ZEITGEIST Cypherblade's Zeitgeist campaign

Cypherblade

Explorer
Hey folks,
In a couple of months I will start with the Gears of Revolution AP for my roleplay group.
So I'm in the middle of preparations and thanks to a lot of people here, I found a huge amount of advice and material to augment the experience of my players.
Thank you all for this awesome content!

On one thing in chapter 12 'The Grinding Gears of Heaven' I didn't find a satisfactory answer on the boards. let me explain....

In Chapter 12 Part 1, the party crash lands on Av and while trying to save some fey, Av breaks apart, consumed by the grinding gears of the Gyre.
In Part 2 there is some reference to Av as being plane 53 on the map which sits all way back, farthest from the destruction of the cogwheels.

How do I have to understand this? Is this a fundamental flaw in the AP? Did I misread this? Or are the remnants of Av thrown across the Gyre and will they be processed again in some distant future?

Thanks for clarification.

Hope to keep you all posted on further developments in short notice.
 

log in or register to remove this ad


log in or register to remove this ad

I love it when immersion is high and the players start having in-game discussions. Just yesterday, there was a two-hour debate about what exactly is going on in Flint and a second discussion about whether Chief Delft can really be trusted.
And then there's Staf, who gives an unforseen turn to events. In this case when he claimes to have battle medic knowledge and rolls a 1 on his heal check :ROFLMAO:

We’re back at the RHC headquarters, and Kane is negotiating what spoils we’re allowed to keep. However, Alaric can’t make a decision on the matter and refers us to Lady Saxby (gulp).

Ayleen points out that it’s unclear what we are and aren’t allowed to include in our reports. We plead with Stover for more openness and transparency.

We reflect on the potential invasion from the Bleak Gate. Agent X might have been working on this for thirty years already. Are other nations involved too—Danor, Ber? Nevard’s prophecies are still quite cryptic. The first few paragraphs do seem to reference Agent X. Is he from Flint? He’s said to be driven into the sea by the King, and there he would be cut off from his shadow.

We also chuckle again about the note meant for Staf—which he, alone, didn’t read. Thankfully. Still a pity we don’t know who sent it.

We task the C-team with investigating whether the druidic order has been infiltrated by the skeletal figures in white robes and hoods.

But no concrete lead presents itself. The black oil vials, we suspect, are foci for gathering necromantic energy. Whenever an accident occurs, that energy somehow gets captured in one of these flasks... Could Kane perhaps communicate with one of these bottled spirits?

In the end, we decide it’s best to confront Stover about our management concerns first.

Spring 14th, 500 AOV​

In the morning, we confront Chief Inspector Stover Delft. We tell him we no longer want to self-censor our reports. He agrees, though he warns us of Saxby’s wrath.

Ayleen also explains to Stover that she’s being blackmailed to repay her “training fees” several times over. We discuss the best way to deal with that.

We then head to the tearoom for our meeting with Cippiano “Cappuccino.” He wants to meet us in person after the recent incidents. He says he’s willing to help. First, by locating Dr. Wolfgang Von Recklinghausen—rumor has it he’s hiding in a chapel, in a grotto dedicated to Urian, the Light God, in the Nettles. Second, he brings news about the Dragonborn. Apparently, they’re available for hire for all sorts of shady business. He suggests we might hire them ourselves to set them up for a trap. We’ll need to think about where such a setup could take place. We also subtly signal that we’re open to supporting La Familia in their struggle against Kell’s thieves’ guild, which has been crossing the boundaries of what’s unofficially tolerated.

We make our way to the Nettles. A crowd is gathered near the grotto—people clearly suffering from various ailments. We cut the line and enter the dark tunnel, which opens into a cavern chamber. Kane immediately feels at home. There are ancient decorations honoring a sort of primal father figure with a long beard and four wolves at his side. Urian, perhaps? Further in, we reach a large, dark room. Just before stepping inside, Kane notices a tripwire with little bells. Voices come from a passage ahead and to the left. Pipistrella scouts ahead but finds only hanging curtains in the way.

Upon further scouting, we spot Doctor Von Recklinghausen, a patient, and three shady-looking men. We breach the room from three sides. As soon as we identify ourselves as RHC agents, the men draw weapons and a fight breaks out! Sarïa is the first to be struck by a shortsword. She shifts into a lion and claws back fiercely. Staf throws himself into the fight unarmed. Felix’s Chromatic Orb fails to bounce, but Kane follows up with his death knell, knocking down the first thug. In the confusion, the doctor also draws a rapier and stabs at Staf, but we shout that we only want to talk. After a brief skirmish, the last two Kell thugs are down.


