Session 1 Script

Welcome to the world of Xemliya, the year is 1818 and you are currently located in the country of Fria. The world is in a state of fragile peace, with three major political super powers vying control over the remaining unclaimed & undiscovered lands and resources of this world. (HISTORY: Which are either in control of small groups of people such as farmers or aboriginal people, or are filled with dangers from climate to creature or even the terrain itself. There are three major political regions/countries in the world, Chaia, Vvandir, and Fria, they each are trying to amass as much as they can to regain their strength after a war between all three nations ended about 30 years ago.)

You all have, for one reason or another, found your way to the seaside city of Lelow, a factory and industry filled area full of buildings emitting smoke from tall smokestacks, large warehouses holding shipping containers that some individuals have repurposed into building material to create vendor stalls, small homes and as walls that surround the city. (PERCEPTION: People are using welding tools and wearing welding masks to strip apart some containers to use the sheets for other things, some are even smelting them down into liquid metal and pouring it into some sort of casting mold.)

The city of Lelow is known to be one of the quickest refineries in Fria, they do trade with their neighboring country of Chaia with the bountiful producer town of Nartik to the East, utilizing a series of train tracks that have been laid out between the waters using a combination of metal and wood beams, trains run throughout the world of Xemliya. (INT/ARCANA: Some using more traditional fuel such as coal to operate, but others use a technology known as metatech, which stands for metah technology, an extremely commonplace but relatively recent advancement that allows people without the use of metah [which is the word for magic in this world] to be able to perform similar great feats and even sculpt them into machinery, creating things equivalent to a bullet train for instance.)

### [CHAPTER 1.1 - THE WHITE RIBBON'S REQUEST]

Mickey and Sabina met each other at a local bar here in Lelow, a seaside industrial city filled with factories and industry; as they left the bar together they were robbed by a child, after getting caught and Mickey's character seeking answers for the location of his contact, the White Ribbon, he ran off and they began chasing after him. He climbed up onto the roof of a nearby shipping container house but was caught by the both of them as they easily caught up to him, fearing them the child pointed towards the central plaza that he was running towards and fingered a white tent with a big flag like ribbon attached to a pole.

There they met up with Mickey's contact, the White Ribbon, a grey haired human man in his late 40 to 50s with a white silk ribbon braided through his long grey beard. Once Mickey's character showed the contact his eyes, obfuscated by his dark sunglasses which he took off, he was informed about problems happening nearby at one of the refineries, materials from a "Thurm Chemicals Company" have been getting refined and the residue and smoke created from it is causing people to get sick and die, he wants the container they just acquired to be destroyed and he is offering the use of a "Astral Charge", a remote bomb that is capable of creating an "implosion" that should be large enough to take the entire container and its materials into the astral plane, as well as a follow-up explosion that will engulf the remaining area with a large scale alchemist fire, potentially destroying their entire refinery.

He has told you about a contact that you can talk to who is outside of the refinery, he is about to quit and is more than willing to help with any sort of infiltration you might need help with, the White Ribbon gives you the information you need to find the target, and has already made a deal regarding money, they got some up front and they will get the remainder on completion.

(Mixed Check; to find/scout the area out, discover patrols, find contact.)

This part of Lelow is known as the industrial zone, you see few people walking around the streets, and those that do wear some sort of respirator; those who don't seem to be suffering from some sort of affliction. (Medicine/Insight/Perception: Some of these people seem delirious and show symptoms of physical and mental degradation, withering away slowly as they breath in the toxic air around them, laughing and moving along as they seem to feel temporary respite from breathing in the refinery exhaust infused oxygen. If you do not find a way to protect yourself from the air you might slowly take on some effects from exposure - with each hour bringing on a skill check.)

You find your way to the outside of the Thurm Chemical Company refinery, you don't see much activity along the walls, and there isn't any sort of guard presence either, you do spot your contact a little bit away from the refinery, having a smoke with a few other workers who seem to be on their lunch break. (They can improvise, pull or talk to group, their call.)

Once you get his keys and uniform you can begin to infiltrate the facility.

### [CHAPTER 1.2 - Train]

It is the middle of the day (12 o'clock) and each of you have in your possessions tickets to board a train (Dundran-13) heading Eastward towards Nartik, you all being pulled there for one reason or another. You have about two hours before your train departs, is there anything you would like to do within the city of Lelow before you head to the train station? (Allow them freedom to ask questions, shop, etc.)

