Gears of Blight

## **Session 1: (9/16/22)**

The settlement of Rosereach was celebrating a month of stability when a loud explosion was heard at the east wall and everything stopped. Hoards of the infected started pouring through the wall, massacring the settlement's population as the last survivors were found by a group of guards from the Great Crater, they were knocked out and dragged back to the Great Crater. On the train ride back the survivors woke up slowly and were told that the attack was suspected to be from the Iron Crown and that they would like the help from the survivors as they seemed to hold themselves rather well against the undead. Later the survivors would be escorted to the castle where the Queen sat upon her throne and summoned forth a high ranking member of the Great Gear, Requiel, to command him to look over the survivors and guide them across the continent to rebuild what was of the old kingdom Grawlis.

After about a month of preparations and rest, the survivors, now dubbed, the suicide team as this mission was a statistical nightmare, were sent out east. With the train stations between the settlements still functional, the team went out east to scout what remains of Rosereach. After a while of caution, a member of the party, Steve, decided that running recklessly into the center of town was the best idea and immediately got crushed by a massive automaton. After a long and treacherous fight, A bard with a concerning past, Alphonse, decided to try and scare this monster as it seemed to be one of the sentient level automatons. With a successful fright, the automaton was backed into the north wall of Rosereach and self-destructed

## **Session 2: (9/23/22)**

Waking up from a terrible explosion our party’s human fighter, Steve, panics and insists he must return to his family to which the party escorts Steve due to the fear that there would be more infected. When Steve returns home, his parents are nowhere to be seen and there were signs of struggle and things were out of place. In this time Steve decides to make armor out of the old tree on his farmland that’s been that as long as he can remember. With his new armor and the party’s newfound resentment towards Steve, they set off on a path that leads into the nearby forest in hopes to find Steve’s parents. The forest itself was quiet and peaceful, too peaceful in fact that Pheobe, being the trickster that they are, told Steve to eat a tree because he liked them so much, and so he did. Pheobe watching in shock, Steve takes a bite out of a dark black tree log for its dark black tree sap to be ingested by Steve, causing him to pass out as it was Tar Sap. Requiel could have quickly whipped up an antidote but refused to as they were “conserving resources”, going back to more primitive methods of healing, waiting it out.

Steve later woke up and seemed to gain the power of talking to trees, as he touched a tree, he could directly communicate with it and requested the trees safely transport him and the others and the trees obeyed. Along the way Steve pacified a massive treant which was later named Marley by Steve. Wrapped up in a shuttle of leaves, the party traveled safely to a hidden village of druids and treants known as Lowbark where Steve reunites with his family and is told that the tree he made the armor from was an old treant which explains the new found powers. Marley later communicates to Steve that a pyromancer is nearby and destroyed a sacred part of the forest and wants revenge so the party in obligation to stick together, left together. Departing from Lowbark, a druid named Franque, a tabaxi cat girl and Richard, a black out drunk monk that doesn't even know what is going on, decided to follow along yearning for adventure. Steve decided the best form of transport was being flung through the air by tree powered catapults and arrived outside the hidden bunker.

## **Session 3: (9/30/22)**

Pheobe leads the push into the bunker then remembers they have autism as everyone crowded into the main entry room of the bunker, the party is surrounded by books on basic alchemy and various ingredients and supplies. Requiel was the mainly interested one, immediately ransacking the place and taking whatever seemed useful. Later actually exploring the library comes across a pyromancer's apprentice, Brunzen, who was very fed up being overworked and underpaid, and pitched to the party that killing the pyromancer would be mutually beneficial. Now the party has a goal and entire bunker with years of research to explore and plunder. That’s when Alphonse did the thing.

