"I'm sorry I got a friend to look out for me and help me out. "
"I am glad for you."
The giant sighs, as if reminded of lost friends in ages past.
"If none of you have any more questions, I'll go back into suspended animation."
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"That doesn't mean you had to attack poor Cookie. I was right there in your face and you ignored me.""Well, someone trained that horse to jump in front of you all the time, or you where hiding behind it, I couldn't exactly tell..." the giant smiles
Shahorn chuckles at the comment. "When atop our steeds, we use any opportunity to come out on top."
With a nod to the guardian, Shahorn shakes his head and rejoins the group. The aspect of returning to civilization makes him smile.
After some travel you arrive at Eliza Baratella’s office. You present your findings to her and she is very happy. She asks you if you could present your claim to the ministers of Alkenstar’s High Parliament.
They normally convene monthly to discuss important political issues in the Clockwork Metropolis, but recently they’ve been having near-daily meetings to discuss the ongoing crises besetting the city—namely the rogue Brass Guardians and the increased pressure from the shieldmarshals to junk the whole clockwork force.
"There's a meeting tonight. I'll make sure your statement is put on the agenda"
Some information about Alkenstar Government
Alkenstar is a parliamentary democracy, ostensibly a vassal of Nex, but in practice an independent political entity. The nation’s High Parliament consists of 73 elected representatives from the city’s various factions and Alkenstar’s holdings of Martel and Dongun Hold. Parliamentary ministers are elected for 5-year terms and can serve as many terms as they can win elections. The parliament is largely responsible for issues of finance, the passing of new laws, and oversight of the grand duke or duchess and any officials she appoints to other government positions.
The grand duke or duchess is elected by the High Parliament from within the body’s rank and serves for life. The grand duchess serves as both a figurehead for the nation, as well as the arbiter of irreconcilable conflicts within the High Parliament. She is responsible for appointing offices of Ironmaster, Lord Armorer, and High Chamberlain, opposing stations established to serve as political checks.
Responsible for the security of the Grand Duchy, Ironmaster Ytharia Vulane is in charge of the city’s shieldmarshals, whom she commands from the enigmatic Vault of Secrets deep beneath the city—a nigh-impregnable subterranean fortress sometimes called Irondoors by the public. Lord Armorer Narda Hufftwood controls Alkenstar’s industrial complex, including the Gunworks, and thus can regulate the flow of firearms and other technological wonders both within Alkenstar and beyond its borders. High Chamberlain Lael Branain serves as the executor of the laws passed by the High Parliament, including taxation, dispensation of government funds to other entities, and the bureaucracy that handles the nation’s daily operations.
That night you are invited to tell your story before the council, inside the Hall of Administration: a grand affair resembling nothing so much as a stadium, with rows of seats for the ministers to perch on as they listen to whoever stands in the center of the chamber.
All 73 members are present. Including Grand Duchess Trietta Ricia, High Shieldmarshal Armand Meneley, High Clockmother Athenth Llanalir, and Aredil Sultur.
"Next issue. A group of pathfinders have allegedly uncovered some evidence of foul play somewhere in the Mana Wastes. We do have many other issues on today's agenda, so I hope they won't waste too much of our time."
them toward his agenda and against Eliza, so you'll need to display concrete evidence if you are to convince the High Parliament of Sultur’s treachery.
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"Words are what we need here, not fire." the gnome whispers.
Davoliznakamuska puffs up his chest and does his best to stand tall.
"Dear Ministers of Alkenstar, honored appointees of Alkenstar, we thank you for your time. It is not simply foul play that we have covered, but the very reason for your malfunctioning Brass Guardians. Sabotage, indeed, is at hand."
"A rare mineral called eidite, found in the Karggat Hills, has the rather remarkable property of causing a construct to stop responding to their master, and furthermore to cause grievous harm to anything around it. At the Sultur Mill this mineral our organization found free citizens enslaved and forced to mine the mineral, under the watchful eyes of mutant ogres. The goods were then transported to the Megator Facient for refinement by ratfolk chemists, among others. At these locations we procured correspondence that indicated the mind that engineered the slavery, outfitted the mutants and their allies, and directed the chaos that plagues. It almost pains me to say this, gentlefolk, but I fear the evidence found points to one of your own number - none other them Master Aredil Sultur!"
