Chapter Four
Campaign: Rough Magic
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For Faerie, Queen, And Country
Characters
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Game Sessions
2022-01-17
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For their own reasons, Dr. Celyddon, Carole Desjardin, and Leosliath find themselves in London, where they meet a new friend, Basil "Bertie" Witherbone.
While waiting for Leosliath's band, Serrated Edge, to play at the Duck & Quiver, the gang sees a debate in parliament on television. Suddenly, the man speaking begins bleeding from his eyes, and then he vomits blood (or some dark liquid -- like all televisions, it's B&W) before the BBC interrupts the signal and switches to the news.
Lord Patrick Hope-Johnstone, Earl of Annandale and Hartfell (Council Of Merlin) is dead due to a sudden illness. The reaction of the bar patrons is ... mild. (It's not like he was famous, at least among this crowd.)
Later, Kelli (lead singer of Kelli And The Kittens, an up-and-coming band from Liverpool playing later this evening), asks Leosliath for help with "Sam", a fan whose behaviour has started frightening them. He has broken into their tour van several times and left increasingly intense-sounding notes. The last straw was that he stole one of the band member's earrings, which had been given to her by her mother at her confirmation (a Church Of England "coming of age" ceremony).
Doctor Celyddon uses the remaining earring to track the stalker's location, noting that it is in the East End. Leosliath's band finishes their set, and Kelli And The Kittens begin to set up for theirs. Dr. Celyddon performs another spell to confirm the earring's location before they leave to go look for it, but this time, the earring is in the bar with them -- a few meters from the stage.
The gang confronts Sam the sleazeball, and Carole uses savate to face-plant him on the floor of the pub. Dr. Celyddon uses magic to paralyze him, and they escort Sam to the back alley, accompanied by the jeers of several bar patrons who are amused at how easily Carole subdued him.
The gang makes clear that this will be Sam's only warning, and that if he bothers Kelli and her band again, he will be found washed up on the shore of the Thames after drowning while fully conscious. Sam the sleazeball is left head-down, paralyzed and deprived of his trophies (including the earring), in a bin in the alley.
The next day, Doctor Celyddon checks in at the Falstaff Club, where he is currently staying. He has a message waiting for him under the name of Dr. Hürtgen Forest. It is from David "Mad Tom" Smith, a black market magic trafficker who helped Doctor Celyddon leave Great Britain a few years ago during a difficult time.
Celyddon heads to the address in the letter, which is a warehouse down by the waterfront. He finds that David "Mad Tom" Smith is just as enthusiastically obnoxious as ever. He makes a lot of jokes, poking fun at Doctor Celyddon and calling him "Docteur Réserve Biologique Intégrale de Chaux", "Doctor Valle Cervara", and so on. Mad Tom seems endlessly amused, but Celyddon doesn't get the joke.
David "Mad Tom" Smith then asks Celyddon for help finding his daughter, Sharon Smith. She has disappeared, and he is afraid that she has fallen in with a bad crowd. Mad Tom offers Celyddon 4,000 francs for the job (a small fortune), although he only gives Celyddon 40 francs up front. He gives Celyddon a Polaroid of the girl, but he has literally no other information about her.
As Celyddon is leaving, he hears screams from the back warehouse. Mad Tom is on fire, and dies in front of Celyddon (the envelope full of Celyddon's pending payment is, alas, also a casualty of the flames). A quick check confirms that Mad Tom died from magic -- magic at least as potent as what Celyddon is capable of. Before making a discreet exit, Celyddon looks in Mad Tom's office, and takes the notebook from his desk. The last page of the notebook has a name in large block print, and circled:
RONDANINI FAUN
Across town at the BMCP, a posh lady enters Carole's office: Lady Vanessa Strutt, Baroness Rayleigh. She wants the BMCP to look for her estranged daughter Sharon Smith. Lady Strutt fears that Sharon has been abducted by magicians. She has a photo, but literally no other information about Sharon's friends, habits, or home. "We are estranged," she repeats calmly.
Leosliath keeps an eye on Kelli And The Kittens, and Doctor Celyddon arrives in time to wish them all a safe trip to Birmingham, where their next gig is. Sam the sleazeball hasn't been seen again: he appears to have gotten the message.
