Encounter at Farport
General Summary
“The situation has changed.”
After a night of rest alternately fitful and placid, Orphea and her guard Tashtego came on board the Hawke for a meeting of the expedition crew. She shared quiet words with Captain Thorpe before addressing the crew, and anyone witnessing their exchange could plainly see the tenderness that passed between them. Orphea proceeded to explain to the crew that the strange crystal orb recovered from the Vendetta was actually an ancient artifact of immense power. Originally known as the Lifebringer, the artifact had been brought to Merika from the Forbidden Zone by the original progenitors of the Vidal family. According to Noirlan lore, the Vidals used the orb’s powers to purify the fouled lands and waters of Norland and render the region habitable for the first time since the Cataclysm. As a result of this miraculous intervention, the city of Noirlan was soon thereafter founded upon what had before been an unlivable wasteland. Following the edict of an ancient directive, the Vidals carried the Lifebringer across the Skylands of the western continent and used its powers to reclaim new homelands for the rapidly growing population of survivors. Later in history, during an invasion of Norland by the Hidden Empire of the Princes, the descendants of the Vidal family discovered a way to use the Lifebringer as a weapon and successfully deployed the artifact against XHAN and his Steel Legions. In the aftermath of victory, however, the Vidals and their Larada allies discovered that the Lifebringer had been permanently tainted by the dark powers they had unleashed. Its power to heal, renew, and even transfigure living matter had been lost, replaced now with a malevolent and uncontrollable deathforce that sought to corrupt and putrefy life in all its forms. Living things that came into contact with the artifact were at constant risk of suffering spontaneous mutations that would warp flesh and fiber into grotesque parodies of nature. The victims of these aberrant transformations were invariably driven to uncontrollable rages of murderous insanity ended only by the cruel mercy of a miserable death. Realizing that the artifact’s destructive effects could be triggered by negative emotional impulses and thus could never be controlled, the Vidals resolved to keep it locked away for safe keeping and repurposed an ancient Precursor vault beneath Noirlan for just this purpose. Renaming the orb “Deathbringer,” they kept it safely hidden for over three hundred years. This situation changed in the last year when Orphea’s delinquent brother Oliver successfully breached the Vidal Vault and stole the Deathbringer. Seeking to stop him, Orphea recruited a band of mercenary adventurers to counter Oliver’s schemes. After a series of investigations and encounters, Marsala and his companions eventually recovered the artifact and apprehended many of Oliver Chastain’s associates. Oliver himself, employing his chosen nom de guerre, “Marius,” managed to evade capture. Finding herself blamed for the inexplicable horrors unleashed by the Deathbringer, Orphea Chastain determined to find an end to the madness. Under Orphea’s direction, some of Marsala’s Men took the Deathbringer Orb to Megiddo, sorcerer’s island, in search of a way to end the corruption of the Deathbringer and neutralize its threat. Oliver ambushed the party, however, and in the process unleashed the orb’s mutating effects. With Orphea’s party all either dead or driven mad by the deathforce, Oliver seized the Deathbringer and slipped away. After relating these events, Orphea at last revealed her hidden motivation for assembling the Thorpe expedition to the Forbidden Zone. The survivors of the Megiddo ambush, though physically crippled and driven hopelessly mad by exposure to the Deathbringer’s powers, yet lived. Rather than end their lives, Orphea vowed instead to save them. The current scion of the Vidal family legacy, Armand Vidal, told Orphea a family legend concerning the purported source of the Lifebringer artifact: a golden citadel, the fabled jungle city of Eldorado. Confessing her true purpose, Orphea declared that she ventures to the Zone not for gold or riches but seeking the original source of the Lifebringer’s power, a power she hopes will reverse the deathforce and undo the evil her brother has unleashed. To this end she quits any claim to whatever fortunes the party recovers during the expedition and seeks only the knowledge necessary to save her friends.“I’m out.”
