Chapter 8
General Summary
Part 1: Hasten Neuroses
Chapter Eight: Gee, Rightism Aged
Chapter 7 Recap:
Hail and Well Met, adventurers, and welcome to Chapter Eight! In Chapter Seven, Rika Arabella confronted her doppelganger, and it went probably as well as it could have—leaving out the amount of time she had to spend sitting and waiting.
In the end, it was determined that the only real way to tell who the real Rika Arabella is was by taking a magical imprint test. They agreed to push back the appointment one day so that our Rika could go and get some other errands sorted out, that are apparently more important than the magical imprint? At least, according to the tour managers, they assumed this would be the higher priority of the REAL Rika Arabella... right?
Ludor, 21 Pereundei, 253 E.W
4:50 pm
We rejoin our group the following afternoon, where they've disembarked from the train at the Esmiric Rail Authority in Caedmon. With their round trip tickets, they're hopping on the next train back to Shellette in about 30 minutes. The locker building is just across the street, though, so they don't have too much to worry about in the way of time.
Inside the storage building, they were able to locate Denali's locker with ease, and their key opened the door perfectly. Inside, they found an ornate wooden box, of moderate weight.
"Open it," Rhizel said, chaos instincts running wild.
"Are you crazy?" Imari answered, but too late. Rhizel reached for the box, and Spickle seemed just as interested in seeing what was inside. Komi was team keep-the-box-closed, but was conflicted about contradicting her boss.
A short tug-of-war ensued, drawing the gaze of the others in the building. "Nothing to see here," Thad told them, with a smile just charming enough to send everyone about their merry way.
Rhizel got his hands on the box just long enough to jam some theives tools into the lock, but was unable to get it open.
"Calm the fuck down," Thad told him.
"What if Den—" Imari stopped. "—if he can tell we opened the box?"
Thad carried the box for the remainder of their journey.
On the train ride back to their hotel in Shellette, there was a Mallorie's Mystical Meals train car! The crew was glad for the respite—and, of course, for the gashapon.
Opor, 22 Pereundei, 253 E.W 10:01 am
Everyone accompanied Rika to her imprint test. When asked who all of her friends were, she said they were her security detail—hey, it had worked once already. They were allowed inside. A few peoples dressed in Kantuk garb provided extra chairs outside of the testing area so that Rika's very large band of security could keep watch.
A human man introduced himself as Dr. Clarke. Rika asked where the imposter was, and Dr. Clarke informed her that she had performed her test yesterday; they thought it would be better to keep the two of them separate to reduce the chance of any mix-ups of their results.
Rika agreed that was likely the wiser option, but wasn't a fan of being called "Rika Arabella (b)" on all her paperwork.
Dr. Clarke directed her to the bathroom, where he said she would find sterile clothes to change into. Rika emerged from the bathroom in a vinyl-like smock, a hairnet made out of the same material, and a pair of grippy socks.
The test itself took place in an extremely sterile, coldly lit, overly bright room. Two peoples in full hazmat suits entered the room with a stiff vinyl-like panel, much like the smock Rika was wearing. From their seats outside the room, the rest of the crew were able to watch the test take place through a large one-way window.
"Have you ever done one of these before, Miss Arabella?" Dr. Clarke asked, following her in the room, also in full hazmat. When Rika answered in the contradictory, Dr. Clarke gave her instructions. "What you're going to do is cast a cantrip—any cantrip—directed at this panel here."
"Any?"
"Any—but state what it is first, so that I can write it down." He tapped his clipboard.
Outside the room, Komi's mind was drifting into the past.
When she was attending school at Halliwell, the most prestigious magic school in the Archipelago, a class she was taking conducted magical imprint tests so that students could study their results and learn what each piece of it meant. Komi, too, was told to cast a cantrip—any cantrip at all. But she was unable to cast anything. She couldn't even produce a simple light spell. She never got over the embarassment of it.
Rika cast Dancing Lights. The Kantuk holding the sheet recoiled as it hit, and Dr. Clarke took copious notes. After the spell ran its course, someone outside the room changed the wavelength of the lighting, and revealed bright violet splotches absolutely everywhere, each vibrant glob connected to the rest by something looking similar to neuron networks. It was all over the room. The panel, her smok, the suits Dr. Clarke and the Kantuk were wearing, and even the walls, floors, and ceiling. It was most vibrant, however, on the vinyl. In the moments that passed under this different lighting, Rika could hear a large amount of shutter-clicks—a sound her celebrity ears were trained to hear.
"Excellent," Dr. Clarke said when the lighting returned to normal. He scribbled on his clipboard. Return to the bathroom and change back into your own clothes; in the bathroom you'll also find a bin to return what you're wearing; we'll have to look over those as well. We're going to look over everything, and then I'll come out to chat with you."
True to his word, Dr. Clarke returned to find Rika sitting with her friends—I mean, her security detail—and asked if she would be willing to go into his office to discuss the results. Naturally, true to her Rika self, she followed him to the secondary location.