We try to calm the doctor—he’s still suspicious. Staf tries to take over stitching the patient’s wound, but makes it much worse. Doctor Von Recklinghausen quickly jumps back in to put an end to the torture.
 



I really had to push them in the right direction, they still didn't put the puzzle together :(

We identify ourselves as RHC agents. The doctor begins stitching up Staf’s wound. We say we’re investigating the murder of Nilasa and ask him what happened that day. The doctor explains he wanted a visa for Ber to study humanoid races there and search for similarities.

On the day of Nilasa’s death, the doctor saw the young woman fly out of the window. Then shots were fired, from inside. When she was impaled on the fence, a second shot followed. The doctor wanted to help her, but she simply handed him some papers and told him to keep them safe. When we ask for those documents, he hesitates. Staf loses his temper and puts the man in shackles. The papers contain secrets of national importance—we absolutely need them.

Von Recklinghausen is on the run from an agent and sought help from people in the underworld after leaving the Blue Bird in a rush. The shooter who killed Nilasa had been chasing him, and the doctor had injured him, allowing him to escape. His rapier is made of specially treated material, a Danoran specialty. It looks dark, doesn’t shine, and isn’t magical. It’s highly effective against anything not of this world.

Staf grows even angrier with the doctor and then steps out into the central chamber to cool off. As he walks around, he hears what seems to be hammering. Suddenly, in the dark, he’s stabbed in the back. He collapses, unconscious. We hear a thud as his body hits the ground. When I step into the hall and shine my light, it suddenly goes out.

A fight breaks out in the main chamber: Agent X—slightly more manifested—along with two henchmen. X tries to get to the doctor, but we drive him back. The two henchmen go down quickly, and X flees. The exit suddenly closes with iron bars, but X shadow-steps through them.

Outside stands a man in a purple cape, beside him a floating tray with a glass of wine. There are three carts outside, loaded with iron bars and barrels. Several rough-looking men linger nearby. One of the bars floats in the air, aimed at the entrance. From behind the bars, Sarïa fires a starry whisp at X, but the caped man introduces himself as Leone Quitall. He speaks with a Crisillyiri accent. There’s no need for more bloodshed—he only wants the doctor and the documents, and then everyone can leave in peace. He gives us one hour to think it over, sipping from his glass.

Staf tries to pull the bars apart. At that moment, the floating bar shoots him, and he goes down again. I heal him a bit, and we retreat to discuss our options. In the back of the cave, there’s a small passage to a shrine hidden behind a curtain. Natural light filters down from above. Against the wall is another depiction of Urian. One of his eyes seems to glow. I examine it—it’s a button. We quickly retrieve the doctor’s papers from a hiding place in the ceiling, then I press the button. A small compartment pops open. Inside is something white and gold—a priestly vestment with a sun motif, still in perfect condition. I put it on.

Felix, temporarily levitating from his wild magic, flies up through the shrine’s opening and emerges on top of the hill. He throws down a rope for us, and we climb up.

We head away from our enemies, toward the Cloudwood. Felix says he’s seen Agent X in his current form somewhere before but can’t place it. Behind us, we hear an explosion. Felix sends a message to Gale, asking her to meet us at the late Nevard’s camp.

During the walk, I attune to the vestments—Vestments of Blazing Mercy—which allow me, once per long rest, to cast sanctuary, grant me resistance to necrotic damage, and potentially blind any undead that hits me. When I cast a spell to heal a single creature, they gain temporary hit points equal to my cleric level (Wisdom modifier times per day). I cast aid on Sarïa, Staf, and myself.

We keep thinking about where we’ve seen X before and eventually realize he’s MacBannin’s butler.

We arrive at the camp in the Cloudwood. Gale isn’t there yet. We study the papers Nilasa had stolen—many are in the same handwriting. It’s a list of factories with figures on purchases and sales, plus notes on how many vials of black oil were found. At least two, possibly three, of the recent factory owners have been in prison, suggesting they’re likely straw men. All the factories we’ve visited in recent days where social unrest was brewing are on the list. Serious money must be backing this, as these aren’t cheap operations. There’s also an inventory of stolen goods and some official documents that could easily be forged by changing the names.

