A Matter of Utmost Discretion or The Naked Rabbi

Note: The naked rabbi did not appear in this session.

GM: Erik Hanson

Players:

Joshua Kronengold: Ipolitto Sforza, a 12 year old noble

Lisa Padol: Roggerio, a musician and ex-diabolist with an unwanted, but not entirely undeserved, reputation for intrigue, in Ipolitto's service

Lee Painton: Vincent di Giovanni, Venitian nobleman and Necromancer, spying for the Sforza while trying to take over the Florentine criminal underworld. Currently hosting a card tournament, with Sforza sponsorship.

David Siegel: Jebril, displaced Moorish architect with a talent for geomancy.

Matt Stevens: Rafael Marancini, Jewish Cabalist and advisor to Ipolitto.

Rachael Tang: Bella Ziani, midwife and visionary

Prominent NPCs:

Horatio Sforza: Ipolitto's oldest brother.

Sebastiano Sforza: Ipolitto's uncle, head of the family

Simon di Peruzzi: son of the head of the di Peruzzi family, proprietor of the Inn of the Four Winds. The di Peruzzis control the criminal underworld of Florence and hate the Sforzas. The Inn of the Four Winds is renowned for its refined atmosphere, its selection of fine wines, its foreign guests, and the fact that nothing bad ever happens at the Inn of the Four Winds.

Brother Cedric: English monk lending occasional aid to the Sforzas, a Renaissance Sherlock Holmes.

Renier: A diabolist, charming, glad to help the Sforzas. Roggerio used to be one of his followers. Recently revealed to be a noble.

Lucius: Diabolist, follower of Renier. An unpleasant sociopath who can turn as much of his body into mist as he likes.

Dolce: Diabolist, follower of Renier. She decided that she wanted to stay a child forever, and no one knows how old she really is.

Belci: A family that betrayed the Peruzzis, currently the target of Lucius' nighttime hunts. Some of Vincent's newer guards were Belcis. Alas, Lucius killed them.

Nobby: Shapeshifting faerie who married a mortal woman

Mook: A mortal man favored by the faeries, part Grover-the-muppet and part Bab5's Zathros

This session was held the Thursday after the attack on WTC. Erik said his house would be open in any case, and we could game, or just sit and bond if we preferred. Everyone except Dave showed up (he was fine, just unavailable), and we voted for gaming.

Erik joked that he hoped we appreciated the last minute rewrite he'd had to do. He said he'd originally planned to have Lucius crash two dragons into prominent Florentine landmarks, but decided this would be disrespectful in the wake of September 11. We laughed. I was amused because it was a joke; I would have been offended if he'd actually censored the session due to terrorist activity. But then, I'm weird.

Lucius had promised to commit a murder in such a way as to show he was capable of discretion. As the first night of Vincent's card tournament drew to a close, he showed himself to Rafael, who had set up shop with his father, a money lender. They were doing brisk business.

Rafael told his father to pray, pack up, and go home. His father was baffled, but followed his son's instructions, assuming Rafael knew what he was talking about. Lucius told Rafael that he would give Our Heroes a chance to save his victims.

Rafael was joined by Bella and Vincent, the latter furious at Lucius for murdering a couple of his guards, who were also Belcis. Unconcerned, Lucius handed the trio an hourglass showing how much time remained before his victims -- for there were more than one -- died. Vincent took the hourglass.

Lucius provided three clues.

1. Look for something out of place.

2. Rafael should look close to home.

3. The lives of men were not at stake.

Bella deduced that Lucius' victim or victims were women and children, while Rafael guessed they would be located in the Jewish ghetto.

Meanwhile, Ipolitto and Roggerio had been promised future faerie aid against Lucius if they watched over Mook, a mortal favored by the faeries. As they looked over to where Mook was, they saw the threadbare fellow absentmindedly lifting coins from Jebril's purse.

