Session Forty-Seven | Mockery

[irongods]

Chapter 5, Session 47 | Palace of Fallen Stars

Characters Present: Aziza, Silka, Shaw Ishi, Kaya, Alcyone
XP Earned This Session: 6,800xp
Allying with Mockery 3200xp
Securing Saoria's cooperation 1200xp
Intel Gathering 800xp
RP Bonus 800xp
Session Notes 800xp

Total XP: 296,455xp
Next Level: 315,000xp (Level 13)

Loot Acquired: Did some drugs. 
Summary: To be submitted as a comment here by any party member to earn further XP for the party.

Comments

[forcevisions]

Alcyone suggests getting an inn off the mainstreet (in the Killbox) to get lower prices, but Silka insists on intimidating their way to better prices. Shaw and Kaya would rather diplomacy. Silka is the littlest giant because she only likes shiny rocks and being angry. Shaw insists on starting at an inn on the Street of Lights. We find the Lit Torch, a modest inn between Gritforge and the Inner Sector. It’s usually occupied by people visiting the palace or the TL, not as guests, but because they are petitioners. They suggest 160 gold/night for a single room. Shaw tries to bluff that it was lower last time she was here, so the innkeeper hikes the price 20 gold/night. Silka growls at the innkeeper to check the rates again. 100 gold/night, final offer.
While the group debates,
Sanvil: I’ll pay for a room.
Alcy: You have your own money?
Sanvil: I was a merchant. [he puts 300 gold down]
Shaw: I’ll pay for the other room.
Alcy: We could go shop around!!! Why are we paying upfront!
Sanvil: Just trust me on this.
Alcy: In Torch, a room would cost 10 gp.
Sanvil: I know, but there’s a convention going on at the palace. They hiked their rates.
Up at the room,
Sanvil: It’s advantageous to pay ahead of time because we don’t want them to book the room out from under us, but also it’ll be less likely that they’ll sell us out if people nose around about our business.
Alcy: It’s just … these prices are OUTRAGEOUS.
Sanvil: That’s why I pointed out that if we came in as adventurers, they’d charge us exorbitant rates.
Sanvil does not allow Silka to sleep in his room, since he paid for it. Kaya and Alcy join him instead. Kaya’s here to chaperone so they leave room for AI Jesus. They can prop Kassandalei up on the iPad.
Shaw dreams of being with a capable adventuring party who helps her get revenge on her parents’ death. They keep a ledger and inventory. Alcyone has a mildly unsettling dream that she doesn’t remember. It was that she was having sex with Sanvil and she noticed it was Novem’s dick and Kassandalei was watching. Aziza has a nightmare about a fire at Silka’s house destroying her guns. Kaya has an okay dream about her horse and her dress and being treated like a real girl. Silka has a terrible nightmare about Torch burning down because the purple light explodes; the team returns too late to save anybody. Kaya and Alcyone notice Sanvil tossing and turning all night, but he doesn’t wake up. He’s grumpy when he wakes up. Kaya gives him an otter pop, and he accepts it on the way to breakfast.
Shaw does Sanvil and Kaya’s makeup poorly. Alcy fucks up Sanvil’s further while trying to fix it, and Silka does the same to Kaya. Kaya tries to fix her own makeup and turns it into full drag. Alcyone takes ten to fix Kaya’s makeup, and Sanvil takes ten to fix his own.
The common room is mostly empty when we arrive. The innkeeper gives a note to Shaw.
Shaw: Oh, I was expecting that, thank you.
Alcy: You were? You have friends here?
In a corner, Shaw asks: Was anyone expecting a note?
Alcy: YOU SAID YOU WERE.
Shaw: I DIDN’T WANT HER TO KNOW I WASN’T.
Sanvil: What does it say?
The note says ‘I would like to meet with you all. I have a safehouse deep in the Killbox.’ Then there’s an address. It gives a description of a series of knocks to do at the door. ‘You will be safe. I am a friend.’ It’s signed ‘Mockery.’
Shaw goes to the innkeeper.
Shaw: Did a tall gentleman with black hair give you this?
Innkeeper: No.
Shaw: Could you describe him for me?
Innkeeper: It was a tall woman. She did have dark hair.
Shaw: Okay. Thank you.
Kaya and Aziza have been listening. They’ve heard of an insurgent group active in Starfall that is organized into a loose combination of cells. They are known collectively as the Mockery. They are a rebel group against the Technic League.
Alcyone: When did you guys hear all this???
Kaya: I was looking into some bombs, and I listened in, and I heard this, but I still don’t know what the bombs were.
Mockery makes fun of and humiliates TL members. (Sanvil has been pantsed by Mockery before.)
Alcyone: Sanvil, have you ever …?
Silka: Remember how we had these long conversations about strategy?
Sanvil: No one takes them seriously.
Silka: No one takes you seriously, but you’re here.
Shaw: Why would they come talk to us?
Silka: How did they find us?
Alcyone: More concerning, if they know we’re here, then the TL probably does and knows we’re threats.
Silka: Or maybe they just approach everyone like this.
Shaw: That seems unlikely.
Alcyone: I guess it could be that TL agent we murdered.
Sanvil: SHH.
He quiets Alcyone down so they don’t have this conversation in public.
Silka: We need code words. Like instead of murder, we throw parties!
Alcyone: And TL agents are puppies!
Kaya: That doesn’t sound real.
Alcy: Rich people throw birthday parties for their puppies all the time.
Shaw: They’re terrible.
Silka: I’d like to go see Mockery to measure them myself.
Alcy [sensing that he had a terrible person experience]: Sanvil, what did they do to you?
Sanvil: Let’s just get a move on. Luckily, they won’t recognize me.
Alcy: I’m just saying, I said we should go to the Killbox.
Kaya: Yes, you did.

