Dystopic: Fallen Court

For those who would like to know more details about the Fallen Court I'm using in my Dystopic Campaign....

Obsidian Star Court

Details:

·         40+ Fallen

·         Predominately Faustian values

·         Rival Court to the Stolen Shame Court (20+ Fallen, predominately Ravener)

·         Rival Court to the Fate (largely mysterious)

·         All three Miami courts report to Baron Craigsen who maintains the state of Florida.

Tyrant Chakraborty

The Tyrant’s role here is more that of a Queen requiring spoiling and placating.  Much of the court revolves around her role including ceremonies steeped in pomp and invented traditions to show off the wealth of the tyrant.  While the Tyrant holds absolute power she is happy to delegate most decision making to the various Ministries and leaves them to squabble amongst themselves.

·         Female Faustian Fiend.

·         She is fond of breaching mild taboos involving sexuality, danger, and promiscuity.

·         She has sampled many drugs and enjoys trying new ones.

·         She thrills at being thought of as ‘naughty’.

·         She has the position due to her connections with the Stolen Shame Court of Raveners and since her ascension to power there have been no fatal confrontations.

·         She acts in self-produced movies where she holds the starring role.

·         She doesn’t read much and prefers to watch shows instead.

·         Traditionalist in the way of oaths, jewels, tithes, and noblesse oblige.

Ministry of Dust

This Ministry is responsible for manipulating the people – largely to ensure the success of their burgeoning show business and the encouragement of certain business and redevelopment proposals.  It is mostly about influence in these spheres and here is also where they are most prone to clashing with rival courts – including that of the vampires.

Minister Medina

·         Male Reconciler Malefactor

·         He gets smug easily.  Feed into it where appropriate.

·         When nervous, he makes mistakes.

·         He takes his responsibilities very seriously.

·         He thinks he is doing a much better job than he is at herding and manipulating the human populace.

·         He prefers to buy Shakespeare but he reads fantasy – generally sword and sorcery.

Secretary Dorinda

·         Female Faustian Malefactor.

·         Easily shamed by any errors she’s made.

·         She can be short with folk.

·         She is prudish and easily embarrassed by crude or rude comments.

·         Intuitive and capable of leaps of logic.

·         She is an artist in her spare time – combining painting with sculpture using human methods.

·         Other Malefactors do not understand her art as it favours form over function.

·         Her interests lie in paranormal thrillers and science fiction.

Ministry of Aurochs

These are the secret police of the Obsidian Star Court who gather evidence on Fallen crimes and provide them to the Minister for adjudication in closed courts.  The Accused must represent themselves at any trials.  A masked Auroch whose mask renders their physical form and voice ambiguous stands as the prosecution.  Only the Tyrant has the ability to sit in on these cases or overturn a sentence.

Minister Ortega

·         Female Luciferan Scourge.

·         Brutally efficient.

·         Highly secretive.  She believes that transparency in governance only leads to rule by popular opinion and therefore only allows her Ministry to conduct closed courts.

·         Only she knows the names and details of her underlings, some of whom are rumoured to also work for other ministries.

·         She is one of the oldest Fallen to walk the Earth who still resides in Miami and therefore has the most post-arrival Eminence.

Ministry of Dragons

This Ministry cleans up everyone else’s mess by smoothing over ruffled feathers and otherwise trying to keep outright war from breaking out.  Other than this, they are responsible for ensuring that the traditions are kept, tithes are made, and festivals run smoothly.  Glorified party planners.

Minister Chang

·         Male Reconciler Defiler

·         He wants to make big changes and feels strangled by all of the restrictions.

·         He tires of having to deal with the annoyances of the rival courts or the petty demands of the Baron and is bored with is job.

·         He is seriously considering relocation.

·         He is interested in books of other supernatural creatures but is forced to obtain books on traditional etiquette, speech making, and foreign pageantry throughout the eras.

Ministry of Eagles

Minister Khosravi

·         Male Faustian Devil

·         He is popular both within the court and without due to his positive attitude and classic poise and should the court’s tyrant fall, the majority will hope that he will take her place.  Unfortunately he lacks the post-arrival Eminence to do so.

·         Rumor has it he may have the highest pre-arrival Eminence in the court although perhaps he does not recall it.

·         He is one of the youngest Fallen within Miami but his popularity catapulted his success.

·         He will not fall apart under pressure.

·         He has no time to read for pleasure.

Media Adjutant Hall

·         Male Faustian Devil

·         Skilled at appearing innocent and above suspicion with a wide-eyed innocent demeanor

·         Sharp as a tack and very perceptive.

