Nora phones Ella, but the call seems to be redirected. On the other end, Ella is chipper and cheerful, saying that she’s fine and actually is leaving the country for a while. When Nora questions her, it falls apart a bit and she realises it’s Morris, imitating Ella in a misguided attempt to ‘protect her feelings’. She hangs up, feeling helpless and angry and overwhelmed. There’s a heat in her chest.
Inside Neutral Grounds, Ursa first goes to speak with Erabu, a demon she’s met previously with Alkahest. Erabu’s eating a meat pie floater, which is a bit offputting. She didn’t see all that much, but mentions that the Infernal Crowning Tournament will be arranged by committee soon, and to tell Alkahest.
Ursa learns from Stiletto Benevolent that Ella came in, shifted back to a regular human, and seemed to be speaking with the Auditor mantle, saying she ‘can’t assassinate someone she’s never seen before, it doesn’t matter how high up they are’.
Ursa also learns from Facula—a dragon who was at the convention they robbed—that Mr. Pyrite is now the 3rd most powerful Dragon in their society. Draconic power is based on the hoard hierarchy, rather than vice versa. And that when Ellauditor left, she seemed to be looking towards a certain direction.
Merlin phones Penelope, asking her to cast a CCTV net. Penny says she’s already on with it, and that she’ll send him the results. Alkahest also reunites with them at this point, making a passing comment about Auditors travelling in straight lines.
Merlin plots out Ella’s known course on a map of the city, looking up who owns the building she seems to be heading for. Said owner is named Portia, who Alkahest later tells them is a fairly powerful Fae running with the ‘Don’ archetype. She always says it’s the day of her daughter’s wedding. She doesn’t have a daughter. She’s very connected to the criminal underworld of the city, though.
Merlin gets a hunch and texts the Lopodite number, asking ‘What are you doing?’ Lopodite actually replies, though just with ‘nm, hbu?’ Merlin sends ‘-_-‘ and gets ‘aw don’t be like that bb’.
Confirming their course, Penelope sends distorted footage of Ella arriving at the block of flats and businesses (named Sunny Flights). Having a heading and finally some sense of what to do, Nora suddenly doubles over with burning in her chest. The silver thread tying her to Morris flickers and disappears, and she clutches at her chest… and pulls out a gun. It’s powerful magic, but there’s no time to speculate.
They go in pursuit. Alkahest comes along, Raoul having gone to the copier place. Ursa mentions the tournament on the horizon. Alkahest is concerned, but Nora and her sister are more important right now.
Arriving at the place there are a few Outsider-centric businesses, including a grocers that Alkahest wanders to (he buys some apples). The three players question a goblin at the security desk, and find that the cameras are all fuzzy except the bottom floors, implying that the auditor is in ascent. They move to pursue, persuading a few goons on the stairs that they’re here to help. The goons mention the security being on because there’s a guest on the roof, and that said security is a magical construct Sphinx. And someone named Nichols is on the top floor guarding the boss personally, and he ‘squicks them out’.
The four head up and encounter the Sphinx, who is friendly enough but does repeatedly say it’ll bite off their heads. It can’t be bribed though, being a magical construct. It asks them four riddles, none of which are very good.
On the next floor they get a glimpse of Ella, who pulls a fire alarm, flooding the landing with people. Merlin breaks a Reality Marble and sets the terms as ‘whoever navigates the floor most efficiently wins a meatball sub’ and so they don’t get swept out with the crowd. Ursa wins the sub, but gives it to Alkahest. He eats it immediately.
On the floor before the roof, there are a few more unconscious or dead goons, and a closing door that leads up to the roof itself. A guard—Odeon Nichols—says it can’t let them reach the boss. When they argue that he already let someone reach the boss, he says that 1, an Auditor is extenuating circumstances, and 2, it wasn’t going for the boss, it was going for the roof. They persuade him that they aren’t after the boss either, but he puts a gelatinous cube over the boss’ door just in case.
However the boss, Portia, immediately emerges, making him move it. She says it’s terrible that there’s all this noise on this, the day of her daughter’s wedding. Nora has the idea to play along with the archetype, and says they’re actually following someone trying to crash the wedding. It works; Portia gives them permission to proceed. Nichols puts his ooze away and leaves, not revealing his true form.
They go up to the roof to see Auditella advancing on three figures, one a Beholder, panicking and breaking out of its human suit, another Eta Carinae, looking more affronted than anything, and the third Mr. Pyrite, ready to do something.
Nora shouts ‘Ella!’
The DM explains a bit how Carinae, introduced to Pyrite by his latest investment Nora, wants to accrue some connections. Pyrite knows a Beholder looking to do the same thing, so contacts his friend Portia to use her building as a meeting spot. Carinae is bad at socialising (“Norman Gorman cannot be your real name.” “My real name is unpronounceable in your language”. “Say it anyway”. “It is also unpronounceable in my language”), focusing more on the possibility of Eyes for his hoard than of allies. But they’re interrupted when the door slams open and an Auditor is coming right towards them, followed closely by the aforementioned new investment, shouting “Ella!”
Roll History 