Redbadge's Campaign (there will be spoilers)

[Isklexi]

Infiltration of Cauldron Hill

The party headed towards the mountain. They soon found an entrance to the facility thanks to the gas lamps illuminating the inky darkness of the Bleak Gate. They scouted around the base of the mountain skirting the light from the gas lamps to avoid the Ob patrols. They found three large doors in total with no obvious method of opening them from the outside.

The group elected not to wait for one of the patrols to open a door. They instead had Irony perform the “Knock” ritual to unseal the door and then had Doran, Asrabey, Kirk, and Rai push the door open before the guards inside could relock the gate. The constables barreled into the gatehouse. Two Ob guards and two small but vicious shadow creatures called Darklings manned the gate. The party moved to attack before the guards could sound an alarm.

Asrabey rushed in and lashed out at all four guards, causing the Darklings to vanish in a whirl of shadows. Bellicose fired a hail of bullets into the area, attempting to flush out the invisible fiends. One of the Darklings appeared next to Bellicose and attempted to slash him with rusty knives. The other Darkling reappeared in a mine cart at the back of the room and began fleeing down a long tunnel. Doran sprinted past the melee and jumped into the moving mine car, battling the Darkling for control of the cart. The other constables quickly dispatched one Darkling and one of the guards. The remaining guard attempted to flee in the second mine cart, but Rai used the Icon of Urim to raise an earthen barricade in front of the cart, causing it to derail and crash.

The constables closed and sealed the doors after successfully eliminating the gate guards without an alarm reaching the facility proper. The party opted to walk down the tunnel rather than use the carts since they wouldn’t accommodate everyone. After walking a half a mile into the mountain’s interior, the constables reached another large metal door. The constables opened this door the same as the first one. This time the door opened to reveal a wide, empty hallway with one more large set of metal doors at the end.

Expecting a trap, Kirk and Maddox carefully examined the hallway from a distance before entering. They noticed a line of small circular grates on the ceiling along with two small glass lenses on either side of the hall. Most importantly, Maddox spotted tiny seams on either side of the doorway, marking hidden doors. The constables proceeded into the hallway cautiously to examine the doors. As soon as Maddox began to probe one of the secret doors, the main vault door they came in slammed shut and locked into place, trapping Irony, Bellicose, and Grappa outside. Oil began to spray out of the small round grates on the ceiling coating the hallway. The trap was sprung!

Kirk quickly pried open one of the secret doors and barged into the chamber beyond. Three guards in the room began franticly firing their pistols as the constables rushed into the side room. Rai was able to decipher the controls within the room and shut off the oil spray while the others subdued the guards. The constables then pried open the other secret door and rushed the guards within. With the danger past, they re-opened the door to let the others in.

GM: The players thought the glass lenses were some kind of laser tripwire. They were a little disappointed to learn they were just fancy periscopes.

The constables had managed to infiltrate the facility without setting off a general alarm. Grappa informed them that they had arrived at the lower facility barracks where the normal guards and engineers lived and worked. The party crept along the southern hallway trying to avoid drawing the attention of the many people in the adjoining rooms. Kirk and Maddox had to ambush a guard that was walking down the hall. They were able to take him out right as he rounded the corner. Doran carried the body back to the entrance checkpoint to hide it. The party quickly reached a large riveted grate. Grappa informed them that these grates led to service tunnels, and he was unsure where all the tunnels lead.

The constables decided to make use of the service tunnels rather than the normal hallways. While carefully (and quietly) prying the grate off the wall, another guard rounded the far corner. Kirk had to dash down the hallway and incapacitated the guard before he alerted the entire barracks. The group then entered the pipe-lined service tunnel, closing the grate behind them with sovereign glue. The constables had managed to pass through the lower facility with little resistance.

GM: Kirk’s player managed to win initiative against the guard, and he crushed the poor guy in one hit using several encounter powers. He even rolled a 19 on the stealth check to clobber the guard without alerting people in the nearby rooms.

The constables emerged from the service tunnel in a wide warehouse area. Grappa revealed that this chamber had housed raw materials for the project that have since been used. He also told them that the large elevator at the end of the hall was used to bring in raw materials from some point outside (he didn’t know where the elevator led to). The party began prying off a new service tunnel grate when Rai noticed something amiss. The grate was warded with an Alarm spell. The party had been so focused on stealth in the lower level that they neglected to have one of the group’s casters check the grate for magical traps. The constables decided to abandon the service tunnels and take the main entrance into the upper facility instead.

