*** Session 06 - Scene 6 (of 7) ***

After recovering, Deadly Snow heads back out into the wastelands to catch up with her companions. As she runs along, she stumbles right into a pair of plague zombies lying in wait.

Like the ones she encountered before, these zombies move very fast. They rush in and bite at her, but she manages to duck out of the way of one and block the other with her dagger.

Deadly Snow then tries to make a run for it, but the zombies are able to keep up with her. She fights off a couple more of their attacks before finally leaving them in the dust.

Out in another part of the wastelands, Mulroney and Nardig set up camp for the night and sleep for a while. Just as they get ready to break camp, Deadly Snow rushes in.

Deadly Snow quickly explains about her pledge to Zaladane to recover Lorna's remains and how she negotiated for a truce until then. Mulroney says they should get going to Rikki then. Deadly Snow makes sure to stress to the witch, again, that she is bound by honor (while Mulroney simply agrees that honor is "good stuff").

They make good time on their journey to Rikki. As they near the town, they are approached by a pair of men wearing long coats. The men have shaved heads with the same tattoos on their faces. Mulroney can tell the tattoo is not magical in nature.

Mulroney asks what they want. One of the men tells him to state his business. Mulroney says they are there to seek their fortunes.

Apparently misunderstanding Mulroney's intent of the word "fortunes", the man points towards a nearby shop and suggests Mulroney will want to be visiting the astrologer then. Mulroney decides to go along with it but says they are looking for a young woman named Lorna.

Mulroney tries to get the men to say whether or not they've seen Lorna, but the man remains oblique. When Mulroney tries to bribe him, he tells the witch to move along.

With the men watching carefully, Mulroney decides they better go inside the astrologer's shop. When they get inside, they see there is a man on the floor of the shop with his throat cut. From his dress, it would appear to be the astrologer.

Mulroney looks around carefully while reminding Nardig not to touch anything. He sees a curtain separating this room from the back room. Nardig listens carefully, but hears nothing.

The witch bends over and starts searching the man's pockets. He finds a coin purse with four gold in it and decides to leave it there. As he does that, Deadly Snow moves behind the curtain.

Just as Mulroney is standing up, he hears people getting ready to open the door. He turns around to see it open with the two men from the street.

The men see the body and immediately go for their weapons. Mulroney tells them to hold on as they just found the man like this, saying he even still has money in his pockets.

One of the men looks around and asks where the girl is. Mulroney tries playing dumb at first, but after he insists Mulroney says she went into the back to investigate. He calls out to her, but she ignores him instead readying her daggers behind the curtain.

The man to the left tells everyone not to move, and motions to the other man who heads outside. The remaining man tells Mulroney and Nardig to make no sudden movements. They decide to follow the instructions.

In another minute, the other man returns with two more men of similar appearance. They appear to be holding manacles. Mulroney and Nardig make no movement to resist and allow themselves to be chained.

Deadly Snow peers through a crack in the curtain to see what is going on. One of the men spots her and calls out to the others.

Mulroney calls out to Snow to say they've done nothing wrong as honorable travelers, stressing the "honorable" part. He urges her to come out.

Deadly Snow puts up an ectoplasmic wall in case they try to come back. She doesn't want to be arrested and tries to ignore the calls to come out.

After a few tense moments, she finally relents and comes out to surrender. Like the others, she is placed in manacles. The lead man says they will need to go see the magistrate, a man named Stormgren.

*** Session 06 - Scene 7 (of 7) ***

At Stormgren's palace, they meet the magistrate of the town. He is an older man, looking somewhat kindly but perhaps a bit unhinged as well.

He tells the men he feels safe having a conversation with these three. He has the men remove the manacles and wait outside while they talk.

Once the others are gone, Stormgren says he heard they managed to get themselves into trouble. Mulroney says they went to the astrologers based on the recommendation of the "fine men" and found the body. He stresses he knows strangers from out of town are suspicious but all they did was walk into the shop.

Stormgren appears swayed by Mulroney's argument that they wouldn't murder someone after just talking to the town guard. He also says Bassino (apparently the name of the head of the guards) didn't find any blood on the weapons they confiscated from them or other evidence pointing to them as the assailants.

The magistrate calls the situation an "unfortunate incident". Mulroney agrees it is such, especially for the astrologer. While Stormgren ponders why the astrologer was killed, Mulroney changes the subject to ask about Lorna, saying they came from Beartooth to look for her.

The old man recognizes the description of the young woman but says she was using a different name, Ma'leese. Mulroney suggests she was using discretion while traveling.

After some questioning, it appears Lorna was in town a couple of days ago but may no longer be around. Stormgren says people don't stay around for long as there have been problems in the area lately.

Mulroney suggests the astrologer's death is certainly a problem, but Stormgren says that is a bit of a new development. The old man wonders if the astrologer was killed because he didn't pay the Thieves of Harr-Ki, who have been preying on the town for some time now.

After Mulroney claims ignorance about the thieves, Stormgren gives some of the basic information (group of thieves extorting businesses, Harr-Ki the bird warrior god, backed by demons, etc.) but also says he knows the truth about the thieves as the "overlord" has told him.

Mulroney wonders if the man is sane, and asks him about the "overlord". Stormgren says he is in communication with a special agent who calls himself "The Overlord of the Undermound" as a matter of mocking the giants.

Pointing to the mirror on the wall, Stormgren says he uses it to communicate with the Overlord. The magic in the mirror allows them to communicate their voices, though he hasn't actually seen the man.

