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Noodle's campaign [SPOILERS]
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<blockquote data-quote="Noodle" data-source="post: 5902623" data-attributes="member: 6676731"><p><strong>Golem SMASH! (April recap)</strong></p><p></p><p>In the morning, you met back at HQ. Your boss, Assistant Chief Inspector Delft, was stamping around furiously, poking things with his cane, and spitting. “He’s gone!” he snarled. “You doctor friend – we had him in protective custody overnight. This morning, the cell was empty! Lady Saxby is incensed! Did you lot have anything to do with this?”</p><p></p><p>No one said anything, but he read enough in your sidelong glances at each other.</p><p></p><p>He pounds the floor with his cane. “Don’t lie to me, goddamit! I can’t cover you politically if I don’t know what you’re doing! I understand you sometimes need to protect witnesses, but there are CHANNELS to go through! At the very least, I need to be aware of your plans.”</p><p></p><p>More silence.</p><p></p><p>“Fine. At least those Crisillyiri are still in their cell.. Mail call for you all this morning.” He pointed his cane disgustedly in the direction of the mailboxes. In each, you found a fine envelope waiting. Each was addressed in fancy script with your name, and each had an arcane lock on it so it could only be opened by you personally. “I’ll leave you to look at those. Don’t forget the skyseer’s rally at noon today.” Delft stumped off.</p><p></p><p>Inside each envelope was a fine, cream-colored parchment, with a letter written in a clear, looping hand, inviting you to breakfast or lunch at a coffee shop in Stray River, at the corner of Yearling St. and Healer’s St. They are signed, Signore Morgan Cippiano. He said he will await your convenience any time in the next three days, and that he wished to discuss the legal case against his family members and that he may be able to help you in your investigation.</p><p></p><p>As you were reading, there came a polite, but heavy, knock on the door. Pieter was surprised to see his father Stanislav there.</p><p></p><p>“Pieter, I wanted to tell you. I got an early start this morning and was helping to set up for Skyseer Nevard’s rally at Dawn Square. There’s a lot of excitement about what he’s going to tell us. I know you hold to a different faith now, but remember he’s important to the rest of us. Anyway, there’s something very odd in the air over there. I can feel it. The very air itself smells like .. burnt engine grease.”</p><p></p><p>Groans and muttered curses escaped your lips. You promised to look into it right away. You stocked up on provisions while Pieter cast the Detect Planar Energy ritual. You headed for Bosum Strand. Sam noticed slicks of witchoil in the area, while Pieter’s ritual led the party straight to a nondescript munitions warehouse.</p><p></p><p>You snuck around back and slipped in through a rear door. Inside were eight lab techs, cleaning up from a recent procedure. With them was a motionless metal golem. They were distracted and didn’t notice you come in.. not until Sam knocked on the gate of the fence surrounding them and introduced himself, and inquired what manner of thing they might be doing. (Slate had quietly moved into position on an overhead catwalk.)</p><p></p><p>“naughty word! It’s that RHC squad that Creed said killed him! Kari, help me burn the notes. The rest of you, out of here!” Team Six sprang into action. Ash moved like a blur, knocking out half of the lab techs before they could do anything. Ben tried to leap up on the desk to prevent the notes’ destruction, but the 3-foot obstacle proved too high for his stubby little legs. Slate dropped a few of the techs from his lofty perch. One of the techs called out for the golem to defend them as he stepped into the portal circle. The golem’s runes turned red as it started to move, and briefly flashed brighter as the tech disappeared from view. The remaining tech drew a flask of alchemist’s fire out of his coat pocket and threw it on the desk. Notes burst into flame.</p><p></p><p>The golem turned towards Pieter, and barreled through the fence to get at him, knocking Sam out of the way. A brief fight ensued. The golem’s bleak aura didn’t come into play much – Slate was the one who bloodied it, and he was safely up on a catwalk, away from the rest of the Team. The team had thoughtfully stocked up on Resistance Potions (necrotic) as well. The golem never got a chance to clamber around after you knocked off it’s armor – good use of focus fire brought it down the rest of the way in less than one round.</p><p></p><p>Once revived (and before fading from the plane entirely), the technicians claimed to be working on a Risuri military project under the supervision of Mayor MacBannin. You saved documents from the fire, some apparently written in MacBannin’s own hand, that described the use of witchoil to animate dead jaguars – and how to control them. They also mentioned something about a ‘reservoir’ at the manor. The technicians said that the jaguars they had just finished creating would last no more than a few hours.