The doors leading into the passage into the upper facility were invitingly open. The constables immediately suspected another trap, but they saw no way to gain entry to the upper facility unnoticed. As expected, the doors slammed shut behind them as soon as they had all entered the large hallway. The voice of Leone Quital addressed them. The Steelshaper demanded they put down their weapons or face destruction. The constables weren’t about to trust Quital after their last encounter with him in the Nettles, and they opted to keep hold of their weapons.

The doors at the end of the hallway opened to reveal a towering golem flanked by two smaller golems. The Steelshaper intends to crush the constables with these prototype constructs. The party will have to fight their way past these machines if they hope to penetrate the upper level of the Bleak Gate facility and reveal the Obscurati’s plot.

 

[Isklexi]

Golem Fracas

GM: We had a two-week hiatus while folks went on vacation. However, we did finish the Cauldron Hill boss fights before that, and I kind of procrastinated on updating this thread the whole time. Mea Culpa. Here is how things went down.

The constables leapt into action against the three golems. The largest golem quickly sent opponents hurtling across the battlefield with mighty swings of its fists while striking up a conversation with the other golems. The unusual erudition of the golems didn’t give the constables pause though.

The fight was short and brutal, taking only a little over 10 seconds. The constables took some heavy hits from the golems’ magical defense systems as they were dismantled. Leone was apoplectic at the golems’ failure and sealed the final blast door against the constables. Grappa was quite distraught as well. The battle was over so quickly he hadn’t had enough time to use his talking device to explain the golems were his “children”. Irony promised him they would be brought back to the RHC and repaired once the trouble in the Bleak Gate was resolved.

The constables had to take a few minutes to patch their wounds and attempt to tamper with the blast door. The constables hadn’t made much headway on the door before a strange voice emanated from the walls of the chamber. The erratic voice rambled on about how the constables needed to distract Leone, so he could escape. Grappa claimed the voice belonged to the “Gearbuilder” but couldn’t elaborate. After a moment of semi-coherent conversation, the voice commanded the blast door to open, and it did.

The party rushed through the door to a shocking sight. A colossal golem surrounded by scaffolding and cranes. A construction bridge in front of the golem’s chest was lined with Obscurati agents with rifles all trained at the constables. Leone stood on the colossus’ shoulder and angrily shouted, “Kill them!”

GM: The party had made it through the lower facility without burning any resources thanks to their fairly stealthy approach, so they were able to unload some massive burst against the three golems. The golems’ reflective defense ability caused some heavy damage to the group though. The fight only took 2 rounds but definitely required a short rest afterwards to heal back up. Poor Grappa didn’t have time to say anything before his sons were hammered into scrap.

 

[Isklexi]

Borne to be Wild

The constables had to scramble for a way onto the upper catwalk while the Ob forces rained bullets down onto the factory floor. Bellicose and Maddox returned fire with a barrage of grenades. Asrabey left the constables behind and sprinted up the eastern wall using his Slippers of Spider Climbing to accost the guards on the eastern elevator. The other constables moved for the western elevator, trying to find a way onto the upper catwalk. Leone used his mastery of metal to sweep the colossus’ arm across the factory floor, barreling down many of the constables. The party would need to reverse the Ob’s superior tactical positioning if they hoped to turn this fight around. In the chaos, Grappa sprinted across the factory floor and began climbing up a construction crane.

Doran scaled the western wall and leapt onto the western elevator in a dramatic acrobatic stunt. He activated the elevator and fought desperately to defend the controls while the rest of the party struggled to stay alive on the floor below. Asrabey continued to battle the guards on the eastern elevator while Maddox and Bellicose continued to rain grenades on the catwalk. Irony had to scramble to keep everyone upright while grappa continued his ascent up the crane.

As the elevator neared the factory floor, Grappa leapt from the crane onto the colossus’ face. Leone realized that the bronze servant construct was Grappa and jumped onto him. As Leone began ripping Grappa’s metal body apart, the colossus roared to life. Surging forward, the enormous golem collided with the catwalk, sending Leone, Grappa, and several Ob guards screaming into the darkness below. With the battle now completely out of control, Asrabey withdrew from the battle into the side chambers to rescue his missing wife.

The constables piled onto the western elevator and began their ascent to reach the Ob forces on the catwalk above. Unfortunately, the colossus began hammering its way through the cave’s ceiling! With only moments before an imminent avalanche, Maddox created a root gate portal from the elevator back to the factory floor where the party could shelter in the utility access niche in the wall.

Once the colossus had escaped, the constables ran back through Maddox’s gate back onto the elevator as it neared the catwalk. However, Lorcan Kell and his enforcers emerged from the bridge control room where they had sheltered the rock fall and attacked from above. Irony called upon her fey heritage to teleport into the midst of the last of the Ob forces and called on the aid of Xambria’s spirit to send out a wave of ghostly force. Several of the remaining Ob guards and Lorcan Kell himself were all sent flying off the catwalk into the chasm below.

