RangerWickett
Legend
I'm intrigued by that set-up. Good luck with your game in the new year!
ZEITGEIST BSI: Bosum Strand Irregulars
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Highlights of heroic tier from the perspective of Summer's player: http://yoccu.tumblr.com/post/104973117249/i-wish-i-could-share-all-of-our-weird-d-d-stories
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Shadow of the Colossus, part I
After the collapse of the Obscurati facility under the Bleak Gate analogue of Cauldron Hill, which led to the escape of the Colossus named Borne, Kind Aodhan of Risur was holding an emergency meeting. The King’s advisors and Constables were brainstorming ideas to deal with the rampaging Colossus, which was tearing up parts of the city of Flint. Borne’s mood seemed to be alternating between rage and calm, but even a calm 300-foot-tall mechanical man can crush people’s homes and businesses.
Fleet Admiral Morris Dawkins supported a strategy of naval engagement. Handheld guns had proven ineffective against the colossus, but Dawkins was confident that naval guns could penetrate the defenses of the Colossus, if the thing could only be driven or lured into the sea.
Principal Minister Harkover Lee supported a strategy of banishment. The King had the power to exile any living thing in his country to the Dreaming. The ritual would take time, and the sudden delivery of an angry colossus into the Dreaming would probably anger the fey, but it was a more reliable solution than just using bigger guns.
Constable Summer had only recently found out that she had an entire life that had been wiped from her memory, during which she had helped create the colossus while working for the Obscurati under the name Kasvarina Varal. Borne had seemed to respond positively to her presence, and flew into a rage when she appeared to be killed by Leone Quital, one of Borne’s other creators. Summer suggested that the colossus might listen to her if she just went and talked to him.
The King considered the options before him and decided to go with all of them. Summer and the Constables would go to Borne and try to talk some sense into him. If they failed, they were to attempt to drive Borne into Flint Harbor, where the navy would be waiting. In case the navy was unable to defeat the colossus, the King would begin his ritual to banish Borne to the Dreaming. In case that wasn’t enough to deal with, the Jierre delegation to the Danor-Risur peace summit was scheduled to arrive by ship today in the harbor. Aodhan hoped the crisis could be dealt with in time to not interrupt the summit meeting.
Alienor suggested that letting the Colossus rampage out into the ocean until it sunk Lya Jierre’s ship might be a good way to use one problem to solve another. The Obscurati built the Colossus; let them deal with it.
The Constables had acquired a smaller version of Borne: the head of a witchoil-powered golem that called herself Colleen. Colleen had been “raised” by Kasvarina alongside Borne and several others. Their consciousnesses were being slowly prepared for being implanted into the colossus. Colleen had fought against the Constables under Quital’s control (under the name Colin). After seeing her “mother” again, and talking with her “father” Alexander Grappa, Colleen changed allegiances and joined the Constables in their fight against the Obscurati. James helped build Colleen a new, smaller, body after her original body was destroyed in the collapse of the Cauldron Hill facility. Delft refused to acknowledge her as a person, but agreed that the equipment could be useful in learning about the Obscurati, so Colleen joined the group in their mission.
It was easy enough to find Borne as he stomped around Parity Lake. The caught up with him just as he was putting the finishing touches on Lorcan Kell’s awful Theater of Scoundrels. As he stood amongst the ruins of the building, Cazara and Summer climbed up and had a chat with him. Summer talked to Borne and asked him what he wanted. Borne’s language skills did not seem to be highly developed, but he managed to rumble out a few words: “Mother… Dead… Revenge.” Summer tried to reassure Borne that she was, in fact, alive, but Borne would only repeat “Revenge.” After a few minutes of trying to reason with him, it occurred to her that, while Borne might be listening, he was powered by witchoil, the refined essence of thousands of dead souls, trapped in suspension. The souls were angry, and they wanted revenge against those who had caused suffering.
Summer mentioned to Cazara that she thought the Colossus was angry at the Obscurati. Cazara thought that maybe Alienor’s idea wasn’t so bad, and she told Borne that his enemies were arriving by boat. “Boats?” said Borne, and then he started for the harbor, repeating “Boats” over and over to himself. As Borne made his way down the Stanfield Canal, destroying all the bridges along the way, Summer and Cazara managed to dismount to nearby rooftops. It wasn’t exactly the result they were going for, but at least they had gotten Borne to head for the harbor, where the fleet and king awaited.
After the collapse of the Obscurati facility under the Bleak Gate analogue of Cauldron Hill, which led to the escape of the Colossus named Borne, Kind Aodhan of Risur was holding an emergency meeting. The King’s advisors and Constables were brainstorming ideas to deal with the rampaging Colossus, which was tearing up parts of the city of Flint. Borne’s mood seemed to be alternating between rage and calm, but even a calm 300-foot-tall mechanical man can crush people’s homes and businesses.
Fleet Admiral Morris Dawkins supported a strategy of naval engagement. Handheld guns had proven ineffective against the colossus, but Dawkins was confident that naval guns could penetrate the defenses of the Colossus, if the thing could only be driven or lured into the sea.
Principal Minister Harkover Lee supported a strategy of banishment. The King had the power to exile any living thing in his country to the Dreaming. The ritual would take time, and the sudden delivery of an angry colossus into the Dreaming would probably anger the fey, but it was a more reliable solution than just using bigger guns.
Constable Summer had only recently found out that she had an entire life that had been wiped from her memory, during which she had helped create the colossus while working for the Obscurati under the name Kasvarina Varal. Borne had seemed to respond positively to her presence, and flew into a rage when she appeared to be killed by Leone Quital, one of Borne’s other creators. Summer suggested that the colossus might listen to her if she just went and talked to him.
The King considered the options before him and decided to go with all of them. Summer and the Constables would go to Borne and try to talk some sense into him. If they failed, they were to attempt to drive Borne into Flint Harbor, where the navy would be waiting. In case the navy was unable to defeat the colossus, the King would begin his ritual to banish Borne to the Dreaming. In case that wasn’t enough to deal with, the Jierre delegation to the Danor-Risur peace summit was scheduled to arrive by ship today in the harbor. Aodhan hoped the crisis could be dealt with in time to not interrupt the summit meeting.
Alienor suggested that letting the Colossus rampage out into the ocean until it sunk Lya Jierre’s ship might be a good way to use one problem to solve another. The Obscurati built the Colossus; let them deal with it.
