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

[gideonpepys]

DM's Notes - The Enemy of My Enemy...

The players went looking for 'a mole' so they found 'a mole'. That leaves two left undiscovered for now. Malthusius has a very high insight, so he should have been able to root out the lot, as he devoted a whole four-hour slot to interviewing each officer. But the questions he was asking and the angle the player wanted to pursue made it difficult for me to imagine him finding anyone but the officer responsible for the leek that morning. Perhaps I am being unfair here?

As for Cippiano, they already have a relationship with him, and had asked him support them against Kell in the past. Cippiano had told them then that he would need to see some hard evidence that the RHC meant business. So I decided that he would contact them on 11th no matter how well the task force was doing, as a reward for maintaining this contact. Turns out they earned 3 strikes then anyway.

I messed up the meeting. Cippiano told them too much - I was extemporizing and concentrating on getting the characterization right, so I saved nothing for Dester Rathtine. Here is another advantage of writing up the sessions each week: once in a blue moon I use them to rewrite history! I simply tell players I effed up, and present the information slightly differently in the write-up. I only do this when there would be no effect on the story. If anything, my goof gave them the opportunity to turn down Cippiano's offer, but still have his information about Kell's escape plan. But they played fair and made the deal anyway. This meant I would have to introduce Dester next week with no extra info to drop. So I just wrote him into the story in the session report and left it at that.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 95e - Augst & the Nice Spiders

After taking down Casa de Kell and the fake eladrin traffickers, the unit made for the offices of Quentin Augst. He was not in. His loyal and very proper secretary was hostile at first, but her resolve weakened when the unit showed their badges and revealed Augst's involvment with the Guild. Clearly, she had had her suspicions before and wanted no part of it. She gave them his home address (where they soon established he was not be found) and also said that she had given some theatre tickets to the messenger who came to inform her that he would not be in to the office for some days. It was quite unheard of for Augst to take just one day off, let alone several.

The theatre tickets had been dropped off 'as a gift' that very morning by a well-wisher, and were for the final performance of Rack Rackus at the Navras Opera House. Clearly, someone knew how keen Augst was to catch that show. When asked to desribe this mysterious benefactor, the secretary shrugged and could only day that he was 'non-descript'.

Korrigan swore the woman to secrecy and said it would go badly for her if word of their interest was to reach her employer. She responded with a regretful nod and added that she, in any case, had no means of reaching him and had no wish to do so under the circumstances.

The unit departed. They had intended to hit more Kell Guild targets, but while he was watching the back door of Augst's office building, Uru had heard the squeak, squeak, squeak of a rusty barrow wheel approaching. It was Miss Fortune, who had travelled all the way from her cutomary stomping ground in Parity Lake to tell him that his message had reached the Nice Spiders, and they were keen to meet with him. Deciding to stick together just in case, Uru, Rumdoom, Korrigan and Matunaaga headed to the appointed spot - the very sewer entrance where Unit B had chased the Brick Boys two or three months earlier.

The Nice Spiders greeted Uru and his friends most eagerly. Uru translated their words, which sounded childlike and enthusiastic to him. The others heard nothing but bristles and clicks. The Spiders were afraid to go into the Cloudwood, but were surprised to be asked to go on a hunt for Uru when they had already found what he was looking for:

"We have found the Clockwork King," they said happily. Then, with a sudden sadness, "But one of us did not return." They agreed to lead the unit there at once.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 95f - Torches & Pichforks

At dawn on the 11th, the B-Team met Brakken at the Beran consulate, picked up a dignitary from each side, and set out for the Cloudwood on another bid to create some unity between the two groups. Today’s outing involved Kian Doherty, Risuri Minister of Agriculture, a well-groomed 40-something who valued Risur's druidic traditions and appeared to hate being in Flint. His mood improved as they left the city behind and headed into the rural splendour of the Cloudwood. The Danoran side was represented by a rare Danoran half-elf named Pierre Requier, who had heavy spectacles and messy hair. His conversations with Ludo revealed him to be weak-willed and obsequious, and not all that interested in magic, other than a few bits of trivia he had obviously rehearsed.

