Echoes – Session 3

Cast

Apalie



Mara



Gildas

Synopsis

Apalie, Mara, and Gildas have returned to the town of Rahim with salvage from the Badlands.  They arrive at dark and the guard will not allow them entrance to the town because of the time of night.  Gildas steps in front of the group and mentions that they are returning with treasure and it will be worth his while.  The guard relents and allows them entry.

The rogues travel the streets, searching for a place to lodge for the evening.  Most of the inns have closed for night and rogues find themselves at a seedy inn in the more decrepit part of Rahim.  Mara knocks on the door as she notices stirring through the frosted windows. A weaselly, old woman answers the door and tells the rogues that they may enter but that there will be no sleep tonight.  Upon entry, Mara notices a glowing circle of metal, hovering in the back room.  Apalie is intrigued and excited by the magical object and rushes into that room to inspect the wondrous object.  The tone of the inn is quite jovial as the inhabitants seem to be wide awake and partying.  An exhausted Gildas wants rest so she uses a mysterious dust to powder the air and everyone falls into a deep sleep.

The rogues awaken feeling refreshed yet are now in an unknown location.  They realized that they are held in cells and chained to the wall while muffled voices chatter outside the room.  There is another person chained in there with them, an extravagantly dressed, young man and adorned with bright face paint.  The man is excited that some kind of festival is starting soon.  Apalie leans through the bars of her cell to see a flyer for the festival advertising fresh new sacrifices.  A large guard notices Apalie leaning through the bars.  “Are you ready to feel the fire already?” he says.  He pulls out a red hot brand and burns a symbol of flame onto the palm of Apalie’s hand.  A chill permeates the room, radiating from where Mara was chained to the wall, but now she has disappeared.  Quietly, a raven swoops in with a bloody beak and a key in tow.  The raven drops the key on the head of the young dandy whom Mara is suddenly standing next besides.  The key doesn’t work on Gildan’s or Apalie’s but does fit the dandy’s chain.

Other people in the cages begin to ask the dandy to free them but Gildas remains calm and quiet.  With his interest piqued, the dandy wonders why Gildas is so calm.  Gildas infuriates the man with her calmness and he unchains her.  A smaller guard rambles into the room to find the rogues unchained and Apalie’s hand burned.  This guard chastises the larger guard, who’s name is Biguns, about messing around with the sacrifices.  “I’ll show you how it’s done!” squawks the small guard.  He begins to chant quietly as his hackles begin to emit light and the skin of the rogues begin to tingle.

Apalie’s wrist is in the grasp of Biguns.  The bones of her hand begin to soften and her skin starts to blacken, starting at her hand and moving towards her elbow.  Apalie pulls away from Biguns, the flesh is removed from her forearm and hand revealing the bones below.  She swipes the keys from Biguns’ side to unchain herself before setting upon Biguns like an animal and killing him.  Mara’s skin is beginning to blotch as the other continues his sorcerous chant and whispers fill her mind.  Mara shouts, “No more noise!”  She uses a dagger to slice through the guards neck.  He collapses but the voices are no longer contained to Mara’s mind but the rooms shakes in reverb as loud voices and sounds bounce off the walls.  The dandy curls in the corner while screaming and crying.   The tears burst into flame and soon his whole head is engulfed.  Gildas drags the corpse of the dandy out of the room and throws it out the window, calming the scene and quieting the noise.

The rogues emerge from the building into the bright daylight and throngs of people.  As the crowd sees the rogues, they stop moving and speaking.  They stare at the rogues in an almost catatonic state.  The rogues weave through the silent crowd but Gildas gets upset at the lack of reaction from the crowd and pushes a random person.  This incites the crowd as they become aggressive and yell at the rogues. Apalie tries to run away but crashes in the impassable wall of people and falls on the ground.

Sometime later the rogues find themselves upon a stage in the middle of feast.  They are now guests of honor, feasting along the mayor and the townsfolk.  The rogues enjoy the feast despite feeling uneasy by the sudden friendliness of the townsfolk.  Mara notices that carrion birds have begun to assemble above them as if waiting to feed.  The bird portend the oncoming start of the true festival.  Apalie discovers that most of the townsfolk are carrying ornate daggers concealed among their clothing.  The rogues fail to realize that the birds are massing above them to the point that they are beginning to block the sun.

The sky darkens as a pedestal rises in the middle of the crowd.  Standing on the pedestal is a figure adorned in the feathers of vulture and ravens.  The figure pulls out a sword and raises it to the sky as a shaft of sunlight breaks through the birds illuminating him.  He then plunges the sword into his own chest.  All of the townsfolk then pull out their ornate daggers.  The festival has begun.  A townswoman slowly approaches Mara, dagger at the ready.  Mara slashes at the woman but the woman pulls back.  Mara’s raven attacks the townswoman, pecking and clawing at her face. Under the table, a trapdoor opens and an unseen, scratchy voice says, “Come down if you want to be safe!”  Mara then disappears beneath the table.  Another towns person motions to Apalie to come closer as they menacingly wield the ornate dagger.  Apalie pulls out a rusty blade and runs it across her blackened arm.  The blade becomes clean and sharp.  Apalie makes quick work of the towns person before going to work on defending herself from the rest of the crowd.

Gildas runs away, nimbly avoiding grasping hands and finds herself at the foot of the statue.  She climbs the statue as townsfolk hurl rocks at her.  Ravens descend from the sky and peck at her.  Gildas grabs a raven by the foot and kills it.  This incites the crowd even more.  Gildas ultimately succumbs to the murderous crowd but may have caused just enough distraction for Apalie and Mara to escape.