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Noodle's campaign [SPOILERS]
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<blockquote data-quote="Noodle" data-source="post: 5958922" data-attributes="member: 6676731"><p><strong>June recap: WHAT are those THINGS?!</strong></p><p></p><p>On the 70th of Summer, Ash & Slate are invited guests at a state dinner for the Beran Ambassador, a goliath named Vimak Skywatcher. He normally is in Slate close to King Aodhan but is making a tour of the country. Most Flint government officials are in attendance with their families, as well as many of the nobles from North Shore. </p><p></p><p> Most of the conversation is inane talk about Risuri-Beran relations, differences in weather, architecture, culture, etc. During the discussion of cultural differences, someone mentions Rock Rackus – a docker who’s become very popular of late.</p><p>The Beran Ambassador loudly stated that Rackus “is <em>una cucaracha</em>. If these stories about his solid gold, diamond-encrusted gun – which fires solid gold bullets – are true, it’s incredible! Every time he fires it, he throws away enough money to feed a family for a month. Who but an unrepentant jackass would own such a thing? He should be <strong>killed</strong>! If not for his grave insults to all that is good and just, then for his <strong>terrible</strong> music!” Silence dropped over the room, punctuated only by polite coughs as the looks on the Risuri faces range from embarrassed to surprised to horrified. Not being at the head table, Slate & Ash didn’t have any way to try to help the Ambassador remove his foot from his mouth, but you recognized his statement as typical Berian black humor. Conversations resumed shortly thereafter at a much more subdued level.</p><p></p><p>Summer has come to a close with RHC Team Six still in Lady Saxby’s doghouse. She has to make sure that SHE can take credit for everything good the RHC does in Flint – and y’all have made the papers on your own one too many times. Asst. Inspector Delft is going to bat for you, though, and hopefully you’ll be back in her good graces before long. In the meantime, Saxby has assigned Team Seven (Carlao, Serena, Kaea, Dima, Josiah, and Gaethan) to continuing the investigation into what MacBannin was doing. They do so in a quiet, methodical manner, trying to avoid sticking their necks out.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>The first day of Autumn is also the first day of the Kaybeau Arms & Technology Exposition. You were assigned to watch the expo for any signs of ill-doing of national import (smuggling, espionage, that sort of thing). The fair runs from 7 AM – 2 PM every day, at which point – this being the start of the rainy season in Flint – there’s almost always a summer thunderstorm that comes in off the sea.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>First thing in the morning, you met with Sgt. Sara Lockhart of Central District PD. She explained that the police would be on the lookout for any petty crimes – y’all just have to worry about the big stuff. She also said that she didn’t expect too much petty stuff the first day .. the expo has a tiered price structure. The first day, it costs 3 GP to get in, which keeps attendance to mostly the wealthy and upper middle-class. The rest of the first week, it costs 3 SP, and the rest of the month, only 3 CP.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>You spend the morning browsing the various tents & pavilions, seeing such wonders and oddities as:</p><p> </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">a badger gun made by the gnomes Fildi & Dilfi</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">a 7-shooter (all at once) gun made by the goliath Nock</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">an indoor steamboat in the Chamber of Industry pavilion</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the first portable toilets, presented by Dr. Louis J. Necessary</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the ‘daferotype’ portraits of tiefling Charles Da Fer</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">all the different sorts of ammunition Slate could want at the tent of dwarf Alphonse Irongut (Al’s Ammo)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the Liontamer Mechanical Orchestra</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the magical lighting of tiefling Luc de Besson.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the steam elevators of Harry Webster, to be used in the Apex tower under construction</li> </ul><p>Ash managed to sneak in to the Pemberton Industries tent, which was roped off and guarded, but only found various industrial fat-cats and government officials enjoying a luncheon while discussing ways to enrich themselves on the backs of the poor. While distasteful, that’s entirely legal.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>Ben went to the stage area to chat with Rock Rackus, who was headlining the entertainment at the festival. His road crew was setting up for his afternoon show. They didn’t get much farther than pleasantries when screams rang out from the area of the shooting range. Only Ben and Slate (who was purchasing ammo from Al) were onhand immediately; the rest of the team ran fast and joined the fray a few rounds in.