(Free time happens.)

You all arrive at the train station and see your assigned train pulling in, the numerous workers around help unload cargo, check tickets, and do the best they can to provide a comfortable and quality traveling experience. (PERCEPTION: You can see some of the train carts look extremely secure and that some of the loaded cargo into these areas look extremely valuable such as art, jewelry boxes, and chests from small to large sizes.) You can hear a whistle being blown and then shortly afterwards a half-orcish man shouts, “All aboard the Dundran-13, please present your tickets as you begin to board!”, he repeats this a few more times and points a few people towards the entrance of the train,

As you take a closer look at the vehicle you notice that this isn’t a “normal” steam train, it’s being powered by metatech, also known as metah technology, it looks like a more advanced engine that doesn't seem to need to output any sort of steam or smoke, and it’s a lot quieter than a regular coal powered train too. (PERCEPTION: The only noises come from the physical motion and movement of the train rattling and tracks rumbling from the sheer weight of this technological behemoth, looking at the rails itself they seem to be floating off of them, staying attached with a physical latch with glowing, magical looking caster wheels from the train to the rails.)

Once you show your tickets to the human man verifying passage by the entrance of the locomotive, you are led by a elf stewardess who guides you to your cabin and assigned seat, she offers to take any baggage that you give her and hands it to a elvish looking man behind a gated, secure area and stows it in some sort of baggage area. (PERCEPTION: You can see behind the fenced off area that he seems to be putting away some of the nicer looking things he's carrying into some of his pockets, he also seems to be wearing a pistol holster around his waist as he lifts up his arms to put something away, lifting up his uniform to show the stowed weapon.)

As you all board the luxurious interior of the metatech train Dundran-13, you are allowed free reign to walk around the interior and to find your seat. Looking around, you can see that there are a few people already on the first passenger cart, and as you explore you can discover that there are around 20-30 passengers on board, not including yourselves or the train crew. As you find your seats, you can see the window start to accumulate droplets of water. (NATURE/SURVIVAL: You can fell by the atmospheric pressure and the smell of the rain that this is going to be a very heavy storm coming soon, you're not sure if this is localized to only this area of if this will persist throughout the train ride, you feel an omen.) The train begins to move forwards after you hear the last few shouts coming from the train conductor, "FINAL CALL! LAST CALL TO BOARD THE DUNDRAN-13!", after a minute they board the train and you can feel some motion as the train begins to rumble subtly, going forwards towards your destination.

* (Ambience: https://youtu.be/HMYHq96fv48)

Suddenly you hear a very distorted but audible voice of the train conductor as he speaks through the trains intercom system, "Hello everyone, this is your Captain Depth Charge speaking, we are now en route towards Nartik! If you require anything please do not be afraid to use our steward services with the button located by your seat, our estimated time of arrival should be 6 hours, we hope you all enjoy the ride and thank you for riding on the Dundran-13!"

### [CHAPTER 1.3 - Bada'h Bo'op]

* (Music: https://youtu.be/sN0twjhQFds)
* (Ambience: https://youtu.be/F41CoM8gIqA)

You are Hivebot Juggernaut BDB-69, you use your tireless and rugged body composed of metahmaterial and bits of stone, wood, metal, and who knows what else. Work, that’s all you’ve known since you were created. Your creator - the Hiver, they are your leader and they order you and others like you to do various tasks, you’re not entirely sure what the purpose of all this work is but it has never been in your or in anyone else's mind to judge the will of the Hiver, you and everyone like you has always obeyed without question and those who do are ostracized and then vanish, nobody asks what happens because that isn't your priority or concern to ask.

You come out of your early morning rest stasis, you grab your daily supplies which includes self-repair tools and a flask of some very viscous and slick oil that you frequently use for loosening tight bolts and screws, and sometimes as a bit of a snack or lubricant to use for yourself. You wait patiently, like you always do, for your message.

