Session 7

Heroes: Ayrin, Gondriel, Aldym, Raubahn

The Skyrunner continues his voyage inside the asteroid, this time exploring a room filled with rocky terrain, deep canyons, and floating rocks of all sizes. The rock of this place has the ability to turn anything it touches to stone, albeit temporarily. 

The Heroes come into contact with the local stone giant population, a primitive but benevolent people. They talk of a "snake that eats the sun", a creature coming out of the same tunnel the Heroes came from, and "eating" the huge crystal that illuminates the room. Luckily, the sun is only ever gone for a few days at the time, when the snake returns, and puts it back in place.

They also tell of Stennor, a malevolent beholder-like creature covered in bronze scales, with snakes instead of tentacles, and a petrifying gaze. Believing this may be the Incarnation that possesses the next Queen's Eye, the Heroes track it down among the canyons.

When they spot Stennor, they wound it with a well placed ballista shot, and then finish him off with blades, arrows, and spells, while protecting themselves from his gaze behind a giant-made shield of stone. When Stennor dies, he lives behind a glowing red eye, which Raubahn rapidly puts in his bag.

As all the floating stones begin to drop to the ground, the Heroes bid the giants farewell, and proceed to the next gigantic room.

They're surprised to find the room almost completely empty, with the central crystal illuminating its black walls. They decide to inspect the crystal itself, but soon the helmsman feels that the ship is under attack. When they investigate, they spot a sphere of red energy flitting around and about their ship, here and there piercing the hull with disintegrating force!

As the ship suffers more and more under the attack, Ayrin unleashes its magic at it, while Aldym pilots the ship back to the tunnel. The sphere of red energy seems to suffer serious damage, but the Skyrunner is in critical conditions. The Heroes leave the room, and the sphere of energy does not follow.

Session 6

Heroes: Ayrin, Gondriel, Aldym, Raubahn

The Heroes face the monstrosity, but soon realise that something is amiss. Their attacks seem to always hit the creature, while the monster seems to always miss. The more they hurt the monster, the more they see around them a town taking shape, cheering crowds hailing them as Heroes, urging them to kill the beast, and take their place among them as living legends.

One by one, the Heroes leave the fight, as the cheering crowds turn to flame and disappear. They find themselves once again among the silvery fog, a suave voice addressing them with an offer of power. "You have beaten me once again... You can now wish for whatever you want, and it will be yours".

Whatever they wish is given to them, but it's just one more trick. Only Aldym wishes to awaken from this dream, and finds himself back in the real world, next to the Skyrunner, and to the comatose bodies of his companions, still enjoying their dreams. 

By using magic found among Tobart's treasures, Aldym awakes the others. When they all challenge whatever entity rules this room, they're assaulted by living nightmares. Incapable of defeating this threat, the Heroes decide to leave the room.

Back into the center of the asteroid, the Heroes rest for a night, and then explore the next room. This time they find themselves in a room occupied by thousands of flying boulder, flinging at great speed across the featureless room. Ayrin does his best to avoid the boulders while manoeuvring the ship to the center of the room, where they find the same kind of 10-sided crystal illuminating all the other rooms.

Near to the crystal, they spot a "boulder" different from the others, more like a conglomeration of smaller boulder kept together by some kind of magical force. This is in fact Conundrum, the Incarnation of this room. When he spots the ship, he uses his telekinetic powers to start dismantling the craft! When the Heroes shoot it with a ballista bolt, the creature seems to be more willing to have a conversation.

At first, the Heroes convince the Incarnation to repair their ship, but when words fail, the Heroes attack Conundrum, who defends himself with his force fields and by trying to fling the Heroes across the room with his telekinetic powers.

The Heroes manage to destroy the creature, and recover one of the Queen's Eyes from its core. The boulders flying across the room lose their momentum, and gravity brings them "down" to whatever side of the room is nearer to them. A few boulders hit the Skyrunner, damaging the ship slightly, but the Heroes manage to leave the room safely.

