Session 7: Behind the Curtain Report

General Summary

After 10 days of well needed rest, and Averel finally meeting his patron, Vess, the party start the search for Elixin's blueprints as Sly Tony lays in stasis, awaiting a sudden magic surge. Meeting with his contact, the slippery Lucin Aracha (and after beating him in Rugo), they learn that the High Dominion has fronts all over the city that the blueprints could have been taken to. So, without further ado, Donevan locates a small Gift Shop in the Arcanist's Farthing ran by an over-eccentric Mountain Dwarf, definitely guilty of hiding something. Kairon and Averel make their way to Yonderlute (or pretty much Zion for Bards) and proceed to beat the Grand Bard Champion 'Jadd' in a Bard-Off in exchange for information. He shows them into a highly classified backroom, where they find one part to a 9-digit code of a lockbox that could possibly lead to Elixin's blueprints. Rostliem trespasses into an abandoned factory in the Industrial District and steals another piece of the code from two bandits before blowing up another lockbox and in turn, burning down the factory. Finally, all of the party members backtrack to the Gift Shop and interrogate the Dwarf until they manage to break into the store's confidential room. Here they find the final piece of the code - the unlocked box hinting to them that the blueprints were moved to another factory ran by a cold-hearted businessman - Regor Ericho. After relaying all of their information to Elixin, the hunt bleeds into the next day, when early in the morning the party scope out Ericho & Son Steelworks. As they witness a theft from the Steelworks, they quickly navigate through the city to chase after it, with Donevan eventually throwing his hand-axe into a wheel spoke of the thief's carriage, flipping it over completely and driving it to a stop. Returning the stolen steel to Ericho's son Halif, he rewards them by gifting a set of Adamantine-studded leather armour to Averel and then talking to his grouchy father on the party's behalf. Rostliem accidentally lets slip that Halif couldn't stop the robbery and so Regor grabs him by his neck to scold him. What followed was Kairon abruptly firing an Eldritch Blast into his abdomen and the giant Clay Golem in the far corner of the factory awakening to avenge him. With some members of the party barely making it out of the factory alive - and the golem being made into clay bricks - they again relay their newfound information to Elixin, who pieces together that the blueprints were taken to a high-up aristocrat named Wilchest Hardegraave. The players find out that Hardegraave is hosting a masquerade in just a few days and plot to infiltrate the ball. Taking on the forms of absent nobles, a bodyguard and a rat, they sneak into the party and begin to learn more about Elixin's blueprints from the nobles of Ablefell. Later in the night, Hardegraave gives a speech and is joined by Harlon Ydrenich, the cruel administrator of Ablefell's Imperial Automotive effort, who spots Kairon and Averel briefly. Eventually, as Rostliem takes a quick peek into Hardegraave's study room and confirms that he has the blueprints, the nobles that Kairon and Averel were impersonating show up to the party late, requiring them to quickly change forms in the bathroom. When they emerge however, they find Ydrenich holding Rostliem by his tail before flinging him off the balcony of the ballroom. Kairon manages to catch him but is powerless against Ydrenich's command to slay the rat. So as Rostliem manifests back into elven form, and Kairon and Averel attempt to kill Ydrenich, the hall erupts an all too familiar anarchy.

Campaign

The Fall of Avaløn

Protagonists