Ierth Inscribed

> **This Page Contains Spoilers!!**
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## EP. 1 - Fated Imprints

**Ierth Engraved begins with the auburn light of a rising sun in a constant state of eclipse reflecting upon an endless crystalline floor, creating a flickering mosaic of gold, silver, red, and orange in limitless fractals across the endless expanse. In front of the eclipsed sun sits an hourglass whose sands have all but run out. A disembodied voice originating from everywhere at once states solemnly that “the measure draws to an end.” A figure lingers over the hourglass and implores the disembodied voice to “give them more time.” The voice tells the figure - “Immortalus” - that time has been given, and that their efforts have been in vain. Immortalus has failed and will, the voice continues, hold their end of “the bargain.”**

World Date - Thrundey the 13th of Orlan 2245 AG

Our vision shifts to the sleepily waking town of Chateau De Collines, where a tall stoic Aasimar man steadily chops logs in the early morning. The figure, Siegfried, pauses as a young person approaches him carrying a missive from the Mayor. Not far off in a small copse of trees, a sturdy but bedraggled dwarven man - Gendri - rises from a liquor-fueled slumber. Gendri and Siegfried share an awkward glance which is interrupted by a third party. Honey, a petite human person still fatigued by their recent adventures, emerges from Siegfried’s home and begins discussing the missive with him. Gendri makes his way past the pair, heading toward the promise of alcohol. Gendri’s search leads him to a busker with whom he is familiar, where he learns of an underground tavern below Hogan’s Parlor purported to be an excellent source of both fine goods and information. Giving a secret knock, Gendri is able to peruse expensive cigars and illegal drink.

Across town at the Southern Gates, an elegant young drow man dressed in deep blues named Trystan steps from his wagon after a lengthy journey. His traveling companion Facile directs Trystan to an enormous clocktower and wishes him luck. With the goal of joining the Amity Rail Line Project, Trystan heads toward the Town Hall, sketching the clocktower and the warforged at the gates as he walks.

Back at the lumberyard, Siegfried and Honey deliberate over a different letter: one that had conscripted Siegfried to fetch Honey from Oupt Smnikva. Honey explains that this letter contains a description of themself which had not been accurate until a couple of weeks ago. The letter also asserts that Honey is connected to Dera, Lord of Brands - a connection Honey themself hadn’t known about. The letter is also, Honey notes, addressed to a different name than Siegfried has given. Siegfried confirms it is his deadname. Honey explains that the letter might be from someone they are supposed to meet, but they worry it is a trap. The pair share a moment of anxiety, followed by a determination to get answers. They set out for the Town Hall so that Siegfried can answer the Mayor’s missive.

In the basement of Hogan’s Parlor, Hogan introduces himself to Gendri and displays his contraband. After purchasing a cigar with his last bit of gold, Gendri is offered a job by a sketchy individual calling himself Bastille of Rubbletown. For a hefty sum, he picks up a job protecting the northbound Amity Line from the highwaymen who have been attacking it within the depths of the Thousand Fronts, a wartorn and inhospitable landscape bearing the scars of the War of the Forge. Gendri then heads back to the river to fish.

At the Town Hall, Trystan finds himself admiring and sketching the inner workings of the large clock tower. He then introduces himself to the attendant at the desk as a possible hire for the Amity Rail project and is promised an audience with the Chief Engineer and Mayor. As he waits, Siegfried and Honey enter and are instructed to wait with Trystan. Introductions are made and as they wait, Honey submits a request to view the national records housed behind the front desk. Unfortunately, it is revealed that they are across the Rougemont border without identification. The clerk, assuming Honey is a victim of the refugee crisis, offers to assist. This only furthers Honey’s concern, however, and they retreat to join their companions. Trystan shows the others a mechanical bird he has designed and constructed.

Shortly thereafter, the Mayor ushers the three to his office where a Norkai Dwarven woman awaits. Introductions are made and the conversation of a contract is broached. Tensions begin to rise as the Chief Engineer dismisses Trystan’s abilities, indicating the group would be helpful in guarding the train and could prove any other capabilities they had then. Despite a tense conversation, a lump sum is agreed upon in exchange for the protection of the Amity Line. Leaving the Town Hall, Honey and Siegfried encourage a crestfallen Trystan.

The trio then pays a visit to the Cathedral of St. Culiar and the Temple Host. Honey inquires about Dera, the god of brands, who had been mentioned as an entity connected to them in the mysterious letter to Siegfried. As Honey learns about this god, Trystan notes a worshiper of the Drow god Edur and takes a moment to pay his respects. The others learn that there is said to be a fourth moon in the underdark, and that Trystan’s grandfather took part in a mission to the Under Gate.