Stormgren insists the Overlord is quite knowledgeable. Mulroney asks if the Overlord will talk to anyone. Since Mulroney and his group seem to be "special", Stormgren suggests they may be able to speak to the Overlord.

The old man heads over to the mirror and whispers to it. Something whispers back from the mirror with a very deep voice, but even Nardig can't pick up exactly what they are talking about.

After a moment, Stormgren tells them they are blessed for the Overlord has agreed to speak with them. From the mirror, a deep voice calls out to approach.

They move in to talk, The Overlord asks who they are and Mulroney says they are humble travelers, but the voice of the mirror says he believes they are more than that.

The Overlord continues to say he predicted the coming of powerful travelers such as them, using his knowledge of astrology.

Mulroney asks how he can speak through mirrors. The Overlord says the device is magic. When Mulroney points out that magic is illegal, the Overlord says he cares not for the giant's laws.

Stormgren explains the two of them work against the giants' interests, using their agents. Mulroney asks the Overlord what to call him. The Overlord gives his proper name as Karellen. Mulroney doesn't recognize it.

Mulroney tells Karellen he is looking for Lorna, also named Ma'leese. Karellen says he might be able to locate her using the stars. But in return, he wants their assistance against the Thieves of Harr-Ki.

According to Karellen, the Thieves of Harr-Ki secretly work as agents of the giants. In particular, they work for one known as The Herald. The Herald takes the funds extorted from the communities to fund the giant's forces.

Karellen goes on to say the thieves are too powerful for a frontal assault without some kind of advantage. He says the thieves fear a witch named Tr'di, who was allied with the Old Ones back in the Age of Darkness. She had an amulet that could be used against the thieves.

Mulroney asks if they need to get the amulet from the witch, but Karellen explains it is not so simple. He says the witch is long dead, but her amulet was taken by a group Karellen calls "The Rillietann". Mulroney is getting confused at this point and asks who they are.

Stormgren points out the Rillietann are the elves, who the locals call "The Harlequins" because they are some sort of clowns.

Karellan says the elven clowns are actually a cult, worshipping the elven god Cegaroch, the Laughing God. Mulroney says he never heard of him. Karellen explains that in the elven mythology, Cegaroch was said to have witnessed the death of the other elven gods (except their sole surviving god, Khaine) by the Old Ones at the end of the Age of Darkness.

Deadly Snow tries to piece it together – they need to kill the clowns (the Cult of Cegaroch / Rillietann / Harlequins), take the Amulet of Tr'di, and use it to defeat the Thieves of Harr-Ki to stop The Herald, which will then allow them to find Lorna.

As they try to get the story down, Karellen mentions there is one more complication. The amulet, he says, is hidden inside of a fortress of the Rillietann known as the Black Vault which exists in a separate pocket dimension. It is there they hold various confiscated evil magical items and other artifacts from the Age of Darkness.

Mulroney, growing increasingly incredulous at the complexity of the situation, asks how they are supposed to get into the pocket dimension. Karellen says that will take some doing.

Stormgren warns them it will be under heavy guard by the elves, but he's sure they'll come up with a plan...

*** Session 06 - Session Notes ***

So, the good news is I finished these notes early for once so you get them right after the session last Friday. The bad news is we likely won't have another session for a few weeks as the Mulroney player is moving during our next regularly-scheduled session and the other guys are loathe to take a leadership role in the game so feel lost without him (despite the fact he points out many times he's terrible at coming up with good ideas). For his part, the Mulroney player wishes the other players would step up a little more so he doesn't end up doing all the talking with NPCs (he's been bugging the Deadly Snow player about adjusting her concept so she'll speak more). Oddly, because of the way the Palladium experience point system works, this does mean Mulroney has a lot more XP than the others (he's level 3 while the others are still on level 1 or 2).

But overall, the campaign is still moving along great. My plot threads are really starting to shape up (even if the players started to get really confused by the end of the session because of all the layers) and its getting that epic feel.

Some general thoughts by our group on the Palladium Fantasy rules:
* Pro - They really like the less abstract combat rules (as opposed to D&D style rules)
* Pro - They like percentile skills
* Pro - They like how the game feels more epic and character-driven because PCs start out so powerful (again, compared to D&D style rules)
* Pro - They like how the game isn't overly combat focused and more interaction and planning driven in general
* Con - The skill list is too large / not standardized enough
* Con - They prefer the BRP-style skill gains after each session instead of per-level adds
* Con - They absolutely hate the terrible layout of the Palladium books and how it takes forever to find anything (picking new skills and spells for Mulroney when he reached level 3 took over 40 minutes)

As the GM, my thoughts are:
* Pro - Love having all the great material from the multiverse to work with
* Con - Creating stats for NPCs or new monsters is a giant pain in the ass
* Con - I get it isn't a dungeon crawl system, but any kind of treasure allocation guidelines would be nice (I may yet write a Rifter article myself on that)

For running a game, I still think D&D and its variants are easier (I'm interested in trying 13th Age or Fantasy Age) but I do think the player experience is much cooler in Palladium. If I wanted something grittier, then I prefer the BRP-style rules.

Other random notes about the session:
* I had to write out the Tickles PC again because it was his volleyball night. Hence, him running away.

* I had to really explain to the players that Sir Percy was warning them, not in league with the tectonic entity.

* A tectonic entity is way too powerful for the group to take on its own (especially with only Mulroney really able to damage it) so I had Sir Percy able to assist.

* The idea of a bunch of entities being summoned by a mistake with the magic cauldron is an idea I had for a while now because of the text written in the description of the ritual.

