Daniel Daybringer had learned that being the one true immoral had it’s drawbacks. For having no end of life not only meant outliving everyone and having to be sent back to start all over again, but it also meant having no end to pain. Time too started to lose focus as he blanked out, falling back into memories, reality or fantasy of arguing with death before coming back to life again with nothing but bright lights burning his eyes while he could feel his skin and lungs burning below. The tube down his throat made it impossible to look down to see what was happening to him but at last the pain started to lessen, the burning of his skin started to cool, and then grew even colder.. he couldn’t shiver to warm himself up for there was a strange sense of wrongness… a weight like that of the Demon Armor he’d once been trapped within…

Suddenly he felt his lungs loosen as the tube he’d been breathing though started to be removed, pulling out he expected pain but there was none, apart again for that strange cold sensation, he swallowed, but it remained. As the liquid goo that filled the tube started to be sucked out he breathed freely for the first time in hours, his lungs felt strange.. stronger somehow.. and the air no longer had that burnt feeling of acidic fumes from the lab.. it was clean and pure as if his lungs where filtering the air itself. With the tubes releasing he looked down at himself and saw that his skin was no more.. instead his muscles where covered in smooth metal, each plate carefully designed to slide and move as if he was wearing full plate armor.. yet as the tube released with a rush of steam he emerged…

“You’re Alive!” Norran said, wonder in his voice
Daniel stepped out, just as naked as before yet his heavy footfalls made clear that he was much more then a mere normal Tiefling, for from the horns down his skin had been replaced with solid metal. He had been upgraded to something new, the latest advance from house Cannath – the Cyber-Tiefling!

Norran was so caught up with Daniel that for the moment he forgot about the huge list of work needing to be done to ready the Train to be able to survive into space when suddenly alarms started going off. “Oh no.. no no…” Daniel ignored the man as he turned back the way they came opening the door to down-train to the sound of smashing glass as a golden fist punched though a window.
Daniel looked confused for a moment until the figure shouted out in a familiar voice.
“Bastards!” Tasha the Dark shouted, furious as she pushed aside the guards and tossed a spell back at them for good measure “utter..utter bastards” it was unclear who she was swearing about, the guards and people of the train for she looked dishevelled and Daniel couldn’t help but notice that the golden fist now belonged to Tasha, for like him she too apparently had underwent a ‘upgrade’ while the others had been away.

“Daniel.. what the hells have they done to you?!” She asked taken aback by the sight of the solid metal Tiefling before her – where it not for the horns that still had their little flames and the fact that the metal had taken great care to sculpt every aspect of his anatomy with great care it would have been much harder to recognise him.
Daniel started explaining but Tasha didn’t believe him “Where are the two idiots?” Tasha asked, nodding as Daniel explained what little he’d been able to hear over the sounds of his own screams and the two made their way back into Norran’s lab beelining up train to meet the others – for who knew what kind of trouble they’d have gotten into.

Daniel found his footfalls loud as ‘clunk’ clunk’ he strode though the carriages, opening the door there was a flash of feathers of startled chickens as he helped Tasha into a farm cart, a spotted horned cow lashed to the wall looked at him with dark eyes. While the carriage was painted with a farm scene underfoot was nothing but metal. He noticed a metal grate that seemed to lead down below the floor.

Daniel had a idea.. he’d picked up his rag-back on the way out of the lab and while he rarely cared for items he dug around in his sack until he pulled out a animal mask and placed it over his face.

Now the sounds of the animals made perfect sense.. “Hello” Daniel said, and to Tasha it sounded like he moo’d.
“THE CHOSEN ONE – OH HE HAS COME!” The chicken’s clucking now spoke in a high pitched excitement as the cow looked to Daniel, where before it had been afraid of the large metal horned creature now it felt the smallest hint of hope.
“Hi I’m Daniel what’s your name”
“Bruce..” The Cow said, and Daniel for the first time noticed that it didn’t have any udders.. it was indeed a male cow.
“Don’t worry I’m going to save you…” Daniel said after talking to Bruce a while, learning that Bruce had lived it’s whole life abord the train, the only time he had been allowed out of the carriage was when he was taken to mate with the female cows – something he hated for in secret he was in love with another cow further up train – another bull with a twisted horn!

“Can we get on?” Tasha said after a while, scratching at her metal arm she looked back with concern, she was still very annoyed about passing out from the strong Cyrelin Drinks and waking up a unknown time later missing a entire limb. The fact that they had been ‘good enough’ to give her a prosthetic that seemed to move perfectly with her will didn’t make up for the slight that she had been rather attached to her arm and losing it had put her in a very bad mood.

Daniel made more promises to the animals and then opened the grate – using his considerable strength. Tasha jumped down before calling out in disgust – for below them was a waste bin.. she dragged herself out narrowly avoiding being crushed as Daniel jumped in – a crunch as his unexpected weight dented the metal container.

Casting Prestidigitation to clean themselves off Tasha looked around, this appeared to be a hidden level to the train, a narrow path with colour coded lines and codes running both up and down train. As the two of them started up-train a blinding light and noise of a engine warned them just in time to jump to the side as a small metal cart screeched to a stop. The frantic face of Queen Dannel of Cyre looking out at the two of them “Daniel.. we must hurry.. Strahd.. he’s on his way.. to kill Norran… we have to stop him!” her breath trying to catch up as she climbed out of the cart and started to head for the ladder to the Lab.

Daniel and Tasha dawdaled for a moment, trying to decide what to do when

BOOM!

A ringing explosion rung out from ahead of them with the shockwave of air rushing down the tube ahead of them.. under them the train shook and suddenly the floor moved from under them – the wall coming up to meet them as the enter train twisted.. the sound of wrenching metal as it derailed…. mist started to roll in.

“Run!” Queen Dannel said gesturing for Daniel and Tasha to hurry and follow her.

In the chaos Daniel realised.. the animals…. he promised to save them.

He didn’t want to look, but as they hurried past the great his eyes noticed the dark stain of blood.. dripping down from the floor above. He had taken off the mask and so could only hear the pained sounds of the animals – he didn’t put it back on for he didn’t want to hear them speak.. speak of the fact that he had failed.

Inspiration Log

Daniel gains 1 point for going though with the full ‘Up-Grade’ to cure him of the Aboleth disease
Daniel gains 1 point for remembering he has a mask that lets him talk to animals
Daniel is cured of the Aboleth Disease and he has two up-grades!

Daniel’s skin is now made of plate-mail giving a natural AC of 18. However has disadvantage on stealth checks and his weight is doubled.
Daniel’s also gains the benefits of a set of Ventilating Lungs – these do not require attunement as they have been installed to replace your ‘normal lungs’

Tasha also has a ‘up-grade’ she has lost her right arm, it has been replaced with a Prosthetic Limb made of some kind of golden alloy.