TEXT: EN5ider Presents:
  Always 
  on Time
  Part One
  A 5E-Compatible Adventure for 6th-Level Characters
  
  2 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Introduction
  From the Pen of
  Jacob Driscoll
  With Additional Material by
  Ryan Nock
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  ShenFei
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  Masterful Interior Illustrations by
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  Includes art in the public domain
  with Unparalleled Layout and Graphic Design by
  Eric Life-Putnam
  Playtested for Maximum Enjoyment by
  Michael Border, Walter Byers, Justin Engelking, 
  Benjamin Riggs, Dennis Chiado
  Seamlessly Updated to Fifth Edition by
  Mike Myler
  Ably Produced and Facilitated by
  Russ Morrissey
  Special Thanks to
  Jennifer Taber, for her patience;  
  to the hundreds of gamers who backed the original release 
  of Zeitgeist on Kickstarter; and to the over one thousand 
  generous patrons of EN World EN5ider whose support has 
  made this Fifth Edition update possible.
  Open Game Content
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  elements and illustrations in the public domain), narrative 
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  Wherein a Lantern Heralds 
  Dark Days
  I
  n the previous Zeitgeist adventure, the par-
  ty discovered a tiefling philanthropist named 
  Caius Bergeron was a member of a conspiracy known 
  as the Obscurati, which appears hostile to the party’s 
  nation, Risur.
  The party also learned that Caius planned to take a trip by train 
  to a meeting in a foreign city. In Always on Time, the party uses 
  that lead to outmaneuver and unmask the conspiracy.
  Risur’s traditional enemy, the nation of Danor, operates the 
  3,000-mile long Avery Coast railroad, which connects numerous 
  nations. With the support of Risur’s Royal Homeland Constabu-
  lary, the party will go undercover aboard this train and seek clues 
  to what business Caius was traveling toward. Meanwhile, agents 
  of the Obscurati assemble for a gathering of members of the con-
  spiracy, bringing with them a magic lantern that is key to their 
  ultimate goal.
  Adapting the Adventure.
  All the low-level Zeitgeist adventures assume the PCs are agents 
  of the Royal Homeland Constabulary. If your party is a group of free 
  agents instead, they might have been hired by the RHC, especially 
  if they had previously uncovered Caius’s secrets in Digging for Lies.
  If you are using this adventure in another setting, the central 
  element of a coastal rail line can be made into a pseudo-medieval 
  pilgrimage route that travels 90 miles in six days. Several later 
  encounters that use the train as a physical space may need to be 
  heavily altered or omitted, but the core of the adventure still works.
  Several encounters can be easily stand alone, including “Danger-
  ous Waters,” a naval engagement against a ship captained by an ice 
  mage (page 16), “Hobo Maximus,” a rescue of a damsel from a trio 
  of wizards in an arena (Act Two), or a cursed island and the dungeon 
  beneath it (a group of encounters in Act Three).
  Background
  The Obscurati, detailed more fully in the Zeitgeist Campaign 
  Guide, plan to alter the nature of reality. This requires a massive 
  ritual to change the planets in the night sky that imbue this world 
  with different energies and essences. They’re still over a year away 
  from the culmination of their plot, but one key component has just 
  been completed.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 3
  Introduction
  The Lantern.
  Luc Jierre, a socially-awkward tiefling arcanoscientist with a 
  nervous stutter, has invented a magical lantern. By burning fuel 
  attuned to a specific plane, the device can channel planar energy 
  through its light and suffuse its surroundings with the traits of that 
  plane. This can create a variety of magical effects, making the lan-
  tern useful both as a weapon and as a tool of control.
  The lantern’s settings can be adjusted to change intensity and 
  scope. For instance, if fed fuel attuned to the fiery planet Jiese, the 
  lantern could simply make a single object become highly flammable, 
  or it could allow fire elementals from that world to temporarily en-
  ter this world. Since Jiese also influences wars, the lantern could 
  instead stir people toward conflict, either a whole area or just a few 
  targets to whom the lantern has been properly attuned.
  The lantern is a prototype, and it will be duplicated in large form 
  in lighthouses across the continent. The Obscurati intend to use 
  these lighthouses to keep the world stable while they transition the 
  planes. More insidiously, the lighthouses will let them placate popu-
  lations by manipulating their emotions en masse.
  Recruitment.
  Luc is not yet a part of the Obscurati. His uncle Sovereign Han 
  Jierre, ruler of Danor and one of the conspiracy’s three leaders, 
  encouraged Luc’s education, groomed him through life to pursue 
  this invention, and made sure Luc had access to all the resources 
  he needed. Under intense pressure to live up to these expectations, 
  Luc grew up awkward and nervous, but nevertheless brilliant.
  Luc has been told to take the Avery Coast Railroad from the 
  Danoran capital of Cherage to the eastern terminus, the city of 
  Vendricce. Luc crafted the lantern in Danor’s dead magic zone, ef-
  fectively a giant “clean room.” Now he brings it for final testing, 
  and he too will be judged whether he is worthy to join the conspiracy.
  The Gathering in Vendricce.
  The Obscurati have planned a gathering of all the heads of the 
  various Obscurati cells to meet in Vendricce on the 20th of Winter, 
  500 A.O.V. (After Our Victory). To minimize the risk of discovery, 
  the VIPs will stagger their arrival across a week; Luc Jierre arrives 
  on the 16th. His sister Lya Jierre will be waiting to greet him. (The 
  party met Lya in Adventure One, Island at the Axis of the World; 
  she is set to marry the king of Risur as part of a peace treaty.)
  The Obscurati know the PCs were investigating Caius Bergeron 
  (during Adventure Three, Digging for Lies), but they have no reason 
  to think the party knows about Vendricce. And the party’s superior, 
  Chief Inspector Stover Delft, encourages them to trust no one.
  Spy Mission.
  The party’s mission is to learn as much about the Obscurati as pos-
  sible. All they have to go on, though, is a train schedule retrieved 
  from a dead tiefling philanthropist. Chief Inspector Delft tasks the 
  PCs to ride the same train and look for anyone Caius might have 
  been meeting. With luck, someone will lead the party to a meeting 
  of the conspiracy.
  Dead and Wild Magic.
  Within Danor’s borders, magic quickly seeps away. Spells with a 
  casting time of more than an action cannot be cast within Danor. 
  Static benefits of magic items function normally over the short 
  term (i.e., you won’t have to recalculate the stats on your character 
  sheet). However, most activated powers of items don’t function, and 
  after a number of weeks equal to the item’s rarity, its magic will be 
  drained away entirely.
  A creature’s own innate magical features still function, such as 
  any cantrips granted as a racial feature.
  Just beyond Danor’s borders, in a broad swath hundreds of miles 
  wide, the fabric of magic is damaged but not destroyed. In these 
  places, known as the Malice Lands, whenever a character casts a 
  spell, uses a magic item power, roll an unmodified 1d20. On a 1, a 
  mishap occurs. This usually takes the form of the power backfiring, 
  manifesting as a free-willed monster, or otherwise going danger-
  ously awry.
  Train Route.
  The train passes through seven main points during the adventure.
  •	 Beaumont. Major shipyard on the west coast of Danor. Train 
  leaves here the morning of the 11th of Winter.
  •	 Cherage. The Danoran capital, which has an evening curfew. 
  Train arrives on the evening of on the 11th of Winter.
  •	 Orithea. The only stable city in the Malice Lands. Train 
  arrives on the 12th of Winter.
  •	 Trekhom. The capital of Drakr. The train arrives on the 13th 
  of Winter.
  •	 Nalaam. A decadent casino city run by mages in the 
  mountainous border states between Drakr and Crisillyir. 
  Train arrives on the 14th of Winter.
  •	 Sid Minos. A haunted island city off the coast of Crissilyir. 
  Train arrives on the 15th of Winter.
  •	 Vendricce. A forested border-city in Crissilyir, where the 
  Obscurati have their palace. Train arrives just before sunset 
  on the 16th of Winter.
  Luc Jierre. Nephew of Danor’s sovereign, 
  Han Jierre, and brother of the country’s Minister 
  of Outsiders Lya Jierre, Luc has always felt inferior 
  to his family. From childhood, his stutter made him 
  socially withdrawn, but he found comfort in the 
  arcanosciences. He could express himself on paper 
  in clear formulae, and he could learn a skill the rest 
  of his family did not possess.
  Only recently did Luc realize that his family 
  has been grooming him all along. He resents them 
  somewhat, but cannot deny that he values power. 
  He hopes that his new invention will earn him a place of respect. Now that he 
  has finished the lantern, he expects he’ll work on countermeasures to Risuri 
  magical technology, or perhaps improve mana-storage devices, to let magic 
  items last longer in Danor.
  Once he’s inducted into the Obscurati, he’ll be given a major role in Lantern 
  Cell, preparing larger version of his lamp and testing their ability to affect the 
  minds of the public at large. That possibility will enthrall Luc, who has never 
  before had the ability to make people do what he wants.
  
  4 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Introduction
  It is important to stress that the PCs are not expected to run 
  in and attack the conspirators when they find them, since they’ll 
  be severely outgunned. A victory in this mission would be to learn 
  the identities of key conspirators and escape without being noticed. 
  While we have included plenty of climactic combat, make sure you 
  prepare your players to understand that they’re trying to complete 
  a mission, not win the war in one fell swoop.
  The Railroad.
  The main theater for this adventure is the Avery Coast Railroad, 
  the pride of Danoran technology, and a showcase of the nation’s 
  engineering prowess. Though Danor has numerous railroads con-
  necting its cities, the Avery Coast line is the longest in the world, 
  spanning 3,000 miles, from the city of Beaumont on Danor’s west 
  coast, through the Malice Lands, Drakr, various minor nations, 
  and finally ending in Vendricce, on Crisillyir’s border with Elfaivar.
  See the end of this document (The Avery Coast Railroad) for 
  extensive details of the train’s route, history, design, and crew.
  Luc’s Entourage.
  Before Caius Bergeron was killed, he had already made security ar-
  rangements for the train trip with Brianne Kaldeckis, called Bree, 
  a Danoran veteran of the Fourth Yerasol War. Caius gave her a gold 
  ring to wear, which has an internal inscription that reads “Oath-
  keeper Bree’s Shield.” Any high-ranking member of the conspiracy 
  who sees this inscription knows that Bree is working for Golden 
  Cell, but she is tier five: useful but with no knowledge of the Ob-
  scurati’s agenda.
  Bree has not heard from Caius for a couple months now, and as 
  a good soldier she’s trying to complete her mission as best she can. 
  She has enlisted two men as “plainclothes” guards–Olivert Boone, 
  a carousing tiefling who performs gunslinging shows around the 
  country; and Verzubak Tantalovich, a dwarf mage who manipu-
  lates fate and chance. They’ll board the train between Beaumont 
  and Cherage.
  Bree knows that Caius wanted her to come with him to a meet-
  ing at the Sovereign’s mansion in Cherage, so she intends to follow 
  that much of his plan. There she meets Luc and is given clearer 
  instructions.
  Luc has an escort of his own, Ottavia Sacredote, a deaf elfwoman 
  who is a spy within the religious hierarchy of Crisillyir. She is a bit 
  conspicuous, especially in the company of a tiefling, but she’s one 
  of the few highly-ranking operatives the Obscurati can spare who 
  is capable of communicating via sending, making her invaluable 
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 5
  Introduction
  in case anything goes wrong. Also, just in case, a handful of pas-
  sengers in the common cars are hired mercenaries who will come 
  to Ottavia’s aid if she gives the right signal.
  Ottavia wears a silver ring that says “Orthodoxy Bolsters Gods,” 
  marking her as tier four of lantern cell.
  Unrelated Actors.
  The challenge for the party is the large number of passengers aboard 
  the train. These include a half-orc businessman from Ber who has 
  run afoul of a criminal syndicate, a Danoran madam who is taking 
  a young eladrin woman to sell into slavery, a turncoat Risuri spy, a 
  militia member working with train robbers, and a dirty hobo with 
  an unlikely connection to someone the party has met before.
  These characters have plotlines of their own that the PCs are 
  likely to get involved with as they try to sort out real leads from red 
  herrings. While each is a distraction from the main mission, if the 
  PCs get involved and help people in need they can benefit greatly 
  later in the campaign. Some of their fellow passengers might even 
  prove instrumental in the success of this mission.
  Ring Code.
  Each ring has a three word inscription. The first two words can be 
  anything, as long as their initials are O.B. The number of letters 
  in the third word indicates what tier of the conspiracy he’s in. Tier 
  three includes just a handful of cell leaders like Lya Jierre and Ro-
  land Stanfield. Tier four members are their trusted servants who 
  nevertheless only grasp a fraction of the conspiracy’s scope. Tier 
  five is for useful minions who are not privy to any major secrets.
  A gold ring means the wearer is part of Golden Cell, a silver ring 
  indicates Lantern Cell, and a bronze ring stands for Colossus Cell. 
  Other cells use some local tree’s wood. Caius wore a gold ring that 
  read “Original Bergeron Gold.”
  Finona Duvall as an Ally.
  The PCs learned of Caius’s plans by recovering a letter from the phi-
  lanthropist to a lady friend he was trying to seduce, a tiefling mage 
  named Finona Duvall. The party likely defeated Finona in combat, 
  and even if they spared her she probably died at the hands of an 
  extraplanar monster that ate her brain. But it’s possible she survived 
  and could be pressed into service as a double agent, or that one PC 
  might try to pose as her.
  This ploy could provide an “in” for the party to more quickly iden-
  tify Luc and his entourage, so don’t be afraid to reward the party for 
  clever thinking. Remember that the focus of the mission is not Luc, 
  but rather whom he’s meeting at the end of the line.
  Compartmentalized Secrets.
  It’s important to understand that at the start of the adventure, only 
  Ottavia knows about the Obscurati, and even she just thinks that 
  they are an organization of enlightened thinkers who are opposed 
  to the Clergy. She knows nothing about the Axis Seal, the colossus 
  being built in Flint, or the conspiracy’s ultimate plan.
  Bree knows she’s working for a secret society, but not much else. 
  Boone and Verzubak are just hired muscle, albeit very talented 
  muscle. They don’t ask questions.
  Brianne “Bree” Kaldeckis. A 47-year old 
  veteran of the Fourth Yerasol War, Bree lost her right 
  leg and arm to a Risuri-summoned jaguar. The same 
  druid who took her limbs kept her alive, and after the war 
  she was given a peg leg and sent back home to languish 
  in a veterans’ community. There she was approached by 
  Dr. Wolfgang von Recklinghausen, whom the party met in Adventure Two, 
  The Dying Skyseer. Wolfgang used experimental magical science to attach a 
  recently-dead woman’s limbs to Bree. He enchanted a girdle to help with the 
  mending process, which Bree wears to this day.
  World-wise and granted a second life, Bree sold her services as a body-
  guard. She came to Caius Bergeron’s attention after a clever ploy to thwart 
  a pursuer; she detached her arm and set it across the room with a crossbow. 
  Since her girdle let her control her limb at range, she was able to shoot the foe 
  when he crossed its path. The Obscurati are always drawn to ingenuity, and Dr. 
  von Recklinghausen had already drawn their attention, so Caius hired Bree.
  Bree values honor and her word, and gladly serves as bodyguard, but she 
  has turned down offers to serve as a soldier or assassin. She favors sleeveless 
  shirts even in the cold, and is not shy about the massive scar around her right 
  upper arm. When in Danor, her limbs itch at the seams, and she doesn’t like to 
  stay in the dead magic zone for more than a week at a time.
  Olivert Boone. A tiefling with a smile women 
  swoon for, Boone went adventuring in the Malice Lands 
  at an early age. He charmed many a woman and had to 
  defend himself from jealous husbands. He developed an 
  amazing knack with a pistol, and eventually while explor-
  ing burnt-out ruins he stumbled upon a magic urn. When 
  opened, it released a demon that possessed his pistol, granting him nearly un-
  paralleled accuracy, but at a price. His demon pistol demands blood.
  Already a misogynist, it wasn’t hard for him to switch to killing women after 
  he loved them. He particularly likes bringing women on his adventures and 
  coming back with sad tales of their demise. He came to Bree’s attention when 
  he rolled into Danor with chests full of loot from his adventures. She just 
  knows his reputation as a gunslinger, and has no idea he’s a serial killer.
  When amused, he slaps one hand on his chest as a one-handed clap, so he 
  never has to take his pistol hand far from his weapon. He’s working this mis-
  sion for the money (about 3,000 gp), and has no ideological ties to Luc Jierre.
  Verzubak Tantalovich. This bleary-eyed 
  dwarf has studied the magic and mathematics of luck, 
  and he only lights up when he’s winning at dice. His 
  calculations don’t work well in Danor’s dead magic zone, 
  so he ended up owing a few hundred gold pieces to a 
  gambling den in Keskay. But Verzubak still has enough 
  luck that the killer sent for him dies before even seeing the dwarf.
  Verzubak plans to bet boldly in the casinos in Nalaam, which will test his 
  theories to the limits, because magic is entirely forbidden at the betting 
  tables. To him, this bodyguard mission is just a way to get seed money for 
  his “research.”
  Though he looks perpetually tired, he loves to drone on to anyone who’ll pay 
  attention. A genuinely nice fellow, he can find a way to pay a stranger three 
  compliments in a single sentence, and if someone looks like they’re getting 
  bored with his talk about numbers and science he’ll let them talk to help them 
  feel far more interesting compared to him.
  
