#session summary

We start off as arriving at the Von Berdusk manor to reunite Lorelai with her mother Karina. Manor was surprisingly not very changed from the way it was a decade ago, before the patriarch had turned his wife and daughter, and the staff is human. At first it was tense as no one knew what their reaction would be but both Lorelai and Karina had quickly gave way to the buried emotion of separated mother and daugther

There is a lot of complicated emotions for Karina, but she just wanted her daughter back - mistakes of the past cannot be undone, and she is the only family she has left.

Karina is a kind, though quiet and solemn woman, and the maids and townsfolk treasure her deeply, despite knowing that she has been turned into a vampire spawn. The manor is responsible for wine production and provides many jobs at fair and good pay. Her vamprisim is an open secret that most don't acknowledge and tend to oust those that do. Von Berdusks in general have been hailed in high regard ever since their humanitarian efforts to rebuild Berdusk after an earthquake 200 years ago, which led to a destruction and partial flooding of a large district (and destruction of the main manor, having it to be rebuilt at a much smaller scale), economical instability and loss of life.

Some believe that the good will of the Von Berdusks is to right the wrongs of a long ancestor, that was responsible for a curse placed upon them.

The night at the Guest house felt a little unsettling after that revelation but still calm. There hasn't been anyone missing in nearly a decade, so it's been reduced to mostly a ghost story. Party was divided into boys and girls, so Raha was with our new party member, Kirim! He is not aware of all the dynamics within the party, but he will surely learn in time.

Giving Lorelai and Karina time to process their reunion, the party decided to venture into town, to explore the city but also maybe glean more information about the "curse". Blythe got a new outfit with a very big hat!

For this part I decided to be a little ambitious and give them a lot of freedom in how to approach the story. I yoinked map of a city and just made different points where they can explore BUT in order to pace things out, I implented a time mechanic, hence the little clock in upper left! Each location will consume a slot (with the exception of the marketplace, as they are allowed to purchase items at any point without progressing time) and there is 2 slots in the day and night time. Different events will happen at the same locations depending on the time, so you have to consider how you wish to progress. At night there is also a random encounter!

Anyway they decided to visit the Witch Atelier and the Pub! The Witch Atelier is a small store created by a Wizard who was absent, but there was still a shop keeper present. At first it appeared to be a simple young lady, but on closer inspection she is actually a warforged automaton, a ball jointed doll named Marlene!

She had an ominous presence and spoke a little stilted. Her nature as an inhuman being was revealed as she knew much more about the party than a normal person would at a glance, such as Arameia being a werewolf.

The Atelier features cursed items completely free of charge. You may also drop off cursed items here without penalty. Examples included a strange portrait of a woman (it feels as though her eyes are following you), ring of clumsiness, a watch but the clock hands are going backwards, armor of attraction, music box that plays a new melody every time, ribbon of strangulation, bracelets of fumbling, boots of dancing and much more! Party decided not to take anything however.

The pub was more informative as to the actual information. They spoke that there has been disappearances outside of the Berdusk manor too, such as a busker from the main plaza, children on occasion or a port worker, though they suspect the latter is the work of the "Lady of the Gulls" - a spirit of a young woman that stands on the pier at night, watching the water.

Since the party has used up their 2 slots it's time for them to return to the manor but it appears one of the maids has gone missing! The party was able to deduce that she has left at night, but her trail goes cold in the foyer where there is no trace of her or where she could have gone.

To be continued...!

Just outside the door to the dressing room, Ara’s left ear suddenly twitches ever so slightly when it picks up a faint voice a few rooms over. Raiden raises his eyebrows questioningly. Ara furrows his brow in focus, but the noise is too quiet from here to make out what’s being said. He nods his head in the direction of the sound, and Raiden quietly walks over. Two people are having a tense discussion about money inside one of the other dressing rooms. ‘… may be the case, but you still have a debt to pay. And if I don’t see that money soon, you can say goodbye to your little theater.’ ‘Please, sir,’ begs the other voice. ‘A few more days is all we ask. We’re still recovering from the incident.’ The first voice grunts. ‘Very well. Two more days. That coin better be on my desk by then, I don’t care how many more arcane accidents you get yourself into.’ ‘Yes sir,’ says the second voice. ‘Thank you, sir.’ Heavy footsteps approach, and Raiden turns and takes a step back into Ara’s direction. ‘You,’ the voice calls out in his direction. ‘What are you doing here?’ Looking back expecting a tall, large man to accompany this voice, Raiden is surprised to lock eyes with a dwarf instead. He is dressed in expensive fabrics and has a threatening look on his bearded face. ‘Were you eavesdropping, you little twig?’ As he turns around to face the dwarf, Raiden subtly shifts his posture and runs a hand through his hair, so that a couple strands peak out at awkward angles. ‘Who, me? Just trying to find the room my friend is in, sir,’ he replies, with a slightly annoying sing-songy tone. The dwarf looks him up and down and quickly decides this fool is not worth his time. ‘Out of my way!’ he huffs, as he pushes past Raiden. Encountering Ara a few doors over, he demands: ‘Are you his friend?’ ‘I am no one’s friend,’ retorts Ara flatly. The dwarf ignores him and briskly walks towards the exit A tabaxi gentleman steps out of the dressing room, looking quite defeated. ‘Are you alright?’ asks Raiden, tucking his hair back into place. ‘I’m…’ The tabaxi sighs. ‘Never go into business, kid.’

