Season 2, Session 1 – In Sprite Of

Dramatis Personae

Previously . . .

After things have calmed down a bit, Trapper sniffs out and memorizes the Crystal Sprite’s scent and tries to track down where it came from but fails due to the issues with the scents and battle and the length of time.

Morning Meditations

Keel-Breaker, Rhum, Trapper, Tiro, and Unit 7
Abandoned Kani Crystal Mine
Windsday, UST 14th, 2,982 Fourth Reckoning, 4th hour of the Moon
Outside Cinderfrost Terminal, Western Span

While that’s happening, Seven’s stoat pet comes out and starts talking to him, telling him to start socializing because otherwise other shards of personality will be coming out with or without his permission while Unit Seven still insists that it’s a Imperial Combat Cog and soldier. The stoat tells him to pay attention because what it’s about to say next is important. We go over to Tiro immediately who is trying to help Tessikai and building a pen or container for the large bear cubs. Tessikai insists that the bears need milk or something. She tells Tiro that she can’t provide it, she’s only 14 and not pregnant and very confusion for Tiro.

Trapper, in the meantime, takes Keel-Breaker back to the large room while he eats leather and other things and they locate a very large frame backpack with a chain wrapped around it beneath a stone protruding shelf and crystal sprite remains. The chain seems to resonate with one wrapped around Keel-Breaker and connects. It’s noted that there’s a pinhole of exit on the opposite side of the cave where differently scented air coming from. Rhum checks everyone out and praises Altan about making sure that there’s a place to rest on the way. A slightly cheeky thanks. Eventually, he makes his way into the large room where he notes Trapper and Keelbreaker in position staring under the stone shelf. Trapper tells him there’s a hole on the other side. Trapper shoves a torch through the hole and pokes an eye to the hole, looking through for a moment and seeing a large, large amount of kani crystals inside.

Trapper suggests getting Tiro to shore up the walls with his woodshaping while they break a large hole into it. Which Altan really, really wants to happen when he learns what’s there. There’s some notes that there seems to be some prior work in the area, obviously, and that the stone is strong enough with 4-5 feet of stone between the large room and the kani crystal geode. With Tiro shoring it up with the old mine timbers shaped with woodshaping. Rhum notes that the kani crystal geode has rather high spirit energy inside but no specific knowledge about what’s there. Seven holds Altan back as they break through the wall. Keel-Breaker holds his hands up to hold the ceiling up before noticing that Rhum is whacking at the wall, and Keel-Breaker has something like a pickax too.

Keel-Breaker offers to strike the wall while Rhum holds up the ceiling, which is still far above their heads. He notes that he’s got a pick-ax, or rather that he’s got a very, very large anchor that looks like a pickax. As Keel-Breaker, Rhum, and Tiro do physical labor, Trapper investigates the rock remains for geology and prospecting. On the other side of the cave, there’s a very, very large amount of kani crystal inside and very long passageway that goes beyond the visible, lit distance. The kani crystals are silvery that pulse with light and have weird looking striations of metal in them. The wall is also pockmarked throughout like pumice stone. The kani crystal are Volance crystals that relate to the element of Metal, a really rare type of Kani crystal that isn’t normally seen in this amount. Rhum and Keel-Breaker don’t understand much while Keel-Breaker attempts to gnaw on and investigate the Kani Crystals.

Trapper and Seven know that it’s not just Volance Kani crystals, but that the striations are Mithigan that was leeched from the rock, hence the pockmarked walls. Seven even knowns how one might extract the crystals. Trapper watches how he extracts the crystals and attempts it himself, extracting two more sprays of crystals from the walls. Since they’re no longer constabulary, the crystals don’t have to go to the Duke. The might even belong to Cinderfrost Terminal area.

Rhum and Keel-Breaker staring at the crystals that line the wall, Altan dismisses the volance crystals and heads back to bed. Rhum tries to investigate the cave further but gets stuck in the entrance. Trapper moves immediately down the hole, following it down 400 yards where there’s a giant cavern filled with water and ice Kani Crystals. He manages to extract a spray and slowly drags it back down the tunnel to show the rest of the group. He shows it to Rhum who offers to take it the rest of the way back to the wagon. They go to bed for the night, Trapper waking up next to two baby bears, a giant taura, and a 14-year old healer.

The storm has lightened up a bit, so if they wanted to they could head out. Tiro breaks down his stuff while Trapper cooks for everyone and figures out a milk substitute for the bears. Rhum looks at the weather, trying to determine how the weather will be. Looking out over the horizon into the blizzard, he sees a shimmery-shiny dot that could be snow until it comes right up to his face.

It informs Rhum that it’s been sent to escort them through the blizzard. It’s a very, very, very tiny person, cold blue eyes with no pupils and long blue hair and pale skin and patterns and striations all over its body that look like snowflakes and a robe. Keel-Breaker attempts to sniff it, it smells cold and sweet like wintergreen. It informs them that they’ll need to take the blizzard road, which is on no known map. Rhum bellows for them to pack up and head out. Altan gets up into the wagon, letting others break down the camp. Once outside, the spirit leads them for a bit and then lands on the snowy earth and then start vibrating. It opens a path to the spirit world, a path emerging into the heavens for the wagon to be able to follow along, with Rhum leading the way. It’s soft, spongier than earth and seems to split the air along the path.

