Last episode, our intrepid adventurers accepted a job from Halla, an agent of the Cacuzzo Crime Family, to infiltrate the abandoned Elven village of Eldagast and steal a cache of healing potions from the alchemist’s warehouse. They were successful although they had to neutralize several agents from the rival crime family, The Markano, in the process
Two weeks have passed.
The Cacuzzo and Markano Crime Families are fueding but their skirmishes remain in the shadows.
The incident in Eldagast has been commonly referred to as “The Eldagast Heist” and none of you have been implicated although the common folk whisper that it had something to do with the Crime Families that secretly run the city.
Khale has been spending a lot of time in Eldagast, exploring the village and baking bread at the bakery.
Zin has been making his rounds throughout Bleak Hollow doing odd jobs for several of the merchants. Lately, he’s been helping the Blacksmith with menial tasks in exchange for tasty fish heads and yummy spoiled eggs.
Markax went out into the wilds to gather herbs and has not returned as of yet.
Nirhana has been busy working on a special “top secret” project for the Miner’s Guild.
Breeze has been working at the docks and spending time with the family he rents a bunk from on the regular. He has noticed two ships in port frequently in the past two weeks: The Lucille (Captain Solomon Neegan) and The Moon Dancer (Captain Elaina Sartell)
Cadramar has been working with the Merchants Guild to create Healing Potions. The city lacks a true medical doctor and has until recently relied heavily in the Elven Healing Potions made in Eldagast. With the Elves missing, the potions are gone as well
Rumor has it that the Markanos promoted a bully named Traevys to a boss position. He has been up to no good in the Rusted Dirk most every night.
Also, the Cacuzzos seem to be moving black market goods through the docks at night. A ship called “The Last Breath” comes in and departs in the wee hours of the morning. There’s no record of the ship in the Dockmaster’s logs.
Active Characters:
Breeze (2nd level Tabaxi Rogue) Cadramar (2nd level Human Arcanist) Zin (2nd level Kobold Sorcerer) Belisarius (2nd level Human Paladin)
Each of our adventurers were awakened in the early hours of the morning. The Watch Commander visited each of them, rousing them to report to The Blacksmith for an urgent job.
Once gathered, they were offered a job to head into the mountains near Bleak Hollow to seek out Sky Metal. The Blacksmith explained that only a short time ago a fiery comet fell from the sky and impacted in the mountains. He gave them directions, a horse each, and two pack horses. He described the Sky Metal as a dark black material that will look like rock but have the feel of iron.
The Blacksmith explained that Belisarius, a young Paladin would be leading the operation into the mountains. Everyone recognized Belisarius as one of the Nobles of the city. When the King abandoned Bleak Hollow years ago, he left the region in the rule of five families. They were awarded titles of nobility and property. Although Belisarius’s Father is dead, his Mother still sits on the city’s Merchant Council.
The impact site was not hard to track. It was still burning like a large bonfire as they made the journey up the craggy cliffs and through the mountains. The expedition took about 3 and a half hours, so they were arriving at about 5:30 in the twilight hours of the morning. The impact site was still burning, pouring out thick black smoke into the surrounding area.
Searching the site, they were surprised to find a strange wooden chair at the center of the impact crater. Near it lay a single strange gemstone. And all around the site were shards of a strange grey crystal and what looked to be fragments of huge sea shells. Also, they discovered that several spots were covered with a thick black liquid that smelled like lantern oil and that was what was allowing the flames to continue burning. Obviously this black fluid was some kind of combustible substance that burned like Alchemist Fire.
Searching the crater, they determined that the chair was a strange magical device that radiated colored auras for all the Schools of Magic. The chair resembled some kind of high backed throne but it had a flexible metal tube connected to the back that leaked foul-smelling purple fluid. Also, the chair was infested with two small, fast moving chartreuse worms. After the worms were killed by Zin’s magic missiles, Belisarius ordered that the chair be secured to one of the pack horses along with samples of the “sea shell material” and the strange “grey crystals.” Meanwhile, Belisarius claimed the gem and discovered it was an Ioun Stone. There seemed to be no materials that resembled “Sky Metal.”
Suddenly, the morning sky lit up again as a second comet fell from the sky, striking the mountains nearby to the Northeast. As Belisarius and Zin remained to load the pack horses, Cadramar and Breeze rushed to the new crash site!
The path was treacherous and filled with jagged rocks. It took them about a half hour to reach the new impact site. They found another smoldering crater with the same black liquid burning and filling the air with thick black smoke.
With eyes watering, they found a large structure in the crater. It was shaped like a capsule and made of the same strange hard chitinous metal as they “sea shells” from the last impact site. Cadramar mentioned that it resembled a diving bell he had seen used on a ship years ago to explore the depths. As they investigated further they saw the rear of the capsule emit a fog with a loud hiss and it began to open!
The two hide themselves on either side of the strange device and watched in horror as a Mind Flayer stumbled out of its Escape Pod. The Illithid had survived long enough on its wrecked Nautiloid to enter a pod and eject from the ship. Crashing into the surface of this strange world had injured it greatly but some effort it might still survive. The Illithid blinked its eerie white eyes and looked around, unaware of the two adventurers hiding nearby.
Breeze and Cadramar had both heard of the horrors of Illithids. Several times fellow adventurers told the tale in some smoky tavern of having encountered one of the brain-eaters in the darkest depths of the Underdark. They knew they had one chance: strike hard and fast!
