Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Cyre
Cyre used to be one of the Kingdoms of Galifar. Near the end of the Last War, the entire kingdom was completely obliterated by some sort of intensely powerful magic. It is said that the complete destruction of Cyre, and the fear of a similar fate, was the main driver of the peace process that eventually ended the war; if so, this is of little comfort to surviving Cyran refugees, who find themselves treated as poor omens, bad luck, and reminders of terrible things wherever they go.
House Deneith
House Deneith is one of the Dragonmarked Houses. They are known across the land for the quality of their mercenary services.
Adventure Two Debriefing
The Sentinels of Galifar were dispatched to the island of Thronehold. Their mission: Stop assassins of unknown origins from disrupting a border negotiation taking place between Breland, Thrane, and Aundair.
OBJECTIVES:
Prevent the Assassination of the King of Breland
Prevent the Assassination of the Queen of Aundair
Prevent the Assassination of the Ambassador Queen of Thrane.
Discover the source of the Assassins
Expose the source of the Assassins
The sentinels chose to dispatch:
Player - Class - Character Name
Sylvia - Bard - Iona
Luis - Paladin - Rein
Ross - Warlock - Git
Alex - Sorceror - ???
with Alex arriving late in the adventure. The sentinels arrived in Thronehold the day before the summit was scheduled to begin, in order to get the lay of the land.
Day 0:
The sentinels learned that the actual summit would be held exclusively in the old Galifar castle. The castle was obstensibly secure, manned by mercenaries from House Deneith. They felt that the presence of the marshals was superfluous, and provided constant reassurances that their role would be largely ceremonial.
Rein decided to spend the day exploring the castle with a House Deneith guide, so as to gain a greater familiarity with its layout and makeup (+10 to future checks involving castle layout).
Git decided to visit the nearby town of Throneport, which turned out to be a relatively poor town filled with shady characters. He was promised full cooperation by the mayor. Later he stumbled into the makings of a riot, as refugees from Cyre were stirred into violent protest via the eloquent rhetoric of one of their number. He seemed aware of the imminent summit and wanted to use it to make a political point. Feeling that this was outside of his jurisdiction and responsibility, Git decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and valourously snuck away.
Iona decided to pass the day getting briefed on the castle's situation by the head guard from House Deneith, uncovering much of the backstory and hsitory of the castle, Throneport, and Thronehold itself.
Day 1:
The sentinels learned from the head guard of House Deneith that there were festivities scheduled for that evening, involving some sort of "Halfling Rodeo Show". Feeling it likely that any would-be assassins would choose to join the show for easy access, the sentinels decided to further investigate this Halfing source of entertainment. Hearing that they were due to arrive in Throneport before any of the royals were scheduled to arrive in the day, the sentinels went down to Throneport.
Once there, the sentinels discovered that the local workforce of the Throneport docks were locked in a bitter dispute with management over improper payment of overtime owed. They were on strike, and refusing to do any work until the strike was resolved; this included unloading the Halfling entertainer's ship. Angered with what appeared to be a blatant display of incompetent management, Rein decided to confront the mayor, who seemed to be holding down several jobs in the city giving him a near-lock on all the governmental, legal, and blue-collar authority. When he arrived at his office, he forced his way past a flustered receptionist and found the mayor- in the middle of receiving payment from a man in a hooded cloak! Upon seeing him, the man raced out the window. Rein pursued, triggering an urban chase scene. He eventually caught and apprehended the suspect, and exercised his authority as a Sentinel Marshal to keep the prisoner to himself, out of the reach of local law enforcement. Meantime, Iona and Git went back to the castle, and notified the head guard of the troubles at the dock. Fearing that any snafu involving the entertainment for the evening might reflect poorly upon him, he dispatched a significant portion of the House Deneith guard force down to the dock to unload the ship themselves. Rein returned to the castle, and interrogated his prisoner. He learned that the prisoner had actually been sent to assassinate an individual known as 'The Patriot', who was causing political trouble for royal figures by stirring up Cyran refugees and inciting revolts.
Shortly thereafter, the Queen of Aundair arrived, by airship. The sentinels went out to the courtyard to watch, and the Queen began her royal entrance, descending gradually to the ground via magical floating disc. As she was doing this, the sentinels noticed that in one of the corner towers, there was an elf with a longbow preparing to attack!
