Mystery on the Lightning Rail

● A construct of silverware and other various knick knacks (Animated Armor Stats)
commits a crime aboard the LightningRail and kills a man’s wife.

○ Autumn f. Doppelganger [CE] - The Murderer

■ Aspirations:
■ Will do her best to come off as a happy go lucky 19y/o girl.
■ The whole purpose of Autumn in this Arc is to have the group kill
Bernie, the ticketmaster and take the glasses of truesight.
■ IF SHE IS SUCCESSFUL, she will cast Geas on Diana and
force her to give the glasses of truesight to the assassin later
on.

○ Bernie the ticketmaster m. [LG] (Orien- Dwarf from Korth Karrnath)

■ Aspirations: Deliver the glasses of truesight and protect them at all
costs.
■ Fears: He will lose. Or be discovered to be a puppet.
■ Suspects: Autumn. But he cannot say that or he will die.
■ Everything he says will be a lie to incriminate himself.
■ He’s a member of the emerald claw and therefore a
follower of the Blood of Vol. All he wants to do is kill
people.
■ He is going to use the glasses of truesight to kill
someone very important.
■ If he is able to find a way to get the Frame into the groups
hands without A.N. seeing it, he will commit suicide.

● The construct appears to be made by the ticketmaster, Bernie who appears to have ties
to the Emerald Claw. (Except he’s really just a normal member of the house of Orien.
Autumn casts Geas to control him so that it looks like him. She casts Animate Objects in
order to make the animated armor out of crushed dishes and silverware. She also uses
prestidigitation to make a small item that will identify Bernie as a member of the Emerald
Claw. Maybe an emerald claw necklace. Autumn will not use very much magic outside of
this.)
○ Autumn is currently traveling to deliver the glasses of true sight to the ​Assassin
in Lintoll who she has hired to kill her father. Autumn wants to kill her father so
she can obtain a seat of power with the doppelgängers and use that seat to find a
 path to the greater arcane secrets of Sul Khatesh. Namely, how to free Sul
Khatesh. She has been utilizing the house of Orien. ​The ticketmaster​ has had
Autumn’s Geas Cast on him for about 2 weeks now. After the ticketmaster had
delivered the glasses of truesight Autumn planned to kill him. The Group
haphazardly intercepts this courier and kills him for Autumn. Autumn spends the
rest of their relationship trying to get the glasses of truesight to the assassin
using the group. S ​ he may even cast GEAS on someone in the group, to force
them to discreetly deliver it to the assassin for her when they meet.
■ If the group discovers who she is and her true intentions, then she
will use her hired assassin as a distraction for the group to chase
while she finds a way to kill her father. Instead of pinning the murder
on the assassin, she will try to pin it on the group instead.
● The glasses of truesight appear to be a very ordinary set of wire glasses of truesight. It
gives the wearer truesight for 20ft. For 20 minutes. 20/20
● The trip to Lintoll is about 60 miles. Traveling at 30 miles an hour it takes 2 hours. After
the first death, Bernie tells the ticketmaster who doubles the trains speed.
● The first murder will take place while the group is in the Lounge car. There will be 2 other
people in the same car and 3 more in the car next to them with Bernie for a total of 5
people. One from each of the 5 nations.
● After the first murder, all other Passengers will be evacuated from the surrounding 4
cars. So there will be 3 cars total in this adventure. 8 NPCS including:
○ Autumn f.
■ Will do her best to come off as a happy go lucky 19y/o girl.
■ Can’t command Bernie to commit suicide after his cover is blown.
The whole purpose of Autumn in this segment is to have the group
kill Bernie and take the glasses of truesight.
■ IF SHE IS SUCCESSFUL, she will cast Geas on a PC and force
them to give the glasses of truesight to the assassin later on.
■ IF SHE FAILS and is discovered, she will orchestrate a rabbit
chase after the assassin she hired to collect the glasses of
truesight while she kills her father. She will then pin that
murder on the group.

○ Bernie the ticketmaster m. [LG] (Orien- Dwarf from Korth Karrnath)

■ Aspirations: Deliver the glasses of truesight and protect them at all
costs.
■ Fears: He will lose. Or be discovered to be a puppet.
■ Suspects: Autumn. But he cannot say that or he will die.
■ Everything he says will be a lie to incriminate himself:
 ■ He’s a member of the emerald claw and therefore a
follower of the Blood of Vol. All he wants to do is kill
people.
■ He is going to use the glasses of truesight to kill
someone very important.
■ If he is able to find a way to get the Frame into the groups
hands without A.N. seeing it, he will commit suicide.

