Leila cheers Edison’s stoicism as he is buried alive, staying under the dirt for over a minute before emerging without flinching. ”Well done, chap! Well done!” The halfling grins and pats him on the back before turning back to Dani.
”So, what brings you to the House of the Planes? Business? Pleasure? A bit of both?”
Meanwhile, Pharasma counters Jack’s hiss with a catty growl. ”A Horseman, are you? You can mount me any time, honey! But for now, I send you to Abaddon! Giddy up!” She swats the doctor on the butt as he walks by.
***
Jack steps through an archway and into Abaddon. This nearly empty room is notably colder than the others. Guests sit on the bare stone floor or chunks of rubble. The walls are painted with scenes of a vast wasteland and erupting volcanoes, and a spherical light fixture on one wall only barely illuminates the room thanks to a dark circle of metal that eclipses it. A horse-skull mask obscures the bartender’s face as she sits cross-legged on the floor surrounded by her bottles and a single conspicuous half-full chalice. ”Care to drink from the Plague Chalice?” she asks ominously.
Jack takes the chalice and drinks deeply. The taste is a foul mishmash of numerous alcohols and other liquids as well as a strong shot of what his medical mind diagnoses as opium. But he's had worse, mostly as a medical student, and his red eyes never leave the horse-mask.
"Famine." He says, pushing the chalice back. "I am Pestilence."
”Pleased to meet you, brother! Drinks are on me!” the bartender says as the patrons of Abaddon cheer.
One elf in particular sidles up to Jack, regarding him through a drunken haze. ”Impressive. Not many ‘sides me can keep the Plague Chalice down. Lomo Dibashi,” he slurs, holding out a shaky hand.
Dora claps along with everyone else when Edison reappears, glad it was not her having to get buried alive.
After seeing the success of Edison and Dani, Dora can't help but feel more confident and wants to try some undercover questioning herself.
She sidles out of the room trying not to be noticed and wanders a little, peering into different rooms without committing to any in particular before stopping in front of Elysium. She looks at the room around her as she enters.
Murals of impossibly high mountains and endless forests cover the walls here, while marble sculptures of winged snake-women curl around pillars in the corners. On one side of the room, a live griffon is chained to an artificial nest, glaring at patrons and snapping at tossed scraps, while waitstaff dressed as Calistrian clergy maintain a careful distance.
The most prominent figure in this room seems to be a dwarf with the dark skin and the shorn cheeks of the Osirian Pahmet culture.
Dora loves the atmosphere of the room, but not having spent any time with animals or in the "outdoors" she smiles and backs out of the room, knowing full well to leave this to someone else.
She continues her searching between the rooms and this time stops in front of Heaven, heading straight in, head held high with a confident smile.
The walls of this well-lit room are painted with blue skies and bright, fluffy clouds, except for the wall behind the bar, which portrays an enormous mountain. Waitstaff drift between the tables wearing revealing white robes and fake feathered wings. A one-foot-high round stone pedestal stands in one corner.
"Welcome to Heaven, my daughter," says the bartender, a muscular man dressed as a "Celestial Judge." "Confess your sins and receive penance."
Scanning the room, Dora spots a Varisian man in a fancy suit and cravat who watches her from behind spectacles. Due to her familiarity with literature (though in this case, the term is used loosely), she recognizes him as Reginald Vancaskerkin. He is the owner and operator of Eyes on Absalom, a tabloid regarded as filth by the city’s more discerning critics and enjoyed by nearly everyone else. He has a reputation as a consummate gossip and rumormonger.
Dora walks up to the bar to greet the bartender.
"I am glad to be here." Dora says softly.
"I'll have one of those." She points at another patron's drink; a tall green cocktail with a white rim, topped with a small floating halo.
She waits patiently for her drink and slides the bartender a silver piece. She takes the smallest sip she can.
"I'm ready to confess my sins Sir." She says with a sly grin.
She takes her drink and walks deliberately, but slowly, over to the pillar, catching the gaze of Reginald Vancaskerkin as she goes.
