- As per the Part 1 writeup, unfortunately I was sick for about two weeks so ended up sharing blocks of the narrative (Jalt’s story) via email prior to the actual session. This part of the write-up contains what actually happened during the session.
- Up until now, Grant and Ethan have been relatively lucky in avoiding Bastiano’s hunters, the Marindan Defenders, the Dwimmerlaik and numerous bounty-killers who are after them. But their luck is about to run out ….
Major Characters
- Grant, Ethan, Lucien, Greywalker, Isabelle, Jalt
Adversaries
- The Marindan Defenders, consisting of:
- Morrison, who is armed with a green power ring (similar to a Green Lantern)
- A grey-furred squirrel who is piloting a set of powered armour and carries a BFG (Big @#$&ing Gun).
- A Son of Saul
- A Technoknight, dressed in gold and black armour.
- Gradik - a muscular Dwimmerlaik, clad in black and silver scale mail, and wielding a silver hammer (of thunderbolts)
- His squad of Dwimmerlaik soldiers, who wield shields that were once ornaments on the Stair (and are hence completely impervious).
- Belgarian - a Dwimmerlaik witch who specialises in counterspells/blocking magic.
- This session follows straight on from Session 148. They have found Lucien, who is being cared for by Isabelle. Jalt has switched sides.
Adventure Summary - Part 1 - At the Athenaeum
- Jalt finishes telling his story. Grant was hoping that there would be more to go on - Bastiano, Jalt and possibly even Lucien seem to have changed many things in this timeline. Jalt is an unreliable witness but it seems almost hopeless to unravel or reverse all of these changes unless they can find a way of pinpointing either when the Faraday Queen timeship first arrived, or when they first started interfering. Taking charge of the situation, Grant recommends that the next order of business is to restore Lucien’s memories. He explains that he has experience with the Breath of Eden that Bastiano used and that he was part of the team which built the machine to restore the memories. Isabelle brightens at this suggestion.
- Grant shares what he knows of the process to restore Lucien’s memories. He uses the memory orb to share this with the others. Isabelle studies the procedure and then says that she knows where they should go and what they need to take. Ethan is equally fascinated by Grant’s memory orb - he asks if he could study it but Grant declines. He is worried that this could create even greater divergence.
- They make preparations to leave. They need to reach a place that is secure enough that they can restore Lucien and the Athenaeum is too open. There are too many rooms, too many archways and too much cover should an enemy find this place. Isabelle begins assembling equipment. They have many spare backpacks and she begins packing what she can.
* Image sourced from Google Images
- After two hours, Ethan notes that he hasn’t seen Jalt in about ten minutes. Grant and Ethan go looking for him and find him only two rooms away, standing rigidly. Irritation flickers across his face as he gets back to work. Grant uses Umbral Sight, half-expecting a hostile in the room but there is no immediate threat. A tense five minutes follows, and then suddenly Jalt heads to Ethan and hands him the broken Icon once more. Jalt says that he can’t stay here - and he’s going to take a walk. Grant asks how Jalt will find them again, and Jalt says that he won’t find them - he’ll find what Ethan has been given. Jalt promptly leaves the Athenaeum without explaining where he is going. The other Lords of Gossamer have the distinct impression that he was contacted via Icon. They don’t think he ratted them out, but they can’t be sure. They hurry with the packing.
- Ethan has constructed a chair-like backpack which is suitable for carrying Lucien. Isabelle straps on a second backpack, carrying the most vital supplies. Grant and Greywalker each carry a backpack.
- Isabelle leads them out of the Athenaeum via a backdoor which is hidden behind a bookcase. She explains that they are heading for Mechanus, a place that the Dwimmerlaik will not go.
Adventure Summary - Part 2 - The Mobile Stair
- This section of Stair is unlike any that Grant or Ethan have seen before. It consists of ladders, platforms and gantries as many other sections of Stair, but the complex moves on a clockwork cycle. The routes change. New Doors are exposed. Old Doors become hidden. There is a thick mist in this space but there are no obvious walls. The mist inhabits a void.
