ZEITGEIST Cypherblade's Zeitgeist campaign

[Cypherblade]

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....

Spoiler

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.

 

[Cypherblade]

First Audit Report, I love Gen AI ​

Spoiler

RHC INTERNAL AFFAIRS DIVISION​

AUDIT REPORT – Inspector Staf Overflorijn​

Prepared by: Auditor Lauryn Cyneburg
Department: RHC Internal Control & Integrity Oversight
Subject: Professional Conduct Audit – Inspector Staf Overflorijn
Date: Autumn 5, 500 A.O.V.

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1. Executive Summary​

This audit evaluates the conduct, judgment, and reliability of Inspector Staf Overflorijn during recent operations.
Throughout the interview, Inspector Overflorijn demonstrated ideological rigidity, poor judgment, and a concerning lack of understanding of RHC standards and legal expectations.

His statements reveal a pattern of aggressive behavior, discriminatory attitudes, and improper reliance on another team member (Agent Ayleen) for both legal interpretation and moral direction.
Such tendencies place the RHC at reputational and operational risk.

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2. Conduct Toward Civilians and Use of Force
Overflorijn described an incident involving a demonstration outside RHC headquarters in which he used force against an unarmed civilian. He admitted this action was not ordered by any superior, and attributed it to his personal judgment.

He expressed no remorse, stating that the newspaper coverage of such incidents is “nonsense,” and claiming—without evidence—that “the citizens would stand behind him.”
He dismissed concerns of excessive force by calling the press “a trash rag.”

His responses indicate:

• Failure to follow de-escalation protocols
• Disregard for public perception and accountability
• Minimal respect for civilian rights

He further stated that his intimidating reputation stems from being a “tough trainer,” which he appeared to consider a virtue.

---

3. Attitude Toward Non-Risuri Individuals

Inspector Overflorijn openly stated that non-Risuri individuals are “potential threats” and “almost certainly spies.”
He added that foreign residents “should leave their own customs behind” if they wish to remain.

Such statements show:

• Xenophobic bias
• An inability to treat foreign citizens or agents with impartiality
• Views incompatible with RHC’s international mandate

He could not envision a scenario in which he would follow a lawful order from a Danoran superior—an outright contradiction of chain-of-command obligations.

---

4. Loyalty and Priorities

When asked whether he sees himself primarily as an RHC officer or a guardian of Risur, Overflorijn stated that Risur is “more important” because the RHC “has not existed that long.”
This indicates a problematic hierarchy of loyalties.

He further claimed that if a lawful order conflicted with his view of Risuri interests, “then the law is wrong,” suggesting:

• A willingness to disregard legal authority
• An inability to operate within the constraints of statutory mandates

His casual remark that he would “crush the skull” of a colleague who betrayed Risur raises severe concerns regarding violent tendencies and emotional regulation.

---

5. Team Dynamics

Overflorijn acknowledges that fellow team members criticize him for being “too harsh” and relying on an “iron fist.”
He delegates all “soft approaches” to Agent Felix, indicating poor adaptability and inflexibility in communication style.

He repeatedly deferred questions to Agent Ayleen, suggesting she “knows best.” This reliance demonstrates:

• A lack of independent decision-making
• Improper dependence on a peer instead of the chain of command

---

6. Integrity Issues
When questioned about missing Axis Island artifacts, Overflorijn accused colleagues of selling evidence or using it for personal components. These accusations were made:

• Without evidence
• Without documentation
• Without having filed any official report

This behavior constitutes either knowledge of misconduct he failed to report, or reckless, unfounded accusations to deflect responsibility.
Both options raise serious integrity concerns.

---

7. Assessment

Across all topics, Inspector Overflorijn demonstrated:

• Intolerance toward foreign nationals and foreign agents
• Improper and unilateral use of force
• Disregard for legal structures and accountability
• Aggressive rhetoric unbecoming of an RHC officer
• Problematic personal ideology overshadowing professional duties
• Poor judgment in situations involving civilians
• Lack of emotional restraint
• Inconsistent and unreliable statements

His attitude conflicts with the expectations of an RHC Inspector, especially one operating within a diverse, diplomatically sensitive environment.

