Session 14

The group notices a large wall of reddish-brown dust approaching them 10 minutes until contact. Theo looks for cover, he spies a rock formation with a crevice beneath it, though it might be out of reach.

Theo and Pete, being undead are unaffected by the dust. Gimli and Athtar however, can be harmed. The party runs to the formation and makes it in time. Gimli however, is exhausted from the sprint.

Gimli puts a tree behind them to block the dust.

Pete and Theo step out of cover and explore through the storm. Theo activates his aura and hears a humming through the storm. A flash of light cracks through the dust. He removes his armour but still hears the humming, albeit quieter.

Pete stays in view of everyone, but peers around to the other side of the formation.

Gimli maintains the tree blocking some of the sand from coming in.

Theo can only see around 10 feet ahead of him in the storm, but he notices that something which he thought was a boulder has now moved. He observes it. He hears the humming once again, but now his arm vibrating at the same frequency. He crouches down to hide from whatever's out there.

He then sees the rock approach much closer and right by him. He notices it's a ball of metal. He recalls it as a rust scarab. These are large beetle-like creatures that roll large balls of rust around. He notes that it is agitated and confused. It might be hostile. It is not the source of the resonance.

He also sees several soul like creatures in the area - metal wisps. A sphere of metal shards orbiting a sphere of liquid metal. The liquid metal seems to surround a mortal soul. They are the source of the resonance. Wisps tend to form around an individual creature and serve them.

Theo attempts to speak to the rust scarab, telling it that the party is not hostile. The scarab responds, calling Theo someone with the smell of the Elemental Lords, asking what plane it is on. Theo responds that the scarab is on the material plane. The scarab is frustrated, and asks if there are others on the material plane.

Theo responds that he has seen others from the metal realm. The scarab turns and says that it will find a place for its kin. It then rolls away, safely avoiding an encounter.

Before it rolls away, Theo tries to ask it what it meant by the scent of the Elemental Lords. It responds, "You smell of the rot that permeates our realm." Theo asks, "What rot?" The scarab cannot respond. In fact, it seems dumbfounded as if the answer should be obvious. It says nothing and rolls away.

After the storm passes, the group continues on and makes their way into the town of Ridgewater. It is evening. The party notices that unlike West Haven, Ridgewater doesn't have walls to protect from the storms. They notice that people are cleaning up the streets and getting back to their own business.

A major standout of Ridgewater is that it has electricity. Despite being a small town, it is more advanced than West Haven.

The group notices a small crowd surrounding someone who's standing on a soapbox. He holds a sign that poorly reads "Protect Miner's Rights".

Athtar approaches to listen to the man. The rest of the group follows.

The man is explaining that someone is buying their land, buying their homes, and then closing down several mines all over the area, making it impossible for them to earn any money.

As he rants, Pete notices there is someone in the crowd who is reaching into their jacket and pulling out a pistol. He has a necklace with a black metal shard in the shape of a sword. He points it at the man and threatens him to stop speaking, and that he is under arrest.

Theo asks, "What is this about?" The man responds that under the order of the black swords, they must stop anyone attempting these things called 'unions'. Anyone engaging in the behaviour is nothing more than a bandit.

Two more guards appear and fire two shots into the air to disperse the crowd.

Gimli is about to swing at the guard, Theo stops him. Athtat, seeing this, also stops.

The man puts his hands up. The guards warn him that he's on the final straw. Any further action will result in arrest.

Stepping away, it doesn't take long for the group to find an inn, "The Broken Cog". It's set up similarly to the one in West Haven, but much smaller. A room is only 5 copper.

The bar is manned by a halfling who is in his equivalent of his 40's

Theo asks about the Church of the Becoming God. The man had a feeling the group would ask. He nods toward Theo's arm. The man says they seem like good people. Community focused, though he doesn't believe in the stuff. He says they're down the river.

Athtar asks why the arm was relevant in knowing they'd ask about the church. He replies that most people who are part of the church have lost their limbs in some way. Father Denith from the church had created prosthetics for them.

The group decides to head to the tavern in the lower level of the inn. They look for the man who was protesting. They find him solemnly drinking his beer. Theo orders another for him. He, Athtar, and Gimli sit with him to talk with him.

Despite it only having been a few minutes, he was already 4 beers deep.

The group asks more about his situation. He mentions that he's just trying to support his family. He also mentions that they're closing down mines all over the place. They just say that "it's not safe to work here" anymore, and if people want to stay, they get shot.

The mining company is buying up the mines and shutting them down. They have a representative in town, staying with the mayor. She is a half-elf and native to the area.

The black swords are closing the mines to make them less profitable via way of the Black Swords. The resources in them become rarer, and the original company is forced to sell the mines due to a lack of profitability. The original owners of the mines are smaller companies which are being strongarmed by the West Front Mining Co.

The man says that the group seems like nice people. He then passes out, facefirst. The group takes him to his room, and then heads to their own to rest the night. The party wakes up the next morning.

The group heads to the church and finds people tinkering. One of them has lost three fingers. Another is tinkering with a device. There's rusty metal everywhere. There are hanging lights connected ot the same power system. There are also various machines and tools to tinker and metalwork.

