Dnd 4th Skyrock City Session 1

Session 1 The City in Ruins

Set in Shattered Sky City, the ruins of a once great population centre, our Brave Heroes find themselves in The Dam; one of the two outposts of civilisation bordering the City, the other being The Docks. Within their Tavern of choice Aramil Bumps into an old acquaintance, Serallen, an Eladrin College Buddy who was last heard to have joined a Religious order (cult) and then disappeared.

“Hey Aramil is your sister here? Brilliant I was sent to find some adventurers and you have a load of erm... friends here, maybe you can help."
Anscar the human Barbarian looking chap speaks up at this "Listen Monstarr, these here monstars are my Army, we’re going to kill monstarrs and earn glory"
"Oh well I can take you to monsters" offers Serallen "ladies” he said offering his arm to Valanae, Ragron and Torment, who roll their eyes and decline his efforts.

Heading into the northern part of the ruins, our party is set upon by a bevy of unliving. Falling for the age old “Healer Cricket” trap of some dead, but freshly animated, adventurers lying on the road while their new master, a Wight and his flaming skeleton minions lurk nearby, the Heroes are set upon.

Successfully dispatching their foes and looting the dead adventurers of their magic Flaming Scimitar and healing potions our brave heroes continue on to the Headquarters of the Eladrin Cult of Naenaris (ahem Religious order).
What Serallen actually leads them to is a ruined shack. However, handing out a series of small amulets, he clears a small patch on the floor and taking the hands of Ragron and Torment vanishes!

"Oi," barks Anscar at Aramil "I thought you knew him, why is he nickin’ our wimin'?"
" I am down here" Serallen’s Voice Floats up from below.

Looking through the boards in the floor the party can just make out Serallen, Torment and Ragron standing in a Hidden Cellar. Taking the hands of the remaining party members, Aramil and Valanae Fey step into the concealed cellar and from there they are led into the rather well appointed headquarters of the Cult of Naenaris.

Ruenethra, leader of the cult in the city and an attractive Eladrin lady greets the party in her luxurious meeting room. Cushions and Chez Longue abound and the party are soon comfortably sat listening to her explain the cult’s (religious order’s) plight.

The cult is looking for the lost City of the Eladrin, also known as the dreaming city, once said to have rested beneath the ruins of this very metropolis. The cult have been given a Magical Dagger by one of their contacts within the city, but their divinations have revealed that it is possessed by some manner of Devil! In order to destroy it, the cult needs Anscar’s Army to retrieve The Crucible of Flame. It currently resides with a clan of Rat men known as the Bile Spider Clan, whose leader is using the powers of the Crucible to create horrific Alchemical mutations in the sewers.

So they set off through the tunnels beneath the city and begin looking for the Bile spider clan’s lair. Asking around about rumours and trying to track rat men patrols through the southern ruins eventually leads the Army to a small band of Bile spiders who descend upon them looking to harvest their organs. Euuwww!

A vicious struggle ensues, but dispatching their whiskered foes and having relived them of a small bag of organs and sky rock, the party find their way to the sewers leading to the Rat men's Lair.

The narrow sewer tunnel proved to have a ledge running beside the almost dry sewage channel leading to a slightly raised area. Some crude palisades, a balcony with a small wooden door and a larger stone door set level with the ledge were the only signs of habitation. A bridge had clearly once connected the ledge to the raised at the end of the tunnel on which the party found themselves. The bridge had long since sagged and dropped into the shallow filth beneath it leaving the crossing difficult to traverse.

Aramil led the way, spotting and dispatching a Rat man hiding in the filth of one of the side passages. As more rat men burst from their filthy hiding places in the muck or behind the primitive barricades (Rob) Rangor charged forward only to be blinded by the Rat man Hexer prancing on the Balcony. The dancing Rat magician then followed by releasing a sack of hideous mutant rat bats with razor sharp teeth which fell upon the blinded Dragonborn fighter. Aramil and Valanae almost desperate to avoid the filth Fey stepped between the platforms and unleashed arrow and spell at the two Rat men Snipers who in return were cranking the handles of their automatic crossbows.

In the aftermath a strange hum could be heard.