Session 96

General Summary

• Dazki began interrogating Kerro, an actual flesh-and-blood person whom he had tied up. The rest of the party joined shortly after he started.
• Inside the box that he carries around (he claimed) is the Rotor of Return, one of the pieces of the Orrery of the Wanderer.
• Kerro used to work for the elder Mr. Donahue.
• Someone going by the name of "The Metronome Man" foretold that The Hounds Guild would collapse because of Dennis, and that Kerro would be caught up in it too unless he accepted the Metronome Man's help. Kerro was initially skeptical, but he came around as more of the prophecy came true.
• Since accepting the Metronome Man's help, Kerro has been having "too many" memories, seemingly remembering things that he "would have done" in vivid detail, even through he didn't actually do them.
• Kerro was moving the pieces of the Orrery towards the Invictus Una. He had already replaced two of them with replicas without the House of Cards knowing, but he ran into a snag with this third one and has had to improvise.
• Kerro's box could only be opened after playing a musical phrase that only he knows.
• He grew increasingly mad as they talked about his box, claiming that opening it would tie their fates together; as it went on, he seemed interested in seeing what was inside, even though he had already said that it was the Rotor of Return.
• The party convinced him to whistle the tune that would open the box, but Dazki decided not to give him the satisfaction of seeing what was inside. Kerro lashed out with a silver-edged knife, causing Dwardazik to knock him out and beat him two-thirds-to-death. Kesmet killed him the rest of the way.
• Dazki reprimanded Kesmet for killing their only lead, and when Dwardazik uttered the phrase "self-defense", Dazki left the casino in frustration, leaving the others to figure out what to do with the body and not open the box (because Grogery didn't want to).
• Grogery refused to leave the body there and wanted Kesmet to carry it because he was the one who killed the man. He also didn't want to open the box.
• Kesmet was in a nervous state and was mostly useless during the discussion, alternating between cackling like a maniac / heaping praise on himself / lucidly pointing out the complexities of carrying away the charred corpse of a Friend of the Family from deep within the mafia's headquarters.
• Marvin kept insisting that they just needed to leave. When they didn't, he did, going outside to vent with Dazki.
• Grogery didn't want to open the box, which was fine, because why would he?
• Dwardazik figured that there weren't any great options to sneak the body out, so he went to talk to the guards to try to control the narrative a little before they inevitably discovered what had happened on their own.
• Grogery decided that he was done not wanting to open the box.
• Upon opening the box, it aged hundreds of years, the Rotor of Return fell to the floor, and a clockwork automaton was where Kerro's body had been, making a constant ticking sound and containing a black-looking mote in its otherwise pristine quartz "head".
• Kesmet noped out of the situation, as Grogery sent a request to Dazki to come back.
• Everyone converged on the room, including a guard that Dwardazik had convinced to come take a look. The guard thought Kerro was pranking her and promptly left.
• The party quickly decided that the automaton needed to go to the House of Crystal, as there was Turmoil in its head. Dwardazik noted that it was reacting violently to loud noises, so they managed the noise level as they brought it back to their house to remove the "head".
• Dazki was able to remove the "head" back at their house and was about to go deliver it to the House of Crystal, but when Barry ominously warned that "those explode, every time", he looked over the still-ticking body. Agreeing that it was definitely at risk of making a rapid unplanned disassembly, he disabled it completely.

Full Recap

Grogery has taken Dwardazik aside in The Court of Resolution to discreetly ask him about what just happened.

Dwardazik: ...I think... the effect happened again. Really damn hurts, but it... it helped me win. And that's all that mattered. It's nothing you can't fix, right? (He shows Grogery his bleeding, burnt hand). It was worth it... she was really strong, and my fists weren't hurting her, but that extra fire.... just needed that extra bit of damage.   Grogery: You seemed to be winning beforehand.   Dwardazik: It was too close. Without that little bit of extra edge, I would've lost for sure.   Grogery: Marvin was about ready to come help you out too —   Dwardazik: No, I understand, we probably would've won by the end, but then I'd never be able to show my face to you guys!   Grogery: Just because you get unlucky doesn't... whatever.

Grogery turns to the crowd and announces the winners: Marvin, Dwardazik, and Kesmet. Marvin and Dwardazik raise their arms up in a cheer. Marvin walks over to the Purple, Unknown-Name Tiefling (which I will call "PUNT" for short).

Marvin: Next time you see some kind patrons trying to enter the casino, don't pay any mind to what they look like. How's that sound?   PUNT: Just leave me alone, already.   Marvin: I'd leave you to your thoughts, but I don't think you have any left!

Marvin walks away, while Grogery goes around healing people. Dazki has Kerro knocked unconscious. Kerro had some sort of a box on him. A nine-inch, rectangular beautiful polished redwood box. Clearly, just based on his condition, he didn't fare too well in his fight: his arm is severely burnt, as if trying to shield some large fiery blast, even though his flame-retardant cloak.   There's no discernible way of opening the box. There is a slot for where the winding key would go. Dazki takes out a key that he must have acquired during the fight; he inserts it and attempts to wind it, but it will not budge. He makes sure Kerro is firmly tied to a chair and then administers a healing potion to wake him, making sure to capture the sentences that seem the most impactful on his remaining cards from The Admirer's Cards of Collecting.

Dazki: Hey, Kerro Schene, glad to see you're back with the land of the awake! I can see the fight went real well.   Kerro: ...why do you remember what you remember? Why?   Dazki: So, I can kind-of lead you to that, but first, I have an important question. How do you get into this box? Because the answer is in here.   Kerro: We owe each other answers first. If you open that box, I fear our meeting may be over.   Dazki: All right. When did you get this box?   Kerro: I've had the box for years, but not its contents.   Dazki: When did you get the item inside of the box?   Kerro: Listen. I know what answers you want. Will you answer my questions, if I answer yours?   Dazki: Sure. Seems like a fair trade.   Kerro: Inside that box is the Rotor of Return. It was my job to deliver it here, but I did not. This is the only piece here — I've replaced the others with counterfeits. I was going to replace this one too, but it was discovered missing before I had the chance.   Dazki: All right. So, as to how we remember what we remember? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe we were too far away for its effects to be had. Maybe when you acquired it, we were in an area that had divine protection from a lot of outside magics. Those would be my two guesses. I don't know for certain why we weren't affected.   Kerro: I'm... still confused.   Dazki: Why? Oh, you mean — because the Rotor of Return — from what I understand, it can alter reality. So, somehow, it caused a change in reality that allows us to remember what has happened to us, but it has changed certain aspects of reality that were not directly around us. Aspects that I believe that the person who has the Rotor can change.   Kerro: That doesn't make sense with what has happened.   Dazki: What do you mean?   Kerro: I... I shouldn't be in this position.   Dazki: Well... yes, you shouldn't. You work for Mr. Donahue, right?   Kerro: I used to work for the elder Mr. Donahue. It made me quite a decent advisor here.   Dazki: From what I have heard from Kesmet, you worked for the younger Mr. Donahue as well.   Kerro: I did not. I was warned about it, and I've chosen a different path.   Dazki: And I think the Rotor has caused the path that we know, and the path that you know, to merge.   Kerro: Doesn't make any sense. It's protected there, in that box.   Dazki: Has it been in that box the entire time?   Kerro: Since I've had it.   Dazki: And when did you acquire it?   Kerro: Maybe a week or so ago. I'm not stupid enough to deal with the goods.   Dazki: No, but a little more than a week ago, we were in a place that would likely have been protected by this, with some very powerful divine magic and, possibly, even some Turmoil magic.   Kerro: Right, but I've only had this for a brief period of time. This doesn't change what happened years ago. Our stories don't line up! Why do you remember what you remember? Why am I failing, now? I was promised not to fail now!   Dazki: Who promised you that? Or... what promised you that?   Kerro: ...fine. I suppose I can say more.

