RQG 11 - The Rackets

## Content Warnings

Combat, kidnapping, implied past child abuse, emotional manipulation, implied trauma, unwanted/unexpected body transformation

## Summary

The party meets Sasha's uncle, Barret Racket, who is the leader of the Racket underground Other London gang.

## Synopsis

The episode opens on combat. The party continues to fight - Bertie is still unconscious. As they’re fighting, Hamid begins to panic, and starts to shove the men away. Hamid's hands turn into scaly dragon claws and he attacks the men, ultimately missing, and screams upon noticing that his hands turned into claws. Ashen and Sasha continue to fight one on one. Eventually, Hamid gets knocked out, and then Zolf and Sasha surrender to Ashen, knowing that the fight is lost.

After the fight is over, the remaining men disarm the party as Hamid stops bleeding. Ashen smirks at Sasha, saying she always manages to mess things up, and tells her to bring the downed party members with them. Sasha starts to explain to him why she's come down: that Barret wanted to talk about Brock. Ashen said he doesn't care. He also says that Sasha has an appointment, and leads them down into Other London. As they arrive at their destination, Hamid and Bertie regain consciousness but are still heavily wounded. They continue to descend, Sasha knows they are entering the no-mans land of the Other London gangs. They approach an old Town Hall which is guarded by two men with bull mastiffs.

Sasha asks if Barret would come out here and tries to convince Ashen that the party don't need to go in, but he won't listen. An older man walks out onto a balcony of the Town Hall. He is well kept and dressed smartly, but without unnecessary finery. He asks Ashen if there is a problem before asking Sasha to come in. As they go in, Sasha hides a few daggers about her person, but the rest of the party are stripped of their equipment.

Inside is nicely decorated with tapestries and carpets. Ashen leads the party upstairs into an opulent office where Barret Racket stands behind a fine desk. He rules 6 floors of Other London. Barret asks why Sasha left, saying that all the messengers came back worse than they left. Sasha says he sent her off to Upper London to 'finalise her education', and starts to say that he killed someone, before stopping. Barret confesses that they went to a house and that they were looking for something. He asks where 'the will' is, but Sasha says that Rakefine didn't tell her anything, and that he was just like Barret but in a nicer suit.

Barret asks Hamid for his surname, but he doesn't respond. He threatens to hurt the rest of the party and Sasha stammers that she will go back to the house and look harder. A 7 foot tall, cloaked figure is called in by Barret, who leans over to Sasha and asks "Where is the will?" Sasha says she doesn't know, and the figure whispers to Barret, who says "Interesting, I did not expect that."

Barret says there is still business to be done. He says that it would be useful to have help from higher up, pointedly looking at Hamid. Barret says that he would like to make communications from time to time, producing a copper band ring. Zolf says they don't understand what this means, so Bertie and Hamid shouldn't take it, causing Hamid to silently cry. Barret said that he will give them information if they take the ring, and receive any messages he gives them. Through tears, Hamid Detects Magic on the ring. He sees that Barret is glowing with magic and that the ring, although not powerful, belongs to the Divination School, which is the school that communication magic would fall under.

   Zolf and Bertie start to talk, but Hamid grabs the ring and puts it on. Barret admits that he met Hamid's father once before taking out a parchment with a map of Other London. He hands the map to Zolf and explains that it will take them to the place where the people who took the Simulacrum are located, but says that he doesn't personally care for these sorts of items.

Before they leave, Sasha asks about Brock, and the cloaked figure says "Brock is in Paris. He's happy, enough." Barret does not give anymore information.

## Quotes

**Sasha**: "Don’t, don’t hurt them! I give up! I mean, we give up!"
**Zolf**: "I surrender as well!"
**Sasha**: "Like, we, yup. We’re...very surrendering!"
―Sasha surrenders to Ashen.

**Ashen**: "Sasha, do come out where I can see you."
**Sasha**: "Just, just, just let me, just let me look after...after these guys. Right? Like, we’re, we, just, just let me check on them."
―Sasha wants to make sure her friends are okay.

**Ashen**: "Oh, Sasha.  Well, what a shame. You do keep tending to muck things up, don’t you, Sasha."
**Sasha**: "I managed to...I managed to get out of...no, yeah. Yeah, I...no, I didn’t, I didn’t manage much. No."
―Ashen speaks down to Sasha after capturing the party.

**Sasha**: "Well, I came, I came because, uh, they...so, there were some guys came and they, you know, they came up to, to, to, you know, Upper London, and they said to come down, uh, that, you know, that Barret wanted to say...to say hi about...about Brock."
―Sasha tries to explain herself.

