Present Party: Aria, Claudia, Emori, and Steve.
Setting: Semi-modern city with sandstone buildings and an Arabian bazaar aesthetic. The city is very beautiful, clean, and has a heavy presence of some kind of law enforcement. There is also a wall, about 40 or 50 feet high, surrounding the whole city. They spend this session inside the royal air force base, and parading through the streets.
The party arrived at the royal air force base, outside of the palace. With Raja, the head of palace security, accompanying them, none of the guards were any the wiser. Approaching the base, the number of guards dwindled, and they were met with the familiar face of Confidence Milton. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. His dark hair was short, which was strange for him, and he was younger than he normally was - somewhere in his early twenties.
When he escorted them inside, he refused to give them his name. He brought them to a platform on wheels that appeared to have a stage on it as well. The stage had the instruments required for a five-piece rock band, and a few speakers. There were flowers attached or perhaps draped over the sides of this platform.
The party presented their ransom, and asked for the princess. Confidence reminded them of some set terms: the ransom had to be delivered by way of a parade. Theron's crew had been preparing for it for a while now. He told Raja that the prince should plan to be here by eight in the morning. The parade would be done, and he'd have his older sister back.
Raja ensured that the party could get back to the palace to pick up some of the items that were previously in Steve's Secret Chest. Most of them did, but in the meantime, they left Confidence with Emori.
When they returned, they set about settling down in the hangar. They didn't want to risk staying at the palace and being associated with the theft, and they wanted to be here, to see what would happen. Claudia searched for some blankets, and Confidence told her that there were barracks; there were guards that used to be stationed here. When she did find the barracks, with floors covered in blood, she was reminded of that phrase "used to be stationed here." Still, she was able to find blankets with minimal damage and blood on them.
With some encouragement from her party, and some light teasing, Emori started flirting with him, and in doing so, she learned a couple of things.
- Confidence went by an older name that Emori had learned in the seventh world: Zoren. Another iteration of him had hated this name, and changed it to Confidence, but this one seemed content with it. Emori had actually guessed that Zoren was his name, and that made him laugh.
- Theron was a space pirate captain, and these guys fly all over the star systems.
- Confidence was suffering from nightmares, and that's frequently why he refused to sleep. Emori opted to stay awake with him that night.
- Confidence didn't like giving straight answers. He was frequently vague, and seemed to enjoy being vague with Emori and dodging her questions.
- Confidence was actually quite attracted to her.
Emori and Confidence slept together that night, in another hangar, away from the float. Claudia found them the next morning.
However, during the night, the party did note more people showing up. They weren't hostile in any way. They came with food, and more flowers. They decorated the float with them. More people came with instruments and costumes. They appeared to be getting ready for a big show.
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| Bardic Captain Theron (aka "Genie") Captain of Cave of Wonders, kidnapped the princess. (Art made by me, using Heroforge) |
In the morning, around six o'clock, the doors opened and more people entered, most wearing the same 21st century street clothes that the party had become accustomed to seeing people in. The very last person to enter was someone Steve and Aria recognized from their visions at the start of the world. It was a blue tiefling, dressed in a long coat with boney ram's horns. He had huge golden cuffs around his wrists, and on each, a familiar white light could be seen glowing within.
Claudia, noticing the light, stepped forward and attempted to grab the cuffs. This man flicked his wrist and she froze in place. She claimed to be introducing herself, and he seemed entirely unamused. He continued on his way, and she regained her ability to move shortly thereafter.
Emori spoke to Confidence about potentially being able to play the drums during the parade, up on the stage where she knew he would be, playing the guitar. They spoke to Theron about it, and he approved. He also asked Emori if the other three were with her, and if they were the ones who brought the ransom. She said that they were, and Theron offered to let them take part in the parade.
Theron returned to the rest of the party with Emori, and asked if they were "elites," which he clarified were magic-users. They said that they were, and he wondered if they would be able to do fireworks or a light show, as well as take down the two guard towers on either side of main street. That's where the parade was heading, down main street, and Theron claimed very nonchalantly that he was going to make a gate in the wall surrounding the city. He would take out the guard towers himself, but he was also in charge of making sure no one got shot. The party agreed, and positioned themselves on the back half of the float.
Theron walked up to the gems and precious metals. He waved his hand, and they all seemed to multiply, filling the float with more and more of them until there were large piles there.
Prince Ali arrived, and was made to walk in front of the parade float. He stood tall and proud, and said very little.
As Raja left the prince in the hands of the party and these apparent space pirates, Theron called to him and said, "Tell Aladdin that Genie sends his regards."
Once Raja had left, the parade got under way. The hangar doors opened, the band struck up their song, and they marched forward with Theron leading them, Ali right behind him, the float with the party on it, and then the marching band and dancers surrounding and falling behind the float. Guards attempted to stop them, but the party watched as Theron flicked his wrists, and their guns collapsed into cubes. Bullets ricocheted off some kind of magical wall of force. Theron sang, and his song was more of a joke or taunt, poking fun at the prince and his overall generosity. His face was plastered on every jumbotron in the city. The people in the city watched the parade in awe and shock. Once they got to the wall where main street ended, Claudia, Aria, and Steve launched spells such as Shatter, Fireball, Catapult, and others at the guard towers. They exploded as confetti launched into the air, and Theron ripped a hole in this massive wall.
The parade stepped through, and now the party found themselves on the other side, where there was a shanty-town and inhabited by the poor and hungry. A massive black starship shimmered into view where it was likely magically concealed, not far away.
Theron reached out a hand for Ali to shake as he finished his song. Ali took it, and Theron pulled him over to his ship and into the arms of two waiting crew members, who dragged him inside. The crew surrounding the float grabbed the gems, metals, and food that was on the float and began to distribute it.
Confidence began to lead Emori towards Theron, and the rest of the party followed suit.
Theron smiled. "Well... you're in it now, and if you'd like to join us, I'm always in need of more crew. Welcome aboard the Cave of Wonders."
~~~~~
Credit to @ijaymendell inspiring this awesome campaign!
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