Heroes of Nokkville

• 05 April 2025

The Heroes of Nokkville were a team of lancers, inventors, and witches who found themselves tied up in the affairs of a cult called the Body of Ba'al.

The Adventures of the Heroes of Nokkville #

Northeastern Darkness #

Ghastly Beginnings

About halfway through the year of 275 DHT, Red the naga found himself in the Nameless Town looking for work at the The Dancing Dragon Inn. After briefly meeting Theodore Perry, a Destrian inventor selling his wares in the Old Quarter, Red watched a man in the square vomit blood before lunging upon and tearing a poor young women into shreds.

Another lancer nearby, Firen, saw the man and attacked him with elemental magic. Theo also joined in, using one of his gadgets to launch motes of flame at it. The crazed man, with his flesh incinerated and little more than walking, blackened bones, released the young woman from his grip and began to ran towards the closest figure: Red. The naga retaliated, drawing one of his javelins and skewering the assailant in the mouth and bringing the undead to an end. As the commotion began to die down, Firen noticed a mysterious figure in black fleeing the scene into an alley by the bakery and potion shop, but didn't act on it because of the current state of the crowd.

The guards of the Nameless Town arrive right as the man was killed. They took in Red, Theo and Firen for questioning. Ricky and Nicholas, the guards in charge of the interrogation ask that the three stay a little while longer than they planned as the investigation was ongoing. Naturally, the biggest concern was whether the man was a Manikin or not.

Theo and Red travel to the Dancing Dragon for supper, where they met with Owen Jonsuul[^1] who served them food. Owen recognized Red as the naga who stopped the zombie and gave him a free drink on the house. As Red and Owen spoke, Theo sat silently beside Red at the bar and tinkered with his gadgets, listening idly to the conversation. After enjoying their food, Theo left to spend the night at his friend's lodging while Red got a room at the Dancing Dragon.

In the meantime, Firen was attempting to gather supplies for his inevitable next lancer job. Along his path, he found himself looking down the alleyway where the mysterious figure had fled into earlier. As he was trying to piece together the scenario in his mind, Theo happened upon the pyromantic lancer. Firen questions Theo about the weapon that he'd used on the zombie. Theo attempted to explain the complex inner mechanisms of his incendiary grenade launcher, and Firen asks to try and buy the thing. Unwilling to part with his own inventions, Theo named an absurd price making Firen meet him with a scoff.

A Journey's Start

The following day, Red slept in a bit while Firen and Theo woke up to the sun. Firen made his way downstairs to the main floor of the Dancing Dragon to enjoy the morning while Theo made his way back to the Old Quarter to continue trying to sell his inventions.

Firen finds himself in the Dancing Dragon's dining area to get some breakfast. There were a few others around--namely some merchants and other lancers. As he began to eat his breakfast, he noticed an Isutan man who had been selling rice in the Old Quarter yesterday. Firen approached the man, Fumio, and learned that he had come from Rice Town. He asked the merchant about how the change in leadership of the Eastern Provinces from 7 years ago had impacted the economy, and then followed up with some questions about whether or not he has any more interesting artifacts for purchase.

Red woke up and stretched before quickly praying to his Hydrisikk god. After reapplying his red paint to his face, he made his way down to the main area and enjoyed 5 sunny side up fried eggs. WHile eating, Red eavesdropped on some of Fumio and Firen's conversation but got a bit bored of all the talk on politics and economics. Firen noticed Red sitting nearby and joined him for the rest of breakfast.

After closing his last sale for the morning, Theo made his way over to the Dancing Dragon to grab some brunch, catching Firen and Red as they finished eating. Red, Theo and Firen all spot each other and talk for a bit about their histories and what brings them to the Nameless Town.

The investigation into the attack finished the following day, with Red and Firen being woken by the guards from the first day. They are instructed to report to the guardhouse. Theo meets up with the two once again for breakfast before making their way to the guardhouse. There, they meet with Marcus Hayden, the local physician. The zombie was a Corgathian man named Travis Redleaf, and Brey Oakenheart was the name of the poor girl who was ripped apart. It was been discovered that Travis was not infected with manikinism, and instead had been poisoned to death and promptly reanimated via some sort of obscure magic before beginning his assault on bystanders. The guards offer to give the three a small job to do to help with the investigation: transport the body of Travis Redleaf to the mortician of Meltwater and then travel to the City of Corgath to inform them that one of their citizens was attacked.

Provided with a horse and wagon by the Nameless Town, the three set out towards Meltwater. The Frostvein River roared next to the group as they moved along the dirt path that ran parallel to the rapid waters. The group set up camp on a patch of grass as night fell. They took night shifts, with Theo first, Firen second and Red last. Theo asked Red for one of his javelins for some reason, and when asked why, he replied with: "You'll see in the morning."

While on shift, Theo tinkered with the naga javelin's shaft, adding an electromagnet and building a specialized gauntlet that allowed the wearer to magnetically recall the weapon. Red received the upgrade with excitement and gratitude, and eagerly awaited the opportunity to use it in a fight.

Over the following days of travel, the group continued to bond. Comedic events, like the attack of a hungry little Spider Bat and a raid of purple nightfangs transpired alongside more threatening situations, like an attack by a pack of possessed moss lycans. Theo also begins working on a strange project, which he assures his companions will be done by the time they reached Meltwater.

Theo's Robot

The group arrived in Meltwater and hailed a friendly town guard to direct them to the mortician they've been tasked with finding. Lerael Putrescenc is the man they're looking for according to the guard. They made their way through the town and arrived at the morgue. They tell Lerael about Travis' demise while Theo sits in the back of the wagon, working on some kind of machine.

As Red and Firen speak with Lerael, it is revealed that this isn't the first time something like this has happened near Meltwater. Maria Holland was a young girl who lived in Meltwater years ago, and had fallen deathly ill. A travelling physician tried to help mend her, but over time she got worse and worse until she started to attack people. The guards of Meltwater had to kill her to stop her. Once she had been stopped, they attempted to find the physician but the mysterious individual had vanished. Investigation revealed she had been poisoned to death but reanimated through mysterious means.

Their grim task complete, the trio looked for an inn to stay the night. After the help of a kind villager, they spot the Frowning Mountain Inn. Theo also finally completed his latest and most impressive invention to date--Mark One.

The group enters the inn and everyone is immediately perturbed by Mark One's tall stature. Firen, being very tired went to his room immediately. In the meantime, Theo assured everyone that the robot was harmless and attempted to show everyone by initiating a display of athleticism. Mark One bounded gracefully around the room, until it tripped and crashed through the wall, making a gaping hole in the inn's exterior. Red watched the damage and swiftly leaves to his room as well. Theo hastily said he'll repair the damage, as long as the innkeeper buys the materials needed to do so. The innkeeper begrudgingly agreed. Another patron who owns a lumber mill heads out to quickly get lumber for Theo to start working with. Theo began putting his mechanically-inclined mind to work rebuilding the wall.

Firen, hungry for the dinner he hadn't eaten yet, came down to the main area to eat, but then he spots the enormous hole. He freaked out, worried that they wouldn't be able to leave in the morning for Corgath on time. Theo assured Firen that he'll be able to finish it in time.

Once everyone had gone to sleep, Theo stayed up, working on the wall with Mark One's help. The wall wasn't the greatest, but it was complete.

Morning came and Red woke up first. He made his way downstairs and found himself staring at the shoddy-looking wall before him. Firen joined him and they talked about Red's home underground in the Kingdom of the Naga Queen Hiskrall. After a while, they saw that Theo was still asleep, undoubtedly exhausted from pulling the all-nighter required to rebuild the inn's wall. Red went up to his room to try and wake him up. He knocks on his door, but failed to convince Theo to get out of bed. Mark One marched to the door and squeezed into the frame, blocking any hope Red had of trying to get Theo up. Eventually, with Firen's help, they managed to convince Theo that he could sleep in the wagon.

The group departed from Meltwater and begin their travel towards Corgath. The ground slowly began to give way to a less fertile land. The landscape became increasingly rocky as they headed deeper into Corgathian territory. Red spent much of his spare time attempting to strike up a conversation with the mute Mark One. Along their travels, the team spoke with a merchant travelling in the opposite direction who mentioned rumours of bandit activity.

The group arriveed by a patch of trees making up a small forest. As the sun began to set, the group noticed Red's rations were a little low, so Theo suggested that if the naga could hunt an animal, he could cook a stew. Red headed off into the trees and to try and catch some sort of small animal. He spotted some tracks and followed them to a den. But out of the den emerged a possessed grey bear. Its hair was matted and falling out, with pustules of blue goo glowing from sores all over its body. It was enough to send Red running back to his friends. They engaged in battle with the bear--Firen attempted to scorch the monster while Red perforated it with his javelin. The monster proved resilient, bleeding and with flesh hanging from its bones. Even after blow after powerful blow from Mark One, the bear continued to fight. The bear lunged at Mark 1, but Theo fired a grenade down the throat of the beast. It exploded, cooking it to death from within. In an adrenline-fueled rage, Red mashed the dead bear's head into a pulp with the butt end of his javelin. Firen made sure the possessed's body was properly cremated before the group finally relaxed for the night.

On first shift, Theo did some minor repairs on Mark One and noticed a cart in a nearby ditch. He didn't act on it, but let Firen know when it was time to change shifts. The two also notice Red's intensely laboured breathing that hadn't subsided following the bear fight--the first time they would see Red's longstanding heart issues--but choose to leave him alone for the time being.

Firen kept an eye on the cart while he practiced his magic. At some point, he noticed a head pop from behind the cart up for a moment and decided to investigate. He sneaked forward to try and get close to the cart. As he got closer, he managed to spot two heads: one was a rough looking man with a bandana on his head, the other was a scruffy looking bearded fellow. A third head popped up, and Firen managed to hear 5 different voices speaking from within the wagon. They appeared to be whispering about the three's campsite. Undoubtedly, they were bandits staking out their next victims.

As the bandits scanned the campsite, one of them caught a glimpse of Firen who was now right in front of them. He yelped, but couldn't finish his exclamation before Firen scorched the ground around him in an intimidating display of magical power. The leader of the bandits stood before Firen, ridiculing him for foolishness--he was outnumbered 5 to 1! Firen encircled the cart with fire, warning the 5 that he could burn their clothes and food in a heartbeat. He returned to his campfire, but not before one of the bandits fired a crossbow at him, with the bolt missing and landing next to his feet. Firen listened to the bickering of the bandits. It seemed as though one of them had brazenly thought they could take out the elementalist, but the others disagreed with that course of action.

Firen shook his head and returned to the campsite to keep an eye on the cart. When it was time to change shifts with Red, he told the naga to keep an eye on the cart.

Just as Red sat down to start his shift, Firen heard a twig snap. He got up and rushed from his tent towards the cart and saw the five bandits, which had now changed their minds and decided to go through with attacking the three of them. Firen sends out two magical warning shots, causing them to rethink their plans for a moment. Exasperated and still feeling a bit ill, Red sat across the campfire and warned the bandits that he was grumpy and that they wouldn't want to mess with him right now. The bandits' leader disagrees and they continue to creep towards the campsite, slowly encircling them. Firen, very angry that they didn't take his advice, suddenly rushed towards one of the bandits wearing a green scarf. He grips the bandit's head and forceed his skull aflame, melting it in a horrifying display of arcane power. Two of the bandits ran for their lives in terror while their captain stood strong with one remaining bandit. Red stood up nonchalantly to confront the bandit while Mark One, Firen, and a recently stirred Theo target the captain.

Red grabbed the bandit, then pushed him into the campfire face-first. The bandit retaliated with a stab to Red's side, but all that procured from the naga was a snarl. Red headbutted him before asking if the bandit would like another dip in the fire. The bandit, bleeding and discombobulated agreed to Red's offer of mercy--the naga says if the bandit chooses to run, he'd tell the others that he got away. The bandit hobbled away into the dark of the night.

In the meantime, Firen mounted their horse and chased after the other two fleeing bandits while Theo leapt onto Mark One's back and pursued the bandit captain. Firen eventually let the two bandits go since they were so far away and he was getting far from the camp. He turned to move towards the bandit's cart with intent to loot what supplies they might have.

The bandit captain, seeing how he couldn't outrun the lumbering Mark One's surprising speed, turned to fight. He drew his blade and prepared for a duel. He was swiftly killed after a single skull-crushing blow from the machine.

Firen managed to secure the bandits' food supplies and a chest of ill-gotten money. The group packed up and left their campsite early, not wanting to stick around any longer. The group chooses to rest mid-travel, and their spirits brighten as they see Nokkville on the horizon.

Shopping & Scheming

The sky became grey as midday approached, a light drizzle pouring down from the sky as the band pulled up to the walls of Nokkville. The group was stopped at the city's gates, as Firen looked exactly like an elemental warrior from Phovezila. They showed the guards their letter and they are allowed them to pass, although the guards seemed to remain skeptical.

The group made their way up the South Road and arrived at the center of the city: a central square plaza with a statue of the Corgathian king[^2] in a fountain in the middle. A crazy old man, who the locals called the Prophet of Disaster stood nearby, calling out that the city was hopeless and that it was the end of the world. The group ignored him and continued on to the Two Shades district, looking for the Stone City Tavern.

When they arrived, Red watched the wagon while Theo and Firen entered the building to secure rooms. The two meet with Garen, the tavernkeeper who offered them rooms and a place to store their horse and cart. As the group entered the tavern, they're heckled by one of the patrons--Silvaar, a gaunt man with slick black hair. Clearly disgusted at Firen's Phovezilan appearance and by Red's use of Phovezilan money to pay Garen, Silvaar claimed that Nokkville had no room for "lizards and Phovezilans". Garen rebuked Silvaar while Firen and Theo decide to leave the tavern to avoid trouble. Garen pulls Red over and tells him in a hushed voice:

"That Silvaar fellow, he worries me. I suspect he might have some ties with that crazy man in the square--I'm sure you've seen him on the way here. I've been pretty troubled by some of the things they've both said: "Disaster is coming to this city! Disaster is coming to this tavern!" Normally I wouldn't be worried about a madman's threats, but Silvaar is sophisticated, civilized. Do me a favour, would you? Look into this crazy fellow and see if Silvaar's got any connection to him. I'll make it worth your while. Free room 'n board. Maybe more if you do a good job. Anything just to get my mind at ease."

Red agrees to run the prospect by his companions, since they were planning on staying only for the rest of the day and leaving first thing in the morning. He'd need their approval since this investigation would likely take a couple of days or so.

Firen finds his way to the central city square area again, walking past the Disaster Prophet and a nearby guard. He asked the guard if he often said the same things. The guard confirmed, but at least he 's never harmed anyone. Firen speaks briefly to the Disaster Prophet, who decides to educate the lancer on his "god".

Firen decides that's enough conversation with him and leaves.

Theo makes his way to a smithy in the Two Shades district and happens upon a blacksmith named Luther. Naturally the metalworker was impressed by Mark One, and became incredibly excited to help a real Destrian inventor. Theo was seeking to buy some metal scrap from him for his own inventions. Luther decided to give him a hefty discount just because he thought Mark One was fascinating.

Red made his way to the central square and managed to catch Firen just as he was leaving his discussion with the Disaster Prophet. Red relays Garen's offer, and Firen thinks about an old legend he'd heard of from the Eastern Provinces.

The elementalist and Red went back to the Stone City Tavern to get more info from Garen. Firen decided to head out and run a few errands while Red stayed behind at the tavern to try and get some info out of the other patrons.

• According to a patron named Loane, the Disaster Prophet's been a nuisance for the last 6 months and Silvaar's started to be more pointy ever since his wife, Julia, died. Some rumours that Silvaar's been inviting the homeless and poor to his residence have been circulating the regulars. This is odd, since Silvaar wasn't known for being the most hospitable of people.
• Weland, a slightly younger man who was a convenience store owner from around the corner reveals that Julia had died from some kind of disease. Silvaar had tried hiring all kinds of healers and biomancers to try and save her, but to no avail. He'd also seen a few of the homeless people Loane spoke of going to his home in the richer region of Grandcrest--something that the better-off citizens of Nokkville have been concerned about.

Theo continued exploring the Two Shades district and found himself at a second-hand store. He spoke with the lady shopkeeper and tried to sell a few of the trinkets he'd made. He succeeded in selling one of his lamps, an air freshener, and an instant-painting device.

Firen arrived at the local seamstress store known as the Stitch Fix. He inquired where he can sell the pelts of some of the moss lycans they had encountered earlier, and also buys a nice cheap cloak after a quick exchange with the flirtatious seamstress. On the way back to the tavern to get the moss lycan pelts, Firen ran into Theo and brought him up to speed with the job they had accepted. Firen then visited Tanner the tanner and sold the pelts to him.

Theo, Firen, and Mark One return to the Stone City Tavern after Silvaar had gone home. Firen trailed him briefly to see where he went and located his home in Grandcrest. Firen relayed the information to the others, and they hatched a plan to disguise Theo as another homeless person in order to sneak him into Silvaar's home along with the rest of the impoverished pilgrims.

The Cult of Nokkville

The plan was set: Theo would use a special kethramantic device to disguise himself as a vagrant while Mark One, Red, and Firen would remain nearby at ready in case something happened.

Theo disguised himself and approached the Disaster Prophet. While they begin talking, a third man appears from the alleyways. He's younger and burly, but still quite scruffy looking. He offers to help take Theo to "the boss man". Along the way, Firen, Red, and Mark 1 sneak behind the three scraggly folks, darting in and out of the shadows. Red clambered onto the rooftops and stalked them from above while Firen stuck to the alleyways. Mark One remained on standby in an alleyway not far from Grandcrest. Theo arrived at Silvaar's mansion and was introduced to him by the other derelicts as "Jeeves". Silvaar welcomed Jeeves into his home and brought the three fellows into his cellar. Jeeves found three other men, all as unkempt as himself, in a small cavern dug out of the side of his cellar. Silvaar welcomed all of them before announcing his plans: a ritual that would lead to the destruction of the Stone City Tavern and Nokkville itself. In the city's place, something new would be birthed. Silvaar assigned Jeeves to guard duty since he was a newcomer. Jeeves found himself sitting around a bonfire next to the entrance of the cave system where it connected to the cellar. Next to him was Thereon the Disaster Prophet, and Connor, the burly man. They tell Jeeves that Silvaar's taken this "Ba'al" figure as his own personal savior. They themselves were only in it for the promise of money and wealth, but Silvaar seemed to be into it for something else.

While Theo infiltrated Silvaar's house, Firen decided to quickly pass by the outside to try and sneak a peek inside. He doesn't see anything--the house was empty. He was confused at the absence of anyone. Meanwhile, Red climbed up a building on the other side of the road and peered inside the second story of Silvaar's house. He also saw nothing. He attempted to leap across onto the house, but slipped and fell. Fortuitously, he hadn't hurt himself nor alerted anyone either.

Theo, as Jeeves, began to listen closely from his position and began to hear chanting--it sounded like Silvaar's ritual had begun. Jeeves asked to use the bathroom, and Connor offered to escort him to it, which was in Silvaar's house. In order to get to it, they would need to exit the cellar and circle around to the building's main door. As they did so, Jeeves struck Connor with a stick, stunning him while Red barreled at him from around the building's corner. With his impressive naga strength, Red muffled the man and held him still long enough for Firen to catch up and punch his lights out. Now reunited, Theo relayed everything that he'd heard--apparently Silvaar planned on attacking the Stone City Tavern. Firen departed with the still-unconscious Connor back to the tavern to warn Garen while Red and Theo returned to the basement.

Theo shifted his illusory device to take on the visage of Connor and fooled Thereon and one of the other homeless people into running out of the basement to catch Jeeves who had "ran away". They didn't see Jeeves, but they see Firen and Mark One carrying Connor away. They catch up to the two and attacked them. Mark One suffered little damage to its metal body while Firen attempted to convince his assailants that he was innocent. With the help of a blast of magical fire and a mechanical punch to the gut, the Disaster Prophet and cultist hobo were convinced they tussled with the wrong muscle and decided to run away from Firen and Mark 1.

Theo gave Red his compact camera obscura and told him to take a picture of the scene for evidence. Red uses his low-light vision to creep forward, and sees Silvaar and two other tramps working on an incantation around a summoning circle. They spot the naga and interrupt their own ritual to go on the offensive. Red quickly managed to take a photograph of Silvaar and his setup, but suffered a glancing blow by one of the vagrant's swords. Theo, still disguised as Connor, feigned aggression towards Red to try and convince the others that he was in fact Connor. When the homeless cultists focused on Red, Theo broke his disguise and whipped out his incendiary grenade launcher, blasting them point blank. One of the cultists was blown into flaming pieces. By invoking demonic magic, Silvaar summoned an enormous twisted hand from the earth to try and grab Theo. Theo managed to outrun it while Silvaar awoke a colony of necromantic bat corpses to try and gouge out Red's eyes. The two run and try to escape the cave with the bats in tow. Red managed to block the cavern's mouth with a dresser before escaping to outside. A few of the bats followed them outside but died after being doused by one of Red's bovic acid grenades and blasted by Firen who was returning to the scene. They made their back to the Stone City tavern, with the injured Red limping and leaving a heavy trail of blood.

Catching a Breath

The trio bursted into the Stone City Tavern. Red, on death's door, collapsed into one of the alehouse's booths. Mark One picked up the naga and carried him to his room to recover. Garen came in and saw the scene--saying that he was surprised would have be an understatement. Garen ushers Theo and Firen to his personal room to discuss what they'd seen.

Theo presented his camera obscura which still housed the image captured by Red which, when followed by a quick blurb from Theo's firsthand experience, explained everything to Garen. Mark One, whose fists and chest were bloodied from bludgeoning the homeless cultists and carrying Red, was instructed to stay indoors and watch the tavern's front door.

Garen was extremely grateful for their aid, and gifted them with a biomantic salve to aid in Red's recovery as well as a container of Treant mucus.

Firen and Theo deliberated on what to do. They attempted to get Red's input, but with the naga delirious from blood loss, they fail to communicate meaningfully. After brainstorming ideas, the two finally agree on an idea. Their plan is to take Connor and lay him in one of their beds. When he woke up, they would tell him that he'd suffered some memory loss after the trio managed to rescue him from being sacrificed by his cultist brethren. With luck they'd be able to convince Connor that he should turn to the authorities and report his brethren.

As Theo and Firen were about to go to sleep while waiting for Connor to come to, they were awoken by some voices coming from downstairs.

"We heard some leads and witnesses say they saw some people come here that were involved with a fight outdoors."

"What? No, I haven't heard anything."

"Is that blood?"

"...yeah. Okay, there's some newcomers here. I'll take you to them, but they're asleep."

The large trail of blood left by Red was too obvious, giving away the trio's location before they had a chance to enact their plan with Connor. Theo and Firen were prepared to come clean. While they were slightly taken aback by the bloodstained Mark One, the guards told them that they were under arrest and had to be locked in the cells overnight--they would discuss things further in the morning.

While Red was too injured to be moved to the stockade, he was effectively placed under house arrest for the night. While in the jail, Theo and Firen talked to each other--they were sure that everything would go smoothly, and if anything went wrong, they could probably take the guards on--especially considering they probably underestimated Mark One's power. One of the prisoners near their cell, a huge muscular man named Zane who was coated in tattoos, overheard their conversation.

Firen laughed and declined, saying that "they're not breaking out since they're the 'good guys'". To this Zane replied:

Theo and Firen decided to call it a night.

Morning came and Red was escorted from the tavern to the prison. Along the way he saw people pointing and whispering about him--it was obvious that word had gotten around about the naga involved in last night's scuffle. Red's dried blood still lined the cobblestone roads.

Theo and Firen woke up and were surprised to find Thereon the Disaster Prophet also in the cells. Before they could ask any questions, they were herded into a room where they made a quick reunion with Red before being interrogated by Fiona, the investigator in charge of the situation. Red kept his mouth shut, as he was smart enough to realize that Theo and Firen had already planned out how they wanted to relay the situation.

The Destrian and elementalist relayed the story as truthfully as possible, making sure that the photograph made its way to the Nokkville police as evidence. Fiona decided that they were telling the truth and shared the details that the guards had found. She showed them an amulet they found on one of the cultists--a skeletal hand with the inscription: Many Hands Which Act.

Unfortunately the trio were still charged with murder and civil unrest. They could either pay bail or serve the sentence. The bail posting was fortunately very decreased because the guards were thankful for them undoing a potential catastrophe, and Silvaar's possessions also contributed to the bringing the cost down. The group was released and they returned to the Stone City Tavern to get some food and drink.

