Redbadge's Campaign (there will be spoilers)

Burning the Midnight Oil

As the outbreak of dragon worm subsided in Citado Cavallo, Dr Recklinghausen had the time to reattach Doran’s severed foot. Wolfgang mentioned that his skill at restoring severed limbs has come a long way. His earlier attempts resulted in odd detachable limbs supported by external magical girdles. His refined methods now truly knit the limb back onto the body. Doran thought the idea of detachable limbs could be interesting tactically, but a disembodied foot probably wouldn’t be that useful.

The Liss railroad reached the walled village of El Fuerte Toro. The workers were quite happy for better food and accommodations for at least one night. Liss himself moved into the towns Inn from Aigotsura. The following day as the railroad made its way past El Fuerte toro, a cold snap came through, and the constables considered bringing in cold weather gear as the rail headed into the Abismo Condendado. Shortly thereafter, Kirk’s crew got word that Surtan Liss had locked himself into his room at the inn while raving about the ghouls of the frozen marsh.

Meanwhile in Citado Cavallo, Cavallo de Guerra was surprised to receive a letter from the Bruse. The letter confirmed his daughter, Corta Nariz, as successor to the throne provided Cavallo officially pledged fealty and paid his share of infrastructure costs. Cavallo admitted to the constables that he’d given them the task thinking full well that it was impossible. Cavallo agreed to the terms, and Shakul left to take Cavallo’s response back to the summer court. The constables decided to head for the Griento railhead to deliver the contract to Asteron and persuaded Dr. Recklinghausen to accompany them. With the outbreak under control Wolfgang had little reason to stay in Citado Cavallo.

At the Griento railhead, Asteron was surprised that the constables had managed to arrange a meeting with his mother. Irony opted not to keep Shakul’s involvement a secret as he had initiated the meeting with an anonymous letter. Asteron was gratified that the constables had not stooped to sabotage on the Griento railroad. He’d kept in touch with Glaucia and had received troubling reports from the Liss railroad. Irony had also received troubling news about the weather from Kirk via sending stone, so the meeting with Asteron was a brief one before they made their way back to the Liss railhead.

The constable reunited well after sunset at the Liss railhead camp. The constables had only just gotten each other up to speed on events in both locations when a chorus of howling came from the north. A small army of reptilian ghouls charged the camp led by a team of undead priests riding a skeletal sled mounted with a great dragon skull.

Maddox was the first to react as the ghouls closed in on the camp. He let loose with his typical volley of grenades upon the bone sled, devastating its occupants and effectively destroying the sled. Rai finished the job by stabbing his burning blade into a ghoul’s chest and kicking it into the sled’s remains where it exploded killing the last priest. Two ghouls wearing skin masks attacked from the south as the constables contended with the army of ghouls from the north. They unleashed a terrifying wail that disoriented the constables. After a brief bout of friendly fire, the constables quickly shook off the confusion and struck back at the fiends. The battle ended as abruptly as it began when Irony magically split herself to three locations overlooking the battlefield and invoked the memory of the fall of Srasama to engulf all the ghouls in holy fire.

The following day, the entire RHC squad spread out across the railroad to keep an eye on things. The majority of the ghouls that attacked came from the north, but Doran and Kirk were unable to track where the ghouls from the south had come from. The constables opted to be extra wary of future attacks as a result. This wariness paid off when Irony and Doran averted a disaster while riding the supply train. Doran spotted a pile of rubble near the train tracks that hadn't been there the night before. After stopping the train and investigating, they discovered that the rubble concealed a bomb meant to derail the train. Irony was able to render the firedust charges inert long enough to dismantle the bomb.

That afternoon, the party received a message from Glaucia Evora asking to speak with them at El Fuerte Toro. Kirk and Irony went to meet Glaucia while the rest of the constables stayed at the railhead camp. Glaucia told the constables that she had contacted Asteron about the ghoul attack, and Damata Griento had suspended work on his side of the railroad until Ber's military could ensure the safety of his workers in the Abismo Candendado. Glaucia told them that it would likely take about a week for military reinforcements to arrive and perform a complete sweep of the frozen marsh. Surtan Liss, on the other hand, was quite willing to continue work on the railroad as long as the constables remained to protect the workers. This news meant that the constables were effectively assured victory in the contest. Irony also took the opportunity to tell Glaucia about the bomb they had discovered. Glaucia assured the constables that she was taking note of any sabotage attempts on the railroad and their likely source.

