SJE/Session76
Session 76
Spider, Spider on the wall.
12 Ascending Water- 15 Desending Water RY 769
Last game of the year and the group have a 3 gamemonth furlough to work on projects. Brand, Shizu and Rav are present.
Shizu and Ravs wedding preparations go ahead, but it’ll be a little while until the blessed day because their guests have so far to travel (and a few have sentences to serve out). Brand, developing his sorcery learns his first spell- Summon Elemental- and the possibility of a booze elemental at the stag night becomes a possibility
Brand has also been asked to do the rings (moonsilver and orichalcum) for the ceremony, so he sets about looking for an appropriate workshop. In his search he finds a wild demesne centred around the nearest active volcano to Gem. Discovered by a Northern explorer 1,000 years ago, its named Mount Dhoone- it’ll make an excellent Twilight base of operations and Brand sets some elementals to work on it. Relucantly he doesn’t have the time to go explore the Lost City of Cinnabar with the Mahdi.
On the crime front, the Watch Exalts remember that a new organisation has been infiltrating Gem. They’ve been setting up a protection racket on the shopkeepers of the lower Shades and haven’t been paying the Despot any dues. Unfortunately nobody seems to know much about it- its racketeering in the South. After eliminating Shizu’s mother from their enquiries, they eventually get a name- the Spider.
Shizu ninja-stalks some lieutenants of the crime ring, but cant find a trace back to the boss. Rav has a little more luck- in mouse form he spies on one lieutenant even in his privy. A curious thing occurs- a small spider in the corner of the latrine roof, spins a name out on its web with bluish silk. The lieutenant looks up, sees the name, passes his hand through the web and leaves to order an arson on the hold-out merchants shop. They capture the lieutenant – who then promptly dies in his cell of spider bite.
One elemental whirlwind around every corner of the Granite Watchtower and it’s a time for a Ward vs. Arachnids spell. And some new suspects. Another round of investigation nets another Lieutenant in the Spiders organisation and Rav follows up on the original spider passing messages in the latrine. Peering closer, he realises it isn’t a Lunar, but might possibly be the animal offspring of one. It has a tiny marking on its abdomen, looking a lot like a web.
Rav calls upon Luna’s favour and uses Beastspeech to converse with the spider. It replies with something of a New Joisey Mafiosi accent- “You want’cha see the boss? Nobody see’s the boss! It’s the way the boss likes it. This thing of ours? It’s a family thing? I got one hell of a family with ten thousand siblings! D’ya know how hard it is to put bread on the table, or flies on the web with my family? Says… how about youse put a little honey on the corner of this ceiling, yep, just there, behind the web, and I’ll pass along your message to the boss? But don’t gets your hopes up, no one meets the boss, capiche?”
Brand and Shizu interrogate the new lieutenant, but Brand first high pressure social attack is easily batted aside. Curiously Brand senses an Essence disturbance in the cell- following the motes, he discovers a bluish silver web tattoo on the mans neck. Whatever it is, it seems to be steeling his loyalty. More extreme pressure eventually results in a location- the lieutenant was recruited in Chiaroscuro, and before being sent to set up new territories in Gem 2 months ago, he was blindfolded and taken into the desert where he got tattooed.
Time progresses- with no word from the Spider, and criminal activity by out-of-towers increasing, the hackles on Watch Commander Ravitsu Cales neck are rising as the servants of another Lunar intrude on what is clearly Rav’s territory. Its suggested (by Brand) that if the Watch gained the help of Bronze Shadow’s bandits, they might be able to finally crush the Web gang in Gem. Shizu is volunteered for this most delicate of negations.
“Sweetie dahling, just in time! Which of these 3 dresses do you like? The gold, the white of the cute little ninja-suit with the black veil? And the catering- did you say that nice Adamantine Chef did receptions? Lady Rankar offered her services, but I simply had to say no! Macaroons and tea at a wedding, no, we need something new, something exciting! Something avant garde, don’t you agree Sweetie-dahling? I’ve heard the Perfects chef is very good, perhaps I can snatch him away for a week? Could you make him an offer he cant refuse Sweetie-dahling? ”
Negotiations don’t go quite as expected. Eventually Shizu manages to get a word in edgeways to her mother.
“Mother, I’d like your help in stopping a criminal organisation that has been plaguing Gem!”
”The Watch you mean, sweetie-dahling? I always knew you were too good for them”
”No, not the watch, a secret gang of outsiders who spread death and fear…”
“Mimes, sweetie-dahling? Your handsome friend Captain al’Amarah gave me a leaflet! He’s such a hunk, though I hear he’s having problems with his marriage”
“No mother, not mimes- those extortionists and arsonists in the Web gang!”
“Oh them?! Well, what about them, they’ve never interfered with my business- Gem is big enough for both of us”
“But if you help us stop them, then Rav could push through the paperwork to legitimise your banditry! You could sell ‘insurance’ for all those people worried about Bandit attacks on the road to Gem and enjoy yourself!”
“Tell me more, sweetie-dahling!”
So, with the Shadow gang on board, the Watch and Shadows start a shadow war against the Web organisation. Its easy enough to arrest (or beat up) the human agents, but the poisonous spider offspring are a different matter- Gem positively teems with millions of nooks and crannies where spiders can spin their webs and live off the billion flies in Gem. Rav talks to the birds and encourages them to put spiders on the top of their menu. The Spider counterattacks by sending spiderologists with thousands of eggs to plant nests in Gems foetid sewers. Soon more than a few of the Watch and Shadow bandits succumb to poisonous spider bites…
One lead does present itself- when pressured, the web tattoos on the Spider gang lieutenants seem to draw Essence from a distant source- the threads of Essence lead away, to the North East. Its not much, and only Brand can see it with All Encompassing Sorcerors Sight, but it does seem like a lead to the mysterious mastermind behind their reign of crime.
However, this development is soon surpassed by news from the Lap. The ever-victorious Roseblack, Tepet Ejava has landed and her Legion is taking the Old Gem Road south…
So ends our 2nd year of Gem: Edge of Destruction!
Merry Christmas, one and all!
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