Putting her drink down on the side, she climbs atop the pillar and waits for the room to settle taking her time to think about what she could confess.
"Bless me all, for I have sinned..."
She settles on an embarrassing but ultimately harmless childhood indiscretion, however, the memory is still awkward enough to make her cringe and her "confession" comes out stilted and awkward. The crowd rapidly loses interest.
She climbs down from the podium disheartened but tries not to show it and continues to hold her head high.
She takes this moment to walk over to Reginald before he loses much more interest and introduces herself.
"Good evening, you must be Mr Vancaskerkin. I do very much appreciate your tabloid. You must know everything about everyone - some very juicy tales I'm sure?"
Reginald is indeed starting to turn away before Dora introduces herself. He quickly turns back and favors her with a smarmy smile. "I know quite a few juicy tales indeed, good madam. I fancy myself something of a connoisseur of such stories. I get the sense that you were holding back on the Pillar of Truth. Surely, there are more salacious experiences you could have shared with the room?" His eyes twinkle with mirth. "Tell you what. I'll buy you another drink if you'll deign to tell me one of your darker sins."
"I wonder if you would be so gracious to buy me that drink if I tell you the scandalous nature of a council member's night time daliance that you are unlikely to have heard?" Dora suggests, sitting down presumptively.
Reginald listens raptly as Dora "serves the tea" on one of Absalom's Grand Council members. He laughs as she finishes the story. "Oh, my! My readers are definitely going to get a kick out of that one!"
He gestures to the bartender, who fills Dora's glass again. "Put that one on my tab, good sir. Now then, madame, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this? I get the sense that this isn't the typical crowd you hang around."
One elf in particular sidles up to Jack, regarding him through a drunken haze. ”Impressive. Not many ‘sides me can keep the Plague Chalice down. Lomo Dibashi,” he slurs, holding out a shaky hand.
"A pleasure, I'm sure." 'Pestilence' replies, without actually mentioning a name. "So, are there any interesting damned souls here tonight?" He seems to be making small talk, but inside his mind is carefully plotting possible approaches.
Reginald listens raptly as Dora "serves the tea" on one of Absalom's Grand Council members. He laughs as she finishes the story. "Oh, my! My readers are definitely going to get a kick out of that one!"
He gestures to the bartender, who fills Dora's glass again. "Put that one on my tab, good sir. Now then, madame, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this? I get the sense that this isn't the typical crowd you hang around."
"Not my typical crowd no, but one does like a little excitement now and then. It was also an excuse to get a little dressed up." Dora says, fluttering her eyelashes.
She leans in closely as she goes to pick up her drink.
"I've also heard that I might get to speak to Hoff if I'm lucky tonight. You don't, by chance, know him do you?" She says curiously.
"There's a few yeah," Lomo says, "but I don't really give a damn about any of them any more. I was a burglar--a good one at that--but then those little gray men got a hold of me. Terrifying they were, with big, bulging white eyes! They paralyzed me while I was sleeping and dragged me down to their lair where they did all sorts of strange experiments on me, then dropped me right back in my bed! Nobody would believe my story, so I did the only thing I could do--I started drinking. Been drunk every day since then. I'm a friend of Hoff's, so he hasn't kicked me out of this place yet. But I'm too scared to leave this place, less those gray men try to grab me again!"
***
"Well, madame, I must say, when you get dressed up, you do it well," Reginald says with a sly grin, eyes dipping down to Dora's cleavage as she leans forward.
"Of course I know Hoff. Everybody here knows him. You'll find him in Hell--the room, not the actual Pit, of course, at least not yet. What, may I ask, are you planning to speak to him about?"
'Pestilence' listens without comment until the man is done. "How strange. Where did they take you from?" He asks, "Always good to know where to stay away from. Hoff is here tonight is he? In the Abyss, or Hell where people like him belong?"
"Snatched me right out of my bed, and put me right back there when they were through with me!" Lomo slurs, finishing his drink and gesturing for another.
