Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

The team stocks up at ATF, and Test and Carol call their local contacts, getting a brief on what the broad situation in Chicago is currently. Feeling a little more grounded, they locate a secure coffin motel on the Westside with a good rep and a price to match. They head there, clean up, stash some gear, and then head to Horde territory to find a smuggler to drive them into the CZ to their meet. They end up hiring a Skraacha member after Kinnie helps him tune up his van and he gives Carol some shit about not knowing Or’zet. They reach the Purple Pig without trouble, and find 3 other teams also interviewing. They play it cool and 6 Cyl makes friends with 2 laconic street sams.

They meet with Sarah Silverleaf, who flirts aggressively with the more charismatic team members, which only Test rejects. They banter for quite a while, with 6C offering an extensive breakdown on his pseudo-relationship with Zeha Cadgris. They head back outside while the 4th team interviews, and then get the job- some of the other teams seems annoyed but only the Silver Vixens are at all aggro. The team shakes it off and heads into the back to get the job deets. They then head down to Goober’s dock near the Calumet port to stock up on water gear and meet their sub pilot.

He sells them some last minute gear, and they head out. They reach the former Yamatetsu facility without incident, though the sub creaks and groans a lot. One of the 3 modules is completely wrecked, and the connecting shaft between the other 2 is damaged. Luckily, the moon pool in the top module is intact, so they head up through there without getting wet. They check out the module, which seems long abanonded, though repairable, aside from a scattering of small, well-tended plants. They get some air flowing again to clear out the rotted fish smell, and investigate, finding nothing of note until they stumble across a teenage girl sleeping amidst a pile of tech devices in a storage closet.

They grab her to keep her from fleeing, and question her, not getting a ton of info. However, once they agree to repair her “busted” tech, which turns out to just be a case of drained batteries, and repair the saltwater osmosis generator for her to keep recharging stuff, she becomes much friendlier, and goes to fetch a massive man who seems to run security for whatever community is here. He agrees to bring them down to meet 2 others who he say know more about what they seek. A few team members stay back with Goober and the sub, but most head down, squeezing through the busted elevator shaft and then swimming a short distance to the other module, where they find a small crowd of humans of various ages waiting.

Conversing with an elderly man named Ryujin, Avocado and Alyin make their purpose semi-clear, and are ushered back to meet Dr. Urashima. He gives them the data core they seek in return for 3 things: a ride to the surface, help finding him an appropriate new place, and help finding an appropriate non-corporate sponsor for the uplifted merrow community living here. He explains a bit of his work, but they are interrupted by news of another sub approaching. They encourage Ryujin to use illusion spells to make the habs look more damaged and uninhabitable, while Big Meat preps for a fight. BM and Otoko help get the data core and Urashima up to the sub, and the team leaves a broadcasting RFID saying that they have the data core and sabotaged the structure behind them. They race back towards the docks.

Using his newly improved Fresnel coat, Test is able to spot and quick hack an incoming torpedo just before it impacts them, allowing them to reach Goober’s dock safely. Silverleaf greets them there and takes possession of the data core. She pries for more info, but the team plays it cool and she seems satisfied. They then bring Urashima to their motel, and make next plans. Evo seems like the best fit for him still, so they contact Holmes, the local Evo fixer, who seems to have been the one pursuing them in the other sub as well. They hope this will help them remain neutral between the corps in Chicago for now. Mrs. Clean also tips the team off to some other work opportunities in town, and Carol gets some more Tarot and investigative work from Ares.

They accept a job from Holmes and pass off Urashima succcessfully, and also purchase the sub from Goober. They make a deal with Ryujin, Big Meat, and Otoko to use the upper module as their safehouse, with a promise to bring no trouble, in exchange for contacting the Sea Dragon on their behalf to ensure the protection of their communities independence. 6Cyl meets with a local toxic shaman/anti-corp activist named Catharsis who seems affiliated, and shortly thereafter the Sea Dragon publicly announces her protection for the “free merrow” and other water-life in Lake Michigan, much to the consternation of some. Fargus Sol and Arleesh seem well-pleased by the team’s moved though, and happy to report that with help from the Unseelie they have begun devising a ritual to free Aylin and 6 Cyl from Tohu-Wa-Bohu’s patronage. However, this will require the presence of all 3 Books of 9 Gates, of which they only have 1. 1 more was at least once held by the Catholics, and the other is long lost.

The team grabs all their gear and some repair supplies from town and heads down to the new safehose, spending a couple days cleaning and repairing it, first getting the air exchanger working again. Kinnie plans to continue Goober’s tinkering with the sub, getting it back to spec (or above), and he and Hotkey begin scheming how to get away from using fuel oil for the generator in order to stay on the Sea Dragon’s good side. Avocado also picks an arbitrary date for 6C’s birthday and they celebrate wildly until everyone crashes.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

Hotkey visits his family, gets some Chicago updates and contacts, and makes plans to visit while they remain in Queens for the time, though they may move to Chicago if it ends up being a long term base of ops. HK also helps Test research the strange events occurring to him, and finds out that he is being targeted by something called “The Dox” and that he needs to return to a Null Node and skim it again and admit to “being pwned” in order to clear it up, which Test refuses to do. He changes his ID again with the help of Sierra Corp, and they get some more leads to dig into this further in Chicago. They aren’t sure if this is the Null Sect or not so it seems worrying. Test figures he can talk to GC from anywhere, so he’s ready to go.

Avocado considers calling some contacts and decides against it, not having very good loyalty. Aylin also doesn’t really have anyone to get in touch with here, and instead makes plans to get ahold of Red once they get to Chicago. Kinnie restocks some gear, and Test, Carol and 6Cyl get some surgical upgrades from Gogni Warznyeck in Terminal, seeing that it once again mostly looks nano-fabbed. 6 Cyl recognizes some rEVOlution Arms gear lying around too, similar to what the Zhigul Makers had imported. They start debating how to parcel out the pay data and make some money and contacts.

