"Candela Obscura: The Gilded Graveyard" (CO4x02) is the second episode of Candela Obscura's fourth chapter, featuring the Circle of the Crimson Mirror. Past horrors resurface as the Circle of the Crimson Mirror attend a masquerade, along with Newfaire's major powers.
Synopsis[]
Introduction[]
Knowledge of the Flare is not exclusively held by Candela Obscura. There are many in the Fairelands who try to exploit the magical Bleed we work to quell. In the gilded halls of The Varnish, the wealthy gather to celebrate their collective avarice and gluttony, but beneath their revels, sinister plots cast shadows of the past onto the present. When Newfaire's most powerful find themselves in competition, it is those who work in their shadows that suffer the consequences. The Circle of the Crimson Mirror: Assignment #4316, The Gilded Graveyard.
Episode introduction[]
The Irish-accented voice of a Candela operative narrates the reasoning behind why he and other Candela operatives do this: to protect others and create something better for Tottergrass, Westecklyn, their homes, and everyone else's. They use their pain to make the world better.
Part I[]
Edgar, Grimoria, and Leo stand watching the injured and unconscious Decklan Murphy within the Fourth Pharos, Candela Obscura's lighthouse stronghold floating in the Flare, along with their Lightkeeper Zora, and Dr. Hector Aguilar, who tells them their former colleague has fallen into a coma, although his level of Bleed has been dropping. Zora plans to send their Circle back to Newfaire now that Malcolm has somewhat recovered. She leads them through the strangeness of the Pharos corridors to the hospital-like room where Malcolm has been being cared for. He has now mostly recovered from his injuries and asks about Decklan. Zora shares that she was in Decklan's first circle, long ago, so this is personal for her, too. Once the Circle of the Wyrm returns from their mission in Oldfaire, they hope to learn more about what Malcolm and Decklan are infected by.
Character maintenance[]
Liam as GM shares that before the game, Leo and Malcolm took a Stitch and a Train each, while Grimoria and Edgar took Refresh and Train each.
Back to the story...[]
The crimson mirror in Leo's flat.[art 1]
Zora leads the group through more of the Pharos' corridors, finally opening a door into Leo's opulent yet cluttered flat in the Red Lamp district of Newfaire, the group's chapter house. She has left him three vintage bottles bearing labels in a strange language, and bids the group farewell. Leo pours everyone a glass, and after a drink, Grimoria leaves to go to her home and place of employment in the Eaves neighborhood at the curiosity business run by her guardians since the War, Cynthia and Oliver Fogg. They are very angry with her for disappearing for longer than she had planned, costing them several appointments and the corresponding money, but she mollifies them with the promise of new knowledge gained about ancient bones that will be helpful in her upcoming appointments.[1] Eventually she goes upstairs to her room, where she hears through the grate the Foggs' discussion below. Oliver was startled by her mention of bones, thinking it could be related to Aroha Tama-Kai's recent sale of half of the ancient corpse of an ancient historical Oldfairen woman. Aroha apparently secretly retained the other half and intends to auction it at a masquerade at the end of the week. Grimoria immediately writes a coded note to the Circle requesting a meeting, and plots to get herself invited to the upcoming masked auction.
Meanwhile, Malcolm walks through the familiar Red Lamp district to the Glass Cat Casino where he acts as a part time bouncer for Madam Cordelia Glask. She greets him happily and accepts his offer to work that evening. Edgar returns to his work as a surgeon at the Grand Halen Hospital in Silverslip, remembering his sister Elizabeth who blew away like dust 18 years ago in Regent Park. He is having a hard time reconciling his purpose in life, to help people, with the Circle's recent killings, and also with his inaction and indecision dealing with the Murphys. Leo, alone in his flat, sets the table and prepares dinner for two while listening to music and growing sadder. Eventually he decides to visit The Endless Well, the coffee shop on the first floor, where he makes small talk with Charley the proprietress and Felix, a local music shop owner who hopes to attend the masquerade auction later that week at the Hayden House in the Varnish.