  6 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Introduction
  Adventure Overview
  The party sails to Beaumont, but on the way the PCs are intercepted 
  by two privateer ships working for the Ob. The party has to lie, fight, 
  or flee in order to reach Beaumont on time.
  Their ship drops them off and sails ahead, and will be waiting 
  for them in Trekhom, Sid Minos, and Vendricce, ready to provide 
  supplies, support, and escape at mission’s end. However, an experi-
  mental Ob submarine stealthily follows their ship’s movements.
  After some brief down time in Beaumont, the party boards the 
  train and heads out. The first day provides many opportunities for 
  the party to interact with other passengers, to try to get a sense of 
  whom they should be keeping their eyes on. Suspects include Dam-
  ata Griento, a nervous orc businessman who is taking his family 
  on a first-class trip and Elanor Yanette, a fat, brusque enchantress 
  accompanied by a veiled woman.
  By the time the train stops in Cherage for the first night, Bree, 
  Verzubak, and Boone are all aboard, but they pretend not to know 
  each other. Bree sneaks off into the city to meet with Luc and Otta-
  via. Overnight, a masterfully athletic hobo stows away on the train. 
  This is Andrei von Recklinghausen, who goes by the name Mister 
  Mapple (see page 8).
  The morning of the second day, Luc and Ottavia board the train, 
  but they try to stay out of sight. Also boarding is Cardiff Hengehill, 
  a Risuri spy with secrets about the Danoran military. He has regu-
  lar contact throughout the day with Malia Baccarin, a member of 
  the train’s militia who is Cardiff’s contact with his buyers.
  Complications.
  Over the next five days, the party has multiple opportunities to ob-
  serve each suspect, while other threats and mysteries provide their 
  own distractions.
  On the second night, the train stops in Orithea. While most of 
  the passengers sight-see or conduct innocuous business, Luc and 
  Ottavia head to the city’s lighthouse, where Luc meets with a local 
  Obscurati cell leader. He shows how his lantern works and provides 
  documents to help the local cell convert the lighthouse into a large 
  scale version.
  On the third day, bandits raid the train as it travels through 
  the Malice Lands. They provoke a screaming hydra-like beast to 
  emerge from a swamp and attack the train as a distraction, and the 
  PCs have to weigh the risk of blowing their cover with saving the 
  lives of the passengers — possibly even Luc and his crew.
  That night the train limps into Trekhom. There Cardiff tries to 
  sell his secrets, while Damata attends a lecture by the famous dwarf 
  philosopher Vlendam Heid. Luc again sneaks away to a lighthouse 
  to show off his invention to another cell leader. Meanwhile, Ottavia 
  receives a sending warning her that Risuri agents are after Luc. 
  Luc’s bodyguards become more wary and try to figure out who’s 
  spying on them.
  On the evening of the fourth day, the train reaches Nalaam, 
  where most of the plot-lines of the side characters come to a head. 
  Since there is no Ob cell to meet with, Luc and Ottavia spend the 
  evening preparing surprises for the party.
  On the fifth day, as the train pulls into Sid Minos, Luc triggers a 
  replica of his lantern, attuned to the PCs and infused with energy 
  Ottavia Sacredote. Born deaf, Ottavia was 
  given to a Clergy orphanage where she grew up devout 
  in her faith, despite being an elf in a predominately hu-
  man religion. She learned to communicate through sign 
  language and even speak, albeit with difficulty. When 
  she reached maturity, she began to hear the whispers of 
  angels and trained in the use of magic. But as she rose 
  in prominence in the Clergy, she began to doubt the purity of those in power.
  Though still earnest in her faith, Ottavia was susceptible when an agent of 
  the Obscurati noted her concerns and offered her a chance to make a differ-
  ence. She believes the conspiracy just to be a group of enlightened thinkers 
  who want to reform society and improve the lot of the poor and weak. In 
  Crisillyir she has been subtly acquiring information to disgrace hierarchs she 
  thinks are abusing their power, while helping promote more generous priests.
  Ottavia took an instant liking to Luc when she realized the man knew her 
  sign language. She believes Luc’s lantern will be used to shield and illuminate 
  the weak when an inevitable reckoning occurs. Throughout the trip she 
  presses Luc to make sure his creation is used for the right purpose.
  Ottavia has an enchanted headband that lets her project her thoughts. This 
  helps her be understood more clearly by people who cannot sign, but makes 
  it nearly impossible for her to lie, so she tries not to use it unless necessary.
  Elanor Yanette. This hugely fat enchantress 
  travels the Avery Coast, facilitating the buying and 
  selling of valuable people to whorehouses or wealthy 
  patrons. By a strict reading of laws she is not technically 
  trafficking in slaves, but rather arranging contractual 
  employment or performing wedding matchmaking. She is 
  a highly loathsome woman, rich, smug, and mostly lacking in empathy.
  Since she cannot rely on magic in Danor, she makes use of powerful drugs 
  and poisons to placate her “products.” (She’s immune herself and as a con-
  sequence she can eat just about anything.) Once the train gets through the 
  Malice Lands she starts shamelessly enchanting men who strike her fancy to 
  sleep with her.
  Little interested in conversation, she’s content to just have feasts in the 
  lounge car and then retire to her room to read erotic poetry. But if someone 
  shamelessly compliments her or draws her into a discussion of celebrity gos-
  sip, fashion, or magic, she opens up and brags about her work, though she has 
  plenty of justifications for how her horrible behavior actually helps people.
  Cardiff Hengehill. Your classic international 
  man of mystery, Cardiff Hengehill spies in Danor with-
  out even bothering to conceal his Risuri accent or his 
  memorably handsome face. After years of small time 
  missions that he hoped would earn him a trip back 
  home to retire while he still had his looks, Cardiff finally 
  has achieved an espionage coup. Through contacts, bribery, and burglary, he 
  managed to get a copy of a briefing on Danor’s military build-up plans for the 
  next five years.
  He’s done with Risur, though, and so he plans to sell the documents for 
  20,000 gold pieces to the Drakrans. Malia, a guard on the train, has arranged 
  the meeting.
  Cardiff’s normal demeanor is cool and disapproving, and he tends to keep 
  quiet so other people are more prone to fill the awkward silence. But he can 
  fake interest with remarkable enthusiasm.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 7
  Introduction
  of the planet Nem. The PCs’ souls are pulled from their flesh and 
  trapped into a ghostly version of the train. If they do not manage 
  to reach the train’s engine and disable the lantern quickly, they’ll 
  never be able to reunite with their bodies.
  They return to this world just as the train pulls into Sid Minos 
  station. Ottavia boards a carriage and uses illusions of Luc and 
  company to try to lure the party to follow her. She takes a boat to 
  a nearby cursed island, and when night falls undead rise from the 
  sea and attack the party. Ottavia confronts the party above a tomb, 
  which provides safety from the horde of the dead, but also serves as 
  a prison for an ancient demon, Ashima-Shimtu. Though bound by 
  magic far greater than anything the PCs could now overcome, she 
  sees the party as an investment, and she offers to teleport them to 
  Vendricce so they can complete their mission.
  Of course the PCs might find their own way out, or simply avoid 
  the trap. However they manage to reach Vendricce, when the train 
  gets to the station it offloads all its passengers except Luc and his 
  remaining guards. Then the train moves to a nearby private depot 
  where a welcome party from the Obscurati waits. The party can 
  spot Lya Jierre meeting with her brother, and there’s an opportu-
  nity to steal the lantern before an overwhelming force of private 
  security comes to take Luc to the Obscurati Palace.
  While it is possible the party might follow discreetly all the way 
  to the palace, they are likely spotted by look-outs at the depot. The 
  fastest escape is to hijack the train and drive it to the harbor, where 
  their ship awaits. But Lya Jierre and other Obscurati forces try to 
  thwart them, and the submarine that has stalked them since the 
  start of their mission blocks the mouth of the harbor. The PCs are 
  outnumbered, and they must survive a gauntlet to reach their ship 
  and escape.
  Damata Griento. A 40-something half-orc from 
  Ber, Damata has brought his wife and two children on 
  board for a vacation. Though the rest of his family is a 
  boisterous party of new-wealth tourists eager to see 
  the “Old World,” Damata is troubled and edging toward 
  manic-depression.
  Damata hails from a family of orcish warchiefs in Ber, 
  and he never fit in as a warrior, so he made his wealth in real estate, mostly 
  dealing with Risuri and Danoran elites trying to set up factories. After a de-
  cade of success, though, he was suckered into a high-stakes con by a man 
  posing as a Risuri train magnate, planning to build a railroad across the An-
  thras Mountains to connect the two countries. Damata was dazzled by a slick 
  pitch that involved teleporting him to Flint and taking him to lavish parties.
  Seeing vast potential for wealth and needing a huge down payment to buy 
  a stake, Damata took a loan from The Family, a criminal organization based 
  out of Crisillyir. When his ‘partner’ disappeared with tens of thousands of 
  gold pieces, Damata was on the hook. After begging for mercy, he was told 
  to steal the magical heirlooms and war trophies of family, and bring them 
  to Nalaam where the local mages could convert the items into more liquid 
  wealth. Damata botched an attempt to lie to his wife, and ended up with her 
  and their kids tagging along, expecting to enjoy a vacation while Damata does 
  ‘research for his railroad.’
  Damata has a suitcase of holding full of magic weapons and amulets he 
  stole from his villa at home, about twenty items worth a total of 34,000 gp. 
  He has a hunch he’ll never make it home alive, and even if he does, he’s pretty 
  sure his family will kill him.
  •	 Ejeka, the wife. A darling in her late 20s, Ejeka is quieter and more re-
  served than her husband. She has an eye for art and fashion, but sees 
  her major responsibility as shepherding her two boisterous children.
  •	 Dabo, the daughter. Just turned 13, Dabo is something of a spoiled 
  princess who is used to getting her way and speaking her mind. She 
  isn’t entirely enthusiastic about the trip, and complains frequently 
  about missing her friends, and how unfair it is that she had to leave for 
  months. She’s disgusted by her father’s recent maudlin affections, and 
  was raised to think men are supposed to be tougher.
  •	 Tarro, the son. A young boy of 7, Tarro is easily bored, and constantly 
  seeks stimuli from new things, new people, new places, and new ideas. 
  He explores, and is always testing his boundaries with his parents.
  Damata plans to show his family a great vacation—museums, lavish hotels, 
  grand musical venues, fine dining—until they reach Nalaam. Should some-
  thing happen to him, he’s made arrangements with a business associate in Sid 
  Minos to take in his family.
  Malia Baccarin. Dark, lithe, and beautiful, Malia 
  grew up in Danor, though her family was Crisillyiri. She 
  has tangential connections with various criminal organi-
  zations in every city along the Avery Coast line, and she 
  enjoys favored status for getting crooks in contact with 
  other crooks in ways that profit everyone. She makes 
  sure to pick up the local newspapers at every stop along 
  the train, and often has a bundle tucked under her arm as she does her duty 
  through the train.
  She’s a skilled manipulator, and can cajole, goad, or seduce most any man 
  into doing what she wants. Her dream is to retire in a few years with a solid 
  stash of cash and buy an island villa in Crisillyir.
  Undercover Adventures.
  While we have included a mix of action scenes and dungeon crawling, 
  a major element of Always on Time sees the PCs going undercover 
  and trying not to be detected as foreign agents. Guidelines on han-
  dling PC surveilling and interrogating their marks are summarized in 
  the following Investigative Skill Challenges.
  If the players don’t seem to be enjoying keeping a low profile, 
  don’t penalize them harshly if they fall back on familiar tactics. If 
  the PCs simply attack Luc and company when they realize he’s 
  working with the conspiracy, then try to beat information out of him, 
  the party still has to make it to Vendricce to see the gathering. And 
  of course the Ob can have other agents watching the train, who can 
  be responsible for the various threats on the party’s life.
  
  8 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Introduction
  Tailing a Suspect.
  Variable Level Skill Challenge.
  Key Skills: Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Per-
  suasion, Stealth
  Default Difficulty: Moderate (DC 13).
  When a PC tries to tail a suspect, try to think of the target’s move-
  ments in three stages. For instance, in Orithea the enchantress 
  Elanor might head to the apothecary’s district, shop innocuously 
  for a bit, then head to a merchant that sells illegal love potions. In 
  Trekhom, Luc goes to a bar near the enclave, then his guards look 
  for signs of pursuit, and finally he heads to the harbor lighthouse 
  where guards stop anyone who isn’t an approved visitor.
  For each stage, narrate what the target is doing, then the PC 
  has to make two checks — one to keep up, the other to stay hidden. 
  Based on the result of the PC’s checks and the target’s plans, nar-
  rate the next stage of the pursuit. After the third stage, the target 
  reaches his or her destination and the PC should be able to witness 
  something noteworthy and important (or simply innocuous if the 
  suspect is not actually up to anything).
  If a PC fails a “keep up” check, increase the DC of further “keep 
  up” checks by one step to the Hard DC, regardless of what skill 
  is used. This represents the PC falling behind and having trouble 
  seeing where the target is going. A second failed “keep up” check 
  means the PC has lost their target.
  Likewise if the PC fails a “stay hidden” check, increase the DC 
  of further “stay hidden” checks. The target has gotten suspicious 
  and is more on guard. A second failed “stay hidden” check means 
  the target has made the PC. The target’s reaction will vary based 
  on situation and personality — flight, confrontation, attack, calling 
  the guards — but he or she almost certainly won’t let the PC see 
  anything incriminating.
  It might help to remind the players that if they think they might 
  fail, it could be smarter to give up and try again when the train 
  reaches another station on the next day (instead of tipping off a 
  potential enemy).
  Keeping Up.
  Each stage have the PC make an ability check, typically Wisdom 
  (Perception). If the target goes through a crowded district, perhaps 
  Intelligence (Investigation) would be more appropriate. If the tar-
  get asks the town guards to be on the look-out for the PC, Charisma 
  (Deception or Persuasion) might allay the guards’ suspicions. Let 
  the PCs come up with suggestions, but feel free to adjust the DC 
  based on how likely the skill would actually help the situation.
  Staying Hidden.
  Each stage have the PC make an ability check, typically Dexter-
  ity (Stealth). Strength (Athletics) might let a character stalk along 
  rooftops, if the terrain is appropriate. Charisma (Deception) or 
  Intelligence (disguise kit) might let a PC blend into the patrons at 
  a coffee shop. Perhaps a character might even hold their breath and 
  hide underwater with a Strength (Athletics) check when following 
  a target near the docks.
  Isobel Travers. An eladrin woman just 
  entered her teens, Isobel is a third generation 
  Danoran, basically born and raised to breed more 
  eladrin. Her host family has a small stable of six 
  eladrin women, and they import eladrin men to fa-
  ther children. The sons are sold to other Danoran 
  households, half the daughters are kept as future 
  breeding stock, and the rest are trained to be fine 
  wives for wealthy patrons around the continent.
  When she’s not affected by Elanor’s mind-
  numbing drugs and magic, Isobel does realize that she’s basically a slave, but 
  she has no real will to escape because she knows she could never survive on 
  her own.
  Among the many skills she was trained to make her a desirable wife, Iso-
  bel has a beautiful singing voice, but while drugged she just hums to herself, 
  mostly tragic songs about suicide and revenge.
  Mister Mapple. A year ago Dr. Wolfgang 
  von Recklinghausen dabbled in dark magic to 
  stitch together and reanimate dead flesh into a new 
  creation. Thanks to the efforts of his father, the 
  creation regenerates wounds like a troll, and has 
  almost unmatched strength and agility for a human. 
  But as a consequence of the dark magic used in his 
  creation, he drains the soul of anyone he touches.
  Wolfgang named his creation Andrei and tried to teach him to be like a son. 
  But Andrei recalled some memories of his former life, and when he finally 
  realized how his “father” had created him he lashed out. Andrei murdered 
  Wolfgang’s entire house staff, then drained the life out of the doctor’s wife. 
  He nearly killed Wolfgang too, but his father set him on fire and fled.
  Andrei eventually recovered, but his home was destroyed. For months he 
  had no thought but to find his father and kill him, but Wolfgang eluded him. 
  Eventually Andrei was reduced to begging and theft, and he wandered until 
  he came to the railroad. He’s been stowing away for the past half year, seeing 
  the world and learning voraciously, and has decided to enjoy the pleasures of 
  life instead of dwelling on death and vengeance. But he cannot touch anyone, 
  and he longs for someone he could take as a bride.
  He has chosen the name Mister Mapple, something he thought sounded 
  safe and pleasant.
  Investigative Challenges
  Two common actions during this adventure are following suspects 
  to see where they go, and engaging suspects in innocuous conversa-
  tion to try to tease out their motives. While the GM can always 
  handle these situations narratively or with ad hoc dice rolls, those 
  who want more structure can use the following skill challenges. Be 
  sure to make reasonable adjustments in reaction to what the PCs 
  are doing.
  Table: Default Skill Challenge DCs
  DC
  Difficulty
  8
  Routine
  10
  Easy
  13
  Moderate
  DC
  Difficulty
  15
  Difficult
  17
  Hard
  20
  Extreme
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 9
  Introduction
  Multiple PCs.
  Because there are so many suspects to investigate, the players have 
  to decide whether they want the wider coverage of splitting up, or 
  the easier success (and safety in numbers) of working as a team. 
  If multiple PCs are trailing the same target, each PC makes the 
  ability checks.
  If anyone succeeds the “keep up” check, it counts as a success for 
  the whole team. However, if anyone fails the “stay hidden” check, 
  it counts as a failure for the whole team and increases the DC for 
  future checks of that sort. If the team gets a second failure to stay 
  hidden, only those who failed their ability checks are spotted by 
  the target.
  Enemy Team.
  Bree, and later Luc Jierre, have back-up covering them when they 
  head out each night. For each bodyguard still active, increase the 
  DC of all the skill checks by 1 (for a maximum of +4 if Bree, Ot-
  tavia, Verzubak, and Boone are all on watch).
  However, if the PCs have figured out the bodyguards are work-
  ing together, one or two party members might distract them, so 
  they won’t count toward increasing the DC. This depends on the 
  party being smart and learning the pattern of their enemies, and 
  if done poorly it runs the risk of tipping their enemies off that the 
  PCs are hostile.
  Interrogating a Suspect.
  Variable Level Skill Challenge
  Key Skills: Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion
  Default Difficulty: Moderate (DC 13).
  An interrogation might involve subtly getting a suspect to talk 
  about herself, verbally intimidating or manipulating a prisoner 
  into confessing a secret, or physically punishing a target until he 
  breaks. To get useful information, the PC must establish and main-
  tain a rapport, and then extract information out of the target.
  When running an interrogation as a skill challenge, first have 
  the player explain or roleplay how they’ll attempt to establish 
  rapport, and then have them make an ability check. Then if they 
  succeed they can explain what information they’re trying to extract, 
  and make an ability check for that.
  Rapport.
  Rapport reflects the target’s trust of the PC. In a casual conversa-
  tion, a target might think the PC is just a normal person and have 
  no reason to look for ulterior motives, and after establishing a rap-
  port with the PC he might be willing to share things he wouldn’t 
  with a total stranger. During a harsher interrogation, the PC must 
  make sure that the target’s anger or loathing of their captor does 
  not overwhelm whatever other emotion the interrogator is trying 
  to evoke.
  To establish rapport, the PC must make a skill check. If the 
  PC has a genuine connection to the target, they might make a 
  Charisma (Persuasion) check to keep the target happy. Charisma 
  (Deception) works if the target is faking a connection, particularly 
  for seduction or to pose as a fellow criminal. If the target is a mage 
  or scholar, the PC might even use Intelligence (Arcana, History, 
  Nature, or Religion) to make the target think they have much in 
  common. Charisma (Intimidation) also works but will usually leave 
  the target unfriendly or even openly hostile after the interrogation.
  If the PC succeeds their ability check, they establish a rapport 
  and can move on to “extraction.” If they fail the ability check, the 
  target cannot be coaxed to open up. The PC can try again, but the 
  DC increases to Hard. If they fail a second time, the target won’t 
  respond to further attempts unless something changes in his or her 
  relation to the PC (such as if the PC saves the target’s life).
  Extraction.
  Once the PC has established a rapport, they can make a skill check 
  to extract information from the target. This is almost always a Wis-
  dom (Insight) check. On a success the PC gets the target to reveal 
  something useful. The target might tell a total lie but the PC is able 
  to see through it and figure out what’s really true.
  If the PC fails their check the target gives up nothing and be-
  comes a little wary. If the PC fails a second time they lose their 
  rapport with the target (which counts as one failure on a “rapport” 
  check).
  Good Cop, Bad Cop.
  When two or more characters coordinate in an interrogation, each 
  PC can make a skill check to establish rapport. As long as at least 
  one PC succeeds their check, the whole team establishes rapport. 
  Only if everyone fails does the DC for further attempts increase.
  Once the team has established rapport, anyone can actually ask 
  the questions but they just make one Wisdom (Insight) check to 
  extract information, using whosever skill modifier is highest.
  In the classic “good cop, bad cop” situation the pair coordinate 
  to get the target to open up and then the character with a stronger 
  insight asks the questions. A variant is to have one person physically 
  break a target, and then afterward a different interrogator asks the 
  questions. Or the same mechanics could handle five PCs carousing 
  at a bar, getting a suspect drunk and then encouraging him to brag 
  about his secret mission.
  Pacing and Leveling.
  The party starts this adventure at 6th level. At the adventure’s end 
  they should reach 7th level. If the PCs have not earned enough ex-
  perience through encounters, award story experience at the end of 
  the adventure.
  Favors and Prestige.
  The Zeitgeist Player’s Guide details the Prestige system and how 
  the PCs can use it to request items and call in favors. Though this 
  adventure takes place far from Risur, the RHC has agents around 
  the world. If the PCs do well at establishing contacts during the Mis-
  sion Planning montage, they will be able to get at least quick favors 
  handled.
  