While the group enjoyed a mid-morning snack in a lovely restaurant beside a creek, with hummingbirds flitting about the tables and monkeys snagging their scraps, a young girl ran into view from between the buildings on the other side of the creek. She hopped across, scampered past Brakken and the B-Team, and started yelling for people to help. A few seconds behind her, a woman in a sun dress holding a rolling pin ran to the creek, then stopped when she saw the girl calling for help. After a moment’s panic she turned and ran.

Within a minute, the young girl had a dozen people to come out and meet her in the street, where she explaineds that she was chased, and she thinks the woman was going to kill her. The crowd started getting makeshift weapons from their houses and shops. Niniel and Kian Doherty went to see what was happening. The crowd were muttering about 'child killers' and said that the body of a boy had been found in the woods a few days ago, daubed in strange sigils, throat cut, fingers and toes chewed. They thought the woman, Relle, was a witch (although it turned out all she had done was chase the young girl away from her house). When Kian Doherty tried to calm the crowd, they began to push and abuse him. They seemed overwrought and irrational, as did the young girl and her pursuer. Then Brajham put on a great fiery show of magic and encouraged them all to disperse, which they did.

Throughout this whole incident Theren had kept his eye on a young hooded boy who stood in the creek clutching a bundle. He approached the youth to talk to him, but he immediately darted from the stream and disappeared into the undergrowth. Theren gave chase, but was not fast enough. The 'boy' was too swift and subtle to be human, that much was clear.

Brakken was keen to move on. His bridge-building exercise was not going well. They toured the region for the rest of the morning and heard a variety of disturbing reports. A few other small mobs attacked people during the day, though none of this was witnessed by the group. One albino cow was lynched.

(Can't take any credit for this. Most of it is verbatim from the adventure text (with apologies to the writers), as it made the largely narrative account quicker to write. We got through a lot this week. Just one more update to come!)

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 95g - The Clockwork King

The Nice Spiders led Unit A through the sewers, with Uru and Matunaaga keeping pace, stealthily, alongside them, while Korrigan and Rumdoom brought up the more heavy-footed rear. They twisted and turned for almost an hour without incident, whereupon the spiders came to a halt and hissed a warning. Up ahead, Uru found two wererats, half submerged in filth, guarding the tunnel. He asked the spiders if there was a way around them. The spiders answered that there were many more runnels and many more wererats. So Uru and Matunaaga stole ahead, Uru guiding Matunaaga through the dark. When they were close to the wererats, Matunaaga lit up a sunrod and he and Uru dispatched the creatures silently.

Beyond these sentries, the sewers pipes spilled out into a huge bowl - a disused quarry that had been half-filled with scrap metal from the factories of Flint. It was cheaper to make new things these days than to salvage or melt down broken machines. Among the mounds of metal, the unit saw many wererats, gearmen, and crippled folk with mechanical limbs. They kept an eye out for any hostile moves and picked their way towards a river of rusty water, leaving the nervous spiders behind.

A elderly wererat stepped up to them and pointed, wordlessly, at a barge in the river, poled by a mechanical man with long arms and a mournful pair of lamps for eyes. The unit clambered aboard and were ferried along, watched by the strange tribe that had gathered here. Following them was a sleek metallic panther with razor-like jaws. They kept their weapons close.

At length the barge came to a halt beside a plaza formed from sheets of flat metal. Two large four-legged constructs flanked a cavity made by those who had once quarried here. The constructs had a sheaf of blade-like limbs mounted on each shoulder and looked as if they could shred a man in seconds.