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>A large tentacled mouth and three odd flying things that looked like huge dragonflies with an elephant’s trunk ending in a beak had appeared out of nowhere. The mouth grabbed a bystander, who happened to be Al’s son, and energy visibly flowed from the unfortunate dwarf to the creature. The flying things converged on a man holding a golden staff on the shooting range and dropped him immediately.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>Rock drew his diamond-encrusted handgun, while another nearby dwarf drew a sniper rifle and headed for the stage. Slate headed for the stage as well, while Ben charged at the mouth. Ben was grabbed by the mouth and had his thoughts drained, contracting Distant Madness. However, he was able to teleport out of the mouth’s grasp. This seemed to confuse and enrage the monster and set up a wash-rinse-repeat cycle that lasted the rest of the combat.</p><p> In the meanwhile, the mouth had also grabbed a young man. Rock was firing at the beast, and while his first shot was true, the second was errant and hit the man instead, killing him.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>Finally, Pieter, Sam, and Ash arrived on the scene. In the confusion, the party had initially divided their attacks, but Sam soon led everyone in focus fire. Ash was the first to bring down one of the flying things. Pieter went and healed the man with the golden staff, who got up and shot a magic missle at another of the flying things. As soon as it hit, yet another beast appeared, and the flying things once again converged on the man and knocked him out. Pieter took a while longer to help him this time, and only stabilized him rather than healing him.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>The battle was evenly matched for a while, as the monsters were mostly insubstantial, making it difficult to land a solid blow. Eventually, the police, led by Sgt. Lockhart, joined in as well and turned the tide.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>In the aftermath, Rock Rackus was arrested for manslaughter based on the eyewitness account of the dwarf sniper Kvarti Gorbatiy. The well-heeled crowd (and a distraught Alphonse) were calling for him to be strung up then and there. RHC officers came and collected everything vaguely odd or magical in the area, which caused quite a bit of grumbling from the exhibitors. You talked with Simon Langfield – the man with the staff – after he recovered. He was confused as to where the monsters had come from, and why his staff was now gold. It had been wooden when he bought it, he claimed. Indeed, over the next several minutes, the staff returned to a wooden appearance. Ben recognized certain markings on the staff as being associated with the Ancients, or Pre-Kelland People. Ash took hold of the staff and communed with it for a minute, trying to tease out its secrets. She received a vision of a large golden plate, marked with the constellation of Alesia the Wayfarer (associated with Apet) and showing a group of orcs, minotaurs and goblins in battle.</p><p> </p><p></p><p>Langfield revealed that he’d acquired the staff from a mysterious dark-haired woman in an alley behind a nearby furniture store. He told you how he set up the meeting through the jewelry table at the Trinket Stand tent.</p><p></p><p>Pieter, after cleansing Ben of his Madness, decided to take the staff to Pardwright University to ask about it. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sam returned to RHC HQ to pick up a Potion of Mimicry – he didn’t want anyone to recognize him at the Trinket Stand when he sets up the appointment to meet this mysterious woman. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Ash, Ben, and Slate stay on their post at the Expo and continue to circulate – though a lot of the excitement has gone out of the crowd.</p><p></p><p>----</p><p></p><p>There have been a few further developments over email since this session happened..</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pieter is getting into an argument with Dr. Weber over who gets the staff, the museum or the RHC Evidence Closet. That's going to last until about 2 microseconds after Lady Saxby hears about it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ben was approached by an agent of Morgan Cippiano. When Ben met Cippiano, the Family man mentioned the large shipment of fey pepper coming in, and promised him a month's supply if he can keep the Customs agents off of it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sam went back to HQ to pick up the potion. Delft let him know that the Lord Viscount was in town and that Lady Saxby wanted the team in her office at 4 PM. Back at the Expo, his getting into and out of disguise involved a couple of trips to the 'porta-Lou'.. err, Necessary.