The Order of The Infinite Way, pt. 8: Session 5--The Grand Ball of Saint Gudrun

What Could Happen

Big Picture

·         Remember: EVERYONE HAS DUELING PISTOLS. Some have even more.

·         At any point, failed investigation rolls could have disastrous consequences.

·         When things get slow, roll a d10. Consult "Little Picture" table below.

·         No matter what, keep trying to make the acolytes suspicious. Push them toward:

·         Miklas Freeny, because he is the older man from Davilia Mythrux's apartment.

·         Alize Mythrux, because her name keeps coming up.

·         Willian Bellhouse, because of his involvement in the Cold Trade and potential alliance with the Mythrux family.

·         Keep upping the stakes.

·         At a certain point, the Witchfinders will lock down the dome, and it will become a bloodbath. Use every mage you can.

·         Witchfinders will bring in Ministorum guards and try to "cleanse" everything. They may even go after the Psyker, mistaking him for a witch.

Little Picture

1.      Corvus Marko Gallo's rudeness toward the criminal factions (Sapphon & Bellhouse) may cause one of their body guards to over-react. This will not necessarily lead to a fight, but there will be a commotion.

2.      Miklas Freeny is pissed. He believes that Alize Mythrux has his Malefic Codex. He attempts to get her to speak with him privately. Hopefully this will happen when the acolytes are near. Paxxu Gloriana will try to stay close to Freeny.

3.      Groot de Jagger has suspicions. About "all of these young people."

4.      Confrontation between Bellhouse and Sapphon.

5.      Dalmo Mythrux is convinced that the acolytes have the Malefic Codex. He will try to get it from them.

6.      Lorien Dekkarta's spies have figured out that Miklas Freeny is somehow connected to it. She will come to the acolytes in order to save the family name.

7.      Sapphon's boys will attempt to take down Willian Bellhouse, and visa versa.

8.      Gallo and Narutha's people go after each other.

9.      Young nobles get into a duel. If this happens, everyone will clear an area. There will be surreptitious betting on the outcome.

10.  The Witchfinders go after Alize Mythrux. They feel they have reasonable suspicion to interrogate her.

Complications

·         Krysdam Haslinger's officers try to lock down everything.

·         When the acolytes go after Miklas Freeny, all hell will break loose. He has, himself, created a twice bound daemonhost, whom he could call in a pinch. He also, will attempt to flee.

·         Alize Mythrux realizes that Freeny is responsible for daemonhost, and attempts to take it (and him) out.

·         Once all Hell breaks loose, Dalmo Mythrux tries to take out the acolytes and the Witchfinders.

·         Paxxu Gloriana is afraid that cover is blown, and attacks the acolytes.

·         The Witchfinders, de Jaggers, Dekkartas will help acolytes

·         Lemulios will try assassinate Krysdam Haslinger, then withdraw, and take advantage afterwards.

Potential combatants

·         Household Troops for Nobles: Guard Level 5 (1d10)

·         Household Troops for Bellhouse/Sapphon Scum 5 (1d10)

·         Lots of Ministorum guards: Guard Level 5 (2d20).

·         Lots of Cops, Krysdam Haslinger, a Lieutenant, and 1d10 Level 5 Arbites

·         Miklas Freeny +Daemonhost

·         Paxxu Gloriana

·         Alize Mythrux

·         Dalmo Mythrux

Session 5

Okay, so last time only Jason showed up. We did as much as we could, most of which involved the entrance scene, and then descriptions of who was watching them, who was avoiding them, and who seemed indifferent.

Lady Her Grace Duchess Dorothea Senjak was leaving Valis, with the now vegetative Steffi Krueger in tow, off to Scintilla in order to face the High Lords of the Inquisition. Senjak will have to answer for pulping Krueger's brain, at least with the Radicals, but many of the Puritans will consider it rough justice. Ultimately, both sides will concede that Krueger might have been a sorceress, and that transporting her could have been dangerous. However, the Radical factions now have marked Senjak (and her acolytes and allies) as a very real danger to their various projects. What happened to Krueger could happen to them, after all, should Her Grace decide to make it so. The rash for her) decision to remove Krueger from the board could have serious consequences down the line.

Senjak also presented the acolytes with a gift: a new gun servitor made from the corpse of Ferrus D'Angelus. The gun servitor is a real work of art, and almost like a representation of Ferrus as he should have been. He has blue, fibre optic hair, and his armored portions are exact replicas of the sorts of clothing he typically wore in life. He is equipped with twin heavy autoguns, with armor piercing ammunition, and a 500 round reload hopper. The quality of the workmanship also adds an extra armor point to all locations. It is, in every sense, a generous gift to the acolytes, and represents something like a memorial to Ferrus' life, if not his ignoble end.

Finally, Senjak gave the acolytes an invitation to a grand ball, and instructed them to attend, and to investigate the various persons of interest who would be attending.

Gifts given, the Duchess made her way off planet.

The acolytes made ready for the ball by spending 200 thrones apiece on appropriate clothing, and, given the planet's reputation for dueling, the clothing itself was both functional (2 AP on covered locations) and magnificent. Thus equipped, the acolytes, bearing only sidearms, and accompanied by Ferrus the Gun Servitor, made their way to the ball.

The grand ball took place in the gardens near the Ministorum cathedral (described earlier). Those attending gathered in the eastern plaza, and then marched in a processional toward the central plaza, where they were announced formally, as they entered group by group.

For the most part, the other party goers knew that the acolytes were representing Duchess Senjak, an off-world noble, but not the nature of their commission or the details of their business on Valis. They were able to mingle freely with the other guests without most of them realizing that they were representatives of the fearsome Inquisition.

Ianescu, the tech priest, played by Jason, was the only one at this session. We spent a lot of time simply observing people, and their reactions to the acolytes and to other guests. Jason took a lot of notes about what exactly he noticed, but I don't have them. I simply have the material I put together prior to the session. He knew some of those things, most in fact, as he rolled very, very well in finding those things out.

Be stopped after a couple of hours, as the two-person, face-to-face format wasn't particularly compelling to either of us, and found a convenient stopping point.