Plot Synopsis
A mysterious voice, calling itself Sven, speaks into Difuge's mind. The voice offers Difuge a way to find, and potentially rescue, her hagis cook... in exchange for seeing three people dead. After being assured that these weren't people that she knew, Difuge agreed to the terms. Meanwhile the voice was also speaking to Arnin, promising riches and directing him toward Difuge. Difuge contacted Dom and Claude and made arrangements to gather. A few hours later Dom, Arning and Difuge had gathered in a Pregada bar to head north to Prall to get Claude.
As they were leaving the bar, five youths from the Pregada Youth Brigade harassed them. The party left the city and took the road to Prall. Difuge made herself invisible. At about the half way point between Centralia and Prall they were stopped by the Centralia checkpoint. They were warned away from Prall but the guards weren't very emphatic, stating that the Pralls wouldn't let them into their city anyway... continue at your own risk. As they went past the checkpoint they noted that one of the guards had risen and was heading hastily back to Centralia. The party got out of site and then Difuge followed the guard to see what he was up to. He went directly to the Enclave and reported that a small group of strangers (a man, a dwarf and an invisible women) had passed the checkpoint and we're headed to Prall. The duty officer at the Enclave nodded and the guard headed back to his post. On the way back Difuge struck up a conversation with the man. She asked how he knew she was there. The man didn't answer really. Difuge asked him to tell the high priest that Difuge says hello and then returned to her party.
The group continued on a way until they reached two posts stuck in the road with a chain across them. A sign hung from the chain that said 'We don't want you, go away' written in Ferric. Neither Dom nor Arnin spoke Ferric and Difuge wasn't translating if she did. Dom started to step around the gate and an arrow suddenly struck the ground in front of his foot along with a warning shouted in Ferric. Difugre flew, invisbly, toward the origin of the shout/arrow. She saw a group of six individuals just inside the woods. One was holding a bow. Dom swung his sack, striking his balls together and causing a murky darkness to appear around him and Arnin. The man with the bow shouted (in Ferric), "Shit a Murk! Go!" and his people immediately fanned out. Difuge told the man that she would translate but she was ignored as the man moved forward, toward the murk, calling out "Sorry, just a mistake, we don't want a fight". Meanwhile his people were completing their circle of the murk. Arnin cast a fly spell and flew toward Prall. Difuge repeated her previous offer and the man replied "Not Now!" as he pulled on a glove and pair of glasses. Difuge surmising that these items must be magic moved close and deftly immobilized the man, catching his body as it fell. She grappled the body to hold it still. Arnin stopped a little ways up the road while Dom burst from the Murk and ran for the treeline... right past two of the men who had been circling. The men, while suprised, still reacted, one of them catching Dom in the blast of a fireball. Dom allowed how that wasn't really necessary and sent a lightning bold back at the fireballer. The mages companion drew a sword and rushed toward Dom who was busily climbing a tree. During this Difuge had flown upward carrying the immobilized leader. Just as she was clearing effective fireball altitude the Murk was suddenly blown clear and the remaining three men jumped into the area it had occupied. They looked confused long enough for Arnin to take the positional opportunity and fireball the lot of them... the three men in the middle and the mage. The three men scattered and the firemage disappeared. Dom and the swordsman held a small staring contest. Difuge took the glasses from the immobilized man and put them on. The glasses were infravision, allowing Difuge to see the heat signatures of the combatants below... including the fact that the firemage was right where he was. Difgure flew to the firemage and repeated her offer. The firemage accepted the offer and released his phantasm that made him appear as a rat.
After some discussion Difuge returned the glasses to the, now recovered, leader and the party headed into Prall.
In Prall the party caught up with Claude. Prall had changed much since the party members had been there last. The city was cleaner and the people had a sense of pride that was always lacking before. Many believed their break with Centralia was the best thing that ever happened, the Bosses may be rough but they were a thousand times better than Centralian snobs. Claude was quickly briefed on the mission.
The voice in Difuge's head had told her this:
At dawn tomorrow two priests of T'or will stop by a certain coffee shop after their shift. You will be there. When they leave the shop, follow them. It is not really them that you care about but one of these priests, I do not know which, will be followed by someone other than you. It is this follower that you must find and in turn follow. Do not interfere with them regardless of what they do. At some point they will lead you to your hagis cook. When that time comes, do not hesitate.
Plans were made for the party to split into two groups: Difuge and Dom would be one group, Arnin and Claude the other. The group then snuck into Centralia. It was noted by the party that Prall was far better defended... the Centralian's didn't appear to even be trying. The party members sacked out for a few hours to wait for dawn. Difuge set an undead monkey to wake her when it was time. Dom went to his Centralia window shop to sleep. He awoke only an hour after sleeping and, not being able to sleep, went through the financial records and inventory.
