroyed a zeppelins - the remaining zeppelin(the Alweni one) is badly damaged, and has landed in the ocean - before the Fallden Mirror could print it, Inspectors rushed in and destroyed the page being written - the group decides to go on the Phoenix, and head towards Dragonsden - they see dozens of Battle Zeppelins congregating - they are stopped mid air by two zeppelins, and Inspector Clemaine boards - he interrogates Pendragon, and offers them a military contract for 50 marks per person - they agree and Go to meet the general - they arrive at the military complex, and are escorted to the panic room by Strafen - they meet with General Edmund Strafe who is pretty young(39), with a limp, black hair, and he is hunchbacked - he is looking over an illusion map of the new continent: Rüden - he answers a few questions, gives them their orders, assigns an officer to brief them, and resumes his work - basically there are two zeppelins already on their way to the surviving ship - they are on their way to repair it - The General wants the crew(named the Ashes) to meet up with them at the wreck(the Phoenix is very fast) - the Ashes gear up and head out - in a 36 hours they arrive at the wreck - they examine the remains of the crew and help get the ship in the air - Pierre does get on the bad side of Captain Huxely, commander in charge of this new world campaign - there is a war council, and they have been ordered to do some exploration - 30 battle zeppelins will be on their way(20 Alweni, 10 Sudari) from New Dragonsden in a month - the new continent: Rüden, is made up of giant fauna and flora - the natives do not make sound, can jump very far, and are almost snake-like - they use stone weapons, made out of an obsidian-like material known as Merkanite - one zeppelin explores the coast, while the other and the Phoenix will see how far up the massive trees go - it is a misty foggy evening, and the zeppelins and the Phoenix rise above the clouds to see the tree canopy - then they are attacked - despite being far from the trees, the natives jump hundreds of feet to the zeppelins - they can crawl the vertical smooth sides of the balloons - everyone takes heavy casualties - Keyra is slain in combat - the Ashes are badly wounded - Leo amplified by Jack saves the day - but Kage captured a native alive - the other zeppelin exploring the coast also got attacked - due to the brutal battle, the captain’s agree to wait for the rest of the fleet - when the fleet arrives an Inspector interrogates the captured Native(who didn’t eat the whole time) - the native responds to the hypnotism, but doesnt speak - Mags has the idea to infect him with Lungrot, and he is sent back to the forest - then the fleet moves across the coast(very far away) and gets to a huge mesa - a fort is set up called Fort Keyra, which is very effective against native attacks - the group gets their pay and heads back to New Dragonsden - when they arrive they see Shed giving a speech to a massive cheering crowd - she is running to be a senator New Year Festival
Basic History While the New Year Festival(or Festival for short) was originally celebrated only in Alwen(to celebrate the New Republic) it eventually became celebrated throughout Fallden, even in countries such at Sudar, Dwelle, and Sanctuary. When the Accords were signed, the Festival also came to represent the Alliance, and became an official transnational Holliday. Basic Traditions On the night of the Festival(last night of the old year), every man woman and child is out on the streets. From the poorest alleyways to the main Market Streets, everywhere is decorated with lights and ribbons and banners. All wear their most colorful clothing, and there are people singing/playing music on every corner. Sports events and competitions are held throughout the night. Speeches are given by everyone from Beggars to Senators, and food is served for all. You can buy many luxury items at a cheaper prices, and also lots of giveaways. There is laughter and joy everywhere. Then five minutes before midnight every city goes quiet. Then, across Fallden everyone will sing at the exact same time, the sacred Festival song: Rebirth. The song ends with a huge crescendo and swell of sound, right as the clock strikes twelve. Then after cheering and dancing for a while, everyone heads home to their friends and family. Gremlin Giving On every Festival there is a tradition known as Gremlin Gifts. Here a little historical background is needed. 