Steamworks & Arcana
Campaign Introduction
Setting
Set in The World of Vallia similar to our own during the late 1800's or early 1900's in a European/American environment. This world has evolved in tandem with a high level of magic, so most technology is built around such magics.
- Gunpowder (or its likeness) has not been discovered or utilized, so weapons are still stuck in mid evil levels (swords, axes, bows...).
- Transportation for short distances is handled by horses or other living creatures, automobiles do not exist yet. Long-distance maybe covered by a limited number of trains. Few tracks do cross the continent, but they do cross.
- Humans are the dominant species of the world, but all the high fantasy races do exist (elves, dwarfs, gnomes, demons...). The level of interaction they maintain with the humans will be decided by the players.
- The rest of the make up of the campaign and story will be dictated by the backgrounds of the characters. Example: if someone wants to make a mariner, there will me more ocean mapped out.
- I personally like the idea of a large scale war in recent history (10-50 years ago) but it is not required.
The feel for this campaign will be similar to a steam-punk style with high magic; examples of this would be Fullmetal Alchemist, Final Fantasy VI or Eberon
Story
This intends to be an epic quest with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
The story will be a contemporary character driven piece, i.e. character's motivations and goals will drive the plot forward, no plot for plots sake. Therefore, the plot will be generated from the backgrounds of the characters that are provided to me.
It should also be noted that since I have not run many campaigns (4) and only a handful from this mentality (2), the greater lead time I can have with character backgrounds, the better.
Characters
What Happened
Chapter 1: A Gathering of Heroes
The Dream
All the characters started the campaign with the same dream:
Standing alone on a ship, you lookout across a large body of water. Off in the distance, you see a beautiful city glowing with a white light. You've never seen sucha a city. As you are looking, you notice a ripple in the water. You look closer in the water and you see a gigantic sea serpent encircling the ship. Suddenly the open maw of the serpent springs from the water directly towards you, but you awake before it strikes.
A Fallen Hero
Martigan Swift arrives in Renas to request his commission be reinstated. He speaks with Colonel Alexander, the young new commander of the Anti-Piracy Strike Force (APSF). Alexander dismisses Swift's request, saying that "Pirate hunting is a young-man's game", but he does advise that Swift's former commander, Colonel Marsh (ret.) is in Renas. Swift tracks down the retired colonel, who informs Swift that his daughter Mary Anne, who is heavy with child, has been kidnapped. Marsh says the only clue, was a hankie found at the scene with the initials "VR", and he assumes it must be some pirate from their pasts doing this. Swift jumps into action (after a quick drink) and boards the first train to Salet.
An Elven Wanderer
Vectra has been wandering from Welling, finding her way to the main continent. After awhile, she purchased a train ticket to Salet. While on the train she encountered Martigan Swift carousing and enjoying himself, but given her nature, she chose to keep her own company. After disembarking the train, Vectra noticed four men following her, Martigan noticed this as well. Vectra lead the men into a dark alley in hopes of eluding or ambushing them and Martigan followed the men to see if the lady needed assistance.
The four men cornered Vectra in the alley so she unsheathed her sword and prepared for attack. Hank and Chet (two of the attackers) prepared to defend themselves, but after two quick blows from Vectra's elven blade sent them to the ground. Martigan quickly disarmed the other two (one literally) and sent them on their way. Martigan interrogated Hank and Chet and discovered that they planned to kidnap Vectra and meet with the ship "The Sea Star" to sell her off, but they knew nothing else as to why.
After the conflict Martigan and Vectra found a tavern (one of Martigan's old favorite haunts) and discussed their next move when the burly Kardik Brunst arrived. Kardik had heard that The Sea Star had recently been sighted nearby, after following up with Brunst's contact, Brunst offered his services and ship "The Clementine" to the party and they set out the following morning to hunt the Sea Star.