Dwardazik has huffed off to the locker room to light up a cigarette since everyone else was just standing around being boring. He gives it a bit, and then he starts asking around in the crowd if anyone knows where Kerro went.

Grogery: We should probably try to hunt down that guy. Where do you think he went?   Marvin: Who knows? Unless you have a way of following a Dimension Door, good luck.   Grogery: Not really... there are spells that would let me do it, but I don't have any of them ready right now...   Marvin: Hey, where's Dazki?   Grogery: He's probably just hiding in the crowd. He does that sometimes. Maybe he ran after Kerro.   Marvin: Maybe.

Marvin turns his attention to Eighty and PUNT. Eighty is definitely completely fine, but PUNT is trying to shake something off.

Marvin: Hey, dude, my spell wore off a while ago. You could probably cast spells again now. I know the fight's over, but...   PUNT: Whatever.   Marvin: Hey, what's your problem?   PUNT: What's your problem?   Marvin: I was doing perfectly fine until someone challenged me to a fight, down in this weird-ass coliseum!   PUNT: I was just, you know, doing my job, and then some pompous guy just walks up to me, thinks he owns my mind, and — it's my mind, man, it's my mind!   Marvin: I did it because you were being an asshole to my friend!   PUNT: I think you were being an asshole, the whole time. I'm just the staff, man.   Marvin: You're a filthy racist, and I don't tolerate that shit!   PUNT: I think you're racist.   Marvin: Oh, well, that's a rebuttal. OK. Sure. Yeah.   Grogery: So, now that we've gotten all the hard aggression out of our systems... were you literally told not to let people like me or Kesmet inside?   PUNT: There's a certain quality of people that are supposed to be here. It's my job to determine that.   Marvin: You should probably re-evaluate your career decisions, then.   PUNT: I think I'm gonna re-evaluate my career decisions.   Marvin: Attaboy. Grogery over here is five times the man I could ever hope to be.   PUNT: Well, then, he should dress like it.   Grogery: I AM dressed, to the nines! Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a tailor for this damned outfit?!   Marvin: He's fuckin' fabulous!   Kesmet: Also, it's the goblin that makes the armor, not the armor that makes the goblin.   Grogery: Not actually wearing armor, but... yeah...   Marvin: Because he doesn't need it!   Marvin: Eighty, I — not to apologize on his behalf, but I'm sorry you got dragged into all this. It was a lot of fun, though! At the end, I really couldn't keep my eyes off you!   Eighty, with a grin: You made him look stupid, haha.   Marvin: It was pretty great, wasn't it?   Eighty, chuckling: Usually, he doesn't look that stupid. And you made him look real stupid, in front of a bunch of people!   Marvin: That's my specialty!   Eighty: I'm supposed to be doin' a job, but, you know...   Marvin: I mean, we gave these people one hell of a show, amiright? Listen to these cheers! The show got canceled, and we put it back on! I say we did a fine job!   Grogery: Listen, uh — is there a name I could call you by?   PUNT: You know, it's very culturally rude to ask a tiefling their name.   Grogery: Is there something you'd like me to call you?   PUNT: I don't... think... we should talk. I might say more stupid things.   Grogery: Listen. Not to really apologize on behalf of anybody, because that's kind of rude, but —   PUNT: Why would you ask me my name?! We're not friends. It's really insensitive for you to ask a demonfolk their name.   Grogery: And it's really insensitive for you to turn a goblin away from a fun-looking establishment just because he's a goblin. I understand there are certain "standards" that society likes to uphold — different cultural norms and that sort of thing — but, like, you know, it feels bad to see your friend get turned away from a place just because he has big ears and is short, you know?   PUNT: Well, aren't you judging me here now, too?   Kesmet: You were an asshole! Of course we're judging you!   Marvin: We're judging you based on your decisions, not based on how you were born.   Grogery: I'm not judging you. I'm simply saying that —   Kesmet: I'm judging.   Grogery: — I'm pretty sure Marvin and the rest of us just got a little bit fed up having this happen to us yet again, and maybe some lines were crossed. But now we've kind of got it all out of our system, I have no particular beef with you anymore, and I think Marvin feels the same.   Marvin: When life kicks you down, shake it off and learn from it. That's what I always say.   PUNT: I think I'm just gonna go home.   Marvin: That's fine too.

PUNT walks off. Eighty follows after him, but not before a wink and a slightly rude sexual gesture towards Marvin. He pumps his eyebrows a couple of times.

Dwardazik: You know, I have been all over this place, looking in the crowds and everything, and I have not seen that elf anywhere!   Kesmet: Yeah, Dimension Door has a range of, like, 500 feet.   Grogery: I'm thinking maybe Kerro Schene teleported out of here, and Dazki ran after him, and — based on how fast Dazki is able to run — they might be halfway across town by now.

They decide to have Marvin use a Sending spell to get a message to Dazki:

Marvin: Dazki, where you at? You seen our kerosene boi?   Dazki: In his locker room. He's currently tied up. I'm doing our job, what about you?

Marvin relays this to the rest of the party (minus the sass), and they rush to meet up.

Dazki: Sounds like we're gonna have company soon.

Dwardazik runs interference at the door, as the rest of the party rushes in.