Garen the tavernkeeper thanked the group with free breakfast and drinks, expressing his endless gratitude. He gave the group a map of Corgathian territory, which would hopefully aid in their travels east. He warned them that there was some bandit activity by the Ridge Run Road. According to him, Corgath was about a week's travel from Nokkville, as the varakira rides.

Before they set out, Theo quickly returned to the Luther the blacksmith to collect some scrap. Red visited the Stitch Fix and bought a nice red shirt to replace his previous faded-white tunic, which had been torn to shreds after all of the night's excitement. He told the seamstress that he had been recommended the place by his friend Firen, to which the seamstress dreamily reminiscenced about meeting.

Before departing from Nokkville, Red decided to name their previously unnamed horse "Shaka" after a famous naga warrior from history.

Grungus the Green

The band continued along Redcliff Ridge, now riding alongside a precarious yet incredibly scenic ledge. As they rode, Red began to smell something peculiar--pies! Cherry and apple! Sure enough, a small table with a white and red checkered cloth was there, and on it was a stack of pies in a glass display case being kept warm under a magical heating element. While Firen and Theo were understandably suspicious, Red's hungry belly got the better of him. The naga convinced his allies to stop and approach the table. He saw a card with pretty writing that said:

Anne's Quality Pies! 1 block a pie--honesty is a virtue!

Next to the pie container was a small glass jar with a fewCorgathian clicks in them. While Firen attempted to figure out if there was any magic afoot, Red forked out the money and bought all three pies--an apple, blueberry, and Red's favourite, rhubarb. The trio enjoys the pies as they travel throughout the rest of the day.

As they set camp for the night, Firen and Theo talked a bit about the tinkerer's future, and Firen says that being a lancer wasn't a bad job, provided you can survive. Theo wasn't sure what he wanted to do, since he enjoyed creating combat-oriented inventions which weren't exactly smiled upon in Destral. While the two chatted, Red attempted (and failed) to impress Firen by lighting their campfire with nothing but his spear and blade.

During the night, Firen managed to see Hoobank's lights from the ridge.

Come morning, Red suddenly realized Theo had disappeared. He woke up Firen and the two attempted to find him. Mark One was still around, and he was not aggravated, so it didn't seem like he'd been kidnapped. Red spotted a mysterious box by the campfire with a red button on its top. He peered through the cracks of the thing and saw a glowing crystal inside. As he sniffed the box with his tongue, Red accidentally pressed the button. A portal opened and Theo tumbled out and onto the ground. Theo gasped for air, as he accidentally stored himself in the box and nearly suffocated before Red managed to save him. It turned out that Theo had just invented the Greybox, a reusable magic device that allowed for the storage of a lot of material in a small space.

The group continued on their journey, making their way along the portion of the Redcliff Ridge that had the highest elevation. They spotted a funny looking rock along the way. Much to Firen's dismay, Theo decided to check the rock because he spotted something--a small hole in the side of it. Inside the hole Theo found a bag that held a good chunk of money and a smokey shard of polished quartz. Red, excited by the prospect of more money, sided with Theo while Firen argued that the crystal was probably left there as payment for some kind of criminal organization. The lancer thought that it was a bad idea to involve themselves with gangs, but the others thought that it was fine. How was anyone supposed to tell they were even there anyways? Tons of travelers used the road all the time. Eventually, Theo and Red won Firen over, taking their new treasure with them.

Firen recalled Garen's warning about bandits near the fork in the road by Ridge Run Road. He felt like it was a bad idea to stop here overnight, and the others agreed to continue travelling overnight. They took the high road along the rest of the top of Redcliff Ridge. Red spotted a wooden watchtower nearby and warned his group about it quietly. However, the cart caused some gravel to shift, making enough noise to draw the attention of the watchtower's inhabitants. Red quickly tried to imitate a Northborn Deer-Tiger's call, but the watchmen could very easily see the wagon and had none of it. They demanded the trio stop and hand over their loot, launching a crossbow bolt into the side of the wagon as warning. In retaliation, Theo lobbed one of his signature incendiary grenades into the top of the watchtower and Firen enhanced the flames, causing total immolation of the watchtower's upper floor. The trio managed to see from the firelight that the two figures were green men--duns. One of the figures dropped down from the tower to flee the flames. As Red prepared to run him down, Theo threw his greybox in front of Red, summoning the Mark One (who had been stored within) onto the battlefield. Red leaped over Mark One to try and avoid colliding with the automaton but faceplanted into the ground at the bandit's feet.

With his cape billowing in the nonexistent wind, the dun bandit Grungus the Green wielded his blade with determination and attempted to stab Red while he was on the ground. Mark One's beefy metal arm moved forward to deflect the blow. Surprising everyone, Firen commanded the earth to shift, creating a hole under Grungus' feet. The dun tumbled in before climbing out, rejecting Red's offer for mercy. His cape still billowing magnificently, Grungus the Green circled around to attack the group once more. With expert acrobatics and deft movements, Grungus leaped over the holes Firen continued to conjure while simultaneously dodging Mark One's deadly fists and Red's war knife. Eventually Grungus tired, and Mark One caught him in its hands, unceremoniously ripping his head off. Red, in shock, angrily yelled at the robot for killing him outright as the naga had planned to spare him. Red grumpily snatches Grungus' head from Mark One's hands. "You may have been a dun, Grungus, but you were a true warrior," Red whispered.

Red buried Grungus' headless body in one of Firen's holes. He marked the grave with the dun's sword, and hung the still-billowing cloak upon the hilt. When asked by Firen, Red revealed that he disliked duns due to prior experiences, but Grungus had earned his respect on this day. Firen in turn shared with the others that he wasn't just a pyromancer, but had also picked up a bit of terrmancy.

The group moved a little further down the road before deciding that they were safe from further encounters now that the highwaymen had been dispatched.

The sun rose upon a group thankful for the rest they managed after such a tense day, and they continued on towards Corgath.

Entering Corgath

The trio moved east towards Corgath with little resistance. The Redcliff Ridge began to even out as the land became increasingly flat. As they finally put the Ridge behind them, they happened upon a man with an abnormally large backpack. This backpack is enormous--it's as wide as Red's naga wingspan and probably three times as tall. The man wasn't particularly large, making the backpack appear even more comically huge. When questioned by Red as to what was in the bag, the man who identified himself as Alfonso surprises everyone.

With a flourish, he pulled two strings, causing a veranda to unfold. Another two strings were pulled, causing a table to expand outwards. Before they knew it, an entire storefront had been erected before the trio! Alfonso sold the group a few interesting items, including membership cards. Firen bought some minor magical paraphernalia. Red bought another javelin (for a total of 5). Theo bought a pair of glasses after having broken his last pair. The Destrian inventor also sold Alfonso a few of his own inventions.

Their business complete, the group parts ways from Alfonso. They wished each other well before Red, Theo and Firen continue east.

The morning after, traffic on the road began to increase as they neared the capital of Corgath. The trio passed by a family on the way to Corgath as well--Howard, Jocelyn, and their two children. Talking with them revealed that the Snack Pack Festival was happening this weekend, which was why this small family had made their way from Duncaster to the capital.

After bidding the family goodbye, Red, Firen, and Theo talked a bit to each other about their backgrounds. Red revealed how numerous his family's size was (60 siblings!), Firen talked about his father who was an elemental warrior and taught him everything, and Theo showed his mates a shard of an Ancients' crystal fuel battery which he used to power many of his inventions. Not exactly a legal acquisition, but Theo had his contacts.

Finally, the group arrived at the gargantuan walls of Corgath. After quickly asking for directions to the Chief of the City Guard, the group traveled through the city towards the East Quartermarket via the Royal Gardens. After a pleasant stroll through the city and the gardens, the group arrived at the guard station and meets with Chief Almeric. At long last they delivered their message to the chief and received their pay. Almeric also offered more work to the lancers now that they've completed their current job

The group deliberated a bit on what to do, and decided that they'd go their separate ways now that the job's done. They went to the Silver Star inn to stay, but otherwise concluded their business together.

Stench & Shadows

As morning came, Red, Theo, and Firen had some breakfast in the Silver Star Tavern's common area. Red wished his friends well and departed to try and establish contact with the local Lancer Guild to find work. He didn't know if he'd see them again, so this was goodbye for now.

Firen made his way south through Corgath, stopping by the West Quartermarket in response to seeing the locals setting up for the upcoming Snack Pack Festival. After briefly observing, Firen moved on to the eastern part of the city to get details on Almeric's sewer job. He talked with one of the guards and got details on someone who had supposedly seen something down there--a sewer worker named Mario Grimes who lived in the Southeast Sprawl. Firen decided to travel down there to check things out with him.

Mario let Firen know that the backup system needed to be repaired as well, but that was an easy job since it was 90% completed. The sewers were accessed via locked grates that Mario had the keys to. Mario was willing to help Firen get into the sewers. The elementalist decided to go and relay the information to Theo and return to Mario later.

Theo, who had been tinkering on a new big project all morning, received the info from Firen and began to prepare for the job.

In the meantime, Red explored Corgath a bit to get the lay of the land before finally arriving at the West Quartermarket. He noticed a map store--quite eye catching considering Red's pet project of mapping out the places he'd been. The store's centerpiece was a massive, complete map of Legere, which struck Red with awe. He instantly purchases a smaller rendition of the map of Legere, as well as a map of Corgath's capital city. As he left the cartography store, Red spied another interesting store--a curio store owned by a strange short old man named Gulthric. He was exactly the kind of person one would expect to find in such a eccentric place. Red looked around at a few different things in the store, his eye catching a particularly interesting piece: a giantslayer glaive, a polearm created by the people of the Land Beneath the Snowy Mountain to fight giants. Unfortunately Gulthric didn't intend to sell it for cheap. Gulthric offered to discount it if Red told him a good story from his adventures as a lancer. Red spun a story on the spot.

Although being impressed by his fake tale, Gulthric's discount was still not enough to bring the weapon's cost in line with Red's budget, so the Naga sadly left without the weapon.

In the evening, Theo and Firen waited at the Silver Star, hoping that Red would come in so they could recruit him to their job. The naga missing, Firen became impatient and, after a brief and unsuccessful search of the West Quartermarket, decided to go to Mario and enter the sewers. Mario led Firen, Theo, and Mark One into a sewer entrance, which they enter.

The inventor, lancer, and robot creep forward in the stinky shadows until reaching a crossroads. As they debated on where to go, they were ambushed by a veritable tidal wave of feral, rabid rats. The rats clambered from the center of the waterways while others squeezed their way out of piles of dung lying at the sides of the walls. The group weathered the attack with little difficulty--Mark One's iron fists squashed the rats to pulp while Firen burned them to crisps. Theo, armed himself with a second incendiary grenade launcher, mowing down rats left and right from a distance. As the last of the rats were dispatched, the group looked up through the sewers and saw... Red!?

Rats, Spiders, & Nefarious Deeds

Red had gone into the sewers to try and claim the bounty on whatever creature was within for himself. A desperate bid for a big payout. He had shadowed Firen to the guard station in order to pick up the info, but skipped out on contacting Mario. Instead he purchased some lockpicks to get by the sewer grates. But when he entered the sewers, he found himself overwhelmed by the endless tides of rats. If it weren't for his friends, he'd be being digested right now.

Firen and Theo cornered the tired naga and threatened to beat some sense into him. Red claimed that he'd thought their days of working together were over, and that after his successes with the team, he figured he was a lot stronger than he really was.

The two others, displeased at Red's decision to work behind their backs, decided to offer him the ability to work alongside them for the rest of the bounty, but he'd only get a fraction of what would be his normal cut. Red agreed.

The naga showed the others to an interesting device next to a solid metal sheet that blocked the way forward into the rest of the sewer. While there was a grate underneath this barricade that Red was pretty sure he could kick out, but the others tell him not to, since the city might be displeased at damage to their property. Theo, with his mechanical inclined mind, recognized the device next to the door as the emergency backup system that Mario had spoken of.

There were a couple aspects to the system. There was a central tank with three pipes feeding into it. The pipes all have valves on them that are adjustable. The blue and green valves had 4 different positions to be in, and the yellow one was a quarter-turn valve. The red valve was just a simple turning open/close valve.

Theo gleaned that when the pressure was sufficient within the tank, the access emergency cutoff would activate, pulling on a chain that should open the metal door barring their path. After trying a couple different combinations of the valves and getting sprayed by feculent water, Theo and Firen managed to get the thing working. The tank rattled as the chain pulled the metal door open, and the group could continue on into the depths of the smelly sewer. They found themselves in a large chamber where the grey water was flowing into a large pit at the center.

It wasn't long before the group was ambushed on all sides by even bigger rats! Red wasted no time, grabbing a nearby rat and punching it in his fist before throwing it into a giant hole in the sewer. It squealed before slamming into the water deep below. Firen conjured flames which scorched another rat into oblivion. Theo used a pair of sticky-soled shoes to leap onto the wall and evade the rats while causing a distraction. During the chaos, Mark One attempted to push a mass of rats into the hole, but the rats moved out of the way and Mark One tumbles into abyss, crashing into the bottom of the pit with a clang. The group didn't have too much time to think about it, continuing to deal with the rest of the rats pouring into the chamber. Firen quickly called for his allies to fall back before summoning an enormous fiery orb, hurling it against the sewer walls and creating an enormous wave of heat. The blast disintegrated hundreds of the rats, igniting the sewer gas in a mighty explosion.

With the rats slain, the trio took a breather, and Red attempted to garner some goodwill from Firen by applying some of the magical salve (gifted to them by Garen in Nokkville) to his wounds. While the others licked their wounds and struggled to hoist Mark One out of the pit, Theo scouted ahead to see what lay in store for them ahead. But something lurched in the darkness.

In a panic, Theo booked it back to the rest of the team. While Firen was a bit spooked at the prospect of a giant monster, Red knew that this was what they're here for. After all, if they killed the monster he'd get the money!

Firen sent a firebolt down the sewer to get some light, and the amber light of the projectile revealed two enormous, yellow spiders--Yellow Matriarch adolescents. Their eyes glinted in the light of the flame, and behind them there was a mass grave of humanoid bodies wrapped in webbing.

The trio managed to land a few attacks at a distance while the spiders remained far away. The creatures moved at frightening speed, closing the gap between themselves and the group as they skittered across the ceiling and walls towards them. One of the monstrous spiders coated Red in silk, but Mark One tore the webbing off of the naga in time for Red to defend himself. Red flung his magnetic javelin at one of the spiders before leaping onto it and skewering its thorax with the spear he held in his other hand. The creature shrieked, scurrying backwards in response to the wounds.

The other spider, its carapace blackened from a bolt of flame delivered by Firen, lurked over Red while he attacked its sibling. Just before it descended upon the naga, Firen's flames ignited the webs of the creatures. The sudden flash of amber light helped Red to easily pick up the spider, rolling to the side to dodge its venomous bite. Terrified of the liberal deployment of flames from FIren's pyromancy, the spider fled away and towards the shadows of the deeper part of the sewer. As it retreated, Red threw his javelin, piercing its abdomen and causing its innards to spill out upon the sewer floor before it collapsed in a heap.

With its sibling downed, the other spider screeched, flinging another bunch of webbing at Red, gluing him to the floor. In a surge of strength, Red broke free and charged at the monster. With suppressing fire from Theo and Firen, Red closed the gap and continually perforated the creature's carapace until it stumbled. In its moment of unbalance, Mark One's fists found purchase and dashed the monstrous arachnid's head across the floor.

The spiders dead, the group investigated the poor bodies lying within the webbing of the monsters. One corpse belonged to a Corgathian guard while the other was an individual coated in tattoos. Theo noticed the tattooed man has one particular tattoo of a Corgathian click with a line through it.

Firen quickly extinguished the burning cobwebs before helping check out the dead bodies. Theo found a letter on the tattooed man's body:

Merton, The next shipment is on the way from Duncaster. Here's a little taste to get you interested. It should arrive by the next market meeting on Friday. The Umbraguild is impressed by your work so far. Keep it up, and you'll get more than just this gift. — I've come to trade, Benno.

While Red hefted one of the spider's dead bodies over his shoulders, Firen and Theo attempted to figure out what to do with this man's corpse. He was carrying a hefty sum of Corgathian money, a biomantic resuscitation amulet, and five Chimera Crystals. These were worth an incredible fortune. Theo and Firen took the goods, but came to the conclusion that the safest thing to do was to burn the tattooed man's body to prevent anyone from knowing that he was here. That way, the group could evade suspicions cast by the related cartels. With the help of Mark One, Red hoisted up the two spider carcasses and the Corgathian guard's corpse, moving them away from the webbing before Firen set everything aflame, scorching everything until it was but dust and ash.

After the webbing was burned away, Firen noticed a spot of silk still there. Upon further investigation, it appeared to be a dirt tunnel dug through the earth--a useful path for thieves to use to bypass the grates and metal blockades throughout the sewers. Theo traveled through it, crawling until he popped out in an area that he recognized as an earlier portion of the sewer.

Theo noticed something else strange--another hole in the wall that ended in a wooden door. Theo quickly called for his allies who gathered at the doorway as the Destrian used a kethramantic device to infiltrate the house beyond. As he skulked through the mysterious house's basement, Theo managed to steal another load of cash from a booby-trapped chest. Overtaken by curiosity, Theo turned his attention to the stairs leading out of the basement. Whose place is this? he couldn't help but think. The young inventor's footsteps creaked as he snuck up the stairs, and what must have been a shopkeeper working on the main floor turned to look. He was a super greasy looking dun in his later years, currently serving a young woman who wore a black cloak and a blue sash. Since he couldn't see Theo in his invisibility, he simply continued to serve his patron. Theo managed to overhear some of the conversation--it appeared to be that the dun was selling keys to the sewer.

Theo shared the information with his allies, and the others internalized it before continuing to roam the sewers for any remaining spiders.

The Wisp Rogue

As the trio explored a final, unexplored tunnel deeper into the Corgathian sewerage, Theo noticed another large door in the side of one of the sewer halls. Theo quickly picked the lock and peered in to see 3 men sitting at a table in a well-lit, surprisingly comfy room (compared to the cruddy, refuse-laden waterways). The group agreed not to disturb the men because they didn't know who they were--they could be associated with the city guard, or one of Corgath's criminal organizations.

As the group began to leave, Theo slipped on an unnoticed pile of feces and fell into the water, creating some splashing sounds. It was enough that one of the men from behind the door peered out to see what was causing the noise. Mark One, unable to agilely hide like the others, is seen by him. The man raised a crossbow against the automaton, cursing at it. Fearful that Mark One would be rapidly disassembled considering how damaged and beaten up it was after falling into the drainage shaft and fighting the yellow matriarch adolescents, Theo fired upon the man with his incendiary grenade launcher.

Red and Firen, who were further down the sewer, looked back upon the scene as more 2 more men joined their comrade. The two thought for a moment about leaving the young inventor: Red proposed splitting their pay 50/50 because there would be one less person in the mix; Firen retorted by saying that it should be 25/75 in his favour since the naga had betrayed them. Red offered to compromise for 60/40 in Firen's favour, and while the elementalist was about to agree, he realized that he'd be betraying Theo by abandoning him, making him not much better than the naga.

With resolution, Firen conjured another mighty torrent of fire, forcing the ruffians to retreat back into their room. They cried out in fear as they fled, clearly unprepared to fight a mage of Firen's caliber. In a haste, the first two locked the door behind them. Just when Firen thought he had cornered the third, the man channeled the power of a magical sleeve tattooed on his arms, allowing him to turn into smoke and seep through the sewer walls and into the room to join his comrades. The trio decided to finish off these men now that they had seen them. They couldn't let them get away, otherwise whatever gang or criminal organization they were a part of would become a substantial thorn in the their side. Theo lockpicked the door and affixed Red with a shield generator device. Red charged into the room, Theo's shields absorbing the blows of the three men who were lying in wait. Red wielded his naga blade and lopped off one of the rogues' left arms while Mark One punched another rogue in the face, crushing his skull. The last rogue--the one who could dissolve into smoke-attempted to escape. His tattoo glowed, turning him into a wispy form that seeped past the group and out of the door. The wisp rogue's escape was was interrupted by Theo, who blocked the way just as the tattoo's magic subsided. The wisp rogue hesitated for a moment, then raised his arming sword to attack Theo. Firen used his pyromancy to save the inventor by heating up his sword. The wisp rogue cried out in pain as his sword scalded his palms. In his pain, the wisp rogue fainted, falling face-down into the sewer's waters and drowning before Theo could lift his head up.

Red carried the wisp rogue's body into the room and dumped it onto the ground before the only remaining rogue--the one Red had severed the arm of. The naga knelt down and slapped the man's cheek, getting his focus. He was starting to go into hemorrhagic shock, but still responsive. Red persuaded him that they'd get Firen to cauterize his bleeding wound and let him go free if he answered their questions. He agreed, and identified himself as Dhurrin, a member of the Umbraguild. His boss was Marco, the wisp rogue who now lay dead at their feet. The three rogues' jobs were to protect the Umbraguild's assets that were stored in the room. As Red and Firen interrogated Dhurrin, Theo quickly set to work collecting said assets. It was quite the haul. Dhurrin revealed that there were a few other hidden rooms throughout the sewer, and he could tell them where they were. After receiving a quick cauterization from Firen, Red helped Dhurrin to his feet and the group left the room. Once back in the sewer tunnel, Dhurrin pointed out where the rooms were. One of them was already discovered by the group earlier, and the other room didn't sound like something worth exploring. As Red thanked him for his honesty, Firen crept up behind Dhurrin in readiness to set the man's skull aflame. However, the elementalist was surprised upon seeing Dhurrin's head turn around 180 degrees to look at him--Red had snapped his neck.

"That guy would've lost his nerve in the face of his superiors," Red mused, "He wouldn't be able to lie about seeing us, and our cover would be blown. And he'd definitely get caught before trying to flee Corgath."

"Glad we're on the same page about that," Firen breathed.

Firen burned the bodies of the bandits and Theo worked to tide up the remains as best as possible. He even scrubbed hard to remove the scorch marks of Firen's magic from the sewerage's brickwork. Their goal was to make it seem like the three rogues had packed up and left.

The group exited the sewer finally, passing through the city as the night is young. They got quite a few gawks as they walked (being covered in feces and blood, and carrying the corpses of the spiders), but made it successfully to the guard station. They collected their bounty, dropping off the spiders as proof of their work, and left out any info related to the bandit activity in order to avoid having too many dots connected. They collected their money and left, eager to wash up and get some sleep.

The next day, and the group was still feeling sore from their previous night's adventures. Red, who had washed his clothes before bed, had hung them up to dry. They were still damp though, so he needed to do something to get them to finish drying. While completely nude, he called out to Firen and asked him to come into his room. Red hid behind the door as Firen reluctantly dried the garments with magic, shaking his head all the while. The trio met up with bags under their eyes at the breakfast table, enjoying a hearty breakfast before Firen went out to return the sewer key to Mario. Firen also decided to try and find the key-selling dun's store that Theo had stumbled upon earlier. He failed to locate the store, but at least found a nice bakery that he could get some fresh bread from. The lancer also stopped by the guard station to check out the bounties... and he realized that Marco, the wisp rogue, was actually one of the lesser bounties on the board! He kicked himself for not realizing, but refrained from telling the others to avoid spreading frustration. Firen then retired to the tavern for the rest of the day to relax.

The following day, Red ventured out into the West Quartermarket again to observe the preparations for the Snack Pack Festival. He returned to Gulthric to tell him a dramatic version of their adventure in the sewer, which was enough to impress the old man into lowering the price further of the giantslayer glaive that Red had already expressed interest in. What Red failed to think about was that the money he spent on the new weapon was equivalent to all of the earnings he'd received from the sewer job. All of it. Red returned to the tavern, and Theo disapproved of his comrade's newest acquisition. Theo was exasperated, and told Red to return the magnetic javelin and its connected gauntlet--Red wouldn't get them back until he proved he can be more responsible with his money.

Snack Pack Shenanigans

After a couple of days of rest, the day of the Snack Pack Festival arrived and Red & Firen chose to forgo proper food in favour of getting goodies from the festivities. Theo decided to join them as a break from the project he'd been tinkering with.

The group's first stop was the West Quartermarket. Among the festivities were a few carnival games. The first was some kind of strength contest. Another game was a test of archery skills, occupied with little kids who struggled to shoot a bow.

The trio approached the archery game first. Theo asked the gamemaster what the rules were.

Theo paid and lined up to face the target, which was erratically moving back and forth on a hand-cranked path. While Red and Firen plotted to try and ensure Theo won with underhanded plays, Theo excellently landed a shot in the dead center of the target with his very first shot. The group easily secures the grand prize--a Pack of Snack.

The group moved on to the next game--a cup and ball game. The premise was simple: there were three cups. One person moved the cups around, with one of them covering the ball. If the other person could manage to follow it and correctly pick the cup that was hiding the ball, then they won the money! If they failed, the other person would get the money.

Firen wanted to compete against Red, but since Red was financially in his own name, he couldn't. Theo stepped in to compete with Firen. Firen shook the cups around, and conjured a brief puff of smoke to confuse Theo--Firen won. In the next round, Red stepped in on Theo's side to try and help him on round two. As Firen mixed up the cups, Red tapped the table with his finger and uses his naga senses to precisely pinpoint the ball. Firen didn't realize the naga's ability, but was impressed by the "guess".

Finally, the group went to the strength contest. The game here was simple--arm wrestle with a beefy looking Corgathian knight. If you won, you would acquire all the money in the pot. You paid as much as you wanted to participate. Red got in line after being urged on by Firen. When it was his turn, he got Theo to slap him in the face. Theo's slap imparted just enough adrenaline into Red to give him the strength to overcome the Corgathian knight, but just barely. Red secured the win as the crowd went wild. Red finally had a good sum of money back in his coin purse.

After the victory at the strength contest, Red and Firen decided to grab somesnacks from one of the booths. Red bought a heftily-piled pork sandwich while Firen bought a bag of roasted goonuts. While the two ate their breakfast, Theo spotted Gulthric and a table covered in his trinkets. Theo had never met Gulthric himself until this point, and was fascinated by a few of the things he was selling. Two things stood out--a clockwork amulet and some kind of magical flask that continued to fill itself up with (extremely cheap) wine every time its contents were consumed. After some bartering, Theo traded some of his own gadgets to Gulthric in exchange for the items of interest.

One of the guards from the guard station recognized the three and, after exchanging pleasantries, told them that Almeric had been looking to speak with them again. The group was planning on heading over to East Quartermarket anyways, so they stopped by the guard station on the way there.

Almeric thanked the group for clearing out the sewers, then let them know that he'd heard more reports on travelling doctors making sick people even worse--just like what happened to Silvaar's wife and Maria Holland in Meltwater. Almeric was worried about the increasing reports over the years, and asked if the group could keep an eye out. He explained to the group that the source of Maria Holland, Julia Darkthorn, and Travis Redleaf's demise and undead fate matched the M.O. of an obscure practice known as Necromancy. The group agreed to keep their heads on a swivel before continuing on to the East Quartermarket.

The group came across another carnival game--the "Seraphim's Slam"! This game was pretty much just a hammer game--there was a see-saw with a boulder on one side and nothing on the other. Hit the empty side of the see-saw to try and get the boulder side all the up in the air. The tried to get Mark One (under the guise of being a made-up "Destrian Knight") to hammer the boulder, but unsuccessfully. Red cracked his knuckles and figured he could give it a try. He got Firen to punch him in the face and get his adrenaline going. After a few unsuccessful tries, Red bashed his own face with the hammer's shaft to get his blood pumping even more. With one frenzied swing, he successfully managed to move the rock not once, but two times! He won a bag of freshly picked moro fruit. The group celebrated by eating some of the fruit and drinking espresso pulled out of Theo's Pack of Snack.

The group continues into the East Quartermarket, but along the way Theo spied a two young women selling some pies, one blonde and the other black haired. Theo recognized the one of the women--the black haired one--as the customer of the key maker that Theo had spied on from the sewer. The group made a mental note and decided to check up on her later. In the meantime, Red and Firen spied another challenge for them to tackle--literally! Greased hog wrestling! Red and Firen teamed up against two other men to try and grab a grease covered, squealing pig. With espresso wreaking havoc on his sensibilities, Red leapt onto the pig while hissing like a angry snake, but the slippery swine went right between his long naga arms. One of the men also tried to grab the pig but only succeeded in falling over as the pig squeezed through his legs. Finally, Firen tackled the pig and used his terramantic magic to create a hole in the mud to aid him with pinning the frightened animal. All too easy--but some of the crowd was a bit uneasy at the presence of someone who appeared to be a Phovezilan elemental warrior, but the gamemaster gave Firen the prize anyways.

Firen spied another vendor selling some medicine related items, which could be useful for lancers such as themselves. First he bought a medicine kit, and then he saw that the two attendants, a gaunt man and a woman, were selling some broth. Free samples! Firen bought a bowl of the broth and took a sip. It didn't taste good--there was a bitter, almost rancid aftertaste. Something was up--the lady, who Firen presumed was the cook, told him that there were magical ingredients. Firen and Theo put their heads together and concluded that there was absolutely nothing magical about it. Even Red who, like the rest of his kind, had an iron stomach agreed that something was seriously off about it. Theo began to work on trying to identify the ingredients of the broth using his tools.

While Theo worked and Red helped him, Firen returned to the two pie girls from earlier to get their names. The blond one called herself Jane, and the black-haired girl called herself Jill. He asked them about the health food vendors, and they agreed that the man and women selling them seemed suspicious. Firen warned them not to drink their soup before departing.

Firen returned to find Theo still working to identify the broth's ingredients while Red rocking in his seat. It seemed as though the buzz from the espresso shot hadn't worn off on Red. Theo finally managed to identify that the soup had been contaminated with cholera. The group was quick to act--Firen hurried back to the guard station to try and tell Almeric about the issue while Theo tasked Red with stopping anyone else from getting more soup. An extremely caffeinated Red marched right up to the vendors and began to slap soup out of people's hands, quickly causing a scene. Soon enough, a massive scene had been caused, and guards arrived to hear Theo out. With caffeine flowing through his veins, Red jumped up onto the vendors' table and began to kick their wares off the table while screaming "DON'T DRINK THE POISON!!"

Firen managed to get Almeric to send one of his deputies, O'Conners, to come see what was going on. They arrived at quite the scene--the vendor lady and man were trying to out-scream Red and claim that their products are safe and useful! Theo told them to shut up and drink their own soup if it was so healthy. The guards attempted to calm Red down, who was still standing on the table and vibrating wildly thanks the espresso.

The lady vendor accepted Theo's challenge and took a reluctant sip of the soup. She managed to hold it down.

"See?" she smiled shakily, "It's good and fine!" Theo cut her off and pointed at the man, telling him to also drink. When he refused, Red pulled out his blade and began to wave it around rather carelessly. As Firen and O'Conners arrived, the elementalist vouched for the Destrian, and the Corgathian guard told Red to carefully put his sword away. The guards decided that for the time being, it would be best to arrest the two people until they could prove them guilty or innocent. The two vendors would have none of it, unleashing a nuivan bomb that petrified the nearest guard. As the crowd erupted into chaos, Red jumped off of the table and tackled the woman, grappling her in a chokehold. As the woman struggled, they bumped into a table which poured scalding soup onto Red's face, causing him to release her. She began to flee the scene

O'conners and Mark One cornered the male soup vendor and swiftly apprehend him. Before he could cast anymore magic, the Corgathian guards bound his hands and placed an Ugrite mask on his mouth[^3] to take him out of commission.

As the female vendor made her escape, Theo, Red, and Firen cornered her in a pincer maneuver. She managed to duck under Red's long arms, evading Red's grasp yet again. Theo donned spring-loaded boots and bounded over the heads of the crowds and landed on top of the woman. Finally, the trio managed to pin her to the ground. Firen dropped an elbow on her head and knocked her out. They held her in place until the guards arrived to place her under arrest.

The Corgathian Royal Library & The Sanctum of the Empty Plane

The Corgathian guards escorted Firen, Theo, Mark One, and a still-vibrating, espresso-fueled Red to the guard station. Almeric listened to their account before reluctantly scolding Firen on his liberal use of magic in the magically-regulated City of Corgath. He told them that they'd be investigated over a few days and would get back to them with what they found.

They group decided to call it a day, and made their way back home after grabbing a bite to eat from a vendor. While back in the Silver Star, Theo tinkered with the clockwork amulet that he'd purchased from Gulthric. He triggered something, and a recorded voice spoke to him. It said something to him about completing the "rest of the puzzle"--it seems that this wasn't just an amulet, but a puzzle box! Theo would have to tinker a bit more to unravel its secrets.

Red, unable to get sleep, decided to go out in the middle of the night in search for a snack. He followed the smell of fresh bread to a small bakery--a bakery that happened to be across from the locksmith's store that Theo had infiltrated from the sewers. Red knocked on the door and a kind old woman answered. The naga apologized for the late night interruption, but offered to pay double for some of the bread that was being made. The lady agreed to give him some bread and let him inside. As they entered, the old lady called for someone named "Stelly", who happened to be the same girl who had introduced herself as "Jane" earlier in the day. Red didn't mention anything, instead focusing on just getting his snack. He got his fresh loaf of bread and bid the bakers goodnight.

As Red came and went from the inn, Theo, engrossed with the clockwork amulet still, didn't even notice the naga's movement. The young inventor managed to get the amulet to suddenly project a holographic stylized "P". The P moved like a compass--continually pointing in one direction, which happened to be southwest to Destral. It also spat out Destrian money from its side. As Theo continued to tinker with it, its size continued to increase in size.

The morning came, with Theo still slaving away on the clockwork amulet. Red and Firen talked, the naga informing Firen about the whole nomenclature issue revolving around "Jane". Firen is intrigued by this mystery, but would investigate it later. He wanted to first visit Almeric to get an update on the investigation regarding the two health food salesfolk.

Almeric also showed Firen an amulet they found on them--a skeletal hand with the inscription reading "Many Hands Which Act". The amulet matches one that the band had found on one of the Nokkville cultists--from the Body of Ba'al cult. Almeric, concerned that the Body of Ba'al might be a bigger issue than they once thought, offered to pay Firen and company if they helped do some research related to the whole subject. Almeric would do it himself, but due to his public opinions, the Altum Archive were unlikely to grant him access to the library.

Theo and Red remained at the tavern for the day, with the Destrian enthralled with his tinkering and Red relaxing after yesterday's ordeal. Just as Firen returned from the guard station and, Theo made a major breakthrough. The amulet, which had now become the size of a softball with concentric rings swirling around it, began to float and glow before exploding into a flash of white light.

When the blinding light dissipates, the group found themselves inside a room--a lab of some kind, but also kind of homely. Before them, a desk with papers and some kind of unfinished invention lying atop it. Outside the window there was the view of a city backing onto a lake--it appeared to be Destral. A man came into the room and welcomed them, introducing himself as Phaendar. Phaendar claimed to be an inventor like Theo, conducting a social experiment to find "the brightest minds of Legere" by utilizing amulets he called clockwork beacons. These clockwork beacons were connected to some kind of teleportation pad that the group materialized on.

Phaendar was an esteemed individual in Destral, being one of the founding members of the city. He explained that he'd created three unique but similar clockwork beacons and dispersed them across Legere. It had been a number of years since the first beacon was activated (Theo's was the second), and the third had not activated yet. While Theo talked, Firen's magical senses detected that the windows in this room aren't real--they were projections. They were not actually in Destral. Phaendar revealed that they're in what is essentially a pocket dimensions known as The Empty Plane. It was the same technology used in Theo's Greybox. The Destrian founder snapped his fingers, revealing through the window a nebulous void of black with white wisps, and that they were in Phaendar's Planar Tower. Firen and Red excitedly (and clumsily) clambered to gaze into the Empty Plane's grey infiniteness.

Theo, eager to display his talents and a bit irritated at how "simple" Red and Firen were by comparison, brought Mark One out of his greybox. Phaendar was impressed at how complex of a creation Mark One is, especially with how young Theo was. Phaendar decided to show Theo some other stuff, and the two went on to another room while leaving the other two behind.

Phaendar led Theo through some kind of workshop, filled with tons of work-in-progress inventions, including several prototypes of other automatons not unlike Mark One. They finally arrived at another room that contained a large gyroscope. Phaendar called it an spatial control, a device that allowed the manipulation of space within the Empty Plane so that a door can lead to one of many other hooked up rooms. It served as the engine of an ever-changing labyrinth.

Phaendar told Theo that he thought he was a fascinating subject with the potential to become a protege. But he'd need to prove himself first. The founder said that Theo should make his way to Destral in the real world, and when they met he'd be presented with a real opportunity.

Their business in the Empty Plane complete, the trio returned to the room of the Silver Star. They decided to call it a day--the endeavor into the weird world of Phaendar was enough for Red and Firen, although Theo brimmed with anticipation for the future.

Red woke up in a cold sweat, mid scream--"IT'S JUST PAINT!" He took a moment to collect his thoughts before easing himself back to sleep.

The next day came about, and Firen and Theo decided to get to work on the research that Almeric proposed they do. Red, still uneasy from his nightmare, tagged along.

They made their way to the North Star of Corgath where the library was. The guards stopped them at the gate, skeptical about the non-Destrian members of the party. Theo convinced the guards that he was a prestigious Destrian emissary performing research in service of the city guard, and that he required the presence of his bodyguards at all times.

They arrived at the magnificent Royal Corgathian Library, which resembled a massive gothic cathedral. The rules permitted them each to take out one book at a time, so Theo took out a book on the history of cults on Legere, Red borrowed a book on historical figures of the Demon Wars, and Firen grabbed some reading material on the Empty Plane.

The group, now armed with their knowledge, traveled back to the guard station to relay their findings to Almeric. Almeric thanked them and paid them before offering one last job--if they traveled north to investigate the ruins of Kaldrefell, Almeric would pay them very well. The money on offer was more than Red or Firen had ever seen. The group couldn't resist the amount of money presented to them and agreed to set out on the expedition immediately.

To Lands Both New & Known

After debating how to get to the ruins of Kaldrefell, the group decided the best course of action was to return to Nokkville and from there travel north to the Land Beneath the Snowy Mountain. Red and Firen quickly got Grungus' severed embalmed so that it wouldn't rot too much more--they planned to turn in his head eventually at Duncaster where hopefully he'd be on a bounty board.

While waiting for the head to be embalmed, Theo purchased an expensive vis crystal from a jeweler for an upcoming project.

The next day came and the party traveled along the beginning stretch of the Red Cliff Ridge, the way they had come. Theo worked the entire day on his new project, snapping at the others if they interrupted his concentration.

The following day, the group passed by the smoldering remains of Grungus the Green's watchtower and his grave. Red stopped for a moment to pay his respects.

The night came, and Theo stayed up late working with the crystal he'd bought. While Red was on guard, the naga heard some footsteps coming from the road and decided to check it out. There was four men on the road. They seemed to be coming towards the group's camp. Red slinked back to the camp and let Theo know, who readied up by pulling Mark One out of his Greybox. Theo turned invisible using his kethramantic device while Red and Mark One hid inside Theo's tent. Theo, while invisible, started shoving the bandits as they entered the camp. The bandits began to freak out, and Theo began to speak in a spooky voice.

Red tossed Grungus' embalmed head to Theo, who held it as if it were a floating head. The bandits recognized the head as Grungus', and lost their minds in fear.

The bandits quickly ran away, far too terrified to deal with such a cursed sight. Firen woke up to the sound the the scared bandits fleeing, and decided that they should probably just get up and move out of the bandit-infested territory.

Five days of travel passed, and the group happened upon three large beasts on the road. They were some kind of horned animals of incredible size--elgands. They were missing patches of flesh, and some of them were without eyes. A haunting blue glow emanated from the sores on the animals--they were possessed! Red and Firen jumped off of their wagon as the creatures began to charge at them. Firen summoned an enormous orb of flame and threw it at the stampeding creatures. The gigantic bovines emerged from the rolling sphere of fire, their skin singed and their flesh clearly scorched, but continuing to close the gap between themselves and the wagon. Theo frantically tinkered on his newest invention, which he revealed to be a hand-sized robot spider that he'd powered with the vis crystal. Red desperately tried to move Shaka, their horse, to move off the road along with the wagon holding Theo. The giant elgand revenants charged through the group--Theo, Shaka, and the wagon were safe, but Red reeled as one of the elgands collided with his side.

Firen managed to roll out of the way of one of them but was trampled by a second one. With a broken arm, Firen gots up and continued to launch volleys of fire at the circling possessed elgands, managing to deal widespread damage across their sides. Suddenly, Theo's new robot whirred to life, zipping through the air and attaching to Firen's back. The robot injected a biomantic solution into his flesh, partially mending his arm and taking away the pain.

The elgand closest to Red was doused with acid as Red threw his final vial of bovic acid on it. Some of the acid splashed near Firen, which distracted him long enough for one of the possessed elgands to catch Firen with its antlers, tossing the poor lancer through the air before breaking his ribs and knocking him out. As the biomantic amulet (which they had recovered from the Corgathian sewerage) worked to resuscitate Firen, Theo opened his Greybox to summon Mark One. The automaton grabbed one of the elgands by the antlers, holding it at bay to protect Firen.

Red armed himself with his newest weapon--the giantslayer polearm--and performed two swift slashes. With the first, the naga managed to cleave off the creature's antlers. With the return swing, the elgand's head was lopped off, and the creature collapsed.

As Firen sat up in pain, he mustered the last of his strength to ignite the other two elgands, incinerating them into scorched piles of flesh and ectoplasm.

The group unwound, glad that everyone was still alive. Firen and Red received a proper introduction to Theo's latest creation--a robot spider named Muffet. It clung to Firen's shoulder affectionately. Unfortunately, Firen had arachnophobia and tried frantically to get it off of himself. It dejectedly returned to Theo's hand, seemingly sad that it couldn't hang out with its favourite member of the group.

The following day, the group arrived back in Nokkville at the edge of night. They spent the night and said a quick hi to Garen, the Stone City Tavernkeeper. He had been keeping well, and the chaos from the group's actions there had died down.

The group continued North from Nokkville, towards The Snowy Mountain. The group began their journey along the Snowspire Roadway, a northwest-running path leading from the Snowy Mountain to Nokkville. Red, continuing to work on his map, has his eye struck by his piece of charcoal when the wagon rolled over a bump in the road. Red's mood soured for an hour, but lightened a bit as they passed through a patch of Mother's Song. Theo plucked one just to examine for fun.

The group passed into noticeably colder territory as the group neared the Phayu Wing Mountains. Red, being a cold-blooded naga, was not having a good time with this at all. As the next day passed, the group crosses over the Frostvein River via a bridge, now closer than ever to the Snowy Mountain. The road began to get noticeably busier, as the traffic to and from the trade center of the Land Beneath the Snowy Mountain neared.

As dusk fell, the trio noticed a campfire in the distance, just off the side of the road. Firen was a bit worried they might be bandits, while Red thought they might just be fellow travelers. Theo thought it would be a good idea to check them out either way. The naga stayed behind with Mark One while the others went to visit the other camp.

Firen and Theo met with the campers, who turned out to be two White Archers--how fortunate! It turned out these scouts were stationed along the road just to ensure safety for travelers and watch out for giants, bandits, and other threats. As Theo and Firen made some small talk with the White Archers, a tree suddenly slammed into the middle of the campsite, obliterating their fire. The White Archers managed to roll out of the way, and Firen and Theo also narrowly avoided being crushed. They turned and saw an enormous creature lumbering towards them--a giant! The lanky humanoid monstrosity was wielding a club in one hand and a rock in the other. With a mighty heave, the monster hurled the latter of its weapons at the White Archers--the stone connects with one of them, crushing her ribs and killing her instantly.

Red was still far away, but managed to see the enormous tree fly and collide with the ground. With Mark One just behind him, the two began to sprint towards the group and join the fight. Now reunited, the group began their assault on the giant. Firen began torching the giant with his fiery magic while Theo threw the magnetic javelin at it. Red slashed gleefully at the creature's legs using his glaive, knocking the it to its knees. While fallen, Firen battered the monster with fire until it finally collapsed onto Red's glaive and sliced its own head off.

The group made sure the surviving White Archer was alright before going at the giant's body, eviscerating the creature's corpse for its magical bones. The group decided to let the young man, who was clearly pretty new at this job, sleep in their camp. He was clearly traumatized by the death of his comrade. The White Archer's name was Dalwin, and he lended Red some nice warm clothes to help the naga cope with the frigid temperatures.

The sun rose on the group as stayed up deboning the giant, and once their messy job was complete, they piled into the wagon and returned to the road. They loaded up the dead White Archer, as Dalwin wished to transport her body home. They reached the mouth of a cavern that marked the entrance to the Land Beneath the Snowy Mountain, where there were an impressive array of White Archers standing vigilantly at its sides. Dalwin vouched for his allies, granting them swift passage into the mountain's depths.

After storing Shaka and their wagon in a stable, the group made it to the Hallow Hearth tavern where they bought three rooms. After purchasing their rooms, they made their way to the bar to buy some drinks and unwind. Theo and Firen promptly challenged each other to a drinking contest, with Red watching as the young Destrian gave the older elementalist a real run for his money. Theo finally wons after 8 rounds of shots, with triple the shots on the final round.

Red helped the unconscious Firen and extremely drunk Theo to their rooms before going to sleep himself, secretly hiding the fact that he had consumed twice the alcohol they had and only getting a buzz.

The Frostbitten Journey

As morning came, the group quickly reassembled to get on with the day--they were still on the clock in terms of reaching Kaldrefell. Red decided to go out quickly and find directions as to where to find the ancient road to the ruins while a hungover Firen decided to find a place to keep Shaka safe. The three had become quite attached to the horse, and were worried about his safety if they took him into Legere's treacherous North.

Red's quest for information led him to the house of Old Lady Uridis. He knocked on the door of her small looking house and was greeted by a brown mountain Stoff. He was quite surprised, undoubtedly confused by the teddy bear-like figure sitting next to the fire. He struggled to get an answer out of her when he asked about the road to Kaldrefell--she continued to call him foolish and that the road to the "cursed place" would be extremely dangerous. Red insisted that he was already aware of the threats that awaited him and his group. Eventually, she told him that he just needed to find stone trail markers on the Northeast side of the Snowy Mountain. His quest fulfilled, Red left the stoff's home quickly.

Theo purchased some warm clothes to help them brave the coldness that awaited them.

The group headed into the frigid North, with a biting cold blowing against them. During nights, the group shared a single tent, relying on their body heat to keep each other warm through the harsh chill.

The next day, the group followed the decrepit, snow-laden path to a sheer cliff. The path ahead consisted of wooden boards fixed to the side of the cliff face--certainly unsuitable for a horse, let alone a wagon. While investigating alternative paths to move past the cliff, they stumbled upon a fearsome yetauri lying in wait under the snow. It clamped its jaws on Theo, but Red managed to wrench him free. Firen yelled at them to just make a run for it, but the yetauri exploded from the snow, swallowing the naga whole. Seeing him swallowed, Theo sent Muffet into the monster's mouth where it fixes itself to Red's face in order to help give him oxygen while Firen began to scorch the fur off the beast. Unfortunately, the stomach acid pouring in on Red corroded Muffet, causing it to fall into pieces.

The monster, weakened by the battering of magic without and spears within, tried to hide under the snow and digest its hard won meal. Firen caused the ground beneath the buried creature to explode upwards, exposing it. Mark One, unleashed from Theo's Greybox, tore into the creature and pulled Red out from its body. Red remorsefully returned the crystal core of Muffet to Theo. The group skinned the yetauri's remains, getting a nice furry blanket to take with them.

The group spent the night nice and toasty beneath their new blanket before heading out back to the treacherous pass.

The Ruins of Kaldrefell

Theo, Red and Firen stood before the wooden planks stuck into the side of the sheer cliff before them. Firen kicked a pebble over the side and tried to listen for its impact at the bottom to gauge the drop--he concluded with confidence that it was indeed a very, very long drop.

While Firen and Theo brainstormed ideas of navigating the cliff safely, Red began to walk along the wooden boards. Theo hastily called Red back and gave him a pair of boots. He didn't say what they did, but told Red that if he fell, he should press the button on them. Firen and Theo also tied themselves together with a rope in order to help each other if one fell. They didn't tie themselves to Red because they were unsure of whether or not they'd be able to support his weight if he were to slip.

The group struggled their way along the planks, with a few slips here and there, but they managed to recover each time. As they approached the final stretch of planks, Theo's foot went through a loosened board and he fell through. The rope tied to Firen caught, but the elementalist couldn't hold him. He went careening over the edge alongside his Destrian friend. Firen channeled all of his magic out of his hands like jets, helping them control their descent to the bottom of the cliff. They managed to land, for the most part, safely at the floor and decided to try and keep moving through the crevasses towards their goal. A recently-rebuilt Muffet relayed the message to Red that they should keep moving forwards and hopefully meet up at a future point.

