Her Glory Incarnate!

Previous Session: The Jaws of a Trap

The Orphans are nervous - these are bigger stakes than they've ever had on the table before. The very fate of their Wicked Mother is in the balance!

They're not entirely sure that they can trust Setarra in this, but they will sneak aboard the Hotspur (again) and capture Captain Dunvil while he is doing his paperwork; suborn the Demon at the heart of the ship and enact an occult ritual to discern any trap that might be waiting for the Wicked Mother when she manifests in Duskwall.

Then they will thwart the ambush She Who Slays in Darkness have arranged with the Guardian of the Gates, and kill them all in an all-out assault. Two worlds will collide tonight, and only one will see the dawn.

Boarding the Hotspur is much easier this time; after all there was nothing so foolishly reckless as boarding a Leviathan Hunter on the high seas. The ship is not even at anchor in the harbour, it's tied up at the wharf, it's taking on supplies after having piped ashore the Leviathan blood to a refinery.

They take their boat across the channel and tie up on the stern - much less prone to discovery that just boarding from the shore. They've been given the ship's schedule by Quess the Spider's friend Avon, who is the Bosun's Mate, and they climb up onto the deck out of sight of the lone sentry. Since this is a stealth mission, Monger the Cutter is staying behind to take care of the boat and act as a tactical reserve (he's the cavalry).

They make their way below, down the main hatch which will lead to the captain's cabin...

As soon as they are on the lower deck, lanterns are opened all around them and a dozen armed sailors (not just sailors, leviathan hunters) are revealed with Captain Dunvil commanding them.
-Think you can singe my beard twice!
Avon stands amongst them, either he's playing along or he's betrayed Quess and the Orphans.

Gap the Lurk pulls out a bomb that Strangford prepared, one with a charge of Standstill poison in it, and declares that they'll be in serious trouble if they don't stand down; a fire aboard a ship is a terrible thing.

Dunvil steps forward, pointing the pistol at Gap's face and pulls the trigger! Gap dodges to one side, taking the round in his shoulder. He runs directly at the captain and kicks him in the chest, vaulting up to the roof beams and then chucking the bomb up to airburst in the middle of the assembled sailors.

The others go for cover, a barrel or mealie bag will protect them a little from the blast - however the bomb just lands heavily on the table and bounces with a clang into a bowl of stew. Did Gap arm it properly?

Fancy Frank the Hound kicks into action, running a guy through with his sword. GhostBlade the Whisper smashes another across the face with her lantern. Fancy Frank is on the back foot, as two more confront him with long knives and pistols and he is sure this isn't the job he signed up to as a tracker and sniper!

GhostBlade yells to Monger through the Darkness that Binds them to get in here, his assistance is required! Monger clambers up from the boat, busting through the gunwale in his heavy gear. Running down the main hatch he sees carnage in front of him.

Gap has thoroughly confused the captain now, spinning around him and the two sailors nearby while using his cloak to great effect - the two sailors shoot each other in the dizzying display and Gap wraps up the captain in his cloak, punching him in the kidney to subdue him. Dunvil hasn't given up the fight though, he stabs back with his reversed sabre and the blade punches through Gap's ribs. Gap struggles through it and koshes Dunvil into submission.

Fancy Frank is now beset by two and even his twin pistols only buy him some addition time. They literally have him over a barrel when GhostBlade slams into the back of one of them. Fancy Frank uses the distraction to kick one away and stab him in the throat, although he does take a knife to the knee and he'll be hobbling for weeks (he'd not be walking again at all except for his fancy knee-high cavalry boots!).

With their captain captured and most of the mates killed, the other half dozen charge for the stairs up to the main deck. Whether or not they saw Monger coming down is in doubt, but they have a fight on their hands - Monger is almost overwhelmed in the rush but decapitates one with his cleaver before being pushes back to the steps; he stabs and elbows and bites his way back to his feet and only two survive - they're later spotted swimming the channel to the safety of the far shore.

**

Confronting the beating demon heart in the bowels of the Hotspur is a little too much for most of the Orphans. They arrive at a metal box on the deck, it's inscribed with runes, sigils and every imaginable piece of Whisper-loved warding inside and out. Inside some of those sigils are throwing light onto a large tripod (like one typically used by augurs). In the bowl is a beating heart, the size of a person's head, purple with sickly yellow lines.

Stepping across the threshold GhostBlade feels the pressure, like she just dived into a stormy sea. Tyraxis' attention whips over to her, but she wades through it like it's nothing.

Monger was going to drag Captain Dunvil inside, but his stoic visage cracks a little and he stays outside. Fancy Frank goes up on deck to act as sentry, glad of the open skies. Gap was never going to go inside that thing.

GhostBlade's ritual is based on an attunement she received from Setarra (while they didn't want to invite her to this, they are relying on her knowledge and skills). It will identify and diffuse the danger which the larger summoning/gate-opening ritual will lay upon the Wicked Mother.

Tendrils from GhostBlade's soul, black-tinged red, erupt from her soul and clasp onto the beating demon heart. Monger throws in one of the surviving sailors and she kills him, slowly and painfully over almost an hour - every ounce of anguish the poor sailor feels feeds the connection, and on the point where his death is imminent, she cuts out and eats his heart.

She knows that from now to eternity, she will not be able to sit comfortably in the presence of a demon; she can already feel her skin itch in its presence. And then she feels another presence touch the skin of the Hotspur...

Fancy Frank sees the impossibly sleek shark demon climb aboard. Its inhuman eyes regard him as he fails to track the intrusion with his rifle. It brushes past him with its gash of a smile and he shudders as the cold goes through to his bones.

Below, Setarra points out to GhostBlade that her ritual is not as successful as she hoped - it won't allow her to change the point the Wicked Mother will appear; and that will allow their enemies to keep their significant advantage.

Setarra makes an offer to GhostBlade
-Serve me, and I will intervene to change the Wicked Mother's path into the city
That's unacceptable to GhostBlade, and as she shakes her head, Monger loosens his shoulders, readying for a confrontation. Setarra doesn't even change stance, but they're sure she notices.
-Or maybe, allow me to remain here and I will guard the captain and Tyraxis from any outside interference before your plan goes ahead. Then I will have what remains on the ship.
GhostBlade doesn't like that either, and her counter-offer of a year and a day of service after they're finished with the summoning meets with instant rejection from Setarra.

She loses patience, and moves to leave with an aggressive snarl. Fancy Frank has been wondering what's going on and is making his way down to them. He's at the top of the stairs when she's climbing up and he reacts badly to her demeanour.
He draws a pistol and aims at her, but her arm snakes out to grab at his foot and use him as a club to beat back Monger (who's lifted his cleaver). But Fancy Frank leaps back, and crawls back into the depths of the store room.

Setarra faces off Monger, who's ready to go to war, but trying to convince her it's not necessary (and that Fancy Frank's behaviour just confirms that he's an asshole). She walks away, but stops by at the corner where Fancy Frank is hiding and palms away his pistol. She leans in close to his face and whispers
-Kristov, I'll be visiting you in your dreams

*

The Orphans have left behind half of their Thugs and Adepts behind to guard the Hotspur and its contents while the rest of events play out - they can't leave their opponents realise that they've stolen a march on them.

The location that the Guardian of the Gates has chose for the Wicked Mother to appear is the Ankhayat Park near the Silkshore - actually their Sanctuary is just across the canal from it. Waiting for the jaws of the trap to close around the Wicked Mother is a large party - they've organised for the various community leaders of Charhollow to be there for a celebration in the park - it's the Feast of St. Natira. Posters and (limited) free food and drink have guaranteed that about a hundred people have attended.

In the centre of the park is a large gazebo, it is there where she will be summoned.