·         He can be unintentionally rude at times ... or is it unintentional?

·         A typical newsie (news blogs) – incisive, analytical, combines blogging with vlogging.  Held to high standards by his readership.

·         He reads autobiographies of locals’ relatives, political satire, microfiche of old newspapers, and medical thrillers.

Ministry of Lions

This ministry is in charge of defence of the court’s key sites and provide bodyguard duties to the Tyrant and any important visitors.  They have a lot of turn over when the three Miami courts chafe against each other as they are always the first to die.

Minister Garcia

·         Female Faustian Defiler

·         Irritable as she tires of the machinations of the court.

·         She is kinder than she appears as she has had to harden herself to complete the missions assigned to her – even when she doesn’t believe those decisions are correct.

·         People like her for her honesty and sincerity but do not respect her.

·         She does not take fools gladly.

·         Bureaucracy annoys her.

·         She reads books on military strategy, emergency protocols, and natural disaster management.

Garrand

·         Male Cryptic

·         Not a bad guy, but still a thug.

·         He is deeply in love with [Classified] and it pains him that he can’t keep his beloved’s photograph on him.

·         While he is grimly determined during his missions, in truth he remembers the face of each person he has killed.

·         He mixes caution at work with thoughtlessness in his home life.

·         He reads periodical romance novels and military fiction – especially action-based thrillers – and books on foreign cultures.

·         His hose used to be a sniper on the Wall to kill zombies as part of the Green Berets.

Jackman

·         Female Ravener Fiend

·         She is an intelligent individual who is treated as a thug due to her Factional and Ministerial affiliation and the fact they misunderstand what a corporate security detail can really mean.

·         She is not a violent woman at heart and merely wishes to protect.

·         She desires a way to leave her faction but knows that she will be banished to the pit if she tries.  As the Raveners are content to leave her as an honorary member, she retains that position.  Still the few encounters she has had with them pains them.

·         She is skilled with Portals and prefers to trap her enemies for capture or despatch.

·         She has a deep abiding interest in crime fiction and romantic dramas (not formulaic romance).  She generally only reads for pleasure.

Dystopic: Prometheus Contracts

After two weeks in Miami, the characters were also given a choice of two contracts.  One was an Associate contract and was meant to be signed on ordinary paper.  Associates could pick and choose the amount of time they spent in service to Prometheus, kind of like contractors.  The other was the Member contract and needed to be signed on special paper with a special pen using a syllable of the signee's True Name.  I actually wrote up the two contracts and put the Associate contract on ordinary paper and the Member contract on special paper.  I then had them sign OOCly the contract of their choice.  A few of the players even chose to look up how to spell their character's names using the alphabet from their character's country of origin.

I thought I'd reproduce those contracts here for your information:

Membership Contract

I, the undersigned, accept the terms and conditions set out in this contract.  As a member, I understand that I will be assigned a budget line according to the needs of my project from which my salary is drawn.  I can apply to my handler for additional funding or to requisition temporary equipment.  I am also aware that I will be granted access to sensitive information and locations and will treat such things accordingly.  I acknowledge and accept my rights and responsibility and those of the other members and associates of the Prometheus Project. 

Rights

·         140 days of annual / personal leave.  This can be taken in batches of up to 60 days with no questions asked although four weeks notice must be given.

·         May request medical treatment from a skilled Asharu twice a year.

·         May expect sanctuary for myself and up to five other individuals who have a blue listing (civilian non-threat) or higher clearance.

·         To be reimbursed for previously agreed upon expenses.

·         To be reimbursed for unexpected expenses subject to handler’s approval.

·         To be able to select my mission from up to three options wherever possible, although I understand that in some instances a mission may be too urgent to be denied without approval from superior officers.

·         To be assigned missions appropriate to my skills and experience or that of my team.

·         To have my celestial name and personal information kept confidential.

·         To have access to my handler, or a delegated handler, within 24 hours of an attempted contact.

·         To have access to my handler’s celestial name.

·         To refuse to assault declared staunch allies and instead work with the Prometheus Project to determine an alternative.  Where no alternative can be found to be allowed to leave the mission.

·         I may seek a review or an appeal of a decision.

·         I may request access to approved information of my security clearance.

Responsibilities

·         Report any likely connections to Earthbound.

·         Do not work with Earthbound.

·         Avoid communicating with, or drawing the attention of, Earthbound.

·         Do not betray the organisation, its ideals, or membership.

