Session 30

← Session 29 | Session 31 →

Kuno helps check on some loose ends, half the party is gay, and Asa learns he's made some mistakes recently.

## Characters

* The Party
* Fillan Bailey
* Naberius MacLaughagan
* Arlo Briar
* Neera Guinn
* Hollis Tucker
* Na'arisiel
* Nate (last name unknown)
* Jamie Nejem
* Kingston Ibarra
* Zaida Loch
* Valefor
* Benjamin Richards
* Pax Furyk
* Nestor Shields
* Olympia Routh
* Monday Hackett

## Summary

##### **Sunday, April 11th, 543:**

Kuno calls Fillan again. The wolves are still busy, the way they have been for the past while, but Kuno is welcome to drop by in a few days.

Sam makes the trip to the abandoned warehouse district, in search of the Weblings. He finds the warehouse, which hasn't obviously changed since he was there last. After some exploring, Sam finds himself thoroughly lost, and wanders for several hours before he escapes the warehouse district to an unknown part of the City. On the very long train ride home, he texts MacLaughagan, wondering what could be more dangerous than being killed by the Heavenly Host that the demon won't elucidate it to the party. In response, he gets a message written in illegible text.

Asa checks in with Arlo, and learns COAST is still up to business as usual.

##### **Monday, April 12th, 543:**

Nyx visits Neera during the week. Neera is surprised to see her, since she doesn't often attend the Children's study groups, but the two go for coffee. Nyx presents Neera with half the matched set of knives she pilfered from Hell, spinning a story about getting them from the Vances. Neera is very impressed by the knife, particularly when she learns of their poisonous quality, and the date goes well.

In the evening, Kuno drops by Hollis's apartment with dinner, having texted ahead. In the time since Kuno last visited, Reis has visibly improved, as well as dug a worn jacket out of storage somewhere. The three of them settle down to dinner, and make idle conversation. Kuno avoids mentioning the party's recent trip to Hell, though does bring up Lower Miami. According to Hollis, who has known people from there, it's a bad place to spend time. When Kuno inquires if Hollis has any idea what happens to people who get turned into ghouls, Reis chimes in with the fact their souls get consumed by the Hunger.

From there, conversation turns to the seraphim's intention to break into some unspecified building in search of his eyes. Hollis is tired of hearing about this, particularly since Na'arisiel has no idea which building his multitude of eyes is being kept in, and is concerned he's going to be dragged out of retirement. Reis is also reportedly in search of a halo, which he can obtain only by killing another seraphim. When asked what need he has for a halo, a weapon of mass destruction, Reis replies only with a wicked grin. Eventually, Hollis opens a bottle of wine, and the evening dissolves further into amiable chaos.

##### **Tuesday, April 13th, 543:**

Colby invites Nate out to lunch the next day. The two have a good date, though Nate is his typical disheveled nervous mess. Colby presents Nate with the watch he pilfered from Hell, which Nate doesn't know quite how to respond to but is obviously pleased to have received.

Kuno invites Sam on his visit to the werewolves, and the two drop by the wolves' apartment. Fillan answers the door, obviously expecting trouble, but lets the two in. Kuno informs Jamie as to the nature of the logo on the paperwork he had her looking into. Jamie isn't surprised to learn someone is likely still running the operation, but leaves taking care of the demon to them, after hearing Sam is working on it.

Kingston Ibarra calls Colby, checking in on him after Fells's most recent branding idea. Ibarra is concerned that Colby hasn't heard anything, but fills him in: Fells is planning on taking a very Biblical iconography approach, complete with Christ-typical vestments for Colby. Ibarra offers Colby a few ways to avoid Fells if he needs to, and suggests he push back against this decision.

   That evening, Kuno and Nyx return to the building housing Devereaux's lab. The place isn't particularly empty, but there are few enough people around that the two don't draw any eyes--which is useful, since Nyx is shifted. She hunts through the building for the Sculptor's rat, as seen in her vision, and eventually finds his lab.

It's obvious very little of the lab is in use, as only one of the lab tables is clean of the thick layer of dust coating the rest of the room. Several sealed and locked cases are strewn around the lab, and there is a white lab rat in a cage against one wall. The first two drawers of the in-use lab station are empty, but the final one contains a case leaking black sludge onto a mass of papers. The bulk of the pages are subsumed into the sludge, but Kuno pulls out four that are still legible.