Back into the central room, the Heroes discuss about how to best deal with the two Eyes they have recovered. Aldym and Gondriel decide to each attune to one of the Eyes. By attuning to the magical artefact, the rogue obtains the power of telekinesis, while the elf obtains the power of controlling beasts. Yet, something more hides behind the power of the Eyes, an urge to try and possess them all.

Session 5

Heroes: Raubahn, Gondriel, Aldym

The Skyrunner floats inside the asteroid; grey clouds can be seen overhead, and the inner walls of the asteroid are dotted with lakes and rivers. Light comes from a huge white crystal floating in the center of a large circular hole, at least a mile wide.

Along the inner surface of the sphere, they see weird terrain: huge brown slabs of different shapes; gaping circular pits at regualr intervals; and open plains filled with silvery-grey vegetation of some kind. 

The brown slabs are carved like huge canyons, apparently telling the story of the beholder nation that used to call this place home. With little understanding of the beholder pictograms, the Heroes decide to pilot the Skyrunner into one of the gaping holes.

After crossing one more tunnel, they emerge into a room similar in shape to the one they visited before (a cube 2 miles on each side). Yet, around them is a primeval jungle. At the center of each wall of the "cube", stands a large building, similar to some sort of amphitheater. The Heroes land their ship next to a lake, and begin exploring the jungle. 

Soon, they come into contact with the local fauna, semi-intelligent apes that try to abduct them. When Gondriel uses his ranger magic to communicate with them, they tell him of the Beastmaster, their leader and the strongest creature in the jungle. 

Believing this Beastmaster must be in possession of one of the Queen's Eyes, the Heroes travel to the main arena to challenge him. The Beastmaster, a feral man of large proportions, readily accepts the challenge. After a wild battle, the Heroes emerge victorious, and take with them the only possession of the Beastmaster: a neckalce containing a pulsating red beholder eye.

Around them, all the animals of the jungle enter into a frenzied rage. The Heroes understand it is time to leave, and depart on the Skyrunner.

Back into the main room, the Heroes enter the next tunnel, this time arriving in a room filled only with a silvery mist. When they land the ship and start exploring, they find the room featurless, and the ground is soft under their feet, like a pillow full of feathers. But soon, the magic of the room begins to take a hold of them. One by one, they fall in a magical sleep, where they dream of their greatest desire. 

Luckily, each Hero faces this temptation, and manages to escape the dreamscape. As they leave the object of their desire behind, they see something else approaching. Something with bad intentions...

Session 4

Heroes: Gondriel, Aldym, Raubahn

Taking advantage of their superior speed and the range of their ballistas, the Heroes pellet the aberrations from a distance, killing them but almost depleting their reserve of bolts. With this threat out of the way, the Heroes look for an entrance into the asteroid.

By following the maps they recovered in Tobart's room, they reach an opening on the side of the rock opposite to the huge bronze disk situated on "top" of the asteroid. They fly yhe Skyrunner inside the rift, and discover a huge cavern illuminated by magical lights.

At the end of the cave, they find colossal doors, inscribed with a message from the Arcane lords that created the Ravager for the beholder nation of the Sazaur. The message warns whomever crosses the doors to not trust the beholders, and to end their menace. When the Heroes fly their ship throught the doors, they find themselves in another tunnel, eventually reaching the end of it. What they see outside of the tunnel is hard to believe. 

They find themselves inside a "room" shaped like a cube, with sides two miles long! Each side of the cube seem to have his own gravity, and all are covered with lush vegetation, trees, flowers, and lakes. The Heroes land the Skyrunner to try and perform repairs, but they soon learn that the weird environment seems to have an effect on them and their crew.

Somehow, everyone feels happier, and unwilling to perform real work. All they want is to dance, or rest, or sing, and enjoy nature. Thanks to his elven heritage, Gondriel resists the effect longer than the others, and manages to make contact with the locals, gold-skinned diminuitive humans spending their time dancing, singing, and playing.