Red pressed on but was ambushed by 2 giants that attempted to squish him with thrown boulders. He managed to run away thanks to his natural naga swiftness.

Theo and Firen's paths led them up out of the canyon's side and they found themselves following the tracks of a naga that had recently been here. As Red had set up his camp ahead of the others, Theo and Firen eventually happened upon the naga's camp and were happy that they've reunited. Theo was incredibly tired from the hike, and collapsed instantly. Red, also tired from outrunning the giants, follows suit.

The morning comes, but brings with it a howling blizzard that greatly obscures vision. While Red was a bit concerned about losing track of their whereabouts thanks to the whiteout, Firen said that it could potentially be a whole day before the blizzard blows itself out.

The three tied themselves together using the rope once more in order to help them not lose each other in the storm. The arranged themselves in a V formation, with Red in the middle leading the way and the others to the sides. They managed to make their way through the storm which gave out as the group arrived at Kaldrefell.

The trio cautiously entered the frozen-over, war-torn ruins of the olden Corgathian settlement. Naturally, the blizzard that had just passed had erased almost all signs of the presence of others, but Red still managed to spy a relatively new looking set of tracks going up through the center of the settlement.

As they begin to follow the tracks, the snow around them burst as a small band of frost-covered skeletons emerged. They were slow and clumsy, and the group managed to make short work of them. But as they slew the first assailants, even more began to rise from the snow. The team managed to handle it, striking down each skeleton as they rose. Before they knew it, the attack had subsided, with the bony fragments spread across the snow.

The group, now with definitive proof of the cultists' presence, pressed through the rest of Kaldrefell and began to make their way to what remained of Traustendlat.

That Which Lies in Traustendlat

The team pushed through the snow and arrived at the stone doorway to Traustendlat. There were no traps, but the dust and snow within the first room have been clearly disturbed. There were torches burning down the hall, which had 6 alcoves filled the bones of long-dead Corgathians. The torches were a clear sign that people were here recently, if not still. In the sixth alcove, there was a mysterious item lying in the pile of bones. It appeared to be a wrought iron[^4] pentagram attached to a ribbon--a demonic artifact of mysterious origin[^5]. Red cautiously picked it up, but something from within the black metal bit at his soul, chilling him to his bones and causing him to drop the medallion. Muffet analyzed the medal and identified it as a Demonium necklace capable of enchanting weaponry with supernatural, evil power. Theo had Muffet toss the medal into his Greybox while summoning Mark One out from it. ^137659

The group entered the next room, a massive chamber with a circular pedestal in the center. There's four murals on the walls surrounding the pedestal's chamber that depict the tale of this place.

1. On the first mural, an egg-like oval object appeared to be falling from the clouds.
2. On the second mural, there was the depiction of the large oval shape lying upon a pedestal with rays of light shining from its surface.
3. On the third, the egg had disappeared from the mural but had been replaced with a gargantuan, mechanical figure standing over what appeared to be villagers. It gave the impression that the figure was protecting said villagers.
4. On the final mural it showed the robot with a spear driven through its chest. An imposing figure wielded the spear--presumably, this spear-wielding demon was Ba'al.

There was a big stone double door on the other side of the chamber, but it failed to open when Red and Firen tried to nudge it. Theo, who could read Old Corgathian, deciphered the text and, with Red's suggestion, tried speaking words in Old Corgatian. They assumed that the murals' meaning was to speak a "magic word" that will cause the doors to open. Theo stood on the pedestal at the center of the room and says the word for "protector" in Old Corgathian. With a clunk, the doors shuddered and unlocked, allowing them to push the doors open and move through to the next area. The group returned to being covert as they entered into a slightly brighter lit area--for ahead of them in a large square room were 5 figures.    One of them spoke, and the group recognized the voice as Silvaar's. While they waited to see what the figures did, Red and Theo moved down some side hallways to explore what might be nearby. Theo found a few pots in his room, along with some money. After collecting the money and investigating a few of the pots, Theo opened one pot that enveloped the surrounding area with pure darkness. Before Theo could slam the pot's lid back on it, something brushed past him. Once capped again, the pot's darkness faded--but two figures had appeared, standing on the walls as if they were floors! They were living shadows, and they began to reach out to grab Theo, who retreated back to the main hallway to get the help of Mark One and Firen. The shadows were harmed by the light of Firen's flames and Muffet's laser, and soon enough they had dissolved into nothingness. While the others fought the shadowmantic figures, Red explored his own room and found an ice-covered pot that housed five frostbite crystals. After securing the pot, Red rendezvoused with the others.    A plan was hatched--Theo would use his kethramantic device to sneak into the door across the room and scout ahead. The room was filled with skeleton workers moving rubble, attempting to excavate the collapsed hallways in order to free a visible but dormant imp. Theo snuck past Silvaar and the skeleton workers and into the final room of Traustenladt--the resting ground of the Ancient Clypheus. The Ancient's remains lay sprawled across the floor while a figure stood on the other side of the room, channeling his magic into adjacent piles of human remains, reanimating them into more skeletons. With little other choice, Theo armed himself with the most jagged chimera crystal he had and snuck up to the figure before trying to cut his throat. As he did so, he became visible again while tripping on a shifting pile of human skulls--only succeeding in a light graze. The mysterious individual halted his magic in surprise, blasting Theo with a painful deluge of demonic energy. Theo didn't retaliate at all, instead feigning innocence. He claimed that he was but a simple Destrian worker who was doing drugs before a machine malfunctioned and caused him to randomly teleport here! Not buying the half-assed story, the man called Silvaar in to join him. Firen, seeing Silvaar go into the room after being called, panicked and enveloped the skeleton-filled room with smoke, obscuring vision and allowing himself and Red to rush into the room after Silvaar. Silvaar and the mysterious individual saw Firen's smoke pouring into their inner chamber and figured the "Nokkville meddlers" were attacking, and prepared to leave. The two teleported away by conjuring a demonic portal, but not before the mysterious individual used Necromancy to reanimate the remains of Clypheus itself. The vivisected, broken Ancient had its parts shamble together until it stood on two legs again, but only as an evil mockery to its true form. Just before vanishing, the mysterious figure cackled with glee and proclaimed himself to be the Dark Lord Pitch.

Clypheus Reborn in Evil

The reanimated Ancient gave a metallic roar as it turned towards Theo and stomped towards him. Red charged through the smoke, using his naga senses to pinpoint the Ancient's body and stab at him with his spear, but the weapon only glanced off of its Sintesium armour. Ignoring the feeble strike, Clypheus proceeded to slam Theo with its arm, sending the young Destrian reeling. Firen stepped out of the smoke he had created and gazed upon the wicked, reanimated form of Clypheus. He noticed that two of the robot's four arms were covering a hole in its chest--obviously the fatal wound inflicted by Ba'al when it was originally defeated during the Demon Wars. Needing more room to face this threat, the three retreated towards Traustendlat's entrypoint in a bid to fight it outside in the open.

As they ran through Traustenladt's now-empty hallways, they spied the imp that Silvaar and Pitch's skeleton workers were trying to excavate earlier. It raised its corroded newbok against the trio, but Clypheus' fists splattered the demonic construct against the walls before it could do anything actually threatening.

The group managed to escape out of Traustenladt's doorway and emerged into the frigid afternoon air. Once outside, the team enacted a plan to take down the Ancient. With Red able to use his naga senses to feel vibrations, Firen created a thick cloud of smoke around them. Red could go toe-to-toe with the zombie Ancient while Theo and Firen took potshots at it from outside of the smoke.

Theo sent Muffet to Red, carrying the demonic medal to the naga. Red donned the medal and imbued himself with supernatural strength. Firen bombed Clypheus' figure with flame, causing one of its four limbs to break off. Red recognized this as its weakness--if they could break off its arms, it wouldn't be able to protect its chest wound any longer.

Red and Firen together lopped and blasted off the Ancient's last arms. With a swing of his spear, Red thrusted into the gaping hole in the Ancient's chest. There was a storm of sparks, magic, and demonic energy as the damage inflicted by Red's evil-infused spear indisputably harmed the construct. It begins to reassemble its broken arms to protect itself. Theo and Firen aimed their attacks at the arms, attempting to break the arms again before they could reattach. Muffet then gave Red second dose of growth drugs that imbued the already large naga with even greater strength.

With demonic power flowing through him and into his weapon, Red forced his weapon once more into the zombie Ancient's wound, ironically defeating the evil-turned Ancient in the same way that Ba'al had defeated it all those years ago--with a stab into the chest. With the Ancient felled, the group collapsed to catch their breath in the snow. The group dragged themselves back into Traustenladt to light a fire, take a breather, and recover from the fight.

After recovering and healing a bit, Theo scavenged a plethora of useful material from Clypheus' battered corpse to upgrade Mark One with.

The Third Time 'Round

As Theo worked on repairs for his machines, Firen led Red on a final shakedown of Traustendlat to scour the ruins for any stray treasures that were left behind. The imp from earlier that was smashed by Clypheus was still alive, but immobile thanks to its crushed limbs. It grinded its teeth angrily as Firen and Red walked past it back into Clypheus' resting place. Firen asked Red about the medal he now wore--would Red take it off or keep using it? Red reasoned that the power in the medal was quite effective at taking down Clypheus, so it might just be the right thing to use against more demonic things thrown at them by the Body of Ba'al. "Fight fire with fire," Red mused. Firen agreed, especially after seeing how useful it was for taking down the Ancient.

Upon the back wall, the pair saw a map of Legere engraved on the wall, but it seemed to be slightly geographically inaccurate--a marker of it having been created during an earlier era. Red studied the mural of Legere and compared it against his high-detail map of Hohm that he'd acquired in Corgath. Something that stuck out to Red were 5 flame-like patterns at different points across the land.

1. One point was located roughly where Traustendlat was
2. Another was just northeast of Traustendlat.
3. The third point was just northwest of where the Nameless Town is.
4. The fourth was in the middle of the Phovezilan Domain.
5. The last was within the Nameless Town.

Red copied this info down on a spare sheet of paper for future reference. Red also made out a phrase written in ancient Corgathian script, which he would get Theo to translate later:

The world in flames, the earth laid bare. These lands of loss, oh who would dare, To see the carnage and failure there? The most cursed places in all Legere.

The group speculates on what these fiery sites could be. Perhaps more Ancients' tombs? Or maybe more pockets of Imps? Their questions unanswered but their job done, the group had nothing left to do but leave the ruins for good.

The group made the long journey back to the Land Beneath the Snowy Mountain to retrieve Shaka and their wagon. Red asked a White Archer about the frostbite crystals he had acquired from Traustendlat and where he might be able to return them. The White Archer directed the naga to the Office of Accounting. Notably, the White Archer didn't mention anything about compensation. Red, hoping to get money from these resources, decided to talk with the Accounting Office, but told the attendant there that he didn't actually have the crystals--rather, he said he knew someone who had some and would be arriving later in the evening.

Red told the official this lie after asking about compensation--the official didn't answer and seemed to be avoiding the topic of money. Red figured that he wouldn't get any money out of the crystals by returning them legitimately. Theo helped to conceal the crystals by storing them in his Greybox.

With Shaka and the wagon returned to them, the group prepared to leave, but not before a strong looking man approached them and inquired about Red's polearm. The man, who revealed himself to be a weaponsmith, is Kirnack. He recognized Red's weapon as a creation made by his father. He told them he could create weapons from giant bones, and the party still had some bones from the Giant they had killed upon their original arrival to the Snowy Mountain! They decided to stop by Kirnack's Anvil to buy his services. Red decided to have Kirnack turn the giant bones into heavy, staggering javelins.

Red and Theo also met Reikkad Wyvernrock, a rival weaponsmith who specialized in forging icy Frostbite Weapons. Red inquired about his services, once again concealing the fact that he actually owned the crystals--Reikkad usually reserved his skills for the White Archers, but business had been slow and he might've just be willing to make something for someone who just happened to have some of the crystals. However, Theo and Red agreed that they should leave as soon as possible because they'd rather avoid trouble. After all, someone in Destral may be able to work with them. And if not, they could probably be sold on the black market for a hefty sum.

As discussed before, the team decided to make a quick stop at Duncaster to see if they could turn in Grungus' head for a bounty before returning to the City of Corgath.

The group travels south and then east back to Nokkville. The group met back up with Garen at the Stone City Tavern and relayed their most recent adventures to him. It was hard to think that the cultists, who now had a necromancer and demonic power at their disposal, started off as a group of crazies from Nokkville. Garen offered to take them for a night, and in response Red insisted on overpaying him due to their massive wealth gained from their adventures.

As the trio traveled back from Nokkville to Corgath, they were stopped by bandits once again, but three's notorious reputation was enough to convince the bandits to "let them pass, just this once".

Losing Your Head

It was the evening, and the sun was setting as the trio pulled their wagon into the little mining town of Duncaster. It was not a great looking place--most of the structures looked like they had been hastily erected. It seemed as though the urgency of getting the resources out of the mines was greater than the importance of having nice places to live.

Red and Theo hopped off outside of a slightly nicer building with a sign that said "Mayor's Office". Red figured this would be the right sort of place to collect bounties. He was pretty cautious though, as the naga living underground had been said to be a major issue for the poor mining town--there was probably a lot of negativity associated with his kind. They met with their mayor, Mayor Roch. He was an older man with ill-fitting clothes, and he revealed that he'd never ever heard of Grungus. However, he did offer to pay the group to further reduce bandit activity nearby. Alternatively they could deal with the naga plaguing their mines, but Red was strongly adverse to this. Theo suggested that they can bring the head of the bandits' leader as proof of their actions later on. Mayor Roch agreed, but Red couldn't help but notice him glaring at his reptilian form as they left his office.

Firen drew the wagon up to the Headlamp, the only tavern in Duncaster. Firen spoke with the tavernkeeper Eric, and he informed them that the town was actually quite young--only a couple of years old. In fact, the mine's ground was broken a mere 6 months ago. After a little bit of small talk, Firen secured his allies some rooms and a stable spot for Shaka.

After discussing their options, the trio figured that their time would be better spent elsewhere, like in Destral. They agreed to spend the night before getting back on the road to Corgath. Firen also stopped by the town's market and bought a harmonica as a gift for one of his cousins that he hoped to see again someday.

Red, dismayed at how Grungus' head wasn't worth anything, decided to quietly burn the embalmed skull to release the warrior's soul.

The group departed from the sleepy mining town early the next day, heading directly east back to the capital.

As night fell, Red spotted a mysterious floating ball of of green and purple fire[^6]. This wispy orb traveled into the forest nearby, and Red couldn't help but follow it. It led him deeper and deeper into the forest until he found one of his own javelins stuck into a rock. Grungus' cloak was upon it. Curious, Red reached out to grab it, but his vision went white and his medal burned his chest coldly.

Red watches as he talks with two duns. Time seems to swim, as it does in a dream. The duns smile and laugh, their warm smiles comforting him in an otherwise unfamiliar atmosphere. He looks down at his hands. They're now red and bloodied. The duns are now gone. The red stuff is only paint. It's only paint. It's only... paint...

Red came to, the vision ending. The spear was gone, and the cloak was gone with it. Red returned to the campfire, slightly shaken, and kept watch until daybreak.

The next day, the group finally arrived back in the familiar city of Corgath. They made their way to the guard station and once more sought an audience with Almeric. As they arrived, the group encountered Jane, the black haired girl from their last visit to Corgath. She said she was just turning in a bounty of her own, but she refused to let the three know what she did. Firen pulled her aside to inform her that he knew her friend's name wasn't really Jill, which visibly caught Jane off guard. She quickly left before answering any other questions.

The group promptly spoke again with Almeric and relayed all their escapades from the past week to him. At the mention of Pitch's name, Almeric became visibly distressed, but didn't say anything about it. He gave the three their payment before dismissing them to "talk to others".

Taking Care of Business

Night descended over Corgath, and the group returned to the old familiar Silver Star Tavern to spend the night. After the sun disappeared, Firen donned his cloak and stepped back onto the streets, travelling to the south part of Corgath to spy on a particular bakery--the same one Red had visited for his late night snack just a while ago. It was closed, with nothing more than a dim light burning within. Firen waited patiently. Time passed until it was nearly midnight, when Firen spotted two feminine figures entering the bakery. It was Jill and Jane. After he greeted the two, the women reluctantly invited him into the bakery to talk.

Firen revealed he knew who they were--what they were--exploding witches. They revealed themselves to actually be named Stelly and Misu, and Firen asks them about a particular member of the Coven of Fire, Crystal. He wanted to know where this particular member was headed last time they met her. They were hesitant to reveal this information to him, as they'd prefer not to out a sister for nothing. Firen offered some gold and treasure to make it worth their while, but in the end they decided it was okay to tell him she was near Ailang last time they checked.

Stelly and Misu also revealed that they were hunting zawm-fixed individuals in the Corgathian Undermarket, a dark network of illicit business run in the sewers of the city. If Firen agreed to help them take out a dun target--Puck Blossomblight the human trafficker--then they would help get him in touch with Crystal, or at least relay the message to have her meet him in Destral. In the morning, Firen filled in the others on the job proposed to him by the two witches. Upon hearing that Puck was a dun, Red was all in. Theo was a little hesitant at first, but finally agreed. They agreed to meet up after midnight to conduct their business.

During the day, Red and Theo traveled to the South Star to stock up on supplies, but on their way back Theo noticed that a figure clothed in black was following them. Theo quickly led Red through 3 right turns (making a complete loop) which managed to shake their tail. They hurried back to the inn and continued preparing, now wary of any out-of-place people. Before they headed out, they let Firen know about it. He checked outside the tavern and spotted a mysterious figure sitting across the street from them. Firen suspected whoever it was was watching them to follow them. So they hatched a plan:

1. Sneak out through the back of the tavern and get Shaka their horse outside of the city and tied to a post.
2. Red and Firen go into Theo's Greybox.
3. Theo turns invisible and carries the box halfway to their destination before letting them out to continue on foot before they suffocate.
4. Once their business in the sewer is over, they can take the large drainage hole they saw from earlier to get out of the city, find Shaka, and leave.

The plan went relatively smoothly, and the group managed to arrive at Stelly and Misu's bakery and exchanged greetings before heading into the sewers together. The sewerage was filled with a surprising amount of bustle. After 15 minutes of walking, the two exploding witches and the trio entered the heart of the Undermarket. There were all manner of illicit wares for sale here--weapons, drugs, and at Puck's stall, kidnapped young women.

The trio whipped up a plan to cause a scene long enough to distract Puck's guard detail so that Stelly and Misu could deal with him. First, Theo, still invisible, stole some jewels from a gem saleswomen and placed them at an animal saleswoman's stall. The gem saleswomen noticed and began accusing the other of stealing, to which she claimed she didn't. A shouting match ensued, and during the chaos Theo was instructed by Firen to place a few torches around that he could use to cause some conflagration. This succeeded in drawing out Puck's head of security--an hydromancer. Stelly and Misu also took advantage of the commotion and grabbed Puck, whisking him away from the Undermarket down the sewer's waterways.

To exacerbate the situation, Theo released a caged thunder ape which began to run amok and emit incredibly noisy vocalizations that sounded like rolling thunder. Firen used his magic to carve slurs on the wall of the sewer. Red leaned back and enjoyed the spectacle, having grabbed a snack from his Pack of Snack to enjoy while watching the entertainment. Firen saw Puck, Stelly, and Misu leave, and after ensuring they were long gone, told the others to leave. Invisible Theo told Red that they were leaving, and Red threw back the rest of his food before sweeping the entirety of the gem saleswoman's wares into his satchel.

The trio successfully escaped the sewer and rendezvoused with the witches. They were hovering over Puck's dead body, their deeds done. They told Firen that Crystal was headed for Icthy’s Rest last time they talked, and they agreed to tell her to meet Firen at The Alibi in Destral. With that, the trio parted ways from the witches and left the city. They found their way to the hiding spot Firen had created for Shaka. They got their wagon hooked up and left the Kingdom of Corgath once and for all.

Horror in Hoobank #

The Hunt

After four days of traveling through the wilderness, the trio arrived at the stone walls surrounding Hoobank. The setting sun reflected off of Lake Brokefang's waters, casting orange light on the humble fishing city. After speaking to a guard, the troupe head over to the Brokefang Bed & Breakfast, a nice reputable inn.

After meeting with the innkeeper, the group spotted a strange blue glow coming from outside the window. After pointing it out, the patrons of the bar were whipped into a frenzy, gawking out the window and shouting curses. The innkeeper explained that this was "The Beast of Brokefang," a mysterious monster that occasionally rose from the lake to destroy the boats of the fishermen who lived there. It had been a plague upon the city for quite a while, and none had been able to fight it off.

After nervously sneaking around the building to put Shaka in the stable, the trio managed to get inside without running into the glowing monster. The once-busy streets were now completely empty, devoid of any signs of life in response the the monster's surfacing.

The innkeeper offered a few other bites of info to the party once they were back inside the inn. The beast's presence had been a major detriment to the livelihoods of the fishermen here, since the destruction of boats had caused a lot of people to be unable to go fishing. There was a decent-sized bounty out for this thing's destruction, at least relative to the money circulating Hoobank. The bounty wasn't enough to attract hot-shot lancers.

The next day, the three split up to get information. Firen went to the city guard to inquire about how much money was up for grabs for the creature's demise. Red went to the docks to speak with fishermen about what they had seen--maybe some of them have seen the creature up close. Theo, not being too keen on wasting time in Hoobank, decided to spend the day shopping for things of interest.

Red spoke to some of the fishermen, and one of them named Johnny shared what he saw. Johnny claimed the monster had seven blue glowing eyes, a head of tendril-like hair, two arms, two legs, and a massive jaw. Red believed that Johnny might have had a little trauma that was causing him to embellish the story. Johnny said that Peterson, a friend of his, also saw the monster.

Peterson was a craftsman, with a workshop by the docks where he was hard at work on repairing the numerous broken boats. He claimed that he'd seen the monster walking down a city alleyway before, but he didn't get a great look at its details, other than the fact that it was wearing some kind of armour.

Red continued scouring the docks for fishermen who had encountered the Beast. He found the scarred Ned Sharp, a brave sailor who had an uncomfortable up close and personal encounter with the creature. His description of the creature matched that of Peterson's, so Red was fairly confident in what this thing looked like. Ned acknowledged the creature was exceptionally strong and resilient, but there didn't seem to be any magical properties about it. Ned also added that a certain individual--Captain Cutler--and his fleet of fishing boats had been unaffected by the creature's rampages.

At the city guard, Firen spoke with someone who said there was in fact a decent payout for whoever could prove that they killed it--like a body, or its head.

Theo found himself at a potion store--or, what he thought was a potion store. Agatha's Confectionary was a quaint little shop run by an old woman with a lot of pimples on her face--Agatha herself. She sold magical candy, mostly to travelling salesmen and traders who could distribute her creations to customers in bigger cities. Theo wanted to buy a few candies, but without buying them in bulk, the costs were a bit steep. He began to try and haggle the prices down. Agatha grinned at the prospect of bartering, but she explained she didn't barter with money. Instead, she was willing to agree to a more unconventional trade--if she could have 2 hairs and a fingernail from Theo, she'd give him what he wants with a little extra. She claimed to be able to make candies that had the qualities of him using his hairs--potentially a lollipop that could increase someone's intelligence. Theo quickly obliged before leaving the store and returning to the inn.

The trio mets back at the inn and decided to stake out the docks during the night to try to catch and kill the creature. Red bought a net to help them try and capture the Beast while Firen bought some oil to try and assist his own fiery magic in trapping the creature within a prison of flame. All geared up, the three prepared themselves for the night's encounter.

The sun set, and the cool of night descended upon Hoobank. It seemed like there was no attack on the fishermen as they came in from their boating excursions. After the moon had replaced the sun fully, Firen spied a blue glow in the water. He fired a bolt of flame into the air as a signal flare to the Beast's arrival. Red saw the signal and ran down the boardwalk towards the location. Theo also began to make his way towards Firen.

Red was jumped by the Beast as it emerged violently from the water and landed on the boardwalk. The creature's claws and jaws snapped and slashed in an attempt to injure the naga, but Red managed to deflect its blows. He attempted to net the creature, but it was fast, dodging around it. Firen threw some of his oil onto the creature. The elementalist noticed that the blue glow on the creature's skin seemed to wash off with the oil. The Beast slapped Red away and turned towards Firen, beginning to chase after him. As the Beast was about to leap on top of Firen, Theo arrived to bombard the monster with his incendiary grenade launcher. The oil covering the Beast ignited. Theo and Mark One circled around the flaming Beast, with Theo sinking a sword into the creature's back. Red tried to throw his net on the monster, but the net caught fire and burned away. As Red drew one of his javelins to skewer the beast, the Beast unleashed a bloodcurdling howl that caused the entire group to stumble, covering their ears as the monster crawled onto the roof of a nearby house to escape. It began to leap from roof to roof, preparing to jump back into the water nearby. Red dropped onto all fours to chase it along the dock. As it landed in the water and began to swim away, Firen desperately bombarded the creature with fire as it attempted to swim away.

