This mini-campaign was released between Arcs V and VI, and follows Smyte, Kittle Moonsong-McGreeby, and two brand new Auraelian PC's as they infiltrate Glockheed Industries, a shady company in the Goldmine District with manufacturing ties to the Empire’s Auric Army of golden automatons.

CHAPTER ONE: THE SET-UP

Levid Maycare and Filou Ond-Duvet are employees of the Auraelian weapons manufacturer, Glockheed Industries. Glockheed has recently received a contract to begin production of the Empire’s new automaton force, the Auric Army. Both Levi and Filou find themselves in difficult places: Levid is the one who brought in the contract, but is being shouldered out of receiving any credit; and Filou is an incredibly low-ranking and underappreciated employee, having worked for 15 years at the company with zero upward mobility.

Levid fires her assistant after he dares to hint at the identity of her father: Glockheed CEO, Nivar Maycare. It’s then that Filou gets the opportunity to prove himself, as he’s coincidentally sent up to Ms. Maycare’s floor to get her to sign some paperwork. His compliments and instant submissiveness make him an ideal candidate for the job, and as a test of aptitude, he accompanies Levid to a corporate party happening on the observation floor of GI Tower. Their first challenge comes shortly after coat check, when Ms. Maycare is confronted by her long-standing rival, Angelica Celestana, and her crew. Fuse already lit from the day’s frustrations, Levid doesn’t play the usual games that society demands, and chooses instead to truly reveal what she thinks of Angelica. Angelica is unfortunately unphased, brushing the comments off as a bad joke, before getting a rise out of Levid by commenting on her connection to Nivar. Angelica’s cronies suggest that Levid give a toast to the CEO and the new contract, drawing the attention of the party and forcing her to speak. Levid pulls a toast out of the air, but her father comes in at the end to steal the moment and brag about himself.

Furious and unable to fake it any longer, Levid asks Filou if he wants to grab drinks elsewhere, leading the two to embark on a tour of the bars of the Goldmine District. Once they’re thoroughly smashed, Levid gets a bit nostalgic, asking if Filou would join her to visit an old haunt with delicious food and cheap drinks. Filou, desperate to prove himself and thankful she’s using her corporate card, agrees, and the two head down the stairs of a subway station to catch the Rail.

Their trip quickly takes a turn for the chaotic when the train stops at a station where a number of black robed warriors are assailing a few goblin urchins. Without a second thought, Levid leaps into action, forcing Filou to follow. While Filou desperately tries to contact the station authorities, Levid uses her magic to disrupt the attack and force the leader of these warriors to focus on them and not the innocent goblins. The drow warriors nearly cut down and strangles both of our would be heroes— but together they stave off death and disorient their enemies long enough for two Golden Fist guards and an older automaton to enter the fray. The black robed warriors disengage, knowing that their prize is lost and not wanting to risk interacting with the Empire’s forces. The goblins however are not so lucky, as the automaton uses its ability to cast Fireball and incinerate them as they run.

Levid and Filou escape onto another Sprawl-Bound Train, leaving the destruction in their wake and reflecting upon the Empire and both of their situations. They resolve to have a nightcap at the Drunken Drake before Filou’s first day, and a few minutes later they find themselves entering the beloved tavern, the Drunken Drake. While being served by bartender and owner Barley, they watch a handsome young man come down and order some snacks (in the form of pan crunchies) for him and his friend upstairs. Levid convinces Filou that they should head upstairs after him. Filou initially frets that Levid is proposing some sort of inappropriate workplace relationship, but when they hear voices from the inside of the man’s room they quiet down to listen. They overhear that this man and his ally are planning on pulling some sort of sabotage heist on Glockheed, even knowing they’re ill-equipped. A false step leads to Filou and Levi’s position being revealed, the door bursts open to reveal Landscorcher, a known criminal, pointing his blade at their throats and demanding they answer why he shouldn’t kill them right then.

Levid drops her disguise, revealing that she is not a human, but a tiefling… and a tiefling whom Landscorcher seems to know.

CHAPTER TWO: GLOCKHEED ELITES

Levid Maycare and Filou Ond-Duvet confront Landscorcher (aka Smyte Altrui), feared freedom fighter vigilante of Auraelia. After some initial deception and posturing, Smyte allows the two into the headquarters of the Order of the Fallen God (aka his cluttered apartment above the bar). He introduces them to fellow member: Kittle Moonsong-McGreebee, a university student/TA. Kittle explains that they aren’t terrorists hoping to destroy without abandon, but concerned citizens aiming to hold up production of the Auric Army, which is in truth a force of evil rather than a protective force of good. Not fully convinced, but also remembering the violence they witnessed just that evening on the train, Levid and Filou agree not to immediately blow this conspiratorial meeting - interested in learning 1) what’s really going on with Glockheed and the automatons, and 2) how this heist can benefit them? In addition to revenge, can they use this opportunity to humiliate those who have insulted them and steal tech secrets to profit? Or would it be better to expose this heist to those in power to earn their respect and potentially any boons they may offer to such a loyal minion?

Smyte and Kittle agree (not knowing the second, less favorable option is on the table). They promise Filou and Levid whatever they desire as means of payment for this operation, if they can show them 1. a way in and 2. the location of “The Schematic Library,” the file-room containing information on Glockheed armor and weapon tech. Levid and Smyte continue to butt heads, the wounds of their old relationship still sore despite having broken up over 5 years prior. Levid clearly believes Smyte to be the same sloppy, careless man who couldn’t understand her motives; and Smyte believes Levi is still ashamed of her past, hiding behind disguises to fit into the system while claiming to be changing it from the inside. This caper crew is dubbed the Glockheed Elites (“for now,” says Smyte), not completely united, but knowing they all can individually benefit from this heist (so long as those employed at Glockheed aren’t implicated in the crime).

