04 - There has been a murder...

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Session 33 Summary

Reductio Ad Aurum, Rule 73 of the Whalen's School of Business Rules of Acquisition

  1. With the capture of Cloud, The Captains interrogate him to understand why he killed Qre
    1. It was an accident; they were fighting, and he knocked the Time Saver off of the desk, and it captured Qre
      1. He then took great pains to cover his tracks with the skills he had available
    2. The Captains don't buy it, are pretty sure it was premeditated
    3. They ask Gurak to decide Cloud's fate, and he says any justice will be through legal channels
      1. i.e., Ari, stop threatening him with a knife.
    4. Gurak also pays them for the work:
      1. Free use of the Identify machine
      2. Two Jump Jets
      3. 800 GP split among the party
  2. Everyone checks in with various people before leaving Qre Manor
    1. Shadow spends his time with Cloud, learning about Arcanotech and gaining a little proficiency, learning how it works
    2. Pucc and Zo convince Pekk to join the crew as a passenger; he will pay rent and do shows etc. on their journey
      1. They also tell Pekk that the cook is a super attractive woman named Joshaphina
    3. Ari and Haramosh have a brief romantic exchange with smooches
    4. Gyrnst talks with Dee-HD and convinces her to join them, with the promise of Rankora blood to be spilled
  3. The Captains recuperate back on the Bonanny Islands before they set off again to give Captain Jarllow's daughter her inheritance
    1. Pucc verifies that the Crabble egg he's carrying is still viable, and gets some "minced protein" from a petshop in The Bright Bazaar
    2. Ari learns that Frank should have some veggies with his dates
    3. Shadow and Gyrnst grab a cool drink
    4. And Pekk searches for opportunity, and meets only disappointment Josh

Session 32 Summary

  1. The Captains send Pekk, Cloud, and Gurak from the room, and examine the new evidence.
    1. Shadow and Zo put their heads together and determine that the handwriting in Qre's journal is a close match with Cloud
    2. Additionally, Zo and Gyrnst experiment with the voice replicator on the wall projects a near match of Qre's voice, but not perfect
  2. After some discussion, The Captains come to the conclusion that Cloud is the murderer.
    1. They call him into the room, tie him to a chair, and threaten torture unless he confesses
    2. He claims innocence, but Pucc sees through him.
    3. In a final act of defiance, Cloud casts a spell and plunges the room into pitch Darkness
      1. Just before he completes his spell, Pucc gets a shot and a stab on him.
  3. Fight!
    1. Cloud slips out of his binds and leaves the darkened area
    2. The Captains try many things to sus out his location:
      1. Ari swings her net around, and leaves the darkened space towards the door
      2. Shadow gets spooked, drops to the floor, and uses his inherent ability to control water to create rain in most of the room
        1. Not the part of the room Cloud is in, but it was a good idea!
      3. Zo creates a Flaming Sphere and blocks the door from egress
      4. Gyrnst has a panic attack in the darkness, and in his fear, runs out of the darkness and into Cloud
      5. Pucc follows Gyrnst, and wounds him seriously with additional stabbings
    3. Cloud, cornered and grievously wounded, surrenders.

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Detective Zo is on the case!