Heavy footsteps caused the throng to kneel. From the dark cavity stomped a twisted giant that Uru recognised as a fomorian: creatures of legend thought to once have rivaled the eladrin for dominance of the Dreaming, before they were driven to its darkest recesses. At first glance this monstrosity appeared to be wearing a crown but it soon became apparent that the metallic object was moving an ticking - a clockwork device similar to the one unit B had found controlling an owlbear. Uru had studied this contraption. It allowed the creator to control beasts and creatures of low intelligence, but the fomorian were known to be cunning. Only then did he see the way the fomorian drooled, tongue lolling, eyes rolling in its head. The fomorian was clearly retarded and its thoughts easily controlled by this clockwork device.

The formorian clutched a dirty glass cylinder to its chest with one arm. Matunaaga thought he could see a wet, grey lump inside it. In the other hand it held a huge metal bar. It mouthed words that it clearly did not intend or understand:

"You have been permitted to come to this place," it rumbled.

This statement hung in the air while the unit absorbed its implications.

"Why have you sought an audience with the Clockwork King?" it said after a long pause.

Choosing his words carefully, Korrigan told the creature that they sought the bronze golem eye of intricate manufacture that had been given to the Clockwork King by the Trash Heap. It took some moments for the fomorian to respond. "What do you want with this eye?"

Korrigan said that they wanted to return the eye to its owner. The fomorian stomped it foot and advanced threateningly, which made even Rumdoom shrink back instinctively. "Half truths are the same as lies!" it bellowed, flecking them with spittle.

Korrigan reconsidered his words and confessed their deeper intent: to use the eye to guide them into the Bleak Gate, in search of a foe that threatened the Kingdom. Then he bowed to the 'king' and requested his aid as one might the favour of a true monarch. The rest of the unit followed suit.

Thus mollified, the fomorian said, "If such is your intention, to give you the eye serves my purpose. I desire to converse with one known as Tinker Oddcog, the Gearbuilder. You will find him where you go. I know he hides in the shadow realm, but cannot follow him. The golem eye is his handiwork. Bring him to me. And bring to me the Godmind Urn which you will find in his possession."

Korrigan agreed. But the Clockwork King did not trust them entirely. It took possession of the eye-like device that Uru had taken from Krazy Krauss and modified it. "You must activate this device when you enter the Bleak Gate. If you do not, I will consider our bargain to be broken, and you will feel my wrath. Be warned: I have many servants and my reach is distant."

With that, the same elderly wererat approached and handed them a stained pouch. Within was an delicate golem eye of bronze and glass.

 

[gideonpepys]

DM's Notes on the Clockwork King

The adventure had to be made slightly harder for my party of six. I also liked the idea of the hunt for the golem eye proposed in the campaign guide. My intention was to create a mini dungeon delve, replete with traps and guardians, but having already run my own version of the clergy vault in the last adventure, and conscious of how draining a delve can be (in terms of time and resources, both for me in real life and the characters in-game) I opted to present the characters with a simple side-quest with a focus on careful diplomacy. If they failed, they would be ejected without the eye; if they opted to fight, they would be soundly thrashed, and ejected without the eye.

The Clockwork King enabled me to sow the seeds of a possible buffer adventure in paragon tier (seeing as it now looks as if I'm still going to need them) and foreshadow Tinker Oddcog and the Godmind Urn. Foreshadowing is great. Foreshadowing is cool. Foreshadowing is the DM's friend.

The Clockwork King is an artificial intelligence created and abandoned by Tinker, now very much his nemesis. It takes the form of a brain-in-a-jar, but is in fact non-organic, and disdains a more robust physical form, preferring to manipulate others (such as the poor, backward fomorian). It hopes to use the Godmind Urn to free itself entirely from corporeality, and become a being of pure thought. I've no doubt that the players will forget or neglect to hand the urn over, and thereby cause a construct uprising. If they do hand it over, the Clockwork King will get too big for his boots, and thereby cause a construct uprising.

