The Road to Trinity
Into the jungle
General Summary
“Don't tell her that...”
Jane Godin was the first of the returned villagers to approach the party. Her footfalls teeming with a gathering swarm of verminous insects, she looked around distractedly and seemed to be having difficulty concentrating. When pressed for information she explained she was looking for something but couldn't recall exactly what. Eventually she muttered something about an "eye" and Rob proceeded to taunt her by mentioning the eyeball William had recovered from the desecrated church. This instantly drew her full attention and she lunged at Zen in pursuit of the desired object.
“Am I out of oil yet?”
In combat Jane fought with preternatural strength and scattered worms and bugs around as she lashed out at the party. When the adventurers struck back, they found her body to be a hollow vessel and streams of swarming vermin spilled out of every wound. Sensing that the bug swarms would be difficult to subdue in a conventional fight, Zen proceeded to back away from Jane and splashed flammable lamp oil on and around her. When the fuel was eventually lit, the flames consumed Jane's body and the bugs hidden within scrambled to evacuate their burning host.
“So he's full of bugs...”
Meanwhile, the other villagers afflicted with this Creeping Death sprung to attack. When Matthaeus lifted Soren up and tried to separate him from the bug swarm, the possessed blacksmith vomited a mass of sticky black beetles on him, and when Math changed tack and tried to drop Soren into a the nearby well, the inhabiting swarm simply discorporated from Soren's body and started attacking as a swirling mass of biting and clawing vermin.
“Cooking again...”
Sickened by the unusual spectacle, Gooze withdrew to the winery. Everest started flanking around the market square searching the empty stalls. He eventually settled on some cinnamon after Math mentioned that many bugs are repelled by the spice. Everest found the cinnamon powder useful for blocking the movement of the swarms, but he eventually came face to face with the third returned villager and was forced to give ground to the imposing foe.
“Twelve hit points? Seriously?”
Seeing the effective use of fire against Jane's immolated corpse prompted Edmund to light a torch and begin thrusting it at the ground in an attempt to burn the surviving bugs away. This action, though temporarily bolstered by a surge of force energy supplied by Zen's meditative psionic assistance, had little effect but proved better than useless. William lit a torch and started waving it to ward the bugs off as well but was clobbered by a vicious slam and swiftly overwhelmed by a surging swarm of crawling insects and worms. The swarm tried to engulf William's body and started crawling into his mouth and ears. As this was happening, the bugs pried the eyeball object loose and started carrying it away from William's fallen body.
“That's either an MVP or a dead man.”
Acting instinctively, the party dragged William out of the swarming cloud of vermin as Edmund doused himself in oil, lit himself on fire, and launched his own flaming body into the swarm. Incredibly, this incendiary stunt didn't ignite any of the black powder Edmund was carrying at the time and he succeeded in dispersing the swarm and clearing them away from William's helpless body.
“What are the bugs saying?”
Shortly thereafter the party successfully routed the rest of the hostile swarms, which dispersed wriggling and burrowing in all directions in order to flee total destruction. The party then recovered the incorruptible eyeball, which had escaped from the flames entirely unharmed. Marsala stabilized William, who remained unconscious and in need of critical care. As Marsala ministered to William's wounds he found that those vermin still clinging to his unfortunate comrade now bore tiny humanoid faces that all shared William's very own likeness. Marsala placed one of these specimens in a glass jar taken from a perfumer's market stall. Observing the perverse mantis-like insect, Marsala realized it was whispering in an unfamiliar language.
“I know what that is...”
The party proceeded to secure the needed wagon and additional provisions for the journey north to Trinity. Everest did some private snooping of his own. A search of the scorched remains of the dead villagers uncovered a key. The party went back to the blacksmith's shop and discovered a locked safe hidden beneath the floor boards. Using the key, the party opened the safe and recovered two gleaming ingots of mysterious blue metal. An accompanying note indicated that Soren had acquired these ingots after surviving the Battle of New York and that he hoped to one day build or discover a forge capable of working the exceptionally hard metal, which the note identified as "adamant."