As the fiery projectiles scorched the creature's back, the Beast surfaced and removed its own head, revealing that its skull was in fact a diving mask. Red jumped into the water and punched the face of the man in the suit, knocking him out and carrying his unconscious body back to shore. Once there, they pulled the man out of the suit and Theo woke him up by injecting him with some of his biomantic stimulants. They interrogated him and revealed that the person inside the suit was actually Captain Cutler! He revealed that he had created the suit in order to swim around and be able to breathe underwater. His ability to blow giant holes in boats came from a supply of depth charges he had. His strength and resilience all came from a cocktail of deconstructed candy purchased from Agatha. The suit's mysterious glow came from dyed Fafly ink. Cutler's motives were to try and reduce the competition in the Brokefang fishing industry in order to allow his son get a foothold in the business.

The Aftermath

The group presented their findings to the city guard who were both amazed and ashamed of the Captain. They rewarded the trio with a hefty sum of money, allowed them to keep Cutler's monstrous wetsuit, and sent them off with praise and thanksgiving. The trio arrived back at their tavern and announced their victory, to which the patrons cheered and drinks were offered for free. One man brought over drinks and asked to drink with them, to which the troupe agreed. As the group all began to drink, the man introduced himself as Silvaar. The group spat out their drinks--except Firen, who found himself paralyzed by whatever poison Silvaar had put in the beverage. Red drew his blade and attempted to stab Silvaar, but the cultist of Ba'al defended himself and held him in place with potent demonic power. Theo, the only one remaining, drew his sword to try and strike Silvaar down, but Silvaar channeled the supernatural to steep him in a vision of Core's destroyed, forsaken world--this was the Body of Ba'al's idea of a new world.

While the paralyzed Red and Firen argued that their meddling in Pitch's plans wasn't personal, Silvaar said that it was too late--they had to pay for what they had done.

Silvaar stepped into a demonic portal and disappeared, with none of the other bar patrons aware of what had just transpired. Red quickly managed to apply some medicine in Firen's bag to him, saving him from the paralytic poison. Theo was sitting silently in contemplation about the horrific scene he had just been subjected to. Red, now furious at how Silvaar has wrapped them up in whatever plans he had, took the spare Body of Ba'al medallion that Firen had taken earlier and created a charcoal relief to give to the barkeeper, telling him that he needed to spread the word about this evil organization--if they were going to mess with Red, Red would mess with them.

Theo and Firen agreed the best idea was to get back onto the road--spending one more night in Hoobank was a luxury they couldn't afford anymore. In silent anger and anxiety, the group boarded their wagon and continued on their journey to Destral.

Shadows & Spires #

Arriving in Destral

A week after the events in Hoobank, Theo , Red, and Firen arrived at the edge of Crossroads Lake and gazed across its vast, sparkling waters. On the other side, twinkling like a jewel, was the great city of Destral.

They brought their cart alongside a small wharf at the edge of the lake where they met Blimey McLimey, the harbormaster. He offered to take the group alongside their wagon and horse westward across the lake in a small sloop.

As they're crossed, they happened upon Alfonso, the travelling salesman who they had met on the road back in the Corgathian countryside. He sold them a few wares, like some glow sticks and thundersteel throwing darts. After catching up with their old friend, they unwound and enjoyed the rest of their voyage.

Eventually the group arrived at the ports of Destral, and took in the awe-inspiring view of the towering buildings sprouting out of the city. Red, never having been to Destral, was awed the most. Theo decided to split off for the time being to deal with some of his own business, promising to meet with the other two for dinner at The Alibi. Firen decided to lead Red to the Copper Tambaboo Inn to secure a place to stay for the duration of their visit.

After navigating through the crowded, noisy, yet splendid streets of Destral, Firen and Red arrived at the Copper Tambaboo Inn and met Hosho Masuda, the owner. Hosho and Firen went back a ways, with Hosho having his usual room still available. After acquiring the rooms, Red declared that he was ready to eat, hungry from the long journey and lack of substantial sustenance. Firen led him couple blocks over to the Alibi, a great place to eat according to him. Theo, as promised, joined them along the way to dinner, but before they could arrive at their destination, they heard a commotion in a nearby industrial building, followed by a call for help. Hoping to curry favour with those in the city, the three rushed in to aid.

Upon entering the building, they found themselves in the midst of pure chaos. The room was some kind of multi-floored industrial-chemical complex, filled with platforms suspended over scaffolding and pipes. Throughout the expansive chamber was a swarm of Hivemen that seemed to be hellbent on destroying what pipes they could. With every hole they set into a pipe, a stream of corrosive fluid came shooting out. Trying to quell the chaos were three other individuals: a hivebreaker knight; a Hysh'hisal naga wielding a rather large, multibarreled, rapid-fire cannon; and a young man wearing a pith helmet armed with a crossbow. The trio helped them as best they could, with Theo wielding his sword and Firen scorching the hivemen nearby. Red dropped from the top floor of the room to drop onto the largest of the hivemen at the bottom.

After a tough battle with the incensed hivemen, the six fellows emerged victorious, but pretty roughed up. The other individuals introduce themselves as Jean-Michel Joget; Krash, a naga tinkerer; and Dr. Celworth, a researcher who had studied the hivemen. They explained that this was a test run to see how effective hivemen could be at being used as demolition tools.

Krash and Theo recognized each other from a while back. Theo explained that Krash was an extremely well-connected figure in Destral--someone who might be useful in the future for the business-minded Red and Firen.

After bidding their new acquaintances farewell, the band of three made their way back onto the streets and arrived at the Alibi. The Alibi was a classy yet casual bar that Firen and Theo were fans of, owned by a lady named Miss Missing--although she was never physically present in the club. The Alibi was healthily busy, and Firen and Theo recognized Davenport who was currently working the bar. He was a smart-looking gentleman who was currently helping a crystalline looking, ruby-red (PLACEHOLDER)Carved People standing next to him. At first, Red mistook this bizarre being (who Davenport named Vesuvius) as a monster from Legere's subterranean world[^7]. He was a bit hostile at first, but after speaking to Davenport, learned that Vesuvius was actually from the other side of Legere, from across the ocean.

Red, Firen, and Theo ate a meal together, possibly the last time for a while. Theo planned to go off on his own a bit to work on his own business while Red and Firen planned to get started on lancer work.

Lancing in Destral

Several weeks pass as the trio set out to begin their various businesses. Firstly, Red and Firen traveled to the southeast side of the city to fish for job leads at The Lancer Guild hall. The guild hall was deep within the southeast sixth of the city known as the Hard Light District.

Upon entering the guild hall, Firen's first order of business was to ensure Red's paperwork and identification was in order. Red was a bit confounded by all this, and had an inkling that the paperwork he had done in the Nameless Town regarding his status as a sword lancer might have been a bit scuffed. Regardless of the past, Red was able to acquire proper updated paperwork and ID before joining Firen on the job auctioning floor.

The auction floor took place in a large, spheroid hall at the top of the guild hall. The hall was busy, filled with the roar of many, many mercenaries and other job-seekers. The auction hall presented lancer with various jobs with varying payments based on the complexity--or potential lethality--of said jobs. Lancers would then bid on the jobs presented, competing amongst each other to see how low of a price they'd take for the job. While Firen saw some old friends and caught up with them, Red was tasked by him to find them a job. The job Red found was to locate and apprehend an ex-shockjouster who was a disgruntled former member of the Elementum Order. He was last seen entering Destral after leaving Phovezila. Once apprehended, he could be extradited back to Phovezila.

Firen and Red headed out to get the job done. Firen believed he could narrow down where this guy was in Destral by speaking to some of his old contacts. One of his contacts, Ronin, believed that some outlaws and outsiders had been gathering around a shady bar known as the Rusty Ratchet. Red and Firen took several days to stake out the area and investigate those who said they'd spotted him. Finally, the pair heard word that the shockjouster often hung out in the same spot to smoke during the evenings. They attempted to sneak up on the ex-elementalist, but made far too much noise. In a desperate attempt, Red threw a net at the elementalist, which managed to snare him. Just when the duo thought they'd caught their man, his buddies emerged from a nearby ally to back him up. Red and Firen, unable to leverage lethal force against the foes that outnumbered them, opted to leave. Unfortunately, this marked their attempt on the job as a failure, and they didn't get paid. Red apologized to Firen for picking what was likely far too difficult of a job. Firen said it was fine, but did decide to depart from Red for a bit to get some personal business done. Red decided to stick around at the guild hall to pick up more jobs solo.

While Red and Firen were off attempting to catch the shockjouster, Theo walked the streets of his home city. His first order of business was to meet with Phaendar, closing off the tale of the contraption that he had acquired back in Corgathian lands. Phaendar welcomed Theo to his laboratory, and offered a job to Theo to begin working there straight away. Theo accepted--working as a protégé of one of Destral's founders was a chance anyone would jump at to get.

A few weeks passed as the trio adjusted to working in Destral. Firen met up with Eva, an old friend of his who taught him what little he knew about terramancy. Theo continued his studies under Phaendar. He also met up with his old friend Aubrey S. Archer, the inventor of the fenris weapon[^8]. Red attempted to host a faux art auction to lure a suspected art thief out of hiding and recover the stolen pieces.

As Theo talked with Aubrey at the Alibi, she told him suddenly that she needed to leave. Theo watched her from a distance as she left to a private room alongside a mysterious Isutan man. Theo utilized his nifty invisibility device to follow them, then used another invention to record the conversation between the two. What he managed to make out was a conversation that involved Aubrey looking to sell the fenris to others outside of Destral--she felt that the founder she had been working under--Founder Cyrus--had stolen her rightfully-earned glory by going behind her back and arming the Destrian Walking Police with fenrises while claiming the invention as his own. Currently, there were two potential buyers: a Songkram grandmaster, and a mysterious Corgathian rebel group. To Theo, both options were equally bad, but the Cogathian rebel group reminded him of the Body of Ba'al. Theo relayed this information to others. The group was still a bit sore from their run-in with Silvaar in Hoobank, and were willing to get involved with this situation just to disrupt the plans of Silvaar and his master Pitch. Theo knew that there would be a demonstration of the weapon at a location known as the Brass Knuckles, which was an underground fight club that often attracted unsavory inventors willing to test their weapon inventions against live opponents.

The group resolved to enlist Red as a fighter in the Brass Knuckles with a disguise--they would paint him Blue and call him Blue. At the same time, Firen would stay in the crowd and keep an eye out for the cultist members of the Body of Ba'al. Firen got in touch with Ronin again and asked for his assistance in getting "Blue" in the ring.

The Rise of Blue

Another week passed as Firen continued to train himself, Red prepared and immersed himself in becoming Blue, and Theo worked in Phaendar's lab.

Armed with this gear, Red (or more appropriately, Blue), would be eligible to fight in the Brass knuckles, where inventors pitted their creations against each other. With the help of Ronin, Firen was able to line up several fights for Blue.

Finally came the time for Blue's first fight. The Brass Knuckles was an old abandoned warehouse that had been gutted to make room for the fights within. As Blue entered the fighting ring, the terrain shifted--the floor plates moved to reveal a floor made of iron covered with small ring-like pinholes. As Blue engaged in his first battle against a Corgathian knight errant, he quickly found out that the holes were there to project flames onto the battlefield! Blue managed to fight through the flames and defeat the knight, presenting the crowd with an incredibly entertaining battle! They were impressed enough to give Blue some more fights, helping him to grow his reputation and fame.

The next opponent Blue fought was a Southern Monk. The fighting ring this time transformed into a platform suspended over molten metal. Blue, nervous about the nature of this fighting ring, attempted to convince his opponent to give up. Unfortunately, the monk believed he could win and ran at Blue, landing several blows on Blue's neck and sternum. With his pressure points struck, Blue became paralyzed. As blue struggled to regain composure, the platform they were fighting on began to shrink. The monk continued to land blow after blow on Blue, who realized he only had one one shot at beating his foe: using the boots Theo had given him earlier. Blue jumped off the platform into the molten metal, but suddenly teleports onto the platform behind the monk. With a swift kick, Blue sent him reeling into the molten metal below. Seeing this, the crowd erupted in cheers--Blue's fame has been solidified.

The next day, Firen was relaxing in his room when he was interrupted by tapping on his window. He observed a raven outside his window--only, this raven appeared to be slightly decayed. After attempting to grab the bird, Firen was forced to blast it out of the sky using his fire magic as it attempted to fly away. Firen retrieved the body and decided to store it in a bag for later--Theo might be able to identify what it was. All Firen could see about this creature was that it was all skin and bones--literally. No meat or organs remained inside the body. Unfortunately, the following morning, Firen found that the raven's body had been reduced to a pile of ash.

In the meantime, Theo visited Founder Phaendar for dinner. Phaendar showed him to a tower that overlooked the city--it was high enough that they could see all the way to the City of Phovezila from out the window. As they talked and ate, Phaendar explained that he created puzzle-containing clockwork amulets--one of which Theo solved. Theo shared with Phaendar the experiences he had in Corgath--including his run-in with Clypheus and the Body of Ba'al cult.

After eating, Phaendar led Theo to another room--a large chamber that housed a massive set of concentric rings. Phaendar let Theo know that he had been working on creating long-range, repeatable teleportation--he believed he was on the cusp of cracking the code. But he couldnt do it alone--Phaendar believed that Theo was a quick thinker and smart enough to help him with the final stages of his teleportation development. Theo agreed to work more closely with Phaendar.

The following day, Firen and Red decided to try and find Theo to get him to identify the ashes of the bird. They weren't sure where Theo's been living, so they first visited the Alibi to see if the bartender knew his whereabouts. The bartender told the two to try looking for Theo at his underground lab--a location that neither of the two knew about until now. According to the bartender, the lab was in the sewers somewhere. The pair needed to make their way through the sewers to find the lab--but first, they found themselves face to face with a unusually large rat that had some kind of device strapped to its back. The rat moved incredibly fast--likely due to the device--making it an obscenely hard target to kill. While dashing around, it nipped at Red and Firen, obviously very hostile. Firen's patience wore thin quickly, and he scorched the rat into ash[^9].

Finally, they arrived at a door in the side of the sewers. The door revealed a rectangular room filled with the half-finished inventions of Theo--it was his laboratory! The laboratory contained several tools, a stripped down automaton that resembled Mark One, a boot that spontaneously teleported every so often (probably a prototype of the boots worn by Blue), and other various pieces of scrap metal.

Theo arrived shortly after the other two by pure chance, and agreed to take a look at the ashes that remained of the bird. Unfortunately, the ashes were too difficult even for someone as smart as Theo to tell what it was, exactly. Firen suspected that it was an undead scout created by Pitch or Silvaar.

The day of the Brass Knuckles fight between Blue and Aubrey Archer's champion neared. As Red looked to find another job at the lancer guild hall, he noticed a high-paying job requesting the capture of one Aubrey Archer... paid for by Founder Cyrus himself. Red recognized the name, and decided to take the job--but only in order to prevent someone else from taking it on. Red then visited Theo to inform him of what was going on. Theo thanked Red for telling him, then ripped up the contract. Red believed this was for the best, and adopted his alter ego as Blue in order to take a different job for the week.

Blue's Bouts

On the day of the big fight where Blue would be pitted against Aubrey Archer's champion, Firen scouted ahead quickly to see what was going on at the Brass Knuckles. While staying unseen, Firen kept an eye on the entrance to see if he could spot any familiar or suspicious faces. As Firen sat and watched, he observed a finely robed Isutan man (plus his entourage) enter. He also saw Aubrey enter, but other than that, no one else caught his eye.

As Blue prepared for the fight, the Naga unveiled to Theo a performance-enhancing concoction that he had acquired during their visit to the Land Beneath the Snowy Mountain. Blue asked Theo if this fight might require it. Theo replied that they needed to maximize their chance of winning because of the potential nature of the buyers of Aubrey's fenrises. Blue resolved to take the potion right before the fight.

The arena itself was a massive octagonal chamber with 4 rows of seating. In the corners opposite to the entrance to the room were two VIP booths elevated high above the rest of the seats. The Isutan man who Firen had seen earlier was sitting in one of the booths.

Blue's fight was slated to be the last one of the night. Blue and Firen sat together during the fights, while Theo sat on the other side of the arena to maintain his guise of anonymity. While watching the fights, one of the fight organizers approached Firen and asked if he knows any other talent--specifically, a mage. The next fight was supposed to be a battle between two magical fighters, but one of them flaked. After accepting a hefty payment, Firen decided to run backstage and accessed Theo's Greybox device in search of a costume change. Within Theo's realm of The Empty Plane, FIren found a suit of armour that appears to be a mechanically augmented recreation of a elemental warrior's uniform. When he donned it, he looked different enough to pass himself as a different individual. He reintroduced himself o the fight organizer as someone interested.

As Firen stepped into the arena, he saw that the battlefield has been configured into a metal-floored area with a tesla coil in each corner of the octagonal arena. At the very center of the arena was a metal construction which resembled a faraday cage. Periodically, the tesla coils unleashed a burst of electricity that fried the whole arena except for the area inside the cage.

Then, what Firen saw next was his opponent--a woman wearing cyan with steel bracers and a bandana covering her face. The bandana was painted with a set of wicked, sharp jaws. But even so, Firen recognizeed the eyes that peered out at him--Crystal.

Firen was a bit shocked for a moment, hesitating long enough for his opponent to strike first. She quickly closed the gap between herself and Firen, delivering a punch that unleashed an explosion of aquamarine light. Firen staggered backwards in pain, attempting to escape from her close range. He began to charge up his powerful pyromancy, but his opponent didn't give him a chance--she unleashed a blinding pulse of turquoise energy which knocked Firen onto his back--he fell unconscious. This power was familiar to the others--this individual was an Exploding Witch. A couple of medics carried him off the battlefield and to the infirmary.

While this was happening, Theo noticed three individuals entering the other VIP booth. Two of them were hooded figures, but the third was unmistakably Silvaar Darkthorn himself. Activating his cloaking device, Theo snuck up close to the booth to eavesdrop on them. What he found was that while the one figure looked exactly like Silvaar, they were in fact not: when he spoke, it was someone else's voice entirely.

Once Firen was taken off the arena, Blue was told that his fight was next. He quickly stole away to the changeroom to imbibe the performance-enhancing potion. Before the fight began, Blue was approached by Aubrey who wished him good luck. Blue returned the well-wishes before entering the ring.

The arena of the Brass Knuckles shifted again to present a sandy surface covered with short stone walls and two wooden forts. To Blue's surprise, he saw Aubrey herself standing across from Blue, her own invention in hand--but Blue's drugs allowed him to act first. With the performance enhancing substance flowing through his veins and clouding his vision, he charged into her and skewered her through with the spear Theo had constructed. She attempted to get him off of him, shooting him point blank with an arrow. Blue, not feeling pain, continued to charge forward with Aubrey impaled as she tried to escape by using her grappling hook. But she cannot escape Blue's feral fury. Spittle flying from his mouth, Blue slammed her into a wall, his eyes and weapon glowing pink with demonic energy flowing from his medal. She cried out in pain as Blue penetrated her gut with the spear as vile energies began to scorch her veins. She couldn't handle Blue's enhanced strength, succumbing to his savage assault. Fortunately, Blue's heart also began to falter, and he collapsed, sparing her from being outright killed.

The battle was over, with Blue managing to make Aubrey and her invention looks pathetic in terms of effectiveness. Theo was irked that Blue showed no restraint and came dangerously close to killing her, but was relieved that she was able to be stabilized by the biomancers on site.

The trio gathered together again after collecting their payment, then decided to split up for a moment--Theo wants to go find Aubrey and talk with her to see how she was doing. Firen decided to try and tail the individual who looked like Silvaar and his lackies. Blue decided to wait by the concession stand, getting a snack to pass the time.

While snacking on popcorn, Blue suddenly found himself stabbed in the chest by a woman who had emerged the crowd. With a flurry of her knife, she left a deep gouge in Blue's chest, who staggered backwards, against the concession stand. As the crowd panicked and began to rush like a raging river, Blue--on death's door and heart still weak from the physical stress of the fight he just participated in--dragged himself away from the concession stand and back into the arena room. He threw himself over the seats in an attempt to hide from his attacker in the bleachers.

As Firen followed the three figures, he saw them drunkenly stagger down the exit. He overheard their conversation--they were paid by someone to disguise themselves. Disappointed and troubled by this development, Firen made his way back into the arena to meet back up with the others--but he was caught off guard by a mage standing calmly in the aisle. He raised his hand towards Firen, and suddenly the elementalist felt all of his blood sucked towards his chest. He blacked out from the lack of blood to his brain.

As Theo chatted with a recovering Aubrey, Silvaar himself appeared at the door to the infirmary. Theo saw clearly that this was the real Silvaar--not an imposter at all. Silvaar spoke to Theo and Aubrey, lamenting the failure of Aubrey's invention's performance. He then spouted about how Red and Firen were already dead in an attempt to intimidate Theo. Theo thought quickly though, opening up the shadowmantic jar (recovered from Traustendlat) to blind Silvaar temporarily while he was in the middle of his pontification. Theo nabbed Aubrey and skirted out of the infirmary. He entered the Brass Knuckle's arena in time to see Firen fall to the ground and Blue attempting to hide in the bleachers.

The situation was dire. Theo opened his greybox and Mark One marched out in all of its mechanical glory. Theo and Mark One set upon the sanguimancer who had downed Firen in an attempt to protect the elementalist. From what seemed like nowhere, Firen's former arena opponent (Crystal) also charged towards the blood mage. As Red hobbled to his feet to also come to Firen's aid, the cultist who had injured him run up behind him to finish him off. Red struggled and wrestled for his life.

Silvaar cackled in delight as he centered the arena to see the enfeebled Red and unconscious Firen, deciding to leave this fight to his underlings. He sat down in one of the bleacher's chairs to enjoy the battle.

Aubrey acted quickly to shoot the cultist attacking Red to death before turning towards the blood mage threatening Firen. As Aubrey prepared to fire upon the blood mage, he swirled his hands and took control of her movements. He pointed at the exploding witch and Aubrey shot her in the arm, causing Crystal to flinch as she set off an explosion, accidentally releasing it in Theo's direction. The young inventor managed to duck under her blows and rolled on the ground towards the blood mage. He swung his sword at the profane sorcerer, cutting off his head.

Silvaar's jovial mood quickly soured as he watched the incompetence of the now-slain companions. He stepped forward and hurled a bolt of crackling demonic energy, striking Red in the head and causing him to fall backwards down the bleachers' stairs. At this point, the biomantic power of Firen's amulet finished restoring his internal equilibrium, and Firen's eyes fluttered open. He sat up and saw Silvaar. Firen entered a steely-eyed rage and began to fling bolt after bolt of fiery magic at him. Silvaar weathers the withering blasts of flame, and reached out towards Red, causing the cursed medallion on the naga's neck to glow with unholy light. Red cried out in pain as the medal branded his chest. He writhed in pain on the ground, unable to do anything in his agony. Theo moved towards Red to try and help get the medal off of him while Mark One charged at Silvaar. Silvaar had them where he wanted them though--he encircled them with a ring of magenta hellfire, coldly bidding them a painful death.

Fortunately, while Silvaar was laser-focused on slaying the three heroes, Aubrey, Mark One, and the exploding witch all encircled Silvaar and gave him a solid beat down. In desperate self-defense, Silvaar began to shower his attackers with demonic energy. This distraction was long enough for Theo to throw a magical crystal (pilfered by Red from the Corgathian Undermarket) on the ground to conjure a fiery golem from the Plane of Ucalegon. Silvaar, now overwhelmed by his numerous attackers, collapsed to his knees.

Silvaar crumpled to the ground, beaten, bloodied, scorched... and dies.

The group took a moment to breathe. Firen grabbed the exploding witch and pulled her into an embrace--the others learned that the exploding witch was Crystal, Firen's sister. Theo, having not been too seriously injured, helped tend to the wounds of Firen and Red--the latter of which had their leg broken after falling down the stairs, among other serious injuries inflicted by the medal. Aubrey suggested taking Red to the hospital because of these injuries.