Alphonse found what seemed to be a dusty old lute and decided to give it a good old play. With a full out song on this dusty old lute, the entire bunker shook and the sound of screeching metal overwhelmed everyone's minds causing everyone to pass out, Everyone but Richard and Steve. Richard and Steve, being very confused with what just happened, did the smart thing and split up but Richard eventually was overwhelmed by the lingering noises of the lute and fell to the ground. Now Steve, being the last conscious member of the party, finds a secret room with mirror images of the party trapped in individual mirrors and goes to smash one when Requiel’s image yells to Steve to stop. Steve, now inches from smashing a mirror, did a smart thing and listened to Requiel crafting an antidote to wake up the members of the party. Surprisingly successful after a while, Steve wakes up Requiel to make more awakenings and the rest of the party is awakened. After a while of bickering the party approached the pyromancer's door, kicked it down and then Richard went feral, jumping on the pyromancer and attacking him while he was asleep in his bed. The pyromancer was quickly dealt with and with a massive blaze of glory, Steve got the killing blow and then the Pyromancer incinerated the entire room burning everyone instantly, then Steve left, never to be seen again.

## Sessions 4 - 10

> Lost to time
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## Session 11 (1/27/23)

The party continued their expedition east, discovering an isolated settlement called Limina that seems to want nothing to do with the Queen as they suspect that she was incharge of the raiding group that leveled their settlement.

While in Limina, the party all split. Requiel learned that the crossroads settlement is just a massive area where skeletons reanimate once a month for "the show", then they rest. Secondly, Pheobe and Kai joined Requiel in a meeting with Laminia's Mayor, Mr. Moss. Mayor Moss guided them outside the settlement to show the well-known alchemist Requiel flowers named "Life Blooms” that seem to have repellent properties against the infected and warned them about the nightly fog. Shortly after, the mayor parted ways with the party and that's when Alphonse decided to jump in the lake that protected Limina from the rest of the forest and rapidly mutated into a vile creature. Continuing towards the lake, Requiel notices a suspicious being on the lake and attacks them, rendering  them unconscious. Kai then healed them back to consciousness and demanded to be compensated as they lost time gathering food for Limina, but Requiel did some trickery and pulled a crown out of their bag that had "immense value" to them and Huru crushed it as repayment. Now Huru follows the party for some reason other than obligation and 4th wall breaking.

Alphonse played their heart out on the stage, gathering approximately 100 or so gp from the entire population crowding in their only structurally intact building, and later passed out on Requiel's back.

As the rest of the party bickered and rested in town, Pheobe got to work "helping" the citizens, spreading the ideals of the iron crown and helping repair buildings lost to the attack. One high-density housing building was repaired, allowing the citizens to rest somewhere other than tents for the first time in weeks.

Later in the night, the party split once more, braving the fog as Requiel, Brunzen, Kai and Pheobe left the safety of Limina to find some blooming "Life Blooms'', but Requiel and Kai rushed ahead, leaving Pheobe and Brunzen behind in the thickest part of the mist.  In a fit of panic Pheobe ran off back to the settlement, leaving Brunzen behind and alone in the mist. Not even a few moments later, Brunzen is being chased down by a massive kelp monster only to barely escape and wait for a rescue team to eventually guide them back to Limina.

In the morning, the party continued east and ended up where the next settlement should have been, but it was just an empty field with well-traveled paths carved through the dirt. Requiel decided to head north with the party, leaving Pheobe behind to help the villagers at the sight of large tree-sized fungus. Only for night to fall and Pheobe, traveling alone by themselves in the middle of the patch of grass, set up a cube of force which allowed them to see that the area wasn't just grass, it was a settlement-sized graveyard. Pheobe retreated North-West, following a trail unnoticed by the others, finding an abandoned power plant and hiding out inside to contact the others.

After receiving the news from Pheobe, the party did what they did and split up again. Requiel, with a passed out Alphonse on their back, sprinted to the power plant and camped out while Kai, Brunzen, Franque and Huru decided to follow singing Kai heard in the distance, only to encounter an undead group of harpies that they later slain when Brunzen discovered something about themself and nuked the field, sculpting the blast to protect the party. The moment they neutralize the threat is when Requiel finishes disarming the power plants' security system, disarming a deadly trap, obtaining a Abjuration source gem.

