The group heads back to motel to heal and discuss next plan of action, while Victois continues on his quest to obtain neurotoxin grenades, with little success
They soon decide the next course of action should be to try and get on to a Visitor ship. They have learned that tickets are sold for tours on the ships. They are expensive and hard to get a hold of so they decide to check other less reputable venues.
Not All Craigslist Items Are Scams...
They go on Craigslist and find VIP tickets. The usual price is $1000 each but they find a listing for $500 each. Kyoko contacts the seller and after talking to the young girl, the seller tells her he is willing to meet her at her hotel room.
Kyoko tells them of the deal and they decide they will purchase 4 tickets and later choose which four will go on the tour.
Soon the seller arrives. Tony pulls up in a old 1978 black Trans Am. He wears a beaten leather jacket and his hair and skin glisten with a sheen of oil. He does not look reputable. When he comes to the room and sees Kyoko, he tries to convince her that for a cut on the price she could come for a ride with him.
The rest of the group then shows themselves.
They threaten him until he offers a bundle of VIP tickets. And his jacket. And his car!
But they kill him anyway.
After taking the tickets, car keys and phone, they secure the body in an unoccupied room and leave for their Visitor tour
Spoiler Inside
DM's note: This should have been a big hint that they were counterfeit!
Now they have plenty of tickets. So they decide they will all go on the VIP tour.
...But Most Are Scams
They travel to the shuttle location in Las Vegas. High security surrounds the area. Tons of people dressed up in Visitor garb. Children in the Visitor Youth are excitedly parading and cheering people who get to go on the shuttles.
The group, in their large black SUV line up behind other cars as they go through a security checkpoint. A couple of cars ahead, the car is asked to drive off to a separate area as the security inspect it as well as its occupants. Finally they come to the checkpoint officer and they present their tickets.
The armed security officer scans the ticket and then goes to confer with other officers. After some discussion they are let through.
As they drive, weaving through concrete barriers, Victois notices that two large military vehicles have driven up behind them. Alexi puts this up to a security escort for their VIP status. When they finally arrive at a large open square surrounded by tall downtown buildings, they see a large Visitor shuttle sitting in the middle of the large grassy courtyard.
The Visitor Shuttle
As they pass through the throngs of people waiting their turn on the shuttle, the group is escorted to the front of the line and proceeds to pass into the courtyard which has high concrete walls surrounding it. Inside they see fully the Visitor shuttle but their sightseeing is cut short when dozens of armed guards point their weapons at them and yell at them to kneel on the ground with their hands up.
They protest, trying to keep up their VIP status deception but one of the guards tells them that their tickets are clearly forgeries. Cheap forgeries at that. Missing almost all of the security features. He tells them that they will never see the inside of the Visitor's ship.
But a Visitor guard approaches them and tells them that the Visitor's will take the group and deal with them. The guards allow the group to be taken into the shuttle and are handcuffed to their seats in the large cargo hold of the shuttle.
The shuttle soon takes off and Alexi soon is trying to convince the heavily armed Visitor guard that their is a big misunderstanding. But the guard opens up a binder and flips to a specific page. He then begins to read off all about Alexi Volkov's background and personal details. The group looks around at each other in mild surprise. The Visitor's seem to know who they are.
Spoiler Inside
DM's Note: The Visitor's would definitely have had security cameras in their "sand processing" facility. And they should wonder what kind of connections they might have in order to obtain information based on the video surveillance.
The O'l "Faking A Seizure"
Alexi decides to pull the ol' "having a seizure" maneuver. But it works. The guard is convinced and Alessandra screams that Alexi is going to die if they don't do something. She convinces the guard to release her. But once released she claims she doesn't know what to do. She asks that some of the others need to be released to help. Finally, under too much stress, the guard relinquishes the wire cutters to Alessandra and she cuts the plastic ties cuffing everyone to their seats.
With everyone free, Alessandra charges and tackles the guard. Alexi stops his fake seizure and runs for the pile of their equipment, digging through until the finds what he is looking for, alcohol. A fight ensues and the guard's gun is taken but the noise has alerted the other guard who opens a door, quickly typing in the unlock code, and takes cover down a corridor, shutting the door behind him. The remaining guard is then overpowered and forced to open the door leading out of the cargo bay. The security pad is an odd shaped pad with green-lit keys in irregular scale shapes. Kyoko takes mental note of the code.
On the other side of the door is another guard who lobs a grenade into the cargo bay and when it goes off the cargo bay fills with a deadly neurotoxin gas. Most are hurt but no one more than Victois. She falls unconscious in the gas filled room.
Kyoko, Alexi and Alessandra charge down the corridor and together are able to defeat the guard.