With this Davo produces a portion of the documents found in the facient.
With this Davo produces a portion of the documents found in the facient
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The gnome begins a long and damning recounting of the various pieces of have evidence, calling forth testimony of witnesses and prisoners, mixing in the various arms, letters and ledgers found at the two locations. HIs voice grows hoarse from the recounting of all that has been found.
Krauss' Journal
Kogra's correspondence
Samples of eidite.
The pistol with Sultur's maker's mark.
Testimony of the guards
The simple fact that Sultur's mill was used for havesting components for eidite.
The testimony of Eliza's assistant (assuming he's been magically healed by now.)
The letter to Syckar - as well as the tome that held the pistol found later.
A musket with the same maker's mark as the nobility.
I belive we had the name of the priestess of Brigh as well - Korga?
With an overwhelming amount of evidence and (a great speech) you have swayed the High Parliament toward their side, and the guards are ordered to escort Aredil out of the Hall of Administration. He is arrested and placed in the Vault of Secrets until he can await a proper trial, which you are asked to attend.
The trial is planned and a week later you find yourselves back in the Hall of Administration, waiting for the accused to be brought to justice.
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"No! No, no, no! We are not in the Worldwound or some Ulfen kingdom. Here we will keep our noses, and the name of the Society, clean. In the meantime, perhaps we can do some research on Aredil Sultur. It would do us well to know as much as we can about the architect of this evil."
Davo intends to busy himself with wandering about town, asking all the right questions in all the wrong places.
Alkenstar
An isolated bastion of civilization in the magicblasted wasteland known as the Mana Wastes in western Garund, the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar is one of the most unique cities in the Inner Sea region. Alkenstar stands atop a massive cliff overlooking the Spellscar Desert, the mighty Ustradi River bisecting the settlement as it flows over the Alken Falls on its way north to Nex. The city’s mastery of science amid the unpredictable magic of the Mana Wastes has Alkenstar’s influence extend beyond its local region, and its innovations such as firearms, clockworks, and alchemy keep it a relevant part of the larger economy.
History
When the wizard wars between Geb and Nex ended in the 6th century ar, few were certain that the magic-scarred borderlands between the two rival nations would ever be inhabited again. Where entire towns, fortresses, and even cities once stood now lie only shattered ruins and the ragged corpses of ancient battlefields, landscapes marred by the foul influence of arcana that rivaled the power of the gods. Indeed, for centuries the region seemed entirely devoid of life and intent, a realm lacking reason and madness, host only to dead air and a sense of utter emptiness.
It would be nearly a thousand years after the end of the Geb–Nex wars before the first signs of life stirred once again in what became known as the Mana Wastes. Dread mutants—shuddering beings incomparable to any other forms of sane life—slowly trickled out of the Wastes, alerting scouts on both the Nexian and Gebbite sides of the border to the presence of a previously unknown danger. Even then, few sane humans dared to traverse the spoiled region, so plagued was it by lingering toxic auras and fell magical energies.
As time continued to ease the tensions between Geb and Nex, so too did the hostile powers of the Mana Wastes slowly fade. Criminals and outcasts from both wizardly nations fled to these shattered borderlands. To most, this escape was as good as a death sentence, so few pursued their quarries into the Mana Wastes. The fates of the people who fled to the Mana Wastes was unknown to most outsiders, and the idea of entire clans of civilized humans living there was considered a ludicrous notion at best. This changed in 4588 ar, when the infamous engineer and supposed bandit Ancil Alkenstar fled from Quantium to the Mana Wastes, following the winding Ustradi River as far south as he could to flee from his wizardly pursuers in Nex. Few doubted the ingenuity of Alkenstar, who had contributed to many of the most spectacular inventions of Quantium in his decades of service to the Council of Three and Nine, and many saw his escape to the Mana Wastes as an event curious enough to warrant further attention.
