The Rebellion Arc - 08: Descent Into the Depths

In which Derf recalls a past life as Derf, Kethranmeer shames the group with his untrained stealth, and the results of poor pet care are experienced.

1st of Ninthmonth, 9995 DK

The group receives a visitor to the mansion in the early morning, the visitor said that he was a member of the Guild of Commerce and was here to collect he 300 marks in back taxes the group owed for starting a business in the area. He also said that the 150 mark late fee had been waved due to their place in Ko'serra's cabinet. The group paid the fee. Soon after, they received another visitor, this one calling them to The Jigging Jackass to meet with Nakmander. During travel, Kethranmeer was observed to be a little rusty and louder and clunkier than normal. 

Nakmander informs the group that they are capable, but not directly loyal to the rebellion, so they are expendable. He tells them that he has allies that seek entrance into the city, but they must do so in secret. To achieve this, Nakmander directs the group to the catacombs beneath the city, where hopefully they will find a sorcerous device capable of allowing his allies entrance into the city. If they do not succeed, they are not to worry, he has other means to achieve this goal.

The group heads into the deep, dark places of Hell, below the sewers into crude caverns of glassy black stone. They proceed further and further, encountering sorcerous traps and machinery that drain their vitality, finally coming to what looks like a fairly mundane boulevard complete with lighting and benches of glassy black stone. They proceed down this street and find a huge chamber with four obelisks of glassy back stone. In this chamber, bound by red lightning in the center of the obelisks, is a dragon. The beast has been mutated by sorcery and driven completely insane, its eyes looking sickly and its hide covered in cancerous black protrusions. 

The group investigates the obelisks and realizes that they have the ability to turn off the red lightning and open a portal where the dragon thrashes. Being warriors, they free the dragon and begin attempting to slay it. John is horribly scarred by the thing's acidic spit, but in the end, the group hacks the dragon apart and fires up the teleportation device. A yellow oval of light opens and out steps several Solwighta and Conwighta. Once they have ensured the safety on this side of the portal, a small Okwighta comes through and introduces himself as Konaleknostas. He congratulates the players and sends them back to Nakmander. 

Nakmander is quite pleased with the group's exploits and rather impressed with their actions in defeating the dragon. He also informs them that in the ancient days of Meroteth, his forefathers attempted to domesticate young dragons to ride them into battle. Once they grew too big to be ridden, they were put into the catacombs to prevent them from endangering the citizenry of Meroteth. 

Edit After The Fact: This is the first scenario in The Rebellion Arc that we use the Pathfinder system instead of 4th Edition. Additionally, Fred's wife decides prior to this session that she no longer wants to participate in our campaign. It is also at this point that Kethranmeer begins to disappear when not doing missions with the group and starts creating his sons by building them out of wolf-iron and springsteel pieces of himself and replacing them with scraps of iron and steel. 

The Rebellion Arc - 07: Of Course That Wasn't The End of It

In which an election is rigged and a formerly fat individual is deposed after being mostly ignored.

1st of  Sixthmonth 9995 DK

At some point, for no reason anyone in the group could discern, D'alton removed his pants and began walking the halls of the mansion without pants. Following this display of nudity, the group was called by messenger to The Jigging Jackass to meet with Nakmander.  Upon arrival at the Jackass, Nakmander greeted them warmly and asked them about themselves and what they've been up to and what they've seen in their time. No one was terribly forthcoming with information and Nakmander quickly turned to business. Because the group stole so much money from Nakmander, and because he was paying them a weekly wage, he needed to find a way to make their district profitable. His orders were to find a way to depose the current Governmental Liaison of the area, Phinaeusel the Formerly Fat Vyanth, and institute someone else that they could control and use to siphon money back to the rebellion. 

2nd of Sixmonth 9995 DK

The group began doing research in the area, finding out how Phinaeusel had stayed in power so long, despite keeping the area fairly run down with few amenities. As a means of seeking additional income, and as the fruition of a personal dream, Xein used some of their stolen money to finance the construction of a bar slightly south of the Braun mansion and named it Tesla's Boil. They spent the rest of the day getting information on the district and coming up with, and discarding, plans for how to proceed. 

3rd of Sixmonth 9995 DK

The group receives a messenger from Nakmander and are called to The Jigging Jackass. Once there, they fill Nakmander in on their plans and wonder if he has any suggestions as to who might be put into power as the Governmental Liaison. Nakmander says that they've been using Ko'serra Lem'kals as a means of leverage against Gahz'zarra, which is why he so readily informed Nakmander of the group's heist, and she was an official in Kusseth's government here in Hell and using her might be the best solution. It would bring her closer to the rebellion and potentially offer more leverage against Gahz'zarra, who in turn could be used as leverage against her if she was too strong willed to be controlled through advisers. The group agreed that she would be a good choice, and returned to the mansion to further refine their plans. 

