Forging a New Era

General Summary

Introduction

Cassandra made sure she was awake before Morganna; she was beginning to get used to being up early and making tea and fetching letters (she still didn't think of herself as a true lady in waiting however). The other adventurers, Dariyana, Tidran, and Dante, woke up a bit later and the group began to discuss their plans for that day.

A Summons

A knock on Morganna's door interrupted the group's conversation. A messenger handed Morganna a note addressed to her from her Uncle Francois. The note was a brief summons for Morganna to see her uncle that morning in regards to the previous night's security incident. Morganna was slightly put out by the demand; she knew the portal doorway in Dante's room was no threat to the city but she also wished to respect her friends privacy. She informed Dante of the summons, and he agreed to accompany her to see her uncle.

Francois Estelle was in his office working on several papers on his desk. He greeted his niece as she came in and offered her a chair. He got straight to the point of the meeting: he had been summoned to explain to King Jacques the security incident of the night before. He wished to understand the incident himself in order to both ensure the city's safety and give a satisfactory explanation to the king. He had read the security captain's report and now pointedly asked Morganna what the portal was.

Morganna turned to Dante and motioned for him to explain. Dante at first told Francois the same thing he had told the captain the previous night; the portal was somehow attached to him and followed him wherever he went. Furthermore, he assured Francois that the portal posed no danger to the city of Ivannia. Francois saw straight through the elusive answer and bluntly ordered Dante to inform him of the source of the portal. Reluctantly, Dante told him the portal was created by Mila the Mindslayer.

To his surprise, Morganna's uncle chuckled a bit at the mention of her name. He said that Ivannia had some dealings with Mila in the past, but would not allow her to open portals in their city. Now that they new the source, Francois said the city's security forces should have no issues blocking the portal. Dante didn't want to be without his portal, but understood that the city was entitled to its security precautions.

An Invitation

As Morganna and Dante went back to their suites, another messenger approached Morganna. This time, the note was from House Bonaparte and was addressed to the entire party. Bonaparte had organized a strike force to deal with the Yellow Serpent threat and he asked for the adventures to join the expedition. The group discussed the note and then eagerly set off to join the excursion.

The House Bonaparte leader greeted the party as they approached. His large headquarters hummed quietly with excitement as his soldiers finished their preparations for the days adventures. He introduced Madsci to the group as someone who was also not originally from Ivannia. She was attached to House Bonaparte and was interested in the stories of Morganna's retinue of outsiders. She recalled dealing with Morganna before; she had been attracted to the princess' interest in the outside world. Madsci was a bit shy at first but soon warmed up to the group.

A Martial Excursion

The band of adventurers joined the leader of Bonaparte along with twenty of his soldiers and they all descended from the floating city to seek out the Yellow Serpents. Ivannian intelligence had located several areas nearby which showed activity consistent with the Yellow Serpents scouting party. The group set off into the desert wastes with the harsh scoured landscape contrasting sharply with the beautiful gleaming city floating above them. The party's gravity belts stopped working as soon as they touched the ground, and while the Ivannian soldiers had no such limitations they nevertheless marched alongside the adventurers.

After a couple hours trek through the wastelands the party saw signs of a camp in the distance. Everyone was apprehensive about just marching up and decided to carefully plan their moves. Morganna floated to the top of a nearby rock column to oversee the area. Madsci surprised the group when ghostly black wings of dark matter sprang from her shoulders and she flew up to join Morganna. Dariyana attempted to climb the rock pillar but slipped when half-way up and fell. Fortunately, she escaped with only scraped knees and shins. The glaive determinedly tried again and this time she managed to make the climb.

Tidran cautiously approached the camp and to his surprise found it completely abandoned. Empty tent fabric flapped in they dry wind where it hung from gnarled posts; the cold remnants of a camp fire was being slowly coated by the blowing sand. Tidran suspected the camp might be an ambush, but he carefully looked through the camp and then finally waved for his friends to join him. Dariyana was a bit miffed that she had scraped her knees for nothing, but she clambered back down the rock pillar anyway.

A Series of Camps

Everyone in the group couldn't say why, but they all felt uneasy in the empty camp. Morganna cocked her head and listened intently. Besides the rustle of her companions armor and the whisper of the dry wind, she heard absolutely nothing. No creature walked, nothing flew, nothing burrowed, nothing moved or made a sound. Morganna had become accustomed to the desert sounds on her many trips out of the city and the lack of noise concerned her. It was as if something had consumed all life around the campsite. The freshly butchered bones of several large animals lay on the ground at one side of the camp. Bonaparte noted that the meat was missing and commented that the men of the Yellow Serpents would have struggled to carry away that much meat on their own. In addition to the footprints left by the Yellow Serpents, there were also strange swirl marks in the sand, particularly around the bones.