- Shutting the Door behind them, Isabelle explains that the Dwimmerlaik almost certainly don’t know about this section of the Stair. Also, Wayfinding is hard here because the Stair moves. She demonstrates that it is possible to alter the Stair’s configuration by using controls built into the platforms and gantries. These controls are well concealed as part of the structure - the twist of a handle, the press of a hidden button and the configuration of the Stair changes.
- They travel swiftly along the Stair with Isabelle in the lead and Grant bringing up the rear. Occasionally they have to pause - Isabelle checks an elaborate timepiece from time to time - and she seems to know the natural timing of the Stair in this section. At last, they reach a new Door which is made of shimmering chitinous material. The Door appears to be floating, connected only thinly to the gantry at the Door’s base.
Adventure Summary - Part 3 - The Kuari Princess
- Isabelle opens the Door and the Lords of Gossamer find themselves in a large lounge. Above them are large glass windows and beyond them, stars like small moons float by in a sea of deep blue coloured mist. They appear to be on some sort of vessel, like the Sparrowhawk.
- Surveying the place, Isabelle comments that it appears not to have changed. She consults her timepiece again and says that they need to be back at the same Door in fifty-two hours. In the mean time, they need to lie low and avoid detection. Grant checks with Ethan and Ethan confirms that he already has a Mental Invisibility spell in place (it’s becoming habit).
- Looking around, they find many different races here. Most are humanoid but none are human. The closest to human here are a race of thin humanoids with pale blue skin and protruding foreheads. The Lords try to find a berth but all are full and trying to persuade the purser does not work. Ethan produces the deep orange Beguiling Jacinth that Grant stole from Marindar, with the result that the purser is awestruck and will do anything Ethan asks. A room suitable for four passengers is found, quickly renovated and readied for them. Isabelle is impressed. Grant wonders if Isabelle has herself been affected by the Jacinth as she begins to warm up to Ethan.
* Image by jas-tham on DeviantART
- In their cabin, Isabelle begins casting spells (GM’s note - she is an accomplished sorcerer in this timeline) to conceal their presence and block scrying. The warding is so potent that it significantly dampens their Wayfinding even to the nearby Door. Ethan compliments her and she blushes.
- Over the next two days, the four Lords of Gossamer talk and plan. Food is organised via room service. All have itchy feet but they dare not go outside the warded chamber.
- Isabelle explains that Mechanus is a realm of machine people. It is a strong Eidolon world where Icons do not work easily. Lucien has a workshop there.
- Grant shares his memory orb to help them understand how the Breath of Eden was reversed in the original timeline. Isabelle asks a lot of questions and Ethan listens intently. She is clearly a scientist and an engineer at heart. Together the two of them start designing a machine and the components that they will need to fabricate. Grant again notes a spark of interest between Isabelle and Ethan. They seem to bounce ideas off each other very well.
- Meanwhile, Greywalker snoozes.
- As they work, Isabelle asks about both Grant and Ethan - where they have come from, their connection to one another and their motivations. Again, she seems to warm to Ethan over Grant. Grant is more intimidating with his colossal knowledge of multiple timelines. Ethan is simpler and easier to understand - he’s only recently become a Lord of Gossamer, he’s following others’ leads, he trusts Grant, and he wants to help Lucien and Isabelle without any apparent agenda or ulterior motive. Grant smiles inwardly at the spark between Isabelle and Ethan - there was a spark in the original timeline too so he is not surprised that it has manifested here too.
Adventure Summary - Part 4 - Returning to the Stair
- Fifty two hours pass. The Lords of Gossamer count down the remaining minutes and head to the Door, knowing that the configuration on the other side will have changed. However, things do not quite go according to plan. In the few minutes between leaving their berth and reaching the Door, Ethan feels the tug of an Icon contact. The tug becomes a push. Someone, or probably many someones, are pushing hard.
- Focusing to keep them out of his mind, Ethan calls out a warning to the others while he draws an Eidolon-enhanced pistol. They have been found.