## Session 12: (2/24/23)

After their recent adventures, the party returned to Limina for some much-needed rest and to regroup before continuing their journey eastward. While preparing to leave, Kai impulsively decided to donate to the town, but soon regretted it and tried to retrieve the money from the donation box, only to be caught by a guard. Thankfully, Alphonse intervened just in time to save Kai from getting arrested. Using their time manipulation skills with Lucero, Alphonse also managed to retrieve their upgraded lute from the future, which they could use in the present without any negative consequences whatsoever  c:

  After a day and a half of traveling, the party arrived at the massive mushroom forest where they had last seen Requiel disappear. Suddenly, a dark figure in black armor emerged, prompting Alphonse to quickly put them to sleep. Kai disarmed the figure, and Brunzen attempted to cast an identify spell. However, the  two began to hallucinate, and the party decided to let them rest. When the figure awoke, they introduced themselves as Sir Vendrik of Grawlis. The party apologized for their hasty actions and explained the current state of Grawlis, which no longer exists in its original form. Sir Vendrik was taken aback by this news, and the party offered their help to understand the situation (edited)

As the group chatted about past and current events, a massive creature made of mushrooms and fury emerged from the forest and attacked Sir. Vendrik. The party leapt into action, attempting to subdue the creature, but it fiercely defended its territory and fought back with all its might. (I dont wanna type out the whole battle so if someone else could, that'd be coolio) After a brutal battle, Sir. Vendrik dealt the final blow with their mushroom antidote-coated sword, felling the beast. To their horror, they realized that the creature was likely Requiel. They coated Requiel's body with additional antidotes and rested. Upon waking, they found that Requiel's body had replaced the monster's.

  After sharing their backstories, the group journeyed into the forest with Sir. Vendrik, tracking the path that Requiel had taken to attack them. Following the trail, they eventually stumbled upon a small campsite where Requiel had hid as a fawn. The party discovered the books that Requiel had read at the time, mostly about the deities Helm and Kyuss. Requiel then led the group further north to his old cabin, where they were shocked to find his infected parents chained to a wooden post in the living room. Requiel revealed his plan to revive them once a cure was found, leaving the group with a sense of urgency to find the antidote (edited)

As the party approached the old settlement of Vortigern, a burning scent filled the air and they rushed towards the source, finding Requiel's old home engulfed in flames. Without hesitation, Requiel and Brunzen darted into the inferno, extinguishing the fire. As they surveyed the damage, Requiel led the group to the location where he remembered the portal to Kyuss's realm being opened. They found an old, barricaded building swarming with undead and the portal still gaping open.

## Session 13: (3/10/23)

Requiel introduced the idea of heading north to a location not even on that map, a medical center. Seeming pretty serious about it, he pretty much dragged the group along with him through the mushroom thicket and arrived at an abandoned building that could be considered a medical center. After scouting the building, Requiel, was attacked by mimics and quickly captured it for some devious plans. Two more mimics attacked and one was killed as the other was bound shut with the party wanting to tame it.  Requiel, with his captured mimic, drained his blood into the mimic, instantly being knocked unconscious and then absorbing his blood back, gaining mimic powers.

The party then left the medical center and upon seeing what Requiel did, Alphonse got uneasy and decided it was best to be distant from Requiel as what they have done has gone too far. With the new developed tension, the party arrived at a burning and decollate town with a jester, Klipso, burning everything in sight. The Party tried to talk to Klipso but the conversation was cut short as she was busy cleaning up the undead in the area. Then Alphonse approached (edited)

Klipso, finding the one everyone is looking for immediately started bonding with Alphonse and teleported them both away to the Goddess of Destiny  and prepared Alphonse for what's to come. With a little side bit, Alphonse mentioned how there were dragons with the great craters symbol so Klipso sent a dracolich to attack the great crater.