Annori invites Ara and Raiden in to meet Leyna, and she tells her all about their shared adventures. When she mentions Raiden is looking for his mother, too, Leyna inquires further. ‘If there is anything we can do to help, just say the word,’ she offers. ‘You brought my little girl back to me, I owe you everything.’ ‘That’s very kind of you,’ says Raiden, still adjusting to talking about his mother so openly. ‘Though to be fair, Annori did most of the work herself. She saved my butt out there more times than I can count. She’s an incredibly skilled druid, you know?’ ‘She is?’ Leyna looks at Annori radiating love and admiration. ‘That’s wonderful! Gosh, you have grown.’ She then turns to Ara. ‘What about you, young man? What is it you need?’ Ara shakes his head. ‘I guess it would be nice to just… solve this whole thing. Go back home. We’ve been knee-deep in disappearances and dead gods for a while now, and I still feel like we haven’t actually solved anything.’ Leyna’s eyebrow almost imperceptibly twitches, but then she simply nods. ‘Can we go see dad?’ asks Annori. ‘Of course!’ says Leyna. ‘Give me a minute to get changed, and we’ll head over to pick him up from work.’

They walk the winding streets of Osta Asari together in the late afternoon sun. The further they climb, the larger and more imposing the buildings become. Eventually they leave the residential areas behind and enter the district where the government buildings are. ‘Damn, Annori,’ says Raiden. ‘I thought your dad was an actor.’ ‘He is,’ confirms Leyna. ‘But, like I said, Aiden has been spending a lot of his time improving the legal rights of traveling troupes like us. He acts as a representative for several smaller groups, and advises politicians and lawmakers on their behalf. Our behalf.’ Raiden turns to Annori, bewildered, and quietly mouths: ‘Aiden?’ Annori snorts. ‘The similarity never occurred to me before.’ ‘You should’ve picked a proper name, I told you,’ says Ara. When they arrive, Leyna knocks on the door of one of the offices. ‘Hi love. Guess who I brought today?’ A blue-skinned tiefling with curled ram’s horns looks up from the papers he’s been sorting and drops them on the floor when he sees his long lost daughter. Annori runs straight into his arms. ‘I can’t believe it,’ Aiden stammers, eyes welling up with tears. ‘Annori, you’re alive! How did you…?’ ‘I found you!’ Annori cries. ‘I found you both!’ Aiden holds her. ‘By the gods, so you did. I’m… We’re never letting you go again, moonpie.’ ‘Yeah.’ Annori looks up from their embrace. ‘Figuratively, right?’ ‘Right,’ laughs Aiden, releasing his grip and taking hold of her hands instead. Leyna joins them while Ara and Raiden wait in the hallway once more. ‘You’re saying a mysterious witch told you we would be here?’ asks Aiden. ‘Only mom,’ Annori corrects him. ‘I wasn’t sure you’d be here, too. And even so, I couldn’t travel here straight away. We had important business to attend to for the investigation, first, and I was so afraid you’d have moved on by the time we arrived here.’ ‘So you’re a detective?’ ‘I guess you could say that,’ she says. ‘Lady Hartwind in Coldvale asked us to find out what happened to her late father, which led us to a whole list of disappearances around the area that all seem to be connected somehow.’ Leyna and Aiden exchange a look, but Annori is focused on the shape of her father’s hand and how much it looks like hers. ‘You know what,’ says Aiden, ‘this stuffy office is no suitable backdrop for this miraculous reunion. Let’s go have some dinner, just the three of us.’ ‘Five of us,’ says Leyna. ‘I’m sure Annori’s friends would like a meal, too.’ ‘Ohh, you have friends?’ asks Aiden, delighted. ‘Come, come, I know just the place.’

A beautifully painted hydra graces the wooden sign outside the door of the pub. Aiden holds the door open for them, and sees Raiden hesitate. ‘What’s the matter? Not a fan of this place?’ ‘It’s excellent,’ says Raiden. ‘I just, uh… haven’t been here in a while.’ ‘Not to worry, friend.’ Aiden gives him a pat on the back. ‘It’s my treat.’ Raiden takes a deep breath and steps inside the Hydra’s Heads Pub. It’s a tall chamber, tastefully decorated, with well maintained hardwood floors and furniture, intricate tapestries and oil paintings on the walls, and a visibly well-off clientele. ‘Well, well, if it isn’t Miles O’Connor.’ A short middle-aged woman with dark curls wearing an apron approaches Raiden with her arms crossed. She gives him a stern head-to-toe look. ‘You’re late.’ Raiden flashes an uncomfortable smile. ‘Bryony, I’m…’ She holds up a hand to interrupt him, and turns to the rest of the group. ‘Welcome in, please make yourself at home. Here for a meal I presume? I’ll make you the special. Pick any table you like and I’ll be right with you.’ She stares daggers at Raiden and then exits through a door behind the bar. ‘Bad day to be Miles,’ remarks Ara drily. ‘I thought he was Raiden,’ says Leyna, confused. ‘Yeah, uh… middle name,’ mumbles Raiden. ‘Please excuse me for one moment.’

