One Cup at a Time: A Starbucks DnD Campaign

Session 11.5 - Flux Chargers, Coal Dust, and Shade Blades

Note: I haven't posted as session .5 in a while because simply no one has done anything in our DnD Discord for weeks. Until this week, when it suddenly blew up again. These events mostly occurred before entering the Boros dungeon, but always keep in mind that time is wibbly wobbly. Also I've introduced a "To be continued" to the end of scenes where the actual scene hasn't ended yet, but nothing else was posted until after the next session (they are not there for dramatic effect).

~Izzet League~

Having ended the scientific social Uldin had with Kai and the ice lightning weird, Uldin reclines in his lab. Thoughts refusing to cease, mostly about the Orzhov and Azorius. After all those two seem to be the only ones who were involved in that vault. Why was the Ghost there? And that horrid thing that was released...

"Ugh, maybe my notes will bring me peace."

Uldin takes a random file from his cabinet. While yes, these project reports are normally kept in the Izzet's file room, Uldin made a point to get a copy of files near and dear to him, and filed his personal notes along with them. After the meeting with Kai, Uldin felt the best files were ones from when he was an assistant.

"Ahh yes, what a time. Running from table to table and hoping what they asked me to help with wouldn't kill me..."

Flipping to the first page, he finds a journal entry with a familiar script scrawled along the page: Uldin's senior researcher from when he was just an assistant. Eager to please, eager to excel, Uldin kept the tools clean, and in place. Thankfully the Professor, as he liked to be called, saw Uldin and knew just where to keep him: close by. Surprisingly, any lab Uldin sorted would have their injury rates drop, which, depending on which Izzet you asked, was either wonderful or disappointing.

"Heh, Doctor Civin was always a note taker. Guess I get that from my time there."

Turning to another page, Uldin finds diagrams of weirds and people written on wax paper to overlay the different diagrams. Page after page of impossible hypotheses, rejected ideas, lack of test subjects... all arriving at the final page: a vendalkin and an augmented flux charger. Of course, Uldin had seen each and every successful experiment, rejected project, failed experiment... and Uldin volunteered all the same. Uldin only asked that he be in charge of the prep work for the lab. A whole day to prepare the lab. And Civin was more than happy to oblige.

"That reminds me Sprocket, be a dear and set lab to Origin. And get ping to mend any tools that may be in need of repair."

Uldin uses one hand to guide Sprocket, and Sprocket leads Ping here and there. The lab starts to look more and more like Uldin always liked it. Maybe it was Nostalgia, but tools put in their place always brought him comfort. It always reminded him of the day he woke up: the day he became an artificer. He always had an itch for building but something different happened that day. The lab was pristine. All the tools were repaired, sanitized, replaced. Dials set to zero, batteries charged, excess parts in their place. Uldin prepared the prototype that he had seen: a discharged flux charger, eyes dimmed and blank. Then and there, Uldin knew he was ready. He brought in his Professor and went under. When he woke up, he felt wonderful. Sure his stomach was weak, but never had Uldin felt so strong. And yet so weak. It made sense to Uldin now, you can't get without giving, and anyone who said otherwise was in denial. His strength had greatly increased, but in exchange his constitution had plummeted. It takes 100 failed experiments for 1 decent device.

"I need to write back to Civin and let him know how I'm doing."

Uldin Stares back at the flux charger diagram and feels a weird bit in his gut.

"Are they sentient... Is this me or am I me..."

Uldin thinks back to the Vault. That thing... was it a ghost, a demon, or was it something more familiar?"