Session 7 Recap Aurelae

Hardholme Game 7, 3/29/2018
In attendance: Chris (as Chris lol), Lauren (Aurelae), Caspar (Aequitas), Rick (Rael), Ryan (Carric), Steve (Kamara), Eric (Ulrich), and supporting role by Cathy (Aurianya).

CARRIC & RAEL – LIVE!!!

(And also infiltrating the Pioneer’s Guild)

It is the beginning of the 7th month of the 71st arrival in Hardholme.


 * It is a beautiful summer day in Hardholme. The buzz surrounding the Carric & Rael – LIVE! concert can be felt throughout the entire town. Everyone plans to attend and the anticipation is palpable. The concert is set to begin at dusk.
 * Aurelae, Aequitus, Ulrich, and Kamara are set to sneak into the Pioneer’s Guild once the concert begins. They aren’t quite sure what they’ll find, or what, exactly, their goal with this is, they just know that they need to see what’s inside, learn more about what they’re building, and gain any information that could help them get through to Vera and incriminate Dar in his clear links to the Rie and the orphans being forced to work in the gem mines.
 * Aurianya has one of the sending stones, and Aurelae has the other. Aurianya will also be collecting gold donations from the crowd during the performance (and picking their pockets if they don’t donate enough), and will warn the group going inside if she sees signs of trouble heading their way, or when the concert is coming to an end.

@ Pioneer’s Guild:

 * Almost everyone in Hardholme is at the concert as it begins, and outside of the main entrance to the Pioneer’s Guild is a single, human guard.
 * Ulrich disguises himself as a replacement guard and walks up to the young human guarding the only entrance.
 * Ulrich: “Hey man, I’m here to relieve you, Dar himself said you deserve to be at the concert instead of standing guard out here.”
 * Guard: “WHOA Dar knows who I am????”
 * Ulrich: “Uh, yeah, you’ve been doing some great work, and of course Dar knows who you are – Dar knows who everyone in the Pioneer’s Guild is, he makes it his business to know, because Dar cares.”
 * Guard: *clearly very excited* “Oh man, I am SUCH a huge fan of Rael’s! Thank you so much!” *he runs off without a second glance back*

@The Concert:

 * There is a nice sized crowd gathered, and the energy and anticipation is high.
 * Carric is late and makes a grand entrance, eloquently addressing “The fantastic people of Hardholme here tonight.” He tells them to look out for Aurianya, who will be out collecting donations for *he mumbles something charismatically about “The Fund” for “the orphans” the crowd boos at that “no, it’s for those from Voyages Lost” the crowd looks confused “I mean…for The Arrivals!” and the crowd cheers and some begin to give gold to Aurianya. Towards the back of the crowd are Jackson Bowers, Dar, and Vash, but Vera is nowhere to be seen.
 * Carric: “This first song is called: ‘Cat People.’”
 * They begin to play, and Rael casts Enthralling Performance (the crowd will be enthralled for 3 hours). Both Jackson Bowers and Dar are completely enthralled and they visibly can be seen really getting into the music. They both start making their way a bit closer to the stage.

@ Pioneer’s Guild:

 * They open the front door of the Pioneer’s Guild…it is…unlocked. They walk into a big room with tall ceilings, there is a large fountain in the middle of the room, and large pillars with flowers on them to the sides of the room. Towards the back, right corner there is what looks like a secretary’s desk, but no one is behind it. The lighting is very faint, and the entire atmosphere is rather soothing and welcoming. This was definitely not what they were expecting.
 * On the other side of the fountain, to the left of the secretary’s desk, is a door with no windows. Ulrich opens it and peaks through, then opens it for the group to walk through.
 * It is a small hallway -- on the right are four elevator doors, and on the left is a single door, again with no windows, that logically must lead to the workshop area that they have looked upon before from the roof.
 * Suddenly, a gnome bursts out from the workshop and into the hallway, he’s pushing a cart filled with something, looks right at the group, mumbles to himself, ignores them, takes a key card out of his pocket, opens one of the elevators, and goes down. They stare at one another in happy disbelief.

