session four of our kill six billion demons rpg extravaganza!

this one was a long session, so i'm only posting the first half here. let's just jump right to it! (oh, and spoilers ahead for the palace of night scenario from the rulebook! (double oh, and there's a new link list of all these rpg posts in the sidebar if you want to go in order!))

GM Claire: Okay, everybody remember where we were?
Sasha: Sleeping in a broom closet, right?
Ariel: No, we're just catching our breaths for a few minutes before we search this bottom level for the vault we came to rob.
Sasha: You mean, the grandma-head we came to rescue.
Ariel: Oh, yeah, that's right, we're the good guys.
Elle: I'm not sure we can guarantee there are any good guys in this scenario or this game in general ...
Ariel: Of course we can! And we're it! Even Angry Ag and you and your gang of strumpets.
Msg: What about me?
Ariel: I don't know because you're still being so mysterious.
GM Claire: Anyway, you've been resting up for 20 or 30 minutes in what seems to be some kind of storeroom.
Msg: What's stored in here with us?
GM Claire: I dunno, you tell me. I was just being nice to give you a spot for a Respite so you could get your Stamina back.
Ariel: I'm not spending a power die on my special ability just to describe a storeroom.
GM Claire: This is just for window dressing. Somebody make something up.
Msg: It's full of guard uniforms and slave manacles and a couple of big barrels of thumbtacks.
Sasha: Thumbtacks? What the hell?
Msg: Sorry, it felt like it needed some barrels, and that's the first thing that occurred to me.
Sasha: Okay, well, I move the barrels over near the door and loosen the lids in case we get chased back this way and need to slow down whoever is pursuing us.
Elle: What's this, Angry Ag planning ahead?
Sasha: I'm furious, not foresightless.
GM Claire: So once your Respite is done, what do you guys do?
Ariel: Peek out the door?
Sasha: Oh, step aside. I just go right out in the hallway with my lamp out. We need the lamp, right? It's dark?
GM Claire: Actually, that big hallway upstairs was dark, but on this level, there's an eerie green light coming from these glowing globes that stick out from the walls every once in a while.
Msg: So what exactly do we see down here at the bottom of the stairs -- besides the convenient storeroom?
GM Claire: The stairs ended in a small room with the storeroom door on the opposite side and archways leading to those green-lit halls to the right and left. Each hall extends down thirty or forty feet and then turns back in the same direction the stairs came from.
Msg: Before we get too much further, I haven't ever used this Pact ability my character has where I get to ask a favor of my patron, Stevis, the ghost of the founder of the Wicked Crow Sorcerers' Guild. If he's satisfied with my exploits, he'll grant it. Otherwise, he might demand a favor from me.
GM Claire: Welp, you just played with fire there, my normally smarty-pants boyfriend. Because if you've forgotten him completely the last three sessions, I'm going to say he's not all that happy.
Msg: Oh.
Sasha: MSG! What have you done now?
GM Claire: The ghost of Stevis appears as you guys are about to leave the storeroom. What's he look like?
Msg: He has a cape made of crow's feathers and a crown of beaks and talons. His eyes are deep-set and have no whites, just rings of red fire where the pupils would be, otherwise all black, with shaggy, fierce black eyebrows above them. His body is shriveled and wrecked from the powerful magics of the sorcerers who betrayed and killed him. His hair is long and black, and because he's so spectral, it's hard to see where his hair ends and his cape begins.
Ariel: Ew. Do I need to be scared of him?
GM Claire: "Matash Kachrang," he says, "what have you done to bring my killers to justice? What pits have you delved? What torments have you endured?"
Msg: Well ... I ...
GM Claire: He doesn't wait for an answer. "Do you delve now? In the Palace of Night? Are there torments at hand? What you seek is down that hall. (He's pointing left.) But I require you to go the other way. Find Parkhassian's torturer, who knows many things from countless bloody interrogations. Ask him where Fane Vasadra of the Quicksilver Lash has fled to. Nothing more will I do for you until Vasadra's whereabouts are known to you." Then he disappears.
Sasha: Oh, just great. That's the crappiest power ever! Now we have to go totally the wrong way?
