In the distant future, a warforged ancient known as Butler has stolen a fruit from the Delorean Tree and traveled back in time to change the history of Eberron. Dr. Morris, a druid artificer and the caretaker of the magical tree, traced the changes to the time stream. He reported that Butler’s actions posed a dangerous threat to history.

Here is a summary of yesterday’s one shot Eberron adventure at The Dice Latte. Shout outs to Matt (Bharash), Tom (Amlais), Ken (Garth) and Joey (Nalgrim/Lunchbox) for being such awesome players and creating a fantastic story! 🙂

In the original timeline, when the Treaty of Thronehold was signed to officially end the Last War, King Boranel of Breland campaigned for the freedom of the warforged. Scholars say that it was the impression made by his warforged bodyguard Bulwark that moved the King to take action. Boranel’s role in the treaty led to the emancipation of the warforged and the closing of the Creation Forges which were used to mass produce the warforged.

But now, according to Dr. Morris, the time stream had been changed. Boranel no longer pressed for the freedom of the warforged or the closing of the Creation Forges. Warforged continued to be mass produced and sold as machine slaves. In time, resentment grew among the warforged, who became more numerous than their fleshbound overlords, until at last the machine men revolted against their masters. The resulting wars consumed the whole continent.

In the distant future, the endless green groves were rapidly receding as the world adjusted to the new timeline. The endless woods were replaced by towers of machinery, great forges whose fires were ever burning, and vast fields of desolation. In this grim future, the machine men reigned supreme, led by a warforged leader calling himself the Lord of Blades, and the fleshbound kingdoms were in ruins, their survivors scattered and in hiding.

To prevent this dark destiny from taking hold, Dr. Morris gathered together four brave souls to travel back in time and stop the changes to Eberron’s history. These brave chrononauts were tasked with finding King Boranel and presenting him with one of four magical items that could restore his memories and impressions of Bulwark from the original timeline. They were an apple of memory, a potion of remembrance, and an ancient rusted longsword that once belonged to Bulwark, and an encrypted letter written in the Brelish spymaster’s code.

The chrononauts ate the Delorean fruit, and with a bright flash of light they traveled into the distant past, leaping into the bodies of four mercenaries of House Deneith – Bharash the dragonborn monk; Amlais the elven bladesinger; Garth the tiefling warlock; and Nalgrim the dwarven cleric (and his secret companion Lunchbox the halfling rogue).

It was the year 971, two years after the hobgoblin revolt and the rise of the goblin nation of Darguun in what was once Brelish territory. The chrononauts found themselves in the middle of a desperate battle as part of King Boranel’s army which was in retreat. They were in the rearguard of the king’s forces, defending his train from advancing hobgoblin hordes. The hobgoblins brought with them two captured warforged titans to lead the vanguard of their assault. The House Deneith mercenaries were desperately holding the line but refused to collaborate with the Brelish warforged battalion, whom they saw as competition and replacements for human mercenaries.

Bharash rallied the warforged, calling upon them to fight for their own freedom. It was a strange move for a warrior of House Deneith, but the warforged heeded his call and fought by his side. Amlais, Garth and Nalgrim(Lunchbox) battled one of the warforged titans, while Bharash led a group of warforged in a frontal assault against the other titan and a line of hobgoblin archers.

After a fierce battle, the hobgoblins and their machines of war were defeated, but not without loss. All but one of the warforged soldiers that fought with the chrononauts had been destroyed. The lone survivor was a tall, ferocious looking creature whose metallic plates had streaks of red. The others referred to him as Red Bear. His machine eyes glowed with a fierce red light as he stood at attention and banged his chest plate with his clenched fist, saluting Bharash.