Across the city, near the Strangford Estate, the cult of She Who Slays in Darkness has a large tower block, at least half of which is given over to their activities. That morning, Fancy Frank and Gap snuck in to plant a large firebomb. It's set to go off at any moment now, and hopefully it'll forestall any reinforcements and prove a significant distraction.

The Wicked Mother appears in the centre of the gazebo, but it's obvious that she cannot pass the barrier. At that moment, a dark figure emerges from the shadows: She Who Slays in Darkness has come...

GhostBlade hurriedly enacts the ritual that she has prepared, knowing the nature of the trap they have the Wicked Mother helplessly caught in; but she needs help to do so quickly enough. Gap steps to the fore, already haunted by this upcoming Apocalypse, the Lurk stabs out his eye with his knife and grabs a smouldering coal from the grills to cauterize the wound. The effort proves to be just the agony and sacrifice the Whisper needs to fuel the ritual!

Elsewhere throughout the crowd a dozen of so acolytes of the rival cult unveil themselves and attack. Monger is waiting for them, with the remaining handful of their thugs and the fight is quick and brutal. Fancy Frank joins in, shooting as many as he can in the back before numbers start to tell. Their explosion across the city goes off, and gives them a chance to scramble into a defensive position.

However, She Who Slays in Darkness is now confronting the Wicked Mother. A flurry of slashes leaves their patron reeling, and then the coup de grace; a blade plunged into her heart - but as it goes through her heart, the blade melts! Gap has opened his soul to her, and she is feeding on his life-energy.

Monger leads the counter charge, scrambling to get through the crowd to protect the Wicked Mother; but there's no way he'll get there in time.

Fancy Frank draws a bead on She Who Slays in Darkness with his finest pistol, loaded with electroplasmic ammunition and focuses; and shoots. The round pierces the skull and the god falls to the ground. Purple energy floods from the wound, first evaporating like a mist, but then coalescing as the Wicked Mother descends upon her and consumes her rival.

FIN

The Jaws of a Trap

Previous Session: The Hotspur

Troubled by the ominous portents of their mission aboard the Hotspur and what it could mean for the city of Duskwall, the Orphans go out to some of their contacts and friends to learn more about the Guardians of the Gates, the true impact of the ritual they performed and why Captain Dunvil might have been chosen.

Quess the Spider visits Lord Scurlock, who is a particular friend of GhostBlade, but whom she has a good relationship with because of her intercession on behalf of his 'nephew' Oskar in Ironhook Prison.

GhostBlade the Whisper summons Setarra, a demon whom she hasn't met in years. The last time they spoke, it was in cooperating against a nasty vampire they both wanted rid of.

Monger the Cutter whips the Cult's adepts into shape, giving Strangford and the rest the task of researching the particulars of the Guardians of the Gates and the ritual.

Art by Joon Ahn

Quess enters Lord Scurlock's manor house in Six Towers, the rickety old building should probably have been torn down ages ago, but even so it's a curious mix of derelict and luxury. Shown into a drawing room, Scurlock's dreadful countenance is clear in the firelight, his cadaverous face is both deathly pale and pulsing with life (he's drinking...wine).

Hearing about their recent escapades on The Hotspur, Scurlock is thoughful and shares some suspicions openly enough. He divulges that the ship's plasma coils protect the ghosts of the crew (and any spirits inside the ship) from the effects of the city's own lightning barriers. A terrible secret only those directly involved know about is that at the centre of each leviathan hunter is a demon heart, and through some occult ritual is tied up with the captain's ghost.

He wonders if the Guardians of the Gate concocted the scheme to allow something to enter the city from beyond, another demon perhaps...
Or is it just a scrying by a demon or god?
Scurlock is unsure, but deeply troubled as to what havoc some new demonic player could wreak in the city

***

GhostBlade awaits Setarra in their sanctuary on the riverside (which they took from the Hand of Sorrow). She emerges from the waters, all sleek black and smooth. Quess is sure her form is the same as the deep sea gods her people worship back in Tycheros.

Setarra's spines flare as she descends the staircase into the sanctuary proper, the heavy smell of incense and the dull light from the braziers doesn't bother her as she regards her old friend. She doesn't really have any thoughts on what else could be entering the city, but instantly leaps on the prospect of the Hotspur. If she could meet with the captain to devour him she would give them aid in reaching the heart of the ship - having a demon's heart would give them immense power to use in the service of the Wicked Mother.

**

Monger is briefed by Strangford, and the leader of their adepts is worried. The ritual they recently enacted to bring Her Glory Incarnate was successful, but examining the symbol they created to act as a focus, and comparing it to the one they received from the Guardians of the Gates, they found an overlap. Now he thinks that one key aspect to their ritual was the symbol they carved into Captain Dunvil.

Perhaps there is a connection between their ritual and the Dunvil symbol which allowed the door into the city to be opened from the outside. Perhaps the entity which the Guardians were 'summoning' was the Wicked Mother herself!

The truly worrying aspect is that he suspects that the Guardians may be in concert with She Who Slays in the Darkness who may have only recently discovered the Orphans' involvement in the ruse to usurp their Offertory. This all may be a trap to bring the Wicked Mother where they can destroy her physical form.

*

Back in their lair, the Orphans discuss the various pieces of knowledge they've gathered.
They discuss the nature of the leviathan hunters - some of their scrolls show forbidden sketches of how the demon hearts are stored and the connection between the vessels' whisper and captain who are able to contain and use the demon's power to hunt Leviathans and keep them safe on the starlit oceans. The exact repercussions of the death of a captain on the bound demon is unknown - but it can't be good...

They debate through the night - should they go with Setarra's suggestion, or use the Wicked Mother's appearance as a chance to wipe out the cults of She Who Slays in the Darkness and the Guardians of the Gates. They are loathe to underestimate this existential threat to their god...

Next Session: Her Glory Incarnate!

The Hotspur

Previous Session: Daggers in the Streets

The Orphans have 'acquired' a steam launch using Grace's contacts on the docks. They're going to pull up alongside the Leviathan Hunter 'Hotspur' as it approaches Duskwall and subdue Captain Milos Dunvil to inscribe the eldritch sign the Guardian of the Gates have provided them with.

Quess the Spider knows one of the crew aboard - the Bosun's mate Avon went overboard last year and Quess took care of his family for a while; however, miraculously Avon came ashore alive and well and he definitely feels like he owes Quess. She knows from talking to him that the Hotspur and Captain have been a little unlucky the last few voyages, not finding many Leviathans to hunt and harvest from.

The launch is big enough to bring their Thugs, just in case they need to switch from an infiltration to full-on assault - the dozen well-armed ruffians should be enough to intimidate and/or overwhelm the thirty-strong crew.

Fancy Frank the Hound talked to Steiner (his assassin friend) about the best ways to approach and board a Leviathan Hunter, so he's got a few ideas already. The launch pulls up aft of the lumbering ship, and ties up alongside. The cabin windows aren't big enough to use as entry-points so Fancy Frank and Quess climb aboard, using muffled grappling hooks, their water proof coats and hats will allow them to pass for sailors, at least at a casual inspection.

Art by ömer tunç

Fancy Frank spots a handful of sailors above deck, look-outs for the most part. Including a whisper standing in the bowsprit - reaching out into the sea for signs of any nearby demon-spawn. The Hound is inclined to take them out now, but Quess shakes her head - she's not willing to kill innocent sailors for no good reason.
An eerie forked lightning hits the sea a couple of miles away, lighting up the entire area, and giving Fancy Frank his first good view of the sea - it's ink blackness barely concealing the burning lights of not-stars below.

They sneak below decks and to the Captain's cabin without much trouble. Lurking in a narrow corridor joining the wardroom to the cabin, they can hear noise inside. They knock and are ready to burst in as soon as they hear "enter". But instead the captain's voice assures them
-Jenk? I'll be right out in a minute for the deck inspection.