The Constables had acquired a smaller version of Borne: the head of a witchoil-powered golem that called herself Colleen. Colleen had been “raised” by Kasvarina alongside Borne and several others. Their consciousnesses were being slowly prepared for being implanted into the colossus. Colleen had fought against the Constables under Quital’s control (under the name Colin). After seeing her “mother” again, and talking with her “father” Alexander Grappa, Colleen changed allegiances and joined the Constables in their fight against the Obscurati. James helped build Colleen a new, smaller, body after her original body was destroyed in the collapse of the Cauldron Hill facility. Delft refused to acknowledge her as a person, but agreed that the equipment could be useful in learning about the Obscurati, so Colleen joined the group in their mission.
It was easy enough to find Borne as he stomped around Parity Lake. The caught up with him just as he was putting the finishing touches on Lorcan Kell’s awful Theater of Scoundrels. As he stood amongst the ruins of the building, Cazara and Summer climbed up and had a chat with him. Summer talked to Borne and asked him what he wanted. Borne’s language skills did not seem to be highly developed, but he managed to rumble out a few words: “Mother… Dead… Revenge.” Summer tried to reassure Borne that she was, in fact, alive, but Borne would only repeat “Revenge.” After a few minutes of trying to reason with him, it occurred to her that, while Borne might be listening, he was powered by witchoil, the refined essence of thousands of dead souls, trapped in suspension. The souls were angry, and they wanted revenge against those who had caused suffering.
Summer mentioned to Cazara that she thought the Colossus was angry at the Obscurati. Cazara thought that maybe Alienor’s idea wasn’t so bad, and she told Borne that his enemies were arriving by boat. “Boats?” said Borne, and then he started for the harbor, repeating “Boats” over and over to himself. As Borne made his way down the Stanfield Canal, destroying all the bridges along the way, Summer and Cazara managed to dismount to nearby rooftops. It wasn’t exactly the result they were going for, but at least they had gotten Borne to head for the harbor, where the fleet and king awaited.
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Shadow of the Colossus, part II
The Constables chased Borne to the harbor. By the time they arrived, he had already been engaged by the Royal Fleet. The Constables heard the familiar voice of Harkover Lee in their heads. “The king could use your assistance aboard the RNS Coaltongue. Do you consent to be teleported?”
The agreed and arrived in the midst of the battle. The King was performing his ritual, gathering fey energy to banish Borne to the Dreaming, using the ship’s magic capacitor to focus his ritual through the ship’s main weapon. Borne was wading through the fleet, closing on the king’s position, picking up ships and throwing them into each other. Just after the constables arrived, Borne shot beams of necrotic energy from his eyes.
When the beams struck the Coaltongue, ghostly shadow creatures emerged and began advancing toward the king. The ghosts seemed to carry familiar faces of those who had died in the past year. The Constables convinced themselves that the faces were an illusion and that they were not actually destroying the souls of former Constables Mort Stark and Pablo Duende. When the apparitions wore the faces of former enemies like Caius Bergeron and Cardiff Hengehill, though, the Constables sought them out with glee. Borne continued shooting angry ghosts from his eyes even as the Royal Navy fired their guns at him and tried to cut off his approach towards the Coaltongue. Borne clearly had some idea what the king was up to, and was trying to stop him.
The constables fought off wave after wave of ghosts as Borne sank ship after ship on his inexorable approach. The ghosts were draining the king’s power, and he looked close to failing his ritual when Borne finally arrived. The colossus, hip-deep in Flint Harbor, took two mighty swings with his fists, smashing at the king with his right hand and the constables with his left. Everyone survived the first attack, but another swing of his mighty fists would probably have crushed some people. However, the king finished his ritual and channeled it into the capacitor of the ship. Geoffrey Massarde aimed the ship’s main gun and released King Aodhan’s fey magic at the shadow colossus.
Green tendrils wrapped themselves around Borne. He struggled against them, but they managed to wrap him up like vines claiming an abandoned vehicle. Borne lunged for the Coaltongue, but there was a bright flash of light and the 300-foot-tall mechanical man was gone. The rushed in to fill the void where Borne had stood, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of spring.
King Aodhan thanked the Constabled for their help in protecting him while he banished the colossus. As the Coaltongue returned to port, it was greeted by the cheering throngs who had witnessed the defense of their city from shore. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Aodhan asked IronPeak to kneel before him. Harkover Lee produced the King’s ceremonial sword and handed it to the king. King Aodhan knighted IronPeak, and each of the other constables in turn, including Alienor and Colleen, though not James M. Chinast’s Remarkable Mechanical Hat. He had to draw the line somewhere.
With their newfound titles and power (IronPeak estimated that the constables had been elevated from the 10th Level of Combat Effectiveness to the 13th, which could only mean something to a Martial Scientist), the Constables were in a position to affect the world on a larger scale than they had up until now. Within a day, the King sought their counsel. The Jierres had not showed up to the Peace Summit. Their ship was returning to Danor and Han Jierre had issued a statement condemning Risur for secretly constructing a “sorcerous machine of war and terror.” Jierre’s statement called out Risur for offering peace with one hand while holding the two most powerful war machines in the world behind its back. Jierre called on his people to prepare for war against their historic enemy. It was not a war of Danor’s choosing, but Danor would defend itself against the tyranny of Risur’s war machines.
The King asked his new knights for advice. They all knew that Lya Jierre was part of the Obscurati and that the Obscurati had diverted Risuri military and industrial resources to build Borne. The intricacies of the situation seemed difficult to sell to a public that needed guidance in these troubled times. Aodhan didn’t think it was a good idea to bring up shadowy conspiracies that may have infiltrated his government. The people needed an explanation, and they needed an enemy. Danor was presenting itself as one. Would the Constables sign off on an official story that Danor had been behind the Borne Project, and that the Jierres had planned this all along to manufacture a casus belli? The Knight-Constables debated back and forth for a while, but finally came to an agreement with the king: let the blame lay with the Jierre family. Two of them were already known to be involved. Who knew how many more were in the Obscurati? Could it go all the way to the top?
Later that week, Alienor took the opportunity to meet with Gale. Unbeknownst to her, Cazara and Summer also had a meeting planned with Gale for the same day. Gale had a busy appointment calendar.
Alienor and Gale talked about their complicated past relationship. Gale had raised Alienor and the two had been lovers for a time. On Axis Island during the last war, Alienor had helped Gale escape at the cost of Alienor’s husband’s life, and Alienor wanted to make sure Gale knew that she ad been aiming for Lord Stark and not Gale. Gale said she knew. She told Alienor that she trusted that Alienor never missed, which caused some muffled giggling in the trees, as Cazara and Summer eavesdropped on the conversation. Alienor wanted to know what the future held for them now, and Gale shut her down, saying that what they had in the past was in the past and that she had no place for Alienor any more. Alienor asked for a favor before they parted. She was concerned that her daughter in Danor might get into trouble with the oncoming war. If she needed to get out, would Gale have a safe place for her? Gale agreed, saying that taking in lost girls was something she did on a regular basis, and that if Alienor’s daughter needed a place to hide, Gale knew a community of skyseer druids in the Cloudwood who could take her in.