4th of Sixthmonth 9995 DK

The group started out the day by meeting with Ko'serra, she and D'alton shared a somewhat awkward moment as they recalled their past romantic relationship in their youth. Once introductions were made, the group outlined a plan for replacing the current Governmental Liaison with her in the hopes that it would reinvigorate the area and bring it back to its once glorious past. The plan involved spending a lot of money doing good works in her name. She agreed that this was a good plan and offered the group five thousand additional marks to do works in her name. 

After their meeting with Ko'serra, the group hired a construction company to excavate three of the four walls surrounding the district to allow more access to the district so as to attract more passers by and the potential coin they might possess. Following that, they contracted an electrical company to restore electricity to the district. Not wanting to wait, they hired another construction company to build a soup kitchen and flophouse for the homeless and starving of the area. After a busy day of meetings and contracts, they returned to the mansion and sat down to discuss Ko'serra and a possible campaign slogan, coming up with "Ko'serra, A Better Place For A Better Future." That done, they began cleaning up the mansion, which was in pretty rough shape after years of sitting empty. 

5th of Sixthmonth 9995 DK

The group spends most of the day doing home repairs and restocking the mansion with fancy furnishings, when they reached the end of their expertise, they contracted professionals to finish the job.

6th of Sixthmonth 9995 DK

The electric company restored power to the district.

24th of Sixthmonth 9995 DK

Construction crews finished the new tunnels.

30th of Sixthmonth 9995 DK

Construction crews completed the soup kitchen and flophouse.

1st of Seventhmonth 9995 DK

Tesla's Boil opens for business. 

20th of Seventhmonth 9995 DK

In an effort to harm Phinaeusel's effort, John and Derf go out into the night and attempt to waylay some bag men bribing people to vote in Phinaeusel's name. They succeed.

1st of Eighthmonth 9995 DK

The night of the election is at hand, the vote comes in and Ko'serra has won the election. Phinaeusel is officially deposed. Now that Ko'serra is in power, Nakmander and the group come up with the ploy to seed her cabinet with loyal rebels so that they can funnel money from the area's coffers back to the rebellion. The group also laments the fact the Reginald E.C. Walthuler's expedition to the east has probably left by now. 

Edit After The Fact: I believe that Jeff stopped showing up to sessions after the previous scenario. His Sereth rifleman kind of fades into obscurity after this. 

The Rebellion Arc - 06: The Heist

In which a bank is robbed and a conveyance's location is questioned. 

19th - 20th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Travel south.

21st of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrived at Hell, and seeing that the gate was guarded by wardens and reavers, attempted to get through without being logged, being more or less successful in this endeavor. Though Gidaeon and Kethranmeer were logged. D'alton quickly took charge of the situation and led the group to an old watering hole of his called The Pissing Pony in the 2nd district of Hell. By strange happenstance, he encountered an old friend form his days in the Vanbur'yen Boys youth gang named Gahz'zarra. Gahz'zarra told D'alton things hadn't been great here in Hell and that he'd taken to working for the rebellion as a means of work. Once they exchanged remember whens, D'alton left The Pissing Pony and showed the group to his rowe'dhauss. Once there, he began explaining that he had been sent to prison for botching a robbery on a bank that catered to less than legitimate and morally upright businesses. D'alton attempted, and succeeded, to convince the group that they should try and pull of this heist as a means of sticking it to the government that had wronged them all. 

The group resupplied and restocked from what D'alton had in his rowe'dhauss and determined that the first act of business was to case the bank. The group did so by D'alton and Manwathiel scurrying through the ventilation ducts of Hell to gain entrance into the bank and then having someone ride by the place in the night. After finding everything more or less as it should be, the group decided to go forward with the plans. 

22nd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

In the morning, the group sought out a leatherworker so that they could procure enough bags to transport their ill gotten gains. During the night, the group sought out the night warden of the district to figure out his patrol route. During the day, D'alton sought out a chemist to confirm the condition of his specially made chemicals that were designed to penetrate the vault's special defenses.

23rd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

During the day, the group set out to procure the services of a steam wagon so that they could make a swift getaway from their heist.

24th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Under the cover of night, D'alton and Kethranmeer went out among the youth gangs of the city. Their intent was to foment strife among the youth gangs so as to make a distraction while the group pulled off the heist. D'alton was able to pay the Harr'yson Crew to attack the Line Runners and then was able to convince the Accountants that the Harr'yson Crew was seeking to take out their rivals in a play for power and that they would be coming for the Accountants next. 

25th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

John and Derf were logged while handling contract issues with the steam wagon rental company. 

26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group laid low in the rowe'dhauss readying themselves for the night of the heist. John and Xein spent some time improving their weapons, Derf mentally readied himself, while D'alton practiced his second story skills.

