Session 259, Part Three
Denouement Scenes
Group Portrait
Captain Rutger Smith knocks at Gupta’s door. With him is Bartholomew Pryce, editor of the newspaper Pryce of Progress, Kieran Sentacore and Khaled Valchek. They have stopped by to invite the ‘Heroes of Lanjyr’ to this week’s meeting of the Flint Society of Rumschatologists. Smith doesn’t expect a speech or anything, but he says that Pryce has been experimenting with the new field of photography, and they would like to record a picture of the party for posterity. Even if they can’t all come, Smith hopes that there might be some event coming up where all the heroes will be together at once.
He admits it might seem a little strange for eschatologists, who are supposed to be paying attention to how things will end in the future, to care about recording events that have already happened. But Smith explains that as he sees it, endings only matter in context, and as we prepare for the end, those who survive us should be able to remember us, both our faces and the lessons we learned.
Valchek says he has raised funds to build a great Cathedral. Ironic that its priests will now be drawing upon radiant fire, not the Icy End of the World! (Valchek would go on to become the first Bright Pope of Rumschatology, though a schism would soon arise, when the Icy End is discovered to be very much a ‘thing’, with one branch of the church embracing radiance and positivism; another branch - led by the 'True Pope', Thurgid Ironspoon, extolling Ice and the cold embrace of the End.)
The Body is Missing
Leon is escorted by Battalion trainees into a bunker beneath the military base. Gas lamps flicker along the walls, each placed near a sign that reads “Special Clearance Required For Entry.” Guards stand at attention in front of a series of security doors and salute as Leon passes.
As they walk, one of the escorts confesses to Leon that he’s read his thesis, and thinks it should be standard training for all Battalion recruits. At the end of the final hall waits Minister of Infiltration Lauryn Cyneburg and Dr. Wolfgang von Recklinghausen. Inside the room, bright lamps illuminate an autopsy table, now empty, but stained with purple blood. A chalkboard on the wall hosted a diagram of some alien monster.
Lauryn informs Leon that the monster was found by roving diviners working for the Battalion, and after they killed it with an excess of bullets, its body was brought here and the doctor was brought in for his expertise.
Dr. Von Recklinghausen cut it open, tested its organs for magic potentiality, and saw no sign that the thing was capable of walking its way out of the facility. But when he came this morning, the body was missing. Guards were stationed here the whole time, and no one reported seeing it leave.
To be clear, Lauryn says, the thing isn’t a Gidim, and it isn’t from any plane they’re aware of. She wonders if the party saw anything like it in the Gyre. Then she offers her opinion that, honestly, she would have kinda liked the pirate plane. She thinks she’d look dashing with an eyepatch.
Back to business, though, she says the more worrying development is that the same time this disappeared, secret research about the psychic vulnerabilities of the Gidim went missing. She asks whether they should notify the REID, or try to resolve this themselves. Leon says something enigmatic about 'scouting for answers' but won't be drawn further on his meaning for now.
Government Issue
Stover Delft guides Quratulain in to meet a half-dozen new recruits. Amielle, under the watchful eye of elite Risuri soldiers clad in black gentleman’s suits and top hats, is clearly delighted as she instructs the recruits. She twirls a pair of firearms by their trigger guards and explains the specifications of the newest technology.
Quratulain’s lantern blaster (the basic model, without the freeze ray or the shrink ray) is now standard issue for all personel. Upon seeing Quratulain, Amielle adopts a mock serious tone and confesses that she was once an Ob member and exchanged fire with the unit, but because of the wisdom of the king, she was able to reform and help Risur to defeat her erstwhile allies. That’s why it’s important, she jokes, to shoot your enemies in their kneecaps, in case you change your mind.
One of the recruits raises his hand and asks if that’s how Chief Inspector Delft got his limp.
Delft then uses Amielle to demonstrate the proper use of mage-cuffs on a suspect – the new versions even work on ghosts! He laments that the ribbon of gold in the cuffs probably needs to be removed, now that it doesn’t block teleportation anymore and is about to move on to a tour of the underground cells, when another recruit asks if they can test their marksmanship against Quratulain, who’s said to be an even faster shot than the legendary Matunaaga.