- A dozen heavily armoured Dwimmerlaik with polished broad shields materialise on one side in the lounge. They are led by a narrow-eyed Dwimmerlaik, clad in silver and black, who wields a massively heavy silver hammer. They quickly interlock shields behind their leader.
- On the other side, another group materialises in a green shimmer. Grant recognises the Marindan Defenders - he spots Morrison.
* Image by Graysun_D on DeviantART
- Accompanying Morrison is a Son of Saul, a knight in black and gold armour and an individual (who appears to be a squirrel) sitting inside a twelve-foot high set of powered armour. The Lords of Gossamer are immediately encased in a green force bubble.
- Grant realises that these two groups are operating independently. He uses Umbra, and cuts loose with a shadow-lance to try to kill Morrison. The black spear penetrates the green shield, cracking it, but Morrison evades. Immediately the squirrel fires a canister through the breach in the shield from its BFG (GM’s note - yes, ‘Big F$%#ing Gun’).
- Ethan grabs Isabelle’s hand and triggers a Sorcerous Teleport. He hasn’t done this before, and unfortunately there is a Dwimmerlaik Witch who is trying to prevent Sorcerous escape. Using all of his formidable willpower (GM’s note - Dominant rank Psyche), Ethan forces the spell through, but it misfires. Ethan and Isabelle vanish, along with Lucien (strapped to his back), Greywalker (whom Ethan didn’t mean to take) and some random nearby objects - a comfortable chair, a vending machine and a flying robot waiter carrying a platter of food. Grant notes the explosion of black smoke isn’t Ethan’s normal teleport and he simply has to hope that Ethan knows what he is doing.
- Grant consumes the canister with Umbra as the breach in the green force shield closes up. Whatever the canister was can’t hurt him whilst it’s wrapped in Umbra. He looks left and right, and confirms that the others have bailed. Smiling, Grant blows a hole through the floor using Umbra, shifts into Shadow form and makes a run for it.
- Morrison is shocked by Grant’s sudden exit, and it takes him a moment to dispel the green containment field so that they can pursue. The Son of Saul is the first to dive into the breach after Grant but Grant reaches a Door first and uses his Mastery of the Stair to connect the door to another door on the same vessel. He does this more than once and then lies low in his shadow form. Both the Marindan Defenders and the Dwimmerlaik search the Kuari Princess for him, but he is too good to be found. Frustrated and disappointed, they leave.
- At last, figuring he has beaten them, Grant returns to the Stair only to find that he has no idea where to go from here.
Adventure Summary - Part 5 - Teleport Misfire
- Ethan, Isabelle, Greywalker and Lucien materialise along with a vending machine, chair and the robot waiter inside a futuristic chamber. Ethan’s head is spinning but he has arrived. Staggering, he is the least affected by the miscast. (GM’s note - he has Dominant rank Endurance) Isabelle collapses on the spot, and Greywalker says that he’s ‘gone blind’ and gropes for something to cling onto. Cursing to himself about brainless companions, he reaches the vending machine. Unfortunately they’ve arrived in an unfriendly environment. The inhabitants of the chamber are worm/snake-like creatures with skinny arms and legs. They seem most displeased with the Lords of Gossamer arrival and begin hissing to each other. Ethan doesn’t understand what they are saying (GM’s note - because they didn’t come through a Door) but one of them draws a strange pistol-like weapon.
