Post by Judas D'arc on May 1, 2020 19:37:28 GMT -5
Summary: The Emerald Fist and their allies continue their plan to set a trap for the Technocrats, a fake Black Market held solely for the purpose of luring their foes out of hiding.
1/12/2019:
Following the chaotic events of the fifteenth anniversary of their original disbanding, the Emerald Fist resumed their plan to trap the Technocrats. Knowing that much of their enemy's automaton army was destroyed during their previous encounters, the group plotted to lure them out of hiding with a fake Black Market that featured advanced Clockwork Exodus parts for sale. Sergio Jarrett suggested they hold this event at Red Skull Bay, headquarters of the United Pirates, a place that was infamous for such gatherings.
In order to gather information to bolster their plan, the Fist decided to seek out the dastardly Fel Auks, who had previously worked with the Technocrats. He had disappeared some months ago, so they first traveled to Ter Mur to enlist their occasional ally, the scholar Ak Lem, to help find Fel Auks. Tracking the scholar from the Royal City Museum to the dungeon Covetous in Trammel, the group discovered he was busy taking measurements of the Void Pool within. He was willing to aid them, but only if they assisted him in the completion of his experiments. So the Fist and their allies ventured inside Covetous, where they defended the Void Pool from multiple waves of attackers, enabling Ak Lem to finish his task.
1/16/2019:
Soon, Ak Lem arranged to meet the Fist at the Queen's Palace in the Royal City. He led them to the dungeons below, where Fel Auks was now imprisoned there, a consequence of his role in the Technocrats' prior attack against the northern fishing village of Ter Mur. The scholar explained that they would be given access to the prisoner in exchange for proving their loyalty to Queen Zhah. In order to do so, Prassel, the Britannian Security Liaison to Ter Mur, sent them to the Stygian Abyss to contend with a band of outcast gargoyles, preventing them from tapping into a new source of magical energies.
1/19/2019:
Following their completion of Prassel's task, the Fist returned to speak with Fel Auks. As he blamed both the Technocrats and the tinker Sterling for his imprisonment, he was more than willing to cooperate. The dastardly gargoyle approved of their plan to set a trap, and offered additional information to ensure its success. First, he informed them that their mutual foes had agents in Buccaneer's Den, so it was the ideal place to spread word of the Black Market. Second, he told them of Jaks Knife-Ears, an elven tinker living in Skara Brae, who could use his skills to make the Clockwork Exodus parts appear more attractive to the Technocrats.
The group next journeyed to Skara Brae and spoke with Jaks Knife-Ears. The elven tinker agreed to aid them, but he asked that they fetch him the Mechanical Life Manual written by Sutek, a mage dwelling in the Abyss whose mechanical creations matched the complexity of the Technocrats' automatons. He also asked if they could bring back some some parts from the Clockwork Scorpions that served Clan Chitter in the Caverns of the Discarded. The Fist agreed, and they traveled to the Abyss, where they retrieved both the Mechanical Life Manual and mechanical parts for Jaks Knife-Ears.
1/21/2019:
Based upon Fel Auks' advice, the Fist met with Governor Holly Bloodhand of New Magincia. Citing her experience with the pirates known to plague her city, her seafaring experience, and her purported relationship with Corgul the Soulbinder, the group requested her help in spreading word of the Black Market, particularly to those with ties to Buccaneer's Den, where the Technocrats were known to maintain agents. After discussing the matter, the Governor agreed to help them.
1/21/2019-2/21/2019:
In the weeks that followed, the Emerald Fist continued preparing their trap. While they continued to recruit allies and setup the Black Market and recruit allies to fight at their side, the elf Jaks Knife-Ears finished altering the Clockwork Exodus parts, in order to better lure the Technocrats out of hiding. And then they waited patiently for the day of the Black Market to approach ...
2/2/2019:
Story: Baiting the Take (A Black Market Prelude)
2/22/2019:
For weeks, a strange rumor had spread across Sosaria, word of a black market to be held at the infamous Red Skull Bay, a place where one could purchase all manner of goods: the deadly, the profane, and purportedly, powerful technology derived from parts of a Clockwork Exodus. In truth, this was a ruse by the Emerald Fist, a trick to lure the elusive Technocrats into a trap. Yet many in attendance were unaware of this deception, and for a time, coin was exchanged for a variety of contraband items, illicit substances, and even meat pies.
Then the pirate One-Eyed Wilson arrived. A crew member of the Hairy Bastard, Captain of the Mondain's Member, he fired a crossbow bolt into the air and claimed the market and its goods in the name of his infamous leader:
"Listen to me and cease your selling! You haven’t paid your taxes, so this market and everything in it now belongs to the Hairy Bastard, Captain of the Mondain’s Member! Surrender your goods and flee for your lives, or you’ll get it good!"
But before anyone could react, a Technocrat calling himself Brother Karan appeared, demanding all of the Exodus parts for his order:
"I think not, New Britannian scum. We care nothing for your greed or petty little trinkets.
My name is Brother Karan, and I hereby claim all of this advanced technology in the name of the Techno-Prophet. Oppose us and you shall all perish."
A chaotic, three-way battle quickly erupted, with the Fist, their allies, and the other market attendees struggling against Wilson and his men, and Karan and his forces. In the end, the pirates and the Technocrats were defeated, and both One-Eyed Wilson and Brother Karan, as well as their respective followers, were slain. Additionally, the Fist was able to capture a female Mathematician who had attempted to purchase the Clockwork Exodus parts earlier in the evening.
