Session 6: Wroat by Rail

Griffinsday, 19 Seeding, 998 Y.K.   The morning of the expedition, the party assembled at the Lightning Rail station in Sharn. Terminus was one of the City of Towers' big showcase buildings, the southernmost end of the lightning rail, in Middle Tavick's Landing near Wroann's Gate. Up and down the concourse, shops hawked wares from across Breland and Khorvaire to the hundreds of travelers that came through Terminus, with inns and eateries filling in the gaps. The party came early to the station, unsure of what to expect.   Certainly they didn't expect Leali Stormreach to be dragging a steamer trunk almost as tall as she was on a dolly behind her, as well as a suitcase. Nor were they expecting the vividly-dressed Khorvaran walking beside her. Leali introduced her companion as Rakela Mitelemnamaril, a personal bodyguard and traveling companion. Rakela took some time to visibly size up the party, then nodded and escorted the party into Morgrave University's private car. At least, she tried; Bell and Milli seemed intent on not getting in until the last possible moment.   The ride on the rail was eerily smooth, which didn't settle either of their disquiet. The cars even seemed to ignore inertia, slinking around curves at speeds that should've been impossible without banking, and yet House Cannith's contraption seemed to manage it with ease. Drawing the curtains on the seating areas, it felt almost as if the room weren't moving at all, outside the background static of the conducting stones crackling beneath. The party did eventually settle, however, and the train began its seven-hour journey to Wroat, the capital of Breland.   On the way, Relic asked Leali about a comment she'd made about dragonmarks back in her office, and whether she'd ever heard of a Forged manifesting one. She answered that she hadn't, but that the Prophecy didn't rule it out. That prompted Relic to ask about the Prophecy, at which Leaii's eyes brightened and Rakela's glazed over. Lecturer Stormreach revealed that she had a degree in Prophetics from the University of Wynarn, and that she'd made studying the Prophecy and its impact on the modern day a focal point of her research. She hauled a thick tome out of her personal case and began flipping through it rapidly. Inside, she revealed what she described as an ancient form of Draconic she claimed was reconstructed from a cross-survey of kobold tribes across Khorvaire coupled with fragments of the originl Draconic Prophecy that had been shared outside of Argonnessen's borders.   Leali flipped through the book until she found a passage talking about the Dragonmarks and their manifestations and designs, and how the book presaged the rise of the thirteen marks: the twelve known to the houses and then the constellation of aberrant marks that existed beyond. Milli pointed out that she thought her Brand of Destiny would qualify, and when Leali asked to see it, Milli happily obliged. A brief dialogue followed, with Lecturer Stormreach looking more and more dumbfounded and confused. After she sputtered for several seconds, Rakela broke into a grin and said, "your theories are useless; the universe hates you." This seemed to wrap up the discussion of dragonmarks and prophecies, and the party rode to Wroat in relative silence thereafter.   The rail line, led by a conducting coach known as the Blue Bull, had to stop in Wroat to give the staff time to recharge and trade out, and so the party debarked, with Milli and Bell making a dash for the door. The Lightning Rail platform shared a building with the ferries across the river to Galethspyre, but on the way to the ferries stood a man in a hypnotic blue shirt and empty eyes, hailing passers-by about easy shopping and low taxes in Galethspyre, "home of Breland Blue!" He repeated himself in such a sing-song voice that Zer checked him for signs of tampering, only to find that he'd been placed under the psionic equivalent of a beguiling, programmed to spend a day as a happy voice for the city. The shirt also had a subtle branding woven into the fabrics, enhancing the suggestiveness of the barker's patter. The party, realizing this, quickly hustled past him.   The Capitol Inn was only a few blocks away from the rail station and ferries, a three-story building offering hot stew and punch, both only slightly watered down. Leali announced her intent to visit some friends on the Morgrave campus, while Rakela hovered nearby. The party broke for their separate rooms, and Spark and Bell took a tour of their downtown. Wroat being the capital of Breland, the vast majority of the buildings held government ministries, knights' orders, legal bodies, and temples. However, they did find the Practical Street shopping district and reviewed the wares.   When they came back to the inn, however, Rakela intercepted them and dragged them into her and Leali's room. She'd heard a number of people downstairs talking about two shady-looking characters with glowing eyes, asking about the Adaran refugee in the company of several forged. Spark fetched Zer and had Rakela repeat the remark, whereupon the color drained from Zer's face. He said that the figures were almost certainly Inspired who'd come looking for him, and that trouble was about to find them. Most of the party took up watch stations and began preparing for combat, while Milli and Medya got some much-needed rest.   They were awoken in the middle of the night by Relic telling them their new-found friends had come looking for them; Zer had sensed hostility, both downstairs in the lobby and on the third floor, approaching rapidly. They rushed downstairs in time to see a crackling fractal blade flash to existence and fly towards Zer. Relic leaped to interfere, deflecting the dart with his sword only to see the missile disappear into thin air. Whence came the blade of energy stood a towering figure, his arm outstretched. He looked, not quite human, but not identifiable as any other ancestry either. His features were blank, expressionless, but his eyes flickered with an intense glow.   While Spark hammered on the figure with her staff, Bell and Medya fired crossbow bolts at him, but nothing seemed to make the being flinch. Even when Relic drove his sword straight at him, he only grunted as the air thickened to stop the blade's tip from piercing flesh. Zer and he traded lashes of thought, but the Inspired hunter gave as good as he got, and only by an overwhelming mental blow did Zer punch through the other's defenses. Not, however, before the light in his eyes vanished, leaving an empty vessel to slump lifelessly to the ground.   Milli, Medya, and Bell all turned to block the other attacker from engaging, but the sense of hostility vanished, and aside from the stunned observers in the inn's lobby, all fell quiet. In the moments that followed, Rakela told Spark to get her group to the rail terminal; she'd retrieve the now-drunk Leali and meet them at their car. Spark agreed, and the party abandoned their rooms to rest in a makeshift huddle by their train car. Deprived of a full night's recovery but having to patch up from a fight, morning could not come fast enough and with it the promise of privacy and relative safety back inside the university car.   Morning did finally break with the announcement of the Blue Bull's departure for Hatheril Junction and the opening of a few eateries on the platform, catering to the morning crowd. Bell bought out a bakery, and those who ate feasted on sweetcakes and dense tarts until the railmaster announced the train's imminent departure. The party reboarded the train, and soon they were once again on their way.