Shaw looks for a parasol on the way. Kaya wants one too. Shaw was gonna buy it for her. They find one that’s decorative and one that works as an umbrella. They’re in six colors. Shaw buys one in indigo for Kaya.
Kaya: No one’s ever bought me a present before.
Shaw: Happy early/late birthday.
Kaya: I don’t know when my birthday is.
Shaw: Congratulations! Today’s your birthday.
Aziza navigates them into the Killbox via the map.

This part of town is super shady and it makes us feel unsafe. Sanvil looks particularly grim looking at the poor children in rags, but he just keeps going. There are some drug deals going on. They find a rundown two-story tenement building littered with trash and graffiti.
Silka practices the super secret knock while they’re walking. Shaw and Alcyone tease her for it. Silka does the cool knock.
‘State your business.’
Silka: We got a letter.
‘Show me.’
Silka shoves the letter through the slit. A deadbolt unlocks. The door swings open. There are a few insurgents in the cramped space. They have cloaks hiding their features. At the table sits a bulky white guy with earrings and a skillchip. He raises it to the group and invites them to sit. Sanvil’s holding onto his pants for dear life.
Man: I hope I’ve got the right people.
Kaya: Who are you looking for?
Man: A kellid with green hair sticks out a little.
Silka: Yeah.
Man: You go through Idenveigh?
Silka: Sure did. Who wants to know?
Man: I’ve heard some things thanks to a TL agent who was held captive there. Her name was Alaris. Ring any bells?
Alcy: Yes.
Man: I hope so because I think you may share goals with me and mine.
Silka: You need to … start discussing …
Aziza: What goals?
Shaw: You were the one who invited us.
Man: They call me Mockery, but my name is Drelmock. It’s nice to meet you all. I’ve devoted my life to opposing the TL. I’m interested in what your purpose is here in Starfall.
Alcy: Honestly? No bullshit? Fuck the TL.
Drelmock looks quietly delighted by this.
Alcy: Wouldn’t it be so weird if you were TL? Or if we were TL? Or if any of us were TL?
Silka: Or if we were raised by the TL?
Drelmock: That’s good enough for me. Black Sovereign once cared for us. He protected us, but no longer. He is a lord in title only. In all else, he stands defeated. He is nothing but a puppet of the TL. For me to openly state as much is traitorous, punishable by death. So know that I speak the truth. TL keeps the BS as one might keep a pet. I would see my lord set free from the yoke. I don’t know if he can be freed and step up against them, but if he won’t, then he must be put down. As long as he appears to remain in power, the kellids will remain docile. If he were to rise up or be assassinated, they would revolt. [to Silka:] You know they wouldn’t stand for such a thing. The TL has grown complacent. If Starfall rose up, the TL would be forced to thin its resources to keep control, and at that moment, a well-trained group of mercenaries could infiltrate its compound, and maybe even defeat its leaders. All at once. Especially if you could find an ally within their ranks. I have little to promise in the way of money, but if word that I’ve heard is true, and you abide by your word and want to see them fall, then hopefully that will be enough.
Silka: Yeah, we don’t need money.
Alcy: Do you need money?
Drelmock: I wouldn’t turn down funds if you had some to spare.
We’ll figure out later how much. He shakes her hand firmly. She’s got a firm grip at this point because she’s used to barbarians.
Drelmock: I have some ideas about how to prepare. One, we want our lord, BS, freed from servitude.
Silka: What do you think they have over him?
D: I have a good idea. I’ve been watching Helbroth’s drug den. He has been working with the TL to supply any of the drugs they’re using to keep the BS under their thumb. This knowledge confirms my suspicion that they are responsible for his descent into addiction, and it’s that addiction that is allowing them to keep him under control. I believe assassinating Helbroth or otherwise cutting off the drug pipeline would disrupt activities in the palace. It would force BS into withdrawal, which would make infiltration into the palace and confrontation with him less deadly — he may even be willing to listen to reason. Our goal is for the TL to suffer, of course. I keep an ear to the ground on the black markets. I learned a nobleman, Drund, has come into the possession of some tech object of great power. I don’t know the nature of it, but I know he hopes to sell it at the upcoming nightmarket. I’ve learned the TL knows about it, and I suspect they’ll be sending a captain to commandeer the device. You may be able to purchase it or ambush the captain. It’d be a risky act, but it could secure you information. It could secure you at least one captain dead.
Alcy: do you know which captain?
D: A few have been raiding the night markets. One is the Shade, another is Xernabeth.
Alcy: We heard Xernabeth can be converted.
D: It may be worth knowing if she shows. If not, I heard the Shade works closely with her. But it could be hearsay.
Alcy: How long until the nightmarket?
D: Tonight, in a few hours.
Shaw: How many people do you have inside the TL right now?
D: What do you mean inside?
Shaw: How are you getting your information?
D: We don’t have an inside man.
Shaw: So where did this info come from?
D: TL agents with loose lips, who drink across the city. We tail them.
Silka: Some of those TL agents are pretty dumb.
Shaw: Whoever’s been a TL agent must be terrible. Bottom of the bucket. Have you heard of any reason why a group of strangers would be in town? A good cover story for us, maybe?
D: A story of why you would be here? It’s easy enough to pose yourselves as merchants who came just to sell goods.
Shaw: But that won’t get us in the inner city, will it?
D: You’re talking about going to the palace? I don’t think it’s a good idea to go openly. You’d make yourselves targets, and you won’t be able to speak to the BS honestly.

