Session 5 Report

General Summary

The acolytes set out to find Lady Melua, the noblewoman who had been mentioned by Obadiah Psalter, the street preacher. As they did with this goal in mind it became readily apparent that Xicarph, with its thronging masses of celebrants, would work against them since they didn't have a solid idea of where the Lady was. Now they needed to find someone who might be in the know, but not knowing anyone themselves the group was confused. As a remedy to their plight St. Pious suggested they head back to the gambling establishments known as the Gilden Houses. Miria was against it naturally since gambling is not looked upon kindly by the emperor and is a waste of time and resources. Plus, it seemed like those establishments always brought out the most unscrupulous behavior in patrons. She didn't want to have to put another "priest's" head through a gambling table to defend her own honor.   The men of the group didn't find Miria's concern to be a compelling enough reason to not go and chat some people up though, so off they went to a popular casino called "Fate's Wheel". Once they arrived the group started talking to patrons in the crowded building, trying to find someone who might know whom they were seeking. As luck would have it St. Pious did stumble upon one such person. A stocky and somewhat rotund individual by the name of Carmadov Gutterlow, a crewman on a Rogue Trader vessel that had dropped off cargo for the festival underway and decided to stick around for the festivities.   He wasn't shy about giving himself a good scratch on some otherwise uncouth body parts in front of the acolytes and eventually asked that in return for him giving them the information they sought that they float him the ante for a round of the Emperor's Tarot. After some worried checking of money, Miria decided to spot Carmadov the necessary 250 thrones. Clearly the man wasn't playing at the poor people's tables. Carmadov gave Miria an uneven grin then proceeded to promptly lose her money to the house. He shrugged saying "easy come, easy go" and then honored his side of the agreement and told the group that that best place to know about or find anyone in the city at any time was by talking to the Spider Bride, an almost mythical woman of repute and means making her residence within the Akasen Follies.   This wasn't the first time the agents of the Emperor had heard this name before and they proceeded to follow Carmadoc's directions to the Twilight Gardens at the foot of the Follies. On the way the team encountered a large crowd of people packed in around something. After some moving around, above and through the crowd the acolytes discovered multiple bodies, folded with large pieces missing from each corpse. The general consensus among the crowd was that this had to be the work of 'the widower' a mythical monster and boogeyman that was apparently all too real and common knowledge of the population of Xicarph.   Once there, the group noticed many people who were intoxicated or inebriated. Revelers dancing by themselves, or in various states of bliss and undress with each other. As they walked through the garden trying to avoid staring at the lascivious acts in Mirias case and looking a bit too closely in Magdala's case they eventually came to a place where they encountered some caretakers of the garden.   The Spider Bride has courtesan attendants, who are apparently said to be the daughters of high nobles given to the Spider Bride in payment of their debts. They serve as her companions, ladies-in-waiting, and when need be, her assassins and each is augmented in delicate but terrible ways. Luckily for the acolytes they didn't pay too close attention to determine what those subtleties were, though Pious did notice that as he watched the young woman tending to the garden and interacting with other visitors that strange, scuttling dark shapes kept moving in his peripheral vision and behind the verdant greenery of the garden itself.   The attendants were not shy and tried to physically ingratiate themselves to the team. Miria was not here for this and she politely but clearly made herself appear uninterested and ill at ease by the women's ministrations. St. Pious simply stated to the lead courtesan why they were there and that they would like an audience with the Spider Bride. As the supplicant left to seek permission from her mistress Pious entered into what could only be described as a coma-like state of unfocus on what was happening as he rode out the storm of women trying to gain his attention through their wiles giving a glossy thousand-mile stare into nothing. Magdala's head was turned by the displays in front of him though and with a mental shrug proceeded in a "why not" sort of fashion. When the attendant that Pious had spoken to returned she said her mistress was interested to meet them and was awaiting their arrival. Miria had to get Magdala's attention and caught an eye full as he removed himself from the waterfall ornamented grotto occupied with nude women. Miria was sure she could hear the headmistress from the schola progenium reprimanding her adolescent self for a brief second as she saw more of Magdala than she had wanted to. He put on his equipment again and they were all led to the demesne of the Spider Bride situated in a large stone gazebo-like structure situated on a hill overlooking the middle of the Akasen Follies.   "Have you come to kill me?" The Spider Bride spoke first. When the group seemed genuinely confused by the question she seemed satisfied. The conversation with the unknowably ancient being was productive from that point. The spider confirmed that she was in control of the woman the acolytes sought and would be glad to give Lady Melua and another unknown gift away if the team were to act as mercenaries on her behalf and remove a local crime boss from the game board. Pious thought this sounded like a great plan and decided to agree to the terms very quickly. The task the Spider Bride gave them was to eliminate a man named Papa Grist, the proprietor of the Fate's Wheel gambling establishment. He had slighted the Spider Bride somehow and that was all she would say about the subject.   That seemed as reasonable an explanation as necessary to Pious and he urged his team to leave in order to finish this task. Before they went the spider warned them that he was always surrounded by protection and detailed his two main enforcers: an ex-guardsman turned criminal named Crackmarrow who was quite the competitor in the "hammer" fights and an unsanctioned psyker who went by the name of Bliss. The two apparently worked as a team often and would be found near Papa Grist at most times. Thanking the Spider Bride for the information the team set back out for the Gilden Houses to find their man.   Upon their arrival Miria thought that the direct approach might not be the best and found a nearby competing establishment known as the "golden pit" where she then began talking up patrons in order to find someone in the know about their target Papa Grist. After she lost count of licentious looks and inappropriate comments as she passed through the crowded gambling house she happened upon a man who wasn't as offensive as the rest. He was a strange older looking man with a very clear jaw trauma from some time long before. He had either been in a terrible accident or was born deformed. He was hunched over and somewhat candy cane shaped due to a back that had labored far too long and not receiving any rejuvenation treatments. He had beady eyes and bushy eyebrows that he rolled back and forth across his brow as he took the measure of someone. After Miria introduced herself he in turn named himself Wilk Celaisos and he fancied himself something of a gambling sharp.   Not wanting to give too much about herself away Miria went through the subterfuge motions of telling this man she was new in town, wanted to know about, was wondering who, blah blah blah and eventually Wilk took her over to the big arena fight betting counter. He explained where the real money was made and that he could pick a winner. Miria saw Crackmarrow's name on the list and asked about him. Wilk was not complimentative, calling him a cheat in no uncertain terms. He tried to steer Miria to another competitor that he was betting on by the name of Augustus Gerand, a renowned fighter in the "Hammer'' arenas, but Miria finished her information gathering about Papa Grist and his bodyguard then left the strange man behind, returning to her compatriots. Pious, hearing that Crackmarrow was on the arena roster, entered himself with 10 to 1 odds against. He was led down to the pits shortly after and awaited combat to begin.   Miria and Magdala headed over to the fighting pits topside, reasonably sure that the psyker by the name of Bliss would be there also thanks to Wilk tipping them off about how they cheated. Eventually the arena fight began as Pious stepped out onto the blood soaked sanded of the fighting pit with spiked sides. The crowd howled as they pushed and pulled on the fencing surrounding the top of the arena causing even the reinforced gating to wing back and forth a bit. The two acolytes not in the pit quickly spotted Bliss as he was dressed in a naval coat with starburst patterns of white against a bright blue fabric.   The combat was brutal but eventually all of the aggressors were dead and Papa Grist was more exposed than before. Now they just had to go into that Casino and get him. Easy right?

Rewards Granted

25 Experience

Character(s) interacted with

The Spider Bride
Crackmarrow
Bliss