A Brave New World: Innocence Lost Part 1 Report

General Summary

With the surprise disappearance of energy cells from The Commission’s secret underground facility, there is an immediate alarm and inquiry into the culprit — Ozar is willingly brought into a private room and questioned. Three large Kazars comes into the room, and begin with accusations and screaming. “What have you done with them?” “Do you know what was inside the pods?” “Why were you even here??” Ozar explains that he was following the commands of Soal, defending his innocence. The Kazars look on jealously at his honest response — they never hear from Soal directly. Then suddenly, a small humanoid enters the room, somewhat reminiscent of a Thraum, but clearly not…carrying a 3D video screen. He replayed the video of the underground facility for everyone to see. Once it becam clear that Ozar had never before entered the room, the focus turned to the Tahbor, whom Ozar pushed out of the teleportation beam at the last moment. Ozar is allowed to remain, even asking his own questions of Tahbor…who refuses to answer, with a surly grin. Records reveal that Tahbor had been in the underground facility nearly uninterrupted for the last two rotations around Soal. Energy pods wered carried into the underground facility and then portaled away after Tahbor opens them each - including the Dark Tomes (the heavy energy pods encountered by the team in Sector Seven). He spends an inordinate amount of time peering into the Dark Tomes…after only spending moments looking into the other typical energy pods. After repeated questioning, Tahbor is unwilling to explain what he has done with the Dark Tomes. Soon afterward, the Kazars proclaim, “This must be the thief, then. Criminal!” And they place Tahbor in energy-cuffs, leading him out of the room toward the Temple prison.

In a separate room, Kaylon’tar returned to his quarters. After only a few moments, the Abril Commissioner knocks on the door and requests entry. After allowing her in, she clears the room of listening devices and checks for latent frequencies using a device on her arm. Once she is confident the room is clear, she admits quietly to Kaylon’tar that she didn’t know the Commission even had a secret storage facility underground. “This is not part of any known knowledge we have.” When questioned by Kaylon’tar, she responds that the Kazar Commissioner is likely responsible for the storage facility. This is not where recovered energy pods are supposed to be stored. She pleads with Kaylon’tar to investigate the Kazar Commissioner and determine who is behind the processing of these energy pods. She tells Kaylon’tar that the Kazar Guards have taken a prisoner and are moving him into a holding cell after having questioned Ozar. As he is leaving to get Chronos and Ozar, the Abril Commissioner grabs his arm and speaks very quietly, “I have only heard of Dark Tomes, but I’ve never seen one. If you get the chance, add whatever knowledge you find to the Abril collective…please.” Kaylon’tar makes his way toward Chronos’ room.

Soon after Chronos learned about Dark Tomes in a restricted area of the Commission’s library, he returned to his private quarters. After shutting the door, a small floating device appears nearby, strikingly similar to the Chronos Distortion Device he carries. Immediately, the device projects many fractured beams of light in all directions. Then, a digitized voice can be heard emanating from the device: “Albus Khan, Chronos agent operating in an unauthorized timeline. You have been sentenced to 200 cycles of behavior remediation therapy. Chronos blasts the device with his Distortion gun. [There is a pause in the message. It continues, but in a warbled voice] “You will obtain a complete record of Oqthcalian Dark Knowledge and allow the anticipated destruction of Soal to continue. Cease interfering with the timeline!” Chronos blasts the device again. “Your” He blasts it again. “…transport…” And again, he blasts the device sent from a future timeline. “…will…” is the last word the device utters before Chronos’ blasts shatters the device into pieces. He unceremoniously picks up the pieces and walks toward the luxurious bed, attempting to fall asleep. But a loud knock at the door is a quick interruption. It was Kaylon’tar, who explains that they need to investigate the alarms going off (now audible with the door opened). Kaylon’tar and Chronos move down the hallway quickly toward the interrogation room where Ozar was being held…but they are immediately blocked by the Kazar guards moving with Tahbor, the Dark Knowledge Master.

After an altercation in the hallway, the heroes force the hand of the Kazar guards, easily overpowering them.

[Note: the image above is an impromptu hallway that we built on-the-fly to accommodate excellent roleplay from the team.] The guards relented and agreed to allow them to question Tahbor, the Dark Knowledge Master...but he requires that they portal onto the surface of Soal, their main star, where he can more easily ‘show’ them what he has done with the Dark Tomes. The heroes and the Kazar guards all travel onto Soal with Tahbor. In the distance, a curiously familiar 'space plane' was parked on an unoccupied dome.

The team agreed to move beneath the star's surface, entering a hallway that would lead them to a vast open cavern.

Their fate awaits under the surface of the Oqthcalian star, when the team will be presented with the opportunity to obtain knowledge from the countless Dark Tomes.