A Fey Pick Pocket & a Game of Chance

Summary of Events (10/19/2025):

Our “heroes” emerged from the depths of Dr. Ritalsin’s manor, the merchant Heinrich unconscious in their care – Sweet Dreams had claimed him, and he muttered ENDLESSLY about ledgers, transactions, and depreciation rates! How utterly TEDIOUS!

But DANGER lurked! Kiren spotted that PESTILENT halfling lawyer Finnick Goldwhistle waiting at the front door – dressed in robes worth MORE than horses, seeking depositions for Greta Von Pendergrast’s inheritance lawsuit! Our party chose… ESCAPE! Over the back wall they fled like common CRIMINALS!

The mighty Mutu hoisted Heinrich over his shoulder with all the care of a sack of potatoes, bouncing him mercilessly on cobblestones! In the alley, they found Constantine the mime, who conjured an INVISIBLE WHEELBARROW from thin air! Heinrich floated through the streets in a cart NOBODY COULD SEE, while Constantine made snow angels like a freed prisoner!

At the market square near the Barbed Tower, they encountered young Pip – a “child” of ten years, or so he APPEARED! When this street urchin and his gang attempted to pick their pockets, did our heroes show RESTRAINT? DIPLOMACY?

NO!

Mutu threatened to CHOP OFF HEADS! Charles transformed into a BLAZING ANGEL OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, complete with fiery wings and divine halo! Diana’s eidolon HIM grew to the size of a HOUSE! The market ERUPTED in absolute CHAOS! Shoppers SCREAMED! Vendors FLED! Children scattered in TERROR! Even the snowball fight turned to PANIC!

And what did clever little Pip do when cornered? He revealed his TRUE NATURE! The “child” was a FEY CREATURE all along! With a dramatic SNAP, he shattered a crystalline thorn stolen from the Barbed Tower itself – the sound like bells and breaking crystal!

The world SHIFTED! Colors became vivid and WRONG! The market square transformed into the IN-BETWEEN – that delicious pocket realm where the First World touches the material plane! Mortals became GHOSTS! Pip and his gang revealed their TRUE FORMS – pointed ears, glowing eyes, PREDATORY grins!

“You’re TRAPPED!” Pip declared with FEY ARROGANCE! “Kill me, and you’ll NEVER escape! This place is between places! Welcome to the Borderlands!”

But Mutu – that walking purple TERMINATOR – did what he does BEST! He pointed his finger and scared TWO of Pip’s companions into blind panic. One by one they turned and fled! While the third literally DIED OF FRIGHT, wetting himself before collapsing! As the others FLED screaming through the snow!

Desperate and alone, Pip attempted to BARGAIN! Offering them way out of the Borderlands back to the Mortal World if they would play him in a game of CRAPS; his cockney accent slipping to reveal FEY heritage! “Win, and return to your world! Lose, and your wagers will belonging to me!”

The mechanical Mutu, who understands NOTHING of gambling, agreed before consulting his compatriots ! He placed a single ARROW as his wager! Pip rolled the dice – and Mutu LOST! But then Diana joined the game with a wagering a single piece of pristine PAPER! Fortune, that fickle mistress, smiled upon them and they one the second pass of the dice! And then they won the third roll of the dice and WON their freedom!

Pip, bound by FEY RULES, honored the bargain! Magic pulsed! Blue energy crackled! He fused the broken thorn back together and banished them from his realm! The vivid colors FADED like watercolor in rain!

They returned to find the market square utterly ABANDONED! Every vendor FLED! Every window SHUTTERED! Every door BARRED! The terrified citizens of Lepistadt had seen ENOUGH of these so called “heroes” and their chaos!

And so they continue toward the Temple of Phasma, Heinrich babbling about fluctuating market values, Constantine making snowmen of GOBLINS, and Diana stealing PASTRIES from abandoned food stalls because apparently destroying a market square works up an appetite!