They drag the unconscious body of Victois out of the cargo bay, and the now dissipating neruotoxin gas and Kyoko
If It Has Controls I Can Fly It
Finally, they approach the final door to what they believe to be the cockpit. When each of them are ready, Kyoko opens the door with the memorized code and they fire quickly and deadly. The pilot is now dead, his green colored blood splattered over the console of the ship.
Kyoko runs to the pilot's body and hauls it out of the pilot's chair. She seats herself down and grabs the controls.
The group, now in possession of security badges, off of the Visitors that tried to kill them, and with the information gleaned from notes of Doctor Winestead, they decide to take a trip to visit the sand processing facility just outside of Las Vegas.
The processing facility is in the middle of nowhere just outside a town named Sloan. They have the passes but they will need disguises. Alexi can make do with what he has except for the Visitor's eyes. He wont be able to replicate that. So they look for costume stores. They cant find a costume store that has costume contact lenses that would look like the Visitor's eyes. So finally they find a small business that offers custom designed costumes and prosthetics.
They find the business in a warehouse district of the city. It sits among other squat warehouse like buildings. It is run by two guys who take to the challenge as well as the offer of good money. Soon they have a set of contact lenses that are fairly close to the group's desires.
Why Buy What You Can Steal
But Kyoko decides she doesn't really want to pay what she told them. She pulls out her gun and toys with the two men for a bit until they leave.
They drive away but soon circle around to the same warehouse district and they see the two men they have just robbed talking to the police. Once of the men notices the group's vehicle and points excitedly. The police hop in their vehicle and take chase.
Victois, sitting in the back, pulls out his rifle. He asks the group if he has the go ahead. The group collectively shrugs. Victois fires.
The Police Pursuit Escalates
The bullet finds the vehicle windshield and it fractures into a multitude of pieces and the police car careens out of control, hitting a parked vehicle and flips. It is not long before they hear the noise of several more police sirens.
They speed down a back-alley, while Ryugi decides that he doesn't know these people and that they are all insane. He jumps out of the speeding vehicle. Training, strength and a massive amount of luck keeps him alive as he is also able to avoid the pursuing police car speeding down the back-alley.
Soon they are able to loose the police pursuit and using their radios they congregate back at a nearby Denny's. After pancakes they decide to leave the city. Driving outside of the city limits they find a lonely motel and book a few rooms.
The Creepy Voyeur Motel
It is not long before they notice that several of the rooms have spy holes and two way mirrors which lead to hidden narrow passageways. The passageways run between the rooms and allow the motel manager access to the room's two way mirrors.
But they decide they have bigger fish to fry. They load up their gear and set off for the sand processing facility. Heading off into the desert they find a gravel road which leads off the main highway leads to the facility. It is heavily guarded. Visitors are heavily armed. Watch towers are occupied by at least two Visitors with mounted heavy machine guns. Fences are topped with barbed wire. They head back to the highway to plan their next move.
It is then that a heavy sand-laden transport truck. It is driven by two Visitors. They flag down the vehicle. The two Visitors introduce themselves as Landon 688435 and Landon 688946. The are happy to assist the group.
They kill the Landons.
Infiltrating The Facility
They drive their vehicles off the road and Alexi begins to disguise himself as one of the Landons. He dons their outfit and takes their security badge. He pops in the contacts that they had specially made (and then stole) that makes his eyes, reptile-like, just like the Visitors. He jumps behind the wheel of the truck while Kyoko stows herself hidden under the dash of the truck.
They drive towards the facility.
Meanwhile Alessandra and Victois watch standing by their vehicle, pretending it has a flat tire. They are noticeable enough to the Visitors in the facility that a white van is dispatched from the facility with two Visitors. They approach Alessandra and Victois and introduce themselves as Landon 628764 and Trent 584321. They are happy to assist. They offer to drive Victois to the nearest automotive assistance garage while the other will wait with Alessandra.
Arriving at the gas station Victois gets a replacement tire and then uses the opportunity to kill the Visitor. Then finding the gas station attendant watching in horror, Victois kills him too. Then to cover his tracks, he sets the gas station on fire. Driving back to Alessandra, he sees the gas station exploded behind him in the rear view mirror.
Leave No Witnesses
Victois radios ahead to Alessandra and tells her what happened. She doesn't hesitate. She approaches the smiling Visitor and kills him with her daggers. Unfortunately, more Visitors have been dispatched to their location and a car chase ensues. Alessandra doing her best to fend off two Visitor vehicles as they careen down the highway. By the end, the Visitors are dead and the vehicles are totalled. The group's SUV barely able to drive.
Meanwhile, Alexi and Kyoko enter the facility, having passed inspection at the front gate. Inside they park the vehicle just outside of the large doors leading inside the facility. Alexi gets out to go inside, while Kyoko stays hidden inside the vehicle.