She agrees to indulge them (ignoring Delft’s caveat about her ‘condition’), and Delft shouts to Officer Dima to bring out the ‘good silver’. A minute later he returns with a bundle full of knives, swords, and machetes that once belonged to Lorcan Kell.
Delft walks out 70 feet from the firing line where wooden targets have been set up, and then he stabs the weapons through the back of the targets so they poke forward. With a grin he spits some chewing tobacco on the front of the target and smears it to make a rough angry face with two eyes and a down-turned mouth.
“The late Duke of Slaughter,” he says with a bow. His prop completed, he gets back to safety and lets the crew bond over blowing away the famous scoundrel.
Telescope in the Clouds
Followers of the late and beloved skyseer Nevard Sechim have called a meeting with civic and business leaders to discuss a proper commemoration. For promotional reasons the meeting occurs on the roof of Heward Sechim’s factory in Parity Lake, beginning about an hour before sunset (giving you an opportunity to showcase what the industrial sector of the city looks like today).
Heward Sechim has asked for Gupta to help arbitrate the dispute. Gale leads the contingent of skyseers, and as a stunt she has created a column of clear air directly above the factory, so that the blue sky overhead contrasts with the smoke covering the rest of the district. The skyseers are requesting that the factories must develop a way to capture their smoke and keep it out of the air, which the factory owners balk at as unworkable.
Gale argues that since the heavens have changed, the work of the skyseers is now more important than ever, so that the people of Risur can best understand their place in the multiverse. One factory owner, Boothman Drumpf, scoffs and says that what the people of Risur want is a return to normalcy, with no more magic or prophecies. He’s tempted to just burn extra coal in spite, to drive the skyseers out of Flint.
Gupta speaks for the sovereign, and for the new titan of the mountains, when she says that the new alignment of planes will reduce the need for burning fuel. Edicts will soon be issued by the new Principal Minister, detailing the manner in which factories must be modified.
As a final rejoinder, Gale says that the skyseers want to lay claim to Cauldron Hill. Since its peak is often above the clouds, they’d like to build a telescope observatory, paid for by a new ‘clear sky’ tax on industries that produce smoke and other ill vapors. As Governor, she is inclined to grant permission, but is waiting to hear from the king.
As the meeting winds down, the sun begins to descend in the new west, which has the unfortunate effect of revealing that, y’know, the pollution kinda makes for a beautiful sunset.
A New Underworld
Bendick, a family bravura and long-term admirer invites Gupta to attend the funeral of a murdered young girl named Nilana in Stray River, a reminder that sorrows still exist in the new world. It’s a traditionally Crisillyiri affair, though the liturgy is somewhat self-conscious since the memories of the god trials are still fresh.
After the ceremony ends, Morgan Cippiano meets Gupta on the veranda. He hopes there’ll be an offer to find justice for Nilana, but in any event he wants to discuss how he and his family can help keep order. As long as there’s anger, jealousy, suffering, and desperation, people are going to commit crimes, and there should be some structure to the criminal underworld, so that even the criminals have a code they won’t violate.
Morgan admits, after all he’s been through, he doesn’t want to keep corralling finger-breakers and smugglers, but he also can’t just turn over his people to the law, or else he’ll lose their trust. He asks if perhaps Gupta would consider joining the Family and becoming involved in its affairs. After all, she has plenty of experience with conspiracies.
If it sweetens the deal, he can introduce her to a quite talented tailor. Gupta accepts and Morgan pours them both a glass a wine and toasts their good health.
Gupta leaves without Bendick, letting him down gently once again. She has grown tired of romantic dalliances, and is focused on spending time with her newly reunited family. (With a small F.)
Just few weeks later, Cippiano receives missives from the king, offering an amnesty for all those who emerge from the shadows and establish legitimate business interests. The king’s knowledge of the extent of their organisation is surprising.
Borne Again
In the hangar in Pemberton’s no-longer-secret Archipelago lair, the vast, uninhabited body of Borne is recumbent. Kasvarina Varal is here with her daughters Dala and Launga, who have come with their ‘brothers’ Conquo and Borne – strapping hill-giant-sized youths – to witness the opening of Borne’s immense steel shell. Benedict Pemberton is eager to get his hands on the secret innards of the colossus, but he puts on a very convincing show of insisting that his interest is for the public good.
