ZEITGEIST Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign

[Lylandra]

Old friends

As we knew that Leone took a public carriage to Enzyo Mons, we first ask the people operating the station about a person matching Leone's description. They confirm that a man like that took a carriage to Enzyo and that he booked a trip to Nalaam afterwards. We're a bit surprised by that information as taking the train to Nalaam via Sid Minos would be the fastest and most comfortable way to Nalaam (been there, done that), so maybe this is just another red herring, but we'd go after it anyway.

But first things first. So we rent a carriage up the volcano ourselves and arrive at the flank of Enzyo months short but uneventful trip later. We take the steep trail up the mountain, ignoring all the small chapels along the way until we reach the famed cathedral of Triegenes at the top of the mountain, right next to the crater.

We take a closer look at the cathedral and Carlyle remembers the Crisillyiri custom to throw either offerings or demonic artifacts into the lava. Therefore, we guess that it would be likely that Leone used this opportunity to get rid of Grappa-golem's head as he might just have feared that the mind of Grappa mind could have still been inside it.

We try to use magic to find more about Leone's further progression from here, but the Ob's divination blockade seems to be too strong for even the cleverest of our spells. We search the surrounding area thoroughly for further clues and find an unused ticket to Nalaam, which seems to confirm our suspicion.

Being stuck in a dead-end, we leave Enzyo Mons with one carriage ticket and return to Alais Primos. Unsure about what to do next, we muse whether asking the drivers of this station about Leone might be a good idea, but as they work in shifts, this might actually take days. And time is running short.

As we're confronted with the fact that we might just need to stay a couple of days in the capital, Auryn suggests that Carlyle might very well use some of the spare time to maybe visit his old deva comrades. It must have been years if not decades since he last heard of them, she says. Carlyle is very much taken by surprise, then seems suddenly insecure for a moment.

“Maybe next time when we don't have work to do. This isn't the right time for a chat with old... friends”

Auryn nods and adds that she understands. Also, there will most likely be a “next time”, so no need to rush.

(This was one of my hints for Tiz to maybe use the people in Carlyle's backstory who turned deva, just like him. Right now, the use of NPC stemmed almost solely from Auryn's background and it would really be a waste to not use them instead of another random NPC should we ever return to Crisillyir. But yeah, that's a rather long story there...)

Auryn then suddenly has a flash of insight as she realizes that Leone had to stay somewhere for the night, so maybe we'll find more clues in his pension. And maybe Grappa took this as an opportunity to leave some breadcrumbs for us to find. So we ask the kobolds for the address, head to said pension and ask politely whether we may search Leone Quintal's room as he forgot something important to him when he left.

At first, the room seems innocuous, but a closer look at a stylized painting of the Avery Coast Railway, we find a small message written in Grappa's handwriting that says “heavenly holidays in Sid Minos”.

“Oh Grappa, you stupid yet clever man” Auryn mumbles and then points to said passage.

“So maybe he truly took the train and fake-faked his passage to Nalaam. Let's see where his trip took him from there” Carlyle adds, takes his hat and leaves the room.

Now that we know that Sid Minos is our next destination, Carlyle casts a teleport spell to bring the two of us to a hidden place near the train enclave. Suspecting that Leone might have taken the train, we ask a receptionist at the train enclave for a gentleman fitting Leone's stature. And fortunately, the man can tell us that said man left the enclave in the company of a small group of people (whose description we also ask for) not too long ago and that some of them were bragging about finally being able to bet money in Nalaam's famous casinos.

So we take another teleport to Nalaam and ask the very same nice porter we encountered back during our “honeymoon trip” about Leone and his gang. The porter recognizes us from last time and, after a short and friendly chat, reveals that this rag-tag group were bound to visit an etablissement with holes. Fortunately, we know exactly what he's talking about, so we both have a quick laugh and nod knowingly before giving the man a good tip for his excellent service. Still we take the opportunity to take a closer look at Leone's room and find yet another sign of Grappa, this time in the form of a golem maker rune on the location of Trekholm on a fresco of the Avery Coast Railway.

On our way out of the hotel, we coincidentally cross paths with Lord Kulp. We realize that Kulp might be able to hand us more information, so we approach him. Auryn, unsure whether he'd directly draw the connection to her Amiranya persona, pretends to be a big fan of the arena games and asks him for a private visit to the grand arena. Kulp seems pleasantly surprised and offers her a tour this evening.