Alkenstar, for his part, underestimated both the power of the Mana Wastes and the tenacity of the other refugees who had fled here in centuries past. Along the toxic waters of the Ustradi, he encountered forces both malignant and benign—bands of roving humanoid mutants as well as entire tribes of hardy folk who had subsisted in spite of the harsh environs to which they had been outcast. It was this latter group of people that most captivated Alkenstar’s attention, as in them he saw the potential to create a new type of society in the region he now tenuously called home.
All in all, Alkenstar counted eight clans of fellow refugees along the Ustradi River. It didn’t take him long to gather these peoples into a unified cause—all agreed that there was power in numbers, and that their odds of surviving drastically increased if they established a singular settlement. The eight leaders of these individual tribes became the first members of Alkenstar’s High Parliament, with the man himself appointed as Grand Duke by popular vote. Alkenstar continued to serve in this capacity until his death from old age in 4650 ar.
There was no sign of treachery in Alkenstar’s passing, and the High Parliament quickly and seamlessly followed protocol and appointed a new Grand Duke to take their leader’s place. Rule over Alkenstar has changed hands several more times throughout the years since Alkenstar’s death, but none so far have matched the skill and acumen with which the original Grand Duke led his city. The person closest to achieving this honor is the current ruler of Alkenstar, the Grand Duchess Trietta Ricia. But even under her watchful care, the City of Smog is a massive, writhing beast of bureaucracy and industry, and with each year additional perils and challenges reveal themselves to the Alkenstarians living within its walls. Nevertheless, it is nothing short of a miracle that the Clockwork Metropolis has become what it is today in such a short time— its booming population and increasingly wondrous technology a fair indicator of the shrewd and cunning people who reside there—and the city shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Alkenstar Timeline
Alkenstar’s history is short but remarkable, and the City of Smog’s booming growth is regarded as nothing if not miraculous. The following timeline details some of the most notable events that shaped Alkenstar and its people.
–892 ar War between Nex and Geb starts; the first skirmishes along the Ustradi River mark the center of what would eventually become the Mana Wastes.
576 ar Though the war between Nex and Geb officially ends, the nations leave in their wake a huge swath of magic-warped land along the border.
1278 ar The first Mana Wastes mutant is sighted by a Nexian scout close to the border.
4588 ar Alkenstar is founded by Ancil Alkenstar and the eight assembled refugee clans of the Ustradi River valley.
4595 ar A massive mudslide threatens to wipe out the young city of Alkenstar. Rebuilding takes place at the top of the Hellfallen Cliffs instead of at their foot.
4608 ar Tinwound Hydroplant is constructed over an ancient Nexian mage tower.
4619 ar Devotees of Sarenrae and other deities begin construction on the Bridge of the Gods.
4620 ar Construction of the Gunworks is completed.
4623 ar Construction of the Bridge of the Gods is prematurely abandoned.
4645 ar Construction of the Screw is completed.
4650 ar Grand Duke Alkenstar dies of old age.
4652 ar A fire in the Mandrake Factory kills hundreds of workers and bystanders.
4678 ar Mutant slavery is outlawed in the Grand Duchy.
4683 ar A sudden outbreak transforms many of Ironside Quarter’s denizens into mutants. The Grand Duchy begins taking measures to quarantine the district.
4684 ar Large quantities of explosive charges are detonated around the quarantined Ironside Quarter, demolishing the district and sinking its denizens and holdings 100 feet below the rest of the city.
4685 ar Eliza Baratella of the Guild of Brass creates the Brass Guardians to watch over the abandoned Ironside Quarter and protect the city from mutant depredations. Tensions mount between various factions that oppose this move, but the commonwealth celebrates Baratella’s inventions.
4690 ar The Gorilla King sends an army through tunnels beneath the Shattered Range to attack Alkenstar. In the end, the Mwangi forces are defeated, but not before they are able to steal the Gunworks’ largest bombard.
4696 ar The periodic fluctuations of primal magic normally contained to the Ustradi River spread to include the entire Skyside for an unprecedented 8 months.
