The Keymaster

Act 8 Final (final… first 4 parter!)

The hunt for the Keymaster Continues.

Recap: Last week the Irish Knights followed Dante and Roland’s story, finding a few flaws. But it eventually led them to a Locksmith, who while not the Keymaster might have met the creature. While dealing with him, they felt magic spying on them and stepping out into the street they immediately found three different things, each pulling the attention of a different Knight. But commotion in the streets and a bloody man claimed them.

Bloody Uproar

Ash leads the way, running down the middle of the street toward the commotion. Down at the crossroads, next to a large tavern a crowd is gathering around a man standing in the street. He is covered in blood and holding a rag to his right hand.

David sighs, he was sure he’d seen a lurk in the sewer, but he ignores it and scoops up Ragnall and runs down the street. The priest rants and raves, filling the air with curses as the large man throws him over a shoulder. But it’s the quickest way to get to the action.

By the time David gets Ragnall to the bleeding man, most of the crowd has moved away. The sudden appearance of Ash, with his scarred face and dark aura has scared all but one of the on-lookers away from the bleeding man. The one remainder has the bleeding man sitting on the curb and is bandaging the hand.

Ragnall: “Make room, I’m a healer.”

Good Samaritan; “I got this, it’s only a missing finger.”

Bleeding Man; “My friend, he’s still in the alley, they hurt him far worse… please…” The man gestures back down an alley between the Tavern and a tall brick building, therein can just be seen the shape of a dwarf laying on the ground and another man kneeling over him, the kneeling man is calling for help but his voice barely carried over the sound of the on-lookers.

Ragnall gets to his feet and runs down the alley, putting on far more speed than expected. Ash paces along behind him but Davey lingers for a moment.

What happened?

He asks the man sitting on the curb to relate his story.

The bleeding man is named Michael and the dwarf is his friend, they were cutting thru the alley to take a short cut to the next block of apartments when two sidhe closed in on them. They moved quickly and one of them grabbed Galen, the dwarf) and put a knife to his throat. They questioned them about a creature called the Keymaster, some yellow-eyed fae. When they stated that they knew nothing the sidhe cut off one of Michael’s fingers. He screamed and Galen struggled, when suddenly a voice yelled from the end of the alley. Another man came rushing in to help, in that moment Galen broke the hold on him and tried to attack the scar-faced man who was cutting on Michael. But the mohawked man stabbed Galen in the throat and the two sidhe fled.

Davey adds the crimes to Mohawk and Scar’s list and then moved into the alley to check on Ragnall and Ash.

In the Alley:

Ragnall puffs hard as he runs down the alley, luckily it was only a short sprint. A dwarf lies on the ground and a human kneels over him, the human is holding the dwarf’s throat closed, but a large puddle has still seeped to form beneath the dwarf.

Ragnall drops to his knees, saying a quick prayer and rubbing his hands together. “You’re fuckin lucky dwarf, no better healer in the whole of the city.” He gently pushes aside the helper and places his own hands over the wound in the dwarf’s throat. His glow with a golden light for a moment and the Dwarf’s eyes snap open. Galen gasps in a deep breath and tries to speak. Ragnall shushes him.

Ash steps over the three men and notices a trail of blood running down the alley. He starts following, slowly at first and then with more speed. Bloody footsteps, a hand print on the wall, and splatter from the blades. So easy. Too easy.

Back at Ragnall, the Dwarf struggles to speak again, “Distraction. I speak their language; it was no mistake they made it bloody.”

Ragnall; “Distraction? From what… or where!? Ash!”

Ash doesn’t like it when things are too easy, his back tightens and his palms itch, he’s being set-up. Behind him he can hear Ragnall yelling for him. Damn.

Led Astray:

Ash comes back down the twisting alley, Ragnall has already run back to the streets and the human is helping the dwarf walk out of the alley. Ash opens a portal and places the other end out on the street by Davey. He manages to arrive beside the large man before even Ragnall arrives.

Ragnall gives Ash a disgusted look and trying to catch his breath he manages to talk before the elf; “I think we were lured away from the shop.”

