# Gears of Revolution: A Zeitgeist campaign



## Colmarr (Jun 28, 2011)

"I always knew they were something special. It takes a fine eye for talent to get to my position, you know. Mind you, no one knew at the time just how big the storm clouds were brewing. Maybe the skyseers, but they didn't tell no one."

The year is 500AOV. Seven years have passed since the Fourth Yerasol War ended in defeat for the nation of Risur. Her lands remain largely intact, and under the rule of king Aodhan, she has began to take on the technological trappings of her historical foe Danor. Risur's traditional allies, the fey of the Unseen Court, are not impressed.

New technology, firedust and steam power drive change and extend the influence of the nations of Lanjyr. Growing power leads to growing influence, and a decade ago king Aodhan ordered the formation of the Royal Homeland Constabulary. The RHC works to root out, undermine, capture, and if necessary kill any groups who endanger Risur. 

From within the ranks of the RHC step five constables who will help shape the changing of the world, the spirit of the age, the :

Erik Pride, a battle-scarred war hero trying to juggle a wife, a child on the way, and a stress-filled job. Erik has served with the RHC for over five years, and is viewed by his superiors and by most of the PCs as the leader of the group. But Erik has seen to many dead, experienced too much war, to be happy in that role. [Human Thief, pistol-focused]

Cassi, a young woman raised in the military. Cassi is plain of face but strong of arm. Cassi served in the Fourth Yerasol War as a runner, and missed most of the fighting. Two years ago, she was transferred to the RHC and came under Erik's wing. She looks to the older veteran for validation. [Human Knight]

Thornt, a youth barely out of his teens, but possessed of special talents that have brought him to the attention of the RHC. The most bestial in appearance of the constables, but also perhaps the most innocent. Thornt is the newest member of the group, but quickly proved both his own impulsiveness and the value of keen senses.[Razorclaw Shifter swarm Druid]

Willheim Graff, a blue-skinned immortal currently serving the RHC for the fourth time. Willheim, with his centuries of life experience and long service with the RHC, begrudges Erik his leadership - especially since Erik was present at (and failed to prevent) Willheim's last death. Despite that, the deva cannot help but like his leader. Willheim shows great respect for Cassi's martial proficiency. [Deva centred breath Monk]

Tok, the face of the group and a seemingly bottomless well of bravado and pride. A true Wild Card. Tok served his probation under Erik when he joined the RHC. Knowing Tok's obsession with puzzles, the older man gifted him with a puzzle box upon his graduation two years ago, and Erik is proud to know that Tok has not yet solved it. Or so he thinks. [Changeling Bard]

The world is changing, and these five constables will soon find themselves in the centre of the maelstrom.

For those unfamiliar with Zeitgeist's setting, the 2-page primer can be found here.


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## Riastlin (Jun 28, 2011)

Just a quick reply to say I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures.


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## Colmarr (Jul 4, 2011)

*Session 0*

"Things change as they grow, and Flint is no exception. The city ain't nothing like it was 30 years ago. Just look at Parity Lake. Used to be we swam in it during the heat of summer, but now it ain't fit for fish. Now the area's only fit for factories, slums, and other - nastier - things."

Late in the spring of 500 AOV, a young shifter named Thornt was assigned to a small group of constables in the Royal Homeland Constabulary.

The group, led by Yerasol War vetern Erik Pride, had just been assigned to investigate a series of disappearances in the Parity Lake district. Assaults and murders were no uncommon occurrence in the factory district surrounding the polluted lake, but this was different. The victims were disappearing, leaving nothing behind but blood and signs of a struggle.

The group began their investigation by questioning the supervisors and owners of the factories at which the victims worked. The industrialists were cagey, and one in particular refused point blank to answer any questions at all. Erikpressed his enquiry, and a half-drawn pistol soon convinced the man that it was in his interests to co-operate.

The factory supervisor directed the constables to the route that his employee took home on the night she disappeared. In a filthy alley winding behind towering slums, Thornt's delicate nose picked up the scent of decaying flesh. The group soon realised that they were dealing with the denizens of the Bleak Gate, and that it was the undead who were taking the citizens of Parity Lake.

The next night, the contables took up watch in the area, and Willheim's keen eyes soon spotted a silent figure shuffling through the darkened streets. The Deva beckoned for this companions to follow and then stealthily pursued the figure. Only when it dropped into an exposed sewer trench, did it elude him.

The group clambered down into the sewer and began their search, unwittingly stumbling into an ambush by a criminal gang. Fortunately, Cassi's reflexes enabled her to leap forward with her shield and deflect an arrow aimed squarely at Willheim. The knight took off after the fleeing attackers, and managed to trail them to an opening before they escaped into the darkness. Once out of the sewer, Thornt's nose surprised them all by confirming that the undead had come this way.

Tok then went to work, convincing and cajolling Parity Lake's homeless and authority-averse citizens to lay bear the secrets of the area. His enquiries soon lead the group to an abandoned mansion. Tok got the group inside the building, where they soon discovered a Drakran necromancer and his undead creations.

The undead surged forward to attack, but the constables were equal to the task. Soon, the undead lay destroyed and only the dwarf remained. With a smile, the bearded necromancer flourished a piece of paper stamped with the royal seal of Risur.

"I am a Drakran diplomat", he laughed. "I am immune to your prosecution".

Willheim wavered, torn between his obligations to the law and distaste for what had happened here. In the end, their occupation won out. The constables took the necromancer in.

Within an hour the dwarf had been released, and he disappeared into the streets of Flint.


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## Colmarr (Jul 25, 2011)

*Session 1: Crowd Security*

"I remember how everything began. Flint's streets were crowded with people - locals and visitors alike - eager to celebrate the launch of Risur's greatest triumph. Of course, there's always those who don't see things the same way as everyone else. And them sort of people keep the likes of the RHC busy."

In the Spring of 500 AOV, seven years after the end of the Fourth Yerasol War and thirty years after King Aodhan captured Danor's first steam-powered warship, the nation of Risur had completed its own steamship. 

The RNS Coaltongue, manufactured in the shipyards of the industrial city of Flint, was intended to guard Risur against Danoran aggression. It was to be the first building block in restoring parity between the two nations.

Tasked with ensuring that the Coaltongue's launch went without a hitch, Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft of the RHC assigned his best investigators to the job. In the lead up to the event, the members of RHC Team 3, more commonly referred to as RT3, spent weeks canvassing the dockyards, performing background checks on the guest list, and coordinating with the local Flint police to set up a perimeter around the royal docks. Then, as the day of the launch finally arrived, they found themselves standing with Flint's police at the first of two checkpoints. 

The king had decreed that 700 citizens would be allowed into Fleet Square to witness the vessel's launch, and residents and travellers had flooded into Flint in the hopes of being one of the lucky few. While the local police counted heads, Team 3 moved among the crowd looking for threats. 

Each of the constables knew from their earlier efforts that four groups were most likely to have cause to interfere: 

the Dockers; a nascent organisation of poets and dock workers angry about the continued impositions by industrial concerns on Flint's working class;
primalists; followers of the ancient druidic faith of Risur, who see the Coaltongue as a betrayal of Risur's historic pact with the fey and their magic;
the adherents of the eladrin terrorist known only as 'Gale', whose attacks against technology and its proponents had grown more frequent in recent months; and
veterans of the Third or Fourth Yerasol Wars, bitter about their long-standing conflict with the tiefling nation of Danor and resentful of the Coaltongue's engineer, the Danoran tiefling Geoff Masarde.
While Thornt hung back scanning the skies for signs of Gale's wind magic and Willheim watched the crowd with ageless eyes, Erik, Cassi and Tok moved among Flint's bustling populace, catching snippets of conversation and glimpses of activity as they went. The crowd seemed happy and carefree, enjoying the pomp and grandeur of the day's event. As liveried servants moved through the throng passing out copies of the royal anthem, Erik and Willheim spotted groups of veterans and primalists, and ushered their companions forward to investigate further. 

Unfortunately, before RT3 could move in, the bells above the square rang Nones and the excited crowd surged forward, eager to take their places in Fleet Square. Erik and Cassi hurried back to join the other members of the team. 

At the same time, a grizzled sailor named Thames Grimsley pushed his way urgently through the crowd. Grimsley was known to the RHC as a docker, and was unwelcome in many circles for his attempts to organise a worker's union of sorts. A ragged scar down one cheek from a policeman's knife proved both Grimsley's devotion to his cause and the animosity it engendered in the city's authorities. Scanning the assembled lawmen and women, Grimsley settled on Erik. 

"You and your kind may not like me and mine," he said, "but I play by the rules. Some of these other idiots don't. They plan to interrupt the ceremony. If you'll pass a message to Governor Stanfield for me, I'll point them out to you".

Erik's gaze was steely. "What's the message?"

"My people are restless. They’re raring for a riot, but I'm trying to keep them calm. Tell Stanfield that if he can’t take some of the pressure off the workers, there’ll be blood in the streets."

Erik nodded but initially said nothing. "Will you pass it on?" Grimsley pressed, and finally Erik said he would. 

The old docker turned and watched the assembled crowd for a moment before nodding in the direction of four burly working men, eclectically dressed in working leathers and flamboyant armbands and scarves. The grim-faced dockers moved as one toward the checkpoint, clearly not sharing the exuberance that surrounded them. 

Erik stepped into their path. "Excuse me gentleman. Would you mind stepping over to the side for moment so we can have a little chat?"

The four men looked to each other before one of the them at the back replied. 

"Sod off. We ain't done nothing wrong. We're going through." 

Each of the four took a single step forward before Cassi stepped in from the side, placing a restraining hand on the chest of the nearest docker. Her face made her displeasure clear, and the gutter language that followed would surely have dispelled any remaining doubt. The docker paused in shock, before turning to look at the man in the rear. The fourth man, well-built and with an aura of confidence, was clearly a veteran. He gave his companion a viscious grin. The man turned back to Cassi and batted the knight's hand away from his chest "Right then," he cried. "It's on!" He pulled his meaty fist back to throw the first punch.

Before the closest dockers could attack, Erik ducked away from the front lines, discharging his loaded pistol into the air beside a docker's face. The man flinched, allowing the senior investigator to move back and open some range between himself and the attackers. The sight of raised fists and the crash of the fusil shot provoked screams in the crowd, and a perimeter quickly opened up around the combatants.

Cassi clubbed the docker in front of her with her heavy shield, but two of his compatriots moved past. They fell on the suddenly-exposed Willheim at once, and even his monastic training could not prevent the first brawler's blow landing on his cheek. "I wanted to give this to Stanfield, but any deva will do," the second docker shouted. "Pass it on for me, will you?" And then his fist crashed into the other side of Willheim's face. The deva's eyes rolled back and he collapsed in a heap.

Tok's enchanted words soon had the deva back on his feet and Willheim moved through his assailants, scattered them away from the checkpoint like leaves in an autumn wind. At the same time, Thornt's longtoothed form dissolved into a swarming cloud of insects. A massive clawed shape emerged from the form to slash at the dockers.

"Right, that's it, bitch", one of the dockers said to Cassi. Before the constable could raise her shield, he had drawn a short blade and slashed it across her cheek, leaving a shallow cut that poured blood down her neck and into the gorget of her plate. 

Despite that limited success, the dockers soon became frustrated with trying to penetrate Cassi's defences, and turned their attention to Erik, who was loitering with intent just behind her. Despite Cassi's painful dissuasion, both dockers landed their blows on the senior investigator, and a blade scored a ragged gash in Erik's side. He clutched at the wound before passing out.

As Tok rushed to his leader's aid, Grimsley stepped forward. "Blades?!" he muttered. "Idiots!" Then the old docker called for Cassi to duck. The knight complied and Grimsley launched himself into the air. Sailing over Cassi's head, his balled fists caught one of the dockers in the face and knocked him senseless to the ground. His feet caught the docker veteran and he too went down. 

Almost simultaneously, Cassi smashed the face of the man in front of her with her shield. Blood sprayed outward as his nose shattered under the impact, and he went down wimpering. 

The last docker panicked, slashing at Willheim with his blade before attempting to flee into the crowd. A blue-skinned hand took him in the neck, and he crumpled breathlessly to the ground.

As the veterans in the crowd cheered in appreciation of the spectacle, the nearby policemen moved forward to drag the unconscious dockers away. Grimsley looked from Cassi to the unconscious Erik. He nodded respectfully to the young woman. "Remind your boss of his promise," he said, and them Grimsley moved off into the crowd. 

The members of RT3 moved off the street to recover their composure as 700 citizens of flint eagerly passed through the checkpoint and into Fleet Square.


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## RangerWickett (Jul 25, 2011)

Nice. I suppose it's fair to start off a campaign by letting the PCs know they're mortal and vulnerable.

I hope the players had fun.


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## Colmarr (Jul 27, 2011)

*Session 1: Long Night Ahead*

"There's nothing quite like a fish out of water. It flaps about, clearly uncomfortable and trying to return to something familiar and safe. Kinda like constables thrown among the nobility, really..."

When RT3 had made themselves respectable, they too moved into Fleet Square. Chief Inspector Delft was waiting for them, chewing a wad of tobacco and greedily eyeing a halfling chef carrying a tray of pastries.

"Now then,” he said, “we’re about to earn our pay. Lots of nobles about, so first, don’t make a scene, and definitely don’t talk to any of the nobility unless they address you first.

“Second, if something does go wrong, try to handle it yourselves, would you? I’m going to be busy applying my not-inconsiderable charms to very important people. The Constabulary doesn’t get by with just good will and pretty faces, you know.​ 
Delft smiled with a mouth full of tobacco juice.​

“And third, you did good work, so I’ve got a surprise for you.”

The Chief Inspector led RT3 to the Coaltongues gangplank, where a straigh-backed man in red and gold robes stood waiting. Despite being in his 60's, Principal Minister Harkover Lee looked every inch his position as the king's personal bodyguard and chief adviser.

Delft introduced the members of RT3 to Lee, who nodded respectfully as each was introduced, but did not offer his hand. Once the greetings were complete, Lee spoke.

"Security on the Coaltongue is tight, but I would like some representatives of the Constabulary aboard this evening. The king is planning a major announcement after the fireworks and banquet, and I would value having a few extra eyes and ears aboard to get a gauge of how various individuals in the crowd react."

While he spoke, Lee's eyes scanned the assembled dignitaries gathering nearby. Then his expression hardened. "Plus", he continued, "there are a few recalcitrant guests who might need corralling."​
Turning, RT3 saw an ornate carriage pull up. The liveried driver pulled open the door and Duchess Ethelyn, the king's sister and the administrator of the Risuri city of Slate, emerged. Clad in a green gown offset by extravagant diamond cluster earrings, Ethelyn glance around at the assembled crowd with a warm smile. Then she alighted and move away. Seconds later, a beautiful elven woman emerged from the carriage. Sokana Rell, the duchess' handmaiden, closed the door behind them and followed her mistress.

Principal Minister Lee coughed, drawing attention back to him. 

"I must prepare for the king's arrival. If you have any further questions, please ask the chief inspector." And then he moved off into the crowd.

Delft swished his tobacco juice and tapped the dock with his cane. "Remember what I said about not bothering me", he said, and then he too was gone.


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## Colmarr (Jul 31, 2011)

*Session 1: The King's Arrival*

The members of RT3 spread out, moving among the assembled dignitaries to make sure that security was as tight as Principal Minister Lee believed.

Fleet Square overflowed with almost a thousand people. The crowd of seven hundred had been corralled into the southernmost portion of the square, and busied itself with renditions of the royal anthem, throwing streamers and noisily celebrating.

The official guests occupied the remaining quarter of the square, mingling civilly. Of those privileged few, only a quarter were dignitaties. The remainder were local staff and members of the dignitaries' personal retinues. Most of the guests did their best to ignore the noisy crowd, but more than one appeared to revel in the occasion, playing to the throng and being raucously cheered in return.

As they moved through the press of humans, elves and dwarves, Willheim noted the presence of a tiefling. Geoff Massarde, chief engineer of the Coaltongue and a defected Danoran tiefling, stood flanked by two burly bodyguards. He was chatting to a cluster of military men and industrialists, and swirling a glass of wine. Half-melted frost coated the glass despite the warmth of the afternoon, and as Willheim watched the tiefling produced a small wand from his pocket and touched it to his drink. Ice patterns immediately spread over the glass.

Nearby, Cassi passed a solid naval officer chatting to a dwarf. The naval officer's epaulettes identified him as a captain, and she heard more than one dignitary refer to him as Smith. Both Smith and his companion smoked cigars, and the fragrant smoke hung heavy around them. They seemed to be discussed philosophy. Cassi smiled in surprise, and pressed on through the crowd.

