Freaks & Facades: Session Eleven

Hello friends. Tonight's our final recap of Freaks & Facades' First Arc! Welcome to Session Eleven - The Black Dog; and my oh my, what a situation our Freaks have ended up in!

The Freaks were in the middle of a battle with Lord Isaac Montagne (son of the villainous Baron of Campanula) and his local mercenaries. Their secret vigilante companion, Vincente Quint, just ousted himself as Night's Vengeance to put a halt to the fighting. Claudine LaFitte, dedicated agent of some unknown faction of do-good nobles, watches carefully; while keeping her unwanted admirer Jacquard at arm's length.

This one gets wild, y'all... So let's get right into our story.

Warning: this is a horror campaign setting, so please bear that in mind before reading on. Possible triggers include: mentions of violence, bloodshed and death; physical abuse mentions, animal harm mentions, traumatic experiences/responses, etc.

*starts projector*

Seconds ago, disrupting the dangerous ambush, lowly stablehand Vincente Quint revealed his identity as Night's Vengeance before the ambushing party of Lord Isaac Montagne. No longer just a simple stable hand from a local noble's estate; to the eyes of the Baron's son he is now the most wanted man in all of Campanula!

Vincente stands above the battle, upon the downed tree Lord Isaac set up this ambush with! He hopes the shock of his revelation will put a stop to the violence being committed on the road. The heroes (our band of Freaks) have done so much to help him in the past, but Vincente is all too aware that they are dangerous. Possibly more so than the men of Campanula working under Montagne orders...
Everyone looks to Isaac Montagne II. His reaction to Night's Vengeance revealing his identity, and claiming to be responsible for the acts of the Hateful Halfling and Ghastly Gravedigger, will determine how this conflict goes! Does he buy this outrageous story--drawn in by his own hatred for the vigilante? And his growing mistrust of his own father?

Lord Isaac, still nursing bruises from his father's punishment, watches this reveal with suspicion. Was this lowly peasant really the same man who humilated him by stealing his bejeweled clothes and leaving him in the wilderness to shiver from fear? The man who has undermined and disrupted the noble's serenity, rallying the people by humiliating his friends and pedigreed neighbors?
- Night's Vengeance also claims he used some strange disguising magic to incite a riot against his father. Stealing the face of Fenri to become the Hateful Halfling--the face of the riot?
- And! Night's Vengeance additionally claims he stole from his father's house as the Ghastly Gravedigger and set the second floor ablaze, stealing another one of these strange Freaks' identities?
Our Freaks keep their weapons at the ready, watching Lord Isaac carefully. Some among party are a little worse for wear than the others. Will the fighting just start up again, or can they help convince Lord Isaac to put down his men's' weapons. To tell someone with influence that there's more to this story?

Fenri hasn't seen this spark of life in Vincente's eyes since the Chaveau racetrack. Before Claudine's accident... She steps forward and attempts to explain that they
Pryrrish can barely look at Lord Isaac. Her eyes still haven't adjusted from a vision she received when she struck at the defenseless Lord Isaac with her patron's shadowy energy... And her skin is now being afflicted with random spots of itchiness that she must scratch!
Channa keeps her spiked chain swinging, prepared to lash out should this last only a moment longer. Dirt is stuck grittily under their tongue from that dreadful reaction to manifesting a ghoul touch spell.

Iggy pokes its stony head out of the bloodstained earth. Waiting for direction on who to harm...

Schrödinger looks at the vigilante; unconsciously his boney armor retracts within. But the men enthralled by Vincente's performance no longer recognize Schrödinger as human...

He stands behind Fenri, hoping to silently intimidate the Montagne men into hearing what they have to say. But their fearful glances hurt...

Solange keeps her eyes (possibly not her own as she once thought) darting about. Her party is still evenly matched by the amount of Montagne guards and Lord Isaac. Deep down she sorely wishes for home. Not the cold, stony chambers of the Order's crypt station.

For Papa and Baba, in their warm little cottage outside of the capitol...

Vincente-slash-Night's Vengeance demands that the fighting stop. That Lord Isaac listen to what these heroes and Mademoiselle Claudine have to say about the true nature of Baron Montagne. For his father is an evil greater than the one Isaac imagines this party to be...