</p><p></p><p>Forewarned with this information, most of the team headed off to Dawn Square while Ash headed back to HQ to pick up some gold thread. You chatted up Thames Grimsley, who was trying to organize a march on the Governor’s Mansion after the rally; also a police sergeant who promised some head-cracking should such an event occur. Sam and Pieter tried to calm the troubled waters without much effect. Using the Messenger Wind orb, you also sent a message to Gale asking for her assistance. The orb sped off toward the Cloudwood .. you could only hope it would reach her in time.</p><p></p><p>Looking around the square, you found an old fountain near the stage with a rusted band of iron running around its edge. Upon Ash’s return, you looped the fountain with gold thread.</p><p></p><p>Near the appointed noon hour, people started drifting from the taverns & drink vendors towards the stage. A couple of wagons were pushed into place near the stage by some robed figures wearing druidic masks. Their hands and features were completely obscured by the robes & masks. Suspicious, Sam approached them and hailed them, but they said nothing in reply. In fact, they withdrew into their wagons. Sam followed one in – and saw half of a rusted iron ring on the floor. A commotion outside heralded Nevard’s arrival to the Square. At this, the figures rose, and Sam spied a skeletal hand in one sleeve. “Right! You are under arrest for not being alive!” he exclaimed.</p><p></p><p>The skeletons charged out of the wagons, spilling over Sam at the entrance of one, and Pieter at the other. They revealed that the iron ring halves were hinged – and each folded out to a complete ring. They snapped them open and set them on the ground. Immediately, a pair of flayed jaguars appeared. From up on stage, Slate noticed that the gold thread around the fountain shimmered, as if it had just blocked a teleport.</p><p></p><p>Grimsley and his men moved to protect Nevard, who doggedly pressed on towards the stage. Pieter was mauled by one of the jaguars, but Ash was a flurry, kicking & punching out skeletons left and right. She was able to get to one of the rings and snap it closed, leaving only one active portal. One more jaguar came through while Ben attempted to save Pieter from being completely torn to pieces. Sam shouted at the team to go for the chest plates. Sam and Ben each managed to rip a plate off, allowing Slate to pick off the jaguars from his perch. The team was just facing the final jaguar, when it started spinning and rising through the air – and then flew through the air before being dumped unceremoniously into Parity Lake. Gale gave a wave from the top of the fountain, and then flew off.</p><p></p><p>Nevard gave his speech (see wiki). Grimsley decided to organize his dockers, rather than in a protest at the Governor’s Mansion, instead to help their neighbors move away from Cauldron Hill.</p><p></p><p>You headed to Mayor MacBannin’s manor, with the thought of sneaking in to gather more evidence. However, the amount of actvity around the manor, and the number of guards milling about made you reconsider. You headed back to HQ instead. You decided to have a chat with Signore Cippiano before doing anything about MacBannin.</p><p></p><p>In the morning, you headed to the indicated coffee shop. Cippiano greeted you all effusively, particularly Pieter, to whom he reffered as ‘Father’ and kissed his ring. [As a reminder, you now have Prestige 2 with the Family.] You and he agreed that you would release Deorn in exchange for his help in catching the two dragonborn who attempted to burn down Heward’s factory. He would set up a sting and ask them to burn down the House Elf’s magic shop, where you would be lying in wait. Ash was very much in favor. He also suggested that you talk to Security Chief LeBrix back at the Danoran Consulate about the dragonborn.</p><p></p><p>After parting on good terms with Signore Cippiano, the team headed to the Consulate, where Chief LeBrix was just headed out for lunch.</p><p></p><p>Over lunch, LeBrix told you of how he had found out from Cippiano that the dragonborn brothers had been hired to kill him, but the hit was canceled after his investigation into the witchoil and industrial smuggling operation was called off. He provided Slate with two Vendetta Bullets – one marked ‘Eberardo’ and one ‘Valando’. He said he would be in the team’s debt if the brothers could be ‘taken care of’.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Notes: </p><p>* These combats ended up being really easy, but that was due to good prep work by the players (using the ritual, good stealth rolls on entry to the warehouse; finding the fountain and surrounding it with gold thread; asking Gale for help). One of my players noted that he really appreciated that their prior actions had so much impact on the combats themselves.</p><p></p><p>* My players are REALLY paranoid about the government. They don't want to go to Delft with anything. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> They're not real sure yet how they're going to tackle MacBannin.</p><p></p><p>* The Warehouse & Dawn Square encounters were really cool, and even though it ended up being a walkover, it kinda felt like an end-boss fight. </p><p>One of my players even thought the adventure was over after it. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p><p>* Schedule conflicts are preventing a session this month.. next one not until June 16th. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite3" alt=":(" title="Frown :(" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":(" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Noodle, post: 5902623, member: 6676731"] [b]Golem SMASH! (April recap)[/b] In the morning, you met back at HQ. Your boss, Assistant Chief Inspector Delft, was stamping around furiously, poking things with his cane, and spitting. “He’s gone!” he snarled. “You doctor friend – we had him in protective custody overnight. This morning, the cell was empty! Lady Saxby is incensed! Did you lot have anything to do with this?” No one said anything, but he read enough in your sidelong glances at each other. He pounds the floor with his cane. “Don’t lie to me, goddamit! I can’t cover you politically if I don’t know what you’re doing! I understand you sometimes need to protect witnesses, but there are CHANNELS to go through! At the very least, I need to be aware of your plans.” More silence. “Fine. At least those Crisillyiri are still in their cell.. Mail call for you all this morning.” He pointed his cane disgustedly in the direction of the mailboxes. In each, you found a fine envelope waiting. Each was addressed in fancy script with your name, and each had an arcane lock on it so it could only be opened by you personally. “I’ll leave you to look at those. Don’t forget the skyseer’s rally at noon today.” Delft stumped off. Inside each envelope was a fine, cream-colored parchment, with a letter written in a clear, looping hand, inviting you to breakfast or lunch at a coffee shop in Stray River, at the corner of Yearling St. and Healer’s St. They are signed, Signore Morgan Cippiano. He said he will await your convenience any time in the next three days, and that he wished to discuss the legal case against his family members and that he may be able to help you in your investigation. As you were reading, there came a polite, but heavy, knock on the door. Pieter was surprised to see his father Stanislav there. “Pieter, I wanted to tell you. I got an early start this morning and was helping to set up for Skyseer Nevard’s rally at Dawn Square. There’s a lot of excitement about what he’s going to tell us. I know you hold to a different faith now, but remember he’s important to the rest of us. Anyway, there’s something very odd in the air over there. I can feel it. The very air itself smells like .. burnt engine grease.” Groans and muttered curses escaped your lips. You promised to look into it right away. You stocked up on provisions while Pieter cast the Detect Planar Energy ritual. You headed for Bosum Strand. Sam noticed slicks of witchoil in the area, while Pieter’s ritual led the party straight to a nondescript munitions warehouse. You snuck around back and slipped in through a rear door. Inside were eight lab techs, cleaning up from a recent procedure. With them was a motionless metal golem. They were distracted and didn’t notice you come in.. not until Sam knocked on the gate of the fence surrounding them and introduced himself, and inquired what manner of thing they might be doing. (Slate had quietly moved into position on an overhead catwalk.) “naughty word! It’s that RHC squad that Creed said killed him! Kari, help me burn the notes. The rest of you, out of here!” Team Six sprang into action. Ash moved like a blur, knocking out half of the lab techs before they could do anything. Ben tried to leap up on the desk to prevent the notes’ destruction, but the 3-foot obstacle proved too high for his stubby little legs. Slate dropped a few of the techs from his lofty perch. One of the techs called out for the golem to defend them as he stepped into the portal circle. The golem’s runes turned red as it started to move, and briefly flashed brighter as the tech disappeared from view. The remaining tech drew a flask of alchemist’s fire out of his coat pocket and threw it on the desk. Notes burst into flame. The golem turned towards Pieter, and barreled through the fence to get at him, knocking Sam out of the way. A brief fight ensued. The golem’s bleak aura didn’t come into play much – Slate was the one who bloodied it, and he was safely up on a catwalk, away from the rest of the Team. The team had thoughtfully stocked up on Resistance Potions (necrotic) as well. The golem never got a chance to clamber around after you knocked off it’s armor – good use of focus fire brought it down the rest of the way in less than one round. Once revived (and before fading from the plane entirely), the technicians claimed to be working on a Risuri military project under the supervision of Mayor MacBannin. You saved documents from the fire, some apparently written in MacBannin’s own hand, that described the use of witchoil to animate dead jaguars – and how to control them. They also mentioned something about a ‘reservoir’ at the manor. The technicians said that the jaguars they had just finished creating would last no more than a few hours. Forewarned with