The realization that Oliver Chastain is also seeking Eldorado is a definite complication for the expedition. According to Oliver’s journal notes he seeks to use the Deathbringer for truly horrific ends, perhaps even to bring about an apocalyptic genocide. Alerting the party to this emerging threat, Orphea implored them to help her not only find Eldorado but to do so with haste lest Oliver find it first and use its secrets to fulfill his own demented will. Edmund Andrews objected to Orphea’s deceptive lack of full disclosure and declared he wanted no more part in the expedition. He moreover expressed a mistrust of Juan Silva and twice accused Chastain of being a liar. Orphea struggled to justify her methods and agreed that Edmund was well within his rights to quit the journey once the party reached the western shores of the Zone.“I’m not sure how to say this.”
Orphea appealed to the altruism of the other crew members. She insisted that whether they knew it or not they were already within the grip of a power far greater than themselves and further claimed that if Oliver goes unchallenged now it may be impossible to stop him later. At this point William Benjamin spoke up and related a dream he had had the night before about a hidden vault in the jungle accompanied by a vision of Oliver Chastain’s dead body lying in William’s own cabin bunk aboard the Hawke. William added that he had a score to settle with Oliver Chastain but declined to say anything more about it. Thorpe and Orphea exchanged knowing glances and Jayne proceeded to report a similar dream involving a cabin in the jungle and a young girl running through an open valley before a sudden shroud of darkness ended the vision. The men realized that their visions shared similar details and Orphea claimed it was the pull of Eldorado drawing them forward on an unseen path.“It showed me what I wanted to see.”
Hearing this, Everest Bell announced that he too had experienced a similar dream, though he refused to trust it because he believed the vision had merely shown him what he wanted to see. Everest clarified this opinion by saying he was a seeker of Precursor knowledge and that his vision had shown him images of what he most wished to find: a golden city replete with technological wonders. This observation cast a palpable moment of reflection upon the party and seemed to subdue some of Orphea’s renewed enthusiasm. By the conclusion of the meeting, however, she was visibly relieved that none of the other crew members expressed any desire to leave the expedition.“Think whatever you like, but right now I need you on this crew.”
After the meeting Captain Thorpe set about continuing the voyage. Bosun Tillerson, bunking down in the cargo hold, had fallen ill and was rendered unable to perform his duties. Realizing that Edmund was the only party member with any seamanship to speak of, Thorpe approached him and asked him to take over for Tillerson. Edmund accepted duty as acting bosun and went to assist Freeman Skinner in plotting the next leg of the voyage.“I know a thing or two.”
Later in the day Skinner asked Everest about his interest in Precursor artifacts. After revealing that he was something of a gearhead himself, Skinner asked to see the metal rod Everest had recovered from the glass pyramid back in the sargasso. Upon examining it, Skinner explained that it was called an “antenna” and used for receiving modulated transmissions of invisible waves passing through diaphanous air. He called them “radio waves” and claimed that the Precursors used these waves to transmit information across long distances. Skinner then loaned him a book on mechanical engineering along with an offer to explicate the text if necessary.“Let’s do some shootin!”
Edmund made good on his pledge to run Herschel through firearms drills and every day the air redounded with white smoke, powder bursts, and the scent of sulfur. Skinner inspected Herschel’s kegs of black powder and closely monitored every session. By the end of the week, the banker demonstrated a much greater confidence in his weapons and in his ability to use them.“Something’s missing!”
Meanwhile Matthaeus made a discovery in the galley: certain provisions had gone missing from the larder and he couldn’t recall where he’d put them. After a brief sit and a ponderous think, the cook went to Captain Thorpe to report the missing vittles. The captain being preoccupied with other matters paid little heed to Math’s concerns and seemed simply relieved to have done with the conversation when the cook wandered off to search the ship which he did to no avail.“This man isn’t what he says he is.”
Edmund had a further objective in mind. Perhaps discomfited by some of his shipmate’s behaviours, he harboured a suspicion regarding Juan Silva. He decided to keep a close eye on Silva for the remainder of the voyage and tried to casually observe Silva’s comings and goings without being spotted. This being done, Edmund noticed nothing out of the ordinary.“How do you tie ropes again?”