Gale and Alienor parted ways, and then Gale went to her meeting with Cazara and Summer, where Cazara inquired about Gale’s connection to the Vekeshi Mystics. Had Gale received any communication from them? Gale said she was disappointed in the relationship, as the Vekeshi seemed to be directionless at the moment. She gathered that there were no new orders coming from the top and the local cell of the Vekeshi Mystics seemed to lack the initiative to do much more than lounge about and/or have naked parties by the light of the full moon. Cazara asked about Gale’s intentions moving forward, with a potential war on the horizon. Gale said she would see how the situation developed, though her general enmity toward Danor and technology would guide her. Cazara asked if Gale and her organization would be available to help if needed, and Gale promised to work with her when it suited Gale’s agenda.
The Knight-Constables of the Royal Homeland Constabulary spent the next month or so tending to the more mundane business of hiring new constables and getting settled into their new headquarters. Everything was settling down until Summer received a package from Elfaivar...
The Constables chased Borne to the harbor. By the time they arrived, he had already been engaged by the Royal Fleet. The Constables heard the familiar voice of Harkover Lee in their heads. “The king could use your assistance aboard the RNS Coaltongue. Do you consent to be teleported?”
The agreed and arrived in the midst of the battle. The King was performing his ritual, gathering fey energy to banish Borne to the Dreaming, using the ship’s magic capacitor to focus his ritual through the ship’s main weapon. Borne was wading through the fleet, closing on the king’s position, picking up ships and throwing them into each other. Just after the constables arrived, Borne shot beams of necrotic energy from his eyes.
When the beams struck the Coaltongue, ghostly shadow creatures emerged and began advancing toward the king. The ghosts seemed to carry familiar faces of those who had died in the past year. The Constables convinced themselves that the faces were an illusion and that they were not actually destroying the souls of former Constables Mort Stark and Pablo Duende. When the apparitions wore the faces of former enemies like Caius Bergeron and Cardiff Hengehill, though, the Constables sought them out with glee. Borne continued shooting angry ghosts from his eyes even as the Royal Navy fired their guns at him and tried to cut off his approach towards the Coaltongue. Borne clearly had some idea what the king was up to, and was trying to stop him.
The constables fought off wave after wave of ghosts as Borne sank ship after ship on his inexorable approach. The ghosts were draining the king’s power, and he looked close to failing his ritual when Borne finally arrived. The colossus, hip-deep in Flint Harbor, took two mighty swings with his fists, smashing at the king with his right hand and the constables with his left. Everyone survived the first attack, but another swing of his mighty fists would probably have crushed some people. However, the king finished his ritual and channeled it into the capacitor of the ship. Geoffrey Massarde aimed the ship’s main gun and released King Aodhan’s fey magic at the shadow colossus.
Green tendrils wrapped themselves around Borne. He struggled against them, but they managed to wrap him up like vines claiming an abandoned vehicle. Borne lunged for the Coaltongue, but there was a bright flash of light and the 300-foot-tall mechanical man was gone. The rushed in to fill the void where Borne had stood, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of spring.
King Aodhan thanked the Constabled for their help in protecting him while he banished the colossus. As the Coaltongue returned to port, it was greeted by the cheering throngs who had witnessed the defense of their city from shore. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Aodhan asked IronPeak to kneel before him. Harkover Lee produced the King’s ceremonial sword and handed it to the king. King Aodhan knighted IronPeak, and each of the other constables in turn, including Alienor and Colleen, though not James M. Chinast’s Remarkable Mechanical Hat. He had to draw the line somewhere.
With their newfound titles and power (IronPeak estimated that the constables had been elevated from the 10th Level of Combat Effectiveness to the 13th, which could only mean something to a Martial Scientist), the Constables were in a position to affect the world on a larger scale than they had up until now. Within a day, the King sought their counsel. The Jierres had not showed up to the Peace Summit. Their ship was returning to Danor and Han Jierre had issued a statement condemning Risur for secretly constructing a “sorcerous machine of war and terror.” Jierre’s statement called out Risur for offering peace with one hand while holding the two most powerful war machines in the world behind its back. Jierre called on his people to prepare for war against their historic enemy. It was not a war of Danor’s choosing, but Danor would defend itself against the tyranny of Risur’s war machines.
The King asked his new knights for advice. They all knew that Lya Jierre was part of the Obscurati and that the Obscurati had diverted Risuri military and industrial resources to build Borne. The intricacies of the situation seemed difficult to sell to a public that needed guidance in these troubled times. Aodhan didn’t think it was a good idea to bring up shadowy conspiracies that may have infiltrated his government. The people needed an explanation, and they needed an enemy. Danor was presenting itself as one. Would the Constables sign off on an official story that Danor had been behind the Borne Project, and that the Jierres had planned this all along to manufacture a casus belli? The Knight-Constables debated back and forth for a while, but finally came to an agreement with the king: let the blame lay with the Jierre family. Two of them were already known to be involved. Who knew how many more were in the Obscurati? Could it go all the way to the top?
Later that week, Alienor took the opportunity to meet with Gale. Unbeknownst to her, Cazara and Summer also had a meeting planned with Gale for the same day. Gale had a busy appointment calendar.
Alienor and Gale talked about their complicated past relationship. Gale had raised Alienor and the two had been lovers for a time. On Axis Island during the last war, Alienor had helped Gale escape at the cost of Alienor’s husband’s life, and Alienor wanted to make sure Gale knew that she ad been aiming for Lord Stark and not Gale. Gale said she knew. She told Alienor that she trusted that Alienor never missed, which caused some muffled giggling in the trees, as Cazara and Summer eavesdropped on the conversation. Alienor wanted to know what the future held for them now, and Gale shut her down, saying that what they had in the past was in the past and that she had no place for Alienor any more. Alienor asked for a favor before they parted. She was concerned that her daughter in Danor might get into trouble with the oncoming war. If she needed to get out, would Gale have a safe place for her? Gale agreed, saying that taking in lost girls was something she did on a regular basis, and that if Alienor’s daughter needed a place to hide, Gale knew a community of skyseer druids in the Cloudwood who could take her in.