Iona immediately dashed for the tower, intent on stopping the assassin. Git sized up the distance, realized that their chances of arriving in time were slim to none, and set himself in the role of point defence, intending to shoot down any incoming projectiles with eldritch fire. Rein evaluated the Queen's rate of descent, and concluded that she had no chance as long as she continued her stately descent; and yelled for her to jump for it. The initial shots from the longbow were met with eldritch counterfire; but it was clear that Git merely had to miss once for the assassins to succeed. The Queen, realizing that she was under attack and seeing sentinel marshals calling for her to jump, did so, assuming they had some sort of magical device to cushion her landing.
They didn't.
Rein raced to catch the Queen. Upon realizing the difficulty of his task, he positioned himself in such a way so as to cushion her fall at his own expense (gaining +5 to the check for every healing surge spent, receive that many healing surges worth of damage). Even so, his odds of a successful catch were less than 1 in 10 (19-20 on the die to hit DC 35).
He made the catch with flawless technique (natural 20!). Moments later, the Queen's bodyguards arrived on the scene, having leapt from the airship with magical parachutes. They immediately set about whisking the Queen to safety, shielding her from hostile fire. The sentinels rushed the tower, eager to apprehend the assassins before they could get away....
The sentinels stormed up the ramps to the tower door. They were confronted suddenly by some Valenar elves, backed up by guard Drakes. Iona decided to seize the intiative, using her once-an-encounter teleport to get past the guard drakes, who were barring the door. Unfortunately, the rest of the party was not quite so teleportationally-gifted, and Iona was slaughtered in short order by the focused firepower of the enemy assassin team. Deprived of 1/3 of their firepower, the remaining sentinels were unable to withstand the fire of the assassins, with Rein being knocked out of comission as well. Git was able to evade their fire at range, but was unable to prevent the escape of the surviving assassins from that distance.
The remaining royals arrived without incident, with security pumped up to paranoid. House Deneith's security was blamed, with the sentinels lauded as heroes for their role in saving the Queen. The next day, it occured to the sentinels that the Guard Drakes seemed rather large to have been snuck in so easily, so a search of the castle was conducted. It revealed a small tunnel dug into the castle from the city of Throneport. ???, Git, and Rein set about investigating, and discovered a small base of operations from a junkyard in the city. A confrontation ensued, with the enemy having an advantage, due to the sentinels being pinned in the tunnel opening. Rein and Git were able to force the entrance and get into open combat, but ??? was nailed at the entrance and incapacitated. After a short and violent fight, the sentinels were successful, but one of the enemies, seemingly a kobold, escaped into the tunnel, back towards the castle. The sentinels returned to the castle, and informed the House Deneith guards of the events transpired; a manhunt was organized of the castle, seeking a Kobold. However, the body of one of the aides to the King of Breland was discovered, with all its clothing stripped off. The sentinels concluded instantly that what they faced was not a mere Kobold (if it was a Kobold at all!) but a shapeshifter or illusionist of some sort. They immediately raced to the negotiation room, and bust in the doors. The captain of the guard hit the emergency trigger; the Royals were immediately dropped into a pit for their own safety, with magical feather fall effects preventing any damage. The party was faced with 4 would-be assassins... Dwarves from House Kundarak! Rather than confront them directly in even battle, the party lept after the royals, feeling that discretion was the better part of valour. Unfortunately, Rein didn't get the memo, and was incapacitated in short order. When the sentinels, now backed by several companies of House Deneith guardsmen retook the room, the dwarves were nowhere to be found, and neither was Rein.
As Rein came to his senses, he realized that he was tied up on a tower near where the airship of the Queen was berthed. The dwarves had apparently siezed control of the airship, and in conjunction with some goblins, were making good on their escape. Rein questioned them as to their motives, but they were vague, only revealing that they felt that the assassination of the King of Breland would, in the long run, save lives and prevent conflict. The sentinels arrived at the tower, having tracked Rein's bloodtrail, in time to see the airship pull away. Their attention was drawn to a smaller, still-docked vessel, the utility yacht that was used for cargo loading and unloading. Seizing it, they set off in pursuit.
The Dwarves noticed the party in pursuit, and sent the goblins out on magical discs to engage the sentinels. They were successful at first, incapactiating ???, the sentinel's only ranged striker. However, the weight of the sentinels bows began to tell, and goblin after goblin was brought down by arrow and crossbow fire. Finally, they tried to board the yacht and take it by force, only to be foiled in this endeavor by the marshal's skills in close-quarter combat. Unfortunately, by the time the goblins had been defeated, the airship had covered enough ground that it was clear that the sentinels would not be able to apprehend it. Seeing this, the Queen activated its self-destruct system, by de-activating its elemental bindings. The airship tore itself to pieces, and no evidence was recovered therefrom.
