Rise of the Silver Matt

06-27-2020: Game Thirty: Rise of the Silver Matt
 
There was magic in this world once, but they stole it all away.
 
The brothers met to discuss what was happening. Plans were laid to cement the power of the Bandolier brothers in this region as well as plans for expansion for the near future. Additional funds, manpower, and other artifacts of note were all bullet points on the agenda for potential acquisition. The remaining Gith menace was being torn out root and stem. Most of the actual Gith had departed from the region, but any sleeper agents or loyalists had to be stomped out.
 
The Bravo brothers were discussing their plans for the near future, when a knock came upon the primary door of their headquarters which was not an especially secret location. Jetto answered the door without using the peephole, allowing an unseen visitor to enter. He screamed out in a falsetto voice: “Alarm!” and attempted to locate the intruder. He windmilled around the room, knocking drinks and plates off a nearby table, not detecting anyone. The door closed behind him, and appearing at the table was their vampire friend.
 
Turned out he was very shy, not a fan of looky-loos and the like. Hug-Hug was sent downstairs to ‘occupy the Amon-Re’ priestess. When he learned that Tage was not around he was not exactly happy. The Bravo brothers assured him they could probably help with whatever situation had resulted in this visit. He was apparently a little worried that the Bishop had sent his greetings.
 
As it turned out, the Bishop was not one to mince words. He was a little concerned that his location was now known by the Bishop, who was apparently someone who played by his own rules. The Bravo brothers were not exactly aware of who he was speaking. While this Bishop fellow was not an ‘enemy’ perse, they were definitely also not friends. He told them a small story:
 
Their vampire friend was not from the Giovan Dunes region, or in fact this plane at all. Some place called Vegas. (Subtly revealing that he was significantly more powerful than your ‘typical’ vampire.) Seems where he comes from, all vampires are forced into hiding. He hides by default, some sort of rules known as the Masquerade. The area he was from was run by some group known as Giovanni, and was essentially a ‘neutral area’ where others could live, operate, etc as they were inclined as long as they followed the rules of things and didn’t attract attention to themselves.
 
Apparently there was yet another faction of fellows who was not prone or happy to hide themselves from the general populace and was in fact happy to abuse their power in front of the general populace consequence be damned.
 
He gave a fairly detailed explanation of the world situation (regions, factions, landmasses, etc) of the world from which he had come.
 
At some point he ran afoul of the ‘Bishop’ in this region and was laying low.
 
The knowledge that other vampires of his sort were in this world was not new, but the number of fellows around was news indeed.
 
One day in the “Late 90’s and early 2000’s”, the fellow in charge of the Las Vegas area decided to ‘Summon an Elder God’: A ‘Yig’ fellow, a great snake into his city. Because of the methods used, a rift in reality resulted in a great deal of vampires (and mortals) who happened to be in the area being displaced, and it appeared that a fair number of them had landed in the plane, and indeed the island of Omnusat.
 
He was quite distraught at this turn of events, and the Bravo brothers did their best to help him feel better. He mentioned that the slave trade dealings had been put on hold for the time, as the underground ring apparently had some serious ties to the Gith. He had not been kept in the loop, and was a bit distraught. It seems their ‘inside man’ at the administration of the Sultan had been caught up in the battles.
 
He was left by himself, with no framework to support him. He was worried that he was not long for this world if left at the hands of the Bishop. Senna summoned Kiss-Kiss into the room to see if he could shed some light on the situation. He did, and their vampiric friend was shocked to learn that they had an actual wizard of non minor powers at their disposal.
 
The lack of appropriate material components made the efforts less successful than they might have been: So Senna sauntered downstairs and convinced their resident priestess to invoke the wisdom of her God Amon-Re for a little more information to ease the scrying efforts.
 
As it turned out, an all-out assault was not an excellent idea. So he was hoping to escape Barlizzar for now since he had been inadvertently outed. They analyzed their options for long-term communication, and found that most needed to be setup beforehand. They would be sure to craft some candles to speak through for future endeavors. They resolved to ask the sultan if a faster means of communications or transportation was readily available, and would ask in that regards the following day.
 
The Bravo brothers left Hug-Hug ‘in charge of security’ and went to see the Sultan. Senna was quite successful in convincing them an audience was needed. The new advisor of the sultan made sure to indicate less liberties would be given, but they suggested similar liberties should be established once again. As it turned out, he was an obnoxious little man who wanted to make this strong independent woman also feel small. Senna was having none of it, and explained that wasting their time was a poor choice indeed. She enchanted him with her whiles despite his alleged lack of the proper equipment. For several long minutes she taught him a lesson about wasting her time while her brothers went to visit the sultan who had (shockingly) not been told that he had visitors at all.
 
The other brothers were busy talking to the Sultan, catching up on the state of affairs and seeing if he happened to have a discreet means of sending long-distance communication. Unfortunately he had the same means of communication as the brothers: Well-trained pigeons, nothing magical. A series of messages requesting immediate communication and little else were dispatched.
 
They asked the Sultan if any security threats had arisen. If any new ruins, rumors, or other items of note had been located in the region that were worth investigating. He mentioned he had gotten word of a ‘Ring Juncture’ in the town square. As it turned out, the Bravo brothers had heard whispers of this alleged new technology which would be fueled by materials gleaned from the Brotherhood's mine. Some sort of long-distance communications network. His participation was highly encouraged.
 
Their nose for business scented a real opportunity, and they decided they would be willing to pay for the entire fee if granted exclusive taxation and access rights. He agreed, they signed a quick contract, and the deal was struck.
 
They elected to focus their efforts on establishing this very steady income stream immediately. They were instructed by the message to bring the ‘down payment’ to the city of Humus, and he would gladly supply a half-dozen Hippogriffs as transportation for the brothers to allow for as immediate a response as possible.
 
The ‘Master of Pigeons’ indicated he had gotten a message some time ago that the brotherhood mine had fallen, to strangely armoured fellows with magical staves. They would go to secure the mine shortly.
 
They bought supplies and prepared the hippogriffs for their trip to Humus in order to make it there in time, they would have to delay the recapture of the mine. They would bring Pyotr with them, flying by night. Thus they would secure a powerful ally from potential danger, their new income stream, and then re-secure their previous income stream.
 
Hug-Hug was beginning to doubt himself, but Senna assured him that she believed in him, and he should believe in her that believed in him. Thus was his malaise dispelled and his confidence restored.
 
Able was less than successful at mounting the hippogriffs, but the others had no special trouble. Shortly afterwards he was tucked in with many buckles. The brothers set off southward, supplies and cash in hand for this urgent transaction soon to be followed by a rescue effort.
 
Their first night of flight was uneventful and they took refuge in the hulk of a destroyed landboat from the harsh desert sun.
 
During the first watch, a caller in darkness briefly approached the party and called out to those who had fallen during the calamity which brought down the landboat. As the sun was setting, the creature returned. It was not friendly.
 
Senna hummed a song of battle, inspiring her companions. Abel started to buckle himself onto his mount. Pyotr started to prepare the mounts for an escape if it was necessary. The caller floated closer, horrified faces crying out in pain as it looked for the weakest member of the party to pursue. Lyle hammered through the creature's ghostly form, inflicting some damage with his massive Glaive. Jetto attempted to punch the creature into submission.
 
Senna launched a few magic missiles at the creature with a wand. Abel wandered up and lashed out with his whip. The Caller tried to get the group to disarm: They elected not to. Lyle cut through the form of the creature to finally release the trapped souls into the night.
 
The brothers continued southward towards Humus, a fateful meeting soon to occur.