Test writes up the history of the coimediai and posts it to Jackpoint under Kinnie’s sponsorship, gaining admission for himself. The rest of the team decides to sell/trade the group info elsewhere instead of aiming for JP membership. They sell the info about Horrors and big magical threats to Arleesh, and decide to ask for Tarot cards plus some money. They get the last 5 they hadn’t seen, revealing a baseball/Chicago-related puzzle that Kinnie fixates on, so now they need to track down the 2 missing 5’s again. They sell a bunch of info about Corps at Court and how to behave there/threats/etc to Ares, who hasn’t made much progress in gaining a foothold there.

Instead of taking cash for this they decide via a close vote to get credit for a future AreSpace flight to the moon, to continue their investigations for Al’Farabi and Eclipse. They also get some decent armored spacesuits included as rentals. Carol also reports in to his dad/brother at Ares Arms and gives them a ton of Taco Temple, Carcean, Horrors, and Tarot info, none of which is Ares’ area of specialty. The team then decides to sell them a little more Tarot info as well. Ares is interested in this stuff and pays Carol out a little bit to help him get established in Chicago, and says they’ll likely have some work for him.

With all their NYC biz settled they call the commcode that Kami Aneki provided and get ahold of an ostentatiously “sexy” elf, Sarah Silverleaf, who tells them to come interview for a job in Chicago. She secures them space on a Renraku cargo flight so they can bring their gear without dealing with smugglers. They rent a van and round everybody up and head out to the airport, where they meet the plane and load up. The pilots provide them some exterior views from sensors on their screens while they fly over the interior. They see a lot of depopulated rural space and towns, with massive drone fleets and combine harvesters managing fenced and guarded farm complexes, policed by private security. Carol tells the team this is because of New Revolution attacks, supposedly based out of St Louis, and backed by Ghostwalker, or the CAS, or someone else depending which conspiracy you believe (he knows Ares sells to all sides but keeps that quiet).

They are nearing Chicago when they are targeted and hit by a missile, and lose 1 wing. The plane starts spinning wildly and going down, but Kinnie manages to stabilize it (upside down) by grabbing his grav gun and doing some engineering mental math. Carol spots the truck, which seems to be a New Rev technical. He scrambles over and grabs his sniper rifle while Hotkey starts manipulating some plane systems to get the cargo door down. Test sends a sprite after the launcher and interferes for long enough for Carol to core the engine block on the truck. The pilots report that they’re still going down and tell everyone to brace.

They spot more technicals racing in via their dust plumes, and starting to lick off shots with their bed mounted machine guns, so most of the team decides to parachute out of the open cargo door and take their chances, while Aylin escapes in mist form, channeling any damage 6C takes to herself, and 6C and Avo brace and ride it out in the plane. Kinnie and Carol land well with the chutes, but HK has a lot of trouble, opening too late and then getting his chute holed by gunfire- Test barely manages to crash into him and prevent a catastrophic plummet, but they both take some damage. The plane crashes pretty dramatically, with 6C’s bike flying out and being destroyed in the process, but avo and 6C are mostly fine (the pilots not so much, what with it being upside down and nose in…)

The team prepares to fend off the attack amidst the extended crash site! Carol takes up a sniper position and makes some amazing shots, taking out one gunner and wounding another. 6 Cyl manages to conjure a spirit and make himself able to run as fast as the trucks and takes out another gunner while Test and HK manage to get untangled and fuck up the New Rev comms/IFF system. Kinnie is ko’ed by machine gun fire, and Avo and Carol are injured, but the team survives as the NR retreats. However, the plane explodes, taking some of their gear with it, and they don’t have a ride. Aylin finally reaches ground in mist form. Carol calls in an Ares favor, and gets a ride on an an auto-hauler on the nearby I-80. They get dropped off on the southside of the sprawl, and make their way to ATF to restock on gear and ammo.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

The team returns to Gwyn with their list of demands/requests for payment for the jail break. Gwyn bascially agrees and they receive various payments: Avocado gets a Blood Charm to store edge, Aylin gets help for her mom + protection + some Tarot, Hotkey gets money to clear his debts, Test gets the final secrets of the Coimediai and the ritual ties to the Jewel of Memory, 6 Cyl gets cash, Kinnie gets info on Richard Villiers’ safehouse to seek revenge for Boston, Carol gets some tips of continuing the Taco Temple investigation. They also buy a bunch of gear for the Fauth-Doshgoi raid. Gwyn tells them to make sure to have a distraction which will keep Alachia from visiting FD that day, so they head to the dungeons to ask Harlequin for ideas. 6 Cyl stays behind to rest from some massive drain damage.

Cadgris is very disappointed that 6C is absent, but provided with a letter and promised a future visit agrees to let the team visit Harly. They head in and he coaxes the Ashen Mirror deets out of them, but seems to have his own plan for the Ebon Queen which doesn’t mesh with Gwyn’s. But he agrees to create an appropriate distraction and jumps into the toilet void, seemingly having planned his escape ahead of time. Cadgris is PISSED at the team’s involvement/presence during his disappearance, and says she will give them the night but will have to present their involvement at the next Morning’s Hearing.

The team gets quickly dressed for the Eclipse Ball, and heads to Hakari Marama, where they socialize and try not to drop any hints that they will be leaving. Hotkey arranges to continue working with Eclipse whenever he is back on Earth, specifically Al’Farabi’s exploration of strange mana sightings on Earth’s moon. They rest up in their suites and leave a goodbye note for Eclipse, and head out early the next morning, before the day’s Hearing, meeting Gwyn in disguise outside the Castle. Also along are Aylin’s mom and Chloe Glowworm, who Gwyn seems to have blackmailed into assisting. They head out through Broceliande through some linked Passage Graves that Gwyn seems to know well.