He finds Bryony Marimon in the small kitchen chopping carrots with a little more fervor than may be strictly necessary. ‘Employees only,’ she says. Raiden sits on an empty bit of countertop and clears his throat. ‘How are the kids?’ Chop. Chop. Chop. He sighs. ‘I’m sorry, Bryony. I should have left a note, at least. You deserved more from me and I was a coward.’ ‘Darn right,’ she mumbles, sweeping the carrots into a bowl. ‘Would you believe I’m a changed man?’ he says, smiling awkwardly. She looks up. ‘Would you?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he exhales. ‘I’m trying, at least. I swear I am.’ Bryony places the bowl next to the stove and returns with a slip of paper she thrusts into Raidens hands. ‘Your last paycheck. Didn’t get a chance to give it to you.’ He sits quietly for a minute, feeling simultaneously so at home and so thoroughly out of place, while Bryony continues dicing vegetables. The discomfort of this moment pulling at his bones, urging him to leave. He gets up and starts peeling onions, to give his restless hands something to do. ‘So? What did you choose?’ demands Bryony after a while. ‘I’m no longer involved with the Syndicate,’ admits Raiden. ‘In fact, I may be working against them now.’ ‘That does not at all sound safer,’ she scoffs. ‘Safer than this conversation – I know how sharp you keep those knives,’ he quips. Bryony doesn’t laugh but holds his gaze for a moment. Then she flips the knife around in her hand and offers him the handle. He takes it and starts dicing the onions. ‘You came in with mister Zain,’ she says. ‘Tell me, how do you know him?’ ‘He is my new friend’s long lost father,’ he replies, making a mental note of the last name Zain. Doesn’t seem to suit Annori at all. ‘What can you tell me about him? Is he a good guy?’ ‘Mm, lovely man. Gentle,’ she says, tending to the stove fire. ‘Clearly moving in circles that weren’t meant for him, with those councilmen he usually dines with, but he holds his own.’ Raiden hands her a bowl of diced onions. ‘Uneven,’ she says. ‘You’re getting rusty.’ ‘Listen, I’ve mostly been cooking Valgharan toast lately,’ he explains. ‘Alright, now go sit down with your new friends, you’ve been sauntering around back here long enough.’ She snaps a towel in his direction. ‘Good seeing you, Bryony,’ he smiles. ‘Would you give mister Zains daughter some extra cream with her dessert? She’s had a big day.’

‘So you go around to neighboring villages and you talk to people about what they need?’ asks Annori. ‘Among other things,’ confirms Aiden. ‘I also assist council member Truehandle with various tasks.’ ‘That doesn’t sound very exciting,’ says Annori, who remembers her father being quite an exciting person. Aiden shrugs. ‘Look, sometimes you do jobs not because you like them, but because they need doing.’ ‘That seems inefficient,’ says Ara. ‘Best to have each job be done by the person who’s best suited for it.’ Aiden looks a little taken aback but Leyna chuckles. Annori nervously pulls apart a bit of bread. ‘Typical Ara,’ she says. ‘You should’ve heard the speech he gave our ship captain about keys and the correct amount of them.’ Ara huffs. ‘It’s not about the amount, it’s about management. Keys are useless if nobody remembers who has them.’ ‘Oh gods, not the key thing again,’ laughs Raiden, rejoining the table. ‘I wasn’t even there for it and I’m sick of hearing about it.’ ‘Is everything alright?’ asks Leyna. ‘Yes, sorry about that,’ says Raiden. ‘Just catching up. I, uh, used to work here.’ ‘Did you?’ says Aiden, surprised. ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’ ‘Today’s not about me,’ says Raiden, glancing at Annori who flashes a quick smile. The food arrives and they share a good meal and some more conversation together. Annori tells her parents about her time in the swamp and how she learned her magic. They update her on the other members of the troupe, and the shows they’ve done over the past few years. Raiden makes it a point to highlight Annori’s skills and bravery as they recount some of their adventures. Ara makes sure to correct any misremembered details. As they talk, Ara is astonished to witness the normalcy of this homecoming. He tries to picture what his own return to the swamp and his family might look like, but can’t imagine it being anything as calm and pleasant as this. It’s almost a relief, then, to find that small sense of unease in Annori’s parents, underneath the surface. Something in their posture, the glances they exchange. Something just off enough to balance out the properness of it all. When the meal is finished, Annori proposes they meet again at the theater tomorrow. ‘Oh,’ says Leyna, her expression betraying some disappointment in the realization that Annori won’t be staying with them for the night. She quickly recovers. ‘Yes, of course, let’s do that.’ ‘We could all do with some sleep after the day we’ve had,’ says Aiden, taking Leyna’s hand in comfort. ‘Right,’ says Annori, a little flustered. ‘Exactly.’ ‘Do you have a place to stay?’ ‘We’re staying at a friends house,’ says Annori. ‘He’s delightful,’ says Raiden.