With their leadership all dead, the last few Ob guards surrendered. Asrabey reappeared with his wife Kasvarina, gave the constables a brief nod of thanks, and used a magical fey talisman to vanish into the Dreaming. The constables were then hailed from above. Captain Dale belatedly greeted the constables and asked if they had any bloody idea what was going on. The captain’s soldiers lowered roped down into the hole to let the party climb out and sent guards down to apprehend the Ob forces.

The colossus had begun a slow descent down the side of Cauldron Hill towards the city below. Dale warned the constables that some of his men had fired on the golem, and it hadn’t even noticed. If they were going to stop the golem from wreaking havoc in Flint, they would need to come up with something unconventional, and they would need to come up with it fast.

GM: The final fight in the Ob facility was a bit drawn out. I had intentionally made the terrain in the fight one of the major obstacles. The PCs had to find a way to reach their foes before they could adequately engage them. I wanted to give the players a sense that the true Ob agents weren’t stupid and would take every tactical advantage they could in a fight no matter how unfair. Irony’s use of Xambria’s attack power came out of left field and effectively killed Kell in one hit. Kell rolled a 3 on the saving throw to avoid being thrown from the catwalk. There but for the grace of the dice go all boss monsters I suppose. It certainly gave Irony’s player a chance to shine in offensive combat. As the party healer, she usually doesn’t get to take down a big target.

 

[Isklexi]

All Hands on Deck

GM: I fell behind on this thread again while working on college projects. I’ll work on getting it up to date.

The constables decided to split up. Kirk and Maddox headed for Hotel Aurum to contact the king while the rest of the party chased after the golem. Doran climbed up the golem’s leg searching for any possible weaknesses in the machine. Irony and the rest helped evacuate civilians in the golem’s path.

Kirk and Maddox learned that the king planned to lure the golem into the harbor and engage it with warships. While it’s distracted, King Aodhan planned to use a ritual to banish it to the Dreaming. Kirk had a plan he wanted to try first. He wanted Brakken to try and communicate with the golem telepathically. The other golems in the factory had been intelligent, and Kirk hoped this one could be reasoned with. The elderly diplomat wasn’t too keen on getting close to a 300-foot tall metal monster, but he eventually agreed to at least try.

Doran located several grooves and vents on the behemoth’s backside, but the searing heat inside the golem dissuaded him from investigating them further. He eventually climbed back down the colossus to rejoin the rest of the team when Kirk arrived with Brakken. Unfortunately, Brakken didn’t have any luck influencing the golem. Brakken informed the constables that the golem’s mind appeared to be partitioned by some magic that was suppressing most of its conscious mind. With most of its mind sealed away, Brakken couldn’t effectively communicate with it.

The constables signaled for the king’s men to begin luring the golem using fireworks while they headed to the royal docks. Brakken was more than happy to help calm and evacuate the crowds of panicked civilians as far from the golem as possible. On the way to the Coaltongue, Irony and Doran managed to recruit the aid of local dockers to help man the understaffed ships. They also accepted the aid of Captain Rosalyn Taylor of the Danoran navy.

The constables were forced to take command of the Coaltongue as its captain had suffered a heart attack when the golem had first arrived. The fleet moved to engage the colossus as the king began his ritual. The fleet deftly maneuvered around the colossus for several minutes before the constables realized the best course of action. The golem’s movement was severely hampered by the water it was wading through. They used the Coaltongues superior speed to outmaneuver the colossus while keeping out of its reach. They kept the golem’s attention with carefully aimed blasts from the Coaltongue’s Brand.

They were able to successfully banish the golem without losing any ships in their fleet. The fleet sailed back to the docks lined with cheering crowds. The king asked the constables for their opinion on what to do next. The king could declare war on Danor to help focus the kingdom’s efforts and secure their borders, but innocents like Captain Taylor and her crew would pay the price. On the other hand, maintaining the relative secrecy about the Obscurati would feed a climate of fear and uncertainty in the populace. The constables convinced the king to hold off on declaring war for now. The king then publicly knighted the constables and charged them with bringing to bear all of the RHC’s resources in hunting down this shadow organization.

GM: The players took advantage of the sizable speed gap between Borne and the Coaltongue. I ruled that they could attack with the Brand from long range in naval combat with a penalty. As one of my players pointed out, it is the most advanced shipboard weapon in the world. This allowed them to stay at long range the entire fight and focus purely on speed to outmaneuver Borne.