The next morning the Circle meets at Grimoria's request. She tells them that she suspects the masked auction will involve the other half of the bones of Atia Griffia, the first half of which the group had just purchased from the Red Hand and delivered to Candela believing it was the entire body. Edgar writes a note to Zora explaining this, which is sent via a magical silver tray. They decide to try to wangle invitations and Grimoria returns to the Foggs in time for her appointment. Her job is to fake a connection with the beyond in order to sell (sometimes fake) antiquities. When she is successful with their next customer, Mrs Fogg agrees to take her to the masked auction with them.
Meanwhile, Leo receives an answer from Zora, acknowledging that Tama-Kai has played Candela and setting a meeting for that night. Leo writes notes to the other Circle members, then goes to where his Aunt Leanna usually lunches and requests three tickets to the auction from her. She agrees, but in return requires a large contribution from him to her favorite charity. Malcolm approaches a caterer friend from his military past who can get him a job working the auction, while Edgar gets two tickets from the head of the hospital's board whose life he has saved.
That evening, the Circle meets at Leo's, looking at the seven invitations they have managed to gather to the masquerade and auction set for the next evening. Zora arrives, confirming that Tama-Kai cheated on their deal by withholding some of the bones from the sale to Candela. Their new assignment is to attend the auction and obtain the bones, to be sealed within the Fourth Pharos. The bones are going to be secretly auctioned to a select few in Tama-Kai's museum on the third floor while the public auction is taking place below. Zora gives them a small clay wheel, useable once, that can transport them back to the Pharos once they've acquired the bones. She also tells them one of the potential buyers is a friend of Zora's in the OUP. Since they have extra invitations, Zora volunteers to come with them to help out. While Edgar can't ethically tell Grimoria what drugs might disable the Foggs during the evening, he agrees to leave a book out for her with that information.
That night, Malcolm arrives first with the caterers at the Art Nouveau manor in which the gala is being held on the first and second floors. Later, Edgar and Zora arrive, both in black with Zora wearing a slightly beaked and feathered black raven mask. Leo arrives with Felix, his plus one, and Grimoria is with the Foggs. She quickly fetches them drugged drinks, which they down.
Break[]
- Candela Obscura character creation and core rulebook is now available at the Demiplane Candela Obscura Nexus, Candela's official digital companion. Use code "Candela" for a 20% discount.
- Candela Obscura Core Rulebook now available.
- Trailer for Midst Season Three.
Part II[]
The circle enters the beautifully decorated manor and joins the festivities. Malcolm, as one of the servers, goes upstairs looking for Aroha Tama-Kai, and eventually finds him on a balcony. Meanwhile, the Foggs and Grimoria also move upstairs before the Foggs leave to scout the attendees. Grimoria wanders to the balcony and "reads the cards" for a group of socialites, drawing the attention of Aroha. As he turns to look, she surreptitiously releases a greenish smoke device, hoping he will associate it with the mist released from the bones. She overhears him tell his assistant that he despises Oliver Fogg and to keep him away from him before he moves off the balcony.
Downstairs, Zora approaches an elephant-masked man named Reginald, whom she recognizes as a member of the OUP and who has apparently unsuccessfully bid on the bones Candela is seeking. He tells her the entrance to their location is on the second floor in the rear where bidders are being brought to inspect them. Leo runs into his niece who is there socializing, and she tells him his estranged father is also there. Upstairs, Malcolm runs into his brother, one of the guests, surprised to see him in waiter's attire, and with no love lost between the two. They quickly separate. Mr Fogg comes in search of Grimoria, and tells her Cynthia isn't feeling well. He's found some prospective buyers for their wares and takes her to them where Grimoria entertains them with her occult tales before Oliver, like his wife, is overcome by the diarrhea-inducing drug Grimoria fed them and leaves hurriedly. With 15 minutes to go before the auction starts, Leo tells Grimoria his father is at the party. All of the Circle is now on the second floor and has learned where the stairs giving access to the location of the bones are and that there are two guards there.