‘So,’ says Raiden, as they meander back to Remingtons house. ‘How do you feel?’ Annori makes an unidentifiable noise. ‘Happy? But also awkward. I don’t know. It’s weird how they’re my family, and yet they’re also sort of… strangers.’ She hesitates, then exhales. ‘I think my mom may have mentioned Amoth?’ ‘What?’ says Ara. ‘Mentioned how?’ asks Raiden sharply. ‘I don’t know, maybe I misheard her! But it sounded like she said Thank Amoth.’ ‘That could be why she flinched a little when Ara mentioned a dead god,’ says Raiden. ‘And why they were exchanging glances while you told them about the investigation,’ adds Ara. He abruptly stops walking. ‘We have to be very careful here. We were lucky to escape our earlier ambush from the Syndicate. They will surely have eyes on us here too.’ The three of them share a worried look before walking the rest of the way in silence.

<< Previous chapter

All chapters

---

We arrive. The three junkies and the five cops are there. Arquette parks and tells us to get out. He and Fisher are only here to babysit (they have another task to do). So I go talk to the police and the junkies immediately. I don’t want to spend more time here than necessary. I ask them what happened. One of them wonders if they’re allowed to tell us. I don’t know what to do, so I look at our babysitters. Arquette mouths, “Lie”.

This is going terribly already.

Melydice does the talking again. She says we’re back up. Obviously they don’t know who we are, who called us in, and know none of us are locals. But I guess they’re shaken enough to let it slip. He tells us about the call to the apartment. A worm came out of someone’s chest like the “conjuring” (I don’t know what that is). 

After that, Melydice takes charge of the group. She suggests searching the apartment and investigating wounds. Yona checks the junkie’s and officer’s wound: swollen, developed new tissue (Metasised? Metastasized? I don’t know what that is), and static-like. The junkie’s scar is worse than the officer’s. Melydice then says to split the group: two to talk to junkies (Tatsu, Melydice), three to search the apartment (Amaia, Yona, me).

The three of us see the body the worm tore through. Yona inspects the body. She says its nerve channels are scrambled, repurposed by alien signals. The pineal gland also grew a radar organ that broadcasted signals. I don’t understand what any of that means, but it doesn’t sound good.

I use the UV light on my gun to look for the drugs. They weren’t good at hiding them. It’s just in the cupboard: small vials of glowing pink liquid. I give it to Yona. She asks me what drug I think it is. I don’t know why.

Amaia figures out the drug’s taken with a syringe, so I suggest looking for them. I help Yona with my UV light. She finds one syringe easily with equipment to test drug purity. I continue shining normal light on her. Yona reads the test results and says the drug is nootropic (heightens senses). Fisher was right. She is useful.

Then, I search the bag the needle came from. It’s filled with university textbooks and notebooks. A student’s. I take the bag. Amaia checks the body and finds a wallet. His name was Ted, 22. He was just three years older than Hrodwyn. Poor kid.

I check for any signs of other people being here, and then we leave to join Melydice and Tatsu.

Outside, they tell us about their talk with the junkies (Vito, Mike). Vito thinks he needs to go to a hospital. Melydice says he will, after answering her questions. So he does. The flat belonged to Ted. Vito and Mike were there only for a hit. Neither are the suppliers. This was Ted’s third time taking the drug. It’s the first for Vito and Mike.

Vito said the drug was called “Pink”, or “Fuzz”. It lets you see everything, like “mega LSD”. It lets you see everything, and everything sees you. At the crime scene after taking the drug, Ted opened his mouth. Static came out, and then the worm came out and bit Vito.

Melydice asks where Ted got the drug from. He got it at a comic store. He used a sign up sheet for a game room (Magi Nation, Jyhad, some dead game), asked for 30 minutes, and the dealers showed up. Vito and Mike have never gone to the store.

Tatsu gets his turn and asks Vito how he and Mike knew Ted and the drugs (Ted was their university friend). And then he tells him how things aren’t so fun with drugs involved. Vito tells him to fuck off. Even then, Tatsu tries to medicate Vito’s wound, even though he has no idea what to do with it. What a strange man.

Melydice reconfirms if it was Vito and Mike’s first time. Vito confirms. He says they saw other worlds with the drug and refuse to take it again. He also tells us there are other users besides the three of them. They all know to sign up for the dead game.

By the way, while this was happening, Vito keeps asking Melydice to go to a hospital and to see a doctor. And each time, Melydice tells him she’ll let him only after he answers her questions. It’s good that she’s efficient. That’ll get me home sooner. But I remember he’s just a kid and feel a bit bad for him. In the end, Yona was the one who treated Vito.

Melydice starts questioning the bitten officer. She asks if it was a wild animal report. The officer says yes. And then Melydice insists that it was a wild animal he saw. The officer describes the same thing as the one before and whenever he says monster, Melydice talks over him to say wild animal. I don’t know how convincing she thinks she is…

This is when an officer approaches Arquette and Fisher to ask them questions. So I walk between them, tell Arquette we’re done and we can leave. But the officer still tries asking me who we are. I tell him it’s not his business. He says it is. I don’t know what to say. But Melydice likes to talk and she’s good at talking to people. So I point at Melydice. Ask her. Not me.

That worked. He goes to her. As she says we’re private investigators working under an NDA for a private health firm, I see her slip her wallet out, and she makes sure the officer sees it. I shouldn’t be surprised she’s not above that. And I figure I should be there for extra support, unfortunately, if things go dirty.

