The Ghost of the Black Cell is still here. Until someone puts out the lights he can't leave anyway. And the entertainment being provided in the neighbouring cells is excellent!
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Slipping in under the wire with my Astromoi Mesmerist - Akukho. (I'm reusing the profile so I'll change the picture to something more fitting if he's selected). All of the crunch is in the profile, I'm putting the fluff in here since it spoilers nicely but the mechanics are mostly done. There's a few bits that need checking/changing but I figured that can wait for if he's actually picked. I'll lay them out below though just for the sake of disclosure. Things for the GM:
1. Astomoi don't get to speak Shadowtongue but I figured it was very appropriate for someone who summons shadowbeasts to do his dirty work. If that's a problem I will happily change it. 2. I want to take Augment Summoning for my shadow summons and the prereq is Spell Focus (Conjuration) but the spell description for Shadow Summoning says that its an illusion with the shadow descriptor, so I wasn't sure if it makes more sense to use Spell Focus (Illusion) as the prereq instead? I'll take Spell Focus either way, just not sure which school 3. I haven't picked traits yet because I wasn't sure if we were using the crimes with mechanical effects from the players guide or just normal traits and having the crime as pure fluff. If selected I'll make selections and tidy up. Fluff:
Don’t tell me... Fighting. Oh yes, I can see it now. The blood spray, the thrill. You felt alive didn’t you? As you punched your fist into his chest. You felt powerful. It is good that you enjoyed it. Remember it.
”Help me! Let me out! I’m sorry!” “Sorry? You ripped that Garrick’s chest open and you think ‘sorry’ is going to cut it? You’re in Brandescar now, scum! You’re going to die, but you’re going to have a nice long rest in the Black Cell first. Teach you to kill one of Mitra’s servants.” ”No! Please! You don’t understand! There’s something in here! It’s in my head. I can hear it! Whispering to me! Please, you have to let me out!” So soon, Piotr? It’s almost as though you don’t like me. How unkind, and I was going to bring some friends to meet you… -----------------------------------------------
“I’m not sure, Governor. We put this one in the Black Cell as ordered. Piotr Melik, he’s the one that killed Garrick three days ago. He was babbling about hearing voices in his head but they always do that once they’re in the Cell.” ”And is it normal for prisoners in the Black Cell to be found in pieces without a drop of blood to be found?” “Err… No sir. Normally we leave them in there for a few days and then they come out. Meek as mice most of them. We had that witch from Farholde last year. Remember when he was burned, repeated all the prayers and went to meet Mitra with a smile on his lips? He spent three days in the Black Cell. Told me that after that the fire was a blessing.” “There is the ghost, Warden.” “Shut up Hurald. The Governor doesn’t need to hear your ridiculous stories.” ”Hold on Warden, I’d like to hear this man speak. Guardsman… Hurald was it? Tell me, what ghost are you talking about? Do I need a Brother of Alerion here?” ”No sir. It’s just… when I started here I was told about the Ghost of the Black Cell. They said that there’s a prisoner in there – some sort of spirit. It was fifty years ago – they caught the Shadow of Ghastenhall and imprisoned him here. Put blessed wards on the door to keep him there until he could be burned. But the Asmodeans, may Mitra cleanse them with his light, tied the case up for years and years. By the time the verdict came down the man or whatever it was had just… gone. Faded away they said and the cell was dark. Always dark. That’s why we keep two torches burning down there. Old Kenren who was here before me, he said if we ever let the torches go out then the ghost will slip past the wards – we still take a meal down there every day when we check the torches, you see –“ ”That’s enough boy! I’m sorry Governor, I’ll make sure this superstitious nonsense is dealt with at once. I had no idea they were wasting good food like that.” ”It’s quite alright Warden. We can afford a few extra torches for the comfort of our guardsmen. You do a fine job men, you should be commended. I’ll send down a bottle for you to share. Mitra’s blessing on you all.” “And on you sir. Three cheers for the governor lads! Thank you sir.” Yes, thank you Governor, for the fine meal. Do send me another one soon. “Are you quite alright sir? You’ve gone white.” ”Yes… yes I’m fine Warden. It was the draught down here. A trick of the wind. I’ll send that wine down for the end of your shift. Wait! Do you hear that? The scratching?” “No sir. Probably just the rats sir. Quite a lot of them on these lower levels.” ”Ahh. Right. Rats… yes. Thank you Warden.” ”Did you see that Warden? The Governor heard something he did! You saw how quickly he ran out of here. It’s the ghost, I’m telling you!” “Hurald. You’re going to shut up right now or I’m putting you in the Black Cell to make the point. There. Is. No ghost in the Black Cell!” If only they knew… P.S. Having read the list of submissions with interest, I'd love to get a Dylan note on Akukho... ;)
River doesn't bother saying anything - the man has already lost his support, if he turns around to look for back up then its all over. No need to escalate the situation now.