An old thin man enters the corridor from the other end, distractedly approaching the cabin door where there are coiled and ready to explode. He glances up in surprise as Quess grabs him by the elbow and steers him back towards the wardroom. The Standstill starts to affect Jenk and she stops him from yelling out help in his final moments of control - however she notices a strange reaction, he must be allergic!

She bundles him into a corner, seeing two more sailors in the wardroom, she quickly closes that door. But now Quess starts to feel strange - whatever effect the Standstill had on Jenk is rebounding on her as well and for the first time since she was a child she feels her body slowing down due to the drug. She strains with the effort, but extrudes the corrupt drug out of her system, leaving it coating her pores.

**

Fancy Frank bursts through the door into the cabin and sees the Captain standing there glancing at a fancy pocket watch in the middle of buttoning up his jacket. The rain gear doesn't fool him for a moment and he reaches for a pistol on his bunk. Fancy Frank steps in and kicks him in the nuts.

He ties Dunvil up on the bed, and draws a wicked looking butcher's knife to make the incisions on the captain's chest. He can see some serious signs of damage there - a set of raking scars on the shoulder, way too far apart to be from a hand-held weapon - a star-shaped puncture wound on the lower rib-cage, like from a giant bolt. Fancy Frank is impressed, but starts to study the diagram of the symbol one last time before starting the cutting.

Quess shows up, looking the worse for wear. She sees Fancy Frank take out the vial of black liquid and pour it into the fresh wounds on Dunvil's chest. She's reminded of the Tycherosi Black Rain, a powerful oily substance that's used in occult rituals by the priest of her people. They say it's the bloody tears of creatures who fly above the ink-dark Void Sea. It gives prophetic powers and Quess understands what's going to happen as she sees the liquid spread quickly through the incisions.

It will allow something outside to subvert the defences of the city, and scrye through the lightning barriers, using Milos Dunvil as a focal point.

 There's a knock on the door - those two sailors got suspicious and are wondering if the captain is alright. Fancy Frank's attempt to sound like Dunvil falls flat, and there's a stand-off in the doorway. Fancy Frank shoots one sailor (who was brandishing a boarding pike) and Quess standstills the other.

Quess isn't happy with the death, but the cold stare Fancy Frank gives her brooks no dispute that their lives were in danger. He shepherd her (still a bit groggy) through the corridors and up an unlocked hatch and they escape over the side. The launch pulls into the mist before the alarm is raised aboard the Hotspur. Fancy Frank is happy with the haul - a very upmarket pocket watch for himself and the captain's log will surely fetch a good price with their friends aboard the Spitfire!

*

Ashore, it would appear that Strangford's adepts have kept things going on an even keel for the most part. However, one of their number, Dahlia (their expert researcher - previously a librarian with the Circle of Flame) poked her nose into the Guardian of the Gates, and now they are demanding some kind of reparation. Unwilling to go very far, they confine her to quarters and assign her to clean-up in the sacrificial chambers for the next month.

Fancy Frank, as well as exploring the secret crawl-space in the bath-house Casta frequents, tracks down Captain Dunvil's location once he comes ashore from the Hotspur. They'll be able to keep a close eye on him once things kick into action.

Next Session: Jaws of a Trap

Daggers in the Streets

Previous Session: Big Fish

The Orphans are casting around for a good target to build their war-chest - they know they'll need to scale up in order to take on their enemies. They hear tell of a shipment of  payroll silver for the Dagger Isles Consulate and resolve to bushwhack it. The monthly delivery of coins and other materiel is transferred from Gaddoc Rail Station to the Consulate by a couple of wagons through Nightmarket and into Charterhall.

Grace, Monger the Cutter's extortionist friend, is very familiar with this transportation hub and points them towards the carter involved. A old Tycherosi (named Vitter) has just two others helping him with the carts, though the Consulate usually puts a handful of guards with them as well. They've got a gondola ready to go, to take the stolen goods away to their lair.

The whole crew are arrayed in ambush positions along the road from Nightmarket when around the corner comes a patrol of Bluecoats. They seem friendly with the convoy and Quess the Spider signals for everyone to withdraw to their fall-back ambush positions.

This secondary ambush site is problematic - the carts go along a narrow pathway along the small canal at the edge of Charterhall. It's closer to the Consulate (so there's the danger of outside interference) and it's a more dangerous route back to their lair.

Their thugs, coming out of nowhere, run behind the convoy and steal something small off the back of the rear cart (unbeknownst to them, they are official Imperial documents) - they scarper across the nearby lock gate and 3 of the 5 guards chase them out of sight.

Quess is on point, and she approaches the convoy from the front; she knows Vitter to see, and opens up a conversation with him, he stops his cart to shake her hand and that's when she standstills him. The others leap into action at this. Fancy Frank the Hound is in the perfect sniping position on top of a building down the canal and kills one of the guards outright, just as she reacts to Quess (who is sure she feels the shot whizzing closely by her ear!).

Monger the Cutter clambers over the cart to take out the second guard, and is shot straight in the chest. He falls to the flatbed of the cart, a couple of his ribs are definitely broken but so glad that he decided to take his heavy armour this morning. He gets back up, with a cruel-looking crowbar and jumps on the guard who's reloading his pistol, horribly skewering the poor guy.

He looks up and sees the three guards who chased their thugs away come back around the corner. Damnation! They didn't keep them engaged for very long!

The guards open fire with their pistols, and Monger uses their fellow guard as a body-shield, diving into the canal to avoid the ensuing carnage! That heavy armour makes him regret the decision as soon as he hits the water...

Fancy Frank has lined up the guards and carefully shoots two of them down, causing the last one to run for his life. Meanwhile Quess has unlooped a whip from the cart she's on and sent it unerringly around Monger's hand, which is the only thing over the water at this stage. She ties her side to the cart and they haul Monger out.

**

Returning to their lair in the abandoned Leviathan slaughter house, the Orphans do not notice the important Imperial documents and regalia that were in the loot. They have bigger concerns when the pool that the Wicked Mother directs them from is disturbed...

A simple map has appeared - pointing out the main square of the Crow's Foot neighbourhood in Duskwall. A time is indicated: just one hour from now.

They gather their equipment and swarm into the square; keeping an eye out for trouble isn't so easy - with the tension between the Red Sashes and Lampblacks reaching straining point. They do spot an old man sitting on a fountain, looking in their general direction as they scan the place.

They invite him to meet them in The Old Rasp, a small pub that neither of the (almost) warring factions control. It's small and they know they can scope the whole place out very quickly while keep multiple exits in view.

Branan is a high priest of those who worship The Guardian of the Gates, a forgotten god. He won't divulge how they gained his attention, and doesn't threaten their connection with the Wicker Mother in any way - they fear how easily it was influenced by the Guardian's power and listen to what the old man wants.

He tells them the the Hotspur, a Leviathan Hunter, under the command of Captain Dunvil will come into port soon. They are to board it before it enters the harbour (within the lightning barriers) and perform a ritual on the captain.

He hands over a rolled piece of parchment, on which a diagram of an occult symbol is carefully drawn. He instructs them to carve that symbol over the captain's chest and then; he takes out a small vial of black liquid; pour this into the carving.

*

Afterwards, they go away to their own business, wondering what machinations they're being drawn into.

Monger attends a grand dinner party, hosted by his father - who is very pleased with the rise in the family fortunes. In his cups, Laudius snr. divulges that Strangford is in serious trouble on the City Council - there's talk that he could be ousted. There's bad blood between the two, going way back to when Laudius was a significant player in high society. Monger puts his thoughts to work on ways to raise his own house on the Council.

Quess is lining up their favourite enemies, the Skovlan Consulate, to take on the Silver Nails. That kind of fight will surely knock the Skovlanders down a peg or two and allow the Orphans to take up the slack.
As a bonus she mentions to Jeren, her friendly Bluecoat archivist, that the Skovlanders' disdain for the Dagger Isles Consul is well known - they will surely benefit from that terrible attack on the Dagger Isles delivery...

