Act I, Session 3

Super TLDR

TLDR

 

Detailed Notes

 

Int. A Medical Examination Room, Medical Wing, The Fringe, Vranic Empire, Prime Material, Kurra - Continuous

  Rattigan awoke after being knocked out to find that he was on a medical examination table with one arm handcuffed to a metal bar. Rattigan flailed in vain but he was able to use his magic to call Hickory and his rats. He told Hickory and the rat army to find the keys and bring it back to him.   Before they returned, Dr. K entered the exam room covered in gore. Rattigan spat on Dr. K and cast Consumption on him which reduced the Dr’s total hit points by 5. The Doctor said the spell was ineffective and revealed one of Rattigan’s tattoos grafted to his arm. It was at that point when Rattigan noticed that several tattoos were flayed from his arm leaving a few layers of raw, bloodied skin.   As Rattigan raged against his restraints, Dr. K called Tallina in once again to perform another test. This time Rattigan complied against his will with everything that Talina said. She got carried away and eventually commanded Rattigan to punch a wall which he did, which broke his hand.. That was enough of a demonstration for Dr. K and Tallina.   Dr. K explained a bit of his purpose to Rattigan. Tallina and Dr. K were both from Culests and worked on the Living Weapon Project. They were banished from their homeland for off-the-books experimentation with subjects by pushing them to the edge of their deaths. Dr. K said he was particularly interested in Rattigan’s ability to control other creatures, like his rats and indicated that these experiments were about controlling other beings through runeistry.   Dr. K summoned a young Gnomish boy of maybe 17 named Fizalo. into the exam room. Dr. K showed Rattigan Fizalo’s scars and burn marks from horrible experimentation. Dr. K said that Fizalo was a survivor and that is what interested him most, survivors. In an outburst of anger Fizalo said that Rattigan killed his entire village and his family before his eyes. Dr. K promised that he could fight Rattigan in ‘the Pit’. once all of this was done.   Talina commanded Rattigan to sleep which he did on cue.  

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe - Shortly Later

  Rattigan awoke next to find that he was being thrown back into Cell Block E. As soon as Rattigan’s body was back in the block, Walt rushed over to check on him. Walt asked about Rattigan’s injuries; all Rattigan could say was that he punched a wall but not why or anything about being commanded to do so.   Walt urgently called for Abeni to help Rattigan with his wounds. Abeni effortlessly splinted Rattigan’s wrist so that it could heal properly despite protestations from Rattigan not to touch him. Abeni helped him back into the cell block were others were eating their evening meal. Rattigan asked how long he had been gone and Walt said that it had been over a day since the doctor took him. As Rattigan grabbed a portion of slop, Walt told the group that they had about two weeks until their next mission.   It was about that time when Walt looked around and realized that Lottie was missing from the table. He quickly looked around the block and didn’t find Lottie. He left the block to stop Lottie and bring her back before her collar kills her.   In Walt’s absence, Molar approached Lan and Lanary for some paper and writing utensils. Molar took one piece of paper and a pencil back to their cubby where they began to scrawl a message on one side.  

Int. Elsewhere in the Fringe - Concurrently

  Walt rapidly looked for Lottie in the halls and passages of the Fringe. She moved extremely stealthily and made it all the way out into the outer yard near the Fringe’s only defensive wall.  

Ext. The Outer Yard, The Fringe - Continuous

  Lottie saw Walt come out into the yard in a huff; she immediately jumped into the nearest tree although Walt saw her. Walt convinced her to give up on the escape attempt and she came out of the tree. So Walt put Lottie on his shoulder and brought her back to Block E. On the way back, he empathized with Lottie for being a kid stuck in a prison but believed she could get out if she earned enough Prisoner Points. He promised Lottie that she would get out of the Fringe..  