 

[Isklexi]

Revelations from the Mouth of a Madman

Months have passed since the golem Borne rampaged through Flint. A gaping tear in the veil between this world and the Bleak Gate yawns wide atop Cauldron Hill every night, and each night it spews forth a stream of ghoulish terrors. Captain Dale holds the line atop the hill with a regiment of soldiers. Before shadow beasts overran the Bleak Gate factory, the army had swept in to clear it. They had captured most of the Ob staff in the facility and recovered the three prototype golems. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate the remains of Grappa or Quital thanks to the cave in caused by Borne.

Also in the news, Hana “Gale” Soliogn was transported to Slate in the custody of Principle Minister Harkover Lee following her capture by the constables. The offices of the Flint Tribune were rebuilt thanks to a generous donation by Lord Caliphray vos Nachtvald, the alter ego of Calaphax. The party’s paranoia over what Cal could be planning only deepened when they learned he had also had a new orphanage and homeless shelters built.

GM: The players had gotten Lee to free Gale from Ekossigan’s influence, but I didn’t think it made sense for them to just let Gale go afterwards. She was technically a terrorist. I’m also enjoying their mounting paranoia over what Cal is planning.

It’s the first day of spring and Stover Delft has called the constables into his office. They their first meeting with Lauryn Cyneburg, the RHC’s Director of Infiltration. Lady Cyneburg seemed rather unimpressed with the constables’ record as she began preparations to teleport them all to Slate. Delft explained that a news article published that morning in the country of Ber had finally given them a major lead to investigate on the Ob. An eccentric inventor by the name of Tinker Oddcog had appeared in Ber. Oddcog had been the lead engineer that designed the giant colossus.

Once in Slate, the constables were taken to a meeting with Lord Nigel Price-Hill and Principle Minister Harkover Lee for debriefing. Oddcog had fled to Ber following the assault on the Bleak Gate factory. There the ruler of Ber, Bruse Shantus, had given him asylum. Oddcog has begun providing technological improvements to Ber’s military in exchange for protection. The constables need to get to Oddcog before the Ob can silence him. In the interest of avoiding starting a war, the constables will need to request an audience with Bruse Shantus to negotiate Oddcog’s fate.

To facilitate this plan, the constables are to make contact with Brakken when they arrive in Ber’s capitol, Seobriga. The constables would travel to Seobriga via teleportation. For logistical support, their ship was being refitted with an experimental teleportation circle and would follow them to Ber.

 

[Isklexi]

Cultural Tidbits

GM: The Panoply movement in Ber puts a lot of emphasis on cultural exchange. Given that theme, I decided to take the time to come up with a few things about the races of Ber for when/if my players asked about them. I based them off the rumors section at the start of the adventure. I tried to come up with social and cultural quirks that would lead to the general perceptions distilled in the (sometimes unflattering) rumors. I spent the most time developing backdrop for the Minotaur since the current Bruse is one as are the extra NPCs I added, so their culture is the one the PCs are most likely to be interested in. Here are the snapshots of Ber's culture that I came up with. Feel free to offer feedback.

[sblock=“Minotaurs are lazy, take credit for what others do, and have sex with anything.”]
The lazy comment stems from the general publics dim view of Bruse Shantus. Currently, many people believe he isn’t doing enough to further Ber’s revolution and squanders Vairday Bruse’s legacy. The sex comment was a more attention-grabbing stereotype that I could build a fictitious culture around an explanation.

Minotaur culture places heavy emphasis on family bloodlines. This stems from a breeding program established by the dragon tyrants of western Ber over two thousand years ago. Back then, the Minotaur of Ber were similar to the gnolls, seminomadic clans of raiders. A warlord named Asterius the Conqueror united the disparate clans forcibly. The dragon tyrants of the west at first considered him a threat, but they saw an opportunity when they realized that the more organized Minotaur pushed back the territories of neighboring dragon tyrants. The dragons decided to implement an enforced breeding program to improve the quality of their humanoid subjects. The breeding program produced a safe and effective oral contraceptive called Azadirachta. Azadirachta is mass produced in the Minotaur cities and universally used by all adults. The ubiquity of this contraceptive and tight control of breeding led to the social acceptance of promiscuity.