After being admitted to the hospital, Red was fitted with a splint[^10] and met with a dun woman who introduced herself as Founder Azalea Abernathy. After Red explained (with some details omitted) what happened, Founder Azalea said she wished to examine the demonic medallion, which had now been branded and fused to Red's chest. Perhaps she could try to remove it surgically in the future. In addition to this, she also diagnosed Red with a severe congenital heart condition that could be fatal if he overexerted himself (like in the fight against Aubrey). Red left her his address if she wished to study him later or perform surgery on the medallion. Aubrey's kindness and compassion to Red also left an impact on him, making him begin to reconsider his prejudices against duns.

The Aftermath of the Brass Knuckle Battle

The day after the battle in the Brass Knuckles, the trio regrouped in the Alibi. Red's broken leg forced him to continue walking on crutches. As they relaxed and enjoyed a meal when they were approached by The Announcer--the individual who ran the Brass Knuckles. The man handed the group a hefty bag of cash as thanks for dealing with the cultists there. He assured the group that the Brass Knuckles would always be a friend of the three.

A little later in the day while Firen was resting in his room back at the Copper Tambaboo, he heard a knocking on his window once again. Although he expected trouble, he was relieved to see that it was just his sister--Crystal, the Exploding Witch.

Crystal spoke of Grandmaster Kenshin Kobayashi, a member of the infant Songkram government of The Eastern Provinces. He was responsible for the death of Firen and Crystal's family, according to Crystal's research. Crystal had hunted him down and disintegrated him to avenge them. Firen disapproved of this course of action, since his mindset was to just avoid such conflicts of the past and move on instead of stirring up old troubles.

Firen tried to convince Crystal to join the Lancer Guild to "settle down" for a bit, but she was too free-spirited to do something like that. She declined the offer before bidding Firen farewell.

Theo went to get drinks with Aubrey to talk about what happened yesterday. Red ran into them and apologized to Aubrey once again for almost killing her in the Brass Knuckles. Aubrey, finally putting together that Blue and Red were one and the same, accepted the apology. As a show of thanks for saving his life, Red told her all about the lancer contract Founder Cyrus put out on her a couple days ago. She was of course troubled by the news, but was confident she'd be alright. Theo also revealed to Red that he had recovered a set of weapons carried by the cultists--a parrying dagger and saber carried by the cultist who had attacked Red, and a sword carried by Silvaar himself. All of the weapons seemed to be made of the same black metal as the medal burned into Red's chest. A voice from Red's heart whispered to him, urging him to take the weapons. While Theo wished to hold onto the rapier for study, he permitted Red to take the other blades.

As Theo continued to progress through the ranks of Founder Phaendar's laboratory, he was eventually recruited by his mentor to help spearhead experiments that could lead to commercial long-range teleportation. Theo met Phaendar in his sanctum in the Empty Plane at the machine Phaendar had been constructing. The machine was a portal generator, hopefully able to facilitate the shunting of a pocket of reality through the Empty Plane, arriving at a destination elsewhere on Legere. The machine powered up, and a portal began to open--but it was to a sight that Phaendar wasn't expecting. A blasted hellscape with a violet sky and unfathomable landforms--the Void. The two inventors were stunned as an unearthly wave of radiation exhaled from the roiling portal, scorching both of their left arms into blackened masses with white-hot cracks, not unlike a charred-through piece of firewood. The machine became unresponsive as Phaendar struggled to shut it down, and with a horde of Voidspawn closing in, the two abandoned the machine to escape through the labyrinthian sanctum of the founder.

They managed to escape the Empty Plane, with Phaendar fainting in his home while Theo struggled to get himself to his lab. Theo wrapped his arm in cloth to try and avoid attention, but bolts of searing energy arced from its cracks, shredding the cloth and threatening to strike nearby civilians. Firen and Red, just emerging from the Alibi, saw Theo and rushed to his aid. Firen hoisted Theo into his arms and carried him to his lab. Red hobbled after the two on his crutches.

In Theo's secret lab, the group severed the mangled, scarred arm of Theo, leaving him a single amputee. Theo passed out from all the pain and excitement, and the other two decided to get some sleep while Theo recovered.

After several hours, Firen left Red in the lab to look for Aubrey. The elementalist directed her to Theo's lab to help him construct a prosthetic, mechanical limb. While Red periodically left the lab to get food for Aubrey and Theo, he was contacted by a member of the hospital staff who was apparently looking for Theo--it seemed as though Phaendar had alerted Destral's hospital of their shared injuries, and was hoping to help Theo out. Red recalled Theo speaking of his hatred of hospitals and decided to obscure his whereabouts, allowing Theo to avoid the hospital for the coming week.

Over the next several days, Aubrey, Theo, and Red worked together to finish a fully-functioning useful mechanical prosthetic limb to replace the young inventor's lost arm. At the end of the week, the group decided to meet up with Phaendar as a trio to see what they could do to help rectify the situation. Phaendar wished to get his Empty Plane Sanctum back under his control, and he didn't want to get the Paladins involved (or allow the other Founders to learn of his shortcomings)--he offered enough money for the three of them to retire for good if they helped with his job. The objectives of the job was as follows:

1. Clear out the monsters.
2. Close the portal.
3. Reconnect as many rooms as possible.

Phaendar presented a map of the sanctum, which appeared as 6 concentric rings, not unlike the electrons orbiting an atom. The various pockets in the Empty Plane that comprised each "room" were on certain rings, and only certain rooms facilitated the connection between rings.

The group spent the following day preparing for their expedition into the Empty Plane to fend off the aberrations of the Void. Red finally healed his broken leg. The time finally came though, and the three made their way back to Phaendar's residence to enter the sanctum. With the whirr of machinery and a flash of turquoise light, the three found themselves in a chamber filled with bookshelves, benches, and windows that displayed a formless, dark grey abyss. It appeared to be some kind of "lobby" or "foyer".

Phaendar's Planar Tower

After leaving the "lobby" of Phaendar's Planar Tower, the three made their way into an adjacent room, trying not to be distracted by the mysterious formless greyness that lay beyond the confines of the chambers. They found themselves in a room where several pipes had burst, pouring acid onto the floor. Roughly half a meter of acid covered the bottom of this place.

As the group attempted to carefully navigate the room, the acid itself took monstrous forms and attacked the trio. Undoubtedly, they were some of Phaendar's experiments gone rogue due to recent events. Firen succeeded in evaporating most of them with his fire. Theo wielded Silvaar's rapier to great effect against the creatures as well, and began to note the destructive power as such a simple weapon. The monsters vanquished, Red carried Theo to the other side to avoid touching the acid while Firen parkoured across the remaining intact pipes. They hastily exited the caustic room.

The next room they found themselves in was a copper-plated hexagonal chamber with a gear-covered floor and a large Ancient crystal battery at the center. The gears were all connected but lay still, save for one which was grinding in desperation to move the others. Theo reckoned that this room could be a ring stabilization cell--bringing this room back online was crucial to the mission objective. The young inventor set to work repairing the gear array while Red and Firen stood guard at the doors to the chamber. Theo managed to unjam the gear, which spontaneously brings the entire room to life. The gear-coated floor began to shift as each cog spun at varying speeds. Firen was spun in a circle while Red went flying with a splat into the wall. The device in the center of the room also began to whirr to life, and started letting out forks of crimson lightning haphazardly. Seeing how dangerous this room had become, the group agreed to attempt to leave the room through a door in the Northeast before getting crushed or electrocuted. They dashed across the gears and dodged the last bursts of lightning before successfully throwing themselves into the next room.

The room they emerged in was a much calmer room, filled with nothing but a single gyroscopic device at the center. It was a control room that Theo could use to change what rooms were connected to each other. Theo fiddled with the gyroscope a bit so that they could access other rooms without having to go back into the laser-gear room. There was a clunk for a moment as the previously disconnected pockets of the The Empty Plane moved, and a new door appeared along the side of the room.

Red cautiously went through the door and found himself standing in a dark, cavernous hall with sides of unworked stone. A wide arrangement of luminous mushroom lined the walls and floor here. Most interesting were two mylembo that were currently tending to the mushrooms here. They were a friendly pair, named Gorb and Borb. They were employed by Phaendar to grow magical mushrooms with various abilities for use in his experiments. The three decided to help evacuate the mylembo before the voidspawn got to them, using the control gyroscope to move them to the exit portal. Before leaving, the mylembo gifted the three a couple of magical mushrooms as thanks.

Theo moved the gyroscope once more to gain access to another room. They found themselves looking into a fog-filled room where several figures stood dormant in the roiling mist. The group snucks up to the figures, which at close range appeared to be sleeping, grotesque, fleshy copies of Phaendar himself. In synchronization, the three took down the slumbering freaks before they could prove to be trouble. In the center of the room there was a massive glass container holding a pulsating mass of vermillion flesh--Sculptoris[^11]. The container itself was a glass-like ball suspended from the ceiling via 4 chains. The glass had been shattered, likely from the shockwave caused by the portal's opening. Whatever flesh was inside the glass was aroused by the trio's dialogue after they had slain the visible threats. It crawled out as a massive, undulating ball of bone, teeth, and raw flesh--a Carnite! Red was too frightened by the sudden arrival of this creature to react, but Theo and Firen teamed up to barrage the monstrosity with fire until it was completely immolated from the inside out. After extracting petri dishes with small cultures of that strange red flesh, the group decided to weld the door to this place shut before returning to the control room. Red demanded the group take a rest after dealing with so many horrors in such a short time.

Breach & Clear

While taking a short break, Red and Firen decided to partake of the mushrooms that Gorb and Borb gifted them. Much to Theo's annoyance, the two began to goof around with newfound magical powers that they obtained after imbibing the fungus--Firen could move things with his mind while Red began to uncontrollably exhale a thick plume of mist that obscured everyone's view.

Despite the obstacle that Red's foggy breath presented, the group decided to continue moving on--the longer they took, the more monsters would pour forth from the Void. The next room that Theo brought them into was a study of some sorts, dusty enough to show that it hadn't been inhabited for a while even before the Void incident. Red stood guard by the door while Theo and Firen investigated. Theo found a button in the room that caused the room to transform into a starkly different layout--desks, chairs, and other furnishing slid into the walls and floor before being replaced with different, cleaner, and more recently used things. The fireplace also roared to life, casting a warmer glow over the previously cold, grey room.

As Theo continued to investigate, he found the writings of an individual who was not Phaendar. Written in Ghilit, the writings were the musings of an individual named Belial ben Hasid who was searching for some sort of ancient relic from Jinifar's ancient past.

Figuring the room held nothing useful for the trio, they pushed forward to find themselves in another control room, complete with a gyroscopic instrumentality.

After Theo once again moved the gyroscope to gain access to a new room, they found themselves looking at a door labelled with a plaque--something not found on any of the other rooms' doors. It said: ==DEMIPLANE AND RECURSION LABORATORY==. Upon entering the room, the three found themselves gazing upon very bizarre, non-euclidean construction. Theo speculated that Phaendar was attempting to use the Empty Plane in ways to create impossible architecture. As the group explored, they were attacked by a pair of Voidspawn. They let out a loud screeches and charged towards the party, bellowing random, freakish gibberish. Fortunately, Red's misty exhalation protected the group from being ripped to shreds with their initial attack, but one of the creatures wholly inhaled the mist to clear the battlefield. The creatures looked fast, so running wasn't an option. The trio resolved to kill them. The monsters were truly otherworldly, with Red's spears arbitrarily phasing harmlessly through them during certain strikes. Other laws of physics weren't followed by the creatures, but against the odds the trio succeeded in slaying them.

The objects within the recursion lab were also quite strange: there was an infinite staircase that caused Firen to grow when he walks up it, or shrink when he walks down it; a box that contained infinite boxes; and a wicker basket that could transmogrify into a rubber ball.

Now finished in the recursion lab, the group moved into another chamber that appeared to house another ring stabilization device. The room itself appeared to be a library, but Firen sensed that there was an absurd amount of unbridled magical power flowing through this room. Suddenly, the books in the library began to fly off their shelves and into the center of the room, coalescing into a swirling vortex of paper. This bizarre tornado of literature was hostile to the team, and began to batter the party with books. More and more books began flying off the shelves, slamming against Theo and Red's faces. The room quickly descended into total chaos. Firen, still the size of a giant thanks to the recursion lab's staircase, wrestled with the giant tornado of books while the rest of the team ran around swatting stray, angry books! The room's concentrated nuivan energy was excited by Firen's magic, causing Firen to become suffused with uncontrollable havoc. Firen became so supercharged with magic that he became a fire-vomiting, poison-spitting, light-projecting, butterfly-farting maelstrom. The trio waited outside the library until the effects of havoc on Firen subsided. Theo gave Phaendar a status update as they waited.

With the deadly book-nado destroyed, Theo set to work repairing the the stabilizer in the room. In the meantime, Red and Firen wandered about the rest of the library--Red found an interesting set of blueprints for various automatons. He gave the blueprints to Theo, who might be able to use them later.

The group decided to depart from the Empty Plane to takes a quick breather back in the normal world. While enjoying a hearty meal of deep-fried goodies and ale at The Alibi, Red told Theo and Firen a bit about his history--Red was once a Hiskrallion soldier, trained as a javelin thrower. That was all he was willing to share for now.

After getting a good night's rest, the trio met up with Phaendar to give a more in-depth report of their endeavors than what they gave the previous day. It appeared as though Phaendar had suffered grievous injury from the incident, and was now forced to move about in a wheelchair. After filling the founder in, they returned to their mission.

They found themselves in a partially-constructed control room, with sheets and bars of metal just barely holding together. Part of the room was blocked off via a mysterious wall of golden light. This light wasn't like the hard light seen throughout the rest of Destral--it was golden coloured, and more radiant. There seemed to be some characters or symbols in the wall as well. Red recognized the language as the divine writing of the angels--something that he recognized from Demon Wars artifacts that were in subterranean reliquaries held by naga. The wall also sparked violently when touched with Theo's Demonium rapier.

Firen found a notebook in the room as well, authored by Phaendar.

While creating the final room of Ring D, I overlapped with a pre-existing structure. Though every pocket-dimension and demi-plane finds its roots in the Empty Plane, intersecting with one is highly unlikely; and no such rooms appeared in my surveys or calculations. In my curiosity, I thought prudent to investigate the room and discuss with the owner the proper path forward. However, upon entering this room I discovered it was more curious than I ever expected. Not only was it abandoned, but its architecture is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It likely predates the Demon Wars, because I know of no culture alive or dead with such sophistication. What lies behind this gate is unfathomable, and I dare not write it down. Within lies knowledge beyond comprehension, and insight greater than words. I fear what Belial will do if he learns I did not trust him, in his rashness, to come with me.

I’ve decided to assign D8 as a permanent attachment to this ruin; I’ll have to find a place for my garden elsewhere.

The group agreed not to try to find their way through the wall, since the journal entry by Phaendar mades the place seem far more dangerous than what they wanted to deal with.

As they neared the portal room, the team hatched a plan: they could use the recursive lab's staircase to make Red and Mark One bigger and stronger, and then charge straight through the various rooms until they reached the portal. If they could close the portal and stop more monsters from getting through, they'd have a much easier time clearing out the rest of the sanctum. Red's improved power would allow him to bulldoze through whatever might try to stop them.

The plan was set in motion. The party barged first into a beautifully ornate room with a gyroscopic kinetic sculpture. A collapsed pillar blocked the door they need to go through. Theo recognized this room from when he was attempting to escape from the Sanctum immediately after the portal was initially opened. Before the oversized Red could move the pillars aside, a swarm of beetle-like voidspawn clambered out of the darkness and begin to swarm Red. Fortunately, Red's mighty strength and size allowed him to squish them with impunity.

Red picked up his friends and charged forward into the next room--the portal room itself. They found themselves standing in the diamond-shaped chamber where Phaendar and Theo had opened the portal. The portal displayed the swirling, incomprehensible gloom of the Void itself, to which Red couldn't help but stare into. This tore at his mind, paralyzing him as he continued to stare into it.

Then the room shook as an enormous, serpentine, unspeakable creature covered in teeth, claws, and tendrils dropped down before them. It roared and prepared to attack.

Closing the Gate

In an attempt to buy time for Red's mind to recover from the horrific revelation of the Void, Theo and the still-enlarged Mark One charged forward to begin attacking the enormous, reptilian Voidspawn. They ran across the bridge between the entrance to the room and the portal, upon which the monster was standing. It retaliated with a blast of pale, otherworldly energy that rapidly aged Theo where it touched him.

Firen attempted to rouse Red from his stupor by striking his foot with a flaming ball of rock, but Red's mind was utterly transfixed on the dark oblivion through the portal. Seeing that it was a lost cause, Firen turned his attention onto the draconian aberration and began pelting it with his powerful bolts of flame.

There was a sudden implosive shockwave from the portal as everyone was thrown forward towards the monster. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the draconic alien whipped one of its tentacles around in an attempt to strike Theo, but the inventor managed to roll out of the way as the appendage smashed through the bridge's floor. The monster turned into a whirlwind of tendrils and spikes, thrashing its deadly limbs into Firen, tearing off pieces of his armour as though it were made of wet paper. Mark One was also caught in this attack, being torn into scrap metal. Firen sailed through the air from the force of the eldritch beast's attack, spitting and coughing blood as he landed on the ground. He quickly lost consciousness.

Before succumbing, Firen used the last of strength to create a billowing cloud of smoke. The smoke obscured Red's vision long enough for him to come back to his senses. He was confused at what had happened since his mind took a leave of absence, but understood that there was a monster that needed to be destroyed. Using his enormous size, he began to stab the monster with one of his spears. His weapons unable to pierce the eldritch hide of the voidspawn, Red resorted to drawing the Demonium weapons he had borrowed from Theo. The supernatural metal of the weapons pierced the flesh of the creature with ease, with Red's medal amplifying their power to an even greater extent than what was possible with a mundane armament. This distracted the monster long enough for Theo to get over to Firen's body to resuscitate him. As Theo helped Firen, the portal rumbled as a swarm of smaller voidspawn skittered forth. Firen, groggily awake, saw how dire the situation had become, and gathered his resolve. With undaunted willpower, Firen summoned several massive lances of flame that roared with destructive power. They blasted into the dragon-like voidspawn rapidly, burning and boring holes through what was likely its head. It collapsed onto the ground, allowing Red to turn his attention to the insectoid voidpsawn closing the distance towards them.

Red managed to butcher most of them, but he was overcome with fear as several began to crawl over him. Firen helped burn the creatures off of Red while Theo ran over to the portal's machinery in an attempt to sabotage its functions and cause it to collapse. Theo began to work to close the portal, while Firen and Red stand by, preparing for whatever other monsters might come through.

While the team thought they were getting things under control, things suddenly took a turn for the worse. The portal unleashed another implosive shockwave. While it was not enough to suck them inside, it did bring Red close enough to once again gaze back into the depths of the Void. The Naga's mind was assaulted once again, and he began to hallucinate. He attacked Theo with savage intent, mistaking his ally for a monster that emerged from the portal. To complicate things further, actual monsters began to pour out of the portal.

While Red's mind was shattered once again, Firen and Theo were able to keep the monsters off of themselves long enough to close the portal. As the portal closed, the team collapsed onto the ground tender from the dire situation they had managed to just scrap through. They dragged themselves away from the portal room and managed to get to back to an exit.

Once back in Phaendar's house, they relayed the info that the portal was shut, but their job was far from over--there were still several rooms that needed to be cleared before Phaendar could continue using the sanctum.

Breach & Clear Continued

After returning back to the solid ground of Destral, the trio decided to take a short break to lick their wounds before returning for a final descent into Phaendar's Planar Tower. Firen, covered in strange otherworldly wounds inflicted by the monstrous Voidspawn from the portal room, decided to visit the hospital for treatment. He noticed that his flesh in parts was black, like charred wood. Glowing white veins snaked in and out of the scorched, twisted burns. The injury was not unlike that of what Theo had sustained himself.

In the meantime, Red found that one of the spears he had used to assault the dragon-like voidspawn had absorbed some of its power. The shaft had become gnarled and black like night, and its speartip was coated in violet, viscous mass. The spear's sharpness had been augmented by an edge made of oblivion. After climbing onto the roof of the Copper Tambaboo Inn, Red spent some of the day swinging and stabbing his new toy into the shingles and chimneys, gauging its capabilities. Satisfied with its performance, Red resolved to sell some of his obsolete equipment. They had served him well, hadn't been of much use to him lately. After running into Krash, Red learned that there were plenty of weapon peddlers in the Hard Light District.

Red traveled to the district to seek out a buyer. He found a purple-skinned dun that sticks out like a sore thumb--he was buying and selling all manner of weapons. Red offloaded his old gear and bought a shield (something that he wished he had when they fought the voidspawn), making a net profit off of his sale. However, as Red was leaving, he was accosted by two suited men with white gloves--they were representatives of the aptly named White Gloves. Turns out they ran a lot of the businesses in Destal. They demanded he pay a third of the profits he made, but Red managed to fool them by convincing them he had no money left. Instead, Red offered them a bag of (possibly fake) gemstones that he pilfered from the Undermarket. This satisfied the two men, and Red left in a hurry. When Red got back to his room, he painted his new shield red before going to sleep.

The following day, Red bumped into Firen in the lobby of the Copper Tambaboo. Red learned that Firen was on the hunt for a house--he was ultimately looking for a place where both him and his 7 other family members could live. Red looked at his money that he just made and reasoned that Firen and Theo were his issiliss. By that logic, Firen's family was also his family. Red gave Firen enough money to allow the elementalist to afford a sufficiently sized house. Firen refused to take the money at first, but the ever-stubborn naga was adamant about helping out. Firen eventually gave in, and the pair bought a decently sized house with an unfinished basement. Along with this, the two also terminated their stay at the Copper Tambaboo, and spent the night sleeping on the floor of their unfurnished new property.

The day after, the trio met up once again to finish their final dive into the recesses of the Planar Tower. Phaendar himself greeted the three of them and congratulated them on their efforts so far. They assured him that they'd stabilize the remaining ring in short order, and with that they entered back in.

The first room the group came across consisted of a large chasm flanked by a set of glass tubes that resembled large lightbulbs. Upon entering the room, Mark One, which was following the three, shut down. Firen also found himself unable to conjure flames as he tried to light a torch. Theo noticed that every time they tried to conjure up magical powers, one of the "lightbulb" like mechanisms flickered for a moment. Theo rationalized that the lightbulbs were actually ampules of Ugrite that had created an anti-magical vacuum within this chamber.

With Red's strength and a bit of rope, the trio managed to climb over the chasm easily. Theo speculated that the room was a "magical airlock" to prevent certain experiments from passing into adjacent areas.

The next room they entered was a familiar sight. It was Phaendar's office--the same place they had all met him for the first time while they were still working in Corgath. While Red and Firen were eager to move on to the next room, Theo decided to search his mentor's desk for anything that caught his attention. Theo discovered a device that looked like a remote control. It quickly begins to emit a series of beeps after he pressed a button- morse code!

Finding themselves bored by Theo's efforts to translate and elucidate a meaning from the remote, Red and Firen made their way into the next room. The room appeared to be another chamber, lined with shelves of tools and books. Theo recognized it as his own temporary workspace given to him by Phaendar. Red scanned the room and declared it to be safe, which made it all the more terrifying when the three of them were ambushed by voidspawn monsters hiding in the darkness along the ceiling. The monsters were large and insectoid, covered in a midnight purple carapace and sporting a long, boney stinger tail. They reached down, grabbing each member of the group in their claws and trying to lift them into the ceiling. Red managed to cleave off large chunks of the creatures' carapaces with his void-augmented spear, but was dragged into a corner as they tried to descale him. Firen summoned a corona of fire around his body, forcing the creature grabbing him to drop him. Once freed, Firen immolated the monster with another barrage of fire. Across the room, Theo sliced the arms off of the creature grabbing him with his Demonium rapier, allowing him to drop to the ground. Mark One lumbered up to the creature and grabbed it by its neck, crushing it with fearsome strength. Red's captors were final monsters standing, but one by one Red managed to impale each with his spear.

After their scuffle with the Voidspawn, they returned to Phaendar's office to catch their breaths and patch their wounds. Afterwards, they moved to an adjacent room off to the side of Phaendar's office--it was a small court with a box-like device presenting a display screen on one side. The box's screen lights up and manifested a smiley face.

"WELCOME TO THE COURT. CO-OP VS A.I. OR PVP?"

Confused by the question, Theo asked what "co-op versus A.I." means. Unfortunately, the box interpreted this as Theo's selection.

