Making Allies, Act 7 part 1

Establishing “Normal”

After the near disastrous events of last night, and the near deaths of two of the three Knights, everyone is taking a quiet morning.

It is day 137 of the Invasion, at the conference table sits the three Irish knights; Ragnall, Ash, and Davie; besides them are the two new recruits; Dante and Roland, the house majordomo, Cheryl, and the head of their household guard.

Davie is sitting in the head seat, his body wrapped in bandages. After the fight with Spurs he nearly died, and his body is still in recovery. He is actually in a weakened state, barely able to walk without feeling fatigue. He has a massive meal piled up before him and his spirits are in good order.

Davie (around a mouthful of food): “Was there any loot?”

All eyes swivel on him, Ragnall looks disgusted. But is he disgusted by the question or the fact that they didn’t bother to even check the fallen for useful information or trinkets. Such as the knife that Spurs used to cut through steel armor with ease.

Options:

Ignoring Davie as he continues his meal, Ragnall lays out the agenda as he sees it. He unrolls a map of Dublin out onto the table.

Ragnall: “So, from our previous talks, the White Witch leads the Yardies, and they are south of Liffe, in our territory.”

Ash: “Are we claiming everything south of the river?”

Ragnall: “Well Baron D did say we could have everything south of the river… but OURs might have been too strong a word. Point blank, the Yardies are a large organization and they are in our backyard, so we should call on them and make a test of their intentions.”

Ragnall places a pepper shaker on Dublin house and then across the map he places a salt shaker on the Yardies’ Docks. Dante leans across the table and places a finger on the map between the shakers. Ragnall arches an eyebrow.

Dante: “The hoodies hold several estates, and this one is right between you and the Yardies.” Ragnall keeps staring at him and Dante just swallows and removes his hand from the map.

Other Factions:

Ragnall: “Yes. The Hoodies are on the list. But kids running around pushing drugs and scrapping for turf are not exactly on my list of useful allies right now. The Yardies control the docks, they have knights and soldiers, and supposedly the White Witch has real powers. We need to quickly establish friend or foe on all stormers and knights in the area.”

Davie: “Agreed. And we have a meeting set up with the Irish. So, we need to talk to the Witch and the head of the Irish… anyone else?”

Roland: “There is a Sage in that crazy tall tower in the north. Supposedly he can see the future, but he hates people so he’s hard to talk to.”

All eyes now turn on the young, punkrock elf. But Davie smiles.

Davie: “Witch. Gabriel McManus. The Sage. And we still need to get this House up and running. Lot on our plates.”

Ash: “We also killed the right-hand man of the Baron, who has no qualms about crucifying people near our house. So, I’m pretty sure he’s going to make his anger known, and soon.”

Davie: “All the more reason to make more allies. Let’s go now.”

Scene 2 Visiting the Yardies:

They decide to drive across Dublin again, it is kind of like showing off as more and more of the city slips into Aysle, but the time saved rushing between locations makes their response time so much faster. Also, Davie is pragmatic, he believes all of the cars will eventually be gone so he wants to sue them while he can.

The drive is uneventful as the roads are empty of any other cars. They arrive near to the docks and find that the roads have been blocked off with broken cars, fencing, and other barricades. The Yardies have basically created their own small walled portion of the city. Most of the buildings are a mix of Viking, late-Medieval, and tin roofed shanties all along the docks.

The barricades are topped with broken glass, barbed wire, sharpened spikes, and other deterrents. There are also numerous poles with skulls and heads hanging from them. Davie parks the mini-van and steps out, the others follow. He is still walking with a limp but he leads the way. HE makes a face as he looks at the heads on the poles and he lets himself inside the barrier by slipping between two rusty trucks.

Davie, with a laugh: “Hey some of these skulls are plastic!”

Ash, standing beside s fleshy head. “Not all of them.”

Moorish Knights and The Dublin House Curse

Moments later 20 men come out of various allies and hiding holes among the houses. Almost all of them have dreadlocks and many of them are wearing white surcoats and chainmail.

Davie: “So… Moorish knights. We come in peace, we’re here to meet the Witch.” He steps forward holding out his hand to greet one of the knights. The moor tries to stop him, but Davie walks right into a poorly covered pit.

[one of the other players played a cosm card to set off a trap… which is VERY lethal.]

Davie drops into the pit, breaking his legs and his neck and immediately losing consciousness. The knight leaps into the pit after him, pulling him free of spikes lining the sides and handing him up to Ash. Ragnall shakes his head and with a gesture and a single word he once again heals the greatest of the wounds on Davie.