Just when the constables were satisfied that the area was secure, Sokana Rell approached them. She asked if they would accompany her to the duchess, and Erik and Willheim - clearly taken with the elf's beauty - hastily complied.

Duchess Ethelyn stood apart from the crowd, holding a hand to her head. Erik greeted her with words of pride for Risur and for her brother the king. Ethelyn thanked him, but then sighed. She appeared to be feeling every one of her sixty years. After listening politely as Sokana introduced the constables, she smiled weakly.

“It is my understanding that you have some sway over the arrangements of this event. If you could do an old lady a kindness, the air here is already leaving me winded, and the company is already giving me a headache. I know my brother’s party is going to run late, so I need a room I can nap in. I’d be very grateful if you’d arrange this for me.”

RT3 gladly agreed to assist, and the duchess thanked them for their time and moved away. Sokana remained behind, seemingly flattered by Erik's and Willheim's attention. Eventually, however, she politely excused herself and moved off after her mistress.

Willheim moved off as the duchess had bid, speaking to a naval officer named Elian Aughtbrook at the base of the Coaltongue's gangplank. Guests were not yet being allowed onto the vessel, but Elian confirmed that there was a stateroom at the aft of the gun deck that the duchess could use to rest in. He promised to show it to Willheim if the deva sought Elian out once aboard.

Erik cornered the chef Delft had been watching earlier. The halfling was unmoved by Erik's nationalistic oratory, but begrudgingly allowed the investigator to take one of his wares. Erik carefully placed it in a folded napkin and secured it in one of his longcoat's pockets. He knew that his wife Sara, carrying his child, would find it delightful, and his conscience already berated him for his flirtation with Sokana. 

Half an hour after the bells chimed None, trumpeters announced the arrival of the king's carriage. Elite guards, clad in ornate plate armour and wielding magical halberds that blazed with powerful runes, lined the bridge leading to Fleet Square. An ornate black carriage pulled up, and a liveried driver opened the door. 

Flint Governor Roland Stanfield emerged from the carriage, blinking briefly in the sunshine before waving happily to the assembled crowd, who cheered him lustily. Stanfield nodded back to the other man in the carriage and then the deva stepped down from the carriage and moved away.

Once Stanfield was clear, King Aodhan emerged. The king seemed worn but not beaten by his 70 years of life, and there was still steel in his spine. Were it not for his exquisitely tailored clothes and the golden circlet upon his brow, Aodhan would have seemed just another dignitary. But the crowd's reaction left room for no mistake. As the king offered the crowd a one-sided smile, Harkover Lee and Duchess Ethelyn moved forward to greet him. Children, gathered in advance by royal aides, cheered and sang the traditional crown anthem as the group made its way to the docks.

Once they reached the waiting scaffold, the king climbed unaided to the ceremonial platform. He accepted the offered bottle of champagne, then turned to the crowd. 

"People of Risur!" he said, and his magically-amplified voice boomed out to be heard by all present. "From this time forward, this vessel shall be known as the Royal Naval Ship Coaltongue." King Aodhan smashed the bottle of champagne on the Coaltongue's hull, and the crowd roared in approval. 

At that moment, the ship's steam whistle blew and black smoke began to billow from its stacks as the engine roared into life. The RNS Coaltongue, the newest weapon in Risur's arsenal, shuddered with power.

The guards at the base of the gangplank stepped aside, and the assembled dignitaries began to follow Elian Aughtbrook aboard.


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## Flynx (Aug 4, 2011)

Yerasol archepelago


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## Colmarr (Aug 12, 2011)

*Session 2: All Aboard*

"Some Risuri like to think that we're safe and clever. That our artifice and strength mean our enemies cannot touch us. But I know better; that even the greatest of endeavours is vulnerable somewhere. Every massive chain has one rusted link."

The crowd, eager to get a closer look at Risur’s latest technological advance, moved quickly to board the Coaltongue. RT3 joined them. While Cassi took up a position near the gangplank, her gaze a match for the armour encasing her form, the RHC’s other investigators spread out to study the crowd and the ship itself. 

Tok – wearing the face of a human, the clothes of a martial scholar and a pair of thin wire-framed spectacles - was drawn immediately to the large glass structure that stood in the middle of the foredeck. Shaped in a half-cylinder to resemble the boiler of a train locomotive, the glass was inlaid with fine strands of metal that occasionally flashed and sparked with some internal magic.

Erik wandered through the crowd, assessing those present for threats. He soon came across Captain Smith again. The naval officer was still talking to the black bearded dwarf, and – unperturbed by the cloying cigar smoke ringing the two - Erik paused to listen.

“Miller’s central thesis is simple. If opposing groups understood each other more, then they would not oppose each other and would instead work together. Thus all conflicts could be avoided.” Smith gestured with his glass of wine, as if doing so would accentuate his point. 

The dwarf only shook his head. “Foolishness,” he replied. “Ordered systems will inevitably be ruined by some accident. History has shown it time and again. Millerite theories are doomed, because sooner or later some accident or misunderstanding will arise that doom the opposing groups to renew their conflict.”

Erik interjected. “This Miller can’t be right. I don’t think there can be understanding when the Danorans are around.”

Smith looked the constable up and down before huffing. The dwarf laughed and playfully thrust his cigar at the Risuri captain. “Aye lad,” he agreed. As both men turned to look toward the city of Flint, Erik left them to their smoke. 

While Tok studied the strange glass structure, Elian Aughtbrook walked past, leading a group of merchants and military men on a tour of the ship. Aughtbrook gestured to the structure with a flourish. 

"This, gentlemen, is the capacitor.” He banged on the glass theatrically with his fist. Tok half-expected it to shatter, showering those inside with shards, but it held firm. “The capacitor is extremely strong, and perfectly safe to walk through.” 

The merchants seemed sceptical, so Aughtbrook opened a door at the rear of the capacitor and stepped inside. His hair rose slightly, lifted by static charge, but he smiled happily. 

“The capacitor’s expansive windows make it a perfect venue for ceremonial purposes such as tonight, but its primary purpose is to store excess energy from the Coaltongue’s steam engine for use by the Coaltongue’s warmages, and of course to charge the brand.”

Aughtbrook turned and pointed down the length of the foredeck to the prow of the ship. The merchants and Tok turned to follow his pointed finger. Cleary visible at the front of the vessel was a large turret that glowed with many-hued runes.

Aughtbrook moved to the front of the capacitor and his guests followed. Tok stepped inside and felt a tingle on his skin from the energy stored in the structure. He joined Aughtbrook’s group just in time to hear the officer speak again.

“The capacitor and brand are Risur’s greatest trump card against Danoran warships. Once the capacitor has stored sufficient energy, the brand allows it to be unleashed against an enemy vessel. Our testing indicates that the blast will be more than enough to destroy a smaller vessel outright in one glorious moment of power. Even ships than the Coaltongue need fear its power, for a blast from the brand should cripple even the largest Danoran battleship”

Tok waited for Aughtbrook to pause, before interjecting. “You mentioned the ship’s warmages. How do they access the power stored in the capacitor? Are there arcane keys? I imagine you wouldn’t want just anyone siphoning the power.”

Aughtbrook smiled, clearly not to be distracted. “I assure you sir, that the power of the capacitor is adequately safeguarded.” He looked back to his guests. “Come gentlemen, I will show you the rest of the ship”.


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## Colmarr (Aug 14, 2011)

*Session 2: All Aboard (cont.)*

The small group moved off, leaving Tok to consider his study of the capacitor. A pink-skinned tiefling stood nearby, surrounded by a group of naval officers and industrialists. Tok and Erik both recognized Geoff Massadre from their work in the lead up to the Coaltongue’s launch. The Coaltongue’s chief engineer was gleaming with pride, loudly telling his audience of the vessel’s fantastic capabilities. 

The finer points of Massarde’s rhetoric were lost on Erik, but he certainly understood once the tiefling began discussing the Coaltongue’s firepower. 

“12 cannon each side of the gundeck,” Massarde proclaimed with a smile. 

“More than you would expect from a vessel this size.”

The crowd, filled with active and retired military personnel, murmured appreciatively.

“And she has a top speed of 15 knots,” he continued ”far higher than most sail-fitted ships of the line!”

The latter comment was not received with anywhere near the same enthusiasm as the former, and the constables noticed that a few of the naval officers in the group seemed less than impressed with the comparison.

Meanwhile, Thornt moved through the crowd until he found the stairs leading below deck. Clambering down them, he investigated first the gun deck and then the berth and engine decks. 

On the gun deck, he checked each of the cannon for sabotage and then made sure that the ships’ mage quarters and observation room were empty.

On the berth deck, he encountered a marine standing guard at a short passageway lined with three doors.  He flashed her his Constabulary papers and she visible relaxed. “What’s through there?”

“The ship’s magazine,” she replied. “Want to have a look?” 

The marine stepped further into the corridor and opened the nearest door, revealing stacked barrels painted with a red triangle, the well-known symbol for firedust. A ribbon-and-wreath charm hung from the ceiling, and the marine noticed Thornt studying it. 

“It’s a fire ward,” she said. “It stops the firedust exploding in the magazine. Even a direct hit on these rooms wouldn’t cause a detonation while the ward is in place.” 

Thornt thanked her for the information and continued his tour. The heat on the engine deck was oppressive, but it was empty but for two engineers busily shoveling firegems into the Coaltongue’s boiler. Thornt made his presence known and one of the leather-clad men came over to speak to him.

“Has anyone strange been down here lately?”

The engineer wiped dirty hands on his smock and replied with a gap-toothed grin. “Why would anyone come down here?” he laughed.

Thornt smiled as a trickle of sweat ran down the nape of his neck. He nodded courteously to the engineer, then happily returned to the main deck.


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## Colmarr (Aug 16, 2011)

*Session 2: All Aboard (cont.)*

Once the dignitaries were aboard and enjoying their refreshments, the Coaltongue cast off from Fleet Square and steamed into Flint harbour. The crowds lining the shore cheered and threw ribbons and small flower wreaths into the water as the warship moved off.

Once the Coaltongue was in the centre of the harbour, eight four-masted Risuri navy ships joined her and together the vessels set a course out into the open sea.

Meanwhile, Erik had caught sight of Governor Stanfield in conversation with Chief Inspector Delft. Remembering his promise to Thames Grimsley, Erik moved over and politely interrupted. Once he had the governor’s attention, he introduced himself and relayed Grimsley’s message.

Stanfield studied the investigator for a moment, and then responded with a question. 

“Tell me, Mr Pride. How would you deal with Thames Grimsley and his dockers?”

Erik pondered the question for a moment. “I would have someone infiltrate their organization, to determine exactly what their intentions are.”

Stanfield nodded and smiled. “An intriguing idea, Mr Pride. Intriguing. I will consider what you have said.” The governor turned to Chief Inspector Delft. “If you would excuse me, inspector?”

Delft nodded enthusiastically, “Of course, governor. A pleasure speaking with you again.” As the deva turned and moved away through the crowd, Delft shot Erik a level glance. Then he too moved off without a word.

As he watched them go, Erik fingered the ship’s railing. When he looked down, he realised it contained a thin inlay of gold that stretched as far as he could see. He smiled to himself, knowing that a solid loop of gold around the vessel would prevent teleportation. The Coaltongue’s designers had thought of everything.

... ... ...​ 

Two hours after the sun set, the Coaltongue rested at anchor just within sight of shore, surrounded by its escort of naval ships. The Coaltongue’s crew had set up an outdoor kitchen on the aft maindeck and a banquet room within the capacitor, which – much to the delight of the guests - occasionally flashed with sparks of silver energy. As the meal was served, those not actively involved in food preparation took up instruments and lined the foredeck. The band filled the otherwise still night with Risuri folk music.

As the king and principal minister Lee took their seats, Delft summoned Erik.

“The Duchess went off an hour ago to take her nap, and she’s not back yet. Go and check on her, would you? Make sure she’s not trying to embarrass the king by hiding during his big speech.”

Erik immediately complied, collecting Cassi, Thornt and Willheim and heading for the aft observation quarters where Willheim had arranged for the Duchess to take her rest. Tok, mingling with the guests, stayed behind in case trouble arose. They found the door to the observation quarters closed, and Erik knocked politely. Sokana Rell answered, opening the door only wide enough for her to peek out.

“What is it?” she asked. “The Duchess is asleep.”

“The banquet has begun,” Erik replied. “If her highness does not wish to miss the meal, she had best come with us now.”

Sokana studied him flatly, and then looked to the other investigators accompanying Erik. “I don’t believe her highness would be interested in eating. She does not sail well and is feeling ill.”

Erik and Willheim exchanged glances before the senior investigator replied. “We have a doctor with us. Willheim, why don’t you go and summon Tok?” Willheim nodded and set off for the main deck.

Annoyance flashed across Sokana‘s face before she calmed again. With a sigh, she said, “Very well. Give me a moment to wake her highness.” She closed the door. Once the door shut, Thornt stepped forward. His keen ears could make out the sounds of movement from inside the room. After a few moments, he detected a distant splash. Immediately, Erik pushed the door open and the three investigators stepped inside. 

Sokana crouched in the middle of the room holding a strange amber rod. With her other hand, the elf was attempting to collect up the scattering of scroll paper and extinguished candles that surrounded her. She looked up in annoyance as the door opened. The duchess was nowhere in sight.

Just as Erik was about to speak, Thornt caught movement in his peripheral vision. Crouched in the corner, a halfling poured a vial of ugly-looking liquid over a large kitchen knife. Before Thornt could react, the assassin leapt.


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## Colmarr (Aug 18, 2011)

*Session 2: The sabotage*

Thornt’s form immediately dissolved into a swarm of buzzing insects, but even that was not enough to avoid the halfling’s attack. The poison-coated blade slashed dozens of Thornt-insects from the air, and the same magic that allowed the shifter to alter his form allowed the toxin to spread through Thornt’s system.

Sokana took advantage of the investigators’ surprise to slip past them and into the ship beyond. Erik managed to draw his pistol and fire a single shot before she disappeared behind one of the Coaltongue’s boiler flues, but then the elf was running down the stairs deeper into the bowels of the ship.

Up on deck, Willheim had managed to locate Tok and both were making their way toward the stairs leading back to the observation cabin. Willheim’s keen ears picked out the sound of Erik’s fusilshot over the band’s melody, and both investigators immediately broke into a run. They arrived at the bottom of the stairs just in time to see Sokana head further below. 

In her wake, three fire sprites sprang into existence. Two skittered towards the members of RT3, fireformed claws raised menacingly and giggling with voices that sounded like open flame. The other rushed toward the ship’s forecastle, and Tok quickly realised that it was headed for the Coaltongue’s magazine. As he moved after it, he saw the prone form of the marine that Thornt had spoken to earlier. Even in the dim light below decks, he could see that her head had been caved in.

“Take Sokana! We’ll protect the magazine!” he shouted. 

Thornt and Cassi focused their attention on the halfling assassin, while Willheim and Tok moved after the sprite. Erik followed Sokana deeper into the vessel, trying in vain to get a clear shot. 

The halfling assassin was clearly outmatched by Cassi and the weakened Thornt once the element of surprise was lost. Try as he might, he could not land another telling blow, and simultaneous assaults from both investigators soon took their toll. Cassi eventually smashed him to the ground with a blow from her warhammer.

As he fell, Thornt moved to the cabin’s window and glanced outside. He exhaled in shock. Far below, Duchess Ethelyn clambered out of the sea onto the back of an enormous kraken. She joined a powerful-looking sea nymph on its back and together the two of them sank beneath the moonlit waves. Thornt muttered a curse, then turned and ran after his companions, shouting what he had seen.

The fire sprite wrenched open the door to the forward magazine. Even as Willheim closed on it, the elemental ripped down the ward that hung from the magazine’s ceiling and grabbed one of the casks of firedust. It turned with a malicious giggle, but didn’t get far. Before it had even left the room, Willheim was on it. A blue-skinned palm drove forward with the force of steel and caught it in the face. The sprite’s head rocked back and what passed for the creature’s neck snapped with an audible crack. The sprite dropped the cask, then disappeared in a fizzle.

Erik blasted one of the other sprites as he chased after Sokana. Tok soon joined him and together the two of them pursued the elf handmaiden toward the engine room. Tok got their first, just in time to see Sokana standing before the open door of the ship’s boiler. Waves of heat rolled from the opening, and even Tok’s limited technical knowledge was enough to tell him that something was wrong.  