@The Concert:

 * Night falls (which always happens at 7 p.m. in Hardholme). It’s about 45 minutes into the concert and Rael and Carric begin the epic light and smoke portion of the show.
 * The audience is going crazy! They LOVE it! Gold is just FLYING in! Aurianya can’t empty her bags fast enough and just takes Carric’s bag of holding to collect donations.
 * At this point both Dar and Jackson are at the front of the stage, TOTALLY into the music, and they are jammin away.

@ Pioneer’s Guild:

 * The group is trying to decide whether or not to, and how to, enter the workshop area without arousing suspicion when a Kenku comes barging in through the front and right past them and into the workshop. Ulrich jumps on this momentum and follows him.
 * Kenku: *to the people in the workshop* “You guys gotta get down to the Town Green! Carric and Rael are killing it! Come on come on! Let’s go!” He excitedly waves those left in the workshop to follow him outside. Some of them hesitate, unsure if they are allowed to leave their post.
 * Ulrich: “It’s alright everyone, Dar said it’s okay!”
 * With that, everyone there excitedly runs outside, eager to see in person the first live concert of this magnitude in Hardholme in quite some time. The group stays inside, slightly bewildered that that not only just happened, but also worked!
 * The workshop is HUGE. Bigger than they could have imagined. The ceilings are at least 60 feet tall. There are dozens of long workbenches in rows throughout the entire place, and there are Defender parts scattered across every workbench. Catwalks line the edges of the entire room and there are also cross-bridges going periodically across the room. They can see that the workshop continues to wrap around to the top and right, around where the hallway was, and they imagine there is more of the same on the other side.
 * They begin to search to see what they can find.
 * Ulrich uses his sleight of hand…and a rather oddly suggestive hand gesture…and uncovers some Defender schematics that were hidden underneath some heavy spare parts.
 * Aurelae climbs up to the catwalk to get a bird’s eye view of the workshop, (“Aurelae, tell me what do your elven eyes see?” lol) and she spots a pile of duplicate Defender parts that looks like if they took some of these, and not too many of them, they might not be missed from the heaps of apparent chaos here.
 * They continue searching for several minutes with no more luck, but then Aurelae thinks it wise to investigate the tables more closely. She eventually finds a hidden drawer underneath one of them and inside is…a fist sized chunk of Veranium! It is clear that whoever put this here was trying to hide it from someone, so they do not hesitate to take it and put it in the Bag of Holding.

@The Concert:

 * Wardrobe change time! Aaaaand epic ballad time! BIG PYROTECHNICS as Carric and Rael continue to wow the crowd. Carric casts Song of Rest (nat. 20) and the audience is so happy with this song that they are literally crying tears of happiness.
 * Dar and Jackson are so moved that they CLIMB UP ON STAGE. Both of them have tears streaming down their faces. They know all the words, and are singing right along with Carric and Rael.
 * This is clearly THE moment: Carric dives into the crowd, and they instinctively catch him, holding him aloft and he surfs the crowd and IT. IS. EPIC.
 * Meanwhile, back on stage, Jackson is playing the guitar, he has no idea HOW to actually play the guitar, but no one seems to really notice or care. It’s great.
 * Carric makes his way back to the stage and locks eyes with Prentiss in the audience. She is in complete awe of Carric as he seems to be singing directly to her, and the moment is golden.
 * The beginning of the 3rd and final hour of the concert begins, and Rael makes yet another big entrance for the next song – this time, wearing ONLY a guitar (RHCP style). The crowd goes WILD!

