A Threat in the Offing

Players will found themselves in an island fort, surrounded by several distinct fleets who were firing cannons against the fort. The players had fuzzy memories of participating in this battle on a daily basis. An officer began briefing the players on a mission they were being assigned to as military preparation happened around them.

• Garrek - Alex
• Florian Dorian Delorean - Matt
• Anoushka - Emma
• Commissioner Chance - Joe
• Myron - Fed

The party are launched into the sea amid the massive naval battle. They initially struggle, getting pounded by numerous near misses of artillery shells which shake the tiny boat. Anoushka jumps into the water and uses their powerful legs to pull the boat, dramatically increasing its speed. Unfortunately the pull of the Magus’ fleet on Anoushka’s mind very nearly proves fatal for the party, but much shouting from the party shakes Anoushka its influence long enough to drag the party to safety.

Having reached the target fleet, the party follow a mysterious cat-burglar inside the ship, passing through a number of defenses before reaching a town square full of people. Garreck, having used their powers to skip ahead, finds themselves confronted by a brutally powerful giant Jackdaw which seems to decide it wants to take the Wheel from Garreck. An encounter that Garreck escapes, but finds one of his embraces has been stolen in the process. Garreck rejoins the rest of the party as they chat with the locals (who are in the process of robbing them of basically everything they own).

Following this, the party leave with the cat burglar (who has introduced themselves as Mousy) and head towards The Don, who they have identified as one of the “Captains” of the Outsider that they are in (as is Mousy, The Jackdaw, and ‘The Other’). The party are hopeful that they can turn these against each other.

The party run into some minions of The Don, who they manage to steal some food from, then help Mousy steal from a Warehouse of The Don’s, before final meeting The Don himself. Through some fairly major sacrifices on the parts of Florian and Anoushka, the Don is convinced to leave reality alone.

Next the party head towards ‘The Other’, encountering some Bandits which are more of a challenge than their reality based counterparts. Then Garreck finds the other reaching into their mind, trying to steal The Wheel from them, this manifests as an adventuring party journeying into Garreck’s mind. This adventuring party successfully steal Garreck’s connection to the Wheel and Florian performs an (unsuccessful) ritual to catch the intruders. Instead the party are transported to ‘The Other’, who turns out to be The Silent Regent (a foci of the Thief styled upon the Ruler of Rastaban). This fight proves to be an incredible challenge and several of the party are killed, but eventually The Silent Regent is killed by Heston and some of their power is stolen by him.

Myron then allows the party to wake up by declaring their mission complete.

Garrick debriefs to Anata. Garrek is rebuilt from the memories of his friends. Heston encounters Anata and Never, who resurrect him out of what is left of his mind.

Myron sleeps to report to his commanding officer. Report that there are three facets (lists Mousy and the Jackdaw as the same). Reports that 2 parts are onside, and third defeated. Other details as well.

Florian attempts to find Anoushka at the Rod Sanctum, the to find Heston. Eventually meeting with Garrick and Myron.

All turn up in the honourable companions clubhouse and provide a fairly detailed report. They agree that Heston should use the power stolen from the Thief to steal it's ability to coexist with each other, Heston claims he has done this. Dorian fits of a conflict ritual at the Thief to increase the conflict within.

Anoushka ask the Rod what it thinks of them. The answer is broadly positive, though weirdly they get two slightly different responses.

Garrek uses an embrace to rescue the two people stuck in the Thief.

Heston spends some time thinking about what to use his stolen power for. Eventually deciding to use it to push a desire to the Thief to stay away from reality. In conjunction with the arrangement the Party made with The Don, this seems to overcome the desires of The Jackdaw and the Thief moves further away from the barrier (although doesn’t leave completely).

• Lucid Dreamer - You can tell when you are dreaming, and actively remember both your life in the waking world and your time fighting in the barrier when in the other.
• 2 Favour (as an RP note, this is a hassle to use as very few people remember their time in the barrier and so don't remember the contributions that earned you this favour).

• Has been reborn from the memories of their friends (Matt to handle).
• Has two people relying on them to reintegrate them into society, and who are very thankful for being saved. This translates to either a major erosion ritual or 2 favour.

• May purchase Affiliate (Armed Forces of the Barrier) for 0 Favour (and 1xp as normal).

• Anoushka's Paladin path has reached an interesting crossroads (to be handled by Matt).
• Has a doppelganger within the Thief who is a facet of the Don. This is unlikely to ever come up, but you should inform the GM of this if you ever find yourself within the Thief (in this circumstance they will likely attempt to quietly replace you and return to reality with your party).

• Heston now has a doppelganger who is attempting to steal their life. For every adventure Heston goes on, the doppelganger may interfere with 1 encounter and gains a single DT action to use against Heston. For now, the doppelganger has approached Ade to warn them that the ‘other’ Heston is actually an infiltrator from beyond reality.
• Mousy (a manifestation of the Thief) may use their body while they are asleep. While this should be completely under their control, they have found themselves nodding of occasionally (maybe once a fortnight). In a circumstance where other members of the party are asleep, Mousy may engage in psychic combat to cause Heston to fall asleep and gain control of their body for a bit.

• Florian no longer has a “Legacy”. This could have a number of metaphysical implications, but broadly means that people don’t tend to remember their contributions to projects (though do remember they were involved). This also means that they can never gain or lose favour (they have exactly one favour at all times).
• Has successfully targeted a conflict ritual against the Thief, the consequences of this are not obvious to those within the barrier. As a side-effect, Florian has been influenced by the Thief (chronic affliction of the mind), such that his principal desire when in conflict with someone is to steal that which is most precious to them.

• Cheese - In your dreams, you have some very strong tasting cheese, connoisseurs will recognise it as exceptionally good.
• Glowy Thing - In your dreams you are made of a calming pure white light, people in your party gain 1 resist to FEAR per encounter in dreams.
• Shape - You now detect as a Weaver of an unknown plane. You gain no benefits from this.

While the Thief is clearly a vast entity with many aspects, the party encountered the following aspects.

• Mousy - A cat burglar who has clearly gone all in on the cat theme (despite showing some subtle bird traits herself). She is the foci of an area filled with charming confidence tricksters, gentleman thieves, and the like. The area is filled with Magpies, colourful silks, charming thieves, and a low lying mist.
• The Don - Leader of The Syndicate, a region full of thugs, human traffickers, runners, fixers, and other members of organised crime families. Members of the syndicate are more likely to cut unfavourable deals than engage in direct theft (though they do still steal). Where possible they are fond of simplifying things by taking entire people rather than just a thing or two. The area is filled with ravens, people in sharp silk suits, and a light haze that dulls the colour of everything around.
• The Silent Regent - the foci of an area devoted to taking things by overwelming force. Filled with bandits, adventurers, Throne and Rod Paladins, Imperial Commissioners, and other elements of Rastaban themed power. The area is filled with crows, purple silks, and fogs which swirl ominously around peoples feet.
• The Jackdaw - A dark empty area in which the Jackdaw circles. They embody the more animalistic WANT-TAKE response. A slight smell of mist floats in the air, and the ground is a soft black silk.