Marvin: Ah, yes! Dazki! Of course, yes, you caught... the plan worked, exactly as expected!   Grogery: We had a plan?   Marvin: Shh!!!!   Dazki I had a plan. The rest of you ran off, to do your own thing.   Grogery: What do you mean, "ran off"? The plan was to fight this guy in The Court of Resolution, and then when he lost, he'd have to actually sit down and talk with us instead of being cagey!   Dazki: Yes. To fight him.   Grogery: Yeah, and he just teleported away!   Dwardazik: What's goin' on with you, Dazki?   Marvin: How did you intercept him?!   Dazki: Because I was in here, waiting.   Marvin: What, you knew he was gonna teleport in here?   Dazki: I didn't know, but it was certainly the most likely place he would return to — injured or uninjured — after the fight.   Marvin: I dunno, going straight back out of the casino was perfectly viable...   Dwardazik: I'm not really sure how the rule work, but —   Marvin: Well, he lost. He ran away.   Dazki: Anyway,   Dwardazik: So, you were asking him some questions, right? You got anything?   Grogery: Anyway, sorry. We're here now. Have you heard or said anything to him so far?   Dazki: Yeah. I have what we're looking for. He hasn't used it, but it sounds like someone else did while we were, um, "handling" the good doctor, and that is what caused all of the change in reality.   Dwardazik: Uhh...........   Dazki: And he was just about to tell me who he got it from, or who he got the information about it from. Isn't that right?   Dwardazik: And if he doesn't tell ya, I could always make him talk! (He clangs his fists together, empowered by his relatively new Insignia of Claws)   Kerro: ...you guys remember all the same things?   Dazki: Yeah.   Dwardazik: Uh, yeah. That's how memories work, dude.   Kerro: ...even though, long ago, you were apart. You only met up recently, right?   Dwardazik: What the hell is this guy talkin' about?   Dazki: Yeah, like, uh...   Grogery: A few months ago.   Marvin: Me, even less so. Why would that change anything?   Kerro: Listen, it's hard to keep it all straight. I've been told a lot of the things that I "may" have done, or what I "will" do, or what I "would've had to have" done. And the stories feel real; I have these oddly vivid memories, as if I had actually done those things. But these are from years ago! And you were apart years ago! We didn't have these pieces years ago.   Dazki: Who's been telling you these things? Is it just what we've said to you, or is it other voices? Other people, talking to you, telling you?   Kerro: Back when I worked for the senior Mr. Donahue, —   Kesmet: I knew it! He did work for him!   Grogery: Dennis's dad. Not Dennis.   Kesmet: Whatever.   Kerro: —, I was approached by a man offering prophecies. One of those kooks, you know?   Kesmet: ...and you listened to the salesman?   Kerro: He said Mr. Donahue would die soon and that his son, Dennis, would be the reason for the Guild's eventual downfall.   Kesmet: That tracks.   Kerro: He said that I would fall in the storm. That I would go down with them. But, he had offered me a separate path.   Dwardazik: I'm not sure I'm following. Was this the "prophecy"? And who offered you this "path", the prophecy teller?   Kerro: I only spoke to him through elaborate disguises or whispered voices on the wind. He was using an old folk name, an old gnomish folktale name: "The Metronome Man". Although I've only heard indirectly. (Dwardazik begins taking notes in his black book.)   Kerro (cont'd): The prophetic man stated that if I were to, instead, use my Guild information to insert myself into the House of Cards, then things would be better. He then handed me this box and said that I merely needed to activate the item within. (Dwardazik captures this last sentence on one of his cards that Dazki handed him.) ...obviously, not the same item that it now contains.   Dwardazik: So, who is this mysterious man? What name did they use?   Dazki: He told us. The one from gnomish folklore: "The Metronome Man".   Dwardazik: Yeah-yeah-yeah, but —   Kerro: I think it's just a codename.   Dwardazik: Yeah. So, you never got another name out of him? Just that one?   Kerro: I mean, all prophets are like that, right? And I was skeptical, so I didn't do it. But more of that man's strange whispers and prophecies started to come true, and so I took the deal. I could feel the inevitability of defeat.   Dwardazik: What do you mean by "taking the deal"? I'm trying to understand. To me, ... you get a prophecy, all right? And you just kinda hear it, and you maybe change your lifestyle based on what you heard. When you say you "took the deal", what, you actively just stopped what you were doing and went to join the House of Cards at that time? What do you mean?   Kerro: I opened the box to seek what was within.   Dwardazik: OH! Now I understand. That wasn't clear to me. OK. Hmm. Well, that's pretty spooky.   Kerro: I've been told of many things that I "did", or "would have done". I'm not sure what's real and what's fake anymore, but up until this point here, the plans seem to have been working.   Dazki: What was within the box?   Kerro: I don't remember.   Dwardazik: Where did you meet this prophet?   Dazki: He didn't. The prophet just spoke to him. Through voices, through whispers. He didn't actually meet the person — much like Baxton spoke with us initially.   Dwardazik: OK, and where did he end up finding this box?   Dazki: That's a good question... where did you find the box?   Kerro: I was given the box, by the prophet.   Dwardazik: In person?   Kerro: A shapechanger, perhaps. Maybe some sort of illusion. But I was given the box. So, I do not know what deeds I "have done", what deeds I "will do", what deeds I... "will... do... have done"?   Dwardazik: Well, unfortunately for you, your previous past is catching up with you.   Dazki: Dwardazik, can we maybe not deal with the threats right now? I think it seems a bit counterproductive.   Dwardazik: I'm just saying!   Kerro: So. What has happened to my prophecy? Why do you remember differently?   Dazki: I'm guessing the prophet is not all-powerful, all-knowing? I think... ohhhh shit, OK.   Kesmet: What? What did you realize?   Dwardazik: He's probably realizing what I think is happening.   Dazki: So, you know the place we've been going to? How we're the only ones who've been going there?   Dwardazik: Yeah?   Marvin: Ohhhhhh... please tell me...   Grogery: Hmm...   Dazki: So, this is Turmoil-related shit.   Kesmet: ...OK?   Dwardazik: What does "that place" have to do with it? You think every time we go there, something changes here?   Dazki: No, I think whatever that entity is, it chose us, and it's been protecting us from whatever Turmoil is changing. Or maybe it sends us back to a slightly different reality, I don't know. But I think that creature is what is to blame for all of this.   Marvin: Wait, the red statue?   Dazki: The one that we rescued.   Grogery: I mean, there was that whole thing with the "WINNER" diamond...   Dwardazik: That's just speculation.   Dazki: It is. Do you have any better ideas, Dwardazik? I'd be happy to hear 'em!   Dwardazik: My current idea is that perhaps whatever magic happened here took place at the exact moment that we weren't there. It may not be protective; it may just be coincidence.   Dazki: It could be. But, given the fact that Kerosene here says that he opened the box — and used whatever was in it to change his fate — years ago, I think it's unlikely that all five of us were somewhere protected, years ago.   Kerro: That's what I've been saying!   Kesmet: No, you've been rambling.   Dazki: So, I think it has to do with that creature that has chosen us as its champions, and that we've been chosen for a lot longer than we've known.   Kerro: I don't understand.   Dazki: It's crazy Turmoil shit.   Dwardazik: Well, what I find interesting is, don't you think that the prophet would have had a clause or something that said "hey, you can forget this"? Why do you remember even accepting this?   Kerro: Because life is a series of events, and that's one of the things that I've done.   Dwardazik: I suppose that makes sense. I'm just trying to understand the rules, OK? Most of the time, you do something, and you remember you did it! But apparently, some of these things are fuckin' breaking the rules of reality!   Kerro: I don't have a lapse of memory. In fact, I feel like I have too many, not too few.   Grogery: I mean, when Turmoil tries to do things, it can't do them perfectly. Look at what happened with Vicra.   Kerro: I don't know what that means.   Grogery: Healing things, but consequences afterwards.   Kerro: So then, my destiny here is to be doomed? You've broken out of the loop of the prophecy.   Dazki: I don't think any of us has a destiny that's set in stone.   Marvin: NOW you're speakin' my language!   Dazki: We all can make our own choices.   Dwardazik: I have to agree with that.   Dazki: Being fatalistic about this destiny is not conducive to living a good life, a happy life.   Kerro: You say I'm being fatalistic, but really, what is my fate here?   Marvin: We don't have all the answers...   Kerro: I'm dead three ways.   