Gloom & Gleam

June 20th, 2024

Maxwell and Henry are on their way to the nearest town. Maxwell decided it was about time to get Henry a new fit, and decide to visit a shop once in town. They notice the caravan has slowed down. Going ahead to investigate, it appears bandits are holding up the caravan and shaking people down for gold.

Maxwell goes up to intimidate them, but they aren’t scared since he’s outnumbered. Maxwell swings at one of the bandits and misses, causing him to reach for his weapon. Before drawing it out, Henry, who snuck behind them, nips at his heels, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. Maxwell swiftly uses the handle of his weapon to crush the other’s nose.

Surprised, the other two bandits run over to fight off Maxwell but see their friends on the ground in pain and run off in fear. They were obviously young and inexperienced. A gentleman named Bartholemew Angler was in the caravan and saw this. He asks Maxwell to meet him in Leechlin for help with a bit of a “quest.”

[Scene break to a train flying down the tracks]

Zor Shock is on a train and watches as the last of the 3 individuals he’s been tailing go into the last train car, the cargo hold. He peals off his seat to follow. Exiting the train car, he cuts the ties to the passenger car and climbs up onto the roof. While the bandits stick their heads out, shocked that they got disconnected, Zor sneaks through a hatch and drops onto an enemy.

He hits the ground hard, missing and falling into a pile of luggage. The thief turns around, shocked, as Zor slices upward with his great axe, cutting him in half. His blood flies in an arc across the train cart, splattering into the faces of the other two bandits.

He makes quick work of them and uses a magical satchel full of glass crabs that deconstruct and pack up the stolen goods he was tasked with retrieving. He gets a magical note from the merchant that someone stopped by and asked to meet Zor in Leechlin, where the train car stops.

[Scene change to a lab]

Qlannible is having a date with Vanghorn 132, while dissecting a body. Qlannible, quite famished, starts eating the specimen. Vanghorn gets mad and tells Qlannible this isn’t working out. Vanghorn 191, who was in the room, says, “Don’t worry, Qlannible, I’ll always love you!” Vanghorn 191 thinks that’s ridiculous and, in frustration, pulls out a gun and blows the head off 191. They argue some more, and Clannibal storms out. Vanghorn 121 rounds the corner, offering to start a life together somewhere else. He then pulls her into a test tube, where they teleport into another dimension.

They appear in the sky above Leechlin, in the middle of a thunderstorm, falling fast. Vanghorn 121 tumbles through the sky in glee before splatting into the ground. Qlannible slows her fall by flying, but near the ground gets hit by lightning and stunned. She falls in front of a gang, who abducts her to bring to Governor Edward.

{Scene change to a small hideout.]

 Edmund leaves his hideout and heads toward his next job. He sneaks into Edward's home to assassinate him. While sneaking through his home, he passes by a room with Edward’s sleeping daughter. He watches Edward exchange money for a mysterious package covered in cloth. After Edward is alone, he flings an arrow into his shoulder, pinning him into his chair. Edward tries begging for his life, mentioning his daughter, but Edmund swiftly ends him and shoves him into a chest.

Before leaving, he notices the newly delivered item on his desk raddling and bouncing. He uncovers it, and it’s a birdcage-sized glass container with a raging fairy, Qlannible. Edmund lets her out, and after taking a few fingers from Edward, they escape and dispose of the body in the river.

Edward receives an invite delivered by Whisper, and Canibal tags along.

[Scene break to a nice clothing storefront]

On his way into Leechlin, Maxwell stops at “Tailors and Tops,” run by Francis Frisker, to get a tailored jacket for Henry. It looks just like Maxwell’s.

[Scene break to a warehouse at night]

The party meets up at a warehouse, where they catch up after the last time they saw each other, and get introduced to Qlannible.

Bartholomew introduces himself, and his crazed father, and requests their aid in getting information from his father’s accomplices who were part of the Octogan Gang 30 years ago. They may have information on where a key is that contains the biggest haul of their lives. His father can’t recall, because he’s under the affect of something that made him lose his mind.

They accept, negotiating 100gp for each member they get information from. They will take the father in case anything jogs their memory or his.

July 18th, 2024

It’s about 10:00 p.m. on Thursday. The party decides to visit Griffin first since the illegal street fighting would likely take place at night. Zor uses a disguise kit on Ash to freshen up his disheveled appearance. With only an hour of travel by foot, they take off.

