Hunting the Hunters

Act 8 Final scenes (PART 1)

Last week the Irish Knights recruited a Troll and made a deal with the Irish and started recruiting more household staff. Late last night Roland and Dante came back wounded, they had broken their mission rules and engaged the sidhe. The sidhe didn’t want anything from these two young storm knights, so after roughing them up pretty hard and knifing Dante they simply walked away.

On the good side, the Duo did determine that the sidhe rangers were hunting someone (or something) that lives within the castle that was walking freely into Dublin. This mystery person is simply called the Keymaster (or sometimes the Smith).

Disappointed that the Duo disobeyed orders and nearly got themselves killed, the knights send them to bed, once the doctor is done stitching Dante. The Irish Knights can’t allow any of their household to be assaulted with answering for it. Tomorrow they will add the hunt for the Keymaster to their growing task list.

Day 140 (Act 8 Scene 6):

The new troops are integrating into the house and over breakfast Cheryl informs them that she has hired a cook and carpenters to build Barry a bed. The House is beginning to function again and while it is still a mostly empty building its starting to feel like a home.

Ragnall puts forth that they should just jump on the Keymaster situation. After all, locals (aka “peasants”) have been knocking at their door about it for days. David tries to suggest that they send Dante and Roland again, only this time backed with a few of the soldiers. The glare from Ragnall and sneering disdain from Ash are all the answer he needs. He says he’ll get the car after breakfast.

Breakfast concludes in silence, but at least David is still worried that there has been more than 24-hours since they battled Daedalus and the Baron hasn’t answered their attack.

Scene 7: The Western Edge of Dublin

David has trouble with the van, it keeps running rough and as they head west, he is surprised to find that the streets are very much changed. Less and less of modern Earth evident, and when it does show up it is startling. They shift past some medieval buildings, dirt roads, and end up on asphalt with a massive DIY store on one side and a row of apartment buildings and storefronts lining the street on the other, before they switch back into Tudor and medieval huts and long houses.

The streets twist and narrow and David gets lost for a while. But finally, they arrive in the general area where the first complaints came from and where they had dispatched Dante and Roland to yesterday.

This area is almost a small town in its own right, with cobbled roads radiating from a main street. The main street is dominated by a huge barn-like stable, a massive Inn, and further up the road a wooden-sided church. The main street is lined with large houses but behind them are large open fields that are tilled and farmed. Lone houses dot these fields and to the south is a large orchard and a mill.

Crowds of people stare at the van and as David turns off the engine the van gives a shudder and dies. He resists the urge to immediately restart the vehicle, but he is worried that they will be walking back home. As they step out of the van the various people seem interested in them, until Ash gets out of the back and then everyone adverts their eyes and goes back to work or wanders away. Except for a trio of old men sitting on the Inn porch in rocker chairs.

David elbows Ragnall and points to the porch with his chin. Ragnall nods and leads the way.

Old man Sam:

One of the men keeps his eyes on the approaching trio while the other two start to ignore them. One of them spits a wad of tobacco in Ash’s general direction and lumbers out of his chair and walks down the street toward a bar leaning against the barn-stable, but the other two stay seated. Ash stops a few feet further back and Ragnall leads the way.

Sam: “Took you a while but glad to see you finally out ‘ere to give us a hand.”

Ragnall: “Do we know you?”

Sam: “Naw, but you have the look about you like them other knights, from the big House. I assume yer here to take care of the fookin sidhe. I ‘ave an interest in seein’ im dead.” Sam raises his left hand and he’s missing two fingers from his hand.

Sam launches into his story with little prodding. The sidhe came among them asking about a smith, a Keymaster. Sam gave them directions to the blacksmith and told them to “fook off,” they punched him for impertinence and explained that it was no “mortal blacksmith” they sought, but a fae creature of great power. Sam told them he didn’t care what they were looking for and that if they wanted to find an elf maybe they should question their own kind. The sidhe threatened to take a finger and Sam told them to make sure it wasn’t “this one.” So, they cut off his pinky. They asked him where to find the Keymaster, and he pointed to the blacksmith shop again, so they cut off the second finger.

Ragnall Like Sam:

Finishing his swear laden story Sam produces a bottle of rye whisky from beneath his chair and takes a swallow. He hands the bottle to his friend sitting beside him and the even older man nods and drinks.

Sam: “I brought my family into Dublin because it is supposed to be safer. I’m a simple farmer and we have nothing here, and with my hand my children have to take care of me now. Kill those bastards for me.”

Ragnall agrees and at this point Ash steps forward, “Tell us about the sidhe, what did they look like.”

Sam: “They’re pretty boys like you, but nasty pretty boys… one of them has a scar on his face, a large X. The other has a strange ridge of hair, down the middle of his head standing straight up.” Sam gestures above his own head, forming a Mohawk.

David: “Wow, those guys should stand out.”

The old man beside Sam starts to laugh; “Told the fookin’ ponce to come back so he could use him like a broom, Sam did.” The old man keeps laughing and Ragnall has one of his rare smiles.