The next morning brought ill tidings. A rising gale prompted Captain Thorpe to prepare the Hawke for a storm. When worsening weather necessitated a trimming of sail, the captain called the crew to action while Edmund took the helm. Shouting instructions and obscenities, Thorpe called his inexperienced crew to climb the rigging and secure the sails lest heavy winds strain and heel the ship. Buffeted by the violence of the seas, the crew rose to the challenge. Amid the peril Rob, Marsala, and Everest were all thrown from the masts, the latter nearly falling off the edge of the ship and into the open sea. Matthaeus too was nearly swept overboard by waves breaching over the deck.“One hand for yourself! One hand for the ship!”
Scudding swiftly before the gale the Hawke fell upon a rising wave, washing the deck with a big sea. The surging water sent Skinner and Johnson flailing across the deck and only Skinner managed to hang on to a rail and prevent himself from sliding into the ocean. Lilith on the other hand was now swimming. Seeing Johnson go overboard, Edmund made a snap decision to immediately begin tacking the Hawke back against the gale in an attempt to keep Johnson within view. He realized that a man overboard under these conditions would be as good as dead once the ship had passed beyond sight. With the beam of the vessel now dangerously exposed to the tempest, however, another surge of green water immediately crashed athwart midships and caused the Hawke to heel perilously under the raging current. As the crew held on against the impact, few had the wherewithal to track Johnson’s position. The mighty Matthaeus hauled Skinner back on board but scanned the churning waters in vain looking for a sign of Johnson.“I’m diving in!”
Jayne, still perched midway up the mainmast, managed to spot Lilith struggling in the water at the edge of lamplight. He took hold of his coiled rope and dropped a loose end down to Matthaeus. Without hesitation Jayne wound the other end of the rope around his forearm between hand and elbow and dashed across the narrow sail spar in a running jump from the edge of the yardarm. After moments hung in the arc of a prodigious leap, Jayne came to land over thirty feat away from the ship and nearly directly on top of Lilith’s thrashing figure. Having nearly lost sight of the ship and about to lose all hope of rescue, Lilith grabbed hold of Jayne and held on for dear life. Dragging full sore upon the helm, Edmund maneuvered the vessel out of a close haul and completed a 360 degree turn across the wind to put the Hawke roughly back on its original downwind heading. The rest of the crew hoisted Jayne and Lilith back on board, finished securing the deck, and made for safety down below. Captain Thorpe unable to spot the Arcadia nonetheless stayed and kept watch on the quarterdeck with Edmund until the storm abated.“We go onward.”
In the aftermath of the storm, Thorpe and Silva began to assess the damage while Skinner and Edmund attempted to determine the Hawke’s current position. The Arcadia was nowhere to be seen. Whether it was also driven off course or wrecked, there was no way to know and the thought of it her fate clearly weighed upon the captain. Since the Hawke was herself already driven a day off course Thorpe saw no use in trying to search for the Arcadia and declared that he would instead make for Farport and hope to rendezvous with Orphea and her crew there. Thorpe made it a point to shake the hand of every crewman and offer a sincere thank you for their efforts to save the ship. He extended a particular commendation to Edmund, whose work at the helm was surely critical in the crew’s survival. Lilith Johnson, visibly shaken by her near-fatal mishap, relaxed her tomboyish mien and expressed her own particular gratitude for Jayne’s daring