They decide to take the main road for safety. As they travel, they see only a few people out and about. Most anyone they see is keeping to themselves and avoiding eye contact, likely for their own safety rather than any nefarious reason.

Henry hears a bit of chatter and tells Maxwell, who takes a look around himself. A sewer grate left ajar draws his attention. He approaches, seeing what looks to be a thick, pink snake. “Is anyone there?” Qlannible approaches, seeing the oddity. Without hesitation, she swings her weapon down at it. It moves just in time as her weapon grazes it. They hear a loud chittering and take a few steps back.

Out from the sewers crawls a disgusting creature. Or is it a man? It appears to be a man whose cloth consists of scraps of cloth and drones of oily fur. He wears a rat mask and stares up at them with bloodshot, beady eyes. It stands low, baring its teeth that have been replaced with metal chompers.

It squeals out, “YOOOU HAVE DISTURBED OUR NEST. PAY THE PRICE, AND WE WILL LET YOU PASSSSSS.” It’s voice is squeaky and weird, almost cringy.

As the gang refuses to pay the toll, three more pull themselves from other manhole covers, chittering and clicking. “Do not disrespect THE SWARM! Give us your gold, or we will descend on your bodies and tear you apart!”

Maxwell attempts to intimidate them, but it falls short. Luckily, Qlannible is close behind, imposing a much scarier appearance. They shrink back but stand their ground. Saying that they will ask for only 50 gold coins and they are free to pass.

It occurs to Edmund that he recognizes this gang. They are at the lowest tier gangs, and are generally seen as weak, and are not respected. Knowing this, he taunts them. This upsets the Swarm, and they launch themselves at the party with a screech, “WE’LL TAKE THE GOLD OURSELVES THEN!”

The skirmish is quick. Maxwell slices an arm off the first as Qlannible catches it for a snack. Edmund turns to see one of them pulling out a flute and playing a tune as a swarm of rats pours out of the sewer. He quickly fires at the flute and misses, impaling his shoulder instead.

Zor lines up a shot and fires a beam of poisonous energy through two of them. As they are poisoned, their arms glow with green veins. While the nearest is reeling back from the attack, he swings his weapon, slicing its head cleanly off.

Edmund is swept up by the rats, who crawl up his body, biting and scratching at his clothes and carrying him farther from the flute player. Seeing this, Clanibal rushes forward, bearing her axe down on him. Making a critical strike, the flute player is obliterated.

Looting the bodies, they found some gold, random trinkets, and some jewelry. Maxwell, who held Ash back to keep him safe, lets him go. Ash runs to Edmund, muttering about how the poor child was hurt. He hugs him, attempting to comfort him.

Zor spots a shop with a light still on. It’s “Trinkets & Curiosities,” and they enter. Zor exchanges a mythical arrow and some jewelry for Boots of Spider Climb. The shopkeep, named Grit Crack, also sells masks, which is a common item for people to have in Leechlin. Maxwell gets a neck scarf that can be pulled up to his nose. They also buy a plague doctor mask for Ash, to further disguise him. At a loss for a mask that will fit Qlannible, Grit shuffles through a drawer, finding one of his daughter's dolls. He pulls off the face and holds it out to Qlannible, smiling. She LOVES it, and buys it happily. Lastly, Maxwell buys a cloak.

As they approach the Church of Barter, they see how it looks like a crawling hand from the wrist down. It’s ornately carved with spires and terraces between the fingers. As they round the back of the temple, they hear the sound of flesh meeting stone and a bit of quiet cheer from the onlookers. A squat-down, muscle-bound creature - perhaps the most battered half-orc you’ve ever seen - is smashing the face of a formerly beautiful half-elf. “DO YE YIELD?! DO YE YIELD? DO YEE YIELD?”

The Orc grunts before slamming the skull of his opponent into the cobblestone street with a dull thud. The body lies motionless. “Guess he yields,” says the orc as he *spits* onto the corpse. The crowd begins to exchange coins and cheers, “Griffin! Woo Woo! Griffin the great!”

Maxwell eagerly steps forward and challenges Griffin. Griffin drops a bag with 50gp in it as a bet. Maxwell confidently tosses in 66gp. Griffin smiles, respecting his confidence, and meets his bet at 66. With 132 in the pot, they drop any weapons and fight.