**Ashen**: "If you’d like, I can cut off his other leg so it’s nice and balanced."
**Sasha**: "Don’t! Don’t, don’t mess, don’t mess with them."
―Ashen threatens Zolf.

**Sasha**: "I told you. I told you we shouldn’t come here. I told you. Like, why would you, yeah."
**Zolf**: "What?"
**Lydia**: "I am mostly talking because I know you can’t hear. So the idea that you’ve actually responded is even more terrifying"
**Sasha**: "Right, oh, nothing, nothing."
**Zolf**: "I can’t hear you! I can’t..."
―Sasha talks to a deafened Zolf.

**Sasha**: "I’m sorry, Hamid. This isn’t a sort of place for the likes of you. So..."
**Hamid**: "Where’re, where are they taking us?"
**Sasha**: "Further down. It’s more of this. Just gets worse and worse. It’s, uh...just...I mean, it’s not, it’s not...a nice, I, I tried to warn you all! I tried, and no one, no one ever...no one listens, do they, no, so..."
―Sasha talks to Hamid after he wakes up.

**Ashen**: "Sasha, do we have a problem?"
**Sasha**: "Just...is there...I mean, Barret wanted me to, to come and, and talk, so why, why, I mean, he could, he could come out here. Like, and, um..."
**Ashen**: "I’m sorry. Barret?"
**Sasha**: "Yeah."
 **Ashen**: "Could come out here, to meet little old you?"
**Sasha**: "Well, maybe I could just, maybe if it’s not that important then we could just go! Like, these guys, they’re from Upper London, Ashen, they don’t...they, they got no business here!"
**Ashen**: "Really? I had no idea."
**Sasha**: "Like, I, I told them not to come, they’re just stupid, okay, they’re not, they’re not problems for you. They’re not involved in any of your territory stuff. You know what? Just, just take the cash, and we will leave, and there will be no...like, people will look for these guys, right? People *care* about *them*."
―Sasha trying to convince Ashen to leave her friends behind.

**Ashen**: "You’re my catch, Sasha. Mine. It’s about time that I managed to bring you back. Right? So, what’s gonna happen, you’re gonna go in, your friends are gonna go in, everyone’s gonna have a lovely little tête-à-tête, right? And then, I’m sure that things will work themselves out. Yeah? And the difference is, I’d rather send you in there without a burn on your face but I’m quite happy to do it, Sasha. Quite happy."
―Ashen threatens Sasha.

**Barret**: "Sasha. Do come in. I won’t have you harmed, or your.....friends."
**Sasha**: "Right. I guess..."
**Zolf**: "Looks about as safe as it’s gonna get?"
**Sasha**: "This is not safe."
**Hamid**: "I think we should just do what they tell us."
**Sasha**: "You guys have no idea."
―The party meets Barret for the first time.

**Zolf**: "Look, I’ve gotta say, I think it could’ve turned out a lot worse than it did, so..."
**Sasha**: "You think it could turn out worse than this?"
**Zolf**: "Uh, yeah."
**Sasha**: "Do you know who these guys are?"
**Zolf**: "Uh, they’re probably criminals of some form. You realize that I have been a little bit round the world and seen some of the worst pirates around, so, let’s stop it with this whole, “Oh, you don’t know what you’re getting into.”"
**Sasha**: "Ah, right, okay."
**Zolf**: "Mercenary for a reason. Okay?"
**Bertie**: "I thought we’d been taken prisoner by poor people, so this is much better."
―Zolf reminds Sasha that they're mercenaries for a reason.

**Sasha**: "I only met them today. They’ve got, like, they’ve got, or, yesterday, I guess. Like, I’ve got, they’re just, they’ve got no reason..."
**Barret**: "A formal introduction would begin with the host."
**Sasha**: "Uh, this is, uh...Barret Racket. He...rules...how many floors of..."
**Barret**: "It’s six now."
**Sasha**: "Six floors of...Other London. Yeah. You ever put something down...and wonder where it went?"
**Bertie**: "Yeah, all the time! Really, all the time!"
**Sasha**: "Well, most of it’ll end up here. See if there’s anything that you recognize."
―Sasha properly introduces them to Barret.

**Barret**: "So. Sasha, I did send messages but they all seemed to come back...worse than they left."
**Sasha**: "Well. I sort of assumed that you didn’t have my best intentions at heart. Seeing as..."
**Barret**: "After everything we did for you. You were very successful with us, Sasha."
**Sasha**: "Yeah! And then...you...I dunno, sold me? To....and then..."
**Barret**: "I’d never do such a thing."
**Sasha**: "Like, like, you sent me up to Upper London, and then..."
**Barret**: "Formalized your education."
**Sasha**: "And, and...then...killed...I...yeah! Right. So, you’re such lovely gentle people..."
**Barret**: "What a shame. All of those tutors and none of them taught you how to hold a conversation."
―Barret 'properly' greets Sasha.