Over the next week, the constables remained vigilant of any further sabotage. However, further attacks weren't forthcoming. The Danorans apparently spent the entire week trying to convince Damata to renew work on the railroad. The Griento railroad did resume construction after receiving an all-clear from the military sweep of the marsh. The extra week of work on the Liss railroad allowed them to just barely reach the original halfway point before the Griento railroad as well as handily win the Bruse's contest.

The constables received word to return to the summer court. The constables opted to remain at the railhead to see the joining ceremony before heading back. The joining of the two railroads was an all day affair with a mariachi band and a parade of city officials from along the railroad. The last half dozen rail spikes were driven in by Damata and Surtan themselves. The two rail tycoons amiably argued over who would drive the last spike until Damata's wife snatched a hammer and drove it in herself. With the conclusion of the ceremony, the constables packed up and prepared to return to the summer court and the denouement of the contest.

Coup Ex Machina

The constables returned to the Summer Court where the Bruse threw a banquet to celebrate the end of the competition. After the meal, the votes were tallied. The constables had won both challenges and secured both Zarkava's and the Bruse's votes ending with a result of 4 to 1. The constables were taken to the Bruse's audience chamber to meet with Oddcog while Lya's party was made to wait outside. The Bruse explained that the constables would have to convince Oddcog to go with them as he wouldn't force the gnome to leave because Tinker is a guest of the state not a prisoner.

Once Tinker arrived, Irony tried to persuade the nervous gnome to come with them. After some discussion, Tinker apologized and called the Bruse back over from the nearby balcony. Tinker informed everyone that he wasn't going to leave with anyone and after pulling out a pocket watch, announced that everyone had 16 seconds to leave. After a brief moment of confusion, Kirk heard the whistle of incoming artillery shells and tackled Tinker to the ground and handcuffed himself to the gnome. At the same time, Kenna Vigilante attacked the Bruse from behind, knocking him to the floor. The other guards in the audience chamber also turned their rifles on the constables as the artillery shells began to fill the room with choking caustic gas.

Two of the guards moved to open the doors of the audience chamber, and Maddox unloaded his customary volley of shotgun blasts to try and stop them. The guards proved much more resilient than expected and Maddox discovered their secret when he blasted the metallic skin off one of the guards revealing clockwork within. The constable moved quickly to try and protect the Bruse. Bruse Shantus quickly regained his composure and conjured a large maul along with a continual stream of spectral constructs as backup. Tinker revealed himself to be a duplicant as well when he opened his own chest and produced a prodigious bomb. At about this moment, Kirk realized he was handcuffed to a small robot gnome holding high explosives. Thinking quickly, Kirk bodily hauled Oddcog to the balcony, hoisted him over the railing, and unlocked the handcuffs. Tinker fell into the maze below and the resulting explosion knocked Kirk back from the balcony's edge.

The guards by the doors were able to successfully open them whereupon Lya Jierre immediately decapitated one of the damaged duplicants. Lya and her two cohorts rushed into the room pursued by many more duplicant assailants. Merton used his sonic staff to push the duplicants back and rush closed and barred the audience chamber doors again. The remaining door guard attempted to open the doors again only to have Rush pin him to a nearby wall with an immovable rod. Lya quickly called for a cessation of hostilities between them explaining that they were not behind this attack.

The constables and the Danorans moved to engage the duplicants left in the audience chamber. Doran and Kirk heavily damaged Kenna at which point she appeared to come to her senses. This produced further confusion on how these strange clockwork golems imitate people. The constables have little time to dwell on the particulars of their assailants as the room is still full of caustic fumes and the duplicants outside are beginning to break the door down. The party will need to find a way to escape and protect the Bruse.

Coup part Deux



The constables, the Bruse, and the Danorans rappelled down into the maze outside while Kenna’s duplicant stayed behind to hold the throne room doors closed against the other duplicants. The party hurried through the maze with Bruse Shantus acting as navigator. They fended off several duplicants patrolling the maze before reaching the other side. As they rounded the last corner, they encountered Pardo, the Minister of Rebellion, leading the duplicants.

