Session 46: A Trip on the Lightning Rail
General Summary
The party spends a day in the tower created by the Lord of Blades recovering from their trip. Karias Von Allmen, in particular, needs some time to recover. Don Jon Raskin reaches out to Toox via the sending stones they share to let her know a boat will be coming to take them to Gatherhold, and from there they will be picked up by a private lightning rail car. He emphasizes they need to have Benne Rowich's head.
The boat comes to pick them up, but stays farther from the Mournland border, forcing the party to make a 45 minute trek along the coast to the boat. Karias is still unconscious. The boat takes them to the city, and into House Ghallanda's enclave and headquarters. It is a palace overlooking the city, and the party are treated as honored guests. Chervian d'Ghallanda, the new head of House Ghallanda (after Yoren d'Ghallanda's betrayal and death) is beyond thrilled to have the chance to be their first stop and throws a feast in their honor. Karias wakes up in time for that part.
During the feast several things happen. Members of House Cannith express an interest in Ripper, which doesn't go the way they were hoping. Others pester Toox for the details behind the beheading Benne Rowich, which also doesn't go the way they were hoping. Karias tries out his new Modify Memory spell, netting Toox a free 2 gold. Chervian quietly lets Karias know she needs to see the head, so Ice, Toox, and Celosia Senho are shown to a back room where Ice produced the head. Members of House Cannith and House Jorasco pull a single hair and run tests to determine its authenticity. The head is real. The party then requests an official certificate certifying that from House Sivis. The representative spares no expense, with vellum paper, gold-inlaid scroll case, and notarized signatures from the House Cannith and Jorasco reps, as well as Chervian d'Ghallanda herself. The costs are not important.
The feast ends when competing clans fight for who will give Ice his greatest desire- a dinosaur of his very own. The winner in their feud turns out to be the one who is willing to bring a dinosaur into the feast hall itself... Ice and the dinosaur do battle, and after a good bit of back and forth Ice manages to win. There is now only a chance the dinosaur (names Liz) will try to eat Ice.
The party has three days until the rail arrives to pick them up. They spend the time thusly:
Toox learns some local slang/bad words, and sleeps with some folk for fun.
Ice spends every moment he can bonding with Liz.
Ripper familiarizes himself with local flora and fauna, giving himself a tree he can travel to, and adds most of the dinosaurs and a camel to the animals he can shapechange into.
Celosia finds several local bards and swaps stories and songs. One of them already knows The Ballad of the Greendale Seven, and everyone is suitably impressed when Celosia reveals she is currently carrying the scroll. Together, the bards play the song in a seedy dive bar to honor the fallen "Melody" Valesnath, and Celosia passes the scroll onto a new bard.
Karias, shortly after the party, is given a mysterious black orb covered in Draconic Prophesy. Chervias explains it was her father's, and she wants it gone. Karias' study of his new orb portends doom, but he is unable to determine more. Karias is still beyond thrilled and would have devoted his time to it exclusively, but was waylaid by a member of The Boromar Clan posing as a fellow scholar in Draconic Prophecy. He explains he has found a strong prophecy that danger lay south, in Valenar, and he thinks the party should check it out right away. He even offers to go with them, if they'll have him. It becomes obvious pretty quickly this is a sham, and Karias silently calls in backup. Ice shows up and knocks the clan member out. After a bit of debate and discussion, the party search him, search his room, and modify his memory so he will remember agreeing to meet them in Valenar.
Amongst the items found are coded missives and, under a false bottom in a box, a thin book containing illustrations and descriptions of the party (this seems similar to the work Endinwel Cromelon was collecting). The party decode the missives, and discover the Boromar clan is keeping tabs on them and this agent was told to use a knowledge of the Draconic Prophecy to lead them astray. The missives also suggest additional missives or instructions, but the party are unable to find them.
The train arrives and the party and their gear (and dinos/horses) are sent off in style. The train contains only three cars- the engine up front, a private car for the party, and a third car for their luggage, animals, and a communal space. The train picks up additional cars and passengers in Korth, and again at a few other stops along the way. The train even picks up a second engine, this one posted at the back of the train, to provide more speed. The train ride itself is uneventful for the party, aside from chatting with Benne's head.
Benne's Head: Karias has twice had an opportunity to talk with Benne's head. The questions were focused on determining the demon's location. The end result is the party believing the demon has taken up residence at a Boromar enclave in the Skyway.
Over the next week or so the lightning rail makes its way around the northern edge of Khorivare and turns south heading toward Passage, the home of the House Orien enclave. One morning finds the party enjoying a pleasant breakfast together while moving along the coast of Lake Galifar when Celosia suddenly cries out in pain and passes out. Karias gets a deep sense of impending doom, and recognizing imminent death from his deep experience, reacts by magically moving the other 4 members of the party off the train. They are teleported 50 feet off the ground. Featherfall kicks in for them, but a blast wave rolls across everything that can be seen, snapping tree branches and the like. When the wave hits the party all magic-ALL magic- winks out. The featherfall tokens cease working, Ripper is unable to wildshape, and the Lightning Rail lurches to a halt. Freed from their prisons, the bonded lightning elementals rip free from the engines. The rail itself, sitting 150 feet in the air, rocks precariously.
