November 18, 2023

Hook

Along Treacherous Lines X - Smoke & Steel

Plot Synopsis

The party infiltrates the Ars Machina Engine’s security car, expecting a fight there but instead finding a different group that had already subdued the security guards. They lay low for the night, discussing how they plan to assault the engine room, and exchanging items. When the next day comes and the train takes off, they wait until the train is over the Sea of Fog and break down the door.

Zuanshi Hua waits for them there, and vows to cut them down where they stand. A battle breaks out - Zuanshi Wei and Zhang Mingxing run for the controls, attempting to use the override core, and the others hold Hua back. She is disarmed during the fight, but manages to wrestle down the enemy and get her sword back. The engineers make headway, but discover that the train is being controlled by corrupted spirits and they need the dragons’ help to purify it.

Ultimately, Hua is defeated, but not before she slays two of the adventurers: one of which is Raiden, who falls into a coma due to his wounds. Cyrus manages to resuscitate them, and the party interrogates her as they wait for the override core to return. When it does return, Mingxing takes control of the train and guides it over the leyspring, then off to a safe landing on an uninhabited island. Wei shorts out the controls, rendering the engine forever inoperable. The leyspring is stabilized, and magical peace returns to Ruefang.

Kentaro shoots his gun at Yugon’s feet, declaring that the Kasha will now be considered dead, and Yugon is free to live his life in peace with his family.

Two weeks later, Raiden wakes from his coma - finding that most of his body has been mechanized: a desperate attempt from Wei to save his life, having used stolen Lithicore blueprints found off the lich earlier. He and the others have a tearful reunion, as Rilo and Kentaro return from the funeral of Kentaro Ryuji.

The sun sets over a healing land.

Noteworthy Postgame Events