Magnus' Story S1E4

 

 

"Getting To The Bottom, Or Just The Beginning..."

 

Twenty four hours. Arcadia gave Magnus twenty four hours to get to the bottom of this conspiracy, or she'll send in her people to set right the kidnappings and threat to Æther City.

So tired from his ordeal with the doppelganger that was masquerading as Elara Vane, his current employer, Magnus stops by The Glimmering Brew to gather his thoughts and enjoy a complimentary, piping hot, Dragonberry scone. 

He decides to leave Nix out of the equation for now since the hacker is busy with Veil Society issues. But one thing is still on Magnus' mind, "Vorthaxis". What could this mean?

Our hero decides to get going since he is on the clock. Off to the Gray Ward, in South Side, to find this æther conduit and the arcane station the message was talking about... 

But where to look exactly?

Magnus takes a cab, and upon arrival to the industrial and brutalist Gray Ward, asked the halforc driver where is a good, local bar to go to...

Magnus is directed to "The Doubleback". A blue collar workers' pub that might be just the right place to extract some information on energy being diverted by Lyra to the Ward.

Magos Lyra, the doppelganger, has been sending æther energy to this section of the South Side for reasons unknown. In fact, during the long ride to the Gray Ward, Magnus went down the rabbit hole and did a deep dive into Lyra looking for anything that would explain the recent development.

The only info found was that the æther diversion started about a week ago.

Soon Magnus is buying drinks for a sour dwarf who works in the sewers. Alo, Stonehinge, after finishing a meal that our private investigator has paid for, brings Magnus to a locked gate to the sewer tunnels under the streets, and gives him some warnings and his headlamp. 

Magnus vows to return it and starts his investigation, and trek, of the sewers of the Gray Ward.

Following the piping, and the flow of æther, Magnus eventual comes to a conduit being devoured by some sort of resonance ghoul, which, upon seeing the half-breed, closes to attack.

A desperate fight is waged by Magnus, being that the ghoul seems resistant to his magical sword cane. The creature even gives off blasts of chaotic energy, but, eventually, it is defeated by our hero.

Magnus, even in the sewer or arcane piping and filth, take a breather to lick his wounds.

And after regaining some strength, continues on his way, spending hours tracing the path of the æther pipes.

Coming to the terminus, Magnus unlocks a old set of doors and finds himself in a large room full of mechanical infrastructure and arcane tubing.

This must be the arcane station he was looking for...

  

 

 

 

Upon a large raised area is a modulation sphere, with a control panel manned by what looks like Victor Starken, while near to where Magnus is standing, what can only be called a scrap golem is rising from a pile of debris.

 

Magnus jumps into action and places a growth of spiked terrain between himself and the metal monster, blasting it with bolts of fire. 

 

And with a quickness, the golem is destroyed. Leaving Magnus to deal with the doppelganger that is impersonating Starken.

 

The doppelganger leader fires, in haste, from what is a plasma pistol, only to misfire at the ceiling causing debris to rain down on it.

 

Magnus runs up to the platform, casting Darkness to engulf the doppelganger and give our hero time to get closer and hopefully stop whatever it is that is going on.

 

The leader, now blinded by the darkness, fire off shot after missing shot while Magnus comes up with a plan...

 

Magnus, at the arcane modulator, dismisses the darkness and runs to the control panel. Almost intuitively, he knows the right combination of buttons and levers to shutoff to make the æther reaction come to a halt.

 

Fearing defeat, the Starken doppelganger starts to flee. But Magnus throws down another Spike Growth to slow it, pelting it with Fire Bolts (as the creature fires back with its pistol) and eventually killing it right before it fled out into the sewers.

 

Magnus checks the body since, as it was fleeing, the doppelganger sent out a text, reading: "Eyrk, we have a problem..." 

 

Magnus replies, "Cancel that, all okay".

 

Magnus also takes the plasma pistol, the backup battery for it, as well as the creatures coat and vest since they all might be of an arcane nature.

 

Next, and must importantly, Magnus goes up to a locked door, the only other door in the vast chamber, and listens to it.

 

He hears muffled noises, and managing to unlock the door, finds the missing Elara. Edmon Aloon, Magos Lyra and the original Victor Starken are all there, bound, gagged, and magically sedated. 

 

A call is made to Arcadia.