Roggerio took them from Mook, who was disappointed to lose his pretty shinies. So, Roggerio gave Mook some of his own coins while trying surreptiously to sneak the other coins back into the Jebril's purse. Of course, Roggerio has absolutely no skill at this, as I pointed out to Erik. He ruled that the Moorish architect was by now well aware of what was going on, and without turning around, he smoothly guided Roggerio's fumbling hand into his purse.

Much relieved, Roggerio and Ipolitto lead Mook to Vincent, and were told what Lucius had said. As I recall, a messenger was sent to update Sebastiano. He returned with disturbing information. The Sforza guard Lucius had hung, non-fatally, was able to admit to being a Belci spy. He also said that his mistress was one of the female servants in the Sforza household, the one who, a couple of months earlier, had given birth to a son. Bella and Roggerio had been helping the exhausted mother care for the child, and Bella's card reading indicated that the boy would be special.

Mother and child had left the Sforza household for the day, to visit relatives in town. They had not returned. Our Heroes now knew for whom they needed to seek.

After some discussion, Bella and Rafael were sent to Rafael's parents' house, Roggerio to the house the mother and baby were heading for, and Ipolitto and Horatio to the Sforza household to make preparations. Vincent stayed at his own home, intending to make his own preparations, as he handed Mook to his servants to clean up and dress appropriately. He also took custody of Simon di Peruzzi's favorite dagger, removed from Mook's person by Ipolitto and Roggerio, who decided to duck the question of how and whether to return it by fobbing it off on Vincent.

Vincent started a ceremony, and looked for his ritual censer.

GM: Your censer is missing. When you look around, so is Mook.

Vincent was furious. He was so furious that his servants left the room at once, and somehow managed to find a replacement censer that was as acceptable as the first in a remarkably short time. They hastily gave it to their master, and he performed a ritual, using the hourglass Lucius had given him.

Lee was kind enough to give me his notes for the ritual:

Ritual of the Frozen Sands

Channel: Astral Connection by lingering touch

Method: Establish spiritual link.

Imbue sand with energetic essence (abjuration)

Cast a spell of enervation (life-stealing) over sands.

Components: A finger bone

Dried Mandrake

Blood of a fresh death

[And also, I presume, one hourglass, a censer, and incense. --Lisa]

Release: Break glass in case of emergency.

Effects: Subject will freeze for a few vital seconds as his body is deprived of all energy.

Roggerio, meanwhile, heading for the house that had been the destination of the Sforza servant and her child, heard Lucius' voice telling him that Lucius had expected better of him than heading to a dead end. Chilled, Roggerio asked what he might find on that end. He was relieved to hear Lucius explain that the servant and her child had never reached their destination in the first place, as opposed to him having committed bloody mayhem there.

Lucius pointed out that Roggerio was wasting time. And he'd given clues. If the victims weren't saved, what could it mean but that the Sforzas didn't really want to save them? Roggerio asked for more hints. Lucius said that since they were friends, he'd answer, truthfully, 5 yes-or-no questions, provided they were asked before the sands ran out.

Roggerio asked if the victims were indeed in the ghetto, and Lucius said yes. Roggerio noted that Lucius would create a minor war if a Christian woman and her child were murdered in a ghetto. Lucius said that Roggerio and the others could prevent it by acting quickly.

Roggerio's second question was whether it was permissible to have others suggest questions, though of course, only he could ask them of Lucius. Lucius said yes. Roggerio hated to use a question on that, but didn't dare not get clarification, lest Lucius decide he was cheating.

Roggerio headed for the ghetto, as did Vincent, Ipolitto, Horatio, and a couple of Sforza guards. Meanwhile, Rafael searched his home, finding nothing out of place. Erik suggested there might be another place Rafael thought of as home, like, say, the synagogue where he studied?

Rafael told his parents to hide in the cellar / basement, in case Lucius came calling. They did. Bella and Rafael left a note on the door, telling the others to go to the synagogue. Heading there themselves, they encountered Mook.

