Elkus and Kentavious sat in the Lightning Rail as they returned from Aundair. The pair had enjoyed a middling level of hospitality in the magically advanced state, and had not seen the best results.
“The master will have to seriously think about appointing a new head artisan in Aundair,” said Elkus.
“Too true, at least we got out of Sharn for a week. I wouldn’t holiday in Aundair, but a trip on the guild purse strings is never a hard spell to swallow.” replied Kentavious.
The Lightning Rail car they sat in was mildly appointed. Finished wood trimmings hidden amongst the overbearing use of steel. The sights were overtaken by the constant hum of the bound lightning elemental which powered the vehicle. Its service made the technology possible, but by no means silent. The other passengers were of various race, with Humans and Dwarves making up the majority.
The constant, level din of the sound was broken by the sound of people shouting, urgently. Two conductors charged like horned rams, batons brandished, down the cart. Kentavious turned to Elkus, he chuckled with a mischievous smile, like that of a small boy.
“Do you suppose they need the help of a couple of Makers down there? Perhaps they have some technical difficulties?” quipped Kentavious.
“Well, i guess we are qualified to help in the case of a breakdown. I’ll try not to let myself get carried away my friend.” said Elkus. He removed the cheap hessian sack from the large, long implement next to him. The highly polished barrel of his Thunder Cannon was perched innocently on the green velvet seat next to him. It was cold when he touched it, but it would not be that way for much longer.
The pair walked towards the engine car at the front of the train. The eyes of the other passengers starred at them, these two well dressed gentlemen with a large cannon and a purple velvet haversack, who clearly had no business to attend to at the point of commotion. The car before the engine was the staff area. It was plainly appointed, no wooden trim, just the basics. A couch here, a cot there and a fracas of conductors crowded around the far side door. There were two groups opposed to each other. However, they were unequally armed.
The group closest to Elkus and Kentavious brandished black, wooden batons, the group who found themselves between the engine car and the staff car brandished curved scimitars. They yelled at the baton wielding three, “For those responsible! We gladly do this for the criminals of the Last War!”.
Elkus decided this would not do and strolled forward, in as dignified a manner as he could, he leveled his thunder cannon at the scimitar wielding man and demanded, “Whatever is going on here sir? Would you care to stop this incursion now before you regret it, terminally?”.
“You can not stop justice, you will never stop us!” yelled the insurgent. They made a hasty retreat to the engine room and slammed the door shut. Elkus pushed through the reluctant conductors and their inadequate batons (they also saw the size of his gun and decided Elkus was much better equipped for the job) and tried the door. Locked. This was not deemed to be a problem by Elkus who passed his thunder cannon to Kentavious and went to work with his lock pick. He failed, the right click would not present itself, or perhaps it was the vastly increased roar of the elemental power, so close to his person, which drowned out any helpful sound. No matter, time to take the brutish approach. He retrieved his gun, aimed squarely at the door lock, and fired.
The blast overtook all sound for an instant, the lock blew apart, metal dented the interior with an impactful thud and the door swung open with little resistance. The infiltrators were coughing as smoke filled the room. Elkus entered politely and asked those in attendance, “Now, if you wish to surrender without any more ugliness you have the chance to do so.”
They were not interested. The blue jacketed imposter by the door swung at Elkus, but missed. Elkus then turned toward him, reloaded his mighty cannon, and fired. The noise of the blast was redoubled by the metal interior of the engine car. The metal slug did sickening damage to the imposters shoulder, like a great Maul exploding a pumpkin. The enemy slumped down and cried as the conductors took this chance to rush through and overpower him.
Elkus continued forward. He demanded that the saboteurs cease their actions. Another man charged from the side, only to face similar damage to his frail body. Finally, the men stopped their ripping and banging of the controls and precision wiring; the train was not going to stop today.
“Your too late Mr. This train will crash into Wroan’s Gate. You are already dead my friend.” sneered the man as they stepped aside in surrender.
Elkus didn’t believe him. He fell to one knee as Kentavious came up behind him. “Here, hold my Thunder Cannon, let’s see if we can’t short it or something.” He said.
“It doesn’t look like you can do too much.” said Kentavious as he perused the remains of the once finely finished control console. It was a wreck, sparks and smoke gave greeting. Elkus groaned like a shop owner when the tax man comes to call, with inevitability.
“There must be something we can do?” he asked Kentavious. They pondered for a minute. The great, vertical city of Sharn was growing larger by the second. Elkus could feel his stomach churn as if acid would leap out of his throat.
“The power coupling beneath us, surely with the right shot i can decouple it while we are on the move!” He exclaimed hopefully.
“That does mean you will have to lean under a moving Lighting Train, moving at full speed and successfully hit it you know?” said Kentavious.
“Well we die if i don’t try, so here goes.” replied Elkus.
He rushed out to the rear of the carriage and again knelt on one knee. “Hold my legs steady, this is going to be hard enough without me rolling about the place Kent”. Kentavious nodded a concerned agreement. The wet feeling of adrenaline induced sweats combined with the sting and roar of the rushing wind outside the confines of the engine room. The cold metal beneath Elkus felt like a vibrating bell, it would not help this endeavour in the least.
He saw the conduit box. It was smooth black with two ribbed pipes which protruded out opposite sides. He thought to himself ‘don’t breathe’, and fired. The shot rang out and slammed short into the undercarriage of the train. The floor dented from the kinetic force of the slug. “Again” he thought to himself. This time he took more time, was more careful and fired true. The conduit box blew apart, it bounced off the shining, smooth rock of the track. Kentavious felt Elkus’ body jerk to the side suddenly. He feared his friend was about to be sucked underneath the train like noodles from a bowl.
“what the hell happened?” He cried.
“Just a near encounter with some shrapnel. I’m okay though and what do you know, the train is slowing down.” said Elkus who was now breathing more slowly. “We just have to wait for the train to stop and deal with the City Guard and we can make it back to the guild hall for afternoon tea hey Kent?”
“Well at least this trip ended with some excitement. But i wonder who these imposters are?” Kentavious said while holding his chin like a pistol. The answers to this would come about in time. But now, the pair had to just wait, and get themselves back home without another imposition.
RPG Downtime 