Session 7 - 2026-03-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

Player Characters

Recap

With the lights out the music stopped and the crowd enjoying the party began to murmur. Downstairs in the basement, Rhys and Purrcival hurriedly grabbed flashlights and headed for the power room. There they found the intruder attempting to phase through the wall after having stuck a dagger in the junction box. Purrcival didn’t hesitate and shot a disabling shot first through his arm, then bouncing off the wall into his leg. He tumbled to the ground with a scream.

Unfortunately, the gun shot and scream were quite audible to the guests above without music to cover them and the crowd began to panic, pushing towards exits in the dark. Paul, near the stage anyway, made his way on to the stage and began to explain the situation and attempt to calm people. While most were eased by his words a few still headed for the exits, but with a less panicked speed.

Rhys moved to the junction box and while he didn’t have the right parts to fully repair the damage, he did have the dagger that had been stuck in. He used it and some wire from the tool room to slap together a make-shift converter which would hold for at least the next couple days.

With the power back on and the intruders subdued, the party was able to ramp back up as the Moonflowers poured out their best to get the party back on track.

Most of the crew, along with Barnabas who was frustrated with the night being interrupted, then gathered up their captives and the belongings they’d left behind and took them to the garage in the basement where they could begin an interrogation, binding the two survivors and setting the scene with Gus as a large cat sitting on one of them and Baroness perched about them.

Meanwhile Velvet kept watch in the storage area where the nearly stolen Moon Dust and Moonshine was. Jimmie approached her and talked her into helping him reposition the Dust and Shine and work on a security routine with Paul and the extra muscle she’d helped bring on to make sure the night could go on and she wouldn’t just be camped in the storage room the whole night.

The interrogation began with taking an accounting of the possessions of their captives and unmasking them. Both captives were Ferretkin, both had a branded mark on their necks, and both carried a pistol, ammo, knife, rope, grappling hook, and other breaking and entering gear along with a few unique items… One had possessed the head of the leader of the group from the Pyrite Gang who had attacked the Sips previously. The other had a bronze box with various arcane markings and a lock which had the same sigil from the ritual which summoned The Empty One.

They awoke one and began questioning him. At first he wasn’t very cooperative, but Purrcival, Gus, and Baroness made quite the intimidating impression, and they were able to learn that he was part of The Family Business, an all Ferretkin mid-level crime family. That they were ordered to hit the sips to leave a message. Each of the team had a mission, one would steal the Moon Dust and Moonshine and leave behind a letter, another would leave the head and lock the doors, and the last, himself, would cut the power and open the box. When asked what was in the box, he claimed not to know and simply said it was provided. When asked who backed the job, he spoke a word and magically released the lock on the box.

Rhys jumped into action and called upon his bright servant to grab and hold the box closed, but not before a fleshy blob was able to spill from it and the group had to quickly dispatch the creature before they could resume the interrogation.

Meanwhile, while patrolling Velvet and Paul were surprised by a figure bursting out of the alley gagging and gasping for air, seemingly having been sprayed by a skunk, the individual was the intruder from earlier that Velvet had chased off. He surrendered as long as they would help him get rid of the stench. They brought him around down to the basement with some caution, intending to use some chemicals as they were fresh out of tomatoes for some unknown reason.

Back in the garage the interrogation resumed, and with some additional hesitation the captive began to reveal what he knew about the backers, but as he did the air caught in his throat and after a moment his body began to break and contort, compressing into itself in a bloody and violent manner resulting in a ball-shaped pile of meat and bone. The other captive followed suit shortly after.

Paul opened the garage to reveal this scene, as the intruder they were escorting continued to gag. As the group discussed what had happened that intruder panicked and pulled his knife to try and cut away the brand on his neck, but doing so seemed to trigger the magics within and he also collapsed into a ball of meat.

Searching the final intruder’s bag a message was found in a black envelope, on black paper, with a black seal resembling the one from the ritual and the lock. The message appeared before their eyes in sparkling white script and told them in no uncertain terms that they should cease interfering, look no further, or otherwise there would be consequences in the form of “cosmic violence”. It was signed by B H, and destroyed itself shortly after being read aloud by Barnabas.

The crew decided that there wasn’t much more to do tonight other than dispose of the bodies, so did so and tried to enjoy the rest of the party, though on slightly higher alert than normal. Luckily, no other disturbances came about and they were all able to sleep until the next morning.

