The previous session ended with party nearly done with Augustus' "evaluation trial". All that was left to do was interview a Sensate, and find some way to scare the beejeezus out of Zin, Twig, and Ginaea.

Given that the party had to return to the Civic Festhall anyway in order to report out to Augustus, the group decided to figure out what to do about the remaining fear experiences first. While doing so, Rusteen finally managed to convince the others to return to his bar in the Lower Ward, the Eye of the Beholder. (He was anxious to get back there for a couple of days now.) On the trip from the Lady's Ward, Twig admitted that she was never very comfortable with the Nothing that could be seen (or not seen) off the sides of Sigil. Everyone agreed that is was worth a shot, and probably a bit safer than risking wandering around the Slags and tempting the Kadyx for a time.

Upon returning to the Lower Ward, part of the reason for Rusteen's insistence was discovered. It seemed he taken some of Que's suggestions for improving the ambiance of the bar and implemented them - the man was anxious to show off. The "improvements" consisted of adding clean water to the menu, and cleaning up one of the private rooms (removing most of the grime, a fresh coat of whitewash, patching up the holes in the wall, etc.). As a crowning touch, one of the wenches placed a pathetic-looking daffodil in a rusty can on the table. Que was unimpressed.

Zin, on the other hand, did display some reaction - and one not altogether encouraging. As soon as the daffodil appeared, he ran screaming from the room in terror. Shazarr and Que quickly followed him outside to find out what the heck was going on. After taking a moment to calm him down, they got part of the story out of the terrified githzerai. Zin mentioned something about the "fearsome guardians" that his former slave masters used to keep him in his cage before he escaped. Still not clear on the concept, but accepting that there was something to his story, they agreed to go back inside and "slay the fearsome beast" for him. They found that Twig had accomplished most of this by eating the petals. To make sure of reassuring Zin, Que stuck the stem to the table with a dagger.

Now that Zin's fear had been captured on mimir, it was time to take care of Twig and then figure out something for Ginaea. The party walked down about two blocks from the Eye of the Beholder to a smaller tavern that was built on the very edge of Sigil. While Rusteen not-so-subtlely checked out the competition, most of the party headed up to the roof (after paying an "admission fee" of 5 cage per person). Twig stayed below to tank up on a few (more) drinks before risking her mental health for the cause. Eventually, Twig and Rusteen headed up. (Rusteen did consider trying to climb up the outside of the building instead of paying 5 cage, but a large man with a crossbow in the mood for target practice made him decide otherwise.)

Once on the roof, the party experienced Nothing in their own way. Que sat right on the edge of building and got in some high-quality meditation. Zin and Shazarr, while vaguely intrigued by the concept of a literal Nothing, decided that it really wasn't worth dwelling on. Ginaea stared at in a sort of horrified fascination. It seemed the Nothing triggered a fear response in her as well. (It does make a certain amount of sense; as a Sensate she's all about experiencing things and experiencing Nothing isn't exactly an experience and is definitely an embodiment of Hell.) Rusteen and Dr. Fever, meanwhile, concerned themselves with trying to get Twig close to the edge and forcing her to look at Nothing.

Their efforts probably did more for her fear response than the Void itself. Although the rogue modron did nothing more than hold on to the wood genasi's suspenders, he did form something of an immoveable roadblock behind her. Rusteen, after copping a short (unintentional?) feel of Twig's butt, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed. This, combined with reflexive look forward into the Nothing, peaked the fear meter. It also put her into a "fighting flight" mode. She jumped and flipped over behind Rusteen, and then attempted to kick him in the groin. Fortunately, Rusteen was turning around, so she missed and just popped him in the knee instead. Also, fortunately, Dr. Fever decided to back up and snap Twig away from Rusteen by her suspenders. (Well, fortunately for Rusteen. The impact knocked the rogue modron flat onto his rear face.)

