Session Date: 05/11/2025
Inky’s player is out today.
The Heist Start
Getting Gust
As Iskra, Kestrel St. Clair, Dia, Rohan, and Inky enter the hotel, they notice that Peregrine and Adelaide Corvo are leaving the hotel, just as planned. Rohan is staying going up to keep watch nearby in the hallway, while Arythas remains outside with Vitalii and the getaway vehicle. Arythas is in his elf form.
Kestral, Iskra, Inky, and Dia make it to the top area where Gust is. He’s collared and chained. Dia rushes over to him and rouses him, and Iskra prepares by casting speak with animals. Gust nuzzles up against Dia and Iskra can hear Gust saying “family” while nuzzling against her. He notices that he speaks like an animal and not a person. Iskra explains that we are going to help him, and Dia takes a moment to step away and steal some items from her father to inconvenience him. She also puts a knife on his travel trunk with a knife driven through it.
The note reads:
You have taken enough of my family. Now I’m going to take them back.
Inky gets the collar off of Gust, and he grows confused. He asks if they’re going to fly, and between Dia and Iskra, yes, they are. He’s confused by this because master isn’t there, but he isn’t put off by it. He’s basically just nervous because this is out of the ordinary.
Dia explains that they are going to turn invisible and he confirms flying.
Rohan & Pratima
Rohan is conversing with the team, standing outside of the room and keeping watch. Suddenly there’s a strange noise and Pratima comments: ah, there you are. She gets all up in Rohan’s personal space and Rohan is surprised, glad to see that she made it. Pratima comments that it’s fine: we left her, and now things no longer hurt and it was a mistake to resist mother. She also comments that father has been asking about him as well.
Rohan realizes that things are screwed up and he wriggles out of her grasp and immediately runs, letting Arythas knows he’s coming in hot. Dia and Gust makes it down, and Dia explains that she’s about to cast some spells, but to make sure to keep her on his back if he gets scared. Dia quickly tells Kestrel to leave with the collar, and then Rohan jumps out of the window and quickly runs to us.
Pratima glides out of the window and Taraaq explains that basically she’s magically possessed, but people always are fighting back and we might be able to break it, or at least confuse her - it sounds as though someone’s trying to break in.
Pratima comes up and Dia, invisible, sneaks up and uses a spell to transfer the possession to herself so that Pratima can speak. Once the spell goes off, Dia and Pratima both scream and Dia becomes visible.
Pratima explains that she’s going to have to report everything she sees to their mother and father once they get back, so she begs us to shut things down now and leave before she learns anything since she will not be able to resist. She reassures Rohan that she forgives him for leaving her, she loves him, and there’s others like her but Rohan is the only one that’s actually free. She expresses he cannot be caught.
Dia in Corporate Hell
Dia comes to in a dingy poorly-lit cubicle, with a a sign that says “You don’t have to be damned to work here.” on it. There’s a keyboard with numbers, but it’s nonsensical.
A demon that is human sized in a suit with a cup of possibly? coffee? comments that Dia is perhaps clever, and that Rohan is choosing his friends well. He explains that he needs Rohan back, and Dia says that we will not let him anywhere near Rohan. The demon explains he likes his own type of mayhem, and we are going to be very known to an influential group of people in Adelaide’s cult.
He starts to explain that once the little shit that’s helping Rohan (Taraaq) is taken into custody - and then he receives a report that Taraaq defeated all of the guys he sent.
The demon explains that he now has a way into Dia’s head, and once he worms into her head, he’ll use her to kill all of her friends and leave Rohan alive.
Moving On
We convince Rohan that there is nothing we can do for Pratima at this time. We all understand the burden that Rohan shoulders, but there was nothing he could do then, just as there’s nothing we can do right now. He agrees reluctantly, admitting he knows there’s nothing he can do, as much as he wishes to help. Arythas promises that we will not leave him behind, but at this time we need to move.
It’s time to turn Gust back into a human. Inky, Iskra, and Dia work together to work the ritual, and after a long weaving of magic, August lies on the ground where gust was. Dia wraps a blanket around him as Gust tries to stand on all fours, falling when that doesn’t work. He’s making animal noises rather than trying to speak.
Dia asks if he remembers her, and it’s clear that he doesn’t understand what she is saying. Iskra suggests trying to share memories of August back when he was human, and Dia explains there are no memories. She tries to share sketches of the compound, but August doesn’t understand. Dia breaks down and starts crying. Iskra gives her a side hug and then gives August a physical, and finds that he’s okay.
Iskra explains to Dia that we need to treat him gently as he’s basically like the thuuls when they gain control.
Soldos enters not too long after and explains he has our transport ready. He does admit that the guy is a bit weird, but we’re not phased at this point. We get him dressed and get him to his transport.
At the end of the alley is massive black carriage, and saxophone music. He’s in an undertaker outfit with a top hat, sitting atop the wagon with a silver sax. He’s a duskwalker man and he greets us, asking if we’re the people we need transported. We confirm, and we hop on in as he comments he hopes we don’t mind company.
Smilin’ Shaz Sanders is his name.
The inside of the carriage is larger than the outside, and it’s pretty comfortable. We will still need to camp over night, but the actual inside is lovely. The sax starts to play and we get a New Orleans procession as the carriage starts to move and ghosts appear outside, more music playing.