·         Decline missions that you cannot bring yourself to follow, do not undermine them.

·         Do not reveal the names of other members, associates or friendlies.

·         Do not reveal classified information to those who lack clearances.  Some information may be disseminated to others according to your best judgement.  This is any information of a clearance level equal to or below your own that isn’t marked ‘Eyes Only’.  When in doubt, ask your handler.

·         Do not reveal the location of safe houses without prior authorisation.

·         Do not reveal information on rituals, technologies, or other such matters developed by the Prometheus Project without prior authorisation.

·         If you notice a health and safety risk in a safe house or other Prometheus Project site, please notify your handler or the site manager.

·         Respect assigned Masquerade ratings in your surrounding area.

·         If you notice a security risk, please notify your handler.  If the risk involves your handler, please contact your assigned den mother.

I agree to all of the above rights and responsibilities and hereby pledge myself to the Prometheus Project.

Date:__________________

Signature:___________________________________________________

Associate Contract

I, the undersigned, accept the terms and conditions set out in this contract.  As an associate, I understand that I will be negotiating terms on a mission by mission basis.  I can apply to my handler for funding or to requisition temporary equipment.  I am also aware that I may be granted access to sensitive information and locations and will treat such things accordingly.  I acknowledge and accept my rights and responsibility and those of the other members and associates of the Prometheus Project. 

Rights

·         I may negotiate the terms of payment for each mission undertaken which could include monetary payment, access to information, services, or tutelage in a discipline or ritual.

·         May request sanctuary for myself and up to two other individuals who have a blue listing (civilian non-threat) or higher clearance although I understand that this will be subject to availability.

·         To be reimbursed for previously agreed upon expenses.

·         To be offered missions appropriate to my skills and experience or that of my team.

·         To have my celestial name protected alongside other personal information.

·         To have access to my handler’s celestial name and that of my team members.

·         I may seek a review or an appeal of a decision.

·         I may request access to approved information of appropriate security rating where that information is explicitly required to undertake a mission.

·         I may refuse to undertake any mission if I do not approve of the terms.

Responsibilities

·         Report any likely connections to Earthbound.

·         Do not work with Earthbound.

·         Avoid communicating with, or drawing the attention of, Earthbound.

·         Do not betray the organisation, its ideals, or membership.

·         Decline missions that you cannot bring yourself to follow, do not undermine them.

·         Do not reveal the names of other members, associates or friendlies.

·         Do not reveal classified information without authorisation from your handler or a member with the appropriate clearance.

·         Do not reveal the location of safe houses without prior authorisation.

·         Do not reveal information on rituals, technologies, or other such matters developed by the Prometheus Project without prior authorisation.

·         If you notice a health and safety risk in a safe house or other Prometheus Project site, please notify your handler or the site manager.

·         Respect assigned Masquerade ratings in your surrounding area.

·         If you notice a security risk, please notify your handler.  If the risk involves your handler, please contact your assigned den mother.

I agree to all of the above rights and responsibilities and hereby pledge allegiance to the Prometheus Project.

Date:__________________

Signature:___________________________________________________

Those who signed the Member contract: Tokyo, Nomad 6, and Leningrad (on the sly)

Those who signed the Associate contract: London, Miami, Oxford, and Leningrad (publicly, though Member contracts trump Associate contracts)

Dystopic: Arrival In Miami

There's been two sessions since the last write up but I'll try to be brief (this will still need a few posts).  Nice returned with a new guy called Oxford who wasn't all that well briefed on the situation although the other characters assumed he knew at least as much about being a demon as they did.  As I hadn't had a chance to brief the new player, the character had to be a real newbie as well.

They arrived in the city of Miami (will refer to the city in red text and the character in black) by way of a few islands and other places where the characters made a point of inflating the bill because Prometheus was paying.  That later bit them on the bottom when they found out they had a budget line assigned to them and they'd wasted a big chunk of it on a holiday.

Once in the city of Miami, the rest of the team gave Miami a chance to meet up with his family once more and fully reunite before looking at the question of where to live and what to do once they'd gotten there?  Miami met his mother-in-law and father-in-law as well as his eager daughter and autistic son in their occult / Santeria equipment store.  As far as they knew, he'd gone to a specialist hospital in New York (which his mother-in-law was unsure about consenting to) due to his comatose (in fact, braindead) condition. 

They were happy to have him back but his mother-in-law had some bad news.  Although Miami's host and his wife had paid off the debt on their shop / home, the banks claimed that they were badly in debt and that the place would have to be foreclosed.  His mother-in-law tried to prevent it but she had no proof since his home was ransacked, his computers stolen and his last years worth of receipts (including books bought / sold) were stolen. 

