ATG Mission 5 - The Arcanist Circlet

DM Notes on Battle - Have each of the COBRA operatives attack with disabling devices like: Bead of Force: Creates a bubble of Force energy. You can roll it around like a hamster ball, and it only lasts for one minute...but anything inside only weighs 1 pound. Bear in mind, it deals some damage when it first goes off...so don't hit fragile targets with it. It is also expended on use. Cube of Force (attuned): Use to create a Cage Match if you get close to an enemy. For one minute, they are trapped within 15 feet of you.
Dimensional Shackles: Practically a Must if you intend to capture a spellcaster, as this is the most reliable way to block teleportation long-term. Immovable Rod: Put someone on their stomach, press one of these into the center of their back and push the button. They'll have a devil of a time getting their hands around to de-activate the rod, and they aren't getting up while it is pinning them. Iron Bands of Bilarro: Fling a ball of metal at a target, and it restrains them. DC 20 Str check (once per day) to break free of it. Rope of Entanglement: A rope that you can sic on people, and it attempts to tie them up. After the battle let's find out if Falco is still alive or not to deliver more information. The team will now have to track down Helle's Adventuring company to get the Arcanist Circlet before they can deliver it to Lamborginus. The members of HATC are in Vetren up the road currently A day and half ride away. maybe less. Don't forget the cleric of Eigeralon that has a feud with hops in Vetren
After the battle at the zoo the team will have to find the members of HATC before they leave the city. When they locate them the members of HATC each with replica arcanist circlet will split up and race off into the city forcing the team to split up to follow them. depending on who goes where, say Vom Fass is in hot pursuit after the elven woman she will dart behind an alley and head to somewhere in Copenhaus. Suddenly the elf is running back towards Vom Fass with terror in her eyes! As she runs by Vom Fass he sees a huge demonic form rise through the buildings! A creature summoned by the Abyssal Knife has threatened the city. It is a 60 foot tall demon known as the Corrupted Juggernaut.
Helles Adventuring and trading company HATC - Helleficks Kristalinn / Isringus
Ferus Gnash Lady Arien Velostar Mosfar Ohlmashar and Rumen Vuighn. Former bounty hunter who tried to kill Vom Fass many times. Still going to need stats for Abyssal Knife cleric and servants. Need stats for the Demon they summon.