Ariel: I mean, on the bright side, he also told us what we're looking for is down the left hall.
Sasha: I was going to suggest we go left anyway.
Elle: You were not!
Sasha: Hush, you're not there.
Msg: He didn't exactly say I had to go search out this torturer first. We could always --
Sasha: Oh, no. I'm not getting chased out of the vault by who knows what with my barrels of thumbtacks waiting to save the day only to have to go down this other hall before we can leave. Let's just go now.
Msg: I guess we go that way, then.
GM Claire: Like I said, the hallway takes a turn after thirty feet or so. When it does, you find yourself in a grisly hallway of death. Skeletonized corpses hang from manacles on the walls, or are impaled on spikes in niches to either side. Far down the hall, you see an open door through which the only light comes flickering red like fire.
Ariel: So there's no green globes here?
GM Claire: Nope. You think you hear some whistling from beyond the door.
Ariel: I want to try sneaking down there to see what's going on without being noticed.
GM Claire: That's an Overcome roll, using your Reflex.
Ariel: Nine plus two!
GM Claire: You tiptoe along the hallway soundlessly. As you go, the whistling grows louder, obviously from someone whistling a tune beyond the door. When you get there and peer into the room, you see that it's a torture chamber. There's a hunchbacked guy arranging torture tools on a broad workbench, but the whistling isn't coming from him -- it's coming from a figure chained to the wall nearby. The figure is completely covered by a bloodstained sheet except for the hands sticking out and up to either side, held by the chains.
Ariel: Is he a good whistler?
GM Claire: Actually, he seems to be quite excellent. The guy arranging the tools looks over at him and says, "You know, Sylvis, I'll sure miss having you around when Parkhassian gives me a deadline for putting an end to you." The whistling quivers a little bit but then recovers.
Ariel: This guy is awful! That's so mean! You know what? Since my goal is to defeat cruel predators, I'm just going to rush over there and try to wrestle this guy to the ground so Matash can question him. Can I do that?
GM Claire: That's a Might move, +Body.
Ariel: I'm even going to spend my power die to Channel Flame and empower it. As I jump at him, I say, "We'll just see who gets an end put to them!" Foo. Seven plus one is eight.
GM Claire: Success -- you get to pick two things from this list, but there will be a consequence or drawback, too.
Ariel: Hmm. Definitely the one where he can't move until he escapes my grasp. Then I also like this reeling one where he can't deal any damage for a while.
Sasha: Do we hear any of this?
GM Claire: Pry Secrets, +Mind.
Sasha: Bleh, my Mind stinks.
Ariel: You said it, not me.
Sasha: I'm going to push it and try to get a power die! Damn it! Seven minus one is six. I blow it.
GM Claire: That gives me a Break die, and not only do you not hear what's up, you sneeze or something so MSG doesn't hear either. Sorry, MSG, I could see you reaching for your dice to make your own Pry Secrets roll. Aers, the guy can't deal damage to you and his actions are ineffective for a moment, but you can see he's taking a deep breath to scream for guards or something. You're going to have to let him go and clap your hand over his mouth if you don't want him screeching in a second.
Msg: Well, maybe I can't hear any of this, but I wouldn't just be waiting like a dummy. I'm going to sneak down the hall too. Eight plus one is nine.
GM Claire: You make it, but you have to go really slow.
Ariel: All right, I'm going to try getting my hand over his mouth, then.
GM Claire: Might + Body again.
Ariel: Nine total. Same deal, right? So I'm holding him still now and ... I choose this "crippled" option to cripple his mouth.
GM Claire: Good job. Unfortunately, he gets to respond with a Devour move that causes you 2 damage. It feels like he's actually draining life-force from you with the filthy claws of his fingernails digging into your flesh.
Ariel: Ow!
Sasha: Well, I'm not staying here alone, so I just head down the hallway too. No sneaking or anything.
Msg: Am I there yet?
GM Claire: Almost, and you're being super-quiet, but then you see Ag just walk right by you.
Msg: Fine. Since I don't see Grey-Eyes outside the room, I abandon being quiet and rush in. Can I get in a curse with my Red Word this round too?