At dawn the party waited across the street from the coffee shop. Not suprisingly the shop also sold donuts and other pastries. Shortly after dawn three priests of T'or stopped in front of the shop. After a minute one walked away. The remaining two priests made whipping motions and laughed as they entered the shop. About 40 minutes later the priests emerged from the shop carrying papercups of coffee, faces covered with powdered sugar and chocolate. They clasped arms and then headed off in their seperate directions. According to plan Claude and Arnin moved to follow the priest who had emerged first from the shop. Difuge and Dom trailed the other.
Difuge and Dom followed their man carefully. Their quarry made several quick turns and looked back a lot. It was pretty apparent that he was trying to lose someone. After about 30 minutes of random turns and window shopping the man stopped and took a hard look behind him. Satisfied that he wasn't being followed he ran across the street and into a shop. A little later he emerged with a happy look on his face and a companion. His companion, dressed like a craftsman, was carrying a large, wood carving of a howling wolf. The two walked off on a considerably straighter course. Dom and Difuge followed.
Claud and Arnin, meanwhile, weren't having nearly as easy a time. Their quarry made a couple of quick turns and lost them. They seached the area where he disappeared but could find no trace. Claude went into a nearby clothing store and casually searched it as well. In desperation Claude got to his knees and demonstrated that he was a tracking beast! Some morning dew still covered the cobblestones and the disturbance in it indicated that the priest of T'or had entered a condominium. He kicked open the door and went inside. Seeing only two doors to other residence and a stairwell leading to the upstairs apartments he left the building. Arnin and Claude positioned themselves in site of opposite corners of the building where between them they could watch all four external walls. After a bit Arnin spotted the priest leaving. He went to the adjacent corner, in site of Claude, and waived and pointed for Claude. As he was doing this another person, a woman, also left the building headed in the same direction the priest had gone. Claude and Arnin followed. After a few minutes it became clear that both were headed toward the Pregada road. They continued to follow.
Difuge and Dom continued to follow their priest and his companion. Clearly they were headed for what was last years Nuveau district. Difuge established mental contact with Claude to see if they were doing any better. Claude informed Difuge that they had a live one. Their quarry was headed toward the Pregada road and was being followed, at a really far distance, by a woman. Difuge told Dom that she believed Claude and Arnin were following the right priest. Difuge then set her most intelligent of undead monkeys, Grey Peanuts, to following the priest while they joined Claude and Arnin. Grey Peanuts was given radio gear to keep in communications as was Monkey #6 who was to stay with Difuge and translate from Grey Peanuts monkey talk. Dom and Difuge caught up with Claude and Arnin just outside Pregada. Difuge flew ahead to follow the priest leaving the rest of the party to follow the follower.
The priest went straight to a small house in Pregada. He unlocked the door and let himself in. Difuge returned to the party. The woman who had been following the priest also headed straight for the same house. She stopped a few houses away and watched for a moment. Then she stealthfully crept up to a side door and pressed her ear against it. The party moved closer. Whatever she was hearing wasn't making her happy. Her expression darkened. The woman stepped away from the door and pulled a spherical object from her cloak. Difuge instantly contacted a nomand companion, Sag Nid, and asked what it was. The answer came swiftly, "Bond Death! Its a fucking second lifer!". Difgure broke contact, drew her weapon and sliced the woman apart, including severing the arm that held the object. The object broke when it hit the ground. Monkey #6 pushed a note in front of Difuge's eyes as the priest inside screamed in pain and rage. The note read, "Do I keep following the guy even after he gets killed?". The Priest kicked open the side door. He is naked except for his holy weapon which he wields menacingly. In a rage he proceeds to further cut apart the dead woman. Difuge slips immaterial and looks into the house. A dead woman lies naked on a bed. She flips on her radio, "Cluster, we've got the wrong guy!". Claude picks the lock on the front door of the house and goes in. He adds a few longsword wounds to the dead woman and slips back out. Difuge, Dom and Arnin have meanwhile begun flying back toward Centralia.
Difuge mentally contacts Grey Peanuts and instructs him to follow the killer, who turns out to be the wood carver. Grey Peanuts does so and gives an image of where to intercept the killer. The party flies toward the rendeveaux. Claude has meanwhile cast spells upon himself and begun running at top speed toward the meeting point. Within a few minutes Difuge spots a clearing with a wagon in it. The wood carver enters the clearing. He ordered the people around the wagon to pack up. He then gets in the driver seat of the wagon and prepares to move. Before he snaps the riegns he swears and steps out of the seat. "Be right back, gotta drain the lizard". He steps into the woods. Difuge gets another card from Monkey#6, "Should I take Him?". Difuge gives Grey Peanuts a negative over the radio.
The Carver returns to the wagon and Difuge moves, invisibly, into position near him. Claude makes a daring dash, rolls under the wagon and gets a good grip on the under carriage. The wagon begins moving and the driver casts a spell. A large black portal opens up and the wagon is driven through. They emerge in a dark area.
[GM-NOTE: This is where the ordinary GM would stop and pick the game up next week... after all it was midnight already. But things were clicking beatifully and no one showed any signs of wanting to stop... so we just pushed on!]