Emerging back into the Astral Sea, they find their equipment and appearances returning to their usual paradigm. They swing by Celephais without issue and drop off Chloe and Aylin’s mom with Gwyn’s contacts. Gwyn says she will be delivered back to Aylin once it is safe to do so. They head further along, and all drink a vial of Aylin’s mom’s blood that Gwyn mixes with some reagents. He says this will help them penetrate FD’s border defenses. They approach a misty crystal mountain, and are all briefly overwhelmed by sadness and despair. Most of the them shake it off, but Test is badly effected.

They begin scaling the narrow crystal stairs to the plateau top, and come across a bunch of moaning severed heads on spikes and hanging from gnarled trees. As they beg for the freedom of death, Avocado begins punching all of them to bits, setting off an alarm. They get into a battle with two powerful shadow spirits, and defeat them, but get bogged down into a debate about whether to smash all the heads for a bit. After reaching the top of the stairs, they come under fire from a large group of mages inside a sphere of shadow. They manage to take them all out, but almost lose 2 of the team in the process. They quickly patch up and slam some potions before continuing.

They fight some Unbreakable shedim guards (using bodies minus the heads they previously encountered), and have to destroy the bodies completely to keep them from regenerating. They then find the cells themsevles, and free Aina Dupree, the Ebon Queen, who insists they also rescue the other prisoners, a point of debate within the team. They free the lesser dragon/Horrorstalker Kulkulkan, in human form, as well as Anne Lyne, the former DF head in Boston who Kinnie and Aylin helped trap using a false Tarot set on behalf of Valeria, the Nadja Fixer, and also Dr. Dyna Mite, the missing head of the Gateway Project from Boston. Meanwhile, Gwyn fights the Shadow Got, which has finally arrived (and appears to be winning), and 6 Cyl and some others on the team duel with some higher powered Tan Robes who have arrived.

6C is almost killed twice, but Aylin uses her magical and vampiric abilities to absorb his damage and then regen it. They defeat the Tan Robes, and Kinnie figures out how to use the Awakened World card using Niall’s instructions to open a portal. Gwyn, losing the fight vs the Got, communes mentally with Aina and throws his Tarot card to Aylin, as per the deal, before opening a Void Door, which consumes him, the Got, and Fauth-Doshgoi itself as the team frantically flees through the portal. They emerge in the idyllic TNN countryside and find Dan the Fomorain waiting for them with snacks and a roaring fire in his cottage.

They put up warning signs around the portal, which now opens directly onto the Void that FD has become, and will last for a year and a day, according to Aina. Lyne recognizes the team that trapped her, finally, and storms off in a huff after they refuse to ID their hirer. Kulkulkan also leaves, but gives them his contact if they wish to collab in future against dark forces, or need help in Aztlan. Dyna Mite trades them a bunch of info and offers future astral travel help in exchange for a ride back to the UCAS, and they debrief extensively with Aina, who has a uniquely similar past to the situation that Aylin and 6C are in.

They learn a lot about the 4th World, Tarot, and Horrors, and Aina offers future assistance, but says she must return quickly to the Fey Realms in order to take charge of the Guide role for the Unseelie. The team also hears what happened at Court from “Frosty” Jane Foster, who shows up to confer with Aina, and recognizes Kinnie from Jackpoint. Apparently Harlequin escaped through the Country of Kaol, where he fought a monster in a bizarre pyramid and also defeated a slaver crew from the plane of Id, who are perhaps the buyers for the prisoners Zeha Cadgris sells. Jane met him there and accompanied him back to Broceliande, where they also tracked down his dark shadow, Gwynplaine, who has been murdering and selling slumbering fey (to/for someone?), and used Gwyn and Harly’s rivalry as a massive distraction to the Morning Hearing. Alachia intervened, violently, and both have been banished, perhaps permanently, from the Court.

Aina seems saddened to have to further postpone her reunion with Harly, and gives Jane a message to pass to him, encouraging him to seek help reintegrating GP into him to stop his rampaging. Jane leaves, and the team finally rests and heals. The next day, Aina is gone, and Dan takes them via cart to the coast, where an Irish expat smuggler is waiting with a zodiac to take them out of the magical borders of Tir na nOg to the shipping lanes and get them on a cargo hauler to NYC. He uses some alchemical devices to obscure them as they boat through dense fog, but Hotkey is almost lured off the boat by what he thinks are his families shouts and cries. They restrain him and reach the cargo ship. Some Albanians smuggle them aboard, exchanging some mysterious cargo to the smuggler. They are locked into an isotainer with survival supplies, and spend 3 days in there before arriving at port.

They get let out, and sneak out of the port facility, catching up on about a week’s worth of lost time and messages etc. They find out the Towers was job was done without them, by a different team, with multiple arrests and casualties. They prepare to collect their few belongings in town, make contact with anyone they need to, and head to Chicago, where they have some job offers. Test also finds out he is even more fucked, reputationally, than he thought…. better figure that out!

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

The team heads to the Morning Hearing and is contacted by Kendra dos Santos, Arleesh’s voice, about potential collabs. She proffers a Tarot card in good faith, and implies that Arleesh has teamed up with Schwartzkopf to work together against risks to metahumanity, and could use the team’s assistance. Ashokasundarai Rai asks for info to help her close her investigation into the Nightwatch Phantom. There was also another mysterious death involving an item called the Circle Sword. The Children of the Dragon show up looking for info on Ghostwalker’s origins, and get a few days approval to do research and seek assistance, but dragons seem to be ill thought of in general here. And Jonny Silver is announced to be the target of the Wild Hunt for a year and a day for his disruptive Faithe Faillan performance.