We then travel to the “Holes” and guess that Leone, being a Crisillyiri, might have used the brothel as a distraction from his visit of the local Familia. Therefore, we pay the new Capo de Cina a courtesy visit and congratulate him on his position. The man seems pleasantly surprised and invites us to a small chat and a glass of wine. We spend some time to talk about Pietro and his love and marriage to Venezia and the Capo de Cina is glad to hear that his cousin has found true happiness in Flint.

We bring up the issue of Leone, and hint that we're pursuing him for crimes in Flint. Suddenly, the man turns a bit more reserved and wars us to not underestimate Leone or the Quintal family. He tells us that Leone did indeed visit him and that he handed him a sealed envelope containing most likely a good amount of money. So he guesses that Leone must have some really powerful friends in Crisillyir which would make him a truly dangerous man. Oh, and he was accompanied by a bony looking man who might have been a fey pepper addict, but he wasn't too sure about that.

We thank him for the valuable information and promise to stay safe as we've seen what Leone is capable of first hand. Then we say goodbye and promise to send Pietro his regards.

Then we return to the center of the city and Auryn parts ways with Carlyle to attend to her appointment with Kulp. She expects a rather standard tour and plans to reveal her true intentions later, but is then pretty surprised to be lead down an empty hallway by two well-armed guards. She ends up in a small, private room where Lord Kulp already awaits her with a charming smile and drinks.

Kulp welcomes her warmly, offers her a drink and then asks her for her true intentions. Auryn first thanks him for his help while they were dealing with Elanor and then talks a bit about her search for Leone, a dangerous conspirator who had imprisoned one of her relatives. Kulp, who already knows that Auryn is a Vekeshi, asks for her affiliation and she truthfully states that she's in league with the loge of Flint.

“Ah, Flint, the territory of the Old Stag. He's got quite the loyal flock and his roots of influence go deep. Unfortunately, I am the only one of our kind in Nalaam, so my eyes cannot be everywhere. Unfortunately, this Steel Shaper has eluded my sight so far, but I will inform you as soon as I get information on him.”, Kulp says with a seemingly sad undertone, and Auryn replies that being on the lookout will be enough for her, so no worries.

“I'm sorry that I could not help you as much as I wish. Still, it has been a pleasant evening and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to see you once again, Miss Amiranya.”

“Auryn. That much I owe you.”, Auryn adds with a genuine smile and prepares to leave.

Then, Kulp's eyes widen a bit. “You are the one they sing songs about in Elfaivar? The one who dared to battle against Kalenian Vardanis, the Mad king? Is it really true what they whisper about the matriarchs and the winds of change?”

Auryn nods calmly and confirms everything he said: “It is true. And if we wish to have a chance for a peaceful future in Elfaivar, then we'll have to dethrone this Madness eventually.”

Impressed by her statement, Kulp weaves a quick spell across his face to reveal his true self as a Magelord of Nalaam and explains that he's the real deal, not just one of the puppet Lords the others put on display. He then takes a bow and promises to fight by Auryn's side with everything he has to offer should the time for war arise.

“It would be an honor to have you by my side, Lord Kulp”

Auryn then bids herself goodbye and returns to Carlyle with a smile on her face.

(I really wasn't expecting this reaction of Kulp, so this was a grand surprise for both me and Auryn. Which transformed the usual gathering of information into such a beautiful scence. Really glad that Tiz remembered their connection and that he made Kulp so invested in the Elfaivaran affairs.)

 

[Lylandra]

(Oh and yep, we somehow managed to avoid the ambush set by Krampus the Satyr by leaving too soon and using anti-divination measures. Also, while we are no Austrians, we still see what you did there )

A caged Lion

Trekholm is next on our list, so we travel there directly and ask for Leone at the train station. To our surprise, we learn that the man used his money to buy two old wagons of the Avery Coast Railyway (didn't know they were selling these to private buyers). When we ask what he'd do with two wagons and no locomotive, the railway personnel explains that it isn't too unusual for rich people to buy private carriages which they can then attach to regular trains for a fee. We're quite astonished by this system and now at least know that finding Leone won't be too easy as he could be at any place with a connecting railway. So we thank the personnel for their help and take a moment to discuss our further proceedings.

First, we're facing the problem that Leone is protected by the Obscurati's divination shield, which makes gathering information directly impossible. But we do know that he got people accompanying him and also got a damn good description on how they'd look like. So we decide to give it a try and scry for one of the guys. Fortunately, the first try is a hit as we spot one of the others right next to him in what appears to be a dwarvish looking inn.

