- Johan Cilliers, Impulsive “Antiquities Dealer” & Interdimensional Parasite Host (Mystic, Level 3)
- Kaldron Class, Antifa Nazi Killer and Hunter of the Elusive “Lichtler” (Criminal, Level 3)
- Cobb "jury-rigged immortality is still immortality" Taylor (Doctor, Level 2)
- Tristan Vedhart, Babyfaced "Artist" & Fast Talking Limper (Explorer, Level 1)
- Zeke Witwer, Healing Sage (Occultist, Level 1)
They agreed that they'd start with the missing kid. They met the parents in the park to learn more about the alleged kidnapping. The parents were working class joes, the dad in a rumpled interview/funeral suit, the mom poorly concealing track marks on her arm. Dad explained that he'd been at the Auld Tam gin palace after work with some friends from the job site. After having a few, he showed one of the servers a picture of his daughter. The next day, she didn't make it home from school. Bus driver says a man met her at the stop, and he assumed it was a relative. The gin joint is full of smugglers, right? They must be smuggling people. He gave the players a photo of the missing child.
The players weren't up for another restaurant assault just yet, after last session. They decided to meet with the MIBs to see about the sensor placement job, and if they could get any information on the smugglers while they were at it. Agent Karla met them at the library, and explained the mission: the suits and their masked chum hadn't had any success tracking the Paradox Beasts. Possibly it was a new type of magical camouflage that evaded their detection. The sensor arrays, if placed in the underworld at the appropriate locations, would give them the monsters' location.
One sensor had to be placed beneath each of the circled locations on the map
Asked about the smugglers, Agent Karla helpfully explained that the smugglers did lots of business with the Fairy Enclave under the museum. They'd be a good starting point for further investigation.
The mausoleum entrance was no longer patrolled by police, but the gang didn't feel like dealing with the Sunflowers in the necropolis. If they went through the museum into the Fey Grotto, they could get started on both the first sensor in the Northwest (an area they tried to explore in a previous adventure, but never made it to) and the missing kid.
The players climbed up the pitons on the cliff to the window over the closed gallery. It was blocked off by a blue tarp, the kind you use when you're fumigating a building. They turned around and made a run to the hardware store for gas masks. This would come in handy later. Not when they went into the old gallery though. Kaldron punctured the tarp and no pesticides or poison gas came out. The group climbed down into the gallery, and it was only then they noticed the shiny black dome of a security camera, freshly pasted to the wall with adhesive. Thankfully they were all masked up. The troll and ogre were nowhere to be found. Down the stairs, to the Fairy Enclave.
The group stopped by the goblin market, to see if the merchants there traded with the smuggler. The same goblin from last time told them the smugglers bought fey-gin from the svartalfar distillery three rooms South. The fairy king and queen had granted the little dwarves an exclusive contract and nocompete agreement, with the smugglers as the only authorized buyer. Zeke Witwer bought a spellbook from the goblin, in exchange for owing him a favor later.
The group hadn't explored the Southern reaches of the Enclave yet. The first room they passed through was a kitchen, where the petanque playing ogre and troll were cooking. They were happy to see the players, and shared one of their culinary creations with Cobb, intoxicating him but granting him a stomach of iron.
The smell of juniper and botanicals hit them before they entered the next room. Burly svartalfar stripped to the waist tended enormous stills and cabinets of strange ingredients. A river hag gurgled happily in a brass tub, pulling a solution of water and ethanol through her gills. The brewmistress shoved her way past the gang, yelling at them to get out of the way. They asked her if they knew anything about kids, and she told them that stopped being her problem once the smugglers dropped them off. Go to the nursery and bother them about it. The fumes from the fairy gin intoxicated everyone who wasn't wearing their gas mask. The botanical mix gave them preternatural charm, at the cost of physical weakness.
The passage to the fairy daycare center twisted 180 degrees until the players were walking on the ceiling. An Unseelie Lord guarded the door at the end. It was the same chicken-footed man the gang had seen fucking the Queen. He refused to grant them entry, even after they threatened to reveal his "secret" to the King. The Fairy wasn't afraid. The players did recall the King referring to the Queen as his "whore wife" two weeks back.
(They had a 5 in 6 Charm thanks to the fairy gin, and they rolled a 6)
They convinced the Lord to get the Queen. They heard the sound of children playing when he opened the door. The Unseelie Queen emerged. They asked her to give the kids back. She told them no. She didn't hit them or fuck them or burn them with cigarettes, unlike their real parents. They were going to be knights and sorceresses, not crackheads and prostitutes. The gang asked if they could see the kids, to make sure they were being treated ok. The Queen let them into the school.
Inside, the kids were reading books on the flower petals of enormous trees, solving puzzles that expanded their knowledge of the arcane arts, or sparring with mock weapons that would make them might warriors. Tristan took a photo of the daughter, who told him she was going to be a wizard. Her arms were scarred from cigarette burns.
They debated taking the kid anyway. 1,500 is 1,500. They decided against fighting the entire Fairy Enclave.
On the way out, the Unseelie Lord warned them that the King and the Knights were out to get them, for releasing Paradox Beasts and bringing the Men in Black down on them. The troll and ogre in the kitchen gave them the same warning when they came back through. The gang wanted to go North to continue the MIB mission, but they knew from previous exploration the next room was a treasury, and would be guarded.
Their suspicions proved correct. Two Unseelie Knights stood guard over the riches. The group debated fighting, but settled on walking past like nothing happened. The Knights immediately drew their weapons, and the gang tried to run away. The Knights struck at those who didn't make it past them into the tunnels. One breathed a cone of ice, which Kaldron bravely protected Cobb from, taking serious damage. The group clubbed both Knights to death, but not before one shouted for reinforcements. The group grabbed as much wealth as they could in a single round of looting and made a run for it.
Johann dropped a quick Hold Portal on the door out of the treasury, but the fairies had an alternate route. The gang ran hell for leather into the tunnels North, not waiting for the furious fey to find it. They ran without looking where they were going, and almost collided with a group of bear cultists. Thinking quickly, Johan shouted that they were being chased by Paradox Beasts, and they needed to run. The burly bear cultists believed them and ran with them. The gang noticed the Chthonicist from last week, running alongside them.
The bears almost outran the players to the old mad surgeon's lab, which the group cleared out a couple weeks ago. The place had been picked clean, all evidence removed. The scientists were nowhere to be found and the room smelled like bleach. The head Ursus cultist ordered one of the novices to run back to the reliquary and tell the rest of the congregation they'd found a chaos beast. He ordered the others to prepare for a fight when the monster came through the door. He asked the gang if they wanted to help.
The group discussed helping him, but ultimately decided against it. They told the bear cult "good luck" and continued North to the bomb shelter.
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