Chapter 1 - Leaving Dunova

Our story begins on an airship sailing above the forest surrounding the city of Dunova. The airship is a decent size, having three decks with a storage hold and private quarters, though unarmed as a merchant vessel likely may be. It's a mixture of metal and wood, though undeniably less armoured than one of the Dunovan warships.

Around you clouds drift lazily in an otherwise blue sky. A sense of wistful adventure hangs around you, without a single concern. The sun is shining, and up here the warmth combines with the chill breeze for a satisfying mix.

And far below you the forest unfurls. It’s known as one of the greatest and oldest forests on the entire continent of Firsland. It divides the countries of the north and south, and in its deepest points the trees are tall enough to rise into the skies themselves. The only way to pass is by airship.

Piloting your airship is an old man named Leon. He looks to be in his late 50s, with a wrinkled and craggy face. His white hair recedes, showing more tanned forehead, and a thick moustache clings defiantly to his upper lip. He begrudgingly accepted to transport you near the ancient ruins known as the Crater of Megido.

The ruins were of a once-great city of magic. It’s said that the city met its end by a devastating magical cataclysm in the past. The exact nature of that cataclysm is lost to history, though a great many scholars speculate on its possibilities.

Whatever the reason, the Crater still hides many powerful and terrifying secrets. Anyone not wishing to take a chance on their life are told to stay far away, yet troops from the neighbouring Empire of Elonia have been spotted in the area. What they seek in the ancient ruins is an unknown, a question on everyone’s lips.

Why are our heroes headed there? King Roland decided not to take action against Elonia, but our group disobeyed his orders to personally investigate the situation.

  Nieli got onboard the airship first, treating everything in Dunova as a competition to be won. She barely had the time to get to know her team better, knowing only that a bunch of people are flying south to the crater of Megido and that the adventure is not only free but may actually turn out to be profitable.

  Redheaded rogue fury loved the life of adventure. After she left her home in the ancient husk of a fallen walker-carrier that in times long forgotten got stuck in the snow on the slopes of Eidolon Peaks, Nieli traveled the lands of the north and across the mountains to the green meadows of Dunova, where she met the first of her unlikely companions in a bar brawl. She learned of the airship expedition soon after, and, of course, by that point, there was no stopping her from joining it too.

  "Are you going to wait until the Wendigo gets you?!" she yelled in a high-pitched voice to the unlikely teammates behind her. Anyone familiar with life in the ruins of Kirin Kingdom would know that Wendigo is a monster that attacks at night, and it was still morning when they boarded the airship. "Hmph!" the orange lightning answered her own rhetorical question and hurried up to explore the flying vessel. It was the first time she ever traveled this way.  When the airship left the troubled land behind, soaring into the sunlit sky, Nieli closed her eyes and for a while silently enjoyed the gentle wind that kept playing with her red hair as the vessel climbed higher and higher, its propellers buzzing calmly and steadily. She took a bunch of sonic spheres out of her pocket and softly struck one against the railing. The musical instrument let out a perfect note. She added another one, and a melody formed. Nieli opened her eyes and sang, adding voice to the music. No words, just feelings of freedom, embracing the endless sky. She wasn't yet a chanter who could call forth magic with their verses, but she was a Kirin skald, and song was still a part of her adventurous soul.

  Her song surrounded the airship, and as she looked in the sky ahead, she thought to herself that maybe these people, hearing her song, will look to their future with hope too.

Strong Ail is hard to not notice. A tall broud shouldered orc would stand out in most crowds, but this one is dressed in colorful clothing. Dyed in a patchwork of red, green, yellow, blue and purple some would say his clothes is an eye sore, but due to his size, most choose to do so behind his back. Equally weird is the hammer he carries on his back. It looks like the hammer they use in a high striker game, complete with its iron head painted bright red.

He is quick to offer help to the stevedores load the ship, and volunteers to many of the physical jobs that are needed around the ship. He likes to be needed and used to hard labor in putting up and down a circus. Sadly once the circus went under due to an embezzling director who took off in the night not many places would hire an orc. Luckily strange expeditions to mysterious (and potentially dangerous) places don't seem to mind his origin.