The team begins prepping for the Geocache raid, and spots some Hermit members keeping an eye on them. Test compiles a massive sprite, and shunts the damage to Aylin, who regenerates it quickly. Test remains in Geocache with 6 Cyl and Carol guarding to keep the sprite registered, and the rest of the team gets some cyber and gear upgrades from the Zhigul makers to use the next day. They rest up again and Test gets his mind read by Nuada the Dreamer, the slumbering ancient head of Hermit faction. He seems to get, essentially, everything while giving Test a weird dream. Carol decides to try to make peace, and reaches out- Nuada contacts him and they make a deal that the team will leave Hermit alone, damage another Earth faction on their mission, and then leave the Court soon.

The rest of the team heads to the Morning Hearing again, and Xoc announces another faction, revealing another Tarot card: Karma. The team has a feeling this reveal was rushed by something, possibly their having been mind-probed, but Avocado is unsure how. They also see a presentation of further Tarot cards, which strangely vanish out of his hands. The Executioner petitions for more capital crimes and is denied. Eclipse faction petitions for some special dispensations given the Dawnseeker’s Arch showing a rare eclipse today. They plan to host a ball that evening at Hakari Marama, and the team will be expected to attend as affiliates. There are also rumors of strange green vines appearing near Void Doors and elsewhere in rarely traveled areas of the astral sea. The team is worried about a Null connection…

Aylin checks on her mom, all good so far, and they all meet up in Geocache. The raid goes amazingly well, with Test, Hotkey and the sprite changing off taking lead while Kinnie supports using his newly installed skillwires. Avocado gives leadership where possible, and Aylin soaks Tests’ damage. They place an anchor in the easier to access Fuchi/NN structure, and then hack into the AZT temple, and make another anchor. They figure out the paradigm, and manage to retrieve the Ashen Mirror just as the system notices them. They get out, sacrificing the sprite to hold off the pursuers, and exit through the connected anchors, barely escaping the NN node before that also turns on them. Kinnie’s first time in the Foundation! Wild. The team also finds the 3 Tarot cards from the Morning Hearing in their pockets when they exit the Foundation. They return to their suite and look into the Mirror. They spot the Ebon Queen, imprisoned on the blood/shadow crossing plane of Fauth-Doshgoi by none other than Alachia.

They debate who to contact about the Mirror and decide to go with Old Crow. They meet again in the Labyrinth, and also find Niall O’Connor and “Lord” Gwyn in attendance. Niall makes a deal to trade help for Aylin’s mom, a settling of the team’s debts, and a Tarot card to use for transit back to the material plane for the Mirror, and then leaves, after giving them some tips for using the card. Old Crow intro’s Gwyn, and he explains that he is the Eiolai or Guide of the Unseelie Court, and is dying. Having read the Tarot he knows that the Ebon Queen, who he ID’s as Aina Dupree (explaining a lot re: Harlequin), is to be his successor, but he needs the team’s help in rescuing her. He will be going along, and he and OC suggest talking to Harly about potential distractions for Alachia for when they plan their prison break, and aim to go soon to prevent Alachia getting tipped (given the Hermit mind-reading, etc). They also suggest using vials of Aylin’s mom’s blood to try to bypass or confuse some of the security systems of the prison, since her mom was residing on the plane before coming to the Seelie Court.

The team pushes for a big payday, and Gwyn agrees- he offers knowledge, contacts, power, artifacts, money, whatever. They retreat to their suite to discuss terms, but are told time is of the essence and also have to attend the Eclipse Ball that evening.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

The team wakes up and heads to the Morning Hearing. The Aleph Society shows up, looking for Shadow plane texts and offering to help keep an eye out for future issues such as the Blood Shade. Higher Power sponsors and they’re approved. Some Ejerians petition for sanctuary while they seek a new homeplane and are temporarily granted it on the Queen’s mercy. The Court Historian warns of another secret faction, Vigilante, and rumors around the Court spread about their plan for something called “The Vigilance” which the team takes as some sort of reckoning centuries in the making.

The team heads to a lunch meeting with Aneki to debrief, and give him all of the Blood mom info, and he offers them further work on the material plane, satisfied with their performance. He tells them they shouldn’t associate further here for the time being, to avoid attracting suspicion. Some of the rest of the team runs more Taco Temple tests with Glasseater and confirms that HMHVV infection seems incompatible with retaining the strange reagent traces from Carcean. GE wants more info still. The team tries to find ways to High Priestess’ secret mountain chapel, but doesn’t make much headway and eventually just goes to talk to Xoc directly.

They have a fruitful exchange of info, with Test learning a lot more about coimeadiai creation, and who knows how to do the ritual, and the rest of the team getting a lot of 4th World and Horror info. They agree to do a job for her and head to the dungeons. 6 Cyl finally gets to have a weird torture date with Zeha, and she agrees to let them see Sacre Floot, who she is apparently holding onto for Hermit, though she doesn’t seem especially loyal to that faction. Floot agrees to let them read her mind and then wipe her memory with a massively over-powered Laes concoction that 6 Cyl brews up based on Thisbe Sorrel’s description.

Aylin finds most of the info they’re seeking- the Ashen Mirror was taken by Floot and hidden in the AZT temple in Geocache, where as far as she knows it still remains. They don’t find her motives but she seems relatively hopeless and also allows Aylin to mostly drain her to blunt the traumatic effects of the mind reading and erasure potion. They start prepping for an epic Foundation raid on Geocache- their most challenging hack yet! They are also warned off further fucking with Hermit, as they apparently have the ability to projects dreams (amongst other powers).

The team makes plans and preps for an epic Foundation dive for the next day, and heads to their Suite to sleep.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

The team wakes up ready for Morning Hearing, and drugs Aylin’s mom again to keep her chill during. They see scenes from last night’s Ball displayed on the Great Hall’s shifting tapestries. They also overhear gossip that Hermit has stabilized Aesha Viltharion, the young nighttime explorer and Executioner’s niece, due to Castle alchemists being thus far unable to cure her poisoning. Woops. The Executioner himself leaps up and butts in line to petition the Court to ban Earthlings as they are obviously unsafe, given their poisoned food- he publicly aligns himself with Hermit’s goals, and also requests all the Tarot cards in the Taco Temple set. This seems to go over poorly, and Avocado sees his chance.

