Trust in Sentinel

"Trust in Sentinel" is the tenth episode of Book 1: Sand & Starlight of Regolus: Dark Age.
== Official Description ==
"As night falls, our adventurers board a train bound for Faleeria—only to find themselves face-to-face with a group claiming to be the Copper Legion and after the very same artifact they seek. Whose hand will claim the prize first? What secrets lie hidden within the heart of this perilous race?
Join the mythweaving as destiny unfurls beneath the stars!"Trust in Sentinel (YouTube).
== Plot ==
=== Part 1 ===
* Before the group makes their way to the train, Aelys visits Ban’Aravel ("The Lost Caravan") to find out more about the Bridge Incident. The barkeep tells her that there was some altercation. There were people meeting on the bridge; a group of Ad‘elvhen, who came from the forest, had an interaction with a stranger in the town that she calls a horned giant. They were speaking but somebody else, a bald elve, was called to the horned giant‘s side. The conversation got heated so the Vanguard were called but they dissipated and the horned individual was gone.
* They all board the train and reach their seats in the first car of the second class with some other individuals with them in there, one of them hooded that they can’t really see clearly. While JB and Bubbles keep an eye out for magic or anything weird, Aelys and Synnove refresh their memories with the actual contract: a group of privateers is supposed to be on this train who are transporting a piece of stonework that Hareem believes to be a crucial part of the cryptoglyph. Their task is to find them and get the stone before the train arrives back in Faleeria and without making a scene. 
* As the pair of them read the contract, they feel a third set of eyes on it, as Lenore suddenly arrives in between them. She tells them that she had to recharge but would love to help them with their work now that she is back. Aelys asks if Synnove is sure that they can trust her sister. Synnove knows that she can trust Lenore to get a job done so Aelys shares the contract with her. They plan to split up, one group staying here while the rest makes their way through the rest of the train to get more information but also to get some food.
* Synnove and Lenore stay behind. Lenore tries to explain how and why she changed, that she has to go to the Distortion to recharge every while or something like before when she just vanished will happen again. She tells Synnove that when she tried to sneak back into their home(town) to get her and their other siblings after she was excommunicated, she was caught by Inara and thrown into the Distortion. She was not supposed to survive it but she did - but needs that recharge ever since.
* Aelys, Bubbles and JB make their way through the four different cars of the First Class, different individuals in each of them. In the second car, they are approached by someone, a high-elve with a magical staff, a wizard, asking if they happen to have the time as he has been stuck in the train for a while now. He later invites them to stay with them for the train ride. Once they walk through the first car of the first class, where two solarborn sit, unmoving, they enter the Dining Car, where they get some sandwiches from Joseph Hally, who has been in the family business for way too long, before they return to their seats. The hooded figure that was with them in the car is now gone. 
* Before Synnove and Aelys make their way through the second half of the train, Synnove turns to JB and warns him about her sister as she seemingly is taken over by dark magic and tells him to knock her out if she starts to behave weirdly. 
* In the third car of the second class, they are approached by a Tortle, Smythe, and an Orc, Rahni, who invite them to a conversation and a tea. Aelys and Synove recognize them as two of the individuals the train station worker told them about. They continue their way to the last car and ask the female looking Tiefling, Thera, if she is okay because she seems nervous. She too is one of the individuals they are looking for.
* As they head back, Rahni blocks the door and Smythe tells them to sit down so they can talk. As he flips a copper coin and tells them that they mean no harm, Synnove and Aelys have no choice but to take a seat.
* Bubbles and JB ask Lenore if she knows more about what happened to the person that Synnove converted and the magic around it, just as the wizard comes in, interested in the conversation about magic. He introduces himself as Nostram, but Bubbles recognizes him from his past, with a different name. JB goes away to search for his friends, while Nostram asks about what type of magic they are specialized in. He himself seems to be specialized in the same magic as Bubbles is. Lenore picks up Bubbles to follow JB and get away from the wizard, but he just follows them. 
