Prestant: I search through Zep's robes, my flame providing light and ready to burn him to cinders if he tries using his magic.
GM: The burnt patterns on Zep's face twist into a smirk even as he sits defeated. You find several small pouches tucked into hidden pockets. Two contain dried herbs you don't recognise, likely a drug, but the third holds a collection of tiny purple capsules that seem to shimmer with an inner light.
[Prestant rolls Perception (+3) and gets a 12, he also rolls a Naturecraft (+0) and gets a 6.]
Prestant: I hold one up to my flame. "What is this?"
GM: Zep leans back against the cell wall, his expression shifting to something almost proud. "Wouldn't you like to know, mage."
Sundae: I bounce over and peer at the capsule. "Ooh, pretty! What's it do? Make people all horny like Avi?"
Aviditi: "Shut it, rabbit." I glare at Sundae whilst crossing my arms over my chest, trying to ignore the lingering heat in my body.
Iuona: I step forward, my voice taking on the commanding tone I learned from my father. "You will answer our questions, bandit. The alternative is spending the rest of your journey having a very unpleasant conversation with my infernal companion."
Aviditi: I crack my knuckles and my neck.
GM: Roll Influence with advantage.
[Iuona rolls Influence (+2) with advantage and gets a 17.]
GM: Zep's cocky expression falters as he looks at the bent bars of his cell and then at Aviditi's still-furious face. "Alright, fine. Ask away."
Prestant: "Start with who you are and who you work for, and I mean you real identity, not 'Zep the Zapper.'"
GM: He snorts. "That is my real name, more or less. Zep Rathcaller, formerly of the Arcanist's Guild until they decided my research was too 'dangerous' and 'unethical.'" He spits the words. "Now I make my coin with the Silver Swords."
Sundae: "Silver Swords? That's your gang?"
GM: "We're not a gang, we're professionals. Bandits for hire, if you want to be crude about it."
Aviditi: I lean against the wall, forcing my breathing to steady. "Were you hired to rob this train?"
GM: Zep hesitates, his eyes darting between you. The other bandit, still silent in the corner, shifts nervously.
Prestant: I let the flame in my hand grow brighter, the heat radiating outward. "We can do this the easy way or the way that involves more fire. Your choice."
GM: "The Red Chief." Zep finally says. "That's all we know him as. Operates out of Dilmer. Contracts us through intermediaries, pays well, and we ask few questions."
Iuona: "Being hired to rob a train? That seems rather odd."
GM: "Well, robbing was just a bonus." his smirk returns. "That was secondary. Our real objective was field testing."
Sundae: I perk up my ears. "Field testing what?"
GM: Zep gestures toward the purple capsules in Prestant's hand. "Haze. That's what we call it. The Red Chief wanted data on how it performed in real conditions, against unwilling subjects."
Prestant: I examine the capsule more closely. "What exactly does it do?". It is definitely magical.
[Prestant rolls Arcana (+8) and gets a 13.]
GM: "You saw what it did to your muscular beauty there." Zep's eyes flick to Aviditi. "Inhaled, it triggers overwhelming arousal, makes the target highly suggestible, and lowers inhibitions. Effects last about an hour unless countered. Only works on women as far as I am aware."
Aviditi: "Only women?" I growl, pushing off from the wall. "Why the hell does it not work on men?"
GM: "We didn't know! Don't hurt us, please!" The other bandit finally speaks up, his voice shaking.
Iuona: I place a calming hand on Aviditi's shoulder. "How many doses do you have?"
GM: "Just what you found. After we robbed the train, we were going to test it on a few… choice women. We were supposed to observe the effects and report back."
Sundae: "So you were going to dose all the hot ladies on board with sex fog? That's messed up!"
Prestant: I pocket the capsules carefully. "What else can you tell us about this Red Chief? Where do we find him in Dilmer?"
GM: Zep shakes his head. "Like I said, we never met him directly. Messages come through drops, payments in untraceable coin. Could be anyone."