- Ethan ducks for cover and loses his backpack and Lucien. Greywalker is hit and utters a most undignified curse before he hits the ground. Ethan fires back with one of the pistols that he manufactured in Meridian, killing two of the creatures. One of them hits him with a number of needle-like rounds but they just bounce off his armour. Within a minute, reinforcements have arrived - these worms have powered armour and heavier weapons - but Ethan’s vision has cleared and he does a ‘John Wick’ on them, slaughtering them all. Unfortunately this does not end the mess that they have arrived in. The Lords of Gossamer have arrived on a space vessel, and the worm-like aliens were using needler weapons to avoid piercing the hull. In the second exchange it becomes evident that Ethan’s enhanced weapons will penetrate the hull of the ship, leading to speedy decompression. Unfortunately it gets worse. The aliens decide that their mission has been compromised and they decide to self-destruct the ship by overloading the engines. Over the course about thirty minutes, Ethan is trying to patch walls, dragging his companions to a safe place, trying to convince the aliens that it’s all a mistake (unfortunately any he catches and tries to talk to commit suicide), heading to the drive room to try to disable the self destruct, realising that he doesn’t have time to eject the engines before they go critical, and then trying to commandeer a shuttlecraft and override the docking bay doors to let them escape. (GM’s note - yes, Ethan is a Bad Stuff character. Everything that can go wrong, goes wrong.)
- In spite of these obstacles, Ethan manages to find a way to launch the shuttlecraft before the mothership explodes. He realises that they are orbiting a lush green world, and he attempts to steer the craft safely to the ground. This is harder than he expected because the controls are totally alien. Ethan uses Eidolon to rouse both Isabelle and Greywalker, and they use all of their combined knowledge to land the craft. Ethan gives Isabelle the Torc of Stolvir the Great (said to make the wearer invulnerable) in order to keep her safe, Ethan tries to use Eidolon to keep the ship together, and Greywalker simply ‘buckles up’ and hopes for the best.
- They crash. The ship breaks up on impact, crashing into thick forest. Isabelle walks away from the crash without a scratch, astonished at how she could have survived that. (GM’s note - yes, the Torc is potent) She finds Ethan - he has a bad concussion and his arm is actually broken. (GM’s note - when will Ethan’s Bad Stuff ever end?) Greywalker is still attached to his seat, but the seat itself has been flung high into the trees and he is dangling precariously from a high branch. Isabelle helps Greywalker down, and they look through their supplies to find some morphine for Ethan. They give him enough to knock him out, figuring that he won’t have reserve to be able to block another Icon contact. Greywalker suggests that they find another way off this planet - he can sense another Door nearby on this planet but it is a long way away. Greywalker and Isabelle ward the area and they settle down to wait until Ethan recovers a little.
Adventure Summary - Part 6 - Reunited
- Ethan regains consciousness faster than they expect. Isabelle has splinted his arm to help it heal. She explains where they are, and Greywalker criticises him for attempting a ‘blind jump’. Ethan doesn’t really take it in - his head is muddled and he hurts everywhere. He asks if he should contact Grant given that they were separated. They agree, but Isabelle makes the contact on Ethan’s behalf.
- They find that Grant has continued walking on the Stair and been waiting in another nearby realm for them. He had tried to contact Ethan but found that he was unconscious. The group is swiftly reunited. Grant explains that this world appears to be a highly ordered modern society. He hasn’t seen any rubbish or pollution since he arrived. He thinks the people here could have some sort of hive mind based on the way that they move and interact with one another. Ethan is apprehensive but Grant encourages them to eat and move on quickly. He has a theory that they are tracking Ethan rather than Grant, and they need to keep moving. Isabelle reassures the group that they will be safe when they reach Mechanus.
- Returning to the Stair, Ethan still has a splitting headache and a bad feeling that they are being hunted once more. Isabelle leads the way once more, and both Greywalker and Grant stay close to Ethan to keep him moving. Hours pass. Both Ethan and Greywalker comment that they are sure that someone is hunting for them and that they are nearby. Grant continues to play rearguard, keeping a watchful eye peeled for pursuit. On one of the breaks, Grant asks Isabelle to warn him when they are getting close as he wants to leave a false trail to another location.
