Day One

The party was able to haul back all of their goods. After performing their downtime activities, the party returned to the bar. As they awake, they hear a commotion outside. It sounds like explosions but they aren't too sure. They go up and then bang. They feel close and loud. Sakiran investigates and peeks out. There are loads of people on the street, way more than even shopping. Handing out things, fired up into the air, explosions of bright colours. Very very loud. Sakiran expresses fear to Leoric and asks what they could be. He explains that they are fireworks and there is a festival on. She asks for him to come with her and he says they can all go.

They hear thumping music and the smell of food everywhere. Young children hand out black and white flowers to people and passersby, hawkers trying to sell goods. Bunting with the Gratus symbol on them. The end of the street has been blocked by a massive stage. Huge Gratus constructs, metal men, flank each side of the stage. Some guards have decorated themselves with flowers in their armour and look relaxed. Draut decides to look for food. He sees an old Dwarven gentleman selling black noodles. Draut decides it is unsafe.  Draut wades through the crowd and sees a vendor selling dried, spiced meat. Leoric follows Draut and Sakiran keeps close to them. A young boy hands her a black flower and a white flower. Leoric has a lau made of flowers. Sakiran hands Draut a black flower saying it represents the kinship between their tribes. He nibbles on it and tucks it behind his ear.

They continue walking down and see the stage is heavily armed. The ones near the stage have thick armour and helmets on.

The music fades and a figure walks onto the stage. It is the tiefling from earlier, Pryce. He stands regally in the middle of the stage. He holds his microphone and gives a speech "mourning" the loss of Flah'fle. He calls him a half-breed. He uses Flah'fle's real name, Berenike Demeter. There is an image of him in a Gratus uniform.

Sakiran is horrified and whispers urgently to Leoric that no one but her knew his name. He asks if she's worried and she says yes. Leoric then tries to pickpocket a rich person but he spots Leoric's hand. He slaps it away and stares him dead in the eye. Leoric responds and asks if he wants to SHARE the money. The noble nods and says he knows what it's like in those parts, so gives him 2 rands.

Pryce is talking with some officers at the back of the stage. Leoric zooms in and sees he is looking over some reports. The officers look like they're being chewed out.

Leoric goes to the black noodle stand and sees a half-elf woman. She has ragged hair and asks if he'd like some noodles. He nods. They look very oily within the tray. He hands over a rand and a crown. The meat stand is run by a chipper looking gnome. He greets him. Draut asks the little boy what he is selling. THe gnome makes a face but points out what meat he is selling. Strips of dried meat. Draut puts his hand on the counter and asks if it is real. He inspects them. He gives him ten rands to walk around with meat sticks and has them bagged up. He goes back over to Leoric and asks why they are flaccid. Leoric says he doesn't know. Draut pokes a noodle. A black oil comes off on his finger. Leoric reprimands him for poking it. Draut offers him a meatstick, which he happily takes. He turns to Sakiran and Jaxon and offers them both one. Sakiran takes one. Draut calls him a foofoo, which Sakiran explains means vegetarian.

Draut asks who Flea was. Sakiran explained he was the one he gave a speech about, but was worried that they knew his real name because he only told her. Draut expressed admiration for him being a man of action.

Draut sees a hammer bell tower. THey see a towering human with a glowing snapping turtle tattoo. He greets Draut and Sakiran and says they both look strong. Draut bends to Sakiran and offers for her to go first. She only manages to get it halfway. Draut only manages to get it slightly higher than Sakiran. Draut hands it to Jaxon and offers for him to try. Draut says if he wins, the man by the bell might like him. Jaxon snatches it away reluctantly. The vampiric strength comes out and it smashes right to the top. Jaxon and the man express surprise. He gains 100 rands as a reward.

Draut leans to Sakiran and states the mongoose has claws. Sakiran nods and begrudgingly accepts that he does. Jaxon walks around smugly. Sakiran is angered by his preening and launches a punch straight into his nose. Blood gushes out of his nose as it is broken.

Jaxon questions what it was for. Sakiran shakes her head and walks away. Sakiran realises that he didn't get back up. She calls him pathetic and tells him that he never fights back, and now he acts like he's better than her for doing one thing. She screams at him to fight back. Jaxon shook his head and stayed on the ground. Leoric touched Sakiran on the shoulder and asked her to hold his noodles. She spits on Jaxon and takes the noodles and walks away with Leoric to the shooting gallery.

Jaxon waits for Sakiran to go away before getting up out of the dirt and sorting out his face. He is being laughed at by some onlookers.