The commander of the rearguard congratulated the Deneith warriors for successfully holding the line and buying enough time for the rest of the king’s army to retreat. As a reward for their courage, they were granted an audience with the King at the evening’s supper. When the time travelers arrived at the king’s pavilion, they saw the mighty King Boranel, a tall and muscular bear of a man. This was the ten year anniversary of his crowning, but he did not look pleased. At his side stood Bulwark, an immense warforged guardian that was even taller than the King, but dressed with a top hat and cape much like a butler. The warforged offered the king and his guests a cup of tea, much to the dismay of the king and his generals.

The time travelers now realized that Butler had leaped into the body of Bulwark in order to change the king’s impression of him. The king was obviously frustrated by the strange behavior of Bulwark who at one time had been a courageous warrior. The chrononauts first tried to offer the apple of memory to the king, but Butler deftly intercepted it. Then after careful maneuvering, they convinced the King to dismiss his bodyguard for a moment by taking advantage of the king’s frustration toward him.

Seeing their opportunity, they delivered the letter to the king. At first, Boranel was startled to receive a letter written in his spymasters’ top secret code from members of a mercenary guild, and he was confused to receive a letter from Bulwark that was purportedly written after the end of the war. But when he read the secret message that was meant only for him, a light of understanding came into his eyes as he saw a vision of the original timeline and the future that was meant to be.

He saw the Bulwark bravely holding the line against impossible odds on countless occasions. He heard Bulwark’s simple words that comforted the king as the territory of Breland shrank from one major rebellion to another. Finally, he read Bulwark’s parting words as his longtime bodyguard and friend asked for the king’s leave to depart on the eve of the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold. By then, Boranel had already seen enough to believe that the warforged truly deserved to be free. So he was perplexed and even hurt by Bulwark’s announcement. But the warforged had explained his reasons in such a way that the King could not refuse him. Now he read these very words written in an invisible ink that only the Brelish spymasters and the King of Breland could see.

“My Lord, I humbly thank you for your promise to ensure that my people gain their freedom and independence. And though it pains me to leave your side, I must depart. When the warforged are freed, they will see me as their savior and turn to me for guidance. Such a leader as I might become would have too much power, and I have seen what power does to the wisest lords among men. I would wish for nothing more than to lead my own people to glory, and if not myself then my successor might someday have the desire to lead the warforged in a great crusade for dominion of the world. I do not wish to see the light of humanity extinguished by such a conflict. If you have seen something of man in me, I have seen a passion in you and your people that I wish to preserve. That is why I must take my leave. I will travel to the purple chasm in the heart of the Mournland and cast myself therein, where the raw and awesome power of the arcane doom which brought ruin unto Cyre will bring an end to my own existence. And so I will pass out of the memory of men. But I hope you will not forget me, my king. For I will remember you and all that you have done for me and my people.
Long live the King.”

When he was finished, Boranel put down the letter and summoned Bulwark back into the pavilion. He drew out a longsword that looked identical to the one that the time travelers brought from the future, only this one was free of rust and had fewer notches along it’s blade. When Bulwark came into the tent, he seemed confused as Boranel put the sword into his metal hand.

“This sword belongs to you, my friend,” said the King.

As Bulwark held his sword once more, the time travelers saw an aura of temporal displacement around the warforged which was visible only to their eyes. Inside this aura, they saw the warrior spirit of Bulwark battling with the spirit of Butler for control of Bulwark’s body. In the end, Bulwark was victorious, and Butler’s soul was cast out into the void. When the aura dissipated, Bulwark threw off his top hat and cape. Then he knelt before the King and presented his sword.

“I am yours to command, my king,” said Bulwark.

There came a bright flash of light as the chrononauts were pulled back into the future. The last thing that they saw was King Boranel standing before a kneeling warforged who would be remembered as the liberator of his people. The time travelers returned to the green groves of the future where all had been set right. Dr. Morris congratulated them on a successful mission. So far, a major disturbance to the time stream had been averted. However, Butler had not returned from the past. He was still out there somewhere, drifting in time and space. Dr. Morris feared that this would not be the end of Butler’s mischief. But what evil scheme would the warforged ancient attempt next? Only time would tell…

To be continued…