* Sir Percy of Scandia comes from the Marvel Comics character, though this particular implementation is taken directly from my Rifts North Chicago campaign.

* Ma'leese is, of course, Malice - the Marvel Comics character from the X-Men series (hence, Lorna and Zaladane).

* Sir Percy's story about Prester John, the Lord of the Deep, and the Witch Lord was told more or less exactly the same in the aforementioned Rifts campaign (though that time it was Rugar hearing it).

* Mulroney recognizes "England" because his soul is that of Father Mulroney, from the Cthulhubusters version of Earth (as used in my Cthulhubusters Lakefront City and Cthulhubusters Crescent City campaigns).

* The ebony blade (again, a Marvel Comics thing from the Black Knight's mythology) is tied to the Minion War from Palladium here (though at the time of the Rifts campaign that wasn't a thing yet so I actually based it on the same concept from the Planescape setting of AD&D).

* Similarly, Eobar is another Marvel Comics character.

* The search for Palin Partur by D'artagnon (who is obviously named after the Three Musketeers character) was the backstory for the prologue to the Rifts campaign. Rugar Blascan (a PC from a player in that campaign) and his actions all took place in that campaign - including the part about Liftkor (side note - the Nardig player had that character in that campaign).

* The sword was indeed said to be destroyed during the Rifts campaign. How it reformed is a mystery yet to be revealed in this campaign.

* The tale of Glebecar and Zelzn's battle is inspired by the Megaverse in Flames Dimensional Outbreak book. Again, Glebecar is named after Carl Gleba, the writer of that megaplot. Zelzn is named after artist John Zeleznik who did the kickass covers to those books.

* Sir Percy probably should have detected the evil from the PCs right away, but that wouldn't allow me to give a ton of exposition. I used dramatic license that he wouldn't actually check until they asked him for help getting the sword, which would make him suspicious. Similarly, I can't just have him helping the PCs so he needed a reason to leave them to their own devices.

* The plague zombies encountered by Deadly Snow were Fast Attack Zombies from Dead Reign. They were rolled on a random encounter table I have, but it was nice to keep the plague zombie subplot going.

* I always planned on someone having to fight one of Zaladane's warriors to get the time limit removed since there was no way they would find Lorna before it ran out.

* The town guard in Rikki are mysterious because the story (which hasn't come up yet) is that the town uses the Delaque gang (taken from the Warhammer 40K Necromunda game) as mercenaries to guard the town.

* Rikki, Stormgren, and Karellen are all inspired by Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End, but don't assume that means Karellen is a demon (or devil). The players don't seem to get the reference yet.

* The Herald of the giants is another in-joke. But the war against the giants is intended to be a major plot thread.

* Again the whole Cult of Cegaroch, Rillietann, Harlequin stuff is all Warhammer 40K inspired.

* The players had a really, really hard time at the end of the session keeping track of the series of events that had to occur, which was hilarious.

*** Session 07 - Cast of Characters ***

Yukiko Amagi (aka The Deadly Snow): A ten-year-old aberrant human girl; a major psychic trained as a secret assassin. She considers Tickles to be her father after he raised her as an orphan.

Tickles: An anarchist coyle thief and minor psychic. He raised Yukiko from a little orphan girl into the assassin she is today so she could earn them money as a hardened killer.

Nardig: A miscreant hobgoblin mercenary exiled from his family for his evil deeds. He can control his tendencies for short periods of time to work with small groups, but will steal from them and turn on them with the slightest provocation.

*** Session 07 - Scene 1 (of ***

After the most recent incidents with danger, Tickles wanted to make sure he was ready for the next time he found himself in a fight. Taking some of the money he had left after partially paying Materich, he headed over to the armorer and purchased a new set of studded leather armor along with a heavy, two-handed hercules club at the weaponsmith's.

With everything purchased, the coyle thief planned to head out to Rikki, based on the note left for him by Yukiko. But on his way out of town, one of the local street punks motions him over to a nearby alley. Tickles goes over, and the youth explains a message was left for the thief at the local guild so he's delivering it.

Tickles opens the message. It invites him to meet at the Laubenstein Inn in Zarzote at midnight in a couple of days' time to discuss a mutually-beneficial arrangement (clearly some job someone wants him to pull). The note is signed by someone named "Morlock". Tickles doesn't recognize the game.

The thief considers his options – Zarzote is in the general direction of Rikki, but they are still a day or so apart from each other. Since it will take two days to get to either location, he'll need to go to Zarzote before he makes it to Rikki in order to make the meet-up time.

Not wanting to try a job on his own, Tickles ultimately decides to ignore the offer and head straight to Rikki so he can meet back up with Yukiko and the others.

*** Session 07 - Scene 2 (of ***

A few days later in Rikki, Deadly Snow is busy trying to find more information on the harlequins. After their recent audience with the Overlord of the Undermound, the Great Mulroney suggested they all split up to find more information that might give them a way to get inside the Black Vault of the elves to retrieve the Amulet of Tr'di.

So far, Deadly Snow has managed to uncover very little they didn't already know. Eventually, she comes across someone who has actually seen them from a distance at their camp outside of town.

In addition to getting information on where the camp is located, Deadly Snow also learns they wear garishly-colored outfits that seem to give them an almost blurry appearance as they move. The young assassin suspects the garments are magic and the blurring effect is some sort of defense against attacks. The also appear to wear black masks with white skulls on them – a symbol of death – which intrigues her. Other than their outfits, she learns only that they are skilled acrobats who perform a variety of physical feats as part of their act.