Aviditi: I step closer to the bars, my voice dropping to something dangerous. "You're lying."
[Aviditi rolls Insight (-1) and gets a 7.]
GM: You can't tell if he's being truthful or not, your still-addled state making it hard to focus.
Iuona: I also study Zep's face, looking for tells.
[Iuona rolls Insight (+0) and gets a 13.]
Iuona: "I think he's telling the truth about not knowing the Red Chief's identity, but there's something else. Something he's not saying."
Prestant: "What are you holding back?"
GM: Zep rolls his eyes and sighs. There is a long silence before he speaks. "The Red Chief is looking for something. Said there might be... special cargo worth acquiring."
Sundae: I exchange glances with the others. "Special cargo? Like what?"
GM: "A book of some kind, don't know what kind, we were just going to take all of them from the passengers and let the client sort them out." He leans back. "Anyway. That's all I know. Take it or leave it."
Prestant: I stand, the purple capsules heavy in my pocket. "We'll verify your story when we reach Dilmer. Until then, you stay locked up."
GM: As Prestant finishes speaking, footsteps echo from the carriage entrance. A man in a staff uniform approaches, his face is flushed, breathing laboured.
"Sir, madams," he gasps, "the conductor needs you at the front of the train immediately. More bandits, they've—"
Sundae: "More? How many?" I spin my swords ready for action.
GM: "I don't know, he just sent me to fetch you. Please, hurry!"
Aviditi: "Let's crack some more skulls." I grab my axe without hesitation.
Prestant: I pocket the purple capsules and follow. "Let's go."
Iuona: "What about the prisoners?"
Prestant: "They're not going anywhere." I gesture at the bent bars and locked door.
GM: The four of you rush through the carriages, pushing past confused passengers. Your urgency builds with each compartment you traverse, weapons at the ready. Finally, you burst into the bar cart where you had fought earlier.
Fizzle the gnome conductor stands behind the bar, polishing a glass. He looks up, startled.
"Oh! Hello again. Everything alright?"
Prestant: "You didn't send for us?" My blood runs cold.
GM: "Send for you? No, I've been here ensuring everything's been tidied up from the earlier... unpleasantness."
Iuona: "Someone came to us. Said you needed help with more bandits."
GM: "I— I sent no one."
Prestant: "Fuck. We've been played." I spin on my heel and sprint back towards the holding cell.
Aviditi: I roar and charge ahead of everyone.
GM: You barrel back through the carriages, passengers scrambling out of your path. When you reach the penultimate carriage, the door to the holding area stands open. As you enter, you see the cell door swinging wide. The lock dangles, picked clean. Both Zep and his companion are gone.
Aviditi: I slam my fist against the wall, denting the wood panelling. "That slippery bastard!"
Iuona: "They must have had help. That man who fetched us..." I examine the cell door, then the room.
Prestant: "The bandit from the bar. The one who fled during the fight. He circled back, disguised himself, and waited for the right opportunity."
Sundae: "And we just... fell for it. Gods, we're idiots." I slump against the wall.
Aviditi: I sniff the air.
GM: Your senses are still overwhelmed by the Haze; the only thing you can notice is how good Prestant smells. You want him to take you, right there in front of his fiancée.
Aviditi: "I don't smell anything…"
Sundae: "I think they jumped ship! I mean, jumped train."
[Sundae rolls Examination (-1) and gets a 14.]
Prestant: "In the Plane of Journeys? That's suicide."
Iuona: "Or they know something we don't about surviving it, maybe they have a portal awaiting them."
GM: The train continues along, carrying you forward through the black void. Zep and his men are gone, escaped into the darkness with their secrets. Only the purple capsules in Prestant's pocket and the name "Red Chief" remain as clues to whatever plot you've stumbled into. There is not much more you can do. You retire to your newly gifted room and rest. You awaken to a cleaned-up bar cart and a continental breakfast.
[A full night of safe rest restores all of Prestant and Iuona's mana.]