</li> </ul><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p></p><p>Comments on the encounter: </p><p></p><p>Dang! That looked to be a tough one for the PCs. I wussed out and didn't bring the full might of the maw to bear on poor Ben. He had the Inconstant Stance ability that let him continually teleport out of the worm maw's grab, but he was still getting hammered by the grab all the time. Other than the first time, I didn't use the Drain Thoughts power. The rest of the team was consumed with the Flying Things. It didn't help that the one turn the entire encounter that Simon was conscious, he fired off a magic missile.. and rolled a 1 on his d6, summoning another Flying Thing! Finally on about round 8 or 9, I had the police show up and start unloading into the things. That added damage quickly turned the tide.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Noodle, post: 5958922, member: 6676731"] [b]June recap: WHAT are those THINGS?![/b] On the 70th of Summer, Ash & Slate are invited guests at a state dinner for the Beran Ambassador, a goliath named Vimak Skywatcher. He normally is in Slate close to King Aodhan but is making a tour of the country. Most Flint government officials are in attendance with their families, as well as many of the nobles from North Shore. Most of the conversation is inane talk about Risuri-Beran relations, differences in weather, architecture, culture, etc. During the discussion of cultural differences, someone mentions Rock Rackus – a docker who’s become very popular of late. The Beran Ambassador loudly stated that Rackus “is [I]una cucaracha[/I]. If these stories about his solid gold, diamond-encrusted gun – which fires solid gold bullets – are true, it’s incredible! Every time he fires it, he throws away enough money to feed a family for a month. Who but an unrepentant jackass would own such a thing? He should be [B]killed[/B]! If not for his grave insults to all that is good and just, then for his [B]terrible[/B] music!” Silence dropped over the room, punctuated only by polite coughs as the looks on the Risuri faces range from embarrassed to surprised to horrified. Not being at the head table, Slate & Ash didn’t have any way to try to help the Ambassador remove his foot from his mouth, but you recognized his statement as typical Berian black humor. Conversations resumed shortly thereafter at a much more subdued level. Summer has come to a close with RHC Team Six still in Lady Saxby’s doghouse. She has to make sure that SHE can take credit for everything good the RHC does in Flint – and y’all have made the papers on your own one too many times. Asst. Inspector Delft is going to bat for you, though, and hopefully you’ll be back in her good graces before long. In the meantime, Saxby has assigned Team Seven (Carlao, Serena, Kaea, Dima, Josiah, and Gaethan) to continuing the investigation into what MacBannin was doing. They do so in a quiet, methodical manner, trying to avoid sticking their necks out. The first day of Autumn is also the first day of the Kaybeau Arms & Technology Exposition. You were assigned to watch the expo for any signs of ill-doing of national import (smuggling, espionage, that sort of thing). The fair runs from 7 AM – 2 PM every day, at which point – this being the start of the rainy season in Flint – there’s almost always a summer thunderstorm that comes in off the sea. First thing in the morning, you met with Sgt. Sara Lockhart of Central District PD. She explained that the police would be on the lookout for any petty crimes – y’all just have to worry about the big stuff. She also said that she didn’t expect too much petty stuff the first day .. the expo has a tiered price structure. The first day, it costs 3 GP to get in, which keeps attendance to mostly the wealthy and upper middle-class. The rest of the first week, it costs 3 SP, and the rest of the month, only 3 CP. You spend the morning browsing the various tents & pavilions, seeing such wonders and oddities as: [LIST] [*]a badger gun made by the gnomes Fildi & Dilfi [*]a 7-shooter (all at once) gun made by the goliath Nock [*]an indoor steamboat in the Chamber of Industry pavilion [*]the first portable toilets, presented by Dr. Louis J. Necessary [*]the ‘daferotype’ portraits of tiefling Charles Da Fer [*]all the different sorts of ammunition Slate could want at the tent of dwarf Alphonse Irongut (Al’s Ammo) [*]the Liontamer Mechanical Orchestra [*]the magical lighting of tiefling Luc de Besson. [*]the steam elevators of Harry Webster, to be used in the Apex tower under construction [/LIST] Ash managed to sneak in to the Pemberton Industries tent, which was roped off and guarded, but only found various industrial fat-cats and government officials enjoying a luncheon while discussing ways to enrich themselves on the backs of the poor. While distasteful, that’s entirely legal. Ben went to the stage area to chat with Rock Rackus, who was headlining the entertainment at the festival. His road crew was setting up for his afternoon show. They didn’t get much farther than pleasantries when screams rang out from the area of the shooting range. Only Ben and Slate (who was purchasing ammo from Al) were onhand immediately; the rest of the team