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[Zeitgeist] Chronicles of Unit 42
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<blockquote data-quote="d2OKC" data-source="post: 6034915" data-attributes="member: 97351"><p>After their meeting with Mayor Reed Macbannin, the constables of Unit 42 headed back to Nevard Sechim's henge, to pick him up and take him to Cauldron Hill. The journey from Cloudwood to the Nettles was uneventful, though they only returned to the mayor's manor about an hour and a half before sundown.</p><p></p><p>They climbed the slopes of the mountain until they made their way to the top, where they scouted for a good location for the skyseer to do his thing. They found a ring of stones, which would be easy to fortify, and began to prepare. They circled the camp with the goat blood. They set up snares around the perimeter of the camp. Gareth Carter did some nearby scouting to get the lay of the land, and found a small, cracked cauldron half buried in the ground.</p><p></p><p>Soon, night was about to fall, and the skyseer recommended they hunker down, and do their best to keep warm.</p><p></p><p>A blistering chill fell upon the group as the wind from the ocean blew gales of icy daggers at them. The chill nearly took Casimiro del Garra, but the shifter was able to barely hang on. Then the monsters came.</p><p></p><p>Hundreds of writhing, wailing, slithering, creeping monsters approached the camp, and as they located the blood, began forming a huge tornado of nightmare around the Unit. The otherworldly wailing began to erode their sanity, and each member did what they could to keep the awful sounds out of their heads. Del Garra stuffed dirt and rocks in his ears, Carter tried to remember the Yerasol Wars and rely on his own physical resolve, Victor Bays began chanting prayers to any god that would listen, Raynard sang softly to herself, and Reginald Battersea wrote a thesis paper in his head titled "The Implications of Technology for Field Officers of the Royal Homeland Constabulary."</p><p></p><p>It was the most miserable night any of them would ever experience.</p><p></p><p>Just after midnight, an apparition formed in front of the unit. A red curtain floated above them, and from behind the curtain stepped the form of Nilasa Hume. Gareth Carter tried to say something to her, but she shushed him, and warned them that her killer was coming. </p><p></p><p>Then an instant later they were transported down the mountain and across the harbor to a burning factory, attacked by a pair of fiery dragons. As they factory burned, a sign reading "Sechim's Alkahest and Etchings" fell from a wall and began to turn to ash.</p><p></p><p>The unit returned to the mountain, and Nevard pointed toward Jiese, burning bright red in the night sky. Before he could speak, however, a bright light erupted from the other peak on the mountain, and the constables could see a shadowy figure as it launched the newly cracked sunrod toward their camp. The monsters surrounding their camp immediately went on the offensive, and attacked the constables.</p><p></p><p>Raynard and del Garra immediately dove for the brush nearby. Bays launched the sunrod away with his mage hand, sending several of the creatures with it. Battersea and Carter prepared for a fight.</p><p></p><p>It was quick, and bloody. Bays spent most of the combat dominated by a spectral hag, who latched on to his back and directed his actions, occasionally rewarding him with a kiss from her worm-filled lips. Battersea was harassed by a cackling, legless torso that tried to clamber up his body, preventing him from using his firearms effectively. Carter was followed by a floating apparition of death, which dropped shroud after shroud on him until he was finally knocked unconscious by a vicious swipe from a shadowy scythe. Raynard and del Garra spent the encounter running from a ghostly lion with a mane made of thousands of tiny snakes, which would all bite at once if the lion got too close.</p><p></p><p>And poor Nevard was surrounded by dozens of creatures, but saved when the hag used one of Bays' abilities that wiped the mountain clear of most of the weaker spooks. By the end of the combat, the constables were bloody and exhausted, but alive. Nevard calmly suggested they head back down to Macbannin's, and that the constables might go check on his nephew's factory, if they had the time to do so.</p><p></p><p>They stopped at the mayor's long enough to get purified from the magic on the mountain and explain what happened up on the mountain to a group of excited night watchmen. With Macbannin's help they diffused the situation, and got in a carriage and headed to Heward Sechim's as quickly as they could.</p><p></p><p>When they arrived, they found a pair of dragonborn directing some men to place firegems around the edge of the factory, clearly about to commit arson. Reynard and del Garra sneaked up to the criminals to get a better look, and signaled to the rest of the group to follow, but Gareth Carter is not as sneaky as some of his partners, and gave away their presence. As he slowly approached the dragonborn, apologizing for being late for the job, the rest of the unit prepared to get the drop on the arsonists.</p><p></p><p>===</p><p></p><p>We got a late start yesterday, so we didn't have as much time to play as usual. The two encounters on Cauldron Hill pretty much took up the whole session, except for a bit of interaction with the dragonborn brothers at the end. </p><p></p><p>I have to say, though. My group both loved and hated Cauldron Hill. And, I mean that in the best way possible.</p><p></p><p>I did my very best to play up the creep factor of everything that was going on, and they really felt a sense of danger and unease with all the spooks circling them. When I described the visions they had, they were really engaged in that, and when the shadow-man threw the sunrod toward them, and I told them the monsters attacked, all five of them were audibly shocked.</p><p></p><p>The minions were a bigger threat than I expected, but they were wiped out pretty quick. Before they were gone, the group was nearly in a panic, because they thought they were in way over their heads. And, it was neat having bigger creatures to send after each of the PCs, that all had unique (and terrifying) abilities of their own. Particularly, the snakes all biting at the same time creeped them out.