Davey, turning to look back up the street, “I’ve had the door tot the shop clearly in view for the entire time you two were in the alley. Nothing stirring.”

Ash shakes his head, “Ever heard of a back door?”

Davey, “Damn it.”

Ragnall takes a shot of whisky from his flask and then takes off at a dead run. Davey follows, overtaking him in shortly and Ash just shrugs and opens a portal and wait for them to arrive to him. If they just waited a second, they could have all used the portal. Oh well.

Closing Time?

The shop is dark, not just lights out but literally the windows are black and nothing can be seen within the shop. The door has also had its open signed flipped over to closed.

Davey draws his vanquisher blade and points at the door, he’s going to go in first. Ash nods, the store is a cramped place and three men swinging weapons will not fit in their easily, adding in the two sidhe makes it even harder, and two bystanders…. Sheer bedlam. He has a different plan.

Davey kicks the door right under the handle, the lock breaks and the door jars open, and the full glass front also shatters. “Shit!” He plunges into the darkness and quickly realizes it is magical and not a mere absence of light.

Thankfully Ragnall is right at his back, the priest pulls out a new trick. He has added another trick to his prayers and started to learn the sorcerous arts. He summons a globe of mage-light and the inky blackness is dispelled.

The two sidhe, in the mottled grey cloaks of the rangers, are revealed. They turn with a hiss and draw blades.

FIGHT!

One of the sidhe moves in to duel with Davey and misses his swing while the other appears to be casting a spell. Nothing visible happens.

Ragnall, with his intelligence opted to leave his staff at the door and instead is armed with a crossbow. He takes a shot at Mohawk, the sidhe that cast the spell, and the arrow goes wide. The old priest curses as he starts to crank back the string for a reload. He steps back from the door and turns toward Ash, but the elf is gone.

Davey takes a swing at Scar, trying to disarm the sidhe, but he’s just as clumsy as sidhe’s attack. Both of them have ineffectually flailed at each other. A portal opens at the back of the store and Ash steps out, he finds the Dwarf, his assistant, and the puzzle box all huddled behind the counter. Ash’s hand is going even better than he’d expected. He takes all three out to the street, back through his portal.

Ash: “The shop is clear of all but Davey, perhaps a heavy-handed solution?”

No Kill like Overkill:   

Ragnall grins and then yells at Davey to drop and roll. The large man immediately falls to the floor and tries to roll back toward the open door at his back. Ragnall slaps his hands together and thrusts them at the door, the crossbow forgotten on the sidewalk for now. A ball of flame leaps from his hands and fills the shop with fire.

The heat is intense but fast, quickly dissipating back to nothing, and barely any structural damage to the shop. The sidhe, however, are not as lucky. Burned and battered, the two unseelie rangers are barely alive, but they ARE still alive. Ragnall curses, he’d hoped to reduce them to ashes, but then again that much heat might have blown out the whole of the building.

Davey is slightly singed and blackened himself, as he didn’t manage to get out of the store. He picks up his sword and closes on the two battered sidhe.

Mohawk; “Fuck this, we don’t get paid enough for this shit!” He vaults past Davey and jumps through the front window and takes off down the street. The speed of the sidhe is legendary, and Mohawk covers more than 30 meters, before he pauses and pulls a vial from his belt. He drinks from the vial and raises it in mock salute to Ash and Ragnall.

Scar: “Who the fuck fireballs a shop?” He coughs and gags, then runs past Davey, who tries to intimidate the sidhe into surrender. Scar just laughs at him and is then out into the street, he skids to a halt.

Out on the Street!

Mohawk finishes his healing potion and raises it in salute, worthy and vicious enemies. As he turns to run a portal snaps closed and Ash is a meter away from him. With blinding speed, the elf thrusts his sword into Mohawk. The sidhe manages to twist just a few inches to the side, merely taking a cut instead of a killing thrust. His fight is not over. Mohawk ripostes with as much force as possible, but the elf slides away from his attack. This just isn’t his day.