---

8. Recommendation
Due to the severity of the concerns raised, the Internal Affairs Division recommends:

Immediate demotion of Inspector Staf Overflorijn to Assistant Inspector.​

This demotion should be accompanied by:

• Mandatory retraining in de-escalation, diplomacy, and legal procedure
• Six months of behavioral supervision under an assigned senior officer
• Quarterly performance reviews
• Reassessment of fitness for duty after the supervision period

Should Overflorijn fail to demonstrate clear improvement, termination of service should be formally considered.

​

​

​

 

[Cypherblade]

Session 22

Spoiler

We repel the bat attack fairly quickly and without too many injuries. A while later we manage to moor; a small ribbon hangs from a tree. From here it’s another 500 meters. There are spiderwebs everywhere, as usual, but these have been cut away—some time ago. Sarïa also finds signs of alligators and footprints of trolls, though the latter are not recent.

We sleep undisturbed.

7 Autumn 500 AOV​

'Long Ben' will wait for us for two days. He refuses, however, to join us on the trip to the ziggurat. Carlao leads us toward the temple. The terrain begins to slope upward slightly, and the vegetation becomes denser. The plants here are not swamp plants—they were cultivated at some point. There are many drag marks in the soil.

We soon reach another body of water, with the ziggurat standing on a small island in the center. We get a strange sensation: which is closer, my hand or the ziggurat? Fortunately, the feeling passes. Near the ziggurat we see a camp. We circle around the lake and find another golden ribbon further along. At the back of the structure, a narrow spit of land connects to the island.

Approaching the stepped pyramid, we again feel that odd sense of our senses being overloaded. We enter the collapsed camp. Three bodies lie rotting. Everything here has been rummaged through. The bodies are surprisingly intact—not eaten, no maggots, and no scavengers have been here. Suddenly it strikes us: there aren’t even mosquitoes. Ayleen feels quite tired.

Sarïa examines the decaying corpses. There are no wounds. When she opens their mouths, she finds something fungal inside—she recognizes it as a tumor. The bodies are full of tumors. Scattered on the ground is various equipment, along with a few soaked journals missing their last pages. Nothing remains that refers to the expedition’s findings.

There is an open entrance with stairs leading down. Above the opening is a symbol: a sphere surrounded by seven concentric circles. On the sixth ring is another small sphere. According to Felix, these are the planes. The sphere on the sixth circle is Apet, the plane associated with interdimensional travel—known for its eternal sandstorms. Around the plane is a silvery ring with a piece missing.

We enter a room decorated with jaguar and dragon basins carved into the walls. The corridor behind us suddenly looks much longer. On the floor lie two more expedition members: a human man and a halfling woman. These bodies show blackened marks from necrotic damage. A tripod has collapsed against the far wall. In the rear wall are three alcoves with three figures standing in them—ork mummies, fully wrapped. One seems to be holding an absent spear, the second once had a sword, and the third stands in prayer. A note reads: * Do not touch the mummies. They’re worth a lot of money. —X(ambria)*
Two more doorways lead deeper inside.

On the right wall is another depiction: a figure struck by a heavenly beam. Where the source of the beam once was, there is now a small rectangular hole. Ayleen casts detect magic but sees nothing unusual. When she switches to detect planar energy, the same energy we sensed on the artifacts fills this entire chamber—Apet’s essence, the plane that bends space and time. That explains the strange distortions in distance and dimension.

We take the right passage. Two more alcoves with figures: in one, a mummy has speared a skeleton. The other alcove is shut with wooden slats, and behind them another ork stands with a spear, but we manage to disarm it. We reach a new chamber. On a floor tile are seven concentric rings, with a point placed on the first ring: Jiese, the plane of fire, home to salamanders, influencing war, strife, and significant births. In the center is a square pillar. Near the entrance lies a rod with a charred end. Kane senses something dangerous from the pillar. The ground around it is also blackened for about three meters.