Pinion was very exited. The young man was already enthused to have been traveling on an airship for a while now. Soaring through the sky, covering great distances, seeing the tops of trees and buildings was exhilarating. He was making new friends, well acquaintances at least. Now he had a mission: exploring Crater of Megido, even though he didn't have much adventuring experience.

He boarded the ship and gave Leon a nod hello. Pinion learned quickly that Leon didn't like to have the inefficiencies of his airship pointed out to him. Turns out most people, from archers to zookeepers, don't like to be told how they could be more effective. Luckily, Leon still found him useful, and let him stay aboard in exchange for maintenance and repairs. "I wonder what we'll find at the crater?" he asked of no one in particular

For now, Pinion was resting along the railing of the ship, listening to the music, and looking toward the horizon. (He wasn't a large man, any onlookers might be afraid a strong gust would blow the kid over the side) His long black hair was kept out of his face by his raided welding goggles. Miscellaneous tools were neatly organized in pockets, as is he would need them at a moments notice.

"...and that's why some say that Elonia has been sniffing around those ruins. But hogwash, I say. Everyone who's read even a single book printed in the last twenty years knows that the Eldenberg Hypothesis is a fringe theory now. People these days don't keep up with research. They go around believing whatever they were taught on their father's knee or in grammar school. They don't know anything about the scholarship done by Dorbenwylf, Lisaede, or Kreckle. Now me, I would bet my money on Lisaede. She has some good evidence to support her arguments." Jezlyn pauses to take a sip of tea. The heat fogs up her glasses momentarily.

She is sitting in the pilot's room on a small stool, talking the ear of Leon who, because of Jezlyn's age, finds it hard to boot the old woman and give himself some peace and quiet. Jezlyn never talks about her age, but she is most definitely in the "grandma" category despite her keen eyes and spry body. Sitting on her stool she barely reaches Leon's ribs so has to crane her neck up to look him in the eye during her lectures. She wears a pair of pistols on her hips and a traveling pack sits at the base of her stool. "Are you sure you don't want any tea, Leon? It's my own special blend."

A crew member near Pinion shakes his head. He looks like a veteran, from the sprinkling of grey in his beard, but still young enough for hard labour. Unlike many of the others, he doesn’t look happy about the expedition.

"Nothing good, I don’t think." He grumbles, not looking at Pinion. "Never heard of nothing good coming from that crater. Less with Elonia poking around. Bad news, they are."

---

"No thank you, ma’am." Leon shakes his head awkwardly at Jezlyn’s question. He tries to keep his eyes forward through the windscreen, and talks as little as possible.

A short distance away, a navigator tries her hardest to conceal the laugh that bubbles up at the response. She hides it behind a show of leaning over the chart table, even though everyone knows the journey to the Crater is a straight arrow.

---

Far below our ship, static curls in the air. It gets thicker the further out of Dunova the ship goes. It goes unnoticed by the crew as the ship passes closer to the Crater, leaving the forest behind after a few hours of flying.

The forest is replaced by an oddly circular pit that descends deep into the ground. Many of the crew race to the gunwale to look over it. For many this will be the first and only look at the crater they’ll ever have.

To attempt to get to the place on foot would be suicide, and very few airships head in this direction. Today, the skies are entirely deserted, but eerily so. There isn’t even a cloud in sight, as though they’d all been swept away.

Even still, the view of the Crater of Megido is unparalleled. From above it looks almost as though a god has reached down and carved a spoonful of the earth away.

The walls have been cut into the shapes of buildings and waterways. The stone looks ancient, and carved in a method you’ve never seen before, and yet for all the effort they too crumble into the bottom. Everything fades to dust here.