* With a tea for each of them, Smythe introduces himself and says that he learned over the past years what jobs need to get done but asks the two what their job is here. Aelys hands over the fake contract. Smythe reveals that he and his group procured a particular item for a client without asking too many questions. Flipping that coin with the copper legion symbol again, he assures them that this is all official business. Smythe tells them he knows they are here to stop them from fulfilling their task. He wants to see if their interests are truly opposed and asks them both to think about if the reward is really worth the risk. Smythe and his group do not get a reward but they believe that this mission is important. Synnove asks about their beliefs and Smythe takes out a medallion that has the symbol of Sindar on it. They are compensated for their travels but they do it because they believe in it and not because of money.
* JB arrives and Smythe asks him to join the conversation, just one mercenary to another. JB asks if they are Copper Legion, but Smythe tells them that they are contractors and were grouped some time ago as a retainer. They are called Sentinel.
=== Part 2 ===
* With the reveal of that name, Smythe flips his coin: On the one side is the Copper Legion symbol but on the other is the sentinel symbol, an omega with a little alpha linked to it. He tells them that as Sentinel, they can go where legionnaires can‘t go. Aelys asks about his devotion to Sindar, so he tells them about his years on sea and that he had to make sure the winds blow in his favor. 
* Bubbles and Lenore arrive and close behind them, Nostram. Seeing the situation, Nostram asks Smythe, seemingly knowing each other, if this is what they have intended. Smythe asks Nostram to keep an eye on the door so they can talk without being interrupted.
* Smythe then tells them that it was made clear that it is crucial that this stone does not fall into the wrong hands but he can‘t guarantee that it will end up in worse hands if he gives it to them. Sentinel, or the Watchers, is a name given to them by their employers but he won‘t tell them more about who that is.
* Lenore gets a feeling in her gut from far in the storm that the stone is important and part of a task her boss would like checked.  
* Aelys asks if Smythe knows what the stone is but he does not, only vaguely, as their employer likes to keep their secrets from them too.
* Aelys asks about a piece of paper so Synnove opens her book. What all of the Sigil Bearers see is a message from Stella that just says “Get the stone“ over and over again.
* Aelys shows them the Sigil of Æons and asks if that symbol means anything to them. Disheartened, Smythe answers that he was afraid of something like that but that this just expedites the conversation. He asks if the group is willing to let them do what they need to do but they all need that stone so it is not that easy. The symbol is one of the “Signs of the End, a symbol of great change” and he has no intention of letting that change come to pass. As he gives a nod to Nostram, the wizard tries to slow them down so they can get away. While Nostram stays to keep his magic up, Smythe and Rahni run towards the cargo hold. 
* JB, slowed, immediately runs after them and out of the slow field. Bubbles turns to Nostram, asking him what he is doing. “Our job” is the only answer he gets before he teleports out of sight. Bubbles can tell that he went straight up onto the roof of the train so he follows him, where he can see two other figures climbing up onto the train. He gets Nostram's attention, asking him to stop so they can talk. With a “Theagus, you know I can’t”, he turns around, continuing “you cannot ruin this for us and you cannot ruin it for the Seekers”. Bubbles, or Theagus as he was called, can either come with them or let them go. With a different voice, Bubbles/Theagus demands the truth but Nostram, who is actually also called Theagus, tells him he shouldn’t have to ask why they are doing this, and starts to turn away.  
* Lenore turns to Synnove and reveals that she too needs that stone before she also teleports away, into the cargo hold. Awaiting her is Thera, the tiefling, who shoots her with the now revealed gun that was hidden in the back, and blinds her. All she can hear are steps running away. 
* Aelys follows Bubbles onto the train and out of the slow field. She is able to hit Nostram from a distance, who falls down in front of Bubbles/Theagus and only whispers the words “Get this done. Take it back. They’re waiting” before he pushes his Staff of the Hourglass Court into Bubbles’ hand and lets out his last breath.