Gale and Alienor parted ways, and then Gale went to her meeting with Cazara and Summer, where Cazara inquired about Gale’s connection to the Vekeshi Mystics. Had Gale received any communication from them? Gale said she was disappointed in the relationship, as the Vekeshi seemed to be directionless at the moment. She gathered that there were no new orders coming from the top and the local cell of the Vekeshi Mystics seemed to lack the initiative to do much more than lounge about and/or have naked parties by the light of the full moon. Cazara asked about Gale’s intentions moving forward, with a potential war on the horizon. Gale said she would see how the situation developed, though her general enmity toward Danor and technology would guide her. Cazara asked if Gale and her organization would be available to help if needed, and Gale promised to work with her when it suited Gale’s agenda.
The Knight-Constables of the Royal Homeland Constabulary spent the next month or so tending to the more mundane business of hiring new constables and getting settled into their new headquarters. Everything was settling down until Summer received a package from Elfaivar...
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Welcome to the Jungle
A month after the banishing of the Colossus of Cauldron Hill, these news stories were featured in the pages of the rebuilt Flint Tribune:
Colossus. The world reacts to news of the colossus attack in Flint. Archmissionary Cornelius Eboracum of the Clergy offers exorcism aid for evil spirits unleashed from Cauldron Hill. The Drakran military has ordered the production of extremely massive cannons to repel the colossus if it should make it to their shores. Beran peasants report local nature spirits wreaking havoc and mysterious massive footprints tracing a path from the Anthras Mountains toward Seobriga. The sovereign of Danor continues to rattle sabers at home, rallying his nation against Risur, but widespread accusations that his nation is actually to blame have hampered his efforts.
Consort. King Aodhan seems to have recovered from his aborted nuptials. Sources near Torfeld Palace have reported seeing a mysterious Tiefling woman leaving in the middle of the night, though she has never been seen to enter. Is his highness courting a new devil lady? Should citizens of Risur be concerned about our King’s choice of lovers with impending war against Danor on the horizon?
Curses. Cauldron Hill has been interdicted by the Risuri military. The side of the mountain is in flux, sometimes showing a hole that leads to the Bleak Gate, sometimes solid rock. Soldiers have been equipped with magical weapons from the nation’s vaults to combat spectral monsters that emerge each night.
Sedition. Sparse reports come from Danor of university students filing formal petitions against the government and even talking of repeating the riots of a generation ago. These protests come in response to a crackdown on broadsheet journalism. The leadership in Cherage has forbidden publication of conspiracy theories that link Danor to the colossus in Risur, and several writers have been thrown into oubliettes for undermining the sovereign’s denials.
Stagnation. Rear Admiral of the Risuri Navy Morris Dawkins was found dancing through Central District by the light of the full moon wearing nothing but an ancient carved stag mask and singing the Dirge of Vekesh. Even after Flint Police arrested the admiral, he would not accept clothing or stop singing and so had to be removed to the custody of the Roland Stanfield Memorial Sanitarium in Pine Island. RHC terrorism expert Stover Delft said that the Admiral showed signs of being a leader in a Vekeshi terrorist cell in Flint. Further scandal! One of the king’s closest associates behind terrorist plots? One hopes the loss of their leader will hurt the Vekeshi capabilities in Flint.
Shipwrights. The city of Shale, once governed by the king’s sister Ethelyn, has ordered a rapid increase in ship construction in preparation for possible war with Danor. Heightened logging activities throughout Risur have been stymied by fey activity. The city of Bole is suffering an encroachment of trees, which have been walking into the streets when people aren’t looking.
Sibilance. Colonists in Elfaivar talk of eerie whispers in the woods. Near the Sharavathi Falls, a site claimed to be sacred to the fallen Eladrin empire, several caravans have disappeared except for a single survivor each. All have reported their compatriots vanishing, hearing only whispers and seeing only foot prints of mighty jungle cats.
The gossip amongst the RHC gossipmongers was mostly focused on King Aodhan’s new consort. Was Alienor making a power play, or was it just some other Tiefling woman who happened to be living in Risur? The fact that the papers identified the king’s consort as a Tiefling when Alienor was trying to live in disguise as a human was all the more interesting.
The gossip was delayed by the arrival at RHC Headquarters of a mysterious package addressed to Summer. Inside was a letter from her forgotten husband Asrabey Varal and an ancient Eladrin text. The letter said that Asrabey had been researching a way to get Summer’s memories back. The book had information on an ancient item known as the Arc of Reida, one of the few unlooted Elfaivaran artifacts remaining.
The book told that the Arc was a crown said to have been shaped from a piece of the Plane of Time that fell to the world and was a holy relic of the god Ingatan. According the the text, any who wore it and returned to the site of a memory was able to make that memory come to life. It was used in holy rites to pass on memories that must not be forgotten. Handwritten notes in the margin of the book say that the Eladrin of Elfaivar “all know” that the arc was taken for safe-keeping after the Great Malice, and the first Vekeshi Mystics used it to pass along the memory of Srasama’s fall, but eventually it was returned to a site known as Ingatan’s Refuge.
Asrabey’s letter implored Summer to go to Ingatan’s Refuge and find the Arc so that she could get back her memories of her past. Summer at first was unwilling to find memories of her past, not wanting to know what horrible things she might have done, but the others convinced her that her memories would probably hold vital clues to the schemes of the Obscurati. If her recovered memories could help stop the Obscurati, it might be worth the personal trauma.
Before they left, Stover Delft caught the team up on some developing news from Cauldron Hill. Captain Dale’s team had unearthed some documents from the ruins of the Bleak Gate facility. It seemed there was a missing member of the colossus design team: a gnome by the name of Tinker Oddcog (“The Gearbuilder”) had been heavily involved in the mechanical design. This gnome was nowhere to be found, but Delft asked the constables to be on the lookout for him.
The Knight-Constables decided that Summer’s memories were a higher priority, so they called in a favor with Captain Rutger Smith and he brought his ship, the RNS Impossible, to shuttle them to Elfaivar. It would take about a week to journey to the Crisillyiri colony of Vigilia on the north shore of Elfaivar, which now controlled the area where Ingatan’s Refuge should be.
During the trip, Summer took advantage of the opportunity to ask the stars many questions. She found out the truth about the King’s consort (it’s Alienor) on the first night. She also found out that the main dangers that faced her group in Elfaivar were from men and beasts; not very helpful. She also divined that Tinker Oddcog was currently somewhere in Ber; again, not very helpful, but at least it was a direction.
