The Reluctant Heiress
Chapter Six: Elysian Fields
Jenny and Edward returned from Balboa Park at about 3 am. Sir Pensius
was still awake watching Little Alex, their captive sluagh childling. Jenny and Edward
told Sir Pensius about their scouting expedition to Underhill. Pensius told them
to get some sleep and continued his watch of Little Alex. Sir Pensius' exhaustion
got the better of him in a few hours and he dropped off to sleep for a moment. Little
Alex seized the opportunity to attempt an escape but was quickly captured by Toby
and Edward, who heard him go out the kitchen door and hunted him down quickly and
mercilessly. Toby wanted to eat Little Alex (what a surprise!) but Edward distracted
Toby from that notion by reaching into his magical backpack for some Toby food.
He pulled out a large ostrich with wings, which certainly served to distract Toby
from his previous dinner prospect. Despite his efforts at jumping around the room
and gnashing his teeth, Toby couldn't quite catch the bird. To put an end to this
little scene Sir Pensius directed his retainer Franklin to get the ostrich for Toby.
Franklin grabbed it and asked Toby if he wanted it alive or dead. Toby said “Live,
me want live!” and took the offered bird and bit its head off. Little Alex, convinced
more than ever that he was unlikely to survive the night, took every opportunity
to attempt an escape. Eventually, worn out and demoralized, he gave our heroes less
trouble.
The media globe now shifted to Erendil, the unseelie sidhe schemer we met last time.
Giselle, Erendil's mysterious antelope companion, told him that he is geas-bound
to intervene in the matter of Ariel capture. It seems that there is a great potential
for harm to glamour and the Dreaming if Ariel is not taken out of Elektra's hands.
Erendil considered his options and decided to make his move right before dawn. Underhill
is only open to the real world between sunrise and sunset. Although people can leave
the freehold any time during the day, they can't come back until sundown. Erendil
figured that even if he and Ariel were captured by the tragos, they wouldn't be
back in Elektra's clutches until sundown, giving them time to escape. He "distracted"
an attractive female satyr guarding the slumbering Ariel and managed to get the drugged
Ariel (who had the mirror in her back pocket) onto Giselle's back. Erendil stealthily
led Giselle and Ariel out of the freehold just as dawn broke. The last thing Erendil
saw in Underhill was the sudden awakening of the redcap gatekeeper, so Erendil got
out of the area as fast as he could. He took Giselle and Ariel to Elysian Fields,
the nightclub in Hillcrest Jenny gave as her contact address.
Our heroes were rudely awakened early on Friday morning by someone banging on the
door. Pensius, tired from his nearly sleepless vigil, answered the door and found
Sir Armaund waiting on his doorstep with two of Count Tormentil's "assistants”,
a green and silver clad sidhe knight named Sir Ferdinand and a blue robed sorceress
named Lady Isabeau. Sir Armaund proceeded to tighten the screws on Sir Pensius while
Ferdinand and Isabeau started looking around the place and taking notes, presumably
for "remodeling" in the anticipation of the freehold reverting to Count
Tormentil's estate if Sir Pensius does not succeed in his quest. Sir Armaund left
after impressing on Sir Pensius the importance of returning Ariel to the Count by
Saturday afternoon.
As our heroes gathered to compare notes and develop a strategy, Jenny got a call
from Felix at Elysian Fields. He told her that a "friend" wanted to talk
to her, and gave her the friend's cellphone number. She called the number and Erendil
answered. He told her that he had "liberated" Ariel from the tragos, but
he thought that the tragos might not be far behind.
The group decided that everyone except Chamone (Pensius, Franklin, Toby, Jenny, and
Edward) should go to Elysian Fields in case there's trouble. As this left no one
home who could handle guarding Little Alex, Pensius gave Little Alex two options.
He could stay where he was, in which case Pensius would return his gun to him when
this was all over, or he could leave, forfeiting his weapon. Pensius found the torc
Count Tormentil gave to him to disenchant Ariel and brought it with him. Pensius
and the gang got into Franklin's car and Edward's pickup, and raced to Elysian Fields
(literally - Edward won the race). When they arrived, Pensius noticed that Edward
brought Chamone along in his truck, despite Pensius's command. By abusing his dexterity
to drive fast, Edward got to Elysian Fields first and thus he and Chamone presented
Sir Pensius with a fait accompli, which obviously pissed Sir Pensius off.
The group assembled at the back door to see several shadowy figures trying to break
into the building. The perpetrators attempted to avoid the our heroes by running
around the building. Chamone used a "Willow-Whisper" cantrip to ask the
building which way the figures went. Edward got Alex's gun from Pensius, and stood
ready to shoot any enemies he saw. Franklin kicked at the door to bust it open while
Jenny used a "Hopscotch" cantrip to jump to the roof and look in through
the skylight. Toby chased after some of the figures but did not catch anyone. One
of the figures, revealed now as a satyr, tried to tackle Edward but missed his mark.
Pensius hit the attacking satyr with a "Fuddle" cantrip, using the riddle
bunk "Goes round the house and in the house but never touches the house."
(the sun), which succeeded. Edward fired the gun at the fuddled satyr, who was now
trying to flee, and hit him once. He didn’t manage to do any damage.
In the meantime one of the attackers, a satyr, managed to get inside the nightclub
by way of a Wayfare cantrip and attacked Erendil. Erendil used a cantrip called "Dictum"
to stop the satyr's attack. Erendil gave the satyr a message and commanded him to
deliver it to the intended recipient. The satyr ,bound by Erendil's command, leaves.
Erendil noticed Jenny looking into the skylight as Franklin managed to kick down
the door. Edward's attacker attempted to flee, but was taken down with several shots
from Little Alex's gun, wielded by Edward. Since Edward had the safety on, the gun
did only chimerical damage, knocking the satyr out of his fae seeming and into his
(now unconscious) mortal form. Edward found a medallion with the shape of a triangle
on it around the neck of the satyr, and took it from the unconscious man.
Meanwhile, off in a corner, Chamone saw that Ariel is unconscious and tried to revive
her by putting her magic Madonna pearl necklace on Ariel. Erendil took it from Chamone,
saying that he needed healing more than Ariel did. Chamone protested loudly, and
Erendil protested back. Chamone admitted that the necklace "restores virginity"
(not quite knowing what that means) and Erendil laughed at her confusion.
Erendil and the others compared notes and agreed that Pensius will take the still-unconscious
Ariel back to Tormentil. Ariel then showed signs of awakening, so Pensius slipped
the torc around her neck. She awakened, confused, and asked what's going on. Chamone
snapped out "We're saving your sorry ass!". Ariel, still dazed, listened
to what the others told her of recent events. Her face went dark at the name of Zander,
her satyr boyfriend, and she asked to be taken home. The game ended as Erendil rode
off on Giselle, who had shapechanged into a motorcycle, and the others got in their
cars to head back to Starry Wisdom Temple. When they arrived home, they discovered
Little Alex gone.
Home