* The air around JB shimmers as the cloaked figure, Kelevor, appears in front of him and attacks him. The fight continues, as Smythe conjures a storm and lightning.
* Lenore tries to follow them all up the train but just as she teleports up and steps through the hole, she is not here anymore. Instead, she finds herself on the bank of a still lake, a wooden stone Monastery in the distance, as the hole closes behind her.
* Thera runs to the front of the train so Aelys follows her, thinking that the stone might be in the engine car. They race through the café and into the engine room, where a warforged is running the train. Aelys asks for the stone but Thera just tells her that they don‘t know what they are doing. She keeps trying to stop Thera from messing with the engines.
* Smythe summons a bolt of lightning that hits Aelys, who figures out that with her new copper bones, she is vulnerable to lightning damage. Smythe then turns to Bubbles, telling him that Nostram was a good man and when Bubbles agrees, asks him if Bubbles would maintain his will, but he denies.
* They all end up on top of the train, where the fight continues. Synnove reaches Bubbles and the dead Nostram laying before him. Bubbles asks her for help so Synnove pulls out the one revivify stone she has and uses it to bring Nostram back to life. Nostram immediately tries to get away from them but Synnove accidentally pushes him off the still moving train. They still try to stop the fight but Smythe and the rest won‘t listen. Instead, Smythe uses the lightning to charge himself.
* JB is able to push Rahni off the train and grapple and hold Smythe, as Synnove tries to stop the fighting again. They might be trying to achieve the same thing. Smythe reveals that the symbol he was shown was all he was told to avoid. Synnove tells them that they might be manipulated because she has god on her side and what do they have? Hearing that, Smythe just answers “So do I“, before he lets his talisman float up and acts as a conduit for the lightning that is about to hit them all. JB, who still holds Smythe down, sacrifices himself to take the lightning into him, preventing it from getting through to his friends - saving them but falling unconscious in return. All he hears is the sound of rain that is no longer falling, of wind that rushes somewhere else, a stream of babbling rocks falling down the mountain side.
* Seeing that sacrifice, Smythe, barely alive, thinks they might be of some worth after all and pulls the key stone out of his cloak, but if they want it, they have to take it from him. 
* Synnove rushes to heal JB. As he wakes up, he hears an unfamiliar voice: “You are doing well“. Afterwards, Synnove is able to grab the stone but gets hit by another lightning bolt in return which makes her fall unconscious. With the clarity of the elements around him, JB, focused, attacks Smythe and with a thundering “This was your choice“ from JB, the Tortle presses the coin with the symbol and the stone onto JB‘s chest. “There are bleaker and more frightening things than gods out there in the dark. Be sure you‘re on the right side when they come. And believe me, they are coming“, are the last words from Smythe before he falls down the train. JB looks at the key stone and notices the Sigil of Longing carved into it. 
Level 5 for JB!
== Characters ==
=== Player Characters ===
*Aelys Sa’Viraan
*Bubbles Bathington
*Jean-Baptiste
*Lenore
*Synnove Oleander
=== NPCs ===
* Garrus (Barkeep)
* Kelevor (Hooded figure, human male)
* Norixior
* Nostram
* Joseph Hally 
* Smythe
* Rahni 
* Thera
* Stella
* several unnamed passengers on the train, including:
** Minister of the Faleeria Trading Ministry 
** 2 Coalition Delegates
** 2 Solarborn
** a Goblinnette Party
===Mentioned===
* Inara
* Sindar 
== Locations and Organizations ==
=== Locations ===
* Sulevara
** The Lost Caravan "Ban’Aravel"
* Coalition Train 
* Lake near Monastery
* Disterra (mentioned)
* The Distortion (mentioned)
=== Organizations ===
* Coalition of Greater Order
* Sentinel / The Watchers
* The Seekers
* Hourglass Court
== Tarot Card and RP Warmup ==
The tarot card for the episode was The Magician, drawn by Dan.
The roleplay warmup question was: "If your character was a business and you called in, what would the on-hold music be?"
==References==