He nimbly jumped down into the engine room, only to be ambushed by additional fire sprites that grabbed at him and held him tight. Ignoring the pain of their flaming claws on his skin, the changeling struck at Sokana with his magic, and then scooped up a nearby coil of rope. He lashed out with it, wrapping it around Sokana’s wrist and pulling the elf toward him.
Almost simultaneously Tok noticed an engineer emerge from behind a bulkhead carrying an enormous wrench. He breathed a sigh of relief, only for it to turn to one of dismay when the man moved to the ship’s rapidly overheating boiler. He swung the boiler’s door shut and touched it with some sort of wand. The door instantly rusted over. Then the engineer tossed aside the wand and advanced on Tok.

Willheim dropped from above and engaged the new enemy. Another engineer appeared on the deck above and attempted to get past Erik and the now-pursuing Cassi. The man had no chance. Erik’s shot stopped him in his tracks, and Cassi’s blow sent him to the deck.

The battle in the engine room turned into a swirling melee involving Tok, Willheim and Cassi. The engineer and the fire sprites lashed out at the investigators while Sokana filled the room with short walls of fire. Trapped and distracted by the flames, Willheim passed out. Seconds later, the engineer’s wrench crashed down on Cassi’s back and she too collapsed. Tok danced away to safety, firing another blast of magic at Sokana.
Erik had until now been perched above, firing into the melee from a vantage point on the berth deck, but when Cassi fell, he grabbed hold of the edge and swung down. While blasting with his pistol at the nearby engineer, he grabbed the gorget of Cassi’s plate armour and dragged her from the fire. “Get up. Get up!” he yelled, and miraculously the young knight complied. 

Once the boiler was sealed, Sokana attempted to make her escape. She slipped past the distracted Cassi and Erik and fled away through the forward hold. She was too late. Swarm-Thornt, having finally caught up to his companions, dropped down behind her, and a wave of biting and stinging insects enveloped the elf saboteur. Sokana screamed once and then was still.

Moments later, Cassi’s warhammer finished off the engineer. In the sudden stillness, all turned to study the boiler. It groaned with barely-contained pressure, and hairline cracks in its surface flickered with arcane energy. Clearly something was very wrong.


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## Colmarr (Aug 29, 2011)

- Sorry to do this, but I severely underestimated the time I would need to invest to fully narrate this story hour. I don't think I can find the time between my work and family commitments, so I've decided to continue the story hour in a session report summary rather than a full narrative. 

You'll still get all the good bits, but with less chatter


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 3*

Aware that the boiler was on a course for a catastrophic explosion and realising that they needed to fire the brand, RT3 split up to apply their respective talents. 

Willheim rushed to the main deck (getting there in a single round), and Erik followed.

Tok followed the maze of pipes and found the pressure release valves in another room, venting some excess heat from the furnace.

Thornt rushed to the magazine and grabbed the fire charm that the fire sprite had ripped from the ceiling. Then he returned to the engine room. He sensed the primal magic there. After first trying (and failing) to absorb it, he managed to redirect it toward the capacitor.

Cassi applied her hammer hook to the furnace door, but struggled to get it open. Eventually Thornt joined her and they managed to prize the door open, only to fall back before the heat within. Thornt tossed the charm into the blaze. The flames dimmed a little, but then the charm was consumed.

Tok and Willheim managed to convince a sozzled Geoff Massarde to accompany them, but only after members of the crowd overheard them say that the boiler was oveheating and was going to explode. Panic erupted and principal minister Lee made preparations to teleport the king to safety.

While Erik, Willheim and Massarde made their way belowdecks, Tok made his way upwards. Seeing the crowd out of control, the swaggering changeling managed to convince many that they were going to be special guests at a test-firing of the brand. He chivvied crew into lining chairs near the bow for the guests, and his confidence and calm proved infectious.

Erik grabbed a shovel from beside the boiler and reached into the open doorway to retreive Sokana's amber rod. The flames steal the breath from his lungs, and he drops dangerously close to death before someone pulls him clear.

Massarde guided the remaining investigators in the necessary steps to calibrate the brand, then the weapon is fired. The heat of the boiler dissipates immediately, and a massive beam of fire vaporises a spot in the ocean 100ft in front of the Coaltongue. 

In the aftermath, the party resumes and Principal Minister Lee and King Aodhan find time to speak with the investigators privately. They both thank RT3 for their good work, although they are clearly shocked that the Duchess was involved. 

Later, the king announces his plans to seek peace with Danor, and that a peace conference has been arranged for one years' time. He also announces his intention to marry a Danoran. Some members of the crowd (Erik included) and none too happy.

A weeks passes with RT3 mopping up after the incident and filling in paperwork. Then they are summoned to Assistant Chief Inspector Delft's office. On the way, they cross paths with Office head Margaret Saxby. She congratulates them on their work on the Coaltongue. "You did us proud on that ship. Please don't embarrass us in the next 5 minutes".

In Delft's office, he introduced RT3 to Lya Jierre, the Danoran Minister for Outsiders. Tok knows from her clothing and surname that Lya is a member of the ruling Danoran Jierre dynasty.

Lya tested RT3 with a puzzle, which they solve with only a little fuss. Satisfied (but not overly impressed) with their performance Jierre, begins to tell RT3 about a situation on Axis Island.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 4*

In the week after the events on the Coaltongue, RT3 were kept busy with paperwork and following leads around Flint relating to the saboteurs’ activities. They were then called to Inspector Delft's office and met with him and the tiefling Lya Jierre.

Lya Jierre, the Danoran Minister for Outsiders, informed the investigators that Duchess Ethelyn and her allies had captured a Danoran outpost on Axis Island, so called because compasses spin on their axis there. Axis island houses a Danoran mining operation, some factories and an outpost.

Lya shared King Aodhan's desire for peace, and was concerned that the Duchess' actions would be used by the Danoran congress as justification to renew the war between the two nations. She had proposed (and Aodhan had accepted) that Risuri forces recapture the island from the Duchess and then voluntarily hand it back to Danor. 

Jierre had two conditions: the handover had to happen in approximately 3 days time, and she wanted RT3 to ensure that no harm came to her cousin Nathan Jierre, who was working on the island. Nathan had been just a teenager during the war and she maintained he was innocent of any crime. RT3 accepted her conditions.

After Jierre left, Delft explained to his investigators that their involvement in the mission was primarily to investigate the Duchess's actions after the island was recaptured. Another team of infiltration specialists from Slate would lead the mission, although RT3 would be called on to take over if something went wrong.

After making requisitions from the RHC quartermaster, RT3 set out on the RNS Impossible that afternoon and were surprised to find it captained by Rutger Smith, the cigar-smoking amateur theologist that Erik had interacted with onboard the Coaltongue. Over a well-provisioned dinner, Smith again expounded on his admiration for Millerite theories of understanding. Erik and Thornt took a more pragmatic view of how to solve disputes.

The Impossible met up with the Risuri navy near Axis Island and the infiltration specialists came aboard: Seven foot Dan the fighter, Tanya the shaman, Burton the goblin rogue and Letmas the illusionist. Tanya briefed RT3 on the mission: reach the island by way of a secret sea cave at the bottom of a mine and emerge from the mine in an inland valley; journey over the northern mountains to reach the rear of the island's fortress. Breach the wall with Passwall scrolls, then make way to open the fortress' sea gates. Signal the fleet with Pyrotechnics scrolls and then hold the gate open until marines could storm the outpost.

After the briefing, the Impossible hoisted black sails and set off under cover of night. Once it reached the target cove, the infiltrators took a length of rope, cast rituals of Water Breathing on their group and RT3, and set off for the hidden sea cave. A few minutes later the rope went slack and then began jerking fitfully.

RT3 dove overboard and followed the rope, only to discover that the tunnel roof had partially collapsed. Burton's leg was pinned underneath a boulder, and the only trace of the other infiltrators was the crushed end of Seven foot Dan's spiked chain. Burton was delirious with pain and blood loss and begged RT3 to free him before sharks ate him. Almost simultaneously, Thornt noted ominous shapes circling at the edge of his sunrod's light.

Erik discovered a strangely fresh iron rod in the rubble of the tunnel and Cassi, Willheim and Erik used it to lever the boulder off Burton. Fresh blood filled the water and the goblin began muttering about a purple swamp. RT3 quickly continued up the tunnel before whatever was following them could attack.

At the end of the tunnel, they discovered a sea cave. When the lights later came up, RT3 realised that the cave was dominated by a pillar of stone that rose out of the water and platforms built into the wall. Near the bottom of the pillar, approximately 12' above the water level, a small ledge seemed to hold some form of object.

Erik and Tok chose not to reveal their light sources and moved ahead slowly to investigate the cave. Erik soon came under pistol fire from a Danoran miner positioned on platforms high overhead. Thornt fed Burton a potion of healing to stablise the goblin, and then RT3 surged forward. They quickly overwhelmed the miner and his earth elemental and shadow stalker allies, but not before Cassi, Willheim and Thornt took significant damage.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 5*

After subduing the Danoran mine foreman, Tok and Erik set about learning what he knew while Cassi guarded the passage and Thornt and Wilheim moved the injured Burton to higher ground.

The Danoran explained that he had been hiding in the mine since the Duchess' forces invaded and had fired on RT3 because he heard them whispering in Risuri. Erik called him on that lie (he and Tok hadn't spoken as they entered the sea cave) and the Danoran reluctantly revealed two large gold coins on a thong around his neck. He explained that one of them allowed him to see in the dark, and surrendered the coins to RT3.

Having hauled Burton carefully up the ladders to the mine landing itself, Thornt and Wilheim joined the conversation. When asked whether he had seen anything before the tunnel collapsed, the goblin rogue replied that he had seen _everything_. For a moment he had imagined himself in a strange swamp, under a blue sun, surrounded yellow frogs. Then the ceiling collapsed, killing Seven Foot Dan, Talya and Letmas.

While the investigators recovered their breath, Tok examined the Danoran's coins and another coin standing on a nearby stone pillar. Each one was covered with images, and Tok identified them as representative of Nem (the plane of shadow), Urim (the plane of earth) and Avilona (the plane of air). Tok slung the icon of Nem around his neck, and by consensus Cassi took the icon of Urim and Wilheim took the icon of Avilona. Then RT3 left Burton to guard the trussed up mine foreman. The goblin wished them well, and passed on knowledge of a weak spot in the fortress wall.

Emerging from the mine on the side of a mountain range, they journey north up and over the peaks, from which they could see Axis fortress in the distance. While travelling down the northern face, they encountered a spontaneous blast of flame that seemed to have no cause or impact point. Pressing on, they crossed paths with a huge, headless, iron golem leaking a strange oil. The construct seemed to sense Cassi and Tok in their hiding spots, but then ambled past them. After it had passed, Tok, used Thornt's empty potion vial to collect a sample of the oil. Strange white motes of light floated within it.

Finally reaching the road, RT3 made good time toward the fortress, only to suddenly find themselves in a swamp, surrounded by yellow frogs and under a setting blue sun. As quickly as it appeared, the swamp was gone and RT3 were back on the road; the only proof of what had happened being Erik's still-wet shoes.

Sneaking to the wall, Tok read aloud the inscription from the first passwall scroll. The stones opened up, revealing a small passageway, but it was not long enough to breach the fortress wall. Aware that they only had one more chance, Erik, Thornt and Wilheim moved closer and loaned Tok their (untrained) aid. This time around - attempting the ritual a second time and with his companions assisting - the changeling performed the ritual flawlessly. The wall opened before them and RT3 were in the Axis fortress.

They moved as stealthily as possible around the town within. They soon came across a guarded warehouse, but chose not to risk discovery by investigating it before their mission was complete.

Pressing on to the lighthouse next to the sea gate, Tok and Erik attempted to bluff their way past the guards stationed there. The first patrolmen let them past, but as they approached the second, a voice called out from an upper window. "He's leaving wet footprints, you idiots! Intruders!"

Tok, Cassi, Thornt and Erik moved forward against the lighthouse's defenders, and as they moved Cassi invoked the power of the Icon of Urim to summon a wall of stone behind them, blocking the path of the defenders' dockside reinforcements. At the same time, Wilheim invoked the power of the Icon of Avilona and swept into the air. Bursting through the second floor window, the deva confronted the rebel wizard there. The surprised man crumpled under a flurry of blows and kicks (one-hit kill with Wilheim's Masterful Spiral daily!), even as his pet Fey Drake disappeared from view.

As Cassi's summoned wall faded, Erik rushed into the now-undefended lighthouse building and located the Sea Gate controls. Below him, the remaining dockside defenders rushed up the ramp, eager to join the fray.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

In the lighthouse, the rebel wizard’s trained fey drake disappeared from view, only to reappear and drive poisoned fangs into Wilheim’s shoulder. Sorely wounded, and with toxin coursing through his veins, the monk leapt back out the window and landed lightly beside Erik on the steps of the tower.

Downstairs, Erik prodded and pulled at the sea gate controls until he heard gears begin to grind in the lighthouse walls. The sea gate began to slowly swing open.

Tok moved back onto the sea wall to stop a fleeing patrolman, only to be blindsided by the rebel investigator moving up the ramp from the docked ship. The rebel’s fey magic blinded the changeling. Even afflicted, Tok’s trickery emerged as he feigned a misstep. The fleeing rebel saw a non-existent opening, abandoned his run for reinforcements and turned and fired. 

Erik emerged from the lighthouse to see a rebel soldier laying into Thornt with his glaive. He grunted “oh no you don’t”, levelled his pistol and fired. The solder spasmed once, then collapsed lifeless.

With the soldier down, the investigator turned and fled. His patrolmen allies soon followed. In the silence that followed, ST3 could see lights moving on the outer fort walls and hear cries from the guards there. Obviously the rebels knew the sea gate was opening. A large group of soldiers began to mass at the end of the sea wall and move toward the lighthouse. Erik seized his chance and set of the pyrotechnics scroll to alert the Risuri fleet while Cassi layed into the control panel with her hammer.

Willheim, Cassi and Tok hastily erected a daunting barricade inside the lighthouse while Thornt and Erik moved around outside setting traps for the advancing rebels. 

As the first wave approached, Tok slipped out of the lighthouse to circle around them. As Erik and Thornt attacked them from above, the bard sprung from his position of concealment and blasted two attackers with his magical song.

As the second wave rushed the tower, Erik, Thornt and Tok slid from the lighthouse window on ropes to repair their barricades and traps. Again Tok’s magic proved beneficial, subduing three of the soldiers before they could advance. But then the Risuri investigators were caught by the attackers, trading blows and spell with them until the last of the attackers fell.

The third wave, larger than the others, almost breached the lighthouse itself. Only Wilheim’s and Cassi’s sterling work shifting furniture to make impromptu barricades prevented the rebels reaching the sea gate mechanism. Wilheim again leapt from the lighthouse window, smashing first one attacker and then another to the ground. Lightning and arrows rained from Thornt and Tok in the lighthouse.

Just as the last of the attackers fell, a last wave moved onto the sea wall. Simultaneously, the first of the Risuri warships sailed into Axis harbour. I’s first broadside shattered the ship docked against the sea wall. Shrapnel and cannonballs sliced through the new attackers. Another ship soon followed. The rebels retreated to the outer fort walls to prepare for the Risuri attack.

In the lighthouse, the near-exhausted members of ST3 caught their breath. Of the 5, only Cassi was still in good condition. Despite his injuries, Tok urged his companions to press on; to find Nathan Jierre. Erik disagreed, maintaining that their mission was not yet complete. Although the sea gate was open, ST3 were to stay put until relieved, and then help with the interrogation of prisoners and the duchess. Cassi nodded, ever-respectful of her sergeant. Then Thornt and Wilheim agreed, and the matter was settled.

Or so ST3 thought. While the others slumped down to rest or investigated the now-empty lighthouse, Tok slipped out the door into the now fire-lit night.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 7*

Author's note: At the end of session 6, there was some heated debate between Tok's player and Erik's player about whether the PCs should press on in search of Nathan. Erik's player maintained that their mission was to keep the lighthouse until the fort was secured. Tok's player wanted to push on and fulfil their promise to Lya.

The other players ultimately sided with Erik (we had long-sinced established that Erik was RT3's sergeant), but Tok's player - never one to accept someone else's decision  - decided his PC would sneak off.

This is the result, which we played out via play-by-post (warning, it's in full narrative so it's long):

_The sea wall connecting the lighthouse to the outer fort is deserted, the rebels having retreated to the outer fort. As Tok moves, cannon emplacements on the wall exchange fire with the Risuri naval ships breaching the harbour. The night fills with smoke and fire and thunder, and no one notices the sole figure moving along the wall.

When Tok reaches the far end of the wall however, he encounters an obstacle. The iron portcullis connecting the outer fort wall to the sea wall causeway has been lowered, and three wary-looking rebel soldiers stand just beyond it, craning their necks to watch the incoming ships.

From his position in the darkness on the sea wall, Tok can see that the main gates to the Fort have likewise been closed. The rebels are battening down for the coming storm.

