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Dramatis Personae
Player Characters
- Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
- Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire
- "The Druid" – A female human druid with no name
- Lieutenant Paragon Douglas – a human fighter, officer in the royal navy, and professional investigator
- Rosemary – A female human ranger
Non-Player Characters
- Commander Kand Hozla – A grizzled veteran of the TLDF (Trinellonde’s Lantern Defense Force). A middle-aged male damyana, athletic build, weathered face, and with an enchanted prosthetic arm. Openly critical of Governor Pevinai. Short-tempered. Annoying nasal voice.
- Draigas Vong – A very tall, elderly damyana male with long hair and unkempt wizardly robes. Has long studied the nature of Sols, but has made very little progress and as such has begun to despair.
- Lord Gonren Nostrod – Young male zorakith and Lord Berdek's nephew. A talented telepath and died-in-the-wool cynic. Haughty and amoral.
- Aiwasse – An air weird, imprisoned within the dungeon and freed by the players
- Captain Zebediah Krummel – Male spindlefolk of the Black Worm Pirates. Captain of the Winterwind. Cold, cruel, and ambitious, he seeks to improve his standing within the Black Worm Pirates by taking the Sword of St. Trinellonde. Eight feet tall with a long-coat, a dented cuirass, a horned metal helmet, and long black hair and beard.
- Dr. Darius Hammond – Male spindlefolk: thin, bespectacled, and with slicked back hair. A doctor and magical advisor to Captain Krummel. Taken prisoner.
- Jeremiah – Male spindlefolk: young, mop of brown hair. Another pirate taken prisoner.
- Governor Thirla Pevinai – A corpulent female damyana who wears flamboyant suits. She is strict, demanding, yet surprisingly charming and genial. Secretly crippled by massive debts. Can barely get anything done, due to lack of good help.
- Archmage Trinellonde – The severed head of the long-dead archmage and founder of Trinellonde's Lantern, preserved in a jar of liquid and kept in a semblance of life through necromancy.
Summary
The heroes continued exploring the Trinellonde’s secret laboratory. After overcoming a number of other traps and hostile encounters, they found the central chamber. Three steel blast-proof doors blocked the chamber, and inside were a gang of pirates.
The leader of the pirates identified himself as Captain Zebediah Krummel of the Black Worm Pirates, and revealed that they were the ones behind the bombing. They had come looking for the Sword of St. Trinellonde, only to be trapped in that chamber. Little did they realize, the “sword” was actually the piles of arcane machinery all around them.
Three glowing gems were apparent on the doors: white, black, and blue. As the players continued exploring, they found a room with a demon who seemed to be dilating the passage of time. They freed him and he disappeared. The white gem went out.
They returned to the room with the spatial distortion and shattered one of the black mirrors on the wall. This caused the spatial distortion to collapse, and the black gem went out.
They found an air weird imprisoned in a glass terrarium, who identified herself as Aiwasse, and only wanted to be set free. They smashed the glass, and she temporarily possessed the body of Rosemary, the ranger.
With that, the doors opened, and as the heroes returned to the central chamber they were attacked by the now freed pirates. Wilkins tossed the gas canister looted from a trap, causing the pirates to be driven mad with hallucinations, but also affecting the Druid. As Lieutenant Paragon and Rosemary finished off the pirates, Taiyo and Wilkins went to aid the Druid in recovering her senses.
The surviving pirates were taken prisoner, and the heroes proceeded to the central chamber. They found the Sword of St. Trinellonde, and soon they were greeted by the preserved head of Trinellonde himself. He explained that the dungeon was a test so that his secrets would only be passed on to a worthy successor, and he was very annoyed to find it had taken 700 years for a bunch of foreigners to find it.
Nevertheless, the heroes emerged from the laboratory with Trinellonde’s head in tow, who admonished his countrymen for their complacency. Commander Hozla took custody of the pirates, and the heroes were invited to a celebratory banquet at the governor’s mansion.
The governor, a damyan woman named Thirla Pevinai, practically begged the heroes to let her mages copy Trinellonde’s spellbook. Trinellonde shot down that idea, stating that it was his rightful property, and that, if anything, the governor should be rewarding them.
Realizing that Trinellonde had made up his mind to join the foreigners on their quest, Governor Pevinai relented, and promised the heroes a fleet of six warships to escort them and ensure their success.
With that settled, the heroes decided to set course to the world of Argus, home of the All-Seers, a race of prophets. The wise woman Hagora deGurn of the Vasana Range had advised them to visit there, to know what dangers might lay ahead of them.
TL;DR
The players continued exploring the dungeon and found the gang of pirates responsible for the bombings, who had accidentally trapped themselves in the central chamber of the laboratory. They solved the puzzle locking the door and defeated the pirates. In the central chamber, they found the "Sword" of St. Trinellonde, which turned out to be a powerful directed energy weapon, and the preserved and necromantically-animated head of Trinellonde himself. The governor of Trinellonde's Lantern promised the heroes a fleet of six warships to escort them and ensure their success. Thus the heroes set out for Argus, home of the All-Seers.
Concluding Thoughts
That turned out to be a really satisfying dungeon crawl, even if it did take longer than expected. I think this phat loot does an effective job of hinting at the dangers that are yet to come. I gave them a weapon of mass destruction and a fleet of six warships, after all.
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