The breeding program was enforced for so long that it became part of their cultural landscape. The Minotaur shaman, called Bloodkeepers, venerate the primal spirits alongside ancestral family heroes and keep meticulous genealogical records. Political power in Minotaur society is closely tied with genealogy. The closer a family can trace its lineage back to Asterius, the more influence it wields. Minotaur have three large city-states with smaller satellite towns and farmlands around them. The three city-states are ruled by one of the three great houses that are direct descendants of Asterius. The three city-states and their respective ruling family are: Ursalina and the Ursalius family, Shantre and the Shantus family, Medirus and the Medine family.[/sblock]

[sblock=“Goliaths are all homosexuals, not to mention spies for Risur.”]
The spy for Risur thing is another rumor that can easily be attributed to a general misperception. The Goliaths live in the Anthras Mountains on the border. The clannish nature of Ber cultures lends itself to mild paranoia of outsiders. The homosexual comment is similar to the sex comment on the Minotaur. It made for an interesting mental exercise in what kind of culture would cause outsiders to get such an unusual impression.

The Goliath tribes don’t have gender specific roles. Instead individuals choose for themselves at the onset of adulthood whether to become a warrior in the tribe or take on a domestic role (shamanism, farming, etc.). Typical clothing is likewise dictated by a person’s role in the tribe rather than whether they are male or female. To further muddy outside perception, the Goliaths practice polygamy with each family consisting of several male and female partners.[/sblock]

[sblock=“Orcs are drunkards who sing badly and are always trying to be clever and failing.”]
The comment on cleverness feels like another throwaway rumor that doesn’t provide for an interesting hook to develop. The drunkard and singing parts struck me as more interesting to work with.

The Orcs have a strong tradition of brewing beers and meads. The musical traditions of the Orcs are atonal in nature and tend to clash with the sensibilities of people used to more classical compositions from Danor and Crisillyir. The combination of social drinking and raucous drinking songs are typically the most memorable moments for visitors to Orcish settlements.[/sblock]

[sblock=“Lizardfolk are thieves and all look alike”]
The look alike comment is easily explained by the overwhelming majority of humanoid races being mammalian in nature. It would be more difficult to read facial expressions and subtle structural differences on a reptilian face for most humanoids.

The thief comment harkens back to the days of the dragon tyrants where the Lizardfolk were encouraged by their draconic masters to raid merchants plying the rivers and roads of inland Ber to line their hoards. Following the fall of the dragon tyrants, the Lizardfolk fell back on banditry to support their tribes. Bruse’s revolution has put them in a position where they no longer need to do this, but old prejudices take a long time to fade (as do family traditions).[/sblock]

[sblock=“Goblins have disgusting food that makes anyone else vomit, and they are confused by any technology more advanced than ropes”]
The party has already met a Goblin archaeologist, so the confused by technology rumor rings a bit false. Instead, I focused on the food comment. In the adventure, the tribal Goblins show a propensity for working with insects. I linked the two together from there.

Traditional Goblin food is heavily centered on insects and fungi. This causes their diets to contain significant quantities of chitin and toxins produced by the insects and fungi. As a result, Goblin stomachs are quite robust in in their ability to handle otherwise indigestible substances. Other races that have the misfortune of partaking in a traditional Goblin gumbo typically end up with terrible indigestion as a result.[/sblock]

[sblock=“Gnolls are superstitious, uncivilized criminals who can never lead themselves, which is why they all miss their dragon tyrants”]
This one is mostly covered in the later parts of the adventure. In general, the gnolls resist the civilizing influence of Ber society, believing the dragon tyrants will reward them for their faithfulness when they return someday. This is an extension of the religious cult of personality the dragon tyrants of the south cultivated to get their slaves to worship them.[/sblock]

[sblock=Dragonborn]
The Dragonborn didn’t get a rumor entry at all. I think this was a bit of an oversight given that a Dragonborn holds one of the chief political positions in Ber. I made up a bit of narrative for them myself.

The Dragonborn of Ber suffered a great deal of discrimination following the fall of the dragon tyrants. Once the Dragons were extinct, many of the races of Ber transferred their built up frustrations onto the physically similar Dragonborn. While the Dragonborn received no special treatment from the dragon tyrants, they were often accused of benefiting unfairly from the Dragons’ wealth and favor. In the face of prejudice bordering on hostility, the Dragonborn were forced to flee their homes and adopt a semi-nomadic lifestyle to avoid most major settlements. This trend has begun to reverse in recent years with Vairday Bruse’s revolution emphasizing treating people based on their merits rather than prejudices. [/sblock]

 

[Isklexi]

Welcome to Seobriga

GM: Another big gap in my posts. It was finals week, but it’s over now. I’ll try to catch up on the posts I failed to make.

The constables arrived in Seobriga surrounded by a sea of protesters. Nearby protesters quickly took notice of the party’s sudden appearance and encouraged them to join the protests. Brakken was nowhere in sight, but they were soon hailed by an Orcish policeman named Rochero Abormuerto. The belligerent policeman demanded that the constables come with him. Between the crowd’s jeering and the party’s reluctance to go, Abormuerto quickly reached the end of his short temper. Fortunately, some familiar faces stepped in to clear up the misunderstanding. Asteron and Shakul, the Minotaurs the constables had met on the train, were at the protest too. Asteron assuaged Abormuerto by saying he would escort the constables to the courthouse after they had settled their business in the city.

