- GM’s note: I was expecting Ethan to return to Tyrnador with Hilda, but that wasn’t how it played out. Grant is back in the fold, and the Voidship cannot remain hidden for long….
At the beginning of this session, we have two active clocks in play:
“Another Group Arrives” which is 2 of 8. – indicating that Ethan/Isabelle will not be alone with the Voidship for much longer. As to who or what is coming…. I’ll not comment here.
“Explore the Derelict Ships” is 0 of 12 – indicates how many of the key vessels surrounding the Voidship have been explored.
They have already “Secured the Voidship” (clock completed) but of course that situation may change.
Some folks will note that the colour scheme of these posts is changing. I’ve been struggling to bring >500 posts over from the old Rite Publishing forums without spending 10+ mins on every post to reformat them. I’ve made some changes in the base Blog format so that it is easier for me to bring them across.
I am behind on these write-ups, hence I’m going to summarise a little more than usual.
Note that 24th July is coming up again - which would mark another year of this campaign.
Discoveries in the Nebula
- Ethan tells Isabelle that he’ll assist for no more than seven days. He doesn’t feel it is appropriate to delay Sir Amlyn any further. He then contacts Grant via Icon and Grant agrees to help. They fill him in and Grant recognises the importance of the find. (He was busy but this seems more important) Employing his Mastery over the Stair, Grant moves the Door to a more secluded area which is close (but not too close) to the Athenaeum.
- Over the next few days, the three friends work hard to survey and explore a number of the notable vessels in the nebula. Grant quickly proves his worth as he is familiar with many of the ships - these appear to be a gathering of vessels from many different realms. He finds the energy drain most intriguing and is determined to find what is causing it. Grant is perfectly at home in the void, and he shifts form in order to aid with their explorations.
- Isabelle brings in more equipment to assist with their explorations but their performance degrades swiftly unless Ethan ‘calibrates’ the battery storage cells with Eidolon. Even then, the batteries still drain, but more slowly.
- It is during these activities that Taneer, the voice from Ethan’s stone, decides to help them. He (she?) encourages Ethan to approach and board the winged Eldar cruiser. Taneer believes his race to be long gone but he hopes to be proven wrong. Taneer helps them to board the cruiser, and for Isabelle to access some of the ship’s records. It is during this venture that Taneer is able to identify an advanced ‘bone golem’ that can be animated by his stone - which gives him a body that he can use (even though he cannot truly feel his extremities). Taneer shares some information with the three friends but chooses to withhold some of the information.
- On the third day, Isabelle receives an Icon contact from Cal. Cal inquires as to whether she has heard from Lucien, and asks for Isabelle to look for references in the Athenaeum to the individual known in Tyrnador as the Necromancer. Cal senses that Isabelle is not in the Athenaeum and he warns her not to leave ‘the Heart’ unguarded. Isabelle reassures Cal that she will look into it and the connection is broken.
- Meanwhile, back in the Athenaeum, Hilda is reading her third Jane Austin novel. She doesn’t even bother to talk to Schroedinger as the Cat never talks to her. It seems to lurk, and occasionally scowl, but never talk. She wonders how Ajax, the Horse Lord, is doing. Ethan has taken him home for the time being - but the Horse Lord was very ‘put out’ that the adventure was not yet over. Ajax urged Ethan to ‘make haste’ and return to the Baroness’ quest.
New Arrivals
- Grant works tirelessly to explore the many ships, scouting ahead of the drones. Isabelle’s goal is to acquire as much knowledge (and information) as possible before someone else arrives. Ethan is certain that it will happen and that time is running out.
- Grant excels at being stealthy, but they have been pressed for time and sent a number of drones into various ships. Unfortunately that drone activity has ‘woken’ one of the dormant (dead?) colony ships and a handful of mechanoids, running on minimal power, have been activated to assess the threat. One of Isabelle’s drones is captured and the mechanoids interrogate it to understand more about who is surveying the graveyard of ships..
- Avoiding the mechanoids, the friends continue to work away. However, they remain alert for further troubles. Ethan’s Divination spells indicate that someone new will arrive shortly.
- By the fifth day, the friends have acquired a small horde of antiquities and relics, plus navigational information from half a dozen ships. Taneer has been exceptionally helpful in decoding and deciphering what is important. Ethan can sense no deception from the ‘angel’ - it seems that their interests are aligned for the time being. So far, Taneer seems happy to be helpful, and his only interest was in reaching the Eldar ship early. (The “Explore the Derelict Ships” clock is currently 7 out of 12)
- The friends are expecting trouble from the Door (even though Grant has moved its location) but it is also possible that another ship will arrive or someone will arrive via sorcerous means. On the fifth day, another Dwimmerlaik vessel arrives. (The “Another Group Arrives” clock is complete - 8 out of 8) This one is smaller, and Grant identifies it as a scoutship. It is still powerfully armed for its size, but it will have a small crew. The danger lies in its ability to call in more reinforcements. Grant has prepared the group for the possibility of a second Dwimmerlaik ship - and he has advised them to let them be caught in the same situation as the other ships. In short - to watch them, but carry on with their investigations as quietly as possible. Onboard the Dwimmerlaik Voidship, Grant cuts the Door’s access to the Stair so that the Dwimmerlaik will not realise that it has been connected without close inspection.