After a week of luxury cruising on the fastest ship in the fleet, the constables unloaded in Vigilia. Some asking around informed them that the nearest settlement to the supposed location of Ingatan’s Refuge was a Clergy outpost known as Vigli Longis, about a week’s overland travel through the jungle. The group set out into the wilds of what was once the most powerful nation in the world.
The journey to Vigil Longis was safe enough, but featured several strange events. One morning, when dawn arrived, they found themselves next to a lovely grotto with a beautiful waterfall. Summer warned the others the the borders between worlds were weaker in Elfaivar, and this was likely a bit of the Dreaming that had slipped into reality. In her estimation, it was probably a trap that wanted to seduce mortals, have its carnal way with them, and then devour their bodies. She advised against bathing.
The next morning, a series of bloody totems surrounded their camp, someone’s warning about trespassing in their territory. A few days later, Cazara noticed that they were being stalked by a dire tiger, but nothing came of it. Finally, the group arrived within sight of Vigil Longis. With a decent idea of where to find Ingatan’s Refuge, the group decided to skirt the perimeter of the Clergy stockade fort, but they were picked up by a picket patrol.
The patrol chaplain asked their business in Elfaivar, and Cazara channeled Xambria by saying that they were an archaeological expedition from Pardwight University who were trying to find Ingatan’s Refuge. The chaplain asked if they had the paperwork to back that up, and Summer produced it from her pockets. Clearly she had foreseen this possibility and just happened to bring along some forged archaeological permits. The chaplain told the constables that their patrols had been having increasing trouble with aggressive savages. If they came to the fort with him he could arrange an escort for their protection. When the group refused this offer, the chaplain produced some paperwork of his own: some standard risk indemnification waivers absolving the Clergy from any responsibility for the group’s future injury and/or death. The group happily signed their lives away and made their way deeper into the jungle.
A month after the banishing of the Colossus of Cauldron Hill, these news stories were featured in the pages of the rebuilt Flint Tribune:
Colossus. The world reacts to news of the colossus attack in Flint. Archmissionary Cornelius Eboracum of the Clergy offers exorcism aid for evil spirits unleashed from Cauldron Hill. The Drakran military has ordered the production of extremely massive cannons to repel the colossus if it should make it to their shores. Beran peasants report local nature spirits wreaking havoc and mysterious massive footprints tracing a path from the Anthras Mountains toward Seobriga. The sovereign of Danor continues to rattle sabers at home, rallying his nation against Risur, but widespread accusations that his nation is actually to blame have hampered his efforts.
Consort. King Aodhan seems to have recovered from his aborted nuptials. Sources near Torfeld Palace have reported seeing a mysterious Tiefling woman leaving in the middle of the night, though she has never been seen to enter. Is his highness courting a new devil lady? Should citizens of Risur be concerned about our King’s choice of lovers with impending war against Danor on the horizon?
Curses. Cauldron Hill has been interdicted by the Risuri military. The side of the mountain is in flux, sometimes showing a hole that leads to the Bleak Gate, sometimes solid rock. Soldiers have been equipped with magical weapons from the nation’s vaults to combat spectral monsters that emerge each night.
Sedition. Sparse reports come from Danor of university students filing formal petitions against the government and even talking of repeating the riots of a generation ago. These protests come in response to a crackdown on broadsheet journalism. The leadership in Cherage has forbidden publication of conspiracy theories that link Danor to the colossus in Risur, and several writers have been thrown into oubliettes for undermining the sovereign’s denials.
Stagnation. Rear Admiral of the Risuri Navy Morris Dawkins was found dancing through Central District by the light of the full moon wearing nothing but an ancient carved stag mask and singing the Dirge of Vekesh. Even after Flint Police arrested the admiral, he would not accept clothing or stop singing and so had to be removed to the custody of the Roland Stanfield Memorial Sanitarium in Pine Island. RHC terrorism expert Stover Delft said that the Admiral showed signs of being a leader in a Vekeshi terrorist cell in Flint. Further scandal! One of the king’s closest associates behind terrorist plots? One hopes the loss of their leader will hurt the Vekeshi capabilities in Flint.
Shipwrights. The city of Shale, once governed by the king’s sister Ethelyn, has ordered a rapid increase in ship construction in preparation for possible war with Danor. Heightened logging activities throughout Risur have been stymied by fey activity. The city of Bole is suffering an encroachment of trees, which have been walking into the streets when people aren’t looking.
Sibilance. Colonists in Elfaivar talk of eerie whispers in the woods. Near the Sharavathi Falls, a site claimed to be sacred to the fallen Eladrin empire, several caravans have disappeared except for a single survivor each. All have reported their compatriots vanishing, hearing only whispers and seeing only foot prints of mighty jungle cats.
The gossip amongst the RHC gossipmongers was mostly focused on King Aodhan’s new consort. Was Alienor making a power play, or was it just some other Tiefling woman who happened to be living in Risur? The fact that the papers identified the king’s consort as a Tiefling when Alienor was trying to live in disguise as a human was all the more interesting.
The gossip was delayed by the arrival at RHC Headquarters of a mysterious package addressed to Summer. Inside was a letter from her forgotten husband Asrabey Varal and an ancient Eladrin text. The letter said that Asrabey had been researching a way to get Summer’s memories back. The book had information on an ancient item known as the Arc of Reida, one of the few unlooted Elfaivaran artifacts remaining.
The book told that the Arc was a crown said to have been shaped from a piece of the Plane of Time that fell to the world and was a holy relic of the god Ingatan. According the the text, any who wore it and returned to the site of a memory was able to make that memory come to life. It was used in holy rites to pass on memories that must not be forgotten. Handwritten notes in the margin of the book say that the Eladrin of Elfaivar “all know” that the arc was taken for safe-keeping after the Great Malice, and the first Vekeshi Mystics used it to pass along the memory of Srasama’s fall, but eventually it was returned to a site known as Ingatan’s Refuge.
Asrabey’s letter implored Summer to go to Ingatan’s Refuge and find the Arc so that she could get back her memories of her past. Summer at first was unwilling to find memories of her past, not wanting to know what horrible things she might have done, but the others convinced her that her memories would probably hold vital clues to the schemes of the Obscurati. If her recovered memories could help stop the Obscurati, it might be worth the personal trauma.
Before they left, Stover Delft caught the team up on some developing news from Cauldron Hill. Captain Dale’s team had unearthed some documents from the ruins of the Bleak Gate facility. It seemed there was a missing member of the colossus design team: a gnome by the name of Tinker Oddcog (“The Gearbuilder”) had been heavily involved in the mechanical design. This gnome was nowhere to be found, but Delft asked the constables to be on the lookout for him.