CO-OP VERSUS A.I. CONFIRMED. PLEASE TAKE YOUR PLACES ON YOUR SIDE OF THE COURT. BLACK HOLE DODGEBALL WILL NOW BEGIN.

The three watched as the box sprouted two massive metal arms and a singularity emerged from an aperture in the center of the court. Obviously freaked out, the trio attempted to leave, but the door had shut behind them--a safeguard undoubtedly put in place to manage the black hole inside the room. Pondering what kind of psychopath would want to play dodgeball with a black hole would have to wait--the robot began by picking up the black hole and throwing it towards Theo, spaghettifying his shirt and leaving him topless. He was alive, but could have been killed instantly. Firen wasn't a big fan of having a black whole thrown at him, and decided the best course of action was to annihilate the robot by using his fire magic, ending the game. The robot was displeased and called Firen a cheater after having its arms blown off, but took no further action. With the robot unable to throw the black hole at them, Theo was able to hack the door open, and the group escaped back to Phaendar's office.

Seeing as they had almost completed cleared out the sector they were currently in, the trio made their way back to the control room to gain access to the final room of the sector. They were greeted with a massive vault door with a strange combination lock mechanism. The mechanism was engraved with various characters from the language of Core, although Theo recognized the language from pieces of Ancients. Above the combination lock was a series of Corian characters which Theo thought spelled the word "discovery". He aligned the rings to spell out the word, and the vault unlocked. Within the vault, the team gazed upon a long, 100-foot hallway. At the other end, a massive stockpile of boxes, containers, and chests. This must have been Phaendar's storage. There were two cannons at the end of the hall facing towards them. From within the cannons' holes, a faint glow emanated. Theo began to creep forward down the hall, but once he got about halfway, he stepped on a hidden pressure plate. A cannon fired, and its shell exploded into a sickly green vapour. They decided to leave the goods behind, since stealing from their employer was a poor idea, anyway.

Moving on, the party rotated to another chamber, a room that acted as a planetarium, displaying the constellations of Legere's night skies. A plaque at the center of the planetarium displayed a motivational message:

The people of Legere exist to look up to the sky and count the stars.

Stability at Last

Looking to finish clearing out this sector of Phaendar's Planar Tower, the team set their eyes upon two doors in the planetarium that led forward. One of the doors was guarded by an extremely complicated locking mechanism. This caught Theo's eye, and as he investigated it, he found that this door was locked via some kind of 9-character passcode. Theo was stumped by what the passcode could be, so he attempted to brute force his way through the lock. Red and Firen began to nod off since it took Theo a while to finish, but he did succeed in besting the lock.

Theo's eagerness to open the door backfired--a wave of electricity flashed outwards, shocking all three of the team into a heap on the ground. Turned out--Theo didn't truly unlock the door. His tampering with the mechanism caused a hidden safety mechanism to trigger and shock the three. The three lay on the ground for a couple of hours, in pain, tiredness, and embarassment.

When the group finally got back onto their feet, they decided that it would be best to perhaps go around another way. This led them to a room that they had been in before--the ballroom that the team had fought the swarm of voidspawn in. Red attempted to play the piano in the room's corner (unsuccessfully) while Theo and Firen investigated another exit portal to the normal world. Theo explained to Firen that without the final stabilizer ring fixed, it could be dangerous to use. They could return to this portal to leave once their job was finished.

Connected to the ballroom was a large dining hall complete with a long wooden table that could seat around 10 guests. It was pretty clear at this point that Phaendar created this whole part of his sanctum as a place to host parties of sorts--the proximity of a portal, the ballroom, and the dining hall made that abundantly clear. The dining hall appeared to be empty other than the table, although Red noticed some small wooden panels at the back of the room. Theo and Firen began to argue, since according to the map of this bizarre place, there should have been another room connected to this one. But there were no doors. While they argued, Red decided to explore the wooden panels just for fun. The panels swung open to reveal a small cubby no more than one foot deep. There was a small tea set on a platter--the latter of which was residing on top of a small set of tracks, like that of a train's. Bored by what he found, Red decided to flick the teacup. But this had a surprising effect--the train tracks extended outwards across the room and connected to the table, allowing the tea platter to drive onto the table where it was deposited and a fresh cup was poured. Red was surprised by this at first, but was only more surprised when the table suddenly rumbled to life and began to move along previously hidden tracks in the floor. It lurched violently to the side, slamming into the room's windows. A large crack spreads across the window, threatening to shatter with another blow. Theo said that if that window broke, it could destabilize the room and cause the The Empty Plane's nothingness to begin filling it up--crushing the three in the process.

The table was uncooperative, darting around the room and threatening to crush the three or smash the windows. Theo drew his Demonium sword to separate the tabletop from its legs. Firen and Red quickly rushed the table, and before they knew it, the table was lying on the ground. Its legs were still moving--although they no longer posed a threat to the windows. Red managed to pull the four table legs out of the tracks on the ground, effectively disabling the legs from harming them. After Theo patched the cracked windowpanes shut and Red wrote a quick note apologizing for damaging the table, the group decided to take another look at the cubby that the tea set came from. Red noticed that the back of the cubby was a bit loose. Theo investigated closer and found a small switch that opened the panel to reveal a room hidden behind it. After squeezing through the tiny hole, the team found themselves looking upon a compact room filled with deadly spinning gears, blades, and roaring ovens. Theo realized that this was some sort of automated kitchen, but it also doubled as a stabilization cell. Theo managed to stabilize the ring after dodging the deadly obstacle course of a kitchen, and even grabbed a few morsels of food for the team.

With all the rings stabilized, the team's job was officially over--but their curiosity demanded them to explore the room blocked off by the electrified door from earlier. Fortunately, the door didn't discharge again, so Theo was able to safely finish his attempt to open it.

The other side of the door revealed a short staircase down into a cozy den area. It was complete with a comfy chair in front of a roaring fire, among other amenities. They explored a few rooms connected to this place, finding a bathroom and a walk-in closet. There was also a door that was identical to the one guarding this place, complete with another complex locking mechanism and electric charge. Theo, having learned his lesson from the first door, successfully disarmed this door before unlocking it.

The other side of door revealed a spacious bedroom with a bearskin rug, a large desk, and a spectacular view of the Grey Plane's horizonless abyss.

Firen and Red decided to leave the room since Phaendar wouldn't be pleased with people muddling about in what they suspected was his own bedroom. However, Theo couldn't help but take a closer look around at the contents of his mentor's living quarters. He found a journal and rifled through it briefly, finding mention of the mysterious figure Belial mentioned in the room with the golden wall of light. The Corian word for "wisdom" was also highlighted in one of the pages.

With that, the team was done. Finally, they emerged from the sanctum and were free of having to reenter. However, before they left, Firen and Theo both agreed that they should meet Phaendar in a public location to receive their pay. This is because the two realized that they had seen a great many things within the sanctum--projects and experiments that were possibly so secret that Phaendar might be willing to kill them to maintain their secrecy. Red disagreed, believing that he, as a strong naga, could easily overpower the frail, injured, wheelchair-bound old man with ease. Theo knew that Phaendar had sufficient tools to dispatch them with ease if he truly wanted to.

Regardless of their personal perspectives, they agreed on a plan to meet Phaendar at the Lancer Guild Hall the following day to receive their payment.

Firen and Theo had a restless night, anticipating their meeting with the Founder. The following day, they attempted to meet at the Guild Hall, but they were met with a message from Phaendar stating that he strongly insisted their business be conducted at his home. Theo and Firen were reluctant, but Red had the idea to try and illegally hire some bodyguards from the Lancer Guild Hall. Everyone Red asked preserved their integrity and declined Red's generous job offer.

Red, Theo, and Firen arrived back at Phaendar's home, where they were greeted by Phaendar's butler, Archibald. After being generously tipped by Red, the butler led them to the elevator and took them to the Founder.

A Declaration of War

The trio entered into Phaendar's office in the material world and sat down in chairs before his desk. They recounted their operations and the monsters they encountered. Phaendar seemed satisfied with their report, and agreed to pay them as soon as they signed some non-disclosure agreements. A true inventor, Phaendar wanted to protect his research, and he undoubtedly wanted to keep certain things a secret from the prying eyes of the Arcane Hand, Bureau of Classified Arcana, and Righteous Order.

In addition to the payment, Phaendar gave each of them a special pen with which to sign the contract, which they could keep as a token of appreciation. One of the pens unfolded into a crossbow. One of the pens acted as a small, compact, magical firearm. The last pen was capable of writing in secret messages only visible by some.

Firen and Red both decided to stop by the Lancer Guild to make sure all of their paperwork was in order, with respect to the contract they signed when they initially took the job and the NDA added on. Firen also received word that a previous employer of his wanted to have a meeting with him the next day.

Seeing that everything was in order, the group decided to retire to the Alibi to unwind and talk about the future. Red and Firen's immediate next goal was to prepare their house for the rest of Firen's family, which Firen had messaged letting them know to come and join him. Red and Firen also poke a little fun at Theo and suggested he ask Aubrey out. They also talked in passing about each of their respective families, all while gorging themselves on an expensive, delicious meal. The night descended into a blur as they three engaged in a drinking contest that Red won handily. Theo blacked out while Firen and Red continued. Firen, determined to beat Red, attempted to outdo Red by smoking a bundle of hallucinogenic moss from Kel Isle's Cordywoods. Red once again proved resilient to all manner of recreational substances, and found himself having to carry a tripping Firen and drunken Theo home.

The following morning--or rather, afternoon, thanks to their prior inebriation--Firen jumped out of bed, realizing he was late for his meeting. Firen charged out the door to the guild hall. Firen's chaotic exit woke Theo, who Red had let spend the night in their house. Theo grumbled but joined Red to cook a hearty brunch.

Firen arrived at the Lancer Guild and entered the meeting room, where he finds himself sitting face to face with Almeric Armand. He had originally provided them with their work in Corgath. Almeric revealed that he was actually a secret agent of the Arcane Hand--which was why he had such an interest in the events of Traustendlat and the Body of Ba'al cult.

Almeric explained that the situation in the Northern regions of Legere had worsened. An entire village was destroyed and converted into reanimated monsters. But the zombies weren't alone--they were supplemented by imps. Almeric says that a band of heroes known as the Archangel's Heroes, who seemed to be affiliated with the Righteous Order, were on the case. However, if the self-proclaimed Dark Lord Pitch--who the party had met in Traustenladt briefly--and his undead army was truly backed by a Demon, then Legere at large was at risk.

Almeric also revealed that Pitch was in fact a classmate of his--naturally gifted in magic, but curious to a dangerous degree. One night, Pitch broke into a restricted part of the Academy's library, and somehow, was able to kill many, many people. Both students and accomplished members of the Academy were slain with ease by this rather young student.

Almeric was interested in having Firen join the Arcane Hand and their ongoing investigation into Lord Pitch and his activities. Firen was recognized as a powerful spellcaster, and they wouldn't mind having him on their side. Almeric also warned that Lord Pitch was unhinged and vindictive. The safety of Firen, Theo, and Red was potentially at stake--this extended to Firen's family.

Blissfully unaware of the dramatic news, Red spent his day picking out furniture for the house. After meeting back up with Firen, they agreed on the purchases and ended up buying an Isutan futon, a bunk-couch, a recliner with a tail hole for Red (state of the art Destrian furniture tech), 8 normal beds, and one set of naga bedding. The other furniture included general stuff like tables, chairs, and other oddities.

Some time passed, and the three began to settle in to a more laid back, mundane life. Red and Firen continued final preparations on their house for the inevitable arrival of Firen's family while Theo continued lurking about in his sewer based lab, tinkering away at his fantastical inventions. Firen and Red had a secret trapdoor installed in their basement to have access to the sewers (mostly for easy coming and going of Theo). Theo looked into purchasing his own proper property above his lab.

While out hiring a contractor to finish their house's unfinished basement and trapdoor, Firen and Red spotted three individuals walking through the streets. It was Ladodon, Etain, and Kazakk, members of the Archangel's Heroes. Firen recalled hearing about them from Almeric, and figured they must have been in the city on business about the whole issue with Lord Pitch.

A day later, there was a knock on Firen and Red's door. Expecting the knock to be the contractor, Red answered the door, only to find Sir Ladodon himself standing on their front porch. Ladodon revealed that he'd tracked them down based on the warning poster Red had created in Hoobank. He had come to them for any additional information from their firsthand experiences with the Body of Ba'al. Red and Firen recalled everything they could about their experiences in Traustenladt, and Ladodon listened earnestly before asking if they would be willing to help them. The two agreed to help, but naturally, their past as lancers made them request payment for their aid. Ladodon said he couldn't pay them himself, but perhaps he could work something out through the Arcane Hand. Ladodon also appeared to be cognisant of the demonic medallion burned into Red's chest, despite the fact that it was physically obscured by his shirt. Red felt uneasy by this, although the discomfort may have originated from the medal itself.

As Ladodon left and bid them good afternoon, the sky turned darker. The ground quivered, just slightly. Ladodon perked up suddenly, and looked towards the east, where the sun is setting. The sun itself seemed to flicker.

Theo watched from a nearby rooftop as the sun dimmed, a billowing cloud of dark, demonic energy on the horizon. It was coming from Nokkville, the place where the group had encountered Silvaar and the Body of Ba'al for the first time. Theo could just barely make out the details with the help of a telescope: a massive spire of dark material protruded from within the city while twisted, crown-like shards emerged to consume the city's walls.

Red clutched his chest as the amulet embedded in his flesh vibrated. Unbeknownst to him, it was resonating with the twisted black spire growing in Nokkville. Red stumbled into the bathroom, feeling incredibly ill. He lifted his shirt to see the medal glowing with a malignant, magenta light. Red tried to recover from the sudden wave of fatigue by lying down. Red came to the conclusion that he had to get rid of the medal in his chest. There was something wrong about it, and Red could feel it eating into his soul. He began to feel a strong pull towards Nokkville, but he didn't understand why.

Firen and Theo met up on the house's porch, and discussed what just happened. In the meantime, the city around them emanated a nervous energy as people scrambled to figure out what is happening. The two departed to find Crystal and Aubrey, respectively. They made their way through the discombobulated crowds of people all speculating about what had just transpired. They managed to find their counterparts and bring them back to the house.

The task force prepared themselves. Theo presented Firen with a finished version of the mechanically enhanced armour that Firen had used as a disguise at the Brass Knuckles. Red wished Krash farewell and hoped to go fishing with him another time. After quickly moving through the city to grab some last minute supplies, the newly-assembled team met the rest of the Archangel's Heroes at the docks. Founder Phaendar made a surprise appearance, and revealed he and his lab were actually the owners of the airship. He had come to wish them farewell and good luck on their mission. The full team boarded the airship and it rose into the air, departing from the great city of Destral.

As the team flew through the air, Red gripped the railing in fear over the height that he was at. Firen and Crystal spent time together staring out across the land, enjoying each other's silent company as a family. Theo pulled Aubrey aside to talk in private. Theo told her that she shouldn't have come: he believed that whatever they were getting into was dangerous and there was a good chance they won't make it out alive. Aubrey was resolute in her participation--she was disgusted with the idea that she could have turned the Body of Ba'al into an even more dangerous threat than they already were. She promised to stay safe as long as Theo did.

The night passed and the airship came up on Nokkville. They descended below the clouds to see a sun stained by a twisted darkness rising over the land. Nokkville's mighty limestone walls had been pierced through by large demonium shards of malefic power. A spire of black metal rose from the center of the city. Surrounding the city on all sides was a seething tide of undead corpses. Positioned throughout their ranks are the unmistakable silhouettes of imps.

As the team looked over the scene, they noticed a large contingent of Corgathian knights marching to Nokkville from the capital. They were unrelated to the Arcane Hand's operation, but their assistance would probably be necessary considering the sheer number of foes around the city.

The Battle of Nokkville

The airship landed in the distant outskirts of Nokkville, and the crew disembarked. They were met by the other members of the Archangel's Heroes, who explained the situation.

Almeric explained that they could attempt to siege the unholy walls of Nokkville, but time was of the essence. A wall of demonic energy hedged out most from being able to enter. They needed to find a way to bring down the twisted barrier from inside--even the divinely-powered might of Sir Ladodon and Sir Archoth wouldn't be able to take down a barrier of such magnitude. The current plan was to fight their way to the gate, allowing Red to cross through the demonic energy wall. According to Ladodon, the medal fused to Red would allow him to walk through the barrier unimpeded. So, Firen and Theo would enter Theo's Greybox while Red ferried them through.

The time came for battle. Ladodon called out, readying the allied forces to attack. Firen conjured forth an immolating heat ray to begin burning a path in the forces of evil, and Red led the charge into battle alongside his fellow spearman, Ladodon. The undead stood no chance while they were reeling from Firen's magic. Theo unleashed Mark One, who charged alongside him and the rest of the allied forces into the fray. There was a great cacophony as the two sides of battle met in combat. Crystal joined alongside Firen, unleashing her own explosive Zawmancy to wipe out large swathes of enemies. Aubrey stayed back, firing arrows from afar. The other members of the Archangel's Heroes found themselves in an adjacent front, drawing the attention of the undead.

Slowly but surely, Red, Firen, Theo, Aubrey, and Crystal waded their way through the hordes of undead towards the gate. Fortunately it was not reinforced heavily in terms of troops. Pitch's dark forces seemed to be reliant on the demonic barrier to keep them out. They were not out of the woods yet though--just as they thought they were making good headway, a figure clad in dark armour emerged from the fires of Corgath's burning shantytown. In her hand, a hefty war sword. She greeted the team, but focused on Crystal. Crystal recognized the metal-clad voice as Florae. She must have been the venomancer that Almeric had heard of. Firen thought quickly though, and used his magic to shift the ground underneath the menacing venomancer before she could unleash her toxic arcana. She was buried alive, but it wouldn't be long before she dug her way out again.

Firen yelled out to Red and Theo to keep the rest of the evil army away from himself and Crystal while they dealt with Florae. Kazakk saw Florae writhing in the dirt and summoned a column of light down upon her to burn her away. Florae was strong though to claw herself free before vanishing in a cloud of acrid vapour, allowing her to dodge Kazakk's ray of light. She reappeared behind Firen, driving her zawmix-coated blade through his back. It wasn't a killing blow, but Firen was severely injured by such a terrible strike. The life-threatening blow awoke something in Firen though.

Firen lashed out at Florae, and the armour coating his arm exploded off of him, revealing a massive, scaled claw that looks like a cross between an insect and a lizard--Red recognized the claw as that of the big Voidspawn that had guarded the portal room in Phaendar's Planar Tower after the Void Incident. The claw crackled with Void energy; the wounds that Firen had acquired from the fight with that Voidspawned monstrosity had finally manifested their effects. Everyone was caught off guard by this sudden development--Florae especially, who was trapped within the grasp of this otherworldly claw. Crystal was overcome with emotion at the sight of her injured brother, ignoring the strange power coming from her sibling and bloodying her knuckles against Florae's heavy armour. She cried out for Florae to come to her senses, clearly in denial about what her coven sister had become. Firen himself seemed to be lost in his own mind--he didn't respond when talked to. Theo quickly opens up his greybox and shoved him inside, leaving Florae stunned and reeling. Theo charged towards the barrier, but he was unable to cross through, as Ladodon predicted. In a moment of panic, he threw the box through with Firen in it, causing the elementalist to tumble out of the box into a heap on the ground. Firen got up, but he was overcome with eldritch whispers that drowned out his own thoughts. He was unable to see back through the barrier, but with animalistic savagery he threw himself at it. During his attack, he knocked the box back through the barrier, and into the hands of Theo waiting on the other side. Theo scooped up the box, holding it out for Aubrey and Mark One to leap into it. Theo followed shortly after while Red struggled to wrestle a stray imp to the ground nearby. Red finally broke free and grabbed the box before throwing himself through the demonic barrier.

Once through the barrier of unholy power, Red opened up Theo's greybox, causing everyone inside to land on the ground in a heap. Ignoring them, Red rushed to Firen's side, for he had suddenly collapsed onto the ground in a refractory period after his eldritch outburst. As Theo tended his wounds from Florae, he clearly observed that Firen's arm appeared to be covered in glossy midnight scales not dissimilar to the ones covering the monstrous body of the voidspawn they'd fought. There was not much to be done for now though considering the hostile environment. They had no choice but to push forward and try to get to their objective. Aubrey saw that sparse patrols of imps were moving about the streets.

Red proposed that Mark One at his side, he could draw in the imps and any surrounding unseen foes by making a ruckus. Firen, Theo, and Aubrey would hide on the rooftops nearby, destroying anything that wandered into the killbox. Red began banging his shield, drawing the attention of the imps and some Corgathian citizens who appeared to have been turned into floating spectral entities.

The battle quickly got out of hand however, as imps swarmed Red and Mark One from all sides, and the ghostly apparitions floated through the air, lashing out at Theo, Aubrey, and Firen on the rooftop. Red managed to impale two imps with his Void-tipped spear, but was quickly overwhelmed. Firen called out, suggesting that they drop the plan and run away. There were no disagreements. Theo took out his greybox once again and has Aubrey and Firen get inside. In the meantime, Red was forced to flee down the streets to avoid being surrounded. As the imps chased after him, he watched as Theo was surrounded by the ghosts. Feeling guilty for endangering his friends with his foolish plan, Red decided to draw the attention of all the ghostly foes away from his friends, firing off the magical pen-gun Phaendar had gifted him earlier. It drew the attention of their horrid enemies, and Red found himself backed into an alleyway. This gave Theo enough time to strap on rocket boots. Theo jetted through the sky, swooping down in front of Red as he was about to be attacked, with the greybox's portal to The Empty Plane open. Red jumped onto the closest imp before him, propelling himself up and into the box. Theo's magnificent rocket boots allowed them to quickly outpace the ghosts trying to chase them[^12].

While Theo flew through the air over Nokkville, Red sat in the corner of Theo's Empty Plane workshop. He felt immense guilt for putting his allies in such danger, and explained he was willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of the others. Firen comforted him though, saying that Red needed to stay alive to help him with his family when the eventually reached Destral.

In the meantime, Theo spotted a familiar site: the Stone City Tavern, the place that the trio had stayed at during their original visit to Nokkville. Because of its familiarity, Theo decided to bring the group down onto its roof. They went to sneak inside in order to hide from any floating ghosts looking for them, but Firen and Red spied through the windows of the tavern four ghostly figures, as well as the spectral form of Garen the tavernkeeper, and Alfonso. Firen cautiously approached the door after noticing that they seemed to be lucid, gathering around a table and talking--a far cry from the more feral, soulless spectres that had assaulted them in the street. The ghost of Garen answered the door, and the group saw definitively that Garen was completely in control of his ethereal body. The other spectres within revealed that they were all still fully aware, and that they only became ghostly attack dogs when given an order by Pitch or one of his necromantic lackeys.

Garen ushered them into the safety of the tavern, where he introduced them to the four ghosts, who were just ordinary joes. Alfonso still had some supplies in his massive backpack, and distributed them free of charge considering the circumstances. Garen explained that they were trying their best to resist the evil force that had overcome the city, and that they were trapped somewhere between the realm of death and life. They didn't know what would happen once the strange demonic barrier around the city goes down, but they were prepared to pass on if that was their destiny. As far as they were concerned, they were dead already, and were willing to help the trio take down the wall by attacking the spire at the center of the city, which appeared to be the source. They'd be unable to engage in a full on assault, but they could at least provide a sufficient enough distraction to allow the living four to sneak inside the spire.

For the next couple hours, the small resistance recuperated and prepared for action.

During their downtime, Red, after having a close brush with death, realized there was no more reason to hide who he was:

His true name was Phossus Krallshess. He was the runt of his family, and was looked down upon by the other members of his military unit once he was conscripted. He had no friends or blood brothers because of his pathetic physique and unstable heart condition. Eventually, in a desperate bid to make an impression and friends, young Phossus was convinced by some others to steal jewelry from the Hiskrallion royal family. He was nearly caught, and forced to flee to the surface world where he could avoid punishment for his crimes.

Once on the surface, Red naively befriended a group of dun bandits who treated him with respect and kindness. The bandits forced him into killing a family that hadn't been paying the rogues their "protection fee", and the blood-covered Red found himself walking through the streets of the village while covered in their blood. In denial of what he'd done, Red insisted to the villagers that he was simply covered in red paint, and he began to paint streaks of red on himself every morning since that day.

The night after, Red tracked down the duns he had called his friends and slaughtered them in their sleep.

Firen also reveals his true self:

Firen was born Lysandrock. He was born in Phovezila, but his father was forced to move their family to the Sangmyung Valley.