Worried for her safety, her friends cast Detect Magic at strategic moments to ensure her safety.
"Alright, Miss Arabella, I'll just need you to answer a few questions for me. Would you consent to a casting of Zone of Truth?"
"Of course."
Dr. Clarke cast the spell. "What is your full name?"
"Rika Arabella Potcheese."
"And your parents names?"
"Greg and Leilana Potcheese."
"Did either of your parents bear a previous surname?"
"My mother, Leilana. 'Klatz.'"
"Klatz, so she's been in the Archipelago for a long time, then."
"Yes."
"Do you know your father's national origin?"
"Finland."
"Great. How about the general education school you attended?"
"I was homeschooled. You know, because of my career. I had a tutor."
"Naturally. How about college?"
"RBUA, class of '45."
"So, you wouldn't have taken an imprint test there."
"That's correct."
"Any other magical education, at all?"
"No."
"Have you or your parents ever at any time been contacted by a dark god, and if so, when?"
"Never."
"Never?"
"Never."
"Not even Greg, Lil' Potcheese, who associated with Wykmir during the war?"
"He doesn't like to talk about that."
Dr. Clarke leaned back in his chair. "Think hard. Has any member of your family ever been contacted by a dark god? Even something small."
"Not that I know of."
He nodded, with no emotion that Rika could detect visible on his face.
"I can't lie, here."
Dr. Clarke nodded again, and stood. They both knew, though neither of them mentioned it, that Zone of Truth could be resisted by high level spellcasters (or wisdom types), but it was even more difficult to conceal that you had resisted it if the caster knew what to look for.
"I'll need you to follow me," he told her.
Once again, Rika agreed, and followed Dr. Clarke, this time to a tertiary location.
He led her toward another door, separate from the one they used to enter the room. The moment he opened the door, however, he was hit directly with a magic missile spell coming from the other side, followed by a proclaimation of "I can't see!" as it was followed by a blindness spell. No Detect Magic spell was needed to tell it had happened, however; the crash could be heard through the building, sending Rika's friends and the Kantuk toward Dr. Clarke's office.
Rika couldn't see anything on the other side of the door, but she felt the air around her move as a presence approached, and a familiar voice that she couldn't quite place whispered in her ear, "You can't go with them. Trust me and I'll get you all out of here." Rika felt a pair of hands guiding her away as Dr. Clarke fumbled around the office for his radio.
He found it just before Rika and the mysterious rescuer left the office. He spoke into it.
Subject is a Rogue Emissary; all hands.
The crew leapt into action, trying to fend of the Kantuk as they made their escape. It was seven against five; it was only a matter of time before they prevailed. Additionally, their invisible ally was landing some very heavy blows.
Notably, a molotov cocktail was thrown to great effect, and Imari transformed into a dragon egg after casting a necromancy spell. But in the end, they were able to make their escape.
11:14am
Their invisible friend snuck behind them onto the train back to Capo before revealing themself: it was Devlin.
"Are you out of your fucking minds?" they asked. "On the Matris, you guys, I told you to be back at the boat by sundown YESTERDAY."
"There was an incident," Imari offered.
"No shit," Devlin said. "I explicitly told you not to get arrested."
"We technically didn't get arrested," Rhizel said.
"We'll pay you extra for waiting," Thad told them.
"I'm not worried about that."
But no one asked what they were worried about, or why they had come to rescue them in the first place.
"It would be easier if you dropped the disguise, you know," Devlin said to Rika.
"I'm not disguised."
"...Oh. You're... the real..."
"Yeah."
"Well, maybe get a disguise. And by the fates if you cast anything now, they will find you, so be careful."
"Wait," Komi said, "She can't cast anything at all, now?"
"I mean, she can. But if you're out in the open, I wouldn't recommend it. And like. Maybe don't commit any crimes with your own magic. Use a wand or something. Just... stay safe."
Continue to Chapter 9
Silly Little Quotes
9... 9/11...??
-'cause if i see him, I'm eldritch blasting him.
I already died this morning.
Pookie's gone MISSING!
Welcome to my 9/11 themed podcast.
-as Rika talks to the table
Baby’s first Molotov cocktail.
Nonononono, I'll tell everyone you're on drugs, it's fine!
Why are you small?
YOU [CANT] PLAY
Bro, what?
YOU WENT TO A SECONDARY LOCATION. GET OUTTA HERE. NO TIC TAC TOE FOR YOU. Fuck is this shit.
Just go get kidnapped or something.
Awww.
You dumb bitch
Baby's first molotov cocktail!
I'm an egg.
Which came first, the Imari or the egg?
Well, CLEARLY Imari!
I am not answering any Train 9/11 questions at this time.
Details
Report Date
28 Aug 2024
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Previous Sessions
Chapter 1Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Later Sessions
Chapter 9Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12