The Sentinel Marshals had succeeded in their undertaking; the assassins were foiled and no royals had come to significant harm. They had successfully identified the origin of the attackers, but had failed to discern their purpose or capture any for further interrogation and questioning.
OBJECTIVES:
Prevent the Assassination of the King of Breland
Prevent the Assassination of the Queen of Aundair
Prevent the Assassination of the Ambassador Queen of Thrane.
Discover the source of the Assassins
Expose the source of the Assassins
The sentinels chose to dispatch:
Player - Class - Character Name
Sylvia - Bard - Iona
Luis - Paladin - Rein
Ross - Warlock - Git
Alex - Sorceror - ???
with Alex arriving late in the adventure. The sentinels arrived in Thronehold the day before the summit was scheduled to begin, in order to get the lay of the land.
Day 0:
The sentinels learned that the actual summit would be held exclusively in the old Galifar castle. The castle was obstensibly secure, manned by mercenaries from House Deneith. They felt that the presence of the marshals was superfluous, and provided constant reassurances that their role would be largely ceremonial.
Rein decided to spend the day exploring the castle with a House Deneith guide, so as to gain a greater familiarity with its layout and makeup (+10 to future checks involving castle layout).
Git decided to visit the nearby town of Throneport, which turned out to be a relatively poor town filled with shady characters. He was promised full cooperation by the mayor. Later he stumbled into the makings of a riot, as refugees from Cyre were stirred into violent protest via the eloquent rhetoric of one of their number. He seemed aware of the imminent summit and wanted to use it to make a political point. Feeling that this was outside of his jurisdiction and responsibility, Git decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and valourously snuck away.
Iona decided to pass the day getting briefed on the castle's situation by the head guard from House Deneith, uncovering much of the backstory and hsitory of the castle, Throneport, and Thronehold itself.
Day 1:
The sentinels learned from the head guard of House Deneith that there were festivities scheduled for that evening, involving some sort of "Halfling Rodeo Show". Feeling it likely that any would-be assassins would choose to join the show for easy access, the sentinels decided to further investigate this Halfing source of entertainment. Hearing that they were due to arrive in Throneport before any of the royals were scheduled to arrive in the day, the sentinels went down to Throneport.
Once there, the sentinels discovered that the local workforce of the Throneport docks were locked in a bitter dispute with management over improper payment of overtime owed. They were on strike, and refusing to do any work until the strike was resolved; this included unloading the Halfling entertainer's ship. Angered with what appeared to be a blatant display of incompetent management, Rein decided to confront the mayor, who seemed to be holding down several jobs in the city giving him a near-lock on all the governmental, legal, and blue-collar authority. When he arrived at his office, he forced his way past a flustered receptionist and found the mayor- in the middle of receiving payment from a man in a hooded cloak! Upon seeing him, the man raced out the window. Rein pursued, triggering an urban chase scene. He eventually caught and apprehended the suspect, and exercised his authority as a Sentinel Marshal to keep the prisoner to himself, out of the reach of local law enforcement. Meantime, Iona and Git went back to the castle, and notified the head guard of the troubles at the dock. Fearing that any snafu involving the entertainment for the evening might reflect poorly upon him, he dispatched a significant portion of the House Deneith guard force down to the dock to unload the ship themselves. Rein returned to the castle, and interrogated his prisoner. He learned that the prisoner had actually been sent to assassinate an individual known as 'The Patriot', who was causing political trouble for royal figures by stirring up Cyran refugees and inciting revolts.
Shortly thereafter, the Queen of Aundair arrived, by airship. The sentinels went out to the courtyard to watch, and the Queen began her royal entrance, descending gradually to the ground via magical floating disc. As she was doing this, the sentinels noticed that in one of the corner towers, there was an elf with a longbow preparing to attack!
Iona immediately dashed for the tower, intent on stopping the assassin. Git sized up the distance, realized that their chances of arriving in time were slim to none, and set himself in the role of point defence, intending to shoot down any incoming projectiles with eldritch fire. Rein evaluated the Queen's rate of descent, and concluded that she had no chance as long as she continued her stately descent; and yelled for her to jump for it. The initial shots from the longbow were met with eldritch counterfire; but it was clear that Git merely had to miss once for the assassins to succeed. The Queen, realizing that she was under attack and seeing sentinel marshals calling for her to jump, did so, assuming they had some sort of magical device to cushion her landing.