He butts in next, and present the Bracelet of Whispers to the Queen, mocking Viltharion for his outburst while doing so. The Queen seems amused, and suggests that all Earthlings should learn this level of appropriate decorum. Eclipse seems pleased. The hearings continue, with a man pleading for help finding his missing wife, Tzuri Group archaeologists finding Higher Power sponsors for their proposed dig in the Wilds. And Gary Cline, the CEO of Horizon, petitions for a joint plane travel agency, he seems to be playing up his Cali Bro vibes, which some at the Court love and some hate. He makes some sort of bargain with the Queen for provisional approval for a year and a day.

Test messages Cline and requests a meeting, not expecting him to show. Aylin messages Chloe Glowworm, of Magician, to help with her mom. And the rest of the team lines up meetings with Xoc and Glasseater. Glowworm takes over magical care of Aylin’s mom, helping to soothe her (she seems to recall everything), and suggests seeking a skilled dream mage to help her process. Test and Hotkey also verify that a UV node could potentially work for that too, with an AI or dedicated therapist. Test actually meets with Cline, who tells him that orks have to stick together. They head to the Hall of Whispers, which seems like a good meet spot, and Cline and Test share some info. Test isn’t super impressed by him but recognizes a potentially useful and/or dangerous connection.

The rest of the team meets with Xoc, and trades more info. She seems cautious an well-informed, but interested in future collabs. They decide to confer amongst themselves but likely ally- she seems to have a lot of Tarot and other knowledge, and has managed to operate in secret for a while at Court. They head to Glasseater’s lab and get some Taco Temple tests run- they all have the trace elements from Carcean except for Aylin, and Glasseater confirms that HMHVV infection appears to clear it from the system- strange. Glasseater requests future collabs should they find anything else weird. The team then heads to some libraries to start looking for the Ashen Mirror for Harlequin.

They find info on the Chapels of the Castle, and search them to no avail. They decide that High Priestess’ hidden mountain Chapel or the AZT temple in Geocache seem likeliest next options.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

The team, as well as the other courtiers, are surprised by Lady Brane Deigh’s announcement that there will be only 1 petition today- from another new faction for official recognition, the “High Priestess”. They also announce the existence of another mysterious cult faction called “Threshold”, who wear two-tone robes, though not much else is known (or announced, anyway). The session is quickly called, and the team is surprised to find Aleiron seemingly working with HP, and she passes them an invite to the evening’s Greylight Gathering- it seems their next encounter with Aylin’s mom is on track. Lady Xoc, head of the HP faction, will be making her social debut there.

Aleiron also gives them some Tarot cards, as a show of good faith. They head out and find a delivery from Zhigul Makers- some comms from the real world, as well as the Taco Temple they ordered, in order to poison. Test gets confirmation from the IOND of “job well done”, and he gets approved for provisional membership, though they tell him he will have to clear up some kind of confusion around him online with his references- he fears the Dox may be coming after him. HK hears from his family, and is stoked to report to the team that not much time has passed on the Material Plane.

They poison the food, and 6 Cyl forges a note to redirect blame to AZT if anyone looks into it. They leave it near the servant’s quarters where they hope it will be found and delivered to Viltharion. Some of the team heads to the libraries to do some more research, looking into the Dungeonkeeper and TT. Test meets with Rooster, and trades him some info about himself (what people are saying about him on JP) and agrees to deliver a reply, in exchange for an explanation of the coimediai, which Rooster thoroughly provides.

6 Cyl gets pulled off of their Dungeon planning to help Court alchemists try to find an antidote: the Executioner’s niece has been poisoned! 6 Cyl plays it cool and doesn’t let it slip that the team is the one who did the poison. Strangely, there is also another odd substance ID’ed by Glasseater as a non-digestible fragment from the toxic plane of Carcean, which they body wouldn’t either digest or pass, though it is far too small a quantity to be harmful. 6 Cyl conceals his interest as best he can, and returns to the team after they make the best antidote they can.

They head into the Dungeon again, and cut a deal with Cadgris. They fill her in on the details of how ultraviolet nodes and BTL’s can be used as torture/interrogation techniques, and give her a heads up that the Geocache has a similar quality to it. She is excited and agrees to give them a short time with the 2 prisoners they requested- one AZT soldier (cleverly ID’ed by Carol), and Harlequin (requested as a longshot by Avocado). 6 Cyl and Cadgris continue their flirtation, making the team somewhat uncomfortable due to it’s violent nature.

They question the AZT guy first, smuggling Aylin in in mist form, who successfully mind reads him and finds that he was part of an AZT black ops team that was investigating global power sites, with a seeming focus on volcanoes. They encountered a secret Sioux Nation facility under Yellowstone, guarded by some powerful shamans, and engaged in a firefight in which the other team members were killed and he was sucked through a rift, and imprisoned in the Court. This seems to have been right around the same time that the rift opened (and the last big runner crew came through the Court, also). They send this info off to Aneki hoping it will be enough, in concert with the TT poisoning, to get the payday they need by tonight.

Aylin mists back into the briefcase and they go have a dangerously informative chat with Harlequin. He recruits them into seeking the Ebon Queen on his behalf, and tells them to seek the Ashen Mirror in a temple somewhere in the Castle. 6 Cyl asks one more question and unleashes a whole problem- Harlequin is horrified to hear about 6C and Aylin’s new mentor, their travels through Kadath, and the 9 Gates being opened. He tells them this is very bad as it means the coming of the Scourge is accelerating. Properly spooked, they head out and begin dressing for the night’s Ball, figuring they best deal with the immediate problem of Blood Mom before stressing about next steps.