Yukiko wants to follow up on the apparent magical aspects of the troupe, but has no luck discovering anyone local in the Scarlet Alliance. As she is asking around, she spots Tickles in the nearby tavern. She stops over to talk to him, finding he had a rather uneventful trip from Beartooth (which she finds relieving, but also annoying given her recent encounters with plague zombies).

Tickles enquires about Mulroney and Nardig, and his young ward explains they all split up to look for information. After the two of them talk it over, Tickles suggests they do some recon work on the clowns. Deadly Snow wonders if they can track them back to the Black Vault.

Since neither of them knows how one would access a pocket dimension or even what one is (as they are not versed in the ways of magic), they decide they may need to try to do more than just observe from afar. Deadly Snow thinks of a potential angle to get in closer with the Rillietann. She notes because of their magic clothes, she can't go in with a disguise. However, she wonders if trying to join their routine using her acrobatic skills might do the trick.

It doesn't take long before they spot the camp up ahead in the area Deadly Snow found out about in town. To get closer, they move in the dark with the girl activating her psionic powers to provide her with nightvision so she doesn't need a torch.

The two try to approach quietly, seeing three of the harlequins apparently practicing some sort of dance / combat maneuvers. Unfortunately, Deadly Snow accidentally kicks a rock as they move in closer and the noise attracts the attention of the elves.

The elves begin moving towards Tickles and Deadly Snow, doing flips and cartwheels as they head over. Deadly Snow decides to try and impress the clowns with a back flip of her own, but fails and ends up landing on her ass. The clowns stop a short distance away to laugh at her attempt.

Though only her pride is actually injured, Deadly Snow fakes an ankle injury as she looks beyond the clowns at the tent in their camp. Tickles immediately knows what she has in mind and plays up the injury as well, asking the clowns for help with his injured ward.

The clowns glance at each other without saying anything then shake their heads. Tickles asks if they have any medical skills, and they respond by acting out a series of gestures indicating they do not. Tickles realizes they must the kind of clowns that are mimes, which they confirm by nodding when he asks them.

Pressing on, Tickles tells the harlequins he is looking for some clowns to perform at a birthday party for his daughter (gesturing towards Deadly Snow). He asks if they would be interested and suggests he would pay well, but they shake their heads indicating they are not interested. Nor do they respond positively when asked for references for other clowns potentially in the area and motion for Tickles that he should leave.

Tickles ignores the suggestion and asks if they can rest for a bit so his daughter can recover from her injury. Deadly Snow plays up her injury as well, telling her father she doesn't think she can walk. After considering the idea for a moment, the elves relent and invite them to sit over by the fire.

*** Session 07 - Scene 3 (of ***

As Tickles helps Deadly Snow over to the camp, the elves move over performing their jumps, flips, and cartwheels. Deadly Snow gives a convincing performance with her limp. When they get there, one of them throws something into the rocks in the center of camp and a fire blasts into existence.

While the two of them sit by the fire, the clowns decide to put on a small show for them. They begin juggling some fungus balls. Deadly Snow makes sure to clap and act enthusiastic as they perform their act.

Tickles tries to take the opportunity to sneak over to their tent, but one of the clowns notices him. When he realizes they've spotted him, Tickles asks if they have anything to eat and suggests he is starving and implies he was headed over to the tent to look for something without disturbing him.

The elves throw him one of the fungus balls. Tickles isn't so sure about the edibility of the fungus balls (himself preferring rats and other live meat over eating fungus in the Undermound). One of the elves mimes for him to eat. After looking it over and determining it most likely isn't poisonous, he finally eats a little to appease them and sits back down.

Seeming pleased, the elves go back to juggling. Tickles whispers to Deadly Snow to ask what they should do next as their plan isn't working out so well so far. She suggests perhaps she can impress them with her own skills.

The elves then motion for Tickles to stand up and they place him in the middle of their juggling. When they switch from fungus balls to knives, Tickles gets nervous. He tries to dive out of the way but inadvertently causes one of the knives to hit him in the arm.

While he tries to stop the blood, Tickles asks why they started juggling knives as they really unsettled him. The clowns motion in a way that suggests they are sorry.

Tickles then asks if he can go in their tent to look for something to bandage himself up since he's bleeding. They agree.

While Tickles heads over to the tent to look for whatever he can find, Deadly Snow wants to keep the elves distracted by showing off her knife-throwing skills. She hobbles over to where they have a target and throws. She hits it, but not very well, and the elves give her a "better luck next time" sort of pantomime.

Inside the tent, Tickles searches furtively but finds little more than the elves' bedrolls and some personal items. He does manage to locate some materials to patch up his wounds, but is dismayed there is nothing suggesting how to get into the Black Vault. He wishes he would have brought along some poisonous scorpions to put in their bed rolls.

Outside, the elves show off to Deadly Snow how well they can hit the target while throwing knives. They move her over to the target and put a fungus ball on her head, then throw a knife that splits it in half. So as to not waste food, they hand the remains to her to eat.

Still undeterred, Deadly Snow tries to find another way to impress the clowns. Seeing a set of parallel bars they use as part of their act, she attempts to work them. Unfortunately, she again fails and falls to the ground. The elves help her up and pat her on the back, getting increasingly patronizing with each of her failed attempts.

When they help her up, Deadly Snow takes a closer look at them to see if they have any weapons. In their belts, she can see they have strange sorts of weapons – they appear like cat o' nine tails, but made of slender cords of metal rather than leather.