  10 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Introduction
  Adventure Layout
  The majority of Always on Time occurs during a period of six days 
  it takes the train to travel 3,000 miles. Most of the party’s inves-
  tigations and interactions will occur at whatever pace they are 
  comfortable with, but the various suspicious NPCs won’t sit around 
  and let themselves be interrogated all day. While the days are spent 
  on the train with the occasional social interactions, the nights take 
  the action into various cities.
  We present the scenes that occur at specific locations in chrono-
  logical order. You’ll want to be familiar with the various NPCs in 
  order to handle the PCs investigations, which can turn out count-
  less different ways.
  Scene Layout.
  Each scene is presented in a format of Title, keywords, and tag-line. 
  Keywords include:
  Scene Type: Action, Exploration, Exposition, Puzzle, Social, or 
  Hybrid.
  Duration: Montage (a few hours or days), Real-time (a few min-
  utes), or Tactical (round-by-round).
  NPC Roster.
  Because of the large number of NPCs the party will meet, we’ve 
  compiled two handouts to help you keep track of their various sta-
  tuses, mannerisms, and role in the adventure. A DM handout lists 
  keywords and traits to help you portray the NPCs, while a player 
  handout details characters whom the PCs would be familiar with 
  at the start of the adventure. Encourage the players to add notes as 
  they meet new people of interest.
  Recurring Characters. Stover Delft, Damata Griento, Andrei 
  von Recklinghausen, Ashima-Shimtu, and Lya Jierre all play 
  prominent roles in later adventures. All other NPCs that appear in 
  this adventure might recur in minor roles, but feel free to do with 
  them as you wish. If anyone important dies, you can replace them 
  with someone thematically similar.
  NPC Entry
  Page
  Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft
  13
  Brianne “Bree” Kaldeckis, war vet
  5
  Damata Griento, orc businessman
  7
  Olivert Boone, gunslinger
  5
  Verzubak Tantalovich, luck mage
  5
  Elanor Yanette, sex trafficker
  6
  Isobel Travers, eladrin slave
  8
  “Mister Mapple,” Andrei von Recklinghausen, the Creation
  8
  Luc Jierre, arcanoscientist and inventor
  3
  Ottavia Sacredote, Obscurati priestess
  6
  Cardiff Hengehill, turncoat spy
  6
  Malia Baccarin, treacherous train guard
  7
  Minister of Outsiders Lya Jierre
  Act Three
  Incidental NPCs. The following NPCs probably only show up for 
  a single scene, but if the PCs latch on to anyone, you can refer here 
  to remind yourself who is who.
  NPC 
  Page
  Candace Coman, RHC double agent
  14
  Hank Gallager, reporter/spy
  14
  Clark Dunstan, docker/spy
  14
  Miggs Maloney, cop/spy
  14
  Jessica, Anna, Emilia, Kell-guild thieves
  14
  Glaz du Sang Magie, Obscurati water mage
  16
  Jerrial and Auria, privateer captains
  17
  Xorin Marchand, conductor
  20
  Kov Marik, train chef
  20
  Doris Gavagne, piano player
  20
  Bucher Monmarl, Danoran bureaucrat
  24
  *Hanse Randall, architect/Obscurati cell leader
  29
  Rodinn, Malice bandit captain
  29
  Vankloff Jeanov, dwarf ritualist
  Act Two
  Ulrik Pevedin, military secrets buyer
  Act Two
  *Ramos Zoltan, prison magnate/Obscurati cell leader
  Act Two
  Vlendam Heid, renowned philosopher
  Act Two
  Sylvester Fomazelli, Family capodecina
  Act Two
  Azon the Stoneforger, magical item launderer
  Act Two
  Lord Kulp, Master of Games
  Act Two
  Nikola the Necromancer
  Act Two
  Father Balthazar
  Act Two
  Jaime the Weevil
  Act Two
  Cordell Donofrio, Sid Minos businessman
  Act Three
  Gene, lunatic godhand
  Act Three
  *Lester Guillory, Risuri engineer (Ob tier 4)
  Act Three
  *Dustin Huff, Danoran astronomer (Ob tier 4)
  Act Three
  *Emily and Anna Davis, Crisillyiri lobbyists (Ob tier 4)
  Act Three
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 11
  Introduction
  Rewards
  At the end of this adventure, the party’s Prestige with Risur should 
  increase by 1 step. If they manage to stymie or confront the con-
  spirators in Vendricce in any way and manage to escape alive, their 
  Prestige with the Obscurati increases by 1. If they rescue Isobel 
  and get her to safety, their Prestige with the Unseen Court will 
  improve. It’s very unlikely the party’s Prestige with Flint or The 
  Family will change.
  At the end of Adventure Three, Digging for Lies, each PC should 
  have had gear valued at around 16,000 gp, not counting anything 
  they hid from an office audit. At the start of this adventure, the PCs 
  each receive 6,000 gp worth of stipend and salary.
  List of New Magic Items.
  New items are presented in the appendix.
  •	 Luc Jierre’s wayfarer’s lantern.
  •	 Bree’s butcher’s girdle.
  •	 Ottavia’s headband of roaming thoughts.
  •	 Cardiff’s amulet of the impeccable spy.
  •	 Boone’s demonic pistol.
  •	 Verzubak’s lucky dice ki focus.
  •	 Lya Jierre’s razorburst rapier.
  •	 An apostate godhand’s hands of heaven and hell.
  Final Word Before We Start
  We are sensitive to the risk of “railroading” the players in an ad-
  venture that literally takes place on a railroad. The players can only 
  score a complete success in their mission if they ride the train to 
  the end, and so we list events that are very likely to occur at various 
  points during the trip. However, do not hesitate to let the party’s 
  actions change things dramatically. Fun games are full of dramatic 
  surprises, and a derailing train is certainly that.
  Character Themes.
  Each Zeitgeist adventure includes one or more scenes that bring 
  the PCs’ character themes (detailed in the Zeitgeist Player’s Guide) 
  to the forefront.
  •	 Dockers will find friends in the docks along the Avery Coast, 
  making it easier to slip in and out of cities and send messages 
  to their allies at sea. But sufficiently popular dockers might 
  find their fame a liability when trying to travel incognito.
  •	 Eschatologists get to meet the founder of their movement, 
  Vlendam Heid.
  •	 Gunsmiths might enjoy shopping for enchanted firearms in 
  Trekhom, where Drakran gunsmiths are experimenting with 
  grenades and rockets.
  •	 Martial Scientists will get to duel esteemed swordswoman Lya 
  Jierre, and learn her signature severing technique.
  •	 Skyseers take a bit of a back seat after getting a lot of 
  attention in the past two adventures. However, they’ll have a 
  strong intuitive grasp of Luc’s lantern.
  •	 Spirit Mediums as always provide an invaluable skill in an 
  investigation where dead bodies might show up.
  •	 Technologists are riding a train. Odds are high they’ll get a 
  chance to drive or possibly even crash the train. Who wouldn’t 
  enjoy that?
  •	 Vekeshi Mystics have an opportunity to rescue an enslaved 
  eladrin woman, and through Ashima-Shimtu they can learn 
  part of the truth about the Great Malice.
  •	 Yerasol Veterans will be heading into the homeland of the 
  enemy they faced in the last war. You as GM should look 
  for opportunities to present old rivals who remember the 
  PC. Bree could work for this, but ideally the PC would not 
  be compelled to attack her on sight, either for revenge or to 
  maintain a cover story.
  An Avery Coast Railroad train at full steam along a lonely stretch of track.
  
  12 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Prologue: 
  If You Choose to Accept It
  be under surveillance. Toward that end, they’ll need a cover story, 
  a red herring so that any spies won’t get suspicious at the lack of 
  activity.
  Second, cover identities. This will be a difficult operation, re-
  quiring them to use false identities as they travel through multiple 
  foreign nations. They’ll need documents, appropriate attire, and 
  ways to explain their uncanny martial prowess if anyone sees them 
  get into a fight. They’ll be traveling first class, so even if the party 
  has a bunch of weird races, sufficient money tends to get people to 
  overlook such issues.
  Third, contingencies. The RHC does have agents laying low 
  along the route the PCs will be taking, but it will be a challenge to 
  coordinate them so they can be useful to the party without drawing 
  attention. Also, the nation of Risur has access to many resources, 
  and the more preparation the party does, the easier time they’ll 
  have on their mission.
  Once the planning is complete, there’s still the actual mission. 
  The party will board a ship — a new vessel, since the one they’ve pre-
  viously used is likely being watched — and sail to Beaumont. That 
  leads to the fourth component, spycraft.
  On the train they’ll need to identify people of interest without 
  blowing their cover. Delft figures that they can safely contain their 
  investigations to first- and second-class passengers, since he doubts 
  anyone important would ride coach. He reminds them that the big 
  payoff is in Vendricce, so they should be careful not to move too soon 
  and spook someone who might lead to more valuable information.
  The final step is extraction. The characters will need to come up 
  with several ways to get out of Vendricce when the mission is over. 
  Delft would love it if the characters plan a nice, quiet escape where 
  no one ever knows they were there, but he figures the party won’t 
  be so subtle, so he admonishes them to plan for other eventualities, 
  such as if they’re being pursued by an entire army or something.
  T
  his section covers the party’s planning ef-
  forts prior to embarking upon their spy mission.
  Mission Planning
  Puzzle/Social. Montage. Level 8.
  The PCs and Chief Inspector Delft plan a mission in foreign territory.
  To set the stage for the adventure, read or paraphrase the 
  following.
  Mere days ago you learned the name of the conspiracy: the Obscurati.
  They have kept their secrets well. Though twice their plots have en-
  dangered Flint, both were accidents—an earthquake released a flood of 
  deadly magical fuel they were refining on Cauldron Hill, and an alien 
  monster freed by their tinkering with ancient magic nearly pulled the 
  RHC headquarters into an insane far realm. You don’t know what their 
  ultimate designs are, but what you’ve seen suggests they have access 
  to many resources.
  Your boss, Chief Inspector Stover Delft, asks you to meet him aboard 
  your ship, far from any possible spies. The conspiracy seems overcon-
  fident in their ability to keep secrets, and they don’t know how much 
  you’ve learned. But you have a time and place where you know this 
  ‘Obscurati’ will be gathered: the 20th of Winter, in Vendricce. It’s time 
  to plan your next move.
  “I apologize for not bringing pastries and coffee,” Delft says. “This 
  meeting needs to be as hush-hush as possible. I have the first tiny bits 
  of a plan in my head, but it won’t work if any spies get wind of this. Loose 
  lips sink ships and you, constables, are going overseas.”
  Delft explains the basic idea of the mission:
  Caius’s letter said he’d be traveling by train from Beaumont, at 
  one end of the Avery Coast Railroad, to Vendricce, the other end. 
  He’d be leaving on the 11th of Winter, and would attend a meeting 
  on the 20th in Vendricce. Delft has a hunch he’ll be meeting with 
  someone else from this Obscurati group.
  The party will take the same train Caius would have, and they’ll 
  look for people he might have been meeting along the way, or oth-
  ers headed to the same meeting. In Vendricce they’ll try to recover 
  useful intelligence about the conspiracy, possibly take a prisoner for 
  later interrogation, and then return to Risur. He admits it’s com-
  plicated, but they have about fifty days to figure out all the details.
  Five Elements to a Good Spy Mission.
  There are three elements that need to be handled before the party 
  leaves, and two components to the mission itself.
  First, secrecy. The party must tell as few people as possible what 
  they’ll be doing, because they can’t know who might be a spy or 
  Timeline.
  The Zeitgeist calendar consists of four seasons of 91 days each. 
  The adventure begins somewhere around the 35th of Autumn, right 
  after the end of Digging for Lies. The party’s ship sets out for Beau-
  mont on the 85th day of Autumn. They should arrive seven days 
  later, on the 1st of Winter, giving them ten days of leeway in case 
  of delays. On the 11th, the train departs Beaumont, and barring a 
  derailment it will reach Vendricce just before dusk on the 16th.
  New Ship?
  In adventures two and three the party likely cruised around on an 
  unarmed cutter, just big enough for a party of adventurers to handle 
  on their own. In Always on Time, though, they get access to either a 
  two-masted schooner or a seaworthy steamship, armed with eight 
  light cannons. We present two specific ships that meet these criteria 
  on page 39—Roscommon and Khalundurrin.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 13
  Prologue: If You Choose to Accept It
  Planning Montage.
  The players are not expected to decide every detail; instead they’ll 
  spend the next few weeks in a sort of ‘planning montage,’ where 
  the party’s clever ideas and/or skill checks determine how well the 
  party prepares for various challenges and contingencies.
  To start, show the players the Avery Coast Railroad Brochure 
  handout (page 40), and then make sure they know the following 
  key details.
  1. The train they want to be on leaves Beaumont at 7:30 a.m. on 
  the 11th of Winter. It reaches Vendricce at around 5:30 p.m. 
  on the 16th of Winter. Caius’s meeting is supposed to start on 
  the 20th.
  2. The party will want to leave for Danor with plenty of time to 
  spare, in case of complications along the way. Delft suggests 
  the 85th of Autumn, about 50 days from now.
  3. Delft suggests having the PCs’ ship drop them off in 
  Beaumont, then sail ahead. The train moves faster than the 
  boat, but due to terrain it would be possible for their ship to 
  be in Trekhom when the train is scheduled to arrive on the 
  13th, as a contingency in case things go wrong. It could also 
  be in Sid Minos when the party arrives on the 15th. From 
  there it would still be able to reach Vendricce by the 16th.
  After that, proceed to the montage, which should progress as a 
  collaborative brainstorm. Don’t be stingy with answering their 
  questions or even suggesting a few elements they might have over-
  looked. After all, in-game the PCs have much more time to plan 
  than the players do.
  Mission Preparation
  Variable Level Skill Challenge.
  Key Proficiencies: Deception, Insight, Intimidation, History, 
  Perception, Persuasion, Stealth
  Default Difficulty: Unless otherwise noted, all ability checks are 
  DC 15.
  This challenge has three goals which the party pursues simulta-
  neously. Successful ability checks, clever ideas, or good roleplaying 
  can count as successes, and the more successes the party has, the 
  better chance they have for victory in their mission.
  Each goal lists tactics that can contribute successes. Some tac-
  tics are marked with an asterisk (*). These do not contribute to the 
  main pool of successes, but provide alternate routes to success or 
  make things easier for other checks. It is unlikely the party will 
  succeed at all their goals. That’s fine.
  •	 Goal One: Secrecy.
  •	 Goal Two: Cover Identities.
  •	 Goal Three: Contingencies.
  Passage of Time.
  This montage consists of seven rounds, each roughly a week in 
  length. Handle events week by week. Like any good montage you’ll 
  show lots of things happening at once to remind everyone of what’s 
  going on. With every round show a little improvement, but to show 
  it all will take too long.
  Meanwhile in the News…
  While the PCs are buckling down on their mission planning, what’s 
  going on in Flint and the rest of Risur?
  •	 Fire. Scholars throughout Flint weep as the Miller Memorial 
  Library burns down. The library, which was built over 400 
  years ago during the first term of Governor Roland Stanfield, 
  contained original copies of some of Risur’s oldest literature, 
  poetry, and religious epistles. Police authorities blame poor 
  construction of the building’s gaslight lanterns, but some found 
  it suspicious that no adjacent buildings caught fire. The lawyer 
  for of a pair of lizardfolk brothers serving a life sentence in 
  prison for arson delivered a statement on their behalf. Though 
  they did not explicitly claim responsibility, they warned that 
  Risur should release them, or else more buildings will burn.
  •	 Fireband. Benedict Pemberton, owner of experimental arms 
  manufacturer Pemberton Industries, is on a tour of the nation, 
  speaking with members of parliament and rich power-brokers 
  to promote his new book, Behold! Science! In it, he argues that 
  the Risur-Danor peace conference scheduled for early Spring 
  501 could kill the nation’s progress in technological innovation, 
  since without the threat of war there will be no motivation for 
  research. Critics charge he’s making a veiled push for war with 
  Ber, about which he makes derogatory claims throughout the 
  book.
  •	 Fired! As protests continue in Parity Lake over factory condi-
  tions and worker abuses, several owners discharged their entire 
  workforce without notice and brought in police to arrest as 
  trespassers any workers who showed up. The same day, several 
  hundred Beran immigrants arrived at Bosum Strand and were 
  ushered directly to the factories.
  •	 Fireworks. The year ends on the 91st of Winter, and that 
  evening the people of Flint can expect a dazzling display of 
  fireworks launched from ships in the harbor. Parades are 
  being organized, including the grand March of Kings, a mobile 
  costume ball with dancers and all manner of extravagant 
  entertainment. A few small factories upstream of Stray River 
  are producing high-quality fireworks, while those in Parity Lake 
  are under watch to make sure nothing burns down.
  •	 Ice. Climate researchers at Pardwight University warn that 
  extra soot and smoke in the air from the industrial economy 
  will block sunlight, cooling the planet and causing horrible 
  winters. A spokesman for Eschatologists of Flint United sent a 
  thank you letter to the department, encouraging them to keep 
  spreading evidence of the world’s imminent demise.
  Assistant Chief Inspector Stover 
  Delft. A local Flinter in his early 40s, Delft gets 
  squinty and condescending when his authority is 
  questioned, but he can recognize talent and good work. 
  Delft chews tobacco, and thinks he looks charming if 
  he grins while sucking on tobacco juices. He walks with 
  a cane because a mimic tore a chunk out of his leg fifteen years ago. He has 
  a habit of poking inanimate objects with the cane before he gets too close to 
  them, and spitting on them when he wants to be extra sure.
  
  14 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Prologue: If You Choose to Accept It
  Have each PC choose one goal to pursue, then describe how 
  they’ll attempt to reach that goal. If necessary, use an ability check 
  to adjudicate whether the PC succeeds. Once all the PCs have had 
  their turn, a new round starts.
  Goal One: Secrecy.
  This represents keeping up appearances so that the various spies 
  who are watching the party don’t get suspicious, or simply hiding 
  from the spies outright. Sample tactics for this goal include:
  •	 Do Busy Work, Leave Fake Paper Trail. [Dexterity (Sleight 
  of Hand), Charisma (Deception or Persuasion)] The PC 
  pretends to be on another case, or actually pursues some 
  minor investigation unrelated to the Obscurati, or files false 
  paperwork. If the party gets at least one success this way each 
  week for five consecutive weeks, the party earns two extra 
  successes, because even spies assume the party can’t be faking 
  it for that long.
  •	 Act in Secret. [Dexterity (Stealth)] Alternatively a PC might 
  arrange a careful system to ensure that no one can get a look 
  at what the party is really up to. This tactic can contribute no 
  more than four successes to the goal, however.
  •	 *Locate Spies. [Wisdom (Insight), Charisma (Deception or 
  Persuasion)] If the PCs are going to spend their time faking 
  effort, they ought to make sure those efforts are actually be-
  ing watched by someone. This doesn’t contribute to the main 
  pool of successes, but a success on this tactic makes the above 
  tactics easier, reducing busy work, fake paper trails, and 
  actions in secret to DC 13.
  •	 *Turn the Spies. [Charisma (Diplomacy or Intimidation)] 
  This risky gambit can only be attempted after the party 
  locates the spies. One success at this tactic establishes contact 
  with the spies. A second success lets the party buy off the 
  spies. For the price of a bribe worth 1,000 gp, the party con-
  vinces the spies to deliver false intelligence. (The bribe takes 
  the form of various favors and small items, not a single cash 
  payment, though it is counted from the party stipend.)
  The risk, however, is that a failure on either skill check 
  spooks the spies, and they report that they’ve been discovered. 
  At that point, no matter how many successes the party gets 
  on this goal, they can never achieve a complete victory.
  Alternately, after the first check establishes contact with 
  the spies, the party might try to just kill them. The spies are 
  no real threat — equivalent to a handful of low-level rogues– 
  so the party automatically can take them out, but this 
  likewise tips off the spymasters that something’s up, so the 
  party cannot achieve a complete victory at this goal.
  Results. If after seven weeks the party has eight successes, they get 
  a complete victory; the Obscurati have no idea the party will be 
  heading to Danor, making their enemies much less suspicious.
  Six or seven successes are a partial victory; the Obscurati know 
  the party is preparing for a sea voyage, so they make various 
  precautions.
  Fewer successes are a failure. The Obscurati pretty much know 
  the party’s plans — someone blabbed, or a spy snuck a magical lis-
  tening device into their office, or they got a member of the party’s 
  ship’s crew to betray them.
  Goal Two: Cover Identities.
  Before going undercover in foreign countries, the PCs need to 
  make sure their cover identities will withstand scrutiny. Simply 
  showing up and announcing they’re RHC constables will get them 
  tossed out of the country or arrested as spies. Some tactics toward 
  this goal include:
  •	 Visas, Passports, Miscellaneous Documents. [Dexterity 
  (Sleight of Hand), Intelligence (forgery kit), Charisma 
  (Diplomacy)] These items, acquired legally or illegally, 
  provide ‘proof’ for the party’s cover identities. This tactic can 
  contribute no more than three successes.
  •	 Look the Part. [Intelligence (disguise kit), Charisma (Decep-
  tion)] A PC finds appropriate clothes and accoutrements for 
  the whole party, and makes grooming suggestions to aid 
  the disguise. This tactic can contribute no more than two 
  successes.
  •	 Rehearse Personalities. [Intelligence (disguise kit), Wisdom 
  (Insight)] A PC can quiz the rest of the party to make sure 
  they won’t be tripped up by questions, that they don’t answer 
  to the wrong name, and that they all know each other as well 
  as they should. This tactic can contribute no more than three 
  successes.
  •	 Finishing Touches. [Intelligence (Arcana, History, or Reli-
  gion)] The appropriate skill depends on what cover the party 
  is using, but a PC could coach the party on topics their cover 
  identity would know.
  •	 Results. A complete victory here means the party not only 
  has pulled together convincing backstories, costumes, and 
  documentation, but they’ve had a chance to get comfortable 
  with their cover identities. They’ll only be discovered if they 
  act overtly out of character (and you as GM should try to 
  remind them before they accidentally do anything that would 
  break their cover).
  Large and Small Parties.
  For each PC fewer than five in a skill challenge, reduce the number 
  of successes needed for partial victories and complete victories. For 
  each PC above five in a skill challenge, increase the number of suc-
  cesses need by two.
  What Spies?
  A secretary in the RHC office, Candace Coman, thinks she’s just 
  keeping tabs on the PCs for a reporter, but the reporter she’s in 
  contact with is actually Hank Gallager, a spy who delivers his in-
  formation to an anonymous proxy in Parity Lake. The information 
  Gallagher delivers eventually gets to Lorcan Kell’s thieves guild, who 
  in turn pass it on to the Obscurati.
  Meanwhile a docker named Clark Dunstan watches the party’s 
  ship, while an elderly cop named Miggs Maloney looks for chatter 
  about the party from other police officers. Both report to a similar 
  chain of command as Gallager. The only real threat are a trio of 
  Kell-guild thieves—Jessica, Anna, and Emilia—who watch the PCs’ 
  homes and occasionally tail them.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 15
  Prologue: If You Choose to Accept It
  A partial victory means the identities are hard to pierce, but they 
  won’t stand up to close scrutiny. A failure means that their identi-
  ties are just the minimum sufficient to get them into Danor and 
  onto the train. If they raise a fuss or draw the attention of the au-
  thorities, they’ll have to work to avoid discovery.
  Goal Three: Contingencies.
  Each week a PC can choose to take the necessary steps to prepare 
  for one of the following contingencies. Most of these do not require 
  any sort of skill check to succeed; it’s enough for the narrative that 
  the player is making plans. Some are harder to get, though.
  •	 Docks and Ports. If the PCs need to sneak in or out of a city 
  or get contraband delivered, this contingency will ensure 
  they have allies they can turn to at the docks of one of the six 
  coastal cities along the railroad (Nalaam is in the moun-
  tains). These allies might only number five or six, and they 
  won’t fight for the party, but they’ll act as look-outs or do safe 
  favors. The main challenge to this contingency is to arrange 
  and communicate codes and signals to people across the 
  sea. After all, the PCs and their allies have likely never met 
  before.
  Each time the party chooses this contingency, they can 
  arrange contacts in another city’s port. A character with the 
  Docker theme always has a chance of finding friends in port 
  even if the party did not arrange for allies in a given city.
  •	 Enclaves. Each night the train stops in a Danoran-owned 
  enclave with entertainment and lodging. Each time the party 
  pursues this contingency, they can arrange for allies in one 
  of the seven cities along the railroad. As above, these allies 
  won’t fight for the party, but they can be a useful extra set of 
  hands.
  •	 Friendly Passengers. Each time the party chooses this 
  contingency, they can arrange for one Allied Passenger to be 
  in the coach cars, ready to act when they see the right signal. 
  The stats for Allied Passengers are presented in Appendix 
  One: The Avery Coast Railroad.
  •	 Eyes on the Train. [Charisma (Persuasion)] With a success-
  ful check, a PC can arrange for a low-level RHC agent to 
  get a job aboard the train, likely as cleaning or cook staff. If 
  the party succeeds a second check they can also get someone 
  hired on to the train’s security detail.
  •	 Teleportation. [Intelligence (Arcana)] If the party is not able 
  to do so themselves, they might need a mage to teleport them, 
  particularly if they get thrown off the train and need to catch 
  up to the next stop. Only Trekhom, Nalaam, Sid Minos, 
  and Vendricce can be teleported into, as they possess the 
  necessary teleportation beacons (cities without beacons are 
  difficult to teleport into or out of, due to latent gold deposits 
  in the ground). A successful check gets a mage in one of those 
  cities to wait on retainer, ready to teleport the party.
  These cities’ teleportation beacons are in secure facilities 
  under heavy guard. While foreigners are allowed to enter, 
  they will be questioned thoroughly, subjected to mild 
  divinations, and asked to pay for a teleportation visa if they 
  do not already have one (at the cost of 500 gp per person, 
  valid for five years).
  •	 Care Package. [Charisma (Persuasion)] If the party is ca-
  pable of sending, they can requisition gear from the RHC just 
  as if they were present in person. After first making an Intel-
  ligence (Arcana) check to get a mage on retainer in Flint, the 
  party will have to convince the RHC’s quartermaster to be 
  ready to hand over requested items to the mage. If success-
  ful, the party would be able to cast sending, use the normal 
  Prestige rules to requisition items, and then have the items 
  delivered via teleportation to the city of their choice. The time 
  required would be about 8 hours longer than however much 
  time it would normally take.
  Results. After the seven weeks of preparation, make a list of what 
  contingencies the party planned for. When they run into trouble 
  during the adventure, encourage them to call upon whatever plans 
  they made in advance, and try not to say no to reasonable sugges-
  tions. It’s likely the party will make some plans that are never 
  necessary, so if they actually picked the right spot to plan, make 
  sure to reward them for it.
  Bah! Let’s Start Already!
  If your players just want to jump into the mission, they can use 
  the following cover identities. Adjust genders, names, and races as 
  needed. Strange races will require more elaborate explanations.
  •	 Royston Porcher. Veteran of the Fourth Yerasol War, turned 
  land-owner in the southwestern Risuri province of Blackgap. 
  Now touring the Avery Coast with his bodyguards and former 
  war buddies.
  •	 Gary Normanson. War buddy of Royston’s.
  •	 Tristan Wolfe. Another war buddy.
  •	 Scottie Butcher. Mage bodyguard, hired to check for 
  compulsions and illusions.
  •	 Chet Foster. Foreign manservant.
  As for secrecy and contingency, assume the party got a partial suc-
  cess on maintaining secrecy; and give them two “spy tokens.” During 
  the adventure they can hand over a spy token to get help for one of 
  the contingencies above, as if they’d planned for it.
  