The wall rises 15 feet above the walkway upon which Tok stands, tilted slightly backward to strengthen it against cannon fire. A faint aura lingers on the wall, and Tok can sense that it has been ensorcelled with a faint repulsion effect to make climbing difficult.
A battered Risuri rebel limps up to the portcullis. He also looks out to the sea, and spits in disgust at the distant warships. "Let me back in. Those iron-lovers have almost killed me twice tonight and failed. Might as well get patched up and try for a lucky third.".

Seeing the wary looks from his fellows inside, the Risuri glances back up the sea-wall. "No, they're not behind me. Must be hiding in the gate tower - I hope it falls on the pack of them!". He spits again, this time back up the sea-wall.
One of the rebels hastily moves to the nearby winch and raises the portcullis just enough to allow Tok to scramble under. The other two cover the causeway with crossbows lest the infiltrators in the lighthouse come back. 

"Anyone else still out there?", one asks grimly and the portcullis drops back into place with an echoing clang when Tok shakes his head.

The nearest rebel, wearing the markings of a sergeant, points toward the inner fort. "You better report in and let them know what you learned out there". Then the three of them turn their attention back toward the Risuri naval ships in the harbour, allowing Tok to slip away.

The streets of the outer fort are empty but for the occasional passage of troops of soldiers rushing to emplacements on the walls or pushing wagons of supplies towards the inner fort. No one spares a thought for the bedraggled soldier moving through the streets, and Tok soon finds himself back in the ruined building opposite the warehouse.

At first, it appears that the two guards previously stationed on the front door are gone, but then they come into view around the side of the building. A few minutes' observation reveals that they are patrolling the perimeter of the building, appearing and disappearing every few minutes. The warehouse behind them is dark.
Tok watches for a short while, trying to figure out whether anything is happening inside. Eventually, he decides the only way to find out is to look. When the guards are out of sight on their rounds, he approaches the front door and attempts to open it.
Tok is surprised to find the door unlocked, and quickly pushes it open and slips inside. He carefully swings the door shut behind him.

The warehouse is cluttered with crates and pallets, stacked in haphazard piles throughout the single large room. Some are open, revealing weapons, armour and preserved supplies, but by far the majority are firmly nailed shut.

In the middle of the darkened room, visible only by virtue of Tok's Icon-augmented vision, stands a jumbled mass of metal. Only by moving closer does Tok make out what it is; more than fifty swords, arrows and spikes of rough metal occupying a space less than ten feet across. Some stand blade-upright on a low wide dais, their hilts secured in gaps in the stone floor. Others rest on nearby crates, their points dangerously overreaching the edges. Some even hang from the rafters above, positioned at head and neck height. 

Intrigued, Tok carefully moves closer, and it is only then that he realises that each of the items is inlaid with gold. Underneath the jumble, inscribed into the stone of the dais, lies an intricate pattern of inlaid residuum, gold and silver - a teleportation circle.
Finding a secure nook, Tok sits down to gaze at the circle. He sniffs the air, and tries some minor incantations, trying to discern the answers to the two questions in the forefront of his mind: "How long has this been here?" and "Has it been recently used?".
The stone around and within the teleportation circle is smooth, worn down by the passage of feet over the years. Cleary the circle has been there for some time. The blades, on the other hand, appear new. None of them are rusted or bear the patina of use, and the ropes suspending them from the ceiling are fresh. He recognises the blades as Risuri in origin. Then he notices that there is no path through them large enough to permit a humanoid passage, and that they all point inward toward the centre of the circle. Clearly the Duchess' troops have trapped the teleportation circle to wound or kill inbound travellers.

As near as Tok can tell, the runic inscription creating the circle is complete. It should be glowing with power and the air should be humming with energy. Instead the circle is dull and almost-lifeless, and the air in the warehouse is still.
Tok is growing impatient. He expected Nathan to be imprisoned here, but instead has found a quite different mystery. He scans the room, looking for any more mundane signs of recent activity.

Tok turns to search the rest of the room. The torches resting in sconces on the wall are blackened from use, but they are not warm to the touch. The lids of some of the opened crates lie haphazardly nearby, as though thrown aside in a hurry, but there is little to conclusively indicate whether the warehouse has seen recent use.

Abandoning his search, Tok returns to the teleportation circle. He freezes for a few minutes when the voices of the patrolling rebels pause outside the door to the warehouse, but then they move on. Taking the Icon of Nem from around his neck, Tok carefully reaches through the tangle of blades and touches the golden coin to the circle. Nothing happens. Frowning, Tok withdraws his hand and touches the Icon instead to one of the inlaid blades. Again, nothing happens. Tok touches the Icon to a few more blades, just to be sure, but the result is the same. There doesn't seem to be a connection between the Icon and either the circle or the blades.
Figuring there's not a lot more to be gleaned from here and not having access to a travelling circle ritual, Tok decides to leave. But first, he quickly un-fortifies the circle, and for good measure sets up a hasty trap facing the door. It's not much, but anyone entering in a hurry who does not swing their shield and step just so must either pause and pick their way carefully or get jabbed.

After listening for the guards, Tok then lets himself back out and hurries away. He can hear the sounds of invasion proceeding apace, but still wonders what became of Nathan. Disguising himself as a very green rebel soldier - almost too young to be in a battle - he approaches a pair of busy looking soldiers. Hastily but hesitantly, the youth confesses that he is under orders to reinforce the guard on the prisoners but in the confusion and dark has lost his way. 

A grizzled veteran laughs companionably. "You're clear on the wrong side of town boy. The stables is on the other side of the inner fort, over to the east." Then he and his men move off toward the outer wall.

Tok hurriedly makes his way across town, careful to avoid coming with sight of the inner fort walls. Tok can easily make out guards patrolling it, and no doubt they were be curious about the lone figure moving across town rather than towards the invaders.

Eventually, he finds the stables to which the veteran had referred. The shutters on the windows have been nailed and reinforced to form a makeshift prison. Even under siege, the building is guarded by 10 rebels, stationed at the main door and doing patrols of surrounding streets.
Tok swears under his breath. "Too many!", he mutters, "Don't they know there's a battle going on?".

Tok is about to use a direct approach, when he remembers the amulet. Swiftly, he makes his way around to the rear of the stables. Waiting for a break in the guards' patrols, Tok triggers the amulet, crosses the lane, and passes through the wall. He shivers as he walks through the rear wall of the stable, his mind struggling to process the fact that his body is passing effortlessly through a wall he knows should be solid. Then he emerges inside the stable and the feeling passes.

The changeling finds himself in what was obviously once a horse stall, although iron bars have been installed in the entrance to create an impromptu cell, which Tok now shares with at least 10 other people. Stone and mortar walls form either side of the stall. Tok can see another similar stall directly opposite, and other stalls either side of that one. Each is full of captives; mostly human.

The inhabitants of Tok's stall are alert and staring toward the wall closest to the harbour. The sounds of battle are clearly audible over the nervous braying of animals elsewhere in the building. As Tok emerges, a human woman says excitedly to a tiefling companion, "Rescue! Our people come for us!" The tiefling smiles hopefully and nods, then turns with a start as she catches sight of Tok at the rear of the cell. Her mouth forms a stunned 'O'.
Having only a few seconds left to respond, Tok's insubstantial form dashes through the small crowd and into the main hall of the stable, just making it through the bars before the magic fades. Looking hurriedly up and down the aisle between the stalls, Tok is relieved to note that there don't appear to be any guards inside the building. He dashes away from the door in search of a hiding place, leaving the surprised captives in his wake murmuring in surprise. At the far end of the aisle, he finds an open stall occupied by a number of sheep and a horse. The stall is crowded, and it is lit by a nearby lantern, but it is out of sight of the cells and the door. Tok slips inside. 

The horse looks at the young risuri soldier that has suddenly appeared in its stall and snorts disdainfully. The sheep crowd into the far corner, bleating plaintively. Tok extends a hand to placate them, which only increases their volume. Fortunately, the sound of cannon, musket and spell coming from the harbour seems to drown their cries. No one comes to investigate, and after Tok spends a minute anxiously expecting to be discovered at any moment, the cowardly creatures cease their bleating.

In the new silence, Tok hears a voice speaking in Danoran from a nearby cell. "Who are you?"
Tok responds in kind, calmly and quietly, but just loud enough to carry to the nearby speaker: "At this moment, I am an agent of Lya. I'm also armed, and quite possibly dangerous. Whether that is to your advantage or not depends on who you are, what you want to do, and whether you have the sense to talk quietly. Raise a fuss, and it will be as if I were never here."
The figure in the next cell laughs. "Tough talk from someone foolish enough to sneak into a prison."
"Who is this Lya you are supposedly an agent of, and why should I care?"
"I'm tasked to find Nathan. If you've a mind to help me, you might gain your freedom at the same time. If I'm wasting my time, I'll just leave now."
"A fine promise, indeed," the figure replies. "Alright, I'll help... once you tell me who in the Bleak Gate you're talking about. Are you magically prevented from using surnames or something?"
"Jierre. Nathan Jierre."
"The rich kid? Not sure why you'd bother. All he ever does is look through his telescope. He once ran through town hollering about some yellow frog. A frog!"

The figure falls silent for a second. "He's not here, but if you get me and my people out safely, I'll tell you where to find him".
Tok surveys the room, then turns to the spokesman, "Any warriors in here?" Several Danorans look to one of their number, but there is no further response. He turns again to the spokesman, "Well, I'll get your cells open, but there are about a dozen soldiers out there. If we do this the hard way, not everyone is going to make it. On the up side, this town will be overrun by legitimate Risuri guardsman within a couple of hours, at which point you'll hopefully be free to go."

Tok looks around the room again. "To get you out sooner, we'll need a distraction; a big one". He moves out of the stall and begins to survey the tools at his disposal.
The man in the next cell has the face and build of a soldier, but the ugly bandage wound around his head and over one eye tells Tok that he was on the losing end of the Duchess' invasion. 
"You plan to sneak one hundred of us past the guards? You are mad", he says. "Give me a weapon and unlock these doors, then get out of here and bring your forces to free us." He pauses. "I have no idea why one lot of Risuri wishes to battle another, but I guess I choose to prefer dirt-worshippers who will free us to those who won't".
Tok unlocks the makeshift gates, then tosses the Danoran a pair of daggers. "All that I have to spare." He glances around the room, "though you might find some decent cudgels scattered about".

Tok clambers up the stalls and after about 5 minutes of work manages to dislodge a small patch of roof sufficiently to squeeze out. On a quiet night the noise may have carried, but there's more than enough racket outside to cover a few creaks and pops. "Stay safe; I'll see who I can find", and with that Tok scrambles up and finds himself on the stable roof, with the sounds and smells of battle wafting toward him on the night air. He watches for a little while until the guards are not watching, then nimbly jumps down and saunters away into the streets, keeping a wary eye out as he makes his way back towards the gates guarding the eastern sea-wall._


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 7*

As the battle for the harbour continued, RT3 held their position in the lighthouse. Eventually, a longboat containing Captain Smith and a squad of Risuri marines came ashore. Captain Smith handed the investigators cigars, and enquired as to their activities. Erik used his good-standing as a veteran of the Fourth Yerasol War to convince the marines to accompany them.

Smith was followed later by a crew of medics, including a half-elven druid named Denin. The Risuri healers managed to restore some of RT3’s vitality, but they were still sorely pressed by the exertions of the day.

The attacking marines quickly established siege engines at the edge of the harbour and advanced. Just as they began to assault the walls, a fireball erupted in the harbour. One of the Risuri ships exploded into flame, and Wilheim spied a figure aboard wielding a weapon that seemed to change between a blade and a whip. The fire-and-smoke-wreathed figure jumped thirty feet to the sea wall on the other side of the harbour. The lanterns there went dark and the figure disappeared – only to reappear moments later at the base of a siege tower. It disappeared inside, visible only as flashes of flame, then re-emerged at the top only to slay both rebels and loyalists alike. With the wall clear, the figure jumped down into the outer fort.

RT3 decided to investigate, and moved off toward fort. Just as they neared the gate at the end of the seawall, a note of power rang out, sending the few defenders there to the ground. Tok emerged from the darkness and waved his companions through. Erik spared a few disapproving words for the changeling, and Tok studiously ignored them.

Moving to the spot where the flaming figure disappeared, Thornt’s keen nose picked up a blood trial, which RT3 followed to the warehouse Tok had discovered earlier. The obstacle he had left behind had been cleared away, but there was no sign of the fire creature, and no indication of what it had done there.

A marine runner summoned the investigators to the other side of town, where a makeshift prison filled with Danorans had been discovered. When they made their way there, the prisoners responded extremely well to Tok’s presence. Hessar Marseine, the Danoran lieutenant who led the captives, pointed RT3 to a maid who could explain how the Duchess’ forces had taken the fort – she had used the teleportation circle. Marseine maintained that the circle key was secret, and that the Duchess must have had inside help. When asked by Tok, he advised that Nathan Jierre would likely be found within the inner fort.

A flash lit up the sky, and footsteps sounded on the roof of the brig. Rushing outside, RT3 caught sight of the fire creature. Using powerful magic, it supplanted the street with a steaming jungle. The inner fort wall, caught in the effect, simply disappeared, and the figure charged forward into the inner fort.

RT3 made to follow, only for one of the Danorans to call “There is another way!”
The man, one of the architects of the fort, drew them a map of the sewers leading to the castle, and the route proved smelly and dirty but accurate. RT3 emerged in the basement of the inner fort. Moving up through the building, they noticed a tangle of hedge outside the ground floor windows. Upstairs, they discovered a collection of bodies; all marked with cauterised wounds.

Sneaking upstairs, they overheard voices from beyond a door and paused to listen. Inside, they could hear three figures (who turned out to be the Duchess, Nathan Jierre and the fire creature – an eladrin warrior named Asrabey Varal) discussing the Danoran activities on the island. Nathan mentioned a name – Kasvarina Varal – but most interestingly, the Duchess maintained that she had discovered something that threatened both Risur and the Unseen Court. 

When Asrabey came to the door to check his escape route, he discovered RT3 crouched outside. Immediately his whip blade struck out at Wilheim, and then the fight was on in earnest. Tok attempted to call for parley, but Cassi continued her attacks and the eladrin returned her blows in kind. 

Asrabey retreated to stand above the barely conscious duchess, who was slumped against a platform. Thornt pressed his attack, unleashing a cloud of stinging insects that filled the area. The Duchess cried out, then was still. Tok’s subsequent attempt to magically revive her failed. She was dead.

When Asrabey fey stepped into the party’s midst and unleashed a whirling blow, Wilheim’s luck and stamina ran out. The deva fell to the floor. Asrabey then made for Nathan Jierre, but RT3 were pressing too closely. Under assault from Erik and Cassi, the eladrin abandoned the tiefling. He teleported to the tip of the telescope that dominated the room, and from there jumped onto the roof. Cassi raced after him up the stairs, but Asrabey was gone.

In the aftermath of the battle, RT3 took Nathan Jierre into custody. The tiefling explained that he used Axis Island as a place to study the planets, and how they affected the world. Looking through his telescope, Tok discovered it was pointed directly at a distant blue sun similar to the one RT3 had experienced during earlier plane shifts. A dissected yellow frog was pinned down in a nearby cabinet. Jierre explained that Kasvarina Varal was an eladrin female and had toured the island a few months earlier and created the teleportation circle. When he explained that he had naively provided the Duchess the key to the fort’s teleportation circle, Tok pointed out to the teenager that he had betrayed Danor. In response, the tiefling begged them to grant him asylum in Risur. RT3 took him with them when they left the fort, unsure whether they had the authority to answer his request.

When more Risuri marines came through the sewers to assault the inner fort defenders from the rear, they found themselves ambushed by a fey entity lurking in the hedge maze surrounding the inner keep. Eventually though, the creature was routed and destroyed.

With Axis fort subdued, RT3 returned to the Risuri ships docked at the harbour. The captains advised them to allow Nathan Jierre passage to Risur because the tiefling could be a valuable source of information on Danor. The investigators put the thankful tiefling on a vessel, which soon departed.

As the light faded, and after most of the Risuri vessels had left the harbour, a Danoran warship named the _Lux Prefectusque_ steamed into the harbour. Lya Jierre came down the gangplank accompanied by two bodyguards; a muscled half-elf named Rush and an unnamed half-orc who wore a strange padded helmet. Lya asked for her island back. Shown a letter of authority from King Aodhan himself, Erik signed a deed on behalf of Risur that released all claim to the island and handed it back to Danor.

