Shorlixa/PGSessionFour
Back to Performer's Game
To Session Three
Storyteller says:
When we last looked at our heroes, they had just managed to incite a riot. Not their fault really, for very delicate manoeuvring was required. The volatile situation needed only one small spark, and indeed, the spark was provided and now chaos reigns. A good number of people run, Gelderon having scared them off quite effectively. But a larger number remains and they’ve started to run amok. The people in the troupe are quickly sucked into this riot.
Torches are thrown at various wagons, some at the stage where Bell stands, others at the nearby wagons. At the moment, the Guild is grateful for the fact that they set up a distance away from the troupe, and order all their mercenaries to guard the caravan from any stray rioters who decide the Guild caravan might be a good target.
Storyteller says:
Bell is onstage with one woman throwing herself at him, and not in the good way. Gelderon is standing on the right flank of the mob, and is right smack in the middle of everything. The only good thing is that no one really wants to touch the menacing man waving an axe. Hana and Needles are safely backstage at the moment, peering out at the mob turned riot.
Needles says:
Needles freaks and springs towards the crowd upon seeing Gelderon's...ah, impulsive action. There's definitely going to be violence - the mood of the crowd isn't good, especially with what Hana said. The best thing to do would be...
Needles eyeballs the locations and faces of who Hana pointed out wanted to start trouble, and moves towards them.
Gelderon says:
Gelderon really doesn't wanna hurt anybody(seriously at least), he comes in low, bowling the commoners away like pine needles, smacking them left and right with the "softer" part of his axe.
Storyteller says:
The woman on stage jumps Bell, not caring about the fact she's probably no match for him. Anger makes people do stupid things. On the ground, people toss torches onto the stage and other nearby wagons, and are likely to set all the wood structures on fire.
Storyteller says:
As Gelderon barrels his way through, the "softer" part of his axe hits two people and they drop to the ground, probably going to be trampled to death in the confusion. The third man is lucky enough that the crowd sweeps him away before the axe can reach him.
Storyteller says:
The woman's blow is just too weak to even touch the exalt, and she misses hitting him completely.
Bell says:
Bell ducks under the punch, and reaches into the trapdoor, pulling it back out holding an oddly shaped spear, which he brings around to deliver a solid blow to her gut with the butt end.
Gelderon says:
Kelthaka has noticed the fight and moved to the edge, Gelderon motions for him to stay put for now. He will signal again if things get dangerous. Kelthaka hunches carefully over the battle field......eyeing the townsfolk.
Storyteller says:
The woman drops without a fight, the wind knocked out of her.
Needles says:
Needles twitches nervously. Gelderon is not handling this well at all. He holds up his hands, setting the air on fire, and starts herding people away from the stage with heat and very, very disturbing-looking glowing gloves. He targets two of the most dangerous-looking in the crowd he can immediately reach...and pulls off their belts.
Storyteller says:
The first man manages to get out of the way of humiliation, but not the second one who loses his pants. He trips over the loose pants and knocks himself out on the ground.
Storyteller says:
At this point, Bell's troupe comes pouring out, quite willing to defend their stage. It's their livelihood after all and Bell is their leader. The riot gets messier. More things are thrown at everyone they see, namely Bell, Gelderon and Needles.
Bell says:
"Thank you boys and girls, but we can handle this on our own. Prepare for the evening performance please."
Storyteller says:
Half his troupe hear him and turn away. The other half are already in the battle and it'll be difficult to get out of it.
Storyteller says:
All the attacks aimed at the exalts miss, the items flying to other places. Around this point, the wagons start to burn, the easily flammable flashpaper that Bell used on the stage catching fire.
Gelderon says:
Gelderon laughs as the sticks and glass whiz by. He continues to toss the peasants around, demonstrating with his speed and power that retreat is the only option to avoid his wrath.
Storyteller says:
Two peasants are tossed away in the wake of Gelderon's attack, the third one again getting away by moving far far away from the man with the big axe.
Bell says:
Bell stands in the middle of the stage, alone, and aims his spear over the heads of the crowd. the head of the lance opens like a flower, and a sheet of flame erupts from it, passing mere feet above the heads of the audience. He sneers and states, in an absolutely, appallingly confident voice, "Stop. This. NOW."
Storyteller says:
Against the backdrop of flames and holding the flaming lance, Bell shouts at the crowd and they pause, suddenly feeling shame at their actions. They have no idea why though. Some people attempt to rouse the crowd again, but they're not successful at it and look around in confusion. Around this point, the guards from the town reach them.
