After last episode, the circle shipped their rescued islanders back to Muddy Reefs, then paid someone to take them the rest of the way back to Emerald Pointe. Meanwhile, Third Monsoon (né Murder) hung out at slave auctions waiting for the merchant from before to show back up. They had a name and a description for him, but the name was morally equivalent to “John Smith”, (Jade Jade) so they suspected it was not his real name. Hammer camped in a tent outside town because he is broke and takes limit for seeing slavery. Ranger Brad hung out for a while, then joined an expedition hunting the Brass Leviathan (roughly, a tiny version of Verne's Nautilus, including the grudge against the Scarlet Empire). Rabbit and Orchid shipped the islanders back to Muddy Reefs, which took three weeks. When they got back, the merchant still hadn't made an appearance, so they hung out a while longer.

A week later, someone matching the merchant's description comes by. He bids on three auctions, and overbids each time. There was not an obvious pattern (one indigent, one guy who flipped out and murdered his family, and one woman who tried loudly and unsuccessfully to incite a small revolution). Monsoon goes up and politely talks to/threatens him, but he politely declines to help in any way, other than to say that he has already resold them, and will not say where or to whom. “Jade” then leaves with his clerk and his bodyguard.

Everyone else is at a nearby hotel, except Hammer's wolf, who is now running to fetch everyone while Monsoon tails Jade.

Jade heads towards a busy market, where his bodyguard splits off, then to a bad neighborhood, then to a worse neighborhood where he ducks down a narrow alley. Monsoon follows not too long after, and is accosted by thugs! But the thugs are mooks, and fall immediately. Monsoon spends some time bandaging them up and giving medical advice, and discovers that the guard who had split off hired them to detain whoever came through after Jade. Monsoon speeds through the alley and finds herself in a cul de sac where everyone is inexplicably selling lettuce, and worse, a commotion has broken out among the people who apparently desperately want lettuces. Monsoon struggles through this, but is slightly delayed, and when she gets to the exit two things are obvious: it's the street he just walked up, and Jade is no longer in sight. She considers, then selects “back the way they came” as the most likely direction.

Barely a minute later, the rest of the circle comes barreling up the road. As is rapidly becoming traditional, all the players botch their spot checks and everyone rushes on past Monsoon. Fortunately the wolf, who they are following, does not botch, and they don't get very far past before screeching to a halt. After a brief data dump, they track Jade by asking various people if they saw him, and which way he went. They fall slightly farther behind, but are successful as far as the street of nice hotels before running out of people to ask. There are basically only three hotels nearby though, so it's not too bad. They go through them in order of closeness. The first hotel has a lobby and a snooty clerk. Enough threatening mixed with a little violence reveals that Jade is not there. After they leave, someone takes off from the back door, and runs down the street. They do not recognize him. Careful following by (someone; I forget who) reveals that he is running to a guard barracks. The next hotel has a foyer instead, but still has a podium with a concierge. They leave Monsoon and the wolf outside. Here, threatening has less immediate results, but does get a message sent to Jade. It also results in two people slipping out by the stables and running off. Monsoon recognizes this behavior as “calling the cops” from the previous example. As they are now on a timer, Hammer threatens to start kicking in doors. The concierge thinks this is funny, and tells them, “some of our guests don't like to be disturbed.” Hammer re-threatens him, and he says that Jade is in a room on the third floor.

The circle heads up there, pushes their way in, and finds Jade has just served drinks to someone else in the room. Also in the room are two gorilla-looking things, who start moving towards them. Clearly, the correct solution is to punch them, which Hammer immediately does. Or rather, Hammer and everyone else roll initiative. Orchid recognizes the gorillas as Eremanthoi, or “blood apes”. They are murder-demons. They get close to you, and then they murderize you. They love their murderous work. Also, they have Principle of Motion

Fortunately, the murder-demons don't take them seriously for the first bit. This gives Orchid time to blow nearly half her essence on the demon banishing spell. That wipes the smirk right off of Someone Else's face, as he does a perfect spit-take, lights the room on fire, and reflexively casts Emerald Countermagic. All are sad.

Bunny is very, very quickly burning through his essence for charm-enhanced defenses, while not making much headway. He takes some fairly serious damage.

Meanwhile below, Monsoon sees a guard squad coming up the street. She and Howl (the wolf) decide, based on this and on the explosions from above, that it is time for them to be upstairs and take off that direction. A scant few more rounds have completely exhausted Bunny's essence and spare health, and Hammer interposes himself as the new tank. That goes okay, but is basically a slower attrition. Howl arrives, is briefly effective, then has half of his face ripped off. After that, he stays back. Fortunately, Monsoon arrives right after, and manages to destroy that ape.

Hammer gambles on an offensive charm, connects, and throws the remaining blood ape down the stairs. Orchid tries banishing it again and this time is successful. At this point all four of them have blown through most of their essence and are totemic.

They step forward to threaten Jade, but there is no need. He will tell them exactly where he last saw their friends. In fact, he would happily take them there and introduce them to the buyer! It would be his pleasure. They decline, but demand exact directions. He gives them exact directions, which are to a point in the middle of the ocean. Is he sure? Oh yes. Are they sure he can't give them a lift? Quite sure.

And with that, they leave, hurrying out the back door just as the watch arrives.

Episode 7|Episode 9