Not much later, the Heroes meet Horan, the protector of these people. Horan is a handsome, tall man with golden hair, and a magnetic presence. He seems to be the source of the enchanting magic permeating the place. When he fixes his gaze on the Heroes, they fall under his spell, and are forced to do as he commands.

Horan tells them he is the greatest of the "Incarnations", and he wants them to travel to the other rooms of the asteroid to retrieve for him the Queen's Eyes from the lesser Incarnations. Bound to his will, the Heroes go back to their ship, and leave the "cube" through an exit on the opposite side of where they landed.

They cross a tunnel hundreds of yards wide, and eventually emerge into a room even bigger than the one before, probably 5 miles wide! They realize they're in the "core" of the asteroid, and around them they see 10 different tunnel openings, most probably bringing to rooms similar to the one they left.

Carved in the walls around them, bas-reliefs similar to canyons seem to tell the story of those that once inhabited the asteroid. Slowly, the Skyrunner makes its way along the walls of the colossal room.

Session 3

Heroes: Ayrin, Gondriel, Raubahn, Aldym

Raubhan and Gondriel decide to stand down, in order to save Ayrin's life. The Heroes make their peace with the captain, and agree to collaborate for the time being. During the next few days, Ayrin and Aldym take shifts at the helm, exploring the ship in their off time.

A few discoveries are made: it seems the captain almost never uses his room, though he does spend a lot of time "away" from the main deck. When Aldym sneaks inside the captain's cabin, he finds a wizard locked door that he's unable to open. Certainly the captain's secret hides behind that door. Raubhan checks the cargo deck, finding a storeroom containing a monstrosity (probably a flesh golem) that bars further passage.

After a week in space, the Skyrunner reaches its destination. But Capt. Tobart is frustrated to see that the Hive is nowhere to be found. Shells of charred and broken beholder ships can be seen floating in the distance. Enraged, the captain orders a careful search of the surroundings, when suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a huge asteroid appears into view. Probably cloaked by powerful magic, now the asteroid is about to collide with the Skyrunner!

Thanks to Ayrin innate talents, the Heroes avoid the crash, and begin flying at a safe distance from the asteroid. On one side of the rock, a colossal bronze disk of sorts can be seen, making the asteroid appear like a giant eye.

But the Heroes have no time to wonder at the view, as a beholder tyrant scout appears in the distance, and unleashes a cone of magical light at the Skyrunner. The light seems harmless, but Capt. Tobart is affected by it in a strange way. As he screams and trashes on deck, his form changes into that of a beholder! He floats above the Skyrunner, and then flies into the void to engage the beholder ship.

Beholder Tyrant Scout

When he realizes he can't really harm the craft, the creature that was once Tobart casts an incantation and disappears. The tyrant scout turns it attention to the Skyrunner, and the battle is joined! With no experience whatsoever in commanding a ship and manning its weapons, the Heroes lose no time to take charge, and engage the tyrant scout. 

The Skyrunner is slower that the enemy ship, but much more resistant. After taking several blows from the magical armaments of the beholders, the Heroes manage to inflict a decisive hit with their heavy ballista. 

But their cheers are short-lived. From the wreck of the tyrant scout, a few floating spheres begin to make their way to the Skyrunner... the beholders are coming!

Session 2

Heroes: Ayrin, Raubahn, Gondriel

The Heroes take some time to explore the ship. Wherever they go, they notice little details out of place, making them more and more suspicious about the captain and his crew.

While questioning Gulug, the so-called "helmsman" of the Skyrunner, Ayrin easily understand that the foolish man has no real magical powers. With a ruse, he convinces the sailor to let him sit at the helm. When he does, Ayrin awakes the power of the helm, taking control of the ship. But he soon feels another "presence". 

As he focuses on the magical matrix surrounding the ship, a dark form takes shape in the mental landscape. A monstrosity similar to an undead beholder assaults him, and wrests control of the ship away from the eladrin.