30th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group successfully gained entrance to the bank, despite the bank being vastly different from their eight year old schematics and some protections being new or improved (including a newly installed ventilation system designed to gas any infiltrators). When they penetrated the vault itself, they discovered that the safety boxes the bank held often had mementos that appeared to be of a sentimental nature. Toys, photos, old jewelry of minimal value, along with what appeared to be six reaver armbands, the armbands were interpreted as trophies of kills and killing reavers was a no no in Hell.

D'alton immediately realized that they were stealing from the rebellion, rather than the mob. Already in the middle of it, the group agreed to go through with it and began loading up their leather sacks and looking for the steam wagon. The wagon was late and its location was questioned, luckily it arrived before anything untoward could happen and the group swiftly made way to the rowe'dhauss with their loot in tow. While driving, they realized they had a tail, despite being on foot, that tail was following them via the rooftops to their rowe'dhauss. Xein felt that it was patently ridiculous that an individual on foot could keep up with a steam wagon, nonetheless, it continued following them and powered through the might of his disbelief.

Manwathiel leapt from the wagon and began firing upon the tail, with little effect, and the wagon had to swing back around to pick her up. Eventually the group just rode to their rowe'dhauss and hunkered down. D'alton's alarm systems revealed that Fell Humans, not wardens, were canvasing the sewers searching for something, but had not found them. Not wanting to be backed too far against a wall, the group secured their take and made their presence known, while keeping the rowe'dhauss' location secret. They met with Fell Humans and explained that they had robbed the bank and had no remorse for the act, then demanded that they be taken to the leader of the rebellion.

Not wanting to deal with the group definitively, the rebels brought them directly to The Jigging Jackass into the meat locker basement to meet with Nakmander, Last Knight of Meroteth and leader of the rebels. He stated that he very much wanted the money back. The players stated that they had no intention of returning it. There was much yelling and dick measuring and finally, the group decided to leverage the armbands against Nakmander. They believed that the armbands were proof that the rebels had killed reavers, and even if they weren't, Cenn the Reaver might take it as such and decide to level Hell as he had sworn to do. Nakmander very quietly said that they now worked for him and could consider the money they stole an advance in wages. He also advised them that they should be very careful how hard they push him and keep a close watch on those armbands. 

More or less intact, the group left The Jigging Jackass, and not wanting to lead the rebels back to the rowe'dhauss and their money, they made their way to the 170th district of Hell and went to 742 Evar'grehn Terr'hace, the location of the now derelict Braun family mansion.

The Rebellion Arc - 05: One the Road Again

In which a ghost town and the meteoric curiosities associated with it are discovered.

16th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The day was spent travelling south while suffering through a persistent, but refreshing, rainstorm. The group once more took their rest in a traveler's roost and John and Xein began their antics for the evening. John successfully loaded his steam rifle with most of Xein's gear and fired it up into the night air. Xein spent most of his watch picking through the surrounding scrub grass collecting his equipment. 

17th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Upon waking, the group continued following the highway south and reached the outskirts of Tolon a few hours after noon. As they rode closer to the city they discovered the potato fields surrounding the city empty of workers and looking as if they hadn't been tended to in some time. Based on this information, the group elected to approach the city cautiously. They grew more cautious when they found the piggery untended as well and discovered that someone had been disposing of body parts and clothing by feeding the pigs with it, D'alton was extremely unnerved by the situation. Once the group entered the town proper, they found it completely deserted and most of the buildings boarded up or sealed from the inside as if to prevent someone from entering. The group investigated the mayorial residence and warden's office in an attempt to locate dispatches or missives that might indicate what had happened to the town, but there was nothing. The warden's office looked like someone had taken him by force, but everywhere else in the area looked as if people had simply disappeared or fled in the midst of whatever they had been doing at the time. 

Being rather stumped, the group decided to loot the local, and conveniently labeled, general store so that they could resupply and get the Hell out of the ghost town (although no tumbleweeds were in evidence). They found the establishment sealed in some sorcerous manner that they could not force open. As they were doing so they heard yelling nearby and found a Fell Human woman of the city running towards them quite frantically. She explained that her name was Eliza and that the city had been raided by infiltrators from the Fell Peaks and that the citizens still living had taken refuge in secret mine tunnels and sealed up the general store and other affluent establishments to keep the infiltrators from having the run of the place. She also mentioned that she was being chased, this seemed to be true because six infiltrators suddenly leapt from the top of the general store and ambushed the group, albeit poorly and ineffectively (one infiltrator broke an ankle when he fell off the roof). 

Once her "pursuers" were dealt with, Eliza agreed that it was probably a good idea for the group to get out of Tolon and that she would happily head back to the mine and find out the ritual chant to unlock the general store for the group as payment for "saving" her life. Eliza told them to take cover in the partially sealed Red Pheasant inn across the street and she would return the following day. After stabling their horses, Spineplate allowed everyone to climb on top of his shoulders so they could reach the second story window and enter the tavern through it after John blew out the boards with his steam rifle. 