rescue. Something in Lilith’s smile suggested a desire to express more than gratitude, but, before conversation could linger on the subject, Adelle, visibly jealous, interceded and distracted Jayne’s attention. If possible, Captain Thorpe seemed even less impressed than Adelle by these developments but said nothing. Before beginning a new course, Thorpe decided to consult with the Hawke’s resident houngan about their new heading. Marsala responded absentmindedly, as if already in the middle of a conversation with unseen interlocutors. After a brief pause to confer with a concealed coterie of spirits, Marsala responded with a single word: “Weal,” a word meaning “well-being,” “happiness,” or “prosperity.” Thorpe understood that Marsala was only indicating if the proposed course would lead them to Farport, but he wanted to believe that Marsala’s “weal” signified more good fortune than this.“Landfall”
The Hawke found the coast of the Forbidden Zone on the morning of January 31st, 1000 PCE in the 13th Year of Union. It marked the first time in fourteen years that a Merikan ship had successfully traversed the Silent Sea and reached Farport Outpost. The crew sighted the lighthouse of Farport but the Arcadia was nowhere to be found. Thorpe gave orders to make ready for port. The party noticed the lighthouse beacon ignite during their approach but were puzzled that no one came out to greet them. As Tillerson and Silva tied off at the pier, the port, small but well constructed and seemingly well maintained, remained void of any signs of habitation. Herschel Debrun remained busy down below getting dressed in his finest clothes in order to introduce himself to the inhabitants of the settlement. At this point Jayne noticed a faint purple aura emanating from the beacon light. Moments later the light became utterly extinguished. Looking around, the PCs realized that the other crew members on deck were staring at the beacon and frozen lifelessly in place. Unable to rouse their comrades, the PCs stowed them below deck and told Herschel to keep guard over them and Adelle, who cowered behind Herschel on the stairs.“Battle”
As the PCs approached a small outbuilding on the edge of the wharf, a trio of archers emerged from the windows of the lighthouse tower and started firing down at the party. Most of the group was taken by surprise, but Jayne realized what was happening and responded first. Rather than take up his bow and skirmish with the attackers, he dashed up a loading ramp towards the lighthouse. Charging headlong, he threw his weight against the door of the lighthouse which didn’t break open under his momentum. Seeing their ally run in alone, Edmund and Matthaeus followed close behind Jayne in support. They were swiftly intercepted by a mob of axe-wielding thugs wearing animal skins and imposing iron masks. Within moments the attackers had charged out from behind the lighthouse and started surrounding the forward party. Jayne had to throw down his bow and draw out blades for close combat. The masked men were led by an imposing pale skinned warrior wearing a blackened breastplate and carrying a curved sword. He growled guttural commands at his followers in an unfamiliar tongue and swaggered forward with a confident gait. His skin bore tribal markings and he was garbed in black feather jewelry and an assortment of decorative baubles. The PCs observed a subtle miasma of shimmering distortion warp and weave around him as he muttered incantations and made obscure gestures. Seemingly bolstered by the presence of their leader, the axe men viciously hacked at the forward party and tried to cut them off from their allies. Taking the worst of the enemy action, Edmund suffered a gruesome chop to his flank and fell dying under the blow.“How much experience do we get for this ramp?”