Leo finds his father Raymond sitting alone and addresses him: "You look like shit." Conversing awkwardly for the first time in 23 years, Leo learns that Raymond is not aware of the true purpose of the auction and that he is dying, but the anger between the two is not reduced. When Raymond leaves, Leo sinks into the same chair, seeing Aroha continue ushering potential buyers upstairs to inspect the relics. He sees Malcolm's brother Desmond with Aroha, smiling. Grimoria sees him as well and drops another green smoke bomb-- this time Aroha definitely notices, as does Desmond, who beelines away downstairs.
When the group regathers, they discuss strategy, and Grimoria and Malcolm adjust their wardrobes to better blend in with the wealthy attendees. Leo bluffs his way past the assistant checking invitations at the base of the stairs to the third floor location of the bones by telling her to check her list for Raymond Leonard Steedwell, Jr., and when she looks away searching for Mr Tama-Kai, he and the others sneak up the stairs. They find themselves in a long hallway with an open door at one end. As they move down it, they hear a low growling, and when they reach the open door, they see a bloodied dead man on the floor with two fox-masked men standing above him. One of them holds a sword with a pale blue sheen which he is using to try to magically burn through one of the bands holding a chest bolted to a dais-- the other iron band has already been burned through. As the party enters, the last band releases and the two grab the chest and run to the rear of the chamber, bursting through the stained glass window there to land on a rooftop and slide down it rapidly.
All of the group follow, although they are somewhat cut by the broken glass. The fox-masked men reach the ground first and continue running, with the party in pursuit, eventually reaching the Sacred Ascension Cemetery in the Shriveline neighborhood. Leo recognizes it, and they watch the men approach an ancient, half-ruined church in its corner which appears to be lit from within. Leo immediately runs to the church's front doorway arch and sees two figures inside, but memories overwhelm him of 23 years ago: the moment his life changed. As a "game", he and his teen-aged friends set what they thought was a clock in the center of a circle drawn on the ground, and Leo wound it. It began ticking, and the lights went out: there was something in the dark. Leo heard his sister scream; the two others present had their bodies broken by whatever was behind the eyes Leo saw in the darkness. Leo survived but the others did not.
The rest of the Circle catches up with Leo at the doorway, seeing four people inside the church. Two of them have the shimmering blades used to cut through the iron holding the golden chest. A priest stands at the shrouded altar. The Circle is immediately spotted and one of the men tells them to leave, immediately. The man holding the chest says, "This church shall be cleansed by the Flint and the Flame. Into the pit with you!" With that, he turns the dial on the front of the chest and a streak of green-hued light arcs out from a crack on one wall, striking him and causing his body to first glow green and then start to disappear into green mist. A fourth man enters, lowering his leather-gauntleted hand as he does. As the chest hits the ground, it opens and a burning green skull rolls to Grimoria's feet. It releases a burst of bleed and light that holds her pinned motionless in the air. Malcolm and Edgar see a shadow hovering above the chest before it evaporates, and the fourth man shouts, "The package is in play"! A second streak of green light from above obliterates the priest.
Meanwhile, still held by the skull, Grimoria has a vision of being high on a hill at the top of a white stairway, holding a staff, as a group of armored men approaches. They demand she return what was taken: "You defy your emperor!" She hears herself respond, "He would destroy us all. His hunger is too great. His wisdom, a lie." As they close in, she magically kills one, but there are too many. As she is struck, she breaks her staff and they all disappear in white-hot light. The others see Grimoria floating above the floor, but she has become a vision of Atia Griffia.