Inside the tavern the group discovered some empty rooms, personal belongings, and the smell of decomposition. On the first floor they found dead men that looked like some sort of explosion or sorcerous discharge had burned them to death, one appeared to be one of Walthuler's postmen with a satchel full of burnt missives. The group looted the place, did a bit of fortifying and settled in for the evening. During the first watch the group was roused by the sounds of their horses dying, and Kethranmeer banging a part of himself against himself. Everyone leapt into motion and exited the tavern to protect their faithful steeds, Manwathiel literally jumped out of a window and over the roof of the stable to save her pony. Infiltrators were once more dispatched successfully, but only Manwatheil's pony was saved. The group returned to the Red Pheasant and attempted to rest for the rest of the evening.

18th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The following morning, the group was greeted by Eliza at the now open front door of the Red Pheasant, she then let them into the general store where they resupplied and she essentially told them to get going while the going was good. Kethranmeer disagreed, citing the fact that their horses were dead and the infiltrators had made it personal by attempting to kill them twice and strand them in Tolon. He hungered for vengeance. 

The group left Eliza in the city and journeyed to the quarry to see what was going on there and if they might be able to extract some vengeance from any Fell Peaks commandos hanging out there. They did find an encampment of Fell Humans once they reached the quarry at nightfall, but found that there was some manner of sorcery in place the dulled sounds and blurred vision. As they entered the quarry they also noticed a meteor shower in the sky. Once the group crossed through the barrier they found sorcerers engaging in some manner of ritual over an asteroid or meteor or whatever you might call it, it was discovered by the group that sympathetic sorcery was being used on the meteor to affect another similar type of rock somewhere. They also found soldiers executing the citizens of Tolon with grenades and shotguns while they scrambled to escape the pit that would be their tomb. It was soon discovered that Eliza was directing the sorcerous activities and that she had worn a dress because her lower limbs were a mass of tentacles that sprouted bony growths, D'alton also noticed that she wore a black iron bracelet that glowed green intermittently. Kethranmeer became enraged when he saw one of the soldiers drop a grenade into the pit and turn a collection of citizens to pink mist, he charged across the field of battle, his spikes springing out of his body, and slammed into the soldier. The soldier fell into the pit and his allies immediately ganged up on Kethranmeer while everyone else just kind of hung back. Kethranmeer was resilient though and survived his four attackers while the sorcerers and eventually Eliza were dispatched. After the ritual was halted the group saw the falling stars they had noticed earlier come crashing down to the east, very close to Tolon. 

It was at this time that a warden of Tolon climbed out of the pit and approached the group, Xein greeted him happily and he was logged, as was D'alton, everyone else had the good sense to avoid that. Before fleeing the quarry everyone, except Manwathiel, grabbed a horse from the collection of ones the Fell Humans had been using, then they rode like bats out of Hell heading back towards Tolon. Tolon was in fine shape, but as they returned to the highway and continued more or less south they discovered a massive smoking crater in the road and felt the presence of sorcery. There was enough sorcery left clinging to the stones for the group to discover that they had been affected by sympathetic magic, just as the ritual rock in the quarry had been. 

Edit After The Fact: It is at this point in the campaign that we lose Josh as a player and he joins the Navy. Josh's Fell Human engages in seafaring as well and goes on to become a member of Haven's pirate fleets and swiftly rises to power and because the leader of the Orcunraytrel expedition somewhere around thirteen or fourteen years later.

The Rebellion Arc - 04: Kusseth City

In which a theft, a reunion, and a fireworks festival occur in the largest city in The Known World.

5th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group entered Kusseth City and Xein immediately made every reasonable attempt possible to get rid of the presence of his time in the clink, even going so far as to get fresh clothes, see a doctor, and waste large amounts of marks on reasonably good quality food. Kethranmeer expressed a desire to see his maker, but had no idea where he lived. The group needed to resupply and Kethranmeer led them around the city to various establishments while also heading in the general direction of a friend, and warden, named Traith Harris. 

Before tracking down Traith the group attempted to find a bank of some kind in the hopes that they could cash the bank notes that they found in the brigand fortress. They found and were logged by bounty hunters at KGoB Branch 76345 and set up accounts in the bank and were paid for their bank notes. After leaving the bank the group did more shopping, John and Xein had the good fortune to stumble upon a mechanics shop and were able to peruse some high tech equipment, John finally purchasing an early model steam rifle and using the mecahnist's facilities to craft some homemade explosive rounds. 