After a while, Gale arrives. We update her. When we say MacBannin’s butler was X, she replies that the lights she saw in the Bleak Gate also moved toward the Nettles. Staf also tells her about the red dragonborn who started the factory fires—they’re for hire, and we could lure them into an ambush through a contact. We openly offer to help her with this so she can clear her name.

We head back to the RHC with Von Recklinghausen. It’s about seven o’clock when we arrive. We place the documents in the vault, and Felix and I write up a report. After the others left, Felix and I store the papers in a second vault, leaving ordinary documents from Felix’s desk in the first vault. I place one of my gray hairs on that stack of paper.
 

Session 11
Kane, Sarïa, Aileen, and Felix spent the night at RHC headquarters. Dr. von Recklinghausen did as well, since we intended to move him to a safe house in the morning. Sarïa recalled that during her initiation, Harkover Lee had already confided doubts about Mayor Reed Macbannin. We received the arrest and search warrants we needed—ostensibly for Macbannin’s butler.

The previous evening, Staf had leaked the list of factories—managed by criminal directors—to Grimsley Thames. Thames confirmed these were indeed the most dangerous plants, with regular fatalities. Evidence suggests Danoran money may be financing them.

The B-Team would assist us by establishing a perimeter around the villa and distracting the groundskeepers on this fine spring morning. Together, we set out.

At the gates of the estate, Macbannin himself emerged. Kane presented the search warrant. Before we could act further, a sudden earthquake shook the grounds. The rear wing of the villa rose up violently, spewing black oil from multiple fissures. A sinkhole opened beside us.
Creed! Get to the reservoir, you fool! Shut the valve!” Macbannin shouted to someone inside.

Felix managed to compel the mayor’s surrender with a Suggestion, but the groundskeepers and even the window washers turned hostile. Sarïa, in lion form, leapt upon them. Staf missed his strike. Kane restrained Macbannin in irons, and Ayleen deftly retrieved keys and a potion from his pockets. Staf shoved one gardener into the sinkhole; his screams ended as he was swallowed by the black sludge. At Macbannin’s command, the other workers ceased their assault.

We pushed toward the front door—Sarïa still locked in melee outside. Staf battered at the door, but Ayleen unlocked it with the key. Inside, the household staff directed us to the “cellar” in the raised rear wing. Yet this proved to be nothing more than a kitchen pantry.

“Where is Creed?” we demanded. “In the shed, out back.”

There we found the body of a woman, half-sunk into the ground inside an iron ring, clutching six medallions. Staf tried breaking the ring, but Ayleen donned one medallion and phased into the Bleak Gate. There, the ring revealed a stairway downward. The shadow-realm was strange, half-formed. Below, we found a lift and two doors.

Behind one door: a chamber awash in blood and limbs—haunted by a jaguar that immediately mauled Staf nearly to death. Behind the other: an iron golem. Ayleen concealed the doorway with Minor Illusion to keep the beast at bay, while we focused on the golem. Knowing its vulnerability to radiant energy, Sarïa’s Moonbeam tore through it relentlessly. Though Staf fell again, the beam burned through both the construct and, finally, the jaguar.

In the golem’s chamber, a further door opened into a vast machine room—silent, but patrolled by two more jaguars. We sealed the door and descended by lift.

The lift opened onto a narrow walkway suspended above a massive reservoir of black oil, with foul liquid gushing from two pipes. As we crossed, Agent X intercepted us.
“I gave you a chance to join us,” he sneered, driving a syringe of black ichor toward Staf’s neck. The needle snapped. X struck twice with his claws.

Kane passed von Recklinghausen’s rapier to Staf. We unleashed all we had. Black shadow-hands rose from the shadows to seize us, restraining our movement.

Staf hurled his maul at X. Felix, with a final Chromatic Orb, erupted in blinding radiance. Though Ayleen herself was blinded, her aim held true: two shots brought X down. His body—skinned and saturated with black oil—was no longer recognizably human.

At the end of the walkway, we reached chambers half-submerged in oil. A massive crane marked with glowing red runes stood in the corner, fitted with four settings—slow, medium, fast, off—and a lever. Despite repeated attempts, none of the combinations released pressure in the reservoir. We realized grimly: to vent the system, we may need to reactivate the machine above, with the two jaguars still prowling.
 

Remove ads

Top