Session 6: Welcome to the Rock

As the PCs tried to sputter out questions, Ramas held up his hand and said “let me start from the beginning.” He then explained the following, assisted by the occasional question from the PCs:

• The universe is much larger than they could ever realize. Their world is a planet that floats in space and circles the Sun, just as the two moons circle Oerth. Oerth spins on its axis, creating night and day. Several other planets also “orbit” the Sun. Collectively, these planets make up the “Solar system.”
• Every other star the PCs see in the sky has its own system of planets orbiting it and many of these planets contain life. These star systems are connected by a set of mysterious giant arcane rings that allow transport from one system to another. This has allowed for an interstellar civilization to blossom made up multiple different races. These connected systems are called as the Known Systems.
• Interstellar civilization is also made possible by the starjammer helm which is installed on this ship and the unfurled gossamer wings which stretch out from the ship. The starjammer helm provides rapid propulsion for the ship, as well as a bubble of atmosphere, and gravity within that bubble. The starjammer helm gets its energy from the sun through the wings.
• The starjammer helm is made by the Arcane in some unknown process, but its primary ingredient is dresium. This makes dresium one of the most valuable substances in the universe.
• Oerth is the homeworld of humans (and orcs and gnolls). Before the Twin Cataclysms, humans were a part of this interstellar civilization and their powerful dresium supply gave them power and wealth. However, with the Twin Cataclysms, the Arcane decided that humans were too greedy and vain to be trusted with such a valuable resource. The Arcane instituted the Veil. As humans began to rebuild society on Oerth in the aftermath of the Twin Cataclysms, they would not be allowed to know about the greater universe above their heads. No other races would be allowed onto Oerth. Eventually, the Arcane built the Citadel of the Arcane and began to trade with the rebuilding human societies, but humans were kept in the dark.
• The remnants of the two great human civilizations that survived the Twin Cataclysms in space survived and began to build their own societies. The descendants of the Zwambian Hegemony spread colonies far and wide with only a loosely organized government. They are known as the Zami. The remnants of the Thumani Republic retreated to a distant moon of a gas giant and formed a somewhat xenophobic and highly authoritarian society known as the Theocracy of the Pale.
• To protect the Veil the Arcane created a powerful order known as the Guardians of the Veil whose job it is to police the border and prevent smugglers and others from gaining access to Oerth. Ramas and his crew are Guardians of the Veil.

At this point, the PCs could see the other ship from the cavern floating toward them. It eventually stopped next to their ship and a gangplank was lowered. The remainder of Ramas’s crew came aboard hauling a roughed up Jed in chains. Jed looked different - younger and with all his teeth. When he began talking with Ramas, it became apparent that his “prospector” bit had been a ruse and that he was highly educated and that his actual name is Zraroth. He revealed that he was a dresium smuggler that had been abandoned on Oerth by his previous crew. This ship had been his ticket out. Ramas had him sent to the brig below.

Ramas turned to the PCs and asked them if they noticed anything different about the other ship. Clancy and Terlis both noted that it did not have wings and that its helm was black and not light blue. Ramas went on to explain:

• The other ship uses a lifejammer helm, manufactured by an evil slaver race known as the Neogi. It mimics many of the effects of a starjammer helm but relies on the lifeforce of a person to supply energy. Slowly it will drain away this energy leaving nothing but a husk. The neogi and other races who use the lifejammer typically use slaves to provide that energy. All races who use the lifejammer are banned from trading with the Arcane and exist at the fringes of interstellar civilization.
• The PCs have already met a neogi. That was the eel-spider creature they fought in the gnoll’s hideout. The large beetle-like creature was an Umber Hulk a species often enslaved by the neogi.
• The lifejammer helm is also made of dresium, so the neogi are known to pay good money for it, leading to a robust smuggling and black market economy in dresium. Based on this, Ramas believes that the gnoll tribe had worked out some deal with the neogi to provide dresium.

At this point, two other creatures come above deck that are like nothing the PCs have ever seen before. One is a hulking giant of a creature with hoofed feet and a head like that of a horned bull. It looms over a much smaller creature with white fur and short stunted legs and arms.

The bull creature glares and snorts at the PCs but the other one is nicer and uses telepathy to introduce itself as Vishy. He is a puyg and his companion is Tormac, a minotaur. After some brief telepathic conversation, Ramas says he needs to make some communiques and asks Vishy and Tormac to wait in his cabin.

Ramas then explains that he is bothered by the third monster in the cave. He asks the PCs to describe it and after their description he identifies it as a Mi-Go, a crustacean fungus creature from the farthest planet in this system, Yuggoth.

Ramas explains that he is concerned because the Mi-Go never leave their home planet. However, the legends say that they were once the shock troops of a great evil entity who nearly destroyed the Known Systems in the Elder War. No one knows much about the Elder War, but the presence of this Mi-Go](/races/mi-go/) is concerning to Ramas.