There were some brief reintroductions thanks to revelations on both sides. Shakul is a military intelligence officer for Ber and had learned the constables’ real identities following the events of the previous adventure. On the constables’ part, Lauryn Cyneburg had informed the party that Asteron was actually one of Bruse Shantus’ nephews before they left Slate (in case they needed another contact in the court).

They told the Minotaurs that they were in Ber to speak to the Bruse about Tinker Oddcog. The constables explained to the pair that they were supposed to meet Brakken here, but he was nowhere in sight. Asteron went to see if he could locate Brakken in the city, and Shakul offered to guide the party to Brakken’s home. Shakul brought them to the upper class neighborhoods where Brakken has a modest home. Unfortunately, Brakken wasn’t home. At this point, Irony decided that the party should share what they know of the Obscurati with Shakul as a courtesy to an ally. Shakul interrupted her pointing out that they were being shadowed, and it would be safer to speak in the privacy of their home. He took them further into the wealthy neighborhoods to the Medine family manor in Seobriga. The constables shared what they knew of the conspiracy with Shakul over drinks. The conversation was just finishing when Asteron contacted Shakul using a sending stone. Asteron had found Brakken. He’d been arrested and was on trial for using magic to enslave others.

Shakul quickly brought the constables to the courthouse where the trial was to take place. The trial was being presided over by a senior member of the Executores dola Liberta, a Gnoll named Glaucia Evora. Brakken was accused of using magic to rob people of free will. His accusers were a pair of Orcs named Rulio and Foldero. The pair claimed they got into a bar fight that spilled into Brakken when he used magic to compel them to stop. The constables were called as character witnesses for Brakken. They pointed out that Brakken had only ever used his abilities to help people such as helping to end the civil war in Orithea or helping to evacuate large crowds of people in Flint during the recent golem attack. They also pointed out that Brakken was a fairly old man and not a skilled warrior; he had defended himself in the only way available to him. However, it wasn’t until the constables got the opportunity to question Rulio and Foldero that things became clear.

Kirk initially tried to cast doubt on the pair’s character by trying to paint them as drunkards or thugs, but it became quickly apparent that they were hiding something. Irony pushed past their evasiveness when she asked if they had known Brakken’s identity before they started their brawl. From there it was quickly revealed that the two Orcs had been paid to accost Brakken and get him arrested. Lady Evora was less than pleased. She rapped Brakken on the knuckles for breaking the letter of the law though not the spirit and beat the daylights out of Rulio and Foldero for attempting to subvert justice.

Unfortunately, the damage was already done. Brakken’s career as a diplomat was over. No one would sit at a negotiating table with a known telepath. Asteron and Shakul offered to take the constables to the summer court in Brakken’s place. Glaucia also said she would accompany them because she had business with the Bruse as well. Asteron offered to take Brakken home and Shakul would continue to guide the party around Seobriga until they were ready to leave. The constables decided to visit Melissa Amarie. After a bit of colorful language from Shakul, Asteron decided to escort the constables and let Shakul take Brakken home.

On the way to Melissa’s apartment, Asteron explained that she was currently working on a freelance piece on corruption and cronyism in the government. Shakul had apparently managed to “acquire” a copy of her unfinished manuscript. As one of the Bruse’s nephews, the article had made unfavorable comments about Asteron’s rise in military and political ranks. Shakul had subsequently had a less than civil discussion with Melissa about her article. Once they reached Melissa’s apartment building, Asteron told them he would wait for them at a nearby café rather than go in.

The landlord, an Orc named Ludoso Alleron, greeted the constables at the door. Ludoso showed the constables into the inner courtyard after handing them pamphlets on the Panoply’s philosophy. Melissa and the apartment’s other residents were debating whether or not to join the protests in the main square. Melissa quickly recognized the constables from her research on Oddcog. She wasn’t surprised the constables were asking after the Gnome because she had already received a visit about him from Lya Jierre. She answered the constables’ questions about Oddcog. He is an eccentric figure that is difficult to work with and always seems to carry a strange orb with him. She wasn’t able to determine the orb’s purpose in her research, but the Gnome seemed very attached to it. Melissa then asked if any of the constables would be interested in being a speaker at one of the Panoply rallies. The constables didn’t have long to think on the offer before the Ob struck!