Plot points/Scenes

Previously on Liters of Tomorrow -

Adventure Team Grimm had arrived back at Tellenor after their heroic rescue of adventure team bugbear from the Gem of Amara. You had several days to enjoy the Winter's Faire, an annual winter solstice festival. Spending some time with the crew and some much needed downtime in the Void Omen, your headquarters in Tellenor, you looked in on the business ventures of Cog and Hops. This relaxation time was interrupted by the arrival of the Bryce Dallas Five a famous adventuring team, and by the Duke of Tellenor himself who asked you to take on a dangerous monster in the woods. The creature known as the Mothman was a dark aberration let loose from a different plane of reality. A violent battle took place in the woods of Onsalm in the midst of a great snowstorm ultimately you defeated the creature and closed the rift to it's dimension. Bringing back proof of your victory and humbling the Bryce Dallas Five who subsequently left town. The following day you learned from your parent company, PACT, that new leads had revealed the location of the Arcanist Circlet, a dangerous magical artifact. You sailed for Copenhaus to meet an informant by the name of Falko in the Great Zoo after hours. During the midnight rendezvous the strange elven man know as Helleficks Kristallin appeared once more to bedevil you. He unleashed a group of paid assassins known as COBRA to test your abilities. Currently you find yourselves in a dangerous battle for your lives ...
[DM Note : Have the Assassins use their counter measures to eliminate members of ATG] After the Battle -
You all regroup and loot the assassins, the sound of Axebeaks loud chirping in the distance disturbed by the commotion. JoJo the mammoth trumpets in alarm as from behind you. [DM Note: loot found, Tenagra's Claw a magical Longbow, Bead of Force, The Iron Bands of Cyttarak, 456 gp, and a bag of diamonds worth 500 gp.] Falko pops out from his hiding spot "Are we safe? I'm getting the hell out of here, you folks don't pay me enough to get killed by professionals!" He turns to run what would you like to do? The story Falko tells of the Arcanist Circlet is worrying. Helle's Adventuring and Trading Company sent their team into an underground complex somewhere near Mercuros Cave down by the coast. They found the Circlet and then researched the legends about it, supposed to be some ancient powerful artifact. Amplifies magic powers and such. Considering what is going on up in Lamborginus they figure to sell it to Panthrus Murcielagus to use in his quest to bend the continent to his will. Should make quite a bit of coin too. They are here in the city and I found out that they are leaving on a boat tomorrow afternoon the Pelican's Wings. Once they get on that boat you will be hard pressed to reach them.
You all have your rooms at the Copper Kettle and can head back there to recuperate. The following morning you wake up late and look out to see a light drizzle on the windows of your room. The temperature is a cool 45 degrees and the air smells of fish and stale beer. Not abnormal for a bustling coastal city.
Blizzard Hops - You walk along the street in your daily sour mood before grabbing a pint or a shot. Your head downcast to avoid the light rain that falls nonstop around you. Suddenly you slam against a wall stars forming around your head as you feel a dribble of blood from your mouth. You have just been sucker punched by a large fist take 1d6 damage. You look up anger flashing in your eyes to see a large horned figure standing next to you "Hello Commander, fancy meeting you here." He reels back to take another shot at you. Knucklecrush your former crew mate and one you abandoned in Potamon Bay, stands in front of you with two of his friends.

Vom Fass - [DM Note - Only use this after the team is searching for Helle’s Adventuring team] Walking through the streets you catch sight of a familiar face wandering through the streets. [DM Note: Roll a history check DC 14 to put a name to the face. Rumen Vuign the bounty hunter who tried to arrest Vom Fass and then tried to murder him months later is in Copenhaus]
Mew - [DM Note - Only use this after the team is searching for Helle's Adventuring Team!] depending on what she does she will run into Olmed Hashan. "Mew, what are you doing here?" He looks distressed "So you figured it out, what that book was for?" He begins to walk quickly towards the docks at the bottom of the Golander Dome. "You better get out of here, and soon." “Look I’m getting out, I didn’t know what they were I’m going to —“ A dart hits him in the neck.  Another dart is fired towards Mew as well.  Olmed gets weak and drops to his knees, a hooded figure walks from the alley followed by a second.  The first enters a martial arts battle stance and the second readies another dart.  The street begins to tremble...
Tyll Bebo - You may have a few more things on your list and you may ask around for ideas on where to acquire them. As you walk the streets of Copenhaus you put your hood up to protect yourself from the drizzle. But after ten minutes or so the weather changes, the clouds slowly break up and the sun shines through. As you lower your hood and take a look at the city now bathed in sunlight you feel like you see the city how it is supposed to be. This beautiful coastal city bustling with trade and interesting people. Brightly painted signs over a myriad of different shops, the tantalizing smells of different restaurants, taverns, and street vendors. You walk by a bakery selling brightly colored cookies and honey drizzled triangular cakes. In front of you in a beam of sunlight is a window full of musical intruments. The center instrument is a Mandolin [DM Note: the Neverwhere Mandolin] Not your instrument of choice but it almost vibrates when you get closer. The gold and red sign says Princelings Lutes and Harps. An old human man puttes about the shop by the name of Frehley. "Oh, hi there miss, just give me a holler if you are interested in anything! Name's Frehley but you can call me Ace. ha." He is unaware that the mandolin is enchanted and is selling it based on it's masterwork value of 92 gp. "Oh that is a beautiful looking instrument, believe it was passed down through the Nuxhalls but those rich jerks probably don't value these things like us regular folk do." [Other shops she could try to complete her list are The Clagan's Curios Shop, Palantha's Herbs & Exotic Plants.]