Next Session: The Hotspur

Big Fish

Previous Session: Book Deal

With Monger smoothing the burgeoning relationship with the Billhooks, and GhostBlade perfecting a new ritual; it's left to Gap and Fancy Frank to expand the Cult's power and majesty.
They're eyeing up a vice den, operated by the Skovlanders. It's near Kellen's bar and takes up a space in between the rest of their turf. So it makes sense as well as bringing in some much needed cash.

Fancy Frank is familiar with this type of establishment from the war - cheap booze and sex keeps the Skovlanders distracted from their lot in life. He knows just the thing to get the superstitious northerners off their game.

If they can concoct a haunting by the Wicked Mother; chills and blood and maybe a reenactment of Her appearance in the White Horse in which a handful of Billhooks were sacrificed. That would be perfect.

With some spine-tingling artefacts from Moriya, they set up the Skovlan vice den for this horrific experience.

As expected a few days pass, and the place closes for business entirely and then the Skovalanders come looking for them.

A few of them find the Orphans in the Red Lion. Their initial offer that the Orphans take over the running of the place in return for a tithe isn't well received. But then they appear to have second thoughts - if they can get some proof that the Orphans could dispel the effects, then they'll have to have a talk with the leadership to okay the deal.

They grab Strangford and a couple of his adepts and a couple of Quess' thugs and head directly there. The place is abandoned and the Skovlanders stay outside. There are a few things that Strangford has to do, but mostly it's an hour of pre-arranged theatre to fool any onlookers.

They head down the stairs to find the main bar occupied by Skovlanders. There are half a dozen of them. Including Ulf at the row of barrels which serve as the bar - he's sharing a pint with a druid (replete with antlered head dress). The others are at the front and back doors. This doesn't look good.

The guy who spoke to them in the Red Lion - Morgan - tells them to get the hell out and not to come back, and knees Strangford in the gut to show he's serious (Strangford ends up with a broken nose on the way down to the floor). Fancy Frank yells that this is crazy talk and pulls a knife and holds it at Morgan's throat.
The other Skovlanders, front and back have their own weapons out in an instant. The Orphans crew - bunched up at the bottom of the stairs, are like fish in a barrel.

**

With impossible speed, Gap vaults the barrels, landing just behind Ulf and whipping out the two smoke grenades from an upturned bucket where he secreted them previously - he chucks them towards the group of Skovlanders at both doorways and the smoke quickly fills them. They are blinded and although they open fire, it's not very effective.

Fancy Frank stabs Morgan in the throat and then charges towards the front door - he knows he'll be able to barge through the confused Skovlanders milling around in the smoke and distract attention away from the others.

Gap leads the rest of the crew out the door behind the bar. Strangford is being hauled along by two of his adepts. As Gap is making sure everyone gets out, he's sucker punched in the kidneys by Ulf. Gap throws a knife as rolls through the door, shutting it with a sweeping leg behind him. He exits through the front window as all the others go out the back.

As Fancy Frank races towards the door, Skehan, the druid, draws his claymore and cuts across the back of the Hound's legs. Fancy Frank stumbles, but his leather trousers protected him from the worst of the cut and he's out in the fresh air.

However, a dozen yards away are four fully armed Skovlanders, arrayed in a miniature version of a shield wall that Fancy Frank remembers with dread from the war. With only a momentary hesitation he draws his pistol and shoots at the leg of one in the middle, charging the outside flank of the warrior next to his unfortunate target, who collapses in a heap. His blade has little effect on his opponent, but he gets a sharp blow to his elbow in return. As he careens away from the fight, he has to check if his arm is still attached.

Gap comes out of the window and around the corner and sees that Fancy Frank will need help to escape this or he won't survive.

He attracts their attention and when a couple of them move to intercept he leads them on a merry chase, giving Fancy Frank the chance he needs to escape as well.

*

With their plan in tatters, things turn for the worse when an Inspector with a few Bluecoats shows up to arrest someone - Gap's going to Ironhook for a stretch.

Next Session: Daggers in the Streets

Book Deal

Previous Session: Faithful Dead

Walker, a retired Lampblack and what passes for a ward-boss in Charhollow approaches the Orphans. They are invited to a sit-down in Tangletown; he won't say much more than that except to assure them that the meeting's legit. Despite this they are wary when taking a boat across to the tangled mess of old ships that makes up the only neutral and peaceful area in the city.

They're brought down to a closed room in the hulk of an old Leviathan hunter; the decor is old and mouldy. Around a table is Erin, the leader of the Billhooks; Ulf Ironborn, and a woman they don't recognise. Walker nods to everyone and says he'll be outside.

The woman introduces herself as The Star, captain of the Unseen. She wants the warring parties to come to peace tonight: this current state of affairs is no good for business.

The Orphans and the Billhooks square off in the negotiations - Erin suggests that the Billhooks have more that they can unleash in the war, but have been holding it back. Monger snorts his derision - how many dead Billhooks have they dropped so far? Maybe two dozen? Erin alludes to her brother in prison - he's not so reasonable as her, but a reasonable deal will keep him out of the way.

Ghostblade is whipping up something to get inside their opposite number's head - but the ghosts here are old and fierce. One comes out of the walls and grabs her, but she resists possession and forces it to scout outside to make sure no one is planning to ambush them.

They disagree strenuously over the return of the Billhook's turf - in a war they didn't start! But the Unseen look unfavourably upon those who thwart their will, so they think on a peace deal that will satisfy everyone. After some private discussion, they return with a proposal.
They will return the hard-won turf, and the Billhooks will become worshippers of the Wicked Mother: who won't abide by the unfaithful. Erin can promise that if any of her people refuse to bend the knee, they'll answer to her.

Ulf Ironborn, almost forgotten in this to and fro' curses at them all, and storms out. He'll accept none of this so-called deal.

As they leave, The Star calls them aside. They'll be in contact soon, about another deal to help each other expand their interests further afield.

**

As per Lord Scurlock's friendly request, they look at the cult of the forgotten god, the Web of Pain. It's a small organisation, but one dating back to the early days of the cataclysm which broke the world. Echoes of the Emperor's trials of those times feed the God, and the adherents of the cult acquire the holy writings of those saints who have gone through these kinds of painful tests.

The cult work out of a small bookshop in the back of an arcade in Silkshore. GhostBlade realises that her cousin, Roethe Kinclaith, is a member. The foppish, if deadly, duellist acts as their guardian and merely dabbles in the cult itself.

Monger stays outside, marking Kinclaith for when troubles erupts. GhostBlade wanders around nearby, but out of sight, she'll get involved if spirits prove too troublesome for the others.

Gap and Fancy Frank go into the shop, and look around for something interesting. Fancy Frank confounds Eldridge (the helpful attendant) with an obscure and fascinating query which sends him hunting high and low and mumbling to himself. Gagan's advice was key in finding such a perfect request.

With that distraction in place, Gap makes his way to the back of the shop; there, narrow double doors lead into a small free-standing room, almost like a vault. Working quickly and quietly, the lurk tries to unlock it - but then realises that it's not locked at all, merely dead-bolted from inside.

He pries it open, but is aware that someone else must be inside this vault with him. There's a narrow passageway just inside the doors, and as soon as Gap steps away from the door he feels an intense agony like nothing he's every experienced. He pushes through the feeling - relying on his early training for ignoring distractions. He blanks his mind, remembering holding his palm over a candle, reducing the pain to something more manageable.

And then he's out in a storage room, high and vaulted. It's packed with scrolls and boxes and he sees an old lady beyond sorting through a small sheaf of papers. Knowing that his time is short in here, Gap saps her from behind and sets her body down near a desk - hopefully whoever discovers her will assume she fell and hit her head.