I don’t really follow what she says, but standing there seemed to work. The officer asks us to “show credentials” but instead, brings us aside and opens his hand, expecting money. I am not spending a single cent for the job. So it’s good that Melydice is. The officer takes her money.

At this point, it has been 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cops have been here 15 minutes: they’ve been here for 1h and 45 minutes total. In that time, Vito’s wound went from the fresh state of the officer’s to the worse state it is in now. We don’t have much time.

We agree on a plan: Arquette and Fisher will drive the victims to a hospital and will drop us off at Stoneburner Comics (we got the address from one of the junkies). Fisher also changes into his suit, for some reason. It’s a 15 minute drive to the comic store. We just arrived, so I’ll continue writing later.

---

The comic store is empty, except for some people. The sign up sheet at the front is easy to find. 20 people have signed up for dead games. 20 people have signed up for death.

Melydice takes a picture of the list and writes down Yona’s name. Hm. The store owner sees us and reaches for his phone. I thought he was onto us. So I walk over and put his phone down. Just in case. I say we’re only here for a good time. He doesn’t say anything. 

I can’t fucking believe what I’m about to do. You would never let me live this down. 

I sling my arm over Melydice’s shoulder to convince him that we’re only here for a good time with friends. That was all for fucking nothing, because he wasn’t convinced. So I try to ask who he was calling, but he’s too scared to answer! Why is he so scared? I don’t understand. I’m trying very hard to be nice, especially with my arm around fucking Melydice. I’m sure you’d agree. Right?

Melydice does calm him down in the end, and the owner says that he was going to call the dealers… until I put the phone down. God. What a sick joke. How was I supposed to know?? He could’ve just told me. At least Melydice has talked sense into the owner and I can leave. But Melydice holds the back of my jacket so I can’t. Bastard. At least I can write all this down before the dealers get here.

---

20 minutes later, Arquette calls Melydice from the hospital. He’s posing as a doctor and says the kids’ wounds are growing. Since Melydice has the information on the wounds and drugs, he asks her for help. Melydice calls Yona outside for her to relay what she knows to Henri. She thinks amputation is not a good idea, but remembers the radar organ in the pineal gland. In the living victims, the radar may be sending or receiving signals. She suggests surgery to remove it. Arquette tells Fisher to find out if there is a basement: if there is, put the victims there. If that doesn’t work, trepanation. He speaks French and hangs up.

Then the dealers arrive, and we go into a game room. The dealers are 2 people. First: 7’ man, shit posture, bald patch on neck. He doesn’t have hair. Instead, it’s… long, thin cattails poking out of his head? Second: 5’ woman, all muscle, looks very sunburnt except for the glyph on her head. Strangely, I think I recognise it. Maybe from a book I’ve seen. It’s from another world, so she’s definitely not from this place. Maybe from this planet, but not of this… realm. Maybe you’d known more about it, Lin. Ah, but if you were here, I wouldn’t bring you into this mess.

The man is the one who talks. He asks how many we want. Melydice asks how many they have. The man opens his bag, showing 20 vials. Tatsu asks if they’re the only suppliers, and the man says they are.

I ask how much it is. It’s 4000 Real. God. I’m not spending that much for this job, and I’m especially NOT spending that much for drugs! I say it’s too expensive and leave. The rest follow. The dealers are upset and stare at us, but I don’t care. All I need to do is know their car. I see it, write down the licence plate in this sketchbook, and draw the symbol on the woman’s head. Melydice calls Fisher to pick us up.

When Arquette and Fisher arrive, I show them my sketchbook. Fisher goes to his computer and gets the car’s information. It includes the owner's apartment address. We leave immediately.

Fisher drives fast. Very fast. Arquette quickly gives our breaching order. Tatsu goes in first with his sword (why is he using a sword??). I’m next to throw a flashbang to cover him. Melydice gets the shotgun and goes next. Amaia and Yona are door guards.

We arrive. As Fisher and Arquette wait at separate exits, we don our kevlar vests and scopes and storm up to the fourth floor. Tatsu kicks down the door, and the skull on the table screams like a death whistle.

My gut tightens. Melydice kicks the skull. It shatters and stops screaming. The dealers aren’t here but others will hear it. We need to move fast.

Messy room. Takeout boxes everywhere. There’s a couch with a broken frame. Something heavy broke it, maybe. A pile of laundry behind it. I smell it before seeing it. Oily. Disgusting. There’s also a blue-grey metal gong on the wall. It doesn’t have any symbols on it.

Rooms: living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen. Amaia and Yona stand guard. Melydice checks the bedroom. I cover her. There’s a wardrobe and closet. The bed… is a mess. Medication, handguns, blood and… semen samples, candy, and coloured lamps shaped like a round cartoon cat. Very cute. Hygd might like it. Melydice checks under the bed. There’s nothing. I open one of the candies. Normal candy. I check the sample labels. Only has names and words ‘blood’ or ‘semen’. 

Melydice checks the closet. I watch her back. No clothes. But there’s a body. McDonalds cashier. Opened up. Missing organs. Walls smeared with no-scent incense. No wonder there’s no smell. But I can imagine it. He was just a kid. Really still a kid. He was just Merethel’s age. 17 years old.