Leoric and Sakiran walk to the shooting gallery together. He asks why she punched him. She said she was infuriated by him and asked if it had been unreasonable. He told her that she told him she wanted to control her rage. She went silent and looked away in shame. He told her to eat the noodles, since they'd be getting cold. She quietly said she wasn't particularly hungry and handed them back. He finished them off as they walked to the gallery.

Colton is running the shooting gallery and Leoric is happy to see him. He takes the 2 rands payment and the gallery fires up. Leoric fires a bullseye at the slow moving target. He just misses the second target. He misses again. He misses his final shot.

Colton says he's unlucky. He offers to make it more interesting. He takes the other rifle and puts an expensive one on the table that is huge. If he gets all three shots, he gets a 50 rand prize. Sakiran helps him lift it and steadies the weight.

Colton moves the targets back. Leoric hits the first target. The kickback hurt. He missed. There is a big impact as people curse it. The final shot is aimed and fired - right through the centre of the target into someone's house. A door slams open as the resident storms out of their house. Colton looks concerned. Leoric says they won't talk about that as Sakiran looks horrified.

Jaxon walks away being showered with meat crumbs and covered in his own blood. He casts cure wounds on himself and his nose fixes itself. Jaxon looks for a booze vendor.

The tiefling vendor asks if he wants a large or small glass. Jaxon asks for a large. He downs the beverage despite the bad vibes that he gets. It has a mango hit as it enters his mouth. It turns bitter on its way down. It knocks him back a little as it hits strongly. He regrets his decision as he wobbles. The creepy tiefling is breathing at him and staring. He asks if he liked it. His own special blend. Jaxon then wanders off and tries to find the rest of them. He walks down the path and hears a big boom from Leoric's attempt at the shooting gallery. Leoric is holding his hands up. They see Jaxon walking up from their left. Draut announces his arrival. Leoric asks if he's been drinking, since he is very unsteady on his feet. They can smell it alcohol on his breath. It is starting to get a bit late. They have turned on the street lights.

The city is illuminated by a purple beam that casts a glow across the city. Something changes and they see the purple light flickers like a strobe. The beam is flickering and failing. The beam of energy briefly cuts out and the star expands. A massive wave of heat bakes down and Leoric's eye goes blank for a second then start back up. The beam is flashing now with a purple energy field around the star. It is now scorching hot.

Sakiran takes off her cloak and says it shouldn't be this hot at night. Leoric and Draut both take clothes off in the heat. The two giant machines pick up a few things and walk off. The Gratus soldiers seem panicked. The street is dead. Some stalls have been abandoned, but not all. Leoric starts stealing goods from the store. He finds a small lockbox that contains 25 rands.

Someone comes up to them wearing a dark hood and beckons them over. They go into an alleyway. They follow him and he pulls down his hood. It is Pryce. Leoric asks what is going on. He leans back and says nothing good. There's been an incident on the lower levels. Some of the terrorists have detonated one of the generators. He points towards the star. It is no longer stable. Pryce says they don't have enough time and they need to work together. Pryce tells them that they need to complete the ARK project and leave. They have 90 days before it breaks containment. He tells Leoric to read it. Bastion Diagnostics. They had picked up a generator plan. Sakiran asks if they have anything in Elvish. Pryce said they were scrubbed, but most is very ancient. The city is extremely old. He looks genuinely worried, now. He says it is the fault of the phage cult and that they needed to become one with a religious entity. He says it is only going to get hotter and crops will start dying. They only have enough food for 5 days, then they won't be able to keep control. The fact the terrorists got into a crucial subsystem. Leoric asks how it happened. Pryce says it was because he didn't have enough men. He says he gave a morale boost. Leoric and Sakiran question him about it by asking why they lied and how they found out his real name. His house betrayed him.

Pryce asked if they knew the Altarnie. Sakiran said they had encountered one and he was extremely deformed. Pryce said they needed a main power cell. That's why they're sending people to facilities. They also need an AI persona. Pryce says they need them, even if they had been at war in the past. He said they will try and keep the city under control. Pryce offers them a reward - they can join him on the ARK. Sakiran panics and realises that Ranabi will die. She tells him that he needs to be on the ship as well. Pryce says he can only fit 100,000 on the ship. Sakiran says she doesn't know where he is and he's back at the tribes. Pryce looks at her. He says he has children too. He says he can potentially spare one scout search. He will attempt to find him. She gives his details and tells them to do what they need to to get him to come with them. He, in turn, needs something from her. They think it's where the Altarnie are based. Nothing they send over there comes back. Pryce says he doesn't know if he can convince the Altarnie to help them. He said he'll give them a day to decide what course of action to take. He also says they can try to persuade the rebels to help them. Leoric tells him they'll need some time to think. He says he needs to try and temper command. The confederacy is not perfect, but it's the best option they have. He says he will requisition them a new transport. He murmurs Estel help us all at the energy beam comes out of the central tower. He says he will be in contact tomorrow at about 5pm. They acknowledge this. Pryce calls to Jaxon, and looks at him. He pulls out a letter and hands it to him. He says your mother and sister are alive. Jaxon is incredulous. He asks how. They were captured in the attack, not killed. They are currently with an orc warband. He expresses his condolences. He starts to turn away. He says he will see them all at five and turns and leaves.