200 years ago Revolutionaries were at war with the Alweni Monarchy(King Amos), and they were losing. In a last ditch effort to defeat the King, rebel leader(Jax Danderon) thought of a plan. He had recently learned that most people in the Capital city of Danderon supported the rebel cause, but were terrified of the King. So he led the last of his forces to a defensible river known as Rebel’s Ford. He knew this would draw the Kings forces put, so he placed operatives in the main city to give weapons to the citzens. General Danderon led his army in a brutal last battle, where he held off the Kings army for three days. While he fought, rebels in every Alweni city stockpiled weapons. The day before they were to give them out they hid them in a warehouse, and labeled them for each district they were meant to go to. They went to bed, and when they awoke all the weapons were gone. Someone had moved all the weaponry out without the revolutionaries on duty noticing. After some searching, they realized that somehow, all the weapons had been delivered! The cities were overthrown by civilian armies, even though General Danderon was slain. Later a major city was named after him(and another for his Leutenent: John Redwell). On the first Festival, the Alweni honored this miracle by putting notes on their presents saying where they were meant to go. But on that first Festival, the miracle happened again! Those who put labeled presents under their bed found them delivered the next day. This became known as the Gremlin Giving, as it was theorized that little Gremlins were the ones moving the presents. Now every year people label their presents, and every year they are mysteriously delivered to their recipient. - it is a lovely day in New Dragonsden
- most of the group is recovering from the days before - Allano gets word from his dagger that someone wants to meet with him, and goes to the Skinned Pig in the Catacombs to meet him - Ses, Pendragon, and Leo get a ritualgraph message from Professor Halfstein, that he needs a favor - They go to meet him but he refuses to see them, and requests that they come back in the morning as he doesn’t do night meetings - they come back to the Phoenix to find a standoff going on - there is a red haired Alweni Slinger facing off against Fi with a frying pan and Keyra with a zerkonite knife - Leo calms the situation, and offers the girl (Kino) a place for the night at least - then Leo trains Ses and Pendragon - Kino is intrigued by his skill, and does some training too - Leo tells her the story of Jahman and Bloody Christoph - Fi makes them all steak, and they head to bed - they wake up and go to see the professor - he shows them his greatest invention: a massive computing machine - but to start evolving it he has to get a special part, and considering all he has done to help them, it isn’t too much of an ask - it’s in the Southern Norren mining town (outside of the NNZ) of Velka - the group accepts and leaves the university. But not before Ses finds something in the university courtyard - then the group goes shopping and goes to see a Sharkof concert - he has gotten better and is addored about hundreds of thousands - they help him escape a fan mob and get to chat with him - he considers them close friends, pays back their investment, and schedules his next concert in Caradyl at their suggestion - he gives them a pass and hopes they will visit him again - then the group flies over to Velka during the night - they land and ask about the mine where the Weylanian cog is - they pay a Norren miner to escort them and they arrive outside the cave - it is infested with crawlers though, so they have to clear out a pack of 25 first - after a little scoping out of the Weylanian ruin, they decide to retreat and go see if there is a Grendel in the village well - they wait till night and battle the dangerous grendel(10 armor, 12 damage, 150 health) - Kino is almost torn in half by the beast, but Leo saves her - Pendragon uses 7 adamant bullets to KILL the creature - it has a treasure hoard of a magical item and a vaultshot - when the morning comes the village spend the whole day celebrating the dead creature - Fi cooks, Ses dies acrobatic challenges with her wing suit, and Pendragon does a throwing challenge - the group are heroes - Pendragon and Allistair are scoping out a house that merchant lords are partying in, when they are approached by two thugs
- the thugs reveal themselves to be gunslingers, and motion the pair to follow them - Pendragon and Allistair meet Mr. Hanessey, who is a flamboyant up and coming gangster - he has obtained a skin sample from Pendragon, and is blackmailing him - he wants Pendragon to help him assassinate Syndicate leaders - Pendragon is forced to agree, and Hanessey says he will contact him when he needs to - Clint and Borodin come back to the zeppelin, after a day of research and relaxation - the whole group goes shopping for a bit - Pendragon spends the day planning a way to kill Hannesy - Ses and Allistair trained with Jahman in the Ranger Center - after an exhausting day they head home, and all sleep on the zeppelins - for some of them it will be their last night - all wake up and plan with Pendragon - Mags and Ink are at the city gardens for the day so they can’t help - the group prepares the area and gets ready to fight - Pendragon and Borris and Keyra go to meet Mr. Hannesy and his 9 thugs - Pendragon is about to start the fight when H snaps his fingers - Clint in his building