The party set out northwards on the Trinity Trail later that morning after receiving a final healthful prayer from Marsala, who opted to stay back and see to the safety of William, who as yet proved to be in no condition for travel. Rob opted to stay with Marsala and William and watched as the wagon pulled out of town. While leaving Farport, the party discovered an elaborate trip wire trap attached to an audible alarm comprised of an interconnected pod of bells. This contraption appeared to have been constructed as a warning system to detect intruders approaching Farport from the north.
“Can I hear it?”
Midway through the day the party came upon a cluster of jungle homesteads surrounded by fertile fields and sturdy fences. Amid the early season corn, Jayne and Everest heard an unusual commotion coming from one of the farmhouses. Leaving Adelle with the cart, the party moved to investigate. As they approached a humble wood cabin off the main road, a pair of wild boars came rushing out of the front doors and charged at the party.
Edmund drew his pistol and fired at one of the onrushing beasts. The sound of the shot reported across the jungle but the boar continued its charge. Everest scrambled to get to higher ground away from the trampling beasts and the rest of the party braced to receive the impact. Zen raised a psychic aura to support his allies and tried to incite Slumber in the rampaging animals while Matthaeus and Jayne flanked out to attack. After a brief melee, the party overcame the threat and started searching the homestead.
“I want that chest...”
Zen and Everest inspected the barn. Adelle soon joined them and started asking Zen about his psionic powers while Everest gathered carpenter's tools. Math checked the stove inside the cabin and noticed some warm porridge in the pot. He set out into the fields looking for the source of the grain used in the meal. Meanwhile, Jayne and Edmund searched the rest of the cabin and found unusual glass vials containing coloured liquids and powders, a locked chest, and a trapdoor under the bed smeared with an odorless blue jelly. Edmund also observed signs that the boars had been frantically searching the area around the bed.
“How big is this thing?”
Suddenly Jayne heard a large beast approaching from the treeline behind the cabin. He called to his comrades to prepare themselves and drew out his longsword in preparation for renewed combat. Standing by the carpenter's bench beside the barn, Everest saw the source of the sound, a massive dire boar crashing through the alley between the farmhouse and barn. He scrambled to climb onto the barn's thatched reed roof and Adelle ducked into the barn. While Edmund scrambled up from his investigation of the trapdoor, Jayne and Zen strode out into the clear and faced the charging boar.
It was larger than a horse and bristling with bony ridges. The party also noticed the animal's thickly matted fur was crawling with a swarm of slimy insects, which streamed from the boar's nose and mouth as it cried out in a hideous shrieking squeal. Matthaeus heard this and started running back from the fields with longbow in hand. As the boar came into the clearing Math struck it with an arrow that lodged into its matted coat of fur. Undeterred, the dire boar continued to bear down towards Jayne with its three-foot-long tusks. Jayne drew himself up straight, standing sidelong against the charge like a bullfighter with his sword extended and held level towards the vicious animal. As the boar came within striking range, Jayne turned his body in a counter-clockwise pivot and pirouetted away from the boar's momentum into a flanking position. Edmund emerged from the cabin and took a stab with his rapier, while Math dropped his bow in favour of his newly acquired greatsword. As the party prepared to face a bloody melee with the massive beast, Zen reached into the boar's mind and imposed a restful Slumber upon it. As the boar breathed a wheezy snore, Matthaeus delivered a killing blow with a single stroke that cleaved the boar in half, head from trunk.
“Automatic critical.”
The party watched in disgust as errant worms and centipedes wriggled out of the dire boar's exposed arteries and mingled in the spreading pool of bloody gore. Everest then perceived a human figure hiding in a tree in the path from whence the dire boar had charged. Everest and Jayne moved to investigate and found themselves snared in a net trap at the base of the tree. A well-outfitted traveler bearing a thin blade dropped from the tree and demanded to know the identities of the party members.
“You aren't from around here.”