Ramas then tells Umara to “Head for the Rock” and the ship begins to move away from Oerth, first at a slow pace but then rapidly. Ramas explains that since they “broke the veil,” he can no longer allow the PCs to return to Oerth. He is taking them to the Rock of Bral, a vast metropolis on an asteroid in the asteroid belt near Oerth. He will set them up in the city with lodging and some odd jobs, while he explores possibilities. He also mentions that he may need them as eyewitnesses to the events in the gnoll cavern. The PCs have some trouble with the concept of an “asteroid belt” but otherwise seem to take all of this in stride.

Others do not take it so easily. As soon as Ramas announces that he cannot take them back to Oerth, Postia, who has been huddled in confusion since arriving on the ship, stands bolt upright and starts shouting “take me back now”, while pointing her sword at Ramas. Luckily, Mid is able to sing an arcane song that quickly calms Postia’s emotions and she hands over the sword and allows Umara to guide her below deck.

The PCs settle in for some rest after their ordeal. As they drift off to sleep, they all strangely have an identical dream. They are wandering the halls of some dark labyrinth of smooth stone. Eventually they come to a stone doorway with no means of entry. They see the impression of a hand on the wall and a knife sitting on a podium. They then hear the words “IDENTIFY” in their minds. Each PC eventually uses the knife (or some other means) to draw blood from their hand and presses their hand into the impression opening the door.

Inside they find a domed chamber with transparent walls that look out upon the stars. Suddenly seven strange symbols appear on the walls of the chamber. Riya presses one and it disappears from all the PCs dreams. Eventually they all choose a symbol. They wake the next morning, with some memory of this dream, feeling as if they have spent some time in another body. They feel more skilled and strangely, many find themselves able to communicate in another language.

The PCs spend the next five days aboard The Steadfast learning more about space and their companions. Mid teaches Umara how to play the lute. Terlis busies himself with copying spells into his spellbook. Riya practices her martial arts from the crow’s nest, while Zhang and Kiki spar with Imsh. Clancy uses his telepathy to interrogate Zraroth, who seems bored with the whole thing.

The PCs also learn more about the puyg. Apparently, they are the most powerful telepaths in the Known Systems. Two puygs can communicate with each other over any physical distance in this universe. The puygs are great seekers of knowledge and have built the Great Library on their home system of Xalwani. They use their telepathic abilities to offer communication and information services, with outposts in most major metropolitan centers. They co-evolved with the bull-headed minotaurs on their home planet and each puyg is bonded to a minotaur guardian for life when it reaches adulthood.

Finally, the PCs reach the Rock of Bral. As they sail over the city, they finally begin to understand what an asteroid is. This entire asteroid is covered on one side with a teeming city and on the underside with a giant fortress. The giant fortress is the Arcane establishment, while the city is the Rock of Bral, a multicultural metropolis.

After docking, Umara and Kaleb (the sour-puss half-elven sorceror who makes up the final member of Ramas’s crew) are charged with getting the PCs settled in. Ramas wants Umara](/characters/umara/) and Kaleb to head to the local puyg station to see if the puygs have any information about the Elder War. He suggests that they take the PCs with them to give them a tour of the city.

The PCs are brought to a boarding house called the Red House just off the docks. The Red House is run by a creature named Smoke who looks something like a human-sized bipedal cat creature. She is pleasant. After the PCs drop their equipment, Umara and Kaleb bring them into the main streets where they confront a bewildering array of diversity and strangeness, being rapidly introduced to numerous races they never knew existed.

There is some familiarity. The PCs recognize the dwarves and the orcs. They also see plenty of humans, most of whom have the darker skin of the Zami, and a few who have the paler skin of the Palians. They also see elves, but these elves look nothing like the nature loving wood elves of Oerth, but are instead dressed in finery and have a haughty appearance. They also recognize creatures similar to the mighty Kuyot they met in the Emerald Tower as well as smaller creatures who look like (but act nothing like) Zaglirx. They also see gnomes, but these gnomes also look different from the gnomes of Oerth, less forest-y and more civilized, often carrying scrolls and odd contraptions.

The PCs are also able to ask Umara about several of the other creatures they see along the way, including Aarakocra, Kenku, Thri-kreen, Flumphs, Ratfolk, Giffs, Totrles, Gith, and Ogres.

Finally, as they see the Great Market of Bral on their left, Umara points out the “Puyg House of Communications and Information” on the opposite side of the street. After giving their weapons to the minotaur guards, the PCs enter to find four puyg sitting on giant stools, writing away at desks. After some time, one motions Umara forward and holds some kind of conversation. Eventually, Umara turns to the PCs and says that the puyg would like to speak with them.

