D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Unbound Sky: Chains of the Aetherium

# Magitech# Intrigue# Wilderness# Aerial

You awaken in the lower decks of a derelict sky-vessel, the *Aetherium's Lament*, drifting aimlessly in the cloud-sea. The ship's arcane binding chains, which once held its colossal, living jellyfish lift-sacs in check, have been severed. The sacs, now untethered, are slowly pulling the doomed vessel apart, drifting toward the lethal stormwall of the Aetherium. The shipyard that built this vessel lies ahead—a nexus of desperate factions, forgotten lore, and the only key to salvation. But salvation is not a simple choice. It is a question of who you are willing to damn.

Chronicle Prelude

The cramped, groaning lower decks of the sky-vessel *Aetherium's Lament*. The air hums with the resonance of stressed arcane energy. Viewports show the chaotic, beautiful flight of the freed jellyfish lift-sacs, their bioluminescent tentacles trailing like banners. The ship is listing badly, and the distant, swirling chaos of the Aetherium's stormwall is visible on the horizon.

Environmental Traits

The *Aetherium's Lament* is a prototype vessel from the great Sky-Vessel Shipyard of Cogspire. Its unique 'living' lift system—giant, docile sky-jellyfish bound by arcane chains—has catastrophically failed. The ship is now adrift, threatening to breach the sacred containment protocols of the Shipyard, potentially releasing unstable aetheric life into a world below that cannot survive its touch. Two factions now vie for control of the wreckage, the sky-jellyfish, and the secrets it holds.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (6)

Guild Overseer Vex
A thin, sharply dressed human in a pristine Guild uniform, currently in disarray. Sweat beads on his brow, and he clutches a cracked data-slate. His eyes dart nervously between the debris field and his remaining crew.
Jellyherder Orin
A wiry figure with weather-beaten skin and eyes that hold a deep, calm light. They wear layered, practical clothing adorned with small, polished shells and resonance shards. Their movements are slow and deliberate.
Sky-Pirate Captain Grak
A hulking goblin with jagged, filed teeth and a patchwork leather flight jacket. One eye is a crude cybernetic implant that whirs and clicks. He clutches a modified harpoon gun and leers from the cockpit of a small, battered sky-skiff.
Apprentice Mechanist Kael
A young human woman with grease-stained hands and haunted eyes. She wears a torn Guild apprentice's jumpsuit and hides behind a massive, inactive steam conduit. She flinches at loud noises.
Binding Core Guardian
A towering construct of polished brass, crystal, and pulsating arcane energy. Its form is humanoid but jointed like an insect, with multiple glowing blue optical sensors. It moves with a smooth, mechanical grace, and its voice emanates from a central speaker in a flat, resonant tone.
Scholar Liora
An elderly gnome peering through an enormous, brass-bound telescope. Her observatory is a hidden nook filled with star-charts, preserved jellyfish specimens in glowing jars, and humming arcane instruments.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Skyward Drift: Labyrinth of the Haywire Gale

The Escalating Gasp of the Sky-Port