Alexi goes inside the facility. Inside he finds very little. No machinery, no processing. Just sand. Barrels, crates, burlap bags of sand. As Alexi moves about in the mostly empty warehouse he is spotted by two Visitor guards. They address him in their native language. A series of whirring clicks and gutteral sounds. Alexi looks at them expressionless. Then as they approach him, slowly raising their guns. Alexi fires. A gun battle ensues.
As Kyoko hears the sound of gunfire and sees several of the guards inside the facility's area mobilizing, she starts the trucks engine, wedges the accelerator down and puts the truck into gear. Jumping out of the moving truck she turns to watch it crash into the watchtower bringing it and 3 of the guards down in destruction. The fire fight continues as Alexi pursues the escaping Visitor out the back door.
Hearing the sound of distant gunfire, Victois and Alessandra drive towards the facility. It is now night and as they approach the facility, a hail of heavy calibre bullets rip through the vehicle. They abandon the vehicle as Victois says they are close enough. He lays down bracing his sniper rifle and begins trading shots with a Visitor sniper. Soon though they clear the outside of the building of any visible Visitors.
Finding The Real Facility
Searching around the warehouse, they enter the warehouse's office. Snooping around they find simple paperwork, mostly simple accounting of amounts of sand processed and transported. They are all blank forms with no figures filled in. Inside the desk they find a recessed panel with a button on it. They press it and the warehouse floor begins to pull apart, exposing a enormous and vast hidden complex below.
Kyoko pulls out her drone and sends it down. As it flies the group surrounds Kyoko watching the video display on her phone showing what the drone sees. The complex below goes down several hundred feet. level after level separated by gangplanks, metal walkways, staircases and large empty spaces showing huge military looking vehicles and possible weapons several floors down. Small groups of Visitors move about.
The drone, piloted by Kyoko, approaches a lone Visitor. He is skinny and awkward and carrying a mop, bucket and other cleaning supplies. He alien eyes visible, not having to be hidden behind wraparound sunglasses here. His eyes widen as he sees the drone and tries to bat it away with his mop handle.
Finally, giving up he runs screaming until Kyoko gives up the chase and pulls the drone back up to her.
She has this all recorded on her phone now. But what are they seeing.
The group rests and goes over the information they have retrieved from the missing scientist, Dr. Oliver Winestead, back in the comfort of the penthouse loft on the top of the Mirage Hotel/casino. Clearly the scientist made enemies of the Visitors.
The Sand Processing Facility Question
He has various pictures of a sand processing facility out in the Nevada desert, just outside of a small town named Sloan. The facility is heavily guarded. Large barbed wire fences surround the facility. Towering stands of lights as well as towers holding heavily armed soldiers. The scientist has pictures tracking trucks hauling tons of sand into the facility.
Along with the pictures, are copious notes. Much of these are punctuated with large questions written over them, such as: "Why sand?", "Why so much security?", "Why only a few select government officials have been allowed inside facilities?", "Why do they look human!?"
He has papers marking the steep decline of science education in many of the countries around the world. He has detailed notes of the anatomy of the Visitors as well as possible explanations for why the Visitors are rarely seen without large wrap around sunglasses.
The Penthouse Suite Life
After sometime the group disperses through the penthouse suite. Victois heads off to the kitchen to prepare for the group her signature gourmet meal. Kyoko strips down and jumps into the pool overlooking the night sky of Las Vegas. Alexi, seeing this heads over to the pool to take in the sights. Alessandra, ever the cautious one, moves to the sunken living room, and find a secure corner to sit in.
It is not long before Kyoko and Alexi hear a high pitched whine, buzz and crack as a bullet hits Alexi and blood begins to swirl around him in the pool. Bullet after bullet buzz near them coming from somewhere out in the night sky. Meanwhile inside the penthouse three large males wearing wraparound sunglasses enter the room guns pointed out. Two of them encounter Alessandra who dives for cover. The third attacks Victois in the kitchen.
Victois retreats to the bedroom, slamming the door closed behind her. Grabbing her sniper rifle she waits for the door to open. It doesn't. Instead a shotgun blast bursts through the door and into Victois. Wherever Victois moves to it seems her attacker can see, even through the walls.
Kyoko and Alexi are pinned down behind a stone top table they have toppled over but the intruders from within the suite are able to hit them from behind. Alessandra goes on the offensive and attacks. Alexi is able to run and grab his automatic weapon and is soon able to kill some of the intruders. Kyoko is able to dive for cover and pulls out her drone. Activating it, she controls it with her phone and flies it closer closer to where she see flashes of gunfire. It is coming from a high window in a neighboring hotel.