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe - Shortly Later

  Walt entered the block to find two guards waiting for him. They asked about the escapee but Walt covered for Lottie and said that he took her out into the yard because she was feeling sick. Walt dismissed the guards who seemed to somewhat believe him.   After they left, Walt gave one final bit of advice to Lottie. If anyone but Walt had seen her out there, she would have been done. With Lottie now back safely in the block, Walt announced he was done for the night and he would see them all tomorrow.   Shortly later, Percy approached Rattigan to get information about his hand and the Doctor. Even though he wanted to help, he could not remember anything about his experienced beyond when the Doctor took him and then his return to the block. They determined that Hickory knew and could remember the event but Percy could not understand Hickory. She devised a system of one squeak for yes and two for no to communicate with Hickory. Hickory revealed the flayed skin from Rattigan’s arm where a rune once was.   As Percy didn’t know much about runes herself, she asked around the block to find someone who did. Luckily Abeni had some experience in Runestry through their travels in healing in the Crater. Abeni knew that removing a rune from a creature would cause a backup in the flow of power and either new paths to form or for the flood power to spill its banks in an unpredictable way. Either way, Abeni told Rattigan that he needed to get his rune back in order to keep his magic working properly.   It was about that time when Haymen entered the block to punish Lottie for her escape attempt. He used the prisoner’s magic collars to basically cast Hold Person on the prisoners in the block. He picked Lottie up to bring her to ‘the chair’ for her punishment. Percy, Molar and Abeni protested with verbal abuse aimed at Haymen as that was all they could do. Percy and Molar tried to get Haymen to take them instead of Lottie but it only encouraged him to take all three to be tortured. Molar backed off but Percy persisted so Haymen grabbed her and Lottie and drug them away as they lost consciousness.  

Int. The Torture Room, The Fringe - Some time later

  Percy and Lottie awoke tied to chairs in the now-familiar torture room. Celes and Walt entered to join Haymen as they were the tortures on duty for the night. As Celes prepared to torture Lottie, Celes mocked her and indicated she was going to really hurt Lottie. In that moment Walt drew his gun and shot Celes in the back.   Walt freed Lottie and she took off in the direction of the outer courtyard. She ran and ran as sirens blared in the prison. Eventually she got to the wall, reached the edge of the floating island and began to repel down it using her webs. But Cales appeared above her, mocked her and cut the webs as Lottie fell into darkness below.   Lottie awoke to find Celes standing beside her. Cales mocked her, asking about her dreams of freedom and escape. She looked over to Percy who was asleep but tossing and turning in the chair next to her.   Percy dreamt that she was back in Sergaia, in her office. Othwin came to visit her. He asked if she would like to be his consort when the Eldarin took over the entire universe. Percy knew that it was not Othwin and struggled against the perceived reality of the dream. She shoved Othwin away and awoke from her dream to find Celes standing beside her.   With that, Celes said that she had her fun and turned the torture over to Walt. He was palpably reluctant to torture either of them but knew it had to be done. Percy tried to gode Walt into anger by spitting on him and insulting him to make what he had to do easier. Walt produced an electrical prod and zapped Percy first with it. He shocked Percy and Lottie over and over again until both lost consciousness. The next thing Percy remembered was being dragged back to the block by two guards.  

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe - Late at Night (2 or 3 pm)

  It was several hours after they were taken when the guards threw Percy and Lottie back into the block. Lanary tried to heal Percy but she refused help, asking for Lottie to be healed instead. Abeni brought over some bits of stone that had chilled in the night air near the Moon Portals and applied them to Percy’s electrical burns.   Meanwhile, Molar approached Rattigan about sending a rat through the Moon Door to see what was below. Rattigan said he had the perfect one, Teriyaki. Molar tied Teriyaki to some strips of sheets that they fashioned into a makeshift rope. Molar carefully lowered Teriyaki, dangling into the abyss for a bit. Suddenly, something ate Teriyaki or cut the rope but either way she was no more. Rattigan had to call little Teri and Yaki over and tell them that their mother wasn’t coming home.   After Molar’s experiment failed and Lottie and Percy received first aid, the block settled back in for a night of sleep. Everyone except for Molar.  

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe - Very Early Morning (about 4 AM)

  Molar was awake in the early hours of the morning as the rest of the block slept. He threw little bits of bread saved from dinner through the Moon Door to attract some of the Kinku to him.   A sound came from behind Molar who turned and saw a very well dressed Human man in his 60s suddenly inside the block. He said that he was the Raven Man and this was the first time in a long while that someone of such intelligence as Molar had called him. He was only there via projection as an abundance of caution but he wanted to work with Molar. They made a deal where Molar would pass along information to the resistance in return for the Raven Man’s help. The Raven Man said that he would be in contact with Molar soon and poofed out of the cell.  