Ayleen enters the room to the left, keeping close to the wall to avoid the scorched ground. Farther along is another passage. A mural shows the rings again, this time with the sphere on the fifth ring: Urim, the plane of earth, tied to the rise and fall of wealth. Ayleen sees that the ceiling in the next chamber looks unstable. Back in the pillar room, Sarïa attempts to leap over the blackened floor, which triggers a burst of flame. We follow more cautiously, but Felix triggers the fire again. Carlao sees a golden ring embedded in the ceiling. Sarïa pokes it with her staff, disabling the fire trap. At the back of the room is a hole chipped through the wall, leading to another room. Felix crawls through the small tunnel and finds a second pillar chamber. The tunnel is relatively recent.

Ayleen disarms the trap in the second chamber. Kane hears the trap in the first room resetting behind him as he steps out last. Carlao moves ahead into the next area, where two floating fleshy masses with many eyes drift in the air. On the walls crawl four-legged, spiderlike forms. The creatures are half-transparent, like the ones we saw earlier at the weapon expo.

Felix and Ayleen sneak forward to lure them out, but Felix makes too much noise and is spotted. They fire and fall back quickly. The creatures do not pursue. Felix tries again but is attacked before he can shoot properly—his retaliation hits hard, but at the end of his assault he is suddenly shunted into the Astral Plane.

While Felix is gone, we continue the fight. This time the creatures do pursue, but we take them down one by one. Only Felix suffers further trouble when he returns: one of the spiders impales his tongue onto his leg, and Carlao is briefly snagged as well.

 

[Cypherblade]

Players weren't happy about the self-destruct switch in the ziggurat, but of course they couldn't resist pushing it....

Spoiler

After the fight, Felix tells us about his experience in the Astral Plane—because that’s where he spent a round. There he had a vision, vivid as a memory, about the orcs we saw at the entrance. From the vision he learned that we can make those strange half-tangible monsters fully tangible by thinking about them in a specific way.

When we try to return to the monster chamber, we discover that it has almost closed up with wild vines and roots. With a glowing stone from Kane we can just make out that the door on the far side is also sealing itself shut. Kane tries to shove the corpse of one of the monsters inside, but without success. Fortunately, Saria manages to speak with the plant, and the roots slowly pull back.

Inside, a curtain now hangs across the middle of the room. The fabric is nearly decayed. We step in carefully. When Kane enters, the floor begins to slide open; he tries to leap back into the corridor. The floor retracts completely and reveals rows of spears far beneath—another spear trap. But after a short inspection, it turns out to be an illusion.
In the center lies another stone with the circles, this time with a mark on the third ring: our world, and the moon, Av, the dream-world.

We move inside. Saria touches the curtain and it crumbles into dust. Carlao leads but spots a trap just in time. Ayleen disables it and casts detect magic, but sees nothing further. Time passes strangely, and Carlao suddenly realizes that Staf is far, far stronger than he is. His sword feels sooooo heavy. (that's the effect of the Mind Scar)

Moments later he steps into a trap out of sheer weakness. Kane and Ayleen take the lead. Ahead we find a secret door propped open, with stairs leading down and a magical glow filling the room. At the entrance lies a coconut-fiber welcome mat. Beyond it is another staircase leading down, and two pillars carved with winged serpents. At the far end is a small dais, and mounted on the wall hangs a golden tablet, about three by three and a half meters, with rounded corners.