The Black Market proved to be a success, at least for those who survived.
********
1/12/2019:
Following the chaotic events of the fifteenth anniversary of their original disbanding, the Emerald Fist resumed their plan to trap the Technocrats. Knowing that much of their enemy's automaton army was destroyed during their previous encounters, the group plotted to lure them out of hiding with a fake Black Market that featured advanced Clockwork Exodus parts for sale. Sergio Jarrett suggested they hold this event at Red Skull Bay, headquarters of the United Pirates, a place that was infamous for such gatherings.
In order to gather information to bolster their plan, the Fist decided to seek out the dastardly Fel Auks, who had previously worked with the Technocrats. He had disappeared some months ago, so they first traveled to Ter Mur to enlist their occasional ally, the scholar Ak Lem, to help find Fel Auks. Tracking the scholar from the Royal City Museum to the dungeon Covetous in Trammel, the group discovered he was busy taking measurements of the Void Pool within. He was willing to aid them, but only if they assisted him in the completion of his experiments. So the Fist and their allies ventured inside Covetous, where they defended the Void Pool from multiple waves of attackers, enabling Ak Lem to finish his task.
1/16/2019:
Soon, Ak Lem arranged to meet the Fist at the Queen's Palace in the Royal City. He led them to the dungeons below, where Fel Auks was now imprisoned there, a consequence of his role in the Technocrats' prior attack against the northern fishing village of Ter Mur. The scholar explained that they would be given access to the prisoner in exchange for proving their loyalty to Queen Zhah. In order to do so, Prassel, the Britannian Security Liaison to Ter Mur, sent them to the Stygian Abyss to contend with a band of outcast gargoyles, preventing them from tapping into a new source of magical energies.
1/19/2019:
Following their completion of Prassel's task, the Fist returned to speak with Fel Auks. As he blamed both the Technocrats and the tinker Sterling for his imprisonment, he was more than willing to cooperate. The dastardly gargoyle approved of their plan to set a trap, and offered additional information to ensure its success. First, he informed them that their mutual foes had agents in Buccaneer's Den, so it was the ideal place to spread word of the Black Market. Second, he told them of Jaks Knife-Ears, an elven tinker living in Skara Brae, who could use his skills to make the Clockwork Exodus parts appear more attractive to the Technocrats.
The group next journeyed to Skara Brae and spoke with Jaks Knife-Ears. The elven tinker agreed to aid them, but he asked that they fetch him the Mechanical Life Manual written by Sutek, a mage dwelling in the Abyss whose mechanical creations matched the complexity of the Technocrats' automatons. He also asked if they could bring back some some parts from the Clockwork Scorpions that served Clan Chitter in the Caverns of the Discarded. The Fist agreed, and they traveled to the Abyss, where they retrieved both the Mechanical Life Manual and mechanical parts for Jaks Knife-Ears.
1/21/2019:
Based upon Fel Auks' advice, the Fist met with Governor Holly Bloodhand of New Magincia. Citing her experience with the pirates known to plague her city, her seafaring experience, and her purported relationship with Corgul the Soulbinder, the group requested her help in spreading word of the Black Market, particularly to those with ties to Buccaneer's Den, where the Technocrats were known to maintain agents. After discussing the matter, the Governor agreed to help them.
1/21/2019-2/21/2019:
In the weeks that followed, the Emerald Fist continued preparing their trap. While they continued to recruit allies and setup the Black Market and recruit allies to fight at their side, the elf Jaks Knife-Ears finished altering the Clockwork Exodus parts, in order to better lure the Technocrats out of hiding. And then they waited patiently for the day of the Black Market to approach ...
2/2/2019:
Story: Baiting the Take (A Black Market Prelude)
2/22/2019:
For weeks, a strange rumor had spread across Sosaria, word of a black market to be held at the infamous Red Skull Bay, a place where one could purchase all manner of goods: the deadly, the profane, and purportedly, powerful technology derived from parts of a Clockwork Exodus. In truth, this was a ruse by the Emerald Fist, a trick to lure the elusive Technocrats into a trap. Yet many in attendance were unaware of this deception, and for a time, coin was exchanged for a variety of contraband items, illicit substances, and even meat pies.
Then the pirate One-Eyed Wilson arrived. A crew member of the Hairy Bastard, Captain of the Mondain's Member, he fired a crossbow bolt into the air and claimed the market and its goods in the name of his infamous leader:
"Listen to me and cease your selling! You haven’t paid your taxes, so this market and everything in it now belongs to the Hairy Bastard, Captain of the Mondain’s Member! Surrender your goods and flee for your lives, or you’ll get it good!"
But before anyone could react, a Technocrat calling himself Brother Karan appeared, demanding all of the Exodus parts for his order:
"I think not, New Britannian scum. We care nothing for your greed or petty little trinkets.
My name is Brother Karan, and I hereby claim all of this advanced technology in the name of the Techno-Prophet. Oppose us and you shall all perish."
A chaotic, three-way battle quickly erupted, with the Fist, their allies, and the other market attendees struggling against Wilson and his men, and Karan and his forces. In the end, the pirates and the Technocrats were defeated, and both One-Eyed Wilson and Brother Karan, as well as their respective followers, were slain. Additionally, the Fist was able to capture a female Mathematician who had attempted to purchase the Clockwork Exodus parts earlier in the evening.
The Black Market proved to be a success, at least for those who survived.