After last nights near death, and this near death, Davie is even more the worse for wear. He is a shaky mass and give up his lead position. The Yardies are both in awe of Ragnall’s healing powers and laughing at the comic timing of Davies drop into the pit. They agree to lead the Irish Knights to meet the Queen of the Witches.

Mamie, the White Witch.

They are brought to the most interesting house. The construction is Tudor in materials and exposed beams, but the style is more Greek. The house is built around a central garden in a square, and more newer constructions have been added to the house making it a larger more sprawling affair.

They are led directly through the main hall and into the garden, which is just a lush jungle of growth, a riot of flowers and vines and bushes that push in close but don’t actually touch the path.

Mamie is working in a back corner of the garden; she is working at long bench tables. Butchering a chicken and bundles of herbs are gathered for drying or cutting. She is either making lunch or about to work some of her potion magicks. Pots boil over a long low fire. She is an older woman, but still very robust, and while she is very much African or Jamaican by birth, she is an albino with snowy white hair and very blue eyes.

She eyes them with a smile, and she brushes off a low bench and directs Davie to sit down right away.

Warm Welcome:

Mamie: “Ah, you boys must be the Dublin House. I was gonna send you a nice fruit basket. The last fool master wasn’t so welcoming, never came close to saying a hello. Now what happened to this poor boy here. He fall in a hole?” She turns and glares at the knight who has led them here. “I tole you to fill in them holes. Next person falls in a fool hole I’m gonna throw you in first before I have them fill it. Now git.”

The knight leaves the garden, head hanging low, and Ash stifles a laugh. It wouldn’t do for the “mean, dark elf” to actually show humor.

Mamie: “So, if you here than either you need some ganja or something more powerful? You need some goofa dust, spirit powder, or perhaps you want to try some zombie powder?

Ragnall leads the talks. He is not interested in drugs or powders, especially not anything dealing with zombies. Mamie laughs at him as he expresses his distaste with the thought. Mamie and Ragnall talk about compelling and controlling spirits for a while, and the others cough and nudge him to move along.

Politics and where the White Witch places herself.

They ask her about the North side of the river and what she thinks about what’s going on up there. She answers that she is aware of the power struggles and that she only has her people attend the raves and they only sell weed and “goodtimes.” They are not involved in the politics and she only cares about making life more bearable for people.

And as to here in the south, the Yardies only fish and sell food. They also try to keep the peace in the south, and she only uses her soldiers for defense of the neighborhood and when they are asked to adjudicate other people’s arguments.

Ash: “Sounds like you are the perfect ally we seek. Keeping the peace is our largest concern with Dublin.”

She laughs it off, and claims that her forces are some of the smallest of the four main powers in the city. Keeping the peace and staying in their own borders is as much about survival as it is about doing the right thing.

What About Baron D?

Isn’t the Baron the smallest and newest power?

Mamie: “Yeah him the newest power, but him is a very old power. HE has much bad mojo, very old and very powerful. My magic is like a child to his mature power, very bad. No make an enemy of that one.”

Too late. The knights mull over her words.

Davie: “Great…”

Ash: “We thought we would just go and kick his teeth in. You saying we shouldn’t?”

Mamie: “You start with him he will finish it. He will not let go a grudge. Maybe you do need some zombie powder, makes you great warrior, it no raise the dead. Or goofa dust to keep spirits from crossing your threshold?”

Ragnall: “How much for the goofa dust?”

Mamie: “I’ll give you some as a gift for being so nice and visiting me. Since the arrival of the Baron I have been gathering my strength. He is the reason why my men stay within the walls and only arbitrate peace.”

The absorb her words and think on them. Worried about how things will go for them now that they killed Spurs. Like many a great hero, they simply deny that they are in trouble. They make their goodbyes with Mamie, take their goofa dust and get back to the minivan.

The Sage’s Tower

No one is mentioning that they feel worried about going home. But as soon as they get in the van, they look at the time and decide to take another trip. They cross the river and head north, looking for the Sage’s tower.

Everything north of the river is far more Alyse than Earth and the car stands out as peasants and farmers watch them drive by. Most make the sign of the evil eye and usher their families away from the sight. But the Irish Knights agree that the speed it more important than keeping up appearances or making the locals feel comfortable.

They finally arrive at a tall tower with a small house sitting on the top of it.