@ Pioneer’s Guild:

 * The team discusses the logistics of what to do next. Should they explore more? Cut their losses and head out? They ultimately decide that someone (it ends up being Ulrich) should take the bag of holding back to the 71st Estate for safekeeping, and then keep watch outside the Pioneer’s Guild for the others.
 * Aurelae, Aequitus, and Kamara then walk farther into the workshop. Just as they suspected, there is yet MORE workshop and MORE workbenches with MORE Defender parts on the other side. But on this side, at the top of the catwalk on the south wall, is what looks like an office door. Could it be Vera’s office?
 * They climb up to the catwalk and stand just outside the door. Aequitus casts Detect Thoughts and senses a gnome inside the room. He probes deeper, and catches snippets of the gnome’s thoughts – she is thinking almost frantically, “How can I make it work? Why won’t it work?” And then, “I hope Dar is having a good time.”

@The Concert:

 * THINGS. JUST. KEEP. GETTING. BETTER. Dar is so into it that he rips his shirt off in one swift motion and begins swinging it around over his head, and then puts his shirt between his legs and does a very…suggestive dance motion with it. #buttflossing

@ Pioneer’s Guild:

 * In classic Aequitus fashion, he then decides to simply knock on the door. The thoughts immediately become angry, “Who the fuck is bothering me now?!” And they hear a disgruntled voice shout, “Come in!”
 * They walk in.
 * Vera: “Hmm. The 71st. How interesting.”
 * Aequitus: “I think you know it’s time we talked.”
 * Vera: “Indeed.”

@The Concert:

 * Carric & Rael clearly saved their best songs for last. An epic 80s style intro comes on (think “Final Countdown”), and Carric begins to sing as Rael casts Fairy Fire. The crowd is LOVING. IT.
 * Carric beckons Prentiss up on stage and she follows. He takes her in his arms and kisses her deeply. She is breathless and star struck when he pulls away and loves every second of it. The camera pans across the crowd and zooms in on Kwilglock, who saw everything…
 * THEN, all of a sudden, without warning, a very large Furbough woman rushes the stage! (It’s Rosa of the 67th!) She grabs a microphone and starts yelling and ranting, “THE PIONEER’S GUILD IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE ARRIVALS AND DESTROY THE PRIME! THE PRIME KEEP YOU ALL IN THE DARK FOR THEIR OWN POWER! DAR AND VASH ARE MURDERERS! YOU’RE ALL IN THE DARK MAN!” She then sees Dar on stage and starts yelling at him, “YOU! WHERE IS MILLICENT?!!?! WHERE IS SHE???!!!”
 * Rael, thankfully, at this point casually grabs the microphone from Rosa, and puts his arm around her shoulders, and says to the crowd, “We are ONE Hardholme. We are all in this together, as the people of Hardholme. We want to help, we WILL help, but – tonight is about the music!” And with that Carric starts a new song, gains the audience back and also charming Rosa. Rael pulls Rosa away from the front of the stage and talks to her as he then leads her off and to the back of the stage. He quietly whispers to Rosa that he knows what she’s saying is true, and that they are on her side and willing to help, but now is just not the time. If she can just wait here til the end of the concert, they will talk with her and listen to everything she has to say. Aurianya sits with Rosa during the encore.
 * “ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!” They play an encore, and Rael kisses Dar square on his cheek…and…Dar does not punch him. He does, however, suddenly look very tired, and he walks offstage and into the crowd, shaking his head.

Dialogue with Vera @ Pioneer’s Guild:
(NOTE – this next part got pretty hectic in game, and I wasn’t able to write everything down, so if I missed something, or misquoted you, or you have anything at all to add, please let me know and I’ll add it or edit it! I’m going to do my best to stitch together the fractured discussions that occurred into the most fluid and sensible narrative. Thanks! –Lauren)