Themes

[DM Note: The team may want to research how the arcanist circlet works and any lore associated with it. They could do this at the Holondarr's World of Words, the Aarokocran embassy which is Aaronola Hall, The Curious Past book shop. They also need to find out where Helle’s Adventuring team is as well.]
Walking around Copenhaus everything seems like a normal day in the busy coastal city. You go over who you are looking for from Helle’s Adventuring company.  Last you knew it was an elven woman named Arien Velostar. Ferus Gnash, a Gnoll, and Mosfar Ohlmashar a Fire Genasi man. [DM Note they have two new members Rumen Vuign the bounty hunter and KnuckleCrush the minotaur stranded by ATG in Potamon Bay. ]
As the team searches for HACT members of HACT will flee from them.  Also each member cleverly carries a copy of the arcanist Circlet, each one enchanted so that they give off a magical aura.  Some of the enchantments are a Circlet that magically gives the user the cooking proficiency and mentally access over 300 cook books once attuned. A circlet that gives the user levitation for one minute.  Only to the user.  A circlet that gives the user the ability to summon up to 6 songbirds who will hang out with the user for one hour.  A circlet that gives the user the ability to

Structure

Exposition

[The Abyssal knife underneath the temple of Corsun are doing an arcane ritual to summon and control a huge demon called the corrupted juggernaut. They are using the book stolen by Mew and Olmed Hashan to guide the ritual. The book is a ancient artifact written in infernal called the Ivor Dominus. Very few people in the world at this time even remember what it's purpose was or the last time it was used. 800 years ago a dark cleric ran a death cult and tried to destroy the world so that his god could remake it. The plan was to summon these destroyer demons to wipe the current civilization out and then slowly replace it with the cult. This plan was of course foiled by the heroes of that time. At midday they do the summoning and it is successful but their attempts to control the creature fail and it erupts out of the temple destroying it. The streets of Copenhaus tremble all over the Golander dome and then it roars with an unearthly echo and vibration. It's path of destruction runs right towards the zoo. It can also leap from dome to dome if necessary, the bridges may not hold it's weight. ]
Wherever anyone is in the city they will see this creatures huge head arise.

Conflict

Agrimor himself will come to claim the circlet. He will meet them at the Aaronola Embassy, they have a teleportation circle there.

Climax

Tiny town

-  Vom Fass you awake the following day to a beautiful sunrise shining through your farm house window.  The smell of drying hay and goats fills your nostrils as you pull the covers off. You slowly, gingerly walk towards your wooden bedroom door. You hip hurts for some reason and your knees creak.  As you push open the door to walk through you take a beat to look at your hand.  Instead of your beautiful azure scales and manicured claws your hand is pink and five fingered.  Blue veins spider web through it and some brown moles by the thumb.  You slowly look down in horror at your body.  Sagging breasts and thin white legs beneath you, your chest and groin covered by dark brown wool tunic and skirt.  Cotton underclothes move against your papery thin skin. You rush out the front door of the farmhouse as the sun begins to rise, your breathing becomes more quick and ragged as you look around. The bright summery day is very different from the wintry mix of Copenhaus.  Your mind reels as you get light headed but you look up as something moves in the sky.  Blotting out the sun is the enormous face of Mr. Nyx, a devilish grin on his imp like purple face. “Hahahaa!  Vom Fass!! You’re mine now, you and your little friends will live out the rest of your days in Tiny Town!”
Blizzard Hops you awake to find yourself a dwarven woman in a blacksmith shop. Mew is now a human man, a cooper with a beard and big muscles. Tyll is a tall Firbolg man working at the general store. The height will be dizzying. Cog is now a elven man with a slight build and blonde hair. He is the town miller working at the old mill. Karnac is now a Halfling woman working on a dairy farm.