The return of the bronze golem eye allows Grappa to bypass many of the defenses of the Cauldron Hill facility, open the front doors, disarm the automated shrapnel cannons, etc. That won't make things easy for the PCs, but it will make things possible.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 96a - Drama at the Navras Opera House

Further investigation revealed that the tickets sent to Augst had not come from Rock Rackus. The unit suspected that the Ob meant to assassinate the lawyer but opted to allow the attempt and see if they could catch any Ob operatives redhanded. They positioned themselves throughout and outside the opera house. Uru was hidden in Augst's own box!

Augst and his retinue arrived in two carriages as the crowds entered the theatre. Ignoring the entreaties of staff, he swept up the stairs to his box, leaving his Kell Guild thugs posted along the route behind him, with three hardened veterans stations immediately outside. The curtains rose and the performance began - a warm-up act of jugglers and acrobats accompanied by a full orchestra.

Matunnaga was posted at the rear of the auditorium. He was the first to spot the curtain in the neighbouring box draw back. A hand emerged, fingers wiggled. Matunaaga raised his gun and fired, striking the would-be assassin even as his spell was launched. Augst shuddered and cried out. The injured assassin took a final chance and repeated the spell, but Augst had fallen to the floor of the booth, and the blow was glancing. ['Norm' scored a crit, and would have killed Augst outright, but for the 'Take a Trip' plot-twist card played by Malthusius meaning that Augst took only a normal blow and lay dying but not dead.] Then the assassin left the booth and sauntered calmly past Augst's men. Uru dropped from above onto Augst's prostrate form and used a toad bladder from his backpack to administer mouth-to-mouth.

All sound was drowned out by the orchestra, although Malthusius, outside in the foyer, knew at once that something was amiss. Followed by Korrigan. he politely made his way through the theatre staff and, at a gesture from Matunaaga, headed for the stairs, where he at once recognised the assassin as the man he had seen in his location loresight vision of Andrei von Recklinghausen's kidnap. He launched an invocation and dazed the man, who vanished in response, blinding the Kell Guild thugs who stood around him. Meanwhile, Matunaaga sprinted to the front of the auditorium, leaped onto the great piano and launched himself into the assassin's box to catch him if he retreated. The audience applauded enthusiastically.

Rumdoom and Leon responded to Malthusius' messenger wind, but dashed straight past the skulking villain. Rumdoom set about beating up the blinded Kell Guilders, assuming they had been blinded by Malthusius, but this was a job that needed doing anyway - in an attempt to get the scoundrels to help them catch Norm, Matunaaga announced that he had tried to kill their boss. The scoundrels checked out the booth, and found Uru crouched over Augst. The deep faen threw up a Cloud of Darkness, and between him, Matunaaga, Rumdoom and Leon, the thugs were soundly thrashed in a matter of seconds.

Korrigan stomped his foot just where he suspected Norm was hiding. As he fell to the ground, Norm lashed out with a wicked-looking witchoil dagger that luckily failed to pierce Korrigan's stoney hide. [I rolled a 1.] Korrigan responded with a blow to the head that laid Norm low.

In the auditorium, the concert went on as if nothing had happened.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 96b - Interrogations‏

A terrified Quentin Augst kept muttering, "They tried to kill me!" over and over again, all the way back to RHC HQ, where he was left him to stew in the cells while the unit concentrated in 'Norm'.

The Ob liaison was sneering and tight-lipped. He could answer no direct questions due to his geas, and refused to answer any others. Malthusius could tell his pride had been wounded by capture, and he would make every effort not to betray his cause any further. Uru took him off guard by asking him if he enjoyed the Bleak Gate. Without thinking Norm said sarcastically that he didn't spend much time there, and at once Malthusius demanded to know where he did spend his time. After that slip, 'Norm' clammed up entirely, until Leon loosened him up with a Rending Fear spell. They learned that he lived at an apartment in Central Flint. Uru headed off there at once. They also quizzed Norm about who he was talking to in Sunset Bench, when he was overheard planning to kill Augst. Norm was genuinely nonplussed. Although he confessed that this was the moment he realised Augst had become a liability, he always worked alone. Under the influrnce of Leon's spell, Norm also revealed the existence of at least two more moles in the strike force, and when asked what the Guild's greatest vulnerability was he replied, 'Quentin Augst'.

