The Rebellion Arc - Subscenario 00: D'alton and Kethranmeer

In which two brothers establish their brotherhood and buy their freedom at the cost of others'.

11th of Eighthmonth 9995 DK

D'alton discovers Kethranmeer sneaking about the mansion in the middle of the night. The two exchange words and D'alton accompanies Kethranmeer to The Jigging Jackass where Kethranmeer gives his cut of the group's money to Nakmander to purchase his freedom. Nakmander also convinces D'alton to take part in a ritual that will unlock the sorcerous potential in D'alton's thin Fell Human blood. D'alton also decided to take his share of the money and buy his freedom from Nakmander as well. Unfortunately, the use of this money left too little money in the group's coffers for the other members to buy their freedom. Kethranmeer was very agitated during the exchange, claiming that he had important duties to perform this evening. 

When the ritual was finished and D'alton unlocked his sorcerous potential, D'alton and Kethranmeer made their way to another district and spied upon an Fallen run alchemy shop. Kethranmeer explained that he sought to free his people from the sorcerous control of the Fallen. To do this, he needed to subdue the Soulless and implant a device created by A'lst within their chest. Kethranmeer tells D'alton that he has been tracking Soulless in the city and seeks to bring one into the fold that has been stationed at the alchemy shop to protect the Fallen.

D'alton and Kethranmeer hide outside the shop for a while, and D'alton's newly empowered blood reacts with a strong affinity to the shadows he hides in. The two gain entrance to the shop and find it empty. In the basement, they discover that the Fallen have been experimenting with the black rock of Hell's walls. They also discover that the Soulless they are looking for has left the building. The two attempt to track the Soulless, but neither of them are particularly skilled at tracking, but they manage to eventually find their quarry in an abandoned warehouse engaging in boxing fights with humanoids of flesh and bone, with betting being on how long a meatbag will last against the Soulless in a fight.

Kethranmeer challenged the Soulless to combat, and it agreed to join the rebellion if Kethranmeer could defeat it. After a tough battle, Kethranmeer and D'alton subdued the Soulless and dragged it back to the mansion. On the way, they stopped at The Jigging Jackass and mentioned to Nakmander that the Fallen were doing sorcerous experiments on the black walls of Hell. 

Edit After The Fact: This subscenario was kind an in game means of showing Kethranmeer's efforts to create the Rankethlek race and to also strengthen the bonds between Kethranmeer and D'alton. This subscenario is also how D'alton became a full blooded Fell Human instead of a Fell Human Descedant, and also allowed him to access the Shadowdancer prestige class. It was also an experiment with using the Pathfinder rules in Hekinoe, as we had not made the switch in systems quite yet. In the continuity it takes place between the seventh and eighth scenarios of The Rebellion Arc. Also, everyone was really pissed about Kethranmeer and D'alton taking their share of the money. Kethranmeer justified it by essentially telling the rest of the group to consider it back pay for taking all the hits everyone else was too weak to take. D'alton justified it by telling everyone, I'm a thief, what did you expect?

The Rebellion Arc - 14: The Night the Sky Cried Tears of Fire

In which both Kethranmeer and Nakmander fall, and only one gets up. 

10th of Fourthmonth, 9996 DK

Once within the wolf-iron Dwenoren tunnels, Nakmander's group and The Robust Five (More Or Less) quickly came to the end of the tunnels and found a circular chamber with a skylight. Nakmander and his sorcerers used sorcery to excavate the opening so they could get a wider view of the sky and then set forth to creating a ritual. The fifteen sorcerers were aided by Derf, Xein, and D'alton in the crafting of the ritual. The sorcerers chanted, Derf etched runes to channel power into the floor, Xein laid down lines of sorcerously reactive powders, and D'alton gave birth to sorcerous shadows to enhance the energy of the ritual. Once the ritual was fully begun, the sorcerous energy within the chamber began nauseating and weakening the group.