Alden Wondermaker has come to represent the King of Risur, and insist that Pemberton work together with Risuri technologists to share whatever can be learned from the combined genius of Oddcog, Grappa and Quital. “Of course, of course…” says Pemberton, rubbing his hands, as his gnolls prize the chest plate open using enormous, magically reinforced cranes.
All of this wrangling is of secondary interest to Leon (who brought everyone here). He has an important question to ask Kasvarina, but since she has had her family returned to her, he fears he knows the answer. He goes ahead and tries anyway, and she says no.
Returning his attention to the colossus, he smiles when others gasp.
It is empty! All the cogs and complex machinery gone.
(In his own secret lair in the Anthras Moutnains, Uncle Uru couldn’t help but chuckle.)
Unmasking
The Old Stag wants to rehabilitate the image of the Vekeshi Mystics. In a public event in Dawn Square, publicized in the local papers days in advance, a dozen members of the Vekeshi Mystics come out in their ornate ceremonial robes and masks. In front of a crowd of several hundred, they reveal themselves one by one, explaining that they sought positions in society where they could be a force to help the common man without resorting to violence.
Leon and Gupta do so too, Leon removing the mask of the Unseen Court in the process, and becoming fully visible. He is stepping down from that role too.
Thanks to the long-running publicity campaign launched by the king, in support of Gale, the Governor of Flint, the reaction to this gesture is not hostile. There is a worldwide mood of reconciliation, boosted still further by the king’s most recent surprise announcement.
Still, the crowd is surprised when a half-orc bounds onto stage. Damata Griento, who has been hobnobbing with railroad builders in Risur, says that he sympathizes with these masked men and women. He explains that during the Great Eclipse, when his nation of Ber was in peril and its leaders were taking the wrong course, he too put on a mask. He too fought and hurt law enforcement officers who were doing their duties, and once even killed an agent of the Obscurati.
Today everyone sees the Ob as the villains, and so his actions are viewed as noble, not criminal. But he wants the people of Risur to consider the intentions of the Vekeshi. They acted not in self-interest, but to fight back against forces they felt were a threat to innocents.
Everyone gives him a polite round of applause, although his words were largely redundant.
Flagship Airship
Korrigan, Kai and Quratulain ride in a carriage with Lord Inspector Nigel Price-Hill and Principal Minister Alden Wondermaker. Wondermaker is concludes a briefing about the new…he pauses at the amusing word… ‘President’ of Danor. (Naz Duchamps, whose friendship with Korrigan has brought him on in the world.)
The Lord Inspector turns to a ‘more serious’ topic, as a joke. He insists that the peak of Cauldron Hill be used as the site for a monument to the monarch and those who saved the world. He knows it will upset the skyseers who want their telescope, but he’d rather the city’s most prominent landmark not be controlled by a backward-looking religious cult.
Before the conversation goes too long, the carriage approaches the sound of cheering and music. Looking out the window, the group could see crowds gathered on the bridge to the Royal Shipyard. The assembled citizenry of Flint sing a stirring rendition of the Risuri national anthem, and then the carriage stops at the royal docks. Any other PCs who weren’t in the carriage are already present, along with Stover Delft.
Delft welcomes them, and turns to present the new airborne flagship, ready for launch: the RNS Possible.
Delft then gestures to a stage on the docks ahead, where a crowd of dignitaries await. He runs through the names of three constables – Erik Freund, Cynthia du Emorie, and Laureen Zell – who will be receiving medals for cracking the case of an extraplanar monster that was lurking in the sewers under Parity Lake. They’ll be coming aboard for the maiden voyage of the new vessel. Hopefully no royal siblings will be along for the ride this time.
King Baldrey gives a speech to the ecstatic crowd. Then a bottle of champagne is brought forth, and the monarch smashes it against the hull, launching the ship for a first voyage in this new age.
A Dock Opera
This would turn out to be the last time the surviving members of the unit came together in one place:
On barges in Flint Harbor that were once a floating reformatory, a gaggle of dockers are decorating for an upcoming performance to remember those who died in the aftermath of the Great Eclipse.