Auryn uses the full duration of the spell to memorize a good landing spot and then shares these memories with Carlyle via modify memory. Then, we decide to go all out by turning invisible and daring to teleport to exactly the same spot she communicated.

(And Carlyle's teleport luck didn't fail us this time either)

Fortunately, Carlyle manages to arrive at exactly the spot he had planned to. So we stay still in one corner of the pub and simply watch the events unfold under the veil of invisibility. After a while, we get the impression that these two guys seem to await some kind of attack as they're looking nervously at the entrance and got their weapons ready. So before we'd have to re-cast the invisibility, we both go to our respective bathrooms, don a disguise and emerge under the guise of being mere travelers.

We order drinks and continue to keep an eye on the two buddies while also keeping our ears open for information. This way, we learn that we apparently arrived in Mirsk and that these two guys appear to be sellswords. They don't seem to be running back to Leone, so we rent a room in the inn and continue to watch the mercenaries.

After a couple of days, we finally see them move out towards the Mirsk train station. So we follow then invisibly, see them enter a train and follow them further inside. There, we first take some time to get more familiar with our surroundings and it appears as if someone made sure that this wagon is entirely clad in metal.

(how convenient for our Metalbender...

For those who'd ask themselves how Carlyle and Auryn would be able to coordinate each other when they cannot see the other one: At first, they'd use a see invisibility spell. Then they'd actually train working under these conditions, using whispers or small signs. Plus, Carlyle has such a damn good perception that he'd be able to see Auryn move even when she is invisible. Carlyle learned even more convenient tricks later, but that would have to wait until “the chimney”)

We continue to sneak through the wagon and then hear someone playing the piano. Someone who's asking for a glass of wine not much later and who definitely speaks in Leone's voice. So it seems as if we finally found the man. Auryn whispers that using their weapons would be futile against Leone and that they'd also be in a deadly trap if they tried to fight Leone in a room that's basically one big weapon for a Steel Shaper. So if they'd try to ambush him they'd have to hit him hard at once.

Carlyle shakes his head and replies that while this could work, it'd also be risky.

“I have another plan, but it would leave you vulnerable. Leone is so much less threatening when he cannot use his powers.”, he whispers quietly.

“You can block them?” Auryn replies silently.

“With an antimagic field, I can block all magic. Yours, mine and Leone's. It'd be centered on me. So do you trust me with this one?”

“Of course.”

So Carlyle proceeds to cast the spell and we enter the room where Leone is still sitting at the piano, drinking wine. We leave him the opportunity to surrender, but he goes from cultivated gentleman to violent brute in a split second, promising that this would be the last time we'd try to thwart his plans. He then points his hand at the metal-clad piano, only to be utterly shocked when nothing happens.

“Trying to use the piano as a projectile?! This is outrageous! You savage!” Auryn exclaims before jumping right at Leone.

“She's right. For a man of such supposedly high taste, you got no manners at all.” Carlyle adds as he joins the fight.

During the rather short encounter with Leone, he makes sure to stay as close to the Steel Shaper as possible. His goonies, bodyguards and mages, arrive not much later but don't pose much of a threat as well.

(Using an antimagic field was a brilliant move from Carlyle. Usually, we find it really hard to make a good use of that spell as the one who casts it would usually also rely on magic, but this time it made perfectly sense)

After we knocked out everyone who tried to attack us, we place them in the Absurdist's Web, return to the RHC and leave the mercenaries to rot in their respective cells for a while.

(well... interrogating them is what rookies are for. They won't have much info, but they are good for practice)

Meanwhile, we bring Leone to a specially prepared antimagic cell with ironwood bars. Being sure that Leone won't be able to shift out of this prison like Sijhen, Auryn casts a curative spell on Leone and waits for him to awake.

Needless to say that Leone is very much not amused to find himself a prisoner in our cells. Even behind bars, he's still boasting that he'll break out soon and come to kill us. We reply that he already tried to do that a couple of times and failed, so no there's no use for empty threats. We also gently remind him that he picked a fight with the wrong people.

This enrages choleric Leone Quintal for a moment, so he turns to Carlyle with a furious gaze and calls him a traitor who betrayed his own grand nation of Crisillyir. But Carlyle just shrugs in response.

“If only I'd care for what they think after I've left Crisillyir 500 years ago. Risur is my home now, that much you should know. Also, aren't you the one who betrayed his nation by conspiring with the Obs? Weren't you going to destroy the foundation of the Clergy anyway?”