The rest of the party tried to follow behind the vanguard, but the ramp proved a formidable opponent, toppling Marsala during his first attempt to scale it. Undeterred, William scrambled up and loosed a critical shot to the neck of one of the axe men. Everest took a look inside the wharf house before following up the ramp and firing a skirmishing shot of his own that felled a second opponent. Rob successfully took aim at one of the axe men but soon found himself engaged in melee and trying to edge himself away from danger.“My Voodoo Stick”™
Taking fire from the tower, Marsala engaged the archers with a spiritual weapon. Having finally made it up the cliff he proceeded to offer healing support to his allies and a hexing evil eye to his foes. In the meantime, the houngan’s ghostly morningstar emerged from the aether and struck with metaphysical force knocking one of the archers dead from the tower. Noticing Marsala’s display of mystical prowess, the enemy leader prepared to join the fray. His form shrouded in a faint aura of dull purple flames he thrust forward his ebon falchion, snarled an unintelligible command word, and proceeded to join battle alongside his ardent followers. To their mutual dismay, Marsala and Matthaeus realized they were gradually becoming subsumed in the same spectral purple flame that surrounded their foe; but, whereas Marsala shrugged off the baneful arcane effects, Math fell victim to the spell and felt his protective metal armour rapidly heating up and beginning to burn his flesh. Jayne stepped forward to challenge the barbarian leader and engaged him in swordplay whilst the rest of the party began whittling away at the ranks of lesser foes. Jayne's prowess took the leader by surprise with a glancing blow drawing first blood. The wound proceeded to spray forth not red blood, however, but a spout of bright phosphorescent yellow acid that burned all that it touched including Jayne himself. Steering clear of this grisly battle of attrition, Everest, William, and Rob tried their best to take cover, took shots at the barbarian thugs with their short bows, and landed killing strikes. The leader appeared to command his followers to charge for the deck of the Hawke, and the party called for Herschel Dupree to defend the ship, which he did with dagger and pistol in hand. Thanks to Dupree's action the barbarians never reached the Hawke. Unfortunately, the hapless bond company stooge took an arrow to the chest during the fighting and never recovered. While Matthaeus's strength withered under the searing pain of his cursed metal shell, Marsala struggled to revive Edmund, who stabilized momentarily after a fortunate healing moment of divine favour, only to be felled once more, this time by a splash of burning caustic blood shed from the wounds of the barbarian leader. Seeing his followers falling in battle around him, the barbarian leader cast another spell, this time fanning his falchion before him and unleashing a wave of purple fire that toppled Matthaeus and brought Jayne to the edge of his endurance. By this point most of the party had diverted to protect the ship. This left Jayne and Marsala alone to face the magic-wielding warrior. As Marsala tried to save Matthaeus , whose unconscious body was still roasting alive in his armour, Jayne warily stood his ground. After barely managing to parry a mortal falchion strike, Jayne struck back with a lunging riposte that found purchase under the barbarian's extended arm and pierced through to his heart. Following through with the momentum of his attack, Jayne took a full blast of yellow acid blood to his face and fell unconscious in a haze of victory and agony. As one last barbarian emerged from the lighthouse to attack in a frenzy of mindless bloodlust, Marsala readied himself to counter, but the timely emergence of a stranger brought the battle to an end. A young Pachuco bravo known as "Zen" came through the lighthouse door from behind Marsala's would-be assailant and unleashed a pulse of biolelectric current that cut short the killer's life in a flash of psionic energy."This isn't a Democracy"
Trying to understand why they had been ambushed and hoping to learn what had happened to Farport Outpost, the party parleyed with their new Pachuco ally. Zen told them the identity of the barbarian leader who had attacked them. Known as "Pacui," the warrior was a Badlander from the Vril tribes beyond the white sand Valley of Trinity. Pacui's warband had been part of a larger invasion force come south to conquer the Forbidden Zone. Zen further intimated that Pacui had been anticipating the Party's arrival through some unknown divination. The party also began looting the bodies of the slain Badlanders and recovered weapons of masterwork quality and silver rings. Marsala took a mysterious platinum mirror and a few religious items from the body of Pacui. Moreover, Edmund took a pistol from Herschel's corpse along with the letter Herschel's mother had sent for her brother Abner Dupree. When the rest of the crew regained consciousness, Captain Thorpe was eager to interview Zen as well. During the discussion Edmund argued for a halt to the Eldorado expedition and endorsed a rescue mission north to recover hostages taken to a Badlander camp established in the village of Trinity. The party remained noncommittal and when Edmund called for a vote on whether to sail the Hawke north to approach Trinity by sea the Captain lost patience with the expedition's erstwhile companion and declared that his ship would stay in Farport and await rendezvous with the Arcadia until further notice. Thorpe deferred judgement on a larger plan for the expedition and directed the party to investigate the town to verify Zen's information before taking any other action. Marsala paid the drama no heed and wandered into the jungle following an unseen purpose. After passing the tree line he vanished in a flash of white light signalling a familiar occult symbol that Matthaeus recognized from Oliver Chastain's heptagram inscription. "Typical," Thorpe muttered through his gritted teeth as he handed William Benjamin a sigil medallion identifying the party as agents of the Chastain family.“If he falls, he dies."
