[d&d] The Fall Of A City [8/8]

This is the thread for a D&D campaign in a modern city setting. We're using 5e, UA, and homebrew.

In a city of neon lights, glimmering streets, and impressive technological advancement, magic has been long forgotten and lost. The corporation, 'NOD.DEG' has made sure that the many forms of monsters and beasts that once roamed and flew over the land have gone extinct for centuries. Varied races banded together and created a perfect society. That is, until recently when semi-visible monsters and hideous beasts began appearing out of seemingly thin air. Cultists began appearing and disturbing the peace. Magic has returned in small quantities that few are touched by. Social and moral conflicts have arisen that stain the once glorious and shining city. An underground organization that runs covert operations under the acronym 'A.R.M.A.' has been founded to find and eliminate the source of this strange and deadly epidemic that plagues the city. This story follows the unfortunate tale of a team of unlikely heroes that are recruited into A.R.M.A. for their experience and abilities involving magic.

Spoiler: The Map of the City

Active players:
@SPYROHAWK | Billy-Will, Half-Elf Bladesinger
@AlexisPlay | Sanik, Forest Gnome Rogue
@Enhanced_Human | Tony, Human Warlock
@Paradoxical | Daniel Keepe, Human Cannonsmith Warsmith Artificer
@Nikolai Mael | Rikane Locke, Halfling Kensei
@bluepenguin1002 | x , x
@Florfy5 | x , x
@Linwood Welheart | Toki, Rock Gnome Runesmith Artificer

________________________________

Spoiler: Player Intro

You all suddenly awaken from walking semi-consciously on the sidewalks of a busy street. A run-down sushi restaurant and many other large stores surround you in this area. A small piece of paper with crude handwriting is in your pockets.

 

You forgot @Linwood Welheart , who hasn't put stats on the map yet.

I'll answer after I eat.

 

Sanik looks around, sees Billy and says :

"IN WHAT MESS DID YOU PUT US AGAIN ?!"

 

We should start with character descriptions.
A young adult pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and reads it. He’s a thin fellow, probably about 5’ 10”, wearing a cuffed, grey, long-sleeved shirt and some sweatpants. The shirt bears white angel wings on the front. His long, brown hair is braided intricately, reaching down just below his shoulders. More interesting than this, though, is that he has a mask on. It’s three-pronged, two at the sides of his head where the mask ends and one just going up from where his nose bridge should be. Two circular pieces of glass lay over his eyes as part of the mask, and his forehead is exposed. Strangely, there’s no mouth slot.

 

The piece of paper reads:
"It is imperative you come to the Northwest corner of Riven. You will know the stench of raw fish once you smell it. Do not ignore this."

 

I put my hands up. “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it. Unless something was stolen, then I might be guilty...”

 

I put the paper back in my pocket, sigh, and put my back and foot up against the wall of the sushi shop, loitering.
I take out my grimoire and read a bit to pass the time.

 

A teenager with messy brown hair around 17 years old walks down the street. He wears a leather jacket with the Blood Hawks hang symbol on his back. His small pointed ears reveal him to be a half elf. He wears jeans, a white t shirt, and black sneakers. A rapier hangs by his side (and an unseen dagger rests in the inside pocket of his jacket). He carries a backpack, and a spray paint can is holstered at his hip. He wears a spray painting respirator and has dark crystal goggles on his forehead.

See Heroforge for better look

________________________________

Does mine read the same?

 

A couple elves walking overhear you and giggle before walking away into the masses of people crossing a crosswalk.

Besides a small coffee stain at the top right of the piece of paper, everything else is the same.

 

Background? How did I get the paper? Did it just appear in my pocket?

 

You remember pulling it out of your shoe after you felt it there earlier, other than that this paper is a mystery.

 

Referencing to this...
I put my book away and peoplewatch a bit.

 

You notice a somewhat tall person and a short-ish person talking. People continue to walk in-between you and them making it difficult to see. Other people chat and walk along the sidewalks, except for those who walk in and out of stores across the street.

 

Are these two people the only people of interest I see?

 

A young male human with unruly black hair and pale blue eyes is walking down the street. He wears a long trench coat (reinforced with monster-hide fibers for extra protection, but that's not visible from the outside) over light tactical gear. Sharpshooter's gloves adorn his hands. A backpack with a bulky metal object, vaguely rectangular, strapped to one side hangs on his back, and an ammo case on his left hip. He carried a pair of knives concealed in his jacket.

He very casually takes the paper from his coat pocket and glances at it.

 

In a sea of people with black, brown, and blonde hair, there is one person across the street with long, bright pink hair that darkens into red as it falls.

 

I concentrate on them, watching what they're doing.

 

As you try to concentrate with people swarming through your line of sight, you notice them looking around at various people, including the two people talking near you.

________________________________

It reads:

 

Do I know how to get there from here?

 

I keep a good eye (both eyes) on them as I open my book and pretend to read.