As the evening draws in, the four individuals move towards the trainyard. After a meeting with the Conductor of the train and a run-in between Gendri and the guards, the four introduce themselves and hop aboard, preparing to depart. Gendri notes that Siegfried can hold his own, but makes clear that he doubts Trystan and Honey’s capacity to take care of themselves, stating briefly that their lives are their own. A still exhausted Honey heads immediately to bed while Trystan heads to the front of the train to get a better understanding of the strange machine, which utilizes Norkai arcane fission. Gendri and Siegfried clock each other as military men and share a drink. During his watch, Siegfried goes through the familiar motions of writing a letter he has never sent. Throughout the night, Gendri finds it impossible to rest and incurs a point of exhaustion. At one point during the night, Gendri opens a hidden compartment in his bag and whispers to a lantern with a geode like stone within, “Almost there.”

As the dawn sets in the train began to slow around the tight curves of the rail traversing much more difficult terrain. As the group keeps watch for the highwaymen, Honey speculates that the highwaymen are individuals attempting to make the inhospitable landscape of the Thousand Fronts into a functional homestead. Gendri is the first to spot a plume of dust on the horizon that quickly manifests as riders on an intercept course with the train. He tells the others that the highwaymen shoot first and the party springs into action, taking up defensive positions as the riders draw near. The session ends with the Amity Rail Line being charged by mounted figures riding horses equipped for the harsh terrain of the Thousand Fronts.

## EP. 2 - End of the Line

**Mine \_ield.**

World Date - Ferday the 24th of Orlan 2245 AG

The session begins with the party successfully thwarting the highwaymen attempting to raid the very train the party had been hired to protect. They manage to do so as nonlethally as possible, though Gendri does kill one of the highwaymen in the process. During the conflict, it is revealed by Gendri that the robbers are not after food or mechanical equipment but rather a stashed pile of weapons that had somehow made its way onto the transport. Honey, Gendri, Trystan, and Siegfried valiantly contend against the highwaymen, driving them back and capturing two.

As the highwaymen flee, led by their Eladrin leader, the group turns their sights to securing information and assuring the train is safe. With Siegfried and Gendri spearheading an interrogation of the captives, the party learns that the highwaymen’s leader, known as Vetharis, has been receiving information regarding where the train would be and when. The plot thickens as a review of the trains manifest by Trystan reveals that the logs were most certainly being doctored. Investigating further, they determine that the conductor could be trusted. Honey speculates that there are likely three more suspects: the two foremen working at either end of the line and the Chief Engineer. Honey takes a moment to convene with the conductor. Clarifying that the presence of these weapons would violate the Churmondelete Accord and set Ierth into global war, Honey convinces the conductor to keep things under wraps until they have more evidence on the guilty party.

As the party rolls into the Southern AR camp, Honey keeps a close watch as the workers begin unloading the train while Trystan distracts the foreman, Siegfried gives the two captive eladrin a chance to escape, and Gendri drinks heavily. Nothing suspicious seems to be happening with the unloading of the train as the foreman and his team set to work, further dropping the number of suspects to two.

Things proceed well until an alarm is raised from the southern gate. A crew from the camp, out gathering water, seem to have come across a small group who had been assaulted out in the wastelands. The crew proceeded to haul a heavily damaged wagon back to camp: a wagon that Gendri knew at first sight. Without a word the inebriated dwarf takes off into the wastelands. Trystan, Honey, and Siegfried chase after, feeling some semblance of responsibility for the dwarven man. A short run down towards the mouth of the river Hallet finds them staring at a gruesome scene. Four corpses, marked by brutal wounds, lay scattered around collapsed tents and a burnt out fire. Gendri notes a small trail of strange arcane ichor leading Eastwards along the river. Without hesitation, he takes off once again, leaving his party to chase behind yet again.
The party continues into the dark of night, surrounded only by the ghostly remnants of war as Gendri charges ahead. Honey, the only one fluent in Castelian, sees a sign for a minefield in their native language and attempts to stop him from running headlong into the space. Gendri threatens Honey when they try to stop him and manages to slip out of their grapple, charging further into danger. Honey, Trystan, and Siegfried follow, despite the danger and the hostility of the dwarven man.

Finally Gendri came to a stop, the party about 200 feet behind, lit by Trystan's dancing lights and still exiting the minefield. Before the dwarf is a strange series of piled scraps the trail of ichor leading into it.