The fear experiment concluded, the party returned to the Clerks' Ward and the Civic Festhall. While entering the building, Shazarr had a brief run-in with some human known as Shalazar the Onyx. The man displayed a slightly disturbing interest in the tiefling's medusan heritage. Shazarr decided against accepting the man's invitation to come and be studied in the interest of the ecology of stone. Shalazar seemed non-plussed by calmly left, after asking where a message might be sent so he could check on occasion to see if Shazarr changed his mind. Twig briefly engaged in a futile attempt to get an interview with the Sensates' Factol, Erin Montgomery. About the time the group was tiring of the run around and was considering just sneaking upstairs and into her office, another noted Sensate graced the scene - Brucey B. As one of the more outrageous and trendsetting members of the faction, he is nearly as popular as the faction's leader. Using Dr. Fever as a plow, the party worked its way through the gathered throng and attempted to get an interview. Brucey nearly blew them off, but the group managed to start offering him a few unique sensations that got him talking. (These would be allowing Brucey to fondle Shazarr's hair of snakes, as well as Ginaea's and Twig's butts. That, and being pestered by a rogue modron.)

The interview concluded, the party was finally done with their tasks and sought out Augustus to return the mimir to him. The Sensate was glad that the group had finished, even though it was the second to do so. He asked the group to return in three days' time so he would have time to review the events recorded in the mimir.

The three days were very quickly covered in session. We can always RetCon over e-mail if you have something specific that you wanted to accomplish, such as shopping.

After three days, the party returned to the Civic Festhall and Augustus. Overall, the Sensate did like what he recieved. He did mention a certain lack of forethought and efficiency, but the intensity and enthusiasm of the experiences made up for it. He also remarked on a certain penchant for stealth and deception. Augustus felt confident that the group work as a means to gather sensations for his private library. In closing for his trial, he gave each member of the group 25 cage, and then asked if they were willing to be contracted to obtain another experience for him. Dr. Fever immediately accepted, attempting to be more like Que (a member of the Ciphers).

What the modron agreed to, on the party's behalf, was for them to travel to the first layer of Pandemonium and an area known as Winter's Hall, just to "take a look around". Upon further pressing, Augustus did reveal that the area in question was actually the realm of a power commonly known as the Trickster. The portal near to the burg of Icebite and the realm was located in the Market Ward. They key was a practical joke played on a complete stranger. In parting, Augustus gave the group an additional 20 cage each in order to buy supplies for the trip.

On the way out of the office, Rusteen asked Dr. Fever to bag the mimir as he wanted to talk about Augustus. It seems that Rusteen did some digging (or rather, had some other people do some digging - he is Fated after all) for some info about the house that the party planted the seed at. The house was owned by an old widowed sage, one Lady Weathermay. While having no faction allegience, she did tend to favor the Guvners and Harmonium (as she used to date a high-up in the latter faction). It would seem that three days after the party planted the seed in her garden, the old lady and most of her staff had been strangled to death by the flowers in the garden. Nobody other than Rusteen seemed to be concerned at all by this odd coincidence.

The party stocked up on winter clothing and ear plugs. They then proceeded to go to the portal and wait for someone to fall for a practical joke. The joke in mind was for Rusteen to tie a coin to a string, and then yank it as the target reached for it. When they followed, Que would dump a bag of flour on their head. The joke didn't quite go as planned. First, Rusteen tried to use a copper bit as bait. In the Market Ward, that wasn't anywhere near enough to attract attention. Eventually, the prime figured this out and changed the bait to a cage. This worked, but people were too suspicious to enter the mouth of the alley where the portal was. So, finally, Que just threw the bag of flour at someone and the portal opened.

Stepping through, the group was assaulted by the icy cold and maddening winds of Pandemonium. Fortunately, the group did have ear plugs were able to withstand the onset of insanity that the constant gales usually cause. Striking out at random, the party picked correctly and found the tiny burg of Icebite where they confirmed directions to Winter's Hall. After dealing with the neurotic bartender - of course, any long time resident of Pandemonium is neurotic - the party was on its way. A long trudge upwind eventually found the group engulfed in a blizzard.

However, once into the blizzard, the nature of the winds seemed to change and they no longer clawed at one's brain. The party had successfully entered the realm of the Trickster. Of course, they don't know quite where they have to go to "take a look around", so the party just wandered blindly for a time. (Sometimes literally, as the snow varied in intensity and occasionally blotted out nearly all vision.) Within time, the howl of wolves was heard, and the sound keep getting closer. Realizing that they were being hunted, Rusteen decided to change the party's heading, while Que placed an illusion ahead of their original course to distract the beasts. Unfortunately, it really only got their attention.

The session ended with the group running through the snow, Dr. Fever tripping and landing flat on his forward face, and then a small pack of rabid wolves bounding out of the swirling snow intent on eating everyone is sight...

Authored by: Ken Lipka E-mail me: krlipka@yahoo.com

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