A Sagacious Grey Man
Meanwhile, Groth awoke due to a bucket of water being tossed on him. The first-mate of the Sea Star stood on the other side of some bars from him. Groth realized that in his sleep, he'd been moved into the brig during his sleep. The first-mate informed Groth that Captian Vincent Rufello had some words for him. The Captain Arrived, and told Groth that even though, he was an able crewman and an excellent fighter, he "knew what Groth was" and could not allow him on the vessel any longer and Groth was set to be sold and the first opportunity. Groth did not know what fate had in store for him, but he chose to go along for the time being.
Fight on the High Seas
After throwing together a plan, the crew of the Clementine prepared to get information from the crew of the Sea Star. Martigan swam to the rear of the Sea Star, and climbed up the back, while Vectra stayed on the Clementine and readied her bow. Five of the crew of the Clementine rowed over with various supplies in a boat and meet with crewmen from the Sea Star and pretend to be making a trade. Martigan then began quickly dispatching opponents on the ship, and when the crew of the Sea Star realized something was up they started attacking the crew of the Clementine. Captain Brunst saw his men get struck down and ordered the Clementine's main cannon fired. The blast was a lucky one and caused great damage to the vessel, making the locked cell door on the brig move enough that Groth could break it open with a powerful blow. Once free, the former pirate joined the fray, taking on his former first mate.
Upon realizing that his ship maybe lost Captain Rufello began climbing to the crows nest. Having freshly pacified the majority of the crew, Martigan saw Rufello, and gave chase. He grabbed the nearest rope, cut where it was tied and flew up to the top of the mast. After getting to his feet, Martigan began to approach Rufello all the while asking why he was interested in Vectra and what he did with Marry Anne. Rufello was evasive in his responses and when Martigan lunged at Rufello they both fell off the mast. After falling into the sea, Martigan attempted to save Rufello, but he was no where to be seen....
- Martigan's experience 1
Chapter 2: Trouble in Vorschland
Hot on the Trail
After rescuing the survivors of the Sea Serpent, Groth joined with Martigan and Vectra. He knew that a pregnant woman, matching Marry Anne's description, was aboard the Sea Serpent a few weeks ago and had been dropped off in Randgriz a couple weeks ago. The party made haste to the northern city and have begun running down leads.
After speaking with the dock-master, the party learned that a shipment from the Sea Star had been unloaded to the North Vorschland Trading Company. Running down this lead yielded little results when speaking to the warehouse manager at the NVTC so the party spoke with the warehouse manager across the street, who was concerend about the possiblity of an abduction of a young pregnant woman. He assisted the party by introducing them to his son who was friendly with the workers at the NVTC and in turn helped the party sneak into the warehouse after hours to retrieve the manager's secret ledger that detailed a shipment that was received the same day the Sea Star was in port and then delivered to a Dr. Klein in Wilkshire, a small town a half-day's ride from Randgirz. Impulsive and with a new lead to run down, Martigan urged the party to hire a stagecoach that night and head to Wilkshire. During the ride, Vectra slept, Martigan made conversation with the driver and Groth meditated.
Dr. Klein's Scientific Pursuits
Upon arriving in Wilkshire, the party wasted no time in finding a tavern and learning the whereabouts of Dr. Klein's residence. Given the late hour, the Klein estate was dark when the party got there, but that didn't stop Martigan from pounding on the door until the good doctor answered. While waiting for the door to be answered, Vectra climbed a tree near Dr. Klein's bedroom and sneaked inside through a window to search the upper levels.
Martigan's incessant knocking eventually awoke the scientist and he came down and opened the door. Obviously irritated to be visited at such an hour the Dr. asked "Are you from the society?" Martigan and Groth answered "No" and proceeded to interrogate Klein about Mary Anne. Once realizing that these two men meant him harm, Dr. Klein bolted down the hallway and down some steps to his lab with Martigan and Groth giving chase.
