NPCs from session 1

Poc - Darad Rinrath's Thri-Kreen assistant 

Warryn Waggletop

Ewix

Darad Rinrath

Honibar

City Map

Cosmic Refugees #1

Narmak Rinrath had two jobs on the Godetia Minaru.  First he took care of refugees about the enormous astral vessel.  These were desperate people whose lives had been destroyed by the Githyanki invasion of their worlds.  He saw to it that they had shelter and food during their stay on the ship as it transported them to Ares Outpost.

His other job was more secretive.  His cousin, Darad Rinrath, as a captain in the city guard at Ares Outpost.  And he liked to have a posse of “newcomers” to the city that he could assign to clandestine operations.  Newcomers made great spies, as no one suspected them of working for the Githzerai.  So as a favor to his cousin, Narmak would pick out refugees who seemed trustworthy, and capable of dangerous work.  He’d offer them a chance to live in the city, instead of in the neighboring shanty town.  Darad would pay for their transport, and for housing in one of the city’s finest districts.  In exchange for them working for him for a period of time on jobs that required secrecy and anonymity.

On this journey, Narmak chose five.

·         Garwick Greenhill was a halfling.  He was a nimble swordsman (Paladin), sworn in service to the Halfling god Arvoreen.  But he was also a musician and poet (Bard).  He travelled with his aging mother, who had also survived the Githyanki invasion.

·         Plythu was a lizardman, from a swampy world.  He was devoted to the spirits of nature (druid), and skilled in unarmed combat (monk).  He traveled with his nephew, who though too young to fight, managed to find a way to hide them both from the Githyanki.

·         Chase was a Dragonborn warrior.  Narmak chose him to be the muscle for this group.

·         Albrighct Schmidtmiester was a rock gnome.  As many gnomes are, he was skilled at crafting things.  In particular, he had learned to create simple magical items (Artificer) that could be useful to Darad’s missions.  Schmidtmiester traveled with a young lizardman who he had help rescue from the Githyanki invasion.  His companion met Plythu at a religious ceremony aboard the ship. 

·         Schmidtmiester connected with another gnome while aboard the ship.  His name was Galhani, and he was a bard, travelling with a pixie companion.

Narmak make his offer to this group, and they accepted.

When the ship arrived at Ares, all the refugees were given small scrolls, with instructions for there magical transport to the surface.  Most received scrolls with green seals.  But Narmak’s group had red seals.  While waiting in line for the teleport sigil, the group was accosted by a roguish group, led by a half-orc rogue called Honibar.  Honibar tried to persuade Garwick’s mother to trade him scrolls, and asked why this small group was privileged to have different travel orders than the rest.  Schmidtmiester told the rogues that they were sick and headed to quarantine.  Honibar was skeptical of the ruse.  But scared enough by the idea that he left them alone.

The party was transported into a city on the desert world of Ares.  The city was built on 4 enormous dirt mounds.  It had been built an insect race called the Thri-kreen.  It was now ruled by a Githzerai anarch.  A Thri-kreen servant called Poc was there to greet the group, as they teleported into a neighborhood called Silverton.  While in Silverton, they party fought off a group of three ice mephits, who were accidentally summoned into the city by a gnome wizard called Ewix.

Poc and Darad took the party through the city to the home and studio of a gnomish artist.  His named was Warryn Waggletop, and his made his living creating artwork for the well-heeled aristocracy of Ares Outpost.

Along the way, the party passed through several of the city’s neighborhoods. 

Sienna Tavern and Inn district Home of 3 taverns "The Kraken's Back" "The Wolf and Pixie" "The Brass Candle"

Antabury A dense residential district populated by 1000 Thri-kreen and 200 Githzerai

Ensbury The city's "fine shops" district. This is where Waggletop’s home is

Plenmont The city's Guildhall district.

The West Rim Residential are, populated by about 250 people, mostly humans.

The Upper Rim A dense residential district populated by 1000 Thri-kreen and 200 Githzerai

Redwood Park A redwood forest growing within the city thanks to the Anarch's magic. Tended by elves, and populated with wildlife appropriate to its artificial ecosystem.

Silverton Silverton is the Magic district of the city. Only about 100 people make their residence here. But many come to work or shop. Items and services of an arcane nature are made, bought and sold here. Spell components are available. All manner of caster-for-hire. Magic schools. Temples to arcane deities. Large homes for wealthy wizards.

They also learned of two other neighborhoods of interest.

Delmirev Dragonborn Residence. 385 Dragonborn live here.

Durdokra Lizardfolk Residence. Nearly 500 lizardfolk live here in an environment created by the anarch’s magic.

The group had little time to settle in before Rinrath sent them on their first mission.  He had learned that some stolen artifacts were to be sold in the neighborhood of Sienna.  These were 3 small Thri-kreen totems, harvested from a ruined city.  They had been taken from the Treasure Hunters guild hall.  A secret buyer was to meet the thieves in an abandoned building at midnight.

The party tracked down the thieves at a gambling house called “The Kraken’s Back”.  And they have located the building where the sale is to take place.   As midnight approaches, the party is deciding what to do next…..

New Character Creation

Story
The background of this story hinges on the Gith Endless War, though that will not necessarily be a major part of the day-to-day plot. I reserve the right to change the story and cosmology from the RAW, but I’ll generally stick with what has been published. 