After locating the scroll Scurlock requires, he quietly shoving a few choice looking items into his satchel (might as well make the job pay as well!) and quickly leaves, giving Fancy Frank the signal as he passes.

*

A few days later, after having delivered the correct scroll to Lord Scurlock - they are approached by the Path of Echoes. Apparently that group wants some of the scrolls Gap grabbed back. They pay them off, and nurse their grudges. They don't want to pick a fight with the Path of Echoes yet...

Next Session: Big Fish

Faithful Dead

Previous Session: Closing the Noose

Gap the Lurk has returned from his extended absence; he doesn't seem willing to speak of the revelations which pushed him over the edge. His talents will be perfect for this score; they're going to undertake a dangerous job in service to the Throne of Judgement. With Fancy Frank the Hound in tow they'll infiltrate Strangford House on the day of the house matriarch's funeral.

During the final stages of the wake and before the funeral procession winds its way to have her remains consumed by the electroplasm of the Spirit Warden's crematorium; they will steal the traditional Akorosi funeral offering of a coin from her mouth.

They consider staging a diversion but instead just sneak in, taking a boat from across the canal (where their new turf is located) and creeping through the grounds and inside. There are enough strangers and temporary staff that their presence will hardly be noticed.

Gap's closest friend, Roslyn Kellis has a genuine invitation to the funeral and he has given her a special dog whistle to alert him when the coast is clear - he has a matching ear-piece so that he can hear it.

They're rounding the corner on the 2nd floor landing when Fancy Frank sees a familiar silhouette in a room yonder. He stops and cocks his head; it's Casslyn Tyrconnel - whose younger brother he killed in the Skovlan Unification War. Behind her is Casta, his old friend who tried to stop him and has recently been hunting him for a significant bounty. Fancy Frank's uneven movements attract attention and as Casta points him out to Tyrconnel, the pieces fall into place - Casta is hunting him on her behalf.

He runs.

***

Orlan Strangford

Gap walks right past them, and choosing his moment, quietly sidles into where Lady Strangford lies in state. A mourner gets the wrong idea and leaves them alone with a respectful nod. He quickly opens her mouth, struggling against the rigor mortis and fishes out the coin. It's gold, not the usual silver, but Gap takes a close match out a purse of random coins he set aside for just this eventuality.

He slips out of the room, and into a foyer where a large number of guests have gathered before the departure. Gap spots Orlan Strangford (the leader of the cult's adepts) speaking with his father. He avoids Orlan's eye line - that's one conversation they can't have here.


Fancy Frank runs deeper into the house and up two floors. He's not packing much, and frees a pistol to turn on Casta when he can get the drop on the canny bounty hunter. However, he ends up on a dead end landing - some of the renovations mustn't have gone to plan. Casta draws a fine pair of pistols (the very same ones he lifted off Fancy Frank back in Sunfall at their last run-in) and fires a round at him. Lady Tyrconnel has kept pace with him, and Fancy Frank's return fire prompts Casta to pull her to the floor to avoid getting shot - Frank's fire hits Casta but the bounty hunter must be wearing armour as he turns back around to take aim with his second pistol.

Fancy Frank considers his options and jumps out the landing window...

**

Gap is eyeing up a big payoff for the score, now that he's undertaken the necessary obligations. A small ornately carved hardwood chest sits on a small table in the centre of the room. People are dropped coins into it as they pass. This collection is probably going to some favoured charity of other of the Strangford's but the amount is too tempting to pass up. Gap, as cool as you like, trips up one of the guests, who pulls at the table cloth as he falls. Gap catches the chest as it topples off the table, and using other people's movement (helping the man back to his feet) as cover the lurk empties the chest into his cloak - he opened a vial of silence potion in one fluid motion, and that masks the sound of the cascading coins. His cloak has a hidden pocket which carries the coins without too much bulging and he walks out, calmly and as if nothing has happened.

Gap is outside waiting for Fancy Frank when he sees the hound leap from a fourth floor window. Even with their placement of a rope dropping from the eaves all the way to the ground, there is a moment there where it looks like it's not going to well for Frank!

They run into a couple of household guards, but then Fancy Frank pulls out one of Orlan's standstill bombs and takes them out. They row away into the fog and the hound shivers in reckless abandon.

*

Roslyn Kellis is questioned by the Bluecoats - it would appear that they know she's connected somehow, but the Orphans pay them off and she's left go free.

Fancy Frank reckons he can no longer ignore the perils of being hunted by Casta. Getting help from Steiner and Veleris he starts to track down some of Casta's habits in Duskwall: apparently the bounty hunter frequents a bathhouse in Six Towers. That'll help ensure that his enemy has little gear when Fancy Frank makes his move.

Next Session: Book Deal

Closing the Noose

Previous Session: Summary Judgement

As GhostBlade and Monger bargain with The Throne of Judgement, Quess the Spider and Fancy Frank the Hound assemble their trap for the inevitable response of the Billhooks to the Orphans claim on their rival gang's turf.

Fancy Frank is a bit groggy from his last fight; there were people looking for him to throw it in the 3rd, but he refused angrily. Of course he lost the fight anyway (in the 4th) and now he reckons more people than usual want to bring the pain. 

Brogan, Quess' informant inside the Billhooks, has let them know that 9 or 10 gang members are coming to see what's going on; he's the Billhooks' designated scout for this punitive expedition and Quess and Fancy Frank deploy their gang of thugs to a nice (almost) cul-de-sac where they'll draw the Billhooks away from Brogan's well-scouted location. Quess is thinking of her informant's long-term future with the Billhooks and doesn't want to blow his cover. 

Quess is planning to get the locals riled up against the Billhooks and use that an her opportunity to spring the trap. She knows from talking with Brogan that the leader of this cadre of Billhooks, a man called Narcus (Coran's old lieutenant) is well-known in the gang for abusing kids, so she starts to spread that rumour along the shopkeepers of Bridge Road. She's in civvies.

Fancy Frank has set up in a good sniping position above the alleyway leading to the ambush site. He's fully strapped for a real fight.

Before she can close the deal with the grocer, a shot rings out from behind her. The Billhooks have arrived early and the lead thug opened fire with his pistol. The shot clips Quess' shoulder and hits the shopkeeper square in the chest. Quess just runs, the plan is obviously not going to work with the locals as a lynchpin now, but all the other pieces are still in position (she hopes). She sprints for the alleyway and they chase after her.

Fancy Frank takes careful aim with his long rifle, making sure not to hit Brogan. He squeezes off two rounds as they make their way down the alleyway after Quess, but then he realises that he's left the rest of his rifle ammo behind - that fight must've dulled his routine more than usual, he's not quite as sharp. He jumps down and draws a pistol to give chase himself.

Quess is losing her lead, and the Billhooks behind her are gaining quickly. Brogan, smart lad that he is, runs interference for her by taking the lead and preventing the others from getting within striking distance. Quess draws a blade and wheels around, causing them all to stop suddenly in surprise. Then she takes a deep breath and standstills Brogan right when he's in front of her. She uses the confusion to make her escape and she races into the cleared store-room in the killing zone, grabbing the pistols on the chair before pointing them back at the doorway.

When the Billhooks arrive, they are cut down by the violent ambuscade that Quess' thugs set for them with Quess and Fancy Frank adding to the carnage, and only two or three are able to escape.

**

When they triumphantly return to their lair with the looted gear of the Billhooks and some new turf to add to their expanding territory, they find an exquisitely written letter for their attention. Even with the expensive paper and skilled calligraphy, what really grabs their attention is the Scurlock family seal.

Lord Scurlock, who is kind of friendly with them, requests that they acquire an important and arcane scroll from the cult who worship the Web of Pain. He includes some particulars to help them identify it, but expects to hear back from them soon. They could really do with the return of Gap (their 'lost' Lurk).