Fenri steps forward claiming they have proof. Let this violence end!

Isaac Montagne II, the Baron of Campanula's disappointing son, ponders the change in circumstance. He recognizes the bravado Vincente puts on, recalling the encounter they shared.

Isaac judges the newly turned tables. His ambush was not as successful as he planned. Several of his retainers are downed, their horses run off a few paces into the woodlands.
He looks upon those left on the field--from Claudine and Jacquard to this group of strangers (with even stranger powers). These Freaks really did hide their true selves in that first impression he made of them only a scant few days prior.

But is anything really as it ever seems? Campanula is yet another corner of Dementlieu after all...

Schrödinger uses his terrible skeletal appearance to keep the soldiers from acting before Isaac decides...

Lord Isaac holsters his pistol and sighs. Rolling the shoulder the elf blasted with some sort of dark magics, he requests that everyone put their weapons aside. He will listen to what the Freaks and their companions have to say.

His men pick up their injured companions and attempt to wrangle their horses loosened from the chaos of fighting.

That is all Fenri needed to hear. She takes over, attempting to diplomatically explain everything they have uncovered. Additionally, she casts the spell zone of truth, to make sure no one lies in this situation.

Or rather no one knowingly speaks an untruth...

Fenri gets Claudine--who is exhausted from her physical injuries and for lashing out at the romantically duped Jacquard--to give her input where it's needed.

Fenri reveals that Claudine is supposedly searching for the Black Dog: the beast of Port-a-Lucine that devastates an unlucky soul or several every few months. That tears them apart so inhumanely and leaps from roof to street on four legs, its terrible maw dripping its victims' lifeblood...

Isaac grew up in the capitol, and has heard these rumors.
So when they bring up the helmet in the Baron's lounge, designed to resemble a black hound; as well as the Baron's abilities to compel and communicate with dogs... That sets off some alarm bells.
Isaac dislikes this line of inference. Yes, he grew up in Port-a-Lucine and has heard the rumors. But his father's house symbol just happens to be a hunting hound. And he may be an imposing dog trainer and hunter, but Isaac hasn't seen anything supernatural about him... He posits that perhaps his father's house (and Isaac's inheritance by default) is itself being scapegoated!

Channa rolls their eyes at the noble playing devil's advocate, but Fenri and Claudine press on with more evidence.

Evidence that the Baron sent the Flying Wolves mercenaries to commit the recent atrocity at House Bonmot! He attempted to have the mercenaries frame Night's Vengeance and then capture him, upon which the party intervened.

Baron Montagne certainly has the influence to make the village's leadership, the Magistrate, demand Night's Vengeance's capture for such a crime.

The vigilante has always slipped out of the Baron's clutches, since the people themselves were amused by his disruptions of the wealthy's opulent gatherings.
But a slaughter of men, women and children--an innocent peasant household like the Bonmot's--that would retract the people's favor if they could pin it to the vigilante!

That the Flying Wolves, once their "usefulness" to the Baron's ran out they were then possible witnesses to his malevolent plans. So he sent the outsiders unsuspectingly to rest at the Vallee de Neige.

Additionally, it is clear the Baron poisoned the old hermit who kept people from wandering into that accursed grove! So the Flying Wolves had no idea what foul place they were strolling into, beaten and disheartened by the Freaks' interference.
The mercenaries had no idea of what lied in that accursed grove. Weakened by the Freaks' encounter, hoping to burn their late leader in funerary rights; they were all killed by the terrible spidery thing in that bone-dusted place...

That the fire in the Montagne estate was merely an accident! (Solange interjects an apology for that specifically). But it was a result from a spirited encounter with a sealed chest in the second floor storage.

Isaac listens with interest, having been forbidden to ever go into his father's private sitting room in storage. He is aware at least of his father's past connection with an extinct family, House Thibeaux. But the Baron does not like to speak of what became of them, apparently...
Probably because the Baron slowly picked off his relations one by one. And it was these dark acts that granted him the first taste of power he now easily wields over canines...

