Mr. Green
A large, armored human in polished gold and black plate, casually tossing a small metal cube from hand to hand. Beside him perches a magnificent — and unnervingly large — eagle.
The smell is bird guano. It is everywhere.
A One-Shot Adventure in Eberron
Aboard the airship Distracted Albatross, high above the Mournlands
The air grows thick as you descend into the belly of the Distracted Albatross. Each step down the narrow wooden stairs brings a smell that gets progressively worse — something between a barn and a crime scene.
At the bottom, a heavy door swings open on its own, revealing a long chamber lit by flickering lanterns. At the far end stand two figures.
A large, armored human in polished gold and black plate, casually tossing a small metal cube from hand to hand. Beside him perches a magnificent — and unnervingly large — eagle.
The smell is bird guano. It is everywhere.
The massive eagle steps forward, locks eyes with you, and
SCREAMS.
The cube hits the floor with a sound like a snapping bone. A filthy, hulking barbarian materializes out of thin air —
"I RAGE, RAGE AGAINST
THE DYING OF THE LIGHT!"
"For mine is the axe less traveled, and it has made all the difference."
"The correct answer is 'no.'"
"...Damn."
You are falling. All of you — tumbling through open sky. Far beneath you, a lightning train streaks across an elevated track, arcane energy crackling along its rails.
On your current trajectory, you are going to miss the train and hit the jagged rocks below.
A wyvern swoops past with terrifying speed. It seizes Mr. Green in its claws and carries him screaming into the distance. His belongings scatter through the air around you like hail.
Your feather tokens activate. You drift down like leaves onto the roof of a speeding lightning train.
You unlock the hatch and peer down into the prison car. Six armored guards look up at you in surprise, hands flying to their weapons.
You activate the Barbarian in a Box and drop it through the open hatch. The cube clatters to the steel floor below. Three seconds of silence…
Bob the Barbarian carves through the guards in seconds, axes swinging, poetry screaming. When the dust settles, six bodies lie sprawled on the floor.
Bob, badly wounded with one HP remaining, sits down heavily against the wall, pulls out a small leather journal, and begins to write.
In one of the leather chairs sits a short, rotund gnome in a tweed jacket, smoking a pipe and reading a book. He looks up, sees you and the dead guards, and puts the pipe down with shaking hands.
"Who the hell are you?"
You hear a commotion above. Bagel the eagle swoops down through the hatch with a suspiciously satisfied look on his avian face.
The hatch above slams shut.
CLANG.
"We meet again, Professor Drumwit.
I was made to rule Eberron,
and you will bring me closer to that day."
And then you feel it. A blade. In your back.
"I'm sorry. I actually liked you."
You are locked in Car 4 with the Lord of Blades, a terrified professor, and a poet who refuses to fight.
Roll initiative.
Silence falls over Car Four. The only sound is a pen, scratching in a journal.
An ancient field,
the axe leaps:
the crimson plop and gurgle of blood.
Deluded dawning —
why an outstretched, dead wing falls,
enjoying the blade.
on a Lightning Train
Thank you for playing.