In which the Silver Talons board the Lightning Rail, debate the definition of sentience, give hope to a desperate artificer, fly over the city of Fairhaven, meet an all-knowing elf, cross several countries and get ambushed by mysterious warforged from the Mournland.
Session Recount
As the Silver Talons gather on the platform of the lightning rail, they are met by Jurian Kael who brandishes their tickets for their journey to the Talenta Plains – including an additional ticket for the newest member Dr. Arabella d’Jurasco. The first trains pull into the station, one going east and the other heading towards Thrane. Stowing Allrianne in the stable carriage of the train, our heroes board the train as the morning sun crests over the horizon and bathes the station in a golden morning light. As our heroes begin to find their seats, Donnerjack realises that his ticket is not of the same standard as the rest of the party and must head to the back of the train – the very fact that he has Sarge folded away in his backpack to avoid detection could perhaps be a good thing he is sent to a sparsely populated section of the train.
Spanning 2 compartments in the same carriage with Kaster, Ifrid and Renart in one and Vim, Theren and Arabella in another, a strange face joins the compartment where Vim et. al are getting comfortable. With introductions and gentlemanly assistance with her bags, the new face introduces herself as Sienne – a student on her way to Fairhaven to study at the university – the first stop east from Passage. At this time, in the corridor outside the compartments a dwarf artificer walks by with a ‘naked’ warforged made out of wood. As they walk past the compartment where Kaster and Ifrid are getting settled, Kaster calls out in Dwarvish to the passerby enquiring about the strange warforged and strikes up a friendly conversation, introducing themselves as Clara-Dael and her own creation, Willow.
Gathering speed, the train passes out of Passage – northbound to Fairhaven where the party begins to settle down and watch Passage fade away to rolling hills, forests and scattered villages. Exhausted, Theren chooses to be the first to rest as the suns climb higher in the sky. Nearing lunchtime all but Theren head to the dining carriage to enjoy some food and seated at one of the tables is Clara-Dael, who appears to be trying to teach Willow some simple math.
Kaster, Ifrid and Vim take an interest in the fact that Clara-Dael is taking Willow to Fairhaven to prove that he is sentient, otherwise he will be destroyed. They each take their turns proving logic puzzles and attempting to illicit an emotional response from Willow – which they somewhat end up achieving, albeit not in a full manner. With the help of a friendly passerby they spend a good amount of time helping Clara-Dael and Willow.
As the train steadily progresses onwards towards Fairhaven, Theren awakes from his trance to find he is alone in the compartment and gets up to try and find his friends. Exiting the wrong way down the carriage he bumps in to an elderly elf who introduces himself as Vestelar, a performer heading on his way back to Karrnath and the Carnival of Shadows. Enquiring after Theren’s looks, accent and name, Vestelar takes a liking to the younger elf and they accompany each other to the dining cart, passing by the others deep in conversation with the dwarf and warforged.
Upon reaching Fairhaven, the train stops for an hour where Ifrid chooses to take a rest, Vim heads out shopping to buy a bag of holding and healing potions and Theren invites Vestelar out on an aerial tour over Fairhaven on the backs of giant eagles, returning just in time for the train to set off – where Vim almost gets left behind. Theren chooses to trust in Vestelar and offers to show him the shield that he took from his home to find out if Vestelar knows of its origin. He informs Theren that the shield surface is a fake, a common practice for a certain sect of elves and that the true emblem lies beneath. The fake surface can be dissolved with the use of Prestidigitaion, so naturally they head directly to the back of the train where Kaster is arguing with Donnerjack about the fact that he can’t be trusted with a room of 3 young girls – passengers on the train who also have a lower quality ticket than our heroes. In an excellent cock-blocking move, Kaster drops the bomb that bad things happen to girls when they are around Donnerjack, they are interrupted by Theren and Vestelar.
Theren politely asks Donnerjack to cast his signature ‘Presti’ on his shield. Weaving his hand in a familiar pattern, the top coating gently dissolves and slowly reveals the true shields emblem. A golden skull with piecing blue glowing eyes and a mark on its brow is left behind, which Vestelar whispers it is the emblem of The Undying Court, a community of elves found on the continent of Aerenal to the east of Khorvaire. This news throws Theren and whilst a step towards finding out where he came from, it asks many more questions than it answers.
As the train reaches Thaliost, the party must disembark and catch a ferry to the other side of the Scions river as the bridge has been destroyed. Re-embarking and continuing their journey, Theren must say goodbye to Vestelar as they reach Korth in Karrnath, promising to meet up again in Fairhaven at the Royal Wedding in a few weeks. Continuing south through the night and into the Talenta Plains, the train is attacked by a rogue band of warforged on another train engine running parallel.
With the help of their recently met acquaintance and the smart thinking of Ifrid to overload one of the warforged by continuously hitting it with fire spells to the point of it erupting in a devastating explosion and taking multiple assailants with it, the party emerge victorious but not without taking some considerable damage and almost losing Kaster. Licking their wounds, and with a considerably damaged train carriage, they limp ever closer to their destination of Gatherhold.
Session glossary
- Sienne – a young country girl going to study in Fairhaven
- Clara-Dael of Clan Alarak – a dwarven artificer, creator of Willow; to work on the fireworks display for the Royal Wedding in Fairhaven
- Willow – a warforged-like creature made entirely out of wood; possibly in violation of the Thronehold Treaty
- Vestelar – an old elven performer, member of the Carnival of Shadows; to perform at the reception for the Royal Wedding
- Aeren – a legendary hero who lead the elven exodus from Xen’Drik
- The Undying Court – the ancestors of Aereni elves, preserved as “deathless” and worshiped like gods
Turn of the Age 