Session 16 Prep

## Broad Aims

* This is the end of the first arc of the campaign.
* The tournament is either completed or ended prematurely.
* Fergus' plans are fully (or mostly) understood by the players.
* Fergus has either won or been stopped.
* The stakes are full set into motion, whether simply a war for O'Ferrall followed by the unification war, or the Black Mists.

## Inclusions

* Bressal
* The Outsiders (a peek at Srough, but dialogue from Hllsh)

## What Fergus has done with Supers

**Employed**

* Red Rock
* Cedric the Tall
* Golden Star
* Lime
* Wall
* 30 more people the party won't recognise (Brian will somewhat recognise most from the tournament)

**Taken for the Ritual (Need 16)**

* Emin
* Caillen (steel skin man)
* Annabla (the party won't recognise her)
* Blue Heron
* Dorethy (the party won't recognise her)
* Isaac O'Kelly
* 10 more people the party won't recognise. (Brian will somewhat recognise some from the tournament)

## What this Session Follows

**Aubrey** has caught and interrogated Odo with the aid of Bruce, who will recognise Odo as Fergus' jester. Odo has given away:

* That he was following her because he knows she broke into the castle and has powers. He suspects that she is working in some plot against Fergus, and possibly was the one who stole his book.
* He has been watching supers, or "the Gifted", cataloguing them and their powers. If pressed about the ones who are held, he will reveal that they are to be sacrifices for the new world, for the Ireland to come.
* He will gloat that the heroes are too late. They (Fergus and him) have all the pieces, they are simply waiting for the right moment.

Odo will have escaped with the book before they could get more information. Aubrey has relayed all of this information back to Brian.

**Brian** will have talked with Angus and Murchad O'Ferrall. They have agreed to an alliance following the tournament. They have planned to ally and try to first probe the other factions for who can be allied with, and then do the same with the neighboring counties, and fight whoever need be fought in that line of interactions. They have promised Brian and anyone he brings aboard land and title as well.

* The plan is for Brian to throw his fight, provided they can assure Sir William's loss.
* Angus and Murchad have brought on other supers onto their team (thinking 18). Fergus has 30.
* Brian has brought a number of supers into the fold as well, recruiting the day before the final tournament day.

Assumedly, Angus and Murchad will both be let in on the information surrounding Fergus and Odo that the party have.

## Tournament

The final day of the Tournament is here. Before the fights begin, Angus and Murchad should be there for Brian to talk to. Bressal will also be there, aiming to criticize the brothers. Angus will try to convince Bressal of Fergus' plot, with even Murchad acting somewhat grim.

In the background William will be called to meet with Fergus. Fergus will not be seen leaving the tent when William does.

* Fergus has now swapped bodies with Angus. Odo (with sleep powers active) has positioned Fergus' sleeping body into a normal sleeping-in-chair position.

There will be 3 fights remaining beginning with William vs Murchad, as well as Angus vs Brian. (Not)William will try to look like he's trying, but will throw the match.

Angus will be called away by a messenger. He can be seen walking into a tent with Fergus. His manner of doing so will depend on what he knows about Fergus. Fergus will not be seen leaving the tent when Angus does.

* Fergus has now swapped bodies with Angus. Odo (with sleep powers active) has positioned Fergus' sleeping body into a normal sleeping-in-chair position.

Then we have Angus vs Brian. (Not)Angus will straight up throw the match against Brian. He will then go to a confused Murchad, and tell him there is a plan, and that he needs to speak with Fergus. He will then head into the castle, continuing to Fergus' solar, where he will be joined by Odo and confine himself in the secret room. After this Fergus can leave the tent as soon as Odo reverses the sleep effect, having swapped back.

He will attempt to gain an audience with Brian. He will most likely fail, as Brian should be onto him, but if not, he will try to get Brian to sit, and then move to touch him. As soon as he can do that, he can body swap with Brian, and will have Odo on standby to attempt to sleep him.

The final fight will be Brian vs Murchad. If Fergus was successful in body swapping him, he will, as Brian, throw the fight. Otherwise, the fight is played straight, though Murchad will state his intention to win, but with no ill will.

At the conclusion of the fights, Fergus will congratulate the winner, and officially declare them his heir from henceforth. He will then invite all to join in a celebration this night, with food and music, games and glee men. Assuming Fergus is not stopped, this celebration will be interrupted by the culmination of Fergus' plan - the triggering of the Black Mists. He will set things up so that he can body swap with his heir just as the chaos begins, then lead the people (along with his supers that he has working for him, who know to follow the heir) to safety as his original body is slain by Odo. This death will be claimed as due to the chaos of the mist, and Fergus will live on in his heir, and begin his reign.