Quick decision:

The House is part of a large city block that is actually the core of a poly-technical college. The House and the parking garage are in the south-eastern quarter of the square. IN the opposite corner is the main university building and around the edges are various other buildings. BUT in the center of this square is a massive park, a Quad. A few acres of land. On impulse, Ragnall makes an offer.

“Sam, why don’t you bring the whole family, and anyone else you know down to the House. We only have a small plot of land but its enough to start growing some crops. And as time goes on, we’ll need to have access to our own food supply. You can live in the House and work in the Quad.”

Dave and Ash agree, more people in the house actually strengthens the hardpoint, though it would be better if they were core earthers. Still, having some farmers in the quad would add to the long-term use of the House. Though it does bring up the question of their neighbors, who is living in the other buildings in their square?

Problems for later. The old man starts to nod at the suggestion and then passes it off saying he needs to run it by the family. The trio of knights leave the two old men talking on the porch and start to look around for more information on Mohawk and Scar.

The Search

The trio wander the street asking the few people out if they saw anything. Most people ignore them and as such they head toward the bar. Dante and Roland had stated that it was in the bar that they had encountered the sidhe in the first place. So, someone had to be willing to talk about two knights getting jumped and stabbed in the place.

They enter the bar and some of the conversation dulls and then people turn away and pointedly ignore them. Fresh saw dust is covering the floor, masking the site of where exactly Dante was stabbed. David is getting a decidedly “western-style” feel from this place. With the barn right next door and the fact that the bar is a two-story, cedar shingled building with a wood façade out front. But his companions wouldn’t get the reference and he stays silent as they head toward the bar.

The place is fairly empty, the old man from the porch is sitting alone at a table with a cup of tea. The other tables are dominated with younger patrons, mostly teens and twenty-somethings eating large breakfasts and talking about working and what they’ll do after harvest time.

The bartender is doing his best to ignore them as he cleans a perfectly polished bar top and they take the time to search the walls and bar-back. The walls are covered in odd relics and finds, from farm tools to broken swords, from animal skulls to dragon fangs. It is an eclectic mix of goods.

The Bartender and a Different Story of events:

The bartender is an elven man, with a black eye and short hair. His ears are pierced all through the cartilage and his clothes are a mix of Earth and Aysle. He sighs deeply as they step up the bar and then puts on his professional face.

Ragnall orders a whisky and the other two knights shake their heads. They don’t try any guile, they simply want to know about the fight that happened last night in the bar, the one that obviously got him punched in the face.

He did indeed get punched in the face saving those boys. His version of events differs quite a bit from the “official” report by Roland. In Roland’s story, he and Dante tracked the sidhe and tried to subtly manipulate them into telling secrets. That didn’t work out and sidhe jumped them when they tried to retreat. Roland also states that the knights fought bravely, fist to fist until the sidhe, in desperation, drew knives, shived Dante and fled.

The bartender’s version of events is that the duo came into the place and sat down and ordered drinks. That they asked the tender about the sidhe and the tender pointed them out right behind them in the middle of the bar. Dante and Roland finished their drinks and went off to accost the sidhe. The sidhe laughed at the two knights and started hammering the snot out of them. The bartender, the blacksmith Clive (who had just moments earlier was being interrogated by the Sidhe) and a patron named Sam (not the old man Sam but a different one) jumped in to help the boys. Clive threw the sidhe with the mohawk across the room and the bartender actually got elbowed in the eye by Roland while trying to save the boy.

The sidhe then left the bar, dropping a few coins on the way out to pay for the damages. The knights then chased the sidhe down and get their asses beat inside the barn. That is where Dante got stabbed. The thing is the sidhe for the most part have only been targeting elves and dwarves, only a handful of humans have gotten hurt, and most of them are because they fought back so hard.

The bartender then tells them that the sidhe were headed eastward deeper into town, and that they had mentioned heading toward the crossroad between three streets. David remembers the crossroad from his study of Dublin maps, not that Core Earth maps would be useful for long.

Ragnall downs his drink and the trio depart.

Eastward:

As they climb back into the van Ragnall remarks, “Remind me to slap those boys when we get back to the House. Also teach them how to make factual reports.”

David is relieved when the car starts and they drive the five miles back toward the crossroad area. Thinking it through and taking a few turns they find themselves on one of the roads in the cross, and it just happens that this road will take them directly back to their own House.

They actually park within sight of the DIY store (think of Home Depot) and the row of stores, and with the van back on asphalt it seems to be running better. The houses are still turning to Aysle and most of the people on the street in garb. Looking around they debate the best way to go to seek information on the sidhe, but Ash’s sharp eyes point down the street to a sign. A locksmith.

Smitty’s Locks:

The building is brick, tall, and has a dozen stores nestled at street level. They have glass fronts and they are narrow but deep. Stepping inside the store is pure Aysle, the dichotomy is jarring. Against all stereotypes, a very friendly Dwarf sits behind the bench working on something overly mechanical and complicated. Besides locks and keys on the walls there are also clockwork goods, wind up toys, clocks, and other mechanical geegaws.

Smitty, waves at them as they enter and he puts down tools and removes a jeweler’s loup from his eye. He immediately starts a sales pitch for his various services and goods, but Davie takes point on this one and cuts through the spiel.

