Take On Me

General Summary

Arrival by Portal

The next morning, a portal opened in the party’s room at the Ballarad Inn. Sirkel and Farren entered the room, both carrying small crates with equipment from Gwydeon. After Farren called out a “thank you,” the portal closed. Tidran, Breaker, Mo, Farren, Sih’Teel, and Dante wearily greeted Farren and Sirkel and but then eagerly inspected the crates that they brought. Tidran ran downstairs and bought breakfast for everyone. The group wolfed down their food, each took some equipment from the crates, and discussed their plans for the day. Meanwhile, Sih’Teel tried to regale everyone with a heroic tale. The group mainly ignored him and focused on breakfast. After giving Sirkel and Farren some key details, Breaker made the choice for the party to confront Renick Duvald, or the Black Phoenix, at Duvald Mercantile. They agreed to go cautiously and not to underestimate the mysterious merchant. “Whatever happens, we stick to together,” Breaker announced solemnly. The group agreed. Everyone readied their equipment and then left the inn.

Multiple Hats

Duvald Mercantile consisted of a small warehouse with tables of mechanical parts in large crates on rows of tables. Beyond the warehouse was an entrance to a tent in the back. Tidran greeted the odd-looking woman at the door to the shop. The woman wore multiple hats piled high on her head and was clothed in a marvelous spread of purple clothing. “Good morning,” she greeted Tidran. Upon further questioning, she revealed that Duvald Mercantile used to be a large enterprise before the arrival of the Jade Colossus. Midnight stones, which had beforehand been scarce, suddenly multiplied in quantity. The economic change hit the family hard and resulted in a great shop being reduced to a junk sale. The woman hastily changed the subject and offered a cloth bag to each of the travelers. “You can get whatever you can fit in that bag for only 2 shins. Help a family out, won’t you?” The hat lady said. “We’d like to talk to Renick Duvald if he’s not busy,” Breaker told her. She gestured to the tent in the back of the shop. Tidran, Dante, Breaker, and Mo went to the tent while Farren and Sirkel rummaged through the crates on the table in the building proper. Sih'Teel checked around for an android body before fully joining the group. They were finally about to meet the Black Phoenix himself.

An Offer You Won’t Be Able to Refuse

Renick Duvald was a blonde-haired, tall, and industrious man. He sat in a chair in front of a table and was working on an invention of some sort when the PCs walked in. He turned from his work as he heard their footsteps.
“How can I help you?” He asked politely. His eyes roamed over the group now inside his tent.
“We’d like to meet with Renick, if that’s you,” Breaker said brusquely. Renick nodded.
“Ah, Breaker,” he said with a knowing gleam in his eye. “I think we understand each other. We are people of secrets after all. How can I help you?”
Breaker was not to be intimidated by bluff. “We’re here to deal with you.”
Renick chuckled. He spread his hands out wide and gestured to the group. “Right. And now I have THE Breaker in my tent right where I wanted him.”
The two stared at each other but neither one budged.
“So, what do you do for business? How did your business end up this way?” Dante broke in cheerfully. Renick relaxed and leaned back in his chair. He recapped what his mother, the hat lady, had said at the building entrance about the economic hardship from a few years before.
“What happened to your father?” Someone asked.
“He disappeared in a trip to the Jade Colossus. We’ve never heard from him again,” Renick answered calmly. Breaker coughed and refocused the conversation.
“Right,” Renick said. “So, you have a bounty on your head and I have a quest for you. I can either give you a generous offer that profits you or I can let loose poison gas and send you where I want you anyway.”
The group stared at Renick. Dante said the obvious.
“You can’t be very smart if you’ve revealed your identity,” Dante exclaimed. “Now that we know your secret, we can turn you in to the constables.”
Renick chuckled. “Things are more complicated than you realize. This city is mine.”
The group listened to what Renick had to say about the quest. He explained that since he was a businessman, he cared about getting a thousand shins to help rebuild his family business and that he didn’t really care either way about capturing Breaker. Then he directed their attention to the ancient civilization of Caelus, a network of sky-faring people that resided in floating cities spread across the 9th World. He explained that the ruins of one such city were still intact and floating, surrounded by a giant storm system, in the Cloudcrystal Skyfields. He looked at Mo. “Do you have the ability to fly?” He asked curiously. Mo reluctantly answered in the affirmative. Renick grunted.
"I interviewed your pilot last night over a few glasses of wine at an inn. He told me what I needed to know. So, if you do this quest for me, then I will consider the bounty on Breaker's head absolved to me and will discontinue any assassins to your home settlement. Also, you can keep the extra on the treasure."
The group stood aghast. "You got our pilot drunk? How are we supposed to get to the floating city with an inebriated pilot?" Farren asked incredulously.
Renick waved his right hand flippantly. "He'll sleep it off. So, what is your decision?"
Breaker and Tidran had a quick aside. Neither could agree on the same course of action. Breaker adamantly demanded that Renick accompany the group to the floating city. Renick resolutely refused. Tidran urged Breaker to take Renick up on his offer before something worse happened. After all, they were in the tent of a dangerous guild leader. Breaker disagreed and continued to press Renick to change his offer.
Renick's patience broke at last. He snapped his fingers and immediately eight darkly-clothed assassins came into the tent from the outside. Renick released poisoned gas into the air which weakened the PCs. The assassins attempted to bind the PCs but Farren, Sih'Teel, and Mo escaped. Then one of the assassins produced an iron collar that he snapped around Breaker's neck. With a flourish, the assassin cut Breaker's head right off his body. Breaker's body thudded back to the ground while his head was eerily held in the collar.
Mo had turned invisible after her frantic escape from the assassin but came back to the entrance of the tent. As Breaker's head became separate from his body, Mo's connection with Breaker broke. She stood transfixed.
Renick looked at the remnants of the group. "Now will you consider my offer?" Mo turned visible again and ran forward to Renick.
"I'll go!" She cried. "I'll go with them to the floating city!"
Renick nodded. "Your pilot is at his ship in the town square. If you come back with my treasure, you can get Breaker's body back."
Sih'Teel had rejoined the group as well and held a broken android body in his arms.
"How do you feel about becoming an android, Breaker? You'll be ahead of us!" He said cheerfully. Renick agreed to let Breaker function as an android and also fixed the robotic body to better working status so Android Breaker could join the group on the quest.
"Why would you buy an android body?" Someone asked Sih'Teel. He proceeded to answer with a regaling story. The group, now all reunited and very sober (except for Sih'Teel, who displayed an amazing knowledge of "head" jokes), walked to the town square to join up with Finn Holden.
"Why did you get drunk?" Farren asked the oddly quiet Finn Holden who sat at the cockpit.
"Hey lady," Finn said, pointing a finger at Farren, "Free drinks don't come along every day."
Still, Finn remained quiet and said nothing during the three hour flight to the Floating City.

