The Teacher. He is an enigmatic figure believed to be part of “The Enlightenment”, a secretive organization of unknown purpose and origin … and he has a particular interest in Rikard Greystone. According to Honqi Pang, leader of the Red Hand Triad and disciple of the Teacher, the mysterious man was responsible for the death of Greystone’s parents. Honqi stated this had been Rikard’s first lesson … and that others would follow.

A few weeks later, the Wardens got their first clue as to the identity of The Teacher. While investigating the Green Dragon opium den, the Wardens Richard Shen and Andrew Buchanan had strange visions of the past and future. One of them involved a British military man who was leading a battalion of soldiers against to Snake Castle in Turkey. They were to attack the castle and defeat its defenders, a renegade group of one-time Turkish soldiers who had turned on the sultan. The scene was clearly a hundred or more years in the past and yet Shen and Buchanan knew this man was the Teacher.

Returning to the present, and their own bodies, they shared this story with Greystone. He was hard pressed to believe the tale, but it’s truth would soon become self-evident.

The Teacher had another lesson.

The Vipers Strike

While the Wardens discussed the strange happenings at The Green Dragon, vipers had entered the Horta Quadrangle. A team of assassins sent by the Teacher infiltrated the basement garage, killed two of the mechanics they found there, and silently made their way to the fourth floor. Once there, they struck.

They attacked  the Reverend Sir Arthur Boundless in his study, striking at him with their long knifes. The old man managed to grab his elephant gun from the wall and fired back, which drew the attention of HQ’s butler, Randall Sinclair.  He arrived with several of his waitstaff en tow, heavily armed and ready to repel attackers.

The ensuing gun fight caught the attention of the Wardens below. They stormed up the stairs and arrived in time to see Sinclair and his cohort battling the attackers outside of Boundless’s sleeping quarters and reading room.

The attackers demonstrated uncanny proficiency. One appeared to walk on walls, leaping from surface to surface to gain tactical advantage against his foes. He would utter a few arcane words and send ghostly snake-like projectiles striking toward his opponents. He’d also pummeled them with mystical energy, knocking several off their feet. Meanwhile his companion wielded a silver sword whose edge was engraved with a thundercloud motif. Flickers of blue-purple lightening raced down its edge as he wielded it against his enemies. Another half-dozen assassins fought alongside them, though two of them had already been killed by Boundless and the waitstaff.

As the battle raged, the Wardens heard an ominous new sound: prop engines just outside the windows of the Horta Quadrangle. A glimpse out one of the windows revealed a huge zeppelin hovering overhead … and a gondola-mounted  machine gun was being brought to bear on them.

Suddenly a thunderstorm of bullets erupted around them, causing the building’s brick exterior and plaster interior to shatter. Clouds of dust filled the rooms, partially obscuring the combatants. Meanwhile, inside the reading room Rikard Greystone had finally reached his mentor, Arthur Boundless. The old man lay dead in a pool of his own blood.

The lesson had been taught.

Rooftop Battles

The Wardens continued their fight to repel the attackers. Their fury drove the assailants from the building, forcing them to leap for rope latter that had been thrown down from the hovering airship. The Wardens followed, and an awkward fight unfurled high above the New York streets. Meanwhile, still other Wardens raced to the roof and did their best to engage the zeppelin there.

The fight soon turned against the attackers. Most of the assassins were killed outright, though Rikard was able to take one — the silver-sword wielding leader — alive.

Meanwhile the zeppelin tried to disengage and escape. Those still on the rope ladder hanging from the airship leapt to safety, with one exception: Martindrake. The Warden climbed the ladder, reached the gondala and was surprised to find the black-clad crew surrounding the entrance. They immediately attacked, overwhelming him and throwing him out of the ship.

The rest of the Wardens could only watch helplessly as Martindrake’s limp form fell 30-odd feet to a nearby rooftop. Miraculously — perhaps thanks to his cloak — the Warden survived. Badly injured to be sure … but still alive.

As the zeppelin fled the scene, the Wardens regroups, bandaged their wounds, and prepared to interrogate their prisoner…

Meta

• Feature photo credit: Sitting room in the Ham Spray House. Source.
• Game Date: Sunday, October 4, 2014

Experience

• Andrew Buchanan: 2 xp
• Rikard Greystone: 2 xp
• Alistair Sebastian Cadwalader Martindrake III: 2 xp
• McGinnis: 2 xp
• Richard Shen: 2 xp