Bounding down the stairs in pursuit of Dr. Klein Martigan and Groth came face to face with a horned monster. Martigan became unnerved at the sight of the creature, but Groth, used to fighting such things, moved in for the attack. Groth traded great blows with the beast until he sucumded to his wounds and fell unconscious, but not before Dr. Klein, wielding a odd gun and a scepter, shot Groth with the gun (this blast had little effect on Groth, this fact was unnoticed by Martigan). With the beast soften up, Martigan was reinvigorated and charged in, finishing the mighty beast and then subduing the doctor.
During all of this, Vectra had found the doctor's study and, more importantly, his journal.
In the aftermath of the combat Martigan called for Vectra to help Groth in his recovery. Martigan and Vectra attempted to question Dr. Klein, but he the beast arose and in a final effort decapitated Dr. Klein. But not all was lost. In the lab the party found Mary Anne and one other pregnant woman alive and well. The party made sure the women were comfortable and helped them into a cart to take them back to town.
On the road back to town. The party encountered the new members of the APSF. Lieutenant Gideon Blake greeted the party and said that Colonel Alexander had told them Martigan Swift may need their help in recovering Mary Anne. The party said they safely had Mary Anne and that Dr. Klein was dead. The APSF said they would go and try to recover as much of Klein's research as possible.
The party returned to Wilkshire, took the women to a mid-wife to get checked out and then to the inn for some rest. After waking, the party found that one of the women (not Marry Anne) had her child, a baby girl. And Vectra and Martigan returned to Klein's to speak with the APSF and see what they could find from Klein's mansion, but the house was belching with flames and the strike force was no where to be found.
With the mid-wife's assurance that Mary Anne had seven days before the baby would arrive the party left for Randgriz to return to the main continent and return her to her family. The other rescued woman joined along, saying she was from Salet. The party also began to consult Dr. Klein's journal for their next move.
- Groth's Experience 1
Chapter 3: A Job Well Done & Demon Hunting
Returning a daughter to her family
The party returned to Randgriz and after a night of rest, departed on the Clementine back to Salet, where they returned the other woman to her family. Not wasting any time, the party boarded a train and then took a carriage to Marsh's estate. The party was greeted as heroes for bringing the maiden home.
Martigan had spoke with Marsh about their travels and Dr. Kleins Journal, specifically that the timing of when Maximillian Rufello commissioned the totem lined up with when Martigan's wife passed. Marsh said he had no idea of where Rufello was currently operating, but knew of where some of the merchants that delt with him still reside. Leonid Lessig resides in Kestel, Boron Axebreath in North Cape and Garl Knockwurst in Goodwin.
The party meet in the morning to discuss their options of where to go. Martigan was anxious to pursue Rufello to confront him about his wife. Groth had his interest piqued to find the ruins detailed in Dr. Klein's Journal. And Vectra was curious to see where the party would go. Ultimately, it was determined to head to the ruins before Kestel to seek out Lessig. And they set out.
The Dark Ruins
After four days of travel (and a couple midnight encounters for Martigan). The party found themselves in Westbe, a small town on the river south of Steinmann Lake, where Groth was instructed to go to find more information on the temple. The villagers knew of the ruins and said periodically travelers seeking wealth and adventure would come through town looking for the ancient ruins. And the party found out that just such a group and been through a couple days ago.
The party left Westbe in the morning and arrived at the ruins in the mid afternoon. It appeared to be the ruins of a temple, and they were holding together surprisingly well, but even in the mid-day sun a dark shadow was cast around the temple. Groth attempted to walk into the shadows, but was consumed by them. Fortunately, he was thrown back out.
But then, a voice from behind said "Hello Sister". The party turned around and saw a man calling himself Harragin with 9 other archers and swordsmen. Harragin asked the party to turn Vectra over to him, they resisted and he sent his swordsmen after them, while the archers fired upon Martigan and Groth and Harrigan shot lightning at them from his hand.
As the party defended themselves the the outline of a phoenix began to glide across the shadow, illuminating an area safe to walk on. After taking quite a bit of damage from the archers (but not much from the swordsmen) the party leaped across the gap and landed safely in the lit area and walked easily to the temple, with Harragin standing at the edge of the shadow cursing their escape.