The party head back to the bar. It is scorching hot on the streets. The neon lights are flashing on and off. People are not used to this kind of heat.

The party have headed back to the base. They are considering their options. The letter given to Jaxon is an intelligence report. The father and son survived but the mother and daughter were taken into the orcish tribes. They have reason to believe that they are still alive.

Draut sat on his hoard of meat and coins. Sakiran goes into the back and sees racks of cheap alcohol. She sees behind the shelf one bottle coated in dust and recognises that it is from 80 years ago. It is blue. Sakiran takes the bottle and slams it down on the table. She asks if they shall try it together. Leoric doesn't think they're going to enjoy it. She cracks it open and it smells like blueberry absinthe. Leoric pours one for himself. It starts clear and becomes blue near the top. Leoric says bottoms up and the pair both drink at the same time. It burns as it goes down and makes their tongues numb. They get a pleasing floral taste that becomes like a blueberry. Sakiran asks what he thinks. Leoric says he isn't sure. Sakiran says she heard myths that there was a city of Altarnie in the mountains to the east who could bring back the dead. Leoric wasn't sure and asked if it could be true. She said she chooses to believe it. They talk about their options and they are both solemn. She says if they go to the southern tower they may not come back. Leoric says that they can either chase the ghosts of the past or go on a suicide mission. They both take a few drinks as they are deep in thought.

Jaxon is eavesdropping on the conversation while pretending not to. He feels he has his own personal issues that are more important than the world ending that came up in the conversation.

It is towards the early hours of the morning now. Sakiran and Leoric were both able to keep up with each other. The party feel like they can finally sleep when they hear a knock at the door.  Draut goes to answer the door. He sees Pryce. His eyes have big bags underneath them. Sakiran offers him some blueberry absinthe. He says he hasn't seen Altarnie Ale in some time.

Draut says introduces himself as Draut, ex-champion of the Khemisa. Sakiran fetches Leoric by knocking on his door gently. She bangs on Jaxon's door and he asks what it is. She tells him the tiefling is back and it is important.

Pryce rubs his face as the party assemble. He says the command has... he downs a drink. The command has ordered a purge of all lower levels. They are sweeping all of us. Leoric asks why. THe idea is if they purge the lower levels, it will give the city a bit more food and time. Leoric asks why don't they kick them out. Pryce says they will have an army marching towards them otherwise. It is easier for them to just get rid of them all. Leoric asks what if they fight back. Pryce asks if he really thinks they can fight back. He doesn't personally approve. He asks why tell them. Pryce admits it's because he has no one else to talk to. He has convinced command not to target them or the upper level.

Draut asks if Ranabi would be safe. He says he has requisitioned a scout force and hopes he would be found. He only asks that they not betray them. Sakiran nods.

Pryce asks if they have made a decision. Draut takes the opportunity to go to the door and check if there are soldiers. Pryce's vehicle is there, with two elite guard, but no one else. Sakiran straightens up and admits Leo is right, there is no point in chasing after ghosts. She says they will go to the southern tower. There is a tablet with a cross-section of Bastion. Pryce says they will try to recover a power source. If you go down to the docks, there will be a transport craft. Tell them that they are Pryce's guard and they will know. He says the retrieval squads are no longer just criminals. They need people with combat experience. He looks around and presses a few buttons on a device on the table. Leoric's cybernetic eye goes out. He doesn't believe the council is acting in the country's best interest. They have stop trying to maintain control and are outright brutal. THey are making decisions that don't make sense, such as the lower levels. He asks the party if they have any idea. They do not. If they have any information about why they would do this, to submit it to them, says Pryce. He praises Leoric for spotting the bugs in the bar. He points all of them out before they come back on. HE says he will help them however he can. He hands them an emblem. It is the symbol of the gratus intelligence network. It can open doors, but don't be too liberal with it because he can't cover everything. The bugs come back on. Leoric confirms that they will go to the Southern tower.

Pryce slams a drink down and tells them to stay safe before he leaves.