That the dossier Solange stole from the Baron's office links him to being the Black Dog himself! That Isaac's father is being sent directives through coded letters, coming from someone covering their tracks!

Isaac's father, whom he was named after, is a notorious and monstrous serial killer! Possibly something beyond human!
Schrödinger chimes in on this notion, bringing up how the Baron's teeth are unnaturally sharp compare to a humans... (Recalling how he so easily devoured raw meat like a dog at that dreadful tea party...)

With the evidence mounting before him, Isaac does relent that this situation is more complex than he knew. His father has definitely been cruel to him; he admits that he does not know the Baron well. Isaac only moved to Campanula full-time this year, and it's been quite an unpleasant learning experience...

Isaac shudders at remembering his father's punishments... Even he can tell there is something dark inside his father's heart. Something that demands obedience. Some beast that retaliates against anything resembling hesitation...
But even still, Lord Isaac cannot imagine his father is truly a half-beast serial killer monster. He cannot be related to such a creature--it's inconceivable!

Lord Isaac suggests that they return to Campanula and present the evidence before the Magistrate. But Claudine and Channa both scoff at that idea--he wouldn't be involved in any scheme to uproot his "master"... So long as the Baron reigns, justice can never be done in Campanula.

That is why they are going to Port-a-Lucine. Claudine has connections in the capitol are awaiting their evidence. From the capitol the Baron's power can be picked apart and investigated, and he himself can be brought to heel.

It is also why they are protecting the evidence with two sets of keys. Only with both keys can Claudine's safe with the evidence be opened!

Pryrrish has stayed very quiet through all this. She is still a bit unbalanced by the knowledge she obtained regarding the planar fabric of reality. Which the acquired upon lashing out with her Elemental Dark patron's power upon Lord Isaac--who she now realizes was a pompous jerk but not evil as his father is...

She scratches the itches that crawl unseen on her body. It's almost like Pryrrish is now aware of her soul within her physical self, and perhaps its gotten too big for its container? Perhaps it has gotten darker as well from that decision to attack him?

Channa is also dealing with the consequences of darker acts. During combat they used necromancy against one of the Montagne mercenaries, and for the first time it seems Channa to have retained some of that dark energy in their own body.

It gave them a greater insight into how the world works; their brain more frenetic and active than it has been since before Destir's disappearance years ago...
But, like their earth familiar Igneous, Channa's body has been changed. Passively, Iggy has gotten stranger and more eerie as it absorbs the bloodstained earth of this land. Adding fragments of bone and other unmentionable pieces of things dead and buried to itself..

Meanwhile, Channa is now spitting out graven earth every few minutes. A taste of rot and decay they cannot get out of their mouth...

Schrödinger sees his two companions struggling with something physiological. He fully retracts his boney armor and goes to attend them while Fenri and Claudine negotiate with Isaac.

He sees their unusual symptoms and thinks about the possible causes. They came almost immediately from some form of act--Pryrrish lashing out at an unsuspecting nobleman with dark power, and Channa paralyzing a Montagne rider with a ghoul touch spell.
And he puts some things together... He is reminded of his own parents. Their work--the private family work, not their tasks as Markgrafs of Schwartzsteinburg--has affected them in nearly similar ways...

To study the unknown is to be touched by it, they have always taught their darling boy. Lady and Lord Schrödinger each were touched by their life's works as long as he could remember. His mother's shadow wavers unnaturally while she sits in the parlor by firelight. His father's nails are yellowed and chipped, but he makes the best of it and uses his awful nails to dig in the dirt for his gardening...
Schrödinger has long expected his own work, the osteological marvel he's been ascending towards, to result in some similar changes over time. And it will inevitably come; he knows all too well...

In the meantime, he attempts to comfort his friends. They are not as prepared or happy about these new changes as he would have been...

Solange has bravely pulled back her disguising veils to speak with Lord Isaac. To apologize for setting the fire on accident. He is more interested in this possibility of his father being a literal monster, but he acknowledges her apology--since her words are also affected by Fenri's truth spell.

The gravedigger is content, knowing she truly was sorry for the act. She is surrounded by living people and is not uncomfortable, like she used to be.