She tries asking them about their weapons, showing her own cat o' nine tails and saying it is different. One of the clowns draws an elven symbol in the ground, but since she doesn't speak Elven she doesn't know what it means.

The clown picks up a rock off the ground and throws it in the air. He then uses the whip to slice it into several pieces with much flourish. Yukiko assumes the weapons must be magical somehow.

By this point, Tickles has emerged from the tent. Seeing the display with the weapon, he assumes any plan to offer his services as a bodyguard won't work. He exchanges some glances with Deadly Snow and they realize they are out of good ideas.

He thanks the clowns for their hospitality, asking if there is anything they can do to repay them. When the clowns suggest there is not, Tickles hands them his pocket mirror as a gift. The clown he hands it to looks confused, but puts it in his pocket. The two then hobble off back towards town.

On their way back to town, Tickles and Deadly Snow discuss possible options. Tickles found the clowns to be rather nice and almost regrets having to kill them. Deadly Snow, however, is focused on the method – she feels unless they can find a way to make the fungus balls explode, their best option is to poison them. Neither of them considers too much about how they'll get into the Black Vault if they kill the elves, feeling they'll figure that out at some point.

*** Session 07 - Scene 4 (of ***

Nardig felt his best bet would be to find another hobgoblin with some magical knowledge to talk to about the Black Vault. Unfortunately, like Deadly Snow he doesn't usually travel in magical circles so he didn't have much luck.

After a couple of days of fruitless searching, he comes across Tickles and Deadly Snow coming back from the harlequin camp. They discuss what he's been up to, and Tickles suggests looking for someone who may have worked with the astrologer such as an apprentice.

He doesn't discover an apprentice, but the word around town is the astrologer was friends with a man named Crentist, a local barber-surgeon (and dentist). They decide to head over to his shop, Crentist's Leeching and Tooth Extraction Emporium, and talk to the man.

Crentist asks them how he can help, suggesting he could pull one of Tickles' canines. The coyle doesn't like the way the doctor is looking at his teeth, and immediately changes the subject to say they are looking into the astrologer who died, The Amazing Dwute.

Tickles explains Dwute was a real asset to the community and his death was a real loss. Crentist corrects him by saying Dwute wasn't actually liked by many people, but he was friends with him and he was a good customer (he needed regular teeth pullings due to all the fungus balls he ate rotting his teeth).

The thief asks the dentist if the astrologer had any enemies, trying to figure out why he met his early demise. Crentist can't think of any enemies per se, though notes he never got a lot of business.

Tickles then has a thought, asking how there can be astrologers in the Undermound since they can't see the sky. Crentist says he asked Dwute about that once himself, and the explanation was they guessed the position of the stars based on star chart documents and calendars. Of course, among the astrologers in the Undermound there is much debate over which charts are accurate or even what the actual date is, so it's not much of an exact science.

Intrigued, Tickles asks the surgeon if he ever did any astrology work himself. Crentist says he did not, though notes he did try augury a few times using extracted teeth but it never seemed to work. Nardig finds the whole thing bizarre.

Getting back to the subject of Dwute, Tickles asks about the last time Crentist talked to him asking if the man was worried about anything or said anything strange. Crentist recalls him saying something about a bald, pale man lurking near his shop shortly before he died.

Tickles is sure the strange-sounding man is involved somehow. He asks what the man was wearing, and according to Crentist the astrologer said the man was in dark robes. Nardig wonders if the man was albino, but Crentist said Dwute said something about the man having dark eyes.

Thanking the man, Tickles prepares to leave but Deadly Snow has some questions. She asks if he gives anyone anything for the pain when he pulls teeth. He explains he usually just has them bite down on a stick with their other teeth. For the ones that can't handle the pain, he waits until they aren't suspecting it and punches them very hard in the mouth (though admits he usually gets more than one tooth out when he does that and not always the right one).

Tickles is somewhat incredulous, asking what happens when he needs to get out one in the back. Crentist says you have to punch really hard to get those as they don't come out easy. Tickles exclaims he doesn't envy Crentist his (assumedly) thankless job.

Before they leave, Tickles asks about Dwute having an apprentice (he did not, as he didn't make enough money for that) or any children (again, Dwute's acerbic personality prevented that). Crentist does mention a cousin in town named Buckman who mostly does odd jobs around town. According to the dentist, they were on well-enough terms (and isn't the same as the bald pale man) so Tickles isn't sure that will lead anywhere.

As they head out, Crentist makes another appeal for a leeching treatment. According to him, he has the best leeches and a good leeching will restore their rigor and vim. Tickles says he'll keep that in mind when it is time for his next leeching.

*** Session 07 - Scene 5 (of ***

Feeling they aren't making much progress, Tickles gets frustrated. Deadly Snow suggests they head back over to the astrologer's office to investigate as they didn't really get a chance to before. She also wonders if the astrologer's notes might reveal anything about how to get into a pocket dimension.

They quietly make their way back to the astrologer's office and find it looking the same as they left (except that the body is gone). The front room has only the small table and two chairs, with a small chest nearby being used as a table. On the chest is a book of star charts open to a page.

Tickles examines the book carefully. He can't tell anything from the star charts (not being an astrologer) but does notice a note scrawled into the margins, reading "Charno". Tickles doesn't recognize the word but does get the feeling it is the proper noun of some kind.