## **Session 14: (3/17/23)**

#### **Dinner Scene**

As the party prepared for dinner and discussed contingency plans, they made their way to the elevated mess hall where they were greeted by two individuals, Clover and Klipso-Two, who kindly showed them to their seats. Amidst bickering, their hero Atlas appeared, causing Kai to nearly burst into tears upon seeing him. After delivering a heartfelt speech and outlining a new strategy to confront the Goddess of Destiny, the group enjoyed their meal before retiring for the evening. As they were settling into their dorm, Kai caught sight of a commotion outside where Atlas and a mysterious hooded figure were on stage. With a sudden gust of wind, the hood fell off, revealing a jester mask with black feathers, and the party was horrified to realize that it was Pheobe being executed by Atlas.

#### **Goddess Scene**

Following the traumatic execution of their friend, Clover implored Klipso-Two to teleport them directly to the Goddess of Destiny, and miraculously, it worked. As they arrived, it was revealed that the two individuals were in fact Alphonse and Klipso, a surprising twist that caught the party off guard. Klipso then proceeded to update them on recent events at the Goddess of Destiny, offering a lackluster tour of the area. It was then that Alphonse had a stroke of genius, suggesting they rescue their sibling from the weapons factory. With Klipso's guidance, the party set off to complete their mission, teleporting away in a flash.

#### **The Reclamation**

together, Alphonse and the party devised a plan to regain control of the com center, enlisting Alastarr's help in creating a hijack device that would limit its use to only themselves and those they allowed on the network. Meanwhile, Vendrik held a master device that granted him remote control over the com center. While Vendrik and Alphonse worked on reconfiguring the system, Requiel and Kai sabotaged the mines to prevent raw materials from entering the great crater. Following this successful operation, the group returned to the weapons factory where Alastarr was finally able to walk outside, a significant improvement to his mobility. Exhausted, they all collapsed on the ground, only to be ambushed by an army from the great crater. Despite this, the party quickly defeated their opponents, but not before one of the generals released a captured elemental monster that nearly suffocated them. After overcoming this obstacle, they retreated inside the factory for some much-needed rest.

## **Session 15: (3/24/23)**

The party decided to follow with Alphonse's plan to free Alastarr through peaceful means and planned to arrange a concert in each settlement under the queens control to try and convert them to their cause. The party then set up in Bellgrove town center and spread the word that they play in 30 minutes. Some of the town gathered around while they were setting up but Alphonse had a Legendary opening attracting the entire town and have them flood the streets. The concert keeps ramping up and up in hype, the entire party is doing their absolute best in this legendary performance attracted the other settlements pulling all nearby settlements to the worlds biggest performance ever. At the end of the concert Alphonse said "fuck the queen!" and everyone in their hype agreed to join their cause. Later Sir. Vendrik gave everyone there connection to the communication center *for the first time*. The party then went to the last place the queen has control over, the farmstead. instead this time the party was southern. Sir. Vendrik told the party about how this area believed in the "great harvest" which with a quick ask around, hasnt happened in forever so a plan was made. Alphonse and everyone else performs and Franque blesses the land making all the crops huge and nutritious, converting the farmstead to their cause. Now that the queen shouldn't have any control beyond the great crater, the party traveled off to the crossroads. Alphonse decided to perform in "the show" but the show was short lived as the crack in the ground grew, swallowing some more things so Sir. Vendrik jumped in and discovered some kind of ancient classified ship which the party all loaded up in and headed off to Hoffnarr. (more stuff happened but the party forgot)