## EP. 3 - Tremors

**Here there be (mechanical) spiders.**

World Date - Ferday the 24th of Orlan 2245 AG

Siegfried, Trystan, and Honey pursue Gendri into the strange scrap dunes located just south of the River Haillet. Far ahead of the others, Gendri plunges into a scrap maze, noting small webs casting a dull glow as he goes. Attempting to scale one of the junk piles to get a better vantage, Gendri sets off the skittering denizens of the webs: tiny mechanical spiders, which promptly swarm along Gendri’s arm and attack him.

Meanwhile, Honey, Siegfried, and Trystan navigate through the edge of the minefields, coming to the entrance to the maze. Trystan messages Gendri asking where he is, prompting an angry Gendri to ask why they have followed him. Siegfried presses on anyway, managing to catch up just in time to aid the dwarf in breaking free from the tiny little monsters as Trystan and Honey manage other spider swarms from a distance.
Once the mechanical spiders are successfully dealt with, a tense conversation ensues in which Gendri is pressed for his reasoning behind charging into a minefield in pursuit of a monster within the depths of the Thousand Fronts. Gendri, reluctant to share and unsure of his companions, eventually lies and tells the others he is in pursuit of a case of great importance. Told that the case will be magical in nature, Honey casts Detect Magic and the party moves further into the metal maze, eventually discovering a cave. Within, the skittering creatures leave the party alone as they step into the darkness, greeted by yet another maze of scrap. The ichor webs are denser here, forcing the party to weave their way through to avoid drawing the attention of the tiny beasts. Trystan, using a clever application of fire magic, deals with some of the mechanical spiders in their path, allowing the group to stealthily creep deeper into the cave. There, they come across a large glowing mass of webbing. Beyond the webbing and clinging to the roof of the cave chitters a massive mechanical creature made from a hodgepodge of ancient materials. From its mismatched abdomen runs thousands of tethers of the ichor creating a network of webs. Fortunately, the creature does not spot the party. Backing into the cave, Honey uses Thaumaturgy to create vibrations in the blue ichorous webbing, drawing the small swarms of mechanical spiders away from the group so that they can focus their energies on the large spider.

As the group attempts to get into formation around the large spider, Trystan slips into the webbing, alerting the monstrous spider machine and initiating combat as he is still stuck in the blue ichorous webs. The party moves quickly, Honey drawing the ire of the tiny spiders by thruming on webbing far from Trystan. Siegfried pulls Trystan out of the webs and faces down the spider, while Gendri attacks the spider from behind. Unfortunately, Trystan is severely wounded by the spider machine’s stinger during the fight. As Honey pulls him out of melee, they unwittingly heal him. Siegfried lands the final blow on the spider, laying waste to its glowing blue core.

Without hesitation, Gendri shoots towards a second large glowing mass of webbing, cutting it free. A strange pearlescent scaled creature falls from the confines of the web, asleep and drained but very much alive. The trapped creature seems to resemble some sort of elegant dog-sized reptile. Gendri’s demeanor immediately shifts to concern and obvious care for the creature, granting the others a better understanding of his motives.

Regrouping, the party leaves the cave behind, noting the ichor and spiders have fallen apart now that the large machine is destroyed. Deciding it is unsafe to traverse the dangerous fronts back to the AR camp, Siegfried and Gendri locate a bunker where the group can rest for the night. Watches are relatively quiet, though Trystan notes a small mechanical spider skitters across his skin. It falls apart when it is no longer in contact with him. While trading watches, Honey asks Siegfried to promise that he will get their body to Thomas Farraday if they die. He tells Honey they will not die, promising instead to take care of them.

The session ends with Gendri sitting just outside the group’s small hideout. Beside him sits Mack, his strange reptilian companion, recently roused from her slumber. The two sit gazing out across the River Haillet as the sun begins to crawl over the Bloomfort Mountains.

## EP. 4 - Decoding the Way

**Inevitably, the party splits.**

World Date - Fighdey the 25th - Exeday the 26th of Orlan 2245 AG

Trystan, Siegfried, and Honey awaken deep within the thousand fronts to find Gendri sitting with his recently rescued companion. Mack expresses wariness at the party, prompting Gendri to introduce her to the group. However, he can only remember Trystan’s name, incorrectly referring to Siegfried and Honey as “Sigil and his daughter” (the two are unrelated, and Honey is nonbinary). Trystan begins sketching Mack in his journal, much to Gendri’s chagrin. Introductions out of the way, Gendri offers Mack the lantern at his side. However, she seems reluctant to interact with it. Instead, Mack leads the party back towards the Southern AR Camp, skirting the minefield and becoming more energetic as she worked with Gendri to help the party navigate the terrain. During this journey, Honey feels a strange dull burning sensation and slight hum at the back of their neck that seems to originate not from the sun, but from something else. The party makes it back to the Southern AR Camp unscathed thanks to Gendri and Mack’s tracking abilities.