With their shopping done, the group made their way to the 37th district of Kusseth City and Kethranmeer, in his frustration, assaulted the door of a station house. With no response from the station, Kethranmeer led the group east to the 39th district and made a scene in front of an apartment building and finally roused Traith from his home. As Traith, a sickly looking human of probably sixty years of age, began speaking with his old friend a series of gunshots rang out nearby. Traith, irritated by the prospect of work in his off time deputized the group and sent them to investigate after memorizing their citizenry numbers. The group discovered that a trio of karthak had assaulted two junior wardens and were in the process of eating them, the group intervened, killed the canines, and reported back to Traith. Traith used a telegraph and notified A'lst that the group was en route and then sent them on their way.

On their way to the 295th district the group ran into a group of bards and everyone remained fairly civil while the bards extorted marks from the group. After that it was a quick walk to A'lst's warehouse, which was fairly robust in nature and filled with a delightful amount of electrical equipment. A'lst paid everyone a ridiculous sum for escorting his friend home and even gifted Xein with a motorized battery that would run his fancy new sword electrically, rather than kinetically. A'lst expressed a desire to catch up with Kethranmeer and make some repairs on his friend's fairly abused body and the group was open to this, agreeing to return in one week's time to pick up their friend. Kethranmeer said goodbye to the group, D'Alton in particular, and they left. 

On their way to an inn called the Waltzing Warhorse the group heard a young girl crying down an alley and moved to investigate. Gidaeon's immense insight into the behavior and attitudes of humans made him suspicious of the girl's false sounding sniffles. Derf, without any sort of investigation, began throwing rocks at her while Manwathiel scaled the side of a building and discovered a dozen members of a youth gang perched above the cul-de-sac waiting for the unwary to "help" their lure. Manwathiel returned to her companions and everyone agreed that they girl deserved to be raped and that they were going to leave. 

Prior to entering the Waltzing Warhorse, the group encountered a somewhat smug looking soldier in the grey of Kusseth's infantry and were handed a message from their friend and ally Reginald E.C. Walthuler that detailed an account of his travels in the Whurent mountains. Upon entering the inn itself the group was accosted by a slightly bumbling (and malformed) thief. The theft of coin was discovered before the brigand could get away and the group chased him up a flight of stairs and murdered him hardcore, rather than dragging him to a warden or reporting him to one. Following that, the group was charged a ridiculous fee for rooms for the next five days to compensate the owner of the Waltzing Warhorse for damages done to the premises. The group spent the next four days holed up in their rooms together doing nothing. 

14th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Kussethian Independence Day. Kethranmeer observed the holiday with A'lst, everyone else stayed holed up in their rooms at the Waltzing Warhorse, which is unfortunate because Kusseth puts on a pretty good fireworks show. 

15th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Group returned to A'lst's warehouse and Kethranmeer, now new and improved and all shined up, rejoined them. After they left the premises of the Waltzing Warhorse, the owner of the inn lodged a complaint with a local warden and charges of murder and destruction of a business' property were added to the data associated with the citizenry numbers of the group (but not Kethranmeer, because he wasn't there). While wandering the city the group encountered Senior Warden Traith Harris and he told them that he was unaware of their involvement with the Beltan prison break and when he reported their presence in his reports an alert was wired to him by the analytical engines of Kusseth's lawmen and he was tasked with bringing them in. He mentioned that bards play nicer when Jack was out and about and that they were friends of Kethranmeer, so he was inclined to give them a head start to escape the city and his jurisdiction. Everyone procured horses and they left Kusseth City. As they were leaving Kusseth, D'alton stole two horses so that everyone had a horse to ride south, except Kethranmeer. The group rode south with no particular direction in mind, but they followed the highway that led directly to Tolon and crossed the River Nantul. In the evening they took their rest at a traveler's roost and waited for Kethranmeer to catch up. Xein and John attempted to one up each other in terms of pranks, but they were both too perceptive to be tricked by the other one's antics. John took the first watch and heard a rumble of thunder to the east. 

Edit After The Fact: I've mentioned logging numbers and such previous to this breakdown of a scenario. For those of you not aware, Kusseth tattoos a ten digit alpha numeric identification number on each of its legal citizens. This code is used to track the actions of most citizens. Most wards in a Kussethian city have only a few routes to enter or exit, so most citizens are logged in their travels around a city by guards and wardens and such. The code has rules and guidelines in my notes somewhere, but basically uses the citizen's race and social class and background and such to identify them and track their movements. The usefulness of this means of tracking is somewhat debatable, but keeping track of all the numbers and storing data on analytical engines creates jobs in the bureaucracy of Kusseth's Wards of Government. I try not to think about Kusseth's government and economy too much, it leads to stroking out.

The Rebellion Arc - 03: To Kusseth City We Go

In which underground curiosities are discovered and brigands are lit afire and buried alive.

