c02s02e01 - Paladins, Politics, and Parishioners Time for some downtime to catch up on the daily grind. the team spends 10 days on a long rest. 1. Tug figures out how to reanimate one of the scorpion sentinels after scrapping two of them... he's now got remote controlled death to add some claw to his bite. (see tug's character thread for stats) as well as time in the lab brewing up stonecure, messin with the interns and small-talking the decommissioned warforged. 2. Tusk lends a hand in the parameter sweeps and security measures being established in the Cragwod Prison Fortress, as well as putting some time in with clearing out the rubble and putting the facility in order. She tags along with Rogar to Marketplace to meet up with a gun merchant setting up shop that Raskal has met. 3. THX spends time in the lab brewing up stonecure as well as cashing in a favor to make use of unused warehouse to establish the Church of the All Spark for the next 10 days he uses Ed talks to gain confidence in the local community, who realize that the priest of knowledge makes a great arbitrator for local disputes. every few days he's called on to settle a legal matter between citizens. In the meantime, he picks up 15 followers and Baron Ir'Flanagan takes notice of the warforged's nearly supernatural access to information-- in a private audience in the Baron's Citadel, Ir'F shares with THX his prized-- and secret-- collection of cyran sculptures. 10 in all, all very mean-looking demons. THX notices the precision in quality of the works-- very similar in nature to the petrified POW's they are hoarding in Cragwood. The Baron is anxious to reward an information about the origin of the statues, who created them, etc... he's a legitimate aficionado of cyran art, and he doesn't mind taboo subject matter... the warforged realizes Ir'Flanagan may be a good fence for the war relics they've found in the Desert Valley Installation. Also taking notice is Judge Willis; an educated bard specializing in local knowledge that has been adjudicating decisions in local disputes... moreso these days in Marketplace than in Cragwar because of the Silver Boom creating much civic dispute... there's good money in Arbitration these days. Even though Willis is gravitating to the larger community, the Judge won't give up Cragwar without a reckoning. During an Ed talk, Willis challenges THX to an historic trash talk competition that THX barely pulls off, earning himself professional respect from the Judge, local admiration from the Cragfolk, and rights to join the Judge Guild and have official title of Scholar in their organization. 4. Rogar and Tusk make time in Marketplace meeting with KilnHeart; a dwarvish gunsmith from Mror Holds looking to establish new business around the Silver Mine market... "where there's ore, there's trouble" is the old Mror saying. Rogar is happy to trade some coin for sidearms, as well as looking for options to provide demonbane weaponry/ammo and any sort of augmentations that could come in handy. KilnHeart makes no small hint that he's looking to establish himself in the area, and would look very favorably for any help in that effort. Back at Cragwood Fort, Tusk and Rogar's efforts to create better scouting in the area pays off with 3 athasian... zombies? Definitely undead... definitely charred, thin-stretched skin. Scouts kill them no worries and bring them back to Cragwood Fortress where THX, Rogar, Frank and Tusk pop Speak with Dead to inerrogate the athasian corpses. 3 dead, 5 questions each... by the end, they've got a good idea that a Player out of Bodak named Draegoth is necroing Bodak citizens looking for work in Thrane... lures them to Stryfe keep, undeads them and if the account is accurate... there's about 80 shamblers making their way towards Cragwar ranches and farmland right about now... but that will have to wait because' 5. The Furies are back in town to report their findings in Passage. Burning any favor they had with the Passage Town Cardinal, they learn that a wetworks team was ordered to take down a sleeper cell of Cyran spies STILL active even though Cyre has been gone for 2.5 years now. FlameKeep Bishops of War blessed the intel and activated an Agent in town -- Rogar's wife, Linda. She, a Hound Angel, and a platoon of FlameKnights out of Aruldusk dropped hell on Frank's home. From the Cardinal's report; Frank's family got slaughtered by the Hound Angel's claw/claw/bite routine but Franks wife, Tandi, and his uncle triggered a Recall to destination unknown before dying too. Linda and Hound used some sort of tracking glyph to teleport out in pursuit, leaving the platoon behind. Tandi, Linda, and the Uncle have all yet to retur n, and Rogar's twin children are MIA as well. Frank, Rogar, and Tusk catch flight in The Furies' Firehelmed Turtle Barge to Passage for a follow up (13 hour flight) while Tug and THX continue local efforts. the Cardinal doesn't grant an audience, (supposedly on some sort of retreat; unavailable out of town) so they head back to Frank's home to revisit the scene. While there, they get the eerie feeling of being watched. The whole team has been experiencing this creepy vibe for a week now. It doesn't take much to put 2 and 2 together and realize that the Forces of Heaven have been spying on the team in their maybe-not-so secret lair. Some spellcraft reveals a magic divination censor following the group -- Frank stabs it with radiant damage and causes sparks of celestial plasma while puncturing a lantern archon. a trio of the little balls of light pour out of the censor and begin lighting up the place with lazers aimed at Rogar, chiming all sorts of epithets in the Celestial tongue. Rogar makes use of the house's secret passages and hide-spaces to get some distance down an escape tunnel they dug out while the lanterns wander off in search of their prey. Frank and Rogar are both very unsatisfied with these developments and head back to Crag to reassess. 13 hours back... time enough for a short rest. And the dreams that night are just as unsettling as those accompanying the visit from the Demon messenger in the prison facility -- each of them get to draw another card from The Deck of Many Things. 1. Frank skips the "opportunity". 2. Tusk draws and has her soul imprisoned in a gem, protected by guardians (The Hound snags her soul during the dream vision; she'll never wake up unless the team can figure out how to put her soul back in her body... meanwhile The Hound has her trapped in a celestial crystal) 3. Rogar wins a challenge to solo defeat his next opponent for a free level up (metagaming, that would be a bit unbalanced, considering the team is scaling together, so instead he's getting Tusk's soul crystal, a Favor From Heaven and a full pardon from heaven's pursuit IF he can defeat the Hound Archon manifesting in their dream) >> end session<< We'll resolve the dream cliffhanger next week where Rogar and Frank face The Hound alone. Team is now level 6 11 days spent in game Loot spent: 1 Cragwar favor Loot gained: 1 church of the AllSpark in CragWar Outer Ward 1 robot scorpion sentinel (see Tug character thread for specs) 16 followers of the AllSpark 1 gun merchant contact (kilnheart) 1 cyran artifact contact (ir'flanagan) 10 new doses of StoneCure 1 title and guild membership to the Judge Guild (THX: ranked Scholar)
