The Observatory (arc)

**The Observatory** is the first arc in SOTE, acting as the introductory arc for the entire story. It begins with 3 nameless prisoners rotting in an imperial penitentiary named Calico Prison. Suddenly, they are broken out by a mysterious tiefling! The trio, now indebted to the fellow, begin their retaliation against the Empire and their search for the elusive Observatory.

## **Historian's Summary**

*"The story of Sins of the Empire begins with 3 estranged prisoners in the Calico Prison inside the Golden Empire Wasteland colony, The Shining Souls Coast. These 3 prisoners were a human male named Jack Patterson, a high-elf male named Galinndan Liadonn, and a Warforged by the name of BG-8263. Here they would stage a breakout with the help of a tiefling male by the name of “Nobody” who gave them weapons and freed them. After battling their way through the prison, they were confronted by a Magician Corp member who summoned a monster and left, but they were able to take it down as they then headed towards the nearby town of No-Haven. The town was made up of humans and non-humans disguised as humans as the town was under the Empire's control but on the outskirts, here the party did some jobs and met up with Nobody. Here Nobody explained that they were held captive by an Imperial Scientist named Doctor Mobius who seeks out a location made by the Gods called the Observatory. They learn the Observatory is made by the Forge God, Tyrion, and allows the controller to seek into the future. Mobius is ordered to find it for the Empire as payment for his experiments. The group is formed as they begin to head to the main city of the colony known as The Shine, although BG stirs up trouble by mercilessly killing 2 “Imperial guards” in broad daylight. The mayor who the party discovers was a half-orc disguised as a human expels them from the town. They soon arrive at The Shine where they meet a friendly Goliath known as Thorell, who they quickly become friends with. The party is tasked with breaking into a Imperial fort holding goliaths as slaves. The party sneak their way in and fight until all the soldiers are dead and the slaves are freed, although a masked man in a purple suit attacks Patterson calling himself The Prowler. The party fights this masked man until he escapes saying he will have his revenge.*

*After this event, Thorell will tell the party how he has found a secret laboratory under the city that Mobius has been using. They soon invade the lab and fight Mobius’s creatures and even his mutated Lab assistant until they get to the end where they find a trap. They see that Mobius sets them up as his mutant imp creatures begin flooding the lab, Thorell throws the party towards an escape hatch as he stays behind and holds off the imps. Afterwards, Nobody leaves to mourn but a couple days later leaves a note saying to meet him at the Gauntlet of Haegos. The party heads out facing various encounters until they make it to the town of New Cero where they do some quests for the townspeople. Although, at night they are ambushed and find that the Prowler and his clan had set them up as they attack. During the fight, Patterson realizes the Prowler was his old friend Hobby Brown whose wife was indirectly killed by Patterson when she was struck by debris from Patterson's flight from the Empire. The party defeats Hobby as he dies from his wounds, Patterson mourns his friend's death while BG chops his hands off. The party then made it to the Gauntlet of Haegos where they declared their party name of the Sovereign Slayers as they met Nobody. There, Nobody tells them to head into Sea-Walker territory, which are mutated Sea-People, where they must find an Observatory Tracker to locate the Observatory. After causing mayhem in the Camp and then fighting Sea-Walkers, they eventually make it to a temple where they find a flimsy little Sea-Walker. This creature soon turns into a giant muscular monster named Fish-God who proceeds to kick the Slayers asses but hands over the Tracker as they impressed him with their fighting spirit (except for Gal who hid in a corner).*

*Heading towards the Observatory, they learn Nobody and Mobius’s backstory which showed how they were both scientists working for the same group to discover the Observatory for science. Nobody, whose name was actually Sam-El, had a daughter named Ithaca. Mobius realized that Sam-El had the blood of Gods coming from his bloodline (which the only way to enter the Observatory was that you needed someone with the blood of the gods in them), so he sells the group out to the Empire and kidnaps  Ithaca, leaving Sam-El to die. The party soon arrives near Observatory’s entrance until they are attacked by a person in black armor named The Black Knight, but after the knight fled, they proceed to trudge onwards. Arriving at the entrance, the party fights through a mutated bird and a bounty hunting duo who came for BG until they are able to enter the Observatory. There, they battle through ancient metal sentries and Mobius’s minions where it is shown that the Black Knight was a cyborg Thorell who they mercy kill and then kill the Magician Corp from the prison named Lanais. Soon they are able to confront Mobius who puts up a big fight until the party strikes him down. They soon earn magical loot, and Nobody reunites with his daughter and thanks the party as he tells them of a coalition against the Empire being formed in Serail. The party soon departs for the Wastelands as BG is given a task by his master Eltric to go to Castle Waelmore…"*

## **Character Moments**

* BG murders a child in cold blood after a misunderstanding due to the kid being a groom dealer.
* Patterson struggles to remember anything about his past and seeks the truth.
* BG and Patterson form a platonic bond after Patterson tries to be friendly with the warforged. Even after BG's misdeeds, Patterson doesn't give up hope in his newly found pal.
* Gal flaunts his "superior" intelligence to BG and Patterson. They really aren't too impressed.
* After losing some loot to Thaddeus, the leader of the Blue Shirt Bandits, BG swears an oath to never rest until he's brutalized.
* Although Patterson can't remember anything about who he was before he was imprisoned, he strives to never kill and even actively pulls his enemies out of harm's way if they are at risk of being killed by BG, Gal, or others. He isn't against whooping some asses though.
* The Magician Corp member, Lanais, intrigues Gal and quickly becomes a point of interest for the wizard.
* Young Patterson is tormented by the history he supposedly has with The Prowler and ponders what he could've done to make him so angry. When the Spider finally discovers the source of his rage, he accepts what he did and recognizes it as a mistake. His fight shouldn't stop, so he trudges on.
* From the no killing rule that Patterson establishes, BG's friendship with Patterson begins to strain. Once BG begins killing his enemies to spite Patterson, openly mocking him for not being able to save them, their friendship swiftly ends.
* After the death of Dr. Mobius, BG experiences a mental breakdown due to the damage sustained in his wiring. This worries the party and creates their next priority. Fixing that goofy robot!

## **Knee-Slappers**

* Although Nobody was introduced as a cool and suave character reminiscent of noir detectives, the party out of game quickly reduced his character to a "neckbeard with a fedora".
	+ Also, since Nobody's mini was a red tiefling, AnerexoMexo kept a running joke about him having a red skin color, when his real color was blue. This would quickly piss off the Historian, leading to some hearty chuckles.