At length, Harkover Lee arrived to break the geas of either Norm or Grappa. After an exhausting hour, the Principal Minister was shocked to confess that whoever imposed the geas was more powerful even than him! He slipped his golden orb back into his robes and sat down to rest. Before he departed, he agreed to help the unit capture Lorcan Kell if he could. But the timing of the dimensional lock would need to be precise, he warned. It would only last a few minutes.

Grappa was astonished to have his eye returned. He said, "Things should go easier on us now," but could not explain the comment any further.

The unit then went to deal with Augst, who had recovered enough of his wits and dignity to behave more like a lawyer than a criminal. Carefully avoiding any admission of guilt, he bargained for a reduced sentence in return for his cooperation. Korrigan was not keen to go easy on this man. When it was suggested by Leon that they might release him straight away, and put the word out that he had talked, Augst became more helpful.

Lorcan Kell was a 'moronic brute' he said, who could never hope to run an enterprise as complex as the Kell Guild. He was ruthless, cunning and ambitious, yes, but he relied entirely upon 'talented third parties' to do all of the thinking, with the result that they knew more about his own operations than he did. Warming to his subject, he then proceeded to give them a huge amount of vital information, which they scribbled down in haste, in preparation for renewed assaults on the 12th.

As the interview was coming to a close, Augst couldn't help but ask why now - why come after the guild after all this time? Surely it couldn't be for the sake of the Peace Conference?!? Taking a chance, Korrigan replied that they were interested in Kell's links to the Obscurati. Augst at once saw another opportunity and again tried to bargain for leniency, until Leon put him in his place again.

Augst revealed the existence of rune-scribed rusted iron rings under the bridges over the Stanfield Canal. Passing beneath these rings caused the appropriately marked crates to vanish into the Bleak Gate. The guild's roll was to smuggle goods using this method, without anyone in the city knowing that so much material had disappeared. Malthusius asked Dima to engage in a paper-chase and find out who had worked on the construction of the canal. Augst was surprised the unit didn't know about the rings already. He always assumed this was a 'government thing', which was why the guild had been left alone for so long (and why he had risked becoming more and more involved). He added a final piece of information: Once, he had experimented, sending a marked crate along the canal when the Ob weren't expecting it. It vanished momentarily, only to reappear upstream. Clearly, there was some final magical process to be conducted on the other side.

At that very moment, Uru returned, bearing a magical stick from Norm's apartment! (Being unable to read, none of the other evidence he found there had interested him very much...)

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 96c - Overnight (11th/12th Spring)‏

Leon had another dream. In it, he was sat at a large metal table in a very minimalist room. One might have described it as a cell were it not for the minor decorative elements, and the steaming tea pot and china cups placed just in front of him. Sat opposite, but sounding more distant when she spoke, was Lavanya. Leon's heart lurched involuntarily. Lavanya invited him to drink some tea. She warned him of a looming danger and said that she could help you to flee. All he would need to do is think of her in his most desperate moment. "Then we will be together again, like we promised." Leon wished he could recall that promise, whereupon Lavanya spoke again - her words floating over great distances though she sat only feet away. She told him that she could restore his missing memories if he so wished. "I have kept them safely for you," she said. "Drink your tea and it shall be so." Leon lifted the cup to his lips. It was a spicey Elfaivaran draught, but he did not get to taste it: his attention was drawn to the wisps and curls of steam that arose from the cup. They formed into sigils that grew to fill his vision and then dissipated along with the dream. When he woke, he could not remember them.