Back in the train car, an impromptu game of cards is started, then quickly stopped as it becomes clear that only Siegfired knows how to play poker. A tense conversation follows as Gendri recommends that the party turn in their job and pass on what they know to the local authorities, effectively washing their hands of the matter. Honey expresses the desire to inform Churmondelete Citadel of the armaments smuggling via the Amity Rail, since the act is a violation of the Churmondelete Accord which ended the 100 year War of the Forge a decade ago. Siegfried makes the case that they have a moral obligation to see the situation through to its end in order to keep another global war from breaking out. Gendri expresses the belief that war will happen if people want it. Trystan expresses reluctance to get involved, explaining that he is just interested in getting paid and working with the Norkai engineers.

Without a final solution agreed upon, the group settles in quietly as the train begins its journey south west. During the night, Siegfried is visited by a surreal dream in which he stands as a gold-clad soldier in a long forgotten battle where ancient Rougemont armies are slaughtered by projectiles billowing with black smoke that seem to emanate a purple light. Waking in a cold sweat, he immediately checks on the rest of the party. Finding Gendri awake, the dwarf suggests he knows what Siegfried is going through and offers him a drink. Siegfried expresses doubt that Gendri knows what he just went through and declines the drink, unwilling to cope with alcohol.
In the morning, Honey sets about designing a shield for Siegfried, laying out pieces of scrap retrieved from the Thousand Fronts. As they work, they become lost in their focus, not registering that their chest has begun to emanate the heat and light of a kiln. Before they know it, the shield they have been designing has materialized beneath their hands: a dark shield emblazoned with a thin kintsugi-esque design of a tower, beneath which reads “decus et tutamen.” Pausing to take in their work, Honey notes the same dull burning and slight hum radiating from the back of their neck. Asking the thrum if it was responsible for the shield, Honey feels another being's emotions wash into them for a brief second. Shaking the strange feeling off, they present the shield to Siegfried. After his terrible night, Siegfried responds with effusive emotion, telling Honey that it feels right and hugging them.

Meanwhile, Trystan retreats to a quiet corner and focuses inwards in an attempt to look for peace. His goal in doing so is to commune with the strange ticking and whining that seems to almost consume him at times. As he sits in silence, the ticking never comes. In fact, it seems as though the whirring is absent in such moments of peace. Flipping to the back of his journal, Trystan notates that the ticking does not occur in silence.

Late in the evening of Exeday the 26th of Orlan, the party returns to Chateau de Collines and immediately makes their way to the Chief Engineer along with the Conductor. After Honey successfully barters for compensation to be awarded to Gendri as well, Siegfried fills in the Engineer regarding the Amity Line’s involvement in the smuggled Jean Marc Munitions guns meant for Eladrin bandits in the Thousand Fronts. Tense minutes follow as next steps are yet again discussed. The party agrees to look further into Foreman Gilbert Griggs. Following the only lead they have, the four find themselves in the workers camp for the Amity Rail project. Honey cajoled with drunken workers around the campfire, learning that Griggs has been frequenting the Twin Hills Hotel and Spa. Meanwhile, Siegfried, Trystan and Gendri creep into the foreman's tent. After a little sleuthing, they come away with a strange cipher and a key labeled THHS. Regrouping, the party confirms this must be Twin Hills Hotel and Spa. Without hesitation, they make their way onwards towards the hotel.

Gendri takes the lead. Initially being questioned by the bellman as to whether or not he can pay for a room, Gendri flashes his gold and turns the tables on the uppity individual. Siegfried joins in, and the two bully the man into retreating while Honey manages to peak at the hotel’s ledger, finding Grigg’s room number. With a little clever acting and the flash of some coin in front of the establishment’s owner, the party finds themselves with a free room in the hotel. Griggs’ roomkey securely in Trystan’s hand, the four creep into their quarry’s chamber. There they are greeted by the sight of an abandoned room. The window stands ajar and a sending stone lays smashed on the floor. As the four began to turn over the room, Siegfried comes across a note written in a strange language. Matching the scipher to the note, Honey, Trystan, and Siegfried head next door to their free room to decode the message while Gendri finishes off investigating the room.

The note contains a strange communication that seems to suggest the guns are being left by someone for Griggs in a small pond to the southeast of town. It also warns of Rubble Town interference. Taking in all the information, the party agrees to split up: Gendri and Trystan heading to the Jean-Marc Munitions factory in the event that Griggs might be heading to warn his co-conspirators while Honey and Siegfried make their way to the pond in the hopes of finding further evidence of munition-smuggling.