8/10/2019 Chapter 1_ Footholds
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2/1/2015 Chapter 1: Footholds
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Chapter 1: FootholdsCampaign Plot Summary
by Brian Mackey The Factionmasters
Establishing a foothold.
The first part of the Xendrik Expeditions campaign saw each of
the four factions working to establish a firmfoothold within the
continent of Xendrik. The purpose of each factions presence in
Xendrik was clear: Gainaccess to as much of the Draconic Prophecy
as possible and work to interpret their role in it. While each of
thefactions may have shared an initial purpose, the way in which
they set about achieving it differed significantly.
The Blackwheel Company
The Blackwheel Company firmly entrenched itself in the hunt for
relics and artifacts related to the CaldynFragments. From their
base of operations, a titanic airship named the Glory Road, they
began venturing outinto the continent. They were successfully able
to recover one of the Singing Swords of Tantamar, which waswhisked
back to House Cannith for immediate examination. Unfortunately, the
recovery of this artifact came atthe expense of potentially
peaceful relations with the Covenant of Light. Unable to resolve
the dispute of ownership regarding the relic, the Company applied
force in place of diplomacy. Following up on their initialsuccess,
the Blackwheel Company attempted to unsuccessfully infiltrate the
Crimson Codex. While they didrescue the heir to a powerful Codex
member, and were able to stage a successful sabotage of one of
their
Xen'drik academic gatherings, they could not convince the young
heir to turn against his father. The recovery of the Tome of Woe
gave the Blackwheel Company the intelligence necessary to mount a
more concertedexploration of the location known as the Well of
Woe.
The exploration of the Well of Woe proved to be quite the trial
for the Company. In their first open interactionwith the other
factions, they struggled to field the leadership necessary to
execute their mission decisively.While they were able to destroy
the flame's copper ring, their primary mission objective, the
unnecessaryfriction resultant from their abrasive interactions with
the other factions lead to a level of inefficiencyunsatisfactory to
Company brass. Fortunately for the Company, the experience at the
Well of Woe managed tothin out the terminally unworthy. From among
those that had proven themselves, the Blackwheel Companyassembled a
crack strike team to recover a downed Dragonmarked Heir and the
psionic shard he carried.Though the magic-assisted, airship drop
was brutal, and the fighting in the unhallowed catacombs more
so,both Heir and shard were recovered. The price paid in blood and
Blackwheel resources was steep, but theCompany unknowingly ended up
recovering a living piece of the Draconic Prophecy.
The Cabal of Shadows
The Cabal of Shadows were late-comers to Xendrik and where they
had thrived on Khorvaire they found itdifficult at times to gain a
meaningful foothold on the strange continent. So far four major
events have occurredsince their arrival in a place where they had
few friends and fewer resources. In the first action seen by
theCabal on the soil of the forgotten continent, the Cabal made
allies with a clan of sahuagin that prowl the watersnear Stormreach
by recovering an artifact stolen from them that was tied to the
prophecy. In the process, Cabalagents encountered a Crimson Codex
safehouse where the artifact was stored and slaughtered all
presentthere while retrieving enough secret documentation to gain a
rough understanding of the capabilities andgoals of the Crimson
Codex organization. Shortly thereafter agents of the Cabal
discovered that the inside of the great fist statue in the center
of Stormreach (see Secrets of Xendrik ) was in fact a secret hold
of a cloudgiant clan abandoned since the last conjunction with Dal
Quor. While exploring the long forgotten ruins, the
Cabal encountered Deondag the Master of Rites, a cloud giant
psion inhabiting a giant glowing glass brain.The Cabal formed an
alliance with Deondag and made the Hand of Stalwart Reverie their
secret base of operations.
Once they had a base of operations established, Cabal members
worked alongside their sahuagin allies torecover a psionic shard
from a group of aboleths that resided in the teeth of Shargon.
Shortly thereafter, theCabal organized a loyalty test for all
members before they would be allowed entrance into the secret
base.Before the test could be fully organized, the Cabal was
waylaid by the Blackwheel Company who wanted theshard. The Company
inflicted massive losses upon the Cabal in their surprise attack
using two airships - theStratagem and the Brilliant Flare. Though
they suffered heavy losses, the combined cunning and skill of
theassembled of the Council of the Obscured (the powerful ancient
leaders that run the Cabal) and the luck of their Xendrik-based
operatives brought the Brilliant Flare crashing from the sky and
drove off the Company.The Cabal had a shadowy presence in the
expedition to the Well of Woepreferring to observe and let theother
factions handle the majority of the fighting. Of course, once the
other factions had exhausted their resources and energy, the Cabal
operatives stepped from the shadows to complete their mission. The
Flamewas slain, and the members of the Cabal returned
victorious.
The Covenant of Light
The Covenant of Lights inaugural crusade upon the shores of
Xendrik began with an inauspicious event. The