</p><p></p><p>We ended right before the factory fight, so I'll have the week to plan for that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="d2OKC, post: 6034915, member: 97351"] After their meeting with Mayor Reed Macbannin, the constables of Unit 42 headed back to Nevard Sechim's henge, to pick him up and take him to Cauldron Hill. The journey from Cloudwood to the Nettles was uneventful, though they only returned to the mayor's manor about an hour and a half before sundown. They climbed the slopes of the mountain until they made their way to the top, where they scouted for a good location for the skyseer to do his thing. They found a ring of stones, which would be easy to fortify, and began to prepare. They circled the camp with the goat blood. They set up snares around the perimeter of the camp. Gareth Carter did some nearby scouting to get the lay of the land, and found a small, cracked cauldron half buried in the ground. Soon, night was about to fall, and the skyseer recommended they hunker down, and do their best to keep warm. A blistering chill fell upon the group as the wind from the ocean blew gales of icy daggers at them. The chill nearly took Casimiro del Garra, but the shifter was able to barely hang on. Then the monsters came. Hundreds of writhing, wailing, slithering, creeping monsters approached the camp, and as they located the blood, began forming a huge tornado of nightmare around the Unit. The otherworldly wailing began to erode their sanity, and each member did what they could to keep the awful sounds out of their heads. Del Garra stuffed dirt and rocks in his ears, Carter tried to remember the Yerasol Wars and rely on his own physical resolve, Victor Bays began chanting prayers to any god that would listen, Raynard sang softly to herself, and Reginald Battersea wrote a thesis paper in his head titled "The Implications of Technology for Field Officers of the Royal Homeland Constabulary." It was the most miserable night any of them would ever experience. Just after midnight, an apparition formed in front of the unit. A red curtain floated above them, and from behind the curtain stepped the form of Nilasa Hume. Gareth Carter tried to say something to her, but she shushed him, and warned them that her killer was coming. Then an instant later they were transported down the mountain and across the harbor to a burning factory, attacked by a pair of fiery dragons. As they factory burned, a sign reading "Sechim's Alkahest and Etchings" fell from a wall and began to turn to ash. The unit returned to the mountain, and Nevard pointed toward Jiese, burning bright red in the night sky. Before he could speak, however, a bright light erupted from the other peak on the mountain, and the constables could see a shadowy figure as it launched the newly cracked sunrod toward their camp. The monsters surrounding their camp immediately went on the offensive, and attacked the constables. Raynard and del Garra immediately dove for the brush nearby. Bays launched the sunrod away with his mage hand, sending several of the creatures with it. Battersea and Carter prepared for a fight. It was quick, and bloody. Bays spent most of the combat dominated by a spectral hag, who latched on to his back and directed his actions, occasionally rewarding him with a kiss from her worm-filled lips. Battersea was harassed by a cackling, legless torso that tried to clamber up his body, preventing him from using his firearms effectively. Carter was followed by a floating apparition of death, which dropped shroud after shroud on him until he was finally knocked unconscious by a vicious swipe from a shadowy scythe. Raynard and del Garra spent the encounter running from a ghostly lion with a mane made of thousands of tiny snakes, which would all bite at once if the lion got too close. And poor Nevard was surrounded by dozens of creatures, but saved when the hag used one of Bays' abilities that wiped the mountain clear of most of the weaker spooks. By the end of the combat, the constables were bloody and exhausted, but alive. Nevard calmly suggested they head back down to Macbannin's, and that the constables might go check on his nephew's factory, if they had the time to do so. They stopped at the mayor's long enough to get purified from the magic on the mountain and explain what happened up on the mountain to a group of excited night watchmen. With Macbannin's help they diffused the situation, and got in a carriage and headed to Heward Sechim's as quickly as they could. When they arrived, they found a pair of dragonborn directing some men to place firegems around the edge of the factory, clearly about to commit arson. Reynard and del Garra sneaked up to the criminals to get a better look, and signaled to the rest of the group to follow, but Gareth Carter is not as sneaky as some of his partners, and gave away their presence. As he slowly approached the dragonborn, apologizing for being late for the job, the rest of the unit prepared to get the drop on the arsonists. === We got a late start yesterday, so we didn't have as much time to play as usual. The two encounters on Cauldron Hill pretty much took up the whole session, except for a bit of interaction with the dragonborn brothers at the end. I have to say, though. My group both loved and hated Cauldron Hill. And, I mean that in the best way possible. I did my very best to play up the creep factor of everything that was going on, and they really felt a sense of danger and unease with all the spooks circling them. When I described the visions they had, they were really engaged in that, and when the shadow-man threw the sunrod toward them, and I told them the monsters attacked, all five of them were audibly shocked. The minions were a bigger threat than I expected, but they were wiped out pretty quick. Before they were gone, the group was nearly in a panic, because they thought they were in way over their heads. And, it was neat having bigger creatures to send after each of the PCs, that all had unique (and terrifying) abilities of their own. Particularly, the snakes all biting at the same time creeped them out. We ended right before the factory fight, so I'll have the week to plan for that. [/QUOTE]
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