ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.

This scene sees the introduction of Ensign Gupta Porras, designed to be a fresh face for the campaign so we don't have a roster made up entirely of grizzled old veterans. Her player joined the group just before the campaign wound up. He was involved in the 'buffer adventures' following Cauldron Born but never the campaign proper, so it's useful for him to play a character who doesn't know the story as well as the others. We worked to design a character who was much lower level than the others - she's practically 1st level in D&D terms - but whose abilities allowed her to both stand out and provide support to the others (so if they are up against an opponent she can't match, she still has a substantial contribution to make). She's also a second face for the group, who have always suffered from having just one main 'speaker'; if he's out, there's no one good at networking. While the group leader Korrigan was good at public speaking and diplomacy, he wasn't at all streetwise.

Obviously, I have had to alter the beginning of adventure #6 quite a lot to justify Ensign Porras' involvement - so she's the one who picks up the newspaper article through her already substantial network of contacts. She's a Docker. Only twenty years old - joined the RHC as soon as she was able, a year after the colossus broke loose and killed her whole family. Her father was a Beran glovemaker and political activist, her mother a quarter-elven musician with strange magical abilities and Elfaivaren ancestry. She's mixed race, diminutive, smart and efficient. It'll be fun to see how the unit reacts to her over the coming months.

Reboot Session 1 (or Session 124) - SCENE TWO

Ensign Gupta Porras passes through a teleportation circle to Banhaman Academy, where she is met by Lauren Cyneburg. Although she has an acerbic reputation, Cyneburg is both complementary and courteous to the young officer - approving of her style of dress for the mission in hand: the Ensign now sports a hooded jacket, rapier and sidearm, and a checkered Panoply scarf. The pair travel by carriage across the Great Delve River and, while Cyneburg talks, the Ensign takes in Slate: sedate, almost torpid by comparison with Flint but altogether more beautiful and more clean.

The carriage duly arrives at RHC national headquarters and the women soon find themselves in an ornate conference room, where three figures await: Lord Viscount Nigel Price-Hill, Principal Minister Harkover Lee, and a third, younger man who stands some distance away and goes without introduction. Ensign Porras notices a frisson of disapproval as Cyneburg registers his presence, and feels his altogether more approving gaze upon her.

N P-H: Thank you for joining us, Ensign Porras. And thank you for providing us with the evidence we needed to make our next move. You have proven yourself to be an able officer and we need more like you in the RHC. Your mission, as you may have gathered, is to travel to Seobriga, find Tinker Oddcog and get all the information he has about the colossus. Even better, recruit him. Though his sanity is in doubt, he is clearly a technological genius and we could do with some help catching up with the Danorans, even after all this time.

Lee: The Berans will have other ideas and won’t want to hand him over. Tinker is protected from divination magic, extended by the Bruse, as ruler. Smarter to petition him and negotiate a trade than to try to track down Tinker independently. Knowing the right person will be important to accessing the Bruse. To that end we have contacted Brakken of Heffinata who has been of service to us in the past. He has agreed to meet you at the public teleportation circle in Seobriga. (Cyneburg hands Porras maps of Ber and Seobriga.)

N P-H: The Berans don’t protect their circles, so your arrival should be unimpeded. My own advice would be, before you leave Seobriga, seek out the journalist Melissa Amerie, who wrote the article. It’s possible she may have more information than she included.

Cyneburg: It is important that you are familiar with known Ob agents; active Ob agents. We have prepared this file and think it best that we talk it through with you now.

Group shares Obscurati personnel file and recaps what the Risuri government knows so far. Extemporised from DM/player knowledge. During the discussion about Oddcog, Lee adds:

Lee: We have of course attempted to contact Tinker Oddcog in the past. Shortly after we were made aware of his presence in the Bleak Gate facility, we despatched a sending. His response was as follows: (reading from a scrap of paper) “Twenty-five words? Three, four, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, thirty! Behold, base five! I have thwarted your numerical orthodoxy!” And then there was a fit of laughter for a few seconds, which apparently counts as a single word.