**Zolf**: "I’ll just pop my hand on Hamid’s shoulder, and seeing he’s obviously not doing very well, sort of in a friendly pat. Just a, “It’s okay! It will be fine,” kind of..."
―Zolf tries to comfort Hamid.

**Barret**: "Sasha. Now, your...friends? Do seem lovely people. But you have quite a lot of them. We can whittle that down. Where....is.....the will, Sasha?"
**Sasha**: "What does it look like? I don’t know what it is. Like...I don’t know! Like, Martev, he never told me anything. He was just like you. You know? Just you, but in a better suit."
**Barret**: "Well. That’s...debatable. Hmm, Sasha. You may not be aware, but certain of your party are significantly more well-known than others. And it would be a shame if they were to disappear. People might come looking, but they only look so far. I’m not accustomed to...repeating myself. So. This is the last..."
**Sasha**: "I don’t know! Like, look, okay. Uh, I’ll, I’ll, don’t hurt him. He’s just, he’s not used to this kind of stuff. Like, so we can, I’ll, I’ll help you, I’ll help you look for it. I’ll go back to the house. I’ll look. Um...like, I’ll check. I’ll unlock all of the safes. I think I know where he was keeping stuff, I just never managed to get in."
―Barret reveals the real reason why he wanted Sasha back.

**Cloaked Figure**: "Where is the will?"
**Sasha**: "I, I DON’T KNOW. I don’t know! I don’t know! I’m not lying to you, Barret! Do you think, you’ve, do you think that I could lie to you?"
**Alex**: "Barret holds his hand up to you. The figure, from leaning over again, straightens, leans in, whispers something, very quietly. Barret nods."
**Barret**: "Hm. Fair enough. And the rest? Hm. Interesting, I...I....did not expect that."
**Sasha**: "You know me, Barret, I’m, I’m useless. I’m not...I’m not..."
**Barret**: "Apparently."
―Barret and his men keep pushing to find out about the will.

**Barret**: "The idea of having such...estimable friends. And the rest may actually be enough. I would like to think that if I was to extend a communication to yourselves you would be quick to reply. Pertinently."
**Zolf**: "Again, that would have to depend on the nature of correspondence."
**Alex**: "He nods, reaches in, and plucks out a wooden box, he plucks out a single just copper-band ring."
**Barret**: "I would very much appreciate it if you two would be willing to wear these. Um..."
**Zolf**: "That’s not what I was asking."
**Barret**: "I didn't realise I was beholden to you, Mr. Smith."
**Zolf**: "I thought we were trying to do a deal here."
**Barret**: "We are. That’s why I’m talking to the people who are able to offer me something I want, Mr. Smith."
**Zolf**: "All right. So I’ll advise them, then. If you don’t know what it might cost, not a very good deal."
**Barret**: "These are merely a means of communication."
**Bertie**: "Well it doesn’t really go with the rest of the outfit, of course."
**Alex**: "He closes the box, puts it to one side."
**Bryn**: "Hamid just starts very slightly crying. It’s actual tears rolling down his face, now."
**Ben**: "Taking a look at Hamid."
**Zolf**: "Also, uh, Mr. Barret...as their employer, you are. Dealing with me."
**Barret**: "A fair statement, Mr. Smith. Well, then. It would seem I have a single condition to give you the information you require. However, it is a condition, not a negotiable one. A single ring. I believe your friend is perfectly capable of discerning any harmful properties. All I would request is the ability to contact all of you, should I require it."
**Sasha**: "I, don’t, don’t do it, Hamid. He’s got, he’s got collars on people. Things that give ‘em lightning shocks. Like, he’s not a nice man!"
―Barret negotiates with the party.

**Hamid**: "It’s, it’s probably not harmful."
**Sasha**: "I don’t believe anything coming from Barret isn’t harmful."
**Barret**: "I’ve never been known to lie."
**Zolf**: "Tell you what, then. How about...I put on the ring, and I can relay the messages."
**Barret**: "Oh, that’s, that’s perfectly agreed. Under the assumption, of course, that you and your...subordinates? Were to stay together."
**Zolf**: "Employees, and yes, they’re bound by a contract."
**Barret**: "Very good."
**Hamid**: "No. No, Zolf, I’m not gonna let you do that!"
**Bryn**: "And I grab the ring. And I shove it on."
―Hamid puts on the ring that Barret offers.