Lya thanked RT3 for their efforts, and expressed the wish to meet with them again during the much-publicised peace conference to be held in a year’s time; or even at the wedding. When she – and later her half-orc bodyguard – enquired after Nathan, RT3 lied and said he was being treated in a nearby building. Then they boarded the _Impossible_ and sailed away from Axis Island.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 8a*

In the days and weeks after the incident on Axis Island, RT3 returned to their usual routine. Wilheim heard from one of his contacts that Nathan Jierre has indeed been offered asylum by Risur and was hosted by a Flint noble named Anton Feldspar. The young tiefling was said to be continuing his studies in astronomy.

For a while, the investigators were minor celebrities, but news soon became old and the press moved on to current stories, like the impending wedding of well-to-do socialite and famous bachelor Guy Goodson.

As spring blossomed throughout Flint, a badly mauled body was discovered in the Nettles and RT3 was assigned the case. Their investigations soon discovered that a pit fighting ring had sprung up in which the involuntary combatants were pitted against wild animals. Tok convinced some ne’er-do-wells that he was interested in betting on the fights, and managed to talk his way into the underground area where a fight was taking place. Unexpectedly, the floor shook and dust fell from the roof as Flint shuddered under a minor earthquake – the first in living memory. RT3 knew they were outnumbered, but recorded the names of a number of people present and collared them later. Under interrogation, they revealed that Barris, a dragonborn lieutenant of the crime boss Lorcan Kell, was organising the fights. RT3 tracked Barris to a fight at a dockside tavern named the Undertaker’s Repose. With the aid of squads of Flint police, RT3 busted the fight and took Barris alive. The dragonborn was convicted of arranging the fights and sentenced to 6 months prison in the Goodson Estuarial Reformitary, a floating prison in Flint Bay. The greater charge – murder – didn’t stick.

Sara’s pregnancy progressed apace, and she began to show the signs of her impending motherhood. She complained to Erik that he was away too often, and that she didn’t feel safe among the isolated houses of Pine Islands. She insisted that Erik install iron bars on the windows and a crossbar on the door, and she took to scattering salt at the thresholds to the house – a folk ward against magical creatures.

Late one afternoon when Erik had called in sick, Assistant Chief Inspector Delft called RT3 into his office. Brandishing an official-looking scroll, he angrily informed the investigators that Minister for Outsiders Lya Jierre had filed a formal complaint against them. “What were you thinking, lying about the whereabouts of her cousin?” Fortunately, Delft seemed more concerned about the pressure he was receiving from Inspectress Saxby than about Lya Jierre’s displeasure. When Tok explained that it had been Erik that mislead Lya and that Tok had not felt like he could counter his sergeant in front of a Danoran, Delft accepted the excuse and dismissed the squad

As spring faded, and the heat of summer approached, a spate of thefts in the Artisan’s market in Bosum Strand drew the RHC’s attention. The thefts were not violent, but the merchandise taken was valuable, so the RHC was called to investigate. Initially RT3 were baffled, but when the thief attempted to lift Thornt’s purse, the shifter discovered that it was a pixie behind the crime wave. Another quake – bigger than the last – threw the market into chaos and the thief escaped. Tok and Thornt set up a sting, and RT3 tracked the thief into the Cloudwood. Passing through the thick forest, they felt eyes on them at all times, and a primal feeling of dread settled on them. Only Thornt seemed immune. 
Eventually, RT3 discovered the pixie’s home – decorated with the sparkling proceeds of his crimes - and his heavily-pregnant wife. The creatures were too agile to capture, but Tok managed to (with some assistance from Erik’s brandished pistol) convince the pixie to cease his crime wave. RT3 took back the stolen wares, and in return Thornt left his coin pouch behind.

RT3 returned to Central District and filed their investigation report. As they left for the day, Tok discovered a scroll in his pigeonhole. Delivered shortly before by the RHC mail clerk Alton, it was nevertheless strange: 
_XTHAM MAXIX QTFF RX, KLD PKLG PYIX_
_YL CMIXXM, TL CXQXI, LXKMA CQKPBG CAYIX_
_K QKILTLH TC HTWXL, UYI YLX MY MXFF_
_AXKI TM MYFFTLH, DXWKCMKMTYL'C RXFF._​


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 8*

RT3's members returned to RHC headquarters the next morning, eager to quiz Alton about how the strange scroll had made its way into Tok's pigeonhole. Unfortunately, Assistant Chief Inspector Delft summoned them to his office before the mail clerk arrived at work.

Delft had a new investigation for them. A young woman had perished, having jumped from the window of the Danoran consulate and impaled herself on the fence outside. The distance from the window to the fence – 40 feet – suggested that the woman might be connected to the eladrin terrorist Gale. As the investigators looking for Gale, RT3 were the obvious choice to investigate the woman's death.

The constables took an RHC carriage and headed straight to the consulate. On arrival, they were met by officer Belastair of the Flint Police. He informed RT3 that most of the witnesses gave the same story. They had heard gunfire, seen the woman jump out the window, and land on the fence. One scoundrel had apparently stolen items from her body and ran away as she was bleeding out. Belastair explained that by the time the first of his men got there the Danorans had taken the victim off the fence and carried her inside. He recommend that the constables speak to Danoran Security Chief Julian LeBrix.

Belastair was clearly keen to hand the investigation off to the RHC and didn't want to get involved in any "international incidents", but when Tok reminded the policeman that the scoundrel's theft had occurred outside consulate grounds (and thus within the Flint Police's jurisdiction), Belastair grudgingly agreed to have his men attempt to track down the thief. He pointed out Chief LeBrix standing inside the fence and the crowd where any witnesses might be located, and then he and his men moved off.

RT3 first moved to interview the witnesses in the crowd, only to discover that most of the people who had seen the incident had already moved on. Erik entered the consulate to speak with LeBrix and secure the scene, while the rest of the squad were able to quickly track two witnesses.

The first, a businessman, told them that the victim had crashed out the window, hit the fence, and then there were two gunshots, a few seconds apart. When she had jumped, she had had her arms covering her face, as if to shield herself.

The second witness, a washerwoman, relayed that after the victim impaled herself on the fence, a well-dressed man with a goatee went up to the dying woman, she handed him a bundle of papers and folders, then whispered something before she died. The man had yanked a yellow pendant and necklace off the woman’s neck, before running away.

Unable to locate any other witnesses quickly, Tok, Thornt, Wilheim and Cassi returned to the consulate. Erik and LeBrix, a balding and rheumy-eyed veteran, were waiting for them. As he walked the constables into the consulate, LeBrix hoped aloud that they would take the woman’s body and go quickly. He suggested the consular shouldn't have to be bothered with such things while having to deal with treaty negotiations and trade contracts. "You don’t want powerful men thinking about death when they’re deciding our fates, you know? “

LeBrix advised that the victim went by the name Nilasa Hume. She’d visited the consulate a few times in recent months and seemed nice enough. She had brought the consulate staff breakfast that morning, and had been dating one of the security personnel, Braden. Le Brix suspected that she had used him to case the building, and must have overheard someone talking about upstairs. He had noticed that she had slipped out while everyone else was eating the food she’d brought. A hunch had led him upstairs, and he found her slipping gold forks and spoons into her pockets. He had shot her in the leg when she tried to escape, and when she jumped out the window had shot her again, this time in the back. When Nilasa's body was brought down from the fence, he had discovered a priceless jewelled egg in her clothing.

At the squad's request, LeBrix lead them past a room full of consulate staff and up to the fourth floor. He took a position outside the consular's office and refused them entry to it, citing diplomatic reasons (and indicating that the door had been found locked after the incident in any event). He allowed the constables to inspect an attache's office from which the cutlery and egg had been stolen. The desk drawers in the room were locked, and Erik was able to ascertain that the locks had not been picked. A shattered glass case stood in one corner of the room, filled only with an expensive-looking cushion and shards of glass. LeBrix confirmed that it was where the egg had been kept.

Out in the hallway, Thornt moved to inspect the broken window from which Nilasa had leapt. The glass had shattered outwards, confirming that the window had been broken from the inside. However, when the shifter looked down, he noticed a gap in the thin layer of dust near the window. Suspecting that the hall rug had been recently moved, he lifted it up to discover fresh blood underneath. He called Cassi over, and she determined that the blood pattern was not consistent with a fusil wound. The blood spray had been caused with a slashing weapon.

Careful not to reveal their discovery to LeBrix, RT3 next asked the Danoran security chief to take them to see Nilasa’s body. The aging chief led them back downstairs and into the consulate’s basement. There they came across a body draped in clean white linen. A lantern-jawed young man sat disconsolately nearby, and LeBrix confirmed that he was Nilasa’s boyfriend Braden.

While Thornt and Wilheim moved to inspect the body, Tok went to speak to the grieving guard. Braden was clearly distraught over Nilasa’s death, but the changeling managed to calm the young man long enough to learn that the two of them had first met at the Thinking Man’s Tavern, and that Braden knew Nilasa worked at an acid factory named Hewards. Even from across the room, Thornt noticed that the youth seemed more hyperactive than would otherwise have been expected.

Meanwhile, Thornt and Wilheim’s inspection of Nilasa’s body revealed glass wounds on her arms, two puncture wounds to her abdomen consistent with being impaled on the consulate’s fence, gunshot wounds to the back of her left thigh and shoulder, and an unusual wound on her scalp. Thornt called Cassi over to examine the wounds, and the young knight quickly determined that the scalp wound had been caused by necrotic energy and that the gunshot wounds probably came from above _after_ Nilasa was impaled on the fence.

Examination of Nilasa’s clothes revealed a bail certificate from the Parity Lake police station. The certificate indicated she had been picked up in a contraband raid recently but released on bail paid by Heward Sechim. Better hidden in her blouse was an empty vial, which Tok quickly identified as an elixir of invisibility.

Careful to again keep their discoveries from LeBrix’s notice, RT3 thanked the security chief and made arrangements for the RHC’s coroner to come into the consulate and collect the body. As they left, Thornt again noticed hyperactive behaviour, this time among other members of consulate staff. RT3 made their way out of the consulate and returned to RHC headquarters to consider their options.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 9*

Upon arrival at headquarters, Erik went to speak about Heward Sechim with Ziggy in administration, an old contact of his who had access to the RHC’s archives. Ziggy knew of Sechim as an industrialist and was happy to help, disappearing into the record stacks for a few minutes before returning empty-handed. Neither Sechim nor his factory had previously attracted the RHC’s attention. When Erik mentioned the bail ticket they had found on Nilasa, Ziggy advised that the RHC did not have access to the Flint police’s records. RT3 would need to visit the issuing station in Parity Lake.

RT3 travelled to Sechim’s Alkahest & Etchings, only to discover the street filled with women protesting the imprisonment of their husbands, sons and brothers by their industrialist masters. When Tok questioned one of the protesters in the guise of a young woman, he learned that the men had been locked in the factories as a response to docker campaigns for improved wages and working conditions. The factory owners, led by Mr Dupont, were refusing to release the workers until someone came to replace them.

The doors to Sechim’s factory were not locked, and there was no crowd of woman protesting outside. RT3 were shown into the factory by the guards stationed on the front door, and met personally with Heward. Although initially disappointed that the industrialist was not the goateed man who had taken Nilasa’s bundle, Sechim nevertheless proved to be a font of information.

Nilasa had been one of Heward’s first workers, and he was distressed (but not surprised) to hear of her passing. A week earlier, Heward’s skyseer uncle Nevard had told him that “an adopted daughter would blindly ride the wind to her demise”.

Heward had done his best to protect Nilasa from the ‘wrong crowd’ with which he knew she associated, but he had also given the half-elf her privacy. He knew her boyfriend Braden by description, and that Nilasa had been enthralled by the activities of the eladrin terrorist Gale, but he knew little else about her. He asked RT3 to find her killer.

When they agreed, he asked them for another favour; to visit his uncle Nevard in the Cloudwood. Heward hoped that Nevard might serve as a facilitator for a meeting between Gale and the authorities, and might therefore prevent further people dying. RT3 again agreed and Nevard gave them directions on how to reach Nevard’s henge. Then he bid them good day.

As RT3 left Sechim’s factory, the guards out front queried whether ‘the boss’ had spoken to them about ‘the guys who smelled like burnt grease’. Realising that the industrialist had left something out, RT3 returning inside. Heward admitted that he had been approached recently by two men who had asked him to sell them universal solvent off the record. When he refused, the men had grown angry and made heavy allusions to the fires that had been striking the warehouses around Parity Lake. They left, saying they’d be back, but Sechim hadn’t heard from them again.

RT3 then split up. Wilheim and Tok headed to the Thinking Man’s Tavern to investigate its connection to Nilasa and Braden. Erik and Cassi headed to Parity Lake police station to investigate Nilasa’s arrest. Thornt returned to the Danoran consulate, intending to stakeout the entrance until Braden emerged and then follow the young man home.

Erik and Cassi reached their destination first, and were shown in to see Sergeant Belastair. The policeman seemed more helpful now that he was back in his office, and happily fetched Nilasa’s file. The half-elf had a significant juvenile record that had been expunged under Stanfield’s Matriculation Act of 328, and her subsequent recorded history was slight. The file did however name two known accomplices, Ford Sorghum and Travis Starter, who had pleaded guilty to various warrants and were held in Goodson’s Estuarial Reformatory. 

Erik quizzed the officer on his men's response to the factory owners locking in their workers. Sergeant Belastair shrugged non-committally and said only that it was a matter for the workers and their bosses; clearly they hadn't checked their work contracts well enough.

As Erik and Cassi prepared to leave, Belastair proudly told the constables that his men had also tracked down a carriage driver whose vehicle had been hired by a blood-covered man with a goatee. Belastair had directed the man to RHC headquarters. Keen to follow this new lead, Erik and Cassi went to meet Thornt and the three of them set off across town.

Tok and Wilheim found the Thinking Man’s Tavern crowded with patrons but dominated by two distinct groups; a dozen minstrels and musicians known as The Band, and a cluster of professional scholars. As they entered, a tremor shook the room, causing a small panic and distracting attention from their arrival. Wilheim’s keen eyes picked out Thames Grimley sitting alone in the darkened corner of the bar, but Tok instead moved to speak to the old woman who acted as the tavern’s hostess. Barb took an instant liking to the disguised changeling. She was devastated by news of Nilasa’s death, and informed Tok that Nilasa had had dealings with both of the main groups that frequented the tavern. 

While Tok comforted Barb and escorted her home, Wilheim attempted to maintain a low profile at the bar. Unfortunately, a scholar named Hennet spotted him and somehow made him out as a constable. He challenged the deva to a philosophical debate about the rights of authority to enforce its will, and Wilheim promptly responded by hand-cuffing the man and leading him back to RHC headquarters. The Band followed behind, loudly singing songs about repression and heavy-handed authority and drawing a crowd of onlookers.

Meanwhile, Erik, Cassi and Thornt had arrived at RHC headquarters to find carriage driver Jack Byron impatiently waiting for them. Byron told the investigators that he had collected a goateed man with bloody hands from an alley near the consulate that morning, and had taken him to a hostel named the House of Blue Birds. The man, dressed in respectable clothes, had been carrying a bundle that the carriage driver opined were surgical tools. After dropping the passenger off at the hostel, Jack had waited half an hour for his fare to be paid, then left disappointed and returned to his pickup point. He had discovered the Flint Police in the area and told them his tale.

Erik thanked the carriage driver for the new information. “Let me know if you get my fare, won’t you?” Jack asked as he left.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 10*

RT3 soon regathered at the constabulary’s headquarters in Central District. They exchanged the information they had obtained and reported on their activities. They all agreed that Nevard Sechim seemed to be their most promising lead into exactly what Nilasa was involved in, and therefore made plans to journey into the Cloudwood to visit the skyseer early the next day. No one was keen to venture into the wood with night fast approaching. Instead the team journeyed back to North Shore to visit the House of Blue Birds. They were met by the hostel’s proprietress. The matron was obviously proud of her establishment, and initially reluctant to release too much information about her guests, especially since a police officer had visited the House earlier in the day. However, once her half-orc chambermaid Julietta identified the goateed suspect as “the doctor with funny accent”, she seemed enthralled by the investigation and happily showed the investigators around the premises.  
The guest in question was Dr Wolfgang von Recklinghausen, and he had returned to the House almost half an hour after Nilasa’s fall. Julietta recalled him coming in. His hands were slick with blood and the doctor asked for water to wash them, claiming he had come from a surgery. Then he hurried to his room and exited through the House’s back door a few minutes later.

The police officer had appeared an hour later and showed a badge identifying him as officer Porter. Julietta described him as a “tall, skinny man, yellow hair, thin moustache”. She also mentioned that he seemed to be wounded, with a bandage around his chest barely visible beneath his collar. Officer porter had spent a few minutes in Dr Recklinghausen’s room, flipping over mattresses and pulling personal items into a small bag then had left. Julietta cleaned the room afterwards.