Maxwell does excellent work and lasts an incredibly long time. Griffin may be stronger, but Maxwell is quicker. However, with an unanticipated strike, Maxwell is defeated. Griffin was impressed at Maxwell's performance and strength.

The crowd cheers as the money is swept up, Maxwell is dragged away, and Edmund steps forward to fight. Edmund drops all his weapons except one hidden knife. He puts down a massive bet. Looking him up and down, Griffin laughs at his measly appearance and assumes him overconfident.

Their fight is short but tense. Edmund races around the ring, spending most of the time outside Griffin's reach, getting in 2-3 blows before Griffin can land one. “You slippery snake, get back here!” Regardless, Griffin's strikes are powerful, and Edmund finds himself dazed and battered. In a last-ditch effort, he pulls out his knife. Griffin seems unfazed as if this has happened before, but he looks disappointed. In a final bout, Edmund is defeated.

As Griffin turns and cheers at the crowd, Qlannible flies in at top speed, smacking Edmunds's hand and yelling, “TAG! I’M IN!” and slams into Griffin. Stumbling back, he turns around, surprised as Qlannible continually dive bombs him. Griffin has trouble making contact with Qlannible's tiny form, but manages to swat away her frantic swings. With one last strike, Qlannible flies up to his face, rolling her firsts into his chin like a punching bag. Griffin falls back into the sand, defeated. Qlannible sweeps up the winnings and cheers in victory.

After the battle, Griffin talks with the party. They mention “The Octagon Gang,” and Griffin asks to speak in a more private area. Moving to a secluded alley, He tells them what he knows. The things of note he says are

• “I always did like Ash.”

• “Ash told me, ‘I’m gonna hide it somewhere darker than my soul.’ So like.. Underground maybe?”

• “We spent a few years in the caves on the outskirts of town before it was overgrown. But, we were never able to find anything. And we definitely would have if something was there.”

After they speak, Griffin compliments their strength, with the exception of Edmund and his trickery. He does express remorse for not having a chance to battle their “metal friend,” Zor Shock. Zor Shock agrees he’s quite strong, and Griffin challenges him to an arm wrestling contest. Zor Shock wants to make it interesting, so he uses his spider boots to stand on the underside of a balcony, pulling up and Griffin pulling down.

In an impressive bout of strength, Zor is able to win, and Griffin laughs hardily. It’s at this moment that the party wonders if Griffin is truly an Orc. The way his face is shaped, they wonder if he’s simply an oversized goblin. Enjoying them, Griffin yells, “Here, let me teach you something!” and teaches them his signature grappling technique.

Going their separate ways, the party seeks lodging. They approach a small, run-down inn called the Red Herring. As they enter, they notice it’s ornately decorated with beautifully tiled floors. The woman at the front, Delilah, sells them a room and offers them drinks. They all go to sleep, with the exception of Clanibal, who stays up a little longer to drink and play games at the inn's small bar.

July 25th, 2024

Qlannible had a weird dream about someone saying that they were her mother. She said things like:

• “Child. Child, can you hear me?”

• “Oh, it’s so good to hear your voice. Please, tell me, how do you fair?”

• “What do you mean? You don’t recognize me?”

• “I’m sorry I’ve been gone from you for so long.”

• “I sensed your magic, and reached to you. I had to know if it was you.”

• “It’s good to hear your voice. But I can’t speak any longer, the place you are is shielded from my presence. Find your brother, and your sister. They can lead you to me. Go now, with hunger in your soul.”

Maxwell had a dream about his friend and teacher, General Thalo. It's a dream of training to summon the shadow knight with no success. Hours of determined attempts, sweating dripped down his neck. Shacking his head General Thalo, the ultimate master of the Echo Knight steps in “Alright Dralheart, that’s enough."

Silence for awhile.“Is their something bothering you?” asks Thalo. He smirks, “Hmm, I’ll tell you what’s wrong. You’re thinking of that girl from Gadberry aren’t you!” Dralheart flushes but laughs. Thalo teaches Dralheart that “There’s more to summoning your Echo than form and strength. It is an extension of you, all of you. You must focus every fascist of yourself. If you are holding back anything, you won’t be able to summon it.” Eventually, Maxwell DOES IT. 