Under the mat lies another map with a star system: a sphere on the final orbit. The invisible plane of catastrophe—Nem. When Ayleen steps further in, she notices that the winged serpents are faintly magical. The golden tablet, however, is not. The carving depicts stars, orcs, minotaurs, goblins—all seemingly fighting together against those strange monsters. Two humans and three tieflings lie dead here as well. They look like archaeologist types, though the tieflings were armed. They don’t seem to have been seasoned fighters. Their bodies have clearly already been inspected and stripped of anything valuable. On the floor, a half-circle of arcane symbols has been drawn in chalk, quite recently. It looks like two half-circles—apparently for two rituals: one for protection, one for suppressing magic. The pillars sit just outside the circles, and the circles appear broken.

Kane interrogates a dead tiefling:

• What were you doing in this ziggurat?
  Removing the seal to transport it to Danor.
• What killed you?
  Some idiot walked through the ritual circles and triggered the seal’s magic.
• What is the seal for?
  It seals away something from the outside world.
• What did you discover here?
  Rooms full of traps, two seals, and a map.
• What was on the map?
  We think it showed what the lands looked like thousands of years ago.

Felix examines the seal to see what can be learned from the star carvings. He finds the constellation Alexia, associated with teleportation and divination.

Ayleen inspects the stone at the entrance—it’s a trigger for something, but nothing happens. Kane suddenly hears running water. A lot of water. From one side of the corridor water is flowing in, and from the other side two undead come charging.

Ayleen fires twice but misses. Kane misses too. Felix scorches one of the undead, and Carlao hacks at the other. Saria finishes the scorched one. Ayleen kills the other.

Water begins flooding the chamber with the seal, and we suspect the other corridor is filling too. So we sprint toward the exit but run into two more undead. These ones are tougher and one hits Kane, but we eventually put them down.

Back in the plant room, the roots have already begun blocking the exit again. With a lot of pushing and pulling we manage to force our way through. At the fire chamber Ayleen disables the mechanism. Finally we return to the room where we first entered and found the orcs.

Felix addresses them in Ancient, a language he suddenly remembers. But the orcs are convinced Felix has tampered with the seal. He responds by casting Chromatic Orb, dropping two of the three orcs. Ayleen shoots the last one.

During a quick rest, Ayleen notices Carlao giving her suspicious looks. That man is up to something!

And then, in the rain, we see shapes approaching from every direction—hundreds of them. While we argue whether to break through or retreat into the pyramid, the ground begins to shake and a gigantic serpent, larger than the ziggurat, rises from the swamp. A greenish light shines from its single eye. It is a Fey Titan.

The serpent coils around the ziggurat, crushing zombies while water splashes over us.
“Climb, fools,” a deep voice commands.

We climb the ziggurat while the Titan continues crushing the undead.

Kane, Carlao, and Ayleen fall under a Geas cast by the Titan. The ziggurat sinks back into the swamp.

With some effort we orient ourselves and return to our guide, who only had to deal with a storm and two alligators. We take the boat back to Agate and arrive late in the evening.

Kane updates Alaric via Sending: “Insert message.”
Alaric replies that we must continue the investigation in Flint.
Then we sleep.

During the night, Ayleen searches Carlao’s belongings and discovers a note full of incriminating information about the party members.
THIS MAN IS SPYING ON US! OUTRAGEOUS! (also a mindscar)

8 Autumn 500 AOV
Fortunately, Kane casts Remove Curse, ending Ayleen’s paranoia—though she still glares at Carlao, because the note is indeed suspicious. Kane scolds Carlao for his questionable behavior, then also casts Remove Curse on him.

We ask the innkeeper about the expedition that transported the seal—it apparently weighed a ton. They rolled it over logs and used magic to move it.

In Bole we find Staf again, eating in an inn. He’s on “vacation” after spending a day in prison. Apparently he earned that vacation, he says. The auditor questioned him extensively, and judging from the type of questions, he was psychologically evaluated—and made a few mistakes. So he was sent on leave.

We eat and sleep.

9 Autumn 500 AOV​

That morning, Kane casts Remove Curse on himself, freeing himself from the Geas as well. It gives him a nasty headache. Then we board the train to Flint.

10 Autumn 500 AOV​

Arrival in Flint.