---
title: "Previously on The Engine Run"
type: "player-note"
audience: "player"
campaign_frame: "The Veiled Face of Chaos"
player_as_of: "2026-10-12T21:19:00-07:00"
category: "The journey"
tags: ["visibility/player"]
---

# Previously on The Engine Run

**Session: October 3, 2026 · Three player characters**

## Before the expedition

The party began in [Philly](../../300_Locations/Philly.md), where the Gift provides basic necessities in return for contributions to the Collective. Their colorful armor and equipment stood out beside ordinary citizens' simple clothes.

[Jorden](../../400_Characters/Player%20Characters/Jorden_DKnoth_Character_Sheet.md) had worked as a sailmaker's assistant to **[Merin Rooe](../../400_Characters/NPCs/Merin%20Rooe.md)**, a senior Katari. **[Sasa](../../400_Characters/Player%20Characters/Sasa_Waykeeper_Character_Sheet.md)** had worked wharf security as a yellow warden. **[Tarik](../../400_Characters/Player%20Characters/Tarik_Character_Sheet.md)** had worked as a stevedore; he was not very good at it, but he put in his hours diligently.

## The Chancellor’s office

At [Whitestone Manor](../../300_Locations/Whitestone%20Manor.md), the university described its second expedition into [Locos](../../300_Locations/Locos.md). The company received a rough route diagram and extracts from **[Vaelis of the Unbroken Strand](../../400_Characters/NPCs/Vaelis%20of%20the%20Unbroken%20Strand.md)**. **[Ashin Toa](../../400_Characters/NPCs/Ashin%20Toa.md)**, a Cobalt Blue of the Reflectorium, would lead them to the surviving [mana engine](../../../../../../800_Rules_Reference_Homebrew/Aetherics/Mana%20Engine.md).

Sasa argued and applied a measure of intimidation: the company needed supplies, potions, and a reasonable chance to survive. The university agreed to **double the upfront payment**.

The players were subsequently told that **[Bendy Tilk](../../400_Characters/NPCs/Bendy%20Tilk%20-%20Source%20Reference.md) took notes during the meeting and delivered them somewhere afterward**. The party had not caught him doing it. The destination, method, and purpose remain unrevealed.

## The wharf

The company heard the morning benediction and felt the pressure to pay attention. A cutpurse stole Sasa's supplies. The party resolved the incident and had the guilty adults arrested; a boy of about thirteen escaped.

## Captain’s Law

Aboard [Brandy’s Folly](../../300_Locations/Brandy%E2%80%99s%20Folly.md), the company met **[Millie](../../400_Characters/NPCs/Millie%20Aulbach.md)** and **[Swoosh](../../400_Characters/NPCs/Swoosh.md)**. They heard a magnificent story-song about the ship's crossing of the [Gods’ Teeth](../../300_Locations/The%20Gods%E2%80%99%20Teeth.md). It was a great song, even if it was not a reliable account.

[Captain Travin](../../400_Characters/NPCs/Tavin%20Saltmere.md) ordered passengers below for the crossing and warned that anyone caught above would go over the side.

## Ashin’s Challenge

Jorden became a rat. Sasa used a conversation about whittling to draw the guarding sailor into a room. Tarik put him to sleep, and Sasa stayed behind to watch him.

Ashin and Jorden slipped out and witnessed **a vast kaiju turtle carrying Brandy’s Folly across the Gods’ Teeth**. There was sufficient wonder.

## Where we stopped

The company arrived on the beach at Locos, looked around, and walked toward its strange, beautiful, horrific flowers.

The sand stirred. **The first giant crab emerged.**

Ashin called, “To me! To me!”

**That is where we resume.**