Characters
Dario Diego Durant, swashbuckling swordsman
Doctor Anastasia Nadya Strahov, a gun-priest who says strange things about blood
Ulu, the party's urska mom
Varro, a young snow elf bearing a magical sword
Morwenna, harpy devotee of St. Vionka
Events
After the duel between Varro and Embrelle last session, Varro invited his opponent, her friends Serafina and Alejandra, and their daughter Constance to dinner at the Kaul House. Beaumont D'orleac was glad to see that the party was mixing socially, but since they planned for the dinner to be a seafood boil eaten outside, he left most of the preparations in the hands of Irenya.
After dinner, they asked Serafina inside to their new library so that she could tell them what she knew of Yavor and Krusikal. Serafina hesitated on the threshold when she saw D'orleac, and when asked to explain her reaction to the butler, she said, "I'm not an expert on the occult, but I know a ghost when I see one."
Serafina was able to shed some light on Yavor and Krusikal: she had a "friend" who sometimes taught at the Malcovat, the school of black magic hidden high in the Karthax Mountains. Yavor was also an instructor at the school, but he turned away from diabolism and embraced the alien magic of the Outer Dark instead--and cheated Hell of an entire cohort of witches and warlocks. Serafina knew that Yavor was a disciple of Krusikal--also known as Kusikal the Unvanquished and Krusikal the Heartless. That last name was especially important because Krusikal had removed his "heart" and sundered it in two so that he could not be slain. Serafina didn't know what the heart was, but she related that her friend considered each half to be a particularly fell weapon. She further promised to contact her friend on their behalf to see if she could provide further aid.
The evening was interrupted with the arrival of a young man who came to tell them that the schoolhouse in Braelin was under attack. Alejandra, Serafina, and Constance sheltered with Raenessa and Irenya in the alchemist's lab; Embrelle borrowed Raenessa's husband's sword to accompany the group to see what the trouble was.
The schoolhouse was, in fact, under attack--by women with greenish tinted skin wearing nun's habits. They had the schoolhouse surrounded and were banging on the doors and windows with their fists. When talking to them failed, a big battle ensued--and it was big, as there were thirteen of the nuns in total. It quickly became apparent that the nuns were not normal--flowering blooms and thorn-studded tendrils erupted from their flesh. Eventually, the Hounds were joined by Pandora and Morrigan Rue, which helped even the odds.
(Morrigan was highly proficient with the two swords they always saw her carrying, and Pandora was able to conjure creatures made of shadow.)
They were also aided by a mysterious gunshot that took the head off of one of the marauding nuns.
Once the dust settled, the nuns were searched--one of them had a bottle of expensive perfume from the Borcheza company on her person. Curious, that.
Dario also knocked on the door of Crispin Telimov, the tailor who lives across from the school, and detected the smell of gunpowder on him. Did he fire the helpful shot that took out a nun?
The Rues reported that other areas of Braelin had also come under attack, but had been repelled. The Rue sisters agreed to supply the Hounds with horses if they wanted to venture to the Convent of St. Nostalia of the Bladed Mercy up in the hills to see if it had any connection to the attack.
It was night when the group reached the convent. Anastasia came through the doors into the chapel with guns drawn, disturbing a nun with scars on her hands during her prayers. The nun was not intimidated by Anastasia or the group in the least, and denied the convent's involvement with the attack on Braelin. Morwenna tried to smooth things over, but mentioning that she was an acolyte of a heretical saint didn't improve matters.
Things appeared to be in a stalemate when a group of three more nuns arrived, one bearing a lit candelabra. Another, her eyes a bright blue that reflected the candlelight, proposed they talk through whatever issue brought the group to St. Nostalia's convent.
We'll see how well that works next time.