Seeing as they faced annihilation, Red called Garen to bring them a drink. Garen happily uncorked one of his most expensive and finest unopened wines--it might be everyone's last drink. They team toasted to victory, to the sun rising once again over Nokkville, and to making good friends.

Red, Firen, Theo, Aubrey and their entourage of ghostly insurgents hurried through Nokkville's empty streets, avoiding the gaze of the imps and undead on patrol. The group reached the edge of the Center City Square where the shadowy spire rose. The spire seemed to be made of a dark coloured stone with a slight opalescent sheen. The spire was constructed like a deformed bastion, complete with arrow slits. At the top, a torrent of magenta, evil essence poured upwards, forming the unholy barrier that protected the city.

Theo planned to have Aubrey, Firen, and Red enter Theo's greybox once again, and then teleport (using his teleportation boots) while holding the box into one of the mid-level floors of the spire. Firen told the ghosts to attack as soon as Theo warped. Alfonso pulled an impressively large cannon from the depths of his infinitely large backpack and readied it. Garen took up a horn and blew it, calling together all of the independantly-thinking ghosts in a unified charge. Together, they flooded towards the base of the tower as Alfonso fired the cannon, blasting a hole through the front entrance. The chaos was more than enough to summon a response from the demonic forces guarding the spire, and a mighty clash ensued. During the mess, Theo teleported himself through an arrow slit.

Theo landed on a balcony that encircled the edge of the spire's interior. At the center of the spire's base was a massive Arcanoform of desublimated magical energy, likely brought or formed here to fuel the magic being channeled through the tower. It is likely the source of the barrier surrounding the city. As the team emerged from the box, Theo quickly began to assess the whole interior of the spires' setup. The arcanoform was highly magical, and enhanced by supernatural evil power. Stationed through the spire were small runestones that acted as stabilizers of the arcanoform--if they could destroy the runestones, it would destabilize the whole structure and compromise the barrier.

Theo instructs Mark One to begin demolishing the runestone closest to them, but the group was interrupted by a cacophony of unhinged giggling.

Theo tried to blast Pitch with his fire cannon, but the bolt went straight through him--he was merely a projection. Lord Pitch guffawed with glee, chastising the team for even thinking he would come to deal with these maggots himself.

Lord Pitch extended his arms and wiggled his fingers, and a cloud of soot swirled through the air before coalescing into a skeletal form. The ashen face of Silvaar Darkthorn emerged upon the skeleton's face, and it smiled... by the dark powers of Evil, Lord Pitch had summoned the soul of the late Silvaar into a synthetic, magical body.

Upon seeing this, the team split up to quickly try and take out the runestones. Silvaar flew through the air, howling with vengeful rage as he unleashed magical force unlike anything he had wielded in life. Bolts of twisted magic scorched the walls as the team raced across the platforms along the circumference of the spire. The team tumbled, dodging the baleful energy unleashed by this corrupted being. Mark One lumbered across the platforms, smashing runestone after runestone with its mighty rocket-powered fists. Aubrey and Theo moved the other way from Mark One as they worked together to dismantle a few runestones themselves. Red and Firen made their way to the bottom-most level of the chamber where the arcanoform rested. Firen planted himself firmly on the floor and began to scorch Silvaar's resurrected form with flame in an attempt to distract him from the others. Red raced across the bottom floor and up another set of stairs so that he could dismantle the runestones of the opposite side of where Mark One, Theo, and Aubrey were.

The team managed to succeed, narrowly dodging the incredible power that Silvaar summoned forth. While the rest of the team destroyed the last of the runestones, Silvaar's ire for Firen grew as he was continually blasted by lance after lance of magical fire. Silvaar focused his energy towards Firen, channeling a concentrated dose of pure Evil into his brain. However, Firen's mind was protected by the otherworldly Void presence currently infesting it. Enraged at how Firen still stood, Silvaar summoned a lash of demonic power in an attempt to strike Firen down. With a thunderous crack, Firen dropped to his knees.

The others, seeing their objectives complete, prepared to turn their attention towards Silvaar, but were accosted suddenly by members of the Body of Ba'al cult. They appeared from invisibility, striking out of the shadows and driving their daggers into the backs of Aubrey and Theo. Red, having decided to try to damage the now unstable crystalline arcanoform, threw his Void-infused spear into the side of it, creating a sizeable fissure on its surface. With his spear stuck in, he found himself disarmed as a cultist ambushed him. Red drew the demonium daggers he had acquired from the last encounter with Silvaar and stabbed the cultist in his head. He analyzed the battlefield and saw Firen about to be stabbed in the back. Red leaped from the platform he was on, descending upon the cultist and knocking him to the ground. Red stabbed the dagger twice into the cultist's kidney before finishing him with a thrust through the ribs and into the lungs. With Firen safe from harm, Firen summoned one more powerful blast of flame, which had enough force to sever the head of Silvaar from his profane body.

With Silvaar dead, along with most of the cultists, Red slammed his Void-touched spear into the crystalline fissure, causing the arcanoform to shudder, splinter, and finally shatter into a fine powdery blast. The group watched as the power emanating from the crystal dissipated, and the barrier surrounding the city lifted.

With the force field down, the allied forces of Corgath and the Righteous Order flooded into the city, pushing through the remaining defensive formations of undead and imps.

The team regrouped and realized something was happening at the top of the tower. They rushed up the steps and emerged onto the roof, where five cultists and Lord Pitch himself had gathered around a pentagram scrawled onto the top of the tower. A massive, roiling mass of demonic energy has apparated overtop the tower, blotting out the afternoon sun. Theo and Red recognized the sound of their chanting and the other ritual elements as the same process being conducted by Silvaar and his disenfranchised followers in Nokkville during their first visit here.

Pitch cackled with glee, telling the group that they were much too late--his master, Ba'al, was about to arrive, and Red carried the final key. Pitch raised his hands to the black mass floating in the air, and Red began to feel his very essence of being sucked out of him through the medal and into the orb above. Firen and Theo were having none of Pitch's nonsense. They charged at the necromancer.

Firen, infused with the dark, insatiable power of the Void, unleashed an Void-infused blast of flame, incinerating most of the cultists. Theo threw a device that latches onto Red, enveloping the naga in a suit of bulky, protective hard light. With the armour covering him, Red barreled through the remaining cultists, skewering them on his spear and sending the others tumbling to their doom off the tower. While recovering from his massive expenditure of power, Firen was stabbed in the back by the last standing cultist who had managed to sneak behind him. A truly horrible wound--but Firen remained standing, turning around swiftly to unleash a blast of flame that sent the cultist to join the rest of their friends. Aubrey fired her fenris with lightning speed, her arrows deflecting off of magical barriers conjured by Pitch. Eventually, one of her arrows found its true mark, causing Lord Pitch to cry out in pain as his blood dripped onto the ground.

While Pitch howled in agony, Theo unveiled another set of creations he had created in the solitude of his sewer workshop--a pair of lion automatons that rushed at the necromancer, tackling him to the ground. Before they could bite Pitch and crush his skull in their steel jaws, he vanished in a torrent of fog, reemerging several meters away before sending out several bolts of energy. Red's hard light plating absorbed the energy, and he retaliated by throwing the thundersteel darts that had been purchased from Alfonso when the team had first traveled to Destral. Although Red was clumsy and not used to throwing such small darts, they possessed potent enough magic to turn into bolts of lightning that homed onto Pitch, piercing his flesh and sending electricity coursing through his bones. This was more than enough time for Theo's mechanical lions to turn heel and chase Pitch down once again, and Mark One followed behind. The three robotic creations of Theo surrounded Lord Pitch, with the edge of the spire at Pitch's back. Becoming more and more unhinged at the fact that his foes were still standing, Pitch unleashed a nova of demonic power, which washed over the three mechanical constructs, causing them to rust as if they had been abandoned in a junkyard for several decades. Their joints and servos began to seize up, and the two lions collapsed into rusted piles of scrap metal. After this, Pitch unleashed a cloud of corrupting, Evil-suffused mist that engulfed Theo, Firen, and Aubrey, burning their lungs and eyes. Red tried to rush at Pitch, thinking that the necromancer's attention was absent. The evil leader of the Body of Ba'al was expecting it! He blasted Red with his unholy powers, sending the naga reeling onto his rear. The force of the arcane blast shatters Red's hard light armour and winded him, sending Red into cardiac arrest as his weak heart began to fail him.

Theo stumbled forward out of the corrosive mists, Silvaar's sword in his hand. His eyes watering, and blood flowing from his mouth and nose, Theo staggered up to Lord Pitch, who was caught off guard by Theo's sudden appearance. With one quick thrust, Silvaar's sword entered through Pitch's heart and out his back. Pitch collapsed, gurgling blood, with Theo on top of him.

As Pitch sputtered his final breath, a mote of light representing his soul was expelled from his mouth, flitting upwards into the dark mass above. Theo and Pitch had both been deceived, for in taking Pitch's life with the demonium blade, the ritual to conjure the Demon was completed. There was a rumbling like that of thunder as the enormous dark orb descended and solidified into a massive, 13 meter tall avatar of Ba'al himself. The demon howled in the growing pains of his imperfect, mortal body. He outstretched his arm and conjured a massive glowing spear of profane force. The demon brought itself to bear with the party, a demonic malevolence burning in his eyes. ^2902c8

Red, gripping at his chest and struggling to speak, let alone breathe, was hoisted up by Firen. The elementalist yelled for everyone to run. With a small tear in his eye, Theo ordered Mark One to self destruct, with the resulting explosion hopefully stunning the Demon long enough for them to escape. It was all in vain though, as Ba'al shrugged off the explosion. The demon pointed at Red, and the amulet embedded in the naga's chest exploded in a flash of chilling magenta light. Firen screamed as he flew backwards. As the dust cleared, Theo, Firen, and Aubrey watched as Red's corpse stood up from the ground, his ribcage blasted open, and his reptilian eyes glowing with the demonic light of Ba'al. Red's mouth twisted into an evil grin as he raised his spear to skewer Firen as he lay on the ground...

There was an abrupt flash of blinding light from above. A voice calls out:

"You have all fought well! Rise up and stand--be strong and courageous."

Light glowed around Theo, Firen, and Aubrey's wounds, and they felt invigorated. A figure descended from the light, revealing an angel clad in perfect, golden[^13] armour. The angel turned to Red, and held out a hand.

"You have found favour with the Most High! I take your heart of stone and bestow upon you a heart of flesh. Fight this evil being and let justice be served!"

Golden light poured into the hole in Red's chest, forming what appeared to be a glowing, burning sun within his body. Red shook himself free of the dark influence of Ba'al, as well as the burden of death.

Renewed by the divine power of the angel, the team turned to face the gargantuan frame of Ba'al's avatar. The demon swung its massive spear, but they all ducked under it. With a mighty spire-shaking crash, Ba'al's spear was lodged into the side of the tower. Red leaped onto the spear, rushing across the shaft, up Ba'al's arm, and onto Ba'al's shoulder. His spear glowing with the empty light of the Void and the burning radiance of the heavens, he began to thrust into the Demon's armoured neck. In the meantime, Theo launched himself into the air using his rocket boots, Silvaar's rapier in hand. He flew into the Demon's face, thrusting it into the glowing unholy rune on his horned helmet's forehead. Firen called once more upon the abyssal darkness of the Void to warp space around Ba'al, restricting the evil warrior from moving fast enough to swat Theo and Red off.

Red, burning with holy fire, thrusted once more into Ba'al's neck, the armour eaten away by the Void-tipped spear. The spear pierced through the neck, and out of the throat. Theo flew off while Red leaped down, and Ba'al howled once more as his synthetic body began to disintegrate. There was a tumultuous crash as Red plummeted into the roof of a nearby building. There was a shower of ashes as the demon's body dissolved. All was silent as the battle was finally won. The Archangel's Heroes arrived at the base of the spire, having carved through the remaining forces of imps and undead. The team reunited with them, as well as the still-ghostly forms of Alfonso, Garen, and the others. They may still have been spectral, but they were now free of the bondage that Pitch and his followers held[^14].

The angel, who Ladodon reveals to be the Archangel Michael, congratulated them all for fighting the good fight, and departed almost as swiftly as he arrived--undoubtedly off to defend another world under siege by Evil.

Cleaning Up & Settling Down

With the dust of battle clearing, Aubrey, Firen, Red, and Theo met with the rest of the team at the base of the spire tower. Everyone survived the events, fortunately. Garen, Alfonso, and the other ghosts were still spectral--it seems that this affliction was here to stay. However, they were still able to be themselves, fully autonomous despite their incorporeality.

Theo recovered a tome from the Dark Lord Pitch's charred remains, but found himself at odds with the Righteous Order and the Arcane Hand as to who should keep ownership over it. Originally the Arcane Hand was in charge of keeping it, but Pitch had stolen it from there long ago. The Righteous Order seemed to be the better place to store it after the chaos that the knowledge within had caused. Theo disagreed, not trusting either group to keep it safe. A voice from within his sheathed Demonium sword told Theo that only he could be trusted with this kind of knowledge--plus, he could maybe use what was inside the pages. Ladodon stopped Theo from putting the book away in his Greybox, and eventually convinced Theo to hand over the tome to the knights.

The group finally decided that the serious state of things was over--it was time for everyone who was alive to celebrate victory. Garen opened up his tavern and late into the night the remaining Corgathian soldiers, paladins, and ghostly remnants of Nokkville all celebrated. Crystal was found alive, having defeated Florae who was now arrested and put under lock and key by the Bureau of Classified Arcana.

Years passed, and the undying Nokkville remnants continued to spread their first-hand experiences of the Battle of Nokkville. While the heroic acts of the Archangel's Heroes spread like wildfire across Legere, in Nokkville a statue including Red, Theo, Firen, and Aubrey alongside the Archangel's Heroes could be found. Almeric put in a word to the Corgathian King Roland, son of Bertramus, about the exploits of the three, and they were rewarded with titles and riches. At long last, they were granted the opportunity to retire without having to work another day in their lives. Nokkville itself also recovered spectacularly. After a lot of work by the Arcane Hand, the city was rebuilt, and Pitch's spire was repurposed to become a massive, multi-layer center of commerce and trade. The black opalescent material that comprised the tower was juxtaposed by colourful banners and flags hung from it.

In Destral, Firen's massive extended family finally arrived from Shinok to be greeted by Crystal, Firen, and Red in their home. The house became alive with the family members that now lived there, with all of Firen's cousins, aunts, and uncles of various ages. Firen himself continued to act as a sword lancer, but mainly focused on doing it to keep Destral safe. Crystal was convinced by Firen to try and help him on his lancer work, which she did in between visits to Florae, who was locked away in a detention facility run by the BCA. Firen's continued work in The Lancer Guildbecame increasingly prestigious until he became the Destrian lancer guild master.

Unlike the lofty goals obtained by Firen, Red pursued a more mundane life. While he occasionally helped Firen on his lancer contracts, Red spent most of his days lounging around wearing a bucket hat. He could often be found spearfishing with Krash and a posse of other Destrian naga onCrossroads lake, or teaching Firen's youngest cousins how to fight with spears.

Theo also rose in stature in Destral. He began dating Aubrey, and he helped her to stand against Founder Cyrus' opposition to her by working with her on supplying the Destrian police with better and new technology. Phaendar also wished to continue having Theo as an apprentice, in hopes that eventually, Theo would succeed Phaendar in becoming the head of his division of Destrian research.

The Wolf Pack Hunts #

Heavenstide

The weekend of Heavenstide in 281 DHT was busy. The day before, the city of Destral had been in celebration complete with parades, food, and all manner of festivities. It was now the day after, with the city slowly going back to the way it normally was.

At Red and Firen's house, it was always busy. On this particular afternoon, Red found issues with their house's pneumatic mailbox. Normally they could just call a handyman to repair it, but they usually costed a bit much. Red would prefer it if they could call up their old pal Theo, who they could not only pay to support, but also have it done for cheap. Red would go and grab Theo himself, but he had plans to go spearfishing in Crossroads Lake with Krash and a few other naga buddies he'd met over the past several months. He'd bring back whatever fish he caught, and Theo could stay for dinner.

Red noted that it looked a little cloudy out, but the city's meteorologists said it shouldn't start raining until the night. Hopefully it wouldn't ruin the fishing trip.

Within the past year or so, a brand new city-spanning tramline had been built. It roared overhead as Firen moved through the city. Crystal tagged along with her brother, eager to get away from the chaos of her younger cousins. They managed to reach Theo no problem at his lab.

As the group returned home, they bumped into a group of people handing out fliers. The individual that approached the three was Rosby, a tall, lanky mylembo with a spherical mushroom cap that flopped around enthusiatically as he spoke. He explained that he was a part of a zoology expedition led by the esteemed Dr. Ernest Celworth. They were looking for public donations to fund the expedition across the Cyclopean Ocean to a poorly-explored Fereinite region known as The Moving Forests. With a significant enough pledge, the donator would have his or her name inscribed on a plaque that would be erected in the Destrian Natural History Museum. Additionally, they would gain lifetime membership to go into the museum and look at the exhibits, starting today! Firen donated the funds to the expeditioners, and jokingly put Red down as the benefactor.

As Firen and Theo spoke with Rosby, Crystal noticed a figure following them. It was a man in Isutan robes and a bizarre black mask over his face. In his hand, a bamboo walking stick. She noticed he was following them because he stopped walking when they stopped to talk with Rosby. Thunder rumbled above as the clouds darkened, and everyone felt rain beginning to spit down on them. Something about the mask was familiar and frightening to Crystal.

Crystal urged Theo and Firen to move on and get back home, even insisting that they take a shortcut through Station Street to get home quicker.

Battle on Station Street

As they made their way up the street, the three found ahead of them a triplet of thugs who were decked out in clockwork gadgets undoubtedly designed to improve their performance at their job: robbing people. The thugs sneered and taunted the three, asking where they thought they were going. As Firen prepared to show the ruffians that they had picked the wrong group to rob, a figure dropped down from a nearby building and struck down all three thugs with a single elegant swirl of steel and flame. The figure bore grey robes and an elaborate mask made in the likeness of a bird. In his hands, a Starsteel kizaraka and a magical blade made of fire. The figure raised the flaming sword towards the three and demanded that they surrender "the witch" to him. Theo and Firen declined, and prepared to fight the figure. From behind them, the party heard the howling of wolves--a strange sound in the busy city of Destral. But the sounds became much more than just that soon--a pack of living shadow wolves and Phayu that glistened with a dark yet golden light descended upon them. Crystal recounted the tales of the The Black Ghoul of Jingho, a Mabosa who prowled The Eastern Provinces at the behest of the Songkram Empire. At his beck and call were a pack of monstrous wolves.

While Crystal and Firen fought off the shadowy monsters, Theo resorted to an old, reliable tactic. He held out his Greybox and his comrades jumped in. With a click of his heels, Theo jettisoned into the sky using his new and improved rocket boots.

As Theo flew across Destral's skyline, thunder rumbled and rain poured down furiously. Theo noticed that riding atop the new Destrian train was a figure with a black horned mask--the Black Ghoul that Crystal had spoken of. The figure called out to Theo to give up--this chase was pointless and eventually the Black Ghoul would have his prey. Theo, never one to give up, abruptly dived below the tram and into the streets, with the Black Ghoul being carried away by the tram's movement. This bought Theo enough time to make his way through the rain-soaked roads towards Phaendar's house.

Siege at Phaendar's House

Transported inside Theo's box, Firen and Crystal managed to escape from The Black Ghoul and The Phoenix arriving at Founder Phaendar's house. Ushered in by the Founder's butler Archibald, the team rested and took respite for a moment. Firen was furious that after all he had gone through, his family was once again unsafe. He sat in misery before the fireplace, drying his rain-soaked cloak. Crystal comforted him.

Theo spoke to Archibald and asked where Phaendar was. Archibald said that Phaendar was currently in the hospital receiving treatment for his chronic, terminal conditions. Theo asked for Archibald's assistance in fending off the Black Ghoul's assault, and Archibald agreed. He would arm Phaendar's traps, of which the house was full of. Archibald would make his way to a hidden control room to arm the explosive mines hidden in the walls of the house's foyer. Additionally, Archibald unveiled to Theo a prototype prosthetic arm that Phaendar had been developing but never finished. It might've been intended to be a gift to Theo, but Phaendar never explained. Archibald figured that in this dire hour, Theo should use it anyways and put it back once they came through the other side. The arm was a beefier, heavier prosthetic that housed significant combat power in the form of arcane cannons, rockets, missiles, and other weapons. Theo affixed the arm to himself and prepared to fight. Firen and Crystal joined Theo in the upper-most level of Phaendar's house. The only way into that room was either through the window, or via the elevator.

Eventually, the Black Ghoul's arrival was announced by the muffled explosion of explosive traps going off through the house. The traps took care of most of the Ghoul's pack, unfortunately leaving the house's main floor in a mess.

The three Heroes of Nokkville watched in anticipation as the elevator began to ascend, preparing themselves for whatever stepped out of it. The elevator opened, and a blood-soaked Black Ghoul stepped forth. At his side was his trusted companion, Shiguma. The Ghoul demanded a last time to surrender the exploding witch to him, but the stubborn Theo and impassioned Firen once more declined the surrender. The Black Ghoul and his alpha living shadow wolf fought with a cold, calculating ferocity. Theo's incredible firepower disintegrated the wolf quickly, but the Ghoul himself was able to land a devastating slash to Firen's chest. As he raised his blade to decapitate Firen, Crystal cried out.

"Get away from my brother!!"

The words caused the Ghoul to hesitate just long enough for Crystal to deliver an explosive punch to the side of his head, shattering his mask and sending him flying into the window, breaking it open and flooding the room with rain. Concussed, bleeding, disarmed, and unmasked, the Black Ghoul wheezed and looked up at Firen not with defiance, but with remorse. Firen showed no mercy, and unleashed a blast of incinerating flame that scorched the Ghoul and launched him to his tumultuous death out of the window.

The three gasped as their fight was over, with Theo quickly tending to the other two's wounds. While Theo stitched up Firen, Crystal left them to go outside and see if she could find the Ghoul's body. As she searched, she found herself face-to-face with the Ghoul being carried over the shoulders of The Phoenix. The Black Ghoul painfully scarred by Firen's flames, explained with difficulty to Crystal that she was the target of assassination by the Songkram because of her actions against Grandmaster Kenshin Kobayashi. However, upon seeing her desperation to protect her brother, something that the Ghoul had long forgotten reawaked within him. He sorrowfully apologized for threatening Crystal's family, and promised to report back to his superiors that he was successful in killing her; Crystal and her family would have peace for the rest of their lives.

Crystal was moved by this show of humanity by the once-faceless, force of nature figure known the the Black Ghoul and accepted the apology. The Ghoul, in a show of good faith, revealed his true name to be Yao Thumying, and disappeared with his comrade into the heavy rain.

When Crystal returned to Firen and Theo, she told them about Yao, and while Firen first wanted to go after him to tie up loose ends, Crystal managed to convince him that letting the Mabosa go was the only way to ensure that their family could peacefully exist in Destral. Firen reluctantly agreed, and they made their way back home.

Upon arrival home, Red (back home early from the rain) chastised the three for taking so long to get home. Together, the large gathering of friends and family feasted on Red's catch of the day.

[^1]: Owen Jonsuul was the cousin of the owner of the Dancing Dragon in 275 DHT, Frederick Jonsuul. [^2]: King Roland, son of King Bertramus. [^3]: This kind of anti-magical restraint was only used by Corgathians for a short period. See The Corgathian Spellcraft Crisis for more details on the political climate surrounding magic in Corgath at the time. [^4]: This amulet was not created from wrought iron. It was in fact a Demonium artifact. [^5]: For more information, see Red's Burden. [^6]: See Nova. [^7]: See Strife. [^8]: The fenris was a magazine-fed warbow developed to increase the efficacy of common bowmen. Like advanced Legerian firearms, the fenris allowed a ranged combatant to quickly send projectiles at opponents at the cost of needing to reload, eventually. [^9]: This encounter was the basis for the conclusion of the folk tale of Steve, Rat King of The Sewers. [^10]: While a fracture was usually an easy thing to heal with Biomancy, Red's body was afflicted with baleful demonic power, inhibiting magical healing and forcing him to recover completely naturally. [^11]: As Phaendar began to climb up in age, he began exploring the hyper-regenerative properties of Sculptoris as a potential means to clone a younger body for himself and postpone his own death. [^12]: Theo would later explain to his allies that his rocket boots weren't ready for use--they could have easily blown his legs off if they backfired during the impromptu test flight. [^13]: See Trinitum. [^14]: See Remnants of Nokkville.