"Yeah, Hoff's here, alright. Hanging out in Hell, as is his wont."
Jack nods again. "Guess I'd best go pay my respects then. Try not to let the weird grey things get you again. Say, you don't actually live in this quarter do you?"
Lomo shakes his head. "No, I live in Precipice Quarter. Some weird stuff going on there, too. One of my last jobs was an attempt to rob a new hotel there--the Dreaming Palace. Almost as soon as I broke into one of the bedrooms, though, two statues in the room came to life and attacked me, and he barely escaped! I've steered clear ever since. They've got too much magical security for my tastes!"
The Doctor nods again. "Famine, another drink for this man!" He waits around long enough to see that Lomo gets his drink and then leaves, not for Hell, but instead for the Abyss.
"Well, madame, I must say, when you get dressed up, you do it well," Reginald says with a sly grin, eyes dipping down to Dora's cleavage as she leans forward."Of course I know Hoff. Everybody here knows him. You'll find him in Hell--the room, not the actual Pit, of course, at least not yet. What, may I ask, are you planning to speak to him about?"
"Oh, just a few secrets." Dora says, tapping her nose, not sure of what she can and cant say to keep her out of trouble.
Dora stands up, smoothing down her dress. "Thank you for the time and the drink Mr Vancaskerkin, I look forward to meeting you again sometime."
With that, she whisks out of the room in search for Dani, Edison or Jack to tell them of her findings.
"As do I, dear, as do I," Reginald says, reaching to kiss Dora's hand before the sorceress departs.
Dora emerges to see Dani and Edison still chatting with the halfling in the Boneyard. She notices Jack stepping out from Abaddon and going into the Abyss.
The walls of this room are painted with capering demons of all varieties. There’s no bar here, only a collection of glass cases that stand like pillars throughout the room. Inside each case is a bottle surrounded by a different form of unpleasantness—worms, scorpions, blood, and worse.
Several men and women dressed in scandalous outfits that resemble incubi and succubi lounge about, propositioning the patrons. Overseeing them all is a gnome with short red hair, matched by long opera gloves and a low-cut dress of the same style. Jack instantly recognizes her as Molly Crimson, a madam who runs a coalition of sex workers spanning several neighborhoods, including the Precipice Quarter.
The Doctor heads for the blood pillar and casually extracts the bottle. Taking a swig he then pours a shot into a glass and carries it over to the boreworms. Extracting a match he lights the brandy and pours it swiftly onto the boreworms, before using the opportunity provided to whisk their bottle to safety while the creatures writhe in the flames.
As one of the incubi attendants protests, Jack flicks one of the boreworms still hanging onto the bottle at him and the man flinches away with a startled yelp.
"To the Queen of the Abyss." He states loudly, before swigging from the bottle. "Long may she reign."
Knowing of the abyss, Dora hopes that Jack can handle it all by himself.
Just to make sure, she goes towards the entrance and hovers, watching all that goes on beyond, not wanting to enter such a place herself. She ends up disgusted by the sight that she sees and turns her back, waiting for him to be done so she could tell him her findings.
Molly applauds as Jack grabs the bottle. "Bravo! Bravo! You are brave indeed, my dear man. Why don't you sidle on over here and pour me a drink so that we might get to know each other better?"
The Doctor does so, pouring Molly a generous glass and keeping the bottle for himself so no-one can see how much he is(n't) drinking. "So, oh Queen of the Underworld, what transpires in your kingdom of depravity?"
"Oh, we get up to all sorts of debauchery down here, darling. You're welcome to partake, if you've got the coin to pay." The gnome takes a deep swig of her drink before she stands on her seat. She leans forward in a suggestive manner as she whispers in Jack's ear, but her words are of a more serious nature.
"If truth be told, I'm actually rather concerned about some of my employees. They've gone missing, and all of my efforts to find them have been in vain. I would very much like to know where they are. Care to help a damsel in distress?"