Leone regains his posture a bit too soon to fall into this verbal trap of Carlyle and grins at him with bared teeth. We silently agree to let him talk a bit about himself (he seems to enjoy that) and learn that Leone hasn't changed one bit. He seems still convinced that he only does what he deems to be right for this world and that the Obs will change circumstances for everyone for the better. He also brags that his grand composition will erect a monument for eternity and that the grand plan will make him and his deeds immortal.

Again, Carlyle can only shrug at such a fixation on immortality. He explains that he had given Leone a chance of immortality back when he released his soul from the Witchoil, but he had refused his offer. Back then, he had thought that Leone had still some sense of honor left in him and that they had found a bit of common ground.

Leone returns that no one will ever be able to understand him or the Obscurati besides Kasvarina and Nicodemus, which is why the organization has to work from the shadows. We argue that apparently no one ever tried to contact King Aodhan and explain the Obs' ideas, so even if they had genuinely good intentions how could we know? We, again, remind him that Aodhan is a wise and unconventional monarch who agreed to listen to even unorthodox ideas.

But Leone doesn't want to hear anything about it. Instead, he continues trying to rub salt into our wounds as he states that at least he managed to erase that pest Alexander Grappa once and for all. The very same person who had done such horrible things as erasing dear Kasvarina's memories.

Finally, Auryn rolls her eyes at one too many mentions of Kasvarina, so she turns to Leone and looks him straight in the eyes.

“And you think that we're happy about Kasvarina's state of mind? In case you didn't notice, I, the woman you tried to kill multiple times, am her direct and last descendant. Her family. I care for her. Do you truly believe Kasvarina would have welcomed you with open arms had you succeeded? You know nothing about Elfaivar and the meaning of family, Cirsillyiri.”

(For a man as resourceful as Leone, failing to realize their connection felt really strange, that's for sure. I guess Tiz chose that lapse to let Leone go all out against Auryn without having to have any second thought)

For a quick moment, Leone gazes at Auryn as if he's finally drawing the connection between the two Eladrin women. Then he shakes his head and bites his lip.

“This changes nothing. You are still my enemy. And Kasvarina doesn't need someone as weak and indecisive as you.”

Auryn sighs in return, sensing that Leone has crossed the fanatic's threshold one too many times.

“Listen, I know that she means much to you. I truly believe that she'll regain her memories and her family will help her during this time of troubles. She will see that she is not alone.”

“And you are a fool to believe that Kasvarina will change her ways, her very nature. I still see her whenever I close my eyes, that magnificent woman. The strongest I've ever seen. No way she'd leave the path she has set to walk centuries ago. I'm looking forward to the day when I'll be able to see her again in her full glory.”

“Then we won't come to an agreement here. I believe in change and second chances. Mr. Carlyle offered you one out of respect and because of his beliefs that every spirit deserves freedom. Testamenta Suchdol offered you another one out of love and affection. You rejected both of them. You could have lead your second life in peace with your lover. But instead you simply returned to your place as an Obscurati henchman. I pity you, Leone Quintal.”

Auryn finishes her last sentence with a certain sense of melancholy and true pity in her otherwise clear voice. She had felt deep respect for Gabriel when he set his worst enemy free and was at peace with his decision even if she would have let Leone's soul rot in the Witchoil. She knew how much he had risked by reaching out to so many souls. And here they spoke to one of them and were met with such ingratitude that it hurt.

She continues to talk about Elfaivar and its people, who also tried to use their second chance to forge a new future. She weaves all of that into a vision where the nations of the south unite in a strive for freedom, peace and independence, thus creating a current strong enough to even drag Danor and Crisillyir with them. But this doesn't seem to overlap with Leone's vision of a “better future”, even if he doesn't wish to talk about it.

All in all, we realize that Leone and we are quite polar opposites as we continue to talk with Leone: While we are quite scrupulous, Leone has no qualms using Testamenta for his own gains, going so far as marrying her to secure her and her family's support, sees Borne (whom we regard as innocuous child in a colossus' body) as powerful tool for the Ob and believes in Nicodemus whom he calls omnipotent, whereas we'd prefer a “lent” power like that of the risuri monarchs.

As we are no monsters, we let Leone have a cup of wine and a bit of cheese (no bromaggio for him though, this one we'll keep for later) and continue our talk until he gets tired and falls asleep. As we expected, his body starts moving again shortly after and “Leone” greets us with a friendly, dizzy smile.

