Plot Ex Machina
Amongst Tinker’s schematics and belongings, the constables found a strange metal orb. Though it radiated strong magic, they were unable to decipher its function or purpose. Rai held on to the orb for safekeeping. Tinker and Lya were delivered to high security cells in the RHC headquarters in Flint and Slate respectively. The constables further questioned Tinker about the golem and Grappa. Tinker confirmed that Grappa had survived the conflict at Cauldron Hill by implanting his mind into Leone Quital. The constables and the king decided that Tinker would be useful in advancing Risur’s technology. After sifting through Tinker’s notes, the constables voted on which line of research they wanted Tinker to pursue. After some arguing, the vote came out in favor of electricity, Tinker’s name for harnessing lightning.
| GM: | Irony formed a voting coalition for technology that could improve the life of Risuri citizens. As the team’s demolitions expert, Maddox tried unsuccessfully to rally support for improved explosives. I’m hoping these votes don’t become too contentious going forward. I decided not to reveal what each line of research would result in. I simply described what each research avenue was about. I think it adds a bit of verisimilitude to the choice in that researchers often don’t know their efforts will result in over time. |
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Rai had an unusual experience following the team’s return to Flint. The night after their return, Rai had a strange dream. In the dream, he saw a tall, gaunt figure wearing a hooded robe that asked the question, “What do you wish to know above all else?” After some contemplation, Rai told the robed figure he wished to know how to bring peace to Lanjyr. An overwhelming amount of information flooded into Rai’s mind, and he woke suddenly from the dream. He couldn’t quite remember the knowledge imparted by the dream, but he found he was holding Tinker’s orb even though it had been stowed in his packs the night before. He’s certain that if he can just spend more time with the orb it will reveal its secrets to him.
| GM: | Rai ended up being in possession of Tinker’s orb. I gave the orb some more background and changed its name from Godmind Urn to Akashic Orb. I’m tying the orb more into events that happened before the Ancient Orc Empire (I really need to think of a name for that civilization). I don’t have the time to make a campaign of my own from scratch, so Zeitgeist is giving me the opportunity to slot in a lot of my ideas. |
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The next item on the constables’ list was interrogating Lya Jierre in Slate. Like Grappa, Lya was subject to a geas spell that prevented her from divulging the conspiracy’s secrets. Harkover Lee attempted to break the enchantment, but was shocked to discover the spell was beyond his ability to counter. This in itself was new information on the Obscurati in that they have the service of at least one phenomenally powerful spellcaster. Lya freely told the constables that the Ob’s goal was to make the world a better place and usher in an era of peace. The constables knew Lya wasn’t lying thanks to the divinations placed on the interrogation room, but that information did little to assuage the constables given it made no mention of how the Ob intended to usher in this new era. Lya then encouraged them to use the strange syringe they had found in her possession. She claimed the silvery substance inside was called needlewire and would allow them to contact the leader of the Obscurati, a person called Nicodemus the Gnostic. The constables had tried to use divination to determine how the needlewire functioned, but its combination of alchemy and obscure magic made it impossible to determine precisely what it did without destroying the only sample they had.
The dilemma of who to use the needlewire on took time to discuss. The constables immediately ruled out using it on Lya as they had no way of knowing if it could provide her with some means of escape. Irony had the strongest willpower out of the constables, but she already played host to Xambria’s spirit and wasn’t sure how that might complicate the situation. They eventually settled on having Doran use the needlewire. While Doran was far from the most willful member of the party, he’d trained his mind to be dangerous to foes that tried to assault it since their encounter with the Gidim wayfarer Sijhen. They used an interrogation room with several divination spells at the ready and bound Doran to a chair just in case.