Though in his sleep Gus had a dream. He saw the shattered moon full and bright in the night sky… but then many shooting stars streaked past it towards the light that was Mars. Then Mars winked out. Then more stars winked out, and more and more until eventually only Luna was left in the black sky. Then a serpentine head with a beard of tendrils appeared behind the moon, opening its jaw wide to a black abyss and moving to swallow the moon. Gus awoke afraid and sought refuge in Purrcival’s bed until morning.

In the morning the crew slowly gathered and then discussed what happened the previous night, what it meant for them, and what their options and leads were. While not every piece fit with what they knew and it seemed strange that a group that could bring the power they threatened to bear would simply want to steal some Dust, they ultimately realized that this B H wasn’t going to stop, and that the issue might be bigger than just the Sips. They would need to prepare themselves, but also try to find out exactly what was going on and who was behind all this. They had a few leads: Firstly, there was the research Paul had started, and adding the initials into his efforts might prove useful. Similarly, Pete had been looking into the symbol through underworld contacts and could continue that. They also knew that both the Pyrite Gang and The Family Business had been involved with this B H and might be able to provide additional information. During the conversation the matter of the Finley crime family came up and after some back and forth Jimmie convinced Barnabas to use his old connections to her to see what he could learn about her offer to Rhys and if she was connected. Gus also volunteered to have the Rat Pack go and look into the situation with the other speakeasies that had been hit before to see if they were also affected again by this new attempt. Finally, there was Gus strange dream…

During the meeting Gus, wanting to understand the dream better tried to contact the Fun Guy through the Fungril Network. It being his first time trying to he was overwhelmed by the number of voices and unable to focus in a meaningful way, as he whimpered in mental pain, trapped in the cacophony Purrcival tried to help, and while he was able to jar Gus from his stupor he also got a glimpse into the Network and was also overwhelmed. Despite the pain, Gus chose to try again, this time guided by the hands and minds of his friends Purrcival and Rhys. Their aid proved grounding and Gus was able to successfully reach the Fun Guy this time. While they chatted a little, the advice Gus sought on dreams was fairly easy to receive. Lucid dreaming. If the holder of Gus’ pact spoke through dreams, and this was from them, then the next time Gus went to bed if he induced a lucid state then he could communicate back. With this info in hand he told the group and Rhys offered to try to help get aid from The Hat Man, a Lunachilde who was dream adjacent in his powers.

These options laid out the group set to using the day to try to find answers.

Paul headed to the library to resume his research and Rhys volunteered to help and came with him. While the two didn’t find any solid leads, they did make progress, finding hints throughout history of the symbol and B H dating back to about 200 years ago, or shortly after The Shattering. Almost always involved in big world shaping events like treaties, trade deals, and wars, but never really discussed or mentioned directly.

Purrcival went to see an old contact of his in The Family Business, a mid-level thug named Tommy Two-Toes who he’d done some personal PI work for involving a divorce. When Purrcival showed up at the warehouse Tommy ran he was greeted warmly and brought in for a drink and a chat. When Purrcival laid his cards out Tommy was willing to play ball, but he’d need a little something for sticking his neck out and risking drawing attention from his bosses. A deal was stuck, 2 handfuls now, and another later and Tommy would see what he could dig up, starting with some friends who helped handle the Business’ magical endeavors. He’d reach out to Purrcival once he heard something.

Velvet first reached out to Naomi without letting anyone else know and told her to pass up the chain the information about this B H and what had been happening. She then stuck around and tried to figure out how to best defend the Sips from further magical intrusions of the kind that the intruders used. Her experience with Perry and a thing one of them mentioned in interrogation led to her realizing they couldn’t pass through living things. Sharing this with Jimmie the two left for a hardware store and a plant shop and bought some soil, trellises, ivy, and some bacterial cultures that they could mix and spray and set about shoring up the walls and roof of the Sips.

Gus decided to use the day practicing little lucid dreaming naps, and when Rhys returned later that night they both went to bed together in Rhys’ room with the hopes of calling on The Hat Man to try and make contacting Gus’ messenger even easier. Unfortunately, they both passed out before completing the ritual which could call The Hat Man, and strangely shared the same dream from before, both waking in a cold sweat.

What answers would a new day bring for the crew? Would the defenses prove enough? How soon could they expect a new threat or attempt from B H or their agents?