Scar kids to a halt outside the shop and stares at the old man standing in the street; “It’s true! The legends are true… the Slayer is here in the city.” Shock and dismay fight over his already ugly face, Scar glances down the street to his right, Mohawk is in a life and death duel with Ash. Ragnall shakes his head and pushes up his sleeves, he slaps his hands together again and launches a fireball directly into Scar’s face. The blast pushes both Ragnall and the sidhe, respectively, backwards on their asses. But neither of them is really harmed by the blast.

Scar gets to his feet, surprised to still be alive and turns to his left and runs down the street. Mohawk is on his own and he’s not going to face the Slayer.

Laying on the ground beside Ragnall is his loaded crossbow, struggling to one knee he levels the weapon and fires the bolt into the fleeing Sidhe. The arrow takes Scar right at the base of skull, exiting out of his throat and severing his cerebellum, killing him instantly and silently.

The duel between Ash and Mohawk is a battle of attrition as the two merely cut each other over and over again. Not a single killing stroke lands from either of them, but eventually Mohawk can’t keep up with the blood loss and the shock of the earlier fireball. He collapses, alive but unconscious. Ash pauses for a second, so easy to just kill the man now, but instead he binds the worse of his wounds and drags the body up the street.

Aftermath:

Luckily the minivan is parked right across the street from the shop. Both sidhe are placed in the back of the van. Smitty is slightly upset about his broken windows and door. He is going to stay behind and board up the shop and lock down the important stuff. He is seriously thinking of moving to their House, or to the maker collective sitting on their square. This is the second time that the Irish Knights have been reminded of the other people living on their square, and discovering that one of the buildings is supposedly full od artisans working their crafts and protecting one another is news to them.

Reggie is going to return with them, moving back into his old dorm room, and the return of internet has him excited. They climb into the van and are delighted when it fires right up and then they trundle the 6 miles down the street, passing a massive brick building that Reggie points out is the craftsman collective, twenty feet past that building is the entrance to their parking garage (which has doors that enter the collective) and they drive into their parking slot.

Ryan is working on a jeep, his ambulance is waxed and washed to perfection already. Barry has a brand-new bed and he waves to the knights as they climb out of the minivan. Reggie stares in shock. Barry is extremely happy with his new clothes, his new bed, and his new friend, Ryan. Besides that, someone has also brought him several large barrels of beer from the Guinness Warehouse.

Davey directs some Garda to tie Mohawk to a chair and take Scar’s body down to the medbay. The knights take a few minutes to allow Reggie to find his room and get situated and fed from the new cook, they then take showers and change clothes and hold off on allowing Cheryl to give them their messages.

First things First:

They find Roland and dress him up and down on the “facts” of his report. After taking him to task on always, and only, reporting the truth of any situation they dismiss him. Once he leaves the room, they hold up Dante for a few moments. Dante was truthful, he did try to come in with the facts, but in the end, he allowed his friend to have his fun. They promote Dante, with the caveat that if Roland keeps fucking up, it is on Dante. He’s the senior man in the field. Dante accepts and leaves the room.

Their second act is to question the dead sidhe. The dead seldom lie, even if you can’t get as much information out of them, you get the truth. Doctor MacReady has cleaned and stripped the body and wrapped him in a shroud. They thank the Doctor and have him leave the room. talking with the dead can be unnerving.

Ragnall raises up the shade of the Sidhe and they ask him why he is hunting the Keymaster? The answer is long, and winding around the point as many sidhe love to do, but the spell compels the truth. To wit, the keymaster is a creature of the castle, a fae who is tasked with opening and closing the doors and ways within the keep. The important thing to understand is that the castle is actually five castles, and all five are fighting to become the ONLY castle. The Keymaster can lock down and determine what rooms are opened in what doorway. He could also pick to only allow one single castle to manifest.

There are many factions fighting for control over the castle, as it is having a strong affect on Ireland and on the Fae World. Specifically Scar and Mohawk are working for a Duke of Winter who wants the keys for his own end. There is a fight among the sidhe, some want a certain castle to be ascendant and some want NO castle at all.

