Editing Trinity:The Toplanders (section)

==Session 06 - Aerials==
 '''XP:''' 500 (story)

[[Image:Trinity_Shyekara.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The woman called "Shye"]]
The four creatures - who, the party discovered in short order, were being ridden by human-sized beings - dived at ''da riggable'', and the battle was joined.

After a short skirmish in the air over a three-mile drop to a possibly endless ocean below, the beings riding the creatures - three of whom had incredibly long horns extruding from their foreheads, while the fourth was a human woman - called for parley. The party hesitantly agreed, and the woman - who one of the horned beings called "Shye" - explained that there was something of an error; they had not intended to attack the group, but were instead hunting a manifestation of the Void. Shye explained that they had detected a Void presence on the ''da riggable'', and figured that it could only be the thing they hunted.

Addison was curious, and asked why they were looking for it; Shye responded by saying that she worked "for a higher power," that apparently did not want to see the creature in the wild. More discussion revealed that Shye was from Turas (the continent on which the ''Arcturas'' had crashed), but that she was one of the children that had fallen off the edge - she was apparently fortunate, however, and was saved during her fall (by what, was not mentioned). She and her companions were also notable due to the fact that they carried large quantities of metal (one of them was garbed in full-plate). Any questions regarding where they had gotten the metal or where they had come from was responded to with, "I don't want to ruin your sense of adventure."

Shye confirmed for the group that the Armand - what the people the Adu'ja had asked the party to find were called - did wander the desert on the continent, and that they were often to the west of the circular rift in the continent. With no further questions, Shye and her companions left the group, heading east.

The group decided to return to Turas, to refuel. The brothers Kaze also spoke of possibly fashioning new mechs or similar vehicles, and some of the group expressed an interest in reporting to Angmar. The group returned to Turas, specifically heading to the city of Arcturas, hiding ''da riggable'' outside of town.

They found and spoke with Angmar, explaining to him everything they had done so far. Angmar was a bit disturbed by all of the information he was dumping on them, but he appeared pleased with their progress. The group wanted materials - specifically, metal from the ship - which Angmar was willing to grant them, considering that the group informed him of their encounter with Shye, with emphasis on the fact that they were carrying metal.

The brothers Kaze spoke with their father, Murasaki, about the construction of a massive vehicle, an idea with which he was incredibly pleased. They informed him that metal would be delivered shortly, and the elder Kaze began work almost immediately on a massive flying ship.

The group then went to Germonik, to check on the status of Josef. They found that his "radio tower" had been disassembled, and the barn ripped asunder. Further investigation led to them learning that Josef had fled town, but Volos had not been so lucky - he had apparently been strung up on the north end of town. They also discovered that Bill had been overthrown, by a Nevhonim named Ted. After an almost-confrontation with the Nevhonim (during which Shiro collapsed one of the walls of the main tavern in Germonik), they backed off and told the group what they wanted to hear.

The group then headed to Edge, where - according to what they heard from Angmar - someone had set up shop and was working on a flying machine. Lo and behold it was Josef, who spun a tale of frustration with the absurdity of living in Germonik, and his subsequent flight (not literally) from there due to Ted's frustration towards him. He wound up in Edge, and began experimenting with electrum engines, possibly even on the brink of constructing a flying machine that didn't require a balloon at all. The group returned ''da riggable'', and wished Josef luck.

Four months passed, during which the group performed various tasks and odd jobs. At the end of the four months, they regrouped in Arcturas, for the unveiling of the elder Kaze's flying machine. Towering over the moogles' mechs and constructed wholly out of steel, the new ship was a sight to behold. The elder Kaze dubbed it the ''Kamikaze'', and the moogles graciously received the gift. Capable of housing the entire party and the mechs in its interior, and having a self-contained atmosphere that would allow for underwater exploration, the ''Kamikaze'' was a definite upgrade over ''da riggable''.

Taking their new aircraft, the party gathered up enough food to last them quite some time, and headed back to the desert continent.

