Ayra Majon Story Points

Overview:

Ayra Majon is divided into two halves: the Sky, where all inventing and commerce takes place, and the Ground, where all industry occurs. The rhythm of the Shard and its people is governed by a series of three Scores played by the Master or Apprentice Rhythmbringer on the Nebulith Drum.

Factions: 

The main factions of the Shard are the Nav'gan Assembly, the Or'ven Conclave, the Ahn'krah Union, and the Breakers.

Awakened Abilities: 

Awakened abilities on this Shard are elemental in nature and fall into the categories of Shadowbrand, Lightbrand, Earthbrand, Waterbrand, Airbrand, and Firebrand.

The Breakers and The Collapse: 

The Breakers launched a terrorist attack right as the crew arrived on the Shard. It is revealed that they became violent six months ago, around the same time as a failed council vote to approve sweeping air contamination cleanup in the Ground.

During the celebrations of the Day of Hands, there was a strange disruption to the Score being played and all of the Grounders fell unconscious, later citing that they felt as if their souls were being yanked from their bodies. Pherus delved into the mind of one of those affected and saw a vision of someone with a white gloved left hand making an alteration to the Score. A broadcast was put out by Archon Vay'lan Se'ol stating that the source of the event had yet to be determined, but heavily suggesting it was divine punishment for harboring terrorists.

Key Characters on Ayra Majon:

Yl'mani Salar'an is a Lightbrand and Initiate for the Or'ven Conclave. She is first seen by Pherus in a vision where she is preparing to confess her love to a man named Teq. She meets the crew early on after their arrival and acts as their guide. She is a proficient healer and takes on the role of guardian for Typhon's daughter, Aerith, after seeing a need there.

Ta'hala Ra'heem is the Mistress Dockwright, first seen in a vision arguing with her husband and preparing her son Un'batu for his apprenticeship with Master Yondar. It is later revealed that Un'batu is the Apprentice Rhythmbringer who unknowingly played an altered Score, causing what is now being called the Collapse.

Luminary Typhon Maller is the Divine Laborer, an appointed position of great respect that holds one of the two Grounder seats on the Council. He has a daughter named Aerith who has a serious medical issue, and it is later revealed she does not have much time left to live due to Ether Sickness.

The Investigation:

The group is reassigned away from the official investigation due to Bellog convincing the local EVs that they are Izumi's crew, and they head to the Rhythmbringer Hall to investigate on their own. On the way, they are attacked by Jeli'kora on the Line, which are protective ancestral spirits, and Typhon is taken. Bungee learns that he has a soul when his is ripped from his body by a Jeli'kora, and later during the investigation he has a vision that is the memory of the last five minutes of that Jeli'kora's life.

Keth'ora Nullfield Plaque:

Here lie the remains of Keth'ora. Once the brightest hope of Xer'fas. Remember the 299 souls who gave themselves to knowledge, who labored in devotion to the Mother, the Sister, and the Daughter, and were answered only with silence. Yet let not this place comfort you. Let it serve as a warning. Progress demands a price, and some prices are too great to pay. There are depths where thought becomes trespass, and harmonies do not forgive the uninvited hand. Of their designs, we burned every copy, washed away every spec of ash But the silence stays with us, for the silence is eternal Fly only where mortals may wake to dream. Ne'er again where gods and giants dream to wake For when they awaken, it will not be our dreams that shape the world But theirs.

The Rhythmbringer Hall Investigation:

The group investigated the Rhythmbringer Hall and determined that the following people were present during the Collapse:

• Bakchan Yhondar, Master Rhythmbringer. 

• Un'batu Ra'heem, Apprentice Rhythmbringer. 

• Tay'lah San'su, a Lightbrand Harmonics 4th year at the Twilight University who was studying the effects of resonant frequencies in relation to the superposition of elemental substrates, specifically the potential for musical teleportation outside of Drift traversal. 

