3. Back In Time

As you enter the nothingness, you feel weightless. As if a heavy burden on your shoulders have been lifted. Then after having walked for what could at most be 2 minutes, the nothingness around you starts to fade. Trees fall from above you and ground comes crashing up towards your feet. A strong gale startles you as the nothingness around you becomes physical once again and the world starts breathing.

You are in a path within a forest. You have absolutely no idea where you are. (Although if they have a high enough history skill, they could deduce that this is a forest close to the capital city.)

Look around

The players will have two attempts to find the correct way to go, which is northeastwards. Walking in any other direction will get the players lost and will trigger an encounter with Serpentine Soldiers.

Following the path might lead to two things

First, a barricade at the end of the road, where the players will encounter Serpentine Soldiers, who will at first talk to them and ask for their papers. The players will fail to provide them and will fight them. A player with high awareness can notice that a green gem sits right next to one of the soldiers.

Otherwise, they might also be able to spot the barricade early on and do a sneak attack. Again, a player with high awareness can notice that a green gem sits right next to one of the soldiers.

If battle is over in the second fashion, then Lianthe will come in late. In the first way, the Soldiers will almost keel you all, and your asses will be saved by Lianthe.

Captain Lianthe comes in and looks at you all, and is impressed. A bit. She doesn't show it. She is an elf after all. She and her 3 squad mates are all dressed in leather black body suits. Hand crafted. They don't make a single sound as they move around, they might as well have killed you if they were enemies.

"Who are you?" she asks.

Who are you?

"I am Captain Lianthe, Special Forces, Elven Army. And you are in a battle zone, my friends."

"Armen, Dhala, Cathia and I have been deployed behind the enemy lines to infiltrate the citadel."

What’s going on?

"Who are we fighting? Clearly you are aware of the Serpentine Covenant, and the War of the Serpent, that has been going on for nearly two generations now?" [Oops, exposition.]

The Covenant?

"The Serpentine Covenant is planning something drastic. That is for sure, as they are on the brink of collapse. Many high-ranking officers have abandoned the Covenant, and have turned themselves in. The stories they tell about the hierarchy inside the Covenant are chilling. Those who fail to follow orders... Those who fail to prove themselves to their officers... "

"We don't know exactly what they are planning, but the reports are frightening. The Covenant is strong in the vile dark arts. They call it the Venom, but it is certainly simply filth. They are planning on using the Venom to unleash a final onslaught of terrible power. We have to stop them, or else we will all perish, or worse."

"You are strange, Strangers. I would not have expected such ignorance from you, seeing that you are accompanied by an elf yourselves."

A player with high awareness might notice that Lianthe sounds familiar somehow. 

The players didn’t notice the green gem during combat:

"We need all the help we can get. Even though this is supposed to be a clandestine operation, I don't think it will be possible anymore. (motions at a blast mark on the ground). The Sentry Gem has been used. You should have destroyed that during battle."

The players did notice the green gem during combat:

"We need all the help we can get. I am glad that you managed to destroy/capture the Sentry Gem before they were able to use it. We will be able to mask our entrance quite well. Although, I am not sure about you people. You seem like a rather noisy bunch."

Let’s just go to the capital? 

"We can't simply crash through the front gates of Dargathum! That place is crawling with Serpentine Covenant. We need a plan."

What’s the plan, then?

"The main gate of Dargathum is under surveillance day and night, and intrusion attempt from there will be suicide. The city that surrounds the citadel will cover our entry, although we should be vary of any soldiers and sentries we might encounter. The local folk most definitely would aid us, but I don't think we should do anything radical. Minimizing civilian losses to a minimum is a must."

"I will personally see to it that anyone who harms civilians will be punished severely."

That doesn’t sound very doable. 

"We will figure out something. Let us now go to the Capital. Sergeant (Unintelligible) is waiting for us there."

Sergeant what now? 

"Sergeant (Unintelligible)? He is my commanding officer. My squad has to report to him once we infiltrate the city."

"Let's go, time is of the essence."

After you have walked for 30 minutes, you see shadows at the edges of your vision. Soon your vision is darkened and you return once again to the nothingness, where six Shadowkin Spawn attack you.

Once the battle is done, the players fall to the ground, unconscious.