ran fast and joined the fray a few rounds in. A large tentacled mouth and three odd flying things that looked like huge dragonflies with an elephant’s trunk ending in a beak had appeared out of nowhere. The mouth grabbed a bystander, who happened to be Al’s son, and energy visibly flowed from the unfortunate dwarf to the creature. The flying things converged on a man holding a golden staff on the shooting range and dropped him immediately. Rock drew his diamond-encrusted handgun, while another nearby dwarf drew a sniper rifle and headed for the stage. Slate headed for the stage as well, while Ben charged at the mouth. Ben was grabbed by the mouth and had his thoughts drained, contracting Distant Madness. However, he was able to teleport out of the mouth’s grasp. This seemed to confuse and enrage the monster and set up a wash-rinse-repeat cycle that lasted the rest of the combat. In the meanwhile, the mouth had also grabbed a young man. Rock was firing at the beast, and while his first shot was true, the second was errant and hit the man instead, killing him. Finally, Pieter, Sam, and Ash arrived on the scene. In the confusion, the party had initially divided their attacks, but Sam soon led everyone in focus fire. Ash was the first to bring down one of the flying things. Pieter went and healed the man with the golden staff, who got up and shot a magic missle at another of the flying things. As soon as it hit, yet another beast appeared, and the flying things once again converged on the man and knocked him out. Pieter took a while longer to help him this time, and only stabilized him rather than healing him. The battle was evenly matched for a while, as the monsters were mostly insubstantial, making it difficult to land a solid blow. Eventually, the police, led by Sgt. Lockhart, joined in as well and turned the tide. In the aftermath, Rock Rackus was arrested for manslaughter based on the eyewitness account of the dwarf sniper Kvarti Gorbatiy. The well-heeled crowd (and a distraught Alphonse) were calling for him to be strung up then and there. RHC officers came and collected everything vaguely odd or magical in the area, which caused quite a bit of grumbling from the exhibitors. You talked with Simon Langfield – the man with the staff – after he recovered. He was confused as to where the monsters had come from, and why his staff was now gold. It had been wooden when he bought it, he claimed. Indeed, over the next several minutes, the staff returned to a wooden appearance. Ben recognized certain markings on the staff as being associated with the Ancients, or Pre-Kelland People. Ash took hold of the staff and communed with it for a minute, trying to tease out its secrets. She received a vision of a large golden plate, marked with the constellation of Alesia the Wayfarer (associated with Apet) and showing a group of orcs, minotaurs and goblins in battle. Langfield revealed that he’d acquired the staff from a mysterious dark-haired woman in an alley behind a nearby furniture store. He told you how he set up the meeting through the jewelry table at the Trinket Stand tent. Pieter, after cleansing Ben of his Madness, decided to take the staff to Pardwright University to ask about it. Sam returned to RHC HQ to pick up a Potion of Mimicry – he didn’t want anyone to recognize him at the Trinket Stand when he sets up the appointment to meet this mysterious woman. Ash, Ben, and Slate stay on their post at the Expo and continue to circulate – though a lot of the excitement has gone out of the crowd. ---- There have been a few further developments over email since this session happened.. [LIST] [*]Pieter is getting into an argument with Dr. Weber over who gets the staff, the museum or the RHC Evidence Closet. That's going to last until about 2 microseconds after Lady Saxby hears about it. [*]Ben was approached by an agent of Morgan Cippiano. When Ben met Cippiano, the Family man mentioned the large shipment of fey pepper coming in, and promised him a month's supply if he can keep the Customs agents off of it. [*]Sam went back to HQ to pick up the potion. Delft let him know that the Lord Viscount was in town and that Lady Saxby wanted the team in her office at 4 PM. Back at the Expo, his getting into and out of disguise involved a couple of trips to the 'porta-Lou'.. err, Necessary. [/LIST] --- Comments on the encounter: Dang! That looked to be a tough one for the PCs. I wussed out and didn't bring the full might of the maw to bear on poor Ben. He had the Inconstant Stance ability that let him continually teleport out of the worm maw's grab, but he was still getting hammered by the grab all the time. Other than the first time, I didn't use the Drain Thoughts power. The rest of the team was consumed with the Flying Things. It didn't help that the one turn the entire encounter that Simon was conscious, he fired off a magic missile.. and rolled a 1 on his d6, summoning another Flying Thing! Finally on about round 8 or 9, I had the police show up and start unloading into the things. That added damage quickly turned the tide. [/QUOTE]
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