Fancy Frank goes down to the boxing rings, but doesn't even get a chance to put his name down on the lists. Some disgruntled punters beat seven shades out of him before his cousin (a local sergeant in the Bluecoats) saves his ass. They're the two black sheep in the extended family, so they do get along, despite their being on opposite sides of the law.

*

Oskar Scurlock

Quess goes down for that, the Bluecoats at the precinct are surprised to see her, but he jail-bird should have little trouble inside - though it's the first time someone from the Cult has made the trip across to Ironhook Prison. This'll take a lot of heat off the Orphans

Inside, the Spider intervenes against some thugs to save the life of young Oskar (before going in Lord Scurlock let her know that Oskar was secretly his great-grand nephew). Quess' usual subtle and social approach to problems backfires inside, and when she has done her time, she's paranoid. She doesn't trust in honour or social etiquette to protect her anymore.

Next Session: Faithful Dead

Summary Judgement

Previous Session: Toe to Toe

Licking their wounds but exceptionally buoyed by the initial victories against the Billhooks, the Orphans relax a little.

Monger the Cutter continues his efforts to restore the honour of House Laudius. Taking a new line on this, he uses his usual means of enforcing compliance (and not the subtle pandering of his father).

Repairing the house itself - not quite to the way he remembers it from his childhood, but close. Hiring a new batch of servants - some of whom are old ones who retired or moved on when funds ran out. They're trading in Leviathan products again, and 3 or 4 butcher shops are reopened to sell once more. The feel is different, the sourcing is more aggressive and heavy-handed - maybe even illegal.

Ghostblade the Whisper heads down to the Silver Swan as usual. In Brightstone the news is rarely of any interest to her, this time she hears about something unspoken concerning the Strangford family and she's about to move onto more interesting things.  However, then she hears about this recalcitrant son Orlan who is being forced to come in from the cold by Lord Strangford himself.

She returns to the Orphans' lair to find Orlan, the leader of their adepts, packing a bag and tidying up all of his alchemical benches. He is returning to his family estate (just on the other side of Charhollow). She can't let him leave them in the middle of this war and tells him that she's set a spirit to spy on him until he returns. Anything it discovers will be fair game for them to use. He tells her that the family are aware of their Cult already and will definitely make a move against them if he doesn't go. So she lets him, reluctantly.


Quess the Spider visits with Skannon, a widow of a Leviathan Hunter's quartermaster. One of her children is aboard a ship still, but another - a son called Aldo was recently slain in his local the 'White Horse'. Quess realises that he must have been one of the Billhooks that the Wicked Mother consumed. She keeps her poker face, but offers to put her other child, a daughter called Casslyn into service in one of the new butcher shops that House Laudius is putting back in business.

Quess also continues to develop her informant inside the Billhooks. A younger son of the proprietor of the 'White Horse', Brogan was obviously there to witness their terrifying sacrifice and while that means that he knows who she really it, it also means that he's exceptionally afraid of her and what she can really do. She promises that they won't do that to him, so long as he provide her with exactly what she requires.

*

With their surprisingly effective opening salvo against the Billhooks, the Orphans now have a real fiendish reputation. Despite being in the middle of a war they are now as well known and generally regarded as they were before it erupted. New and previously reluctant gang members return to swell their ranks.

The Throne of Judgement

The Orphans want to keep up the pressure on the Billhooks. They have divided up the Billhooks remaining turf with Ulf Ironborn and they hatch a plan to take their share. Having saved some choice cuts of the dead Billhooks they stake out every skeletal hand on the street corners and walkways marking out the turf boundaries.

Undertaking a ritual to make everyone who lives inside that perimeter know that the Orphans now rule it, Ghostblade becomes aware of another presence nearby who seeks her attention.

A spirit, long dead, but bound in service to some powerful devil, grabs her hand. She struggles with it, trying to resist its pull and then to sever its connection with its master and control the spirit herself. However to do that she must sever it in the devil's presence.

Monger follows her through labyrinthine tunnels which end up somewhere under the city - she is sure that she could find it again, but Monger is lost. There, in a strange and disturbing room sits the Forgotten God, Throne of Judgement.

Cutting the chord joining the spirit to the Throne, she feels a deep chill in her bones and her fingers burn with frostbite. It insists that they gift a favour. They agree and hear of an impending funeral of the Strangford matriarch. They must intercept the funeral cortege and recover the coin from her mouth and bring it here.

They both know of the traditional Akorosi custom, placing coins in the mouths of the dead. It's a meaningless ritual and the coins are usually destroyed in the electroplasm of the crematorium (though the gold coins used by richer citizens end up in the Spirit Warden's coffers). This must be the family obligation Orlan had to abandon them for...

Next Session: Closing the Noose

Toe to Toe

Previous Session: New Horizons

Ghostblade the Whisper, Monger the Cutter and Quess the Spider are trying to come up with a plan to deal with the war they've found themselves in against the Billhooks. They realise they're terribly outnumbered, especially since some of their gang members have gone to ground or need to be guarding their assets permanently (just in case).

Keel, one of Quess' assassins comes running into the lair. She was with Noggs and Milos in the Red Lioness and the Billhooks hit them hard. Ten or eleven of them barged in and attacked without warning. She barely made it out the back door (the shoulder of her jacket is torn and there's blood dripping down her arm) - they shot at her as she made her escape. They didn't seem to harm any of the pub's patrons, they just came for Orphans.

There's an undercurrent of suspicion in their questioning of her about the affair, but they quickly move back to a plan (though with a bit more urgency).

They definitely want to see if they can get Ulf Ironborn on their side - he's not friendly with the Billhooks already. If they can coordinate some kind of sly surprise attack with a frontal assault from Ulf's warriors it could be devastating. They get Strangford to start working on some kind of bomb, maybe to be set off by some kind of spiritual or physical artefact they can steal from one of the Billhooks leaders.

From what they know of the Billhook's leadership, getting to their real leader would be difficult - Tarvul is in Ironhook Prison. His sister Erin seems more canny, and his son Coran seems a bit more predictable (in a rash thuggish sort of way).

Ulf Ironborn

Monger heads off to try to get an invitation to meet with Ulf; he's knows Sercy from the Grinders and they're friendly with the Skovlander. Sercy cautions Monger about this guy - he's brutal and power-hungry and has a general dislike for native-Akorosi, She shows Monger in the front door of the Old Forge, gives Ulf a nod and walks away, leaving Monger alone in the snug with Ulf and a half dozen of his friends.

Quess sits down with Strangford in his workshop. Over the course of a few hours, she secretes as much Standstill as she can - it's draining, but at the end of it Strangford assures her that he has enough to make into a weapon that'll freeze a whole roomful of Billhooks.

Ghostblade heads down to the White Horse with Fancy Frank, a public house the Billhooks are known to frequent. The barman, a old fella called Brogan doesn't have much to tell them, except that it's Coran's favourite watering hole, where he can avoid his aunt. Ghostblade reaches out into the ghost field and quickly finds a young girl's wandering ghost below in the basement: Bertie died recently of sickness, but has not been claimed yet. Ghostblade promises to find her peace or a body to occupy in return for a warning when Coran returns here next.
Fancy Frank scouts the surrounding neighbourhood, finding a perfect place to spy the two entrances and sweep the rear alleyway. He even spots an ideal spot for a hidden Monger to take advantage of those taking cover from sniping fire.

In the middle of these arrangements, they hear from Keel again - she went out to bring in everyone who they hadn't seen safely to their lair when she came across Hutchins (their trusted but reclusive antiquarian) and Amosen (one of Strangford's adepts) dead in the street. She spots a few Billhooks trading stories with the Bluecoats at the scene and fled before they noticed her.