is confronted by two men(one of whom has a bow) - Cage, Fi, and Donut are surrounded - Borodin distracts the gangsters by playing - the fight breaks out - Clint clears out the people in his building - Cage casts lightning down on his group, while Ses drops Oraxium down form above - Fi is using the minigun attached to Donuts back - Cage draws his Necroblade and goes to town - Allistair starts sniping and Keyra takes down a gunslinger - Borris reveals himself as an Inspector and hypnotizes some Slingers - the battle starts well but gets messy quick - everyone in the group starts taking hits, mainly from the large group of Slingers H has assembled - everyone is gunshot and wounded - Borris is almost killed when Leo arrives WITH Allano and stops the bullet - the tide is almost turned(Allistair shoots Hannesy with an incidiary round, Clint fires the Weylanian pistol at the Slingers) when five Slingers appear, one had a minigun(they had left at the start of the battle to fetch it) - a Slinger figures out Allistair location and shoots him, killing him - Clint is perforated by the minigun and then finished off by a Slinger - Borris is shot point blank, and is killed - as Clint dies he holds down the trigger of the Weylanian pistol, incinerating the last of the enemy(even though the magical feedback burns his arm off) - Borris is dead, Allistair is dead, and Clint soon will be - Clint grabs Pendragon by the collar, gives him the Weylanian pistol, and shakes him saying, “Don’t trust Tim!” - As Clint is slipping off, Pendragon gives him a shot of Wealth Whiskey, allowing him to relive his entire life as he drifts away to death - the team cleans up, and heads back to the zeppelins - Leo and Pendragon share a but of brotherhood in the mistakes they both made, and are now friends - a wake is held on the ship, where the crew drinks and tells stories of the fallen - they are all cremated - Borris’s ashes are used to paint a middle finger on the side of the Phoenix - Allistair’s ashes are used to paint his family crest on the side of the Phoenix - Clint ashes are mixed with gunpowder, and used in the groups bullets - Cage is furious at the loss of h8s pseudo family, and his magic goes crazy, causing a freak hurricane to go through Dragonsden - the group mourns, but knows that in the morning it will be a new day - the group sits outside the city talking about Tim
-Ink goes on a walk and comes back accompanied by Magpies(one of them is Mags) - they head in and go straight to the third tier, going for their blimp - but they are stopped because they have no one who can fly a blimp - Borodin goes off to make a meeting with a pilot he knows - they go into the nearest tavern, and have a drink - a friendly old man approaches them(seeing they are strangers to the city) and chats with them - apparently it is safe to sleep on the streets tonight, because Grand Master Jahman will be patrolling the streets - he then tells the story of Jahman and Bloody Christof - Christof was a serial killer cult leader, who started terrorizing Alwen(this was before the Bandit Busters were bought by the government, but they were still very widely used as an anti criminal force) - he wanted to send a message to the BB, so he ambushed Constable Thellen and few dozen Busters patrolling a road - Christof killed him, chopped him up, and dumped the pieces down the chimney of the Bandit Busters HQ - Kilvin was there at the time and was driven mad with grief - he planned, plotted, and hunted Bloody Christof, until he trapped him at Redwell - it was Christof and his forces against Kilvin and all the Bandit Busterd(about 100) - there they faced off, and Kilvin was killed(along with all the Bandit Busters) - then Bloody Christof marched on New Dragonsden - this was before the military had been strengthened by General Strafe, so Christof had gotten rid of the armies by threatening the head General - it was Bloody Christof and 300 of his cult worshipers, at the gate of ND - Jahman(in his wheelchair and wearing his eyepatch) rolled out against them, on his own, with one bullet in his revolver - then heavy fog rolled in, and huge amounts exploded from the battlefield - some time later the fog cleared, showing the piles of dead cultists, and Jahman rolling away - he slaughtered them all without taking a scratch… or using his single bullet - he was decorated as a hero, and Promised to train people if given resources by Alwen - thus the rangers were born - the group then meets with Borodin, who found a pilot for them - they all meet in a bar at the 2nd tier, and talk to Borodins contact: Keyra - she is a no nonsense knife fighter, who can fly a blimp - the group is bargaining about price, when a little green creature, with a tuft of grey hair, leaps out of nowhere to hug Ink - it is Fi!! He is Keyras associate - Keyra lowers the price because Ink and Do are war buddies - Fi will be the ship cook! Unfortunately during his time with Torrig he spoke a secret language with the old