The father of one of the four Fraternity brothers who had kidnapped Miami's host and wife before raping / killing the wife and beating him to brain death was on the bank's board of directors and obviously wanted revenge against the shaming of his family brought on by the police investigation and subsequent mysterious death of his son in custody.

Miami also discovered five books missing from the collection of books that his mother had managed to salvage from the foreclosure:

The Sette of Odd Volumes" A London monthly dining society of wealthy bibliophiles, membership somewhere between 21 and 100, founded in 1878 by rare book dealer Bernard Quaritch. They are closely associated with the Athaneum Club. There is usually an after-dinner address by a guest speaker (past speakers have included Oscar Wilde, Samuel Clemens, W.B. Yeats, and other notable authors) on some erudite subject. The address is commonly privately printed for members afterwards, and these volumes occasionally enter the market, fetching good prices. This is one such volume. Past prominent members and office-holders in the Sette have included Sir Edward Sullivan, John Lane, John Todhunter, George Charles Haité, Sir Alfred Edward East, J.W. Brodie-Innes, Edward Heron-Allen, R. T. Gould, A. J. A. Symons, Alec Waugh, Vyvyan Holland, and Burton.

“The Book Of The Thousand Nights”
Volume 4 of the subscriber-only 1885 first printing of Richard Burton's The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, and looks to be in excellent condition. Furthermore, it is signed. The frontispiece says "To J.C. - from one Odd Volume to Another - Richard Burton".

“An Investigation into the Oracle of Sidon”
Ludwig von Domenstein, 1843
Whilst many of his peers and contemporaries dismissed the writings of Méric Casaubon (1599–1671) in "Credulity and Incredulity" as fanciful nonsense, informed more by wine and madness than by science, the Frenchman, whilst somewhat lacking in scientific method, seemed to describe with accuracy and good intent a valid phenomenon. Having spent many years investigating the legends surrounding the Oracle of Sidon, even visiting that region of the coast where the temple had previously teetered on the edge of a cliff only to fall to its ruin 600 years ago, the author, Ludwig von Domenstein, divorced due to his studies divulges in this work his findings.

“The Wooden Book”
The book is a curious miscellany; a large number of unevenly cut leaves, crudely bound with string and pressed between two hand-carved wooden covers. The front depicts an angel weeping; a small figure below catches the tears in a jug. The back shows some kind of flowering, spiky plant; perhaps a scotch thistle? It is written in Latin and contains leaves from a herbal book and some alchemical works as well as some theology tied in there (written in a late medieval hand) but has been bound in with a series of other peoples’ notes. It seems to be almost like a grandma’s cookbook with each generation adding their own recipes. The man who penned it was a Friar John Cor, ex-monk, Dissolution Period, who wanted to prove Trans- rather than Co-substantiation and attempted to distill Communion wine into the Blood of Christ, claiming to be acting on the orders of a ‘Hidden Pope’. The book has been handed down through generations and culminates in classic Victorian spiritualism where one traps spirits in bottles and asks questions by means of a pendulum.

“An Account of the Ottoman Kingdom, and select locations in the Holy Land”
1911 English translation from the eighteenth-century German edition of a previously unpublished manuscript from the 1580s. The author was a Burgundian mercenary who was hired by some vizier or other to train Janissaries to use heavy guns. This fellow, de Chaut, was also a student of religion. He spent his time investigating little known sects and denominations in the Ottoman Empire - Dervishes, Zorastrians, Miaphysitians, Rodnovers... those sorts of individuals. This tome collated what he had found.

Perhaps they were stolen?  But to what end?

The team then came back together to look for a bookstore site to purchase (they decided against renting) so that they could set up their cover as bookhounds.  I had the players describe what they were looking for, what suburb they wanted to live within (they chose Little Havana to be closer to Miami's family) and to describe certain aspects of it to give it some additional character.  Each one had to come up with two things about the place that were a little different.  The players really enjoyed that.  They decided:

• The bookstore has four storeys and a basement.  There is a shop on the ground floor.  A bathroom / kitchen / dining room on the first floor and two living levels filled with bedrooms.  I totally have to create a Sims 3 map of it.
• The store is occupied by a family of cats (mother and kittens)
• It has a resident ghost of a former tenant who was into HAM radios
• It has a funny burned out socket in the basement
• It recieves terrible radio signals but good internet access
• It has an excessive amount of power points
• It has lots of shelves made out of railway sleepers
• Mark's room is straight out of an IKEA catalogue
• Tokyo's room is straight out of a Hello Kitty catalogue
• It has a lot of roof access points
• It has a courtyard/helicopter parking space out the back which is only accessible by air (no driveway)
• It has a number of mirrors well-placed to make it easier to see people entering / leaving

When they were talking to the real estate agent, they tried to talk him down from the amount he demanded.  Oxford decided it for them by using his Crafts to figure out the right spot to gently thump the wall where a dent was likely to form.  He got over an exceptional success, so instead of a dent, part of the wall came down.  That certainly dropped the price!

