Game summary for July 30, 2024, Chronoshift: Spelljammer campaign, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, for Phoenix Gaming Club. Session included: Claude Dill Budshire (Sokari Sorcerer played by Peyton Harmon), Hekera Nephera Mawhesk Vyk’sebekenka (Sebek-ka Fighter played by Preston Harmon), Helg Ingvar (Aasimar Cleric played by Chris Harmon), Khesen Pavel (Human Brawler played by Parker Harmon), Komorebi (Kitsune Bard played by Josh Jenkins), Notch Bowman (Human Fighter played by Andrew Renfrow), and Snagyndar Blackthorn (Huldran War Master played by Casey Scruggs). Game Master for this session was Charles Plemons.
Their perilous journey racing against their air supply had come to a joyful end. The Perry had dropped out of spelljamming speed, and before them lay the beautiful cluster-world planet, Greela. Greela was comprised of thousands of planetoids within a larger atmosphere. Some of the planetoids were fairly close together, while others were separated by many miles. Each planetoid had its own gravity and atmosphere, so some spun, others drifted, and some tumbled end-over-end.
The party flew into the planetary atmosphere, and the immediate refresh of their own air supply was nearly overwhelming! Like a great weight lifted, they no longer had the fear of suffocation and being lost adrift in Wildspace. Wizzlecrank directed them to a region of planetoids known as Frontier. Frontier was a loose confederation of towns, primarily occupied by humans, who had settled to mine the vast mineral wealth found within the planet’s swirling earth bodies. The largest town, and capital so to speak of Frontier, was Bonanza. It was known as a freewheeling community, more than a little wild, like many growing mining towns. People came here seeking to strike it rich or to hide from the wider multiverse. Laws were enforced brutally, but who made the laws and what constituted the law was often debatable.
Wizzlecrank’s alien mind-voice slithered into their brains and informed them that the Hive Mind had revealed to him a tavern in Bonanza where they might get some rest and prepare for the next leg of their journey toward Ginsel. The Dusty Pistol was a quality tavern that boasted the fewest number of fights per week in all of Frontier. It was also allegedly near the dock, so it should have been a short jaunt after they made land.
Bonanza was a bustling town but certainly smaller than most of the ports the party had recently visited. It might have been considered backwater in comparison. A small lake was located outside of town, and the planetoid appeared somewhat arid and rocky. The group could see cacti growing around the outskirts of town, and a tumbleweed blew down the dock as they landed. Only a handful of ships could dock there at any given time. Two appeared to be unloading cargo currently. The dockmaster, a green-scaled dracon (a dragon-like centaur) wearing a poncho, was collecting taxes from the ship captains.
The streets were dry and dusty, and the buildings were sturdy and practical wood constructions. Wares from the ships were loaded onto wooden carts drawn by oxen. Most of the people they saw were human, or at least partially human. They also noticed a number of dwarves among the residents.
The party was moving through the crowd when they accidentally bumped hard against a muscular dwarf. He roared in anger, and several other rough-looking dwarves and humans joined him. His fingers danced around a holstered pistol, and the locals scattered. A fight in the busy street could have caused tremendous collateral damage.
“You ain’t from ’round here, so you don’t know. But you know today. You stand clear of the Ironjaw Reapers.” He spat a wad of chew toward their feet and slowly walked away. His companions laughed as they followed. One even pointed finger guns in their direction and chuckled.
Helg stopped the dwarf and apologized profusely, and the dwarf told him to not let it happen again before walking off.
The team found their way to The Dusty Pistol. The establishment was a lively, single-story tavern in Bonanza, Frontier. A wide wooden porch, complete with creaky rocking chairs, led to the swinging saloon doors. Inside, the main room was filled with long wooden tables and sturdy benches. The bar, made of polished oak, was adorned with hanging lanterns that cast a warm glow. A large stone fireplace dominated one wall, crackling with a cozy fire. The atmosphere was filled with the sounds of a piano, rowdy laughter, and the clink of glasses.
A unique feature of the tavern was its enchanted chandelier made of crystal pistol shapes, each glowing with a different magical hue. Behind the bar, a grizzled half-orc bartender polished glasses and kept a wary eye on the patrons. A talented gnome pianist, dressed in a fine suit and bowler hat, played while a stunning red-headed half-elven lass sang a line of “Whiskey Goes Good.” Komorebi struck up a conversation with the gnome, Rufus “Quickdraw” Carter, and joined in with them for a number.
The party took a seat, and the bartender took their orders. The singer, Ella, brought the beverages and took their food orders as well. Quickdraw started playing cards with the group and lost the hand to Komorebi, and the party declined to play further. Snagy made a few crude passes at Ella who shut him down completely. Half the team decided it was the night to party and blow off steam, and they spent the entire night drinking and gambling. All of them ended up earning money in their endeavors.
The next day they overheard some locals talking about a notorious band of outlaws using an abandoned mine near Bonanza as a secret base. There was some discussion of going over to check it out before someone reminded them this is a single mining community in a planetary region of mining towns, and they didn’t have any idea which mine this could be. Snagy remembered he had an old contact in Bonanza, a former adventuring companion. The man, Verran, was serving as undertaker to the community, which was interesting because Snagy knew him to be a somewhat accomplished necromancer!
They went to visit Verran, and the two exchanged pleasantries and caught up a bit. The party showed him the repaired skull of Iskra the watchghost in hopes he could restore her, but it was beyond his capabilities. He didn’t know anything about any outlaws hiding out of town, but he was able to tell them a bit more about the Ironjaw Reapers. They send him lots of business! He did tell them though he’d heard rumors of black market deals and trading with a particular recent interest in weapons, especially magical ones. They purchased a scroll of speak with dead from him and left.
They drifted through the market looking for magical weapon dealers but found none. They decided they did not have time for distraction and started heading back to The Perry to resume their trip. Along the way, they were distracted by observing the Ironjaw Reapers beating up a merchant and leaving him bleeding in the street. The party made their way over and talked to the man. They learned the Reapers seem to have run of the town after killing Sheriff Bosco a few weeks ago. The new sheriff, Hayden, never left the jail and was terrified. Claude handed the man coins to replace what was stolen by the Reapers. He told them about the leader of the Reapers, Jeb, who has an actual iron jaw because his was ripped off by an owlbear!