The Knight-Constables decided that Summer’s memories were a higher priority, so they called in a favor with Captain Rutger Smith and he brought his ship, the RNS Impossible, to shuttle them to Elfaivar. It would take about a week to journey to the Crisillyiri colony of Vigilia on the north shore of Elfaivar, which now controlled the area where Ingatan’s Refuge should be.
During the trip, Summer took advantage of the opportunity to ask the stars many questions. She found out the truth about the King’s consort (it’s Alienor) on the first night. She also found out that the main dangers that faced her group in Elfaivar were from men and beasts; not very helpful. She also divined that Tinker Oddcog was currently somewhere in Ber; again, not very helpful, but at least it was a direction.
After a week of luxury cruising on the fastest ship in the fleet, the constables unloaded in Vigilia. Some asking around informed them that the nearest settlement to the supposed location of Ingatan’s Refuge was a Clergy outpost known as Vigli Longis, about a week’s overland travel through the jungle. The group set out into the wilds of what was once the most powerful nation in the world.
The journey to Vigil Longis was safe enough, but featured several strange events. One morning, when dawn arrived, they found themselves next to a lovely grotto with a beautiful waterfall. Summer warned the others the the borders between worlds were weaker in Elfaivar, and this was likely a bit of the Dreaming that had slipped into reality. In her estimation, it was probably a trap that wanted to seduce mortals, have its carnal way with them, and then devour their bodies. She advised against bathing.
The next morning, a series of bloody totems surrounded their camp, someone’s warning about trespassing in their territory. A few days later, Cazara noticed that they were being stalked by a dire tiger, but nothing came of it. Finally, the group arrived within sight of Vigil Longis. With a decent idea of where to find Ingatan’s Refuge, the group decided to skirt the perimeter of the Clergy stockade fort, but they were picked up by a picket patrol.
The patrol chaplain asked their business in Elfaivar, and Cazara channeled Xambria by saying that they were an archaeological expedition from Pardwight University who were trying to find Ingatan’s Refuge. The chaplain asked if they had the paperwork to back that up, and Summer produced it from her pockets. Clearly she had foreseen this possibility and just happened to bring along some forged archaeological permits. The chaplain told the constables that their patrols had been having increasing trouble with aggressive savages. If they came to the fort with him he could arrange an escort for their protection. When the group refused this offer, the chaplain produced some paperwork of his own: some standard risk indemnification waivers absolving the Clergy from any responsibility for the group’s future injury and/or death. The group happily signed their lives away and made their way deeper into the jungle.
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Back to the Beginning
The constables headed out into the jungle, following the directions from the Clergy chaplain. Before long, they came upon a temple set in the middle of a forked waterfall. Water fell to the right and left of a huge four-armed statue of a sitting Eladrin. Beneath the statue was a single-story stone building with few windows. A curving path led up from the floor of the jungle to the entrance of the building, with trees and heavy vines crowding at its edges.
In the trees, there were structures like houses, with very sturdy roofs and mere drapes for walls. An Eladrin lowered himself from a tree branch and greeted the group, introducing himself as Raja Batronga Sidhon. “Who are you and why have you come?” They told him that they were on a pilgrimage to the temple of Ingatan to find an ancient artifact. Batronga told them that his people, the “Children of Hewanharimau,” were now protectors of the temple, and none were allowed entry to the temple until they had proven themselves. When the group asked how they could prove themselves, Batronga asked them leading questions about their allegiance toward the Clergy (or lack thereof).
After discovering that the group were no friends of the Clergy, Batronga offered a plan: help the Children of Hewanharimau in their fight against the Clergy, and they would allow the group entrance into the temple. The Constables agreed. They spent the night in the strange houses in the trees, enjoying a great feast of nearly-raw meats with the Raja and his band of Eladrin weretigers. The group noticed that there were an unusually large number of women in the group. Batronga explained that the Children of Hewanharimau had much shorter lives than non-lycanthrope Eladrin, which led to faster breeding and, after 500 years, they had a normal balance of male and female members. Raja Batronga shared his plan to spread his people across Elfaivar and repopulate the Eladrin species with the help of the blessing of the beast-god Hewanharimau.
In the morning, the plan began. The Children gave the Constables some convincing-looking wounds and then the group ran back to Vigil Longis, pretending to seek protection. The Clergy were all too ready to tell the Constables that they had been stupid to go out into the jungle alone, but they offered up what hospitality they had. In the middle of the night, James and Alienor slipped some potions to the front gate guards, in the guise of alcohol, and got them to open the front gate of the stockade fort. The guards were immediately pounced upon by large tigers. The Clergy suffered heavy losses, though the Children of Hewanharimau had to retreat after Batronga was stabbed by a summoned angel. However, it was a victory for the Eladrin, as the Clergy troops began a disordered retreat from the jungle. Over the next several days, the weretigers harried the retreating troops and none of the Clergy made it out of the jungle.
The next day, the Constables went into the temple known as Ingatan’s Refuge. Batronga told them that even though they had proven themselves to his people, they would still have to pass the test presented by the temple in order to get what they wanted.
Inside, they found some simple rooms. There was a kitchen with a single, ripe banana next to a collection of tarnished eatign utensils. In the pantry was a collection of bread that was in perfect condition. The rest of the temple looked abandoned for the past 500 years or so, however. There was a main room with prayer mats on the floor and a carving of Ingatan holding four flames, one in each of his four hands. A hallway led back to the rest of the temple. Off of that hallway were four doorways. The group was not well-versed in ancient Eladrin religions, but Summer’s vague memories, coupled with her recent reading of Asrabey’s book, led the group to believe that Ingatan’s temple was devoted to various points in time, specifically the distant past, near past, near future, and distant future.
Three of the doorways were obscured by fog, but the nearest one on the left was unobstructed. Alienor led the way into that room and was engulfed in a blast of superheated air. Being a Tiefling, this did not bother her at all. James cast a spell he’d never used before to offer his allies protection against fire, then walked into the room and started burning. James made a mental note to always read the fine print on new incantations. The group inferred that this must be part of the ritual of the temple, so everyone went into the cleansing heat and then came back out into the hallway.
Most of the group then tried the room across the hall, though Alienor abstained, staying in the hall. Inside, the rest of the Constables found themselves once again on the deck of the RNS Coaltongue. IronPeak stood by King Aodhan, ready to vomit if necessary to help him save face. Cazara stood watch on the top of the command building, watching the skies for Gale. James was a deck below, having just spotted a mysterious Eladrin woman who was clearly up to no good. Assistant Chief Delft turned to Mort Stark and asked him to please go check on the Duchess and make sure she wasn’t going to embarrass the king by missing his speech.
