Episode 1: Of Rodents and Roasts

Full Episode

The Adventure begins in Episode 1: Of Rodents and Roasts!

Scum
Quinn, Carinth, Hippolyta, Viguka, and Leto have spent the last couple of months (or, in some of their cases, MUCH longer) locked up in the same cell block. With not much else to do but get to know each other, the group has built up a bit of a rapport. Carinth and Quinn have spent the longest in the prison, at 80 and 40 years respectively. Hippoyta has just finished her second year. Viguka has clocked 8 months, and Leto pulls up the rear at two months.

One of the guards, Galen, has taken a liking to the group. He brings them their meals, and remarks on their sentences being commuted; the prison needs more space, and this motley crew is being released so that more dangerous criminals (members of The Widowers, to be exact) can occupy the cells within. Galen is glad that the group will soon taste freedom once more, and lets them know that he frequents the Sleeping Serpent tavern within the city if they ever need a connection within the walls.

The group spends a little time reminiscing about the homes waiting for them beyond the prison walls before being confronted by another guard-- this one much less kinder than Galen. He calls the group "scum" and remarks on the danger of Gran Marcelia. It's a big city, and it would certainly be a shame if the group found themselves in the wrong alley with the wrong people; a terrible shame indeed. After Hippolyta engages him in a battle of wits and wipes the floor with him (with a little help from Leto and Quinn), the guard laments having been assigned as one of their escorts back to the city tomorrow morning. "I do hope one of you tries to cut and run", he says. "Give me an excuse." The group is largely unphased.

As the group beds down for the night, Leto asks Carinth what he plans to do when they're all set free. He expresses that he plans to own a tavern. Leto comments on her uncertainty about her future back out in Gran Marcelia, and that she'll miss everyone. (We all have a feeling that this group won't stray too far from each other, though.)

Today's The Big Day
The following morning, Galen greets the group. As he unlocks their cells and loosely fixes manacles to their wrists and ankles, he explains that once their paperwork is filled out in the city, they will be placed on a temporary probation. Carinth bids adieu to the rats he spent 80 years with, and they make their way upstairs.

Autumn is setting in. The group ascends to the surface and see the leaves on the trees beginning to change color. It's the first time Carinth and Quinn have seen the sun in decades, and Hippolyta seems particularly renewed as well. The party is ushered into a coach, which they will ride into the Capital, and they notice a strange weapon in the arms of some of the guards in their escort; a musket. It's the first time that some of them have seen such a device. The mean guard from before approaches to sarcastically guarantee the party their safety during the 8-hour journey, then slams the door shut. The whips crack and the coach lunges into motion. Carinth, still awed by the dramatic change in scenery, takes a moment to address Leto; "Are you familiar with the concept of cards?" It's not advice, nor is it critique; he merely states that in a game of cards, a good player should always hide their hand so that their opponent can't predict their next move.

The coach continues on through the hilly plains of the Empire, and the party sees that the land has been scarred by war. They pass a near-perfect bowl shape cater in the ground, almost a quarter-mile wide. It's quite the sight, but as the envoy advances closer to the crater, Carinth feels his connection to magic fade away. The connection is restored as the coach passes by, though. The party speculates on what type of beast or god could have created such an impact; nobody else seems to notice their magical connections temporarily severing.

About halfway through the journey, the party notices a column of black smoke rising in the near distance. Leto, pulling a Nat 20 on her perception check, hears the ragged screams of a woman in the direction of the fire and alerts the guards, who go to investigate. The envoy arrives to find a wagon, overturned and smoldering, and the charred body of a humanoid that looks to have been burning for days. There isn't much to do but wait, until they hear a new scream. The mean guard runs into view of the party, fully engulfed in flame, shrieking for his life.