Meridar 3

"Meridar 3" is episode 4 of SuperQuest Saga. Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian have finally made it planet side, but what they find there is nothing to celebrate.

## Synopsis

### Introduction

* Will is your triumphant dungeon master for this evening
* Will states that the audience knows who the players are so they’re skipping names today

### Recap

Last time they had a run-in with the elves and there was a huge firefight between the elves and the illithids. Victoria made an ill-advised Aetherium jump that burnt out the Aetherium cores. She did a standard fuel jump to a place she found some Aetherium readings and they are now hovering above Meridar 3.

### Hold on to Your Butts

The ship is in the lower atmosphere of the planet, below they see a desolate and barren wasteland. All is quiet until Dag speaks up to say he’s got a ping on the reading and Victoria steers the ship in that direction. The other crew members each have monitors on their seats, the screens in front of Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian are off and the trio is confused. Carter asks Victoria what they’re doing. Victoria says they’re trying to find Aetherium so they can get somewhere to make proper repairs. Sebastian doesn’t want to go back to space and Victoria snaps that she’ll leave him here, sharply cutting off any further questioning.

As the ship crests a hill they see a landscape filled with what appears to be a graveyard of battleships. The wreckage of ships and large buildings made of glass and metal is scattered across the plain. In the distance is a titanic goblinoid battleship leaning like a great sinking ship in the sea about 500 ft. tall. Victoria says that is where the Aetherium is. Carter asks who lives here, and Watt tells him it’s currently abandoned but it used to be an outpost during the Second Goblin War.

As they approach the goblin vessel its defense system activates, firing upon them and they take a direct hit. Victoria makes evasive maneuvers and takes them up and over the vessel but they make a crash landing. Watt reports that the atmosphere is thin, but breathable.

Dag waves for everyone to follow him to gear up. Carter tries to make small talk with the gith woman and learns her name is Ira. She does not like them and believes the four of them are bad luck. Dag is amused as he watches her brush Carter off and goes to introduce himself and his twin, Dirk.

### Tell the Audience What You Grabbed

The group heads to the armory room and Carter, Persephone, and Sebastian get a chance to upgrade their gear. Sebastian grabbed heavy armor, CM Metric Guard suit, a shield, and an aether-bladed axe. He grabbed something ranged as well, a plasma auto cannon, a two handed heavy laser cannon. He also has a shovel, a water canteen, a travel pack, and some rations. Persephone has a gun that she fires accidentally as she asks Dag for something closer to a stick instead. Dag shows her how to use the pistol and she opts to grab one of the spears the elves were using. She also grabs a travel pack. Carter now has two pistols, batteries, rope, lighter, flashlights. Carter asks questions about the mechanics of the basic equipment and starts thinking about breaking them down so he can know how it works. As the three are asking questions about these basic objects the crew starts to look at them like maybe they’re telling the truth about where they’re from. Persephone finds a silver and purple volt spear.

Finally they are ready to venture out onto the planet’s surface. Carter tries to convince them to take a rest before they go. Dag notices they look worse for wear and hands them each a plain white cloth patch to put on their arms, a revigor patch. Carter slaps it on, and upon noticing that Sebastian is watching warily he pretends to have an adverse affect. Sebastian becomes startled and drops his patch before Carter tells him he’s joking. When the patches activate they feel an adrenaline rush and are invigorated, and it feels incredible.

Victoria examines her ship and looks upset, Carter attempts to console her by saying “..I’ve seen three ships and yours was by far the worst looking one before, so nothing’s changed if you think about it.” Sebastian thanks her for all her help and offers support if she needs it. He realizes that she is their best chance of survival and wants to thank her. She examines her bracer jack and orders Watt to stay with Artax, the robot, and Primina near the ship while directing the rest of them towards the Aetherium reading. She warns Carter, Persephone, Primina, and Sebastian that if they do not follow her orders or she gets any sign of treachery from them she will leave them here, but if they cooperate she will give them free passage. Primina is hesitant to stay behind, but Watt suggests that he and Artax could use a hand so she agrees to help them. As they head out, Sebastian takes a moment to look at the ship as it sinks in that they’ve really been traveling on it.

### Lore Dump

They start ascending a big foothill covered in enormous boulders and strange, squat, short bushes with no leaves that look dead. Persephone runs straight to one of the plants, she notes they’re alive but in a sorry state, like the rest of the dying world. She talks to the plant about how sorry she is for them, and how nice it is to see nature and all its scattered dead friends too, she despairs about how sandy and desolate the planet is.

Carter asks the crew about the goblins, he’s impressed by what they’ve built. Dag remarks that the goblins have caused trouble here and there. There have been three wars between them and The Cyber Federation. It looks like either the elves or the Cyber Federation obliterated this world.