2nd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group woke up and exited the Cavorting Colt and approached the Kemmel foundry. The group met with an Elduman official from the Kemmel foundry and agreed to seek out an ore transport that has possibly suffered road troubles somewhere between Kusseth City and Kemmel, the group was paid 300 marks to investigate and was promised double that when the foundry received confirmation of the wagon's condition and location. The Group stated that they had intended to travel to Kusseth anyways. Over the course of the day the group encountered no wagons, but found a traveler's roost around nightfall. In the roost, they encountered a warrior named Nakmander, last knight of Meroteth who was disgusted at the half-breedness of Xein and D'Alton, he instructed them to seek Meroteth if they had any pride or desire to learn of their true heritage. Nakmander also gave them a decidedly fell bracelet of black iron that glowed green intermittently.

3rd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The night passed peacefully, except for John throwing a few bullets in the fire to wake up Xein. The group arose early in the day, setting out for travel almost immediately. Around noon they heard a cannon being fired off up ahead and saw an indistinct shape on the side of the road up ahead. The wagon turns out to be the wagon they're looking for. The group joins the mine representative Ensel, and the four brothers of the house of Ethel and defend the wagon from an onslaught of Dwenoren that had marooned the wagon with tunnels and explosives. After the battle they are paid and the wagon heads off to Ensel, the group find its way to a traveler's roost and sleeps overnight. Xein creates a clever system of pulleys and ropes that leaves John hanging from the ceiling during the night. It is unpleasant. Kethranmeer stands guard. 

4th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

After another day of travel, the group reaches a traveler's roost after dusk. After a brief discussion they agreed that based on the ability of them all to see pretty well in that dark they decided they should rest for the next twenty-four hours and begin their travels anew at night to avoid the draining heat of the day. They discover that the roost they have taken refuge in is in much better shape than the previous two they stayed at. While moving around and arranging his gear Derf trips over a disengaged tripwire and smacks his face against the stone floor, discovering that part of the floor is actually a wooden board with fake bricks glued to it that conceals a secret shaft cut into the earth. In an attempt to overcome his claustrophobia, Kethranmeer follows the group below. Further investigation reveals that there is a Dwenoren sized complex hidden beneath the roost, somewhat excavated to allow for taller folks to enter it with slight discomfort. The group finds a mix of extremely sturdy Dwenoren construction and shoddily done layman work within the complex, they also find traps and tripwires, many of which are disengaged and no danger. While investigating a mess hall they come across a patrol of Uncout brigands that appeared to be guarding the place, the guards were extremely surprised to find the group in their home and blood was shed. The group finds the end of the hole and finds a loot closet, only managing to open it when Xein cuts it open with his torch, setting off an explosive fire trap in the confines of the small tunnel. As they leave the area and pass an open door they hear the sounds of voices expressing concern about what the Hell happened down here and who killed the guys who were left to guard the place. The group successfully sneaks past the first group of brigands, but immediately finds another in front of them. Xein and Manwathiel jury rig a trap from the remains of the one they set off and some matches and pitch to slow down anyone who follows them, then Derf runs out into the mob of bandits in front of them foaming at the mouth and bellowing like a moose or something. The rest of the group sidles into the room while the bandits are distracted and gets the jump on them. The sounds of battle draw the attention of the first group of bandits, but as they move to investigate they detonate the trap set for them by Xein and Manwathiel. When the battle finishes, Derf and Kethranmeer hold the door closed against the pounding of the brigands behind it and Xein welds it shut. The group safely exits the secret dungeon beneath the roost, but once again they hear voices nearby. They decide to wander outside and face their foes and engage in their most epic battle yet, Kethranmeer and D'Alton very nearly meeting their ends at the hands of their foes. Once they vanquish them they find a key to the loot closet they were forced to cut open earlier. With no more bodies in need of bloodletting before them, the group heaves the bodies down the shaft and closes it up. They continue their twenty-four hour rest period.

5th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group awakes after nightfall and continues on their travels. Before they get out of eyesight of the roost, a dirigible comes swinging low out of the sky towards them, trailing a rope and steam. Out of the cloud of steam belching from the airship a man swings down off of the rope, he bears a heavy satchel and states that he's an agent of Walthuler and hands D'Alton a rolled up scroll from that gentleman of the same name. D'Alton reads an account of Walthuler's travels in Whurent and the group continues on towards Kusseth City, eventually reaching the outskirts of the shanty town around it. They discover that there is construction on the walls and wardens are making patrols through the shanty town, which indicates that new wards will be built for the first time in two hundred years. They ignore the vendors, bums, and pickpockets and approach the gate. They're only forced to wait for a half an hour, and get to see an unlicensed Fell Human try to enter the city. After being logged by the guards they enter the mighty bastion of law and corruption that is Kusseth City. 

Edit After The Fact: It is at this point that we gain Fred and his wife as players.