Every night during this trying time, Malthusius had been using his old skyseer training - skills he left behind a lifetime ago but had rediscovered alongside his friendship with the late Nevard Sechim (who had been a young man when they studied together). The visions had helped him guide the unit through many dangers, but were often so obscure that they only 'broke' in the moment - aiding his insight or perception. That night he had a more direct vision. It warned that things would very soon come to a head - that a city leader would perish at the hands of his people. If his death was not prevented or swiftly avenged, then the children of Flint would die: malthusius saw them, bursting like ripe fruit, falling from a tree and rotting. Then a sudden frost coated them and they turned from black to silvery white. The frost crept across the ground and covered Malthusius, obscuring his vision.

Dester Rathtine had sent a message to RHC HQ in the small hours. He wanted to meet, and chose the very coffee shop in Stray River where Korrigan had had his first cautious meeting with Morgan Cippiano. Korrigan had never been keen to deal with the Family. Malthusius had handled all subsequent dealings and now argued strongly that he could guide or steer the Family. Korrigan was shocked to discover that the Crown had acquiesced to Cippiano's demands - that the deal had already been done without his authority. He and Malthusius exchanged stern words before the deva headed off to the meeting. Dester Rathtine was much more forthcoming. He said that Kell was much more nervous now following the arrest of Augst. The taking of Casa de Kell had caused a score of defections from his stronghold and Kell, ever cautious, had 'gone hunting' - a ruse to fool his men into thinking he was taking the fight to the streets, when in fact he was holed up in a safe house. The possibility of taking him there was discussed and dismissed - Harkover Lee could not get close enough to perform a dimensional lock. Rathtine maintained that their best bet was to lure him out and catch him in a bottle-neck. Perhaps on a bridge over the Stanfield Canal? The mention of the bridges made Malthusius start. He was barely concentrating when Rathtine complained that he had no means of immediately contacting the unit, in case Kell decided to move unexpectedly. Malthusius handed him his messenger wind leaf, rapt in thought. He suddenly realised that his vision might well point to Stanfield! He jumped up and made to leave, before he stopped, turned, grabbed the leaf off Rathtine. "Urgent message from Malthusius - check on Stanfield's itinerary and whereabout, I think he might be in danger." Then he gave the leaf back to Dester and dashed from the coffee house.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 96d - Hostage Situation

Before Korrigan could even act on Malthusius' request an alert came in to RHC HQ: The Grand Opening of Sharon M Baker Subrail Station had been attacked by eschatologists; Governor Stanfield, Kevin Wilson the subrail archetect, and miscellaneous dignitaries, were being held hostage underground; several innocent bystanders had been killed.

Leaving Leon to conduct the planned strike against Grand Suites, the unit deputized Kvarti Gorbatiy, who was keen to distance himself from the cultists by helping to stop them. As soon as Malthusius arrived, they headed off. Dima caught them just as they left. All records of the construction of the Stanfield Canal were held by the Governor's Office, he said. Malthusius could only hope they arrived in time to kill two birds with one stone (if you'll forgive the pun).

Colonel Aden Tucker was in charge at the scene. Korrigan knew him to be a man who, though he liked to play by the book, was a very slow reader. Tucker's plan would have left the terrorists in possession of the station for over three hours. On the bodies of the few dead eschatologists, shot by station guards during the attack, were demands for ale, the handover of Viscount Nigel Price-Hill, and conversation with a skyseer. The dwarves were stalling, Tucker was informed, and were in possession of an arcane superbomb which they were no doubt planting on the train. While Tucker absorbed this bombshell (if you'll forgive the pun), the unit pulled rank and moved on the dwarves:

Malthusius had memorized the subrail maps they found under Soknik's Repairs, and knew they culd use a maintenance tunnel instead of the main stairs. Uru led the way, followed by Matunaaga. A door led out onto a pitch dark platform, where only Uru could see the idling engine car. He easily avoided an inexpertly laid beartrap and saw that two passenger cars were sat further down the tunnel, past the station. A few dwarves lay in wait for anyone coming down the main stairs.

They didn't have time to overthink. Korrigan, Malthusius and Kvarti headed back to the station, where they aimed to get close to the passenger cars. Uru approached the engine car and got into position by the door to the cab. Even over the noise of the engine he could hear sounds of activity and voices from within. Matunaaga and Rumdoom waited close by.