"Go back to your homes! This is a matter for the guards, not arbitrary justice!" The leader of the guards roars at the cowed crowd. "Take the injured back to town for medical attention! Anyone else so much as throw a stone and I'll whack you myself!" Together with Bell's influence, the mob disperses quietly. There are a lot of bodies, but more wounded than dead. Bell has acted quickly enough that the riot was quelled before it could really get going.
The guards then come to the troupe. "Put out that fire! Then we'll have a proper investigation." He orders his men and he helps Bell and the others put out the flames on the stage.
Gelderon says:
Gelderon sighs. He lowers his axe, and releases a peasant he had just grabbed. He then goes over to calm Kelthaka down, not wanting an upset polar bear to cause a another spout of violence.
Needles says:
Needles pulls out a medical kit and a set of...(not-knitting) needles, then stalks over to the wounded, and stabs needles into them in various people. "Don't worry, I'm a doctor. This is the fastest thing I can do to help them...I'll do more once you get them to a better location." He proceeds to continue emergency acupuncturing people, then starts triaging.
Storyteller says:
Needles is politely directed away from the people of the town and to the people of the troupe. The skirmish was brief, but there are some who have been injured. It's clear they don't plan to trust the troupe, even if they aren't attacking them.
Bell says:
Bell turns to the guard. "Captain, isn't it? Thank goodness for your timely arrival. Had you not appeared when you did, things might have gotten a good deal worse than they got." His lance is nowhere to be seen.
Storyteller says:
The man grunts but focuses on the task at hand. Once the fire has been put out, the guards assemble outside the caravan in a ready formation, leaving their captain to talk things out.
Needles says:
Needles shrugs. "Who's the town doctor? If I, as you call it, 'stick to my own people', you're going to have dead people on your hands pretty quickly. There's nothing medicine can do about dead people. The troupe's mostly fine - those that aren't, I can take care of later."
Storyteller says:
"We'll take care of our own." The captain tells Needles bluntly. "Now I'll allow you to give me your side of the story." This is directed to Bell, the obvious leader.
Storyteller says:
Keltheka calms down, but he still paces around uneasily. He doesn't like the place.
Needles says:
"Fine! Tell me when they die. I know a good priest." Needles stalks off. Offendedly. Very, very offendedly. And goes to tend to the not-really-that-wounded people in the troupe. There are whispers, involving "please let the people who can glow handle it next time, we appreciate your efforts, we don't want anyone getting hurt especially not you, etc"
Bell says:
"Right. Well. Apparently, there was a murder in town, a child was killed. This was the same child who caused a scene during our show because of a harmless little ceremony we do to impress upon people the importance of not revealing trade secrets. He was going to help us in our performance. In any case, he ran off, and was murdered shortly after. The mob apparently decided we did it, for no apparent reason, and turned on us, screaming for blood. Now. I've seen this kind of behavior before. Most often, it is caused by a supernatural agency, and this feels like Fair Folk to me. Now, I had the audience calmed down, and they were testing themselves with cold iron, when some moron attempted to throw a torch onto the stage. One of my men scared him out of that action, but was perhaps a bit too... firm. The mob's leader, a woman, yelled something about us starting a fight, and jumped me."
Bell says:
"It all went downhill from there, until you arrived. Now, I don't blame them for being worried about what's happening in the town... this latest murder is the least of it. You need to test all the townsfolk, INCLUDING the children, with cold iron to see where the fae are hiding."
Gelderon says:
Gelderon rejoins the group.
Storyteller says:
The captain ignores Needles completely, merely listening to what Bell has to say. "The Fair Folk eh? I suppose that would explain some matters." His tone is pensive. "Did you or any of your troupe kill this child?" He asks directly. He's obviously not one to mince his words.
Bell says:
"No member of my troupe would ever willingly harm a child. Ever."
Gelderon says:
"Ever" Gelderon adds with force.
Storyteller says:
"Are you implying you unwillingly hurt the child?"
Gelderon says:
Gelderon glares at the captain.
Bell says:
"I am not implying anything of the kind."
Storyteller says:
"Then tell me plainly. Did you or any of your troupe kill the child?" He's been through enough to hear an evasion when he sees one.
Bell says:
"We have not killed a single child."
Bell says:
"Or multiple children, either"
Storyteller says:
"I see you will not co-operate. I have to ask you to come with me until we can sort this situation out. Fair Folk or no Fair Folk, murder is muder." The man finally says.