Further investigation of the ship brings the Heroes to the steerage deck, where they find the mechanical legs that can extend outside of the ship to allow the craft to land on the ground when necessary.

In the same deck, they find two secret rooms. In the first, they find the monstrosity that attacked Ayrin's mind not long before. The undead creature offers no opposition, and the Heroes cut it to pieces. When this happens, the ship suddenly stops. It seems the creature was the powering force that allowed the ship to travel through space.

In the other room, the Heroes finds a few useful items, and several books, scrolls, and maps outlining the planets of Realmspace. They also find several journals penned by Capt. Tobart where he discusses his true plans. It looks like the captain only told the Heroes a part of the truth. They are indeed going to battle a monster called the Ravager, but it seems that the main aim of the captain is to retrieve powerful artifacts called the Queen's Eyes, to be found inside the lair of the monster.

When the Heroes confront Tobart, he tries to convince them that nothing has changed. The Ravager is still bound to Toril, where he will destroy the world. One way or another, they must help him stop the monster. But now that they know the truth, he's willing to share with them the power of the Queen's Eyes. With such power, they'll be able to blackmail any planet they wish, and rule as gods!

Not trusting such an amoral man, the Heroes try to solve the matter then and there, and attack. But they're soon overwhelmed by the captain and his silent first mate, Stonecrop. As the metal-clad giant holds Ayrin's neck in his huge hands, the other Heroes must choose if they keep fighting, or if they surrender.

Session 1

Heroes: Ayrin, Gondriel, Aldym, Raubahn

The Heroes are in the small town of Thundertree, enjoying some downtime after their latest adventure. While perusing the market, they hear a whistling sound coming from up above. As they inspect the cloudy sky, they notice an object falling at great speed towards the center of the square.

When it finally lands with a thunderous clap, the Heroes see that the object is in fact a huge metal anchor, attached to a sturdy rope going up all the way to the clouds! A first inspection does not reveal any significant detail about the appearance of the anchor, but after an hour, something begins to make its descent from the clouds, slowly moving across the rope.

A basket of sorts, containing four individuals, is attached to the rope. When it reaches the ground, the Heroes and the gathered townsfolk can have a better look at the passengers. Two of them are dressed as sailors, and one of them is a giant of a man clad in full plate armor. The last, a tall man with reddish skin and an unkempt beard, introduces himself as Captain Jon Tobart, of the flying ship Skyrunner.

The captain informs the townsfolk that a terrible monster called the Ravager is about to attack their realm, and he's seeking brave souls willing to help him fight the monster. After a short introduction, the Heroes, all looking for a grand adventure, accept the invitation, and climb aboard the basket.

The contraption makes its way back up, above the clouds, until it reaches a flying galleon. There, the Heroes meet the rest of the crew, more sailors with a confused look about them, and all bearing some sort of animalistic feature. The captain shows the Heroes to their room, telling them he will give more details about their mission after they're rested.

But during the night, the Heroes realize that the ship has not only left the town, or the realm... as they look at the planet of Toril slowly disappearing among a sea of stars, they realize that they've left their world, now travelling at incredible speed through space!

When they address the captain about this, Tobart admits to have omitted a few "details" about their quest, but assures them that once they slay the Ravager, they'll be hailed as the greatest heroes of Toril! He also takes the opportunity to explain to them the nature of spelljamming (travelling at great speed across space), and a few tips about life in space and the functioning of a spelljamming helm, a magical throne powered by spellcasters infusing the artifact with their own spells.

The Heroes decide to sleep for the night, and ask more questions during breakfast. As they eat, Capt. Tobart explains to them that the Ravager is actually capable of destroying entire planets, and it is now bound to Toril, their own homeworld. When the Heroes question him about how can they ever hope to destroy such a powerful foe, Tobart reassures them: he has a secret weapon that will do just the job! Still suspicious, the Heroes continue their voyage across the stars.