You wait, and you wait, you have infinite time to wait, and after about 2 hours of waiting you recieve your personally directed message regarding your work task of the day, “BDB-SIX-NINE, YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED WITH RAIL LINE MAINTENANCE, GRAB YOUR DESIGNATED TOOLKIT AND BEGIN YOUR ASSIGNMENT, HEAD TO THESE COORDINATES, TRASMITTING...”) They don’t tell you where to go but you are given sudden vision and insight into the direction you must go, you have a sudden feeling that you must go towards the most North Eastern island of Apotheosis, the island you and the rest of your Hivebot family call home. In this vision you can see a segment of rotting wood beams on the railroad track that need to be immediately replaced with metal beams, you grab everything you need and begin to set off on your duty.

You exit your room, a cold, dark space that others might consider a jail cell, it's nothing more than a 5 by 5 foot square hole among other similar rooms in a massive hallway that your others use for their mandatory rest, you push open the stone slab door almost like leaving a tomb and with your integrated goggles of night, you can easily begin to navigate to the location of your mission.

### [CHAPTER 1.4 - Derailment]

* (Music: https://youtu.be/Vc\_Bf4Nu7Cs)
* (Ambience: https://youtu.be/gVKEM4K8J8A)

You have been on the train for approximately 4 hours at this point, and the weather has only gotten worse, it seems like the storm is covering the entire body of water between Lelow and Nartik and the lightning strikes are hitting frighteningly close, over the PA the conductor speaks, "This is your Captain speaking, we seem to be having some unexpected and unanticipated weather but please do not panic, your safety is our number one priority! We ensure that you all will make it safely across the-" (NATURE/SURVIVAL: The smell of ozone is intense and something bad is about to happen.)

[Shift perspective to Bada'h Bo'op.]

After hours of tireless movement you make your way to the base of the railroad, the wooden beams look awful and like they're only getting worse with each passing minute in this torrential rain, you need to start climbing and start to fortify these before something bad happens. (Let him do some checks to climb/fix, reward Inspiration and allow him to keep the rivet gun instead of losing it in the fall if he succeeds.)

* (Sound, Lightning Strike: https://youtu.be/IxvIMDE-OXI)

You are on your last beam to rivet and you think this one will keep the entire structure secure, then suddenly, everything goes dark as you get struck by lightning as you pull out the metal beam from your backpack, you feel a sudden burst from where you kept your oil flasks as they explode, sending you flying off and towards the water below.

, focus attention towards B-D-B as he gets struck by the bolt, the beams breaking apart as the train passes by, how he falls down into an open leyline shaft, how the tracks begin to collapse and how it brings the train down into the waters below, how the magical crystals and leyline metah begins to fuse with Bada'h Bo'op, granting him new magic abilities and allowing him to think more freely and without constraint, how the train plummets into the water and begins to rapidly flood as it sinks into the depths, etc. Make it chaotic and quick, with little time to react or respond,

***[MAGICAL ASCENSION SCENE]***

(Music: https://youtu.be/ZLsX9WUdYnU)

You look towards a planet from its orbit, you float freely in space as you glance at the massive world in front of you, surrounded by two moons, both of them damaged with pieces floating off of their surfaces and drifting downwards by the gravitational pull of the massive world. This planet is known as Xemliya, and the two moons are known as Lux and Fel, and its blazing sun is called Igni.

You can feel your being being drawn towards the surface much like the chunks and chips of the orbiting moons, you begin to freefall faster and faster as you descend much the same way as a shooting star would, for some reason you don’t feel fear or dread or excitement, you feel devoid of most emotions except for a strange feeling of malaise caused by homesickness.

As you descend closer and closer towards the earth, you break through the layers of atmosphere and clouds and just as you are about to hit the ground, you feel nothing as you phase through the terrain and continue to freefall through the ground itself and deeper into the planets, as you look around in this state you can see massive tunnels of energy, colorful crystals ranging from blue, red, black, and every permutation in between. These tunnels range from a few meters long to a few kilometers long, and you can see a strange shimmer or refraction of light or sparkles traveling like water down a stream in the empty space between these crystalline caves.

You keep plummeting, continuing to fall through the terrain as if it were an illusion; and you begin to see a dark, almost perfectly smooth sphere in a hulled out area in the center of the world. The feeling of homesickness gets worse, almost to the point of gagging, but even if you wanted to throw up you couldn’t, you continue to get closer and closer towards the giant dark sphere, and just as you are about to collide into it - you regain focus of your surroundings.