The constables and the Danorans formed a phalanx between Pardo’s forces and the Bruse. Pardo charged into their midst attempting to savage them with claws and spells. Fortunately, the constables are experts at controlling melee combat and were able to disrupt Pardo’s tactics while dismantling his duplicant forces. Partway through the fight, Asteron arrived to help protect his uncle. They defeated the Minister of Rebellion, but he was also a duplicant.

The forces still loyal to the Bruse were able to rout the duplicant forces after their initial momentum was broken. Bruse Shantus was infuriated by Pardo’s insurrection. The Bruse immediately began sending missives to mobilize Ber’s navy to assault the home of Pardo’s Gnoll tribe, Isla dola Focas. Zarkava, the Bruse’s vizier, performed divinations to confirm that the people replaced by duplicants were being held prisoner on the island.

The Bruse planned to bring Ber’s full naval might against the Cult of the Steel Lord. Ber’s northern fleet would sail from Citado Cavallo in the northwest while its other main fleet would sail from Shantre in the southwest. The two fleets would pincer the island’s defenders between them. While the Bruse was confident his forces could crush the Gnoll defenders, he asked that the constables and the Danorans help in the effort. Since both parties are still after Tinker, he suggested that they make landfall on Isla dola Focas once Ber’s fleets had engaged the Gnoll fleet. Once there, they could make their way to the caves beneath the island’s active volcano to rescue the hostages and find Tinker Oddcog.

It's still a month or so before I start going back to tweak the Act Two and Three adventures for the compilation, but I hope I remember to add Shantre to Ber. I like it.

Ber's history in the player's guide mentioned that Ber's semi-shared culture was thanks to wandering Minotaur bards, so I thought it was natural for the Minotaurs to be more inclined to mercantile efforts than some of the more insular races of Ber. Since Cavallo's tribe was already established as a former pirate enclave, I thought making Shantus' family the head of a mercantile navy would add a bit more depth to their rivalry before and after Vairday Bruse passed the crown to Shantus.

I put Shantre on the cape south of Reo Pedresco. I made Reo Pedresco a satellite city of Shantre, established to better facilitate international trade. Shantre is still a major port, but foreigners would prefer Reo Pedresco's "friendlier" street layout to Shantre's literal maze of canals, bridges, and upper story walkways (they're still Minotaurs after all).

I also made Ursalina one of the Minotaur city-states. I've read the players will actually go there eventually since then, so hopefully I won't have to change too much. My reasoning was to make western Ber predominantly controlled by the Minotaurs while Orcs held sway in the Northeast and Gnolls in the south.

Skyfall

The constables immediately began brainstorming. They needed to get to Tinker before Lya and her lieutenants. While the Bruse suggested that they wait for Ber’s navy to draw off most of the Gnoll ships before attempting to make landfall, Lya has a larger, more powerful ship. The party reasoned that she would likely try to steal a march on them, risking a more dangerous naval encounter in exchange for reaching the island sooner. The constables had a special custom ship of their own, but it still wouldn’t be able to take on an entire fleet of Gnoll ships alone. They needed a way to beat Lya to the island without getting drawn into protracted naval combat.



Eventually, the constables settled on a plan. They would use their ship’s shroud ability and the constant rain from the Silent Storm surrounding the island to cover their approach. They would bring their ship roughly 3 miles from the island’s coast before dawn then approach the island “on foot” using water walking. The combination of heavy rainfall and darkness would conceal them from any Gnoll ships as they hiked their way to the beachhead. The main sticking point in the plan was that the water walking ritual only lasts one hour and has to be cast individually. To avoid having any one constable’s water walking effect fail prematurely, they needed multiple ritualists performing the spell on each constable at the same time. Irony used a Sending spell to contact Inspector Delft to inform him that they were infiltrating the Isla dola Focas and required the aid of several ritualists versed in the water walking spell. Delft responded that it might take a few days to get them the mages they needed. Fortunately, the constables could spare the time because Ber’s navy would take several days to get into position anyway.