They spend the day gathering rumors:
Silka looks for general rumors about the palace [20]. She spends 3 hrs drinking in some bars. She hears that the ghost of the first BS haunts the chambers below the palace and guards the vault and a secret escape tunnel.
Shaw uses the spell rumor-monger that makes her follow a rumor. She talks to someone who tells her the rumor, then magically knows who gave it to them, and then where it came from, and follow the telephone to the source of the rumor. She focuses it on Helbroth and the drugs, hopefully to find Helbroth. She follows back five people. One of the Mockery agents told Drack. It came from a second Mockery agent. The third is a low-level TL agent. The next is a TL agent who heard about it from Saioria, the bartender at the Red Reaver Tavern, near the Street of Lights. She seems to be the source of the rumor. She has some cybernetic implants.
Aziza looks for rumors about the night market [10]. She gets distracted. No one seems to trust her because she’s asking pretty bluntly about something that’s kinda secret.
Alcyone looks into rumors about the Shade [28]. The Shade is a female bard-technomancer with a very unusual look. You’ll know her when you see her by her glowing yellow eyes. She’s human, but she barely looks like it. She’s a kellid. Some people speculate she’s not entirely human. She went on a mission years ago and they got trapped in some kind of tech thing (spaceship, etc.), and the nanites in it rebuilt her entirely and that’s why she doesn’t look Right. It also gave her augmented abilities, but it changed her entirely in personality too. She’s known for cruelty and intimidation. She fights with a mono-whip.
Kaya’s looking into those bombs [9]. No one will tell her anything. It’s very frustrating not knowing how to talk to humans.
Sanvil is half-heartedly looking into the TL and doesn’t get much information. He seems too nervous to ask detailed questions that would draw attention, so he failed.
They meet back up at the inn and share their information, then decide to go into the bar.