She kisses Jack's cheek and then pulls back to await his answer.
To Leila, "Kris" responds "Both pleasure and business, of course. One can lie and say it's not business, but darling, we know it always is." She smiles deviously and rubs her hands together as she helps pat the dirt off "Tommy". "So since we're talking, I'm trying to pick up some juicy bits on Hoff. What can you tell me?"
"Hoff, eh?" Leila says. "Well, he's a powerful figure among Absalom’s working classes. He acts as one of the primary brokers of day labor for projects around the city. Hoff started his career as a dockworker before turning his connections into a half-legal empire. He’s a staunch nativist, and while he’s not above working with foreigners when it’s to his financial gain, he believes Absalom-born locals should come first in all things."
"If truth be told, I'm actually rather concerned about some of my employees. They've gone missing, and all of my efforts to find them have been in vain. I would very much like to know where they are. Care to help a damsel in distress?"
She kisses Jack's cheek and then pulls back to await his answer.
"Well that depends on what it costs me." Jack replies in a normal tone. He leans in in turn. "Any help begins with information. Who would I be looking for, and where did you lose them?"
Molly gives Jack four names of her employees that have gone missing. "They've disappeared from all around the city. I wonder if they aren't the result of some illness that’s being covered up by the Grand Council for fear of disrupting the Radiant Festival. I'm terrified of contagion, darling. In fact, the impeccable hygiene of my employees has become quite the selling point!"
"Truly, that's what I've heard as well." the agent says, nodding along. "But just the other day I overheard he had been bringing in all sorts of laborers from somewhere. Mwangi Expanse was it?" she starts, tapping her chin. "Or was it Minkai? Seems to go along with what you said though. "
"I'll see what I can find on my travels." Jack replies. "There are derro in the city, could they have taken your people?"
Leila shrugs. ”Dunno, but you should ask Hoff about that. In the meantime, though, you look like the sort of woman who could use a good fence. That’s my specialty—facilitating the safe sale of hot merchandise. My services are at your disposal. Business has been booming lately with the chaos of the fair, though a lot of my bounty is the low-value, empty-your-pockets sort of personal effects typical of tourists. In particular, I’ve been getting a steady stream of such detritus from a thief named Ralso. That struck me as a tad strange since pickpocketing and mugging seem beneath the thief’s abilities. But speaking of Minkai, the most recent batch of stolen items contained a bunch of Minkaian goods, including a couple of mason’s tools. Cass Hamish in the Nirvana room might know more about Ralso.”
***
Molly laughs off Jack’s suggestion. ”Oh, honey, have you been listening to Lomo’s drunken ramblings? Little gray men didn’t take my boys and girls! I mean, honestly! Such nonsense!”
"Never discount a possibility."Jack replies, probably more ominously than he meant to. "You don't want the Watch involved I assume?"
”Heavens, no! Those bumbling guards would only muck things up! I heard it took them two whole days just to get some escaped animals under control! And they blew up a poor goblin’s food stand!” Molly says.
"Sounds like they're clearing up the undesirables quite effectively." Jack counters and hands Molly the brandy bottle. "Enjoy your night, Queen of Debauchery. I will contact you if I find your missing boys and girls." With that he strides from the room, only to be collared by the last person he needs to see right now - Dora.
Dani continues to not along with Leila "You don't say..." she says, finding all of her snippets very interesting. "I might very well be able to make use of your speciality, Leila. Thanks for hte hot tip on Ralso. I'll be sure to check out Cass next."
She turns to leave and looks back with a quirky smile "Have fun burying people!" She grabs Edison's arm and says "Let's go, Tommy." and heads for Cass.
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Dani and Edison head into the Nirvana room. The walls of this room are painted with rolling hills, pastoral forests, and floating temples. The tables, bar, and seats in the room are mostly carved to look like tree stumps and other natural phenomena, save for a raised stone dais in the center which has a squared-off surface inset with lit torches.
There is a peculiar odor in the air of the Nirvana room. It smells like teen spirit.
