Halle Harken
The Journal Entry’s title
What an eventful day! First me and Bruze went to stop at the confessorium. I clearly need to do some research, because instead of asking me for money they wanted flesh to get rid of my curse. Well, I guess having less blood is better than having it filled with a curse from the evil necromancer Rol Gan Mal. That confessorium really had a unique inner chamber; I can't remember the last time I went into a room that was bigger on the inside! Overall it wasn't a bad deal, but I still feel like I got swindled somehow. The confessor I spoke to was named "Adele Berito", and he was about 13 feet tall sitting down. Call me crazy, but I told him my real name. Call it womens intuition, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to lie to a giant inside of his shadowy extradimensional space. The flesh I cut out also came to life and flew away; I don't know how to explain Thornite religious rituals or what happened in the confessorium.
Anyways, Bruze took me back to the carnival to get patched up. From what I heard, Bugs spent his time with some kind of mining union which had some interesting items on display. I'll have to stop in and see if I can purchase anything from them with what we made from the evenings show. Speaking of which, I performed fabulously as always. I don't know if it was my best performance ever, but if it keeps going this well I'm going to need to do something special to raise the bar. I'm thinking maybe on a clear night I can convince Samuel to take the big top off, and I can perform with the sky as my roof. Hopefully the symbolism will be lost on people.
With a show that great, as a gang of five we decided to take a night on the town. Bruze loves moonlit hikes out here in the boonies; he's such a hopeless romantic! Of course, it is religiously significant for him. The gang was giving Bugs a bit of a hard time so I offered to take him to a second bar after the first one. Oh man, what a wild ride! We went to "shooters" and found out it was closed. Obviously Bugs found such an event unsatisfactory, so I went ahead and opened the bar back up. I poured us up two nice shots of rum (nothing too expensive). I offered a cheers to Bugs, and all the hard work he does in the band, then smashed my glass on the ground and said run.
As I came to find out, Bugs doesn't run. I don't think there's a physical impediment preventing his running (other than having short legs), he just "doesn't run". Well, the bartender ran. He caught up to Bugs, and beat him senseless with a club till Bugs looked like he took a nap under hammerheads treads. I briefly contemplated watching to see if the bartender would really kill him, since Bugs was out cold, but I figured it would be really bad PR if he died in the main street. I'm pretty sure he lost an eye. I would say he lost his dignity, but I don't know how much of that he usually has. I do think it's interesting that Bugs wouldn't give the bottle back even though it's well within what he can afford. He didn't have a great night out, but I think we got to know each other a lot better. I think as long as he thinks he's "won" the situation, he'll be satisfied. I'll look out for those outs in the future when his heels are dug in.
Starfall
On the way to our next destination, Starfall, my ankle was healed by a gnoll. First time for everything, I guess! He seemed particularly close to Bruze. I should should find a book about Bruze's strange moon religion, I would be remiss if I ignored figuring out why he can cover himself in stone armor... and conjure fire.
As soon as my ankle got better, things got worse for me! We found a dead traveler who was killed by bandits, who worshipped a necromancer at large during the endless night. Apparently said necromancer is going to be reborn in Starfall, which I suppose could be a problem.
This corpses personal effects included a wonderful dagger inset with a beautiful gemstone, which upon encountering a group of bandits I used to fight. The dagger didn't like that and I was promptly cursed immediately. My veins turned black, and supposedly a shadow will be tearing it's way out of me soon. Don't like that.
So long coal town
Would you believe it? We actually pulled it off! Yeah, I may have been unconscious for an hour or so, but that was only somewhat related.
Okay, real talk; my ankle is in excruciating pain. Those wheel-bugs did a number on me the other day. I made it out alive, but it was much too close for comfort. Being in a wide open space like we were is not comfortable.
On the plus side, the crowd loves me now, and they were so disappointed when I wasn't able to perform. Im not surprised, but it's good to be admired.
Bugs got it worse than me this time. I gave him some Grit after he was psychically assaulted by that creep-o eyelid-less priest of Thorne at the end of the night, and he reacted very well to it. I'm thinking that drugs might not be as effective on him. That being said, if I can get my hands on some, it might be a good carrot later on.
After we made sure that priest would keep quiet(we gave him some documents which would hopefully be of use against Cornwall, the coal magnate) we split town. I was also lucky to get my hands on the volgunite receiver for a little bit. I listened to a receiver play and a stargazing broadcast of some kind.
The Spotlight
Oh my GOSH I can't believe it! After all my hard work practicing and performing, I'm the interim ringleader of the carnival! I know a clown can't be a ringleader, but the clown code notably has no restrictions for interim ringleader performances. My first night running it went just alright, but I know the third night of the carnival is going to be just the best!
I also noticed something off about the management cart that I hadn't had a chance to see so far. The door is padlocked from the outside, rather than having your ordinary lock. What could they want to keep inside more than they could want keeping out?
We took a trip into town and I planted the note I forged the night before from the dwarven supervisor on the train station construction site. Sure it's not foolproof, but giving them a reason to believe he's guilty might buy us some time. We still have another night to perform anyways.
After my performance I had a shot of gin with Samuel. What a gentleman Samuel is! He did tell me something interesting though, he said I was "expected" as if someone else told him to say that. I don't really get it, but I'm sure it will be clear in time.
Finally we went into town once again to complete our heist. I'd say it went spectacularly, but I'm not thrilled with how it went. For one, as a distraction I ripped a bell from my outfit and threw in off into the distance. What if they notice? I'll have to get rid of all my bells now. Or get all silver bells. Or maybe little castanets.
There's also just one little itty bitty thing which is that I stabbed one of the guards in the throat, then hid the body with a rug. I ALSO couldn't get into the locked safe. Instead, Gale had to open it. I don't hate working with the guy, but I do hate that if he wasn't there, I might never have gotten into it. I was almost discovered, even.
CCE (clown corporate espionage)
Today when we stopped in coal town I was NOT invited to visit the bar by Bruse. Unbelievable. He made some excuse about wanting to keep a low profile, but he's a bald fire man covered in strange moon tattoos accompanied by a gunslinger with the lower jaw of an automaton.
Anyways, I did get noticed by someone while searching the construction site of the train station. It turns out, I wasn't the only one who identified a potential mark! This small gang of free coasters had already done some legwork for theft from the owner of the rail station, but couldn't do the job on their own. They were so flattering of my skills that I just couldn't say no!
I thought my performance was perfect, so now that I've got it nailed I can explore new acts. I still want to do a duo act with someone, eventually.
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