GM Claire: Sure, give it a try ... You've still got that -1, though, right?
Msg: Yes, I didn't forget. Eight plus two minus one is nine. I tell him to stop struggling, or I'll blast his soul with my curse and kill him. For my downside, I'm not going to be able to speak this art again until I rest.
GM Claire: He can sense that your curse is powerful enough to take him out, so he stops struggling.
Sasha: Can I see Gazelle Girl bleeding and use a Bolster move to fix that?
GM Claire: What are you doing in story terms?
Sasha: I guess giving her a speech about how impressed I am at her being tough enough to shake off the scratches this guy gave her.
GM Claire: Okay, roll +Heat.
Sasha: Uh, five.
GM Claire: Sorry, you can tell her scratches are more serious than a simple speech can fix, and you're too dis-spirited to use the Bolster move again until you rest.
Sasha: Dang it. Now I'm really mad at that guy for hurting her. I pull out my sword and tell him he better cough up whatever it is that ghost wanted to know or so help me, I'll cut him in half diagonally fingertip-to-toenail!
Msg: I'm going to use that threat and the threat of my curse to try a Bend Will move and get him to talk. Errh ... yikes, Bend Will is +Heat, which is my worst score. I guess I'll spend a power die to Channel Flame on this, so that the power of my Dread Sorcery crackles from my body and flickers in my eyes as I speak. Nine minus one is 8, so I succeed!
GM Claire: Well, 7-9 on Bend Will means they need concrete assurance or proof of your leverage before they do anything. He says, "How do I know you won't just kill me with your curse as soon as I tell you what you want to know?"
Sasha: I got your concrete assurance right here! I lift my great weapon sword up over his head and flex all my muscles in the process. Talk!
GM Claire: He goes pale and asks what you want to know.
Msg: The spirits tell me you have knowledge of the whereabouts of Fane Vasadra of the Quicksilver Lash. Reveal what you know, and we'll let you live.
GM Claire: He says that Vasadra runs a child slavery ring on a world through a nearby gate, Emproneal. She's been competing with Parkhassian for years, and when they captured one of her brokers and tortured him recently, they learned the location of her headquarters -- the Solemn Village in the high Windlace Pass.
Msg: Do I feel like he's telling the truth?
GM Claire: Pry Secrets.
Msg: Ten plus two is twelve. My three questions are, what here seems false or deceitful, what could be useful to me, and what's about to happen?
GM Claire: The deceitful thing and the what's about to happen are the same thing ... he's getting ready to try to break loose and grab Grey-Eyes to use her as a hostage. What could be useful is ... the whistling person under the sheet.
Ariel: He's still whistling?
GM Claire: Yes.
Ariel: Okay, weird.
Msg: There's not anything in the rules that says I have to follow through with the leverage I promised, is there?
GM Claire: No, why?
Msg: I activate my curse and deal the two damage.
GM Claire: That's enough to kill him, so he drops dead. How does the curse affect him?
Msg: His eyes swell and rupture as fiery red energy shoots both inward and outward from his eye sockets.
Ariel: Yick!
Msg: Okay, so I'm wondering how this whistling person under the sheet can be useful to us.
Ariel: I thought it was going to be that we'd keep our word and just chain the torturer guy up, only then we'd let the whistly guy loose and he'd do the killing for us. But I guess that's out the window.
Msg: I figured that was an option too. But I'm suspicious of someone who just keeps whistling while combat and cursing is going on around them.
Sasha: Can we go now? This detour is really getting on my nerves.
Msg: Sure. I got what we came this way for.
Ariel: Wait, aren't we going to let the poor chained up guy loose?
Msg: Claire, is he still whistling through all this conversation?
GM Claire: Yep. Doesn't miss a beat.
Msg: Look, Grey-Eyes, I'm a Dread Sorcerer, and even I am finding this guy's whistling pretty creepy. You can let him go if you want, but honestly, I'm not thinking that's the wisest move we could take.
Ariel: He's still whistling?
GM Claire: Endlessly.
Ariel: Okay, I guess that weirds me out a little too. Let's go.
GM Claire: You leave the torture chamber and its whistling occupant behind and make your way back the other direction. Now let's cut over to Sin-Sing Cherise and the contest.