Session 31 Summary

  1. The session opens with Ari and Haramosh finishing their conversation
    1. Haramosh reveals that she is a a differently living person, a kind of undead known as a Borai.
    2. People tend to find it unnerving, and so she prefers to conceal that part of her.
    3. She also reveals that she went to speak with Qre last night, and saw Cloud leaving her room.
      1. When she went to knock, she heard Qre's voice telling her that she was busy and not to disturb her.
  2. The Captains then brought all the remaining suspects into Qre's room
    1. Haramosh was disconcerted, and did not want to be in a room with a corpse
      1. She went with Ari to a part of the room where she could turn her head to cover the blemish in her makeup.
    2. Pekk was the only one who didn't know about Qre, and surprise/scare vomited again in the doorway
      1. He tries to push Pucc for not warning him, but just kind of slips
      2. Gurak cleaned up after him, with Qre's last words echoing in the room as he came in.
    3. Cloud enters, slips on the vomit, and pops back up as though he didn't
      1. He is similarly disconcerted, but is able to keep control of himself
    4. Dee-HD confers with Zo and Gyrnst before entering
      1. She agrees to do a forensic check on the body
  3. Revelations!
    1. Pekk says the reason he and Qre were fighting is because he was experimenting in dubstep, and he didn't seem like he killed her.
    2. Dee-HD says there was no trauma on the body from blows, just the ravages of time-magic
      1. Qre's heart might have exploded trying to pump blood through frozen veins
      2. She says it could have gone off by anyone; expertise required to create a device like that, but anyone can make a mistake to cause problems with it
      3. She also asks if the captains have investigated the rest of the room or locked down a timeline for the murder
    3. The Captains collect hand-written alibis from everyone in the room
      1. Cloud's handwriting is fluid
      2. Pekk's handwriting is staccatoic[1]
      3. Haramosh is crisp and clean, easily readable
  4. After much discussion, some conclusions are drawn
    1. Haramosh and Dee-HD are deemed unlikely to be suspects, and are dismissed from the room
      1. Pekk is also deemed unlikely, but ends up being held at knifepoint by Ari
    2. Only Gurak, Pekk, and Cloud remain in the room
  5. In a dramatic turn, Zo casts Faerie Fire on the doorway, revealing a hidden piece of Arcanotech that Shadow instantly recognizes from his time in crime as a device to replicate other people's voices...

Session 30 Summary

  1. The Captains decide to interrogate the remaining suspects individually, and then bring them all into Qre's room at the same time.
    1. Each Captain will go to a room, and then a suspect will be brought to them.
    2. I (the DM) did not take great notes for this, so I am lifting from Pucc and Shadow's notes.
  2. Ari and Haramosh
    1. Haramosh is an alien, Advocatus Aeternus, Rho-Omega-Iota
    2. Ari thinks she’s hot
    3. She reads Ari’s mind and discovers news about Qre
    4. She claims she did not do it
    5. Ari gets a feeling that something isn’t quite right with her (too much make-up, cold feeling during mind-reading…)
    6. Ari wipes make-up off her face, and sees that the skin underneath is deathly white…
  3. Pucc and Pekk
    1. Pekk is a half-elf, Musician for hire
    2. Pucc makes a big show of coming into the room and trying to investigate things
    3. Pekk is stand-offish and clearly hungover
    4. Pucc tries to make Pekk see their similarities (forcefully, and while being vomited on)
    5. They figure out they were both adopted
    6. Pekk is a ReelTok musician and house minstrel
  4. Shadow and Drifting Cloud
    1. Drifting Cloud, Chief of Technology and Co-founder of Reeltok (Tabaxi - tuxedo cat)
    2. Cloud is proud of his tech accomplishments
    3. Cloud seems to have no major qualms with Qre; they are by and large on the same page
    4. He seemed surprised to discover that Qre was dead and expressed mourn
    5. He expressed disdain/judgment toward Duk, who rides Qres coattails and doesn’t work
  5. Gyrnst, Zo, and Dearnia Herevin
    1. Dearnia "Dee-HD" Herevin, ReelTokker (Gyrnst: Possibly former hywelglas assassin?
    2. Gyrnst thinks he may have misremembered or been thinking of someone else
    3. We established that DHD was an assassin
    4. She seems to have deduced what has happened with Qre, doesn’t seem perturbed.
    5. Heard Qre and Pekk fighting in a room upstairs, shows video of Pekk saying “You wouldn’t dare!” and then