  16 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  T
  his act includes the party’s journey to 
  Danor and their train’s travel through Danor 
  and the Malice Lands.
  Dangerous Waters
  Exploration. Montage.
  The party sets sail across the Avery Sea, but their route is watched 
  by the Obscurati.
  On the night of the night of the 85th of Autumn, Delft wishes 
  the party luck, and then they set out aboard their ship (detailed on 
  page 39, Roscommon and Khalundurrin). Any skyseer in the party 
  notes that one of the golden motes of Urim has disappeared, likely 
  devoured by Nem. This heralds a change in fortune, and promises 
  secrets will be revealed.
  The ship sets out on a seven-day voyage west into the Yerasol Ar-
  chipelago, then north to Beaumont. It’s a well-trafficked merchant 
  route, and though their ship flies Risuri colors, Danor’s navy is not 
  supposed to attack.
  On the fourth day, as they near the archipelago, the party might 
  notice a smoke plume following them a mile or two away with a 
  successful DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check, as if coming from 
  a steamship. But there’s no sign of an actual vessel. If a PC uses a 
  spyglass eventually he spots a small steam pipe sticking five feet out 
  of the water, emitting the smoke. Just in front of it is a periscope.
  Cachalot.
  The party’s ship is being followed by the Cachalot, an experimental 
  submarine powered by both steam and magic. The Obscurati have a 
  handful of these vessels, and they patrol around Axis Island. Each 
  is 110 feet long, 15 feet wide, and has a crew of 8 marines and 
  one magitech engineer. They’re little more than tubes with pumps, 
  compressed air, and engines, but with the aid of magic they’re fast 
  enough to track any ship in the sea. If threatened they can dive to a 
  depth of 30 feet and easily slip away. Each also carries two smaller 
  submersible pods with mechanical arms. They can be used as escape 
  vehicles, or as delivery devices for spellbombs.
  The engineer and captain of the Cachalot is a very old Danoran 
  wizard named Glaz du Sang Magie. He specializes in hydromancy, 
  but has a fascination for ice and steam as well as liquid water.
  Welcome Party.
  Obscurati mages on Axis Island regularly cast divinations to see if 
  potential threats might be approaching, but they get lots of false 
  positives because they’re paranoid. When the party approaches, 
  they send out a submarine to see if they’re a legitimate threat. If so, 
  they have on their payroll various privateer ships in the archipelago 
  they can magically contact. The Ob’s actions vary based on how well 
  the party handled the Secrecy aspect of the planning montage.
  Complete Victory. One of the pods sneaks up and plants a magical 
  tracking device on the bottom of the PCs’ ship’s hull. The subma-
  rine tails them for a day until they get near Danor, where even the 
  seas are part of the dead magic zone. It reports back to base, and 
  the Ob perform more divinations. Eventually they realize who the 
  Act One: All Aboard
  An Ob vessel tows the Cachalot into position for its subterfuge mission.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 17
  Act One: All Aboard
  party is and where they’re headed, so they give the Cachalot orders 
  to follow the party’s ship all the way to Vendricce.
  Partial Victory. As above, but the Ob also sends two privateer 
  ships to board the party’s vessel and look for anything suspicious. 
  This might provoke a fight, but it’s not necessary.
  Failure. The Ob wants to stop the party now, so they order the 
  privateers and the Cachalot to attack.
  Interception.
  The route through the Yerasol Archipelago gets a bit dicey in a few 
  spots, and every captain has his favored stations of passage. One 
  such is a steep wooded island called Rivenstone. The trees here 
  yield soft lumber, good for quick ship repairs but not long-term 
  shipbuilding. There’s even a large safe cove with sheltering rock 
  walls, named Colmarr’s Folly after a gnome ranger who sank his 
  ship when he sailed too close and cracked his keel. The wreck lies 
  split on either side of the cove’s threshold.
  In the predawn hours of the fourth day of their journey (89th 
  Autumn), the party’s ship passes near Rivenstone. Any PC with 
  darkvision who is on lookout might notice one of the Cachalot’s 
  pods sneaking up to the party’s ship in the predawn hours by mak-
  ing a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check. If the pod crew thinks 
  they’re undetected, they use the pod’s mechanical arm to jam an 
  enchanted metal spike into the bottom of the ship’s hull; this spike 
  acts as a beacon, making it easier for Cachalot to track the party’s 
  movements. Then, if the Ob has ordered a boarding or attack, they 
  use the pod’s mechanical arm to detach the party’s ship’s rudder.
  If no PC noticed the pod, the party’s crew realizes the rudder 
  isn’t working within a few minutes, by which point it has drifted 
  away into the night. If the party spots the pod or is wary of sabotage, 
  they might be able to get the rudder and start to reattach it. At best 
  they’ll get done just after sunrise, right as the privateers arrive.
  Battle of Colmarr’s Folly
  Action. Tactical.
  Two ironclad privateers attempt to board the party’s vessel, while a 
  submarine lurks nearby.
  Two privateer ships — Canis est Carnes and Amicus Selachii — ap-
  pear on the horizon and make for the party. Using semaphore, the 
  privateers signal for the party to yield to boarding and search. Once 
  the ships reach close range, the privateers prefer to board and force 
  surrender rather than sink a valuable ship.
  Canis est Carnes
  •	 28 privateer crewmembers
  •	 2 privateer officers
  •	 Captain Jerrial
  Amicus Selachii
  •	 22 privateer crewmembers
  •	 4 privateer officers
  •	 Captain Auria
  Cachalot
  •	 8 Obscurati marines
  •	 Glaz du Sang Magie
  Each privateer ship individually is an average encounter. Together 
  they’re a hard encounter. The Cachalot would be a hard encounter, 
  though they withdraw if they don’t win as fast as they’d like, so 
  they’re more like a challenging encounter. If the party is set upon by 
  all the ships at once, it’s equivalent to a very difficult epic encounter.
  Terrain.
  If the party has a rudder they can make for the cove, Colmarr’s 
  Folly, which presents a bottleneck for the privateers so they can only 
  attack one at a time. First the Canis attacks, starting 100 feet away 
  and closing 40 feet per round until it stops adjacent. The Amicus 
  appears 8 rounds later, sailing up alongside the Canis and using 
  it as a bridge to the party. The Cachalot’s pods flank the party and 
  attack from the far side. Also, because the cove is only about 20 feet 
  deep at its entrance, the Cachalot won’t follow because its captain is 
  wary of getting stuck. Of course, the party might simply get caught 
  out in open water.
  The Cachalot can detach its side pods, each 15 feet long with a 
  hatch on top. If someone is inside to pilot, they have a speed of 50 
  feet underwater, or 20 feet on the surface.
  Tactics.
  The privateers aren’t particularly clever. Jerrial, who wears bucca-
  neer’s breastplate so he can swim safely and walk on water, leads 
  his crew in melee. Auria has two of her crew hold and load spare 
  muskets for her as she fires from her ship’s forecastle at anyone 
  who’s out of reach of the main crew. The officers use their fencing 
  skills to try to dark around and make attacks on weaker opponents.
  Aboard the Cachalot, Glaz watches through the periscope. Even 
  if he has orders to attack the party, he’s wary of risking his ship so 
  he lets the privateers exhaust themselves first. Then he surfaces and 
  pops the hatch so he can conjure an ice storm to trap the party’s 
  Sightseeing.
  If the PCs take this opportunity to take a look at how things have 
  developed on Axis Island since they left, warships patrol the waters 
  near it. Should the party somehow get onto the island, they find ex-
  cavations akin to those at the ziggurats, but on a much grander scale. 
  Factories have sprung up around the Axis Fortress, assembling hu-
  manoid constructs for manual labor so that no menial workers will 
  be exposed to the island’s secrets. A lake is being drained, its feeding 
  streams diverted so that in the coming months the giant Axis Seal 
  can be unearthed. Security is extremely tight.
  Naval Combat.
  Escaping the privateers is only possible if the party’s ship has its 
  rudder intact. Even then, it’s a long endeavor. Every eight hours 
  can each make a DC 14 Dexterity (vehicle [water]) check to help 
  navigate, aid the crew, trick the pursuers, or perhaps hide amid 
  the archipelago. If at least half the party succeeds these checks, 
  they get a victory. They have to rack up three victories to shake the 
  privateers off their tails. If all the PCs fail, it negates one victory. 
  If the party is already out of victories and then all PCs fail, the 
  privateers catch up.
  
  18 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  ship. Four marines swim to the ice floe and climb aboard the party’s 
  ship, while the others pair up in the sub’s pods. Each pod has one 
  pilot and one man up top, shooting out of the hatch.
  If more than half the marines are defeated, or if Glaz feels 
  threatened, he orders a retreat. As many men as possible pile back 
  into the sub, and then it submerges.
  Privateer Crewmember
  Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
  Armor Class 12 (leather armor)
  Hit Points 11 (2d8+2)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   11 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  12 (+1) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Saving Throws passive Perception 10
  Skills Athletics +2, Vehicles (water) +3
  Senses passive Perception 10
  Languages Common, Dwarvish
  Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
  Actions
  Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 
  (1d6+1) slashing damage.
  Privateer Officer
  Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
  Armor Class 15 (studded leather)
  Hit Points 65 (10d8+20)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   15 (+2) 
  16 (+3) 
  14 (+2) 
  14 (+2) 
  11 (+0) 
  14 (+2)
  Saving Throws str +4, dex +5, wis +2
  Skills Athletics +4, Deception +4, Vehicles (water) +5
  Senses passive Perception 10
  Languages Common
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Actions
  Multiattack. The privateer officer makes three melee attacks: two with 
  their rapier and one with their dagger. Or the privateer officer makes 
  two ranged attacks with their pistol.
  Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 
  (1d6+3) piercing damage.
  Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 
  20/40 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
  Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 8 (1d10+3) piercing damage.
  Reactions
  Parry. The privateer officer adds 2 to their AC against one melee attack 
  that would hit them. To do so, the privateer officer must see the 
  attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.
  Equipment
  Gear. The privateer officer carries a potion of greater healing (heals 
  4d4+4 hp).
  Captain Jerrial, Canis
  Medium humanoid (human), lawful evil
  Armor Class 16 (buccaneer’s breastplate)
  Hit Points 112 (15d8+45)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   18 (+4) 
  15 (+2) 
  16 (+3) 
  10 (+0) 
  12 (+1) 
  15 (+2)
  Saving Throws str +7, dex +5, con +6
  Skills Athletics +10, Intimidation +5, Vehicles (water) +8
  Senses passive Perception 11
  Languages Common
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
  Brave. Jerrial has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
  Brute. A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when Jerrial 
  hits with it (included in the attack).
  Net Master. Jerrial does not have disadvantage on attack rolls with his 
  net from being within an enemy’s reach. In addition, he is able to make 
  attacks with other weapons the same round he attacks with a net.
  Actions
  Multiattack. Jerrial attacks twice with his magic trident and once with 
  his net or makes three melee attacks.
  Magic Trident. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft. or 
  range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d6+5) piercing damage.
  Net. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 5/15 ft., one target. Hit: 
  If the target is Large or smaller it is restrained until it is freed. A 
  restrained target or another creature within its reach can use its 
  action to make a DC 10 Strength check to escape the net. Dealing 
  5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees a restrained target 
  without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net.
  Reactions
  Parry. Jerrial adds 2 to his AC against one melee attack that would 
  hit him. To do so, he must see the attacker and be wielding a melee 
  weapon.
  Equipment
  Gear. Jerrial carries a potion of greater healing (heals 4d4+4 hp).
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 19
  Act One: All Aboard
  Captain Auria, Amicus
  Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
  Armor Class 16 (studded leather)
  Hit Points 75 (10d8+30)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   10 (+0) 
  18 (+4) 
  17 (+3) 
  13 (+1) 
  12 (+1) 
  13 (+1)
  Saving Throws dex +7, con +6, wis +4
  Skills Acrobatics +7, Athletics +6, Deception +4, Insight +4, Perception 
  +4, Sleight of Hand +7, Vehicles (water) +7
  Senses passive Perception 14
  Languages Common, Elvish
  Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
  Brave. Auria has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
  Cunning Action. On each of her turns, Auria can use a bonus action to 
  take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
  Deadeye. A firearm deals one extra die of its damage when Auria hits 
  with it (included in the attack) and Auria ignores any cover but total 
  cover when attacking with a firearm.
  Evasion. When Auria is subjected to an effect that allows her to make 
  a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, she instead takes 
  no damage if she succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage 
  if she fails.
  Actions
  Multiattack. Auria attacks twice.
  Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 
  20/40 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4+4) piercing damage.
  Musket. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 40/120 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 17 (2d12+4) piercing damage.
  Reactions
  Uncanny Dodge. When an attacker that Auria can see hits her with an 
  attack, she can use her reaction to halve the attack’s damage against 
  her.
  Obscurati Marine
  Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
  Armor Class 15 (chain shirt)
  Hit Points 39 (6d8+12)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   13 (+1) 
  15 (+2) 
  14 (+2) 
  12 (+1) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Saving Throws dex +5, con +6, wis +3
  Skills Athletics +4, Perception +4, Vehicles (water) +5
  Senses passive Perception 14
  Languages Common, Elvish
  Challenge 1 (200 XP)
  Frost Bullets (10, 1/turn). The Obscurati Marine’s pistol attack deals 
  cold damage instead of piercing damage.
  Actions
  Multiattack. The Obscurati Marine attacks twice. They can only attack 
  once per round with their pistol.
  Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage.
  Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 7 (1d10+2) piercing damage.
  REACTIONS
  Uncanny Dodge. When an attacker that the Obscurati Marine can 
  see hits them with an attack, they can use their reaction to halve the 
  attack’s damage against them.
  Glaz du Sang Magie
  Male humanoid (human), lawful neutral
  Armor Class 17 (mage armor, ring of protection)
  Hit Points 130 (20d8+40)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   8 (-1) 
  16 (+3) 
  14 (+2) 
  16 (+3) 
  12 (+1) 
  10 (+0)
  Saving Throws Dex +7, Wis +5, Cha +4
  Skills Athletics +2, Arcana +6, Insight +4, Perception +4
  Senses passive Perception 14
  Languages Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, Sylvan
  Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
  Cold Training. By spending a bonus action when he casts a spell that 
  deals damage, Glaz can change the damage the spell deals to cold.
  Focused. Glaz has advantage on Constitution saving throws made to 
  maintain concentration on a spell.
  Sculpt Spells. When Glaz casts an evocation spell that affects other 
  creatures that he can see, he can choose a number of them equal to 
  1 + the spell’s level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on 
  their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they 
  would normally take half damage on a successful save.
  Spellcasting. Glaz is an 8th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is 
  Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). He has the 
  following spells prepared from the wizard’s spell list:
  Cantrips (at will): light, ray of frost, shocking grasp, true strike
  1st level (4 slots): burning hands, color spray, magic missile, shield, 
  thunderwave
  2nd level (4 slots): blur, flaming sphere, invisibility, protection from 
  arrows, scorching ray
  3rd level (3 slots): dispel magic, fireball, protection from energy, slow, 
  water breathing
  4th level (2 slots): fire shield, ice storm, wall of fire
  Actions
  Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 
  20/40 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
  Cold Blast. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 14 (2d10+3) cold damage.
  Equipment
  Gear. Glaz carries a ring of protection.
  Aftermath.
  If the party prevails, they sadly can’t do much with the extra ships, 
  though if they do manage to seize the Cachalot they might decide 
  to trade up to the more advanced vessel. Glaz begs for mercy if de-
  feated, and offers to give the party information about the Obscurati. 
  He doesn’t know much they aren’t already aware of, but he can give 
  them an idea of what’s happening on Axis Island, and might even 
  be willing to lie to the Ob via sending, telling them both the PCs’ 
  ship and his own sub sank, but that he found his way to an island 
  and does not need rescue.
  