Bell says:
"How have I not co-operated. I told you. We have killed no children."
Needles says:
Needles returns from superspeed medical care. "What's this about us killing children? We don't kill children, and we've never killed children. .../what/?"
Storyteller says:
"Did you kill the child who lies on the street with a dagger through his back? You or any of your troupe? Yes or no?" The man asks grimly, hand on his weapon just in case.
Bell says:
"No. Of course not."
Storyteller says:
The man clearly does not look convinced, but simply makes a rough noise of consent. "Very well. I will have to ask your troupe to stay put until we complete our investigation." He walks away and at a signal, the squad of guards walk away too. Now the Solars are left to clean up the mess the riot made. Not too much damage has been done, most of their troupe is intact, so all in all, they're in a good position.
Needles says:
Needles looks around for observers, and assuming there are none..."Gelderon? I'm scheduling you for classes with Bell."
Bell says:
Bell stops him before he walks away. "Sir, before you leave, we may need to file for damages. Fires were started, lots of damage that was basically cosmetic was done, but really, our entire JOB is cosmetic. This will cost money. Regardless what your investigation finds, the assault on our property was NOT justified, and we require compensation."
Gelderon says:
Gelderon looks at Needles in surprise, "For what?"
Storyteller says:
"We'll see." Is all the man is willing to say before he leaves.
Needles says:
Needles does not continue that statement.
Bell says:
"Tact, dear, tact" bell finishes for him
Okihana says:
Seeing that the threat's more or less over, Hana moves out from backstage to rejoin the other Solars.
Gelderon says:
"I'm not going to waste my time negotiating with a bunch of peasants who are simply looking for an amusing lynching. That was going to escalate regardless...better to act first"
Needles says:
"Hana? I'd suggest that you learn how to recall thrown weapons without needing to, um, pull them out of things at close range. Attach wire to them, perhaps? I could make some."
Okihana says:
"...Aye. Noted."
Bell says:
"Or throw icicles. Or something"
Needles says:
"Icicles are good...the Dragonblooded have this little thing I read about, it's a chakram that splits and dissolves into essence once it hits the other person."
Bell says:
"Bloody brilliant, the jade dogs."
Needles says:
"I could do better, if my workshop wasn't, you know, wrecked."
Bell says:
"Oh, Needles. Speaking of that. Dispose of the rest of the cold iron daggers. Or reforge them into a different pattern. Rather distinctive right now."
Needles says:
Needles points to a nearby table.
Needles says:
"How about throwing something apart from daggers? Any other preferences?"
Okihana says:
Hana reaches for her shiny chakram and twirls it about happily.
Needles says:
"I'll make a few of those, then. Drop the daggers over there and I'll reforge them."
Okihana says:
"Alright, thanks a lot!" Hana drops them as directed.
Gelderon says:
"Well what's our next move? How are we gonna find the other fae?"
Storyteller says:
The trees rustle in the wind...Gelderon and Hana fancy they sound impatient...
Bell says:
"Torch the town? Any takers? None?"
Gelderon says:
Gelderon laughs.
Gelderon says:
"maybe...."
Bell says:
"We aren't going to be able to move through the city easily"
Okihana says:
"If I have to I guess I could."
Needles says:
Needles looks around to see that no one's watching, then scoops up all the daggers, pressing them into each other so they melt into a blob of iron, then ducks behind a tent, reaching for a long pole nearby.
He sticks it out of the tent, lifts Hana's chakram off her fingers, and pulls it over to use as a model.
This time, he improvises on the general idea of 'chakram'. Artistically-carved edges that appear disturbingly solid for a two-dimensional object, little engravings depicting a minor war in the Hundred Kingdoms a couple of centuries ago...
Needles says:
Needles comes out holding a pile of chakrams and passes them over. Very, very carefully. "I am not in favor of torching the town. They're already strained to the limit, medically speaking, since one particular idiot hasn't had to manage a medical emergency before."
Gelderon says:
"The best thing that we can do for these townfolk is kill the creature. After that things will get better for them"
Okihana says:
"But if it's masquerading as another child..."
Bell says:
"Creature, or creatures? And it's hard, we can't move around the town easily."
Needles says:
Needles shrugs. "With the way they're going about things? They may invite me in to help with some of the wounded. Oh! And speaking of which, how's our guest?"
Bell says:
Bell had forgotten completely about him
Bell says:
"Damn. Bring your cold iron. Right now."
Needles says:
Needles drops a lump of it into Bell's hand. "A little left over."
