RQG 114 - Snakes and Daggers

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## Snakes and Daggers

### Players

Helen Gould as Azu
Ben Meredith as Grizzop
Bryn Monroe as Hamid
Lydia Nicholas as Sasha

## Content Warnings

Physical violence/combat, injury, death, kidnapping (adults & child). Discussion of experiencing fainting. SFX: persistent mechanical noises, squelching

## Summary

L.O.L.O.M.G. are under attack from a mysterious figure, Hamid and Azu armour up and Sasha does what she does best.

## Synopsis

The party is in the middle of a fight with a medusa in the factory of Damascus. They handle it relatively quickly, and Sasha loots the body. She finds a masterwork bow and adamantine arrows, tossing them over to Grizzop, along with another adamantine dagger that she takes, a ration pack, and an workplace ID/punch card made of etched steel. Sasha takes all of them.

They get back to work smashing the factory, and Grizzop goes over to investigate the simulacrum. However, before anyone gets started, Hamid hears a voice in his ear and recognises Saira, who tells him that Ishaq has been taken. Hamid says that he doesn’t know anything about it, but tells her to send more information. He turns to the rest of the party and informs them that someone has taken one of the twins, and that they need to get Einstein on the mobile stone and get Hamid back to Cairo. Another message appears, and Saira says that they have no idea where they took him, because they teleported. Hamid says he’ll try to do something, and then relays that information to the party. Azu asks if he needs help, and Hamid says that he might, but that it’s also important to shut the factory down. Grizzop tosses him the mobile stone, and Hamid calls Einstein. Einstein answers immediately, asking for Azu, and tells her that Emeka has been kidnapped (and that her family is also lovely). He says that he’s going to go investigate more to try and figure it out, and hangs up.

Meanwhile, Sasha and Grizzop keep sabotaging the factory. Hamid is starting to properly panic, and Azu and him are trying to mutually comfort each other as they worry. Fifteen minutes pass; they still continue sabotaging, but the minutes stretch. Grizzop goes to investigate the Simulacrum conveyor belt, and he thinks its heading back toward the warehouses, but isn’t sure. Instead, he starts to shove adamantine ore into the conveyor belt gears, and it slowly starts breaking all the chassis around it.

Einstein comes through the mobile stone, and Hamid runs over to Azu to listen in. Einstein apologises for taking long and asks how many people they know in Rome, further explaining that he thinks they’re in Rome. Azu and Hamid ask if Einstein can send them to the same place, and Einstein is hesitant, saying that the chances of things going wrong are very high. If he tries to transport to Rome, there’s a chance that they could overshoot by hundreds of miles. Hamid asks again, and Einstein relents, saying that he needs to do some stuff first before it can happen. Grizzop tries to interrupt, but Einstein yells at people on his side of the stone to stop shouting so he can listen. He finally goes into another room, and Grizzop tells Einstein not to teleport him. Einstein hangs up, and they all decide to continue sabotaging the factory. Grizzop tells Azu and Hamid that he knows they need to go, but offers to stay and tell the people of Damascus about all of this and explain.

They all get back to destroying the factory; Hamid has a lot of nervous energy and is getting really into the destruction. Suddenly, Azu hears a voice in her ear, quiet. Whoever it is tells them that it’s time they all talked, and Azu looks around, trying to find the source, but there is no one else there. The voice says that they’ve been trying to speak to them, but has come up against some resistance. They mention that they were the one who left Barret for Sasha, and mentions that they own this factory. Azu says good, and the voice seems exasperated, saying that she’s going to want to hear what they have to say, referring to the fact that they’ve kidnapped people that the party cares about. She asks who else they have, and they tell her to go into the supervisor’s office and bring the others. She doesn’t hesitate, getting the rest of the party’s attention, and explains what’s going on. Grizzop stays where he is, destroying the factory, and Sasha says that if they’ve kidnapped Bi Ming, he can handle himself. The voice speaks in Azu’s ear again, saying he can’t, and Azu relays the message.

