The beast attacks Serena hit , she is unconscious.
The beast then constricts Carlao and attacks with its other tentacle hit , grab success but he is still alive and conscious.
Carlao tries to break free unsuccessful.
Dima moves and summons positive energy
Asher, Falko, Angus, Cretien
Cretien steps back (5ft step) and sets up his turret, which fires at the nearest enemy in line of sight. (i think the guy on Falko)
Asher double moves .
Falko casts grease and slickens up the barrier and the tracks.
Angus casts cure light wounds on whomever needs it
Cretien does his move behind the train as the train increases speed crushing the beast into the golden seal closing it shut, breaking the last remnants of Sijhen's ritual. Demolishing the beast as it goes. The subrail train takes some damage but the large beast has seemed to have cushioned the technical damage for the most part.
Combat Over
Carlao says, "Wow, this is the sort of stuff you guys get into. It is so much different to experience it first hand. My team were somewhat apprehensive when Saxby gave us the clean up job on the Macbannin case but you guys are good."
Johnathan lets out a whooping cheer when the train smashes the beast into the golden seal and it closes, laughing with adrenaline. "We're alive, we did it?" He runs both hands through his messy hair and laughs again, shouting to echo in the tunnel: "Sijhen is dead!"
He'll clasp Cretien's shoulder as he passes, and grins to Falko. "You're mad."
Cretien, still on his guard, says, "I only hope that was the last of that."
Carlao says, "Huh, what? We need to apprehend the Chief, what did she do? We need to figure out how to get out of here. There should be a man hole about two blocks up."
After following the darkened subrail tunnel that is underconstruction for about a minute or two. There is finally a ladder leading upward and hopefully to the street. You climb the ladder and luckily since it is so late, there isn't much traffic on the streets at this hour. After climbing out, you jog back to the RHC where the police and RHC members are doing the remaining mopping up of the flying beasts outside. The last one falls three rounds after you first show up.
A junior member of the RHC just out of training says, "That was a close one, Constable Escheus. Those fluctuations were maddening!"
The Rookie says, "She jumped in a carriage and said she was going to try to get help from Governor Stanfield."
The rookie says,four or five minutes ago. Towards Bosum Strand
Johnathan and rest show up towards the end of the conversation.
The constable says, "Ok, could you check on the ACI, too?"
"I'll check on Delft. You can go ahead, Falko." Johnathan will look for Delft in the last place he saw him.
Johnathan goes up to Delft's office and after some trial and error is able to get him snap out of his muttering of "They cannot have my brain!"
Falko makes his way up to Saxby's office and goes to where he remembered the safe to be.
Cretien will head upstairs with the others, assisting where needed.
Cretien cracks open the safe skillfully listening to the tumblers click as he gets the correct combination. But due to Falko mentioning the secret keyhole, Cretien is able to disarm a nasty trap and the well-hidden safe opens. Inside you find a great deal of case files. But on the top is a golden disk that looks like the night sky. Three shelves are totally empty.
Falko
You spread the stacks of papers and the golden disk on the desk to look through.
Falko
The stacks of paper need to be sifted through like a fine tooth comb. You can get a clearer picture of how she made your investigation into Macbannin more difficult but the extent will take some time to figure out.
Delft comes into Saxby's office to see what you are doing. Delft says, "The chief is dirty? Sorry about the freak out. Those beasts just tried stabbing my brain. Fill me in."
Johnathan follows along with Delft, making sure he's stable--then hurries over when he sees the star map. "Wow..." He looks it over excitedly.
Johnathan
"Fascinating..." Johnathan turns the map a few times, then grins to Delft, "It's different. S-slightly. I'm not sure what that means. I'd have to really study it."
Delft says, "Fascinating, the chief is on the lamb. Finding and catching her shall prove to be difficult. During the war she was our key agent in Danor and in Drakr with vast connections in the Malice Lands. We will search her home to find any clues about where she may have gone but more importantly would be details about the group we're looking for."
Falko
Delft says, "Kell again. Rat bastard."