Aneki delivers, seemingly satisfied, and Test decides to disguise himself as a mockery of Hermit’s petition to defend the slumbering fey, to continue his insult comic vibe. This will allow him to bring in Aylin’s dad in the bio-pod he was delivered in as part of the costume. Everyone else dresses pretty well, mostly fairly subtly or minimally to avoid attention where possible. 6Cyl and Aylin get the ritual details from Thisbe Sorrel and link back up with the team as they head to the Ball.

They arrive and are ushered to the 2nd least desirable tier of the Hall of Night by the host, a dark elf named Sylana. Test manages to make a noticeable negative impact on Hermit and other isolationists. They watch as Lady Xoc and other higher members of High Priestess are introduced, and the HP members begin circulating. Aleiron approaches the team and explodes in a cloud of blood, as Aylin’s mom emerges. She says she thought it was time for her debut as well as Courtiers flee that tier and the Queen’s Guard seal off the stairs. The team initiates their trap, with some opening the biodpod and Aylin conning her mom to get her to attack her dad.

Aylin’s mom, vengeful, falls for it, but not before making 6Cyl shoot Carol in the neck, nearly killing him. Aylin’s mom kills Aylin’s dad, as Aylin opens the Blood Box, pulling the shade (along with Aylin’s dad) into it, leaving only the mortal part of her mother behind. They barely manage to slam the box shut as Avocado is ko’ed and others injured by the energies within. Thisbe Sorrel arrives and takes custody of the box, saying she will destroy it. Purlie Tallow also blags his way up, wanting to take a look as a conouisser of blood. The Ball ends early, though the Queen never acknowledges what occurred, publicly. The team heads back to quarters after ko-ing her mom, who is in a deep panic/trauma response. They plan to seek therapy or magical help for her on the morrow.

On their way out, they are approached by Sister Verda of HP, who requests they visit Lady Xoc the next day to make up for their faction’s infiltration by such a dangerous entity, and also as they believe they may have common cause. The team agrees and calls it a night, relieved to finally be free of this one threat, at least.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

The team wakes and heads to the Morning Hearing, and is surprised to find everyone not abuzz about the murder, but instead about the large Tourmaline obelisk hanging from somewhere above the canopy ceiling down into the Hall. There is an alphabet interface below that Courtiers are using to question it, and it seems the speculation is that this an arrival from the Shadow faction. The most shocking assertion is when the Obelisk asserts that most Shadow members came from Dragon, Death and Hanged Man factions. This leads to much speculation and recrimination, and hints that some sort of quiet purge may be beginning behind the scenes. Shortly thereafter, the Queen and retinue enters, and commands everyone to ignore the Obelisk during the hearing.

Catondarez announces the murder and asserts that Eclipse has determined that the meaning of the symbols is to not try to reveal the secrets of the Labyrinth, without blaming the minotaurs for the death. A rep for the UTA gets approval, sponsored by Magician, to arrange for reagent trades, and a few other Court concerns are addressed before the Queen calls it a day, as everyone is pretty distracted by the Obelisk. The team arranges some meetings for the rest of the day with Glasseater the Alchemist, Secundus the Magician, and Kestia Darkbane, and then plans to check in after and see what’s what.

Glasseater provides some potions to help the team stabilize their relative time experience here, and gives them some more info about the previous team here, some Fey history, some 4th World History, and some potential allies on Earth. He also wants a look at any odd texts, artifacts, or labs they encounter. They also do some research on how to sabotage both AZT and Taco Temple here, and find some interesting leads. Some of them split off to the libraries and find out a lot about 4th World history of both Earth and Seelie, as well as some of the story of the Unseelie and the Sundering.

When they meet with Secundus, Aylin and 6 Cyl drink another potion to help with their initiations, and also give her a lot of details about what they can remember about their missing time: something about “Dis”, which greatly interests Secundus, who asks them to give her anything else they remember and any encounters they have with something called the “Desolation Codex”, amongst other arcane oddities. They agree and head to their next meeting, having a very adversarial encounter with Kestia Darkbane. She seems to love hunting and killing the infected, and collecting their artifacts, which she tosses about her mansion casually.

Aylin makes a tentative deal to betray a significant number of “her kind” in exchange for the Cloak of Hawin, but they all dislike her enough that they plan to try to just steal it, or kill her and take a bunch of her stuff. She doesn’t seem unaware of this, and also hints that they shouldn’t wait too long to turn in other infected, as Aylin has now come to her attention and she’ll come for her sometime, sooner or later. The team heads on another night-time jaunt after meeting up and conferring at their suite. Tivta gives some tips and advice, and some of the team heads to the exterior again to seek Aleiron, but instead encounter Ashokasundari Rai, the investigator, who is looking into the murder.

They share info, and clear up another matter for Eclipse, while also explaining some things for Rai. They also get some warnings about some other risks in the Castle. They go looking for Aleiron, but only find the mysterious silent Knight. He makes a warding motion at their weapons, and they peacefully sit around his fire all night, which passes surprisingly quickly, and hear the bells for the Morning Hearing before long. Some team members also spot a child who bears a striking resemblance to the Executioner exploring the Castle, seemingly in possession of a chunk of the Cornerstone.

The other chunk of the team heads to the Dungeons to try to start looking into the AZT-connected prisoner there. Test mouths off and gets chucked in a cell for the night. 6 Cyl falls for Zeha Cadgris the dungeonkeeper a bit, appreciating her casual brutality. They feel it out a bit but don’t make a ton of progress and plan to return the next day with a better plan. Test gets some info over the evening though- there is another domain connected to this one, through the toilets and possibly other portals, which is some sort of dark pyramid structure with an unknown threat inside.

He emerges in the morning to find Tivta waiting to escort him to the Morning Hearing, where he meets up with the rest of the team.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
Carol Turpentine

After the terrifying events of the previous evening, the team decides to only ever split into 2 groups at most. Kinnine, HK, and 6 Cyl stay in the suite to fix up arms and armor, while the rest head to the morning hearing. The big news of the day is the conclusion of the trial of Duke Flowerpot- he was found not guilty of the murder, but was judged guilty of a lesser charge, and as penance is announced as the new Court Jester. Garbh Filiochta is elevated to one of the Queen’s Courtesans, out of that role. Flowerpot doesn’t seem thrilled, but even less thrilled is the Royal Executioner Donal Viltharion, who longingly strokes his axe blade, and who originally levelled the accusation. Carol tells the team that Viltharion is fixated on trying every item on the Taco Temple menu.

