Hansel the Cannibal

### The Problem

In the last session, Mishka-- Hansel's conniving ex-husband-- revealed he'd poisoned Hansel's son, Jonn. In exchange for the antidote, he wants Hansel to steal the dwarven airship blueprints from the party (once they retrieve them from the dwarven ruins).

Hansel refused. Mishka typically spent his evenings amusing himself at the Silverlit Inn, a high-class bar. While Mishka was away that night, they'd break into his vineyard estate and steal the antidote.

### Breaking and Entering

The party broke into the estate. It went relatively easily... Too easy.

They slipped around the back and broke in through a window. While they were inside, Mishka came home from the Silverlit Inn, looking exhausted and bedraggled. He immediately spotted something amiss. Goro cast a spell creating a duplicate of himself running out the door, and Mishka vanished with a crack-- using his short-range teleport spell. The party stole through the rest of the manor, exploring it.

While they were exploring, they knocked out two servants using a sleep spell. Later, when they came back, the bodies had vanished. Something was wrong. It became clear that Mishka knew they were here... but wasn't stopping them.

The party located the special wine cellar beneath the house. Inside a fake sealed wine cask, they found the ten vials Hansel had seen in his vision. It became clear to that each vial was an ingredient for the antidote. Pinned nearby, there was a fake note with a coded recipe for the antidote. Hansel decoded it. It indicated five vials. He took the five, then left the rest.

Roddy took the remaining vials. While they slipped outside, they came across small stone statues with sapphire eyes. Roddy took a pair, realizing they were scrying eyes.

They took the five vials back to Jonn, who lay unconscious in his bed at the Grumpy Sausage. Ripley, Amari, Hansel, Roddy, and Jonn's stableboy boyfriend all gathered around... and they combined the five vials.

Which exploded into a massive fireball, destroying the Grumpy Sausage tavern and murdering Jonn's boyfriend.

Everyone else survived. As they staggered out of the building, Mishka emerged from the alley and dropped his invisibility spell. "Wow," he said. "I can't believe that worked. You really are a stupid brute, Hansel. You couldn't just do what I fucking told you." Hansel swung, punching him right in the face.

Mishka grabbed Hansel, using a short-range teleport to teleport up fifty feet in the air. Mishka positioned himself so he'd land safely on a building--and dropped Hansel off the roof. Hansel slammed into the ground. Mishka held up the five remaining vials, the real antidoe that would save Jonn. "Now, let's try this again--" he said.

And then Goro bolted onto the scene. He threw out his hand and said, "Drop." And magically compelled Mishka to drop the vials.

The five vials spun in the air. Mishka's face dropped in horror. He dove off the build, caught one vial, and rolled on the ground. Hansel and Goro both caught two vials. But they still needed the fifth. They fought-- and Mishka was forced to a standstill. They didn't get the last vial back... but Mishka was out of spells and out of options. He put the vial beneath his boot, ready to crush it with his heel... Then kicked it over silently. "This has gotten ridiculous," Mishka said. Then he vanished, using his last invisibility spell.

### Hansel the Cannibal

Mishka spent most evenings at the Silverlit Inn. The next day, Goro went to visit him. Mishka asked the guards to let Goro in. "Well, this is unexpected," Mishka said. "You're Ripley's kid, right?" With a flick of his wrist, he undid the magic over his face. His nose was broken. With another flick, he used magic to cover it up again. "Please don't punch me again. Hansel was enough."

Goro asked why Mishka surrendered the antidote. Mishka shrugged. "I'd lost," he said. "I never really wanted to hurt Jonn. There was no point. I just wanted to extort Hansel."

Goro asked why Mishka hated Hansel. "Listen," Mishka said. "This is going to sound insane, but it's the honest-to-god truth. Hansel and I used to be... well... we were together. We were pirates. One day I decided to retire, so I stole the ship and all the coin. I offered to take Hansel with me, but he refused." And here Mishka paused. "He wouldn't speak to me. He was furious. I left. I scryed on him from time to time. I was... concerned. He bought a new ship. But after a while, my spells stopped working. I saw his ship wreck in a storm, then--nothing. For three fucking months, I thought he was dead, thought I'd killed him. Then... Khamen, the crew's cook, came to me. He said he'd survived the wreck. He said during the wreck, Hansel *murdered and ate the entire crew* to survive. Khamen survived by staying out of sight for three weeks while they made it back to shore. I found Hansel in Skyport. He deserves to hang for what he did."

Goro asked one final question: "Why do you want the airship blueprints?"

"Well, they're valuable," Mishka said. "They have a lot of power. The dwarves used to mount flame cannons on airships and burn down their opposition. In the right hands, those blueprints are priceless. You could build an empire with them. And I'd like them." As he spoke, Goro's eyes widened, entranced.

"Well," Goro said. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Mm," Mishka said. "No. I have a few, but I think I'd rather wait until next time. Keep the mystery."