4710 ar Professor Radpol finishes her miraculous automaton, the Blackwork Ephemeron.
4713 ar The current year.
Factions
Alkenstar’s booming population and relative safety from the prying eyes of Nex and Geb have attracted all manner of industrious and varied folk, including entrepreneurial engineers and traders, innovative metallurgists, and ragamuffin gangsters with little to lose.
Blythir College
The only magical academy officially recognized by the Grand Duchy, Blythir College is much smaller than most centers for arcane study found throughout the Inner Sea region—due in part to the inherent danger of studying arcana anywhere in the Mana Wastes. Blythir’s last graduating class was only eight students strong, and that was a significant improvement over the year before, during which half the seniors tragically perished in an accidental and unquenchable arcane fire. Only the determined or the foolish come to study at Blythir College, whose curriculum is almost solely based on harnessing the power of primal magic.
Brass Guild
The famous clockwork sentries that watch over and protect the majority of Alkenstar, the Brass Guardians are a wonder of technology that can be attributed almost solely to Eliza Baratella and her small coalition of like-minded engineers, the Brass Guild. Originally designed in 4685 ar to face the mounting threat of mutants crawling out of the recently abandoned Ironside Quarter, these automatons were found to be so successful in protecting Alkenstar that they are now distributed throughout the entire city. The bold move to make these constructs the primary defensive structure for the City of Smog was met with no small amount of opposition among the High Parliament. A minister herself, Baratella narrowly managed to sway her associates to her side. The most vocal opponents of the Brass Guardians’ institution as defenders of Alkenstar included High Shieldmarshal Armand Meneley (who felt his own troops would be neglected in the face of these “clockwork monstrosities”) and Minister Aredil Sultur.
Espara’s Paladins
One of the several criminal gangs that hold sway in the seedy underbelly of Alkenstar, Espara’s Paladins is anything but the group of chivalrous knights its name might suggest. Instead, its members include mishandled outcasts, frustrated orphans, unrepentant bullies, and even a few violent human mutants. Most of Espara’s Paladins believe themselves to be the products of a corrupt society, and the only way to improve their sordid existences is through calculated violence and guerrilla rebellion, both against rival gangs and Alkenstar’s aristocratic elite. The gang’s founder and leader is the cunning orphan, Espara. Rumors report she is only 19 years old, despite her influence and reach in Alkenstar’s criminal circles.
Lithos Clan
The enigmatic Lithos Clan is an exclusive collective of metallurgists operated entirely independently of Alkenstar’s Gunworks. The clan’s unwillingness to share its discoveries with the Gunworks inspires no small amount of tension between the factions, but none can deny the metallurgical mastery of the clan’s finely crafted inventions. A secretive group of business-minded metallurgists oversee most of the research conducted in the Lithos Clan’s massive workshop, the Burnished Factory. When the leaders make public announcements, their designated speaker is always the same person: a one-eyed woman who flatly introduces herself each time as Burnisher Pendlyn.
Shieldmarshals
Alkenstar’s elite police force, the shieldmarshals, is a marvel of military and organizational prowess. That the hero Alkenstar was able to instigate such a law agency in the disorderly Mana Wastes is a noteworthy feat in itself; on top of that, the Grand Duchy pushes forth the resources to equip each one of these professional gunslingers with a firearm to call his or her own while on the line of duty.
While Alkenstar’s heroic military is often purported to be a herald of discipline and service, corruption has still been known to seep through its ranks. Indeed, the tortuous hierarchy through which its members seek constant advancement encourages dishonesty, if one aims to excel to the highest echelons of the organization. The honorable
High Shieldmarshal Armand Meneley does his best to keep a tight rein on his troops and keep order within the shieldmarshals, but the convoluted structure of the organization almost guarantees his perpetual frustration and fruitless efforts.
Impressed by your speech and thorough research High Shieldmarshal Armand Meneley has been willing to fill you in on things happening in and around town.