Session 29 Summary

  1. We started off the session by doing a little retcon[2] and a brief TED-talk on technology.
    1. Rather than splitting the investigation into specific actions which may take different lengths of game time, the whole team will take turns in different phases
      1. Investigation
        1. Look for clues! Role checks, try things out, etc.
      2. Interrogation
        1. Talk with the suspects and bystanders and get a sense of who did what where
      3. Analysis
        1. Talk with each other to come to a consensus on what to do next
      4. With this in mind, we rewound Pucc and Gyrnst to be back in the room, and they did some investigation like with everyone else.
    2. I also introduced the concepts of Mechanotech, Electrotech, and Arcanotech
      1. This was relevant, as Qre is an Arcanotech hobbyist. Anyway, onward!
  2. Quick recap of the results from last session, with the retcon included.
    1. Zo transforms into a cat, and looks for other conversations she can eaves drop on, but unfortunately doesn't find much.
      1. However, having spent so much time exploring the castle, she has a pretty good mental map of the floors and rooms.
    2. Ari and Shadow investigate Qre's room, and discover that she had a safe behind the mirror
      1. They correctly guess the keycode as 48725, which is GURAK in T9/TKL
      2. The safe is full of documents
      3. Shadow also learned that Magic Mouth was used to leave the message[3] in Qre's voice.
    3. Gyrnst and Pucc investigate the broken clock to learn more about it.
      1. Pucc brings his hand close to the field to investigate it.
        1. He feels a sharp burning on his palm, and the hairs on the back of his hand grow longer, and he pulls away before anything more happens.
        2. He uses the Identify machine to scan the clock, and discovers that it is a Time Saver
      2. Gyrnst whips together a quick bottle of unfermented mead, and slides it into the magical field
        1. In his haste, he forgot to sanitize the bottle, and as he pushes it into the field, it quickly ferments, then is overwhelmed with fungus, and explodes, covering the room in sticky, smelly liquid.
        2. Some of it getting trapped in the field, and the fungus moves backward and forward in a similarly strange, glitchy manner as Qre
  3. The Captains looks for more clues and investigates the documents
    1. Pucc finds a work journal with some recent entries, and something feels off
      1. The journal are notes from her time troubleshooting and investigate the Time Saver, and the different things she's done to repair it/understand it
      2. The most recent entry is from the night before.
    2. Ari and Shadow look through the documents from the safe and find a Will and a copy of the sale agreement for ReelTok
      1. The Will has several key names:
        1. Gurak inherits the manor
        2. Duc gets a significant amount of wealth
          1. Duc is identified by Gurak as Qre's brother
        3. Drifting Cloud gets Qre's Arcanotech workshop.
          1. Cloud is identified by Gurak as the cofounder of ReelTok
    3. Zo (as a cat) and Gyrnst look for any other broken pieces of clock, but don't find anything
  4. They called Gurak back up to ask more questions
    1. Gurak was surprised to discover that he was inheriting the manor.
    2. He also immediately identified the handwriting in the journal as fraudulent.
      1. The last two entries in particular, from the night before and a few days earlier.
    3. They decide to bring up Duc and Cloud one-by-one to gauge their reaction
  5. Zo and Gurak go back downstairs to retrieve Duc and Sweet Heart, and the remaining Captains perform one last experiment
    1. Zo almost alerts the other party members that something is wrong with Qre, but manages to get Duc and Sweet Heart to come up with her
      1. Whenever Duc speaks, Sweet Heart echoes the key sentiment from his words.
    2. Shadow sticks his hand in the field, Pucc pulls Shadow from the field, and Ari shoots the clock, releasing Qre's body[4]
      1. When Shadow's hand gets pulled into the field, he suffers tons of nerve damage, crazy bruising, weird circulator issues, and the damage and shock almost kills him
      2. Pucc quickly casts healing magic to restore him
      3. Ari checks Qre to verify that she's dead,[5] then checks her pockets to see what else she finds.
        1. What she doesn't find are tools or anything that she would use to work on the Arcanotech; just pens and regular pocket stuff.
  6. The Captains interrogate interview Duc and Sweet Heart
    1. Reminder: every time Gurak enters the room, the Magic Mouth spell triggers and the message is relayed.
    2. Duc, initially standoffish with Zo, is overwhelmed when he sees his dead sister, and Sweet Heart comforts him.
    3. They ask Duc some questions, and find that he:
      1. Doesn't think anyone would try to kill her
      2. Thinks that Drifting Cloud is against the acquisition
      3. They get a sample of his handwriting, and verify that he has different hand-writing quirks compared to his sister.[6]
    4. He also identifies the other party members:
      1. Haramosh (an offworlder alien), Advocatus Aeternus, Rho-Omega-Iota
      2. Drifting Cloud, Chief of Technology (tabaxi)
      3. Dearnia "Dee-HD" Herevin, ReelTokker
        1. Zo recognizes she is a famous ReelTokker
        2. Gyrnst recognizes her as a former assassin for The Hywelglas
      4. Pekk (half-elf), Musician for hire
        1. Remains a mystery....
    5. As Duc and Sweet Heart leave, Sweet Heart pats Duc on the back and says "I love you" in Qre's voice.