Pryrrish, given a gentle shoulder pat by Schrödinger, thanks him and watches the remaining discussion with Isaac and his men. But her invocations of sight catch a glimpse of movement in the woods! And soon, the howls begin...

The discussion is stopped altogether as more of Baron's half-wild pack creep out from the misty woods. Prepared for this, Lord Isaac pulls out a dog whistle and blows a specific set of notes, like he was taught. It should bring the dogs to attention.

But the dogs ignore him, listening to their true master rather than his own pitiful pup...
The hounds slowly press forward. They move to cut off the Freaks standing by Isaac and his men from the exhausted Claudine, her driver Delphine and the injured Jacquard (injured in pride from being deceived by his lady-love's dramatic persona as well as suffering from a wound she inflicted on him with a knife)...

Solange reaches into the elements to gather another entangling bramble spell, readying it towards the main body of the pack. But she is interrupted by a terrible, ominous sight...

Half-shrouded in mist behind a tree, stands a figure dressed in pitch black leather and furs. A pair of sharp knives in its hands. A black cape of matted fur down its back. An expensive hunting musket tied on its back. The helmet of House Montagne covering its head and face--a frozen, menacing snarl... Its eyes dark and so very hateful...

Solange, and all those looking upon the Black Dog, hesitate to act. Who knows how long it was watching them? Listening to their unraveling of the Baron's good name and manicured, gentrified facade?

Now only the Black Dog is left. It stands watching and waiting, the human in the Baron discarded for coiled, vicious intensity ready to eradicate what threatens him...

Finally, the Black Dog speaks. Why have the men not captured the wanted criminals, the Hateful Halfling and the Ghastly Gravedigger? Why has Isaac, unworthy to share his father's own name, not done as he was ordered? Why--while glaring at poor Vincente Quint--has Night's Vengeance been allowed to go unbound; when he should be beaten and dragged back to the village for all his "crimes"?

Those serving House Montagne tremble and draw their weapons out. They know who to obey...
The coloring of Vincente's face drains away as terror grips the young vigilante. The Black Dog will have him completely dead! Forever silenced!
Claudine feels tears of horror streaking down her face, anticipating what is about to happen. Jacquard forgets his indignation and stands before the injured Claudine and her servant...

Despite the investigation and having spent time among the Baron's company, neither noble is prepared to face the Black Dog itself!

And to his unworthy son, irredeemably weak and frivolous, the Black Dog simply asks: Will he continue to disappoint? He's barely allowed to tend to the dogs--at least they work hard for their master. This is his one chance to prove his own worthiness towards the pack. Perhaps the dogs' loyalty has rubbed off on him?

If he fails in this, his life will be forfeit... House Montagne cannot tolerate a weak heir...

The woods are dead silent... The atmosphere is so tense. Every whisp of fog like a sharp knife, all but barely slicing one's neck as it passes...

They are surrounded. And Lord Isaac is the linchpin; the only thing standing between being completely overtaken, or having at least one more ally to fight with!

Fenri pleads with him not to give in!

Sadly, even the halfling's radiant aura of light and compassion is suppressed and crushed against that of the Black Dog. Isaac's body falls into a limp, almost relaxed state. The light leaves his eyes. The Black Dog's son is conduit for his father's desires once more.

And Isaac fears the figure all the more, knowing now what the Baron is truly capable of... He fears thinking that his father could do so many more worse things than he experienced... And he knows not to bite the hand holding the knife...
Lord Isaac Montagne the Second raises his pistol and shouts out the command.

"Attack!"

The Black Dog and his pack begin to rush forwards! Like a spring coiled, Solange's arm flies out and hurls forward her entangle spell! She has to get away from the Black Dog--every fiber of her death-touched being is terrified of him!

Several of the Dog's pack are snatched by the rising grasses she draws out. But far too nimbly the Black Dog descends onto all fours and leaps out from the animated flora. He charges forward, and delivers a terrible blow to Solange's stomach!

The gravedigger's mind cannot begin to fathom the pain, giving Solange the gracious gift of fear to move! To flee, to abandon all hope and allies! She drops her shovel and pushes past Channa and Fenri! Weaponlessly leaping over a rotted fence towards the western woods, away from the Black Dog's forces.