The puyg explains that information about the Elder War is rare and extremely valuable. It is not easy to obtain, but the puyg would be willing to consider an exchange if a certain task can be performed. Umara suggested they might be the right party for this task.

Apparently, a gnomish sage named Alston Fapplestamp was working on a tome for the puyg on the Feydark War. He was supposed to deliver it a week ago, but seems to have gone missing. The puyg would like the PCs to track him down and return with him (and the book, preferably). The puyg does not offer many leads but does indicate that Alston is known to frequent the Laughing Beholder Inn.

Once outside, the PCs part ways with Umara and head for the Laughing Beholder Inn. They are surprised to discover that the innkeeper is indeed a … laughing beholder, which is apparently a large floating creature with one giant eyeball and a bunch of smaller eyeballs on tentacles. This beholder, whose name is Luigi, is friendly and conversant. He admits that most beholders are not known to be friendly or kind but he had an epiphany about life many years ago and changed his ways.

PPP attempts to get information out of Luigi about Alston, but his foppish ways seem to put off the beholder. He does tell the PCs that Alston comes in frequently and seems to enjoy the cooking of his chef, Nyx Bafflestone, who is also a gnome. he hints that he also thinks Alston might have taken a shine to Nyx. Nyx isn’t around today and he hasn’t seen Alston for a week. Clancy casts friends on Luigi and asks him for Alston’s place of residence. Luigi does not know this but does offer Nyx’s address, saying that she would probably know where to find Alston. After recovering from the friends spell, Luigi coolly asks the PCs to leave.

The party heads to Nyx’s residence. Approaching, they notice that the door appears to have been knocked off its hinge. They approach carefully and stealthily from both sides, but a jiggling musical instrument on Mid’s person and a trip by Terlis reveals them. However, it turns out that the only occupant is a very beat up looking Nyx. She says “mean men” came and tore up her house and forced her to tell them where Alston lived. She admits that she did so. After being healed by Clancy, she is persuaded to let them know where Alston’s house is so that they can catch the “mean men.” She says that these mean men were a mustachioed human, a big ogre, and a rat man.

The party hastens to this location, hopefully of catching the “mean men.” They located Alston’s house and noticed that the door seemed shut and unbroken. Clancy attempted to stealthily circle around the house in search of a rear entrance, but stepped on some dog doodoo and involuntarily exclaimed. This seemed to alert someone in the house, who said “Hey whats that?” in a deep voice. Clancy yelled back at the party that the jig was up.

Zhang was the first to react. He busted through the door. Inside of the small one-room dwelling, he found a mustachioed man with a rapier, a ratfolk holding a crossbow, a furry bugbear, and a hulking ogre. They reached for their weapons slowly, somewhat confused about what this new threat was.

Not one for parley, Zhang immediately charged into action, striking the ogre a fierce blow. The rest of the party moved to the windows. PPP cast bane to throw the rogues off their game, while Mid used faerie fire to light them up. Kiki entered the room and engaged the ogre, bashing it to the ground when she slammed her shield into its gut.

These rogues were no pushovers. The ogre (who named himself “Krug”) bashed at Zhang who might have gone down had he been a lesser warrior. The unassuming ratfolk (who his companions called “Chit”) chuckled and loosed a bolt that caught Zhang under the arm and wounded him dearly. The mustachioed man (who his companions named “Fancy Boy”) swung into action with a flash of rapier and dagger, while the bugbear hacked away. Zhang, in the front line, withstood it all, although he was bleeding from several wounds. With seemingly newly found skill, Zhang responded to every missed attack with a brutal crushing blow and soon [Krug](/characters/krug/ was lying on the floor with a crushed skull. Clancy forced the bugbear back with torturous otherworldly whispers of insanity.

All might still have been lost but for the arcane wizardry of Terlis. He used arcane magic to convince Chit that he was on fire and the ratfolk quickly fled the battle, screaming “Fire, Fire!” This seemed to break the morale of the remaining group. As Zhang dealt a deadly blow to the bugbear that laid it flat, Fancy Boy made a run for it. Following close behind Chit, he almost would have gotten away except for Terlis casting grease beneath his feet, causing him to lose his footing and tumble to the ground. PPP cast sleep and Fancy Boy collapsed into the mud and grease.

With the quick battle drawing to an end, the PCs could hear the shouting of guards rapidly approaching. Looking around the hovel, they realized that it had been thoroughly tossed by these scoundrels. They had also discovered a secret door behind a book case. However, there was only a stone in the opening of the door frame. Above the door frame, a sign read “say the words to enter.” Kiki tried “Nyx” while others wracked their brains for ideas. Zhang the barbarian scratched his head and just said “the words?” upon which the stone turned into a glimmering magical portal of some kind. As the guards approached the hovel, the PCs had a decision to make about what to do.