Elle: Excellent. So what place did my performance last session get me?
GM Claire: Oh, there are still lots of contestants in this first round, and --
Elle: First round?
GM Claire: Yeah, there will be three rounds in all. Everyone who moves on from this round avoids getting tagged as a "loser" and having to serve the Palace of Night for a year. Everyone who moves on from the next round is considered a "winner" and gets to ask for a boon. Then if anyone does well enough in the final round, they get to ask pretty much anything of the Palace's master, Parkhassian.
Elle: Oh, for pete's sake. If I'd known that I wouldn't have burned both those power dice in the first round.
GM Claire: Well, if you hadn't, you would have lost them at the end of the session anyway.
Elle: Good point. But if I want to set myself up for the same amount of success, I guess I'd better find some moves to push so I can get more power dice. What do I see when I get back to the waiting area? Is that shrimpy blue demon with the lute still there?
GM Claire: No.
Elle: Hmm. Is it Pry Secrets to try to get someone to tell me where she went?
GM Claire: I think it would be more like Gather Power to acquire information.
Elle: Does my amazing performance mean I have a good reputation in this area?
GM Claire: Sure.
Elle: Awesome. I get to take an extra +1, then.
GM Claire: Yes, but not if you're going to push the move. You don't get any positive modifiers in that case.
Elle: Darn it. Okay, I'm going to see if anyone spotted where she went off to or heard anything. I guess I'll start by slinking over to the registration desk and seeing if my allure can get anything out of the clerk dude there. Aha! I roll a seven, so I get the power die!
GM Claire: He is definitely interested in assisting your cause -- he acts like he'd like to tell you something, but says it's not really appropriate to his assignment. Maybe if you sweetened the pot?
Elle: I lean way over so my top hangs down and reveals everything that can be seen through my neckline ... which of course is very low-cut. Then I tell him it's a shame he's stuck here at the desk and can't see my performances, but maybe I could give him a private showing at the Stiff Brewhouse sometime.
GM Claire: He swallows and tugs at his collar like it's too tight, then whispers to you that he saw her heading down the hallway that leads to the kitchen.
Elle: And you said last time she was the second performer ... does he have his list out somewhere that I could spot her name? Or heck, since he's disposed to help me, I just ask if I can see the schedule of contestants.
GM Claire: He says there shouldn't be any harm in that and shows you. The second person on the list is, "Lub, a Lutist."
Elle: That's all it says?
Sasha: Definitely a fake.
GM Claire: That's it. No description other than that.
Elle: Okay, Paghla and I head down the hallway he indicated.
GM Claire: It's a long hallway, and you can see wait staff trundling up and down it with carts to take refreshments to the main hall and dirty dishes back to the kitchen. At the far end there's a guard on the door to the kitchen.
Elle: Hmm. I backtrack a little and see if there's a spot where a returning cart would be out of sight of any guards.
GM Claire: There's a little dogleg in one of the paths to the main hall that might work, but you would have a very limited time to do anything.
Elle: Okay, well, when the chance occurs, Paghla and I will needle a waiter and -- wait, are these carts covered? Could one of us hide in one?
GM Claire: It would be a squeeze, but yes.
Elle: And is there anyplace near this dogleg where we could drag the waiter and have Paghla change clothes with them?
GM Claire: That would be awfully convenient, I think.
Ariel: You need my Mantra of Prim the Loyal power so you can add to Claire's description.
Elle: Hey, can Ariel use that power for me even if Grey-Eyes isn't here?
GM Claire: There's nothing in the description that says she has to be present.
Ariel: But I don't have a power die to spend.
Elle: Damn it. Okay, I guess I'll try a Gather Power move and spend some wealth to try bribing a waiter to give us their cart and uniform. Oh, and I tell Paghla to watch and learn so if I make it, my +BOSS goes up. Total of nine.
GM Claire: How exactly are you asking this?
Elle: Well ... I'll say I'm a fanatic about cooking, and I just want to be able to sneak in and go around the kitchen to see how things are done in a super-high-class place like this.