Chapter 4: A Quest Revealed
Inside the Temple
After finding safety in the ruins, Groth tended his wounds and meditated on a course of action. Impatient as ever, Martigan began venturing forth into the temple proper to see where they were. In the main room Martigan found the remains of a Library. All the books and shelves had long since rotted, but the structure itself seemed to still hold together quite well. He also saw pictures carved into the walls along side words written in a language he did not recognize. The pictures seemed to show an ancient culture who would talk to plants, mountains and other parts of nature, and seemed to hold the sun in high honor. When Vectra caught up to Martigan, she found she could read the inscription. It said:
"We the Oshilian people have traveled long and far to build this outpost. We shall bring our knowledge and enlightenment to the darkness of this savage area. May the blessing of Illurai be upon us."
It was then Groth arose from his mediation and the party decided to press on and see what the higher levels of the temple had to offer. The second floor appeared to be living quarters, the third had a kitchen, the fourth held a study and the top held an open room that lead to a balcony that encircled the tower and large polished bronze disc 20 feet in diameter. Groth was the first to the top, and saw no one there. But when he returned with Martigan and Vectra an old man came out from behind a column. The man introduced himself as the Librarian, and implied that he had been waiting for the party to arrive at the behest of "The Queen". He said that Vectra was "The Prophet" and it was her responsibly to find "The Treasure". He said that she had completed the first step of assembling the guardians, saying that Marigan was the Guardian of Might, Groth was the Guardian of Spirit and Vectra would fill the role of Guardian of Mind. He then said he would grant the Guardians their birthright. Having each party member stand in a specific location on the disc, The Librarian granted the party great abilities. He then said the next steps were to find the second half of the amulet, retrieve the pieces of the treasure and to find the door. Saying that the tattoo and would guide the way and that goals of the Guardians may be inline with the goals of the goals of the Prophet.
The Librarian said he was from Oshilia, an ancient mythical race of great knowledge, that was once located far to the south where it is now covered in ice and snow. And that with the help of the temple, he could transport them anywhere they desired.
Taking the time to rest, the party sat down for dinner, where Groth revealed his dark secret: that he lived by eating the flesh of humans and human-kin. Having seen Groth's resourcefulness and righteousness, Martigan and Vectra would help him find the cure, but only if he "watched what he ate". The party then slept.
Upon awaking they decided to head to Kestel next to track down Leonid Lessig in hopes of finding information on the whereabouts of Maximillian Rufello. As promised, the Librarian instantly transported them to the outskirts of the Imperial Capital.
A Hero Succumbs to Weakness
Shortly after getting to town, Martigan felt a strong urge for a drink. And spent the next several hours carousing and imbibing spirits. Through out the day, he shared many of the party's secrets (including Groth's), got in a fight and almost added a woman to his list. But the day was not lost. Both Groth and Martigan discovered that Lessig was now the Secretary of Commerce to the Emperor. The word around town was that Lessig was paranoid and keeps a large staff of guards on retainer. But that evening, a coronation for the new Emperor is scheduled and he is expected to be there.
After Martigan finished his binge, the party headed found Lessig's estate and tried to get him there. But when they knocked on the front door, the dwaven butler who answered said Lessig had already left for the evening. Martigan told the dwarf that he needed to get a message to Lessig that "Martigan Swift had information regarding the Hathaway Diamond". Martigan was still a little drunk. The butler told the party to wait there while he delivered the message.
Impulsive as ever, Martigan nudged the door open and had a brief encounter with a guard. He asked Martigan to leave, Martigan chose to disarm the guard (amazingly). Martigan then asked the guard to take them upstairs, and he did... right into an ambush (the second one in two days). Right away, Groth was hit with a crossbow bolt, and fell unconscious from the wound. Martigan and Vectra cleaned up the rest of the guards, but then the Dwarf returned and cast sleep spells on Martigan and Vectra. Now with all of the party unconscious in the house of a murderer and torturer, what does fate have in store for them?