Nigel Price-Hill also extends his apologies to Enisgn Porras, for the lack of an update to the entry for the Obscurati agent known as 'Sylyx' or 'Norm' who is still listed as 'at large' having escaped from an RHC holding cell. Sylyx murdered Quentin Augst as he escaped, and later that same day killed RHC Officer Niniel Erendis, of Beta Unit. What the file does not say is that two years later, Ensign Guptas tracked down Sylyx/Norm while searching for Obscurati operatives under her own recognisance. He was killed resisting arrest. This action brought Ensign Porras to the attention of her superiors.

Once the discussion about the file is complete, the scene continues:

Cyneburg: The best advice would be not to engage any enemy agents you encounter. Keep a low profile. Seek to withdraw if contact is unavoidable, and report back to HQ. We’re hoping this will be a simple infiltration mission and that you will be able to access Tinker and get out before the Ob become aware of his location. But you should be prepared for possible hostilities and avoid heroics.

N P-H: In case of trouble, I have decided that you will be accompanied on this mission by Agent Campion Price. My nephew on my sister’s side. Not a jot of nepotism here, the lad has proven himself on a dozen missions. A dab-hand with the snub-nose, eh, Campy?”

Campion: I look forward to working with you very closely, Ensign Porras.

Cyneburg: But, sir, I thought we agreed that subtlety was the best approach here.

Campion: I’m not incapable of subtlety, Miss Cyneburg.

N P-H: Quite so. The decision has been made. I’m not sending a young, inexperienced officer alone into enemy territory. Change of heart and all that. No disrespect, Ensign Porras. Your record is exemplary. We already owe you a great debt for bringing at least one Obscurati ne'er-do-well to heel.

Porras politely thanks her superior and the meeting is adjourned. Without further ado, Lauren Cyneburg begins to scribe a teleportation circle in chalk on the floorboards to the back of the room. Moments later, Porras and Price will be in Seobriga…

DM's Notes

I decided to do something very different for scenes 1 & 2 of our campaign reboot. As the only PC involved was Ensign Porras and she and her player were new to the campaign I decided to script both scenes. Her player and I enacted Scene 1 and then I handed out scripts to the rest of the group and everyone played a part in Scene 2. We only went 'off-script' during the Obscurati Dossier section, where everyone extemporised and responded to the dossier both in and out of character. I tried to prevent this becoming a humongous information dump, but it wasn't really possible. All the old players were keen to reminisce about NPCs they recognised and we ended up trying to provide a clear 'story arc' to Ensign Porras. It was a bit overwhelming, and her player looked dizzy at one point.

The bit about Norm/Sylyx came about for three reasons:

1) Reading back over the journals (which took a loooong time; good job I got the flu and had a few days off work) I saw that Norm/Sylyx had escaped from the RHC holding cell and committed some terrible acts before disappearing. I decided that this was one recurring villain too many, and Norm needed to go.

2) I wanted there to be a very good reason Ensign Porras was being entrusted with this new mission, despite her youth and inexperience, and bringing in Norm/Sylyx (Obscurati agent and cop-killer) would certainly have drawn her to the attention of the RHC top brass. It also gives her some leverage with the unit because Leon was (indirectly) responsible for his escape and he murdered one of the junior officers they were in command of: Our B team, having survived the Lorcan Kell set-up, were leading a dummy assault down the Canal Route (which turned into real carnage, but drew alot of defenders away from the entrance). My idea was that Norm was trying to get back to the Colossus facility, came upon the battle, and made an opportunistic attack against a seriously wounded officer just as her team was withdrawing altogether from the Bleak Gate. This happened in part because her player (who is also Korrigan) was, at the time, leaving the group, but it also happened to be very dramatic. Gupta has thus made up for the group's deficiency and taken revenge on their behalf.

3) Gupta's backstory is that she was only 17 when the colossus crashed through Flint and killed her whole family - crushing their dockside house. As well as providing her with a huge motive for opposing the Ob, it leaves her with 'survivor's guilt'. When he was generating his character I asked her player to do two extra things: provide contacts in every nation (instead of throughout Flint - she's a Docker after all) and give me a list of cases she had solved in her two years at the RHC. One of these was a fencing operation, and I altered the details to say that the fence was Norm, trying to make his way in the world now he was useless to the Ob. I then asked the player if Gupta - having tracked him down and identified him - would have played by the book and arrested him or would she perhaps have succumbed to a sudden vengeful urge (and a frisson of fear) and simply executed him on the spot? As I obviously hoped, we are running with the latter - a lapse which torments the hyper-professional Ensign and suggests a ruthless streak to her otherwise reasonable character.