  20 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  If the party is defeated and the GM wants to salvage the rest of 
  the adventure, perhaps have them taken to Beaumont as prison-
  ers, where they’d have a chance to escape. They’d probably have to 
  board the train as coach passengers, but they’d still have a chance. 
  If the GM thinks the PCs might enjoy owing a favor to the fey, they 
  might be rescued at sea when the privateers are attacked by merfolk 
  agents of Beshela, the archfey who appeared briefly in the first ad-
  venture as an ally of Duchess Ethelyn.
  Entering Danor
  Social. Montage.
  Arriving in Beaumont, the party has a few days to get settled before 
  the mission.
  A ship riddled with cannon holes will raise a few eyebrows in the 
  port of Beaumont, but luckily the Obscurati do not have allies ev-
  erywhere, so the party can get into the city easily. A customs agent 
  and his security staff briefly check the party’s documents, then wel-
  comes them to Danor.
  The PCs should get lodgings appropriate to their cover stories, 
  and they might fill their time by visiting the local military academy 
  Lamar University, attending an opera, or taking in a burlesque 
  show. The city is smaller than Flint, with a thicker stench of indus-
  try hanging in the air, but it’s full of people like any other. Most 
  dislike Risuri, but they’re hardly a faceless enemy nation.
  Very little magic works in Danor, and so the city lacks any of the 
  tiny magical flourishes found in every civilized part of Risur. But 
  perhaps the biggest shift is the climate. Just a couple hundred miles 
  north of Flint, Beaumont has no shelter against frigid arctic winds 
  blowing south. While it hasn’t begun to snow yet, the temperature 
  drops near freezing at night, weather unheard of in Flint.
  Needle in a Haystack
  Social. Real-Time.
  As hundreds of people board at the western terminus of the railroad, 
  the party looks for suspicious characters.
  Boarding: Bree, the Griento family, the PCs.
  On the morning of the 11th of Winter, the party’s train is set to 
  depart at 7:30 a.m. (See map opposite and Appendix 1, page 33.)
  The elaborate architecture of Beaumont’s Western Station looms over 
  you: seemingly drooping, heavy with stone depictions of the celestial 
  bodies. Behind you, imposing in its vastness, a giant marble clock face 
  some twenty feet in diameter gives accurate time down to the second. 
  Brass numbers dictate the passage of each moment, an exacting feat of 
  engineering that Danor has exported to most of the world.
  In front of you is another of Danor’s marvels: the Avery Coast train, 
  a great behemoth of black iron, still somehow appearing sinuous as it 
  stretches into the distance in front of you. Windows stud its length, and, 
  at the far end, gray smoke belches out of the smokestack of the locomo-
  tive. This is the marvel that is said to have tamed the Malice Lands, and 
  it is working to unite the continent into one grand economy. Brochures 
  announce that the railroad has proven that Danor can accomplish more 
  with intelligence and manpower than most nations can accomplish with 
  mystical secrets and genuflecting to gods.
  The train hisses and steam spurts from its edge, casting a white haze 
  over the platform and obscuring some of the other passengers waiting 
  here. There is a whistle, and a man waves at the crowd, welcoming you 
  aboard. He wears a brilliant red and yellow sash emblazoned with the 
  symbol of the Avery Coast Line: a pair of train tracks, woven in an infin-
  ity symbol.
  The waving man is the train’s conductor, the amiable and boisterous 
  Xorin Marchand, and when he realizes the party is traveling first 
  class he beams at the chance to impress them. He offers to per-
  sonally escort them to the rear of the train. Porters can take their 
  luggage, and the whole group boards onto the lavish first class din-
  ing car, Car 19, while the crowd of coach passengers waits in line.
  Xorin introduces the party to Kov Marik the first class chef and 
  Doris Gavagne the piano player, then escorts them to their suite 
  in Car 17. While the porters deposit their bags, Xorin encourages 
  them to enjoy a complimentary breakfast in the dining car. The 
  party might decline Xorin’s tour so they can better watch who else 
  boards the train, and he won’t press the matter.
  Exploring the Train.
  The coach cars are about half-full with workers, and the second-
  class rooms are also about half-full with businessmen. Only one 
  other suite in first class is occupied. If the party brings their tickets 
  with them they have free run of everything from Car 10 on back, 
  but the crew ask everyone to be in their assigned spaces when the 
  train departs, to make sure they have an accurate count.
  Among the hundreds of people on board, there are about forty in 
  the second class rooms, and a family of four in the suite next to the 
  party’s. Of the former, only one makes an immediate impression.
  Bree.
  Brianne Kaldeckis, called “Bree,” boards in a fairly sour mood, and 
  if asked, she may confess that she has a friend who was supposed to 
  board with her, who is now missing. Though she has a seat in Car 16, 
  she sits in the first class lounge car, looking for Caius. She knows 
  his mission was secret, though, so she won’t give away many details. 
  She’s not terribly talkative, and if pressed tries to steer conversa-
  tions to generic topics like travel and weather. Talking about the 
  war does get her interested, and she’s excited to hear how it looked 
  from “the other side.”
  The Grientos.
  A family of four Beran half-orcs is on board the Avery Coast line, 
  riding it from one end to the other as a sightseeing trip. They are 
  the Grientos, and behave very much like an archetypal tourist fam-
  ily. They are also very “new money,” traveling in a first class that 
  they are fairly inexperienced at handling gracefully. They board the 
  train, and take up residence in the first class lounge, in awe of their 
  environment. The husband, Damata, is particularly excitable and 
  chatty, and he tries to strike up conversations about engineering, 
  but hems and haws if anyone brings up sightseeing.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 21
  Act One: All Aboard
  
  22 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  If the PCs haven’t already noticed, Tarro the son makes a fuss 
  about Bree’s arm scars. Ejeka the wife apologizes and tries to get 
  the boy to drop the topic, but Bree just smiles calmly and tells Tarro 
  that if his sister’s arm ever gets cut off, he should hold onto it in case 
  they can sew it back on. This excites Tarro the son to no end, and 
  causes Dabo the daughter to shriek. Damata becomes stricken at 
  the thought of his children being hurt.
  Last Check.
  At 7:25 (a.m. and p.m.) train security guard Malia Baccarin makes 
  a pass through the first class and second class sections, checking 
  to make sure everyone’s in their right section and no rabble snuck 
  in from coach. The beautiful, dark-skinned woman stands out in 
  Danor almost as much as the family of half-orcs.
  Malia makes an offer to any men in first or second class, as well 
  as women (like Bree) who look tough. She asks if they’ll be staying 
  with the train on to Trekhom. If so, it’s traditional for distinguished 
  guests to enjoy a ‘safari’ of sorts in the Malice Lands. They sit on the 
  roof of the train with muskets, and with the guidance of the train’s 
  security personnel they can shoot at any malice beasts that come at 
  the train. Malia’s ulterior motive here is to figure out who might 
  be a threat when her brigand allies attack in the Malice Lands. If 
  anyone’s interested, she offers to acquire fine rifles when they’re in 
  Cherage, for the low price of 100 gp apiece. See the Arms Dealers 
  sidebar in Act Two for details.
  Shortly after the security check, the clock tower outside the sta-
  tion booms out a tune on the half hour. There is a great snapping 
  hiss heard throughout the train, and the behemoth vehicle lurches 
  into action, metal squealing and clicking. The party can feel the 
  train accelerating, slowly but steadily hauling its tons of cargo and 
  passengers up to speeds unmatched except by magic. Beaumont 
  glides past, and soon the scenery of pastoral Danor is flying by at 
  60 miles an hour.
  Keskay
  Social. Montage.
  More suspects board at the city of Keskay.
  Boarding: Elanor and Isobel, Verzubak, Boone.
  The train stops about once an hour at different small cities, wait-
  ing just 10 minutes for people to board or disembark. No one else 
  boards on first class, but the ranks of second class and coach shuffle 
  gradually through the day. If you need help fleshing out impromptu 
  social interactions between the PCs and these unimportant passen-
  gers, see Filler NPCs (page 35).
  The train stops in the agricultural hub city of Keskay at 11:17 
  a.m. Outside the windows the party can see people gathered on the 
  landing, and amid a crowd of unassuming human workers and busi-
  nessmen, four people stand out.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 23
  Act One: All Aboard
  Big Pimping.
  The people attracting the most attention on the Keskay stop are a 
  pair of travelers joined at the wrists by ornate bracelets of gold. One 
  is Elanor Yanette, an immense woman, well-dressed in a flowing 
  silken gown, with a constant expression of disdain on her jowls. She 
  escorts a figure wrapped from head to toe in black fabrics, such that 
  it’s impossible to tell if it’s a man or a woman. Even the eyes are hid-
  den by dark gauze. This is Isobel, an eladrin woman who was raised 
  by a Danoran family and has just turned twenty. Elanor is taking 
  her to Nalaam, where she’ll fetch a stunning price as a trophy wife.
  Elanor leads Isobel, and the gazes of hundreds of curious onlook-
  ers follow them. The two board; while their luggage is taken to a 
  suite in Car 18, they head straight for the first-class lounge. Elanor 
  demands food. Isobel sits across from her and says nothing. Occa-
  sionally she starts to hum, but Elanor slaps her hand to silence her.
  Isobel eats only food Elanor brought along, which is laced with 
  drugs that dull the senses and willpower. She’ll be allowed to sober 
  up in Nalaam, to be presentable to buyers, but Elanor can’t have 
  her valuables running away. Elanor keeps Isobel veiled to hide that 
  she’s an eladrin woman, and forces her to wear multiple gold rings 
  and necklaces so she can’t teleport. She never lets Isobel leave her 
  sight, and won’t blink to kill anyone who tries to steal from her.
  Lady’s Man.
  Another object of interest is Olivert Boone, a tall, refined-looking 
  tiefling, dressed in a long leather coat, underneath which he wears 
  an ostentatious red-velvet vest. His horns sprout through a rough 
  hat that he wears to shield his eyes from the sun. He smiles charm-
  ingly at the two lovely, high-class looking women who have draped 
  themselves around his shoulders. Once he has stowed his luggage 
  (in Car 14), he makes straight for the common food car (Car 13). 
  He proceeds to buy drinks for the two dozen people there, flirts 
  with some women, and then heads to the first class lounge (Car 19), 
  grinning at the jealous anger of his two lady friends.
  Well, That Was Lucky.
  Verzubak Tantalovich, a bleary-eyed and richly dressed dwarf, 
  boards in the coach section (Car 10), then makes his way through 
  crowded aisles to his seat in Car 15. As he is passing through the 
  common dining car, there is a small outcry: a man has choked on a 
  small nut and died. The PCs might investigate or learn later that the 
  dead man was armed with a hidden, poisoned dagger, and he had 
  a portrait in his pocket of a dwarf that sort of resembles Verzubak.
  The death is an accident. Verzubak jostled the man in passing, 
  causing him to choke, but it was not intentional. The dwarf is just 
  that lucky, thanks to the power of a pair of magic dice he uses. The 
  power is subtle, but it protects him even in Danor’s dead magic zone.
  Secret Mission.
  Bree, Boone, and Verzubak all note each other, but don’t interact. 
  Someone hanging out in the first class lounge who makes a very 
  good DC 20 Wisdom (Insight) check can tell that the dwarf is ig-
  noring the others a bit too studiously, but Boone and Bree are good 
  enough liars not to give any tells unless the PCs engage them in 
  close conversation.
  Night in Cherage
  Social. Real-Time.
  It’s much harder to keep an eye on suspects when they all get off the 
  train for the night in the capital of Danor.
  The train arrives in Cherage at 5:38 p.m. A few minutes later 
  another train, heading west from Orithea, pulls up parallel to them. 
  Both park for the night.
  Fifteen minutes outside of Cherage, the train guard Malia asks everyone 
  to please return to their seats to keep an eye on their personal effects. 
  The enclaves are always busy, she says, and it’s easy for thieves to hop 
  on board in the commotion and nick unattended valuables.
  The majestic capital city of Cherage looms on hills around the train 
  station, casting deep purple shadows in the light of the setting sun. 
  Already lights are beginning to turn the city into a shining wonder of 
  wealth and prosperity. The hills shield the city proper from the smoke of 
  its inland industries, but you can still smell soot on the wind.
  The conductor and various security staff have repeatedly reminded 
  you of Cherage’s curfew for visitors, often pointing out tall buildings 
  that show the scars of old fires. Because the Workers’ Riots a gen-
  eration ago nearly burned the city to the ground, now only those few 
  citizens with proper passes are allowed to travel between city districts 
  after sunset. But you are welcome to enjoy the fine dining and enter-
  tainments of the rail enclave.
  Cherage is the capital of Danor, built on several hills around a 
  bay. Streets are lit by gas lamps that reflect off the high windows 
  Cheragans are so fond of. Different districts are separated more 
  by elevation and architecture than by actual walls or gates. Police 
  have the authority to ask for identity papers of anyone, and if you’re 
  found outside your “home district” at night, they’ll arrest you. The 
  party’s train tickets count as a permit for the railroad enclave, 
  which consists of a few city blocks ringed by a 20-foot wall. The wall 
  is more of a reminder than a blockade: it has many gaps, holes, and 
  unlocked gates that those determined to break curfew can use to 
  get into the rest of the city.
  The enclave itself has one cheap hotel for coach passengers and a 
  fancier hotel the party will stay in, located on opposite sides of the 
  train tracks. A handful of cheap bars, one fancy bar, two theaters, 
  four restaurants, and a somewhat conservative dance hall cater to 
  passengers, staying open well past midnight. Other buildings of 
  note include a police station, the office of the city’s transportation 
  authority, and a few touristy museums.
  The PCs are welcome to sleep in their suite on the train, but most 
  everyone else goes to the hotels.
  Getting Into Trouble.
  The various suspicious passengers go about their own affairs at 
  night, and the party might decide to follow one or split up to keep 
  tabs on multiples. See the Tailing a Suspect skill challenge (page 8) 
  for guidelines.
  The enclave police are equipped to deal with mundane threats, 
  not highly-trained spies and spellcasters, but when the party gets 
  into trouble they can call for reinforcements — enough men with 
  
  24 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  carbines and pistols should be sufficient to get even PCs to stand 
  down. If the party just comes quietly, the cops will let them go for a 
  small bribe (10 gp apiece). If the party fights back, they might end 
  up tossed in an oubliette and held until the Danorans figure out 
  their secret identity.
  Should the party raise red flags but escape, or if they piss off 
  the wrong people, the next morning the police come on the train 
  and insist on searching the party and confiscating any weapons or 
  magic items they find, calling them evidence. They happily explain 
  that the party is free to stay in town and file the proper paperwork 
  to have the items returned to them after the investigation is over.
  Of course, the same goes for other travelers, so the party’s sus-
  pects aren’t eager to start a fight.
  The Grientos.
  The family go to a few children-friendly buildings in the enclave, 
  with Damata listing off interesting factoids about construction, en-
  gineering, and mathematics to educate his children (“these arches 
  are fascinating constructs, each one using only gravity, placed on 
  a single keystone to keep the entire building erect!,” “This build-
  ing was constructed in the early age after the Great Malice, by a 
  governor who wanted to pay homage to his dead wife, whose stone 
  portraiture makes up the columns…,” etc.).
  As the family returns to the hotel, however, they cross paths with 
  a group of drunken militia members who are traveling coach. They 
  sling insults, slurs, and half-full bottles at the foreigners. The group 
  claims that all Berans are savages, especially the orcs, and that they 
  deserve only to be enslaved for their own good. Damata attempts to 
  herd his family away from the belligerents, but his daughter Dabo 
  starts crying and runs straight at them (in orcish culture, girl’s 
  temper tantrums tend to be aggressive). If the party doesn’t inter-
  vene, Dabo gets savagely beaten and kicked before she can be pulled 
  away, and Tarro receives a black eye after biting one of the militia 
  members’ ankles.
  If the party intervenes, the militia members aren’t a real threat 
  (use the standard statistics for Guards), but a scuffle will draw at-
  tention of the police, who’ll side with the militia.
  Elanor and Isobel.
  Elanor meets with two Cherage town guard after disembarking the 
  train, and an hour later, after she gets settled in her hotel room, 
  they return with a travel permit to a wealthy district. She heads 
  out, with Isobel in tow and the guards as protection, and eventu-
  ally comes to a rather opulent manor house high upon a hill. She is 
  greeted warmly at the door, and is welcomed inside.
  Her host, a high-ranking bureaucrat named Bucher Monmarl, 
  flatters Elanor and adores Isobel, hoping to curry favor so some day 
  he might benefit from the woman’s fleshmongering. A few more 
  guests arrive and share a small banquet. Getting a close look would 
  be very tough, but it would yield the purpose of Elanor’s trip.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 25
  Act One: All Aboard
  The Bodyguards.
  Bree, Verzubak, and Boone travel independently but act in concert. 
  They all get rooms in the fancy hotel, and then stagger their de-
  parture. The plan is for Boone to go to leave around 8 p.m., being 
  flamboyant, flirting with women in the hotel lobby, and overall at-
  tracting attention. He heads to the ‘cheap’ hotel, where he convinces 
  a 16-year-old woman to come with him to the enclave’s fanciest bar, 
  L’Wabe du Fonne. Five minutes behind him, Bree leaves her room 
  and heads to the same bar. Verzubak, who has been sitting in the 
  hotel lobby fiddling with dice and a notebook, watches both people 
  to see if anyone follows them. Then, five minutes later, he goes to 
  the same bar.
  If the PCs follow either Boone or Bree, Verzubak notices them if 
  their “Stay Hidden” check (see Tailing a Suspect, page 8) does not 
  beat DC 18. If they are trying to Stay Hidden from Verzubak, they 
  only have to beat DC 14.
  The bar is busy enough that the trio can all spend time there 
  without crossing paths. Bree nurses a drink, Boone chats up this 
  evening’s lady, and Verzubak plays the stereotypical Drakran dwarf, 
  drinking, buying drinks, and laughing at people’s jokes. He plays a 
  lot of dice, losing mostly, but winning big once to recoup his stake.
  At 9 p.m., Verzubak booms out a toast that quiets the room, of-
  fering to buy a round if everyone will listen to him for just a minute. 
  His toast is a signal to the other two.
  •	 If he saw no one following either: “To those we trust in, and 
  to those who earn our trust. May alcohol forever help bring 
  us together!”
  •	 If someone was following Boone: “To adventure, and never 
  waking up in the same town twice. Or at least not in the 
  same bed!”
  •	 If someone was following Bree: “To the owners of this fine 
  establishment, who will soon be taking a lot of money from 
  me. You give us drink; we give you this toast!”
  •	 If both Boone and Bree were followed: “To the train, which 
  unifies this continent, and to all the lovely people aboard it 
  who will be sleeping off their hangovers tomorrow!”
  •	 If he personally is being followed: “All of you care so much 
  for free drinks that you’ll listen to a foreigner ramble on, so I 
  suppose I must toast myself! To Verzubak Tantalovich!” (This 
  one elicits laughing boos.)
  If Verzubak suspects the PCs of following him, Boone, or Bree, he 
  approaches them right after this toast and buys them a drink, then 
  suggests they play a game of dice. This lets his accomplices know 
  who to look out for. After that, the dwarf’s job for the night is done. 
  He keeps a wary eye out for clues, but mostly just tries to help every-
  one have a good time. At 11 p.m. he joins a small crowd who head 
  out to watch a burlesque show.
  Sneaking Out.
  A few minutes after Verzubak’s toast, Boone suggests he and his 
  young lady friend should find some place private. Boone offers some 
  high-spirited shouts to the other beautiful women around the room, 
  but then he and his friend leave the bar and head out of the rail 
  enclave. They sneak through one of the gates, avoiding any guards. 
  Then they stop in an alleyway and have some private time.
  Perhaps ten minutes later, Bree finishes her drink and leaves 
  discreetly. She takes a different route out of the enclave, using an 
  official travel pass to get past the guards. But then she takes a path 
  that goes right past Boone’s alley. If anyone followed her, and man-
  aged to get out of the enclave, Boone tries to disrupt their pursuit 
  when they come past by stumbling into them, pretending to be 
  drunker than he is, and threatening to challenge them to pistols at 
  dawn. This distraction gives Bree a chance to shake the party, and 
  counts as one failed “keeping up” check.
  If the PCs aren’t simply following the same streets Bree takes, 
  Boone won’t spot them. He’s busy, after all.
  Bree’s Rendezvous.
  Bree goes to a carriage depot and hires a ride. In the post-curfew 
  streets of Cherage, following her will be challenging, but she goes 
  to the Sovereign’s mansion even if she knows she’s being pursued. 
  More and more police roam the streets as the party nears the 
  capital district where all the major government buildings are. The 
  Sovereign’s mansion itself has a wide, flat lawn surrounding it, and 
  numerous soldiers guard the walls.
  Getting this close ought to yield enough information, but there 
  is almost no chance the party will be able to follow Bree to the ac-
  tual meeting. The grounds of the mansion are studded with stones 
  gathered from Methia, the former capital of the old holy empire of 
  the Clergy, abandoned after the Great Malice. These stones nullify 
  magic entirely, with the one exception of tieflings’ infernal wrath 
  power. Spellcasters might be able to scrape by elsewhere in the 
  country, carrying their own mana with them, but here they are 
  powerless.
  Inside the mansion, Bree meets with Luc and Ottavia, who did 
  not know about her or Caius. Sovereign Han Jierre, who is one 
  of the heads of the entire Obscurati and knew Caius, makes the 
  connection and tasks Bree with helping keep Luc safe on his jour-
  ney. They spend the next few hours discussing plans, and then Bree 
  heads back to the rail enclave.
  Extracurricular Activity.
  After Bree passes Boone, he feels his job for the evening is done. 
  He takes his lady to an even more secluded spot, then stabs her 
  through her heart. He takes her hair and uses it as a brush to coat 
  his demonic pistol, then spends a few minutes disemboweling her. 
  He stretches her limbs spread-eagle, places her liver in her right 
  hand, her heart in her left, then pulls her intestines into a ring 
  around her. When he’s finished he walks away, and slowly the blood 
  coating him is absorbed into the pistol, turning the metal crimson. 
  It slowly fades over the coming day.
  If the PCs won’t give him privacy, he abandons his plan, and is 
  surly the entire next day as the demon in his gun urges him to kill.
  If interrupted during the act, Boone flees frantically, trying to 
  hide his face. If cornered or if he knows he’s been identified, he 
  fights back. If he gets away, though, he makes a point of finding 
  a police station and reporting that he was attacked by a group of 
  thugs, led by a man with spiky white hair. He claims the woman 
  he left the bar with was taken, and he was left in an alley. The cops 
  eventually find the woman’s body, and assume Boone is just a victim.
  