And then the engine exploded and became two mechanical fire demons crashing through the top deck of the ship. Summer ran upstairs to see what was going on and she ran headlong into Mort. Seeing her for the Duchess’s handmaiden, Mort demanded that she tell him if the Duchess was safe. Summer had no idea what he was talking about, so the two had an interesting conversation in a stairwell while the rest of the group threw themselves at the demons. The main turret of the Coaltongue came to life and transformed itself into Colleen.
The group dispatched the engine demons fairly easily, though one of them exploded when it died, leaving behind a small flame. When the second one was destroyed, its inner flame merged with the flame of the first one and Cazara managed to grab the flame just before a second explosion came. The vision of the past ended and the Constables found themselves in a small simple chamber with a washing basin and six clean white robes perfectly fitted to the constables, even Colleen’s new massive steam-powered form.
The Constables moved on to the next doorway on the right, where they found themselves in the Bleak Gate facility just after Borne had climbed out. The whole place was collapsing and they started rushing for the only obvious exit: the door to Quital’s office. After they started in that direction, a trio of flames spawned in various places around the building. Thanks to James M. Chinast’s Remarkable Rocket Boots and Cazara and Summer and Alienor’s ridiculous amount of mobility, they were able to grab all three flames and join them together before the facility completely collapsed. When the vision cleared, they found themselves in another simple chamber, but this one had twelve dead bodies in it.
The twelve were Eladrin priestesses, composed in death with their arms crossed over their chests. The bodies were perfectly preserved, seeming not to have decayed a single day in the past 500 years. Cazara was struck with the solemnity of the situation. The group tried to figure out why the priestesses were preserved in this room in particular. Someone suggested that, to an Eladrin, 500 years ago was inside one person’s lifetime, so perhaps they were commemorating the Great Malice as a reminder of what had happened in the near past.
The next room waited, but before they took on that test, Alienor decided it was a great time to break out the tea set she had found in the Crypta Hereticarum. She poured four cups of tea and everyone took a moment to soothe their nerves. Everyone but Summer and Cazara, who found the whole idea of tea in the room of dead women to be in poor taste. Also, the teapot came from a dungeon full of cursed items, so they were wary of drinking “cursed tea.”
The constables headed out into the jungle, following the directions from the Clergy chaplain. Before long, they came upon a temple set in the middle of a forked waterfall. Water fell to the right and left of a huge four-armed statue of a sitting Eladrin. Beneath the statue was a single-story stone building with few windows. A curving path led up from the floor of the jungle to the entrance of the building, with trees and heavy vines crowding at its edges.
In the trees, there were structures like houses, with very sturdy roofs and mere drapes for walls. An Eladrin lowered himself from a tree branch and greeted the group, introducing himself as Raja Batronga Sidhon. “Who are you and why have you come?” They told him that they were on a pilgrimage to the temple of Ingatan to find an ancient artifact. Batronga told them that his people, the “Children of Hewanharimau,” were now protectors of the temple, and none were allowed entry to the temple until they had proven themselves. When the group asked how they could prove themselves, Batronga asked them leading questions about their allegiance toward the Clergy (or lack thereof).
After discovering that the group were no friends of the Clergy, Batronga offered a plan: help the Children of Hewanharimau in their fight against the Clergy, and they would allow the group entrance into the temple. The Constables agreed. They spent the night in the strange houses in the trees, enjoying a great feast of nearly-raw meats with the Raja and his band of Eladrin weretigers. The group noticed that there were an unusually large number of women in the group. Batronga explained that the Children of Hewanharimau had much shorter lives than non-lycanthrope Eladrin, which led to faster breeding and, after 500 years, they had a normal balance of male and female members. Raja Batronga shared his plan to spread his people across Elfaivar and repopulate the Eladrin species with the help of the blessing of the beast-god Hewanharimau.
In the morning, the plan began. The Children gave the Constables some convincing-looking wounds and then the group ran back to Vigil Longis, pretending to seek protection. The Clergy were all too ready to tell the Constables that they had been stupid to go out into the jungle alone, but they offered up what hospitality they had. In the middle of the night, James and Alienor slipped some potions to the front gate guards, in the guise of alcohol, and got them to open the front gate of the stockade fort. The guards were immediately pounced upon by large tigers. The Clergy suffered heavy losses, though the Children of Hewanharimau had to retreat after Batronga was stabbed by a summoned angel. However, it was a victory for the Eladrin, as the Clergy troops began a disordered retreat from the jungle. Over the next several days, the weretigers harried the retreating troops and none of the Clergy made it out of the jungle.
The next day, the Constables went into the temple known as Ingatan’s Refuge. Batronga told them that even though they had proven themselves to his people, they would still have to pass the test presented by the temple in order to get what they wanted.
Inside, they found some simple rooms. There was a kitchen with a single, ripe banana next to a collection of tarnished eatign utensils. In the pantry was a collection of bread that was in perfect condition. The rest of the temple looked abandoned for the past 500 years or so, however. There was a main room with prayer mats on the floor and a carving of Ingatan holding four flames, one in each of his four hands. A hallway led back to the rest of the temple. Off of that hallway were four doorways. The group was not well-versed in ancient Eladrin religions, but Summer’s vague memories, coupled with her recent reading of Asrabey’s book, led the group to believe that Ingatan’s temple was devoted to various points in time, specifically the distant past, near past, near future, and distant future.
Three of the doorways were obscured by fog, but the nearest one on the left was unobstructed. Alienor led the way into that room and was engulfed in a blast of superheated air. Being a Tiefling, this did not bother her at all. James cast a spell he’d never used before to offer his allies protection against fire, then walked into the room and started burning. James made a mental note to always read the fine print on new incantations. The group inferred that this must be part of the ritual of the temple, so everyone went into the cleansing heat and then came back out into the hallway.
Most of the group then tried the room across the hall, though Alienor abstained, staying in the hall. Inside, the rest of the Constables found themselves once again on the deck of the RNS Coaltongue. IronPeak stood by King Aodhan, ready to vomit if necessary to help him save face. Cazara stood watch on the top of the command building, watching the skies for Gale. James was a deck below, having just spotted a mysterious Eladrin woman who was clearly up to no good. Assistant Chief Delft turned to Mort Stark and asked him to please go check on the Duchess and make sure she wasn’t going to embarrass the king by missing his speech.
