ToA: Session 1

## A land of Milk and Honey and Dinosaurs

We start out epic tale onboard a massive airship, bound for the mystical continent of Xen'drik. Here we meet our intrepid heroes, the 4 former members of an elite Cyran military group best known as Desolation Squad. They are, in no particular order:

* E51U02 aka "Bucket" - Warforged built for infiltration and demolition.
* Neb - Changeling assassin. Has a face for every occasion.
* Fargus Droranath - Dwarven survival expert. Likes punching things.
* Daedalus d'Cannith - Human artificier of some skill. Leader of the outfit.

The group were headed to Xen'drik at the behest of Syndra, an old contact of the group. She had 2 tasks for them; find and return one Artus Cimber to her, last seen entering the jungle with a strange lizardman, and catalog the different gods and spirits. Sensing that she was being vague on whys she wanted him brought in, the party pressed her for more information. While reluctant at first, she soon divulged that see cared little about Mr. Cimber himself, and more about an artifact on his person. He had apparently lived for over a centaury, and Syndra believed said artifact was the source of this.

### Like Fish out of Water

As the party left the airship and entered Port Nyanzaru for the first time, they were bombarded by sights and smells unlike any they had experienced before. Not to mention the unbearable heat and relentless assault by insects. Here they were met by a local expedition outfitter, Ibnin, who guided them through the city to his humble shop. After receiving all the stuff we had ordered, along with some riding lizards, we were directed to an establishment called The Yellow Lake Inn, where we would find lodgings for the night.

The trip there was a mixed bag. Neb and Daedalus managed to make their way through the crowded streets just fine. The 2 others however, had "technical difficulties" with their lizards, and were forced to drag them along, much to the irritation of the locals (some of whom already had a dislike for foreigners). Eventually, we all made it to our destination.

Inside, we met the proprietor Sukara, who was quite fascinated by Bucket, having never seen a warforged before. They secured lodgings, along with some potential destinations for the coming day. The rest of the evening was spent gathering information from the other patrons (or in Fargus' case, gambling).

### Dinosaurs and Mystics

As a new day dawned, and the overbearing heat got even worse, the party set out into the city. Their first Destination was a Merchant called Ekku, who possessed much knowledge of the local gods and spirits. Deciding that this sounded utterly boring, Fargus and Neb decided to do some shopping instead, visiting Klerval, the utterly annoying purveyor of minor trinkets, before rejoining with the others.

The meeting with Ekku was a bit tense at first, seeing as she harbored a dislike for us colonizers, and questioned the intent of our inquires into their gods. Managing to convince her that our intentions were purely research oriented (unlike their employer's perhaps), and leveraging her clear interest in Bucket, Daedalus managed to set up a date for the following day, where the cultural exchange could get going.

Before the gang could decide on their next destination, they were interrupted by the roars of the excited crowd. It would seem that the bi-weekly dinosaur races were about to start, and our heroes decided to join the spectators. Much enjoyment was had from watching the mighty beasts tear through the streets, and some coin was won from gambling. Bucket even decided to aid one of the injured dinosaurs for a bit of payment (no one tell House Jorasco).

### A Beggars Request

Having finished playing tourists, the group decided to get on with business and follow a lead on Mr. Cimber. Seeing as he had entered the jungle, one of the beggar princes of Beggar's Palace, which lay just outside the city walls, could have noticed his passing. Spending a couple hours fruitlessly searching for clues, they are led the the beggar prince Apolie, current strong man of the area. He offered to help them, but required their aid. A nearby well, a vital source of water for the locals, had been overrun with undead that had emerged from the jungle. Itching for a fight, and without further leads, the party accepted, and headed of towards the well. Seeing the Undead in the distance, the laid a plan, like so many times before, and engaged the undead.

But alas, the best laid plans of kobolds and men, often go astray.

And so, this once elite unit of Cyre showed none of the professionalism and skill that Syndra had hired them for. Daedalus had taken a position on the high ground, but managed to hit nothing close to him. Neb decided a 1v1 with an undead tiger would go down well, nearly killing him before he got the better of it. Bucket did adequately, but that was not enough to compensate for Fargus' tactical decision of tanking the 2 giant undeads blows with his face. In the end, only by a miracle of fate was Fargus saved from joining his ancestors.

Having done the dirty deed, out triumphant heroes returned to Apolie to claim their reward. Sadly, he had not seen or heard of their passing, nor did he know of the strange lizardman who guided him. He was however certain that he would have had to stop by either Camp Righteous or Camp Justice, common staging grounds for expeditions further into the jungle. He also commented on the strangeness of a lizardman aiding a foreigner into the jungle, something that was otherwise unheard of. Lastly, he offered them a place to rest, under his protection, an offer the party gladly accepted.

As our heroes sleep, we leave them, bloodied but alive, having barely survived their first encounter with what the jungle can throw at them. Maybe the 2 out of 4 survival chance Ibnin had placed on them was accurate after all?