Session One

General Summary

Our scene opens on the hot midday sun over the congested town of Copper Ridge on Ghyt of the Trail Moon, the year 1387 of the 6th Age. The streets of Copper Ridge are busy with civilians going about their errands, and the many transients take refuge in the shade between buildings as they solicit charity from passersby. The Church of Zivaria's bells toll out the noon hour.   Our protagonists are seen going about their business along Main Street. A Copper Ridge local, Volunteer Deputy Lucor Briskbrand steps out onto the stoop of his family house, wiping the sweat out of his eyes. Another Copper Ridge local, Cheyanne "Doc" Adkins is crossing Main Street, heading for the Wreck Wenches workshop, her trusty steel companion, Moo, at her side. Stepping out of the General Store, Vaurvan takes a bite out of a freshly-purchased pear. Fanning herself in the heat, Harmony Moonweaver steps out of the Nimbus Hotel, looking about to find the person who wrote her to visit Copper Ridge. A tall black dragonborn, silhouetted against the whitewashed walls of the Church of Zivaria, Nigel Thornberry looks a bit lost as he coughs slightly in the dusty air.   The stillness of the noontime heat is broken by the thunder of hoofbeats, yips and the bangs of pistols fired into the air. A posse of bandits rides down Main Street, their horses stirring up clouds of dust. Then, a whoosh-BANG goes off as one of the riders lets a fireball loose into the doors of the Iron Horse Saloon.   Our protagonists leap into action as the crowds of civilians flee down side-streets in reaction to the violence. The posse consists of a Posse Boss, two Arcane Gunmasters, and three Bandits. The posse quickly dismounts and the villains take up defensive positions around the Church-end of Main Street. Eventually, Copper Ridge's esteemed Sheriff Dan “Sully” Sullivan and Deputy Daisy Stein show up to assist in eliminating the bandit threat.   "This town belongs to the Vipers!" shouts the posse boss, as he continues to attack any who oppose him. With some clever use of his winged boots, Volunteer Deputy Lucor Briskbrand flies over the buildings to call out the location of the fleeing Possee Boss to Deputy Stein, who, with the aid of Cheyanne and a random undead Triton, was able to subdue the boss, manacling the man to be put on trial later. Our protagonists manage to slay about half of the posse, although a couple Vipers fled off to wreak havoc another day.   The Iron Horse Saloon is still smoldering, and Vaurvan and Harmony venture in to look for survivors (or corpses). Vaurvan rescues Charley Callahan from the backroom, where he had passed out from smoke inhalation, and Harmony evacuates two saloon girls and one customer from the upstairs rooms.   In the aftermath of the shootout, our protagonists help local law enforcement to haul the remaining Vipers (or their remains) back to the jail for processing. They are asked to be sure to give their statements to Sully or Daisy as soon as they are able to do so.   Harmony and Cheyenne visit the Wreck Wrenches Workshop. (To be detailed in a flashback in Session Two.) Vaurvan and Nigel persuade the Nimbus Hotel to accept their gold coinage.   The next morning, on Khidit, as the party heads to the Sheriff's office to give their statements, they see Sully and Daisy escorted by a Tom Sterling, a junior councilperson to Town Hall. Lucor is called as well, where he finds out that the council discovered something very alarming in the aftermath of the shootout - the town vault had been robbed!   A public town hall meeting occurs that evening, where the town is informed that all of their hard-given taxes had been stolen! Yesterday's shootout must have been a distraction. Until the funds are returned, the town simply cannot pay the Rusty Rail Railroad Company for their new train station. Townsfolk present express their outrage and dismay at the loss of the funds. Demands are raised for the return of the money, and the council asks for volunteers to work with Junior Deputy Lucor Briskbrand to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing money, and assuring its safe return. With varying degrees of reluctance, Cheyanne, Harmony, Vaurvan and Nigel Goodberry Thornberry agree to group up with Lucor to help the town.   A small investigation takes place in the basement of Town Hall, asisted by Tom Sterling, where our protagonists examine the crime scene. An odd sight, Harmony could not find any signs of force on the door, and Lucor and Cheyanne notice that there are no footsteps past the threshold of the room, except, as Cheyanne notices, one serpentine track, about a hands-width thick. Our protagonists notice a unique color of red dirt accompanying these tracks, and Cheyanne and Lucor are able to determine its source as Red Rock Ridge, a red-sandstone rock feature that would make a very defensible location for a bandit camp.   With a destination in mind, the party prepares to set off into the badlands around Copper Ridge to track down these Vipers, and hopefully return to Copper Ridge its much-needed money.

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Campaign: One   Episode: One   Session: One of Three?   In-Game Date: Ghyt and Khidit, of the Trail Moon, year 1387 of the 6th Age (8/11-12/1387,6a - See: Zivarian Calendar)
Report Date
25 Nov 2023

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