Session 9: Sleepwalker Awakens
General Summary
In this episode of Dream Thieves...
A new Day
Our heroes awoke at The Wilted Thicket refreshed and ready for a new day. To their suprrise, an armature they'd never seen before came up the stairs with a plate of eggs, bread and meat made for them. Unfortunately a mechanical error caused the bucket of bolts to drop the plate, falling down in the process. Enzo and Princess Penelope were downstairs speaking to one another. Enzo agreed to train Princess Penelope to become a barbarian, and the heroes chose to leave them behind to train in Union and meet up with them later. Our heros met a strange vendor named Bigby who sold them the Mythril mice at a small discount. The mice, whose names were Bernard and Dickins, were two seriously wound up excited chaps talking quickly about all manners of things, but chiefly among them was their love for cheese. They acknowledged Zauriel as their new 'proprietor' and command giver. Amelia was researching armatures and admitted she was the one who had prompted the unfortunate botched breakfast delivery. She said that through her research so far, she's learned that the armature is connected to its original owner magically (the one who bought the armature). Armatures can be operated with someone in it or not. However, much more was to be learned about how they operated, and she could not progress in her understanding without meeting someone with inside knowledge of their construction. Our heroes gave a warm goodbye and thank you to Emrys and her Fey Spirit, for now. She welcomed them back to the thicket whenever they found themselves within Union.Ambush from the Guard
The team walked outside to find Kenton Araby asking Aethe about the location of the missing artifact. The others had gone out the back door and were hidden from this interrogation. Stockton Araby revealed himself in allegiance with Kenton and determined to see the artifactr returned to him. They had chained up Turin Stormwind in the city streets, guards surrounding the area to show they meant business and would not accept no for an answer. Zanuriel, attempting to cause a distraction, gave a bum on the street his delicious mojito, and after drinking it his inebriation tipped the scale over, knocking him out on top of one of the guards in Kenton's forces. As Aetha was knocked over by Kenton continuing his investigation, Zanuriel began the battle, commanding Kenton's horse to obey, which unfortunately failed. Torentous joined, Azriel remained hidden throughout the fight. Teams traded blow for blow, but Kenton Araby could not handle the unbridled focus fire from the heroes, and he was slain by their hand. Stockton, witnessing the death of his brother in full daylight, was distraught, creating a crack in his psyche. The heroes could not have forseen what they had just release, for something sinister crept out of the mind of Stockton, having seen his means of escape. Something had taken over Stockton's Armature, maybe even his body, it couldn't be certain. The figure laughed and rejoiced at his newfound freedom. He used the new power available to him to turn the armatures used by the guards against them, transforming them into horrific clockwork warriors, killing the pilots within. The fiend did not reveal his true name, instead he offered a codename to the heroes as a means to call him: Sleepwalker. He then escalated the confrontation even further, calling on Goliath who entered battle with a crash from the rooftops above. Turian Stormwind, finally freed, called on Kane to help the heros turn the tide against these new formiddable iron enemies. In the midst of the battle, Goliath was damaged and opened three exhaust vents, that when struck, caused Goliath to overload and self destruct. Right as the heroes felt the tide of battle was turning in their favor, another unspeakable power was born! Sleepwalker drew in all the broken armature bodies to form a new armature, The Clockwork Dragon, a ferocious new armature never seen before. He flew off, saying he would see the heroes again. The heroes were awarded the BOSS CHEST filled with gold and powerful items. Amelia, rummaging through the wreckage of Goliath, found an infernal engine inside the giant armature, and gave it to Zanuriel for safe keeping. It was time to leave the city before more pursuers found them. Aetha had Isabel walk out of the city last, leaving her open to be assassinated by The Mysterious Snake. She had agreed to help the snake in Union in earlier sessions, and she ultimately kept her promise. The snake invited her to join his assassin order, but Aetha chose to decline for the time being to find her own path. He gave her a calling stone to contact him if she ever changed her mind. Before he left, the heroes, wanting to know more about the man who had just taken Isabel's life, asked where he came from. The snake, as one last thanks for their participation (or at least their complicitness) said that his home was the Yuan Ti tribe of the Golden Wind.Welcome to Squarehill Keep
After our heroes escaped the city, they arrived to Squarehill Keep, a strangely serence lookout point in the middle west area of the continent. They met Galandriel, who created a new song with Aetha. Torentous tried to look in his cabin and was levitated out of the way (which was not the first time this has happened). The team spoke with Jess, a local farmer, who was missing her horse Tidbit. Azriel promised to help find him. Moving up the hill the team met Keats and Tennyson, astrologers watching the celestial star signs. Their research led them to believe that the stars had been acting differently ever since The Constellation, but they couldn't draw definitive conclusions as to how that was affecting the nation. What will our heroes discover on Squarekeep Hill? Tune in for our next session of Dream Thieves!
Aeða Mɛlñɛriæn
Azriel Carynthian
Zanuriel Leafbreeze
Torentous Tenaysius
Report Date
06 Nov 2023
Primary Location
Related Plots