 * Inside the room is Vera’s personal office. On the righthand wall is what looks like a huge screen with a 3D model of a Defender, and schematics for a Defender projected on it. Towards the south wall is a large desk. And on the left-hand wall is a workbench with a partially deconstructed Defender and several tools laying on it.
 * Vera: “How did you get in here? Did you…did you break into my warehouse? What did you do with my guards? Don’t lie to me. Did you hurt them?”
 * Aequitus: “Why was Hardholme built with the blood of the innocent?!”
 * Vera: “EVERYTHING was built with blood! Davros was built with blood, what makes you think Hardholme would be ANY different. You are all just children. You have NO IDEA the struggles and hardships and efforts we who have been here in Hardholme for longer than you have been alive have done to make Hardholme the place it is today! And YOU benefit from all of our hard work, and you thank us by breaking into our building and throwing wild accusations at us?” *she scoffs*
 * Aurelae: “No, no nothing like that. We actually just walked in…there was no guard, and no one inside. Everyone in Hardholme is at the concert at the Town Green except for us. We really just want to talk with you, we know you have a unique perspective and--”
 * Kamara cuts Aurelae off: “Dar is a murderer! Did you know this?! He conspired to blow us up when we got here! He keeps the orphans drugged up with the Rie! How can you let him get away with this?! You don’t believe me, just ask Vash! You know Vash!”
 * Vera: “You wanted to talk?!” *she scoffs loudly* “You sound like children throwing a temper tantrum. You break into MY house and throw wild and completely unfounded accusations about me and mine at me and expect it to be a discussion? All we do here is try to protect the people of Hardholme. And the orphans aren’t being drugged” *she laughs* “that is preposterous and insulting and simply not true. And you call my husband a murderer? Dar of the 15th is a hero! He is the only reason there IS a Hardholme! Do you have ANY IDEA what he has done over our decades in Hardholme to protect us from the dangers that exist here?”
 * Aurelae: “Yes, yes Vera you are absolutely right. We should not have barged in here yelling accusations. And I have heard of Dar’s heroic actions. He fought off the Red Hyla and protected everyone, back before Hardholme was moved here, right? And—" The half-elf is interrupted, again.
 * Aequitus: “Okay, proof? You want proof? Do you remember when your husband Dar came home a few months ago and had a stab wound on his left hand and right shoulder?”
 * Vera: “Well, yes, but I don’t see what that has to do wi—”
 * Aequitus: “How did he get those wounds then? What did he tell you?”
 * Vera: “At the Fightclub that we have here, obviously. He often has random injuries from that.”
 * Aequitus: “He got stab wounds. From a weaponless and friendly fighting match? Come on. You are smart enough to see past that lie. Months ago, I was attacked while walking in Steepridge—”
 * Vera: *laughs* “Oh that is shocking, you were attacked while walking around Steepridge at night, oh yes so surprising. Very nice “evidence” AE-QUI-TUS.” When she says his name, it is filled with spite and elitist contempt and belittlement.
 * Aequitus: *he ignores her jabs and continues* “I was attacked while walking in Steepridge by someone with a very large stature—”
 * Vera: “Was this person perhaps, a Dragonborn, AE-QUI-TUS?” *she raises her eyebrows and makes a face that says she is so bored with this conversation already since she knows where it will end*
 * Aequitus: “No. This person who attacked me had no tail, and thus, cannot have been Jondry. If it were Jondry who attacked me, this whole mess would actually be much simpler. But another of the 71st was also attacked by a hooded figure outside the gem mines, and his attacker had thick bandages covering his left hand.”
 * Vera: “You are grasping at straws here AE-QUI-TUS. All you have is an inconsistent story and no proof.”
 * Aequitus: *visibly fighting to keep his anger in check* “When I was attacked in Steepridge by a hooded figure -- whose stature and lack of tail can only mean he is one of a very small number of people here in Hardholme – I stabbed my attacker in his left hand and in his right shoulder. It was on [this date]. Does that, or does that not, line up with the date that your husband, Dar, came home with identical wounds on his left hand and right shoulder from “Fighting Club”?”
 * Vera: *she seems to hesitate for just a second, but then waves the momentary doubt away* “This is just ridiculous, you have no proof.”
 * Aurelae: “Would you believe Vash? Vash Morrow, legendary hero warrior, member of the Pioneer’s Guild, and friend to your husband Dar? If you don’t believe us -- and I fully understand why you would not believe us – if you have even a kernel of doubt, I simply ask that you talk to Vash about this. You know Vash will not lie to you.”
 * Kamara: “At least Vash is sorry for what he did! He regrets his part in things! You just need to talk to Vash and he’ll tell you!”