Nakmander then explained that it was time for Kusseth to pay for all they'd done to his people and his city. He spoke to his cronies of making martyrs of Kusseth's innocents, innocents that had not raised a single hand in defense of Nakmander or his people. Nakmander said that they would use the falling stars themselves to make Kusseth pay. Kethranmeer and Xein said that they had friends and family within Kusseth that could be injured by the meteors brought down on  the city. Nakmander commended them for their noble death in the name of his cause, Kethranmeer and Xein felt this was not the way it should be and Kethranmeer leapt forward to attack the sorcerers and Nakmander stepped to their defense.

At this time, Gonigi Montoya rappelled into the chamber with forty wardens and Brasscoats in tow and all Hell broke loose and people began shooting and casting and generally just making a mess of everything. Derf immediately levelled his most powerful spells against Gonigi while Kethranmeer attempted to get past Nakmander to the sorcerers and D'alton and Xein attacked Nakmander with bombs and pistols. Derf's spell almost destroyed Gonigi then and there, but the warden managed to cling to life long enough to retreat and restore his vitality with his psionic powers while John attempted, and succeeded, in clotheslining Derf to keep him from killing the warden.

As the ritual began to reach full power, Kethranmeer fell to Nakmander's spells, his body reduced to slag and scorched rust by Nakmander's most powerful spells. Nakmander had not sought this and screamed at the group, asking them if this was enough of a price to pay for Kusseth's safety. Derf began attempting to take control of the ritual while John and Xein attacked the sorcerers and D'alton continued attacking Nakmander. Nakmander began marshaling his power, seeking to unleash one of his most  powerful spells upon the group, but sorcery slipped from his grasp and his power burned out the air in the chamber in a violent flash of sorcery that left most of his soldiers unconscious from lack of oxygen. Nakmander too was knocked down by his power, and D'alton stepped forward with a blade forged from Kethranmeer's own blade finger and plunged it into Nakmander's face. 

Derf managed to take control of the ritual, and in typical Derf fashion, directed the falling meteors at the northwest of Kusseth City, because he felt like it. Gonigi and the group engaged in brief dialogue, Gonigi was admonished when he irreverently lamented the death of Kethranmeer. Gonigi had only vague words for the players and pointed out that Nakmander's body had disappeared. He and his wardens and Brasscoats left quickly to head back to Kusseth to help restore order. 

12th of Fourthmonth, 9996 DK

The group, with Kethranmeer's body in tow, arrived in the 295th district of Kusseth City seeking to return Kethranmeer's corpse to his creator, luckily able to enter freely and safely due to the devastation the ritual had wrought.  They found the warehouse empty of A'lst. Their investigation revealed a thick layer of dust on the floor, but they did discover what they determined were the tracks of five Soulless in the dust, along with what they assumed were A'lst's small footprints. All six sets of footprints left the warehouse. Not knowing what else to do, the players left the warehouse and headed back to Hell.

16th of Fourthmonth, 9996 DK

The group returned to Hell and found their mansion and businesses in good order. Well aware of the fact that Nakmander's body had disappeared, they laid Kethranmeer to rest down in the bottom of the mansion near his forge, and set to defending their home in the event that Nakmander attempted to strike at them, if he was still alive.

Edit After The Fact: This was the final scenario of The Rebellion Arc. This run down doesn't really show it, but there was a lot of discussion and role-playing during and following it. I was so sad when Kethranmeer died, I actually had to get up and leave the room for a moment. As I've said before, I am too invested in this shit. Also, Gonigi was a warden errant of Kusseth that had previously interacted with the group in the hopes that they would help him root out Nakmander's plans and aid him in defeating the sorcerer. I don't recall if they every informed Nakmander of this, but they didn't exactly help out the warden. I guess I should explain the blade finger bit as well. When Kethranmeer was the Beast/Spineplate of Beltan, the wardens there fitted him out as a mining creature and replaced his hands with large wolf-iron claws that could hack ore out of the earth. Eventually, Kethranmeer requested that Xein and D'alton help him out and remove the blades and replace them with fingers and he returned to using hammers. As a sign of friendship with D'alton, Kethranmeer forged one of his claws into a short sword for D'alton. 

The Rebellion Arc - 13: Evasive Maneuvers

In which horses are forgetting, much to the chagrin of Rhetkhan Kannunn. 

