The Copper Legion (episode)

This article is about the episode. For the organization of the same name, see The Copper Legion."The Copper Legion" is the first episode of Book 1: Sand & Starlight of Regolus: Dark Age.
== Official Description ==
"A new story is about to unfold. Prepare yourself to meet new friends and foes, journey to realms both ancient and advanced, and to triumph over new challenges, or fall. Join us in telling our next great adventure in; “Dark Age".
This campaign takes place in Regolus, but requires no prior knowledge of the world or previous campaigns or episodes.”
== Plot ==
=== Prologue/Introduction ===
“The camera is going to pan down on a great vast desert. It is night on the Prime, and under the sliver of moonlight that remains and a canopy of stars, the sands shimmer almost silver. However, the camera does not stop at the sands. It keeps panning down into the dark below the earth, and eventually we reach a large chamber of dark dull red sandstone. The walls of this semi-spherical room are lined with glyphs and symbols, and the floor centers on a large circular dais. It is in six segmented pieces, all connected and converging on a figure in the middle. Embedded in the floor from the waist up is a humanoid woman, half artifice, half flesh. Tubes snake in and out of her skin, and she is mostly wrapped in decaying bandages, including a cloth completely covering her eyes. Make no mistake, she is very much alive. She turns her gaze upwards to the ceiling and the array of windows there which impossibly display a perfect view of the night sky miles above. And as she stares at these stars through these windows, six great pairs of glowing eyes begin to pulse in the heavens, staring back at her. Her eyes thrum green beneath the cloth, and all over the room the runes and sigils respond in kind.
As we Fade to Black on this image, this is Regolus: Dark Age. Book One: Sand and Starlight.” [00:14:01]
* The session starts with an introduction of Regolus Prime itself, exclusively referred to as The Prime. Once guided by the Divine — The Crucible and The Eclipse — now this guidance is gone. 1013 years ago, the adventuring party known as Erthe, Wynd, and Fyr stopped a lich from causing calamity. Not only did they vanish afterwards, but the Gods have also disappeared.
* It is the fourth epoch of this world, known as the Era of Dimmed Heavens, and life still flourishes on the Prime.
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=== Part 1 ===
* The characters arrive in the city of Faleeria, following the chatter to the gates of Spearhold Keep where the competition to be a part of the Copper Legion will begin soon:
* Salvador arrives early to scout out the area around Spearhold Keep before he makes his way to “Solomon’s Salacious Selections” to get some breakfast. On the way there, he hears a rumor: There is supposed to be a pair of twins from the North in town, who don’t look anything alike, but they are from a very secretive people and are here to spread their religious doctrine across the Nation and to brand the city in their name. One of them carries no weapon at all, the other carries a great red spear.
* Synnove stayed at “The Last Harpoon” the previous night. Before she heads to the Keep, she gets some pastries at “The Palace. A Place for Protein, Produce and Purity”, where the owner warns her about vampires that apparently run the country, and offers her some stakes, just in case. While still in the shop, she hears a rumor about somebody that was a thief in his past life. He’s supposed to be from a bardic family, can read thoughts, and could be a spy.
* Jean-Baptiste heads out of The Last Harpoon and spends his time swimming in the ocean before the exam starts. On the way back into town to meet Synnove, he hears a rumor about a witch, an elvhen princess, that will bewitch the whole legion. He finds Synnove, and they share breakfast and the rumors they’ve heard before heading to the Keep.
* Bubbles enjoys the sight of the ocean as he meets an individual called the Coat, who is here for the exam just like him so they decide to go to the Keep together. On the way, the Coat tells Bubbles about a rumor: There is an assassin taking part in the exam that hides in plain sight by dyeing the color of all hairs on their body.
* After a couple of hard days, Aelys Sa’Viraan arrives at Spearhold Keep. Already waiting there, besides a few individuals clearly working, are two individuals: Athamé and Katari. While Katari is busy staring into the distance, Athamé and Aelys talk about what they know about the other compatriots. Athamé heard a rumor that there might be a shapeshifter in town, who is currently presenting as a flightless bird. Athamé gives Aelys a demonstration of her skills before they go back to their training.
* People continue to filter into the Keep until there are 18 potential recruits. They look for and find the people mentioned in the morning's rumors. While the recruits converse, Bubbles and Katari demonstrate some of their skills; Aelys shows a particular interest in Bubbles's Graviturgy magic. After a confrontation between the Isskari Synnove and Katari, six people line up in front of the crowd.
* Ygritte Bertrand, Commander of the Outpost, gives a Welcome Speech, introduces the individuals at the front of the crowd as well as the new benefactor and secondary D-rank leader, Hareem Lord Hareem. After explaining the regulations for the exam, they start to divide the participants into smaller teams:
COPPER LEGION EXAM, 1013 DH	COPPER LEGION EXAM, 1013 DH
Team A 	Bubbles Bathington, Alewjin, Synnove Oleander, Aelys Sa’Viraan,  Salvador E. Montebank
Team B 	Athamé, Gerden, Ophelia Pyrrin, Valentinus
Team C 	Voltaire, Chrom, Barridyne, Katari, Daisy-Mae
Team D 	The Coat, Lessa Swiftwhistle, Bug, Rook
* After teams are established, Team A approaches the barracks and chooses bunk beds. The recruits start to get to know each other a bit more; Synnove asks whether Aelys is really a princess, which she vehemently denies.
