Adventure 6 - To Trap the Jack
Still chilly and still snowy in MN. Yet, our intrepid heroes managed to get a game in last night before another winter storm. For the 6th game of Fallen London they chased the murderous Jack of Smiles.
The whole point of chasing the Jack was to remove the current ambassador of Hell to London. Previously they had been promised foxfire candles from an ambitious demon. The heroes knew that a soul could be stuffed into a bottle and that a demon's soul could be captured like a mortal's. They intended to kidnapp the current ambassador in the Brass Embassy by stuffing him in a bottle. Then they would implant this new demon. All part of assisting the Lord Admiral, and who better to help plot against demons that the Jack of Smiles.
Finding the Jack is easier said than done, as he has the supernatural ability to possess dead bodies. The heroes decided to start with his most recent victims - following up with the murders of Mrs Agnes, and Mr. Brown.
Constable Weston, Edith, and Kid visited the crime scenes of Agnes and Brown looking for clues. Poking around obviously attracted the attention of the Jack. The murderer in question marked The Kid as next victim. The poor urchin being unfortunate enough to make eye contact with the Jack.
Simultaneously, Ermanach realized how dangerous the situation was becoming. The heroes debated their plan of action. If they found they Jack how could they detain him? Hadn't they heroes survived death in Fallen London? Could they kill the Jack? How could the Jack help them install the new ambassador anyway?
Luckily the heroes were not alone in plotting, some friendly rats offered a suggestion... find the cats.
Ermanach still had cats guarding his mothers house, as it has previously been ransacked by the Rattus Feber. These guard cats, led the heroes to spite and a black cat. This black cat was scooped up and utilized like a dowsing rod to finally bring them to the mysterious & hedonistic grey cat. Only the Kid was allowed to speak with Gery cat. He was informed of the final cat they needed to find - a Red-Faced demon Cat high up in The Flit. With the assistance of the King of The Flit and several trapeze artists, Edith and the American found the Red-Faced cat. It introduced itself as Oscar.
Oscar reminded the heroes that only Satan can install a new ambassador to London. He also pointed out that so far everything was strictly hypothetical. Only promises of assistance have been offered. Promises of soul binding, promises of candles. Perhaps Satan could be persuaded with an equal promise? Or maybe it was all worth nothing…
Oscar also mentioned that Satan was not the master of hell, just the holder of this particular franchise. To find the master the heroes would need the Boatman… Reiser. The captain of the tugboat Betsy is also Charon, boatman of the River Styx.
This was not the only revelation that came to the heroes. They also acquired a spell book and began to experiment with souls. They learned that souls could be poured into and out of one vessel to another. At the morgue they tested it on the bodies of Mrs Agnes and Mr Brown. They filled bottles with their souls and tried to learn about the nature of capturing a demon's soul.
While experimenting, they accidentally dropped a bottle holding Mr. Browns soul. When the bottle smashed Mr Brown woke up from the gurney in the morgue.
Everyone was shocked!
Quickly Mrs Agnes was also revived and the heroes were thanked for the miraculous recovery. Neither Mrs Agnes nor Mr Brown seemed to understand they had been killed.
Thinking it finally time for more answers, the heroes return to Reiser / Charon. The Boatman filled them in with details of the underworld. He tells them of his duties of carrying souls from place to place. He also tells them of the business arrangements between Hades and Satan. Charon directly intervenes and obligates Hell to assist London in its war against Berlin. They are required to keep the balance in the underworld. The heroes deliver a memo to the Devil who agrees to uphold his responsibilities.
Charon further assists the heroes in protecting their souls from being taken by Hell, the Jack, or others in London.
With all this business behind them, the heroes only need to stop the Jack. Now knowing how to trap his demon soul, they use The Kid as bait. They prepare a trap at the offices of the Edith's newspaper. The Jack was unready for everyone. The heroes had learned about London's secrets and they used magical and mundane powers to eliminate the demon. The Irishman's harpoon and the Constables revolver kill the Jack. As he attempts to leave and posses another body and inhabit another body The American scoops up his soul. The American will hold onto it for now.
Despite their victory, they couldn't stop the Jack from driving his knife into Ermanach's chest.
A final revelation was given that night. All discovered that beneath the Irish Zailor's skin was nothing but straw and sticks.
Adventure 1 — Adventure 2 — Adventure 3 — Adventure 4 — Adventure 5 — Adventure 6 — Adventure 7 —Adventure 8 — Adventure 9 — Epilogue