Session 3 Script

1. **Leylines of Apotheosis**: they need to ascend out of the leyline and avoid dynamite traps set by the kobolds.
2. **Draconic Residents**; after reaching an area that leads to the surface from out of the leyline cave system the group discovers a tribal group of kobolds who seemingly have been residing on the island for the past 50 years, depending on circumstances this may lead into further combat or the situation can be resolved peacefully.
3. **Chosen Path**; if the players kill the kobolds they will have to use survival checks to explore their island, learning that they are stuck on one island of many in this unnaturally foggy area, they can learn the name of the island from the kobolds or from Mikle's character remembering it's name through a history check; Apotheosis. If they spare the kobolds this step can be skipped as Sabina's character would be able to talk to them in Draconic, interpreting information to the rest of the group. Regardless, the group needs to decide on their path forward, going deeper into the island or attempting to get off of it.
	1. **Get off Apotheosis**; if the group decides to get off the island, they need to figure out a means to do so. Their options would boil down to using the kobolds boats (small but should be able to fit at least 2 people in each boat), or by climbing up the collapsed train track to follow it on foot to their objective; Nartik. If they have other ideas, use those.
	2. **Explore Apotheosis**; if the group decides to continue to explore the island they will eventually be met with Hivebot resistance and the narrative will focus more on Mikle and how his leader the Hiver reacts to the sudden liberation of Mikle's character and their errant and "dangerous" new self cognition and ability to think for himself.

### [Chapter 1 - Leylines of Apotheosis]

(References: Visual, Ambience 1, Ambience 2)

Heading deeper into the caves you notice not only signs of activity, both old and new, tribal paintings coat the surrounding walls, heavy machinery and construction equipment is left behind, evidence of mining is obvious from the strangely smooth cut blocks missing from the naturally rounded leyline cave's walls, but streams of water dripping from above, giving the jungle-like plants that somehow made its way this deep underground, not only growing without sunlight but somehow flourishing.

* (~~Investigation~~: The tribal paints look fresh compared to the more modern looking equipment, which is coated in a heavy layer of dust that has settled on over time.)
* (~~Survival~~: There are old heavy trails from the heavy machinery moving around as well as more recent draconic footprints leading into very tight small holes in the wall, most likely a kobold.)
* (~~History~~: The equipment and machinery left behind is very similar to some machinery you've seen before albeit it looks much more advanced, the paintings left behind seem to represent a story, a dragon flies over an island, clutching their wounded chest while holding onto something, as they fly it drips onto the island, transitioning from round looking rocks into kobolds, in draconic there is writing that reads "Vylanze, the Martyr's Sacrifice".)
* (~~Nature~~: The natural growth here seems incredibly rich despite being completely subterranean, there looks to be a thick trunked mango tree, massive juicy and ripe fruit hang from it, ready to be plucked, they can take as many Metah Infused Mangos as they'd like, but each time they pluck one off it seems to wither the branch, causing it to rapidly dehydrate and crumble into a dust, picking more than 10 mangos will cause the tree to completely wither and die, there are also plenty of fungi strewn about, glowing a similar color to the metah crystals that they grow near, they can harvest up to 20 decently sized metahmushrooms, roll a d20 to determine the blue mushrooms, the remainder are red mushrooms. [eg, roll d20, land on 4, get 4 blue and 16 red.])
* (Perception/Arcana: The water pooled on the ground has a rainbow like sheen on it as if it's covered in oil, it permeates the entire fluid and isn't just a layer on top, it also seems to radiate a small amount of light, the water falling from the ceiling seems to be normal enough, but as it passes through the air it seems to catch something and as it condenses down to the ground, becoming infused.)

**Alex's Burnished Fel Orb is ready to be used to transport the group to the Metahbound Lodge.**

(References: Visual, Ambience)

Alex will probably be curious to use the item and a red portal will open to the Metahbound Lodge, over the stump of an Ironwood Tree. The building has the base floor, a top floor and basement, and the whole thing is on a little island surrounded by fog, the corners of the island have propellers that seem like they could operate to move the island around, even airborne potentially. They can freely use the facilities provided but cannot access the basement as it needs some sort of specific item to unlock the door. There is one NPC named Buddy at the lodge who is familiar with Alex's character, but will have to be reacquainted with (think of Codsworth from Fallout 4), there seems to be some sort of familial or paternal vibe from them but they can't really understand why, use they/them pronouns but teeter towards whatever makes Alex's character more comforable. Food is infinite and can be easily and quickly prepared by the NPC. There are areas for crafting so let the players make items with the crafting sheet. There is storage for extra items and rooms on the second floor to sleep on.

Back to the leyline caves...Heading deeper you can feel the air being pulled from a nearby pile of rubble, as you begin to pull away the rocks you discover a path.

* (Perception/Arcana: You notice the dark edges of the cave, covered in some residual soot from some kind of chemical explosive, likely dynamite was used to seal this entrance off, it's not clear by who.)

The first person who steps through triggers a tripwire as their foot pushes a tight twine, you clutch yourself in preparation but nothing seems to happen.

* (Investigation/Survival: It looks like there was a trap set to trigger some dynamite but the fuse has long rotted away, rending the trap useless, the single stick of dynamite itself seems to be in decent condition as it was lodged inside a bored out hole in the rock wall.)
* (x3 Perception/Investigation/Survival: There are three more dynamite traps set along the way, these ones are functional and if triggered they each deal 3d6 bludgeoning damage, they can all be disarmed and acquired.)