Hamid starts looking around for the supervisor’s office, and Sasha starts heading up the stairs. Grizzop continues sabotaging while the other three go up to the office. It’s dark and empty, and the door is closed. Sasha checks it for traps, but the door isn’t even locked, so she pushes it open. Inside, there’s an array of complicated controls in the room, and a floor-to-ceiling mirror along the back wall, with ornate lettering around the side. There’s a weird, swirling smoke coming from behind the mirror, and Hamid casts *dancing lights* to illuminate the room. He examines it, and notices that it’s a way to communicate - you wouldn’t be able to talk through it, but it was most likely used for whoever is calling them to watch over the factory. Hamid announces them all to the room, and Hamid approaches the mirror while Azu and Hamid stay back. The inside of the mirror is also swirling smoke, but when Hamid gets close, the images start to get a bit more clear, but they’re still off - as though something (like Rome) is affecting the magic of the mirror.

   On the other side of the mirror, there are four bound figures on their knees facing the mirror, with two cowled figures behind them. Hamid can make out Bi Ming, Ishaq, an orc, and a goblin who looks the worst off. Azu comes up next to him, and notices the same thing, recognising Emeka. Hamid is just staring daggers at the mirror, and then asks what they want. The voice reappears, saying that they just want the party to stop. Azu asks who the goblin is, and the voice tells him that they’re for Grizzop. She runs to the door and calls Grizzop’s name, and Hamid threatens the person speaking, saying that he doesn’t care who they are, but that they party is going to come for them. He refuses to stop, and says that the only reason the kidnappers aren’t dead is because their family members are still alive. He tells them that they aren’t in control here, and screams dragonfire into the mirror; his face changes and fire streams out of his mouth at the mirror. It completely shatters; the bits that aren’t metal catch fire, and the rest begins to melt a bit as Azu continues yelling for Grizzop.

## Quotes

**Alex**: "Hamid, you hear a whispered voice in your ear."
**Saira**: "Hamid, it’s Saira. Someone’s taken Ishaq from the house. If you know anything you need to let us know as quick as you can."
**Hamid**: "What! Oh! What! What! Oh my god! I don’t know anything. Um, send more information, I’ll come and check as soon as I can. Guys, guys, guys, I just got a sending from Saira. Someone’s kidnapped one of the twins!"
―Hamid learns that his brother has been kidnapped.

**Saira**: "We think they teleported, we don’t have any more info, I was hoping you might have something."
**Hamid**: "I’ll see if I can do anything. So, I think they might have teleported away but I still probably need to go back to Cairo and see what happened."
―Hamid learns that his brother has been kidnapped.

**Hamid**: "Einstein!"
**Einstein**: "Oh, hello, oh that is so weird! I was just going to call you. Oh, that’s so strange. Is Azu there?"
**Hamid**: "Yes, why were you gonna call us Professor?"
**Einstein**: "Really weird thing, put me on to Azu."
**Hamid**: "Um, could I ask you a quick favor first?"
**Einstein**: "No."
**Hamid**: "Please, it’s really important."
**Einstein**: "This is more important."
**Hamid**: "My family, my little brother’s been kidnapped."
**Einstein**: "Oh, that’s weird, I have the same message for Azu!"
―Hamid asks Einstein for help figuring out what's happened to his brother.

**Einstein**: "Uh, so two things. One, your family is lovely, I really like your friends and family."
**Azu**: "I know, they are, they’re the best people in the world."
**Einstein**: "The other thing, one of them’s missing now."
**Azu**: "What?"
**Einstein**: "I’m certain they were teleported, I’m just finding out where from now."
**Azu**: "Which one?"
**Einstein**: "Yeah, um, it’s Emeka. They’ve been putting me up, really good person, super nice, gone now. Totally gonna find out where they’re from. Just thought I’d let you know."
**Hamid**: "Can you tell us, yeah, tell us where they’ve teleported, probably the same person kidnapped my brother."
**Einstein**: "Cool! Oh, yeah, yeah, about that, um, I’m sorry. I’m gonna go check this out now, okay bye!"
―Einstein shares that Azu's brother, Emeka, has been kidnapped.