The matron and Julietta showed RT3 up to Dr Recklinghausen’s room, which had been restored to order. Unfortunately, it was also clean of any clues as to where the doctor might have gone.

That problem soon solved itself when Erik asked whether the proprietress had any documentation for Dr Recklinghausen’s stay. She showed RT3 her books, and a letter of recommendation from Dr Barnaby Camp. Suspicious that the letter was forged, Thornt checked the house’s guest book for Dr Recklinghausen’s signature. The writing in the book and the writing in the letter were by different hands.

RT3 emerged from the House of Blue Birds just as the sun was beginning to set. Moving through the twilight, they located and visited Dr Camp’s well-appointed residence in the North Shore district. Camp confirmed that Dr Recklinghausen, a native of the malice state of Arrovia, had been a student of his years earlier. They had kept in contact for many years via letter, and when Recklinghausen mentioned marital problems and a desire to travel to Ber, Camp had arranged residence for his former student in the House of Blue Birds.

Camp had also been visited by Officer Porter, who had rudely refused Camp’s offer to allow one of his students to treat Porter’s injury for free. Dr Camp had not heard from Dr Recklinghausen over a week, but had not found that strange. The two men were not especially close.

RT3 thanked Dr Camp for his assistance, and gave him their contact details at RHC headquarters. Then, with night descending, they called it a day.

The next morning, the constables assembled at RHC headquarters and Erik filed a quick report on the previous day’s investigation, then they headed into the Cloudwood to meet with Nevard Sechim. The directions given to them by Nevard’s nephew Heward made it clear that Nevard’s Henge lay four miles past Flint’s outer boundaries, and the Cloudwood was well known as a wild and dangerous place. RT3 went prepared.

The feeling of intrusion that the constables had earlier felt in the Cloudwood was still there, and all but Thornt walked the wooded trails with unease. The road rose continually as RT3 moved away from the city, and thick clouds and sweltering air cut visibility to only a few feet in places. 

As Wilheim led the investigators up a series of switchbacks towards a forested plateau, shots rang out and then a panicked horse streaked past. A snapped carriage harness trailed behind it. A woman screamed up ahead. 

RT3 moved cautiously forward and came upon an ambush. A man and a woman sheltered behind a carriage, exchanging fire with brigands on the overlooking crests. Another scream sounded from the wagon, which was visibly sliding towards a steep drop. Thick fog banks drifted through the area, hampering vision. 

Wilheim, Thornt and Tok moved forward quickly, targeting a druid that seemed to be controlling the clouds. The elf saw them coming, and swarms of black and red chitinous hummingbirds swooped down to slash at the constables. Wilheim swapped at one with a practiced palm, and the swarm dispersed in a cacophony of cries.

Erik and Cassi followed more slowly, seeking to round on the bowman harassing the carriage’s defenders. As they cleared a fog bank, Tok called out to the combatants, “We are the Royal Homeland Constabulary!” One of the carriage’s defenders uttered a curse, reloaded his pistol, and fired it into Tok’s shoulder.

Despite that new complication, Wilheim, Thornt and Tok continued their pursuant of the cloud-controlling druid, taking them right past the carriage defenders. The two took their opportunity to make a break for the city, only for one to be felled by the woodsman above. Almost simultaneously, Erik and Cassi reached the bowman’s position. Between Cassi’s hammer and Erik’s gunblade, the brigand had no chance.

While all this took place, the carriage continued to slip closer and closer to the precipice. As it lurched on final time before tumbling over, its occupant screamed in terror. The cry was cut short as the carriage shattered on impact. The woodsman cried out in rage and despair, and Erik immediately realised how badly his squad had erred in assessing the situation.

A blow from Cassi sent the woodsman to his knees half-senseless, and a shot from Erik crippled the leg of the fleeing carriageman. Nearby, the druid and his guardians fell to Wilheim’s masterful blows and the living cloud of insects that Thornt had become. 

As silence descended again, RT3 regrouped to consider what had just happened.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 11*

While their companions paused to ponder what had just happened, Tok and Wilheim sprinted down the switchback to the crushed carriage. The changeling clambered into the wreckage and began lifting shattered timber from the pile, soon uncovering the body of the carriage’s unfortunate occupant. Tok pulled the woman from the clutter and laid her one the ground, practised fingers moving to her neck and finding a weak pulse.

Tok immediately commenced CPR, but had little success. When Wilheim arrived, the deva surveyed the scene for a second. Then he reached past Tok and jabbed the woman’s chest with two rigid fingers. She inhaled sharply and jerked upright with a scream. Her eyes were momentarily wild as she looked around, then calmed as she saw the woodsman rushing toward her. Wilheim smiled at Tok. “Pressure point”, the monk said.

Once he was sure that his love Morena was safe, the woodsman Renard turned his fury on the captured pistoleer. He explained to the constables that Lorcan Kell’s criminal gang had been pressing into the Cloudwood. When Renard and “the men who valued his opinion” refused to pay off the thieves, Kell had sent cronies to kidnap Morena. RT3 had wandered straight into the situation. 

Renard urged RT3 to set Kell’s pistoleer free, and to allow him just one shot at her. RT3 refused, but Erik convinced Renard and Morena to make statements about what had happened. Although he knew that neither would appear in court to give evidence, the statements allowed him to take the pistoleer into custody, which defused the situation. Renard happily guided RT3 the rest of the way to Nevard’s henge, dispatching Morena and his wounded compatriots into the Cloudwood as they travelled.

The skyseer camp was located in a small clearing high in the hills surrounding Flint. A large marquee tent dominated the clearing, and it was into that tent that RT3 was shown. Nevard Sechim, once one of the most prescient and respected of skyseers, was now feeble and bent. His eyes were cloudy with cataracts and the smell of age was deep on him, yet when he talked the wind itself seemed to quiet in respect.

Nevard confirmed that Gale had come to him several times asking for guidance. She hadn’t listened to his urging to eschew violence, but the last time she had visited she had said that she had followed his advice, finding a mutual threat that even the people of Flint would take seriously. Nevard agreed to arrange a meeting between Gale and RT3, but first he asked a favour. He wanted RT3 to arrange passage to - and an overnight stay at - the peak of Cauldron Hill so that he could seek one last good look at the stars before he died. 

Once the den of a coven of witches that terrified the Flint area, Cauldron Hill was still steeped in dark magic and the supernatural even though the witches were destroyed long before. Access to the hill was restricted, and RT3 wondered whether it would be better to seek permission or to secretly climb the hill. They agreed to Nevard’s request, and the skyseer made plans for his departure. Erik offered Nevard a bed under his roof that night, and the skyseer and his retainers happily accepted.

RT3 returned to Flint in the mid-afternoon, leaving Nevard and his retainers to follow at a more leisurely pace. Once back in the city, Erik , Tok and Wilheim asked around town for ways to gain access to Cauldron Hill. All replies were the same; only the mayor of the Nettles, Reed Macbannin, had the authority to grant access. Aware that the sun was soon to set and that they wanted to climb Cauldron Hill the next day, RT3 hurried to Macbannin’s manor.

As they climbed the lower slopes of Cauldron Hill, they realised that the only serviceable road on the hill led straight to the Mayor’s manor. It would be difficult – if not impossible – to climb the hill without being discovered. They were received by Mr Creed, mayor Macbannin’s butler, who went to announce their arrival. While they waited, a courier named Doro joined them, musing aloud about the chaos of life in Flint and how it could be assuaged. After Doro left, Thornt commented aloud how much his thoughts matched those of Rutger Smith, captain of the RNS Impossible.

Mayor Macbannin was at first reluctant to grant RT3 access to Cauldron Hill, warning them that it was still a place of darkness and danger, but Tok swayed him by referring to the possible boon to the city that Nevard’s vision that could be. Realising that being associated with such a boon would bring him glory, Macbannin agreed to grant RT3 passage. He insisted on two conditions; that RT3 pass though his manor on the way up the hill so that he could ward them against the dangers on the hill, and that they pass through the manor on the return trip so he could check them for possession. RT3 agreed, and after Macbannin and Tok exchanged subtle innuendo about political life, took their leave for the night.

RT3 quickly made their way down Cauldron Hill in deepening darkness, splitting up once they reached the Nettles proper. They agreed to meet at Erik’s house in East Bank first thing in the morning. 

Wilheim returned to RHC headquarters, where he surreptitiously filed a report outlining the deal made between Renard, Tok, Erik and Thornt.

All others except Erik went directly home. The sergeant passed by RHC headquarters on his journey, and discovered a note from Heward Sechim waiting for him. I had another visit last night; two different men this time. I stalled, saying I needed time to arrange something, then had them followed. They went to a seedy part of Parity Lake, nearer to the Nettles, but that’s as far as they could be tracked.​Erik folded the note and kept it in his pocket, then headed home to find Sara busily entertaining Nevard and his retainers. During the evening, Erik took the sksyeer aside and detailed Sara’s recent behaviour. He asked Nevard to do a reading on his wife. The aged man replied that he was not a clairvoyant; he could not read people, but he agreed to watch the stars that night and see what he could discover about the Pride family’s future.

In the morning, while the Pride family entertained Nevard, his retainers and the rest of the RT3 team, Erik again took Nevard aside. The skyseer confirmed that he had had a vision; of Erik and Sara standing with a baby in a circle of light. A musical voice asked something the skyseer could not hear, and Erik shook his head. Then shapes moved in the darkness and – as Nevard’s vision ended - Sara screamed.

Across town, Wilheim was woken in the middle of the night by a rapping at his door. He cautiously went to open it, and found a note and a parcel waiting for him. Opening the note, he read it. The Unseen Court is watching. Take this gift, and deliver it to Gale.​The deva unwrapped the brown paper, discovering inside a bizarre mirror made of gnarled wood. Instead of glass, the frame was filled with a sheet of running water that stayed put no matter how Wilheim tilted it. The Deva surveyed the road outside his residence a final time, then returned to bed.

After breakfast, Sara left RT3 and their guests in privacy to prepare for their day’s activities. Nevard and one of his retainers, an orc shaman named Pazamu, asked RT3’s assistance in a ritual that would make the journey easier for the aged skyseer. As Pazamu laid a scroll and ritual components out on the table, Tok recognised the Bond of Forced Faith. The bard’s extensive education meant he knew full well the horrors of how the ritual scroll had been created, and that it would link Nevard’s health to their own, effectively fortifying the skyseer with his charges’ own vitality.

Wilheim noticed Tok’s pause, and Erik demanded an explanation. The bard complied, and Nevard confessed that he knew of the horrific creation of the scroll. “Better that it be put to good than wasted,” he said and RT3 eventually agreed. They bound their health to Nevards, and then set off for Cauldron Hill.

As agreed, they passed through Macbannin’s manor on their ascent. The mayor and a blue-robed acolyte cast rituals of warding over the journeyers, and provided them with rusted iron amulets that would protect them against possession. Then he gave them four kegs of goats blood and directed them to paint a ring around their campsite as a misdirection of the terrors that might approach.

RT3 made their way to the peak of the hill and settled in for the night. They built a small fire among a ring of fallen hengestones, circled their camp with the goats’ blood, built a small hide and then used tent canvas to screen the area from prying eyes. As a supernatural cold descended on the area, Nevard turned his eyes to the stars and they settled down to wait. 

It wasn’t long before the terrors of Cauldron Hill arose. Mad screams and laughter rode the wind, drilling into the constables’ sanity. Spooks swept across the sky, and creatures made of madness – a legless skull-faced human that dragged itself around on its hands, a serpent-maned lion and a bent and misshapen hag – emerged from the darkness and began to circle the ring of blood. RT3 crouched within their prepared position, hoping to avoid the notice of the creatures beyond.

Then a velvet curtain manifested in the middle of their camp, and Nilasa Hume stepped from it. She placed a finger to her lips, then pointed into the darkness. “The man who killed me. He is coming. His face is scarred, so he hides behind many faces.” Then she raised a featureless black mask to her face and vanished as the air filled with the stench of burnt engine grease.

Then RT3 saw the stars overhead streak into lines, and then to the north, down by Parity Lake, a building caught fire with dreamlike swiftness. Suddenly they found themselves standing between two factories, and two tongues of flame leap from one to the next, like burning dragons. Screams erupted from the people trapped inside. The flames consumed the factories, and the charred buildings collapsed to reveal the sunrise. A blackened sign sat in the ash, “Sechim’s Alkahest & Etchings.”

The vision ended with a snap, and RT3 was back in the bitter cold at the peak of Cauldron Hill. Nevard looked skyward, and pointed out that Jiese, the plane of fire was brighter than usual. Then he noted how the light reflected off Parity Lake. He turned to the constables and asked “You saw it didn’t you?”

The night stretched on interminably, with RT3 crouching behind the stones as gibbering horrors cavorted just beyond. Then, just after midnight, Thornt’s keen ears picked out the crack of a sunrod. The nearby peak was suddenly awash with light. RT3 and the horrors of Cauldron Hill turned to look. A humanoid figure held the sunrod, its body inhumanly angular, its skin featureless and black like a silhouette. It sprinted to the near edge of the other rise and then hurled the sunrod. The glowing beacon arced toward the center of RT3’s camp, and Cauldron Hill’s denizens watched its passage with inhuman eyes.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 12*

The sunrod landed square in the middle of RT3's camp, and Wilheim immediately moved to scoop it up and cast it back into the darkness. Even his fleetness proved insufficient and the semi-transparent crone circling the camp swept up into the sky with a cackle, from where she could clearly see the investigators sheltered within the ring of stones. The sudden light and the crone's insane chattering drew the attention of the other horrors, who abandoned their mindless circling of the ring of blood and began to push into the hidden camp.

The serpent-maned lion roared with the force of nightmares and chilled blood rooted RT3 to the spot as the beast bounded through a concealing sheet of tent canvas and moved to attack Wilheim. On the opposite side of the camp, the legless horror dragged itself toward Cassi. It's eerily glowing eyes drilled into her mind, filling it with mindless terror. The hag wraith hovered overhead, its miasmic stench filling the air. As if in a dream, Erik looked to the hag, then pointed his loaded pistol at Wilheim and fired. Misshapen denizens of Cauldron Hill swooped in to join the fracas, their demonic chattering and dance biting at RT3's sanity.

Cassi lashed out at the cackling crawler with her warhammer, even while trying to manoeuvre closer to the lion that was savaging Wilheim. Occupied with the legless horror, she had no opportunity to defend herself when a black-robed spirit manifested nearby. The vestige drifted over to her and caressed her hair with a bony hand, and Cassi felt a burning tugging as if on her very soul. The vestige disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Thornt moved to the north of the camp, filling the area with swarms of biting and clawing insects that took a toll on the lesser swooping terrors that ringed the camp. Tok moved among the combatants, blasting at the nightmare-creatures with his magic and shouting warnings to his companions. 

Erik recovered his senses just in time for the hag to swoop down and attempt to plant a vomit-filled kiss on his lips. RT3's sergeant leapt aside and moved quickly to aid Cassi against the crawler. The lumbering thing moved with surprising agility when Erik levelled his pistol at its back, latching onto his legs and climbing the constable's body towards his neck. Erik wrestled with it, eventually managing to free his weapon. He rammed his pistol-bayonet into the crawler's mouth and pulled the trigger, scattering the creature's skull pan over a nearby fallen menhir.

Freed from the crawler's gaze, Cassi moved off to engage the lion and in turn allowed Wilheim and Thornt to turn their attention to offence against the swarming spooks. While the risuri knight held the creature at bay, the balck-robed vestige appeared twice more, each time caressing her face. At the third touch, Cassi felt its grip on her soul solidify. She called a warning to her companions, and Erik turned against to aid her. 

When the vestige appeared for the fourth time Erik's pistol roared and the black robe danced wildly as the vestige spun. The shot had not been enough. A bone scythe appeared in the vestige's hands and swung down. Cassi, assaulted on one side by the serpent-maned lion and on the other by the vestige, could not avoid the blow. The tip of the scythe blade passed into the gorget of her armour and continued downward until it was buried almost entirely in her flesh. Cassi gasped once, and then slid wordlessly from the blade.

Even in death, the young knight had served her companions well. Using the time Cassi had bought them, each now turned their attention to the lion, the hag wraith and the vestige. First one then another fell under a fusillade of pistol shots, blows and magic until the peak of Cauldron Hill was empty but for Nevard and the survivors of RT3. The skyseer moved quickly to Cassi and felt for a pulse. When he found none, he looked sadly to the investigators then calmly suggested that they should leave as soon as possible.

The silhouetted figure had slipped away unnoticed during the battle.

RT3 regathered their breath before fashioning a little for Cassi's body, and then set out with utmost haste for the safety of Mayor Macbannin's manor. As they travelled, Nevard confirmed that their time at the peak had been sufficient to grant him a vision. Now he needed time to interpret it. That knowledge did little to raise RT3's spirits.