Reboot Session 1 (or Session 124) - SCENE THREE

Seobriga. The place is dusty, noisy and bright. Brakken of Heffinata was not present at the teleportation circle. Gupta struggles to get her bearings, following Campion Price-Hill through a crowded market place. Everyone is so huge! (She's been here before, but a very long time ago.)

Gupta thinks to ask Campion if he’s Nigel Price-Hill’s nephew on his sister’s side, why his surname is Price-Hill. “Oh, I changed it. Wanted everybody to be well aware of my connections. Can’t harm the career, can it? But you already know what side your bread’s buttered, eh? What say we track down that divine scent of Beran coffee and get to know one another a little before pressing on?”

Ignoring his advances, Gupta notices they are being tailed by a couple of half-orcs. Campion follows her gaze and begins to draw her by the arm through a busy market place. Then he yanks her down a narrow alley, where they both wait, pressed up against a wall behind a pile of crates that smell of old cabbages. The half-orcs duly follow. Campion shoots one in the chest and savagely pistol-whips the other.

“Now then, chum. Who paid you to spy on us, eh? Out with it before you lose the other tusk.”

Gupta spots movement down alleyway: a black-cloaked tiefling is approaching, sword drawn! He wears a ring. Gupta's sixth sense for these things tell her he's Obscurati. She notifies Campion, and draws her pistol. Immediately, webbing strikes her firearm from above and she is disarmed before she can pull the trigger. Another assailant on the roof!

Campion is half-way through his next set of threats when he is struck twice: two shadowy figures seeming to materialise out of the shadows of the alleyway (so now they are surrounded). Obscurati skulks! Their poisoned shuriken have laid Campion low and they advance on the young ensign.

But the tiefling teleports through Gupta and meets the skulks in melee, his fey blade flashing brightly. The figure on the rooftops joins the fray, as does Ensign Porras (suprising her rescuers with a nifty trick of her own), and before long the skulks are down. It dawns on Gupta that these two are members of Korrigan's Alpha Unit! Uru and his clockwork pal, Little Jack drop down from above, bringing news of more skulks approaching through the market, led it would seem by a birth-marked half-elf. Leon says he traced them to a halfway house and then followed them here when they responded to a tip-off. The half-elf is Rush Munchausen, bodyguard to Lya Jierre!

Gupta decides to run. "Wait!" says Leon. "Come with us." Despite his fearsome reputation - they say he's a war criminal and a traitor - Gupta feels compelled to obey, not by magic or a charm, but by something akin to trust: an instinctive response to the disarming manner of this infamous tiefling.

Having greeted Uru as if he hasn't seen him for a long time (weren't they together?) Leon stands and opens a Quick Portal, an act that appears to take great effort. “We'd better get out of here. One thing: Close your eyes and keep them closed. Don’t open them until I tell you to, no matter what happens. Better yet, Uru – throw up a cloud of darkness.”

Uru and Little Jack help Gupta drag Campion Price-Hill though the portal into the black cloud...

Reboot Session 1 (or Session 124) - SCENE FOUR

On the other side of the portal there were scraping, snuffling and grunting sounds. Leon reiterated his warning to keep eyes closed before Uru's cloud went down. He also warned them to prepare for movement, shortly before they were lifted bodily into the air. Gupta could not keep her eyes closed and glanced down briefly:

They were being flown out of an open-topped cage formed of thick, rib-like bars around a teleportation circle. The cage was in a pit full of large, six-legged, low-bellied lizards, whose baleful gaze Porras sought to avoid, quickly scrunching her eyes closed again. She felt her body stiffening, but a sidelong glance at the basilisks had not been enough to cause her real harm. Quite the security measure!

