Scout could tell by the dark purple haze around the eyes of the travelers that they were servants of Shadow. He had seen the same energy around his own eyes. So while the party headed off to enjoy their lavish luncheon with the Solaria nobility, Scout quietly excused himself to follow these cloaked strangers.

Their path through the city streets was indirect, almost as if they were trying to mislead any tails they might have. But Scout had tailed too many shifty folks through the evening streets of Illika to be thrown by three figures in dark cloaks at noon in Solaria. It was not long before they reached their destination: a large casino called the “Twilight Imperium” with a very prominent CLOSED sign outside.

They kept their voices low as someone opened a window to speak with them, though Scout could still hear their words… and he noted that they were speaking in a language they should not know: the secret tongue of the Unseelie Fey [which, incidentally, Scout just learned as his lvl 5 theme bonus]. Waiting a few minutes after they were let into the casino, Scout walked up to knock on the window and gain entrance for himself.

13 hours later, in the earliest hours just after midnight, Scout’s friends emerged from the sewers, the body of an assassin in their hands. Delivering the assassin to their Drow ally, Ssussun, they were surprised to see a dwarf they’d met earlier that evening. The Drow said the aristocrat had been looking for the group.

“You folks need to hurry. Your friend, the tiefling boy, is in WAY over his head in that card game. I crapped out pretty early… even lost the title to my manservant, Kanye. But your friend, he’s in it till the end, and I don’t think the house ever loses. You need to get to the Twilight Imperium.”

Sunday, November 18, 2012

The party met back up at the Solar Palace, sharing the news of the assassin with Ssussun. They also met the wealthy Coventry dwarf, Jethro Goldeneye, who told them that Scout was in over his head at the Twilight Imperium casino. Heading there with their newfound ally(?) Jimmy (or “James the Radiant”), they entered the casino as their old friend, the Elven Pirate Blackheart Deathclaw (actually the Rakshasha Kalarel) was leaving. Once inside, they realized that they needed huge sums of money to buy their way into the back room, where Scout likely was.

After attempts to win large sums of money came up fairly short, the party was met by another old “friend”, the devil Le’ralak (or “Lee”, for short). Wearing his sunglasses brazenly (a big insult to the church of the Sun), he told the party that he’d pay top dollar for any souls they acquired via gambling. Nikolai decided to try selling his services to the casino, singing songs that made gamblers worry that they’d miss the “big score” if they left the tables too soon. This greatly increased gambling revenues, which the party got a percentage of (including a good 10 souls or so, many of which were gnomish, a chunk of cash, and a mechanical man). When the party refused to sell the souls to Lee, he made a counter-offer to buy the whole party’s way into the back room (minus Jimmy) in exchange for one of two property deeds that were being traded in the back room. The party reluctantly agreed.

In the back room, Scout had just gone all-in against Ankaladon the Black, the dragonborn owner of the casino and head of the city’s thieves’ guild, the Shadowclaws. When the party accused Ankaladon of cheating, he spoke of resolving the accusation by combat. However, he continued his cheating by calling in a contract with his master, the Fey Lord Zira. Zira’s power killed Ankaladon, but she was bound to fight the party as his last wish. The party was victorious, and Zira’s power was banished back to the realm of the Dark fey.

Scout won a great deal, including the deeds to the Twilight Imperium and the Solaria orphanage. Knowing that one deed had to go to Lee, the group decided to move the orphans to the casino, where Scout would lead in their caretaking, and Lee would receive the empty orphanage property. Certain cardinals made acquaintances with Scout, guaranteeing that certain arrangements would be upheld between the church and the casino.

The party waited around for the next week, as a new Pope was appointed by the Cardinals. Ssussun was elevated to a Cardinal’s robes, and the party prepared to depart for their next coffin’s destination.

TREASURE: (party)
- 1,000 GP each
- Melora’s Storm Blessing (Nulath)
- 10 souls (6 of them gnomish)
- 1 automoton

TREASURE (Scout)
- ridiculous amounts of money
- Casino full of kids
- manservant “Kanye the giant”
- grandfather’s sword