Melydice asks Yona to inspect the body while calling her “sweetie”... Meanwhile, I shine UV light on the corpse, the closet (just smears), and the rest of the room. There’s nothing much. Melydice checks the wardrobe. It’s designed to suspend a person (there’s a harness dangling from the top).

Melydice checks on Yona and asks if something is wrong, as if there’s nothing wrong with a teenager being ripped apart. Yona says his chest was crudely opened and it is empty. Heart, lungs, stomach, liver, all gone. Though his pancreas is still there. There are signs of struggle: he was serrated open while alive. I’ve seen all sorts of things before. You know that, Lin. But this… now that the job’s done, my mind keeps going back to Merethel.

Anyway, Melydice thanks her. The kid has no identification on him, so I take a picture of his face and the room. I wonder if his parents know. They should.

Tatsu checks the kitchen: cabinets, oven, a fridge. He opens the fridge. There are sheets and sheets of fatty skin marinating in plastic bags, their colours changing to the light. The oven has wooden boxes. The cabinet has lighters, incense, crystal necklaces. Tatsu goes back to the boxes to open them, and there’s a shit ton of Pink.

In the bedroom, I check for fingerprints on the items on the bed again with my UV light. I ask Yona to record the fingerprints, and we both gather the rest of the evidence. Yona categorises them to bag them. For the 5 handguns, I turn on the safety, unload them, keep one magazine on me and hand one to Yona. She thanks me. I distribute the other magazines to the other agents. Tatsu joins us to help.

Amaia suddenly locks the door and puts a chair under the handle. We stare at her. She says she hears the dealers’ voices echoing up the stairwell. They’re coming. There’s no key. The dealers have it on them. 

I quickly check the bathroom. There are two sets of helmets and “shoulder pads” (I searched it up later: gorget). On the shower curtains are glyphs. They look like computer writing. I tell the other agents. Melydice and Tatsu checks.

Melydice reads the glyphs:

WHEN THE CURTAIN IS DRAWN FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER, THE GATE OPENS.

Tatsu reads more:

SHOULD YOU OPEN IT, THE AIR WILL FREEZE. IT WILL LEAD TO THE FEATURELESS PLANE AND THE MONITOR WILL CARRY YOU TO THE BORDERWORLD. THE WHIPLASH IS FATAL WITHOUT NECK PROTECTION.

Tatsu also tells us about the Pink in the oven. But there’s no time to do anything about it now! We put our backs to the wall: Melydice to one side of the door, Tatsu to the other. We hear them coming, talking in a strange language. Amaia hears the woman fiddle with the keys and twist it. The man says something in a low tone. They speak in hushed voices.

And then the man speaks in English. He stutters. “What-what-what do-do you-you-you want?”

Surprisingly, he seems… genuine. Open to talk. And nervous. Good. I ask if he wants to live. Silence. Then, from the other side of the door, after whispering with the woman, the man says the gong blocks out sound from the room. If we want to negotiate, we open the door.

Melydice removes the chair from the doorknob and opens the door. She tells them to put their hands on their heads and walk in. The outer layer of the woman’s skin looks like it’s made of stone, while the man’s skin is peeling off. Tatsu notices the skin looks like the one in the fridge.

When they see our guns, the man, who’s 2 feet taller than the woman, tries to hide behind her. He’s trembling. Melydice says there’s nothing to be scared of if they follow our instructions. The man grips the woman’s shoulders. She shrugs them off. Tries to. Says she’ll put her hands up because the man’s too much of a bitch to.

We keep the guns on them. Melydice keeps threatening them. The woman says not to do anything funny and threatens us with two stone eggs in her hands…

I notice the man eyes the bathroom. I follow his gaze and look back at him with a raised eyebrow. The woman says to not look at him, to look at her, and to ask her questions. 

Amaia closes the door. Melydice asks where they get the drugs from. The woman asks why, saying we probably already have some. But we don’t care about that. We want to know where they’re from. The woman says ‘Mechanics’.

Melydice asks her to elaborate, but the woman instead comments about how calm we are, as if we’ve seen these things before. (No idea what they’re talking about, but alright.) She explains they’re not from this world, which is obvious at this point. Then she explains where they get the drug from. Pink is fuel they get from mechanics of their world that’s used to fix communication devices. They sell it here because it’s cheap back home. They come here, take human materials (the ones on the bed), and sell them back at their home.

I ask about the skin in the fridge. They’re disguises to look like humans. It’s what the man wears, but it doesn’t look good on him. He’s too stressed for it to work. I ask about the kid in the closet. Organ trafficking. Some things still stay the same across worlds, huh?

I also ask what the rock eggs do. She asks if we want to find out. Tatsu and I say no. As Melydice reaches to her pocket, the woman’s hands tighten around the eggs. But all Melydice wants to do is to call Arquette.

Some time later, we hear his voice: “Room service.” Amaia opens the door. Arquette and Fisher enter. Fisher’s two fists are held in front of him and when the door closes, a flaming sword appears in his hands. You would’ve loved seeing that. The sword, I mean. It sounds like the story about the sword in the stone you tell me about. The one with Merlin, right?