They were lowered down and Leon said they were safe now. Eyes open, they were greeted by several gaunt, mottled, diminutive men whom Gupta recognised from legend as the maustin caji or gith. They welcomed Leon in halting common and he explained Gupta's presence apologetically. It was agreed that they would take care of Campion Price-Hill and transport him 'up the valley' more slowly. But for Uru, Leon and Gupta, speed was of the essence. They found themselves being relay-propelled, telekinetically flown from person to person - each a gith poised on some rocky outcropping on one side or the other of a steep-sided mountain pass. It was exhilerating and terrifying.

At length they arrived high up in a vertiginous wooded valley. Above, snowy peaks; below, a long, narrow mountain lake that wound its way into the distance. Dotted here and there were beautiful stone buildings that complemented the landscape and foliage. They came to one that was a hive of activity: a dozen or more human and gith children at play, including one - perhaps the youngest - who stood out: a three-year-old black kid whose skin was traced with glowing filigree patterns. The children stopped to look at Leon and the two newcomers and call out greetings. A dark-skinned, matronly woman - a Cloudwood native by the look of her - took charge of the children and bid them let the adults pass. (This was Ayesha, Matunaaga's wife.)

Inside the building they found Marshal Baldrey Korrigan! Gupta recognised him from his rally in Dawn Square. Korrigan had always been a hero of hers. Her heart began to beat faster as he broke away from the game of chess he was playing with an elder gith (Chenu, Matunaaga's father) and first greeted Uru (who now took the form of a little boy in RHC uniform) with a sharp salute.

"Keep an eye on Stover Delft," said Uru, repeating back to Korrigan his final orders from three years ago (and in his own voice too). Korrigan greeted Uru warmly and thanked him for his dogged service. It transpired that Uru had brought news of Gupta's newspaper article to the attention of Korrigan & Co. Not only that, but he had shadowed Gupta every step of the way from Flint (undetected through two teleportation circles)!

Gupta received a brief nod of introduction, but Leon was keen to report back with news of his reconnaissance: The Lux Profectusque had docked in Seobriga early that morning: “If the Ob are in Seobriga- and aggressively so - there must be a reason we need Tinker Oddcog. Time to reveal our hand, and to mobilize.”

Korrigan nodded. Three years in hiding, biding his time. For the safety of his son, and of Malthusius' reincarnation, they had come here to this hidden place - the valley of the gith, Matunaaga's people. Here deep veins of iron, gold and salt prevented all manner of intrusion, and elder matrons worked in continual shifts to shield the place from divination. (The gith had once been slaves, and were not eager to repeat the experience.) Only Uru and Leon could roam free, protected by their respective ranks within the Unseen Court, and each had worked tirelessly to track down further leads. But to no avail, until now.

Korrigan made his mind up quickly, gave a nod and said, "Let's go." They had planned for this moment, and were ready.

Leon and Uru walked up the valley to find Conquo crouched outside of a maustin temple, poring over an ancient scroll - an incongruously delecate thing in the hands of this immense, simian golem. Doctor Meredith was irked at this interruption to her study of Deep Speech, but Conquo obeyed Leon's commands without question (and remembered to say hello to Uru which is something Xambria forgot).

Korrigan found Matunaaga fishing, with Uriel watching and offering unhelpful advice, has shadow on the water spooking the fish. Korrigan said they were leaving. Uriel wanted to come. “You’re staying here with Matunaaga.”

Matunaaga said, “You're sure you don’t need me?”

“Come when you’re ready. Or when we really need you. Whichever comes first. In the meantime, focus on training your cadre of glaives. We want our children to be safe.” Korrigan knew that it took Matunaaga a long time to ready his mind for conflict, but once his meditations were done there was no warrior more capable. And so they bid farewell.

On the way back up the hill, Korrigan explained to Gupta that it was his intention to send her back to Flint, or better yet, leave her here so no Obscurati spy could learn of their whereabouts. She began to object, citing her personal stake in the mission; her orders from Delft, Cyneburg, Lee and Price-Hill; even going so far as to use the emotional appeal of having regarded Korrigan as a hero for many years and jumping at the chance to join him. Korrigan was still ruminating when they met up with Leon, Uru and Conquo. A debate ensued. Conquo (who was by now covered in clambering children, all begging him to stay) immediately took Gupta's side, although he wasn't sure why. Xambria also spoke up for her once the facts of the case became clear. Leon stayed silent, but Uru also spoke up for Gupta: she was the one who found the clue, after all. Gupta spoke of her local knowledge and her contacts and eventually Korrigan relented: They would take her as far as Seobriga and access her contacts. But no further. They couldn't afford a weak link. (No one said this, but that's what everyone was thinking.) Campion Price-Hill was also discussed. He would be nursed back to health by Ayesha but only returned to Flint once the element of surprise had passed. There was some talk of finally letting Delft know what they were up to, but this was dismissed for the time being for the same reason. And so they shouldered their packs and set off out of the valley, where teleportation was possible.