5th of Fourthmonth, 9996 DK

The group rode north for a day and met with the pale, sickly creature called Callifay. Callifay inspects the coffin to ensure that the proper corpse is found within, once satisfied with the identity of the corpse, he and his escorts leave. Before doing so, they informed the group as to where they could meet Nakmander. 

6th of Fourthmonth, 9996 DK

The group reconvened with Nakmander and he informed them that now that they were truly in Kusseth territory, they were being hunted by more Brasscoats. Using sorcery, Nakmander and his sorcerers found ways to traverse the soil without leaving tracks. The group was ordered to take Nakmander's horses and mislead the trackers and eventually force a confrontation with them, leaving Nakmander free to reach his desired position in Kusseth. The group successfully misled the Brasscoats and fought them to the death. 

10th of Fourthmonth, 9996 DK

The group reconvened once more with Nakmander, settling down in a depression among some rocky hills a few miles south of Kusseth City. Nakmander made them welcome and explained that they would be cutting their way into a series of Dwenoren tunnels that would lead them to the place the ritual would take place. 

Edit After The Fact: The one liner for this scenario refers to the fact that during the fight of the scenario, I had planned on the firearms and lightning guns sending the horses the group was leading into a frenzy of fear and causing a significant hazard to everyone on the battlemat. I completely forgot this aspect of the encounter. Which was upsetting, but that's what you get when you try to run a scenario after working for twelve hours. Rhetkhan Kannunn is a joke Jeremy and I kind of came up with referring to me as a presence in my campaign world that periodically restructures background material as I adjust rules and add in new ones or change a piece of background information. Retcon is term for retroactive continuity, which means changing previously established facts and such in a fictional work. 

The Rebellion Arc - 12: Burn The Mother Down

In which the mother does not in fact burn down, a disguise is fashioned, and the merits of technology are irrefutably displayed via a lightning bolt to the face. 

The group spent 32 days traveling and returned to the city on 19th of Secondmonth. When the group returned to Hell, they met with Nakmander and were rewarded for their successful efforts among the Fremwightan. They also opted to report to Ko'serra, she was furious they had left for over two months without telling her. She gave them severance pay and fired them from her cabinet, and that was the last they ever saw of her. Once they reported to Nakmander, they had no real contact with him other than a few low key missions to drop something off or pick something up. 

4th of Fourthmonth, 9996 DK

At about nine in the evening, the group was hanging out in the Braun mansion and they heard the noises of rioting in the streets. When they investigated, they saw a mob down the street and a few nearby buildings on fire. Through various methods, they attempted to put out the fires and investigate the mob. The mob appeared to be a collection of excited drunken revelers celebrating the fact that Cenn the Reaver was dead. While they were dealing with the fires and the mob, messengers from Tesla's Boil ran up to them and told them that the bar was under attack. 

The group rushed to the Boil and engaged the looters in combat, relatively swiftly removing them from their bar. As they were finishing off the looters, another messenger came running up and told them that Nakmander desired their presence at The Jigging Jackass. When they arrived at the Jackass, they found the signs of battle and fire outside of the door, along with ten corpses. Upon entering the Jackass they found Nakmander entertaining the most elite of his cronies with the best food and drink in his establishment. There was also a coffin. 

When Nakmander addressed the group, he told them that Cenn was dead and that the time was at hand  for the rebellion to strike a blow at Kusseth itself. For now their part was simple, they merely needed to escort the coffin out of the city and masquerade as Nakmander himself so as to keep Kusseth wardens and Brasscoats from waylaying the true Nakmander. They would also need to deliver the coffin to a creature called Callifay. Augmented by Derf's sorcery, the ruse worked and the group soon found themselves in mortal combat with a group of Kusseth's Brasscoats and their lightning guns. The battle was difficult and hard fought, but the group succeeded and escaped Hell.

Edit After The Fact: The last few scenarios of the campaign become very stripped down in content. This was due to me becoming an EMT-B and working a new schedule that forced me into working opposite weekends of everyone else in the group. I would typically leave work at six or seven in the evening (I forget what shift I was working then) after getting up at like three or four in the morning, working twelve hours and hopefully getting out on time, and then go directly to Jeremy's to run the scenario. We'd finish whenever we finished and the next day I would work at nine in the morning on a shift that was encouraged to complete ten calls (mostly transfers) in less than twelve hours. Which is hard. The final few scenarios naturally suffered because of this, which frustrated me, but there was no real way for us to game other than that. 