But this time, it is Grappa who's talking to us. The old man appears to be surprised to be back in the RHC so soon, but he's glad to see our faces once again. Grappa explains that he needed some time to adapt to his new existence at the edge of Leone's consciousness and says that he's quite sure that Leone didn't notice his presence until now.

We confirm his theory as Leone just bragged about having gotten rid of Grappa, so it seems as if his espionage skills have increased by a good amount. Grappa agrees and then tells us that he managed to take selected peeks into Leone's mind and found out that this guy is actually planning a grand Obscurati meeting at a secluded place. He quickly adds that the Obs being the Obs, they will make sure that this meeting will happen under extreme security conditions. Which is why sneaking into said meeting would be next to impossible under normal circumstances.

Still, he managed to find a way of getting us into this convention. If we're willing to utilize really ancient help that is. When we ask Grappa what kind of “ancient help” he'd have in mind, Grappa states that he just learned about an imprisoned, thousand years old Lich who's currently somewhere laying in the ice of Knütpara. A Lich who's known for his prowess in soul magic.

At first, we're very much shocked that a sweet, nice man like Grappa would even suggest a help like that, but we ask him to explain further. The Mind Maker goes on to explain that the Lich had been around during the peak of the demonocracy where he was highly regarded for his ability to transfer the souls of demons into mortals and vice versa. Then, Triegenes leveled the city to the ground by summoning a meteor from the sky and sealing off the ancient power with a divine seal.

(anyone else getting massive Sephiroth/Jenova vibes from this tale? Northern Ice? Summoned Meteor? Ancient civilization? All check. Well, I didn't really believe that Triegenes would turn out to be the big bad of this story, but that part set off so many alarm bells.)

Grappa then says that he already made contact with the Lich via sending and said Lich agreed to teach us his infamous ritual if we set him free in return. As our jaws drop at this mere suggestion, Grappa adds that while we'd have to release the Lich from his prison, we wouldn't necessarily have to not attack him on the spot. Which seems like a plausible, yet very much deceitful suggestion.

 

[RangerWickett]

Normally I'd be a bit sad about missing out on a grand setpiece battle with hurled trains, but I like your team's ingenuity and spycraft.

Also, your GM has given Leone more screen time and personality, which I appreciate. I slightly regret not finding more ways to let the PCs have actual conversations with the villains, but that's hard with a secret organization.

 

[Andrew Moreton]

Interesting investigation, I was too soft on my players apparently as their investigation was much less complciated. although the Steelshaper gave them a viscous fight. They vary rarely use Anti-magic as they themselves use so much magic and a sad encounter with a dragon in a previous campaign has made them allergic to the spell.
Leone was not one of the easiest villains to talk to. Some of the other villains do manage to communicate a personality very well. Lya stands out as someone my group think may be the one leader of the On they can talk sense with

 

[Lylandra]

Yeah, we really tried to embrace the themes that make Zeitgeist unique as an AP: That being spies/agents and not "adventurers" and the idea of philosophical/ideological conflict. Which, of course, involves exchanging ideas.

So as characters, we usually tried to remove as much risk from the equation as possible. Sorry Leone

We're also suckers for interesting, recurring villains. And Tiz knows that we're quick to ask someone for their motivation to see whether we could possibly win this person over to our side. See Ottavia. For Leone, he convincingly played him as a man who told himself one too many times that he's going to be on the right side of history. He's a Crisillyiri fed up with the system of oppression and sees himself as a noble man who's striving to be the right hand of a woman he adores. Which of course includes doing her dirty work. He conspires because he wants change and glory but isn't open-minded enough to compromise on how to achieve it. He tries to appear gallant when he's acting like an unscrupulous brute. Thus, he is utterly blind to his own flaws. one thing he has in common with Nicodemus, even if the latter is far more refined.

Regarding Testamenta, Tiz introduced her as a woman who craves the love of her childhood sweetheart to justify reviving him after we killed him in adventure 5. Having Carlyle pull out his soul of the Witchoil because of his beliefs (and because he wanted to talk to Leone one last time) was just a lucky coincidence.

Oh and for Nic, there will be one scene in adventure 7 that I'd define as maybe the defining moment for all characters involved, even though there will be backs and forths afterwards. For a more thorough analysis of his character, Carlyle and Auryn dissected some of his personality aspects in front of Kasvarina while climbing the Tower of God Kefka Triegenes.