Once Doran was injected, the divinations they’d prepared revealed how the needlewire worked. It used alchemical sedatives to incapacitate the host, and then generated a magical summoning beacon that allowed long-range contact with an unknown party. The needlewire effectively allowed Nicodemus to magically possess the user from anywhere on the planet. The constables found themselves speaking to the leader of the conspiracy. Nicodemus repeated Lya’s assertion that the Ob fought to bring peace to the world, and he assured them the transition would be as non-violent as possible. When confronted with the murders associated with the Ob’s activities, Nicodemus told them that the path to a better future is replete with difficulties and those unwilling to relinquish power through fear. He told them that the future they fight for is worth the sacrifices they’ve had to make. When the constables pointed out the chaos left in the wake of Borne, Nicodemus chastised the constables for interfering claiming that without their meddling Borne would have been deployed away from Flint without the citizens of the city ever being aware of the giant golem. He told the constables that continued interference would only result in more wasted lives. Nicodemus refused to reveal any details of the conspiracy’s plans as the constables were obviously working at cross-purposes. Kirk told him they might be willing to join the Ob if they knew more about their plans. Nicodemus told them they would have to earn his trust, starting by releasing Lya unconditionally. He told them he would be in touch once they released Lya and severed his connection to Doran.
The constables had learned that their foe could wear literally anyone’s face, and their divinations further detected an immense amount of divine and necromantic magic emanating from Nicodemus. Unfortunately, Doran had a much more troubling revelation for the other constables. Nicodemus had forcibly rifled through Doran’s memories while possessing him. Clearly, Nicodemus had considered any possible information to be gained was well worth the pain inflicted by Doran’s mental defenses. The constables decided against freeing Lya for now and began investigating ways of locating Leone Quital now that they knew he had survived. Irony, troubled by the power and mysterious nature of their opponent, decided on her own to consult with another expert occultist, Calaphax.
Irony found Cal tending to his flower garden in Bosum Strand. The constables had thus far tolerated Cal’s presence because he had always been helpful, but they remained wary of his motives and infernal origins. Irony asked Cal what he knew about the Obscurati and their leader, Nicodemus. Cal told her that they were a relatively recent phenomenon, having appeared since his last visit to Lanjyr 500 years ago. He also told her they were apparently fans of obscure historical figures. When Irony asked what he meant, he told her that Nicodemus was the name of a rebellious monk who tried to defy the Clergy and died during the Great Malice. When Irony mentioned that Nicodemus had radiated powerful necromantic magic, Calaphax appeared momentarily troubled before dismissing the notion that it could be the same Nicodemus. He told her that the real Nicodemus had tried to change the world and failed. Now the Obscurati were trying to change the world. It would be up to Irony and the other constables whether the world changed according to the Ob’s plan or their own, whether they could succeed where the original Nicodemus had failed. He then told her that he would be visiting each of the constables in the coming weeks to discuss the future.
| GM: | There was a ton of new information flying around in the post adventure wrap up for this one. The players got to chat with not one but two highly unreliable exposition fairies (Nic and Cal). Nic plundering Doran’s memories for information will compromise the PCs from the start of the next adventure, but I probably won’t change too much. I may just increase the difficulty of some of the encounters and have more ambushes. Nicodemus is pretty arrogant, so I don’t think he would actually tell Leone about Grappa’s spirit. Instead, he’ll try to use Leone/Grappa as a trap for the constables. Grappa’s plan (if they pull it off) would still allow them to crash the Ob’s convocation because of how it foils divinations. They’ll probably need to coach Grappa on lying though.
I’m walking a fine line with Cal’s exposition. I don’t want him spoiling surprises later in the campaign, but it also doesn’t make sense for him to be uninformed. Instead, I’ve relied on Cal either subtly lying or omitting information for his own purposes. I want the players to feel like they can ask him question without him constantly saying “I don’t want to tell you” or worse “lol idk”. There is still a gap of 500 years in Cal’s knowledge of events on Lanjyr, so he doesn’t know about most of the Ob’s activities anyway. For now, I rely on Cal either not knowing key details or spinning them to his advantage to try and influence the constables. The one on one meetings he has with the players will be posted in spoiler tags because the players have elected not to tell each other what they talked with him about. |
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