Theo checks to see if the prosthetics have any connection to his arm. As far as he can tell, they are normal prosthetics.

The group approaches. The balding man takes note of the group and raises his hand. Others stop conversing. He wipes his hands of grease. Theo asks if the man is Denith. He says he is. Theo continues that he had met one of the preachers.

Denith asks if he is here to seek enlightenment. He replies that he is here to learn more. Denith is pleased to hear that the group is interested in learning more. Denith invites the group in, saying that they believe knowledge should be shared.

Denith was a former adventurer. His party was caught in a storm. While the rest of his party perished, he survived, he saw a vision of a cloaked man who bestowed the knowledge of the Becoming God to him and told him to preach the word.

Theo shows his arm to him, as the story seems familiar, knowing about his own visions. Denith asks if he may touch the arm, noting that it is a very advanced prosthesis. Theo allows it. As Denith touches it, it vibrates in response.

Father Denith seems deeply fascinated by Theo's arm, but he is also concerned. He believes that Theo might be part of a greater whole. He believes Theo has been blessed, but he was not aware that the Coming God would come so soon.

Gimli questions the belief, asking that he saw some random vision and just started believing it. Denith is pragmatic, asking if he has ever had a religious experience himself. Gimli responds that he started believing after receiving his powers.

Denith then questions the fact he received powers and assumed that it was from a God.

Gimli is upset and attempts to reach over the table at Denith, but is stopped by Theo and Athtar, who tell him to leave. Pete chaperones Gimli out, and Theo gives Gimli 2 copper pieces to drink and cool his nerves.

Denith considers it a miracle that he survived the dust storm.

The mantra of the church is "All will become one." Stagnation is a sin, and the Father's goal is to bring people the ability to develop their own skills. So that when the Becoming God arrives, and all come together as one, the resulting union will be held together by everyone.

Denith asks if Theo and Athtar have other questions. Theo asks if there is a connection between the dust storms and the Becoming God. He cannot say for certain as he is not informed on planes. He recommends that they visit a scholar in another town.

He also asks a favour of Theo and Athtar. He notes a construct he built to help protect the minors, which has gone haywire in the recent dust storm. He asks if they can take care of it. They say they'll need to speak to their companions, but they'll let him know if they take care of it.

Denith thanks Theo and Athtar for their help and wishes them well on their journey. He also asks to not bring Gimli back in.

Pete was trying to hide from Theo and Athtar. He was spotted immediately. Pete asks to meet up at the tavern. Theo and Athtar agree to meet him there. Gimli steps out of a bush by the church and prepares to raise hell.

The two head in and Denith frowns, saying he didn't want the dwarf back in. Pete says Gimli is calm. Pete asks if the masked man had any direction he was going. Denith replies he wishes he knew.

Pete asks Denith about Billy Blackjaw. Denith replies that he knows of him. It's hard not to see his poster. Pete presses him. Denith eventually asks if Pete and Gimli are working with the Black Swords. Denith continues to ask them to leave. It takes several attempts and a small threat to finally get them to leave.

At this time, Athtar and Theo make it to the tavern to discover nobody there. They immediately head back to the church.

Pete, instead of leaving, pulls out his gun and loads his gun with ooze, and heads back in.

Combat begins.

Pete keeps the apprentice at gunpoint, intimidating him to stay seated while Pete ties him to the chair. The man doesn't resist.

Gimli attempts to grapple Denith, succeeding in doing so. Denith activates defenses, and a construct activates, shooting Gimli and hitting.

Denith then gets up and then makes an attack on Gimli, dropping his pants and atomic wedgie-ing him, crippling his movement.

Pete then attempts to disarm the situation, saying that this doesn't need to be a full fight. Denith retorts, saying that they should've thought of that before they attacked. He might be a retired adventurer, but he doesn't fuck around.

Pete shoots a glue shot at Denith, but misses. He then tries to reload and intimidate Denith, telling him to give him his answers. Pete scares Denith.

Gimli activates his aura and targets the construct in a blast, but completely misses. Gimli kicks his pants off.

The construct attempts to kick Gimli in the nuts, but misses. It follows up with a spike attack which also misses.

Denith ducks behind the construct and activates overdrive. The construct roars to life as its fists spin and pump in and out.

Pete threatens that if he doesn't get his answers, the full place will go down. Denith says he's told them everything he has to say.

Pete then says if he leaves, he takes the dwarf with him. Denith frustratedly says, "That's what I asked you to do in the first place."

Pete and Gimli leave. Gimli sneaks around to avoid Theo and Athtar. They meet Pete. Theo and Athtar trying to get him to join them inside the Church. Pete refuses and somewhat throws Gimli under the bus. He refuses to join them inside.

As Theo and Athtar enter, they immediately recognize the handiwork of their companions. They are displeased. Denith is incredibly upset and mentions Pete and Gimli destroyed things they were going to sell to continue their work.

Theo and Athtar pay back the lost funds. Athtar tries to give a little more as a gift, but Denith says Athtar doesn't need to do that.

He also tells the pair that he will run Pete and Gimli out of town whenever he next sees them.

Theo and Athtar leave.