Quest Summary
December 18-19, 2016
Campaign Day 23-25
Participants: Amai, Ceru, Faendal, Krazztar, Rethkka
Location: The Snake & Ladder Tavern, Allfeld, Nestora
MISS SOPHIA is decorating the SNAKE & LADDER TAVERN in preparation for the orc holiday LIFE DAY, which she has always celebrated so her son JAMES is exposed to traditions of his people. While she decorates, a SHARP DRESSED MAN who has been sitting in the tavern asks her to recount some of the traditional Life Day stories, including one about a man who is visited by three spirits, the Ghosts of Life Day Past, Present, and Future.
Meanwhile, a courier arrives to deliver a note to ISAAC, which is written in a cipher he used to use when he associated with COMRADE DELTA. It says that she needs his assistance and asks him to meet her at a night club, but does not give more details.
Location: The Widening Gyre Nightclub, Braidwarth, Nestora
AMAI, CERU, FAENDAL, KRAZZTAR, and RETHKKA accompany ISAAC to the WIDENING GYRE, an avant garde jazz club in BRAIDWARTH, Nestora’s artists borough.
COMRADE DELTA explains that the NESTORAN GUARD has established a security cordon around KIRAVI due to the riots and protests that have broken out since the terrorist bombing. Delta is concerned for the safety of a pregnant woman named LAYLA, who is currently behind the cordon with other members of the militant faction of the AUTONOMOUS FRONT who are agitating in Kiravi. She asks Isaac and his friends to help extract her from Kiravi, but warns that she will likely be reluctant to come with them.
Our heroes scout the checkpoints along the cordon and formulate a plan to pass through early the next morning with JAMES driving them in his delivery van.
Location: The Dreamlands, aka The Fade
That night, AMAI, CERU, FAENDAL, KRAZZTAR, and RETHKKA each dream that they are visited by the spirit of a slave in chains who identifies himself as the GHOST OF LIFE DAY PAST. The Ghost shows each one a memory from their childhoods. In each memory, they are able to see events from outside their own points of view, and each one sees that the SHARP DRESSED MAN from earlier was present around the periphery of events, the same age as he appeared at the Snake & Ladder.
Location: Rouge Et Noir Tavern, Kiravi, Nestora
Before dawn the next morning, our heroes use their ORDER OF FORLORN HOPE deputy cards to pass through one of the checkpoints. They proceed to the ROUGE ET NOIR TAVERN and find LAYLA, who reveals that she is COMRADE DELTA’s sister. After some debate, she agrees to leave Kiravi for the safety of her baby, but before they can leave the tavern, they are confronted by Layla’s friends, STUDENT INSURGENTS from the AUTONOMOUS FRONT. Our heroes easily defeat them, but in the confusion their leader, a chaos mage named GREGOR, is able to take LAYLA captive and escape.
Location: Kiravi Park, Kiravi, Nestora
Our heroes track GREGOR to the large park in the center of Kiravi, which has been occupied by insurgents, protestors, and students who have constructed a makeshift tent city.
After some investigation, they learn that LAYLA is well regarded amongst the some of the denizens of the occupied park, many of whom are distrustful of GREGOR and his militant allies. They also learn that Layla is expected to appear at a LIFE DAY celebration ceremony to be held in the park that evening. The occupiers agree to do what they can to aid to aid Layla’s extraction, but warn that Gregor’s allies are affiliated with COMRADE OMEGA.
Location: The Dreamlands, aka The Fade
AMAI, CERU, and ISAAC each take a nap while waiting for the LIFE DAY celebration to begin. Each one again dreams that they are visited by a spirit, in this case, a young girl who identifies herself as the GHOST OF LIFE DAY PRESENT. The spirit shows each a vision of something happening in the present. ISAAC sees that the DARK ACADEMY has been reopened with the new child pilots being forced to drift with drones powered by HELLION brains. AMAI has a vision of her brother ARMEN and the Blood Mage KRAZZTAR (the other one) in a village where they have just slaughtered all the inhabitants. Krazztar makes a reference that the MOONCHILD is expected to arrive as planned tomorrow. CERU sees LAYLA being held captive inside a tent while GREGOR and COMRADE OMEGA meet with other insurgents outside. Layla is speaking to shadowy, supernatural entity inside of a mirror, who is implied to be her unborn child’s father.
Location: Kiravi Park, Kiravi, Nestora
Upon waking, CERU tells the others what she saw, and they find the tent where LAYLA is being held. They are able to sneak in and free her before anyone notices. As they flee, COMRADE OMEGA and GREGOR begin to pursue, but our heroes are able to lose them in a crowd of friendly occupiers creating a distraction.
Location: The Widening Gyre Nightclub, Braidwarth, Nestora
AMAI, CERU, and RETHKKA return LAYLA to COMRADE DELTA. They then contact LADY VALOURIA, who comes to oversee Layla’s delivery. Lady Valouria explains that a MOONCHILD is a baby born with the spirit of an OLD GOD, who will grow to become a powerful magic user with the potential to reshape the world, either for good or for evil. Because of this, most attempts at conceiving a MOONCHILD are terminated either during pregnancy or during the child’s infancy by those who fear its power. She explains that the last Moonchild who survived to maturity existed aeons ago and was able to unite warring nations and build an empire that lasted for centuries. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that the child be raised by people who can instill within it a virtuous moral philosophy to ensure it will grow to use its power for good. AMAI decides that she wants to raise the child.
Location: The Dreamlands, aka The Fade
AMAI, CERU, and RETHKKA have one final vision that night, each dreaming of the SHARP DRESSED MAN, who identifies himself as the GHOST OF LIFE DAY FUTURE and admonishes them that they are foolish to allow the MOONCHILD to be born and to live. This time, the spirit shows all three the same thing: they are gathered in KIRAVI PARK for the LIFE DAY CELEBRATION at some unknown point in the future. There is a large crowd gathered around them as everyone looks to the skies, which begins to change colors and swirl with otherworldly energy until a giant glowing EYE takes shape and the ground starts shaking and breaking apart, filling the crowd with terror as they gaze up at the incomprehensibly massive BEING that is blocking out the night sky.
Location: The Snake & Ladder Tavern, Allfeld, Nestora
The next morning the inhabitants of the SNAKE & LADDER celebrate LIFE DAY, but they are interrupted by the appearance of LUCY, LADY VALOURIA’s apprentice, who is bearing the newborn MOONCHILD. She turns the baby over to AMAI and informs them that LAYLA died in labor. Amai names the baby PRIM.