Session 28 Summary

  1. Frank leads The Captains to a the "mountain", which turns out to be a tall Scottish castle
    1. Fed with dates and using his little grasping hands to tug on Ari's ear, he takes them to a turn-off from the main residential road.
    2. Shadow picks up on various cameras and surveillance technology, as well as large-scale camouflaging, and warns everyone they're being watched.[7]
    3. Zo and Pucc scope the place out, and discern there's anywhere from 4 to 8 guests currently at the house, and almost turn back when they realize Pucc can cast Identify.[8]
    4. Pucc recognizes the big knockers[9] on the door and realizes this was the same castle he was at the night before!
    5. The Captains trade several plans to get into the castle, eventually ending with Shadow just knocking on the door.
  2. They are greeted by Gurak the Butler, who appears to have been watching them the whole time.
    1. After a brief exchange, Gurak explains that his master is interested in arcanotech novelties, and invites them into the foyer.
    2. While The Captains wait, they wager how long it will take for Ari to kill someone; but before they can run their betting to its full course, Gurak returns, pale and shaken
    3. He leads them through the servants tunnels up to the master's quarters, where they find Qre in suspended animation over a strange broken clock.
  3. As they enter, Qre's voice echoes through the room:
    1. "Gurak, I have been murdered, killer unknown. Trust the high falutin captains, but no one else. I love you. I love you. I love you."
    2. The room itself is well appointed; minimalist, modern nest aesthetic, with a private bathroom, in-room washbin, and a workshop where she is suspended with many of her ongoing projects.
    3. Gurak explains that the party was to celebrate the acquisition of ReelTok by Rho-Omega-Iota
  4. The party splits up to investigate different things:
    1. Zo transforms into a cat, and looks for other conversations she can eaves drop on, but unfortunately doesn't find much.
      1. However, having spent so much time exploring the castle, she has a pretty good mental map of the floors and rooms.
    2. Ari and Shadow investigate Qre's room, and discover that she had a safe behind the mirror
      1. They correctly guess the keycode as 48725, which is GURAK in T9/TKL
      2. The safe is full of documents.
    3. NOTE: THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN RETCONNED.
      1. Gyrnst and Pucc follow Gurak downstairs into the dining room, and meet the rest of the guests.
        1. Guests: Another aarakocra (who resembles Qre) and a Kenku, a tuxedo tabaxi, a gorgeous lashunta, and a half-elf minstrel plucking a lute talking with a dwarven woman.
          1. The half-elf minstrel is the spitting image of Pucc; they could be brothers.
        2. Pucc immediately tries to blend in and sidles up the aarakocra and kenku
        3. Gyrnst recognizes the dwarven woman as Dearnia Herevin, a former assassin/special agent for The Hywelglas before the house fell
          1. Dearnia introduced the half-elf as Pekk