Okihana says:
Hana locates some button hooks that are somehow on the inside of her jacket, and carefully loops all but one of the chakrams on.
Bell says:
Bell stalks off to where the man was resting.
Needles says:
Needles follows!
Gelderon says:
Gelderon looks at Hana. "Do you think I could have used more tact?"
Okihana says:
"Well, um, it might have saved us from a bit of a ruckus back there, I was pretty much stunned throughout..."
Gelderon says:
"Yeah. Well....." Gelderon appears on the edge of some revelation but can't complete the thought, "Stealth?" he says turning back to Hana "We could do some stealthy scouting, observe and try to spot the fae"
Storyteller says:
Bell and Needles head for the small wagon where the sleeping man is. They enter and realise they don't need to bother with the iron. The man is dead. Messily dead. Dead in a way only multiple stab wounds with a dagger can cause. And he's lying right there in their caravan in a pool of his blood. Dead.
Bell says:
"Oh bugger."
Needles says:
"Someone. Killed. My. Patient."
Needles says:
Needles rushes to do an autopsy. Fast.
Needles says:
"I'm burning out their eyes when you get whoever did this. Go find them."
Okihana says:
"Umm, 'we'?" Hana skepitcally gives Gelderon a top-to-toe look-over. "I guess I could do the 'stealth' bit, I'm not too sure about the 'spot the fae' part. The other one LOOKED like a normal kid to me."
Okihana says:
"Albeit a very pretty one, but so was I at his age..."
Gelderon says:
Gelderon smiles, "I've hunted game many times before, I can go unnoticed when I need to"
Okihana says:
Hana shrugs. "They probably know your face and build from that... brawl earlier though. Are you any good with spotting fae?"
Gelderon says:
Gelderon concededes this, "No. not particularily."
Needles says:
Needles glances over at the ex-patient, memorising the location of entry wounds, then starts probing them with the tools he always carries around. He pushes out essence through the tools into the wound, forming a perfect map of his insides, finding the problems he had.
He then ignites a glove, splits the corpse open lengthwise, and starts pulling out organs.
Okihana says:
"Hmm, a bit of trouble then, running around town and not knowing what our targets look like... apart from the fact that they're probably in the guise of sweet, innocent children. Any other ideas?" Hana frowns slightly.
Bell says:
"That's... discusting. Is there any way we can do this that will make them think we didn't kill him?"
Gelderon says:
"Bait perhaps? It knows that we are exalted probably"
Okihana says:
Hana winces. "Shh!" She looks around reflexively.
Needles says:
Needles pauses, then puts the organs back in and sews him up, with such skill that the stich is unnoticable. Of course, it helps that he has thermite gloves and can simply micro-fuse the flesh together. "I'm going to want your blood for this. Thank you for volunteering."
Needles says:
Needles then takes off his gloves, sticks one of them in the pool of blood, and starts tracing around the body.
Okihana says:
"...don't think anyone heard that. Good." She starts rubbing her nose again. "So... bait. What exactly do you propose we do on this?"
Gelderon says:
"An isolated energy burst perhaps. Somewhere remote. The fae will sense it....then we grab the first child or whatever that approaches the area. Just gotta make sure its remote from the rest of the caravan. If the fae is watching he'll know where we are supposed to be and might investigate any extraneous energy"
Okihana says:
"What if he brings innocent village 'friends' along? We wouldn't be able to pinpoint the evil chaotic dream-sucking thing still."
Needles says:
He then reopens the wound on his hand, from the earlier blood-ritual, grabs a glove, and holds it out over the body. "I'm going to pretend that this is an altar. Drip some of your blood onto the glove. I'm calling up the hungry ghost."
Okihana says:
"The last one was a leader amongst the innocent kids, no less."
Gelderon says:
"We....ah........I guess we could..........maybe if...."
Bell says:
"Er, me?" Bell looks about hopefully, then sighs. He draws his sword, cuts his palm, and drips blood onto the glove.
Okihana says:
"Cold iron testing is one way, but they won't knowingly let us near the children..." Hana rambles a little, trying to think.
Needles says:
"Do you see a chicken nearby?" Needles sets the glove on fire, burning the blood before it hits the glove and starts chanting in Old Realm.
"I kept you from this state before and you owe me a debt. Repay me this debt and I'll be generous and feed you. You're hungry now, aren't you? Come out! If you're good I'll even let you eat the people who did this to you..."