**

Ulf pushes the chair opposite him out with a foot, and tilts a head that Monger should sit.
-You'll share a dram of the good stuff with me?
He pours a generous portion of whiskey into Monger's glass. Monger downs his own drink in one, and then reaches over for Ulf's drink as well. Ulf doesn't stop him and sends a meaningful glance at one of his friends at the bar.
-We're making a move on the Billhooks. And we reckon you'll want to get in on some of that action.
Ulf's unimpressed
-What's in it for me? How about I just wait until you're both neck-deep in each others blood and then pick up the pieces. You'll be too busy to pay me much attention.

Monger doesn't really have the wherewithal to proffer a better argument in favour of an alliance. So instead he cuts to the quick.
-If you don't join in, I'm going to visit your place and kill everyone else who lives there. Your family, your maid, the boy who cleans out your shit-pot in the morning. And then I'm coming for you!
Ulf leans forward and then his friend at the bar slides off his stool with a belaying pin to crush Monger's skull. The Cutter is on his feet in an instant and his glass hammers into the guy's eye socket, sending him to the ground screaming in agony. Ulf and the others surround him and then Ulf grins.
-Shit! You've got a serious pair on you lad!

The work on the details of the double-pronged attack on the Billhooks. It'll go down in Quinn's tomorrow at noon.


Bertie gives Ghostblade the signal that Coran and a few of his people are at the White Horse. Marlane has been recruited for the initial part of the attack as she's not known to the Billhooks. She's got Strangford's device in a tote bag and she walks into the bar, as nervous as she usually is before a fight (which is to say, not one iota).

The device fires when she pulls the lever and she along with Coran and his five buddies all freeze. Brogan and the rest of the patrons are unaffected (except maybe for the shock). Keel, Wester and Farros (the only of Quess' killers still up for a fight) are with Quess and Fancy Frank watching the perimeter and when they hear the device go off, they swarm inside. Monger and Ghostblade comes in the back door from the alley way where he had been lurking

The Billhooks are quickly tied up and lined up on their tables. The look of terror on their faces as they realise that they're going to be sacrificed right here and now to the Wicked Mother will live with the White Horse's patrons for the rest of the lives. Ghostblade begins an incantation calling their God's attention to this sacred act of murder and Monger pulls out a razor-sharp blade.

The Standstill has worn off, and now the struggling and screaming begins as, one by one, their throats are cut and their blood sheets across the rough wooden tables and onto the floorboards.

The Wicked Mother

From behind them the door opens and in walks their alluring and transcendent God. She remains pristine through the carnage and wipes one finger along the table covered in Coran's welling blood. Licking it with relish, she then tears his soul out of his body and consumes it whole. The five other souls are claimed with less immediate hunger.

She turns to her assembled cultists. Staring into their eyes, each of them feels as if their contribution to this bountiful offering was crucial to its success and their presence vital to her well being.

Marlane and everyone else in the bar is astounded at her presence and will probably talk of nothing else for days.

The Orphans walk their God back to the lair in proud silence.

*

After the victory, Monger plays up his drunken bender and he ends up in Quinn's the next morning. The Billhooks arrive as if on cue. There's about twenty of them, and Monger's position about halfway back in the bar gives him a brief moment of panic. If Ulf doesn't show up soon he's dead meat.

The Billhooks storm in and Keel and Farros open fire from the staircase. Monger pulls the trigger on the blunderbuss under his table and several of the Billhooks go down. Then they hear roars from the front door and Ulf and his compatriots arrive just in the nick of time.

Fancy Frank is sitting in a booth to one side, and has a pair of pistols in front of him. One of the Billhooks jumps him and they struggle up close (closer than the Hound would like). Quess leans over the partition from the next booth to stab the Billhook in the back, but the glass and wooden frame collapses and she ends up in a dog pile with them. The Billhook pulls out a grenade and throws away the pin - he's resolved to die hard.

Monger is being backed up by Wester in the middle of the bar and they're coming thick and fast at the pair. Ulf's tearing through the Billhooks, caught in the close quarters around the bar's entrance where their numbers and large fearsome weapons are more of a hindrance than a help. There can't be much left in them now.

Quess grabs the grenade out of the Billhook's hand and chucks it away, but instead of landing in the middle of the enemy it explodes right in front of Monger (throwing him to the ground and Wester (killing him outright)

But it's over, only a small handful of enemy has escaped.

Next Session: Summary Judgement

New Horizons

Previous Session: Eviction Notice

The Orphans find that they need to find new supplies of spirits and ancient relics to sate the Wicked Mother's hunger. They hatch a plan to smuggle in spirit bottles and artifacts via Leviathan Hunters stopping off at Duskwall.

With Grace's help, the identify the Spitfire, a short-haul hunter that specialises in the sort of smaller leviathans which frequent the sea in between Akoros and Iruvia. Bricks is their contact aboard and he lets them know that Captain Sevoy is heading to Sunfall in the next few days for provisioning before a few longer hunts in the bay down towards the Dagger Isles.

The requisite bribes are made and Quess the Spider, Ghostblade the Whisper and Fancy Frank the Hound get a terrible berth for the week-long voyage down to Sunfall. When they get down there Bricks warns them that they have a couple of weeks before the Spitfire will be back to pick them up and head back to Duskwall.

This city is brighter and warmer than they've experienced before (at least for the two Akorosi). Instead of the dull wind and rain of Duskwall, Sunfall's every surface gives off heat like the sun has just gone down.

Strangford has given them a letter as an introduction to Thena, a local court functionary. She meets them in a tea house overlooking the bay, not a docks location but further up the hill in the city in a nicer part of town. They sit down opposite the elegant robed woman, and she waves over someone to bring spiced tea and cinnamon rolls.

Thena

After reading the letter from Strangford (Quess had checked it before handing it over, can't be too careful!) she raises an eyebrow to look for their assent before burning it in the brazier next to the table - wouldn't do to allow such a compromising piece of evidence fall into the wrong hands.
Discussing how many full spirit bottles she can provide them with a month is difficult. They're pushing for 4 or 5, but she tells them that's the kind of level one of the demonic movers and shakers in Sunfall would be capable of; and she's not willing to attract the kind of attention that would entail. More like 1 or 2 is much more likely.

They'll meet up again when they're ready to leave the city.

***

Ghostblade wanders the curio shops and cult temples, looking out for something interesting to start their fencing of stolen artifacts across the seas. The first really interesting thing she sees is a sacrificial dagger used by a small cult. They're sacrificing a goat into a small fountain outside their temple. From distance it looks like ancient work, and its material is something she hasn't seen before. But the heat is going to be too big so she keeps looking.

Then she spots something very interesting. A blood hookah in a well-hidden but surprisingly large antique shop. Unlike common pipes, this one is ancient and designed to use leviathan blood instead of water; which reputedly gives remarkable effects to the smoke. The shop is run by an old man, Zemira, who must be in his 70s. A young scruffy teenager called Wicker helps out. Ghostblade buys something small and at various points over the next few days the others scope out the place.


So, they buy a small supply of strong weed, strong enough to knock out just about anyone who smokes it. Quess walks in and starts talking to Zemira about the hookah, he tells her that no one's been interested in that kind of thing in years - no one's even asked about it in a dozen. She wonders if maybe she could try it out before buying it, and the old man hums and haws, but agrees. She fills it with her weed and he pulls out a flask of blood. They exchange a conspiratorial smile.

When Quess sits down, she wonders if he'll join her; he shakes his head, but is convinced by her assertion that custom and tradition insist no one smokes alone. Once he's sat down he calls over Wicker, and even a random customer (actually it's Ghostblade!). They all sit down and after a while they conk out, and have strange dreams.

In walks Fancy Frank, and quickly disassembles the hookah and stows it into a carrying bag and sling it over his shoulder. He can't resist putting the old man and Quess into a compromising position, and he leaves...

**

Casta, a bounty hunter

With the door closing behind him, he finds himself looking at the barrel of a pistol pointed straight at his gut - it's Casta, his old nemesis from the Skovlan War. Casta smiles at him; he reaches behind Fancy Frank's back and pulls out the pair of fine dueling pistols and tucks it into his waistband. Then he pulls out a long blade from the Hound's inside jacket pocket - I guess when you work together for years you know where everything is kept (though Fancy Frank has got a single blade left on him).