While Levid visits the bathroom to take a deep breath (and recover from seeing her ex), Filou catches Kittle on her way out. Filou reveals that he is actually an unlicensed caster who never attended the University of Auraelia, and asks if Kittle can infiltrate the college files to falsify his degree. Kittle, knowing that higher education is total bullshit, fully agrees… so long as Filou assists them in their heist.

The Glockheed Elites meet the next morning on a street corner near GI Tower. Smyte and Kittle arrive… wholly unready for a heist. Terrible names. Terrible cover stories. Terrible disguises (basically just themselves if they didn’t have their iconic features). The clear plan-rushing doesn’t inspire confidence in Levid and Filou, but they help “Derrick Norm-man” and “Jessica Chastain” get through security and up into the “eliviators,” narrowly avoiding Angelica in the process). Splitting so Filou can fill out the proper visitation paperwork for the two “freelancers”, the rest of the group heads to Levid’s office to reconvene after quite a sloppy entry.

Once ready, the group heads up to the 75th floor - the observation deck - to see if there would be means to get to the higher, closed off floors of the tower. Ruling out traveling from the outside as they worried getting spotted by aerial patrols would have drastic consequences, the group split - Kittle and Filou checking out the bathroom to find vents that headed to the floors above while Smyte and Levid tried to charm a scientist named Jirk Birklark to get access. Both groups found success, with the Vent Team using enlarge/reduce to make Filou small enough to travel in the ventilation system with Kittle while Levid and the spell “Fast Friends” made the scientist more than willing to bring these two up to his experiments. HOWEVER, when they arrived the two found out this scientist was actually NOT involved in the automatons (which would’ve been a helpful link and also would’ve gotten them HIGHER in the tower) but the inventor of a strange adhesive called GLOOG, who really had brought them up to pitch his product, and THAT’S where we are now!

1. CHAPTER 3 -  Last time, the caper crew known as the Glockheed elites continued their infiltration of the lie employers tower. While Filou used some trickster spell craft to escape the labyrinthine vents before his reduction spell ended, Levid and Smyte were caught in a chaotic demonstration of clumsy divorced scientist Jirk Birklark’s super adhesive: GLOOG. One slip and moments later the entire lab was a disaster, giving Smyte a chance to swipe some random potions and Levid a moment to smooth things over with Jirk, snagging a sample herself for … presentation purposes, and IDs access to higher floors. Having realized that some sort of abjurative jammer was in place to block outer communication and divination, Filou and Kittle had headed to the security headquarters to find and dispel it. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to connect with the arcane intelligence Innerneb and this whole sabotage would be spoiled! Disguised as Levid and Jessica Chastain, they schmoozed one of the agents whilst casing the joint to identify that the jammer, but their cover was nearly blown when LEVID and SMYTE turned up trying to use the scryeyes to get more intel about the rest of GI Tower. Levid then disguised herself as Filou, and the two distracted the already hectic office while sending Kittle to disable the jammer. Though she was nearly caught because Smyte had accidentally grabbed potions that weren't applicable to their heist, she shut down the antennae and the party managed to escape the headquarters, ducking the ever suspicious Frock on the way out. On their way up to the higher floors, the eliviators were stopped while staff handled the Gloog Incident forcing the group to take the stairs. After nearly being dissolved by an arcane cannon test conducted by asshat scientist Warphin Diddlepiss, the group took a short rest in the stairwell. Filou clocked that the next barrier to their upward mobility was a clockwork spider patrolling the first of many robotics floors. They decided to test out Kittle’s schematic sabotage by using the now accessible Innerneb to take over the arachnid, and after a brief struggle they were once again charging up a stairwell towards their goal: The Schematic Library, and THAT’S where we are now!

2. CHAPTER 4 - Last time, the Glockheed Elites retrieved Innerneb from the spider construct they used to test their abilities and headed into the stairwell, taking a moment to go over the situation since they had so much time to spare. Kittle explained that Innerneb was an arcane intelligence, created from complex technology and a spark of magic, and this eventually led to the discussion of the nefarious origin of the automatons and the truth behind Company O - AKA The Omnimalum. Turns out the Order of the Fallen God and kept the truth from our protagonists to spare them the moral dilemma. Smyte knew that telling them meant either putting them in an ethical dilemma, or worse, NOT putting them in one which would reveal that they, deep down, didn’t care about protecting people as he did. Thankfully, though still a bit confused about the process of their creation, they acknowledged that these automatons were indeed dangerous and born from the abuse of less fortunate citizens. Finding themselves outside a of a high level storage warehouse, the caper crew broke in and raided the broken/defunct products from Glockheed’s path - finding new weapons, an energy drink that promised to give them a long rest in the time of a short rest, and twisted biotech - oddest of them all a GRAY BABY that spoke 12 words: 

1. Magic

2. The World

3. It’s People

4. Love

5. Betrayal 

6. Apocalypse

7. Love

8. Memory

9. Time

10. Golden Warrior

11. Apocalypse

12. Love

3. Realizing that it seemed to tell the story of the creation of Feyfall and its eventual destruction, the plan shifted a bit - rallying Filou and Levid to the cause, and leading them to… adopt the gray baby? Finding log books in the back, it was discovered that this room was visited once a day at 3pm - in one hour. Since their clearance ended with this floor, they decided to wait out the employee since, as Filou remembered, they would have clearance to every floor. Just as they had finished looting, the group heard the employee trying the door - realizing that it had been left UNLOCKED and THAT’S where we are now!

And that is where we ended our campaign! Jump back into the tale of Zola, Brigid and Smyte with Chapter Eighty-Four (Arc VI), or continue onwards for more recaps.