Putting the book to the side, Tickles opens the chest. Inside are some spare linens for the table, a spare set of the astrologer's robes, and a fancy hat he must have worn at times. Tickles checks over the chest, and the hat, for anything hidden inside but finds nothing except for a small sack with glass beads in it. Deadly Snow checks over the table and the rest of the room but finds nothing either.

Nardig searches in the back room where the man's living quarters are. He starts by digging through the regular clothes in the armoire but finds nothing hidden in them. Nor does Deadly Snow find anything odd with the food still stored in the room.

Since the blood is still on the floor, Tickles carefully sniffs the blood so he gets the scent down. He can't tell if there is more than one person's blood there nor can he track the scent (in case it got on the killer).

Nardig looks around the parameter of the building for any discarded weapon used in the killing. Unfortunately, he finds nothing there.

Out of potential leads on the killing, Deadly Snow suggests they go to the apothecary next as she wants to get some poison for the clowns.

*** Session 07 - Scene 6 (of ***

At the apothecary shop, they are greeted by the store owner, Verrock. Deadly Snow asks about a euphoric drug that would affect the senses (knowing deadly poisons are much easier to detect). Tickles gives the cover story they are thinking of opening a dentist shop that doesn't involve punching people in the face.

Tickles first asks about anything injectable. The shop-keeper suggests basilisk's eye, as it can paralyze a man. That isn't exactly what Tickles was looking for and he isn't sure he wants to pay the cost of 200 gold a dose.

For a general relaxant, he suggests the plant veroc (noting the similarity to his own name). He notes when brewed into a tea, it will relax the patient and enhance their senses. Tickles says he definitely doesn't want anything that enhances the senses.

Given that criteria, Verrock suggests oponi – a bushy plant whose leaves can be pressed into cakes or wades. When ingested, the plant gives a light-headed, floating feeling that reduces inhibitions. The mention of cakes gives Deadly Snow an idea and she decides to purchase an ounce of the plant (about four doses worth, for 150 gold).

Deadly Snow and Tickles discuss their plan. Since they already laid the groundwork for Yukiko's birthday, they'll bake the plant into an actual cake and serve it to the clowns as a birthday cake. Because he has the psionic ability to negate toxins in his system, Tickles can even eat a piece without fear of feeling the effects. For Nardig, they'll have him stay back until they signal him to come in to attack.

They then head over to the baker's shop to have him bake them a cake. Bru'ger, the baker, offers to bake the cake for 50 gold. When Tickles balks at the price he says he can bake them a less fancy cake for 20 gold but Deadly Snow insists on the fancier one, as they need to "sell this". Tickles hands over the money and instructs Bru'ger on how to mix in the plant without rendering it ineffective and has him frost the cake with the picture of a clown on it for added effect.

*** Session 07 - Scene 7 (of ***

The next day, they make their way back towards the harlequins. As they near the elven camp, Nardig hides behind a nearby outcropping where he has a good vantage point. Tickles and Nardig walk up, with Deadly Snow skipping along as they head in.

The elves notice them and point to the cake. Tickles asks them to forgive their intrusion, but says his daughter insisted on them coming back out for her birthday. Yukiko plays it up, talking about how they are the best clowns ever after she saw their juggling act.

Tickles says they are more than welcome to join in the cake. Deadly Snow pleads with them to join in the festivities, noting she can't eat the cake herself as she has a condition preventing her from eating anything made with wheat flour. The clowns consider their options for a minute and ultimately decide to let the pair back into the camp and join them for wine and cake.

One of the clowns takes out his weapon and swirls it around, neatly lashing the cake into eight perfect pieces. Deadly Snow claps and shows enthusiasm at the display while Tickles finds it impressive but scary.

The clown motions for Tickles to eat a piece, which he gladly does. Once Tickles swallows his piece, the clowns join in, lifting their masks just enough to eat.

Tickles tries to make conversation with the clowns about whether they are planning to stay in the area or move on. They try to make some motions to explain, but Tickles has a hard time following it. He can, however, tell their motions are starting to get a little less coordinated.

Deadly Snow picks up on that as well, and tells Tickles to be quiet as she wants to see them juggle again. She pleads until they agree to juggle the knives again. When one of them misses and ends up with a knife through the hand, the others move over to help. One of them trips and falls along the way, and starts rolling on the ground laughing.

Yukiko decides it is time for action and tells Tickles. She notes they only need to keep one alive for questioning. Hooting like an owl, she signals Nardig.

Nardig draws his sword and heads in towards the clown with a knife who is trying to pull the knife out of the other's hand. He slices in, getting a solid hit.

The clown on the ground sees what is going on and stops laughing. He jumps up, weapon in hand. Tickles runs over to him and touches his weapon, using his powers to teleport it a distance away.

Meanwhile, the one clown pulls the knife out of the other's hand. Deadly Snow decides to help by throwing a couple more knives at the injured one, but even with his dulled reflexes he manages to move enough to only damage their armor.

The wounded clown throws out a dagger at Deadly Snow, but it is stopped by her armor. In response, Nardig cuts into the clown with a couple more hits.

A few feet away, the clown next to Tickles performs a back flip combined with a kick, but Tickles manages to block it. However, the back flip does move him out of the way. He draws his hercules club and heads over to help Nardig with the other clowns.

The wounded clown whips out his weapon and attacks, slicing into the coyle's arm. Deadly Snow throws another couple of knives at him in response, hitting him with both.

Tickles attacks back at the clown in front of his with his heavy club, but the clown manages to parry it. He twirls around and flicks the metal coils across Tickles' shoulder, cutting into him again. He begins to bleed from the wounds.

