Eberron: End of Chapter 1 (intro)

We recently ended chapter 1 of our Eberron story (the original Eberron story) and I wrote up a decent amount on it. First some background....

Tess had been taken prisoner by Kaius, lord of Karrnath, and he coldly informed Tess she was pregnant with her demon-lord "husband's" child, and had mere months to live. He was going to lock her away until she had her baby, which would doubtless kill her (the baby had the soul of a dracolich ally of the demon lord) and use her baby as a tool for conquest. While in prison, Tess befriended a pirate captain who had some knowledge of a girl that looked extraordinarily like Tess....albeit an elf. This girl was looking for her sister in Sharn, and bore the mark of death herself....and was probably going to run into every baddie that was after Tess in the process.

The two escaped Karrnath and hooked up with his airship crew. We headed for Sharn but were stopped by paladins of the silver flame who flew up looking for Ghost, one of Tess's old companions. Tess explained she was gone (Ghost had betrayed Tess to the demon and was currently responsible for her pregnancy) and they admitted that their high priestess was poisoned and lay dying. Tess knew who had done it, as she had been held and tortured by a high cardinal of the church who secretly worshiped the demon lord, but to tell them would be treasonous, so she and the captain decided to head for Flamekeep and break in to talk to the high priestess. We did, with no small amount of difficulty, and convinced her that the cardinal was a traitor. We managed to save her and as a reward, Tess told the high priestess about her child and the guarantee that it would be evil. She offered to help, but could guarantee nothing, but Tess had to agree.

A long painful exorcism followed, that almost killed everyone involved, but at the end a dark dragon shaped cloud came from her belly and roared as it dissipated. Tess passed out and woke up a day later. The priestess still couldn't guarantee what had happened, but one unfortunate thing was clear. Her pregnancy had been accelerated. She now looked as if she was 8 months along, and there was no clear way to tell how soon she would have the baby.

The captain stuck with her and said he'd help her get to Sharn and find her sister, and the group took off.

Her former companions hit Karnnath as she escaped, and they divided up the party. Tosh was going to lead almost everyone towards Sharn, while Ghost had to follow her own pilgrimage to regain her memories. Moloch agreed to accompany her. His faith in Vol had been shaken, and he sought truth himself, and he had developed an attraction to Ghost, so when she offered for him to join her, he agreed.

Tosh and his party hit Sharn slightly after Tess, and sought out the help of the one entity who had spoken with Tess before she left, the sphinx professor at Morgrave University. Waiting to see her, we met, to our amazement, an elven girl who looked almost exactly like Tess. Confronting her, we learned she was an elven princess of Aerenal here looking for her lost sister. We went up to see the professor, and she already knew of Tess's prophecy, and had a second part of it for us. The third part had been stolen by dragons as it was dragged out of the sea (it was etched in coral) and only the dragons knew what it would say. The second part spoke of Tess's son and how he would bring great strife to Khorvaire, leading armies and destroying much. As we finished our conversation, a great disturbance echoed throughout Sharn.

The great dragons of Argonessen had come.

Tosh got up to the top tower with the help of one of our party members, a captain of House Orien, and psionically contacted one of the dragons. She confirmed what he'd feared...the dragons wanted the girl bearing the mark of death. They gave him three hours to find her.

Everyone went back down to Tosh's old bar to regroup, and learned that someone had been waiting for him for three weeks. a kalashtar woman had taken up residence in Tosh's old room until he returned. Tosh went back and found himself face to face with his dead wife's sister. A woman who blamed him for her death, and was a large part of his exile from Adar. A woman who hated him more than anything in this world.

She was not happy to be there and not happy to see him, but had a message. The council of Adar needed him. He threatened to ignore the summons, but she knew he was still loyal to his people. He was somehow able to tap into his Quori nature and use the power of nightmare, and they needed his expertise. They needed him to infiltrate Riedra.

After the meeting, Tosh and Zhen finally had a talk of their own. It was their first since a major falling out at Karrnath, when he had finally broken through the psionic bonds that held back his power and his emotions, and finally told her he had feelings for her. Zhen had pulled away then, making Tosh doubt their relationship. Tosh told her he was leaving for Reidra after this, and she told him she'd come. He asked her why. That's when she, in her own unique way, made her peace (she told him he talked too much and kissed him). Then she flipped over the rail and landed on a bridge below, gave him a smile and a wink and headed off into the city.