In bigger, more scandalous news, as part of the trial the Shadow Faction is acknowledged to exist, which elevates Chambray Cliff, who had been warning of them for some time. The team also notes many Courtiers copying Avo’s style invention from the day previous, and hear gossip about a gory scene discovered outside the Labyrinth (woops). Tivta gets some hints of what happened, but not the full story, and Carol sends Serania, his patron, a barebones version of the info- she tells him to stick with the team and help in their investigation, for now. The rest of the team cancels or delays their afternoon plans to focus on the 2 they deem most important: meeting with Thisbe to try to get some blood magic protection, and getting a meeting with Kami Aneki to make peace with Renraku and see if they can be of any help (since they have both the Blood Box artifact and Aylin’s dad in their possession). The Hearing concludes, and they disperse.

Avo, Aylin and 6 Cyl head to Thisbe Sorrel’s and are ushered in by Edselia and find Walks Through Tall Grass overseeing a small child in the foyer, who bears a striking resemblance to Armando Salazar. The child is playing with a set of blocks that seem to be rearranging the manor around the foyer. 6 Cyl gives them a comic book, which WTTG grabs and says he’ll save for tomorrow. They enter the study and find Thisbe waiting for them in an open robe, having seemingly just emerged from a literal blood bath and daubed in various strange symbols. She is obviously no longer pregnant, which Aylin finds odd.

She offers them 2 options: ward their suite powerfully, or ward them all individually more weakly. They go for the individual option, to keep Aylin’s mom’s sight off of them while they are out and about. 6 Cyl agrees to return and trade info about his and Aylin’s travels for forbidden knowledge, but is told he needs to learn an ancient language called Theran first. He plans to spend some time in the libraries soon. They head out to link up with the rest of the team and ward them as well. Meanwhile, the others have a lunch meeting with Kami Aneki (he doesn’t eat), and get into how to make peace with Renraku.

Test gives some assurances that GC won’t be a problem for Renraku going forward, which Aneki seems to believe (for now), and they move onto Blood Shade problems. Aneki gives them 2 options of potential assistance, both with catches. They meet with the others, get warded, and debate which option to take: help Renraku trap Aylin’s mom, and Renraku keeps her, and Aylin gets her (mind-wiped) dad back, or the team does some jobs for Renraku at Court, and gets the box and dad back, and only has to give Renraku the data about what happens. Kinnie also rejoins, after spending the afternoon crafting with the Zhigul Makers, and tells 6 Cyl they have some access to exotic materials now. He also saw a huge, well-stocked vault and some dwarves far older than any he’s seen before.

Kinnie and 6 Cyl head back to the ZM vault to do some crafting, and 6 Cyl ID’s it as likely being a Kaer- a tool for surviving the Scourge at the end of the 4th World. The rest of the team heads back to Aneki’s office for tea, and makes the deal to do local work for Renraku and get the box and dad back, planning to use both to try to free/save Aylin’s mom. Aneki tells them they need to sabotage the Court efforts of both AZT and Taco Temple, and gives the team some ideas of where to start. The team also sends some data to Serania (Carol’s patron) to request full sponsorship from Eclipse, and gets approved, which also removes all the Peace Bonds from their weapons.

They split into 2 groups again, Test and Hotkey head to Geocache to attempt to send out the IOND data, with Tivta and Carol watching their backs. Hotkey gets distracted on the way and they stumble onto a revel at Hakari Marama, where they converse with the Court Astronomer Al’Farabi about potential mana sightings on Earth’s moon, and plan to potentially work together in future. They resist the party and drugs, and get back to the task. They once again enter the Fuchi node, and find a bizarre tea party-esque paradigm. They avoid a trap and spot the true layout, and make their way to the Null Node. Test realizes his powers are quite effective here, though potentially trouble causing if anyone spots him.

They successfully push the data out using a Resonance Channel, but Test once again feels something noticing him. They escape before getting spotted, just barely, and make their way back to the suite. Meanwhile, the rest of the group has been watching Aylin and 6Cyl’s backs while they set up a ritual to foretell the future. They decide to enquire where they will next encounter Aylin’s mom, and 6 Cyl acquires lodge materials from the ZM. They spend quite some time setting up the lodge, and the matrix team returns just as they finish. Everyone takes up defensive positions as the ritualists work.

Aylin powers through and feels she gets an accurate read on the visions. Comparing notes with Carol, she ID’s the location as the Hall of Night, and the event as an upcoming Ball in the cycle. Feeling a bit more prepped now, they decide to go on another night wander to see what adventures unfold. The goal is to get some berries from the Dawnseekers Arch and use them as part of their TT sabotage, so they head that way. Hearing a scream, they look around a bit outside the Castle, and spot a naked elf splayed out in a glade in the Broceliande woods. He is very dead, though not obvious as to how, and has a labyrinth carved into his chest (no blood visible) and a strange bracelet on his wrist.

They see a strange warrior and someone who looks like Aleiron walk up and spot them through the woods and then nod and back off. 6 Cyl takes the bracelet, and after some experimenting, ID’s it as the Bracelet of Whispers, which makes the wearer’s voice barely audible. They head back, get the berries, and return to their suite. They send a note about the body and their speculations about the meaning to Eclipse and head to bed.