As they head back up the hill, Leon asked: “What about Rumdoom?”

Korrigan said: “I spoke with him via sending. He’s on his way, but won’t be with us for a while. He’s developed a philosophical objection to teleportation, so he’s coming via ship from Trekhom. It’s a luxury liner, so it won’t be quick, I'm afraid.”

Everybody laughed like they do at the end of an episode of a seventies cop show.

End of session.

What's Been Happening in the Meantime

Anyone who looks back at our journal from three years ago will notice that the situation we find ourselves in now is completely unrecognisable, and that at least one session is unaccounted for. Even I can only half remember what happened in that session, and I'm not 100% sure if it was one or two that I failed to report. But things were going bitshat crazy with three teams of characters running around, and subplots becoming increasingly complex.

My mantra for the reboot was 'simplify, simplify'. That's not to say that none of the old threads or subplots will creep back in - that would be deeply unsatisfaying to my players (okay, to me and me alone, but I digress) - but I aim not to create any full buffer adventures - or even major diversions - instead, weaving these many ideas (and there were a lot - Black Star Mining; the Deep Ones; Matunaaga's People; the Clockwork King; Korrigan's Son; Jenny Greenteeth & Her Coven; the Dreaming Blight; Lavanya, beloved of Leon; the Thinker; the Crone...) into the main campaign, or leaving them to wither on the vine if they don't help.

For now, all anyone needs to know is that three years have passed and this is what everyone was up to in that time:

Leon: Leon was at the centre of an increasingly bizarre network of threads which - in cliched, time-honored fashion - turn out to have been 'just a Dream'. Leon was offered the chance to divide himself and to be in several places and times at once and even now is still trying to tease these strands apart and ascertain precisely what was real, and what was imagined. But the upshot of it all was that - after what seemed like years of following different threads to different versions of reality, in which Korrigan's son was kidnapped by Jenny Greenteeth - the only difference between each version being how long it took Leon & Korrigan to catch up with her - Leon eventually found a thread that saw him arrive in time to warn Korrigan before his son was snatched. Since then he has been learning more about Dream magic, and has successfully thwarted the geas his Obscurati ring once imposed upon him. As an Unseen Warlock, Leon can move about undetected, and has been the eyes and ears of Korrigan in the outside world and the Dreaming itself.

Korrigan: Korrigan only knows this final reality, although Leon told him of the other versions; versions in which, variously, his son was raised to adulthood by Jenny Greenteeth; in which Korrigan rescued his son only by plunging through a portal into Mavisha, where he remained for forty years before Leon eventually found them; in which Jenny Greenteeth slew his son rather than surrender to him. And thus Korrigan made the decision that he would not risk any further danger to his child and sought for the safest place he could find. Meanwhile, other members of the unit had finally tracked down an reincarnation of Malthusius before he could be killed by the Ob (by emissaries of Roland Stanfield, specifically). This reincarnation - 'Uriel', it called itself - was in need of protection too. Korrigan decided to do all he could to keep their investigation active, while vanishing as completely as possible until such times as a positive lead emerged. He has been raising his son (with the help of many friends) and trying to stay alert to the possibility of sudden action, as well as fostering relationships with the githzerai elders.

Matunaaga: Having lived for many years in self-imposed exile from his own people - a race who once loyally served the Kings of Risur before abandoning their oath in the face of the carnage of Yersaol IV - Matunaaga could not be certain of a warm welcome on his return. But the need to protect Korrigan's son, and Malthusius/ Uriel from harm persuaded him it was worth the try. He had many children of his own, and he gathered them and - together with Ayesha, his wife - travelled to a secret valley in the Anthras mountains where they petitioned the githzerai - or maustin caji - for sanctuary. It was duly granted. Matunaaga's rediscovery and study of the Palimpsest - a fabled caji artifact - was proof of his worth, and he has spent the intervening years revealing its truths to a cadre of disciples. Matunaaga still has work to do, and must spend time re-dedicating himself to the art of war, and won't be returning to action until he is ready.