this information, most of the team headed off to Dawn Square while Ash headed back to HQ to pick up some gold thread. You chatted up Thames Grimsley, who was trying to organize a march on the Governor’s Mansion after the rally; also a police sergeant who promised some head-cracking should such an event occur. Sam and Pieter tried to calm the troubled waters without much effect. Using the Messenger Wind orb, you also sent a message to Gale asking for her assistance. The orb sped off toward the Cloudwood .. you could only hope it would reach her in time. Looking around the square, you found an old fountain near the stage with a rusted band of iron running around its edge. Upon Ash’s return, you looped the fountain with gold thread. Near the appointed noon hour, people started drifting from the taverns & drink vendors towards the stage. A couple of wagons were pushed into place near the stage by some robed figures wearing druidic masks. Their hands and features were completely obscured by the robes & masks. Suspicious, Sam approached them and hailed them, but they said nothing in reply. In fact, they withdrew into their wagons. Sam followed one in – and saw half of a rusted iron ring on the floor. A commotion outside heralded Nevard’s arrival to the Square. At this, the figures rose, and Sam spied a skeletal hand in one sleeve. “Right! You are under arrest for not being alive!” he exclaimed. The skeletons charged out of the wagons, spilling over Sam at the entrance of one, and Pieter at the other. They revealed that the iron ring halves were hinged – and each folded out to a complete ring. They snapped them open and set them on the ground. Immediately, a pair of flayed jaguars appeared. From up on stage, Slate noticed that the gold thread around the fountain shimmered, as if it had just blocked a teleport. Grimsley and his men moved to protect Nevard, who doggedly pressed on towards the stage. Pieter was mauled by one of the jaguars, but Ash was a flurry, kicking & punching out skeletons left and right. She was able to get to one of the rings and snap it closed, leaving only one active portal. One more jaguar came through while Ben attempted to save Pieter from being completely torn to pieces. Sam shouted at the team to go for the chest plates. Sam and Ben each managed to rip a plate off, allowing Slate to pick off the jaguars from his perch. The team was just facing the final jaguar, when it started spinning and rising through the air – and then flew through the air before being dumped unceremoniously into Parity Lake. Gale gave a wave from the top of the fountain, and then flew off. Nevard gave his speech (see wiki). Grimsley decided to organize his dockers, rather than in a protest at the Governor’s Mansion, instead to help their neighbors move away from Cauldron Hill. You headed to Mayor MacBannin’s manor, with the thought of sneaking in to gather more evidence. However, the amount of actvity around the manor, and the number of guards milling about made you reconsider. You headed back to HQ instead. You decided to have a chat with Signore Cippiano before doing anything about MacBannin. In the morning, you headed to the indicated coffee shop. Cippiano greeted you all effusively, particularly Pieter, to whom he reffered as ‘Father’ and kissed his ring. [As a reminder, you now have Prestige 2 with the Family.] You and he agreed that you would release Deorn in exchange for his help in catching the two dragonborn who attempted to burn down Heward’s factory. He would set up a sting and ask them to burn down the House Elf’s magic shop, where you would be lying in wait. Ash was very much in favor. He also suggested that you talk to Security Chief LeBrix back at the Danoran Consulate about the dragonborn. After parting on good terms with Signore Cippiano, the team headed to the Consulate, where Chief LeBrix was just headed out for lunch. Over lunch, LeBrix told you of how he had found out from Cippiano that the dragonborn brothers had been hired to kill him, but the hit was canceled after his investigation into the witchoil and industrial smuggling operation was called off. He provided Slate with two Vendetta Bullets – one marked ‘Eberardo’ and one ‘Valando’. He said he would be in the team’s debt if the brothers could be ‘taken care of’. --- Notes: * These combats ended up being really easy, but that was due to good prep work by the players (using the ritual, good stealth rolls on entry to the warehouse; finding the fountain and surrounding it with gold thread; asking Gale for help). One of my players noted that he really appreciated that their prior actions had so much impact on the combats themselves. * My players are REALLY paranoid about the government. They don't want to go to Delft with anything. :D They're not real sure yet how they're going to tackle MacBannin. * The Warehouse & Dawn Square encounters were really cool, and even though it ended up being a walkover, it kinda felt like an end-boss fight. One of my players even thought the adventure was over after it. :p * Schedule conflicts are preventing a session this month.. next one not until June 16th. :( [/QUOTE]
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