Dazki: I will... try... to talk The Queen of Hearts into leniency, I don't know... I don't know.   Kerro: Getting that bitch involved is going to get me killed. And not in a clean way.   Dazki, with a sigh: Yeah. I know.   Kerro: And I MAY have murdered a bunch of women and children.   Dwardazik: What can you offer? If she's gonna try to kill you, you got anything that might be worth leniency? Anything in that memory of yours? Like, maybe what happened to the other stolen relics?   Grogery: Information on things that you shouldn't have been there for, but you were?   Dwardazik: Give us a bargaining chip, here!   Kerro: All right. Only because I'm aware that your fate is now tied to mine. I've chosen to remain mostly out-of-the-loop for the operation — the more information I know, the more trouble I can get into. But I do know that the pieces are heading towards The Wall. (Dwardazik captures this on another one of his cards.)   Dwardazik: You're talking about "The Wall"? The big wall, over by The Phantasmagoria?   Kerro: The Invictus Una. The great wall protecting this meager country from annihilation.   Dwardazik: Ugh.   Kerro: The burgeoning pride of all the firelords here.   Dazki: Don't sound so down, Dwardazik! That's where we were heading anyway!   Dwardazik: I understand, just... so many different ways it could be traveling! And it could be traveling with any number of different people!   Grogery: Like, that wall's not exactly a specific location...   Kerro: Those pieces were removed months ago.   Kesmet: I'm confused. Is Dennis at this wall? Because... this guy's not reliable anymore, since his brain's messed up.   Kerro: Well, I get a lot of my messages from there. And you guys now know that I'm... not exactly the most loyal member of the House of Cards.   Dwardazik: Most people also don't have a prophecy changing their entire past into their present. So, I'd say you might be a little unique in that regard.   Kerro: The Metronome Man. He may be clever. And Donahue's son is... not. If he is pretending to be an advisor, and Donahue's son doesn't realize this, then we might have a puppetmaster situation.   Dwardazik: Hey, Kesmet?   Kesmet: Yo.   Dwardazik: I've been thinking about this, ever since we started talking to this guy.   Kesmet: Good. 'cause I haven't. My brain hurts.   Dwardazik: And it's really been kinda bugging me. So, if we believe someone has committed a crime — or, if you, in particular, believe it — yet, this person has done something, and reality has changed, and he doesn't believe that he's done it anymore, then is he still guilty of it?   Kerro: Oh, I'm still very much uncertain! And I'm pretty sure I would have done that crime!   Dwardazik: I didn't ask you! I didn't ask you! Kesmet. What do you think? 'cause I'm not really sure. I mean, this dude over here... it's almost like kicking a puppy, you know? It's like... how can you blame the dog, as a puppy, before it's done the action?   Kesmet: Look, I'm sure he's also killed a bunch of other people! He's just, like, an asshole person.   Kerro: I've definitely killed a bunch of other people.   Kesmet: You see? He's even admitting it! Whether or not those people happened to be my family (because this guy's apparently a nutjob now) is still —   Kerro: How else could I have produced those screams so accurately, if I had not heard them?   Kesmet: Would you stop? You've already dug yourself into a deep enough hole. I say, fuck him.   Kerro: Well, don't fuck me! Maybe murder me, but definitely don't fuck me!   Kesmet: It was a figure of speech. It means "away with you, we no longer care about you".   Dwardazik, folding his arms: So, that's it, huh? We're just gonna end it there, with him and you?   Kesmet: Look. I hate him. He pulled the trigger. But I'm still after Dennis.   Kerro: I remember burning that building. But I don't know if I've done it.   Marvin: Kesmet, don't you want revenge for your family?   Kesmet: What revenge is killing a brain-damaged cripple going to get me?   Dwardazik: That's what I'm trying to figure out...   Marvin: ...Dennis is not...   Kesmet: No, I'm going after Dennis. I'm talking about this guy.   Kerro: ...I don't think I'm any of those things?   Marvin: I mean... sort-of? Sort-of. This is a lot to take in. I understand. But if I were you, I'd still be bloodthirsty. I have to commend you for your call.   Kesmet: Oh, no, I'm still bloodthirsty, it's just that I've focused my rage and vengeance towards one direction for so long that, even though this is the man that did the deed, I can't turn away from my path towards Dennis. And it feels very strange.   Marvin: That's fair.   Dwardazik: I understand that, Kesmet, but Marvin —   Dazki: You don't blame the sword for killing someone. You blame the wielder of the sword.   Kesmet: I mean, I blame him too, but I blame Dennis way, way more.   Dwardazik: Well said.   Grogery: I mean, if this really is a "puppetmaster" situation, with the Metronome Man pulling Dennis's strings, maybe the Metronome Man is really the one to blame?   Kesmet: We'll kill 'em both, just to be sure!   Marvin: So, what were you going to say, Dwardazik?   Dwardazik: I think I understand very clearly how I would feel in a situation such as this, but something that's still bugging me — this is a real, magical artifact! We're not messing with someone pretending to not remember what they're doing, and trying to be all "oh, I don't remember". This is, like... for his reality, it could be completely different! It doesn't even feel right!   Dazki: What do you mean, it "doesn't feel right"?   Dwardazik: I don't know. It just doesn't feel right, for some reason. I don't know if I could judge this person for... I'm just saying, man. I'm just saying.   Dazki: We're not here judging him. We're trying to figure out what's going on. We have our information.   Kesmet: So, can we kick this guy to the curb?   Kerro: I would rather you not.   Marvin: Did we get what we came here for?   Dwardazik: Do you have any leads to tell us who was taking it to the wall? How long ago? Any person's name? Groups?   Grogery: Where along the wall?   Kerro: All of those plans have been canceled for now.   Dwardazik: You think they've been canceled?   Kerro: I've had to hide it on my person, because I was caught replacing it with a counterfeit and had to adapt.   Dazki, holding up the box: It's in this box.   Kerro: A box which you cannot get into, without my magical musical phrase.   Dazki: ...yup. So that is your key to not being killed.   Kerro, chuckling: Oh, is it!   Dazki: Well, for a few more minutes, at least. That is a negotiating chip you have with the Queen of Hearts.   Kerro: Oh, no, that simply won't do.   Dazki: No?   Kesmet: So, why can't we just break the box open?   Dazki: Pretty sure it's magic.   Grogery: And also, from what we've seen, nobody's going to want to be accidentally touching it after it breaks open.   Dazki: Yup.   Kerro: You see, I'm not going to be persecuted by the House of Cards. I refuse.   Marvin: Huh. Well, you heard him, folks! Apparently, his word is law!   Dazki: What do you suggest as another option?   Kerro: Don't you see? There are no other options. If you wish for me to be a murderer — maybe I am! — and you let me go, I have a feeling this will repeat itself. But, you don't have a say over that. It's not in our hands. (Kerro is looking increasingly more mad, as he says all this.)   Dazki: Well, how do we open the box?   Kesmet: Marvin, do you have any more mind magic?   Marvin: I always have more!   Dazki: I don't think that is going to help, at the moment.   Kesmet: Isn't it, though?   Kerro: You really want to open the box? Opening the box seals our fates. As long as we don't open the box, we don't know what's inside!   Dazki: How does opening the box "seal our fates"? You said you know what's in it...   Kerro: Yes, the Rotor of Return.   Dazki: Yeah, I want to know how to open the box. To confirm.   Kesmet: What is the "Rotor of Return"?   Dazki: It's the part of the Orrery that we're looking for. It was broken up into pieces, and the Rotor of Return is one of them.   Grogery: So wait, what does the Rotor of Return even do when we open the box?   Kesmet: It rotates, and returns.   Grogery: What does it "return"?   Kerro: It's just the name of the item, I don't know what it does. The box is merely there to prevent scrying and... to do whatever other magical things the box does.   Dwardazik: Then how do we know that the thing's in there?   Kerro: You don't! You have to take my word for it, or convince me to open the box. Which means not turning me in to the House of Cards. Which is a bad decision on your part, but perhaps this will fix the prophecy!   Marvin: You realize... you're not making any sense.   Kerro, cackling: Why do you remember what you remember?   Dazki: All right. Fine. We won't turn you in to the House of Cards if you tell us how to open the box. That seems to be the card you're playing. I don't have anything to trump that. You have my word.   Kerro begins cackling even harder.   Dazki: Tell me how to open it, and I will cut you free. I promise.   Kerro, through growing laughter: That's a promise you can't keep!   Dazki: You know what? Take this chance to prove me wrong, then!