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe - Morning

  The prisoners of Block E awoke as they normally did and awaited their breakfast. However, The Admiral wheeled the cart into the block instead of Walt. The Admiral said that Walt was feeling sick and that he was filling in today. Some of the block expressed genuine concern for Walt’s health (which The Admiral didn’t understand) but The Admiral vowed that he would deliver them an update with the next meal.   As The Admiral began to portion out bowls of soup, the nearby water barrel began to violently shake. From it, a mutated-looking rat the size of a Corgi burst forth and began hissing at the whole block. The creature’s forked tail lashed against Rattigan and Molar. Rattigan put some of his slop on the ground and tried to communicate with it. The creature said in Common “stay away!”   The Admiral brandished his sabre at it and the creature darted away. It ran head-first into one of the walls of the block. It ran into the wall over and over with blood spurting from its face until it knocked a hole in the wall which it then scurried through.   Abeni skillfully healed the Molar and Rattigan’s wounds as the others came to terms with what had just happened. The prisoners examined that small hole in the wall the rat created; it was too small for any of them to fit through but some thought it still might be a means of escape. After they tended to the wounded, Abeni concealed a bit of jagged stone in a fold of their tunic to later be sharpened into a scalpel.   After the initial shock wore off, the Prisoners of Block E waited for things to return back to normal, which included the guards wheeling the breakfast cart out of the block. That never happened. They waited and waited but no one came. Hours passed and still no one came.  

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe - Evening

  The time for the evening meal also came and went without any sign of guards. The block began to seriously wonder what was going on outside of their perspective.   Since there was no one there to stop him, Grayson began to bash away at the hole in the wall in an attempt to make it wide enough to escape through.   Meanwhile, Abeni used the time when it seemed like no guard was watching to hone the stone they collected into a sharpened edge.  

Int. Cell Block E - The Fringe - Midnight

  The Prisoners of Block E stayed up into the night waiting for some sign of the world beyond their block. It was around midnight when they heard Vicary and some of the guards approach and open the door.   Vicary said that something happened and the entire Fringe was quarantining. Since they were not exposed, he was there to take the Prisoners of Block E to the safe area. He warned them that this was their only chance to get to the safe zone and that if any of them got separated, they were on their own.   It seemed that most of the block was skeptical or at least hesitant to trust Vicary. Abeni reached out to the spirits of the dead and intuited that this was their best bet for safety. When Abeni expressed to the group that they believed Vicary this one time, it convinced many others to follow. Everyone but Grayson chose to follow Vicary. Grayson stayed behind to continue work on his hole in the wall and because he felt that he could take care of himself. So the others left the block with Vicary in the lead.  

Int. Interior Hallways, The Fringe - Continuous

  Vicary led most of Block E through the maze of hallways that made up the Fringe. They descended into the lower levels of the Fringe, where the chair and execution rooms were, before coming to one of the large storage room doors. Vicary knocked on the door and hurried all of the people with him into the room.  

Int. A Large Storage Room, The Fringe - Continuous

  The members of Block E entered what was a large, mostly empty storage room now filled with prisoners from other blocks, wardens, guards and other prison staff. It looked like most of the wardens were in the room except for Walt and The Admiral.   Warden Margyle addressed the worried and frantic room. He said that some kind of an outbreak occurred in the prison. All the people in this room were considered safe from the disease and were to stay in there until further notice. He also said that Dr. K was missing and he needed a group of volunteers to go out and recover him and to check on Walt who was likely still in the infirmary.   Abeni, Lottie, Percy, Rattigan and Molar quickly volunteered for the task. The Warden assigned a large Human named Carrie ‘the Chopper’ and an Arakocra man in fine clothes who later said his name was Maxterius Osman but went by Dr. Maxter to accompany them. The Warden provided them with basic weapons and spell casting focuses and promised that he would allow them to use magic once they were outside of the door. The search party agreed and readied themselves for the dangerous task ahead of them.   Molar took advantage of the dangerous mission to ‘say goodbye to his lover’, the Leonin man they met in the yard. When they embraced, Molar said that he made contact with ‘his uncle’ who would likely help ‘his Older Sister.’ The Leonin man said he would tell his ‘Older Sister’ of the news. They hugged goodbye and Molar returned to his group.   When Molar returned, the Warden opened the door and the search party entered the darkened hallways of the Fringe once more.  