Eons ago the Illithids ruled the Astral Sea, and many worlds within it. They had a race of green-skinned minions that did their dirty work. One day these minions united behind a leader named Gith. Gith overthrew the Illithids and freed many worlds. But soon a schism grew among her supporters. Most chose to form a violent society that sought to build an empire in the image of the Illithid reign that they had overthrown. This group is now known as the Githyanki. A smaller group rejected the violence of the past and tried to develop a more enlightened society. These are the Githzerai. 

The Githyanki are marauders who travel from world to world enslaving whoever and plundering whatever they find. Githzerai built a society hidden somewhere in the vast Astral Sea. They have fleet of vessels that venture forth to hunt Illithids, and sometimes try to right the wrongs done by their Githyanki cousins. 

Your characters lived simple lives on isolated worlds, mostly unaware that there was anything beyond the sky above their heads. One day the war came to them and destroyed the lives they had known. The next day Githzerai missionaries appeared and promised to take them somewhere to get a new start.

The game will begin on a Gith vessel in the Astral Sea, bound for someplace called “Ares Outpost”. I don’t want to mislead you, once you arrive at Ares the action will stay there. This game will not be “Swashbucklers on the Astral Sea”.

Beginning

The passengers had become accustomed to the strange physics of travel in the Astral Sea. They lived upon a ship, except for its size, not all that different from a ship on the sea. The deck of this ship was exposed to the Astral sky, with no dome or roof. Yet one could breath as normal. A sort of atmosphere clung to the deck. The passenger’s feet were held to the deck, no different from gravity on the worlds that they had known before. Below that deck were several layers of cabins and cargo holds, and a maze of corridors connecting them. Below that there was no “bottom” really. Opposite of the deck, on the other side, was another deck, but here gravity worked in the opposite direction. It was as if two ships had been glued together at the bottoms of enormous flat hulls. 

The name of the Githzerai vessel was the Godetia Minaru. It was enormous. 650 yards long. 300 yards wide. 200 yards thick. 

The ship had many missions. It carried warriors. Its decks carried smaller craft for various purposes. It carried cargo to Githzerai outposts. For now at least, it carried a small number of refugees. People rescued from unlucky worlds that had been invaded and destroyed by Githyanki marauders. 

Refugees were often surprised even to learn that there was such a thing as “The Astra Sea”. Surprised to learn that there were other worlds. Some very strange. But some not unlike their own. And that these worlds were inhabited by people not all that different. There were humans and elves and dwarves in many places. Though their histories were different, they used the same magic, worshipped the same gods. They even spoke the same common tongue. 

Most had been teleported from their tattered worlds to smaller ships. When those ships encountered the Godetia Minaru, the refugees were transferred to the larger ship. There was a block of crowded cabins dedicated to these poor souls. For the most part, the Gith crew ignored them. But they were fed and sheltered. 

The characters in our story were placed together into one of these cabins by chance. A Gith named Narmak Rinrath was responsible for their well-being. Narmak told them that Godetia Minaru was headed to a distance place called The Ares Outpost to bring it supplies. Many of the refugees would be offloaded there. 

"We’ll be close enough to the outpost to teleport you to it soon. Most will be sent to a camp outside of the city. Pretty harsh conditions. You might make it on your own O.K.

But I might have a better option for you. I have a cousin who’s a sort of constable there. I can arrange for you to be sent to him instead, inside the city walls. The teleport fee is higher. My cousin will have to pay it. You’d be indentured to him for a time to work off the cost. It’s totally up to you. My cousin is a good man, but the work that he has for you might be dangerous. I’m only offering this to you because you look like you might be up to it.

Character Creation:

Create a 27-point buy, or standard array character.  Advance it to 2^nd level.

I will grant a bonus feat, if you choose one of the following character options:

1) Play a wizard, warlock, sorcerer, or bard.

2) Play a multi-class character

3) Choose from among the following “random” character options, which I have in fact generated randomly.  To use these

• ·         Choose one of the races given
• ·         Choose one of the stat arrays given
• ·         As you would with any character

o   Choose a “background”

o   Apply the racial modifiers to the ability scores

o   Choose a class

Take money and starting equipment as described in the background and class.

  

You’re not traveling alone

Choose and describe an NPC companion who is on this journey with you.  A spouse, a child, an aging parent, a random stranger that you rescued.  This NPC will be a non-combatant.  But someone you have to be concerned about once you reach your destination. 

Random Character Options:

Random Option 1:

Race: Tabaxi or Dwarf

Ability Choices:

STR 10 DEX 8 CON 12 INT 15 WIS 14 CHA 13

STR 15 DEX 12 CON 14 INT 8 WIS 10 CHA 13

Random Option 2:

Race: Lizard-Folk or Aasimar

STR 8 DEX 13 CON 15 INT 12 WIS 14 CHA 10

STR 15 DEX 14 CON 8 INT 10 WIS 12 CHA 13

Random Option 3:

Race: Firbolg or Gnome

STR 13 DEX 15 CON 8 INT 14 WIS 10 CHA 12

STR 10 DEX 12 CON 15 INT 14 WIS 8 CHA 13

Random Option 4:

Race: Half-orc or Tiefling

STR 8 DEX 13 CON 14 INT 10 WIS 12 CHA 15

STR 8 DEX 13 CON 12 INT 15 WIS 14 CHA 10