(Insight 13): To Grogery, this guy seems like a medical concern more than anything else, and it's distracting... at this point, his heart is racing, and it feels like he can't catch his breath. He's going mad, and Grogery can't tell if he's lying or anything.   Kerro whistles a little tune. Dazki attempts to turn the key in the box; it does turn, so he keeps it partly turned to hold it there.

Dazki: All right. Cut him free.   Marvin: ...for real?   Dazki: Yup. We're proving to him that, you know, destiny's not written in stone.   (Dwardazik cuts him free.)   Kerro: ...well? Are you going to show me the contents of that box?   Marvin: But... you said it's the Rotor of Return... 'cause you don't know what's in it?   Dazki: You said it's the Rotor of Return.   Kerro: I did say that! And it should be! But everything's weird now, it's different! Why do you remember what you remember? What is reality?!   Marvin: I ask myself that question every day...   Kerro: What's in that box?!   Dwardazik: Look, you're free, all right? Why don't you calm down, grab yourself a stiff drink, and sleep this off, eh?   Kerro: Do it! Open the box! Set our fates in stone!   Dazki: Nope!

Dazki turns to walk out of the room, keeping the box closed. As he walks away, Kerro grabs a silver-bladed knife and stabs Dazki, paralyzing him for a bit.

Kerro: I just. Want to know. What's in that box!

Kerro takes the box from Dazki. Marvin attempts to put him to sleep, but since Kerro is an elf, it can't work. Grogery attempts to cast Hold Person on him, but it fails. Dwardazik just punches him, knocking him unconscious with one hit and then continuing to punch him while he's down two more times. The box clangs to the floor, dislodging the key. Kesmet stares him down, seeming conflicted for a split second, but then seems to have made up his mind. He utters:

Kesmet: If you can't take the heat, don't butter the toast!

And Kesmet unleashes a cone of fire from his hands, being careful to narrowly avoid the other party members around Kerro, which is enough to kill Kerro and start the room on fire.

Marvin: Where's the box?   Dazki: Grogery has it.   Marvin: So, we happen to have someone in the party who's quite adept at tunes.   Kesmet: Yup! Me! (He pulls out his harmonica.)   Dazki: Fuck! Goddamnit! (He starts trying to put out the fire.)   (Kesmet just cackles like a maniac.)   Grogery: Guys, do we need him alive? Come on.   Marvin: I don't know!!!   Dwardazik: Eh, fuck it. He was gonna die anyway.   Dazki: Yes!   Dwardazik: I don't think we need him alive?   Grogery: Guys, we're on the clock here. Do we need him alive?   Dwardazik: No, we don't! He was gonna die anyway, by the Queen of Hearts!   Marvin: And he just tried to merc Dazki.   Kesmet: Aww, Dazki would've probably been fine.   Marvin: I don't like how this went down, but damn, he was a menace to society.   Dwardazik: Look, just cast Invisibility or something, and we'll all run away and say it wasn't us. We'll just be somewhere else! No one will know!   Dazki: That's a bad idea. We need —   Grogery: I'm partly sure that he was going to try to open this box or die trying. So, I'm not going to spend lots of resources that could be spent saving other people if he isn't going to help us. I know that's terrible, but —   Dazki: Fine! Then help put fire out!

Dazki, Marvin, and Grogery put out the fire.

Dazki: OK. Fire is out. Let's just hope that Queen of Hearts doesn't kill us for not delivering the mole! Let me talk, I will negotiate with her.   Marvin: That's fine by me.   Dwardazik: We could frame it as a suicide?   Dazki: These sketches show him tied up. He was clearly at our mercy. ...and now, he's dead.   Grogery: Again, —   Marvin: He attacked us.   Dwardazik: It was self-defense.   Dazki: Whatever. Let's go. Apparently, we don't care about his life. (He takes a few steps towards the door.)   Grogery: I do care about his life, it's just, I can't do this all the time!   Marvin: Yeah, he had a death wish.   Dazki: I know. We'll be fine. It's fine, this was probably a better way for him to go anyway.

Kesmet grabs the silver-edged dagger that Kerro had stabbed Dazki with, and Dwardazik searches the body for anything else of interest, finding:

• Three vials, all of which look like health potions but are labeled differently.
• 45 gold worth of coins
• A really fancy-looking pocketwatch, which Dwardazik appraises to be worth 2500 gold, but it's broken: it doesn't seem to be ticking.

Dwardazik takes the gold to be distributed later, hands Grogery the pocketwatch, and hands Kesmet the three vials.

Grogery: What are we doing with — we're not just leaving this guy's body here!   Kesmet: What do you want me to do with these?   Dwardazik: I dunno, they're labeled kinda weird. They might be something you can identify later.   Kesmet: Dazki's the one that identifies stuff! I just shoot fire!

The timer for Revivify is over now.

Marvin: All right. Let's get out of here.   Grogery: ...Kesmet, this was not helpful.   Kesmet: I know. But it was... pretty hot! (He cackles again.)   Dwardazik: Frankly, it was self-defense.   Dazki: It was not self-fucking-defense! He could not have killed all of — he could not have kill any of us in his state! It was not self-defense. It was murder.   Dwardazik: It was self-defense!   Dazki: No it wasn't. You're full of shit, Dwardazik. (He leaves the room.)   Dwardazik, calling back to him: Your back is bleeding!

Grogery, still holding the box, begins to have a strange suspicion about the box. Why would he want to look inside the box? It's the only thing that can clear their name, here, and he's supposed to know what's in there... why does he want to see what's in there?

Grogery: Kesmet, you've seen all the problems we've had to go through by killing people who didn't deserve to die, right?   Kesmet: I mean, I dunno — this guy might've deserved to die. (A small giggle, this time.)   Dwardazik and Marvin, together: We can talk about this later. Let's go! (Marvin runs out the door.)   Grogery, loud enough for Marvin to hear: We can't just leave a dead body here.

Marvin stops, hesitates for a few seconds, then runs back in.

Marvin: ...OK. What do we need to do?

There's some discussion about how to secretly remove the body.

Marvin: All right, so unless you guys have any ideas, we need to leave.   Grogery: I'm not leaving this guy's body here. Kesmet, you're carrying him out.   Kesmet: ...with my strength?!   Grogery: You killed him. You're carrying his body out.   Kesmet: What kind of logic is that?!   Grogery: I dunno, what kind of logic is just shooting him when you could've just as easily let him just stay knocked out.   Marvin: Grogery's got a point...

(Wisdom Save 20) Grogery has another one of those weird thoughts that he gets sometimes... you know, like "hey, those grasshoppers look delicious"? This one is "maybe I should open this box". He easily puts that thought aside and focuses on other matters... for now.

Marvin: Kesmet, you need to be the one to carry it.   Kesmet: I'm not gonna carry a charred corpse!   Marvin: Well, it's your mess.   Kesmet: I ain't cleanin' that up.   Marvin: I tried to put him to sleep!   Grogery: Then don't make a mess! Unless you want word to get out that Grogery the Mighty is carrying a charred corpse out of here! If you're not gonna do it, and Marvin's too small, ...   Kesmet: ...why are we even carrying him out of here?   Grogery: Because leaving a dead body in the locker room... you're going to get hunted down.   Kesmet: Eh. Kinda used to it. It's been happening the last three years.   Marvin: Oh my god. Grogery. Dwardazik. If we want to stay out of jail, we need to go. Kesmet, ... I don't know what to do, OK?   Dwardazik: Just start a fire, and we'll go Greater-Invisible.   Grogery: Don't start a fire. We're not gonna burn this place down.   Marvin: The guards have Truesight.   Kesmet: They also did see us walk into here.   Marvin: ... ... ... seeyalater-bye! I'm gonna go find Dazki. (From afar, he can be heard calling out "Yo Eighty! Where you at?")

