✎ resources:adventure:shattered_earth [animus]

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====== Shattered Earth ======
===== Initial Brief =====
In light of the recent tremors that swept across the city, the Shaper’s College is calling upon all those able-bodied souls in Rastaban to assist in the rebuilding efforts!
 
Those who are interested are instructed to meet with Magenta Alacaster, Chief Architect, at midday tomorrow outside our temporary offices.\\
 
--\\

 //An earthquake has swept across Rastaban, shattering chimney tops, breaking tiles and causing a vast crevice to form along the bulk of the Shapers’ Tower. After recent evacuation efforts, the college is operating from the surrounding buildings and through the Goodwill of nearby citizens, although this is no permanent solution.
 
Rebuilding efforts have begun, although given the precarious state of the tower no-one as of yet has been allowed to enter.//

=====PCs=====
  * [[user:joesmoke:pc:Carta Vance]]
  * [[user:nicl:pc:Benten Gear]]
  * [[user:alexet:pc:Nikolai]]
  * [[user:pjcherry:pc:Jemil Tabriio]]


===== Summary =====
The party meet with Shaper Magenta Alacaster, who seems quite concerned about the state of the tower following [[resources:adventure:out_of_shape|recent events]]. She asks them to assess the structural integrity of the tower and asks them to look out for Shaper Bari who has been lost.
Ascending the tower, the party navigate around collapsed towers and precarious rubble. Benten uses his sticky pad mutation to great effect in scouting ahead. Debris blocking passages forces the party to approach what looks to be an important and secretive part of the tower. There there two doorways are guarded by statues of shrouded figures. Jemil notes that these statues bear the mark of devotion to the Shoud. 

While considering what to do next, they begin to realise that the statues are moving. When a question is asked of one, it points off, though it's not clear whether it's pointing to a doorway or another statue. As they question each statue, the sense of devotion fades from them and they become still once more. With no further clues, the commissioners pick a door at random while Carta and Jemil wait to see if anything becomes of them. Eventually, Nikolai returns and though he cannot be heard, he motions for them to follow.

With a building sense of dread, the party find dead body of Shaper Bari, clearly killed by a whirling blade from a malfunctioning machine. Searching him, they find a note instructing him to repair the “Ossifier”... whatever that is. Suddenly, a blade comes flying over a chasm and embeds in the wall. On the other side of the chasm they see a badly damaged machine, still working but shedding an alarmingly large amount of sharp metal fragments.

Dodging lethal debris, they manage to reach the machine and shut it down. Somewhere in the distance, an alarm bell is ringing. The party press on and enter into a huge room, with a large tank with vast pipes that plunge into the floor. The machine has clearly been damaged, and some of the pipes - large enough to fit a person - are laying bare. Suddenly a tremor causes the way back to collapse.

The only way out seems to be down the pipe.

Benten takes the lead, sliding down. As he descends, the hard metal becomes warmer and softer... almost fleshy... Too late, he realises the pipe has become a throat. He calls up for the others to follow and, somewhat reluctantly, they lower themselves into the meat tube. 

It soon becomes worse as acid-eroded monstrosities ooze from the convulsing walls but they continue, reaching a cave of flesh at the bottom. As they explore their horrific environment, the pulsating and living walls will seem to ossify and harden. Upon encountering barnacle-encrusted, worm-infested skeletons, they conclude that they must have entered Erosion. 

Ahead, they lay eyes on a vast mass of tentacles which introduces itself as Corrosion and speaks of Rastaban as though it’s a garden that needs tending - that it has been stagnant too long and that change is coming now that the barrier has been broken. Seeing no other option, the party accompany Corrosion to a place where they meet more denizens: Crumble, Grinding and Wearing. Crumble has the guise of a being that appears to be continuously collapsing in on itself and speaks about how everything eventually ends and becomes dust whatever happens. Grinding is a mass of gears and cogs with eerie organic tissue caught in it, who focuses on how sometimes things need to be forcibly destroyed and remade anew. Wearing is a figure of the wind, looking as though it is about to be blown away into nothingness but retaining its form. They believe that natural forces hold sway over the will of sentient beings.  

The party piece together what has happened. It seems that the machine they encountered... this “ossifier”, presumably, was responsible for keeping a being known as Dread at bay. With the machine damaged, Dread is starting to break through the barrier between the material plane and Erosion.

A light in the distance fills the players with a sense of curiosity and despair that lures them deeper until the ground shakes and the walls shift. A voice from all sides introduces itself as Dread. It seems surprised these humans are even sentient. 

The party flee back to the surface where there is a great deal of unrest. Consulting with experts, they devise a plan to repair the ossifier but to do so, they require a chunk of Dread's eyeball. A weaver transports them to Erosion and, after an unfortunate mishap sending them to the wrong place, they manage to face Dread.

Despite the sense of dread and terror suffusing the area, the party heroically fight their way through Dread's head cavities and hack out a chunk of eyeball which they return to the Shaper's college.

With the ossifier repaired, Rastaban is safe from Dread... for now.

===== Debrief =====
In the days that follow, the sense of dread and despair the party have suffered fade. Carta and Nikolai submit a comprehensive list of notes to the Shapers' College who confirm that for the common good, the existence and function of the Ossifier is a matter of no interest to anyone at all. After all, the foundations of Rastaban are completely stable and no monstrosities lurk beneath the surface which could spell the destruction of everything. To say otherwise is clearly ludicrous.

Nikolai and Benten report to the Imperial Commission who, likewise assure them that there is nothing beneath Rastaban, the Ossifier is of no consequence and there is no point mentioning it to anyone. They do, however, seem quite annoyed at the Shapers' College and the Circle for putting their Commissioners in uneccessary danger. The Order of the Wheel receives a highly edited but very exciting report from Benten which they enjoy very much, with lots of “ooh”s and gasps at the right moments.

Benten then returns to Esteban to check on Fiona Gear, concerned about the civil unrest. She gladly accompanies him to the safety of the Order of the Wheel. 

House Keelen and the Order of the Shroud are both very interested to hear Jemil's reports. In particular, the Order of the Shroud dispatches a team to check out the Shroud-touched statues. Jemil is able to infiltrate the Shapers College, allowing him to easily make contact with [[user:massf:pc:matthias|Shaper Matthias]]. Though the artefacts of the Shapers College are well-catalogued and security is high, Jemil has enough information to plan a heist if he can put a team together.

Carta performs a ritual for Benten and Jemil in exchange for their gratitude, strengthening the bond of friendship between them into a more metaphysically potent connection. 

===== Consequences =====
**Everyone**
  * 5 Favour
  * Sense of dread and terror fades.

**Benten**
  * Bond of Friendship: You are always aware when Jemil is on his Death Count. Once per encounter, when you drop to 0 hits, you may call FIGHT ON! on Jemil. Additionally, you may diagnose afflictions affecting Jemil.

**Jemil**
  * Bond of Friendship: You are always aware when Benten is on his Death Count. Once per encounter, when you drop to 0 hits, you may call FIGHT ON! on Benten. Additionally, you may diagnose afflictions affecting Benten.
  * Undercover Agent: Shapers' College


{{tag>"shattered earth" adventure Jemil_Tabriio Nikolai Benten_Gear Carta_Vance}}
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