Overnight, Edmund has a little hangout with Whisper and gets an update about his family. Whisper asked why Edmund wanted him to check on them. Avoiding telling Whisper it was his family, Edmund says he's checking for a friend, and they they aren't a target. They enjoy some time together in silence, and Whisper shares Edmund some of his small rations of bread. A great act of kindness.

Zor Shock locates his arm. Scaling a building and lights a boat on fire and steals it back from some pirates.

The gang goes to the Church of Barter and talks to Marco Paragoto. He mentions that Ash kept muttering the phrase “Inside her cage,” when asked where the key was.

The gang goes to a jail where Jemma is being kept. Talking to some guards, Maxwell discovers that she isn't scheduled to be relocated for another few days. Weird, considering Maxwell watched some people coming to the prison that seemed to be there to pick her up.

The others sneak to the top floor of the prison, but not without being unnoticed. They get Jemma out, causing a bit of a prison break. The prisoners start going down the stairs, fighting and overwhelming the guards. But when Zor looks over to the edge, he sees a cloaked figure absolutely ripping through them. He watched as a huge beefy prisoner char Like you saw a big beefy prisoner charged down the stairs, and a moment later, he was totally in half.

Zhor set a trap at the window, and they made a messy escape. Before running into the alley, Zor turns to see if his trap is set off. He watched as a cloaked figure stops at the window, looking out and making eye contact with him. It's unsettling, as it has no face and is instead wearing a ceramic doll-like fox mask. Before it can move, Zor's trap activates, and wires shoot from the walls and begin to wrap around it. As the wires pull tight around it, it's as if it disappeared and left the cloak. The cloth goes soft, letting the wires snap and wrap around the now-empty cloak. The doll's face tilts and falls out of the window. Then, like a homing missile frantically spinning through the air, it flies toward Zor.

They run, coming out of the alley and seeing a person unloading a cart and bringing a box into a shop. They hop in and drive the cart away. Having not yet unlocked Jemma's shackes, they question her. She seems very scared and is begging to be let go. During the ride she says “I remember one night before the gang broke up, Ash was doing a ton of research on portal magic and dark rites that could bind an object to another person. He said it was something for the next heist, but if that were the case, why was he being so secretive about it? And if he were planning another heist, why would he announce his retirement?”

It begins raining. The cart gets struck and jostled a few times. Then Maxwell sees the cloaked figure again wearing the mask in the middle of the street. Maxwell swings around the cart in an attempt to hit the Mask. Before making contact, the cloak goes slack, and the mask stays in place, flying above the swinging cart. As it passes by, its body rematerializes.

The cart swipe throws everyone out of the cart. They fight for a short time, and Edmund frees Jemma from the handcuffs.

August 15th, 2024

Jemma begins running away when let free, but decides to help and spins around, lobbing a fireball at the Mask. They fight for some time, and eventually, they seemingly defeat the Mask. As they finally catch their breath, thinking its all over, the Mask drops down behind Jemma and violently shoves a mask onto her face. Jemma screams against the porcelain as the Mask pulls her face into its own, the cloak of night absorbing Jemma. As the Mask disappears, Jemma's screams can still be heard, indicating she's likely alive.

Ash wanders off, and Maxwell follows after to find him while the rest of the party scales rooftops to find Jemma. Henry helps Maxwell find Ash. As they search, they run into Whisper. He bets that he can find Ash before Maxwell, who accepts even though he has no money. By some absolute miracle, Maxwell finds Ash first at an inn.

On the rooftops, they lose the trail they were following. Almost falling off the roof, Edmund sees the Wounded Rogue and suggests they nurse their wounds there. Maxwell gets to the Wounded Rogue first finding Ash happily eating some soup. No whisper in sight. The rest of the party comes in. Edmund sees the note on the wall about giving chef compliments. He does and they get special access to wounded rogue.

They go in and get some drinks. Get a menu of hitman jobs from the mysterious lady. They see a dragonborn. Talking with him, it's not who they’re looking for, but he hints at where he may be, indicating a bar where someone with The Toot's description was causing a scene.

They go to the bar and find the Toot and Alton fighting. Alton gets ready to throw a fireball into the tavern to burn the Toot out but gets redirected before obliterating the bar. Zor freezes them to try to get them to talk it out. They throw up and pass out. The party takes them to rooms to discuss in the morning.

October 25th, 2024

November 14th, 2024