Having investigated the lab, Kuno and Nyx head to Kuno's apartment to pore over the obtained pages. They let the rest of the party know they've found something, and while it's late Asa shows up soon after.

##### **Wednesday, April 14th, 543:**

Sam and Colby arrive at Kuno's apartment the next morning, and get caught up on what Nyx and Kuno found. Kuno texts Zaida, with apologies to be disturbing her and a request to meet. Zaida replies that she can let the party know when Legacy is out, and they can come by Ollie's apartment to talk.

When Sam returns to Ben's apartment, he finds Valefor there, making small talk with Ben. The demon informs Sam there's been some events in Hell, and as such they're reviewing his contract to assign him a new liason, which should be done sometime within the next 3-5 business days. Valefor assures Sam it's nothing that would affect him too much, though they have ended up embroiled in a lawsuit due to what they cite as MacLaughagan's minor transgressions. They encourage Sam to contact them if he thinks of anything they can do to help him, as the company likes to make sure their Revenants are satisfied.

After Valefor leaves, Sam starts making lunch for him and Ben. It comes up that Ben has been in contact with MacLaughagan, starting when the demon convinced him to take Sam in, though the two have made a habit of calling to complain about (among other things) Sam's antics. Ben wants to know why Sam has been stalling on killing the Guide, when he was willing to kill Turret (who happens to be an archangel, according to Mac) for a lesser offense. Sam does a bad job of trying to explain the situation with Nyx and Neera, and Ben encourages Sam to get on with it, so the two can work on salvaging the life Sam's murder uprooted.

Asa has been job hunting for most of the day, when there is a knock on his door in the afternoon. He answers it to Pax, who is seething. Pax goes right for Asa's liquor cabinet, before accusing Asa of killing Tuesday Hackett and trashing Club Revival. Asa, who had heard nothing of this, is mostly confused. Pax realizes COAST must have followed him to the club, leaving the death still on Asa's head.

Even with this setback, Pax isn't willing to give up on his revenge, so tracking down Monday is the next step, if Asa's willing to work with them. They'll also have some work to do, since Eldridge removed Monday's lower jaw, and their symbiotic feeding died with Tuesday. Monday is likely mostly feral, but Pax is willing to go looking for them if Asa can track down a upyr jaw prosthetic. Asa agrees, and finally gets a phone number out of Pax, who leaves (though not before Asa notices he likely needs glasses).

The party gathers at Asa's apartment, and gets caught up on the situation. Kuno agrees to see if Shields is willing to take the job, though he's uncertain how well it will go, since as far as he knows Shields has no knowledge of the supernatural side of the City. He asks Nyx to accompany him, to provide an example of the kind of jaw needed.

With that, Kuno goes to visit Shields at his garage workshop. Nyx stays outside while Kuno ducks in to gauge Shields's interest in the situation. As it turns out, Shields has experience operating on upyr, since they're as capable of being disadvantaged as anyone else, and often need teeth replaced. Shields is enthusiastic at the opportunity to test out his latest design, and provides Kuno with a blowgun full of tranquilizer darts designed to knock out upyr.

Kuno, astonished, returns to Asa's apartment so the party can talk to Pax and plan their next steps. Still clutching the alcohol he pilfered from Asa, Pax makes his visceral distaste for doctors known, before diving into planning for the trip to Club Revival. Pax isn't willing to have more than three people on the adventure, so after some discussion everyone decides Asa and Nyx will go with Pax while Kuno waits for them with Shields.

Thus decided, Kuno returns to Shields's garage to wait for their arrival. On the way, he goes to the bank, as well as acquiring a bottle of whiskey and a selection of snack food. Shields drags some chairs into the doorway, and the two settle down with the whiskey. Olympia, Shields's ward, is in the background.

Meanwhile, the three looking for Monday make it to Club Revival. Pax has been uncharacteristically quiet the entire walk, and keeps checking over his shoulder to ensure the group isn't being followed. The building is shuttered, and there is a sign hung on the door declaring the place "temporarily closed". Pax deftly picks the lock, and leaves it open for Asa to enter first.