Meeting back at the Duck & Quiver, the gang compares notes. Examining the Polaroids, Bertie realizes that both were taken in front of the same record shop, but Sharon's pose is slightly different in each. Doctor Celyddon uses magic to find the camera that took these photos: it is located at the Limehouse Marina, just of the Thames in Limehouse Basin.
The gang heads to the marina, and they find the boat: a narrowboat named the Manky Shag. Stepping aboard, they find that the Manky Shag is aptly named: it is the "love boat" for "Mad Tom" Smith, adorned and furnished with every piece of tacky "swinger" gear that one could imagine (and several that one would rather not).
They also find several clues: the Polaroid which took the two photos of Sharon Smith, an 8mm handheld movie camera, an 8mm projector, and several blasphemous amateur "stag" films starring Mad Tom and a some ladies of his acquaintance -- including Lady Strutt. They also find an engraved invitation to a charity garden party, hosted by Lady Strutt.
Pondering the meaning of all this (and wondering how difficult it might be to forge ownership papers for the narrowboat, since Mad Tom won't be using it anymore), they are interrupted in their search by a massive werewolf. The battle is short and brutal, but they manage to drive the werewolf away -- just barely...
2022-01-24
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Engraved invitation in hand, the gang piles into the Packard that Doctor Celyddon has been loaned from the Falstaff Club. They attends Lady Strutt's charity auction at Rayleigh Manor for the Victoria Hospital for Children. Leosliath meets a fae, Willowbark, who is attending to represent the Raven Queen. Doctor Celyddon and Bertie spot Doctor Scarabus, but do not approach him for conversation. Carole is approached by Lady Strutt, who passes a notebook to her, saying, "It is no longer safe for me to have this."
Doctor Celyddon examines the notebook, and determines that it is magically encrypted -- and is part of a set.
While they ponder this, the BBC TV news reports that authorities have determined that Lord Hope-Johnstone did not die of food poisoning, but was in fact murdered by magic. While this is announced, stock footage of Lord Hope-Johnstone is shown -- along with Sharon Smith, who appears to be his assistant.
The gang attends the funeral of Lord Hope-Johnstone, and finds Sharon Smith among the mourners. A massive werewolf also finds her, and battles the gang to a standstill before escaping.
Bertie is approached by Detective Inspector Benjamin Kemp from British Magic Commission Police (BMCP). He has received an anonymous tip that Lord Hope-Johnstone was killed by his assistant, Sharon Smith. He has a Polaroid photo of her, part of the same set that Lady Strutt gave Carole and Mad Tom gave Doctor Celyddon.
Later Sharon Smith reveals that Lord Hope-Johnstone gave her a notebook, as well. Doctor Celyddon examines the two notebooks, and determines that there is a third book in set, yet to be found. Carole hides one of the two notebooks in a little-used section of the BMCP research library, and then uses her contacts to find a safe place to hide Sharon Smith: an apartment building currently being renovated.
The next day, someone delivers a clock, which Carole realizes is a bomb. She grabs Sharon Smith, and they get out of the building just as it explodes!
2022-01-31
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Carole and Sharon Smith encounter the people responsible for the bomb: vampires! The vampires seem intent on capturing Sharon, but Carole fights them off long enough for witnesses to gather, which causes the vampires to retreat.
Carole meets up with the gang, and they find a new place for Sharon to stay while they continue to investigate. When they check back on her, they discover that she has left a note. She was contacted by Lord Cromer, aka Doctor Scarabus, and "everything is going to be okay!"
The gang heads to the address Sharon left, knowing that this is a trap. They arrive at the offices of Barghest Fine Imports, and sneak in. They find Doctor Scarabus with Lady Strutt and the two vampires that Carole and Sharon met. Doctor Scarabus has only one question: where is the third journal?
The gang doesn't know. Doctor Scarabus turns Lady Strutt to ash with magic, and then makes to leave so that the vampires and Waldau, the werewolf they fought at the funeral, can kill the gang.
Doctor Celyddon disrupts that plan by creating a wall of fire between the gang and Doctor Scarabus. The gang jumps through the window (breaking it in the process), and Doctor Celyddon manages to cast a feather fall spell before they hit the ground.
