The Lady Blackbird

The Lady Blackbird is the 20th campaign in the KeeferVerse. It was written and directed by Nathaniel Keefer. It uses the "Tales from the Wild Blue Yonder" TTRPG. It ran for 2 sessions (6 hours total).

## Synopsis

In the Deep Blue Yonder, a strange solar system composed of breathable gases, a group of smugglers take on the mission of sneaking a woman of great nobility (The Lady Blackbird) to be with her lover, the dread pirate king Uriah Flint.

### Session 1

As the adventure opens, the Owl has been captured by an Imperial cruiser "the Hand of Sorrow," under the charges of flying a false flag. The quintet are put in jail cells to await Imperial sentence, the soldiers unaware that they have an ex-imperial soldier and a sorceress in their midst! Syri pretends to have information on the others and is escorted away by a guard. In an interrogation cell, Syri uses her magic to shock the guard into unconsciousness and steal his access keys. Meanwhile the other four manage to escape their cells, thanks to Arkham's lock picking ability. They reunite, grab guns from a weapons locker and make a run for the Owl which is in the hanger. The group easily overwhelm the soldiers in the hanger, and get away before more can arrive.

The owl launches into the ethereal gasses that fill the system, but the Imperial ship gives chase. Outgunned and outclassed ship-to-ship, Vance decides to dive into the Deep, and volatile and dangerous part of the "ocean" of gasses. The cruiser's commander unwilling to follow, assumes they will die down there.

In a brief moment of calm, Naomi Bishop confronts Cyrus Vance. During the conversation it is revealed that Vance is ex-military, the same military that Bishop has sworn to destroy for enslaving her. Vance reveals that he was blacklisted for disobeying a superior officer when he wouldn't follow through on a morally questionable order. Bishop, satisfied that Vance hates the Empire too, leaves. At the same time, Natasha Syri goes and talks to Kale Arkham. Exercising her feminine wiles, she asks Kale Arkham to back her if and when she does something that may be a little reckless. Shy but eager to please, Arkham stumbles his way jovially through his discussion with her, as Syri recklessly flirts with him.

The calm on board the ship is interrupted by a terrible shaking and creaking sound - the ship has been caught in the tentacle of a sky squid! As the ship is slowly crushed, the crew move to rescue it! Bishop gets outside to strike at the creature with her blade, Vance uses the turrets to shoot it, and Arkham and Snargle do what they can to keep the craft together. Eventually with no other option, Syri uses her magic, which the others (besides Bishop) knew nothing about, and deals enough harm to the creature that it lets them go. The ship sails on towards their penultimate stop: Haven.

### Session 2

The crew continue on their voyage and their next stop is the lawless world Haven. They are meeting an informant of Vance's at a pub called Tortuga. In the quiet calm before they arrive the crew have a chat. Snargle speaks to Naomi Bishop, asking her what she will do when Syri gets married, which gives her great pause. Kale Arkham speaks to Snargle about Haven, and Snargle's connection to it, and Cyrus Vance speaks with Natasha Syri about Uriah Flint, and whether he really loves him.

The group arrives at Tortuga, and Vance quickly realizes they've been double-crossed - the informant has ratted the group out to the Hanging-Hatchet bounty hunters. Despite being seemingly out numbered, the group makes quick work of them, with no injuries to the five. Vance finds the informant hiding in the back and grabs the map from him and tells him to get fucked.

The ship departs the planet and heads into the Remnants an asteroid field which is a paradise for pirates and people on the run. As the ship zeroes in on Uriah Flint's location, the ship is hit by a blast of energy. The ship begins to drop, but Snargle manages to bring the ship in as safely as possible. Upon inspection, the ship has been hit by something very hot. Hot enough to melt the hard metals of the exterior. The group head into the winding caverns of the asteroid and come upon a huge open area, deep underground. There sits Uriah Flint, on a stone throne. He is raving mad, and uttering pained screams. "I have to warn them" He keeps saying. Then Uriah Flint attacks the group. The team moves to defend themselves, and Snargle notices a strange artifact pinned to Uriah Flint's clothing. The device negatively affects both Arkham and Syri as well, but it is grabbed and destroyed by Bishop.

Afterwards, Flint returned to his normal boisterous and jovial self, professes his love to Natasha Syri, offers to fix the Owl and throws a grand feast. A huge celebration follows and most forget about the strange relic. A small metal badge that read, on the back: Property of Starfleet Command.

## Characters

### Natasha Syri - Kirk Dawson

A young noble of House Blackbird, from the Imperial world Ilysium. Syri is a master sorceress, carrying the mighty power of Storm-blood, granting her command of lightning. Despite the power she possesses, she is a young girl of 19, and has fled her world to escape an arranged marriage. While incredibly smart, Syri has lived a sheltered and privileged life, and while cunning and quick, is quite naïve.

### Naomi Bishop - Nathaniel Keefer

A former slave and gladiator, Bishop was saved from her former life by Syri, and as such she has dedicated her life to protecting her young mistress. Uncannily strong, and mentally scarred, Bishop has a hard time being anything but what she was trained to be: cold, hard, and brutal. She is not above sacrificing herself at a moment's notice to save her mistress.

### Cyrus Vance - Thomas Hyde

An ex-imperial soldier, turned smuggler. Vance is the captain of the sky freighter, the Owl, and has been hired along with mates Kale Arkham and Snargle to escort Lady Blackbird and her bodyguard to the Remnants to find Uriah Flint. Knowing his way around the solar system, in a bar, and a gunfight equally, Vance is a man of many talents. He speaks his mind, and treats everyone with the respect they have earned in his eyes, much to the chagrin of some.

### Kale Arkam - Christian Apollo

Engineer, petty sorcerer, and Vance's biggest fan. Kale Arkham lived as a thief before Vance recruited him to help keep the Owl flying. His skills have proved extremely useful. Arkham is amiable, enthusiastic, and eager to please. He views Vance as an older brother figure, and epitome of cool.

### Snargle - Christopher Keefer

Calm, collected, and the best pilot in the wild blue yonder. Snargle is a goblin, a former assassin, and he talks in the third person. When the going gets tough, the owl needs to get going - which means Snargle is at the helm! Gifted with the powers of shape-changing and night vision, Snargle knows he's needed, and that's how snargle likes it.