They didn't.
Rein raced to catch the Queen. Upon realizing the difficulty of his task, he positioned himself in such a way so as to cushion her fall at his own expense (gaining +5 to the check for every healing surge spent, receive that many healing surges worth of damage). Even so, his odds of a successful catch were less than 1 in 10 (19-20 on the die to hit DC 35).
He made the catch with flawless technique (natural 20!). Moments later, the Queen's bodyguards arrived on the scene, having leapt from the airship with magical parachutes. They immediately set about whisking the Queen to safety, shielding her from hostile fire. The sentinels rushed the tower, eager to apprehend the assassins before they could get away....
The sentinels stormed up the ramps to the tower door. They were confronted suddenly by some Valenar elves, backed up by guard Drakes. Iona decided to seize the intiative, using her once-an-encounter teleport to get past the guard drakes, who were barring the door. Unfortunately, the rest of the party was not quite so teleportationally-gifted, and Iona was slaughtered in short order by the focused firepower of the enemy assassin team. Deprived of 1/3 of their firepower, the remaining sentinels were unable to withstand the fire of the assassins, with Rein being knocked out of comission as well. Git was able to evade their fire at range, but was unable to prevent the escape of the surviving assassins from that distance.
The remaining royals arrived without incident, with security pumped up to paranoid. House Deneith's security was blamed, with the sentinels lauded as heroes for their role in saving the Queen. The next day, it occured to the sentinels that the Guard Drakes seemed rather large to have been snuck in so easily, so a search of the castle was conducted. It revealed a small tunnel dug into the castle from the city of Throneport. ???, Git, and Rein set about investigating, and discovered a small base of operations from a junkyard in the city. A confrontation ensued, with the enemy having an advantage, due to the sentinels being pinned in the tunnel opening. Rein and Git were able to force the entrance and get into open combat, but ??? was nailed at the entrance and incapacitated. After a short and violent fight, the sentinels were successful, but one of the enemies, seemingly a kobold, escaped into the tunnel, back towards the castle. The sentinels returned to the castle, and informed the House Deneith guards of the events transpired; a manhunt was organized of the castle, seeking a Kobold. However, the body of one of the aides to the King of Breland was discovered, with all its clothing stripped off. The sentinels concluded instantly that what they faced was not a mere Kobold (if it was a Kobold at all!) but a shapeshifter or illusionist of some sort. They immediately raced to the negotiation room, and bust in the doors. The captain of the guard hit the emergency trigger; the Royals were immediately dropped into a pit for their own safety, with magical feather fall effects preventing any damage. The party was faced with 4 would-be assassins... Dwarves from House Kundarak! Rather than confront them directly in even battle, the party lept after the royals, feeling that discretion was the better part of valour. Unfortunately, Rein didn't get the memo, and was incapacitated in short order. When the sentinels, now backed by several companies of House Deneith guardsmen retook the room, the dwarves were nowhere to be found, and neither was Rein.
As Rein came to his senses, he realized that he was tied up on a tower near where the airship of the Queen was berthed. The dwarves had apparently siezed control of the airship, and in conjunction with some goblins, were making good on their escape. Rein questioned them as to their motives, but they were vague, only revealing that they felt that the assassination of the King of Breland would, in the long run, save lives and prevent conflict. The sentinels arrived at the tower, having tracked Rein's bloodtrail, in time to see the airship pull away. Their attention was drawn to a smaller, still-docked vessel, the utility yacht that was used for cargo loading and unloading. Seizing it, they set off in pursuit.
The Dwarves noticed the party in pursuit, and sent the goblins out on magical discs to engage the sentinels. They were successful at first, incapactiating ???, the sentinel's only ranged striker. However, the weight of the sentinels bows began to tell, and goblin after goblin was brought down by arrow and crossbow fire. Finally, they tried to board the yacht and take it by force, only to be foiled in this endeavor by the marshal's skills in close-quarter combat. Unfortunately, by the time the goblins had been defeated, the airship had covered enough ground that it was clear that the sentinels would not be able to apprehend it. Seeing this, the Queen activated its self-destruct system, by de-activating its elemental bindings. The airship tore itself to pieces, and no evidence was recovered therefrom.
The Sentinel Marshals had succeeded in their undertaking; the assassins were foiled and no royals had come to significant harm. They had successfully identified the origin of the attackers, but had failed to discern their purpose or capture any for further interrogation and questioning.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)