11. Keen on Qein: Part 7
In which we get kicked out of a bar, meet a botanist, and catch a break in the case
Our DM is Sasha Rose Hansen
The players, in alphabetical order:
Carbry - Bryn Ziegler
Gary - Rebecca Michelson
Renora - Tori Chancellor
Spencer Charlemagne - Jacob Earl
Tongs - Grayson Abele
We’re produced by Jacob Earl
Our theme music is “Rathgars Theme” and is available through LateMoonRecords.com
Tune in next week at RathgarsHorde.com and as always, try not to die
spencers diary, eleven
The djinn and I followed the monk down a hallway & the demon showed up in my mind, yelling, asking where we had gone. I tried to explain – but in the confusion I lost the monk. The Demon showed up & the three of us careened down the hall. Along the sides were doors, some with names, some with descriptions. Nobody around, no music, this was an administrative area. One doors had a tag that was all messed up so I tried to open it & three metal plates came out of nowhere & trapped my hands.
Shit’s always tryna bite my hands. Note: buy some gloves.
Then an alarm went off, which, as I was drunk, did me no favours. The demon used a spell and opened my hands free & we looked inside, but it was empty. As we ran on a couple more doors were messed up, I believe the monk’s companion used his evil powers to cause havoc and destroy the tags, thereby throwing us off the scent. The hallway ran into a dead-end, the monk and her passenger the CHAOS DEMON KAEDYS (as I found out this morning) were nowhere to be seen, the business with the door had set us back. The only way forward was an air vent in the ceiling which, in point of fact, led back. In the moment I thought Kaedys had gone up there, but in retrospect I believe he can teleport and was toying with us. The demon & I climbed up but the Djinn, predictably, can fly.
We almost made it out of the Jade Ring but someone, I forget who, hit the side of the vent accidentally, creating a loud noise which revealed our position. I was too wasted to think of a good plan, so I decided to sacrifice myself. I sent everyone ahead and laid a charm on the closest guard which was seen through immediately by the mans superior officer. I really should have considered that the whole town is based around a fundamental glamour and the guards will be able to notice those things. And, I was blinking Technicolor, which sort of pre-empted any attempts at subtlety. I tried to lean into he situation and pretend I was a drunk partygoer, which they saw through as well. I was arrested and & taken to a back room where their leader, a Buff Dwarf accused me of stealing from the gambling tables, which I had not done. For one, I hadn’t had the time between dancing and investigating. He cast Zone of Truth & I found myself telling him everything. I need to practice against that fucking spell. Note – get the golem to help me out with that.
Then he threw me out into the street – where the demon was! Oh right I forgot. Shit. Before we got in the vent I said something to the effect of “Magic is bad and dangerous & must be treated with great care” which. Def hurt my chances with the djinn. Out in the street I met up with the demon & then we were all together! The giant had been breaking into GlamCasters and pissed off or scared the owner. They won’t take our stuff anymore. The monk looked rough but she had returned to normal, no longer actively possessed. The giant had tackled her & the golem punched her in the gut, which I would’ve paid good money to see. Tired, sobering, we made our way back to the old woman’s house to find on our gate a severed hand dripping black goo. Included was a tag declaring a message: “Please Reconsider” written delicately and precisely in common. And then the hand turned gross and dissolved.
I couldn’t sleep so I tired to play the ukulele & get attuned to it, and I was really goin until the Golem appeared & noted that it was in fact three in the morning. The butler had left some soup on the stove for us but nobody seemed to want any.
THE NEXT DAY
DAY FOUR, SPIRE OF THE SLEEPER
I think I’m getting the hang of the ukulele — it’s not a very complex instrument. After breakfast the old Oman showed us a bunch of sketches of everyone in town who wears silver spectacles, which was the big clue the Dream Raiders gave us. There was also, remember the blue smoke. In any case it was quite a list, and carefully rendered. I have included the sketches.
