Culture Clash

an adventure starring Firebreathing Kittens Nesgrax, Dr. Crud III, and Olive.

Tweet-length description: Nesgrax, Olive, and Dr. Crud III travel to the charming-if-odd village of New Braintown to track down the last member of the changeling gang that has been harassing the guild for some time now and discover the true puppetmaster behind the HHO. Did somebody say 'faux-pas'?

Setting: New Braintown

Non Player Characters:

* Mendax Yarnspinner
* Saffron Beelady
* Quadracun
* Yul Shevchenko
* Jim Bob
* Hemingway the Dog Butler
* The following people are presumed to have died when Quadracun the demon lord was summoned from hell:
	+ Lord Fothington-Smythe
	+ Lady Tessington
	+ Baron Bogglesworth
	+ Viscount Taffington-Stanley
	+ The Right Honourable Arthur Billington-Cawdeswell IV
	+ Dame Edwina Abbington-Horseface-Hastings
	+ Chief Hamish McTavish

Plot Summary:

Nesgrax is contacted by Mendax Yarnspinner with an important job, and asks to meet at the place on the harbour. Nesgrax gathers Crud and Olive, and they travel down to the pier at the docks, where they meet Mendax sat outside a chip shop named 'The Plaice on the Harbour'. Joining Mendax is Saffron Beelady (who was last seen fleeing after a heist-gone-wrong in The Sting); she explains the origins of the HHO and that she regrets her part in it, especially since a mysterious benefactor offered their patronage and effectively took over the whole operation. Mendax informs the group that the de-facto leader of the changeling gang (recently evicted from Niqamui), Yul Sevchenko, appears to be hiding out in New Braintown, far to the north. Mendax also explains that he used to be part of the same gang, but objected to their activities and escaped, taking a deal with the DGS to enter witness protection. He provides some clues for recognising the behaviour that Yul used to exhibit when they pulled scams together, namely that he liked to put himself in a position of power, and that he was a decadent son-of-a-gun. In addition, he provides some general rules about New Braintown, in that magic is strictly forbidden and the residents are incredibly suspicious of outsiders. With the setup provided, Mendax points them towards the harbourmaster who provides hippocampuses to take for the journey, being much quicker than a ship or land travel.

Arriving at the island the next day, the adventurers arrive on the shores of the island and make their way to the village of New Braintown. Upon arriving, they see that there seems to be some sort of event happening at a large mansion on the hill. They are then approached by a leaflet-giver from (one of) the local tailoring shops. They learn about a party at the mansion, that "anyone who is anyone" on the island will be in attendance, and that the party is invite-only. After a session buying suitable attire for the party, the adventurers wait on a grassy knoll by the side of the road, and ambush a passing carriage to re-appropriate the occupants' invitation and carriage. This allowed them, under the guise of Lord Featherby (Crud), Lady Featherby (Nesgrax) and their unnamed butler (Olive), to enter the mansion and continue their search.

They are met at the door by Hemingway, the adorable dog butler*;* Olive speaks to him and tells him they're looking for changelings, and asks the dog who smells the newest. The dog says everyone smells new. Moving into the main room, one of the guests makes a speech, thanking the Farthings for allowing them to use the mansion while they're away. After the speech, Nesgrax (as Lady Featherby) takes this person aside and tries to figure out whether this is Yul by shocking him in a private room to see if there was any change in facial features. After resulting in a negative, he meets back up with Crud to go and investigate the basement. Meanwhile, Olive goes to find a room to sleep in; the room she chooses is the master bedroom of Lord and Lady Farthing, the owners of the mansion who are not at the party for some reason. Upon entering the room, Olive notices a funny smell and footprints on the floor, a sure sign that someone had been in there recently. She ignores this oddity and goes to sleep.

Nesgrax and Crud sneak through the kitchen while invisible to get to the basement, discover a mysterious figure behind the door, wanting some sort of password to enter. They jab him with a needle subsequently kill him with shadow magic, only to begin reviving him as a ghoul. The screaming draws the notice of the kitchen staff, who attempt to accost them due to their ignorance of party etiquette. Nesgrax sends Olive Jr to retrieve Olive Sr and tries to placate the naturally worried servants. Up in the bedroom, Olive is awoken by Olive Jr and travels back downstairs, meeting Hamish McTavish, who is looking for a missing party guest. Prioritizing her friends' safety over her curiosity, she sends him off back towards the dining room and barrels through the servant's area, knocking out every member of the kitchen staff along the way, before they can report her friends for using magic.

At the entrance to the basement, the ghoul (Baron Bogglesworth) opens the door from the inside and lets the group in. Inside are a range of wine shelves, including some large (ceiling-height) wine barrels at the rear end of the room. On a table stands a singular bottle of wine, around 250 years old. Seeing this as a puzzle, Nesgrax asks the ghoul to solve it for them. That happens, and one of the large wine casks rolls aside to expose a passageway from which the group can hear ominous chanting. Olive uses some invisibility powder and they all sneak down the passageway to enter a large stone room, a plinth in the centre, with a cloth-covered body atop it. A number of figures stand around the plinth, chanting *Una-Muna-Quadracuna*. Behind the adventurers walks in Hemingway, the adorable dog butler. He transforms back into the form of Yul Sevchenko and begins speaking to the amassed figures about returning their god to his mortal form.

Without respecting the law of the bad-guy monologue, and with a look for revenge, the adventurers attack: Nesgrax releases two bears and a giant hyena in addition to the ghoul, and Crud pins Yul to the plinth before cutting his throat. The blood spurts onto the plinth and the body underneath the sheet begins to glow and rise. Olive forces a potion of healing through Yul's newly opened neck hole to spare his life, depriving Crud of his murderous vengeance (Yul kidnapped his infant daughter, Jenny, but she's back now and actually has been present for all of this). The sheet falls off the levitating body, revealing the form of four raccoons fused together at the tail; the being introduces themselves as Quadracun, Prince of Hell. He tells the group that the only reason his disciples, the changeling gang, was involved in the HHO at all was to provide a favour to Mephistopheles (Nesgrax's old patron and nemesis), who in turn, promised the ability to return Quadracun to his mortal form.

Crud then asked Quadracun to deal with the rest of the changelings, and he was only too happy to oblige, their purpose now served. A burst of magic flowed out from Quadracun, draining the life from all of the robed figures, including Yul. Nesgrax then teleported them all away from the danger, leaving the house and its occupants to their fate, nestled just above the now-reborn Quadracun. They arrive back in Niqamui, landing in the Moody Booksellers' guild, utterly ruining their new cataloguing system.

Memorable Quotes:

Nesgrax: "I want to send the [invisible] ghoul to attack him" -- DM: "Just to let you know, he *will* notice that."