Somehow, Mook had managed to shed his old rags and acquire rabbinical robes, furnishing us with part of the title for this episode, as we pictured Mook grabbing the clothes of a rabbi taking a bath. And somehow, the robes were as tattered as Mook's old set of clothes.

He homed in on Bella's hair, currently bright feathers, thanks to a drink of faerie water. He pulled a few feathers, but offered to help when he understood that Bella and Rafael were searching for a special child and his mother. Mook said he'd seen them, but the searchers were nonplussed to discover that he was talking about the Virgin Mary and the baby Christ.

Roggerio caught up with the odd trio. I think it was at this point that Mook agreed to ask Nobby for help. He swallowed a bottle of something, then, in a voice loud enough to be heard halfway across Florence, yelled, "NOBBY!" I don't recall the faerie doing anything, but it did establish that Mook could do magic, or at least use pre-prepared magic.

The four entered the synagogue, and discreetly explained the problem. The Sforzas and guards entered as well, followed by Vincent. Roggerio asked the air if the victims were in the synagogue, and Lucius said yes.

Searching, rabbis and PCs found a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Christ, just as Mook had said. He has a perfect memory for what he sees, and no one thought he might actually have seen such a statue in the Jewish ghetto, as out of place as Lucius' hint promised.

The rabbis removed the illusion on the statue, while Rafael looked on critically. (He's from a weird sect of Kabbalists, breaking the traditional rules about how he should be married, with 2 kids, and over 40. The rabbis did not recognize this sect's validity.) The real woman and her child were revealed, bound so that they were immobile.

The woman had rags and pebbles shoved down her throat. Bella was able to remove them. The baby had a large stone blocking its air passage, and there was no way to bring it back up.

Erik told us after the session that he'd stolen this from Batman, where the Riddler did something similar. Batman performed an emergency tracheotomy on the child. This was what Bella now proposed to do, with, IMO, better script justification. After all, she had the specialized training. Of course, she also had technological limitations, and she wasn't sure if the child would be able to speak after she made the necessary cut.

The rabbis told her to do what was needful, assuring her that they would heal any damage from the cut that she could not. So, Rachael described, in precise detail, what Bella did and how carefully. I gather Rachael has had some unpleasant experiences with overly literal GMs ("You didn't say you were also checking the ceiling for traps" sort of thing). However, the operation was a success. Indeed, it would have been surprising if the child had not been saved.

A cold presence seemed to depart from the synagogue. Roggerio ran out, followed closely by the others.

Roggerio: Lucius! This isn't over -- you still owe me two answers!

Lucius: Yes, but you've brought company.

Roggerio first tried to shoo the others away, then asked for suggestions for the remaining 2 questions. I forget what they were, but I think one was whether Lucius planned to kill more Belcis and the other whether Lucius would leave Florence.

Lucius (as the last grains of sand drop in the hourglass): No, and no. And yet, you didn't ask the most important question.

Roggerio (as the blood drains from his face): Are there any others?

During this exchange, Ipolitto nocked an arrow. Then, Vincent threw the hourglass to the ground, forcing Lucius to become solid and freeze in place.

Then, all present except Lucius found themselves frozen in place. A child's singing was heard, and Roggerio realized two things. First, he had interpreted the unasked question incorrectly. He thought he should have asked if there were more victims. In fact, he should have asked if Lucius had allies. Second, Lucius' ally was Dolce, who had agreed to serve Satan in return for always remaining a little girl.

She now appeared with a cat's cradle, the focus of her immobilization spell. Even talking was difficult.

Roggerio: We... must look... pretty silly.

Vincent: This... is... not good!

Lucius, no longer immobile, drew his knife across Bella's throat, warning that if she fought, he'd cut deeper. As she couldn't anyway, he cut very lightly, just enough to wet his blade and leave a thin line of red on her throat.

