September 28, 2024

Hook

Stormwatch II [Gilded Slumber] || Ley'Ork, Cahyali

Plot Synopsis

The party begins in the Sparkpoint elevators, heading down to the sub-levels of the facility. At sublevel 10, they must sneak past two steel sentries to a stairwell, as this is where the elevators end. Domino and Luin return to the surface to set the charges as their diversion, while the rest continue on.

A shadow follows them through the room, as the two who had gone up to set charges return to meet up with the party. Looking down to sublevel 11, they witness a Ruefangren elven woman discussing with a Ley’Orkian man about her job and business here at the lab. Rykers leads the party downwards through the stairwell.

At sublevel 20, the party runs into a strange magical gas attack, as a shadowed man appears before the group. Jessie recognizes this individual as Jack Thornton, an old rival from his days on the frontier. Rykers and Jack argue before Jack shoots Rykers in the head. The party blacks out, succumbing to the effects of the gas.

Meanwhile, down in the cells on the lowest sublevel, Blade plans his breakout. He punches his way out as the party, imprisoned near him, comes to. They break out, and enter into a hangar where a massive draconic skeleton sits, swirling with residual life energy as workers build a massive metal structure on it. Two red-robed mages stand on a magical platform above: the individuals they were tasked to retrieve.

The party prepares to detonate their bombs, but discovers they have been out for an entire day and there is currently a conference on the ground floor. They detonate regardless, causing mass panic. Jack and the Ley’Orkian who was previously speaking with disappear, and the Ruefangren woman stays behind. The party attacks the two mages, managing to capture them. The Ruefangren woman introduces herself as Robin, and reveals herself to be an old associate of Rykers.

They escape through sublevel 8, fighting their way through a group of automatons and guards. When the threat is dealt with, they pile into a rusty old truck and drive off into the prairies, back towards New Spire City. On the way, though, the car breaks down and the party makes camp on the roadside.

Jessie interrogates one of the captured mages, an elven man named Bart Darwin. He learns that the draconic skeleton project is a form of magical traversal, and that Darwin is under a magical compulsion which renders him unable to share more about the project or its leaders. He does reveal himself to be part of the Crimson Circle, a so-called “terrorist organization” and a mages’ guild from Shinneok. He mentions a plague of sleep spreading through his homeland and an entity named the Carrion King, then is killed via remotely cast air magic by an unknown force.

Noteworthy Postgame Events