  The skald stops playing music as the forest gives space to the ruins of Megido. In these static-filled skies, the sound of sonic spheres feels somehow inappropriate, as if that air waits for another tune. A dramatic chorus, perhaps. For a second or two, Nieli considers what words such a chorus may sing, but soon she is completely captivated by the sight below. The Kirin traveler lived among ruins her entire childhood, but she never saw buildings cut in half quite like here. Are these buildings dangerous? How do they even hold together on the edge like that? Is water still in the aqueducts? She could ask many things, but the wisdom of her homeland tells her that ruins rarely stay empty for long, and the rogue fury instinctively begins to look for movement and the shapes of monsters among the ancient walls.

Pinion pressed the older crew member for more info on Elonia. Curious if he was about to hear a sad story, a shanty, or nothing at all.

"Suit yourself," Jezlyn says with a shrug. She takes an extra loud sip and gives a pleased aaaahhh of pleasure at the hot tea. Jezlyn stands up and looks out the window at the sight below. She gives a whistle of appreciation. "Now there's something you don't see everyday, right, Leon? I don't suppose you're planning on setting foot in there?" she inquires.

Despite her best efforts, Nieli isn’t able to pick out any monsters. The airship is too high up to see for sure. She can see the strange black stone the buildings are made of, though, and if she leans far enough over the gunwale she can see movement. As she guessed, there’s definitely something down there. What? She can’t say for sure.

---

Meanwhile, on another part of the ship, the crewman who’d commented on Pinion’s thoughts stops at his question. The man frowns, as though deep in thought, then nods his head. Whatever debate he had with himself, he came to a conclusion to tell Pinion his own thoughts.

"Not from Dunova, are you?" He grumbles. "We hear all sorts about Elonia, what with being so close and all. Most of it isn’t the kind of stuff you want to hear."

He drops the ropes onto the deck and crosses his arms. "You’ve probably heard about the Director, the one who took power recently? I heard she bullied her way till she was in charge."

"S’what I heard too." Another crew member pipes up. A younger woman, though still as weather worn as her alternative. They both see the conversation as a better alternative to work though, that much is clear. "And most people don’t think she’ll stop there. Pushing borders they say, sabre rattling."

The man nods his agreement. "If they’re down there, they’re using it to cook up some kind of weapon or something, that’s what my money’s on. Too much mechanics and not enough magic, I say. They’re dangerous, can’t be trusted. I’d watch yourself around Elonians lad."

---

At Jezlyn’s contented sigh, Leon chances a look out of the side of his eye. He harrumphs a little, making his moustache dance, but focuses on the window. At Jezlyn’s question though, he shakes his head.

"Not love nor money would make me go down there." He rubs his nose. "A cursed place that is, not a place for the likes of us at all."

From his tone of voice, and that he’d finally, properly looked away from the windscreen, she can tell it’s more concern and worry, rather than anger and fear that drives his words. Being of a similar age to him, Jezlyn’s heard of his reputation. Leon had been a military pilot, back in the day, but he always looked out for his crew when he could.

An uneasy pause settles over the bridge. The navigation leans back from her desk, craning her neck to get a good look at both of the old timers in the room with her. Where she is, Jezlyn can see her but Leon can’t. She does notice a family resemblance between the two.

She doesn’t have time to dwell on the subject though, as a flash of light catches her attention. Right as Leon reaches for his radio to call for a descent, the rumbling she’d thought came from the engine reached a crescendo.

The flash had come from the crater, and when she looks down she sees a giant beam of purple energy lance out.

It strikes the left side of the airship directly before she can blink. The airship lurches, listening heavily. The crew are thrown from their feet as fire and smoke fills the air in the energy pulse’s crackling aftermath.

"Son of a cactroll." Leon roars from where he’s kept himself standing by holding on to the helm. "I swear this is the last time I ferry a bunch of adventurers, we’ll never make a safe landing at this rate!"

It doesn’t take a seasoned engineer to see that the airship is damaged and crash landing is inevitable. The huge hole in the side is belching thick black smoke, and while the crew are battling the fire the damage is done. It’s possible you can all find a way to make the landing a bit more survivable though.