Having an aircraft capable of traveling around the clock (and a pilot that could do the same), the party began combing the desert, searching for signs of the Armand. They first searched the eastern end of the continent, and eventually came upon another ruined city. Upon further investigation, they found a relatively intact building; inside, they discovered two rooms of note: in one, there was a cache of weapons of unusual design - various swords and guns; in the other, they found an akashic stone, set on a pedestal, which Miggs almost immediately took. 

After an altercation in which the party relieved Miggs of the stone, Uriah contacted the stone, and saw an image of an ancelari, projecting thoughts in an unknown language in his mind; after a minute or so of speaking, the image shot itself in the head, and the image played out all the gory details of that event. Slightly shaken, Uriah - knowing that the moogles were mildly telepathic - handed it to Shiro, who contacted the stone. Able to understand the language "spoken" by the ancelari, he relayed the information to the rest of the party...

<div id="The_Message">
 "If you have found this stone, and are capable of understanding my words, then perhaps they succeeded. Perhaps they who fled
 reached those alien worlds, and taught those people the ways of the gun? Perhaps they have even managed to conquer the depths of
 space?
 
 "But we all know what is coming, don't we, stranger? The zerg are no threat, compared to the things that will come from beyond...
 we're all damned, then... and no amount of running will save us!..."
</div>

[[Image:Trinity_Armand.JPG|thumb|200px|right|An armand]]
Mildly disturbed, the party took some of the weapons from the cache, and began heading west. They investigated the eastern side of the gouge in the continent, heading north, then investigated the western side, beginning from the north.

Eventually, in the middle of the western side of the continent, the party spotted an encampment. Having come across it in the heat of day, they waited until nightfall, when they saw movement. They headed for the camp, and were met halfway by three armand.

Miggs was the first to greet the creatures, but they did not respond immediately, instead, they transmitted thoughts into the minds of the party, none of whom - save the moogles - understood. The lead armand seemed to sense their lack of understanding, and began communicating in Phytic.

The party had many questions, and the armand answered them as best he could. Apparently, they were able to go to Tai'lyan by riding on small islands that rode on strong wind currents; these islands apparently migrate in a relatively stable pattern, such that the armand could reliably take them between Tai'lyn and Reldyr'nym (the name of the continent they were currently on). The armand had no knowledge of the creatures the party had fought earlier (those accompanying Shye), nor did they know of the ''memento umbra'', other than that they had seen traces of a great beast wandering the desert. In the course of conversation, the armand informed the party that there was one who may have some of the answers they sought.

[[Image:Trinity_Toplanders_Explore_Reldyr-nym.jpg|thumb|300px|left|The continent of Reldyr'nym, in its entirety (previously-explored sections are darkened).]]
They led the party to one of the tents of the encampment, and inside there was a strange creature, being tended by two other armand. The creature had the face of a wolf, but was definitely humanoid and bipedal; it also had bat-like wings, which were found on its body in a place similar to that of a bat (that is, from the forearm to the side). Its breathing was rather shallow. Miggs attempted to heal it with his tonics, to no avail - the armand were unable to cure whatever ailed the creature.

Addison realized that they could use the potion they had found from the fight in Germonik, which contained ''bear's endurance''; Uriah complied, and used it on the creature. Its breathing became easier, and it looked around in a rather frightened fashion. Addison used ''comprehend languages'' to understand the creature, but it didn't say much - it said something to the extent that the world was attacked, by horned beings. It also said the word "veyar," which the armand leader immediately picked up on when Addison repeated it - it was an ancient word for the moon of Arcturas.

The various Force effects ended, and the creature resumed its near-death status. Addison used ''deathwatch'', and saw that the creature was suffering from what amounted to suffocation - barely hanging onto life.


===Loot===
 +1 Unholy Lance (Divine)
 The ''Kamikaze'' [Gargantuan Ornithopter - Arm1/Eng5/Sys1] (Technology)
 Akashic stone containing [[#The_Message|a message]] in Ancelari
 Four (4) pistols, one (1) rifle, one (1) carbine, all corroded, from the southeast ruins of Reldyr'nym