"I wonder if our efforts will do anything at all? It sounds as though Minister Aredil has many friends, and that perhaps security of the town is secondary to games of power. I hope, dear High Shieldmarshal, that my perceptions are misplaced."
"To be honest, I didn't have much faith in those Brass machines, so I wasn't surprised they malfunctioned. Your proof has convinced me that sabotage was involved and that they might actually work. They will never be able to replace real lawman like my shield marshalls, but they might do simple stuff like keeping things getting out of the Ironside Quarter." The Shieldmaster replies. "with many of the brass guardians out of commission my shield marshalls are quite overworked."
He sighs,"Even the people he might have bought won't try and defy the evidence, so I think this trial will be fast. At least when it finally starts. We've been waiting for quite some time now!"
The doors burst open and a shieldmarshall walks through and immediately goes to High Shieldmarshal Armand Meneley, whom he hastily informs. They clearly don't look happy.
The High shieldmarshall seems to ponder over several different options and then turns to you.
"He escaped... It seems his money went even deeper than even I had thought. A group of gun-wielding mercenaries ambushed the prison transport and took him. They went to Auburn Hill where they hijacked an airship, which was last seen flying directly towards a storm in the manawastes. Luckily no one seems to have been killed during his escape, but now we've got big problems."
"I don't have anyone to go and hunt him down, due to the disabled brass guardians many of my men have duties inside the city and as Aredil has not yet been convicted, non-shield marshalls are not allowed to take action against a Parliamentary minister."
"We can have the trial without the defendant and hopefully get a guilty verdict. Than we can remove him from office and put a bounty on his head. This will take time however and will increase the chance of him getting away."
"No, that's what I said, you don't have permission until the court decides so. His allies might even stall this process, so that might take long."
He suddenly smiles
"There might be another option! I could deputize you and then you would have the authority! What do you say?"
The High Marshall takes you to his office where he gives each of you a Deputy badge.
"Hereby you are deputized to uphold the law and... actually we'll just skip the speech and you go and kick his ass!"
"Next problem. With the manastorms, you'll have a hard time to find a captain that is willing to risk his or her airship. Any of you have an idea?"
Shahorn contemplates where to get an airship to chase after them.
"We are still not overly familiar with storms such as this. Should we risk it by airship or are there other methods to chase after them?"
If you want to buy a ship, you certainly could (the two diplomanceers in the party would get you a nice price even in this rushed situation). An Alkenstar airship itself would probably survive a storm as they don't depend on magic, but a random discharge from the storm could kill a regular crew member with ease. As 14th level characters are tougher, you would have a good chance walking away.
Other means of travel would either be slower, which would give them the opportunity to get away or depend on magic, which could potentially backfire.
You make your way to Pilot Point, one of the two places in Arkenstar where airships are docked, where Davo negotiates with the admiral of the Aeromantic Fleet, Sodara “Sour” Londa. She agrees to sells the party one of her airships, but you have to sign a document promising you will not use it for commercial flights anywhere near the Arkenstar region. After making the first payment you board the ship and take off and head to the manawastes.
Shahorn expertly pilots the ship through the raging manastorm.
A wave of positive energy washes over the ship!
The sound of booming cannons fills the air!
A high-pitched ringing accompanies the feeling of weightlessness, everyone has to hold on or float away!
Reflex!
Succes
Fail!
Succes
Succes
Succes
Lumikello starts floating into the air!
"Guys! I seem to have a weight problem!"
Marduk succesfully uses his whip to hook Lumikello and hauls her back onto the ship.
You continue your journey and a few hours later you see the other airship moored. You descend and moor your airship next to it and you find trail leading to the remains of a railroad track.
While following the tracks the manastorm calms down and you see a old and deserted town in the distance. Tumbleweeds roll past you as you approach the main street.
"Stop right there!" Aredil Sultur shouts out from the other end of the street.
"You and your faked evidence have forced me to hijack an airship to escape my own city so I can defend myself against your false accusations. If you withdraw your statements and confess you falsified those documents I will allow you to leave this place alive."
Through the windows of various buildings you can see the crew of the airship tied up and facing the street as unwilling spectators.