The Eyes Are Discovered
After moving through the suite, Alexi is able to aid Victois in killing her attacker and the suite is quiet again. The living room area is covered in shattered glass and wood splinters and now has a few walls blood splattered with dead intruders at the floor. The search the bodies and find radios and security badges. One of them has a device that when held up to a wall shows a detailed image of what is on the other side, which is how he was able to attack Victois so effectively. They remove their wrap around sunglasses to find their yellow eyes have vertical pupils.
Listening to the radios they here a very alien language that no one can decipher. Alexi tries to communicate to the other party but cannot understand anything. The conversation quickly ends.
Victois with Kyoko's aid is able to scope in where the sniper fire is coming from but is unable to hit anything. Soon the firing stops and as Victois scopes around he sees two figures dressed similarly to their attackers in the penthouse suite, exiting the hotel and driving away in a white windowless van.
They sit down and let Zora attend their wounds.
They contact General Tate and inform him of what just happened. He offers to send a clean up crew. The group also demands various equipment when the clean up crew arrives.
They're pretty sure they have just made an enemy somehow.
The former general Leon Tate has sent out his envoys to collect up the individuals whom he believes are capable of carrying out a definitive and unbiased investigation into the Visitors. All of them have specific skills which has come to his attention in various ways. Each of them though is unaffiliated with any government organization. He has seen reports of their work as well as psychological profiles. He knows that each of them will have some drive to find the truth as well as the moral flexibility to not let simple laws or ethics get in the way of their investigation.
Kyoko Tamashiro
In an alleyway, a windowless van sits parked. Inside is Kyoko Tamashiro. A 15 year old girl who has lives on the streets, in her van. The van is cluttered with the detritus of young teen girl as well as a plethora of techno gadgets and computers. Two men dressed in black suits wearing ear pieces. She sees them approaching via her cameras but ignores them. The men finally use a small shaped charge on the van's back door and extricate the girl who gives nothing but attitude. Finally she is persuaded to enter their car by the threat of contacting child services.
Alexi Volkov
Out in the Russian wilderness, a handsome yet unkempt man sits in his home, which also happens to be a vehicle. This vehicle is an old Russian armored vehicle. Fully armed the agents approaching it are incredibly wary. Through the window of the vehicle they see a shaggy young man sitting in the drivers seat. The floor of the vehicle covered in empty cup-o-noodle containers. They convince Alexei Volkov of a lucrative job in the United States. Hesitant to leave his home/armored vehicle he somehow is able to convince the agents that they should ship his vehicles States-side. Confident that they will do so, he accompanies them to the airport.
Alessandra Silva
Alessandra Silva, a woman who is reluctant to put down roots, is visiting her friend. She too is a woman with a deadly skill set, so she understands when her friend comes by. The need to relax after a job is necessary in their line of work. The relaxation is cut short when she answers the door to several men dressed in dark suits and sporting ear pieces. This is not good. She calls out for Alessandra and closes the door. While Alessandra talks to the men at the door her friend moves to a set sniper position in which she can cover her friend. But soon enough, Alessandra gives the barely noticeable signal that all is good, as she collects her stuff and goes with the agents to the airport.
Victois Vltrois
Somewhere on a farm in southern France, Victois Vltrois, is in the kitchen preparing a gourmet meal for her comrades in arms, a rag tag collection of mercenaries and former military. A lookout calls out the household that two black cars are approaching from the northeast road. People move casually move into position, Victois grabbing her sniper rifle from beside the counter and moves to her assigned sniper position. After talking to the agents at the door, Victois is called down and after hearing what sounds like a new contract job, Victois is off to the airport.
Doctor Zora
At a Dallas hospital, Dr. Zora, is finishing a lecture on the subtleties of emergency microvascular surgery. She is chatting with a small group of medical students and is obviously basking in the glow of their adulation. Dr. Zora's nobel prize can be clearly seen hanging around her neck. Two agents approach her and tell her of a project she is required for. This is nothing unusual for the doctor and so she accepts and is taken to the airport.
As each of them lands on the tarmac of the Las Vegas airport, the relentless heat of the desert heat hits them. Waves of heat make the horizon shimmer in the midday sun. They are then driven out of the city and into the wilds of the desert. They pull into what seems to be an old and abandoned casino. Derelict and seemingly structurally unsafe they are escorted in. Across the floor of the casino with the occasional broken gambling table and empty spots on the floor where slot machines used to be bolted to the floor, they come to an elevator.
The group looks at each other, dubious of an elevator in this abandoned casino. But the doors do open to a rusted and dust laden elevator car. As they all step in the doors close. One of the agents, produces a key and opens a panel which exposes a crisp looking touch video panel which displays a series of numbers and symbols. He enters a series of key presses and the elevator descends at a staggering speed.