The others squabble a bit more about what to do about the body: Grogery will carry it out if Kesmet won't, Kesmet doesn't feel like it needs to be carried out but he'll do it so Grogery doesn't have to, (Wisdom Save 16) Grogery still doesn't want to open the box, all that sort of stuff.

Grogery: Listen, like, you were helping with dead bodies and such back at Overlook, right? Wait, you don't remember that... or do you remember that?   Kesmet: No! All I remember was we were heading into the savannah, then we had that weird fucking Red Desert dream again, then we were heading the wrong way, but you guys were like "no it's cool".   Grogery: Do you want his charred corpse abandoned here, in the middle of nowhere, where nobody is going to check on him or know he's here for days or weeks? I thought you were against leaving dead bodies behind after a fire?   Kesmet: All right, Grogery, what are we doing?   Grogery: Well... we're walking out of here. This is where he teleported after the fight. Apparently, he was still on fire when he got back here, and it's been too long for me to cast an efficient spell to save him at this point.

More squabbling about what they can do with the body, since they can't save it. Speaking of saving, (Wisdom Save 21) it's definitely really easy for Grogery to resist those slight urges to open the box.

Dwardazik: I'm gonna go out, find a guard, and tell 'em "this is what happened". Because you know what, it was the fuckin' truth: he attacked us first, and I'm not gonna deal with this shit.

Dwardazik leaves to do that. Marvin finds Dazki outside, loitering in front of casino.

Marvin: Dazki... that was fucked up. That was beyond fucked up. I did... holy shit! A bard, a man of song, is at a loss for words! I've seen a lot of horrible things. That one kinda pushes it a bit! I've listened to you about not trying to fuck with people, and I'm trying to do better. THAT was something else. Granted, the man did kill Kesmet's family, but... you know, now we gotta deal with the Queen of... you know, Queen. So... yeah. Now I'm just ranting. Are you OK? You got stabbed. Are you OK?   Dazki: I'm fine. I've had much worse. The guy wasn't gonna be able to kill us, but... what's happened has happened, and I'm waiting for everyone to actually get their shit together so we can go talk to Queen about this. And yes, I just walked out and left them there. 'cause I can't lead that goddamn herd of cats. I can't do it. And I don't know what else to do about it. The best thing I can try to do is guide the hammer towards something that's actually a nail, but you see how well that works!   Marvin: Yeah. They end up driving it all the way through, and it just breaks the wood.   Dazki: Exactly! I'm used to being a scalpel, not a fucking sledgehammer. I don't know how to deal with this.   Marvin: So, Kesmet's Kesmet. Dwardazik, does he have a Turmoil infection or something?   Dazki: Yes, of course he does!   Marvin: So what, did Annu not catch that?   Dazki: Annu probably wasn't able to completely pull it out of him when he removed the tooth and is trying to figure out what to do, is what my guess would be.   Marvin: And Grogery, bless his heart, he has to deal with — you know —   Dazki: With us!   Marvin: With us! Yeah! This band of misfits.   Dazki: And you have been doing better, Marvin, I've noticed. I appreciate that.   Marvin: Yeah, I tried to put him to sleep. Uh, forgot about... you know... that...   Dazki: It was a moment of stress for all of us. So, don't worry about it. You'll remember next time.   Marvin, nervously: Certainly can't use that spell on you! Haha... ha... yeah. So... I just hope that the rest of 'em are all right.   Dazki: They'll be fine, I'm just... all the stress of this and, you know. I was a little bit irritated that the rest of you all got involved with the honor duel when we had other things that needed to get taken care of. So, my frustrations got the better of me.   Marvin: I kinda figured if he was involved — Kerro Schene, that is — then Kesmet beating him might've led to more intel. That's kinda why.   Dazki: Absolutely! Kesmet and Kerro Schene, absolutely! Them fighting down there was a good thing. They should have been fighting down there. You and Three of Dicks shouldn't have even stepped into that ring. Neither should Grogery or Dwardazik.

(Wisdom Save 9) Grogery gets to thinking, this dead man's last wish — and what he risked his life for — was just to know what was in the box. Grogery whistles the tune and opens the box.   The box begins to age and decay, as if going through hundreds and hundreds of years of time, before being unable to contain its components any longer. A spyglass-shaped object falls out of the bottom of this decaying box onto the floor with a clang.   Kerro's body is not how you left it. Instead, in the exact spot he was is now a clockwork automaton: brass and white ceramic. A constant back-and-forth clicking noise, as if from a grandfather clock or a pianist's metronome, fills the room. Its head is a solid, smooth quartz — featureless, except for a little black dust bunny in its very center that pulses with every noise in the room.

Grogery: Um. Kesmet, are you seeing this too?   Kesmet, looking directly at the automaton and then to Grogery: Nope. (He turns and walks out.)

The automaton is pristine — it doesn't wear any clothes or anything — but it is in the exact same location and configuration that Kerro's body was in.   Grogery attempts to examine the spyglass-shaped object.   It looks like a spyglass that can be folded in, made out of intricate brass, but a rod has been thrust through it. One end has a sharp ruby tip, like where the eye hole would be. The other end has a bunch of rods twisted together like a rope of solid brass. It's about 8 inches long. Grogery pokes it with a quarterstaff from around the locker room; it just rolls around.   Grogery sends a message to Dazki, successfully:

I have a situation, please help.

Dazki replies with a zero-word message:

....

and then turns to Marvin:

Dazki: Marvin. Apparently, things have gotten worse.   Marvin: How could they have gotten worse?! Did they get arrested?   Dazki: The only thing Grogery said is "I have a situation. Help."   Marvin: All right! So, we're goin' back down there. Great.   Dazki: Apparently, we are running back there... gaaah, this is stupid. By the gods, this is stupid.

They make it down to the entrance, and they see Kesmet outside the room, seemingly at a loss for what to say.

Marvin: OK, so, you're OK, right?   Kesmet looks distraught.   Marvin: Is Grogery OK?   Kesmet: Um... maybe?

Dwardazik arrives with a guard.

Guard: Do we have a situation here?   Dwardazik: Uh, yeah. It's how I said.   Marvin: ...do we?

Kesmet responds by looking back at the guard, expressionless, as if completely confused about why a guard might be here right now. He waves the guard into the room, as if to say, "go on in, see for yourself".

Dwardazik: This is how it went, so come take a look, and get ready to do the resurrection.   Kesmet: Hang on, hang on, hang on. I would like to clarify one thing. What you're about to see — not what you think is in there, but what you are about to see — is not directly my fault. OK, go on. I'll be out here.   Guard: Don't go far.   Kesmet: Man, fuck you.   Guard: Is that a threat... or a promise? (She grabs her scimitar.)   Kesmet: Get. Away. From me!   Dazki: It's all right. It's OK. Let's just go... have a look. Apparently.   Kesmet: Nothing will be OK anymore. Nothing makes sense anymore.   Dazki, turning to the guard: He gets like this. He'll be fine, he's going to stay right here.   Guard, sheathing her scimitar: Fucking drug addicts.   Kesmet: Now, excuse me! I did not get to take those drugs!   Dazki, turning to Kesmet: Hey, you gonna be OK standing here for a minute, man?   Kesmet: I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry for killing our lead.   Kesmet: But he deserved it... he was a piece of...   Kesmet: But I'm really sorry for killing him. He might've been useful.   Kesmet: But he was a piece of shit, he deserved it...   Dazki: He did deserve it. Just take a deep breath. It's going to be all right, we'll get out of this, OK?   Kesmet: Dazki. Dazki, he's not a body anymore. He's not — well, he's a body, but he's the — (Kesmet just shudders and becomes hysterical, sitting on the ground rocking back and forth)   Dazki: OK, I'm just gonna... head in, then.