When the investigators eventually reached Macbannin's manor, they were surprised to find a throng of people gathered inside the rear gate.


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## Colmarr (Mar 17, 2012)

*Session 13: Twin Dragons*

Almost as soon as the manor’s guards allowed RT3 through the gates, the constables found themselves surrounded by armed and armoured Risuri soldiers. Their leader, Lieutenant Dale of the 4th Regiment, stepped forward and demanded to know why the investigators had been up on the hill at night. At that precise moment, Mayor MacBannin emerged from the house, and assured the lieutenant that RT3 had ascended the hill with his permission.

When Tok spoke up, Dale recognised him as a fellow student at the Battalion academy. Recalling other classmates, Tok asked after Cassi (who had also been at the Batallion at the same time), and expressed his condolences when Tok sadly gestured to the little carrying the knight’s body. 

MacBannin brought the constables and Nevard into the manor. He checked the wards on the investigators and performed rituals to cleanse them of any lingering taint, then went with them to his study to ask what had happened on the mountain. Erik relayed to him all they had seen at the peak, particularly the dark man, but MacBannin had never heard of such a creature. He told the constables he would think on it, and would contact them if he came to any conclusions. 

RT3 knew that they needed to get to Parity Lake quickly check Heward’s factory, so they asked the mayor to take possession of Cassi’s body and to care for Nevard until an escort to Flint could be arranged. MacBannin graciously agreed to do so.

However, when the investigators relayed their plan to the aged skyseer, Nevard wordlessly reminded them that the Bond of Forced Faith ritual was still in full effect (and thus he was perfectly capable of keeping up with them) and then expressed the wish to return to Flint and his retainers as soon as possible. MacBannin repeated the offer of hospitality, but Nevard was keen to reach his henge and ponder his vision.

After making arrangements with MacBannin’s provisioner to requisition some of the manor’s healing elixirs, RT3 hastened to Parity Lake. As they moved, Erik shared with his companions Nevard’s vision about Sara. None of the investigators knew what to make of it. Passing through the streets, they noticed that the area was quiet but not deserted. Even before dawn, the Lake’s industry didn’t sleep. All but a few stalwart protesters had gone home, and those that remained lay sleeping in the street.

In an alley beside Heward Sechim’s factory, they discovered a crew of men and a towering dragonborn unloading crates and bottles. The greatsword slung across the dragonborn’s back hinted strongly that the group were up to no good. When Erik and Tok stepped forward to question the dragonborn, they noted the contents of a bag lying open on the ground: firegems.

Almost before they could act, the dragonborn’s mouth opened and fire filled the alleyway. Wilheim vaulted forward and felled one of the human arsonists and then Tok moved forward to catch the dragonborn and the humans behind him in a blast of musical magic. In return, the scaled warrior almost felled the changeling with a vicious blow from his blade. 

Already worn by the events on Cauldron Hill, the investigators quickly began to suspect that they were outmatched, and proof soon appeared on the roof above. Another dragonborn, skinnier than the first and carrying a gem-tipped staff, pointed the weapon down into the alley and a bolt of flame burst beside Tok, Erik and Thornt. Then he swept his free hand and a wall of blazing fire filled the alley, cutting the investigators off from their quarry. The dragonborn warrior laughed, the turned and ran off. 

The heat of the flames dropped Thornt and Tok to their knees, and Erik himself only narrowly escaped. Heedless of the danger and fortified by a potion Erik handed him, Wilheim sped into the flames and dragged Tok clear. As he turned to go back for Thornt, the flames guttered and died. When the investigators looked to the roof, the arcanist above had also fled.

RT3 patched their wounds. Perhaps shaken by two such close calls with death on the same night, they chose not to pursue the fleeing dragonborn. They secured the one surviving human arsonist (his companions having expired in the flaming wall erected by their former partner in crime), and then Heward Sechim came out of his factory to find out what was going on. 

After ensuring that the arsonists had truly fled, RT3 conducted a thorough search of Heward’s Alkahest & Etchings. They found nothing to indicate that the dragonborn had been inside, but Thornt’s keen nose did lead him to a small vial hidden under a bat of acid. The lack of fresh tracks in the soot-covered area suggested that either the vial had been there for some time or that whoever left it there had flown.

When the shifter uncorked it, he noticed an odour similar – but not identical – to the stench left behind after Nilasa’s spectre vanished on Cauldron Hill: burnt engine grease. Thornt took the oil to his companions. Tok examined it and noted similarities to the sample that they had collected from the headless golem on Axis Island, but the aura around the oil seemed incomplete; as if it were missing its most powerful ingredient. 

When Erik showed the oil to Heward, the industrialist had no idea what it was. At RT3’s request, he carefully mixed a portion of it with his stock of universal solvent. The two swirled in their sample dish, but nothing momentous occurred. As the constables pondered their next move, Heward confirmed what he had written in his note. A member of his staff had tracked the visiting dwarf and a half-orc to the Nettles end of Parity Lake, but then lost track of them.

Exhausted after their long night, RT3 returned to RHC headquarters and delivered both oil samples to Elbert, the constabulary’s alchemist. The bespectacled gnome gladly took the samples and promised to ‘rush’ his analysis of them. He asked after Cassi, and was saddened to learn of her death.

Before RT3 could head to their respective homes, they were called into Assistant Chief Inspector Delft’s office. The superior officer was not impressed, and between stamping around his office with his cane and spitting gobs of tobacco juice into his bin, soundly berated first Wilheim for his heavy handling of the scholar Hennett, and then Erik for failing to keep his squad under control. Flint was heaving with unrest, and the last thing the RHC needed was a groundswell of public distrust of the constabulary caused by a spurious arrest in front of a group of minstrels! “And then you didn’t even question him!”

When Delft’s ire subsided, the constables quickly left the building. They paused only long enough to check their message boxes, where Erik found a note from Dr Camp. Camp had received a missive from Dr Recklinghausen, asking him arrange safe passage out of the city for the doctor, and the message alluded that Dr Recklinghausen had made deals with criminals in order to avoid a monster that he thought was chasing him. Dr Recklinghausen directed Camp to contact Lynn Kindleton at Pardwight University, who would know how to get in touch with him.

Too exhausted to follow this new lead immediately, RT3 left headquarters and began to make their way across Central District for a well-earned rest. But as they moved through the crowd, a gust of wind sprang up and a golden canary swept down out of the sky. The wind itself seemed to speak to them, and Gale’s voice invited the investigators to a meeting at Nevard’s request. Erik accepted, setting the meeting time two days hence. Then the wind was gone, leaving only the golden canary perched on Tok’s shoulder.

Wondering what could possibly happen next, RT3 said quick goodbyes and hurried home to get some sleep.


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## Colmarr (Mar 27, 2012)

*Session 14: Theatre of Scoundrels*

When the investigators reconvened at RHC headquarters that afternoon, they set out for Pardwright University, a loose collection of buildings and offices on streets in the souther portion of Central District. They soon found Professor Lynn Kindleton in her office. Professor Kindleton was distraught to hear that her friend Dr Recklinghausen was in trouble, but maintained that she had not heard from him for some time. While Tok and Erik quizzed the surgeon, Thornt studied her office and soon cam across an envelope with the initials WvR on the reverse. Confronted with evidence that the two had been in touch, Kindleton reluctantly confirmed that she had been exchanging daily letters carried by child courier - with the missing doctor, and had begun to fear for Dr Recklinghausen’s safety. She agreed to send a letter rquesting a meeting the following day.
RT3 then split up to try to track down the dragonborn arsonist. Each investigator crossed Flint to meet with their contacts.

Thornt crossed Central District to meet with Jimmy “the eyes” Tibs in a dingy alley near the gate to East Bank. Tibs was certain that the two dragonborn had not passed through the gate at any time in the recent past - “I would’ve taken note of two bloody great lizards” – but agreed to put the word out. If Jimmy’s informants turned up any information, he would get a message to Thornt via the ex-RHC tavern owner at the Open Door.

Wilheim headed for the north-eastern quarter of Central District. He met with a bardic contact there, calling the man offstage between acts to quiz him about dragonborn in the city. Although the actor had not encountered any – “not big fans of the exquisite arts, you know” – he recalled that dragonborn consumed large amounts of raw meat (10 to 15kg a day) and suggested that Wilheim make enquiries with butchers. Wilheim thanked his friend for the tip, and then returned to the agreed meeting point.

Erik and Tok headed to Bosun Strand and a small gambling den run by Wilfredo Zinger. Zinger had served with Erik in the famous Risuri 4th company, but the two had never seen eye to eye and the enmity had simmered over the years. Nevertheless, Zinger’s involvement in the seedier side of Flint life had sometimes proved useful to the investigator. Zinger’s dislike of Erik had not abated, but the proprietor did see any opportunity for profit. If RT3 could deliver to him a crate of contraband that had been seized by RT3 customs, Zinger would have his connections track down the dragonborn.

After reuniting with the other constables, RT3 continued to the headquarters of the Flint's Butchers and Meatmen Guild. RT3 explained to the guild’s morbidly obese secretary that they were searching for dragonborn arsonists, and the man agreed to enquire with the guild’s members whether they had had an unusual spike in sales recently.

Next RT3 headed to the customs impound lot at the Royal Shipyard. They convinced the clerk on duty there that Zinger’s crate was needed urgently as evidence for a case the next day, signed it out, and then took it to a secluded location to open it. When the crate was opened, they discovered it packed with fey pepper (wrapped with coffee to mask the drug’s scent), poisons, and illicit potions and scrolls. By vote, RT3 decided to destroy the fey pepper and the poisons rather than hand such dangerous substances over. They repacked the scrolls and potions and resealed the crate as best they could, then delivered it to Zinger. 

Unfortunately, Wilfredo clearly knew what to expect in the crate, and when he discovered the fey pepper and poisons missing, he refused to co-operate. When Erik and Tok attempted to convince him that some contraband was better than none, Zinger was not persuaded. “And if I let you rip me off this time, you’ll do it next time too. And then everyone else will. You need to keep to your word in this business, Pride!”

~     ~     ~​ 
Dejected that their best lead had fallen through, RT3 returned the half-empty crate to customs impound, uncomfortably aware that the missing contents would be reported and that they would need to answer to ACI Delft soon enough. They were making their way through the darkening streets towards RHC headquarters when a man approached them. He confirmed that they were the ones looking for “that foreign doctor”, then led them to Dr Recklinghausen. 

Or so RT3 thought.

On the northeastern corner of Parity Lake, a woman cried out in alarm as two bandits waylaid her carriage driver. RT3 pursued the fleeing felons into a darkened building, only for a vast velvet curtain to open and reveal that they were standing on the stage of a disused theatre. A mean-looking crowd armed with pistols and crossbows prevented any immediate move to escape.

A voice called out from the upper circle of theatre boxes, and the constables were shown to a small bex at the centre of the ring. Lorcan Kell, criminal overlord, awaited them inside. While Kell calmly ate a sandwich, Tok studied their surroundings and realised that musket-armed criminals were stationed at each end of the round, with clear lines of sight into the box. Six more thugs waited just outside the box. Kell was taking no chances.

The gang leader eventually turned to the investigators and offered them a deal: he would reveal to them the location of Dr Recklinghausen in return for one thousand gold pieces. RT3 initially scoffed at the idea, but then Kell called for a ‘comedy’ and a drugged docker was brought on stage. Initially a strumpet flirted with him and made a show of picking his pockets, but then another gang member appeared and stage and the entertainment took a turn for the darker. The Kell guildmembers took turns beating the docker, first with their fists but then with a piece of timber. 

RT3 held out as long as they could, arguing with Kell that Dr Recklinghausen was not worth 1000 gp because no one else wanted him, but when Thornt saw blood and teeth spray across the stage, his reserve cracked. He tossed his pouch - filled with almost seven hundred gold pieces of stipend - into Kell’s lap, and Erik and Wilheim soon made up the difference. Kell amiably thanked the investigators for the trade, and then ordered his crew to release the docker and RT3, and then show them to Dr Recklinghausen.

Tok administered first aid to the drugged docker in the street, and then RT3 delivered him to an infirmary. Only once they were sure he would recover did they follow Kell’s henchman Johan to an abandoned church built into a cliff-face in the Nettles. Dr Recklinghausen waited inside, guarded by a trio of Kell Guilders who left without incident when Johan arrived. 

~     ~     ~​ 
Dr Recklinghausen was initially suspicious of RT3, but they soon convinced him they could be trusted. When asked about Nilasa’s death, Dr Recklinghausen freely admitted that it was he that collected the documents and pendant from the dying half-elf. He handed the documents to Tok, who flicked through them. 

The changeling quickly identified numerous reports and notes written by Security Chief Julian LeBrix that referenced financial irregularities of Danoran-owned factories. He also came across papers detailing LeBrix visiting factories and discovering flasks of strange black oil with floating motes of white light in them.
Tok pointed the documents out to Erik, and Dr Recklinghausen identified the substance as witchoil. He was familiar with it from his homeland of Arrovia, where it was created in small quantities by alchemists for use as a power source and as a stand-in for ritual components. He also vouched that he had never heard of it being manufactured in the quantities mentioned in LeBrix’s reports, and that certainly no moral man would use it, since it was composed of souls that were awaiting their final rest.

As Dr Recklinghausen finished his revelation, Tok asked about the golen canary pendant around his neck. Wolfgang had earlier confirmed that Nilasa gave it to him, but when Tok moved to take it, Dr Recklinghausen reflexively stepped back. Simultaneously, crumbled masonry crunched underfoot and a whispered voice at the church’s entrance said “Get them”. Thornt, Wilheim and Erik looked up in time to see shadowy figures moving into the light. Barely visible behind them was a silhouetted figure; just like the one they had seen the night before on Cauldron Hill.


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## Colmarr (Apr 21, 2012)

*Session 15: Old Faith*

One of the attackers gestured with his wooden orb, and the sunrod Wilheim held aloft instantly filled with darkness, then exploded in a flash of searing cold. In the sudden confusion, Tok stuffed the recovered documents into his clothing and Erik snatched the golden canary pendant from around Dr Recklinghausen’s neck.

Another nethermancer gestured at a torch burning on the wall, and it too fell dark. The attackers moved in, taking advantage of their ability to see in the suddenly darkened room. While his companions struck out ineffectually against the attackers, Thornt sought to even the score. Calling on the primal spirits of nature, the shifter coaxed the weeds and lichen that covered the floor into a burst of life. Plants surged up, filling the main chamber with brambles so thick that finding targets within was almost impossible. 

Fortunately for RT3, the attackers seemed more interested in Dr Recklinghausen than in the constables themselves. A dagger-wielding assailant moved in to attack the doctor, and the shadowy figure followed suit. The dark man fired a chrome pistol, then began slashing with shadowy claws. Dr Recklinghausen and his defenders fought back as best they could, but the dark man seemed to exist only partly in the world, and RT3 struggled to land a telling blow against him.

Two dagger-wielding assailants eventually fell, but not before Dr Recklinghausen had been sorely pressed. Even through the pressing vegetation and despite a continuous barrage of shots, blows and spells from RT3, the shadowy figure managed to land blow after blow on the surgeon. Finally, the figure retrieved a chrome syringe from somewhere within its form and sank the instrument into Dr Recklinghausen’s neck. The Arrovian’e eyes rolled up in his head and he sank to the floor. 

In the confusion that followed, Tok called on ancient magic. His chant evoked the energy of a dawning sun, and when the blast struck the shadowy figure, it burned away his matte black skin. For the few seconds before the cloak of shadowy flesh returned, the light of Thornt’s hastily-lit sunrod revealed raw muscle and sinew weeping rivulets of blood. The figure snarled in anger, before bending to scoop up the unconscious Dr Recklinghausen. Erik was ready. As the dark man turned to carry off his victim, RT3’s sergeant lunged forward and cracked the figure across the back of the skull with the butt of his pistol, sending him sprawling unconscious on the floor of the church.

The two remaining nethermancers desperately extinguished the room’s lights and tried to extract Dr Recklinghausen from his protectors, but could not prevail. As the first fell, the other turned and fled for the entrance, shouting briefly in a tongue that none of the constables recognised. He stood no chance of outrunning Wilheim. The deva quickly chased him down, and a flying kick sent the nethermancer flying head-first into a wall. He did not stir. 

Looking up from his fallen foe, Wilheim could see the lights of Flint, glittering on buildings and reflected from the clouds above Parity Lake, framed in the church’s narrow entrance. A dozen steel bars now blocked that entrance, somehow embedded in the stone of the doorway. Beyond, a carriage sat in the plaza fronting the church, and a dozen figures milled around it. 

