# February 16, 2026 | One More Game of Chicken > [!Summary]+ meta > **Role Call**: [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] • [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]] • [[Kouneli]] • [[Styx]] • [[Cheeto]] • [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] > **Where We Are**: [[Sharn]] → [[Morgrave University]] > **Tagline**: "Hey, you got me, right?" [[E8 - Outclaws|↶ Last Session]] | [[The Bleeding Veil| Campaign Home ↝]] ## This Session [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] Misty Steps onto [[Arthemis d'Cannith]]'s airship in a brazen bid to snatch the schema, kicking off a tug-of-war that quickly devolves into a full party free-fall through [[Sharn]]'s skyways. [[Cheeto]] gets dropped by [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]]'s crew and dragged back into the airship — where [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]] interrogates him with a clockwork shadow at his throat, plants a coin in his pocket, and has the shadow drop him off the edge. The party doesn't even realize he's gone until they're halfway to [[Morgrave University|Morgrave]]. [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] spots the drop, whips the soarsled around, and intercepts the unconscious cat mid-plummet. The crew delivers the schema to [[Garthen Daela|Professor Daela]] — where the artifacts across the Great Library pulse with planar resonance and an ancient Aerenal Wyrmling tree delivers a cryptic message to [[Cheeto]]: *"The web tightens. The dreamer stirs."* ^session-summary ## Session Log ### "One more game of chicken" [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]] pauses halfway up the gangplank to the airship and looks back at the party: "You're really just going to stand there?" [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] looks at [[Kouneli]], says the line, and Misty Steps directly onto the deck next to the Emerald Claw captain holding the schema. - He pops in, grabs the schema, and immediately rolls a contested strength check. Neither side wins. The schema just hangs there between them like the world's most dangerous wishbone. "I don't know you. Let go of my purse." - [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]] sprints to the ballista on the warehouse tower. Gets it locked in place, goes to aim, and immediately crit-fails — trips the release mechanism and plows a bolt straight into the deck railing of the warehouse. Shrapnel kicks up and blinds him for a turn. The table: "Stage one, perfectly executed. Nicely done, boys. Well done, boys. We got them right where we want them." - [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]], now blinded and crouched behind the ballista trying to wipe debris from his eyes, takes the dodge action. Behind a siege weapon. That he broke. "If I'm the only one who gets to fire a ballista and all I made of it was *that*, I will be pissed." - [[Cheeto]] dashes across the deck toward the action — his plan is to make war sounds. Specifically: a melange of alarms, mechanical screams, and human screams from the Last War, at maximum volume. It does not materially help the situation. - [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]] recovers from a chromatic orb to the face and gets a big gigantic grin: "Yes. That's what I'm looking for." He does the thing with his hands — bits of metal from around the deck snap together into a clockwork shadow that bears down on [[Cheeto]]. ### Everyone off the boat Things escalate from "bold" to "catastrophic" as the party starts bailing off the airship in rapid succession. - [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] finally rips the schema free and makes his break for the edge. The Emerald Claw captain — always prepared — downs a potion of feather fall and pursues him over the side. The whole fight is now vertical. - [[Cheeto]], blinded, yells "Jump!" and grabs [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]] to drag him over the edge. They both go. They zoom past the Emerald Captain, who is gliding casually. - [[Styx]] hops on a soarsled. [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] mounts the other one. [[Kouneli]] dives after them. - The Emerald Claw agent at the ballista looses a bolt of frustration into the abyss. Can't hit anyone at this range. And then Emerald Claw number two — seeing that everybody is out of distance — **grabs [[Cheeto]] by the harness and starts dragging him back into the airship.** ### [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]]'s beautiful, useless descent The party is now falling through [[Sharn]]'s skyways in various states of controlled and uncontrolled descent — minus one member they haven't noticed is missing. - [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]] pops a feather fall token and starts floating down in a slow cartwheel inside a little globe of movement. Absolutely majestic. Completely useless for the next several minutes of everyone else's emergency. - [[Kouneli]] clips a bridge with his feet while falling, tumbles end over end, and — with no options left — announces: "I'll take the dodge action. And just keep falling." Direct quote. [[Kouneli]] is dodging *gravity*. - [[Kouneli]] turns his head mid-fall toward [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]], attempts to make eye contact because it's *fucking important*, and says: "Hey, you got me, right?" And then just... continues to fall. - [[Styx]] and [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] race their soarsleds down to collect the feather-fallen party members. Four people squeeze onto a raft meant for considerably fewer people. [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] stays on his sled because warforged don't complain about legroom. - [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] immediately tells everyone to toss [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]]'s coin: "Remember that coin he threw you? I don't fucking trust wizards." The coin gets launched off the edge of the skyway. - The *Kyber from Below* — [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]]'s sky coach, which is about twice normal size and *fast* — starts gaining on them. ### [[Cheeto]] sacrificed himself (citation needed) The party loads up and books it toward [[Morgrave University|Morgrave]]. Spirits are oddly high for a group that just jumped off an airship. There is, however, a problem that