The gang flees.
Before the final death threat and their escape, Doctor Scarabus had mentioned something about the British Museum. The gang heads to the museum, where a new Roman exhibit is opening. The gang puts the clues together, and realizes that the third ledger may be hidden in the Rondanini Faun, a Roman sculpture in the exhibit. Doctor Celyddon turns invisible and searches the statue before the crowd reaches it. He finds the third ledger in the base.
The gang takes the ledger and leaves the museum. Doctor Celyddon is able to re-integrate the ledger, and Carole and Bertie examine it. It is a detailed record of the black market hex imported by Barghest Fine Imports from May to June of last year, and where each shipment was sent. Carole and Bertie head to the Ministry, where they track down the various connections between Doctor Scarabus, Barghest Fine Imports, and dozens of shell and front companies. They are interrupted when the Ministry is thrown into chaos by the revelations of an extensive black market hex smuggling enterprise.
Over the next few days, the story is revealed: Lord Cromer, aka Doctor Scarabus, discovered that Lady Strutt and Mad Tom were using Barghest Fine Imports to import black market hex. Lord Cromer contacted Lord Hope-Johnstone about it, and they were trying to find proof, but then Lord Hope-Johnstone was murdered by Lady Strutt and Mad Tom. Lady Strutt and Mad Tom quarreled about how to deal with their imminent arrest, and Lady Strutt murdered Mad Tom with magic to try and cover her tracks. She is now wanted for questioning by the authorities, but she has disappeared. This is all a lie, of course.
Doctor Scarabus no longer has any need to hunt Sharon, and he no longer needs to find the stolen ledgers. The threat, it appears, is over.
Meanwhile, Leosliath is approached by Briarthorn, the fae who was dueling with Willowbark, the fae he met at Lady Strutt's charity auction. Briarthorn needs help...
2022-02-07
Briarthorn is a knight of the Winter King, the fae who rules Scotland and the northern edge of England (Hadrian's Wall is the border between domain and that of the Raven Queen). For several hundred years, Briarthorn has been a bitter rival of Willowbark, a knight of the Raven Queen.
Briarthorn is in London on a mission for the Winter King, and is to be presented to the Raven Queen in two days, at a ball given by Lady Verbena. Unfortunately, Briarthorn has lost a precious item, given to her by the Winter King: The Highland Stag Clasp.
Forged by fae artisans in the starlight of a highland night, from the silver skimmed from the reflection of the moon on a great Loch, the clasp is an item of great beguiling beauty. It has had three previous owners; Sadhbh who commissioned the clasp and wore it until her death, her son Oisin who used the clasp as a temptation to avaricious fae, to tempt them into his bed on a promise of a gift that never appeared, and the Winter King, who took it from the dead hands of Oisin when he took his demesne as his own.
The clasp is formed from three sets of entwined stag antlers forming a rough hexagon. The horns of the antlers magically part and penetrate the cloth they are attached to and lock again, holding the cloak in place.
The gang searches the last place that Briathorn saw it: her duel with Willowbark in Green Park. They are able to find one part of the clasp, which leads them (thanks to Doctor Celyddon's magic) to the second piece.
The second piece is held by the boggart Filferer King, who rules his kingdom from Old Aldgate East London Underground station. He will trade them it if they go retrieve something he has recently lost: his ring of special keys. He will also tell them who he sold the third piece to.
The gang traces the lost keys to the Hidden, and winds up in an auction in a ghostland. Carole offers a favour in her capacity as an investigator of the Ministry, and no one present is willing to outbid her. The gang returns the keys to the Pilferer King, who hands over the piece of The Highland Stag Clasp and tells them where the third should be found: Ahmed's Celluloid Wonderland.
2022-02-14
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The next day, the gang heads to Ahmed's Celluloid Wonderland, and emporium of obsolete entertainment technology... and magic items. Ahmed is happy to show them the piece of the Highland Stag Clasp, and she knows exactly what it is. However, she will trade it for a new bell -- specifically, the bell at the Nuit Club down the road.
The Nuit Club is the private club of the New Isis Lodge. The New Isis Lodge was created a decade or so ago by Kenneth Grant, a wealthy and popular magician who chafed at not being promoted in the Council Of Merlin. The membership of the New Isis Lodge only numbers a dozen or so magicians, all of whom are wealthy, male, and who feel entitled to special treatment.