The courtyard was plunged into darkness as unseen assailants leapt from the roof to assault the constables. The Ob assassins were lead by a brash and foul-mouthed acrobat who wielded dual immovable rods. The assassins quickly moved to separate the party in the darkness. The Ob forces kept the constables on the back foot until Maddox managed to find the edge of the darkness and spotted the mage maintaining the spell. Maddox made short work of the nethermancer, ending his darkness spell. With sight restored, the constables quickly turned the tables on the assassins. Unfortunately, their leader escaped using a contingency spell. The constables were finishing up the stragglers when Asteron broke down the front door. Asteron had come soon after hearing about a commotion from people passing by the café. When he found the door sealed with an immovable rod, he knew something was definitely amiss.

Melissa decided to follow the constables to the summer court after hearing of their destination. As a journalist, she could see a story in the making. Asteron had reservations about her joining their little convoy, but he didn’t press the matter. The party met back up with Glaucia and Shakul (who was not thrilled to see Melissa). Asteron arranged for everyone to have horses so that they could reach the court before nightfall, and they set off down Monument Road.

 

[RangerWickett]

It's great to hear about a group getting into adventure 6. Thanks for posting this!

 

[Isklexi]

Rexes in the Vineyard

While traveling along the road, the group made light conversation. Irony and Glaucia discussed the Executores and the Vekeshi as well as how Glaucia became an Executore. The gunsmiths in the group, Maddox, Bellicose, and Shakul, mostly talked about firearms. Eventually, Asteron broached the subject of getting into the Bruse’s court. To move to the head of the queu for an audience, the constables would need to pass a kind of trial based on a rite of adulthood.

The trial was based on the adulthood challenge from Minotaur culture. The Bruse had promoted its adoption by other races to reduce intertribal violence, which was the old rite of adulthood for many tribes. The trial involved navigating a maze while fending off wild animals (bears in this case). The trial was used at the Summer Court to entertain the many people waiting in line for an audience as well as provide a fast track for gaining the Bruse’s attention.

Asteron’s explanation was cut short when the constables noticed a well-disguised pit trap in the road ahead. When the group paused to assess the situation, their horses began to panic and wild roars echoed from the surrounding forest. A stampede of giant goats came streaming out of the trees to the north. Irony and Asteron were able to calm their mounts while Glaucia regained control of her mount and Melissa’s. The rest of the group was forced to abandon their horses, which promptly bolted into the wilderness.

Bellicose and Maddox moved forward and drove the stamped away from the group with liberal use of grenades. Glaucia grabbed Melissa’s reins and moved to the back of the group to protect her. Doran clambered up the side of a large sequoia to see where the stampede was coming from. From his vantage, Doran was able to see a group of 3 giant reptiles driving the dire goats before them. Asteron and Shakul were able to identify the creatures as Tyrannosaurs, giant carnivores that were raised as pets by the dragon tyrants.

While the group was focused on the incoming behemoths, an armored half-orc emerged from hiding and flung a strange sonic bomb at the tree Doran had climbed. The bomb destroyed the tree’s base and sent the tree crashing down across the road. Kirk had to dive out of the way of the falling tree while Irony and her horse were trapped between the fallen tree’s trunk and the pit trap. Doran managed to leap from the falling tree to land safely on the north side of the road before it hit the ground.

The gunsmiths all clambered into the fallen tree’s branches to fire down onto the battlefield. Kirk and Rai moved to engage the half-orc while Doran and Asteron moved to intercept the dinosaurs. The gunners managed to drive one of the tyrannosaurs to its knees, and Doran boldly climbed up onto its back. Unfortunately, Doran was promptly plucked from the dinosaur’s backside by one of its compatriots. Irony pulled on a great deal of healing magic in a desperate attempt to keep Doran from being maimed.

Kirk and Rai quickly overpowered the lone half-orc who escaped via a magical contingency just as the previous Ob assassin had. Asteron moved to aid Doran but one of the other tyrannosaurs knocked him from his horse and snapped up the unfortunate mount. When Kirk and Rai came to help, the great lizard flung the half-eaten horse at them. The others weren’t able to come to Doran’s aid before the beasts had ripped off one of his legs at the knee. The constables were able to slay the behemoth lizards once their attention was no longer split between the half-orc attacker and the stampede.

The group had to rest for about a half an hour to after the fight to tend to wounds. Irony didn’t have any magic capable of reattaching or regenerating a severed limb, so Shakul fashioned a peg leg for Doran from a tyrannosaur toe bone. They managed to locate Doran’s severed leg inside the dinosaur’s gullet thanks to the magic boot it was wearing. Irony used a Gentle Repose ritual on the leg to preserve it for now. Glaucia also fashioned a necklace from the dinosaurs’ teeth and gave it to Doran for his boldness in battle.