Arquete gets more information out of the drug dealers. They’re from a city called the Borderworld, made by extinct aliens. It’s filled with refugees from other universes. Traffickers, sorcerers, slavers, awful people. Also slaves. These two go between both worlds through gates like the bathroom, trying to keep low because both worlds hate them. So they do a bad job in both worlds. Money’s tight. They have a hard time keeping it. Besides Pink, they also sell machetes (made out of meteoric iron, intricately engraved, very useful for combat), protective equipment, necklaces (good for defence, guns will be useless with them).

And then, instead of killing them or arresting them, Arquette decides to negotiate with them for some goddamn reason. If they stop selling drugs and stop killing people, Helvetia will keep them alive as payment for their goods. He continues to threaten the woman, cornering her, and intimidates her into dropping the stone eggs, the snake. She complies. Nothing happens.

Arquette tells Melydice to bag the eggs as evidence and to take them away. We can handle the aliens as we please. As we do so, Melydice tells them they’re lucky we were told not to kill them. The woman also spits out an amulet and her skin turns to normal.

I hold Fisher back. Since he’s the computer guy I thought he could, I don’t know, track the kid’s face and find his parents. And I don’t need to use English to talk to him. He says he’ll take care of it. No parent wouldn’t want to know their kid has been torn up like that. It’ll be a closed casket funeral, and he’ll find the kid’s parents.

We’re the last to leave. Fisher tells me that even if it doesn’t look like it, this was a job well done. It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it. It doesn’t feel like anything.

Everyone gets in the van. The woman and man are handcuffed. Arquette fixes the disguise on the man, looks through the evidence bags, and keeps one of the cat lamps. I’m glad I kept one in my bag. Hygd’s going to love it. I hope she will. He also talks about keeping one of the lighters even though Fisher says Arquette doesn’t smoke anymore.

Arquette tells the prisoners that they’ll be kept in a special cell where Melydice can visit them. Melydice interrupts, saying he's making another mistake by keeping them. Arqutte says it’s better to keep them out of others’ hands, even though there are other ways of doing that. The prisoners also have weapons and defences that are good for Helvetia. Melydice leans back into her seat: “Don’t say I didn't warn you, Mr. Arquette.” Arquette trusts her to take care of him when he gets over his head.

I’m writing part of this as we drive back to headquarters. I also take another cat lamp: something for Molly’s birthday. She’s still young. She might like it. Yona takes two of them. Tatsu and Amaia take incense.

We arrive at headquarters. Fucking Arquette had the same idea as me and gave his cat lamp to Molly! Melydice tells her to throw it away because it’s “touched by devils”. I think it’s more important for her to know they were left next to blood and semen samples. I give my second cat lamp to Molly since I don’t know what to do with a spare. I tell her to not listen to Melydice, but that she may want to wash her hands because of the blood and semen samples. I clarify that the samples weren’t on the bed. They were in the tubes. So the lamps are at least that clean.

Arquette and Fisher talk to each other in French as we follow them into an office. Arquette says we did good. And the bastard reveals he made us wear the uniforms to make the mission harder for us! He wants us to make sure we have the right clothes with the right situation. Obviously we already know that. A fucking six year old would know that!

He also reveals the police were under his pay. Apparently, when the cops at the apartment called their office, it also went to Helvetia. This won’t always be the case for our operations, though. Then he talks about the other Helvetia branches (we’re in the South American one). The North American branch was killed off. A prisoner from there either escaped or was broken out. The African branch killed themselves. The Asian branch is dying out. There’s only Europe, Antarctica, South America, and Australia left. Melydice raises an eyebrow at Arquette. I can hear her say “I told you so”.

We’ll get a message in late April to get our clearances, whatever that means. We’re also supposed to get “mandated therapy sessions” as well. I also don’t understand what that means, but I don’t care either. Because of the list of 20 we gathered, we got paid well. Very well. And most importantly, I can finally go home.

My flight home isn’t until tomorrow, so I’m writing this from my hotel room while lying on my bed. To be honest, I don’t know why I wrote this. I thought this would’ve been like those books you like to read. But even if you were here and I was stuck in Helvetia, I would never show this to you. It’s sick. And I’ll get killed for that, too.

I guess I can’t help it. Maybe in another world where all this was just make-believe, you would’ve liked reading these. And it’s always nice to write to you. It’s like you’re still here, listening to me. And I would really like you to be here right now.

---

Amaia, Melydice, Tatsu, and Yona belong to and were played by @daruqin, @katastrofish, @mintrhine, and @inkysatell respectively. Arquette and Fisher belong to and were played by our first game master.

This campaign session was based on the scenario "The Signal Smugglers" by mellonbread.

First | Prev | Next About the Flight + Official Newsletter | List of Stories Exclusive content and early access on Ko-Fi!

- I tried my best to incorporate Jander’s history across all editions into my game’s canon, though there are some areas I homebrewed. My partner and I also collaborated and made his stat block because I didn’t feel that the Vampire stat block reflected his capabilities very well. My lore also has changes to his backstory in regards to Descent into Avernus, but that isn’t super relevant here so I’ll skip that bit.

- After the events in the VotM novel Jander was taken by the Mists before he could be fully destroyed and was forced to reform in the misty borders between domains where all the horrorterrors and mistbeast lurk. For almost 200 years!

- Due to the extreme radiant damage his left arm suffered while wielding a holy weapon against Strahd, his arm never fully reformed. He now keeps his injured arm bandaged up. It’s still sensitive and causes him pain every once in a while.