And oh poor Lya. We actually talked about her fate OOC as Tiz said that she was highly intelligent and we had made some really good points in the adventures up to this point that would make her reconsider the Obs' actions. But he said that he opted against having her switch sides as he didn't want to A) use a previously unknown NPC as Lya's substitute and B) deal with the fact that the Obs would very much send every assassin out there to kill her as he mused that they would succeed before Lya had the chance to seek refuge in Risur.

 

[Andrew Moreton]

My group has also largely taken onboard the role of being officers of the law. Manuel still prefers to arrest and take alive enemies , even when his more pragmatic colleagues feel that the matter has gone beyond the police roll and the opponents are not reasonable people.

I felt that prior to the events in Ber Lya's idealism was focused on the Ob and she truly believed that they had the best strategy to make a better world and if only the pc's had understood they would have defected to the Ob but she was forbidden from revealing the secrets that would persuade them. She was wrong of course and as events unfolded it is possible that the pc's could have convinced her to defect , unfortunatly though the events in Ber left her bound too tightly to Nicodemus so it is not possible for to defect , even if the pc's convince her of their righteousness the best she could manage is a brief rebelllion against the Ob before being brought to heel

 

[Lylandra]

Session 41 - At the icy end of the world

As Grappa slowly uses his grip on Leone and slips back to sleep, we retreat to our office and discuss the information we just got from the Mind Maker. First, we talk more about the divine seal and how we could possibly break something that had been forged by a man who would later become a god. We play a bit with magical theory and the magnitude of force that might be necessary for such a feat, then suddenly both look at each other with a wide grin as we remember that we just gave what's basically a huge magical cannon to Harkover Lee.

So we immediately cast a sending spell to the Principal Minister and ask to maybe lend the Eye of Yeref for a little while. Unfortunately, Lee replies that the eye seems too unstable to handle for a non-dragon and that even he has his troubles with the old Tyrant's legacy. He sounds a bit bitter as he basically just had to confess that Gradiax' mastery of the Eye is way beyond him. We still thank him for this information and agree to analyze the Eye once we'll have more time to spare.

(Carlyle also suggested that we'd keep in mind that we could theoretically resurrect Yeref with the Eye should we ever stumble across resurrection magic of Testamenta's caliber. Which would usually be a really bad idea but could work as a last resort plan against the Obs.

...and I guess “resurrecting Yeref” is on the same level of havoc as “waking up the Tarrasque”. Also, did you get that name from Zeref of Fairy Tail? Or is that just another coincidence?)

Next, we head to both the Archives and Pardwright Library to gather more information about Knütpara. We don't find much though and only learn that this might be a place in the Shawl mountains that had once been inhabited by a clan of giants who were disciples of the Demonocracy. But this info is based on little more than fairy tales and legends.

As we don't wish to rush into the unknown, we return to Leone/Grappa and try to get the Mind Maker to wake up once again as we need more first-hand information. Fortunately, Grappa returns to his senses and we ask him to contact the nameless Lich once again. After all, this all is part of a deal with the Lich, which means that the guy has some serious reason to get us to him in once piece.

Grappa is a bit surprised, but agrees for another mental exchange now that he knows he's safe in the RHC. So we let him cautiously out of the antimagic cell and let him perform his sendings. The Lich seems a bit amused that we'd use him as a navigation device, but Grappa manages to get some useful information from his contact: The Lich is located inside a cave in a glacial rift. He also mentions three towers which should be easy to spot: The Dragon Tower, the Outlook and the Elm Tower. Regarding the divine seal, he'd say that this should be some kind of nullification barrier.

We thank Grappa for his effort and bring him back to the antimagic cell. As we still got no clear image about the nature of the seal, we decide to take a closer look ourselves. But before we do that, we perform yet another round of information gathering on the Lich himself. By using really obscure sources, we find out that this guy was a frost giant himself who was no real member of the demonocracy (read: demon) but rather a profiteer who traded with magical service and information. He must have been quite rich and was addressed like a lord, but had tried to keep a low profile. This way, we deduce that this Lich just might have been some form of collateral damage when Triegenes summoned his meteor against Knütpara.