king. He has thusly forgotten how to speak common. Keyra speaks it though, and is happy to translate - Then the group goes to wait for Jahman’s patrol on market street, while Pendragon and Keyra track some suspicious individuals - The group meets with Jahman, who seems to know more than he should - Keyra and Pendragon track the cloaked people to a Magnesium Front meeting - Keyra saves Pendragons life, and they escape - the pair go to schedule a meeting with Senator Jaques, and get a lunch in the morning - all go to bed on the Phoenix(Ink and Mags work in the garden for a bit, and Borodin does msucial performances for them all) - the next morning they all go shopping(except for Pendragon, who goes to track the magnesium Front and meet with the Senator) - the shoppers look through a huge amount of equipment and meet with the famous swordmaker: Sajami - he is kind spacey, but makes amazing swords who also have personalities - some of the swords are too expensive, so the group promises to find him some equipment to pay him back - Pendragon meets with the hothead Quickdraw, and tells him about the MF meeting - Jaques promises to look into it - on the way to shopping Pendragon sees another Richter killing - the wife of the man killed(Mary) begs Pendragon to find the Richter, and Pendragon agrees(admittedly at gunpoint) - the group shops all day, and heads to see Aubrey - they talk to him long about Tim and drogas - he gives them some good advice - the team heads back to the Phoenix for dinner - Borodin does more entertainment, and consoles a confused Clint(even trying to kiss him goodnight) - Borodin reveals he is such a good illusionist that he is losing track of what is real and what is illusion - he is 83% sure that the group itself is real - the team shares drinks, as snow begins to fall on New Dragonsden - it is the first day of Winter, and snowflakes lightly dust every rooftop in the city - adventure is on the horizon Act 1 - Parasites
- the group looks out over Longville, on top of a hill a few miles out - everyone is working in the fields - Clint and Borodin head to a rock to have overwatch on the town - everyone else(and Borodin again) head into the fields to examine the situation(Donut and Clint lead the way) - the villagers notice them, but don’t reaxt - among the villagers are soldiers, bandits, and other types of people working away - All are very attractive, with extremely lean bodies and beautiful hair - the group moves into the village and meets a beautiful young girl - she actually speaks to them, albeit in a strange tone - apparently her name is Shed(named after the place she was born) - she seems odd - she tells them that her mothwr(the Queen) will be able to talk to them at dinner tonight - she invites to lead them to their quarters - after Shed acting extremely flirtatiously the group convinces Allistair and shed to go in private and become “close friends” - Allistair doesn’t quite get the innuendo, and legitimately thinks he is going to become good friends with Shed - he very quickly understands his mistake and spends the hour chatting with Shed - they come back and Shed seems a little sad but okay - they converse for a bit(it starts to lightly rain) and soon it is dinner time - All the people in the field start heading down to the great hall - Pendragon gets Borodin to make an illusion of him, so that he can explore the town - Allano offers Shed a massage and she accepts - the go off and after the massage Shed kisses Allano, he is now infected - the town hall is piled high with food - the villagers eat voraciously - the “Queen” (a heavily tattooed Norren man) eats at the head of the table - Pendragon doesn’t find much with his search, and Borodin sneaks him back in - they finish the meal and talk with the queen - there is obviously something going on - Shed manages to pull Ses away and kiss her - Pendragon asks Shed to show him the place she was born - they go to the shed, and Shed tries to kiss him, but he escapes and runs across town - the group(just leaving the town hall) start a running too - Borris comes out of nowhere on a horse, get off the horse while it rides away, and runs too - Borodin(the one on the rock) and Clint don’t know what to do, no one is making the signal to fire - everyone is running towards the overwatch rock, followed by Shed - the Queen comes out of the hall, and starts running too, escorted by some other villagers - Cage trips Shed, and picks her up - she is very indignant at this - the villagers and the team face off at the rock - the team confronts Shed and asks her what is going on - she shows them what is under her tongue, a parasite which has burrowed into her throat - the infected(known as Kissers or Double Tongues) start moving in on the party - Clint shoots the top of the Queens head off but it doesn’t seem to phase her - the Kissers converge on Allistair - Clint shoots a few of their arms off but they keep going - Ses tries to kiss him but can’t get to him - Allistair heroically fights them off, until the queen(with only it’s bloody jaw intact) kisses him - the group retreats down the road, the parasites following - they see a large figure seated by the road as they are running - it is Ink! The stone golem - he sees they are in need and tries to calm the situation down - Cage sits Shed down and ties to pull the parasite out, but she lunges up and kisses him - Pendragon, Ink, Borris, Borodin, and Clint retreat - Clint and Pendragon go to Triniton, and Clint goes to meet a Sudari professor(the one coming to speak with Ses about the Richter) - Borris, Ink, and Borodin have a chill party - meanwhile, in Longville, all the infected settle down for the night - but all are woken up by the down of bow twangs, gunshots, and the whirr of kinetic cycles - a group of fighters from almost every nation(including Shae, a Dweller, and all the other nationalities) - they obliterate the infected(shooting them in the mouth) and pull the parasites out of the mouths of Cage, Allistair, Ses Allano, and a few others - they spend the night in shock from the removal of the parasite - they are tended to by the strangers and in the morning they meet with the Shae captain who uses a bow - he is Trollgan, of the Blayist Regiment(a group of pro Shae soldiers, whose main goal is to make the land near New Sanctuary safe) - he saved them on accident but will let them free - he gives them all their stuff, makes sure they have recovered, and sets them on their way - as Clint is scouting the area, he sees the batter foursome wearily walking to Triniton - they all catch up together(and seeing how the town is technically safe) head back to Triniton for their payment Act 2 - Prophets - Triniton is as exciting and musical as always - Clint has a kisser corpse and takes it to Professor Halfstein - professor Halfstein promises to alert the Sudari troops and do some research, - he has never seen anything like it before - Cage goes to see bro Smith, Allano and Ink go to the temple, Pendragon stays with the professor, and everyone else goes to see the steward - Clint gets his 100 marks, but Allistair hears something in the distance - it sounds like a root - as Allano and Ink are in the temple, Brother Rikki arrives(leading a group of fanatic villagers) and begins to butcher the Letrian Brothers - Ink grabs Allano, and bashes through the temple wall, escaping - Sudari troops march in lock step toward the temple square, ahead of them run Telegrad soldiers - Clint cuts a quick deal with the steward, 100 marks for crowd control - in a panic, the steward agrees - three Sudari battle zeppelins circle overhead - the group(minus cage and Ink and Allano) converge on the square - the rioters(led by Brother Rikki) are going crazy and burning down the temple - some people try to escape the temple but are killed, a nobleman trying to run away drops something out of his pocket which Allistair manages to acquire - the Eschleni soldiers get there first and engage the crowd - Brother Rikki stands in front of the crowd and tells the soldiers to give up - they all fire bullets at him but somehow everyone misses - then the crowd charges, and they easily overwhelm them - for the rest of the riot jazz musicians are playing in the background, the music never stops in Triniton - meanwhile the Sudari troops surround the square, setting up machine guns, magic casters, snipers and squadrons of riflemen - with the Eschleni troops dead, the Sudari give the rioters a final warning before they obliterate them - Rikki gives a speech on how Weq will defend them from any harm - while he is talking Clint lands on a root, takes out his special musket, loads in a zerkonite round, and takes a shot at Brother Rikki’s head - but just before it hits, the Prophet stumbles, and the bullet takes one of his followers in the head - Brother Rikki shouts treachery and the battle begins anew - the Sudari troops open up, mowing down civilians - the 50 caliber anti air flak guns on the zeppelins rain hell from above - but the Sudari made a crucial mistake, which was using the Telegrad soldiers to guard their rear - radicals break through and attack the Sudari from behind - the battle becomes much more even, and the Sudari start losing some soldiers - Captain Amari(commander of the anti terrorist forces in Telegrad) calls for a retreat - he has plenty of forces outside of Triniton, there is no need for a close cut battle - he would rather crush them in a decisive battle - fliers fly down and rescue soldiers and citizens - Ses saves an infantry captain by use of an oraxium orb - Cage fights with bro Smith to get out of gun alley - Borris manages to rescue the RustLocke guy - eventually the battle zeppelins are loaded with survivors - then they fire artillery down on the temple square where brother Rikki was - they turn that sector of the city to rubble - then the zeppelins head off to the nearest Sudari fort - Triniton is under control of the Weq Cult Act 3 - Promises - the team meets up on the zeppelins - waiting for them, looking over the city is Tim, clearly emotional over the brutal loss of life - he thinks some force is what is making the crawlers, the Richter, the double Tongues, the crime wave, and the cultists - they spend an hour with Tim where he speaks of truly personal things - he tells them of his past - Clint questions Tim, but Tim shows Clint his thoughts, and convinces him he is a good man - Tim was a Weylanian magic scholar, who fell in love with another scholar: Sevaleion - Tim was very knowledgeable about magic - but then Sevaleion died - Tim was distraught, and poured all his time in to finding a way to bring her back - he had the greatest forge master in Weylan make him three items(a cloak, a sword, and a glove) - then he used these items, his magic, and his knowledge, to kill a God, and take it’s magic - then he resurrected Sevaleion - but it wasn’t long before a coalition of gods came to kill him - but he killed all of them - (the gods are all dying, they have had a fatal wounds but it will take many years for them to be fully gone from reality) - the power rush was unbelievable and he went to every single God, and killed them all - he was so strong, but when he came back to Drune(the planet that Fallden is on) a coalition of demons, Droga, and spirits had kidnapped Sevaleion - he engaged in battle with them, but was too arrogant and got trapped - his items were taken away and Sevaleion was promised to him if he could retrieve enough of a certain item - but the coalition changes the item every few years, he will never get her back - the group agrees to get him his items back, so that they can fight the dark force making all these bad things happen - they will hunt some dark forces, specifically droga - the zeppelins land at the fort - the team meets with the professor, and he gives them ideas for where to find a droga - the only way of guessing where one would be, is a strong magical current - the group opens the note they found on the nobleman, it is the receipt for a personal Zeppelin, the Phoenix - it is waiting for them at New Dragonsden - the group heads to the nearest East Speed Line station - the station is guarded by a huge amount of special troops from both main alliance powers - Borris goes to talk with an Inspector, and everyone else goes to meet with the rangers - they decide to meet with Grand Master Jahman of the rangers, and talk to him about Leo - they also all see a merchant Lord get on the luxury train - then they get on the economy train - after an hour of travel they arrive at the station, and take a horse and cart to New Dragonsden - ahead of them is the greatest city in the world - it is one massive city, with two layers of it floating in the air - the air is filled with zeppelins and music and the sound of merchants and culture - at the center of the city sleeps the massive orange dragon - welcome to New Dragonsden Its a beautiful morning in Scarnsvale
- the village is half flooded from last night’s storm - Leo wakes Clint and Pendragon up to make them a deal - he gives them a ranger token(with 10 marks) for helping with the Richter job, and he go as them another on their promise to return his gear and get a new ranger for the area - then Leo shoots off - the group has a hearty breakfast, and talk amongst themselves - then they get on the road to Triniton, capitol of Telegrad(the state they are in) - it will be 24 hours on the road to the big city - as they are walking across a rope bridge, they see something shining across the river - they investigate and find a camp full of dead bandits - they have clearly recently robbed a nobleman and stolen a chest of vaultshot - the group also finds a letter about the vaultshot(see recent posts) - then they continue on their way - as they settle down for the night Cage goes on watch and hears the normal crawler screams in the distance - but he also hears the growling of a wounded dire wolf - Cage wakes up Allano and they head over to the sounds - they find a hurt female young dire wolf being attacked by 10 crawlers - combat begins and Cage/Allano beat the crawlers handily - unfortunately in the combat, the dire wolf has her right eye put out by a crawler front bone-spear - Cage manages to tame the dire wolf and names her Donut - Cage tries to contact Tim about the Crawler scrolls, but is denied - the group heads on their way in the morning - as they can see the walls of Triniton approaching, someone rushes out of the bushes to to group - it’s a young pale thin Eschleni man, and he shushes the entire team, before rushing back into the tree line - a few of the group follow quietly to observe - the man seems to be intently observing a small muddy lake with an Up-Chuck-Toad(known for their croaks that sound like retching) sitting on a lily pad - he picks up a piece of paper and write a single musical note on it, then gets really frustrated - he is very eccentric and starts talking with the group - his name is Sharkof, and he is a musician who believes that he can make music out of any sounds - he asks the group for an investment, and says as proof of his skill they will meet back at the pond in one day for a performance - everyone agrees and the team moves through the front gates of Triniton - the city is abuzz with hawkers, Letrian Brothers, jazz bands, Sudari troops, mercenaries, beggars, and civilians - the team first moves to the Ranger Station at the Alweni Embassy - they turn in the gear and the tokens - Ses gets her gatling gun fixed on her wing suit - then they all head to the market - they are stopped by a middle aged Alweni man wearinga tattered fez, who asks them if they want to play a game - after a few minutes they realize he is a powerful illusionist, with ample free time, and great capacity for trolling - he messes with them a bit but no harm is done and they go on their way - the party goes to buy a Letkey from an antique salesman - he has a flashback to his father telling him how foolish his life choices were, and runs off to go become a Letrian brother - he leaves a Robe of Defense and the Letkey the Vaultshot is opened and Allano decides to take the powerful artifact within(a strange Dagger) - then Allano takes a massage class - the team heads to Gun Alley and buy all sorts of scopes, gun add-ons, bullets, and spellshot - Cage gets help from a LidaKraft employee named Charley “Bro” Smith, who makes her a modified shotgun for her large hands - they reunite with Borris the Edglord at the RustLocke shop(getting his gun neat upgrades) - then Clint, Pendragon, Borris, and Allistair head to the Job House - Cage, Donut, and Ses go to see a forgemaster to get Donut some armor -Allistair is pulled aside by a old friend, who asks him to help with a lucrative Weylanian artifact contract - the Job House is a big open air building, full of people of all shapes, sizes, races, and classes - the party us pulled aside to meet with Hellen, one of the Syndicate leaders - she wants help with robbing the East Speed Line - the group refuses - Clint finds a contract with the steward of the king of Telegrad - there is a village that supplies most of the food in Triniton but hasn’t been sending it’s shipments - the steward sent a squadron of soldiers to get the food, but they didn’t come back - a scout was sent to the village and saw the soldiers helping the villagers in the field - Clint accepts the contract(100 marks if the suspect is killed, 200 if brought back alive) - it’s getting late and the group starts looking for a place to stay the night - they encounter Borodin on the way home and he messes with them more - guards are chasing Borodin and he makes them think that each member of the group looks like Borodin - no harm is done and Borodin takes his leave once more - everyone heads to bed in one of the Rusty Boot chain inns or in Borris’s case, a drug alley - everyone except Allano, who goes on a midnight walk to the Temple district - he meets with a crazy priest, named brother Rikki who believes that the Godess Weq is the only true diety - then Allano goes to the main Letrian Temple, and heads to sleep - the group has breakfast and heads off to meet with Sharkof - they witness his music, and have a range of reactions - a few of the group(Pendragon, Clint, Ses, and Allano) are very emotionally touched and give some money to Sharkof - Allistair and Cage are not impressed(but Donut seems receptive) - they head back to Triniton and Pendragon goes off to have a meeting - when he comes back the group meets Tim - they learn a bit about him, including the fact that he was Weylanian, and has impressive powers - he leaves the room, teasing them with the information that gods do exist and he has killed some - Borodin arrives shortly after, saying he made a deal with Pendragon to join the group - they all head off to the village of Longville - while they are traveling Borodin consistently plays with them - they then arrive at the nearest hamlet to Longville: ShortTown - there is a riot going on outside a boarded up manor house - a man with a wooden plank charges the house and a few shots ring out, he falls over dead - as the party approaches, they see a carriage rolling up - a man dressed all in white(with every inch of skin covered except his face) walks out from the carriage - it is an Inspector - he walks into the house, and shots ring out as soon as the door closes behind him - 30 seconds later he walks out, with twenty men following behind him - the men all are holding their guns inside their own mouths, cocked and loaded - one man makes a break for it, but shoots himself before he can get too far - the Inspector leads the men into the carriage and rides away - the party get some info on the situation and continue on - they arrive at the hill above Longville, and See the massive fields of wheat stretching out into the distance - there is mystery in the air |
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