Shaw: How do we wanna do this?
Alcy: Let’s just go in and drink.
Aziza: We can talk about drugs and kings—
Alcy: OK Aziza’s not gonna talk.
Kaya: Can I also not talk?
Alcy: Let’s just get comfy in the bar before we draw attention to ourselves.
Shaw: Oh, they’re badass. With like robotic implants and shit. Which seems weird here.
Alcy: So it’s a TL agent?
Shaw: Yeah that’s explain—
Alcy: That is a TL operative. And a TL bar. Filled with TL operatives.

[forcevisions]

As soon as they enter, they are hit by smoky hazy malange of sweat, drugs, and vapors. Aziza and Silka get sickened (+8 mins upon leaving). To the south looms a 10-ft. Statue of a hulking humanoid monster with six eyes and tiny wings. Its head brushes the ceiling, and red arms hang forward in a gorilla pose. Kaya and Alcy recognize it as a red reaver, a magical beast. Saioria stands behind the bar. The atmosphere is relaxed and everyone looks sedated. Saioria comes over.
Saoria: Can I help you?
Shaw: Six drinks, please.
Saoria: Just drinks?
Shaw: Oh and smoke, if you have it.
Saoria: I’m out of tables, but you can sit at the bar.
Kaya plops herself down between Alcyone and Sanvil. Shaw tries out the smoke [17]. The bartender charges Shaw, who’s narrowly coping with the drugs, 200 gp. Alcy shits her pants over this, and Shaw persuades the bartender to drop it to 160gp. She seems to think Shaw is getting inebriated.
Shaw: THIS KING IS PATHETIC AND THIS WHOLE CITY HAS GONE TO SHIT. Last time I was here, things were on the mend, but now the king is acting like he doesn’t have a brain of his own.
Everyone in the party: WTF???
Shaw notices that the bartender is paying attention. She seems nervous about the openness, but she doesn’t seem offended by what he’s saying.
Shaw: What’s your name?
Saoria introduces herself.
Shaw: You agree with me, right? He’s not acting like a sane person.
Saoria tells Shaw that the King is taking Numerian fluids. She tells her that she knows the supplier. Shaw drops out 500gp on the table.
Shaw: Will you tell us who that supplier is?
Saoria: Why? What do you want to do with them?
Shaw: I’d like to know where it’s coming from. See what trouble this town is really in.
Saoria: It’d be nice if someone could do something about that.
Shaw: We could be those people.
Saoria takes the gold. She nods towards the back behind the statue.
Saoria: I know where you could go, and I could take you there.
Shaw: Whenever you’re ready.
Saoria: Soundproof room.
Shaw notices that this lady houses a deep hatred of this person and is excited to have them dead. Saoria asks not to be involved in this, and Shaw asks that they were never seen. She warns that it may be safer to sabotage the delivery for tomorrow morning rather than confront him. The drugs are being sent out of here. Helbroth will deliver them tomorrow evening.
Alcy: Hey, next time you drop 700gp, could we talk about it first?
Shaw: To be fair, it was from my own personal wealth.
Silka: We usually consult each other a little bit. I know you’re not used to this team thing.
Shaw: You think that’s a lot of money? That’s adorable.
Silka: You should not call me adorable.
Shaw: How should we handle this?
Alcy: Oh now we’re??? Talking about our plans? After we spent money??
Shaw: You weren’t very good with money to begin with.
Alcy: WE HAD A PLAN WE DON’T SPEND MONEY SO WE NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MONEY.
Kaya: Please stop fighting.
Sanvil starts doing drugs. Kaya warns him that it doesn’t work.
Shaw: Can you neutralize this with alchemy, Kaya? Make it look like it works but it doesn’t?
Kaya: Maybe. I could blow it up.
Shaw: Could you do it without destroying it?
Kaya: I could make it blow up … small?
Shaw: I thought I was dealing with an alchemist.
Sanvil: It might not be a bad idea to destroy the lab.
Silka: I don’t know why we don’t just go after the guy.
Alcy: I don’t see why we don’t just murder him. SORRY. THROW A PARTY FOR HIM!
Shaw: That’s a big dog to throw a party for.
Aziza: Possessing him isn’t a bad idea.
Shaw: If he’s strong-willed, it might not work.
Alcy: What happens if the body dies while you’re in it?
Shaw: I get thrown back to my body.
Alcy: So you could possess it and we could — throw a party for him.
Shaw: As long as you don’t throw a party for my own personal puppy.
Saoria: We cater parties.

After checking no one is watching, she leads them back behind the red reaver statue and opens a secret door for them. She tells them to follow the hallway all the way around and you will be at the right place.