The interior of Club Revival is dark and quiet. Asa's phone flashlight reveals obvious signs of a struggle, with the floor is littered with broken glass and few bodies laying where they fell. Faint piano music echoes from the space. The group makes their way to the stage, where the curtain is drawn, and pulls the curtain aside to Monday Hackett hunched over their piano, playing. They don't react to the new arrivals until Pax speaks up, at which point they unfold to their full height but make no other movements.

Pax explains the situation, starting with the fact Monday is welcome to eat Asa if they feel like it, through their offer of a jaw and tracking down Eldridge. As they continue to just stand by the piano, facing the trio, Pax leans over to Nyx and Asa, explaining he isn't sure if Monday is actually sentient or not. The conversation devolves into Pax being astonished by how incompetent the party as a whole is, as well as their inability to stay away from nonsense exploits.

Reining everyone back to the issue at hand, Pax suggests they leave and let Monday follow if they feel like it. He also mentions offhandedly that the Hacketts are the ones who kidnapped Asa's family, which Asa is blindsided by, leaving Pax astounded that Asa didn't already know that. Pax heads to the doorway, and Asa shows Monday on his phone a map to where they're headed before following. Nyx is the last to leave, since she stops to read Monday's mind. She gets a sense of overwhelming melancholy, combined with the iron will needed to not eat Asa. Nyx goes to shoot Monday with a tranq dart, but Pax knocks it out of her hand and drags her out of the building. He explains that Monday likely doesn't trust themself to move and not maul Asa, so they should just head to the garage and see if they follow.

After a few blocks of lighthearted arguing about the party's recent escapades, which Pax continues to be confounded by, Pax notices Monday following the trio. This continues the entire way back to Shields's garage. When they arrive, everyone goes inside, and Asa and Nyx commandeer Shields's back room, which is set up as a break room. While everyone is waiting, Olympia approaches Pax, who quickly regrets his entire existence. Olympia thinks Pax is the most interesting thing she's seen, while Pax would rather be anywhere else. By the time Monday arrives outside the garage, Pax is thankful for any excuse to extricate himself from Olympia's company.

He lets them in, and drags them to the operating table Shields has set up. Shields sedates Monday, getting to work on the process of replacing their jaw. Pax is obviously uncomfortable being in the same room as the operation, but he sticks around. Shields is impressed, and horrified, by the state of Monday's jaw, particularly its removal, which was done by someone in a deliberately sadistic manner. Nevertheless, he thinks he should be able to work with the situation.

This operation takes several hours, lasting until the late evening. Everyone spends this time continuing to talk about the party's recent adventures. Nyx brings up the concepts from the vision she had about Pax, and Pax has no idea what she's talking about. When Shields is finished, Pax offers his thermos of soul water for Monday. Shields offers sleeping bags to the group, if they don't want to go home, and everyone takes him up on that, settling down to spend the night and see how Monday is doing in the morning.

## Quotes

**James:** “We appreciate you Kellen.” | **Kellen:** “You won’t by the end of this.”

**Kellen:** “Are you going to [Neera] for information or resources or are you just being gay?”

**Neera:** “If we ever have to interrogate someone we could do like good cop-bad cop but with knives!”

**Hollis:** “Kuno, the next time you drag in a member of the Heavenly Host— Can we trade this one in for one that is capable of functioning in any regard?”

**Kai:** “Colby are you gonna go be gay?” | **Parker:** “Yeah I guess.”

**Kellen:** “Everyone went to Hell and was like, oh yeah I’m gay!”

**Ibarra:** “Kingston Ibarra, we met on a train?”

**Asa:** “Do you need glasses?” | **Pax:** “No, fuck off.”

**Abby:** “I’ve connected the dots. Give me a minute. They need to be a little more connected.”

**Kai:** “It’s either something none of us know or something I’ve been working under the assumption of for an age.”

**Pax:** “Every time I hear about things you’ve done it’s always nonsense!”

**Pax:** “There is no competency anywhere near here. There just isn’t.”

**Kuno:** “We live terrible, awful, but also interesting lives.”

**Shields:** “So what, we’re domesticating yoopy-doops these days?”

← Session 29 | Session 31 →