● 2. ​Bull m. [CN] (Breland)

○ Aspirations: a reputation that commands respect. A bit of a conman and a
gangster. Runs with a rough crowd from Sharn.
○ Fears: dying a nobody.
○ Suspects: Knows Bernie is innocent. In the same car when murder takes
place.
■ Doesn’t think Bernie has what it takes to kill people.
● 1. ​Cygnus m. [LN] (Cyre)
○ Aspirations: Follower of Sovereign Host. Was going to be a father. A
philosopher from Cyre. Works as a teacher.
○ Fears: That he or anyone will die next.
○ Suspects: Knows the Emerald Claw does not follow Blood of Vol.
■ Know’s it is VERY uncharacteristic for the house of Orien to be
involved in something as messy as murder.
■ Has never met Bernie before.
● 5. ​Adeline f. [NG] (Aundair)
○ Aspirations: Wants people to think she is pretty.
○ Fears: Being ugly or out of touch with what is popular.
○ Suspects: Knows Bernie is innocent. In the same car when murder takes
place.
■ See’s a Dark Arcane Aura around Bernie
■ Know’s it is unusual for the House of Orien to know how to animate
objects with magic.
● 3. ​Krag m.[LG] (Karrnath)
○ Aspirations: Wants to see Karrnath rise back to military power. Follower of
the Blood of Vol.
○ Fears: The knowledge of his gimpy right leg getting out and destroying his
military future.
 ○ Suspects: Knows Bernie is innocent. In the same car when murder takes
place. Never got his ticket punched.
■ Has noticed that he seems very nervous about everything that has
taken place. Believes Bernie to be a wimp.
■ Identifies Autumn as the 12th Headmaster of Lintoll.
■ Knows that Bernie is not apart of the Emerald Claw.
● 4. ​Talia f. [LG] (Thrane)
○ Aspirations: wants to help Vanquish the Evil. Begins her own investigation
immediately. Might be the one to point out that Bernie hasn’t been seen
since the murder took place. This info, whatever is provided, will be
realized to Talia through the silver flames guiding voice of Tira Miron.
○ Fears: Evil and death overcoming the hearts of everyone.
○ Suspects: Senses a very dark presence around Autumn.
○ Offers Ella a Holy Symbol and invites her to follow Tira Miron

● They will meet Autumn on their way to the platform. She’ll rush past them and knock
someone over. They’ll see her again on the train.
● After the group boards and meets Autumn ​Players with Highest Passive Perception
will roll for perception ​if they roll a ​14 ​or higher they will notice that the ​ticketmaster
Bernie​ is wearing a set of glasses ​that are very peculiar and have an unusual, faint
aura around them.
● The ticketmaster will step into the next car out of sight after punching there tickets.
● Autumn will surface read their thoughts about the glasses of truesight the ticketmaster is
wearing. ​She’ll give someone the paper crane she is folding while they talk, Say
she is going to the diner car and ask if anyone wants anything.​ Then she will step
out of the car for a bit to Animate the Armor. When she steps back in, a few moments
will pass and then there will be a loud scream and a cacophonous crash and smash
while she is handing out snacks. (sounds like someone throwing a dishwasher full of
dishes across the train.)
● Everyone rushes into the diner car to see Cygnus wife Sarah with a gaping hole in her
chest slumped over the buffet bar. Cygnus will cry out and rush over to her. As the group
draws closer, the Smashed plates and dishes will reanimate and attempt to kill Cygnus
unless the group chooses to stop it in which case ​roll initiative.
● The group will need to defeat the animated armor in a short battle to continue. Then ​a
voice will come over the intercom to the last 3 trains explaining that the last 3
trains have been quarantined and the speed has been increased and officials have
been alerted. “I believe Bernie is still back there with y’all. He will be keeping an
eye on everyone until the train reaches its station in 45 minutes”.​ The cars will be
 evacuated and the train will double its speed. The group will have 45 minutes (IRL) to
question everyone and stop Autumn or Kill Bernie and take the glasses of truesight.
● The group questions everyone. After 10 - 15 minutes the Armor returns this time
accompanied by Andrea the zombie. They will try to kill someone else, and attack the
group again.
● Bernie will Hide himself by running/blinking himself in one of the cars that the group is
NOT in. Every time the construct (Animated Armor) is defeated it will return after 10-15
minutes and attempt to kill someone aboard the train to make a Zombie. (<--optional)
● In the final conflict before the train arrives, Bernie will join the armor and a zombie to
take down the group. (He is absolutely horrible fighter though. All his attacks do 1d4+4
damage.)
● Autumn will help guide the group and be in eyesight when the first murder takes place.
She is the one who animates the Armor and has it lie in wait until Cygnus Wife steps into
the car to get something to eat. This will be hidden extremely well unless a natural 20
arcana check is made on the Armor Remnants in which case the individual will notice
something “unfamiliar” about his magical aura. It’s not necromantic or common with the
house of Orien.

Outcomes:

● If the group is able to restrain and question Bernie, he will struggle, scream and
die under the Geas curse. Otherwise he will try to convince the group that he is
guilty or attack them.
○ When a PC has them, Autumn will cast Geas on them with the following
instructions: (texted to the PC)

“Autumn has just cast a spell on you!

This spell forces you to completely obey commands that Autumn will give you. If you
resist or disobey these commands you must take 5d10+5 or 32 points of damage.

Here are your commands:

-Do not tell anyone in any way that you are under a spell.
-Do not divert suspicion to Autumn in any way.
-Take the Frames and Deliver them to a Rogue Human named Thaddeus.
-Don’t get caught.

These commands will be strictly enforced. No Mulligans.”

● If the group is able to discover Autumn’s True intentions, she will cast Darkness
and Silence and take the glasses of truesight from Bernie after killing him.
 ● If they Run out of time, Bernie will cast Phantom Steed and pass without a trace
and take off toward Lintoll as soon as the train arrives.

Note from the Author:

This is more or less just a seed for thought on a small story arc. Could be a one shot. Could be
incorporated into something else. If you want to just use portions of it thats totally cool.