We Meet "General" Leon Tate
After a few minutes and seemingly hundreds of feet, the doors open into a vast dimly lit chamber. Their footsteps echo against the distant concrete walls. They walk towards the center of the chamber and are greeted by an old grizzle, uniformed man. Grey stubble for hair and a stern look are what they can see apart from his uniform. He introduces himself as General Leon Tate.
They are escorted into a side room. This round room is encircled with large video screens which are currently dark and is dimly illuminated by lights spot lighting a few seats around the circular table which takes up most of the room. Lush high backed seats surround the table. Kyoko immediately sits down and puts her feet up on the table. Alessandra slowly slips back into the shadows which surround the outer edges of the room.
The rest eventually find their seats as General Leon Tate explains why they are here.
He does not trust the Visitors. They had tracked their spaceships entering the solar system as far out as the asteroid belt inside the orbit of Mars. The military had been on high alert ever since and the two probes sent out had been unable to determine anything. Then when the politicians had turned to befriend the Visitors, without a shred of evidence, persuaded only by public opinion, the general and those loyal to him decided to save humanity in spite of itself.
The Missing Scientist
The general had heard the daughter of a outspoken scientist, Dr. Oliver Winestead, has been trying to get anyone to listen to her of her father's disappearance. He had listened to her and has agreed to look into it. Dr. Oliver Winestead has always been a bit a fringe scientist. This made it harder for him to be taken seriously when he told government officials that the Visitors should allow unhindered access to all of their ships and facilities. Also they should be allowed to autopsy one of the Visitors. They know so much about humans but humans know very little about the Visitors.
He hasn't been heard from for several weeks.
General Leon Tate will give them access to resources and some money. They are to report to him and only him. They are to investigate quietly. Speaking out against the Visitors is politically unwise. Saying this produces an emotion on his face which is hard to read other than it is no longer the stern and stoic expression he always wears. If they are caught, the general can do very little and any knowledge of this mission will be denied.
They are given a duffel bag of cash and sent back to the city.
Life Is Easy For Robert Downey Jr.
In Las Vegas, they scout around and finally Alexi decides that they should stay in first class accommodations. To this, they enter one of the finer casinos and Alexi approaches the front desk. With a flawless impersonation of Robert Downey Jr. he somehow wrangles the penthouse suite for the group.
After settling in, they hit the casino floor. Alexi, still posing as Robert Downey Jr. attracts a huge crowd. While Kyoto notices a woman sitting at the bar, who clearly has been there a while, who matches the description of Nancy Winestead, the missing scientist's daughter.
Befriending the woman they are invited back to Nancy's house. The house is a teeming mass of cats. The woman is clearly not mentally healthy but Alexi distracts her while Kyoko goes on the computer on which she finds Dr. Oliver Winestead's notes on his investigation into the Visitors.
While Kyoko is copying over the information, Victois places a call to animal services and tells them of a house which is overrun with feral and uncared for cats.
Making their excuses they leave the house and as they leave they watch as animal services drives up and begins to extract all of the cats from the house as a hysterical Nancy Winestead screams at the workers.
With a collective shrug, they head back to their casino penthouse suite to look over the information they have just acquired.
In the summer of 2018 the world paused in its petty politics, wars, debates over global climate change and the usual human suffering. Across the entire globe several vessels entered the Earth's atmosphere from space. All of them, numbering somewhere in the thousands, came to hover over the larger cities of the world.
As the military organizations around the world scrambled to meet this new threat, the various methods of communication, from YouTube and smart phones to old school tv and radio, where taken over by a massive broadcast emanating from the space ships. Appearing on screens was a middle aged human looking male. Blond hair, fading to grey, and an average build, the man wore a simple uniform with a purple sash across his chest.
He introduces himself as Leader John and addresses the world, speaking in the appropriate local languages simultaneously across the world.
"Do not fear humans of Earth, you are in no danger. We have travelled for several of your light-years to come here. We wish you no harm. We are a peaceful race and we have monitored your broadcasts for the past few solar cycles. We have noted your propensity for peaceful interaction as of late and determined this to be the ideal first contact opportunity. We welcome a dialogue with your various nations as we wish only to have a mutually beneficial trade established between our two people. Until your people have digested this information we will keep our contact with your society minimal until you are sufficiently ready for further interaction. As of now only a few of our delegates will interact with some of your nations, mainly through your United Nations organization. Be assured though, you will only benefit from our presence as we, with your permission, will begin teaching your leading scientists of our knowledge. We have determined that we can assist you in reducing or eliminating disease and hunger in your physical bodies as well as we can help with some of your pressing needs, mainly atmosphere control and water resources. In return, we wish only to collect some resources which we desire which, as it turns out, Earth has in abundance which you humans seem not to require at this point. That resource is silicon dioxide, which you call sand. Again, we are simple visitors to your home and we wish nothing more for your happiness and benefit."