The guard enters into the room ahead, followed by Dazki and Marvin.

Guard: Hey! What seems to be the disturbance here? I heard a man was injured in here, and you don't look injured, and you're not the man I'm looking for — did that fucking... goddamn liar...   Marvin: What?! What liar?   Guard: Did he put you up to this? Where is he right now?   Marvin: Who are you talking about?   Dazki: Kerro! Where is — he was in here, he was on the ground, what happened?!   Guard: ...uh-huh.   Grogery: He's now... he's now... he's now that. I don't know what happened. Also, the box is... doesn't... it fell apart.   Guard: ...what?!   Dazki: The box... "fell apart".   Guard: OK, listen. Listen. I don't have time for all this weird side shenanigans. You said he was in here, you said he was injured. And he's not in here. And I bet he put you up to this, because... that goddamn snake... what's he doin' right now, huh? I bet he's filling my locker with something nasty, isn't he? Isn't he?   Marvin: ...he's done this before?   Grogery: So what it looks like to me is that Kerro had an automaton with an illusion over top of it, and when something happened to the automaton, the illusion dropped, and now... this. Is this what everybody else is thinking? Because that is the only logical explanation for this.   Guard: I don't get paid enough for this shit. (She leaves the room.)   Grogery: Like the thing that Kesmet was doing a little while back, except with an actual thing underneath.   Dazki: You know, I'm going to go ahead and say that thing in his head is probably Turmoil, and, um... when I touched him, he was flesh and blood. I can guarantee you that.   Grogery: It must have been a really really powerful illusion...   Dazki: Any illusion drops when you come into physical contact with it, Grogery. It wasn't an illusion. It might've been some sort of transmutation.   Grogery: That would make sense...   Dazki: But it wasn't an illusion.   Marvin: Um. So. The box fell apart, and this happened at the same time?   Dazki: How did the box fall apart?   Grogery: Probably the same thing that was happening to him was happening to me.   Dwardazik: Wait, did you open the box?   Grogery: It was really hard to tell. I was about to do it, until it just kinda happened.   Dazki: No, it's fine, I get it. Magical compulsions and all.   Marvin: So... the box dissolved?   Grogery: It aged until it fell apart, and then this thing fell out. (He gestures to the spyglass-shaped object with the stick.)   Marvin: "Aged"? That's a really specific... "aged"?   Grogery: Yes.

Dazki picks it up, using his sleeve to avoid coming into physical contact with it. It doesn't look like a lot at first, but there's a lot of intricate work going on here.

Dazki: Yup, this is definitely what was supposed to be in the box.

Dwardazik approaches the automaton, "not getting too close", and extends his hand towards the black spot on the what-should-be-a-head. He feels the hairs on his arm standing up, and he notices that every noise in the room causes it to pulse. It pulses more violently the louder that the room becomes.

Dwardazik, more softly than ever: Hey, guys? This definitely is Turmoil.   Dazki, sarcastically (and not so softly): What gave it away?!   Dwardazik, still softly: More importantly, it seems to react to the loudness of our voices. So, perhaps if we could bring it down a notch? (The party begins talking much more softly from this point forward.)   Marvin, beginning to speak softly now: Um. Should we be calling Annu?   Grogery: I already used the crystal for today.   Dazki: We can bring it to him directly. Queen of Hearts can wait. This seems much more important.   Marvin: Dwardazik, is this stone covering this thing?   Dwardazik: Yes, it's clearly a type of quartz. I can tell that much.   Marvin: How does quartz hold up over time? Like, age, like a century?   Grogery: It's based on clocks...   Dwardazik: Quartz will hold for quite a long time. In fact, it's pretty stable, all things considered, as long as there's nothing to corrode it.   Dazki: All right. Based on the fact that we can see it, and it looks trapped, I'm going to assume that it is quartz from the plane of elemental earth; otherwise, the Turmoil would be getting out.   Marvin: Right, because the elemental planes have resistance to Turmoil in some way.   Dazki: So, it should be safe to carry to Annu.   Marvin: So, my concern is, have we witnessed someone making a simulacrum with Turmoil?   Dwardazik: What we witnessed, if that's true, is a Turmoil doppelganger.   Marvin: Thus, two people in the same place at the same time?   Dwardazik: More importantly, this must be our next target.   Dazki: More than likely. All right. Well, to the House of Crystal. With... a crystal.   Dwardazik: I guess so.   Marvin: I guess people won't really give a shit if we carry a mannequin through the city, right? Heh! Yeah...

Dwardazik looks over the mannequin to appraise its parts. (Intelligence 16) these parts are intricate. Clockwork is fairly new in the marketplace, the gnomes having had quite a bit of time since the wall came up to perfect it. You know that even something as simple as a spyglass or a pocketwatch could go for over 1000 gold, and there's way more clockwork in here than a simple spyglass's lens or a pocketwatch's internals.

Dazki: Worst-case, we might be able to get information on whoever may have built the thing, based on signatures on the clockwork gears and stuff like that. So — (He motions to Grogery and Dwardazik, the two strongest in the party) — if the two of you could carry it, we can at least get it into a cart and get it to our place.   Grogery: Yeah, I can help carry.   Dwardazik: Let's do that.   Marvin: Uh. Just to be clear. If we do bring this back to your guys's house, ... we're tying it up, even though we think it's dead, right?   Grogery: Oh, absolutely.   Dazki: Yes.   Marvin: 'cause I don't want this thing walking around while we're asleep.   Grogery: And we're guarding it while we sleep, if it comes to that.   Dazki: And we're removing the Turmoil part first and taking it directly to the House of Crystal as soon as we drop off the automaton.   Marvin: I'm OK with that.   Dazki: I can't remove it safely, my tools are at home.   Marvin: OK. We've got a plan. Let's take part. (He looks around a bit, clearly trying to figure out what time it is.)   Dazki: You don't necessarily need to come to the House of Crystal with us, if you want to meet up with your... lady of the evening.   Marvin: I would like to assist this. I kinda wanted to see this through. I mean, how long is it gonna take us to get down the street?   Dazki: We don't know how long it will take for me to remove the head and for us to deal with all this once we get to the House of Crystal.   Marvin: Ah, we'll see. Let's get back to the house first, and then we'll see.   Dazki: All right.

They safely carry the automaton out of the casino and into the city proper.

Not Ashportable Ash A Dead Body

As soon as they leave the building, the extra noise from the city causes the mote of probably-Turmoil in the automaton's head to become aggressive, to the point where they're worried that they've witnessed some cracks on the surface. Kesmet has the idea to relieve Dwardazik or Grogery temporarily in order to Dimension Door a few times to bring it to their house, but (Strength 2) he can't hold up his end of the automaton well enough to do that.   Grogery casts Silence in the area where they wait for a cart, and the mote goes completely still. When the cart arrives, the driver gives some weird looks and wants to be very certain that the large brass ticking mannequin is not a bomb.

Dazki: (Deception 20) It's not. It's a prank from a gnome that I'm working with for some inventions. He thinks making us carry this shit around is funny.   Driver: I just don't understand gnomish humor.   Dazki: Yeah. Me neither.

