Psychogenic Fugue Arc - 01

9th of Thirdmonth, 10006 DK

The group woke up in a nondescript room that appeared to be in the basement of Tesla's Boil, based on the type of stone it was built from. The group found that they were in poor health, sick and nauseated with headaches and chills and weakness. They discovered that there was the remains of a meal in the room, and that their clothes were stained by food. Kuyst discovered that his owl was not in evidence, and when he suddenly realized this, he knew that his owl had appeared in the room, and turned around to find it on the floor looking at him. D'alton and Xein, the only two former citizens of Kusseth, found that their Kussethian identification tattoos were gone.

The group found that they had no memory of how they ended up in this room, but they did remember the events of last campaign. They also recalled working at Tesla's Boil and getting to know one another after last call and that sort of thing, though the further their memories got from the fateful battle that saw Kethranmeer murdered by Nakmander, the sketchier and more fragmented their memories got. When they tried to remember how they got in this room, their minds descended into a black void of emptiness that left them weak and gasping for air. Over the course of the day, they found that, if they marshaled their will and struggled against that blackness, they began to recall fragmented events

With nothing else to do, the group walked up a set of stairs in the room and found that they were in a secret room attached to a large coat closet/weapon check room. They also found that they could hear the sound of the common room of a bar on the other side of the other door in the closet. They walked through the door and found that they were in Tesla's Boil, except that it was much larger than Xein and D'alton remembered it to be. Xein did not recognize any of the employees or patrons, other than Hank Mar'du'kis, who was tending bar. Xein yelled and flagged down Hank, who responded by dropping his jaw and being surprised, his next move was to assault the group with a sawed off shotgun. The group attempted to peacefully subdue Hank and tried to explain that they meant him no harm, Hank ignored their attempts at conversation and continued firing on them, but a spell from Ran'dahl dazed Hank and allowed Za'ith to restrain him.

As the group subdued Hank, the front door of Tesla's Boil exploded inwards and the room was filled with heat and smoke. Through the smoke, the group noticed ten figures outside of the Boil looking in. Being weak, and unarmed, the group ransacked the Boil for guns and ammo and weapons, then fled into the basement of Tesla's Boil, and found it to be different as well, then Xein led them down a secret tunnel that went underground for several miles and opened up into the Braun family mansion. Once the group determined they were relatively safe and were not currently being pursued, they began investigating the mansion and found at least two months worth of dust over everything. They also found Kethranmeer's portion of the mansion stripped of wolf-iron plating.

As they searched the mansion, they found no evidence of their more familiar weapons, or anything really, other than dust and backup weapons and armor and some loose change in marks. There was however, and awful awful odor in the mansion, like something had died long ago and never been cleaned up. They tracked the scent to Derf's old room and opened it up, discovering that it had at one time been trapped, but time had rendered the trap unable to injure them. The room was covered in insane scribblings and sorcerous notations and the group found the remnants of a bloodstained journal, all of it very cryptic and in Derf's writing. They also found a door. On an exterior wall. The door was nondescript, but as the players began to approach it, they felt a cold so intense that it numbed them to their bones. Rather insightfully, they decided they were not prepared for whatever was behind the door and turned their attention to more mundane tasks.

As the group wandered the upper levels of the mansion they happened across windows and looked out upon Meroteth. They saw Tesla's Boil down the street, a zeppelin tower rising out of its side now, something Xein did not recollect building. They also saw a fire engine dousing the building in water and getting the fire under control. They also saw the center of the city, and above what must have formerly been the Wards of Governance they saw a large glowing diamond, and estimated it to be twenty feet tall. They also saw a flag flying above the city, a flag that was a field of black with a white obelisk and three bolts of white lightning forking away from its top. None of the group recognized the flag, but they knew it to be similar to The Fell Peaks and definitely not Kusseth's.

After the group finished searching the mansion and collecting gear and supplies, they fled through secret tunnels to D'alton's rowe'dhauss to rest and recuperate for the evening.

10th of Thirdmonth, 10006 DK

The group woke up in the rowe'dhauss and realized that they had slept for over fifteen hours. D'alton immediately suggested that they all try to find Nakmander, the man that had so recently murdered Kethranmeer and the group had attempted to kill. D'alton was ignored and the group decided that someone with a low profile should head up into the city and investigate current events. Ran'dahl, being a Fell Human and sorcerer seemed like the best choice, and he found his way to a bar called the Pissing Pony, a place the group had had some experience with in the past.

Ran'dahl engaged the bartender in conversation, claiming he was confused and had just come off of a Hell of a bender. The bartander was amicable and offered him some water and answered some questions. Ran'dahl (and later the rest of The Robust Five) discovered that it was the 10th of Thirdmonth, 10006 DK, close to ten years after their last coherent memory. Ran'dahl returned to the group and discussed their findings. D'alton once again said that they should seek out Nakmander, and the group elected to investigate The Jigging Jackass, though Xein remained in the rowe'dhauss.

The group found The Jigging Jackass to be in the same shape that they last saw it, busy and extravagant. As they entered the place, Ran'dahl struggled with the gaping void in his memory and vomited all over The Jigging Jackass' floor. He was forcefully escorted from the premises. Those at the Jackass found that the basement entrance where they so often had met Nakmander was gone, as if the room had been opened up and the stairway down had just been covered up. There was also a bartender they didn't recognize overseeing the place. When D'alton asked about Nakmander, the bartender said that Nakmander hasn't had direct control of the place in five years, and certainly hasn't been around in the two months since he left Meroteth at the head of a fleet of zeppelins heading south.

The group left The Jigging Jackass and picked up Xein from the rowe'dhauss, agreeing that they needed to see if they could track down Hank, because he clearly knew something. On their way to Tesla's Boil they ran afoul of a youth gang and murdered them. They also passed by the mansion, and found scorch marks all over the front of the building, several windows busted in, and the front lawn torn up. They found the Boil to be closed down early, but in one piece, save for a door. They also found the ten individuals that originally attacked the Boil inside of it. The group was able to eavesdrop and discover that their presence here was unexpected and they were supposed have gone south with the master of Meroteth. The group left before they were discovered and headed to Hank's apartment. Once there, they discovered that Hank had ransacked the place and left in a hurry.

Xein decided that he would go down the chain of his employees till he found someone that knew something, luckily, Waltin Fask lived next door to Hank. Unfortunately, they found Waltin's place to be in the same state as Hank's. Xein then decided to find Ant'uan Bordeen, an Elduman cook in his employ (with a Fell Human first name, which was odd, but no one ever questioned it). Xein was invited into Ant'uan's home and discovered that his Elduman friend hadn't worked for him in several years. Further investigation revealed that Ant'uan had not liked how closely Xein and his associates worked with Nakmander, and he was concerned about the artifact that Nakmander brought to the city and the shadowy creatures that came with it. Xein was bothered by this, but thanked his friend and gave him several of his homemade beers. D'alton was not bothered by the fact that The Robust Five had been working closely with Nakmander over the past decade.

The group returned to the rowe'dhauss and settled in to discuss their situation and how to proceed. They established that since there was a ten year gap in their memories, their first order of business was to investigate what had happened locally and across The Known World. To do this, they determined that they would send messages to their allies and do some local research. Messenger night fowls were sent by Xein to John in Port Brass and Traith Harris in Kusseth, while Kethralzahn sent one to his brethren in Steeltown.