The Rebellion Arc - 11: Further Descension

In which Okwighta are curt and Fell Humans do not act in a militaristic fashion.

17th of Firstmonth 9996 DK

The group received a messenger night fowl from Nakmander that ordered them north into The Fell Peaks to meet up with some Glenwighta. When the players arrived at some Glenwighta ruins they were approached by some Fremwightan Conwighta and after some dick measuring, their escorts agree to escort them beneath the earth without blindfolds. After much travel, they were escorted across a suspension bridge across a chasm that was set up so that it could be detonated, and entered into a massive stalactite and found a Fremwightan city. There were escorted very briskly and curtly to a meeting with an Okwighta known only as Konaleknostas' subcommander. The subcommander asked them what their battle honors were and when he heard tales of sufficient bloodletting and murder he told them that there were Fell Human soldiers in the area that were in danger of discovering the free city and the Fremwightan could not fight them, or they would know the city was there. It was necessary for outsiders to kill most of them and allow others to return to their base so they could bring stories of non-Glenwighta warriors back to their commanders. They were also notified that there might be ruins and treasures from the ancient empire of the Glenwighta, and their condition was to be preserved at all costs.

The group was given a guide that escorted them through the passages of the earth and discovered a strange portion of Swiss cheese like tunnels. The guide said that something called a cave wight was in the area and that they should be wary. The cave wight ambushed them, but they were able to defeat it with relative ease thanks to a spell from Derf that paralyzed the monster. The group continued on and discovered another chasm. In the chasm floated a collection islands with soldiers on them, the largest island bore some ancient ruins of strange metals. Ringing the chasm were a series of oval shaped sorcerous portals that used sorcery to hold the islands aloft. The sorcerous ovals were crafted of glassy black stone and had humanoidish bones within them, these bones were somewhat strange in design and looked as if they came from a humanoid roughly twelve feet in height. 

The group discovered how to sever the connection from the floating islands and their oval and were able to dispose of the majority of the Fell Humans that vastly outnumbered them, leaving only what they considered the leader and his cronies to contest with. Derf  dealt with them with a black tentacles spell that kept them mired in black tentacles for the majority of the battle. While engaging in combat, the group noticed that their enemies did not act in a militaristic fashion and were doing a lot of running around and screaming in addition to not acting in a militaristic fashion. The ruins were left untouched during the battle, despite Xein almost stealing some weaponry forged of a strange black stone-like material he had never seen before. 

When the group returned to the Fremwightan enclave, they were thanked curtly by the subcommander. Xein was rewarded with teeth of strange black stone-like material for his chainsword, Kethranmeer received a hammer of the same dark material, John received plates of dark material that reinforced his gun, Derf received a suit of armor studded with bits of glassy black stone that seemed to stabilize his spells, and D'alton received a fancy three barreled pistol. After they were rewarded, the group was shoved out of the city back onto the surface and ordered to return to Hell post haste. 

Edit After The Fact: It should be noted that at this time, I was still using single shot black powder firearms in The Known World. I have since retconned it that revolvers and multiple shot rifles and shotguns are common in this time period, but at the time Pathfinder had not unveiled revolvers and such built with their rules in mind. It should also be noted that this is the scenario I refer to when I say the group killed a bunch of Fell Human teenagers. The group of Fell Humans that The Robust Five killed were essentially a bunch of young twenty-somethings out partying in the wilderness of The Fell Peaks.

The Rebellion Arc - 10: Convoooyyy!

In which a pixelated game is referenced and a mechanical bludgeoning device is fashioned.

7th of Twelfthmonth, 9995 DK

The group is called once more to The Jigging Jackass at Nakmander's request. this visit reveals that things at the Jackass have returned to normal and Nakmander appears to be fully in control of everything. No reavers are in evidence. Nakmander thanks the group for taking Menkelthel so skillfully, and informs them that he has yet another task involving reavers for them. The reavers must be safely transported south to a depot where they will be held until Cenn can claim them. There is one final cart of them waiting two days ride to the west, it will be the group's task to take them south to The Beast Lands and deposit them safely. A wagon and cover have been provided, but the group should be wary, there have been attacks on previous caravans. The group uses their connections with the rebellion to quietly exit the city. 