He asks if Smitty has been visited by any sidhe, and the locksmith shakes his head; “only the occasional elf, not many of the fair folk like to be surrounded by so much brass and iron.” They ask if he has heard about sidhe looking for a “keymaster” and cutting off fingers for the information.

Smitty looks aghast. He’s heard nothing of such things, but yeah it could be happening in the city all the time. They then ask him about the castle and if he came form there. He laughs at them. “That castle is a fucking eye sore and evil to boot! Makes me mad that it sometimes shifts into a dwarf hold, but no his people were born in the north and came down here more than a century ago. He’s third generation Dublin born.”

Derailed:

The mention of the castle shifting shapes and showing up as a dwarven hold is news to them, and it diverts them from their purpose. They start to question him on this topic instead of staying focused. But Smitty brings them back to the current problem.

Smitty: “Me boy! Me apprentice is over in the abomination,” a gesture out the front window toward the {Home Depot} “What if your sidhe find him first?”

Smitty starts to come around the bench and the trio stop him. They’ll run across the street and fetch his apprentice and bring him back. He thanks them. They then tell him he should lock up the shop and be on the lookout for Scar and Mohawk. His apprentice is a dark-skinned human boy, named Reggie.

They head out onto the street and Ash stops them.

Ash: “I’ll stay here on the street, watch the shop incase our friends show up. You two retrieve the boy.”

Fetching Reggie:

The inside of the {Home Depot} is still mostly shelving and core Earth goods, but whole sections of the store have been converted to workshops. With carpenters, potters, and other craftspeople showing off their skills and wares.

Finding Reggie is easy, as he’s a core earther and pushing around a carriage, and he’s over six feet tall and wearing a college sweatshirt. He looks like he should be an athlete, but his shirt says Poly-Sci/Tech Robotics Team. David makes a comment that the lab for that team is actually on the third floor of their House and Ragnall just ignores him.

The meeting with Reggie starts off on the wrong foot as Ragnall leads the way, but Davie makes it better once he starts speaking Core Earth to young man. Once he realizes that one, they currently live in his old school building, and two, they are here to protect Smitty and as such came to find him. He allows them to lead him from the building.

Reggie’s Story:

He was born in London but came to Ireland with his family when he was younger. While his father wanted him to play rugby, he wanted to be an engineer. He did a little of both and was a student at the college when the invasion happened. He tried to get out of the city but it was chaos for a while and he ended up on the streets. The hoodies tried to recruit him but he didn’t want any of that and he was worried about the Yardies. So, he went west and by pure luck got taken in by Smitty.

They ask him if he’s seen any sidhe asking people about the Keymaster. While he ahs never seen the two men, they ask about he did meet a different sidhe a few days ago. At least he assumed the guy was a sidhe as he had inhuman eyes. This man wanted to buy this puzzle box that Smitty keeps in the shop. The thing is the puzzle box isn’t normally on display, and is not for sale.

Reggie told the guy that Smitty didn’t have any puzzle boxes for sale and the man pulled out a drawing, it was almost exactly the box. Reggie doubled down that such a box didn’t exist and the man left the shop. Reggie never mentioned it to Smitty.

Questioning Smitty:

They arrive back to the shop and Ash steps out from behind a parked car. He tells them that he’s felt “eyes upon him.” They look around but see no obvious gawkers and then head into the shop.

They share the story about the box to Smitty and ask the dwarf to show them. The dwarf grunts and agrees, beneath the bench his foot rests on the top of a chest. He slides the box out and flips the lid open with his foot, a loaded crossbow is on the top. He moves the crossbow and beneath is a wrapped bundle and a couple sacks presumably filled with coins and valuables.

He hands them the wrapped box and they uncover it. It pretty much looks like a lacquered Japanese puzzlebox. The wood is cherry and inlaid with gold forming the faces of lions on the surface. Gears are within the mouths of the lions. Smitty says he has never been able to open it and he has no memory of when he first acquired it, but the engineering has always intrigued him.

Sidhe Problems

Ragnall turns to Reggie: “Tell us about the man with the strange eyes.”

Reggie: “He was short and his eyes were yellow, the iris I mean. Very yellow, not golden brown but banana yellow. He also had no earlobes. That’s about all I remember, he was wearing Aysle clothing and I don’t know what you’d call it, a long tunic, tall boots…a cape.”

Ragnall is about to ask another question when he feels a chill run up his spine. Magic. Someone is spying on them! The trio dash out into the street and look around. Davie spots the pale face of a Lurk in the storm drain on the curb across the street. The face disappears as he steps toward the street, yelling about lurks in the sewers. But Ash grabs his arm and points down the street, at the crossroad this is a commotion and a bleeding man is in the center to the street screaming for a healer.

The trio is torn in three directions…

Ragnall knows it was magic aimed at the shop…

David saw a Lurk in the sewer…

Ash wants to run toward the bloodshed down the street…

End of PART 1

I have to say that Act 8 was REALLY long… but mostly because it involved little to no fighting, so all of these scenes were hours of talking. They went pretty quickly. Going to pause it here. Next week we have the team chasing ONE of the above issues and we have the fight with the Sidhe!