Quietly Quietly
- Keeping a careful eye on the Dwimmerlaik, the friends continue their explorations. The Dwimmerlaik focus their attention on the Voidship but have difficulty claiming it. To begin with, their ship suffers the same power-drain as all of the others. Then a series of calamities (facilitated by Grant) causes damage to their ship and injury to the crew. Even when they reach the Dwimmerlaik ship, Grant and Isabelle have left ‘surprises’ to make their lives difficult. In shadow-form, Grant stalks the Dwimmerlaik, making sure that he knows their capabilities and weaknesses. (Their clock to “Take Control of the Voidship” never gets beyond 4 of 6)
- Ethan and Isabelle continue to focus on the remaining ships. They recover a number of relics, some large, some small. They download the databanks of as many ships as they can find. As the days wear on, there are fewer interesting vessels to pick over although there are undoubtedly interesting finds to be made in all of them. The topic of inquiry shifts to what is drawing all of these ships here - they cannot be appearing here by chance.
Not the Cavalry
- On the seventh day, the Dwimmerlaik have finally gained a level of control of the Voidship. Grant is not worried about this as the ship doesn’t have enough power to escape the graveyard, and he feels that he could take back control of the ship relatively easily. For Ethan, there is always one more ‘shiny’ ship to investigate further before he leaves. For Isabelle, she believes that she has solved the mystery of the debris field: she believes that there is another ship here - one that they cannot see. (The “Explore the Derelict Ships” clock is complete - 12 of 12)
- Leaving the Dwimmerlaik Voidship, Grant flies through the void effortlessly in his shadow-form to look for this vessel. His Umbral Sight allows him to see things that others cannot.
- A cloaked ship is discovered. A ship which cannot be seen by normal means. It appears to be made of bronze and it carries the sign of a hammer and anvil on its side. Grant has never seen anything like it but it is large (about half a mile long) and it is ‘out of phase’ with the rest of the graveyard such that other matter can pass through it. It is Taneer who identifies the bronze vessel - it’s the property of Hephaestus, the Olympian god of the forge.
- This revelation stops them cold - they know how vengeful and petty the Olympians can be. If this ship is bringing other vessels here and immobilising them, they would be unwise to interfere.
- Isabelle is dismayed. She wants to investigate further, thinking only of what mysteries remain undiscovered. However, Ethan has had enough. He doesn’t mind coming back to delve ‘carefully’ but it is time to return to Hilda and the Baroness’ quest.
- Grant is torn. On one hand he wants to investigate further, but he would also like to go with Ethan on this quest to meet the Troll King. At last he decides to stay with Isabelle to make sure that the Dwimmerlaik don’t discover Hephaestus’ vessel, or manage to take the Voidship. He agrees to stay a ‘few more days’ and open a Door to enable Ethan to return to the Athenaeum.
- However, there is a problem. In trying to create a new Door from this realm to the same place on the Stair that the Voidship was connected to, he discovers that there is no longer a blank Door in that place. The Door on the Stair is once more ‘connected’. This has never happened to Grant before and he realises that the Door on the Voidship has been reactivated - even though only a Master of the Stair could accomplish this, an unknown Master has done it. It must have been done recently or else he would have noticed it earlier.
- Ethan’s plans to leave via a Door are hastily abandoned as there is the risk that the Dwimmerlaik could access a part of the Stair that the Lords of Gossamer wish to restrict. Grant shifts into shadow-form and swiftly returns to the Voidship. (they have been using the Eldar ship as a base) Ethan uses Sorcery to ‘peek’ as to what is going on the Voidship.
- To Ethan’s surprise, the Dwimmerlaik Voidship has been boarded from the Stair. A new group of explorers has entered the ship from the Door on the Stair. That hardly seems possible given the Door’s location but it has happened. Ethan relays this to Grant via Icon.
- Unfortunately the team which arrived has been hit almost as soon as it arrives, running afoul of the many traps that Ethan and Isabelle set up to disrupt an incursion from that side. The explosions draw the Dwimmerlaik’s attention and soon there is a firefight in progress between the two factions.
- Ethan uses a mental connection to share what he is seeing with Isabelle. The Dwimmerlaik seem to be putting up a spirited defence and it’s only a matter of time before they call in reinforcements. The intruders from the Stair seem to be wearing armoured suits - they are clearly very well trained. Ethan can tell that some of them have Ranked Warfare.
* Image sourced from Google Images (clearly it’s from Altered Carbon)
- Grant arrives on the Voidship and begins investigating as the battle rages. It does not take him long to figure out who these guys are - they’re one of Mordecai’s Raven Teams. A quick conversation via Icon ensures as the three friends try to work out what to do - should they help Mordecai or just slip away.
- Isabelle doesn’t want to leave just yet but Ethan has had enough. From his point of view, they’ve done enough exploration and unless Mordecai has brought an Umbra Master with him, he’s not going to find Hephaestus’ ship. Grant wants to stay and watch the Raven Team in action. Isabelle agrees to withdraw her drones, watch and wait for the ‘dust to clear’.
- It doesn’t take long for the Dwimmerlaik to call for reinforcements. Another Dwimmerlaik ship arrives via Sorcerous teleport - this one is larger and is likely to carry troops.
- As the battle unfolds, Ethan points out that their explorations will be well covered by this ‘fiasco’. The new Dwimmerlaik ship will likely be power-drained like the others, and the mechanoids will probably detect this new activity and come to investigate. Isabelle can hardly take her eyes off what is unfolding - it is like watching a car crash.
- Taneer calmly tells Ethan that he should go, and promises to be in contact, suggesting that he make an Icon of him. Ethan is very surprised by Taneer’s offer - the bone-golem vessel that he is inhabiting is expressionless and often silent. Ethan ends the Farseeing spell, and says goodbye to Isabelle. He then contacts Hilda via Icon and leaves.
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