Slowly humanity returns to its daily activities, now with the ever present Visitors, as they become known as. Over the course of the next year the Visitors set up facilities across the world. Processing facilities are set up near desert areas to begin collecting sand. In return, delegates are sent to the world's most prestigious research facilities to aid in scientific progress. Hospitals and medical universities now have Visitor medical advisers. Political organizations, worldwide, now include Visitor delegates who aid in resource conservation efforts.
Soon, advancements not thought to be possible are now common place. Hunger and poverty across the globe is largely eliminated. Cancer and other "incurable" diseases are now finding miraculous cures, though the common cold still afflicts the usual millions of people daily. The energy crisis and the wars fueled by the desire to control the world's oil resources have now begun to fade as new Visitor fusion technology is being implemented worldwide.
The world has gone from fear and trepidation to cautious optimism, to finally accepting the Visitors as the world's saviors. Youth groups parade in honor of the Visitors and in hopes of someday joining their ranks in the skies. Politicians scramble to align themselves with the Visitor delegates. Photos are taken with the usual politicians shaking hands with Leader John or his second in command, Jane.
But there are those in the governments that have not bought into the Visitor's altruistic nature. Suspicions grow underground and the former Army General, Leon Tate, reaches out to a few individuals who he has learned of. Each of these individuals has a specific skill set. They are scattered around the world but the ousted General still has influence within his former military circles. He sends his envoys to gather these individuals.
He has for months now preached caution where it comes to the Visitors, but with the world reaping the benefits of the Visitor's knowledge and technology, it falls on the deaf ears of publicly influenced politicians.
Now though, reports of various high level scientists that have gone missing begin to worry Leon Tate. When finally, the daughter of one of the missing scientists, Nancy Winestead, who has gone to, seemingly every other official channel, comes to implore the former general for help. He is the only one who lends a credulous ear.
It would seem Dr. Oliver Winestead has been a vocal advocate of investigating the Visitors. His daughter claims that he has begun his own investigation into the Visitors and their claims of only wanting silicon dioxide, sand and in return will give humanity all of their knowledge and technology. But as soon as he becomes a little too vocal, he disappears.
General Leon Tate begins his plan to begin his own investigation. He just needs the right people. A select, talented and secret group.
The group has just defeated the tyrant abusing the good fortune of the Blacklantern Inn. In return the Blacklantern Inn has transported itself, along with the adventurers to the foot of the Mountains of Latherna. These are the mountains which enclose the castle of The Raven Queen.
The bleak and dim landscape slopes steeply up through scraggly blackened trees. Rook conjures a shrine to the Raven Queen and prays for guidance. But to his dismay, this time there is no response. He feels in his gut that something is very wrong. The Raven Queen would definitely give some sort of sign if she could. The group wanders upwards not entirely sure where they are going until Rook uses his magical eye of Falazure to see that there is a doorway that leads into the mountains themselves ahead of them.
The Timeless Defender 50,000 XP
As they make their way up towards the doorway, an elderly man, Rothosk Mimzada, donned in worn and weathered armor steps in front of them. He too is worn and weathered but he stands with conviction and a confidence that makes the group pause. They try to tell them of their mission and that time is of the essence. He will hear none of it. He has stood in defense of the mountain passage for time immemorial. He shall not waver in his duty now.
Spoiler Inside
DM Note: If someone had tried to investigate a bit further they would find that he was defeated by Vecna and his memories altered. He is already beyond death and as such Vecna could not conscript Rothosk to his undead army.
NPC Backstory Inside
NPC Backstory: Rothosk is here because the Raven Queen has given him immortality as a punishment and penance. He desired to be punished with eternal life because he sought to stave off the death of his mother. She was sick and could not be cured by dozens of clerics and wizards. He put her in stasis until he could find a cure but found when he woke her that she had been conscious the entire time and in dire pain. When she finally was allowed to die he swore to make sure death was allowed to take its natural course except for him, who as a punishment should always live and remember the pain he put his mother through. Vecna who has already passed through has used Alter Memory on Rothosk such that Rothosk cannot recall seeing, dealing with and being "killed" by Vecna. But as Rothosk is immortal. He returned to "life" after Vecna left.
The group decides that they do not have time for this delay and they attack. Rothosk's aged appearance belies a speed that surprises the group. As they attack he is able to teleport around the group. As he does so he conjures a large shimmering dome which encompasses Katya. Katya's time slows to a crawl. Unfortunately for Rothosk, even with her time slowed she is incredibly fast and soon enough is able to escape the dome with altered time.