They make it to the house without incident.

Dazki: All right. Let's bring this into, I don't know, the drawing room for now?   Marvin: So, uh, let's take this head off.   Dwardazik: Carefully!   Dazki: I have an odd request, Grogery? I need you to send a Sending for me.   Grogery: Uhhhhhh...   Dazki: I know.   Grogery: It might not get there. It might go to a person it is not intended to. But I can still do so.   Dazki: You've met this person, Marvin has not.   Grogery: OK, who is it?   Dazki: I got a letter from my fiancée, and I need to send her a message back. I've been a little preoccupied with the message she sent recently, so...   Grogery: Oh. OK. Yeah, as I said before, they sometimes end up at the wrong recipient, so as long as you're fine with that, I can attempt to send.   Dazki: Yeah, that's fine. The message is: "Friend of Dazki from Muckwater. What city are you in? Do you have contact? Do you need assistance?"

Grogery attempts to do so, while Dazki tries to take the head off the robot. he hard part isn't removing the head; it's doing so with minimal noise, as the mote really doesn't like the sound of metal rubbing against metal.   As Dazki works, Dwardazik sits cross-legged nearby, meditating. Kesmet is also nearby, also silent — not so much to meditate, but to stare intensely at it.

Marvin: You know, we were giving you a hard time about this, Kesmet, but... I don't know what the right answer is anymore.

(Tinker's Tools 23) Dazki has an easy time with it and puts the head away.

Marvin: OK, so let's take this over to Crystal?   Dwardazik: We need to somehow protect it from sounds. Can we muffle it in any way?   Dazki: Yeah, we can wrap it in a cloak or something.   (The body is still ticking.)   Marvin: Hey, real quick, now that the head's disconnected, can you walk it over there, far from the body, and see if the little mote thingy keeps ticking with the ticking clock?   Dazki: Sure. (JHe does.)   Dwardazik: Isn't it just ticking because of the sound?   (It is. This confirms that.)   Dazki: We should also probably let Rosalin know not to be afraid of the robot.

Rosalin is out, so he leaves a note that he displays prominently on the robot, saying something to the effect of, "this automaton is not a danger, don't worry about it", and he also lets her know about the message he sent to Gilda letting her know that they were here, asking to thank her in person, mentioning that Rosalin might be here to greet her when she arrives.

Grogery: Dazki, I got a response, by the way.   Dazki: Great! What did she say?   Grogery: She said that the non-elven name for it is "Axe Cut", but it sounds better in Elven. You might know its name better in Elven. She's doing OK for right now, things were just getting hairy for a second.   Dazki: OK. Thank you, I appreciate that. It's a load off my mind.   Grogery: Also, before we get going, I wanted to bring this up — (I was raised by nobles, and therefore I'm paranoid). So, the thing about changing fate and whatever when the box opened. Are we going to talk about the fact that I was really distraught about the fact that this guy died, and probably thought "I wish I could have done something differently", and now this guy didn't actually die, it was just an automaton the whole time? I mean, I didn't... ugh. I don't know if it's anything that I did or thought of, or anything, it's just weird.   Kesmet: We were both robbed.   Dazki: You know... that's very interesting. You did have the box containing the Rotor.   Dwardazik: At this point, I don't even know.   Grogery: At the same time, it could just be that this guy, when he was talking to the Metronome Man — 'cause that sounds an awful lot like a metronome — the way that his fate was changed was that he was literally just transplanted into a robot with a different set of memories, and he was literally just an automaton at that point? Like, he's talking all about how your fate is set in stone, but, you know... clockwork.   Dwardazik: By the beards, is that what happened?!   Grogery: Just a theory!   Dwardazik: Was his soul ripped out and replaced by an automaton with new memories?! Good god, these people are insane!   Dazki: That is a very good thought. I was thinking the very same thing, that he was transmuted into this.   Grogery: Ironically, wanting to have more control over his destiny steered him into something that doesn't even have any free will.   Marvin: So, who is even capable of doing something like this?   Dwardazik: You know who.   Dazki: Either I, G, A, or E.   Dwardazik: Exactly.   Marvin: ...uh, what?   Dazki: One of the other aspects of Turmoil on this plane, is what our guess is.   Marvin: Ahh.

Barry comes down the stairs. "Because he's here".

Dazki: Hey, Barry!   Grogery: Hi, Barry. Don't be concerned about the ticking body. It's not a bomb.   Barry, more frantic than usual (which is already pretty frantic): No, that thing's going to explode, and you should get away from it immediately!   Dazki: It's not going to explode. I already checked to make sure.   Barry: Nuh-uh. Nope. Nope! Those explode. Every time.   Kesmet: ... ... what do you mean, "those"?   Dwardazik: How many times have you seen this, huh?   Dazki: Yeah. What do you mean, "those"? What Kesmet said.   Marvin: Please tell me you haven't seen these before.   Barry: Uhhhhhhhhhhh... ... ... well, that's just what robot guys do, right?   Dazki: ...have you seen "robot guys" before?   Barry: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... ... ...   Marvin: ...Barry...   Kesmet, laughing maniacally and rushing over to Barry: BARRY. Don't fuck with us right now. Have you seen something like this before?   Barry: AHH!! Umm... I don't know, man! It's just... a hunch! A hunch!   Dazki: All right. Well, I'll tell you what.

Dazki hands Marvin the cloak with the head in it and then gets to work on the robot. (Tinker's Tools 24) it takes some time, and it was actually looking close there for a second — this thing is very volatile. You have no idea how these gears and mechanisms in here would have been able to function — and yet, they are ticking. They are turning. It's almost impossible.   It seems reasonably possible that, like a series of springs, this thing could have just torn itself apart violently. In fact, you have no idea why it hasn't up to this point. It's such an impossibility in there. The ticking sound seems to have been coming from one singular spot, almost like a pendulum — like a metronome — that just ticks back and forth regularly.

Dazki: All right. I've disabled the ticking, Barry. It's not going to explode anymore.   Barry: It was lookin' real problematic there for a while.   Dazki: It was. Thank you for letting us know that these ticking things would explode. You probably saved us and the house!   Barry: Hey, you guys all look real nice!   Dazki: Thank you!   Kesmet, dusting off Barry: I'm sorry I grabbed you. It's been a stressful day.   Dazki: We should probably get our regular stuff back on and head to the House of Crystal, very quickly. Do you want to carry that thing, Marvin, or do you want me to?   Marvin: Only if I won't be late for my date.   Dazki: If you come with us, you're probably going to be late for your date.   Marvin: ...I want to see this through, though! Damnit! If only I could be in two places at the same time! Why can't I have a robot clone?! AHH!   Grogery: Because probably there's some irrevocable cost to being a robot clone?   Marvin: Bah, it's worth it.   Dazki: You know, like having Turmoil jammed into your head.   Marvin: Hmm. I don't know.   Grogery: Anyway, you could always raincheck?   Marvin: Story. Date. Story. Date.   Dazki: Marvin, go get laid.   Marvin: Hey now, hey! Hey. Hey! I'm not necessarily a one-night-stand kind of guy, all right?   (Dwardazik gives Marvin his flask of dwarven ale.)   Dazki: I'm not saying it's a one-night-stand. I'm saying, go get laid. She's going to sleep with you on the first date. Go for it.   Kesmet: Marvin. Nothing is true. Everything is meaningless. Try to find some happiness in this crazy old world that we have. Go get laid.   Marvin: ...all right, I'll catch you guys later.   Dwardazik, calling after him: And bring back my flask!