Yesterday we played some serious Pugmire. Here's last time.
Our heroes have just exited the iron mines and find themselves surrounded by the guards of the place (about 30 of them), as well as Hotch Wiener, the manager. Standing next to him is Ute Doberman, one of the foredogs in charge of identifying and cataloging relics, but she's also part of the Doberman family and clearly has it in for the Pioneers.
Peppa Papillon steps forward and says that they found Finley, the manager of the mines who supposedly died or ran away (depending on whom you ask) and he needs medical attention. An immediate murmur goes up from the guards ("I thought he was dead," etc). Ute leans down and whispers something to Hotch, and Hotch tells the Pioneers to surrender their weapons and gear. Peppa asks why they should do that, and Dire Newfoundland whispers to her "so they can kill us, that was always the plan."
But Hotch does seem a little iffy on the whole thing, and eventually he relents, especially as Peppa keeps the focus on getting Finley some help. He lets Peppa take Finley to the medical tent (Dire accompanies her, not willing to let either her or Finley out of his sight). Hotch, meanwhile, approaches the other three Pioneers (Petunia Pibble, Boomer Pitbull, and Gelert Sausagedog).
They talk, and Hotch says that when he was hired Finley was already gone; he was told he was dead, but never even saw him. He claims not to know how Finley got into that pit or when it happened, and the Pioneers don't see any immediate lie. Meanwhile, Peppa and Dire tend to Finley, and he stares up at the sky and talks about how he's missed it.
The others join them and they all talk a bit. Finley mentions again that some of the guards are compromised, but they all look alike to him. He mentions hearing things in his dreams, and about the cat-snake creature he'd seen. Boomer asks if he knows what it was, and with some obvious effort he tells them: "Nagayaga." He says that the creature whispered to him and he tried to ignore it, but he also wasn't the only one it asked. They decide to get some sleep, but to stay near to the medical tent, just in case.
Nothing happens during the night, however. In the morning, they all get up and talk over their plans. Peppa and Boomer decide to go back to Ellendonk with Finley; they just don't trust that no harm will come to him here. They're only an hour or two from Ellendonk by road, so they head back there and take Finley to the temple, where Brother Corbin Shetland receives them warmly. He tells them he'll take care of Finley, and that he'll keep his presence here mum. Boomer, meanwhile, takes the opportunity to go to the Lively Pie and get some, well, pies. That done, they head back to the mines.
Meanwhile, Petunia, Dire, and Sausagedog go into the woods and follow the marks left by Harriet Badger; they need to touch base. They find Harriet and Levi, who ask about the horrible mess of burned corpses and wreckage they found ("yeah, that was us"). The five of them decide they need to trap the Night Ripper if they're going to have any chance of saving Graff Doberman, and Sausagedog, having fallen into a pit last night ("Completely on purpose!") suggests a pit trap. They decide to ask Hotch if they can borrow a few relics, since those seem to attract the Night Ripper, but Harriet points out that they carry magical stuff with them, too. The Pioneers meet Boomer and Peppa on the way back to the mine and discuss their plans, and Dire and Boomer get working on the pit. Boomer gives everyone a pie, though.
Petunia decides she's going to sniff around the camp and see if she can find any trace of Unseen stuff, since Finley had mentioned that some of the guards were demon worshipers. She sniffs around the foredogs' tent, and Ute pokes her snoot out and tells her to quit it, and no she can't come in and sniff around! Petunia sniffs around the exterior, but smells nothing, no magic, but nothing else, either. Wondering if there's such a thing as a "smell ward," she moves on.
She sniffs around the barracks and gets the faintest whiff of Unseen near one of them. She goes in and detects it at the end of the room, at a bunk bed with a dog on each bunk. She thinks about riffling through their stuff, but thievery isn't really her strong point, so she goes and finds Sausagedog.
Sausagedog is naturally pretty stealthy, and also wears Boots of Sneakitude that silence his footfalls. He creeps into the barracks and checks the dogs' rucksacks. The first doesn't have anything interesting, but he finds a paw-sized, hard object in the second...but misplaces his weight and the strap on the rucksack snaps! It falls to the ground with a thunk and dogs wake up, but Sausagedog uses a handful of Dust of Disappearance and vanishes!
