Session 10 Report

General Summary

Magdala waited outside the faux farm's front door. Unnerving whirs and clicks accompanied by quelches and screams went on for what seemed like an inordinately long time. The reddish sun being consumed by the eclipse cast it's baleful light upon the fields washing them in a hue of fresh blood. There was no wind beneath the great crystalin' dome but the absolute stillness being broken by the man's screams almost seemed to stir the wheat ready to harvest in the fields. After a time the screaming ended abruptly with a very terminally sounding surrender as the sound died in the man's throat almost assuredly along with the man. A few moments later Lady Melua emerged from within the picturesque farmhouse slipping something into her clutch she carried. She looked up at Magdala, simultaneously smiling as she wiped some dull rust colored specks off her brow. "My brother gave what he could, the rest was irredeemable in the eyes of the Emperor." She strolled forward seemingly unphased by the grizzly task she had just performed. "Shall we return to the party? Maybe we can yet meet up with your compatriots." As the pair walked away back through the fields Magdala couldn't help himself and glanced back at the door left open to the house. In the gloomy dusk of the interior he saw a man tied to a chair, slumped over and motionless. A pattern of blood spray spread out in a corona from his position and it appeared the area of catastrophic damage that ended his life had been done to his groin region. Looking at his walking partner Magdala noticed a distinct lack of blood on her dress somehow and he shuddered to think what had transpired behind that door unseen.
  Back in the mansion proper the rest of the group was busy investigating anything and everything of interest that could possibly lead them to the theatre of clocks. The eclipse was gaining speed and the soiree was in full swing and becoming more rowdy by the second. More fights resulting in injury, more mad ravings heard among the crowd, more displays of gluttony and more licentious behavior was happening. It seemed like this planet was more and more giving into its base desires and habits, a veritable tableaux of humanities' worst impulses. The influence of the archenemy was almost palpable in the air. Miria and Pious were searching in the statuary hall and Ennaeus was keeping an eye on things, trying to spot potential trouble as the pilgrims of Hayte were undoubtedly among the crowd. On occasion one of the team would catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of their eye or something would move through the open as the crowd ebbed and flowed that alerted them to the fact that the Heron mask was their and hunting them but never staying revealed long enough for the acolytes to act.   Finally after some searching Miria stumbled upon a secret lever in the arm of one of the statues. Pulling it caused a great "ka-chunk" from the floor beneath them and stone began to slide out from beneath their feet revealing a staircase descending below the mansion itself into a dark hallway. The other guests gave the new opening a wide berth but this hardly rated as odd in this mansion of opulence and madness. The deep sound of ticking could be heard from the top of the stairs like the beating heart of the estate beckoning them further inside. The team looked at one another and though they didn't yet have Magdala with them they decided to press forward. They sent a short burst microbead transmission to Magdala letting him know what was happening and they pressed onward, bidding him to hurry to their location.   Once Miria, Pious and Ennaeus had reached the bottom of the steps the sound of the party above was extremely dampened. They hadn't traveled a long distance down yet so the loss of volume had to be explained by sound dampening buffers or some other dark and arcane heresy. The trio headed down the hallway regardless not stopping to find out. Straight ahead of them was a huge door. The light was too dim to make out details but as they spotted it a cacophony of ticking and chiming struck. It seemed to emanate from the very stone of the walls that surrounded them. The volume of the sound was so intense it made them want to cover their ears in protest but they continued forward. As the chiming and incessant ticking and tocking began to die down though the stone moved beneath their feet again and they were all thrown as their world went topsy-turvy knocking them around like they were in a crashing vehicle without a safety harness.   Miria seemed to catch herself well enough while Ennaeus and Pious got banged up in the fall. As they picked themselves up off the cold stone floor they noticed the hall had rearranged itself. The stairs they had just used to descend were no longer in sight and approaching slowly now directly between them and the door they had spotted was a small squad of servitors, lurching toward them with malign intent, reaching out with their power loading claws. Clearly the theatre of clocks was not going to simply grant them entry without a fight.