Session 112 Report

General Summary

Haymin’s Heroes entered the Menagerie cautiously. Augus used his key card one one of the cells containing humans and opened it up. Then Captain Hal began talking to them, his voice easily heard from overhead. He asked them not to free the prisoners and wondered at how they planned to escape. After a short banter, Captain Hal opened a cell containing a huge insectoid beast. Pyzar Zim charged the beast and attacked it before it could leave its cell. Then Titta Morco flew over and attacked as well. Armored plates on the creature’s back began to rise and out flew scores of bugs that resembled winged maggots, some with a wingspan of about a foot wide. The swarm flew past Titta and Pyzar and approached Kyrie Eleison Thatcher-Stone. The sight of this was unnerving, causing Traegandar to turn and flee, running down one of the corridors on the opposite side of the room where the humanoids were imprisoned. Around the corner from Traegandar and Augus came four of the flying machines. They opened fire on Augus, wounding him. Then four turret guns near the entrance to the Menagerie came to life and began firing on Kyrie and Mogi Delvin. Kyrie fell unconscious and near death. Auren Sylynn ran to her and used the Ring of Light to cast Heal on her. Selia Roselyn Maxwell then cast Wall of Force to block the turret guns. Ladigo Farthon used Dimension Door as a blink dog to teleport back to the other side of the Wall of Force and cast Flame Strike on the huge insectoid monster, but the creature appeared to be resistant to magic and was unharmed. Pyzar and Titta killed the insectoid beast with their swords, prompting the swarm to fly back and attack Titta. The rest of the party began targeting the flying machines and taking them down one by one. Pyzar and Titta then fought the swarm, slashing down enough of the bugs until the swarm dispersed. After the battle was over, Titta carried Auren up to the top of the Wall of Force so he could drop some singularity grenades on the turrets. It took four of them to completely destroy the armaments. Then Selia began casting Teleportation Circle while Ladigo cast two Wall of Stone spells, in front of the elevator doors. Mogi and Traegandar explored one of the cell corridors and found where the young dragons were imprisoned. They spoke to them, letting them know they were being rescued and requested their help in guarding the area while the teleportation was prepared. Kyrie cast Tongues and began speaking to all the prisoners, informing them they were being rescued and instructing them on where to form a line for the Teleportation Circle. She also spoke with the monsters in the other wing, which included giants, a troll, a gray render, owlbears, a griffon, a manticore, and displacer beasts. A few of these clearly did not understand, but those that did either spoke or nodded their agreement. Augus opened all the humanoid cells, but left the skeletons and ghouls imprisoned. Then Captain Hal commented on how they handled the situation and that he would like to see how they handled an added complication. Then all the remaining cells opened at once. In the main hall, they looked towards the monsters’ cells to see their reaction. The gray render hesitated seeing the crowd of people in the hall, plus the young dragons. The owlbears looked like they would rush out of their cell, so Titta immediately flew over to them and attacked. Pyzar stood his ground looking towards the cells, waiting to see what the gray render would do. In the other cells, the intelligent creatures remained calm, like they had agreed to. In the opposite wing, Mogi and Traegandar attacked the undead. Between Traegandar’s fire breath and Mogi’s holy avenger, the ghouls and skeletons were taken down quickly. Titta also finished off the owlbears without difficulty. After the immediate threats were eliminated, Haymin’s Heroes asked the remaining creatures to come out of their cells and line up near the Teleportation Circle. When the giants came out of their cell, the gray render took a step back, still growling in challenge, but not rushing to attack. But as the troll walked past the gray render, they growled at each other, and then the troll attacked. The party let them fight. It was a vicious battle, but the gray render got the better of the troll, though it could not kill it as troll continued to regenerate. Then Titta asked the red dragon to breath fire on them both. It did as asked, killing the troll and infuriating the gray render. Then Pyzar ran up and finished the wounded gray render off. Captain Hal spoke to them again and commented on the walls they had left for his crew. He conceded that rescuing the prisoners would