He holds a cupped palm half-full of blood over the white-hot glove, letting only a tiny bit of blood fall onto it.
Gelderon says:
After a while Gelderon starts to become frustrated pondering over futile ideas, He looks up, "Where did Needles and Bell go? We could use their input"
Storyteller says:
So Needles does his whole autopsy thing. The man died of multiple stab wounds and loss of blood. Punctured lung, punctured arteries and so on. The stabs were likely from a dagger. The number of stab wounds were far too many to be necessary, but the man has no defensive wounds. He must have been unconscious or unresisting throughout the fact.
And now he tries to summon the ghost.
Needles says:
Needles pulls back, beyond the ring of runes.
Bell says:
Bell moves behind Needles.
Storyteller says:
There is the quiet whisper of winds as cold air blows from what must be the Underworld itself. Necromatic essence gathers within the circle of blood, centered most directly upon the corpse of the dead man. Several long moments pass as the essence finally coalesces into the form of the dead man, bleeding from his deathly wounds, his flesh already rotting. The first hint that something is wrong is when the ghost simply stand there, making low, guttural moans, but saying nothing and doing nothing.
Okihana says:
"... did you hear something?"
Needles says:
"Not hungry? Hm."
Needles thrusts his hand holding blood at the ghost, pulling it back if the ghost tries to make a move for it.
"The fae got to him, I'm thinking."
Gelderon says:
Gelderon looks up, "uh yeah. Lets see what those two are doing"
Storyteller says:
The ghost shuffles forward at the offer of blood, but stops when Needles pulls back, all the time making low moans.
Bell says:
"I take it this isn't normal then."
Okihana says:
"I'm not so sure if that's a good idea..." Hana's left eyelid starts twitching very badly.
Okihana says:
"..You go first, if you like. And... careful what you say..."
Needles says:
Needles pulls up the mental map of his punctured organs, and overlays it with the location the man is in, specifically checking for angle of entry and likely height of the attacker(s).
"Normally he'd be trying to kill us all. Let me see if feeding him works."
Needles burns the blood, then burns the wound on his hand closed, hissing slightly.
Okihana says:
"I'll be right behind you. Well, somewhat behind you."
Gelderon says:
Gelderon follows the very creepy moans.
Okihana says:
Hana treads VERY warily behind him.
Storyteller says:
The creepy moans lead them into the wagon where Needles and Bell is, and the two of them see what appears to be a hungry ghost risen from the dead body of a man!
Gelderon says:
"Why do you keep summoning these things?"
Storyteller says:
The ghost moans in agreement. Well, what appears to be agreement. They don't know if it's aware at all.
Needles says:
"This is the first time I've done something like this since I joined the troupe. Would you like me to do it some more? I could. Are you volunteering your blood?"
Okihana says:
"Well, he does make pretty shiny things too, so I'm not complaining. Uh, blood? I've already made my donation for the day.."
Needles says:
Needles eyes the ghost, twists a cord of essence, and flings the cord around it. "Talk."
Storyteller says:
The ghost now adds wailing to its repertoire of noises, with some moans in between.
Needles says:
Needles flicks out more lines of essence, loops them around the ghost, and starts feeling out its essence-patterns and prodding at them. "Shut up now, thank you, you're not going to be of any help and I already fed you." Let's see, what's congruent with this essence-map, and what happens if I do /this/...
Storyteller says:
The ghost stumbles around, moaning and groaning. Needles inspects him for a while before he comes to the only conclusion possible given their recent experiences. The man had probably been ravished before he was stabbed to death.
Needles says:
"Definitely fae! I've changed my mind, I'm not burning its eyes out. I'm cutting it open for parts."
Gelderon says:
"Ok...so its a fae. How do we find it?"
Bell says:
"I'll help. If we can find the damn thing."
Bell says:
"That, my friends, is the rub. I think we need a trap of some kind, though since we killed one, it's going to be very careful from now on."
Storyteller says:
On that note, the Solars end the day as the moon crosses the horizon to signal that they have just passed into the new day at the stroke of midnight.
Autopsy Results
Needles with his skill and the aid of charms discovers the following things about the body:
- He died from multiple stab wounds
- All the wounds came from a knife or dagger of some sort, further information cannot be gleaned given the messy death
- The stabs were all made while the man as lying down; There are no defensive wounds
- The stabs are forceful, but not so strong as to be made by a man. A woman or a child is likely.
- There are too many wounds to tell if there was only one assailant or multiple assailants
- Time of death is between the time the mob came and after the riot was over