Int. Outside the Storage Room Door, The Fringe - Continuous

  As they stepped outside, the Warden honored his word and the search party felt their magical abilities return. Rattigan immediately summoned his rat hordes but fewer rats came to him than before. Abeni also took the opportunity to cast Bless on everyone in the search party except for themselves. Once the initial preparations were checked off, they set out in the direction of the infirmary.  

Int. Interior Hallways, The Fringe - Continuous

  The search party walked down a few hallways until they came upon three guards with their throats slashed and their bodies showed signes of being eaten. Molar looted the corpses which yielded a set of keys and some rudimentary musket or pistol balls. before Abeni cast Sacred Flame to incinerate their bodies so they could not return as the undead.   After walking for a bit longer Rattigan smelled something foul and Percy heard something chittering somewhere in the darkness. Suddenly there was a great crash and a rat-like creature burst through a stone wall and into the hallway. The creature looked like it was once a half-Orc but now it had patches of grotesque fur and their face was morphed into something of a snout.   The creature snarled and rushed forward to attack the search party. Abeni quickly reacted with a Searing Smite which engulfed the creature. It shrieked, ablaze with radient fire before it collapsed on the ground.   After the flesh burned away, a piece of flayed skin bearing Rattigan’s tattoo remained. The search party thought that it could be of use to Rattigan or as evidence for all of this once the epidemic ended. Dr. Maxter took out some forceps (which he was allowed to have in the political prisoner block) and put the piece of flayed skin into a glass container.   So the search party continued through the maze-like hallways in search of Dr. K’s medical wing. They came across the bodies of several rats and a few more prison guards which the search party looted before Abeni said a prayer then burned their bodies with Sacred Flame. They did this for some time until they came across a door guarded by a very large Golem.   The Golem said that it would not let anyone inside the medical wing. Percy quickly responded by telling the Golem that they were here from the safe zone to see if the Doctor and his staff were alright. THe Golem swiveled its head 180° and relayed that to the Doctor. From beyond the door the search party heard the Doctor command the Golem to let them inside which it did.  

Int. A Medical Examination Room, The Fringe - Continuous

  The search party came into a grizzly looking medical exam room with partially dissected bodies on the tables and gore strewn on the ground. They saw a man who was likely Dr. K in another part of the room behind some glass as if he were observing the operations performed inside.   The search party told him that he needed to come with them right now and that they needed to bring Walt as well. The Doctor refused to leave his work. He also said that Walt and the chief nurse were safely locked in the infirmary before all of this started.   When it was clear that the Doctor wouldn’t comply, Molar and Percy cast Misty Stepped behind the Doctor. Molar held a scimitar to the Doctor’s back and commanded him to put on some handcuffs which he did. Molar and Percy then led the Doctor back into the exam room.   It was about that time when one of the doors that led off of the room opened and Walt appeared. He said that he was not in bad shape and that he was honestly just sick. With him was a Human woman in her 30s that the search party recognized as the chief nurse of the Fringe.   The Doctor verbally toyed with the search party for a bit. He almost got the Golem, named Clive, to stand aside and let the infected into the room which could have killed everyone. He admitted to causing the outbreak by testing his rune transfer technique on Humanoid subjects after three successful rat transfers. He also insulted and provoked the party until Lottie bound him, Molar gagged him and Percy put a hood over his head.   Percy also cast Disguise Self to imitate the Doctor. As such, Percy commanded Clive to let them pass which Clive did. So Walt took the bound and gagged Doctor, the nurse, Talina, Fizalo, Rosie and Miri along with the search party back to the safe zone.  