When the adventurer's eyes adjusted to the light they found themselves in a large wooden structure. Men were unloading the wagon and moving out of the room. After everyone had left the room the party spread out and explored it. They quickly came to the conclusion that they were aboard a ship... a _BIG_ ship. Difuge was able to explore, immaterially, a large portion of the ship. She found a balast room where her cook was tied to a large rock as where four other men. She also found a room full of coinage of various weights and mint. There seemed to be two groups of people on the ship. The larger group was made up of people in black uniforms, they seemed to be in charge. The other, smaller, group was composed of sailors. All of the uniformed men slept in quarters above deck while sailors slept below. The party regrouped to plan how to escape with the cook.
When night fell they used their skills at navigation to position themselves on Jaern. Once that was done, and they were assured that they were definately on Jaern, plans came more easily. A good nights sleep was in order. While the others slept Arnin moved back toward the coin room... after all he was here for wealth, lots of wealth. As he approached the coin room he heard voices within. A womans voice said, "You know when this is over I'm going to kill you myself...". A man laughed and told her to relax and she'd enjoy her stay more. As the coin room door started to open Arnin darted into a side room. The woman was about 5'11" with dark hair and a long, green gown. As the woman walked by the voice spoke again in Arnin's head: "That's the meal ticket! Don't leave here without it." The man was older, with greying hair and a black uniform. Arnin radioed his findings back to the party. He then rejoined them to do some serious planning.
The party settled on a simple plan of explosions, fire, some killing and a daring rescue... followed by everyone getting into Difuge's bag and flying away. Seemed pretty simple. Difuge put explosives around the ship. At each explosive he placed a grenade and an undead monkey with a watch. He told the monkeys to pull the pins on the grenades when the big hand got to 12 (or "right here" in monkey speak). After they pull the pins they were to run to the back of the ship where Difuge would pick them up. Dom was placed in charge of fire. He opened a large barrel of oil in the lower hall and across the upper deck. The idea being to totally cut off part of the ship from the rest. Difuge then went to find the woman. She found her sleaping in one of the above deck cabins, near the captains quarters. As she was opening the cabin door an explosion shook the ship. The sleeping woman lept, fully clothed, from her bed and turned to face Difuge. Difuge attempted to immobilize her but succeeded only in hitting her. The woman punched Difuge in the face saying "Hello Difuge.". Difuge grappled the woman. They had a quick discussion and then Difugre threw her into the bag and ordered a four armed, undead demon to grapple her and hold her still. Difuge ordered undead monkeys to manacle the woman and then turned back toward the chaos errupting on deck.
Meanwhile Claude had cast cushion and lept from the sky with a flaming sword. He used the sword to ignite the oil which Dom had spread on deck. Claude then began fighting two and three opponents at once. Dom moved into the fray and also began fighting multiple opponents.
One of the mage-types opened a portal behind Claude and one of his opponents threw him through it. Claude was pretty much out of the fight. The same technique was tried on Dom with somewhat less success.. for a light weight guy, he's pretty hard to lift.
A few seconds later a second round of explosions rocked the boat and an alarm began to sound. Any soldiers still alive stopped fighting and ran for the stairs leading below deck. Claude, Dom and Difuge persued them and killed a few more on their way. Difuge and Dom ran downstairs after the fleeing soldiers. What they found was a mess of foul, poisonous gas and blazing fires. Difugre tossed a stun grenade and ran back upstairs, closing the door behind her. The party then ran toward the back of the boat to pick up the undead monkey's before fleeing the ship. Upon reaching the back of the boat, the party took a last glance back over the sinking ship. At the far end of the ship that grey haired captain was standing facing the party. He tipped his cap to the party and stepped backward into a black, doorway shaped portal. Difugre fired several rounds from her handgun into the portal and then urged everyone into her bag. Once the party and undead monkeys were safely secured in the bag, she flew off the ship toward the nearest island.
The nearest island turned out to be about four hours by flight and was nothing more, really, than a large rock jutting out of the ocean. Difuge landed and let the party emerge from the bag if they wanted to. Some chose to sleep for a bit to recover from their adventure. Afterward, when everyone was out of the bag, Difugre ordered the "bag room" shifted back to the room holding the four armed demon and the dark haired woman. When the room was in position they found the woman unmanacled and giving makeup lessons to the demon. After a brief, and physical, debate the party allowed the woman out of the bag to talk. She would not give her name but insisted she knew Difuge, Claude and Dom. Difuge opened mental contact with Lord Wills of Centralia. Wills has been hiding out somewhere planning the retaking of Centralia. After a brief discussion Lord Wills and one of his men come through the link and appear before the party. Wills identifies the woman as Lady Shaylin though not in her usual form. There is much discussion where we learn that Briss is actually still alive. His body merely one of Briss' front people. The fat man who had hired the party was in fact the real Briss. Wills acknowledges that both sides in the upcoming battle have allied themselves with questionable forces.
After agreeing to keep one another informed Wills, his man, and Shaylin disappear leaving the party to their rock. Difuge hauls out her jet plane and takes the party home.
Two days later Difuge and her people pulled Claude back to Jaern.