9th of Twelfthmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrives at the traveler's roost and sees what appears to be a wagon and two horses dressed up in the livery of Kusseth's wardens. Further inspection reveals a bunch of malnourished reavers in the wagon, along with plenty of bodily fluids, lots of repair supplies, and leather dusters done up in the insignia of the wardens. D'alton began impersonating a warden for unknown reasons, and succeeded, the reavers demanded their freedom. D'alton did not grant it and continued hemming and hawing while Xein and John fashioned a lever operated bludgeoning device that could strike all the reavers in the wagon simultaneously and then knocked them all unconsciousness. 

10th of Twelfthmonth, 9995 DK - 12th of Firstmonth, 9996 DK

The group spends this period of time travelling more or less south to their destination in The Beast Lands. During the travel time there were a few broken wheels on the wagon, a snake attacked a horse, and John contracted dysentery but was able to recover thanks to Xein's ministrations. At the tail end of their journey, the group came under assault by a group of bard pistoliers. The group was able to fight them off and continue to their destination.

13th of Firstmonth, 9996 DK

The group reached a stone and dirt fortress in The Beast Lands and discovered the aftermath of a battle with a massive ursine from the depths of the forest. They were ushered into the fortress and found it to be a foul, smelly place, with no comforts. The reavers were stacked in cages like cords of wood, screaming and defecating everywhere trying to assault their captors with their bodily fluids. The group made a space for themselves and set to killing time until Nakmander called for them.

14th, 15th, and 16th of Firstmonth, 9996 DK

The group bummed around the crude fortress found at the northern border of The Beast Lands waiting for Nakmander to call for them.

The Rebellion Arc - 09: Kidnapping

In which the effects of chemistry, poison, and anatomy are utilized to unreave a reaver. 

1st of Twelfthmonth, 9995 DK

The group has been working as muscle for Nakmander since their exploits beneath the earth. They have been making a name for themselves in the rebellion as some of the harder hard cases working for Nakmander and typically guard money transfers and break down doors looking for collections or to root out Kusseth loyalist elements in the population. Once more, they find themselves called to The Jigging Jackass. They find Nakmander and his warriors dressed for battle. Nakmander is brief with them, saying only that things are afoot that require his direct intervention, and their task is just as important. They will be capturing a reaver. Alive.

Nakmander tells the group that he has brokered a deal of some kind with Cenn the Reaver and is allowed to remove reavers from Hell, through non-violent means. Cenn has told Nakmander, the death or injury of a reaver will result in the death of Hell. The group is instructed to find and subdue a reaver by the name of Menkelthel, a reaver that enjoys living in Hell and has a reputation as a formidable warrior and sorcerer. They are instructed to be careful and to remove him from the city in one piece, and to make it look as if he just up and left, rather than as if he was subdued and taken against his will. 

The group made their way to Menkelthel's tower fortress, investigated it and discerned that he was the only reaver in residence. They then began recon on the district itself, noting that there were no reavers in evidence, even going so far as to question citizens and get confirmation that the reavers have been growing fewer and fewer over the past week or so. Using cunning, the group was able to find an alchemist willing to deal in poisons and were able to gain entrance to the fortress via stealth, primarily through Derf's spells and D'alton's shadow powers, and affect Menkelthel with a paralytic poison. Despite Xein's bumbling and tampering with the chemical, the reaver fell to the poison and they were able to make off with him safely, despite almost forgetting his sword. 

After carting the reaver in a cart through Hell, they brought him to The Jigging Jackass and found it to be very odd. The main room was full of rebels pretending to be merry and feigning loudness. It was quickly revealed that the lower levels of the Jackass were full of angry, bleeding, screaming reavers and the noise above was made to cover the noise of the reavers. A canny guess showed that Nakmander was feeling a bit overwhelmed holding a few dozen reavers in his basement and quickly told the group to drop their reaver and leave him to sort through the mess.