Dark Before Dawn Session Summary: Rex Rutilus

Siobhan, her cop partner and the criminal snake.

The following is written diary style by one of the players involved in the game:

"So yesterday, which was a month ago but still kind of yesterday, I told Seamus, Amity and McAllistair about my deal with Blue Girl on our way to see ThreePenny Jack. I didn’t mean to, it just kind of happened because Seamus was on my back about something and I wanted to annoy him. So after being lectured for a while, and after heading through the tunnels, seeing Nickz (And hearing about some Serial Killer thing) we went to go see Three Penny so I could find out a little more about the Fae. 

It was a good thing I told everyone because they pointed out all the flaws in the ‘contract’ and Three Penny made a deal with me so that I could get what I wanted out of the deal initially. Me - 1.  Blue Girl – bitter nil. Unfortunately for my deal with ThreePenny I had to have another stone to let him into Rex’s realm which meant I had to ask McAllistair for his stone. I offered a Major boon – MAJOR. But noooo I had to be all touchy feely and he traded me. I’m still not sure who got the raw end of the deal…

After aaaall the yelling, we had to head over to Rex’s domain straight away in case the Blue Girl found out somehow, and Amity went home. Or she was supposed to but she came anyways – more on how that went later.

So we went through the door at Himeji Gardens and I woke up in some old timey kind of office after the cigarette I was apparently smoking fell on my shirt and I was being yelled at by ‘my boss’ about not filing some crappy paperwork or something, I dunno, for pretend it was strangely reminiscent of being at my actual work… Anyways we were all playing our roles or some crap. I was Jack something-or-rather, a detective that didn’t play by the rules, McAllistair was some drunken PI, Seamus was a nosy reporter and Amity was a singer at a club...  Anyways, I had to investigate some stupid murder that happened but didn’t.

Two vampires chatting to a changeling bartender.

Fucking Changelings, I swear. 

“You have to investigate a murder!”

“What are you questioning them for? No one got murdered, they’re still alive right over there, see? But I’ll tell you about someone else that got murdered”. 

“Oh that person's not murdered silly – they’re right over there – but that first person you were investigating…”

Well in the beginning I thought I had to solve the murders to get out. But I didn’t have to solve the murders, the real crime was that they’re all fucking insane changelings and they just murder people because they don’t play their part.

The worst part of not playing your part is when Rex comes and scares the absolute fuckery out of me when I open a door, then just staring at the wall until the bastard disappears because if you look at him you’re dead. Not before the people around you die first. Rule of three or something.

So on my “investigation” I was paired up with newbie cop. Which was good because it was easy to shake her once I told McAllistair to distract her, then told her she needed to question him. I went back to the office try and find some of those onyx stones I needed. All in the safe – freaking win. It took forever to find the combination and I thought I almost got busted but luckily it was only Seamus so we shoved everything into his pockets (including Rex’s ledger, a bunch of random blue rocks and and a crane with Fae-d written on it). 



Gangsters and cops playing card games.

Every time I got back to the Red Room Amity gave me a piece of information as subtley as she could. The first time was about the Red Pills, thinking it was a cure to Rex’s blood disease affecting few of the Changlings, we all went to find out what that was all about. Turns out they weren’t a cure and it was just a party drug made in a changeling murder factory. Out of changelings. Eww why am I only remembering this now. I better not tell Tal – Seamus knows what he ate… It’s no different than the Flower of Demiter right? Grown out of dead bodies / made out of dead bodies. It’s a very fine line. 

I’m going to have to flush this out of my system with a whole lot of alcohol.

Anyways, arrests were made, interrogations were poorly done. Amity told us that the Changelings were plotting to kill us all so we decided to stick in pairs from then on wards. Luckily we did because Seamus wigged at his “boss” and tried to bite him. I’m not even sure what was going on there…

Anyways we needed a certain amount of Onyx stones to summon ThreePenny (We thought it was to escape at the time) and the only person I knew who had what we needed happened to be one of the Changelings I tortured or interrogated, I dunno. He was happy to make the deal with me anyways. (That makes 3 deals in total - aww yeah). 

We summoned ThreePenny, he wrote his name in the wall, some creepy shit happened and Rex came out. I’m not sure what happened to him because I didn’t want to look just in case he could still make us sick and die. 

The Blue Girl came straight away, just like Jack said she would with Changeling Bennett by her side ready for the swap. So as soon as Fetch Bennett appeared behind me I quickly reached into his chest and ripped out his heart and pushed him into the Blue Girl so she couldn't stop me from giving it to Changeling Bennett.

Wow too many Bennett variants. Well, maybe only two but its confusing to write. But that's okay because they're only one Bennett now.  

(GM Note: Fetch Bennett is the one Siobhan knew before who was stolen away from her and who kept flipping into Angel Faced Killer mode which was a serial killer who would crush people's heads using a baseball bat.  Changeling Bennett is who he was originally and essentially a part of his soul had been stolen to make Fetch Bennett.  Combining the two was Siobhan's best chance of saving either of them and allowed her to give Changeling Bennett her Bennett's memories.  Siobhan's initial deal with the Blue Girl was for "Bennett" rather than the "Angel Faced Killer" so she was going to lose her fetch to the Blue Girl and end up with the Changeling instead.  Her later deal with Threepenny Jack to bring in the fetch at the right moment allowed her to take both.)

The Blue Girl, two vampires and a GM / Bennett.

So the Fetch collapsed to the ground and Recombination Bennett opened a portal out of there and we all followed. Including all the Changelings so no one got their memory back and they were all weird and Seamus was too high to do anything, I was freaking out because I killed Bennett - See: ripping his still beating heart out of his chest - Amity was comforting me and McAllistair is McAllistair so Bennett is now the leader of the Changelings and we all went home.  The end."

PCs include:

• Siobhan O'Baoill (Hardened and Reckless Police Detective)
• Thomas McAllister (Alcoholic Private Investigator)
• Amity Fine (Jazz Singer)
• Seamus O'Baoill (Plucky Reporter)

NPCs include:

• Drug Dealing Bartender (Ram horns, black veins)
• Angry Police Chief Bull (little horns and forehead veins)
• Innocent Cop undercover as Adorable Newsboy/girl (cat ears, whiskers and fake nails)
• Corrupt Business Executive & Media Mogul (grey skin, frown lines, stoneskin) 
• Mobster Kingpin (Coldscale, snake, grey with black edged scales) 
• Mob Enforcer (black and red hair wig, fox ears and whiskers)
• Rex Rutilus (Fae, hands dipped in red dye to the wrists) GM aaaaaand fill in for one role.

Basically each of these "characters" was actually a role and when one of the character's died, someone else would be stolen to take that role.  This is why a murder could have happened, yet not happen, as the old Jazz Singer is murdered ... but then there's a new changeling in that Jazz Singer's role.  Does that mean they count as dead?  Or not?  Each role also has their own motivations and expectations toward each other which created quite the web of deceit.