River puts down the drink he's mixing and flows out from behind the bar to join Crystal as she confronts the drunks.
"I need to stay here and investigate the bar and what survived." River says, "Still." He disappears upstairs and returns with a bag of coins. "For you all, birthday girl get yourself something nice and let me pay if Blaze and Gale need something too, ok?" He gives Crystal a hug to go with the bag of coins. "You crazy kids have fun! I'll have a new drink for you all to try when you get back."
"Mind if I have a chat with him?" River replies. "See if we can work something out?"
"Just a thought Boss." River says. "Who's the bartender here? I don't think I remember them from last night and a good tender can really make a show - get people buying more drinks just to see what happens." He proves his point by stealing a half empty cup of coffee and tossing it up into the air. He snags the cup and then, with a flourish collects the twirling streamer of coffee that falls behind it in lazy spirals. "See? Imagine what I could do with cocktails! Let me set a little bar up on the street and hand out a few free drinks this afternoon I'd wager we can drum up some custom. Feel up to doing special effects Blaze?" He adds.
River sighs again, when Gale is like this she's like the playful breeze that keeps stealing your hat. You just have to do what you were going to do anyway and try to smile along the way.
River just sighs. "Eat your eggs." He says, pushing heart-shaped food at both of them. "Nearly a hundred and one and she still acts like a child." He says pointedly to Blaze, although both Gale and Crystal can tell there's no heat in his tone.
"Really?" River mouths at Blaze. He seems caught between amusement and shock.
"Plan!" River replies with a grin. "As for the disaster... I'm going for a six. I'm feeling hopeful today! And evil." He adds as he sets to work on mixing the coffee just right. When they walk back in River sees Crystal, looks for his sister and then does a double take as he takes in her relaxed expression and the tablecloths odd positioning...
"Does Gale not want breakfast?" He asks confused, before realising that this presents a wonderful opportunity. "Or is she eating already?"
In the kitchen River feels a shiver run down his spine...
"I'll get the coffee." River says, standing. "I'm better at making drinks anyway. You two relax and try not to do anything too embarrassing in public." Talk! He mouths at his sister as he follows Blaze, presumably towards the kitchen. Once there he has no compunctions about getting the ifrit to heat the water for him until its just right for coffee.
"If 'work' involves me up this much gold every day I'll be a happy water genie!" River replies with a grin. "Sadly I figure my daily earnings are about to go down, not up..." He makes a mournful face. "Still at least I have Ghoulette." He fakes a dreamy sigh and far away look, hoping for a laugh or two.
"I didn't look, in case I saw more than I wanted to!" River replies with a smile. "Was it good? I just hope you two aren't going to end up disappointed again - but I think you were always a guy weren't you? So this might be progress..."
Alorea finds her brother, with his hearty constitution, already up. "Hey sis. Good night?" He asks, passing a mug of clear water to wash away the alcohol from the night before.