I also had the players decide on a type of genre that they had a lot of books for.

Leningrad chose Russian Folklore.
Miami chose Ceremonial Magic.
London chose Victorian to Golden Age Crime Novels.
Tokyo chose programming manuals.
Oxford chose non-fiction on electronics.
Nomad 6 chose comic books.

Nice then offered for Dallas to go and live with them now that he was more settled in this brave new world.  She also apologised to Miami for having secured a scholarship for his daughter at a better school within this suburb without having sought out his permission but they wanted to set it up a few months ago before he was out of the pit to ensure that he wouldn't return to any more bad news.

The characters had two weeks to set up their bookstore.  Oxford, being a Malefactor, turned old railway sleepers into bookcases and fixed up the walls and Tokyo set up some pretty epic security (they all went in to purchase Haven Security 5).  They all made a promise not to check into Oxford's true name syllables as he cast his Lore of Forge (one can detect syllables from casting fallen magic). 

At their level of Torment (3 - 4), breaching a promise is a serious thing and could earn them further Torment (basically a sliding scale of how far they've fallen from grace which affects their ability to cast non-Evil versions of their spells).  Nice kept a look out for other Fallen using Awareness and, doubtless, a Fiend ally or two (Lore of Patterns can seek out the future or the past) though she also promised not to seek syllables and stated that one can ignore one spell while looking for the presence of others.  In fact, it's easier to do so.

At the end of the two weeks she gave them dossiers on their own deaths so that they can investigate it, should they choose, now that they are more settled into their lives and hopefully less likely to go off the deep end.  Of course, Tokyo has already solved her death.  Now Miami is gearing up to solve his own.

I'll post up the information found in their dossiers in a later article as there's a lot of information there, naturally, being as it reports on four people's deaths.  I haven't done Oxford's dossier yet.

Flashpoint: The Milkmaid

Okay, I've been pretty slack lately with the blog and I'm sorry about that.  I'll get on with posting up more articles soon enough.  For now, let's just look at the latest Flashpoint session.  Pre-warning: Sex comes up in this game a lot.  It also comes up in the start of this session where a magical misunderstanding leads to magical rape.

After about a day of river travel, Lenny disappeared from her perch on top of the plinth, which freaked out Lhye a bit but Proteus was over it.  They noticed an attractive milk maid washing her hands on the Taldor side of the river and Proteus, knowing that with the slow current and lack of wind the ship would be in view and travelling slowly for awhile, dove into the water and swam over to her.

The girl flirted with him but Proteus was suspicious, assuming that as everything else had tried to attack him that she might as well.  Then Lhye floated out of the boat and closer (Proteus assumed he did it to get a good view) and cast Unnatural Lust on him, causing him to grope her boob and kiss her tightly, Proteus assumed that the woman had used enchantments to sexually assault her.  Lhye had done it to ruin Proteus' chances with her.  So Proteus cast Sow Thought "I should totally have sex with him" and Suggestion "We should go behind the bushes and have sex".  Proteus knew this would be rape but figured it was only fair to 'rape the rapist'.

Lhye didn't notice the use of those two spells.  He used Charm Person on her, hoping to have a chance now that Proteus had obviously lost his chance (we use Charm Person as making a person friendlier, not more romantically inclined, merely shifting from Unfriendly to Friendly, say, so it's not as morally wrong a choice as it otherwise could have been).

Little did either of them know but she passed all three saves.  She didn't roll lower than 17.

Regardless, she invited them behind the bushes for a wild threesome.  Then, as her clothing was soiled by dirt and grass stains, she asked Proteus to fetch her a clean set from the farm house about 500m or so away.  Proteus had no interest in assisting her, considering her to be an attempted rapist.  Lhye, however, had no reason to dislike her and so went off to do just that.  Proteus remained with the woman, still not trusting that she wasn't some kind of hag or succubus or something.

