Beginning of the Blade of the King Arc
In which the Silver Talons renovate their new home, suffer the consequences of a date gone wrong, try to recruit Dr. Arabella for their mission, go graverobbing, acquire a new follower, fight Donnerjack’s family servants, rescue Dr. Arabella, and head straight to the station to catch their train to the Talenta Plains.
Session Recount
The session opens with our brave heroes having breakfast with Jurian, deliberating over which house to choose from (they pick Lakeside) and just before going to their new accommodation, Donnerjack walks in. Hair and clothing disheveled and a rather defeated and tired look across his face. Kaster inquires where he has been and if he is alright but Donnerjack is in no mood to talk about it at this time. Instead he sulks and withdraws from the team, only to be embraced by Kaster as a means of non-verbal reassurance, which somewhat lifts Donnerjacks mood. They make their way into Jurians carriage to journey to Lakeside (at which point we enter a memory sequence of 3 days earlier…)
Donnerjack has a date with Dr. Arabella d’Jurasco, a punk rock halfling divine sorcerer with the mark of healing on the side of her head – visible by her half shaved, blonde side-swept mohawk hairstyle. It’s just before noon. Donnerjack has arranged a picnic in the park and makes small talk with Arabella about his past and her history to try and connect. Completely missing any possible signs and failing his rolls for a smooth advancement – things aren’t looking good.Nearing 1pm, a carriage arrives and out steps a corpulent lady dressed all in black, with a black hat and long black ravens feather. Donnerjack’s aunt, asking him to come with her back to the manor. They reach a compromise that he is to finish his date and to meet her at the cottage where a druid once living (and where they were ambushed by the bloody bastards weeks ago). Back in the carriage, Donnerjack is slowing coming around after drinking several coffees, yet still doesn’t want to let us know the finer details of what happened. The Silver talons arrive at their new abode and start lengthy discussions as to how the previously owned tavern can be converted into a blacksmith. In addition to their design discussions, they also decide the destination they must go to in order to fetch the materials required to smith this magical sword for the king. The Talenta Plains, 3 days travel on the Lightning Rail to the east. A place where Dr. Arabella d’Jurasco is from. Jurian has offered to purchase their tickets to the Talenta Plains and back, and their train is set to leave in the morning. Kaster and Ifrid choose to go about arranging plans for their blacksmith whilst Donnerjack feels the need to go talk to Arabella about their destination to see if they can acquire any help. Theren and Tivara follow Donnerjack because it is likely to be hilarious.
At the Jurasco enclave, they find Arabella working and Donnerjack attempts to convince her that his family is after him, that they know he likes her and that her life is likely in danger. Yet despite his pleading for her to join him on their quest (fails persuade roll like 4 – 5 times) he lets Theren and Tivara know that his is being scryed upon and it is only a matter of time until his family find him and take him away to his family home. A place where he does not want to be or return to. A home of the guardians of House Vol. Failing to encourage Arabella to join the silver talons, they return from the enclave and decide on their final arrangements before travel. Donnerjack requests Theren to join him to complete a personal and private ritual he must complete tonight to help him bide time, as a form of morale support. A ritual of animate dead and then to contact his mother to beg her to give him more time. Theren and Donnerjack sneak into the graveyard and dig up the skeleton of a long departed sergeant and successfully perform the ritual to animate it. With newly acquired skele-bones in tow, they head to the cottage in the Balinors Rest park for Donnerjack to send his mother a message. Before he can begin to cast the message spell, 3 large stone gargoyles descend on the derelict building and block all door exits and the window. They tell Donnerjack that they have orders to bring him to the family home without question.
Donnerjack defies them and pushes the gargoyle climbing through the window back out onto his back with the help of ‘Sarge’ and make a break into the park.Theren, from his hiding position and somewhat alarmed as to how the situation quickly escalated, dives through the now empty window and for the first time in his life, calls upon the powers of nature to summon 2 giant eagles from the fey. He jumps on 1, and orders the other eagle to grab Donnerjack and Sarge.Combat evolves with the 3 gargoyles trying to abduct Donnerjack, 1 giant eagle fighting against them and at the same time having a tug of war with the gargoyles and with Donnerjack fraught with panic (which is clearly the reason because he completely messed up his concentrations and choices of spells, don’t worry buddy, it happens to us all) they manage to escape into the night after some exciting aerial combat.Before escaping the gargoyles on the backs of eagles, Theren overhears the gargoyles mention that if Donnerjack doesn’t come quietly that they will go after the halfling… Theren and Donnerjack fly to the Golden Dragon where the others are having a debate with a drunk, until a random soldier – who looks as if he has just purchased his first armor swears allegiance to Kaster because he had a dream. Kasters first follower.
There is little time for argument as Theren bolts into the tavern and screams at the others to follow him up to the room. He relays what has just happened, how Donnerjack has gotten them into another fix, and that Arabella is now in danger and we need to rescue her To the skies once more! To the estate of Arabella, where the heroes discover through the help of the keen sight of the eagles that there is a broken window on the 2nd floor of the house. Tivara and Theren, on the backs of eagles fly up to enter the window, whilst Donnerjack, Kaster and his follower and Ifrid attempt to break down the door. Arabella and her family are inside, being attacked by massive gargoyles and the team now must rescue the doctor and their family (they do), destroy the massive gargoyles with extreme prejudice (they do), and somehow explain it to the authorities (the police are fans of the silver talons and hate paperwork)
It is at this point in time when Arabella realises that to keep her family safe, she must travel with the Silver Talons and begrudgingly says goodbye to her parents to join them on their travels to the Talenta Plains and to visit her extended relations. Donnerjack is nowhere to be seen when she makes this choice as he has skulked away from the d’Jurasco homestead to avoid the authorities finding out about Sarge. This doesn’t impress Arabella. Theren offers to help her with her bags, introduce her to Allrianne and invite her to ride her which Tivara mentions to Theren that is how you impress a lady, something with Theren is rather oblivious to, and the Silver Talons rendez-vous at the lightning rail station. Donnerjack is there waiting, and sees Arabella riding Allrianne, a view which might pain him to see. The SIlver Talons board the train and depart on their long journey east.
Session glossary
- The Lakeside Society of Explorers – a group of young adventurers who used the house in Lakeside as their headquarters before vanishing mysteriously
- Vadryn Lundarak – a dwarven architect and interior designer
- Lucrezia Virtu – Donnerjack’s aunt
- Letitia Virtu – Donnerjack’s mother
- Sergeant Daton Venmaris – a military man, loved by his soldiers; died in the Last War; reanimated
- Drego “Talks-When-He-Should-Be-Running” – a halfling of the Skoan-Quah, friend of Dr. Arabella and a potential guide in the Talenta Plains
- Skoan-Quah – the Clan of the Skull, one of the twelve halfling clans that inhabit the Talenta Plains
- Renart – the son of a priest from Passage; received divine guidance to follow Kaster Soranath
Turn of the Age 