Deadly Snow draws her battle axe and moves up to the action. Tickles has another attack blocked while she moves in and hits with her battle axe. The clown manages to block her second attack but the first does injure him.

Nardig scores another hit on his clown but is hit by his counterattack, though his armor protects him. As he does so, Deadly Snow chops into him with her axe, covering the two of them with his blood.

Meanwhile, Tickles smacks into the clown he's attacking with his club with a sold blow. He can hear the bones of the clown crack under the pressure. The clown tries to attack back but Tickles easily parries.

By now, the third clown has found the weapon Tickles teleported away and is heading towards Nardig. The hobgoblin turns to face him and slashes the elf across the face, drawing a little blood.

Deadly Snow lunges in at the clown Tickles injured, hacking into him with her axe. She gets a glancing blow into his leg. Tickles follows it up by smashing the clown's head with his club; he seems somewhat dazed by the blow and badly misses when he tries to attack back.

The other clown slashes Nardig across the chest with his whip-like weapon as it cuts straight through his armor. The hobgoblin strikes back with his sword, slashing into the elf.

Deciding it is time to try and capture one of the clowns, Deadly Snow attempts to tackle the clown in front of her and Tickles, but he steps out of the way and she stumbles to the ground. Tickles takes the opportunity to hit the clown across the jaw with his club and blood begins to flow out of the mask.

Badly injured, the clown attempts to make a run for it. Deadly Snow gets up and pulls out her grappling hook. Tickles runs after the clown but can't catch up. Yukiko then tosses her grappling hook, entangling the clown and sending him to the ground. He hits his head on the way down and appears to lose consciousness. Tickles moves in to tie him up with his rope while Deadly Snow grabs her axe and heads over to assist Nardig.

A short distance away, Nardig fends off another attack by the clown he's fighting then stabs into the elf again. The elf attacks back again but only manages to damage Nardig's armor.

Nardig attempts to finish the clown off, but the clown manages to parry twice. He also fends off an attack from Deadly Snow. While Nardig does his best to parry off the clown's counter attacks, Deadly Snow chops off his leg and he falls over and dies from the massive blood loss.

*** Session 07 - Scene 8 (of ***

With the two clowns dead and the other unconscious, the three grab up the strange weapons of the harlequins. They also examine their clown suits and masks, but find whatever magic they may have had is lost as they were too badly damaged in the fighting.

For the dead clowns, they cut off the heads and put them in a bag so Mulroney can deliver them to whoever he needs to later. They look through their belongings for any clue about the Black Vault, but find nothing. Tickles does manage to recover his pocket mirror.

Not sure how the town may react to bringing the clown back there, they decide to sneak him in by tying his arms and legs to themselves and "walking" him in. The effect would not pass close scrutiny but they manage to keep their distance to avoid any strong attention.

They take the clown to the astrologer's shop for interrogation. Deadly Snow has them tie the man to the bed. She then splashes him with cold water while mentally getting prepared to activate a mind block in case he has any psionic powers. Nardig, meanwhile, keeps a lookout outside.

Eventually the clown is roused. He swears at them in Elvish but as no one speaks it Deadly Snow slaps him and tells him to speak the common tongue. Tickles, playing the role of "good guardsman", says there is no need for such language, reminding the clown it is a birthday celebration.

Tickles asks the clown his name. The harlequin responds by asking what they've done. Tickles repeats he wants the name, but the elf refuses to answer any questions.

Deadly Snow threatens torture, though it doesn't seem to impress the elf. She responds by cutting off his finger. He responds by showing her a different finger.

Tickles tries asking what the elf knows about a pocket dimension, but he stays quiet. He likewise doesn't respond to questions about "Charno".

Deadly Snow tries a few more tactics, such as putting knives under his fingernails or cutting off some of his flesh. All she gets for her trouble is him spitting in her face (despite Tickles saying there is no need to get nasty).

Realizing her efforts are doomed, she says they should just kill him. Tickles, trying to pretend the others are still alive, says he hopes they wouldn't have to kill any of the clowns. Deadly Snow ruins the effort by lifting up the two severed heads and asking, "What about these two?" The surviving elf swears at them more in Elvish.

Tickles calls that an "unfortunate accident" and says they just need to find the Amulet of Tr'di, pleading with the elf to not make it hard. He even tries tickling the elf but that doesn't help matters (not even able to get him to laugh).

The elf starts whispering something in elvish. Tickles slaps him and tells him to stop but he doesn't. Worried he is muttering some kind of incantation, Tickles tries to cram his hand mirror in the elf's mouth but is having trouble getting it in.

With no tactics left and feeling frustrated, Deadly Snow cuts off the elf's genitals and he quickly bleeds to death. She then cuts off the head and puts it with the others. Since the bag of heads is beginning to drip blood, they empty out the chest in the astrologer's parlor and Nardig hauls it out as they go to get a room at the inn.

*** Session 07 - Session Notes ***

So, this was a session I wasn't expecting to have - the other players actually agreed to proceed without the Mulroney player after all. The session bordered on the limits of the amount of zaniness I want to see in a session, but it more or less followed a logical flow. Except, of course, that they didn't actually accomplish anything (and in some ways made things more difficult).

Random notes about the session:
* The note to Tickles from "Morlock" asking to meet at the "Laubenstein Inn" is more or less taken directly from the first adventure in the module Harlequin for 1st edition Shadowrun. I had converted that entire mission to something relevant to the game as a way to give Tickles something to do and move the story along, but he made the choice to go to Rikki instead. But since they'll be heading to Zarzote at some point, I have a feeling this will come up again.