Rumdoom: Because the newlywed Rumdoom did not want to up sticks and leave his life behind him he was not told the whereabouts of the others, just in case. Rumdoom himself had nothing to fear from remaining out in the open as he believes he cannot be killed. As he did not want to continue as the sole remaining member of Alpha Unit, and the city of Flint held too many bad memories, he and his wife decided to decamp to Trekhom, where word of his branch of eschatology had already spread. The Flint branch of his cult had suffered innumerable setbacks (not least of which was the death of Harn, his wife's father). Here was a chance to start anew. It turned out to be a good decision as he has lived in the lap of luxury ever since and his pseudo-religion has prospered. His position at the centre of a growing religious movement also meant that he could ask the faithful to keep their eyes and ears peeled for any sign of Obscurati activity, and contacts up and down the Avery Coast railroad meant that their reach was substantial. Rumdoom is taking his time to reach Seobriga, travelling by luxury liner, as he refuses to teleport.

Uru: Another affiliate of the Unseen Court (as Lord of Crawling Fey), Uru was also able to remain at large. It's been his job to keep an eye on Flint, and on the RHC and Stover Delft in particular (working in shifts with the Mugwump). Uru did not want to leave Flint anyway. He needed to put the finishing touches to his ghostly underground garden - playground for the spirits of Cauldron Hill - and find out more about his strange connection with the Bleak Gate. Uru's extensive web of contacts throughout Flint (the seedier areas at least) have meant he could simultaneously pursue stray Ob members and keep a lookout for clues picked up by Stover. And so it was that he overheard the lead picked up by Ensign Porras, a lead which now sees the unit springing back into action.

Conquo/Xambria: These two accompanied Korrigan and Matunaaga to the valley of the gith. There Conquo enjoyed the tranquil surroundings and played with Matunaaga's children. Xambria found herself in an archaeologist's paradise: a 'lost' alien culture, frozen in time, with a whole new language to learn, and temples adorned with warnings: warnings of the threat of the gidim. These might have held a great deal of interest for her under normal circumstances, but as she met her physical demise as a result of possession by the gidim Sijhen, Xambria began to scour the githzerai archives for any ideas about how she might control her current state of being. And so she has whiled away the years devoted to study. These studies have not yet come to fruition, but Xambria still has a sizable score to settle with the Obscurati, and is only too willing to put them aside for now.

I'm mostly following along, but yeah, that's a lot of threads.

RangerWickett said:

I'm mostly following along, but yeah, that's a lot of threads.

Click to expand...

We played from some time in 2011 to summer 2014, and only ran the first five adventures (despite gaming 'fast', in the words of one of the others DMs on these boards.) So those buffer adventures really took on a life of their own. However, I am exaggerating for effect just slightly as some of what I listed were part of the same thread or just extra NPCs rather than storylines. Still...

Reboot Session 2 (or Session 125) - Bum Rush

Arrival

• The unit arrived at the teleportation circle in Seobriga and found themselves in the middle of a huge Panoply demonstration.
• An overdressed orcish police officer attempted to coerce them into attendance at 'the courtroom'. Members of the crowd heckled him, and a friendly half-giant named Rodrigo interceded, bearing a message from Gupta's contact Bian Insac. It was Bian, an old family friend, who had sent her the article.
• Gupta played a mind-trick on the orcish cop and left him staring blankly into the crowd, as he had been moments before they arrived.
• Rodrigo led them to Bian's place. Conquo said they were being followed.
• Bian was welcoming and effusive (and obviously sweet on Gupta). His mood altered when it became clear they might lead danger to his door. He hastily agreed to lead them to the journalist Melissa Amerie, whom he knew very well.