Session 27 Summary

  1. Zo chose to sleep outside, and discovered that all the bodies on the beach had vanished
    1. She tried to find any trace of what happened, but in the end concluded the bodies were taken by the Elder Deep...
  2. The Captains wake up slowly and meet Skavin in the dining room
    1. Captain Jarllow has left the house to her, and she has to go to the bank to wrap up the details.
    2. Pucc makes some BOMB scrambled eggs
    3. Ari and Zo discover an Arboreal Turtle and befriend it
      1. Zo uses mystical druid power to speak with the turtle telepathically, and attempts to ascertain the location of a wizard who can help them identify the Mysterious Cube
      2. They name the turtle Frank, and it tells them that a "powerful monkey-person who is has no hair" lives in a "big rock with peaks and shining lights"
        1. He likes dates.
  3. The Captains decide to go to town and restock
    1. Ari buys dates, Gyrnst buys ingredients for mead, everyone does some shopping
      1. Shadow slips away from the crew and buys a Poisoner's kit
    2. Pucc has an awkward conversation with Josh, in which he's given a pungent bologna sandwich
      1. Josh is later "gifted" a cookbook from The Captains and told that experimentation was not something to be tolerated in the kitchen
    3. Pucc also met Professor Tremble, and remembered that he had an unborn Crabble egg in his pack
      1. He hasn't done anything to care for it, so maybe it's dead? Uncertain, not worth investigating.
  4. As the session wrapped up, The Captains reconnect and set their sights in the direction that Frank told them of the big rock the powerful hairless monkey lives in...

Session 26 Summary

  1. Everyone splits up their time at the house!
    1. Pucc, Shadow, and Gyrnst search the dead pirates for loot and treasure
      1. The loot
        1. Big haul! 345 GP for everyone and the gear described below.
        2. The hard-light saber and plasma pistols need to be repaired
      2. Pucc then went in search of an instrument
        1. He rolled a 0, and found his way up to the door of a scottish castle, and was greeted at the door by a butler with nothing but a bow tie and an elaborate mask
      3. Shadow and Gyrnst checked the basement of the house to look for other rooms
        1. They discovered two huge casks of wine, entered a drinking contest, and Shadow lost.
        2. They forgot about the other rooms.
    2. Zo and Skavin went up to Captain Jarllow's old cabin-room and searched for his treasure
      1. Skavin reveals that she was attacked by Saskan, the former first mate to Captain Jarllow on The Pikey Goblin
        1. Captain Jarllow was supposed to sell the ship to Saskan, but an offworlder swooped in at the last minute and offered him more than double what Saskan was going to pay
        2. He took the money, bought The High Falutin, and left with Skavin that night
      2. They find the safe, and Zo guesses the code on the first try[10]
    3. Ari interrogated and tortured the captive crew member
      1. He said some rude and racist things about tortles, and she made sure he would never forgot
        1. She cut off 3 fingers, cut out both eyes, and removed his tongue
  2. They reconnect when Pucc is escorted home by the HOA Gendarme, and they search the house for where Defromora might be
    1. Shadow knocks over a trashbin and discovers an old envelope from Defromora to Captain Jarllow, and the return address is in Corellon's Crown
  3. Next session: shopping!

Gear

Item Number
Battleaxe 1
Hard-light saber 1
Potion of Water Breathing 2
Potion of Climbing 1
Potion of Heroism 1
Plasma Pistol 2
Standard Batteries 3
Dagger 8
Rapier 4
Scimitar 1

  1. Get it, like the musical notation? Seriously though, it's very sharp, like someone who's mostly used to written musical notation. ↩︎

  2. Which I just discovered translates to "Retroactive Continuity." ↩︎

  3. "Gurak, I have been murdered, killer unknown. Trust the high falutin captains, but no one else. I love you. I love you. I love you." ↩︎

  4. She is definitely dead. ↩︎

  5. She's super dead. ↩︎

  6. She writes using tight, neat handwriting, and his is more languorous. ↩︎

  7. Ari immediately flips off the cameras. ↩︎

  8. Unfortunately, Identify requires a pearl worth 100GP, which none of them have... ↩︎

  9. 8m08.gif ↩︎

  10. 123456 ↩︎