Vincente, fear struck at such overwhelming violence upon the veiled gravedigger, flees in the same direction from the Black Dog as well! But while Solange is barely able to slip between the fraying combatants; the Son of the Black Dog notices his egress.

Isaac cannot allow Night's Vengeance--nothing but pitiful peasantry now--to vanish into the woods. Not again!
He rallies his steed, reloads his pistol and gives chase!

Dashing past Schrödinger--skeletanized once more and driving back the Montagne horse riders--Claudine flees southwards, the key to her safe's first lock jangling around her neck! She hobbles on her bound leg away from the tide of dogs coming to tear her apart! Channa's spiked chain swiftly cuts the dogs back, giving the woman a chance!

Jacquard follows his ex-lady love, completely overwhelmed by the road falling into a clash once more! She eventually stumbles upon the ground, needing his help to stand.
A guard follows the pair, easily catching them on horseback. The pair wordlessly swing at them, dashing and dodging: she with her knife (recently acquainted with Jacquard's chest) and he with a simple nightstick!

Our odd pair avoid getting hurt but their lack of experience makes it so they barely deal harm. But they have to fight alone, all their allies are occupied with other parts of the skirmish!

From the front wagon Pryrrish unleashes a blast of shadow upon the Black Dog, giving Solange a chance to flee. But the terrible Dog resists the blinding tendrils, and turns their cold blue eyes upon the silvery elf.

Pryrrish cannot look away from the Black Dog. Which helps one of the Montagne guards swing a net around to ensnare them! With the guard's momentum on their injured steed, Pryrrish is pulled from the wagon and dragged off!

Practically being presented at the feet of the Black Dog! Their knives stained red!

The elemental mage Channa swings their spiked chain around and around, catching guards and their mounts in brief clashes. The earthen Iggy dives through the soil at their command, bringing its rocky limbs against horseflesh.

The guards are struggling to hit Channa. Channa's spinning chain is deflecting many swings of the hammer, as well as flying crossbow bolts. But they are not relying as much on magic for this battle it seems...

The taste of rotten soil is a reminder of how power's true cost can catch you unaware...

Blood spills upon the soil... Iggy swims through battlefield, practically absorbing the blood as the earth bends around them...

That's totally okay and not ominous foreshadowing...

Fenri bobs and weaves between the horseman dashing about her, stacking spell upon spell. Her body is wreathed in a shield of fire, keeping the guards' weapons at bay while she bolsters her strength and protection.

A net is thrown over the halfling, catching her by surprise!
But returning surprises of her own, the boosted Fenri Sunwillow uses her ability to increase her size! Enlarged, she keeps her captor from dragging her off away from her companions! The power of Pelor the Dawnfather (alien to this strange dark land) courses through her larger, muscle-warped body.
Fenri sees their dark-cloaked companion helpless before the Black Dog. She uses her sling-staff to lob a stone (~~or was it a dog's head?~~) at the villain to get his attention, yelling out that he should want to fight her instead. She's raring to go, not like the elf in the net!

With a practiced eyeroll, unbothered by the erupting violence, the Black Dog ignores Fenri and stabs at Pryrrish!
Fenri rushes forward, dragging her net holding captor with her before breaking out of the net with raw divine strength!
The elf's cries get the attention of Channa, who rushes over to assist the flame-wreathed Fenri! The pair unhorse several guards on their way to swing at the Black Dog.

Schrödinger's bone-bladed whip swings out at dog, rider and horse alike! Electricity sparks off of its edge where it meets leather or fur. His skeletal face is impassive as he devastates the terrified guards. This is easy in an unsettling way for him...

He sees Vincente failing to outrun Isaac's horse. Isaac taunts the man, at how pitiful he is without his mask or horse.
But Vincente has had enough. Call it instinct, call it divine will, call it whatever you like--but something within Vincente Quint rises to the occasion. Though weary and scared, and with no mount or mask, Vincente the stable man pulls out his rapier from his belt and turns to face Lord Isaac!

He calls out, "For Campanula!"; dashing about and swiping valiantly at the mounted noble. He scratches Lord Isaac across his shoulder! His leg! A lunge towards the chest!