## **Session 15.5.5: (4/7/23)**

The party met up with Hoffnarr and learned secrets on how to stop Evelyn, Hoffnarr gave them power and cool stuff then they left. Sir. Vendrik decided it would be fun to make a dew pitstops along the way so first the party stopped at the oasis and that's when Franque decided to take a drink of the alluring waters of the lake. Franque wanted more and more and finally decided it wasn't enough to just drink it and jumped into the lake, completely disappearing from sight. In a panic, the rest of the group (Not Alphonse as they were missing for a multitude of reasons (: ) jumped into their pre-war ship and dove into the water looking for Franque. They traveled for what seemed to be half an hour till they found a drowning dog who happened to be Franque and Requiel saved them, after getting some oasis water in them. After the oasis stop the party decided to visit the volcano in interest of Brunzen. On top of the active volcano was a platform of solidified magma with a small pile of igneous rocks stacked neatly into a pyramid. Brunzen then cautiously removed rocks from the pile finding a red and purple amulet with immense power. Sir. Vendrik immediately recognized it as the amulet of Flax Fernwick, an old fay lord of fire, now the god of fire. As soon as the amulet was picked up the platform started melting and the party scurried to the ship and flew off to the great crater for the last chapter in this journey.

## Session 16: (4/14/23)

The party with haste on their goal arrived at the Great Crater, landing right outside. the party noticed it was surrounded with brawlers from the Iron crown so they knew it was time to finish what they started. The main gates were still guarded by the craters strongest guards. With their disguises from Hoffnar, the party sneaked in without drawing too much attentions. Once inside there was a massive wall of blue fire which Brunzen identified as Abjuration fire. In a full big brain move, Requiel tried to scoop some of the fire into a jar and to his delight, it was successful. The party wanted to know what was on the otherside as the entire poor region of the crater was empty and vacant. Everyone loaded onto the ship and flew over the wall and to their surprise everyone was there and took over the middle class area of the crater. A new member of the thieves guild, Tyler, told the party that the dragon that attacked seemed to be protecting the east side of the crater and keeping them here. Requiel got everyone but the thieves to stay through a concert from Alphonse. The thieves guided the citizens out and some thieves joined the party to storm the castle. Approaching the castle, the party saw that there was no guards but signs of struggle from both the craters guards and the Iron Crowns brawlers. Alphonse thought it would be a great time to use their changeling abilities now and tried to turn into the Queen but failed so they changed into Atlas and walked into the castle. With a great charisma and some outsmarting of some dumb guards the party found Franque in the Great room as a gorilla. That's then they approached the doors to the throne room and Franque shifted into a spider and disabled the lock on the door and scouted the room revealing Queen Evelyn asleep on the throne. The group schemed and plotted how to subdue the Queen. Alphonse approached the Queen and tried to hand cuff them and they fell through what seemed to be a hologram. Dread fell over the party as the Queen, waiting in the shadows, surprised the party. With a lot of strong words exchanged Queen Evelyn attacks, stating Vendrik and Alphonse will be the first to go and things got explosive and bloody. Everyone got teleported to a plane with The Great Gear in the center and Evelyn no where to be seen. Out of nowhere Evelyn punches Vendrik hard sending him back. With a lot of Fire damage from a extremely powerful Brunzen, the pure strength of Vendrik and Requiel, the soothing powers of Franque and Kai and the key abilities from Alphonse, the party destroyed Evelyn with haste. But to their surprise Evelyn was now a skeleton with her flesh a green goo, revealed by Franque. The gear started spinning and Evelyn reformed but was quickly knocked down by Alphonse. Once more the Queen started to reform but with the power of friendship, Alphonse stopped the gear from spinning, trapping Evelyn in her disgusting gooish monstrosity form which the party dispatched with bloodshed and pain. That when Alphonse decided now was a great time for an amazing performance and played an amazing tune on their magic lute turning the room a purple hue and a crown of music notes with, much more that couldn't be seen without looking. In a few more acts of desperation, Vendrik's armor breaks, Kai looses and arm and the Queen stands on top the gear when Requiel melts her Gauntlet. The Gauntlet explodes and the gear absorbed it then exploded, dealing massive damage to everyone, knocking out Kai. When the fire cleared, Requiel noticed Evelyn's goop covered skull in the corner of the room with the Great Gear fading as all faith in it was lost at that moment. Franque resurrected the Queen and her human body fully regenerated as they were all now back at the throne room.