Trapper is the only one that has any misgivings about following some random spirit demanding to know who sent the spirit and why it was sent and there is no good answer. They follow the path above the clouds, moving faster than what would be on the ground. And then they encounter a huge wall of clouds and ice, hurricane force winds with debris, stones, and timber as the path forms a tunnel through it.

The spirit road drops down towards the ground, leaving them some ways away from a city built into the side of a mountain with steam and airships travelling around. They’ve arrived at the outskirts of Cinderfrost Terminal, and it stir something inside Keel-Breaker. The mountains seem familiar. The ships seem familiar. He recalls being on one. He was separated from his tiny Gremian friend when the ship crashed and he got separated and ended up in the cave with the Crystal Sprite. But the rock formations remind him of something, a fuzzy feeling, a feeling like déjà vu, like he’s been there before, but doesn’t know when or how.

Aftermath

There’s plenty of folks coming from the city to the airship docks and back. The dock areas are hundreds of yards, acres wide with people moving snow. Along the road towards Cinderfrost, there’s metal tubing keeping the road melted and warm. Rhum experimentally kicks one and a Gremian pops out of nowhere and informs him to not kick the pipes as they’re expensive, hard to repair, and can distress other travelers.

The gremian, Jynx, speaks to Rhum, explaining that he’s part of the family that originally helped install the pipes. Rhum explains that he’s escorting diplomats, which doesn’t seem to be too interesting to Jynx as though the Duke was nothing important. He suggests going to an inn to tidy up before he notices Seven. Jynx is more interested in Seven as an Imperial Cog Unit.

Jynx asks to inspect Seven, who Rhum notes may not be entirely interested in being inspected up close. Instead, Jynx observes from a distance, slowly getting closer and closer. He’s impressed by the condition of the Cog unit. And Jynx fails his curiosity and approaches, asking the unit’s knee. Unit Seven tells him to speak with Trapper.

Jynx is interested in Trapper, speaking rapidly in Egrem. Trapper introduces himself with full name, family name, world name and otherwise. Explains that he’s a Lawspeaker and a member of the Duke’s diplomatic retinue. And tells Jynx to treat Seven as a naturally formed Masterpiece which interests Jynx even more. Trapper asks for directions to an inn and then to city hall while Seven agrees to having its knee repaired and Jynx excitedly gives them directions to an inn and runs off to get his tools.

Tiro is amazed by the size of the city. Even larger than Ironhaul… and by how blasé the group is with the incredible occurrences happening.

After Action Report (GM)

This was a short session, but I had a lot of fun. Getting back into the groove of things is hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. My friends are there and we are making something together despite the tragedy and loss. Rory’s presence is missed and it hurts not seeing him give one of his sly smiles. I finally got the PCs to Cinderfrost Terminal and that felt pretty great. The mining for kani crystal will come into play later maybe and I love doing callbacks to previous sessions.

World Lore Tidbit (The Nine Roads)

Aersalus has nine spirit roads that those with the knowhow can travel. They can greatly speed travel and some take different forms depending on where they are stepped onto. Some are limited where they can go, while others (like the Storm Road) can go anywhere fast…but can be dangerous. Regardless, all roads can lead through the Spirit World. The following are descriptions of the nine roads.

• (Fire) The Blizzard Road: Available in cold places, this road can connect to any other cold place and travel is ten times as normal. Taking travelers high into the clouds. The Burning Road is it’s opposite half and involves jumping into fires and exiting another – very dangerous, but very fast and one of the few roads that can allow you to enter or exit from a structure/non-open place.
• (Light) The Rainbow Road: Allows for travel anywhere the sun is shining on via a bridge of rainbow after rainbow. Can rapidly transport travelers to other naturally-occurring rainbows in the blink of an eye.
• (Metal) The Bladed Road: Sometimes called the blood road, allows rapid travel to most anywhere, but travelers must leave a open wound bleeding onto the road…or it attacks them with animated blades, needles, etc.
• (Shadow) The Shadowed Road: Allows for travel anywhere at night, but even small amounts of light can be dangerous as the road becomes narrower and less firm – safest on the new moon and in the darkest of shadows. Very fast and one of the few roads that can allow you to enter or exit from a structure/non-open place.
• (Spirit) The Empyrean Road: Leads to no places in the physical world…but is the only road into the Further and the only way to get to the Empyrean City, 10,000 Heavens, the 44 Hells, and similar places.
• (Stone) The Mountain Road: Leads to underground places. The only road other than the Bladed Road that leads underground.
• (Water) The Ocean Road: Leads to underwater places. The only road that does so.
• (Wind) The Storm Road: Goes anywhere above ground or water! Very very fast…but very dangerous as you are riding a storm cloud!
• (Wood) The Garden Road: Can venture anywhere there is green and growing life by perambulating through the connected roots of the world.

Other Notes

None,

Soundtrack

“All Along The Watchtower” by Devlin (Instrumental)

“Fleet Foxes” by White Winter Hymnal