He sneaks outside to Petunia and shows her the object. It's a gem, but made of plastic. It's got a slight purple sheen to it, and Petunia thinks it smells faintly of Unseen. They decide to take it to Bertha Bernard, one of the foredogs, since she's apparently gifted at identifying relics.
They find Bertha and spend a few puzzling moments in conversation. She tells them that the gem makes one's dreams louder, and after a little trial and error they determine that what she means is that it enables communication through dreams. It requires another gem like this, though. They also figure that the gem isn't evil in itself, but it's carrying a stain of Unseen, perhaps having been used to talk to something evil. Petunia asks if there's a way to trace the other gem using this one, but that's a little lateral for Bertha's thinking. She's happy to have a pie, though.
Petunia and Sausagedog go and talk to Hotch and ask him to donate a relic or two to the cause of capturing the Night Ripper, but he says he's got nothing to loan them (they're not sure they believe him, but they don't press the issue). He does give them a chest to put their bait in, however.
They head into the woods in the evening as Boomer and Dire finish the pit, and Sausagedog expertly covers it, placing the chest containing the gem and the Death Mirror that was in Dire's sack of holding ("I don't want this thing") on it as bait. They all hide, and wait.
The bait works! The Night Ripper emerges from the brush, snuffling around on all fours, and goes for the chest. The trap gives way and drops him into the pit, and he lets out that bloodcurdling howl. Boomer and Sausagedog are stricken, but the others keep their cool, and Petunia puts grease on the sides of the pit to keep him contained. Dire calls on his newly acquired Prayers to Man and commands the Night Ripper to lie down, which it does! Peppa throws protective spells to try and force the demon out, but it's not that simple. The Night Ripper flops over and froths, and then opens its mouth to an impossible degree and starts coughing out loam!
Petunia casts a disrupt spell on Sausagedog and cancels out the fear, and he jumps down in the pit, hoping to help Graff free himself. It occurs to Sausagedog that the Night Ripper is neither wholly Graff nor the demon, but something between them, and separation is painful for both of them. As if to illustrate the point, Graff's mouth opens even further and Sausagedog hears a sickening crack as his jaw breaks. The sky splits and rain pours down, and something emerges from Graff, passing the Pioneers and flying up!
Dire leaps into the pit and casts Spare the Dying on Graff, saving his life. The entity in the sky roars and sends lightning down, striking the entire area. It misses most of the dogs (fuckin' difficulty 19 Agility test and they're all like "lol no problem") but it zaps Petunia pretty badly. She responds with a Shatter spell, and in the crash she sees the monster, very briefly. It's a dog, maybe, but huge and hunched, with a long, spiky serrated tail.
Boomer leaps into the pit and grabs Graff, and then jumps out and runs for Ellendonk. The others climb out and try to get a handle on what's happening, but whatever it is they can't see it. The voice in the sky roars (presumably to Boomer) that he'll never escape the Wild, but then it lashes Petunia with its tail!
It hurts...but now Petunia knows where it is. She turns and throws an ice beam at it, freezing it in place and covering it with a thin sheen of ice, which makes it visible. Peppa calls up her Spirit Yorkies and moves closer, and lights the monster up with Sacred Flame. Dire bashes it with his war hammer, and Sausagedog stabs it from the shadows.
Even frozen, though, the thing is dangerous. It lashes out at Petunia and fells her with its tail, and then turns its attention to the others. It strikes Peppa, but she stands firm, and the monster flies up into the sky, still glowing thanks to the Sacred Flame, but faintly, until it vanishes.
The dogs regroup a bit, and elsewhere, Boomer arrives in Ellendonk and pounds on the door to the temple. Brother Corbin lets him in, and brings Graff to a bed. He casts a healing spell and fixes his jaw, and Graff draws his first free breath in who knows how long. He puts a hand on Boomer's shoulder.
"Thank you."
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