Korrigan came down onto the platform and was told to halt. He said he had brought the skyseer the dwarves had requested. Bluff called, the rank-and-file cultists whispered among themselves confusedly and then shouted back, "We aren't ready yet. Tell him to come back in an hour." In no mood to trifle, Korrigan gave a nod, and Malthusius lobbed a sunrod over his shoulder. With Kvarti providing cover, they rushed the passenger cars. Matunaaga lit up a sunrod in response, and he and Rumdoom charged out of hiding.

Uru slipped through the Bleak Gate and appeared in the engine cab where he found a well-built, beardless dwarf working on an elaborate bomb. The dwarf smoked an icey pipe and wore a great Mordenkrad strapped to his back. This was Grundon Zubov. Watching over him was Azon the Stoneforger. Uru filled the cab with inky blackness and shot Zubov with his shuriken crossbow. Zubov cursed and muttered an incantation. Matunaaga, Rumdoom and Uru felt their hearts miss a beat, but shook off the necromantic magic. Then Zubov armed the bomb and pulled the break lever to start the train. Azon responded to the intrusion by reducing Uru's bespoke Dragontooth Groghorn to a heap of residium, much to Uru's distress.

Back on the platform, Malthusius, Kvarti and Korrigan made short work of the dwarves (if you'll forgive the pun) and artfully avoided their traps. Kvarti took out the two cultists who guarded the hostages, and Korrigan crashed through the windows of both cars to check they were empty of foes. Most of the dignitaries cowered at the far end of the train, but appeared unharmed. Two had been sat up front by the windows, but the unit had acted so impetuously, this human shield had gone unnoticed. Thankfully, they were also unharmed.

On the moving engine car, when Uru's cloud of darkness dissipated, Matunaaga and Rumdoom unleashed a world of pain on the cult leaders. Rumdoom made a vengeful mess of Azon the Stoneforger's head before the treacherous dwarf could reduce any more of their items to dust, while Matunaaga fended off a blow from Zubov's deadly hammer. Then Uru shot Zubov in the throat and brought the train to a standstill. The fight was over and better still neither of the eschatologists had been given the chance to rant.

Malthusius helped the hostages from the train. Stanfield was calm, collected and thankful. Malthusius indicated that he wanted a discreet word with the Governor, but Stanfield said that there were more pressing matters: the safety of the hostages, and swift action to avoid a public panic. He said he would talk with Malthusius before the opening of the Peace Talks and swept upstairs to address to the crowd outside, where he made sure to praise the decisive actions of Korrigan's squad. Rumdoom watched him go with a muttered curse, having never trusted Stanfield. "Do you have to tell him everything we get up to?" he grumbled. Offended, Malthusius reminded his hotheaded friend that without Governor Stanfield, they would never have been able to take down Lorcan Kell. Malthusius decided to try to persist and speak to the Governor sooner rather than later, and when the situation was dealt with, jumped in his carriage and rode back with him to his mansion.

While all this was going on, unbeknownst to half the unit, Uru was cutting the wires on Zubov's super-bomb. Clambering over the device like a spidery surgeon, with Little Jack passing him tools, his concentration was such he was deaf to Matunaaga's pleas that he wait until the area was clear. Snip, went the first wire. Snip went the second, and the third and the fourth. Now things had got a bit harder and even Uru hesitated. Little Jack mopped his brow with a rag. Matunaaga called to the akashic memory for help and lent a hand. Three more snips and the complex device stopped gurgling and shuddering. Uru sighed in relief. Just one slip and the continuing adventures of Korrigan and Co. would have been over!

 

[RangerWickett]

I've yet to see any parties allow the bomb to go off. Maybe I'll get lucky some day. *grin*

I really do like the inclusion of Azon to link that little plot thread in #4 to #5. If nothing else, I'll see if I can drop some more hints about eschatological radicals in 4.