Lhye used Disguise Self to appear to be a normal farmer and found her clothes hung out to dry across a railing by the well in a dirt courtyard with a barn on one side and the farmhouse on the other.  As he picked it up, he noticed that there was a lot of dried blood on the straw in the barn.  Going in for a closer look, he saw the piled up remains of bloody bones and clothing in a few spots.  He went to the house and found it locked and the shutters barred from the inside.  Rising up, he saw through the second storey window that there was a man, half eaten from the bottom down, laying across the floor as though he'd been rushing to the window.

Lhye returned and as the milkmaid saw him, she pointed him out to Proteus who turned to look.  By the time Proteus looked back (in the space of a glance), she had disappeared.  He drew his trident and swung it at the space where she had been but she wasn't there anymore.  Lhye explained the situation to Proteus who headed back to the boat.  Lhye proceeded to use Detect Magic and fly up and down the bank but he failed to find her.

Upon hearing what had happened, Archer turned the boat around, determined to do justice against one who would kill and eat a farmyard full of people.  Midshipman Wellard tracked the footprints back to the farmyard where she lost it amidst the other prints although there was evidence that she may have approached a set of wheelprints and hoofprints from a cart.  Wellard couldn't say how long ago the tracks had been there.  From a few minutes to a day away.

They searched the farmhouse, finding the front door broken inwards and the furniture shifted about as though by someone quite strong, and came to find a trapdoor that had been fixed in place by a chain bolted to the underside and to the stairs.  Archer used his guns to Disable the hinges and knocked in the trapdoor. 

He soon found a single young man, a survivor, who said that the milkmaid was a woman named Kitzy, who had arrived two weeks ago looking for work before hitching a ride in a cart.  She had one blue eye, one green eye (like the woman by the river).  They followed the cart tracks with Proteus remaining to walk with the survivor while the others jogged.

At the next town, they spoke to a militia man who was drunk (and a follower of Caiden Caylean).  Lhye and Lil both used Disguise Self to appear human.  They convinced the militia man to give them horses so that they could ride ahead to alert the next town (as the cart had passed through here) - pointing out that the farmyard had been devastated.  The militia man remained to raise the hue and cry amongst his townsfolk as they headed off.

The next town was much larger with a bigger wall.  They'd already been alerted by one of the militia's riders from the other town (who had plenty of ranks in Ride) and two clerics were waiting for them - one of Iomedae and one of Cayden Cailean.  They swiftly identified that a couple people were using disguise spells and they dispelled the one on Lhye, revealing him to be a tiefling, and basically stating that while they were happy with his support that he couldn't enter the town.  This quite offended poor Lhye who groused at them for a bit.

They found out that Kitzy had purchased a small boat a few hours ago (the timeline felt off to Lhye, though perhaps the seller wasn't quite sure of the time as they have no watches in fantasy land) and, knowing the winds and currents, Archer surmised that they could catch her even by riding back and taking their own boat down the river after her.

So they rode back, left their horses on the bank, and headed down the river after her.  They found the young woman in her boat with her back to them and, due to Proteus' calm waters bardic song, their ship moved on the currents very quietly.  She didn't notice them until they were a few rounds away and then Proteus kept her enthralled with his song.  With a suggestion spell, Proteus lured her aboard.

Once aboard, she turned to realise her boat was floating off and she reached for the boat hook to pull her own boat back.  The others prepared their spells - some of which to subdue her.  They readied an action.  Archer shot her in the back of the head.  Startled, the others unleashed their spells although the Sleep Hex, Curse, and Ray of Exhaustion bounced off her, leaving her fatigued but otherwise okay barring a little hit point loss.

She summoned a ball of flame using a divine focus half hidden by her cleavage and slammed it into Archer, slowly charring the ship.  After a few more attacks, Proteus bull rushed her off the boat and held her underwater as she drowned.  Worried by this whole thing and unsure whether they had the right girl (ever aware of duplicity), Lhye ordered Proteus to bring her up and then resuscitated her while the others bound her arms and legs.  She was still unconscious.

They returned to the major town and dropped her off with the clerics there to stand trial.  The clerics ensured their boat was repaired so they could head off and even gave a gift of Bracers of Armor +1.  They were grateful but didn't want to let the tiefling enter their town lest he begin corrupting people.

And that's where we left it.

Lhye's still uncertain if they got the killer or if she'd been set up but he's sure the good clerics will ensure that justice is served and that she won't die unless guilty.  So the plan, as it stands, is to keep heading onward to Augustana.