GM Claire: Okay, with that roll and that excuse and the money you spent, the wait-person is willing to let one of you hide in the cart while she rolls it around the kitchen. But she says she can't just hand her cart over and let you both go in on your own.
Elle: Fine. I guess I'll have Paghla wait for me in the waiting area.
GM Claire: The server transfers as much of the stuff as she can from inside the cart to the top of it. Then she finds a place to hide whatever won't fit up top. There's a slight gap in the drapery along the side that you can peek through and see to some extent. She tells you to be as quiet as you can, then wheels you down the hall.
Sasha: Is all of this really necessary? It seems kinda off-task to me.
Elle: Listen, if something's up with this Lub the Lutist, or if that red-eyed chick I said I'd look for works in the kitchen, this could totally pay off. Are we to the kitchen yet?
GM Claire: Yes. The lady wheels you past the guard and then takes a deliberately winding path through the kitchen to drop off the dishes in the back. It's a huge area, brimming with cooks and staff, overseen by a very large, imposing Servant who circulates through the place inspecting everything.
Elle: Okay, I'm going to Pry Secrets and see what I can make out in here. Ooh, twelve total!
GM Claire: Three questions from the list.
Elle: What here seems false or deceitful? What here could be useful to me? What seems to be the safest path forward?
GM Claire: As far as false or deceitful, you spot the blue demon in a chef's outfit on the far side of the kitchen. It looks like there's a special area specifically for preparing food for the most important guests or elite higher-ups of the Palace. She's managed to get herself into that area. What could be useful ... you over hear someone mentioning the name Gervender in connection with the buffet table at the east end of the main hall. Apparently she's the attendant at the table. The safest path forward would definitely be to just stay hidden in the cart until the staffer wheels you back out.
Elle: Okay, I'm not going to push my luck here. I'll take the info that I've got and get out.
GM Claire: Paghla is very relieved to see you when you get back. Since she's "just a prop," it was making her nervous to have to mingle with the other contestants.
Elle: Yeah, yeah. I grab her by the arm and head toward the main hall with her. Since we're made up like rich types, I assume we can just go in and mingle in the hall where the performances are going on?
GM Claire: Yes. There are guards everywhere, though, and people recognize you from the show you put on a little while ago.
Elle: I soak in their yearning and worshipful gazes while we make our way to the east end of the hall. Do I find the buffet table? Is there a dark-skinned hottie with cherry-red eyes there like my source described his sister?
GM Claire: Yes to both.
Elle: I'm going to approach her and tell her her brother says hello, and that I'm going to try to get her out. Then I ask her if she can get hold of uniforms for me and Paghla.
GM Claire: Roll Bend Will +Heat.
Elle: I'm making an example of this for Paghla, by the way. Nine total.
GM Claire: Gervender appears to want to believe you but says she's fearful of what will happen to her if she does as you ask and then you don't follow through in your attempt to get her out.
Elle: Okay, well, I tell her that when I win the next round, I'll use my request to ask Parkhassian to free her from her obligation, without even going on to the final round where I might win the big prize. And once she's free, she can join my gang if she wants and I'll make sure she's well cared for from then on.
GM Claire: That's not entirely a concrete assurance or proof of your leverage, but I'll tell you what. You can choose whether she agrees to join your gang right now, and then her getting the uniforms would be a Dirty Work move requiring an additional roll, or she says she'll get the uniforms and stash them somewhere, and then give them to you after you win the next round and have her freed.
Elle: Ooh, a new gang member! I take that one.
GM Claire: She tells you she'll get someone to sub for her at the buffet as soon as she can, and gives you directions to a meeting place where she'll bring the uniforms in half an hour.
Elle: Peachy. Paghla and I will go back to the waiting area until then. Should I go ahead and make the Dirty Work roll?
GM Claire: Yes.
Elle: Wait, can I back up and spend a power die to give her a really inspiring speech before I go to get an automatic 10+?
GM Claire: Sure.
Elle: I tell her how happy her brother will be to see her again in just a few short hours.
GM Claire: Okay, subtract that power die and lower your BOSS stat by one for using that ability.
Elle: Easy come, easy go.
GM Claire: All right, back to the Vault!

(next time, i mean.)