HW Chapter 1: Futility of Finnin

Opening

• Champp & Nails, a beefy Blue Dragonborn & Tiefling investigator buddy-cop duo, arrive at a mysterious mountaintop abode, invited by a mysterious benefactor who offered a quest in exchange for “rewards & information”. A wizard answered the door and immediately ushered them in. After some conversation and tentative acceptance of the task, the wizard introduced himself as Elfonso Alosett III, dubbed EA for short.
• As two of the four known party members have arrived, EA uses a magic mirror in his arcane chamber to scry on Enzo, a humanoid cat man holding a glowing gem. Enzo was surrounded by a squadron of soldiers in the Sanhi Desert, steadily approached by the general of these troops. After some conversation with the general, the unstable gem detonated as EA opened a portal and pulled Enzo in by his neck scruff. Enzo managed to secure 5 shards of the gem, storing them for future use. Afterwords, EA telekinetically called a gold-brass necklace with a bright blue crystal to the group, indicating that a less-willing party member resided inside and could be called forth whenever they desired.
• With four of the five party members assembled, EA explained that a dimensional rift to the Skies of Hytheria formed a few weeks ago in a lush mountain range on the northern border of the Sanhi Desert (same desert that the ruins of Dahlaeyir exists within). While this wouldn’t ordinarily be too bad, disturbing monsters have been entering Gaion through it, terrorizing the nearby settlements. While EA has fended off all these attacks, he claims that he has other matters to tend to and hires this makeshift group to investigate, figure out who (if anyone) is behind this, and either put a stop to it or report back with intel. He claims that they will be handsomely rewarded with riches, information, & everything in between for their work, even more so if they bring back samples of Hytherian creatures. Nails, being the investigative type, determined that EA may have an ulterior motive for sending them on this quest, noting such in his mind and notes. Before they leave, EA gives them three Glider Staffs, experimental in design but theoretically capable of gliding across the ever-present winds of Hytheria.
• EA sends Champp & Nails off through a teleportation circle to the location of the rift, while going to answer the door for their final party member. After the buddy cop duo arrived and found the rift, Oryn (a gnome dressed in spec ops attire) & Enzo arrived through the teleport, meeting their new team. Champp catches the slightest scent of Finnin through the rift. Together, the makeshift group reluctantly enters the rift. They immediately fall through a powerful storm of dark & light clouds.
• After a difficult skill challenge of using their gliders (impeded by Enzo’s cat-like reflexes on Nail’s glider), the gang narrowly avoided a tornado of wind & lightning, seemingly without a touchdown point on solid ground. Eventually, they sailed downward beneath the cloud layer, finding themselves in a dark, endless range of peakless mountains.
• The gang lands on one of these and immediately begins searching for Finnin Tealeaf, Champp’s sole purpose on this quest. He viciously interrogates and coerces Enzo into doing his best to lead them to him. Fortunately, the time Enzo spent with Finnin, as well as Finnin’s desperate, hasty & sloppy job of covering his tracks, allowed him to pick up his scent. Enzo leads them to a small cave on the side of an adjacent mountain. After entering the cave and bullying Enzo some more, the gang detects a noise at the end. Upon walking towards it, a blast of radiant energy fires out and hits Enzo into the others like a bowling ball. A voice shouts “You’ll never take me alive!”, which the party takes as a challenge.

Combat: Finnin Tealeaf vs. the Buddy Cops, Spec Ops & Cat

Initiative

• Champ: 23
• Nails: 7
• Oryn: 17
• Finnin: 14. 26/50 HP, 16 AC, 20 Dex, 18 Cha, proficient in Acrobatics, Stealth, Persuasion & Deception, psionic blades 1d8 (2 per turn)

Round 1

• Champ: Casts Psychic Lance and deals 15 psychic damage, then runs up close to Finnin
• Oryn: Runs in and takes cover behind a rock.
• Finnin: Fires at Enzo and Champp. Champp blocks it, then he misfires at Enzo for 9 damage to himself. Attempts to hide behind the other rock, but does a shitty job. Enzo does a cat screech
• Nails: Casts Eldritch Blast and knocks him out, sending the gun flying

Round 2

• Champp: executes Finnin Tealeaf with his Breath Weapon, down the throat Godzilla style. The sacred power of the Rouzhai Gaioforce (the thing he stole from his people) leaves his body and floats in the center as a cloud of red gas/energy.

Aftermath

• The gang explores the room. Nails learns that the skeleton in the corner (as well as the gun) are not from this world. Champp takes the gun and imbues it with the sacred form of the Rouzhai Gaioforce. The weapon is now his (or whoever dares to claim it from him).
• The gang decides what to do from here, having access to this cave until they set off. Nails, with his detective mind, can’t shake the question: how did Finnin Tealeaf, a tiny gnome, traverse an entire desert, climb a mountain, find the rift to Hytheria, make his way to this cave, and set a campfire in the short time since they set off on this quest?