• Archon Vay'lan Sey'ol, High Chancellor of the Or'ven Conclave, who visits the Rhythmchamber once a day to bless the rhythms and the work.

• Tussell Narbid, a Firebrand forge security officer recently promoted and given the privilege of guarding the Score for the week.

• Lancer Lynn Brightclaw, an avian female EV Lancer officer who was patrolling the area at the time.

• Defender Drugger Brightclaw, an avian male EV Defender officer who was also patrolling at the time.

The Score is stored after every use in the Vault, a small 10x10 room with no windows or other openings and only a single door, watched by a guard at all times. Access to the Scores is restricted to Rhythmbringers and members of the Or'ven Conclave, though the storage is not especially secure and the locks could have been forced. The three Scores stored together are a Morning, Noon, and Evening set titled Sister's Heartbeat, Daughter's Heartbeat, and Mother's Heartbeat respectively. There was no sign of forced entry into the box. The Scores are always played on the same instrument, the Nebulith Drum.

The group determined that the Score was altered in a way designed to leave little evidence, but found a seal in invisible ink and dust that Bungee identified as Slip Shift Kachow, a time-released illusionary effect believed by Lt. Kanan to be the work of a Lightbrand.

The group interviewed most of those present and searched them for dust, but the Archon departed before that could happen after being informed of Typhon's capture. He appeared to demonstrate some form of telepathic or Fatewright ability for seeing into the future or past, left suddenly and appeared uncharacteristically concerned. Eloise followed him briefly and determined he was heading to the Nullfield. The rest of the group followed and met him outside, where they informed him that Bungee had seen what happened inside. The Archon threw Bungee into the field, and Loch threw himself in after him, with the rest of the group following. Jeli'kora reside inside the field and the group theorized they are the souls of those who died in the cataclysm. The group scuffled with the Archon inside and found and freed Typhon, though the Archon took him back to the Sky.

Loose Ends and Additional Discoveries:

Before returning to the ship, Eloise was approached by a feline ensouled merchant who gave her a rutabaga and a fortune cookie that read: "To the Fighter: The first step of your journey is well underway. Match her heartbeat or surely go astray. If you ever get lost in your case, seek the Mother's face. Your lucky numbers are 0, 2, 99."

Tandrew discovered a crate of synthetic humanoid heads labeled as follows:

To: Warehouse 63, Dock District From: Lumen Fabrications, Moon of Reth Contents: 1.2 Tons, Raw Aerithite Signatory: V.S.

There is no Warehouse 63, and the group surmised that V.S. stands for Vay'lan Se'ol, the Archon.

Eloise also discovered a poster for an emergency council meeting with the following agenda:

• Port Disruptions and Security, presented by Ta'hala Ra'heem, Mistress Dockwright. Open Session. 

• Factory and Transportation Disruptions, presented by Teq Bosumar, Line Operator III. Open Session. 

• Local Missing Persons and Inter-Expanse Fugitive Report, presented by Cal'caldus Ghili'mane, Chief Sky Warden. Open Session. 

• Temporary Emergency Appointments, presented by Teh'lus Vyn'thara, Council Speaker. Open Session. 

• Project Transcendence Update, presented by Archon Vay'lan Sey'ol, High Chancellor. Closed Session.

During a failed coup attempt by the Breakers, it was revealed that Typhon is Ashbringer, their leader.

The group discovered an exploit of the shipping system whereby regular shipments of mislabeled goods were getting smuggled in and moved to a warehouse that didn't officially exist. One of these shipping containers was found to have thousands of tubes that the group believe to be soul-storage devices (for karami ensoula). The shipment came from the moon of Reth. They had T'hala switch the label on the shipping container with another and put trackers on both of them to alert the group should the container be moved. They tracked the shipment destination to an underground warehouse under a fish cannery where Bungee discovered a massive factory assembling humanoid synthetic bodies numbering in the countless thousands.