Summary

The players need to rescue a rebellious teenage tiefling (Anabelle) who was sentenced to life in prison for a petty crime, and is now being delivered to the prison. She is being transported by Zeppelin, guarded by Paladins. Players will need to steal the papers describing the Zeppelin’s schedule and route, steal griffons to chase it and board it, find and liberate Anabelle, escape and cover their tracks.

Thomas Begging the Judge

Players begin their adventure in New Albion - a steampunk city. They start near the courthouse, watching Thomas Thatcher begging Judge Boon to let Anabelle go.

The Judge denies in the most annoying/smug/condescending way.

Thomas: "She's just a kid, please let her go, this is barbaric!"
Judge Boon: "She has committed a crime, my dear boy, and the crime must be punished. Justice must be served. She will pay for her crimes, she will pay indeed."

After the Judge leaves, Thomas turns to players, asking them for help to rescue his daughter. He knows that she's being transported to prison today, but doesn't know exactly when or how. He knows that there must be papers describing her transfer in the police precinct, and he will show players her photo so that they could recognize her.

Stealing papers from the Police Precinct

The documents describing the Zeppelin route/schedule are located on the second floor of the Police Precinct. During the day it is filled with the cops. At night the first floor is guarded by a sleepy guard, the second floor is cleaned by a janitor.

In front of the entrance players will meet a Buerocrat - he can be bribed, convinced, intimidated, or tricked into giving up the information.

From the papers the players will learn that Anabelle is being transported from the Skyport, right now . She is guarded by paladins, and transported by Zeppelin. She is being shipped off to Crimora - a middle-eastern-type country, a lovely location for the tourists, a horrific inescapable prison for Anabelle.

Skyport

Players arrive at the Skyport. They see zeppelins and skyships coming in and out. The Anabelle's zeppelin has just left.

To chase the Zeppelin the players can steal the griffons from the griffon stables (griffons are locked, taken care of by the stableman). They would need to convince the rowdy griffons to follow their commands (bribe with treats, talk to animals, animal handling).

They can also commandeer a small tourist Airship (the pilot can be bribed/persuaded/intimidated to allow players to take control of his ship).

Boarding Zeppelin

If the players are using the griffons, they can stealthily board on the upper deck of the Zeppelin. If they're not careful, they will get noticed by a snooty butler.

Tbe butler will raise alarms unless he's intimidated/bribed/etc.

I apologize, sir, boarding in the middle of the trip is prohibited.

If the players are using Airship, they will need to find a way to convince the Zeppelin captain to let them on board. Airship can be docked to the Zeppelin by extending a rope bridge connecting the two ships.

Finding Anabelle

The Zeppelin is huge, think Titanic. It carries many civilian passengers on the upper deck, and personnel taking care of the Zeppeline in the lower decks.

Upper Deck

It has passenger cabins, dining room, swimming pool. It looks like an expensive cruise. They can talk to the passengers or the servants to learn that the Paladins are stationed in the lower deck.

Lower Deck

Anabelle is transported in a small locked jail cell, along with a bunch of tough and dangerous criminals, guarded by paladins. There’s a common room where guards are celebrating Commander’s promotion, the Commander holds the key to the Anabelle's jail cells.

To sneak into the lower decks they will need to get past the guards. They can steal Paladin armor from the locker room to impersonate them, crawl through the vents, disguise as entertainment, or whatever the players come up with.

Rescuing Anabelle

Players can steal the Commander's key, cause a distraction and break into the cell, or convince Commander/Guards to let Anabelle go.

The rough and dangerous criminals in Anabelle's cell can present a problem.

If they break her out - they will be chased by the paladins, they'll need to make their way back to their Airship/Griffons, ideally avoiding casualties among the passengers.

If they have arrived on griffons, the griffons may have gotten loose among the passengers, some people are running away, some children are playing with them. Capture the griffons while running away from the guards.

Then they can fly back to the City.

Mountains

If necessary, the players can fake an emergency (for example pull a fire alarm), make Zeppelin land, or accidentally make it crash. They can escape in the chaos, blend in with the crowd.

If the players crash/land Zeppelin mid-journey, they will be in the mountains. They can hide from paladin search parties looking for them in the forest or in a cave, make their way to the small mountain village, wait out the night and fly back to the city on their griffons. Or they can convince the villagers to hide Anabelle until the dust settles.

Resolution

Once Thomas is reunited with his daughter he's extremely happy and grateful, and will give the players rewards. He and Anabelle will happily help them on their future adventures to the best of his ability.