Victoria pulls the trio up to the front, Carter dashes to get there first. She tells them that she’s decided to just believe that they are time displaced and don’t know anything. She believes there is something bigger going on, their ship nowhere near Imperial Territory so the elves showed up looking for something. It obviously has to do with Primina. She asks what they know about her. Sebastian reveals he got both Celestial and Fiend readings from Primina. Carter reveals that they couldn’t understand her before the translators and didn’t know what she was speaking. Persephone adds that Primina appeared to be the power source of the ship. Victoria doesn’t believe Primina is nefarious but there’s something going on. Carter and Persephone remark that she turned into a bat-like creature, and Victoria agrees that it looks like she has some sort of defense mechanism. Victoria has never seen anyone of her species before. Carter adds that when Victoria found them, the party was prisoners of sorts. Prisoners of their own curiosity, trapped on a ship adrift in space, vast, and wide, and cold, and amazing.

Victoria assumes they have questions, and gives them an opportunity to ask. Carter is surprised she does not have more questions for them. He says they were sent on a mission by their king to find a magical signature the likes of which their people had never seen, and that signature was probably Primina. Victoria states doesn’t need to know their whole story, and when they’re done here she will drop them wherever they want to go. Sebastian asks if she can drop them back home, Victoria does not have the capability to do that, she is not a scientist. Carter asks what exactly she does, is she a scrapper like she claimed? Victoria is a scrapper but they do a little bit of everything.

Persephone asks why everyone keeps calling her a Singer, are people expecting her to perform? Victoria explains that the firbolgs now call themselves Singers and they are slaves to the Elven Empire. With their magic song they are the gardeners and cultivators of the Seldarine trees. They are assembled into Choirs and there is a Choir on every imperial ship. There are free Singers out there, those born outside the reach of the empire. Persephone says that for future reference then, if an elf asks if she has left her Choir she should say no, she was born free.

Carter asks where people live. Victoria says that there are thousands of planets across the galaxy full to the brim with population. Carter asks her favorite planet, Victoria points at her ship revealing that she is not partial to people. Carter asks where she is from and Victoria cuts them off, clarifying that when she asked if they had questions, it was general questions, not personal questions about her. Carter realizes that the probing questions are making her defensive, she doesn’t want to talk about her past.

Persephone asks about the planet with the most life on it. Victoria says there are capital planets all over, but probably Arvandor, the elven capital.

Sebastian is curious if he can have access to the information Watt pulled up on orcs, it sounds like his people were slaughtered and he wants to know the history. Victoria confirms the elves have a tendency for annihilation. Carter asks what’s up with those elves. Victoria explains they’re the most powerful beings in the galaxy; they have the most territory, the most powerful army and “they’re not like the rest of us.” They live forever, they don’t age, they’re naturally stronger and smarter. They’re biologically immortal. Sebastian starts to become visibly upset. Victoria tells him to “three times listen” to her, she knows where he is coming from but tells him “do not mess with the pointy ears." Sebastian’s formerly suppressed orc side is starting to show, he was raised more human so he has this untapped anger. Victoria tells him to “think of them as a hurricane, you don’t mess with a hurricane you just endure it.” Carter mulls over this information. Victoria adds that they derive their power from their God Emperor.

Sebastian carries a holy symbol in the form of a coin. Since they have been journeying he has noticed that when he takes a moment to reach out to his god there is utter silence. He’s felt nothing when he touches the coin. Sebastian reveals that he has been unable to reach his god and asks Victoria for some guidance on religion. It looked like Victoria said some prayers so he assumes she knows something about religion. Victoria asks what he means by gods, is he a follower of The Orders and The Passions, or is he a primal worshiper? Sebastian is not familiar with any of those terms. Victoria has heard of a time when there were individual gods like Sebastian is explaining, but the only god that gets spoken of is the Elven God Emperor. And he is not a true god, just a very powerful elf. Sebastian feels lost because he has been cut off from his source of power. Carter asks for clarification about the God Emperor, Victoria explains the elves worship him as a true god but it’s more complicated than that and beyond her knowledge.

Sebastian asks Victoria about her faith since he heard her praying before. Victoria follows the Divine Path of Unity. There are nine divine faiths of the Orders and Passions. She used to be a member of the church of Unity but she left. Somehow she retains her ability to evoke it but isn’t sure how or why.

Sebastian is forced to come to terms with the fact that his race is dead and his god is dead. Victoria says the legends say that the gods passed from time long ago but the nine divine paths are above and beyond any of the deities. They are the very essence that binds the universe together; Honor, Unity, Cultivation, Enmity, Ruin, Passion, Dominion, Balance. Each of these essences are singularities that exist outside of the influence of the universe and they bind the universe together. Enough conviction and faith in any of these teachings can grant a person power. The nine Divine Ideals are the most common, but there are those who worship Primals, elemental beings. She assumes Persephone worships one since she can change form.

