The Game

SECRET LOCATION IN THE THUNDER SEA
7 Sypheros, 999 YK
08:59

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"60 ... 59 ... 58 ..."

The countdown droned in the background as everyone took their places on board the command deck of The Way. This moment had been years in the making, and everyone had made sacrifices.

The last few days had been a flurry of activity. Normally everything calculation, every elemental binding, and every magical enchantment should be double and triple checked. But world events forced the team to advanced their launch schedule significantly. The Karrnathi, a powerful nation and rival in the space race, had put their ship, The Aurora, into orbit first. But, the Karrnathi lost contact with the The Aurora. Suspecting foul play, Karrnath has mobilized military forces to its border with Aundair, believing their greatest rival in the space race responsible. Now, all of Khorvaire holds its breath amid the rising tensions and wonders if the continent will be plunged back into war.

In response, your team has diverted its plans of exploring the stars to rescue The Aurora, putting years of work and sacrifice on the line to make sure The Siberys Crisis ends peacefully.

3 ... 2 ... 1 ... IGNITION.

The countdown reaches its nadir and Tamara punches the state-of-the-art twin-elemental drives into action. A high-pitched whine fills the entire ship, and it shakes horribly as the bound elementals begin to manifest their truest self - pure, raw elemental power. Animals across the secret island scurry for cover, and even sea life for miles around feels the vibrations.

Fortunately the support towers activate precisely on time and accelerate the ship in concert with the drive ignition. Without the boost, the ship's hull (constructed from the famous anti-gravity soarwood) would not be sufficient to push above the altitude ceiling that limits the flight of airships.

The Way soars dramatically into the air. The G-Forces are intense for several minutes but gradually fade as the ship rises above the clouds. It's not a smooth ride by any means, and looking out the window you can see in places some of the sheet metal that covers the outside of the ship to protect the soarwood from atmospheric friction is starting to peel back.

The higher you get, the brighter the Rings of Siberys become. A halo of golden radiance that surrounds Eberron, this is your destination. Those of you who take a moment to look back on Eberron can see all of Khorvaire. The Mournland is particularly chilling to see, a huge swath of the continent shrouded in deadly mist - a reminder of the horrors of war in the modern age.You approach the last known position of The Aurorarapidly, two thousand feet above the ring itself and cut the drives. You have actually made it into orbit! The Arcane Congress's speaking stone suddenly errupts with chatter. It is your contact at the Starpeaks Observatory, Jenzic Gemhair*, a Gnome of much fame and distinction in the field of Cosmology. "So, did you blow up yet? I don't see you yet on my scopes - oh wait ... enhance! Ahh, there you are. The Way is looking BEA-UTIFUL!"

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DM Notes:
* Siberys Radiation Levels: Low
* Jenzic prefers gender-neutral pronouns (they/them).
* Remember your motes of inspiration!

As The Way decelerates at the coordinates, you see no sign of the Karrnathi ship, but there is a nearby cluster of debris closer to the ring. Below you the ring glitters gold, and not far away, there are two large asteroids tumbling in the dark - one much further away than the other.

In the night sky above you, the stars glitter, distant mysteries on the inside of the Crystal Sphere that surrounds the Material Plane. Much closer to you but still quite distant are four of Eberron's twelve moons - Sphyros, Aryth, Vult, and Rhaan. Between the moons and the Crystal Sphere, Arrah, Eberron's sun orbits around the planet.

The cold of space is starting to seep through the hull and temperatures are slowly dropping inside the ship, and the soarwood hull creaks and groans as temperature extremes even out. Everything is bathed in the golden glow of the Rings of Siberys.

WARP focuses the lenses and catches the drifting debris in a good light. It sees torn rigging and splintered wood that definitely belong to some kind of ship, however there is not nearly enough of it to account for an entire vessel or even a quarter of one. In addition there is a small piece of debris that looks like a ship's launch or small skiff perhaps, drifting and badly damaged. As the skiff lists, it reveals a humanoid body behind it. It is shiny like metal, spread-eagled and rather large, possibly bigger than the entire skiff (although difficult to tell at this range).

Ad you are watching, you barely notice it but you are sure you saw some kind of shimmer - the kind of distortion that looks the way air shimmers over a hot stone. It lasts only for a moment and is gone.