Fae Castle

One of the three castles is a Fae Castle that sits between the mortal and immortal worlds. This is the castle that the keymaster is supposed to be in control of, but he escaped into the other castles and has removed himself from the rules of Seelie or Unseelie. He is a rogue fae with no alignment. They can track an echo of his passing, a sort of hot potato and cold potato as they near or move away from him.

The sidhe only understand the nature of the fae castle and fear aspects of the other castles. Some rooms within the great keep terrify them and they want them to stay locked, but some of them contain great evils… and some of the Winter court want to free these things, hoping to bind them to service in exchange for their freedom. Either way, Mohawk and Scar are just hirelings.

Eire Sub-Cosm (Avalon?)

To their surprise, the corpse then offers some information without their asking… he pushes on past the castle and speaks to the land of Eire itself. The magic in Eire is on the rise, even higher than the rest of Aysle. Something is happening that is strengthening and awakening the island. The sidhe love it as it allows them almost unlimited ability to cross back and forth between their reality and this one. BUT there is a price. Ireland is on track to become its own sub-Cosm, already a mist has risen shrouding the island from the rest of Aysle and even Core Earth. A point is coming where the magic will grow even more powerful, but the wards against Aysle and between the land and the Fae realm will also grow stronger. The fae will still have influence and entrance to Eire but it will be greatly curtailed. The sidhe are fighting to keep the magic high, but to not allow the humans of Eire to ascend above them.

It is believed that the castle might have some control over this process. They know that someone or something is in control of the changes and that the castle is linked. Whoever the second warlord was, the man who fought and killed Maximus, that man turned something on that sped up the process. No matter what, the castle is a dangerous thing, with time and powers functioning differently in each room and each era and each castle. The Keymaster is vital to surviving in the castle as he can control what rooms you go through and can lead the way past all the worse traps and pitfalls.

Rest of the Night

Scar gives them a lot to think about, so much so, that when they go to question Mohawk, his defiance and lack of information doesn’t really bother them much. After a few minutes of questioning they basically dismiss him and let him know that they’ll figure out his fate in the morning. They walk away and have their dinner.

Dinner is subdued, even though they have more people in the house and overall the day was successful.

At 10pm all of them are alerted by sirens and blaring alarms. They are drawn from their various solo tasks (Ragnall Sleeping, Ash practicing his sword forms, Davie reading old reports, etc). By the time they reach the main hall and get directed to where the breach is the problem is over. The alarms are off and they head toward the garage. Barry is sitting in the corner, a smile across his face and a shaken Ryan is already being interviewed by Nigel and another Garda.

Ryan: “I didn’t realize how late it was getting, I’m rebuilding this jeep. I mean we have no idea how long we’ll get to keep these cars before they become carts and wagons. But anyway, suddenly a man in a suit was behind him. He grabbed me and slammed me into the fender of the jeep, and he brought his face close to mine… and… and he growled at me, his eyes were bloodshot, so much so that tears of blood flowed down his cheeks and he said something about ‘Vengeance.’ He opened his mouth… it was full of teeth… so many teeth, and then the next thing I knew he was gone. Barry grabbed the guy by the neck and threw him into the wall and then picked him up and smashed him into the ground over and over again. The creature survived but fled. I love you Barry!”

Barry, “Love you too Ryan.”

Davey turns and looks at Ragnall, the priest is grinning.

Ash: “Daedalus?”

Ragnall nods, it must be the Baron finally come to make his revenge.

One final moment:

The Irish Knights laugh and leave the garage. Befriending a troll was a hell of a good idea. The rest of the night is quiet. They all rest up and, in the morning, we have one final humorous scene.

During breakfast there is a knock at the front door, Davey goes to answer it and standing on the stoop is a strange yellow-eyed man with no ear lobes. HE introduces himself as the Keymaster and says that he is on the round, sidhe are hunting him and he needs a place to stay. He was told that the knights in this House protected needy people.

Davey laughs and invites him in, bringing him to the dinning hall and introducing him to everyone.

The Knights could have merely sat back and waited, the keymaster was always heading toward them.

END of ACT 8