Florence and the Machine

*Florence and the Machine* is the title of the seventh episode of the fourth season of The Numen Swell and the forty third session of the entire game.

This session was played on July 14th, 2019

## Plot

Dex adapts to his situation and Sonney takes matters into his own hands.

## Synopsis

*In the immediate aftermath of the crew being transported, Dex looks up to find no one else around. He’s confused but not showing much concern. He continues to loot, finding nice boots and a cloak and even a massive mechanical lobster buried in one pile that he can man and drive.*

Sonney is face-to-face with Kurudi and quickly asks if he can help him get rid of a curse. Kurudi asks why he should even consider helping him after all he’s done and Sonney reminds him about all they’ve been through together and how without him, the shaman wouldn’t be admiral right now. They banter for a bit before Kurudi finally caves and attempts to remove the curse because he doesn’t really have a reason not to. He once again requires a sacrifice and Sonney immediately looks towards Bones. He then looks over at the monkey in the cage and nods towards it, suggesting he’s more that anyway. Kurudi obliges and begins his ritual. Once it is over, Sonney calls up Orville to try and be mean to him. He calls four but gets feedback. He attempts to call three and gets an answer. He UNLOADS on the guy and hangs up. He doesn’t think anything of it and attempts to leave. Kurudi warns him that there are hundreds if not thousands of men just north of here and the next port so watch out. The Half-Hadozee doesn’t acknowledge it because a large amount of clouds begins to form above their location. He doesn’t want to get caught in the storm so he rushes out back to his ship. The storm grows exponentially so Kurudi follows. The Shaman implies that every time something goes wrong in the Swell it involves the crew of the Armadillo in some form. Sonney suggests that really it was Kifo and he’s gone so it can’t be their fault. Sonney departs for the next port.

*Dex attempts to control the apparatus right away. It’s awkward but he gets it out of the treasure room and back up to the beach. While he finally takes a moment to rest, he discovers that this machine belonged to a William Garret, The admiral of the navy almost two hundred summits ago. That lines up with Booker Dread's death so he thinks nothing really of it. He decides to spend a few days getting the kinks out of his piloting and transporting as much treasure back up to the remains of the Armadillo.*

 While Sonney is on the water, the storm continues to rush them. It’s not on par with the Swell itself but it is dramatically powerful. He takes this time to belittle Orville again and doesn’t get any headache so he knows the curse has been lifted. He takes a moment to understand that if Orville is three then one of the others is in fact dead. He calls two and gets no answer. He braces himself and calls one and just hears breathing on the other end. He hangs up immediately, knowing Tecnic would have said something. Anything. He doesn’t want to think about it. He arrives at Moto port and sees dozens of naval ships ported. He deicides to go for an upgrade and he and his men “procure” a smaller vessel. They depart knowing they weren’t stealthy enough to go unnoticed.

Dex has mastered the Apparatus. He knows it’s a great time to leave but he is content with living out his days in solitude. That is until he finds a memoire within the machine. It details the events that transpired after Booker Dread’s death from the perspective of Admiral Garret. He discovers that Booker was never on this cove, he died at sea and this is where the Naval guys hid his treasures post-mortem. He also discovers that The Admiral and his men could not escape the island as some sort of curse held them there. He puts it together. The apparition that has been haunting them and took Mikey is in fact not Booker Dread. It’s William Garret. He gets into the apparatus and masterfully uses it to escape the cove. Sonney is heading north towards Halcon where Mikey was last heard from when one of his men spots a naval ship pursuing them. He tells his helmsman to keep going and has Bones help him pour barrels of oil off the back of the ship and light it. The trail of flames leads to the enemy ship and Kurudi appears on his deck. He begs sonney to stop killing for the sake of killing and to help him deal with the bigger threat. He points past his ship to show a swarm of Ghosts led by Wade Palgrave heading in his direction. Sonney is finally convinced that the threat is real and tells Kurudi to give him a chance to finish this. He tells him he doesn’t want to be responsible and offers his coin to Kurudi. The Shaman accepts but can only offer time and returns to his ship. Voodoo. He musters up all his strength to use the flames to form a cyclone around the ship. It pulls the spirits into it and begins to destroy them, including Palgrave.  When the flames cease there is no more ship. It is implied that Kurudi did not make it. One last sacrifice. Sonney does not mourn as he finds the piece of eight has returned to him. He sighs and puts it in his pocket. Dex arrives at Toke and hides his vessel beneath the water. He heads into Ora Tatou and goes to the Classy Lassies for a drink. He shares with Temer the information he discovered and asks if she can help him find his crewmates.

## Cast

### Main

* Sonney Griffin-Thorne
* Dex

### Supporting

* Madame Temer
* Wade Palgrave
* Brian Bones
* Kurudi Amenkufa

## Trivia

* Title is a reference to the brand on Dex's neck as well as the apparatus he discovers.
* Matt Christie was the only player to attend this session. Luckily, he was playing two characters so the episode had two plots to follow.