While the constables made preparations, Maddox, the party’s explosives expert, had a more personal mission. After witnessing the sonic bomb deployed by Merton, Maddox had become quite interested in that technology. Given the recent détente with Lya, Maddox decided to approach Merton about his sonic bomb. At first Merton was reticent to let Maddox examine one of his bombs and called Lya over to speak instead. Lya chatted with Maddox saying that the interest in technology went both ways, and she had noted Maddox’s own blaster weapon as a fascinating piece. She told Maddox that enlightened thinkers trying to make the world a better place founded the Obscurati. Magical oaths prevented her from giving too many details, but she told Maddox that the Ob is always looking for people of singular talent and intellect. She acknowledged that Maddox should take time to think over what she said and offered him one of Merton’s bombs to study as a gesture of good will.



Back with the rest of the constables, Irony received an unexpected Sending from Principle Minister Harkover Lee only a few hours after she contacted Delft. Lee informed her that they would have the spell casters they needed by that afternoon along with Risur’s Director of Infiltrations, Lauryn Cyneburg, with a classified briefing. Within a few hours, the constables had everything they needed to execute their plan. Director Cyneburg quickly gathered up the constables into the wheelhouse on their ship and ejected the rest of the crew from the room. After putting up some wards against eavesdropping, Lauryn commenced with the briefing.

Lauryn started with a brief summary of Ber’s history following the Great Malice. She explained how dragon hunting became a popular past time of trumped up heroes and would be kings following the fall of Elfaivar and the collapse of the Holy Clergy Empire. The dragon lords of Ber fended off most challengers until things changed roughly 200 years go. Skyseers in Risur witnessed a strange celestial phenomenon. While the planet Avilona traveled through the house of the constellation Draco, the constellation itself vanished from the sky in a shower of shooting stars. Many seers took this as a sign that the dragon lords of Ber would soon fall. While this prediction was accurate, it failed to illuminate what precipitated this fall. Lauryn revealed to the constables that the disappearance of the constellation Draco coincided with a planar anomaly. The anomaly disrupted Lanjyr’s already feeble connection to the plane of air. Very few people took note of this disruption because few mages bothered to specialize in air magic given its difficulty and poor results. What few academic papers that discussed the anomaly began to refer to the event as Skyfall.

Skyfall made an already recalcitrant section of magic even more difficult to wield. While this had little effect on the vast majority of Lanjyr’s inhabitants, it had a profound effect on dragons. Dragons were inherently magical creatures that could innately tap into elemental forces for various supernatural effects. One of these effects was the ability to empower their flight. The Skyfall anomaly resulted in dragons no longer being able to fly. With the loss of flight, dragons lost the ability to control engagements with their foes and flee when necessary. The number of dragons in the world dwindled rapidly following Skyfall.

Risur’s monarch at the time, King Boyle, saw an opportunity to secure future assets for Risur. King Boyle mounted a dragon hunting expedition into neighboring Ber to track down the last remaining dragon lords. Each dragon he hunted down was given a choice: accept asylum in Risur or die. The few dragons that accepted his terms had to submit to certain stipulations. They had to swear to never take hostile action against the kingdom of Risur, and they had to take on the form of a human and live as Risuri citizens for no less than 100 years. One of the dragons that accepted King Boyle’s terms was Gradiax, the Lord of Steel. Over the last two centuries, Gradiax had invested his horde in real estate and industrial ventures. His current human persona is Benedict Pemberton. The constables had met Pemberton in person when they purchased golems from him to help build the railroad.

Lauryn explained that King Aodhan had decided to release this information to the constables in light of their impending confrontation with the Cult of the Steel Lord. While they didn’t have conclusive evidence, it seems likely that Gradiax has retaken control of the Gnoll tribe and desires to reclaim dominion over Ber. Lauryn advised the constables to prepare for the possibility that they may end up fighting a fire-breathing dragon. As the primary agents of Risur in this combat theater, the constables were granted leeway to use and share this intelligence, as they deemed necessary to complete their mission. However, Lauryn did point out that revealing Risur had granted asylum to dragon lords could damage political relations between Risur and Ber. Ultimately, the constables decided not to tell their allies about this revelation.