(we were pretty concerned that the Lich might have been the primary target and didn't want to risk setting an ancient demon lich lord free. After our encounter with Ashima-Shimtu we were really careful around anything remotely demonic)

As soon as we're sure that we won't just release an ancient evil feared by a god into the world, we agree to continue with Grappa's plan. So we teleport to Mirsk, the city closest to the Shawl mountains and continue our journey northwards from there. But before we head just out into the unknown, we visit the outskirts of Mirsk and ask the trappers and hunters from this area for directions. They direct us to small camps of their communities and explain that these folk occasionally trade goods with the frost giants to the north. So we follow their advice and buy some stuff the giants and the inhabitants of the encampments might be interested in (veggies, fruit, meat and grain). Oh and we also buy some cute woolly rhinos to ride and transport our wares.

It takes a while to travel through the cold lands of northern Drakr, but fortunately Margit is able to keep us warm with her weather and endurance spells. After a day, we reach one of the encampments and use our trading ambitions as an excuse for exchange. So while we offer the locals some of our wares and trade them for warm furs, we also ask them about legends of Knütpara as we are interested in meeting and trading with the giants. The hunters don't know much about giants, but lead us to their ancient fortune-teller who might know more about the dark legends of old.

Luckily, the old woman turns out to be both helpful and well-read and is able to provide us with some good hints on how to reach Knütpara safely. Still she warns us that the giants of Knütpara might be hostile to foreigners, unlike their simply wary kin who wander the northern wastes. She also mentions other “small strangers” who traveled into the same general direction a couple of weeks ago.

We guess that these guys might just be part of the Obscurati expedition Grappa mentioned and agree to be extra cautious as we don't know whether they and the giants would be allies or not. We also discuss the nature of Nicodemus and guess that he might have some kind of connection to the nameless Lich. After all, the soul transfer magic seems very similar to the possession ability of Nicodemus, at least on paper. Which could mean that Nicodemus might just be the soul of a powerful demon who is playing the very long game. A thought that makes us shiver despite Margit's spells.

So we follow the fortune-teller's instructions for two long days while relying on Margit's ever growing connection with nature to keep us safe from environmental hazards like sudden blizzards. Then, we finally find hints of habitation as we spot a giant patrol who are accompanied by what appear to be undead polar bears. We manage to avoid these guys, keep a low profile and follow their trail back to an icy gorge with three towers.

To avoid being seen, we turn invisible and proceed cautiously through the air. When we get closer to the rift's entrance, we spot some suspicious spears and find that they are emitting a magical aura. We examine them at a distance and discern that these must be alarm spears. Agreeing that these giants do have some well-developed security grid, we dispel those spears that are in our way and move deeper into the gorge.

This part of the rift is all tinted in a strange blue glow, which makes the area feel strangely peaceful and serene. A further examination reveals that there are several Wayfarer's Lanterns mounted to the walls of the rift which are emitting said light which also bears a planar signature. We're quite disturbed at the sight of so many lanterns, and even more so at the thought of the Obs' mastery of planar effects.

“Didn't think they'd have such a fast progress after we stole Luc's prototype” Auryn whispers while she's trying to examine the planar signature with the help of Gale's spell.

“Seems like someone has been busy making new ones. So much for our hope that Luc would slow down their progress.” Carlyle growls quietly.

As soon as we get that this blue light is quite harmless and simply connected to a pacifying effect, we open one of them and collect a sample of its blue fuel for later examination. Then, we sneak to the first junction in our path and hear voices of giants who appear to be singing songs. We sneak up to them and find a small group of giants sitting around a campfire in a giant cave. After watching them for a while, we do not find anything of value or interest with them, so we agree to leave them be. Oh and we spot that they got giant lice... which we avoid as well.

We move deeper into the gorge and find another junction. This time, we find a small cave with lots of clay jugs. Inside, we find lots of shards that appear to be harvested from meteors. Which seems only logical as soon as we spot a sign that reads “meteor deposit”. We guess that this might just be one of the Obscurati's main deposits for their original source of planar infused oil, so we decide to not let them continue using it.

After a short discussion, Carlyle gathers as much as his spell can carry and then teleports the jugs to his basement. He returns a minute later and repeats the process until all the jugs are safely stored in his home.

(With all that is stored, happened and will happen in his home, I'd really call that place your usual superhero hideout.)

After Carlyle is back for good, we move up the ramp to a level of higher elevation and find a giant open bathroom next to an iglu. Disgusted by the sight of giant excrement, we retreat from that place and move on to the three towers.