Solange runs past in this moment, heavily wounded and scared for her life. But seeing someone just as terrified dig deep into themselves and fight for what's right?
Solange masters her fear. Her shovel is back at the center of the ambush and her lantern-staff is still on the wagon. But she is determined to act!

But in the mere blink of an eye, the Baron's son masterfully pulls back his steed at the exact worst moment for Vincente, leaving the courageous man open...

To a pistol shot right to the chest!
Vincente goes down!

With no regard to her own safety, Solange rushes towards the downed Vincente. Isaac rears his horse on its hind legs and valiantly declares that he downed Night's Vengeance. (Hoping to get his father's approval).

The Black Dog ignores his son's boasting and dashes away from the wounded Pryrrish. For Fenri and Channa begin forcing him back! The two spellcasters get right in between the assassin and their warlock companion!

The masked murderer attempts to trip Fenri, but she avoids his maneuver and he dashes away. To a new scent--fear, blood, and perfume!
While Fenri begins to unbind the elf, the Black Dog lunges away with inhuman speed on all fours!

Meanwhile, the cluster of combatants on the western side of the road are coming to a head! Schrödinger witnessed Isaac shoot Vincente point blank, and now Solange is in between Schrödinger and the boastful noble!

Solange presses her hands to Vincente's chest and begins to perform first aid. And even though her powers are far more limited than Fenri's bottomless healing, and though she has barely any strength in her body left, Solange Charron will not let Vincente die!

The vigilante is still breathing but he's only a little worse for wear than she is. A good blow would take either her or Vincente out! And there's a nobleman on a kicking stallion right beside them!

Schrödinger's bladed whip of bonematter swings over Solange's head at Lord Isaac. He won't let his friends be targeted so easily!

But Lord Isaac calmly reloads and aims his pistol at Solange's head. With a sneer he demands the Lamordian skeleton man retract his weapons, or the creepy gravedigger will get it!
Solange hides her face under her veils, pretending to be scared. She instead sees a rapier on Schrödinger's belt--his mundane weapon he calls "Plausible Deniability", in case he needs to hide his true abilities. The same rapier he used to defeat Lord Isaac only a few days prior...

Subtly, Solange takes the rapier from Schrödinger's belt, hiding it under her skirt...

The Black Dog nimbly dashes away after outmaneuvering Fenri, tripping the halfling to the ground.

The Black Dog nimbly dashes away after maneuvering to trip Fenri! He has caught another scent--easier prey...
The rider that has been harrying Claudine and Jacquard backs away to give the Black Dog ample opportunity to trip Claudine. She comes down flailing upon the hard earth!
Through his terrifying mask, the Black Dog demands Claudine give him her safe key.

One of his riders is approaching her carriage to take the safe itself, but Channa swings their spiked chain to hold them back. But its only a matter of time before they outmaneuver the distracted elementalist...
If Claudine doesn't give over her key, the Black Dog threatens to kill her. Brutally! She dared to infiltrate his home, to try and hunt him out! She should be grateful his dogs are not tearing her apart!

Injured, fatigued and terrified; Claudine weeps as she gives him the safe key. She will give up her quest for truth and justice, to avoid her life ending!

Schrödinger looks to Lord Isaac and attempts to threaten him. If Isaac even attempts to harm Solange Schrödinger will kill him. It is quite a threat coming from a skeletal abomination like Schrödinger...

Suddenly, while many look upon the Black Dog's malevolent threats, Solange dashes behind Lord Isaac with Schrödinger's rapier! Though unused to wielding the light bladed weapon, she gets behind Isaac with a small scratch to him!
This distracts the lordling enough for Schrödinger to brutally decimate Los Isaac's horse! In one great swoop of his bonebladed whip, the animal instantly dies from the shock of Schrödinger's bioelectrical current!
Lord Isaac falls to the ground as his horse collapses beneath him. He cries out for his father! And that does appear to get the Black Dog's attention!

Or rather, the look the Baron gives beneath the dog mask is one of abject disappointment...