**Barret**: "If it’s any consolation, Hamid, I had the pleasure of meeting your father, once. He was also a very excellent communicator. Just the once."
―Barret talks to Hamid.

**Sasha**: "Uh, you, you sent a note...uh, Barret, about......about Brock."
**Barret**: "Oh! Goodness, yes. I had almost forgot. I must admit, it was just a little sweetener to get you here. However..."
**Cloaked Figure**: "Brock is in Paris. He’s happy...enough."
**Sasha**: "What..what does that mean, though? What, what does that mean? I mean...someone doesn’t vanish to become happy. What...what does that..."
**Barret**: "I’m sorry, I fear that you may be, uh, mistaking me for someone who’d be quite happy to tell you. Frankly, I think you should take what you can get. If you’d like, you can stay and we can discuss the matter further. You can stay as long as you want, Sasha."
**Sasha**: "I...I think that...I’ll, I’ll be...I’ll be...I’ll be heading out with these guys. We’ve got..."
**Zolf**: "Yeah. I think..."
**Sasha**: "We’ve got a quest now."
**Zolf**: "Let’s, uh...let’s wrap up and go, shall we?"
―Sasha gets information about Brock.
## Dice rolls and Mechanics

* Zolf Bluff check regarding being able to move without assistance: 4 (versus Ashen's Sense Motive check: 5)
* Sasha Sleight of Hand check to hide a dagger in its spring-loaded wrist sheath: 25
* Hamid Perception check on the library books: 26
* Hamid Knowledge (arcana) check to identify the ring: 10
* Bertie and Sasha Perception check for details on the cowled figure: Bertie (6), Sasha (16)

## Combat Breakdown

**Combat continued from previous episode.**

**Initiative:** Hamid (21), Zolf (18), mugger 2, Bertie (10), Ashen, mugger 3, dog 2, Sasha (nat 1)

**Round 5**

* Hamid: Attacks his opponent with his crossbow, 3 (miss)
* Zolf: Attacks his opponent with his trident, 14 (miss)
* Mugger 2: Attacks Zolf but misses him
* Bertie: Is unconscious and stable
* Ashen: Fails to perceive Sasha, continues to stock up on flasks of oil
* Mugger 3: Moves and provoke an attack of opportunity from Zolf, 17 (4 damage)
* Dog 2: Attempts to bite Hamid but gets a natural 1 (miss)
* Sasha: Tries to knock down the tent around Ashen with a Strength check: Natural 1 (fail)

**Round 6**

* Hamid: Hamid's hands turns into claws and he attacks his opponent with them, natural 1 (miss, forgoing his second attack)
* Zolf: Attacks his opponent with his trident, 15 (miss)
* Mugger 2: Attacks Zolf but misses him
* Betie: Still unconscious.
* Ashen: Fails to perceive Sasha again, then succeeds on an Acrobatics check to vault over the counter and out of the tent
* Mugger 3: Attacks Hamid, natural 20 (not critical hit, 6 damage). Hamid is knocked unconscious
* Dog 2: Holds its action
* Sasha: Surrenders to Ashen and Zolf joins her

**Round 7**

* Zolf: Attempts to cast cure light wounds on himself, but fails due to his deafened condition
* Hamid: Stabilises as the group is taken prisoner

## Plot Notes

* Hamid's hands turning into claws is an expression of him being a sorcerer of draconic heritage. He learns that he is a sorcerer in episode 69 and that he is descended from Apophis specifically in episode 87.
* In episode 107, Barret explains that his cloaked aide was a squizzard working for the Cult of Hades, an extremist pro-human and anti-meritocrat organisation. It has been assisting Barret in a mutually beneficial arrangement for the last 30 years, though in hindsight Barret suspects that it may also have been psychically influencing his decisions. After the attack on Edison's auction, it advises Barret to get involved in the situation with The Serpentines.
* Barret contacts Hamid through the ring after he arrives in Cairo in episode 85. He instructs Hamid to deliver the ring to his brother Saleh but Hamid ultimately refuses.
* Brock is Sasha's cousin and childhood friend who has been missing for nearly a decade. Barret "provided" him to the Cult of Hades, which ultimately lead to his brain being harvested to become part of Mr. Ceiling. Sasha realises Brock is part of Mr. Ceiling after talking to them in episode 46.
* After this episode, the party frequently has to make Will saves when sleeping. In episode 194 Alex confirms that the Will saves were against scrying from squizzards.