* Sal and Aelys find themselves unexpectedly reuniting. He establishes a psychic connection with Aelys and JB, through which Aelys calls Salvador by his true name, "Eralan." Aelys and Sal discuss their reasons for coming to the Copper Legion aloud instead of through the connection, so JB doesn't think he is hearing ghosts (+1 sanity point for JB). While Aelys is searching for a specific Codex, a family heirloom of sorts, Salvador is on a mission from Tanel'Inan. Aelys wonders where Sal stands and why he is using an alias: “If you had to decide between your first, your true name, and its people, and your new one, where would you fall?” [02:31:17]. While he still works for his family, they have their differences. Aelys will keep an eye on him until Sal decides which side he is on, but they are both happy to see a familiar face.
* After the arrival of Team C, more ghost talk, introductions between the recruits, and Team A learning that Alewjin is an alias for Jean-Baptiste, Team A makes their way outside to receive their briefing and prepare for the exam. On their way to the stable, Team A meets Hareem Lord Hareem again who gifts them each a goodberry. After a brief conversation with the giff, they arrive at the stable.
=== Part 2 ===
* Stable Master Szerus gives Team A a briefing about their assignment: The Rat Race Contract. It takes place in/by the Sun Salt Mine, a full day's ride away from town.
** Contract: Get there and clear out the Sun Salt Mine outside of town of the giant rats, retrieve a piece of the core Sun Salt, and come back in time.
** It starts at sundown tonight, and ends at sundown tomorrow.
* To meet the timeline, the Stable Master tells Team A to take the dune hogs as a faster travel methods. The team discusses other possible ideas (including "borrowing" Hareem Lord Hareem's skiff) before deciding to learn how to ride the hogs. After several attempts at dune hog riding, to varying levels of success, the group decides to find wood to build their own skiff to make traveling to the mine easier. Szerus points the group in the direction of the old temple on the shore to find materials.
* As they arrive at the destroyed temple, Team A notices that all the noises around them go quiet, and Synnove's book begins to vibrate. While JB searches for wood, the others discover that this was once a temple to Sindar, the Elementalist. 
* Aelys begins to feel an odd hunger while being around the temple; she steps away from the group to regulate herself.
* As Synnove connects with her book, words appear, telling her “There is a footprint. It is warm" (04:06:33) and directing her to go to the center of the temple. Stepping inside, they hear an echo of all the elements. JB feels a wave of comfort through the wind. In the center of the temple, the book shows Synnove what what it looked like before it burned down; the book stops vibrating, and all the sounds from outside come back. The group briefly discusses Stella and whether magic is tainted. 
* As sound returns, a voice appears in Aelys’s head, the voice of the Xilyreon. It is the second time it speaks to her: “You let them go. You let a meal go.” [04:15:17]. As she instinctively tries to do magic, she feels a sharp pain through the vein in her arm, but no magic appears.
* With the wood he gathered, JB makes his way back to the Copper Legion in search of the Blacksmithing Tower. Bubbles checks in on Aelys as the others stay nearby for backup. As they approach, the voice of the Xilyreon compels Aelys to get Synnove's book. Aelys's eyes turn into swirling pools of ink as she reaches for the book, as though she is not quite present anymore.
* Initiative starts for an intraparty conflict. Sal attacks Aelys to stop her before anything more could happen. Aelys drops to the ground, snoring, as JB comes running back to the group.
* Synnove’s book starts vibrating again; she heals Aelys who awakens and cannot remember anything that happened at the temple. Stella tells Synnove that they should help her. As Synnove answers out loud, the rest of the group is confused about who she is talking to.
* The group, led by Sal, tell Aelys what happened, that she was lost to something for a moment and that Sal had to take her out before anything else could have happened. She thanks him later through the psychic connection. As Aelys looks at the book, she still feels the connection; Synnove can also feel it while holding the book. Aelys resists the temptation of the book and apologizes for her actions. Synnove offers her help if she needs any before they all make their way back to the Keep to continue their preparations for the exam.
== Characters ==
=== Player Characters ===
* Aelys Sa’Viraan
* Bubbles Bathington
* Jean-Baptiste
* Salvador E. Montebank
* Synnove Oleander
=== NPCs ===
* Solomon
* Sally
* Beryllia
* Gelfin Flax 
* The Coat
* High Minister Kirin Matawa
* Athamé
* Gerden
* Ophelia Pyrrin
* Valentinus
* Voltaire, the Jester
* Chrom
* Barridyne
* Katari
* Daisy-Mae
* Lessa Swiftwhistle
* Bug
* Rook
* Rusty
* Vaxal
* IGN15
* Dr. Iridia Thane
* Commander Ygritte Bertrand
* Acastarok
* Hammerhead
* Urzok
* Hareem Lord Hareem
* Szerus
* Damien
* Stella
===Mentioned===
* Aloysius 
* Leonaard 
== Locations and Organizations ==
=== Locations ===
* Phaelis
** Faleeria
*** Spearhold Keep
*** Solomon’s Salacious Selections
*** The Last Harpoon
*** The Palace
*** The Burned Temple
** Lifeless Sea
** old sun salt mine
=== Organizations ===
* The Copper Legion
* Faleeria Trading Ministry
== Tarot Card and RP Warmup ==
The tarot card for the episode was The Emperor, drawn by Hannah.
The roleplay warmup question was: "What did your character have for breakfast this morning?"
== References ==