- While reforming in the Mists, some evil entity stole one of his fangs, his long term goal is to get it back. (a post-campaign adventure)

- He still suffers from his Black Thumb curse where plants whither at his touch, so he wears gloves. 

- He was ejected from the Mists in a dreadplane called Forlorn where he was rescued by a group of monster hunters calling themselves The Van Richten Society. They either travel alone or in very small groups, constantly meeting up and parting ways… like ships in the night. 

- He is taken into their team and networks and befriends a multitude of other members of the society across the planes.

- Some members include Van Richten (who did not name the group, believe it or not), His wife Ingrid, Ez, Pavel (current incarnation of Tatyana, and many, many more)

- Jander helped Van Richten write Van Richten’s Guide to Vampires and was not credited.

- He grows romantically close with Pavel

- While in Mordent Pavel falls in battle. Jander gets tangled up in The Apparatus when trying to save them, a machine which is said to be capable of separating the soul from a living body, translocating souls from one body to another, and otherwise manipulating the substance and energy of spirits both living and undead.

- When the contraption was used, Pavel was lost and aspects of Jander were cloned into their own beings, so now there are different manifestations of him running around the dreadplanes.

- One of these manifestations is Savra, the child he’d love to have with the person of his dreams (Pavel/Tatyana) exceeeept Savra the already terrible teenaged Dhampir is like him in all the worst ways. She/They is hot-tempered, hot-headed, and angry. Jander regards Savra as his child rather than a clone.

- Savra Joins the Van Richten Society and the younger generation create the sub group New Dawn. This includes Savra, The Weathermay-Foxgrove twins, Erasmus van Richten, and Ez.and probably more I’m forgetting about.

- Pretty sure Savra has a huge crush on Ez, a huge respect for Boomer van Richten, and a burning hatred for Jander.

- Another post session adventure I want to do involves the party helping him hunt down his different aspects and eliminating them all, except Savra.

- Jander decides to make his way to Barovia after eventually hearing Strahd is still around

- Jander’s disguise is Rathandal, a sickly elven man cursed to rot alive. Ideally, he doesn't want Strahd to know he's in Barovia, but also doesn't want to be mistaken for the Morninglord Lathander. (Something that happened in the novel which kick-started the religion in Barovia. It's still going strong and even led to the formation of a secret vampire hunter's guild)

- He catches a ride with Arabelle’s caravan and rolls through Barovia, stopping in the Vallaki encampment.

- He sneaks into the town to do carpentry and woodworking to earn meager coins to pay Kasimir to stay in one of the hovels while he gathers information and plans his next moves.

- One day while the party was in Vallaki, the Paladin of the party went to investigate the woods outside of town. There he found Rathandal frantically trying to free a hurt child from some thorny vines. 

And that’s where he met the party like… forever ago. They “saved him” from getting harassed by Izek The Biggest Meanest Guard. They were hurt when they found out he lied to them about being undead, and that’s how Jander found out he had friends! He’s been with the party since and they won't let him leave. 

Jander is a jaded grump who softens into a romantic. The party usually has to pry for his personal information, or beg when they have outlandish requests, and he usually doesn’t humor them. He is happy to share with them anything that might help them fight monsters, particularly vampires. He loves gardening, writing poetry, woodworking, playing his flute, or drawing/painting.

- Bonus: Savra is also in Barovia now, has tried to kill Jander at least once, and has now been hired by Strahd to hunt down Jander and trap him in a Crypt in the castle. Jander will never deal lethal damage to Savra.

Mistress Blackburne revealed that our three fledglings all have a connection to the theft; Yulia's sire had attempted to stage an attack on the Archive, and unknown to Jordan, their wife had been to London and caused a scene trying to get into the building as well. It was revealed that Alison's sire had originally been in posses ion of the artifact before being chased out of London. This meant Alison learnt his name, the first piece of information she has of him.

The trio were given three months to figure out where the Amulet has ended up, and parted to see various contacts had throughout the city.

Yulia returned to the university to see its colleague -- and tentative friend, Muhammad Iqbal -- to ask for more information, as well as to try to find its sire to report back. Muhammad knew a little about the amulet, reporting that it was known for giving prophetic gifts to the wielder. Yulia then went to its Archive, and attempted to find more information on the subject.

Meanwhile, Jordan and Alison went to the West End to visit the Toreador domain. Inside they were greeted by Earnest, a new friend of Alison's, and briefly saw Ariel, another Toreador representative. As they waited, Octavius Webb, the Tremere representative on the Primogen Council and Yulia's sire, leaving the Senechal of the Camarilla's office. They were then escorted in to meet with the Lady Victoria Cavaleiri. Alison filled her in on the meeting, and she explained a little more about Alison's sire; Eleazar, a former resident of London who Master Webb forced out a little over a year ago. Jordan was then mildly threatened by Victoria, who warned them not to cause trouble within her domain. As they left, Earnest offered Alison a place to stay, which she accepted.

Octavius then sought out Yulia back at the Chantry, and the pair had a tense conversation in which Yulia tried, and failed, to cover up what happened within the meeting. It stumbled a lot over this conversation, and while Octavius did not push too much on the matter, he is aware that more occurred.