Rachael was very good about playing the terrified Bella. Many gamers, even despite their best efforts, would either corpse, i.e., detatching themselves from the situation to the point where there's no roleplaying going on, or argue that their PC could do -something- to get out of it. Rachael said that Bella started to cry.

After apparently counting coup, Lucius left. Rafael said prayers to end Dolce's spell, while Dolce realized, in a bit Erik borrowed from The Stars Dispose, that she was reaching the figure of Death in her cat's cradle, a figure from which no other figures can be made. Hence, she made a hasty retreat. Bella found a scrap of paper which Lucius had, probably deliberately, let fall. Roggerio looked it over, and when Ipolitto tried to see it, snatched it back, to his patron's astonishment. When he'd absorbed it, Roggerio returned the paper to Bella, who gave it to Ipolitto, and said, in a spooked voice, "He has my blood."

The note said:

A woman of pure heart who...

kissed the lips of a strangled man,

slit the throat of a helpless babe,

led to the downfall of a man of the cloth

The second referred to her rescue of the child. The first referred to her giving mouth to mouth resuscitation to the child's father, inexplicably left alive after Lucius' attack, an anomaly to which we failed to pay proper attention. The third referred to her role in tricking a pious bishop into using faerie water for an exorcism, resulting in the angel Mutuol smiting the bishop, albeit non-fatally. What was Lucius up to?

Everyone, except the rabbis, went to the Inn of the Four Winds to ask Renier. Usually most helpful, the diabolist proved sternly tight lipped. This was the more surprising given his affection for Bella.

The problem, I think, is that Renier, perhaps for the first time, found himself in a situation where his personal preferences were seriously at odds with his service to his chosen lord. Lucius' dagger was now useful, especially against an angel. And Our Heroes knew Renier had dire plans for the angel Mutuol.

This much Renier allowed: Lucius had gone too far and was no longer part of his circle. Even Dolce would be made to understand this. No vengeance would be taken if Lucius were killed.

Roggerio was annoyed with Renier for refusing to do more to help the distressed Bella while simultaneously kicking out the man responsible for creating an instrument of use to his plans and of which he fully intended to use, should opportunity arise. Roggerio was conflicted.

Not conflicted, but also annoyed, was Simon di Peruzzi, who angrily informed Vincent of the theft of his favorite dagger at the card tournament Vincent had hosted. In a foul mood himself, the necromancer said he'd look into the theft, but just now was concerned with the death of some of his men. As Lucius was nominally working for Simon, I think Vincent held Simon at least partially responsible. A tacit understanding was reached that the dagger would be returned at the next round of the tournament.

Our Heroes consulted with Sebastiano Sforza and Brother Cedric. These two concluded that Bella was probably not going to be targeted via the dagger. Her blood was symbolically that of innocence corrupted, but she herself was not corrupt. However, the dagger would indeed serve as a potent weapon against the angel Mutuol.

Bella and Roggerio tried, secretly and unsuccessfully, to interest Lucius in hunting them. Lucius, no fool, pointed out that if he did this, everyone would hunt him. Even if Bella and Roggerio didn't want help, Lucius reminded Roggerio, Sebastiano would locate them magically. And Lucius really wasn't interested in hunting them anyway.

A more practical long-term plan that surprised Erik was to get Renier's tears, which would be as magically charged as Bella's blood. After all, these would be the tears of a diabolist who

-- returned good for evil, with Christian charity

[by his unfailingly kind treatment of Roggerio, who left Renier's circle with no word of explanation, and who, as Renier knows, regularly gives information about Renier to Sebastiano]

-- fought against those who would raise the hosts of Hell

[because they were going about it the wrong way]

-- tried to create a new angel for the hosts of Heaven

[by chaining up a faerie at ground zero of an exorcism as a distraction, all part of a plan to ensure he could see the angel Mutuol]

Exactly what could be done with such tears, should they ever be acquired, remains to be seen.