Cadramar cast his Shocking Grasp, blasting the Mind Flayer with arcs of searing lighting. As the creature cried out it pain telepathically, Breeze stabbed at the thing’s chest. The rapier slid mercilessly into the Mind Flayer’s chest, spurting out the same foul-smelling purple blood that was found in the hose attached to the strange chair earlier.
Luckily, Zin and Belisarius arrived during the battle to assist the others. The Illithid was injured and outnumbered, and fell after a few moments of combat. As the others recovered from battle and addressed their wounds, Zin was busy looting the Mind Flayer taking its Mask and Breastplate.
Then, Cadramar pointed to the sky. They all saw a strange gigantic green moth floating down from the clouds. As the thing got closer they realized it was some kind of strange aircraft, a skyship made to resemble a huge green moth.
Although none of them could know it, this was a Spelljamming ship called a “Star Moth.” These warships are used solely by the Astral Elf Armada. The Star Moth is one of the most beautiful ships in existence. The hull is made from an unknown organic substance, but whatever it is, the Astral Elves aren’t telling. It also has enormous wings of shimmer crystal extending out from the battle deck. It also has a large, curved nose-like structure in the front.
The Star Moth flittered slowly to the ground, stopping to hover about ten feet above the group. They could see that the “eyes” of the ship were portholes from which several light skinned Elves peered out. Above on the “head” of the Moth it was clear several other Elves were moving around on a deck. They watched as two huge Ballista were being readied to sight in on them to defend the ship. The bolts of the huge crossbows were the size of a man, clearly designed to be used as siege equipment against other skyships.
As they watched, they saw a young female Elf wearing gold and red armor moved to stand at the deck’s railing to look down at them. Her straw colored hair tussled in the wind. A featureless blue skinned humanoid stepped up to stand next to her. A huge sword was strapped on his back.
When she spoke, he voice was amplified and filled the air around the adventurers. “I am Princess Xendalli of the Xaryxisian Elven Armada. We come in peace! We wish to reclaim that Illithid and its escape pod for transport off your world. Please surrender now. Lay down your weapons!”
Zin was the first to react to the shocking situation. He shouted in Draconian that he was “Zin, King of the Kobolds” and they they should surrender to him. Fortunately, the She-Elf did not respond to this, and instead Cadramar began to negotiate a peace between them. As a result, the Elf said that she would send down her First Mate. They watched as they blue man descended from the ship on a platform secured to a huge anchor that crashed solidly to the ground nearby.
As the Blue Man, a Plasmoid, touched down to solid earth, he approached Cadramar in a friendly manner, introducing himself as “Phhred” (pronounced “Fred”) the Princess’s First Mate. As he walked closer to Cadramar, he extended his hand and transmorphed into a nearly exact duplicate of the old Arcanist. The only difference was that subtle details were missing or incorrect. It was Phhred’s attempt to set the adventurers at ease by assuming the appearance of another “Groundling Human.”
As this transpired, they saw that a second Star Moth was approaching rapidly from behind the first one. However, it did not slow. as it neared it opened fire on the other Star Moth. The large, curved nose-like structure in the front began to glow with a green light, firing off dozens of missiles that resembled Magic Missiles but much larger. It also fired its two huge ballista and its rear mounted mangonel catapult. Under the assault, the Princess’s ship crumbled, slowly crashing to the ground.
Phhred shouted in alarm, his shapechange form falling away slightly to resemble a caricature version of Cadramar with huge eyes and a wide mouth. The adventurers scattered, taking cover where they could as the huge Star Moth crumbled and crashed into the impact crater. Explosion erupted as weaponry on the ship ignited from the gouts of flame erupting from the wrecked ship. Elves screamed out in pain and terror as several died instantly during the crash. Several others poured from the twisted wreckage, stumbling alone or dragging their companions with them. only the rear deck remained intact, and it was already ablaze.
Cadramar saw two Elves on the ruined Star Moth’s rear deck, desperately trying to rally to fire the mangonel. He moved fast, climbed through the wreckage to assist in returning fire. Belisarius continued to hide behind a large jutting rock, but Zin and Breeze rushed forward to help the injured Elves escape the wreckage. They saw two heavily armored Elves emerge from the flames dragging the unconscious body of Princess Xendalli. Breeze quickly offered a healing potion to one of the Elves who muttered a thank you, and poured it into the lips of the Princess. She remained unconscious but several of her wounds healed before their eyes thanks to the magical concoction.
A loud, commanding male voice rose up over the chaos. “This is Prince Xeleth, Imperial Commander of the Xaryxisian Elven Armada and Captain of the Dark Moth. You will surrender and lay down your weapons immediately or we will open fire.” Seconds later, not waiting for the survivors and adventurers to respond to the issued demands, the second Star Moth opened fire. Large missiles of magical energy flew unerringly striking several Elven Survivors, as well as, the wreckage of the other ship. Clearly, the Dark Moth was targeting the Elves, not the adventurers!
At this point, Cadramar and the Mangonel Elf Crew fired at the Dark Moth. The large stone flew untrue, arching too high to hit the hovering ship. At the same time, Zin pointed at the form of a tall man dressed in red and gold armor standing on the front deck of the ship. The Kobold sorcerer spoke the words and three magic missiles shot from his fingers. The three darts of energy exploded on the man’s chest, rocking him back on his heels. At the same moment, the Dark Moth’s wings began to shimmer, and the ship zoomed away into the sky out of sight. The last thing they saw was the finger of Prince Xeleth pointing accusingly at the Kobold.
Children of the Ampersand 
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