  26 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  If he is not interrupted, Boone returns to his hotel and sleeps 
  soundly. The next morning there’s talk about a woman brutally 
  murdered in the night, but no one links her to the tiefling gun-
  slinger. Boone will repeat this procedure every night throughout 
  the journey until he’s caught. He’s careless on the first night, killing 
  someone he’s been seen with, but from then on he picks up strang-
  ers and performs his ritual sacrifice with somewhat more discretion.
  Eventually, if the PCs don’t manage to catch Boone first, Bree 
  figures out what he’s been doing and tries to punish him. That’s 
  detailed in the scene Three Milestones (Act Three).
  Mister Mapple.
  At some point later in the evening, perhaps as the PCs are return-
  ing to their hotel room, a grinning man darts past them, apparently 
  enjoying himself. The shabby-looking gentleman wears nothing but 
  a long coat with patches and holes, and he smells pungently of bath 
  oils. Four enclave guards chase after him, but the stranger is faster. 
  It takes only a few moments for him to sprint to the bridge over 
  the train tracks and jump down onto the train, not even breaking 
  stride. He tumbles and rolls to the far side of the train, out of sight.
  This is Andrei von Recklinghausen. If the PCs inquire, they 
  learn that the man came to the front counter of the hotel, intro-
  duced himself as “Mister Mapple,” and asked if anyone was staying 
  in the top floor Mayoral Suite. When he learned no one was, he 
  walked outside and was spotted climbing up the side of the building 
  (he had pants on at that point.)
  It took half an hour for the hotel to decide to send people up, 
  and they found him bathing in the suite’s tub. He shoved his way 
  past the guards with ease, and actually seemed to take it slow on 
  the stairs down, like he was enjoying being chased. The cops figure 
  there’s no use looking for him now.
  Mister Mapple, for his part, sneaks onto the train, steals some 
  clothes from random people’s luggage, and heads for Car 6. He peels 
  open the wooden paneling on a box of silver religious artifacts that 
  has a lot of cloth padding. He shifts the contents into other boxes 
  and crates, then uses the box as his bed. He sleeps with one eye open.
  Into the Malice Lands
  Exposition. Montage.
  The railroad heads into an inhospitable region of wild magic.
  Boarding: Cardiff Hengehill, Luc Jierre, Ottavia Sacredote.
  Once again, the train is set to leave at 7:30 a.m. First- and second-
  class passengers can have porters bring their luggage down from 
  the hotel. If the party got into any trouble the night before, the 
  police might show up around 6:30 a.m. to question them and search 
  their suite. Conductor Xorin is aghast that his first-class travelers 
  might be inconvenienced, and so he can manage to keep the party 
  out of jail as long as they don’t fight back.
  If Boone was unmasked, he tries to sneak back aboard the train. 
  He’s taken a ton of precautions, so unless the party explicitly keeps 
  an eye out for him around the cargo cars, he manages to stow away 
  on board. Once he gets to Orithea he’ll buy an illusory disguise and 
  pick his mission back up where he left off.
  New Passengers.
  As the party gets back aboard, they notice Malia the train guard 
  followed by a pair of men carrying a huge chest marked with the 
  logo of a prominent gun manufacturer. These are the rifles she’s 
  acquired for the safari. She orders the men to load them into the 
  first class lounge car’s supply room.
  Just then a tall handsome man with a briefcase strapped to his 
  wrist by a leather cord — Cardiff Hengehill — pushes through the 
  crowd, grabs Malia by the arm, and drags her aside for a private 
  conversation. She shakes free of his grasp, but remains professional 
  as she quietly tells him she’ll give him a letter later with details on 
  the meeting she has arranged. Cardiff walks off to Car 14 without 
  a word.
  A bit later, a very unusual pair arrives at first class: a flat-faced 
  tiefling man with an air of boredom about him walks arm-in-arm 
  with a sternly beautiful elf woman. Geometric tattoos are visible 
  along her hands and neck, and any PC that succeeds on a DC 12 
  Intelligence (Religion) check recognizes as marks of an oracle of 
  the Clergy. They are both dressed in quite high fashion, and their 
  luggage is carried on by private servants. Onlookers are abuzz with 
  speculation about them.
  Elanor Yanette recognizes Luc Jierre, and gossips loudly that 
  he has a reputation as something of a shut-in, since he hasn’t been 
  seen in town for a few years. The woman, she opines to anyone who 
  is still listening, is clearly a bought bride, and she insinuates that 
  she would have arranged a better pairing.
  Just before Luc and the elf woman get on the train, the woman 
  (Ottavia) waves her hands in very precise gestures. Luc pauses, re-
  sponds with a few gestures of his own, and the woman laughs. She 
  makes one more volley of hand signals, and then Luc thanks the 
  porters, stuttering, “Th-th-the lady s-s-says th-th-thank you.” Then 
  they head for their suite in Car 18.
  In the very unlikely situation that a PC understands Crisillyiri 
  sign language (it’s only recently been developed), Ottavia asked if 
  Luc was nervous, and he said that he’s ridden the train plenty of 
  times. If the party was hoping to eavesdrop, they’re out of luck.
  Across the Border.
  Throughout the day the party can cross paths with other guests in 
  the lounge car. The train goes through a city every hour or so, until 
  finally at 4:51 p.m. it reaches a station at the base of a hilltop fort. 
  This marks the border between Danor and the Malice Lands. Nu-
  merous soldiers disembark, leaving the coach section fairly empty. 
  A boisterous band greets them, creating a festive atmosphere for a 
  few minutes before the train moves on.
  The air tingles and seems to shift temperature and humidity 
  based on one’s emotions (hence why the fort tries so hard to keep its 
  troops spirits up). Outside the train, the terrain south of the track 
  is a bog with jagged rocks rising out of it; to the north is a flat sheet 
  of ice with cactuses sticking out of it.
  Malia the train guard comes through and reminds people that 
  while magic can work, because of the risks it poses they must insist 
  that none be used until the train reaches Orithea. An assistant with 
  her begins moving all the clocks on the train forward one hour. 
  They’ve entered a new time zone.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 27
  Act One: All Aboard
  Safari Time!
  Malia starts rounding up people who were interested in shooting at 
  malice beasts. She hands out rifles to those who are interested, then 
  leads people up to the roof of Car 19. Malia’s comfortable walking 
  up top, but she suggests everyone else sit down and plant their feet 
  on the lip along the edge. If anyone falls, the train can stop, but the 
  conductor will be furious for being made late.
  The train slows to a leisurely 20 miles per hour (150 feet per 
  round). This afternoon’s safari will be brief — the train’s schedule 
  can only spare about half an hour — but tomorrow they’ll have a cou-
  ple hours. A keg of beer and pitchers of hot spiced cider are provided 
  to make for a pleasant experience even if no monsters show up.
  Feel free to choose a few creatures with appropriate challenge 
  ratings, mostly natural or elemental beasts, and “monsterize” them 
  with wretched malformations. Some just loiter a few hundred feet 
  away. Some heard the train coming and roar as it rolls past, or 
  charge after it, trying to leap onto its side and climb up. Malia just 
  laughs, confident people in and on the train are safe.
  Shooters.
  In addition to any PCs who get involved, Bree, Boone, Cardiff, and 
  both Damata Griento and his son Tarro want a crack at the mon-
  sters. Cardiff transfers the cord of his briefcase to his ankle instead 
  of his wrist, so it won’t bother his shooting. Malia and four other 
  train guards also have rifles, but they don’t shoot unless a monster 
  looks like it might be an actual threat.
  After the group fires off a few dozen shots, people spot a figure 
  standing atop Car 6, shouting at them and waving a crowbar in the 
  air in frustration. This is Mister Mapple, whose afternoon nap was 
  ruined by all the racket. The PCs should be able to recognize his 
  coat. A few guards go to try to get him down, but he ducks back into 
  one of the cargo cars and hides.
  Aurora over Orithea
  Exploration/Social. Montage.
  As the train stops for the second night, the party can observe suspi-
  cious movements of the enemy.
  The train arrives in Orithea at 6:04 p.m. The train coming from 
  Trekhom has already arrived.
  The evening sky is streaked with the brilliant colors of gold, violet, red, 
  and blue. More than just a sunset, the heavens warp and change the 
  sun’s light into an aurora, painting the sky with streaks of iridescent, 
  chaotic color and ribbons of ethereal light.
  Like the day before, fifteen minutes outside of Orithea the train 
  guard Malia asks everyone to please return to their seats to keep an 
  eye on their personal effects. The enclaves are always busy, she reminds 
  you, and it’s easy for thieves to hop on board in the commotion and nick 
  unattended valuables.
  As you roll into Orithea you can spot people mingling atop the odd 
  wobbling spires that rise above so many of the buildings in this city. 
  Almost no structures have straight edges. Out on the coast, even the 
  beam cast by a lighthouse seems to curve on its way out to sea.
  Then you enter the Danoran-operated rail enclave, and it’s all per-
  pendicular and parallel lines. The layout here is the same as every other 
  nightly stop, with one fancy hotel, one common hotel, and plenty of en-
  tertainment. But there’s no curfew like in Cherage, and out there await 
  the oddities of Orithea, this one safe oasis in the Malice Lands.
  Orithea’s city center is smaller than Cherage, but dozens of idiosyn-
  cratic suburban farming towns surround it. Once you get outside 
  the rail enclave there are a few places that tourists tend to gather. 
  A series of high towers on hills north of the city give spectacular 
  views of the constant aurora, and the Night Market near the docks 
  is full of crafters hawking their wares and spellcasters promising 
  safe rituals in the dim orange-green light.
  In the enclave, the entertainment is much tamer than in Cherage. 
  Lounge singers backed by strings and pianos are popular; one the-
  ater puts on an elaborate puppet show. A museum tells the history 
  of the Malice Lands, with a prominent exhibit presenting relics of 
  the first “Malice State,” Pala, founded by the philosopher William 
  Miller shortly after the Great Malice. Daring travelers can sign up 
  for an overnight trek outside the stable zone, to ruins north of the 
  city, which are seeded with kitschy fake relics of a “lost civilization.”
  Law Enforcement.
  Standards are much laxer in Orithea than Cherage, and the city 
  is more welcoming of weirdoes and foreigners. If the party causes 
  trouble and gets caught, the city doesn’t want to hold onto prisoners 
  if it can just ship them out, so the party will be held overnight, then 
  escorted to the train by a large complement of guards who ensure 
  the group leaves town.
  The Grientos.
  The family takes in a puppet show until 8 p.m., then heads to a high 
  tower near the center of town — not as good a view as the north hill 
  towers, but a safer spot to watch the aurora. Plus, there’s a restau-
  rant. Dabo claims to be a vegetarian, and Tarro ends his meal early 
  to crawl beneath the table, but by and large the night is uneventful. 
  Damata leaves a hefty tip after the meal, and has a romantic dance 
  with Ejeka (much to Dabo and Tarro’s disgust).
  Elanor and Isobel.
  Elanor leaves the hotel at 7 p.m. for the Night Market, Isobel as 
  always at her side. Unbeknownst to her, Mister Mapple follows her, 
  and the party might cross his path if they’re also watching Elanor.
  Other shoppers give Elanor a wide berth. She visits a small 
  apothecary that deals in potions of charm and domination, where 
  she purchases a few. On her way back to the rail enclave, Mister 
  Mapple steps into her path and tries to engage Isobel in conversa-
  tion, reciting a love poem about a troll and a princess, all the while 
  ignoring Elanor. Isobel is too dazed to respond coherently. Mister 
  Mapple tries to pull aside the veils covering her face. Elanor reacts 
  by reaching for her spell components, but Mister Mapple grabs her 
  wrist and squeezes. He asks if she’s willing to risk fighting him 
  here. Elanor screams for help, playing on the idea that she might be 
  a helpless old woman. At the sudden attention, Mapple backs away, 
  then runs, leaps, and clambers up to a rooftop, out of sight.
  
  28 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  Cardiff.
  Cardiff takes a carriage to a very luxurious restaurant on top of 
  one of the aurora observing towers, called Brilliance. He lets it be 
  understood that he spends profligately and tips generously, and he 
  uses this to get a window seat, where he orders a fine steak and 
  dines completely alone.
  During his leisurely meal, Cardiff studies a Dwarven phrase-
  book, and he seems to be preparing for a business meeting. Cardiff 
  leaves the restaurant shortly after his meal, and goes to one of the 
  fancier inns in town for the night, but not one inside the enclave. 
  He is never without his briefcase.
  Malia.
  Malia lingers at the train as many of the other militia members 
  depart. When they ask her to attend, she confesses that she’s wor-
  ried about some of the freight, and is staying behind to check up on 
  it. She searches the cargo cars and eventually spots Mister Mapple’s 
  little nest in the box that once held silver church icons. Malia does 
  not report the disturbance.
  She heads to the Night Market. She makes contact with an old 
  witch who offers potions and trinkets. Malia knows the witch, 
  though, and the two of them leave for a nearby inn, where they de-
  scend to a basement. Malia pays 75 gold pieces for the witch to use 
  sending to contact brigands in the Malice Lands. Tomorrow those 
  brigands will rob the train.
  The message is, “Train arrives at nine. Four guards at front. Six 
  guards at caboose, eight hundred feet back. Target car six. Bar-
  ricade six hundred feet from monster.”
  Afterward, Malia goes to the Effervescent Cup back in the en-
  clave, where she meets her fellow train guards.
  Mister Mapple.
  The stowaway has become intrigued by Isobel, whom he sees as a 
  prisoner. His romantic streak manifests in a stalker-ish way, and he 
  follows her and Elanor to the Night Market, as mentioned above. 
  After Elanor gets him to back off, he flees back to the enclave, 
  climbs the outside wall of the hotel and breaks into Elanor’s hotel 
  suite. He finds one of Elanor’s bags of drugs and alchemicals to dull 
  the mind, and he concocts a plan, which he’ll enact in Trekhom.
  Luc’s Crew.
  Boone, Bree, and Verzubak repeat the procedure from the night 
  before, with just a few adjustments. After everyone gets settled in 
  their rooms, Bree goes by their rooms and Luc and Ottavia’s room. 
  She slips a note under the door, explaining what route she wants 
  that particular person to take, but she makes no mention of the 
  others, so that the letter won’t by itself reveal they’re all working 
  together.
  At 7:30 p.m., Bree goes to the Effervescent Cup. Shortly thereaf-
  ter, Boone picks up a lady from the fancy hotel and hangs out with 
  her on the route between the hotel and the bar — they make out on 
  the bridge over the train tracks.
  Verzubak waits behind, playing dice with one of the enclave 
  guards and writing mathematic equations in his notebook. Luc 
  and Ottavia go to the concierge desk, and Luc stutteringly asks for 
  advice on a few bars in the area. Then they too head out, Luc car-
  rying a large case that contains his lantern. They pass Boone, who 
  keeps an eye out to see if anyone’s watching them. Then Verzubak 
  follows from the hotel.
  At the bar, once again they use toasts to signal whether they’re 
  being followed. In addition to the ones before (see page 25), they 
  also use:
  •	 If Verzubak saw Luc and Ottavia followed: Verzubak toasts, 
  “To meeting strangers, and realizing that you only want to 
  kill about half the people you meet!”
  •	 If Boone saw Luc and Ottavia followed: Boone toasts, “I 
  don’t want to detract from my own great time, but I just want 
  everyone to raise a glass to my fellow tiefling. He looks a little 
  nervous being out of Danor, so let’s show him a good time, 
  ah? Cheers!”
  Sneaking Out.
  As in Cherage, Boone sneaks out with his lady friend. He plants 
  himself in a spot on the way to the Night Market. Ten minutes later 
  Bree departs and heads for the docks, where she pays a handful of 
  dockers to do her a favor, then sits and watches the aurora over the 
  sea.
  Finally Luc and Ottavia excuse themselves and head out. They 
  take a route past Boone, into the Night Market, then to a carriage 
  depot. They hire a carriage for the evening and head to the docks, 
  past Bree, toward the city’s lighthouse.
  If anyone is following them to the Night Market, Boone will 
  again do his “stumble and get angry” trick to slow the pursuers. 
  If the party follows them to the docks, Bree has her hired dockers 
  Reactions of Luc’s Crew.
  The bodyguards try to use the same tactic every night to prevent 
  Luc and Ottavia being followed. If one of the bodyguards is unavail-
  able—most likely Boone—the others follow as much of the plan as 
  possible. If two of them are out, the one remaining bodyguard just 
  tries to keep watch and slow down pursuers.
  If the bodyguards notice the party following once, they’ll be 
  suspicious, but they don’t immediately conclude the party is spy-
  ing on them. If the PCs are spotted more than once, though, the 
  bodyguards will look to Ottavia for guidance. Using the Obscurati 
  guideline of maintaining secrecy first, she will tell everyone to stay 
  as close to the train as possible and do nothing that will give the spies 
  any more information. Luc will ask the conductor to contrive a ruse 
  that will make the party vacate their suite and catch the next train. 
  If that still doesn’t work, they’ll simply wait patiently until the train 
  has passed Nalaam to eliminate the threat (as detailed in Three 
  Milestones in Act Three).
  If the PCs ever directly attack Luc’s bodyguards, all who are pres-
  ent defend each other with lethal force. Survivors will demand the 
  PCs be thrown off the train or arrested. Note that while it might 
  make sense for Luc to just leave this train and catch the next day’s, 
  doing so will cause the party to miss out of most of the side plots 
  that resolve in Nalaam.
  If the PCs are sufficiently discreet, though, Luc’s crew won’t sus-
  pect anything until Ottavia receives a sending in Trekhom.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 29
  Act One: All Aboard
  delay the party by dropping and shattering crates in the road just 
  after Luc and Ottavia’s carriage goes by. If the party’s in a carriage 
  of their own, they won’t be able to get through the mess and will 
  have to detour around it.
  Once Bree’s confident Luc and Ottavia are not being followed, 
  she rendezvouses with them at the lighthouse.
  Boone’s Next Murder.
  After his job is done, Boone takes his lady to an inn, sleeps with 
  her, then slips out. He finds a random woman of the evening, takes 
  her to an alley, and ritually sacrifices her to his pistol, just like in 
  Cherage. The next morning, people again are talking about rumors 
  of a second grisly murder, which leads to suspicions that the killer 
  might be on the train.
  Luc & Ottavia.
  Luc and Ottavia follow Bree’s plan to avoid being observed, but 
  their ultimate goal is to present Luc’s invention to a local Obscurati 
  cell leader in Orithea. They meet on a small spit of land that juts 
  into the harbor, at a small support building adjacent to the city’s 
  lighthouse, where a crowd of 20 armed guards greet their carriage.
  Inside, a wealthy architect named Hanse Randall watches Luc 
  show off his lantern, and then magic-using assistants ask ques-
  tions about how it works, how to recreate it, and how to scale it up 
  to lighthouse size. During the course of these questions, a small 
  accident occurs. The wild magic of the Malice Lands causes the 
  lantern to surge with excess power while burning oil infused with 
  the essence of Mavisha. At exactly 10:14 p.m., every fire in the city 
  is transformed into water, leaving the city lit only by the aurora. 
  Simultaneously, a patch of sea around the lighthouse bursts into 
  flames for a moment.
  People in Orithea treat this sort of oddity like people living near 
  a fault line would react to a minor earthquake. There’s caution, but 
  no one’s too worried.
  The Screaming Malice
  Action. Tactical.
  Train robbers strike while a towering monster distracts the guards.
  The train leaves Orithea at 7:30 a.m. The complement of first-
  class suites stays the same, and no one of consequence boards in 
  second class. As in Cherage, if Boone is on the run, he sneaks on 
  board in coach.
  As soon as the train’s out of Orithea, Malia invites interested 
  parties back up onto the roof of the lounge car for another round 
  of shooting at helpless malice beasts. The same group as before 
  shoots — Bree, Boone, Cardiff, Damata and Tarro Griento (Car-
  diff again attaches his briefcase strap to his ankle instead of his 
  wrist) — plus 6 of the train’s guards. The terrain changes rapidly, 
  and creatures obediently show up and die. This goes on until 9 a.m., 
  when a gang of brigands spring their surprise.
  They have laid a huge barricade of logs and explosives atop the 
  rails east of the edge of a swamp, which is home to a horrible psychic 
  monster called a screaming malice. When the train emerges from 
  the swamp’s fog, engineer Steeg sees the barricade and pulls on 
  the brakes. Just as Malia predicted, the train manages to stop 100 
  feet from the barricade. The monster will spring from the swamp 
  and attack the middle and rear of the train, giving the bandits easy 
  access to the freight cars at the front of the train.
  Great Train Robbery.
  As the train is passing through a fog-filled swampy region, the train 
  lurches and its brakes begin to screech. Everyone on the roof must 
  make a DC 11 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or fall off the side of 
  the train. Those already seated are safe. The train travels 200 feet 
  before stopping.
  Just as the train screeches to a stop, a deafening chorus of roars 
  sounds from the fog. The screaming malice rises from the swamp 
  north of Car 10 and attacks.
  •	 1 screaming malice
  •	 Rodinn, Malice bandit captain
  •	 8 Malice bandit riders
  •	 9 Malice beast steeds (treat as warhorses)
  Terrain.
  The encounter is roughly divided into a swamp section to the west 
  and a desert section to the east, with the train running eastward 
  through them. At the start of the encounter, Cars 1 to 8 are in 
  the desert, Cars 9 to 19 are in the swamp. The boulder barricade 
  the bandits set up is 50 feet east of the locomotive (Car 1). This 
  barricade is just an illusion, created by the bandit leader Rodinn. 
  Clever PCs might notice that the nearby terrain of swamp and des-
  ert would not suffice to provide enough boulders.
  