With the harrowing battle and the loss of most of their horses, the group continued on their journey to the Summer Court. They definitely wouldn’t be getting there before sunset now.

GM: Doran ended up with a permanent penalty to his speed until he gets that leg fixed. He was already the fastest member of the party, so it doesn’t affect him that much. There are also several ways for him to fix that leg in this adventure. Overall, it was an exciting encounter that left the forest floor littered with the charred remains of giant goats. It turns out that a stampede of goats is no match for a pair of people with grenade launchers.

 

[Isklexi]

The Adulthood Challenge

The constables reached the Summer Court after sunset. Tents stretched along the last half-mile of the road leading to the palace filled with petitioners to see the Bruse. The constables had to wait among the other petitioners while Asteron and Shakul went to the palace to arrange the challenge. Glaucia left to coordinate with her Executore peers at the camp, and Melissa wandered the camp interviewing petitioners.

By 8pm, the constables were ushered to the Summer Palace’s maze to take the challenge. As the crowd gathered in the stands around the maze, an announcer proclaimed their names and need to speak with the Bruse. They were then led downstairs where the official explained the rules of the challenge.

1. Each petitioner must wear an enchanted crown. Each crown glows a different color and allows the audience to easily spot the petitioners in the maze. To complete the challenge, a petitioner must pass through the maze’s northern exit while still wearing a crown.
2. A petitioner that passes through the southern exit of the maze admits defeat, as does any petitioner who climbs above the 40ft hedge walls.
3. Using magic or technology to pass through hedge walls or other obstacles may be grounds for disqualification. The Bruse and the audience are arbiters of what is acceptable.
4. Do not attack the audience. Do not attempt to approach the Bruse’s VIP box. Please don’t set the maze on fire.
5. The maze will be filled with angry bears. Petitioners assume the risk that they might die during the challenge. If a co-petitioner carries an unconscious petitioner through the north gate, he can still count as a victor as long as he has a crown.

Each constable was fitted with a different colored crown and entered the maze. The challenge began with the announcer shouting, “Release the bears!” Bellicose was the first to run forward into the maze and almost immediately fell into a well-hidden pit trap. The illuminated interior of the pit sent a shaft of light skyward before the trap door snapped shut again to the crowd’s cheers. The other constables rushed forward to help their companion. However, when they pried the trap door open, Bellicose wasn’t in the pit. The pit traps in the maze were apparently linked by teleportation magic, meaning falling into one could land you anywhere in the maze! Luck as with the constables though and Bellicose emerged from a pit trap just a short distance ahead.

Bellicose ended up on the other side of a pool of water. The pool was not all it seemed however. Underneath the top foot of water, the pool was filled with some kind of mineral oil. Kirk poked at it with his wooden pole and found it to be very viscous and sticky. Most of the party opted to climb along the hedge to avoid the pool. Maddox used his blaster’s grapple shot to swing across the pool while carrying Irony. Once everyone was across, the constables chose to take all right hand turns reasoning that it would eventually lead them to the exit if they were methodical.

The constables came upon a second oil pool when they encountered their first bear. The beast waited for them on the other side of the pool bellowing and swiping its paws in their direction. Bellicose and Maddox drove the bear back from the edge of the pool with gunfire to make room on the other side. Kirk used his wooden pole to pole-vault across the pool. He made it across but lost his pole in the ooze. As the bear was forced back, the constables discovered that the pit traps were specially counterbalanced so that they wouldn’t trigger for larger creatures like the bears when the bear fell over onto a trap door and it didn’t open. The constables left the unconscious bear where it fell to keep the pit trap sealed.

The party found itself in bear territory as they pressed forward. After fighting two more bears, the constables were along the maze’s northern wall and only needed to find the opening to finish the challenge. Doran ran ahead in his enthusiasm and promptly fell into another pit trap. Doran ended up in the pit sealed by the unconscious bear. Rather than wait for his friends to move the bear, he decided to try something different. He jumped down from the top of the pit trap, triggering the teleportation magic a second time. This thoroughly separated Doran from the rest of the group, and they decided to continue searching for the exit without him.

After a few more bears where driven off, the exit was in sight. Unfortunately, the exit was guarded by a steam-driven bear golem. Even this fearsome automaton proved no match for the party’s combat prowess, and they exited the maze to cheers and applause. Well, all of them except Doran anyway. Doran managed to escape the maze a few minutes later after much pit hopping and dodging of angry bears, much to the audience’s enjoyment. The constables had completed the adulthood challenge and would get their audience with the Bruse. Now they just need to convince him to hand over Tinker Oddcog against the machinations of the Obscurati and Lya Jierre.