The Remnants of an Empire

The floating city, surrounded by a large weather system consisting of thick clouds and crackling purple lightning, let them pass through the storm gently to everyone's amazement. Once through, the floating city was revealed to be the ruins of a palace. The group exited the ship while Finn waited there for the group to return.
Mo was particularly struck by the design aesthetic upon entering the palace entrance. Richly tiled floors bright with mosaics stood out even under three thousand year's worth of drit and small debris. The walls told a story of an ancient war between a people of the sky and a people of the earth. Mo carefully examined the carvings as the group slowly treaded the ancient halls.

The group was not aware of anyone else in the complex but occasionally heard a noise of a creature. They checked every ten minutes for its appearance but avoided the confrontation each time. In one room, Farren found a transdimensional mirror that could be folded up and carried. She took it as a hope that she could contact her missing parents once they were done with the quest. In another room, the group discovered a hidden wall that slid back to reveal an egg chamber that still functioned. Three eggs lay in incubation. Farren and Dante each took one of the eggs before they left the complex. In this room, the group also found ancient datapads that held a history of the people of Caelus as well as a map that showed the sky cities' former empire across the 9th World and beyond!
In one room, the group finally found the treasure! They each took a large chest while a few members of the group found a pair of Bounding Boots and a strange Spear artifact. The group exited the complex while Sih'Teel ran back into palace to grab an egg. The group was none too late because as Finn piloted the ship away after everyone boarded, a fierce queb mother emerged from the complex in pursuit of her stolen eggs!
Back in Ballarad, Tidran took Farren and Dante with him to negotiate with the Black Phoenix for the transfer of the treasure and the return of Breaker's body. Renick spoke with them via his hologram, The Black Phoenix, near the entrance of the tent. Each of the parties agreed to disguise the goods in junk crates and exchange everything in the town square three hours after. Renick, a businessman at heart, made good on his trade. The group kept 2100 shins after Renick's share and received Breaker's body in a stasis chamber. Breaker then contemplated whether he should stay an android or get his head reattached. In any case, the group headed back to Beyonder's Blades to inform Ephyra of the completion of their quest.

Rewards Granted

2100 shins
Bounding Boots
Spear Artifact
Breaker's Body in Stasis

Missions/Quests Completed

The Black Phoenix agreed to stop sending assassins to Beyonder's Blades

Character(s) interacted with

Renick Duvald/The Black Phoenix
The Hat Lady/Lady Duvald
Gwydeon
Finn Holden

Report Date

26 Mar 2020

Primary Location

Ballarad

Secondary Location

Floating City