  30 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  The screaming malice appears north of Car 10. The assumed 
  course of events is that the PCs make their way down the train to 
  the screaming malice, then fight it off, save passengers from its 
  spawn, or rush onward to the locomotive, to get the train moving. 
  Use the timeline below to keep track of what happens up until when 
  the PCs intervene in a particular location.
  Timeline.
  Front of train.
  •	 Round One. Bandits ride in. Chief guard Vodyarika Lerkem 
  leads 3 other guards to the locomotive.
  •	 Rounds Two to Five. Bandits jump their steeds onto the 
  locomotive. They dismount and fire pistols while the steeds 
  claw and bite. They kill one guard per round. Guards knock 
  out one bandit each round. Engineer Steeg surrenders.
  •	 Round Six. Bandits stabilize their wounded, who remain as 
  rear flank.
  •	 Rounds Seven to Ten. Bandit captain and four bandits 
  remount and ride to Car 6.
  •	 Rounds Ten to Twelve. Bandits shoot Mister Mapple, who 
  tries to drive them off. He’s left for dead, but will regenerate.
  •	 Rounds Thirteen to Twenty. Bandits steal items of value from 
  Car 6.
  •	 Rounds Twenty-One to Thirty. If no one from rear of train is 
  approaching, bandits quickly grab valuables in Cars 3, 4, and 
  5. They ride away as soon as they see trouble approaching.
  Middle of train.
  •	 Round One. If any characters are near the front of the train, 
  they may see a lump rising in the black, swampy water below 
  the bridge. The tumescent growth rises, brackish water cas-
  cading off of it, revealing something slick, black, and tarry 
  reflecting the dim sunlight. Something like a tentacle shoots 
  suddenly out of it, smashing through the windows of Car 10. 
  Other tendrils — actually long necks capped by amorphous, 
  reptilian heads — rise up and begin to scream.
  •	 Round Two. The head in Car 10 detaches, and the neck 
  pulls back out. A new head regrows. The original head, still 
  screaming, splits apart into four whip-tailed drakes called 
  malice spawn. These begin to kill the passengers.
  •	 Rounds Three to Fourteen. Each round, the screaming 
  malice moves about half a car-length toward the back of the 
  train. On odd-numbered rounds the malice reaches a new 
  car, then smashes through windows with its head. Every even 
  numbered round it detaches the head, creating new spawn. If 
  not stopped, it reaches Car 16 in round thirteen.
  •	 Round Fifteen. The screaming malice withdraws into the 
  swamp, and its spawn leave the train. They’ll merge with 
  their original body, and thus feed the malice.
  Rear of train.
  •	 Round One. People see the screaming malice rise up. The 
  guards are dumbfounded. Tarro Griento screams, and Malia 
  feigns terror as well. Cardiff detaches his briefcase from 
  his ankle, considers attaching it to his wrist, but decides he 
  needs both mobility and free hands to shoot.
  •	 Round Two. Malia yells for the other guards to go help, and 
  says she’ll make sure the first-class passengers are safe. She 
  climbs down into the lounge car. Bree and Boone meet gazes, 
  and she nods downward, implying they need to protect Luc.
  •	 Round Three. Damata drags his son down the ladder, and 
  heads into Car 18, shouting warnings as he runs to get 
  his family in Car 17. Bree also climbs down, and she stops 
  outside Luc and Ottavia’s suite, banging on the door. Boone 
  heads to the connection between Cars 17 and 18, keeping an 
  eye on the monster. Verzubak and a lot of other people flee 
  from the second class suites toward the rear of the train.
  The above people stay at these locations until the end of the 
  encounter, unless the PCs get them to move.
  The other six guards start to nervously approach the 
  screaming malice along the train’s roof. Cardiff grabs four of 
  the rifles discarded by Damata, Boone, Bree, and Tarro, and 
  he follows the guards.
  •	 Rounds Four to Eight. Cardiff and the guards advance one 
  car every two rounds, eventually stopping at Car 16.
  •	 Rounds Nine to Twelve. Cardiff and the guards fire at the 
  screaming malice. They deal a combined 24 damage per 
  round to it.
  •	 Round Thirteen. With the monster only one car away, Cardiff 
  and the guards run back toward the end of the train.
  See the table below to track how many spawn and casualties there 
  are, and how much damage the guards have dealt with their rifles, 
  when the PCs finally engage the monster. Make a note of how many 
  casualties there are in this fight; it will affect the party in the en-
  counter Three Milestones (Act Three).
  Malice Spawn Casualties
  Round
  Malice Location
  # of Spawn
  Casualties
  1
  Car 10
  0
  0
  2
  Car 10
  2
  0
  3
  Car 11
  2
  2
  4
  Car 11
  4
  4
  5
  Car 12
  4
  8
  6
  Car 12
  6
  12
  7
  Car 13
  6
  18
  8
  Car 13
  8
  24
  9
  Car 14
  8
  32
  10
  Car 14
  10
  40
  11
  Car 15
  10
  50
  12
  Car 15
  10
  60
  13
  Car 16
  10
  70
  14
  Car 16
  10
  80
  15
  Departs
  10
  80
  Tactics.
  The screaming malice feeds on intense emotions, and the ban-
  dits lured it to this swamp with a ritual and a sacrifice. When it 
  senses the unease of the passengers on the train (due to the sudden 
  braking), it approaches to eat. Its screams acts as a psychic aura 
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 31
  Act One: All Aboard
  to heighten people’s emotions, and its spawn wreak havoc inside 
  the train, causing panic and capturing actual flesh (terror is a fine 
  apéritif, but flesh and blood are the main course).
  When the PCs get within its field of view, or if any PCs attack 
  it or its spawn, it is attracted by the rare taste of heroism. The 
  malice spawn break off from killing passengers, and they rush 
  the party — some through the train cars, others along the top. The 
  screaming malice itself closes in and tries to bite and fling whoever 
  is dealing the most damage to it. It does not move adjacent to the 
  railroad, though, since the rigid metal injures it (the attacks of the 
  railroad guards are not substantial enough to get its attention since 
  the guards are as frightened as the passengers).
  The bandits try to flee before the party reaches them, but if forced 
  into a fight the riders form a defensive group as they withdraw to 
  their steeds, while their leader Rodinn unleashes illusions in an 
  attempt to buy them time.
  Aftermath.
  There are few wounded, but likely many are dead. Malia, upon see-
  ing the carnage, withdraws from everyone, shocked because she 
  expected the bandits to use a monster as a distraction to rob the 
  train, not to actually kill people. Captured bandits know they had 
  an ally on the train, but only Rodinn knows the ally was Malia.
  The surviving guards inspect the barricade and realize it’s an 
  illusion. Engineer Steeg nervously starts the train moving, and the 
  illusion disappears when the locomotive comes into contact with it.
  During the rest of the trip to Trekhom, Conductor Xorin makes 
  his way through the train, checking on people and asking if they 
  saw anything that might be useful for the formal investigation into 
  the attack.
  Screaming Malice
  Gargantuan aberration, unaligned
  Armor Class 17 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 232 (15d20+75)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   22 (+6) 
  6 (-2) 
  20 (+5) 
  2 (-4) 
  11 (+0) 
  5 (-3)
  Saving Throws con +9, cha +1
  Skills Perception +8
  Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, prone
  Senses blindsight 120 ft., passive Perception 18
  Challenge 10 (5,900 XP)
  Malice Spawn. Whenever a malice spawn is destroyed, the screaming 
  malice takes 10 damage.
  Many-Headed. The screaming malice has five heads, each of which 
  occupies its own 10-foot square. When the malice moves it can move 
  its heads to any space within 25 feet of its body. The heads are part 
  of the malice, and so share its AC and hit points. Effects that inflict 
  conditions or force movement can affect a head, but each head 
  tracks its conditions separately. The screaming malice can only make 
  attacks (including opportunity attacks) against creatures adjacent to 
  one of its heads.
  Truly Gargantuan. Once the screaming malice reduced to 155 hp or 
  less it flees, as do all its spawn. The screaming malice is immune to 
  conditions and cannot be affected by any sort of forced movement. 
  Its heads do not have this same immunity, however.
    
  The screaming malice has disadvantage on attack rolls against 
  creatures adjacent to its main body.
  Vulnerable to Order. The malice beast’s flesh withers at the touch of 
  the railroad. If its body or one of its heads starts its turn at ground 
  level adjacent to the train, the screaming malice takes 10 damage.
  Actions
  Multiattack. Screaming Malice makes five head bite attacks.
  Head Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 20 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 13 (2d6+6) piercing damage.
  Produce Spawn. When there are 10 or less malice spawn created by 
  the screaming malice it can detach one of its heads in place of making 
  an attack. The area the head occupied becomes four new malice 
  spawn. The head regrows at the end of the malice’s next turn.
  The Suspects.
  If the PCs think to check on the NPCs during this encounter, here’s 
  what they’re doing:
  •	 Luc and Ottavia stay locked in their suite in Car 18.
  •	 Bree guards Car 18.
  •	 Boone waits on roof between Car 17 and Car 18.
  •	 Verzubak heads for Car 19.
  •	 The Grientos stay in Car 17, arguing over whether to hide or 
  run.
  •	 Elanor and Isobel stay locked in their suite in Car 18.
  •	 Mr. Mapple fights off bandits, gets shot and left for dead, 
  regenerates.
  •	 Cardiff leads train guards to shoot the monster.
  •	 Malia waits in Car 19, trying to keep passengers from fleeing 
  into the swamp.
  
  32 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Act One: All Aboard
  Malice Spawn
  Medium aberration, unaligned
  Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
  Hit Points 22 (3d8+9)
  Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   12 (+1) 
  15 (+2) 
  16 (+3) 
  3 (-4) 
  12 (+1) 
  11 (+0)
  Saving Throws wis +3, cha +2
  Skills Stealth +6
  Damage Immunities poison
  Condition Immunities disease, charmed, frightened, poisoned
  Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception xxx
  Challenge 2 (450 XP)
  Actions
  Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 
  (1d6+2) slashing damage.
  Malice Bandit
  Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
  Armor Class 15 (chain shirt)
  Hit Points 39 (6d8+12)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   13 (+1) 
  15 (+2) 
  14 (+2) 
  12 (+1) 
  10 (+0) 
  10 (+0)
  Saving Throws dex +5, con +6, wis +3
  Skills Acrobatics +5, Athletics +4, Perception +4, Sleight of Hand +5
  Senses passive Perception 14
  Languages Common
  Challenge 1 (200 XP)
  Actions
  Multiattack. The Malice Bandit attacks twice. They can only attack 
  once per round with their pistol.
  Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage.
  Pistol. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. 
  Hit: 7 (1d10+2) piercing damage.
  REACTIONS
  Uncanny Dodge. When an attacker that the Malice Bandit can see hits 
  them with an attack, they can use their reaction to halve the attack’s 
  damage against them.
  Rodinn, Bandit Captain
  Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
  Armor Class 16 (mage armor)
  Hit Points 104 (16d8+32)
  Speed 30 ft.
   STR 
  DEX 
  CON 
  INT 
  WIS 
  CHA 
   12 (+1) 
  16 (+3) 
  14 (+2) 
  20 (+5) 
  8 (-1) 
  16 (+3)
  Saving Throws dex +6, cha +6
  Skills Acrobatics +6, Deception +9, Insight +2, Perception +5, Stealth 
  +6
  Senses passive Perception 15
  Languages Common
  Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
  Cunning Action. On each of his turns, Rodinn can use a bonus action 
  to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
  Evasion. When Rodinn is subjected to an effect that allows him to make 
  a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, he instead takes 
  no damage if he succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage 
  if he fails.
  Sneak Attack. Rodinn deals an extra 21 (6d6) damage when he hits 
  a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, 
  or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally of Rodinn that isn’t 
  incapacitated and he doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.
  Spellcasting. Rodinn is a 4th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability 
  is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). He has the 
  following spells prepared from the sorcerer’s spell list:
  Cantrips (at will): acid splash, dancing lights, mage hand, minor 
  illusion
  1st level (4 slots): detect magic, mage armor, magic missile, shield
  2nd level (3 slots): enlarge/reduce, suggestion
  Actions
  Magic Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft. 
  or range 20/40 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) piercing damage.
  Acid Ray. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one 
  target. Hit: 17 (4d6+3) acid damage.
  REACTIONS
  Uncanny Dodge. When an attacker Rodinn can see hits him with an at-
  tack, he can use his reaction to halve the attack’s damage against him.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 33
  R
  ail travel has only been around for a few 
  decades in Danor and even less time in the 
  other nations along the Avery Coast line. The promise 
  of easy trade and travel convinced countries that once 
  viewed Danor as an enemy to let Danoran engineers, 
  businessmen, and even soldiers into their lands. In ev-
  ery town and city along its route, Danor owns small 
  enclaves with housing and dining for long-haul guests. 
  Though most of the employees of these enclaves are 
  locals, each station is run by a very visible tiefling 
  coordinator. Tickets are purchased in Danoran coins 
  (helpfully provided by moneychangers), and this is 
  slowly making international merchants comfortable 
  doing business in Danoran currency.
  Route.
  The trip from Beaumont to Vendricce (see the map on page 4) takes 
  six days, and each evening the train stops at a major city as a waysta-
  tion. To minimize the risk of rail damage, derailment, and banditry, 
  the train only runs during daylight hours. To traverse the 3,000 
  miles and keep its schedule, the train reaches speeds as high as 60 
  miles per hour, unmatched by any other vehicle in the world.
  In total a dozen locomotives operate on the railroad at any given 
  time, enough so that each day a train reaches each station going in 
  both directions. Depots between major stops store replacement lo-
  comotives and train cars in case of damage, but daily maintenance 
  has kept such failures low. For the three years of its operation the 
  railroad has only had a handful of major delays. Travelers can count 
  on a train coming to their city, headed in either direction, every 
  day, and so the Avery Coast Railroad has earned one of its slogans: 
  “Always on Time.”
  The other popular slogan, “Taming the Malice,” is perhaps the 
  railroad’s greater achievement. The Malice Lands lie between Dan-
  or and Drakr, in the territory where magic works occasionally but 
  erratically. Creatures mutate readily into monsters and inconstant 
  magical energies conjure bizarre weather. The presence of so much 
  iron in such a regular construction seems to have a stabilizing 
  effect on the wild magic, and the railroad’s crack militia can handle 
  any threat with a pulse.
  The railroad has seven major enclaves along its route. Each en-
  clave is roughly 500 miles from the next, and the train stops at a 
  different enclave each night. After twelve days of travel, the train 
  returns to Beaumont where it is taken out of service for a day for 
  thorough cleaning and maintenance.
  •	 1st Enclave: Beaumont, on the west coast of Danor.
  •	 2nd Enclave: Cherage, the capital of Danor.
  •	 3rd Enclave: Orithea, the only stable city in the Malice 
  Lands.
  •	 4th Enclave: Trekhom, the capital of Drakr.
  •	 5th Enclave: Nalaam, an independent city state run by 
  mages in the mountainous border states between Drakr and 
  Crisillyir.
  •	 6th Enclave: Sid Minos, an island on the coast of Crissilyir.
  •	 7th Enclave: Vendricce, a forested border-city in Crissilyir.
  The Train.
  Refer here for names of key train staff and the disposition of secu-
  rity. Key staff include:
  •	 Engineer Steeg Leon
  •	 Conductor Xorin Marchand
  •	 Vodyarika Lerkem, head of the train’s militia
  •	 Grason Wasson, guard between second class and first class
  •	 Kov Marik, chef in first class
  •	 Doris Gavagne, piano player in first class
  •	 Malia Baccarin, guard liaison for first- and second-class
  •	 8 miscellaneous attendants who keep the place clean, work as 
  waiters, and respond to minor trouble
  •	 9 miscellaneous militia guards
  Appendix 1: 
  The Avery Coast Railroad
  Bad Economics.
  Normally the benefit of rail travel is that it allows easy transporta-
  tion in directions not serviced by sea lanes or rivers. In the United 
  States, for instance, the Mississippi River was an early boon to trade 
  in its watershed, while the Transcontinental Railroad ran perpendic-
  ular to the river, connecting the east and west ends of the country 
  and starting a massive economic integration.
  The Avery Coast Railroad, however, mostly hugs the coastline. 
  Drakr already had its own network of railroads under construction 
  by the time Danor proposed this international route. The only safe 
  waystation in the Malice Lands was Orithea, which is coastal, limit-
  ing their options for connections with Drakr. The designers decided 
  that rather than trying to create the most useful railroad, they would 
  make it the most visible. Rather than creating opportunities for new 
  towns to spring up, it runs through major existing cities.
  Now that people are becoming comfortable with their presence, 
  Danor is letting the various border states use their own money to 
  hire Danoran experts to build additional branches of the railroad.
  
  34 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Appendix 1: The Avery Coast Railroad
  If any staff are injured or killed, they will be replaced the next time 
  the train stops for the night.
  Treat militia members as guards armed with rifles and bayonets 
  (when a bayonet is fixed, the rifle can be used as a spear). The mi-
  litia might shuffle a bit during the day at different stops, and there 
  are too many for everyone to know each other. Overnight, enclave 
  security guards watch the train, and in the mornings the train’s 
  militiamen are a bit lax when it comes to checking their work.
  The layout of the train the PCs take, from front to back, is as 
  follows (see the map of the train cars on page 21):
  •	 Car 1 — Locomotive: This is where Engineer Steeg runs 
  the train. Conductor Xorin also stays for the majority of the 
  train’s trip. They are usually guarded by two militia members.
  •	 Car 2 — Fuel Car: The fuel car carries enough fuel for two 
  days’ worth of travel, but it is refilled at each nightly stop. 
  Because Danorans cannot refine firegems themselves, and 
  because the Malice Lands do odd things to the crystallized 
  fire, the train runs on actual coal between Beaumont and 
  Trekhom. From Trekhom to Vendricce, the train uses fire-
  gems instead, as they are cheaper than coal. A single militia 
  member here helps shovel fuel for the engine.
  •	 Cars 3–9 — Freight Cars: There are five freight cars. At each 
  stop, various pieces of freight are loaded and unloaded by 
  teamsters in each town. The frontmost car is loaded with 
  heavy industrial equipment for a steelworks, bound for 
  Vendricce. That car has a contingent of five militia members, 
  who occasionally check on the other freight cars whenever 
  the train stops.
  If the PCs check the other cars, their contents vary day 
  by day, but might include quite a bit of preserved food, some 
  expensive Danoran fabrics, some casks of fine Trekhom 
  ale, and several tomes of history and the arcane. Between 
  the Freight Cars and the Common Cars, a militia member 
  named Vodyarika keeps stern watch.
  Mister Mapple stows away in different cars each day.
  •	 Cars 10–12 — Common Cars: Also known as the “sardine 
  cars,” these cars have seating for 36 people, but are usually 
  crammed above capacity. Each car has two lavatories at the 
  rear.
  •	 Car 13 — Common Food Car: A car serving nuts, dried 
  fruits, and jerkies, with six tables set up in it. A militia man 
  and two attendants work here, and a small private room 
  often hosts train staff for brief breaks. The common food car 
  is a frequent destination for families from the common and 
  second class cars, as well as anyone who just needs to stand 
  up and stretch.
  •	 Car 14–16 — Second-Class Cars: These cars have five rooms 
  with seating for six apiece, slightly more spacious leg-room, 
  and minor furniture. Each car has a restroom at front and 
  back. A militia member named Grason stands guard between 
  the second-class cars and the first-class cars.
  Bree has a seat in Car 16, Verzubak in Car 15, and Boone 
  in Car 14. Cardiff sits in Car 14.
  •	 Cars 17–18 — First-Class Personal Cars: These luxurious cars 
  have two suites, each with beds for five people, a small com-
  mon room, and a private restroom with standing shower. 
  The party has had one suite rented for them in Car 17. The 
  Grientos have the other suite in Car 17. Luc and Ottavia have 
  one suite in Car 18; Elanor and Isobel have the other.
  •	 Car 19 — First-Class Lounge: The “caboose” of the train, the 
  First Class Lounge is a richly-appointed bar. There are plush 
  seats, wide windows, and a piano for entertainment. Portraits 
  of the magnates of the Avery Coast line adorning the walls. 
  A server and chef named Kov staffs the bar here, and cooks 
  most meals. An old woman named Doris performs cheerfully 
  on the piano, but has a good read of the crowd’s mood and is 
  never a bother.
  Terrain Elements of the Train.
  A fight may break out on board the train itself. In these combats, 
  there are benches, chairs, pianos, bars, and other bits of furniture 
  the party may interact with.
  •	 Taking Cover. Most of the cover on the train is not large 
  enough to fill an entire 5-foot square. However, a creature 
  can spend a bonus action to take cover behind an adjacent 
  object, such as by ducking down behind a bench, leaping 
  behind a bar, or scurrying under the piano. They gain the 
  benefits of cover against ranged attacks coming from the 
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 35
  Appendix 1: The Avery Coast Railroad
  other side of the object (half, three-quarters, or total cover at 
  the GM’s discretion).
  •	 Travel Between Cars. To pass between cars one must open a 
  first door, step across a 5-foot platform with just a knee-high 
  railing, then open a second door to enter the next car. In 
  combat a character would have to spend a bonus action and 
  the Use an Object action.
  The doors remain open unless someone closes them by 
  hand.
  •	 Outside the Train. Moving along the top of a train car while 
  it is in motion requires a DC 8 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check 
  or else the creature falls prone at the start of their movement. 
  A creature must make the same check if it takes damage 
  while standing atop the train.
  The windows and decorations along the sides of the train 
  cars provide plenty of handholds. Climbing along the side of 
  the train requires a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.
  It’s quite safe to sit atop the train’s roof, since a sturdy lip 
  provides a good foot rest. A creature seated and braced in 
  this way counts as prone, but can use crossbows and firearms 
  without penalty. Militia members typically sit on the roof of 
  a train car while in the Malice Lands, the better to shoot any 
  malice beasts that attempt to attack the train.
  •	 Driving the Train. Normally the train travels at 50 to 60 
  miles per hour (250 to 300 feet per round), but an operator 
  in the locomotive can safely accelerate or decelerate the train, 
  changing its speed by 10 feet per round, to a maximum of 
  800 feet per round. The train can also move backward at a 
  maximum speed of 100 feet per round. If the train makes a 
  turn at a speed above 700 feet per round, the train operator 
  must make a DC 15 Intelligence (vehicle [land]) check or the 
  train derails.
  An operator can also apply the emergency brakes, 
  decelerating the train by 100 feet per round (from its 
  cruising speed to a halt in 3 rounds, or from its full speed to 
  a halt in 8 rounds). Applying the emergency brakes causes 
  any creature on the train to make a DC 13 Dexterity saving 
  throw or fall prone and be pushed 5 feet in the direction the 
  train was traveling.
  A character with the technologist theme can easily 
  understand the machinery of the locomotive. Any other 
  character must make a DC 15 Intelligence check as an action 
  to figure out how to accelerate, decelerate, or apply the 
  emergency brakes. After a successful check, the character no 
  longer needs to make a check for that action.
  Filler NPCs.
  The party is likely to talk to a lot of NPCs. If you don’t want to tip 
  them off by naming only “important” NPCs, here’s a quick roster 
  of filler folk for the second class section.
  •	 Alexi Mohrbacher. A Drakran human returning home after 
  selling magical implements to Danorans who want to be able 
  to use magic. It’s a solid business because the goods never last 
  more than a few months.
  •	 Bethany Cousineau. A Danoran tiefling on a private errand 
  for her family.
  •	 Charon Chevrolet. Old man taking a vacation from his goat 
  farm to see his grandchildren.
  •	 Dan Boyene. A Danoran traveling ophthalmologist, with a 
  suitcase full of eyeglasses.
  •	 Emile Davion. A lieutenant in the Danoran military travel-
  ing with five soldiers who are enrolling in the Woodruff 
  Memorial Martial University in Cherage.
  •	 Ford Zugoksy. A minor Danoran politician going to a fund-
  raiser in Cherage.
  •	 Giles Bonhomme. A nervous musician who constantly holds 
  his trumpet case to his chest.
  •	 Herbert Nembillion. A tall blonde duelist going to Nalaam to 
  fight in the arena.
  •	 Jacques Labelle. A fat sea captain who has to go to Cherage 
  to file an insurance claim.
  •	 Kipana Swansdotter. A college professor from Nalaam who 
  was doing experiments on how magic decays in Danor.
  •	 Leroy Flowers. A man on the run after he murdered his wife.
  