 * Vera: “I simply refuse to waste my time and energy on this nonsense. You bring me all talk and no proof. Why would I waste my -- and Vash’s -- time on this? No.”
 * Aequitus: “Okay, well what about the Rie?”
 * Vera: “What about Rie, AE-QUI-TUS?” *she scoffs*
 * Aequitus: “Someone, likely Dar, has been putting Rie in the orphan’s food to keep them docile and working, to keep them from being able to be free and have any other type of life. I find it difficult to believe that you are ignorant of this. It’s slave labor, and it’s wrong. What kind of person are you if you continue to allow this to happen? What kind of legacy are you building for yourself through this?”
 * Vera: “Well first off, AE-QUI-TUS, no one is poisoning the orphans with Rie. That is ludicrous. And IF someone was, I would know about it. Especially if it was my own husband doing it!” *she scoffs again and shakes her head* “Secondly, the orphans are not slaves. They can leave the mines any time they wish. But what kind of life would they lead? Where would they go? What trade would they have? I realize this is not the most ideal situation, but we are fair to them, we feed them, and their lives are better off for having us to help them. It is certainly NOT slave labor. Before the orphans worked in the gem mines, they didn’t do anything at all. Working in the mines gives them purpose. Besides, everything – both here and in Davros – and I mean EVERYTHING you have ever known was built on the backs of the less fortunate. That is just how the world works. Get over it. I won’t discuss this anymore, these are wildly unfounded accusations and you bring me absolutely no evidence.”
 * *There is a very pregnant pause of several seconds where no one speaks*
 * Aurelae: *she speaks cautiously, choosing her words very carefully* “Well, Vera…can I ask you a question?”
 * Vera: “You may.” *Vera is clearly growing exponentially exasperated*
 * Aurelae: “I completely understand your asking us to provide you with evidence and proof. These are very reasonable requests, and especially considering the magnitude and weight of the things we have brought to you today. Do you remember the explosion that occurred just minutes after the 71st arrived in Hardholme?”
 * Vera: “I do. Of course.”
 * Aurelae: “That explosion happened, it’s occurrence is an accepted fact, yes?”
 * Vera: “Yes.”
 * Aurelae: “And would you agree that this explosion did not occur naturally? That someone – and I am not pointing any fingers here, whomever caused that explosion could be someone inside Hardholme, in the Prime Collective, from the Pioneer’s Guild, from Steepridge even,” *she pauses slightly* “or even someone completely unknown to us, someone from OUTSIDE of Hardholme who wants to do us, the Arrivals, harm.” At this Vera seems to actually be listening, albeit tentatively. Aurelae continues, “My point is, we know an unnatural explosion happened, and we can all agree it clearly targeted the newest Arrivals. What we do not know, is who made that explosive device, and where they got the materials for that explosion. And if there is someone, or a group of people outside of Hardholme with that kind of firepower, THAT is scary to think about.”
 * Vera: “Indeed, yes.”
 * Aurelae: “So, to try and narrow it down, IF it is someone from Hardholme who did this – where here could someone get the materials to make such a device?”
 * Vera: “Well, the mines. We naturally keep explosives here in order to work the gem mines.”
 * Aurelae: “And there is no where else in Hardholme, or the nearby areas, that someone could gain access to such materials?”
 * Vera: “No, absolutely not. We control all of those materials as they are very dangerous, they are all kept under close watch…here, in the mines.”
 * Aurelae: “Thank you Vera. That was very helpful. We really appreciate your time, and your patience. We really are sorry to have bothered you like this, but you are not an easy person to get a hold of. If you ever desire to speak with someone from the 71st, I am more than happy to meet with you again.”
 * Vera: *she smirks* “Hhmmm, yes, maybe next time I’ll break into YOUR estate in the dead of night, eh?”
 * Kamara, Aequitus, and Aurelae are making their way to the door at this point.
 * Aurelae: “No, no, no, we didn’t break in, I swear! The door was open with no guard…”
 * Vera: “We shall see about that.”
 * And they leave.
 * Meanwhile, Ulrich is keeping watch and sees Dar heading back from the concert. Ulrich knows the others are still in the Pioneer’s Guild, so he tries to stall Dar by talking to him. (Ulrich rolls a 1.) Dar doesn’t even break stride, he simply slaps him aside and keeps walking. Ulrich is knocked back and takes 7 damage.
 * Aurelae, Aequitus, and Kamara are walking into the front lobby of the Pioneer’s Guild as Dar is walking in…They all basically freeze, but Dar just keeps walking, doesn’t acknowledge that he even sees them. He looks utterly exhausted and is missing his shirt…
 * They make it out of the Pioneer’s Guild, and meet up with Ulrich. Aurianya contacts them with the sending stone and tells them to get over to the Town Green because Rosa of the 67th is there. Ulrich speeds the whole group over there.