**Azu**: "Should...but, should we, should we go and get him if he knows how to?"
**Hamid**: "We can’t do anything unless he teleports us."
**Azu**: "But...nooooooo."
**Hamid**: "He’ll get back to us, he said he’d get back to us, he’s looking into it, he’ll be able to find out, he’ll find out where they teleported from, he’s like the best teleporter in the history of ever."
**Azu**: "Okay, alright, it will be okay. I promise."
**Hamid**: "It’s gonna be okay Azu!"
―Hamid and Azu have to wait until Einstein figures out what's happening.

**Einstein**: "Would everybody stop shouting! Stop shouting!"
**Alex**: "You can clearly hear he’s now talking to people who aren’t you."
**Einstein**: "Stop shout…, it's fine! Yes, she's there, she says hello, I don’t, would you, it’s fine, stop shouting! Why are you crying, I’m fixing the problem! Little girl, go tell the others, I’m fixing the prob, I need a book, need to, stop it okay, I’m closing, I’m closing the door. Oh my god!"
―Einstein avoids Azu's family.

**Azu**: "He says go to the supervisor’s office and look in a mirror."
**Grizzop**: "No."
**Sasha**: "If they’ve done anything to Bi Ming Gusset, I’ll be angry, but like, he can look after himself."
**Wellington, Jr.**: "No he can’t."
**Azu**: "He says, no he can’t."
**Grizzop**: "Ah, so he’s listening. Hey, uh, mate…get shafted, I’m not talking to you."
**Ben**: "I’m gonna go back to sabotaging the factory."
―Wellington, Jr. communicates with Azu.

"You see on the other side there are four figures that are bound and on their knees facing the mirror, with two cowled figures behind them. You can specifically see Bi Ming Gusset, you can see Ishaq, you can see an orc, they seem quite large for an orc, and you see a goblin there who looks slightly the worse for wear compared to the others."
―**Alex**

**Hamid**: " I don’t know who you are. I don’t care who you are. All I’m gonna tell you is that we are coming for you. And let me promise that every drop of pain and worry and fear you inflict on a single one of these people will be paid back ten times upon you, and the only thing, the only thing that is keeping you alive right now is that they are alive still. So I’m not gonna stop. You are not in control here. We are. And you will regret this SO MUCH."
**Bryn**: "And I scream. I scream dragon fire into the mirror."
―Hamid breathes fire.

## Dice rolls and Mechanics

* Grizzop makes a Survival check: 9
* Sasha makes a Perception check to look for traps: 17
* Hamid makes a Knowledge (arcana) check on the mirror: 17

## Combat Breakdown

Combat continued from previous episode.

**Initiative:** Strange figure, Sasha (24), Grizzop (18), Hamid (17), Azu (13)

**Round 1**

* Grizzop: Moves into cover behind the conveyor belt.
* Hamid: Takes shelter behind the stairway they came in through, and casts *mage armor* on himself, giving him +4 to AC.
* Azu: Moves to cover and casts *ironbeard* on herself, giving her +1 to AC.

**Round 2**

* Strange figure: Shoots two arrows at Azu. Azu misses on her Perception check with an 8, and the figure deals 19 damage to her.
* Sasha: Stabs the figure twice with sneak attack damage, rolling a 19 twice on the attack. She deals 18 damage on both hits. The woman cries out in a language that none of them speak.
* Grizzop: Moves to get line of sight, and fires three arrows at her. He misses on a 14, hits on a 17, dealing 7 damage, and then attacks again, hitting on a 20 and dealing 3 damage.
* Hamid: Casts *magic missile*, dealing 11 damage.
* Azu: Moves toward them and attacks, hitting on a 17 and dealing 17 damage.

**Round 3**

* Strange figure: Gives a cry and rips off her hood, revealing that she’s a medusa. She yells something in a strange language, and uses her petrifying gaze on Sasha. Sasha succeeds at her Fortitude save with a 18, and the world goes weird for a moment before returning to normal. The creature takes a five foot step onto the conveyor belt and the snakes stare in all directions.
* Sasha: Somersaults over the medusa and stabs her in the back, rolling a 21 on her Acrobatics check. She hits on a 25 and deals 14 damage.
* Grizzop: Takes a 5-foot step and attacks. He hits on a 15 and a 19, dealing 7 and 2 damage. He shoots again, but misses on an 11. He ducks back behind the conveyor belt.
* Hamid: Casts *magic missile*, dealing 10 damage. The medusa dies.