## Infiltrating the Castle (Tournament Day)

On the tournament day, the castle will have it's usual security - a handful of guards per floor, locked doors in the more secure areas, etc. Fergus' solar will be lit and active, as Fergus and Odo are both periodically visiting there as part of the scheme.

If the party infiltrate the night before instead, refer to Session 15 Prep for information on the castle.

Angus may or not be bound in the secret chamber, depending on when the party infiltrate.

**Fergus' Solar** is such:

* A combined study, bedroom and cabinet. The room is stone, with fine rushes on the floor, tapestries on the walls depicting amusing scenes such as a rabbit riding a dog shooting a bow, or a man fighting a giant snail, or other tapestries with scenes of hunting or battle. The candles are unlit, and sunlight streams in through the large windows.
	+ The desk contains letters from other nobles, relatively uninteresting accounts regarding marriages and deaths, as scandals of certain peoples, no one that Aubrey recognises.
	+ The bed has a harness underneath, which is capable of restraining a man as well as gagging him. The harness is spattered with dried blood, particularly on the wrist straps.
	+ There is a opening onto the balcony facing the courtyard. Everything of the inner bailey at the back of the castle can be seen from here.
* A successful Perception (this check is easier if this is done during the tournament day, due to periodic use of the door) will reveal dust on the bottom of the heavy tapestry on one wall (indicative that it has been brushed against the floor many times). If she investigates, she will find a secret door behind it, revealing a room with a small desk and writing implements, with letters from Lord Phillip (last seen at Maynooth).
	+ There is a recipe detailing that sufficient blood of those touched by the mist, will open the way to the world of the Outsiders, and the power that lies therein. There is a long row of pillories facing a shrine with a large silver bowl and an ornate knife, made from the bone of a super.
		- There are 8 pillories, each with two people bound back to back. All are supers, all asleep due to Odo's use of Jacob's (the sleep super) powers.
	+ Phillip's letters detail the experiments on the people of Maynooth, as well as in MacMahon and Maelodor's findings in O'Donnell, and what he believes will be possible if the way to the Outsider's world is opened, such as advances in technology and wealth beyond anyone's imagining. The power that men touched by the mists wield could become a tool of the common man, or indeed anyone of Fergus' choosing.

If Angus is found in the secret room, and is still possessed by Fergus, he will pretend to be a victim, and try to backstab his rescuer. If not, carry as normal. If Fergus was successful in body-swapping Brian, he might come in here in that body to bind himself like Angus. Otherwise Odo will be here whenever Fergus is arriving with a body, and when not needed will guard the room, sneakily.

## Fallout

Fergus will attempt to trigger the black mist if he is threatened.

If Fergus dies outright or is forced to swap with Odo, there will be increased contention on the legitimacy of the tournament and an uptick in the rebellion efforts, but also parties vying for it to continue on the grounds that this was clearly Fergus' wish and O'Ferrall's next leader should be decisively chosen. This would end in support quickly shifting back to Angus as the new clan chief, as the tournament would not have very strong support at this point.

If Fergus is in Odo's body, he will be forced to adapt to this, and will come out and reveal his power to change bodies, and his current state. He will attempt successfully to gain control of the supers he has hired, and will move to enforce his claims, as some will not believe him.

If Fergus survives and his body survives, and the black mist is untriggered, the plan goes on as usual.

If Fergus and his body survive and the black mist has been triggered, he will fast forward the plan, having himself "killed" in order to swap bodies with his heir.

Broadly, the result may be a world altered by the black mists, but otherwise a war for unification of Ireland is almost certain.

## The Black Mist

If Fergus triggers the black mist. The entire city will be covered in black mist. There will be a loud crack in the sky, and a large black tendril will be seen across the whole sky.

Originating from the castle, monsters will begin seeping out:

* Behirs
* Grells
* Gibbering Mouthers
* Gelatinous Cubes
* A few giant indistinct shapes in the sky.
* A single, huge whale/angler fish-like creature, flying into the distance.

The physics of the city will change as well:

* Random areas (roughly 5-20ft square) will have gravity move in a different direction.
* Some areas (mostly in the air), will have "fly traps", areas of opposing gravity that squash anything caught in them. During this time, they are visible due to the mist.
* About 5% of the city's water will turn to a red gelatinous substance that causes anything it touches with low enough mass (so not the ground) to catch fire.
* The plant matter will rot. Touching the plant matter will cause bones to slowly turn to rubber from the point of contact, eventually killing the one who touch it. The change begins immediately.
* Conversely, eating berries from this zone actually cure diseases, including the above.
* Fire, aside from the above, burns cold rather than hot.

People will panic and many will die. Fergus (if alive) will swap bodies with his heir, and gather his men to save as many as possible, killing monsters and evacuating civilians.

The session can continue into a little combat, especially regarding Fergus. Otherwise the session can end here, and we have a time skip between this and next session.