-Come on Haig, let's walk
-What's going on?
-Collecting bounty on you; you've made a bit of noise recently, so I'm turning you in

Earlier, Quess had hired a small group of street urchins to keep an eye on things, and they intervene to help Fancy Frank; nothing crazy, one bumps Casta and another goes for his purse. But Casta's having none of it, he smacks one and twirls away.
The Hound jumps at this opportunity, pulling the blade out of his left boot but that extra moment to bend over gives Casta the time to draw a bead on him and he shoots. The bullet thumps into armour, but Fancy Frank is still badly wounded, and he stabs Casta in the armpit, turning and running as soon as the bounty hunter hits the cobbled street.

A crowd gathers and everyone there can relate what's happened. Fancy Frank is pegged as the thief, and inside when they recover Quess and Ghostblade and happy to have a great alibi!

The urchins see Fancy Frank back to their temporary lair, and the others see him to a surgeon.

*

The day before they leave on the Spitfire, they meet up with Thena again. The exchange goes smoothly enough, two full spirit bottles are presented, they are intricately cast glass - artisan work. They asks Thena if she'll consider joining the Cult, and initially she laughs it off saying that they must be weak, having fled from Iruvia; but then there's an awkward attraction between her and Quess and the Spider leans into it.

She tells Thena the secret of the Cult; they only 'ran away' from Iruvia to Duskwall to grow and expand. She gives a full rundown of the Cult's assets, and even tells of the destruction of the Hand of Sorrow at their hands. Thena is impressed and joins to them there and then. She'll have to travel to Duskwall for the full induction, but for now she is Bound in Darkness with them (so they can communicate easily with her) and will ensure their supply is secure.


The return home is swift and smooth, but when they reach Duskwall the news is bad. The Billhooks have made a show of force, and the inevitable refusal to cede territory has been met with a declaration of war!

Next Session: Toe to Toe

Eviction Notice

Previous Session: A Thorny Path

Coming off the high of their heist against the Hand of Sorrow, the Orphans of the Bloodmoon decide to follow up with a sucker punch against the rival cult. They surveil the cult's lair, paying close attention to Adkin (their occultist who recently switched loyalties). They reckon that the Hand of Sorrow's walled mansion would make a fantastic addition, and would help them muster support and impress people.

We hear one of the mysterious tenets of the cult as they discuss how the Wicked Mother would react to Adkin's 'betrayal': Everything is a Mistake

They come up with a double-pronged plan. They will put out rumours that the stolen cult artifact is being transported to a trusted neutral auction house. They'll rig the box with some murderous ghosts and when the Hand of Sorrow open it, the second part of the plan will spring into action; their band of killers will assault the compound and they'll take control of it!

*****

Ghost Blade contacts Moriya, who just happens to have a top-notch spirit cage in her lab - she has it for a job with Lord Scurlock, so they need to return it undamaged in a couple of days (tops!). She points out its fine construction (she's obviously proud of it) - the fine engraving of the Emperor's 17 names and titles, the connections which allow spirit bottles to be attached and opened without breaching the cage, the energy signature which cloaks the cage from detection. She inserts the three remaining spirits from that first job against the Eels - this job will please the Wicket Mother enough to balance against the loss of these ghosts.

Quess scouts out the rank and file, using Salia to fill in some of the gaps. The Hand of Sorrow are angry and the Orphans' misdirection has been entirely successful. So much so that they're planning on striking back at the Lady of Thorns already. So she plants some additional detail that it's them who are moving the Tree of Woe by boat with a few guards.

They hire a few thugs to guard the boat on the way to Quincy's Auction House.

****

Quess' eye for thugs is without reproach - these two are the most self-serving skangers she's ever laid eyes on. They jump ship at the earliest sign of trouble. The half dozen heavies that ambush them are carrying batons, boat hooks and long knives and they hijack the boat with the box in the bilge without bloodshed and without creating any fuss (apart from the skangers, who've taken their money and scarpered).

From a nearby rooftop, Fancy Frank looks on, and slowly follows the boat from above. He's annoyed when the hijackers take the 'wrong' turn to get back to their lair (they're obviously not experienced boaters), so he has to rush to catch up, jumping across the tarpaulin covers of a few boats to get across to the correct side. Landing on the dockside, he jars the scope on his long rifle and curses.

But then, he's face to face with the Stranger - who stole one of the spirit bottles from their first ambush against the Eels. He wonders, in his cultured, silky voice, what they're up to. But the Orphan is having none of it - though he feels slightly transfixed. The Stranger looks into his soul and Fancy Frank feels the beginnings of deep tinkering. Rather than try to tough it out, he just jumps straight into the river, swimming deep and strong to get away.

***

Over at the Hand of Sorrow's compound, Quess and Ghost Blade watch over everything, and the band of killers are hidden in various well-chosen spots around. They spot a soaked Fancy Frank emerge from a canal to give them the signal - pointing out the hijacked boat as it turns the corner.

Two of the guards who were looking out clamber down inside the wall and make their way to the canal gate. With that move, there's only two guard at the front gate, and the security routine is as Quess saw previously. Just give the right knock on the gate and they'll let you in.

It's takes longer than expected before Ghost Blade feels the whispers of the spirit cage being opened - and she gets to find out just how murderous those ghosts are. She feels them erupt from the box and tear through the first three cultists standing over them, before immediately possessing the next three.

What follows inside is a massacre with the ghosts sowing chaos before the killers spring into action. Slowly and methodically taking out the Hand of Sorrow's guards. Ghost Blade helps defeat the ghosts, prying one of out the possessed body, but the other two have to be slain.

Fancy Frank's hunting pet, a wild Lynx leaps on top of the perimeter wall and directs them to the basement where the box is being kept. However before they can muster themselves, something else rises up out of that place.

**

Slowly and inexorably, a figure climbs the stairs out of the basement and approaches the Orphans. It looks like it's made of hard black bark, but there's fire and smoke coming out from the cracks and gaps in the bark.

Fancy Frank aims for it with his hunting rifle - that broken scope doesn't bother him at this range, but he didn't bring his electroplasmic ammunition and the round has no discernible effect, even though it hits the devil centre mass.

Ghost Blade quickly attunes to the local energy, creating a shield of electroplasmic energy - the immense amount of energy that uses sucks all the vitality out of the grounds, with the moisture sucked out of the ground and the moss and fungus in the garden turning black. The killers keep the devil busy by unloading their firearms into it, but Ghost Blade uses her will to turn it towards the canal gate. As it realises what's happening, it struggles, but Ghost Blade pushes it all the way to the gate. Some of the killers think quickly on their feet to open the gate and then push Ghost Blade in the back to force her to the edge of the canal and the devil goes in.

There's an explosion of steam and they're flung back inside. When they come to, the devil has disappeared. They dump the cultist's bodies into the canal and shut up shop. They've taken control of the compound

*

After this mess, Quess gets arrested, but this is a different precinct and here in Silkshore, they don't know the Bluecoats as well. After sweating in a box for the night, they pay off the right cop - a veteran sergeant called Coleburn.

They've taken a lot of heat and are all stressed out, so they hit the town (and their contacts) to try to get things under control. Francy Frank gets into a bit of trouble at his fight on the docks, and the betting has been upset by his antics. The Billhooks take a disliking to him and rather than buckle to the vicious gang of thugs, he fights back.

Quess backs him up to gather information on this gang, who have operations all over Charhollow, the Crow's Foot and the Docks. She also plies one of the Billhooks with some fine whiskey, and can rely on him for some indiscretion when they move against their newest enemies.

Ghost Blade continues work on her ritual, and trains a little more with Quellyn.

Next Session: New Horizons