Dialogue with Rosa @The Concert:

 * The last song has just ended. Carric says some final words: “You all have been an amazing audience! After party at The Reach! For “The Fund”! Yeah!”
 * The entire audience heads to The Reach for the most epic after party Hardholme has ever seen.
 * The groups meet up backstage and talk things out with Rosa.
 * Rael: “I get you. We’re on the same side. Just NOT during MY show. Now, what were you trying to say?”
 * Rosa: “The powers that be are evil! Open your eyes man! It’s not right! I don’t like injustice. And Jondry was working with us to overthrow The Prime. Too much power is bad, neither The Prime nor the Pioneer’s Guild should have that much power! Jondry’s execution was messed up and wrong man. Didn’t you see that?”
 * Aurianya: “Do you know about the Rie?”
 * Rosa: “Of course I do.”
 * Kamara: “Where’s Millicent?”
 * Rosa: “Never should have trusted Dar. Jondry was remorseful. Dar was deceptive. The Rie has gotta be Dar. Don’t know where their growing it, but Rie is a root. It’s called Riethroot.”
 * There is lots of chatting with everyone about the issues in Hardholme, why Rosa and the 67th didn’t join the Prime Collective, and smoking of a Menga joint.
 * Ulrich and Rosa seemed to especially hit it off. Ulrich tells Rosa about how they want to teach the orphans of Steepridge to read, and she really likes that idea. Ulrich tells her about Lex’s newest “business idea” of charging any Arrival 50g even to see him at all. She says that “Lex is the key to the Steepridge orphans.”
 * Rosa convinces Ulrich to give her 250g to buy some Menga from Carric before she leaves town.
 * Rosa is about to “leave town forever” because if she doesn’t then Dar will kill her next. Then Aequitus has the brilliant idea to give a sending stone to Rosa so she can stay in touch with us, both in case she needs something, but also in case we have other questions for her about anything (or if she somehow finds Millicent). The group is discussing who is going to chip in how much to reimburse Fitz for the lost sending stones and Rael just holds up a bag of 2,000g with a big grin on his face. He and Carric pulled a whopping 6,000g from the crowd, so donating the money for the sending stones for this purpose is the least they can do to help. Rosa agrees to take a sending stone as long as Aurelae is the one to have the other end. And with that, Rosa of the 67th saunters off into the night.
 * Everyone goes to The Reach for the most epic after party of all time. The camera cuts to Rael and Carric standing on a table in The Reach recounting an epic moment from the evening, surrounded by adoring fans, everyone is drinking and laughing, everything is bright and happy. The camera slowly pulls out of The Reach, out through the front window, and up to the dark, violet, and overcast night sky, and the sounds of merriment slowly fade out with the camera as it fades to black.