The gang breaks into the Nuit Club after hours, and replaces the door bell with a fairy-glamoured imitation. Ahmed is happy with the bell, and hands over the last third of the Highland Stag Clasp.
As they exit Ahmed's shop, they are approached by Briarthorn, who insists they hand over whatever they have now. However, Bertie and Doctor Celyddon sense something amiss, and they are right -- it is a fae named Jack O'Blades who has glamoured himself to look like Briarthorn! His ruse discovered, he vanishes.
The gang goes to The Savoy, where Briarthorn is staying. She accepts the clasp gratefully, and offers the gang invitations to Lady Verbena's ball later that evening. While they are shopping for suitable attire, Carole is approached by Willowbark, who says that she was sent by Briarthorn to retrieve however many pieces of the clasp that the gang has found. Carole replies that they have already delivered the clasp to Briarthorn. Disappointed, Jack O'Blades drops his glamour and vanishes, again.
The gang attends the ball at the Kensington roof gardens, where they meet Lady Verbena and see the Raven Queen. Briarthorn is presented to the Raven Queen, and anyone who had hoped for a political catastrophe is disappointed. Briarthorn and Willowbark feud publicly, but both privately express their gratitude to Leosliath, and vow to come to his aid if he ever calls.
Later, Jack O'Blades introduces himself properly to Carole, and an escalating series of gifts results in Jack O'Blades receiving a cigarette rolling machine and various tobacconists' supplies, while Carole receives a "Danger Ring" and one of Jack O'Blades eponymous weapons, "Winter's Bite".
The next day, Doctor Celyddon is invited to lunch with Doctor Scarabus at the Ambrosius Club, the private club of the Council Of Merlin. Doctor Scarabus seems friendly enough, and says he has no ill will against Doctor Celyddon. Perhaps he can even sponsor Doctor Celyddon in an application for associate membership in the Council Of Merlin...
Meanwhile, Carole and Bertie are assigned to investigate a death by "magic" at the Smoke & Mirrors Club. It appears that the Great Vorelli, a stage magician, has sawed his assistant in half.
2022-02-21
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Carole and Bertie head to the Smoke & Mirrors Club, where they meet The Great Vorelli, the staff, and the audience -- and Sarah MacDonald, the bisected assistant to The Great Vorelli.
Vorelli is distraught, and the audience is horrified. No one can explain what happened. A thorough investigation reveals several clues:
- The saw that Vorelli uses for this trick is normally kept locked in his chest of magic paraphernalia.
- The lock on Vorelli's chest has been picked recently.
- The saw has trace amounts of hot sauce on the handle.
- The saw has several short animal hairs on the handle.
Four suspects immediately present themselves:
- The Great Vorelli -- did he kill his assistant on purpose?
- Deborah Ross, Vorelli's former assistant -- did she sabotage the trick to get revenge for being replaced?
- Magic Melvin, Sarah's previous magician -- did he sabotage Vorelli's trick to get revenge on Sarah for leaving him?
- Tipper Teague, founder and president of the Christian Women's League For The Abolition of Illusionism -- does she hate illusionists enough to commit murder?
The sleuths quickly assemble a damning amount of evidence against Magic Melvin. Magic Melvin frequents an American style restaurant, Louisiana Bayou Cajun & Creole Cuisine, where hot sauce is a staple. Unlike The Great Vorelli, Magic Melvin uses rabbits in his act. And finally, Magic Melvin is an accomplished escape artist -- picking the lock on Vorelli's chest would be child's play for him.
Further investigation reveals that Magic Melvin bought a "prank" fae curse in the East End, from Hellebore's Dangerous Novelties. He picked the lock on Vorelli's case, and used the curse on the saw.
Magic Melvin is taken away in handcuffs.
2022-03-07
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NOTE: Many of these plots elements are taken from the Liminal adventure, "Prodigal Son".
Leosliath's band is cutting a record in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, when Leosliath is summoned to an audience with the Raven Queen. The Raven Queen wants Leosliath to retrieve the Knife of Llawfrodedd the Horseman, one of the thirteen treasures of Britain. The Raven Queen also wants Leosliath to retrieve the short sword "Winter's Bite", which Jack O'Blades had given to Carole without the Raven Queen's permission.
