Betting the House

Betting the House
Date	7/8/25
Storyteller	Sushi
Tier	Master
Player Characters	Isaac Davenport, Vliegen the Windbornd, Vara, The Lord of Carnage
Rewards	350 xp, Rod of Negation, Spiral Chimes, Propulsive Boots, Quill of Passage, Slates of Distant Letters
Result	We solved the case!
Author	Isaac
Downtime	10

INCREDIBLE INSPECTOR ISAAC DAVENPORT IN: THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE LUCKY LADY LOCKED AWAY

It was a crisp Spring afternoon. I was on my way home after a nice, relaxing stroll through the marketplace. I passed by a job board as I often do, when that's when I spotted it: a case! The posting was from a Mr. Bam and Mr. Boozle, bouncers at the Lucky a Lady casino - a seedy place I'd made a point to stay away from normally, I heard on the rumor mill that the place was normally closed off to associates, but this occasion was an exception, for the Lady the place was named after had managed to get locked within her own casino. This case was about as curious as an egg having an existential crisis, and I knew I had to roll in and help out. I wasn't the only one who was interested in this case, three others had shown up as well. I'd been on jobs with Vara and Vliegen before, Vara was there when I died bravely in the line of duty trying to diffuse a tornado of souls in Lancaster, and I had recently gone on a job with Vliegen into the minds of some teens who were more troubled than a fish who realized it could fly. This was, however, my first job with Magister LOC. I'd worked with them before, before my former boss got turned into an infant, but never before as an associate. A lineup like this was sure to make the job go by quicker than a rabbit to its burrow. When we arrived, the clients didn't recognize us as associates, apparently we weren't on their list. Quite understandable, since some of us hadn't had been on many jobs. After we'd told them who we were, they informed us of the situation: the casino itself is concealed within a demiplane hidden in a discreet alleyway. Somehow, the portal had broken, trapping The Lady, her other employees, and a patron in there with them. Vliegen had the foresight to ask if The Lady had a studio outside of the casino where she would possibly have blueprints or plans that could give us insight onto what's going on there. We were pointed to an art studio across the street, right next to the abode of an old wizard. There were a few pieces on display, drawn in a very whimsical style, not the kind of stuff you'd find in a sophisticated museum, or adorning the halls of an esteemed gentleman like myself. There was a journal in here, which did indeed have blueprints! They detailed the plans for some magitechnical gizmos, the type that were keeping the casino running in the first place. Perhaps one of these had broken somehow? Not very much in there that would help us get in. We decided to ask around and see what everyone nearby knew about the situation. We met a kobold named Not Important who, with a little bit of coin to grease his lips, informed us that The Lady was talking about installing new games, and that perhaps a misfunction was what caused the demiplane to break. This case just keeps getting fishier and fisher. We asked the Wizard across the street, and he informed us that he was asked for help in procuring materials for some of the gizmos, and didn't like the attention the casino brought. I asked for a list of the components, and it was there that I was hit with a frightening realization: some of these components were used in soul trapping rituals. I don't like the looks of this, so I ask Bam and Boozle for more details. The new game is a slot machine, and all evidence points to this machine trapping people's souls, making an already predatory industry even more dangerous. I dare not think about the implications of this casino being built on the backs of the innocent and not-so-innocent souls that were being fed into this machine with a spoon fashioned of gold, and yet the grim possibility of the demiplane breaking because a soul that was important for keeping it running was sucked into the hole in the sky! Most worrying indeed. I push this thought down, and we press the wizard for more information. Apparently The Lady was in cahoots with one Lars Vegas, a shady looking guy with a white suit who works on bizarre machines such as this. Vliegen manages to send messages through what little remained of the portal into the casino, a tiny crack in the wall. This was enough for him to interrogate the people inside, Saya, Stuffington, and L. Shark, all three of whom were being trapped in their own place of work out of fear of playing games with Lars, who had gotten trapped in the slot machine and died! The poor workers in this casino had been trapped in there for five days, and they desperately needed a dashing and daring team of associates to rescue them! Using a combination of a slate that Bam and Boozle lended to us and Vliegen's ability to carry messages across the winds, we were able to contact The Lady, and figure out how to perform a ritual to get into the demiplane from outside, although the process of doing so took another 10 days! When we got in there, we were confronted with Lars, who had indeed taken on the form of an embodiment of predatory greed itself! He wanted us to play him, an uncomfortable request coming from a monster like him, and he made the claim that he would let everyone out if we hit the jackpot. A bold-faced lie, but we played anyways. When he didn't let us out after all, we got into a scrap, and made quick work of him, even with his nasty spells and ability to send us to some sort of "bonus game" where we were made to push some iron golems into lava, but eventually we were able to dismantle this despot and free The Lady and her employees. Another case closed by Incredible Inspector Isaac Davenport, and his equally incredible accomplices!