As the encounter begins, there are two men on the roof and two on the sides. They are Pyre agents, Knights of Pyre, and Edgar realizes that his sister Elizabeth was destroyed 18 years ago by the same gauntlets he just watched being used here. One of the men sucks the green energy from the chest into the iron cylinder on the back of his gauntlet. Grimoria asks Atia how she can help and senses the answer: "End his legacy." Grimoria tries to communicate that they want to give her a resting place, not use her bones to gain power for themselves, and she feels power surge through her. One of the men above aims his gauntlet at her, but Malcolm shoots and kills him. Leo tries to get the skull back in the box but fails, badly cutting his hand. A second priest, armed with a gun, steps out, aiming at Grimoria. Edgar steps toward one of the gauntleted men and punches him in the larynx, and the priest changes his aim to Edgar, hitting his shoulder. Grimoria/Atia immediately uses her sorcery to throw him backward, crushing his head, but she takes her fourth bleed and falls unconscious.
Malcolm uses his jacket to scoop the skull back into the chest and shuts it. The only enemy alive sees his gauntlet is fully charged and begins aiming at Malcolm, but Edgar rips the gauntlet from his hand and kills him with a stone before he can fire. Edgar searches the unconscious Grimoria and finds her occult book with the instructions to seal the chest. He successfully completes the ritual and the chest is sealed shut, with all the bones within.
Leo, suffering from his memories, has been moving toward a door he knows exists and the others follow him, with Malcolm carrying the chest. When Leo throws the door open, he sees the clock from his past-- actually a clockwork device thousands of years old. He snaps pieces from the figurines that decorate it, then begins hurting it any way he can, wanting it to die slowly and painfully. Malcolm, behind him, sees only a plain stone being attacked by his colleague. Edgar picks up Grimoria, who is now conscious but extremely weak, and joins the other two, but Leo collapses from Brain damage. Malcolm uses the piece of clay given to them by Zora, affixing it to the doorframe. A door appears, leading to a set of stairs going down, and Malcolm drags a vacant-eyed Leo down them before returning for the chest. The group begins descending the long staircase into the Fourth Pharos.
Featured characters[]
Circle of the Crimson Mirror
- Edgar Lycoris, Doctor
- Grimoria, Medium
- Leo Amicus, Journalist
- Malcolm Trills, Soldier
Returning
- Cordelia Glask
- Zora Manning, Lightkeeper of the Circle of the Crimson Mirror
- Decklan Murphy, a Candela operative, mentor and former member of the Circle
Mentioned
- Elizabeth, Edgar's deceased sister
New
- Dr. Hector Aguilar, a Candela Obscura physician
- Aroha Tama-Kai, member of the Red Hand, seller of Atia Griffia's bones
- Charley, proprietress of The Endless Well, a coffee shop
- Cynthia Fogg, Grimoria's employer
- Oliver Fogg, Grimoria's employer
- Felix, a music shop owner near Leo's flat
- Gerald, a customer of the Foggs
- Leanna, Leo's paternal aunt
- Gail, a caterer friend of Malcolm's
- Quentin Gunner, head of the Grand Halen Hospital's board
- Reginald, a "friend" of Zora's from the OUP, bidder on the bones
- Desmond, Malcolm's brother
- Raymond, Leo's father
- Atia Griffia, (in a vision) a powerful alchemist of ancient Oldfaire
Quotations[]
- Charley: So you found somebody over the week, eh?
Leo: Well, somebody... I found something, at the very least, over the weekend. It was very, very short, brief, exciting, deeply anonymous. I will give you a hint. You know how they say that a sailor has a lover in every port? Well, a lover in every port has a sailor on every ship. Somebody wins in that equation.
Trivia[]
- The adventures of the Circle of the Crimson Mirror take place chronologically before those of the Circle of Tide and Bone, from the preceding group of three Candela Obscura episodes.
References[]
- ↑ See "Candela Obscura: Seeking Serenity" (CO4x01) from 0:09:31 through 0:10:58.
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