The Black Dog takes the key from Claudine and rushes past Solange and Schrödinger. Solange fails to swipe at him, an untrained grip on the rapier redirects her intended swing.

But Schrödinger's taking this opportunity! Though the Baron is so quick and mobile, he swings his boney whip out! Will he catch this serial killing monster!

In a critical moment, in between the bat of an eyelash, Schrödinger's weapon strikes the back of the Black Dog! At his neck!

In a terrible crash of electricity filling every atom of the assassin's body, the Baron's body freezes mid-leap! His head lolls to the ground, the rest standing and twitching for a moment. Before falling as well!

The Black Dog Is Dead!!!

Everyone stops...

The servants of House Montagne flee into the woods, by riding on wounded horses or limping away... The last of the dogs feel the change in atmosphere--their master is dead. And the hounds flee into the woods, the wilderness no longer their master's safe territory...

Wolves howl in the distance, feeling this change too...

Schrödinger's mind is racing. He felt every piece of bone within the Black Dog reverberate with his own weaponized bone. He attained insight into human anatomy at the exact moment of death--and it haunts him in a way none of his other attempts to understand life and death have...

He goes over to the body of the Baron Montagne. He takes back the stolen safe key. He delivered justice in his own way, but now every piece of proof they obtained will fall into further questioning.

Was a death without dignity what the Baron deserved? Or was Claudine's plan of disgracing him before Dementlieu society, evidence of his crimes laid bare, and uncovering the mystery of who was compelling him truly what the scoundrel deserved?

We will never know what could have been... Choices were made, and his executor believed they were the only one capable to make such a decision...

As Schrödinger takes the head of the Baron, still in its helmet, everyone who looks upon him is shocked to see that the Lamordian's eyes have turned pitch black. The irises pale yellow in the deathly darkness... It seems yet another Freak has been marked for their choices.

Solange returns Schrödinger's "plausible deniability" rapier back. And she takes for herself the Baron's musket, pondering if it could be useful to her.
Fenri helps Claudine back into the wagon, healing her as best she can. Jacquard, who helped protect the noblewoman, finally gets some distance from Claudine... He goes over to his friend, the pale Isaac Montagne.

As everyone else decides to pack up to move out, with Channa and Iggy maneuvering the blocking tree out of the road, Schrödinger goes up to Isaac. He hands the traumatized lordling his father's severed head. And in his ear, Schrödinger whispers: he is lucky to be allowed to live...

Lord Isaac attempts to retort, but with uncharacteristic maliciousness Schrödinger continues...
He tells Isaac that his life is a gift he could take away at any moment--he is now one of his "creations"... And if he attempts to come after Schrödinger or his companions, his life will be forfeit... Like his father's was...

As Schrödinger delivers this truly vile speech, almost everyone unwillingly hears. They knew the Lamordian was shady, possibly lacking normal morals. But this... This is an evil thing he has done...

It is effective at keeping Isaac from further pursuing them. But was that threat done to protect them all? Or, is he embracing some darker aspect to his pursuit of knowledge? An aspect within himself (possibly inherited) that he has downplayed again and again until now?

Unluckily, Fenri doesn't hear this speech. She would have lots to say on such actions taken by a friend; but in this moment her priorities are wildly different.

Fenri is helping Solange heal Vincente back into consciousness, and she uses the last of her divine strength to carry the injured Claudine back to her carriage. Frankly Fenri is relieved none of her friends and companions fell, and she thanks Solange for keeping Vincente alive.

(Solange is a bit distracted by her Lamordian companion's words but Fenri doesn't notice).

Vincente is quiet but thankful. He says little and just takes a seat in the wagon, ready to leave while processing his near death...

Pryrrish is also quiet and ready to leave. She takes in everything left over from the battle, an unwilling witness due to her overpowered eyesight...

She feels sympathy towards the men that fought them. They, like her, were compelled to follow the directions and wants of a cruel patron. And she contributed to their destruction--she even brazenly used it against the greatest victim of the Baron's cruelty; and feels in her skin that she was being punished for it...
Could she have chosen differently? Her patron's gifts did nothing to protect her when she was bound and stabbed by the Baron. Aside from inflicting pain, death and blinding darkness; what has her patron done but bring her misery?