As they battle against the aged human, several of the large trees surrounding the group begins to move and come to the defense of the old man. Roots shoot out along the ground and attack and grasp at them. Lirath tries to use his mind powers against the trees but it would seem there is not a lot of mind in them to affect.
Rothosk is able to teleport several times and is able to stab several of the group. Lirtah after being stabbed by one of Rothosk's daggers ages 100 years in the blink of an eye, fortunately for elves Lirath has many years to spare. But after being stabbed by the second dagger, Lirath finds himself petrified and unable to move.
Hope is grappled by one of the Quickwood and is able to escape using a dimension door. Rook then tells her to use her fire spells and soon enough Rook and Hope are laying waste to the tree creatures using fireball.
Smallfang faces off against the old man, Rothosk, and Rothosk conjures a huge hourglass which envelopes Smallfang, trapping him inside. Finally he is released after an accidental blow from one of the quickwoods.
Rook is finally able to get close to Rothosk and places his evil hand of Vecna upon Rothosk. Rothosk's body falls to the ground boneless. But as Rook stands over the remains of the old warrior, he watches as some of the bones begin to regrow, slowly but surely. Smallfang stabbs the already dead body several times with his sword Hazirawn stalling but certainly not stopping the slowly reforming body of the defender of the mountains.
Standing in the now burning foothill forests of the Latherna mountains, they group carries on up the slope to where Rook believes there is a door which can lead them through the mountains.
Entrance Into The Mountains 10,000 XP
Shortly they find themselves standing at a door embedded in the mountainside. Ancient stone columns stand on either side of an ancient but sturdy wooden door. In the center of the door is a triangular form with 4 hooks along its base. On those hooks are 3 keys, one gold, one silver, one ethereal and the last key hook is empty.
After trying several methods of knocking on the door and a few spells they find an inscription upon the triangular form holding the keys. It is in an ancient language that has passed into the obscurity of history. But Katya can read it:
The true key to my kingdom Is the key that is greater than The Raven Queen.
After a bit of discussion it is decided that they will just have to try one. Smallfang volunteers and tells everyone to stand back as he prepares to try to use the ethereal key.
Lirath offers to use mage hand instead and save Smallfang some potential injury. Lirath then uses magic to grasp the key and put it into the keyhole in the center of the door. An arc of lightning shoots out of the key and into Lirath. As Lirath stands, smoke drifting up off his body and the smell of burnt hair filling the air, he tells them that was the wrong key.
Smallfang looks closer at the triangular form on the door. It is set out of the door. Behind it seems to be a round mechanism connected to the door. He grasps the triangular form and turns. The door opens smoothly and quietly. Beyond is a long dark corridor entering the mountain.
The answer to the riddle is that nothing is greater than the Raven Queen. Hence no key is the true key.
More Drakes Than Accounted For 47,700 XP
They progress into the mountain. The passageways soon become rough and probably natural corridors through the mountain. Rook uses his illusory self to move through the various passage ways scouting ahead. He encounters a trio of stone giants who are able to pass through the rock of the mountain. He returns to his physical body to tell the others what he has found.
Slowly they progress this way through much of the maze until they come across a couple of extremely large drakes. Their skin more like scales of obisidian rock. The group has the advantage that they have spotted the drakes while the drakes seem not to have noticed them. They formulate a plan.
An illusory Rook attracts the attention of the drakes and lures one of them into a narrow passage. The drake predictably follows, having to tuck its wings in order for them to make it through the narrow passageways. The other drake decides to go around to the other end of the passageway in hopes of trapping the unfortunate soul who was stupid enough to allow themselves to be seen by such powerful creatures. Lirath forms a wall behind them as Rook forms a wall on the other end of the passageway. Thus trapped inside, the remaining party can more effectively kill the drake while they are enclosed in such a narrow corridor. The other drake encountering the wall that Rook has made, scrapes the rocky ground with its huge claws and an arcane energy flows from its scratches, through the ground and into the narrow passageway where the other are trapped.
The ground erupts into a small caldera and begins spewing out hot lava. It sprays everyone and then begins to ooze out along the floor. This does not seem to hamper the drake at all. The drake inside with the majority of the party begins to breath out a torrent of burning hot ash. The group has its hands full with dealing with the single drake.
Meanwhile, outside the narrow passageway, Lirath feels at ease as he has recently been sidelined recently during the battles. That is when he feels the fiery hot breath above him. As he looks up he sees another obsidian drake standing above him. The drake breaths hot lava over Lirath and Lirath becomes entombed within a case of hardening and cooling lava.
Finally, they are able to kill off the drakes and after a bit of further exploring find the ancient stone steps leading up and out of the mountain.
They find themselves on a rock shelf on a mountain which overlooks a valley. In the valley is a large castle made entirely off black ice. Above the castle swirls a storm of the souls of the realm who are unable to move on to their final resting place. They circle the sky above the castle creating lightning storms that make the valley echo with its thunder.