What I Was Trying To Do

Lately I've been getting nostalgic for The Rebellion Arc, that poor battered campaign that I started writing for 3.5, played with 4e, and switched midway through to Pathfinder while altering background material with each system change. That poor abused campaign where one scenario Derf was a dwarf fighter and the next he was a blind Dwenoren fighter that "saw" things with his sensory spines, and then a few scenarios later he was Derf the Elduman Descended Uncout swordmage and finally Derf the battle sorcerer. I miss that campaign sometimes. I miss those characters.

Anywhosen. So the plot of The Rebellion Arc can be summed up pretty easily. "We busted out of prison, wandered around aimlessly, got into trouble for stealing from a guy, ended up working for him and helping him achieve power to pay him back instead of just giving him the money, then at the last second realized he wasn't such a nice guy and tried to kill him for doing what he told us all along he was going to do."

I call the campaign The Rebellion Arc because while kind of tossing around ideas about what the guys and girl wanted to do, they kind of settled on joining up with a rebellion and Jeremy wanted to successfully pull off the heist his character D'alton had been put away for, which I said I'd do only if he promised to yell, "Where's the van? Where's the fucking van!?"  (Dane Cook anyone?) and he promised he would. So I came up with a few rebellion ideas (Glenwighta/The Fell Peaks, Fell Humans of Hell/Kusseth, Soulless/The Fallen Empire of Man, Laram of Volungshemle/Cenn the Reaver, I think I had one or two more and have forgotten them) and told them about one or two and gave them opportunities to get involved with the others if they picked up the hooks.

The first couple scenarios were really about teaching everyone about 4e and also doing low level stuff to get cash and kind of figure out what the group dynamic was about and kind of about teaching the people with no P&P RPG experience some of the aspects of pen and paper gaming. It was also in part trying to figure out what this taloned and spiky monstrosity of a Soulless was all about. Most assumed he was stupid because he kind of spoke in the third person, if he spoke at all. Later they discovered this was a mannerism of his native tongue, Thoeleknair, and the third person aspect of it was due to the race that spoke it being blind and it being considered rude to not announce who you were before jumping into a sentence.

The first big event was a ghost town that looked like it had been boarded up in preparation for a zombie attack, which is what the group assumed. Nope. Just some Fell Human sorcerers trying to rain fire from the sky down on a Kusseth border town which was totally and completely unrelated to anything else that was going to happen in the campaign. The next big event was in Hell, where the heist took place. They robbed a bank and things went sour and they got involved with Nakmander and began working for him and his rebellion to secure Hell and grow his power so he could strike at Kusseth and free his people and city from its tyranny once and for all.

So they did some stuff for Nakmander. Killed some drunk Fell Human teenagers to cement the alliance with Glenwighta rebels in The Fell Peaks, kidnapped a reaver, rigged an election and put a patsy into power (that was eventually deposed and killed when Nakmander successfully rebelled), fought a dragon, lied to lawmen, started a business, got dysentery, and one or two other things that I cannot recall at this moment. Then the campaign reached the final scenario and they turned traitor and decided to put Nakmander down when they realized he was actually going to destroy Kusseth City with fiery rocks pulled from the sky with sorcery.

The plot of the campaign was fairly basic, oppressed people are oppressed and want freedom, the PCs help obtain that freedom but realize the oppressed people are going too far and decide to fight against them. It wasn't a particularly complex campaign plot and it didn't involve much more than busting heads for the most part. The scenario where they fixed the election was probably the most complicated, and there was minimal combat in that one and at most it involved a few skill checks and the majority was role-playing or planning things out.

I wasn't really trying to do anything unique with the plot. I was experimenting a little bit with sandbox style adventures. Once they settled into working for Nakmander, the sandbox aspect kind of disappeared and turned into a more conventional your quest giver has a mission for you and you go do it kind of campaign. I still think I was able to primarily keep the railroading minimal or nonexistent. They certainly had free reign to do whatever they wanted in the fix the election scenario. I'm not saying they could just ride the train right off the rails during the campaign, but I think I did ok. No one complained about the restrictive nature of the scenarios at least.

I recently had a discussion with Jeremy about what I was trying to do with The Rebellion Arc. I wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel or anything and I certainly wasn't trying to do a save the world style campaign. There were a couple of things I was kind of trying to do though. Not any really super strong clear intent, but I was kind of designing the campaign around a few concepts. I'd been doing a lot of reading and such on the topic of GMing and becoming a better GM so I was kind of trying to depart from previous excursions into world building and campaign construction and such.