Your group goes home for some rest and relaxation.
With Saxby out of the picture— on the run—the constabulary needs
leadership. Lord Viscount Price-Hill was pulled out of bed a few hours before his scheduled train to take him back to Slate the capitol. Delft and him are in some serious meetings the next day and a press conference is called for the evening. In a ceremony attended by dozens of reporters, most of Flint’s nobles, and more than a few concerned criminals, Lord Viscount Inspector Nigel Price-Hill charges Stover Delft with the office
of Chief Inspector.
The Lord Viscount commends Delft in his opening remarks, and
Flint’s Governor Roland Stanfield briefly congratulates you for your
actions and to a lesser extent of Carlao's team. Then it is time for Delft to speak. His words have been written for him, and they’re only noteworthy for how little is actually said. The
official story is that a monster got free from an Ancient ruin, came to Flint, and killed people in an attempt to recover old relics.
No one says anything about any creatures from other worlds, or of
Saxby’s betrayal, and certainly nothing about any secret conspiracies.
Delft has always trusted you, and now that he’s in charge he’s going
to give you the free hand you need to get to the bottom of this “Obscurati” conspiracy. With more care and caution than he has ever mustered before, Delft makes sure before the big ceremony to speak to each of you individually. He warns you not to share anything you know with anyone aside from him, no matter how trustworthy they might seem.
Johnathan will probably be busy tinkering and crafting--probably sharing Cretien's workshop, if he'll allow.
IV. Always on Time
Act 1: If You Choose to Accept
RHC Flint Local Headquarters, Central Quarter Flint, 35th day of Autumn 500aov, 10.00am. Unpleasantly hot
On your way to the office, each of you was given a personal note last night by special courier instructing you to meet Delft on the party's ship.
You make your way across town to the Docks where the RHC's vessels are moored.
Mere days ago you learned the name of the conspiracy: the Obscurati.
They have kept their secrets well. Though twice their plots have endangered
Flint, both were accidents—an earthquake released a flood of deadly magical
fuel they were refining on Cauldron Hill, and an alien monster freed by their
tinkering with ancient magic nearly pulled the RHC headquarters into an insane
far realm. You don’t know what their ultimate designs are, but what you’ve seen
suggests they have access to many resources.
Your boss, Chief Inspector Stover Delft, asks you to meet him aboard your ship, far from any possible spies. The conspiracy seems overconfident in their ability to keep secrets, and they don’t know how much you’ve learned. But you have a time and place where you know this ‘Obscurati’ will be gathered: the 20th of
Winter, in Vendricce. It’s time to plan your next move.
“I apologize for not bringing pastries and coffee,” Delft says. “This meeting needs to be as hush-hush as possible. I have the first tiny bits of a plan in my head, but it won’t work if any spies get wind of this. Loose lips sink ships and you,
constables, are going overseas.”
Cretien remains silent, paying attention to what the Chief has to say.
"The lips drown too.." Johnathan whispers, but is listening intently to Delft.
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Chief Inspector Delft pacing furiously and then says ‘What I am about to mention should not be mentioned to anyone, not one word of this meeting to anyone, ever. Trust no-one. The only people who can ever know what we are doing are you and me and I think I may have someone else who has been on assignment until recently. We are the only ones we can trust – understood.’ You believe him: he has had your back since the Duchess and the MacBannin Case and felt as undermined and backstabbed as you when Saxby turned out to be talking with the other side.
[b]‘The Obscurati:
a) A secret organisation with a lot of money, and a lot of clout.
b) They have an interest in the Ancients, archaeology, and portals to other planes.
c) They were somehow involved in the MacBannin case, some of them are nethermancers, and like shadow magic
d) They wear rings that identify them.
e) Their members include both Danorans and Risuri nationals.
f) Lower tier members, like Finona and Saxby, have no idea what higher ups in the organisation is doing or who runs it.
g) There is some sort of Obscurati meeting on the 20th of Winter, in Vendricce
'Have I left anything out? If not, we need to thrash out a plan to find out who the hell they are and what do they want. Any ideas?'