The party found a gruesome scene within the village of Farport. The entire village was encircled by arcane markings carved into every tree standing at the edge of the settlement. More disturbing were the dozens of execution cages set on wooden poles throughout the town bearing the horrid remains of villagers who had been tortured to death by cruel starvation and exposure. William discovered a sole survivor amid the horror and the party rescued him from the brink of death and brought him back to the Hawke to recover. Meanwhile, Juan Silva and Edmund took Herschel's body to his family's Farport plantation manor and buried him among his kin. The only remaining trace of Herschel's uncle Abner found in the house was an annotated prayer book belonging to Abner and dedicated to a Zoner Sun Cult religion. The notes left in the book indicated Abner Dupree had left Farport to live among the Zoners as an Acolyte of the Sun.“I grind its snout in the feed. Right?"
Zen took everything that was left in the general store and he and Jayne tried to give treatment to revivify and tame the neglected horses that still survived in the village stables. They enjoyed mixed results. No horses were harmed. The party also investigated a Vanguard Church that had been defiled by Pacui's Badland Raiders. They saw signs of some dark ritual and sinister inscriptions scrawled everywhere. William took a preserved eyeball from the altar and kept it.“So when do we level up..?"
To the south the party came upon the grape orchards of the derelict Chastain Manor. They were greeted by a snarling black-skinned giant standing sentinel before the house. Investigation revealed the figure to be an illusion, so the party safely ignored it and ventured into the building. After unsuccessfully attempting to climb the outer wall, Everest went upstairs hoping to find the source of the illusion somewhere on the roof of the structure. Rob searched the fireplace and found the hearth locked behind a sturdy metal grate. William discovered a hidden locking mechanism in the front door and jammed it with a piece of firewood. He then ventured into the kitchen and larder. While exploring the hall of portraits, Edmund noticed curved scuff marks on the floor. The markings indicated a moving wall swinging into the hall. Further examining this section of wall, he found a portrait of twin siblings Orphea and Oliver Chastain and their parents Syllyndra and Erdric. The painting depicted the twins at around age nine and their happy faces showed no trace of the strife and malice that would one day turn them against each other and consume their family. The bottom of the picture frame bore a wood carving of the Chastain family crest. Beside this painting Edmund found a vertical seam running to the floor. Searching within this seam Edmund located a thin metal lever above eye level and barely visible. While searching the wall Edmund also saw several tiny holes in the cracked plaster."Here we go..."
The moment Edmund moved the hidden lever a sudden barrage of tiny projectiles began shooting from the holes he has discovered in the walls of the room. The holes were everywhere and he was instantly struck from head to toe by a bristling flurry of darts. Taking a moment to observe his predicament, Edmund wondered at the fact that he felt no pain. He realized that even the wound he suffered in battle earlier in the day now seemed to cause him no hurt. Slumping against the wall in a state of utter relaxation, Edmund felt his legs go limp. As he slid to the floor and into unconsciousness the last thing he perceived was the sibilant sound of vapour seeping into the room all around him. Edmund had no time or wherewithal to realize that the building's metal window shutters had snapped shut. The front doors had also begun to close and were it not for William's earlier decision to jam the door mechanism the party would have been trapped in darkness with no obvious route of escape, for, with the shutters closed, the only source of illumination on the first floor was a single shaft of light shining through the narrow crack of the sabotaged door. Rob, nimble as ever, was first to react at the moment the trap activated. Moving with nearly preturnatural agility he spun and swerved on his feet and successfully avoided every single dart. Hearing the rushing sound of vapour and noting the pungent emergence of an ammonic scent, Rob made an obvious but important declaration: "It's gas!" Hearing this report from downstairs, Everest, startled by the suddenly shuttered windows and likewise shrouded in darkness, started groping blindly for the main stairs. Finding them, he proceeded to trip on the first step and stumble head over heels down to the main floor. With the wind knocked out of him, Everest gasped for air and choked on a cloud of poison gas."I'm gonna break it."
