It seems like it's been forever since I did an actual play write-up, and...oh, actually it's been like two weeks, which for me is a good long time. No wonder I'm twitchy. ANYWAY. Here's last time.
The Pioneers (most of them) are in the Underneath, having just driven a fungus-demon out of a poor unfortunate mousie. They now stare up into a hole in the ceiling, a hole which supposedly leads into the house of a rich cat called Taymor Persian von Cymric. They decide to have Gelert Sausagedog go up there first, as he is small and lithe and stealthy. Petunia Pibble casts a Slick spell on the hole (yes, there were more than a few innuendos tossed around during this scene) and Dire Newfoundland boosts Sausagedog up.
Sausagedog finds himself in a basement storeroom - spices, tubers, wine, liquors - but nothing suspicious or demony. The others help Peppa Papillon through (she is also smol), and the two of them creep upstairs.
The door opens into a hallway in an opulent house. They find Taymor herself snoozing in the sitting room, and return to the basement to help Petunia and Dire through. They decide to search the house quietly, and have Peppa summon a Spiritual Weapon that can knock on the door to distract Taymor if she wakes up.
Searching the house yields some interesting stuff - they find a sack hanging on the back of a door, a little pouch of shimmering dust, and a container of a paste that smells vaguely of yams, all of which smell like magic. Peppa also finds a journal sitting near Taymor, written using numbers, letters, and weird little symbols - probably some kind of code. And they find some plastic lying about, too. Peppa isn't necessarily OK with stealing, but both Dire and Sausagedog are pretty enthused (Dire likes to steal stuff, Sausagedog is very much of an "eat the rich" kind of attitude).
As they're getting ready to head back to the basement, though, Peppa's magic stick knocks over a vase, and Taymor wakes up! The only one she sees is Peppa, though, who valiantly tries to pretend that she's here soliciting alms for the poor. Her puppy-dog eyes don't work on Taymor, though. Fortunately Petunia is there, and yanks Peppa into the basement with the Arcane Lasso, and they all flee back into the Underneath. Dire knocks the doorway into this room into rubble, and the dogs try to find their way back the way they came...
Meanwhile, at the Welcoming Orphanage, Father Eddie talks with Boomer Pitbull, the supposed Lost Pitbull Prince. He says that while he doesn't know the legend of the Lost Prince specifically, he does seem some family resemblance in Boomer to some Pitbulls he knew back in Pugmire - what does Boomer know of his family?
Boomer actually doesn't know much. He was abandoned by his family in the outskirts of Pugmire and raised by a family of Sheepdogs, and he never really felt that he fit in there. He asks Father Eddie what he knows of the family he was talking about, and Father Eddie says that this was decades ago, at the beginning of the War. There was a strong branch of the Pitbull family, and the father, the patriarch, the paterfamilias if you will, only wanted sons and demanded that his sons be warriors. There were a lot of Pitbulls on the front lines in the War of Cats and Dogs, but after the war, many of them set up estates and family homes from Pugmire to Waterdog Port. One of those - run by a Pitbull named...Maurice? Martin?
"Max," says Boomer.
"That's it!" says Eddie. "Max Pitbull!" Anyway, he has an estate north of Houndton along the South Road out of Pugmire.
Boomer files this information away for the moment.
Back in the Underneath, Dire tries to point the dogs down a hallway, but the other three all agree that he's wrong and they should go this way. As they're walking along, they notice the hallway getting narrower - not squishing them, just not much wiggle room. Their voices also seem to be getting higher in pitch. Up ahead, they see an exit from the corridor, an opening that's almost perfectly round, and note that the ground seems to slope up to it slightly.
Peppa casts a light spell on a rock and tosses it into the hole, and there's a clack and then a rolling sound...and a huge, round stone appears in the hole and rolls right toward them! Peppa casts Spiritual Weapon to create a wedge to stop the rock (can't stop the rock) and buy them a little time, and Dire tucks her under his massive floofy arm and runs. They run back down the corridor and into the previous one, which has somehow grown a hundredfold in size! They run to the sides and the stone rolls past them harmlessly.
Petunia determines that they're all exuding magic, and figures that it's not that this room has grown - they've been shrunk! She tries to Disrupt the spell on Peppa, but it backfires and Peppa vanishes!
(Peppa finds herself the size of a ladybug relative to the other Pioneers, who are the size of mice relative to the room that they're in. She tries to cast a Spiritual Weapon in front of Petunia's snoot, but it's too far away. She crawls up on Petunia's foot and whacks her ankle with her staff, but Petunia doesn't notice.)
The dogs consider their options and Sausagedog and Dire encourage her to try again. Petunia is reluctant, though - what happened to Peppa?! And now, giant thudding footsteps approach! What fresh horror!
Meanwhile, Boomer continues his conversation with Father Eddie. Eddie points out that one's family, whatever it is, doesn't determine one's path in life - his family currently sits on the throne of Pugmire, after all! Boomer muses that power corrupts, and Eddie agrees, but does note that at least in Pugmire, you aren't guaranteed the throne just because of who your father is. Any family can become "royal."
"So, you're saying I should become King of Pugmire?" says Boomer. Eddie says that's not what he was saying, but it that's the path that Boomer wants to take, he has as much claim to the throne as any good dog.
Boomer thanks him for the philosophical discussion, but it's been a good long while now and he's worried about his friends. Eddie says that they were going to visit Bantus the Rat King at the Janus House, and helps Boomer to disguise himself so that he can walk the streets relatively safely.
Boomer finds the Janus House and demands to speak to Mantis ("Bantus," the immense rat corrects him). Bantus offers to sell him the horn of a Stone-Bones ("killed it myself, shot it in the eye with this bow"), and Boomer realizes that his friends have already been here. He growls and shows his weapon (he's only carrying his hand ax, but also these guns), and Bantus acknowledges that Boomer could probably tear this place up pretty badly, so he agrees to guide Boomer to his friends in exchange from some plastic.
Boomer agrees and pays the rat, and Bantus has a mouse named Squiggles take Boomer out to an entrance to the Underneath. Boomer follows the instructions ("right, left, left, and then...walk") and enters a room with a narrower corridor attached.
The thudding footsteps approach and Petunia casts Disrupt, and quickly snaps back to her normal size! She "appears" right in front of a strange dog - "Who are you?"
Boomer takes off his fake snoot, and Petunia breathes a sigh of relief and restores Dire and Sausagedog. Peppa, tired of being tiny, casts Inflict Wounds on Petunia's foot, which is still not enough to harm her but enough to get her attention ("OW, something bit me!"). She restores Peppa, and the Pioneers head back to the Orphanage to reconnoiter.
A little experimentation reveals the nature of the things they found - the sack is a Sack of Holding, capable of carrying the weight 10 dogs! (Dire jumps inside, and learns that there's only a few moments of air in there. "Maybe some kind of snorkel," muses Sausagedog.) The dust makes things or people invisible for a moment, and the ointment is something called Master Ointment - it promotes healing and curse disease and poison.
But the journal is the real prize. Its takes a while to decipher it (because Dire insists on helping), but they realize that it's an account of the activity of the Seekers of Ubaste. It describes hiring the mercenaries that attacked them in Caer Clawtree, how that plan failed, and more importantly, discusses an artifact that will "reveal the base nature of dogs." The plan discusses swapping the medal meant to be given to the "so-called Pitbull Prince" with this artifact.
Demons are never actually discussed, so the dogs wonder if the Seekers are aware that they're in bed with the Nagayaga (ew). In any case, though, Eddie advises them to turn themselves in and present this evidence. They'll be subject to truth-detecting spells and interrogation, and the political fallout here might still be a problem, but Eddie believes that Man will guide them.
The dogs sleep on it, and then decide to follow Eddie's advice. They'll arrange to surrender, and try to clear their names.
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