Runners
Kinnie Zest
Hotkey
Avocado
Teeth
Test
Aylin
6 Cylinder
and introducing Carol Turpentine

After Avocado notices a distinct lack of death by poison, they head for the Morning Hearing and begin sending meetings requests about. They receive and a few and get a few accepted. Aylin rejects one from the vampire hunter Kestia Darkbane, who possesses the Cloak of Hawin, and who Aylin revealed her condition to unwittingly. The hearing begins, and the team spots a familiar figure: Armando Salazar, the AZT operative who outbid them on a Tarot card in DC, and who seems to be the head of many of their mystical secret projects. He is here with the Coatepetl faction, which seems to be an AZT front or affiliate. They seem to be aiming for alignment with the more freedom-seeking factions.

After a few other its of Court business, and the team being unable to figure out how to access the balconies in a dignified fashion, Harlequin appears and challenges the Queen to a duel, on behalf of his lady love. The team stands back a bit in the peanut gallery to stay out of the way, as the Queen gestures her champion Serrin Sol to stand down, allowing her advisor Alachia to fight on her behalf. Sol seems annoyed. Alachia wins the very intense duel, severing one of H’s ears, which the Queen says will be an excellent addition to her arcana. H is imprisoned in the dungeons, as agreed in the terms of the duel.

After this excitement, the trial of Duke Flowerpot is again delayed, and the Court disperses to lunch. Test heads straight to the libraries with Hotkey, and discover the 2nd World origins of the Seed and the Prime Passion- they get a few more terms to research further, but seem to have confirmed the connection to a level to satisfy the IOND. Test decides to attempt to pass a message through the Resonance Realms via reverse-engineering the skimming process by accessing another Null Node.

Teeth and Avocado head to a mid-tier luncheon focused on magical prowess, and Avo manages to secure some invites to Banquets for the team for the evening, but Teeth bungles the social end. Aylin heads to the Labyrinth to follow up on the the mysterious note from the day before, and following the hints, meets with the Neo-Anarchist Old Crow, who dispenses with Court customs for a clear discussion but says they can’t meet in public. He needs a team to help with a jailbreak and to investigate the BL’s attempts to gain a foothold at Court. The rest of the team does some Library digging on Factions, and finds out a lot.

6 Cyl and Kinnie head down to Gilik’s for lunch, and find the dwarven crime boss’ spot with humbling entrance, as advertised. After crawling in through the low door, they ascend the levels, and eventually are summoned to a meeting with Gilik himself, who seems excited to have some foreign criminals to use for some various tasks. He removes 6 Cyl’s peace bonds in exchange for a Munera debt, and gives them a task list. The team then splits off to the various teas they’ve arranged. Test remains at the Library, deep in his research.

Aylin meets with Thisbe Sorrel, and sees Salazar leaving as she arrives. Thisbe seems to be rapidly progressing through a pregnancy as they converse, and shares some quite lovely blood that Salazar brought with Aylin. They discuss the issue of Aylin’s mom while Aylin tries to do some subtle digging into what Thisbe is up to, overall (as promised to Tivta, who seems to also have a history here). Thisbe seems to know a lot about most things, and they arrange to meet again soon for a ritual, once Aylin finds a sizable amount of blood.

The rest of the team goes to a tea with Secundus Gabriella di Rosario and her daughters, the leaders of the Magician faction. In exchange for info and light mind-reading about the 9 Gates book from 6 Cyl, Secundus brews a potion to cure Avo’s poison. She also agrees to meet further with 6 Cyl, seemingly excited to find a fellow obsessive alchemist. The team reconvenes and debriefs, before splitting off into solo and group expeditions to all 4 of the Banquets to which they’ve received invitations.

Hotkey attends a Feast of the Fallen, and finds out some Court mysteries and histories, and makes the acquaintance of Lord Serrin Sol. He gets prodded a little bit about what the team’s up to, and gets a not so subtle warning to not hack the Coimediai, but also gets some info on that network. Kinnie goes to an Ember Banquet at Gilik’s, and makes contact with the Zhigul Makers, making a deal to do some craft work for them in exchange for workspace and materials. 6 Cyl heads back to the suite after a library visit focussed on upping his alchemical knowledge after the meeting with Secundus.

Aylin and Test attend a Trickster’s Ball, and makes some connections with some Court agitators, and Test also impresses Rooster by instigating a dance off between Rooster and the Court Jester (on behalf of Alachia, who seemed to be attending aggressively as a comment on her victory in the morning’s duel). Aylin learns a bit about Tarot and other prophesy stuff from a spirit named Portent. Teeth and Avocado attend the Silk Truffles, with Avo accidentally inventing, and then claiming credit for, a new fashion trend- dressing well alongside a poorly dressed companion, to accentuate one’s own fashion. He sells this idea to Riva Dhillon, seemingly a Court influencer. They also make the acquaintance of Ashokasunari Rai, a Court detective under Serrin Sol, who also seems interested in the activities of the Emperor Hak Jin, who the team is meant to investigate for Catondarez.

They meet up afterwards and debrief about all they found out, and decide based on Aylin’s fortune of danger closing in to try to find blood for Lady Thisbe’s ritual. They head to the labyrinth to see if there’s any fresh bodies stacked outside, and find the gristly remains of Teeth! The person who they thought was Teeth bursts open in a blood explosion, revealing Aylin’s mom, Patricia, the Blood Shade. They get in a pretty brutal fight before she sends them all fleeing in fear, but before she can start picking them off, a traveller named Carol Turpentine steps around the corner and blasts her in the back. Wounded, she flees into the Labyrinth with a final taunt to Aylin.

The team gathers up Teeth’s blood as best they can, and delivers it to Thisbe’s daughter Edselia, who was told to expect it. They then head back to the suite, and try to figure out who this Carol person is and if they can trust him. They figure out that they are both sponsored by individuals within the Eclipse faction, but that Carol is better connected, and more adept at crossing to and fro. They agree to work together for the time, since blood shades are notoriously vengeful, and Carol has likely attracted her ire with his actions. They decide not to travel alone any longer, as they assume Teeth must have gotten replaced during one of his many solo jaunts to the libraries.