nobody has noticed yet. - "Where's Cheeto?" "I don't fucking know, I just came after you guys." - "Cheeto sacrificed himself to save all of us." "We'll drink one in his name." - "He's a wise warrior. I'm sure he's sabotaging the enemy as we speak." - [[Cheeto]] is, in fact, doing none of these things. [[Cheeto]] is unconscious and strapped to a chair on [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]]'s skycoach with a rag in his mouth. ### "I was just asking questions" On the skycoach, [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]] does the thing with his hands again. Bits of metal from around the deck snap together into a fresh clockwork shadow. It pulls the rag from [[Cheeto]]'s mouth. - "You could save me a lot of trouble by telling me where they're taking it." The clockwork shadow looms. [[Cheeto]] stares back. - [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]] stares meaningfully for thirty seconds. [[Cheeto]] babbles annoying questions. - [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]] sighs. "I thought maybe I can get a coin." Mentions giving Brian a coin. "What would you do with a coin?" - [[Cheeto]] gives him nothing useful. [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]], at this point, doesn't really care anymore. He nods to the clockwork shadow. It grabs [[Cheeto]] by the harness, marches him to the edge of the skycoach, and dangles him over the side. "You're going over the edge. Unless you come up with something useful to say." - [[Arthemis d'Cannith|Arthemis]] grabs a coin from below deck. Sticks it into the top pocket of [[Cheeto]]'s robe. And the clockwork shadow lets go. [[Cheeto]] is now falling through [[Sharn]]. ### The mid-air cat rescue [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] sees [[Cheeto]] drop from the skycoach and whips the soarsled around to intercept. The party debates the physics of this rescue for longer than is strictly appropriate given the stakes. - "Big metal man isn't going to soften that fall." [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]]: "I'm softening plenty by putting the car in the way." - [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] angles the sled underneath. [[Cheeto]] is intercepted. The *Kyber from Below* gives up pursuit. Everyone is alive. Barely. - [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] cradles the unconscious [[Cheeto]] for the remainder of the trip to [[Morgrave University|Morgrave]]. This becomes a *thing*. ### The professor is losing it, but grateful The party arrives at [[Morgrave University]] and makes their way to the Great Library to deliver the schema to [[Garthen Daela]]. - [[Garthen Daela|The professor]] looks up with red-rimmed eyes: *"Oh, thank the Sovereigns."* Hasn't slept. Immediately starts examining the schema with jeweler's tools and a magnifying lens, completely absorbed. - [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] locates the bag of gold. 75 pieces, as discussed. Distributes it while the professor mutters to himself. - As [[Garthen Daela|Garthen]] examines the schema, it starts to pulse with faint light — like a heartbeat. Lines of light trace across its surface. *"By the six... I've never seen one do that before."* - Matching pulses of light appear on shelves around the room. Other artifacts, from different locations across Khorvaire, are responding. [[Kouneli]] passes an arcana check and determines they're all showing signs of **planar resonance** — related to spots where the boundaries between planes are weak. The artifacts appear to be part of some kind of network. - The professor starts frantically searching for his notes on "convergence points," convinced someone's been in his files. [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] helps him sort through the mess and finds them — scattered, not stolen. Probably. ### In which [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] becomes uncomfortably philosophical While the schema business is happening, [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] pauses at the world dragon skeleton on display — an Axodotus who *worked here* and drew maps for the university. Posed as if landing, wings half folded, spiked tail carried up for balance. - [[Cyran Forge-Acolyte Unit 10-D|Tendy]] stares at it for a long time, then: *"Are yours and your companions' carcasses displayed when your duty is done?"* - Nobody has a good answer for this. He keeps going: *"We are often on display. For states of repair. Examinations after war. There's no reverence to our form at any point in our existence." ### The tree knows something The professor sends the party up to the Bestiary via a spiral staircase — preserved creatures in lifelike poses arranged by ecological zone. The upper gallery is dominated by an ancient Aerenal Wyrmling tree with bark carved in draconic script that shifts when viewed peripherally. - [[Kouneli]] can read Draconic but the script resists comprehension — just like the schema. - As [[Cheeto]] approaches, the draconic script flares with emerald light. He feels a pressure behind his eyes — not painful, like a finger pressed to his forehead. Flashes of verdant green. The sensation of roots spreading beneath the city, vast, interconnected, *aware*. - A voice that feels less heard than *remembered*: **"The web tightens. The dreamer stirs. Come. The conservatory awaits."** - Wisdom saves all around. Everyone near [[Cheeto]] notices him flinch. He plays it cool: "I like this tree. It's nice." Then climbs in and meditates with [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]], monkstyle. ### "Flawless strategy was executed" The party wraps up at [[Morgrave University]] as the professor shoos them out of his workspace (but not the campus). - [[Boldran Evans|Boldran]] suggests they stand guard over the schema. This is acknowledged as the most reasonable thing anyone has said in the last several hours. - [[Cheeto]] mentions wanting to check out the conservatory. Nobody fully understands why. - [[Brian d'Orien|Brian]] provides the session's thesis statement: "We should have been ripped apart for our fucking terrible plan. But yet somehow... flawless strategy was executed." - The party ends the session in the quad outside [[Morgrave University|Morgrave]], debating their next move: report to [[Lhara]] at the [[The Drunken Dragon|Drunken Dragon]], explore the campus, or just enjoy the fact that they're alive and 75 gold richer.