The Train to the Bottom of the World

"The Train to the Bottom of the World" was an adventure run in both December 2022 and January 2023 as one of the two inaugural adventures of The Rainbow Guild. This adventure was GM'ed by Ezri, and was ran as a Red Level Adventure. This follows the adventure of a few brave souls who took a mission to uncover the secrets of the train brought to Kaleidos by the Shai Kugayan people, in particular the energy source that powered such devices capable of moving huge machines across land at speeds faster than ever thought possible. This discovery will only reveal more secrets, collusion, conspiracy, and a massive political underworld within Kesh'Tan Ur.

## Session 1

### Teaser:

"The introduction of the Shai Kugayan people has caused quite the gossip to run rampant in the city of Kaleidos. Not only are they strangers that have imposed quite an ornate influence on “The Capital” to the northwest, they have just finished building their travel machines that can supposedly operate like our shipping vessels, but over land. The Rainbow Guild, protectors of Kaleidos and its citizens, must gather more information on this technology, and needs recruits for an important mission to determine how they are able to power such impressive machines with seemingly unimaginable power. Come join the Rainbow Guild and travel on 'The Train to The Bottom of The World!'"

### Player Characters

> Sir G'Ren of the Springhorn; lvl 3 Grung Paladin; he/him (played by Rodney, he/him)
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> M; lvl 3 Human Artificer/Wizard; she/her (played by Lydia, she/her)
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> Zanna; lvl 3 Gnomish Druid; she/her (played by Gee, she/they)
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> Jack; lvl 3 Human Ranger; he/him (played by AJ, he/him)
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> Pugglonsi; lvl 3 Tabaxi Rogue; he/him (played by Nicole, he/him)
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> Dennis; lvl 3 Gnome Wizard; he/him (played by Alex, he/him)
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> Bilberd; lvl 3 Aarakocra Cleric; they/them (played by Shelby, they/them)
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### Important NPC's

> Trixie, a goblin steward for the passengers. Bright, upbeat, and happy to talk to passengers about their culture.
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> Henry, a half orc bartender in the first class cabin. Laid back, relaxed, but still very dedicated to ensure everyone is taken care of.
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> Terrence, an orc engineer and one of two managing the engine. Friendly, kind, but very serious about their job
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> Jarold, a human engineer and the other staff member managing the engine. More shy, reserved as compared to the others.
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### What Happened

The guild is aware that the technology powering the trains are proprietary, that there is some sort of steam engine going on that is fairly standard, but they have no idea what actually powers the engine. There have been theories from outsiders that the power source, whatever heats up the steam, is limitless, and so the Rainbow Guild would like to investigate this power source and get more information one what exactly this energy is. They buy first class tickets for the adventurers, and assign them to go on the train, investigate the engine and the power source without drawing suspicion or getting caught, visit Shai Kugaya for the night, and come back the following day.

The group heads off to the train station with the knowledge that there will be someone there who has some information pertinent to their quest. When they arrive, they see the large train as it is currently getting loaded. There are a total of 10 train cars. The front one is the engine, just behind that is the crew quarters. The 3rd car is first class with an open lounge design and bar, and the one behind that is coach class with traditional seating. The next 4 cars are for various cargo transportation, and the last 2 cars are large tanks to store salt water in that they bring to the desert city of Kesh'Tan Ur. Our adventurers go ahead onto the train, and begin to get settled in meeting the crew. Immediately, Bilberd gets extremely claustrophobic, as a seagull they claim they need air in their wings at all times. Trixie appeases them and takes both Bilberd and Jack to the first cargo car and open the side door so that they can get air. Meanwhile, M takes their time to use their osprey familiar to scout out the front of the train, and G'Ren asks Henry to provide them with water, which they continue to use to pour on their head, as they are a Grung and need water on their skin for the majority of the day.

Through a serious of events, Bilberd flies up on top of the train and is met by Pugglonsi who uses their tabaxi claws to climb out the window. Jack gets Trixie and Terrence to stop the train, claiming that Bilberd fell out of the cargo car, and they head off running behind the train to find where Bilberd fell off. G'Ren keeps Henry busy by asking for more water, and at some point casts sleep on them so that the rest of the party (M, Dennis, and Zanna) can go up through the second car, which is locked with a puzzle using words in Shayan. They were by the ticket collector back at the train station that the password is "Explore the Stars," but with M's knowledge of elvish and the fact they share a similar script and grammatical rules, they are able to figure out which enchanted buttons get them into the crew quarters. The next door is locked by a puzzle, determining who is most to least responsible for a princess's death between herself, the bull that killed her, the man that took her forcefully as his bride, and the king who allowed his daughter to be married off. The answer involved how Shai Kugayan culture views this scenario, and the answer based on their ethics is the prince, the princess, the king, and then the bull.

At this point, Bilberd and Pugglonsi have made it to the front windshield of the train. They go ahead and throw a shatter rock at the glass as the train is completely halted now, TO BE CONTINUED

## Session 2

### Teaser

"After a chaotic train heist, our adventurers have discovered a great secret: the power source of the grand technomagical society of Shai Kugaya, with their trains and engines, is a tiny red crystal. The crystals appear to make limitless heat when provided with enough water to their surface, meaning a vast amount of power is in the hand of a burgeoning society that has shown their superiority as a world power. Our adventurers, now arriving at the capital by train, are in deep trouble as an investigation begins, and our players must find a way to escape the heart of this technological boom with this incredible secret in 'The Train to the Bottom of the World!'"