He gives River a one-armed hug just as Gale and Crystal start making out to the side, and he can't help but notice. "Huh. Maybe they'll end up together anyway? Though I hope the fallout is less bad this time if they don't. Think we should do something? Could just be the alcohol making them do things they wouldn't..." Blaze asks River, watching the proceedings with her. "Let's just follow them and give them space." River replies, returning the hug. "If they both want it tonight then I'm sure as heck not getting in their way!" As they walk through the dark (for humans) streets, River squeezes Blaze a little tighter. "Thank you Blaze." He doesn't elaborate but the moment is full of significance none-the-less. When Crystal and Gale straight into Crystal's room Blaze and River linger awkwardly in the corridor for a few moments. "Well... goodnight." River says eventually, turning to Blaze and pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. "You can have the furthest room. It'll be quieter for your preparations in the morning."
Just as the bird huffs and the cooler orange glow returns, he locks eyes with River and swallows once. "You know how confusing that gender swap thing is that you and your brother have going on? It's enough to drive any straight guy insane..." "She's my sister at the moment..." River says, nodding towards Gale, Crystal and their dangerously green drinks. "And I know..." He lets out a sigh. "If it helps it drives straight girls insane too. I really thought they were going to get together for a while, then the change hit again. I keep thinking that one day it'll stop, that we'll just... I don't know... find the right shape or get some control over it, or something. But no, spring and autumn equinox, every time." He looks sad. "There's some upsides but... I feel like we miss out on so much more... we're probably going to end up together in some island in the middle of the ocean or something." He tries for a smile, but Blaze can see the glimmer in the corner of his deep blue eyes. "You'd come and visit right?"
He suddenly stops. "Hey, wait a minute! What about you , miss gambling champion? What did I miss for you to suddenly be some kind of high roller in a seedy Casino, when I remember you being pretty timid? Heck, you went with all of us on a frontal assault of a crimelord's base without so much as a blink! That's pretty much the most impulsive thing out there!" "Umm... who got us into said assault on a crime lords base?" River counters, apparently without concern at Blaze addressing him as the wrong gender. "And besides, nothing was going to go wrong for me last night. The stars were right, the tide was flowing, I was just lucky. It was perfect. Everything about it was perfect." He grins at Blaze, the slight hint of darker blue almost undetectable against his skin in the poor light.
"Maybe another time then Lavender." River adds, giving her hand a brief squeeze. "Have a good night." He tucks an arm into Blaze's as they make their way back across the common room. "When did you become such a gentleman? I remember an impulsive young ifrit who couldn't wait to bed people he wouldn't burn. Although we were all impulsive..."
River suspects he knows where this is going, and watches with a smile.
"It's Crystal's birthday." River replies. "I've had a good run and the tables so we came out to get some food afterwards." He leaves out the part about the casino burning down and going after a local mob boss - that's not the sort of thing to talk about with complete strangers, or calistrians.
"Why do men always feel like they've got the right to do whatever they want, regardless of what the woman says?" River adds with a long suffering sigh. It's rather incongruous unless you know the full story of the twins, as is the note of hard-won experience in his voice.
"My sister and I have strong views on certain things." River says, weaving a small orb of water around his hand. "One of them is that when a lady says no, she means no. So how about you leave her alone, I'll buy you a drink and my sister will leave your anatomy intact?"
He's trying too hard to sound reasonable to be properly threatening.
"Always." River replies, unable to forget an occasion not all that long ago when he was on the wrong end of an amorous sailor's advances. Gale, a man at the time, had backed him up then and its the least either of them can do to return the favor for someone in a similar situation.
"Yeah." River agrees, "I was telling Blaze, we went back fairly recently to see Dad after Mum passed. It was practically a different place apart from him. Do you remember Molly, the halfling we used to play with? She had grandkids!"
"I've got this!" River replies. "We can split the proceeds from the Pauper later, but I did well tonight and I want to share!" Following Blaze's advice the group heads to a tavern that's open late and River orders four bowls of the mystery stew, three ales and a mug of water. When it all arrives he swirls his finger in the water until its crystal clear and then joins in the toast with the others. "To the birthday girl, and centuries to come!" Once everyone is eating River turns to Crystal. "So Crys, been a while since we saw you." That's an attempt at being diplomatic. "What have you been up to? Blaze has been getting himself a reputation at a gaming hall and we've been hanging out with druids. You ever go to the fancy art school you talked about?"