Then the old woman told us about the “Necromancers Ball” which was being held that night at The Mirage Casino, owned by susSPECt Yarrow. We looked through a big box of costumes to wear to the affair none were strictly satisfactory as they were all outdated. I had promised the Djinn I would check in so the Demon and I headed down there and my god it was awkward I pissed this dude off so bad. He told me to “figure out how (I) felt about magic” and that he was going to be at the Necromancers ball. The demon made me go in with her on a wand of fireballs, for some reason, she seemed to think it would help. I don’t know why. I felt like I was gonna die. He did give me my vials back & told me about this witch who works with plants who might be able to help figure out what’s in them. We met up with the rest of the gang & headed there.
Here is the monks tragic backstory. She is a princess, and she is schizophrenic. An evil spirit named Kaedys rocked her world, & that’s why she’s so mean. Cool. Go fuck yourself. We’ve all got stuff, you’re part of a team. I will your demon when I can. You have my word, monk.
Where was I, uh. Yes, the witch. The witch lives in a small round house port of town. Upon arrival she regarded our party with suspicion. The Golem initially led the encounter, this was agreed because he is the most diplomatic of us, but the witch (who can be seen in startlingly lifelike black and white on spec suspect card #10, ‘Blossummaid’) took an instant dislike to him due to his metal nature.
The giant, on the other hand, she loved. those two got along like a house on fire. She really cares about plants & said her house was “Always open to enthusiasts” She also has a big, orange cat the Harold really liked. Which, didn’t really make sense to me but they ARE both orange.
The Djinn led me to believe she was some kind of hag, but she was just a kindly old woman who hates metal and had invented a a Lily that made one appear younger, of which she had made extensive use of on herself, she exuded to me a surreal elven youth. She examined my vial of gas & exclaimed that it was _SMOKE FROM HEAVEN_ & that if I were to inhale it I would get one (1) true revelation. But also that it was dangerous, she didn’t specify how exactly.
The monk rudely demanded a sleeping potion & she received some jam to put on her eyes at night once she straightened up & acted more politely. the monk is an embarrassment to all and fits into the haughty culture of the spire of sleep.
The witch is not haughty, but she is concerned about the safety of her intellectual property, and reasonably, because she invented “Dust” ! and had the process and formula stolen from her and perverted. But if she invented it, does that mean that it comes from a plant and not people who are, trapped? Broken? It’s something to investigate. I wonder if the man we are looking for is a freedom fighter, the witch alluded to potential mistreatment of the dust manufacturers.
She seems opposed to the government, this _would_ give her motive, but I find it hard to believe, not just because her magical field leans toward the practical instead of the fantastic, but also because she is not the sort of person who would leave the dream bandits to take the fall, or twist in the wastes.
As eve grew to night we stopped back at home to get changed& then away to the mirage, a five-story casino for the necromancers ball. It was a masked ball, and I chose my customary blue-jay mask. Largely it was a tiring party but our target the mysterious Yarrow (SS#2) was on the top floor.
We stood out like plucked hens. Everyone was dark & gloomy & we looked like circus perfomers. I tried to get the Giant to lend me back my investigtors coat which wouldve lent to the theme but they were too invested in the Djinn & my love story to allow me to be subjected to its anti-love magic. & in fact the Djinn WAS there, looking bummed in a booth on the top floor. He seemd to be worried that I was tryign to use him? Which, I can understand scientifically, but thats the last thing on my mind. Honestly. Then I tried to explain the strongly negative effect magic and my inability to perfom it, & the pressure to be as magical as my family has had on my life, but I don’t know if he heard me. He believes magic is neutral, as my father does. But that is an easy belief to hold when magic flows through you, & you don’t have to force it, steal it, take it from someplace else to make the simplest tricks work.
Yarrow invited us into a back room where we were presented with some odd gifts – I got a button that says “don’t” and when all the gifts were chosen the lights went dark & the objects were attuned to us & Yarrow was gone. We heard a manic voice, a strangers voice, a man’s voice, saying something freaky and then lights were back. The golem got a cursed sword that keeps him from using his hammer.
