The Pallbearers had themselves a hell of a session last night.

The Pallbearers had themselves a hell of a session last night.

Having found out about an accountant named Shanti Shukla in need of help, the team sought her out at the Crawford and Sons firm. There, Herrik (Slide) created a distraction for the Skov barbarian-turned-secretary Tatiana, allowing Ashen Crow (Leech) and Veretta (Whisper) to slip inside. There they found Shanti and her assistant Wyman being watched studiously by a strapping thug that Ashen Crow dispatched with clever application of glue to the face. Shanti explained that she had invested the Bowmore’s money into some cargo that was currently being held by the Hive as leverage in some other scheme. She then asked the Pallbearers to get it back for her and they agreed.

A little scouting led them to an infiltration plan, coming in from an old disused tunnel from below. In our Duskwall the city has been so heavily built up that under the streets are more old streets, converted into sewers. There are many levels below the current Duskwall and all sorts of weird things can be found down there. They aced the Engagement roll and found that the only thing standing between them and their breaching point was a weak ghost that Veretta managed to bottle. With that, Ashen Crow set the detonation charges and Herrik performed a flashback to him spreading rumors that enemies of the Lampblacks would be assembling in the warehouse above. So at the moment Ashen Crow hit the switch the Lampblacks burst in and started fighting with the Hive thugs. With the floor blown open, Veretta created a fog to cover their entrance as Finni (Cutter) led them into the fray. With most of the two gangs distracted fighting, Herrik led a group action to Survey the area, and since two members of the group weren’t skilled in Survey, one of them opted to take a Devil’s Bargain. Finni discovered the cargo they’d come to recover, and at the same time the Pallbearers found that they had drawn the attention of a titanic ghost, so old and twisted that it had taken on the shape of a worm with a human face and wriggling arms and legs.

Faced with this, the team shifted priorities. Finni used his Ghost Fighter ability to wreathe himself in electroplasmic energy and engaged the worm. Veretta used her lightning hook to Set Up his attack and Herrik Assisted by punching at the worm with his spiritbane charm. Finni punched the worm right in the face, and wound up with his arm devoured up to the shoulder by the immense spirit. Ashen Crow decided that the situation was spiraling out of control and expended his fire oil to set the old cargo in the warehouse ablaze, causing all sorts of weird and arcane materials to start cooking off all around them. With the fire blazing and the worm distracted, Ashen Crow and Herrik then grabbed the large cargo crate and ran for the tunnel, escaping from the fight. Finni, meanwhile, attempted to stab the worm, but wound up getting bitten by it. We decided that the ghost did no physical damage to him, but managed to rip off the arm of his spirit form, leaving him with a useless right arm. Veretta unspooled her lightning hook and lashed at the ghost worm but succeeded only in making it thrash around, shattering the floor and sending her, the ghost and Finni down into chest-deep poisonous old water and a nest of vicious biting bugs. Finni earned himself a trauma and Veretta pushed herself to create a wild storm that helped her and Finni escape, also earning a trauma in the same moment.

Ashen Crow and Herrik dropped off the cargo with Shanti and reassembled with the group back at their mansion hideout. The team is bruised, battered and bloody but they got the desired leverage over Shanti, helped out the Bowmores and also made an enemy of the Hive. That earned them 6 rep and a new crew special ability, and they chose Forged in The Fire. Herrik and Finni also picked up Not to Be Trifled With, which is very exciting.

Overall this was a really fun session to run and I can’t wait to see what the Pallbearers get up to next!