Back in London, Bertie meets with Lord Devereux, the Chief Constable of the BMCP. Bertie is assigned to a homicide case in West Yorkshire. According to the report, local police suspect a ghost is responsible, but someone has written in "werewolf?" on the report.
Meanwhile, Doctor Celyddon receives a letter from Dame Imogen Northcott of Sledmere, East Riding of Yorkshire. She invites him to visit, and implies that she would appreciate his help with an urgent matter.
All paths converge in northern England.
Leosliath looks around the Castle Market in Sheffield, which is attached to a fae realm, but he doesn't see the knife he is looking for. He does pick up a magic knife that has a small imp imprisoned in the pommel.
Berti and Carole view the body found on the moors, and determine that the man was definitely killed by werewolves. He was a minor criminal named Alfie Davis, and Bertie theorizes that this may have been a werewolf initiation gone horribly wrong.
Doctor Celyddon learns that his old friend, Dame Imogen, who is in her 70s, has cancer, and has only months to live. She wants to find and make amends with her daughter Mary. Mary, who is currently in her 50s, abandoned her magical practice, which was the cause of their falling out almost a decade earlier. Mary currently keeps company with werewolves: the Heirs of Osbehrt, one of the oldest werewolf gangs in Britain.
Berti, Carole, and Doctor Celyddon compare notes, and join forces, picking up Leosliath along the way.
Investigating an abandoned farm house in Thornhill, where Mary Northcott was known to be (thanks to divination provided by Dame Imogen), the gang is greeted with the aftermath of a slaughter. Over a dozen werewolves are dead, killed by someone with silver knives.
A howl alerts the gang that one werewolf still lives: Omar, who is fleeing for his life from two vampires. The gang recognizes the vampires as being the same two who delivered the clock bomb to Sharon Smith. The vampires are destroyed by fire and hawthorn, and the gang keeps Omar alive long enough to take him to hospital.
On the way, he tells them that he does not know exactly why the vampires attacked, but he believes it to be related to Mary's current activities. Mary has been trying to locate the Knife of Llawfrodedd, so that she can use it to summon an ancient guardian spirit of Britain to aid her werewolf gang, the Heirs of Osbehrt, against the Jaegers, the most powerful werewolf gang in Britain. Mary has gone to Sheffield, to obtain the knife from the Shrouded Market (the nighttime fae domain connected to Castle Market).
The gang heads to Castle Market in Sheffield, and they enter the Shrouded Market. They quickly spot Mary Northcott -- and a vampire also on Mary's trail!
Bertie and Carole intercept the vampire, and discourage her from following through on whatever she has in mind for Mary Northcott. Seeing that discretion is the better part of valor, the vampire departs.
Leosliath and Doctor Celyddon intercept Mary, and inform her of the fate of her gang. Mary is dismayed: protecting her friends from the Jaegers was the entire point of her seeking out the Knife of Llawfrodedd the Horseman. Bertie and Doctor Celyddon escort Mart to the car they borrowed from a helpful police lieutenant, while Carole and Leosliath obtain the knife from a mysterious vendor (in exchange for the favour owed to Leosliath by Briarthorn). Bertie makes a connection with Mary over their similar tragedies (Bertie's gang was also killed while he was away), and they vow to keep in touch.
As the gang makes ready to leave Sheffield, they are attacked by four Jaeger clan werewolves. At first, the gang tries to escape, but after telling the Jagers that the Heirs of Osbehrt have been killed by vampires, the Jaegers (who are all dressed in smart business attire) lose interest in the chase, and depart.
The gang takes Mary back to Owlsford Hall, where Dame Imogen greets her warmly. Leosliath returns the Knife of Llawfrodedd to the Raven Queen, along with "Winter's Bite". Bertie and Carole turn in their reports, closing the case of the body found on the moors. Bertie does his best to push for further investigation into the Jaegers (who probably killed Alfie Davis, although there is no proof of it), as well as the Council Of Merlin (the female vampire claimed to be on "Council Of Merlin business").
But for now, the loose ends are tied.