RPM:1 Escaped Sorcier Prisoner

Starring: 🏹 Ehsan, Florint, Hugo, 🐺 Ildefons, 💃 Milady Rosalie, 🐘 One-Tusk
Guest Starring: Captain Hernaut, Iosif Kettleblack, Bonacorso, Bluespeak
Challenge: Discovering how Zephryine escaped; finding Bonacorso; tracking Zephryine
Location: La Magie de Prison , Chirp (Village), Drumchapel (Hamlet)
Date Played: 19 Oct 2016

Gathering the Pride for a Mission

🏹 Ehsan:

Florint:

Hugo:

🐺 Ildefons:

💃 Milady Rosalie: Ugh! Who left this old bread in my office. Do these soldier wants ants, because this is how we get ants!?! I swear, ever since the Sorcier lost a good deal of their power the Pride has been getting lazier and lazier.

Speaking of ground dwellers, it appears we have a mole. Chances are the whole city knows about this due to Maelia's big mouth. Someone in our ranks has helped the prisoner, Zephryine, escape from prison. Everyone with the Lions are scattered to the four winds. One Tusk is a trustworthy sort, and his fervor against the Sorcier will quickly drive him to find the others. No need to dirty my hands with the brunt of the grunt work.

🐘 One-Tusk

I've read that Wildbloods "live between two worlds"- neither man, nor beast. Ever since the Revolution, I've felt that- the revolution is a constant ongoing struggle, so what do I do… load ships? Manage baggage trains for a group that is almost certain to explode (whether metaphorically or physically is an exercise for the reader). What am I? A freedom fighter engaged in an endless struggle for equality? Or just a lump of muscle?

Neither, of course. Even as a Stevedore, I still fight the revolution. My union brothers and I fight for the rights of labor- human and wildblood alike. In this chaotic world, ensuring that capital is not the phoenix that rises is of the utmost importance, even as we purge the world of counter-revolutionaries.

Which brings us to Rosalie's visit. A sorcier escaped the prison (mercy for the previous era is understandable, but a threat to the Revolution- why even imprison them, when summary execution is both more apt and more efficient?). We must retrieve them. I relayed this to Ildefons.

Investigating the Escape in La Magie de Prison

🏹 Ehsan:

Florint:

Hugo:

🐺 Ildefons:

💃 Milady Rosalie: Hugo. Why I brought him on board, I'll never know. It's just one thing after another with him. If it weren't for his father's tight ass and loose morals...

Aside from the fact that Hugo may have had a hand in this, he is not smart enough to do this on his own or capable enough to do this with outside help. This eliminates him as the main suspect.

The young lady seems more adapt at illusions than her entrance paperwork suggested. It's something we'll have to keep in mind as we travel. If the group keeps close to me, their resistances to her wiles should at least be tempered.

One Tusk did make quite a mess of the place. I swear, those Wildbloods may have evolved a good bit, but civility and patience still escapes the lot of them. I was able to assure Iosif that One Tusk will be spending some of his rounds as an aid to learn some respect for his position and help with the more rowdy prisoners. This will hopefully quell any hate and, if One Tuck does a good job, put a small favor in my pocket from Iosif.

🐘 One-Tusk: I am no investigator, though none among us truly is. The sorcier used an illusion to escape, and left no scent for Ildefons' hounds. Hugo stood accused of being an accomplice, but I never believed it for a moment. Hugo may be stained by his family connections, but he does nothing to sully his name himself. We tossed the cell, we rousted the Guard from their bunks, and the result was a new name- Bonacorso.

Tracking down Bonacorso

🏹 Ehsan:

Florint:

Hugo:

🐺 Ildefons:

💃 Milady Rosalie: Ha, I would never be caught in that end of town. I'll let the rest of them track some leads and get back to me. I have to write some thank-you letters to some of the local nobility anyway and I've drug my feet long enough on that.

I wasn't long into my letters when I got word that Bonacorso, the one that helped Zephryine escape, was found and in an interrigation room. I wasn't in there long until the bleeding heart Florint made a bunch of promises his mouth couldn't fill. Lothe to let a traitor walk, I hand Ehsan my pistol. She is well known for her inability to handle one and her constant misfires. It wasn't long before Bonacorso met with his due justice by her butter fingers. It all gets written up as an accident as well. I love when the cogs all fall into place.

We do find that this business with Zephryine has something to do with her daughter. This has evolved from a summary execution to something she may bend my ear about. No promises.

🐘 One-Tusk

It is perhaps absurd, but I feel uncomfortable working with the Pride and not carrying gear. To a degree, it feels like my role. I had a thought that I could carry Bonacorso's footlocker, mostly to humiliate him- a drunkard and a layabout in the Pride should be made to feel ashamed. Perhaps there was some "animal cunning" in the choice, though- for Ildefons' coyote could grab Bonacorso's scent.

We found him in the Peasant and Courtesan, hiding. The chaos of that quarter (oh, what a world we could live in if streets were centrally planned, and not laid down by haphazard tradition!) made his capture a near thing, but captured him we did.

More to his shame: he took a bribe to release the sorcier. Sadly, he will not face the justice of the courts (a swift, speedy, and public trial and execution could have been a lesson to any sympathizers, regardless their motivations), for Ehsan killed him in an "accident".

I am displeased by this outcome, but not upset.

On Zephyrine's Trail and a Split in the Party

🏹 Ehsan:

Florint:

Hugo:

🐺 Ildefons:

💃 Milady Rosalie: Zephryine has dug her own grave it seems. After dealing with wild, winding trails and a group of bandits, we reach the village of Drumchapel. They are convinced she is a witch due to the flashing colors off in a distance of where she is hiding. The town wants to descend upon her with fire and pitchfork. I try to convince softly, and then with a heavy hand, that we should take care of the issue. I almost had to pull out my trump card and convince them that I could "drive the witch out of her" with my powers. It's tasking, and something I'd like to reserve for when I actually need it.

With luck, we will be able to get this wrapped up before the other part of our group returns from Chirp. I'd like to return quickly to a more civilized quarters.

🐘 One-Tusk

Before his death, Bonacorso set us on the sorcier's trail- she left concealed in a caravan. My Union Brothers were able to help us trail her to the point where she left the caravan, and presented me with another task- delivering bird seed to a town of Chirp.

Again, I find myself trapped between two worlds- do I continue to just fight the revolution, or do I focus on the new world we are building? As eager as I am to crush out the last vestiges of the sorcier, I cannot neglect my duties to the world that we are building- I accept the task, despite needing to split from the party to accomplish it.

Fortunately, Ehsan takes initiative- her strange mount can carry the load, and get there and back faster than I could. She proceeds to Chirp and continued on the sorcier's trail- which leads us to Drumchapel.

Here, I see perhaps the best argument against summary executions of sorcier- the entire town is gripped by superstition and fear of witches. They were about to embark on a witch-hunt exactly as we arrived. For a moment, I was briefly optimistic- could this be the sorcier? Operating so openly and foolishly? Of course not. I suspect it's nothing connected to the sorcier. Lights in the darkness? Noises from the hill? Still, quieting superstition and dispelling rumors of magic is an important part of the Pride.

Off we go, to find a "witch".