SJE/Session2
Session 2
New characters- Ibrahim al’ Amarah – formerly a dashing cavalryman in the Palace Guard, he was set up by jealous family, the caravan he was guarding robbed and he was disgraced. Given one last chance by the Despot, this now drunken hedonist has been sent to sort out the City Watch. Think Olly Reed in Gladiator- big and strong and a booming voice, but usually liquored up.
Jak- a bright young recruit to the Watch, its Jaks first day to battle demons, feed Abyssals and risk the wrath of not one, but 2 superiors. Of course Jak has secrets of her own- she is a successful cat burglar, richer than the rest of the Watch combined. However, she has earned the ire of the Obsidian Thieves Guild and has had to change her appearance & apparent gender and is hiding as a new recruit in the Watch!
Morning of Day 2- 11th Descending Fire 768 Captain Brand was awoken by an urgent summons to attend Lord Steward Valtess at the Despots Court. Instead he crumpled up the message and ignored the meeting.
At the meeting Brand didn’t attend, an incensed Valtess gave the job of Watch Captain to Ibrahim al’Amarah instead and instructed him to get it into shape. Ibrahim stormed down to the Granite Tower, posted his credentials and swept into the Captains office where he began throwing out Brands stuff.
At this point Brand was passing under the window and was showered by a rain of his own lollipops and trophies. He stormed into the Captains office and angrily confronted the man who dared empty his Captains Office.
“It’s my office now!” screamed Ibrahim back
“It’s my city, my investigation and my Watch” cried Brand as they squared off.
“NOT ANYMORE! YOU ARE OUT!” shouted back Ibrahim!
At this point there was a gentle knock at the door and Recruit-Constable Jak entered.
“WHAT!!!!!!!!” shouted both Captains simultaneously!
“Err…Recruit Jak Reporting for duty?”- said the nervous 18 year old.
“ OUT!!!” shouted both men glaring at each other.
Brand stormed out, fired by the City. As he does so, Jak takes the opportunity (through some incredible 8+ success Larceny & Performance rolls) to establish that neither man can in fact spot her pinching things from under their noses, nor determine he is really a she!
There then followed the slightly worrying splitting of the party as Brand went his own way while Ibrahim swept up Jak in his wake as he bull-inna-china-shopped his way through Gem.
Brand discovered that the Sewer Monster had struck again, and that there had been another case of spontaneous human combustion in the night- a houri called Jade Eyes in the Hot District. He went to investigate Jade Eyes.
Ibrahim got nabbed by Sister Anaria of the Immaculates who had come to report a crime, as was the proper role for the Watch. She dragged the Captain (who wanted to go drinking/monster hunting) too see Master Tanaka Ledaal and Jak got swept along.
Meeting the revered Sifu, he too failed to spot that Jak was a woman. He explained that someone had stolen an Immaculate Text in the night, despite its utter lack of monetary value. Ibrahim, sensing the political power & influence (and being a better player of the Court than the anti-Establishment Brand) promised to do all he could to find the stolen tract on Hesiahs early wanderings in the South. Jak determined it was a particularly old scroll, perhaps dating back to the early days of the Realm. Ibrahim actually found a Clue- someone had come into the Immaculates library through a window and a small scale had been dropped there.
Then they went monster hunting.
Rounding up the men, the new Watch Captain bravely marched them into a tavern to get up their dutch courage. One narrowly made Temperance roll later, he managed to put down the wine skin in time and inspire them into an ugly mob of vigilantes determined to “Get the monster good. Oh yesh! Lets be ‘aving him then!”
They easily found the second victim, torso ripped open, an unknown drayman killed near the tannerys of the Hot District. Nearby a sewer tube’s bent bars showed something immensely strong had passed this way.
Ibrahim & Jak and the 2 red shirts nervously made their way into the slurry filled, lye contaminated sewer, their torch flames quickly turning blue. Jak volunteered to scout ahead to the relief of Ibrahim.