She recalls a time before her pact. When she was living in her people's palace, cared for by... by Waylon. Pryrrish has not thought of her brother for some time.
It hurts to remember him as the Elemental Dark's first victim... So instead she remembers him teaching her to sing for the very first time. How he played for her songs of the silvery forests of their home... A melody of Waylon's gets stuck in her head; one she hasn't heard of in years...
And it seems the whispers of the Tome beside her are drowned out (for the first time in centuries)...

Channa and Iggy finish moving the fallen tree. They're also quiet and lost in thought; and when Schrödinger passes they almost avoid them... Though Channa thought they were alike for pursuing knowledge whatever the cost; now they feel the two of them are on far different paths now...

While Channa is wondering, through the taste of graven earth in their mouth, about the cost of power... Schrödinger appears to be embracing power and its cost, though he's disappointed by his dark eyes now...
Channa feels isolated, and Fenri is not attending nearby to make them feel cared for. So Channa looks to Iggy, and seeing her familiar dragging the fresh corpses into the ground unprompted puts Channa ill at ease...

Channa is feeling that their pursuit of magic has given them nothing but grief recently... That the cost of using it against others in this strange land might be a sign of it pulling them as well into something dark and graven...
They shake away these arcane thoughts, turning towards the mundane. Channa cannot rely on others to ground them; and with the journey ahead (with possibly Destir waiting at the University of Dementlieu) Channa has to ground themselves alone!

Finally, Schrödinger takes his seat in the wagon. Channa pointed out his eyes and he examines them in a piece of glass. The way they look disgusts him. As he told both Channa and Pryrrish, sometimes utilizing certain knowledge or power comes with a cost. His own parents have paid such tolls upon the body.

But seeing it upon his own flesh, coming not from any external agent but possibly a change within himself... He thinks his eyes look dead. And they will bring out other people's fear because of it.
He doesn't want to be feared, only understood. He feels it is unfair to pay such a cost. He did something right.
But perhaps, despite his rationalization, what he did was not good? There may be a difference between the two he fears...

Crawling and struggling into the wagon, our band of beloved Freaks return to their journey out of Campanula. This time, with no threats nipping at their heels. Yet.

No one meets eyes easily. This excursion is over. The journey to the capitol is no longer a rush but a silent soujourn...
But the darkness has touched them all, in one way or another; no one is the same as when they fell through the Mists... What could happen next to our band of Freaks in this strange land of Ravenloft?

*Unofficial Theme Song Plays*

The Hearse Song by Rusty Cage
(This amazing cover came to mind when conveying the mood of our Freaks sitting in silence on the wagon.)

Well, friends. That is the end our first arc of Freaks & Facades. But never fear, our beloved band of Freaks are not gone. Nowhere near are the Dark Powers giving up such juicy morsels. Not after they've endured this first round of "tenderizing"... Hehehe.

What will become of our unfortunate friends now that they can go into the decadent capitol of Dementlieu? What will Port-a-Lucine have to offer our misbegotten travelers during the grandest week of the year?

For our Freaks are trudging into the weeklong festival of Primeur, the Dementlieuse wine and harvest celebration! Can our heroes muster up the enthusiasm to enjoy themselves in this next arc, or has the terrors of Ravenloft left scars that can't be easily ignored?

Let us find out together! But for now, we thank every single one of you who has come on this journey with us this far! Seeing people reading about our adventures has been truly touching!

While we wait to let the next arc ramp up, we're gonna keep you all entertained with some fun extras! The Cast and their Players (your humble Dungeon Master, Aboleth Eye) will be answering questions submitted among ourselves and from you as well! The Q&As are currently closed, so you can now read them here: Player Q&A // Character Q&A!

Plus, we've got more planned in the meantime. So stay tuned! And go on and relive the journey of our First Arc right here in our Campaign Index!

*Update: And! If you really really cannot get enough of our adventures, please read on to our Second Arc premiere: Session Twelve - Connections!

Sincerely,

Aboleth Eye

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Freaks & Facades: A D&D Campaign Recap

Freaks & Facades: Session Eleven - The Black Dog