be a hinderance, but he promised they would see him again. Haymin’s Heroes doubted it. While Selia continued preparing the Teleportation Circle, Augus and Titta began to discuss the singularity bomb. But Augus suggested they destroy the scrying devices on the ceiling. Titta flew up and destroyed the ones down the humanoid cell block. They then placed the bomb in one of the cells and August armed it, setting it to go off in six minutes. Selia finished the spell with two minutes to spare. They then began ushering the lines of rescued creatures through. Auren and Ladigo went first to help on the other side. Kainish officials helped organize the people as they teleported in, moving them on from the spot to make way for more. When all were through, the rest of the party entered the Teleportation Circle, except for Selia and Pyzar. Selia then dismissed the spell and cast Greater Teleport to take them to the meeting spot as well. A minute or so later, a black sphere appeared a distance away over the Andarian Gulf where the Ex Machina floated. The blast was huge, filling the sky with a black hole for a split second that sucked everything in the vicinity towards it. When it disappeared, a rush of wind could be felt filling in the void left by the singularity bomb. The sky was empty. The Ex Machina was no more. It took over an hour to get an audience with King Haerodian Ormyr and the foreign dignitaries. Haymin’s Heroes detailed the events of the mission and what they had learned about the Red Star Alliance. They also told them about the missing singularity bomb. Furthermore, it was learned through interviewing the rescued prisoners that there were several captives still unaccounted for. According to what the prisoners had learned, the majority of them were taken away to be used as labor somewhere. They discussed the missing people, the singularity bomb, and the Black Requiem, briefly. Then Haymin’s Heroes were rewarded the promised coin and invited to stay in West Andaria as long as they wanted. Kainan would look into what was discussed and there was a great possibility they would call on Haymin’s Hereos again if needed. The foreign dignitaries all told the party they would be welcome in their lands as honored guests should they ever decide to visit. Razcaczar also told Auren that his family’s inn would be given over to him whenever he returned to Zamilon. And he told Selia that they would talk about his ring at a later date. Haymin’s Heroes chose to stay the night at the Glass Dragon Inn. There, they heard talk that the Black Requiem and the Unseen were responsible for rescuing the captives, destroying the RSA ship, and defeating the alien menace. Haymin’s Heroes ran into their friend, Aldon Dein, at the inn and shared with him the true story. On December 20, 499 AV, Haymin’s Heroes went shopping in the markets of West Andaria. They purchased several gifts for the coming Yuletide celebrations. When they were done, they returned home to Rowadin, making it in time for dinner. They spent the next week relaxing and enjoying the holidays. Then on December 27, 499 AV, Thomes Bolen came to Heroes for Hire again. He told them their presence was requested in York to meet with the king. They immediately agreed and he teleported them all to the royal palace. Thomes Bolen took them into the throne room where King Haerodian Ormyr was waiting with the Merlin, Olvilar Altrimere, General Tilmir Vison, Magistrate John Brightsmith, and Captain Menneth Kermont of the City Watch. The King told them they had received a message from the Black Requiem earlier that morning. He read them the message, a verse in which he demanded that the King step down and name the Black Requiem the new ruler of Kainan, in addition to hefty ransom of gold. According to the rhyme, they had until New Year’s Day to comply, or else the Black Requiem would destroy one of Kainan’s cities. King Haerodian offered them 20,000 crowns and the esteemed title of Heroes of Valor to track down the Black Requiem and stop him before he uses the missing singularity bomb to destroy one of the cities. Divination magic had been unsuccessful at finding the bomb or the Black Requiem. He hoped that with their familiarity with the Unseen, Haymin’s Heroes would be able to thwart their enemy once again. The party was given medallions identifying them as Heroes of Valor and they were explained what such a title entailed. Then, after a brief discussion, they decided to begin their investigation in West Andaria. Selia teleported them there. Their first stop would be the Legacy Theater, where they hoped to learn something about the Unseen or the Black Requiem.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists