Chill: Who Is Mimi?

New case in Seward, AK! 

It's February, 2024. The envoys are having dinner with Lila Brown; she's a counselor and is in charge of some of the mundane aspects of QCOM. She also checks in with the envoys weekly to help them process their experiences as SAVE envoys. 

The five of them talk about their experiences with the last case. Britt Lepus says that she figures she's never going to get married - she isn't sure she'd be able to trust the feelings. She also expresses some intent to learn some hand-to-hand combat, and Lila approves; even if she never has to actually fight anyone, the discipline and regimen it'll require will be good. 

Nicholas Failor relates feeling helpless at watching Britt under the influence of the Unknown and not being able to do anything other than lock her in a room, while Mercy Williams notes that she's out of physical therapy and seems to be over the lasting effects of her Unknown-induced heart attack. Amelia Rostov asks after some event that QCOM was planning, and in checking her paperwork, an envelope falls out of Lila's notebook.

"Oh, right," she says. "This got delivered to the Sealife Center a couple of days ago, but of course there's nothing there anymore and the last people who used it were SAVE." Amelia looks at the letter - no return address, but a Seward postmark from three days ago. Opening it, she reads:

Nicholas can tell at a glance that these aren't actually lottery numbers, and Amelia guesses that the first number in parenthesis is an ISBN. And indeed, a quick search leads to an anthology collecting Shadows Over Innsmouth and a bunch of stories inspired by some squamous Lovecraft work. The numbers, then, would be a book code. 

Amelia and Britt quickly parse it out, and come up with "SEWARD REST HOME." The envoys do some quick digging, and find that Seward Rest Home is, as the name implies, a senior care facility here in Seward, but it's...not a good one. It's actually the cheapest in the state, and it has numerous complaints and citations. They learn a little about the history - founded by a businessman from California, currently owned by a health care conglomerate that Mercy knows (they're a faceless, soulless corporation, and probably know little to nothing about the day-to-day of the home). The directer is currently a man named Alfred Kenzo, so they decide to head out there tomorrow morning and have a talk with him. 

Lila actually remembers something about this place - she worked with a man from California who had tracked down his father in Seward. His father was living on the streets here and once his son found him, Lila helped him get the man into care, and he was taken to Seward Rest Home. She remembers their last name was "Stacy" but doesn't know what became of him after that. The envoys make a note to look into that, too.

And then the four of them go get drinks.

And indeed, the next morning, the envoys head out to the nursing home (Britt is a little hungover and grumbly, but that's what coffee and breakfast sammiches are for). They talk to a bored-looking receptionist who points them down the hall to Mr. Kenzo's office; Nicholas and Britt peel off to look around. No one stops them, and Britt notes that the sign-in sheet on the reception desk has no one signing in or out for the last few days. She suspects, though, that it just isn't well enforced. After all, they weren't asked to sign in.

Amelia and Mercy talk with the director, who's very young for the position. They learn that Kenzo has only been in this position about a year; he was previous working in Anchorage for the same conglomerate, but they "promoted" him to director here (it's clear that he doesn't exactly view this place as a promotion, and would like to get the hell back to Anchorage). He admits that staff turnover is high (he blames salaries, which he says he can't do much about) and says that the place is at about two-thirds capacity; 64 residents out of 105 beds.

Mercy, better at straight-up observation than interview, looks around the room. She figures Kenzo to be organized, but not really qualified for this job and in the midst of putting out multiple fires. She also spots the business card of Detective Lance Winslow on his desk. She's not met Lance, but she knows he's a homicide detective. 

Amelia steers the conversation to the man who was brought in off the street, and Kenzo acknowledges that he was pretty combative and very ill when he came here. His name was Wayne Stacy, but he passed away a few days later. 

Meanwhile, Britt and Nicholas head down the other hallway and find a staff break room. A woman in scrubs sits at a table scribbling in a folder, and they engage her in conversation. Turns out she's an OT, but she works for an agency on a PRN basis, and she tells them that most of the medical staff here does. Only three RNs are full-time, most of the staff is either temp or part-time, and turnover is high so no one really knows anyone (staff or patients). She says that she was just told today that one of her patients had passed away, and she actually hasn't talk to anyone who knows what happened, he's just not here.

That seems more than a little suspicious to the envoys; Nicholas peeks at the folder and sees the name is "Walter Vorst." Britt asks the OT whether there's any kind of "weirdness" here - you know, sometimes nursing homes get reputations for being haunted? The woman says she doesn't know (she's not here all that often) but she recommends Britt talk to an orderly named Jim. Can't miss him, he's got a sleeve tattoo.

Britt goes in search of Jim, while Nicholas walks down the hall to have a look in Walter Vorst's room. He finds that Walter has icons on the nameplate outside his door indicating he's a risk for both falling and elopement, but checking his room, it doesn't look like he's dead - his stuff is still here, the bed isn't made, it doesn't look like the room's been cleaned. Nicholas puts all this into the group chat for the envoys.

Mercy does a quick search on Walter Vorst and finds that back in 2020 he made the news - he walked right out the door (the receptionist was "on a break") and made it as far as the McDonald's down the street before someone finally called the police. There's no obit for him, though. Mercy makes a note to check death records, but she can't do that here. She also finds a reddit post from someone claiming to work at a home in Seward, and talking about them bringing in a man who took two staff and a janitor to get calmed down. The post also claims that he was "moldy." This was probably Wayne Stacy, of course.

Amelia has Kenzo give her a tour and offers QCOM's services in whatever way make sense - movie night, activities, maybe just some volunteering. Kenzo is enthused about it, and shows her around. Amelia notes that the place is superficially clean, but it cuts a lot of corners. There are patients left unattended in hallways or in front of the TV in the lounge, and the place is clearly really understaffed.

Britt finds Jim pushes a cart of dishes to the kitchen and asks to talk with him; he's game, but asks her to follow him so he can keep working. She winds up talking with the kitchen staff, and learns a few interesting things.

First, morale here sucks. No one likes the job, and no one really lasts very long. The longest-serving employee is someone named Dirk, whom one of the kitchen folks actually thinks is the director (but no, Jim corrects him, Dirk is the head of janitorial and maintenance). Britt also brings up QCOM and asks how they could help, and Jim says maybe some books? He just loaned his copy of Shadows Over Innsmouth to a patient named Mimi. He mentions that Mimi would probably love to talk with Britt about QCOM stuff; she's pretty with it and would like the company. She had no problems talking to the police.

Police? Yeah, says Jim. Apparently a PRN nurse was here recently, but never came into the building, and then went missing. Cops came around and talked to a few people, but apparently didn't find anything.

Britt calls everyone together to go check out Mim's room. The placard outside the door says "Miranda Renault" ("Mimi" must be a nickname). They knock and call out, but no answer. Amelia opens the door and they find the room empty, but all Mimi's stuff is still there. The envoys snag a worker and asks if they know where Mimi is, and she says she doesn't know, but maybe she's in PT, she'll check.

They look around and see the book on a desk next to Mim's bed. Nicholas uses Postcognition and sees Mimi writing the letter, flipping back and forth between pages, and then she writes a second letter and puts it in the book. Nicholas opens the book and finds it:

A tiny indalo is sketched in the top corner. The envoys realize that Mimi is most likely a veteran envoy. They find a locked box under the bed, and Britt opens it with her Skeleton Key discipline. Inside are SAVE files from the Anchorage HQ. Britt quickly stuffs him in her coat sleeve and leaves the box behind, and then realizes that Mimi's obviously into cryptography. She spots a notepad on the desk and does a quick pencil rubbing, and comes away with:

Wayne Stacey
Walter Vorst
Robert Stanislav
Ella Florent
Peter Kaplan(?)
Dennis Gretta
Valerie Stroud
Dottie Connaught

As the envoys are digesting this, the staffer returns with Mr. Kenzo. Mimi is missing. 

Movie #833: Tales of Terror

Tales of Terror is an anthology horror movie based on several Edgar Allen Poe stories, directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Maggie Pierce, Leona Gage, Joyce Jameson, David Frankham, and Debra Paget. 

The movie contains three stories, each separated with some footage of a human heart beating by itself and a spooky voiceover. The first one, based on "Morella", sees Lenora Locke (Pierce) returning to the home of her estranged father (Price) after being sent away as a child for killing her mother Morella (Gage) in childbirth (or rather, after childbirth, but it was still her "fault"). They first argue, then reconcile, then Morella rises from the grave and possesses her and burns the place down. So kind of a bummer way to start the movie.

And then we get "The Black Cat," unquestionably the best segment, which is based on the eponymous story but also quite a bit on "The Cask of Amontillado". Montresor (Lorre) is a sot who winds up introducing the foppish wine expert Fortunado (Price) to his long-suffering wife (Jameson), and when they begin an affair he walls them both up in the basement. His wife's cat, however, winds up sinking him when the police come calling because they hear it yowling. 

Finally, "The Case of M. Valdemar" sees Price as the title character (Valdemar, not the case), dying of something or other, and Rathbone as the evil Dr. Carmichael who hypnotizes him into remaining at the point of death and then trying to blackmail his...wife? Widow? Widow-in-progress? Helene (Paget) into marrying him so that he lets the poor guy die. Valdemar rises up as a putrefying corpse and strangles the fucker, naturally.

I like anthology movies, but one of the tricks is giving each story enough room to breathe without losing the whole "anthology" nature. Movies like Creepshow and Trick 'r Treat do it nicely, others like Christmas Horror Story kinda fuck it up by blending the stories to the point that it's hard to remember we we are. I think Tales of Terror does pretty well with letting us see the inherent horror of the stories and letting each one of the play out. I think the middle segment is most successful, but a lot of that is because of Peter Lorre being amazing and showing off his comic timing (the other two segments aren't really funny, but "The Black Cat" is very much horror-comedy). Vincent Price is, of course, superb throughout, and manages to make each of his characters - depressed and hollow Locke, foppish and gullible Fortunado, and old and tired Valdemar - distinct. The supporting cast is fine; props to Maggie Pierce for carrying much of the pathos in "Morella."

The effects are about what you'd expect from a 1962 Corman flick, but it's interesting that when you see cheesy effects from the era, it doesn't elicit the same "ugh" as bad CGI from more recent movies. Camera/film trickery still looks like...a human being did it, I guess? CGI is missing the rough edges. 

Anyway, it's a good time and it kinda makes me want to do a deeper dive into Corman's stuff (or Price's).

My Grade: B+
Rewatch Value: Medium-high

Next up: Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Character Creation: Era: Deadwest

Yee ha! Let's round up and rope some broncos! Or Incubi.

The Game: Era: Deadwest
The Publisher: Shades of Vengeance
Degree of Familiarity: Never played it, but the system feels very familiar
Books Required: Just the one, and it's tiny

There are a bunch of these Era games - one just finished Kickstarting, in fact - and they're little bite-sized thingies that present a basic setting, a rules engine, and that's it. Not dissimilar to the vs. [whatever] games, as I think about it. 

So, anyway! Deadwest's very simple setting is basically: There's a Western kind of frontier, and then glowing purple portals opened up, monsters (which the locals started calling "incubi" rather than "demons," despite the fact that an incubus is a demon that boinks people in their sleep and these things very much don't do that) started crawling out and killing people, and a market for "gunslingers" that are skilled enough to kill Incubi opened up. And you're a gunslinger. Go! 

I dunno. It's thin, but it would be workable - NOVA gets by on not too much more, setting wise. But NOVA and the associated games have a couple of hooks that this doesn't. First, the setting is interesting, even if it's minimal. There's some cool stuff going on, there's some context to the world. Second, the system is interesting and invites some player interaction. Era's system is basically just Storyteller - roll [stat] + [stat] d10s, compare each die to a target number, the more successes you get, the better. Where it differs is that you can insta-kill a target (though not an Incubus), and if I'm reading it right, it looks like if you beat the "Kill Threshold" of a weapon on any one die that happens, but the Kill Threshold is like 5 for most guns, so I have no idea how most fights wouldn't immediately end with any who gets hit immediately dying. Again, that assumes I'm reading it right, and I admit I skimmed. 

Anyway, I like the idea of a small, self-contained game that fits in your pocket, I like the artwork, I don't think I love much else. But let's make a Gunslinger!

(Oh, and I don't love the sheet design, it looks like a 2000 Florida ballot.)

So the first thing I need is a Background, which is complicated because there's really not much setting to speak of. One of the Skills you can buy is Demolitions, and it does seem like explosives would be the most efficient way to kill Incubi, so let's say my character was an engineer who worked for mines and railroads and wound up taking work as a gunslinger. He's not bad with a rifle, he's passable with a handgun, but if he has a little time to prepare he can turn demons into craters pretty reliably (is this a viable character concept in actual play? I don't really know). We'll call him Lonny Huxley, most folks call him "Hux" and that suits him fine.

Now I need a "Quirk," which in practice is closer to a flaw. One of the examples is "Materialistic" and I kind of like that for Lonny - if he's going to risk getting eaten by demons to save your shitty little town, he gets paid in advance and he doesn't pay for drinks, thanks. 

Appearance! Lonny is a white guy, average height, lanky, carries a rifle and a big ol' satchel of his equipment (but generally doesn't carry the explosives on him, that's just silly). Has a patch on his left cheek that's permanently marked black (powder burn from a hastily put-together bomb). 

Attributes! They're divided up into three categories (see, this is almost definitely based on some version of the Storyteller system) but one of the category has two Attributes and the other ones have three, which is weird. Anywho, I get 6/5/4 to split up. I want Lonny's Intelligence, Wits, and Dexterity to be high, so his Reaction Attributes should get the 6. I'll put the 5 into Potence and the 4 into Defense (maybe that's why it only has two, because you'd want them higher?). 

Anyway, I'll put 3 into Dexterity, 2 into Wits, 1 into Luck. One into Strength and Charisma, three into Intelligence, and 2 each in Stamina and Willpower.

Skills are likewise divided up into Personal/Technical/Interaction, and I get 11/7/4 to prioritize these categories. I think probably Technical gets the 11? Yeah, and Personal comes in second, which leaves Interactive as third. Doesn't seem to be a maximum rating, which makes me wonder what the little brackets are for. Oh, wait, I get it, they cost more to go higher (there are little numbers in those brackets, but they're hard to see). 

Ah, OK, raising Attributes or Skills past 4 costs more. Good to know. I don't know that it'll be relevant.

Well, whatever. Over in Personal, I'll put three into Investigation, two into Larceny, and two into Survival.

Technical: I want 4 in Demolitions (to boost it higher would require extra points, and I don't think I want to do that). I'll also put 4 in Engineering...wait, no. I'll put 3 there, 1 in Handgun, 3 in Rifle. 

And, finally, under Interactive, let's put two in Commercial and two in Esteem. 

Derived stats, at the end where they belong! Notoriety would be set by the GM, so I'll leave that blank. Size is 5, Encumbrance is Strength + Stamina + Size, or 10 for Lonny. Speed is Strength + Size + Dexterity (11), Initiative is Willpower + Wits (6), Defense (misspelled as "Defence") is the "lowest [sic] of Dexterity and Wits" - hey, just like NWoD! Anyway, that'd be 3. Damage and Kill modifiers are 0 unless I'm wearing armor, which we'll assume I'm not. Health and Pain are both equal to Stamina + Size, which is 8. 

And then I'd get a handgun and a rifle, and I think you're supposed to draw them into these weird grid things?

I have nothing like the artistic skill required for that, so I'm gonna skip the shopping step and just say that Lonny has a handgun (whatever the most basic revolver is), a rifle with a good range, and hopefully some explosives, and call it good. Yee-ha!

Movie #832: Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight is the first Tales from the Crypt film, starring Billy Zane, William Sadler, CCH Pounder, Thomas Haden Church, Jada Pinkett (pre-Smith), Brenda Bakke, Gary Farmer, Charles Fleischer, and Dick Miller. 

In the tiny, desolate town of Wormwood, New Mexico, a mysterious drifter named Brayker (Sadler) rolls into town looking for a place to hole up. Amiable sot Uncle Willy (the inimitable Dick Miller) guides him to a "hotel" (formerly a mission), run by Irene (Pounder), and Brayker immediately makes everyone there a little nervous. 

Rightly so - he's being pursued by the Collector (Zane), an absolutely yummy menacing figuring looking to get a strange, blood-filled key from Brayker. But no sooner is Brayker handcuffed and being led away than the Collector reveals himself as a demon, punches a goddamn hole through the head of the sheriff (John Schuck), and summons up a bunch of gross-looking flunkies. Barred from the place by the key's magic, he sets about psychically seducing the others. 

Turns out that the blood in the key is a mixture of the protectors' that have come before and also Jesus, and if the demons get the key back it'll spell doom for the universe. No pressure. Brayker and company fight through the night but eventually all of the hapless folks in the hotel meet their grisly ends, except for young thief Jeryline (Pinkett), who becomes the new demon knight and goes on her way. 

So, I don't know how it happened, but Demon Knight is actually a really solid action-horror movie. Some of that is the fantastic ensemble cast - sure, Thomas Haden Church has always been a good actor, but CCH Pounder and Gary Farmer are both solid in their roles, too, and Brenda Bakke and Charles Fleischer get some nice scenes as lovesick postman Wally and hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold Cordelia. The best part of the movie, however, is Billy Zane as the Collector, by turns frustrated, impatient, and absolutely giddy at the prospect of killing these people, and that voice, oh my days. William Sadler is a character actor, but he's actually the perfect choice for Brayker, because while he's nominally the star he's quite practiced at fitting into an ensemble cast (see also The Shawshank Redemption), meaning he knows how to step back and let other folks have their moments.

Some nice camera tricks to avoid having to spend money on effects, and some cool gore that was clearly done practically - it's just a really fun movie and actually manages to have some moments that are, if not scary, then a bit unsettling (Sadler's monologue explaining the situation is a good example). And the movie opens with "Hey Man Nice Shot," which is one of my favorite 90s songs, so that's cool, too.

My Grade: A-
Rewatch Value: High

Next up: Tales of Terror

Character Creation: Stingers & Spores

It's a bug-eat-bug world, princess. 

The Game: Stingers & Spores
The Publisher: Twitchy Butcher Studios
Degree of Familiarity: Haven't played this, but it's SWADE and I know that pretty well
Books Required: Stingers & Spores and SWADE

It's not the only RPG where you played a bug - there's Cuticorium and Infestation, offhand - but I think it's my favorite so far. There's a pretty tight mythology describing how the Arthrogods created the world and life within it, and the game casts vertebrates as the horrifying, unnatural creatures with internal bones and red blood (ewww). Likewise, you play insects; other arthropods are animals at best and monsters or demons at worst. It's a pretty compelling game, actually. 

So let's make a bug. Let's see. My Cuticorium character was a dragonfly, so I don't want to make one of those. How about a cricket? But what shall we do conceptually, then? Let's say my cricket is a paladin, a devout worshipper of Ensifra the Lucky, the mother of crickets and grasshoppers and goddess of good fortune and charity. 

So right off the top that gives me the Carefree Hindrance (I'm easily distracted), Leaper (I can jump twice my Pace), and Hopper's Song (I get the Work the Room Edge for free, which does...what exactly? Oh, neat, I can sing and give my companions a support die!). 

Next up, we choose Racial Abilities and Size. And...huh. I don't know if I get any new racial abilities or just the ones listed in my Archetype. Let's assume it's just those, because the pregens don't seem to have extra ones. Size, let's assume I'm a field cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus), and that makes me Size 1. 

Hindrances! I feel like he should have a Vow to serve the precepts of Ensifra, to be charitable, and to be the good fortune his spiritual mother wants in the world. Let's call it a Major Hindrance. For my minors, I'll take Call of the Light (I'm fascinated by light and suffer Smarts penalties around bright lights) and Stubborn (like many true believers, he doesn't change his mind much).

Attributes! I think Strength and Spirit are going to be my higher ones. Let's put those at d8, Smarts and Agility at d4, and move along with our lives. But actually, since I've done Hindrances, I'll spend two my Hindrance points to up Agility to d6. 

Skillz! I get a d4 in the core Skills (Persuasion, Stealth, Common Knowledge, Notice, and Athletics) plus 12 more points. Well, let's go ahead and put a d6 in Fighting. I want to bump Persuasion up to d8, I'll put Athletics up to d6, and let's buy Shoot at d6 and Faith at d8 (so I can take the Miracles Arcane Background). Only two left, I'll take a d4 in Intimidation and Performance. 

Edges! I get a free one, which I will use to take Arcane Background (Miracles). I get Linguist for free, so I know two languages. I'll say I know Skitteree (the closest thing to a common tongue) and Divinal (the holy tongue used by gods and clergy).

Oh, wait, looking at the Miracles section, I actually serve one of the elemental powers, not an Arthrogod. That's fine, we'll say that he serves Iliofos, the god of the sun, but expresses that worship through Ensifra. That also means I have to tithe 10 percent, and that I have to provide light in the darkness. Sounds good! 

I get 3 powers, and I feel like they should be mostly beneficent. Let's give him Arcane Protection, Burst and Healing. 

And then I still have two more points; is there an Edge I want? Nah, let's bump Vigor up to d8. 

And now we just need name and description. Let's call him Ilio Gryl (named after his patron god). Ilio is a big black field cricket, typically clad in a white robe over armor. He carries a sword on his back between his wings, but leaves it sheathed unless he needs to protect someone. He's perpetually broke - even when he has money he either gives it away or tithes it. 

(Man, the fillable sheet is messed up here; the Pace and Toughness fields mirror each other, so do Player and Character names.)

 

Movie #831: Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood

Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood is a horror/comedy starring (ugh) Dennis Miller, Erika Eleniak, Corey Feldman, Chris Sarandon, Angie Everhart, Phil Fondacaro, Aubrey Morris, and Kim Kondrashoff. 

A bordello (of blood!) opens up at a funeral home, run by a creepy necrophiliac (Morris) but staffed by beautiful vampires and madame'd by Lilith (Everhart), the mother of all vampires, brought back from South America by Vincent (Fondacaro), apparently on the orders of a televangelist named J.C. (Sarandon) on a quest to killer sinners. The vampires, however, are about as subtle as, well, the rest of this movie, and the missing persons cases mount. Katherine (Eleniak), J.C.'s devout assistant, hires down-and-out investigator Rafe Guttman (Miller) to find her delinquent brother Caleb (Feldman). Vampire shenanigans ensue.

I watched this movie back-to-back with Demon Knight, which came out first but is second alphabetically, and I've been thinking about why Demon Knight works while this one kinda doesn't. Conceptually, everything above should have led to a campy vampire flick with boobies, and Bordello of Blood is that, but it's just not as much fun as it should be. Why is that? A few reasons.

The big one is Dennis Miller. This is the stage of his career before he became a full-on right-wing douchebag, yes, and he manages a couple of funny lines, but he's not the most charismatic of people and having him be our hero doesn't act as a particularly good hook. It really would have been much more interesting to have Katherine be the one to uncover and destroy the conspiracy - she has a personal stake in what's happening, she could have been a much more interesting catalyst for J.C. regaining his conscience and realizing what horror he unleashed, and it's not like any particular combat skill was needed to kill these vampires (one good squirt of holy water does it). 

But also, Angie Everheart isn't a great villain. She doesn't have the screen presence she needs to play the all-powerful evil, and the result is that Chris Sarandon reads as the real villain of the movie and Lilith is an afterthought. 

But also also, the movie just has some weird notes. Kondrashoff's bizarre-ass portrayal of Jenkins, the creepy dude who lures men to the bordello, would have been effective if he'd been used a little less, but he gets more screen time than Lilith. Whoopi Goldberg has a cameo out of nowhere, and if there's a joke in it I failed to spot it. The script is littered with little sex-jokes, but none of them really land (part of that is delivery; Dennis Miller is a comedian and knows how to deliver a line, but Angie Everheart is not and her lines kind of clunk).

There are funny moments, but mostly it's a waste of potential, which is a shame.

My Grade: D
Rewatch Value: Medium

Next up: Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

D&D: Back in the Woods

After a long hiatus because of fucking COVID, we're back in the magical land of Abhaile! Here's last time.

Our heroes rest up and then decide to head out into the woods, go back to Zook's hidey-hole, and stash some of their stuff. They decide to take a direct route there, rather than exploring, but the woods are confusing, dark, and deep, and they wind up dipping a little further south than they meant to. They wind up in a clearing that smells of dead vegetation, and Zook is just about to remark on this when the tree he's standing next to tries to grab him!