* The appearances of the clowns is taken pretty much straight from the 40K harlequins, including the masks of the death jesters.

* I considered the options about how to handle the clowns' reactions to Yukiko and Tickles, but since she is a little human girl (and kept screwing up her attempts to impress them) I thought having them not see the two as a threat made sense and kept things more interesting.

* The clowns weren't originally designed to be mimes; I decided to add that aspect later to make them creepier.

* I debated letting Tickles find something in the tent, but couldn't come up with anything logical as there is no reason for the elves to have anything about the Black Vault there.

* The harlequin's weapons are based on the 40K kiss of death weapon the death jesters carry.

* Crentist the Dentist is, of course, the joke from the American version of The Office. The Deadly Snow player made a joke about Crentist the Apprentice and I decided to go with it. Similarly, Dwute is named after Dwight Schrute (originally I was going to use the Buckman name for him since the whole dead astrologer / Charno angle was inspired by the X-Files episode, Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, and I misremembered the name).

* Until the Tickles player asked, it never occurred to me how the astrologers in the Undermound actually did anything.

* The pale, bald man with dark eyes will be revealed next session, but as for what he is and why he killed the astrologer - I'll give a hint that he's a mutant based on a type of mutant from Rifts and leave it at that.

* As odd as it seems, I came up with the name Verrock (by combining a first and last name of someone; but I forget who now) before I saw there was a veroc drug in the Palladium main book.

* I do remember Bru'ger is based on Bruegger's Bagels.

* I let the wacky plot with the cake work since it was rather inspired, particularly after they unintentionally foreshadowed it themselves.

* In the actual session, Yukiko explicitly said she had Celiac's disease to avoid eating the cake. I removed it as an anachronism in the write-up.

* The Nardig player, normally a terrible roller, rolled almost nothing lower than a 17 the whole fight.

* The exact description for bringing the unconscious clown back into town was they were going to use a "Weekend at Bernie's" tactic.

* The interrogation scene took a really long time with the players repeating questions and tactics more than once. Literally every attempt had an associated roll that was very poor. It was particularly funny as the Deadly Snow player had the same thing happen earlier with her various skill use attempts to impress the elves.

* The ending, with the heads in the bag then rolling around in the chest, reminds me of that terrible Joe Pesci movie from the 90's, Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag.

*** Session 08 - Cast of Characters ***

Yukiko Amagi (aka The Deadly Snow): A ten-year-old aberrant human girl; a major psychic trained as a secret assassin. She considers Tickles to be her father after he raised her as an orphan.

The Great Mulroney: A miscreant changeling witch who believes he is human and masquerades as a prestidigitator. He sold his soul to the devil prince Glebecar and has a devil familiar named Shoes.

Tickles: An anarchist coyle thief and minor psychic. He raised Yukiko from a little orphan girl into the assassin she is today so she could earn them money as a hardened killer.

Nardig: A miscreant hobgoblin mercenary exiled from his family for his evil deeds. He can control his tendencies for short periods of time to work with small groups, but will steal from them and turn on them with the slightest provocation

*** Session 08 - Scene 1 (of 9) ***

Since splitting off from the others, the Great Mulroney had little luck finding any useful information on the elves and how to get into their pocket dimension so they can reach the Black Vault. Since Rikki has no local clown guild of its own, there isn't anyone to contact in that area nor does he know anyone in the local Scarlet Alliance.

Eventually, he makes his way down to one of the taverns. It is filled with the usual dull, working folk but he does notice one of the town guardsmen sitting at the bar, wearing his long with his shaved head showing the strange tattoos. He decides to order the man another round and tries to make conversation.

The man is a bit gruff at first and wants to know what Mulroney wants. Mulroney tries his best to sound friendly, saying he's just there enjoying a drink and wanted to express his appreciation for all the fine work the town guard does.

The guardsman notes how odd it is that Mulroney always has the cat with him. Mulroney extolls the virtues of having a pet, saying they keep a man entertained. He asks the guard if he has any pets; the guard says something about having a rat around once but he ate him.

Mulroney tries to use the talk about entertainment to bring up the subject of clowns. He makes a few oblique questions about clowns to get information about of the guard, but the guard says little and what he does say about the local renegade elven clowns is all information Mulroney already knows.

The man isn't really interested in talking about clowns, saying he doesn't like them much. Mulroney says he doesn't really care for clowns either, hence why he travels with a cat. The guard says he doesn't like cats either.

Mulroney presses for more information but the guard just says they are strange. Eventually he offers they wear skull masks, which Mulroney notes isn't very funny. The guard suggests their sense of humor isn't the same.

The witch asks if perhaps the clowns are up to something more than they appear. The guard says according to his boss (referring to Bassino), the clowns are part of some sort of cult. He doesn't know much more and says only that Bassino has given them instructions to stay away from the elves as long as they don't come into town.

Dropping the matter for the moment, Mulroney decides to ask the guard about his tattoos instead. The guard explains they are the markings of his clan, the Delaque. From what Mulroney is able to gather from the man's clipped responses, the Delaque clan are a local clan used as hired mercenaries (or "private security contractors" as the man insists) by Stormgren to police the town.

Mulroney tries to get information out of the man about where the clan headquarters is (as he wants to try talking to Bassino personally), but the guard says the location is not discussed with outsiders. He's also told he can't talk to Bassino directly, though the guard suggests if Mulroney needs to get ahold of anyone, he can simply talk to any of the guards on patrol.