Persephone explains her power comes from the energy of her planet, and Victoria mentions there are plenty of primal religions about. Persephone will look into those since it hurt when she shifted.

Victoria asks if they still have power without their god. Carter fires an Eldritch Blast. Sebastian has tried to reach out but has gotten nothing. He asks if she has more information on the Divine Faiths, and she will help him find his faith again if they successfully get off this planet. Carter comforts Sebastian by putting Mage Hand on his shoulder.

Persephone asks what time it is since they’ve been displaced. Victoria looks up at the sky and guesses it’s around 3 in the afternoon. Persephone clarifies and wants to know the year. Victoria says it’s a difficult question to answer and it depends on who you ask. There are lots of different methods of time tracking. According to the Cyber Federation historians it has been 102,463 years since the Prime Event that caused the destruction of the original world, but who knows how accurate that really is. She calls an end to the questions for now, but is willing to discuss more later.

### A Toasty and a Bone Field

They continue up the hill and it’s really exhausting because the air is so thin. Carter squeezes his patch to try to get more juice out of it. After a few hours of travel they approach the top of the hill, and there’s a huge snapping sound from behind several boulders. Victoria motions for everyone to be cautious, and waves everyone forward taking the lead around the boulders. They see a large reptile creature munching away on the brushes. It’s short but stocky, 4 ft tall but 12 ft long, it’s scales are long and resemble rocks or ore. It eyes the party, but continues munching away. Persephone is very excited. Carter suggests it looks harmless. Victoria agrees that it was perhaps a false alarm. They watch as the lizard lumbers over to another bush and blows blue flames at it to toast the branches before eating. Sebastian remarks that it is like a dragon. Persephone is very reluctant to leave because she loves the lizard so much, but she lets herself be taken away by the group

The group finally reaches the top of the plateau and stops to take a break. Dag scouts ahead. Sebastian sits on a rock and pulls out his coin attempting to establish contact with his god but he does not feel anything whatsoever. Carter takes a moment to sketch the landscape, it is scenic but depressing. Persephone asks if the others have been on this planet or know what that lizard was. If no one knows she wants to name it. Ira gruffly responds that she does not know what it is, Persephone can name it if she must, but Ira will be glad to get off this planet and never see it again. Persephone names it Toastius Lizardi. She attempts to Wild Shape into the creature, and nothing happens. It’s weird because she’s used to being able to see things and turn into them but nothing happens. She touches the floor and tries to commune with nature, but gets nothing.

Dag returns and waves everyone over to see something. Sebastian is the last to get up, looks at his coin one last time, and drops it into the sand as he walks away. Dag leads them up over a crest, the goblin vessel can be seen towering above a valley filled with the crashed remnants of small war vessels and hundreds of thousands of bones and bodies. So many bones that it looks like a field of bones. The smell of sulfur and ash fills the air. It looks like the bodies were left where they fell on the battlefield, goblin, elven, dwarven, and humanoid dead. Victoria doesn’t give a shit how many bodies are down there, they have to go through to get to the ship. They make their way through the smoldering, broken, old city. The roads are shattered and it looks like a horror scene. They slowly pick their way through, Carter constantly dusting bone fragments and dust off of him. Sebastian observes the weapons and armor on the bodies, the pistols and weapons are all dead technology. Persephone walks along somberly.

As the sun starts to set Victoria holds up her hand and decides they need to find a place to rest. She sends Dag and Dirk to scout for a spot. Carter tries to help look but gets distracted with making a face covering. After setting up their makeshift shelter and setting in to rest, Persephone hears a strange sound coming from the outskirts of the area around where they’ve set up camp. A rattling sound like tumbling rocks. She lets everyone know and the group stands to look around, the rattling from all around starts getting louder. The bones begin to move, rolling and amassing into a huge monstrosity made of various bones. It forms a weird amalgamation that almost looks like a dinosaur with a head and teeth and claws. The behemoth starts moving towards the party, Dag and yells “Bone mites!!!”

## Characters

### The Party

* Sebastian Crenshaw: A half-orc paladin. Lost connection to his god.
* Persephone Goldpetal: A firbolg druid. Percy is a free Singer!
* Carter Huttenburg: A human warlock. Trying to be polite.

### NPCS

* Dag: A tiefling male. Brother to Dirk. Victoria's cousin.
* Victoria: A tiefling woman. Captain of the ship. Cleric.
* Watt: An elderly gnome. Has all the information.
* Ira: A gith woman. Doesn't like many things.
* Dirk: A tiefling male. Brother to Dag. Victoria's cousin.
* Primina: A young woman of mysterious origin. The MacGuffin.
* Artax: An android. Asimov is the password.

## Trivia

### Out of Character

* Retcon: In the previous episode when referring to firbolgs Will said "Coven" but he meant "Choir."
* Will was going to incorporate something into the story about rations and water, but since they did not keep good track of who grabbed some and who didn't, the bit did not make it into the episode.