The Dragon's Lair



The Constables went forward with their stealth plan. As the party approached their target beachhead, they encountered a gnoll ship patrolling the water near the beach. The constables decided against attempting to board the ship and instead snuck around it, reasoning that lookouts on the ship would be looking for other ships not pedestrians. One final obstacle greeted them on the beach itself, a veritable wall of flesh made by an enormous rookery of sleeping seals. Disturbing the sleeping beasts risked attracting the attention of the nearby patrol ship. Fortunately, Maddox was prepared with his Root Gate spell to slip the party past the seals.



With most of the island’s defenders at sea or preparing in the city of Karch, the constables were able to reach the volcano while avoiding the few sparse patrols. While the mountain was dotted with caves, only the largest cave entrance had a well-traveled thoroughfare leading to it. The party quickly moved to investigate. The tunnel sloped downward into the mountain, its walls lined with tapestries that covered multiple larges pipes running along the walls. The tunnel opened into a cave that had been converted into a factory facility of some kind. Metal catwalks ran alongside large sealed tanks surrounding a large hatch in the cave’s floor. The entire chamber was lit by flickering spark gaps along the ceiling.

Unlike the rest of the mostly deserted island, this chamber was quite occupied. Spear wielding gnolls formed ranks in front of the constables while archers took aim from the catwalks alongside flail-wielding priest. The constables quickly engaged the gnolls with Kirk, Doran, and Rai plowing into the ranks of spear wielding warriors. Maddox used his grapple shot to swing up onto the catwalk near the priest and smashed the duplicant priest with a street-sweeping hail of attacks from his blaster shotgun while Bellicose picked off the archers, including a few that tried to flee into an adjoining cave.

Upon investigating the next cave, the party ran into a pack of gnolls. The gnolls retreated deeper into the caves shouting about killing the hostages. The constables pursued the pack directly into more archers and a priest. The constables rushed in guns blazing to stop try and save the hostages. Pardo struck the party from behind harrying the constables using invisibility. Maddox, never one to mince words, proved that invisibility grants no protection from grenades. Unfortunately, Pardo was once again using a duplicant body and escaped any lasting retribution.



After defeating the Gnolls, the constables searched the cave and located a hidden passage. They found the prisoners tied down to cots and blindfolded. The party freed the hostages, but they were still in pretty bad shape from their treatment at the hands of the Gnolls. The hostages didn’t have much information to impart. They’d been kept confined to the prison area at all times and mostly kept blindfolded. Not wanting to risk their safety further, the constables opted to use a portal to send the hostages to their ship, the Arboretum.

The party decided to search the rest of the caves, delving into the mines dug by the Gnolls. They managed to spot and avoid a pit trap at the entrance to the mineshafts and spent a decent amount of time searching the mines without any sign of activity before returning to the pump station. Once there, Irony used a Comprehend Language ritual to read the labels on the station’s control panels. While the labels were somewhat esoteric (hydrodynamic screw pump apparatus), the constables were able to successfully activate the machinery necessary to open the large hatch in the floor. The constables then rode the freight elevator down into the mountains depths.

Oddcog's Magma Emporium

When the constables reached the bottom of the shaft, they found a long tunnel winding deeper into the mountain and a large mine cart waiting for them. The cart contained a severed duplicant head. As soon as kirk picked up the head, it transformed into Tinker’s likeness and began to speak. Oddcog invited them to ride in the cart to his factory workshop. After a bit of discussion, the constables decided to get into the cart.

On the ride over, Oddcog explained a few things to the constables. He told them that he wouldn’t leave willingly with them regardless of any overtures they made because the duplicants he made for Gradiax have an inbuilt form of mind control. As long as Tinker was linked to a duplicant, he would have to obey Gradiax’s commands. Oddcog also admonished the constables for being so foolhardy as to walk into a very obvious trap. After a few minute of rambling conversation with the inventor of questionable sanity, Gradiax seized control of the duplicant head as his human persona Benedict Pemberton.