"I'm doing ok right now." River says with a grin. "And of course we missed you Blaze! Anyways. This can be Crys' room, Gale, then me, then Blaze. Work for everyone? Good! Now, does anyone want to go out for a drink? I feel like we still owe someone a birthday..." He says with a big grin.
River mimes taking a bolt to the heart when Saul says Blaze should keep him away from Dungo but doesn't object to his new job - even though its likely to be far less fun than being on the other side of the table. He stays quiet until Hans is gone and then comments casually to Gale. "We could move one of the beds in here if you wanted..."
River shakes his head - Blaze has covered all the important things with admirable pith.
"Oh yeah." River says, shooting Blaze a wink. "Well you know I can conjure water right?" He does so just to prove a point. "Well if I do it right I can fill a persons lungs up with conjured water. Then they drown, obviously, without ever even seeing the ocean." "Did you know?" He adds, with the kind of casualness that only someone who can breathe when surrounded by water can manage. "It only takes about half a vial's worth of water to kill you? If you get that much in your lungs then your lungs start producing mucus to try and get rid of it and that's what drowns you. It can take days. But I'm sure our friend here isn't going to make me do that..." He smiles again at Angvar, just to make sure that the man is suitably terrified and then turns away. "That was about the only useful fact I ever learned at the stupid 'Elemental Sciences Academy' we had to go to for a while."
River returns to the upper floors when Sertse comes for him, leaving Reg happily discussing the latest rumors with Jonas. "Oh, so this is the gentleman that burned down my favorite casino..." He says on arrival. "What's the plan Blaze, I'm sure Saul would like to meet him!"
"I had some good fortune tonight." River says simply. "It seems only right that I let it flow further on. Damming a river does little good in the long-run."
River hands over five gold pieces, to Jonas, not the Father. "I think the work you do here is valuable." He says firmly. "I'd like to support it when I can, as long as it is the good work. How about I come by next week and see how things are going?"
"No, he shouldn't be an issue for you any longer." River says with a smile. "Reg here is coming with us to work for Mr Vancaskerskin, earning an honest days coin!" He nods a few times and then slides smoothly on to a new conversation. "So Father, what did you say your operating costs were again?"
"So? Feel like a game of dice?""Dunno if that's a good idea. Mum told me gamblin' does bad things to people." "Your mother was a wise woman." River replies with an easy smile. "So, this is the good Father."
"Gold in your pocket is better than any amount of gold promised, right?" River adds. "How about you and I go downstairs and talk to the Father, then the others can come and meet us in a few minutes." As the two walk downstairs River's voice floats back up. "So? Feel like a game of dice?"
River, who has, a lot more money, stays quiet to let Blaze handle the negotiations!
River would have better luck kissing the guy it seems, but he does at least block the door. "Put him down. We've got no quarrel with you but there's one of you and three of us. Leave your boss and you can go." He offers.
Akukho, likewise, hurls water at the orc - not to much effect.
The twins keep doing what they do - missing together!
River slips into the room, wary of any more flying scorpions and unleashes another water balloon at the pauper!
River races down the corridor without bothering to say anything.
River follows the thug and tosses another water balloon.
River throws a water balloon, making lots of people wet!
River uses splash! It has no effect!
River is taken aback as Blaze and Gale fell the man, and sighs as more footsteps approach. "I suppose it was always going to be like this?" He asks as his fists swirl with water once again.
"Shall we carry on with your new friend?" River asks, smiling at his sister who has always had a big soft spot from dogs.
"Once we've had a word with Beltias, why don't you and I have a talk Father?" Akukho says with a smile. "I'd like to help if I can." With that he gestures to the rest of the group and leaves the Father in peace. "So, let's head upstairs while they aren't expecting us." He says, glancing at Blaze to see if the prophetic ifrit has any insight to share.
"How much does this place cost to run?" River asks.
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