  36 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Amulet of the Impeccable Spy.
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  The side of this amulet that faces outward is just a bland copper 
  disk dotted with silver studs, but on the reverse is an inward-facing 
  eye. While wearing it, you are aware when your Charisma (Decep-
  tion) or Dexterity (Stealth) checks fail to conceal your motives or 
  movements from observers whom you are aware of and whom you 
  can see.
  In addition, you can cast disguise self (DC 12). The amulet can’t 
  be used this way again until the next dawn.
  Butcher’s Girdle.
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  A normal girdle keeps your belly in the shape you want. This belt 
  does that for your whole body. If one of your limbs becomes severed, 
  you can move and control the limb as if it were still fully functional. 
  Whenever you move more than 5 feet, the limb can fly up to its 
  speed (maximum height of 30 feet), though it must remain within 
  100 feet you or else it falls inert. You can use your severed limb to at-
  tack as normal. If the limb shares the same space as you, you can use 
  a bonus action to reattach it to your body, restoring full function.
  In addition, you can intentionally sever your own limbs with a 
  blade as an action. This does damage to you equal to one-quarter 
  your total hit points. A missing leg effectively makes you prone 
  (even if you can stand up, you can’t balance well enough to fight at 
  full effectiveness).
  Demonic Weapon.
  Weapon (any), very rare (requires attunement)
  Though no visual trait betrays its nature, this weapon is frighten-
  ingly warm to your skin. As you touch it, for a moment you feel like 
  your hand it submerged in fresh blood. The sensation passes, but 
  you cannot help but long to feel it again. When you hit a creature 
  with less than half its total hit points, the weapon deals an addi-
  tional 1d4 fire damage per points of proficiency bonus you possess.
  When you first touch the weapon, if it does not have a living 
  wielder it instantly attunes to you. The first time each encounter 
  you attempt to draw or retrieve any item, if you are not already 
  holding the weapon, you draw the weapon instead of whatever you 
  intended to get.
  Once per day you must kill a sentient being and smear the weap-
  on with its blood. If you do not, you suffer a cumulative –1 penalty 
  per day to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma ability checks due 
  to the gun whispering into your mind, compelling you to feed it. If 
  this penalty exceeds your Wisdom score, you are driven mad and 
  kill yourself with the weapon.
  The weapon cannot be destroyed as long as it has a living wielder. 
  The curse can be removed by the remove curse spell or greater magic 
  (which requires using the weapon to kill a pregnant she-goat sub-
  merged in holy water).
  Focused Severance Technique.
  Wondrous item, rare
  Characters with the Martial Scientist theme who witness Lya 
  Jierre use this technique and later acquire her martial thesis, Field 
  Study of Melee Effectiveness and Foe Debilitation through Focused 
  Limb Severance Techniques Contrasted with Mainstream Oppor-
  tunistic Techniques, can learn this technique.
  Whenever you hit a target with a melee weapon that deals slash-
  ing damage and the target has fewer hit points remaining than 
  your level, you can attempt to remove a limb. The target must make 
  a Constitution saving throw (DC equal to the damage of the attack). 
  On a success, the target loses an extremity of its choice — hand, foot, 
  arm, or leg. On a failure, you choose which extremity the target 
  loses. Creatures without extremities are unaffected.
  Special. If you are wielding a razorburst weapon, such as the one 
  Lya Jierre owns, add double its magical bonus to attack and damage 
  to your level to determine the HP threshold of this ability.
  Hands of Heaven and Hell.
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  These arm-length fingerless gloves are infused with the pugilist 
  training of the Clergy’s elite godhands, and tainted by the light-
  ning tongue of a demon. While you are wielding these specially 
  ordained brass knuckles, once per round when you hit a creature 
  with an unarmed strike you may pummel it or another creature 
  adjacent to you, dealing 1d6 points of electricity damage. Each time 
  you pummel this way, the hands of heaven and hell gain one charge 
  counter, which lasts until the end of the encounter.
  When the hands of heaven and hell have at least six charge coun-
  ters, after your next successful melee attack with them you gain a 
  number of temporary hit points equal to the amount of damage the 
  attack dealt.
  Lucky Dice Ki Focus Thoughts.
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  Keep these two six-sided dice in your pocket. They’re good luck. 
  If you have a ki pool, the size of your ki pool increases by 1. When 
  you roll these six-sided dice, the result can be any number you 
  want. Numbers outside the range of 2 to 12 will be quite suspicious, 
  however.
  Special. If you want to bring the idea of the character owning 
  special dice to your gaming table, have the player owning this 
  magic item choose one d20 they own. The player must only ever use 
  the chosen die for attack rolls. No one but that player may touch 
  that die. Once per session if the selected die rolls badly, they’re al-
  lowed to make a “cleansing” re-roll to get the bad numbers out. If 
  the owner violates these rules, they must set aside the offending die 
  and replace it.
  Appendix 2: 
  New Magic Items
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 37
  Appendix 2: New Magic Items
  Razorburst Weapon.
  Weapon (any), very rare
  Pairing Drakran magic and Danoran science, this weapon’s 
  blade is edged with hovering, jagged teeth that glint in the light. 
  Upon activation these teeth saw back and forth in a keening blur, 
  liable to sever something vital. When you use this weapon to dam-
  age an enemy that has fewer hit points than double the weapon’s 
  bonus to attack and damage (minimum 1) the weapon shrieks as its 
  bladed teeth saw back and forth, a mechanism unspooling near the 
  hilt. The target must make a Constitution saving throw (DC = dam-
  age dealt by the attack). On a success, the target loses an extremity 
  of its choice — hand, foot, arm, or leg. On a failure, you choose 
  which extremity the target loses. Creatures without extremities 
  are unaffected.
  A severed arm or hand prevents use of anything that a target was 
  holding or carrying. A severed foot slows the target. A severed leg 
  renders the target prone.
  The Wayfarer’s Lantern.
  Wondrous item, artifact (requires attunement)
  The eight-faced cap of this lantern depicts symbols of seven plan-
  ets and the sun. Eight brass arches beneath contain a light that 
  glows without flame, held contained without glass. As the light 
  touches you reality seems to shift. You can use a bonus action to ad-
  just the lantern to shed dim (25-foot radius) or normal light (50-foot 
  radius), or to turn off. It is fragile and has only 10 hit points (AC 13).
  The lantern’s greater powers require special fuel — oil that has 
  been attuned to a particular plane by steeping it in some item at-
  tuned to that plane. Typically this is some form of meteorite that 
  has been ground to dust. An ounce of this oil burns for 5 minutes.
  Each ounce of oil is effectively a consumable item of uncommon, 
  rare, or very rare rarity. The level, based on how much meteor dust 
  the oil contains, determines the strength of the effect. A given 
  ounce of oil must be attuned to a specific plane.
  You can use an action to fill the lantern with oil and light it. The 
  lantern either affects everything it illuminates or only creatures 
  that are specifically targeted. To specifically target a creature you 
  either need to be able to see it when you light the lantern, or the 
  creature (or its gear or domicile) must be marked with an arcane 
  sigil prior to lighting the lantern. Targeted creatures that leave the 
  area of the lantern’s illumination are no longer affected, but they 
  will be affected again if they return to the area.
  The lantern’s effects extend 50 feet in every direction, ignoring 
  even total cover or concealment. A creature with total cover or 
  concealment has advantage on saving throws to resist the lantern’s 
  effects because the light is not actually touching them, but the 
  magic can pass through solid objects.
  Choose an effect below appropriate to the oil’s planar attun-
  ement. Each round targets must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 
  equal to the level of the oil used). A creature that is hit falls under 
  
  38 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Appendix 2: New Magic Items
  the lantern’s effect for 5 minutes. If it later moves beyond the radius 
  of the lantern it is no longer affected, but it will be again as soon as 
  it comes back into the area.
  The lantern’s effect lasts for the full 5 minutes. It cannot be 
  snuffed prematurely without shattering and destroying the lantern.
  •	 Any. Within 1 minute a random encounter occurs as 
  creatures native to the plane are drawn to the lantern. The 
  encounter is up to GM’s discretion based on the current party 
  level.
  •	 The Dreaming or Bleak Gate. Those affected are physically 
  transported to the coterminous spot in either the land of the 
  fey or the land of shadows.
  •	 Vona. Affected creatures gain a +10 bonus to Wisdom (In-
  sight) and Wisdom (Perception) checks. An affected creature 
  with vulnerability to radiant energy or sunlight takes 1d6 
  radiant damage at the beginning of its turn each round.
  •	 Jiese. An affected creature that takes 1d6 fire damage at the 
  beginning of its turn each round. Objects catch fire more 
  easily.
  Alternately, affected creatures become argumentative and 
  hostile. Any creature that remains under the effect for at least 
  1 minute makes a Wisdom saving throw or is frightened. 
  While so frightened, if it ends its turn and has not attacked 
  anything, it must attack or charge the nearest creature. If it 
  succeeds its saving against being frightened, it recognizes 
  that its mind is being affected, and is immune from the 
  compulsion for 5 minutes. If a creature is still in the radius of 
  the lantern after that time, it can be attacked again.
  •	 Avilona. Howling winds blow across affected creatures. At 
  the beginning of each round roll 1d8 to determine the wind’s 
  direction. Whenever an affected creature ends its turn, it is 
  pushed 1d4 x 5 feet in that direction. Alternately, other types 
  of weather can be called forth, albeit in a limited area.
  •	 Av. Any creature under the lantern’s effect for at least 1 
  minute becomes slowed (as the spell, ending on a successful 
  saving throw). If it fails its save, it falls asleep and has vivid 
  shared dreams. If it succeeds it shakes off the effect and is 
  immune for 5 minutes.
  •	 Mavisha. The flow of water within the area obeys the mental 
  commands of sentient creatures. An affected creature can 
  use an action raise, lower, or part water, or increase a vessel’s 
  speed by 10 miles an hour, but it’s not fast enough to be used 
  as a weapon. Multiple creatures thinking in opposition (5 or 
  more) can rouse the anger of the water causing it to manifest 
  as a water elemental.
  •	 Urim. Illuminated stone, crystal, and metal becomes harder. 
  Affected creatures have resistance against bludgeoning, 
  piercing, and slashing damage.
  •	 Apet. Affected creatures can teleport 50 feet as a bonus ac-
  tion, but must remain within the radius of the lantern’s light.
  •	 Nem. Affected creatures are pulled from their bodies into the 
  plane of Nem, a spirit world on the far side of the Bleak Gate. 
  The world resembles reality but is bereft of occupants and 
  slowly fades away as the disembodied creature wanders away 
  from the spot where it died. Even if their body moves, the 
  spot where they entered Nem is an invisible gateway. If they 
  ever stray more than 3 miles from that gateway, they pass 
  into the afterlife and cannot be resurrected. This is normally 
  not a factor with the lantern because it will not burn long 
  enough.
  Creatures in Nem cannot see or be seen by living 
  creatures. They gain the Ethereal Movement feature of a 
  ghost (useful for scouting environments).
  If their souls leave the area of the lantern, they instantly 
  snap back to the spot where they first entered Nem. If their 
  bodies are moved from the lantern’s area, their souls snap 
  back into their flesh.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 39
  Roscommon and Khalundurrin
  The Khalundurrin is a steamship with 2 decks, 25 feet across 
  and 80 feet long. There are four light cannons each to port and 
  starboard. Each cannon requires one person to operate. The fuel 
  compartments carry enough to move the ship 2,000 miles at a 
  time. Creatures on the deck of the Khalundurrin have cover (half, 
  three-quarters, or total cover, at the discretion of the GM) against 
  attacks made from outside the ship.
  Player Handouts
  Planned Timeline.
  •	 85 Autumn, 500. Your ship departs Flint. Trip to Beaumont 
  should take seven days.
  •	 1 Winter, 500. Your ship arrives in Beaumont. Your ship sails 
  for Trekhom.
  •	 You have a ten day buffer in case of trouble at sea.
  •	 11 Winter, 500. Train departs Beaumont at 7:30 a.m.
  •	 11 Winter, 500. Train arrives in Cherage by 6:00 p.m.
  •	 12 Winter, 500. Train departs Cherage at 7:30 a.m.
  •	 12 Winter, 500. Train arrives in Orithea by 6:15 p.m.
  •	 13 Winter, 500. Train departs Orithea at 7:30 a.m.
  •	 13 Winter, 500. Train arrives in Trekhom by 6:30 p.m. Your 
  ship will be waiting at the harbor.
  •	 14 Winter, 500. Train departs Trekhom at 7:30 a.m. Your 
  ship sails for Sid Minos.
  •	 14 Winter, 500. Train arrives in Nalaam by 6:00 p.m.
  •	 15 Winter, 500. Train departs Nalaam at 7:30 a.m.
  •	 15 Winter, 500. Train arrives in Sid Minos by 5:30 p.m. Your 
  ship will be waiting at the harbor.
  •	 16 Winter, 500. Train departs Sid Minos at 7:30 a.m.
  •	 16 Winter, 500. Train arrives in Vendricce by 6:00 p.m. Your 
  ship will be waiting at the harbor. Trip to Flint should take 
  eight days.
  Roscommon.
  A century-old schooner given the favor of Medb, one of the queens of 
  the Unseen Court.
  The schooner is one of the lightest types of vessels used for oce-
  anic voyages. Its nimbleness makes it ideal for blockade-running 
  and surveillance but if cornered by an actual warship it must rely 
  on the skill-at-arms of its crew since it cannot mount many weapons.
  Roscommon, named after the region in Risur that provided for 
  most of its material, mounts a two-masted square-topsail rig. Her 
  lower deck could accommodate as many as thirty but she typically 
  sails with fifteen crew and a cook plus some small elite complement 
  of officers or specialists. (See illustration at right.)
  Laid down in 417 A.O.V., when it was nearing completion its 
  designer had a druid deliver a replica to a fey circle near the town 
  of Roscommon. The model ship delighted the local fey queen Medb 
  and the next morning when the designer returned to work the 
  ship’s figurehead had been replaced by a beautiful faerie woman 
  carved from living wood.
  The Roscommon is a sailing ship with 2 decks, 25 feet across and 
  80 feet long. There are four light cannons each to port and star-
  board. Each cannon requires one person to operate. Its two masts 
  are 70 feet high. Once per short rest, the captain standing at the 
  head of the ship can use an action to ask the favor of the queen’s 
  figurehead. The Roscommon and everyone aboard teleports 50 feet 
  to an unoccupied space. It maintains the same heading and speed.
  Khalundurrin.
  A Drakran-built steamship, sturdy and well-armed, with a bold heart.
  The Khalundurrin joined the Drakran navy at the tail end of the 
  Fourth Yerasol War. It was captured by Risuri forces when the ship 
  strayed too close to an ongoing naval battle between the Risuri and 
  Danorans. Its captain claimed that he tried to avoid the fight, but 
  his ship had changed course when he wasn’t looking, like it wanted 
  to get into combat.
  The dwarves of Drakr built the Khalundurrin to be a sturdily 
  armored scout ship, capable of patrolling the edge of a naval for-
  mation and surviving a few hits if it ran into trouble. Arcanists 
  who examined the ship postulate that some manner of spirit might 
  inhabit its steam engine. (See illustration on previous page.)
  A squat conning tower rises up in the center of the ship, and 
  angled steel plates slope outward toward the water around the 
  maindeck, with shuttered slots for cannons. The lower deck is hot 
  and cramped, but crew sleep easily and speak of dreams filled with 
  bold imagery like something out of a Drakran opera.
  
  40 | EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One
  Player Handouts
  3,000 Mile Route
  Servicing
  Beaumont • Cherag •
  Oritheia • Trekhom •
  Nalaam • Sid Minos • 
  Vendricce
  in only six days.
  Trains Departing Every Day from Every Station.
  Travel the Coast at High Speed in Comfort and Safety.
  First Class
  Accommodations.
  Fine Dining.
  Scenic Views.
  A view from the Avery Coast R.R.
  as the train nears Sid Minos.
  Our trains’ nightly Stop-Overs are 
  in safe, populated Areas attended 
  by Security Professionals.
  Our Courteous, Helpful, Experi-
  enced Staff always accords Special 
  Attention to traveling Families.
  
  EN5ider Presents: Always on Time, Part One | 41
  Dramatis Personae
  GM Quick Reference
  •	 Luc Jierre. Tiefling inventor. Stutters. Avoids conversation. 
  Resentful of those in power, but desires power of his own. Frighten-
  ingly intelligent. Excellent manners and etiquette.
  •	 Ottavia Sacredote. Elf priestess. Geometric tattoos of a Clergy 
  oracle. Deaf. Can talk, but prefers to use sign language. Devoted to 
  ending corruption in the church. Recognizes people’s flaws, tries to 
  bring out their nobler sides. Cares for Luc, and is overly protective.
  •	 Cardiff Hengehill. Risuri spy. Handsome. Hides through confi-
  dence and looking like he belongs, instead of discretion. Suitcase 
  strapped to wrist holds stolen documents of Danoran naval 
  intelligence. Bouts of heroism. Short temper. Grabs people when 
  making a point.
  •	 Malia Baccarin. Crisillyir-born, Danor-raised. Rail guard. Contacts 
  with criminals along railroad. Collects newspapers. Skilled at cajol-
  ing, goading, seducing. Wants to score big, retire young.
  •	 Ashima-Shimtu. Ancient demoness. Chained by Clergy. Scaled 
  skin. Speaks as if narrating events, never in first person. Hints at 
  knowing great secrets, reveals very few.
  •	 Minister of Outsiders Lya Jierre. Tiefling martial scientist. 
  Ambitious. Haughty but friendly. Progressive. Wants peace. 
  Arcano-technological vorpal rapier.
  •	 Nicodemus the Gnostic. Smokes leaf of Nicodemus. Movie-star 
  charisma. Dominates a room with his presence, but encourages 
  others to talk. Enjoys solitude and posing surprising questions 
  about philosophy. Ghost who travels between bodies. +
  •	 Assistant Chief Inspector Stover Delft. Party’s boss. Chews 
  tobacco. Cane. Spits. Good-natured.
  •	 Brianne “Bree” Kaldeckis. Danoran war vet. Dresses to show off 
  right arm and leg transplants. Honorable. Clever. Loves hearing and 
  telling war stories. Sympathetic to suffering.
  •	 Damata Griento. Half-orc businessman. Looking for a friend. 
  Pretends to be normal tourist. Afraid of dying, so overly sensitive 
  and emotional. Panicked concern for family.
  •	 Olivert Boone. Tiefling gunslinger and lady’s man. Braggart. 
  Jovially puts down people. Demon-possessed revolver demands 
  sacrifices. When amused, claps by slapping chest with one hand.
  •	 Verzubak Tantalovich. Dwarven luck mage. Looks perpetually 
  tired. Rolls dice, makes notes about random events in his notebook. 
  Rejects Heid Eschatol focus on the end of life. Observant. Can tell 
  what people care about, so pays a lot of compliments.
  •	 Elanor Yanette. Hugely fat enchantress. Sex trafficker. No 
  empathy. Smug. Keeps people around so she can show off wealth 
  and gossip. Reads erotic poetry.
  •	 Isobel Travers. Young, beautiful eladrin. Raised to have little 
  personality. Beautiful singing voice. Usually drugged or magic-
  addled. Hums errantly.
  •	 “Mister Mapple,” Andrei von Recklinghausen. Scruffy, shab-
  bily dressed. Smells of fancy bath soaps and perfume. Amazing 
  acrobat. Lives to experience new pleasure. Romantic heart. 
  Regenerates wounds. Touch drains life force.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 215 - Zeitgeist 4.1 Always On Time.pdf