Going ahead into the darkness, Jak sneaked along, hearing ahead a strange, rhythmic gurgling noise. Taking extreme precautions, he left behind his torch and climbed the tunnel wall till he could wedge himself between the opposing curves so he could sneak along the ceiling of the tunnel, spider man style!
Quickly he located below him a nightmarish, squamous, black oval shape of the demon half-mired in the muck and asleep. Gently he sprinkled a charge of fire dust onto the monster below, then leapt down and back, firing his firewand as he tumbled and back flipped!
The stream of Elemental Fire was true, striking the creature’s liquid black hide, igniting the firedust causing a terrible roar! Then the methane rich shit behind it exploded and Jak was thrown back by a tsunami of shit, making a soft but very sqeulchy landing!
Seeing this as his signal, Ibrahim the disgraced warrior races round the corner, thrusting his poleaxe into the throat of the disorientated beast! Then his left hand comes up, carrying the firewand of judgement! Putting the firewand to the great gash in its chest (from the poleaxe), Ibrahim triggers that terrible weapon, blasting through the demons vile, tentacled chest and incinerating its awful heart!
Covered in the worse leavings of the City, the successful Guardsmen make their way back to the sewer entrance where the cynical Gemites had been laying bets on how long it would take for them to die. Astounded the citizens of Gem beheld the conquering heroes, returned with the monsters head.
Slowly they begin to clap the Guardsmen, rising in volume and speed till the whole district hears of the new Captains great deed and the City Guard (perhaps for the first time ever) are carried on the grateful shoulders of the Hot District populace to the Granite Tower for a very necessary bath! Woo Hoo, first Case Closed! Somehow, 2 Heroic Mortals had taken on a 1st Circle Demon and won, without a scratch! So concludes the Curious Case of the Eviscerated Proletariat. 4 xp awared
Brand meanwhile has found that powerful magic too was present at Jade Eyes bedsit. She had been an addict of various kinds- he found opium, poppy leaves and a 1 third full sleeping draught. She too had been cremated with very burning to the rest of the bed. A circular shaft burned/cut through the wall also looked bleached & recent and opened up into the sunny sky above. There appeared to be connections to the Weyoun death, but each answer only threw up more questions.
Brand then decided to look into the Joaqim case. He found Petal, Joaqims lover serving in a bar. She recounted that Joaqim had disappeared from his bed 2 nights ago without explanation or taking his possessions. Then Joaqims wastrel friend, Yellow Dog had nicked the furniture.
Jak returned to duty, post-bath, to find a sarcastic Sergeant Majid looking to hobble his wings a bit. “Come on son” said Majid “As new boy, you get to feed the prisoner!”
Jak then took the proferred bowl down the stairs to the far cell beneath the Granite Tower. The temperature cooled, the shadows darkened as she mustered her courage to make it down the silent corridor to the prisoner in the shadows….
“Hello little jailer” came that sibilant whisper as the shadows drew back from the Lord of Silent Repose “and what is this you bring me? The dinner the other officer brought yesterday was so much more…. Succulent”
Jak could barely see the bones of the thief Brand and Majid had hurled here only 24 hours ago….
“Come closer, little …. Girl..” whispered the Abyssal.
“Er… no, you… you are wrong” trembled Jak “I don’t think so. I can … smell… you, the real you.”
“I’m going now”
“You’ll be back, you will all come back to me… eventually” promised the deathknight.
Jak raced back down the long corridor, then mustered her courage to try to whistle a defiant tune at the door. Caught exiting, whistle on her lips, Sgt Majid said ”Enjoying it that much then recruit? Well you can take Him, His dinner every day then!”
Back on the streets, Ibrahim has sought out Brand (who was busy interrogating Yellow Dog). Ibrahim asks for Brands help and knowledge in bringing justice to the streets, promising to make Brand Captain again as soon as Ibrahim gets promoted out of the Guard. Brand agrees and between the two of them, they get Yellow Dog to spill that he had sold Joaqims stuff (including his dreamstone) to the fence Silver Coin.
Together the 2 cops call it a night, their furious disagreement at dawn reconciled by dusk. I thank the gawds as I cannot manage any more split party action…
Back to SJE