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Asher and Angus
Delft says, "Kell is definitely a priority but all of you are too well known for us to get the information to bring him down. We will be sending in lesser known faces to gather some more intel. Our constables are currently searching through Saxby's mansion as we speak and we will try to put together a good picture of what she was up to. In the safe we have found some extremely incriminating evidence about how deep she was in the OB and how she was passing info to Macbannin and how Kell's team were able to gain access to our HQ. About six months ago she had ordered in a work crew to do work for repairs on the basement of HQ and what they did do was install rusted iron rings in the stairwells.They have some serious Bleak Gate connections. We are still discovering more.She kept detailed records."
Delft then spits out some chaw over the edge of the ship and says, "Yes, Quital. You should definitely pay him a visit or his family while on your visit to Chryssilir."
He then hands you the brochure.
Delft says, "The train leaves on the tenth of Winter and it takes a ship about a week to get to Beaumont."
"so we will have 2-3 days on scene before the meeting."
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Delft says, "Yes, that is right. Our agents in Danor will be purchasing tickets for you in the First Class coach for the trip and handing them off to you upon your arrival in Beaumont. The reason you need to take the train is due to the letter from Bergeron to Finona Duvall you uncovered while you were in Ber. Sea voyages can be somewhat unpredictable and that is why I factored in a ten cushion before the train leaves. You will want to leave for Danor with plenty of time to spare, in case of complications along the way. I suggest the 85th of Autumn, about 50 days from now.
An unmarked RHC ship can drop you off in Beaumont in Danor; then sail ahead to Vendricce to help with your extraction after the meeting. The train moves faster than the ship, but due to terrain it would be possible for your ship to be in Trekhom when the train is scheduled to arrive on the 13th, as a contingency in case things go wrong. It could also be in Sid Minos when you arrive there on the 15th. From there it would still be able to reach Vendricce by the 16th. We have pieces of the picture but not the whole thing. Bergeron mentions other OB agents being aboard that train, so it is imperative to find out who they are so you can find out who is there and get us descriptions. This time we get to go on the offensive for once!"
He then paces back and forth spits out another bit of tobacco juice into the sea.
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He then says, "So, we have seven weeks to prepare. I propose we focus on these three things:'
'1. Secrecy. This represents keeping up appearances so that any Ob spies who are watching you don’t get suspicious, or simply hiding from the spies outright. Some ideas for this goal might include: doing busy work and leaving a fake paper trail, acting secretly, or even locating Ob spies. Failure to do this right will endanger all the other parts of the mission. If Saxby was able to infiltrate who knows how many others there could be.'
'2. Cover Identifies – . Before going undercover in foreign countries, we need to make final decisions on identities, and to ensure that they withstand scrutiny. This is not only for the Ob: RHC constables in Danor, Drakr or Crissilyir would get tossed out of the country or arrested as spies. Some ideas for achieving this goal might include: getting visas, passports and other documents, getting appropriate clothing grooming and accessories, rehearsing personalities, additional research, practicing accents, and so on. Angus, an elf running around in full plate has a nostalgic charm but civvies seem the order for this one.
'3. Contingencies. We can lay the groundwork in advance to make your task easier. Examples might include building alliances (using coded letters?) with groups on the docks and ports you might be visiting across the sea, Falko this might be a good chance to enlist some of your people and building alliances in other landlocked stops and enclaves, perhaps arranging for allies to also be present on the train – perhaps even low-level RHC agents, either as passengers or staff. We could pre-arrange for care packages or pre-arranged sending ritual locations, or even pre-arranged teleportation circles at set locations. Whatever you can think of. We need to be discrete, build on personal alliances, and be very exact with times and dates.'
'I propose that the five of you choose one specific goal to focus on each week, making sure that at least one of you is successfully keeping the whole operation secret. We’ll meet here weekly each week until 85th autumn – hopefully we will be ready by then; and still secret.'