It takes around an hour of ascending before you finally see the orange light at the end of the tunnel, the setting sun still providing some light as you exit.

(References: Ambience)

As you exit the cave you see and hear the rushing of a nearby waterfall as you look over and see the many different waterfalls all converging into once river that continues to run off in some direction.

### [Chapter 2 - Draconic Residents]

(References: Ambience, Music)

(If any traps were triggered, the kobolds will be aware and will leave their camp unattended while they observe the group from the tops of the trees, they are not hostile unless provoked and speak in broken, simple draconic; if the group is able to disarm or get past every trap without setting them off they can observe the kobolds living a peaceful simple life, some of them whittle, some of them weave, some of them forage, it's a large community of around 50 or more kobolds.)

As you begin your approach to the exit your eyes take a moment to adjust to the light, the exit seems to be somewhat obfuscated by shrubbery, acting as a natural doorway into the cave.

* (Perception [noticed]: You can smell the remnants of a campfire and cooked fish wafting inside as the draft pulls into the cave.)
* (Perception [unnoticed]: You can smell and hear the crackling of a campfire and the scent of fish being cooked, it sounds like there is a lot of activity outside, simple draconic chatter is heard saying things like "Me hungry, food want." and "Patient be, food soon, shut snout.", as your group approaches the exit you can see a elaborate little camp with several structures set up, some campfires and resources are strewn about, including crates and barrels that seem out of place.)
* (Stealth: Regardless of their status they are able to use stealth, it will just be more difficult to sneak if they are aware of potential intruders; they can utilize the shrubbery that hugs the cliff face, using the trees while noticed will have them be ambushed by blow-dart wielding kobolds who hid in the tree tops.)

You are near a very simple and tribal looking camp, the structures are akin to tipis, conical tents structured with wood and covered with tree boughs, there are some out of place looking barrels and crates, seemingly pulled straight out from the leyline tunnels, inside the contents seem to be replaced with various foraged goods, such as mushrooms, berries, fruit, sticks, boughs, etc., there seems to be one major structure, which looks like 4 tipis woven together to make one large structure and everything else seems to be built and surround it.

(If the group wants to sneak away, they can avoid the kobolds with a decent enough stealth check, even if they were noticed the kobolds will prefer to not get involved and let the group leave untouched unless they begin to loot their camp for supplies, they won't mind a few things being taken but if the group gets greedy they will ambush them, threating to use their blow-darts.)

This is a kobold camp, it's residents aside a few strong looking armed and equipped look meek and hide away from the group, peering from behind trees and bushes as they make their way on their grounds, a wizened, old and hunched kobold leaves the larger structure, walking with a limp and using a walking stick to keep themselves upright, they look at the group speaking in simple common, "Strangers, why are you trespassing on our land?"

### [Chapter 3 - Chosen Path]

(This can go many ways, either they fight the kobolds, leave them in peace, or assist them, regardless they need to learn that they are stuck on this island, with their options boiling down to Leaving or Exploring the island.)

* (History [MIKLE EXLUSVIELY]: With a **bad** **roll** they know that this chain of islands is known as Apotheosis, this is your home, where you were created and where you've spent the majority of your life, with a they know that they haven't been to this particular island yet but with a **good** **roll** you do remember that the Hiver stopped using it around 50 years ago, the reason why was never brought into question but considering the kobold presence you can assume that they were the reason.)
* (History [SABINA EXCLUSIVELY]: Talking to some of the kobolds or by reading their writing and maps you can learn that this island is known as **Vylanze's Landing**, learning the location of "where the martyr fell". This discovery reveals a massive crater to the North of the kobold's camp, the place where a dragon named Vylanze fell and is still supposedly located, sleeping off it's mortal wounds, the surrounding area is known to be extremely dangerous due to the leyline atmosphere causing anomalies, aggravating and even transforming the local wildlife there to become Awoken and potentially hostile.)

Looking around the island you notice the incredibly dense and thick layer of fog that surrounds it, just barely you can see another island on the distance, as well as the large structure holding up the railroad tracks that brought you here, nearby you can see the kobolds have a few small boats shored on the beach near their camp, each one only capable of holding two of you at a time, they look durable.

* (Survival/Nature: Trying to row out of this fog will not only be extremely dangerous and disorienting, you might potentially lose each other and go astray if you attempt rowing out, unless you do something like tie rope to one another to keep from drifting apart, even still, the journey could be weeks or months long, and you could potentially starve or get tossed overboard depending on the weather and tides.)
* (Perception/Investigation: The structure is around 60 feet high and some beams look like they have already been replaced with metal but some of the beams are wood, some beams are absent, some beams look rotten, and others look perfectly intact.)
* (Acrobatics/Athletics: Climbing up the railroad structure isn't extremely difficult but the risk of death increases as you climb. [Advantage with Perception/Investigation] Plotting a path beforehand makes the climb much easier and safer.)

#### [Chapter 3.A - Get off Apotheosis]

You and your group decide collectively to leave the island, leaving it and it's mysteries behind; for now.

#### [Chapter 3.B - Explore Apotheosis]

You and your group decide to collectively explore the island, prying more into its strange and mysterious history and secrets.