Ail lets out a curse as the airship lurches. "Everyone all right?" he calls out to the rest of the crew as he gets back on his feet. He quickly gets around to help where needed according to the more experienced crewmmembers.

"Waaaahh! Jezlyn cries out as she is knocked from her stool, splashing hot tea on herself. "Aaaiiyyaa!" she cries out right after from the burning liquid. She quickly wipes her hand on her emerald-colored vest. "Oh that burns! What's going on? Leon! Are we hit? How can I help?" She leaps to her feat, not content to crash land while she's on her backside.

As the ship lurches, Pinion quickly and awkwardly thanks the crew for the info and rushes to the engine room.
Once there he ask "How bad is the damage? Anything we can do to slow our descent?"

  As the ship tilts, Nieli grips the gunwale she was looking over a moment ago. She glances over to the deck, trying to figure out the damage or any immediate danger to her or anyone else, but knowing little about the ship and its technology, she soon decides that the best way to help everyone is to not get in anyone's way.

Ail rushes to the wind sails, where many of the crew members are fighting to keep them under control. In the tension, some of the ropes snapped and have gone wild. With the ship off angle, it’s hard to keep their footing on the deck so it seems to be a harder job than it looks. Even still, they look like they could use all the help they can get.

Around him the rest of the deck is in chaos. Smoke fills the air, but it comes from secondary fires. Whatever hit them carved its way through the deck, but luckily missed hitting anyone. All the injuries came from the initial impact, and the crew look shaken. No one expected an attack.

---

"Took a hit from something." Leon’s voice is tight with effort as he fights with the helm. "I think the engines won’t hold out much longer though. Might want to check on them, or find out where we got hit."

From his tone, Jezlyn can tell it’s not his first time being in a falling ship, but even still he doesn’t sound like he’s enjoying the experience. The three in the bridge can hear the clamour of shouting voices outside, and the thunder of footsteps. The ship groans in protest.

"Either way, we need to evacuate the interior before the smoke gets too thick." He risks a glance over his shoulder at his navigator. "Huxley, sound the alarm."

The stunned young woman doesn’t respond at first, but eventually reaches a shaky hand out to her desk where she presses a button. An alarm sounds soon after.

---

Pinion bursts through the door to the engine room. It’s a tall room, spanning three decks, to make space for the flight stone that keeps the ship airborne. The crystalised form of air magic is pulsing with energy, giving the room an unusual amount of pressure.

The smoke in here is thick, but not so bad that work can’t be done to preempt more damage. It mixes with steam hissing from brass pipes that direct the energy from the flightstone. In a ship like this, there aren’t many engineering specialists. The four of them, including the chief engineer, and moving in action. Two are combating a growing fire with some water magic, while another struggles to release pressure from a valve.

At the top of some maintenance scaffolding, the chief engineer wipes sweat off his face. The heat has gotten to him already. He looks down at Pinion. "The damage is bad. We’re going down. Question is how fast, know how to work on flight engines?"

---

There are plenty of people around in the same position as her, their jobs not being immediately relevant in such a scenario. Most of them are clearing space so people don’t trip over things in their haste, or helping with the evacuation of the lower decks. Morale is tense and on a breaking point, just like the ship itself.

There’s plenty of people who need assistance. Some even need medical attention. It’s just a matter of where to look and what to help with first.

Pinion lets out a small laugh "I would sleep in the engine room if captain would allow it . . ." he says. Taking out his tools and working, he continues talking, even though no one is listening, or can hear him over the noise. " . . . I may not have worked in engines of this size before, but they aren't dissimilar to the ones used at the mill back home. Mind you, those weren't integrated with magic, but an engine is an engine am I right? Just give me a moment to calibrate . . . . .

"Well not much good I can do here so I'll go check the engine room." Jezlyn looks at her empty tea cup, sighs, and puts it away carefully but quickly in her pack. Then she heads for the engine room, holding on to whatever she can as the ship bucks and lists from side to side.

Ail grabs one of the runaway ropes and pulls with all his might in hopes of getting the sails under control.