Thames Grimsley coordinates hundreds of vibrantly-dressed men and women, and has a specific role in mind for the members of the unit: pall-bearers for an empty coffin.
The concert will be a memorial, and Grimsley wants at least four of the ‘Heroes of Lanjyr’ to help carry the coffin onto the stage, then place it on a pedestal high at the rear. It will serve as a focus for the more sombre songs, which will be performed by musicians from throughout Flint and even further afield. But the plan is for the concert to switch to a more celebratory, uplifting tone, and at the night’s end the coffin will be set adrift, to be carried away with the tide, inspiring the whole city to think of the whole wide world.
Thames would also love Gupta to perform, and to sing one of the more famous ditties composed by the late Rock Rackus, who has not been seen since before the Great Eclipse, or shown up since he threw himself into the Gyre.
During the discussion, the gnoll Glaucia Evora briefly interrupts and complements King Baldrey on how the conditions for workers in Parity Lake have improved. She suggests they meet some time about establishing a branch of the Executores dola Liberta here in Flint, but admits that she is sincerely interested to experience Risuri musical culture.
Later that evening, as ships float all around the flotilla of barges that make up the stage, Thames personally rows a longboat while the unit and other pallbearers (lit by spotlights designed by Alden Wondermaker) hold the empty casket. A druid on stage sings a traditional funeral song, and as the ship reaches the barge and the unit carries the casket onto the stage, she reaches the end of the song.
People watching from dozens of anchored boats cheer.
Then, as they near the pedestal where the casket should lie, it shudders in their hand. A muffled voice comes from inside the box, urgent, and one of the other pallbearers panics and lets go of the coffin. The crowd gasps in shock, and the spotlights fixate on the casket. Its lid flies off and white fog pours out.
From the fog rises a skeletal hand, and then the woman it belongs to pulls herself out and pirouettes as she lands on the stage. It is a dancer from the plane of Iratha Ket, her bones painted and her clothes colourful and somehow curvaceous despite her lack of flesh. Then she reaches back into the casket and helps out Lady Beshela, who emerges gracefully and nods to the PCs. Then Beshela extends a hand to help a third person out of the coffin.
A gold pistol, encrusted with diamonds, rises out of the fog, and Beshela grabs the barrel and yanks, pulling up Rock Rackus. The audience screams in disbelief as Rock climbs from the casket (completely stealing attention away from those who died, like the naughty word celebrity he is).
“I’ve got a long story to tell you,” he says, as music begins to play out of nowhere, “but I think you know where it starts.” He breaks into his famous song – I Had a Threeway – about how he got into trouble for having two lovers at once (though the unit now knows it was always one and the same person). The crowd sings along, while Beshela and the skeleton spin and dance around him. Occasionally he’ll break into normal speech to explain that Risur and the Dreaming are his two lovers now, and he hopes they can be together forever.
He finishes to thunderous applause, and while his fans cheer he leans in close to Uru and says he’s got a dungeon he’d like to go plundering with him some time.
Lady Beshela has some more serious news. Her mistress has sensed another alien presence in the Cold Claw Sea. Not the gidim again, they know that signature now; nor the Deep Ones, who are all gone. Beshela has investigated and believes that whatever beings are there now have come to Lanjyr through its connection with Mavisha, entering the world via the Yerasol Archipelago. She describes the beings as best she can, and it becomes obvious she is talking about the terrifying savants of Shabboath. There must have been more than one of them!
Korrigan nods and says they have their first alien invasion to deal with.
Meanwhile, Thames’s elaborately-planned event devolves into an impromptu jam session as Rock cheers on or duets with all the other performers, encourages Gupta to sing with him, and occasionally drops songs about how he escaped the Gyre and found his way back home, to the city and the people he loves. As the concert comes to a close, he announces that he’s running for Governor. (Gale, who is present, says she wasn’t all that attached to the role anyway, and would like some time to focus on her newfound family life. She throws her arm around Isobel Travers and they share a brief kiss.)
Out in the dark of the night, a deep ululation sounds—the approval of the fey titan, She Who Writhes. With that, Rock and Beshela dive into the sea and are carried away on an immense wave.