Wilheim called his companions to see, and as Erik and Tok moved forward, one of the figures brought a chair from the carriage and placed it on the ground. A bearded man calmly took a seat in the chair, and a metal tray bearing cheese and expensive-looking wine floated to his side. The man spoke to his companions and they hurried away, boarding two other carriages, which moved away towards the Nettles. 

The figure waited calmly for a minute, then called for Tok by name.


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## Colmarr (May 23, 2012)

*Session 16: Revelations*

Erik moved to bind and search the unconscious shadowy figure as Tok moved slowly toward the church’s entrance. Meanwhile Thornt called Wilheim aside and the two of them commenced a ritual that would send Gale’s canary to RHC headquarters for help. Erik confiscated the shadowy figures chrome pistol and syringe, and noticed a strange rusted iron amulet around his neck. A quick check revealed that the other attackers wore similar amulets.

As Tok peered cautiously outside, he overheard the bearded figure address one of his companions. “Tell your boss that Creed has not reported in, but that the situation is under control”. When Tok made his presence known, the bearded man introduced himself as Leone. He demanded that RT3 hand over Dr Recklinghausen and the documents he was carrying. If they did so, he would take the doctor and the documents and leave RT3 to escape at their leisure. If RT3 refused to co-operate, Leone would not be so benevolent.

Tok returned to the church and relayed what had been said to his fellow constables. They soon deduced that the shadowy figure must be Creed, and connected that name to Mayor MacBannin’s butler. Erik opined that the mayor himself must be involved in the conspiracy. He and Tok studies the canary pendant Erik had snatched from Dr Recklinghausen and realised it granted significant defensive wards and also a limited power of flight. It easily explained how Nilasa had managed to fly so far from the Danoran consulate window before impaling herself on the fence.

Thornt and Wilheim finished their ritual, and the canary cheeped twice before flying up the churches chimney and winging its way toward Central district.  The two keen-eyed investigators then moved around the church checking for hidden passages. They found one hidden behind the privy, and when the wall swung open they were surprised to find a half-elf crawling up the hidden passage toward them.

The stranger introduced himself as Xaresti; a constable with RT5. Xaresti’s old faith connected him to the abandoned church, and when he had heard rumour of it being inhabited days earlier, he had decided to surveil it. For a few nights, he had secretly watched the comings and goings at the church, but when he saw RT3 enter and then the attackers follow, he had decided to act. He confirmed that the passage would allow the constables to sneak out of the church, but they would need to pass near Leone’s men to escape. Thornt immediately began preparing a ritual to disguise the squad’s passage.

Erik and Tok dragged the unconscious Creed into a side passage, then Erik hid himself around a corner and Tok assumed the form of Mayor Reed MacBannin. He gently shook Creed awake. Creed looked around groggily and, seemingly unsurprised to find the mayor present, asked what had happened. Tok explained that Creed had been defeated but that Leone had recovered the document. He asked Creed about Leone’s plans and the butler replied that the Steelshaper hadn’t told him anything. Creed then realised that his hands were bound. When Tok hesitated in untying them, Creed realised what had happened.

Erik revealed himself and together he and Tok attempted to convince Creed to reveal the conspiracy he was working for. Creed would say nothing other than that they were acting in Risur’s best interests. He maintained he had given Risur 15 years of his life, and would gladly give her his death if necessary. He called on Erik’s patriotism and urged the constables to abandon their investigation for the good of Risur and her people.

Intrigued by that turn of events, Erik offered Creed a choice: come with RT3 willingly and without tricks, or they would be forced to “deal with” the butler in the church. Creed maintained that he would not reveal further information, but agreed not to foil their escape out of respect for Erik’s service to Risur.
The constables then barricades the main hall of the church to buy themselves time and, with 20 minutes remaining on Leone’s deadline, snuck out the secret passage. Thornt’s ritual proved decisive, dampening the footsteps of the injured Dr Recklinghausen, which otherwise would have given them away. Instead, RT3 escaped into the deep Flint night and headed for RHC headquarters.

They met one of Wilheim’s contacts along the way, who informed them that Skyseer Nevard had called a rally at Dawn Square for the next day, to announce to the people a vision of the future of Flint. Intrigued – but somewhat annoyed that Nevard had not bothered to convey his vision to RT3 first – RT3 pressed on.

RHC headquarters was in chaos when they arrived, whipped up by the urgent message carried by Gale’s canary. When RT3 walked in the door with a captive and Dr Recklinghausen, the constabulary visibly settled. Armed and armoured constables began to disarm themselves, and most officers went back to work.
Erik delivered the bundle of paperwork RT3 had recovered from Dr Recklinghausen to Ziggy in administration, hoping that the bookish clerk would be able to piece together the network of transactions it contained. RT3 then delivered Creed to the mage cells in the basement. True to his word, Creed did not resist. When Thornt suggested to Erik that he should bring his wife and her family to headquarters for the night, Erik asked the butler whether she was at risk. Creed simply replied, “Cover all angles”.

A messenger was swiftly sent to Erik’s house and that of Assistant Chief Inspector Delft, and RT3 filed reports of all they had learned. After obtaining Dr Recklinghausen’s full story of the events at the consulate, Creed was charged with the murder of Nilasa Hume, impeding an investigation, and possible treason.
RT3 was now sure that something big was going on; bigger than the murder of an intruder at the consulate. Suspecting that the terrorist Gale might know more, Erik addressed her canary in an attempt to reach her. The bird stared back uncomprehending. Thornt instead dispatched it to Skyseer Nevard with the message that RT3 wished to bring forward their meeting with Gale. RT3 retired for a well-earned rest.

When they woke in the morning and Erik stepped outside for some Nicodemus leaf, he was met by an insistent wind. It invited him to whisper a message into it, and he responded. “We have information. Many things happening. Can we meet sooner?”


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## Colmarr (May 23, 2012)

*Session 17: Audience with the Wind*

As Gale's messenger wind whipped away into Flint's packed streets, RT3 received word that Assistant Chief inspector Delft had reported for work and wished to see them. Delft introduced the constables to Kuri, a gnomish constable assigned to RT1 but whom he had temporarily reassigned to RT3 to assist with their investigation into the witchoil. Kuri had spent much of the night with the Constabulary's alchemist Elbert, and had reached a number of conclusions:


The sample containing white motes was the same substance as the sample without, but some transformation had taken place to introduce the motes to the substance;
The moteless sample was little different to normal oil, although it did contain a reagent that was often used in snare rituals; and
The mote sample was powerful. It burned with an intense but controlled flame, and burned for far longer than oil normally would.
RT3 asked Assistant Chief Inspect Delft to dispatch surveillance to monitor comings and goings from Mayor MacBannin's manor on Cauldron Hill. He cautioned them against levelling accusations against such a prominent politician without proof, but agreed to send RT6 as requested. Delft also seconded Xaresti to RT3 to assist in their investigation.

The constables next returned to the danoran consulate, where they met with security chief LeBrix in private. The danoran initially maintained his earlier position, but when the discussion turned to the witchoil LeBrix had found and its ability to capture souls, he suddenly exclaimed and left the room. When he returned, he explained that he had just realised something: the moteless samples he had discovered had been in factories that had not had recent fatalies. The samples containing motes came from factories where workers had recently died. When he reported on the investigation, he had been ordered to shut it down.

With this new piece of information about the witchoil, RT3 realised that it was likely being placed in the factories to 'charge' it.

Swayed by the new revelation and convinced that RT3 were pursuing issues greated than Danoran industrial interests, LeBrix opened up. He admitted that he had not been the one who shot Nilasa. Cillian Creed – who had visited the consulate multiple times in the previous few weeks - had. LeBrix maintained his loyalty to Danor, but gave RT3 his home address in case they needed to contact him further.

As RT3 left the consulate, a messenger wind descended on them and urged them to meet with Gale as soon as possible atop the 'Pardwright clock tower', a rickety and patchwork astronomical observatory rising tall about the Pardwight campus. Upon their arrival, Gale swept up to meet them from the surrounding rooftops. She hovered just outside the tower until sure they would not make any hostile moves and then landed to speak with them. 

RT3 explained what they had discovered about the witchoil and what they had seen in the vision atop Cauldron Hill. Gale in turn confirmed that Nilasa Hume had been working for her, and that she feared Nilasa had been killed because she discovered evidence of a greater conspiracy. The eladrin terrorist told RT3 about a visit she had recently made to the Bleak Gate, and the signs and sounds of massive construction she had observed there. She cautioned them that sizeable conspiracies were at work, and urged them to investigate further. To assist, she gave Tok a book containing a ritual that would allow the constables to track elemental energies.

Gale maintained that, while she opposed industry, she had come to realise that she could not stop it altogether. She hoped instead to keep some areas safe and sacred. As she stepped off the ledge and floated away, Wilheim called out to her. She paused and the deva presented her with a brown parcel. Gale unwrapped it to reveal a strange mirror who surface appeared to be a sheet of running water. The eladrin read the note within the parcel, then glanced silently at Wilheim. 

Gale produced a swirling ball of wind from her pocket and handed it to the investigators, telling them to use it if they ever needed to contact her. Five golden feathers danced inside. While RT3 studied the strange gift, a wind whipped around the tower, bringing thick smog that blanketed the sky. When it cleared, Gale was gone. 

RT3 used the ritual book to track a trail of Bleak Gate energy up the canal leading towards Parity Lake, before the trail ended abruptly at a bridge near the base of Cauldron Hill. Another trail seemed to lead to a boarded-up warehouse in Bosum Strand, but with only a few hours left before Nevard's rally in Dawn Square, the constables opted not to investigate further. They moved instead to the site of the rally, which was already filled with more than a thousand people. Clearly much of Flint would be in attendance. 

RT3 moved into the crowd to assess possible threats to the aging skyseer.


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## Colmarr (Jun 6, 2012)

*Session 18: Dawn Square*

Tok, Erik and Kuri took up position near the empty stage and scanned the crowd. Two skyseer-liveried wagons stood behind the massive stage, each tended by a white-robed druid. A small knot of skyseer attendants waited on the southern edge of the square for Nevard’s arrival. Behind the stage, a ring of trees surrounded a fountain and were in turn outlined by three towering frameworks of wood and iron. At the top of each frame, a continual flame burned in memory of Flint’s founding.

Tok pointed out a group of tall buildings approximately halfway down the square, and asked his seargeant whether they were a possible vantage point for a sniper. Erik replied around the nicodemus leaf cigarette in his mouth, indicating it would be an extremely difficult shot at that range. Tok nevertheless asked two nearby policemen to investigate, and they happily complied.

Xaresti and Wilheim moved among the crowd, searching for anything out of the ordinary. The deva monk spied a group of industrialists seated at the front window of a cafe, clearly unhappy about the rally. He returned to the stage with Xaresti to report their presence. Tok decided to investigate further and, changing form to match his appearance to theirs, joined the men in the cafe. They briefly studied him as he sat down, then returned to their conversation. The men were convinced that Nevard’s vision would be detrimental to their business interests, and more than one muttered aloud that the city would be better off if the rally did not proceed.

Nevard’s carriage eventually pulled into the square, and the crowd buzzed with anticipation. The venerable skyseer took the stage with almost a dozen attendants, and ritual magic cast his voice far beyond the range it might otherwise have reached. Nevard reminded Flint’s people that for centuries the skyseers had used their visions to guide Risur, and though the clarity of their future sight has faded in recent years, they believe they can still guide with their wisdom, to mediate between the conflicting forces of a changing nation. But, he said, he sensed danger was approaching, and so had sought guidance by studying the sky from the one clear spot in the city - atop Cauldron Hill. And he had a vision.

A shot rang out, and RT3 quickly pinpointed its location in the tall buildings Tok had earlier noticed. Someone in the crowd screamed in shock, and confused murmurs filled the square. Nevard paused and looked to his attrendants. Wilheim glanced to Erik and when the sergeant nodded, moved through the crowd with monastically-trained speed.

When no further shots were heard, and no attack came, Nevard returned to his speech. “I saw a dark figure, standing atop Cauldron Hill, towering over our city. The sun set, and he cast a shadow across Parity Lake, stretching northwest, into the sea, beyond the horizon. And also—”

Behind the stage, the white-robed druids whipped the covering from the wagons to reveal two mechanical platforms bearing quadruple-carbine mounts. The fusil golem in each wagon whirred to life and the barrels of their armaments swivelled towards the skyseer party on the stage. Before RT3 could react, the carbines exploded into action, smashing some of Nevard’s attendants to the ground. Only the fact they had been standing behind the skyseer saved his life.
Screams spread through the crowd and people fled in panic.

RT3 leapt into action. As Erik blasted away with his pistol, Kuri reached out with his mind to seize the nearest golem. The weapons platform, despite weighing almost a third of a ton, was dragged from its wagon and flung across the square. It landed with a crunch at the base of the stage, from where it could target neither Nevard nor his attendants. Xaresti chased after the machine, drawing his sword and levelling his shield.

Thornt’s nose wrinkled, and he realised just in time what it was that he was smelling. Death. Other white-robed druids in the crowd threw back their hoods to reveal the age-bleached bone of skeletons. Two rushed up the southern stairs onto the stage, felling a skyseer attendant, while the others advanced on the constables with rusty blades. Erik‘s battlefield training and impetuous kicked in, and the yerasol veteran sprinted up the stairs until he stood beside Nevard. His pistol barked, and one the attackers’ skulls shattered.

The second fusil golem fired again. This time its hail of fire hit Erik, cut down all but one of Nevard’s remaining attendants and sorely wounded the aged skyseer himself. Nevard clutched at a stomach wound that was quickly soaking his robes red. Kuri moved to the base of the steps, shadowed by a skeleton that attempted to halt his progress. 

The waters of the fountain rippled and three great cats leapt out. Their bodies were a mass of exposed muscle capped with a nightmare visage – plain bone where the creature’s faces should have been. The first flayed jaguar launched itself at Xaresti while the others bypassed the half-elf and surged to the top of the stage. Erik fired at them as they came but the creature didn’t flinch as the investigator’s shot struck home. Razor-sharp claws flashed out, and Erik fell clutching a bleeding arm. The second jaguar leapt over his prone form and lashed out at Nevard. 

Even as its claws rent the old man’s robes and the skyseer’s lifeblood spilled out onto the stage, Nevard’s form vanished and reappeared at the base of the stage near the newly-arrived Tok. The changeling’s magic healed Nevard’s wounds and clouded the jaguar’s sight so that it could no longer see its prey.

Xaresti and Thornt battled the fusil golem and jaguar at the rear of the stage. The paladin deflected both slashing claws and fusillades of carbine fire with skilled precision, but even Xaresti’s divine might was not a complete protection. The jaguar’s claws found a route beneath the half-elf’s breastplate and scored lines of blood across his back, and a shot from the golem knocked a massive dent into his cuirass. Thornt surrounded Xaresti’s enemies with swarms of stinging and biting insects. The jaguar roared in annoyance, and the golem sparked where its targeting processes seethed with crawling bodies. Xaresti saw his opportunity. He knocked the golem’s carbines aside with his shield and then pierced the creature’s central core with a thrust of his blade. The golem sagged and then was still.

In front of the stage, Tok and Kuri held off the two remaining jaguars long enough to revive Erik and protect Nevard, then RT3 finished off the skeletons, the jaguars and the remaining fusil golem. In the aftermath of the battle, Wilheim returned to the group. He had discovered a sniper hidden in the buildings, and the gunshot had been the assassin firing on the police officers who had discovered his vantage point. Both officers had been killed, and the sniper himself fell to his death from a roof while fleeing the Deva monk. 

Nevard urged the constables to do what they could to rally the panicked crowd, and gradually the citizens of Flint returned to hear the skyseer’s prophecy.



> _I saw a dark figure, standing atop Cauldron Hill, towering over our city. The sun set, and he cast a shadow across Parity Lake, stretching northwest, into the sea, beyond the horizon. He is born in our city, but his ultimate goal is elsewhere. And also things moved in his shadow—indeed, his shadow moved before he did, for while he was mighty, he was controlled by others. _
> 
> _I saw smoke hiding his face, for he was made mighty by industry. In my vision, a king chased him out to sea and defeated him by slicing him free from his shadow. But the cauldron had already shattered, and many thousands were drowned and devoured in its roil. _
> 
> ...



No sooner had Nevard finished speaking than people began to trickle out of Dawn Square, first in small groups and then in numbers. RT3 could tell from their murmurs and exaggerated speed that those present were taking Nevard’s warning seriously. Many would take up his offer of safety in the Cloudwood.

As he watched the crowd go, the aging skyseer turned to his saviours. “Thank you again,” he said. “Twice now you have saved my life. There is more to be told, but not here.”


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