After a tense moment, the stranger realized he was in the presence of potential allies. He introduced himself as "Locard" and explained that he was an inspector sent from Pachuco to patrol the Trinity Trail. After the assault of the Vril Badlanders, Locard had begun escorting refugees out of the jungle. He opened the farmhouse cellar to reveal the latest and final group of survivors he had managed to safeguard away from Trinity Village, eight ragged men and women including one sick male who shook and wheezed with every breath. In the morning, Locard would make his final journey south and attempt to sneak his people through the Vril siege encampment surrounding the walls of Pachuco City. Jayne took this opportunity to break open the locked chest and recovered an old Merikan Confederacy flag and 50 Silver Star coins.
“Kill it with fire!”
The party made camp with Locard and his survivors. A survivor who had escaped from Trinity informed Edmund that a group of Merikan travelers had been captured in Trinity during the previous week, a report that heartened Edmund in his personal quest to find his missing brother. During the night, the sick villager's condition grew worse and the party determined that he was suffering from the Creeping Death. After hearing the macabre tale of what this strange illness had wrought in Farport earlier that day, Locard agreed to allow the man to be mercifully killed and his body burned.
The next morning Locard shared what intel he had regarding the Vril garrison at Trinity. Locard reported that a large force had marched south the previous day and that he estimated the remaining war party controlling Trinity numbered around two dozen. He also reported the presence of psychic warriors known as "Fire Dancers" among the Badlander's ranks. As thanks for saving his refugees from the boar attack and identifying the danger posed by the Creeping Death, Locard gifted the party with three alchemical potions. Locard explained that he dabbled in a new discipline of alchemy taught by a master naturalist back in Pachuco City. He also described the uses of the potions.
“What's the rain like in the jungle? Well...”
Later that day during the final stretch of the journey north, the party noticed a definite worsening of local conditions. Withered plants and animal carcasses littered the trail and nearby stream waters had fallen still and stagnant. A scent of decay and putrefaction filled the air. Those suffering from the Soul Sickness felt their conditions worsening by the hour and began breaking into cold sweats and nose bleeds. As the sun began to set, a monsoon rainfall began to pelt the party and the sound of distant thunder started to echo through the wilderness. A crack of lightning strobed across the jungle path and revealed a signpost that read "Trinity Village."
Rewards Granted
3 Blue Metal Ingots
50 Silver Stars (Merikan coins)
1 White Potion of cure light wounds (1d8+3) (alchemical)
2 Vials of Scent Suppressant (alchemical)
50 Silver Stars (Merikan coins)
1 White Potion of cure light wounds (1d8+3) (alchemical)
2 Vials of Scent Suppressant (alchemical)
Missions/Quests Completed
Main party reached the outskirts of Trinity.
Character(s) interacted with
Gooze Proudflesh
Inspector Locard
Locard's survivors
Inspector Locard
Locard's survivors
Notes
After the recovery of the Incorruptible Eye, Marsala reviewed the inscriptions within the desecrated Farport church and realized that the date of the upcoming "convergence," the Eid of Ash (February 14th), coincided with the time displayed on the clock face of the Broken Timepiece: 2:14.
The Forbidden City of the Phoenix: Chapter V - Prelude
February 1st to 4th, 1000 PCE
Report Date
09 Oct 2018
Primary Location
Player Characters
William BenjaminRob
Marsala
Edmond Andrew
Zen
Matthaeus “Math” Mannheim
Everest Bell
Jayne
Campaign Info
Setting:
The North American CampaignPrevious Adventure:
Farport EpilogueRewards Granted
*2 Blue Metal Ingots*50 Silver Stars (Merikan coins)
*1 White Potion of cure light wounds (1d8+3) (alchemical)
*2 Vials of Scent Suppressant (alchemical)
Missions/Quests Completed
Main party reached the outskirts of Trinity.Character(s) interacted with
Gooze ProudfleshInspector Locard
Locard's survivors
Notes
After the recovery of the Incorruptible Eye, Marsala reviewed the inscriptions within the desecrated Farport church and realized that the date of the upcoming "convergence," the Eid of Ash (February 14th), coincided with the time displayed on the clock face of the Broken Timepiece: 2:14.
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