- They arrive at Mechanus after ten hours on the Stair. Ethan’s headache has receded. Greywalker and Grant have left multiple false trails and Grant has used Umbra to carefully mask their true destination. Mechanus is a plane where everything is made of moving machinery and intricate cogs. Even the larger creatures seem to be made up of a hive of smaller machines. They show no interest in the Lords of Gossamer. A golden light seems to radiate from everything here - the Eidolon radiance is uncomfortable for Grant. This whole place seems to be one complex system. Isabelle leads them through what resembles a golden forest peppered with the occasional ornate building made of the same golden machinery. At last they come to a structure which is made of the same material but it has an anachronistic slanted roof which stands out. Isabelle produces an elaborate golden key and turns it within the lock. The house with the slanted roof seems too small to be one of Lucien’s workshops but inside, it is much larger (similar to Marindan structures).
- The interior reminds Grant of Clockworld. As Isabelle locks the Door behind them, he finds his Wayfinding cut off to the outside world. It is as if they are no longer in Mechanus at all. A pair of service robots with the numbers Five and Seven greet Isabelle and offer to take their things. Isabelle directs Seven to prepare lodgings for them all and she takes Lucien to a room and makes him comfortable.
- The lodgings here are very large. There are many work areas, multiple libraries and an observatory where the telescope faces inwards rather than outwards. Isabelle assures them that they are safe in this place, and that wards surrounding this place are considerable. She also points out that there are many doorways here, but no doors. This realm is cut off.
* Image sourced from Google Images
- Ethan feels much better after some food. The food is Eidolon-enhanced and it helps his body to recover more quickly. Unfortunately Grant doesn’t feel very well. This place seems to upset his stomach. He goes to rest for a bit. He unexpectedly conks out and sleeps for a long time.
- In the meantime, Isabelle has sorted out the gear that they lugged from the Athenaeum, and the three Lords of Gossamer begin work on the machine to restore Lucien’s memories. Isabelle and Ethan work well together, and Greywalker marvels at how quickly their plans take form. They are aided by three golden servitors - Three, Five, and Eleven. (Ethan notes that they all seem to have names based on prime numbers).
Adventure Summary - Part 7 - The Projection
- Twelve hours pass, and Greywalker retires for a nap. Ethan and Isabelle continue. Ethan remarks that it would be better if some music were playing. To Ethan’s surprise, Isabelle finds some Beethoven, Mozart and Handel in Lucien’s collection. They carry on working for another two hours before Isabelle begins rubbing her eyes with tiredness and she suggests that they should both rest, especially given Ethan’s broken arm.
- As they begin to leave, Isabelle notes that they are not alone. An elegant woman, ghostly transparent is standing in the doorway. Her dress is formal and she is dressed in black and silver. Her eyes glow faintly. Ethan tenses, unsure what to make of this new individual, but Isabelle greets the woman as Dayle.
* Image by Jason Rainville
- Dayle speaks with a beautiful, measured voice. She did not wish to disturb or alarm them while they were working and was waiting for an opportunity to talk to them. She has not been standing by the door for more than a few minutes. Isabelle introduces Ethan to Dayle, explaining that she is one of the oldest and most travelled of the Lords of Gossamer. Ethan expresses surprise that he cannot sense her as a Lord of Gossamer, but she politely explains that this because she is not really ‘here’, but is ‘far, far away’. Dayle seems pleased to meet Ethan but she quickly asks about Lucien. Both Isabelle and Ethan are guarded until Dayle explains that Jalt sought her out and she offers to assist in any way that she can. Dayle says that she ‘sees much that is happening on the Stair’. Ethan asks if they are being hunted and Dayle confirms this to be the case. There are many seeking them out by many different methods. She suggests that they hurry with what they are doing.
- Grimly, Ethan looks back at their mostly assembled machine and he suggests to Isabelle that they press on. Isabelle smiles and says that their enemies won’t find them so easily - they have time to rest. Dayle offers to keep watch and alert them if any of their enemies come close. Ethan thanks her. Dayle says that she will return in ten hours and she fades from view.
- Before resting, Ethan leaves a note for Grant, saying that Jalt has been in touch and has found a new ally. When Grant wakes, he finds the note.
Other Impacts
- So we finally have Dayle in the game. She has not appeared before in the Grant/Ethan game.
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