Dani spots the woman who must be Cass Hamish. She is bald and wears and eye patch and a distinctive garrote necklace.
Walking into the room, Dani calls out "Hello, hello, hello, how low?" before spotting the bald woman she presumes to be Cass.
Looking around, she leans in to Edison and says "I don't mean to continually put you in danger, but I'm going to continually put you in danger. I think you need to wrestle that bartender. Do you think you're up to it?"
... With that he strides from the room, only to be collared by the last person he needs to see right now - Dora.
"Jack! I've been waiting for you." Dora whispers quietly to ensure nobody else overhears.
"I've found out where Hoff is - apparently he's in 'hell'." She says, rolling her eyes at the inevitability of their situation.
Edison wrestles with the hulking tiefling for a few moments, but the bartender gets the upper hand and pins him to the dais. The flames from the torches scorch his skin, but thanks to Dani's inspiration, the champion maintains his composure. Cass nods with respect.
"Hell is no place for you, pretty thing." Jack says, "Why don't you run along to Heaven and leave me alone?"
Dora looks taken aback by Jack's unexpected reaction.
"I...um...right." Dora stutters for a second, but gathers her self back together, and turns away, flicking her hair.
Searching around the place further trying not to think on it, she tries to get a glimpse through to the door for hell.
Dora peers in to get a vision of Hell. Red lanterns drench this room in bloody light, illuminating walls painted with fiery pits and rocky crags. All of the tables here are inset into waist-high pits in the floor, and the bartender stands in their own bottle-lined pit in the center, sporting either a tiefling’s brow-horns or a set of remarkable fakes. Elaborate torture devices stand at the ready all around the room.
Jeremin Hoff lounges at the bar here. Large and imposing, with a gaudy amount of jewelry and shirt hanging open to reveal a large chest tattoo of the Eye of Aroden, the man appears to be quite handsome and charismatic.
Jack meanwhile breezes on to the Maelstrom. He's actually quite enjoying himself and doesn't want to wind up the operation just yet.
Jack enters the Maelstrom. Spinning, multicolored lanterns paint the walls and denizens of this room in a disorienting riot of kaleidoscopic shapes. A gnome in the corner plays discordant tunes on what appears to be a pile of scrap metal, and the bartender wears an entire taxidermy swan as a hat.
A pair of Qadiran brothers smoke an elaborate hookah, their pupils mere pinpoints as they sample their own wares.
Knowing that this is not a place to be caught alone, Dora makes a hasty retreat and goes to find 'Kris' and 'Tommy' hoping that they are more welcoming than the Doctor.
Having taken a sniff of the hookah Jack decides the prize isn't worth the game. If the three narcotics he can identify by smell aren't enough there were at least two compounds beyond that. Going out of his mind would not be good spy-craft.
So he heads into Hell, assuming that his more law-abiding companions will have dealt with the 'good' realms and Axis by now.
He bypasses the 'torture' device, apart from observing "You would likely get more effect with rounded indents in the wood, then you could focus on the more tender areas like the arch rather than just battering the heel."
He stands next to Hoff examining the torture device until the man is done. "The Queen of the Abyss told me I would find you here." He says as an introduction. "My name for this evening is Pestilence, I hear you are the man to talk to about disappearances. The Queen has lost some people and they are... of interest to me."
Hoff eyes Jack up and down. "You're Molly Crimson's man? Yes, I can see it now. You're definitely antiseptic enough for her tastes. She's lost some of her employees, has she? Well, that's quite the shame. But it's not my job to keep track of prostitutes, no matter how clean they might be. If you need help finding laborers, though, then I'm your man."
**
Meanwhile, Dora scurries off and finds Dani and Edison in Nirvana, the latter just having finished wrestling the tiefling bartender.
Dani calls out to Edison throughout the encounter, laughing and cheering despite the complete domination she was hoping for. With Edison's task completed, Dani makes friendly with Cass. "Name's Kris. Looking for some information on Ralso, can you help me out?"