GM: You sit around one of the velvet tables in the bar cart, plates of eggs and toast scattered between you. The train rumbles steadily through the black void of the Plane of Journeys, the darkness outside still absolute. If it weren't for the clock on the wall, you would have no idea that it was early morning.
Prestant: "We need a plan. Once we reach Dilmer, our primary objective remains finding Iuona's mother. But this Red Chief business... we can't ignore it. Especially since Zep escaped and will likely report that we were the ones to mess up the plans he had."
Iuona: "Agreed. Whoever this person is, they're developing magical weapons that target and control women." I pick at my breakfast, my appetite gone. "That's not something we can simply walk away from."
Aviditi: I tear into a sausage with my teeth, and I talk through my chewing. "I say we hunt him down and rip his spine out through his arsehole."
Sundae: "Graphic!" I take a piece of toast and nibble on it. "But yeah, some creep dosing ladies with sex fog needs stopping. Plus, you know, maybe there's a reward?"
Prestant: "We should take these capsules to the Arcanist Guild in Dilmer. Have them properly analysed." I inspect the capsules I took from Zep. "They might recognise the magical signature, trace it back to whoever created it. Then we report it to the authorities."
Iuona: "No." I say sharply. "Not the authorities. Not orcish ones."
Prestant: "Why not?"
Iuona: I set down my cup with deliberate care and take a breath before continuing. "My father dealt with orcish bureaucracy his entire life. They're territorial. Rigid. If we walk in claiming some mysterious crime lord is operating in their city, they'll either dismiss us as outsiders or detain us for 'further questioning' whilst they protect their own interests."
Aviditi: "So we do nothing?"
Iuona: "We take it to the Bearers Guild instead." I say the name of the defacto adventurers guild found throughout Arabeth. "They operate independently. If there's genuine danger, they'll investigate properly. If there's coin to be made stopping it, even better."
Sundae: "I like the sound of that! Bearers are way less stabby than city guards." I wiggle my tail. "Plus they might actually pay us for information."
Prestant: I nod slowly, thinking through the logic. "The Arcanist Guild first for analysis, then the Bearers Guild with whatever we learn. That gives us the best chance of actually accomplishing something. Then we start asking around about Filimaia." I say the name of Iuona's mother.
GM: As you finalise your plans, brilliant sunlight floods the windows as you pass through the exit portal from the Plane of Journeys.
GM: Dilmer sprawls before you, a monument to orcish engineering and brutalist aesthetics. Massive stone walls rise like cliffs, grey and unadorned except for functional crenulations. Behind them, buildings of dark stone and black metal thrust skyward in geometric severity. There are no curves, no decorative flourishes, just pure function. Smoke rises from countless forges, and you can see the glint of metal everywhere: gates, bridges, reinforced corners. It's beautiful in its harshness, intimidating in its strength.
Sundae: I press my nose to the glass. "Whoa..."
Iuona: "It's impressive." I watch the city grow larger as the train approaches. "Violent, but impressive."
Aviditi: "Looks like home." A rare smile crosses my face. "I'm going to fit right in."
Prestant: "Let's hope we all do." I gather my pack, checking that the Haze capsules are secure.
GM: The train slows as it enters the city proper, passing through an enormous gate of black iron. The station is carved directly into the mountain stone, platforms of dark granite stretching in perfect parallel lines. Orcs in chainmail patrol the platforms, their eyes scanning passengers with professional suspicion. The train shudders to a stop with a screech of brakes and a final hiss of steam.
"Dilmer Station!" Fizzle's voice echoes through the carriage. "All passengers disembark! We hope to see you all again!"
Sundae: I hop down from my seat. "Right then. Arcanist Guild, Bearers Guild, find Iuona's mum, and maybe punch a mysterious crime lord. Easy-peasy."
Iuona: I shoulder my pack and grip my staff. "Nothing about this will be easy."
Aviditi: "Good." I heft my axe. "Easy is boring."
GM: You step off the train onto Dilmer's platform, the orcish stronghold looming around you in all its brutalist grandeur.