Pemberton told the constables he had no affiliation with this Obscurati conspiracy they were dealing with, and he was willing to negotiate. He offered to allow them to speak with Tinker as long as they left without damaging any more of his forces. Kirk countered that they wanted to take Oddcog back with them. Pemberton insisted he needed more if they were going to take his prize engineer. He demanded that the party destroy Ber’s transport ships after they drop off the first wave of marines, stranding Ber’s soldiers without reinforcements. The constables decided to agree to the original offer and simply speak with Tinker.

The cart reached the end of the line in a factory-like area set above a pool of churning magma. Tinker was piloting a steam-powered armored suit at the far end of the factory up on a platform overlooking the area. He shouted to be heard over the machinery saying that he would answer their questions, but if they tried to cross the factory floor, he would be forced to open fire. Though Oddcog’s rambling responses were often rather disjointed, the constables learned two important pieces of information. First, the Ob’s colossus had been designed specifically to lift a flat object a hundred feet in diameter that weighed roughly 43,000 tons and withstand tremendous amounts of physical and magical punishment. With these design specifications, the RHC could start to piece together what the Ob planned to use the golem for. Secondly, Tinker revealed in a rambling non sequitur that Alexander Grappa had contacted him. Up to this point the constables had though Grappa died in the Bleak Gate facility when Borne awoke.



The constables decided they couldn’t afford to leave Tinker behind and risk losing any other valuable intelligence on the Ob he may be forgetting to tell them. Doran, Rai, and Kirk sprinted across the factory to close the distance with Tinker. Tinker immediately displayed his influence over machines when he verbally commanded the factory’s manipulating arms to grab Kirk off the conveyor belt and opened fire with guns built into his steam suit. Maddox fired a few grenades at the factory’s steam turbine in an attempt to shut down the machinery. However, this flushed out a dragon hiding in the steam cloud around the turbine. The dragon sported several arcanoscientific prostheses, and it swooped down to attack the party’s flank.

Doran and Rai continued forward to try and stop Tinker. They suffered the brunt of Tinker’s attacks, including a beam cannon suspended from a rail on an articulated metal arm. Kirk managed to slip free of the manipulator arms and hurried back to the rear to help Irony, Bellicose, and Maddox with the dragon. Rai and Doran had a hard time reaching Tinker between his withering hail of bullets and immobilizing ray gun. The rest of the constables unloaded their strongest attacks and magic at the dragon. The dragon absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment, but its mechanical prostheses rapidly began to fail.

As the dragon’s mechanical prostheses failed completely, a door at the back of the factory slammed open and Pemberton emerged carrying the unconscious body of Tinker Oddcog. The constables know the Tinker in the steam suit was a duplicant, but this was the first confirmation they had that the dragon wasn’t Pemberton. Pemberton revealed the dragon was actually his daughter, Terakalir, and he threatened to kill Tinker unless they allowed his daughter to escape. The constables agreed, reasoning that they stood to gain little from killing Terakalir. Unfortunately, Lya Jierre and her lieutenants arrived at just that moment intent upon capturing or at least killing Tinker.

The two parties quickly fell upon each other while Terakalir slowly limped out of the line of fire. The constables quickly assaulted Merton and Rush, killing first Merton and then Rush in swift concentrated fire. Lya was more resilient, but in the end she couldn’t stand up to the combined might of all the constables and Tinker’s steam suit. Kirk struck the final blow on Lya with the pommel of his rapier, considering her too valuable as a prisoner to kill outright. The constables then allowed Terakalir to escape, and after Pemberton confirmed her escape from the island, he severed Tinker’s connection to the duplicant. Pemberton warned the constables that they had not heard the last of him before he severed his connection with his own duplicant.

The constables quickly searched the factory for anything of value. They scooped up numerous schematics and notes as well as a strange silver orb from the room Pemberton had emerged from. Irony then cast Tenser’s Floating Disc to ferry Tinker’s steam suit. She then opened a gate directly back to Flint. The constables reasoned that the information and prisoners were too valuable to risk traveling with. Once everyone was through, Irony opened another gate to send herself and Doan back to their ship in Ber to report to the Bruse and return the prisoners to Seobriga.

That turned out surprisingly well. Especially since I'm writing adventure 13 now, and putting in a note that, if the party killed Terakalir in adventure 6, Pemberton totally plans to attack them at the worst possible moment.