A thin and ancient bridge connects the rock ridge to the castle. The group easily traverses the gorge and find themselves inside the castle of the Raven Queen.
Into The Raven Queen's Castle 20,000 XP
The castle is quiet and empty. Lirath uses his psionics to seek out Vecna. Once Lirath finds the mind of Vecna he pushes in and tries to take information from Vecna's mind. Lirath sees a huge battle as Sorrowsworn after Sorrowsworn attack and then are tossed aside as Vecna strides through the castle, in search of the Raven Queen. This vision does not last long as Lirath realizes that Vecna has instead pushed into Lirath's mind. As Lirath stands staring into nothingness for a few minutes the others begin to worry. When Lirath finally comes around and is asked what happened, he responds with a shrug of his shoulders. Nothing to worry about.
The castle is vast and no one has knowledge of it's layout. The group doesn't know where to go. After some investigation though the find frozen blood stains hidden on the black ice that the castle is made of. There was certainly enough blood spilled but there also seems to be indications of the victims rose up out of their blood pools and began to walk, all in the same direction. The party decides that's the way to go.
Facing Your Demons 30,000 XP
They move through the castles wide hallways. Floors of smooth black ice. Walls have numerous windows 20 feet tall looking out on the misty grey valley between the mountains of Latherna. At the end of one of the long hallways stands a mysterious figure.
Each of the group pauses as they see someone from their past.
Katya sees Kanavu, her clan-mate. She had last left her in the Abyss with a promise she would be back. Kanavu who had looked up to Katya so much that she had set out, away from the safety of her lands to search for Katya. Kanavu, her flesh mauled and torn, pleads to Katya...."why did you abandon me to die at the hands of the demons."
Katya flees down the hallway in the opposite direction.
Hope sees her sister, Faith. Faith who tells Hope that she was never loved by her parents and they were always disappointed that Hope wasn't as smart or talented as her older sister. That Hope shall never live up to the accomplishments of Faith.
Smallfang sees his god and patron, Bahumut. The god looks disapprovingly at Smallfang and turns his back on him and begins to walk away.
Rook sees the Raven Queen herself, beaten and bleeding. She looks at Rook and tells him that he has failed her. He alone had the power to save her and now she is dying. Death shall be taken over by Vecna and the universe will never be safe again.
Lirath sees a small crooked ghoul. Pleasure spreads across its face in a fang-toothed grin. Lirath sees the others staring at the creature each lost in their own thoughts.
Eventually each is able to break out of their trances and see the ghoul for what it is and the battle is swift and decisive. It ends with Lirath pushing into the ghouls mind and shattering it.
The Lost Soul 60,000 XP
They move further into the castle following the dried bloody trail. The trail has now grown into a massive sprawl of blood splatter as the amount of creatures moving along its path has grown tremendously.
The trail passes several large rooms but in one large dim room they see a huddled form cowering beneath a swarming conspiracy of ravens. The ravens are haggard and deteriorating. Tatters of flesh flap as they beat broken and mangled wings. They do not seem to harm the form huddled beneath but are content with harassing it so it may not move.
Smallfang confidently strides into the mass of black feathers and beaks and pulls the huddled form out of harms way as the others easily kill of the undead ravens.
The young girl introduces herself and Lia Bandarster. She died a long time ago and has lived in the Shadowfell since. She was about to move on to the next world beyond, as it was her time, but as she was walking with the other dead through the castle a great commotion began and most of the dead ran, taking to the skies. Where they still are. She gestures to the sky swirling with the dead and agitated spirits of the dead.
Smallfang puts the girl on his shoulder and tells her that he shall make sure she joins the others. They just have to check on the Raven Queen.
Eventually the group aids the spirit to join the others in the sky. She is scared but some of the group accompany her, flying with her, until she is rejoined with others she recognizes.
They continue on their path through the castle until they come to a pair of great doors. The doors stand near 25 feet tall in the vaulted hallway. As they peek through they see the gaunt figure of a man standing the hallway beyond the door, awaiting them. He smiles an evil smile with a glint in his one glowing red eye. The other socket is a black void.
Is it Vecna?
Katya asks her sword, the Sword Of Kas, if this is it. The sword says that something isn't right.
They burst through the door charging towards the evil creature.
An Avatar Of Vecna 50,000 XP
The creature tells them that he is Vecna and that they should not interfere in that which they do not understand. Mortals should not meddle in the affairs of the gods. If they persist they will be judged, and judged harshly.
The battle is bloody but in the end the group is victorious. They do not believe that this was Vecna.
If that wasn't Vecna, what was it? Where is the real Vecna? Where is the Raven Queen?