One of the main things I was kind of trying to develop was a world that was constantly in motion and didn't just sit around and wait for the players to arrive on scene before things started happening. A lot of times in the past, I built a world and set things up to happen, but then those things kind of hung around waiting for the players to show up to view them or take part in them or to prevent them from happening. With The Rebellion Arc, I kind of set several plots into motion and then just let them roll along to their conclusion whether the PCs were there to watch or take part or not. Now, the players are still the players and the story is still primarily about them, so when they do decide to get involved in things, those things accelerate. Basically, stuff happens on a timeline whether the players are taking part in it or not, but if the players do take part in something they accelerate it. 

So, when the players sat down with Nakmander and joined up with his organization, things started progressing more quickly. Meanwhile, the other rebellion ideas I had set up moved along as well, and some even got involved with Nakmander's rebellion. If the players had peaced out on Nakmander and taken a more active interest in the Rankethlek, Nakmander's rebellion would have slogged along at a slower pace and probably been a lot more costly for him in terms of casualties, while the Rankethlek would have scooted ahead with things and begun fighting Fallen directly, rather than building Steeltown and ignoring the Fallen. It would also have made The Psychogenic Fugue Arc an impossibility.

The other thing that I wanted to do was show that actions have consequences. For instance, D'alton's heist. The group assumed that the bank D'alton had originally tried to rob would be under the same ownership eight years later. They didn't investigate who had an interest in it or anything of that nature. The bank had changed hands, originally being owned by some shady individuals, but when Nakmander started kicking off his rebellion, his first action was to kick mobs and such out of the city. So when the mob using the bank got booted out of Hell, Nakmander took it over. This led to the players getting involved with Nakmander. Additionally, all the faceless mooks and thugs they killed over the course of the campaign had family, they had friends. Just because you drop some 1 hit point minion, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have friends or family that won't be upset. So I crafted the Mysterious Enemies. I based those enemies on some of the more malicious things the group did. One of the guys they hit with a grenade and trapped behind a wolf-iron door that they welded shut. The teenage Fell Humans that were partying in The Fell Peaks that they killed because the Glenwighta told them to. One was the mother of a Kusseth greycoat they got killed for extorting arms suppliers. The brother of their patsy in the election. There were other mysterious enemies, and I had planned for them all to interact with the players during The Psychogenic Fugue Arc. 

I guess the Psychogenic Fugue Arc is the best example to use to show how actions have consequences. The players backed Nakmander and helped build up his power base. When they turned on him and "slew" him, he became obsessed with them. Without that obsession, he probably wouldn't have built himself a clone army of The Robust Five and now be using it to try and conquer The South, and Meroteth might have been reconquered by Kusseth or reabsorbed into The Fell Peaks.

The Rebellion Arc wasn't about morality. The players were thieves and vandals and killed kids and bystanders without so much as blinking. Which is fine. I don't believe in black and white morality for the same reasons I think two word alignments are stupid. It's meaningless. Hekinoe is a world where morality is gray and there are only really shades of more gray. To the Fell Human population of Hell/Meroteth, Nakmander is a shining paragon of Chaotic Good fighting against an oppressive establishment for the freedom of his people from a tyrannical dictatorship. To the average Kusseth citizen, he is a black hearted Chaotic Evil sorcerer that might as well be bathing in the blood of infants after eating their hearts.

Don't get me wrong, some things are bad, period. Rape, pedophilia, etc. But lets look at the bigotry of most average folks of The Known World in regards to sorcery. Sorcerers in most places in The Known World are considered vile and evil, because even the strongest of them can't guarantee that their sorcery won't slip out of control and endanger the lives and well being of those around them. Bigotry is typically a bad thing. However, sorcerers cannot guarantee that their sorcery won't slip out of control and endanger the lives and well being of those around them. You can practice certain methods of spellcasting and utilize certain items to minimize the chance of a misfire, but you cannot guarantee it. So every time a spellcaster casts a spell, he is risking the lives and well being of those around him. All sorcerers are aware of this risk, as sorcery's nature is well documented in The Known World. Does that not make the bigotry of The Known World justified? Does it not make a spellcaster evil for ignoring this danger and casting spells while around other people? Even if you are using sorcery to stop some sort of disaster of mass casualty proportions, you still can't guarantee that a sorcerous misfire from your efforts won't be worse in some way. 

To continue, The Rebellion Arc was about choices and their consequences and about a world that lives and breathes and doesn't sit around waiting for the players to interact with it. Things are still happening in The Known World, even though my players are wandering around Orcunraytrel, and I like that. Makes it feel like the world is more than just window dressing.

You may have noticed that the past two days have had posts kind of detailing The Rebellion Arc appear on the blog. I've decided that I am going to post the logs of each of the scenarios from The Rebellion Arc here on the blog, one a day for five days each week. I'm doing this because my Orcunraytrel players don't really know about The Rebellion Arc, beyond what Eric and I have mentioned. I'm also doing it because I need a break. I've been feeling kind of drained and am having a difficult time creating a post I am happy enough with to actually post, so I think I need a bit of a break from creating new content.