Scene 3 the Tower:

The tower is surrounded by a wrought iron fence and the yard within is perfectly manicured Bermuda grass. There is a sign on the gate that reads:

KEEP OFF MY DAMN LAWN, AND DON’T RING MY BELL, YES! THIS MEAND YOU!

They open the gate and a chime sounds, a sign song on the air. There is a walkway beyond the gate, blue stone that is in a S-curve toward the front door. They follow the stone tiles to the front door where another sign sits:

NO SOLICITORS. NO MAIL. NO NOTHING. F#$@ RIGHT OFF. LEAVE MY BELL ALONE!

Ragnall: “Let me handle this, I have an understanding of cranky old men.”

Ash and Davie: “No…we would never have suspected…”

Ragnall glares at them and then steps up to the door, he looks at the bell beside the door.

Meeting the Sage:

Ragnall ignores the bell and smashes his fist into the door, repeatedly and violently and without stop for nearly a full minute when finally, a boom within the tower sounds and then a voice screams from above and all the way down the tower, as it gets closer they can hear it is a whole stream of profanity. The door opens:

Sage: “What the ever loving F@#$! @#*#&#! Stop hammering my %#^@ door you F#$*&$& F%$#! Who put a F#$% dent in my door, WHO do you want!! What!? What! I’m busy!”

Ragnall: “We wanted to meet you.”

Sage: “Well now that you’re here and you made me get up. What the hell do you want?”

Ragnall: “We want to ask about the Baron.”

The sage pauses and looks thoughtful; “Huh? What for?”

Ash: “Because we want to kill him.”

Ragnall: “Because the F$#@%# left a dead body on our doorstep and we don’t like him.”

Sage: “Well… that does sound interesting. And you want to kill him. Remarkable. OK you have interested me enough to come in… but you only get 10 minutes!”

Inside the Tower:

The sage looks like a hobo. He is blading and has a great long beard that hasn’t seen a comb in a long time. He’s wearing a loose, open robe, draw string pants, and knit slippers. The bottom of the tower is filled with storage, just boxes and boxes of things. Only the top level of the tower is livable the rest is just broken-down garbage.

It takes them all a while to climb the hundred stairs to the top of the tower, especially as the Sage leads the way and he is winded before they get half way.

Davie: “Is this why you don’t like visitors? All these stairs. You know if you put in a fireman’s pole you could at least make the down trip quicker.”

Sage: “I’d explode my goddamn knees!”

Ragnall shakes his head and glares at Davie like he is the stupidest thing in the world.

Davie: “You could put pillows…”

Sage: “PILLOWS!?”

The Top:

They enter into the top of the tower and the main room is super cozy. A kitchen and study with a bedroom in a loft overhead. There is a very comfortable chair next to a cast iron stove and books are on almost every flat surface.

There are a few other chairs and a low couch along one wall. The sage drops into his chair and waves a hand toward nothing, “Since you’re inside, make yourselves comfortable. Move things from chairs if you need. You know, my house used to be on the ground, but then this tower sprouted underneath me and pushed me into the sky.”

He offers them tea and they settle in. They introduce themselves as the Knights in the Dublin house, the Sage does state that the previous holders of the house were also idiots. They then run through the details of the body, hunting down Spurs, and then making the Baron their enemy.

They then explain that they have created a list of friend or foes and people who need to be classified as either. And the sage was on the list as someone they would rather have as a friend.

Sage: “So… you guys normally make lists of people you might have to kill or try to friend? So, that creates the question of why didn’t you come to me BEFORE you killed this Spurs and made the Baron an enemy?”

Ash and Davey try to justify their mis-actions, and justify their killing of Spurs based on how much of an asshole he was. The Sage blinks, after all HE IS ALSO a supreme asshole. The Sage makes tea for them and then decides to move past the issues, eggs are already broken.

Talking about the Baron

The knights ask the Sage to tell them whatever he knows about the origins and nature of the Baron, and perhaps advise them on the best course of action. The sage mulls it over as he drinks his honeyed tea.

Sage: “Ok we have two options here. The first is my “old-man wisdom” where I can tell you what I know and feel from all of my research and rumor-mongering. The second option I could consult, augur things, which is costly. So, for free over our tea I’ll give you advice, but the other way will cost.”

Ragnall: “Could we do both.”

Sage: “Of course. Just realize that the second costs me, and there fore it must cost you. It is the other reason why I try to keep people away. My gift of foresight is painful, arduous, and not something I’m willing to do all the time.”