William and Jayne were not so dextrous as Rob and wound up like Edmund, peppered with darts and resembling victims of a porcupine attack, but, whereas William began to feel his joints progressively stiffen and his limbs grow numb and unresponsive, Jayne withstood the dart venom and remained vigilant. In spite of his worsening condition, however, William found the will to stumble out of the pantry towards the light of the disabled door. Seeing Edmund lying motionless in the hallway, William stooped forward to pull his comrade up out of the noxious fumes. It was a valiant but doomed attempt, however, for after taking only a few halting steps William lost his grip upon Edmund and fell prone alongside him. William now suffered a rictus of global paralysis, but, unlike Edmund, he remained fully conscious throughout the ensuing ordeal. The piece of wood that William had lodged in the door jamb was preventing it from fully closing but the pressure exerted by the spring mechanism continued to press the edge of the iron door against William's makeshift wedge. Seeing the visible light narrowing along with his chances of escape, Jayne charged for the entrance and hurled his body weight against the partially open door. He heard the hinges crack as his momentum snapped the ligature of the door's automated springs. That same momentum sent him toppling into Matthaeus who had come to the door to investigate the commotion within."Do you guys need any help?"
As the door crashed open before him, Matthaeus caught a whiff of an ammonia scent that burned his nostrils. Realizing that his friends were in danger he sucked in an 8-foot-tall-lung full of clean air and pushed his way past Rob and Jayne into harm's way. He saw Everest lurching and coughing in the darkness as well as the lifeless bodies of William and Edmund. Unblinkingly, helplessly, William looked on as Math grabbed his collar and began dragging both him and Edmund to safety. Rob made his way for the door and found the narrow egress point congested with bodies. Seeking to allay his condition, Zen began using his pschokinetic talents to brush the unclean fumes away from his new ally's nose and mouth. After another moment of shuffling bodies the whole party made it clear of Chastain Manor."An hour? That's... terrifying.”
Soon thereafter the gas ceased to flow and, retrieving his lock picks from Edmund, Rob picked the lock on the back door to improve air circulation and empty the house of fumes. In about an hour the house was clear and William's paralysis had worn off. Edmund, however, remained unconscious. Upon cursory examination he appeared to be suffering grievously from the acid wounds received earlier during the battle with Pacui. Boils and pustules had formed around his burns and his skin was entirely inflamed. Math trussed him into a travelling pack and slung his lifeless but breathing form onto his own back. The party ventured back into the house and started searching the upper floors. Judging by the building's general state of dilapidation it appeared no one had made dwelling here for a long time, though there were signs that a short man with slovenly habits had temporarily occupied the home within recent weeks. Under one of the beds a bundle of small sized men's clothes contained a note which read: "Albeard: Pachuco, Fulbeard.""How does he do that?"
Everest and Jayne climbed up through an exposed skylight and accessed the roof. Moving carefully across the cracked and weather worn ceramic shingle tiles, the pair located a projector and a broken antenna. Both devices were linked by silken cords to a flat plate made of dark glass framed within a metal casing. All three items were similarly connected by cords to a metal tube that fed inside the wall of the house. The cords were finely woven and insulated with an oily wax compound. The metal piping was similarly packed wax and lubricated with oil. Everest picked up the projector device, which bore a control panel including two settings: "Kuabris" and "XHAN." The machine had been set to "Kuabris," and when Everest detached it from its installation point the illusory threat in the courtyard vanished from sight. Back down on the main floor the party started looking for a way to bypass the gas trap. After reexamining the portrait and reconsidering the Chastain family motto the party directed Rob to unlock the hearth grate. With sweaty palms the now masterless rogue once more produced his lock picks and attempted to try his skill at the hearth lock. Hearing a favourable <click>, Rob breathed a sigh of relief and swung the grate open. Inside the hearth Rob discovered a smooth rectangular stone proturbance. He pushed it down and heard a scraping noise followed by another <click>. A second lever appeared within the seam of the portrait passageway. The party activated the new lever and the wall slid open revealing a set of wooden stairs leading down into a dim cellar."Are there any... simple weapons?"
