Protagonists:
1. Amros is a Tough Glaive who Works Miracles
2. Jarbel is a Mystical Nano who Talks to Machines
3. Jernix is a Mechanical Jack who Talks to Machines
4. Kosuke is a Graceful Nano who Rides the Lightning
The adventure began with the players arriving at the town of Keford.
"Keford is a lumber town. Ships sail Ryness Bay to reach it and leave laden with some of the Steadfast’s finest wood. The lumberjacks of Keford frequently cross the border into Navarene, and while that kingdom has no efficient way to watch that stretch its boundary—the woods are too dense—Navarene soldiers in the area find that those coming from Ghan are likely to attack them on sight just on principle.
Keford has a wooden palisade. About 4,000 people call the place home, although at any given time there are another 500 or so sailors in town."
- Sage, an Exiled Nano who Travels Through Time
Of course, this description is from the book but it sounds so much better coming from and old sage doesn't it? Anyway, the PCs answered the call for adventurers that Keford put forth. After they made their way through town they found themselves at the Mayor's house. The Mayor explained that recently people who had been sent to get lumber from Westwood hadn't come back. It started a few weeks back and because of it the economy of the town had dwindled; and this made the nearby towns and cities investigate what had happened at Keford. The other towns depended on their lumber for their daily necessities.
After they had a talk with the Mayor, the PCs headed toward what appeared to be a morgue. Here, they found the body of the last person to have come back alive. The victim's name was Berg and he was a lumberjack. He was the only survivor of the last group to go get lumber from Westwood. The investigation of the body led to the conclusion that a type of creature had mangled and scratched the victim to death. They decided to head towards Westwood and find out what was going on inside those scary woods.
"Vast, lush, and green, the Westwood is a verdant forest dominating Navarene’s coastline. It’s known for the ancient redwoods that stretch taller than any trees in the Steadfast. One particular tree—simply known as the Emperor of Green—rises high above the rest. Twice as tall as any tree around it, the Emperor stands at almost 700 feet (213 m). It’s clearly of a slightly different species than the other trees. Its trunk is more than 60 feet (18 m) in diameter at the base, and at seemingly random times in the year, a door appears on the north-facing side. It disappears again after an hour. Few, however, have reached the tree to look for it. Far fewer have seen it and if they have, they haven’t returned to report what lies on the other side.
For long years, people feared the Westwood, calling it impenetrable and dangerous. Rumors commonly spoke of ghosts and ravenous beasts dwelling within. The Westwood and its hungry spirits were part of the folklore all along the coast. But today the people of Navarene have claimed the forest for their own, determined to carve out safe roads to the coast and land for farms and towns. For their efforts, they have stirred an enemy—not the ghosts or tree-spirits of legend, but the culovas. These creatures claim the majority of the Westwood for themselves and attempt to defend it against encroachment.
In the eastern edge of the Westwood you can find many mills that supply lumber to Navarene and the surrounding lands. Lumber is a major export for the country and is part of the kingdom’s wealth. The wood—particularly the redwood—is highly prized.
A noble family, the Emols, owns and operates a huge, mobile machine that cuts down and processes trees at the same rate as a hundred loggers. Called the Dark Smoker for the greasy muck it belches into the air while it works, the machine is a jury-rigged mess, requiring a staff of mechanics to continually service and repair it to keep it operational. Repeated attacks by the culovas damage the rickety device frequently, but technicians and nanos always manage to fix it. The current head of the family, Charina Emol, has placed a 10-shin bounty on the head of any culova brought to her.
Near the Westwood, you can also find a number of paper mills, particularly around the city of Harmuth."
- Sage, an Exiled Nano who Travels Through Time
The PCs went inside the woods only to find a trio of Culovas waiting for them deep inside the woods. In the heat of battle, as the players seemed to take the upper hand (some of the Culovas had lost some of their legs and limbs) the ground started to shake. A couple of seconds passed and, while the ground shook, it split apart revealing a huge dark metal hole underneath the earth. From this hole, a giant Culova (three times bigger than the other ones) came up dangling from a web a couple of inches thick.
The Culova had mechanical limbs and half its body ran with metal parts and wires. It tried to talk with the PCs, but out of nowhere a yell rang throughout the forest. It came from a warrior named Barrall, who was from Keford. He struck down the huge spider, who fell inside the hole; the rest of the culovas following behind. The ground closed after them leaving the PCs barely alive to catch their breath...
Unfortunately, the story ended here but trust me when I say it wasn't the finale. What would've come after? Had they been able to continue, would they have resolved the mystery which ailed Keford?
Maybe... maybe not... I do not know, but what I do know is... the answer only lies in the Numenera.
Ghost DM