Old Man Wisdom:

The sage begins to talk about Baron D:

He is new to Dublin, less than a month ago he arrived and he quickly established territory and he seems driven by laws. He came from inland, either the north or the west. His laws/ code is very old school, old world, and he enforces them.

His territory is neat and clean, well-protected. The Irish used to deal drugs in that area, those men where killed and removed form the neighborhood. His five blocks are well behaved and the people seem to like him. The Irish have relinquished any claim to the area.

His punishments are all swift, and usually overly lethal. The smallest crimes are met with execution.

Ash and Davie have some issues with this. They find that why would such a lawful man send a body as a signal and not a messenger? Using a body as a message would be a crime in his own territory… Sage again tries to explain that D is old-school, he believes in abrupt violence to correct an issue.

Davie Has a Plan:

Davie begins to mull through the idea that if Baron D is so lawful, so bound by rules, then perhaps they could lock him into a deal or negotiate a truce.

The Sage agrees that D does seem to be bound by legal speak and the letter of the law. There is a rumor that terra nullius was the Baron’s idea. So, the peaceful rave grounds are part of D’s creation. The rumor on the street is that the Baron made the pact as a peace offering after he killed the drug dealers in his neighborhood.

The final wisdom, the Baron is not from [Ireland] but is an outsider, and the D is a weird name, something like Daedalus or Diodora.

The Sage runs through the troops at the Baron’s call and the fact that the Baron seldom leaves his home, also no one knows which building is his home in the neighborhood.

The knights mull it over and then agree that they have enough information. Ash thanks the sage and mentions that they are looking to expand and fill their House. As such, they ask if the Sage would like to leave his tower, they would make room for him within the House.

Final Advice:

Sage: “Without knowing where the Baron resides it is hard to find him, let alone talk with him. You will have trouble sending your message to him. But if you wish to sue for peace then you should get it worked out in advance. They say that he is a very shrewd speaker and that he has a force of personality that forces people to like him or even to bend the knee to him.”

They mull this over, and then again reiterate their offer for him to move in with them. He jokes about seeing if they will survive more than a few days.

Sage: “On the good side, you DID say that you killed ALL of the Baron’s men when you killed Spurs. So, he might not know who actually did the killing. Meaning that might think that Gabriel or Donovan killed Spurs… so you might have started a war between the Baron and the Irish. IF that happens, I will want to be out of the north and I might come a calling.”

Davie stands: “Final question, WHAT should we do?”

Sage: “Let me ask you what is your task, why are you here in Dublin, in the House?”

Ash: “Short term we are here to shore up the house and make allies; in the long term, overthrow Ulthorion.”

Sage: “Wow, over throw the Dark Lord? Ok. Short term, you want to strengthen the House, but you’re making enemies on day 1?”

Davie: “Yeah we kind of messed that up.”

Sage: “Ok, if you truly want peace then you must try to lock the Baron in a contract that creates peace. He is bound by laws so you must exploit that… BEFORE he starts a war with the Irish or discovers it was you that crossed him and he destroys your house. That is my advice.”

Mulling it Over:

All are in agreement that they need to stop a war between Baron and the Irish. They also realize that Ulthorion might want to make the Baron into a powerful ally/ warlord, so if they could bind him into protecting Dublin instead of trying to rule Dublin…. That would be the best way to handle things.

The knights decide to fall back to the house and work things out. They ask the Sage if he can send a message into the Baron’s Territory or give them a name of someone, they could deliver a message to. The Sage laughs it off, saying he only knew Spurs. HE does tell them that at the edge of his territory there is a “border patrol.” He has men in uniform that they could leave a message with if they were so inclined.

At the end of their visit they remember to actually ask his name and the Sage tells them he is called Drustan. Ragnall quickly crafts a letter with enough legalize to try and bind the Baron to a peaceful meeting, and they ask Drustan for paper and they write the letter and decide they will swing by and leave it in his border guard house.

They shake hands all around and leave the tower. The Sage remains in the top of the tower, telling them that it isn’t worth the stairs to see them out.

Break Point:

At this point the Knights leave and run the message to the border.

But we’re pausing this post, and will conclude Act VII next week… if you’ve been reading along from the beginning then I’m sure you can already guess how things normally go for these players. We will have a nice catch up at the House and then move to the final scene when they have their “peaceful” talks with the Baron… I’m sure you all remember how their “peaceful” talks with Spurs went…

These Knights seem to want to die… or take the hardest road possible.