As Far As You Can Tell – Episode 10

The episode started with Veil and Holly standing in Steve’s room. Concord appeared, wearing his Vathis Sentinel clothing. He admits that he’s been looking for Steve, and now assumes that Veil is his murderer. Concord and his men manacle Holly and Veil and bring them to the Sentinel station.

Station
Concord leaves Veil and Holly in a cell. The two girls are trapped behind iron bars, in a room slightly too small to lay down in comfortably. Veil lets Holly know that the party needs her help for bigger issues once this is all said and done. She uses Holly’s bobby pin to free them from their manacles, and after they manage to get their arms in front of their bodies, break out of the cell. It is here that Veil learns that Holly was sent to Isild alone to look into the fanatic Asteans. She also learns that Holly is a veteran of the Darkest War. The two go from cell to cell looking for other prisoners, and they find Elliot Whitney unconscious in one of the cells. Holly heals him, and he claims to be well enough to fight. The find three others dead, recently killed: Sentinel Trinity Wentworth, town guard Jolly Gunthrie, and town guard Remember Corbertt. All of them likely frequented the Old Glory bar. On their way out Veil quickly disposes of the two guards remaining in the building, and they search through the rest of the station rooms. This place has been unused since the Darkest War, but a few rooms look as if someone has been there recently. They finally find a furnished office that appears to be used by Concord: they take three journals and six maps belonging to him.

Veil, Holly, and Elliot head toward the warehouse. On the way there Veil explains the infiltrated Sentinels, the fake church, and the warehouses full of bombs. She says that the party wants to seek refuge with Guardian, since his church is impartial.

Upon return to the warehouse Veil finds two dead, and six bound worshippers, as well as the party. They loot some copper and a plain ring. The dead are put in crates, and one guy seems light: most of his blood is gone, completely missing from his body. They take the six bound worshippers with them – Holly explains the situation to them as the party travels, but they do not believe her about the ‘relics’, which are actually bombs.

Guardian
The party brings the six bound men to Guardian, where they are kept and put in cells. Guardian’s leader is Zachary Hawkins, a human in his late 40s native to Isild. Under his robe he wields a long sword and wears a chain shirt. Hove tells Zachary about everything: Holly and the fake church, the warehouse situation (including the two men that were accidentally killed), the bombs, and the information that Veil gathered about the potential false Sentinels. Hove warns Zachary that Concord and the Asteans are targeting soldiers and veterans within Anchorage. He offers them a place to rest, and the party agrees, choosing to rest at Guardian for the night. Zachary also lets them know that he is friends with Verity Ley, the leader of the town watch, and he will talk with him about the alarming concerns they’ve raised.

Journals and Maps
The party realizes that to read through Concord’s journals they have to read one sentence from one, the next from another, and so on. They learn that Concord currently works for an entity called Salvation… later found out to be Lydia. They originally met in Gloam. Concord was stationed there after replacing Vathis Sentinels in an attempt to bring order to the city. He brought the city to its knees and brought Astea’s light to them. Salvation asked him to come to Isild, and he agreed.

The journals make it clear that Concord’s worship of Astea is way more important to him than his position with the Vathis Sentinels. His goals are to bring in as many Astean worshippers as he can to acquire a decent following, something that is newsworthy and will make the headlines. He plans to upset the local population to bring their wrath on the Asteans and ignite conflict between the groups. The bombs are Concord’s backup plan: if the city does not turn against the Asteans in sufficient time then they will use the bombs, also called Astea’s Grace. There is no mention of Lydia in the journal, which is two years old.

They reveal that Salvation works out of Aurez City. Concord noticed that Holly was in town and actively looking into their operation: he planned on dealing with her later, after handling Steve, who was also an infiltrator trying to figure out the truth behind the Asteans. The journals tell the party that Elliot was removed because it was unfavorable. Concord has around fifty Vathis Sentinels who work for him. Most are deputies from Gloam who traveled here with the goal of stirring up trouble.

Maps
The maps marks all sixteen warehouses, and the party makes a copy of them to give to Zach. The Astean currently number near 768 followers, which is close to their goal. They believe it will take around two months to reach the number that Concord desires. With the papers are ledgers documenting the food shipments coming to Anchorage.

Loot

• 3 journals (Concord’s)
• 6 maps
• 16 copper
• 1 plain silver ring (Violet)