A second blast wave rocks seconds behind the first, knocking the party on the ground prone. The good news is the blast reignites magic. The bad news is it looks to be finishing the job of knocking the train off the tracks....
The boat comes to pick them up, but stays farther from the Mournland border, forcing the party to make a 45 minute trek along the coast to the boat. Karias is still unconscious. The boat takes them to the city, and into House Ghallanda's enclave and headquarters. It is a palace overlooking the city, and the party are treated as honored guests. Chervian d'Ghallanda, the new head of House Ghallanda (after Yoren d'Ghallanda's betrayal and death) is beyond thrilled to have the chance to be their first stop and throws a feast in their honor. Karias wakes up in time for that part.
During the feast several things happen. Members of House Cannith express an interest in Ripper, which doesn't go the way they were hoping. Others pester Toox for the details behind the beheading Benne Rowich, which also doesn't go the way they were hoping. Karias tries out his new Modify Memory spell, netting Toox a free 2 gold. Chervian quietly lets Karias know she needs to see the head, so Ice, Toox, and Celosia Senho are shown to a back room where Ice produced the head. Members of House Cannith and House Jorasco pull a single hair and run tests to determine its authenticity. The head is real. The party then requests an official certificate certifying that from House Sivis. The representative spares no expense, with vellum paper, gold-inlaid scroll case, and notarized signatures from the House Cannith and Jorasco reps, as well as Chervian d'Ghallanda herself. The costs are not important.
The feast ends when competing clans fight for who will give Ice his greatest desire- a dinosaur of his very own. The winner in their feud turns out to be the one who is willing to bring a dinosaur into the feast hall itself... Ice and the dinosaur do battle, and after a good bit of back and forth Ice manages to win. There is now only a chance the dinosaur (names Liz) will try to eat Ice.
The party has three days until the rail arrives to pick them up. They spend the time thusly:
Toox learns some local slang/bad words, and sleeps with some folk for fun.
Ice spends every moment he can bonding with Liz.
Ripper familiarizes himself with local flora and fauna, giving himself a tree he can travel to, and adds most of the dinosaurs and a camel to the animals he can shapechange into.
Celosia finds several local bards and swaps stories and songs. One of them already knows The Ballad of the Greendale Seven, and everyone is suitably impressed when Celosia reveals she is currently carrying the scroll. Together, the bards play the song in a seedy dive bar to honor the fallen "Melody" Valesnath, and Celosia passes the scroll onto a new bard.
Karias, shortly after the party, is given a mysterious black orb covered in Draconic Prophesy. Chervias explains it was her father's, and she wants it gone. Karias' study of his new orb portends doom, but he is unable to determine more. Karias is still beyond thrilled and would have devoted his time to it exclusively, but was waylaid by a member of The Boromar Clan posing as a fellow scholar in Draconic Prophecy. He explains he has found a strong prophecy that danger lay south, in Valenar, and he thinks the party should check it out right away. He even offers to go with them, if they'll have him. It becomes obvious pretty quickly this is a sham, and Karias silently calls in backup. Ice shows up and knocks the clan member out. After a bit of debate and discussion, the party search him, search his room, and modify his memory so he will remember agreeing to meet them in Valenar.
Amongst the items found are coded missives and, under a false bottom in a box, a thin book containing illustrations and descriptions of the party (this seems similar to the work Endinwel Cromelon was collecting). The party decode the missives, and discover the Boromar clan is keeping tabs on them and this agent was told to use a knowledge of the Draconic Prophecy to lead them astray. The missives also suggest additional missives or instructions, but the party are unable to find them.
The train arrives and the party and their gear (and dinos/horses) are sent off in style. The train contains only three cars- the engine up front, a private car for the party, and a third car for their luggage, animals, and a communal space. The train picks up additional cars and passengers in Korth, and again at a few other stops along the way. The train even picks up a second engine, this one posted at the back of the train, to provide more speed. The train ride itself is uneventful for the party, aside from chatting with Benne's head.
Benne's Head: Karias has twice had an opportunity to talk with Benne's head. The questions were focused on determining the demon's location. The end result is the party believing the demon has taken up residence at a Boromar enclave in the Skyway.
Over the next week or so the lightning rail makes its way around the northern edge of Khorivare and turns south heading toward Passage, the home of the House Orien enclave. One morning finds the party enjoying a pleasant breakfast together while moving along the coast of Lake Galifar when Celosia suddenly cries out in pain and passes out. Karias gets a deep sense of impending doom, and recognizing imminent death from his deep experience, reacts by magically moving the other 4 members of the party off the train. They are teleported 50 feet off the ground. Featherfall kicks in for them, but a blast wave rolls across everything that can be seen, snapping tree branches and the like. When the wave hits the party all magic-ALL magic- winks out. The featherfall tokens cease working, Ripper is unable to wildshape, and the Lightning Rail lurches to a halt. Freed from their prisons, the bonded lightning elementals rip free from the engines. The rail itself, sitting 150 feet in the air, rocks precariously.
A second blast wave rocks seconds behind the first, knocking the party on the ground prone. The good news is the blast reignites magic. The bad news is it looks to be finishing the job of knocking the train off the tracks....
Report Date
15 Mar 2022
Comments