Investigating for the People

• Amerie was a droll level-headed half-orc woman who lived in a large, bohemian townhouse with a wide courtyard. Conquo couldn't duck under the entrance, so he kept watch outside.
• Ludoso Alleron the 'clan chieftan' of the building welcomed them with a copy of the abridged philosophies of William Miller. The group were engaged in a lively dicussion about the validity of that morning's protests.
• Amerie was wary of them at first, although she clearly warmed to Gupta almost immediately. She knew of Korrigan by reputation, and was soon persuaded when he reiterated his progressive ideology. Leon helped by pointing out that the unit was no longer officially affiliated with the RHC - their business with the Ob was personal.
• Gupta added that her family had been killed by the colossus, which was news to everybody.
• The journalist told them everything she knew (which wasn't a great deal) but also said she had been approached by Danorans even before her article went to press. She had also witnessed the arrival of the Lux Profectusque and noted that Lya Jierre had been dressed formally, as if headed for court.

Bum Rush

• Conquo had spotted movement across the street: someone watching from an abandoned building. He let the others know and Uru was dispatched to circle round and see what was up.
• By the time he arrived there was no one there. But that meant both he and Conquo were distracted when Rush Munchausen struck, announcing his presence with cocky expletives.
• He and several Obscurati operatives pounced from the roof overlooking the courtyard, plunging the area into darkness before they attacked.
• Leon, Korrigan and Gupta reeled before Munchausen's unique, aggressive fighting style and found themselves very much on the defensive.
• The academics and philosophers - who only moments earlier had been enjoining the unit to try to persuade Rock Rackus to come and play in Seobriga - now panicked, ran around in the darkness, or hid.
• Conquo heard their screams and leapt up onto the roof. By the time he arrived, Korrigan and Leon had escaped the darkness, but Gupta had been knocked unconscious. Uru soon joined the fight too, and their arrival turned the tide.
• An overconfident Rush was sent packing when Conquo simply grabbed him and stepped off the roof. Even Rush did not have the strength to support Conquo's weight, and he was forced to disable his immovable rod and crash with Conquo to the floor. Moments later, his gatecrasher charm engaged and he disappeared, into the Bleak Gate, cursing as he went.
• His accomplices fled too. ("The cops are coming," they said.)

Judge, Jury and Executore

• The cops were a cadre of city guards (mostly orcs and hobgoblins) led by a female gnoll in the robes of an Executore dola Liberta. This was Glaucia Evoria and she had come to enforce a subpoena.
• Korrigan was perplexed by how quickly their presence in Seobriga had been detected, and tried to figure out how Glaucia had known they were there. In truth, Glaucia only knew that someone connected to a defendant in her courtroom was expected to come through the teleportation circle.
• It transpired that Brakken of Heffinata had been arrested yesterday and was being held on charges of 'denying a citizen liberty through the use of mind control magic'. Given the circumstances, they agreed to accompany the gnoll to her Dragon Bone Court.
• Brakken stood in the dock looking dishevelled but relieved to see friendly faces: the mood of the crowd was ugly.
• The plaintiffs - two orcs - told their story, and Korrigan immediately sensed something was up. He asked to cross-examine them and, with Gupta's help (and a clever trick from Uru that caused the irritated orcs to blurt out more information than they should have) established that the pair had been put up to all this by none other than Rush Munchausen!
• It was now time for Brakken to testify...

End of session. (Save only for a welcome sending from Rumdoom, informing the unit that his ship was due in Seobriga later that day!)

DM's Notes

Dropped the ball a bit here, as I just got on with the adventure as written (with a couple of minor changes to account for Gupta's contacts), failing to take into account that - if the unit weren't expected, and Gupta was expected yesterday - the presence of Officer 'Stone' at the teleportation circle was a bit of a stretch. Korrigan pounced on this immediately: he had reckoned with the element of surprise (and had forgone the opportunity to reconnect with Stover on that basis). So he was particularly concerned about the situation because he naturally assumed it reflected something more serious than my failure to think things through. Oh well, lesson learned.

With that in mind, I started to think about the logistic consequences of other changes I have made and realised that Benedict Pemberton would by now have had three years to plan his strike on Ber with Tinker Oddcog's help. So while he might have been bounced on the exact timing, he could easily have a fairly impressive invasion force on hand that could at the very least take Seobriga. That would raise the stakes a bit, wouldn't it? (Or would it lead to Pemberton fleeing to Seobriga instead of Yerasol?)