The "tree" - actually some horrible creature made of vines, wood, and decaying leaves, lurches out and attempts to engulf the gnome, but Zook is nimble (and his powers of prophecy serve him in good stead). The monster lashes out and Dara conjures a flame blade and stabs it, but it's moist and squishy and the fire goes out. Zook hurls firebolts and misses, though fortunately doesn't set the surrounding forest on fire. 

Clara strikes at the monster and Aisling grabs her drum and casts a bane spell, making the monster unlucky and clumsy. Clara leaps up on its head and pounds on it, while Zook unfurls his brand new crossbow and puts arrows in it. Aisling stabs at it with her family shortsword, and Dara, figuring fire didn't work, enchants her staff and pounds on it that way. The monster is tough and it gets in a couple of lucky shots on Aisling, but then Zook puts an arrow in its "head" and Clara strikes the fissure, splitting it in half. 

The heroes take a moment to rest, and then head onward, reaching the hidey-hole just before dark. They camp inside the hole (no sense rolling the dice on bullywugs coming back), and in the morning, Clara goes out to answer nature's call. She hears rustling in a tree and something tries to drop a noose over her head, but misses. She hears a burst of annoyed syllables from above, but not in the guttural, wet language of the bullywugs. She yells up at it and yanks on the rope, and sees a kobold appear briefly before disappearing back into the leaves (she hears the words "not here!" mixed with a bunch of kobold-language). 

She returns to the others and explains all this, and they decide to leave it alone. They stash some stuff in the hidey-hole: some of the gold they collected from the succubus, Aisling's harp-lute (for safekeeping), Dara's leather armor (now that she has the thorn armor). Then they discuss what to do next. Zook had been following his father's trail, but he isn't sure where to go next. Does anyone else have ideas?

The heroes decide to see if they can find the clearing where they experienced that weird fog that made them all hungry. It takes them much of the day, but they find it, and at one end of the glade they find a tree with leaves that look and flutter like butterfly wings. Dara approaches and tries to commune with the tree, and spots something sitting on a branch with dragonfly wings and human-like legs. She tries to talk to it and the "tree" answers her, but Aisling eventually steps in and flatters the "tree". A tiny woman with dragonfly wings flaps down and sits on a branch, and talks with the characters.

The tiny creature is a pixie, of course. She's affable enough, especially after Aisling gives her some pastry, and talks with them about the hunger-fog. She says it appears on kind of a schedule, but not one they would understand (not being fae). She mentions that she hasn't seen adventures in a while, and it comes out that she knows Zeb, Zook's father. Aisling convinces her to say a little more, and she reveals that Zeb is dead. Zook tears up a little, and expresses a desire to go and find the circumstances of his death, but the pixie advises against it - what would it matter? Zook notes that if something really bad happened to him, he'd want to make sure it didn't happen to anyone else. The pixie nods, and notes that Zook is much like his father. "Funny how true colors shine in darkness and in secrecy," she muses.

Aisling asks her name, and she tells them it's Perclan. Aisling introduces them, and Perclan nods, saying that in some sad way, she already knows. She says if they wish to help people, she knows some people that they could help, although they probably wouldn't accept the help and indeed might resist it. The characters are intrigued, of course, and Perclan tells them to wait until sunrise and when the first sunbeam hits the top of her tree and makes the leaves flutter, following that direction and stay on that course. They'll know it when they see it. 

The adventurers bed down for the night, and in the morning they follow the sunlight. As they're going, they hear bullywugs up ahead and sneak up to find six of the little beasts surrounding a pair of cockatrices, goading them to fight. Dara has no particular love for cockatrices, but she hates this kind of cruelty, and throws an entangle spell into the midst of them. The characters leap to the attack and make short work of the bullywugs, and Aisling casts a sleep spell on one of the cockatrices (the other attacks and gets filled full of magic missiles).

They move on, and in the late afternoon come upon what might once have been a settlement, many years ago. It's only a few houses, but now it's covered in a blood-red moss shot through with black veins. Dara notes that normally she loves the feel of moss, but she's in no hurry to touch this stuff...