In the first of them, we find an inscription that reads “party” in abyssal and guess that this might have been a place where demons drunk their funky stuff or so. We also find some “loot” on the ground floor and guess that these items could have been placed there by the foreigners (read : the Obs). Besides a really old bottle of wine (guess who's interested in this find!), several coins, a golden candlestick and a ruby-clad mahagony board, we spot one newish looking rifle with an inscription. Taking a closer look, we see that this actually belongs to none else but Kvarty Gorbatiy!

We take the rifle to examine it a bit more and find that this is “Reason”, the diplomatic rifle and have a good laugh at the fitting name. But in the very same moment we're also worried that our dearest sniper might have gotten into big trouble again.

(Speaking of Reason... this is one hell of an item and we were quite sad to not being able to keep it. Because it would have been a perfect fit for our more diplomatic approach and this was a unique item, so no real chance of reproducing the effect. And no, stealing from Kvarty wasn't an option.)

So we keep an eye open for the dwarf all while being anxious that he might have found his “icy end” right here. On our way, we come across a giant patrol which Carlyle stabs out of reflex. We do our best to seat the poor dead guy in a corner where he's placed as if he's fallen asleep.

We continue and finally reach a room that looks very much like an Ob laboratory. The two researchers, Gangenwieck and Thornsenkertz look as surprised as we are at our sight and they immediately plead for their lives as the giants took them prisoner. Unfortunately, they don't know jack about what's actually going on in Knütpara and can only tell us that they were supposed to sample, extract and make experiments with meteor shards.

We tell them that we're not exactly on their team, but promise to rescue them from the evil giants. If they agree to tell us everything they know. So they tell us about the other Ob agent, a mage named Baldur who's been hired as a security. Regarding the Lich, they have never seen him, but Baldur warned them to never go closer to the icy wall this vile creature is trapped in.

Being content with their answers, Carlyle apologizes for his next move and then knocks them both out with the pummel of his kukris before placing both of them in the Absurdist's web.

(told you this thing was really heavensent. Rarely ever seen an item that universally useful. Also, are Gangenwieck and his friend a reference to Rosenkrantz and Güldenstern of Hamlet? You do know that they translate to “rosary” and “golden star”, right? )

Armed with this information, we go on a search for said Baldur and find him in the next tower. This blonde mage is accompanied by a faithful magic hound, but is nonetheless easily overpowered once we get into close range of him. We knock him out and briefly place him in the Web (to get rid of the hound) only to release him in a safe place, tie him up and interrogate him.

Being disconnected with the Ob for so long, Baldur appears to be quite talkative and willing to bargain for his life. He can tell us that there are prison cells down below where they keep 30 prisoners from Trekholm who were basically used as guinea pigs for their Lantern research project to examine the effects of different planar oils. Besides that, they were also quite useful for harvesting more meteorites.

“I see. And I don't really get what would separate the oh so 'honorable' Obscurati from the slavery of the demonocracy right now.” Auryn states, full of disgust on what she just heard.

Baldur replies that he's sorry, but we get that he's only paying lip service instead of feeling remorse. We also guess that there might be a connection to Zoltan, the dwarf who's been involved in the Drakran prisons and lighthouses and who met with Luc Jierre.

The mage also tells us about the true “boss” of Knütpara, a giant called the Khangitche who's usually hanging out in the lookout tower.

(This one we got initially wrong and thought he was a Khan whose name is Gitche)

Regarding Kvarty, Baldur tells us that yes, they found a dwarf of that name sneaking around the caverns. Who got caught and imprisoned, while his rifle was thrown into the “loot” chamber. This much info feels just enough for the moment, so we KO Baldur and place him in the web again. We then search his room more thoroughly and find egg shells of dragon eggs, dragon teeth and several books that refer to methods of raising dragons. So we really hope that we'll find no undead ice dragons with said Khangitche.

 

[RangerWickett]

The eye was actually inspired by the Celtic legend of Balor: Balor | Celtic mythology

But the duo definitely were a nod to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, though it isn't the deepest homage. I probably just need a name for a pair of people who were on the outskirts of a dramatic plot.

 

[Lylandra]

...they are not yet dead though

Even if it would be a funny side-story to have a "Rosencrantz and Güldenstern are dead" like parody of Zeitgeist told from the perspective of all the minor NPC. Also, this series needs its own Cabbage Guy.

 

[RangerWickett]

No spoilers, but I'm on the third season of Mr Robot, and there was a scene where law enforcement had a bulletin board with all the people involved in a cybercrime, and they'd totally missed the real deal of who was in charge and what was going on.