Session 22 Report

General Summary

It's like a never-ending nightmare! No end in sight, the mystery only goes deeper and deeper, and we cannot find a single nugget of gold no matter how extensively we delve into the conundrum we find ourselves in. We have been at it with these goddamn guards and this godforsaken casino for what felt like hours, with most of us trying and failing to even get a single guard to withdraw from the building for so much as a minute.   Despite Grot trying her darndest to break everything in sight, windows and guard bones alike, it seemed to have matter naught as after foolishly hitting a guard with a rock, a pegasus landed on the exact roof Grot was on. Great thing she was invisible, or else we have been done for right there and then. Grot, being our exceptional rogue, has expertly dropped from the roof and came to one of the nearest windows, obviously being locked. So, after that method of entry falls flat on its face, we have immediately launched a more convoluted method of infiltrating the joint for better or for worse. Moon Planter takes a stab at buying off one of the guards. Since Moon Planter has little experience buying favors, unlike yours truly, the ploy unsurprisingly flops, resulting in the guard pursuing an arrest of our bat pony. Using his quick wits, Moon Planter runs off in the opposite direction. Another scheme up in flames. We have spent much of our substantial time doing trial and error and nothing of substance came from it, thus we've determined that upping the ante would be a swell idea. The method was rather straightforward: I cast Invisibility upon our secondary feline, and she erects fire upon the porch of the nearest house. This backfires on us as not only does she loses invisibility the instant she utilizes Burning Hooves, but the flames also weren’t even close enough of the porch to even singe it. To top this colossal shit cake, the guards were able to dot down enough of a description of her to be all but certain of her identity. Oh vey. The world didn't think that was a considerable enough punishment, so now guard mages! I had to act fast for we were too far up Shit Creek, and we'd have nothing to show that our troubles were not in vain. I balled up all my confidence and placed it upon Ebony, casting Invisibility on her and dispatching her into the damn faux fortress to recover the music score. Soon after fetching the music paper, Ebony examined the room, discovering claw grooves on the furniture, with fresh ice remaining in the streaks. With the retrieval of the music sheet and the race against time still in effect we all hauled ass out of there, scampering clear from the guards before they could have the mages set up.   With the situation seemingly behind us, the lot of us journeyed back to The High Rollers, only to be met by, of course, more guards. You know for a city with a heavy influence of criminality, this place is especially ridden with these pigs. Obviously, they came here for Tangent since she's the only creature that is akin to the description the guards have on record. It didn't help that many individuals of the species that would of otherwise resemble Tangent have immigrated away from Dakilai. With no other feasible options, Tangent has agreed to a peaceful arrest for questioning.   With a pinch of unpleasantness sprinkled on a blessed dish, Tangent has come back clean of any charges, Clarity tagging alongside her before departing soon after, with Cher rushing to the priestess side. Clarity just has her paws in everything within Dakilai, doesn't she? We are over reliant on this lass, knowing she's bad news. And I'm convinced Cher's enraptured by this dame, tagging behind her like a puppy dog. We must turn this situation around. In the meantime, of Cher's absence, Moon Planter was cooking up dinner and we've begun to ponder on what came of Buckback. Moon Planter suggest that the Black Cats went and attacked him, but we were not certain why. With Cher's return from her make out session with Clarity, she has come with vital info: Buckback is missing, which was available in the city's fucking newspaper, and everyone outside of our circle seemed to have known. With this most recent update, we have come to the theory that by virtue of Buckback's cargo being on the Hazel Lady coincidently on the night of the ship's destruction, compelling the Black Cats to presume that the attack was administer by Buckback in some way, shape, or form.   With a feast upon we talked about plans of what to do tomorrow. The plan was to get a warrant from the Dakilai Main stitch Tabu to gather as much evidence as we can scavenge from Revenge of the Roc. With the cuisine consumed, we turn in for the night, with Cher leaving The High Rollers to dwell in some rickety dinky motel. She fits right in since everything there has been run downed just like Cher. Tomorrow has arrived, and we've discussed with Tabu that we desire a warrant to Revenge of the Roc. Although the request wasn't fulfilled because of the complexity of the case, he advised to discuss such matters with either Noir Blanc or All In. After our run-in with the latter, Noir Blanc was the more attractive option. I have also requested a few more disguise scrolls, but he insisted on doing this mission without relying on him too much. I personally believe he was just being a cheap ass. Does not matter as I'll figure out where to purchase a supply of those handy parchments.   We checked out one of the investigation locations Dock 9 to identify Noir Blanc the zebra. We've found a zebra alright, and he was one abrasive son of a gun. No way that was him for this character was no more than a wanabe street thug. With no other zebra in sight, we make our way to Revenge of the Roc, discovering that the once popular hot spot has become loaded with guards of extensive varieties, some of which of course being mages. After a little scoping around we've finally found the individual we were looking for, with a rather paranoid equine, being label an idiot straight from the zebra himself, though she seemed to have a good head on her shoulder to be at least cautious of Cher. After Moon Planter explained deliberately to Mr. Blanc why we require access to the building, he proceeded to lead us inside with little hassle. That's especially astonishing in my view seeing as our luck has been rather crummy all things considered. Our squad acted swiftly, Grot already on her A game and sniffing the hat Buckback adorned on his head. Grot reported that the scent saturated in the hat is distinct from Clarity, all but confirming that Buckback is not Clarity and vice versa. While the investigation was afoot, Cher was still being picked on by the demented mare, and though I've taken a liking to her at 1st, I fancied to swallow back my compliment as she decides to switch targets and begun to harass me when I was being friendly towards her. I can't say I was proud of myself as I entertained the childish back and forth as we flung insults at each other. Oh vey. After Grot got a humongous whiff of the room, she discovered the scent from the hat was the only identifiable scent where the incident occurred, and with our prior knowledge that Buckback can change forms, we've came to the conclusion that Buckback accomplished all of this himself, with Moon Planter explaining to Mr. Blanc that he'd do this to throw off the organization that's pursuing him.   Succeeding the verbal abuse concerning some of our entourage and that insane earth pony (especially the low blow that hits too close to home (oh uncle)), Mr. Blanc questions the legitimizing of our presumptions of Buckback, asserting that Buckback's a cordial philanthropist, spending a chunk of his liquidity to help around Dakilai, with Moon Planter responding that all those good deeds are just a veil to cover his more malevolent schemes. Moon Planter then points out that the tables are oddly pushed away from an area of the room, the experienced detective already noting it. All the available evidence points towards all this set up by Buckback alone. Moon Planter hints that the space the hat is occupying probably leads to a hidden space below the floorboards. After testing varying areas of the suspected zone, Moon Planter finds a panel give way, right by the hat. Though Mr. Blanc insisted otherwise, Moon Planter lifts the hat, much to Mr. Blanc's dismay, and removes the floorboard, discovering a key underneath. Does Moon Planter does not have a background in detective work because he is a fucking natural at it.