Int. Interior Hallways, The Fringe - Continuous

  As the group slowly made their way back, the Doctor began to tense up and shake which cause Walt to drop him. The Doctor cast Magic Mouth which he tried to use to get Talina or Clive to follow his commands instead of Percy (still disguised as the Doctor.)   Talina said that the Doctor threatened her and her family; if she didn’t comply then he would hurt them all. She said it was the same for Fizalo (the Gnomish boy) and Miri (the Fetchling girl.) She was even convinced that the Doctor could harm her from beyond the grave.   In a bid to sort this out Walt used a sending stone to communicate with the Warden. After relaying all the new information about the Doctor and that he caused the epidemic, the Warden authorized lethal force to be used if the Doctor resisted.   Talina still didn’t know what to do about the situation. She said the Doctor would do anything to control her as he needed the awesome powers she could wield. He had already caused so much suffering in her life. She asked Miri to “do her thing” which seemed to create a skip in time and when Talina returned she was crying.   Talina commanded Miri and Fizalo to leave and never come back before releasing them from her control. They did as she wished and took off down the hallway. However, they had no real way out of the prison on their own. Fizalo tried to break down one of the stone walls so that they could get to the outside but it seemed of little use.   Meanwhile, Molar went over to the Doctor and took the decision into his own winged hands. He slit the Doctor’s throat, killing him. When the Doctor died, it seemed that the connection which created all of the mutated creatures in the prison died as well and the bodies of deceased monsters began going back to their normal forms.   Suddenly, an interdimensional portal appeared. A young tan man and his dog appeared to everyone in the hallway. The man grabbed the two children and took them into the portal. Percy recognized the man as Asher Ramos and the best dog ever, Swerve McDerve. She begged for Asher to take her too but he said he couldn’t hold the portal open long enough. Just before it closed she told Asher to tell Othwin that she was safe. She heard Asher tell Othwin that she was safe which Othwin somehow already knew. And just as suddenly as it opened, the portal closed and was no more.   Percy sat alone, crying on the hallway floor as Talina continued to worry about the Doctor’s revenge. Abeni tried calm her and gave her the rock they had been sharpening as a form of protection against the Doctor’s spirit. Talina didn’t seem to buy it but thanked Abeni anyway.   From that conversation, Percy sensed that Talina knew more about the interdimensional portals than Talina admitted. She got in Talina’s face and demanded answers. Percy seemed convinced that Talina was not from this plane and could get Percy back to her own world. After Talina begging Percy to stop and repeating that she didn’t know anything Percy finally relented. The search party calmed them both down and after a few moments they decided to get back to the safe zone as soon as possible.   Percy did not go with them, instead she went to the place that the portal had been. She beat the wall with her want then her sword, breaking both. Percy collapsed on the ground, sobbing.   It was at that time when Maddie, the chief nurse of the Fringe, came up to her. Maddie related to Percy and revealed that she was actually from Boston,. in the Plane of Thought but trapped here in Kurra. Maddie has looked for a way back home ever since she came here and she though that they could help each other back to where they belong. She also said that she heard the name Othwin that Percy called out before in a dream. She also heard people talk about ‘The Funnel’ which somehow allowed people to come into this world but not to leave. She comforted Percy for a while longer and said to come back and see her again. Nurse Maddie said that Percy should rejoin her group and that she was going to stay here to get the infirmary back up and running. Percy agreed and set off in the direction of the safe zone.  

Int. A Large Store Room, The Fringe - Concurrently

  The rest of the search party made it back to the safe zone and were let inside. Walt was a little on edge at first (with the torture of his friends, the breakdown of his friendship with Percy and then the rat problem) but Molar was able to calm him down.   Shortly there after, Percy returned to the safe zone after her conversation with Nurse Maddie.   The Warden was surprised by the decisive and quick conclusion of the whole rat situation. He rewarded the members of the search party with 700 Prisoner Points each.   The Warden also addressed what to do with Talina. She was a trator but her knowledge made her valuable. So the Warden put her up in the guest quarters and they would decide what to do in the morning. With all pressing matters now addressed, Walt took his prisoners back to Block E for some well-deserved rest.  

Int. Cell Block E, The Fringe - Shortly Later (about 2 AM)

  The residents of Block E returned to find Grayson still chipping away at the wall, apparently never having left during the entire outbreak.   When everyone was inside Percy and Walt got back on the same page. Percy explained that she did what she did during the torture session to make it easier for Walt and that she didn’t really feel that way. Walt said he knew and appreciated what she tried to do. Percy echoed the sentiments of the rest of the block in telling Walt that they would all be screwed without him, they appreciated him and didn’t want him to get fired.   The block also questioned Walt about being locked in the infirmary with Nurse Maddie. Most were convinced that he had a thing for Maddie and teased him about it, which Walt vigorously denied. Embarrassed, Walt turned to leave but Abeni bumped into him and seemed to reach into one of his pockets. As his footsteps echoed down the passageway he realized that Abeni planted The Lovers card on him and yelled back their name. Abeni yelled back “it’s your future, don’t fight it!” That is where the session ended for the night.