As the party descended the stairs wall sconses bearing gas light torches ignited and slowly increased in illuminating intensity. Standing in the full light of the scene, they realized they had discovered the secret Zone operations base of Syllyndra and Erdric Chastain. Along with an armory equipped with dozens of masterwork weapons and armours, the base included a planning room containing maps and notes related to an earlier series of expeditions in search of Eldorado. The party read about an Ornish excavation site somewhere in the "Rift Delta" and about the prominence of fire symbols and motifs in Eldorado lore. Comparing their own maps to those in the Chastain collection, the party realized that the Zone map recovered from the Vendetta now bore a mysterious glowing inscription. Smoldering sickly yellow like the caustic blood of Pacui, the inscription gleamed more brightly when brought near to a party member who had suffered intense or prolonged exposure to the blood (such as Matthaeus, Edmund, and Jayne). Inscribed thereon was a symbol identified in the Chastains' Eldorado notes as the "fire glyph," and it was the same symbol found scrawled by the Vril throughout the ruins of Farport Outpost. Moreover, the symbol appeared on the Vendetta map directly in the space occupied by the village of Trinity, located 50 miles north of Farport. On the reverse side of the map traces of further markings were visible but illegible. ""I think I can carry it all..."
The final chamber of the basement contained three unusual mechanical artifacts, including a red cylindrical tank labelled "chlorine gas." Drawing on his knowledge of Precursor tech, Everest recognized the second apparatus as a radio transmitter/receiver. Both were connected to a cylindrical white unit which Everest identified as an electric battery. He now realized that the flat glass panel on the roof was a solar power cell and made sure to retrieve it as well before leaving the manor. After attaching his own undamaged antenna to the receiver, Everest activated the device and began randomly scanning the frequency band. The machine emitted only static, but when Rob suggested frequency 973, a number mentioned without comment in the Rift Excavation papers, the machine played a warning message which repeated on an endless loop. The warning was delivered by a male voice. It told of an incursion by Vril invaders and the need to prevent the Badlanders from discovering the secrets of the Rift Delta. Taking the radio device, the notes, and an assortment of weapons, the party returned to the Hawke to treat their wounds, await the return of Marsala, and plan their next move.Rewards Granted
4080 experience points awarded to each player character (plus individual character rewards). Generic advancement experience total now at 7040 (XP total for every character besides Zen and Marsala now equal to or greater than 7040).
Missions/Quests Completed
The Thorpe Expedition has arrived in the Forbidden Zone.
Chastain bunker uncovered beneath Chastain Manor.
Character(s) interacted with
Adelle Mirodar (Jayne’s companion)
Captain Zachary Thorpe
Lilith Johnson (First Mate)
Herschel Dupree (insurance banker)
Orphea Chastain
Tashtego
Freeman Skinner (Quartermaster)
Thaddeus “Tad” Tillerson (Bosun)
Jaun Silva (Master Carpenter)
Forbidden Zone Raiders
Pacui
Survivor of the Farport Massacre
Captain Zachary Thorpe
Lilith Johnson (First Mate)
Herschel Dupree (insurance banker)
Orphea Chastain
Tashtego
Freeman Skinner (Quartermaster)
Thaddeus “Tad” Tillerson (Bosun)
Jaun Silva (Master Carpenter)
Forbidden Zone Raiders
Pacui
Survivor of the Farport Massacre
The Forbidden City of the Phoenix: Chapter IV
January 24th to 31st 1000 PCE
Player Characters:
William BenjaminEdmond Andrew
Zen
Matthaeus “Math” Mannheim
Everest Bell
Marsala
Jayne
Rob
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