And then the engine exploded and became two mechanical fire demons crashing through the top deck of the ship. Summer ran upstairs to see what was going on and she ran headlong into Mort. Seeing her for the Duchess’s handmaiden, Mort demanded that she tell him if the Duchess was safe. Summer had no idea what he was talking about, so the two had an interesting conversation in a stairwell while the rest of the group threw themselves at the demons. The main turret of the Coaltongue came to life and transformed itself into Colleen.
The group dispatched the engine demons fairly easily, though one of them exploded when it died, leaving behind a small flame. When the second one was destroyed, its inner flame merged with the flame of the first one and Cazara managed to grab the flame just before a second explosion came. The vision of the past ended and the Constables found themselves in a small simple chamber with a washing basin and six clean white robes perfectly fitted to the constables, even Colleen’s new massive steam-powered form.
The Constables moved on to the next doorway on the right, where they found themselves in the Bleak Gate facility just after Borne had climbed out. The whole place was collapsing and they started rushing for the only obvious exit: the door to Quital’s office. After they started in that direction, a trio of flames spawned in various places around the building. Thanks to James M. Chinast’s Remarkable Rocket Boots and Cazara and Summer and Alienor’s ridiculous amount of mobility, they were able to grab all three flames and join them together before the facility completely collapsed. When the vision cleared, they found themselves in another simple chamber, but this one had twelve dead bodies in it.
The twelve were Eladrin priestesses, composed in death with their arms crossed over their chests. The bodies were perfectly preserved, seeming not to have decayed a single day in the past 500 years. Cazara was struck with the solemnity of the situation. The group tried to figure out why the priestesses were preserved in this room in particular. Someone suggested that, to an Eladrin, 500 years ago was inside one person’s lifetime, so perhaps they were commemorating the Great Malice as a reminder of what had happened in the near past.
The next room waited, but before they took on that test, Alienor decided it was a great time to break out the tea set she had found in the Crypta Hereticarum. She poured four cups of tea and everyone took a moment to soothe their nerves. Everyone but Summer and Cazara, who found the whole idea of tea in the room of dead women to be in poor taste. Also, the teapot came from a dungeon full of cursed items, so they were wary of drinking “cursed tea.”
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RangerWickett
Legend
Oh god, that tea set.
Way to go RHC, teaming up with some savages to kill people just trying to do their jobs. (Though if they'd gone the other way I would have commended them for teaming up with invaders to kill the innocent natives.)
Did the players balk at all at the moral conundrum?
Way to go RHC, teaming up with some savages to kill people just trying to do their jobs. (Though if they'd gone the other way I would have commended them for teaming up with invaders to kill the innocent natives.)
Did the players balk at all at the moral conundrum?
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
I'd forgotten about the exact nature of the tea set at first, so I just told them they had a lovely bit of tea that night. But at the start of last night's session, I had each of the people who drank the tea tell me about one of their character's old friends who they had lost touch with and then described the sensation of having lovely memories of that person until the tea was finished, and then being left with a feeling of emptiness and having a chill go down their spine. They didn't seem too enthused to have another go at the tea after that.
With a Razorclaw Vekeshi Mystic, an Eladrin Vekeshi Excoriant, and a Tiefling with no love for the Clergy in the group, they had little trouble swaying the other three (who have much less solid allegiances) to their side. Liberating Elfaivar is a pretty major goal for Cazara and Summer. I read them the rest of the text about Batronga attracting more Eladrin to his side and the colony of Vigilia failing over the next few months (as a vision for Summer), and they said they felt like it was one of the best feelings of accomplishment they'd had in the game yet.
With a Razorclaw Vekeshi Mystic, an Eladrin Vekeshi Excoriant, and a Tiefling with no love for the Clergy in the group, they had little trouble swaying the other three (who have much less solid allegiances) to their side. Liberating Elfaivar is a pretty major goal for Cazara and Summer. I read them the rest of the text about Batronga attracting more Eladrin to his side and the colony of Vigilia failing over the next few months (as a vision for Summer), and they said they felt like it was one of the best feelings of accomplishment they'd had in the game yet.
skotothalamos
formerly roadtoad
Ah, it occurs to me that I never covered the Paragon Paths the characters took. No one took the Paragon Path that matched their Theme, but we had some crossover. I handwaved some of the requirements, depending on how much it made sense for the character.
Cazara (the Vekeshi Mystic) took Urban Empath. She's very much a cop in touch with the city, and it just felt like a natural fit for her investigative prowess.
Summer (the Skyseer) too Vekeshi Excoriant. With her backstory unfolding, and the First Blade of Srasama basically claiming her as its own, she's feeling a very strong association with Srasama. Also, Cazara has inducted her into the Mystics.
IronPeak (the Martial Scientist) took the War Veteran one whose name I've forgotten. IronPeak is a war vet, but took the Martial Scientist background, so I've been throwing most of the veteran plotlines her way. The player is an Iraq vet and she felt like she could do a good job of channeling that into her roleplay.
Colleen (the rejuvenated witchoil golem Colin from the Bleak Gate facility) took Steamsuit Pilot, more as a large-sized upgrade to her body than an actual suit. (That's a lot of fun for me because one of my suggestions for the powers got used in the final text, so I get to feel all game designery every time she uses those powers.)
James (the Technologist) took the Self-Forged path from Eberron. He is making himself into a robot, one piece at a time.
Alienor (the Gunslinger) took the Turathi Highborn path from the Tiefling book. It had a lot of the fiery powers and arrogance that are essential to the character concept.
Cazara (the Vekeshi Mystic) took Urban Empath. She's very much a cop in touch with the city, and it just felt like a natural fit for her investigative prowess.
Summer (the Skyseer) too Vekeshi Excoriant. With her backstory unfolding, and the First Blade of Srasama basically claiming her as its own, she's feeling a very strong association with Srasama. Also, Cazara has inducted her into the Mystics.
IronPeak (the Martial Scientist) took the War Veteran one whose name I've forgotten. IronPeak is a war vet, but took the Martial Scientist background, so I've been throwing most of the veteran plotlines her way. The player is an Iraq vet and she felt like she could do a good job of channeling that into her roleplay.
Colleen (the rejuvenated witchoil golem Colin from the Bleak Gate facility) took Steamsuit Pilot, more as a large-sized upgrade to her body than an actual suit. (That's a lot of fun for me because one of my suggestions for the powers got used in the final text, so I get to feel all game designery every time she uses those powers.)
James (the Technologist) took the Self-Forged path from Eberron. He is making himself into a robot, one piece at a time.
Alienor (the Gunslinger) took the Turathi Highborn path from the Tiefling book. It had a lot of the fiery powers and arrogance that are essential to the character concept.
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