Unsettled by the emptiness at the camp, the group discussed their next move. Cassandra had been observing Dariyana and noticed that the glaive was more uneasy than usual. Cassandra asked Dariyana if anything was wrong. Dariyana hesitated, but then revealed that she used to be a Yellow Serpent at one point! She explained a bit more of her story, glad to no longer have to keep this secret from her friends. She had lived a rough life and took whatever work she could find. She had worked for the Yellow Serpents for a while but eventually became disgusted with what she saw and she left the group. When she saw the Aliopter victim in Ivannia, she recognized his tattoo and decided to search the shoreline for signs of her old group. She reassured her friends that she no longer worked with or for the Yellow Serpents and she now wished to help destroy them if she could.

Everyone else was a bit surprised by Dariyana's revelation however they all agreed that knowing her past did not change her status as their friend and companion. Bonaparte suggested they visit another activity site and after some discussion, the party agreed. The next site was another few hours hike through the desert. As they traveled they occasionally noticed the odd swirl marks on the sand; the eerie silence of the camp seemed to follow them on their search.

A motion on the horizon drew the party's attention. Before them lay another camp, this one however looked even more sparse than the previous one. Everyone was very suspicious but they crept closer and observed that this camp was just as abandoned as the former. There were no complete tents here, only a few shreds of fabric on spindly tent poles waved in the wind. As before, several large creatures lay butchered but there were no signs off the massive quantity of meat which must have been harvested.

Cassandra looked intently through the remnants of the camp. She spied a vague outline in the sand beneath of the tents and found a cloak buried beneath the sand. In the pocket of the cloak she found a piece of a note which read " . . . may have found a demon ally against the sky people. Please send many Aneens . . . ." Further investigation revealed the swirl markings in the sand which led away from the bone pile. These markings were accompanied by dark spots in the sand which appeared to be dried blood droplets. A series of human footprints led off in a different direction.

Grim Revelations

Madsci voiced what many were thinking. "Perhaps the Yellow Serpents are butchering animals to try and lure an Aliopter towards Ivannia?". The group grimly agreed and they debated what their next course of action should be. They discussed the pros and cons of following either the Yellow Serpents or the swirls they suspected were from an aliopter. Bonaparte also suggested there was a third activity site they could investigate. After much debate, they settled on a course of action.


Two Ivannian soldiers utilized their hover abilities to move much quicker than the group could on foot. These soldiers sped off and returned in about an hour with a report of the third activity site. As suspected, it was another abandoned camp with a pile of bones. Hearing this, everyone agreed that the aliopter was the more dangerous threat and they should deal with it first. They set off, following the swirl markings and blood drops in the sand.

The Aliopter Hunt

The party forged on through the desert. After several hours of tracking they spied their quarry on a distant ridge. The monster was hideously grotesque. It appeared as a swirling mass of hundreds of red tongues which floated above the ground. At the base of each tongue a small mouth rasped hungrily. The beast appeared powerful and primal; each adventurer was secretly glad they were not facing such a creature on their own. The tongues suddenly writhed and saliva began to drip as the monster sensed the group. Driven by its insatiable hunger the aliopter charged through the air towards the party!

A tremendous battle ensued! The group vastly outnumbered the lone predator, but even with their numbers the beast was a match for them. It could attack everyone simultaneously with its slobbering tongues which it extended in all directions; each tongue could shoot out like a chameleon's and it was covered in rasping spikes which drew anyone it touched towards itself. Furthermore, the Ivannian's gravity numenera were useless as the creature could ignore gravity at will.

The fight flowed back and forth for a while. The soldiers had made modifications to their weapons based on Tidran's suggestions; these modifications helped them keep the colossal creature somewhat at bay. Searing beams of white light shot from Cassandra's forehead. Dante emptied his slug-throwers over and over into the slobbering mass. Dariyana cut deeply into the creature with tremendous sword blows. Morganna's twin daggers whirled in a deadly dance striking the beast again and again. Madsci channeled immense amounts of void black dark matter which encompassed the creature. Tidran battered the beast with his shield and also carved into it with his sword. Suddenly, one of the tongues caught Madsci and pulled her in! The cruel mouths at the base of the tongues latched on and began to chew with vicious bites. The terrible tongues lashed around and dealt terrible damage to the adventures as they rasped across any exposed skin.

Finally, after a heroic amount of effort, the beast slumped down into the dirt and released Madsci. The party was victorious! And just in time! Madsci was bleeding heavily and missing chunks of skin, Cassandra had a headache from exerting her powers so much. Everyone had bruises and welts from the lashing tongues. Bonaparte's men as well had taken a beating. Despite their injuries the party were ecstatic! They had vanquished the threat of the aliopter and ensured the continued safety of Ivannia!

Report Date

27 Jun 2020

Primary Location

Ivannia